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__label__wiki	0.96301	0.96301	Home Television Drama Cisco Kid, The Cisco Kid, The One of television’s earliest western series produced with the younger viewer in mind, The Cisco Kid was also the first filmed TV adventure series seen during those early years when shows were usually broadcast live. The hero of this very popular adventure programme was a Mexican adventurer called the Cisco Kid, played by Duncan Renaldo. The Kid roamed the West on his horse, Diablo, with his trusted sidekick, Pancho (Leo Carrillo), who rode a horse called Loco, at his side. Renaldo was in his fifties when The Cisco Kid was filmed and Carrillo was in his seventies, but this did not make them any less dashing or heroic, and Cisco and Pancho avenged the wronged and fought the bad guys with great gusto. Fat old Pancho was always ready with a crack and some fractured English that kids loved to imitate (“Ceesco? Let’s went! The shereef, he ees getting closer!”). But he was brave in a fight and an expert with the bullwhip. The pair saw a lot of action together, but relatively little gunplay. Usually, Cisco’s fast draw was to shoot the gun out of the bad guy’s hand. The ready, fun-loving camaraderie between Cisco and Pancho was what made the series really work. 156 half-hour episodes were filmed by Ziv Television. Surprisingly, all of them are in colour, although most stations showed them in black & white during the 1950s. The Cisco Kid character was the creation of short story writer O. Henry, who had written stories about The Kid’s adventures 50 years before he was seen on television. In the O. Henry stories, Cisco was a bandito, but he became a hero when he was first seen in several silent films in the 1920s. The Cisco Kid was also a popular radio show before it became a TV series. Duncan Renaldo passed away in September 1980, aged 76. The Cisco Kid Duncan Renaldo Inside Man, The Adventures of Floris, The Sat’day While Sunday Mayberry RFD 1 9 6 8 - 1 9 7 1 (USA) 78 x 30 minute episodes A hit spin-off from The Andy Griffith Show about Sam Jones (Ken... 1 9 6 9 - 1 9 8 4 (UK) 160 x 30 minute episodes The BBC series Screen Test quizzed school teams on their observational powers after... 1 9 7 4 - 1 9 7 8 (UK) This 40-minute programme from BBC2 presented news and opinions on events and issues of the... Tales of Wells Fargo 1 9 5 7 - 1 9 6 2 (USA) 167 x 25 minute episodes 34 x 60 minute episodes Dale Robertson starred as Jim Hardie (pictured),... Rutland Weekend Television 1 9 7 5 - 1 9 7 6 (UK) 12 x 30 minute episodes Eric Idle's follow-up to Monty Python's Flying Circus cast him as the programme...	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line580
__label__cc	0.563661	0.436339	What are Synthetic Drugs? Synthetic drugs, specifically synthetic cannabinoids, are a mixture of herbs, incense and/or spices that are sprayed with synthetic (human-made) mind-altering chemicals. These drugs can produce hallucinogenic effects. Even though some people call synthetic cannabinoids “fake weed,” these drugs are not a form of marijuana and their effects are far more risky. The active ingredients in these drugs are synthetic chemicals that are very dangerous—to the brain and other parts of the body. Because synthetic drugs are not regulated, they are not tested for safety so users don’t know what they are putting into their bodies. Similarly, synthetic cathinones, more commonly known as "bath salts," are synthetic drugs made to mimic the chemical found in the khat plant. Khat is a shrub grown in East Africa and southern Arabia. People sometimes chew its leaves for their mild stimulant effect. Synthetic variants of cathinone can be much stronger than the natural product and are very dangerous. Synthetic cathinones and synthetic cannabinoids are included in a group of concerning drugs called "new psychoactive substances" (NPS). NPS are unregulated psychoactive (mind-altering) substances that have become newly available on the market and are intended to copy the effects of illegal drugs. Some of these substances have been around for years, but have re-entered the market in altered chemical forms with renewed popularity. What are the Legal Consequences? Synthetic cannabinoids and synthetic cathinones are illegal in the District of Columbia. A person can be arrested and prosecuted for manufacturing, distributing, or possessing synthetic cannabinoids or synthetic cathinones. Pretrial Services, the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency, and other community supervision agencies in the District of Columbia now test for synthetic cannabinoids or synthetic cathinones. Positive testing may impact a person’s job, parole, probation, or government benefits. How is the Office of the Attorney General Combatting Synthetic Drugs? Legal Action: The Attorney General is taking legal action against convenience stores that illegally sell synthetic drugs. Shutting down these businesses reduces access to these drugs and sends a strong message to other retailers that District laws will be enforced. Legislation: In 2016 the D.C. City Council unanimously passed the Attorney General's SAFE DC Act, which makes it easier to fight synthetic drugs in the District. This law strengthened law enforcement officials’ ability to test for and prosecute cases against sellers and distributors. And because the opioid fentanyl was found in more than 80 percent of overdose victims in 2017, OAG introduced legislation that strengthens law enforcement’s ability to test for, and prosecute crimes related to, fentanyl. Chief Deputy AG Ludaway recently testified in support of making this important legislation permanent. Education: The Office of the Attorney General's Community Engagement team attends ANC meetings, neighborhood meetings and other community events to educate the public on the dangers of synthetic drugs. This Office also conducted a synthetic drugs webinar in coordination with the Drug Enforcement Administration to educate convenience store owners how they can ensure their product line is legal. Coalitions: The Office of the Attorney General partnered with the Coalition for Responsible Cannabis Production to develop creative strategies that will reduce the accessibility and use of illegal synthetic drugs. The Attorney General also created an internal Emerging Drug Trends Task Force to analyze and coordinate the Office's response to emerging drugs and drug-use trends in the District. What are Resources for District Residents? The Dangers of Synthetic Drugs: Created by the Office of the Attorney General, this pamphlet provides more information about the health risks of synthetic drugs and what to do if someone has ingested synthetic cannabinoids. 911: If someone ingests synthetic cannabinoids and stops breathing, collapses, or has a seizure, dial 9-1-1 immediately. National Capital Poison Center: In non-emergency situations, you can get free, confidential medical advice 24 hours a day by calling the National Capital Poison Center at (800) 222-1222. Department of Behavioral Health: For addiction resources, contact the Department of Behavioral Health's 24/7 Help Line at (888) 793-4376 Metropolitan Police Department: If you believe a business is selling synthetic drugs, contact the Metropolitan Police Department Anonymous Tip Line at (202) 727-9099 or (202) 299-5555, or text 50411.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line584
__label__wiki	0.914245	0.914245	Share this Story: Moroccan travel ban leaves Kanata mother and daughter in limbo Moroccan travel ban leaves Kanata mother and daughter in limbo Bruce Deachman Betty and Christa Dukes are in Marrakech, uncertain of their immediate future after Morocco issued a travel ban on Sunday. Photo by Courtesy of Pat Dukes Pat Dukes has just one question he wants answered: “How can I get my wife home?” The 76-year-old Kanata resident is concerned about the fate of his wife, Betty, and daughter, Christa, after Morocco, where the two women are holidaying together, suspended all commercial flights in and out of the country due to the novel coronavirus outbreak. Moroccan travel ban leaves Kanata mother and daughter in limbo Back to video Dukes learned of the ban via a Skype call with Betty, 72, early Sunday evening. She left Canada on March 5 and was due to return this Friday, arriving in Ottawa on Saturday. Christa, 47, lives in Scotland. The pair are currently in Marrakech. “They’ve been on a holiday for the last two weeks, enjoying themselves,” said Pat, “then all of a sudden this world thing is happening, and Morocco cancelled all flights. “I’m just trying to get her home.” At the moment, he says, the spirits and health of both are good. In fact, Pat got a phone call from Betty on Monday morning, making sure he still had enough food. “You should see all the food she left in the freezer downstairs,” he jokes. “I’m not going to starve.” Pat Dukes is concerned for his wife, Betty, and daughter, Christa, after Morocco, where the two are staying, issued a travel ban. Photo by Bruce Deachman /Postmedia On Saturday, Morocco suspended flights to and from 25 countries, on top of those, including China, France, Italy and Algiers, to which it had previously closed its borders. On Sunday, it suspended all international flights to and from the kingdom “until further notice.” The two women are among 11 that are part of a Wild Women Expedition trip. According to tour company owner Jennifer Maddow, the group is accompanied by one of WWE’s international managers, and any additional accommodations, meals and flights needed will be covered by the company. “We leave no wild women behind,” she said in a phone interview Monday. “We’re going to do whatever we can to get them out of the country, and as soon as a flight is available, we’ll get them on it.” Maddow notes that the women’s flights home, via Air France and Air Canada, have not been cancelled by the airlines yet, and so there’s a possibility that if Morocco changes its policy banning outgoing flights, all may go as planned. “It’s our understanding that Morocco is the only country that is not letting people leave. It’s outrageous and beyond the pale,” she said. “Even France and Spain aren’t doing that. “The onus,” she added, “is on Trudeau to get our Canadians home. What is Canada going to do? We’re not getting any updates on that.” In a news conference on Monday, Trudeau said Canada will deny entry to those who aren’t Canadian citizens or permanent residents. Americans are exempt from the travel ban and Canadians abroad can return into the country. However, Trudeau said airlines will now be mandated to do a basic health assessment of anyone travelling to Canada. “Anyone who has symptoms will not be able to come to Canada,” including citizens, he said. Maddow said Betty and Christa, and the other women on this particular trip in Marrakech, are being well-taken care of and will continue to be. An outing planned to the hills beyond the city was cancelled, she says, but only to remain near the airport should a flight home become available. “They’re sitting by the pool at the hotel,” she said. “No one is stranded.” Meanwhile, Pat Dukes waits. In the 55 years that he and Betty have been married, they’ve never been apart even this long. He’s still hoping the matter will be resolved this week and that Betty and Christa will get out on Friday and that he’ll be able to meet his wife on Saturday at Ottawa International Airport. And despite his feelings of helplessness, he’s trying not to worry. “It just depends on what else Morocco does,” he says. “I don’t know what I can do about it. I’ll take it one week at a time. “I can motor on without her,” he adds. “I would just rather motor on with her.” bdeachman@postmedia.com UPDATE: Trudeau closes border to most non-citizens; three new Ottawa COVID-19 cases confirmed COVID-19: Confirmed cases, latest news and other developments in Ottawa STAY HOME: COVID-19 spreading in community, 100s could be infected, says Ottawa’s medical officer of health	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line591
__label__wiki	0.981867	0.981867	Share this Story: York University launches review after event with ex-Israeli soldiers met with massive protest York University launches review after event with ex-Israeli soldiers met with massive protest 'Acts of violence are not tolerated on our campuses and York University has zero tolerance for hate,' said York’s president Rhonda Lenton in a statement Joseph Brean Politicians and Jewish groups expressed concern about hatred, racism and violence they said was on display at Vari Hall, York University’s main student centre. Photo by Peter J. Thompson/National Post/File TORONTO — York University has launched a review of how it handles free expression on campus over the Middle East conflict, after a Jewish student group’s event featuring former Israeli soldiers was disrupted by a massive protest Wednesday night. “I want to emphasize in the strongest possible terms that acts of violence are not tolerated on our campuses and York University has zero tolerance for hate. There is simply no place for it in our community,” said York’s president Rhonda Lenton in a statement. She said she was “deeply disappointed” by the “verbal and physical confrontations.” York University launches review after event with ex-Israeli soldiers met with massive protest Back to video “I also believe it is essential to proactively develop strategies for fostering a more productive dialogue around these issues,” she said. “I hope we will continue to challenge ourselves, as a university and a community, to debate and protest passionately, but to do so with respect for differing points of view and generosity towards our opponents.” York University president Rhonda Lenton Photo by CNW Group/York University Politicians and Jewish groups expressed concern about hatred, racism and violence they said was on display at Vari Hall, York’s main student centre. “I am disappointed that York University allowed for a hate-filled protest to take place last night at Vari Hall. I stand with the Jewish students and the Jewish community,” said Ontario Premier Doug Ford. Toronto’s Mayor John Tory said he supports free speech and the right to protest, “but there is absolutely no place for hate or violence in Toronto.” Video posted to social media of the protest showed little outright violence, but many people jostling in an unruly crowd overseen by police, and loud chanting of “Viva viva Palestina,” “Occupation is a crime,” “viva intifada (uprising)” and “One two three four occupation no more five six seven eight Israel is an apartheid state.” Const. Allyson Douglas-Cook told the Canadian Press there was a physical altercation involving several people, and one person suffered minor injuries. There were no arrests although some people were removed by police. The event was disrupted by the protest but managed to continue, aided by police barring the doors and eventually escorting attendees out. They had seen a presentation by Reservists on Duty, a group of former Israel Defense Forces soldiers who speak on campuses in opposition to anti-Semitism and especially the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement to delegitimize Israel. The event was organized by Herut Canada, a branch of a resurgent movement with a long history in Israeli politics. Herut Zionism is a movement that has relaunched on campuses in Britain and Canada, describing itself as “unapologetic Zionism.” York University’s Vari Hall is divided by pro-Israel and pro-Palestine supporters during rallies held on Feb. 12, 2009. Photo by Aaron Lynett/National Post/File In Israel, Herut, which means freedom, was a far right-wing nationalist party, founded in 1948 by former Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin, and merged into the Likud party in 1988 The Canadian chapter was launched at York this year and last month was denied official student group status by the student government, but that decision was quickly reversed under pressure from the Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, which had sought access to records of the decision under freedom of information laws. The protest comes just as Canada changed its traditional course on diplomacy toward the Middle East by voting in favour of a United Nations resolution calling for the establishment of a Palestinian state that maintains the “territorial unity, contiguity and integrity of all of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.” It also follows a move by the United States to change its position and recognize some Israeli settlements as legal. Avi Benlolo: Campuses allowed anti-Semitism to fester. Now they're paying the price York University's ‘inclusion’ committee stacked with anti-Israel faculty, Jewish group charges (2016) York University president creates ‘inclusion’ advisory committee following controversy over painting Michael Levitt, the local MP for York Centre, said the situation at York was “grossly unacceptable,” and that he was “shocked and appalled by the chaotic scenes of intimidation and anti-Semitism.” “Hateful anti-Semitic chants, sirens being used to disrupt the speakers and protesters screaming insults at students attending the event are alarming and intolerable,” Levitt said. “The need for police protection from the violence and hate displayed by protesters is shameful in our pluralistic and democratic society.” “The community has to take urgent and immediate action to provide security for Jewish students in addition to removing hate groups like Students Against Israeli Apartheid and reforming the administration and the student federation to enable the university to ensure a welcoming environment to Jewish students,” said Avi Benlolo, CEO of the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, placing blame on York for creating an unsafe environment for Jewish students. “The Toronto Police Service and York University should be commended for ensuring that this event could be safely held,” said Michael Mostyn, CEO of B’nai Brith Canada. “Enraged mobs cannot be allowed to prevent lawful and peaceful gatherings from taking place on campus. Further investigation is required into how a registered student group was permitted to glorify terrorism and attempt to intimidate those peacefully assembling on campus. There must be consequences for violent behaviour.” • Email: jbrean@nationalpost.com \| Twitter: josephbrean	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line592
__label__cc	0.71424	0.28576	Amana Colonies Baxter Springs Chanute Council Grove Lindsborg Kansas City Vicinity LeCompton KC Fun Historical Visits KC Dining Social Sips Crystal’s Thoughts 2017 Case Study – Wichita, Kansas 2018 Case Study – Des Moines, Iowa Mitchell Car Museum – Coloring The Past When we think about travel at the turn of the 19th Century, everything seemed so black and white. Much of that is because color photography had not yet been invented. Of course, from visiting museums, we also realize that many of the automobiles of the day were produced in one color. Until our visit to the Mitchell Car Museum, we didn’t know there were so many wonderful colors to choose from in those days. Our trip to Boonville, Missouri offered us a chance to see some of these beautiful machines up close. You have to head back to the early 1800s to get to the beginning of this story. Over in Edinburgh, Henry Mitchell was working at a local wagon shop. After getting married, Henry and his wife, Margaret, sailed to America. Here he would take on a partner and proceed to open Mitchell Wagon Works. They produced some of the earliest wagons in Chicago. A few years later, he would move again, and this time land in Southport, Wisconsin. We learned this was a previous name for Kenosha, during our visit to the city along the lakeshore. Over time, the Mitchell family would grow and more would become engaged in the business. Delivering the Goods After the Civil War, William Lewis joined the business, after marrying into the family. Lewis bought into the company and the two of them established H. Mitchell & Co. The family business flourished and grew to the point of producing 8 to 10 thousand wagons per year. In 1880, disaster struck when the wagon factory burned to the ground. While many businesses would have been devastated, not so for this one. They not only regained their market share but became a leading world exporter of wagons around the world. Much like today, the technology of the times was moving forward, as we saw at the Mitchell Car Museum. Mitchell and Lewis capitalized on these advancements by introducing a motorized bicycle at the tail end of the 1800s. When you think of today’s motorcycles, these early models paled in comparison. Many of the motorized versions were no faster than peddle-powered bicycles. Still, the lessons learned with each new model would move technology forward. In 1902, Mitchell Motor Cycle was outpacing its competitor Harley-Davidson with a whopping 600 motorcycles. Besides outpacing Harley-Davidson, there was another notable event in 1902. That was the year that Mitchell and Lewis introduced their first automobile. The following year they established the Mitchell Motor Car Company, which signified the move from wagons to autos. They started with two models that offered customers a choice between 4 or 7 horsepower motors. By 1904, they had streamlined their assembly process to the point that they built 82 new automobiles. The lessons they learned from the wagon industry helped them to establish themselves as an international car manufacturer. Soon they were selling Mitchell cars on nearly every continent. One of the things that caught our eye was the beautiful colors that we saw lined up in the museum. After visiting a slew of museums, we have seen a variety of cars from the turn of the century. Most auto manufacturers seemed satisfied with sticking to black as their main offering, but not Mitchell. They had a range of colors to choose from, with blue being their most recognizable. We have to say that when combined with all of the brass accents, it makes for a striking appearance. For this visit, our tour guide was Katie Gibson, who serves as Tourism Director for the City of Boonville. She pointed out that Mitchell was ahead of the pack by choosing to offer customers a higher-end product produced in an array of colors. Coloring the Past The Mitchell Car Museum holds a wonderful assortment of models from the company’s history. Their ability to produce a consistently superior product pushed them forward in the marketplace. By 1910, the Mitchell Motor Car Company had just under 3000 employees and was producing over 5600 automobiles. New advancements were coming almost every year. Soon the gas lamps would be replaced with electric lights. Hand-crank starters would be updated to self-starting devices. The company continued to prosper under the family’s guidance. In 1916, the company sold around 10,000 vehicles, but the family was reeling from the loss of its founder the previous year. Tiring of the day-to-day details, the family sold their interest in the business to investors from New York and Chicago. This would signify the end of an era for the Mitchell Motor Car Company. 1917 saw the world plunged into war, which had severe implications for the economy. The government had contracted with the company for four-wheel-drive trucks to be used in the war effort. Still, the company was able to produce multiple body styles at the same time. Taking In the Mitchell Car Museum As Katie led us through the Mitchell Car Museum, we were in awe of the beauty of these vehicles. The collection is in the care of Lewis Miller, who is a descendant of the original owners. His Mitchell collection is certainly unique and allows others to have a peek into the past. Most of the machines have been meticulously revived by Lewis. He is owner, operator, and caretaker of the Mitchell Car Museum and his love for these vehicles is obvious. Over the past couple of decades, he and his wife, Susan, have amassed the most extensive collection of Mitchell vehicles in the world. Projects in the Works As we were finishing up our tour, Katie had one more surprise for us. In a nearby garage bay, Lewis has another project in the works. Here we could see all of the detailed work required to reboot one of these vehicles into pristine shape. It obviously requires a lot more than a wash and wax. This 1914 Mitchell Touring Car needed plenty of loving care, as well as some new cast replacement parts. We can only imagine the cost associated with keeping all of these antique machines in running order. Pin the Picture Below for Future Reference! By Jeff & Crystal\|2020-07-28T05:58:36-06:00July 28th, 2020\|Boonville, Midwest, Missouri\|8 Comments Share Us With Your Friends! About the Author: Jeff & Crystal We are Jeff and Crystal, a Baby Boomer couple who love exploring this big blue marble we all call home. After spending the first portion of our lives together raising a family, the empty-nest syndrome finally caught up with us. This has given us the opportunity to spend more time traveling, and seeking out new destinations. We developed this travel blog with the goal of showing how we “Visit Like A Local”. Our itineraries are designed to get us off the interstates, and into the heart of the places we visit. We believe this will allow our readers to choose a cultural experience, and eventually head home with a real flavor of the places they visit. We hope you are enjoying our website and will consider sharing it with your friends. Please come back often, as we post new articles three times per week. Where Twain Meets – Hannibal, Missouri Hunting History – Oakley, Kansas River Town Tastes – Hannibal, Missouri Eats The Kansas Badlands – Little Jerusalem State Park Hidden History – Hannibal Legends Drawing From Life – Becky Thatcher Tied To The Road – Karlock’s Kars Going On Safari – Topeka Zoo Triumph Over Oppression – Huck Finn Freedom Center December 8th, 2020 \| 12 Comments Self-Serve Banking – Brew Bank Take To The Skies – Nicholas Beazley Aviation Museum December 1st, 2020 \| 14 Comments Always The Showman – Evel Knievel Museum noel August 3, 2020 at 6:38 pm - Reply What an impressive collections of antique cars to check out here, what vivid colors some of these cars have. Love seeing all the gorgeous details and craftsmanship Jeff & Crystal August 4, 2020 at 3:32 am - Reply They are some amazing creations. Carol Colborn August 4, 2020 at 2:32 am - Reply What a find you have here. The Mitchell’s were certainly great manufacturers with thousands of wagons, more motorcycles than Harley Davidson, and then the stylish colorful automobiles. Great Lewis keeps the legacy going. The number of products that they were able to turn out was staggering. Especially when you consider the age of automation had not really materialized. Karen Warren August 5, 2020 at 8:17 am - Reply Those old cars look lovely. But I suspect that they were rather uncomfortable to ride in, and probably very cold as well! Jeff & Crystal August 5, 2020 at 11:33 am - Reply Surely, and the roads were probably quite the challenge to navigate. CarolE Terwilliger Meyers August 7, 2020 at 5:28 pm - Reply The Mitchell Car Museum sounds like a must when visiting Boonville, Missouri. It also seems unusual in that it specializes in magnificent “old-timers.” It is definitely a place to visit when in Boonville. © Copyright 2017-2020 Our Changing Lives All Rights Reserved	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line593
__label__cc	0.590511	0.409489	We have been working with the commission in terms of being able to better define the mapping and so on. We're also working with them to update and modernize the information they have from all the different carriers. With respect to ISED and their hexagon mapping issues, we're certainly having a look at what they will propose to see whether it's beneficial to us or not. Lloyd Longfield Liberal Guelph, ON Terrific. To stay on that one—the clock is ticking here—I was working with the University of Guelph. I know there's been a Yale review panel as well with industry and academic collaboration around these types of issues. The R2B2 program at the University of Guelph is a rural and remote broadband study that's going on under confidentiality agreements. I signed an agreement in order to see their work. They're looking at the commercial platforms as well as the technical platforms. Looking at safe places to do these studies, could any company that's here tonight address how we're working with academic institutions as safe places to review commercial and technical matters that can then come toward CRTC and government bodies? Maybe I could give a little bit of context. We're focused on the 5G space, which, as you know, is new technology being deployed across the world now for wireless, bringing speeds and capacities and coverage that we haven't seen prior. We've been using that as an anchor point for work with the University of British Columbia, Communitech down in southwestern Ontario, and a number of other universities. It's very similar to what you just described, as a place to bring real-world problems and to have university and research capability. Frankly, some campus locations provide a nice little hotbed to test the capability of these types of services—at UBC, for example, for things like autonomous vehicles and sensor and IoT tracking. That's one way we've done it in a handful of locations across the country. It really seems like we are at a pivot point. Personally, I didn't know what a Zoom was until COVID hit. Now everybody is seeing other uses, new uses, and remote working. People are saying that sometimes remote working is better than working in an office. Business is going to change in terms of what they're going to ask from networks. I wonder about the capacity for us to deal with those questions, both from industry as well as from government regulations. We would agree with that comment. Our organization exists across this country, and as we think about that time when we return to work—hopefully, reasonably and safely soon—with 26,000 employees, we need to think about how we do that. That will lead to a very different way in which we deploy our forces across the country and a different way in which we use our real estate. As we do that, it leads to different thinking in terms of the technology and the capabilities we have that will allow people to connect—like this—in [Technical difficulty—Editor] environment. This one is for the group. In the last Parliament, I was on the industry committee, and we did a study on broadband. We saw the competing interests of rural versus urban, profit in the urban centres, no profit in the rural centres, small users, large users, MVNOs entering the market and taking up some pipeline, and then the United States and some of the priorities that were being put through the United States in terms of giving preferential treatment to some customers. These issues are very tricky, and I think the CRTC needs to...or maybe we as politicians need to look at the CRTC structure and see how we could give support in a different way for you to bring your product to market. We have a nod of the head from Rogers. Is it complicated? Exactly, yes it is. I'm out of time. Mr. Lemire, you have six minutes. Sébastien Lemire Bloc Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC At the last meeting of our committee, Deputy Minister Kennedy told us about the desired mechanism, which is that for every dollar invested by the federal government in rural broadband access, but also in all government programs, the private sector should invest one dollar. My question is for the people from the companies here today who are service providers. Are you satisfied with existing programs? At this time, is it still appropriate to invest in the construction and maintenance of the network? By "appropriate" I mean cost-effective. Is it cost-effective for service providers to invest in the regional network in 2020? Ms. Labrie from Cogeco could answer first. Good evening. That's a good question. Our main activity is to invest in the regions. Obviously, the population density is lower there than in urban areas. We are committed to investing in the regions. The farther away you go from major centres, the more you find regions that are underserved or not served at all. Of course, this costs even more, hence the importance of establishing partnerships with the various levels of government. Over the past year, I think there has been an impetus on the part of the federal and provincial governments to work together. Everyone can work together. We made recommendations regarding the federal connect to innovate program. The next program is the universal broadband fund. We have made recommendations to improve the programs, including clarifying the criteria, which we sometimes found to be too vague. We also want to make sure that this program is technologically flexible and that we don't necessarily focus on the transport infrastructure, but on the final points to be connected. The network needs to be flexible, both in terms of its backbone and the last mile, to meet the connectivity needs of Canadians. We have made recommendations. We need to continue to work collectively, all together, to address connectivity needs. I find it interesting that you talk about working together. Earlier, the Rogers representative said that the wireline network is 50 to 200 times better, but that it takes a lot of time and money to expand it. He talked about the digital divide—I find the term interesting—between urban and rural areas, and the need for sustained investment in the network in the regions. My question is for Mr. Prevost, from Rogers. Is the federal investment in this network sufficient or adequate, particularly in these times of the COVID-19 pandemic, where the need for connectivity is greater? Thank you for your answer, Mr. Prevost. I have a question for you, Mr. Geheran. As a representative of Telus, you mentioned earlier that even though it costs 30% more to invest in the regions in terms of connectivity, the 20-year rollout is not working and that the spectrum approach needs to be rethought. Are you satisfied with the programs in place, and how could they be improved to ensure their effectiveness? Would it require more money, or shorter time frames? It's a very good question, but there were two points mixed up in your interpretation. The 20-year deployment of spectrum means that we are not getting Canadians served by good LTE wireless coverage. It could be because the spectrum is just not being utilized and the infrastructure or the towers haven't been built. When I talked about the 30% more that it costs to build, that was for the fibre network that we are extending into our rural areas across our provinces. That has a very long payback period. It is very expensive, and the government funding programs to date have been inadequate. They are not well suited, they take too long to process and they don't release the capital in a timely fashion that makes it efficient to get a better return for the taxpayer. The next round of questions goes to MP Masse for six minutes. Thank you, Madam Chair, and to all of the witnesses for being here. At the last committee hearing, I got rather animated with the minister and some of the answers we heard. I'll tell you the reasons why and where I'm going with this vis-à-vis solutions for our current problem. As a New Democrat, I've always believed that the service is essential for Canadians and is also very much a part of equality. To hear the minister talk about this being part of equality and then people having to wait until 2030 is very frustrating for me, because since I've been elected I've seen the governments collect $20 billion plus from spectrum auctions—most recently, with one being $3.5 billion—and roll out basically only a portion of that at $170 million a year for the next 10 years, with the hope that we actually connect Canadians by 2030. This pandemic has heightened, I think, the experiences of people and the inconveniences of being returned to social isolation, being disengaged from the community and not having an opportunity to run your business. There is a whole series of different things that are crucially important and that I think could be an advantage for our country. Here's one of the things that I would like to ask about. Perhaps we can go in reverse order for answers to this question. I believe Xplornet was last, so it would be Xplornet, Telus, Rogers and Cogeco. If we redeployed our spectrum assets that we've collected, and the current spectrums that are coming up, to be reprioritized to be extensions into connecting Canada, is it possible to do so within about a three-year period, with maybe some cleanup in the fourth year? Again, if we use our spectrum, the assets we have accumulated that the government hasn't spent to date and the future ones, with the directive to connect Canadians, is that a possibility? I'll certainly be looking forward to seeing how we can change things. Maybe we can start with Xplornet and then go back in reverse order. Thank you. That's a great question. To us, there are four key things that you need to succeed with rural broadband. You need money, you need spectrum, you need access to key infrastructure and you need co-operation. The barriers that you encounter in different rural areas of this country are different. Sometimes the problem isn't money. Sometimes it is economically feasible to serve certain areas but you can't get the spectrum to do it, or you can't get the municipal co-operation to do it. Or you can't get access, as some of my colleagues here have mentioned, to things like poles or other key infrastructure. It's those four things brought together that are needed in order to achieve success. Some of them we can control, and I assure you that all of us attempt to do our best to control it. In answer to your question, it all depends on what problem you're trying to solve where and what combination you use, but in theory, yes, you could do it, if you use the right combinations across the country. Thank you very much for that answer. I want to make sure we get everybody in here. I believe Telus is next, then Rogers and then Cogeco. Thank you. It's a great question, and I believe it is doable were we to get an alignment of the release of the monies of that magnitude you talk about to make it worthwhile nationally. I believe that if you can align private capital with provincial and federal capital, you can get a great contribution on the part of everyone to make these projects economical, and you should have the will then to remove the barriers such as access rights of way and other impediments that typically slow down these projects. Never before has the circumstance been such that I think you have the foundation where everyone is on the same page, sees the need and should have a bold ambition. If you don't set a bold target with aspirations of completing the work, completing it economically, reporting on the expenditures appropriately and demonstrating that you've provided connectivity to citizens—not to hubs or libraries or schools, but to citizens' homes and businesses—then I think you can say it would be something in our legacy that this country could be proud of. I'll turn to Rogers. For Rogers, we agree with everything that has been said so far. We do think that the funds from the spectrum auctions should be devoted to bettering telecommunication services. The one caution we would have is that a three-year target strikes us as really ambitious, because we're talking about places that are very far away, very cold and, in some cases, there is only a winter road or six weeks in the winter to get materials to that location. There's also a limited number of skilled installers to do some of this work. While three years would be a fabulous target, we think it might not quite be achievable in that time frame. Again, you're probably talking about the last 1% to 2%, which are the hardest, so that might need a more extended time frame. We do need to be realistic. Cogeco, there's just a bit of time left, but we're close. That's fine, I have very little to add to everything that has been said already. Everything that has been said is pretty much in the ballpark. Access to support structures is key. We've had permits outstanding for almost three years, so that is a barrier that needs to be removed. The target that you suggested of three years is very ambitious, but there are things that could and need to be done.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line599
__label__cc	0.746204	0.253796	Britney Spears Will Open Her First Solo Art Show In France By Alexandrea Orozco-Lau Last updated Jan 19, 2020 Many of you know Britney Spears. Or know of her from her famous meltdown where she shaved her head. Not only was she a Mouseketeer, a singer, but did you know that she is an artist as well? It’s true. She is a painter, she sold her first painting for $10,000 back in 2017. The money of course went towards the victims of the Las Vegas mass shooting. Her painting that sold was called “Squiggles and Flowers” And on January 18th in Figeac, France she will have her own art displayed. Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History is Renovating With a… https://www.instagram.com/p/B6-ulTxIciI/ It will be her first solo show of contemporary Art. Who knows maybe squiggles and flowers will make an appearance once again. But in all honesty I am excited to see exactly what she has to offer and the artistic world because she is one heck of a singer. ArtBritney SpearsFranceSquiggles and Flowers Alexandrea Orozco-Lau Man is least himself in his own person, give him a mask and he will tell you the world. Garbage Pail Kids Themed Monopoly Coming Soon! An Evangelion Themed Train Has Arrived In Japan	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line601
__label__cc	0.625915	0.374085	Capability procedure for school staff This guidance may apply to all school staff except where reference is made to appraisal, which is a process applicable only to teachers. This procedure sets out the steps to be followed when the head teacher/principal believes that an employee is failing consistently to perform their duties to a professionally acceptable standard. The primary objective is to ensure maximum support through guidance, counselling and training in order that the employee's performance improves, and the problem is resolved. Concerns about performance should in all cases initially be addressed through support provided within the appraisal process, before consideration is given to use of this capability procedure. The use of this capability procedure must be distinguished and kept entirely separate from initial support provided under the appraisal procedure. It should only be used after such informal support has been provided. The appraisal process will be suspended when the capability procedure is invoked. This procedure should not be used in cases of alleged misconduct or lack of capability due to persistent ill health, which should be dealt with separately through the disciplinary procedure and absence management procedure respectively. It is not applicable to newly qualified teachers for whom separate induction procedures should apply. At every step of this procedure, including at all meetings, the employee has the right to be accompanied by a representative of an independent trade union or a work colleague. Timescales in this procedure may only be shortened with the agreement of both parties. Principles for handling issues of concern with regard to performance It is intended that, where concerns about perceived under-performance and professional difficulties arise, they are considered, discussed with the employee and progressed in a structured, supportive, non-threatening and open way that takes account of individual circumstances. Employees are expected to understand the nature of their role, including the professional duties set out in the School Teachers Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD), the duties set out in their job description and the professional standards set out in the Teachers' Standards. Support staff are expected to carry out the duties set out in their job description and classroom-based support staff should also adhere to the Professional Standards for Teaching Assistants (2016). Managers are expected to ensure that all employees have a clearly defined and agreed job description, reviewed on a regular basis in order that it remains relevant and employees know what is expected of them, and that relevant school policies and other information are available and drawn to employees' attention. Perceived difficulties may cover a range of issues or may be concerned with one issue, eg classroom management. Concerns may be identified at any time and should be addressed promptly. Cause(s) of difficulty may be due to one or more of the following: the knowledge and technical skills required for the post are changing but the employee does not possess the new skills and knowledge required despite opportunities to acquire them circumstances outside the school are affecting the employee's work performance circumstances within the school environment – for example redeployment or new or additional responsibility or perceived inadequate management support or unreasonable demands – are affecting the employee's work performance. Whenever perceived lapses from acceptable standards of work performance arise, either through the appraisal process or otherwise, they should initially be discussed with the employee concerned by their immediate line manager. The line manager should seek to identify the nature and causes of any perceived problems. Some difficulties may be temporary because of family/personal circumstances or short-term health problems. The manager should also consider whether the issues are a matter of lack of capability, or of ill health or misconduct which should be dealt with through separate procedures. After this discussion has taken place, the manager may decide that: the matter is groundless and should be dropped the matter is of a relatively trivial or ‘one-off’ nature and that informal discussion is enough to resolve the matter without further action the matter is not an issue of capability and should be dealt with under separate procedures the matter is one where informal support should be provided in relation to performance through the appraisal process. Where support has already been provided to the teacher as part of the appraisal process and concerns remain, the manager may refer the matter to the head teacher in order that a meeting may be held to consider whether the matter should be dealt with through the capability procedure. Capability procedure – stage 1 Formal meeting/support, monitoring and review Where the head teacher/principal determines that a meeting should be convened to consider use of the capability procedure, they will write to the employee inviting them to a meeting to discuss the ongoing concerns and discuss and seek to agree a programme of support. The employee will be given at least five working days' notice of the meeting. The letter should set out the following: the nature of these concerns including the evidence to support them evidence of any previous support provided to address the concerns the names of those who will be at the meeting (recognising that it is beneficial for the numbers present to be kept to the minimum required to facilitate the meeting) the employee's right to be accompanied by a trade union representative or workplace colleague an outline of actions which might follow. An extra copy of the letter, together with any enclosures, will be provided for the employee to pass to their representative. At the meeting the head teacher/principal will outline the concerns and the employee (or their representative) will be given the opportunity to respond, ask questions and make comments and representations. The head teacher/principal will then determine whether concerns remain and, if so, whether support should continue to be provided within the appraisal process or whether the capability procedure should commence, and the appraisal process will cease. The head teacher/principal may decide to adjourn and reconvene the meeting at any point to provide further time for consideration of issues raised or matters to be determined. If the head teacher/principal decides that the capability procedure should commence, the meeting will discuss and seek to agree the following: the issues which continue to give rise to concern about capability and the standards required to bring the capability procedure to an end (including any specific reasonable and achievable objectives, and criteria against which matters will be judged) the further guidance, counselling and training to be provided to the employee arrangements for monitoring and assessment, including the name of the manager responsible, and the length of the review period over which this will happen (this should, in cases where professional support is to be provided, normally be a period of no fewer than 13 weeks). Where both parties are satisfied that concerns have been addressed in a shorter period and that the improved performance can be sustained, the monitoring period may be ended earlier than scheduled. The head teacher/principal will make it clear to the employee that failure to meet the required standards could in due course lead to dismissal. In very serious cases, this could include the issuing of a formal written warning following the meeting. The head teacher/principal will write to the teacher to confirm the outcome and decisions of the meeting, including any disciplinary warning, within five working days. The employee will be entitled to record any points of disagreement. Notes will be taken of the meeting and a copy sent to the employee. Throughout the review period, the manager and employee will meet to discuss the employee’s performance about any agreed objectives and criteria. If, following the final review meeting, the head teacher/principal decides that the employee has made enough improvement, this will be confirmed in writing and the capability procedure will come to an end and appraisal will re-start. If the head teacher/principal decides that no or insufficient improvement has been made, the head teacher/principal will determine that a meeting under stage 2 of this procedure will be arranged. Any remaining concerns managers continue to have during the review period must be discussed with the employee to try to achieve the required improvement. Further formal meeting/support, monitoring and review [Skip this part where informal support is within appraisal] Where the head teacher/principal determines that a meeting under stage 2 should be convened, they will write to the employee informing them of a further meeting, in accordance with the procedure in paragraphs 4.1 and 4.2. The employee will be given at least ten working days' notice of the meeting. At the meeting, the head teacher/principal will outline the concerns and the employee (or their representative) will be given the opportunity to respond, ask questions and make comments and representations. The head teacher/principal will then determine whether concerns remain and, if so, will inform the employee that the capability procedure will continue. The meeting will then discuss and seek to agree arrangements for further support, monitoring and review in accordance with paragraph 4.3 above. The head teacher/principal will: inform the employee that a formal written warning will be issued which may, in very serious cases, be a final written warning; and inform the employee again that failure to meet the required standards could in due course lead to dismissal. The head teacher/principal will write to the employee to confirm the outcome and decisions of the meeting, including any disciplinary warning, within five working days. The employee will be entitled to record any points of disagreement. Notes will be taken of the meeting and a copy sent to the employee. Throughout the further review period, the manager and employee will meet to discuss the employee’s performance about any agreed objectives and criteria. Any remaining concerns managers continue to have during the review period must be discussed with the employee to try to achieve the required improvement. If, following the final review meeting, the head teacher/principal decides that the employee has made enough improvement, this will be confirmed in writing and the capability procedure will be terminated. If the head teacher/principal decides that the employee may make enough improvement with further support, this stage of the procedure should be extended and such support provided prior to further review. If the head teacher/principal decides that no or insufficient improvement has been made and the employee shows no sign of doing so, a capability hearing under stage 3 should be convened. Capability hearing Where the head teacher/principal determines that a meeting under stage 2 should be convened, the clerk to the governors will write to the employee inviting them to a capability hearing. The employee will be given at least ten working days' notice of the capability hearing. Sympathetic consideration will be given to any request for postponement to allow representation or where there are other extenuating circumstances. The capability hearing will take place before a committee of the governing body, comprising governors with no previous involvement in the matter. The purpose of the hearing will be to determine whether the employee is performing to the required standards; whether they should be provided with further support; whether they should be dismissed on grounds of capability; or whether some other course of action is available. Where the employee is employed by a local authority or academy chain, in normal circumstances a representative of that employer will attend to advise the committee on procedure. a written statement of the concerns to be presented to the committee the recommendation which will be made by the head teacher/principal any supporting papers which will be referred to during the hearing and the names of any witnesses to be called evidence of the support previously provided to the employee the names of the members of the committee and others who will be at the meeting an outline of actions which might follow, making it clear that dismissal is a potential outcome of the meeting. The letter will give the employee the opportunity of making a written statement for circulation to the members of the committee in advance of the hearing. An extra copy of the letter, together with any enclosures, will be provided for the employee to pass to their representative. The format for the hearing will be as follows: The head teacher/principal (or their representative), the employee and the employee's representative should enter the meeting room together. The chair of the committee will describe the procedure, with any procedural questions resolved at this point. The head teacher/principal will set out the concerns about the employee’s performance, referring to evidence and calling any witnesses. The employee and/or their representative will question the head teacher/principal (and witnesses) on their statement(s) and the evidence. Members of the committee will question the head teacher/principal (and witnesses) on their statement(s) and the evidence. The employee and/or their representative will make a statement in response, referring to evidence and calling any witnesses. The head teacher/principal will question the employee or their representative (and witnesses) on their statement(s) and the evidence. Members of the committee will question the employee or their representative (and witnesses) on their statement(s) and the evidence. The head teacher/principal will summarise and conclude. The employee and/or their representative will summarise and conclude. The head teacher/principal, the employee and their representative withdraw while the committee, advised by any adviser present, consider the case. The chair of the committee will announce the decision of the committee in the presence of all parties. The outcomes of the capability hearing may be that: the employee will not be dismissed and that no further action will be taken the employee will not be dismissed but that a further period of support will be put in place and a further disciplinary warning issued the employee should be dismissed/should cease to work at the school, or the employee should be dismissed/should cease to work at the school unless agreement can be reached on suitable alternatives to dismissal, eg redeployment to alternative work within the establishment, if necessary, on a different grade. Where an employee is moved to a lower graded post, an appropriate pay safeguarding arrangement will be considered. The clerk to the governors will write to the employee within five working days of the capability hearing, setting out the decision of the committee. Where the decision is to dismiss, the letter will inform the employee that they can appeal against the decision to the relevant appeals committee of the governing body. The employee will be given 15 working days from the date of the letter to write to the clerk to the governors stating their intention to appeal and setting out the grounds for the appeal. Where a decision is taken to dismiss an employee employed by a local authority, the director of education for the local authority will be instructed to issue notice of termination when the employee has not appealed against the decision within the set timescale, or immediately following an unsuccessful appeal. Capability procedure – right of appeal The employee has a right of appeal against any warning issued by the head teacher at any stage of the capability procedure and against any decision taken at a capability hearing. Such appeals will be considered by the appeals committee of the governing body, comprising at least three governors with no previous involvement in the case. The employee may exercise the right to appeal within 15 days of receipt of any warning and the staff appeals committee shall meet to hear the appeal within 15 days of the appeal being lodged. The employee shall be informed in writing of the date and time of the meeting at least five days in advance. It can either confirm the warning or decision, cancel it or impose a lesser penalty. NEU Capability model policy - no support within appraisal This policy may apply to all school staff except where reference is made to appraisal, which is a process applicable only to teachers. Capability checklist This checklist should be used alongside the NEU’s model policy on capability to help you negotiate a policy acceptable to the union. Not what you were looking for? Try the A-Z Guidance on classroom observation protocol in England Classroom observation is developmental and supportive, the NEU has produced guidance and protocol for conducting classroom observation in England. Appraisal- model policy Joint NEU and NAHT model policy Model policy for appraising teacher performance. Capability Procedures Model Policy - Checklist The objective of formal and/or informal support should be to improve staff performance where appropriate, and not to penalise staff for failing to meet management expectations. Lesson observation in FE Colleges This guidance outlines NEU best practice models for both the conduct of lesson observations and the Teaching and Learning Observation System (TLOS) framework within which they are conducted. Appraisal Review Meetings The most common queries NEU members have on preparing for a teacher appraisal review meeting. Classroom observation protocol in Wales Guidance on classroom observation protocol in Wales	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line602
__label__wiki	0.744861	0.744861	Tag Archives: Biden Names Foreign Policy Team Biden-Harris 2020, Climate Action, Climate Change, Foreign Policy, Joe Biden, National Security, News & Photo Features President-Elect Biden Presents his Foreign Policy, National Security Team November 24, 2020 krubin Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris: “Today’s nominees and appointees come from different places. They bring a range of different life and professional experiences and perspectives. And they also share something else in common: an unwavering belief in America’s ideals. An unshakeable commitment to democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. And they understand the indispensable role of America’s leadership in the world. These women and men are patriots and public servants to their core, and they are the leaders we need to meet the challenges of this moment — and those that lie ahead. © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com Today in Wilmington Delaware, President-Elect Joe Biden, accompanied by Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris, presented his nominations and staff for critical foreign policy and national security positions in his administration. Collectively, they brought a sigh of relief – their professionalism, expertise, their values. For the first time in four years, you had a sense of a functioning government, working on behalf of its people and building upon its ideals and values. Here are highlights from their remarks: President-Elect Joe Biden: Today, I am pleased to announce nominations and staff for critical foreign policy and national security positions in my Administration. It’s a team that will keep our country and our people safe and secure. And it’s a team that reflects the fact that America is back. Ready to lead the world, not retreat from it. Ready to confront our adversaries, not reject our allies. And ready to stand up for our values. In fact, in calls from world leaders in the weeks since we won this election, I’ve been struck by how much they are looking forward to the United States reasserting its historic role as a global leader. This team meets this moment. They embody my core belief that America is strongest when it works with its allies. Collectively, this team has secured some of the most defining national security and diplomatic achievements in recent memory — made possible through decades of experience working with our partners. That’s how we truly keep America safe without engaging in needless military conflicts, and our adversaries in check and terrorists at bay. It’s how we counter terrorism and extremism. Control this pandemic and future ones. Deal with the climate crisis, nuclear proliferation, cyber threats and emerging technologies, the spread of authoritarianism, and so much more. And while this team has unmatched experience and accomplishments, they also reflect the idea that we cannot meet these challenges with old thinking or unchanged habits. For example, we are going to have the first woman lead the intelligence community, the first Latino and immigrant to lead the Department of Homeland Security, and a groundbreaking diplomat at the United Nations. We are going to have a principal on the National Security Council whose full-time job is to fight climate change — for the first time ever. And my national security team will be coordinated by one of the youngest national security advisors in decades. Experience and leadership. Fresh thinking and perspective. And, an unrelenting belief in the promise of America I’ve long said that America leads not only by the example of our power, but by the power of our example. I am proud to put forward this incredible team that will lead by example. As Secretary of State, I nominate Tony Blinken. There is no one better prepared for this job. He will be a Secretary of State who previously served in top roles on Capitol Hill, in the White House, and in the State Department. And he delivered for the American people in each place. For example, leading our diplomatic efforts in the fight against ISIS. Strengthening America’s alliances and position in the Asia-Pacific. Guiding our response to the global refugee crisis with compassion and determination. He will rebuild morale and trust in the State Department, where his career in government began. And he starts off with the kind of relationships around the world that many of his predecessors had to build over years. I know. I’ve seen him in action. He is one of my closest and most trusted advisors. And I know him, and his family — immigrants and refugees, a Holocaust survivor who taught him to never take for granted the very idea of America as a place of possibilities. He is ready on Day One. As Secretary of Homeland Security, I nominate Alejandro Mayorkas. This is one of the hardest jobs in government. The DHS Secretary needs to keep us safe from threats at home and from abroad. And it’s a job that plays a critical role in fixing our broken immigration system. After years of chaos, dysfunction, and absolute cruelty at DHS, I am proud to nominate an experienced leader who has been hailed by both Democrats and Republicans. Ali, as he goes by, is a former U.S Attorney. Former Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Former DHS Deputy Secretary. Helped implement DACA. Prevented attacks on the homeland. Enhanced our cybersecurity. Helped communities recover from natural disasters. Combatted Ebola and Zika. And while DHS affects everyone, given its critical role in immigration matters, I am proud that for the first time ever, the Department will be led by an immigrant, a Latino, who knows that we are a nation of laws and values. And one more thing — today is his birthday. Happy birthday, Ali. As Director of National Intelligence, I nominate Avril Haines, the first woman in this post. To lead our intelligence community, I did not pick a politician or a political figure. I picked a professional. She is eminently qualified: Former Deputy Director of the CIA. Former Deputy National Security Advisor to President Obama. A fierce advocate for telling the truth and levelling it with decision makers. I know because I’ve worked with her for over a decade. Brilliant. Humble. Can talk literature and theoretical physics, fixing cars, flying planes, and running a bookstore cafe, in a single conversation — because she’s done all of that. Above all, if she gets word of a threat coming to our shores — like another pandemic or foreign interference in our elections — she will not stop raising the alarms until the right people take action. People will be able to take her word, because she always calls it like she sees it. We are safer with Avril on the watch. As the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, I nominate Linda Thomas-Greenfield. A seasoned and distinguished diplomat with 35 years in the Foreign Service, who never forgot where she came from, growing up in segregated Louisiana. The eldest of eight. Her Dad couldn’t read or write, but she says he was the smartest person she knew. First in her family to graduate from high school, then college, with the whole world literally ahead of her, as her Dad and Mom taught her to believe. Posts in Switzerland, Pakistan, Kenya, The Gambia, Nigeria, Jamaica, and Liberia — where she was known as “the People’s Ambassador.” Willing to meet with anyone — an ambassador, a student, working people struggling to get by — and always treating them with the same level of dignity and respect. She was our top State Department official in charge of Africa policy during the Ebola crisis. She’s received overwhelming support from her fellow career Foreign Service Officers. And she will have cabinet status because I want to hear her voice on major foreign policy decisions. As my National Security Advisor, I choose Jake Sullivan. He’s a once-in-a-generation intellect with the experience and temperament for one of the toughest jobs in the world. When I was Vice President, he served as my National Security Advisor. He was a top advisor to Secretary of State Clinton. He helped lead the early negotiations that led to the Iran Nuclear Deal. Helped broker the Gaza ceasefire in 2012. Played a key role in the Asia-Pacific rebalance in our Administration. And in this campaign for the presidency, he served as one of my most trusted advisors on both foreign and domestic policy, including helping me develop our COVID-19 strategy. Jake understands my vision that economic security is national security. He will help steer what I call a foreign policy for the Middle Class, for families like his growing up in Minnesota, where he was raised by parents who were educators and taught him the values of hard work, decency, service, and respect. What that means is to win the competition for the future, we need to keep us safe and secure, and build back better than ever. We need to invest in our people, sharpen our innovative edge, and unite the economic might of democracies around the world to grow the middle class and reduce inequality — and do things like counter the predatory trade practices of our competitors and adversaries. And before I talk about the final person for today, let me talk about this new position. For the first time ever, the United States will have a full-time climate leader who will participate in ministerial-level meetings — that’s a fancy way of saying they’ll have a seat at every table around the world. For the first time ever, there will be a principal on the National Security Council who will make sure climate change is on the agenda in the Situation Room. And for the first time ever, we will have a Presidential envoy on climate. And he will be matched with a high-level White House Climate Policy Coordinator and policy-making structure — to be announced in December — that will lead efforts here in the U.S. to combat the climate crisis and mobilize action to meet this existential threat. Let me be clear: I don’t for a minute underestimate the difficulties of meeting my bold commitments to fighting climate change. But at the same time, no one should underestimate for a minute my determination to do just that. As for the man himself, if I had a former Secretary of State who helped negotiate the Paris Climate Agreement, or a former Presidential nominee, or a former leading Senator, or the head of a major climate organization for the job, it would show my commitment to this role. The fact that I picked the one person who is all of these things speaks unambiguously. The world will know that one of my closest friends — John Kerry — is speaking for America on one of the most pressing threats of our time. To this team — thank you for accepting the call to serve. And to your families, thank you for your sacrifice. We could not do this without you. Together, these public servants will restore America’s global leadership and moral leadership. They will ensure our service members, diplomats, and intelligence professionals can do their jobs free of politics. They will not only repair, they will reimagine American foreign policy and national security for the next generation. And they will tell me what I need to know, not what I want to know. To the American people, this team will make us proud to be Americans. And as more states certify the results of the election, there is progress to wrap up our victory. I am pleased to have received ascertainment from GSA, to carry out a smooth and peaceful transition of power so our team can prepare to meet the challenges at hand — to control the pandemic, build back better, and protect the safety and security of the American people. And to the United States Senate, I hope these outstanding nominees receive a prompt hearing, and that we can work across the aisle in good faith — move forward as a country. Let’s begin the work to heal and unite America and the world. Thank you. May God bless you. May God protect our troops. I’ll now turn it over to the new team, starting with our next Secretary of State, Tony Blinken Nominee for Secretary of State, Antony Blinken That’s who we are. That’s what America represents to the world, however imperfectly. Now, we must proceed with equal measures of humility and confidence. Humility because most of the world’s problems are not about us, even as they affect us. We cannot flip a switch to solve them. We need to partner with others. But also, confidence, because America at its best still has a greater ability than any country on earth to bring others together to meet the challenges of our time. That’s where the men and women of the State Department — foreign service officers and civil servants — come in. I’ve witnessed their passion, energy, and courage to keep us safe, secure, and prosperous. I’ve seen them bring luster to a word that deserves our support: diplomacy. If confirmed, it will be the honor of my life to help lead them. Nominee for Secretary of Department of Homeland Security, Alejandro N. Mayorkas The Department of Homeland Security has a noble mission: to help keep us safe and to advance our proud history as a country of welcome. There are more than 240,000 career employees who selflessly dedicate their talent and energy to this mission. Many risk their lives in doing so. I would be honored to return to the Department and support these dedicated public servants in fulfilling their responsibilities and realizing our country’s greatest hopes, all in partnership with the communities we serve. Nominee for Director of National Intelligence, Ambassador Avril Haines I know, Mr. President-elect and Madame Vice President-elect, that you have selected us not to serve you, but to work on behalf of the American people — to help advance our security, prosperity, and values. That, the call to service in this role, is what makes this nomination such a tremendous honor. If afforded the opportunity to do so, I will never forget that my role on this team is unique. Rather than that of a policy advisor, I will represent to you, Congress, and the American public, the patriots who comprise our Intelligence Community. Mr. President-elect, you know that I have never shied away from speaking truth to power, and that will be my charge as Director of National Intelligence. We have worked together for a long time, and I accept this nomination knowing that you would never want me to do otherwise — that you value the perspective of the Intelligence Community and that you will do so even when what I have to say may be inconvenient or difficult. I assure you there will be those times. And, finally, to our intelligence professionals, the work you do — oftentimes under the most austere conditions imaginable — is indispensable. It will become even more complex because you will be critical to helping this administration position itself not only against threats such as cyber attacks, terrorism, and the proliferation of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons but also those challenges that will define the next generation — from climate change, to pandemics, and corruption. It would be the honor of a lifetime to be able to work alongside you once again to take on these challenges together. Nominee for United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield Mr. President-elect, I’ve often heard you say how all politics is personal. That’s how you build relationships of trust and bridge disagreements and find common ground. In my thirty-five years in the Foreign Service across four continents, I put a Cajun spin on it. It’s called Gumbo diplomacy. Wherever I was posted around the world, I’d invite people of different backgrounds and beliefs to make a roux, chop onions for the holy trinity, and make homemade gumbo — my way to break down barriers, connect with people, and start to see each other on a human level: a bit of lagniappe as we say in Louisiana. That’s the charge in front of us today. The challenges we face — a global pandemic, the global economy, the global climate crisis, mass migration and extreme poverty, social justice — are unrelenting and interconnected. But they’re not unsolvable if America is leading the way. Appointment for National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan I pledge to you and to the American people that I will work relentlessly in service of the mission you have given us: To keep our country and our people safe. To advance our national interests. And to defend our values. I pledge to the exceptional national security team you have named today — and to the brilliant and diverse career professionals in national security across our government — that I will manage a humane and rigorous decision-making process that honors their work… Sir, we will be vigilant in the face of enduring threats, from nuclear weapons to terrorism. But you have also tasked us with reimagining our national security for the unprecedented combination of crises we face at home and abroad: the pandemic, the economic crisis, the climate crisis, technological disruption, threats to democracy, racial injustice, and inequality in all forms. The work of the team before you today will contribute to progress across all of these fronts. You have also tasked us with putting people at the center of our national security. The alliances we rebuild, the institutions we lead, the agreements we sign — all of them should be judged by a basic question: will this make life better, easier, safer, for working families across this country? Our foreign policy has to deliver for these families. And you have tasked us with helping unite America through our work, to pull people together to tackle big challenges…. I promise an open door to those who disagree. Our whole team can learn from them and it will make us better. To the American people, I had the honor of serving as Joe Biden’s national security adviser when he was vice president. I learned a lot about a lot. About diplomacy. About policy. Most importantly, about human nature. I watched him pair strength and resolve with humanity and empathy. That is the person America elected. That is also America itself. So Mr. President-elect, thank you for giving this kid from the heartland an extraordinary opportunity to serve the country I love so much. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, Former Secretary of State John Kerry Mr. President-elect — you’ve put forward a bold, transformative climate plan that lives up to the moment. But you’ve also underscored that no country alone can solve this challenge. Even the United States, for all our economic might, is responsible for only 15% of global emissions. The world must come to this table to solve this problem. You’re right to rejoin Paris on day one, and you’re right to recognize that Paris alone does not get the job done. At the global meeting in Glasgow one year from now, all nations must raise ambition together – or we will all fail, together. Success means tapping into the best of American ingenuity, creativity, and diplomacy — from brainpower to alternative energy power — using every tool we have to get where we need to go. No one should doubt the determination of the country that went to the moon, cured supposedly incurable diseases, and beat back global tyranny to win World War II. We will immediately, again, work with friends and partners to meet this challenge too. The road ahead is exciting. It means creating millions of middle-class jobs. It means less pollution in our air and in our ocean. It means making life healthier for citizens across the world. And it means we will strengthen the security of every nation on earth. In addressing the climate crisis, Joe Biden is determined to seize the future. Fifty-seven years ago, this week, Joe Biden and I were college kids when we lost the president who inspired us both to try and make a difference, a president who reminded us that here on Earth, “God’s work must truly be our own.” President Joe Biden will trust in God, and he will also trust in science to guide our work on earth to protect God’s creation. Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris: Congratulations Mr. President-elect on bringing together this extraordinary team. I have always believed in the nobility of public service, and these Americans embody it. Their lives and careers are a testament to the dedication, sacrifice, and commitment to civic responsibility that have strengthened our democracy — and kept America’s promise alive — for more than two hundred years. President-elect Biden and I have long known that when we were elected, we would inherit a series of unprecedented challenges upon walking into the White House. Addressing these challenges starts with getting this pandemic under control, opening our economy responsibly, and making sure it works for working people. And we also know that overcoming our challenges here at home is a necessary foundation for restoring and advancing our leadership around the world. And we are ready for that work. We will need to reassemble and renew America’s alliances; rebuild and strengthen the national security and foreign policy institutions that keep us safe and advance our nation’s interests; and confront and combat the existential threat of climate change that endangers us all…. I can say with confidence that they are — to a person — the right women and men for these critical positions. And I look forward to working alongside them on behalf of the American people — and on behalf of a President who will ask tough questions; demand that we be guided by facts; and expect our team to speak the truth. No matter what. A President who will be focused on one thing and one thing only: doing what’s best for The People of the United States of America… Today’s nominees and appointees come from different places. They bring a range of different life and professional experiences and perspectives. And they also share something else in common: an unwavering belief in America’s ideals. An unshakeable commitment to democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. And they understand the indispensable role of America’s leadership in the world. These women and men are patriots and public servants to their core, and they are the leaders we need to meet the challenges of this moment — and those that lie ahead. Biden AdministrationBiden Names Foreign Policy TeamBiden Nominates National Security TeamBiden-Harris 2020foreign policyJoe BidenNational SecurityPresident-elect Joe Biden FACT SHEET: President-elect Biden Announces American Rescue Plan	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line603
__label__wiki	0.693741	0.693741	OUHSC Study Shows Blood Clots Can Be Prevented After Hospitalization When patients are hospitalized for surgery or treatment of a medical condition, they face an additional concern: the risk of developing a blood clot. Because today’s hospital stays are much shorter than in the past, patients confront that risk after they return home. A New Building is Rising Above the Oklahoma City Horizon The construction of a state-of-the-art medical tower at OU Medical Center has begun. This building is designed to meet an increasing demand for the highest level of care. OU College of Public Health to Bear Hudson Name On Sept. 18, 2018, University of Oklahoma President Jim Gallogly announced a $5 million leadership gift from Dr. Leslie Hudson and Mr. Clifford Hudson of Oklahoma City to benefit scholarship and scientific discovery at the OU College of Public Health. In recognition of the Hudsons’... OU Medicine and HCA Healthcare Successfully Conclude Oklahoma Hospital Transaction OU Medicine, Inc. today concluded a previously announced transaction with HCA Healthcare that will transfer ownership and management of OU Medical System hospital facilities from HCA to OU Medicine, Inc. Dr. Edil named Surgery Chair for College of Medicine Barish H. Edil, M.D., F.A.C.S., has been appointed Professor and Chairman of the Department of Surgery at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. He will hold the John A. Schilling Chair in Surgery. Before joining us he served as Professor of Surgery and chief of the Department of... Stephenson Cancer Center Launches New 10K/5K Race on Sept. 15 The OU Medicine Campus in Oklahoma City will soon welcome more than a thousand runners and volunteers from across the state participating in the Stephenson Cancer Center’s inaugural Outpace Cancer Race, a 10K/5K race and 1-mile walk, happening on Saturday, Sept. 15 beginning at 8 a.m. FirstPrevious4243444546Next 15 Apr 2021 4/15/2021 9:00 AM - 11:30 AM Everyday Bias for Healthcare Professionals 25 Mar 2021 3/25/2021 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM Everyday Bias for Healthcare Professionals 18 Feb 2021 2/18/2021 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM Everyday Bias for Healthcare Professionals 20 Jan 2021 1/20/2021 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM Rooted in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Change Starts With Me 21 Jan 2021 1/21/2021 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM Alcohol Use in Older Adults - Psychiatry Grand Rounds Copyright 2021 The Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma. All rights reserved. Disclaimer \| Copyright \| Equal Opportunity Employer \| Mission Statement	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line604
__label__wiki	0.522481	0.522481	Merchandise Join Support Members The Junior League of Pasadena We are the Junior League of Pasadena Above all else, our goal is to promote and perpetuate social change in the Pasadena communities that will benefit most from it. By empowering women and providing valuable leadership training, we are giving local women the tools to get involved, put their talents to work, and positively impact the communities of Pasadena. As one of hundreds of Junior League chapters across the world, we are a member of the Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc. (AJLI). Established in 1926, the Junior League of Pasadena plays an integral part in the development, improvement, and support of the Pasadena community. While you’re here, we welcome you to learn how to join us, support our work, or get involved. Right now, our primary focus is the support and development of women within the greater San Gabriel Valley, particularly focusing on the development of business, entrepreneurship, and leadership skills. If you’re interested in learning more about our current focus or developing your own civic leadership skills, we welcome you to learn more or connect with us. Help Us Lead Change There is always more work to be done, more help needed, and more opportunities to make an impact in Pasadena. The empowered women of the Junior League of Pasadena are working to improve our local communities through leadership and effective action. Will you join us? The Junior League of Pasadena is an organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women, and improving communities through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. Its purpose is exclusively educational and charitable. Junior League of 149 S. Madison Ave. Copyright © 2010, 2021 The Junior League of Pasadena Privacy Statement \| Login Member Training New Member Commitments PasadenaHelp.org Public Affairs/Advocacy Girls Rock! (2003-2006) Kids in the Kitchen (2008-2015) My Masterpieces (2011-2014) Nurturing Children Through Family Support (1997-2015)	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line606
__label__wiki	0.522958	0.522958	Three Paterson after-hours party spots shut down - 10 hours ago Police identify Paterson man killed in North 1st Street fire February 16, 2020 by Jonathan Greene The person killed in a three-alarm fire on North 1st Street has been identified as 30-year-old Andres Valdez, authorities said on Sunday morning. Valdez was rushed to Saint Joseph’s University Hospital for treatment after firefighters arrived at the scene of the blaze. He was later pronounced deceased at the hospital, according to the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office. Nine residents, including Valdez, were taken to the hospital for various injuries. Two firefighters sustained minor injuries battling the flames. Authorities said firefighters and police responded to the fire at 187 North 1st Street at around 1:42 p.m. on Saturday. Cause of the fire remains under investigation. Authorities said no charges have been filed at this time. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the police at (973) 321-1111. Such a sad incident. Make sure to replace all smaoke.and carbon detectors with the 10 year life ones	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line607
__label__cc	0.735261	0.264739	Are you a service member or a vet preparing for life after the military, or a military family member looking for a career you can take base to base? Meet people like you who’ve completed our program—and find out why they chose Paul Mitchell Schools as well as what resources are available to you. There’s a wealth of resources and support available for military, vets and families. Here are some of them: VA administers a variety of benefits and services that provide financial and other forms of assistance to service members, veterans, their dependents and survivors. If you served on active duty, you might be eligible for education benefits offered by the Department of Veterans Affairs. For example, the Post-9/11 GI Bill® provides Financial support for educational and housing expenses to individuals with at least 90 days of aggregate service after September 10, 2001, or individuals discharged with a service-connected disability after 30 days. You must have received an honorable discharge to be eligible for the Post-9/11 GI Bill. If you are the spouse or child of a service member, you may be eligible for transfer of the service member’s Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to you. MYCAA (My Career Advancement Account) MyCAA (My Career Advancement Account) Scholarship Program is a workforce development program that provides financial assistance to eligible military spouses who are pursuing pursuing licenses, certificates, certifications or associate degrees necessary to gain employment in high-demand, high-growth portable career fields and occupations. VA (Veterans Affairs) If you are currently serving in the military, you may be eligible for funding offered through the Department of Defense Tuition Assistance program. Check your eligibility status and the amount for which you qualify with your Service prior to enrolling. If you are the spouse or child of a service member who is serving on active duty Title 10 orders in the paygrades of E1-E5, O1-O2, or W1-W2, you may be eligible for financial assistance from the Department of Defense for education, training, and/or the occupational license and credentials necessary for a portable career. WE HONOR THOSE WHO SERVE Are you service member or a vet preparing for life after the military, or a military family member looking for a career you can take base to base? Meet people like you who’ve completed our program—and find out why they chose Paul Mitchell Schools. Jenny Thomas Petty Officer Second Class, Non-Active Graduated 2013 from Parisian Beauty School "After I finished my school’s Cosmetology program, I went through their skin program and their nails program, and their teaching program. Then I worked as an instructor there. They would call me their mascot because I was literally there for three years, I never left. I was able to take all those program because I had the GI Bill." "Going to school here opened my eyes to a different way of seeing myself and seeing how to live life. The “Be Nice or Else” philosophy changed my life—I’m a completely different person. I tell everybody, it literally changed my life." "Currently I am working in the Paul Mitchell Schools as a lead artist for Ultimate Face Cosmetics. I’m also working as a freelance makeup artist in television and film in New York City." Dyrek Williamson Senior Airman, United States Air Force Veteran Barber Alumni from Paul Mitchell The School Columbus "I had the idea of being a barber long before I even left the service. After doing some research I didn't want to be limited on my creativity so I chose to attend a cosmetology program so that I could do both men and women's hair." "If you’re thinking about attending a Paul Mitchell School just go for it. I was definitely out of my comfort zone at first, but that fear ultimately became growth. I learned so much not only about the industry, but also myself, while attending the school. It's the closest thing to a family, other than my own, that I've had outside of the military." Oqua Gowin Graduated 2009 from PMTS Colorado Springs "I chose cosmetology as a career because I always loved makeup. I knew if I got my cosmetology license it would make me well rounded and I would graduate with a skill set that would maximize my opportunities in the beauty industry." "Being licensed to work on any military base in the world is a great benefit that most career fields can’t offer. It’s awesome to be able to do what you love no matter where you are." "While I was in school, I had to adjust some things to make my life a little easier while my husband was deployed. Paul Mitchell the school had flexible schedule options so I could be on a schedule that allowed me to communicate with my husband while he was overseas. Having the ability to connect with my husband meant the world to me." "I knew that if I ever did have to move, I’d be in good hands in another Paul Mitchell school. The Paul Mitchell schools network is like a family and allows you to finish schooling at another location with the same culture and values." Just want to talk in person? Request a tour of our campus by clicking the button below. Paul Mitchell The School Wichita 3242 N. Rock Road #106, Barbering ProgramsCosmetology Programs	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line609
__label__wiki	0.801786	0.801786	Phillies You Should Know: Former Philly Pitcher Phenomenal Smith Posted: December 12, 2014 \| Author: Johnny Goodtimes \| Filed under: Baseball \| Tags: 1880s, 1890s, Athletics, Phillies \| Leave a comment » Looks like I’m also gonna have to update the Phillies All-Nickname Team. Phenomenal Smith was born John Francis Gammon in Manayunk in 1864, and made his pro debut with the Athletics of the American Association in 1884. The next year he joined the Brooklyn Grays. It did not go well. His teammates didn’t appreciate the cocky 20-year old, and when he said he didn’t need teammates to win, they taught him a lesson. In his first start, the Grays intentionally committed 14 errors and Smith lost 18-5. The team President fined the players $500 each, but in an effort to ensure team harmony, fired Gammon after only one game. Following that debacle, he joined the Newark Little Giants of the Eastern League. On October 3rd of 1885, he threw a no-hitter in which he struck out 16 and didn’t let a ball leave the infield. The performance was so remarkable that it earned him a new nickname, Phenomenal Smith. He kicked around the majors and minors for the next several years, re-appearing with the Athletics in 1889, then joining the Phillies in 1890. He was cut in 1891, and never made it back to the majors, though he played and coached in the minors for another 15 years, playing for colorful teams such as the Green Bay Bays, the Hartfort Cooperative, and even a team that named itself after him, the Pawtucket Phenoms. While coaching a team in Norfolk, VA, he signed a young Christy Mathewson. Under Smith’s tutelage, Matthewson thrived, and by the end of the season he was signed by the New York Giants. After retiring, Smith joined the Manchester, Massachusetts police department. He died in 1952 at the age of 87. Five Steals in a Game? Eh, No Biggie. One Phillie Stole Seven Posted: May 31, 2013 \| Author: Johnny Goodtimes \| Filed under: Baseball \| Tags: 1890s, 1910s, 6 steals in a game, 7 steals in a game, Billy Hamilton, Eddie Collins \| Leave a comment » Jacoby Ellsbury made an ass out of the Phillies last night, swiping five bags, and in the process setting a team record. It was also the most the Phillies have ever given up to one player in a game. But there is a Phillie who has done even better, and a member of the Philadelphia A’s who did better twice in a two week time frame! One of the all-time great Phillies is Billy Hamilton, a member of the 1894 Phillies outfield that had 3 players (Hamilton, Ed Delahantey, and Sam Thompson) each hit over .400, and yet still finished 3rd in the NL. On August 31, 1894, the Phils took on the hapless Washington Senators, on their way to a 11th place finish. Bill Wynne took the hill for his first (and last) Major League start. Behind the plate was back-up catcher Dan Dugdale. Hamilton made their lives a living hell, taking advantage of the inexperienced pitcher and a catcher whose career would be over a month later, and swiped seven bases (2nd base four times and 3rd base three times), still tied for an MLB record. The Phils won easily, 11-5. It was hardly an anomaly, as Hamilton would steal 100 on the season, leading the league. He would finish his career with 914 stolen bases, still good for 3rd all time after Rickey Henderson and Lou Brock. He’d end his career with a .344 batting average as well, and be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1961. His 7 steals in a game tie him with George Gore of the Chicago White Stockings, who did it in 1881. Only 4 different players have stolen 6 bases in a game. Carl Crawford did it in 2009, Eric Young did it in 1996, and Otis Nixon did it in 1991. But remarkably, Philadelphia A’s superstar Eddie “Cocky” Collins did it twice…in 12 days! The first time was on September 11th, 1912, against the Detroit Tigers. On September 22nd, he did it again, this time against the Red Sox. He’d finish the season with 63 steals. Despite being the greatest 2nd baseman in Philadelphia baseball history, these days Collins is probably better known as the “honest” guy on the 1919 Black Sox. The Double Life and Strange Death of Phils Manager Arthur Irwin Posted: July 20, 2012 \| Author: Johnny Goodtimes \| Filed under: Baseball \| Tags: 1890s, 1920s, Arthur Irwin, double life, Philadelphia, Phillies, polygamy, UPenn baseball \| 1 Comment » I’ve been reading quite a bit lately about former Phillies managers. By far, the most interesting tale I’ve found has been that of Arthur Irwin, manager of the team from 1894-1895. He was quite a character. He is credited with adding fingers to the baseball glove (he did so to protect two broken fingers) when he was a player, he was UPenn’s head baseball coach for numerous years, he was an innovator of the electric scoreboard, and as a pro manager he led one of my favorite squads in Phillies history, the mid-1890s squad led by Big Ed Delahanty and lefty catcher Jack Clements. After leaving the Phils, he continued to manage and scout for a number of minor league teams. But it is his death in July of 1921 that makes him worthy of further study. He had relinquished his position as scout for the Hartford club of the Eastern League a few weeks earlier due to abdominal trouble, caused by stomach cancer (Supposedly. The doctor who diagnosed him was never found). The former Phillie skipper was also suffering from “nervous attacks”. He decided to book a berth on a ship, the Calvin Austin, to ride from New York to Boston. Once at sea, he told a fellow passenger on the steamer, “I am going home to die.” Irwin didn’t make it home. When the steamer pulled up in Boston, Irwin was not on board. As a newspaper reported the next day, “Irwin was with a party of friends aboard the steamer. Members of the party said today that he was depressed when he left them before midnight.” They never saw him again. It was a few days after his disappearance that the incredible truth was revealed. The July 20th New York Times screamed: “IRWIN’S DOUBLE LIFE BARED BY SUICIDE” in all caps. It turned out that Irwin had two families, one in Boston, with a wife named Elizabeth and three kids, and another in New York City, with a wife named May and three kids. The New York wife never had any idea she was married to a two-timer. According to the Gettysburg Times on July 22, 1921, “Mrs. Irwin and her son, F. Harold Irwin, first heard of the Boston family from a reporter. They were in the widow’s apartment at 565 West 192nd Street. ‘I cannot believe it,” Mrs. Irwin said. “Since we were married 27 years ago in Philadelphia, Arthur has been a model husband. He was seldom away from home for more than a day or two at a time.'” Elizabeth, whom Irwin had married first but who he had spent much less time with in the past 30 years, wasn’t quite as unprepared for the news. “I never suspected my husband even when years ago members of my family tried to tell me there was…probably another woman.” According to the New York Times, “She uttered no blame for her husband, but said the missteps of her husband must have been entirely the fault of the woman in New York.” She further consoled herself with the fact he had been headed for Boston at the time of his death. “I feel confident and happy in the belief that, although he had this other woman in New York, he was on the way to see me when he died-that he knew he was dying and that he turned to me as the woman he really loved at the last. He wanted to die in my arms.” His death was a compelling human interest story, but it was also a quite a mystery. Did he kill himself because he was so physically ill or because he was so devastated by what he had done? Was he murdered, as perhaps someone knew that he had just made $2000 and were hoping to get their hands on it? Did he die at all, or was it all an elaborate ruse to get out of the hole he had dug for himself? You know, like Elvis. Questions and conspiracy theories abound, spurred on by the mysterious acts of his final days. Before he hopped on the ship, he sent a check to his “legal” wife Elizabeth in Boston for $500 and a note reading, “God Bless You All”. It was unusual in that he had almost never shipped money home or sent such cryptic notes. He had made $2000 the day before he boarded the steamer, as he had sold the rights to an electric scoreboard he had helped to create. (You can read about Harvard “watching” the 1920 Rose Bowl on one such scoreboard here. I told you Irwin was an interesting dude.) But the check on the bill of sale was made out to “Seeler”, and no-one named Seeler was ever found. $500 of the sale went to Elizabeth, and the other $1500 went to May in New York. So much for Elizabeth’s claim that he loved her more. Of course, with any good double life and mysterious death story must come a few conspiracy theories, and this one comes to us courtesy of a great piece on Irwin in the Torontoist: There were rumours, recounted in David Nemec’s The Great Encyclopedia of Nineteenth Century Major League Baseball (University of Alabama Press, 2006), that Irwin had withdrawn $5,000 from his account prior to sailing—perhaps enough motive to prompt theft and murder. Others, more compellingly, suggested that because the doctor who’d diagnosed Irwin’s fatal illness had never come forward, he had faked his death. According to a 1922 letter at Cooperstown from a former teammate of Irwin queried: “How can Arthur Irwin be dead? I just saw him in Oklahoma.” Needless to say, if anyone reading this has any further information about this incredible story, we would love to hear it. I have had little success finding any sort of postcript to this story, and would love to hear how things turned out for both families. Please leave a message in the comments with your email address. Fun fact, the Phillies had 22 managers during the time that Connie Mack ran the A’s. In the pic below, that’s Irwin holding the ball and giving the “Heil Fuhrer” salute. Love that photo. Check out the babe on the fence ad. An Athletic You Should Know: Eccentric Madman Rube Waddell Posted: July 19, 2011 \| Author: Lalli \| Filed under: Baseball \| Tags: 1890s, 1900s, Connie Mack, Philadelphia Athletics, Rube Waddell \| 4 Comments » There’s one position in each team sport that requires more mental toughness than all of the rest. In football it’s the quarterback, in basketball it’s the point guard, in hockey it’s the goalie, and in baseball it’s the pitcher. With pitching comes the relentless pressure of knowing that you are one mistake away from single-handedly losing the game for your team. Whether it’s a defense mechanism to cope with this stress, or simply a job requirement, major league pitchers, especially lefties, are generally the weirdest players on the field. And the oddest of the bunch was Philadelphia Athletics’ pitcher, Rube Waddell. A harbinger of things to come, George Edward Waddell was born on Friday the 13th in October of 1876 in northeastern Pennsylvania. He learned his craft on nearby farmland by throwing rocks at crows trying to poach seeds as they were being planted. Waddell developed farm boy size and was soon dominating the local youth baseball league. When he was 19, he earned a spot on Butler’s local semi-pro team anddisplayed an overpowering fastball. He also displayed a childlike rawness that reflected his provincial background. When he started playing, he would bean any runner who hit a groundball back to the mound instead of forcing the player out at first, explaining “hit the batter and he’s out where I come from.” Discovered by a traveling salesman in 1896, Waddell was offered a job on the Franklin Braves in the newly-formed Iron and Oil League. When Waddell arrived in Franklin, catcher Jack Nelson gave him the nickname “Rube,” which was reserved for hicks and it stuck immediately. Although there was no questioning his talent, Waddell’s head was often somewhere other than in the game. He would leave in the middle of games to go fishing, or, if a firetruck passed the field he would run off and chase it. He would also go on drinking benders and disappear for days on end. After Franklin folded, Waddell’s next opportunity came with Volant, a local college. Volant made Rube an offer he couldn’t refuse: free tuition and room and board, in addition to $1 per game and free tobacco. At Volant, both his skill and his eccentricities were on full display. He was absolutely dominant as the lefty had developed a sharp curve ball and great control. He averaged 15 strikeouts per 7-inning game. More than once, Rube called for all of his players to the leave the field and pitched with no defense behind him. Waddell would celebrate three-strikeout innings by cartwheeling, or walking on his hands, or somersaulting off the field back to the dugout. With these antics, he soon caught the attention of major league baseball teams and signed with the National League’s Louisville Colonels in 1897. However, he lasted just two games and left after being fined $50 for drinking, which had by this time become a major problem. Over the course of the next few years, he split time between the majors and the minors. In 1902, Connie Mack took a risk on the oddball and signed him to the Philadelphia Athletics. As an Athletic, Waddell immediately turned things around and put up unreal numbers in 1902 en route to clinching the franchise’s first pennant. His first start came on June 26th, 51 games into the season. Appearing in only 33 games that year, he compiled a 24-7 record, a 2.05 ERA, led the American League with 210 strikeouts (50 more than runner-up Cy Young who appeared in 100 more innings than did Waddell). He also pitched baseball’s first immaculate inning on July 1st. Over the course of Waddell’s career in Philadelphia, from ’03-’07, he won 21, 25, 27, 15 and 19 games respectively. His ERA with the A’s was a paltry 1.97 with a low of 1.48 in 1905. During that season, Waddell was motoring along until he got into a fight with a teammate over a straw hat and injured his throwing shoulder. This injury cost him the last month of the season, including the World Series. (Phillies owner Horace Fogel said Waddell was absent because he was paid off.) From ’04-’07 he pitched at least 7 shutouts per season. He also led the majors in strikeouts over 5 consecutive seasons. His record of 349 ks in 1904 stood for 60 seasons until Sandy Koufax struck out 382 in 1965. Waddell’s turnaround was a direct result of Connie Mack’s managing. According to Mack, Waddell “had more stuff than any pitcher I ever saw. He had everything but a sense of responsibility.” Because of this, Mack paid Waddell on an as-needed basis in singles so he wouldn’t blow his earnings on alcohol. While Mack could control Waddell’s paychecks, he couldn’t control all of the idiosyncrasies. Waddell’s fascination with fire departments continued throughout his time with the A’s and he routinely wore red under his clothing just in case a fire bell would ring. He missed starts because he was fishing, or was late to games because he was playing marbles in the streets of Philadelphia with children. He was married three times and was often put in jail for missing alimony payments. Cooperstown historian Lee Allen succinctly described 1903 in the life of Rube Waddell: He began that year sleeping in a firehouse in Camden, New Jersey, and ended it tending bar in a saloon in Wheeling, West Virginia. In between those events he won 22 games for the Philadelphia Athletics, played left end for the Business Men’s Rugby Football Club of Grand Rapids, Michigan, toured the nation in a melodrama called The Stain of Guilt, courted, married and became separated from May Wynne Skinner of Lynn, Massachusetts, saved a woman from drowning, accidentally shot a friend through the hand, and was bitten by a lion. Other examples of the bizarre with Waddell include: He wrestled alligators during the off season. He played for two Philadelphia Athletics clubs in 1902: the baseball club and the Philadelphia Athletics of the first National Football League (at 6’2″ and 200 lbs. he was a fullback). He almost shot Connie Mack in the head when a pistol fell out of his pocket and fired at the team hotel. His contract included a clause, at his catcher’s insistence, that prohibited Waddell from eating crackers in bed. During the early years, players would share beds on road trips and Ossee Schreckengost couldn’t sleep because of the crumbs. In 1903, he climbed into the stands to beat up a spectator who was heckling him and was suspended for 5 games. In one game, Waddell was at bat in the 8th inning with 2 outs and a man on second. After a pitch, the catcher threw to second in a pick-off attempt, but the ball sailed into the outfield. The A’s runner took off and was rounding home to score when the center fielder fired home. Waddell, with bat still in hand, swung and hit the ball back into play. He was called out for interference. His explanation for the gaffe, “They’d been feeding me curves all afternoon, and this was the first straight ball I’d looked at!” At the end of the 1907 season, Waddell was slumping badly and was then sold to St. Louis “in the interests of team unity.” He pitched out the final three years of his major league career before drinking his way back to the minors in 1911. The events surrounding Waddell’s death were just as memorable as those surrounding his life. In the fall of 1912, he was living in Kentucky with friends when a nearby dam collapsed and caused devastating flooding in the region. Waddell immediately went to help out in whatever way he could, by pulling people out of homes and by working for hours on end in cold water piling up sandbags. Although his actions were herioc, they also proved costly as he developed pneumonia. As a result, his body was severely weakened and he battled bouts of pneumonia and tuberculosis from which he never fully recovered. He died in 1914 at the age of 37…on April Fool’s day. In 1946, he was enshrined in the Hall of Fame. By all accounts, Waddell was known much more for his eccentricities than for his talent. But there is no doubt that the former rivaled the latter as Waddell was one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history. The Greatest Left Handed Catcher in MLB History Was a Phillie Posted: July 18, 2011 \| Author: Johnny Goodtimes \| Filed under: Baseball \| Tags: 1880s, 1890s, greatest left handed catcher, left handed catcher, Phillies, Quakers \| 1 Comment » For the past century, almost no left handers have strapped on shin guards and gone behind the plate. A long season makes people do goofy things, so there have been occasional glimpses of lefties, but they have been more of a novelty than anything. The Cubs Dale Long caught two games in 1958, White Sox 1B Mike Squires caught a few games in the early 80s, and Benny Distefano caught for 6 innings for the Pirates as an emergency replacement in 1989. He was the last lefty to wear the tools of ignorance. Only 5 left handers have caught over 100 games, and all of them played in the 19th century. The first lefty to go behind the plate was Philly native Bill Harbridge, who did so for the Hartford Dark Blues in 1876. He would catch 128 games. But there was only one left handed catcher who had a long, impressive career behind the plate. That was Jack Clements, who played on the Phillies from 1884-1897. (Not only was he the last every day lefty catcher, he was also the first catcher to ever wear a chest protector.) Though defensive stats are unavailable, we do have this little gem from the Phildelphia Ledger to let us know what kind of a catcher he was…his fine throwing held runners so closely to their bases, that they could not get around unless by consecutive hitting or through errors by the fielders. Clements was a fine hitter, batting .287 for his career but hitting .350 or high for three straight years from 1894-1896. (The 1894 team was one of the greatest hitting teams in baseball history, with all 3 outfielders hitting over .400 and the team hitting .350 as a group.) Clements had some pop, too, hitting 17 homers in 1893 and finishing his career as the only 19th century player who played in 1,000 or more games with more career homers (77) than triples (60). Bill James had him listed as the 58th greatest catcher ever, and he certainly can be included in the discussion with Lieberthal, Boone, Seminick, and Daulton for greatest Phillies catcher of all time. Did Delahanty Get Stuck in a Doghouse? Posted: July 13, 2011 \| Author: Johnny Goodtimes \| Filed under: Baseball \| Tags: 1890s, Ed Delahantey, Phillies \| Leave a comment » Welcome to Delahanty Day here at PSH. This is a good one. It comes to us from the Baseball Hall of Shame 3. There is no exact date on this one, but it supposedly happened in July of 1892. The following from the book. It happened at the Huntington Grounds, where Philadelphia was playing host to Chicago. That stadium had one unique characteristic-a “doghouse”. It was a tiny structure with an oval topped doorway that made it look like it had been built for man’s best friend. The doghouse was situated at the base of the flagpole in right field and was used to store numbers for the scoreboard. In the 8th inning of game the Phils led, 2-1, future Hall of Famer Cap Anson came to the plate. He hit a ball into right field that somehow got stuck in the doghouse. Big Ed tied to crawl in to retrieve the ball. Again from the book: “From the grandstand, all that was visible was the rear elevation of his country seat,” wrote W.N. Pringle, a spectator whose account of the incredible incident was published 16 years later. “His heels were kicking in the air in a lively manner in his frantic efforts to extricate himself. In the meantime, Mr. Anson was clearing the bases at a lively clip amid the greatest excitement I ever saw on a ballfield. I do not think there were a dozen people in that immense crowd who were not on their feet, laughing, cheering and yelling themselves hoarse, and throwing hats, canes, and umbrellas in the air.” By the time teammate Sam Thompson helped Delahanty out of the doghouse, 3 runs had scored and the Cubs had taken a 4-2 lead. At least, that’s what the book (and presumably Mr. Pringle) would have us believe. However, the Phils won all their home games against the Cubs in 1892, with the Cubs never scoring 4 or more runs in Philly. And I can’t find any other mention of the story online. Is Big Ed getting a bum rap in an embarrassing story? As of press time, I have been unable to contact Mr. Pringle or anyone else who was at that game. If you know any Phillies fans from the 1890s, have them get a hold of me. Grady Commits 4 Errors in One Play, then Saves Women and Children from Deadly Fire Posted: May 15, 2011 \| Author: Johnny Goodtimes \| Filed under: Baseball \| Tags: 1890s, 1900s \| 3 Comments » Sometimes, I come across something so insane, so ridiculous, that I have to find a way to tie to Philadelphia, no matter how tentative the connection. This is one of those times. Mike Grady was born in Kennett Square, and started his career for the Phillies, so there’s your connection. But it was a couple of things he did while a member of the Giants that makes this story worth writing. In 1899, Grady had a ground ball hit to him while playing third base. He bobbled it, committing error number one. He then scooped it up and threw it to first, sailing it over the first baseman’s head. Error #2. The right fielder chased it down, and noticed the runner taking off for third. He threw it to Grady. The ball bounced off his glove and headed to the outfield. The runner broke for home. Grady ran, grabbed the ball, and still had a shot at glory, if he could just nail the runner at the plate. He could not. The ball went sailing over the catchers glove, giving poor Mike Grady 4 errors in one play. However, the Chester County native would go from goat to hero less than a year later. He was walking to the Polo Grounds with teammates Kid Gleason (who would later manage the Black Sox) and George Davis. They saw smoke and flames rising from an apartment building. Davis scurried up a fire escape and rescued a woman from the 3rd floor. Gleason and Grady ran up to the 4th floor, rescuing a Mrs. Tibbets and her 3 year old. Grady then ran back up to the 3rd floor and helped to rescue a Mrs. Pease. The three players then made their way to the ballpark, where they tied the Boston Beaneaters 10-10. In September of that year, Grady and Davis were both involved in what is believed to be the first triple steal in MLB history. Grady retired to Kennett Square, where he passed away in 1943 at age 73. He is in the Chester County Hall of Fame. Posted: May 8, 2011 \| Author: Johnny Goodtimes \| Filed under: Baseball \| Tags: 1890s, Dan Brouthers \| Leave a comment » A pic of birthday boy Dan Brouthers who would be turning 153 today. Brouthers played for a remarkable 10 different teams in his career, including the 1896 season with the Phillies. Brouthers was a 19th century giant, standing all of 6’2″ and weighing over 200 pounds, and once killed a catcher named Johnny Quigley by running over him. He retired after his season in Philly, and his .342 career batting average ranks him 9th all time in MLB history, remarkable since it seems he used a tiny little bat (above). History at the Penn Relays Posted: April 28, 2011 \| Author: admin \| Filed under: Other \| Tags: 1890s, 1960s, Franklin Field, Jesse Owens, Penn Relays \| 2 Comments » Jesse Owens at the Penn Relays The Penn Relays are taking place now through Saturday at Franklin Field. Officially the Penn Relay Carnival, the Relays are the longest running uninterrupted collegiate meet in the United States. The first meet was held in 1895 (a year before the first modern Olympics) and is considered the birthplace of the modern relay. The event has long drawn the top high school, collegiate and Olympic level athletes from around the country and beyond. Frosty Bill Duggleby Goes Yard Posted: April 21, 2011 \| Author: Johnny Goodtimes \| Filed under: Baseball \| Tags: 1890s \| Leave a comment » April 21, 1898 was a heady day for Bill Duggleby. He was taking the mound for his first ever start in the Major Leagues. Furthermore, when he stepped up to the plate for his first career at bat, the bases were juiced. “Frosty” Bill, as he would come to be known for his lack of desire to make friends on the team and the fact that he wore a black suit even in summer, gave the pitch a good swing and-CRACK-sent it hurtling into the stratosphere. The Phils pitcher circled the bases and entered into the record books. He was the first player to ever hit a grand slam in his first ever career at-bat. No-one would do it again for 107 years, when Jeremy Hermida did it in his first at bat in 2005. The next year, Kevin Kouzmanoff would do it, and incredibly, in 2010 Daniel Nava would do it. After no-one had done it in 107 years, 3 guys did it in 5 years. Baseball, as they say, is a funny game. What made it more remarkable was that Duggleby didn’t turn out to be much of a slugger. In his next 648 career at bats, he hit 5 home runs. Only 5 Phillies since Duggleby have homered in their first at bats. They are Ace Parker, Heinie Mueller, Ed Sanicki, Ricky Jordan, and Marlon Anderson.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line613
__label__wiki	0.660143	0.660143	Life, Project Management, and Everything Notes from a technogeek in the first quarter of the 21st Century Nick Pisano Saturday Late Night Music — Fantastic Negrito performing “Lost in the Crowd” Every once in a while a natural talent arises that distills the American experience. According to the interesting bio on his website, Fantastic Negrito is out of Oakland California. But that’s like saying Bob Dylan is from Minnesota and taking significance from that fact alone. I know, I know–I’ve used origins of artists as a way of placing them in time and space. No doubt, anyone with a passing knowledge of American social history understands the significance of Oakland to African-American culture: its centrality in the Great Migration on the west coast of the United States, its musical influence on West Coast Jazz, blues, rhythm & blues, jump, and funk. It’s economic importance in the development of the black working and middle class. The political movements that contributed to the advancement of equal rights and equal opportunity and then, in the wake of redlining, assassinations, white flight, and white backlash, the organization of the Black Panthers which came to a violent end. Out of this strong conflict of cultures and ambitions, however, arose a city that learned the meaning of reconciliation and synthesis. Fantastic Negrito’s real name is Xavier Dphrepaulezz. He is the son of the first Somalian ambassador to the United States. He was raised as a strict Sunni Muslim from childhood. When his family emigrated to the United States they first settled in Massachusetts, where he was born, but then crossed the country and landed in Oakland in the 1980s. It was during this time that Xavier was exposed to one of the most diverse cities in the United States. The African-American community in Oakland during those years reached its peak in both proportion of population and cultural influence. Thus, Xavier made the transformation from the strictures of religious chants to the music of Funkadelic and other similar bands, absorbing the culture, music, and ideas of the liberal and accepting world around him. This transformation caused him to be rejected by his family, but also led to his reinvention in the 1990s from emigrant to the personality known simply as Xavier. Under Xavier he created a unique R&B/funk/electronic dance sound, where he played all of the instruments, under the title the X Factor, which landed him a contract with the Interscope label. Unfortunately, realizing success too soon, which stilted his creativity, and at the wrong time–since Rap had overtaken the type of music that he was doing–led to disappointment. Coinciding with the end of X Factor came a devastating auto accident in 2000 that left him in a coma. After awaking from his coma, he undertook many months of painful physical therapy due to muscle atrophy while he was bedridden. A reinvigorated life after cheating death, and the birth of his son, caused his eventual transformation into his latest incarnation as the Fantastic Negrito. If Elizabeth Woolridge Grant can be Lana Del Rey, then Xavier Dphrepaulezz can be the Fantastic Negrito. His appropriation of the word Negrito is interesting. The term is derived from the Spanish to describe small dark-skinned persons. Geographically, it has been largely confined to refer to the diminutive dark-skinned people of Southeast Asia. Rather than having a direct association with groups in Africa, DNA testing has shown that Negritos are most closely related to Asian populations that surround them with some splitting from the African migration that occurred about 60,000 years ago. Thus, despite their distinctive physical characteristics, they are a very diverse admixture of distinctive Southeast Asian ethnic groups. Perhaps, for one who has self-confessed to having gone through several transformations within the span of a single lifetime–which is a typical part of the American experience–the moniker is an appropriate one. The band members, aside from Xavier, consists of Thomas Alcedo, Nate Pedley, and Ruthie Price. The band won the NPR Tiny Desk Concert Award for 2015 back in February. Then in March they took SXSW by storm. This is the blues updated to our joint experience–essential, urgent, and exciting. blues, Fantastic Negrito, NPR, Rhythm & Blues, SXSW, Tiny Desk Concert Award ← Stay Open — Open and Proprietary Databases (and Why It Matters) Repeat after me — Excel is not a project management solution → SNA Software LLC www.newaffiliatenews.com/ John Friscia yudkowsky.net essays Good Music Speaks A History of a Just & Peaceful Future Lexician The Echoes Blog Why Do Projects Fail? macroblog neilkillick.com The W. Edwards Deming Institute PNWC's Government Contracting Update Both Sides of the Table LondonJazzCollector The Practicing IT Project Manager Project Management Hut Project News Today Let's talk about Quality Officer of the Watch Adventures in Project Management Naval Matters Center for Economic and Policy Research Historical Digression Arizona Highways Jim Caffrey Images Photo Blog Looking at the West Sky-Watching History Tech Live to Write - Write to Live The Past and Present Future Fear No Project Blog - Focusing on the Management Side of Projects Bertrand Duperrin's Notepad Andrew McAfee Life, Project Management, and Everything by Nicholas Pisano is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at https://pisanond.wordpress.com/. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at https://pisanond.wordpress.com/. Feedspot Top 50 PM Blog Follow @pisanond Own the Data The most spectacular insights in human history. A music blog written by Rich Brown The weblog of Echoes, the nightly music soundscape on Public Radio and the internet. Entrepreneur turned VC Adventures in collecting "modern jazz": the classical music of America from the Fifties and Sixties, on original vinyl, on a budget, from England. And writing about it, since 2011. 100% coronavirus-free content. News and Content Related to Project Management Project Management Blog by Barry Hodge My ramblings about expeditions in the Project Management profession A Willing Foe and Sea-Room! Musings on history as viewed by someone with one foot in the past Escape Explore Experience photography from the ground up A personal blog of photography and commentary by Andrew McAllister. the sky is no longer the limit History, technology, and probably some other stuff We live to write and write to live ... professional writers talk about the craft and business of writing Ken Hinckley's Ideas, Visions, and Opinions on the Research Frontiers of Human Technologies Thoughts, experience, tips and tricks on issues affecting managers and project management	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line614
__label__wiki	0.940751	0.940751	Special Investigating Unit on its Annual Report 2010/11 The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) presented its Annual Report for 2010/11 and a summary of its activities to the Committee. The SIU had grown in capacity, and now included forensic accountants and lawyers. It had been through an organisational redesign process over the last two years, and was now using project management methodology. It maintained close cooperation with other bodies, including the Public Protector. It had, in the past financial year, focused on large-scale fraud and corruption, shifting away from the multiple small cases of the social development and transport investigations in the past. It was concentrating on procurement-related fraud and corruption and was trying to improve all systems to prevent corruption, including building the capacity of all state departments in corruption investigations. It had about 668 funded posts, and 130 staff were on short-term secondment from private companies to provide short-term interventions and skills transfer. It was expected that the staff would increase to 706 in the next three years. It was working closely with the Hawks in the Anti Corruption Task Team, and with the Department of Public Service and Administration, as well as the Multi-Agency Working Group on Procurement in the finance cluster. It had challenges with employment equity but was working to improve this. The numbers of investigations over the last few years was tabled, and new indicators were being formulated to measure the large-scale investigations, which would include indicators on its contributions to arrests, and the values of contracts in which irregularities were found. The proclamations issued in the last year were tabled. There were 60 current and 22 active proclamations. It was currently investigating about R9.1 billion worth of contracts, and had already found 306 conflicts of interest, to the value of R3.4 billion. In the first quarter of 2011/12, 43 irregularities were found to the value of R1.4 billion, and 45 conflicts to the value of about R99 million. Specific projects and findings were outlined, in relation to investigations into the South African Police Service (SAPS), Department of Public Works, Department of Arts and Culture, South African Broadcasting Corporation, Tshwane Metro, Ekurhuleni Metro, Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, Department of Human Settlements and Department of Social Development. One of the main challenges in dealing more effectively with corruption lay with the current model, which was largely dependent on the integrity of the Accounting Officer, who had control of the investigations, disciplinary actions, and internal audit, so that if the Accounting Officer was not willing to cooperate, the system was ineffective. There was also a need to better coordinate new initiatives. A response must be formulated urgently to the Constitutional Court’s ruling in the Glenister matter, and to find a way to locate overall accountability for a consolidated assault against corruption, including prevention and enforcement. There was also a need to amend the SIU Act and although some amendments that would enable the SIU to pursue civil litigation even where departments were unwilling to do so were included, a recent legal opinion also required a further amendment so that the SIU could charge State departments for its services. Although this had been done in the past, it was apparently incorrect since the SIU Act did not specifically allow for it, and because about half of the SIU’s income emanated from these contracts, there was a need to regularise the position urgently. In the meantime, National Treasury had agreed to approve a further budget allocation of R97 million to enable the SIU to continue with these contracts and work in the short term. The financial statements and projected statements were tabled, showing little significant increase in budget, other than for inflation, although project funding was likely to grow, and expenses would also remain more or less the same. The SIU had received an unqualified audit since inception in 2001, with no emphasis of matter for the last six years. The revenue and expenditure trends were outlined. Members were generally satisfied with the reports, and a DA Member expressed the view that the SIU was probably ideally placed to give effect to the Glenister judgment. They were also in support of the cost-recovery model, but questioned how the opinion had come about, what impact it had immediately, including on the work done for Eskom, and why this had not been isolated by the Auditor-General. They questioned the investigations instituted against Mr Hofmeyr, and called for a status report. They asked if the scale of corruption could be estimated, and noted the National Treasury’s estimates that about 20% of the annual procurement budget, or about R25 billion a year, might be involved. The SIU stressed that although good rules, regulations and policies were in place, there were insufficient numbers of investigators, and inconsistent application of consequences, with worrying trends that investigators might also be persuaded to not report on some issues. The delays in issuing proclamations, and the process, were questioned, and Members also asked for updates on Eskom, the social grants investigations in KwaZulu Natal, and the recommendations made by the SIU. Members also asked for comment on issues cited by the Auditor-General in relation to internal controls for performance, although it was not a matter of emphasis. The Chairperson expressed his personal view that there was probably the need for a central coordinating body to deal with corruption, and other Members thought that some mechanism must be found to follow up on the implementation of SIU recommendations, and asked what criminal actions had been pursued successfully. They asked for a list of premiers who had failed to respond to requests in relation to proclamations. They also questioned some matters in Eastern Cape municipalities, and suggested that the SIU should brief the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance on the problems in local government. Special Investigating Unit Annual Report 2010/11 Mr Willie Hofmeyr, Head, Special Investigating Unit, noted that the presentation contained slides on the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) mandate and legal scope, but would not present them in any detail, as they remained largely unchanged from previous years. He noted that the SIU had been growing in capacity and now included forensic accountants and lawyers. It had been through an organisational redesign process over the last two years. It was trying to work on project management methodology, which still posed some challenges, although it had been quite successful. He noted that about half the SIU funding emanated from a National Treasury (NT) grant, and the other half from different state institutions who paid the SIU for its services. The SIU was trying to build the capacity of the State to do investigation. It had close cooperation with a number of bodies, and had increased its engagements with the public accounts committees at provincial level. It also worked with the Public Protector, as there were sometimes overlapping mandates. The focus of the SIU was on large-scale fraud and corruption, and there had been a shift from the multiple small cases in the past, characterised by the investigation into social grants. There was now increasing focus on procurement-related fraud and corruption and giving assistance in improving systems to prevent corruption. Mr Hofmeyr noted that the vision, mission, values and goals remained unchanged. In the previous year, the SIU had tried to align its processes more closely with the Government Outcomes, particularly Outcomes 3, 5 and 12. The strategic objectives also remained largely unchanged from the previous year (see attached presentation for details). Mr Hofmeyr presented the strategic overview for the last three years. The SIU had found itself in a difficult situation with the onset of the recession, because a number of departments with whom it was working and being paid had sought to cut down on their expenditure in investigations. However, the SIU had actively sought extra work. It was, as mentioned before, focusing on building capacity in the State to deal with corruption investigations. The SIU had grown from about 67 to 600 people in nine years. The new operating model had helped it to cope with some extra demands. One important initiative had been negotiation with large private investigating companies to try to second additional staff to the SIU, and there were now about 130 people from the private sector working for SIU, to provide short-term interventions and skills transfer. It was busy also with a recruitment drive but in the short term the short term interventions had helped to delivery results. The establishment was currently 668 funded posts, but this was expected to grow to 706 in the next three years. About 40% of the current year’s expenses were covered by project funding. It had 441 full time operational staff, of whom 25 were working full time with the Hawks in the Anti Corruption Task Team (ACTT) and 11 with the Wasps (the new unit in the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) dealing with disciplinary matters). The permanent posts filled had decreased, from 594 in 1007/8 to 522 in the last financial year, due to uncertainty about project funding. The SIU was aware of the need to improve its employment equity. The forensic industry was traditionally dominated by white males, many drawn from the South African Police Service (SAPS) Commercial Branch. It was difficult for the SIU to compete, at a salary level, with the private sector for skills. It had started its own trainee investigator programme and a leadership development programme. Ambitious targets were set for achieving employment equity, although this remained a challenge at senior management level. Details of the management profile were tabled (see slide 14). Mr Hofmeyr outlined the SIU’s participation in other initiatives. It was working with the ACTT in the Justice Cluster, and the Multi Agency Working Group on Procurement in the Finance Cluster, to try to deal with systemic issues and early detection of corruption. The DPSA’s new unit was based in the Governance Cluster. He noted, in respect of performance, that the SIU had been in a period of transition over the last few years. The areas highlighted in yellow, on the performance slides (see attached presentation for full details) resulted from the large multi-instance investigations into driving licences and social grants, which were scaled down in the last financial year, so these indicators had dropped. However, there was now a focus on procurement investigations, although this would not necessarily show quick results. The SIU had been formulating indicators that would measure the new work. One of the indicators examined what the SIU was contributing to the completed investigations, for the Justice Cluster outputs. A target was set that it should contribute to around 85 of the 100 arrests, which was an ambitious, but achievable target. Another indicator, included after discussion with National Treasury, looked at the value of the contracts where irregularities were found. In the current year the targets were perhaps too ambitious. The SIU was also looking at internal indicators, including the value of contracts where potential irregularities were identified, the value of contracts under investigation, and the value of contracts where irregularities were found. In the past year, 18 proclamations were issued by the President, of which 15 were new investigations, and the housing and social grant investigations were renewed. In the current financial year, it had also received proclamations to investigate the Midvaal Local Municipality and the former Department of Roads and Transport in Eastern Cape. Between 10 and 15 further investigations were in the pipeline. There were 60 current and 22 active proclamations. Other growth areas for investigation included procurement, public works, rural development and land reform, parastatals, local government, education and health. Mr S Swart (ACDP) asked what the difference was between investigations and proclamations. Mr Hofmeyr explained that one proclamation may set out a number of different areas for investigation, such a general proclamation on the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform that could cover land reform and land redistribution investigations. The SIU had previously said that there were about R15 billion worth of contracts capable of being investigated in the country. It was investigating about R9.1 billion currently. It had found 306 conflict of interest matters, to the value of R3.4 billion, which was more than expected. In most government departments, conflicts of interest were a significant problem. In the first quarter of the current year, 43 irregularities were found to the value of R1.4 billion, and 45 conflicts to the value of about R99 million. Mr Hofmeyr then outlined some specific projects. The SIU was working with the Public Protector on the SAPS Head Office leases, and steps had been taken to have the leases, worth over R1 billion, terminated. Another major focus area related to the build programme, where it was found that 33 entire new police stations were being built on quotes, not tenders, and the value of contracts exceeding R330 million. These investigations emanated from whistleblower reports to the Independent Complaints Directorate. There were widespread problems, including lowest quotes not accepted, lack of any quotations from the winning bidders, cover quoting and Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) fronting, conflicts of interest and actual payments exceeding budgeted costs. In relation to the Department of Public Works (DPW), the SIU was looking at the entire functioning. At least R35 million was paid to entities where DPW staff had undeclared business interests. The SIU had investigating construction of accommodation at border posts, where the value of contracts was R374 million, but some contracts were cancelled due to problems with the sites, yet the contractors received “outrageous” cancellation fees. In one ongoing investigation, an amount of R217 000 had been paid as monthly rental for a house in Pretoria, with R7 million paid in rental over the last three years. Priority investigations were being conducted into leased accommodation, specific contracts, conflicts of interest and general supply chain management irregularities, totalling R3.3 billion. A report had been given recommending disciplinary and criminal action. The SIU had largely completed investigations into the Department of Arts and Culture, where it had been asked to look into misuse of funding ringfenced for the 2010 Soccer World Cup. About R26 million was shifted from the earmarked World Cup budget and used for unauthorised expenses, and even where funds had not been shifted, R16 million was used for non-World Cup projects. The SIU had reviewed 39 projects and had recommended halting many, which would result in R8.3 million savings. However, much of the money already spent could not be recovered, because it was paid to communities. It had found numerous irregularities in the process. The SIU had been involved in major investigations into the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) over the last eighteen months. The Auditor-General had initially found 20 instances where employees had conflicts of interest, and the SIU had now found another 20. Eight criminal cases were laid, and five had been finalised. Tshwane Metro was a new investigation, where 65 officials had been identified who had interests in companies doing business with the Metro, and R185 million was paid in total to those companies. There were other procurement investigations in excess of R80 million. Irregularities included deviations from tender specifications and service provider payments, and the amount involved was over R400 million. In Ekurhuleni Metro, the SIU was reviewing tenders to the value of R500 million. One of the payments, to the value of R37.8 million, was made without any delivery notes. There were also investigations into ICT contracts, where a former director had not disclosed his relationship with a company, had entered into contracts with that company to the value of R32 million, had resigned from the Metro and was now working for that company. The proclamation given to the SIU in relation to the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR) covered both the grants applications and expenditure irregularities. The SIU was first trying to secure all documents, given the fact that there were significant problems, and it was busy scanning over 50 million printed documents. It had already worked with the Hawks and Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) and had investigated three officials and a KwaZulu Natal businessman on fraud and corruption charges relating to the irregular awarding and administration of land reform grants, totalling R500 million. Farms worth R36 million had been forfeited. In relation to the Department of Human Settlements (DHS) the focus had moved away from public servants receiving subsidies unlawfully, to investigation of construction contracts. At least 50% of the projects were problematic in some way, ranging from payment to contractors for houses that might not exist at all, or were incomplete, seriously defective, or in conflict the quotations. The total value of contracts under investigation here was over R2 billion. The investigations in the Department of Social Development (DSD) social grants had been scaled down significantly, although the new Chief Executive Officer had requested that they continue. The SIU had looked into procurement at the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA). As a result of its investigations, the former Chief Executive Officer was fired and was likely to face criminal charges. Mr Hofmeyr then outlined the challenges to dealing more effectively with corruption. One of the main issues related to the current model, which was largely dependent on the integrity of the Accounting Officer in the departments, who had control of the investigations, disciplinary action, and internal audit. If, as was not uncommon, there was a problem with that person, then the whole model was problematic. This was why the initiatives being taken by the Department of Public Service and Administration were so important, as disciplinary cases would essentially be taken out of the control of the Accounting Officer. There were engagements with National Treasury as to whether it could assume the responsibilities of the Accounting Officer if that person refused to try to recover amounts owing. A further challenge was the need for better coordination of the many new initiatives. A response was needed to the Glenister matter in the Constitutional Court, which sought to ensure South Africa’s compliance with the United Nations Convention against Corruption, and which required the establishment of a dedicated agency with sufficient safeguards to ensure independence. There was a need to locate appropriate overall accountability for a consolidated assault against corruption, including prevention and enforcement efforts. The SIU was participating in these discussions, through its relationship with the Hawks. Mr Hofmeyr also noted that there was a need to amend the SIU Act. Some of these amendments were already included in the Judicial Matters Amendment Bill, which had been presented to Cabinet, but was not yet before Parliament. The SIU had not been able to litigate civilly for a number of years, where the Accounting Officer of a department was unwilling to do so, and one of the amendments would enable the SIU to proceed with civil litigation even where the relevant department did not support this. Mr J Jeffery (ANC) interjected that other amendments were also needed, and he suggested that these should be inserted now, as once the Bill was tabled in Parliament it would be difficult to include them. Mr Hofmeyr said that he would raise this with the Minister. This Bill had been through Cabinet several months previously. Ms M Smuts (DA) pointed out that Cabinet was not generally averse to reconsidering the matter. Mr Hofmeyr confirmed that the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development was looking at further amendments. Mr Hofmeyr then moved on to outline the budget growth and project income. He noted that the SIU had first begun to collaborate with other State departments in 2003/4, when 37% of its budget had been covered by the investigations paid for by the Department of Correctional Services. This had grown when the Department of Social Development project was instituted. The income from State institutions had stayed relatively stable since then, and already the SIU had budgeted to receive about R150 million from these investigations, there was a large demand, and about half of the SIU budget was now received from project income. However, he noted that the SIU had recently obtained a legal opinion that it could not in fact charge other State departments for its services, because this was not specifically authorised by the SIU Act. That, naturally, raised huge concerns, because of its dependence on this income. The opinion stated that for an interim period, and on condition that there would be an amendment to the SIU Act in this financial year, the SIU could continue to receive money from departments where arrangements were in place. That did not account for the R60 million to be received from new investigations. The SIU was to insert a suitable amendment into the Judicial Matters Amendment Bill, which hopefully should reach the Committee shortly, and would regularise the position. In the meantime, it was unable to enter into new cooperation agreements, although it had hoped to sign contracts to the value of about R90 million. In respect of the current financial year, National Treasury had agreed to give additional funding of R97 million for this financial year, to compensate for the loss of revenue, and enable the SIU to take on additional work. In the future years, SIU was to request a permanent increase in its current budget, to reduce its reliance on contract funding. It had received excellent support and commitment from the Ministers of Finance and Justice, National Treasury, and the Director General of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DOJ). Mr Hofmeyr then tabled the financial information over the last three years, and gave projections for the following three years. There was no significant increase shown in revenue, other than inflation growth, although the project funding was likely to grow. The expenses were also largely the same (see attached presentation for full details and comparisons). The SIU had received an unqualified audit since inception in 2001, with no emphasis of matter for the last six years. Its budget allocations were received as a transfer from the Department of Justice. If the SIU did receive the funding it asked for, it was likely to be able to create about another 200 jobs. He also outlined the revenue and expenditure trends (see attached presentation). In the last two years, SIU had followed an aggressive savings drive, reducing accommodation and car rentals, limiting telephone use and recovering all private call costs. He concluded that the SIU had made more impact in the procurement area in the past two years. There was a massive increase in the demand for assistance. The capacity to deal with all matters effectively remained a challenge, but its coordination with other institutions was improving. Finally, Mr Hofmeyr added that the SIU was involved in the joint initiative between National Treasury and the Anti Corruption Task Team to tackle one department at a time, from a law enforcement and systemic problem perspective, to try to achieve a turnaround. It was at the moment concentrating on the Department of Health in Eastern Cape. Much effort had gone into that, and there was good buy-in from the National Minister and Premier, and this should show good results. Ms M Smuts (DA) congratulated the SIU and repeated her view that this was one of the organisations that should be used to give effect to the Glenister judgment, in creating the unit required. She was pleased to see the capacity expansion and the range of multi-disciplinary skills, which indicated that there would continue to be good progress. Mr Hofmeyr said that if a new anti-corruption unit was set up, the SIU would like to be part of it. Ms Smuts asked him to expand on this. Mr Hofmeyr explained that a number of players in government would need to be involved, including the SIU, Asset Recovery, the best model for Asset Forfeiture, a prevention component, and a public awareness and education component. He believed that the issues raised in the Glenister matter must be resolved soon, and the SIU would like to be involved in the debate on the optimum model. The National Planning Commission had also looked at this, engaging with a range of role players in the debate. Ms Smuts added that Parliament should also comment. Ms Smuts said that the cost-recovery model seemed to be a good one, and she would be happy to support that. Ms Smuts asked for comment on the corruption charges laid against Mr Hofmeyr, expressing her opinion that these were attempts to “neutralise” him, and asked about the current position. Mr Hofmeyr said that the charges laid by Mr King emanated from a plea bargain proposal by Mr King, after which Mr King complained to the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) had asked the SAPS to investigate both Mr Hofmeyr and Mr Myburgh. A docket was opened and he had made a warning statement, through a private attorney. The charges had been dropped. The charges laid by the union NEHAWU had been outlined on page 37 of the Annual Report, specifically the report of the Audit Committee. The Auditor-General and Internal Audit Unit of the SIU had done extensive investigations into the tender processes and procurement issues that were raised in the allegations. The Auditor-General was satisfied on the issue, and had not expressed any concerns about the criminal allegations and serious administrative issues. However, the SIU had had a debate with the Auditor-General about procurement through a certificate, which was done in cases where it was not practical, or was too urgent, to follow the normal procedures. That procurement had to be reported to National Treasury and the Auditor-General. In the past, SIU had understood that it was necessary to report only when the R1 million mark was reached, but it now was following the Auditor-General’s view that this must be reported as soon as the expense was incurred. The Audit Committee noted that it had commissioned its own investigations into the allegations. It confirmed that, having investigated the issues, it was satisfied that there was no basis to suspend Mr Hofmeyr or ask him to step down. The SAPS had liaised with the NPA on this matter, and he had not been asked to make any statements. Mr S Swart (ACDP) asked if the SIU could estimate the scale of corruption against the national budget. Mr Hofmeyr responded that it was difficult to do so, but one suggestion by National Treasury was that it might amount of about 20% of the annual procurement budget, or about R25 billion a year. That could well be a reasonable estimate. This figure, however, would relate not only to cases involving corruption, but also those where there had been over-payments or a failure to monitor service delivery properly. A significant amount of money was being lost that should be spent on service delivery. He added that it was also necessary to consider the ideal that should be invested into investigations. The model used in Hong Kong suggested that about 7 000 people should be assigned mainly to investigating corruption, but that did not happen in South Africa. The rules, regulations and policies were good and strong, but the reality was that if there were not strict consequences, or enough people assigned to investigate and hold people to account, then the culture of impunity would spread quickly. Prevention, education and awareness around corruption remained major challenges. Despite the growth in the SIU’s own capacity, and the use of the private sector to investigate, these were major issues in South Africa. There were also worrying trends that the corruption was spreading also to investigating organisations, who might be “persuaded” not to investigate some issues properly. The Prevention of Corruption Act contained a provision that an Accounting Officer or Senior Management employee who failed to report suspicion of corruption was guilty of a criminal offence, but this provision did not appear to have been enforced to date. The Accountant General had now hand-delivered a letter to every Accounting Officer drawing their attention to these provisions, and providing the names and contact details of those to whom such suspicions must be reported. Mr Swart asked about the liaison between the AFU and SIU, noting that the AFU could be taking action on the amounts over-spent by the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA). However, he wondered if the delays before proclamations were instituted was a problem for the SIU. Mr Hofmeyr responded that although it was sometimes frustrating for the SIU to have to wait until a proclamation was issued before it could act, matters were now moving faster under the current Minister. The issuing of proclamations would, however, take some time, because SIU would generally motivate for a widespread investigation and would have to isolate sufficient allegations for such an investigation, typically into “all procurement transactions”, so it could not cite merely one or two examples. The advantage of SIU’s close collaboration with SAPS was that the ACTT could also start investigations. The SIU had created capacity to deal much more effectively with corruption and it was quite optimistic that this would improve. Mr Swart noted that when the SIU last appeared before the Committee, it had referred to Eskom investigations and conflicts of interest, and he asked for an update on this. Mr Hofmeyr noted that part of the reason that the Eskom investigations had not progressed was that it was Eskom itself who had obtained the opinion in relation to payment of the SIU, which had concluded that the SIU should not proceed with these matters. National Treasury had now, however, provided the money for the investigation to continue. It would be included in a new proclamation. Mr Swart noted that the media had carried reports about investigations into the social grants, and concerns had been raised in the KwaZulu Natal Provincial Legislature that civil servants who had transgressed, but had then signed acknowledgments of debt, apparently were not required to pay any interest, and faced no disciplinary action, allegedly in terms of a national resolution. He asked if this was correct, commenting that if it was, it must be a source of frustration to the SIU. Mr Hofmeyr said that this matter was reported on previously to the Committee. About 44 000 public servants had managed to access public grants. If all had been fired, this would have had a huge impact on service delivery in the DSD. The SIU had made recommendations that sterner action be taken, but this was eventually coordinated nationally through the Department of Public Service and Administration. He was not sure that there was a national resolution on the matter. There were, however, different levels of illegality. Some of the civil servants had lied about their income to access the grants, and all of them had been prosecuted for fraud, and about 90% were found guilty. The second category had qualified for the social grant when they applied, but had failed, as they should have done, to inform the DSD when their income increased so that they would no longer qualify, although it was possible that they may not have been specifically informed of their obligation to report. Here, disciplinary action, but not prosecutions, were recommended. The third category had qualified for social grants, because they were part-time or low-paid employees such as cleaners, who were within the means test figures, although they were civil servants. Money was recovered from all those not entitled to the grants. Interest was levied. A huge amount of effort had gone into the recovery and there was good cooperation from DSD, and later from SASSA. He had his own qualms about those in SAPS who had committed fraud and remained employed as police officers, but this was something that the oversight mechanism should look into. Mr J Jeffery (ANC) congratulated the SIU on its positive performance. He asked when the legal opinion in relation to funding was received. Mr Hofmeyr said that the first legal opinion was obtained by Eskom, as part of good governance investigations, in about June 2011. The AFU subsequently obtained its own two further legal opinions, both of which confirmed the Eskom opinion. Several meetings were then held with National Treasury and Justice. The SIU had been concerned about the impact on its staff, and this finding was only communicated recently, once the SIU had been assured of a short-term solution. Mr Jeffery noted that two comments by the Auditor-General were noted in the Annual Report, but not reported upon specifically by the SIU. Item 18 of the Auditor-General’s report expressed concern about oversight responsibility on internal controls and strategic objectives. He asked how this was being addressed, and made the point that it should have been mentioned in the presentation. Mr Hofmeyr said that all departments were finding it a challenge to deal with the increasing vigour of the Auditor-General’s investigations. This was not actually raised as an emphasis of matter, and the SIU was initially informed that the Auditor-General (AG) would not express an opinion on the performance information. This related to performance, as the SIU had not linked specific performance targets, internally, to every objective, although it had focused on overall performance delivery targets. The SIU had engaged with the AG on this point and it would be resolved in the current year. The SIU was caught a little unaware on that point, and it was a technical matter, with no misperformance or incorrect reporting. Ms D Schäfer (DA) asked if the relationship with Nehawu, referred to in the Annual Report, was established before or after the complaint against Mr Hofmeyr. Mr Hofmeyr said that generally there had been a good and constructive relationship with Nehawu, and he thought that there was no real cause for concern. Ms Schäfer noted that comment had been made in the last Annual Report about the house for which R217 000 a month rental was being paid by the DPW, and asked why there seemed to be no change on this. She asked to what extent the SIU could prevent expenditure, and whether the DPW was cooperating in investigations. Mr Hofmeyr assured her that the payment of rental had been stopped in the past year. Recommendations had been made to the DPW and he hoped that it would soon take action on this and a number of other cases. Adv S Holomisa (ANC) asked if there was anything preventing the SIU from pursing civil actions. Mr Hofmeyr responded that the SIU had no problem where a department would agree to take civil action, and in the past, the SIU had assisted departments proactively in pursuing civil litigation, as it had some experienced advocates, to try to minimise the chances of loss. However, there was a problem where the Accounting Officer of a department was unwilling to act, either because s/he was close to the person being sued, or for fear of having his or her own position questioned. Adv Holomisa asked for clarity on slide 25, and asked why “the decision by SAPS” would need to be taken. Mr Hofmeyr agreed that this slide was inelegantly phrased, and in fact SAPS had referred matters to the NPA for a decision on whether to prosecute in the SABC matters. The SIU was not running the investigation. Although the prosecutor was involved closely from the beginning, a formal decision on prosecution needed to be taken. Adv Holomisa asked why the AG had not raised questions about the payment to the SIU by other State departments in the past. He asked what the AG’s view on the matter was, and whether it meant that each time SIU had work to do, the National Treasury would need to pay. Ms Smuts also asked for further clarity on the opinion, and questioned why Eskom had obtained it, as it had apparently requested SIU to do the work. Mr Hofmeyr answered that essentially the AG used the same model and therefore may not have considered the issue specifically. The SIU had done an investigation for the AG and National Treasury, for which it had been paid, since there was an assumption that this was in order, and in fact the investigations and their income had been reported upon as an achievement over the last eight years. The SABC investigations were the first done on a for-profit State entity, and this was followed by a request to investigate Eskom. However, Eskom had a range of corporate governance problems and during the debate on these, the issue of payment to the SIU was raised and the legal opinion was obtained to comply with corporate governance principles. Eskom had been helpful in the past, and there was no negative aspect to this. The Chairperson said that he, personally, felt that there should be a central coordinating body to deal with corruption. He asked how many cases had been referred for prosecution by the SIU since its formation in 2001. He also referred to the comments that there might be problems with the current process, and thought that a central coordinating body may well provide a solution. Some gaps may be related to SAPS’ lack of capacity. It did not make sense if the SIU was doing excellent work but there was no follow up. Mr Jeffery said that although the responsibility of the SIU presumably ended when recommendations were made, he wondered who the Committee could approach for a more comprehensive report on what ensued. Mr Hofmeyr said that he would give thought to that issue. The Director General of DOJ had also questioned how tracking could best be done. He noted that the Standing Committee on Public Accounts was more frequently calling the SIU to attend, with departments, at meetings, and would ask the departments which of the recommendations were implemented. SIU did try to follow up on recommendations, and would also offer assistance, but a more systematic approach might be useful. Mr Hofmeyr then noted that in respect of the Output 5 cases, 26 arrests had been made, about eight relating to the Savoy matter. Two or three related to the farm in KwaZulu Natal, one was in relation to Land Bank and one related to a stationery contract. A former mayor of Manguang was currently being tried. A case against a pharmaceutical company was instituted in Eastern Cape. Some Ekurhuleni officials were being prosecuted and there were other major cases in the pipeline, including SASSA officials. Ms Schäfer asked how many times the SIU had asked for proclamations to be issued that were refused. Mr Hofmeyr responded that this had never happened. There were no real problems with the process of the proclamations themselves at Ministerial level, but in practice, the view of the Premier was sought on matters relating to the provinces, and there had been a number of cases where no response was received from a Premier. The new Minister had recommended that investigations could be instituted even where no Premier’s consent had been given. Ms Schäfer asked to be provided with a list of premiers who had not answered. Mr Swart asked for further explanations about the Eastern Cape Local Government investigations, where assistance had been given since September 2009 yet no proclamation appeared to have been issued, and what the difference was between this and the North West municipality issues. Mr Toyo Mnqeba, Head: Business Support, SIU, said that the Eastern Cape matters were referred to the SIU by the MEC for Local Government, but not all the matters were of a serious enough nature to warrant applying for a proclamation. The SIU had essentially just done some preliminary investigations to assist the department. Mr Swart questioned whether the Annual Report reflected this correctly, and suggested that the outcome of the investigations should have been noted. Mr Mnqeba took his point. Mr Jeffery questioned the reference to revenue from exchange transactions investigated for Eskom and asked if the amounts already paid by Eskom would be repaid, in light of the opinion obtained by Eskom. Mr Hofmeyr said that the amounts had been paid up front, and although much of the pre-investigation had been done, there was an unspent portion, which Eskom had not requested should be repaid now. Adv Holomisa questioned page 29 of the Annual Report, which referred to the SIU making a recommendation for suspension of a municipal employee, which was then lifted. He questioned the point of the proclamations, if the investigations and recommendations of the SIU were simply ignored. Mr P Modipa, Programme Manager, SIU, said that the SIU had found irregularities in an IT contract since the Supply Chain Manager had a conflict of interest, and had recommended that the latter be suspended. By this time, however, the Municipality was placed under administration. The Administrator had implemented the suspension and SIU was helping SAPS with the criminal investigation. However, after the local government elections, a new Council was established, which lifted the suspensions of three officials, without consulting with the SIU. The MEC for Local Government had been apprised of this, and was to apply for a section 139 (of the Municipal Systems Act) intervention at the Madibeng Municipality and would deal with this issue. Mr Jeffery said that this report underpinned the need for more comprehensive follow-up reporting. He wondered if it was possible to categorise the local government problems. Mr Hofmeyr said that it was of structural concern that problems and oversight were of great concern at local government level, and in most cases bodies to oversee problems at this level were not in existence. Mr Jeffery wondered if this matter should not be reported to the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance, and that it should be suggested that the SIU should give a presentation to that Committee. The Chairperson agreed. Mr Hofmeyr said that SIU had been doing a lot of work with the Department of Cooperative Governance at national level, and was also assisting with its inspectorate. However, there were constitutional challenges as to how to deal with this sphere of government. The Chairperson expressed appreciation to Mr Hofmeyr and his team for a job very well done. The Committee would like to follow up on the issues identified, and would try to speed up the legislative changes. PC Justice: Special Investigating Unit on their Annual Report and Financial Statements for 2010/11 Summary & Analysis of the Special Investigating Unit Annual Report 2010/11 National Prosecuting Authority on their Annual Report and Financial Statements for 2010/11	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line616
__label__wiki	0.970658	0.970658	Legal Practice Bill: Version dated 1 August The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (the Department) continued to present the latest suggestions and options on the Legal Practice Bill, from the draft dates 24 July, from clauses 102 to the end. The drafters then tabled Draft 2 of the Bill, reflecting the instructions given by the Committee for possible options and changes of wording to date, up to clause 37. The Chairperson emphasised that there was no formal decision on these matters yet, and these were merely options for further deliberation by the Committee. The provisions relating to the Transitional Council (TC), in clause 102, had been adjusted, and whilst it was not possible to bring the provisions, and provisions around removal of members, in line in all respects with membership and removal on the final Legal Practice Council (the Council) and the Legal Practitioners Fidelity Fund Board (the Board), there was a reference to “misconduct under any Act” (as the Attorneys Act 53 of 1979 would continue to apply whilst the TC was in operation). Similarly, there had been alignment of provisions in clauses 103 to 105. A new “catch-all” subclause (7) had been added to clause 108, dealing with rules and regulations. The transitional provisions for the Fidelity Fund still named a number of “old apartheid structures” but the Department noted that changes had deliberately not been made in some instances, pending rationalisation, and in view of the complexities, but that this Bill would result in aligned structures. The same applied to clause 112, which set out transitional provisions for existing practitioners. Members asked if the rank of “Senior Counsel” could continue, and if there would be something similar for attorneys, and the Department noted that the Bill made provision for the Minister to make regulations on a new process, which would be far more transparent, and which would relate to all practitioners. The Department and Office of the Chief State Law Adviser noted that they were checking the laws to be repealed or amended, which would include some former “homeland” legislation. It was noted, as an aside, that the South African Law Reform Commission was currently busy with a massive project to identify obsolete legislation and provisions that were in conflict with the Constitution. A Member posed the question if this Bill would enhance civil or criminal procedure, and the view was expressed that it had the potential to do this, although it did not address this directly, by causing greater liaison on curricula, and defining practical training more specifically. The Department then proceeded to table the latest draft of 1 August, highlighting changes and new options. New options around community service (although no decision had been taken on this) being built into the curriculum for law students were included in clause 6, and the new options for community service by candidate and practicing practitioners were set out under clause 29. Members debated the composition of the Council again under clause 7, and might reconsider their suggestion to have two academics, leaving it to one nominated by the Law Deans Association. The words “as far as practicable” had been added in, wherever there was reference to trying to ensure certain demographic or gender balances and it was suggested that clauses 7(2) and (3) be collapsed. Similar to the Transitional Council provisions, there was to be clarity now on the wording of a nominee “who may not be a legal practitioner”, in clause 7(1)(f). It was noted that the wording now presented for clause 8 did not yet reflect all the deliberations on the previous day. Members discussed the options for chair and deputy chair, which presently implied that these positions would necessarily be held by the practising professions. Whilst they agreed that this was desirable, they did not want to exclude the possibility of an advocate or the Ministerial representative being chosen. Clause 12 contained provisions around vacation from office, and it was repeated that reference to conviction for any offences had been removed to clause 8. The difficulties around including a reference to “ the opinion of the Council” were debated. The Committee asked for an option that reflected that if a member of the Council was convicted in a court of first instance, s/he should be suspended, without benefits, until the time period for an appeal had lapsed (or the appeal had been concluded), and that the designating body would in the meantime be asked to nominate an alternate. It was also decided to reflect that the Council may decide to remove a Council member who was a practitioner, but must do so for a finding of serious misconduct, and options were included either to make this call against the disciplinary committee’s decision, or when confirmed by the Ombud (as soon as practicably possible). In relation to clause 14, a DA Member urged that there should be option specifically included that this clause be deleted altogether, as it was likely to be struck out, and the ACDP Member said that whilst his party did not support the Minister being able to dissolve the Council, it was prepared to look at limiting the clause to certain elements of ministerial power that may be needed. Options were included for clause 18 to set up standing committees of the Council, which would answer the requests for “chambers” to deal with matters specific to attorneys and to advocates. The ACDP asked if something similar could be implemented for the regional councils, and the department noted that whilst there could be difficulties with this, since the regional councils would essentially implement, not regulate (if they had delegated powers), there was nothing to stop sub-committees being formed. The wording around the composition of regional councils, in clause 23, would be clarified, and Members had some discussion on how many regional councils there might be. The position of Exco was clarified under clause 20. Clause 25 was still flagged to debate the appearance of candidate practitioners in the High Court. The new formulation of clause 27(2), requiring the rules to regulate the payment of remuneration, allowances or stipends to all candidate attorneys, including the minimum amount payable, found favour. Under clause 29 there was quite substantial discussion on community service, but the Chairperson cautioned against including too much detail in the Bill, preferring this to be left for the Rules. Clause 34 had been amplified by reference to Justice Centres, and clause 34(11) included more detail on practices to be debated. Clause 34(10) had been moved to the general offences clause. New options were included in respect of clause 35, reflecting, firstly, the determination of fees by the Rules Board, and secondly, requiring the Council to set up an inquiry into various aspects of fees, with a view to legislative and other interventions. Some changes were suggested around the references to the Competition Commission, and written agreements on fees between client and practitioner. Legal Practice Bill: Continuation of presentation by Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, referring to Draft of 24 July: from clause 102 Clause 102: Transitional Council Mr Bassett, Deputy Chief State Law Adviser, Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, said that he had had some difficulty in re-formulating the provisions precisely as discussed on the previous day, because this clause related to the Transitional Council (TC), so that “this Act” would not be in operation in its entirety, and would not apply in quite the same way as it would (at a later stage) apply to the final Legal Practice Council (the Council) and Legal Practitioners Fidelity Fund (the Fund). Therefore, instead of referring to a “ finding of misconduct under this Act” the provisions for the TC read “ finding of misconduct under any Act”, which would refer to the Attorneys Act No 53 of 1979 or any other statutory principles. He similarly noted that the provisions relating to the TC could not refer to the Ombud as that body would not yet be in place, and would need guidance on what options the Committee preferred. Clause 103 Mr Bassett noted that Clause 103 was aligned to similar provisions elsewhere in the Bill. Clause 105: Quorum and procedures Mr Bassett noted, in relation to the quorum and procedure for meetings of the TC, that the only amendment was in clause 105(2), to bring this in line with other provisions elsewhere. Mr Raj Daya, Acting Deputy Director General, Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, noted that the majority would constitute a quorum, and he wondered if there should be a minimum stated. The Chairperson questioned why. Mr S Swart (ACDP) pointed out that this would surely refer not to the majority of those present, but the majority of the Council as constituted. Perhaps this could be made clearer. Clauses 106 and 107 Mr Bassett said there were no substantial changes on clauses 106 to 107. Clause 108: Rules and regulations Mr Bassett said that the only change was the addition of a new subclause (7), as a catch-all phrase. Clauses 109 and 110: Transitional provisions in relation to Fidelity Fund The Chairperson commented that it was anachronistic that some of the bodies that were in existence prior to 1994 were still in existence. Mr Bassett noted that in 1997 there had been a major amendment to the Attorneys Act, when the cover of the current Attorneys Fidelity Fund (AFF) was extended to cover the attorneys in the former homelands, and there was a type of dual control system still in place. The Department had been under huge pressure to try to address this on an urgent basis, particularly because of problems in the former Bophuthatswana. There had always been hesitation to change because of pending rationalization. However, this Bill would finally get rid of all the problems with the dual or old structures. He also noted that in 1996, the justice laws had been rationalised, with the exception of the courts, the legal profession and one other, because of the complexities, and that was why the rationalisation was only taking place now. The Chairperson recalled that questions had been raised at the time, and the time it was stated that if all the matters were dealt with immediately it would delay the onset of democracy. Mr Bassett added that there were some difficulties around the status of some of the legislation. Clause 111: Transitional provisions in relation to qualifications Mr Daya asked what it was intended that clause 111(1)(b) should refer to, since most of the training courses were certified, as offered by existing institutions. He wondered if it was the intention that this clause apply to the independent bar. Mr Swart thought that clause 111(a)(ii) would cover everything, including independent advocates and any other alternative forum, as this clause would essentially be read with clause 119. Clause 112: Transitional provisions: Existing practitioners Mr Bassett said that there were problems with the roll of advocates and it had been suggested that this clause should be corrected to read “admitted,… and authorised to be enrolled..”. It was necessary still to refer to the former homeland legislation, because some of it was still in operation. Clauses 113 to 117 Mr Bassett said that there was nothing specific changed in these clauses. Mr Swart asked, in relation to clause 113, if there was provision for the conferral of Senior Counsel (SC) or Senior Attorney (SA) status. He thought that existing rankings would be retained, but there would not be provision for this to happen in the future. Mr Bassett said that the Department had been asked to include something. Mr Daya said that one of the considerations when assessing work was seniority, and this would be considered across the board for advocates and attorneys. The Chairperson asked if it was correct that the title of “Senior Counsel “ (SC) would not be conferred in future. Ms Wilma Louw, State Law Adviser, Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, said that the conferral of honours such as SC was a constitutional power of the President at the moment. The Bill empowered the Minister to make regulations about the possible conferral of honours and it referred to “the procedure or criteria relating to the ranking of senior practitioners”. The idea was that, if this was to be done, there must be a fair and transparent process. Currently, it was the General Council of the Bar (GCB) who nominated SCs, with applications routed via the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (the Department) to the President, although the Department played no role other than preparation of the necessary documents. In future, a different process would be followed. Mr Bassett reminded Members that the Committee said it wanted the issue flagged, but had asked the Department to propose an option, which Ms Louw had just outlined. Clause 118: Repeal of laws and savings Mr Bassett noted the addition of the words “and amendment” because some legislation, such as the Deeds Registry Act, would be amended. Clause 119: Short title and commencement Mr Bassett noted the different dates. Prof L Ndabandaba (ANC) asked if this Bill would enhance civil or criminal procedures. Mr Bassett thought that it would have an impact. Clause 6 dealt with the Council’s powers and functions. It would have to liaise with law faculties and universities on the curriculum. It was envisaged that there would be more interaction between legal institutions and tertiary institutions. The Bill did not focus on the curriculum for legal education, and so its impact on this aspect would be limited to that extent, However, he thought that practical vocational training after university should improve, and there were provisions in clause 6 that promoted post-graduate education. Mr Daya referred to clause 6(5), which covered interaction between higher education institutions and the profession. The Chairperson noted that recently there had been a symposium, which was probably run in light of this Bill. Both the law teachers and deans would be incorporated on the Council and transitional body. Schedule of laws to be repealed Ms Louw said that she and Mr Kweta, State Law Adviser, were dealing with the schedule, and in addition to what was set out at the moment, there would be insertion of amendments to the Deeds Registry Act, and a referral to legislation of the former homeland (TBVC) states. Mr Mongemeli Kweta, State Law Adviser, Office of the Chief State Law Adviser, said that certain legislation related to the former TBVC states had not yet been identified and included – such as some Amendment Acts, but he and Ms Louw were identifying all necessary legislation that needed to be included. The Chairperson noted that this Committee had mentioned in the past the need to go through the statute book and extract all legislation that did not fit well within the democracy. At the moment, committees tended to “stumble across” it. Mr Bassett confirmed that the South African Law Reform Commission was busy with the statutory law reform project, which was massive. It was focusing on obsolete legislation, and identifying legislation in conflict with section 9 of the Constitution. The Chairperson was relieved to hear of this. Draft 2 of Legal Practice Bill, 1 August 2013, headed “ Discussions of 24 and 25 July” Mr Bassett tabled a new draft, up to clause 35, which incorporated the changes that the Committee had suggested when going through the draft of 24 July. That document would be referred to as Draft 1 and the document now tabled as Draft 2. He clarified that in this latest draft, proposed insertions were indicated by double underlining, and proposed deletions by strikethrough. The footnotes in this draft differed from the previous draft; all previous ones had been included. The Chairperson emphasised, for the benefit of the media present and other parties, that there was no formal decision on these matters yet, and these were merely options for further deliberation by the Committee. Mr Bassett noted a technical amendment of “Legal Practitioners’ “(position of apostrophe). Mr Bassett outlined the bullet points, in which Ms Smuts’ request and the comment about affordable services had been accommodated. The alternative option dealt with opportunities for entry into the legal profession. Clause 1: Definitions: read with Footnote 19 Mr Bassett noted that the Committee still wanted to discuss matters around the Charter. Clause 2: Application of the Act There were no further changes. Clause 3: Purpose of the Act Mr Bassett pointed out an option, including the use of the word “broad” in clause 3(b)(iii). This was reflected again under clause 5(i). Clause 6: Powers and functions of the Council Mr Bassett noted the changes to clause 6(1)(d), and footnote 46, which noted that the Committee felt that the retention of this wording was still appropriate. Clause 6(1)(n) provided for financial support to institutions, but the words “in deserving cases” had been removed. The reference to stipends to pupils had also been removed, as this had been moved to clause 27. There was also an alternative to clause 6(1), pursuant to the suggestion that the Bill should more clearly distinguish between instances where the Council may or must do something. The “may” and “must” were detailed. The Chairperson asked for the meaning of “hypothecate” and it was explained that it essentially meant to bond or pledge. Mr Swart said that it had been suggested that the phrase “subject to available financial resources” was needed, if the “must” wording prevailed. However, if the clause now specified “may”, then this was probably sufficiently discretionary already, as it implied that if there were no resources, nothing would have to be done. Mr Bassett noted that in clause 6(5)(b) there had been a discussion on community service, and the suggestion made that perhaps something could be built in to recognise the importance of community service in the law studies curriculum. He had included the words “including the desirability of including, in the LLB curriculum, a form of community service to be undertaken by law students”. However, he asked the Committee to consider whether it was appropriate to include this in this Bill, which did not deal with legal education. Members agreed to consider the point. Clause 7: Composition of Council Mr Bassett said that clause 7(1)(b) set out the option of having two legal academic representatives, one designated by the law deans, and the from the ranks of the law teachers’ association. Ms Louw clarified that the name of the latter body was “The Society of Law Teachers of Southern Africa”. Ms Smuts said that it was undesirable to include, on the Council, someone who was teaching law in another country. Ms Louw said that she would double-check whom this association comprised. The Chairperson pointed out that membership of the Council was in any event limited to South African citizens. Ms Smuts questioned how the academic was chosen who sat on the Judicial Service Commission. Mr J Sibanyoni (ANC) noted that a teacher of law was mentioned in the Constitution, as designated by “the teachers of law at South African universities”. Mr Bassett said that this was quite open; the Committee had wanted a specific body mentioned. In the South African Judicial Education Institution Act (SAJEI) it was worded as “two teachers of law designated by the South African Law Deans Association” (SALDA). Ms Smuts asked why the Deans should not choose the two representatives. She said that the Committee did not really know what the other association comprised, whether all law teachers belonged to it, and whether they held it in high regard. The Chairperson asked that the Department make more enquiries on this point. Mr Swart said that if the other body was found not to have credence, then perhaps the Committee should consider reverting to one academic. He wondered if it was really necessary to have two representatives. Mr Bassett said it was possible to require SALDA to designate one representative Deans, and one teacher of law. Mr Swart would not be opposed to that, but suggested that SALDA still be asked to comment whether this would be workable. Mr Daya said that names were normally submitted to SALDA internally, who would decide, in internal processes, on the representative. He would report back on the Law Teachers’ body later. Ms D Schäfer (DA) thought that if only Law Deans were to nominate, there should be one representative, but shared concerns about a “Southern African” body. The Chairperson recalled that there had been a concern that those actually teaching law could make a valuable input, particularly on curriculum and training. After making enquiries, Mr Daya later reported that he had now found out that there was not a single South African (as opposed to Southern African) body representing all law teachers. In practice, when representatives of academics were needed, the notification would be sent to the SALDA, which would then circulate to all teachers of law. The Committee may wish to decide that it could be left to one representative – a law teacher, not necessarily as a Dean – and that the rest of the sub-clause could come out. Mr Bassett asked if this should be reflected as an option. The Chairperson said that this was not necessary – the Committee would decide later if they would prefer one or two academic representatives. Mr Bassett moved on to subclause (2). Clause 7(2) focused on race and gender, and did not yet set out the words “as far as practicable” were included and (3) went further to set out factors that must be taken into consideration. Ms Smuts noted, for interest, that the General Council of the Bar (GCB) was made up of ten constituent bars and they each sent a number of delegates, based on size. She read out how the GCB dealt with representivity, which included the phrase “and, in the case of bars represented by two or more delegates, shall, wherever possible, seek to ensure that it is appropriately represented…” Ms D Schäfer (DA) suggested that subclauses (2) and (3) could be collapsed together as the first criteria, and the other criteria could then follow, so that the clause would read along the lines of “When constituting the Council, the following factors must be taken into consideration: (a) the need to reflect broadly the racial and gender composition of South Africa, as far as practicable”, followed by the other elements. The Chairperson said that (2) was put in specifically to emphasise the racial and gender composition. Mr Bassett said that it was possible to change this as suggested later in the Bill. Mr Swart noted that clause 7(f) related to a person who “may not be a legal practitioner”, and thought this might constrain the Council under clause 8. He noted that this phrasing had been taken out of the provisions relating to the Transitional Council (TC) and thought it should be removed also from clause 7(1)(f). Members agreed. Clause 8: Membership of Council Mr Bassett noted that the wording presented did not yet reflect the discussions from the previous day. He recapped that a further option was to be added, with new wording about suspension. The Chairperson reminded Members that Adv L Adams (COPE) had made the point that MPs who had been convicted could still become MPs, after five years and serving of their sentence, when their conviction would be regarded as falling away. If MPs were allowed this constitutional right, members of the Council should be allowed the same. Mr Bassett agreed that there was another option, to use the same wording as the Constitution. Ms Schäfer clarified that the Committee had essentially wanted to see it reflected that if a person was convicted in a court of first instance, s/he should be suspended, without benefits, until the time period for an appeal had lapsed (or the appeal been concluded), and that the designating body would in the meantime be asked to nominate an alternate. The Chairperson read out the wording from the Constitution; that no-one may be regarded as convicted until the time period for an appeal had expired, or the appeal concluded. Ms Schäfer said that Adv Adams had been concerned about the first instance or appeal provisions. The Chairperson referred to clause 12, which related to when Council may remove a person. He questioned what would happen if the designating body requested removal of a person, even if that person had gone on appeal. That was likely to happen, but the person may claim that the appeal was still pending. Ms Schäfer said that this was the purpose of the suspension. If clause 12 was relying on “good cause” then it might not be possible to remove the individual. The Chairperson wondered if what was in clause 8 would not be regarded, by the designating body, as too onerous. The body was not claiming that the person was guilty. Ms Smuts thought that it would be useful if the suspension provision was mandatory. Ms Schäfer and the Chairperson commented that they certainly believed that removal must apply in the case of serious offences. Mr Daya asked whether the question of a Council member not being a member of the Fidelity Fund Board (the Board) was reflected. Mr Bassett said that it was covered; under the disqualification provisions, subclause 8(1)(e). Mr Bassett then explained the options for chairperson and deputy chairperson. If the chairperson was an attorney, the deputy chairperson must be an advocate, and vice versa. However, the implication of this wording was that other members of the Council would be excluded from being chair or deputy chair. If the chair had been an attorney in one term, then consideration should be given in the next term to electing the new chairperson from the ranks of advocate. The implications were, however, again, that the chair and deputy chair must come from the ranks of legal practitioners, whereas the original provision did not preclude these positions being held by the other members of the Council too. This point had been raised on the previous day, and so he had prepared a further alternative, which said “If the chairperson is appointed from the ranks of attorney…”. Ms Smuts said that the Committee was attempting not to infringe on the rights of self-regulation of the legal profession. It was logical, in her view, that the chair and deputy chair should be practicing lawyers. It was not realistic that an academic or one of the Ministerial appointees was likely to be made the chair. However, she would be prepared to accept the third option; an academic might be a compromise. The alternative was to have a judge in that position. Ms Schäfer thought that the first option did not preclude the academic being appointed, because it also referred to “if”. She asked what would happen if an attorney was elected in one term, and then an academic in the next. She was now inclined to say either that a legal practitioner should be the chair, or that it must rotate. The Chairperson pointed out that this was infringing on the rights of the Council to democratically elect its own chair and deputy. He asked if the other members of the Council would feel aggrieved. He did, however, point out that the legal profession had had over twenty years to get their house in order. Ms Smuts said that surely the practitioners would want to have a chair and deputy from their own ranks; the battles were between the two arms of the profession. The branches were being forced into the regulator together and it was only responsible that Parliament try to avoid trouble, by having both represented in the two chair positions, and by rotating the chairperson. She was hoping that parity would apply to the numbers. Mr Swart said that the use of “if” was important, because this left it open to the body to go whatever route it wanted. The Chairperson pointed out that (a) stated “must”. Mr Swart thought that this could be changed to “if”. The attorneys and advocates would have to sit as a bloc and this clause would force them to work together, failing which they may find that the chair and deputy chair positions moved to other representatives. He therefore suggested that there should not be an insistence, but only an option, that a legal practitioner must be chair and deputy chair. Ms Schäfer pointed out that the Minister would be appointing the chair of the TC (in consultation) but she agreed that if there was a very good Dean or Ministerial representative, they should not be precluded. The Chairperson said that the profession may be responsible, but it was also possible to have a deadlock, and the fall-back would be to have a neutral member. Ms Smuts suggested that in (1)(a), this could be achieved by deleting the absolute requirement that the chair and deputy chair must be legal practitioners. Mr Daya pointed out that the term was three years, not one, and the chair and deputy chair would follow that. Mr Bassett said that the double-underlining would be removed from clause 9(6). Mr Swart asked for confirmation that the chairperson could resign from the position, without also having to resign from the Council. Mr Bassett confirmed it was covered in (7). Clause 12: Vacation from Office Mr Bassett summarised the new wording (see attached document, page 20). He noted that the words “or a conviction for any offence” should come out, as this was dealt with under clause 8. Mr Swart thought that the words “which, in the opinion of the Council,” should be removed from (b). Ms Louw said that it might actually assist with a misconduct finding. The Chairperson pointed out that the Council could take a long time to consider the matter. Ms Smuts said that the misconduct finding would surely have been made at regional level. The Council would play a role in the disciplinary criteria of whatever was to be done at regional level. It was intolerable that any lawyer subject to a finding of misconduct could continue to sit on the Council. She believed that, pending that appeal procedure also, there must be a suspension. The Chairperson agreed, and wondered if building in a suspension provision might answer that. Mr Bassett confirmed that transparency was provided for at regional councils. The Chairperson said that perhaps it should be left to force of public opinion. Mr Swart thought that as soon as the finding of misconduct was made (at regional level) the Council should be entitled to suspend. The designating body could also recall that member. The Chairperson thought that the latter would happen in practice, but an appeal was still possible. Mr Daya anticipated a problem if there was no stipulation on the seriousness of the offence; this created the obligation on the Council to make a decision without guidelines. A person not responding to a colleague could be found guilty of misconduct. There had to be a way to separate serious from minor offences. Mr Swart thought that perhaps “on good cause shown” or “on reasonable grounds” had to be introduced. He was thinking of this from the perspective of a member of Council. A person removed, from the lower level, would be likely to be more focused on reinstating himself there. He agreed that “in the opinion of the Council” had introduced a subjective issue. Ms Smuts said she had suggested its removal. Ms Schäfer said that this was why she had suggested using “may”. She wondered what objective criteria were given. Mr Swart said that there could be a member whom the Council would not remove. Mr Daya said that in Chapter 4, under professional conduct provisions, it was noted that the Council would have to develop a code of conduct. He questioned if it would be listing a whole lot of trangressions into a schedule. Mr Bassett said that perhaps “a finding of serious misconduct, as set out in the Code” might help. Mr Daya suggested that “as confirmed by the Ombud” could also be inserted. Ms Schäfer suggested that perhaps a separation was needed – that the Council may remove, but must do so in certain circumstances. Ms Louw suggested that perhaps an enabling provision must be inserted, that the Council must make rules as to what was serious or not serious. Mr Bassett added that it would be logical to set this out in the Code. Mr Daya said that there was not unanimity in the statutory councils’ rules at the moment. Ms Schäfer suggested wording stating that “the Council may remove the member on a finding of misconduct, but must remove the member in respect of offences specified in the Code of Conduct.” Ms Smuts said that the drafters had touched on the requirement that the Council must write the Code of Conduct (clause 36). On the previous day, she had argued that either the body would have to have two chambers, because each profession was in charge of its own rules. Each bar also had its own rules. The advocates called these “Code of Ethics and Conduct” which were ethics and practice rules. The attorneys had different rules, and she believed that each should continue to be in charge of their own rules. If clause 36 said that “the Council” must write a Code of Conduct, she questioned if this meant something different from the practice rules. Mr Daya said that over the last five years, the attorneys’ profession had been trying hard to come up with uniform rules, in anticipation of this Bill. A decision on finalising the submissions that would come from the GCB, Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) and other Codes would be made at the level set out in clause 36. He did not believe that the Council would start de novo on the process, but would, legally, have to settle the rules or code, and there should not be conflicting rules in a voluntary association. Ms Smuts said that the assumption, from clause 36, might be that the Council would attempt to create a set of uniform rules that would apply to the two professions. She did not believe that this was possible. Council would have to break down between the two professions, and she reiterated that at regional level, at least, there should be two chambers / committees, although it had been mooted that it might be helpful for members of both professions to sit on disciplinary panels. The Chairperson pointed out that suspension was provided for in (2) and (3). During a short break, the drafters attended to re-writing these provisions. Mr Bassett recapped, after the break, that an option would be added that the Council must remove a member of the Council on a finding of serious misconduct by disciplinary committees (which would mean that there were no problems around the appeal). However, if the Members wanted to allow for the appeal, then Mr Daya had suggested that perhaps a time period must be set out for the appeal to be dealt with within a certain time. Mr Swart agreed that this would be useful. This would not complicate matters; if the Council member wanted to prevent his or her removal, then that individual would have to bring an interdict against the implementation of the clause, pending the finalisation of the appeal. Mr Kweta was not sure whether the Code of Conduct in clause 12 and clause 36 were the same. The code in clause 36 would apply only to legal practitioners. Mr Bassett thought that then it could be specified that (a) would apply to legal practitioner members of the Council, whereas (b) to (d) would apply to all Council members. Mr Bassett said that another alternative was to use “on good cause shown by the body or person, upon confirmation by the Ombud”. Paragraph (e) had been removed, following discussions on the previous day. Mr Swart said that there was a possibility that there might not be a good relationship between Council and Ombud, and he wondered if the Ombud’s decision should not also be specified as having to be done within a reasonable time. Mr Bassett suggested “as soon as practicably possible”. Mr Swart wondered if he was correct in his assumption that there might be strain in the Ombud’s relationship between the Council, if the former was dealing with complaints against the profession. Ms Smuts thought this strengthened the argument to have a judge as Ombud, because judges were trained to rise above any favoritism. Clause 14: Dissolution of Council Ms Smuts urged that this clause be deleted altogether, and urged that this should be specifically noted as an option. Mr Swart said that it was possible to look at elements of the Ministerial powers; for instance the ability to set up an interim Council, what criteria to use and so forth. Many of those issues had been canvassed. Ms Smuts thought having the clause was a complete waste of time, for Judge Chaskalson had said that the power of dissolution was inconsistent with the Constitution. This was likely to be challenged in the Constitutional Court, and she had no doubt that it would be struck down. Clause 15 to 17 No changes were noted. Clause 18: Committees of Council Mr Bassett read out some options that he had drafted. The first stated that the Council must establish standing committees to assist it in the exercise of its powers and performance of its functions, as set out in (and here the clauses may follow) “or section 6(1)(k) and (l) ” – which obliged the Council to develop norms and standards. The first standing committee would consist of any of the ten attorneys referred to in 7(1)(a) and another standing committee would consist of six advocates to deal with advocates’ matters. It was noted that no other committee may deal with matters contemplated in (a) or (b), other than these. Paragraph (c) would read that the decisions of these committees must be implemented by the Council, except if a two-thirds vote decided otherwise, or if alternatives were approved by the Ombud, which would then supercede the committees’ decision. Ms Smuts thanked the drafters. This did appear to deal with “own affairs” and “general affairs”. She was not so happy with the two-thirds majority vote. The Chairperson pointed out that this was a protection mechanism for own affairs. Mr Swart asked if something similar (or an alternative) could be implemented for the regional level. Mr Bassett said that he had some difficulty with this. As he saw it, decisions at the national level would be implemented at the regional level. The regional standing committees would implement norms and standards relating to advocates and to attorneys. This was assuming that the regional councils would not have original but delegated powers. Ms Smuts thought that original powers should be at the regional level. Mr Swart said that the fall-back position of his party would be to have something similar at the regional level. The Chairperson confirmed that there was no formal decision on these matters yet. All that the drafters were putting to the Committee were options for the Committee’s consideration. There were no changes, except that “where practicable” would be inserted into the option, and the same would apply to clause 20. Clause 20: Executive committee of Council Mr Bassett noted that the changes related to (7), that the chair and deputy would be ex officio holding these positions also in Exco. The Chairperson noted that (b) was removed, and asked who chose the deputy chair. Mr Bassett said that (b) had been re-worded. This related to the Exco. The deputy chair of the Council would be ex officio also deputy chair of the Exco. He noted that (9) dealt with the making of decisions, the quorum (which referred to the majority present at a meeting) and the casting vote to the chair. Clauses 21, 22, 23, 24 Mr Bassett noted no substantive changes to these clauses. Mr Daya wanted to speak to clause 23(5)(a), which noted that the Regional Councils should be set up in such a manner so as to reflect the composition of the Council, as far as legal practitioners were concerned. He thought that this was open to interpretation, and could refer to either numbers, or composition. The present wording might result in the thinking that 16-person councils were to be established. Ms Smuts said that she had argued for parity, but she was sure that it was the proportion of the council that the drafters had intended to use. Mr Daya wondered if “proportional composition” would solve the problem. Mr Swart said that the region might be unique, and there might be no advocates in that area. He thought that mention had to be made of the region, and the discretion had to be given to the regional councils. The Chairperson asked how this would affect parity. Ms Smuts recalled that at an earlier stage, it had been suggested that perhaps there might only be four regional councils, which she thought was too few. She suggested that each region should coincide with the divisions of the High Court, reflecting the fact that the professions were officers of the High Court. The Chairperson noted that this was then possibly contemplating provincial councils. Mr Swart noted that the divisions of the Court did not necessarily match provinces. Ms Smuts added that more courts would be built, subject to funding. The Chairperson thought the intention of the clause was to accommodate a situation where a regional council could be found to cross the borders of two provinces. Mr Bassett agreed that this was a possibility, but added that having two regional councils in one province should be avoided. Ms Smuts asked who postulated these regional councils first, and what the thinking behind this was. The Chairperson added that much of what was in the Bill may have come from the professions. Mr Bassett said he did not know, but he surmised that they were intended to implement day-to-day operational issues at a regional level. Ms Smuts agreed, but thought it was illogical that the TC should come up with powers and functions. Mr Swart said that the perceived difficulties with attorneys and advocates could be overcome by specifying that the regional councils may set up sub-committees to deal with issues germane to the attorneys and advocates’ professions, including training and other issues. They would be sub-structures. Mr Bassett agreed. He questioned the suggestion that in some regions there may be no advocates. Mr Swart said that he would withdraw that comment, because on a closer reading he had seen that at least four regional councils were needed, and where there was a seat of the High Court, and that would imply that advocates would be represented. Mr Bassett confirmed that there was no final number stated. Even if there were nine regional councils, there were nine high courts, so there would always be advocates who would need to be represented on the regional council, unless very small ones were set up, which the Department did not envisage. Ms Smuts read out where the ten constituent Bars were. She believed that the regional councils should be provincially-based, and at the seat of the High Court. The Chairperson noted that the three or four was inserted as an option, but there had not been a final decision. He would like to see an option drafted, to reflect Mr Swart’s suggestion on the sub-committees. Ms Smuts asked if the Committee should not decide that there should be nine provincial societies. Clauses 25 and 26 No changes were noted. However, Mr Bassett reminded Members that clause 25, dealing with rights of appearance, was still flagged, to debate the appearance of candidate practitioners in the High Court. Clause 27: Practical vocational training Mr Bassett noted the insertion of a new subclause (2), stating that the rules must regulate the payment of remuneration, allowances or stipends to all candidate attorneys, including the minimum amount payable. The Chairperson said that he liked this formulation. Ms Smuts said that some people may take on candidates, and have to pay them stipends. She asked what would happen if others did not. Mr Daya noted that the minimum amount payable was supposed to be in relation to remuneration, but he said that, as it read, it could also relate to stipends or allowances. Mr Bassett said that whilst candidate attorneys would undoubtedly continue to be paid, there was no certainty what form pupillage would take, but hopefully it would be broadened. He thought that the minimum amount should refer strictly to “remuneration” although there was nothing wrong with setting minimum amounts for stipends or allowances. The Chairperson thought that it could be left as it was. Clause 29: Community Service Mr Bassett went through the third option drafted. Members indicated that they preferred the use of “community service performed”. The option now read that the Council must make rules relating to community service to be performed by candidate legal practitioners, as a compulsory component of practical vocational training, and by practising legal practitioners, stipulating that their continued enrolment would be dependent on performing this service. The rules may set out different minimum periods, either continuously or intermittently. The rules must regulate supervision of the candidate legal practitioner. This must take into account the public interest, and would be limited to certain circumstances, as set out in (3)(a) and (c). A definition of community services was given in (4) of the option. Subclause (5) set out the possibility of exemption. This tried to convey that community service was in place both to assist candidates (in particular) in entry to the profession, as well as serving the interest of the public. The Chairperson pointed out that it was not intended to be punitive. Ms Smuts noted that (1)(b) still included community service as a requirement for continued registration of legal practitioners. She did not agree in this, but did believe that the Committee should attempt to increase the amount of pro bono work being done, and perhaps somebody would have to report on it, because there was an impression that it was honoured more in the breach than the observance. She agreed with the reference to candidate practitioners being able to do their community service assisting maintenance officers and similar “service in the state” was included. She would have preferred to see examples, but accepted this could not be done in the Bill. Mr Bassett answered her first point, saying that Adv Adams had questioned what would happen if a legal practitioner did not do community service, and if there should be a sanction for non-compliance. The Chairperson said that the Council would deal with this. Ms Smuts could not speak for Ms Adams, but she had the impression that she had regarded community service as punitive. Mr Daya recalled that Adv Adams’ submission was made in the context that she supported pro bono, and that a punitive sanction was needed. Prof Ndabandaba said that social work students at university had to do “practical work” in the field, without which they would not be qualified. The Chairperson cautioned against including too much detail in the Bill. The Council must draft rules, and perhaps this could be worded “which could include”. Clause 30: Enrolment with the Council Mr Bassett noted that subclause (3) made provision for conversion of enrolment, if an advocate wished to switch status. Therefore (eA) included “any conversion of enrolment as contemplated in section 32. Clause 31: Cancellation and suspension of enrolment Mr Bassett noted, in sub-clause (4), a reference to “or from the roll of practising legal practitioners, as indicated by the legal practitioner in question”. Clause 34: Forms of legal practice Mr Bassett noted the insertion of briefing of advocates directly by Justice Centres, under subclause (3)(c). Subclause (9) was removed, with its content being moved to (11), which now referred to limited liability legal practices and multi-disciplinary practices and the statutory recognition of paralegals. Subclause (10) was deleted as it was moved to the general offences clause. Clause 35: Fees of legal practitioners Mr Bassett noted that the first option for determination of fees was to use the Rules Board. A further option was now inserted, that the Council would have to investigate and report back with recommendations, taking into account best international practice, the public interest and interest of the legal profession, on: (a) the current untenable situation in which access to legal services was not a reality for most South Africa, the reasons giving rise to this and ways to address it; (b) a mechanism most desirable in the context of this Act, which would be responsible for determining fees for legal services, the establishment, composition and processes of that mechanism, taking into account the anti-competitive laws of the Republic and taking into account the views of the Competition Commission (which were summarised ); (c) the desirability and feasibility of allowing users of legal service the option of voluntarily agreeing to pay fees in excess of amounts set by the legal mechanism. The Chairperson asked if the Council should report back to the Parliament, or the Minister, and what would then follow. Later, however, he noted that the phrase “with a view to legislative and other interventions” clarified what would happen. Ms Smuts said that she had, earlier, raised the point that Parliament had, when drafting legislation for the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), imposed some regulations, but she had been unable to track down what followed thereafter. At the very least, Council should be required to take the necessary steps. Ms Smuts added that this clause had wide financial and social implications, and perhaps the Council should be asked to come back to Parliament first. She noted that (b) was asking the Council to find a mechanism. She was not even convinced that a fee structure was the way to go. Ideally, there should be a free market, but it was known that there were distortions, and she would have to think about it further. Ms Smuts also suggested to Mr Bassett that there should be specific reference to “the Competition Act” instead of to “anti-competition laws”, in subclause (b). Ms Smuts also noted that a written agreement between client and attorney must be entered into in relation to fees, and perhaps there should be an obligation on the Council to write rules around that. Mr Swart said that the Competition Commission took the view that tariffs were uncompetitive, but there were already court tariffs. He thought that the part referring to the views of the Competition Commission should rather refer to its unwillingness for fees and tariffs to be set at all, or for them to be determined by competitors”. He was cautious about highlighting only one of the conclusions of the Competition Commission. Ms Smuts read out that Owen Rogers had written an article on fees, in which he had suggested an inquiry of the two branches of the profession, in concert, and this would be a function giving justification to the joint regulator. Maybe the practitioners and Competition Commission should together hold an enquiry. The Chairperson pointed out that the Council could take such a decision. Ms Louw said that the Competition Commission had wide powers, and even if not invited to participate, it could do a market enquiry. Mr Bassett clarified that the Rules Board option was still on the table. Ms Smuts asked if the Rules Board was happy with that. Mr Daya said that he did not have a mandate to speak for the Rules Board, but he had informed the Chairperson that the Committee was considering this possibility. The next meeting of the Rules Board was only scheduled for September. The Chairperson said that the Bill would be with the NCOP at this stage, but the Rules Board would not be precluded from making a recommendation or decision. Clause 36 and 37 Mr Bassett said that there were no changes. Committee Programme The Chairperson said that the Chairs of Committees had been invited to attend training on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in the following. It was unlikely that permission would be given to hold any meetings, so the Committee would resume in the week of 15 August. PC Justice: Deliberations on the Legal Practice Bill PC Justice: Legal Practice Bill: Version dated 1 August Legal Practice Bill: New draft dated 1 August (to be referred to as Draft 2): up to clause 37	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line617
__label__wiki	0.942368	0.942368	Cybercrimes and Cybersecurity Bill: deliberations Chairperson: Dr M Motshekga (ANC) The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development briefed the Committee on the inputs received and changes made to the Cybercrimes and Cybersecurity Bill. Before the briefing, there was some discussion in the Committee as to how best to manage the inputs from other departments and to get the views of relevant committees, but it was decided that the Department would guide the Committee through the changes to the Bill that it had determined were viable and, thereafter, the Committee would decide whether to meet with other departments or committees. The Department indicated that many changes were merely cosmetic changes to correct language, terminology or references. The focus in the meeting would be on substantive changes. Clause 15 had been amended in various sub-clauses to align with the Criminal Procedure Act and to fill the gaps where the South African Police Service had found that the Criminal Procedure Act was not a good fit when dealing with cybercrime. Most comments received, and some criticism, had been about chapter 3 which dealt with malicious communications. However, most amendments that were found to be necessary related to messages. The definition of “violence” was amended to include “conduct of a sexual nature or which intimidates or humiliates.” During public commentary, there had been lots of criticism of the fake news clause. The Department had redrafted the clause to build in lots of belts and braces to ensure that it could not be unfairly used to prosecute a person. During the public commentary process, it had been suggested that the clause was very vague. The legislation had been tightened up in defining fake news but criminalised the distribution of, or making available, a data message which was false. Clause 18 which dealt with the distribution of data messages of intimate images without consent had evoked a lot of comment. The public indicated that the clause had to deal with new developments internationally and had to not only criminalise nude images but also other types of creep shots. The rest of the chapter had evoked no real criticism against the procedural parts of the chapter during public commentary although there had been a concern regarding penalties in the Bill. The Department had not agreed with the proposed changes to penalties. Chapter 5 on ‘Powers to Investigate, Search and Access or Seize’ had required some changes. The National Prosecuting Authority had requested authority to deal with remote searches but that could not be included in the Bill. The process of remote searches would require an amendment to the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act 70 of 2002 (RICA). The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development was currently dealing with amendments to RICA, but it was a very long Act of over 220 pages and very technical, so drafting was taking time. The clauses relating to telecommunications and internet service providers had been tightened to make it clear what would be required of the providers. The South African National Defence Force had requested that a clause that dealt with the establishment of the Cyber Command be reconsidered for possible insertion in the Bill. The Defence Force had stated that the clause was necessary in that it defined the role of the Defence Force in relation to cyber-related matters and provided guidance as to what the Defence Force should implement to give effect to their mandate. However, the Executive had instructed that the Bill should not specify the structures involved as that would tell the world the exact purpose of those structures. Those structures did not need legislation as they could be established on an administrative basis. Members of the Committee were concerned about recommended changes that the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development had considered not viable and therefore had not entertained. The Department agreed to indicate on the summary of all comments received, which comments had not been incorporated so that Committee Members could decide whether they wished to include any of them. The Department would also clean up the document so that the Committee could work from a clean document at the following meeting. It was hoped that the Committee would be able to vote on each clause at the next meeting. Report on Meeting The Chairperson welcomed everyone. He commented that Kenya, another member of the African Union, had very recently passed a Cyber-crimes Act very similar to the South African Bill. Members had had sufficient time to go through the Bill. He noted that previous meetings to discuss the proposed law had been very difficult to understand as the Bill had been full of technicalities. He was sure that it would not be that difficult today. He asked Committee Members whether he should allow the Department to present or whether simply go through page-by-page and raise issues. Mr W Horn (DA) recalled that at the previous meeting, the Committee had been in the process of hearing the presentation from the Department and should continue with that process. The Committee had been given a version of the Bill which contained additions and amendments and yet the discussion on the Departmental response to the submissions had not been completed. He was concerned that there had not yet been meetings with the related Departments and the Police Portfolio Committee and Telecommunications and Postal Services Portfolio Committee as it was even more relevant to those Committees than to the Justice Committee. He would be highly uncomfortable if the Committee suddenly skipped to dealing with proposed amendments. The Chairperson informed the Committee that he had met with former Minister David Mahlobo on the aeroplane from Johannesburg to Cape Town who had reassured him about various aspects of the Bill. Had the Committee asked Mr Mahlobo, he would have been happy to clarify various issues as he had been involved in the conceptualisation of the Bill. The Chairperson wondered if the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DoJ&CD) had met with its sister departments as the Committee did not have to be involved in consultation between departments. Mr Sarel Robbertse, State Law Advisor, DoJ&CD, stated that after the Cyber Response Committee (CRC), the State Security Agency and the National Prosecuting Authority had addressed the Committee, there had been several engagements with different departments. Certain aspects that had been raised by departments had been addressed and he would refer to many of those in his presentation. He and his colleagues had met with other departments and consulted extensively with them. All departments were involved in the drafting of the Bill. Drafting emanated from Cyber Response Committee which was a Committee put together by government to deal with cyber response in South Africa. The Bill was discussed in that Committee and inputs were obtained from all departments represented on the CRC. Some of the loose ends in the Bill had emanated from that Committee but all those loose ends had been addressed. He noted that most other African countries had or were introducing cybercrime Bills. All had followed international best practices. The South African Bill had followed the same route. In public comment phase, certain inputs had looked at specific clauses and other inputs were proposed different ways of addressing how to operationalise the processes. A team of experts, including Ms Alison Tilley of Open Democracy who was an observer at the current meeting, had looked at the Bill. Although Ms Tilley did not agree with all aspects, the working group had felt that the Bill could address the current lacuna in South African legislation. A group of lower court judicial officers had also made a substantial input. The Chairperson informed the Committee that he had been in discussion with the Minister and the Deputy Minister and he could confirm that those processes mentioned by Mr Robbertse had taken place and the Committee was in a better position to proceed without a joint meeting with sister departments, unless Members wanted to duplicate efforts. Mr Horn declared that the point had been missed. He had never said that there were not multiple inputs from departments during the drafting process. The argument at the previous meeting had been that the Portfolio Committees of Police and Telecommunications and Postal Services had an interest, and quite possibly a duty to be involved, in the Bill because even though the Minister of Justice had introduced it, it was not purely a Justice Bill. To say Members had to be at ease because the departments were heavily involved in the drafting was negating the enrichment that could be brought to the process by fellow legislators serving on those Portfolio Committees. The Chairperson suggested that there was a middle way: the Committee could go through the responses and then, in phase 2, consider sitting with other Committees. Members could not sit with other Committees before they themselves had dealt with the responses. That might be a way of running away from their responsibilities. He heard Mr Horn’s point. Ms G Breytenbach (DA) stated that the Members could read the responses. It was not necessary to have the Department read them to the Committee. The Committee had taken a decision to work with other Portfolio Committees. On what basis were they deviating from that decision? The Chairperson explained that the Committee was completing a process that had been started. Then the Committee could take a decision as to whether it was necessary to meet with the other committees, depending on the programme of Parliament and the programme of other committees. He was just indicating that it was difficult to fit things in when Parliament would soon be in recess. Ms Breytenbach asked whether the programme of Parliament was the problem. As far as she was concerned, the Committee had already made a decision to meet with the other Portfolio Committees. Ms M Mothapo (ANC) proposed that the Committee hear the responses from the Department, ask clarity-seeking questions and then later meet with other Committees, as proposed. The Chairperson said that the Members did not disagree but that the Committee was in the process of taking responses. Mr Horn requested clarity. He had a document dated 26 February where he had marked that the Committee had got to page 37. There was now a document on his table dated both 26 February 2018 and 22 May 2018/ Final. He needed clarity as to why the Committee was not finishing the original document. The Chairperson stated that it was a fair question. He noted that Mr Horn was following processes meticulously. He asked the Department to make a presentation on the Bill, starting with an explanation of the change in document. Mr Robbertse replied that nothing had changed from the previous document but after the previous meeting with the Committee, he and his team had met with other departments but most of their input was still to be discussed by the Committee. The new comments were in clauses that he would be presenting. He was using a computer using a new operating system so the format of the document had changed. The Chairperson told Mr Robbertse that where there were several options, he was to present only the preferred option. The Committee did not want to hear all the proposals. Presentation on Amendments to the Cybercrimes and Cybersecurity Bill by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development Mr Robbertse began going through the Amended Bill according to changes proposed, pointing out that the page numbers on his screen and in the printed document might differ by a page or two. Chapter 2: Unlawful securing of access Picking up from where he had left off at the previous meeting, Mr Robbertse began with clause 14 of the Bill. It was proposed that the heading ‘Penalties’ be changed to ‘Sentencing’ as clause 14 did not only describe penalties but it also described circumstances to be taken into account when a person was sentenced. It was proposed to add ‘theft’ in clause 14(5) as theft had to be considered as an aggravating circumstance since the Bill did not create an offence of cybertheft per se. The Department approved the proposed amendment to sub-clause 5. In clause 14(7), a proposed addition dealt with an obligatory order of the court and an order that could be made by the court so that a person could be reimbursed if that person had suffered a loss. The victim would have to ask the prosecutor that he be reimbursed for losses suffered. Mr Robbertse had included, in footnote 48, other Acts that allowed for reimbursement of losses suffered. Public comments had been received asking that the bill allow for damages suffered to be paid back. The Department did not think that it was necessary to insert that point as Section 300 of the Criminal Procedure Act (CPA) dealt with that aspect, but the proposal could be considered. Clause 15 set out competent verdicts that a court might impose if a person was charged with an offence. A cosmetic change had been affected to the clause as a whole to clarify that if a person were to be convicted of an offence not mentioned in the clause, the competent verdict would still apply. For example, a charge of attempted incitement would mean that a competent verdict would follow. It simply clarified the clause. A contravention of clause 4(2) had been used to criminalise the use of listed equipment, but it had been decided not to criminalise that under clause 4, so clause 4(1) had been omitted and clause 4(2) became 4(1). That change meant that references to clause 4(2) in clause 15 had been changed. In clause 15(5) certain further amendments had been added to clarify the clause. The clause had simply referred to software or hardware tools, but the amendment explained what type of software or hardware tools were being referred: “the use of a software or hardware tool to acquire or use a password, access code or similar data or devices”. Clause 15(6) also related to passwords. Clause 15(5)(b)(iii) was omitted and 15(5)(c) was added which stated that ‘a contravention of section 7(1) or (2), in so far as the password, access code or similar data or device was acquired, possessed, provided to another person or used for purposes of contravening the provisions of section 8’. 15(5)(c) had been included as an offence because borrowed passwords were frequently used to commit cybercrime. Section 8 dealt with fraud, while 7(1) referred to passwords and 7(2) referred to the person in possession of a password who was unable to give a satisfactory account for being in possession of that password. Clause 15(8) specified the contraventions and provided further clarification and defined the offences. The same change had been made to 15(9). According to the Department, it was not necessary to refer to clauses 3(1), 5(1), 6(1) or 7(1) as contemplated in clause 11(1) as that clause already referred to those sections. In clause 15(9) certain prescriptions had been removed as they were already contained in clause 11(2). The Department had added sub-clause 10, which had been an omission. There was a similar clause in the Criminal Procedure Act that provided that if a person were charged with an offence and there was no proof of the offence, but there was proof of elements of that offence, the person could be convicted of that offence. Therefore, 15(10) had been added to the competent verdict clause. A person had to be informed beforehand that he could be convicted on the competent verdict clause but if he had not been warned, it was an irregularity, so the new clause ensured he could be convicted on a similar charge. Chapter 3: Malicious Communications Most comments received, and some criticism, had been about chapter 3. However, Mr Robbertse would be concentrating only on the messages. A definition clause was proposed to clarify certain terminology that was used in respect of the offences. In clause 16, which dealt with inciting damage to property, there was a proposal to add “and intentionally’. The clause had referred to a group of persons, but the word “identifiable” was added because an identifiable group of persons consisted of people who could be identified according to association, nationality, status, religion etc. The public had been concerned that the term “group of persons” was too wide. Clause 17 dealt with a data message that was harmful. No amendments were proposed but additional options were proposed. It was mainly a redraft of the current clause 17 but it also unpacked the conduct as far as it related to threats made against the group of identifiable persons. It was proposed that the word “encourages” in clause 17(2)(c) be replaced by the word “coerces” as it implied that a stronger action was required. It was also recommended that the word “harm” in clause 17(2)(c)(i) be replaced by “commit an act of violence against” (himself or another person). The definitions clause at the commencement of chapter 3 defined violence as “bodily injury or unwanted conduct of a sexual nature or which intimidates or humiliates.” Ms Mothapo asked a question about the definition of violence. Why were the words “conduct that is likely to cause” deleted from the Bill? Mr Robbertse explained that it had to be read in context of the prescription which read: “threatens a person with violence” so violence could be defined as “bodily injury” or “conduct that is likely to cause bodily injury”. The change had been suggested in submissions. Either definition would be acceptable and so, he had not deleted it, but struck it through so that the Committee could determine which of the definitions it thought most appropriate. He personally would prefer “conduct that is likely to cause bodily injury”. During public commentary, there had been lots of criticism of clause 17, the fake news clause. The Department had redrafted the clause to build in lots of belts and braces to ensure that that clause could not be unfairly used to prosecute a person. Public commentary had also suggested that the clause was very vague. The proposed new offence in clause 17 still criminalised the distribution or making available a false data message but in 17(2), the Department had defined a false data message. The first option provided in the document was similar to the original clause, but the Department had also offered an optional definition which included reference to artistic expression. The false data message would be subject to a contextual test as one had to consider whole message. Clause 17(3)(a) indicated that the prosecution was subject to authorisation by the Director of Public Prosecutions. 17(3)(b) stated that even if the Director did not give consent, the victim could still apply for a protection order against harassment as set out in clause 19 of the Bill. Alternatively, the victim could apply for relief under Protection from Harassment Act, 2011. Clause 18, which dealt with the distribution of a data message of intimate image without consent, had evoked a lot of public comment. The clause had to deal with new developments internationally and could not only criminalise nude images but should also criminalise other types of creep shots such as up-skirt images and down-blouse images, etc. The redraft did give effect to that imperative, but there were also other comments that had been made. Firstly, during the public comment process, the Department had been requested to change the wording regarding the person that distributed the data message. In the original draft that person was guilty of an offence, but it required that the person knew that consent had not been given. That had been changed to state that anyone distributing a message or image “without the permission of the person is guilty of an offence” 18(1). The other option was to write the clause as follows: “distributes, by means of a computer system, a data message of an intimate image of an identifiable person knowing that without the permission of the person depicted in the image did not give his or her consent to the making available, broadcasting or distribution of the data message, is guilty of an offence.” Mr Robbertse found it a little difficult to explain the exact wording and the nuances of the proposed changes to the Committee. In clause 18(2)(aa) and (bb), the definition of an intimate image had been amended as discussed previously. There had been an amendment of the privacy expectation from “under circumstances that give rise to a reasonable expectation of privacy” to “in respect of which the person so depicted retains a reasonable expectation of privacy at the time the data message was made”. Public comment had raised the issue that sometimes a person could not ipso facto be identified but he could be identified from other information in the message. The proposed definition gave effect to those comments. Mr Robbertse pointed out that there was a definition of a person in clause 1 and he would have to check that the two definitions were not in conflict. Ms Breytenbach referred to clause 18(2)(a)(i)bb) “displayed in an unduly manner”, noting that ‘unduly’ was incorrectly used in that clause and therefore did not make sense. She recommended that the word be removed from the clause. Mr Robbertse pointed out a second proposal to deal with intimate images. The option was to a large extent, similar to the first option discussed. There had been an attempt to clarify the reference to perpetrator and victim similar to the way it had been done in the Sexual Offences Act. A new type of offence was proposed and that was where the perpetrator threatened the family of the victim that intimate images would be distributed as contemplated in the Bill. That was an option that could be included. Harmful disclosure of pornography was included in the schedule in a way similar to 18(2). The Department would prefer the first option, with the omission of the word ‘unduly’. The second option was given as it expanded on the current prescription. The rest of the chapter had evoked no real criticism against the procedural parts of the chapter during public commentary. There had been a concern regarding penalties in the Bill, but the Department believed that there was no need to change the penalties as they were adequate for the offence (Clause 22). In order to protect complainants pending finalisation of criminal proceedings, clause 19 dealt with a complainant who applied for a protection order. To get to the real person, a complainant would have to apply for a number of protection orders at a cost of over R200 per order. Clause 19 aimed to ensure that if a person were convicted, the victim had to be reimbursed by the perpetrator. The perpetrator also had to compensate the service provider to remove the malicious communication because it sometimes involved substantial actions by the service provider. Chapter 4: Jurisdiction Chapter 4 dealt mainly with jurisdiction. The expanded jurisdiction was to deal with the international nature of cybercrime. The clause had been supported by the public but the South African Police Service (SAPS) had wanted amendments. Clause 23(3)(a) contained the first amendment. The request was for the inclusion of a reference to a financial institution and to a critical information infrastructure and that had been included in clause 23(3)(a). SAPS also submitted a request for a clause stating that the National Director had to issue prescripts to instruct the police as to how an investigation should be conducted if it originated outside of the borders of the country. Their concern was that SAPS worked in regions but there was no region outside of the country. It had been included as clause 23(6) to accommodate SAPS, although the Department felt it was not a necessary sub-clause. Ms Breytenbach asked how the National Director of Public Prosecutions was going to issue a prescript to the police. In terms of what legislation? Mr Robbertse replied that under the International Criminal Courts Act there was a clause that dealt with prescripts concerning cybercrime that originated outside the boundaries of South Africa and affected, for example, an institution in the country. It would be difficult to investigate. The National Director of Prosecutions would give a prescript for that particular crime, i.e. how to investigate, which units to use, etc. The prescript would give direction to the police. Ms Breytenbach suggested that the National Commissioner of Police could consult the National Director of Prosecutions, but the Police Commissioner had to issue the instructions. She was deeply uncomfortable with the National Director of Prosecutions giving instructions to the police. It was an anathema in the way that criminal law was practised. Mr Robbertse stated that the Department agreed with her and the sub-clause would be reworked for the National Police Commissioner to issue the directive after consultation with National Director of Public Prosecutions. Chapter 5: Powers to Investigate, Search and Access or Seize The chapter dealing with the powers to investigate, search and access or seize was supported, in general, by the public comments. There were concerns about the right to privacy, but most people accepted that the Criminal Procedure Act was unsuitable for dealing with cybercrime. Some people saw it as a replication of RICA, but it was definitely not. One point made by SAPS was that the details of the Standard Operating Procedures (clause24(1)) should not be made public. In reference to clause 24(1), “The Cabinet member responsible for policing, in consultation with the National Director of Public Prosecutions and the Cabinet member responsible for the administration of justice, must, after following a process of public consultation, within six months of the commencement of this Chapter, issue Standard Operating Procedures...”, Ms Breytenbach asked why the Commissioner of Police was not involved. Mr Robbertse said that the National Commissioner could not be given the powers to enact subordinate legislation, only the Minister of Police, who had political oversight of the police, could enact the legislation. He was ipso facto the Head of the Department. Ms Breytenbach could not see why the National Director of Prosecuting Authority was consulted but not the Commissioner of Police when it was police business. Mr Robbertse stated that the Commissioner was ipso facto involved but he would add the Commissioner in clause 24(1) as Ms Breytenbach insisted. He asked if he should involve the DG of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, but they were not considered essential. After further discussion between Ms Breytenbach and Mr Robbertse, the Chairperson asked what the Kenyan legislation stated. Ultimately, it was decided to include the Police Commissioner Clause 27 related to the article to be searched for, accessed or seized or under search warrant. The Department proposed an amendment to clause 27(1) to link it to the core content of clause 38(1) and (2). That clause referred to real-time communication-related interception which RICA did not allow. Mr Horn had a question on Footnote 74 which noted that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) had requested authority to deal with remote searches. For that to happen, the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act 70 of 2002 (RICA) needed an amendment. Parliament was not agile in amending Bills, so would it not cause a problem? Mr Robbertse said that a remote access tool was the equivalent of a hacker where the state would use certain software on a device to access and retain information. It had international implications. He would be hesitant to include it in a Bill that dealt mainly with stored data. RICA was currently being addressed and that aspect was addressed in the amendments to RICA. It might help to investigate cybercrime. Some countries included remote tools in Cyber Bills, but extreme security measures were needed which made it preferable to have such legislation under the strict control of RICA. Members should also remember that the Bill had been subject to severe criticism, so it was best to leave remote access tools to the amendments to RICA. The Chairperson informed Mr Horn that the Department was aware of the concerns by the NPA and was explaining how that request should be dealt with it. Mr Horn was not convinced as he believed that the police would be severely hamstrung if they could only access data that could be physically accessed. Mr Robbertse did not believe that the police were tied down. The police could conduct a remote search, such as accessing information stored in a Dropbox outside of the computer, but remote access was like surveillance. There was a huge potential for abuse. Even in other countries, interception legislation was not in their cybercrime legislation. The Chairperson noted that there were international comparisons to guide the Department. Mr Horn had a further question. If a person used one computer to access another, was that not a remote tool? Mr Robbertse stated that was a “connected tool.” Remote access tools were different. Remote access was simply cybercrime approved by the state. The Chairperson believed that the explanation was adequate and asked Mr Robbertse to proceed. Clause 30 dealt with Search for, access to, or seizure of article involved in the commission of an offence without a search warrant. The Department was opposed to excising the oral application for a search warrant in clause 30(2)(b) even though SAPS had asked for it to be removed. Clause 31 referred to the Criminal Procedure Act according to which police may arrest and search a person but cannot seize articles. It was a safeguard in the Act that a cellular device or laptop computer or such device could not be accessed unless there was an application for a warrant. However, there was also a provision for exigent circumstances, in that under certain exceptional circumstances, a device could be seized without a warrant being issued. The Police were opposed to oral applications for warrants and preferred the RICA application process, although that process had not been very successful. The Department recommended that the oral applications were necessary and should stay. Prescripts had to be issued by the Chief Justice as to how oral applications should be dealt with. econdly, the police wanted to work as per the Criminal Procedure Act. Articles could only be seized if they provided evidence of a crime. Items not involved in a crime had to be put in custody, but police said that Section 23(1) gave them the powers to access any device such as a cell phone if there was a suspicion that it fell within the scope of CPA, i.e. was an article. The Department was opposed to allowing the police to access a device. An extensive footnote, running several pages, provided information on the procedure and international best practice. The Department recommended that the clause remained unchanged because a dual burden of proof was required. Ms Breytenbach asked whether it was any police official that could access the device. If the local constable accessed a computer because he had the right to do so, he might destroy evidence. Was there a way of dealing with that? Mr Robbertse said that the Standard Operating Procedure would go a long way towards addressing such a situation. The police could appoint an investigator to assist him with evidence. Clause 32 addressed requirements for assisting a member of a law enforcement agency or investigator. An electronic communication provider had to assist police in investigating cybercrime. Providers had insisted on the addition of the word “reasonable” in clause32(1)(b) to manage the assistance that they might be required to render. The Department had no problem with that amendment. Mr Robbertse told the Chairperson that he would not discuss the minor changes that had no substantive impact. Clause 37 addressed the prohibition on disclosure of information. The amendment to clause 37(1)(d) emanated from discussions between departments. Some departments wanted to add “competent authorities” in that clause. Generally, the clause prohibited any release of information relating to an investigation into cybercrime. The reason was that in a case of cybercrime, a criminal could remotely wipe all evidence from his devices so there was a general prohibition of disclosure of such investigations, but certain clauses did allow sharing of information. The Department agreed with the insertion of competent authorities. Because there was a general obligation to monitor cybercrime, disclosure internationally was also important. A definition of ‘competent authority’ was included. Clause 38 (1) and (2) referred to content data that could only be intercepted in terms of RICA and one could not deviate from that. Ms Mothapo asked about clause 38 and RICA. There did not seem to be much difference between clause 38 and RICA. Was she correct? Mr Robbertse explained that the Bill dealt mostly with seizure. RICA talked about real time communication information between people. Such access was prohibited as an ongoing basis. The Bill could also not access archived data. RICA managed all archived information. The Bill catered for data on the computer and did not cater for interception. Clause 39 related to the expedited preservation of data direction. Some service providers were subject to RICA while others were not. The amendment to clause 39(1) ensured that those service providers not subject to RICA also had to ensure expedited preservation of data for 21 days, but under sub-clause (6), the time period could be extended to a maximum of 90 days. Clause 42 dealt with the disclosure of data direction. Service providers were uncertain as to what should be subject to data preservation, so the Department considered that it must have been a lacuna in the drafting of clause, therefore the content of the clause was extended to include “and search for, access to and seizure articles subject to preservation of evidence direction”. The Department had also added sub-clause 10: 10)(a) Articles subject to a preservation of evidence direction that is not “data” must be searched for, accessed or seized in terms of a warrant referred to in section 27(1) and 10(b) A police official may, at any time, apply for a search warrant in terms of section 27(1) to search for, access or seize an article (which includes “data”) that is or was subject to a preservation of evidence direction.” Clause 43 additions emanated from suggestions made in international fora. It was about how to deal with data in a cloud” and thus the contents were now described as “Obtaining and using publicly available data or receiving data from person who has the lawful authority to disclose data”. It was not always clear which country had to be approached for data in a cloud, but officials could access publicly available data. Some information might be accessed in a cloud that was publicly available so, the Bill merely had to allow investigators to “obtain and use”. There was no need to ‘access and seize’. Clause 42(b) related to data that was not publicly accessible. Contracts that people signed with service providers always had a clause to allow the provider to give authorities access to data that was being used illegally. SAPS had raised a concern that it was restricting access to information given lawfully. Police usually initiated information unlawfully. For example, a hacker could break into a computer or closed circuit and he could give information found there to the police. The Bill did not prevent the police from using information obtained in such a way. The Department had not reached consensus with the police on the clause. The Department would propose a final clause to the police before returning to the Committee. Chapter 6 Mutual Assistance An amendment had been affected to clause 44 which dealt with the application of provisions in the chapter. The additions to clause 44 clarified what was required regarding preservation of evidence. It specified what evidence had to be preserved. The Department agreed with the insertion. Clause 45 dealt with spontaneous information. When SAPS had addressed the Committee, the officials had explained that the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) was a separate entity and did not report to the National Commissioner. That had been amended in amended in clause 45(1). In Clause 45(2) the Bill had allowed the Director of Public Prosecutions to approve the provision of information to foreign countries. The police had wanted the clause removed. The Department agreed with that recommendation. Clause 46 dealt with foreign requests for assistance and cooperation. The only amendment had been to take out words ‘in a foreign state’. Clause 49(6)(c). Clause 49 dealt with the issuing of direction requesting foreign mutual assistance. Previously, an offence had to have been committed but the amendment did not restrict requests to instances where an offence had been committed but allowed requests where it was necessary to determine whether the offence had been committed. Chapter 7: 24/7 Point of Contact It was the responsibility of SAPS to equip, operate and maintain a 24/7 point of contact to coordinate investigations into cybercrime and to provide mutual assistance to foreign countries. The NPA had asked why it was necessary to specifically legislate for a 24/7 point of contact. According to the NPA. they were under an obligation in terms of section 17F(4) of the South African Police Services Act, 1995, to assist the South African Police Service and so it was not necessary to legislate for 24-hour contact. However, DoJ&CD had felt it was necessary to legislate. In Clause 50(5)(c), the removal of the reference to Act No 39 of 1994 was merely a cosmetic change. Chapter 8: Evidence Clause 51(1)(f) was an amendment to give effect to the fact that the examination process had to be fully documented and extended the provision of an affidavit to the equally acceptable “solemn or attested declaration”. Chapter 9: Obligations of Electronic Communications Service Providers and Financial Institutions In clause 52(3), the amount of the fine is limited to R50 000. Chapter 10: Structures to Deal with Cybersecurity Clause 53(7)(b)(xiv) extended the departments or functionaries that should be involved or could be requested to assist the Cyber Response Committee(CRC). DoJ&CD agreed with the recommendation by CRC as cybercrime could occur anywhere. Clause 54(3): The SANDF had requested that a clause that dealt with the establishment of the Cyber Command be reconsidered for possible insertion in the Bill. The SANDF had stated that the clause was necessary in that it defined the role of the SANDF in relation to cyber-related matters and provided guidance as to what the SANDF should implement to give effect to their mandate. In terms of that clause specific structures had been provided for each department. DoJ&CD informed the Committee that the Executive had instructed that the Bill should not specify the structures involved as that would tell the world what they did. Those structures did not need legislation as they could be established on an administrative basis. DoJ&CD was bound by the policy decision of the Executive not to incorporate the clause requested by SANDF. The Chairperson queried the need for secretive structures. He was concerned that it was a secretive unit in a department. Mr Robbertse repeated that the Department could not propose the clause or include it in the Bill, but he could inform the Committee of the request by SANDF. The Chairperson stated that the Committee would consider it. Clause 55 dealt with nodal points and private sector computer security incident response teams which were intended to give the country the necessary capacity to deal with cybercrime. It had been explained during consultations that nodal points were not the same as Cybersecurity Hubs which were very expensive to maintain. Clause 55(1)(b)(i) was changed to indicate that a Cabinet member consulted only if he or she was not responsible for the administration of the sector. A Cabinet member could not consult with him or herself. It was a cosmetic change. That change was repeated throughout the clause. Clause 55(1)(b)(ii) was added to cater for concerns raised about regulatory bodies. “...after consultation with any regulatory body, established in terms of any law, which exercises regulatory control over the entities of that sector.” Chapter 11: Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Public consultations raised questions about whether the Bill duplicated other information protection and the role of the security agency, but those concerns were addressed and accepted by the public. Consultation with provinces led to a request for approval of the premiers in relation to the need for provincial legislation or any functional areas assigned to a province. That resulted in an addition to clause 57. Clause 57(3)(b)(cc) was expanded to include “and obtain the concurrence of” the Premier in matters relating to provinces. Clause 57(7)(a) dealt with critical information infrastructure and was expanded to add “a financial sector regulator” to “financial institution” to deal with dispute mechanisms. DoJ&CD did not think it was necessary but had accommodated the request from the financial sector. Clause 157(7)(i) had been extended to allow others involved in disputes, in addition to the Cabinet minister, to appeal the decision of the arbitrator to the High Court. It was a request emanating from public consultation. Clause 57(11)(b) had been inserted following public consultations and referred to the constitutional process to follow in dealing with provinces if directives or obligations were not adhered to. There were no other substantial changes to the Bill itself, but a significant number of additions had been made to Schedule 1 which dealt with laws to be repealed or amended as that had not been considered during the process. The Chairperson indicated that Members could read through the proposed changes to the Schedule themselves. He thanked the Department for a detailed presentation that had been well-prepared, especially for such a technical Bill. Mr Robbertse had dealt with all comments, adverse and in favour. The document had tried to entertain some of the comments received. Something that did stand out was the critical information structure. Mr Horn remained worried about the fact that, in the past, the Committee had worked with the Department on those submissions received with which the Department did not agree. What about those? The Committee had not seen those comments. The Committee had only seen submissions with which the Department had agreed. Mr Robbertse stated that DoJ&CD had summarised all comments, both for and against the Bill, in a document and then, in drafting the document, DoJ&CD had entertained as many comments as possible. During the public engagement process, the Department had discussed reasons why certain comments could not be considered for inclusion in the Bill. He referred to the National Strategic Information Bill that had established certain fundamentals for the Bill. The Chairperson explained that Mr Horne’s question was why that previous approach had not been taken. Mr Robbertse stated that all viable proposals had been accepted and the Department had tried to accommodate most comments, except for those about critical information structures. The Chairperson agreed that it was not possible to include things that were not viable. Ms Breytenbach stated that Mr Robbertse was not answering the question and asked why he was not doing so. The Chairperson was of the opinion that Mr Robbertse had answered but Ms Breytenbach did not accept that. The Committee was divided over the matter. Ms Kallay Pillay, DDG: Legislative Development at DoJ&CD, explained that a long document in a tabular format had been circulated and had included a reference to each comment received. The document was in excess of 200 pages and had been circulated some weeks previously. The Department could summarise the comments that they had not agreed with and provide that to the Committee. Ms Breytenbach requested a copy of the 200-page document with an indication showing which/ comments that DoJ&CD had not agreed with. Mr Horn stated that his point was that the Committee had not looked at negative inputs. With the Traditional Courts Bill, the Committee had given directives to the Department to make certain changes because the Committee had not agreed with certain decisions by the Department. He felt that the Committee should have addressed the comments that the Department had not taken into consideration. The Chairperson stated that it was a fair comment, but the Committee would follow the recommendation by Ms Breytenbach that the Committee consider the list of all submissions, specifically those noted by DoJ&CD as not having been included. The Committee would not meet the following day as they had to attend to that document while the Department would polish the Bill and the following week the Committee would consider whether to accept the Bill. The Committee had harassed the Department the previous time, but DoJ&CD had done very well and had performed beyond expectation. The Chairperson thanked Members for their patience. Cybercrimes and Cybersecurity Bill: deliberations 1 Cybercrimes and cybersecurity Bill: clause by clause deliberation B6-2017 - Cybercrimes Bill Motshekga, Dr MS Chairperson Breytenbach, Adv G Buthelezi, Mr EM Horn, Mr W Maila, Mr MS Mothapo, Ms MR Skosana, Mr GJ	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line618
__label__cc	0.546247	0.453753	Home > Document > Internal Audit Charter View Current Status and Details Historic Versions Internal Audit Charter Section 1 - Establishment Section 2 - Purpose Section 3 - Independence Section 4 - Authority Section 5 - Confidentiality Section 6 - Scope of Responsibilities Section 7 - Planning Section 8 - Professional Standards and Quality Assurance Section 9 - Reporting Section 10 - Audit Recommendations and Actions Section 11 - Review of Charter This is the current version of this document. To view historic versions, click the link in the document's navigation bar. (1) This charter establishes the purpose, scope, authorities and responsibilities, organisational relationships and independence conferred by the University of Newcastle’s Council on Assurance Services with respect to carrying out internal audit duties. (2) An effective internal audit service is required by Section 11 of the Public Finance and Audit Act 1983 and supported by Section 17(A) of the University of Newcastle Act 1989 No 68. (3) The Internal Audit function, within the context of the University’s operations, comprises those resources directly associated with the provision of internal audit services, whether they be resources internal or external to the University. (4) The role of Internal Audit, the Core Principles for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing, the application of the Internal Audit Code of Ethics and the Internal Audit Standards are discussed regularly between the University Secretary, the Vice-Chancellor and the Risk Committee. (5) Internal Audit is an important aspect of the University's governance framework as it provides independent and objective assurance to the Council and management. It is based on a systematic and disciplined approach to the evaluation of the adequacy and effectiveness of governance, risk, financial and operational controls throughout the organisation. (6) Internal Audit assists the University in achieving its objectives by adding value and identifying areas for improvement with the aim being to promote efficiency, economy and effectiveness of management processes as well as reliability and accuracy of operations. (7) Internal Audit also assists the Risk Committee to discharge its responsibilities related to compliance and accountability, internal controls and governance processes for the University and its controlled entities. (8) The Internal Audit function has independent status within the University to ensure its effectiveness. To achieve this, Internal Audit is:- functionally responsible to the Council via the Risk Committee; administratively responsible to the Vice-Chancellor; independent of any other organisational unit, employee or official of the University. (9) The University Secretary and Senior Internal Auditor have unrestricted access to the Chair of the Risk Committee and/or the Vice-Chancellor to raise any concerns about audit matters or other significant risks that in their opinion are not being adequately dealt with by the University. (10) All Internal Audit activities must be free of influence from any element in the organisation, including matters related to audit selection, scope, procedures, frequency, timing, or report content. (11) Internal Audit is independent of the activities that it audits to ensure unbiased judgements, proper conduct and impartial advice to management and the Council. Internal Audit must not have any direct operational responsibility or authority over any of the activities reviewed and must not assume responsibilities for the implementation of risk mitigates or controls. (12) Where the University Secretary is responsible for a non-audit activity, safeguards are implemented to maintain independence. The University Secretary does not perform audit activities as part of managing or performing non-audit activities. Reviews of non-audit activities are managed and performed independently of the University Secretary and reported directly to the Risk Committee. (13) Potential impairments to independence or objectivity relating to other management reviews must be disclosed to the key stakeholders of the engagement prior to acceptance of the engagement. (14) To further preserve independence, staff working within Internal Audit will not usually undertake secondary employment within the University unless approved by the Risk Committee on the recommendation of the University Secretary. (15) Under the authority of the Council: Internal Audit will undertake audits in accordance with plans approved by the Risk Committee on behalf of Council. Internal Audit may undertake further audits and reviews as the Council, Council Committee, Vice-Chancellor, or members of the Executive Committee may request from time to time. Internal Audit may also conduct the preliminary fact finding activities required to assess any concerns of possible fraud or corruption that come to its attention. Resulting enquiries and investigation must be discussed and approved with the relevant senior authority. This will be a Member of the Council where the Vice-Chancellor has a conflict of interest. For the duration of the audit and in carrying out its duties and responsibilities, Internal Audit is entitled to full, free and unrestricted access to all of the University’s activities, records, property, personnel and any other information which the University Secretary considers necessary to properly fulfil its functions as specified in the Internal Audit Plan, scope of individual audits or other special tasks or investigations. University staff (including those employed by a University controlled entity) are required to fully cooperate with Internal Audit activities and to facilitate the progress of audit work by providing input and assistance in an appropriate manner. The University Secretary, in undertaking the Internal Audit Plan or other tasks as directed under b or c is authorised to allocate resources, set frequencies, select subjects, determine scopes of work, apply techniques required to accomplish audit objectives and approve the final audit report in consultation with key stakeholders in the individual audit. Subject to the availability of approved budget, the University Secretary is authorised to engage an external service provider to conduct the audit, specific task or investigation, or if additional resources are required. The University Secretary will decline the consulting engagement if Internal Audit has a conflict of interest which cannot be effectively managed, are unable to obtain or lack the requisite knowledge, skills, or other competencies needed to perform all or part of the engagement. The existence of Internal Audit does not reduce the financial and operational responsibilities of management for the proper execution and control of activities, including responsibilities for the periodic conduct of system appraisals, internal controls and risk management. (16) All records, documentation and information accessed in the course of Internal Audit activities are to be used solely for the conduct of these activities. All Internal Audit staff are responsible and accountable for maintaining the confidentiality of information they receive in the course of their work. (17) Internal Audit reports are deemed to be confidential reports of the Council and will be provided to the University’s appointed external auditors and/or any other government agency in accordance with legislative requirements. Access to Internal Audit records will be managed by the Vice-Chancellor or the University Secretary after consideration and approval from relevant senior management. (18) Internal Audit shall, in the performance of its function, consider the following: compliance, with internal and external legislation and instruments; the adequacy, reliability, integrity and effectiveness of the financial and operational controls, including IT system controls ; whether the information technology governance supports the University’s strategies and objectives; the recording, control and use of the University’s assets; the efficiency, effectiveness, design, implementation and ethical conduct of the University’s systems and processes with an aim to contribute to the improvement in internal controls and risk management processes; and the extent to which public and other property, money and resources under the control of the University are accounted for, used and safeguarded from loss, including misuse. (19) Internal Audit shall, where appropriate and requested, provide advice to management, including on new projects and programs, with particular emphasis on the matters identified in clause 18. (20) Internal Audit activities may also cover any controlled entities of the University. (21) By request from the Council or the Vice-Chancellor, Internal Audit may be asked to engage with associated/related bodies that are part of, attached to or otherwise partially controlled by the University. (22) Should consulting opportunities arise during an internal audit engagement, a specific written understanding as to the objectives, scope, respective responsibilities, and other expectations should be reached between the parties with the results of the consulting engagement communicated to stakeholders. (23) Internal Audit activities does not, in any instance, extend to:- exercising executive or managerial authority functions except those related to the Internal Audit function; performing any operational duties for the University or its controlled entities; initiating or approving accounting transactions outside the Internal Audit area; or involvement in any day-to-day operations or internal control functions of the University except those related to the Internal Audit function. (24) Following consultation with the Vice-Chancellor, members of the Executive Committee and other relevant parties an Internal Audit Plan will be prepared annually by the University Secretary and the Senior Internal Auditor for approval of the Risk Committee on behalf of Council. (25) Amendments to the approved Internal Audit Plan shall be submitted to the Risk Committee for consideration and approval on the recommendation of the University Secretary. (26) Internal Audit will conduct activities consistent with this Charter and the International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing issued by the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), noting that: external audit activities remain the prerogative of the NSW Audit Office, or their agents; Internal Audit activities do not extend to the coordination of external audit on behalf of the NSW Audit Office although Internal Audit will consult with the University’s external auditors to reduce duplication of audit activity; where applicable, Internal Audit will have regard for the standards and practice statements and professional code of ethics issued by Australian and International accounting and auditing organisations, including the Institute of Internal Auditors and the Accounting Professional and Ethical Standards Board. (27) The University Secretary will arrange an independent review of the efficiency and effectiveness of the operations of the Internal Audit function as part of a quality assurance program at least every three years. (28) The University Secretary will provide the results of internal audits and quality assurance reviews to the Vice-Chancellor and as a general rule, to the Executive Committee and the relevant members of University management. (29) The University Secretary will report to the Risk Committee on: audits completed; progress in implementing the Internal Audit Plan including any issues impacting on the approved plan; progress in implementing agreed audit recommendations including any issues impacting on implementation; matters arising from previous meetings; and any other information requested by the Risk Committee. (30) The University Secretary will communicate to the Vice-Chancellor and the Risk Committee any instances where management assumes a level of risk that may be outside the risk appetite and is unacceptable to the University. (31) Annually the University Secretary will provide to the Risk Committee an attestation to support the independence of the internal audit services provided and an attestation to support compliance with the International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing issued by the Institute of Internal Auditors. (32) The University Secretary is responsible for working with relevant management to ensure that a system is in place which supports the implementation of agreed audit recommendations and actions within required time-frames. (33) It is the responsibility of management to ensure the agreed audit recommendations are actioned within the required time-frame. (34) The University Secretary is responsible for review of this Charter every two years. (35) Amendments to this Charter require the approval of the Council on the recommendation of the Risk Committee. © Copyright University of Newcastle, 2017	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line619
__label__wiki	0.66753	0.66753	Joe Biden CONTINUES to lead the 2020 Democratic Presidential field…Poll December 14, 2018 By jamesb Among Democratic voters being polled for last several months? Ole Joe Biden is remains on top…. Beto O’Rourke , the young Texas Democratic House member, IS the media flavor of the month…. But there is a warning….. Biden MUST indicate if he actually gonna make the run for the nomination soon…. New polling has not been good news for Sen. Elizabeth Warren , who continues to fall in successive polls…. In this CNN poll Biden out polls Bernie Sanders by 2 to 1 and Beto O’Rourke by more than 3 to 1…. As candidates for the Democratic nomination for president in 2020 begin to declare their intentions, a handful of potential candidates hold on to most of the early support, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS, and Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke is a new addition to the top tier. Former Vice President Joe Biden continues to top the list when the potential Democratic electorate is asked who they’d be most likely to support for the nomination, with 30% saying they would back him. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders lands in second with 14%. Support for each is about the same as in October. O’Rourke lands in third with 9%, up 5 points since October. New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker follows at 5%. California Sen. Kamala Harris and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren have each dropped 5 points since October and are now below 5% support. None of the other 14 possible candidates tested hits 5% support….. image…denverpost.com Filed Under: Politics, Polling Tagged With: 2020 early Democratic field, Biden, Booker, Harris, O'Rourke, Polling, Sanders, Warren The age question is on Biden’s mind…. “As he considers running for president, Joe Biden is talking with friends and longtime supporters about whether, at 76, he’s too old to seek the White House, according to several sources who have spoken with the former Democratic vice president,” the AP reports. “The discussions suggest Biden is aware that his age may be the biggest hurdle to launching another bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, especially in an era when many in the party yearn for a new generation of leadership. He would be the oldest person to ever be elected president.” Politicalwire…	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line622
__label__wiki	0.571749	0.571749	White House Mystery Guest: Please Sign In Lainie Sloane Send an email September 4, 2013 In 2006, during the President George W. Bush administration, the liberal watchdog group, Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington, brought a lawsuit to have the White House release visitor logs to the public. While the lawsuit was still pending, in 2009, Obama agreed to disclose information on most visits—key word most—to the White House and as of August 30, 2012, White House.govreported 3.34 million records have been released. How many of those listed are members of the radical Muslim Brotherhood, if any? On that same day, The Hill.com reported, “A federal appeals court has ruled that the White House can keep secret some records of visitors who enter the building.” “In a unanimous decision on Friday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that visitor logs for the Office of the President, at the center of the White House, are not subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. (FOIA).” “Anti-secrecy organizations criticized the ruling as a barrier to public oversight.” “Decisions like this turn FOIA from a transparency law into a secrecy law,” Tom Fitton, president of the right-leaning Judicial Watch, told The Hill. He added that the decision was “unprecedented.” Jazz Shaw of Hot Air.com brought up a good point when he observed, “Judicial Watch is being conveniently labeled as, ‘the right-leaning Judicial Watch.’ That’s a very useful description if your sub-text is, ‘those conservative wing-nuts who just want to make trouble for the President because he’s a black Democrat.’ ” Shaw reminds us of the time when then Vice President, Dick Cheney was meeting with oil industry executives to determine national oil policy and a federal appeals court said he would not have to release the details of those meetings. Take a look at how the left-leaning Boston Globe referred to Judicial Watch as “the anticorruption group Judicial Watch.” Shaw continues, “I see. So when they go after the Obama administration they are, ‘the right leaning group.’ But if they’re going after the Bush administration, they’re the ‘anticorruption group.’ Hmmm…” With the present administration, sometimes those who visit the White House might not represent the best interests of America’s citizens and, if discovered, could expose a possible scheme to pervert our laws or bring in players who are diametrically opposed to the American Judeo-Christian traditional way of life (i.e., a member or members of the Muslim Brotherhood). We would expect to see all types of various ideologues visiting the White House from time-to-time, but when certain groups with questionable ties to radical groups or certain powerful unions overwhelm the rolls of visitors to the People’s House, questions should be asked. The problem with releasing or not releasing those logs is like a double-edged sword. On one hand, the public has the right to know who is visiting the President in the People’s House. On the other hand, sometimes delicate dealings with foreign diplomats or other important officials regarding the security of the United States involving sensitive disclosures are involved that would better be served if hostile adversaries were none the wiser. This is a delicate balancing act between the people’s right to know and the right to keep the people safe. White House.gov states, “As part of President Obama’s commitment to government transparency, we are providing records of White House visitors on an ongoing basis online. In December 2009, we will begin posting all White House visitor records for the period from September 15th onwards under the terms of our new voluntary disclosure policy.” The very idea that Obama did this to continue his promise to have a transparent presidency is completely ridiculous. Lainie Sloane Lainie Sloane started her grassroots political activism as a Teen Age Republican (TAR) when she was 14 years old, helping her local College Republicans. In addition to serving on various local and state campaign committees and managing GOP Campaign Headquarters for two presidential elections, Lainie was awarded an Indiana Honorary Indiana Secretary of State for her extraordinary leadership skills and dedication to maintaining our freedoms. After she married Los Angeles native and former entertainer, J.P. Sloane, Lainie worked in management at Sony Pictures, Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros. Animation and assisted in the development and start-up of a retro record label with Dick Clark Productions and Brown Sugar Productions. Recently, her political activities consisted of being on the leadership team for California Assemblyman Tim Donnelly's gubernatorial campaign and co-hosted a Blog Talk Radio Show, Vast Right Wing Conspiracy. She resides in Southern California with her husband, Dr. J.P. Sloane and their daughter, Shannon Sloane, where she is a music publishing business consultant and works as an insurance broker and assists her husband, Dr. Sloane, in the final editing stages of his book, The God of the Bible Is Not Allah, a condensed three-volume course exposing Islam, including select surahs from the Koran in a parallel Bible-Koran format. Lainie can be contacted at Facebook.com/LainieSloane and on Twitter @LainieSGP. A New Breed of Conservative Syria: The Big "IF"	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line623
__label__wiki	0.662128	0.662128	How to Arrange Lines in a Poem Examples of Musical Devices in Poems Types of Poetry for Kids What Does 'Beats' in Poetry Mean? Instructions for a Pyramid Poem Different Ways to Write a Poem Alexis Jenkins Updated February 21, 2019 ••• Comstock/Comstock/Getty Images Poetry is the expression of self, emotions, thoughts and views. While the content, length, complexity and creativity of a poem are determined by you, there are many common poetry styles and elements to guide you as you structure your poem. You can add depth and texture to a poem by using concrete, descriptive words, sensory details -- such as sight, sound and taste -- and metaphors or similes that compare your subject to other common objects. Originating in Japan, the Haiku is a simple form of poetry that centers around the subject of nature or nature-related themes. A Haiku is made up of three lines. There are five syllables in the first line, seven syllables in the second line and five syllables in the third line, with a total of 17 syllables all together. Acrostic Poetry In an Acrostic poem, the first letter in each line is aligned vertically to spell out a word. This word is often the subject of the poem. The proceeding letters and words in each line are used to describe the subject of the poem. For example, if you were to write a poem with the subject of a girl named Karen, you would align the letters of the name vertically and then proceed to use each letter as the first letter of a word that describes “Karen.” Concrete Poetry Depending on your content and audience, you may consider using concrete poetry as a method of expressing your subject matter. Concrete poetry involves structuring words and lines of the poem that follow the contour or outline of a shape, usually depicting an idea or object suggested in the poem’s content. If you were to write a poem about a tree, for example, you could align the words in short, even segments vertically to represent the trunk of the tree, and then longer, contoured lines to represent the tree’s branches. Free verse poetry is a cathartic form of writing that involves no particular rhyming pattern, meter or structure. Emphasis and meaning may be expressed by the use of punctuation, the change in length of each line or in the sentence structure and word use. In this type of poetry, you are free to determine which words are capitalized, how the poem is structured and how the subject and details will flow throughout the piece. Rhyming is often used in many different styles of poetry, including traditional poetic styles, such as sonnets. Creative Writing Now, an information website for writers, explains that rhyming is used for several reasons. For example, rhyme adds an element of rhythm and music to a poem, which can be pleasing to listen to. It also creates a sense of fluidity and connection between two or more lines in the poem, which can deepen the meaning and imagery of the poem and keep the reader engaged. Rhyming schemes can include true rhymes, or words that are exactly alike--such as “cat” and “bat“--, or off-rhyme, wherein the vowel sounds are similar, but the rhyme is not exact--like “road” and “tone.” Rhyme patterns can also vary. For example, the first line might rhyme with the third line and the second line with the fourth line. Or, the first line might rhyme with the last line and the middle two lines may not rhyme at all. Mrs. Tondreault's Web Quest: Kinds of Poetry Creative Writing Now: Rhyme Schemes Seton Hill University:Poetry Writing Tips Alexis Jenkins writes to motivate others in areas of health including nutrition, fitness training and improving lifestyle choices. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in health science from Brigham Young University-Idaho.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line625
__label__wiki	0.922927	0.922927	What Is an Oligarchy and Has the U.S. Become One? by Patrick J. Kiger May 20, 2019 Oligarchy is a political system in which power rests with a small number of people. Fear that an entrenched elite would seize power dates all the way back to the very founding of the U.S. system of government. Max Pixel (CC0) "We say no to oligarchy!" Senator Bernie Sanders, the Vermont Independent who again is running for the Democratic nomination for president, proclaimed in a 2019 speech to 16,000 supporters in San Francisco. Sanders, who warns that billionaires are buying elections and exerting too much power over the government, uses the O-word frequently, but he's not the only one. If you read enough articles on the web, you'll see places ranging from Russia, China and Saudi Arabia to Brazil and even Hong Kong described as oligarchies. A 2017 Salon article even warned of the growing power of a global uber-oligarchy comprised of wealthy, super-powerful figures ranging from financiers to rock stars. And the concept isn't just owned by the left, either. President Donald Trump may not have used the same terminology, but the billionaire businessman rose to power in part by railing against the "elites" that he accused of disenfranchising ordinary Americans. If you're not a political science major, you may be wondering: What exactly is an oligarchy, anyway? And do we really have one in the U.S.? "An oligarchy is a combination of wealth and power, and often tends to close off access to its ranks — 'pulling up the ladder,'" explains Ron Formisano, the William T. Bryan Chair of American History and professor emeritus of history at the University of Kentucky, and author of the books "American Oligarchy: The Permanent Political Class," and "Plutocracy in America: How Increasing Inequality Destroys the Middle Class and Exploits the Poor." Oligarchy — from the ancient Greek word oligoi, meaning few — is a concept that goes back to the Greek philosopher Aristotle, who used it to describe a society governed by a select few wealthy or aristocratic people, as opposed to rule by a single monarch, or a democracy in which the great mass of people of humble means hold control. Aristotle actually didn't favor either oligarchy or democracy — he preferred a sort of half-decaf cup of joe in which a middle group of moderately wealthy citizens controlled the reins, as the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy explains. Founding Fathers Feared Oligarchy In America, Sanders isn't the first American politician to be concerned about oligarchy. Fear that an entrenched elite would seize power dates back to the era when the nation was founded. John Adams, who became the second U.S. president, in particular saw it as a potential menace. "Our popular history paints us as a revolutionary society that overthrew monarchy," explains Luke Mayville, author of the book "John Adams and the Fear of American Oligarchy." "But revolution-era America was also full of animosity towards anything resembling formal nobility or aristocratic privilege. This animosity made its way into the U.S. Constitution in the form of the Nobility Clause of Article I, which prohibits the federal government from granting titles of nobility. What made Adams unique was the systematic manner in which he theorized about oligarchy and documented the threat that oligarchy had posed throughout history." "Relatively early in his adult life, Adams was struck by the disproportionate influence enjoyed by men of wealth and illustrious lineage," Mayville says. "But the record shows that he became much more fearful of oligarchy during his long sojourn as a diplomat in Europe in the late 1770s and early 1780s. In the old world, he became a careful observer of the power that went hand-in-hand with family lineage, physical beauty, and especially wealth. When he compared these observations of the Old World to conditions in the New World, he saw more similarities than differences." But Adams didn't exactly see the world the same way as do Sanders or Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), another presidential candidate who is concerned about the concentration of wealth and power, because he worried about rule by the non-elite as well. "Adams was keenly aware of the political power of wealth and the need to contain it, " Mayville says. "But unlike most of today's economic populists, Adams was almost as fearful of democracy as he was of oligarchy. He believe that the many, as well as the few, posed a threat to the stability of republics. In retrospect, some of his fear of democracy seems paranoid. For example: He shared the belief of many elitists throughout history that universal suffrage would inevitably lead to the mass expropriation of private property. In any case, Adams differs from today's critics of oligarchy in that he was not a small-d 'democrat.' Instead, he was a believer in a 'balanced government' that counter-acts the inevitable power of wealth and status with the organized power of ordinary citizens" — something perhaps akin to Aristotle's concept of a mixed ruling class. Oligarchies can develop in societies for several reasons. In a country with a monarchy or dictatorship, if a leader becomes too weak or incompetent to rule, the strata of powerful people under the leader may start to siphon away his authority — and ultimately may replace him with a puppet, or else one of their own members. It's also possible for an elite — say, for example, super-wealthy business moguls — to take control of a society because they're good at getting things done, whether or not those things are in the best interests of everybody else. And there's also oligarchy by default, in which a democracy essentially withers because ordinary people allow an elite to take over, because it's easier than staying informed and grappling with the complexities of governing. The Masses and the 1 Percent The question of whether the U.S. is turning into an oligarchy — or perhaps already is one — has become a subject of heated debate. Back in 2014, Princeton professor of politics Martin Gilens and his Northwestern University colleague Benjamin I. Page published an analysis, in which they studied 1,779 different policy issues, and concluded that economic elites and groups representing business interests had a lot of influence upon U.S. government policy, while ordinary citizens and interest groups representing them held little sway. (They didn't actually use the term oligarchy, though news media headlines summarizing their work did.) But as this 2016 Vox article describes, several other scholars published rebuttals, arguing that either the masses and the elites didn't really disagree that much about policy choices, or that when they did, the masses usually prevailed. Public opinion, though, suggests that most people think of the U.S. as oligarchic, even if they don't call it that. In a July 2017 poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, 75 percent of Americans said that people like them have too little influence in Washington, and 82 percent believed that wealthy people had too much power over the government. Here in the U.S., "It's not a matter of restrictions, but more a closing of opportunity and diminishing chances for the middle and lower classes," Formisano argues. Even some billionaires worry about the nation's rising income inequality is unsustainable and may endanger capitalism's future, even if they're not quite ready to give up all their influence. Now That's Interesting In the early 1900s, philosopher Robert Michels came up with the Iron Law of Oligarchy. It which holds that any organization or society — even one that espouses democratic ideals of popular rule — inevitably will devolve into oligarchic rule in which a few people take most of the power, in part because rank-and-file members tend to want someone to tell them what to do. 10 Misconceptions About U.S. Immigration Test Your Knowledge of U.S. Presidential Elections With This Quiz! What Does 'Treason' Actually Mean?	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line627
__label__cc	0.526448	0.473552	Mobile phone photography – next level Spending too much time on screens? Bored of the endless scroll? Become a creative creator of better quality content – harness the power of your mobile phone to take better photos, edit and manipulate your own view of the world. Fun, creative workshops in digital photography including macro, motion and selfie mode challenges. Students will need their own smart phone for this course and an appropriate amount of ‘screen time’ allowance! Ben Keeble (Head of Art) Graduate of Fine Art (Sculpture) 1st Class from Brighton University, former Curriculum leader for Visual Arts at the Stephen Perse Foundation, Ben is a Cambridge born Visual Artist specialising in new media and collage who is passionate about building visual literacy and improving young people’s ‘visual diet’ with over 21 years of teaching experience. Dan Wansell: Dan grew up in London and Dorset. Between 2000 and 2006 he studied at the Edinburgh College of Art where he completed a BA (Hons) in Painting and an MFA in Art, Space and Nature. It was during his MFA that Dan developed a passion for photography. In 2009, he gained a PGCE from the University of Buckingham and, alongside making his own art work, he is also Head of Art and DT at The Perse Prep School. His work has been exhibited in London, Edinburgh and Chicago.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line628
__label__cc	0.510987	0.489013	Home » Drive Sustainable Growth » The Truth Behind the Recyclability of Renewables The Truth Behind the Recyclability of Renewables Much recent media attention has been paid to the end-of-life for wind turbines and solar photovoltaic panels. A recent exposé by Bloomberg called into question the practice of burying discarded turbine blades, while the film Planet of the Humans—produced by documentary filmmaker and provocateur Michael Moore, and released via YouTube on the 50th anniversary of Earth Day—casts renewables as no better than fossil fuels when it comes to environmental degradation. But what is the truth? To get to the heart of the matter, we sat down with Mr. Derek Berry and Dr. Garvin Heath, from the U.S.-based National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Mr. Berry is an aeronautical engineer with more than 25 years’ experience in wind turbine blade design and manufacturing. His work in composites has been key to research NREL is conducting on recyclable wind blades. Dr. Heath is a senior scientist with a PhD. in energy and resources from the University of California with expertise in circular economy and a passion for responsible end-of-life practices for solar photovoltaic. Let’s start with an overview of a wind turbine. Wind turbines are composed of three primary parts: the tower, the nacelle (where the actual turbine is housed), and the blades. Most of these parts are made from steel, concrete, or composites. The tower is typically steel, concrete, or a combination of the two. The nacelle and turbine are constructed from a blend of metals and composites, and the blades and nose cone are typically produced from composites. For example, the blades: Wind turbine blades are made from fiberglass composites and adhesives which allows them to remain light and flexible at great lengths. The blades are remarkably effective and efficient. They are designed for a minimum 20-year lifespan, and today’s new blades can be used for closer to 30 years, particularly if they are maintained in the field to avoid cracking or delamination. At the end of their service life, blades can be repaired or refurbished, which can keep them going for more like 40 to 50 years, although older blades are shorter and not able to capture as much wind power as today’s longer blade designs. NPR recently reported that up to 90% of a turbine—representing a considerable amount of steel, concrete, and other components—can be sold or recycled. The blades are the exception; can you tell us more? That’s correct. Today, the steel, concrete, and many bolts that connect the component parts have an easier path to recycling or reuse than the composites. Wind turbine blades, of virtually every size, are produced using thermoset resin systems. These resins are hard to break down; the bonds made by these composites are difficult to change chemically, which makes them more difficult to recycle. Hundreds of thousands of blades are already at the end of their life, and while some of these are being used for repower or secondary market purposes, the challenge of what to do with the rest is one of the biggest hurdles for the circularity of the technology. The aim is for us to invent and develop new blades with better end-of-life outcomes. We’re asking, “what’s better than what we have today?” We want to create a similar pathway to circularity as the rest of the turbine components by making blades more readily, efficiently, and cost-effectively recycled or repurposed. What happens to turbine blades at the end of their life, currently? There are a few ways that blades are managed at end-of-life, a decision normally made by the owner or operator of the turbine. The first is by shredding the blades to produce small size aggregate that can be used as a filler in other materials. For example, concrete or cement can be added to this composite material to produce things like manhole covers and park benches. However, this process is not always cost-effective. The second is to landfill the blades. Landfilling is more cost-effective and is safe. The blades don’t leak anything hazardous, but it does require space, and there can be a negative perception about this practice, as shown in the recent media. Today, there are large tracts of land where blades are being stored while we work to develop more cost-effective and higher-grade solutions. Finally, and this is rarer, blades can be destroyed with the application of heat through pyrolysis. Energy can be trapped from this process and the remaining char can be used in other applications. What about solar photovoltaic panels—how are they different, or similar, to wind turbines? Despite their size, wind turbine components are not as complex as solar PV, which makes end-of-life for panels an even more complicated issue. A photovoltaic panel is a sandwich structure, where very thin layers are adhered together in a package that is supposed to last 30 years in any harsh environmental conditions. That makes it very difficult to extract materials at end-of-life, especially trace materials. Today, recycling for solar panels exists on a very small scale in Europe and the U.S., with the European market being more mature. Unfortunately, the majority of today’s recycling operations are not specific to photovoltaic; rather, PV is added as a new product line within the recycler’s current business model (typically focused on either metals recycling or glass), which is then adapted as best they can to PV. There is only one facility in the world, in France, that is dedicated to recycling the dominant PV module technology, crystalline silicon, and only one company that will takeback and recycle the second-highest market share PV module technology, cadmium telluride (at ~5% of global market share). Without a dedicated recycling technology to PV, only certain materials are recovered, leaving the non-targeted materials to be landfilled. Nearly every component of a solar PV panel can be recycled; theoretically, even an intact solar cell can be extracted and placed into a new module. It ultimately comes down to cost. Because of the low volumes of materials (compared to traditional recycled material streams) and an inability of the incumbent recycling operations to recover all valuable materials, there is a relatively high cost to recycling PV modules today, a barrier to wider adoption. Voluntary recycling ranges in price from $20-$30 per module in the U.S., which adds significant expense to what has become one of our most affordable energy sources. And, unlike Europe, which has a policy requirement for PV recycling, there is no federal mandate in the U.S. (and, so far, only one state requires it). The resulting challenge is that there is not enough voluntary demand for these recycling processes, so there is little volume. Without economy of scale, no specialized recycling processes or technology investments have been seriously pursued. (Contrast this to Europe, where the policy requirement has helped to increase volumes and lower unit cost). As a result, many final owners of PV modules feel that the only practical end-of-life today is for panels to be landfilled or stored until there are better solutions. This is an externality that is rarely considered in the price of the panel. But it’s also a cost that, if amortized over the lifetime of the panel, would only add pennies. The outstanding question is whether recycling should be built into the cost of panels in order to generate the capital needed to grow the market. This is a question that some U.S. states (like North Carolina, New Jersey, Minnesota, and Illinois) are considering through legislatively mandated study commissions or voluntary agency processes. Unlike turbines, there are also components in panels that may be hazardous, like lead in silicon modules, cadmium in cadmium-telluride, and selenium in CIGS. The sentiments captured by the recent media are that renewable technologies are less environmentally friendly because of these end-of-life issues. Can you comment? Let’s start with greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Outside of the falling cost of renewables, their dramatically lower carbon footprint is the primary driver for their adoption. For example, inclusive of end-of-life, typical lifecycle GHGs of solar is about 50 grams of CO2 per kilowatt-hour (kWh); wind is even less at about 20 grams of CO2/kWh. But let’s compare that to coal at 1,000 grams of CO2/kWh and natural gas at 500 grams. From a lifecycle GHG perspective, wind and solar are the clear winners. Renewables also take dramatically less water to produce. Today in the U.S., about 40% of our freshwater withdrawals are used at electricity generation units. Most of that is for cooling purposes in fossil and nuclear generation processes. This has an impact on water quality as well as the volume of water available for other needs. The average water footprint for wind per unit of energy produced (including construction, operation, and fuel supply) is only 1.3; for solar, that number raises to 140. But for coal, it’s 495 and for natural gas, 247. Wind, and solar in particular, are often criticized for their need for raw and rare materials. The truth is that we aren’t going to be able to meet our energy demands without using these materials—whether we’re pulling coal or natural gas out of the ground, or sourcing silicon and cadmium for solar panels. And solar panels are getting more efficient and innovative all the time. The end-of-life impact of these technologies is relatively small. Blades in landfills might be an unpleasant image, but this practice isn’t dramatically harming the environment, particularly when compared to the overall lifecycle, the pollution and waste produced by other forms of energy generation. And the same is true for solar PV. For example, the lifecycle GHG contribution of disposing of or recycling a panel is usually less than 5% of its total lifecycle GHGs, which are already very low compared to incumbent technologies. That doesn’t mean we should let the renewables industry off the hook and accept end-of-life pollution. For any industry, a circular economy of materials should be a key objective. It’s critically important because there is always a finite amount of materials that can be obtained from the earth. We need to continue to become a more sustainable industry that reuses materials and controls for hazardous waste. And, if we can close the loop by recovering materials, the end-of-life phase for these technologies becomes net positive, when compared to disposal. How should companies that are considering investing in renewables take what you’ve shared into account? First, they shouldn’t be dissuaded. The overall environmental footprint of both wind and solar are significantly less than all other types of energy generation. Second, they can consider engaging on this issue at the policy or practice level. Europe is advancing frameworks for blade research and treatment for end-of-life that is driving advancement globally. By joining these efforts or calling for standards, companies can help support the laboratories, owners, and operators that are seeking solutions. Third, corporate purchasers can help to drive the market for more sustainable solutions by specifying in their procurement more sustainable products. Prepayment for solar end-of-life costs can also take care of end-of-life for the module, legacy systems, and administrative costs. These expectations for standardization and pre-payment programs are growing, through initiatives like NSF 457, the Sustainability Leadership Standard for Photovoltaic Modules and Photovoltaic Inverters, which will become part of the U.S. Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT). Even though we still face challenges in renewable technology end-of-life pathways, we are many years into research on innovative composites, new manufacturing materials, and PV module design that makes liberation of materials easier. More concerted efforts are needed, and corporate awareness of, and support for those efforts, is encouraged. Interested in learning more? View our Skeptic’s Guide to Corporate Renewables. The source for these figures is a scientific paper published in 2015, The Consumptive Water Footprint of Electricity and Heat: A Global Assessment. Automated Data Estimation Tool Makes Sustainability Reporting Easier Schneider Electric launched a new functionality within Resource Advisor to help companies improve data comp... Schneider Electric & Sustainable Development Goals VP of International Solutions at Schneider Electric, speaks with the RELX SDG Resource Centre about Schneid...	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line629
__label__cc	0.726598	0.273402	PETER GRIFFIN How do you measure quality of life? With difficulty Environment and Ecology, Health and Medicine, SCIENCE, Science and Society by Peter Griffin January 12, 2010 We always do well on these types of lists, the ones that rank countries on how desirable they are to live in. International Living's ratings for New Zealand (0 = bad, 100 = good) Our pristine surroundings, moderate climate, low rate of crime and corruption, excellent health system, reasonable cost of living and lack of state oppression have helped put us at number 5 on International Living’s list of the most desirable countries to live in. If you’re still chuckling incredulously after reading the list above, have a look at this Times column which reflects sardonically on Britain’s ranking of 25th on the list. We are virtually at the bottom of the pile within Europe, despite having won the war etc. We are below even Belgium. How does that make you feel? It is like being told that Peter Andre has a higher IQ than yours. It’s fair to say that these types of lists can carry a lot of weight with tourists and those considering a permanent move to a more civilised, less crowded country than their own. But how do you actually measure quality of life? What gives someone living in Auckland a vastly superior quality of life to someone living in Birmingham, but not as good a quality of life as someone residing in Adelaide? Well, given we are halfway through our Summer of Stats series, its timely to have a look at the methodology behind the Quality of Life Index, to see what exactly it is that blesses us with a better quality of life than most people in the world enjoy. International Living ranks quality of life according to a number of factors, with a weighting of 15 per cent respectively to cost of living and the economy. Helpfully, IL provides information on its methodology: Cost of Living (15% of the final ranking). This is a guide to how much it will cost you to live in a style comparable to–or better than–the standard of living you’re likely enjoying in the U.S. Our primary source in this category is the U.S. State Department’s Index of Overseas Living Costs, used to compute cost-of-living allowances for a Western-style of living in various countries. We also consider each country’s income tax rates. Culture and Leisure (10%). To calculate this score, we look at literacy rate, newspaper circulation per 1,000 people, primary and secondary school enrollment ratios, number of people per museum, and a subjective rating of the variety of cultural and recreational offerings. Economy (15%). We consider interest rates, GDP, GDP growth rate, GDP per capita, the inflation rate, and GNP per capita to determine each country’s Economy score. Environment (10%). To figure a country’s score in this category, we look at population density per square kilometer, population growth rate, greenhouse emissions per capita, and the percentage of total land that is protected. Freedom (10%). Freedom House’s 2009 survey is the main source for these scores, with an emphasis on a citizen’s political rights and civil liberties. Health (10%). In this category, we look at calorie consumption as a percentage of daily requirements, the number of people per doctor, the number of hospital beds per 1,000 people, the percentage of the population with access to safe water, the infant mortality rate, life expectancy, and public health expenditure as a percentage of a country’s GDP. Infrastructure (10%). To calculate a country’s Infrastructure score, we look at the length of railways, paved highways, and navigable waterways in each country, and equated these things to each country’s population and size. We also consider the number of airports, motor vehicles , telephones, Internet service providers, and cell phones per capita. Safety and Risk (10%). For this category, we use the U.S. Department of State’s hardship Differentials and danger allowances, which are based on extraordinarily difficult, notably unhealthy, or dangerous living conditions. Climate (10%). When deciding on a score for each country’s climate, we look at its average annual rainfall and average temperature…and consider its risk for natural disasters. Effectively what IL is saying is that the richer we are, the better our access to health, infrastructure, the less crowded our physical environment, the less interference from our government, the less rainfall our country receives — the better our quality of life. So why isn’t everyone attempting to emigrate to France the country with the best quality of life in the world, according to IL? An index for quality of life makes total sense and is completely preposterous at the same time. At least IL readily points this out: Our sources, staff, and contributing editors are all influenced by a Western bias. We have definite, preconceived ideas about what constitutes a high or low standard of living, what constitutes culture and entertainment, and what climate is the most enjoyable. It is the intangibles of life, things like a sense of community, proximity to family and friends, cultural familiarity, that have as much to do with our quality of life as the index factors listed above. Sure, Beijing has an awful smog problem, is the seat of power of a repressive government and is crowded, but a friend of mine just moved back there from a leafy Sydney suburb because she was miserable in a country deemed by IL to be the 2nd most desirable in the world to live in. We need to ignore these types of lists, despite the fact that they make us in particular look good, because they effectively mean nothing. They make out some countries to be paradise while writing off others completely. Quality of life is a totally subjective thing. If you want to know if the grass is greener somewhere else, go there and see for yourself. You’ll come back richer for the experience — or maybe you won’t. International Livingquality of living indexstatistics CES – 3DTV, the Googlephone and slate computing Google vs China – who will blink first? Receive stories via email	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line630
__label__wiki	0.844267	0.844267	1647, William Sykes claims his loyalty to Parliament cost him his father’s favour William Sykes. SP 16/515/1 f. 91 (1647) To the right honourable the Lords assembled in Parliament The humble petition of William Sykes of Hull marchant Sheweth that the petitioner out of his abundant and large affection to the Parliament the effects whereof he is able to prove by the testemony of divers worthy gentlemen of his owne contry who can sufficiently testifie his continual readynes upon all occasions for that honourable service wherein a verry great and large summe partly in arms and amunition of severall kinds mony and plate amountinge to the summe of eight thousand foure hundred sixtie three pounds eighteene shillinges five pence which is your petitioner whole estate may be an undoubted witnes besides the consideration mony amountinge to the vallue of two thousand five hundred elleven pondes foure shillings one penny both which said sommes by a perticular hereunto anexed may apeare That your petitioner also haveinge no command layed upon him yet out of his abundant desire to advance the Parliamentes sarvice beinge then in a verry low condition did volluntarily adventure his parson and went from Hull to Gainsbrough in a sarvice which at that time did exceedingly concerne the northerne parts and was in that assault taken prissoner stript naked and exeedingly endangered That he hath beene severall times plundred and taken prissoner by the enemy when he lived out of Hull and which adds more still to his forementioned losses his father dureinge his absence accasioned by these severall services did for his good affection to the Parliament alter his will and gave a way from him to his bro= thers which he intended to this petitioner to the vallue of thre hundred pondes per annum He therefore most humbly prayes that this honourable house will be pleased to commisserate the estate of your poore petitioner as also to assigne him somme competent some for his present necessity and reliefe for his poore wife and children and the residue of his debt out of such delinquents estates as to your honores shall seeme expedient And your petitioner shall ever pray etc William Sykes Report by Frank Edwards William Sykes in his petition asserted he was loyal to Parliament, as others could testify, and his contribution of arms, ammunition and coin, could evidence. He valued this contribution at £8463 18s 5d which, he claimed, attracted ‘consideration money’ (money due as a ‘reward’, that is, interest) of £2511 4s 1d. His service at Gainsborough, as a result of which he had been taken prisoner and greatly endangered, further evidenced his loyalty. He had moreover been robbed and taken prisoner again when away from Hull. Because of William’s support for Parliament, his father, he claimed, had altered his will in his brothers’ favour, at a cost to William of £300 a year. Have sympathy for my plight, he asked, and pay a suitable sum to aid my wife and children and clear my debts. The attachment to the petition confirmed the amount ‘due by the Parliament or State to Wm. Sykes for money lent on their Propositions’ was £10, 975. 2s. 6d., the total of the two sums William referred to in his petition and, in today’s money, over £1 million.[1] The national context William’s petition was submitted in the midst of the English civil war. The first phase of the war is generally dated as beginning in August 1642 and ending in May 1646 with the King’s surrender. From January 1647 the King was held in Parliament’s custody. By March 1647, the date of the petition, it appeared Parliament had prevailed and the war was over. In the event, before the year was out the King escaped and renewed military action. The second phase of the civil war began, culminating in the King’s re-defeat and capture, his trial for treason and, in January 1649, his execution.[2] The financing of the war The war came with an immense human cost. Some 200,000 people, soldiers and citizens, died: as a proportion of the population a loss of life equivalent to that suffered by the country in the First World War. There was a financial impact, too, arising for example from damage to property and disruption to everyday life. In addition, the direct cost of maintaining the two opposing armies amounted, it has been estimated, to £10 million (around £1 billion in today’s money).[3] Prosecuting the war required funding, therefore. Some costs were met voluntarily, for example by individuals prominent in their locality and loyal to one side or another, recruiting and servicing a regiment of fighting men at their own expense; some involuntarily, for example by the plunder of supplies and the forced quartering of soldiers.[4] To these sources were added the more systematic extraction of finance. For Parliament, this entailed creating a revenue-raising system to operate independently from the Crown’s established structures. It ordered ‘weekly assessments’: a sum to be raised by commissioners within a county, divided between local contributors as they saw fit. It imposed the ‘fifth- and twentieth-part levy’ on households: one-fifth of annual income or one-twentieth of the capital value of moveable goods. It subjected those who had contributed to the royalist cause to ‘sequestration’: the confiscation of property and other assets and sale of moveable goods. It allowed those viewed as mild in their royalism – ‘delinquents’ – to pay a large fine instead, known as ‘a composition’.[5] In addition, from the early days of the war Parliament encouraged ‘propositions’: loans repayable at 8% interest (which may have been compounded on a bi-annual basis). It has been estimated that by this means Parliament raised over £1 million between 1642 and 1645; in some parts of the country as much as it raised from weekly assessments. On paper the contributions were voluntary but it is likely some stepped forward knowing that those not offering a loan were targeted for the compulsory ‘fifth- and twentieth- part levy’.[6] In using propositions to raise revenue Parliament may have drawn from the King’s recent method of financing a campaign to suppress a rebellion in Ireland. The Adventurers’ Act of 1642 invited investments of £200, in return for which donors stood to gain 1000 acres of land to be seized from the rebels. ‘Adventurer’ was used here in its then meaning of ‘to risk oneself, to venture’. It was an Adventurers’ Act because there was no guaranteed return of land; investors were therefore risking their money.[7] Propositions came with a similar element of risk, not least because in 1642 or 1643 there could be no certainty Parliament would prevail over the King. This calls into question the extent to which contributions to Parliament’s war chest as propositions were strictly ‘loans’. One historian states they were loans in name only and ‘never repaid’.[8] Money raising to finance the war operated at a local level but was overseen by a collection of Parliamentary Committees. Three are relevant to this petition. The Committee for the Advance of Money, formed in November 1642, was tasked with securing funds for Parliament, for example via propositions. It met at Haberdashers Hall.[9] The Committee for Compounding, formed in 1643, was also tasked with raising money by loans and from the estates of delinquents. It met at Goldsmiths Hall.[10] The Committee for Taking the Accounts of the Kingdom was formed in February 1644. Its examination and approval were required before any account could be passed for payment.[11] Revenue raising during the civil war was an intensive process, for those seeking funds and for those liable to pay. It worked but only up to a point. It has been estimated that despite both sides’ efforts there were never enough resources to supply and service the respective armies. By 1647 and the end of the first phase of the war arrears of pay, owed to soldiers throughout England and Wales, amounted to some £2.5 million; many regiments had received less than half the wages they were due.[12] The geography of the war The extent to which either Parliament or the King could secure any resources from a particular area depended on the control they exerted within that area. It is customary to summarise (and represent visually) that initially Parliament had most influence in the south and east of the country and the King in the west and north. As the war developed Parliament gradually extended its control into the north and west.[13] These evolving spheres of influence were never uniformly for or against one or other party to the conflict, however. Any Parliamentary stronghold contained its Royalist sympathisers and vice versa. This conflicted and changing pattern of allegiance operated at a family level, pitching father against son, and even on a personal level – many who began the war as staunchly pro-Parliament had switched to the Royalist cause by its end.[14] Yorkshire and its adjoining areas illustrate these shifting fortunes of the war and the mix of loyalties. At the war’s outbreak York, where the King established his alternative court, and areas to its north and west were largely Royalist; there were Royalist garrisons, including at Leeds. In 1643 Royalist forces extended their influence throughout the county. Despite these Royalist gains the east of Yorkshire including Hull always remained under Parliament’s control. Using Hull as a base Parliament began raids into Lincolnshire, to the south. On 20 July 1643, a force led by Francis, Lord Willoughby captured Gainsborough. A Royalist counter-attack immediately threatened the town and a further Parliamentarian force, led in part by Oliver Cromwell, was sent to assist. This was initially successful in relieving the town; however, faced with the arrival of an even larger Royalist contingent it retreated. On 30 July Gainsborough fell back into Royalist hands. In 1644 the tide of war turned in Parliament’s favour. In July it decisively defeated Royalist forces at Marston Moor and secured York; by 1645 Parliament controlled all Yorkshire and indeed the north generally.[15] On a personal rather than geographical basis, it has been assessed that of 679 ‘gentry’ families in the county, 242 were Royalist and 128 Parliamentarian. Some of the families supporting Parliament were ‘middling squires’ in the neighbourhood of Leeds and Bradford. Some 240 families were neutral and 69 divided.[16] The petition in its national context The above background casts light on a number of aspects of William Sykes’s petition. He describes himself as from Hull, an area which was throughout pro-Parliament. His assistance to Parliament was by way of a proposition, attracting interest at 8%. The term of William’s loan can be extrapolated from his assessment of the interest due; this places his donation to Parliament sometime in 1643.[17] In addition to this financial help William ‘did voluntarily adventure his person’ to take part in the attack on Gainsborough. His use of the word ‘adventure’, with its connotation of personal risk, is apt, given his capture and claimed ill-treatment. It is unclear for how long he was held prisoner but his experience reflects the fact that Parliament’s forces were defeated at Gainsborough. That he was captured on other occasions ‘when he lived out of Hull’ reflects Royalist strength throughout Yorkshire, at least in 1643, particularly if he was a known sympathiser of Parliament. If his father took a contrary view on the civil war theirs would not have been the only family in Yorkshire so affected. William’s proposal that the estates of delinquents be used as one source for his claimed payment, indicates he knew about this aspect of Parliament’s revenue raising. That he did not address his petition to or urge favourable treatment from any of the Parliamentary Committees likely to become involved in dealing with his request suggests he was not familiar with these bodies’ national oversight of local matters. Finally, the timing of William’s petition is of interest. As noted above, there is some doubt about whether propositions were loans ever likely to be repaid. William was perhaps aware of this. On the other hand, the value of his donation (as he assessed it) was enormous and one can understand why he sought its recovery, particularly if he had fallen on harder times. He may, therefore, have submitted his petition in March 1647 in the belief that this was an opportune moment to call in a favour – the war was, for now, over and Parliament had won. He may have been unaware, however, that Parliament, while victorious, was also heavily in debt. The petitioner But who was William Sykes? One possibility is that he was a descendant of the Sykes family, latterly of Sledmere, a village about 30 miles north of Hull, but, at the time of the petition, based in Leeds, in the west riding of Yorkshire. In 1593 Richard Sykes, of this family, an eminent cloth merchant and ‘gentleman’, married Elizabeth Mawson; they had four daughters and six sons. Three sons survived into adulthood, including a William Sykes, born in 1605. William is described as a ‘merchant’ and ‘joint proprietor of the manor of Leeds’. He married Grace Jenkinson; they had three daughters and five sons.[18] This William Sykes was a merchant; he appears to have had the wealth necessary to make a loan of some £10,000; he had brothers; he had a wife and children. These biographical details echo with what we know of the William of our petition. This much is straightforward; what is less so is the issue of a will. Richard Sykes, of the Sykes family of Leeds, made a will dated 14 April 1641, leaving bequests to each of his three sons, including, to William, a ‘ninth-part’ of the manor of Leeds. He did indeed alter his will, adding a codicil dated 2 August 1644. This referred to the bequest of the ninth-part of the manor of Leeds, but it is not clear in exactly what context. Richard died on 27 March 1646; his will was not ‘proved’ until 16 February 1654.[19] It is possible that the codicil in 1644 reflected a father’s dissatisfaction with his son’s actions in the civil war, of which he would now have known. This too would be consistent with the information in the petition. That it took so long to prove the will after Richard’s death suggests there may have been disputes about its content, driven perhaps by a disgruntled William. It is also possible, of course, that the contents of the will are not directly consistent with what William wrote in his petition. That would not necessarily mean that the William of our petition was not the William of the Sykes family of Leeds. He may not have known just how his father had altered his will; he may have exaggerated or distorted the alteration to highlight the impact on him of assisting Parliament. We do not have to take all that William said at face value; indeed, as will be seen, the House of Commons treated this aspect of William’s petition with scepticism. There are two other points to note from the surviving biographical information about the William of the Sykes family of Leeds. There are no references to service in the Parliamentary cause. More importantly, one part is directly at odds with the petition. The William of our petition describes himself as a merchant of Hull; this William is recorded as ‘a merchant of Leeds … afterwards of Knottingley’. Knottingley is a town about 20 miles south-east of Leeds and we know that William was living there in 1652.[20] However, we also know that two of this William’s sons, another William and Daniel, born between 1627 and 1632, were merchants based in Hull.[21] In the light of this, it remains feasible that the William of the Sykes family of Leeds and the William of our petition are one and the same. The William of our petition, by his own admission, did not always live in Hull. He may, then, have retained a substantial base in Knottingley while developing an association with Hull, an association his sons subsequently consolidated. As noted above, although areas around Leeds generated supporters for Parliament, this part of Yorkshire was from time to time under Royalist control. Hull, on the other hand, was always held by Parliament. William in his petition may have chosen to emphasise his links with Hull and downplay those with Leeds as a means of presenting his Parliamentary credentials in their strongest light. There are loose ends here and evidence for and against but on balance (and in the absence of any other possible candidate), the William of our petition is most probably the William of the Sykes family of Leeds. The petition’s progress William’s petition made an auspicious start. On 2 March, 1647 the House of Lords, on its receipt, ordered that the House of Commons should be ‘specially recommended’ to provide him with some relief; it so advised the Commons on 12 March.[22] However, if William thought matters would come to a swift conclusion he was mistaken. On 22 April the House of Commons agreed in principle to pay William £4000 plus interest at 8% per annum. This payment was to be generated at Goldsmith’s Hall, that is via the Committee for Compounding (perhaps because it was to be sourced, as William had suggested, from the estates of delinquents). The Commons sought the concurrence of the Lords to this decision. At the same time, it asked the Committee for Taking the Accounts, ‘to receive, state and certify’ William’s financial circumstances. It asked the ‘Northern Committee’ (the Committee of the Parliamentary army, the Northern Association) ‘to examine the truth of the suggestion’ in William’s petition that his father had altered his will and taken away ‘a considerable estate’ from him.[23] On 30 April the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament ordered the payment to William of £4000, plus interest. On 11 May the Committee for Compounding issued the necessary warrant.[24] Although the Commons, the Lords and the Committee for Compounding had agreed a payment, the Committee for Taking the Accounts had not yet completed its work. On 26 June Lord Willoughby (who had commanded William in the attack on Gainsborough in 1643), wrote to the Chairman of the Committee on his behalf. He testified to William’s efforts on behalf of Parliament, observing ‘he has suffered much for his good affection’. Concerned that others should not be discouraged from offering assistance he urged the Committee to ‘expedite his business under your hand’.[25] There is no evidence the Committee did expedite matters. It was not until 30 December 1647 that the Lords advised the Commons that the Committee had certified payment to William of £3963-18s-5d, in respect of the arms and ammunition he had provided. The Commons ordered that steps be taken to pay William this sum, the payment ‘to be charged upon the moiety of [that is from part of] the receipts of the Excise’ (suggesting the funds were no longer to come from the estates of delinquents). The Commons also ordered that the payment should attract interest at 8% per annum, but this was a decision in principle, it seems. The Committee for Taking the Accounts had not certified a payment of interest. The House of Commons identified the sum in question as £2711-4s-1d. (This was almost certainly an error in transcribing the £2511-4s-1d William sought in his petition, but it also took no account of the fact that William’s contribution had been valued at less than £4000, rather than the more than £8000 he had cited.) The Commons nevertheless asked the Committee of the Northern Association to consider William’s claimed interest and ‘if they find the demand just and reasonable, to report to the House, how satisfaction may be made to him’.[26] As the Commons, the Lords and now the Committee for Taking the Accounts were agreed on the substantive payment of just under £4000, the way was open for William to receive this money. However, matters stalled again. William’s petition was now considered by the Admiralty Committee (possibly because the proposed payment would draw on customs revenues) before returning once more to the House of Commons on 4 April, then the House of Lords on 14 April 1648. Both Houses agreed a recommendation of the Admiralty Committee that William be paid £3963-18s-5d, plus interest at 8% per annum.[27] The passing of time had increased the urgency of matters for William. On 10 June the Lords learned that he had been arrested ‘and laid in prison’ for his debts. It asked the Commons to take some speedy action on his behalf.[28] On 31 July the matter returned to the House of Commons. It received a report from the Committee of the Northern Association about William’s claim for interest, the contents of which are not known. It recommended an immediate payment of £350 towards William’s total debts of £778-10s-3d, with the balance to be paid in due course. Conscious perhaps that William’s original donation was by way of a proposition, it asked the Committee at Haberdashers Hall, that is, the Committee for the Advance of Money, to use its best means to secure his release from prison.[29] On 2 August the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament agreed the payment of £350 and endorsed the request to the Committee to help William in his captivity.[30] At this point the trail goes cold. By now the House of Commons and the House of Lords had each considered William’s petition on at least six occasions; it had been referred to the Committee of the Northern Association twice, and once to each of the Committees for Taking the Accounts, for the Advance of Money and for Compounding; it had also been considered by the Admiralty Committee. Was this cumbersome administration? Possibly, but it probably also reflected caution on Parliament’s part in agreeing to any payment of the sort sought by William, particularly in a time of financial difficulty. We might nevertheless conclude, optimistically, that, as a result of this repeated consideration (and contrary to the suggestion that propositions were never repaid), following the decision by the House of Lords on 14 April 1648, William did at least receive £3963-18s-5d, albeit over a year after submitting his petition. We might also conclude that, following the decision of the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament on 2 August, he received £350 towards his debts. However, there is no evidence that William’s claim that his father had altered his will, to William’s disadvantage, was pursued, following the reference to the Committee of the Northern Association. Whether he received any further payment towards his debts and when he was able to leave prison is not known. Nor is it clear if he ever received any interest in respect of his donation to Parliament. Even if William did secure some additional payments the total sum paid to him by Parliament would have fallen some way short of the £10,000 plus he considered his due. What happened to William subsequently? On the basis that the William of our petition is indeed the William of the Sykes family of Leeds, we know he retained his association with Knottingley, near Leeds. In 1652 he was its parish constable, responsible for enforcing local law and order, albeit without pay. William would have been appointed to this position by the parish, suggesting he was of some local standing still. But, having also developed an association with the newly-emerging Quaker movement, which was often at odds with the established Church, he opposed the collection of tithes, which he considered contrary to the teachings of the gospel. He encouraged others in Knottingley to join him in his refusal to pay. William had not lost the ability to stand up for what he believed, it seems, but his actions incurred the great displeasure of the local clergy. In August 1652, at their prompting, he was prosecuted for his role in the campaign and fined a total of £266-13s-4d. William had been imprisoned in 1648 for his debts. Unable to pay this harsh penalty he found himself in prison once more, in York Castle, where he remained until his death on 20 October.[31] [1] ‘Currency converter: 1270-2017’, The National Archives, https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/currency-converter/. [2] For concise accounts of the broad events of the civil war: Christopher Hill, A Century of Revolution (2002), pp. 109-116; Blair Worden, The English Civil Wars 1640-1660 (2009), chapters 2 and 3; for a fuller account: Michael Braddick, God’s Fury, England’s Fire (2009). [3] Peter Gaunt, The English Civil War: A Military History (2014), pp. 13, 237; Braddick, pp. 389-412. [4] Gaunt, pp. 107, 238. [5] John Morrill, Revolt in the Provinces: The People of England and the Tragedies of War 1630-1648 2nd Edition (1999), pp. 79-81, 119. [6] Morrill, p. 119; for the suggestion that interest was paid on a compound basis: ‘House of Commons Journal Volume 5: 22 April 1647’, in Journal of the House of Commons: Volume 5, 1646-1648 (1802), pp. 151-152. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/commons-jrnl/vol5/pp151-152. [7] ‘Adventurers’ Act’, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventurers%27_Act. [8] Morrill, p. 119. [9] ‘Preface’, in Mary Anne Everett Green (ed.), Calendar, Committee For the Advance of Money: Part 1, 1642-45 (1888), pp. v-xviii, British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/cttee-advance-money/pt1. [10] ‘Preface’, in Mary Anne Everett Green (ed.), Calendar, Committee For Compounding: Part 1, (1889), pp. v-xxiv, British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/compounding-committee/pt1. [11] ‘Preface’, in Green, Calendar, Committee For the Advance of Money. In her preface Green discusses this Committee, as well as that for the Advance of Money. [12] Morrill, p, 121. [13] Hill, p.120; Braddick, pp. xvi-xix; Lawrence Stone, The Causes of the English Revolution 1529-1642 (2017), p. 62. [14] Stone, p. 37. [15] Gaunt, pp. 126-29, 158, 186-87; Braddick, pp. xviii-xix, 328-31; ‘Battle of Gainsborough’, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gainsborough. [16] J.T. Cliffe, The Yorkshire Gentry from the Reformation to the Civil War (1969), pp. 336-38. [17] If William assessed his interest due on a compound basis a donation of £8463 would have taken around three years and three months to accrue £2511 in interest. If, as seems more likely, he assessed his interest on a simple basis, it would have taken around three years and eight months. [18] ‘Papers of the Sykes Family of Sledmere/Description’, Hull History Centre Catalogue, http://catalogue.hullhistorycentre.org.uk/catalogue/U-DDSY?tab=description; ‘Pedigree of Sykes, of Sledmere, Roos etc.’, Joseph Foster, Pedigrees of the County Families of Yorkshire: Vol. IV, North and North East Riding (1875). J.W. Clay (ed.), Dugdale’s Visitation of Yorkshire with Additions Vol. II (1907), p. 481 describes the same family as ‘The Sykes of Spofforth’, a village some 65 miles to the north of Hull, https://archive.org/details/dugdalesvisitati2dugd. [19] ‘Papers of the Sykes Family of Sledmere/Third Deposit of Papers of the Sykes Family of Sledmere/Sykes Letters and Papers/Copy will. Richard Sykes of Leeds, gent.’, Hull History Centre Catalogue, http://catalogue.hullhistorycentre.org.uk/catalogue/U-DDSY3-2-1, ‘Norcliffes of Langton, Family Papers/Documents presented 12 March 1960/Folder containing “Wills of Near Relations”’, (zDDX65/3/17, DDX65/20), East Riding of Yorkshire Archives https://www.eastriding.gov.uk/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=zDDX65. [20] Foster, ‘Pedigree of Sykes, of Sledmere, Roos etc.’; James Raine (ed.), Depositions from the Castle of York relating to Offenses Committed in the Northern Counties in the Seventeenth Century (1861), pp. 54-55, https://archive.org/details/depositionsfromc00grea. [21] Foster, ‘Pedigree of Sykes, of Sledmere, Roos etc.’. [22] ‘House of Lords Journal Volume 9: 2 March 1647’, in Journal of the House of Lords: Volume 9, 1646 (1767-1830), pp. 49-54. British History Online, https://www.british-history.ac.uk/lords-jrnl/vol9/pp49-54. ‘House of Lords Journal Volume 9: 12 March 1647’, in Journal of the House of Lords: Volume 9, 1646 (1767-1830), pp. 74-76. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/lords-jrnl/vol9/pp74-76. [23] ‘House of Commons Journal Volume 5: 22 April 1647’, in Journal of the House of Commons: Volume 5, 1646-1648 (1802), pp. 151-152. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/commons-jrnl/vol5/pp151-152. [24] ‘House of Lords Journal Volume 9: 30 April 1647’, in Journal of the House of Lords: Volume 9, 1646 (1767-1830), pp. 160-165. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/lords-jrnl/vol9/pp160-165; ‘Warrants for Payment of Money’, in Mary Anne Everett Green (ed.), Calendar, Committee For Compounding: Part 1 (1889), pp. 778-826. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/compounding-committee/pt1/pp778-826. [25] ‘Charles I – volume 515: June 1647’, in William Douglas Hamilton (ed.), Calendar of State Papers Domestic: Charles I, 1645-7 (1891), pp. 559-564. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/domestic/chas1/1645-7/pp559-564. [26] ‘House of Commons Journal Volume 5: 30 December 1647’, in Journal of the House of Commons: Volume 5, 1646-1648 (1802), pp. 410-411. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/commons-jrnl/vol5/pp410-411. [27] ‘House of Commons Journal Volume 5: 4 April 1648’, in Journal of the House of Commons: Volume 5, 1646-1648 (1802), pp. 525-527. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/commons-jrnl/vol5/pp525-527; ‘House of Lords Journal Volume 10: 14 April 1648’, in Journal of the House of Lords: Volume 10, 1648-1649 (1767-1830), pp. 192-195. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/lords-jrnl/vol10/pp192-195. [28] ‘House of Lords Journal Volume 10: 10 June 1648’, in Journal of the House of Lords: Volume 10, 1648-1649 (1767-1830), pp. 316-320. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/lords-jrnl/vol10/pp316-320. [29] ‘House of Commons Journal Volume 5: 31 July 1648’, in Journal of the House of Commons: Volume 5, 1646-1648 (1802), pp. 653-654. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/commons-jrnl/vol5/pp653-654. [30] ‘House of Lords Journal Volume 10: 2 August 1648’, in Journal of the House of Lords: Volume 10, 1648-1649 (London, 1767-1830), pp. 406-414. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/lords-jrnl/vol10/pp406-414. [31] Raine (ed.), Depositions from the Castle of York pp. 54-55; Joseph Besse, A Collection of the Sufferings of the People Called Quakers, Volume II (1753), p. 90, https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=RaNAAQAAMAAJ&hl=en_GB&pg=GBS.PP1.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line631
__label__wiki	0.783783	0.783783	Aidan O'Beirne Ph.D. Student in Physics, admitted Autumn 2017 aidano@stanford.edu Jack Tiernan O'Brien Undergraduate, Science, Technology and Society jtobrien@stanford.edu Lauren O'Connell Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe O'Connell lab studies how genetic and environmental factors contribute to biological diversity and adaptation. We are particularly interested in understanding (1) how behavior evolves through changes in brain function and (2) how animal physiology evolves through repurposing existing cellular components. loconnel@stanford.edu Caylee Alison O'Connor Ph.D. Student in Economics, admitted Autumn 2020 cayleeoc@stanford.edu Amelia Grace O'Donohue Undergraduate, Earth Systems Program Undergraduate, International Comparative and Area Studies Communications Intern, Woods Research Natural Capital Project ameliao@stanford.edu Charlie C O'Donohue Undergraduate, Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity Undergraduate, Theater and Performance Studies Rory O'Dwyer rodwyer@stanford.edu Bruce O'hara Assoc Prof-Visiting GILBERT HALL Rm. 422A BFO@stanford.edu Thomas A O'Keefe BioThomas Andrew O’Keefe is the President of Mercosur Consulting Group, Ltd. [https://www.mercosurconsulting.net], a legal and economic consulting firm that assists companies with their strategic business planning for South America as well as advises Latin American firms exporting to the United States. Mr. O’Keefe is a dual national of the United States and Chile. He is bilingual in English and Spanish, and fluent in French and Portuguese. He did his undergraduate work at Columbia University, and received his J.D. from the Villanova University School of Law. In 1986, he worked for the legal departments of the Chilean Human Rights Commission and the Vicaría de la Solidaridad (the human rights office of the Archdiocese of Santiago). He also worked as an associate for a number of years at the Wall Street law firm of Carter, Ledyard & Milburn and the Boston-based Gadsby & Hannah before returning to study at the University of Oxford, where he received an M.Phil. in Latin American Studies (History and Economics) in 1992. He has taught courses on Colonial Latin America, Western Hemisphere economic integration, the political economy of the Southern Cone Countries of South America, energy and climate cooperation in the Western Hemisphere, and U.S.-Latin America diplomatic history at American University, Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, and Stanford University. He served as Chair of the Western Hemisphere Area Studies Program at the U.S. State Department’s Foreign Service Institute between 2011 and 2016. During the spring 2015 semester, he also taught a seminar on International Human Rights Law at the Villanova University School of Law. Mr. O’Keefe is the author of numerous book chapters and articles on Latin American economic integration, globalization, energy security, and climate change, and has lectured extensively on these topics both in the United States and abroad. He has also been invited to brief U.S. government officials and testify before the U.S. Congress on developments within MERCOSUR and the Free Trade Area of the Americas project. He is the former Managing Editor of Focus Americas, an analytical review of business and legal developments throughout the Western Hemisphere. He is the author of Latin American Trade Agreements (Ardsley, NY: Transnational Publishers, Inc. 1997-), Latin American and Caribbean Trade Agreements: Keys to a Prosperous Community of the Americas (Leiden NL: Martinus Nijhoff (Brill), 2009), and Bush II, Obama, and the Decline of U.S. Hegemony in the Western Hemisphere (New York: Routledge, 2018). In 2001, Mr. O’Keefe participated in the USAID/RAPID project as an African Growth & Opportunity Act (AGOA) trade specialist based in Gaborone, Botswana. In 2005, he received a Fulbright Scholars Award to lecture on international trade topics at the National Universities of Córdoba and Rosario in Argentina and conduct research on the Argentine energy sector for a chapter in a book published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in 2007. In 2011, he was the recipient of a Fulbright Senior Specialist Award to lecture on the Peru-United States Free Trade Agreement at the Law School of the Catholic University of Peru. Between October 2005 and October 2006, he was the Legal and Economic Integration Specialist for the USAID funded Caribbean Open Trade and Support Program based in Antigua that provided trade capacity building and competitiveness assistance to the governments and private sectors in both Antigua and Barbuda as well as Dominica. 1177 Avenue of the Americas, Fifth Flloor taokeefe@stanford.edu Tom O'Keefe https://www.mercosurconsulting.net Max O'Krepki Master of Arts Student in Public Policy, admitted Autumn 2018 maxo@stanford.edu Daniel O'Leary Affiliate, Psychology Jacqueline Renee O'Neil Undergraduate, Ethics In Society Undergraduate, Political Science Undergraduate, Psychology jroneil@stanford.edu Jordan Hailey Oakes Undergraduate, Statistics joakes21@stanford.edu Khalid Obeid BioKhalid Obeid holds an Ed.D degree in Organization and Leadership from the School of Education at the University of San Francisco and a MPA from Notre Dame de Namur University. He received his B.A. in Arabic Language and Literature from Bir Zeit University in Palestine. Dr. Obeid is an ACTFL Certified OPI and WPT Tester/Rater in Arabic. He enjoys literature and loves teaching the Arabic language. His favorite activity is watching, playing and coaching soccer. kyobeid@stanford.edu Hilton Manfred Obenzinger Affiliate, American Studies Josiah Ober Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis Professor in Honor of Constantine Mitsotakis, Professor of Classics, and Professor, by courtesy, of Philosophy On Leave from 10/01/2020 To 06/30/2021 BioJosiah Ober, the Constantine Mitsotakis Chair in the School of Humanities and Sciences, specializes in the areas of ancient and modern political theory and historical institutionalism. His primary appointment is in Political Science; he holds a secondary appointment in the Classics and a courtesy appointment in Philosophy. His most recent book, Demopolis: Democracy before liberalism in theory and practice, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2017. His ongoing work focuses on rationality (ancient and modern), the theory and practice of democracy, and the politics of knowledge and innovation, Recent articles and working papers seek to explain economic growth and inequality in the ancient Greek world, the relationship between democracy and dignity, and the aggregation of expertise. He is author or co-author of about 100 articles and chapters (many available on his Academia.edu page) and several other books, including Fortress Attica (1985), Mass and Elite in Democratic Athens (1989), The Athenian Revolution (1996), Political Dissent in Democratic Athens (1998), Athenian Legacies 2005), Democracy and Knowledge (2008), and The Rise and Fall of Classical Greece (2015). He has held residential fellowships at the National Humanities Center, Center for Hellenic Studies, Univ. of New England (Australia), Clare Hall (Cambridge), Center for the Advanced Study of the Behavioral Sciences , and Univ. of Sydney; research fellowships from the ACLS, NEH, and Guggenheim; and has been a visiting professor at University of Michigan, Paris I-Sorbonne, UC-Irvine, and UC-Berkeley. Before coming to Stanford he taught at Montana State University (1980-1990) and Princeton University (1990-2006). Political Science Department Encina Hall West, Room 100 jober@stanford.edu Rachel Ochoa Stanford Student Employee, Communication racochoa@stanford.edu Samuel Ocko Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Applied Physics Michael Angel Ocon Undergraduate, English Stanford Student Employee, Vice Provost for Student Affairs ocon@stanford.edu Allison B Oddman Undergraduate, African and African American Studies Undergraduate, Art & Art History Student Employee, Dean for Community Engagement and Diversity Student Employee, Institute for Diversity in the Arts aoddman@stanford.edu Taiwo Oladapo Odunowo Stanford Student Employee, First Generation Low Income Undergraduate, Public Policy todunowo@stanford.edu Alexander M Ody Ph.D. Student in Applied Physics, admitted Autumn 2017 aody@stanford.edu Stephan Oepen Lecturer, Symbolic Systems Program stephan.oepen@stanford.edu William Oestreich Ph.D. Student in Biology, admitted Autumn 2017 Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy research focuses on the behavior of highly-mobile (and often marine) species. This work includes study of animal behavior on individual and population scales, as well as the environmental drivers of these behaviors. I am particularly interested in human-wildlife interactions resulting from highly-mobile animal behavior and dynamic management strategies tailored to mediate these interactions. woest@stanford.edu Offen,Karen Affiliate, Clayman Institute for Gender Research Visiting Scholar, Clayman Institute for Gender Research kmoffen@stanford.edu Emma Gabrielle Offenberg Su Student - Summer, Office of Science Outreach ego627@stanford.edu Jean Oi William Haas Professor of Chinese Politics and Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies Current Research and Scholarly InterestsPolitical economy and the process of reform in transitional systems, with particular focus on corporate restructuring and fiscal politics. Oi’s new project empirically assess the impact of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) by taking an institutional and micro-level approach to identify the key players and their interests. Is the BRI is a tightly coordinated central state effort, as some assert, or another example of local state development taking advantage of global opportunities? Encina Hall West joi@stanford.edu Jean C. Oi Michelle Katherine Oing mkoing@stanford.edu Rotimi Ojo Masters Student in Statistics, admitted Winter 2009 http://www.rotimi.com John Oseitohanmen Okhiulu johnok21@stanford.edu Daniel Okimoto Professor of Political Science and Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Emeritus okimoto@stanford.edu Kathryn Meyer Olivarius Current Research and Scholarly InterestsI am an historian of nineteenth-century America, interested primarily in the antebellum South, Greater Caribbean, slavery, and disease. My research seeks to understand how epidemic yellow fever disrupted Deep Southern society. Nearly every summer, this mosquito-borne virus killed up to ten percent of the urban population. But it also generated culture and social norms in its fatal wake. Beyond the rigid structures of race and unfreedom in Deep Southern society, I argue there was alternate, if invisible, hierarchy at work, with “acclimated” (immune) people at the top and a great mass of “unacclimated” (non-immune) people awaiting their brush with yellow fever languishing in social and professional purgatory. About half of all people died in the acclimating process. In New Orleans, alleged-imperviousness or vulnerability to epidemic disease evolved into an explanatory tool for success or failure in commodity capitalism, and a justification for a race- and ethnicity-based social hierarchy where certain people were decidedly less equal than others. Disease justified highly asymmetrical social and labor relations, produced politicians apathetic about the welfare of their poor or recently-immigrated constituents, and accentuated the population’s xenophobic, racist, pro-slavery, and individualist proclivities. Alongside skin color, acclimation-status, I argue, played a major role in determining a person’s position, success, and sense of belonging in antebellum New Orleans. Most of all, disease provided the tacit justification for who did what work during cotton and sugar production, becoming the essence of an increasingly elaborate and tortuous justification for widespread and permanent black slavery. In the Deep Southern view, only enslaved black people could survive work like cane cutting, swamp clearing, and cotton picking. In fact, proslavery theorists argued, black slavery was positively natural, even humanitarian, for it protected the health of whites—and thus the nation writ large—insulating them from diseased-labor and spaces that would kill them. By fusing health with capitalism in my forthcoming book Necropolis, I will present a new model—beyond the toxic fusion of white supremacy with the flows of global capitalism—for how power operated in Atlantic society. I am also interested in historical notions of consent (sexual or otherwise); slave revolts in the United States and the Caribbean; anti- and pro-slavery thought; class and ethnicity in antebellum America; the history of life insurance and environmental risk; comparative slave systems; technology and slavery; the Haitian Revolution; and boosterism in the American West. koli@stanford.edu Ana Cristina Lopes Soc Sci Res Assoc, Buddhist Studies BioAna Cristina O. Lopes is Researcher in Residence at The Ho Center for Buddhist Studies at Stanford. She is a cultural anthropologist who specializes in the transnationalization of Tibetan Buddhism and has conducted extensive fieldwork research throughout Asia, Europe and the Americas. Ana Cristina is the author of Tibetan Buddhism in Diaspora: Cultural re-signification in practice and institutions (New York and London: Routledge, 2015), which explores the dynamics of the re-signification of Tibetan Buddhism in global settings. Her current research interests center on the interface between Buddhism, science, and technology in the contemporary world. Ana Cristina is working on two main lines of investigation. Firstly, she is exploring the impact that laboratory experiments on contemplative practices and its diverse applications has had on the reception of Buddhism in the global context and, in particular, on the way we understand our highest potential as human beings and what it means to lead a fulfilling life in contemporary societies. Secondly, she is investigating how the encounter with modern technology is changing the way Buddhism is spreading throughout the world. In particular she is exploring the case of Tara's Triple Excellence, a program of Tibetan Buddhist practice that is available through the internet in seven European languages, Nepali and Chinese. Ana Cristina is interested in examining the way this program is changing how practitioners relate to Tibetan Buddhism, while also preserving core elements of this tradition. Ana Cristina came to Stanford from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she was on faculty at the Department of Religious Studies. She has also taught at the University of Virginia. Ligia De Oliveira Toscano de Melo Undergraduate, Computer Science Undergraduate, Mathematics ligia22@stanford.edu Rufus Olivier Academic Staff-Hourly, Music RUFUSOJR@AOL.COM Esther Abisola Omole Ug Writing Tutor, Hume Center Undergraduate, School of Engineering esomole@stanford.edu Sarah Mackenzie Ondak Undergraduate, Communication Undergraduate, Iberian and Latin American Cultures sondak@stanford.edu Chong Hui Desmond Ong Edwin Duc Deping Ong Undergraduate, Economics edwinong@stanford.edu Zoe Alexandra Ong zoeong@stanford.edu Natachi Onwuamaegbu natachi@stanford.edu Lugard Onyendi Undergraduate, Math and Computational Science lony@stanford.edu Stephen Orgel Jackson Eli Reynolds Professor of Humanities, Emeritus BioStephen Orgel has published widely on the political and historical aspects of Renaissance literature, theater, art history and the history of the book. His work is interdisciplinary, and is increasingly concerned with the patronage system, the nature of representation, and performance practice in the Renaissance. His most recent book is Imagining Shakespeare (2003), and he is the author of The Authentic Shakespeare (2002), Impersonations: The Performance of Gender in Shakespeare's England (Cambridge, 1996), The Illusion of Power (Berkeley, 1975), Inigo Jones (London and Berkeley, 1973, in collaboration with Sir Roy Strong), and The Jonsonian Masque (Cambridge, Mass., 1965). He has edited Ben Jonson's masques, Christopher Marlowe's poems and translations, the Oxford Authors John Milton, The Tempest and The Winter's Tale in The Oxford Shakespeare, Trollope's Lady Anna, and Edith Wharton's The Custom of the Country, The Age of Innocence and The Reef in the Oxford World's Classics. He is the general editor of Cambridge Studies in Renaissance Literature and Culture, and of the new Pelican Shakespeare. He has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, NEH Fellowships, and ACLS Fellowships; he has been a Getty Fellow, a visiting fellow at New College, Oxford, and most recently the Clark Lecturer at Trinity College, Cambridge. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. ORGEL@stanford.edu Donald Ornstein Professor of Mathematics, Emeritus 380-383U ornstein@math.stanford.edu Joshua ORourke Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Symbolic Systems jsorourk@stanford.edu Joshua Oliver Orrick jorrick7@stanford.edu Leonardo Lujan Orsini llorsini@stanford.edu Leila Madeleine Orszag lorszag@stanford.edu Claudia Ortega Student Services Officer, Classics 450 Jane Stanford Way Bldg 110 Rm 107 ciortega@stanford.edu Inter-Departmental Programs	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line634
__label__wiki	0.758153	0.758153	Indian System, U.S. System Presidential “Safer” than Parliamentary Date: December 7, 2015Author: Bhanu Dhamija American System Cannot Turn Authoritarian The general depiction of America’s President as the most powerful man on the planet has created an erroneous impression. An American President is powerful, no doubt, but that is due to the strength of his nation, not his office. The American system vests the executive power in a single individual not to bestow him with all authority, but to assign him all responsibility. There is no legitimate basis for thinking that the American presidential system is authoritarian. The prime directive in framing America’s Constitution was to ensure that powers had no chance of finding a focal point; that they remained divided in the hands of many. Everything about the American system, from its structure to its electoral process, repels concentration of powers. In more than two hundred years, an American President has never been so much as accused of autocratic behavior. There are reasons, however, why this erroneous impression took hold in India. The chief reason is the same one that led India toward the parliamentary system to begin with: a lack of familiarity with the American system. Chapter 12 Why India Needs the Presidential System The notion that the presidential system could lapse into dictatorship first took root during Mrs. Gandhi’s Emergency in the mid-1970s. It was widely believed that she wanted to adopt the presidential form of government to further her own autocratic reign. A few members of her coterie had suggested a directly elected chief executive, in a paper entitled A Fresh Look at Our Constitution. But other than this one feature, the proposal held no similarities to the American system. In fact, its suggested system was downright un-American. For instance, it noted that “unlike the USA the legislature will not be too independent of the executive.” People however continued to believe that it was the American system that Mrs. Gandhi wished to adopt. The truth of the matter was the Mrs. Gandhi opted to stick with the parliamentary system because it was this system that satisfied her autocratic bent the most. The Swaran Singh Committee appointed by her to look into the matter quickly decided that in no shape or form an American-style system could fit with her designs. That the presidential system was rejected because it wasn’t the authoritarian tool Mrs. Gandhi desired was later admitted by Antulay, the author of ‘Fresh Look’ and a member of the Swaran Singh Committee. In an interview with Granville Austin in 1994, Antulay said: “Indira Gandhi wanted to be a dictator, which is why in October 1976, she wanted a presidential system. But you can’t be a dictator in a presidential system.” The presidential system’s reputation in India is sullied because its name became associated with an autocrat. If Mrs. Gandhi’s men had not attempted to sneak their outrageous proposals through as ‘presidential’, the misgivings about this system would never have existed. After all, it was the parliamentary system that allowed Mrs. Gandhi to become a dictator. The American system has never, in its 225-year history, seen a President even attempt autocratic rule. Adapted from Why India Needs the Presidential System (HarperCollins) by Bhanu Dhamija Indian Political SystemIndian SystemIndira GandhiParliamentary SystemPresidential SystemPresidential versus Parliamentary Previous Previous post: Divide Powers for “Good” and “Safe” Government: Thomas Jefferson Next Next post: Indians Should Seriously Consider Switching to Presidential Form of Government: Kuldip Nayar	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line635
__label__cc	0.713356	0.286644	A closer look at COVID-19 data The dire statistics on the COVID-19 epidemic had me go on a tailspin of worry, anxiety, and frenzied reaction. I was buying masks, disinfecting the hell out of everything that I would touch and generally being the stay at home wallflower that did not quite come naturally to me. All this in direct response to headlines and statistics that essentially promised a life filled in purgatory if I did not take the right precautions now. To be clear, the COVID-19 pandemic is indeed dangerous. It ought to be taken seriously; and it is likely to cause immense personal, economic, and societal damage were it not to be treated with the abundant care that it deserves. But, after marinating in so much data, a part of me wonders if we are all reacting to the immediacy of the data and the rabid conclusions we could draw out of it: Should we not be casting a more critical eye on many of the data-driven conclusions presented to us? Let me give a few examples first to illustrate the genesis of my concern. The table below gives the top 10 nations ordered by COVID-19 diagnoses as of September 18, 2020. If one concluded that the USA is perhaps the worst affected simply by looking at the total figures, one could be immediately forgiven. However, it must be pointed out that affliction numbers are proportional concomitants of overall populations. Simply put, greater populations imply greater infection numbers (and greater infection numbers are an outcome of more testing too as you will see later). Looking at data like these in isolation tends to also inflate concerns without much logical underpinning. On the face of it, it looks like the impact of COVID-19 in Argentina is about a tenth of the USA’s as is the case with Spain. But, is that really true? Let’s look at normalized figures after we compute the total number of cases per 1 Million individuals in a country. By looking at cases per 1M in population, we see a few significant changes: For example, India’s meteoric drop from being 2nd overall to the 10th position or a relatively small Peru claiming the top spot when one computes a density metric. Spain and Argentina have now moved to the middle of the pack. Now, ask yourself what the implication of this is when you mull over your plans for how to deal with rising numbers of the pandemic across different regions. Indeed, let’s take it one step further, and ask ourselves if the case numbers on a “per million” basis are truly reflective of the underlying actuals or if they are muddied by some other moderating variable such as, say, testing. Ah, testing – that much vaunted holy grail that is yet to be made available in vast numbers and with ease across most of the world. Let’s look at the numbers below: A-ha (I had to get a nod in to my favorite Swedish band not named ABBA), the numbers above make me scratch my head. The USA has the highest number of cases in total as well as on a per capita basis while also having conducted the greatest number of tests among any nation in the world. Could it just be that the there is a greater number of infections detected in the USA simply because more tests have been done? Conversely, are nations with smaller totals – be it as a grand total or on a per million basis – showing those numbers because not enough testing has been done or is it because their populations have not been infected as much? Take the case of India which has one of the lower infection rates despite being the 2nd most populous nation in the world. However, India has also one of the lowest tested population on a per capita basis. Now, our basic analytics intelligence quotient makes us dig deeper to understand if and how diagnosis outcomes are indeed connected. Are infection rates lower because not enough tests have been administered or is it because of policies that promote social distancing, reduced travel, sealed borders, in addition to rigorous testing or some combination thereof? How much does one counteract the effects of the other? What are the interaction effects? In fact, if you look at the table below that shows diagnoses per each Million of a tested population the initial conclusions could open themselves to drastic modifications: Mexico shows a whopping 44% infection to testing ratio for every 1 Million of its population. But, there is the issue of causality here: Are we seeing more cases because we are testing more people randomly? Or are we only testing the individuals mostly from high risk population cohorts? Or is it a mix of the two and to what degree and how do we separate out the effects? These questions and their implications are largely ignored as well in the media. It is a bit of a red herring to conclude that this number will be the same for every subsequent 1 Million as we do not know a lot about the people tested or how the testing is even done. However, we can look at a relatively large proportion of tested individuals showing a positive result as one possible indication of the likelihood of accelerated transmission across the population, and hence, a cause for concern. But the larger point is, as we add more data, more nuances keep getting added that were absent when the initial conclusions based on one global metric was considered. And, while that is a good thing to note, in this simple example, it is also sobering given that most attention-grabbing headlines seem to be making conclusions based simply on that one global metric (too many news sources to enumerate). To repeat, none of this is to make the point that we should not take COVID-19 seriously. Far from it. Even one death or debilitation is one too many. However, it is dangerous as well to make decisions without fully looking at the context of more than one data point or source. This has the effect of misallocating precious resources that could be used for optimal treatments, rehabilitation policies, preventive care, economic relief and more. The implications of bad analyses have real world consequences for us all. And I am not even going to address here, the unseemly case of data being willfully suppressed by vested interests when accounting for national statistics. 5 best practices towards better analytical reasoning So, the obvious next questions are, how do we not fall into this analysis trap and what steps could we take to be a bit smarter in how we look at data. There are many things we should do, and this is not meant to be an exhaustive list. But here are a few things that have worked for me. Some of these, no doubt, are more common sensical than anything else but I have lost track of the numbers of times these have been more honored in the breach than I thought possible: Understand the question that the analysis is answering and see if you can come up with logical follow ups In the COVID-19 case we are trying to understand the true prevalence of positive tests, the severity of community spread, and the likely impact to a population for a finite future. Let’s take the non-COVID-19 example of customer churn. It is one thing to simply find out how much churn has occurred in the last year. It is another thing entirely to ask who churned and when; if the churn was different across customer segments; if there are unique segment level differences in common variables that could account for these varying churn metrics; if there are seasonal differences, and so on. Asking a composite set of questions where each subsequent question is tightly related to the previous conclusions makes a big difference to the kinds and qualities of decisions taken. Understand for yourself how your measures are defined Can we all be sure that a test for the virus is administered exactly the same way in each of the geographies that we are looking at, particularly at the early stages of this hitherto unseen pandemic? If tests are widely different then how do we interpret the numbers per million in each population? What do the metrics even mean when they come out of different measurements? As a non-COVID-19 example, let us take the case of Net Promoter Score (NPS). NPS scores are the difference between the positives and the negative scores from a survey. However, a negative, in some surveys, is defined as anything 6 or lower on a scale of 1-10. Other NPS measurements have different calculations. So, how can we correctly interpret a specific NPS score if we do not know the underlying measurement logic? Include other contextual data Often times data sets are constrained not just in volumes but also in depth and richness. This is not all that bad if you accept that the insights delivered from the analysis are limited to the data collected. But we can do better. For example, in the context of COVID-19 testing, we could include another data point such as when region wide lockdowns occurred. Doing so, now enables us to connect infection outcomes to another variable that now widens our ability to make clearer policy prescriptions. Or, conversely, adding more data could eliminate certain pre-conceived notions of causality that were readily assumed to be true. Either way, we get a much tighter analysis. To go beyond healthcare, on the NPS side, again we can add geospatial data, for example, to layer on top of the NPS scores to see if there are geographic variations and then inquire further as to the nature of such differences. Know your data sources In one of my recently read works of fiction, “Cloud Atlas” by David Mitchell, I was struck by a brilliant line “He who pays the historian always calls the tune”. Besides, heartily recommending this book to all you book lovers, this line is particularly relevant to how data are sourced. Despite our best efforts, most of us have been in situations where data are often corrupted by certain biases that creep into how they are collected, recorded, and enumerated. For example, a recent survey in Santa Clara County, California, where I live, showed the number of infected to be much higher than official numbers. The sample was obtained via an advertisement on social network for testing volunteers. This ignored the fact that a person at higher risk is more likely to sign up for the free test to get informed of his/her situation. Similarly, on the non-COVID side election polling is always fraught with issues when sampling bias is ignored. Imagine taking an opinion poll of only those people in your social circle and whose political stances are closely aligned with yours. Of course, the result of that poll will likely be different from the underlying actuals. Other types of biases that creep into the data include confirmation bias, model over/under fitting, and the non-inclusion of confounding variables. Pick the right analytics for the job In this day and age where there are so many analytic tools that have proliferated and the rise of a resume-based culture when picking tools to do analysis, the temptation to go fancy and rogue is all too consuming. Not every problem needs to be tackled with an AI algorithm. While a large bobcat (not the wildcat but the large machine used in construction projects) and a standard handheld shovel can upturn your garden’s soil, the former could be an overkill when we are looking at a 50 square foot area. However, the bobcat is powerful and novel and the temptation to use it and endure the expense of using it (particularly when someone else is paying for it) is too much to resist. But a rational reflection would ensure that we eschew the bobcat in favor of the simple shovel to do the job as it was intended. This is a metaphor for how we choose tools for analytics. In over 90% of the cases, a simpler set of algorithmic choices can do the trick. Making this choice has the crucial benefit of making your analysis accessible to deeper outside scrutiny, wider consumption, and a greater likelihood of being operationalized correctly. Without a doubt, I have scratched only the shallow depths of best practices for analytics. There are many more that I can think of. I’d like to also learn from you and would appreciate your additions to this list. But what are some things you could do today, even in this context of the COVID-19 situation, that could make you look at data with a bit more purpose. Look at all data that you can get and start looking at their provenance? Who created it, how were the features extracted, who sponsored the study, why is the data including the variables that it is including? What is the data purporting to show? Are there alternative explanations for the conclusions given in the analysis? Are there other data sources that needs to be added that could shed more light on the current situation? Could alternative decisions be made were more data be analyzed? Could the insights be used to convince decisionmakers to change course? While I want to wish away this baleful pandemic that has been overstaying its welcome, I know wishes alone don’t count for much. I wish for more of us to look at data critically, even with a degree of cynicism, and keep asking all the hard questions that a lot of you have been asking. All this could lead us to insights that are more reflective of our current exigencies and, more crucially, being able to operationalize those insights in a manner that delivers on a maximal good. Stay safe and healthy. Sri Raghavan Sri Raghavan is a Senior Global Product Marketing Manager at Teradata and is in the big data area with responsibility for the AsterAnalytics solution and all ecosystem partner integrations with Aster. Sri has more than 20 years of experience in advanced analytics and has had various senior data science and analytics roles in Investment Banking, Finance, Healthcare and Pharmaceutical, Government, and Application Performance Management (APM) practices. He has two Master’s degrees in Quantitative Economics and International Relations respectively from Temple University, PA and completed his Doctoral coursework in Business from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Sri is passionate about reading fiction and playing music and often likes to infuse his professional work with references to classic rock lyrics, AC/DC excluded. View all posts by Sri Raghavan Follow Connect Teradata.com About Teradata Contact us Privacy Terms of Use Tracking Consent	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line636
__label__wiki	0.791944	0.791944	The Literature of Connection David Trotter Born to Write Neil Kenny Published online: April 2020 The Trouble with Literature Victoria Kahn The Author's Effects Nicola J. Watson Poetics of the Pillory Thomas Keymer Published online: December 2019 Gothic Antiquity Dale Townshend The Matter of Song in Early Modern England Katherine R. Larson Turn-taking in Shakespeare Oliver Morgan Documentary Resistance Angela J. Aguayo You are looking at 1-9 of 9 items for: Literature x Recently Published x Open Section Literature (9) American, 19th Century Literature (1) 20th-century and Contemporary Literature (1) Criticism/Theory (2) European Literature (1) Film, Media, and Cultural Studies (1) Early and Medieval Literature (1) 19th-century and Victorian Literature (2) Women's Literature (1) André Bazin's Film Theory: Art, Science, Religion Angela Dalle Vacche Literature, Film, Media, and Cultural Studies The best way to understand Bazin’s film theory is to pay attention to art, science, and religion, since spectatorship depends on perception, cognition, and hallucination. By arguing that this ... More The best way to understand Bazin’s film theory is to pay attention to art, science, and religion, since spectatorship depends on perception, cognition, and hallucination. By arguing that this dissident Catholic’s worldview is anti-anthropocentric, Angela Dalle Vacche concludes that cinema recapitulates the history of evolution and technology inside our consciousness, so that we may better understand how we overlap with, but also differ from, animals, plants, objects, and machines. Whereas in “Art,” the author explains the difference between painting as a static object and the moving image as an event unfolding in time, in “Science,” she discusses Bazin’s dislike of classical geometry and Platonic algebra, his fascination with biology and modern calculus to underline his holistic Darwinism, and his anti-Euclidean mathematics of motion and contingency. Comparable to a religious practice, Bazin’s cinema is the only collective ritual of the twentieth century capable of fostering an emotional community by calling on critical self-interrogation and ethical awareness. Especially keen on Italian neorealism, Bazin argues that this sensibility thrives on beings and things displacing themselves in such a way as to turn the Other into a Neighbor. Bazin’s film theory acknowledges the equalizing impact of the camera lens, which is analogous to, but also different from, the human eye. In the cinema, two different kinds of eyes coexist: one is mechanical and objective, the other is human and subjective. By refusing to reshape the world according to an a priori thesis, Bazin’s idea of an anti-anthropocentric cinema seeks surprise, dialogue, risk, and experiment.Less André Bazin's Film Theory : Art, Science, Religion The best way to understand Bazin’s film theory is to pay attention to art, science, and religion, since spectatorship depends on perception, cognition, and hallucination. By arguing that this dissident Catholic’s worldview is anti-anthropocentric, Angela Dalle Vacche concludes that cinema recapitulates the history of evolution and technology inside our consciousness, so that we may better understand how we overlap with, but also differ from, animals, plants, objects, and machines. Whereas in “Art,” the author explains the difference between painting as a static object and the moving image as an event unfolding in time, in “Science,” she discusses Bazin’s dislike of classical geometry and Platonic algebra, his fascination with biology and modern calculus to underline his holistic Darwinism, and his anti-Euclidean mathematics of motion and contingency. Comparable to a religious practice, Bazin’s cinema is the only collective ritual of the twentieth century capable of fostering an emotional community by calling on critical self-interrogation and ethical awareness. Especially keen on Italian neorealism, Bazin argues that this sensibility thrives on beings and things displacing themselves in such a way as to turn the Other into a Neighbor. Bazin’s film theory acknowledges the equalizing impact of the camera lens, which is analogous to, but also different from, the human eye. In the cinema, two different kinds of eyes coexist: one is mechanical and objective, the other is human and subjective. By refusing to reshape the world according to an a priori thesis, Bazin’s idea of an anti-anthropocentric cinema seeks surprise, dialogue, risk, and experiment. Keywords: anthropocentric, anti-anthropocentric, anthropomorphic, realism, neorealism, perception, cognition, hallucination Ireland, Literature, and the Coast: Seatangled Nicholas Allen Literature, European Literature The islands of Ireland are shaped by their relationships with land and sea. This book is a study of the various and changing ways in which literature has drawn the coast in lines that shape the ... More The islands of Ireland are shaped by their relationships with land and sea. This book is a study of the various and changing ways in which literature has drawn the coast in lines that shape the contours of cultural experience. The literary and historical study of the sea has swelled in the last decade, as has an interest in the littoral and the archipelagic. Beginning with the early works of William Butler Yeats, this book travels through the diverse hydroscapes of Irish literature from the late nineteenth century to the present, framing writers and artists from James Joyce to Anne Enright in liquid, and maritime contexts. In doing so it suggests new planetary frames through which to read literature’s relationships with the sea and its margins. With readings of contemporary writers, including Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, Kevin Barry, Seamus Heaney, Sinead Morrissey, and John Banville, and literary magazines, including The Bell, Atlantis, and Archipelago, this book is the first sustained study of Irish coastal literature.Less Ireland, Literature, and the Coast : Seatangled The islands of Ireland are shaped by their relationships with land and sea. This book is a study of the various and changing ways in which literature has drawn the coast in lines that shape the contours of cultural experience. The literary and historical study of the sea has swelled in the last decade, as has an interest in the littoral and the archipelagic. Beginning with the early works of William Butler Yeats, this book travels through the diverse hydroscapes of Irish literature from the late nineteenth century to the present, framing writers and artists from James Joyce to Anne Enright in liquid, and maritime contexts. In doing so it suggests new planetary frames through which to read literature’s relationships with the sea and its margins. With readings of contemporary writers, including Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, Kevin Barry, Seamus Heaney, Sinead Morrissey, and John Banville, and literary magazines, including The Bell, Atlantis, and Archipelago, this book is the first sustained study of Irish coastal literature. Keywords: Ireland, maritime, coastal, hydroscapes, literature, archipelagic, Heaney, Banville, Morrissey The Only Wonderful Things: The Creative Partnership of Willa Cather & Edith Lewis Melissa J. Homestead Literature, American, 20th Century Literature, Women's Literature This book tells for the first time the story of the central relationship of novelist Willa Cather’s life, her nearly forty-year partnership with Edith Lewis. Cather has been described as a ... More This book tells for the first time the story of the central relationship of novelist Willa Cather’s life, her nearly forty-year partnership with Edith Lewis. Cather has been described as a distinguished artist who turned her back on the crass commercialism of the early twentieth century and as a deeply private woman who strove to hide her sexuality, and Lewis has often been identified as her secretary. However, Lewis was a successful professional woman who edited popular magazines and wrote advertising copy at a major advertising agency and who, behind the scenes, edited Cather’s fiction. Recognizing Lewis’s role in Cather’s creative process changes how we understand Cather as an artist, while recovering their domestic partnership (which they did not seek to hide) provides a fresh perspective on lesbian life in the early twentieth century. Homestead reconstructs Cather and Lewis’s life together in Greenwich Village and on Park Avenue, their travels to the American Southwest that formed the basis of Cather’s novels The Professor’s House and Death Comes for the Archbishop, their summers as part of an all-woman resort community on Grand Manan Island, and Lewis’s magazine and advertising work as a context for her editorial collaboration with Cather. Homestead tells a human story of two women who chose to live in partnership and also explains how the Cold War panic over homosexuality caused biographers and critics to make Lewis and her central role in Cather’s life vanish even as she lived on alone for twenty-five years after her partner’s death.Less The Only Wonderful Things : The Creative Partnership of Willa Cather & Edith Lewis This book tells for the first time the story of the central relationship of novelist Willa Cather’s life, her nearly forty-year partnership with Edith Lewis. Cather has been described as a distinguished artist who turned her back on the crass commercialism of the early twentieth century and as a deeply private woman who strove to hide her sexuality, and Lewis has often been identified as her secretary. However, Lewis was a successful professional woman who edited popular magazines and wrote advertising copy at a major advertising agency and who, behind the scenes, edited Cather’s fiction. Recognizing Lewis’s role in Cather’s creative process changes how we understand Cather as an artist, while recovering their domestic partnership (which they did not seek to hide) provides a fresh perspective on lesbian life in the early twentieth century. Homestead reconstructs Cather and Lewis’s life together in Greenwich Village and on Park Avenue, their travels to the American Southwest that formed the basis of Cather’s novels The Professor’s House and Death Comes for the Archbishop, their summers as part of an all-woman resort community on Grand Manan Island, and Lewis’s magazine and advertising work as a context for her editorial collaboration with Cather. Homestead tells a human story of two women who chose to live in partnership and also explains how the Cold War panic over homosexuality caused biographers and critics to make Lewis and her central role in Cather’s life vanish even as she lived on alone for twenty-five years after her partner’s death. Keywords: Willa Cather, Edith Lewis, collaboration, lesbian history, modernism, authorship Poetry in Dialogue in the Duecento and Dante David Bowe Literature, Early and Medieval Literature Poetry in Dialogue in the Duecento and Dante provides a new perspective on the highly networked literary landscape of thirteenth and fourteenth-century Italy. It demonstrates the fundamental role of ... More Poetry in Dialogue in the Duecento and Dante provides a new perspective on the highly networked literary landscape of thirteenth and fourteenth-century Italy. It demonstrates the fundamental role of dialogue between and within texts in the works of four poets who represent some of the major developments in early Italian literature: Guittone d’Arezzo, Guido Guinizzelli, Guido Cavalcanti, and Dante. Rather than reading the cultural landscape through the lens of Dante’s works, significant though they may be, the first part of this study reconstructs the rich network of literary, especially poetic dialogue that was at the heart of medieval writing in Italy before and contemporary with Dante. The second part of the book uses this reconstruction to demonstrated Dante’s engagement with and indebtedness to the dynamics of exchange that characterized the practice of medieval Italian poets. The overall argument of the book, for the centrality of dialogic processes to the emerging Italian literary tradition, is underpinned by a conceptualization of dialogue in relation to medieval and modern literary theory and philosophy of language. By triangulating between Brunetto Latini’s Rettorica, Mikhail Bakhtin’s ‘dialogism’, and as sense of ‘performative’ speech adapted from J. L. Austin, Poetry in Dialogue shows the openness of its corpus to new dialogues and interpretations, highlighting the instabilities of even the most apparently fixed, monumental texts (such as Dante’s Commedia).Less Poetry in Dialogue in the Duecento and Dante provides a new perspective on the highly networked literary landscape of thirteenth and fourteenth-century Italy. It demonstrates the fundamental role of dialogue between and within texts in the works of four poets who represent some of the major developments in early Italian literature: Guittone d’Arezzo, Guido Guinizzelli, Guido Cavalcanti, and Dante. Rather than reading the cultural landscape through the lens of Dante’s works, significant though they may be, the first part of this study reconstructs the rich network of literary, especially poetic dialogue that was at the heart of medieval writing in Italy before and contemporary with Dante. The second part of the book uses this reconstruction to demonstrated Dante’s engagement with and indebtedness to the dynamics of exchange that characterized the practice of medieval Italian poets. The overall argument of the book, for the centrality of dialogic processes to the emerging Italian literary tradition, is underpinned by a conceptualization of dialogue in relation to medieval and modern literary theory and philosophy of language. By triangulating between Brunetto Latini’s Rettorica, Mikhail Bakhtin’s ‘dialogism’, and as sense of ‘performative’ speech adapted from J. L. Austin, Poetry in Dialogue shows the openness of its corpus to new dialogues and interpretations, highlighting the instabilities of even the most apparently fixed, monumental texts (such as Dante’s Commedia). Keywords: Dante, medieval culture, Guittone d’Arezzo, Guido Cavalcanti, Guido Guinizzelli, tenzone, lyric poetry, Dialogue, Dialogism Poetry in the Making: Creativity and Composition in Victorian Poetic Drafts Daniel Tyler (ed.) Literature, 19th-century and Victorian Literature, Poetry Poetry in the Making investigates the compositional practices of Victorian poets, as made evident in the autograph manuscripts of their poems. Written in an accessible and stimulating style, the book ... More Poetry in the Making investigates the compositional practices of Victorian poets, as made evident in the autograph manuscripts of their poems. Written in an accessible and stimulating style, the book offers careful readings of individual drafts, paying attention to the revisions, cancellations, interlineations, trials of rhyme and form, and sometimes the large structural changes that these documents reveal. The book shows how manuscript revisions offer insights into the creative priorities and decisions of major Victorian poets (Wordsworth, Tennyson, the Brownings, Clough, Hopkins, Christina Rossetti, Swinburne, and Yeats); and investigates ideas of composition in the period, particularly the uneasy balance between inspiration and labour. Collectively, the chapters develop a survey of how Victorian poets experienced and understood their own creativity, setting abstract claims about inspiration and craftsmanship against their own practical experiences. The book testifies to the value for criticism of poetic drafts, establishing the significance of revision and of manuscript studies for the field of Victorian poetry and for literary scholarship more generally.Less Poetry in the Making : Creativity and Composition in Victorian Poetic Drafts Poetry in the Making investigates the compositional practices of Victorian poets, as made evident in the autograph manuscripts of their poems. Written in an accessible and stimulating style, the book offers careful readings of individual drafts, paying attention to the revisions, cancellations, interlineations, trials of rhyme and form, and sometimes the large structural changes that these documents reveal. The book shows how manuscript revisions offer insights into the creative priorities and decisions of major Victorian poets (Wordsworth, Tennyson, the Brownings, Clough, Hopkins, Christina Rossetti, Swinburne, and Yeats); and investigates ideas of composition in the period, particularly the uneasy balance between inspiration and labour. Collectively, the chapters develop a survey of how Victorian poets experienced and understood their own creativity, setting abstract claims about inspiration and craftsmanship against their own practical experiences. The book testifies to the value for criticism of poetic drafts, establishing the significance of revision and of manuscript studies for the field of Victorian poetry and for literary scholarship more generally. Keywords: Victorian poetry, composition, revision, manuscripts, manuscript studies, drafts, genetic criticism Style in Narrative: Aspects of an Affective-Cognitive Stylistics Patrick Colm Hogan Literature, Criticism/Theory Style has often been understood both too broadly and too narrowly. In consequence, it has not defined a psychologically coherent area of study. In the opening chapter, Hogan first defines style so as ... More Style has often been understood both too broadly and too narrowly. In consequence, it has not defined a psychologically coherent area of study. In the opening chapter, Hogan first defines style so as to make possible a systematic theoretical account through cognitive and affective science. This definition stresses that style varies by both scope and level—thus, the range of text or texts that may share a style (from a single passage to an historical period) and the components of a work that might involve a shared style (including story, narration, and verbalization). Hogan illustrates the main points of this chapter by reference to several works, prominently Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway. Subsequent chapters in the first part focus on under-researched aspects of literary style. The second chapter explores the level of story construction for the scope of an authorial canon, treating Shakespeare. The third turns to verbal narration in a single work, Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying. Part two, on film style, begins with another theoretical chapter. It turns, in chapter five, to the perceptual interface in the genre of “painterly” films, examining works by Rodriguez, Mehta, Rohmer, and Husain. The sixth chapter treats the level of plot in the postwar films of Ozu. The remaining film chapter turns to visual narration in a single work, Lu’s Nanjing! Nanjing! The third part addresses theoretical and interpretive issues bearing on style in graphic fiction, with a focus on Spiegelman’s Maus. An Afterword touches briefly on implications of stylistic analysis for political critique.Less Style in Narrative : Aspects of an Affective-Cognitive Stylistics Style has often been understood both too broadly and too narrowly. In consequence, it has not defined a psychologically coherent area of study. In the opening chapter, Hogan first defines style so as to make possible a systematic theoretical account through cognitive and affective science. This definition stresses that style varies by both scope and level—thus, the range of text or texts that may share a style (from a single passage to an historical period) and the components of a work that might involve a shared style (including story, narration, and verbalization). Hogan illustrates the main points of this chapter by reference to several works, prominently Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway. Subsequent chapters in the first part focus on under-researched aspects of literary style. The second chapter explores the level of story construction for the scope of an authorial canon, treating Shakespeare. The third turns to verbal narration in a single work, Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying. Part two, on film style, begins with another theoretical chapter. It turns, in chapter five, to the perceptual interface in the genre of “painterly” films, examining works by Rodriguez, Mehta, Rohmer, and Husain. The sixth chapter treats the level of plot in the postwar films of Ozu. The remaining film chapter turns to visual narration in a single work, Lu’s Nanjing! Nanjing! The third part addresses theoretical and interpretive issues bearing on style in graphic fiction, with a focus on Spiegelman’s Maus. An Afterword touches briefly on implications of stylistic analysis for political critique. Keywords: affective science, authorial intent, cognitive science, graphic fiction, film, literature, style, William Faulkner, William Shakespeare, Yasujiro Ozu Transgression and Redemption in American Fiction Thomas J. Ferraro Literature, American, 19th Century Literature, American, 20th Century Literature This book considers modern American fiction in its own Italianate coloration: the interplay of sex (the red of passion), violence (the black of violence), and sanctity (the gold of redemption). Its ... More This book considers modern American fiction in its own Italianate coloration: the interplay of sex (the red of passion), violence (the black of violence), and sanctity (the gold of redemption). Its purpose is to involve readers in the mythopoetics of American narrative, long-lived and well overdue, in which Marian Catholicism is seen as integral to apprehending the nexus among eros, grace, and sacrifice in U.S. self-making—especially for Protestants! It starts with Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the primary instigator, as well as with Frederic’s ingenious retelling, The Damnation of Theron Ware, a second persisting prism. Sustained revisionist accounts of five major novels and several stories follow, including Chopin’s The Awakening, James’ The Wings of the Dove, Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Cather’s The Professor’s House, and Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises. Each novel is recalled as a melodrama of beset sexuality and revealed as a martyr tale of forbidden love—successive, self-aware courtings of devotional Catholicism that the critical and teaching establishment has found too mysterious and dangerous to recognize, never mind sanction. In counterpoint, the book illuminates each tale in its own terms, which are often surprising yet almost always common-sensical; it identifies the special senses—beauty, courage, and wisdom—that emerge, often in the face of social terror and moral darkness, under Marian-Catholic pedagogy; and it yields an overview of the mainline of the modern American novel in which sexual transgression (including betrayal) and graced redemption (the sanctification of passion, mediated confession, martyring sacrifice) go hand in hand, syncretically.Less This book considers modern American fiction in its own Italianate coloration: the interplay of sex (the red of passion), violence (the black of violence), and sanctity (the gold of redemption). Its purpose is to involve readers in the mythopoetics of American narrative, long-lived and well overdue, in which Marian Catholicism is seen as integral to apprehending the nexus among eros, grace, and sacrifice in U.S. self-making—especially for Protestants! It starts with Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the primary instigator, as well as with Frederic’s ingenious retelling, The Damnation of Theron Ware, a second persisting prism. Sustained revisionist accounts of five major novels and several stories follow, including Chopin’s The Awakening, James’ The Wings of the Dove, Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Cather’s The Professor’s House, and Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises. Each novel is recalled as a melodrama of beset sexuality and revealed as a martyr tale of forbidden love—successive, self-aware courtings of devotional Catholicism that the critical and teaching establishment has found too mysterious and dangerous to recognize, never mind sanction. In counterpoint, the book illuminates each tale in its own terms, which are often surprising yet almost always common-sensical; it identifies the special senses—beauty, courage, and wisdom—that emerge, often in the face of social terror and moral darkness, under Marian-Catholic pedagogy; and it yields an overview of the mainline of the modern American novel in which sexual transgression (including betrayal) and graced redemption (the sanctification of passion, mediated confession, martyring sacrifice) go hand in hand, syncretically. Keywords: modern American novel, The Scarlet Letter, The Damnation of Theron Ware, The Wings of the Dove, The Awakening, The Great Gatsby, The Professor’s House, The Sun Also Rises, Protestant, Catholic V.S. Naipaul, Caribbean Writing, and Caribbean Thought William Ghosh Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature This book presents a new portrait of V.S. Naipaul, one of the twentieth-century’s most controversial writers about colonialism and its aftermath, by looking at his relationship with the Caribbean, ... More This book presents a new portrait of V.S. Naipaul, one of the twentieth-century’s most controversial writers about colonialism and its aftermath, by looking at his relationship with the Caribbean, the region of his birth. It argues that whilst Naipaul presented himself as a global public intellectual—a citizen of nowhere—his writing and thought was shaped by his Caribbean intellectual formation, and his investment in Caribbean political debates. Focusing on three key forms of Caribbean writing—the novel, the historical narrative, and the travel narrative—it shows how the generic, stylistic, and formal choices of writers had great political significance. Telling the story of his creative and intellectual development at three crucial points in Naipaul’s career, it offers a new intellectual biography of its principal subject. By showing Naipaul’s crucial place in the history of Caribbean ideas, it also provides new perspectives on a number of major writers and thinkers from the region, including C.L.R. James, Eric Williams, Kamau Brathwaite, Sylvia Wynter, George Lamming, Derek Walcott, Maryse Condé, and David Scott.Less This book presents a new portrait of V.S. Naipaul, one of the twentieth-century’s most controversial writers about colonialism and its aftermath, by looking at his relationship with the Caribbean, the region of his birth. It argues that whilst Naipaul presented himself as a global public intellectual—a citizen of nowhere—his writing and thought was shaped by his Caribbean intellectual formation, and his investment in Caribbean political debates. Focusing on three key forms of Caribbean writing—the novel, the historical narrative, and the travel narrative—it shows how the generic, stylistic, and formal choices of writers had great political significance. Telling the story of his creative and intellectual development at three crucial points in Naipaul’s career, it offers a new intellectual biography of its principal subject. By showing Naipaul’s crucial place in the history of Caribbean ideas, it also provides new perspectives on a number of major writers and thinkers from the region, including C.L.R. James, Eric Williams, Kamau Brathwaite, Sylvia Wynter, George Lamming, Derek Walcott, Maryse Condé, and David Scott. Keywords: V.S. Naipaul, colonial thought, decolonization, postcolonialism, Caribbean literature, Caribbean history, Trinidad and Tobago, Kamau Brathwaite, Sylvia Wynter, C.L.R. James Victorian Visions of Suburban Utopia: Abandoning Babylon Nathaniel Robert Walker Literature, 19th-century and Victorian Literature, Criticism/Theory The rise of suburbs and disinvestment from cities have been defining features of life in many countries over the course of the twentieth century, especially English-speaking ones. The separation of ... More The rise of suburbs and disinvestment from cities have been defining features of life in many countries over the course of the twentieth century, especially English-speaking ones. The separation of different aspects of life, such as living and working, and the diffusion of the population in far-flung garden homes have necessitated an enormous consumption of natural lands and the constant use of mechanized transportation. Why did we abandon our dense, complex urban places and seek to find “the best of the city and the country” in the flowery suburbs? A large missing piece in this story is found in Victorian utopian literature. The replacement of cities with high-tech suburbs was repeatedly imagined and breathlessly described in the socialist dreams and science-fiction fantasies of dozens of British and American authors in the nineteenth century. Some of these visionaries—such as Robert Owen, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Edward Bellamy, William Morris, Ebenezer Howard, and H. G. Wells—are enduringly famous, while others were street vendors or amateur chemists who have been all but forgotten. Together, they fashioned strange and beautiful imaginary worlds built of synthetic gemstones, lacy metal colonnades, and unbreakable glass, staffed by robotic servants and teeming with flying carriages. As different as their futuristic visions could be in their politics or narrative qualities, most were unified by a single, desperate plea: for humanity to have a future worth living, we must abandon our smoky, poor, chaotic Babylonian cities for a life in shimmering gardens.Less Victorian Visions of Suburban Utopia : Abandoning Babylon The rise of suburbs and disinvestment from cities have been defining features of life in many countries over the course of the twentieth century, especially English-speaking ones. The separation of different aspects of life, such as living and working, and the diffusion of the population in far-flung garden homes have necessitated an enormous consumption of natural lands and the constant use of mechanized transportation. Why did we abandon our dense, complex urban places and seek to find “the best of the city and the country” in the flowery suburbs? A large missing piece in this story is found in Victorian utopian literature. The replacement of cities with high-tech suburbs was repeatedly imagined and breathlessly described in the socialist dreams and science-fiction fantasies of dozens of British and American authors in the nineteenth century. Some of these visionaries—such as Robert Owen, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Edward Bellamy, William Morris, Ebenezer Howard, and H. G. Wells—are enduringly famous, while others were street vendors or amateur chemists who have been all but forgotten. Together, they fashioned strange and beautiful imaginary worlds built of synthetic gemstones, lacy metal colonnades, and unbreakable glass, staffed by robotic servants and teeming with flying carriages. As different as their futuristic visions could be in their politics or narrative qualities, most were unified by a single, desperate plea: for humanity to have a future worth living, we must abandon our smoky, poor, chaotic Babylonian cities for a life in shimmering gardens. Keywords: suburb, utopia, architecture, city planning, science fiction, Robert Owen, Edward Bellamy, William Morris, Ebenezer Howard, H. G. Wells	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line637
__label__cc	0.589474	0.410526	474 open access dissertations and theses found for: cmt(Fernandez-Kelly, Patricia) » Refine Search 61 - 90 of 474 displayed. < Previous \| Next > Boricuas isleños y nuyorriqueños: La construcción de identidades puertorriqueñas a través de la poesía de la calle by Santamaria Lopez, Carla M., Ph.D. State University of New York at Albany. 2011: 249 pages; 3457030. Byzantium not Forgotten: Constructing the Artistic and Cultural Legacy of an Empire between East and West in the Early Modern Period by Spratt, Emily L., Ph.D. Princeton University. 2020: 601 pages; 27832334. Being a Constant Presence in a Sea of Change: The Lived Experience of Vigil Keeping for a Family Member at End of Life by Fleming-Damon, Colleen, Ph.D. Adelphi University. 2019: 296 pages; 27733362. Exploring the Impact of Mindfulness on the Lived Experience of Middle School Teachers by Morales, Albert, Ed.D. University of Pennsylvania. 2018: 154 pages; 10786652. Nursing Faculty Knowledge, Beliefs in Effectiveness and Use of Evidence-Based Teaching Strategies that Facilitate Student Transfer of Knowledge Between Theory and Practice by Culyer, Linda, D.N.S. Sage Graduate School. 2016: 188 pages; 10289054. Analysis of Krüppel-like factors 9 and 13 in endometrial function and the pathogenesis of endometriosis by Heard, Melissa Emma, Ph.D. University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. 2014: 189 pages; 3621676. Millennial students' preferred learning style: Evaluation of collaborative learning versus traditional lecture methods by Roa, Michelle L., Ph.D. Nova Southeastern University. 2013: 174 pages; 3640067. Soviet Marxism reconsidered: Dialectical method in the thought of Lev Vygotsky by Artinian, Arto, Ph.D. City University of New York. 2013: 267 pages; 3561203. Millennial Combat Veterans: How Identity Shapes Experience in College by Hammond, Shane Patrick, Ed.D. The George Washington University. 2013: 217 pages; 3557563. Effects of Single-Gender Classes on Student Literacy and Engagement by Button, Jacqueline, Ed.D. Walden University. 2012: 135 pages; 3490856. Dynamics of Teacher Self-Efficacy: Middle School Reading and Language Arts Teacher Responses on a Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale by Schwartz, Kimberly Ann, Ph.D. University of South Florida. 2010: 278 pages; 3432792. A mind -heart connection: A study of vagal reactivity to a prompt of perseverative cognition of personally relevant stress by Scheatzle, Judith C., Ph.D. Capella University. 2009: 86 pages; 3329875. An ethnographic case study of teachers who are alumni of the private day school for boys in which they teach by Powell, Bryan D., Ed.D. The George Washington University. 2009: 219 pages; 3338838. Maternal-Child Nurses' Social Judgments about Types of Fathers by Akright, Jan, Ph.D. University of Missouri - Columbia. 2019: 111 pages; 13880370. Teacher Learning through the Dialogic Space of a Lesson Study Cycle by Hiles, Jessica Beblo, Ph.D. University of Pittsburgh. 2018: 156 pages; 13872031. Toolkit for Implementation of Temporal Artery Thermometers for Neonates by Hargreaves, Linda, D.N.P. Walden University. 2017: 65 pages; 10603156. Becoming undisciplined: Interdisciplinary issues and methods in dance studies dissertations from 2007–09 by Bergman, Christine, Ph.D. Temple University. 2012: 287 pages; 3509033. The importance of developing robust research methodology for studying the communicative constitution of organization: An exemplary framework and pilot study by Sommer, Lucie, Ph.D. University of Colorado at Boulder. 2011: 315 pages; 3468423. Exploring Resilience in African American Single Mothers of Children with Disabilities and its Impact on Their Engagement in the IEP Process by Temple-Journiette, Cheryl Elaine, Ed.D. The George Washington University. 2011: 321 pages; 3438601. A portrait of school district crisis management: Leadership choices in Montgomery county during the sniper shootings of October 2002 by Porter, Brian Joseph, Ph.D. University of Maryland, College Park. 2010: 383 pages; 3409872. Transient Light in an Empty Room by Huynh, Sharlene, M.F.A. California State University, Long Beach. 2020: 62 pages; 27961592. The Effects of a Changed Grading Policy on Teacher Practices and Perceptions of Student Motivation and Learning by Sergeant, Susan R., Ph.D. Notre Dame of Maryland University. 2020: 167 pages; 28001306. Experiences of Female Circumcision Survivors: Implications for Human Rights Organizations in Sierra Leone by Lansana, Bockarie, Ph.D. The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. 2018: 168 pages; 10809507. A descriptive analysis of high school choral teachers' inclusion of popular music in current teaching practices by Smith, Elaine Kelly, Ph.D. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. 2016: 274 pages; 10123639. Genetic Analysis of Drosophila Stomatogastric Nervous System by Hernandez, Karla, Ph.D. University of Nevada, Reno. 2015: 161 pages; 10001492. Full Text - PDF (152.29 MB) Women's experiences living with depression by Jarchow, Susan M., Ph.D. The University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. 2014: 154 pages; 3633342. Forgive my architecture by Ramirez, Mae, M.F.A. California State University, Long Beach. 2013: 68 pages; 1523207. Influenza A and flavivirus manipulation of cell death by McLean, Jeffrey E., Ph.D. City University of New York. 2011: 289 pages; 3478747. How Charter School Teachers Act on Perceived Autonomy: A Qualitative Study of Curricular Decisions by Clark, Marjorie, Ed.D. The George Washington University. 2011: 193 pages; 3445100. Examining the Use of Psychological Autopsy Interviews in a Case of Suspected Youth Suicide by Ward, Kevin Casey, Psy.D. Antioch University. 2009: 147 pages; 10807622. 61 - 90 of 474 displayed. « First < Previous \| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next >	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line642
__label__wiki	0.634044	0.634044	Never Interfere With an Enemy While He’s in the Process of Destroying Himself Napoleon Bonaparte? Haley Barbour? Woodrow Wilson? Dear Quote Investigator: I saw Governor Haley Barbour of Mississippi on television recently and he recited a quotation that he attributed to Napoleon [HBCNN] [HBFOX]: You know, Napoleon said ‘Never interfere with an enemy while he’s in the process of destroying himself.’ Is this an accurate quote? Could you investigate whether Napoleon actually presented this as military advice? Quote Investigator: QI was unable to find an exact match for this advice in the 1800s, but QI did find words attributed to Napoleon in an 1836 history book during a discussion of an 1805 battle. These words may have been transformed into the modern maxim. QI also found similar statements made during the past one-hundred and seventy-four years. Here are several select citations in reverse chronological order. Theodore H. White wrote a series of popular political books called “The Making of the President”. Each title in the series also included the year of a presidential campaign. The book for the 1964 election cycle was published in 1965, and it contains a very close match to the quotation. This book may have helped popularize the quote for the current generation of politicians [MP]: Never were Republicans denounced as such; the opposition was involved in its own civil war, and the President obeyed Napoleon’s maxim: Never interfere with the enemy when he is in the process of destroying himself. In 1932 a version of the quote is used by a prominent banker. However, the enemy’s actions are described differently. The phrase “making a mistake” appears instead of “destroying himself” [CEM]: Russia seems to have adopted a maxim quoted by Charles E. Mitchell, head of New York’s big National City bank, “never interfere with the enemy while he is in the process of making a mistake.” Ace etymologist Barry Popik pointed out that Woodrow Wilson once included analogous advice in a letter he wrote in 1916 [YQW]: Never … murder a man who is committing suicide In 1888 a variant of the quotation is attributed to Napoleon. The phrase “making a mistake” is used instead of the longer clumsier “in the process of making a mistake”. In this case, the older quote is more streamlined than the more recent variant [ABN]: He who takes up arms against another commonly wounds himself, and the avenger should remember the words of Napoleon, “Never interfere with your enemy when he is making a mistake.” In 1879 the quote is presented as a “maxim in war” that is unattached to any famous figure. The term “false move” is used instead of “mistake” [AW]: I assured him that Lee was of more importance to us than Stuart; the latter was in a false position and useless to Lee, and that it was a maxim in war never to interfere with the enemy when he was making a false move. In 1855 a military book “Considerations on Tactics and Strategy” quotes Napoleon giving advice to his marshals [GT]: Previous to the commencement (tactically speaking) of the battle of Austerlitz, the allies attempted a flank march in column to turn the right flank of Napoleon. He restrained his marshals, who were eager to attack, saying, “the enemy is making a false move, why should we interrupt him?” In 1852 a biographical magazine also quotes Napoleon giving advice to his marshals [BM]: “Then, gentlemen,” said Napoleon, “let us wait a little; when your enemy is executing a false movement, never interrupt him.” An 1836 multi-volume history book titled “French Revolution” contains a version of the quotation that is similar to the one given in 1852. This history book dates the quotation to a battle in 1805. These words may have been transformed into the modern maxim [FR]: “In that case,” said Napoleon, “let us wait twenty minutes; when the enemy is making a false movement we must take good care not to interrupt him.” So the advice does have a long history, and a version has been attributed to Napoleon for more than a century and three-quarters. Thanks for your question. (This question was inspired by an email from Barry Popik.) [HBCNN] 2010 June 6, CNN website, State of the Union: Candy Crowley’s Crib Sheet for June 6, Gov. Haley Barbour (R-Mississippi), on “Fox News Sunday”. link [HBFOX] 2010 June 6, Fox News Sunday Interview with Haley Barbour (R-Mississippi). link [MP] 1965, The Making of the President 1964‎ by Theodore Harold White, Page 374, Atheneum Publishers, New York. (Google Books snippet view; Verified on paper) link [CEM] 1932 October 20, The Palm Beach Post, Today by Arthur Brisbane (King Features, Inc), Page 1, Column 1, West Palm Beach, Florida. (Google News Archive) link [YQW] 2006, The Yale Book of Quotations by Fred R. Shapiro, Page 830, Yale University Press, New Haven. The note with the quote says “Letter to Bernard Baruch, 19 Aug 1916. According to the American Heritage Dictionary of American Quotations “This is Wilson’s hands-off strategy for dealing with Charles Evans Hughes, his Republican opponent in the 1916 election. He attributed the precept to ‘a friend'”. [ABN] 1888, The Virtues and Their Reasons: A System of Ethics for Society and Schools by Austin Bierbower, Page 58, George Sherwood & Co., Chicago. (Google Books full view) link [AW] 1879, The Annals of the War Written by Leading Participants North and South, The Campaign of Gettysburg by Major General Alfred Pleasonton, Page 453, The Times Pub. Co., Philadelphia. (Google Books full view) link [GT] 1855, Considerations on Tactics and Strategy by Colonel George Twemlow, Second Edition, Page 82, Simpkin, Marshall, and Co., Stationers’ Court, London. link [BM] 1852 January, Lives of the illustrious: (The Biographical Magazine), “Marshal Soult, Duke of Dalmatia”, Page 28, J. Passmore Edwards, London. link [FR] 1836, French Revolution: Volume 5 by Archibald Alison, Page 476, William Blackwood and Sons. Edinburgh. link Posted on July 6, 2010 October 5, 2018 Author quoteresearchCategories Haley Barbour, Napoleon Bonaparte, Woodrow WilsonTags Haley Barbour, Napoleon Bonaparte, Woodrow Wilson Previous Previous post: Legal Advice: Pound the Facts, Pound the Law, Pound the Table Next Next post: Laws are Like Sausages. Better Not to See Them Being Made	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line652
__label__wiki	0.899758	0.899758	Home / GUITARISTS / Duane Roland 6/2006 Posted on November 4, 2016 July 12, 2018 by Macamba0 — Leave a comment Duane Roland 6/2006 June 19, 2006 – Duane Roland was born on December 3rd 1953 in Jeffersonville, Indiana and moved to Florida at the age of 7. Music was evident in the Roland home – Duane’s dad was an occasional guitarist, and his mom was a concert pianist. Duane originally played drums in his first band, at high school, before gravitating to the guitar. On his decision to become a serious musician he said: “I was at the “West Palm Beach Music Festival” and the line up was Johnny Winter, Vanilla Fudge,Janis Joplin, King Krimson and the Rolling Stones. It had rained and I was laying on a piece of plastic. King Krimson was late so Johnny Winter, Janis Joplin and The Vanilla Fudge got up and jammed and I came straight up off that plastic and said, “That’s what I wanna do! I watched Johnny play and that was it for me.” Duane originally tried to put a band together with Banner Thomas, and Bruce Crump but it didn’t really work. He made his name in Florida as a guitarist with The Ball Brothers Band. When The Ball Brothers split, Duane filled in for Dave Hlubek with Molly Hatchet when Dave was unable to make a gig. He was in!! The band had originally formed around Jacksonville, Florida in 1971 and taken their name from a 17th century prostitute who allegedly mutilated and decapitated her clients with a hatchet. Molly Hatchet was formed in 1971 by Dave Hlubek and Steve Holland. Danny Joe Brown joined in 1974, Duane Roland, Banner Thomas, Bruce Crump in 1975. When they finally got their recording contract with Epic they got some help and advice from Ronnie Van Zant, who was originally suppose to produce the album, but was unable to due to the tragic plane crash in ’77. Because of this the band’s debut was not released until late 1978. Fortunately for the band, this late delivery did little to deter their popularity. By the time their second record was released, the band had became enormously popular and stayed that way for many years despite the departure of vocalist/frontman Danny Joe Brown. Brown left the band in 1980 due to health problems stemming from diabetes. Others have stated that the band worked hard on the road, and drank just as hard, which was the reason that Brown had to go. Brown returned to the band in ’83 for a successful tour and the release of “No Guts No Glory”. Duane began performing with Molly Hatchet fulltime in 1975, and he remained with the band through various personnel changes until he left in 1990. (the only exception being when he quit the band for ONE DAY during a summer tour in 1983!!) They recorded and released their first album, “Molly Hatchet” in 1978, followed by “Flirtin’ with Disaster” in 1979. They toured behind the album building a larger fan base. He recorded seven albums with the band and is is credited with co-writing some of the band’s biggest hits, including “Bloody Reunion” and “Boogie No More”. During his stay, he was famous for his ability to nail his lead spots in just one take. He was actually the only member of the classic lineup to appear on all seven albums. The only song he didn’t perform on was “Cheatin’ Woman”. He also co-wrote a great deal of classic Molly Hatchet music. Duane appeared on the 1989 album “Junkyard” by the band of the same name. At the time he left in 1990, he was the owner of the Molly Hatchet brand. The agreement in the band had always been that the last man standing got the name. Duane then quit music for almost a decade and ran a company in the field of office machine repairs and later became a call centre supervisor with an Internet company. Duane was the only Hatchet original to not play in the Dixie Jam Band during Jammin’ for DJB. Riff West (the shows organiser) sites “legal difficulties” as the reason Duane did not perform. He did however, lend his talents by added his guitar tracks in the studio. In 2002, Duane’s employer was bought out, and unemployment beckoned. He was also suffering problems with his hip, which he had replaced in late 2002. During his recuperation, the news broke that Jimmy Farrar had joined the SRA, and it wasn’t long before Jimmy was trying to bring Duane out again. He was on leave from the the Southern Rock Allstars to recuperate from a hip operation when in November 2004, Riff West confirmed that the rumours of a reunion of sorts were true. Riff, Bruce Crump, Steve Holland, Dave Hlubek, Duane Roland and Jimmy Farrar were rehearsing. Dave Hlubek dropped out of the project in January 2005 however…so the new band were the remaining five and Bruce’s bandmate from Daddy-Oh, guitarist Linne Disse. They named themselves after their classic song…”Gator Country Band” and kicked off their career in style opening for Lynyrd Skynyrd on March 12, 2005 in Orlando, FLA. Gator Country, included many of the founding members of Molly Hatchet Duane Roland sadly passed away at his home in St. Augustine, Florida on Monday June 19, 2006. He was 53, and his death was apparently from “natural causes”. “He had a heart as big as Texas and a talent twice that big,” said singer Jimmy Farrar, who performed with Roland in all three bands. “Not only was he a colleague but he was one of the best friends I ever had and he will be sorely missed.” Drummer Bruce Crump said Roland was the anchor of Molly Hatchet during the 1980s, a time when the band’s lineup was constantly changing. “During all that time, Duane was the constant,” said Crump. “I can’t imagine playing Molly Hatchet music without Duane Roland. It just wouldn’t be the same.” “…then the Allman Brothers came along and made the sound heavier and started churning out these 15-minute songs. Next, Lynyrd Skynyrd came along and refined that sound: made it more powerful and crunchier. Then you had Marshall Tucker and Grinderswitch and they added a country flavor to it and then came Molly Hatchet and we were the first to put a metal edge to it. That was the evolution of the things that were taking place then.” – Dave Hlubek Category: GUITARISTS Tags: 2006, 53, natural causes, southern rock Previous post: Freddie Gorman 6/2006 Next post: Charles Smith 6/2006	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line655
__label__wiki	0.516516	0.516516	Azerbaijan: Baku Azerbaijan proclaimed its independence in 1991 in the wake of the collapse of the former Soviet Union. It had significant oil reserves and Baku had historically been the oil capital of the Soviet Union. BP was keen to invest in the Azeri oil industry and successfully argued for the early opening of a resident British embassy, including with an offer of the embassy operating out of BP’s own offices. In the event, the first offices and residence were in the Intourist Hotel. In 1994, a Turkish entrepreneur, Nahit Kabakçi, was part-way through developing the Nachivan Hotel complex at 1033 Izmir Street when the FCO approached him with a view to taking a 25-year lease on a self-contained wing of the hotel for use as embassy offices and ambassador’s residence. The complex was subsequently taken over by the Hyatt Hotel and re-named the Hyatt Regency, but Hyatt honoured this agreement. The wing provided car parking and driver’s room in the basement, offices on the ground and first floors, and the residence on the second, third and part of the fourth floors. Post moved to these new premises in June 1995 and they served until [????], when the Post was re-located to new larger offices and a residence within the Landmark complex, another centrally located commercial development.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line656
__label__wiki	0.702532	0.702532	Insights From Our Experience Home Posts Tagged "olivier" Apax invests in Ideal Protein Apax Partners LLP said Friday it has agreed to invest in Ideal Protein. Financial terms weren’t announced. The founders, Dr. Tran Tien Chanh and Olivier Benloulou, will continue to have a significant stake. Ideal Protein, of Gatineau, Quebec, is a weight loss and wellness solutions company. Jefferies LLC advised Ideal Protein while BMO Capital Markets acted as financial advisor to Apax. PRESS RELEASE NEW YORK and GATINEAU, Quebec, Sept. 25, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Funds advised by Apax Partners LLP (“Apax”), a global private equity firm, today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement to acquire an interest in Ideal Protein, a proprietary weight loss and wellness solutions company. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Ideal Protein has developed a comprehensive protocol that is intended to help individuals successfully achieve and maintain their weight-loss goals. The company has partnered with over 3,000 physician offices, medical clinics, multi-provider practices, chiropractors and pharmacies in the U.S. and Canada who offer and administer the program to dieters. Patients follow a nutritional ketogenic weight loss protocol and receive education and coaching through trained clinic partners. The company was founded in 2004 by Dr. Tran Tien Chanh, a doctor of medicine and nutritional expert, and Olivier Benloulou, an entrepreneur in the food and natural health industries. The founders will continue to have a significant ownership interest in the company following the closing of the transaction. Buddy Gumina, Partner and Co-Head of Healthcare at Apax Partners, said, “Olivier Benloulou and Dr. Tran Tien Chanh have created an industry-leading platform in the weight-management space. Ideal Protein’s unique clinic-partner model has rapidly expanded in the U.S. and Canada, and we look forward to working with the founders and management team to build upon its success and further accelerate growth globally.” “We are thrilled to partner with the Apax Partners team and leverage their vast expertise in healthcare and other sectors,” said Olivier Benloulou, President and CEO of Ideal Protein. “As we continue to expand our clinic partnerships, enter new markets and work to help more individuals achieve their weight-loss goals, Apax’s resources and deep knowledge of healthcare services will be instrumental.” “We founded Ideal Protein with the vision to revolutionize the approach to helping the over 150 million adults who are overweight in today’s market,” said Dr. Tran Tien Chanh, co-founder of Ideal Protein. “Many people have achieved success using our weight loss protocol and we look forward to working with Apax to further enhance our services, brand recognition and market presence to take our business to the next level.” Apax is one of the leading global investors in the healthcare sector, having completed more than 100 investments over the last 30 years across multiple geographies in North America, Europe and Asia. The Apax Healthcare team has deep sector expertise in key fields including healthcare services, devices and products, pharmaceuticals and healthcare IT. Current and past healthcare investments include Acelity, One Call Care Management, Genex and TriZetto Corporation in the U.S.; Capio, Unilabs and Mölnlycke in Europe; and Apollo Hospitals in India. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the coming weeks. Ideal Protein and its Shareholders were advised by Jefferies LLC and PricewaterhouseCoopers Corporate Finance LLC and were represented by McCarthy Tétrault LLP in Canada and by Duane Morris LLP in the United States. Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Epstein Becker & Green P.C. and Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP represented Apax Partners. BMO Capital Markets acted as financial advisor to Apax. About Ideal Protein Ideal Protein is a proprietary, ketogenic weight loss program that was developed over 20 years ago by physician Dr. Tran Tien Chanh. Ideal Protein’s protocol is based on validated science that is designed for weight loss. Ideal Protein’s program helps maintain vitality while triggering ketosis, a mechanism by which the body burns fat efficiently. This data-driven protocol coupled with turnkey coaching is designed to move dieters toward an ideal weight as well as help them support and maintain their weight. Ideal Protein is now available in thousands of physician, cardiologist and health care practitioners’ offices, pharmacies and weight loss clinics in North America. Ideal Protein also has manufacturing operations in Quebec City, all of which will be included in this transaction. For more information visit our website www.idealprotein.com. About Apax Partners LLP Apax Partners is a leading global private equity advisory firm. It operates globally and has more than 30 years of investing experience. Apax Partners has advised funds that total over €34 billion in aggregate as at 31 March 2015. Funds advised by Apax invest in companies across four global sectors of Healthcare, Consumer, Tech & Telco and Services. These funds provide longterm equity financing to build and strengthen world-class companies. For further information about Apax, please visit www.apax.com. Apax Partners LLP is authorised and regulated by the FCA in the UK and is subject to the FCA’s rules and guidance. Apax Partners’ registered office is 33 Jermyn Street, London, SW1Y 6DN, UK. See the rest here: To Download Our Corporate Capabilities Brochure	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line662
__label__wiki	0.966447	0.966447	Photo of Dead Boy Ups Pressure on Sri Lanka Over War Crimes by Saurabh Das, Associated Press in 'The Washington Post,' February 24, 2013 4 Years After End of Civil War, Photo of Dead Boy Ups Pressure on Sri Lanka Over War Crimes Saurabh Das/Associated Press – …Zoe Sale, producer of the documentary “No Fire Zone” which shows the last violent days of the Sri Lankan civil war, watches a screening of the film in New Delhi, India. The documentary, which accuses Sri Lanka of committing war crimes is part of a growing campaign of pressure on the South Asian nation over its conduct during the war. The documentary shows a series of photos it says depict his youngest son, Balachandran. In the first two, he is sitting by the sandbags, in the third he is apparently dead. Metadata on the photos showed the last one was taken with the same camera, two hours after the first two, the filmmakers said.Macrae said the photos were authenticated by a forensic pathologist and other experts. Sri Lankan military spokesman Brig. Ruwan Wanigasuriya said the military was unaware of the fate of Prabhakaran’s wife, daughter and youngest son, or if they were even in the country at the end of the war. He questioned the identity of the boy in the photographs. “How do you know this is Balachandran? Has anyone seen him? Has Mr. Callum Macrae seen him?” he asked.The film showed an earlier snapshot of the same boy with Prabhakaran and his wife, and MacCrae said his identity was confirmed by people familiar with his image. Reports of the film’s allegations have inflamed anti-Sri Lankan sentiment in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, whose ethnic Tamils hold deep sympathy for their Sri Lankan brethren. Chief Minister Jayaram Jayalalithaa backed out this week of hosting the Asian Athletics Championships because of Sri Lanka’s participation. “Tamils will never accept it,” she said. A Tamil Nadu-based government coalition partner, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, called on India to support the upcoming resolution before the Human Rights Council. The government said it needs to see it first. “As and when this resolution comes into being, we will have a look at it and take a call on it,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin. Under pressure from the DMK, India, the country with perhaps the most influence over its south Asian neighbor, supported a resolution in the council last year that urged Sri Lanka to investigate human rights abuses and reconcile with its Tamil population. In a report Wednesday, the International Crisis Group said the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa had failed to comply with that resolution and instead has worked to centralize power, in part, by impeaching the chief justice. It also lamented the government’s abandonment of its pledge to work toward reconciliation after the war. Earlier this month, Rajapaksa ruled out giving Tamil regions greater autonomy, apparently backing away from his repeated promise to do just that. Christian clergy from the mainly Tamil north also called on the U.N. council to push for an international inquiry to investigate reports of war atrocities. “We are convinced that the root cause of these problems is a lack of political will,” a letter signed by 133 Roman Catholic, Anglican and Methodist clergy members said this week. “Hence, it is our firm conviction that technical assistance from the U.N. in the form of training, advice, financial and material support will not suffice.” Associated Press writer Krishan Francis in Colombo, Sri Lanka, contributed to this report. Sri Lanka’s Genocidal War -’95 to ’01 Tamils: The Quest for Human Dignity What I Owe The People Of The Vanni Posted February 24th, 2013 . Filed under History, Other.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line666
__label__wiki	0.596242	0.596242	Newport News Prepares for Launch of Virginia-Class Submarine Montana (SSN 794) October 15, 2020 – Huntington Ingalls Industries has transferred the recently christened Virginia-class submarine Montana (SSN 794) to the floating dry dock at the company’s Newport News Shipbuilding division in preparation for the ship’s launch. During a three-day process that began Saturday, Oct. 3, the 7,800-ton submarine was successfully raised off its keel blocks and transported out of a construction… October 2020Newport News, SSN 794, USS Montana Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group Returns to South China Sea October 15, 2020 – The Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group has returned to the South China Sea for the third time of its 2020 deployment. The carrier strike group includes the Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) and the embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5, USS Antietam (CG 54), andtUSS Halsey (DDG 97) and USS John… October 2020South China Sea, USS Antietam, USS Halsey, USS John S McCain, USS Ronald Reagan Vympel Delivers Project 1496M1E Sarych October 15, 2020 (Google Translation) – On October 14, at the Vympel shipyard, after completion of the factory running and state tests, an acceptance certificate was signed for the patrol boat of project 1496M1E “Manatee”, serial number 01413. The boat with tail number 391 was named “Sarych”. The boat completes a series of five units that Vympel built in the… October 2020Project 1496M1E, RFS Sarych, Vympel Shipyard Premier-Maitre L’Her Has a Busy Two Weeks October 8, 2020 (Google Translation) – Fully integrated into NATO Task Group 606.01 as part of the combined exercise JOINT WARRIOR 20.2 , the high seas patrol vessel (PHM) Chief Petty Officer L’Her set off on September 30 from her stopover in Glasgow (United Kingdom). Uni) to travel to the north of Scotland and begin an intense phase of sea… October 2020Joint Warrior, PM L'Her SAIC Wins $49.5M Contract for Royal Saudi Naval Forces C4ISR Upgrades and Refurbishment October 08, 2020 – The U.S. Navy awarded Science Applications International Corp. a $49.5 million single-award task order to continue to provide the Royal Saudi Naval Forces support services for command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) upgrade and refurbishment. Work will take place in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Under the cost-plus fixed-fee task order, awarded… October 2020SAIC, Saudi Navy No Manning Required Ship (NOMARS) Program for long-endurance Unmanned Surface Vessels (USV) October 13, 2020 – DARPA has awarded seven contracts for work on Phase 1 of the NOMARS program, which seeks to simultaneously explore two competing objectives related to unmanned surface vessels (USV) ship design: (1) the maximization of seaframe performance when human constraints are removed; and (2) achieving sufficient vessel maintenance and logistics functionality for long endurance operations with no… October 2020DARPA, NOMARS, USV October 9 Proclaimed USS Beloit Day in Wisconsin October 8, 2020 – Fairbanks Morse, a leading provider of solutions that are powering the world forward, is pleased to announce that Governor Tony Evers has proclaimed Oct. 9 as USS Beloit Day in Wisconsin. “All of us at Fairbanks Morse are incredibly proud to be recognized, alongside the citizens of Beloit, for the more than 80 years we have… October 2020Fincantieri Marinette Marine, USS Beloit Day, Wisconsin Sevmash introduces a new method of nuclear submarine construction October 8, 2020 (Google Translation) – At Sevmash (part of the USC) preparations are underway for the introduction of modular technology for creating nuclear submarines. It is a method of assembling ships from large blocks loaded with equipment. It is assumed that the use of modular technology will make it possible to reduce the labor intensity and terms of building… October 2020Mikhail Budnichenko, Sevmash, submarine Nuclear submarine Kazan passed the next stage of tests in the White Sea October 7, 2020 (Google Translation) – The crew of the nuclear submarine “Kazan” completed the next stage of tests in the White Sea and arrived in Severodvinsk. In addition to ensuring sea trials in the surface and underwater positions, the submariners worked out the elements of the second special task of the combat training course. The submarine Kazan went to… October 2020RFS Kazan, submarine Arnomendi on Fishery Patrol in the Northwestern Cantabrian Sea October 9, 2020 (Google Translation) – The offshore patrol vessel (OPV) ‘Arnomendi’ set sail on October 7th from her base at La Graña Naval Station, to conduct a new surveillance and monitoring campaign in the northwestern Cantabrian sea included in the General Fisheries Surveillance Plan (PGVP in its Spanish initials) covering the Cantabrian coast and the Bay of Biscay. The… October 2020ESPS Arnomendi	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line672
__label__wiki	0.906994	0.906994	S&R Honors Explore past honorees in the Scrogues Gallery… View scholarsandrogues’s profile on Facebook View scholars_rogues’s profile on Twitter RT @docwintersmith: Yes, Folks, Jill Biden is a Doctor lullabypit.com/2020/12/13/yes… @DrBiden #PhDs https://t.co/fZ3c9iYuhh 1 month ago RT @docwintersmith: The #DarkArt of #Teaching: A #Koan, Almost lullabypit.com/2020/11/22/zen… #Zen 1 month ago RT @docwintersmith: The Ties That (No Longer) Bind lullabypit.com/2020/11/02/the… @realDonaldTrump is a referendum on what kind of human being you… 2 months ago RT @docwintersmith: I'm Glad I Wasn't Black Today lullabypit.com/2020/10/13/im-… @whiteprivilege https://t.co/jHIkWnowwR 3 months ago RT @docwintersmith: #Zen and the Highway lullabypit.com/2020/10/12/the… #rammstein https://t.co/AGfnlckuj3 3 months ago Follow @scholars_rogues Politics/Law/Government Party conference on, dude! By wufnik on September 29, 2010 • ( 2 Comments ) It’s high political season in the UK, with the Lib Dem and Labour party conferences going on over the past week. The big news, of course, is that the Labour party has a new leader. Ed Miliband, who has had virtually no life outside of politics since leaving university, managed to eke out a victory over his brother David, who was considered the front-runner up to a few days prior to the conference. Lord knows what sort of psychodrama accounts for Ed, the younger brother, deciding to run against his older brother for the leadership of the Labour party. Whether David’s wife, who is urging David to leave the politics or something, will ever again speak to Ed and his not-quite-married partner remains to be seen, and we don’t imagine the family get-togethers for the holidays will be particularly lively. Especially since Ed only won on the fourth ballot, and only won because of the votes from the Labour unions—he didn’t carry the MPs, and he didn’t carry the Labour party members, both of whom preferred David. (It’s a weird voting system, one that I imagine will be facing some calls for change after this result.) So what does this mean for the Labour Party? Well, David ran as the consensus candidate, and not much else—he was foreign minister in the last government, and had held a variety of ministerial posts prior to that under both Blair and Brown. Ed ran on a platform of moving away from the Blair/Brown vision of New Labour, a vision that did manage to get a Labour majority for every election since 1997—except the last one, of course. But it’s clear that New Labour, whatever it was, had run its course. Blair is hugely unpopular in the Britain these days, and Brown—well, he led his government to a defeat. So there’s been lots of posturing on what direction Labour should take. The papers have been bleating with concerns that “Red Ed,” which Ed has the good sense to laugh off, will return to the Labour Party of the 1970s. Like that’s going to happen, but it doesn’t stop the bloviating. Ed’s first major speech yesterday was sort of blah, it has to be said. But that’s because Ed himself is sort of blah. Pretty much like David. Both Ed and David are pretty smart, though, and Ed is smart enough to have beaten David (and the three other candidates) and now lead the major opposition party. Actually, pretty much the only opposition party. But he is prone to saying nonsense like “Today a new generation has taken charge of Labour, a new generation that understands the call of change.” Whatever that means. Ed is now pretty much in the same position that poor William Hague was in after New Labour was elected in the 1997 landslide—putting together the wreckage of a split and demoralized party. Actually, it’s not quite that bad—Labour is currently a point or two ahead of the Conservatives in the polls, in fact, benefiting from increased concern over the potential scope of proposed budget cuts. But there are real differences within the party, and in its leadership, and he will need to be, well, a pretty good politician to pull this together. In some respects he’s got a lot going for him—he came into Parliament after the Iraq invasion, opposing it, but more significantly, not voting for it in the first place, as David did—and, it has to be said, nearly all the Labour leadership of the time. He’s also not bad on a couple of other things—he was the minister in charge of Climate Change under Gordon Brown, and takes it seriously, so he should be able to keep some pressure on Cameron and Clegg if they show some signs of backsliding, or if some of the more absurd cuts being bandied about actually get pushed forward. Plus he’s very dubious on the wisdom of the current plan to replace the Trident nuclear defense system, although the whole issue may be booted forward until after the next election, five years from now. And he has been saying, admittedly in very general terms, some of the right things about rolling back some of the more egregious Labour attacks on civil liberties—although we’ll see about this one. And he’s right about having to make a break with New Labour—on Iraq, on the incessant fawning on the banking sector which led to abject failures of regulation, the never-ending adulation of everything American. Much of this was in his speech today, especially Iraq—and much of the former leadership, including David, was offended by this, apparently. But it needed to be said—and Ed, at least, recognized this. Part of Labour’s problem during the last campaign is it wouldn’t fess up to any of its manifest failures, particularly Iraq. It’s not clear whether or not Ed really means it, by the way, but that’s almost incidental. Labour was not going to be able to expand its appeal until someone moved on the Iraq war. And on the great political and moral issue of our time, Ed has indicated—pretty strongly, it has to be said—that Blair and Brown made a hash of this, and that it was time to acknowledge this. The faces of people like Jack Straw while Ed was giving his speech were priceless—that alone makes me feel better. As does the warm feeling inside coming from knowing that Tony Blair and Peter Mandelson undoubtedly are furious, but need to keep their mouths shut. Still, there’s not a whole lot of reason for optimism here, and Justin McKeating has it about right, we think. Moreover, Ed, like many younger politicians these days (Ed is all of 40), represents a dangerous trend—the politician who has never, ever had a real job. We’ve noticed this among republicans in the US as well, especially among the younger ones—guys (and the occasional gal) who joins the College Republicans, parlay that into an internship at a conservative think tank for a couple of years, and then starts running for congress. Ed is a bit smarter than most of this ilk, we happily admit. But still, it would be nice if there were some reason to think that he’ll do any better than William Hague did as the first caretaker of the Tories. Eddie Izzard is a fan, which can’t be a bad thing, but is probably not sufficient. All of this followed hard on the heels of the Lib Dem party conference last week. The press was salivating over the prospect of a party tearing itself apart at the seams. But the conference turned into a pretty mild, boring and optimistic affair. Yes, there are some Lib Dems still unhappy about being in a coalition with the conservatives. But most of the party actually seemed pretty content with the fact that the party was in government power after decades in the wilderness, and was having a meaningful impact on policies. Clegg gave an OK speech, Vince Cable gave a rabblerouser, and it appeared that a good time was had by most. Next up—the Conservatives, who seem to be even more determined to form a circular firing squad than the Lib Dems, even though they’re running things now. Click to share on Fark (Opens in new window) Categories: Politics/Law/Government, World Tagged as: UK Worst. Year. Ever. What's it Wednesday dorlomin says: In terms of the number of people who voted Total votes Ed 175,519 David 147,220,. Ed Milliband is pretty popular with the people who want to support labour but have left over the past decade. The party has lost 5 million voters and something like 350 000 members. The only people left in the party are those who could stomache the the new labour oeuvre. David Milliband was business as usual. Ed Milliband is a risk, that risk is his inexperiance against his ability to motivate the labour base, peel off 2 million voters from the lib dems and get in touch with the missing 5 million labour voters. Walking away from Iraq and the illiberal tendancies of new labour is a necessary step for that. wufnik says: I agree. It was definitely time for a change, and Ed said what needed to be said–it was necessary. Time will tell whether it will be sufficient. Poetry Pacific Lullaby Pit From Pizza to Politics Hennen's Observer	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line679
__label__cc	0.64122	0.35878	Home > School of Social Work > Publications > 1 Social Work Publications Characteristics of adults involved in alcohol-related intimate partner violence: results from a nationally representative sample Jennifer M. Reingle Gonzalez, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Nadine M. Connell, University of Texas Health Science Center at Dallas Michael S. Businelle, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Wesley G. Jennings, University of South Florida Karen G. Chartier, Virginia Commonwealth UniversityFollow Originally published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-14-466 More than 12 million women and men are victims of partner violence each year. Although the health outcomes of partner violence have been well documented, we know very little about specific event-level characteristics that may provide implications for prevention and intervention of partner violence situations. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate substance abuse and dependence as risk factors for event-level alcohol-related intimate partner violence (IPV). Data were derived from Wave II of the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (2004–2005). Eligible participants (N = 2,255) reported IPV the year before the survey. Negative binomial and ordinal regression methods were used to assess risk factors for alcohol use during IPV. Respondent PTSD was the only mental health diagnosis related to alcohol use during IPV (OR = 1.45). Marijuana use was related to respondents’ use of alcohol during IPV (OR = 2.68). Respondents’ meeting the criteria for alcohol abuse/dependence was strongly associated with respondent drinking (OR = 10.74) and partner drinking (OR = 2.89) during IPV. Results indicate that PTSD, marijuana use disorders, alcohol abuse and dependence are associated with more frequent alcohol use during IPV. In addition, it is important to consider that the patient who presents in emergency settings (e.g., hospitals or urgent care facilities) may not be immediately identifiable as the victim or the perpetrator of partner violence. Therefore, screening and intervention programs should probe to further assess the event-level characteristics of partner violence situations to ensure the correct service referrals are made to prevent partner violence. © 2014 Reingle Gonzalez et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated. VCU Social Work Publications	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line680
__label__cc	0.604034	0.395966	Búsqueda : WEHRTMANN, INGO S [Autor] Herrera, Marcela et al. Size at maturity of the Pacific bearded brotula (Ophidiidae: Brotula clarkae): a commercially exploited species in the Pacific of Costa Rica. Lat. Am. J. Aquat. Res., July 2016, vol.44, no.3, p.657-661. ISSN 0718-560X González, Oscar and Wehrtmann, Ingo S Postlarval settlement of spiny lobster, Panulirus argus (Latreille, 1804) (Decapoda: Palinuridae), at the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. Lat. Am. J. Aquat. Res., Nov 2011, vol.39, no.3, p.575-583. ISSN 0718-560X Rólier Lara, Luis et al. Species diversity and distribution of freshwater crabs (Decapoda: Pseudothelphusidae) inhabiting the basin of the Rio Grande de Térraba, Pacific slope of Costa Rica. Lat. Am. J. Aquat. Res., Sept 2013, vol.41, no.4, p.685-695. ISSN 0718-560X Herrera-Correal, Juliana et al. Reproductive aspects of the caridean shrimp Atya scabra (Leach, 1815) (Decapoda: Atyidae) in São Sebastião Island, southwestern Atlantic, Brazil. Lat. Am. J. Aquat. Res., Sept 2013, vol.41, no.4, p.676-684. ISSN 0718-560X Wehrtmann, Ingo S et al. Deep-water shrimp fisheries in Latin America: a review. Lat. Am. J. Aquat. Res., Sept 2012, vol.40, no.SpecIssue, p.497-535. ISSN 0718-560X Wehrtmann, Ingo S and Nielsen-Muñoz, Vanessa The deepwater fishery along the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, Central America. Lat. Am. J. Aquat. Res., 2009, vol.37, no.3, p.543-554. ISSN 0718-560X	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line681
__label__cc	0.61265	0.38735	More on legalized quackery in Arizona By oracknows on July 25, 2007. Yesterday, when I wrote about a death in Arizona caused by a homeopath doing liposuction, what amazed me the most was that homeopaths are licensed in Arizona. Although I alluded to it only briefly in yesterday's post, I was truly astounded at what homeopaths are allowed to do in Arizona. It piqued my curiosity--and horror. Consequently, I decided to delve a bit more deeply into the website of the Arizona Board of Homeopathic Medical Examiners. There are more horrors in there than I thought. Those of you who live in Arizona should be afraid--very afraid!--about what these quacks are permitted by law to do in your state. It completely betrays its motto of: The Board's mission is to protect the health, safety and welfare of Arizona citizens by examining, licensing and regulating homeopathic physicians. Of course, given the nature of homeopathy, it's a hopeless mission. Let's look at the "scope" of homeopathic practice, as defined by the Board: The scope of a homeopathic license includes the practice of acupuncture, chelation, homeopathy, minor surgery, neuromuscular integration, nutrition, orthomolecular therapy and pharmaceutical medicine (see A.R.S. Â§ 32-2901(22)). Homeopathic Physicians who intend to dispense general, homeopathic or nutritional medications, substances or devices from an office, must apply for and receive a dispensing permit. In other words, Arizona is licensing woo! What do chelation therapy, orthomolecular therapy, and acupuncture, for instance, have to do with homeopathy? Nothing! It's all just a bunch of seemingly randomly chosen woo lumped under the rubric of the term "homeopathy." I've written about acupuncture several times before. I still haven't quite made up my mind whether to classify it completely as "woo," although the rationale given for how it "works" (namely, somehow altering the flow of qi, or "life essence or energy" by sticking small needles in the skin) most definitely is woo. If acupuncture "works" as anything more than an elaborate placebo, it most certainly does so not because of magical life forces, but because of a biochemical and physiological mechanism. Either way, though, acupuncture has absolutely nothing to do with homeopathy, as far as "alternative medicine" disciplines go. There's nothing about "like cures like" or diluting remedies to the point of nothing in acupuncture (although the concept of homeopathic acupuncture, I'm sure, could lead to as many, if not more, jokes than the concept of "homeopathic surgery). But what are the other therapies? Regular readers of this blog hardly need me to go on another rant about chelation therapy. Other than in the fairly rare case of clearly documented acute heavy metal poisoning, chelation therapy is almost always quackery. This is especially so when it is used to treat autism or cardiovascular disease. I've also blogged extensively about an autistic child who died as a result of being treated with chelation therapy. Once again, I fail to see how chelation therapy is related to homeopathy. Chelation therapy has one big problem that makes it by definition nonhomeopathic: There's actual detectable drug in chelation therapy, which has actual detectable physiological effects up to and including death. There's nothing homeopathic about that. Another big bit of woo that the State of Arizona licenses under the purview of homeopaths is orthomolecular medicine. Late in his life, Linus Pauling became a big booster of orthomolecular therapy in general and high dose vitamin C therapy for cancer in particular. This particular form of woo is defined by its advocates as "the practice of preventing and treating disease by providing the body with optimal amounts of substances which are natural to the body." What's amusing about the way Arizona lumps orthomolecular medicine in with homeopathy comes from way orthomolecular medicine is "practiced," which couldn't be more different than homeopathy. In general orthomolecular "practitioners" tend to treat diseases with nutritional supplements and sometimes megadoses of vitamins. At least that seems to be the practice, as far as I can tell. Whether it be massive doses of vitamin B3 for mental illness in the 1950s or the enthusiasm of its advocates for high dose vitamin C for cancer, despite the lack of evidence for any efficacy. In fact, orthomolecular medicine seems to be the exact opposite of homeopathy. Where homeopathy is about the dilution to nonexistence, orthomolecular medicine seems to be all about megadoses of whatever vitamins, minerals, or nutrients are being used to "treat" illness. The two couldn't be more dissimilar in concept. Perhaps Arizona is allowing homeopaths to cover all the bases from dilution to placebo to megadoses. Amazing how plastic homeopathy is, at least in Arizona, isn't it? But if you really want to laugh (or cry for the codification of quackery into state law), check out the rules governing homeopaths. First, the State of Arizona helpfully defines two flavors of homeopathy: "Classical homeopathy" means a system of medical practice expounded by Samuel Hahnemann in the Organon of Medicine that treats a disease by the administration of minute doses of a remedy that would in healthy persons produce symptoms of the disease treated. "Complex homeopathy" means a system of medical practice that combines one or more homeopathic remedies that are not described in the Organon of Medicine. I'm guessing that all that other woo, when combined with "classical" homeopathy make up "complex homeopathy." Even so, it's still hard to see any logical justification for lumping acupuncture or orthomolecular medicine in with homeopathic woo. But what's really frightening is the low bar that's set for being "qualified" to do some of these therapies. For example, the most frightening is how little training is needed for a homeopath in Arizona to administer chelation therapy: Chelation therapy: Completing at least 16 hours of postgraduate courses offered by the American Board of Clinical Metal Toxicology, American College of Alternative Medicine, International College of Integrative Medicine, or the American Academy of Environmental Medicine or other sponsor approved by the Board that provides equivalent training. That's right. All you need is 16 hours of quack training, and, in Arizona at least, you too will be legally permitted to administer a potentially dangerous therapy for no medically supported indication! In fact, if you don't like chelation therapy being called "experimental," the State of Arizona's got your back with this Substantive Policy Statement Regarding Chelation Therapy SPS 04-01. It's truly manna from heaven for chelation quacks: Whereas in A.R.S. Â§ 32-2901 Definitions, states that chelation therapy means an experimental medical therapy to restore cellular homeostasis employing some form of the chelator EDTA (Ethylenediamine Tetraacetic Acid). Chelation therapy is not an experimental therapy if it is used to treat heavy metal poisoning. Therefore, the Board of Homeopathic Medical Examiners' updated policy statement regarding newer methods of chelation therapy is hereby stated to be the following: It has long been known that the primary function of Chelation or Metal Binding therapy is to deal with Heavy Metal Detoxification. Licensed Homeopathic physicians also utilize chelation therapy in the State of Arizona for purposes such as vascular disease and other non heavy-metal related health problems... Due to the relative high cost and until now, the lack of widespread availability, the disodium salt of EDTA, which is discussed in detail in the ACAM protocol, has been the most common form of EDTA employed by our licensees in Arizona. In Europe, however, the Calcium salt of EDTA, which has been widely available and very affordable there, is far more commonly employed, and this form of EDTA, given orally as well as parenterally, has been considered by some to be the preferred form of EDTA, particularly when given primarily for the treatment of increased body burden of toxic heavy metals. There are also other salts of EDTA, including Magnesium EDTA and Potassium EDTA, which are also available. For various reasons some physicians may prefer one form of EDTA over another in a specific case. We hereby acknowledge that all of these are recognized as legitimate and acceptable variations of the chelation therapy modality for our licensees. That's right. Homeopaths can use any form of chelation therapy they desire, without worrying about anything like...oh, that pesky lack of scientific evidence that it has any therapeutic effect for cardiovascular disease, autism, or any of the other conditions blamed on "heavy metal toxicity." It's one thing for homeopaths to be using treatments that are so dilute that they are nothing more than water; i.e., an elaborate placebo. Doesn't it warm the cockles of your heart to know that quackery is legal in Arizona? But it's even better than that, if you're a quack. According to Section R4-38-115, you can claim the special title of "homeopathic doctor": A. The use of the abbreviation "M.D.(H.)" (with or without periods), is equivalent to the written designation, "Doctor of Medicine (Homeopathic)". B. A Homeopathic physician practicing in this state who is not licensed by the Arizona Board of Medical Examiners or the Arizona Board of Osteopathic Examiners in Medicine and Surgery shall not use any designation other than the initials MD or DO to indicate a doctoral degree, which shall be followed by the full, written designation, "Homeopathic Physician." C. A physician licensed by the Board and any state Board of Medical Examiners or the Board and any state Board of Osteopathic Examiners in Medicine and Surgery shall use one of the following designations, as appropriate (with or without periods): 1. "MD, MD(H)" or "DO, MD(H)"; 2. "MD, Homeopathic Physician" or "DO, Homeopathic Physician"; or 3. "MD, Doctor of Medicine (Homeopathic)" or "DO, Doctor of Medicine (Homeopathic)". Looking over this again, this is a bit confusing, but it appears that homeopathic physicians can be licensed just as homeopathic physicians or both as homeopathic physicians and regular physicians if they meet the requirements for regular medical licensure as well. It's also entirely unclear to me why any physician licensed in the normal manner would want to be licensed as a "homeopathic physician." It's just a lot of money paid to the state for something that he or she could probably do without interference from the state if desired anyway. (Really, does anyone think that the Arizona Board of Medicine would do anything substantive to a physician who administered homeopathy without a homeopath license? I tend to doubt it, given this law on the books.) No, physicians who can't get a medical license in the normal way are the only ones who would likely bother with the homeopathic license. But do you want to know what's even better than this? Do you want to know what makes Arizona truly a quack paradise, where a homeopath can do things that no science or evidence supports letting homeopaths do? Where a homeopath can do things that a homeopath, if true to his or her philosophy of healing, should even want to do? In Arizona, apparently licensed "homeopathic physicians" who are not licensed by the state as regular physicians can nonetheless obtain permits to dispense controlled substances: A. A homeopathic physician shall not dispense unless the physician obtains from the Board a permit to dispense. The physician may renew the permit annually at the same time the license is renewed. The physician shall include the following on the permit application or renewal form: 1. The classes of drugs the physician will dispense, including controlled substances, pharmaceutical drugs, homeopathic medications, prescription-only drugs, natural substances and non-prescription drugs defined in A.R.S. Â§32-1901(46), and devices defined in A.R.S. Â§32-1901(18); 2. The location where the homeopathic physician will dispense; and 3. A copy of the physician's current Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) registration or an affidavit averring that the physician does not possess a DEA registration and that the physician will not precribe or dispense controlled substances. My only hope is that the DEA won't issue DEA permits to homeopathic "doctors" who aren't also licensed as regular medical doctors, although I don't know whether they will or won't. A lot of these homeopathic doctors do appear to have graduated from a medical school somewhere before they started practicing woo; so I guess that, woo-meister or not, they are, in fact, "doctors," the only question remaining being the type of license in Arizona. Once again, however, I have to ask: Why on earth would a "homeopathic physician" ever need or want to prescribe controlled substances? Is it just me, or doesn't this seem to go against homeopathic principles in such an amazingly blatant way, that I have to wonder why any homeopath would put up with it. After all, like chelation therapy, narcotics are actual drugs, with easily detectable amounts of therapeutic substance in them that have easily detectable and demonstrable physiologic effects. Of course, this brings me back to the risible idea of homeopaths doing surgery of any kind. It occurs to me. If homeopaths really had the strength of their convictions that "like heals like," they really wouldn't need to bother with those nasty opiods. Of course, patients who were foolish enough to let a homeopath operate on them wouldn't much like it. Once again, I'm glad I don't live in Arizona. After all of what I described above, it should be clear to you that Arizona has in essence legalized quackery and created a board that in essence licenses physicians who don't qualify for regular medical licenses in the state, many of whom are cast-offs from other states. But if you're not sufficiently convinced, just consider this: Arizona also licenses naturopaths as well, most of whom are not even physicians. Weep, citizens of Arizona. "Doctors" of Naturopathy in Minnesota? Or: Barbarians at the gate I know I'm a bit late to this game, but those of you who read ERV, Denialism Blog, and Pharyngula didn't think that their prior mention of this story about how the State of Minnesota is going to allow naturopaths to claim the title of "doctor" would stop me from jumping right in even if I am a day… A "homeopathic physician" in Arizona versus science I'm a cancer surgeon and have been since I finished my fellowship nearly 13 years ago. That is, of course, one big reason that, after I found myself drifting towards becoming a skeptic, it didn't take long for me to take an interest in "alternative medicine," in particular alternative medicine for… Death by homeopathic surgery Normally, when I hear such a term as "homeopathic surgery" or of homeopaths doing surgery, I get the irresistable urge to make jokes about it, such as wondering if homeopathic surgery is surgery diluted down to the point where not a single cell in the body is injured or whether homeopathic surgeons… Will naturopathic quackery be licensed in Michigan? If I've pointed it out once, I've pointed it out a thousand times. Naturopathy is a cornucopia of almost every quackery you can think of. Be it homeopathy, traditional Chinese medicine, Ayurvedic medicine, applied kinesiology, anthroposophical medicine, reflexology, craniosacral therapy, Bowen… I wonder if those "controlled substances" are administered in homeopathic doses. I mean, if homeopathy worked, you could get high without inhaling. By Blake Stacey (not verified) on 25 Jul 2007 #permalink I don't know whether to cry, or get a full ethicectomy and move to Arizona to make my fortune... By Dunc (not verified) on 25 Jul 2007 #permalink 1) People have a right to be stupid. Fools and their money... 2) The problem is generally self-correcting in a Darwinian way; the only downside is the effect on the children of seekers after woo. By Acad Ronin (not verified) on 25 Jul 2007 #permalink Blake - It dosen't not-work like that.. For instance, the homeopathic 'treatment' for being drunk would be an ultra-diluted beer, since that's what produces the symptoms. So to the homeopath, ultra-diluted beer (cf 'Distilled water', or 'Budwieser') would have the same effect as, say, coffee. So a problem could arise.. if you had a mug of coffee, washed it out several times, and then drak water out of the same mug - you would end up drunk. Drinking water out of an over-washed beer glass probably dosen't bear thinking about.. By Andrew Dodds (not verified) on 25 Jul 2007 #permalink Interesting recollection: Arizona is one of the few states (or maybe the only, now that Indiana finally joined the 21st century) which refuse to observe daylight savings time. Hmmm. Makes one wonder about the antiquated legislative mindset in the state with the funky flag. I, too, am baffled by the controlled substances issue, but the Big Baffler, which will be getting plenty of light in the aftermeath of this tragic case, is what Orac has already stated much more eloquently: what the hell was this putz doing with a knife in his hand? Finally, regarding the "MD(H)" designation, it is absolutely OUTRAGEOUS that this is permissible. As others have posted elsewhere, the lay public is plenty confused already (ask a random sampling of people to explain the difference between an optician, an optometrist and an ophthalmologist, and you'll get the idea), and allowing this sort of confusion to legally exist is, IMO, unconscionable. What baffles me (again--but most of the woo-related stuff out there baffles me) is why the AMA/AOMA (osteopathic physicians association) hasn't been screaming about this. Or maybe they have and we just haven't heard it. If someone were allowed to legally use the initials DVM (H) to designate that he/she was a homeopathic veterinarian (and let me tell you, this woo exists in my profession as well--GRRRRR, but to my knowledge, nobody identifies himself with confusing initials), the national association (AVMA) would be screaming from the rooftop. My proposal: all homeopathic "physicians" shall immediately be designated by the initials "PW", e.g. Joe Jones, PW, to mean, of course, "Practitioner of Woo". Or better yet, Joe Jones, PBS. By the DVM from U… (not verified) on 25 Jul 2007 #permalink Orac, I live in Arizona, and while I agree entirely that quackery is reprehensible, I have to say I somewhat resent your suggestion that we're all a bunch of asshat cretins. Here's a graf or two you might find interesting: What is the status of licensure and certification? Currently there are three states that license homeopaths who are also physicians: Arizona, Connecticut and Nevada. California, Rhode Island, and Minnesota have new Health Freedom laws that allow unlicensed practitioners to practice homeopathy. The Health Freedom movement has also introduced similar bills in other states. Why don't you put some energy into bashing a few other states for a while? By Warren (not verified) on 25 Jul 2007 #permalink This has been bugging me for years. In controlled double-blind studies of homeopathic remedies, what do they use for a placebo? By Rose Colored Glasses (not verified) on 25 Jul 2007 #permalink "Arizona is one of the few states (or maybe the only, now that Indiana finally joined the 21st century) which refuse to observe daylight savings time." What is wrong with this? Arizona has plenty of daylight - it does not need to save any! And guess who benefits the most from DST? It is the retailers. There is no net energy savings from DST, since people don't sit at home with the lights off. They drive places and buy stuff: By KeithB (not verified) on 25 Jul 2007 #permalink hell, don't just move out of Arizona, move to Britain, where the... uh... trained touch therapists assist operations... and you can get Reiki on the NHS but you have to pay for your painkillers... um, why don'tcha stay where you are, get a beer, kick back some. try not to get ill at all. Lepht By Lepht (not verified) on 25 Jul 2007 #permalink I made no such suggestion. Mocking idiotic laws is not the same thing as suggesting that Arizona citizens are "all a bunch of asshat cretins." Did my concluding by saying "Weep, citizens of Arizona" strike you as characterizing you all as a bunch of "asshat cretins"? My guess was that most of its citizens probably have no idea what a problem Arizona has and pointing out that Arizona's laws regulating homeopaths are horrendous, at the same time applying some much-needed not-so-Respectful Insolenceâ¢ to them. How Arizona's laws regulating homeopaths and naturopaths got that bad, I do not know, but I hope my tweaking the Board got the attention of some citizens of Arizona who value evidence-based medicine and detest quackery. You're the only ones in any position to do something about this. From what I can gather, Arizona's laws been that way longer than in the unfortunately increasing number states with such laws (since 1982 for homeopathy). See this article for more and for just how incompetent the homeopathy board is. One quote: Only two other states, Nevada and Connecticut, license homeopathic physicians, but Arizona allows the widest range of alternative medical practices. In any case, in light of the recent death caused by a homeopath doing surgery, singling out Arizona as an example seems quite reasonable to me, and I make no apologies. By Orac (not verified) on 25 Jul 2007 #permalink That's what bothers me...i understand why people believe in woo, but when the state endorses it, people think it's the real thing. I'd like to know who sponsored the legislation allowing quack licenses without the actual picture of a duck on the seal. By PalMD (not verified) on 25 Jul 2007 #permalink No, no, that's actually a good thing. Daylight savings time is stupid. The lack thereof was almost the only good thing about Indiana when for a time I lived there. By Coin (not verified) on 25 Jul 2007 #permalink I made no such suggestion. Beg to differ. With virtually every graf you (1) made fun of inane homeopathic quackery and (2) pointed out that such inane homeopathic quackery is legal here. It's not #1 that I have an issue with. This is a state with some incredibly bizarre legal issues, some of which are utterly baffling; however I think it's only fair to point out that, were most states' citizens given a chance to decide in the ballot box whether licensure of homeopathists should be legal, they'd almost certainly say yes. I entirely agree that we've got a problem here. The mere thought of a homeopathist being able to legally slice human beings open is ghastly. But when paragraph after paragraph in a post contains phrases such as "Arizona is licensing woo!" and "Another big bit of woo that the State of Arizona licenses under the purview of homeopaths is orthomolecular medicine." and "For example, the most frightening is how little training is needed for a homeopath in Arizona to administer chelation therapy:", the tone is undeniably one of browbeating, with a healthy undercurrent of "Jesus, look at what a bunch of idiotic rubes they are in Arizona!" I love AZ...lived there for a while...beautiful. Someone (ahem) should organize an email or letter campaign on this issue...someone in AZ. but when paragraph after paragraph in a post contains phrases such as "Arizona is licensing woo!" and "Another big bit of woo that the State of Arizona licenses under the purview of homeopaths is orthomolecular medicine." Would that not be because he's talking about how this is all legal in Arizona? I fail to see how Orac could post about this and not have a negative tone in regards to Arizona. But nowhere has Orac said "and to boot, they are all slack jawed yokels!". If Utah or Washington had the same laws, you can bet it would have been the same tone. By Jess (not verified) on 25 Jul 2007 #permalink It sounds like Arizona is diluting homeopathy. Hmmmm... If you dilute irrationality enough, will you obtain rationality? By Joseph Hertzlinger (not verified) on 25 Jul 2007 #permalink Those of you who live in Arizona should be afraid--very afraid!--about what these quacks are permitted by law to do in your state. That doesn't suggest to me that Orac thinks that the people of Arizona are uniformly behind quackery. All the time we see governments doing foolish things. It's important to bring these to public attention so that people might think to do something about them. Is it more polite to decide not to upset the people of Arizona than to let them know that they should be concerned about a little (H) after MD? By wrg (not verified) on 25 Jul 2007 #permalink "The scope of a homeopathic license includes the practice of acupuncture, chelation, homeopathy, minor surgery, neuromuscular integration, nutrition, orthomolecular therapy and pharmaceutical medicine (see A.R.S. Â§ 32-2901(22))." These nutjobs are licensed to perform "minor surgery"!? By PhysioProf (not verified) on 25 Jul 2007 #permalink Orac:There's nothing about "like cures like" or diluting remedies to the point of nothing in acupuncture (although the concept of homeopathic acupuncture, I'm sure, could lead to as many, if not more, jokes than the concept of "homeopathic surgery). You don't understand. Acupuncture is homeopathic injury healing. "Doc! I was stabbed with a sword!" "Not a problem, son. Poking you with a few needles will clear that right up! Like cures like, if diluted!" "Er, doc, how about diluting it further. You can poke me with needles that USED to be in your hands, but aren't now." "Brilliant!" and thus, acupressure was born! Acad Ronin: I don't mind the fools being parted from their money, but when the government, insurance companies, and hospitals cover this stuff, the fools are parting me from my money! More to the point, you can't really characterize everyone who accepts this stuff as fools. They don't know any better. It's easy for us, sitting here having researched these topics, to disbelief anyone could fall for this stuff. Most of the public has never researched this stuff and feels no need to. They don't think they need to. Every single time I bring up the idiotic "head on" commercials in public, someone in the audience, sure as sunlight, will say, "if it didn't work, they wouldn't be allowed to advertise it on TV!" People believe the government protects them from this stuff, that lying in an advertisement is illegal. Technically, it is, but it's so badly enforced, it might as well not. (At least the FTC is moving against those atrociously awful Enzyte commercials.) If that was going to work, all forms of quackery would have been extinguished long ago. Sadly, it doesn't. Hmm, don't let the creationists know we just disproved EVILution. I hope the Global Conspiracy of God Haters doesn't kick me out for this. Rose Colored Glasses: They don't need to do any such things! Don't you know? It's been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies are NOT the way to test homeopathy. Really, they don't work. This was stated by the PR person for one of the big British homeopathy groups. I've been laughing at it ever since. It should be pointed out that homeopathy isn't just materials diluted to the point of non-existence, you have to dilute it in a special way, with lots of vigorous shaking and focusing and what not. (Different schools of homeopathy have different rules, like if you can stir it with a wooden stick or if it has to be glass, or if only metal works, or no sticks, just shaking, or whatever.) So, you can placebo-control any one type of homeopathic "remedy" by simply not following the instructions. Use mundane dilution techniques instead of the magic shaking and stirring and you have diluted, non-homeopathic remedies! This means that, despite the oft-heard joke about every glass of water having the properties of every substance in the universe at maximal dilution, it wouldn't by their "theory" because it wasn't diluted "the special way". Irregular Webcomics on Homeopathy: http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/675.html (The one webcomic you need to increase your regular dose of physics and mathematics!) By Michael Suttkus, II (not verified) on 25 Jul 2007 #permalink Most of them probably live in Sedona ...I love Sedona, its beautiful, but it is Woo Crystal Sucking Central. I moved across the world to live in Arizona. Don't try to scare me to leave ;) Haven't needed a doctor yet but this will make me look around before going to one. The one thing I have noticed about Flagstaff, there is Chiropractors everywhere, never seen so many in one town. Another place I won't be going to. By coz (not verified) on 26 Jul 2007 #permalink Chiropractors? You mean those dangerous meat-eating dinosaurs haven't disappeared? Help, I've found another conspiracy! By Vjatcheslav (not verified) on 04 Aug 2007 #permalink	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line683
__label__wiki	0.704938	0.704938	PGA: three Canadians among the top 20 Nick Taylor is the golfer canadian-best after two days in the Open now workday Charity, in Dublin Ohio. Taylor submitted a card of 71 (-1) on Friday, and he holds the 10th rank of the tournament, thanks to a cumulative total of 138 (-6), equal with the Americans Patrick Reed, Richy Werenski and Matt Kuchar, and South African Louis Oosthuizen. The Canadian began his day by completing an eagle and three birdies in first eight holes. Things are, however, complicated by the result for the native of Winnipeg, who has committed four bogueys. This, however, are the weather conditions that have dictated the pace of the day. On two occasions, the game had to be stopped for many hours due to the risk that the weather was. A handful of golfers, including Oosthuizen, were not able to complete their second round and will therefore be the first one to start Saturday. The American Collin Morikawa, who held the lead after 18 holes, was ignored the weather to increase his lead. Her score of 131 (-13) after two rounds puts him three shots ahead of two other Americans Kevin Streelman and Justin Thomas. For his part, Mackenzie Hughes is the Canadian who has the best done in this second day, even if it is part of a group who will complete his round Saturday morning. His five birdies and his two bogueys in 15 holes have allowed him to present a cumulative score for the provisional of -5, tied with one other representative of the maple leaf: Adam Hadwin. The one who occupied the second rank after a day has committed four bogueys, but he was able to recover with three consecutive birdies, on the fifth to the seventh hole. Like their compatriots, Corey Conners and Roger Sloan will participate in the round to the end of the week, who have given cumulative respective of 140 (-4), and 141 (-3). David Hearn is the only Canadian to have undergone the cut. He has enjoyed a second day in the mountains Russian wedging five birdies, as many bogueys and a double-boguey. MLS : new cases of COVID-19 in Atlanta and Miami PGA: Bryson DeChambeau victorious in Detroit No Comments \| Jul 5, 2020 Another tile for Vincent Lapointe Junior hockey fights: Patrick Roy denounces the status quo	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line688
__label__wiki	0.636	0.636	YEVSTAFY Built as a ship of the line at the Galvnoye Admiralteystvo (Russian Main Naval Shipyard) at St Petersburg by the shipbuilder Ulf, for the Russian Imperial Navy. Launched under the name YEVSTAFY. Dimensions: 47.5 x 14.5 x 5.8m. Armament 66 guns of caliber 36 and 18 pounds. 1762 Completed. When a Russian squadron sailed from Kronstadt for the Mediterranean on 26 July 1769, it was under command of Admiral G.A. Spiridov on board the YEVSTAFY. The squadron of 7 ships of the line and 8 smaller warships sailed via Copenhagen and Portsmouth to the Mediterranean. In November 1769 for the first time in history, Russian warships entered the waters of the Mediterranean. The Greeks fighting against the Turkish conquerors got the help from the Russian Tsarina Catherine the Great, and the Russian squadron later strengthened by another Russian squadron under command of the Englishman the Rear Admiral John Elphinston of 3 ships of the line and 5 smaller warships, tried to support a revolt by the Greek people against the Turkish occupation. After landing in the Greek province Moreiro, first captured the fortress of Koron and on 10 April 1770 they took Navarino capturing 45 guns. Still, the Turkish forces were three times superior in number, but the constant assaults of the Russian forced them to retreat to the Aegean Sea. The two squadrons were coming under the overall command of Count Orlov, and he combined the two squadrons and began a search for the enemy’s warships. 23 June 1770 the Turkish fleet was sighted at the Chios Strait, where they were anchored. The Turkish fleet of 73 vessels under which sixteen ships of the line and six frigates formed in two lines. The Russian fleet of only nine ships of the line and three frigates. In the afternoon of 24 June, the Russian fleet began firing upon the Turkish center and vanguard. The Turkish fleet opened fire on the YEVSTAFY; she returned fire on the Turkish Admiral ship REAL-MUSTAFA and extensively damaged the 80-gun vessel. The Russian boarded the REAL-MUSTAFA but at that moment a burning mast of the REAL-MUSTAFA fell on the YEVSTAFY. Fire broke out on board the YEVSTAFY and the fire ignited its powder supply, and with a terrific roar both ships exploded and sank with heavy loss of live. Admiral Spiridov escaped the explosion, and transferred his flag to the TREKH SVYATITELYA. Russia 1996 750r sg6612, scott6339. Source: http://www.navy.ru/history/hrn3-e.htm http://www.1rss.com/pages_eng/yevstafiy.htm aukepalmhof Re: YEVSTAFY by aukepalmhof » Tue Jan 07, 2020 10:30 pm Her name is given in the book Russian Warships in the age of sail 1696-1860 as SVIATOI EVSTAFII PLAKIDA. Built-in St Petersburg by V. A. Selyaninov as a third rate ship of the line for the Russian Imperial Navy. 30 July 1762 laid down. 20 August 1763 launched as the SVIATOI EVSTAFII PLAKIDA, one of the Slava Rossii Class. The name was chosen to commemorate Peter I’s birthday which fell on this saint’s day. Dim. 47.24 x 12.64 x 5.49m. Armament: Lower deck 14 – 24pdrs, upper deck 26 – 12 pdrs, and fo’c’sle and quarter deck 16 – 6pdrs. After completing she cruised first in the Baltic in 1764 and 1766-1768. 26 July 1769 sailed from Kronshtadt as flagship of Admiral Spiridov together with the First Arkhipelago Squadron. 26 December 1769 damaged at Revel, she re-joined her squadron at Copenhagen and proceeded to Hull, UK. Separated again from her squadron and proceeded to Cape St Vincent, Gibraltar, and Port Mahon, Majorca where she was rejoined by the rest of the squadron between 18 November 1769 and 23 January 1770. They proceeded to Malta and arrived at VIstulo (Morea) on 18 February 1770. Landed troops and bombarded Koran from 1 – 3 August 1770. 18 April 1770 at Navarino. 22 May 1770 met up with the 2nd Arkhipelago Squadron at Cerigo. 26 July 1770 blew up in auction at the “Battle of the Chios Strait” and only 70 of the crew survived, inclusive Admiral Spiridov and Captain Kruz. Source: Russian Warships in the Age of Sail 1696 – 1860 by John Tredrea & Eduard Sozaev. The painting after which this stamp margin is designed is made by Russian artist Ivan Aivazovsky in 1848. It shows us the “Battle of Chios Strait” on 24 June 1790. Two ships that have been identified in the foreground are shown just before the explosion which destroyed the Russian vessel the SVIATOI EVSTAFII PLAKIDA and the Turkish flagship BURC-I ZAFER. (she is the vessel under Turkish flag on the left.) This painting depicts the duel between the Turkish flagship REAL MUSTAFA (BURC-I ZAFER) (84 guns) and the Russian admiral Spiridov’s ship SVYATOY EVSTAFIV (68). During the boarding action, the burning debris of the Turkish ship set the Russian flagship on fire and soon she blew up. The Russian admiral escaped the explosion just minutes before. Ten minutes later REAL MUSTAFA exploded too. The Turkish squadron retreated to the Bay of Chesma only to be destroyed there in the next two days in what later to be called Battle of Chesma. Source: Internet. St Tome et Principe 2017 Db 124.000 sgMS?, scott? Return to Ship Stamps Collection	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line689
__label__wiki	0.687989	0.687989	Schools still adjusting to new circumstances Katrina Kallas and Sonia Bendre • October 15, 2020 Shorewood School District has faced many new changes with virtual learning this year, with each school having to find new ways of teaching in a pandemic. Instead of being in a regular classroom, students... Students work during the pandemic Abi Knox • June 15, 2020 For students who work during the school year, the coronavirus has made it difficult to keep working. Trends in COVID-19 suggest that the average teen is not at a high risk of experiencing severe, life-threatening... Plans for next school year are yet to be determined Shannon Carlson • June 15, 2020 Discussions are underway regarding whether the district will return back to school next fall, and what that will look like. At this point, there’s a lot of uncertainty. However, the district is working... School district takes measures against pandemic Naomi Raicu • March 18, 2020 Shorewood School District, in conjunction with other North Shore districts including Whitefish Bay, closed at 5 p.m. on March 13 to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2, commonly referred to as “coronavirus,”...	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line690
__label__wiki	0.796969	0.796969	Remington & Russell, Retold lthompson@sidrichardsonmuseum.org2020-01-17T14:44:14-06:00June 8th, 2015\|0 Comments Bringing to life unforgettable characters and recalling significant events have always been fundamental tasks that the artistic imagination has addressed. In Remington & Russell, Retold, native peoples, explorers, mountain men, buffalo hunters and soldiers are participants in such events as the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the Oregon Trail, and the Indian Wars, presenting a narrative of the 19th-century American West via 38 paintings by the preeminent storytellers of the American West, Frederic Remington (1861-1909) and Charles Russell (1864-1926). Unfolding largely in chronological order of the year the artworks were completed, the paintings in Remington & Russell, Retold span 22 years of Remington’s career (from age 25 until his death at age 48) and 37 years of Russell’s career (age 21 – 58), bridging a combined period of the artists’ lives from 1885-1922. When works by these two contemporaries are presented “shoulder to shoulder,” it is inevitable to reflect on the similarities and differences in their backgrounds, subject matter, points of view, styles and techniques. Remington and Russell certainly were compared during their lifetimes by the public and the press, and they still are being compared today. Both were writers, illustrators, painters and sculptors, each producing in excess of 3000 works of art in his lifetime. Remington enjoyed a national reputation, while Russell had a loyal regional following. Though they are joined in the public’s mind as being responsible for creating America’s vision of the Western frontier, theirs was not a singular vision. Russell’s interpretation of the conflict between American settlers and native peoples favors the Indian perspective, while early works by Remington regard the Indian as savage. While there is no documentation that the two artists ever met, it is certain they were aware of each other’s work. As recalled by his nephew, Austin Russell, Charlie Russell once said, “I bet that years from now when some art critic compares our pictures…what he’ll notice is that Russell and Remington saw the same country but not the same colors, and that’s all a difference of light.” Charles M. Russell, Western Scene (The Shelton Saloon Painting), c. 1885, Oil on wood panel, 17 1/2 inches x 69 inches Early, mid-career and mature works of both artists are included in Remington & Russell, Retold. Of note is Western Scene, one of Russell’s first commissioned paintings, and four mid-career watercolors (each reproduced in its day in either magazines, calendars or commercial products), among them the 1908 First Wagon Tracks, last displayed in the Museum in 2005. In later works, Russell stayed true to themes he approached at a young age, and he reuses subjects and successful arrangements of figures, but with more depth and intense colors. Remington’s early days as an artist correspondent are represented in two 1886 watercolor field sketches of Buffalo Soldiers, The Ambushed Picket and The Riderless Horse. His career development as an illustrator is demonstrated in two grisailles (black-and-white oils) from 1891 to 1901, and 10 works from the last five years of his life—five dazzling sun-struck paintings and five nocturnes— representing his late career when he has abandoned his concern with detail and pared his compositions down. Charles M. Russell \| First Wagon Trail (First Wagon Tracks) \| 1908 \| Pencil, watercolor and gouache on paper \| 18 1/4 x 27 inches Frederic Remington \| The Riderless Horse \| 1886 \| Pencil, pen & ink, watercolor on paper \| 7 7/8 x 11 7/8 inches Frederic Remington \| The Ambushed Picket \| 1886 \| Pencil, pen & ink, watercolor on paper \| 9 x 11 7/8 inches This reconsidered pictorial survey of the exploration of the American West is as revealing about the collector as it is of the two artists who created these works. When one considers that all but four of the paintings on display (The Dry Camp, Among the Led Horses, The Love Call, and The Apaches!) were acquired by Sid Richardson, a successful oil wildcatter, it would appear that he felt a kinship with the risk-takers who won the untamed West, less so with the pioneers who settled it. Save for the occupants of the little town of Utica [A Quiet Day in Utica], there is not a painting of a homesteader family or a prairie home to be found. Charles M. Russell, Utica (A Quiet day in Utica), 1907, Oil on canvas, 24 1/8 x 36 1/8 inches Still, these are stories we like to “read” today.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line691
__label__wiki	0.590452	0.590452	Budget 2016 List of New Measures & Policies For Households 25 Mar 2016 SGNewsMan News Here are all the measures the Budget 2016 will be bringing for all households announced by Minister for Finance, Mr Heng Swee Keat, on Thursday, 24 March 2016 at 3.30pm in Parliament. No business related benefits are listed here For detailed information, visit www.singaporebudget.gov.sg. Click here to share this with your friends & loved ones on Facebook! Click on a link to jump to a specific section (A) Caring for Our Young (A1) Child Development Account First Step Grant (A2) KidSTART (A3) Fresh Start Housing Scheme (A4) National Outdoor Adventure Education Masterplan (B) Caring for Our Low Wage Workers and Persons with Disabilities (B1) Enhancements to Workfare Income Supplement Scheme ($770 million a year) (B2) Supporting Persons with Disabilities at Work (C) Caring for Our Seniors (C1) Implementation of Silver Support Scheme ($320 million for the first year) (C2) Community Networks for Seniors (D) Other Measures Affecting Households (D1) Increase in ComCare Long Term Assistance and Singapore Allowance (D2) One-off GST Voucher (GSTV) – Cash Special Payment (D3) Service & Conservancy Charges (S&CC) Rebate (D4) Personal Income Tax (PIT) Relief Cap (E) Building a Caring Society (E1) Business and IPC Partnership Scheme (E2) Supporting Community Chest Giving (E3) Our Singapore Fund To provide more support to Singaporean parents, the Government will: Introduce a new Child Development Account (CDA) First Step grant of $3,000 for all eligible Singaporean children. Parents will automatically receive $3,000 in their child’s CDA. Those who save more will continue to receive dollar-for-dollar matching from the Government, up to the existing contribution caps. This will apply to eligible babies born from 24 March 2016. Increase the Medisave withdrawal limit for pre-delivery expenses from $450 to $900. This will take effect for births from 24 March 2016. This is a pilot initiative for parents who may need more support to give their children a good start in life. More than $20 million will be spent to provide about 1,000 children with appropriate learning, developmental, and health support in their first six years. More details will be provided at the Ministry of Social and Family Development’s Committee of Supply. To help eligible second-timer families with young children in rental housing own their own home, the Government will provide such families with a grant of up to $35,000. The grant will enable these families to own a 2-room flat with a shorter lease. More details will be provided at the Ministry of National Development’s Committee of Supply. To develop a sense of adventure and resilience, the Government will expand outdoor adventure education for all students, through a new National Outdoor Adventure Education Masterplan. As part of this effort, a new Outward Bound Singapore (OBS) campus will be built on Coney Island. It is expected to be ready around 2020, and cost about $250 million. This will provide many more youths with the opportunity to go for an expedition with OBS. These activities will help them build confidence, and develop camaraderie with students across different schools. More details will be provided during the Committee of Supply by the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, and the Ministry of Education. The Government will enhance the Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) scheme, which rewards work and supplements the income and retirement savings of older low-wage workers. Raise the qualifying income ceiling from $1,900 a month, to $2,000 a month. Increase WIS payouts for eligible workers depending on their age and income. Workers will continue to receive 40% of WIS in cash and 60% in CPF. Simplify the qualifying criteria for WIS by paying WIS for every month worked. Workers can receive WIS on a monthly basis rather than quarterly. In total, WIS is expected to benefit 460,000 Singaporeans. These changes will take effect from 1 January 2017. The Government will extend the Workfare Training Support scheme to persons with disabilities, who earn low wages and are under 35 years old. The Public Service will play its part in expanding job opportunities for persons with disabilities, with support from SGEnable. More details on the review of the national Enabling Masterplan will be provided at the Ministry of Social and Family Development’s Committee of Supply. The Government will implement the Silver Support Scheme to supplement the retirement incomes of the bottom 20% of our seniors, with some support also provided to the bottom 30%. The eligibility criteria include: Lifetime wages – not more than $70,000 in total CPF contributions1 by age 55. Self-employed persons should also have an average annual net trade income of not more than $22,800 when they were between the ages of 45 and 54 Housing type – live in HDB flats which are 5-room or smaller. For seniors to qualify, they and their spouses should not own an HDB flat which is 5-room or larger, private property, or multiple properties. Household support – Average monthly income per household member of not more than $1,100. Eligible seniors will receive $300 to $750 every quarter, depending on their flat type. The majority of seniors living in 1- and 2-room flats, and about half of the seniors living in 3-room flats will receive Silver Support. Silver Support will supplement other forms of assistance they may receive from existing schemes, such as Workfare, healthcare subsidies or GST Vouchers. The scheme will benefit more than 140,000 seniors, and will cost close to $320 million in the first year. The Government will pilot Community Networks for Seniors, to help seniors stay active, healthy, and meaningfully engaged. At the core, these networks will have a small team of full-time officers who will study the health and social needs of seniors and draw together local stakeholders and volunteers to provide coordinated support. The Government will: Raise the basic monthly cash allowance of persons on ComCare Long Term Assistance. For example, a two-person household will now receive an additional $80 a month, bringing the amount of cash assistance to $870. Increase the Singapore Allowance and monthly pension ceiling for pensioners by $20 per month each – to $300 and $1,230 respectively. This will benefit about 10,000 pensioners. To support households amid current economic conditions, the Government will provide a one-off GSTV- Cash Special Payment of up to $200 for eligible GSTV – Cash recipients. In total, eligible households can receive up to $500 in GSTV – Cash in 2016. The one-off GSTV-Cash special payment will cost an additional $280 million in 2016 and benefit 1.4 million Singaporeans. To help households with their general household expenses, the Government will provide S&CC rebates in 2016: This will cost the Government about $85 million and benefit about 840,000 HDB households. In order that the PIT reliefs that have been introduced and enhanced over the years do not unduly reduce total taxable incomes, the Government will introduce a cap on the total amount of such reliefs an individual can claim, at $80,000 per Year of Assessment. The personal income tax relief cap will take effect from Year of Assessment 2018. To encourage businesses to support their employees’ volunteer activities with Institutions of Public Character (IPCs), the Government will introduce a pilot Business and IPC Partnership Scheme. From 1 July 2016 till the end of 2018, businesses that send their employees to volunteer and provide services to IPCs, including secondments, will receive a 250% tax deduction on associated cost incurred, subject to the receiving IPC’s agreement. This deduction will be subject to a yearly cap of $250,000 per business and $50,000 per IPC. More details will be provided subsequently. To further support the work of the Community Chest (ComChest), the Government will provide dollar-for-dollar matching for any additional donations through ComChest’s monthly donation programme, SHARE, over and above the FY15 level. This dollar-for-dollar matching will be for 3 years, starting from April this year. Businesses which encourage their staff to donate regularly will be allowed to use part of the matching funds to organise Corporate Social Responsibility activities. More details will be provided at the Ministry of Social and Family Development’s Committee of Supply. To catalyse ground-up initiatives, the Government will set up a new fund, called Our Singapore Fund. The Fund will support projects that build the spirit of caring and resilience, nurture our can-do spirit, and promote unity and our sense of being Singaporean. The total fund size will be up to $25m and it will be set up by the second half of 2016. More details will be provided at the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth’s Committee of Supply. Visit www.singaporebudget.gov.sg for more information. 1 Total CPF contributions to the Ordinary Account and Special Account (including amounts withdrawn for housing, education and investment) and amounts in the Medisave Account above the Medisave Minimum Sum. COE prices results for January 2021 first open bidding exercise on 6 Jan 2021 Here are the results for the latest bidding exercise... Electricity tariffs will decrease by an average of 3.2% or 0.67 cents per kWh from 1 Jan – 31 Mar 2021 The average monthly electricity bill for families living in four-room HDB flats will decrease by... COE prices results for December 2020 second open bidding exercise on 23 Dec 2020 COE prices results for December 2020 first open bidding exercise on 9 Dec 2020 COE prices results for November 2020 second open bidding exercise on 18 Nov 2020	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line696
__label__wiki	0.882517	0.882517	Goo Goo Dolls Lyrics I'm in love because I know you And I'm sorry I don't show you And if I find that you ain't by me Afraid no one know the things you see How could you believe in someone sorry-sad like me? I know the deal and I thank you anyway And if you leave, you know I'm crawlin' at your feet You never get weak when I'm leanin' hard on you But I guess that's just the way you are And I guess it's just the way you are Well, I guess it's just the way you are And all the things that you don't show me Like when you pretend that you don't know me I waste a dime and I can't call you I spend a lifetime if I fall for you Hold me up [Repeat: x4] Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC Written by: GEORGE TUTUSKA, JOHN RZEZNIK, ROBERT C. JR. TAKAC Goo Goo Dolls » Hold Me Up Goo goo dollsRockAlternativeAlternative rockHard rock Goo Goo Dolls is an alternative rock band formed in 1985 in Buffalo, New York, USA by guitarist/vocalist John Rzeznik and bassist/vocalist Robby Takac initially under the name the Sex Maggots (the new name was chosen from an ad in True Detective magazine at the behest of a local club owner). They are most famous for the hit "Iris", featured on the soundtrack to the 1998 film City of Angels. Currently, the band consists of John Rzeznik (guitar, vocals) and Robby Takac (vocals, bass). Read Full BioGoo Goo Dolls is an alternative rock band formed in 1985 in Buffalo, New York, USA by guitarist/vocalist John Rzeznik and bassist/vocalist Robby Takac initially under the name the Sex Maggots (the new name was chosen from an ad in True Detective magazine at the behest of a local club owner). They are most famous for the hit "Iris", featured on the soundtrack to the 1998 film City of Angels. Currently, the band consists of John Rzeznik (guitar, vocals) and Robby Takac (vocals, bass). Early in their career, the Goo Goo Dolls were frequently dismissed by critics as mere imitators of The Replacements; however, the band refined its sound to be more mainstream, which helped it become one of the most popular adult alternative rock bands of the latter half of the '90s, selling millions of records to audiences largely unfamiliar with their inspirations. That's no bitch on the band, either -- their music simply improved in craft and accessibility as the years progressed, and radio happened to be receptive to what a decade earlier would have been considered collegiate power pop. Thus, the band landed two huge hits with the acoustic ballads "Name" and "Iris." Originally a cover band with a taste for power pop and classic rock & roll, the group soon began writing its own songs. Their early sound recalled the The Replacements' origins as a bratty punk band (circa Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash) -- melodic, snotty, and a little bit thrashy. That sound was the reason the band attracted the interest of the heavy metal label Metal Blade, which issued their debut album in 1987 (known either as The Goo Goo girls or First Release). 1989's Jed continued in a similar vein; the college radio breakthrough came with 1990's Hold Me Up, a Replacements-ish power pop record. 1993's Superstar Car Wash was the Goo Goo Dolls' artistic breakthrough; though it did nothing to quell the Replacements comparisons, it was a finely crafted pop/rock record, and its lead single, "We Are the Normal," was co-written with Replacements leader Paul Westerberg himself. Still, Superstar Car Wash wasn't the commercial force the band hoped it would be, especially in light of the success of similar bands like the Gin Blossoms. That all changed with 1995's A Boy Named Goo, when an L.A. rock station put the acoustic-driven ballad "Name" into heavy rotation. It was eventually released as a single nationwide, and went Top Five late in the year; platinum sales for the album followed close behind. Unfortunately, the original drummer was no longer around to enjoy the band's success; prior to the album's release, he'd been sacked and replaced by drummer Mike Malinin. Dissatisfied with the royalty rates in their Metal Blade contract, the band waged a legal battle that wound up allowing them to jump to parent company Warner Brothers. Somewhat drained, Rzeznik and the band shook off a case of writer's block to contribute the ballad "Iris" to the soundtrack of the 1998 americanized version of City of Angels (Featuring Nicolas Cage and Meg Ryan). Appearing that April, the song was a monster smash, although it was never released as a single (so its official Top Ten pop chart status doesn't convey how popular it was); for a better indicator, "Iris" spent nearly a year on Billboard's airplay charts, including an astonishing 18 weeks at number one, and was nominated for three Grammys. The band's next album, Dizzy Up the Girl, was released in September, during the middle of "Iris"'s marathon airplay run, and sold over three million copies. Its clean, polished sound completed the Goo Goo Dolls' transformation into mainstream pop/rockers who happened to have alternative roots. Further hits from the record followed over the next year, including "Slide," "Dizzy," and the Grammy-nominated "Black Balloon," and the band toured heavily in support. The Goo Goo Dolls revamped their sound for 2001's career retrospective, Ego, Opinion, Art & Commerce. A year later, the trio hit the charts with "Here Is Gone" from their seventh studio album, Gutterflower. The CD/DVD combo Live in Buffalo: July 4, 2004 helped fans endure the long wait for the band's next studio album, Let Love In, which didn't appear until 2006. The band toured through the summer of 2007. The band released the first of two greatest hits compilation, entitled Greatest Hits Volume One: The Singles, November 13th 2007. In February 2008, the band officially headed into studio to work on their new record. In August 2010, the band released their newest album, Something for the Rest of Us. There You Are (Hold Me Up) Just the Way You Are (Hold Me Up) I'm Awake Now (Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare Soundtrack) We Are the Normal (Superstar Car Wash) Fallin' Down (Superstar Car Wash) Only One (A Boy Named Goo) Flat Top (A Boy Named Goo) Name (A Boy Named Goo) Long Way Down (A Boy Named Goo) Naked (A Boy Named Goo) Lazy Eye (Batman & Robin Soundtrack) Iris (City of Angels Soundtrack/Dizzy Up the Girl) Slide (Dizzy Up the Girl) Black Balloon (Dizzy Up the Girl) Dizzy (Dizzy Up the Girl) Broadway (Dizzy Up the Girl) Here Is Gone (Gutterflower) Big Machine (Gutterflower) Sympathy (Gutterflower) Give A Little Bit (Live in Buffalo: July 4, 2004/Let Love In) Better Days (Target's Sounds of the Season/Let Love In) Stay With You (Let Love In) Let Love In (Let Love In) Before It's Too Late (Sam & Mikaela's Theme) (Transformers Soundtrack) Home (Something for the Rest of Us) Real (AT&T Team USA Soundtrack) Not Broken (Something For The Rest Of Us) 01Laughing3:42 02Just the Way You Are3:08 03So Outta Line2:22 04There You Are3:10 05You Know What I Mean3:24 06Out of the Red1:40 07Never Take the Place of Your Man3:52 08Hey2:51 09On Your Side3:05 1022 Seconds0:40 11Kevin's Song3:08 12Know My Name2:42 13Million Miles Away2:44 14Two Days in February3:12 Stompie Joe I'm not saying this is greatest song ever written, but it is the greatest song ever written. K_V_N Grew up on this release. Listened to the cassette practically every night. A true gem. Againan Again @Kayla'sVlog Life Good to know just in case people ever wonder if this band put in their time. Kayla'sVlog Life @JayZombie1216 I bought a shirt and Robbie gave me a promo poster. I do remember telling him that the Goos were the best band ever, he replied "better than Led Zeppelin?" He was being funny. The drummer did not look happy at all, he was replaced soon after I believe. A very memorable show! JayZombie1216 @Kayla'sVlog Life oh wow. Did they have t shirts and their records set out to buy? I'm sure they probably made 45$ that show hahaha. Ethereal Catholic Steinbot It was released on Slayer's former label. Back then a lot of people thought of the Goo Goo's as an outright Replacements rip off. Personally I liked them but their fans were a minority. Steinbot I bought this the day it came out. My profile pic is my daughter, I was 20 at the time. It was underground, indie for sure. I didn't know any other fans of this. I loved this album. Saw them on this tour in San Jose at the Kennel Club. I kid u not, there were 3 people in the audience. It was awesome, I had em all to myself. This album and the one before it, Jed are my favorites.. 1 More Replies... Nick McFaddin After working at Lowe's and hearing at least two of their newer songs daily, I knew I had to start from the beginning a couple of months ago. Turns out I've loved a lot of their stuff but never knew who it was.Their self titled album and Jed hit hard and are great and now I'm to this point. It's interesting to see how their style progresses, it seems some like it and some don't like it of course but I've loved all of it to this point. I had this on cassette and haven't heard it since 1991. The live version from 90 or 91 is even better. shanelle esquice 2019?? Hello?.... This song is amazing what is wrong with you people? Chris Gibb 8w↑1 Is this ALL? Is this Descendents? Will we ever find out? VG Mesina Suddenly just popped in my mind then LSS'd. Such an unappreciated album, this was the soundtrack of my youth for awhile. Classic, punky, hook filled rock n roll! Evian Oguz Saw them in a dive bar in Youngstown Ohio that later imploded in on itself.....the penguin pub. must have been 1989-1990.....back when they were true. michael luby I LOVE this s#%t. I had the tape as well. First time listening in....over a decade!? Ugh. Im gettn' old. BUT THIS ALBUM IS FOREVER!!!! Blu3Rain3r 97 Great Song This reminds me so much of High School. Which was only about ten years ago. God I'd kill to be 26 in any decade prior to this one. I hate the 2010s. Modern technology sucks fucking balls. Goo Goo Dolls - Just the Way You Are \| Live @ The Metro (1993) Goo Goo Dolls - Just The Way You Are GOO GOO DOLLS - 4/13/91 pt.1 "Just The Way You Are, So Outta Line, Torn Apart" Live In Toronto Just The Way You Are - Goo Goo Dolls Goo Goo Dolls - There You Are [Official Music Video] Goo Goo Dolls - 3.Just the way you are 4.Don't worry 5.Fallin Down Goo Goo Dolls (Live 1991) 1.Hey 2.Just the way you are Goo Goo Dolls - 1.String of Lies 2.Just the way you are (Live 1995) Goo Goo Dolls - Slide [Official Music Video] 9-2-2000 Goo Goo Dolls live in Syracuse NY State Fair Goo Goo Dolls - "There You Are" [Official Music Video] Sleeping With Sirens - Iris (Goo Goo Dolls Cover) Goo Goo Dolls - Iris [Official Live Video] Goo Goo Dolls at Summerfest, Milwaukee 1995 Goo Goo Dolls - Better Days [Official Music Video] Goo Goo Dolls - Autumn Leaves [Official Music Video] Goo Goo Dolls - Just A Man (Lyrics) \| The Rock Rotation Goo Goo Dolls - Come To Me [Official Music Video] Goo Goo Dolls - 18.Slave girl 19. Don't change (Live 1995) THIS IS THE WAY WE MAKE OUR BREAKFAST! Goo Goo Gaga Morning Routine Goo Goo Dolls - Over You (Official Audio) Goo Goo Dolls - Name [Official Video] MUJ: Black Balloon - Goo Goo Dolls (ukulele tutorial) Goo Goo Dolls - Here Is Gone [Official Music Video] Goo Goo Dolls - Home [Official Music Video] Goo Goo Dolls - There You Are Goo Goo Dolls - "Strange Love " (Live and Intimate Session) Goo Goo Dolls - 10.Another Second Time around 11.Name (Live 1995) Goo Goo Dolls - Iris Guitar Lesson Goo Goo Dolls - "Home" [Official Music Video] Goo Goo Dolls - 14.Already There 15.Impersonality (Live 1995) Learn To Play “Not Broken” by Goo Goo Dolls - Easy Guitar Lesson Long Way Down (Karaoke) - Goo Goo Dolls Slow It Down - The Goo Goo Dolls The Goo Goo Dolls - Iris (I Just Want You To Know Who I Am) With Lyrics Iris \| Goo Goo Dolls \| Kalimba Cover with Tabs and Lyrics Goo Goo Dolls - Rebel Beat [Official Music Video] Goo Goo Dolls Name Guitar Lesson How To Play "Iris" by Goo Goo Dolls \| HDpiano (Part 1) Piano Tutorial	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line697
__label__wiki	0.876358	0.876358	Garland Fulton Collection NASM.XXXX.0101 Fulton, Garland, 1890-1974 20.8 Cubic feet 45 boxes National Air and Space Museum Archives The Garland Fulton Collection consists of material gathered by Captain Garland Fulton. The Garland Fulton Collection consists of material gathered by Captain Garland Fulton, USN (1890-1975), naval officer and proponent of lighter than air (LTA) flight. The collection was originally donated by Fulton's estate to the U.S. Naval Historical Foundation of Washington D.C. in 1979, and was transferred to the National Air and Space Museum as a permanent deposit in 1982. The collection was formally donated to NASM in May of 2000. Comprising 16 cubic feet, the Fulton Papers includes correspondence and memoranda regarding the US Navy's LTA program from the 1920s to the beginnings of the expansion of the Navy's LTA program prior to World War II. There is also extensive material on Naval airship policy, and on defense policy between the world wars. As head of the Lighter-Than-Air Design Section of the Bureau of Aeronautics, Fulton was an insider in the art of defense procurement and spending --his memoranda and letters provide an illuminating look into defense policy and congressional affairs between the World Wars. Of particular interest is Fulton's correspondence from his service as Inspector of Naval Aircraft during the construction of the USS Los Angeles in Friedrichshafen, Germany, 1922-1924. His correspondence with other leading figures in LTA and naval affairs --William A. Moffett, Ernest J. King, Jerome Hunsaker, Karl Arnstein, Hugo Eckener, F.W. von Meister, and Charles E. Rosendahl are an invaluable resource of the heroic period of airship development. The collection also includes technical data on airships, airship design, and naval architecture. There are many photographs, including photos documenting the construction of the Los Angeles. The collection includes books on lighter-than-air history naval history, and engineering. A number of the books have been transferred to the NASM branch of the Smithsonian Institution Libraries; others were transferred with the permission of the Fulton family to other institutions. Several books with personal inscriptions were retained with the collection. The collection also includes a series of photographs of airships, including many detailing the construction and first flight of the Los Angeles. The Garland Fulton Collection is arranged in the following series: Series I: Personal Files, Correspondence, Fulton's Writings Subseries 1 --Biography, personal papers Subseries 2 --Correspondence Subseries 3 --Papers, articles, and notes by Garland Fulton Series II: Lighter Than Air (LTA) Subseries 1 --Navy airships; Navy LTA policy and doctrine Subseries 2 --Civilian and foreign airships Subseries 3 --LTA, general Subseries 4 --LTA articles, papers and data Subseries 5 --LTA general publications Subseries 6 --LTA gases Series III: Aeronautics, general Series IV: Publications, Papers, Reports, Journals Subseries 1 --Arranged by organization and/or individuals Subseries 2 --Technical papers, reports, journals Subseries 3 --Magazines, journals, papers, reports Subseries 4 --Newspapers, clippings Series V: US Navy, general Series VI: Miscellaneous documents Series VII: Photographs Series VIII: Books Series IX: Oversized Material Captain Garland Fulton, USN, one of the U.S. Navy's leading proponents of lighter-than-air (LTA) flight, was born in University, Mississippi on May 6, 1890. He was appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy in 1908. His roommate at the Academy was Richard E. Byrd (1888-1957), and another classmate was Donald W. Douglas, later founder of the Douglas Aircraft Company. Serving at the Academy during Fulton's career as a midshipman was Lieutenant Ernest J. King, later head of the Bureau of Aeronautics (BuAer), 1933-1937, and Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet (COMINCH) during World War II. An early advocate of naval aviation, King sparked Fulton's interest in aeronautics. Fulton graduated from the Naval Academy in 1912. Following duty with the fleet, Fulton attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), studying naval architecture and, under Commander (and Dr.) Jerome C. Hunsaker, aeronautical engineering. Fulton received his master's degree in 1916. Fulton entered the Naval Construction Corps in 1915, serving in the Industrial Department at the New York Navy Yard, where, during World War I, he was in charge of mounting guns on armed merchant ships. In May 1918, Fulton asked to be assigned to aeronautical engineering duties in the Aviation Section of the Navy's Bureau of Construction and Repair. Fulton transferred to the Bureau of Aeronautics when that organization was founded in 1921. In 1922, now a lieutenant commander, Fulton was sent to Europe to assist in the negotiations for the purchase of the "Reparations Airship" to replace the German rigid airships that had been awarded to the United States by the Versailles Treaty but were destroyed by their crews before transfer to the US. As Inspector of Naval Aircraft (INA), Fulton served at the Zeppelin works (Luftschiffbau-Zeppelin) at Friedrichshafen, Germany during the construction and flight trials of the rigid airship LZ 126. Assigned the service designation ZR-3, the airship was christened the USS Los Angeles upon its delivery to the US Navy at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station, NJ in 1924. Fulton resumed his service at the Bureau of Aeronautics in Washington DC after the completion of Los Angeles. As head of the Bureau's Lighter-Than-Air Design Section until his retirement, Fulton oversaw the design and construction of the USS Akron (ZRS-4) and the USS Macon (ZRS-5), and worked actively to help further the acceptance of large airships in both the Navy and in commerce. Under Fulton's guidance, expansion of the Navy's non-rigid airship (blimp) program was initiated in the years prior to the United States' entry into World War II. Garland Fulton retired from the Navy with the rank of captain in 1940 and joined the Cramp Shipbuilding Company of Philadelphia as a director. After retirement from Cramps as vice president in charge of engineering in 1947, Fulton served on several corporate boards of directors. In later years, Fulton was a frequent unofficial consultant to the Navy and industry on LTA issues. He continued to correspond with other participants of the airship age, including Admiral Thomas G.W. "Tex" Settle, Admiral C.E. Rosendahl, Commodore George H. Mills (NASM Collection 1994-0022), Jerome C. Hunsaker (NASM Collection XXXX-0001), Karl Arnstein, and F.W. "Willy" von Meister. As the dean of American airshipmen, Fulton frequently served as a source of information to airship historians like Douglas Robinson, Richard Smith, Robin Hingham, and William Althoff. Fulton wrote extensively on LTA and aeronautical history, and planned to write a history of U.S. Naval Aviation until prevented by failing health. Garland Fulton died on October 24, 1974 --the same day as his friend George Mills. They were buried on the same day in Arlington National Cemetery. When the NASM Archives received the Garland Fulton Papers from the U.S. Naval Historical Foundation, it was found that a preliminary sort had been made on approximately 25% of the collection. Some of Fulton's correspondence had been filed together, and some subject categories, mainly dealing with LTA topics, had been established. NASM staff kept some of NHF's subject headings and developed other appropriate subjects and performed a thorough sort of the entirety of the collection. Encoded by Tyler Love, 2013 Allan Janus Immediate Source of Acquisiton Naval Aviation History Foundation, Gift, 1981 Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at http://airandspace.si.edu/permissions No restrictions on access. Garland Fulton Collection, Accession XXXX-0101, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution. Correspondence Type Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid Memorandums Type Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid USS Los Angeles ( ZR-3) Topic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid Aeronautics Topic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid USS Akron (ZRS-4) Topic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid Airships Topic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid USS Macon (ZRS-5) Topic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid Technical reports Type Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid United States. Navy -- General subdivision--Aviation Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid 14390 Air & Space Museum Parkway NASMRefDesk@si.edu http://airandspace.si.edu/research/resources/archives/	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line698
__label__wiki	0.964006	0.964006	Self-belief key for Indians while approaching Grand Slams, says Vijay Amritraj Since Somdev Devvarman's first-round win in the US Open in 2013, Indians have had 16 first-round losses in the Grand Slam events, the latest being Prajnesh. Prasanna Venkatesan CHENNAI 24 January, 2020 22:47 IST India tennis legend Vijay Amritraj feels that players should have the self-belief while playing in Grand Slams. - R. Ragu India tennis legend Vijay Amritraj said self-belief is essential for Indian singles players to not get affected by the enormity of the situation when playing in the main draw of Grand Slam events. Since Somdev Devvarman's first-round win in the US Open in 2013, Indians have had 16 first-round losses in the Grand Slam events, including Prajnesh Gunneswaran's first-round exit in the ongoing Australian Open. "The bottom line is you have to have enough confidence in the way you're playing - do you feel you are ready for it, do you feel like you should be in the third and fourth round, do you feel you are able to compete at the highest level... At the end of the day, that self-belief is important,” Vijay said after the T.S. Santhanam Memorial National seniors tennis championship finals here on Friday. Talking about the Chennai Open challenger not being held because of the Bengaluru Open taking its slot, Vijay, who's the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA) President, said, "See, the problem is, there are three things that come into play. "Firstly, we are hampered by the weather calendar. So, we can only do it in the first couple of months of the year, or the last two months. It's difficult to do it in between since it's too hot. Secondly, you are given certain weeks to do the tour. So, unless you have two-three tournaments back-to-back, it's hard for the players to come all the way to India to do those events. Thirdly, probably the most important part, is sponsorship. It's not cheap to run these tournaments, and the bottom line is, what does the sponsor get out of it," he said. "So, we have to accommodate all these issues, before we can actually apply for a tournament and then get on the calendar. So, hopefully we'll be able to get something going in the next 12-18 months. For any tour event, you need a sanction. And the minimum time for a sanction is a year. You can't decide in September you're going to do it in March, which means you need sponsorship committed at least a year ahead. So, unless you do that, you can't apply for the sanction, right? So, I can chase down sanctions, but we need strong support from the sponsorship to be able to do that," he added. On India's Davis Cup World Group qualifier clash versus Croatia in March, the 66-year-old said: "I've said it a million times that unless you have players in the top-30 or top-40, you're not going to make the World Group. The four singles (matches) is where we need to compete. And unless we have top-30 or top-40 World-ranked players, you're not going to be able to beat the guys in the top-20. I'm not saying it's not possible. But it's hard. "And the interesting part is, the format now definitely makes it better for us. Because, over five sets, you're not going to beat them. But over three sets, you might. You win a set and all of a sudden, you're in the driver's seat." Vijay Amritraj	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line700
__label__cc	0.665636	0.334364	Home Arkansas Blog Minimum wage petitions short on valid signatures Minimum wage petitions short on valid signatures Max Brantley As expected, the drive to put a minimum wage increase on the ballot fell short of the number of valid signatures of registered voters to qualify on the initial submission. They have 30 days to get more. The Give Arkansas a Raise Now campaign had submitted more than 70,000 signatures, but after a review for facially unacceptable signatures, the secretary of state’s office said 64,000 had been submittted. Today, the secretary of state said: Arkansas Secretary of State Mark Martin announces the petition submitted for the proposed Initiated Act to Increase the Arkansas Minimum Wage did not meet the number of verified signatures required to be placed on the November ballot. The Secretary of State’s Office has notified the petition sponsor that they now have an additional 30 days to collect signatures to compensate for those signatures that were disqualified. The initiated act to increase the minimum wage — from $6.25 to $8.50 by 2017 — needs 62,507 signatures. This morning, the secretary of state’s office, in announcing a shortfall on the drive for a constitutional amendment to allow alcohol sales statewide gave the precise number — more than 17,000 — of additional signatures needed. I’m trying to find out the number lacking on the minimum wage petitions. It could be that there’s a disagreement on some of the signatures invalidated in the original review. The minimum wage campaign organizers had believed they would have a higher percentage of valid signatures by using door-to-door canvassing, a method thought likely to get more people at their proper addresses and duly registered. The high rate of disqualification on the first batch was a disappointment. Those following the process said there were differences of interpretation on the clarity of the text of the amendment as printed on backs of the petitions. Whole sheets of signatures could be thrown it if the text was not legible. The minimum wage proposal is a cornerstone of Democratic Party campaigning this fall. All the top candidates have endorsed the ballot initiative. Republicans have uniformly opposed it. The Republican Party has had people monitoring the validation process for the minimum wage petitions. UPDATE: A spokesman for the secretary of state said about the absence of a precise number: We won’t have the numbers until Monday. We wanted to notify them as soon as we knew they were short so they can start gathering more signatures. In fact, both campaigns reportedly have continued to gather signatures since meeting the initial July 7 deadline. Editor of the Times since it became a weekly in May 1992. Previous article The Woo Pig Sooie TM Edition Next article Bull Shoals police chief cleared on 2 of 3 charges	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line701
__label__wiki	0.861224	0.861224	Encyclopedia Add to list Added to list Richard T. Schaefer Publisher:SAGE Publications, Inc. Online pub date: April 25, 2008 Discipline: Sociology DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412963879 Print ISBN:9781412926942 Online ISBN:9781412963879 Buy the book icon link More informationLess information icon angle “This ambitious undertaking touches all bases, is highly accessible, and provides a solid starting point for further exploration.” —School Library JournalThis three-volume reference presents a comprehensive look at the role race and ethnicity play in society and in our daily lives.. The Encyclopedia of Race, Ethnicity, and Society offers informative coverage of intergroup relations in the United States and the comparative examination of race and ethnicity worldwide. Containing nearly 600 entries, this resource provides a foundation to understanding as well as researching racial and ethnic diversity from a multidisciplinary perspective.Key FeaturesDescribes over a hundred racial and ethnic groups, with additional thematic essays discussing broad topics that cut across group boundaries and impact society at largeAddresses other issues of inequality that often intersect with the primary ... icon angle down List of Entries Appendix A: Data on Race and Ethnicity in the United States, 1820 to the Present Appendix B: Internet Resources on Race, Ethnicity, and Society Schaefer, R. T. (Ed.) (2008). Encyclopedia of race, ethnicity, and society. (Vols. 1-3). SAGE Publications, Inc., https://www.doi.org/10.4135/9781412963879 Schaefer, Richard T., ed. Encyclopedia of Race, Ethnicity, and Society. 3 vols. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc., 2008. http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412963879. Schaefer, R. T. ed., 2008. Encyclopedia of Race, Ethnicity, and Society. Vol. 3. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. Available at: <http://www.doi.org/10.4135/9781412963879> [Accessed 16 Jan 2021]. Schaefer, Richard T., editor. Encyclopedia of Race, Ethnicity, and Society. 3 vols. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc., 2008. SAGE Knowledge, 16 Jan 2021, doi: http://www.doi.org/10.4135/9781412963879. Link to this page directly with a permalink: https://sk.sagepub.com/Reference/ethnicity/.xml	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line703
__label__cc	0.584436	0.415564	Michael E. Knight Interview: 'All My Children' Star Thanks Fans for Tad Martin Written by Melissa Parker, Posted in Actors Daytime Emmy award winner Michael E. Knight is best known for his portrayal of Thaddeus (Tad) James Martin on the ABC soap All My Children. Knight’s first stint on the show ran from 1982-1986; he returned in 1988, left again in 1990, and has appeared continuously from 1992 to the present. Other television appearances include Matlock, Sydney, Dear John, Murder, She Wrote, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, One Life to Live, and Hot in Cleveland. The actor also starred in the 1987 feature film Date with an Angel. "In the old days, 20 years ago, there was a longer period of character development. They would bring characters along very slowly. As we went along there was less and less time for that. I noticed they would bring on major characters very quickly and characters that had only been on the canvas a short period of time would be handed major storylines very quickly." The New Jersey native was honored with two Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Younger Leading Actor in 1986 and 1987 and won the Supporting Actor trophy in 2001. He is one of the very few actors to be nominated in younger, supporting, and lead actor categories, all while playing the same character. Knight was married from 1992 to 2006 to actress Catherine Hickland (Texas, Capitol, One Life to Live). On April 14, 2011, ABC announced that All My Children was cancelled after 41 years on the air. The network has announced that the daytime drama will air its final episode on September 23, 2011. Melissa Parker (Smashing Interviews Magazine): Michael, did you find out about the cancellation with the rest of the All My Children cast? Michael E Knight (ABC/Yolanda Perez) Michael E. Knight: Well, yes, they had a formal declaration. Brian Frons came down and did a thing in the studio. But it had definitely been on the rumor mill for about two years because of shrinking Nielsen ratings and budget cuts. You could really see it coming. I don’t think it took anybody by surprise. I think we thought it might go a little longer, but due to the bad economy and the effects the Internet has had on entertainment as a whole, we knew we were coming up on cancellation. Melissa Parker (Smashing Interviews Magazine): Have you thought about joining another daytime drama or even an Internet soap? Michael E. Knight: I don’t know. I’m very hopeful. I’ve been around for quite a while. My mom says: “God doesn’t bring you that far to drop you on your head.” There is a very large industry out there of people, very trained in front of the camera and behind the camera that know the format. I can’t help but think that at some point the audience will get sick and tired of reality television and would want to go back to soap operas because they have had such a following for decades. Surely somebody out there is going to take a shot at it. You might start seeing soap operas on three days a week or there’s the novella format which is six months limited run or a year. I’m kind of hopeful that if not AMC, somebody out there is trying to think of a way to keep this going without just shutting down the format entirely. Melissa Parker (Smashing Interviews Magazine): There have certainly been rumors of other networks picking up the shows and a more recent rumor has been Netflix. Michael E. Knight: Netflix … that would be interesting. If you know you sort of have the base audience out there estimated upwards of 2,000,000 people that like a show or like the format, there’s an audience out there getting to them. I think the waters have been muddied by a lot of things like SOAPnet. My heart goes out to the major networks because they are still operating on the Nielsen rating model which has been dying across the board. I mean, if you start looking at it, soaps across the board have taken a 20% hit. I think it’s because people are getting their programming elsewhere or they’re DVRing it. It is wonderful to have had a run as long as we’ve had and as long as I’ve had. But as long as you’re still in the game, something else will happen. It always does. Melissa Parker (Smashing Interviews Magazine): Would you answer if General Hospital or The Young and the Restless came calling? Michael E. Knight: I’m sort of hopeful. I have wonderful representation and certainly would love to cast my net out there and see what happens, maybe even a sitcom or something like that, but I certainly wouldn’t turn up my nose if a cable outlet could afford to do the soaps. Of course, it would be at a reduced cost and reduced budget but they might start experimenting with it. I think it would be a great idea. Melissa Parker (Smashing Interviews Magazine): I think you’d be great in a sitcom. Michael E. Knight: I would hope so (laughs). We’ll see what happens. Melissa Parker (Smashing Interviews Magazine): You are a funny guy. I’ve used the word “jinkies” more times than my husband can count. Michael E. Knight: (laughs) Believe it or not, there was a radio commercial centuries ago in New York and it was just one of these guys with an overbearing voice saying the word “jinkies” so it stuck. That’s the thing about a soap character. You never know what little signature you can give him and what people are going to hook into. I think I throw a couple of “jinkies” in there two or three times a year. Melissa Parker (Smashing Interviews Magazine): There are many people who think of soap characters as family members. Michael E. Knight: And some who tend to treat them as guilty pleasures, but you never know. It’s all over the world, too. I went to Italy with my wife Catherine. She’d been on a show called Capitol probably 25 years ago. I think it came on at night over there after work sometime. I was stunned walking around Rome and everybody chattering at Catherine in Italian. You just never know. That’s another thing. Think about the programming slots. In the last 40 or 50 years soap operas have been on during the day. Well, we know that especially in a bad economy more people have to work. You have working mothers now so that whole sort of social model has changed. So you never know. A cable outlet may pick up All My Children or The Young and the Restless and say that the trick is to put them on in later time slots when people get home from work. Try 5:30 or 6:00 and see what happens. Melissa Parker (Smashing Interviews Magazine): Michael, you left All My Children for a few years to pursue acting projects. Would you be open to giving the movies another chance? Michael E. Knight: I’m open to anything. It’s sort of a blessing and a curse in a way. I’ve had a job for so long. It will just be another person making a transition in America, you know? Melissa Parker (Smashing Interviews Magazine): Cady McClain is returning to the show as Dixie Cooney Martin. Will this storyline give Tad/Dixie fans some closure? Michael E. Knight: I think that’s going to be the way they’re looking at it. They’re also bringing back other characters, too, I think to sort of tie up … if it’s possible to tie up a 42 year run. I was lucky and the positioning was such that Cady could come back and reprise the role of Dixie. I certainly love working with her. She’s been a dear friend for a long time and is a wonderful actress. They’re supposedly bringing her back from the dead (and we’re no stranger to that), but they’re bringing her back to have Tad and Dixie walk off in the proverbial sunset. I think that’s the way they’re looking at it. I always had such wonderful chemistry working with Cady. It will be nice to get a chance to do that. Other than that, I think they’re kind of struggling to give the audience some semblance of closure, bringing down the curtain as it were, but I think they’ll leave it open ended in case the show gets picked up somewhere else. Melissa Parker (Smashing Interviews Magazine): They’re also bringing back the character of Zach Slater. Michael E. Knight: Thorsten, yes, a wonderful guy. Melissa Parker (Smashing Interviews Magazine): What are some memories from the show that stand out for you? One that comes to my mind right now is the tornado that hit Pine Valley and demolished the Martin house. That was definitely art imitating life. Michael E. Knight: Oh gosh yes, especially nowadays. All you have to do today is turn on the 6:00 news and see that a tornado has hit somewhere. I can’t really put my finger on many memories and say, “This was a high point.” I would say that it has been interesting to see the show kind of evolve, to be a part of something, and watch the show expand and do more. Things were so simple back when I started. You basically had very structured shows and now I think soaps try to compete more with nighttime and try to do things to thrill the audience. God knows we always had these masked balls and weddings. There was the time they blew up the Crystal Ball. I remember when they built the set and there were actual special effects involved with explosions. I remember on One Life to Live that whole thing where a train gets turned upside down. It has been interesting to see how much we could get away with in such a limited time. The first producer I ever had compared soaps to summer stock because the production schedule is so intense and so non-stop. In terms of memories I would say there have been the people that I’ve loved working with over the years. I’m so proud of that. I can’t think of particular moments but I can think of somebody like David Canary who I just thought was one of the most brilliant guys I ever worked with. To watch him do Stuart … he was the best person at doing split screens and doing two characters. There’s Julia Barr, Cady, Carmen Thomas, Walt Willey, Vincent Irizarry. I can’t say enough of what a wonderful person Susan is and has been to me over the years. Soaps are kind of unique in that so much of the industry is temporary. Even in a hit show you maybe get 5 or 6 years except for Bonanza or Gunsmoke (laughs). I think you could look at All My Children as the “bonanza” of soap operas. One of the cool things about getting to work with someone like Cady McClain is that so much of soaps (because they’re so fast) is chemistry, a sort of chemistry that you have to figure out as you go along with your fellow actors and then they very quickly tune in on it. All My Children - Liza (Jamie Luner) sadly confided in Tad (Michael E. Knight) that her bonding with Bailey had Colby feeling left out (ABC/Lorenzo Bevilaqua) In the old days, 20 years ago, there was a longer period of character development. They would bring characters along very slowly. As we went along there was less and less time for that. I noticed they would bring on major characters very quickly and characters that had only been on the canvas a short period of time would be handed major storylines very quickly. Sometimes the characters worked and sometimes they didn’t. The character would come on, work a lot, and then sort of disappear. Some of the fondest things I remember are some of the character actors I thought were so wonderful; first and foremost being Jill Larson who plays Opal. I have a glowing respect for her. I go back to people like Billy Clyde Tuggle, Phoebe, Myrtle, and Langley. There was sort of a more rounded ensemble. That was when the budgets were bigger and you had room for character actors. As things have become leaner and meaner over the years basically there has been a stripping away of characters that drive story. Melissa Parker (Smashing Interviews Magazine): Do the writers give you free rein when it comes to adlibbing? Michael E. Knight: No, the writers have been pretty damn good to me (laughs). I’m not going to say that I don’t occasionally throw in a one-liner, but everything is so structured and the writers have been very good to me over the years, developing situations in which to put the character so that I could sort of come up with something … but I’d say we are pretty loose. One of the people I love working with because he’s very similar in style is Ricky Paull Goldin who plays Jake. He is probably one of the most fluid actors I’ve ever worked with. He’s a thrill ride because you never know what you’re going to get (laughs). He’s so fun and inspiring to work with. I’d say over the last few years he’s been one of the bright spots on the docket for me for sure. For a while there the Martins kept getting thinned out, then they brought Jake back and Ricky has such a wonderful presence on screen. He has a very unique and eccentric style that I think serves the overall canvas of the show really well. Melissa Parker (Smashing Interviews Magazine): It does appear at times like your banter with Ricky is not exactly scripted. Michael E. Knight: Oh, we love to throw curves at each other all of the time. Melissa Parker (Smashing Interviews Magazine): Ricky is nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor this year. Michael E. Knight: I was really thrilled about that. I really wanted him to get it. As a matter of fact, I was upstairs when I cast my ballot to the associate producer and said, “Is there any way I can just vote for Ricky?” I’m thrilled that we got some nominations. Michael Park had been a friend of mine and Catherine’s in New York and it was very touching to see him win the Best Actor Emmy the year the show (As the World Turns) was cancelled. It’s kind of a unique little curtain call. I’m hoping that happens for Ricky. Melissa Parker (Smashing Interviews Magazine): Do you think that All My Children and One Life to Live will take home more Emmys because of the cancellations? Michael E. Knight: Well, you wonder, especially with the legacy of 42 years if that’s not in the back of the minds of the people voting, but I don’t think it’s a deciding factor. It might have something to do with it, I don’t know. I never sat on a Blue Ribbon panel … well actually I was a voter a couple of years back. Melissa Parker (Smashing Interviews Magazine): You recently celebrated a birthday so Happy Belated! Michael E. Knight: Thank you very much. All My Children - Tad (Michael E. Knight) and Erica (Susan Lucci) hear the jury find Adam not guilty on all counts due to diminished capacity (ABC/Jeff Neira) Melissa Parker (Smashing Interviews Magazine): Do you think with age comes wisdom? Michael E. Knight: I think with age comes humility and with humility comes wisdom. Melissa Parker (Smashing Interviews Magazine): And then comes the dying of the hair (laughs). Michael E. Knight: I colored my hair for a while back in the 90s. I think if my fans are devoted enough to keep me on for 30 years they can handle a little snow on the roof (laughs). Melissa Parker (Smashing Interviews Magazine): I think it looks distinguished. Do you receive many marriage proposals from fans? Michael E. Knight: (laughs) Not in a long time. But I’ve got to say I can’t say enough about the fans. They are so dynamic even with the slap in the face of the cancellation and the sad news. I was real honored to see the amount of energy the fans poured into the Internet, Twitter, and all of those things. You really do get a sense of how close they hold their beloved soaps. They’ve been amazing. I’ve worked for many regimes over 30 years and the fact is more than a couple of them had been convinced that I’d reached my expiration date and that Tad wasn’t really doing too much for the canvas. The only thing (and I mean it came down to the wire a couple of times) that kept that from happening was the direct response from fans when they would do focus groups. The audience fights hard for the people that they associate with Pine Valley, this place that was created so brilliantly by Agnes Nixon. You really have to push it back to the early days, the 70s and 80s. You have this small mythic town somewhere where people kept their back doors open at night and everybody knew everybody’s business. I know that personally I can never repay what I owe to the loyal viewers that watch the show that really kept Tad there because for a long time for a few years, it could have gone either way. If I’m around, it’s directly because of the people who watch the show. I’ll be interested to see if the people who have been so wonderful to watch for 42 years are going to be looking for a new soap or if in fact, when you break that cycle they say, “No, I was married once and that was enough for me and I had my one soap.” But I know I want to send a major thank you and a lot of love out to people who watch the show. Thanks for Tad because if it weren’t for them I certainly would not be here now. Melissa Parker (Smashing Interviews Magazine): You have to have the talent to last also, Michael. Michael E. Knight: Well a lot of people have talent. You never know what’s going to click. It’s really very strange because I’ve known wonderful actors who have come through the doors and revolved out. It’s sort of this magic that happens. You never know what’s going to happen. I’ve got to say that this was one of the luckiest things that ever happened to me. I was a wallflower growing up and all of a sudden at 22 years old I’m playing this kid who is sleeping with both the girl down the street and her mother and the audience is just eating it up. I’m on the sidelines thinking, “Well this is surreal.” But everything around me came together. I was working with just amazing people like Marcy Walker, Kim Delaney, and Dorothy Lyman. These were really the glory days for me on All My Children. It was like lightning in a bottle and I just happened to be in the right place. It made enough of a social imprint or cultural imprint that I was able to surf the wave for 30 years. It was luck. You do have to have talent, you’ve got to get your foot in the door, but you still never know. I’ve been lucky. Melissa Parker (Smashing Interviews Magazine): I’ve spoken with many actors who praise daytime television as being a training ground for their craft. Michael E. Knight: Well, again it’s a blessing and a curse because you learn to work very quickly and you learn to trust working on your feet. There was a wonderful man I worked with for 10 years in New York called Alan Savage who sort of turned me around because if you get used to working so quickly you tend to become kind of presentational. There is nothing more interesting than watching two people trying to negotiate their way out of a problem either in plot, character, or relationship. So you do get good at thinking on your feet, but at the same time you are doing a storyline. You may get handed a lot of pages in a day but the story you’re working on makes its own kind of psychological imprint on you. When they develop the story it’s like you’re not starting from scratch, whereas if you walk into a play or movie or episodic thing on TV you’re starting from scratch so you’re basically sort of creating the scene in your mind from the ground up. In soaps you’re part of a storyline that’s moving forward. So it’s not as daunting as you would think. It can be taxing at times. You walk in and get 60 pages in a day and it’s going to be tough, but then again you’re doing a storyline you know and you’re working with actors that you know so you develop on the job skills. Melissa Parker (Smashing Interviews Magazine): Will you be taping through August? Michael E. Knight: I believe our last tape date is September 2. As to whether or not we go through that, I don’t know. Melissa Parker (Smashing Interviews Magazine): It has to be a weird feeling to know that there will be a last day. How do you and the other actors handle that on a daily basis? Michael E. Knight: We’re working really hard because we have a 3-week hiatus in July so the work schedule is very intense here in California. It’s in the back of your mind, though. It will be surreal for many people as the day approaches. I think in that last week of August a lot of people really aren’t going to know how to deal, but right now we’re just busy trying to keep it going, you know what I’m saying? We know it’s there. We got the announcement and it was like, “Okay, I’ll deal with that later because I have so much to do first.” Melissa Parker (Smashing Interviews Magazine): Michael, how would you describe your overall experience at All My Children? Michael E. Knight: Good question … God has really been good to me. You know, it’s always easier to see your faults with 20/20 hindsight. I don’t mean to get spiritual on you, but I think we’re here basically to do something. We’re here to learn some kind of lesson. I tend to be a spiritual person. I come from a spiritual background, my parents were spiritual and I believe we are here to learn a lesson or series of lessons. I came into this industry with certain ideas and certain expectations. Everybody in life, if you’re lucky enough to be on the planet long enough, reach some sort of personal crisis. You get to a point where you think, “Is this it or am I missing something? Have I done everything I wanted to?” I had a marriage to a very dear woman who is one of my greatest friends in the world. I think what makes life interesting is not the things that do work but the things that don’t work. I have had this blessing under me. It has been like working with a circus net. I don’t know how to describe it. I’ve either gone through parts where everything was sunshine and rainbows or parts that were not so good and were very challenging. Throughout it all I was able to make a living. I was able to go to work with people that respected me (not all but most of them), people that I loved, and got to play a character that seemed to matter. I just can’t help but feel that somebody was looking out after me for a long time because I had something that most people on the planet don’t. I had this thing that I could rely on with a constant that was a source of affirmation, a source of appreciation, a source of respect. I started out thinking, “Oh, it’s just a soap.” But looking back I’m thinking that I’m the luckiest son of a bitch on the planet just to have been a part of this thing. It really was a cultural phenomenon and you see it changing now because the world is changing, we’re changing, and so is television, networks, and production. I think it sounds ridiculous to hear myself say this, but to be part of the golden era of daytime television has really been a singular experience. If you had told me when I was 22 years old and was cast that I would be doing the same character now at this age … well, all I can say is, “Gee, these people are willing to pay me for what I love doing.” Melissa Parker (Smashing Interviews Magazine): At 22 years old, who showed you the ropes at All My Children? Michael E. Knight: Dorothy Lyman was a major figure in my life when I started out. I was just amazed at how creative and fearless she was with her character. She said, “Honey, there ain’t no reruns on this thing. It’s a soap opera. If you’ve got some, bring it!” So she challenged me a little bit. I always thought David Canary was one of the most dignified people I’d ever known. I used to look up to him when I was young and think that if I could carry myself with that kind of dignity and purpose and grace 20 or 30 years down the road I’d be satisfied. I don’t know if I have done that, but I do have the hair (laughs). Melissa Parker (Smashing Interviews Magazine): Michael, are you settled in LA now or would you like to move back to New York? Michael E. Knight: I don’t know. I’ve counted on a job for so long I don’t know where the future will take me but I’m amenable. We’ll see. I think that if I’m going to be out of work it’s better to be out here. It’s kind of like, “Okay, the show is going down, but you’re still in LA.” We’ll see what happens. © 2011 Smashing Interviews Magazine. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written consent of the publisher. « Loretta Devine Interview: Busy 'Grey's Anatomy' Actress Stars in 'Madea's Big Happy Family' Andy Andrews Interview: 'The Final Summit' Continues Ponder's Journey from 'The Traveler's Gift' » May 31, 2011 - 15:55:11 Very nice interview with Michael. It was nice to be able to hears his memories and views. September 5, 2011 - 10:04:44 Michael knight would be perfect for Regis. He has the right mix of intelligence and humor. advance2go September 23, 2011 - 17:44:53 Great suggestion. RuthF June 11, 2012 - 21:13:36 I totally agree with noah. I miss seeing Michael every week-day. I love Kelly Rippa and would love to see those two co-host together. Johnell Wonderful interview. I was so happy he mentioned my best friend of 32 years Matthew Cowles who played Billy Clyde Tuggle. I know Matthew thinks a lot of Michael E. Knight. I remember very well Dec. 1990 when Billy Clyde fell to his death after he and Tad fight on the bridge. Matthew told me about that. How he and Michael sat and watched the stunt people finish up the stunts. So cool. So many wonderful memories. I wish Michael E. Knight all the success in the world. susan padyk Please Michael apply for Regis's position. You would be perfect for this spot and we still would see you five times a week. "Live with Micheal and Kelly" sounds Great! All the best to you. You have always been my favorite character on AMC and have watched over 30 years. Lori Breslow I think that Michael would make an EXCELLENT replacement for Regis! DEFINITELY! Micheal, this was such a great interview. I have been a fan of yours since the eighties. Keep on keepin on! "Live with Michael and Kelly" sounds fantastic. And a great coup for All My Children. I might decide to watch ABC again if he is Regis' replacement. Go for it Michael!!!!!!! June 4, 2011 - 22:13:23 Great Idea! Michael is the reason I started watching AMC 28 years ago. I don't think he likes to be that public with his personal life for the LIVE show though. But would love it if he were the cohost! Joanne Rizzo I so agree!!! He would be perfect for the spot!! He has my vote !! I would watch every day for that !! I just recently became a viewer of All My Children again with the addition of Lindsay Hartley to the cast, having only watched AMC for a few months in 2009. I remembered liking Michael E. Knight's character at the time, and I've become a big fan all over again! Even though I don't know much about his history as Tad on the show, I just love his chemistry with Lindsay Hartley and have been thrilled with the Tad/Cara/Jake storyline. Thanks so much for this terrific interview with Michael. I wish him all the best, and I sure hope it's not that long a time before he's on the screen again somewhere. Tadders Girl To MEK if he should see this. The lucky ones are us the fans, you have brought laughter, tears, and just plain happiness to us everytime you have graced the screen. I have watched AMC since it's first show and I have never missed one. I hated it while you were gone, but all was right again when you returned. I pray that someone picks up AMC and everyone can stay. There are so many of us who are hanging in there with hope. We just can't imagine our day without all of you. Brian Frons is wrong, reality tv isn't what we want. And the younger set don't want it either. It's like a desease, it is everywhere and you can't get rid of it. He needs to read the comments on Soap Central. Cheaper doesn't mean better. You get what you pay for. I agree with you that the rating process is outdated. People have to DVR for many reasons. It doesn't mean we aren't watching. Even if AMC went to cable and we had to pay for it, we would. We wish each and everyone with the show from the actors to the crew the very best and pray that something good works out. Carla Kujawa What ever or where ever Mikey goes or does from here on out will be FANTASTIC as GOD has truly blessed this talanted man with a very special gift of entertaining people with his whole heart. Many many blessing to you Mikey now and forever you will always remain in my heart! xoxoxx Carla Kujawa #1 OREGON FAN! Michael is truly a class act. I wish him well in the future and I will really miss having Tad Martin on my screen. BJAY MANNING SO SAD TO HEAR THAT MY SOAP AMC IS BEING CANCELLED. MIKEY YOU ARE NOW, AND HAVE ALWAYS BEEN MY FAVORITE…SINCE YOU DECLARE YOU HAVE BEEN ON THE SHOW 42 YEARS, AND I AM NOW 75… THAT MEANS THAT I HAVE BEEN WATCHING SINCE I WAS 34! I WISH YOU ONLY THE BEST MY CHILD. MAY YOU BE BLESSED TO HAVE AS MANY MORE GOOD YEARS THAT YOU DESERVE. omg, Michael, you have got to be so many different ppl's absolute Fav Character on AMC. This interview made me cry, as to me you have kept this show alive with your crazy antics and busting wit! I personally remember meeting you and Dack Rambo (aka Steve Jacoby) at Geauga Lake (ohio amusement park) back in the 80's and my friend and i were so impressed. We had bumped into you before the show and you talked to us as if you just met 2 ladies at the mall or something, had us laughing at your quick wit and great sense of humor. I wish you nothing but the best and please dont stay away from our television screens, there would be too much "taddy withdrawal" to handle……….Love and Luck…….your No 1 fan in Cleveland Kim Goodwin Tad has always been my favorite actor on AMC since I was 5. I used to have a crush on him when I was really young. He really is such a big part of the show and it wouldn't have been the same without him. I hope that another network or cable station will step up and see the millions of fans that would watch AMC wherever it goes. Great interview! Sad to think of it ending and especially a slap in the face to a show like The Chew. That is such an insult to the cast, crew and viewers. THIS IS REALLY SAD AND I CAN'T EVEN DEAL WITH THE THOUGHT OF NOT TURNING NO ALL MY CHILDREN AT THE END OF MY CRAZY DAYS (DVR) AND WATCH MY FAVORITE SHOW. IT IS MY ESCAPE FROM EVERYTHING AND THE ONLY SHOW THAT MAKES ME FORGET ALL THE STRESS IN LIFE. I AM SO SAD FOR ALL THE RETIRED, SENIORS, DISABLED AND PEOPLE THAT ARE IN A POSITION WHERE TV IS THERE MAIN JOY AND THOSE WHO DEDICATED 40+ YEARS TO THIS SHOW. IT BREAKS MY HEART TO SEE MY PARENT AND GRANDPARENTS BE UPSET. I HATE HEARING ON THE FACEBOOK BLOGS HOW PEOPLE ARE STUCK IN BED WITH MAJOR HEALTH PROBLEMS AND THEY LOOK FORWARD EVERYDAY TO THEIR SOAPS. I AM HEARTBROKEN BUT FEEL EVEN WORSE FOR SOME OTHERS. I REALLY FEEL THIS WAS ALL A CORPORATE GREED ISSUE AND MIKE BEING A GREAT GUY KEPT HIMSELF REFRAINED FROM SOME OF THE THINGS I'M SURE HE WOULD LOVE TO SAY. THE NEILSON RATINGS ARE WRONG AND IF WE ALL WERE COUNTED THIS WOULDN'T BE HAPPENING. I THINK IF THE NETWORKS WANTED TO KNOW THE REAL TRUTH THAN THEY WOULD KNOW THE REAL RATINGS BUT THIS IS A GREAT WAY TO FOOL SPONSORS SO THEY CAN POCKET THEIR MONEY WHILE PAYING FOR CHEAP GARBAGE TV. I WILL NOT BE WATCHING ABC/DISNEY ANYMORE THE DAY AMC ENDS. I ONLY WATCH IT NOW BUT I DO SUPPORT THE OTHER TWO SHOWS IN SUPPORT OF THOSE VIEWERS BUT MY HEART IS WITH AMC. IT IS WHY I AM FIGHTING TO KEEP THE SOAPS. THE FANS WON'T GIVE UP ON AMC. Brenda Kirouac Great interview…I've watched every AMC episode and will miss all the characters. Michael can count me in as someone who will watch and support anything he does. Cindy Hatcher Michael I watched you grow as an actor and as a child into a man. it started when Joe and Ruth found you in the park, your wild ways as a teenager, your deep love of Dixie , to your closeness with Cara. You will truly be missed Tracie Mae I wanted to ask you Who's a Better Wife Cara Dixie or Krystal or Both Actor's That PLayed Liza Colby. Oh Happy Father's Day to all The Father's on AMC & Were Going to Miss you all after Jan. But We Has Fan Ever Going to Give Up! The Divo Speaking of chemistry . . .Michael with Susan Pratt (Barbara Montgomery). Don't think I've ever laughed so hard and so often when they had onscreen time. Someone said it was too much like "Moonlighting" to keep the two together, but fanTAStic while it lasted. Maybe he'll do more stage work: his "Wrong Turn at Lungfish" off-Broadway (with Calista Flockhart) and the Broadway play he did with Linda Lavin were superb!! Continued great success, Michael. You'll be incredible in anything you do!! A Fan since 1975!! OMG! What are we going to do without AMC & OLTL? And all of the Actors and Actresses we grew to Love? They became a big part of my life and I'm sure as with everyone else. I still think it's a big, HUGE mistake but no one listens to the fans…. 🙁 I'm seriously thinking of switching TV stations when they close our favorite Soaps…..In fact, I'm going to be so beside myself that I know I will not watch ABC again…. I always said that Soap Stars have the hardest jobs of all. A sitcom is usually once a week, so they learn their lines and the show goes on. A movie is approx. 2 hours long, so you tape that and then release it. BUT, Soap Stars? Have a situation that calls for every day acting (5 days a week) and even though they are taped too, They have the hardest Jobs of all because it is constant and sort of around the clock year after year of the same thing, where that isn't the case for the Sitcoms and Movies. I have and give the Highest Admiration to Soap STARS…..: ) They are just the BEST…. I LOVE you all for your fantastic Talent and your years of the highest pleasurable entertainment there is…. In my Book, There is nothing like a Soap and nothing will ever come remotely near it. God Bless all of you for entertaining all of us…. BTW, The Writers of these soaps must also get every bit of recognition & Admiration for their outstanding Job. It's going to be so very hard to deal with this after being a Huge part of our lives…. alex freda sorry u r taking all my children off. U would be better off getting rid of david hayward,amanda marting, J R chandler and get rid of the story line with the fake Erica. Let the hospital go back to greenlee. Lose the girl that gave up her baby and let angie and jessie hubbard keep the baby with out having to look over their shoulder all the time. bring dixie back once and for all. let cara go with jake. get rid of liza. put krystal with cortlandt. palmers nephew deffinitely keep AMC on the air. Lots of people watch the show and enjoy it. Let Kendall get together with the new doctor who is cara's brother. July 7, 2011 - 18:51:51 Lovely man, lovely article. He's made me adore Tad over and over throughout the years. I hope that the show does survive and thrive online so that maybe it can make the move back to TV one day. I think Michael's idea of 6pm dramas is very interesting also–let's see if the networks are doing any active listing out there. . . Bonnie Elliott July 12, 2011 - 19:51:48 I read today that Michael is leaning towards not contiuing on AMC when it goes on the net. He has and always will be my fave character, I will be heartbroken to lose my almost daily dose of him. I met him at Super Soap Weekend a few years ago and I was SO thrilled, he truly is a great guy. I have watched AMC since '79-'80 and can't imagine life without it. Loved the interview with Michael. He has been my favorite character for 40 years. When I was working I always kept up by recording every episode. It's interesting and rewarding to see his character grow and become such a good guy, like his screen father, Joe. It's made me love him all the more. All My Children has always been my other family, where I could retreat and enjoy the joys and problems of the lives. I'll truly miss them. Here's hoping someone with deep pockets will grab the show and keep it going. Great interview with Michael Knight. He must be very much like his character, Tad Martin. I have watched AMC from the very firt show and am sick to know that ABC is ending it's run. What a HUGE, HUGE MISTAKE FOR ABC! It is just unimaginable to think of not following the AMC story lines as they have evolved into so many peoples relatable lives. Michael is such a fan favorite. I have loved him thru all his many changes – his love/hate relationship with the original Liza Colby, his affair with Marion, his devotion to his sister, Jenny, played by Kim Delaney. I so related to his relationship with Jenny as I have the same closeness with my brother, who has just been diagnosed with stage four cancer. Michael is a fantastic actor, although I feel his character in real life has the same wonderful qualities that make him so loveable, crazy funny and just a warm-hearted sweetie. No one can "act" that good! It is ironic that many other characters have been replaced by other actors but NO ONE ON EARTH COULD EVER REPLACE MICHAEL E. KNIGHT AS TAD MARTIN. I was so hoping that Oprah would continue AMC on the OWN network. She has always been a fan and I remember well her quest appearance on AMC and have seen every show she has done with many of the AMC actors. Such a great cast of characters. I can not mention AMC without singing the praises of Susan Luci. Erica Cain is the other irreplaceable icon from AMC. There are just not words to describe Susan Luci's acting career throughtout the years. Her many Emmy nominations with only one win blew my mind. I take it that there must be many people in the industry who are green with envy over a character actress who, from the beginning, has made AMC the show it is today. She is an amazing petite powerhouse who just never seems to age! My 89 year old Mother loves Susan Luci's energy and contributes her forever young persona to her zest for life and the smile she always seems to have – even in the face of adversity. It is obvious that rating polls need an overhaul with all the millions of AMC fans who are outraged by this decision. If their were call-in votes, like the infamous American Idol(of which I am a big fan), ABC might wake up to the true number of devoted fan of this show and its cast! I want to say thank you with all my heart to every cast member to ever grace the AMC stage throughout the years, the talented Agnes Nixon and everyone ever associated with AMC. GREAT DEDICATION AND HARD WORK IS APPRECIATED! You are so respected and loved. I just pray someone has the good insight to continue the AMC saga. Many hearts are breaking. You are taping your last show on Sept.2, my 55th birthday. If I could have two wishes granted me, it would be that God would heal my brother and let him live. He is such a funny, kind, wonderful and caring person – so much like Michael Knights character, Tad Martin. Having lost my father at 38 to cancer when I was just 18 months old, it is heartbreaking to think that I will loose my only brother who has so much to give to the world in the kindness and goodness born in his soul. Wake up ABC and realize that life, love and family are more important than money and ratings. AMC is more than just a soap opera to those who watch it everyday. We are inspired by it's characters and uplifted by their storylines. It's relatable – what more reality does TV NEED!! Carol Faver August 11, 2011 - 07:41:50 Michael…Should you have the time to read all these messages (and I hope you don't cause you are so busy getting fitted for Regis Philbin's chair next to Kelly) be aware this will serve as a warning/promise – you are on the radar big guy. Your fans will be bugging the powers that be to see this happen. Seriously, who would be better to make Kelly laugh and know what to say as a comeback to her bantering? Regis, bless his heart, never quite knows where she is heading with something/anything and you, dear heart, could zing the ball right back across the net to her!! Believe me, we did the same thing when Kelly tried out for the show – see what happened there! Think it over….NYC is still the greatest, even with the weather – that's what big vacations written into the contract are all about. Hope you get to see this, cause there will be lots more from lots more people who know what they like on television and that is where you come in. No bs – I'm just stating a fact. Pack your bags and come on home. I'm not ready to see Tad the Cad on the back burner…I'm ready to see MEK flying high and keeping his pack of happy women glowing!! Love Ya always…. Bonnie Olsson I've been watching since the beginning! I cannot believe that you are taking this great show off of the air! What in God's name are you thinking! That we need one more reality show or talk show or game show is ridiculous! Whomever the executive is who made this decision should be evaluated! I am sad beyond words. I love the actors who have played in this show for all the years. I have met a few. It is a sad day that I won't forget easily!I REALLY WISH THAT YOU WOULD RECONSIDER YOUR DECISION . This is a note that I sent to ABC. Years ago I met you in Reading,PA. I told you I didn't want anything from you just to thank you for all the years I have enjoyed your talent. YOu seemed fairly surprised at my response. Well, again, THank you for all that you have given to us through Tad Martin for all the years! I wish you were going to continue on that show, but, all the best to you and yours. Much appreciation. We loose this treasure over a cooking show!! Like watching paint dry. Michaels' character Tad was the one whom got along with everyone. He was at times an effective "emollient" between confrontational parties. Casuallly cool, affable, compassionate. A class act and gracious man October 11, 2011 - 18:46:39 Michael, I was sorry to see the show end. Someone suggested you should try to fill Regis spot, that's not a bad idea. I was wondering, what ever happen to ED (don't know his real name). He played the police officer, and I think he was married to Carla on the show. It would be nice if you can send me his real name, so I can read anything about him. Thanks! "I think in that last week of August a lot of people really aren’t going to know how to deal, but right now we’re just busy trying to keep it going, you know what I’m saying? We know it’s there. We got the announcement and it was like, “Okay, I’ll deal with that later because I have so much to do first.” " Michael (Tad) above is your statment; however it was I and my fellow emploees thinking & saying the same things as our company (worked for 23 yrs) were going through exactly the same thing, the date was different but the emotions the same. It's been a few months now and i can freely say i'm pissed! Pissed at all the money grubbing Co's in todays society. Who do we contact to get AMC back on the air ??? May i suggest you gather all cast members, combine forces, assets, friends and associates and start your own AMC net work TV show? We will watch, i promise. KATY WHOWELL December 22, 2011 - 21:58:05 ITS 12/22/2011 AND TAD {MICHAEL KNIGHT} JUST WALKED INTO MY MOMS STORE IN MASSACHUSETTS!!!!! SO EXCITED. WHAT A NICE HUMBLE PERSONALITY ON THAT MAN. HAPPY HOLIDAYS ALL MY CHILDREN. I WILL MISS YOU… January 3, 2012 - 19:22:20 Watched since the beginning,loved this soap. ABC has disappointed me. I don't care for The Chew. Sandra Kent January 10, 2012 - 13:42:18 In the 1970's as a young military bride far from my own extended family, "All My Children" was the family I could tune into each day and feel like I was home. The characters were like family and Tad in particlar was a favorite because of his wit and charm. I never missed an episode even when it meant racing home from work for lunch and missing the first few minutes and the last few minutes to have time to get back to work. When VCR's first came into use, that was the show I taped and watched every evening. When DVRs came into use, I switched to that method but I never missed a show. When our local station would preempt it for some extended news flash, I subscribed to Soapnet so I could tape it that night and watch it later. I rarely got to watch it live so if the network executives think their only audience was those able to be home at noon, they are thinking only of the tip of the iceberg they can see, not the massive mountain hidden under water. The Nielson people need to figure out how to get accurate data that reflects today's world of working people who record and watch programs as they are able. I've had as many as 40 programs recorded and waiting for time to watch. It doesn't mean I'm not watching, only that I'm watching when I have time. I deeply miss All My Children. Tad and the other characters were like family. To watch them work through their problems and triumphs allowed me to feel like part of their family in some small way. I have not and do not intend to watch reality TV as I find just the promos alone vapid, back-biting, shallow and not worth my time. The executives need to think why would a show continue to have devoted viewers after 40 YEARS if it wasn't worth watching. And can they point to any other programs that have lasted that long? No. Soaps allow viewers to develop a long-term relationship with the characters. They allowed the characters time to grow and evolve. Maybe someone will bring it to cable or late night TV. If it should come back, I will be one of the first to set it up for daily recording and once again feel home in Pine Valley. Thanks, Michael, for all you brought to the show. You are a treasure. Rosanne Leary It would be great if All My Children would return as a late afternoon/evening soap. As mentioned in the interview, with more women working during the day, the audience has declined. Bring the soap to the evening hours and I believe you will find the ratings would go back up. I am a big fan of Michael E. Knight. He brought so much life to the Tad Martin character and I never tired of watching scenes that Michael played in. I wish him luck wherever his career takes him. tenofclubs March 19, 2012 - 14:15:45 Replacing Regis would be fantastic. April 19, 2013 - 04:55:54 I love this talented actor, M.N. I was one of the lucky ones to have met him once in West Orange, NJ, a comedy club. He's a very humble and very pleasant, needless to mention, handsome man. I have a picture with him which I cherish. Best of Luck to you Michael! I will miss you in AMC. Febra Louk The article offered substantial insight into the private side of a man I always wanted to know better. What he has presented to the world is a humble man of substantial humor (sexiest thing in my mind) who genuinely seems to love people and his chosen profession. I don't think there is much hope of revitalizing AMC. I hope life continues to bring you excitement, Michael. Stay in LA and enjoy your brothers, nephews & the sunshine! I watched AMC since 1970 even though I am only 3 years older than yourself. I pray your angel finds you the perfect perch on TV so we can see you again soon! Leave a Reply to Ilene Cancel reply	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line705
__label__wiki	0.72239	0.72239	You are here: About Us >> Background St. Margaret of York Catholic School provides an education that focuses on developing the whole child: spiritually, academically, socially, artistically and physically – thus enabling students to fully utilize their God given gifts and talents to make the world a better place. Responding to the diverse needs of others in the school, community and world creates a welcoming atmosphere that values all people. The desire to live life engaged in the Catholic faith brings about a strong partnership between the student, teacher and parent. This partnership not only promotes high expectations, but it instills an intrinsic desire to improve oneself in all facets of the individual’s development. Students learn and practice their faith through outreach projects that make a positive impact. St. Margaret of York’s students strive for academic excellence. Critical thinking and problem solving are emphasized throughout the school. Students are challenged to apply their learning to real life situations. This commitment provides the foundation for our students to be life-long learners, creative thinkers and confident problem solvers. The school is dedicated to integrating technology into all classrooms. Each room is equipped with an interactive whiteboard, projector, audio-visual equipment and desktop computers. In kindergarten through grade 5, Nooks, AlphaSmarts and laptops are used in our wireless environment. Grades 6 through 8 participate in a one-to-one Tablet PC program. The focus of integrating technology into all areas of a rigorous curriculum provides for a personalized learning environment and differentiated instruction for all. With the many opportunities for academic, spiritual and social enrichment, St. Margaret of York provides a solid foundation that prepares them for success in their future endeavors allowing them to touch tomorrow today. Our Short and Highly Successful History In December of 1983, Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk announced that a new parish would be formed in northeast Cincinnati. Early on, the St Margaret of York parish wanted to meet the educational needs of its families and established the first Catholic grade school in the diocese in twenty five years. From its humble beginnings as a single kindergarten in rented space to the Education Center’s dedication in 1992, St. Margaret of York School today is home to more than 700 students from ten school districts and 14 zip codes. In 1983 Archbishop Pilarczyk announced that a new parish would be formed in Northeast Cincinnati. From its beginning, the parish wanted to meet the educational needs of its youth. In 1984, the parish of Saint Margaret of York was founded and the first mass held at Kings Middle School September 3, 1985 – the school’s first class of kindergarteners started at Saint Margaret of York School. Classes were held in the basement of the rectory. In 1987 – Ground Breaking ceremonies were held to build the first Church building (currently our gymnasium.) 1988 – 450 families are registered at SMOY 1991 – 700 Families in the parish 1992 – Saint Margaret of York Education Center opened. 1994 – 8 Room addition added to the School, 1000 families present in parish From the early 1990’s to now we continue to grow in number and faith!! 2012 - 2013, it was decided to begin a one to one tablet program for students in grades 6-8. During the first month of the 2013-14 school year, we have installed 25 new SMARTboards, made our campus wireless and implemented the 1 to 1 tablet program for grades 6, 7, and 8. 2014 – Awarded the National Blue Ribbon Award for Excellence by the United States Department of Education.The National Blue Ribbon Schools award honors public and private elementary, middle, and high schools where students perform at very high levels or where significant improvements are being made in students’ levels of achievement. 2016-2017 - Added high school level social studies and algebra one classes for high school credit. 2017-2018 - Serving 630 students in kindergarten through grade eight. Added high school level biology class for high school credit.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line708
__label__cc	0.557127	0.442873	Lucas Guttentag Lucas Guttentag is the Professor of the Practice of Law at Stanford Law School and Martin R. Flug Lecturer in Law and Senior Research Scholar at Yale Law School. He is the founder and former national director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, and served as a senior immigration policy official in the Obama administration. Guttentag is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and Harvard Law School. Immigration at the Supreme Court Review of Immigration-Related U.S. Supreme Court Cases: Challenges, Ramifications, and What to Expect Stephen Vladeck Lucas Guttentag Engy Abdelkader Philip L. Torrey Tags: Criminal Law immigration Race Racism Supreme Court Featured in the Harbinger, Volume 44 ABA Immigration Symposium Issue	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line709
__label__wiki	0.616252	0.616252	Prediction of dangerous and adverse events in the Far East 13.04.2011 Category: HurricanesAuthor: admin VLADIVOSTOK, September 5, PrimaMedia. Typhoon TALAS, slightly weakened and turned into a tropical cyclone, we still note by heavy rain in the eastern regions of the Far East. Hydrometeorological Center of Russia published forecast of dangerous and adverse events in the coming days, according to RIA PrimaMedia. Precipitation will be September 5 at most of the Khabarovsk Territory, September 6 — in the east, and September 7 very heavy rain, accompanied by winds of 15-20 m / s are expected in the northern areas of the province. Heavy rain held September 5-7 in Sakhalin, and September 6-7, its intensity increases. September 5-6, in the south Kuril also expected heavy rain, wind of 15-20 m / s. On September 7-9, the cyclone will be observed in most of the Magadan region. In these days of heavy rain will be in the east of Yakutia, a wind of 15-20 m / s (8-9 September on the coast of Yakutia to 24 m / s). In the Chukchi Autonomous Region on the coast on September 5 wind 18-23 m / s. September 8 in Pevek, and on September 9 in most of the peninsula will be rain, wind 19-24 m / s. Tuesday, September 6, in the Primorsky Territory heavy rain (at night is very strong). By RIA PrimaMedia recall that a tropical cyclone is located in the central part of the Japan Sea. According to the Maritime meteorologist, on the eastern coast of the region are still very heavy rains, most of the rainfall — 71 mm — fell in Olga, 69 mm — in the turn. Heavy rain in the afternoon on September 5 began in the central areas of the province. On the coast — the wind speeds up to 25 m / s.Tayfun Talas, which caused a lot of trouble on the coast of Japan, continues to move to the south-east coast of Primorye. Expected loss over the monthly rainfall. Weather in Primorye better to the environment, the storm will move to the Tatar Strait to the coast of the Khabarovsk Territory. Turkey: Thousands of dead fish found in Aydin June 2, 2011. Aydin, Sain Stream. Thousands of fish have died mysteriously. Due to The drought affected farmers in Angola Drought threatens Angola, which may lead to a food crisis, because at the time Environmentalists hope that the owls in Tomsk podedyat mice and squirrels will not touch Two Owls — the Red owl and Ural owl — settled in the camp EU introduces new regulations for disposal of electronic waste August 13 in the European Union, it was announced that no one owned the The death of whales in Primorye Off the coast of Primorye found another dead whale This is the fourth Hurricane Sandy stopped a third reactor at the Indian Point nuclear power plant Hurricane "Sandy" that hit on Tuesday night on the U.S. East Coast, forced the	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line713
__label__wiki	0.848073	0.848073	Modernization of the S-300V to P-300V4 is scheduled for completion in 2012 23.07.2012 Category: UkraineAuthor: admin Modernization of air defense missile system (ADMS) S-300V air defense Ground Forces to the P-300V4 is scheduled for completion in 2012, told RIA Novosti on Monday, a representative of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation on the ground forces (Forces) Lt. Col. Sergei Vlasov. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, C-300V4, compared with the previous system, has advanced combat capabilities. In particular, range heavy missiles are now more than 300 kilometers, while the S-300B can hit ballistic missiles and medium-range to a distance of 200 kilometers. "As part of the development of air defense weapons in the current year it is planned to complete the modernization of the C-300B to the P-300V4, and two weeks ago signed a government contract to supply new air defense missile systems S-300V4" — gave the agency the words of the Chief of Defense NE Major-General Alexander Leonov. Vlasov said Leonov headed one of the committees of the Army, which will evaluate the effect of the compounds and units to large-scale air defense military exercises. "Tactical exercises with live firing formations, units and air defense units of the military districts, coastal missile and artillery forces of the Navy and Marine Corps, Airborne troops begin today, March 26. Events will be held during the month of in landfills, located in Rostov, Volgograd and Chita areas. Total will participate in more than ten thousand soldiers and about five thousand units of special equipment, "- said the representative of the Ministry of Defense on HR. The three-year contract for the supply of S-300V4, the Defense Ministry and Concern PVO "Almaz-Antey" signed two weeks earlier. As noted, the first three battalions of S-300V4 will be delivered and put into operation in the Southern Military District. According to some reports, the Russian Army are more than two thousand of S-300 in different versions. They form the basis of an air defense system Russia. Kazakov, who complained to Putin and Medvedev at the officials, exposed public flogging Photo: dymovskiy.name South Ural Cossack village Magnetic wroteopen letterPrime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Rymashevski: we agreed that the square will be a joint headquarters Society The presidential candidate of the BCD Vitaly Rymashevski at his press conference assessed In the Krasnodar region opened a modern cattle complex in growing pigs September 14. Ltd. "divisibility" opens in Art. Kalinin plant breeding and breeding pigs for Products from the Yaroslavl region was included in the hundred best goods of Russia 36 kinds of products produced in the Yaroslavl region, entered the list of the Disasters 0 In the U.S. state of Vermont for more than ten towns cut off from the outside world More than a dozen towns in Vermont (USA) remain cut off from the outside Our homeland has made the 10-billion-dollar gift, Kim Jong Un: a luxury or a pragmatist? Our government at different times different special generosity. Only this kind of generosity is	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line714
__label__wiki	0.879692	0.879692	Sushi on Sports Tag Archives: Lakers Welcome to the Suck Bowl The NFL has the Super Bowl. The NCAA has countless bowls, covering an eclectic array of classics like the Cotton, Orange, and Rose, and shameless advertisements including the GoDaddy, Hyundai Sun, and Nova Home Loans Arizona. The NBA? Well, it has the Suck Bowl. Tonight in Philadelphia, two team with a combined record of 2-32 will square off. In one corner, there are the Lakers, whose Stone-Age coach’s stubborn dismissal of common sense has them at 2-14. In the other, there are the Sixers, whose New-Age general manager’s continued plea to “trust the process” has the team at a dismal 0-18. These are two teams heading in similar directions, but it’s always intriguing to map out how each got to where they are. Let’s begin with the Lakers, a team that is dysfunctional enough that it allows Kobe Bryant to airball at least four shots a game and whose coach, Byron Scott, recently said: “Our guys get along. They just don’t trust each other”. And no, I’m not sure how that makes any sense, but remember, this is the same guy who seemingly believes that two and three are equal, based on his insistence that his team not shoot too many threes. Anyways, way back in 2012, the team traded for stars Steve Nash and Dwight Howard. The team was expected to be great; however, Mitch Kupchak, the team’s general manager, apparently forgot that defense is as important as offense en route to a disappointing 45-37 season. Despite their final record, the Lakers were still in the playoffs as the seventh seed, so there was still hope for their season. Then they got whipped by the Spurs by an average scoring margin of 18.75 over a four game sweep. In the offseason, Howard fled to Houston, ending the team’s hope that he would be its bridge from Bryant into the future. Instead, the Lakers extended Bryant’s contract by two years for 48.5 million dollars, condemning the team to mediocrity or worse for the foreseeable future. The next season, Los Angeles went 27-55 and Bryant played in a mere six games due to injury. There was a bright side to the team’s awfulness: a high draft pick resulting in Julius Randle, a power forward out of Kentucky. In addition to Randle, the Lakers nabbed Jordan Clarkson, a guard, at 46th overall. In the 2014-15 season, the Lakers went 21-61, the franchise’s worst record throughout its entire history. Adding to the dismal display, Randle broke his leg in his NBA debut, immediately ending his season, and Bryant again suffered through various injuries, playing only 35 games. However, Clarkson had a sparkling rookie season, excelling in March and April once he received playing time, with averages of 17 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 5.7 assists over the last two months of the season. Another ugly season led to another high draft pick, and with the help of some luck in the lottery, the Lakers were able to draft D’Angelo Russell, a star point guard, at #2 overall. That’s where the team stands. It’s got an aging star who’s not a star any more (and is retiring after the season) and a couple of young studs. The team sits at an ugly 2-14, but there’s plenty of hope for the future. In Philadelphia, there’s also hope, but the team took a far different path to get it. The story of the present-day 76ers team began in 2013, when Sam Hinkie tore down the team to tank for a high draft pick. The team finished 19-63, but only got the third pick in the draft, with which they took Joel Embiid. Later on in the first round, the Sixers traded its 10th overall pick to Orlando for the 12th pick and a 2017 first rounder (which led to some hilarious awkwardness as I discussed here), and selected Dario Saric, who can’t come to the US until at least 2016. After another horrific season at 18-64, the Sixers again had the third overall pick, and again took a big man, this time taking Jahlil Okafor out of Duke. As Philadelphia stands now, it has a ton of solid players on its roster, from Nerlens Noel to Robert Covington to TJ McConnell to Nik Stauskas to Tony Wroten to Isaiah Canaan to Jerami Grant. It has a wealth of future draft assets (as Business Insider details here). It even has a couple of 2014 first-rounders coming in the future when Embiid finally makes his debut and Saric comes over from Turkey. It’s clear that Hinkie is pushing all his assets into the future while imploring the team’s fans to “trust the process” and, despite the agonizing state of the present-day team, the plan is nearly guaranteed to work. Zach Lowe wrote over the summer that “if Philly is really willing to do this for five, six, or seven seasons, it almost cannot fail. It will either land a superstar or draft so many good players that they will gather a solid NBA team.” Until that glorious future, however, Sixers fans are stuck with the current team. Despite its numerous quality players, it’s winless at 0-18. The team isn’t as bad as it record shows, though, as Philadelphia has had a lead in the fourth quarter of each of its last five games, only to fritter it away, resulting in agonizing loss after agonizing loss. Tonight’s game against the Lakers is especially important, because, if the Sixers lose, they’ll set a record for the worst start to a season in NBA history. Luckily, Philadelphia is favored by 1.5 points, but if they lose again tonight, another shot at a victory may not come for a while. This entry was posted in NBA and tagged 76ers, basketball, D'Angelo Russell, Jahlil Okafor, Kobe, Kobe Bryant, Lakers, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA, Philadelphia, Philadelphia 76ers, Sixers on December 1, 2015 by Sushi Kaplan. Trade Grades: Cousins to New Orleans Which Comeback Was Most Unlikely? The Ravens Are Off to the Least Inspiring 3-0 Start This Century Are the Mets Really This Bad With Runners in Scoring Position? Lessons Learned From the West’s Round One Losers Follow Sushi On Sports via Email Enter your email address to follow Sushi On Sports and receive notifications of new posts by email. Lessons Learned From the West's Round One Losers	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line715
__label__wiki	0.731138	0.731138	Stiles/Miller Wins Project of the Year for Broward Center for the Performing Arts, Fort Lauderdale Stiles/Miller LLC, a joint venture partnership between Stiles and Miller Construction Company, received the prestigious "Project of the Year" award from The Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), Florida East Coast Chapter for the recently completed Broward Center for the Performing Arts renovation and expansion project. The ABC Excellence in Construction Awards is the industry's leading competition recognizing construction projects that display a commitment to safety and quality. The award ceremony was held on October 17, 2014 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. "This recognition is a testament to the commitment of the Stiles/Miller team as well as the public and private partnership that set this project in motion," said Stiles Chief Executive Officer Terry Stiles. "The tight project schedule and requirement for us to perform the work while the center was in full operation added significantly to its complexity. We are incredibly proud to be a part of the renewal of this defining Fort Lauderdale community asset." As Project of the Year, the Broward Center for the Performing Arts was noted for its quality craftsmanship in all renovated spaces as well as its innovation in new construction. Most notably, the team constructed a tunnel that connected the performing arts theatres to the new Huizenga Pavilion, a waterfront event and entertainment venue. "This was a great project for Stiles and Miller to join forces to deliver," said Miller CEO Tom Miller. "Not only do we bring the experienced team members, but we're committed to the continued growth of our local arts and entertainment hub in Fort Lauderdale, the city both of our companies call home." The 18-month upgrades to the theater were planned meticulously in two June-October phases around the Center's schedule of performances. The first phase included refurbishing and restoring the 2,688-seat Au-Rene Theater with cutting-edge high-tech audio and lighting systems, a new orchestra lift and other advanced production features, new seating and carpeting, an upgraded roof, and a high-efficiency climate control system. Overlooking the Au-Rene Theater is a new Club Level bar and seating area where club patrons can enjoy refreshments before, during and after performances. The second phase included the Rose Miniaci Arts Education center, a new three-story 27,630-square-foot arts education wing, as well as the new Huizenga Pavilion, a two-story event space designed to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The Stiles and Miller organizations each bring deep experience in delivering award-winning construction at high-traffic, fully operational facilities that serve the public. Stiles, for example, was responsible for the recent $9 million 31,000-square-foot expansion of the Museum of Discovery and Science, Fort Lauderdale and for the $200 million Dolphin Stadium expansion in Miami where work was accomplished during the Marlins baseball season without interruption to a single event. Miller Construction Company's experience includes construction of the Nova Southeastern University's Miniaci Performing Arts Center and the campus' University Center sports arena, plus dozens of major hospital projects with stringent operational and safety requirements. In addition to the Project of the Year, the Broward Center for the Performing Arts renovation and expansion was also an Eagle Award winner in the category for contract amounts up to $100 million. In total, Stiles received Eagle awards for four projects throughout the region, including the Centurion Air Cargo Facility for commercial projects from $25 million to $100 million. About Miller Construction Company Founded in 1973, Miller Construction Company is a prominent South Florida design/builder and construction-services firm for the commercial, office, healthcare, education and industrial markets. Visit Miller at www.millerconstruction.com or call 954-764-6550. Stiles is a full-service commercial real estate firm with a clear mission: Invest. Build. Manage. Stiles services include development, construction, tenant improvement, realty, property management, architecture, acquisitions and financing. In addition to its Fort Lauderdale headquarters, Stiles maintains regional offices in Miami, Palm Beach, Fort Myers, Tampa and Orlando, Florida, as well as a new office in Charlotte, North Carolina. Stiles is responsible for more than 40 million square feet of office, industrial, retail and mixed-use residential projects throughout the southeastern United States. For more information, please visit https://www.stiles.com or call 954-627-9300. Stiles Construction Broward Center for the Performing Arts	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line720
__label__cc	0.63414	0.36586	\ Ch 1 The Exceptional Manager Ch 1 The Exceptional Manager Trina Garrison 4 Rules of Success 1. Attend every class 2. Don’t postpone 3. Read or review lectures and readings more than once 4. Learn how to use this book More formally, management is defined as (1) the pursuit of organizational goals efficiently and effectively by (2) integrating the work of people through (3) planning, organizing, leading, and controlling the organization’s resources. Management, said one pioneer of management ideas, is \”the art of getting things done through people.\” Agroup of people who work together to achieve some specific purpose. Efficiency—the means. Efficiency is the means of attaining the organization’s goals. To be efficient means to use resources—people, money, raw materials, and the like—wisely and cost-effectively. Effectiveness—the ends. Effectiveness is the organization’s ends, the goals. To be effective means to achieve results, to make the right decisions, and to successfully carry them out so that they achieve the organization’s goals. The Multiplier Effect Good managers create value. The reason is that in being a manager you have a multiplier effect: Your influence on the organization is multiplied far beyond the results that can be achieved by just one person acting alone. Financial Rewards How well compensated are managers? According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median weekly wage in 2011 for American workers of all sorts was $758, or $39,416 a year.14 Education pays: The median 2011 yearly income for full-time workers with at least a bachelor’s degree was $59,904, compared to $33,072 for high-school graduates. Small Business CEO According to recent research, the beginning median salary for a small business chief executive was $233,500. (A small business was classified as a company with up to 500 full-time employees.) Medium-Size Business CEO The beginning median salary for a CEO with 500 to 5,000 employees was $500,000. Large-Size Business CEO In 2007, CEOs earned a median of $849,375 at companies with more than 5,000 employees. Rewards of Studying Management Here are just a few of the payoffs of studying management as a discipline: -You will understand how to deal with organizations from the outside. Since we all are in constant interaction with all kinds of organizations, it helps to understand how they work and how the people in them make decisions. Such knowledge may give you some defensive skills that you can use in dealing with organizations from the outside, as a customer or investor, for example. -You will understand how to relate to your supervisors. Since most of us work in organizations and most of us have bosses, studying management will enable you to understand the pressures managers deal with and how they will best respond to you. -You will understand how to interact with coworkers. The kinds of management policies in place can affect how your coworkers behave. Studying management can give you the understanding of teams and teamwork, cultural differences, conflict and stress, and negotiation and communication skills that will help you get along with fellow employees. -You will understand how to manage yourself in the workplace. Management courses in general, and this book in particular, give you the opportunity to realize insights about yourself—your personality, emotions, values, perceptions, needs, and goals. We help you build your skills in areas such as self-management, listening, handling change, managing stress, avoiding groupthink, and coping with organizational politics. The Rewards of Practicing Management -You and your employees can experience a sense of accomplishment. Every successful goal accomplished provides you not only with personal satisfaction but also with the satisfaction of all those employees you directed who helped you accomplish it. -You can stretch your abilities and magnify your range. Every promotion up the hierarchy of an organization stretches your abilities, challenges your talents and skills, and magnifies the range of your accomplishments. -You can build a catalog of successful products or services. Every product or service you provide—the personal Eiffel Tower or Empire State Building you build, as it were—becomes a monument to your accomplishments. Indeed, studying management may well help you in running your own business. Finally, productivity-improvement expert Odette Pollar of Oakland, California, concludes that \”This is an opportunity to counsel, motivate, advise, guide, empower, and influence large groups of people. These important skills can be used in business as well as in personal and volunteer activities. If you truly like people and enjoy mentoring and helping others to grow and thrive, management is a great job.\” 7 Challenges to Being An Exceptional Manager -Managing for Competitive Advantage -Managing for Diversity -Managing for Globalization -Managing for Information Technology -Managing for Ethical Standards -Managing for Sustainability -Managing Your Own Happiness & Life Goals Competitive advantage is the ability of an organization to produce goods or services more effectively than competitors do, thereby outperforming them. This means an organization must stay ahead in four areas: (1) being responsive to customers, (2) innovation, (3) quality, and (4) efficiency. 1. Being Responsive to Customers The first law of business is Take care of the customer. Without customers—buyers, clients, consumers, shoppers, users, patrons, guests, investors, or whatever they’re called—sooner or later there will be no organization. Nonprofit organizations are well advised to be responsive to their \”customers,\” too, whether they’re called citizens, members, students, patients, voters, rate-payers, or whatever, since they are the justification for the organizations’ existence. 2. Innovation Finding ways to deliver new or better goods or services is called innovation. No organization, for-profit or nonprofit, can allow itself to become complacent—especially when rivals are coming up with creative ideas. \”Innovate or die\” is an important adage for any manager. We discuss innovation in Chapter 3. 3. Quality If your organization is the only one of its kind, customers may put up with products or services that are less than stellar (as they have with some airlines whose hub systems give them a near monopoly on flights out of certain cities), but only because they have no choice. But if another organization comes along and offers a better-quality travel experience, TV program, cut of meat, computer software, or whatever, you may find your company falling behind. Making improvements in quality has become an important management idea in recent times, as we shall discuss. 4. Efficiency A generation ago, organizations rewarded employees for their length of service. Today, however, the emphasis is on efficiency: Companies strive to produce goods or services as quickly as possible using as few employees (and raw materials) as possible. Although a strategy that downgrades the value of employees might ultimately backfire—resulting in the loss of essential experience and skills and even customers—an organization that is overstaffed may not be able to compete with leaner, meaner rivals. This is the reason why, for instance, today many companies rely so much on temp (temporary) workers. Managing for Diversity Clearly, however, the challenge to the manager of the near future is to maximize the contributions of employees Today nearly one in six American workers is foreign-born, the highest proportion since the 1920s.26 But greater changes are yet to come. By mid-century, the mix of American racial or ethnic groups will change considerably, with the United States becoming half (54%) racial or ethnic minority. Non-Hispanic whites are projected to decrease from 66% of the population in 2008 to 46% in 2050. African Americans will increase from 14% to 15%, Asians and Pacific Islanders from 5.1% to 9.2%, and Hispanics (who may be of any race) from 15% to 30%. In addition, in the coming years there will be a different mix of women, immigrants, and older people in the general population, as well as in the workforce. For instance, in 2030, nearly one in five U.S. residents is expected to be 65 and older. This age group is projected to increase to 88.5 million in 2050, more than doubling the number in 2010 (40.3 million). Managing for Globalization \”In Japan it is considered rude to look directly in the eye for more than a few seconds,\” says a report about teaching Americans how to behave abroad, \”and in Greece the hand-waving gesture commonly used in America for good-bye is considered an insult.\” The point: Gestures and symbols don’t have the same meaning to everyone throughout the world. Not understanding such differences can affect how well organizations manage globally. American firms have been going out into the world in a major way, even as the world has been coming to us—leading to what New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman has called, in The World Is Flat, a phenomenon in which globalization has leveled (made \”flat\”) the competitive playing fields between industrial and emerging-market countries. Managing for Information Technology The challenge of managing for information technology, not to mention other technologies affecting your business, will require your unflagging attention. Most important is the Internet, the global network of independently operating but interconnected computers, linking hundreds of thousands of smaller networks around the world. The global network of independently operating but interconnected computers, linking hundreds of thousands of smaller networks around the world. E-Commerce/E-Business This kind of e-commerce, or electronic commerce—the buying and selling of goods or services over computer networks—is reshaping entire industries and revamping the very otion of what a company is. More important than e-commerce, information technology has facilitated e-business, using the Internet to facilitate every aspect of running a business. As one article puts it, \”[A]t bottom, the Internet is a tool that dramatically lowers the cost of communication. That means it can radically alter any industry or activity that depends heavily on the flow of information. Far-Ranging E-Management & E-Communication Far-ranging e-management and e-communication. Using wired and wireless telephones, fax machines, electronic mail, or e-mail—text messages and documents transmitted over a computer network—as well as project management software—programs for planning and scheduling the people, costs, and resources to complete a project on time—21st-century managers will find themselves responsible for creating, motivating, and leading teams of specialists all over the world. This will require them to be masters of organizational communication, able to create concise, powerful e-mail and voice-mail messages. Accelerated Decision Making, Conflict & Stress The Internet not only speeds everything up, it also, with its huge, interconnected databases—computerized collections of interrelated files—can overwhelm us with information, much of it useful, much of it not. For example, studies show that employees lose valuable time and productivity when dealing with excessive and unimportant e-mail volume and increasing amounts of cellphone spam (junk messages). Among the unfortunate by-products are loss of privacy and increased conflict and stress. Changes in Organizational Structure With computers and telecommunications technology, organizations and teams become \”virtual\”; they are no longer as bound by time zones and locations. Employees, for instance, may telecommute, or work from home or remote locations using a variety of information technologies. Meetings may be conducted via videoconferencing, using video and audio links along with computers to let people in different locations see, hear, and talk with one another. In addition, collaborative computing, using state-of-the-art computer software and hardware, will help people work better together. Goal setting and feedback will be conducted via Web-based software programs such as eWorkbench, which enables managers to create and track employee goals. All such forms of interaction will require managers and employees to be more flexible, and there will be an increased emphasis on knowledge management—the implementing of systems and practices to increase the sharing of knowledge and information throughout an organization. Managing for Ethical Standards With the pressure to meet sales, production, and other targets, managers can find themselves confronting ethical dilemmas. What do you do when you learn an employee dropped a gyroscope but put it in the helicopter anyway in order to hold the product’s delivery date? How much should you allow your sales reps to knock the competition? How much leeway do you have in giving gifts to prospective clients in a foreign country to try to land a contract? In an era of global warming and rising sea levels, what is your responsibility to \”act green\”—avoid company policies that are damaging to the environment? Ethical behavior is not just a nicety; it is a very important part of doing business. This was certainly made clear in December 2008, when financier Bernard Madoff confessed that his investments were all \”one big lie\”—not investments at all, but rather a $50 billion scheme (Ponzi scheme), using cash from newer investors to pay off older ones. Not since sociologist Edwin Sutherland invented the term \”white-collar crime\” in the 1930s have so many top-level executives been hauled into court. Managing for Sustainability Sustainability is defined as economic development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. An apparently changing climate, bringing increased damage from hurricanes, floods, and fires throughout the United States and the world, has brought the issue of \”being green\” to increased prominence. Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore’s documentary film An Inconvenient Truth, along with his book by the same name, further popularized the concepts of global climate change and the idea of sustainability as a business model. Our economic system has brought prosperity, but it has also led to unsustainable business practices because it has assumed that natural resources are limitless, which they are not. Pacific Gas & Electric, PNM Resources, and Mohawk Fine Papers—resigned from the Chamber in protest. Perhaps, then, business can begin to take the lead. After years of being slow to address climate change, major corporations—including industrial giants that make products ranging from electricity to chemicals to bulldozers—have begun to call for limits on global warming emissions. Managing for Your Own Happiness & Life Goals Some employment experts counsel that the lesson of today is that you’re working for yourself—that employees should identify themselves with the job, not the company. Regardless of how well paid you are, then, you have to consider whether in meeting the organization’s challenges you are also meeting the challenge of realizing your own happiness. Many people simply don’t find being a manager fulfilling. They may complain that they have to go to too many meetings, that they can’t do enough for their employees, that they are caught in the middle between bosses and subordinates. They may feel, at a time when Dilbert cartoons have created such an unflattering portrayal of managers, that they lack respect. They may decide that, despite the greater income, money cannot buy happiness, as the adage goes. Some feel the Great Recession forced them to miss the economic lifestyle they had hoped for. (But most are happier anyway.) In the end, however, recall what Odette Pollar said: \”If you truly like people and enjoy mentoring and helping others to grow and thrive, management is a great job.\” And it helps to know, as she points out, that \”one’s experience in management is greatly affected by the company’s culture.\” Management Process \”4 MGT Functions\” What do you as a manager do to \”get things done\”—that is, achieve the stated goals of the organization you work for? You perform what is known as the management process, also called the four management functions: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. (The acronym \”POLC\” may help you to remember them.) You set goals & decide how to achieve them You arrange tasks, people, and other resources to accomplish the work You motivate, direct and otherwise influence people to work hard to achieve the organizations goals You monitor performance, compare it with goals, and take corrective actions as needed 3 Levels of Management Not everyone who works in an organization is a manager, of course, but those who are may be classified into three levels—top, middle, and first-line. Top Managers Top managers make long-term decisions about the overall direction of the organization and establish the objectives, policies, and strategies for it. They need to pay a lot of attention to the environment outside the organization, being alert for long-run opportunities and problems and devising strategies for dealing with them. Thus, executives at this level must be future oriented, dealing with uncertain, highly competitive conditions. These people stand at the summit of the management pyramid. But the nature of a pyramid is that the farther you climb, the less space remains at the top. Thus, most pyramid climbers never get to the apex. However, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try. Indeed, you might end up atop a much smaller pyramid of some other organization than the one you started out in—and happier with the result. Middle Managers Middle managers implement the policies and plans of the top managers above them and supervise and coordinate the activities of the first-line managers below them. Titles might include \”plant manager,\” \”district manager,\” and \”regional manager,\” among others. In the nonprofit world, middle managers may have titles such as \”clinic director,\” \”dean of student services,\” and the like. Their salaries may range from under $45,000 up to $120,000 a year. Middle managers are critical for organizational success because they implement the strategic plans created by CEOs and top managers. (Strategic planning is discussed in Chapter 6.) In other words, these managers have the type of \”high-touch\” jobs that can directly affect employees, customers, and suppliers. The job titles at the bottom of the managerial pyramid tend to be on the order of \”department head,\” \”foreman\” or \”forewoman,\” \”team leader,\” or \”supervisor\”—clerical supervisor, production supervisor, research supervisor, and so on. Indeed, supervisor is the name often given to first-line managers as a whole. Their salaries may run from $35,000 to $65,000 a year. Following the plans of middle and top managers, first-line managers make short-term operating decisions, directing the daily tasks of nonmanagerial personnel, who are, of course, all those people who work directly at their jobs but don’t oversee the work of others. No doubt the job of first-line manager will be the place where you would start your managerial career. This can be a valuable experience because it will be the training and testing ground for your management ideas. Functional Managers A functional manager is responsible for just one organizational activity. A general manager is responsible for several organizational activities. Managers for Three Types of Organizations For-Profit Non-Profit Mutual Benefit For-profit, or business, organizations are formed to make money, or profits, by offering products or services. When most people think of \”management,\” they think of business organizations, ranging from Allstate to Zenith, from Amway to Zagat. Managers in nonprofit organizations are often known as \”administrators.\” Nonprofit organizations may be either in the public sector, such as the University of California, or in the private sector, such as Stanford University. Either way, their purpose is to offer services to some clients, not to make a profit. Examples of such organizations are hospitals, colleges, and social-welfare agencies (the Salvation Army, the Red Cross). One particular type of nonprofit organization is called the commonweal organization. Unlike nonprofit service organizations, which offer services to some clients, commonweal organizations offer services to all clients within their jurisdictions. Examples are the military services, the U.S. Postal Service, and your local fire and police departments. Mutual Benefit Organizations Mutual-benefit organizations are voluntary collections of members—political parties, farm cooperatives, labor unions, trade associations, and clubs—whose purpose is to advance members’ interests. Managers Manage Differently? If you become a manager, would you be doing the same types of things regardless of the type of organization? Generally you would be; that is, you would be performing the four management functions—planning, organizing, leading, and controlling The single biggest difference, however, is that in a for-profit organization, the measure of its success is how much profit (or loss) it generates. In the other two types of organization, although income and expenditures are very important concerns, the measure of success is usually the effectiveness of the services delivered—how many students were graduated, if you’re a college administrator, or how many crimes were prevented or solved, if you’re a police chief. Managers Roles 1. A Manager Relies More on Verbal Than on Written Communication Writing letters, memos, and reports takes time. Most managers in Mintzberg’s research tended to get and transmit information through telephone conversations and meetings. No doubt this is still true, although the technologies of e-mail, texting, and Twitter now makes it possible to communicate almost as rapidly in writing as with the spoken word. 2. A Manager Works Long Hours at an Intense Pace \”A true break seldom occurred,\” wrote Mintzberg about his subjects. \”Coffee was taken during meetings, and lunchtime was almost always devoted to formal or informal meetings.\” Long hours at work are standard, he found, with 50 hours being typical and up to 90 hours not unheard of. A 1999 survey by John P. Kotter of the Harvard Business School found that the general managers he studied worked just under 60 hours per week. Are such hours really necessary? Three decades following the Mintzberg research, Linda Stroh, Director of Workplace Studies at Loyola University Chicago, did a study that found that people who work more also earn more. \”Those managers who worked 61 hours or more per week had earned, on average, about two promotions over the past five years,\” she reported.61 Prior to the 2007-2009 Great Recession, researchers at Purdue and McGill universities found that more companies were allowing managers to reduce their working hours and spend more time with their families yet still advance their high-powered careers. However, during economic hard times, top managers may be more apt to see subordinates’ work-life flexibility as a luxury they can no longer afford. 3. A Manager’s Work Is Characterized by Fragmentation, Brevity, & Variety Only about a tenth of the managerial activities observed by Mintzberg took more than an hour; about half were completed in under 9 minutes. Phone calls averaged 6 minutes, informal meetings 10 minutes, and desk-work sessions 15 minutes. \”When free time appeared,\” wrote Mintzberg, \”ever-present subordinates quickly usurped it.\” No wonder the executive’s work time has been characterized as \”the interrupt-driven day\” and that many managers—such as the late Mary Kay Ash, head of the Mary Kay Cosmetics company—get up as early as 5 a.m. so that they will have a quiet period in which to work undisturbed. No wonder that finding balance between work and family lives is an ongoing concern. No wonder that many managers—such as Dawn Lepore, executive vice president of discount broker Charles Schwab & Co.—have become \”much less tolerant of activities that aren’t a good use of my time\” and so have become better delegators. It is clear from Mintzberg’s work that time and task management are major challenges for every manager. The Practical Action box, \”Executive Functioning: How Good Are You at Focusing Your Thoughts, Controlling Your Impulses, & Avoiding Distractions?\” examines this challenge further. The box \”Getting Control of Your Time: Dealing with the Information Deluge in College & in Your Career\” at the end of this chapter also offers some important suggestions. 3 Types of Managerial Roles From his observations and other research, Mintzberg concluded that managers play three broad types of roles or \”organized sets of behavior\”: interpersonal, informational, and decisional. Interpersonal Roles Interpersonal Roles—Figurehead, Leader, and Liaison In their interpersonal roles, managers interact with people inside and outside their work units. The three interpersonal roles include figurehead, leader, and liaison activities. Informational Roles Informational Roles—Monitor, Disseminator, and Spokesperson The most important part of a manager’s job, Mintzberg believed, is information handling, because accurate information is vital for making intelligent decisions. In their three informational roles—as monitor, disseminator, and spokesperson—managers receive and communicate information with other people inside and outside the organization. Decisional Roles Decisional Roles—Entrepreneur, Disturbance Handler, Resource Allocator, and Negotiator In their decisional roles, managers use information to make decisions to solve problems or take advantage of opportunities. The four decision-making roles are entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator, and negotiator. Origins of Yelp Yelp is the 2004 brainchild of Jeremy Stoppelman and Russel Simmons, two engineers in their twenties working for PayPal, the online payments firm in California’s Silicon Valley, who wanted to make it easier for consumers to find good businesses and avoid bad ones. \”What they created,\” says one account, \”was an online yellow pages with attitude. Yelp lets anyone critique any business and grade it, with ratings from one star to five stars.\” All kinds of businesses are rated, from restaurants to mechanics to dentists. While the idea of rating businesses is not new, Yelp uses a special algorithm (step-by-step problem-solving procedure) that determines which reviews are deleted, which featured prominently, and which displayed inconspicuously. And the company keeps the algorithm a closely guarded secret. The idea for Yelp came to Stoppelman and Simmons over lunch one fall, when they talked about building a website for people to e-mail friends questions such as \”Who knows a good auto mechanic in San Francisco?\” and then posting the results online. But, as sometimes happens with new enterprises, the core idea—allowing people to publish reviews without being prompted—was an afterthought. Nevertheless, after lunch the pair went back to the office and successfully pitched their boss (who had made tens of millions on PayPal) to invest $1 million. With this initial help, the Yelp founders were hoping to build momentum and launch a national company, but the idea failed to catch fire. After a few months, without any additional funding, the two decided they had to stay local. \”If we just create a cool city guide to San Francisco and it’s worth $10 or $20 million, that would be a win,\” Stoppelman said. To focus on making Yelp famous locally, they selected a few dozen of the most active reviewers on the site and invited them to an open-bar party; 100 people showed up. Yelp threw more parties for prolific reviewers, which gave casual users a reason to use the site more. By mid-2005, Yelp had 12,000 reviewers. With additional funding, it hired more party planners in New York, Chicago, and Boston. As the Yelp influence grew, bars and restaurants became more willing to host (for free) the parties in the hopes that crowds would come back and write favorable reviews. The company also began setting up call centers to sell advertising to businesses that had been reviewed. Yelp is not without controversy. By encouraging consumers to be unsparing in their critiques, it helps good businesses to thrive, but it also empowers users to be unnecessarily cruel and to hurt small mom-and-pop businesses already struggling with economic hard times and strong competition. Still, the company seems to have achieved success, earning $27.4 million in the first three months of 2012, reflecting 66% growth from a year earlier. Entrepreneurship is the process of taking risks to try to create a new enterprise. There are two types of entrepreneurship. The entrepreneur. An entrepreneur is someone who sees a new opportunity for a product or service and launches a business to try to realize it. Most entrepreneurs run small businesses with fewer than 100 employees. The intrapreneur. An intrapreneur is someone who works inside an existing organization who sees an opportunity for a product or service and mobilizes the organization’s resources to try to realize it. This person might be a researcher or a scientist but could also be a manager who sees an opportunity to create a new venture that could be profitable. How do Entrepreneurs & Managers Differ While the entrepreneur is not necessarily an inventor, he or she \”always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity,\” Peter Drucker pointed out. How does this differ from being a manager? Being an entrepreneur is what it takes to start a business; being a manager is what it takes to grow or maintain a business. As an entrepreneur/intrapreneur, you initiate new goods or services; as a manager you coordinate the resources to produce the goods or services. Entrepreneurial companies have been called \”gazelles\” for the two attributes that make the African antelope successful: speed and agility. \”Gazelles have mastered the art of the quick,\” says Alan Webber, founding editor of Fast Company magazine. \”They have internal approaches and fast decision-making approaches that let them move with maximum agility in a fast-changing business environment.\” Characteristics of Both Characteristic of both—high need for achievement. Both entrepreneurs and managers have a high need for achievement. However, entrepreneurs certainly seem to be motivated to pursue moderately difficult goals through their own efforts in order to realize their ideas and, they hope, financial rewards. Managers, by contrast, are more motivated by promotions and organizational rewards of power and perks. Also characteristic of both—belief in personal control of destiny. If you believe \”I am the captain of my fate, the master of my soul,\” you have what is known as internal locus of control, the belief that you control your own destiny, that external forces will have little influence. (External locus of control means the reverse—you believe you don’t control your destiny, that external forces do.) Both entrepreneurs and managers like to think they have personal control over their lives. Characteristic of both, but especially of entrepreneurs—high energy level and action orientation. Rising to the top in an organization probably requires that a manager put in long hours. For entrepreneurs, however, creating a new enterprise may require an extraordinary investment of time and energy. In addition, while some managers may feel a sense of urgency, entrepreneurs are especially apt to be impatient and to want to get things done as quickly as possible, making them particularly action oriented. Characteristic of both, but especially of entrepreneurs—high tolerance for ambiguity. Every manager needs to be able to make decisions based on ambiguous—that is, unclear or incomplete—information. However, entrepreneurs must have more tolerance for ambiguity because they are trying to do things they haven’t done before. More characteristic of entrepreneurs than managers—self-confidence and tolerance for risk. Managers must believe in themselves and be willing to make decisions; however, this statement applies even more to entrepreneurs. Precisely because they are willing to take risks in the pursuit of new opportunities—indeed, even risk personal financial failure—entrepreneurs need the confidence to act decisively. Of course, not all entrepreneurs have this kind of faith in themselves. So-called necessity entrepreneurs are people such as laid-off corporate workers, discharged military people, immigrants, and divorced homemakers who suddenly must earn a living and are simply trying to replace lost income and are hoping a job comes along. In the United States, these make up about 28% of entrepreneurs. However, 51% are so-called opportunity entrepreneurs—those who start their own business out of a burning desire rather than because they lost a job. Unlike necessity types, they tend to be more ambitious and to start firms that can lead to high-growth businesses. Technical skills consist of the job-specific knowledge needed to perform well in a specialized field. Having the requisite technical skills seems to be most important at the lower levels of management—that is, among employees in their first professional job and first-line managers. Conceptual skills consist of the ability to think analytically, to visualize an organization as a whole and understand how the parts work together. Conceptual skills are particularly important for top managers, who must deal with problems that are ambiguous but that could have far-reaching consequences. This may well be the most difficult set of skills to master. Human skills consist of the ability to work well in cooperation with other people to get things done—especially with people in teams, an important part of today’s organizations. Often these are thought of as \”soft skills.\” These skills—the ability to motivate, to inspire trust, to communicate with others—are necessary for managers of all levels. But because of the range of people, tasks, and problems in an organization, developing your human-interacting skills may turn out to be an ongoing, lifelong effort. Most Valued Traits in Managers Among the chief skills companies seek in top managers are the following: -The ability to motivate and engage others. -The ability to communicate. -Work experience outside the United States. -High energy levels to meet the demands of global travel and a 24/7 world. Chapter 1 : The Exceptional Manager Cost Chapter 1The manager and Management Accounting THE ROLE OF THE PROJECT MANAGER Chapter 13 IT Project Manager	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line723
__label__wiki	0.676416	0.676416	021 - Tesla - War of the Currents Part 5: The Second Front (1890 - 1892) Edison and Westinghouse battle over lightbulbs and high finance as we return to the trenches of the War of the Currents, and see how the war whittled itself down from fifteen combatants to just two... 020 - Tesla - A Most Painful Ordeal (1892) Tesla's trip to the Continent would take an emotional and physical toll that he couldn't have imagined. But he nevertheless returned from Europe with the big idea that would dominate the rest of his career. 019 - Tesla - Order of the Flaming Sword (1891-1892) When his colleagues in the AC field start turning on him, Tesla uses an invitation to lecture in London to reassert his place as the inventor of the AC motor and to dazzle Victorian London with all-new discoveries. 018 - Tesla - The Greatest Show On Earth (1891) Tesla the Showman knocks 'em dead at the AIEE with a lecture for the ages and a breathtaking demonstration of high frequency AC. It was his ticket to fame and celebrity. 017 - Tesla - The Biggest Mistake Nikola Tesla Ever Made (1890-1891) Fresh from his return from Europe, Tesla goes on an inventing spree and dabbles in high-frequency currents. But when George Westinghouse comes calling and pleads poverty, Tesla makes a fateful and costly mistake...	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line727
__label__wiki	0.759243	0.759243	Historic Death Site Sam Houston IV tells about the Austin Oak program Texas Bob "Under this tree, near West Columbia, Texas, a Texas Historical Monument marks the place where Austin died December 27, 1836" Stephen Fuller Austin, born in Austinville, Va., Nov. 3, 1793, died . Dec. 27, 1836, Often referred to as the Father of Texas, for the hundreds of families he brought into this state due to the relatively poor economic conditions in the United States at the time, Stephen F. Austin was very successful in recruiting families to move to Texas. On the death (1821) of his father, Moses Austin, he took over a grant to bring U.S. settlers into Spanish Texas. Under the terms of a special act in 1824 and additional contracts in 1825, 1827, and 1828--all granted by the newly independent Mexican government--the colonizer was responsible for the Stephen F. Austin died December 27th 1836 in the home of George B. McKinstry. The McKinstry home is locate a few miles out side of the then Capital of Texas, Columbia. Austin at the time of his death was serving as the Secretary of State of the recently formed "Republic of Texas". On Christmas eve Austin had taken to bed with a chill and sank quickly into fever and delirium. About noon of the 27th of December he raised from his pallet next to the fireplace and proclaimed, "Texas is recognized! Did you see it in the papers?" and died. Upon his death the President of the Republic of Texas Sam Houston said, "The father of the Texas is no more! The first pioneers of the wilderness has departed! General Stephen F. Austin, Secretary of State, expired this day." because of "his high standing, undeviating moral rectitude ... untiring zeal and valuable service," Houston also ordered a thirty-day period of mourning with all civil and military officers to wear crepe on their right arms and every post and garrison to fire a twenty-three gun salute - one for each county. Stephen F. Austin's death place location: About one mile north of West Columbia, Texas on Highway 36. N 29° 09' 21.2" W 095° 39'13.9" Update: 10 April 2020	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line728
__label__cc	0.681578	0.318422	Affiliate TermsAlex2019-08-28T02:41:21+00:00 Affiliate Agency Agreement Terms of Services The “Trustee for Visual Magic Trust T/A Tactical Arbitrage” (Principal) sells the Services in Australia and globally. The Principal wishes the “affiliate agents” (Agent) to undertake the Activities as agent for the Principal in the Country. Use of this Website or Services constitutes Agreement and acceptance of these Terms and Conditions. OPERATIVE PROVISIONS The following definitions apply in this deed. 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Commission means the following percentages of the payments received by the Principal in consideration for the sale of the Services in during the Term: for each sale of Services on consignment, three percent (3%); and for each sale of Services by an auctioneer, one percent (1%). Country means the country the Agent is domiciled. Expiry Date means the date which is: after the first anniversary of the Commencement Date; and twenty (20) Business Days after the day on which a party to this Agreement gives the other party written notice of its intention to terminate the Agreement. GST has the same meaning as under the GST Law. GST Activities means fulfilling all GST reporting and payment obligations under Australian law in respect of the sale and supply of the Services. GST Law means the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (Cth) and any other law which imposes or otherwise deals with the imposition or administration of goods and services tax in Australia. 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(Expenses) to pay all expenses of and incidental to the carrying on of the Activities. (Warranties) not to make any representations to customers or to give any warranties. This Agreement will automatically terminate on the Expiry Date. The Parties may renew this Agreement and the renewing Party must notify the other Party of its intention to renew this Agreement and notice of this renewal must be no later than one month from the Expiry Date. Termination by the Principal The Principal has the right to terminate the Agreement if one or any of the following occur: a material breach by the Agent of an essential term of this Agreement; or the Agent suffers an Act of Insolvency. at the discretion of the Principal for any reason including but not limited to reports of inappropriate representation of the Tactical Arbitrage product. 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This Agreement is governed by the law in force in Queensland. The parties submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Queensland and the Commonwealth of Australia and any courts, which may hear appeals from those courts in respect of any proceedings in connection with this Agreement. Power and authority Each of the parties warrants that it has the power and has obtained all necessary approvals to enter into this Agreement. Liability for expenses Each party must pay its own expenses incurred in negotiating and executing this Agreement. This Agreement may only be amended or supplemented by an agreement in writing signed by the parties. The non-exercise of or delay in exercising any power or right of a party does not operate as a waiver of that power or right, nor does any single exercise of any power or right preclude any other or further exercise of it or the exercise of any other power or right. A power or right may only be waived in writing, signed by the party to be bound by the waiver. Inconsistency with other documents If this document is inconsistent with any other document or agreement between the parties, this document prevails to the extent of the inconsistency. Any provision in this Agreement which is invalid or unenforceable in any jurisdiction is to be read down for the purposes of that jurisdiction, if possible, so as to be valid and enforceable, and is otherwise capable of being severed to the extent of the invalidity or unenforceability, without affecting the validity or enforceability of that provision in any other jurisdiction. Further assurance Each party must do, sign, execute and deliver and must procure that each of its employees and agents does, signs, executes and delivers, all deeds, documents, instruments and acts reasonably required of it or them by notice from the other party effectively to carry out and give full effect to this Agreement and the rights and obligations of the parties under it. This Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts and all of those counterparts taken together constitute one and the same instrument. Electronic Document An electronic copy of this Agreement signed by the Parties will constitute an original Agreement and this Agreement may be transmitted electronically. Each person who executes this document on behalf of a party under a power of attorney declares that he or she is not aware of any fact or circumstance that might affect his or her authority to do so under that power of attorney. Upgrade your Amazon FBA Business today. 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__label__cc	0.647871	0.352129	Together with local, state, and national partners, TCADP is working to reduce use of the death penalty in Texas and, ultimately, end this arbitrary, irreversible, and unfair punishment. Here are some examples of our impact in 2019: Hosted the TCADP 2019 Annual Conference in Austin, with keynote speaker Jason Baldwin (one of the “West Memphis 3”) and panelists State Representative Joe Moody, The Honorable Elsa Alcala, and the Honorable Mike Lynch. Featured prominently in local, state, and national media coverage of death penalty issues. Published year-end report, Texas Death Penalty Developments in 2019: The Year in Review, which received widespread media coverage in Texas. With the TCADP Lobby Corps, advocated for repeal of the death penalty during the 86th Texas Legislature. Mobilized our members and key partners to stop executions in cases that raised troubling questions about the fairness and accuracy of the Texas death penalty (less than half of the executions scheduled for 2019 were actually carried out). Supported the Texas tour of “The Penalty,” a powerful documentary film that weaves together three fascinating storylines and exposes the realities of the death penalty in dramatic, often unexpected, ways. Cultivated relationships with community and faith leaders across the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and delivered presentations on the death penalty to a wide range of civic and religious organizations statewide. Organized events featuring exonorees, murder victims’ survivors, family members and friends of persons on death row, and former prosecutors and judges. Attracted new followers and increased engagement on social media. Secured more than 110 recurring donors, whose collective gifts amount to nearly $25,000 in pledges each year. Our strategic initiatives in 2020 include holding prosecutors accountable for death penalty practices, preventing new death sentences, and amplifying voices of experience. We also continue to build local leadership support in order to dismantle the death penalty, county by county.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line731
__label__cc	0.50026	0.49974	Auto / Tech What’s next for car technology this decade? By Scott Huntington Sony introduced it’s Vision-S prototype concept car at CES 2020 and it was the talk of the show. Driving is taking a back seat in the world of car technology. We’ve become so competent at making cars that transport us well that our focus has shifted to the myriad other technologies that surround us when we’re behind the wheel. As a result, the new decade is bringing with it a host of changes to the driving experience as well as car technology. If you’ve ever held onto an old car for a long time and then switched to a newer one, you know how much cars have evolved in the last 20 years. Here’s where we’ll continue to see changes in car technology. Projecting a dinosaur into the family photograph is technically enhanced reality. However, it doesn’t add much value to your situation. Until recently, we haven’t had the computing power and experience with this new idea to leverage it in a practical way — but that’s changing in new vehicles. Augmented reality will begin to color the way you interact with your car’s navigation and heads-up-display systems. While HUDs have been gimmicky in all but the best examples, the ability to color-code a specific lane or draw your attention to a stop sign or changing light will be helpful in the future. Self-Diagnosing Cars Should something break on your car, you might receive an indicator that displays exactly what’s wrong and gives you the option to book an appointment with the dealership. If the issue is with software, the car might be able to pull it down over the air the way Tesla cars do now. Not everyone has been a huge fan of over-the-air updates because of the way the occasional update can remove features or cause malfunctions. Manufacturers will have to pay special attention to see that what they send out is ready for production, but if it eliminates a trip to the dealership, wouldn’t you go for it? This is just the start of how car technology is changing. Enhanced Electrical Capacity The 12-volt electrical system in most cars dates all the way back to the 1950s, and yet we continue to build additional technology into our vehicles. It’s time for an update to a more robust architecture so that we can continue to add technology that makes driving more convenient. Manufacturers are gearing up to begin building 48-volt electrical systems in many cars, but the switch isn’t actually motivated by the need for louder stereos and more powerful phone integration. Instead, the extra juice is used to allow for better power delivery from modern turbocharged engines. The Lucid Air is set to make its debut in April 2020. Vehicle-to-Vehicle Infrastructure (V2V) You might be thinking, “Where on that list are self-driving cars?” Despite some clever marketing language that hails many new and very capable lane-following cruise-control systems as self-driving, we’re still quite a way away from self-driving cars. Vehicle-to-vehicle communication is one of the stepping stones to self-driving cars, and it could be a major advancement in the 2020s. Cars cannot currently communicate with one another beyond the occasional carphone to carphone call, and that’s really just two humans communicating between their respective cars. But your car currently logs and holds a great deal of data that could inform the way other cars navigate safely around it and that’s a huge advancement in car technology. You’ve probably heard of 5G, the network infrastructure that many wireless carriers are pushing as the next-generation solution for your cell phone. 5G’s immediate benefits are actually far more tangible in high-impact applications such as V2V communication, and that’s something we might begin to see this decade. Don’t expect the car to drive itself, but it might share the information received from another car with you. The Rise of Electric Vehicles and Ultra-Fuel-Efficient Cars It has to be said that EVs are an important and rapidly developing new technology for the new decade. Yes, they’re already a regular sight on the road in many parts of the country, but even where they’re particularly popular in places like California and New York, EVs constitute only about one percent of all vehicles on the road. That’s not going to make a significant enough difference in sustainability. In the next 10 years, Tesla is going to face real competition. Manufacturers that might have dipped their toes into the hybrid market a decade ago will have the know-how to produce fully electric cars — and do it to very high production values. Not only will Tesla’s cornering of the market be challenged, but its reputation as an upscale EV manufacturer could change. Imagine the Model 3 as a Toyota Corolla equivalent. That’s what it’s intended to be. Yes, production costs are not low enough for the price disparity to play out today, and the Tesla receives a host of luxury features to partially compensate for that fact. But as EVs become easier to find on the lot of a Ford, Volkswagen, BMW or Porsche dealership, Tesla will move mid-market. Charge Your Heart Out The types and quality of cars available are going to change, but that’s not all. The infrastructure to support them will change. Cities like Los Angeles, where EVs are very popular, are already hustling to install additional charging stations, but it’s still hard to avoid a wait if you’re a Tesla owner who wants to use a Supercharger during high-traffic hours. The changes needed to support additional chargers have to occur at the power grid level. There just isn’t enough electrical power made available to charge cars if you increase the number of EVs on the road from one percent to 10, for example. City blocks would experience blackouts from the power drain. At the same time, additional manufacturers will develop vast charging networks to compete with Tesla. For example, Volkswagen has elected to pay back their Dieselgate penalties by putting the money into charger development. These are just a handful of the innovative new technologies that we can look forward to as the new decade begins. In addition, expect enhanced lighting, new takes on alternative fuels, much more powerful voice command technology and advances in traction control and lane-keeping that could make it nearly impossible to crash your car. Ultimately, our cars will be more comfortable, better connected, faster and safer. That’s progress. What do you think of the future of car technology? Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter, or Facebook. You can also comment on our MeWe page by joining the MeWe social network. *We use revenue-generating affiliate links and may earn a commission for purchases made using them. Read more on our disclaimer page. Related Items:Augmented reality, auto, auto tech, automotive, Automotive Technology, featured, Lucid Air, self-driving car, Sony, Tesla [CES 2021] Sony announces new BRAVIA XR 8K LED, 4K OLED, and 4K LED models [CES 2021] Lenovo announces its ThinkReality A3 headset Infographic: Autonomous vehicles may lower insurance premiums [CES 2020] Toucan unveils a new video doorbell and wireless outdoor camera Nyrius ARIES Pro+ transmits FHD video content up to 165 away	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line732
__label__wiki	0.725546	0.725546	How smartphone apps could help keep health records accurate Ben Moscovitch Robert S. Rudin 2 years Ben Moscovitch Contributor Ben Moscovitch directs The Pew Charitable Trusts’ health information technology project. Robert S. Rudin Contributor Robert S. Rudin is an information scientist with the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation. Suppose the next time you go to a new doctor’s office, you wouldn’t have to balance a clipboard on your knee, write down your whole medical history, remember the five-syllable name of every medication you’re taking and list all your allergies. Suppose that your smartphone could simply tap into the office’s computer system, where you could upload your entire medical history safely, securely and accurately. Such an app could ease the frustration patients feel when they fill out the forms for a new doctor. More importantly, it could help solve a serious but lesser-known problem that plagues hospitals and clinics: While the increased use of electronic health records has helped streamline record-keeping, providers aren’t always able to reliably pull together records for the same patient that are held in different hospitals, clinics and doctor’s offices. That was the scene in Boston in 2015, when emergency room doctors were struggling to treat a patient named Maureen Kelly — only to discover five different electronic records for Maureen Kelly, each with the same birthday and ZIP code. They had no way of knowing which record matched the patient in front of them. Was she the Maureen Kelly with diabetes? The Maureen Kelly who had only one kidney? And if they were to decide to send her record to a specialist outside the hospital, how could they know which of the five to send? Fortunately, Maureen Kelly recovered. But to make the best possible medical decisions in cases like hers, doctors need immediate access to accurate patient data — including those from records held in other facilities. Digital systems should be able to seamlessly match records from a pediatrician in Pittsburgh or a surgeon in San Diego each and every time. An inability to do so — which could mean physicians not having important details, such as a patient’s drug allergies, chronic illnesses or past surgeries — can mean the difference between life and death. Doctors using digital tablet together in hospital (Photo: Ariel Skelley/Getty Images) It’s hard enough keeping records straight within a single large hospital system; transferring them among different doctors’ offices and other hospitals is even more challenging. As digital healthcare systems have proliferated, they’ve used a variety of formats to record essential pieces of information, such as addresses and birth dates, that don’t easily transfer from one system to another. And, of course, patients’ identifying information isn’t static — birth dates don’t change, but people move, change names through marriage or adoption, and more. Matches among different systems have also been stymied by data entry errors. And while patient harm is the primary risk posed by inaccurate records, cost is no small consideration. The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology reported that each instance of a misidentified record cost the Mayo Clinic roughly $1,200 — and that’s just within the Mayo system. These administrative costs are magnified when data are exchanged on a nationwide scale. No one solution can solve every patient-matching problem. But The Pew Charitable Trusts is investigating several ideas. Pew recently asked the nonprofit RAND Corporation to evaluate solutions that would let patients exercise more control over how their records are matched. RAND looked at a variety of options and concluded that the growing use of smartphones offers a particularly promising opportunity to improve record matching in two ways. Photo: Hero Images/Getty Images First, smartphones could allow patients to verify their phone numbers at the point of care, perhaps by responding to a text message — a strategy already used in banking, travel, retail and other industries. Once a number was confirmed by the patient, the hospital’s computer could use it automatically to match other records against that number with a higher degree of certainty. Second, patients could use an app to enter their information — such as an address or even a driver’s license number — and have that information sent directly to the hospital when they check in for their visit. This would let patients update their information and voluntarily provide more accurate data to facilitate a match. Smartphone apps could eventually aggregate and transfer even more information — such as medication lists or health histories — and replace the paper on clipboards used today. The smartphone approach will not solve this problem by itself. There are potential limitations — patients would need to own phones and know how to use them, and the system might not work in emergency situations when a patient didn’t have or couldn’t operate a smartphone — but the Pew Research Center found earlier this year that more than three-quarters of Americans now use smartphones, including nearly half of people older than 65. To address the larger problem of patient matching, stakeholders must pursue a variety of solutions, including smartphone apps. Technology developers would be wise to advance and start pilot projects now of smartphones and a variety of other solutions, and demonstrate how they could be used to save lives, improve care and reduce healthcare costs.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line733
__label__cc	0.528183	0.471817	Home News Automotive EV Lab Launches The First Dedicated Electric Vehicle Platform In The Middle East EV Lab Launches The First Dedicated Electric Vehicle Platform In The Middle East Posted By: Tires & Parts Newson: Tuesday, December 15, 2020 In: Automotive, NewsNo Comments EV Lab, a first of its kind omnichannel, multi-brand electric vehicle platform, has today announced its official launch in the region. With the goal of revolutionizing the automotive industry, the new and immersive platform aims to empower automotive enthusiasts in the Middle East to embrace more sustainable and responsible motoring experiences. Channeling the knowledge of mobility in the region and their expertise in retail, the team behind EV Lab have created a concept that supports a customer’s journey from the introduction to EVs through to the switch associated with owning an EV. While the Arabian Gulf has been predominantly seen as an oil-based economy for over a decade, renewable energy, clean transportation technologies, concerns about pollution and climate change, and support for sustainable growth are now driving the new economic agenda, with governments now fully focused on economic diversification with the introduction of renewable energy sources high on the priority list. The UAE aims to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 70 percent, increase clean energy use by 50 percent, and improve energy efficiency by 40 percent by 2050. INSPIRATION BEHIND EV-LAB The new era of EVs is steadily taking share in the region, with the introduction of increasingly technologically advanced and environmentally friendly solutions. During its lifecycle, electric vehicles can save an average of 20 percent of carbon dioxide for every kilometer driven in comparison to their gasoline counterparts, and up to 100 percent of the electric grid is operated solely on renewable energy. With a 40 percent global year-on-year increase in EV sales, Dubai is just one of the cities in the region working on making its roads viable for electric cars. Kevin Chalhoub, Founder & CEO at EV Lab, is confident the UAE is ready to embrace this new technology, saying “Climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our time and road transportation is responsible for 24% of emissions globally. There is an urgent need to move towards a fully electrified transportation system. That’s why it was crucial for us to launch EV Lab in a city as forward looking as Dubai. With the second-highest ratio of public charging stations per EVs in the world, the UAE is a perfect place to own an electric car. The faster acceleration, the ease of charging, the extended range, the increased power, and the advanced technology are some of the reasons why EVs are the future of mobility.” To support the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050, which seeks to produce 75 percent of the Emirate’s energy from clean energy, the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy mandated that 10 percent of all new cars in the Emirate must be electric or hybrid by 2020, and 10 percent of all cars should be green by 2030. Since the launch of Tesla’s showroom in Dubai in 2017, the government has continued to encourage people to buy EVs over traditional cars, leaving the market with an array of EV choices in Dubai ever since. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, an EV marketplace is also beginning to take shape with Saudi Ministry of Energy and NEOM recently signing an MoU that constitutes the Saudi road map for the implementation of future energy goals as the Kingdom prepares to complete an integrated energy sector strategy by the end of 2020. EV Lab is aiming to partner with key automotive players to offer a selection of the best EV products available in the market. The company will also offer a wider range of electric vehicles such as motorcycles, skateboards, and scooters. “Our aim is to foster an inclusive community of EV enthusiasts, through an outstanding customer experience online and offline. Many features are available on the website to educate our customers and accompany them in their EV journey. We’ve integrated an EV Planner tool so that users can calculate the CO2 emission savings, acceleration, cost of ownership, round trips to work and find all available charging stations and charging times for a chosen car. On the EV LAB platform, you can also schedule a test drive and access a unique selection of EVs at your preferred location to experience all the benefits that an EV has to offer.” Said Luca Rubino, Chief Marketing Officer at EV Lab. Tags: CHARGING TOWARDS THE FUTUREElectric Vehicle PlatformEv Labfeaturedmiddle east GMC Yukon Through the Years The First New Bentley Blower For 90 Years Tires & Parts News Bugatti President Stephan Winkelmann looks back on 2020	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line735
__label__wiki	0.809317	0.809317	Portugal assumes EU’s rotating presidency for six months A photo taken on New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2020 shows Berlin’s landmark Brandenburg Gate illuminated to mark the end of Germany’s EU presidency. — AFP/File MADRID: Portugal officially assumed the rotating presidency of the Council of European Union (EU) on Friday, with a motto of “a fair, green and digital recovery”. The COVID-19 pandemic and Brexit will be the main agenda of the EU for the next six months under Portugal’s presidency, taking over from Germany. The EU will specifically focus on COVID-19 vaccination and reducing the socio-economic impact of the pandemic. The outcome of the Brexit agreement will also be on the 27-member bloc’s agenda as the new trade deal between London and Brussels will be implemented in 2021. Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva said Portugal can be an “honest broker” under the terms of the new deal with the UK, pointing to the diplomatic alliance between Portugal and the UK dating back to the 14th century. In a statement announcing the priorities of its term presidency, Portugal pledged to “promote recovery leveraged by the climate and digital transitions.” The country also aims to implement a “European Pillar of Social Rights of the EU as a distinctive element for ensuring a fair and inclusive transition” as well as strengthening Europe’s autonomy while remaining open to the world. Portugal also plans to defend and consolidate the “rule of law” principle within the EU, combating discrimination and promoting pluralism in the media, according to the statement on the EU website. Although EU member states reached an agreement for the 2021-2028 budget and recovery plan under Germany’s term presidency, the technical process will be completed during Portugal’s term presidency, with the funds set to reach 27 member states. The postponed EU-Africa summit, trade negotiations with India, and the ecological and digital transition process will also be prioritised by the EU during the next six months. Some international issues, such as the recent developments in the Eastern Mediterranean, Libya, and Syria, as well as the relations with Turkey and the EU, will also be on the bloc’s agenda. Slovenia will take over the EU term presidency from Portugal on July 1. Related Items:assumes, months, portugal, presidency, rotating Lana Del Rey and Clayton Johnson are engaged after only months of dating Punjab records highest single-day death toll in five months Pakistan sees highest single-day death toll in five months Ertugrul’s Sultan Alaaddin looks dashing in new pictures Burak Hakki won hearts of “Dirilis:Ertugrul” fans with her spectacular performance as Sultan Alaaddin... Eminem’s announcement leaves fans excited Eminem on Saturday asked his fans to send their video of singing the hook... Federal Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan. — APP/File RAWALPINDI: Federal Minister for Aviation... A view of the Senate. — APP/File The Election Commission of Pakistan has stated... The Indus Hospital on Saturday dismissed all media reports regarding a discontinuation of grants... Mumbai Police have obtained transcript of conversation between Arnab Goswami and the CEO of... Twitter welcomes South African team to Pakistan The members of South African team upon arrival at Karachi airport. KARACHI: The news...	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line737
__label__wiki	0.979947	0.979947	’I told them everything. They did nothing’: Sex worker says she warned London, Ont. cops Postmedia News Nov 13, 2017 • Last Updated November 13, 2017 • 6 minute read Josie Glenn BY RANDY RICHMOND LONDON, Ont. — A London sex worker says she warned police someone could die after she was choked, sexually assaulted and held against her will in the home of a man now accused of murder. But police didn’t believe her story, and as a result, she contends, a second woman was assaulted and a third is dead. “I told them everything. They did nothing,” she said. “They basically thought I was lying. The cops treated me like I brought it on myself. They did nothing. They didn’t charge him. They treated me like a piece of s—.” In an interview with The Free Press, the woman said despite her warnings, and attempts to contact police for two weeks, officers only called her after a second woman complained of assault. “They did not want to hear what I was saying. What happened to the second girl and (homicide victim) Josie Glenn didn’t have to happen.” Josephine (Josie) Glenn Her story may be the most damning indictment of police as questions grow about how the London force handled the case of Oluwatobi Boyede, and how they approach violence against women, especially sex workers. “They need to do something about how they feel toward working girls,” the woman said. “If we can’t depend on them, what are we supposed to do?” London police said Friday they could not comment on the woman’s allegations. “Due to the fact that the matter is currently before the courts and the concerns are in relation to an individual’s interaction with member(s) of the London Police Service, we are unable to comment,” said Const. Sandasha Bough. “However, if an individual has concerns or complaints about an interaction with police, there are several options available to make a complaint.” Members of the forensic identification section collect evidence from 252 South Leaksdale Circle in London, Ont. on Sunday October 29, 2017. The body of Josephine ‘Josie’ Glenn, were discovered at the house. Derek Ruttan/The London Free Press/Postmedia Network Bough attached a link to the complaint form on the London Police Service website to share with the woman. The woman’s experience is common among escorts, body rub parlour workers and strippers in London, said Megan Walker, executive director of the London Abused Women’s Centre. Although London police officers working the anti-human trafficking section are trained how to approach women who’ve been assaulted, that message isn’t getting down to front-line officers, she said. “We’ve been trying for years to get police officers to understand what they need to do. They don’t seem willing to do it,” Walker said. Thrust under a harsh spotlight in a national news report this year about police dismissals of sexual assault complaints as unfounded, with one of Canada’s highest rates in that report, London police did their own review and found only a fraction of their investigations fall into that category. Boyede, 25, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Glenn, 26, whose remains were found in his family home in southeast London Oct. 27. But the record of charges against him date back to February, court records show. One woman complained of an assault Feb. 16. Another complained of assault about Feb. 26. Boyede wasn’t charged with the first set of offences until March 2. Police did not issue information about the charges to the media, public or groups protecting women in London. Nor did police tell several organizations protecting women in London that Boyede was released on bail in April, and that a condition of his bail was an order not to contact or communicate with anyone for paid sexual services. The name of the woman in the alleged Feb. 16 assault is protected under a court-ordered publication ban. She provided details about herself and the incident, that only she would know, and that The Free Press had confirmed independently. Police at a stormwater storage pond near Cudmore Cres. being drained on their order as part of their investigation into the murder of Josie Glenn on Monday October 30, 2017. MORRIS LAMONT/THE LONDON FREE PRESS /POSTMEDIA NETWORK “I am a sex worker, but I have no criminal record and I don’t have a history with drugs,” she said. “I do this to support my family. There’s so many good women out there that have to make ends meet somehow. I feel so bad for Josie, her family. They are in my prayers. I can’t imagine how hard this must be for them.” The woman said she took a call about 11:30 p.m. Feb. 15 and arrived at Boyede’s home. Without going into details that will be part of a court case, she said she was held against her will all night. At one point, she managed to call 911 and leave the phone on for a minute or so while she shouted at her assailant to stop hurting her and to let her go. But there was no way of knowing where the assault was taking place. When police called back, she could not answer. She endured another hour or so of assault, she said. “I was seconds away from losing my life. I was about to die. I just thought about the people I love and that I can’t die right now.” Police use a metal detectors to search the a partially drained pond at Meadowgate Park in London, Ont. on Friday November 3, 2017. The park is in the vicinity of 252 South Leaksdale Circle where the remains of 25 year old Josephine ‘Josie’ Glenn were discovered on Friday, October 27. Derek Ruttan/The London Free Press/Postmedia Network Finally, about 7:30 a.m. Feb. 16, she got out of the house and called 911, she said. A male officer and a female officer showed up. The male officer did most of the questioning while the female officer stayed mostly in the background, the woman said. “I was visibly injured,” she said. “I told them he was trying to kill me.” As well, the officers were presented physical evidence that proved she was confined, the woman said, unwilling to provide any other details that might be part of a court case. Despite all that, she said all the officers did was promise to open an investigation, but added they weren’t going to lay a charge at that point. “The male officer had no sympathy. It was a waste of his time. They dismissed the whole thing,” she said. The woman said she suspects it’s because she works in the sex trade. “Once they put you in that box and check that box, they don’t care.” The officers told her she could take an ambulance to the hospital. She’s still astounded by the fact police thought she should leave her car at the house where she said she’d just been assaulted. “I just drove home in shock. My neck, my body was in so much pain.” A friend made her go to the hospital, where she received compassion and a full assessment of her injuries, which was sent with her approval to police. But for the next two weeks, she called police several times, leaving messages and warning them about her concerns, she said. “I never felt so low in all my life. I only pressed the issue with them because I was scared something like this would happen to someone else.” It appears only after the second complaint did police call her in for an interview, and then several days later, have charges laid against Boyede. At her police interview, she stressed her belief in the danger to other women. “I said he will kill someone if you don’t do something.” For months, she tried to put the assault out of her mind. Police never called her back, she said. Only after Glenn’s remains were found did police contact her to ask how she was doing, the woman said. “I had no idea what happened,” she said, close to tears. “They didn’t talk to me for months. Now, all of a sudden, they are saying they are thinking about me.’ The woman said she tried to put what happened out of her mind. “Now, I can’t sleep, I can’t eat. I am very emotional.” The woman said she attended a vigil Thursday night for Glenn, and in conversations marked by anger and exasperation came several moments of sadness for the slain woman and her family. “I know what she went through,” the woman said. Boyede hasn’t entered a plea to the second-degree murder charge. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for March on all the earlier charges against him. Oluwatobi Boyede chronology: Feb. 16: Woman complains of sexual assault at Boyede family home. Feb. 26: Second woman complains of assault at same home. Boyede charged, released to appear in court later. March 2: Boyede rearrested, charged with sexual assault, forcible confinement, choking and assault of first woman Feb. 16. April 26: Released from jail with sureties and specific bail conditions, including no contact with anyone for paid sexual services. July 30: Rearrested for alleged curfew violation; released again. Oct. 28: Charged with second-degree murder in death of Josephine (Josie) Glenn, 26. rrichmond@postmedia.com twitter.com/RandyRatLFPress	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line739
__label__cc	0.557165	0.442835	TRABUS Makes the Inc. 5000 List for the Fifth Year in a Row San Diego, CA (August 14, 2019) – Inc. magazine recognized Trabus Technologies today as one of the fastest-growing privately held companies in the United States on their annual Inc. 5000 list. Now a five-time honoree, TRABUS ranked 3589 with revenue growth of 97 percent. Every year, Inc. magazine generates a list of the 5,000 most successful privately held companies in the country based on their revenue growth over the course of three years. While other institutions may put out similar lists, this compilation is different because unlike lists that are based on a company’s net worth, the Inc. 5000 tracks the most noteworthy cases of consistent revenue growth and company development. This powerful metric gives credit where credit is due, recognizing the devoted entrepreneurs who roll-up their sleeves and work to build something sustainable. About Trabus Technologies TRABUS is a minority-owned, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) headquartered in San Diego, California. Incorporated in 2010, TRABUS provides professional support services to the U.S. government and specializes in the development of technical solutions across three major portfolios: Wireless Technologies, Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity. TRABUS has been profitable since its inception, has no debt, and has made the “Inc. 5000” list five years in a row as one of the 5,000 fastest-growing privately held small companies in the United States. With just under 50 employees, the majority of the TRABUS workforce consists of scientists, engineers, military veterans and management professionals who support to the local defense industrial base and a growing number of technical innovations that could disrupt the wireless and information sharing ecosystems. Related Links: https://www.inc.com/inc5000/2019/top-private-companies-2019-inc5000.html TRABUS Participates in EDC’s Defense Innovation Voucher Program Grand Prize Pitch San Diego, CA (May 23, 2019) – Trabus Technologies, along with four other local companies—EpiSys Science, Inc. (EpiSci), Fuse Integration, Inc., GET Engineering Corporation and Planck Aerosystems—participated in the San Diego Economic Development Corporation’s (EDC) DIV Grand Prize Pitch today. The Defense Innovation Voucher (DIV) program is a comprehensive business initiative, designed to build resilience in small to medium-sized, San Diego-based defense companies. Fifteen diverse companies were chosen to participate in the 2018-19 DIV program, each receiving an initial $15,000 grant for their participation. Of the 15 participants, five finalists were chosen to compete for an additional $25,000 prize. Each of the five companies shared their San Diego story and plan for the prize if awarded. All five finalists did a superb job at representing San Diego’s diverse and innovative defense technology community. Congratulations to all participants, particularly Planck Aerosystems, who won the grand prize. A special thank you to Booz Allen Hamilton, San Diego ERDC, and the San Diego Military Advisory Council (SDMAC) for the opportunity to participate in Propel San Diego’s DIV Program. TRABUS Attends Inland Marine Expo in St. Louis, MO St. Louis, MO (May 20, 2019) – Members of the TRABUS team attended the Inland Marine Expo (IMX) in St. Louis, Missouri, an annual trade show for the inland and intracoastal marine transportation industry. The event focused primarily on equipment and services that are critical in the transportation of goods along U.S. inland and intracoastal waterways. TRABUS showcased its cloud-based River Information Services Enterprise (RISE) technology and its cybersecurity offerings. Joe Celano, RISE Project Manager and Director of Business Development, was also a guest speaker on the IMX Marine Cybersecurity Panel. TRABUS Awarded Seat on Information Operations Contract with PMW 120 San Diego, CA (January 11, 2019) – TRABUS obtains a seat on the Battlespace Awareness & Information Operations Program Office’s (PMW 120) Information Operations Engineering Services Multiple Award Contract. Work will include systems engineering, software development, digital signal processing, prototyping, and other related studies and services in support of PMW 120 initiatives, project and acquisition programs. TRABUS Awarded GSA Contract for Cross Domain Solution (CDS) Analysis of Alternatives San Diego, CA (January 7, 2019) – GSA and PEO C4I PMW 130 awarded TRABUS a firm fixed price contract to conduct an Analysis of Alternatives of other cross domain guard solutions (CDS) in use by Navy, other Services and other government agencies to determine if alternate solutions can support U.S. Navy use cases. In addition, TRABUS will deliver an implementation business approach and provide recommendations to accommodate innovation, upgrades, and demand generation, recommendations for business plan implementation. The project is scheduled to be completed this summer.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line742
__label__cc	0.529786	0.470214	Matt Gallant CEO Matt Gallant is a seasoned, serial entrepreneur who’s built 13 profitable companies. His 20 years of advertising experience has prepared him for tribeOS. His experience includes: over 8 Million leads captured, over 13,000 marketing experiments performed, over $10 Million spent on digital advertising, and over $40 Million generated in online sales. He is a professional marketing strategist who knows how to get traction. For the last 5 years Matt has been building the ultimate advertising tracking platform with cutting edge advertiser tools, many of which will be integrated into tribeOS. Matt’s single-minded purpose is to create the most profitable advertising marketplace ever for advertisers and publishers. James Wallace CTO James Wallace (JW) has been an entrepreneur since he was 11 years old, and has built hundreds of applications in over 25 tech startups. JW built his first website in 1994, and hasn’t stopped building technology since. JW comes from five generations of advertising experience that serviced the Fortune 500 for over a century. The family sold its offline assets and James took the company online in 1994, trading Fortune 500 clients for Silicon Valley tech startups. Since the nineties, his companies have been robbed of Millions of dollars in ad fraud. This motivated him to build the best tools to protect not only his own companies, but the network’s advertisers and publishers. This anti-ad fraud technology is the first line of defense in advertising, and JW is eager to end ad fraud for everyone, forever, with tribeOS. James Tonn COO James Tonn (JT) co-founded Podium Publishing, which he grew exponentially from a $10k investment into a 9-figure valuation in less than 5 years by leveraging technology and digital marketing. He has over a decade of strategic procurement experience, specializing in Innovation and Public-Private Partnerships (P3s), and has been entrusted as the Fairness Advisor on a number of multi-billion dollar and highly complex partnership projects. JT and JW are co-founders of Exponential University, whose blockchain venture fund was the sole Pre-Seed Investor in tribeOS. JT is personally excited about disrupting the oppressive power imbalance in the advertising industry, which is perfectly aligned with his core values of transparency and fairness. Dino Keco Head of Engineering Dino is a computer science and IT expert with over 10 years of experience as a software engineer. He has worked on multiple international software projects for some of the world’s largest companies like NAVTEQ, NOKIA, IMS Health, and others. Dino is most passionate about data science and machine learning research fields, which was the basis for his PhD thesis. He values education and sharing his knowledge with others and he’s a big supporter of open source projects. Roger Ver (Bitcoin Jesus) Dean Jackson (Marketing Expert) Yanik Silver (Digital Marketing, Social Entrepreneurship) Marc Goodman (Cybersecurity) Clay Hebert (Crowdfunding, Market Strategy) Kurtis Minder (Cyber Intelligence, Brand Fraud) Jesse Elder (Speaker, Entrepreneur) Chad Lavallee (Ad Tech) David Bullock (Engineering Consultant)	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line746
__label__cc	0.742667	0.257333	Christmas Break Begins.................................................................Dec. 19 Placement Test..................................................................Dec. 12 Open House.............................................................................................................Nov. 7, 8 Trinity’s ‘Crazy for You’ Opens Mar. 11 photo by Editor in Chief Preston Romanov The company of “Crazy for You” will be waiting for you on Mar. 11. ECHO Staff Coming off packed houses for the fall production of “The Three Musketeers,” Trinity’s Department of Theatre Arts will present the romantic comedy musical “Crazy for You.” Seven 7 p.m. performances open on Mar. 11 and continue on Mar. 12, 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21. Three 2 p.m. performances take place on Mar. 15, 21 and 22. A student matinee will also be presented on Mar. 13. Ms. Kate E. Reedy produces, directs and choreographs the production. Which is the BEST Star Wars movie? Deirdre on Kung Fu Club Offers Chance for Physical and Spiritual Growth Dylan McArthur on Rocks Esports Team Competing Against the Best Chad L Waggoner on Can You Guess the Year? Rest in Peace, Brother Charles Cully 2020 Shamrock Editor Wins Award in WKU Contest Trinity Class of 2025 Takes Placement Test! Romero Trio First to Solve Breakout Clues Nicholas Owens Wins Pixel Art Contest Rocks Bring Home Awards from Virtual KYA Sts. Peter and Paul Society and the Book Club Discussing the Narnia Series It’s Time for Pickleball! House Contest Pushes the Envelope for Military Veterans and Service Members! Rocks Welcome Eighth-Graders and Families to ‘Reimagined’ Open House The student news site of Trinity High School	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line747
__label__wiki	0.833707	0.833707	Habs Fourth Line Crucial in Win Versus Canucks By Jeff Tibbins December 20th, 2017 The Montreal Canadiens’ fourth line looked a lot more like their first line on Tuesday against the Vancouver Canucks. It was almost a case of what could have been for the Canadiens on the night. One minute and three seconds into the first period, captain Max Pacioretty was robbed of his ninth goal of the season when Canucks’ goalie Anders Nilsson, who was sitting on the ice, miraculously spread his glove hand just enough to keep the puck out of the net. The play could not have epitomized the season more perfectly. Unable to capitalize on their opportunities, another long night seemed inevitable. Luckily for the Canadiens, however, the team’s best line, comprised of Daniel Carr, Byron Froese, and Nicolas Deslauriers, had other plans. Much Needed Scoring Touch Down 1-0 in the first period after former Hab Thomas Vanek muscled his way to the front of Carey Price’s net to bury a rebound on the Canucks’ second power play of the opening frame, the Canadiens’ needed a quick response. Five minutes later, on the man-advantage, Carr redirected a Charles Hudon wrist shot from the blue-line to tie the game at one. It was all that was needed to spark the goal-starved Canadiens, as they carried the momentum to a 7-5 win on the first stop of their trip to the western-coast of Canada. “When they’re able to chip in, it obviously gives us a huge advantage in the game,” said Pacioretty after the victory. “Not only were they able to chip in, they were able to come up with big goals. “ “That gets the team going and it gives us an opportunity to win the game,” added Pacioretty. In total, the fourth line combined for three goals and seven points against Vancouver. Deslauriers, who was traded to the Canadiens from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for Zack Redmond on Oct 4, led the way with two goals and one assist. Known mostly for his rough and rowdy playing style prior to joining the Canadiens, the Lasalle-native has proven he’s much more than a tough guy who began the year in the American Hockey League. While the transaction seemed like a minor one at the time, it has become more and more evident each game how important it really was. Montreal Canadiens forward Nicolas Deslauriers. (Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports) “Personally, I don’t think we had the best first period as a line. We knew we had to wake up,” said Deslauriers in French. “We’re a line that works hard. If we have a bad shift, we know we have to put on our working boots and be better. That’s what helped us tonight.” Becoming Full-Time NHL Players No one could have ever predicted the amount of success the trio is currently having. As players who have spent most of their careers on the fringe of playing in the National Hockey League full-time, Froese, Carr, and Deslauriers have found the chemistry needed to firmly establish themselves in the Canadiens lineup. Carr, who has shown an ability to score in his shorts stints in Montreal before this season, is tied for second on the team with three goals since being called up from the Laval Rocket on Nov 29. He has also earned a role on the power play, averaging just over a minute of ice time per game. “I think our line is doing some good things. We all have similar identities in our game, so we read well off each other,” said Carr. That helps us get pucks in. We know where each other is going to put the puck and that’s why we’ve had such success as a line.” Montreal Canadiens forward Daniel Carr (Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports) The play of Froese cannot be understated, either. Prior to signing with the Canadiens as an unrestricted free-agent on July 1, the 26-year old centre had spent time in the Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leaf organizations. He provides a stable, two-way style of play that makes his linemates much more effective. Playing alongside Froese, both Carr and Deslauriers have a substantially higher Corsi-For percentage at even strength (CF%). With Froese, Carr’s percentage is 49.65, while Deslauriers’ is 45.54. Without Froese, they have a percentage of 35.48 and 34.88, respectively. With the win, the Canadiens’ record stands at 15-15-4, with 34 points in the bank. Currently fourth in the Atlantic division and on the outside of the playoff picture, they’ll need all four lines producing at a high level. The post-season is anything but guaranteed for the team, but one thing that is certain, is a fourth line capable of matching up against any other in the NHL. “They’re a pretty reliable line,” said head coach Claude Julien. “They deserve the accolades because they’re doing what they’ve been told to do, and it’s paying dividends for them, and for us. Byron Froese Nicolas Deslauriers	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line749
__label__cc	0.662635	0.337365	Premium-wage tradeoff literature review: The public sector The following is cross-posted at the HealthCare Markets and Regulation (HMR) Lab, Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School and is by Jeannie Biniek, a PhD candidate in the economics track of the Health Policy Program at Harvard University. From 2009 to 2013 she worked as professional staff for the Senate Budget Committee where she advised Chairmen Murray (D-WA) and Conrad (D-ND) on health, tax, and economic policy issues. Prior to that she worked as a consultant to companies in the health care industry on transfer pricing matters and intellectual property litigation. She holds a BA from the University of California, Los Angeles and a MA from Johns Hopkins University. This is the first of three posts. The other two are here and here. Last month, Austin Frakt promised to carefully go through the econ literature on the premium-wage tradeoff. (I’m sure he intended to follow through, but I offered to take on this task so he didn’t have to.) First, he said he would identify studies examining public sector employees. Is there a reason to expect something other than a 1:1 premium-wage tradeoff in this setting? Following his plan, I found four papers on this topic: Eberts, Stone, “Wages, Fringe Benefits, and Working Conditions: An Analysis of Compensating Differentials,” Southern Economic Journal, 1985 Clemens, Culter, “Who pays for public employee health costs?” JHE, 2014 Qin, Chernew, “Compensating wage differentials and the impact of health insurance in the public sector on wages and hours,” JHE, 2014 Lubotsky, Olson, “Premium copayments and the trade-off between wages and employer-provided health insurance,” JHE, 2015 Eberts and Stone have the only finding anywhere near a 1:1 tradeoff, with wages falling by 83 cents for each dollar increase in health insurance premiums. The more recent analyses estimate between 15 and roughly 50 percent of the cost of rising health insurance premiums are passed on to workers. Together, these studies identify two potential explanations for why we don’t observe a 1:1 premium-wage tradeoff in the public sector. First, the public sector is not in competition to the same extent as private firms. In particular, where public sector employees are unionized, and in particular where those unions leverage public sector employees’ position as the monopoly providers of government services, we may see some sharing of the risk between employees and employers of uncertain year-to-year changes in health insurance costs. If this is the case, when health insurance costs grow during a given contract period, the terms of the contract may require the government to bear at least some of the burden of those costs. The literature supports the notion that unionization and union strength matters. For example, Clemens and Cutler find that where teachers’ unions are stronger, school district employees bear a smaller share of the cost of higher health insurance premiums. Instead, total compensation increases overall when health insurance premiums grow. With each new contract, however, Lubotsky and Olson point out the following: [U]nion and district compensation negotiations will set the union’s marginal rate of substitution between wages and benefits equal to the district’s marginal willingness to trade-off benefits for wages. A unionized setting does not itself imply that the trade-off between wages and insurance vanishes. A strong union will bargain to increase total compensation, but will also be willing to trade-off health insurance for salary. Limiting their analyses to the first year of each school district contract, Lubotsky and Olson find that school districts appear to bear some burden for changes in health insurance costs. They discuss a second explanation for this finding — the idea that health insurance for public employees is a “shrouded” benefit (Clemens and Cutler also include a discussion of “shrouded” benefits). This view argues that because the cost of fringe benefits (such as health insurance and pensions) is less salient to voters than wages, public officials competing for votes opt for compensation packages that weigh more heavily toward these benefits.[1] As a result, workers value the additional health insurance benefits less than the cost to provide them, and so, they are unwilling to accept dollar-for-dollar lower wages when the cost of health insurance benefits grow. Ultimately, therefore, it’s not surprising to find something less than a 1:1 tradeoff of wages and premiums in the public sector. I will consider literature that focuses on the private sector in subsequent posts. [1] Glaser and Ponzetto (2014) introduced the idea of “shrouded” benefits in the context of public employee pensions, adapting Gabaix and Laibson’s (2006) “shrouded attributes”. Economics, Health Policy premiums, wages	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line750
__label__wiki	0.96484	0.96484	Tuba professor infuses life with passion for music By Ryan Bryant — Staff Writer Two years ago, Dave Unland was given a 20 percent survival rate after doctors diagnosed him with esophageal cancer. Five weeks after surgery, the associate professor of music performance was back playing the tuba in concerts — this time with a chemotherapy bag attached to his body. Dave Unland, associate professor of music performance, helps organize annual holiday tuba concerts and plays around town in the brass band Heavy Metal in addition to teaching. Connor Gleason/The Ithacan “I refused to stop functioning,” he said. Unland started playing tuba at age seven and furthered his career with a full scholarship to Southern Illinois University, where he played with the St. Louis Symphony. He said when he applied for the position at Ithaca College at age 28, he had no idea what to expect from New York state, but he’s now in love with Ithaca. “I can’t imagine being in a place I love more,” Unland said. “It’s like living in a resort town.” Having cancer changed his life forever, he said. He learned that everyone has to face the reality of death, and life became much more meaningful. “It crystallizes what’s important in your life and what has made life beautiful,” he said. Unland, who sometimes works with students until 11 p.m., is constantly willing to give his all for his more than 20 students at the college and in the community. “I have done my fair share of hard labor, but [since] I started playing [music] professionally, I haven’t worked a day in my life,” he said. Unland, who has taught at the college for more than 25 years, has a very laid back style of teaching that helps him be at ease with students. Junior Mike Horsford said Unland is a caring person and is clear about what he wants. “His [teaching] is about how the two of us can accomplish something together,” Horsford said. Unland likes his students to be able to extend their music outside of the classroom and helps organize the college’s annual Oktubafest. Oktubafest, a Halloween tuba and euphonium instrument performance at the college, is one of Unland’s favorite times of the year, he said. Everyone dresses up in costumes to watch Unland, his students and colleagues play classic and creepy tunes like Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” Unland tries to get audience members involved by setting up instruments on stage for them to play. Sarah Drew ’07 said Oktubafest is a chance for the studio’s players to bond with the rest of the college. “It allows us to connect with an audience that we wouldn’t normally see outside of the music building,” Drew said. Off campus, Unland tries in as many ways as he can to bring his music to the people of Ithaca. During the summer at Micawber’s Pub, Unland and his brass band Heavy Metal fill the air with classic rock and swinging jazz melodies that get people up and dancing. This St. Patrick’s Day, the band also played a gig at Moonshadows Tavern. Being a part of Heavy Metal, which includes four of Unland’s students as brass players and a drummer, allows Unland to give a performance that is much more informal and audience-geared than a traditional recital, he said. In addition to classic hits by Elvis and The Beatles, the band also plays original numbers arranged by Unland. “You see that there’s this other reality of playing,” he said. Unland is not just interested in classical and jazz. In fact, he likes to listen to a lot of the same music as his 18-year-old son. Whether it is My Chemical Romance or Linkin Park, Unland is always interested in what’s going on in the music world. He believes it’s not just grandiose classical music that can be considered real art. “If you are moved and changed by the experience, then that’s art,” said Unland. Though he always has a tune in his head, Unland tries to be active outside the music realm. He enjoys sailing, kayaking, cycling and working out. He said he loves listening to liberal talk radio and demonstrating in political events with his family. Sometimes students tend to get wrapped up in their music, he said, so he recommends everyone play recreationally as hard as they perform music. Unland said outside activities allow people to appreciate music more. While Unland said he doesn’t sing in the shower, he is always coming up with new melodies and experimenting with scales. “I have a chance to make a living doing what I love,” said Unland. “How many people get to do that?”	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line751
__label__wiki	0.678421	0.678421	Justin Amash: The Libertarian Party Exists to Bring Together People Who Care About Protecting Rights, With the Goal of Winning Elections By Robert J. Bentley on December 16, 2020 • ( 1 Comment ) The new de facto standard bearer of the Libertarian Party, Justin Amash, is making a big push to draw people to the party of principle from both the Republican and Democratic camps. He has been making this push on Twitter recently and has cemented himself as the new face of the Libertarian Party. The Libertarian Party exists to bring together people who care about protecting rights, with the goal of winning elections. We don’t agree on everything, so if you feel like you’re more of a Libertarian than a Republican or Democrat, then we want you to help us build this party. — Justin Amash (@justinamash) December 16, 2020 If you support individual liberty and oppose coercion and arbitrary power, then join us in the Libertarian Party. If your principles align more with Libertarians than with Republicans or Democrats, then you’re welcome in the Libertarian Party. It’s really that simple. Let’s make the LP the home for all who believe in individual liberty. It’s the party dedicated to protecting all our rights. Amash made history this past year as he became the first sitting Libertarian member of Congress. He explored a run for the Presidency but backed down to focus on building up support for American’s largest third party. He has now taken the “throne” as the de facto leader of the Libertarians. Amash represents everything the Libertarian Party needs and gives friendly face to draw people over from the two old parties. Categories: Justin Amash, Libertarian Party Tagged as: Featured, Justin Amash, Libertarian Party President Trump: Commute the Sentence of Ross Ulbricht Tulsi Gabbard and Thomas Massie Team Up to Defend the Fourth Amendment Tannim says: He isn’t the face of the LP.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line752
__label__cc	0.72798	0.27202	projects in the closet: midnight blue velvet Those of you who've known me a long time may remember when, lo these many years ago, me and a friend cosplayed Darla and Drusilla in their 1880 garb. (From the Buffy/Angel crossover flashback where Dru and Spike meet.) That dress was the beginning of my long infatuation with the Natural Form Era (1878-1882) of fashion, and the original reason Curse of Jacob Tracy is set in 1880. Sad but true. Anyway, I outgrew this dress over the past decade-plus, and it being my first Victorian sewing project there were certain construction elements in the bodice I no longer approved of (we won't even talk about the polyester underskirt). Also, it was green. So last winter I decided to make it over. I trashed the underskirt, took the bodice and overskirt completely apart. They are both cotton velveteen, originally white, which I had dyed green. I soaked them in dye remover to get them back to beige, then overdyed the fabric indigo. It was an interesting exercise because it was only the second time I'd used fiber reactive dyes, but the overall result was very good--it just was a bit lighter and truer blue than I'd hoped for. I was undecided about what to do next, so I threw the disassembled, indigo pieces in a drawer and let them sit for a year. With the weather cooling off I started thinking about this project again. A couple weeks ago I was home sick and browsing through RenaissanceFabrics.net I came across this lovely crossweave silk taffeta and I knew that was what I wanted to piece out my velveteen with. I bought two yards to see if it would match. It doesn't. The discrepancy is stronger than I could capture with my camera; the taffeta is a couple clicks toward the purple. But it's much more the color I want, so I ordered a fresh batch of dye from Dharma Trading Co. and I'm going to tint the velveteen yet again. Stay tuned! Labels: sewing/costuming so about that Indian blood-brother ritual Today I saw this article pop up in my Facebook feed, reiterating the old chestnut about how American Indians practiced blood-binding, or the exchange of blood between unrelated men (in popular fiction it's usually an American native and a white guy) to make them sworn allies in battle. And while it is not usually my style to argue with people on the internet, I feel this is one of those beliefs that needs to die, along with the idea that vaccines cause autism and the notion that candy corn is food. Now, caveat: earlier in the year there was a rumor going around that I was claiming to be an expert on "Native American culture" because I had read "five books" on the subject, which is horse shit; in the first place I have read a great many more than five books, and in the second place I am neither an idiot nor an asshole, so I certainly wouldn't claim to be an expert on anything based on a little book-learning. However, two years ago I did do a fair amount of research on Apsaalooke (Crow) culture in the late 19th century, because I was writing The Romance of Certain Old Bones. Trace and Boz were headed to Montana as hired muscle for an archeological dig, and it stood to reason they would hire a Crow guide, because much of eastern Montana in 1875 was reserved for the Apsaalooke tribes. Ergo I wanted to get a broad idea of how 15-year-old Stanley Many Tongues might respond to the strange goings-on that tend to dog Trace's footsteps. One of the questions I needed to answer (to my satisfaction at least) was whether the Plains tribes actually did that blood-brothers thing. I wanted Trace and Boz to do it, because reasons, and I had heard differing reports on the factuality of it. I wasn't having Trace and Boz to do it because it was an "Indian thing"—neither of those characters is NA anyway—but Stanley was going to be present and I wanted to know how he would interpret such an act. If you do just a little bit of reading into the history and anthropology of magic you quickly notice there are a lot of rituals, across many cultures, that treat blood as a sacred fluid. Early peoples recognized blood's importance to life and thus ascribed mystical powers to it; that's why there are taboos against drinking it or playing with it. That's why so many magic rituals—particularly dark or evil magics—utilize it. Blood is life, lack-brain. By the end of the 19th century microscopes had gotten strong enough that scientists were beginning to be able to discern the parts of blood—red and white cells, platelets—and see how they responded to injury or disease. Mendel's work on heredity was being published in the late 1860's, and Darwin's ideas about evolution had seized the public imagination. Whole new justifications for racism cropped up using twisted interpretations of these theories, which led directly or indirectly to the "one drop" laws of segregation—legal definitions of who was white and who wasn't, who could marry whom, or sell or buy or inherit. The point is, people understood from antiquity that blood was powerful stuff, and the notion of being related "by blood" was also powerful. The idea of taking a friend's blood into your own body and thus making them a part of you seems to be very widespread. I have seen reports, and I believe there was even a court case in which a couple was accused of miscegenation, where the husband (white) claimed he had injected some of his (black) wife's blood into his own arm, thereby making himself black according to the one-drop rule. But I have not been able to find accounts of any of the Plains Indians (or any other Native American) tribes using the ritual exchange of blood as part of their adoption or fealty rituals. Some of the most widely-available books about Crow culture in the late 19th century, by Lowie and Linderman, suggest that the Crow were not averse to spilling their own blood in the name of ritual. Two of the best-documented examples were cutting off fingers as a sign of grief, or bleeding their flesh as a gesture of sacrifice to get visions (done in conjunction with solitude and fasting—one source speculated that blood loss would bring on fainting and hallucinations). Crows and their neighbors did have myriad rituals for adopting tribesmen into their war clubs and/or religious societies; sometimes this involved handing down of sacred objects, e.g. medicine pouches and their inherent powers, which might include bones of animals or relatives. (I found one anthropologist's report that claimed some especially powerful medicine bags might contain the skulls of ancestors, which were used for divination and advice.) The Crow also learnt and modified rituals from other tribes, particularly the Hidatsa, with whom they were closely related and often intermingled. These rituals seem to have been largely abandoned around the start of the 20th century, when Christianity was widely adopted by or forced on the tribes. However, for all the modern talk about maintaining traditions, the inconvenient truth is pre-twentieth century Native American religion was highly personal and fluid, so there’s almost no such thing as “authentic” rituals, any more than there is an "authentic" version of the Bible, or "authentic" martial arts forms. (See what I did there? Pissed off everybody in one fell sentence.) As far as I can tell, the romantic pre-urban myth about Indian blood-brothers comes from a series of books about the American West by popular German novelist Karl May, which were published in the 1870-80s and featured an Apache "chief" named Winnetou. Karl May probably never visited North America and he certainly wasn't acquainted with any Apaches. So where did May get the idea? Turns out I'm not the only one who had that question. I found a thesis paper by a medieval historian who was looking into this very phenomenon. In every case where a ‘blood brothers’ ritual is mentioned—and there are many in medieval manuscripts—it seems to be used as a sort of backhanded compliment or self-aggrandizement i.e.: "Those savages over there were REAL badasses, but we wiped ‘em out anyway, because ours is the true civilization.” The author of the paper concluded that NO ONE actually did this ritual except possibly the ancient Scythians, although in that case too, it seems that a Greek poet described the practice some 200 years after the fact, and again, may have made it up to illustrate what fierce, savage warriors the Scythians were. The point is, the idea seems to have been well-worn even by the nineteenth century, and it seems to be ascribed to the romantic “other” more often than not, in a "Those guys are crazy!" kind of way. With that in mind, I tweaked the scene in such a way as to pay homage to the trope while hopefully injecting a nod toward factualism. And for the record, I think my husband put it best when he said, "Why are tough guys in movies always cutting up their hands? That's the dumbest thing ever. A cut on the hand takes forever to heal because you're always bending your hand and breaking it open and then it gets infected." Interesting side note #1: I consulted a college anthropology professor who did claim to be an expert in NA matters, and while he did take issue with several points in my manuscript, he didn't bat an eye at the blood-brothers ritual, which made me inclined to distrust everything else he said. Interesting side note #2: Deb Reece at American Indians in Children's Literature touches on the subject here, though does not offer any counter-examples or resources to refute the claim (though I admit it's pretty difficult to prove that somebody DIDN'T do something—it's the bane of historical research). Interesting side note #3: I found a piece asserting that Chinese gang members and underworld types (again, fierce warriors of the foreign persuasion) did this sort of thing in the late 19th century up through the 1940’s. My Chinese Kung fu teacher, who is a Hong Kong native, also insists it is so, but did not provide references. Labels: 19th century research, writing/publishing	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line754
__label__wiki	0.970466	0.970466	Guinness World Records has just jumped the shark Entertainment Books Guinness World Records has just jumped the shark 10:05pm, Feb 22, 2019 Updated: 11:08pm, Feb 22 Hugh Jackman always dreamed of holding a world record. Photo: Guinness World Record Jane Nicholls No disrespect to Hugh Jackman, but fair suck of the biggest sauce bottle ever: has the Guinness World Records lost the holy moly factor? The beloved Aussie actor was just announced as an official entrant in the Guinness World Records 2020 book, for his stint as X Men character Wolverine, which lasted 16 years and 228 days. He shares the record with Patrick Stewart, his co-star in the movie franchise, and it’s for having the longest careers as live-action Marvel superheroes. Come on, really? Who thought that up? It’s not like Hugh was lumbered with those mutton- chop whiskers and retractable claws for almost 17 years. (If that had been the record and he’d rocked up opposite Nicole Kidman in Australia with those silver talons, I’d pay it.) Meanwhile, Alyssa Healy, the Australian women’s cricket team awesome wicketkeeper, has also earned a spot in the iconic record book. Hers was a genuine athletic feat: catching a cricket ball from the greatest height ever. It plummeted 82.5 metres from a drone hovering around the height of the top of the MCG’s light towers and it looks damn scary in the slick video of the attempt. “We didn’t expect Alyssa to go as high as she did, she really smashed the previous record,” says official Guinness World Records (GWR) adjudicator Pete Fairbairn, who was in the centre (in a helmet, the only occasion in three years that he’s modified his uniform). “We couldn’t go any higher than that, it’s a no-fly zone!” Healy also had a noble aim: The ICC’s T20 International Player of the Year was using her feat to tout a future world record attempt. At the T20 Women’s World Cup match at the MCG on March 8, 2020 – International Women’s Day – they’re going for the largest ever attendance at a women’s sporting fixture. She’s tooting that horn rather than her own. “For now, I’m a Guinness World Records title holder, which means quite a lot,” said Healy. Fairbairn, one of only three adjudicators covering the Asia-Pacific region and “about 30” in the world, says that while it’s definitely fun, they all take it very seriously. “We can be put on an adjudication anywhere in the world for a record for all sorts of things … there are 50,000 active records in the database.” Including Jackman’s new world record – essentially for showing up to his extremely well paid job. The ‘record’ date, by the way, was reached in March 2017, almost two years ago. How is this a real achievement? “I disagree with that sentiment for any of the records,” says Fairbairn. “With the population the size it is on our planet, if you are the one person or group who does something no one else has done, you absolutely deserve the recognition. “Whether it’s catching a cricket ball from the greatest height, being the longest-serving Marvel live-action hero or stacking cup noodles, it’s an amazing achievement and shows dedication and commitment.” OK, Hugh’s record is adorable, just like him. But have the records overall become a little too PC? The GWR site acknowledges that there are a bunch of records that are “no longer monitored”. Out goes “unfettered gluttony”. Also nixed: “heaviest pets” (Australia held the title for the heaviest cat of all time, Himmy, owned by Thomas Vyse, and weighing in at 21.3 kilograms when it died on March 12, 1986, aged 10 years 4 months). The list goes on of freak show entries expunged from the book, over which so many of us tittered as tweens and teens. “The world’s changed and we view a lot of things through a different lens than we did 10, 20, 30 years ago,” says Fairbairn. “Whether it’s the language we use, the sentiment or how we differentiate people. As with many organisations all over the world, Guinness World Records is prepared to do the right thing and move with the times, and that’s to be applauded.” Step right up, Mr Fairbairn. You’re the smoothest GWR adjudicator ever. It’s a record! Two more women accuse singer R Kelly of sex abuse	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line757
__label__wiki	0.678771	0.678771	Talking to myself during the pandemic Thank God for MLK by Herself\|Published December 30, 2020 As a person of Irish descent, I would just like to say, God bless Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. America has been blessed to have his leadership and his embrace of non-violence. If you don’t think that matters, take a look at what happened in Ireland. The Troubles started in Northern Ireland when I was in high school, and I’ve always been amazed we haven’t seen the like over here. The Troubles were a guerrilla war between paramilitary groups like the Irish Republican Army (IRA), made up of (nominal) Catholics who wanted Northern Ireland to join the Republic of Ireland in the south, and various Loyalist (loyal to the United Kingdom) paramilitary groups, police, and army forces who wanted Northern Ireland to remain a member of the United Kingdom. (This old grudge, going back decades, originated when what is now the Republic of Ireland separated itself from the United Kingdom, while six counties in Northern Ireland chose to remain.) It started out as a civil rights movement resulting from ongoing discrimination against Catholics. The North is a majority Protestant country, and it discriminated against Catholics in housing, jobs, and finance, etc., much like whites discriminated against Blacks in the U.S. You might ask, how can you discriminate against someone who looks just like you? By looking at where that person went to high school; that’s usually a pretty good indicator of religion. Politics were colored by religion, which is generally a bad thing for peace. Unlike in the U.S., the civil rights movement in Northern Ireland quickly devolved into a guerrilla war. On one side was the Irish Republican Army (IRA), and on the other side were various Loyalist paramilitaries, the Northern Ireland police, and United Kingdom army forces. The favorite weapon of war was the random bombing. More than half the peopled killed in the Troubles were civilians, including a lovely lady who worked for my Auntie Mary, killed during the May 1974 bombings in Dublin. She was walking down Talbot Street as a bomb set by Loyalist paramilitaries went off in a garbage can right next to her. This guerrilla war went on for thirty solid years and solved absolutely nothing. It kept parts of Northern Ireland in a virtual state of war, killed 3,500 people, stymied economic growth, and wreaked havoc on the childhoods of all too many kids for an entire generation. We avoided all of that. The discrimination inflicted on Catholics in Northern Ireland was mild compared to the long-term discrimination and violence perpetrated on Blacks in the U.S., yet such things didn’t happen over here. That is amazing, and due in large part to the non-violent leadership of MLK, the black churches, and the enormous patience of Black people. White people are spoiled. All I can say is, I pray we get get our shit together before that infinite source of Black patience runs out entirely. I also sincerely pray that we might actually be hearing the nickels slowly dropping into numerous white heads across the country as we slowly come to grips with the realities of what went on in our history, who is responsible for it, and the extent and consequences of the institutional legacy that remains in place inflicting ongoing damage. I am totally in favor of a national novena to that end, which would be a fine project for our bishops instead of their usual blather. In this novena we would pray that that we open our minds and hearts to the realities of our history, and that we cease being witless about our responsibility to reverse systemic racism and honestly face the issue of reparations. Martin Luthor King Jr Hey Dems, you need to dump those guys! Aunt Theresa yells at Andrew Cuomo and Amy Coney Barrett White Privilege? A Chicago Immigrant Story My letter to Rosalie Bernie, were you lonely all those years? Previous post Aunt Theresa yells at Andrew Cuomo and Amy Coney Barrett Next post Hey Dems, you need to dump those guys! © 2021 Talking to myself during the pandemic – All rights reserved	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line759
__label__wiki	0.712228	0.712228	Mr Turner People who have worked with Mr Turner Peter Marsden Cinematography, Photography, Digital Imaging Technician The Batman, Eternals, Gunpowder Milkshake, Peter Rabbit 2, Sanditon, The Rook, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Peterloo, Peter Rabbit, Darkest Hour, Allied, Fantastic Beasts & where to Find them, Miss Peregrine's home for Peculiar Children, Legend, Macbeth, Into the Woods, Mr Turner, Muppets Most Wanted, A Long Way Down, Cuban Fury, Skyfall, Argo, World War Z, Gravity, A Running Jump, Captain America, 14 Days with Victor, Are you there?, Gulliver's Travels	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line762
__label__wiki	0.783959	0.783959	Helping Children Get on the Bus By Sarah Jett ’15 & Rachel Rivas ’15 What does every girl love, no matter what? The answer is usually clothes and fashion – which explains the recent success of Immaculate Heart’s Spring Thrift Boutique. But IH students also love a worthy cause, and the boutique raised much-needed funds for Get on the Bus, the organization that reunites children with incarcerated parents on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Senior Olivia Trachtenberg spearheaded the idea of a thrift boutique as a fundraiser for Get on The Bus, and, with the help of the IH Community Service Team, she encouraged students, faculty and staff to donate gently used clothes and accessories. “The clothing drive went really well,” said CST member Victoria Assad. “We collected a great amount of clothes!” In fact, more than 135 pieces of clothing were collected for the lunchtime boutique and then sold at discounted prices. According to CST moderator Maria Pollia, the boutique raised more than $350. Together with a generous parent contribution of $250, Immaculate Heart was able to contribute $600 to Get on the Bus. That amount, noted Ms. Pollia, was enough for IH to sponsor a bus for the Get on the Bus event and also to have the school listed among sponsor names on the event’s t-shirts. “It was wonderful to have such support from Immaculate Heart students,” she said. 0 comments on “Helping Children Get on the Bus”	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line766
__label__wiki	0.822361	0.822361	Unknown knowns, and known unknowns April 30, 2012 By urbanora in Archives and museums, Lost films Tags: Silent films 2 Comments http://www.flickr.com/people/nfig/ Is there any other art form where the unidentified and the lost have as much cultural cachet as they do in film? Perhaps in some quarters there are those who fret over lost operas or unattributed paintings, but there doesn’t seem anything that quite matches the fascination film buffs (especailly silent film buffs) and film archivists have for films that no longer exist (but might be found somewhere), and films that do exist but whose identity is no longer known. It must have something to the photography and the nearness in time. We’re just a few generations away from when these films were made, and yet we have forgotten already. There is tragedy, and there is guilt. Perhaps the nearest discipline, if not art form, is archaeology, which likewise looks for that which is lost, and puzzles over that which has been found but whose purpose is unclear. So it is appropriate that a workshop on identifying unidentified films, to be organised at the Library of Congress’ Packard Campus, should be entitled Silent Film Archaeology. The workshop takes place 14-16 June at the Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation, Culpeper, Virginia, and here are the details: SILENT FILM ARCHAEOLOGY: A Packard Campus Film Identification Workshop The staff of the Moving Image Section of the Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation will host SILENT FILM ARCHAEOLOGY: A Packard Campus Film Identification Workshop, during June 14-16, 2012. The workshop will include unidentified films from other film preservation archives in addition to those from the Library’s collection. NOTE: Due to resource limitations, participation in this workshop in 2012 will be limited to film archivists and historians actively engaged in film preservation activities and research efforts devoted to American produced films of the silent era. No support will be provided by the Library of Congress for travel, lodging, meals, local transportation or other expenses incurred by participants. SILENT FILM ARCHAEOLOGY: A Packard Campus Film Identification Workshop will be a three day event and take place at the Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation, Culpeper, Virginia, during June 14-16, 2012. The majority of the films presented will be “silents” but will not be shown in silence. Phil Carli, Ben Model and Andrew Simpson will provide musical accompaniment. In addition to full days of workshop screenings, there will be evening public screenings of recent restorations the titles of which will be announced at a later date. A recently completed study by David Pierce, now being prepared for publication by the Library of Congress, confirms what film archivists have long suspected—that 76% of all U.S. feature films produced between 1912 and 1930 no longer survive, or exist only in fragments in non-US film archives. In spite of this sobering statistic, it is known that most US film archives hold considerable amounts of both “unidentified” and “inadequately identified” films and film fragments from the silent era. The SILENT FILM ARCHAEOLOGY: A Packard Campus Film Identification Workshop will bring together practicing film archivists and researchers in an informal atmosphere for the purpose of screening 35mm prints and sharing comments and opinions, with the expectation that a significant number of the puzzles among the Library’s collection of unidentified and poorly identified films will be solved. Some film elements with sound tracks may also be screened. It is hoped that this important film research and discovery effort will become a regularly scheduled Packard Campus activity, in service to the community of film preservationists, and that it can be expanded in the future to include all under-investigated areas of creative and technological achievement in the history of US motion pictures. Prior registration is required and no reservations will be accepted after May 18, 2012. For more information, or to request a registration form contact: Rob Stone, Moving Image Curator at rsto [at] loc.gov. All registrants will receive additional information on schedule, housing and directions. One of the organisers of the workshop, Rachel Parker, is also the person behind the Nitrate Film Interest Group, a Flickr site established by the Association of Moving Image Archivists which posts images from unidentified films from archives around the world, and invites anyone to have a go at ientifying them. Many have since we first drew your attention to the site, and there is now a triumphant section presenting those images which have now been identified thanks to the wisdom of individuals, if not the crowd. It’s a good an example as there is of film archives reinventing themselves and their relationship with their users through the opportunities the web now presents to us. Do take a look, and if you can’t identify any film or person therein, you can still delight in the images and maybe contemplate the passing of time and the transcience of fame. Silent film journals update April 26, 2012 By urbanora in Digitised journals Tags: Silent films 1 Comment As I think most of you will know, the Bioscope maintains a listing of (hopefully) all of the silent film-era journals that are available online. From just a few titles only a couple of years ago, the number of journals now available – most of them freely so – has grown prodigiously. This is thanks in particular to Gallica in France, Teca Digitale piemontese in Italy, the inspired efforts of the Media History Digital Library, and to the efforts of a number of generous individuals, notably Bruce Long, who have been adding titles from their personal collections to the Internet Archive. All of this activity has made the Bioscope’s listing more than a little unwieldy, certainly too much information for a single web page. So, while keeping the single page listing for handy reference’s sake, we have also produced individual web pages for the journals of specific countries, which we think will be more useful to you. You can find the list by going to ‘Library’ on the top menu of this site. Three sub-page options will appear: Catalogues and Databases, Directories and Journals. Hover over the third of these, and the list of countries will appear. Alternatively, links to all of the countries appear on the main Journals page, or you can click on them here: Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, USA. While we’re on the subject, the Media History Digital Library has just announced the first batch of publications whose digitisation has been sponsored by the early film studies organisation Domitor. This comprises seven volumes of testimonies and supporting documents from the U.S. District Court’s 1912-1913 lawsuit against the Motion Picture Patents Company. As the MHDL blog post reports: Inside the U.S. vs. M.P.P.C. volumes, you will find the testimonies of M.P.P.C. members, such as Siegmund Lubin, as well as the testimonies of “Independents” who later became Hollywood moguls (e.g. William Fox). These first-person accounts offer one of the best windows you will find into the workings of the early American film industry. More digitisation from this superb initiative, altruistically funded by individual Domitor members, can be expected in the near future. April 23, 2012 By urbanora in Catalogues and databases, Colour Tags: Silent films 4 Comments Recreated Kinemacolor image from With Our King and Queen through India (1912), showing the Elephant Gate at Delhi, from Cinémathèque Française, reproduced on the Historical Film Colors timeline Historical Film Colors is a timeline of motion picture colour systems and their antecedents. It has been put together by Professor Barbara Flueckiger of the Institute of Cinema Studies, University of Zurich, as part of her research into the remastering of historical film into the digital age. The timeline presents colour processes (240 of them), from Thomas Young’s paper on trichromatic vision published in 1802 through to Eastman Color High Speed Negative, type 5297 (1987). It is presented as a work-in-progress, with the promise of more detailed information to be added to each process, and an invitation to scholars to collaborate in building up the resource. Each entry gives the year, name of the colour system, the person on company involved, illustrative images (taken from a variety of secondary sources), the principle expounded by the process (e.g. aditive three-colour), any relevant patent, and references to papers, articles and books. So you will find Kinemacolor, Technicolor, Prizmacolor, stencil colour, Cinecolor, Kodacolor and a great deal more, famous and not so famous. It’s more of a timeline than a database, so you can’t search for individual systems or combine search requests, but there is a drop-down menu letting to select systems by some of the categories on offer, and it is possible to present the entire timeline on one web page. Entry for Kodachrome Two-color 1915 (Fox Nature Color) It’s a vivid demonstration of the huge efforts made by inventors to come up with a workable motion picture colour system in the silent era, a race won – as we know – by Technicolor – but which is all the more interesting before they got it right, when assorted competing, imperfect systems struggled to convince the public and exhibitors that they had achieved the epitome of colour reproduction. None had, though the artifical colour systems of Pathé and Gaumont delighted with their painterly effects, and the ‘natural’ colour system Kinemacolor thrilled many with actualities of pomp and pageantry. Flueckiger writes on her website that all of this work, producing the database, clearing rights in images, and collating all of the bibliographic references, has been very time-consuming and largely self-funded. So she is inviting not only contributions of ideas and texts, but financial support as well, through a crowdfunding campaign. She hopes to raise $10,000 in 90 days. Most of us not otherwise supported by universities ending doing this sort of thing for free, but maybe the more fool us if there’s money out there from principled individuals keen to support good research that can be shared with everyone. So good luck to her. All of which makes me think it is high time the Bioscope returned to its Colourful Stories series of posts, each of which tackled a different colour process. Well, maybe I will. Eventually. April 19, 2012 By urbanora in Business, Digitised journals Tags: Silent films 3 Comments The demise of the American Kinetoscope Company, as reported in The London Gazette of 15 February 1895 The London Gazette is said to be Britain’s oldest continuously-published newspaper. It was founded in 1665 and has ever since been a record of official announcements. It is not a conventional newspaper, however, being instead a highly specialised resource used by policy-makers, the legal profession and historians. It is an official newspaper of record and is a government publication, published by The Stationery Office . It groups the information it holds into the following categories: State, Parliament, Ecclesiastical, Public Finance, Transport, Planning, Health, Environment, Water, Agriculture & Fisheries, Energy, Post & Telecom, Competition, Corporate Insolvency, Personal Insolvency, Companies & Financial Regulations, Partnerships, Societies Regulation, Personal Legal. For the silent film researcher, the London Gazette is an unexpected treasure trove. The journal has supplied official reports on all company insolvenices, and browsing through its archives brings up hundreds of records of film and cinema industry companies that went bust. It makes for sad but very revealing reading. And the great thing is that the Gazette‘s archives have been digitised and are fully word-searchable. Searching is by the search box found on the website front page. An advanced search option allows you to narrow searches by date, phrase, page number and by some selected historical events. Narrowing down the date fields to 1895-1929 brings up 1,832 results under the word ‘cinema’, 765 under ‘cinematograph’, 1,455 under ‘film’, and 87 under ‘bioscope’. So there is plenty to be found. Each record leads you to a PDF copy of the relevant page, from which it is then possible to browse acros the rest of the issue. Each record supplies you with date, issue number and page number, and search results can be sorted by relevance, oldest or newest date. The texts are fully word-searchable, and though the OCR is uncorrected it is of a good standard. So what sort of records do we find? Using our traditional search term of ‘kinetoscope’, which brings up just the one record for 1895-1929, we make the striking discovery of a film business being dissolved before any film had been produced in the country. In February 1895, the month in which Birt Acres is believed to have shot the UK’s first 35mm film, the American Kinetoscope Company, a partnership between Greek entrepreneurs George Georgiades and Theo Tragidis, was dissolved, as reported in the Gazette of 15 February 1895: NOTICE is hereby given that the Partnership heretofore subsisting between us the undersigned George Georgiades and Theo Tragidis carrying on business as Dealers in Novelties at 62 Broad-street in the city of London under the style or firm of the American Kinetoscope Company has been dissolved by mutual consent as and from the llth day of February 1895. All debts due to and owing by the said late firm will be received and paid by the said Theo Tragidis.— Dated llth day of February 1895. GEORGE GEORGIADES THEO TRAGIDIS This mysterious duo played an important part in British film history, being the customers who asked Robert Paul late in 1894 to manufacture Kinetoscopes for their Edison 35mm films, after which Paul decided it would be worthwile breaking into this business himself, so starting up the British film industry. More typical is the sort of report we get on the demise of the Globe Film Company in the Gazette of 25 August 1916. They just happens to have been the producers of the fake Titanic newsreel we wrote about recently: The Companies Acts, 1908 and 1913. Special Resolutions of the GLOBE FILM CO.Limited. Passed the 28th day of July, 1916. Confirmed the 14th day of August, 1916. AT an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Members of the Globe Film Co. Limited, duly convened, and held at 81, Shaftesbury-avenue, in the city of Westminster, on the 28th day of July, 1916, the following Special Resolutions were duly passed; and at a subsequent Extraordinary General Meeting of the said Company, also duly convened, and held at the same place, on the 14th day of August, 1916, the following Special Resolutions were duly confirmed, viz.:— ” (1) That it is desirable to reconstruct the Company, and accordingly that the Company be wound up voluntarily; and that Henry McLellan, of 6A, Devonshire-square, in the city of London, Chartered Accountant, be and he is hereby appointed Liquidator for the purpose of such winding-up. ” (2) That the said Liquidator be and he is hereby authorized to consent to the registration of a new Company, to be named ‘Globe Films Limited,’ with a memorandum and articles of association which have already been prepared with the privity and approval of the directors of this Company. ” (3) That the draft agreement submitted to this Meeting and expressed to be made between this Company and its Liquidator of the one part, and Globe Films Limited of the other part, be and the same is hereby approved, and that the Liquidator be and he is hereby authorized, subject to section 192 of the Companies (Consolidation) Act, 1908, to enter into an agreement with such new Company, when incorporated, in the terms of the said draft, and to carry the same into effect, with such (if any) modifications as he thinks expedient.” HY. PESSERS, Chairman. There is a lot of this, sometimes formal reports, sometimes simple lists of titles of companies that are being wound-up. There are also bankruptcy notices for individuals in the film trade (such as Mollie Hanbury, film actress, reported 29 August 1922), and official notices of legislation and regulations relating to films, such as the Cinematograph Act of 1909 (as reported in the Gazette of 21 December 1909) or prescription on the amount of celluloid one could have in a building under the Defence of the Realm Act (reported 13 October 1914). If you are looking for human interest, you will have to read between the lines. These are dry accounts of official transactions, which give you names, dates, occupations and locations, and little more. But you do seen the motion picture business as a business, and not as usually portrayed. Rather than a world of artistic endeavour and happy entertainment, here we see year after year of failures, as so many tried to join in the boom and failed. A close analysis of the reports in the London Gazette would be interesting for what it might illustrate of the ebbs and flows of a new business trying to put down roots. Much of that business is in the exhibition rather than the production side (so many failed cinemas), but that is an accurate reflection of where the balance of the money lay. The records are not unique, and you can find much the same information on bankruptcies and windings-up in the Board of Trade records at The National Archives (as described in an earlier post). But it’s a side of film history that is too often overlooked, a side which must bring a healthy dash of realism to our understanding of what the early film business was. It was paved with broken dreams – and here’s the evidence. Domitor comes to Brighton April 15, 2012 By urbanora in Conferences Tags: Silent films The twelfth Domitor conference, entitled “Performing New Media, 1890-1915” takes place in the UK at the University of Brighton, 18 to 22 June 2012. Domitor is the international society for the study of early cinema, and has held a conference every second year since 1990. This is the first time it has been held in the UK. The conference aims to examine the relationship between performance and turn-of-the-century media technologies, such as the magic lantern, the phonograph, and motion pictures. Its title, Performing New Media, neatly makes the point that the impact of these new technologies upon the 1890s/1910s is paralleled by the impact of the new media technologies of today. This should give the conference a particularly interesting resonance or two, and there will be a special session on “Digital Technologies and New Media circa 1900”. Our new media are changing access to, perceptions of, and the historical interpretation of the media of 100 years ago. A draft programme has been published, downloadable in PDF form on the Domitor site, or laid out helpfully you below. 8:30 Pastries and beverages 9:00 Welcomes by Anne Boddington (Dean of Faculty, Faculty of Arts, University of Brighton); Frank Gray (Director, Screen Archive South East); Scott Curtis (President, Domitor) 9:30 Panel 1: Sallis Benney Theatre Performing “Non-Fiction” Gregory A. Waller (Indiana University), “Circulating and Exhibiting Moving Pictures of the Australian Antarctic Expedition (1911-3)” Rositza Alexandrova (University of Cambridge), “Cinegramme-Sending from the Ilinden Uprising” Rielle Navitski (University of California, Berkeley), “‘Mixtures of Féerie and Document’: Sensational Theater and True-Crime Films in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, 1908-1913” 10:50 Panel 2: Sallis Benney Theatre Music, Opera, and Song Beatrice Birardi (Società Italiana di Musicologia), “From ‘Chamber’ to Cinema: The Music by Carlo Graziani Walter for Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei (Italy, 1913)” Bernhard Kuhn (Bucknell University), “Intermediality Italian Style: Operaticality and Metareferentiality in the Cinema of the Early 1910s” Jaume Radigales (Université Ramon Llull, Barcelona) and Isabel Villanueva (Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, Barcelona), “Le rôle de l’opéra dans le cinéma primitif : Étude des cas” Anupama Kapse (Queens College, City University of New York), “Song and Dance in the Indian Silent Film” Panel 3: Boardroom at Grand Parade Exhibition beyond Theatres and Cinemas Jon Burrows (University of Warwick), “Automatic Entertainment: Early Cinema in the Penny Arcade” Oliver Gaycken (University of Maryland), “‘Denizens of the Deep’: F. Martin Duncan, Natural History Filmmaking, and the Brighton Aquarium” Oksana Chefranova (New York University), “The Screen in the Garden: Moving Image Shows in Moscow circa 1900” Music, Colour, and Sound Christopher Natzén (National Library of Sweden), “‘Such Music Cannot Be Regarded as Real or Genuine Art’: Swedish Cinema Musicians in 1908-1909” Mélissa Gignac (Université Paris 7), “Le son dans les années 1910 : un exemple d’autonomisation progressive des films” Jennifer Peterson (University of Colorado, Boulder), “Lyrical Education: Music and Color in Early Nonfiction Film” Joshua Yumibe (University of St Andrews), “Colour as Performance in Visual Music, Film Tinting, and Digital Painting” Picture Personalities Charles O’Brien (Carleton University), “Griffith Goes West: The Move to California and Its Impact on Actors’ Performances in the Biograph Films” Laura Horak (Stockholm University), “Performing the Film Director: Mauritz Stiller and Vingarne” Ian Christie (Birkbeck College, University of London), “Performers – On Stage and Now on Screen” Chris O’Rourke (University of Cambridge), “In the Flesh: Personal Appearances and the Picture Personality in Britain before 1915” 2:30 Break Performance and Pedagogy Marina Dahlquist (Stockholm University), “Health on Display: The Panama Pacific Exposition (1915) as Sanitary Venue” Frank Kessler and Sabine Lenk (Utrecht University), “‘Kinoreformbewegung’ Revisited: Performing the Cinematograph as a Pedagogical Tool” David Williams (independent scholar), “The Letchworth Experiment, 1914-1917” Kaveh Askari (University of Western Washington), “The Artist’s Studio on Display: Workspace as Educational Space” Performing Femininity Liz Clarke (Wilfrid Laurier University), “Old Wars and New Women: Performing Active Femininity” Diana Anselmo-Sequeira (University of California, Irvine), “‘Neither Here, Nor There, But Everywhere’: How Early American Film Disembodied Adolescent Girlhood” Leslie Midkiff DeBauche (University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point), “When the Law Is the Audience: Codifying Performance in a New Medium” Reconsidering Early Japanese Film: Sounds, Stories, and Performances Panel Chair: Hiroshi Komatsu (Waseda University) Ryo Okubo (University of Tokyo), “Teachers, Benshi, and Itinerant Entertainers: Magic Lantern Performances in Japan at the End of the Nineteenth Century” Sawako Ogawa (University of Tokyo), “From Kodan to Kyugeki: How the Japanese Storytelling Tradition of Kodan Was Assimilated into Early Japanese Cinema” Manabu Ueda (Ritsumeikan University), “The Development of Regional Characteristics during the Emergence of Moving Picture Theaters: A Comparison between Tokyo and Kyoto” Masaki Daibo (Waseda University), “Reception of Film d’Art and Its Impact on Japanese Sound Culture” 6:30 Evening Event: Blackwell book reception Vaudeville and Comedy Donald Crafton (University of Notre Dame), “McCay and Keaton: The Intermediality of Vaudeville, Animation and Slapstick Cinema” Maggie Hennefeld (Brown University), “Performing Film Form: Vaudeville Theater and Early Motion Picture Comedy” Gwendolyn Waltz (independent scholar), “20 Minutes or Less: Short-Form Film-and-Theatre Hybrids—Skits, Sketches, Playlets, & Acts in Vaudeville, Variety, Revues, &c” Pierre Chemartin and Santiago Hidalgo (Université de Montréal), “Learning Film Performance Through Comics” Panel 10: Room G4 Transnational Corridors: Southeast Asia, the Americas, Scandinavia Nadi Tofighian (Stockholm University), “Circuit of Commerce and Cinema: Singapore and the Southeast Asian Film Market” Joel Frykholm (Stockholm University), “From Movie Palace to Media Spaces: New Perspectives on the Exhibition Contexts of the Multi-Reel Feature Film, 1913–1915” John Fullerton (Stockholm University), “Reframing the Panorama in Mexico: Early Actuality Film and Nineteenth-Century Lithographs and Photographs” Anne Bachmann (Stockholm University), “Trajectories between Oslo, Copenhagen and Stockholm: What Norwegian Male Stars Brought to Swedish Biograph, 1913–1915” 10:40 Panel 11: Sallis Benney Theatre Performing Resistance Natascha Drubek (University of Regensburg) “Unruly Projectionists and Censorship in the Cinema of Czarist Russia” Denis Condon (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), “‘Offensive and Riotous Behaviour’: Regulating the Irish Cinema Audience, 1910-15” Alison Griffiths (Baruch College, City University of New York), “Old New Media: The Time Warp Case of Motion Pictures in Prison” 1:00 Panel 12: Sallis Benney Theatre Old and New Media Giusy Pisano (Université Paris-Est), “Au commencement était le son!” André Gaudreault (Université de Montréal) and Philippe Marion (Université de Louvain), “D’un tournant de siècle à l’autre : l’animation restaurée” Wanda Strauven (University of Amsterdam), “The Performing Screens of Early Cinema” Andrea Haller (Deutsches Filminstitut), “Presenting New Media of the Nineteenth Century in the Context of the Twenty-First-Century Museum: The Case of the German Film Museum in Frankfurt” Katherine Groo (University of Aberdeen), “Cut, Paste, Glitch, and Stutter: Remixing Early Film (History)” 3:00 Special Session: Digital Technologies and New Media circa 1900: Sallis Benney Theatre Valentine Robert (Université de Lausanne/Université de Montréal), “De la page à la performance, de la toile à l’écran − ou comment la nouvelle culture des médias s’approprie et transforme le tableau vivant” M. Magdalena Brotons Capó (Universitat de les illes Balears), “Les plaques de lanterne magique à l’origine de l’image cinématographique” Sarah Dellmann (Utrecht University), “Getting to know the Dutch: Magic Lantern Series on the Netherlands Considered as Screen Practice” Ludwig Vogl-Bienek (University of Trier), “Screening Sensations and Live Performance” 6:30 Break, Evening Event: Magic Lantern Show with David Francis The Circus and the Occult Annie Fee (University of Washington), “Circus and Cinema: A Fairground Audience at the Gaumont-Palace” Patrick Désile (Université de Paris), “Cirque et premier cinéma : Antagonismes et convergences” Emmanuel Plasseraud (Université Paris-Est Marne-La-Vallée), “Médiums et nouveaux médias : Projections cinématographiques et performances médiumniques entre 1895 et 1915” Literature, Visuality, and Early Film Pam Thurschwell (University of Sussex), “G.A. Smith, Psychical Research and Film: Disembodied Aesthetics and the Illusion of Embodiment” Laura Marcus (Oxford University), “Conrad’s Figurative Understandings of the Cinema” Jonathan Freedman (University of Michigan), “Henry James and G.A. Smith: Illusion and Visuality” Thierry Lecointe (chercheur indépendant), “Entre nouveauté et continuité : Le spectacle cinématographique serait-il une emergence du théâtre d’ombres français?” Marco Bellano (Università degli Studi di Padova), “The Sound of the Shadows: The Aesthetics of Music for Shadow Plays in Late-Nineteenth-Century France” Canan Balan (Istanbul Sehir University), “Early Multimedia Performances in Late-Nineteenth-Century Istanbul” Institutional Histories of Moving Pictures in the South West UK before 1914 John Plunkett (University of Exeter), “Variety Halls and Touring Visual Entertainment in Plymouth, 1860-1890” Joe Kember (University of Exeter), “Plymouth’s ‘Home of Cinema’: The Long Institutional History of British Town Hall Picture Shows” Rosalind Leveridge (University of Exeter), “‘A Complete Entertainment from the Moment They Enter’: Cinema and Community in the Coastal Resorts of the South West, 1909-1914” Alain Boillat (Université de Lausanne), “Projections fixes / animées: approche historiographique et théorique” Judith Buchanan (University of York), “‘Guttersnipe’s Dialects and ‘élocution soignée’: The Ranging Cultural Performance Registers of Early Cinema Lecturers” May Adadol Ingawanij (University of Westminster), “A Late ‘Early’ Cinema: Orality and Siam’s 16mm Era” Martin Loiperdinger (University of Trier), “Missing Believed Lost: The Film Narrator Then and Now” 2:10 Special Session: Brighton 1978/2012: Sallis Benney Theatre 4:00 Sessions end 6:00 Evening Event: Frank Gray’s Brighton Show THURSDAY 21st June 2012 Technology I Benoît Turquety (Université de Lausanne), “L’histoire des techniques comme source pour l’histoire des pratiques performatives” Katharina Loew (University of Oregon), “Specters of the Theater: 3-D Cinema in the 1910s” Doron Galili (Oberlin College), “The Invention that Will Out-Edison Edison: Early Cinema and Moving Image Transmission” Ted Hovet (Western Kentucky University), “From Circle to Oblong: Standardizing the Borders of the Projected Image in the 1890s” William Boddy (Baruch College, City University of New York), “The Spectacle of Technology: Cinema and Outdoor Advertising in Early-Twentieth-Century Visual Culture” Place and Exhibition Marta Braun (Ryerson University) and Charlie Keil (University of Toronto), “Architecture and Performance: Toronto’s Screen Media Landscape at the Turn of the Century” Paul S. Moore (Ryerson University), “Early Cinema’s ‘Social Media’ Moment: Local Views in Mainstream Picture Shows in North America before the Nickelodeon” Leigh Mercer (University of Washington), “Barcelona on the Move: The Metropolitan Cinemaway at the Intersection of Tourism, Entertainment, and Urbanism” Begoña Soto Vázquez (Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid), “Cinema as Extension of the Train and the Journal: Considering a New Audience for the Cinematograph, Madrid 1900-1912” Historiography, Nation, Femininity, and Performance Philippe Gauthier (Université de Montréal/Université de Lausanne), “L’historiographie de la performance dans le cinéma des premiers temps et l’émergence de l’histoire universitaire du cinéma” Gunnar Iversen (Norwegian University of Science and Technology), “Performing New Media and the Creation of National Identity: Kräusslich and Köpke in Norway before 1910” Stephen Putnam Hughes (University of London), “Performing Authority at the Cinema in Victorian India” Shelley Stamp (University of California, Santa Cruz), “Lois Weber at Rex: Performing Femininity Across Media” Performance Beyond the Silent Screen: Comedy, Criminality and the Fashioning of a Multimodal Cinema April Miller (University of Northern Colorado), “Vamp until Ready: Parlor Songs, Pseudoscience, and the Ephemeral Performance of the Silent Screen Vampire” Vicki Callahan (University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee), “Simulation Platforms for Writing Film History: A Scalar Presentation on Mabel Normand and Cinematic Performance” Michele Torre (Southern Illinois University, Carbondale), “Transforming Comedic Performance for the ‘New Media’: Lina Bauer Does Film Comedy” Technology II Richard Brown (independent scholar), “A New Look at Old History” Paul Spehr (independent scholar), “Scopes, Phones, Graphs and Grams: Movies and Phonographs at the Introduction of Cinema” Frank M. Scheide (University of Arkansas), “Freeman Owens: Early Arkansas Home Movie Exhibitor, Cinematographer, and Inventor of Motion Picture Technology from 1908-1972” Stephen Herbert (Kingston University, London), “Recreating the First Cameras: A Twelve-Year Project” 2:40 Special Session: Domitor General Assembly: Sallis Benney Theatre Programming and Performance Laurent Guido (Université de Lausanne) and Laurent Le Forestier (Université de Rennes), “Performance et programmes : le cinéma programmé parmi des performances / les performances dans les programmes de cinéma” Richard Abel (University of Michigan), “Motion Picture Advertisements, Programming and Performance” Ansje van Beusekom (Utrecht University), “Performing Films in Winter 1904, 1905, and 1906: Albert Freres and Their Exhibition Skills in Multipurpose Buildings in Dutch Cities” Ranita Chatterjee (University of Westminster), “‘Bringing out from Europe the Latest Scientific Illusion’: Performing New Media in British India” Priska Morrissey (Université Rennes 2), “De l’invention des génériques: étude du cas français (1908-1914)” 6:00 Evening Event: Conference Dinner (details to be announced) FRIDAY 22nd June 2012 Fregoli, Reynaud, and Lightning Sketches Frederic Tabet (Université Paris-Est), “La transparence du Fregoligraph” Christelle Odoux (chercheuse indépendante), “L’application par Émile Reynaud de la photographie à son Théâtre optique: les Photo-peintures animées (1896)” Jean-Baptiste Massuet (Université Rennes 2), “L’appropriation des Lightning Sketches par le Cinématographe, de la performance scénique au cartoon” Malcolm Cook (Birkbeck College, University of London), “Performance Times: The Lightning Cartoon and the Emergence of Animation” Early Cinema (A)live! Sound, Body Performances, and Media Constructions of Presence Wolfgang Fuhrmann (University of Zürich), “Listening to the Image: Ethnographic Film’s Long Beginning” Kristina Köhler (University of Zürich), “Tango Mad and Affected by Cinematographitis: The 1910s Dance Crazes, Early Cinema, and Rhythmic ‘Contagions’ between Screens and Audiences” Daniel Wiegand (University of Zürich), “‘Performed Live and Talking. No Kinematograph’: Amateur Performances of Tableaux Vivants and Local Film Exhibition in Germany around 1900” Franziska Heller (University of Zürich), “Lumière Re-Mastered? Early Cinema Today and Its ‘Digital Performance’” Ivo Blom (VU University of Amsterdam), “The Cross-Medial Case of Lyda Borelli” Nic Leonhardt (LMU Munich), “Pictorial Dramaturgy. Theatre and Visual Media around 1900” Stephen Bottomore (independent scholar), “The Lady of Ostend” Caitlin McGrath (independent scholar), “‘The Eye is a Great Educator’: J. K. Dixon at Kodak” Peter Walsh (Sheffield University), “Standards of Practice in Transition: The Showmanship of Jasper Redfern as It Emerged” Maria A. Velez-Serna (University of Glasgow), “Mapping Showmanship Skills and Practices in Scotland” Artemis Willis (University of Chicago), “‘Marvelous and Fascinating’: L. Frank Baum’s Fairylogue and Radio Plays” 3:00 Special Session: Closing Roundtable: Sallis Benney Theatre 4:00 End of conference This is certainly a remarkable range of papers and themes, with a healthy mixture of leading names in the field and new scholars coming to the fore. The Bioscope will be there for a couple of days at least, and will be producing an on-the-spot conference report for you. There are a lot of old friends named above that it will be good to see again. The full delegate rate for the five days is £140.00 (concessions rate £80.00), with a daily rate of £30.00. All presenters have to be members of Domitor, but attendees not presenting do not have to be members, which is a sensible arrangement. Further details and online booking are provided by the University of Brighton. General information on the conference, including location and travel information, are available on the Domitor site. By the way, it’s been noticeable this year how very few conferences there seem to be worldwide this year that are either directly or indirectly devoted to silent cinema. If anyone knows of such events coming up, do let me know. April 10, 2012 By urbanora in Modern silents, Sport Tags: Silent films 1 Comment The London Olympic Games creep ever closer, and we are going to see all manner of institutions pulling out the stops to express to us what it all means. Well, what it all means is people winning races, but those of an Olympian frame of mind like to think that it’s a bit more uplifting and inspiring than that. So it is that British Airways has sponsored its ‘Great Britons‘ initiative, designed to provide “a global platform for up and coming British talent in food, art and film” in the run up to the Olympic and Paralympic Games. From this has come this short, modern silent film, entitled Boy. The ten-minute film was scripted by ‘Great Britons’ sponsored talent Prasanna Puwanarajah. It is directed by Justin Chadwick and photographed by Danny Cohen, with a score by Alex Heffes, and stars Timothy Spall as a carpenter mourning the death of his cyclist son who finds some sort of redemption at the Olympic park’s Velodrome. It’s surprisingly downbeat in theme, but expertly put together and they hope that its lack of dialogue will mean that it strikes a chord with audiences worldwide. British Airways will be showing the also be showing the film on flights in the months leading up to the Games. Anyway, see what you think. We’ll be having more on silent films and the Olympics here at the Bioscope over the next few months. Googling Muybridge April 9, 2012 By urbanora in Photography, Pre-cinema Tags: Chronophotography 2 Comments Today is 9 April 2012, and by the end of the day we can reasonably expect 700 million people to know something about Eadweard Muybridge, the visionary 19th century photographer whose rapid action sequential images pointed the way to motion pictures. That’s the number of individuals estimated to visit Google every day, and today they would have come across the latest variant on the Google logo, or doodle, a grid of horses as photographed by Eadweard Muybridge, which animates into a succession of galloping horses. Of course, probably 90% of those individuals won’t both to click on the logo to make the animation run in an endless loop, and 90% of those who do won’t both to follow up the links to Muybridge sites that occur when you click on the logo again. But that still leaves seven million people who learned something about Muybridge today. Now doesn’t that make it sound like the world just became a marginally better place? Of course, Google being Google, the list of links is a bit overwhelming for the newcomer, and most of the first two pages is given over to sites telling you that Google has just put Eadweard Muybridge on its front page, so that the whole thing becomes a bit of an endless loop in itself which doesn’t actually tell you much. So, for the select few of you among the 700 million, here are some of the most useful Eadweard Muybridge links around. Do explore. The Compleat Muybridge – Stephen Herbert’s definitive bio-historical site Muy Blog – Herbert’s accompanying blog on Muybridge news Animal Locomotion – almost all of the plates from Muybridge’s Animal Locomotion (1887), courtesy of Boston Public Library Scientific Movement – an online exhibition by the Luminous Lint site on scientific sequence photography, of which Muybridge was a leading exponent Eadweard Muybridge – 100 photographic plate sequences animated by UCR/California Museum of Photography Who’s Who of Victorian Cinema – a handy one-page biography Eadweard Muybridge: Definities Modernities – educational site produced by Kingston Museum, home of the Muybridge personal collection Muybridge Collection – A guide to the Kingston Museum collection The running man – the Bioscope’s analysis of an iconic image sequence from Muybridge Oh, by the way, happy 182nd birthday to Eadweard. And the ship sails on April 5, 2012 By urbanora in Non-fiction Tags: Silent films 30 Comments Although this film is held by British Pathé, it was originally issued by Pathé’s rival Gaumont. The first shots of the Titanic in Belfast are the only genuine extant footage of the ship. The film then continues with shots of survivors in New York, regrettably re-edited by British Pathé in 2012 to turn a ten-minute newsreel into two minutes Those of you recently returned from Mars may be interested to know that we are celebrating the centenary of the sinking of the Titanic this month. Those of you who have spent your time on planet Earth these past few months will not have been able to get away from the books, films, television programmes, souvenirs, exhibitions, commemorative issues, tea towels and who knows what else that has been foisted upon us, and you are probably heartily sick of the subject. Nevertheless, it is an event of some cultural significance, and we feel it would be remiss if we did not try and saying something about the Titanic and silent film. But even here the field is already crowded, with newsreels from the time being readily available online and many probably knowing by now that little film of the liner actually exists, and that much of what screened at at the time that purported to show the Titanic was in fact footage of its sister ship the Olympic. If you see footage that it is claimed shows the launch, passengers embarking, the Titanic at sea, scenes on deck, or indeed the ship sinking, pleased be assured that it is not the Titanic that you are watching. So, just what was filmed of the Titanic, and what survives today? That will be the subject of our post. Newsfilm and documentaries are always made with a purpose; that was as true in 1912 as it is today. There had to be real interest in the topic, such as its newsworthiness. And the hard fact is that the Titanic was not news until it sank. The Olympic, the Titanic and the Gigantic (which was postponed and subsequently became the Britannic) were three liners planned by the White Star Line to capture trans-Atlantic business from its great rival Cunard. Cunard had the fastest liners afloat (it took five days to cross from the UK to the USA), and rather than beat them for speed White Star Line went for size and luxury. Its super-liners would be a little slower than Cunard’s, but they would beat them hand down when it came to dimensions and luxury. The first to be built and to be launched (28 October 1910) was the Olympic. It was the Olympic that grabbed most of the headlines, and attracted the film cameras. There were newsreels of its launch and of life on board ship, and a spectacular documentary was made by the Kineto company, entitled S.S. Olympic, which covered its construction from the laying of the keel to launch. When the time came for the Titanic to be launched, two years later, there wasn’t the same interest. What had been front page news for the first ship was relegated to the inside pages for its successor, and the film companies for the most part ignored it. So, for example, the Kineto film of the Olympic was made by producer Charles Urban, who had initially approached Harland & Wolff for permission to film the construction of both liners. The shipbuilders were happy with this, but Urban took what must have seemed the more practical action and film the construction of the Olympic alone, in black-and-white (a film which survives) and in colour using his Kinemacolor process (a film sadly lost). The Titanic he seems to have ignored. Part of S.S. Olympic (1910), the Kineto documentary on the construction of the Titanic’s sister ship. The two ships were very similar, and the film gives a good idea of what the construction of the Titanic would have looked like So what was filmed? The film historian Stephen Bottomore, in his essential book The Titanic and Silent Cinema, suggests that there were five films or film sequences made of the Titanic. One of these can be discounted, as it merely showed the liner’s anchor being transported, but let us examine the other four (plus a fifth possibility that Bottomore also discusses). The first is a puzzle. When the Titanic sank, producers searched around desperately for any footage that related to the liner. Gaumont concentrated on the scenes in New York where the survivors were received. This newsreel, which demonstrated a desire for accuracy, was released as an issue of The Animated Weekly in the USA and as a Gaumont special in the UK. There were (and are) several versions of this reel, one of which shown in the USA (but not in the UK) had this intertitle for its first scene: Laying the keel of the Titanic Who filmed this? It is a mystery. The keel of the Titanic was first laid in Belfast on 31 March 1909. There is no other record of such a film being made that I can trace (or Bottomore), and the scene does not occur in any of the surviving versions of the film. Did Urban film part of the Titanic‘s construction after all (if he had sought rights to do so from Hardland & Wolff it is unlikely that any other company would have had permission)? But then why did he never release it (it is not mentioned in any of Urban’s catalogues)? And why did this part of the newsreel disappear when the most of rest survived? Was it film of the Olympic‘s keel being laid? (unlikely, given Gaumont’s efforts to show true footage) Or might it have been shot by Films Ltd, producers of the second film of the Titanic? The second scene in the Animated Weekly newsreel showed the launch of the Titanic in Belfast on 31 May 1911. The film was not produced by Gaumont, but rather by Films Ltd, a Liverpool-based company with an office in Belfast. The footage does not survive, and Bottomore quotes the only account we have of it, a most unhelpful two-liner from the Kinematograph and Lantern Weekly film trade journal: Thousands who were unable to see the launch will avail themselves of this opportunity. Even those who saw the launch may in this film see some feature that they missed. The fact that the launch was filmed by a minor film company and paid only meagre attention by the film press shows what comparatively little interest the Titanic had for the media at this point. The Animated Weekly film with these two sequences was first shown in New York on 21 April, just six days after the disaster, so if they were shipped from Belfast then would have had to have been sent out on 16 April, which seems an extraordinarily rapid turnaround. But for some strange reason the laying of the keel and the launch were not included in the British version of the reel issued by Gaumont at the start of May, and are now lost. Instead Gaumont in the UK showed the only film of the Titanic to survive today. On 3 February 1912 a camera operator filmed the Titanic being moved into the Thompson dry dock, Belfast. The film was taken from the quayside looking up at the ship, showing the prow, and comprises seven shots from roughly the same camera position, one of them a panning shot along the length of the ship (there is a useful short analysis of the footage on Encyclopedia Titanica). The first record we have of it being shown is when it featured in the Gaumont Graphic newsreel of 18 April 1912 (three days after the sinking), issue number 112, where it was falsely billed as ‘The Titanic Leaving Belfast Lough Bound for Southampton April 2 1912’. The news of the disaster had only just come through to the UK and Gaumont had moved swiftly to obtain the film, showing 100 feet in its next newsreel release. The full Gaumont Graphic no. 112 issue was: 1 – The British Dog Show at Earls Court 2 – Bob Sleighing 3 – Lord Mayor of Belfast Inspecting the Australian Cadets 4 – The Titanic Leaving Belfast Lough Bound for Southampton April 2 1912 5 – Paris Fashions The Gaumont Graphic issue ledger for 18 April credits the film as “Prov Cine Local”, which must mean the operator was working for Provincial Cinematograph Theatres, a cinema chain with a strong presence in Ireland. Gaumont issued a longer film in the UK at the start of May which was the Animated Weekly release from the USA except, except – most oddly – that there were no shots of the Titanic itself. It included footage of Captain Smith (on board the Olympic), ice floes, a flashing title with the distress code C.Q.D. (which preceded S.O.S. – both signals were employed by the Titanic), and scenes in New York with survivors and news reporters. At a later date the 2 February 1912 footage was added to this reel, and it is this version that is embedded at the top of this post. Captain Smith from the Globe newsreel supposedly showing the Titanic (which he captained) but which actually shows the Olympic in New York in 1911 – the name Olympic has been painted out by the film company or an exhibitor but can be seen unobscured in this frame grab, top right False claims for footage of the Titanic were made right from the start. Bottomore records a New York theatre as claiming to have colour footage of the Titanic‘s launch which it showed on 17 April. This was clearly the Kinemacolor film of the Olympic. Another company, the British-based Globe Film Company, issued a newsreel on the disaster which can be found in several archives (in different versions), which shamelessly used footage of the Olympic from 1911 throughout, going so far as to blot out the word Olympic where it appears on the ship and to remove the names of New York tugs seen beside the ship when the film claims to be showing us the Titanic at Southampton. Advertisement for the Topical Budget newsreel film of the Titanic at Southampton, now lost, from The Bioscope 25 April 1912 The fourth and final film of the Titanic known to have been made was a newsreel of the ship at Southampton. Topical Budget, a British newsreel produced by the Topical Film Company, included the following two titles for its issue of 17 April 1912 (just two days after the sinking): The Titanic at Southampton, prior to her maiden voyage, which has proved so disastrous. The White Star Line. Anxious crowds awaiting news outside the London office. All that is known about this film is an advertisement in The Bioscope for 25 April 1912. The newsreel’s own records for this period are lost, as is the film [Update – the film has been found – see comments]. The mystery is why the footage was not better exploited. If, as it seems, it was the only film of the Titanic at Southampton, then Topical had a scoop the whole world wanted to see. The Titanic had left Southampton on 10 April, and we do not know whether Topical showed the launch in one of its issues that week (British newseels were issued twice-weekly) and then showed it again for the issue on the 17th, or whether it had filmed the launch but not bothered to use the footage (full issue records for the newsreel do not survive from this period). Or might they have stooped to subterfuge and used the Provincial Cinematograph Theatres footage, and labelled as being shot in Southampton? There is no way of knowing. William H. Harbeck, from Moving Picture News There might have been other films of the Titanic made, but none were advertised in the film trade papers or cinema listings that historians have pored over. But what of film taken on board the Titanic? One of most intriguing discoveries from Stephen Bottomore’s research is that there were at least two cameramen on the liner when she sank. One was William Harbeck, an American producer of travelogues who had five cameras and 110,000 feet of film with him. He may have been seen filming on board when the Titanic had a near collision with the liner New York in Southampton harbour, as witnessed by passenger Lawrence Beesley, who wrote in his book The Loss of S.S. Titanic: No one was more interested than a young American kinematograph photographer, who, with his wife, followed the whole scene with eager eyes, turning the handle of his camera with the most evident pleasure as he recorded the unexpected incident on his films. It was obviously quite a windfall for him to have been on board at such a time. But neither the film nor those who exposed it reached the other side, and the record of the accident from the Titanic’s deck has never been thrown on the screen. Harbeck was American, but he wasn’t that young (he was 44), and the woman with him was not his wife, but otherwise this seems likely to have been him. Some have speculated that the cameraman was the 19-year-old American Daniel Marvin, son of Harry Marvin, president of the Biograph film company, who was returning from honeymoon in Europe with his American wife Mary. But they were first class passengers, whereas Bessley and Harbeck were second class (and hence on another deck); moreover, Bessley elsewhere refers to Harbeck’s ‘wife’ as being “evidently French”, as Henriette Yvois certainly was. Another man potentially with a camera was Jean-Noël Malachard, a French newsreel cameraman with Pathé-Journal who was journeying to New York to join the company’s American branch. Both Harbeck and Malachard drowned, with any film that they may have taken going down with them, though as the sinking itself took place at night there was no way they could have even attempted to record the disaster itself. So we have four films that were made of the Titanic, with maybe a fifth shot on board as the liner left Southampton: c.31 March 1909 – laying of the keel at Belfast – producer known – length unknown – film lost 31 May 1911 – launch at Belfast – producer Films Ltd – length unknown – film lost 3 February 1912 – moving into dry dock at Belfast – producer Provincial Cinematograph Theatres – length 100ft – film extant c.10 April 1912 – at Southampton, prior to depature – producer Topical Film Company – length c.60ft – film lost [Stop press: This film has been found! But does it show the Titanic? See comments] 10 April 1912 – footage possibly shot of near collision with US liner New York – producer William Harbeck – length unknown – film lost What does the extant film of the Titanic signify? Of itself, it has little to say. It is not very interesting film of a big ship. It evokes no sense of loss, greatness, vaingloriousness, hubris or tragedy. We bring those feelings to the film, once we are told what it signifies. We invest our feelings in what we see on the screen. Yet there is that special frisson when we see the footage and realise that what is now history was once actuality. A connection is made that is part of the unique power of film, collapsing time while simultaneously making us aware of the yawning gap of time. The footage of the Titanic exposes the limitations of film as historical record, while at the same time showing how powerful even the plainest film can be if we bring powerful thoughts to bear upon it. There is also that special connection between actuality and drama, where each offsets the other. The actuality only makes us yearn to see the story told. The dramatic only makes us want to see anything that makes it clear that our dreams have some basis in reality. The key source for studying the Titanic and contemporary film is the aforementioned The Titanic and Silent Cinema by Stephen Bottomore, to which this post is much indebted. Among the huge number of Titanic publications, I recommend Richard Howells’ The Myth of the Titanic for its insightful analysis of the disaster’s cultural significance, with some subtle readings of the films made about the tragedy. As he wisely points out, there are two Titanics out there: the real Titanic that lies beneath the ocean waves, and the Titanic of myth that sails on in literature, musicals, movies and memories. I am giving a talk on the Titanic and film at the Cinema Museum on Sunday 15 April, where we will be tracing the story of the disaster through both newsreels and fiction films. Neil Brand will be at the piano. It will be interesting to see what the audience will make of an interweaving of the actual and the dramatic, as we tell the story once again, as the Titanic sinks beneath waves again, as we shiver at what it tells us of our fallibility and fragility all over again. (My thanks to Linda Kaye of the British Universities Film & Video Council for access to copies of the Gaumont Graphic newsreel ledgers) April 2, 2012 By urbanora in Exhibitions, Science and medicine Tags: Silent films Part one of Some Activities of the Bermondsey Borough Council. Part two is here and part three is here Film archivists know the real treasures in their collections, and while they continue to cater those who wish to see the better known and more obvious classics, it is often the less familiar titles that nevertheless demonstrate the special power of the medium that find favour within the archives. So it was that during my time at the BFI, one of the films that we frequently held us as being the greatest in our collection was Some Activities of the Bermondsey Borough Council (1931). Never did a great film have so unprepossessing a title, but in the 1920s and ’30s Bermondsey council in London was at the forefront of public health propaganda (in the best sense of the word) and the use of film. At a time before the National Health Service, when many in London’s poorer district suffered from preventable illnesses caused by poor living conditions, the council’s Public Health Department undertook a bold programme to improve public health and to make the people of Bermondsey and Southwark aware of the need for and the opportunities for following a healthy lifestyle. Driven by husband and wife team Alfred and Ada Salter (he became Bermondsey’s MP, she its Mayor, the first female mayor in London), and with films mostly made by H.W. Bush, the Department made or sponsored some 33 films over the two decades, screenings these for free in any space where people might gather, including street screenings, employing cinemotor vans which came with portable projection equipment. The films include such titles as Where There’s Life There’s Soap (1933), Health and Clothing (1928), The Empty Bed (1937) and Maternity and Child Welfare (1930). All were made silent, for economic reasons and ease of exhibition as much as anything else. All are imbued with a palpable sense of purpose and dedication to a good cause. You derive a real sense of the goodness of people, as well as a sense of shame at the conditions in which people were living well into the twentieth century (though the emphasis is on good work done rather than bad things that needed to be eradicated). Some Activities of the Bermondsey Borough Council Itself is so compelling to watch, not merely for its account of the public health programme, but for its unadorned images of ordinary life in the city (just the views of streets with which the film opens have a special thrill, simply because such views on film are so rare for this period). Cinemotor, designed for exhibiting films or lantern slides, from the Wellcome Library The films that survive are preserved by the BFI, with copies held at the medical charity the Wellcome Trust, and it is the Wellcome which has put some of the film on its YouTube channel and on its own site to accompany an exhibition entitled Here Comes Good Health, on the wotk of the Bermondsey Public Health Department. The exhibition runs at the Wellcome (on Euston Road, London) 22 February-3 June 2012, and you can read about the Council’s work, see films and photographs on the exhibition website. If you are interested to find out more, there is a particularly handsome new publication by Elizabeth Lebas, who has been researching British ‘municipal’ films for some years now, Forgotten Futures: British Municipal Cinema 1920-1980. There is more information on the exhibition, the Public Health Department and its films, with plenty of links to other resources, on the Wellcome Library’s blog. I also recommend an engrossing account by composer Felicity Ford (on her blog The Domestic Soundscape) who is writing a soundtrack for a related municipal film, Bathing and Dressing (1935), made by the National Council for Maternity and Child Welfare and Carnegie Welfare Centre, Shoreditch. She describes her research process, including locating contemporary sounds and oral history interviews from the British Library, that bring the people and the times back to life as much as do the films.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line767
__label__cc	0.548428	0.451572	DoS and DDoS Attacks: How They’re Executed, Detected, and Prevented thecybersecurityman on 5 Mar 2018 A DoS and a DDoS…What’s the difference? A “Denial of Service,” or “DoS” attack, is a category of advanced cyberattack in which a single malicious user denies legitimate users access to a service by blocking or exhausting the resources of a victim system. The DoS is commonly carried out through some form of flooding mechanism, which generates a large volume of network traffic around the area of the target system, resulting in undesirable network congestion and bandwidth utilization. This flooding causes the system to perform too much processing and responding, an aspect called “amplification.” But, flooding the system isn’t the only way a DoS can be performed. Simply unplugging the system denies legitimate users access to the system’s services, which is, by definition, a type of DoS. Likewise, exploiting vulnerabilities in the system that, in some way, takes the system offline also denies the services it provides. Though this latter approach requires no flooding mechanism, it is still considered a DoS. Then, of course, there is the “Distributed Denial of Service, or “DDoS” attack, which with the help of Anonymous, has gained more considerable attention in modern times from both non-technical and technical enthusiasts. But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. A DDoS is not the same as a DoS. I’ll discuss the DDoS attack near the end of this post. Until then, let’s focus our discussion on the DoS attack and the many ways attacker’s execute this attack. A DoS is characterized as an attack from one source, most of the time, with the purpose of preventing legitimate users from using the victim system’s services or resources. Let’s discuss a few of the most common ways to implement a DoS attack. Physical DoS If the attacker has physical access to the system, he or she can create a DoS by physically taking the system offline. This would entail unplugging the system or damaging it in a way that it no longer functions as intended. Logical DoS In an alternative approach, the attacker gains logical access to the system, allowing the attacker to misconfigure the target system. In a logical access scenario, let’s take a wireless gateway router, for instance, which sits on the edge of the network. This wireless gateway router is responsible for providing Internet access to the computers on its LAN connection. Hypothetically speaking, we’ll also say that the router’s administrator left the router’s username and password in its default settings. If the attacker logs into the router via a Web interface connection using the default credentials, then the attacker leaves the administrator no chance. There is a well-known saying that if the attacker can gain physical access to your device, there is little you can do to secure it from him. Such is the case in this wireless gateway router scenario. Once logged into the router, the attacker can reset the login credentials to the router, effectively blocking the router’s administrator access into the router. From there, the attacker can deny legitimate devices access to the router via MAC address filtering, block access to Web sites, or even reduce the router’s built-in firewall settings to nothing. This is a DoS attack. Gaining logical access into a system doesn’t have to be accomplished through default credentials either. On rare occasions, system administrators themselves can turn rogue and take systems offline. This can happen if the administrator holds a grudge with the company or soon after he or she has been terminated. For that reason, it’s important to complete a formal off-boarding process for any terminated employees. One of the important steps of this process is to disable the account(s) of the terminated employees. This would prevent them from gaining any remote or local unauthorized access to a system. And, of course, we should never forget that many of our systems could be vulnerable to some other form of exploitation. The default configurations of our servers, for example, come with hundreds or thousands of services or open ports. If we do not disable these unnecessary services, then we increase the attack vector by which an attacker can gain access to a system. Some services are vulnerable to Remote Code Execution (RCE) and buffer overflow attacks, the likes of which could take the server offline. The Smurf Attack The “Smurf” attack is a type of DoS attack that abuses ICMP. An ICMP echo request (or ping) is usually unicast. However, in a Smurf attack, the attacker sends the ping out as a broadcast to the network. Every system connected on that network receives this broadcast and should respond back with an echo reply. But, the special thing about the Smurf attack is that the attacker spoofs his source address as the IP address of the target system. The victim, in turn, gets flooded with ICMP echo replies instead. Since the ICMP echo replies are sent to the victim instead, the Smurf attack is considered a type of “Reflected” DoS attack. Smurf Attack. Reprinted from “Network-based Attacks,” by Flylib, 2017. The Smurf attack isn’t usually successful these days because many routers don’t forward broadcasts, and it’s been this way since around 1999. And, if you are worried about this on your network, you can configure your hosts not to respond to ICMP requests or broadcasts. The Fraggle Attack Fraggle Attack. Reprinted from “Router Expert: Smurf/fraggle attack defense using SACLs,” by Martin, M.J., 2002 The “Fraggle” attack is similar to the Smurf attack in which the source address is spoofed, but instead of using ICMP, the Fraggle attack sends UDP echoes to a router’s broadcast address. The end result is the same as the Smurf attack and, just like with the Smurf attack, the Fraggle attack can be prevented since most routers do not forward broadcast traffic by default. The LAND Attack The “Local Area Network Denial” attack, or “LAND” attack, occurs when the attacker floods a system with SYN packets. The source and destination addresses of these SYN packets are spoofed with the target system’s IP address. The target system receives this flood of SYN packets, making it appear as if the target system sent the packets to itself. While the system takes its time to reply to itself, the system becomes unavailable. LAND Attack. Reprinted from “Understanding LAND Attacks,” by Juniper Networks, 2017 The LAND attack was first discovered in 1997 and many legacy systems remain vulnerable, such as Windows 95, NT, and XP SP2; however, modern systems have seen patches for remediation. Preventing the LAND attack takes good perimeter security, using firewalls and IDS/IPS to detect and drop this malicious traffic. Router ACLs can also be configured to restrict traffic coming into and out of the network to discard any traffic with identical source and destination addresses, or perhaps packets coming from an unknown network. The Tear Drop Attack In the “Tear Drop Attack,” the attacker exploits the reassembly of IP packets. Recall that if the data being transferred over the network is larger than the Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU), the packets are fragmented. The “Fragment Offset” field in the IP header is manipulated when a Teardrop program creates a series of IP fragments with overlapping offset fields. This field’s intended purpose it to solves the problem of sequencing fragments by indicating to the destination device where each particular fragment should be placed in the overall message. That way, the destination device can reassemble the fragments in the correct order. But, when the fragment offset fields overlap,this creates and over-sized payload, and the target system is unable to reassemble the fragments on the other side. This causes the system to crash. Windows 7 and Vista are susceptible to the Tear Drop attack. The Ping of Death The “Ping of Death” was mentioned in one of my earlier posts. It is an older-style DoS attack that also exploits ICMP. What it does is it sends out a an over-sized ping packet to a target system (anything over 65,535 bytes). Older systems simply didn’t know what to do with this over-sized packet and crashed. Ping of Death. Reprinted from “How to Prevent Denial of Service (DoS) Attack,” by Ax3soft Corporate, 2017 By the late 1990s, operating system vendors had already made patches to address Ping of Death vulnerabilities, making modern systems insusceptible to the attack. The Permanent DoS Attack The “Permanent DoS” attack, shortened to “PDoS,” is any DoS attack that damages the system beyond repair. One common way to execute a PDoS is through a method called “Phlashing.” With Phlashing, the attacker must somehow damage the firmware of the device, either by exploiting a vulnerability, uploading a corrupted BIOS to the system, and so on. The attack is successful if the attacker can “flash” the image of the target system’s firmware. Importantly, physical destruction of the device, such as the case with a physical DoS mentioned earlier, can be considered a type of PDoS since it destroys the system beyond repair. DNS Amplification Attack The “DNS Amplification attack” exploits the Domain Name System (DNS) and it’s commonly used in DDoS attacks. The DNS Amplification attack is a type of reflected DoS attack, discussed a moment ago. In this attack, the attacker uses DNS servers to flood a target system with UDP traffic (DNS uses UDP port 53 for name queries). DNS Amplification Attack. Reprinted from “A Threat to DNS – Once Bitten, Twice Shy,” by ESDS Software Solution, 2016 The attacker makes hundreds of thousands of DNS queries to several DNS resolvers with a spoofed source IP address of the target system. These DNS resolvers respond back to to these fake queries with thousands of responses to the target system. This attack can also be “amplified” if the DNS requests are increased to a larger size. This results in the DNS resovlers responding with an even larger response size. Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Attacks The “Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack differs from a regular DoS attack in that it’s a large-scale, coordinated attack originating from MANY attacking computers. Most DDoS attacks are launched from a bot herder who uses his botnet (hundreds or thousands of compromised “zombie” computers) to attack a target system. Compared to a DoS attack that uses just one attacker, the DDoS attack gives the attacker the ability to wage a larger and more disruptive attack. DDoS attackers are difficult to identift because, number one, the attack originates from compromised computers, and number two, the source IP addresses are usually spoofed. You can use any of the DoS attack methods above in a DDoS attack; however, the most common way attackers launch a DDoS attack is the “TCP SYN Flood attack.” If you’re unfamiliar with the TCP Three-Way handshake, then I suggest reading up on it here before you continue. TCP SYN Flood Attack. Reprinted from “SYN Attacks,” by zaielacademic.net In the TCP SYN Flood attack, the attacking computers send the first SYN packet to the target system. Following the rules of TCP, the target system acknowledges the connection with the SYN/ACK. However, the attacking computers never respond with the last ACK packet, which leaves the connection “half-open.” The connection is kept open, in a “SYN_RECV” state. This is normal since the ACK packet may have been lost due to network problems. However, in the TCP SYN Flood attack, the attacker sends thousands of these half-open connections to the target system. As soon as the system’s buffer or queue becomes full, it stops accepting connections, even from legitimate users. As a result the attacker denies the system’s services. Basic Detection and Prevention of DoS and DDoS Attacks Many of the DoS attack methods discussed earlier have been patched on modern systems; therefore, they are not vulnerable to some of the attacks mentioned. If your network hosts legacy equipment that is vulnerable to any of these DoS attacks, then it would be wise to isolate these systems on the network, especially if they are serving a critical function. To detect the launch of a DoS attack on your network, you can use a protocol analyzer or NetFlow tool to reveal suspicious traffic indicative of a DoS. Wireshark, for example, is one feasible solution in the detection of DoS attacks. As depicted below, Wireshark has detected a UDP flood against against a server at 192.168.1.2. Because protocol analyzers like Wireshark display detailed information about the structure of each captured packet, we can deduce a lot of useful information about the attack, including origin, packet size, time, and visual graphs. Of course, excluding NetFlow and protocol analyzers, we can also use an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) to detect these types of attacks. A network-based IDS or a host-based IDS would be two valuable options for consideration. I won’t go into detail how these systems work; however, they are definitely feasible options. Most IDS implementations are in the form of software and, just like firewalls, they use “rules.” The difference is that these rules are much more powerful than firewall rules. “Snort,” for example, is a great IDS (and IPS) that can detect DoS and DDoS attacks. As for prevention, it’s possible to prevent a DoS attack using an Intrusion Prevention System (IPS). Unfortunately, preventing DDoS attacks is a different problem seeing as they are so large and dispersed. An IPS may be able to drop a flood of packets originating from one source; however, when the source of the flood is coming from thousands of spoofed IP addresses in less than a second, the DDoS attack can’t be stopped. This makes DDoS attacks particularly frustrating. But, there are solutions available that can divert malicious DDoS traffic. If you have a lot of critical servers or even one critical server, it’s important to practice “redundancy.” Having extra servers in a passive cluster will help mitigate any DDoS attack against one of your servers. The extra servers can pick up where the downed server left off. Additionally, installing a load balancer could definitely help mitigate smaller DDoS attacks by “balancing” and evenly distributing the load of incoming traffic to each server in the cluster. Kumarasamy, S., & Asokan, R. (2012). Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Attacks Detection Mechanism. Cornell University Library. Retrieved from https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1201/1201.2007.pdf Pachghare, S. V. (2011). SYN Flooding Using Scapy and Prevention Using iptables. EFY Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. Retrieved from http://opensourceforu.com/2011/10/syn-flooding-using-scapy-and-prevention-using-iptables/ SANS Institute. (2011). Denial of Service attacks and mitigation techniques: Real time implementation with detailed analysis. Retrieved from https://www.sans.org/reading-room/whitepapers/detection/denial-service-attacks-mitigation-techniques-real-time-implementation-detailed-analysi-33764 Category: Cyber Attacks, Hacking, Network Security, Threats & Vulnerabilities Previous: Previous post: Covert Channels: How Insiders Abuse TCP/IP to Create Covert Channels Next: Next post: Identifying Network-Related Symptoms of Cyberattacks What is Snort? Bonus: How to Write Snort Rules! – The Cybersecurity Man 19 Mar 2018 at 10:23 pm […] and a possible indication of a stealth SYN port scan attack. You should know this from my DoS and DDoS attacks post ;). If an ACK flag is missing, then the A! Flags option will capture the packet. If there are many […]	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line771
__label__wiki	0.581217	0.581217	NIST SP 800-53 updated. Attack on Scotland Parliament's email system. Consequences of Equation Group leaks. "Mr. Smith" and HBO. Attacks of note: Trickbot, OLE exploits, NetSarang backdoor. Extremist inspiration. BEC. Dave Bittner: [00:00:01:07] If you are a fan of the CyberWire, the best way you can show your support is by going to patreon.com/thecyberwire, and signing up to become a regular supporter. Thanks. Dave Bittner: [00:00:14:12] A new draft of NIST Special Publication 800-53 is out. Brute-force is used against Scotland's parliaments - its email accounts, we mean - this isn't Braveheart. Fancy Bear's romp through high-end hotel Wi-Fi suggests the Equation Group leaks will be with us for some time. Mr. Smith remains at large and still wants to be paid. Trickbot uses unusually convincing counterfeit sites. PowerPoint malware vectors may be part of a criminal test. NetSarang urges swift patching of a back door in its software. Extremist inspiration persists, and some guy in Nigeria with more moxie than skills is behind a big business email compromise campaign. Dave Bittner: [00:00:59:01] A few words from our sponsors at E8 Security. If you've been to any security conference over the past year, you've surely heard a lot about artificial intelligence and machine learning; we know we have. But E8 would like you to know that these aren't just buzz words, they're real technologies and they can help you derive meaning from what an overwhelmed human analyst would see as an impossible flood of data. Go to e8security.com/ai-ml and let their white paper guide you through the possibilities of these indispensable emerging technological tools. Remember, the buzz around artificial intelligence isn't about replacing humans, it's really about machine learning, a technology that's here today. So see what E8 has to say about it. They promise, by the way, that you won't get a sales call from a robot. Learn more at e8security.com/ai-ml, and we thank E8 for sponsoring our show. Dave Bittner: [00:01:59:24] Major funding for the CyberWire podcast is provided by Cylance. I'm Dave Bittner, in Baltimore with your CyberWire summary for Wednesday, August 16th, 2017. Dave Bittner: [00:02:09:24] First, some quick news on standards. NIST has issued a new draft of its influential and widely-used Special Publication 800-53, Security and Privacy Controls for Information Systems and Organizations. The latest version is noteworthy for the way in which it seeks to incorporate privacy protection throughout its system of controls. Dave Bittner: [00:02:30:17] Turning to cyber attacks, Scotland's Parliament has sustained a brute-force attack on Members' email credentials. The campaign is similar to the one Westminster sustained in June, and similar measures are being taken to remediate it. The attackers are attempting, as they did with the London incident, to get access to email accounts. Dave Bittner: [00:02:50:00] Security experts continue to react to cyber firm FireEye's "moderately confident" conclusion that Fancy Bear has been compromising hotel Wi-Fi networks, using tools stolen from Equation Group and leaked by the ShadowBrokers. The leaked exploits involve server message block flaws (SMB). How the Brokers got the exploits they leaked in April remains a mystery, but the SMB flaws they exploit - EternalBlue, EternalRomance, EternalSynergy, and EternalChampion - are likely to present problems for some time, according to an analysis published by security company Cylance. Dave Bittner: [00:03:23:14] WannaCry and NotPetya were the two malware pandemics to take advantage of the Equation Group leaks. Both presented themselves as ransomware, but both are now generally regarded as pseudo ransomware - disruptive attacks that pose as ransomware to cloak their operators' true intentions. There is, in fairness, some doubt on this score with respect to WannaCry, which some researchers regard as a genuine but botched extortion attempt, possibly a money-making scheme by the North Korean government. Dave Bittner: [00:03:51:08] Both strains continue to trouble enterprises. The healthcare sector worries about WannaCry, given the effect it had on Britain's National Health Service, and the manufacturing and logistics sectors are still recovering from, and paying for, NotPetya. In one case, shipping giant Maersk has pegged its NotPetya-related losses at $300 million, and the company's CEO has instituted a corporate shake-up to make the business more resilient. Dave Bittner: [00:04:17:20] Here at the CyberWire we like to think we provide a public service to our listeners by reminding you, repeatedly, to back up your data. It's easier than ever these days. Storage is cheap, be it an external hard drive or space in the cloud. Alas, not everyone heeds our warnings and sometimes things go wrong. Your only copy of that important file gets erased or you just never got around to asking IT why your laptop hard drive was making that horrible clicking sound and you found yourself in need of a data recovery service. Jeff Pederson is Senior Manager of Operations at Kroll Ontrack Data Recovery. Jeff Pederson: [00:04:51:06] Everything that gets put in place in the world seems to be trying to eliminate the need for data recovery, and that's been happening since we started business over 25 years ago and so backups were going to eliminate the need for data recovery, raid systems were going to eliminate the need for data recovery, the cloud was going to eliminate the need for data recovery. What we find is that, no matter what gets put in place, as long as humans are running computers and need access to that data, data recovery's going to be needed on some level. VMware for instance, any visualization, makes it super easy for IT administrators to provision and allocate data for different divisions or departments within a corporation but it also makes it super easy for them to delete those inadvertently and so we've had to build tools and the ability to recover from virtual machines. Dave Bittner: [00:05:46:10] So what about encryption? You know, I can see there sort of being two sides to that. People say, "Well you want to encrypt everything on your hard drive to make it more secure," but that could make recovery more challenging, yes? Jeff Pederson: [00:05:57:13] It absolutely can. We've had to customize our tools to accommodate for that encryption that's put on. It matters whether it's put on at the hardware level or at the software level, and we're not in the business of cracking encryption or anything like that. But what we do need to do is to be able to apply the encryption credentials that are used by our customers and sent to us, to then crack open, essentially, and allow us access to the data that's on the disks. Because without that encryption information or if a customer forgets their passwords, we're a professional data recovery company but we still would not be able to recover that data. We can read all of the encrypted data that you want, but to get it decrypted we do need those original credentials. Dave Bittner: [00:06:42:22] So, as someone who's in the business of helping people recover things that they've lost, what sorts of advice do you have for people to set up ways to, well, not need your services? Jeff Pederson: [00:06:55:08] We get asked that all the time by our customers, "How do we not call you back ever again?" And so we basically tell them it comes down to vigilance and to basically getting control of your dataset, knowing what data you have, knowing what you absolutely want to backup and maybe not backing up your entire local hard drive. You've got your documents and your pictures, potentially, or your email. Whatever you don't want to have to send to us for recovery, that is what you want to send to the cloud or to a backup device, whether that be a local NAS device or an additional hard drive. But then, much like you do with any of your other protected documents or highly sensitive documents you're going to probably send them off site. You're not going to have them in your house in the same place where, if your house were to have a fire, or some flood or some incident happen, that they're going to be in the same physical location. So you're going send them off to somewhere else and so, if that's a safety deposit box, if that is somebody else's home, if that is the cloud where you're going to replicate that data to the cloud and that's your off site storage, then we say make another copy, so you have at least two places where you can go to to find that very important information. Dave Bittner: [00:08:19:13] That's Jeff Pederson from Kroll Ontrack Data Recovery. Taking a quick look at a few sponsored events from our CyberWire event tracker; we've got the security in the boardroom event coming up August 23rd in Palo Alto, California, that's from the Chertoff Group. And also the Johns Hopkins Information Security Institute has teamed up with COMPASS Cyber Security. They're hosting the Cyber Security Conference for Executives. That's September 19th, 2017, and that is in Baltimore. To learn more about the events or to find out how you can have your event listed in our event tracker, visit thecyberwire.com/events. Dave Bittner: [00:08:55:11] "Mr Smith" is getting more strident with his (or her, or their) demands on HBO, but it's not clear what "Mr Smith" may have actually obtained from hacking the entertainment giant. It is increasingly clear what "Mr. Smith" is after. If hackers tend to seek cash or cachet, "Mr. Smith" is a cash kind of guy. Dave Bittner: [00:09:14:21] Trickbot banking malware is being disseminated through unusually convincing counterfeit sites; even the URL and certificate are right. Dave Bittner: [00:09:23:11] PowerPoint vectors may be distributing an OLE exploit as a test, or so Cisco and Trend Micro researchers suspect. The exploit attacks a known vulnerability in Microsoft Office products. Dave Bittner: [00:09:36:16] Kaspersky Lab has discovered a backdoor in the update mechanism for NetSarang's widely used server management software. NetSarang confirms that the backdoor, called "ShadowPad", inadvertently appeared in a recent build of their product. It's been patched, and, since it was discovered Monday that ShadowPad is being exploited in the wild, NetSarang urges all uses to update as soon as possible. Dave Bittner: [00:10:00:14] The neo-Nazi website, Daily Stormer, kicked out of most legitimate services, appears to have migrated its unsavory inspiration to the Dark Net. Even there, parties unknown may be pursuing it with distributed denial-of-service attacks. The Stormer, or at least its message, will probably find other outlets, if long experience with ISIS is any guide. The Caliphate has posted more beheading pictures; the victim this time is a captured Iranian IRGC fighter. Dave Bittner: [00:10:30:07] Finally, a very large business email compromise campaign, that hit major organizations worldwide, has been tracked to its source. The operation was so large that many observers thought it was a state-directed series of attacks. But, no, researchers at security firm Check Point have run it to ground, and they say it's the work of a not particularly skilled but very brassy 20-something Nigerian guy. He was armed with the commodity NetWire Trojan and the Hawkeye keylogger, and with some fairly clumsy broadcast phishing was able to do some damage. Check Point has shared what they know with Nigerian authorities, who have taken an interest in the unnamed young man. His motto is said to be, "Get rich or die trying." Hopefully it doesn't come to that. Dave Bittner: [00:11:19:22] Now I'd like to tell you about an upcoming Webinar from our sponsor, Delta Risk. With threats to the healthcare industry at an all time high, IT and information security professionals in hospitals, healthcare provider firms and insurance firms have more concerns than ever about patient data and business continuity. In the 45 minute Webinar, Preparing for Cyber Risks to Healthcare Operations: Be Ready, Not Sorry, experts from Stanford Children's Health, Delta Risk and Huntzinger Management Group will discuss essential elements of how to respond to a cyber attack and properly prepare a business continuity plan. Save the date for August 23rd at 1 p.m. Eastern Time by visiting deltarisk.com/resources/webinars. Delta Risk LLC, a Chertoff Group company, is a global provider of cyber security services to commercial and government clients. Learn more about Delta Risk by visiting deltarisk.com and reserve your seat for this interactive discussion, and we thank Delta Risk for sponsoring our show. Dave Bittner: [00:12:25:16] And joining me once again is Ben Yelin. He's a senior law and policy analyst at the University of Maryland Center for Health and Homeland Security. Ben, welcome back. We had a story come by about privacy concerns with smart vacuum cleaners. You got Roombas and the little robot vacuums like that, that wander around your house and it turns out they may be collecting information and data on our homes? Ben Yelin: [00:12:49:15] Yeah, it seems like there's no limit to which devices can collect data within our homes these days, but this one was especially interesting to me. So this article said that Roomba devices, which are produced by iRobot, collect mapping information about your house. So they basically internalize the location of various rooms, various devices, to help get a complete picture. The fear here is that iRobot is going to sell this data to third parties, or they could potentially turn this data over to the government for a criminal prosecution, and in their contract it says that they have the right to do that. So as soon as you except the terms and conditions, when you activate your Roomba device, you are signing away your rights to this information. Can never know what situation will present itself in the future, if law enforcement is in a situation where there's some crime with a specific location ends up mattering. I mean we've seen instances that you and I have talked about, Dave, where Alexa has cut through somebody's alibi just by hearing that person's voice in a recording. So we can see the same situation here. You could get potential incriminating information from someone based on mapping information that occurs within the house. Dave Bittner: [00:14:06:16] To be clear, the reason that the robot is gathering this information for its own use, this is to do a better job of vacuuming your home. I could certainly see, like you say, law enforcement using that. If they had a warrant to enter someone's house it'd be useful for them to be able to know where everything is in that house. But also I could see, you know, on the flip side, it being helpful to a fire department. If they have to come in your house in the middle of the night, if they could bring up a map of where all the furniture is, where the beds are located, maybe they could do a quicker job of locating people in a burning house. Ben Yelin: [00:14:39:20] Yeah, I think that's true, and you could certainly see the benefits when you think about third parties. I mean, let's say it's just selling it to Amazon. They could improve the acoustics or the music you listen to based on data submitted by these Roomba devices. They could know, you know, how big a room is, so the acoustics can be better when your Amazon Echo device comes on. So there are certainly legitimate and potentially good uses of this data. Dave Bittner: [00:15:06:22] And, to be fair, the CEO of iRobot, his name is Colin Angle, says that they would not sell that data without consulting the customers first. So they're saying you'd have to opt in but, at the same time, the ULA that you sign when you sign up to use this technology says they don't have to tell you. Ben Yelin: [00:15:27:22] Right, exactly. So, there's no legal obligation for them to notify you if they submit your data to a third party. Perhaps there's an ethical or moral obligation and, more important than that, there could be a business justification. I mean we've seen telecommunications companies and all other sorts of companies, companies that produce all sorts of hardware, using their security features as a selling point. You know, perhaps that can give them a niche in the market for people who are security savvy. So there are ethical reasons but also just bottom line reasons to withhold that data. Dave Bittner: [00:16:01:13] All right, it's an interesting story. Ben Yelin, thanks for joining us. Ben Yelin: [00:16:05:00] Absolutely. Thank you. Dave Bittner: [00:16:08:09] And that's the CyberWire. Thanks to all of our sponsors who make the CyberWire possible, especially to our sustaining sponsor, Cylance. To find out how Cylance can help protect you using artificial intelligence, visit cylance.com. Thanks to all of our supporters on Patreon; we really do appreciate it. The CyberWire podcast is produced by Pratt Street Media. Our editor is John Petrik, social media editor is Jennifer Eiben, technical editor is Chris Russell, executive editor is Peter Kilpe and I'm Dave Bittner. Thanks for listening. Delta Risk Delta Risk LLC, a Chertoff Group company, provides managed security services and risk management consulting to clients worldwide. Founded in 2007, Delta Risk offers expert knowledge around technical security, policy and governance, and infrastructure protection to help organizations improve their cyber security operational capability and protect business operations. Learn more at deltarisk.com.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line772
__label__wiki	0.637966	0.637966	First principles - red team blue team operations. By Rick Howard CSO Perspectives is a weekly column and podcast where Rick Howard discusses the ideas, strategies and technologies that senior cybersecurity executives wrestle with on a daily basis. Listen to the audio version of this story. Note: This is the eleventh essay in a planned series that discusses the development of a general purpose cybersecurity strategy using the concept of first principles to build a strong and robust infosec program. The other essays are listed here: Intrusion kill chains Cyberthreat intelligence Security operations centers In 1986, I was a young captain in the U.S. Army. The powers that be assigned me as the signal officer to a field artillery battalion for the express purpose to help the unit be successful at its National Training Center rotation. This was many years before the first Gulf War (January 1991,) before we sent troops to Kosovo (1999,) and long before the madness of 9/11 kicked in and its resulting 20 plus years of combat operations. In this time window, life in the military was pretty sweet. Nobody was shooting at us; President Reagan loved us; and we were flush with cash. The big baddies on the international front were the Soviets and all the military experts thought that the next big military confrontation was going to be between the Bears and Uncles Sam in a massive tank-on-tank battle in Europe à la Tom Clancy’s Red Storm Rising. The National Training Center in Fort Irwin California, a thousand square miles of formidable desert terrain, is where the military went to train for military operations of that scale. And it is where I got my first taste of Red Team/Blue Team operations, or in military parlance, OPFOR (Opposing Force) exercises. What that meant was that instead of going to the field and pretending that an enemy was attacking you, the Army actually put an opposing force in the field to fight against you using the tactics of the Soviet Army. It was, and is, a brilliant idea. Practice your skills and make mistakes in a highly controlled but pressure-filled environment so that you don’t make those mistakes when lives are on the line. Catch me in the bar at the next in-person DEFCON conference and I will share war stories about how the OPFOR ran circles around us for two weeks, basically kicking our ass at every turn. The Roman Catholic Church may have invented the concept in 1587 when Pope Sixtus V assigned the job of Devil’s advocate during the beatification process of St. Lawrence Justinian (1381-1456). The Advocatus Diaboli was to be the opposing force, the red team, to make sure that, according to Ellen Loyd of Ancient Pages, “no person received the honors of sainthood recklessly and too fast. Every potential weakness or objection to the saints’ canonization was raised and evaluated in order to ensure that only those who were truly worthy would be raised to the dignity of the altars.” President Reagan used the concept as early as 1982 by forming a red team panel designed to anticipate every conceivable way the Soviets might try to go around the arms control treaty. After the 1990 bombing of Pan Am 103, a Presidential Commission directed the FAA to create a red team to replicate typical terrorist tactics, techniques, and procedures. As chairman of the nine-member Commission to Assess the Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States in 1998, Donald Rumsfeld used a red team approach to examine the same data available to the intelligence community to identify alternative scenarios. In 2003, I was the commander of the Army’s Computer Emergency Response Team (ACERT) and we had discovered that the Chinese government was all over our networks like white on rice. It kind of felt like NTC all over again with the Chinese running circles around us in multiple operations around the world. We lumped together all of that activity under a military umbrella code name called TITAN RAIN. I love cool sounding code names. I think it is the reason I love cybersecurity so much. We have cool names for everything. This time though, it wasn’t an exercise and it wasn’t a dusty desert environment. It was our unclassified day-to-day working electronic network called the NIPRNET. In response, we, the blue team, built a defensive plan to counter the TITAN RAIN offensive campaign plan. Before we deployed it though, we wanted to test it. We emulated the entire NIPRNET on a cyber range in San Antonio, deployed the blue team’s defensive plan on it, and told our in-house red team to use TITAN RAIN’s tactics, techniques, and procedures to break through. When the red team couldn’t get it done, the Army leadership gave us a green light to deploy the blue team’s defensive plan on the NIPRNET. The origin of the red team and blue team names to indicate adversary and good-guy activity respectively isn't a random choice. We have the Prussian Army to thank for that. According to Peter Attia over at Media, “In the early 19th century, the Prussian army adopted war games to train its officers. One group of officers developed a battle plan, and another group assumed the role of the opposition, trying to thwart it. Using a tabletop game called Kriegsspiel (literally “wargame” in German), resembling the popular board game Risk, blue game pieces stood in for the home team—the Prussian army—since most Prussian soldiers wore blue uniforms. Red blocks represented the enemy forces—the red team—and the name has stuck ever since.” Since the Prussians wore blue uniforms in real life, and they invented Kriegsspiel, then the blue team became the good guys ever since. I personally think that the red team blue team description is more closely related to the other famous Milton Bradley board game about war called Stratego, but if Peter thinks that Risk is a closer match, I’m not going to fight him on it. Fast forward again from the Prussians in the 1820s to the 1960s when mainframe computers started to come on line. It didn’t take long for computer experts to realize that they were vulnerable to abuse. Early designers of mainframes didn’t conceive of anything close to a threat model. They were still mostly concerned with getting the 1s and 0s moving in the right direction. At maybe the first cybersecurity conference ever, hosted by the System Development Corporation in California in 1965, 15,000 mainframe operators from around the world discussed all the ways in which these new machines could be “penetrated” by unsavory people. By the late 1960s and early 1970s, elite computer operators were passing around a paper authored by Dr. Willis Ware and others, called the Willis paper, that according to William Hunt at the College of William and Merry, “... showed how spies could actively penetrate computers, steal or copy electric files and subvert the devices that normally guard topsecret information. The study touched off more than a decade of quiet activity by elite groups of computer scientists working for the Government who tried to break into sensitive computers. They succeeded in every attempt.” These were the first penetration testers. In 1971, the U.S. Air Force contracted James Anderson to run Tiger Teams against their MULTICS operating system, the precursor to UNIX. His 1972 after action report described a methodology to penetrate and compromise those systems which is fundamentally the basis for all penetration testing even today. In 2020, the big difference between penetration testers and red teamers is that, in general, the penetration testers are supposed to find any flaw in the system, similar to the Devil’s advocate, and they are allowed to pursue any courses of action that present themselves during the test. They are trying to find ways to reduce the attack surface by finding previously unknown weaknesses. In this regard, conducting penetration tests fall under the zero trust strategy umbrella. Network defenders aren’t trying to stop a specific adversary with a penetration test. They are actively trying to find holes in the deployed defensive posture. Red teamers, on the other hand, generally follow known adversary attack campaigns. For example, according to the Mitre ATT&CK framework, the adversary group known as Cobalt Spider uses 31 attack techniques and five software tools to compromise its victims. The red team that attempts to verify that an organization’s network is protected against Cobalt Spider can use only those 31 attack techniques and five software tools and nothing else. It is similar to my TITAN RAIN days back on the army. Since they are specifically looking to make sure that the Cobalt Spider attack campaign won’t be successful against their own networks, these red teaming operations would fall under the intrusion kill chain strategy umbrella. The blue team is the normal day-to-day internal infosec team. In addition to their normal day job of protecting their organization, they also take on the additional task of trying to detect and prevent the red team from successfully emulating Cobalt Spider. Sometimes, network defenders call this opposing force exercise a purple team operation, the red and the blue mixed together. By adding this blue team element to the read team operations, the internal infosec team gains a couple of additional benefits. The first big one is that the blue team gets to practice its incident response team against a real adversary. Then, when the exercise is over, they get to ask the adversary what they did in response to the blue team’s efforts. You don’t get that opportunity in the real world when Cobalt Spider really comes knocking. A second benefit is the individual training opportunity for the newbies and mid-tier analysts on the infosec team. They can sit in the SOC all day long watching alerts fly by their screens and they are learning very little. But, you put them on a read team blue team exercise and just watch how fast their cyber expertise grows. That kind of training is invaluable. The concept of red teaming has been around since at least the 1500s. It hit the IT space in the form of penetration testing in the 1960s and 1970s just as mainframe computers started to become useful for governments and the commercial space. Ever since, we used penetration tests to reduce the attack surface of our computers and networks in a zero trust kind of way. In the early 2000s, the idea of a combined red team blue team exercise, or purple team exercise if you prefer, became popular to test our defenses against known adversary attack campaigns in an intrusion kill chain kind of way. This also had the added benefits of exercising our incident response teams and accelerating the training of our newbie and mid-tier analysts in the SOC. Red team blue team operations are an essential item in the infosec tool kit and will greatly improve our chances of reducing the probability of a material impact to the business due to a cyber event. Red team blue team timeline The roots of Red Teaming run very deep: from the Roman Catholic Church's "Office of the Devil's Advocate," to the Kriegsspiel of the Prussian General Staff and to the secretive AMAN organization, Israel's Directorate of Military Intelligence. Early 19th century: The Prussian army adopted a war games called Kriegsspiel (literally “wargame” in German) to train its officers. One group of officers developed a battle plan, and another group assumed the role of the opposition, trying to thwart it. Blue game pieces stood in for the home team—the Prussian army—since most Prussian soldiers wore blue uniforms. Red blocks represented the enemy forces—the red team—and the name has stuck ever since. World War II: British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery relied upon junior officers to study German Field Marshal Irwin Rommel in Africa and Europe, then evaluated the Allies' plans. Early 1970s: The US Navy established the SSBN Security Program to identify potential vulnerabilities that the Soviet Union might exploit. SS denotes submarine, the B denotes ballistic missile, and the N denotes that the submarine is nuclear powered. Scientific philosopher Karl Popper wrote “In science we need to form parties, as it were, for and against any theory that is being subjected to serious scrutiny.” President Ronald Reagan signed a National Security Decision Directive to create a permanent "Red Team" to challenge US verification capabilities, assumptions, and policies in order to anticipate how, in what ways, and for what purposes, the Soviets might try to avoid compliance with the provisions of arms control agreements. President Ronald Reagan signed a National Security Decision Directive to create a Red Team review panel to consider and anticipate possible Soviet noncompliance, concealment, and deception activity. The Presidential Commission on the bombing of Pan Am 103 directed the FAA to create a red team to replicate typical terrorist tactics, techniques, and procedures. Secretary Rumsfeld chaired the Ballistic Missile Threat Committee that examined the same data available to the intelligence community but identified alternative paths adversaries might take and came to different conclusions about the threat. The US Army established a Red Franchise organization within its Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) to guide Army training, concept and force development, experimentation, and transformation. 12 Sep 2001: Around midnight, then-Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet decided to form a group of contrarian thinkers to challenge conventional wisdom in the intelligence community and mitigate the threat of additional surprises through “alternative analysis.” Red teams in the military got a boost after a 2003 Defense Science Review Board recommended increasing the use of red teams to help guard against the shortcomings that led up to 11 September 2001. Largely in response to the 2003 Defense Science Review Board recommendations, the Army stood up its Service-level red team, the Army Directed Studies Office (ADSO) The first class graduated from the Red Team University course at Fort Leavenworth's University of Foreign Military and Cultural Studies, as the war in Iraq entered its fourth year. Then-CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus directed the Red Cell to “take on our most difficult challenges” and “shock us.” Recommended reading. “2020 Red and Blue Team Survey Reveals Positive Trends,” by SAM HUMPHRIES, exabeam. “3 Situations That Call for a Red Team,” by Lisa Earle McLeod, Huffington Post, 23 November 2013. “Cobalt Group,” Mitre ATT&CK Framework, MITRE, 23 June 2020. “Cybersecurity Red Team Versus Blue Team — Main Differences Explained,” BY SARA JELEN, SECURITYTRAILS BLOG, 7 December 2018. “Devil’s Advocate – Ancient Phrase Traced To The Roman Catholic Church,” by Ellen Lloyd, AncientPages.com, 19 November 2018. “ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL ARMS CONTROL VERIFICATION COMMITTEE - NATIONAL SECURITY DEClSTON DIRECTIVE NUMBER 65,” by President Ronald Reagan, the White House, 10 November 1982. “Guide to Red Team Operations,” by Raj Chandel, Hacking Articles, 5 August 2019. “Helpful Red Team Operation Metrics,” by Cedric Owens, Medium, 2 March 2020. “Inside the CIA Red Cell: How an experimental unit transformed the intelligence community,” BY MICAH ZENKO, FP, 30 OCTOBER 2015. “Kriegsspiel – How a 19th Century Table-Top War Game Changed History,” by MilitaryHistoryNow.com, 19 April 2019. “Red Storm Rising,” by Tom Clancy, Putnam Adult, 1986. “Red team,” by Millitary Wikia.org. “Red Team U. creates critical thinkers,” By John Milburn, Associated Press, 18 May 2007. “Red Team Vs Blue Team Testing for Cybersecurity,” by Zbigniew Banach, netsparker, 14 November 2019. “Red Team: How to Succeed By Thinking Like the Enemy,” by Micah Zenko, Basic Books, 3 November 2015. “Red Team: How to Succeed By Thinking Like the Enemy,” by Micah Zenko, Council on Foreign, 1 November 2015. “Red Teaming: How Your Business Can Conquer the Competition by Challenging Everything,” by Bryce G Hoffman, Crown Business, 16 May 2017. “Red Teams: Strengthening through challenge,” by LtCol Brendan Mulvaney, Marine Corps Gazette, July 2012. “Second public hearing of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States,” Statement of Bogdan Dzakovic to the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, 22 May 2003. "SECURITY IN THE COMPUTING ENVIRONMENT: A Summary of the Quarterly Seminar, Research Security Administrators - June 17, 1965," by Robert L. Dennis, System Development Corporation, for the DEFENSE DOCUMENTATION CENTER DEFENSE SUPPLY AGENCY, 18 August 1966. “SOVIET NONCOMPLIANCE WITH ARMS CONTROL AGREEMENTS - NATIONAL SECURITY DEClSTON DIRECTIVE NUMBER 121,” by President Ronald Reagan, the White House, 14 January 1984. “The Difference Between Red, Blue, and Purple Teams,” By DANIEL MIESSLER, 4 April 2020. “The History Of Penetration Testing,” by Ryan Fahey, infosec. “The importance of red teams,” by PETER ATTIA, Media, 24 May 2020. “THE ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE NATIONAL TRAINING CENTER 1976 - 1984,” by Anne W. Chapman, Office of the Command Historian, US Army Training and Doctrine Command, 1992. “The Red Team,” Chief - Arms Control Intelligence Staff, CIA, 17 January 1984. “The Role and Status of DoD Red Teaming Activities,” by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense For Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics, September 2003. “Titan Rain - how Chinese hackers targeted Whitehall,” by Richard Norton-Taylor, The Guardian, 4 September 2007. "US Government Computer Penetration Programs and the Implications for Cyberwar,” by Edward Hunt, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, IEEE Computer Society, 2012. “Where does red teaming break down?” by David Spark, Allan Alford, and Dan DeCloss, “Defense in Depth” podcast, 3 September 2020.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line773
__label__wiki	0.949131	0.949131	Sports › Jalen Green ready to make plays for Texas Photo Credit: Courtesy of Arthur Pallares Published on January 24, 2018 at 11:34 pm Last update on January 25, 2018 at 10:42 am By Donnavan Smoot It was late September, the high school football season had just started and the Texas Longhorns were on a bye week. Houston ISD’s Delmar Stadium was packed for a game between Katy Tompkins and Houston Heights. In the background, a deep, rattling sound accompanied the visual of a helicopter landing. Texas head coach Tom Herman and recruiting coordinator Jason Washington stepped out of the chopper and walked into the stadium, where they prepared to watch one of their top 2018 recruits and one of the best high school defensive backs in the nation — Jalen Green, a 6-foot, four-star cornerback for Houston Heights. “You can put me anywhere and I’ll make plays,” Green said. The No. 5 cornerback in the nation per 247 Sports and a U.S. Army Bowl All-American, Green is part of the new wave of elite defensive backs headed to Texas. Green, who was named first-team all-defense at Nike’s The Opening camp last summer, has a potent combination of athleticism and football IQ. It’s a combination that has led him to be a highly coveted defensive back. “On defense, he shuts down one whole side of the field,” said Stephen Dixon Sr., Houston Heights’ head coach. “You can let him lock down one island and roll your defense to the other side.” To add to his defensive prowess, Green had 13 touchdowns on offense this past season as a quarterback, running back and wide receiver, despite the fact his season was cut short because of a shoulder injury. Green’s unselfishness makes players gravitate toward him. His teammates believe he has an ability to raise the level of the team because of how hard he practices. “Not only is he versatile and great at what he does, he also makes opportunities for others on the field,” said Curtis Melrose, one of Green’s Houston Heights teammates. Green’s unselfishness can be seen off the field, too. Dixon said that Green often deflects media attention away from himself and onto his teammates and has even told some college coaches to rescind his offer and give it to a teammate instead. “He is a better young man than he is a football player,” Dixon said. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Justin Wells, Inside Texas Green signed with the Longhorns in December during the early signing period. It’s no secret that Texas has an elite recruiting class for 2018, which is currently ranked third nationally. It features six of 247 Sports’ top 25 defensive backs in the nation, including Green, B.J. Foster, Anthony Cook, Caden Sterns, DeMarvion Overshown and D’Shawn Jamison. Green was well aware of that depth of defensive back talent when he signed with Texas. “We all wanted to make a superstar team,” Green said of the star-studded class. “We just want to make a name for ourselves.” But with a superstar team comes superstar expectations. The expectations for Green and this class are through the roof. They have the weight of being Herman’s first full class, and the new defensive backs must fill the voids left in the secondary by NFL prospects DeShon Elliott and Holton Hill. Despite these challenges ahead, Green said he feels no pressure. He knows exactly what he’ll do when he steps on the 40 Acres. “I’m going to make plays for the University of Texas when it really counts,” Green said.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line775
__label__cc	0.654591	0.345409	CULTURE & ARTSLIVING Why More Americans Are Leaving Cities for Suburban Areas By GLENN TREVOR January 7, 2021 5 views Some factors that have contributed to Americans leaving cities for suburban areas are the adoption of remote work by companies, availability of less expensive housing in rural and suburban areas, increase in urban crime rates amid the pandemic. 1. Increase In Real Estate Demands In Suburban Areas Based on data from Realtor.com’s Market Hotness rankings, views per property in suburban zip codes grew by 13%, almost doubling the pace of growth compared to urban areas in May. There has also been an increase in rents in suburban areas like Oakland, Sacramento, and Newark representing a 4%, 7%, and 15% increase in rents respectively as people are flocking more to the areas. According to a survey by Harris Poll, it was found that almost one-third of Americans are considering moving to a less densely populated area because of the coronavirus outbreak. According to a survey of 2,050 U.S. adults, 39% of urban inhabitants said they consider relocating to less crowded places because of COVID-19. Suburban zip codes saw a median increase of 404 spots in May, out of 20,000 zip codes, while rural zips saw a median leap of 846 spots according to Market Holmes. According to data from Caliber Home Loans, there was a 13% rise in the number of house searches in suburban ZIP codes in May. Data shows that over 16,000 New York residents have already relocated to suburban Connecticut and the area is also losing residents to rural New England and Florida in significant numbers which are similar to trends in other large urban areas in the United States. In San Francisco, the prices of real estates have fallen by 50% and there has been increasing demands for its suburbs. 2. Decrease In Urban Home Sales About 47% of home buyers prefer to purchase their homes in suburbs, 39% in rural areas, 25% in small towns due to the COVID-19 pandemic according to a survey by real estate agents. In New York, while the overall house sales fell by 30% in April, there was an increase in real estate demands in suburbs like Ulster County which saw the number of homes under contract nearly doubles the 2016 figures. Real estate sales in Montana, rural Colorado, Oregon, and Maine has increased by 10% compared to the same period in 2019. The number of home sales for suburban counties outside of New York City increased by 44% in July according to data by Miller Samuel Real Estate Appraisers & Consultants. There was a “112% increase in home sales in Westchester County; a 73% increase in home sales in Fairfield County, Connecticut; a 35% increase in home sales in Putnam County; and a 19% increase in Dutchess County.” 3. Increase In Online Suburban/Rural Real Estate Searches Over 40% of urban inhabitants have browsed online for real estate properties in suburban areas. According to Redfin, over a “quarter of searches on its website are by urbanites in Seattle, San Francisco, and the District of Columbia searching for homes across less populated places.” 43% of urban inhabitants reported having recently browsed real estate websites for homes or apartments to rent or buy in suburban or rural areas according to Harris Poll Survey. According to an economist at Zillow, due to the pandemic, there has been an upsurge of home buyers looking for houses at suburban areas. It represents 64% of searches for properties in rural and urban areas. People have been using platforms and technologies like Facebook Live, 3D Home tours to virtually tour new homes in suburbs. According to Zillow, in March, home listings with 3D Home tours received about 50% more site visitors than listings without 3D Home tours. 4. Increase In Mortgage Applications Suburbs in the metro areas of Houston, Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago and Washington D.C. have experienced a rise in mortgage applications. For suburbs in Chicago and Washington D.C., the mortgage applications have risen by 40% compared to pre-pandemic averages. According to the American Enterprise Institute’s Housing Market Nowcast, between May 18 and June 15, home purchase mortgage rate locks in non-urban areas increased by 36% YoY. “The least-dense ZIP codes grew at almost twice the rate of the densest ones, with major metros like New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., experiencing the same pattern of home buyers moving to areas within the city that have fewer people.” Factors Driving The Trends One of the factors that have contributed to Americans leaving cities for suburban areas is the adoption of remote work by companies. In the Bay Areas, tech companies like Facebook are more inclined to embrace remote work leading many employees to leave the area. Another factor contributing to the trend is the availability of less expensive housing in rural and suburban areas. Social unrest and an increase in urban crime rate are also one of the drivers of people leaving urban areas during the pandemic. Increased fear of living in densely populated cities amid the pandemic is also a contributing factor as residents try to avoid contacting the virus. The availability of online banking and investing services regardless of location is also one of the factors encouraging migration to suburbs as it provides people with the convenience of banking or contacting an investment broker to make a stock trade without being physically present. Millennials constitute the majority of Americans who are moving from urban centers to the suburbs or more rural areas because of coronavirus. Reports also states that millennials are the largest buyers of homes in suburbs following COVID-19. 20% of American millennials are White, 27% are Asian, 24% are black, 27% are Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, 24% are American Indian or Alaska Native and, 25% are Hispanic. About 22% are two or more races. 39% or four-in-ten millennials in the United States between the ages of 25 to 37 have at least a bachelor’s degree. 28% to 25% have a high school diploma, and 8% have less than a high school diploma. 72% of millennial women are employed, 3% are unemployed and 25% are not in labor force. 83% of millennial men are employed, 4% are unemployed and 12% are not in labor force. Millennials with at least a bachelor’s degree and a full-time job earned an average of $56,000 annually. The average household income for millennials with a bachelor’s degree or higher is $105,343 compared to $62,358 and $49,363 for those with some college diplomas and high school diploma respectively. Marital Status/Family 46% of millennials between the ages of 25 to 37 years are married. Four-in-ten millennials with just a high school diploma are currently married, while 53% of millennials with at least a bachelor’s degree are married. More than 17 million millennial women are mothers. According to reports by CNBC, HomeOwnershipMatters, TrendHunter, Pew Research, Harris Poll Survey, millennials in the United States are the leading group relocating from urban to suburbs or rural areas amid COVID-19 due to reasons like furlough in work places, rents, and closure of schools, among others. Based on our findings, we used the data provided from Pew Research and other sources to provide a demographic profile of people who are moving from urban to rural places (millennials). Also, there’s a recent study by Pew Research on the demographic profiles of Americans who relocated or are relocating to other areas because of the coronavirus. Programs and/or Initiatives Being Used to Encourage Patient Adherence to Medication Fitness and COVID Actionable Learning Resources that Outline the Process of Home Flipping in United States (Top Expert Recommendations) What are the Biggest Frustrations for New Car Buyers? Case Studies Detailing What Specific Companies in the U.S. are Doing (or Programs they are Running) to Hire Black Students and Early Career Candidates. More in CULTURE & ARTS December 21, 2020 9 views Living in the Post-COVID World December 21, 2020 12 views Seven Popular Television Shows for Children Between the Ages Three to Seven Popular Trending Books, TV, YouTube Channels, Toys, Video Games and Apps for Ages 3-5 & 5-7 Best Practices That Will Increase the Effectiveness of the Learning Process For 3-5 & 5-7 Year Olds COVID-19 and Women in the Workforce Examples of Innovative Activations for Alcohol Brands	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line776
__label__wiki	0.928573	0.928573	Maisie Williams Trolls Audience With Huge 'Game of Thrones' Spoiler For fans of fantasy, or just those who enjoy a gripping and twisty storyline, Game Of Thrones has been a long-term television favorite. Since it premiered in 2011, the fantasy drama has gained critical acclaim along with legions of loyal fans. There's something about the show that just struck a chord. But fans have been left heartbroken after learning that the next season will be the last. Yes, Game Of Thrones is coming to an end - but, hopefully, we'll get a satisfactory conclusion to the multiple storylines that have kept us all so engrossed over the years. As the end approaches, fans are desperate to know the fates of their favorite characters. But it seems like they got a little more than they bargained for, thanks to a huge spoiler that's recently been revealed. In an interview with Jimmy Fallon, Maisie Williams (who plays Arya Stark in the show) let slip something that she definitely shouldn't have. Scroll down for the full (and shocking) interview. Game Of Thrones is one of the biggest television shows of the moment. It first aired in April 2011 and was adapted from a series of books by acclaimed fantasy writer, George R.R. Martin. It tells the story of an epic battle for power. The main characters are members of different families, all of whom claim that they have the right to rule the fictional land of Westeros. Though the setting is fictional, there's something realistic about the story. It's part medieval-battles, and part telenovela melodrama. But with dragons. So you can see why it's been so incredibly successful. There are many other reasons for the show's success. There are a ton of memorable, interesting and complex characters, whom the audience really connect with and feel for during their perilous journeys. There's also badass scenes like this one. It's undeniable, Game Of Thrones does battles better than any other show on TV. And luckily for fans, there are a lot of battles. A particular fan-favorite is Arya Stark. Arya is the youngest daughter of the Starks, the northernmost of the Game of Thrones families. From early seasons, it was clear that Arya was going to be one to watch. She's definitely been through a lot (spoiler alert!). At the end of the very first season, Arya was forced to watch her father be executed, then had to go into hiding in order to stay alive. For the past nine years, Arya has been played to perfection by Maisie Williams. Maisie first played Arya when she was just thirteen years old - that's quite a journey that both actress and character have been on! Williams has certainly changed a bit over the years! Free of having to keep her appearance similar to Arya's since the show wrapped, she's gone for an edgier pink hairdo. She's is also known for her fun dress sense. But to many, she'll always be Arya. And unlike many fan-favorites, Arya has managed to stick around until the final season - although who knows if she'll be able to stick around... Fans have followed Arya since she was basically a child. At the show's beginning, Arya had a pretty normal life. Well, normal for the Game Of Thrones universe, anyway. She lived with her parents, brothers and sisters in Winterfell, and generally stayed out of the politics of Westeros. But Arya always had a little more edge than her peers. She was always keen on sword fighting - a skill that served her well during her tumultuous adolescence. Because for most of the show, Arya has been on the run. She's found herself in an abundance of frightening situations - but has always managed to survive. If there's one thing we can say about Arya Stark, it's that she never gives up. The show's eighth season premieres on April 14th. The trailer for the final season dropped earlier this month - and it promises to be nothing short of epic. The series promises an upcoming battle scene which is essentially a full episode. In it, the surviving characters are forced to unite to defeat the evil White Walkers, headed by the terrifying Night King, at the Battle of Winterfell. Fans are also hoping for resolution on another issue. Who is going to sit on the Iron Throne as the ruler of Westeros? There are still a fair few viable contenders in the running - although (thankfully), not Joffrey. This week, Williams was interviewed to promote the final season of the show. She appeared on the iconic talk show, The Tonight Show, alongside legendary celebrity interviewer Jimmy Fallon. Although it seems that the interview didn't quite go as planned. #GameofThronesSeason8 SPOILED by Arya Stark Maisie Williams? https://t.co/r3SXAiSW62 https://t.co/bVOVHUofGa — Daily Express (@Daily Express)1554202200.0 Because during her interview, Williams appeared to let slip an absolutely humongous Game Of Thrones spoiler, which had the whole audience shook. Many that watched couldn't believe what they were seeing. The interview was certainly mandatory viewing for any Game Of Thrones fan, but not many liked what they heard! In fact, Williams' mistake could have ruined the series for some. Many were super shocked - and even massively upset - by what they heard. We've got the full interview coming up, so you can judge for yourself! It started as a fairly normal celebrity interview... Fallon quizzed Williams about her Game Of Thrones journey, asking for her to compile a list of her top five Arya moments. But then Fallon asked Williams about her experiences filming the eighth, and final, season. And it was in answering this question that Williams slipped up and gave away something absolutely huge about Arya's final season. Here's the full interview. When asked about the final season's filming schedule, Williams seemingly accidentally let slip that Arya Stark dies. People were not happy. One commenter wrote under the video, "ok, so I’m having a baby in 16 days and I literally almost just gave birth on my couch." But some eagle-eyed fans noticed the date... That's right! The interview came out on April 1st. Otherwise known as April Fool's Day! Duh! Fallon and Williams pulled off a truly impressive prank. As one commenter put it, "Like we all know she’s a brilliant actress but her panicked hand tremble was super impressive. ??" It was Williams' amazing acting that helped the pair pull it off. Maisie Williams saying Arya died on the Jimmy fallon show in s8ep2 had ME SHOOOOOOOK she deserves an Oscar for that… https://t.co/Hg1HJWBASb — anxsaa (@anxsaa)1554196240.0 Many were incredibly impressed by the young talent, saying she deserved to win some acting awards for this moment alone - never mind her fantastic Game Of Thrones performances! On second watch, it is pretty funny. Once you get over the initial shock, seeing the audience's genuine reaction of absolute horror does give us a chuckle. It's clear that Williams is one to watch. I believed @Maisie_Williams when she said Arya was gonna die in EP2. It was her shaky hands and her entire acting that made me believe. — ansylle mae (@ansylle mae)1554203069.0 If her performance as Arya hadn't convinced you that she's supremely talented, then this brilliant bit of acting certainly will. We're just glad it turned out to be a prank! We're thrilled that Arya will be sticking around for the final season - or, at least, as far as we know... Woman Who Traded in Husband for Her Stepson Had Plastic Surgery To Be More Attractive To Him Haunting Note Found at House of Horrors Where Kids 'Were Killed by Mom' Woman Gives Birth to Baby With Stepson After Divorcing His Dad	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line778
__label__wiki	0.55094	0.55094	Gainesville Language Exchange Posted on March 27, 2015 September 25, 2015 by ufhonorsprism Photo from heyevent.com Vedrana Damjanovic Sophomore, Public relations major On any given Thursday, you can find about 130 foreign language lovers at the Midnight bar’s Gainesville Language Exchange, eager to practice their language skills and meet new people. The Gainesville Language Exchange (GLX) is a community project. Every Thursday, without fail, native and nonnative speakers of any given language congregate at 223 S. Main St. in Downtown. It brings together people interested in practicing foreign languages and meeting new people and cultures. The GLX started as a joint project of two friends who saw a similar project in Buenos Aires and brought it to Gainesville in January 2014. “It felt like a home away from home and we wanted to bring that here to Gainesville,” said Maynard Shaye, 24, the president and co-founder of the Gainesville Language Exchange. “We figured it would be a way to cater to the international community here in Gainesville.” The participants gather from 8:30 p.m. and the event lasts until 11:30 p.m. every Thursday. They can choose from more than 120 cultural and language stickers that are in the form of little flags. In the cozy, low-lighten bar atmosphere, the participants hang around and look for people with the same country flags to start a foreign-language conversation. “It’s great to see everyone getting together once a week,” Shaye said. “You get a really strong sense of community just being a part of it; it’s also nice for myself personally to throw myself a party. I’m a prom king every week — it’s just fun.” Students of the University of Florida International Studies club decided to join the local group and bring their members for a social event. In summer 2014, they unsuccessfully tried to organize their own language exchange over lunch and bring together students who were learning foreign languages as well as international students. “We had a little bit of trouble getting international students to come,” said Marissa Koolik, a UF international studies and Chinese senior. “I had been there (the GLX) before and had a good experience, so we thought why not? We should take the international students and anyone who’s also wanted to practice foreign languages. We should join this preexisting language exchange group.” Besides socializing and having a good time, the GLX also provides an enjoyable atmosphere and space for putting language theory and grammar into practice. “It was a good practice for me, because the Chinese class I am taking this semester is mostly just reading, so I don’t really get speaking practice,” Koolik said. “It’s a good group, they are doing a good thing and we want to keep supporting them.” Furthermore, Shay said that the GLX changed their participants’ summers here and helped them establish new friendships. The members ended up spending the entire summer together. “It’s really cool for us to see them every time coming together; we know they met there, so it’s heart-warming in that sense,” Shay said. Isabella Trujillo, a freshman majoring in political science at UF, said she enjoyed her first visit. “It is really great program where you can go and share language skills or practice the language you’re taking,” Trujillo said. “I really liked it because it feels more like socializing and meeting new people, but at the same time you’re practicing and you’re learning, so it’s a learning experience as well.” Everyone interested in joining this group and enhancing language skills can join the GLX Facebook group and keep updated. Qué estás esperando? Vamonos. Previous Post TEDxUF: A Phenomenal Break Through Next Post Reflection on “Created Equal”	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line782
__label__wiki	0.987617	0.987617	PA Media: Entertainment Irvine Welsh and Jodie Foster movies to premiere at Glasgow Film Festival Douglas Barrie, PA Scotland 14 January 2021, 12:01 am ·3-min read A movie written by Irvine Welsh and another starring Jodie Foster are among the features to debut at the 2021 Glasgow Film Festival (GFF). Lockdown measures forced plans for a hybrid approach of screening films to be shelved, with the annual festival now online only from February 24 to March 7. It will open with Lee Isaac Chung’s autobiographical drama Minari – following a Korean-American family and starring The Walking Dead actor Steven Yeun – and close with Suzanne Lindon’s debut feature Spring Blossom. Scottish filmmaker Anthony Baxter’s Eye Of The Storm, which follows painter James Morrison through the last two years of his life, is one of the world premieres at this year’s festival. Allison Gardner, Glasgow Film chief executive and the GFF co-director, said: “Glasgow Film Festival 2021 may look different to previous years, but what has not changed is the quality of incredible films from across the world that we are bringing to our audiences. “The programme is filled with gems, but a few of my highlights must include Ben Sharrock’s bewitching tale of a refugee in Scotland Limbo, charming coming-of-age romance Sweetheart, Mads Mikkelsen’s stand-out performance in Riders Of Justice, stunning and compelling documentary BIG vs SMALL, and Gunda, a farmyard story of a sow and her piglets that will steal your heart.” More reasons to be cheerful… We're super happy to share that both #GFF21 Opening and Closing Films, MINARI and SPRING BLOSSOM will feature in our adapted online festival🎥 Full programme announcement inbound!@MinariMovie pic.twitter.com/nCQuvncOXQ — Glasgow Film Fest (@glasgowfilmfest) January 11, 2021 Other world premieres at the festival include Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliche, from the founder of acclaimed punk band X-Ray Spex and co-directed by her daughter Celeste Bell; Luke White’s documentary Handsome; Marly Morrison’s debut feature Sweetheart; and Philippe McKie’s Dreams On Fire. The Mauritanian, directed by Kevin Macdonald and based on the best-selling memoir by Mohamedou Ould Slahi, will be given its UK premiere. It tells the story of Slahi (played by Tahar Rahim), who was held for years in Guantanamo Bay and also stars Foster alongside Benedict Cumberbatch. Another UK premiere feature is Creation Stories – written by Welsh, starring Ewen Bremner and Jason Isaacs and directed by Nick Moran. It charts the rise of Creation Records founder Alan McGee. Allan Hunter, fellow festival co-director, said: “Everyone is staying indoors and keeping safe and we are really excited that the 2021 Glasgow Film Festival can play its part in the home viewing landscape. “A terrific selection of new features honours the Glasgow tradition of discovering gems from around the world and showcasing the very finest home-grown productions. “Among the many highlights I would single out are an exceptional selection of documentaries led by Frederick Wiseman’s majestic City Hall and Sonia Kenneback’s riveting Enemies Of The State, dazzling first features from talents to watch that include Danish thriller Shorta and the beguiling romance Jumbo, and new works from festival favourites including Iciar Bollain’s romantic charmer Rosa’s Wedding.” Tickets will go on sale at 12pm on Monday at https://glasgowfilm.org/glasgow-film-festival with titles available to view between February 24 and March 7 on an online platform (https://athome.glasgowfilm.org/). India starts huge vaccine drive after emergency approval India has kicked off one of the world's largest coronavirus vaccination drives as the pandemic spread at a record pace and global Covid-19 deaths surged past two million. India, home to 1.3 billion people, has the world's second-largest caseload. The government has given approvals to two vaccines -- though one is yet to complete clinical trials -- aiming to inoculate around 300 million people by July. Ice cream tests positive for coronavirus in China Contamination ‘probably a one-off’ and no cause for panic, virologist says Pavel Zelensky, a member of the Anti-Corruption Foundation team of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, was jailed by a Moscow court on Saturday until Feb. 28 on charges of inciting extremism on the internet, according to a court statement. His detention by the Presnensky District Court comes a day before Navalny's planned return to Russia since being poisoned in August and evacuated to Germany where he has been recuperating. Zelensky is a camera operator for the opposition leader's Anti-Corruption Foundation, which specialises in publishing high-impact investigations into what it says is official graft. UK weather: Up to 10cm of snow prompts warning of 'significant disruption' in England Parts of eastern England could see up to 10cm of snow on Saturday as forecasters warned of the potential for "significant disruption". The Met Office has issued an amber weather warning for snow across East Anglia, which is in place from 5am, while large parts of the UK, including Scotland, northern England, the East Midlands and the South East, are covered by yellow warnings. Temperatures overnight on Friday were expected to get as low as -6C in Yorkshire and -3C in East Anglia, but will hover around freezing during the day in areas where snow settled, the Met Office said. Places such as Newcastle and Norwich were expected to drop to -1C overnight, with fog patches in some places. Met Office meteorologist Luke Miall said patches of snow could even reach down into parts of Greater London. "The east of England is the area where we can see the highest impact from the snowfall," he said. "In terms of the amount of snowfall, we're likely to see in the region of one to three centimetres quite widely within that area but potentially as much as five to 10 centimetres in some places. "That's a fairly decent amount of snow and enough to cause some fairly significant disruption." Military officials will have second 45-pound briefcase ready for Joe Biden	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line783
__label__cc	0.502103	0.497897	Singing the praises of unsung heroes Hams worked with the American Red Cross to bring vital communications to dozens of shelters in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. A couple of weeks ago, I spoke with David Sumner, the CEO of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), which represents the amateur-radio community. Sumner was to be the keynote speaker at the Radio Club of America's annual awards banquet in New York City a couple of days later. Since it had been a while since I last spoke with him — far too long, really — I thought this would be a good time to catch up. He told me that amateur radio was alive and well. This surprised me, though I don't really know why. I suppose it's because a lot of things that were popular in my youth — hula hoops, for instance — have fallen by the wayside in this era of technological one-upmanship that makes the Cold War arms proliferation look like a potato-sack race. Sumner completely understood my reaction. "The perception is that we're stuck in the Sixties," he said. "But the number of licenses continues to grow. In fact, this is the sixth straight year of growth." He attributed the increased popularity in part to the do-it-yourself movement that is sweeping the country — if you doubt this, then spend some time surfing your cable or satellite system's program guide. According to Sumner, DIY clubs are popping up from coast to coast. He told me of one in Washington, D.C., that operates in a church basement. Members can access a wide variety of equipment and tools — the type of gear that is problematic to store if one dwells in a condo or apartment, as many D.C. denizens do — that can be used to build an even wider variety of things. A few members started to build ham radios just for kicks, and this led to the formation of an amateur radio club, Sumner said. He further predicted that more of these DIY clubs likely will be spawned as the reurbanization of America continues. Periodically, we have written stories about the vital role that amateur-radio operators play in the aftermath of a major disaster, when commercial and public-safety communications infrastructure often is rendered inoperable. I recall that the hams were the only source of information for several days following the December 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami that killed 230,000 people and displaced 1.7 million more. Sumner told me about the role that hams played in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. Though public-safety communications systems fared very well in the 10-state region impacted by the disaster, that didn't stop the amateur-radio operators from getting involved. They worked with the American Red Cross to establish communications at dozens of shelters that popped up across the affected area. For many victims, the hams were the only way that they could get word to family and friends that they had survived. So, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank them for their service. Amateur-radio operators tend to do their thing in anonymity. But when it hits the fan, they are front and center, right where you need them. America is better for it. What do you think? Tell us in the comment box below. Tags: Disaster Response Commentary Public Safety Urgent Matters Commentary Report: Many governments facing revenue shortfalls due to COVID-19 Newscan: All Californians will soon be able to text 911 for help	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line786
__label__cc	0.603163	0.396837	May 6-7, 2018 Conference Nov 30 – Dec 1, 2018 Conference Conference Proceedings from Nov 30-Dec 1, 2018 Conference April 4 Partnerships Session Home > CLAIS hosts U.S.-Brazil Studies Conference CLAIS hosts U.S.-Brazil Studies Conference As part of an effort supported by UNESCO to increase collaboration with Brazilian institutions among U.S. universities on the topic of studies of Brazil, the Council on Latin American and Iberian Studies at Yale and the Ministry of Education in Brazil hosted an interdisciplinary and collaborative conference titled Brazilian Studies in the U.S. – The Road Ahead. This conference was the second of two conferences at Yale this year that examined scholarship on Brazil in United States Institutions. This conference took place on November 30 and December 1, 2018 in Luce Hall, with more than 100 attendees, including students, faculty, other members of the Yale community and nearby institutions, including the Brazilian Endowment for the Arts in New York City and the Brazilian Consulate in Hartford. (view lectures) Claudia Valeggia, CLAIS Chair and Professor of Anthropology and Spanish and Portuguese at Yale University opened the conference. After her remarks, Felipe Sartori Sigollo, National Deputy Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Education of Brazil, Kenneth David Jackson, Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies for Portuguese at Yale University, and Carlos Ivan Simonsen Leal, President of Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV), all gave opening comments as well, setting the stage for the discussions during the rest of the conference. The main body of the conference consisted of six panels organized around the following themes: Anthropology, Ecology, & Environmental Sciences; Art History, Ethnomusicology, Communications & Education; History & Literature; Public Health & Medicine; Law & Political Science; and Sociology, Demography & Urban Planning. Experts and researchers from thirteen different institutions in both the United States and Brazil held in-depth discussions on current research in each of these fields and explored what can and should be done moving forward. In addition to the panels, there was a special exhibit held at the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript library eaturing a selection of rare materials relating to Brazil from as early as the 16th century. Conference attendees had the unique opportunity not only to see but also handle these amazing historical and literary documents, which provided an insightful backdrop to the topics discussed at the conference. CLAIS would especially like to thank Brazil’s Ministry of Education for its support and collaboration in planning and coordinating the conference. We anticipate that the 2018 conferences at Yale will become catalysts for increased participation among many institutions on the topic of Brazil. Planning is already underway to continue similar conferences and collaborations on studies of Brazil into the future. Click here to view a gallery of photos from the conference Written by Claire Thomas, CLAIS Student Program Assistant. The Edward J. and Dorothy Clarke Kempf Memorial Fund The Malcolm C. Batchelor Fund of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line787
__label__wiki	0.686253	0.686253	Oral Testimony by Deputy United States Trade Representative Demetrios J. Marantis before the House Committee on Ways and Means Remarks by Ambassador Miriam Sapiro at the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) Signing Ceremony Remarks by AUSTR Chris Wilson at the U.S.-Russia Business Council Annual Meeting Remarks by United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk at the United States Chamber of Commerce on Asia-Pacific Trade and Jobs Speeches/Transcripts Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for WTO And Multilateral Affairs Christopher Wilson Remarks at the U.S.-Russia Business Council Annual Meeting As Prepared for Delivery "Many thanks to the entire USRBC team for a allowing me to be with you today to share some perspectives on U.S.-Russia trade relations, and the U.S. Government’s work with Russia in the context of Russia’s accession to the WTO. "On behalf of Ambassador Kirk, who is sorry not to be able to join you today, I want to stress how much USTR values the relationship and interaction we have with USRBC and its members. It’s a partnership we very much value, and I know Ambassador Miriam Sapiro emphasized this when she saw many of you in St. Petersburg in June. Your perspectives and insights on U.S.-Russia relations, including especially in the trade and investment sphere, inform and enrich the work that we do in policy and diplomatic channels. As everyone in this room is aware, there’s a lot of work that still lies in front of us as we seek to build a progressively more mature, constructive, and rules-based trade relationship between the United States and the Russian Federation. And so we look forward to sustaining this strong partnership with USRBC. "I’ll try briefly this afternoon to provide you with a perspective on Russia’s bid to become a WTO Member – a bid that is clearly now in its final stages, and closer to completion than at any time in the past two decades. We’re at an exciting and optimistic moment in this process – though one that is not without remaining challenges that will need to be met in the coming months. "I want to provide a sort of framing context for the U.S. Government’s approach to WTO accession for Russia, and to the very much related effort to work with the U.S. Congress to terminate application of the Jackson-Vanik Amendment to Russia and enable extension of permanent normal trade relations. "That context, I would argue, is about a quest for greater predictability in this trade relationship. "The U.S.-Russia trade and investment relationship has grown and deepened a great deal since the end of the Soviet Union. The flow of goods and services between our two countries – as well as the flow of investment – is undeniably benefiting companies and workers in both countries. Russia’s growing affluence, and the increasing appetite of its consumers for American-produced goods and services, is a boon for companies represented in this room, and more broadly in the American economy. Two-way investment is likewise producing great benefits for both countries. "And yet I think there’s an understanding, in both government and private sector circles, that this a trade and investment relationship that is still less than fully developed, and that is, in many respects, falling short of its potential. "Despite the size and growing prosperity of the Russian economy, Russia still ranks only number 23 among U.S. goods trading partners, with $31.7 billion in total two-way goods trade during 2010. And Russia is even further down the rankings – at number 37 – among U.S. export markets for goods. "Beyond statistics, though, both Russians and Americans understand that we need to be striving for greater maturity in the way that we go about managing our trade relationship, and resolving the disagreements and disputes that inevitably arise in any such relationship. It is certainly not normal, for example, that heads of state should need to engage in resolving quite specific trade disputes, as has happened too often between the White House and the Kremlin. But this is a tangible indicator of the limited range of policy tools available to trade policy officials in both countries when it comes to managing the “blips” in the relationship. And, of course, this is precisely why it’s so important that Russia cross the threshold of WTO Membership – a step that will immediately provide both sides with an established framework for managing trade relations more effectively, and with greater predictability. "The recognition that our trade and investment relationship should be taken to the next level has emerged as a major priority of President Obama this year. Building on successes elsewhere in the U.S.-Russia relationship, the President has made clear that it is time to focus – really focus – on making sure the economic dimension of the bilateral relationship keeps pace. "WTO membership for Russia is at the very heart of that emphasis, and is one of the Administration’s top priorities this year for the U.S.-Russia relationship. "Russia has made tremendous progress since mid-2010 in putting WTO accession on a fast track, and working with the United States and other WTO Members to explain a trade regime that has changed in important aspects by virtue of Russia’s customs union with Kazakhstan and Belarus. The United States, working closely with the European Union, has offered our technical support and advice to Russia as it has extensively revised the documentation underlying its WTO accession to reflect the new realities of the Customs Union. We also worked aggressively, and successfully, in the summer of 2010 to resolve a number of key bilateral issues related to the accession process, a number of which had been outstanding for a long time. "The progress has continued throughout this year, and Russia is now clearly in the home stretch. Working with the Chairman and members of its accession working party, Russia has established an ambitious course to the finish line – the finish line being the Ministerial Conference of the WTO to be held in mid-December. The schedule for achieving this is holding. The Russian accession team is working with extraordinary dedication. I want to underscore the Administration’s deep appreciation for the efforts and dedication of First Deputy Prime Minister Shuvalov, Minister of Economic Development Nabiullina, and many others. My negotiating counterpart, Maxim Medvedkov, and his team have shown tremendous skill and have been putting in remarkably long hours to cross the finish line. "As we have seen in Geneva in recent weeks, the remaining obstacles are steadily falling away. Russia’s Working Party Report – which, at about 800 pages, will set new records for word-count and sheer weight – is nearly complete. The market access schedules are in the process of being verified. And tough issues like farm subsidies and meat quotas are being resolved. "There are still big issues out there – perhaps most notably the effort to ensure that all working party members, including the Republic of Georgia, are in a position to join a consensus on the final terms of Russia’s accession package. On this issue, creativity and flexibility from both Russia and Georgia will be critical. We are urging both parties to continue a constructive dialogue on relevant trade issues, and we are confident that an acceptable resolution will be found. "It is clear to all of us in the Administration that the government of the Russian Federation remains extremely determined to finish the job this year. Yes, there’s a political season on in Russia. But what I observe is a deep continuing commitment to completing the process. Both the President and the Prime Minister are focused on diversification and modernization of the Russian economy, and I am confident that they, and the Russian Government more broadly, appreciate the role that WTO membership can play in advancing that objective "So Russia remains committed. But why has this become such an important priority for the United States? "Here I return to the point of trying to create a more robust, well-functioning, predictable and bigger trade and investment relationship, to the benefit of businesses, workers, and farmers in both countries. "Ultimately the WTO is the heart of the international trading system. And it’s simply very hard to manage a successful trade relationship, or to help a trade relationship grow sensibly, without reference to that system. This is why it is so important that Russia cross the finish line to WTO membership. "For nearly two decades, with some stops and starts along the way, the trade policy dialogue between the United States and Russia has been almost exclusively dominated by the WTO accession process. It has been a complex, and occasionally very difficult, negotiation. Both sides, recognizing the stakes, have negotiated hard. "All of this has been absolutely necessary. But in a sense, the overwhelming focus on the multilateral process of accession has sort of crowded out the ability to really focus on building a mature, constructive, and flourishing bilateral trade relationship. "From my perspective, this will be one of the biggest benefits of Russia completing the accession process. It will effectively free us up, in Moscow and Washington, to turn our attention to the construction of a fully-developed bilateral trade partnership that will benefit both economies and support job creation in both our countries. "I’ve seen a similar positive shift in focus in another context. "In my previous position at USTR, I was responsible for U.S. trade relations with the Middle East, and the U.S. relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was a fairly prominent account. The U.S. and Saudi Arabia had been through a very long WTO accession process – although not quite as long as what we’ve experienced with Russia! "What I observed in my interactions with the Saudis was that, once the Kingdom had entered the WTO, there was a nearly immediate interest in turning the page to building a strong relationship in bilateral channels to manage trade and investment relations. Having established themselves as a member of the WTO community, and subject to its framework of rules, our Saudi counterparts were freer to turn their attention to meaningful bilateral dialogue on trade issues. And, fairly quickly, we were able to construct a flourishing framework for that dialogue, and to begin tackling some long-standing trade problems, and to do so successfully. "This is exactly what we’re striving for in the Russia context as well. And I would encourage all of you involved in U.S.-Russia trade relations to start thinking now about what you’d like to see reflected as we move into a “post-accession” phase in our commercial relationship. My colleagues at USTR and in other agencies will be giving this a lot of thought – both in terms of the structures that will make sense, but also in terms of policy priorities to pursue. Your input in this area will be extremely valuable. "Before closing, let me offer a word with respect to the Administration’s commitment to working with Congress on Jackson-Vanik/PNTR. "First, and above all – that commitment is solid. The President has made clear that the Jackson-Vanik Amendment has long since served its stated purpose, and has had no practical impact on U.S.-Russia trade relations for many years. "The Administration is also clear on the following reality – terminating application of the Amendment to Russia is manifestly in U.S. national economic interests. This is critical to enabling U.S. manufacturers, service providers, farmers and ranchers to enjoy the full benefits of Russia’s membership in the WTO. Without this, we would lose, at least temporarily, the ability to have access to a much-needed tool-kit for managing problems that arise in our trade relationship. "So, the Administration will continue to emphasize the importance of the Congress taking this action. The challenge is a large one. We are listening with great care to the particular concerns Members of Congress raise with us with regard to Russia. And we will continue to work vigorously to address those concerns effectively in the interest of building the strongest possible base of support for positive Congressional action on this critical issue. And with Congressional action on pending free trade agreements and other trade legislative priorities now moving forward, we are committed to working as rapidly as possible with Congress to address Jackson-Vanik. Our efforts are ramping up – and in fact I and other colleagues from the Administration will be on Capitol Hill every day in the remainder of this week, making our case that Congress’ action on this question is, above all, something that will measurably advance our own economic interests. "As this effort goes forward, USTR and the Administration as a whole are determined to stay closely in touch with USRBC and the broader coalition of stakeholders who share an interest in this issue. "Again, many thanks to the USRBC for the invitation to speak today. I’ll look forward to engaging with many of you in the remainder of the day. And all of us in the Administration look forward to sustaining the great partnership with USRBC as we seek to build a mature U.S.-Russia trade relationship."	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line789
__label__wiki	0.623994	0.623994	Baboonfan, Artifact, Canon Artifacts, Edible Artifacts Ronald Reagan's Jelly Beans The assassination attempt of Ronald Reagan Jar of jelly beans User becomes temporarily bullet-proof Doesn't prevent pain or protect against other kinds of death Constatine-77GH Ronald Reagan was the 40th President of the United States. He was a Republican, former actor, and former vice president to George Bush. He has been criticized for his trickle-down economics plan, economic de-regulation, and conservative social policies. He also survived an assassination attempt in 1981. He was shot by John Hinkley Jr. in the chest, but survived due to quick medical care. It was considered by Artie as an option to defend himself against the Nisqually Totem Pole but was decided against in the novel "A Touch of Fever". When the jelly beans are eaten, the consumer will become bullet-proof for a limited time. However this doesn't prevent the eater from feeling the pain of the bullet's impact, nor does it protect against other forms of death, such as fire, falls, pummeling, etc. Retrieved from "https://warehouse-13-artifact-database.fandom.com/wiki/Ronald_Reagan%27s_Jelly_Beans?oldid=99545" Baboonfan Canon Artifacts	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line797
__label__cc	0.711351	0.288649	Tag Archives: #spiritualpeople Chanting Yoga, Vedic Times Why an AYURVEDIC DIET ? June 9, 2019 Aradhana Devi Dasi BECAUSE IT’S GOOD FOR YOU! Ayurvedic Food Combining For many, the concept of food combining—the idea that some foods digest well together while others do not—is entirely new, and somewhat foreign. But according to Ayurveda, it is an essential part of understanding how to eat properly, just as discovering one’s constitution and state of imbalance is important for one’s Ayurvedic self-discovery. Careful food combining can dramatically improve the quality of digestion, support the body in receiving a deeper level of nourishment, and positively impact our overall health. However, most people in the modern world are accustomed to eating a number of foods that do not usually digest well together (like fruit with nuts, or beans with cheese). So why does it matter? The Ayurvedic perspective is that each food has a distinct combination of tastes and energies—and a corresponding effect on both the digestive system and on the body as a whole. Combining foods with radically different energetics can overwhelm the digestive fire (agni) and can cause indigestion, fermentation, gas, bloating, and the creation of toxins.1 This is why proper food combining is so important. Of course, certain combinations disturb the digestive tract more than others—an important consideration if this practice is entirely new to you. Regardless of your particular habits or symptoms, paying attention to how you combine foods can provide a valuable opportunity for insight, healing, and improved health. Remember, food combining is not about imposing black and white rules. It is one among many powerful Ayurvedic tools for improving digestive health and overall wellness. A Balanced Approach to Food Combining It is usually best to embrace the idea of food combining slowly and gently, allowing plenty of time to make the necessary adaptations. Some of the recommended adjustments are relatively simple; others can require a major recalibration in our habits, or be met with resistance. Often, simply developing an awareness of the improper food combinations that you eat somewhat regularly is a great place to start. Notice which foods you combine that may be difficult to digest together, and how often you indulge in them. Become aware of how you feel afterward. Do these choices affect your energy level, your digestion, your elimination, the coating on your tongue? Are particular combinations more noticeably influential than others? These are all important pieces of information. They can confirm the importance of proper food combining and can help each of us to identify the food combinations that are the most disruptive to our systems. When you are feeling motivated and decide that you are ready to start adapting your diet to accommodate more supportive food combinations, consider tackling just one change at a time. Perhaps you’ll start by eating fruits alone, rather than in combination with other foods. Over time, you can gradually progress toward the ideal. While it would certainly be nice to avoid improper food combinations altogether, reducing their frequency can also be incredibly beneficial. If you do find that some specific food combinations are more problematic for you or your loved ones than others, focus your efforts on changing just those in the beginning. The most important first step is to become aware of your needs and your habits; from there, you can evolve an approach to food combining that works for you. Combinations to Reduce or Avoid The following list highlights incompatible foods and offers suggestions for more appropriate combinations. It is meant to be a helpful guide, not an exhaustive list. In fact, you may be aware of other combinations that do not work for your body. Honor those instincts. Because this resource is meant to help you determine optimal combinations at a glance, there is some repetition. Combinations listed in all caps are particularly challenging. Compatible and Incompatible Foods: A List Yes, some of these are staple combinations in many households. Pizza and a number of other beloved Italian dishes combine nightshades with cheese. And who among us hasn’t enjoyed beans with cheese at some time or another? Then there’s the fruit and yogurt taboo… So much for about 80% of all available store-bought varieties of yogurt; next time you indulge in a fruit-flavored yogurt, pay attention to how your digestion feels afterwards.In addition, there are some specific preparations that are challenging when combined with particular foods. Supportive Food Combinations in Ayurveda All of these rules can feel overwhelming, even irritatingly complicated. But, the rationale behind proper food combining really does make sense. Ultimately, combining mismatched foods generates ama , a toxic substance that is often at the root of imbalance and disease.2 But, for those of you who would like to understand a little more about HOW and WHY these food combinations tax our bodies, here are a few specific examples: Bananas and Milk Though commonly eaten together, bananas and milk are challenging to digest together because their qualities are so different. Bananas are heating while milk is cooling. That alone is problematic. Further, bananas become sour as they break down. So now our digestive fire has to process a sour substance and milk at the same time. Ever added a squeeze of lemon to milk? Or maybe you’ve poured a little milk into a tangy, fruity tea… only to watch it curdle instantly? What happens to these mismatched foods in the digestive tract is not much different. When bananas and milk are eaten together, their opposing qualities tend to smother the digestive fire and can disrupt the balance of intestinal flora, which results in the creation of toxins. This combination also frequently causes congestion, colds, coughs, allergies, hives, and rashes.2 A similar situation arises when we combine any sour fruit with milk.3 Eating Fruits Alone The reason fruits are best enjoyed on their own is that fruit is usually somewhat acidic, fairly simple to digest, and often digests quite quickly. When fruits are eaten with other foods, there is usually a significant discrepancy between the amount of time required to properly digest the fruit versus the more complex food. Inhibited by the more complex food, the fruit tends to move through the digestive tract too slowly and can cause fermentation, gas, and bloating. In addition, the combination typically introduces a number of conflicting qualities into the digestive tract all at once, which has the potential to overwhelm or stifle the digestive fire. Nightshades and Cheese This combination is simply too taxing for the digestive fire. A nightshade is a common name for a member of the plant family Solanaceae, which includes potatoes, bell peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, cayenne peppers, paprika, tobacco, henbane, belladonna, datura, and over 2,500 other plants. Nightshades contain alkaloids, primarily as a means of defense against being damaged by insects. The alkaloids can be anywhere from mildly to fatally toxic to humans. As a result, diverse cultures around the world have long held an intriguing relationship with the nightshade family. Some have been used to make poisons, some contain incredibly addictive compounds such as nicotine, some are mind altering, and others create an incredible sensation of heat in the mouth.4 The bottom line is that nightshades contain a complex array of compounds that, once ingested, lead to a potentially dramatic cascade of chemical reactions in the body. Ayurvedically speaking, all nightshades are believed to be somewhat difficult to digest and to have the capacity to disturb the doshas. When we mix these inherently challenging nightshades with cheese—which is heavy, oily, and also difficult to digest—we can quickly overtax the digestive fire. Beans and Cheese Beans and cheese are similar in that they both tend to be heavy and are often difficult to digest. In order to break down properly, they both require a good deal of digestive strength. But, the similarities end there. Beans tend to taste mostly astringent and sweet, can be either heating or cooling (depending on the type of bean), and usually have a pungent post-digestive effect. Cheese, on the other hand, tastes predominantly sour, is almost always heating, and usually has a sour post-digestive effect. The post-digestive effect of different foods occurs once that food has moved into the colon; it affects the urine, feces, sweat and tissues—sometimes even at the cellular level. Two foods with distinct post-digestive effects are typically quite different from one another. This is the case with beans and cheese; when they are eaten together, they tend to overwhelm and confuse the digestive fire. Meanwhile, their combined heaviness makes them even more difficult to process, often resulting in poor digestion and the accumulation of ama. Ease Into It Embracing the wisdom of food combining slowly helps us to cultivate a refined awareness around how our dietary choices affect us. This heightened sensitivity can be an invaluable asset, regardless of how quickly we are able to replace improper food combinations with more supportive ones. Be gentle with yourself, progressing at a pace that works for you. You might find it helpful, on occasion, to take a moment to reflect on how your digestion and your overall sense of wellness have changed over time. Proper food combining tends to awaken the body’s innate intelligence, so for most, embracing good food combining habits gets easier with time and practice. Much of the information contained in this article came from Dr. Vasant and Usha Lad’s cookbook: Ayurvedic Cooking for Self-Healing. Our deepest gratitude to them both for sharing an enlightened understanding of how to eat Ayurvedically. An Ayurvedic Approach to Losing Weight The Importance of Healthy Digestion The concept of agni, the Sanskrit word for “fire,” is rather essential to the Ayurvedic tradition. Ayurveda views agni as the very source of life. It is said that a man is as old as his agni and that when agni is extinguished, we die. Perhaps even more significantly, Ayurveda teaches us that impaired agni is at the root of every imbalance and disease. So the importance of agni in Ayurveda simply cannot be understated. Thank you ~ Banyan Botanicals #allweneedislove#anoasisoflove#ayurvedic#becausewecare#bethechange#care#caregiving#caring#chantingyoga#compassion#diet#joinus#loveandcare#oasisoflove#prabhupada#preventive#spiritualbeings#spiritualcare#spiritualpeople#spiritualworld Ananta Sesa das, Vedic Times WHAT IS KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS? September 5, 2018 Aradhana Devi Dasi By Ananta Sesa Dasa The Vedic Times organisation follows the principles of Vaishanavism. Many supporters of the VTO are well versed in Krishna Consciousness; however, since the VTO welcomes every spiritual seeker, it seems appropriate to take a bit of time to discuss the history and philosophy of the movement. Krishna Consciousness is our original spiritual understanding, which means that its history is actually as old as the universe. However, we will start the history a little more recently. The Vedic culture (Veda means sacred knowledge) began in India over 5000 years ago. This culture is so named because of it’s spiritual and ritualistic adherence to the Vedas. The four Vedas (Rg-veda, Sama-veda, Atharva-veda, and Yajur-veda) were delivered to the people of India by Vyasadeva in order to make this most ancient wisdom available to all. The Vedas are very technical and difficult for the common person to understand, so other writings were brought into being as a way of bringing wisdom and truth to the less intelligent of society. These works were the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Contained within the Mahabharata is the Bhagavad-Gita, considered by many to be the Bible of the Hindus, but of course, it is really the Bible of humanity. The Bhagavad-Gita tells the story of a conversation held between the great warrior, Arjuna, and Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personification of the Godhead. Taking the role of guru, or spiritual coach, Krishna carefully guides Arjuna towards spiritual awakening and full knowledge. This text is left as humanity’s instruction manual. Its teachings are simple and to the point, but sadly, human ego drove some to abandon the true message of Krishna Consciousness, and instead to manipulate it to serve their own sense gratification for power and wealth. Because of this corruption, Lord Krishna entered the world. This time, he appeared as a devotee of Krishna called Lord Caitanya (1486-1534). Caitanya fought against the corruption caused by ego and initiated a spiritual awakening through the sankirtan movement. The sankirtan movement, which is the chanting of the holy names, is the simplest method of reviving our dormant Krishna Consciousness. The teachings of Lord Caitanya have been passed down from guru to initiate for the last 500 years, which brings us to the founder of Krishna Consciousness in the West, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada (1896-1977). Shortly before his death in 1933, Prabhupada’s teacher, Bhaktisiddhanta Swami, instructed him to bring this ancient knowledge to the West. Prabhupada was finally able to make this a reality in 1965. Swami Prabhupada arrived in New York in the fall of 1965 virtually penniless, but he was able to set up a small store front temple at the former Matchless Gifts giftshop on 2nd Street. From there he began to chant, give teachings from the Bhagavad-Gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam, and other important scriptures. Very slowly people started to notice, listen, and begin to follow the teachings from this spiritual coach. As the 60s moved on, and with the help of some prominent figures such as Allen Ginsberg and George Harrison, the movement grew in popularity and attracted many followers. (It attracted our own Gurudas in 1967). During the final years of his life, Prabhupada travelled around the world 14 times and wrote over 50 books. He worked tirelessly to make Krishna Consciousness the world-wide movement that it is today. The basic philosophy of Krishna Consciousness begins with the idea that we are not the physical bodies that we believe we are. Material conditioning has made us accept many falsehoods. Instead, we are spirit soul, which is part and parcel of Krishna. In the beginning, humans existed in their original constitutional position, as the appendages of God. There was no sense of ego or desire to become anything more. We simply served the Lord and fulfilled His Divine Will. However, as time went on, a false ego developed within humans. This ego insisted that mankind was not just an appendage of God, but rather was its own person. With that mentality, desire for sense gratification developed and grew. The created world had so many allurements, beauty, sex, wealth, power, entertainments, and so forth, that humanity forgot its true nature. As a result, we spent our time seeking these allurements and trying to find happiness within them. Of course, this is impossible. Any happiness found in this world is temporary, and when it is gone, it leaves a gap that brings misery. Suffering is the common state of existence for one who has forgotten one’s true nature. True happiness can only be found in the eternal, which means letting go of all our temporary attachments and surrendering to Krishna. By doing so, we may return to our original constitutional positions as servitors of the Lord and find genuine happiness through that service. But how do we do this? Lord Caitanya taught that the easiest method for reviving our dormant Krishna Consciousness, our love of Krishna and understanding of our true self, was through the chanting of the Holy Names of God. Within the Vedic traditions, the name of God, the image of God, or anything else associated with God is identical to God. So, when we chant the names of God, we are bringing Him into our presence. The greatest desire of humanity is to see and know God. “I really want to see you Lord,” George Harrison sang in My Sweet Lord. There is a great deal of doubt and skepticism in this world about the existence of God, even from so-called believers. Like Doubting Thomas, they want proof, but it seems no proof is forthcoming. Another line from Harrison; however, says “it won’t take long my Lord”. This is acknowledgement that if one begins the process of chanting the Holy Names that one will quickly experience God and have the proof that is desired. One will soon be in the presence of God. The Maha-Mantra The chanting that Lord Caitanya spoke of is called the Maha-Mantra (the Great Mantra). It is comprised of three of the names of God: Hare, Krishna, and Rama. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare Hare Rama, Hare Rama Rama Rama, Hare Hare Hare is the spiritual energy of God, and also represents the feminine aspect of the divine as Radha. Krishna, a name that implies universal attraction, is the Supreme Personification of the Godhead. Rama, who entered the world in human form, is the supreme enjoyer. It is through Him that we find true happiness. (Readers from a Christian background may find a strong similarity to the Trinity. Krishna would equate to God the Father, Rama to God the Son, and Hare as the Holy Spirit.) Lord Caitanya taught that a devotee of Krishna should chant this mantra on a string of japa beads (similar to a rosary). The string contains 108 beads, and one chants the mantra once on each bead. After 108 times, one round of japa is completed. Caitanya advised that one should chant 64 rounds each day. In this way, the mind would constantly be focused upon Krishna to the exclusion of everything else. Recent spiritual guides, such as Srila Prabhupada, have lessened the number to 16 rounds per day due to the pressures and duties of modern life. The key point is to ensure that one is constantly thinking of Krishna. The process of Bhakti-yoga requires that one offer devotional service to the Lord with love. So, one’s actions should be directed toward the service of the Lord and one should always be thinking of the Lord. In this way, one will remember and regain one’s original position as servitor of the Lord, and not be bothered by suffering from the illusions of the material world. #allweneedislove#anoasisoflove#awakening#becausewecare#care#caregiving#compassion#enlightement#give#loveandtrust#preventive#spiritualbeings#spiritualpeople#spritualpeoples#thevedictimes#vedictimes#yoga#yogaoflove#yogaretreat Hari Krishna das, Vedic Times Intelligence or chaos ~ Chapter 2 February 1, 2018 Aradhana Devi Dasi Intelligence or chaos ~ the teleological argument A book written by Hari Krsna das (Henk Keilman) “The numerical coincidences (necessary for an anthropic universe) could be regarded as evidence of design. The delicate fine tuning in the values of the constants, necessary so that the various different branches of physics can dovetail so felicitously, might be attributed to God. It is hard to resist the the impression that present structure of the universe, apparently so sensitive to minor alterations in the numbers, has been rather carefully thought out.” Paul Davies PhD, physicist 3D illustration of neurons (brain cells) and nerve synapses in the human brain, the most complicated organ of the human body. The human brain consists of an average of 100 billion neurons and the human body consists of about 75 trillion cells. The complexity and the organizational level of the human body and brain are indescribable. But even the structure of the smallest atom, the hydrogen atom, appears to have a complexity and a structured balance that cannot be comprehended. From the smallest sub-atomic particle, up to the living organisms and clusters of Milky Way systems, the universe is permeated with an indescribable level of organised complexity The first atheistic proposition: complexity is the result of chance and chaos Most committed and outspoken atheists come from the world of science and philosophy. Dawkins and Baggini for instance, are considered to be authoritative academics. They believe in the scientific method and they often consciously position themselves as being completely opposite religion— which they call ‘superstition’ — to show that they represent reason. They suggest that religion belongs to the realm of emotions and feelings, where people can vent the thought that they ‘feel that there has to be something more’. They are firmly convinced that there is no, and that there cannot be any rational or scientific foundation for the proposition that the universe arises from and is governed by an intelligent power. Please continue reading or download your free PDF here. #caregiving#chaos#Intelligence#intelligenceorchaos#loveandcare#loveandtrust#spiritualbeings#spiritualpeople#teleological#thevedictimes#yoga#yogaoflove ‘INTELLIGENCE OR CHAOS’ ~ The Fallacy of Atheism November 5, 2017 Aradhana Devi Dasi ‘INTELLIGENCE OR CHAOS’ The Fallacy of Atheism A book by Hari Krishna Das (Henk Keilman) The mystery of existence “The most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible at all” Albert Einstein Unimaginably large numbers! When I look out of the window of my study to the world outside, I see the world as we know it. I see trees, gardens and buildings in bright sunlight, except for the shadow of the occasional cloud passing overhead. Around me, life is taking its course. Nothing remarkable, as you might say; everything is just as we know it. However, behind this everyday reality is a universe of an almost unimaginable size and complexity. We can forget this universe so easily in our daily routine of work, grocery shopping and enjoying our free time, but it is nevertheless always present, just behind that blue or cloudy sky, and it is full of truly astonishing phenomena. Take the phenomenon of light for example, which makes all life on this planet possible. It is only because of light that we can actually see anything of the world around us, yet rarely do we consider that this light has just made a huge cosmic journey simply to get here. Emanating from what we call the sun, a relatively small star known as a ‘yellow dwarf’ in astronomer’s jargon, the light that reaches our planet earth has traveled 150 million kilometers at a speed of about 300,000 kilometers per second taking roughly just 8 minutes to complete the journey. The sun may be small compared to other stars, but the force that she produces is still unimaginably powerful. Every second our star produces an amount of energy that equals the explosion of 1 trillion hydrogen bombs of 1 megaton. In this same second, the sun produces enough energy to keep the entire world economy going for 500,000 years based on our current energy usage. Due to the enormous amounts of energy being produced and the speed at which it travels, we can feel the influence of the sun almost immediately despite her distance from earth. On a hot summer’s day, her heat can be unbearable and we are grateful just to find a spot in the shade. However, the sun is only a glowing pin-head compared to the total size of the universe. To be really impressed by the cosmos, we have to wait until the sun disappears behind the horizon and darkness sets in. After sunset, the true scale of the universe becomes more apparent as numerous stars, star systems and other celestial bodies appear in the night sky. For those of us not living in towns and cities and not hindered by light pollution the night sky would be filled with thousands of stars. Nonetheless, no matter how impressive a view, we would only be witnessing a tiny part of the entire universe, a fraction of a fraction of an immeasurably large space. Our solar system with its 8 planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. For those who really want to understand the universe we have to enter the domain of extremely large numbers. The distances within our own solar system are already enormous. Earth is part of a collection of nine planets, including the lonely outer dwarf planet Pluto. The distance from the sun to Pluto is, on average, 5 billion kilometers. If we were to travel by spaceship at the impressive speed of 60,000 kilometers per hour, then we would need to travel for 10 years to cover this distance. But if we zoom out further, then our solar system disappears into nothing. Our collection of planets is a minuscule part of a much larger entity; a galaxy called the Milky Way. The distance from one side of this system to the other side is 100,000 light years. One light year is the distance that light travels in one year at the speed of 300.000 km per second, or 9.4 trillion (9,400,000,000,000) kilometers. If we continued to travel in the spaceship that took us to Pluto at the same speed, it would take us 1.8 billion years to travel from one side of the Milky Way to the other. Nevertheless, we would still be safely within our own star system. However, if we ventured to travel to our next nearest major star system, the Andromeda galaxy, then we would have to cover a distance of 2.4 million light years. If we continued to travel at this same speed, it would take us no less than 43.2 billion years! These distances are simply beyond human comprehension. We can hardly pronounce such numbers, let alone imagine them. Who does not, from time to time, look up to the stars in the sky and wonder with slight apprehension where it all ends? The Andromeda star system is located at a distance of 2,4 million lightyears from our solar system. As large as the universe is, however, so the inhabitants of this planet appear to be insignificant and small, and I am not just referring to our size. One only has to watch CNN to be faced with the crude facts; a civil war raging in one part of the world, some bomb attacks in another part, which is pretty much a daily menu of news facts. Of course, we also invent medication, we build sea walls and dams to protect millions from drowning and we create institutes that advance prosperity and social justice. Art, culture and science are also expressions of human activities, aimed at positive human development. However, looking at our own history, we mostly seem to be specialised in warfare and fighting each other. According to a New York Times article published on July 6 2003, over the past 3,400 years humans have been entirely at peace for just 268 years, or just 8% of recorded history. That means there were wars going on for 3.132 years somewhere on the planet. These wars have claimed between 150 million to 1 billion casualties. That’s not a very good statistic, and it says a lot about the human condition. The relative peace of the past 65 years is mainly due to the existence of nuclear weapons, which make it impossible for us to have large scale wars. While most wars, in hindsight and almost without exception, seem to be useless, a nuclear war is useless in advance. The so-called MAD doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction is an insurmountable obstacle to any potential aggressor based on even the most primitive calculations. Nevertheless, smaller wars and battles continue as humans fight a complicated battle in their struggle for survival against real or alleged enemies and threats. This battle is fought with intensive emotions and is literally of vital importance to each individual. But placed into perspective, these great and small human activities take place against the backdrop of nature and the infinite universe. Only one hundred kilometers of atmosphere separate us from the unreal reality of this immeasurable, unimaginable universe. These one hundred kilometers above our earth are the boundaries of the tiny bubble in which earthly existence takes place. This tiny bubble, earth and its atmosphere, floats in an immeasurable ocean of cosmic energies of outright extra-terrestrial proportions. The difference between the immeasurable universe and human worries is surreal. It is a remarkable contrast; the cold, uninterested magnitude of the universe set against the intense emotions and awareness of our minuscule existence, occurring simultaneously and of course, both equally real. But, what is ‘real’? Why does reality exist? Just like everyone looks at the stars now and then and wonders about the vastness of the universe, everyone will sooner or later also wonder why we exist and why everything around us exists. Sometimes reality seems unreal, intangible and even dreamlike whilst at other times reality feels like a strong and tangible presence. What is most remarkable is that reality appears to be inflexible and it does not seem to be interested in us or our well-being. Both the world and the universe just exist, distant and indifferent; at least so it seems. In the words of Richard Dawkins: “The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.” This causes humans many problems. We wonder, why is there something instead of just nothing? Why does reality exist the way it does? Why is reality at every level so immensely complicated? And why is reality permeated with undesirable things such as old age, disease and death and other types of suffering. Is there an explanation other then the one provided by Dawkins above, or is that it. These questions lay the foundation for this book. They are the starting-point towards the question that defines the mystery of existence and that is the most important question that humans can ask themselves: Does God exist or not? Does existence – small or gigantic – spring from an unconscious and unintelligent chaos, or is it created by awareness and intelligence and does it have a purpose and a design? The answer to these questions provides an insight into the role and position of humans in the universe. Do our lives have meaning or is our existence toally lacking any purpose? Do humans exist with an intention, or do we just float around in the cosmos without ever achieving anything? Or, as the famous atheist philosopher Bertrand Russell put it so strikingly: “Man is an unfortunate accident, a sideshow in the material universe – an odd accident in a forgotten corner.” Ultimately, we are of course all interested, out of normal self interest, in our own position and perspective in life. At the deepest level, this perspective is completely determined by the answer to the question of whether God exists or not. Thanks to: NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team STScI/AURA The Andromeda system is situated at an impressive distance of 2.4 million light-years away from us. This distance is nothing compared to the distance to NGC 1300, a spiral-shaped star system that is situated at a distance of 61 million light-years away from us in the Eridanus constellation. The star system has a cross- section of about 110,000 light-years; just slightly bigger than our own Milky Way. Philosophical analyses has shown that this question, is the determining factor for the way we view reality and the universe. All philosophies can, in the end, be divided into two fundamental categories. The first category is atheistic in its core and states that the origin and the functioning of reality is based on chaos and coincidence. The second category is theistic in its core and regards the universe as an organic reality that was created and is managed by intelligence. Other philosophies that are essentially agnostic – and therefore do not explicitly state whether God exists or not – are often considered to be atheistic. In many cases, they will say that the intelligent coordination of the universe is an improbability. Therefore, they implicitly – and based on elimination – have a preference for chaos and coincidence as the most probable explanation for the origin of the universe. Of course, within each of these categories there is a huge diversity of philosophies with many differences in nuance. Nonetheless, the dividing line is striking and this has an all-determining effect on all aspects of a philosophy, such as the theory of knowledge (epistemology), the theory on the nature of being (ontology), theories concerning moral values and meaning (ethics) and, in the end, the description or perception of our physical and scientific reality (physics and metaphysics). Indeed, social and political ideologies are also largely defined by this split. Denying or confirming the existence of God therefore leads to opposite philosophies and completely opposite answers as far as the origin and meaning of existence is concerned. Do our lives have a deeper meaning, or are our lives meaningless; a random evolutionary accident? Is man just a product of matter, or is there another type of energy that defines our consciousness and our individuality? Is death the absolute end of our lives, or do our lives continue beyond the boundaries of death? Is there a final heavenly (or hellish) destination past earthly existence, or is our short earthly existence the beginning, middle and end of the story? Theistic or atheistic philosophies will answer these questions in totally opposite ways leading to very different world perspectives which strongly affect everything we think, say and do. Even scientific disciplines such as physics and cosmology are strongly influenced, both directly and indirectly, by the dividing line between atheism and theism. As an interesting side note, it is precisely these sciences, combined with mathematics, that contain the initial answers to the question of whether the universe is governed by chaos or intelligence and thus, whether God exists or not. Given the impact this question has on our life, individually and in society, this really is the most important question that humans can ask themselves. The images of this rich set of star systems are made by La Silla Observatory of the ESO in Chile. The thousands of star systems that are situated in this small area of the firmament provide us with a look into the distant past of the universe and makes us realise again how enormously large the cosmos is. Just underneath the bright stars in the centre of this image there is a group of star systems called Abell 226. The Abell group is situated at a distance of some billions of light-years away from us. Behind these objects there are even more star systems, they are less bright though, but still at even greater distances of about 9 up to 10 billion light-years. The light we see today coming from these systems has therefore traveled for 9 up to 10 billion years in order to reach us. This also means that we are looking back in time at a universe that existed 10 billion years ago. This book attempts to answer this question, not by serving dogmas, but by critical analyses, based on philosophical and scientific research. This book compares the scientific and philosophical arguments in favour of the existence of God or against the existence of God and puts atheism against theism, chaos against design. It does this by focusing on some important changes in scientific thought, especially in the area of physics and cosmology where new and completely revolutionary discoveries have been made. These discoveries and insights reveal a universe that is infinitely complex, infinitely organized and infinitely mysterious. The level of organized complexity is so huge that this can only be explained logically by the presence of an all-pervading intelligence and an omnipresent awareness. Such an all-pervading intelligence can be called by any name and each label can be granted to it. God, of course, is the most obvious name: all-pervading intelligence and omnipresent awareness are qualifications that can only be attributed to God. The problem however is that the term God is burdened with a controversial history, created by humans. These are all controversies that, almost without exception, stem from ignorance, sectarianism, fanaticism or a corrupted desire for power. The intention of this book is to demonstrate, based on objective and scientific foundations, that intelligence and consciousness are the driving forces behind the universe, regardless of the burdened history of what that implies. This burdened history is what it is, but it does not alter the reality of these new scientific insights and the philosophical consequences of these insights. Where science directed humanity towards materialism and atheism over the past 200 years, we now see a way of thinking in the opposite direction. This direction is of a spiritual nature and implies a scientific rehabilitation of God. The facts that science has revealed over the past decades confirm that a universe without God is simply untenable, despite desperate and sometimes exotic attempts to do so. If we consider all the arguments, there can only be one logical conclusion: the universe is governed by intelligence and consciousness. Whether God exists This, therefore, is the central theme of the book, as the (sub)title indicates: ‘Intelligence or chaos: the misconception of atheism.’ This book discusses the scientific and philosophical arguments for and against the existence of God, atheism versus theism, and in scientific terms, intelligence and design versus chaos and coincidence. There will be few people who do not know the term ‘God’, but on the other hand it is a concept with a wide range of interpretations. Therefore, it is important and necessary to define and describe the concept of God. With respect to this, I do not intend to get caught up in analyses and definitions that are too technical, but I intend to focus on the general, common meaning of the concept God. This meaning is mostly associated with the manner in which the nature and the being of God is described. For instance, is he personal or impersonal; is he one with his creation and the universe or is he transcendental and outside of his creation? Is he personally involved with the universe or is he in control at a distance? What are his qualities and attributes? There are mainly two visions regarding the being and the nature of God, monotheism and monism. Within these categories are several schools of thought with important nuances and differences, but this book will primarily deal with the core concepts. Monotheism states that one divine Supreme Being exists that has personal, transcendent characteristics. Monotheism also states that the world— the universe— is an emanation and creation of God. According to this vision, both God and his emanations are eternal energies. The Christian doctrine deviates somewhat from this view, since creation is not considered to be an emanation, but as something that was created by God out of nothing. This is called ‘creatio ex nihilo’ by Christian theologians. Here, but also in other aspects, there are nuanced differences between the various monotheistic traditions. What the different monotheistic schools do agree on is the absolute unity of God, which is at its core both personal and transcendental. Within this unity there is, however, a multitude of diversity: first of all, between God and His energies, and accordingly, between His energies mutually. This principle is the essence of monotheism. In Christianity the unity of God is not entirely without controversy; the doctrine of the Trinity states that God is really three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and not one person. Effectively, and implicitly most Christian theologians see God as fundamentally One, yet simultaneously many, or three in this instance. Despite this nuance, Christianity is generally accepted as a monotheistic religion. Quoting the words of Jesus in John 5.44: “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?” Jesus was clearly of the opinion, as was official Jewish doctrine at the time, that God is one. Richard Dawkins during the launch of his campaign in 2008, where London buses were decorated with atheist slogans. Monism also states that there is one divine Supreme Being. The difference is, however, that this Supreme Being is impersonal by nature. The monotheistic God is often associated with an impersonal, all-embracing, undifferentiated, and infinite state of pure energy, made of pure and impersonal consciousness. According to monism, it is only this state of absolute unity that is real and the universe, with its diversity and multitude, is just an illusionary reflection of this divine energy. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are considered to be monotheistic religions. However, despite many misconceptions, Hinduism is also, at its core and by origin, a monotheistic doctrine. The philosophical core of Hinduism is mainly founded on the Vedanta philosophy, which is of a monotheistic nature. On the other hand, Buddhism and certain movements within the Vedanta school, such as Advaita Vedanta, are monistic by nature. The famous Dutch philosopher Spinoza (1632 – 1677) was also a monist who saw the world as the expression of an underlying, all-embracing and impersonal reality. Spinoza identified this underlying reality with God. The doctrine of Spinoza was an important influence on the thinking of Albert Einstein. Einstein believed in Spinoza’s image of God: ‘… a God that revealed Himself in the systematic harmony of the universe’. He did not believe in a God that interfered with the fate and the actions of man. The two main movements, monotheism and monism have numerous variants such as pantheism, panentheism, polytheism, and deism. The first, pantheism is a variant to monism. According to pantheism, God only manifests Himself in the universe and does not differ from the universe in every respect. Deism and panentheism are sub-divisions of monotheism. Deism is a movement that has been popular amongst Western scientists and emerged as a result the scientific revolution in the 17th century followed by the Enlightenment in Europe and the United States during the 18th century. Deism is a form of monotheism, with the distinction being that the deistic God does not interfere directly in the world, in human affairs and nature. The latter is, according to deism, governed by the laws of nature, which were ultimately created by God. Panentheism is a concept that is perhaps not quite so familiar. It means that God is transcendent and above creation and, at the same time, He is immanent and manifests Himself in creation. Effectively, it is not really different from monotheism, which also acknowledges the simultaneous transcendence and immanence of God. Polytheism, the believe in many gods and goddesses, is sometimes a disguised form of monotheism. The pantheon of gods are effectively demi-gods and part of a divine hierarchy. For instance in Hinduism demi-gods are charged with ruling and managing the universe on behalf of, and in the service of the supreme God. Other traditions such as the polytheism found in ancient Egypt, Greece or Rome are truly polytheistic, whereby the different gods and goddesses are considered to be separate entities each with their own individual powers. In the following treatment of theism and atheism, I primarily refer to the two main groups of theistic philosophies, which are monotheism and monism. For the sake of convenience, I indicate both traditions in this book as theistic. In later chapters, the differences between these two traditions will be explained further. In religions and theistic philosophies, in both monotheistic and monistic variants, God is defined as the Supreme Being, almighty, all-knowing, omnipresent, eternal and infinite: the creator and maintainer of the universe and of all life in the universe. Furthermore, God is described as loving and merciful. A theistic world view assumes that such a being, in whatever shape or form, exists. Moreover, this implies that the universe is an organic unity, governed from an intelligent and conscious centre. The four propositions of atheism The atheistic world view denies the existence of such a Supreme Being and denies that the universe is an organic unity governed by an intelligent centre. Apart from admitting that there are some basic, blind laws of nature, atheism claims that the universe consists of an infinite number of material particles that reside in an infinite and empty space. Since the particles are fundamentally separated by space, they are independent and therefore on a large scale governed by coincidence and chaos. Atheism also denies the existence of another reality, apart from or next to the material reality. One of the most leading advocates of this worldview is, without question, the ethologist and biologist Richard Dawkins. He even placed atheistic advertisements on London city buses. In his book ‘The God Delusion’ he defines atheism as follows: “An atheist in this sense of philosophical naturalist is somebody who believes there is nothing beyond the natural, physical world, no supernatural creative intelligence lurking behind the observable universe, no soul that outlasts the body and no miracles – except in the sense of natural phenomena that we don’t yet understand. If there is something that appears to lie beyond the natural world as it is now imperfectly understood, we hope eventually to understand it and embrace it within the natural.“ Another atheistic thinker Dawkins quotes is Julian Baggini. He explains atheism in his book ‘Atheism, A Very Short Introduction’ as follows: “What most atheists do believe is that although there is only one kind of stuff in the universe and it is physical, out of this stuff come minds, beauty, emotions, moral values – in short the full gamut of phenomena that gives richness to human life.” Based on these definitions, but also based on the definitions of other atheistic thinkers, atheism is founded on four propositions or basic assumptions: The universe consists of material particles that exist independent of each other and that move independent of each other within the infinite void. The total of the movements and interactions of these particles is governed by coincidence and chaos, combined with a number of simple and blind laws of nature. This is also called ‘pluralism’. There is no central intelligent coordination within the universe and the universe is not an organic unity. There exists nothing apart from or outside the perceptible, physical material reality or the world of matter. Proposition 1 and 2 together are also called ‘materialism’. 3. Even if there were to be a beginning of the universe, the origin of the universe has to be ultimately simple. God is by definition a complex being and, therefore, He cannot be the ultimate cause. The existence of a complex being such as God would demand that He would have been created by something else. 4. The universe is imperfect from a human perspective. That imperfection manifests itself most clearly in the presence of useless suffering that each living creature is faced with. This contradicts and undermines the position of God as almighty and merciful. The first two propositions together are called ‘materialism’; it holds the view that matter is the only real substance in the universe. In this view, it is also emphasized that matter may be one substance, but that this substance is split up into innumerable particles. These particles are separated from each other by empty space. Materialism states that this combination of material particles and empty space is eternal and that there is a no cause for this. The third proposition makes an exception to this, since it does state that there is a possible cause of the universe. This proposition claims that, should the universe have a cause at all, then this cause must ultimately be simple. This proposition is very relevant since modern cosmology assumes that the universe did have a beginning and has not always been there, nor will it always be here. The fourth proposition is the most important one, since in the end most atheistic arguments can be reduced to this, or are indirectly derived from this. Consciously or unconsciously, atheists refer to the issue of the imperfect universe and the suffering in the world as the most probable reason why God could not exist. In the following chapters, the above-mentioned four propositions will be discussed in detail and refuted one by one relying on scientific and logical arguments. Quotation of Einstein, cited by Fred Hoyle in ‘The Intelligent Universe’ Richard Dawkins Bertrand Russell “Religion and Science (Oxford University Press, 1961) Richard Dawkins in the “God delusion” page 35 #bhaktiyoga#chantingyoga#god#spiritualbeings#spiritualpeople#thevediccare#thevedictimes#vedictimes#yoga The ‘Vedic Times’ Retreat in Paraty ~ Brazil July 21, 2017 Aradhana Devi Dasi Leave a comment Join us near the costal ‘historical monument’ town of Paraty, Rio de Janeiro State ~ Brazil The Eco-Village and the Hotel Dharma Shala are in the mountainous jungle on the coast of Rio. The Eco-Village has: Many waterfalls in the mountains, near gorgeous preserved beaches; vegetable gardens, cows, exotic tropical birds, wild bananas, tropical fruit trees, fresh ‘ahimsa milk’ and a beautiful temple. View from the Eco-Village The Retreat offers: Vegetarian and Vegan organic meals Daily hikes to different waterfalls Chanting & Asana Yoga classes Ayurvedic teachings Vegetarian & Vegan Cooking classes Kirtan (spiritual music sessions) ‘Cinema and the Psyche’ workshop Massages, one to one therapy with the Ayurveda, Natural Medicine Doctors and Counselors, day or half-day visits to the historic town and preserved beaches nearby can be arranged but are not included. We will also have music and other performances during a bonfire on the last night. HOSTING AND GIVING SEMINARS ARADHANA DEVI DASI: Chanting Yoga ~ Mantra Meditation MATTHEW JOSEPH MORREALE: Cinema and the Psyche workshop. ‘Cinema and the Psyche’ is an exploring into the nature of cinema, the psyche and how they interrelate. KIRTAN: (spiritual music) bhajan leaders from Brazil Ana Lucia Alves (Aradhana dd) and Matt Morreale ROOMS ~ SEMINARS ~ PRICES Seven Days and Six Nights For Prices, Packages and the booking form to secure your place, please contact us. Many beautiful and spacious rooms Package prices include all seminars and workshops, its certificates and all meals. Not included: Flights and pickup /drop off at the Rio de Janeiro International Airport. Pick-ups with our Van (12 persons) cost $60 each way. www.cinemaandthepsyche.com #allweneedislove#analuciaalves#anoasisoflove#becausewecare#bhaktiyoga#chantingyoga#compassion#enlightement#loveandcare#loveandtrust#MatthewMorreale#MattMorreale#oasisoflove#spiritualbeings#spiritualpeople#thevedictimes#vedictimes#yoga#yogaretreat#yogaretreats Chaitanya Swarup das, Chanting Yoga, Vedic Times The Science of ‘Chanting Yoga’ December 1, 2016 Chaitanya Swarup das Leave a comment Is ‘Chanting Yoga’ a science? Can we trace the origin of chanting? Do we need to understand what we are chanting? Can the power of sound alter cellular and molecular structure – the DNA encoding etc.? I don’t know how to sing or chant, does it really matter? How much it will cost me? Facts about ‘Chanting Yoga’ Thoughts are silent sounds. Chanting Reduces Anxiety and Depression by balancing the nervous system. Traditional Yoga, Ayurveda, and Sanskrit sources have demonstrated millennia ago the multidimensional effects of chanting yoga. We become Compassionate to all living beings. The effects of chanting boosts the immune system and can be rationally explained. Chanting and heart healt There are a number of different “sciences” behind chanting. Some of these are the “hard” sciences such as physics and psycho-acoustics. In order to sustain its findings, such sciences require a deep rational thinking, which is just a small aspect of the vast intelligence. In contrast, the Spiritual sciences such as the different yogic practices that work with sound, are evaluated with a much subtler aspect of the intelligence. Much has being written about this since yoga in its various modalities has moved to the west. Recently, many doctors and scientist are becoming interested in the Chanting yoga phenomena. The following are just a few of the all increasing health professionals convinced of their therapeutic effects: Dr. Herbert Benson states that chanting helps induce a “relaxation” response which causes reduction in heartbeat, brain waves and respiration. Dr. David Shananoff-Khalsa believes that mantric recitation enables the tongue to stimulate the acupuncture meridians inside the roof of the mouth. Dr. Ranjie Singe found that the chanting of specific mantras caused the release of hormone melatonin, and is investigating the importance of this in the healing process. So far, he has found that there are many benefits including shrinkage of tumors and enhanced sleep. I have found that virtually every culture and tradition includes chanting and singing in their spiritual and health practices. Recitation of prayers is found worldwide and has been with us since the dawn of humankind. We find this common pattern in Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Islamic and many other cultures. Whether it is a shamanic or pagan tradition, you will have some aspect of chanting that could be considered Sacred chanting in their rituals and prayers. Sometimes these chants are used to invoke Divine entities. Other times they are used for healing or to ask for some boon such as bringing rain. In my experience, chanting is most commonly used to bring the gross fulfillment of desires. Anyone who has cultivated the habit of chanting will realize that chanting gives a pleasure that transcends the senses and elevates one beyond the boundaries of time and space. Chanting delivers us from our sense of dependency on temporal enjoyments which are always fleeting and limited. Chanting will move one past this unfulfilling existence to one’s true nature and destination regardless of whether one knows the meaning of the chant or not. I once heard it said: “as music has charms to soothe a savage beast, so the spiritual sound of chanting soothes the restless mind.” Can the power of sound alter cellular and molecular structure- the DNA encoding etc.? A great deal of research has been done recently into the power of sound. As a result of this research, it was proven beyond a doubt that sound can alter molecular and cellular structure. In the 1960’s, a medical doctor named Hans Jenny conducted experiments which showed that sound was able to actually create form in various substances such as sand, plastics, liquids, and water. He would place these substances on a steel plate and then using a crystal oscillator, vibrate these plates with sound. Quite astonishingly, the various substances took on the most organic looking shapes—they looked like microscopic organisms or underwater life. He called this work Cymatics. A Japanese scientist, Masuru Emoto, demonstrated that water molecules are actually affected by sound and our intention. Intention concerns our thoughts and feelings. Intention is the energy behind the sounds that we create. Mr. Emoto found that clean water looked like a snowflake, very geometric. Polluted water looks like mud. Mr. Emoto has taken photographs of polluted water, which at first look like mud. After a priest has chanted over this water, new photographs were taken again. This time, the water looks like a snowflake, the sound and intentionality has restored it to its natural harmonious shape. The work of Fabian Maman, a French acupuncturist and sound healer, has taken Kirlian photographs of hemoglobin blood cells that were exposed to different sounds. In particular, he took photographs of blood cells exposed to an ascending chromatic scale created on a xylophone. Each note effected the cell differently, creating a different shape and different Kirlian color. The information above represents a small sample of the work that has been done to demonstrate that cellular structure and energy are effected by sound. The good news is that one does not need to be a good singer or even know anything about music. Chanting is not about singing in the usual sense. It is not about memorizing complex lyrics. It works whether it is done alone or in a powerful group kirtan. It works whether it is done softly or in full voice, as long it is from the heart and with the belly. Although for enhanced effect, one can add eye-focus and a gentle hand mudra, and eventually you may wish to go to a singing classes, these simple steps can easily be included later. The key is to simply begin chanting. Here is more good news, chanting is absolutely free. All one need do is try and enjoy. It won’t work if you don’t do it! All that is needed is some time and an open heart. The benefits of chanting cannot be established through reasoning and intellect. It can only be experienced through devotion, faith and constant repetition of the chanting. Facts about chanting Yoga: “Thoughts are silent sounds”. More and more people are aware that our thoughts reflect and affect our mood, our attitude and our general health. Our thoughts are silent sounds–a type of vibration. The more refined our thoughts, the more elevated our vibration. The entire universe was built on sound (Word), which is nothing but vibration. By vibrating a certain combination of sounds, we tune in to different levels of our intelligence, specifically, consciousness. Thus, chanting mantras is a conscious method of controlling our moods, and in turn, our frequency and resultant all-around radiance, much like changing the channel on the television. Chanting Reduces Anxiety and Depression by balancing the nervous system By combining sound, breath and rhythm, Chanting Yoga channels the flow of energy through the mind-body circuit, adjusting the chemical composition of our internal states and regulating brain-hemisphere imbalances, contributing to a natural abatement of fear and despair–emotions that underlie both of these common afflictions. By balancing the nervous system, chanting regulates the chronic stress and tension that is the norm for many people in today’s hyper-stimulated lifestyle. By balancing the endocrine system, chanting normalizes hormone production, which balances our moods and overall sense of well-being. Traditional Yoga, Ayurveda, and Sanskrit sources have demonstrated millennia ago the multidimensional effects of chanting: During the practice of Chanting Yoga, the breathing (prana) cycle is altered to a greater or lesser extent depending upon the number of syllables and consonants of the particular mantra. Through this process, one is able to influence the Subdoshas of Vata namely prana, udana, samana, vyana and apana. This in turn, will bring balance to oxygen-blood ratios, thereby improving the following: a) nutrients absorption; b) optimum function of organs of actions; c) general circulation including the blood flow, the lymphatic system and nerve impulses, and elimination via excretory organs. Sound (akash), Breath (prana), and Matra (rhythm) combined with Dhyana (meditation) directs harmoniously the flow of energy (prana or Chi) through the (shrotas) body channels. This will adjust and balance Agni (metabolism) and homeostasis. As a result, the physiology known in Ayurveda as doshas (Vata), (Pitta) and (Kapha), the dhatus, and malas are functioning in harmony. Chanting helps one to deal with stressful factors and brings an overall sense of well-being and relaxation. This in turn, triggers a cascade of beneficial influences which aid our General Health (Swasta Vrita). We become Compassionate to all living beings Chanting transcendental mantras brings an understanding of ourselves as one and different from God (Sadhaka Pitta). It awakens our original nature and love within us. As George Harrison has said often in his Bhakti practice, this type of chanting is “a direct connection with God.” When our spiritual identity is awakened, we experience the unity and diversity of all life. Our capacity for compassion naturally grows, allowing our daily lives to be free of conditional mistakes such as blaming others, hate, jealousy, envy and pride. With the elimination of these negative concepts, all that remains is pure love. The effects of chanting boost the immune system and can be rationally explained Perhaps the key to rationally understand the power and effects of chanting on human physiology are the upper palate, the movement of the tip of the tongue and breath. The Upper palate is at the base of the hypothalamus, which is the control center of the physical body. It regulates communication between the Doshas Vata and Pitta and its sub-doshas (the nervous system and the endocrine system). My own repetitive experience found that the hypothalamus controls the entire nervous system (Vata ). The tongue taps certain points along the roof of the mouth, sending signals to the hypothalamus. These signals regulate the chemical activity streaming into all parts of the brain and body. Breath adjusts all the rhythms of our body, such as the familiar circadian rhythms; but also the lesser known ultradian rhythms, which monitor the smaller-scale energy cycles that occur throughout the day. Due to our hectic life style our nervous systems are often overtaxed. These rhythms are thrown out of balance. However, through the art of chanting we begin to bring a state of balance. When breath and sound are working together, we realize the magnificence of Life and how God became sound. One will also realize also that words are only approaching the tip of even greater benefits! Chanting and breath brings positive effects on the parasympathetic nervous system (the nervous system that tells us everything is ok). These effects are multiplied and the healing response is triggered, which translates into healing and stronger immunity. Chanting and heart health According to the Heart Math, chanting is known to promote general wellbeing, and it is great benefit for the cardiovascular system. One reason for this may be that singing demands a slower than normal respiration, which may in turn affect heart activity. Coupling of heart rate variability (HRV) to respiration is called Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA). This coupling has a subjective, as well as a biologically soothing effect, and it is beneficial for cardiovascular function. RSA is seen to be more marked during slow-paced breathing and at lower respiration rates (0.1 Hz and below). In this study, we investigate how singing, which is a form of guided breathing, affects HRV and RSA. Rhythm: Through repetition of the mantra, patterns of sound are inscribed onto the brain. The unconscious becomes the conscious. The automatic becomes the deliberate. The mindless becomes the heartfelt. The repetition frees us from our destination-fixation, that desire to rush to the end. The repetition is the whole point. Through repetition, the mantra washes over us, as the waves in the sea gradually get us wet. Projection: When we chant from the navel point while articulating the mantra, we not only stimulate the upper palate, but we vibrate the central channel by which prana, or life force, flows. For millennia, yogis have referred to this as the shushumna. This dual process is said to move us into the realm of anahat, or unconditional love. So far everything looks great, but how long will it take to achieve this promises? Everybody is unique, so how long it takes will depend the degree of dedication and determination over a period of months and years. Although we experience glimpses of the above mentioned benefits almost the same day, this taste will encourage us to go deeper into the chanting Yoga. In the guidelines below, you will be given an idea of what can be accomplished in a certain period of time. This will help you to set realistic goals. Reprogramming our habits “It takes 40 days to break a habit; 90 days to gain the new habit; 120 days and you are the new habit; 1,000 days and you are Master of it.” Chanting from minutes to hours will bring the following benefits: 3 minutes affects the electromagnetic field, the circulation and stability of the blood. 7 minutes begins to shift brain patterns, and the magnetic field surrounding the body increases in strength. 11 minutes begins to change the nervous and glandular systems. 22 minutes sees the three minds (i.e., the negative, positive and neutral minds) come into balance and begin to work together; the subconscious mind begins to clear. 31 minutes allows the glands, breath, and concentration to affect all the cells and rhythms of the body. Endocrine secretions are completely balanced as is the ethereal energy of the chakra (junction points of physical and spiritual centers). 62 minutes changes the gray matter in the brain. It stimulates the frontal lobe of the brain, as well as the pituitary and pineal glands. You work through the physical body, the emotions and mental states, stimulating higher, more subtle aspects of the self. The subconscious “shadow mind” and its psychological projections become integrated. 2 1/2 hours changes the psyche in its co-relation with the surrounding magnetic field so that the subconscious mind is held firmly in the new pattern by the surrounding field. You totally remake your psyche. These changes persist throughout the day and are reflected by positive changes in mood and behavior. THE CHANTING YOGA WEBSITE HERE Alfredo Llorente Marcos (Chaitanya Swarup das) Ayurveda & Meditation Therapy #allweneedislove#anoasisoflove#becausewecare#chantingyoga#compassion#enlightement#loveandcare#loveandtrust#oasisoflove#spiritualbeings#spiritualpeople#thevedictimes#vedictimes#yoga#yogaoflovefeatured Chanting Yoga, Hari Krishna das, Vedic Times An Introduction to Achintya-Bheda-Abheda Tattva November 30, 2016 Hari Krishna das Leave a comment The philosophy of Acintya Bhedabeda Tattva embodies the quintessence of all systems of Indian philosophy. Indian philosophy, embodied in the Vedic literatures, is over 5000 years old and inspired the birth of the two great Eastern religions, Hinduism and Buddhism. It has also greatly influenced the western world, particularly over the last 200 years. Most systems of Indian philosophy propound the view that the universe is fundamentally one, part of and pervaded by the Supreme Being, from whom it has emanated. As such, they maintain that the universe is not the outcome of blind chance, but that it is the result of intelligent design and that it has meaning and purpose. Furthermore, according to most systems of Indian philosophy the material universe, in which we live, is only part of an infinite and spiritual universe. Both the material and spiritual universe are considered energies of God, the Supreme Spiritual Being. The spiritual universe is defined as God’s internal energy, and the material universe His external energy. All living beings in the material world are essentially spiritual, and part of His internal energy. Finally, according to most systems of Indian philosophy, God is defined as a transcendental Person, endowed with consciousness, attributes and form, and who stands at the center and source of his infinite energies and emanations. At the cornerstone of this world view is the notion that God, and the universe emanating from Him, are essentially one and different. He is one, in that He is the origin of, and pervades all beings, and He is different, in that His energies have their own independent existence and identity. This independent existence and individual identity accounts for the world of many-ness and variegatedness.. The problem is, that the principles of oneness and many-ness contain a logical paradox, and appear to be mutually exclusive. On the bases of logic it is indeed hard to reconcile how one entity can be one and many at the same time. Within the different schools of Indian thought, philosophers and mystics have attempted to resolve this paradox by emphasizing one principle over the other, thereby reducing e.g. many-ness to a by product of oneness. Some schools of thought, taking a more extreme position, have even postulated that only oneness is real, and that the many-ness constitutes an illusion. Throughout the history of Indian philosophy this theme, and its implicit paradox, has been at the center of philosophical discussions. Thereby the oneness and many-ness principles do not just confine themselves to the relationship between God and His creation. The principle extends to virtually all areas of philosophy and science, such as the relation between matter and consciousness, between qualities and substance, between particles and fields, between energy and matter, and the personal and the impersonal. Interestingly, therefore, it appears that the principle of oneness and many-ness, with its inherent paradox, extends to all areas of reality. Within the history of western philosophy we also find the constant recurrence of the oneness versus many-ness theme, resulting in different schools of opposing thought. Thereby the parallels between Indian and western thinking are striking. Most notable is e.g. the discussion and debates that have flourished on the issue of realism and idealism, or the relation between matter and consciousness, during the 16th and 17th centuries in Europe. The great 16th century Indian philosopher and mystic Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu formulated a new principle, shedding light on the paradox, and making explicit what was already acknowledged implicitly by many great Indian thinkers. Caitanya stated that the principles of oneness and difference are inherently inseparable, that they always exist simultaneously, and that their simultaneous existence lies at the core of all metaphysics. He furthermore stated that the simultaneous existence of oneness and many-ness is called Acintya in Sanskrit, which means “inconceivable”. Inconceivability implies that this aspect of reality is inconceivable to the human and finite mind, and transcends the principles of logic. The philosophy of Caitanya has been formulated in Sanskrit as “Acintya Bhedabheda Tattva”. Acintya means inconceivable, Bhedabheda means simultaneous oneness and many-ness, and Tattva means principle or truth. The problem is, of course, that if we abandon and ignore the principles of logic, then we may be forced to accept any irrational worldview, and loose our ability to analyze and verify scientific and philosophical theories. For logic lies at the core of all philosophy and science. The principle of Caitanya however, makes a noticeable difference, in that Acintya Bhedabheda Tattva should not be considered ‘illogical’, but rather it should be considered ‘supralogical’. The difference is that while a supralogical principle may appear to defy the laws of logic, the principle itself can be perceived and verified by means of direct perception, and has an empirical foundation. As such the principle of Acintya Bhedabheda Tattva can be observed in many phenomenon and occurrences in this world. A good example is the perception of a red rose. As mentioned before, the discussion on one-ness versus many-ness has extended itself to all aspects of philosophy and science. In the western tradition, two schools of thought emerged on the issue of the relation between substance and its qualities. One school, called the realists, founded by the Greek philosopher Plato, stated that qualities and substance are in fact two different realities. E.g. Plato postulated that there is such a thing as universal ‘redness’, that becomes superimposed along with other universal qualities, on a particular material substance, thereby creating a red rose. Plato therefore viewed qualities and substance as being different. Many centuries later another school of thought emerged, called the nominalists, that disagreed with Plato, and postulated that a quality can never be separated from its substance, and that quality and substance are in fact one and the same. This discussion is a very good example of the paradox inherent in the relation between a substance and its qualities. The fact is, that they are simultaneously one and different, and that while this may transcend, or defy, the laws of logic, our perception of the red rose confirms the principle. Another example is the spatial perception of an object, say a coin. While the coin is one, it has many sides, an inside as well as an outside, an upside and down side. These different sides establish an element of many-ness within the object, that is simultaneously perceived as one object. In modern physics the relation between particles and fields has been a subject of many discussions. Scientists have observed that a field, or wave, sometimes behaves like a continuum of energy (oneness), and other times behaves like a stream of finite particles (many-ness). The phenomena has in fact been named “wavicles” clearly establishing the simultaneous oneness and many-ness of these manifestations of energy. The discussion reflects the underlying principle of Acintya Bhedabheda Tattva. Following this theme, modern physics leans towards a worldview whereby the universe is seen as a unified field of energy, from which finite particles, in the shape of matter, emerge as a continuous process of creation. These finite particles can at any time revert back to their non-finite energetic state, which paints a picture of oneness (the field) and many-ness (particles) continually interchanging, and in fact simultaneously coexisting. There are in fact many more examples that could be adduced to illustrate the principle of Acintya Bhedabheda Tattva, and that confirm the principle by means of direct perception. As such the principle is not illogical, but should be defined as ‘supra-logical’, transcending the limitations of the finite human mind. Ultimately the philosophy of Acintya Bhedabheda Tattva explains the relationship between God and His creation, and more specifically, it also explains the relationship between God and living entities, such as ourselves. The philosophy of Acintya Bhedabheda Tattva states that this relationship too, is characterized by simultaneous oneness and difference. We are one with God in a qualitative sense, however we are different quantitatively. In quantity God is infinite and we are finite. It is therefore a mistake to assume, as some Indian schools of thought have advocated, that man is identical to God, and fundamentally one with Him in every respect. We are not God, merely small parts of God, with a limited degree of independence. Acintya Bhedabheda Tattva also sheds light on the identity of God Himself. It maintains that while God is a transcendental Person, he is simultaneously impersonal as well. The relationship between the personal and impersonal too has been the subject of many philosophical arguments. While consciousness and form represent the personal aspect of God, infinity and all-pervasiveness represent the impersonal aspect, which attributes appear contradictory. Acintya Bhedabheda Tattva maintains that they both exist simultaneously, and that they complement each other. God is simultaneously full of form and formless, finite and infinite, personal and impersonal. The philosophy of Acintya Bhedabheda Tattva, as expounded by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, therefore represents a revolutionary new paradigm in our ability to understand reality, and it in fact resolves many of the apparently irresolvable paradoxes that have dominated philosophy and metaphysics in the east and the west for thousands of years. Experience it for yourself ! Chanting Yoga Retreats #allweneedislove#anoasisoflove#becausewecare#bhaktiyoga#chantingyoga#compassion#loveandcare#loveandtrust#mahamantra#oasisoflove#spiritualbeings#spiritualpeople#thevedictimes#vedictimes#VedicTimesWisdom#VedicWisdom#yogaoflove	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line800
__label__wiki	0.585917	0.585917	← The Poop Gap Throwing down the gauntlet → Posted on July 31, 2016 by gcochran9 A while ago I was wondering about who you could trust to work in a modern equivalent of the Manhattan project. Thinking about it again, one problem is that people, if for example you consider the typical recent Ivy League graduate to be a human being, are bound and determined to be stupid about this question. Imagine how we would have dealt with Japanese-Americans in 1942 if we had been informed by modern sensibilities. Our stated and enforced policy would have been based on the notion that both Issei and Nisei were perfectly trustworthy, no more likely to aid the Empire of Japan than the Dutch in Grand Rapids So we would have drafted them into the armed forces just like anyone else, and employed them where their skills seemed useful. We would have had them translating Japanese navy intercepts: we were short on Japanese-language translators, so why not? There would have been a bunch of them working with Hypo, down in the basement. Some would have worked in the Manhattan Project. They would have had jobs in the OSS, in the FBI. What could possibly have gone wrong? Well, some of them were in fact disloyal: not most, but a far higher percentage than in most other ethnic groups in the US. There is nothing magical about this: it often happens. Were the Anglos that moved into Texas loyal to Mexico? Were the Sudeten Germans loyal to Czechoslovakia – was Conrad Henlein just misunderstood? Consider the Niihau incident. If many Japanese Americans had been privy to the breaking of the Japanese fleet code – plausible, because of the large Japanese population in Hawaii and the need for people with Japanese language skills – the American Magic would have gone away. No Midway, not as we knew it. I figure that we would have lost tens of thousands more KIA in the Pacific than we did in this timeline. Also, probably hundreds of thousands of extra casualties in occupied Asia. Japan would have still have lost, though. Detailed knowledge of the results from the Manhattan Project wouldn’t have done the Japanese any good, because they didn’t have the industrial muscle and sophistication to make anything of it. I’m sure there wouldn’t have been any problems with Japanese Secret Service members, any more than Indira Gandhi ever had trouble with her Sikh bodyguards. Besides, in a democracy, no one is indispensable – I’m sure that Henry Wallace would have been a good President, for a gullible, superstitious pinko. While Sam Rayburn was a fine man! The funniest part would been the many examples of people making excuses for terrorism and treason. When some young Japanese pilot talked about how he should perhaps crash his plane into the White House, his colleagues would have sedulously ignored those ravings, just as our contemporaries did with Major Nidal Hasan. At least they wouldn’t have had to constantly make excuses for his incompetence, as they did with Hasan – Japanese aren’t stupid. After the crash, the new President would have said that no one really knows what motivated the pilot, although back in those days, there really was a way of knowing what evil lay in the hearts of men. After enough crap, one presumes that the press would have been instructed not to publish the faces of the miscreants, lest the general public get the wrong idea. Our actual response was suboptimal: people who knew the score (J. Edgar Hoover) thought that putting the Japanese into camps was a mistake. Watching and infiltrating known pro-Nippon groups, punishing those that actually committed crimes was perfectly feasible; combined with reasonable discretion in assigning Japanese to useful but nonclassified jobs, you would have a policy that was more effective than the one we actually pursued. Locking them up (except in Hawaii !), wasn’t the best course, but it was a million times more sensible than what we would do today. Because in 1942, Americans weren’t crazy: today, they are. 123 Responses to Trust Issues SamGamgee says: Your penultimate paragraph contains an important point: the suspension of the rights of Japanese-Americans wasn’t even necessary and was probably counter-productive. Too many people on the right are deriving the wrong lesson from WWII. In terms of getting on with the war, it didn’t make much difference. There simply weren’t that many of them. When assimilated, as they are today, they are, on average, net contributors to society. Today, the general feeling among the Fools at the Top seems to be the less human capital, the better. maciano says: So no muslims working in airports. I thought that part of the objection to locking them up in concentration camps were that their homes and possessions were stolen. Is that true or not? Some had farms, and were forced to sell at fire-sale prices. . Personal property was also lost. Largely true, I think. Another example of HBD in action: Note how swiftly Japanese-Americans recovered from that financial hit. Kim Philby and the Cambridge Five. Yes, who do you trust? I had previously heard of Hoover’s preference for harm-reduction and possible flipping of dangerous assets rather than striving for any absolute security. It certainly seems judicious now. Hoover was somehow uncomfortable with the idea of nabbing US citizens who had not been accused or convicted of any crime. Unlike Earl Warren, or Emanuel Cellar, or the New York Times. On the other hand, all the crap about ” how dare you question their patriotism” is today invoked about Pakis in Great Britain who contribute more recruits to ISIS than the British Army. On a positive note, hiring two more Japs into the OSS would have meant one fewer Communist. Ilya says: What article best illustrated NYT’s position regarding such matters? Max Hastings’ recent comment on the Cambridge Five was to ask why so few mention the Berkeley and Washington Five Hundred. I suppose the answer must lie in customary American reticence. But I still don’t see much merit in an argument on the lines of “some of your own will betray you therefore give lots of others the chance to betray you too”. It’s a fair cop. The joke once was that when McCarthy claimed there were 200 communists in the Dept of State that others in DC said “Is that all?” “Max Hastings’ recent comment on the Cambridge Five was to ask why so few mention the Berkeley and Washington Five Hundred.” Alternatively, why Cambridge and not Oxford? No idea; the statistics of small numbers, perhaps. The chance business of one recruiter having an early success there? Steve Sailer says: Was Cambridge more intellectual and Oxford more social? ‘Was Cambridge more intellectual and Oxford more social?’ That was the answer I once heard a Cambridge grad give, that Oxford men just weren’t intelligent enough to commit treason in the name of Marxian communism. Too many of the Yanks were Jewish. That makes certain sectors of society squeamish. MawBTS says: To what extent were these Japanese “Americanized”? I’m aware the Immigration Act of 1924 mostly stopped Japanese from entering the country, so were they mostly 2nd or 3rd generation immigrants? After Japan attacked Australia in 1941, we interned Japanese too. Took it a step further and interned lots of Germans and Italians, too – 20% of Australia’s Italian population was interned throughout the war. Gotta do what you gotta do to stop that terrifying Italian war machine and their global network of spies, I guess. The Japanese varied in how Americanized they were. out of ~120,000 interned about 40,000 were first generation, about 80,000 were second generation. The Italians were not always bad at spying. I was reading Vladimir Peniakoff’s memoir, Popski’s Private Army: he mentions a complex raid (in North Africa) planned for September 13th, 1942: a complete bust, with many men killed and captured, while the Navy lost two destroyers and several MTBs. Later, in 1943, Peniakoff talked to an Italian general who had had an intelligence job on the General Staff in Cyrenaica. He quoted from memory the British order of battle for the five raids of September 13th, and said he had got all the information complete and sorted out ten days before. Cairo and Alexandria were full of non-Yorkshiremen – information sieves. Several thousand Italians and Germans were also detained in the US, though not entire families (they also probably weren’t deprived of their property). Seems to go down the memory hole, though, since they’re white. The top athlete in the United States in 1942 was Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees, who had two other brothers in the major leagues. Their dad was a San Francisco shrimp fisherman. DiMaggio the Elder was banned from fishing for much of the war to keep him from meeting up with Mussolini’s invasion fleet off the Golden Gate, or something. Dom DiMaggio used to point out in the 1990s that nobody remembered anything bad that happened to Italian-Americans during WWII. A lot of early WWII decision-making was reminiscent of the Spielberg-Zemeckis-Milius comedy “1941.” Fog of war and all that. They could have passed it along to Germany, no? That might have potentially altered the outcome of the war. Would they have, though? The Japanese-German relationship during WW2 wasn’t as close as what existed among the Anglo powers ursiform says: Hitler declared the Japanese people “honorary Aryans”, which made it easier to be allied with them. The Japanese looked down on Europeans. Allies of convenience, not cause. Byron Allen Black says: It’s a fact. German businessmen in Japanese-occupied territories (Singapore, the Indies) were stymied at every turn, treated with indifference if not openly obstructed, and rarely given any opportunities to make money. Part of that attitude of course has to do with the Japanese military appraisal of ‘shi / no / ko / sho’ (bushido-farming-craftsmen-merchants, top to bottom) which held the role of businessman in contempt. This all turned turtle after the War, la la la, and while they ostensibly pay homage to the samurai spirit, the Japanese these days pretty much think it is quaint, ridiculous. Having been roundly whipped, the Imperial military were widely condemned as fools and reckless adventurers. As Mishima found out to his great chagrin. They looked up to B-San. The B-29 Superfortress was a very impressive piece of hardware. Tarl says: The Germans gave the Japanese plans for a number of “wonder weapons” (latest U-boats, radars, Me-262 jet fighter) though the Japanese were never able to build them in quantity before the war ended. At the end of the war, a German submarine was taking Germany’s limited stock of uranium oxide to Japan, but when Germany surrendered the crew decided to surface and surrender to the Allies. King George III says: With every passing day I wonder a little more if Nongqawuse could happen here. When I was young long agp America seemed to be an exceptionally stable country. Not any more. Venezuela seems like a contemporary case of Nongqawuse. Having studied, worked and reported from Japan on and off since 1962 I can see the logic behind infiltration and screening. For many issei (first-generation immigrants) the ties to the homeland are powerful – Japan being most likely the most xenophobic nation in the world (even today) (with the possible exception of Korea). Nisei, sansei and subsequent generations assimilate pretty much totally into the host nation. I worked with Japanese immigrants in central Colombia and was even impressed at how different their faces were – Latinoamerica is not a ‘smiling culture’ – and a stony-looking expression will mold the muscles of your face into a very different cast from the typical smiling Japanese expression. There is also the element of ‘ganko’ – ‘irrational stubbornness’ – which has always led me to think that the atomic bombings were in fact necessary to shock the Imp from getting off his privileged ass and forcing hostilities to come to an end. The Japanese military, and an obedient (famished) people were ready to fight to the death, all the way through the islands. Cosmopolitan diplomats were exchanging courteous feelers about surrender but it would not have come to pass without the massive shock. That’s my sad conclusion, and would also relate to the trustworthiness of first-generation immigrants. Because in 1942, Americans weren’t crazy: today, they are. How much of this is post-Cold War decadence? If the Soviet Union were still around, do you think we’d be less crazy? Hard to say. Some of our current political craziness reminds me of modern art, or sushi. Back in the day, the rich could easily demonstrate their superiority: they might have a Vermeer on the wall, but you didn’t. They had a chamber orchestra – you didn’t. But with cheap replication, anyone can afford a Vermeer print, anyone can buy the music they want for a song. An old Chevy can break the speed limit just as well as a Ferrari- sure, the Ferrari is faster, but where do you get to let it loose? The rich used to have food when others starved – but today, billionaire life span is only three years longer than average, probably because it’s hard to be a hard-charger if you’re chronically ill, rather than genuinely, significantly superior medical care. And, as Steve Jobs showed, the rich have no defense against their own damn-foolishness. In such a situation, you pick a marker that nobody really likes: onethat marks you as different and special. You would pick something genuinely better, if you could, but the opportunity really isn’t there. So you do things that aren’t even fun – like eating sushi instead of pizza – because they mark you out as being above the hoi polloi. Not unlike Maya Kings and queens running a rope of thorns through their tongue, or driving a cactus spine through their penis in public. Just so, modern art instead of Rembrandts. You adopt political ideas that are are obviously stupid – because only a truly refined person can understand their subtle justifications. There really are examples of deeply non-intuitive facts, but most of them are mathematically intense, so unavailable to our ruling classes. Much simpler to embrace those statements that are anti-intuitive because they’re just false. Any lout might think that race exists and partly explains what people are like – only a sophisticate could steadfastly deny his lying eyes. I think modern art is a slight improvement over running a cactus through one’s penis. Steven C. says: Until someone reads what you just wrote and does exactly that as “performance art”. guest says: I might be misunderstanding you, but I don’t agree. My explanation is that most people are not very rational to begin with, and are more likely to believe that which feels good rather than what is uncomfortable and true. My assumption here is that there are hardwired views on what makes a man who he is(nature vs nurture), and that those who are on the nurture side feel emotional pain when that viewpoint gets challenged. English is not my first language so I hope this made sense. Sushi, when it’s well-made, is excellent. I imagine it sucks in New Mexico, though. I hear it tastes like fish. M. M. says: it’s a justification to gorge on wasabi (undiluted of course), nerds like to show off like that, i know i do. also, it tickles up your nose, like snorting coke without unwanted consequences. likewise, i occasionally buy wieners just so i get to eat mustard. overall i agree with your suspicion, most customers neuter wasabi with soy sauce or skip it altogether, the rest is just bland rice, fish, and vegetables–could be worse but nothing special, really. it’s fun to finger finger food, though, sushi = cheeseburgers for swipples. my pet peeve is the pickled ginger–has it an aftertaste like shampoo or is it just me? i eat it anyway, see above :- )) Raw fish has a great fatty mine rally taste, and you generally don’t feel bloated and gross after eating it like pizza. It’s also not that expensive. Ziel says: I’m pretty sure I’d take NYC Pizza over Albuquerque sushi but definitely not the other way around #eastcoastpizzasnob Papa Dels rules OK! But the one on green was demolished! Chicago deep dish is great too. But NY pizza is definitely the best. Mobi says: So true (I think). “You adopt political ideas that are are obviously stupid – because only a truly refined person can understand their subtle justifications”. Or demonstrate their superior status by being able to survive the consequences of such obvious stupidity, better than the hoi polloi? Like a giant game of ‘Status Chicken’ Is it some variation on Amotz Zahavi’s ‘Handicap Principle’? Conspicuously ridiculous, hazardous, stupid behaviours, or characteristics, adopted precisely because they are ridiculous, hazardous, stupid – because only the bearers are strong enough to afford them (by, say, retreating to lilly-white living and working environments, while aggressively promoting the opposite for their lessers)? Like a peacock’s tail (and other examples)? The social equivalent of ‘I’ll kick your ass with one hand tied behind my back’ We do form groups to compete for status because it improves our chances vs going it alone, obviously. But the boundaries of ‘us’ vs ‘them’ have been pretty fluid, historically. The common denominator seems to be – smaller than whatever is ‘the whole’. Because if our group is ‘the whole’, victory is over-assured, and thus our share of the spoils are diluted more than they need to be. (too small, of course, and we may lose) When our perception of what is the whole (the range of credible rivals) changes, the size of what we perceive to be our group adjusts accordingly – up, or down. History is full of such adjusting. So, America (and the West) emerged victorious from the Cold War (co-inciding with the end of serious talk of ‘Japan as Number 1’), and faced no serious rivals as far as the eye could see – economically, militarily, culturally. It seems as though a turning inward, with intensification of partisan division and rancor – a re-drawing downward of what people in the West considered the boundaries between ‘us’ and ‘them’ – was all but inevitable. Of course, if so, the process has historically gone in both directions, so it will stop, and begin to reverse, only when the elites in the West are forced to recognize a broader range of threats to their success, status, even survival, than their bad-white neighbours. Is there a credible contender (or contenders)? Eventually, there must be, though of course, eventually we’re all dead. (the part I’m least confident of is the relevance of Zahavi’s concept to the issue) You might consider of adopting stupid ideas as an in-group marker to be something like initiation. Initiation often consists of something that any reasonable person would pay good money to avoid: in the Sun Dance, young men dance around a pole to which they are fastened by “rawhide thongs pegged through the skin of their chests.” That’s gotta hurt. Might leave a scar! Presumably, only those really dedicated will go through this. If initiation were something more pleasant, like sharing an ice cream cone with a pretty girl on a hot summer day, anybody might go through with it. It wouldn’t be a real test of sincerity or conformity. Probably the current tests are not tough enough: regurgitating nonsense is hard for me but not for most people. Time to bring on the rawhide thongs and cactus spines. not my name says: That’s a great exposition of what could be shortened to “status signaling” …except that the term ‘modern art’ was already obsolete by the late 1950s (although Wiki kicks it forward a decade or so). You’re showing your age. If you want a wiggle-word I suggest ‘contemporary art’, which is empty enough to engulf whatever you might intend to implicate. It’s one of the things that drives the media nuts about Trump: he’s not very articulate so he doesn’t bother reading up on complicated explanations of why he should spend $75 million on Damien Hirst’s diamond-encrusted skull sculpture like an ordinary, decent plutocrat would. Instead, he’ll spend the money on an ocean-cliff golf course because it looks nice. Wency says: In a war that is viewed as existential, as WW2 from the U.S. side sort of was, I think the culture can and will adapt, as pragmatic people lose their tolerance for those who would prioritize feelings and bathroom privileges over military effectiveness. Mistakes will happen, but they will tend to be honest mistakes. The longer the war goes on, the more pragmatic and ruthless people will become. The British initially opposed strategic bombing for moral/legal reasons. A few years later, and the West saw few problems with firebombing and nuking enemy cities. The U.S. mismanaged the Japanese issue, but the Allies could afford to make more mistakes than the Axis because of the balance of power. In the early modern period, a country could face national destruction, or at least major loss of territory if its policies or governance structure were bad enough (see Poland). Since that time, this hasn’t really happened. There is still a France and a Germany, despite their gross errors (of different kinds) in WW2. Lessons might be learned, but policies aren’t under the same selection pressure that they once were, so more ideological mistakes can be made. “There is still … a Germany”: but not in quite the same place. Ditto Poland. But if you change your perspective to post-1914, the picture is radically different. Which I suppose was your point. Sure. Germany’s territorial losses (1/4 of its territory, post-unification) and population losses (much less, due to relocations) are still a historically mild result for a catastrophic and total defeat in a war that it started and launched against all of its neighbors and most powers on Earth. Well, Allah is having his revenge now. You might want to review just how the territorial dispute over the Polish-occupied German city of Danzig escalated into a full-blown world war. Peter Lund says: Yep. Germany was treated really badly after WWI, a war that it didn’t start but ended up losing. Thank you, USA, for using Germany and Austria to gain entrance to the world scene 😦 Germany wanted to get back the territory Poland had stolen and it wanted to complete the (re)unification of Germany with Austria and the Sudetenland. That was the initial goal and it was quite reasonable. “a war that it didn’t start” What do the Belgians say about this? “Yep. Germany was treated really badly after WWI,” No worse than what the Germans had planned. Cf the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Ludendorff’s plans for a German dominated empire in the East, etc. ” That was the initial goal and it was quite reasonable.” Sadly, Hitler also had a bunch of unreasonable goals as well: the destruction of the USSR, the ethnic cleansing of vast areas of Eastern Europe (The Hunger Plan, Generalplan Ost), etc The Germans (in WWI) had ambitions concerning Belgium and northern France as well. Yeah. Cf the Septemberprogramm: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Septemberprogramm Those really were the goals, judging by the Brest-Litovsk treaty. So, compare them with how Germany fared in the Versailles treaty: I’d say that WWI Germany. after losing, was treated about six times more leniently than they planned to treat the Allies if they had won. You might want to look into Hitler’s plans for the destruction of the USSR, the creation of a German Empire in the East, etc Ah yes, the destruction of the USSR. What a tragedy that would have been. Yeah, Hitler’s plans only called for starving to death 30 million or so Russians and Ukrainians….. And its peoples: that was the plan. No, the circumstances were.more complex, as historian Stefan Scheil showed in his work. IC says: We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and those interests it is our duty to follow… Age-old wisdom Blind trust on anyone including your own people is for idiots obviously. Blind mistrust on anyone without analysis of circumstances is for idiots or crazy people ( Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot). For long time, German did not trust any Jews. “Age-old wisdom”; well, Palmerston in his speech to the Commons, 1848. He’s still in good odour at the Foreign Office; its recently appointed mouser is called Palmerston. educationrealist says: Actually, we primarily locked up West Coast Japanese who were, as a rule, less assimilated. Most of the Japanese in the Midwest were left alone, and many Japanese who got out of internment went to the Midwest. In contrast, Canada locked up all of its Japanese. Nothing to do with your main point, just quibbling. What amazes me is that few Japanese-Americans in Hawaii were interned. These “dangerous” folk were in what was perhaps THE critical strategic location, but the authorities noted “oops there are too many of them to deport to the mainland and they are too important to the local economy.” All this doesn’t speak well for the rationale of interning the Japanese-Americans on the West Coast; if we didn’t need to do it on Hawaii there was even less need for it in California. I see that. But leaving aside greed (the usual accusation), the Japanese in Hawaii were easier to watch. More personnel to keep track of them, more security around data. In the West Coast, there was less scrutiny, more risk. So I’d say we couldn’t do it in Hawaii, different from we didn’t need to. It was deemed an acceptable risk given the loss. Meanwhile, cost of interning risky West Coast Japanese was cheaper than cost of monitoring them all. Dan Davis says: Some Japanese were interred in Hawaii. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honouliuli_Internment_Camp http://hawaiiinternment.org/ You noticed that I said “few” were interned, right, not “none”? OK, so far, so good. But what are you proposing to do? You seem to like “Watching and infiltrating known pro-Nippon groups, punishing those that actually committed crimes was perfectly feasible; combined with reasonable discretion in assigning Japanese to useful but nonclassified jobs”, but the modern analog of that, we seem to already be doing. Also, the rate of casualties the US is suffering from terrorists is several orders of magnitude less than what we suffered from in WW II, so the infringement of our other goals that we should be willing to tolerate is consideraly smaller. There’s also the matter of managing the public’s behavior. Yes, you oppose “Lock them all up!”, as does every other reasonable person. But of course, it’s very easy for the public to get wind up to the point of demanding to lock them all up, or at least, ensure that no American Muslim is allowed to touch a firearm or fly a plane. Just look at the current presidential election… As for history, don’t forget why Japanese-Americans in Hawaii weren’t interned: They were such a large part of the labor force that the Navy couldn’t have operated Pearl Harbor without them. Try reading my post again. At least the US didn’t ban additional Japanese and German immigration during the war – that would have been the worst. Pangur says: As if scheduled to happen to coincide with this post: http://nydn.us/2ag7k47 Headline: “FBI technician pleads guilty to giving agency records to Chinese government” “The Chinese-born Kun Shan Chun, a naturalized citizen of the United States, was charged with acting in the United States as an agent of China between 2011 and 2016. The 19-year-long FBI employee pleaded guilty to acting as an agent of a foreign government without notifying the attorney general.” Late bloomer says: The US government had good reasons to be concerned about the Japanese. From 1921 book “Old World Traits Transplanted” by Robert E. Park: “The Japanese in America have been treated by their home country as colonists here. The Japanese Empire has the bureaucratic type of efficiency, and the Japanese Association in America, with its various branches, is practically a department of the Japanese government.” The rest of the chapter on the Japanese is equally illuminating. You can find the book at archive.org The Canadian government similarly interned the Galicians during WWI, having had a much weaker case IMO. I asked my son if they taught this in his ‘Social Sciences’ class (Canadian school). No, it was all about the First Peoples’ forms of democracy, their matriarchy and other uplifting things. Doesn’t Pakistan only have nukes because of some Dutch-Pakistani that worked in the industry? There’s also been a few cases of Chinese Americans leaking stuff to China. I can’t blame them. Can definitely blame the government though. Khan was not Dutch, but he worked at Urenco. There he befriended a corrupt Dutch co-worker, Henk Slebos. Slebos later on helped Khan to smuggle essential equipment and materials. For cold hard cash. According to Ruud Lubbers, former Dutch PM, Khan was always suspected of bad intentions, but they led him go ahead to see who he was in contact with. They wanted to get the whole network. This, of course, went horribly wrong because was no Russian agent, but a Pakistani agent. http://zembla.vara.nl/dossier/uitzending/de-nederlandse-atoombom This Dutch documentary shd be translated into english. I am not convinced that this trend is driven by the elites’ status-whoring. I think the main factor is their desire to keep the population constantly increasing, which is intended to keep the economy growing, which is required by the nature of the credit money system, which the elites are beholden to. The equalist demands are necessary to incorporate these newly added masses since the age-old method (conversion to Christianity) isn’t workable anymore. If Germany was able to prevail in Europe, Japan was somehow capable of landing troops in California, and both countries were blockading America, what would have happened to all those Japanese in the internment camps? The American government identified and quarantined racial-political hostiles as the Germans and other nations did during the war. Sure, they were treated fine when the war was thousands of miles away and America was exporting food, but if push came to shove, if Americans were starving and blockaded, if domestic bases had to be abandoned in the face of an enemy offensive, the Japanese-Americans would probably have been slowly starved out and/or exterminated lest they serve as assets to their captors, similar to what happened in occupied Europe in the later years of the war. In 1940, say, when Britain was short of food, and apparently in imminent danger of invasion, she did not try to starve the “enemy aliens” – mainly German, Austrian, and Italian males – interned, many of them on the Isle of Man. She seemed to be more interested to establish which of them could be entrusted with jobs “on our side”, or at least released back into civilian life. It wasn’t all jolly fun, but it wasn’t barbaric either. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hutchinson_Internment_Camp Germany also treated American and British POWs decently. It had no territorial quarrel with America or England and was hoping until the end to facilitate a separate peace and concentrate on the USSR. It wished to annex the European portion of the Soviet empire so that it could compete on equal terms with America and the British Empire. Britain had food rationing, but it wasn’t starving. Some staples like bread weren’t even rationed until a couple years after the war.. It’s like the Texas rancher who was accused in court of wanting to grab all the land in Texas. He said “That’s a God-damn lie, Judge. All I want is the part that jines onto my place.” As when the Jews ‘slowly starved” at Babi Yar, in 1941. You’re full of crap. “The American government identified and quarantined racial-political hostiles as the Germans and other nations did during the war.” Dunno. The Germans did a damn sight more than just “quarantine” certain ethnies. Cf the operations of the Einsatzgruppen in Eastern Europe from the Summer of ’41 on. ” have been slowly starved out and/or exterminated lest they serve as assets to their captors, similar to what happened in occupied Europe in the later years of the war.” Was 1941-42 the “later years of the war?” The Germans systematically starved to death approx 2 million Soviet POWs in the Winter of ’41-’42. And then there’s the hundreds of thousands of Jews who were shot by the Einsatzgruppen before the end of 1941….. “if Americans were starving and blockaded” America was self-sufficient in food. It could not be starved even if blockaded. ironrailsironweights says: Having a disloyal Jaoanese-America on the Manhattan Project wouldn’t have mattered much unless he had been very high in the project hirearchy. The M.P. maintained its security by extreme compartmentalization more than by background screening. Nearly everyone working on the project knew only his specific tasks and had no idea of what the end result might be. Out of the many thousands of people at Los Alamos, fewer than ten knew that they were working on a massive weapons projecr. “fewer than ten”. Really. The Soviets knew, just from the sudden publication drought in nuclear physics [Georgii Flerov]. There were individual physicists that figured it out from the particular colleagues that disappeared. Both Germany and Japan heard rumors, although neither penetrated the Manhattan Project. John Cairncross and Donald Maclean knew. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, David Greenglass, Morris and Lona Cohen, Harry Gold, Theodore Hall, George Koval, Saville Sax, Morton Sobel, and Klaus Fuchs knew. Probably even Fermi and Teller and Feynman and Bethe and Von Neumann knew! John W Campbell knew ! Oliver Cromwell says: It doesn’t matter what the Japanese knew about Manhattan. The Japanese actually understood the problem of building a bomb quite well, and had probably the best Axis programme, and possibly a better programme than the USSR if you discount all the information the USSR got from spies. They (correctly) reasoned they could not manufacture the fissiles, and that if they could it wouldn’t be worth it, and that if it were they couldn’t build even a second rate delivery vehicle. To matter at all a Jap in Manhattan would have to be a saboteur and I just don’t see it, or at least don’t see it mattering. Commies in Manhattan were important and there were a ton of known commies in Manhattan. But then there were a ton of known commies in the State Department, War Department, and intelligence services, not all of whom were even American citizens. Interning Japs might have been unnecessary, although that’s easily said with hindsight, and it might have been done crudely, which is almost always true of everything in war. But the real outrage is how few commies were interned, how few commies were hanged, and how few commies were just sent back to Germany to their fates. Trusting Chinese immigrants continues to prove problematic…http://observer.com/2016/08/breaking-chinese-mole-uncovered-inside-the-fbi/ Thanks for this. Note that neither China nor India, two sources of highly-intelligent and skilled immigrants, are not customarily known as “trust cultures”. They value success and loyalty (to the family or ethnic group in both cases – to the nation in the case of China) much higher than rectitude. I was impressed to discover, upon moving to Indonesia, that the people here have exactly the same (racist) observation about the local Indian contingent as I found while working in Thailand: “If you’re walking in the jungle and you come across an Indian and a cobra, which one do you step on first?” The Indians in business in Southeast Asia are thought to be extremely untrustworthy. I have naturally wondered about their reputation in Silicon Valley, where so many have done very well. Rosenmops says: The Indians in Silicon Valley are probably not in positions where they can rip people off financially. There are a lot of Sikhs in my part of Canada and I would never do business with them if the business required any sort of trust. For example I wouldn’t take my car to be repaired at a garage run by Sikhs. However if a Sikh was working in as a cashier in a major grocery store I would have no problem going through his/her till because I don’t think the cashier has the means to steal money from me. Generally I would be suspicious of any small business run by Indians or Chinese. Recently I wanted to buy some strong bunkbeds for my grandchildren. The manufactured bunkbeds in the stores seemed poorly made. I found a man online in a nearby city who has a small business making bunk beds. He had an English sounding name, and he spoke with an working class English accent. Based on his Facebook page, I gave him half the price of the bunk beds on the understanding that I would pay the rest when they were completed. It worked out well, but I suppose I took a risk. If he had had an Indian or Chinese name or accent I would have been much more cautious. But I will buy things from China or India on Ebay, because Ebay has built in protections that prevent help people from getting ripped off. latemodernlife says: that’s because the ones in canada are the shitty ones, you guys just got the worst ones, the ones in the bay area are completely different. jamesg1103 says: Michelle Malkin made the persuasive (albeit retrospective) case for internment in her 2004 book.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Defense_of_Internment “..,people who knew the score (J. Edgar Hoover) thought that putting the Japanese into camps was a mistake. Watching and infiltrating known pro-Nippon groups, punishing those that actually committed crimes was perfectly feasible; combined with reasonable discretion in assigning Japanese to useful but nonclassified jobs, you would have a policy that was more effective…” Thanks for this post: nice to see sanity where so little is seen. I agree that we should keep out all the takfirists, the salafists, and anyone who thinks sharia is a good idea. Actually, I would go a step further, and keep out anyone who thinks it’s OK to cover women. But it scares the heck out of me when I hear talk that my kids should be required to register as Muslims. Not their fault what their parents chose to call themselves. In fact, one seems destined to be a full-fledged Jesus freak; another is going the path of David Hume. Lots of crazy in this world, and one part of it is this acting like Islam is some kind of contamination by descent. America was selectively non-crazy in 1941. A lot of people who shouldn’t have been trusted on Manhattan were. Manhattan leaked like a sieve, not to Tokyo or Berlin but to Moscow. 1941 America, the people who mattered, was broadly anti-Japanese but pro-Marxist. Today the US Government would not make the excuses for Putinites that it makes for Muslims. Try building the bomb without using a bunch of people that you couldn’t trust. Not possible in 1941: Groves knew this. Yet it had to be done. It didn’t. Dunno. Sooner or later, somebody was going to get the big stick. I’m glad that we got it ahead of various other powers….. No one else in WWII was close to getting a bomb (unless you consider the British a separate player), and more to the point even the US themselves didn’t have an effective delivery system. Think about the economics of early bomb raids with early bomb yields and quantities if your opponent has a robust air defence, instead of being Germany or Japan 1945. The Manhattan Project was a net negative on the US war effort in WWII, and wasn’t necessary for some years after the war, though given the US has such a massive surplus of resources anyway it was probably still a good deal for its post-war positioning advantages. “No one else in WWII was close to getting a bomb ” Thinking a bit longer term than just 1939-45….. Stalin getting the bomb first is a rather unpleasant thought. It had to be done sometime, but the USSR didn’t have a credible ability to deliver large numbers of bombs over the USA until the late 60s/early 70s. Stalin with a bomb would have changed nothing. You’re insane. But then so many people are. I am not at all. Look at the delivery systems, and the quantitative power of the bomb in relation to the conventional bombing capabilities of that time. The bomb was a technology that appeared ‘too early’. It appeared very effective when used against countries that had already collapsed under conventional assault and had essentially no defences. Well, so are rifle butts and knives. byronallenblack says: When I began reading this rejoinder I thought you were going to elaborate on the challenge of delivery systems. The Enola Gay was barely able to lift Little Boy; the initial thermonuclear device (late 1940s) was the size of a warehouse. The only way the West could have ponied one to Moscow – at least before the evolution of the [big & clumsy] B-36, was on a suicide mission. No American or British crews were particularly hot on that notion. It is also worth mentioning that when cigar-chomping Curtis Lemay was heading up SAC (early 1950s) there was serious talk about “preventive war” with the USSR, the charming and alluring concept of “war to prevent war” (Hello Mister Orwell, spinning there in your grave). The proposition, which I heard about as a kid (dad was in SAC) was classified as “Operation Trojan”, and was predicated around sending a fleet of B-36s with a surprise package for the Russkies, to eliminate the opposition before they could build their own force of nukes. The ever-practical Harry Truman put the kybosh on any such fond fantasies. I find it endlessly fascinating to ponder on the profound ways the advent of this technology has fundamentally altered the concept of war, like nothing else in history. Today some of those frisky forty-five-year-olds in the Pentagon are musing “limited nuclear war”. Good luck with that masterful plan, sunshine. First thermonuclear devices of any kind were in the 50’s. Operation Greenhouse, George, something like a ‘boosted’ bomb in practice, 1951 Item, first real tritium boosted Ivy Mike, true hydrogen bomb but cryogenic and undeliverable, 1952 Joe-4, “Layer Cake”, 1953 Soviet Castle Bravo, true dry hydrogen bomb (LiD), deliverable Thanks for the correction. I should not be so sloppy when quoting dates. I remember well the icy fear among the masses when it was announced that the Soviets had mastered “the big one”. But the theory was all there. It was simply a matter of time. I was amused to read that Macarthur used to send a lone B-29 above the invading Chinese forces during the Korean War, as a reminder of what the US could wreak upon them. He allegedly had a plan to lay a string of nukes along the border to dissuade the Chinese but that got nixed by the boss from Kansas City. Mousey Dung was not impressed, commenting “It’s just another weapon of war”. So his PLA generals arranged for him to witness an atmospheric detonation. He changed his tune abruptly after that experience. LeMay’s idea of a “preventative” war in the 50s really did make sense if you regarded nuclear war as inevitable anyway (as many did) or eventual Soviet victory as otherwise inevitable anyway (as most of the rest did). The United States would have won. In the late 50s it had enough bombs to eliminate the USSR as a civilised country and would have taken little damage in return. There was no MAD in the 50s, the Soviets weren’t capable of it. There is an interesting story floating around – impossible to verify – that those around Stalin became desperate enough to take a chance on poisoning him, when it became evident that he was set on attacking the USA. This would have been around 1950, when the Cold War was just starting to warm up. It was clear that the nuclear superiority of the Americans would have made short work of Ivan, and so (allegedly) Beria slipped Warfarin into his food. That’s right: rat poison. It had only recently been invented, and was considered particularly nifty because it is odorless and tasteless. Stalin’s last hours were suitably horrific, as he struggled to survive. When Beria and the others were called into his bedroom, the NKVD Chief commented “Comrade Stalin is resting. Do not disturb him.” Later he stood before his own family and chortled “We got the old bastard!” He himself was looking down rifle barrels not long afterward. 1950 would not have been a terrible time. Nuclear technology was substantially less mature than it would be even a decade later. The US had heavily drawn down its forces (the US military would not be smaller until after the end of the Cold War). France still had a Communist president and Labour was in power in the UK. 1950 was possibly the best time for them to have done it. Not that they would have likely succeeded, but it was their best shot. People who thought Korea was a probe for a more general communist offensive weren’t crazy, and may have been correct. France did not have a Communist Prime Minister in 1950, nor has it ever had one. I suggest that while officialdom, and the military (which is usually ready for a good fight) may have been ready to hit the Soviets in 1950 such an attack had yet to gain traction among the millions for whom WW II was still a vivid memory. Many economies (GB and Western Europe in particular) were still recovering. The Soviet menace was taken seriously but the concept of megadeath had not really been accepted as a commonplace by citizens in general in western democracies (whose opinion probably mattered much more than it does today). MacArthur’s proposal to plant a “ring of fire” of nukes along the North Korean / China border was a smart one from a military point of view and would have compensated for the huge imbalance in numbers (Chinese hordes cascading in). Truman nixed that. Had nukes been used in the Korean conflict it would also have crossed that imaginary boundary into unknown Apache territory and I doubt whether any of the gentlemen in charge at that moment were prepared for it. Hiroshima and Nagasaki (whose anniversaries have just passed) were most unnerving reminders to those privy to the photos and reports (excluding the masses). It didn’t take much imagination to extrapolate an atomic attack on one’s own capital. The great fear was settling in. But Stalin died in 1953. Attacking in 1953 would have been crazy. I don’t know about their prime minister. Their president, Vincent Auriol, was from the party “French Section of the Workers’ International”, a communist party albeit one that did not follow the Moscow party line. “I suggest that while officialdom, and the military (which is usually ready for a good fight) may have been ready to hit the Soviets in 1950” You’ve got it exactly backwards. The elite was full of commie sympathisers (not so much the military, but as pointed out, the military wanted to push on to Moscow and was overruled). Your comment that the “elite was full of commie sympathizers” was to an extent true, as a symptom of the 1930s intellectual hangover which visualized the Soviet system as a Paradise on Earth. Also please do not forget that the USSR was our ally against the Axis in the Second World War, and pivoting from “ally” to “enemy” was not all that easy for serious functionaries. You sound like Joe McCarthy, who was quoted as saying ‘”I have here in my hand a list of 205—a list of names that were made known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party and who nevertheless are still working and shaping policy in the State Department.”. This speech resulted in a flood of press attention to McCarthy and established the path that made him one of the most recognized politicians in the United States.’ (Wikipedia) Who were these 205? He never coughed up the names, and soon thereafter the Senate censured him – a rare and remarkable step. I submit that while the American military was quickly turned toward the “Communist menace”, in part to respond to a sharp “Reduction in Forces” (RIF) (my father went from Captain to Master Sergeant, just to stay in the Air Force) not all in the governing bodies were that anxious to get into a shooting war so soon after the last one. ” the military wanted to push on to Moscow” You are too stupid to post here anymore. The interesting scenario is this: US stays neutral, and the UK fights a twenty years’ war with Germany. The UK wins this war via a nuclear holocaust of Germany. Same old, same old. Except, in this timeline, the US is late to the bomb, and the British nuclear testing and bomber and missile training installations just happen to be positioned in Canada, within a few hours’ flight of New York and Washington… USSR beating Nazi Germany and extending its rule all the way to the Rhine seems like a likelier scenario…. I’m really tired of hearing about how evil it was to put the Japanese in camps during the war. My mother was born in Vancouver in 1927 and lived their her whole life, She remembered when some relative of the Japanese emperor came to Vancouver. She said the Japanese put their face on the ground as he walked/drove past. They thought he was a god and wouldn’t look directly at him. They had a Japanese school that the Japanese kids went to after their regular school. Some of them, at least, were definitely loyal to Japan. They thought the Japanese was a master race. The Japanese had their fishing boats confiscated but they were not harmed. They weren’t even locked up…just moved to camps in the interior away from the coast. Families stayed together. The internment camps were like resorts compared to anything similar run by Japan. Japan was extremely cruel to prisoners. Thiago Ribeiro says: “Besides, in a democracy, no one is indispensable – I’m sure that Henry Wallace would have been a good President, for a gullible, superstitious pinko.” So that is why Reagan was shot, his vice president was not bad enough to keep the Secret Service on its collective toes. “Some of them, at least, were definitely loyal to Japan. They thought the Japanese was a master race.” – Rosenmops Well, I am sure the Japanese were every bit as troublesome in Brazil as they were in Canada or the USA, yet we did not jail people for existing while being “yellow”. Many Japnese kept insisting their breathen had won WWII. Yet, they were given a wide berth and were (mostly) well-treated. They Repression only after real crimes were commited by real individuals. Jail sentences can be counted on one’s fingers: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shindo_Renmei#Repression_and_end I am happy to report that, despite an enlighted policy, Brazil has not yet been conquered by the Empire of Japan. “Japan was extremely cruel to prisoners.” Okay, true enough, but it was not their fault. Leave a Reply to jamesg1103 Cancel reply	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line804
__label__wiki	0.987531	0.987531	'''The West Wing''' is and was a political drama created and produced by [[Aaron Sorkin]]. It centered around a fictional Democratic Presidential administration led by President Josiah "Jed" Bartlet, a former governor from New Hampshire portrayed by Martin Sheen. The series ran for seven years on NBC, from 1999 to 2006, and was widely distributed in syndication. Repeat episodes still air daily on weekdays on the cable TV network '''Bravo''' Six actors were credited as regulars in all 7 seasons: [[Martin Sheen]], [[Allison Janney]], [[John Spencer]], [[Bradley Whitford]], [[Richard Schiff]], and [[Dule Hill]]. [[Janel Moloney]] joined the cast as a regular in the second season, and had several guest appearances in the first. [[Stockard Channing]] joined as a regular in the third season, with guest appearances in seasons one and two. Series regular [[Rob Lowe]] left the series in the fourth season, but returned for two guest appearances in season seven. [[Joshua Malina]] became a regular in season four. [[Jimmy Smits]], [[Alan Alda]], and [[Mary McCormack]] became series regulars in season six. and [[Kristin Chenoweth]] became a regular in season seven. A number of other actors also had repeated guest appearances throughout all seven seasons, but none of them were ever listed as regulars. [[Moira Kelly]] was a regular cast member in season one, but her character disappeared from the show after the first season and no explanation was ever given for her departure. An inside joke about those characters in the show who suffered similar fates is that they went to "[[Mandyville]]" (Mandy was Kelly's character on the show). The show won nine [[Emmy]] awards in its first season, and over its entire seven year run was nominated for dozens and won 26. The show also won 2 Golden Globe awards. The West Wing universe exists totally outside the "real world", even to the extent that Presidential elections are held in what would normally be mid-term years in the real world. No real world presidential administration is acknowledged after President Lyndon B. Johnson's. Despite this separation, a number of episodes referenced real-life issues and incidents. The show was sometimes called "The Left Wing" by conservative critics for its often liberal treatment of real-life political, economic, and social issues. The First Season began a year into [[President Bartlet]]'s first term. The senior staff was still getting used to their positions, and were making a number of media blunders. After a full-time media consultant ([[Mandy]]) was hired, things began to run more smoothly, until evidence of Chief of Staff [[Leo McGarry]]'s past prescription drug abuse came to light, causing more media problems. A number of "real world" issues were explored, including hate crimes, the death penalty, the census, and election reform. The season ended with a cliffhanger episode showing an assassination attempt. The Second Season began with a two-part resolution to the Season one cliffhanger, in which the target of the assassination was revealed to be [[Charlie Young]], but the President and [[Josh Lyman]] were hit instead. The episodes also revealed how the senior staff came to work for the administration and the whitehouse. Then, following an episode detailing the mid-term elections in 2004, the remainder of the season would deal with the administration's dealings with the new congress, culminating in a five-episode arc that detailed the inside plan on how to deal with the President's eventual revelation to the country that he had [[Multiple sclerosis]], in preparation for his running for a second term. It ended on a two-episode arc and a cliffhanger with the President suffering a personal tragedy and then being asked in a news conference if he would seek a second term. The Third Season began with a Special episode written to deal with the tragedy of September 11th. Following that was a 2-part episode which followed the staff's preparations for the President's formal announcement that he would seek a second term. Subsequent episodes followed the investigation by both a special prosecutor ''and'' Congress of the President (and the First Lady) to find if any laws were broken by either. The issue would be resolved by congress censuring the President. Subsequent episodes dealt with the staff's reaction to learning that the President's opponent would be Florida Governor [[Robert Ritchie]]. The season ended with the president ordering an assassination of an official from an officially "friendly" foreign government who was responsible for planning terror attacks in the United States. The Fourth Season began as the campaign was in the heat of the late summer and fall campaign, and the first 8 episodes followed the campaign, culminating in a two-part election episode, which saw victory for both the President ''and'' a ''dead'' Democratic Congressional candidate, which resulted in [[Sam Seaborn]] being obligated to run for the seat in a special election as he had promised the man's widow he would. This would see the eventual departure of Sam's character and the addition of [[Will Bailey]] as a member of the Senior staff. The White House was forced to deal with an even smaller minority in Congress, while orchestrating a military intervention in Africa to prevent a humanitarian disaster. The season ended in a 3 episode arc that saw Vice-President [[John Hoynes]] resign in disgrace after a sex scandal, followed by the abduction of [[Zoey Bartlet]] by a sleeper terrorist cell and the president turning over his power to the Speaker of the House to avoid having to make any heart-wrenching decisions regarding Zoey's fate. The Fifth Season began with a 2-part episode culminating in Zoey's rescue from her abductors and the President re-claiming his post. Subsequent episodes dealt with the selection of a politically savvy Speaker of the House who was able to outmaneuver the White House at almost every turn, even to the point of forcing the President to accept a mediocre nominee to replace former Vice President Hoynes. The season also was the last one to feature a Christmas episode. Episodes dealt with the issues of judicial nominations, nuclear proliferation, saving Social Security, and the attempt by John Hoynes to rehabilitate his image for a future presidential run. The Season ended with a two part episode detailing an attack on an American Congressional Delegation in the Gaza strip, with former Admiral and JCS Chairman [[Percy Fitzwallace]] dead and Josh's senior aide [[Donna Moss]] critically injured. The President is faced with the double problem of dealing with the aftermath of the attack ''and'' trying to find a solution to the root cause of it. The Sixth Season began with a 2-part episode in which the President manages to negotiate a shaky peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, with American troops as the peacekeepers, over [[Leo]]'s strong objections. Leo suffers a heart attack and leaves his post as Chief of Staff, and [[C.J. Cregg]] becomes the new CoS. The President attends a summit with Chinese Leaders during which he experiences a bad flare-up of his MS. Josh, feeling marginalized and looking for a new cause to back, leaves the White House staff to convince new regular character [[Matthew Santos]] to run for President as a dark-horse candidate. The season fast-forwards through the year to the start of the 2006 primary season as new character Republican Senator [[Arnold Vinick]] becomes the front-runner (and Presidential nominee) of the Repbulican Party. Meanwhile, Leo works to convince the rest of the White House Senior staff, many of whom already are looking toward future careers, that they still have work to do in the final year of President Bartlet's term. Much of the second half of the season is devoted to the primary fight among the Democrats. The season culminates with the final day of the Democratic party's convention, which is still without a nominee, and the White House learns that a senior staff member leaked the classified information that a secret Military Space Shuttle exists to the media in order to save the astronauts on board the International Space Station. After a rousing convention speech, and some subsequent behind-the-scenes maneuvering on the part of President Bartlet, Matt Santos is selected as the Democratic Nominee for President, with Leo as his running mate. The seventh and final season follows the campaigns of both Arnold Vinnick and Matt Santos in their day-to-day post-convention operations. The season features a special debate episode between the two which aired live both on the East and West Coasts The White House, meanwhile, has to deal with a number of crises, including averting a potential war between Russia and China, the revelation that [[Toby Ziegler]] leaked the information on the classified shuttle, and a potential nuclear disaster in California. On a lighter note, the President's middle daughter [[Ellie Bartlet]] marries her boyfriend in a hastily arranged White House ceremony (after she reveals she is expecting!) The season also showed the romantic joining (Finally!) of Josh and Donna. The election culminates in a two-part episode, in which Matt Santos earns a narrow victory. Leo McGarry, played by series regular [[John Spencer]], who had died earlier in the Season, dies in this episode (off camera, of course). His friends and family gather together in the White House to remember him the next episode. The remaining five episodes deal with the transition to the new administration, including choosing a new cabinet, finding a new senior staff for the White House, and exploring the incoming first family's adaptation to their new lives. The season--and series--ends with the inauguration of President Matthew Santos.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line805
__label__wiki	0.71711	0.71711	Braves LHP Hamels goes to IL, expected to miss playoffs The Atlanta Braves placed left-hander Cole Hamels on the 10-day injured list Monday, with The Athletic reporting the veteran will not be available for the upcoming playoffs. Hamels’ latest injury is a sore shoulder and it will leave him with just one start this season after signing a one-year, $18 million contract in the offseason. The 36-year-old was on the 60-day injured list earlier this season with triceps tendinitis. Hamels’ lone outing came Sept. 16 when he gave up three runs on three hits in 3 1/3 innings to the Baltimore Orioles and took the loss. Over 15 seasons, Hamels has a career 163-122 record with a 3.43 ERA over 423 appearances (422 starts) for the Philadelphia Phillies (2006-15), Texas Rangers (2015-18), Chicago Cubs (2018-19) and the Braves. The Braves are 31-22 and lead the National League East by three games over the Miami Marlins. Their magic number for clinching a third consecutive division title is five.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line809
__label__cc	0.747775	0.252225	Burying you in paperwork and convoluted procedures: The AARTO Act “decriminalises” many road traffic offences Welcome to the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) Act website. Get ready! According to the Department of Transport, the AARTO Amendment Act will apply nationwide on 1 July 2021. Originally passed into law in 1998, the AARTO Act has been in force for more than eleven years in the jurisdictions of the Metropolitan Municipalities of Tshwane (from 1 July 2008) and Johannesburg (from 1 November 2008). Surprisingly though, it is apparent that few people know much, if anything about the AARTO Act and how it affects them. According to the Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA), 51% of people surveyed at licensing centres in Gauteng in late 2017 knew nothing about the AARTO Act. This is despite the RTIA’s legislated mandate to educate motorists and the fact that the AARTO Act’s so-called “pilot” implementation is well over a decade old. Since 13 August 2019, the AARTO Amendment Act has dominated the news, with the Department and Minister of Transport, together with the RTIA telling everyone that the primary goal of the AARTO Act is to improve road safety. But even a cursory glance at it will tell you something completely different. Its real purpose is to expedite the collection of traffic fine revenues and to impose an ominous administrative burden on those who stand accused of violating traffic laws. On this website, you can get all the information you need to better understand this convoluted legislation, and protect yourself from its many, administratively burdensome provisions. Please click here to learn more about the functionality of AARTO Act. Click here to visit the SA coronavirus website	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line810
__label__cc	0.537863	0.462137	Home › Gabon Abbreviations Gabon Abbreviations GA is the abbreviation for Gabon, the 76th largest country in the world. Officially the Gabonese Republic, Gabon is a country located in Central Africa, bordering 4 countries – Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, and Republic of the Congo. Libreville is the capital city of Gabon. Top 10 biggest cities are Serrekunda (population: 339,978), Brikama (population: 77,678), Bakau (population: 43,076), Banjul (population: 34,567), Farafenni (population: 29,845), Lamin (population: 24,775), Sukuta (population: 15,109), Basse Santa Su (population: 14,358), Gunjur (population: 14,066), and Soma (population: 9,847). Currency: Central African CFA franc (XAF) Time zone: UTC+1 ISO 2-Letter Abbreviation: GA UN 3-Letter Abbreviation: GAB Internet TLD: .ga State Government Website: http://gouvernement.ga List of Gabon Acronyms The most commonly used abbreviations about Gabon are GA which stands for Gabon and XAF which means Central African CFA franc (Gabon currency). In the following table, you can see all acronyms related to Gabon, including abbreviations for airport, city, school, port, government, and etc. AGP Agence Gabonaise de Presse GN Air Gabon AGN Air Gabon AGR Association des Gabonais de Rennes BHG Banque de l’Habitat du Gabon BGD Banque Gabonaise de Développement BAW Biawonque, Gabon CBG Compagnie des Bois du Gabon CGF Conseil des Gabonais de France CGC Conseil Gabonais des Chargeurs GA Gabon GB Gabon GAB Gabon GAF Gabonese Armed Forces USG l’Union Socialiste de Gabonaise LBV Libreville, Gabon – Libreville PDG Parti Democratique Gabonais PGP Parti Gabonaise du Progres PEUGEOT Plantes Utiles du Gabon PUG Plantes Utiles du Gabon POG Port Gentil, Gabon – Port Gentil PDFG Projet de Developpement Forestier du Gabon RPG Rassemblement Pour le Gabon UPG Union du Peuple Gabonais UGB Union Gabonaise de Banque VC Vagabond Crew VTG Vagabond Theatre Group VIP Vagabonds in Power Gabon is located on the coast towards the Atlantic Ocean by the equator. Nature can be divided into three parts. To the west of the coast there are mangrove forests, savannahs, river deltas and sandy beaches. To the east lies a wide inland plateau covered by rainforests and savannas. The third type of habitat is deep lush valleys that cut through the inland plateau where the country’s longest river, Ogooué, and all its bees flow. Around 80 percent of the country is covered by rainforest. The climate is humid and warm all year round. It is rainy season from mid-January to May, and from October to mid-December. Gabon has worked actively to preserve the rich natural diversity of the country. Today, around 11 per cent of the area is protected national parks, but deforestation is still a problem. Especially forest areas around towns and villages are destroyed by illegal logging for farming or for their timber. The country’s rich wildlife is threatened by illegal hunting, and discharges from the country’s oil industry have led to devastated rivers, water and coastal areas. Gabon has been inhabited by pygmy people for over 7,000 years. In the 16th century, other groups of people immigrated to the areas around the mouth of the Ogooué River and southwest of the country. 200 years later, the largest current group of people in Gabon, the fang people, immigrated from Cameroon. Portuguese seafarers have been trading ivory, slaves and timber from Gabon since the 15th century. The Portuguese conducted their business from offshore islands and never established any large colony on the mainland. Until the 20th century, the country’s resources were utilized by French, Dutch and British traders. Many of the local inhabitants were forced into slavery. In 1843, French missionaries built a fort on the banks of the Ogooué River, and a colony for escaped and freed slaves was established. The city that grew around the fort was named Libreville (Liberty City) and is today the nation’s capital. Throughout the 19th century, the area was slowly colonized by France, and in 1888 Gabon became part of French Congo. In 1946, Gabon became an independent French colony. Several political parties emerged, and in 1958 the colony gained internal autonomy before the country became fully independent in 1960. Gabon is a republic where the president is the head of state, the head of government and the military commander in chief. The president is elected in general elections for seven years at a time, and may be re-elected an indefinite number of times. The government is appointed by, and is accountable to, the President. Parliament has two elected chambers, a National Assembly and a Senate. Democracy is considered lackluster, and the president’s power is virtually unlimited. Since 1967, the presidency has been filled by members of the same family. Society bears the mark of the past as a French colony. The justice and education system is designed like the French, and the political ties to France are still close. The country is characterized by traditional norms and rules. Living together in large families is common, as are large groups of children. The country is struggling with widespread corruption and major inequalities between poor and rich. Due to a large population growth, especially among the poorest population, living standards among the poor have deteriorated since the 1990s. Gabon’s economy is based on oil exports. The large natural resources and low population have made Gabon one of the sub-Saharan African countries with the highest gross domestic product per capita. Extraction and export of crude oil offshore is very important to the country’s economy and accounts for over 80 per cent of total export revenues. This export makes the country vulnerable to fluctuations in world market prices. For example, the price of crude oil was low in the early 2000s, and the country entered a deep economic crisis. Since then the price has gone up, but the country is still vulnerable. Exports of timber and minerals are the second most important industries for the country’s economy. Despite the natural resources, wealth is very unevenly distributed and does not benefit the inhabitants. Around a third live below the national poverty line. The majority of the population lives on agriculture for their own consumption. Agriculture is poorly developed and contributes little to the country’s gross domestic product, and the country also has to import a lot of food and more consumer goods. Despite imports, the country has a trade surplus (they export more than they import) thanks to the oil.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0008.json.gz/line811

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