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What the Film
Actors, cinema, film, reviews, action…
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Tangled Film Review
Posted on 2011 under DVD releases
The current trend in the film industry is sequels, prequels, remakes and adaptations. Producers and movie studios are always looking for something to remake or adapt and many see this as an excuse to avoid risks in making a bad movie. On the other side of the spectrum there are producers constantly looking for ways to push the boundary of film making. While each effort could become a resounding success, there will always be moments where remakes end up with a thud and new ideas are simply bad concept with funding.
“Tangled”, on the other hand, is careful mix of the two concepts. It is a Disney adaptation of Rapunzel but it slowly pushes out the concept of a maid-in-distress to present a brand new heroine. The film also takes advantage of some of the best techniques in film making especially in animation and the result is an impressive color display. It brings you back to the old hand-drawn animation of Disney but with the inclusion of new 3D graphics.
Tangled is not something that aims to sets a trend or tell a brand new story, which may have some fans asking, “Is $250 million worth it?” The film is the 2nd most expensive movie made (behind avatar) and the most expensive fully animated film. Many film reviewers say that it’s not worth it. But knowing Disney and its historic past of churching every penny in every way possible, it is likely the company will be able to eventually recoup the cost even if the film isn’t a great critical success.
The problem with Tangled is not the film itself but its background. It’s not necessarily a groundbreaking film but it’s still fun to watch for the whole family.
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創作料理の食夢工房「SAIBEI」
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History of Japan’s Prime Minister
The Japanese government is a constitutional monarchy with a prime minister and it is designed to serve the needs of the people. Like the United States, Japan has an executive branch, legislative and judicial branch. The prime minister is the top leader of Japan and he is elected by members of the legislature rather than the country’s citizens unlike the United States. The legislature in Japan is called the National Diet and it works closely with the Prime Minister on national government affairs. The prime minister appoints his cabinet members and they are known as ministers. These ministers head departments that are called ministries and in Japan cabinet members have to also belong to the National Diet. The prime minister is elected every four years and while Japan has an imperial family, it does not have authority in governmental matters.
Historical Timeline of Japanese Government Prior to World War II
In order to understand how the role of prime minister came to be in Japan after World War II, it is a good idea to give a historic timeline of what the Japanese government was like prior to this time. Between the 1600s and the mid 1800s, the Shogunate rulers were in control and it lacked the necessary power to rule effectively. As a result Japan became a target for the exploitation of Western interests and this was the case in 1853 when the US Navy and Commodore Matthew Perry arrived in Japan. Unfair trade agreements between Japan and the Western world caused this nation to hand over some of its’ economic resources to them. By the 1860s, the emperor Meiji came to power and under his reign modernization began. A new constitution was set up and parliament was established. There was also the arrival of a national military. After World War II, Japan became occupied temporarily by the Allied powers and it was during this time that the authoritative rule of the emperor was diminished. Another constitution was put in place with the Allied powers’ help and as a result Japan received its’ first prime minister.
Life in Japan After Establishment of Prime Minister
By the time the 1950s arrived, Japan and the newly formed democratic government started to recover from the war and experience economic growth that has not been seen in previous centuries. During this time Japan maintained friendly relations with the United States and much of its’ economy was dependent on machinery, steel, carmaking and chemicals. However, by the 1990s Japan endured a recession and the number of births fell drastically in the years following. Now Japan faces a population decline and the current prime minister has considered lifting strict immigration rules to solve the problem.
Throughout history Japan has experienced substantial expansion and modernization but it has also experienced turmoil both from its’ own rulers and from outsiders who exploited them economically and at times through wars and conquests. With the aftermath of World War II, a new Japan emerged and a new government shaped the way Japan would succeed in later decades.
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Turkey's Defense Minister Hulusi Akar speaks at UK Turkey forum about Nagorno-Karabakh and East Mediterranean
Turkey's Defense Minister Hulusi Akar gave a keynote speech on Wednesday at a webinar organized by a London-based think thank.
Akar touched on special relationship with UK and regional issues such as Nagorno-Karabakh and East Mediterranean. Turkey's Defense Minister Hulusi Akar gave a keynote speech on Wednesday at a webinar organized by a London-based think thank.The event, Turkey in a Changing Global and Regional Security Environment was held by the Centre for British-Turkish Understanding.Akar talked about Turkey and the UK's special relationship, as well as Turkey’s positions on regional issues ranging from the burning conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh to the Eastern Mediterranean.Ties between Turkey and the UK are “deep-rooted” and have a “historical background,” Akar said.
Looking to the future, Akar said post-Brexit the UK would be a non-EU NATO ally, just like Turkey.
“I believe that our bilateral relations and strategic partnership with the UK will align more than before on common risks and new collaborative opportunities,” he said.
State-on-state conventional warfare is on the wane, Akar said, but new “hybrid threats” are on the rise. These included artificial intelligence, nano-technology, and autonomous systems, he added.
Trans-national terrorism is also on the rise, with terrorists using social media to gain recruits, spread propaganda, and pushing fake news, the defense chief said.
He described the “quantum age of computing” as “both a possible risk and also as an enormous opportunity.”
Technology, he said, remained the proverbial “double-edged sword.”
NATO and EU
NATO was neither irrelevant nor “brain dead,” Akar insisted.
Instead, the role of NATO was more vital than ever, and the alliance has “continued to successfully adapt and grow in the face of diverse and emerging threats."
"Turkey will continue to strongly support this adaptation as she has done in the past,” he said.
All allies bicker, and despite disagreements here and there, Turkey and the EU still share long-term interests and a wide variety of issues, ranging from security and defense, to counter-terrorism, to preventing illegal immigration.
“Membership in the EU remains our strategic objective,” he said.
“In fact, a comprehensive approach to European security is simply not possible without Turkey or the UK,” he added.
Akar added: “Unfortunately, there is a lack of strategic vision on the part of the EU. Linking every aspect of our relations to the Cyprus issue and Eastern Mediterranean, allows our common agenda to be hijacked by certain members, including those that should never have been allowed in the EU in the first place. And by that, I mean the Greek Cypriot administration.”
He said this lack of vision in the EU was “not unfamiliar” to the UK, as reflected in the Brexit process.
Unlike other parts of Europe, the threats Turkey faces are not theoretical – they are real, he said.
Turkey is fighting Daesh, the PKK/YPG, and the putschist FETO all at the same time, he noted.
The PKK were misleading the international community by using an alphabet soup of acronyms to disguise themselves, he said. The PKK, KCK, PYD, YPG, PJAK, YBS, and YJS are all the same organization.
He warned against arming the YPG in Syria, insisting that one terrorist group cannot be defeated by arming another. While the PKK has widely been proscribed as a terrorist organization, the YPG continues to receive support from Turkish allies.
“I must underline that we have no problem with neither the Kurdish people nor any other ethnicity. Our only enemy is terrorism,” Akar said.
The PKK has killed over 40,000 innocent people in Turkey, and Daesh a further 600.
Turkey, however, fights back.
“In Syria and Iraq, 3,700 of the most radical Daesh militants were neutralized by Turkey,” Akar said. “We lost many brave Turkish soldiers in these operations.”
“Daesh does not represent Islam just as the PKK/YPG does not represent the Kurds,” he said.
“The failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016, was a test of strength and resilience for the Turkish democracy and the State,” he said. “This year, we commemorated the fourth anniversary of the deplorable failed coup attempt.”
The Gulenist terrorist organization known as FETO martyred 251 people, wounded 2,193 others, bombed the parliament, and tried to kill the democratically elected president.
“The Ministry of National Defense and our Armed Forces have become stronger with the measures taken since the coup attempt,” he said.
Akar called on allies and friends of Turkey to take concrete action against FETO, especially by responding to extradition requests for its members.
The UK was the first country to condemn the coup, and he said that display of solidarity “will not be forgotten.”
Syria is the bloodiest conflict in the region since World War II, and Turkey has been warning since 2011 it would turn into a quagmire, he said.
Turkey hosts 4 million Syrian refugees at a cost of $40 billion; 300,000 of them returned home after Turkey cleared Syrian areas of terrorists. Cease-fires, like that in Idlib, must hold in order to prevent another flow of refugees to Turkey and the EU, he said.
Akar said he wanted to see Syria stable, democratic, and united, with the same applying in Libya.
It has been a year since renegade Libyan general Khalifa Haftar attempted to topple the UN-backed government.
Without Turkish assistance, Tripoli could have fallen “leading to a major humanitarian disaster.”
There is no military solution in Libya, only a political solution will last, he said.
Caucusus and Eastern Mediterranean
Turning his attention to tensions that have recently flared once again, Akar said Armenia had shown that it remained “the greatest obstacle to peace and stability in the region.”
He said: “We strongly condemn these attacks which constitute a clear violation of international law. The illegal occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and its surrounding regions has led to over one million internally displaced people in Azerbaijan. In order to achieve peace and stability in the region, the Armenian occupation of these areas has to end.
“Turkey stands in solidarity with and will continue to support Azerbaijan as it protects its people and territorial integrity.”
In the Aegean, Akar said: “The core of these disputes are the excessive and unilateral claims by Greece and Greek Cypriots, which violate the sovereign rights of both Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots.”
He pointed to Greece violating the de-militarized status of islands such as Meis/Kastellorizo.
He said Greece was unique globally in unilaterally asserting huge territorial claims.
“Turkey has the longest continental coastline in the Eastern Mediterranean with a length of almost 2,000 kilometers,” Akar said.
“However, Greece and the Greek Cypriots are trying to impose their own maritime boundary claims, thereby trying to confine Turkey strictly to her coasts.”
“Greece claims a continental shelf area of 40,000 square kilometers for the tiny island of Meis/Kastellorizo, which has an area of just 10 square kilometers,” he continued. “This island is about 600 km away from the Greek mainland. It is obvious that such claims are neither realistic nor fair.”
He said Turkey had no interest in violating any country’s legitimate rights, and firmly underlined that Turkey is in favor of resolving all outstanding problems with Greece through international law, goodwill and negotiations. He asked allies to apply objectivity and common sense when comparing Greek and Turkish claims in the region.
On Cyprus, Akar said: “The core problem is that the Greek Cypriot side still aims to reduce the Turkish Cypriots to the status of a minority in their own homeland.”
“A solution to the Cyprus issue is possible only by accepting the fact that the Turkish Cypriots are the co-owners of the island,” he said.
He said Turkey would support any solution that respected Turkish Cypriots' equal rights both politically and in terms of their entitlement to natural resources around the island.
Concluding his talk, Akar said: “In resolving disputes we always prefer diplomacy, peaceful solutions and dialogue.”
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Aaron Hicks.
BRONX, NY - Yankees center fielder Aaron Hicks missed most of the 2019 season, and it appears he will be out for most of next season as well.
At his farewell press conference for the season on Thursday afternoon, Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman announced that Hicks will have UCL reconstructive surgery, or Tommy John surgery, on October 30 and he will need eight to ten months to recover. This timeline has Hicks returning sometime between next June and August.
The Yankees signed Hicks to a seven-year, $70 million contract this past February after he had a great 2018 season, in which he hit .248 with 27 home runs and 79 RBI.
In spring training, he suffered back injuries that kept him out the first two months of the season.
Then, after playing 59 games in the regular season, he suffered a partially torn UCL on August 3 that kept him out until the playoffs. He returned for the ALCS against Houston, where he played in five of the six games, and hit a big three-run home run off Justin Verlander in Game 5 to keep the series alive before they lost the series the next night.
"He's getting Tommy John because he needs it, that's the bottom line," Cashman said. "I think, obviously, he was feeling it regardless of getting back. We tried to address this in the past, but when he had the in-season injury, there was a rest and rehab process that was put in play - that process failed because the pain immediately came back. He was put in a longer rest and rehab recovery time, which would lead him into missing the entire postseason, and then trying it sometime in the winter, probably closer to the December, January range with a throwing program and see how he felt then.
"If that failed, then it would be Tommy John, and we know the narrative now. That's why he returned home to Arizona and he decided to start a throwing program behind the scenes in a more truncated time frame. It responded well enough to get him back going, but obviously once this season ended - he played great for us in the postseason obviously - the feeling of 'there's something here that's still not right,' the follow-up doctor exam, etc. led to the ultimate decision, we've got to get this thing fixed or it's just going to blow in February, March, April."
The obvious candidate to take over center field is Brett Gardner, who had arguably the best season of his career, as he hit .251 with 28 home runs and 74 RBI in 141 games, primarily in left field.
The Yankees brought Gardner back on a one-year contract for outfield insurance this season, and with injuries to Hicks, Giancarlo Stanton, and Aaron Judge, wound up being one of the Yankees' most valuable players as they won 103 games in the regular season and ran away with the American League East crown.
"In terms of Brett Gardner, I don't think there's any questions about what his capabilities are," Cashman said. "He had a tremendous season, both sides of the ball offensively and defensively, including playing center field, and so obviously he's a free agent, so I guess the main question is, can he handle playing center field in 2020, both offensively and defensively? I don't think there's any question based on the performance put forward this year and in past years."
Another option for the Yankees to plug into center field is Jacoby Ellsbury, who has missed the past two seasons with various injuries, and is entering the last year of his seven-year contract.
When asked about that possibility, Cashman took a deep breath and said, "It's hard to say based on how things have played out, so right now, he's not someone who's in a position health-wise for me to be answering anything in the affirmative right now."
Ellsbury is guaranteed $21.1 million next season, so if he really isn't in their plans, maybe now is the time to finally buy out that contract and open up some payroll flexibility.
Posted by Jason Schott at 12:27 PM
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Dynamo Creative Marketing Merrill Wisconsin 715-551-3189
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Dynamo Creative Marketing brings better business ideas to Merrill
After many years working in advertising sales, for both radio and print, Christine Vorpagel decided to go out on her own in October 2011, establishing Dynamo Creative Marketing. Christine said she was looking for more freedom in helping her clients reach their goals.
"I'm a marketing consultant," she said. "I went out on my own so I could choose the media that's best for the project or the business. I needed the freedom to take on projects that require a lot of attention."
Dynamo Creative Marketing works primarily with small businesses, and Christine prides herself on being able to do much with a tight budget.
"My M.O. is, if you have a great idea you don't need a monster marketing budget," she said.
Working as a one-person shop, Christine subcontracts out for the technical stuff like graphic design and web development. Christine provides the ideas and plans.
"I come up with marketing plans and execute them," she said. "What that is depends on the client and their objectives."
Her clients include restaurants, real estate offices, floral shops, gas stations and artists in the Merrill, Tomahawk and Wausau markets. "Small business owners have rolled the dice to be in business, they're taking a risk," she said. "You can only get so far with your own ideas or your supplier's ideas."
She also coordinates events, both for businesses and organizations. Past projects include Survival of the Coolest and Bras Across the Bridge. She is currently putting together a series of programs for T. B. Scott Library, with the first being "Late Summer Game On" Aug. 28 from 3-7 p.m.
Recently Christine also added a BiosLife franchise to her business.
Starting her own business has been rewarding for Christine. "It's been a fun challenge making things happen for people, helping them to take their businesses to the next level," she said.
Aug. 15, 2012 "Merrill Foto News"
Veteran loans sculpture March 1, 2012 |
Viet Nam Veteran Charles Hamilton of Irma delivered his 10-foot tall metal sculpture on Thursday, Feb. 23, for temporary display at the Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center in Iron Mountain, MI. On hand to accept the sculpture was Mr. James Rice, Medical Center Director.
The statue “Determination” is that of a wounded military person carrying a flag with helmets at the base. It had been displayed in the past with The Moving Wall, a traveling replica of the Viet Nam Memorial Wall in Spooner, WI. Mr. Hamilton purposely left the statue faceless, genderless and lacking service identity to represent all men and women who have served in the armed forces of the United States.
“This sculpture is priceless,” said Hamilton, “because I don’t own it. It is for all Veterans and patriots.”
Mr. Hamilton has been doing metal sculptures for seven years.
“The VA actually got me into making metal sculptures,” said Hamilton. “I took a course in welding through the VA’s rehabilitation program.
“Afterwards, I began to play with some models, liked it and took off from there,” he added.
Hamilton has created numerous metal art pieces and completed five patriotic metal sculptures so far, with all but one having been displayed with The Moving Wall. In addition to Determination, he has sculpted Sailor Boy, Valor (on display at the Rhinelander VA clinic), The Jungle and his most recent, The Journey.
Hamilton’s motivation for creating this unique sculpture was to help veterans heal those spiritual wounds while offering the public a moving tribute to the sacrifice of servicemen and women and their families.
Indeed, it has already impacted visitors. Soon after it was set into place in main entrance, one young Veteran entering the Medical Center took a cell phone picture of the sculpture. Another, an elderly Veteran, walked up to it, looked at it closely, and then asked who made it. He was directed to Mr. Charles Hamilton, and the Veteran thanked him.
The Determination sculpture is anticipated to be on display for approximately three months then it may be viewed at The Moving Wall in June in Wausau.
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32 Fascinating Fantasy Football Players For 2017
By Rajan Nanavati | September 5, 2017
In case you’re wondering whether i’m excited for the upcoming fantasy football season, I hope then next NINE THOUSAND words — it’s actually a bit more than that, but I just rounded down to make it a (startlingly) clean number — will answer that question for you.
For those of you who haven’t yet drafted your fantasy football team for 2017, or for those of you who want to simply get a ‘leg up’ on the competition, here’s a team-by-team look at some of the top headliners, boomers, sleepers, and busts that fantasy football players NEED to know, heading into the 2017 NFL season.
Washington Redskins — Terrelle Pryor Sr, Wide Receiver: Coming off a breakout season in Cleveland in 2016, in which he caught 77 passes for 1,007 yards from the carinval-esque carousel of quarterbacks the Browns trotted out last year, some wondered whether Terrelle Pryor’s production was something of “a glitch in the Matrix,” and if he was something of a one-hit wonder. Why else would he get totally passed over in free agency, and end up in Washington on a team-friendly 1-year, $6M deal? Yet, there’s actually plenty of reasons to believe it’s quite the opposite: that Pryor is just beginning to scratch the surface of his immense potential, and could realize it in our nation’s capital. Standing 6’4 and 228lbs, Pryor has uncanny speed and athleticism for a player of his size, running the 40 yard dash in a legitimate 4.41 seconds, and showing the ability to use his immense size to box out over matched cornerbacks trying to cover him. Pryor had 17 receptions last year that were classified as “tight window” completions, where a cornerback was within one yard of him when he caught the ball, which was the sixth highest total in the NFL. He’s coming in to Washington as the team’s #1 receiving option, after the Redskins became the first team in NFL history to have two wide receivers go over 1,000 yards receiving, and subsequently leave town in free agency. Playing with a quarterback in Kirk Cousins, who threw for the 3rd most yards of any passer in the NFL last year, and with a very potent cast of other receiving options around him, Pryor’s numbers could explode in Washington. And yes, I get that Pryor and Cousins have been far from “on the same page” this preseason, but so has the entire Redskins offense. The dirty secret of the NFL is that most teams really don’t find their groove until the third or fourth game of the regular season (which is why you’ll often have those wonky September wins or losses by certain teams, which look increasingly puzzling when you look back at them later in the season). I take more credence in the fact that Pryor was so dominant during Redskins training camp, with members of the team’s secondary proving unable to cover him; opposing secondaries could find themselves facing that dilemma all year long.
Philadelphia Eagles — Zach Ertz, Tight End: Yes, I realized that Zach Ertz finished in the top five in both receptions and receiving yards among tight ends last season. But with all the additions the Eagles made in the offseason, it’s hard to envision Ertz leading the Eagles in receptions and touchdown this year, and recording the second most targets among all pass catchers, like he did in 2016. Alshon Jeffrey is going to steal redzone targets. Nelson Agholor might steal targets over the middle (don’t laugh). Even Torrey Smith might see a few balls go his way (again, don’t laugh). On top of that, even if Ertz were to put up a similar stat line in 2017 to what he did last year (78 rec, 816 yards, and four touchdowns), the tight end position in fantasy football is deep enough to where you could wait a couple of rounds and draft another player with minimal dropoff. The difference between taking someone like Ertz (whose average draft position is somewhere in the middle of the 10th round), versus someone like Jason Witten (who’s commonly available as late as the 15th round of some drafts) could be less than one point per game, on average. Why not devote that pick to another, more scarce resource? Ertz is a fine player, but far from an exceptional one for the purposes of fantasy football.
New York Giants — Paul Perkins, Running Back: The New York Giants are one of only three teams in the NFL that have not had a running back break the 1,000-yard rushing mark in each of the last four seasons. The once-proud position for the Giants has been marked by a revolving door of mediocre running ball carriers plodding along for forgettable yardage totals. After parting ways with running back Rashad Jennings in the offseason (the team’s leading rusher for each of the past two years), the starting running back job now fully belongs to Paul Perkins, the team’s 5th round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. At 5’10 and 208lbs, Perkins was called a “poor man’s Jamaal Charles” coming out of UCLA, demonstrating a solid burst from the line of scrimmage, superior change-of-direction skills, and an exceptional ability to make defenders miss in the open field. The knock on him coming out of school was that he was better suited to play in a pass-first offense, which spread out opposing defenses and gave him room to operate. Coincidentally, that’s exactly what he’ll be working with in the Giants offense, as they go with “11 personnel” (one running back, one tight end, three wide receivers) as much as any team in the NFL. If he’s able to hold on to the starting job in New York — and there’s not a lot of competition he’ll have to fend off — it wouldn’t be surprising to see him get upwards of 200 carries, putting him right around the 1,000 yard mark by season’s end. He could represent great value in the middle rounds of the draft.
Dallas Cowboys — Dak Prescott, Quarterback: You know I absolutely loathe saying anything positive about the wretched Dallas Cowboys, or anyone on this god forsaken team. And I know that, despite what those braindead fans in the Metroplex might tell you, there were a LOT of contributing reasons to why Prescott guided his team to 13 wins, and was selected to the Pro Bowl. But how many people realize that Prescott combined for 29 touchdowns last year, finished fourth in yards per attempt (7.99), and only threw four interceptions all year long (the lowest among all starting quarterbacks)? With the newly-imposed six-game suspension handed down to running back Ezekiel Elliott, Prescott now becomes the centerpiece of the entire Dallas offense. I still believe there are a lot of questions to be answered, as far as how Prescott will respond after an offseason in which teams could watch more film on him (and try to figure him out), especially considering Dallas’ first six opponents won’t have to devote the majority of their game plan to stopping Elliott. But Prescott’s late-season rapport with Dez Bryant (the two combined for over 500 yards receiving and six touchdowns in the last eight games they played together), and trust in Jason Witten (14 straight seasons with more than 60 catches) and Cole Beasley (the Cowboys’ team leader in receptions and receiving yards last year) are all still factors. It’ll be interesting to see how Prescott plays in his sophomore season in the NFL.
Green Bay Packers — Jordy Nelson, Wide Receiver: In 2016, Jordy Nelson finished 5th in the NFL in total catches (97), 6th in receiving yards (1,257), and 6th in catches for a first down (62). Oh, and he also led the NFL in total touchdown receptions (14), putting him 5th in the NFL — and #1 among all wide receivers — in total touchdowns scored by a single player. Now consider the fact that Nelson has a chance to come into 2017 and play even better than he did last year. The proverbial “rule of thumb” in the NFL is that a player doesn’t really get back to 100% after tearing his ACL until a full year after he’s cleared to play. Nelson missed all of 2015 with a torn ACL, and he still accomplished what he did in 2016 despite the fact that he might not have been quite at 100%. Oh, and then there’s the fact that Nelson is still catching passes from Aaron Rodgers, who is basically the football player version of Drogon from “Game of Thrones” — ie, he will eviscerate entire groups of people standing before him. Nelson is the sixth wide receiver coming off fantasy draft boards in most leagues, but it would not be any shock if he finished right at the top of his position in total fantasy point scored. He should be considered a top three fantasy receiver this year, alongside Antonio Brown and Odell Beckham Jr. … in other words: yes, i’d take him over guys like Julio Jones, A.J. Green, and Mike Evans.
Minnesota Vikings — Dalvin Cook, Running Back: There’s a good chance that we’re going to look back at the 2017 NFL Draft in a few years and conclude that the Minnesota Vikings committed grand larceny, given the fact that they were able to “steal” running back Dalvin Cook with a second round pick. Cook was one of the most talented running backs in this year’s draft class, and should’ve easily been a top 15 pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, if it wasn’t for questions about some of the questionable types that were linked to his inner circle. The fact that he’s in Minnesota, far away from the warm weather and numerous tempations of his hometown in Miami, Florida, he’s in a great situation. So far, from all accounts, Cook has been exactly as advertised from on on the field perspective, and maybe even better in some cases. Coaches are already thrilled with him, considering he’s shown a willingness and aptitude for pass blocking, which is something increasing rare for a rookie. Point being: expect Dalvin Cook to be the team’s starting running back right out of the gates. The Vikings did sign Latavius Murray in the offseason, but he spent much of said offseason recovering from ankle surgery, and has progressed slowly through training camp. Plus, Murray is a 230lb plodder who has failed to break 800 yards rushing in two of the past three seasons he’s played in. Regardless of how Murray’s recovery from injury progresses, it would be a surprise if Cook didn’t get the lion’s share of carries this year, ending the year with somewhere in the 225 rushing attempts range. On top of that, with Cook’s ability to catch passes out of the backfield — and quarterback Sam Bradford’s proclivity to throw the checkdown pass — he has the ability to pile up fantasy points in bunches for anyone who might have him on his team.
Detroit Lions — Matthew Stafford, Quarterback: Nobody is questioning the fact that Matt Stafford can throw for big yardage totals. For the last seven years in a row, he’s thrown for over 4,250 yards each year. He averages right around 600 passing attempts per year. In offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter’s scheme, his completion % has jumped to over 65% in each of the last two years. And yet, Stafford’s 270 passing yards per game last season was tied for 10th in the NFL, and within 10 yards per game of guys like Joe Flacco and Andy Dalton. Ryan Tannehill and Marcus Mariota had a higher yards per attempt than Stafford. And Stafford’s 24 touchdown pass mark last year was only one more than that of guys like Dak Prescott (a rookie) and Blake Bortles (who looked positively miserable for long stretches of last year). And last year wasn’t an anomaly either; it was the third time in the past five years that Stafford has thrown for less than 25 touchdowns in a season. In other words: Stafford might actually be a better “real life” quarterback than he is a fantasy football quarterback. The depth in the quarterback group is so deep this year, with so many guys separated by so little. Stafford is being drafted as a top 15 quarterback, but you could very likely replicate his same level of fantasy production with guys like Dalton, Bortles, or even Carson Wentz, all of whom are being taken later than Stafford.
Chicago Bears — Kevin White, Wide Receiver: Heading into the 2015 NFL Draft, there were numerous draft analysts, and presumably NFL teams as well, who not only ranked wide receiver Kevin White as the best wide receiver in the draft class (ahead of Amari Cooper), but one of the best prospects in the draft overall. When the Bears were able to select him with the 7th overall pick — ahead of future Pro Bowl players like Todd Gurley, Vic Beasley, Melvin Gordon, and Marcus Peters — nearly everyone applauded the pick. Fast forward to the present, and through two NFL seasons, White has played a grand total of four games in his injury-riddled NFL career, recording a grand total of 19 receptions for 187 yards (and a meager 9.8 yards per catch) over his entire NFL career. As the saying goes: the greatest ability in the NFL is “availability,” and for the athletic freak of nature that White looked to be coming out of school, the gift of availability seems to elude him. But for the sake of argument, let’s say White is really entering this season with a clean bill of health. What, exactly, are we supposed to expect form him? Even coming out of the draft, White was an “upside” player: someone with immense physical gifts, which needed to be developed over time. On top of that, White played in a spread offense under University of West Virginia head coach Dana Holgorsen; most receivers who come out of a spread offense in college take longer to adjust at the NFL level. Two years into White’s NFL career, he’s essentially still a rookie. He’s never gotten to progress along the learning curve of tranisitioning from college to the NFL. There have been reports that he still struggles to run NFL-caliber routes, and that he’s still learning how to “be himself” after two catastrophic injuries to the same leg. A few weeks ago, a story emerged out of Bears camp that White had to be shown film of his days at West Virginia, to boost his confidence and be reminded of how good he actually is. So, while many people are pointing to Alshon Jeffrey’s departure from Chicago opening the door for White to see more targets and increase his production, it’s not that simple. Cameron Meredith looks positioned to be the #1 wide receiver for the Bears, after his strong close to the 2016 season. Markus Wheaton might also cut into some of those targets as well. It’s too early to start using the dreaded “bust” word in regards to White, but at least at this point in time, his NFL career is at a crossroads. But for the purposes of the 2017 season, it’s best to keep some space from White.
Atlanta Falcons — Austin Hooper, Tight End: Last year, thanks in large part to the masterful design by former offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, the Atlanta Falcons used four different tight ends, who collectively accumulated 58 receptions for 788 yards and 10 touchdowns. Shanahan is no longer in Atlanta, having left to take the head coach position in San Francisco, but expect the production from tight end position of the Atlanta Falcons to continue into 2017 seasons. The Falcons used a second round pick on tight end Austin Hooper from Stanford University last year, and even as a rookie, he had the most receiving yards (271) and touchdowns (three) among all the tight ends. Heading into his second year, he could be primed for a breakout season. Quarterback Matt Ryan has never been hesitant about throwing it to his tight end, especially considering he had the luxury of Tony Gonzalez for much of his formative years in the NFL. But under new offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian, the offense is still going to take some time to get its rhythm and footing in place. That could result in a lot of passes from Ryan to “security blanket”-type receivers. In which case, Hooper would be first in line for those targets. He has the athletic ability to be one of the next great tight end mismatches in the NFL.
Carolina Panthers — Cam Newton, Quarterback: It’s hard to wrap your head around the idea of a guy who is just one NFL season removed from generating 45 touchdowns and winning the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award is now sitting on my “bust” list. And yet, here we are. Even if you ignore the fact that Newton is coming off a season in which he had the lowest completion percentage, yards per attempt, and overall passer rating over the course of his career, it simply comes down to that fact that’s he’s a victim of his circumstances. For one, despite the fact that the Panthers went out and drafted two hybrid running back/wide receiver-type players, they still don’t have anyone who can really attack a defense vertically, and fully maximize the fact that Newton might have the strongest arm in the NFL. This is probably the only time in history that anyone will say that a team will miss having someone like Ted Ginn, or at least the theoretical threat of him catching passes deep downfield. Guys like Kelvin Benjamin and Devin Funchess are decent receivers, but neither of them are known for their speed, and both are better suited to be #2 receiver-types anyway. Even with guys like Greg Olsen, as well as the rookies in Christian McCaffrey and Curtis Samuel, he has a bunch of guys who are better in the intermediate parts of the field. The Panthers have preached the idea that they want Newton to get the ball out of his hands faster and avoid taking as many hits as he has in the past, but that doesn’t play to his strengths. In addition to all of that, Newton’s fantasy numbers put him right in the mosh pit of second tier (fantasy) quarterbacks. Even with the rushing touchdowns he puts up, there’s not much that separates him from another half dozen other quarterbacks. He’s still an incredible talent, but from a fantasy football perspective, he’s a replaceable talent.
New Orleans Saints — Adrian Peterson, Running Back: Someone in your league is going to be sitting there on draft day, while they’re on the clock to make their pick in one of the early rounds, thinking to themselves: “how can I pass on Adrian Peterson?” If you really want to do yourself a favor: don’t be that guy. There are few players — let alone running backs — in NFL history who have more freakish abilities than Adrian Peterson. But ask yourself this question: how many running backs in NFL history have signed with another team as a 32-year old free agent, and put up the same level of production that he did at his last stop, in his younger years? That list is virtually non-existent. As the saying goes: Father Time is undefeated. Even if you’re betting on the idea that Peterson is unlike any running back in recent memory, don’t forget the fact that the team he signed with — the New Orleans Saints — didn’t necessarily acquire him with the idea of giving him 25 or more carries per game in mind. The Saints have publicly stated that Peterson is “1A” on their running back depth chart, alongside incumbent Mark Ingram, the latter of whom is coming off a season in which he ran for a career-high 1,043 yards. Even if you do the simple math, that means that a best-case scenario for Peterson would be getting somewhere between 180 to 200 carries. If you multiply that by 4.5 yards per carry (his average over the last two full seasons he’s played in), that’s barely 900 yards rushing; again, that’s also a best-case scenario. At this point in his career, Peterson has become a change-up running back who’s trying to prolong his playing career, at a position where teams are increasingly using younger players and a committee approach. If you want to take Peterson in the middle-to-late rounds of your draft, perhaps as a handcuff to Ingram, go for it. But if you have any visions of the legendary Adrian Peterson of years past in your head, you’re only fooling yourself.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers — Jameis Winston, Quarterback: Jameis Winston has shown a preternatural ability to transition from the college to the professional game as quickly as any young quarterback we’ve seen in recent memory. After finishing among the top 10 quarterbacks in touchdown passes last year, Winston looks primed to make a big leap forward in year three of his young career. To facilitate that, his front office has given him a repertoire of weapons that would make any quarterback envious: wide receiver DeSean Jackson (brought in via free agency), tight end O.J. Howard (the team’s first round pick in the draft), and wide receiver Chris Godwin (the team’s third round selection), to join incumbent tight end Cameron Brate (who led the league in touchdown catches among tight ends last year) and superstud receiver Mike Evans. And perhaps most importantly, Winston has enjoyed the continuity of playing in the same offense since he arrived in the NFL, under head coach (and former offensive coordinator) Dirk Koetter. The Buccaneers could be a breakthrough team in the NFC this year, which means Winston could very well being highly discussed among those who cast MVP ballots. It would not be the slightest bit surprising to see him finish among the top four to six quarterback in fantasy football this year. He could be had in the early-to-middle rounds of your fantasy football draft, meaning he presents incredible value for such a pick.
Arizona Cardinals — John Brown, Wide Receiver: A year after his breakout sophomore season in the NFL, wide receiver John Brown of the Arizona Cardinals finished with career lows in virtually every receiving category there is: targets, receptions, receiving yards, yards per reception, and touchdowns. So why do we have him listed as a “boom” player? Because after spending all of 2016 basically being a complete shell of himself physically, the medical staff of the Cardinals found out the root of his problems: it started with sickle cell issues, and was compounded with a cyst on his spine. After the final game of the season, Brown had the cyst removed, and instantly felt “back to normal,” in his own words. Assuming that’s the case, and he’s able to manage his medical situation for the duration of the season, we should see the John Brown who went for over 1,000 yards receiving and had seven touchdown receptions — both good for second on the team — in 2015. While he’s been limited in the preseason with a nagging quad injury, his speed and ability to “take the top off a defense” gives the Cardinals an offensive element they sorely missed last year, especially in head coach Bruce Arians’ vertical passing game. Plus, given the fact that the Cardinals have the constant threat of David Johnson carrying the football, defenses will be more likely to cheat towards the line of scrimmage on play-action passing plays. That could create lots of big play opportunities for Brown. He’s an intriguing buy-low candidate, with tremendous upside this season.
Los Angeles Rams — Cooper Kupp, Wide Receiver: It might seem strange to see the name of a rookie wide receiver, taken in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft, for a team that finished 31st in the NFL in passing last year, especially given how many people believe the team’s young quarterback is destined to be a colossal draft bust. But don’t be surprised if Cooper Kupp actually ends up leading all rookie receivers this year in the total number of passes caught, and presenting fantastic value in leagues that award points (or half points) for receptions. Playing at tiny Eastern Washington University, Kupp was perhaps the most productive wide receiver in Football Championship Subdivision history, setting all time records in total receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns (73). A crafty wide receiver with hands than snare in every pass in his direction, Kupp has that incredible knack for simply getting open. Even though the Rams signed wide receiver Robert Woods in free agency, and then surprised everyone by acquiring wide receiver Sammy Watkins in a late-summer trade, Kupp could easily turn into a something of a security blanket for quarterback Jared Goff, who best operates in a precise, timing-based offense anyway. If you’re looking for a ceiling and floor comparison for Kupp, think of Jarvis Landry of the Miami Dolphins and Cole Beasley of the Dallas Cowboys. Both of those guys caught 75 or more passes for their respective teams, and it wouldn’t be a total shock to see Kupp get somewhere in that neighborhood this year, even as a rookie.
San Francisco 49ers — Carlos Hyde, Running Back: Carlos Hyde just seems like one of those players who everyone talks themselves into, despite what the statistical evidence may say. Case in point? Hyde is usually somewhere between the ninth and 15th running back taken in most fantasy drafts, despite the fact that in his three seasons in the NFL, he’s never played in all 16 games (missing 14 games over the past three years), he’s never had more than six rushing touchdowns in a given season (he had a grand total of seven rushing touchdowns in his first two seasons), and he’s never hit the thousand-yard mark in rushing (he had less than 500 yards rushing in his first two seasons). Sure, Hyde is getting the benefit of the doubt now, given what new head coach Kyle Shanahan did for the running game of the Atlanta Falcons this past season: guiding them to a top five finish in rushing yards per game as a team. But does that necessarily translate into Hyde being successful this season? For one, teams playing San Francisco this season will undoubtedly do what they can to stop the 49ers rushing attack, given that the team has very little in the way of a passing attack to threaten a defense. And then there’s the fact that the 49ers never really seemed that thrilled with the idea of Hyde as their main running back to begin with. There were reports this past spring, coming out of the Bay area, that the front office was ready to move on from Hyde, and even seriously considered taking Leonard Fournette with the second overall pick in the draft. In the days leading up to the draft, new General Manager John Lynch openly questioned Hyde’s fit in Shanahan’s outside-zone running scheme. Lynch and Shanahan didn’t acquire running backs Tim Hightower (whom Shanahan coached back in Washington) and Joe Williams (their third round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft) to simply fill roster spots; they could very likely push Hyde for carries. Hyde’s contract also expires at the end of this season, meaning San Francisco has an easy way to phase him out of their offense and part ways with him after this year.
Seattle Seahawks — Eddie Lacy, Running Back, Seattle Seahawks: I strongly urge you not to buy into the idea that Eddie Lacy is going to resurrect his career in Seattle, after his previous two injury-plagued seasons in Green Bay. There are just too many red flags, when it comes to Lacy. For one, we’re talking about a player who had to be contractually and financially incentivized to get his weight down to a reasonable number before camp starts. At one point in time, it was revealed that Lacy weighed as much as 267lbs in the offseason, which is nearly the same weight as what Myles Garrett — the defensive end who went #1 overall in the 2017 NFL Draft — was officially listed at. He’s basically one more buffet table away from eating himself out of the league. Weight issues aside, there’s too much potential for the Seahawks to either spread out their rushing attempts among multiple running backs, and/or having one running back finish with more carries than Lacy this season. Incumbent Thomas Rawls is a favorite of Seahawks’ head coach Pete Carroll, and was running with the first team for most of the spring and early summer while Lacy was still mending from his season-ending injury last year. Seattle still has running back Alex Collins, their fifth round pick from the 2016 NFL Draft. CJ Prosise, their 3rd round pick in last year’s draft, will steal a few carries per game as well, although he’s more of a threat as a pass catcher out of the backfield. But the most intriguing name to watch in the backfield might be running back Chris Carson, the team’s 7th round pick in this most recent draft. He’s impressed the team with his performance this year, and with Seattle’s history of giving unhearalded running backs an opportunity to play, that’s another person who could potentially siphon off carries from Lacy. If you’re heading into this year thinking that Lacy could be a reliable RB2, let alone an RB1, you might be setting yourself up for disappointment.
New England Patriots — Mike Gillislee, Running Back: Leave it to the New England Patriots to sneakily snatch up a player who could turn out to be one of the true steals in free agency. As a member of the Buffalo Bills last season, Mike Gillislee led the NFL in yards per attempt (5.71), average attempts per rushing touchdown (12.63), and ranked second in yards before first contact per rush (3.89). Touching the ball only 110 times total last year, he flirted with double-digit touchdowns. And yet, somehow, the Buffalo Bills let the New England sign Gillislee to an offer sheet (he was a restricted free agent), and then inexplicably chose not to match it, letting him go to their hated division rival. While New England is primarily known for being a passing-driven offense (on account of that Tom Brady guy), many people forget that offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels has preferred to have a running back who can grind out the tough carries between the tackles, like Stevan Ridley in 2012 and 2013, and then LeGarette Blount in 2015 and 2016. Gillislee will have the first chance to replace the departed Blount’s production in this offense, and considering Blount scored a league-leading 18 rushing touchdowns last year, Gillislee’s upside could be immense.
Buffalo Bills — Jordan Matthews, Wide Receiver: After shooing away every wide receiver worth a damn off of last year’s roster, somebody has to actually catch passes from Tyrod Taylor this season… unless the Bills plan on just employing a Wing-T option-based offense featuring Taylor and LeSean McCoy running the ball every play (hint: that’s highly doubtful). After acquring Jordan Matthews from the Philadelphia Eagles, he basically becomes the team’s top wide receiver by default, considering behind Matthews are guys like Zay Jones (their second round pick who missed much of the offseason due to injury and faces a steep learning curve after playing in a spread offense at East Carolina University) and Corey “is your name Corey or Philly?” Brown. As far as Matthews, at 6’3 and 212lbs, he’s the rare “big receiver” who can effectively play both outside, and out of the slot position (meaning Buffalo could move him around and try to create mismatches with opposing cornerbacks). The former second-round pick out of Vanderbilt has averaged more than 71 receptions, almost 900 yards, and more than six touchdowns over his first three years in the NFL. He’s further and further away from the nagging knee injury that plagued him for all of 2016, and he’s entering his fourth season in the NFL: a year when many young receivers enjoy their true “breakout year.”
Miami Dolphins — Jay Ajayi, Running Back: Jay Ajayi was fantasy football’s version of “feast or famine.” Yes, the three games with 200+ yards rushing were incredibly tantalizing. But what about the fact that he finished with less than 80 yards rushing in 11 of the 15 games he played in last year, and had less than 62 yards rushing in five of his last eight games of the season (when running backs are really looked at to carry the load for their team)? To make matters worse for Ajayi, his blocking situation up front isn’t off to a great start, either. The Dolphins signed offensive lineman Ted Larsen this offseason to start at one of the guard positions, but he sustained a torn biceps injury early in training camp, and is presumably done for the year. Larsen was not only penciled in as a day one starter, but was also an insurance policy at center, in case Mike Pouncey was not quite fully recovered from the hip injury that forced him to miss all but five games last year. The Dolphins injury-riddled line in 2016 was largely responsible for many of Ajayi’s sub-par performances, and given the way things have started off this season, it doesn’t bode well for Ajayi’s production this season either.
New York Jets — Bilal Powell, Running Back: One of the most non-descript running backs in all of fantasy football last year, running back Bilal Powell of the New York Jets not only finished third in receptions among all NFL running backs (his 58 catches was the second highest total for the Jets last year), but also had over 1,100 combined yards from scrimmage, and five total touchdowns. Over the last four games of 2016, taking over for the aging Matt Forte, Powell averaged over 20 carries per game in that stretch, and went over the 120-yard rushing mark in two of those four games. Forte will turn 32 years old this December, and is already right around that age where running backs begin to fall off the proverbial cliff. The Jets will still rely on Forte for the “hard yards” between the tackles, but they’re expected to lessen Forte’s workload substantially this year, with a lot more carries being given to Powell. In standard scoring leagues, Powell has decent value as a flex option, but he could be considered as high as a RB2 in PPR or half-PPR leagues this year.
Baltimore Ravens — Danny Woodhead, Running Back: Here’s a fact: over the last four years, only one running back in the NFL has multiple seasons in which he caught more than 75 passes; that would be Danny Woodhead. In 2015, he tied for the league lead among all running backs with 80 catches, and had 76 receptions in 2013 (good for second among all running backs that year). Frankly, the only reason he wasn’t as high up there in the in-between years is because he suffered season-ending injuries early in the 2014 and 2016 season. But even after missing 14 out of 16 games last year after sustaining a torn ACL, and despite turning 32 years old this offseason, the Baltimore Ravens made Danny Woodhead one of their priorities in free agency this offseason, and signed him to step in and immediately become their third down back. So far, the early reviews on Woodhead, and his relationship with Flacco, are very positive: Woodhead looks great, and he and Flacco are developing a solid rapport. Not only did Flacco already complete the second-most completions to running backs last season, but he also lost three players — tight end Dennis Pitta, fullback Kyle Juszczyk, and running back Kenneth Dixon — who combined for over 150 catches last year. Expect many of those targets to be delivered in Woodhead’s direction. For those who play in a PPR or half-PPR league, Woodhead is a solid RB2, with the upside to become a low RB1 if Flacco can stay healthy through the season.
Cincinnati Bengals — Joe Mixon, Running Back: Regardless of how you might feel about Joe Mixon’s legal issues while at the University of Oklahoma, and how the school and how the player handled said legal issues, one thing is hard to deny: Joe Mixon might have been the most complete running backs in the 2017 NFL Draft. The way he runs, and the way he catches passes out of the backfield, Mixon legitimately has the potential to be a close facsimile to fellow AFC North superstud running back Le’Veon Bell. He’s a smooth glider that gets the ball in his hands, reads the hole, and demonstrates an outstanding burst that allows him to rip off huge chunks of yards with a quickness. He’s also not afraid to drop the pads and lower the boom on defenders, either; he has the size to do so, standing 6’1 and 226lbs. As of right now, Mixon might not be listed atop the running back depth chart in Cincinnati, but it’s only a matter of time before that changes (and it will almost certainly be sooner rather than later). He should quickly supplant the plodding and undynamic Jeremy Hill as the Bengals starting running back on opening day. Plus, with Gio Bernard likely to come back from his ACL injury at less than 100% this year, Mixon could see even more touches as a runner and a receiver. The simple question around him is whether he’s fully and totally distanced himself from the off-the-field stuff in college, and whether he can focus on handling the difference between opposing defenses in the Big 12 conference (or the lack thereof) and opposing defenses in the NFL.
Cleveland Browns — Corey Coleman, Wide Receiver: It’s gotta be really hard for Cleveland fans to stomach the success that wide receiver Michael Thomas had in his first year in New Orleans last year, considering the Browns passed on Thomas and instead made Corey Coleman the first wide receiver taken in the 2016 NFL Draft. Then again, Browns fans are probably used to such a storyline at this point in time. That notwithstanding, Coleman only played in 10 games last year, and as a result, was tied for fourth in receptions among Browns players last year; he actually had less receptions than tight end Gary Barnidge and running back Duke Johnson Jr. While his 12.5 yards per reception were nice (though not great) and his three touchdowns were tied for the second most on the team (even though 84 other players in the NFL had more than three receiving touchdowns last year), Coleman’s rookie year should be considered a disappointment. And if the 2017 offseason is a foreshadowing of things to come for Coleman, then you shouldn’t expect much of an improvement from him this year, either. Injuries kept Corey Coleman largely off the field in offseason work this summer, and he was linked to a brutal assault of a 26-year-old male (though it looks like no charges will be brought upon him for this). Browns head coach Hue Jackson has publicly stated that Coleman has struggled with the adjustment from playing in a spread offense in college to a professional offense in the NFL, and that he needs to step up to the challenge. Still, Coleman will probably put up pedestrian numbers as the #2 receiver in the Browns offense (next to free agency acquisition Kenny Britt), especially given all the question marks they have at quarterback. He’s at least another year or two away from being a meaningful fantasy player.
Pittsburgh Steelers — Le’Veon Bell, Running Back: It’s hard to pick a fantasy player to highlight on this team, considering Pittsburgh’s offense is basically the Baskin Robbins’ 31 flavors of offensive weapons. But as a kid, every time I ended up going to Baskin Robbins for ice cream, I would always start with the most obvious, go-to, reliable flavor in mind (which was Butter Pecan for me), so we’ll do the same for the Steelers. In 12 regular season games last year, Le’Veon Bell ran for 1,268 yards and seven touchdowns — meaning he finished in the top five in the NFL in rushing yards, despite missing a quarter of the season. If you extrapolate those stats over 16 games, he would’ve had over 1,700 yards rushing (which would’ve led the NFL) and over nine touchdowns on the ground. And that’s not even including the fact that he averaged over six receptions for 50 yards receiving during the regular season as well. Playing on the franchise tag this season, he’s essentially in a contract year in Pittsburgh, meaning he has everything to prove in order to procure his one big payday. And he’s heading into this season without any questions around suspensions or injuries for the first time in his NFL career. I expect him to be this year’s version of the “league-altering dominant running back” like we saw from guys like Marshall Faulk and LaDainian Tomlinson in years past.
Houston Texans — DeAndre Hopkins, Wide Receiver: There’s no question that DeAndre Hopkins is a pass-catching savant, with an uncanny ability to contort his body in a way that only allows him access to the ball (and not the guy defending him), or to reach up and snag passes that no one else with his height (he’s 6’1) would have any realistic chance of catching. Here’s the problem with Hopkins, though: he needs a quarterback that can actually get the football somewhere near him. With Brock Osweiler playing quarterback for the Houston Texans for most of 2016, fantasy owners could’ve brought up criminal charges against Osweiler, for the way he murdered Hopkins’ fantasy stats. The same guy who finished 3rd in the NFL in receiving yards in 2015 (1,521) finished with almost 50% less receiving yards (802) the year after. And even though the Texans mercifully got rid of Osweiler in the offseason, it’s not like the situation for Hopkins is going to be much better. For one, Houston is still deciding between Tom Savage (who has all of two career regular season starts under his belt) and first round pick Deshaun Watson (who faces a steep learning curve in the NFL after playing in a spread offense at Clemson University). Plus, there’s absolutely nothing to stop defenses from designing all their coverage schemes to make it impossible to throw to Hopkins, considering there’s absolutely no other receiver on the Texans who’d scare a defense. Wide receiver Will Fuller, their top pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, is out indefinitely with a broken collarbone. Next in line behind Fuller would be guys like Jaelen Strong (a third round pick who has been frustratingly inconsistent for the Texans) and Braxton Miller (a converted college quarterback who is best suited as a slot receiver). If opponents devoted three guys to exclusively cover Hopkins, it doesn’t seem like Houston would make them pay for it. It could be a very long year for DeAndre Hopkins, as well as anyone who has him on their fantasy football team.
Indianapolis Colts — Andrew Luck, Quarterback: If you told someone back in the spring of 2012, when Andrew Luck was considered to be the best quarterback prospect to come out of college since John Elway, that we’d be waiting for Luck to officially “break out” five seasons into Luck’s career, most people would’ve called you a “hater.” But thanks to the gross negligence exhibited by the front office of the Indianapolis Colts over the past several years, where they repeatedly chose not to invest in an offensive line to protect their stud quarterback, Luck has taken a merciless beating in recent years, missing 10 games over the past two seasons thanks to a myriad of injuries. Right now, we’re only days away from the start of the 2017 NFL season, and Luck hasn’t even officially began throwing the football at maximum strength yet, thanks to offseason shoulder surgery. Right now, his availability for the first game of the season is dubious at best, and the Colts are still being intentionally vague on when Luck will actually be ready to play. But, for the sake of argument, let’s say he only misses one week of action, and is ready by game two of the regular season. Consider the fact that he didn’t throw a football for the entire offseason, and will have accumulated a signficant amount of “rust,” in terms of his rhythm and timing in throwing the football. How long will it be before he gets back in “football shape?” And more importantly, how long are fantasy owners of Luck supposed to wait? Even a healthy Luck would be outside the top four or five quarterbacks in the league, from a fantasy perspective. And considering how deep the pool at quarterbacks is in fantasy football, given the passing-heavy era of football we’re currently witnessing, there’s really not all that much separating Luck from most other quarterbacks in the league, from a statistical standpoint. If he’s available in the middle rounds of your fantasy draft, he might be worth taking a flyer on, especially in leagues with keeper systems. But as far as your QB1 for this season? Look elsewhere, because it’s going to take some time before we see the Andrew Luck we all expect to see.
Jacksonville Jaguars — Leonard Fournette, Running Back: Everyone was up in arms after the first week of the preseason, after rookie running back Leonard Fournette brashly declared that the NFL was “easy” compared to the SEC. Once real football starts, Fournette will find out that the preseason isn’t anything like the regular season. But, while you can you can chalk up Fournette’s foolhardy statement to youthful indiscretion and naivete, you’ll soon realize that Fournette has the ability to make things look relatively easy once the regular season comes around as well. The fourth overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft was a force of nature during his time at LSU, and one of the most physical — if not violent — runners to come out of college since Adrian Peterson himself. More importantly, he’s coming into a situation where his team plans to use him early and often, all season long. Over their final eight games of 2016, the Jaguars had 226 rushing attempts as a team; extrapolate those numbers over the course of a full season, and that would’ve put Jacksonville among the top 10 teams in most rushing attempts. Over that same period of time, the Jaguars handed the ball to their lead running back 115 times; so if they do the same with Fournette, he’ll rack up at least 230 carries for the season, which would’ve put him in the top half of the NFL in rushing attempts last year. Simply put: Jacksonville drafted Fournette to be the centerpiece of their offense this year, and he has all the potential to be that, and more.
Tennessee Titans — Derrick Henry, Running Back: I’m not rooting for any NFL player to be injured, and/or lose his job because of injury. But if running back Demarco Murray of the Tennessee Titans misses any period of time during the 2017 NFL season due to injury, we may finally get to witness the breakout of backup running back Derrick Henry. And if Henry gets ahold of the starting job in Tennessee, it’s really hard to envision a scenario where he hands it back. A second round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, Henry has an absolutely startling combination of size (6’3 and 247lbs) and speed (he ran the 40 yard dash in less than 4.55 seconds). It should be no surprise that, when he plants his foot in the ground and starts running down hill, defenders trying to bring him down must feel like they’re kissing a freight train. Carrying the ball only 110 times last year, Henry finished with 490 yards rushing and five rushing touchdowns. That’s the same number of rushing touchdowns that Terrance West had on 193 carries, and Lamar Miller had on 268 carries. What’s even more scary is that Henry came into Tennessee’s training camp in even better shape this year than he was as a rookie. Again, if Murray falters at any point this year, or misses time due to injury (we are talking about a guy with a history of injury issues), Henry’s numbers could explode as he’s given more carries.
Denver Broncos — Devontae Booker, Running Back: When the Denver Broncos drafted running back Devontae Booker in the 4th round of the 2016 NFL Draft, as part of the typical “we can’t believe he was still available when we made our pick” rhetoric, word came out that the Broncos had a first round grade on Booker, coming out of the University of Utah. But after a lackluster rookie season, we’re here to tell you to step away from the Devontae Booker Kool-Aid that may be offered to you. Sure, Booker might have led the Broncos in rushing attempts (174), yards (612), and tied for the lead in touchdowns (four), but those numbers shouldn’t really get anyone excited. For one, that translates into only 3.5 yards per carry. And then, there’s the fact that Booker is already going to be 25 years old when the 2017 season begins, meaning his ceiling to improve from his rookie season is much lower than you’d expect from any other running back going into his second year. Most importantly, Booker fractured his wrist in training camp, and is expected to be back about midway through September. In a camp where incumbent C.J. Anderson and newcomer Jamaal Charles are already fighting for the lead back role, this puts Booker at a significant disadvantage. At one point in time, there was even talk that him not making the Broncos final roster wasn’t totally out of the question. He’s still going to be on the team come opening day, with the Broncos confident in his recovery enough to not start him on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list to start the season, but it would be a surprise to see Booker lead the team in rushing again this season. On a team that looks to be highly anemic on offense yet again this year, he’s a player you should stay far away from.
Kansas City Chiefs — Chris Conley, Wide Receiver: In fairness to Chris Conley, perhaps the expectations on him are a case of “too much, too soon.” Heading into the 2015 NFL Draft, Conley looked like a mid-to-late “Day 3” pick, likely to go somewhere between the fifth to seventh rounds of the draft (closer to the latter). Instead, the Chiefs were tantalized by his combination of height (6’3) and speed (he ran the 40 yard dash in 4.35 seconds). But there was some concern that Conley’s athletic gifts far exceeded his actual abilities as a wide receiver, and so far, those concerns seem to hold up. Playing in 84% of the Chiefs passing plays last year, Conley had the most targets (66), receptions (44), and receiving yards (530) of any player that failed to find the endzone a single time in 2016. His 4.5% dropped passes led the team. Over the last eight games of the season, he recorded a paltry 18 receptions for 216 yards, meaning he averaged less than 30 yards per game in that stretch. Kansas City apparently thought enough of their current group of receivers that they (rather shockingly) released veteran Jeremy Maclin this past offseason, but that move could prove to be a bit rash. Plus, it’s no guarantee that Conley’s production will improve if and when rookie quarterback Patrick Mahomes takes over for incumbent Alex Smith, considering Mahomes is one of the most raw — but talented — quarterback prospects to come out in years. For anyone who might be banking on Conley putting it all together in his third year in the NFL: don’t hold your breath.
Los Angeles Chargers — Keenan Allen, Wide Receiver: Remember Keenan Allen? You know, the guy who burst onto the NFL scene with 1,046 yards and receiving touchdowns as a rookie, and then steadily saw his stats plummet over the past three largely-injury-filled seasons? Yep, that’s the same guy who were putting on our “Boom” list, despite the fact that he’s missed 23 games over the last two seasons, and never played in all 16 games in any season during his career. No, we’re not crazy. One of the unspoken but elusively obvious rules of fantasy football: bet on talent, which is something that Keenan Allen has in abundance. Coming off a torn ACL, which cost him nearly all of the 2016 season, Allen reportedly looked quick and explosive all spring, running at virtually full speed during the Chargers organized team activities. Quarterback Philip Rivers is on record commenting how Allen looked as good this spring as he did prior to getting hurt. So let’s assume that Allen is somewhere close to the guy he used to be. In 2015, prior to missing the second half of the season, Allen was on pace for over 120 catches and 1,400 yards receiving, recording three different games with 12 or more catches. He was on pace for 178 targets that year, which would’ve given him the fourth most targets of any pass catcher in the league. Now, he probably won’t see that many passes in his direction, but he’s going to have a lot more space to operate on the underneath routes, where he excells, thanks to guys like Tyrell Williams and Travis Benjamin loosening up the defense, and tight ends Antonio Gates and Hunter Henry wreaking havoc up the seams. When healthy, Allen is still one of Rivers’ favorite targets, so assuming his health can stay in check this season, he could be a borderline WR1 this year.
Oakland Raiders — Amari Cooper, Wide Receiver: If it wasn’t for Antonio Brown in Pittsburgh, we’d probably be talking about Amari Cooper of the Oakland Raiders as the guy who plays the wide receiver position as smoothly and effortlessly as anyone in the NFL. It shouldn’t be any surprise, then, that Cooper went over 1,000 yards receiving during his first two seasons in the NFL, putting up that level of production before he even turned 23 years old (his 23rd birthday was this past summer). Now here’s the scary part: Cooper could actually be primed for a monster season in 2017. Over the first half of last season, Cooper had 52 catches for 787 yards, averaging over 15 yards per reception. His statistics fell off precipitously in the second half of the season (31 receptions for 366 yards), which could be attributed in part to a tough slate of opponents down the stretch of the season. But after spending an offseason getting into tremendous shape, and spending lots of time catching passes from and working on his timing with quarterback Derek Carr, Cooper looks primed to have a monster third year in the NFL, when many wide receivers finally have the proverbial “light switch” turn on for them. And with fellow wide receiver Michael Crabtree opposite of Cooper — forming just the third duo in Raiders history to each record 1,000 receiving yards in the same year — teams will be forced to pick their poison in coverage. We could be talking about him as a top 10 receiver by the time the year is over.
Category: Fantasy Football Tags: Aaron Rodgers, Adrian Peterson, Amari Cooper, Andrew Luck, Austin Hooper, Bilal Powell, Cam Newton, Carlos Hyde, Chris Conley, Cooper Kupp, Corey Coleman, Dak Prescott, Dalvin Cook, Danny Woodhead, DeAndre Hopkins, Derrick Henry, Devonate Booker, Dirk Koetter, Drew Brees, Eddie Lacy, Ezekiel Elliott, Jameis Winston, Jay Ajayi, Joe Mixon, John Brown, Jordan Matthews, Jordy Nelson, Keenan Allen, Kevin White, Le'Veon Bell, Leonard Fournette, Mark Ingram, Matthew Stafford, Mike Gillislee, Paul Perkins, Terrelle Pryor, Zach Ertz
← Zimm’s Corner: Anthony Rendon Highlights the Nats Bats NFL Preview 2017: Picks, Predictions, and Projections For Every Team →
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Stories from Friday, June 18, 2010
GERALD E. "JACK" WALROD (Obituary ~ 06/18/10)
Gerald E. "Jack" Walrod, age 89, of Prescott, Kan., passed away June 11, 2010 at the Country View Nursing Home in Prescott. He was born Jan. 18, 1921 in Prescott, Kan., the son of James D. and Cora Nelle Hopkins Walrod. He graduated from Prescott High School...
HELEN A. FELLERS (Obituary ~ 06/18/10)
Helen A. Fellers, age 93, resident of 1948 Maple Road, Fort Scott, Kan., died Thursday, June 17, 2010, at Fort Scott Medicalodge. Survivors include a sister, Marguerite Hosler and husband Harvey, Fort Scott; two grandchildren and one great-grandchild...
LEESA MAREE HAEHN (Obituary ~ 06/18/10)
Leesa Maree Haehn, age 27, former resident of Fort Scott, currently a resident of Leavenworth, Kan., died Wednesday, June 16, 2010, at her home in Leavenworth. Funeral arrangements for Leesa Haehn will be announced by Cheney Witt Chapel, 201 S. Main...
GUS W. OHLSON (Obituary ~ 06/18/10)
Funeral services for Gus W. Ohlson, former Fort Scott resident, will be held Tuesday, June 22, 2010 at 1 p.m. at Our Lady of the Ozarks Catholic Church in Forsyth, Mo. Cremation will be under the direction of Forsyth Whelchel Funeral Chapel. Military Honors and interment will be Wednesday, June 23, 2010 at 1 p.m. at Missouri Veterans Cemtery in Springfield, Mo...
CADIENCE LILLIANA SMALLEY (Births ~ 06/18/10)
SMALLEY -- James R. Smalley II and Brandi L. Smalley, Fort Scott, and big sister Sylvia, are proud to announce the birth of their daughter and sister, Cadience Lilliana Smalley. Cadience was born at 10:59 a.m., Thursday, June 17, 2010 at Mercy Health Center in Fort Scott...
SHAI ELIJAH KENNEDY (Other Record ~ 06/18/10)
KENNEDY -- Darrett and Christina Kennedy, Fort Scott, are proud to announce the adoption of their son, Shai Elijah Kennedy. Shai was born on March 12, 2009, and joined their family on May 28, 2010. Maternal grandparents are the late Robert Schafer and Elizabeth Schafer, Fort Scott...
Battlefield Dispatches No. 219: 'Burning, Pursuing and Killing' (Column ~ 06/18/10)
During the Civil War, the burning of homes, barns and towns in eastern Kansas and western Missouri was a common practice before it became part of the "total war" that was waged east of the Mississippi River. Very often, here on the "western frontier of civilization", the perpetrators of the "burnings" were not pursued, apprehended or killed because they could not be located in this a perpetual "Guerrilla War." However, there were exceptions to this and one of these exceptions is described in the following after action reports. ...
Hammond Communtiy Reunion (Local News ~ 06/18/10)
From 2 to 5 p.m., Sunday, June 27, Hammond Community is having a reunion to coincide with Fort Scott High School reunion. Hammond Community Center will be the scene for families and friends with ties to the community through school, church, businesses, relatives and as friends and neighbors...
Be bold in faith, not ashamed of God (Column ~ 06/18/10)
Coming through Customs at the Toronto Airport in route to Las Vegas two weeks ago was a test of my patience, endurance, and ability to stand in high heels for four hours. With most of the Custom's agents maxing out their overtime, only a few weary souls were left to man the booths. Between 700 and 1,000 frustrated travelers inched along the zigzag walkway where a sense of helplessness became fodder for conversation...
New pastor joins Xenia Baptist Church (Local News ~ 06/18/10)
Xenia Baptist Church is excited to announce that they have a New Pastor. Dan has been in the ministry for over 20 years. Dan and his wife, Lisa have been married for 30 years. They both graduated from Baptist Bible College in Springfield, Mo., in 1979. Dan has been working for Mercy Hospital here in Fort Scott as a Registered Respiratory Therapist for the past two years. Lisa is employed with USD 234 as a Para...
First Southern Baptist to host bible school (Local News ~ 06/18/10)
First Southern Baptist Church, south 69 Highway, is holding Vacation Bible School starting June 21-25 from 9 a.m. to noon. The Bible School titled Saddle Ridge Ranch: Roundin' Up Questions, Drivin' Home Answers is for children ages three through those children who have completed sixth grade...
Christian Heights Eastern Kansas camp (Local News ~ 06/18/10)
The Fort Scott Christian Heights will be hosting their 2010 Eastern Kansas Camp June 20-27. The first service will be held at 6 p.m., Sunday. Prayer will be hosted at 7 a.m. Monday through June 26 and an Evangelist Richard Gremillion and singing evangelists Garen and Sheila Wolf will host an evangelistic each night at 7 p.m. from Monday through June 26 and again at 6 p.m. on June 27...
Marvin Earl Tate (Obituary ~ 06/18/10)
Marvin Earl Tate, age 89, a resident of rural Fort Scott, Kan., died Thursday, June 17, 2010, at the Mercy Health Center in Fort Scott. He was born March 31, 1921, in Calloway County, Mo,, the son of Oscar Lee Tate and Ona May Palmer Tate. Marvin was one of 17 children whose generation spanned 138 years. ...
David E. McCannon Jr. (Obituary ~ 06/18/10)
David E. McCannon Jr. was born in Chilhowee, Mo., on Dec. 2, 1936. He was an over-the-road trucker most of his adult life. He is survived by Deanna Marlow of Blue Springs, Mo.; a daughter, Sheri Ring and husband Ron of Lee's Summit, Mo; two sons, Charles Edward McCannon and wife Amy of Alton, Ill., and David Edward McCannon III of Excelsior Springs, Mo.; a stepson, Rick Marlow and wife Becky of Pleasant Hill, Mo.; and a stepdaughter, Melissa Goss and husband Randy of Blue Springs. ...
Leesa Maree Haehn, age 27, a former resident of Fort Scott, Kan., more recently of Leavenworth, Kan., died Wednesday, June 16, 2010, at her home in Leavenworth following a lengthy illness. She was born Aug. 8, 1982, in Fort Scott, the daughter of David Hite and Kathy Brown Hite...
Lloyd Russell Murray (Obituary ~ 06/18/10)
Lloyd Russell Murray, age 92, a resident of the Life Care Center of Wichita, Kan., died Thursday, June 17, 2010. He was born Oct. 14, 1917, in Richards, Mo., the son of Lloyd Raymond and Martha Alice Sheperd Murray. He attended Fort Scott schools and graduated from Fort Scott High School in 1935. He attended one year of Fort Scott Junior College and left to make money as a full-time motion picture operator...
Thirty-year dream becomes a reality (Local News ~ 06/18/10)
By Michael Pommier Herald-Tribune FORT SCOTT, Kan. -- "That was the dumbest thing I've every done." Those were the first words uttered Friday morning by local resident Bob Beckham after finishing a 26.3-mile journey running from Pittsburg to Fort Scott...
Fort Scott all-school reunion begins on June 25 (Local News ~ 06/18/10)
By Jason E. Silvers Herald-Tribune FORT SCOTT, Kan. -- More than 3,000 people are expected to visit Fort Scott next weekend to celebrate with their classmates during the Fort Scott High School All-Class Reunion. As of Thursday, more than 1,500 alumni had confirmed their attendance at the event, which is scheduled for June 25-27. ...
New historical marker tells the story of Nevada burning in Civil War (Local News ~ 06/18/10)
By Steve Moyer Herald-Tribune NEVADA, Mo. -- It was an early summer day 147 years ago when the new municipality of Nevada City, less than a decade old, was to experience its defining moment -- it was burned to the ground May 26, 1863, by Union militiamen. Only the homes of Thomas Austin and James Moore were spared...
Griffons defeat Omaha in Parents' Weekend opener, 6-2 (College Sports ~ 06/18/10)
By Eric Wade Herald-Tribune The Nevada Griffons officially opened the 2010 Parents' Weekend Friday night with the second of four home games in four days against one of the new faces to the MINK League this season. The Omaha Diamond Spirit baseball team was founded in 1994 by general manager and head coach Arden Rakorsky, but just joined the MINK League this season after Rakorsky took advantage of the vacancy created by the folding of the Beatrice Bruins organization after last season...
Then and now: Anglers seeing major changes on the water (Sports Column ~ 06/18/10)
They say that the only thing that doesn't change is change. Recently, I saw a case in point. At the weigh-in of a bass tournament held on Table Rock, all the anglers in the tournament had big bass boats powered by 200-horsepower motors and all kinds of electronic equipment -- a far cry from the '60's when I fished tournaments...
Person -- 50 years (Anniversary ~ 06/18/10)
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Person, of Nevada, will observe their 50th wedding anniversary on June 21, 2010. A family dinner for 60 is planned for Sunday, June 20, at America's Best Inn conference room, Nevada. The Persons were married June 21, 1960, in Denver, Colo., and have resided in Germany, New Jersey and Rockwell, Ill., prior to moving to Nevada in 1979, where they have made their home since...
Cotten -- 50 years (Anniversary ~ 06/18/10)
Jack and Marianna Cotten celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on May 30, 2010. The Cottens were married May 29, 1960, at Cool Hill RLDS Church, a small country church east of El Dorado Springs. To this union three daughters were born -- Doris, Rhonda and Jacque...
Heather Davis - Grant Hartman (Engagement ~ 06/18/10)
Tom and Cindy Davis and Brad and Robin Hartman, all of Fort Scott, announce the engagement of their children, Heather Davis and Grant Hartman. Heather is the granddaughter of Warren and Roberta Davis, Fort Scott; and David and Janice Gill, Overland Park...
Yasmina Al-Shawish - Joshua Query (Engagement ~ 06/18/10)
Joshua Query and Yasmina Al-Shawish announce their engagement and upcoming marriage. Yasmina is the daughter of Donald and Alisa Minor, Fort Scott. She attended Fort Scott High School, Fort Scott Community College and Pittsburg State University. She is currently employed by Nevada R-5 School District as a fourth grade teacher...
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Rhys Meyers says he can relate to Henry VIII’s wild younger years in ‘The Tudors’
The Canadian Press, September 27, 2007
TORONTO – Irish actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers knows a thing or two about wild behaviour, something he drew upon when taking on the role of a young Henry VIII in the acclaimed show “The Tudors,” premiering next week on CBC.
“I was an alleged bad boy – alleged,” says the 30-year-old actor on the line from Ireland, emphasizing the word as he takes a break from filming the second season of the show about the early years of the notorious British monarch.
“I think people sort of have this fantastical idea that I was this crazy wild young Irishman. The reality wasn’t as fantastical nor was it as bad.”
Nonetheless, Rhys Meyers, who’s had a couple of stints in rehab for drug and alcohol problems, says his own tumultuous youth and early fame certainly helped him understand the temptations that Henry faced as a young ruler with the world – and lots of women – at his beck and call.
“I can relate to being in your 20s and thinking you’re too fabulous and at the same time thinking you’re not worth a bucket of piss,” Rhys Meyers says.
“My Henry is a spoiled, egotistical alpha male, but when you’re in your early 20s and you have absolutely everything that you’ve ever desired, by birthright, well then you’re certainly going to misbehave. But Henry also had a lot of insecurities, as we all do at that age. Everybody wanted something from him.”
The 10-part first season of “The Tudors,” a Canada-Ireland co-production written and created by Michael Hirst (“Elizabeth” and “Elizabeth: The Golden Age”), premieres Tuesday night on CBC-TV. The Emmy-nominated series debuted on the U.S. pay channel Showtime in April to big ratings, and the BBC will start airing it next year.
While “The Tudors” takes some artistic liberties – it condenses some years, and amalgamates some characters into one, for example – the series is a lusty and largely accurate look at the scheming and seduction that went on in the court of the king who would change the course of history.
The show features not just a litany of steamy sex scenes, but an impressive international cast that includes Australia’s Sam Neill and two Canadian actors, Henry Czerny as the Duke of Norfolk and Kris Holden-Reid as Henry’s best friend, William Compton.
But Rhys Meyers is the true standout, lending an energetic passion to Henry despite his initial fears that critics might not like him in the role since he bears such little resemblance to the monarch, either in his youth or in his later years (“Thank God for that,” the actor says in an aside.)
He was also concerned some might suggest he took too many liberties as he humanized the character.
“But the more I thought about it, who’s to say that the way I play Henry isn’t really what Henry was like?” Rhys Meyers muses. “He’s human. Henry might be a king and be treated as a god, but he’s still only a man – flesh and blood, regardless of whether the blood was blue.”
Czerny had nothing but praise for Rhys Meyers’ performance when he promoted the show during CBC’s fall launch last spring.
“Michael Hirst says there are actors who are bleeders and there are actors who are performers, and Jonathan’s a bleeder,” Czerny said with a laugh. “He’s trying to offer up every last bit of Jonathan Rhys Meyers for every single take – he’s a real bleeder.”
Rhys Meyers is also sympathetic to Henry, a man known mostly for being an overweight tyrant who did away with wives when they became inconvenient.
“I mean, Henry historically was quite well-behaved for a king of his time. He was quite moralistic. Some kings of Europe had these harems of a thousand women,” Rhys Meyers says.
“As an Irishman in school, you always thought of Henry VIII as this big, slovenly, repulsive character. But there were a lot of pretty cool things about him as well. He was a great musician and had his own band and played with them as the lead singer. Throughout his reign the hyenas were around him the whole time waiting to get their paws on his throne, and it can’t have been easy.”
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Code of Criminal Procedure
Rights and Duties of a Parent – Joint Managing Conservator in Texas
Rights and Duties of a Parent – Joint Managing Conservator in Texas.
Waiver To the Guidelines is a Matter of Court Discretion
As a joint managing conservator of a child in a divorce proceeding in Texas, unless special circumstances arise justifying a variance from the Guidelines, the Court will normally order guideline code rights and duties and a parent will be awarded the following:
1.the right to receive information from any other conservator of the child concerning the health, education, and welfare of the child.
2.the right to confer with the other parent to the extent possible before making a decision concerning the health, education, and welfare of the child.
3.the right of access to medical, dental, psychological, and educational records of the child.
4.the right to consult with a physician, dentist, or psychologist of the child.
5.the right to consult with school officials concerning the child’s welfare and educational status, including school activities.
6.the right to attend school activities.
7.the right to be designated on the child’s records as a person to be notified in case of an emergency.
8.the right to consent to medical, dental, and surgical treatment during an emergency involving an immediate danger to the health and safety of the child.
9.the right to manage the estate of the child to the extent the estate has been created by the parent/conservator or the parent/conservator’s family.
10.the duty to inform the other conservator of the child in a timely manner of significant information concerning the health, education, and welfare of the child; and
11.the duty to inform the other conservator of the child if the conservator resides with for at least thirty days, marries, or intends to marry a person who the conservator knows is registered as a sex offender under chapter 62 of the Code of Criminal Procedure or is currently charged with an offense for which on conviction the person would be required to register under that chapter. IT IS ORDERED that this information shall be tendered in the form of a notice made as soon as practicable, but not later than the fortieth day after the date the conservator of the child begins to reside with the person or on the tenth day after the date the marriage occurs, as appropriate. IT IS ORDERED that the notice must include a description of the offense that is the basis of the person’s requirement to register as a sex offender or of the offense with which the person is charged. WARNING: A CONSERVATOR COMMITS AN OFFENSE PUNISHABLE AS A CLASS C MISDEMEANOR IF THE CONSERVATOR FAILS TO PROVIDE THIS NOTICE.
12.the duty of care, control, protection, and reasonable discipline of the child.
13.the duty to support the child, including providing the child with clothing, food, shelter, and medical and dental care not involving an invasive procedure.
14.the right to consent for the child to medical and dental care not involving an invasive procedure.
15.the right to direct the moral and religious training of the child.
16.Only one parent shall have the exclusive right to designate the primary residence of child in a specific geographical area, which is commonly the county in which the child currently resides and the contiguous counties thereto.
17.the right to consent to medical, dental, and surgical treatment involving invasive procedures may be subject to agreement, an independent right or an exclusive right;
18.the right to consent to psychiatric and psychological treatment of the child may be subject to agreement, an independent right or an exclusive right;
19.Only one parent shall have the exclusive right to receive and give receipt for periodic payments for the support of the child and to hold or disburse these funds for the benefit of the child;
20.the right to represent the child in legal action and to make other decisions of substantial legal significance concerning the child may be subject to agreement, an independent right or an exclusive right;
21.the right to consent to marriage and to enlistment in the armed forces of the United States may be subject to agreement, an independent right or an exclusive right;
22.the right to make decisions concerning the child’s education may be subject to agreement, an independent right a joint right or an exclusive right;
23.except as provided by section 264.0111 of the Texas Family Code, the right to the services and earnings of the child may be subject to agreement, an independent right or an exclusive right;
24.except when a guardian of the child’s estate or a guardian or attorney ad litem has been appointed for the child, the right to act as an agent of the child in relation to the child’s estate if the child’s action is required by a state, the United States, or a foreign government may be subject to agreement, an independent right or an exclusive right; and
25.the right to manage the estate of the child to the extent the estate has been created by community property or the joint property of the parent/conservator may be subject to agreement, an independent right or an exclusive right.
In accordance with section 153.001 of the Texas Family Code, it is the public policy of Texas to assure that children will have frequent and continuing contact with parents who have shown the ability to act in the best interest of the child, to provide a safe, stable, and nonviolent environment for the child, and to encourage parents to share in the rights and duties of raising their child after the parents have separated or dissolved their marriage. The Court will therefore normally establish the primary residence of the child in the county where the child currently resides and/or a contiguous county thereto, and the parties shall not remove the child from such county for the purpose of changing the primary residence of child until there is a modification to the existing order of the court of continuing jurisdiction or a written agreement signed by the parties and filed with the court.
The geographical restriction on the residence of the child may be lifted or modified if, at the time the primary parent with the right to establish residence wishes to remove the child from the county for the purpose of changing the primary residence of the child, the other parent does not reside in that county or a contiguous county thereto.
Time constraints, employment issues of the primary Joint Managing Conservator, and other material factors may come into play when a Joint Managing Conservator requests waiver of the geographical restrictions. It customarily is a very difficult, but not always insurmountable, burden to achieve a geographical restriction waiver. The success, consistency and regularity of the non-primary conservator’s possession and access to the child is a factor the court will view in making a ruling. Frequently, an agreement to adjust the amount of support and/or transportation costs comes into play in resolving such disputes.
By Nacol Law Firm | Child Custody . Possession of Children
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William Shakespeare (0 books)
William Shakespeare (baptised 26 April 1564 – died 23 April 1616) was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "The Bard"). His surviving works consist of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems.… (more)
William Shakespeare (baptised 26 April 1564 – died 23 April 1616) was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "The Bard"). His surviving works consist of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language, and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.
Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon. At the age of 18 he married Anne Hathaway, who bore him three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Between 1585 and 1592 he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part owner of the playing company the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive, and there has been considerable speculation about such matters as his sexuality, religious beliefs, and whether the works attributed to him were written by others.
Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1590 and 1613. His early plays were mainly comedies and histories, genres he raised to the peak of sophistication and artistry by the end of the sixteenth century. Next he wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth, considered some of the finest examples in the English language. In his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights. Many of his plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime, and in 1623 two of his former theatrical colleagues published the First Folio, a collected edition of his dramatic works that included all but two of the plays now recognised as Shakespeare's.
Shakespeare was a respected poet and playwright in his own day, but his reputation did not rise to its present heights until the nineteenth century. The Romantics, in particular, acclaimed Shakespeare's genius, and the Victorians hero-worshipped Shakespeare with a reverence that George Bernard Shaw called "bardolatry". In the twentieth century, his work was repeatedly adopted and rediscovered by new movements in scholarship and performance. His plays remain highly popular today and are consistently performed and reinterpreted in diverse cultural and political contexts throughout the world.
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Remember me? Filmleaf.net - Journal of Cinema
Film Forums:
General Film Forum
WONG KAR-WAI Retrospective at the Roxie Theater
Thread: WONG KAR-WAI Retrospective at the Roxie Theater
Chris Knipp
WONG KAR-WAI Retrospective at the Roxie Theater & BAMPFA
World of Wong Kar-wai
A virtual retrospective from San Francisco's Roxie Theater (pay-for-view for all from Dec. 11, 2020) is a chance to review and talk about one of my favorite directors and my biggest movie discovery of the 1990's. Below is a publicity release from the Roxie to serve as an intro. NOTE: ASHES OF TIME (1994), Wong's costume martial arts/wuxia film, is omitted here, perhaps because it was elaborately redone as ASHES OF TIME REDUX in 2008, when it was shown at the New York Film Festival (and reviewed here) after premiering at Cannes. You can get ASHES OF TIME REDUX on Amazon Prime. And these six 4K restorations are available to all of you as a virtual online bonanza for the holiday season.
TONY LEUNG KA FAI IN ASHES OF TIME REDUX
It's high time, no doubt, for a retrospective, because those with short memories or hitherto short lives have forgotten or may not yet have heard of Wong Kar-wai. Before Tarantino’s release of Chungking Express Americans had to go to Chinatown theaters or rent pirated videotapes to see his work; I saw Ashes of Time (1994) in San Francisco's Chinatown in a double bill with As Tears Go By (1988), a baffling but deeply intriguing experience, and then went to a specialized video rental shop to catch up on others over time. The pirated videos had weird subtitles in two kinds of Chinese and strange English that flashed on and rapidly disappeared.
A cinematic icon today, Wong Kar-wai didn't get full international recognition till 1997 at Cannes (for Happy Together), and the majority of US arthouse-goers didn't notice him till the theatrical release of In the Mood for Love (2000). Quentin Tarantino's Miramax-subsidiary Rolling Thunder Pictures limited-released Chungking Express in US theaters in 1996 and later issued a DVD. That was a moment. By 2008 when the NYFF featured Ashes of Time Redux, , Wong was faded or fading as a creative genius. His epic 2046 (2004) was a hypertrophied maxi-version of all his themes. His 2007 English-language My Blueberry Nights was a critical failure. But in his 15-year creative heyday Wong produced this string of imperishable gems.
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From the Roxie:
A virtual series of six restored classics from Hong Kong’s soulfully romantic cinematic sensualist, plus a new director’s cut of THE HAND. IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE, AS TEARS GO BY, DAYS OF BEING WILD, CHUNKING EXPRESS, FALLEN ANGELS & HAPPY TOGETHER. Presented in partnership with Janus Films.
4K restoration of IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE to also screen at the
Fort Mason Flix Drive-In in San Francisco.
Maggie Cheung and Tony Chiu-wai Leung in IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE
Virtual Retrospective
Starts Friday, December 11
Roxie Virtual Cinema, San Francisco
BAMPFA, Berkeley
Drive-in Screening of IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE
Sunday, December 13 at 5:30p
Fort Mason Flix, San Francisco
(Blurbs courtesy of Roxie Theater. Thanks to the Roxie's excellent programmer Rick Norris for granting me prior access to these restorations! )
Andy Lau & Maggie Cheung in AS TEARS GO BY
AS TEARS GO BY (1988)
Wong Kar-wai’s scintillating debut feature is a kinetic, hyper-cool crime thriller graced with flashes of the impressionistic, daydream visual style for which he would become renowned. Set amidst Hong Kong’s ruthless, neon-lit gangland underworld, this operatic saga of ambition, honor, and revenge stars Andy Lau as a small-time mob enforcer who finds himself torn between a burgeoning romance with his ailing cousin (Maggie Cheung, in the first of her iconic collaborations with the director) and his loyalty to his loose cannon partner in crime (Jacky Cheung) whose reckless attempts to make a name for himself unleash a spiral of violence. Marrying the pulp pleasures of the gritty Hong Kong action drama with hints of the head-rush romanticism Wong would push to intoxicating heights throughout the 1990s, As Tears Go By was a local box office smash that heralded the arrival of one of contemporary cinema’s most electrifying talents. Hong Kong. 1988. 102 min.
Tony Leung and Carina Lau in DAYS OF BEING WILD
DAYS OF BEING WILD (1990)
Wong Kar-wai’s breakthrough sophomore feature represents the first full flowering of his swooning signature style. The first film in a loosely connected, ongoing cycle that includes In the Mood for Love and 2046, this ravishing existential reverie is a dreamlike drift through the Hong Kong of the 1960s in which a band of wayward twenty-somethings—including a disaffected playboy (Leslie Cheung) searching for his birth mother, a lovelorn woman (Maggie Cheung) hopelessly enamored with him, and a policeman (Andy Lau) caught in the middle of their turbulent relationship—pull together and push apart in a cycle of frustrated desire. The director’s inaugural collaboration with both cinematographer Christopher Doyle, who lends the film its gorgeously gauzy, hallucinatory texture, and actor Tony Leung, who appears briefly in a tantalizing teaser for a never-realized sequel, Days of Being Wild is an exhilarating first expression of Wong’s trademark themes of time, longing, dislocation, and the restless search for connection. Hong Kong. 1990. 94 min.
Faye Wong in CHUNGKING EXPRESS
CHUNGKING EXPRESS (1994)
The whiplash, double-pronged Chungking Express is one of the defining works of nineties cinema and the film that made Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-wai an instant icon. Two heartsick Hong Kong cops (Takeshi Kaneshiro and Tony Leung), both jilted by ex-lovers, cross paths at the Midnight Express take-out restaurant stand, where the ethereal pixie waitress Faye (Faye Wong) works. Anything goes in Wong’s gloriously shot and utterly unexpected charmer, which cemented the sex appeal of its gorgeous stars and forever turned canned pineapple and the Mamas and the Papas’ "California Dreamin'" into tokens of romantic longing. Hong Kong. 1994. 102 min. (For some important making-of information, see Quentin Tarantino's enthusiastic commentary on this movie on his Miramax/Rolling Thunder DVD edition of it.)
Charlie Yeung [!} and Takeshi Ianeshiro in FALLEN ANGELS
Lost souls reach out for human connection amidst the glimmering night world of Hong Kong in Wong Kar-wai’s hallucinatory, neon-soaked nocturne. Originally conceived as a segment of Chungking Express only to spin off on its own woozy axis, this hyper-cool head rush plays like the dark, moody flip side to Wong’s breakout feature as it charts the subtly interlacing fates of a handful of urban loners, including a coolly detached hitman (Leon Lai) looking to go straight, his business partner (Michelle Reis) who secretly yearns for him, and a mute delinquent (Takeshi Kaneshiro) who wreaks mischief by night. Swinging between hardboiled noir and slapstick lunacy with giddy abandon, Fallen Angels is both a dizzying, dazzling city symphony and a poignant meditation on love, loss, and longing in a metropolis that never sleeps. Black & White and Color. Hong Kong. 1995. 99 min.
Leslie Cheung and Tony Leung in HAPPY TOGETHER
HAPPY TOGETHER (1997)
One of the most searing romances of the 1990s, Wong Kar-wai’s emotionally raw, lushly stylized portrait of a relationship in breakdown casts Hong Kong superstars Tony Leung and Leslie Cheung as a couple traveling through Argentina and locked in a turbulent cycle of infatuation and destructive jealousy as they break up, make up, and fall apart again and again. Setting out to depict the dynamics of a queer relationship with empathy and complexity on the cusp of the 1997 handover of Hong Kong—when the country’s LGBT community suddenly faced an uncertain future—Wong crafts a feverish look at the life cycle of a love affair that’s by turns devastating and deliriously romantic. Shot by ace cinematographer Christopher Doyle in both luminous monochrome and luscious saturated color, Happy Together is an intoxicating exploration of displacement and desire that swoons with the ache and exhilaration of love at its heart-tearing extremes. Black & White and Color. Hong Kong. 1997. 96 min.
Maggie Cheung Man-yuk and Tony Leung Chiu-wai in IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE
IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE ((2000)
Hong Kong, 1962: Chow Mo-wan (Tony Leung Chiu-wai) and Su Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung Man-yuk) move into neighboring apartments on the same day. Their encounters are formal and polite—until a discovery about their spouses creates an intimate bond between them. At once delicately mannered and visually extravagant, Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love is a masterful evocation of romantic longing and fleeting moments. With its aching musical soundtrack and exquisitely abstract cinematography by Christopher Doyle and Mark Lee Ping-bin, this film has been a major stylistic influence on the past decade of cinema, and is a milestone in Wong’s redoubtable career. Hong Kong. 2000. 98 min.
Also Screening at Fort Mason Flix Drive-in!
Sunday, December 13, 5:30pm
THE HAND (2004)
Like IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE, The Hand is set in the hazy Hong Kong of the 1960s, but its characters couldn’t be more different from the earlier film’s restrained, haunted lovers. Originally conceived for the omnibus film EROS, the film—presented in this retrospective for the first time in its extended cut—tells the tale of Zhang (Chang Chen), a shy tailor’s assistant enraptured by a mysterious client, Miss Hua (Gong Li). A hypnotic tale of obsession, repression, and class divisions, THE HAND finds Wong Kar-wai continuing to transition from the frenetic, energized style of his earlier films into a register that is lush with romantic grandeur. Hong Kong. 2004. 56 min.
About The Roxie
The Roxie Theater, a San Francisco landmark in the Mission District, brings people together to meet and connect through distinctive cinematic experiences. Guided by the passionate belief that engaging with a movie doesn’t end with the credits, we invite filmmakers, curators, entertainers and educators to interact with our audiences. We provide inspiration and opportunity for the next generation, and serve as a forum for the independent film community reflecting the spirit of the diverse Bay Area population. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
About BAMPFA
An internationally recognized arts institution with deep roots in the Bay Area, the University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA) is a forum for cultural experiences that transform individuals and advance the local, national, and global discourse on art and film. BAMPFA is UC Berkeley’s premier visual arts venue, presenting more than 450 film screenings, scores of public programs, and more than twenty exhibitions annually. With its vibrant and eclectic programming, BAMPFA inspires the imagination and ignites critical dialogue through art, film, and other forms of creative expression.
The institution’s collection of more than 28,000 works of art encompasses pieces dating from 3000 BCE to the present day and includes important holdings of Neolithic Chinese ceramics, Ming and Qing Dynasty Chinese painting, Old Master works on paper, Italian Baroque painting, early American painting, Abstract Expressionist painting, contemporary photography, and Conceptual art. BAMPFA’s collection also includes more than 18,000 films and videos, including the largest collection of Japanese cinema outside of Japan, impressive holdings of Soviet cinema, West Coast avant-garde film, and seminal video art, as well as hundreds of thousands of articles, reviews, posters, and other ephemera related to the history of film.
About Fort Mason Flix
Presented by and housed on Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture (FMCAC)’s historic waterfront campus, FORT MASON FLIX is a pop-up drive-in theater showing hit movies six days a week, from family favorites and cult classics to blockbusters and arthouse cinema.
Last edited by Chris Knipp; 12-02-2020 at 02:01 AM.
Chris Knipp: Website; 2009 Movie 'Best Lists"; 2009 review index.
As Tears Go By (1988).
ANDY LAU AND MAGGIE CHEUNG IN AS TEARS BO BY
Like romance with your gang beatings?
This was my first Wong Kar-wai-directed movie, as well as his. But he was a virtually unknown quantity at first in this country and I didn't see it till six years after its Hong Kong release. I saw it as a solitary explorer, in a cinema on the edge of San Francisco's Chinatown, tipped off by an obscure newspaper article, in the mid-niineties, in a double feature, followed by Ashes of Time. It was a memorable afternoon, a milestone in my life as a cinephile that hooked me and left me pleasantly befuddled. This was the start of what became my most exciting movie discovery of the decade.
Tears is where Wong started to be Wong - but not quite. Nathan Lee, once a stylish and bold young free lance movie critic, briefly in charge of movie reviews at the Voice, now sadly restricted to austere venues like Film Comment, wrote about the film in 2008 in the New York Times, ten years after it came out in Hong Kong, when it finally got an official US release (see also J. Hoberman's Village Voice piece of the same date). This will show what people think of it now. To me it was a baffling but intriguing combination of gangster violence and romance. The second on the bill, Wong's dreamlike riff on the martial arts film Ashes of Time (1994 - out the same year as Chungking Express) was more beautiful and even more totally baffling. I didn't know what I had seen that day but I knew I would want more.
In his later assessment Lee not surprisingly waxes quietly rhapsodic. I've always felt it makes no sense for a cinephile to be any other way about this filmmaker. Lee describes As Tears Go By as "convulsing" "to the rhythm of mah-johngg parlor brawls" and "back-alley beat downs" and "semiautomatic flares" in "the neon lights."
But he notes that it's the "rapt little interludes" that really count, like "an aspirin tablet dissolving in a bottle of water" or "a woman lingering in the fluorescent shadows of a ferry terminal," even a "modest tracking shot" of drinking glasses ranged on a kitchen shelf.
As Tears Go By is a unique new mix of Hong Kong gangster movie genre with subtle romance in a liberated, uniquely poetic new style. You've got this muted love story between Andy Lau and a baby-faced Maggie Cheung, with that passionate kiss in the phone booth. He's a small-time triad debt enforcer and she's a quiet country cousin he's not previously met who shows up and sleeps on the couch of his Hong Kong apartment while in town for medical tests. The early moments when she arrives are quiet, awkward, and real. They make an impression (and may be more deeply ingrained for me, since they were the first scenes of a Wong Kar-wai movie I ever saw). But then comes the gangster stuff that Ngor (Cheung) never directly witnesses, though she does see Wah (Lau) all bloodied and starts to guess what he may be up to.
There's all this stuff about Wah's kid brother Fly (Jacky Cheung), a would-be gangster who lacks the cool. He's a hothead, and also has recurrent bad luck that will have terrible consequences. With his overacting and googly eyes, Jacky Cheung makes the gangster scenes seem like caricatures and they jar with the quiet authenticity of the romantic moments.
Wong interweaves crime and romance more successfully in Fallen Angels and Chungking Express, and he develops the female characters and the romances better in Days of Being Wild, which also interweaves crime and sensuality in a dreamy and unique way, making Days his first masterpiece and turning Leslie Cheung into an unforgettable star. Watching these six movies in the Roxie retrospective together allows you to enjoy how the same group of young stars got to keep coming back, Wong's own special company of players.
As Nathan Lee put it, in As Tears Go By a lot of the Wong's style and preoccupations were clearly already there, but not in wholly integrated fashion. He hadn't yet fully reconciled his "genre tropes" with his "digressive, deeply intuitive impulses." Nonetheless if you watch this film carefully you'll see it's already unlike the work of any other filmmaker.
Watching the 1988 Tears along with the original 1994 Ashes of Time that afternoon on the edge of San Francisco's Chinatown, I naturally saw this was a director who was twisting Chinese cinematic genres in a deeply unique style. Could the gangster romance and the wuxia dream be from the same hand? Yes, they definitely could be, but it would take time to digest. You learn how he uses what Peter Brunette calls in a Hollywood Reporter review Wong's "signature step-printing technique,* his off-kilter shooting angles and a flamboyant visual style that often produces something more like an abstract expressionist painting than a movie" - all of this more richly and confidently emerged right after Tears, in Wong's second feature, Days of Being Wild, when the director began his remarkable collaboration with the cinematographer Christopher Doyle.
Nathan Lee points out a trademark incident in Tears. Ngor sends Wah a note that's the first sign that she can't get him out of her head, even back home, and reveals that, knowing he tends to break the glasses in his kitchen and will break them all eventually, she has gotten a new one and hidden it somewhere so, when he runs out, he can contact her and she'll tell him where it's hidden. This as Lee says isn't unlike how Faye Wong, the "impish gamine" in Chungking Express, shows the crush she has on a handsome policeman (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai) by sneaking into his apartment when he's not there and straightening it up; or the way a "heartbroken journalist" in In the Mood for Love whispers a secret into a crack at Angkor Wat. And somehow it's of a kind with all that talk by Takeshi Kaneshiro in Chungking Express about expiry dates of canned pineapple, or Leslie Cheung's come-on line about there being love between him and Maggie Cheung for a minute when he's flirting with her in front of the soft drink stand at the outset of Days of Being Wild. These are all quirky inventions, partly inspired by Chinese pop romance novels, that embody the style and make way for Wong's "rapt little interludes," as Lee puts it, "that arrest attention." As Tears Go By ramps up gangster tragedy, but it's the doomed romance with the cousin that holds it all together, even then.
Lee ends his piece with a lovely understated homage. He points out that Maggie Cheung in As Tears Go By is affecting in "underimagined" role. But when she reappears in Wong's next film, Days of Being Wild, her director "had mastered his feel for the eloquence of uninflected faces caught just so in the light. And everything else."
Everything else indeed.
*See Mike D'Angelo's analysis in The Dissolve of a moment in Chungking Express, "How Wong Kar-Wai turned 22 seconds into an eternity."
As Tears Go By 旺角卡門 (Wong Gok ka moon, "Mong Kok Carmen"). 99 mins., debuted in the 1988 Cannes Directors Fortnight. It was Wong's directorial debut; he had been a writer on fifteen films before that, 1982-88. Jacky Cheung won the best supporting actor award and William Chang best art direction at the Hong Kong film awards.
MAGGIE CHEUNG, ANDY LAU IN AS TEARS BO BY
Last edited by Chris Knipp; 12-11-2020 at 01:19 PM.
Days of Being Wild (1990).
LESLIE CHEUNG IN DAYS OF BEING WILD
Wong's masterpiece is a dreamy saga of love and death
Yuddy (Leslie Cheung) is, according to the title, a hooligan; also a seducer incapable of real commitment to a woman. Rapidly we see this develop with Su Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung), who mans a soft drink stand outside a sports arena. He marches up one evening, pops a Coca Cola, and says that night she will see him in her dreams. He comes back day after day with a confident line, and she falls. Soon they're lovers and she's so gone on him, when she loses her apartment she wants to move in, and proposes marriage. He coldly says no and she leaves and says she's never coming back, as he stands preening in front of a mirror in his undershirt, combing back his shiny hair and Elvis (or Sal Mineo) forelock. We know she won't ever forget him. Christopher Doye's dreamy camerawork, with extreme, dusky closeups and sly, unexpected positioning, introduces a sultry summer Hong Kong of lazy, sexy evenings. Even in Yuddy's first meetings the shots make them look like they're almost kissing. These images are of a piece with those of the pair in bed together. How the camera loves Leslie Cheung's face! It's like a statue you want to make love to, not just adore. The time is 1960 and he's a sensuous, narcissistic James Dean. Cheung is marvelous: this is his movie.
This is where Wong Kar-wai unquestionably and brilliantly became Wong Kar-wai. Collaborating with the Australian cinematographer Christopher Doyle and Leslie Cheung, who possesses this role utterly, he made a masterpiece that towers over everything else he ever did.
Can you believe it? Twelve years later Leslie Cheung jumped to his death off a balcony at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Hong Kong. An Asian-American writer quoted in an essay about this film by Gerald Peary says, "The entire Asian diaspora knows that we lost one of our most exquisite pop singers, most seductive sex symbols, most potent gay icons, and most beloved celebrities." He had made 90 albums and 60 films. It's hard not to appreciate this performance even more given the actor's added glamor of doom.
Next we learn who the woman is Yuddy really cares for, is his cold, drunken mother (Rebecca Pan Di-hua). He comes to see her and has the servant bring tea for her hangover. She is a powdered ex-courtesan and, he will discover, has been raising him in return for a monthly income from his wealthy real mother, who is a Filipino aristocrat whose identity she won't reveal but he must have.
For a while he messes around with a loud, demanding showgirl, Leung Fung-ying, aka Mimi (Carina Lau) whom his best friend Zeb (Jacky Cheung) is also in love with. There are great sweaty scenes and mini dramas in the bedroom and outside in the heavy rains of Hong Kong's monsoon season. He doesn't have to work. But his vague identity and inability to commit to anybody eat away at him - or is it simply, as Peary says, "a heavy dose of existential ennui"? Su Li-zhen takes comfort in conversations on the street with Tide (Andy Lau), a stalwart policeman (in a fetching military tan uniform) whose beat is near where she works, another vector in a tale paved with disappointments.
There are all these plot details and more, but it would not be an exaggeration to say this movie is about Leslie Cheung's cheekbones, his lips, and his dreamy, heavy-lidded eyes. And Christopher Doyle's camerawork makes that clear; I guess he makes it happen; because no ordinary mortal, no matter how sexy and handsome, has the magic aura Cheung gives off in Days of Being Wild.
Days of Being Wild 阿飛正傳 , Ah Fei jing juen ("The Story of a Hooligan"), 94 mins., it opened theatrically in Dec. 1990 in Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan, and it's international premiere was at the Berlinale Feb. 1991, followed by Tokyo, Toronto, and Nantes. New York City opening Mar. 1991. It has been repeatedly rereleased in the 2000's, with reviews resulting in a current Metascore of 96 (so I guess the critics agree with me).
Chungking Express (1994).
BRIGITTE LIM AND TAKESHI KANESHIRO IN CHUNGKING EXPRESS
Devices of the love-lorn, some of which work
As Quentin Tarantino explains in the bonus address to viewers of his Rolling Thunder Pictures/Miramax DVD of Wong Kar-wai's Chungking Express, it was made in only 26 days as a palate-cleansing quickie and break from what had become a drawn-out process of completing his highly stylized martial arts film, Ashes of Time. Both were released in 1994. Chungking Express tells two separate stories. There was a third story Wong originally thought of that he decided to hold and put into his next film, Fallen Angels,.
Quickie or not, this seems the movie that first brought Wong international fame. So it may be likely you've become familiar with this one, perhaps quite familiar: there's a saying that there are people who've never seen a Wong Kar-wai movie, but none who've seen one only once. If you're watching the six features of this retrospective (plus Ashes of Time) in the order they were made as I suggest, this will be number three, after the moody, languorous experience of Days of Being Wild And what a surprising, original and fun movie it is.
Chungking's two stories both concern young Hong Kong policemen recovering from being dumped by girlfriends. They are Cop 223, He Zhiwu (or Qiwu) (Takeshi Kaneshiro), just coming up on his 25th birthday, and the slightly older Cop 663 (Tony Leung Chiu-wai, then 34), whose airline stewardess girlfriend has just moved out. Both men regularly eat at the same late night snack bar, the Midnight Express, located in the busy center of Hong Kong. The snack bar's boss (Jinquan Chen), an outgoing sort, frequently recommends not only alternatives to the chef's special salad, but that the cops consider taking out one of his cute girl employees, May (Liang Zhen) or the new one, Faye (Faye Wong. who like Takeshi Kaneshiro and Leslie Cheung of Days of Being Wild, was a famous pop singer).
Surprisingly, since the first half begins with the slowed-down, abstracted step-printing sequence of Brigitte Lim, it is the part shot by the more conventional Andrew Lau Wai-keung, and the wilder, more innovative Christopher Doyle shot the second half featuring Tony Leung and Faye Wong.
Wong had already hit his stride working with cinematographer Christopher Doyle and the triumphant, sexy performance of Leslie Cheung in his second film, Days of Being Wild (1990), where he first worked with Christopher Doyle, but this retrospective is a reminder that here, Wong still worked with Andrew Lau as well. Doyle's unique vision and the dominance of the visual element almost seem to overwhelm the films after this, starting with Fallen Angels.
To understand Wong Kar-wai maybe it's best to acknowledge that dominance of the visual and strong collaboration with his dp, together with the fact that he liked his actors to improvise, and preferred to fix a scene that wasn't working by changing an actor's position or the whole setting rather than by altering the script. Correspondingly the emphasis isn't on action or even dialogue but on the thoughts and feelings of the characters conveyed in voiceovers. Here Wong shows his debt to the French New Wave that Tarantino, who himself got a lot out of Godard, has cited as a key aspect of Wong's originality. So is the not-unrelated whimsy, whimsy that even lightens drug running or the murders of a hitman as well as the burden of failed or frustrated love.
There is especially a lot of musing in voiceover by Kaneshiro as He, whose voice here, speaking in Mandarin, shows how soft, gentle, and insinuating Chinese can be, as he talks on and on about dates, hours, maybe even moments. He notes the exact hour when he actually turns 25, and he is obsessed with the expiration date of canned pineapple. Whimsical in the extreme is his plan to buy up and consume 30 cans expiring on his birthday, May 1st, because his ex-girlfriend's name is May - not to be confused with the May who works at Midnight Express. For all his love-disappointment there is something light and playful about Kaneshiro's performance (he will become outright raucously nutty in Fallen Angels). See how hilariously, improvisationally, he calls a string of childhood classmates late at night and asks them for dates, using the Midnight Express public phone, talking to them in a variety of languages, striking out every time.
Also eccentric is the idea that jogging, which He does at the middle of the night in an empty playing field, will rid the body of unnecessary moisture and thereby cut back on the tears. It's all crazy, but the point is, such little devices are ways of coping with emotions you can't even talk about. And these numerous voiceovers are Wong's way of stabilizing his loosely structured movies, anchoring them in the feelings of his characters.
The Blonde Wig lady, apart from a chance to introduce a famous actress in a raincoat and sunglasses at night, an Asian Greta Garbo, is also a partial holdover element of the Hong Kong gangster genre Wong grew out of and continued to play with, because when first met she is orchestrating an elaborate drug mule caper. The whole episode of the Indians used as drug runners, who then disappear, is vaguely distasteful and seems to drift off into nowhere, a plot line that's allowed to dangle. But Wong softens that impression by having He (Kaneshiro) decide "the next woman who comes into the bar" (the Blonde Wig lady, Lim) will be his new girlfriend, and latch onto her. (He should probably arrest her, but he's only briefly in full cop mode in this movie.) She is by now so tired after initial resistance she winds up resting her head on the young man's shoulder and he gets to, in some form, spend the night with her, while consuming yet more prodigious quantities of food, having downed 30 cans of expired pineapple early in the evening to signal giving up on his ex-girlfriend.
Cop 663, on the other hand, actually winds up in a new romance, linking up in the film's later sequences with the impish and delightful, if quite nutty, new employee at the midnight snack bar, Faye (Faye Wong), whose unforgettable signature is her passion for loud pop music, notably the Mamas and the Papas' "California Dreamin," one of Wong's notable repeated pop anthems. Faye falls for Cop 663, and he eventually falls for her. But what a strange "courtship"! - Her constantly breaking into his little flat (which it turns out is where Chris Doyle was actually living at the time of the shoot), and cleaning it - and also feeling everything, rearranging everything, singing and playing around, rolling about on his bed, and eventually running into him several times and barely escaping his finding her several other times.
This is an intimacy achieved by the ultra-shy, and perhaps Cop 663 figures it out and is charmed by it, strange though it is. (What people will do for love...) It's also an idea explored in Wong's next movie, Fallen Angels, an offshoot of Chungking Express anyway, with the "partner" of the hitman who's somehow fascinated by and perhaps in love with him but never gets to see him, only to clean his apartment, tend to some of his affairs, snoop into his garbage, and get outright sexual on his bed.
It's somehow miraculous (and some may think implausible, but heartwarming and optimistic, Wong's affirmation that love after all isn't all pain) that Cop 663 and Faye actually turn into a couple. Thus for all its crime, whimsy, and strange divagations, Chungking Express winds up being Wong Kar-wai's most cheerful and happy film.
Chungking Express 重慶森林 (Chung Hing sam lam, "Chongqing forest"), 102 mins, debuted at Locarno Aug. 1994, also showing that year at Toronto, New York, Tokyo and Stockholm. Its US theatrical release came in Mar. 1996. Its Metascore of 77 is hardly worthy of the high esteem it's now held in by viewers, cinephiles, and critics.
FAYE WONG AND TONY LEUNG IN CHUNGKING EXPRESS
Ashes of Time (1994). Ashes of Time Redux (2008).
BRIGITTE LIM AND LESLIE CHEUNG IN ASHES OF TIME
'Ashes of Time' was Wong Kar-wai's sole foray into the genre of the wuxia movie and naturally a very original one.
As one would expect, Wong's version of a wuxia, martial arts film gives first place to his usual preoccupations: memory, the irretrievability of the past, the impossibility of love. This isn't so much a wuxia film as a bold hybrid that uses wuxia trappings, with more talking and less fighting, in a style both lavish and minimal. The scenes, shot by Wong's sublimely flamboyant regular dp Christopher Doyle, are striking and visually rich, with intimate closeups that often frame a small but remote background with a tree, a mule, a distant horizon, like an early Dalí landscape. There are a couple of big slash-'em-up's, with men on horseback and swords gleaming, bodies and blood flying, slo-mo grinding, and that delicious, satisfying sound of tempered steel against tempered steel ringing out in the open air amid muffled cries. These vivid sounds make the abstract fight scenes seem anchored in reality.
Given Doyle's highly artful means of shooting and the stylized editing, the fights are beautiful but very impressionistic; it's extremely hard to make out details. But objecting to that is like complaining that Picasso's women, or De Kooning's, aren't anatomically correct. The blurry, abstract fights are the essence of the film and exactly what you would expect from the violent moments in Chungking Express and Fallen Angels. More of the time however involves two people sitting at a table drinking wine, some with alleged power to erase memory and restart a man's life, poured from large jars into small shallow bowls and eagerly quaffed.
Naturally, those who meet here to drink and chat are lonely people with love-longings, deep hurts, and communication difficulties, in their own heads a lot and tending to the enigmatic utterance. Sometimes they get drunk and reveal things or make promises they can be held to on pain of death, like the Anglo-Saxons in their mead halls. As usual with Wong there are lengthy voiceovers.
In this framework, desire and promises lead to a danger of death by the blade. The storyline, with its multiple flashbacks and sometimes enigmatic utterances, isn't easy to follow on the first viewing - or on the tenth, though the mystery may explain why this is particularly a movie that continues to entrance and bemuse in successive viewings.
It consists of a series of subplots laid out in haiku-like vignettes. The central character and narrator, who links the five chapters, is Ouyang Feng (Leslie Cheung, playing, as before, with great presence and ease), who is a sort of broker for assassins at a remote outpost to which he has come from his home on White Camel Mountain. He arranges martial arts tasks for people who, let's say. . . want things done, for a fee. In flashbacks, when he is younger, we see him operating in this desert place (which Christopher Doyle has said was the toughest shoot he'd ever had). This stark, dramatic setting contributes enormously to the distinctive look of the whole film.
Much of the action is out of doors. An important, and fabulous, character is Mu-rong Yin (Brigitte Lin), who sometimes goes by Mu-rong Yang, impersonating a man, her brother; so Yin and Yang, a two-sexed dual personality. Mu-rong Yin is unhappy because she has been rejected by Huang Yao-shi (Tony Leung Ka-fai). Here's one of the enigmatic details: Mu-rong Yang wants Huang offed for jilting his sister, Yin, the female alter ego, but Yin herself is dead set against this. But wait! The person Yin wants killed is her brother! "You two have an odd relationship," says Ouyang Feng, coldly considering the economics. Huang Yao-shi is, in fact, a friend of Ouyang Feng's who visits him, usually, every spring. This one year, in a decisive early scene, he brings a very special wine of forgetfulness - an allusion to the pain and impossibility of the past. It seems to work. But losing your past is dangerous.
There is a gang of horse thieves Ouyang Feng decides must be eliminated - risky venture, and the chance for a gorgeously messy battle scene. There is the beautiful creature known only as The Woman (Maggie Cheung, exquisitely refined since her appearances in Wong's first first two films), who is the love of Ouyang Feng's life. But he lost her. He says it was because his profession was too dangerous for her. She says it happened because he was too proud to propose . While he was away she decided to marry his brother out of spite, a fait accompli he discovered on returning home some time later. It was a gesture that caused grief to all concerned.
Tony Leung Chiu-wai is, or becomes, a Blind Swordsman. It's while staying overnight with Ouyang that we see him finally lose his sight - just before a major sword fight. Ouyang gives a meal to a ragged and hungry young swordsman, Hong-Qi (or Hung Chi) (Jacky Cheung), and plans on using him. He's a great swordsman, even if (a quirky Wong detail, narrated this way) he has the bad habit of running around barefoot. Ouyang has to get him some shoes. Properly shod swordsmen, he explains, bring a much higher price than the barefoot kind. Always there are the handsome men with the robes, the mustaches and long flowing hair, the lovelorn women, the wine, the musings, the horses and camels against a tiny far-off horizon. It's an intoxicating effect, making you feel hypnotized and not caring that it's all a bit vague.
This beautiful, garrulous riff on wuxia took Wong a year to finish. As we know the delays led him to break off for a while and make Chungking Express in only 26 days, Quentin Tarantino suggests as a refreshing palate cleanser. After all the effort of Ashes of Time, the film didn't get the attention it deserved internationally except for in France, and was seen elsewhere only in Chinatown theaters. Later the negatives had deteriorated, and different versions turned out to be in use. A problem was that this had been Wong's first film to be released by his own fledgling production company, Jet Tone, and he wasn't able to issue it in the quality he'd have liked. For all these reasons Wong sought to give the film a new life in a definitive version through reediting from various found negatives (one from San Francisco's Chinatown where I originally saw it), and a thoroughgoing reedit and reissue, Ashes of Time Redux, resulted in 2008.
It's not so easy to compare the two versions frame by frame in person, since copies of the original one are hard to come by in the US. But we know that in Redux, though it was made from the old films, and still based on a prequel conception of The Legend of the Eagle Shooting Heroes by Louis Cha, there are significant changes. Redux, which I reviewed at the time it was shown in the 2008 NYFF, has alternative footage and changes in the order of scenes. It has new opening titles and new fade-ins for the seasons that designate the film's chapters. (Ouyang's words about directions and almanac predictions add to the film's slow pace and archaic flavor.) Redux also has a new color-scheme, because the images have been heavily, lovingly, reprocessed; and a new soundtrack has been added with a new score or "re-arrangement" by Wu Tong with cello solos by Yo Yo Ma. Redux is seven minutes shorter. A martial arts battle scene at the outset has been cut. YouTube has an earlier version of a continuous six-minute scene of Maggie Cheung. Here the monologue is a bit corny, but the shot, with the deep tones and her pale skin, is striking and beautiful, and remains.
Awkward elements of the new version are the pumped-up color (inspired by the faded color of the old prints) and some editing-out of elements from landscape scenes, which Christopher Doyle has said he did not authorize. I made some comments on this in an online discussion when Redux came out. In either form, this is a treasure for devotees, but may baffle some who like his other films.
MAGGIE CHEUNG IN ASHES OF TIME
Fallen Angels (1995).
MICHELLE REIS IN FALLEN ANGELS
"Chungking Express' lonely oddball cousin
As Quentin Tarantino tells us in the comments at the end of his Miramax/Rolling Thunder edition DVD of Chungking Express, Wong made the latter as a way of unwinding and taking a break during the long process of making his Ashes of Time. (Both came out in the same year, 1994.) Ashes of Time is a highly wrought and complicated and unique kind of wuxia/historical martial arts movie, and it was really taking a long time to finish. Chungking Express is light and improvisational. Wong had a good time making it and it really cleared his head to go back and finish Ashes of Time. Just as Chungking Express is a sort of offshoot of Ashes of Time, Fallen Angels is an offshoot of Chungking Express. Chungking Express was meant to be made up of three stories. But, Wong decided two stories were enough; they're the two halves focused on the two lovelorn policemen, Cop 663 (Tony Leung) and Cop 223 (Takeshi Kaneshiro). Wong Kar-Wai has declared "Chungking Express and Fallen Angels together are the bright and dark of Hong Kong." The intoxicating beauty of this film dominated Wong's work from here on.
The third story that went into next year's film, Fallen Angels, is about a professional hitman, Wong Chi-Ming, played by Leon Lai-ming, who, like Faye Lin of Chungking Express, is a pop singer (he's been in a lot more films). This story branches out, and there's the alternate story of He Zhiwu, a wild mute misfit played by Cop 223 of Chungking, Takeshi Kaneshiro - and you will see some playful references to his other identity: same name, and this one was once "prisoner 223"; and and it was after eating a can of expired pineapple as a small child that "I stopped talking." The hitman has an unnamed "agent" or "partner" he never sees, played by Michelle Reis. Glamorous, sexy, and yet lonely and sad, she wears glam, sexy clothes and lots of lipstick when she cleans, and she masturbates, in two gorgeous scenes, lying on the hitman's bed. She comes and cleans his flat and tends to his affairs only when he's out, yet somehow this relationship is all-important to her. All three of the main characters, the hitman, his "partner' and He Zhiwu, have their own voiceovers describing their separate alternately colorful, strange, glamorous, dangerous, and lonely lives.
A variety of disparate scenes dominate Fallen Angels that never come together, but that is the point. Though one of Michelle Reis' voiceovers near the end remarks how you run into everybody sometime, these are lonely strangers who pass in the night. Only at the very end Reis hitches a ride with He Zhiwu (who she theorizes she may have seen before more than once, but doesn't know) out of a fast food joint on his motorcycle. "Actually," her voiceover says, "I hadn't been that close to anyone for a while...But at that moment, I felt such warmth." That's where the movie ends, that one little moment of lovely, wordless warmth.
Think of the hitman and his partner who never meet, and who go out at night - as does the mute guy, a raucous outcast. The images by Christopher Doyle are dark, colorful, angular, beautiful, and sometimes sad, "the dark of Hong Kong." There are some violent scenes in dives like the mah-johngg parlors and restaurant of As Tears Go By, but, thanks largely to dp Doyle and elaborate editing techniques, they're both more violent and much more stylized, with ultra slo-mo or Wong's step-printing technique combining to turn the chaotic action as the hitman's two pistols blaze into an abstract-expressionist blur, music unifying the gun blasts and sounds of crashing glass in the prettiest, most remote violence you've ever seen. Wong comes a long way here from the relatively conventional violent, more genre-style scenes of As Tears Go By. This is a gorgeous stylishness that to some may seem alienating and very strange, but to the cinephile can hardly fail to delight for its own sake.
Certain scenes of Fallen Angels especially linger in the memory. The hitman's flat seems to be beside a train line, and appropriately narrow and elongated. Everything is long, tilted, and angular, the fish-eye lens images shifting to tilt first down to the right, then down to the left. These lonely, alienated images of urban night are extraordinarily glamorous and beautiful. In the squinched-in confines of the hitman's long, narrow flat, Reis, the hitman's partner/agent busily tidies up, going over the hitman's trash meticulously to find out about him. (As her voiceover explains: with these lonely, isolated people, the voiceovers become essential for us to know them.)
Meanwhile, He Zhiwu is leading a manic nocturnal existence busily invading and temporarily taking over other people's businesses late at night. We see him forcing a shampoo and a shave on someone at a barber shop; forcing a huge vegetable on a lady in a produce market; in a laundromat doing someone's clothes against his will; or most memorably, force-feeding people from an ice-cream truck and treating an entire family, the children eager, the adults not. This impishness, with its parallel in the invasive house-cleanings of Faye Wong in Chungking Express, surely owes a lot to Takeshi Kaneshiro's own personality: we see how playful and silly he can be and how much he likes improvising in Chungking Express, where he makes being jilted into a comedy routine. Kaneshiro is an incredible star, half Taiwanese and half Japanese by birth and fluent in Mandarin but also a Cantonese and Japanese speaker, he is impossibly good-looking and boyish from birth, it would appear. He began as a teen idol but became a devastatingly handsome costume epic star a decade later in Zhang Yimou's House of Flying Daggers. But he seems most unique and engaging here, though his kookiness is passive-aggressive, to be sure, and totally a thing of improvisation in a variety of late-night real-life sets. Kaneshiro starred in nine movies in 1995. This is the keeper, though.
Wong Chhi-ming (Leon Lai) is always seen dressed with a cut-down undershirt under a dress jacket and a gold necklace that gives him an incongruously effete and feminine air. Nothing can compare with the first kill sequence, also memorable, when he bursts into a restaurant and murders most of the customers - and then takes a bus home. On the bus, he's spotted by a high school classmate and shyly looks away, toward the camera, while this classmate hovers behind, chattering about this and that, inviting him to his impending wedding and offering to sell him top quality life insurance at a bargain rate. Hitman Wong shows the man a photo of his black "wife" and "child," both, he explains to us casually in voiceover, shots he hired people to pose for, for use in occasions just like this. He has no family. He doubts, confidentially, that an insurance company would provide coverage for a professional hitman. Indeed, he is not a good risk. Wong also points out his work is sporadic; he has to take debt enforcement jobs sometimes, and might otherwise have months of no work. This playful humor suggests that the mass murder scenes aren't to be taken too seriously either, are just playful riffs on the Hong Kong gangster movie style.
Days of Being Wild, when Wong Kar-wai unquestionably became Wong, is almost all sad romance; gunshots are used sparingly. Fallen Angels, like Chungking Express, reintroduces a crime element. The people in Fallen Angels are lonely misfits. But they're busy. And they're not complaining. Next, Wong was going to make a movie whose loneliness is much more intimate, and more becalmed: the doomed gay romance Happy Together.
Of course anthemic, emotional pop songs continue to be important here, as "California Dreamin'" is in Chungking Express and other songs are in Happy Together. Songs express emotions and convey decisions. The hitman can't meet with his "partner" to tell her he's dissolving their bond: he sends her to a bar jukebox to listen to "1818," which opens with the words "Forget him." The final song is Yazoo's "Only You."
I haven't even mentioned Charlie Yeung, and Karen Mok. They are would-be girlfriends for the hitman and the mute, who don't quite work out... but: see the movie.
Fallen Angels, 墮落天使 (Do Lok Tin si, "Fallen Angel") 99 mins., came out between Ashes of Time and Happy Together . It debuted at Toronto Sept. 1995; it showed at Berlin Feb. 1996, Oslo Nov. 1996; and in the NYFF Oct. 1997. It has a US theatrical release Jan. 30, 1998. Kevin Thomas wrote in the Los Angeles Times, "An exhilarating rush of a movie, with all manner of go-for-broke visual bravura that expresses perfectly the free spirits of his bold young people." Metascore 71.
Happy Together (1997).
Last tango in Buenos Aires - a new direction and new recognition
The earlier Wong Kar-wai films focused on romantic desire, longing, or frustration, loneliness or fleeting relationships. Happy Together shifts to a couple who've been together a while and are having problems, but can't seem to split up for long. For this turbulent gay love story Wong boldly used Leslie Cheung and Tony Chiu-wai Leung, two of the biggest Hong Kong male stars (Leung definitely straight), showing them passionately making out on a little bed in the very first scene. And Wong reportedly shot that first scene first, rubbing the actors' noses in the unaccustomed gay subject matter (unaccustomed at least for Leung). Maybe to get that out of the way, as some have suggested; but it's not the last gay sex glimpsed on screen. In this film, though, the physical side isn't so much the point. It's the emotional involvement of Po-wing (Cheung) and Yiu-fai (Leung) that counts. It's over but it's not over. It may have turned into nothing but care-taking and fighting, but the hold is as strong as ever.
The painfully back-and-forth of the relationship between sensuous, promiscuous Po-wing (Cheung) and responsible Yiu-fai (Leung) is underlined by the way Christopher Doyle's images shift back and forth between black and white and color. The scene-shifts are jerky; they jerk us around.
Wong Kar-wai temporarily avoided the issue of the 1997 Handover of Hong Kong to Chinese rule by shooting his 1997 feature abroad, in Buenos Aires, a location the director comfortably makes his own, even if his characters are aliens in it. The relentless, melancholy tango music of Astor Piazolla resounds throughout (and indeed, we get to see the principals tango together) - as does, later on, a Hong Kong rendition of the Turtles' song "Happy Together." Wong knew homosexuality would not fare well under the new regime so he took this last chance to make a film about that theme, treating gay love as a relentless "can't live with you, can't live without you" relationship that makes that title ironic.
Another irony is that Wong tones down his relationship with the brilliant, bold dp Christopher Doyle with a film of more straightforward (if still often gorgeous) images, and drops the fanciful double plot structures of his last two films in favor of the simple, linear one of the life abroad of three men (and no women). Yet somehow it's perhaps even harder for the viewer to get a foothold in this world that's so concretely depicted, in these scenes that are so simple, even as they evoke every turbulent relationship you may have ever had.
Yet the world is a concrete one of little shabby rooms. Wong's films have reveled in such rooms from the start, but never more tiny and shabby than the one Yiu-fai occupies after he and Po-wing break up - where Po-wing joins him after one brawl too many when he's helpless, with bandaged hands, jammed with a ghetto style crowd in the hallway below where people cook and there is the only phone. The lived-in quality of this setting reflects the extended time spend filming in Argentina, which was supposed to be brief but extended to four months.
Vivid also is the tiny tango bar where Yiu-fai works as a doorman in evening clothes, munching sandwiches or quaffing from flasks of liquor as he stands outside in the cold. It's here that Po-wing reappears by chance, arriving in cars with new male conquests or clients. As before, Leslie Cheung effortlessly exudes sensuousness and profligacy. Tony Leung is the orderly, hard-working one, but also a man who drinks and has a temper. We don't see what he does to end his employment at the bar, but it's violent.
One thing that threads the repetitious, believably going-nowhere narrative together is the couple's project, failed at the start, never abandoned, to visit a famous location, the Iguazu Falls, depicted on a cheap revolving lamp they had in the first tiny Argentine room, which Yiu-fai keeps. It's the objective correlative of the longing for a happy moment that can never be. But the real thread is the little room with the bed on one side and sofa on the other. When Yiu-fai is caring for Po-wing with the bandaged hands, they fight over who'll sleep on which. The secret is Yiu-fai never wants Po-wing to leave. All this is mostly from Yiu-fai's point of view. He thinks this is their happiest time. He hides Po-wing's passport.
After the tango bar Yiu-fai works in a kitchen. He becomes the only friend of a young twentyish Taiwanese guy, Chang (Chen Chang, who starred in Edward Yang's autobiographical A Brighter Summer Day at fifteen). They drink together and the intuitive kid hears in his voice the sadness Yiu-fai denies. They seem happy playing ball with other Chinese kitchen staff outside the restaurant and it's Decenber, therefore summertime, which Yiu-fai says passes quickly. But not quickly enough: he takes another night job at a slaughterhouse to save money and avoid the now lonely room, for Po-wing has escaped. Apparently Yiu-fai and Po-wing are not going to meet again. Yiu-fai goes to see Iguazu and views the falls alone. Chang has left to visit an extreme southernmost point where he's promised to leave Yiu-fai's sadness. Po-wing enters the old room, empty of his lover now, and weeps. Lots of touching little details here. The friendship of Chang and Yiu-fai is heartbreaking.
This first Wong film about an established relationship is the loneliest and saddest but the most touching so far. This film brought Wong the greatest international recognition he'd yet had. Yet some Anglo critics dismissed it as too plotless. It arouses mixed reactions in me. It's not as fun as the earlier films, or as glorious visually - despite Doyle's ability to make the most ordinary locations evocative and fresh.
On the other hand, this is more about grown-up experience than what has come before. But I feel dissatisfied, as is Mike D'Angelo, who has said Happy Together has all the elements he loves in Wong, the moody characters, lovely images, free structure, but irritates him by substituting the romantic yearning with endless squabbling. It's not quite that simple but that's kind of true nonetheless. As a gay person I have to be grateful for this movie from my cinematic idol, but I find Leslie Cheung more interesting in Days of Being Wild, where he's central, than Tony Leung, who's the lonely, reliable guy who dominates here.
Happy Together 春光乍洩 (Chun gwong cha sit, "Bright spring," the Chinese title reportedly an allusion - ironic? - to the Handover), 98mins., debuted at Cannes in Competition May 1997, winning Wong the directing prize. Viewed on a screener of the 4K restoration "undertaken from the original 35mm camera negative by the Criterion Collection, in collaboration with Jet Tone Films, with l'Immagine Ritrovata and One Cool," approved by Wong Kar-wai. To be shown in a series of six 4K restorations of Wong Kar-wai films in virtual theater from Dec. 11 2020 by Roxie Theater and BAM/PFA.
In the Mood for Love (2000)
Adultery repression; or lust, caution: Wong's "achingly sensual exploration of thwarted desire"*
After all the outrageous fun Wong Kar-wai had in his earlier movies he accepts punishment in In the Mood for Love, a straight jacket of impeccable cinema about an uptight couple, thrown together (in adjoining apartments!) by their spouses' adultery (apparently, with each other, though this is only evidential surmise, due to coincidental purchases in Japan). For me, there is the additional punishment that this exquisite, grown up film, which is so tedious and repetitious to watch, is heralded as Wong's greatest masterpiece. More than that perhaps it's simply what came along after the wider international public had finally noticed Wong. It's another period film of the early sixties like Days of Being Wild, but much less "wild," the Chinese title alluding to Wong's nostalgia for the "golden years" or good old days when his family first came to Hong Kong from China. This time it's about married couples, a man and woman from two different couples, and oh so repressed and romantic. It appealed to the kind of middle-aged arthouse audience that rushed to see it. It's impeccable rather than brilliant; correct, without boldness or flair, like its protagonists. Admittedly, watching this movie with an adoring lock-step arthouse audience was no fun compared to seeing my first two Wong films in a Chinatown cinema without a middle class white person in sight. It wasn't as cool.
This was another instance, like the making of his costume-martial arts extravaganza Ashes of Time, when a Wong Kar-wai production dragged out. It took 15 months to make and ran over budget, and this is why the cinematography of Christopher Boyle had to be supplemented by the work of Mark Lee Ping-bin and the Vietnamese cameraman Trần Anh Hùng. It's possible to see a pattern here of free, improvisational work like Days of Being Wild, Chungking Express and Fallen Angels, and more highly wrought efforts like this and Ashes of Time,, the latter time-consuming originally, and then elaborately done over in a Redux version.
Okay, In the Mood for Love is a masterpiece. All his films are up to here. This is also Wong's best role for Maggie Cheung, who as the professional secretary, Su Li-zhen - Mrs. Chan, displays a succession of exquisite expressions of subtly repressed emotional pain - and a long succession of no less than 20 different beautiful cheongsams (or quipaos) high-necked Chinese-style dresses in which she looks stunning, every inch the movie star. Even the movie admits her outfits are a bit much. "She dresses up like that to go out for noodles?" asks the chatty, mahjong-playing landlady, Mrs. Suen.
As Su's fellow-sufferer, the newspaper writer Chow Mo-wan, Tony Leung Chiu-fai also gets to put on a refined display of noble suffering and restraint. Pertly it's a repressed almost-affair and partly a two-person adultery victims support group. And as Mike D'Angelo points out, describing several sequences in this film that show off Wong's artistry, Wong and his two stars can make anything, even fetching noodles or walking back and forth, good to watch. But I'm not going to pretend to enjoy it.
We get a sort of progression of couples relationships in Wong's films. He starts out with the slight, cut-short romance between the small-time triad thug and the simple country girl in As Tears Go By. Then he rolls out the flamboyant doomed playboy-seducer in Days of Being Wild (which, for my money, is the real masterpiece). Chungking Express gives us a couple of jilted young men seeking new relationships. Who knows what's going on in Ashes of Time, but various strange couples pass by, while there is one central pair who remain in love and should have gotten together but never do (and the women is Maggie Cheung). Then, there is [I]Happy Together,[/I a foray into the world of a gay couple who have been linked for a while, but are having trouble. Finally, with In the Mood for Love, we arrive at a regular, heterosexual couple - a man and a woman who are being two-timed by their respective spouses.
You're attracted, you flirt, you have sex, you break up, you look for new partners. Finally, you get married. And this is what happens. Adultery is the ultimate couples relationship.
But this new cheated-on pair who drift together make a very uptight pair. We get little for some time for back-and-forth walks to and from work or to bring takeout food. When Su and Chow finally eat out at a restaurant, tht's painfully restricted too. The little booth, the anemic-looking, semi-transparent light green glass plates, the unappetizing looking dark blobs of western food they pick at with forks: it's all an icky affair. But this film is respectful toward its repressive world. The people are always polite. The bossy, nosy Mrs. Suen (played by Yuddy's foster mother from Days of Being Wild, Rebecca Pan) tells Su she is "too polite." Later she tells her she's having too much fun, causing her to curtail her enjoyable evening meetings with Chow.
The repression causes this couple of fellow-sufferers to have the very complicated experience depicted in In the Mood for Love. Wong Kar-wai has made a film about hiding and deception. Even though Chow and Su risk scandal by starting to meet secretly, they never even kiss. They get all the danger without the fun. Instead, they talk about wuxia comics for his work - she helps him with ideas, but we don't get any details. And we see Mrs. Chen walking back and forth so often with a food thermos this starts to seem like "The Lunchbox - Hong Kong version."
Things get more emotional, partly through several enactments Su and Chow carry out in which she practices how she will confront her husband with his adultery, in which she realizes she's much more deeply affected by this than she realized. There is also the tragic back-and-forth when Chow goes to work for a paper in Shanghai and they nearly go together, ending later in another sad, maddening almost. The movie's two musical refrains (something always memorable in Wong), the sweeping strings of the theme from Seijun Suzuki's Yumeji** so full of energy and hope and the teasing strains of Nat King Cole's version of Osvaldo Farrés' "Quizás, quizás, quizás," perhaps, perhaps, perhaps, perfectly embody the hope and frustration of the story (Mike D'Angelo talks knowlegeably about this and much more in his AV Club "Scenic Routes" analysis of this film). Equally perfect is journalist Chow's eccentric ritual, already spoken of, whispering his secret longing in a hole at Angkor Wat, sealing it with mud, one of Wong's totally sui generis fantasies.
What maybe doesn't work so well, is a clash between Wong's typically improvisational working method and his narrative here, which involves two elegantly restrained people making tiny adjustments to easy out hints of desires they can never gratify. It's questionable whether the working method is right to convey the nuances of such an incremental piece. The film winds up feeling overbearingly aesthetic and visual, without the counterweight of youthful verve and physicality that anchored Wong's earlier films. But this is no doubt a labor of love, and its refinements satisfy many enthusiastic cinephiles.
In the Mood for Love 花樣年華 (Fa yeung nin wah, "The Flowering Years"), 98 mins., debuted in Competition at Cannes May 2000, featured at numerous international festivals including Edinburgh, Toronto, San Sebastián, Reykjavik, Pusan, Tokyo, opening in the US Feb. 2001. Metascore 85.
*Phrase used by Mike D'Angelo in his AV Club piece.
**Composed and performed by Umebayashi Shigeru.
Eros: The Hand (2004)
CHANG CHEN AND GOING LI IN THE HAND
Eroticism of tailoring
An extended form, seen for the first time, of a short piece by Wong Kar-wai from 2004 (same year as 2046) for a three-part anthology including Soderbergh and Antonioni, this is like a short story. It depicts the erotic/professional relationship of a young tailor, Zhang (Chang Chen), and his most memorable client, a beautiful, glamorous, mysterious, tragic courtesan, Miss Hua (Gong Li). While this may seem a relatively slight effort, "The Hand" is still fabulous filmmaking and another example, like In the Mood for Love, of Wong's transition from his buoyant, frenetic style into something more static, grand, sad, and drenched in period.
This has all the glamor and restraint and exquisite Christopher Doyle cinematography of In the Mood for Love, and William Chang Suk-ping's tacky-chic set design and his editing. But it's all in a new key/ The longing and frustration of the earlier film has been transferred from two bourgeois married people to the world of a tailor shop and a prostitute. One could almost say these themes work better here.
It's not a surprise that after Miss Hua gives young Zhang a hand job when he first comes as an apprentice to become her new tailor, that things don't progress erotically as we might have expected them to do between Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung in In the Mood for Love). Instead, since Zhang is so virginal when he enters the room with her, arriving when she has been plainly servicing a male client, he gets an erection, she becomes his muse and obsession as a tailor.
In some scenes Zhang makes love to Miss Hua's dresses, caressing them with his steam iron, finally invading one of them with his exploring hand. After all, a tailored dress is the most intimate way of possessing a woman's body, and so the dressmaker is the beautiful woman's proxy lover, by his very nature. This film in part explores that possibility.
Years later when Zhang comes to see Miss Hua, now in sad decline and very ill, he says she is the reason why he became a tailor. She indeed told him at the outset his orgasm will inspire him whenever he works on her dresses. But because this is a Wong film there is more, because years later he has still not married ("no one wants me") and still longs for her.
But there's more than that. It's clear Zhang's boss, Master Jin (veteran actor Tien Feng) has held Miss Hua in high esteem. She was glamorous and highly paid. Or is it more likely he simply adored her beauty and her exquisite body and loved making dresses for her? So Zhang comes to her second hand, already just a bit past her prime, let us say (Gong LI was 41). But some women have just got it: the elegance, the attractiveness linger on, they are desirable at any age. This seems to be an assumption behind the story and behind the seeming assumption of both Master Jin and Zhang that whatever the status of this woman, there is an aura of the eternal feminine about her. (It's a demanding requirement for Gong Li. But she has it and even last year in Lou Ye's Saturday Fiction she was still, at 54, glamorous and beautiful. The casting was right also for Zhang in Chang Chen, who's made to appear stiffer and plainer, naturally, than he really is as the repressed, desire-ridden young tailor, with the way his hair is combed and the mustache he has. In real life this Taiwanese actor, who will play Timothee Chalamet's mentor in the new Dune and has been important ever since the age of 14 when he played the lead in Edward Yang's 1991 coming of age classic A Brighter Summer Day - Wong's casts have always been who's whos of Chinese film stardom.
Zhang has a reprise of his first meeting when Miss Hua is ill, and weeping, perhaps moved by the fact that he so clearly still admires and desires her and she doesn't feel worth it anymore. The final scene between them is both sexy and heartbreaking, and played by both actors to the hilt. There's almost nothing like it. It's not fun, it's almost not even erotic, but it's very moving. Moving also is how Zhang covers for her in the final scene when he goes back and talks to Master jin about Miss Hua, who he says has left again. In this extended form, this is another Wong film that one can go back and watch over and over, finding new nuances and new beauties, new ways Wong has concealed layers of emotion.
This was shot during the making of 2046. While it was shooting, the company learned of the suicide of Leslie Cheung, a great chock and tragedy for Wong, for whom he had been both a key star and a real friend, and then there was the SARS epidemic and everything in Hong Kong went strangely, terrifyingly dead. It was a fraught time. But from that punishment this pearl emerged.
The Hand The Hand” / 愛神·手 2 ("Eros - Hand 2)), 56 mins., debuted (in its shortened form, first of the three) at Venice Sept. 10, 2004, also showing at Toronto, and later in a few other festivals. Warner Independent Pictures released the film in North American theaters Apr. 8, 2005, but in few cinemas with poor publicity, so it did not do well. All critics say only the Wong segment is worthwhile. Metascore for the anthology: 54%.
Film at Lincoln Center Daily. . . . .from HERE
A Note from Wong Kar Wai on His New Restorations
By Wong Kar Wai on December 2, 2020 in Retrospective
On the Restorations
During the process of restoring the pictures that you are about to watch, we were caught in a dilemma between restoring these films to the form in which the audience had remembered them and how I had originally envisioned them. There was so much that we could change, and I decided to take the second path as it would represent my most vivid vision of these films. For that reason, the following changes were made.
Chungking Express and In the Mood for Love were shot and released theatrically on 1.66:1, one of my favorite aspect ratios, but they were converted to 1.85:1 on videogram. Since most people experienced these films on videogram, it perpetuated the belief that they were shot on 1:85:1. With these restorations, you will be watching them in their original aspect ratios. With Fallen Angels, I have changed the format to cinemascope, because it was originally what I had intended to release the film in. When we were cutting the film, we accidentally turned the Steenbeck on anamorphic instead of standard. I felt that the film looked much more interesting because it enhanced the distance of the characters on top of the extreme wide angle that we shot on. Back then, it was impossible to shoot a film in standard and release it in anamorphic. With this restoration, we have successfully fulfilled this wish.
Still from In the Mood for Love
Chungking Express was made before 5.1 surround sound, so we had to retool the settings and sound configurations this time.
Likewise, we also remixed In the Mood for Love, and Robert Mackenzie did a great job as we collaborated remotely during the pandemic.
We created new credits for a consistent look throughout the films. They are also a reminder to our audience that these are the restored versions.
During a fire accident in 2019, we lost some of the original negative of Happy Together. In the ensuing months, we tried to restore the negative as much as we could, but a portion of it had been permanently damaged. We lost not only some of the picture, but also the sound in those reels.
As a result, I had to shorten some of Tony’s monologues, but with the amazing work of L’Immagine Ritrovata, we managed to restore most of the scenes to better quality.
After the premiere of Ashes of Time Redux in 2008, some audience members observed that the film looked different from what they had remembered. I realized that some of our audience discovered the film on pirated copies and suboptimal exhibition venues that presented the film in a different light. Still, some preferred the versions that they had watched, because memories are hard to beat.
As the saying goes: “no man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.”
Since the beginning of this process, these words have reminded me to treat this as an opportunity to present these restorations as a new work from a different vantage point in my career.
Having arrived at the end of this process, these words still hold true.
I invite the audience to join me on starting afresh, as these are not the same films, and we are no longer the same audience.
WORLD OF WONG KAR WAI TRAILER
World of Wong Kar Wai continues through January 1.
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♣♣♣♣/♣♣♣♣♣
Yale law student JD Vance (Gabriel Basso) is juggling his studies at an Ivy League and several jobs to make ends meet. In the hopes of getting an internship that will bring him closer to girlfriend Usha (Freida Pinto) and alleviate his financial issues, he attends a networking dinner where he gets to meet the top bosses of big firms across the country. Just when he is about to secure a final interview slot, he receives a call from his sister Lindsay (Haley Bennett) who breaks the news that their mother Beverly (Amy Adams) has just been admitted to a hospital due to heroin overdose. Forced to go on a long drive to help his family, he takes a trip down memory lane, from his humble beginnings in Ohio to his growth as a human being heavily influenced by his hillbilly history mainly through the guidance of his late Mamaw (Glenn Close).
This film is a bit difficult to watch because of the non-linear plot. Past and present flow through one another without rhyme or reason, and we get to see both a younger JD (Owen Asztalos) and his current self as if in a tug-of-war for the role of narrator. It just so happens that younger JD’s story is more interesting to watch than that of his present self, perhaps because of Asztalos’ many scenes with Close. As such, the flow of storytelling is rather chaotic and kind of all over the place.
Adams gives another Oscar-worthy performance as single mother Bev, both in her early years and at present. The character is quite polarizing, to say the least. On one hand you are not sure if you hate her because she is such a train wreck of a character, meaning the screenplay is to blame. On the other hand, it could also be because Adams totally commits to the role which makes you kind of pity and loathe the character at the same time. In any case, Bev is not given any redemption arc. Her happy ending comes in the form of an epilogue through real-life photos, not really giving Adams the chance to salvage her character onscreen.
If there is anyone in the cast who really shines, it must be Close as Mamaw. As the headstrong family matriarch, she makes most of her scenes with the young JD so endearing to watch. Nobody will blame you if you end up missing your own grandma in the process. Mamaw is the voice of reason in this narrative, which is maybe the reason why you miss her every time she is not there. In a way, you end up getting invested more in her story than the narrator himself. Too bad her screen time is limited because this is not her story to tell after all. But hey, I would gladly watch a Mamaw spinoff if they plan to develop one!
As for JD himself, Basso suffers from lack of interesting subplots. Sure, we love underdogs and people who persevere to get far in life. The thing is, he shares most of JD’s story with Asztalos, who attacks the character with just the right mix of innocence and persistence. In the battle between a coming-of-age tale and a grown-up’s struggles with adulting, the former always tends to outshine the latter. Perhaps it has something to do with nostalgia and reconnecting with one’s roots, which is what this film is all about anyway.
Much of the backlash the storyline, both in literary and film form, had to endure is the very depiction of being a hillbilly. Some think that this narrative does not really represent them, while others believe that it is still a worthy attempt on getting their stories out there. For someone who does not hail from America, what you will eventually connect to is the concept of family, which is universal enough to transcend interstate and international boundaries. Shortcomings in storytelling aside, Hillbilly Elegy can still strike a chord through this angle. You can’t choose your family but for many, it is all that matters. You don’t have to be a hillbilly to relate to that, being a human being should suffice.
WRITTEN BY: ihcahieh at 6:43:00 PM
CATEGORY: Film, Hollywood
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Ilan Berman
biography articles blog media coverage spoken books mailing list
Moscow And Beijing Want To Arm The Ayatollahs
by Ilan Berman
Al-Hurra Digital
http://www.ilanberman.com/24518/moscow-and-beijing-want-to-arm-the-ayatollahs
A new battle is brewing over Iran.
Last month, the Trump administration formally appealed to the United Nations to extend the international arms embargo on Iran, which is set to expire in mid-October. That ban, contained in UN Security Council Resolution 2231, is designed to prevent Iran from acquiring new deliveries of sophisticated conventional weaponry. The Administration had worked diligently in recent months to build international support for such a step, and managed to garner some support (including from the Gulf Cooperation Council). But the measure met with strong opposition at the UN, most notably from Russia and China, and ultimately failed to pass.
In the wake of the diplomatic defeat, the United States has invoked the "snapback" provision of Resolution 2231, which calls for the restoration of all UN sanctions on Iran that were waived as a result of the 2015 nuclear deal known as the JCPOA. That step has touched off a pitched legal debate. The other parties to the agreement (Russia, China, the UK, France and Germany) have all challenged America's right to call for "snapback," since the Trump administration formally decided in May 2018 to pull out of the JCPOA. Yet, as experts have convincingly argued, the actual language of the UNSCR 2231 still gives the United States the authority to invoke the agreement's provisions. The policy debate now revolves around whether the United Nations will eventually act – and what Washington might do unilaterally if it doesn't.
Lost amid that discussion, however, is a proper explanation of why the U.S. effort failed in the first place.
To be sure, at least some of the resistance can be chalked up to opposition to the Trump administration's "maximum pressure" policy, which has already cost Iran's main trading partners dearly. Over the past two years, European companies have been progressively driven out of Iran over fears of crippling American sanctions, while major EU initiatives involving the Islamic Republic have been put at risk. In all, European experts estimate that the Continent has so far lost nearly $50 billion in commercial trade with Iran as a result of U.S. sanctions. This, in turn, has bred no shortage of resistance from countries that are eager to reengage Tehran, and resentful of American pressure preventing them from doing so.
Yet the more significant drivers of the impasse are undoubtedly Russia and China, both of whom serve as key strategic partners of Iran – and who are poised to reap the benefits if the arms embargo does end up expiring. "Iran remains reliant on countries such as Russia and China for procurement of advanced conventional capabilities," a recent assessment by the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency outlines. The same study notes that the Islamic Republic is eager to "purchase new advanced weapon systems from foreign suppliers to modernize its armed forces, including equipment it has largely been unable to acquire for decades." For Moscow and Beijing, then, blocking the extension of the UN arms embargo amounts to shrewd business.
This intransigence is likely to come at a high cost for the region, however.
Here, it's worth remembering that, a dozen years ago, mounting regional fears of Iran's expanding nuclear program ignited a cascade of proliferation in the Middle East and North Africa. At its high-water mark in 2008, the prestigious International Institute for Strategic Studies noted at the time, no fewer than thirteen separate countries had begun making serious movements toward a nuclear capability of their own. While at least some of those nations were driven by other motivations, others – like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE – were clearly looking for strategic counterweights to Iran's growing nuclear capability.
Much the same dynamic could play out in the near future. A failure by the international community to continue to limit Iran's access to advanced weaponry could touch off a scramble among nervous regional states to acquire those same systems in response.
That, in fact, appears to be precisely what Moscow and Beijing are banking on. Russia and China are already major weapons exporters in their own right, and over the past half-decade have accounted for 21% and 5.5% of all global arms sales respectively, according to statistics compiled by the Stockholm International Peace Institute. But now, both countries are actively working to expanding their presence – and their military sales – in the Middle East and North Africa. The inevitable spike in regional demand for Russian and Chinese arms that would follow the expiration of the UN arms embargo would solidify their gains still further.
As such, the debate over the UN arms embargo – and the larger discussion over whether to reimpose sanctions on Iran – isn't simply a procedural matter. It's also a vote over whether Iran will be allowed to rearm, and whether its nervous neighbors will feel compelled to follow suit. Both Moscow and Beijing, at least, are hoping that all of them do.
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What Will Joe Biden Do About The Iran-al-Qaida Connection?
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Gauging The Future Of The Not-So Islamic Republic Of Iran
The Israel-Morocco Deal Is a Triumph for Trump—and Biden, Too
Israel Aims To Make Iran's Nuclear Program A Risky Venture
The New Water Politics Of The Middle East
The Quest For A New Iranian Constitution
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Wheeling, West Virginia metropolitan area
(Redirected from Wheeling, WV-OH MSA)
The Wheeling Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of two counties in the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia and one in Ohio, anchored by the city of Wheeling. As of the 2010 census, the MSA had a population of 147,950. This represents a decline of 3.4% from the 2000 census population of 153,172.[1] The estimated population as of July 1, 2012 is 146,420.[2]
The Wheeling MSA is generally considered part of the Pittsburgh Tri-State area. The metro—although self-contained in many ways—is heavily influenced by Pittsburgh media and transportation (notably Pittsburgh International Airport), as well as some Ohio media and sports influence.
1 Counties
Marshall County, West Virginia
Ohio County, West Virginia
Belmont County, Ohio
Places with more than 25,000 inhabitants
Wheeling, West Virginia (Principal city)
Places with 5,000 to 10,000 inhabitants
Martins Ferry, Ohio
Moundsville, West Virginia
St. Clairsville, Ohio
Places with 1,000 to 5,000 inhabitants
Barnesville, Ohio
Bellaire, Ohio
Benwood, West Virginia
Bethesda, Ohio
Bridgeport, Ohio
Cameron, West Virginia
Glen Dale, West Virginia
McMechen, West Virginia
Neffs, Ohio (census-designated place)
Powhatan Point, Ohio
Shadyside, Ohio
West Liberty, West Virginia
Yorkville, Ohio (partial)
Places with 500 to 1,000 inhabitants
Brookside, Ohio
Flushing, Ohio
Places with less than 500 inhabitants
Fairview, Ohio
Holloway, Ohio
Morristown, Ohio
Valley Grove, West Virginia
Wilson, Ohio
Unincorporated places
Alledonia, Ohio
Bannock, Ohio
Barton, Ohio
Betty Zane, West Virginia
Blaine, Ohio
Clinton, West Virginia
Colerain, Ohio
Eden, West Virginia
Elm Grove, West Virginia
Fairpoint, Ohio
Glencoe, Ohio
Greggsville, West Virginia
Jacobsburg, Ohio
Lafferty, Ohio
Lansing, Ohio
Maynard, Ohio
Mount Echo, West Virginia
Mount Olivet, West Virginia
Mozart, West Virginia
Overbrook, West Virginia
Point Mills, West Virginia
Riverview, Ohio
Roneys Point, West Virginia
Warnock, Ohio
Warwood, West Virginia
Townships (Belmont County, Ohio)
As of the census[3] of 2000, there were 153,172 people, 62,249 households, and 41,506 families residing within the MSA. The racial makeup of the MSA was 95.62% White, 2.87% African American, 0.12% Native American, 0.44% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.14% from other races, and 0.79% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.48% of the population.
The median income for a household in the MSA was $30,513, and the median income for a family was $39,284. Males had a median income of $31,388 versus $20,307 for females. The per capita income for the MSA was $16,942.
West Virginia census statistical areas
Ohio census statistical areas
↑ "CPH-T-5. Population Change for Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas in the United States and Puerto Rico (February 2013 Delineations): 2000 to 2010" (PDF). 2010 Census Population and Housing Tables. United States Census Bureau, Population Division. March 2013. Retrieved February 12, 2014. <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
↑ "Annual Estimates of the Population of Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2012" (XLS). 2012 Population Estimates. United States Census Bureau, Population Division. March 2013. Retrieved February 12, 2014. <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
↑ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31. <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
State of West Virginia
Charleston (capital)
Census-designated places
Allegheny Mountains
Allegheny Plateau
Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area
Charleston Metropolitan Area
Cumberland Plateau
Cumberland Mountains
Eastern Panhandle
Huntington Metropolitan Area
North-Central West Virginia
Northern Panhandle
Potomac Highlands
Ridge-and-valley Appalachians
Southern West Virginia
Western West Virginia
Parkersburg-Vienna
Charelston
Monongalia
Pleasants
Roane
Columbus (capital)
Appalachian Ohio
The Bluegrass
Extreme Northwest Ohio
Glacial till plains
Lake Erie Islands
Mahoning Valley
Miami Valley
Northeast Ohio
Findlay-Tiffin
Youngstown-Warren
Meigs
Scioto
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Monthly Prayer Schedule
Ikhlas Academy Main
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Islam is not a new religion. It is the same truth that God revealed to all His prophets throughout history. Islam is both a religion and a complete way of life. Muslims follow a religion of peace, mercy and forgiveness that should not be associated with acts of violence against the innocent.
Who are Muslims and what do they believe?
There are an estimated 1.2 billion Muslims worldwide. No more than 20 percent of Muslims live in the Arabic-speaking world. The country with the largest Muslim population is Indonesia. Muslims believe in One, Unique, and Incomparable God. They believe in the Day of Judgement and individual accountability for actions. Muslims believe in a chain of prophets beginning with Adam and including Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Job, Moses, David, Solomon, and Jesus. God’s eternal message was reaffirmed and finalized by the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on them all). One becomes a Muslim by saying, “There is no deity but God, and Muhammad is the messenger of God.” By this declaration, the person announces faith in all of God’s messengers.
What is the Quran?
The Quran is the record of the exact words revealed by God through the Angel Gabriel to the Prophet Muhammad. It was memorized by Muhammad and then dictated to his companions. The text of the Quran was cross-checked during the life of the Prophet. The 114 chapters of the Quran have remained unchanged through the centuries.
What are the “Five Pillars” of Islam?
The Declaration of Faith – This consists of the two sentence declaration described above.
Prayer – Muslims perform five obligatory prayers each day. Islamic prayers are a direct link between the worshiper and God. Islam has no hierarchical authority or priesthood. A learned Muslim chosen by each congregation leads the prayers.
Zakat – One of the most important principles of Islam is that all things belong to God and that wealth is held in trust by human beings. Zakat, or charitable giving, “purifies” wealth by setting aside a portion for those in need. This payment is usually two and a half percent of one’s capital.
Fasting – Every year in the Islamic lunar month of Ramadan, Muslims fast from first light until sunset. The fast is another method of self-purification.
Pilgrimage – A pilgrimage to Mecca, or Hajj, is an obligation for those who are physically or financially able.
What about the American Muslim community?
There are an estimated 7 million Muslims in America. The Muslim community in America is made up of people from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds and national origins. There are almost 2,000 mosques, Islamic schools and Islamic centers in America. Muslims are active in all walks of life. Islam is one of the fastest growing religions in this country and around the world.
What about Muslim women?
Under Islamic law, women have always had the right to own property, receive an education and otherwise take part in community life. Men and women are to be respected equally. The Islamic rules for modest dress apply to both women and men equally. (Men cannot expose certain parts of their bodies, wear gold or silk, etc.) If a particular society oppresses women, it does so in spite of Islam, not because of it.
What is Jihad?
“Jihad” does not mean “holy war.” Literally, jihad means to strive, struggle and exert effort. It is a central and broad Islamic concept that includes struggle against evil inclinations within oneself, struggle to improve the quality of life in society, struggle in the battlefield for self-defense (e.g., – having a standing army for national defense), or fighting against tyranny or oppression.
Copyright © Metropolitan Denver North Islamic Center
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Abigail Williams – The Accuser (2015)
by Gabe Kagan on December 9, 2015
I had high hopes for The Accuser… of a sort. I was expecting an ungainly, melodramatic symphonic black metal ala Dimmu Borgir. Unfortunately, Dimmu Borgir hasn’t released an album for Abigail Williams to ape in over five years! Cue the necessary stylistic shift, and the dashing of my admittedly dubious hopes, founded on information about this band that was similarly out of date. The Accuser is one of those indie-darling post-black metal albums, and while it’s usually not as blatant about its weepy, depressive influences as Deafheaven or Myrkur (whom I always seem to mention in pairs), it’s still a pretty flat and bland experience.
Abigail Williams’ latest actually pulls on a fairly wide mixture of post-black approaches, although they are generally united by a consistent production. The production team decided to portray this band as just fuzzy and indistinct enough to possibly pass as ‘true’ for a moment, but not enough that the intended audience would complain about a garbled aesthetic. There’s also the occasional awkward high pitched scream strewn in the mix, but it’s an otherwise standard sound. Within this, Abigail Williams explores such things as jangling consonant guitar leads, lengthy drone sections, start-stop riffing, and so forth. Now, there is nothing innately anything about musical techniques, and this is especially the case on this album, where the songwriting is haphazard at best. The difficulty that you often run into with this sort of musical language is that it’s difficult to build off these ideas in any way, whether it be the standard theme and development shtick we advocate around here, a more ambient approach, or much of anything, really. In general, Abigail Williams has a serious problem gluing things together and seemingly tries to hide it with minor stylistic shifts within and between tracks; regardless of their intent they don’t manage to pull off such subterfuge.
For whatever small reasons, I don’t find this album quite as annoying as many of its genre contemporaries. It still is, however, a boring listen that does little of interest with the hand of tricks it’s taken.
Tags: 2015, abigail williams, crypto-indie, lame metal, post-black metal, shoegaze-metal, the accuser
3 thoughts on “Abigail Williams – The Accuser (2015)”
Gabe, a few weeks back you reviewed heavy metal band Enforcer and I salute you for that since that band has become a recent favorite.
Of a similar caliber is this band from Peru, Blizzard Hunter whom released their debut album this past June. If you remember early Agent Steel crossed with early Abattoir of the mid 80s.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GcLSC1RF_E
Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia was an amazing facking album.
fuck this band (in the ass) says:
This band is emo.
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Destination Edmonton
About Edmonton
Beyond Edmonton
Where to Shop and Dine
Conference Planner
GETTING HERE AND THERE
You’ll discover that travelling to and within Edmonton is a snap, regardless of where you’re coming from or the hotel you stay in after your arrival.
Edmonton is served by Edmonton International Airport (EIA), one of Canada’s fastest-growing airports, which serves more than six million passengers annually. EIA is located 30 km/19 miles — about 30-40 minutes from downtown — and serves many international, national and regional airlines. EIA is committed to moving you smoothly through the airport with exemplary customer service. To learn more about services, find flight options or more, download the airport guide. On the web flyeia.com.
EIA offers non-stop flights to more than 50 destinations such as Los Angeles, Houston, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Phoenix and London.
EIA is a bright, modern facility. Within it, Central Hall features convenient retail, food and beverage services, an observation deck, centralized pre-board screening, free WI-FI and many amenities for passenger comfort Translation services are available in multiple languages. An international currency exchange is also available.
Airport Express offers convenient check-in and transportation for EIA travellers staying downtown, with two Air Canada and WestJet Flight Information Display Screens (FIDS). Hotel web check-in services are also available at a number of local hotels, giving travellers a quick, easy way to check in for flights right from the hotel lobby.
Fly Thru for same day travel within Alberta gets you through security faster and offers convenient reserved parking stalls in both Easy Parkade and Value Park for faster access to the terminal, plus a dedicated parking exit lane for speedier service, and Priority Valet which offers you curbside vehicle drop-off and pick-up right at the departures level.
NEXUS is available at EIA for frequent international travellers. If you qualify, enrolling can greatly speed up your time in customs and make your journey through EIA hassle-free.
Taxi-fare from the International Airport to the city centre is about $48. Fares to other locations are charged by a zone (not metered) rate.
Sky Shuttle Bus services are available for $18 to or from downtown, the west end or the University of Alberta and must be booked in advance. Call 780-465-8515 or visit edmontonskyshuttle.com to book.
For customer service and general airport information, call 780-890-8382.
Edmonton is on the Trans-Canada Yellowhead Highway, considered the most reliable, quickest route across Western Canada.
Edmonton is 514 km (320 miles) north of the Montana, U.S.A./Canada border
Edmonton is 294 km (184 miles) north of Calgary
Edmonton is 362 km (226 miles) east of Jasper
Edmonton is 404 km (252 miles) northeast of Banff
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Law and Politics Book Review
Sponsored by the Law and Courts Section of the American Political Science Association.
THE CONSTITUTION OF VIETNAM: A CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS
by Mark Sidel. Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2009. 234pp. Paperback. £19.95/$20.00. ISBN: 9781841137391.
Reviewed by John Gillespie, Asia Pacific Business Regulation Group, Department of Business Law and Taxation, Monash University, john.gillespie [at] buseco.monash.edu.au.
pp.268-271
Compared with the detailed and extensive western literature about constitutional change in non-socialist Asia, surprisingly little has been written about constitutional issues in Vietnam. In this book Mark Sidel, a renowned legal scholar on Vietnam, has successfully addressed this omission by presenting a rich and absorbing analysis of constitutional change. A major challenge in writing about socialist states such as Vietnam is demonstrating that their constitutions represent more than political symbolism and warrant study as a legal statement of central organizing principles. Sidel has mustered strong evidence in this book that the current Constitution enacted in 1992 is treated more seriously than its predecessors and that it is increasingly used by Vietnamese political and legal actors as a rallying point to launch debates about sensitive political and legal issues.
The book has two stated objectives. The first is to describe in detail Vietnam’s four constitutions beginning with the first constitution enacted by the incipient Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1946 and concluding with recent debates about the 1992 Constitution. This section also provides a rare glimpse into the two constitutions enacted in the former Republic of Vietnam. The second, more ambitious objective is to explore the potential for the current 1992 Constitution to transform into an enforceable legal text that guarantees civil rights.
In his discussion about constitutional history, Sidel first turns to the constitutions enacted in the Republic of Vietnam. Using little known and unpublished archival material from the 1950s and 1960s, Sidel shows how the Saigon Regime struggled to balance the competing demands of prosecuting a war against the North and giving the civilian government power over the military. He suggests that this study is more than an historic curiosity, since lawmakers in contemporary Vietnam are now referring to this legal legacy for ideas about reforming the 1992 Constitution. Looking south for legal solutions is not a new phenomenon. Twenty years ago when Vietnam was embarking on its doi moi (renovation) mixed market reforms, lawmakers turned to southern laws, as well as other legal sources, for inspiration in enacting the commercial legal framework.
Sidel next provides a commentary about the two pre-unification northern constitutions and two post-unification constitutions. One of this book’s strengthens is the multi-layered analysis of constitutional development. In addition to discussing the crucial relationship between party and state, [*269] Sidel also examines the roles, powers and structures of state agencies. He makes the important point that the opaque relationship between party and state complicates the already difficult task of bringing state power sharing arrangements under some kind of constitutional order. Although he does not explicitly say that a legally enforceable constitution is implausible as long as the party enjoys its position of political pre-eminence, his discussion leads readers to this conclusion.
Sidel analyses constitutional development from a liberal legal perspective and is particularly interested in constitutional guarantees such as the right to form member-directed associations. He notes that the comparatively liberal 1946 Constitution allowed some space for autonomous associations, but the illiberal 1960 and 1980 Constitutions sought to bring the entire society within the party and state orbit. Following doi moi reforms in the mid 1980s the party and state have once again cautiously opened space for particular kinds of associations.
Sidel’s second main concern is whether courts in a polity ‘lead’ by the party can independently decide cases according to the law, as stipulated in the 1992 Constitution. During the high-socialist period (1954-1986) the courts functioned much like a branch of the executive government, instrumentally enforcing party and state policies and laws. Yet even during this period some reformers argued for greater judicial independence. Sidel shows how pressure for reform gained momentum over the last decade to the extent that a small group of academic lawyers are now openly calling for a constitutional court or authority with powers to strike down unconstitutional legalization and administrative actions.
In the final three chapters Sidel argues there is progress, subject to occasional reversals, toward a legally enforceable constitution that will guarantee citizens rights. In chapter seven, he first historically examines the debates concerning the right to form associations before discussing the recent ‘David and Goliath’ struggle between the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations (VUSTA) and the powerful Ministry of Home Affairs. Both agencies tried to shape the regulation of associations by preparing rival drafts of a new Law on Associations during 2005. VUSTA wanted more autonomy to form and finance associations, while the Ministry argued for the retention of tight state management over all forms of association. Sidel rightly points out that the very fact that an association was permitted to prepare a draft on such a sensitive issue shows that Vietnamese politics have moved a long way from the repressive authoritarian rule during the high socialist period.
Predicting the future direction of this debate is not easy, however, because there are mixed signals for reform. After a heated debate VUSTA’s draft did not make it to the National Assembly for deliberation. And casting further doubt on liberal reforms, the Prime Minister issued a Decision in 2009 requiring VUSTA to submit any criticisms of the party and state to the government in confidence. Meanwhile the National Assembly remains divided about reforms and cannot form a consensus to pass the draft law prepared by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Further complicating the [*270] story, the government actively encourages the formation of social organizations that promote economic development, provided they refrain from advocating views on politically sensitive issues.
In chapter eight Sidel discusses judicial independence from the party and state. He presents in compelling detail a story about party intervention to protect state officials in Hai Phong who were accused of profiting from illegal land transactions. Beginning as yet another provincial land scandal, the case soon involved the national media and eventually the intervention of the Prime Minister. Sidel demonstrates how each new intervention sought to protect a different party or state institution, but no one thought to protect judicial independence. His sobering conclusion is that the party can override at will the constitutional injunction that courts should follow the law in reaching their decisions.
To gain a clearer understanding about judicial independence this case should be considered within the broader context of judicial reform. Only a small number of cases become politicized and attract direct party intervention. Like their counterparts in China, courts struggle to decide and enforce decisions against senior party and state officials. However the rising number of civil cases involving family, inheritance and simple debt transactions reflects growing public confidence in the power of courts to make meaningful decisions on these non-political, but nonetheless important social issues.
In chapter nine, Sidel comes to grips with the central liberal project, transforming constitutional guarantees into legally enforceable rights. He first shows that constitutional provisions are sometimes used to support public causes. For example, some newspaper articles in 2005 invoked constitutional guarantees to property when opposing an unpopular decision to restrict the ownership of motorcycles in Hanoi. Interestingly, newspapers in Beijing recently ran a similar argument when city authorities decided to continue restrictions on the use of private cars after the end of the Olympic Games. It is unclear, however, whether the rhetorical assertion of constitutional provisions necessarily denotes latent demand for legally enforceable constitutional rights.
More substantive evidence for this trend is found in Sidel’s discussion about constitutional protection. He tracks in considerable detail the twists and turns in the debates about creating a court or authority with powers to strike down unconstitutional legislation and elevate the constitution above party and state. Although the review powers and the type of agency that will perform this task are still being debated, Sidel suggests that a consensus for some kind of reform has emerged.
One consequence of Sidel’s focus on the emergence of liberal constitutionalism is a tendency to downplay the equally important coordinating role of the constitution. Both reforms require the constitution to become a legally enforceable document. While liberal reforms focus on constitutional guarantees for citizens, reforms to the coordinating function of the constitution aim to circumscribe, or at least clarify, party and state powers. For example, an important co-ordinating debate examines [*271] how to create a constitutional framework that clearly defines the function and powers of state organs. Currently state agencies often use their legislative powers to expand their powers in turf battle with rival institutions.
A more sensitive reform involves the nomenklatura (to chuc can bo), an extra-constitutional system the party uses to place its members in positions of authority within state institutions in ways that reflect the realities of political power. This system not only conflicts with constitutional rules that govern the selection of senior state officials, it is also in tension with public administration reforms that aim for a merit based recruitment system and a professionally competent public service that is capable of administering Vietnam’s regulatory state.
Another important debate concerns the constitutionalization of the Leninist organizational system that maintains a parallel party and state governance system. This is a highly controversial issue for government agencies that are increasingly required by international treaties such as the WTO to follow prescribed economic policies, but are at the same time obliged to implement potentially contradictory internal instructions from party cells within the state agencies.
What seems more probable than liberal constitutional reforms, at least in the short term, is illiberal constitutionalism. Party leaders are attracted to a form of regulatory capitalism that has produced outstanding economic growth in countries such as China and Singapore, without emphasizing private rights that require constitutional guaranties and autonomous courts. The illiberal constitutionalism practiced in these countries seems to offer a way to develop a sophisticated regulatory system without exciting social demand for political and civil rights. Leaders in China and Vietnam have a similar modernizing vision, one that encourages economic, legal and material progress without embracing social and political pluralism.
This book comes highly recommended as a history of constitutional change in Vietnam; it also provides important insights into the future direction of constitutional reform. It will be of use to both legal and Asian studies students and scholars.
© Copyright 2010 by the author, John Gillespie.
Edition: Vol. 20 No. 6
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Published by the APSA Law and Courts Section, ISSN: 1062-7421
Editor: Jennifer Bowie, University of Richmond
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SURVIVOR SUES DECEASED DRIVER AND BUS COMPANY
Monday, July 13, 2020 NewsdzeZimbabwe 0
A SURVIVOR of one of the country’s worst accidents that claimed 43 lives, when a Zambia-bound King Lion bus rammed into a tree along the Harare-Chirundu Road, is suing the bus company and its deceased driver for more than $1 million.
The accident occurred on June 7, 2017 at around 10pm at the 257km peg near Nyamakate shops, Karoi in Mashonaland West province and it was declared a state of disaster.
The driver, Mr Jimson Ruzvidzo was among those who died on the spot.
Mr Khulani Ndlovu, one of the survivors who was left disabled after the accident, is now suing King Lion Motorways Bus Company for $1 027 950 being general damages, medical expenses, pain and suffering and disfigurement.
Mr Ndlovu, through his lawyers Masiye-Moyo and Associates has filed summons at the Bulawayo High Court citing King Lion Motorways (Pvt) Ltd and Jimson’s widow, Mrs Joyce Ruzvidzo in her capacity as the executor of her deceased husband’s estate.
Mr Ndlovu said the accident was caused by Jimson’s negligence while driving his employer’s bus.
He said following the accident, he is now unable to fend for his family and has lifetime injuries which will see him seeking medical assistance in future.
“The accident was due to the negligence of the first defendant (King Lion Motorways Bus Company) in that it failed to service or maintain the vehicle to keep it roadworthy. First defendant is therefore vicariously liable,” said Mr Ndlovu.
He said as a result of the accident, he is now experiencing hearing difficulties, has limited movement of the neck and back flexion and pelvic movement.
His eyesight was also affected and he is receiving physiotherapy as well as CT brain scan.
“As a result of the accident I suffered damages in the amount of US$16 449, $1 027 950 and R800 for estimated future medical expenses, special damages and general damages due to pain and suffering, disfigurement and loss of amenities,” said Mr Ndlovu.
He said he also lost US$4 701 and R800 in cash following the accident.
Recounting the horror crash, in papers before the court, Mr Ndlovu said he was one of the passengers who boarded a Scania Iriza bus registration ABQ 2875 owned by King Lion on the day in question.
The bus was being driven by Jimson Ruzvidzo who was employed by the first defendant.
He said Ruzvidzo was speeding and passengers had complained and warned him against that. Mr Ndlovu said the driver was stubborn and ignored passengers’ concerns.
He said the driver failed to negotiate a curve resulting in the bus veering off the road and hitting a big tree. Chronicle
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« Appx 3,000 DPRK laborers in Vladivostok
DPRK-China launch minerals – for – fertilizer program »
DPRK running appx 200 foreign trade companies
According to Yonhap:
North Korea is running about 200 trading companies and entities to earn foreign currency, an official said Wednesday, citing a North Korean quarterly magazine.
The list was compiled after an analysis of the past five-year issues of Foreign Trade, which publicizes North Korean companies and entities in connection with the country’s foreign trade and its bid to attract foreign investment, the official said.
Still, the actual number may be smaller as North Korea could have used different names for the same companies. The North frequently changes names of its trading companies and entities to try to avoid sanctions imposed over its two nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009, according to the South Korean government.
The list includes Korea Taesong Trading, which was blacklisted last year by the United States for its involvement in the trade of weapons of mass destruction and other activities banned by U.N. resolutions.
South Korean officials said the North Korean trading companies and entities are believed to be engaged in a competition to show their allegiance to leader Kim Jong-il and his heir apparent son Kim Jong-un.
In return, the North Korean leader showers his top aides and other elites with luxury goods to win their loyalty.
I had started work on a similar project, but other things got in the way. So here is a link to my initial spreadsheet (Excel) containing a list of North Korean companies that I pulled from the pages of Foreign Trade magazine (before Naenara switched to the new servers and deleted the archive material). The list contains company names, contact information, and descriptions. There are duplicates in the list, but since the list is alphabetized, they are easy to spot.
Read the Yonhap story here:
N. Korea runs about 200 trading entities to earn foreign currency
Kim Kwang-tae
This entry was posted on Thursday, August 18th, 2011 at 8:02 pm and is filed under International trade. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
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NK holds performance to celebrate party congress, no mention of military parade
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (C) attends the sixth day of the eighth congress of the ruling Workers' Party in Pyongyang on Sunday, in this photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency the next day. During the congress, North Korea endorsed Kim as the party's general secretary, following its revision of party rules to reinstate the secretariat system that was scrapped in the previous party congress in 2016. (KCNA-Yonhap)
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has attended a mass art performance held to celebrate the recently concluded party congress, state media said Thursday.
The performance took place on Wednesday, a day after the North wrapped up the eighth congress of its ruling Workers' Party, which was held for more than a week since its opening on Jan. 5, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
"The grand art performance 'We Sing of the Party' took place with splendor in celebration of the 8th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea at the Pyongyang Indoor Stadium on January 13," KCNA said.
The event included mass gymnastics, an orchestra, a chorus and dance accompanied by "three dimension multimedia" and lighting, it added.
The performance was attended by Kim and other senior officials, including Choe Ryong-hae, the North's No. 2 leader and president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly. Jo Yong-won, a senior party official who is believed to have jumped to the country's No. 3 position at the party congress, also attended the performance.
KCNA did not mention whether it held a military parade after the congress.
On Tuesday, the North said it invited officials and others long involved in government affairs as special guests to "celebrations," raising the possibility that North Korea might be preparing a military parade.
Earlier, Seoul's military officials said signs were detected that the North carried out a military parade in central Pyongyang on Sunday night, but state media did not report on such an event, spawning speculation that it might have been a rehearsal. (Yonhap)
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Kurt Campbell picked to guide Biden's Asia policy: report
Kurt Campbell (Yonhap)
US President-elect Joe Biden has picked Kurt Campbell, an assistant secretary of state under former President Barack Obama's administration, to lead his Asia policy, including strategy on China, according to a media report on Thursday.
The spokesperson of Biden's transition team confirmed Wednesday that Campbell, the former top diplomat for East Asia policy, will be the "coordinator for the Indo-Pacific" on the White House National Security Council, Reuters reported.
Campbell is known as one of the key architects of the Obama-era "rebalancing" policy toward the Asia-Pacific region, which aimed at bolstering America's presence in the rising center of power and wealth by refocusing its military, diplomatic and political resources amid the rise of China.
Campbell served as assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs from June 2009-February 2013. Since leaving office, he has run the Asia Group consultancy and worked for Biden's campaign, the report said.
He is also co-founder of the Center for a New American Security, a think tank known for its close ties to the Obama administration. (Yonhap)
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Convert Milligrams Per Square Meter to Long Tons Per Square Mile
Milligrams Per Square Meter to Long Tons Per Square Mile
Milligrams Per Square Meter (mg/m2) Long Tons Per Square Mile (t (UK)/sq mi)
Long Tons Per Square Mile to Milligrams Per Square Meter (or just enter a value in the "to" field)
1 Long Ton per Square Mile:
Mass of long tons per area of a square mile. A long ton (UK) having 2 240 international pounds of 0.45359237 kilograms. 1 t (UK)/sq mi ≈ 0.000 392 297 904 668 060 kg/m2.
http://www.kylesconverter.com/area-density/milligrams-per-square-meter-to-long-tons-per-square-mile
1 Milligrams Per Square Meter to Long Tons Per Square Mile = 0.0025 70 Milligrams Per Square Meter to Long Tons Per Square Mile = 0.1784
4 Milligrams Per Square Meter to Long Tons Per Square Mile = 0.0102 100 Milligrams Per Square Meter to Long Tons Per Square Mile = 0.2549
10 Milligrams Per Square Meter to Long Tons Per Square Mile = 0.0255 800 Milligrams Per Square Meter to Long Tons Per Square Mile = 2.0393
20 Milligrams Per Square Meter to Long Tons Per Square Mile = 0.051 900 Milligrams Per Square Meter to Long Tons Per Square Mile = 2.2942
30 Milligrams Per Square Meter to Long Tons Per Square Mile = 0.0765 1,000 Milligrams Per Square Meter to Long Tons Per Square Mile = 2.5491
40 Milligrams Per Square Meter to Long Tons Per Square Mile = 0.102 10,000 Milligrams Per Square Meter to Long Tons Per Square Mile = 25.4908
50 Milligrams Per Square Meter to Long Tons Per Square Mile = 0.1275 100,000 Milligrams Per Square Meter to Long Tons Per Square Mile = 254.9083
60 Milligrams Per Square Meter to Long Tons Per Square Mile = 0.1529 1,000,000 Milligrams Per Square Meter to Long Tons Per Square Mile = 2549.0832
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215-368-2480 info@morganloghouse.org
Morgan Log House at Home
Log Blog
Edward, Elizabeth, and their World
Like many immigrants to Pennsylvania, Edward and Elizabeth Morgan were farmers.
This is the story of Daniel Boone’s maternal grandparents, Edward and Elizabeth Morgan, and the world of which they were a part.
Early eighteenth century records, particularly records for those who were not particularly wealthy, are notoriously difficult things from which to draw a life. We do know a couple things about Edward and Elizabeth. Firstly they were immigrants—though when exactly they immigrated to the New World we are not sure. Secondly, we know they emigrated from Wales though, again, we are foggy on the “when.” Third, we know that they were Quakers, members of the Society of Friends and worshiped at meeting in Gwenydd, PA. We also know that they purchased a tract of land in 1708—300 or so odd acres in Towamencin–which has been whittled down to the acre and a half that the Morgan Log House now stands on. We know that in 1708 they bought a small house—a small fraction of what is now standing at the site today, and we know that they lived there with their eleven children, one of whom, Sarah Morgan, would marry Squire Boone and give birth to Daniel in 1734. We know that Edward was a cloth maker, a tailor, and a farmer, using his land to make a way for himself in the New World as many immigrants had and continue to do to this day.
Other than this, we know very little.
It is the job of historians to piece together the fragments of their lives from what we can deduce about them from the documentation that survives. That is what I hope this talk will do. This will not be the life story of Edward and Elizabeth. That is almost impossible to do with the documentary record that we have. But it is my hope to go around Edward and Elizabeth–and live in their world for a bit–in order to put together their lives and make some educated assumptions about them. Together, let us piece together their lives from those scant details we know about them—that they were Welsh immigrants, they were Quakers, and they purchased a plot of land in Towamencin, in the colony of Pennsylvania, in 1708.
Let’s try to bring Edward and Elizabeth back to life.
The Quakers
We do know that Edward and Elizabeth were Quakers, which might have been one of the reasons they emigrated to America.
The Quakers, officially known as the Religious Society of Friends, began in the seventeenth century in England.
The movement was founded by George Fox, who began the movement in 1647 by preaching publicly. Eventually, the Society of Friends formed around him. Fox was preaching at a time of great religious dissent as Christian denominations had begun to spring up around England with great zeal. In today’s world, we take for granted the number of Christian denominations–to us there are many churches that cater to the religious needs of many people. For those living in the eighteenth century, these were complicated, confusing, and disputed times. Small dissents in small theological matters could be a matter of life or death. This time of religious confusion granted Fox a platform upon which to preach and attracted followers to his simple teachings. Fox did not wish to start his own sect. Rather, he sought to return Christianity to its original simplicity through a combination of strict reliance on the scriptures and personal experience. Eventually, his preaching evolved into the organized Society of Friends. Though Fox and his followers were persecuted and marginalized, by the end of the 1650s the Society became increasingly organized and legislated.
James Naylor, a prominent Quaker leader, being pilloried and whipped, 1656.
Members of the Religious Society of Friends suffered much persecution in England–they were dissenters of the Church of England and pacifists. They would not take part in the Crown’s wars nor would they pay their taxes, as they believed (rightly) that taxes would go to support military ventures. They believed in total equality and would not bow down to the aristocracy. They would not take oaths, meaning that they could not take an oath of allegiance to the king. Quakers, as a result of all of these, were viewed with great suspicion and suffered violence and marginalization.
Quakers suffered this treatment throughout the British Empire. Edward Burrough, in his 1660 A Declaration of the Sad and Great Persecution and Martyrdom of the People of God, Called Quakers, in New England for the Worshipping of God details the mistreatment and murder of those who practiced the faith. Burrough notes that, in New England, “22 [Quakers] have been banished upon pain of death, 3 have been martyred, 3 have had their right ears cut, 01 hath been burned in the hand with the letter H, 31 persons have received 650 stripes, 1 was beat while his Body was like a jelly, several were beat with pitched ropes, one thousand forty five pounds worth of goods hath been taken from them (being poor men) for meeting together in the fear of the Lord, and for keeping the Commands of Christ, and one now lyeth in iron fetters, condemned to die.” This sort of treatment had been encountered by the members of the Religious Society of Friends throughout the world–there simply was no place for them in a seventeenth century world and they endured great pain as a result.
Enter William Penn.
In 1680, William Penn petitioned the Crown for land in which the Quakers could settle. The King Charles signed a charter in March 1681, making William Penn the proprietor of land west of Jersey, which he originally called Sylvania, which is Latin for woods. Charles later changed the name to Pennsylvania (Penn’s woods) to honor William Penn’s father, Admiral Sir William Penn, for services and debts rendered the Crown–debts paid by the land grant of Penn’s woods..
Penn had a particularly unique brand of idealism, which made Pennsylvania distinct among the original thirteen colonies. Penn sought to found his colony on his newfound Quaker ideals–religious tolerance, diversity, and representative government. Penn believed that his colony would be a “Holy Experiment.” It was his view that a foundation in Quaker teaching would lead to stronger governments and wealthier societies. He noted that “Religion and Policy are two distinct things, have two different ends, and may be fully prosecuted without respect on to the other.” This would, of course, grow to become one of our national ideals–the separation of Church and State, and ideas of religious liberty and worship according to one’s conscience.
Though founded as a Quaker stronghold, Pennsylvania quickly became a very diverse colony. It was the only colony of the original thirteen to not have an official established Church. Instead, the principle of religious tolerance was the guiding law. Penn invited other groups into Pennsylvania who were suffering persecution, and it quickly became a colonial safe harbor of religious expression. Religious tolerance had its limits, though. Only Christians could vote or hold public office.
Penn advocated the fair treatment of indigenous inhabitants, so, at least in the early period of the colony, the Lenape lived unmolested near the Delaware River. Other settlers, such as the Dutch and Swedes, had been trading and farming in the region before Penn and were allowed to continue after. More Europeans arrived on Penn’s invitation in the 1680s, bringing with them African and Caribbean slaves. Inhabitants ranged from the very wealthy to the very poor, from free laborers to indentured servants and the enslaved, and from a variety of ethnic, economic, and racial backgrounds. As Penn himself noted, after a Lenape treaty, “We meet on the broad pathway of good faith and good-will; no advantage shall be taken on either side, but all shall be openness and love. We are the same as if one man’s body was to be divided into two parts; we are of one flesh and one blood.” Of course, viewing early Penn’s woods as a place of great tolerance and love and peace is grossly oversimplifying the lived experience of settlers. There was still gross inequality, enslavement (Quakers would only forbid and actively oppose slavery in the next century), and periods of hardship, difficulty, and violence–we should not view Penn’s woods as an ideal, peaceful kingdom on earth.
The first wave of Quakers arrived with Penn on October 27, 1682 aboard the ship Welcome to establish the Holy Experiment. As Samuel McPherson Janney noted in his 1861 book History of the Religious Society of Friends from its Rise to the Year 1828, “The Friends, soon after their arrival, were careful to establish, in every neighborhood, meetings for divine worship, where they offered up with grateful thanks to the Father of Spirits for the many blessings they enjoyed.” The Quakers likewise found good land and water in Penn’s woods. A 1683 letter noted that “And for our condition as men, blessed be God! We are satisfied; the countries are good- the land, the water, and the air-room enough for many thousands to live plentifully, and the black-lands much the best; good increase of labor, all sorts of grain, provision sufficient, and by reason of many giving themselves to husbandry, there is likely to be great fruitfulness in sometime. But they that come upon a mere outward account must work, or be able to maintain such as can. Fowl, fish, and venison are plentiful; and of pork and beef no want, considering that about two thousand people came into this river last year. Dear friends and brethren, we have no cause to murmur, our lot is fallen every way in a goodly place, and the love of God is, and growing, among us, and w are a family at peace within ourselves, and truly great is our joy therefore.” Long and joyful sentiments, to be sure–but such words falling upon ears in the Old World quickly sprung into action, and many began to pour into the region by the turn of the century.
We can piece together something of the religious affiliation of Edward and Elizabeth, knowing that they were married at the Quaker meeting house in Gwenydd, which still stands today. Through documentation, we know that Edward and Elizabeth took part in the community of the church, having been listed as witnesses for the marriages of friends as well as taking part in various tasks. Edward and Elizabeth Morgan, along with their children John, William, and Morgan, sign the marriage certificate of their daughter, Elizabeth Morgan, to Cadwallader Morris on March 24, 1710. Likewise, we do know that Squire Boone and Sarah Morgan declared their intention to marry on the 20th of May, 1720 at the Gwenydd meeting house.
Of course, it is hard to infer from this the depth of their religious beliefs. Personal religious belief is just that–personal. While Edward and Elizabeth attended meeting and were a part of their faith community, we do not know the extent of the belief in their hearts. However, from their involvement in Gwenydd, we can surmise that they were part of a religious community with like minded, fellow Welshmen, who lived in the Welsh tract and followed their Quaker beliefs.
The Welsh Tract and the Welsh Quakers
Thomas Holme’s 1687 map of Pennsylvania. The Welsh Tract can be seen in near the center.
Why did those Welsh people come here? Why did Edward and Elizabeth choose to buy land in Towamencin? There was, after all, a whole big continent to expand onto. Why did Edward and Elizabeth choose where they did?
We can assume that there were several reasons: available land and proximity to the city of Philadelphia among them. I think, though, a good candidate for why is the idea of the Welsh Tract.
Welsh Quakers particularly wished to find a place of autonomy, and so, in 1684 a group of Welsh Quaker petitioners lead by John Roberts petitioned William Penn for a tract of land that would be a separate country, with all official business being conducted in the Welsh language. The tract was granted in March of that year—with an agreed upon 40,000 acres north of Philadelphia being set aside for a Welsh tract and barony. The boundaries of the tract—now part of Montgomery, Chester, and Delaware counties—were established in 1687, however by the end of the century that area would begin to be portioned off, meaning that while there was a heavy amount of Welsh Quakers in the area it never became fully autonomous as its petitioners had hoped for.
Edward and Elizabeth clearly chose to live in the Welsh tract to be among their fellow Welshmen, who sought, at least early on, to maintain their Welshness in America through maintaining their language, customs, and way of law. This desire to maintain Welshness was as unsuccessful as trying to set up an autonomous Welsh county. To fully understand, we must look at Welsh culture, tradition, language, and experience.
Interesting, even from its earliest periods, the spoken and written language of the Welsh tract was not linguistically pure to the Welsh language, despite the best hopes of the petitioners. Many of the settlers there spoke English fluently. News of the first arrival of Welsh immigrants was sent back to Wales in a letter written–in English. Quaker services held in the Welsh tract were done in both English and Welsh, as many members of the congregation could not decipher Welsh. However, the ability to maintain some Welsh language was aided by the fact that anyone–Welsh speakers among them–could speak from their inner light at a Quaker service, as there was no ordained order of Quaker ministers–only the congregation. This allowed for the continuation of the language in a religious context. Eventually, like the Welsh Tract, a Welsh identity began to melt away, as people referred to themselves as “Quaker Pennsylvanians” instead of “Welshmen.” For one, this could have been a decision made based on a desire for upward mobility. Embracing the English language and allowing for cultural fluidity allowed Welsh immigrants in the Welsh Tract to interact with their non-Welsh neighbors, conduct business affair, and seize opportunities that might not have been allowed to them without a grasp of the English language and customs. At the time of the American Revolution, most if not all of the Welshmen in the Welsh Tract had assimilated into the colonial society. There remained small clusters of independent Welsh speakers, but, by and large, the local culture had mixed.
It seems, too, that this blending was not forced by English speakers nor was there strong antagonism between the English and the Welsh. Many Welsh settlers spoke English before their arrival or learned it soon after, as it had become a colonial lingua franca that was adopted with some vigor, replacing the desires of an autonomous Welsh speaking area in less than a decade. An anguished Welsh Baptist minister in the area wrote home in 1712, noting that “the English is swallowing up [the Welsh language].” Indeed, even in the beginning eighteenth century, the American melting pot was at a full boil, with the King’s English becoming an administrative necessity.
It’s impossible for us to know what the linguistic abilities of Edward and Elizabeth were–most certainly we can deduce that they spoke Welsh and English with some ability. By the time of their arrival in Towamencin in what was once the Welsh Tract in 1708, it would seem that many of their neighbors, though Welsh and Quaker, would have been speaking English (and some Welsh). Language is one of those notoriously difficult things to pinpoint. Simply–we cannot converse with those who lived in the past. What we do have is written documents. The will and probate record of one of Edward and Elizabeth’s children, Morgan Morgan, which was written in 1727, is written in perfect, eighteenth century English. It is key to note, though that any written document is not a barometer for the spoken language. While Morgan Morgan’s will is in English, English was also the administrative language. Will’s and probates follow a strict formula of words and expressions, which follow little to no variation from one will to another written in a particular place at a particular time–simply, they are written in what we could call eighteenth century legal-esse. Additionally, the will was not written by Morgan Morgan–only signed by him–as would most legal documents.
But what of other written texts? For the Morgans, we have none. Even if we did, they would not be a great indicator of their Welsh or English ability. If you could write, generally written language is a couple years to decades behind spoken language–meaning changes and nuances in ideas and cultural assimilation are notoriously difficult to piece together from written texts anyway! Simply, short of a time machine, we will never know how Edward and Elizabeth spoke at home or with their neighbores.
Like language, it is also difficult to piece together lived cultural experience. Welsh settlers like the Morgans certainly brought more Welshness with them to the New World than their language. This would include Welsh foods, customs, folklore, ways of living, conceptualizations, and ideologies. Certainly, we can pinpoint Welsh foods–things like Welsh Cakes and Welsh Rarebit–Welsh customs and celebrations, like the summer Calan Haf, but we have no idea as to what level of involvement the Morgans had with these. Elizabeth Morgan might have made Welsh Rarebit all the time-or she might not have. These familial and individualized nuances are lost to us as the Morgans as living people are lost to us.
Quite simply–we got nothing.
Admittedly, this is a bit pessimistic: but it is, at its heart, responsible and realistic. We have no proof about how much English our Morgans spoke if they spoke it at all, and for that same measure we have no proof nor can we begin to surmise the amount of Welsh cultural traditions that the Morgans held onto in the New World. It’s not historically wise to guess what their spoken language was, what their lived cultural experience was: anything. I think, though, it is not radical to assume that, like the rest of their neighbors, they sought to hold onto some of their traditions (of which language is just one part) while at the same time blend into their new surroundings as “Quaker Pennsylvanians.” We do have a clue though–in a Morgan family bible printed in 1837 by the British Foreign Bible Society in Welsh and currently in the Morgan Log House’s collection. This doesn’t say much about Edward and Elizabeth, persay, but it does say that their descendants–their great grandchildren–had some desire to maintain their Welshness–enough to acquire a Bible in their mother-tongue. It is a tale, then, of living and changing and growing–and holding onto some traditions and forming new ones.
As an immigrant nation, this is a story we have had from our beginnings and a story that we continue to have.
The Colonial Experience
What can we piece together about the lives of the Morgan’s from this collective information?
What was the lived colonial experience for the Morgans and their neighbors living in Penn’s Holy Experiment in the somewhat failed Welsh Tract?
First off, what does it mean to be colonial? It’s far more than just a word meaning “oldie timey.” Edward and Elizabeth certainly were living in a colonial world, as colonial subjects of the British king—a trend that would continue until their descendants (and in fact the descendants of immigrants just like them) decided in 1776 that they held these truths to be self-evident, that all men are entitled to certain liberties, and, among them, are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Those self-evident truths—or in fact, the idea of an autonomous American nation—were not a part of the colonial Pennsylvanian’s worldview in 1708—it was a long century of continued frayed relations between the colonies and the mother country to arrive at that point. While Penn’s petitioner’s asked him for an autonomous Welsh barony, it never became autonomous. It remained, as it always had, part of Penn’s woods which were, squarely, part of the British Empire.
To think about the worldview of Edward and Elizabeth we have to think about the journey that they took from Wales to the New World. Erase first from your mind all thoughts of what modern travel is. Unfortunately, we don’t know for sure when the Morgans emigrated, what boat they were on, and what the circumstances of that voyage were. However, we do have the account of Edward Foulke, who emigrated to the New World from Wales, becoming one of the original settlers of Gwynedd township in 1698. Foulke’s party set sail on April 17, 1698 on the ship Robert and Elizabeth, stopping in Ireland before sailing for Pennsylvania in May, spending eleven weeks at sea before arriving at port in Philadelphia. The voyage was less than ideal. As Foulke notes, “The sore distemper of the bloody flux broke out in the vessel, of which died five and forty persons in our passage; the distemper was so mortal that two or three corpses were cast overboard everyday while it lasted. But through the favor and mercy of Divine Providence, I, with my wife and nine children, escaped that sore mortality, and arrived safe in Philadelphia.” Bloody flux is what we today would call dysentery, an intestinal infection that leads to bloody diarrhea. Today, dysentery can be cured with a combination of antibiotics and oral rehydration. It is horrible, but livable, with recovery happening within ten days and total recovery after four weeks. Dysentery is still a problem–with people dying of it in developing countries throughout the world. Like in developing countries, in the seventeenth century, it was a serious medical problem that could easily lead to death through dehydration and other infections throughout the body.
To fully grasp what Edward and Elizabeth were doing, we have to peel back any notions of travel that we have today. We live in an explored world. For many of us, travel across the Atlantic would be a big deal–planning and money would be involved, as would purchasing airline tickets, getting to the airport, going through security. It is, however, doable. The journey that took Foulke eleven weeks would take us less than eleven hours. We could check the weather of where we’re going before we get there. We can look at the things that we’ll encounter. We can consult maps, looking at places to see, places to eat, places to sleep. Out Welsh settlers would have had none of those luxuries. They were getting on a ship and going somewhere they had never been. And travel was a dangerous risk. Now we get on a plane and we know that, almost with certainty, we’ll get where we need to go. Ocean travel in the seventeenth century was far from a guarantee-it was an adventure that could end with death by the bloody flux, sinking in a storm, or starvation on a raft. It was dangerous and uncertain. Our Welsh immigrants were going to somewhere they had never been with only the things they could carry and nothing else. They could not go home to check on their friends. They could not call and certainly they could not email. They could send a letter–but it would take eleven weeks to get home and then eleven more weeks for a reply. Far from an actual conversation. Think of transatlantic travel in the seventeenth century as something more akin to traveling to Mars than flying across the Atlantic. It was far, dangerous, and unexplored.
At the present, we do not have any documentation about what sorts of things the Morgans themselves owned.
We do know a bit about the land that they acquired. They purchased 300 acres of land from Griffith Jones in 1708, and on that was a dwelling house that became their one. In September 1714, Morgan acquired another 500 acres from George Claypoole, meaning that by 1714 he had a decent sized farm parcel of 800 acres. For comparison, Edward Foulke purchased 700 acres of land upon his arrival. Likewise, other locals had comparably sized plots. Thomas Evan had 1049 acres, Robert John had 720, Cadwallader Evan had 609, John Hugh had 648. While 800 acres seems like a lot for us, for those settling the Welsh tract is was a fairly decent sized plot of land.
We know a bit about the place where they lived.
Currently, what we call the Morgan Log House is a large, four story, log structure. We have to peel back from the current reality of the house, which was lived in until 1963, when it was saved and restored to be the historic house that it is today.
The building itself raised many questions for those restoring it. For starters, it was an odd sort of structure that was really two separate buildings placed together, a smaller part on the western part of the building and a larger part to the east. The western structure was in a very poor state of preservation and was torn down, as those working on the building believed that it was added onto the larger structure since it was smaller.
Restoration of the building and research into the history commenced in 1970. At that time there were two ways to date a structure. One was by architectural features such as wood and nails. The other was through deed research, as very often buildings are described in deeds.
The restoration workers thought that the building appeared to have been built in the mid-1700s based on the material evidence that they were encountering. However, deed research finds a sale of 309 acres with a dwelling to Edward Morgan for 72 pounds 16 shillings. This means that either the structure was heavily altered since Edward Morgan purchased it in 1708 or was a different building entirely. As a result, early on there was a conflict in accurately dating the building. Work continued and the site was opened in 1976, but the questions remained.
Today, there is more technology available to accurately date paint, plaster, and wood. However, the one that we can gain the most information from is dendrochronology, which uses tree rings to assess the age of wood. The width of tree rings, which grow every year, is affected by atmospheric phenomenon and weather. Through comparing the widths of tree rings in various wood samples, it is possible to create a timeline that allows for the accurate aging of wood. About 12 years ago a dendrochronological study was done on the Log House and it was determined that the wood used in the log structure was from about 1770. This agrees with the material evidence that the restoration workers found.
Since the smaller structure on the western side of the building could not be dated accurately due to alterations and its poor condition it was decided to tear it down and focus on the east-side log building, which dendrochronology showed was dated from the 1770s. Further research on the extant floor joists on the western side show that the smaller structure dated from the early 1700s, and was probably the building that the Morgans purchased in 1708. As a result, the original Morgan Log House–that Edward and Elizabeth lived in– no longer exists. The earlier structure was demolished.
While we don’t have the original Log House from 1708, we can accurately present the history of the property. A small one room building was purchased by Edward Morgan in 1708, which was demolished in the 1970s. We also know that that building underwent some additions, as a second floor was added sometime in the nineteenth century. Additionally, we know that in 1770, a German, John Yeakel purchased 104 acres that included the Log House that the Morgans purchased in 1708. He is the first German on record to buy the property. In 1774 he sold 82 acres with “fair improvements” to Yellis Cassel, another German, for almost double what he paid for it. “Fair improvements” could mean simply the clearing of land or the building of a new structure. John Yeakel probably did not live in the house since he already owned property in Franconia. He may have bought it and “flipped” it for a profit.
This somewhat abbreviated history of the restoration of the house shows the uncertainty of history. Often, records are not as good as we can hope. We can use what we have: a mixture of science and history: in order to try to come to a fuller understanding of the building and the people that lived there. We think that the story I just told you: of a small, meager one room building that was expanded towards the end of the century: is relatively accurate. We think that based on historical evidence, scientific research, and our best, informed guesses. However, the maddening thing about history is that that might not be the case. Research continues and research can lead to changes. While that it is maddening, it is also very exciting.
The more maddening thing, though, is that the original Morgan Log House no longer exists. It’s foundation does, but was replaced with a construction built in the 1970s. This makes it very difficult to deduce what the lived life experience at home would have been for Edward and Elizabeth.
We do know that they had a hearth, which would have dominated the outside wall and would have been used for the cooking of foods. We do know that they did not have a second floor, but they did have a basement, which might have been used for storage, serving as a sort of root cellar.
Since the structure is gone, though, it it really our best guess.
What sort of property did the Morgan’s own besides the dwelling house?
Their possessions, again, fall into the we don’t know column. So what’s a historian to do? We can go to the next best thing–their child Morgan Morgan, who signed his will in 1727 a probate inventory was conducted of Morgan’s property after his death. with his wife Dorothy serving as executrix.
The property listed is far from luxury goods–most is items used in everyday life. There is one bed and some furniture, two spinning wheels, two coverlets and a blanket, one churn, some barrels, a pot and kettle, kitchen implements, jugs, a Bible and some other books, a chest, table, and chairs, farming equipment (including axes, scythes, and harrows), as well as a musket, a powder horn, some carpenter tools, ropes, and a grindstone. Animals listed include a horse, a mare and a colt, a young gray horse, three mares, nine horned cattle, eleven sheep, a parcel of swine. Also listed are wheat, barley, the land itself and corn. An indentured servant named Joseph Griffith (valued at 5 pounds) is listed. The entire estate is valued at 271 pounds, 10 shillings. Not a large estate, but not a small one either.
This is, of course, not necessarily what Edward and Elizabeth owned, but chances are it isn’t far from the mark. The objects that Morgan Morgan owned at the time of his death are the house, things used for cooking, a meager collection of furniture, a Bible and some books: but mostly things connected to the farm. It is very safe to assume that Edward and Elizabeth lived under similar means.
So, from this, what can we glean about the lives of Edward and Elizabeth Morgan? Though we don’t know too much about them as people, we can infer quite a great deal.
First, they were immigrants. Like their fellow Welsh Quaker immigrants, they were willing to risk dying on an ocean voyage for the opportunities that Penn’s Woods would grant them–opportunities of religious expression and prosperity.
Likewise, they were Quakers. They are part of a community of faith. While it is very difficult to assume their engagement in their faith, we know that they took part in the community, celebrating marriages at the meeting house and taking part in important community milestones.
Thirdly, we know that they were farmers, tilling the land that surrounded their home. First three hundred acres than eight hundred acres. We know that they grew crops and materials to aid Edward’s cloth making business.
Edward and Elizabeth’s story is one thread in the fabric of our national story that we should all be constantly reminded of–we are a nation of immigrants. Many that came to this country with nothing, with uncertain prospects. Refugees escaping persecution and hoping for inclusion here. Their story is our story–the American story.
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Workshops & Exhibitions
24/09/2009 NavanCCUncategorized
WORKSHOPS:-
http://www.mikebrownphotography.com
Mike Brown Photographer announces three 1-Day SNAP Saturday Workshops designed for all levels of digital photographers.
The workshops will concentrate on both Landscape and Nature Photography but will be relevant to all subject matters.
The workshops will be held on the following dates: October 10th and 24th in West Cork & October 17th in Killarney
Further details and full itinerary can be obtained by emailing – mailto:mike@mikebrownphotography.com or by telephone on 023-8835782.
http://www.calumetphoto.co.uk
Calumet Photographic is celebrating its seventieth anniversary with a package of autumn deals and an exclusive seminar programme
The company, which started life as a small sporting goods company in Chicago in 1939 and now has branches across the US and in five European countries, plans mini trade shows at its branches in London and Manchester. From 10 am on Tuesday October 6th at Calumet’s flagship Drummond Street, Euston store and also on Thursday October 8 at the Manchester branch, key suppliers will be demonstrating their latest products including DSLRs, printers and lighting equipment – and the first hundred customers through the door at each location will receive ‘Goody Bags’ with a product value of £50.
For the full line-up of autumn workshops and events programme, go to this website above.
http://www.galleryofphotography.ie
Photo Reportage Workshop – Culture Night | 25 Sept 2009 | 6pm – 8.30pm approx – Roving Reporters – From 7 to 77
Working intensively with a group of 7 to 10 year-olds and a group of senior citizens (70+ year-olds), the Gallery of Photography Dublin is organising a fun and informative free programme on documentary photography and photoreportage. In an initial indoor workshop session, the twelve participants will get to grips with the technical workings of digital cameras (their own or supplied by the Gallery). Next, a visual presentation by award-winning photojournalist Kim Haughton of outstanding documentary images will provide the inspiration for the participants to venture forth and capture the essence of Culture Night for themselves. Reconvening in the Gallery of Photography, the participants will have the opportunity to download and edit their images. With one selected image, they will see the whole process through to the production of a finished print. The final cut of their work will be publicly accessible on the Gallery website. In addition, selected images will be sent to Picture Desks for possible inclusion in national news media coverage of Culture Night. Photodocumentation of the Roving Reporters in action will also be made by Gallery of Photography staff photographers. Staff adhere to our child protection policy, and will secure model release for all aspects of the project where required. The emphasis is on fun and participation, though the structure of the event will also raise interesting questions as to the differences / similarities in the photoreportage of this important night by the young and old. What does Culture Night look and feel like to a person whose idea of culture has been formed over seven decades? How does Culture Night feature in the inner life of a ten year-old?
EXHIBITIONS:-
http://www.sebastianguinnessgallery.com | http://www.lachapellestudio.com
The Sebastian Guinness Gallery, in association with Canon, Treasury Holdings and Fred Torres Collaborations, will launch an exhibition titled ‘American Jesus’ showcasing the photographic works by one of the world’s most respected contemporary photographers – David Lachapelle
Lachapelle, a fine art photographer and director, is renowned for his iconic pop and celebrity images that for over the past two decades have continuously graced the pages of the leading fashion and entertainment magazines such as Vanity Fair, The Face, Rolling Stone, Vogue and Interview. Mixing glamour with surreal and comic fantasy, Lachapelle has created many memorable and striking images of luminaries such as Elizabeth Taylor, Pamela Anderson, Madonna, Elton John, Tupac Shakur and Britney Spears. His directing credits include music videos for artists such as Moby, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Lopez. Lachapelle’s stage work includes Elton John’s The Red Piano concert which recently ended a five year run at Ceaser’s Palace in Las Vegas and which will be staged at Dublin’s 02 for one night on October 30th. Due to the extensive images on exhibit, the David Lachapelle ‘American Jesus’ exhibition will be located at Connaught House, 1 Burlington Road, Dublin 4. This exhibition is now opened to the public until 31st October, Tuesday to Saturday 11am to 6pm. More information from websites above.
http://www.alliance-francaise.ie
Photographic Exhibition at Alliance-Francaise Dublin – by Frank Little
Now open and running until 21 November 2009
Frank Little brings to his photography literary, artistic and philosophical influences. In Ulysses one of James Joyce characters, Stephen Dedalus, walks ‘into infinity along Sandymount strand’ and the world where Beckett places his protagonists is also the location for many of his photographs. René Magritte spoke of his pictures as being solutions to certain problems of visual thinking. The images here try to posit the question of what perception actually is. We perceive and interact with the world through our senses and learned social behaviours. Modern Western thought was founded on Descartes’ dictum “I think therefore I am” but we are not just pure intellect. The physical world and how we interact with it are of intrinsic importance to what we are.
Admission free | Opening hours (until 25/09/09) | Monday – Thursday 8.30am–7.30pm Friday 8.30am–7.00pm | Opening hours from 28/09/09 | Monday – Friday 8.30am-7.30pm | Saturday 8.30-2pm
http://www.ranelagharts.org
The Haunted Castle of Leap
Date/Time: Will run until Sunday, 27 September Monday – Saturday: 12-7pm; Sunday: 12-5pm
Venue: Ranelagh Arts Shop, 26 Ranelagh | Admission Free
A busload of artists from Ranelagh, and their friends – painters, photographers, video artists and scribes – descended on Leap Castle in Co. Offaly, home of Tin-Whistle ‘Maestro’ Sean Ryan, his wife Ann Callanan and their daughter (step dancing champion and musician extraordinaire) Ciara Ryan, in July of this year.
The artists photographed, sketched and recorded their memories, lunch was served and strong drink imbibed. Sean and Ciara were joined by their friend, De Dannan’s Alec Finn, stopping in on his way to the Willie Clancy Week in Milltown Malbay and a music session ensued. The resulting exhibition records the visitors’ impressions of a haunting and magical place.
Artists include – Niall Flaherty, Gerhardt Gallagher, Brian Henderson, Eamon Gogarty, Angel Luis Gonzalez, Imelda Healy, Kate Horgan, Ann Murphy, Katy Simpson, Daragh Owens, Ross Galbraith, Robin Grace, and Heather Finn.
In addition:-
Photography on the Rails
Date/Time: Saturday, 26 & Sunday, 27 September, 11am – 5pm daily
Venue: Mountpleasant Square – Tickets: Free
Visit the railings of Mountpleasant Square on Saturday and Sunday and browse the photographic talent of local enthusiasts and amateurs. It is an excellent opportunity to meet and exchange ideas with photographers. If you’d like to exhibit your work in Dublin’s most photogenic Georgian square, please contact the Ranelagh Arts Festival at 085 743 7212. Photos will be hung on the railings of Mountpleasant Square on Saturday and Sunday. It is an excellent opportunity to meet and exchange ideas with your fellow photographers, sell some of your images and meet contacts too.
Impressions of Place – by Robin Grace
Date/Time: Will run until Sunday, 27 September, 2-7pm daily | Venue: 95 Beechwood Ave Lower | Tickets: Free
This Exhibition documents the many people and places Robin has encountered throughout the World, including countries such as Mongolia, China, India and Uganda. ‘Impressions of Place’ tells the story of people and how they live, their culture and spirituality. His affinity for documentary led him to work for press agencies in both Limerick and London. Robin is now based in Dublin, and is working as a freelance photographer. Born in Ireland, Robin Grace studied Photography and Digital Imaging at Reading College and School of Art and Design. This marks a new development for Ranelagh Arts Festival – the first time we have had an event in a private house. Congratulations to Robin on his initiative.
Crann Open Photo Competition
Charity Auction 25th Oct for Crumlin Childrens Hospital
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Bii has already met his non-celebrity girlfriend’s family
Taiwanese singer Bii went on air on a radio show in Taipei on May 22 to promote his new album Be Better, which is set to be released on May 31.
He also shared more about his preparations for his upcoming concert tour, which kicks off in Shanghai on July 6. “I’m currently in the midst of creating something different for the audience, as well as honing my performance skills,” he revealed. As for whether there are plans for him to return to the Taipei Arena anytime soon, Bii said that for this year at least, he hopes to be able to hold showcases at smaller, more intimate venues in Taiwan.
Earlier this month, Bii caused a stir when he went public with his secret relationship with Jessie, his non-celebrity girlfriend of six years. When asked how his partner reacted to the media frenzy and attention, he said, “Actually, she was more worried about me, but I’m in a very good mood. Many people have wished me well and shared their concern for me, so I’m very thankful for that.”
He then revealed that both his and Jessie’s families have met, and that his mother is already urging him to settle down soon. However, he wishes to achieve more success in his career before tying the knot. “Work has always been my number one priority, and I hope that is something my girlfriend will be able to understand and support.”
With that said, he took the opportunity to thank his girlfriend for being by his side through the ups and downs. “I went through a rather bleak period over the past few years where I felt very insecure, but I have her to thank for her companionship,” he gushed.
Bii also apologised to anyone who might have been negatively affected by his dating news. “It was never my intention to hurt anyone, although I understand that there might have been people who were hurt,” he said. “From now on, I wish to protect those around me, including my future family.”
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SEBASTIAN ANIMAL HOSPITAL & BIRD CLINIC
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Don't Kiss Your Dog
Woman's pet dog gave her a life-threatening infection
from: Animal Health Smartbrief 7/5/16
http://www2.smartbrief.com/servlet/encodeServlet?issueid=F4051B42-54AE-4315-A20B-B85771D1C33C&sid=499183f0-e27d-43ec-a7e5-e7c4532bd76b
By MARY BROPHY MARCUS CBS NEWS June 30, 2016, 5:31 PM
The furry creatures many of us call our best friend may harbor a bug that can, in rare cases, be life-threatening to humans, as one 70-year-old woman from England found out.
Her unusual case is described in the medical journal BMJ Case Reports. The woman first developed slurred speech and became unresponsive. An ambulance rushed her to the hospital where she improved, but four days later she developed confusion, a headache, diarrhea and a high fever, and her kidneys began to fail.
Blood tests revealed she had sepsis, or blood poisoning, which resulted in organ failure. For doctors, her dire condition presented a medical mystery.
A battery of tests finally determined the culprit: a bacterium commonly found in the mouths of dogs and cats, called Capnocytophaga canimorsus.
Doctors sometimes see Capnocytophaga canimorsus infections in people who've been bitten by dogs, but what made the woman's case unusual was that she hadn't been bitten -- when she entered the hospital, she didn't have any bites, scratch marks, inflammation or broken skin.
She did own a pet Italian greyhound, reported doctors from the Department of Medicine for the Elderly at the University College London Hospitals who wrote up the case report. They titled their paper, "The lick of death: Capnocytophaga canimorsus is an important cause of sepsis in the elderly" because the woman had said she'd petted her dog closely and it had licked her.
Dr. Bruce Farber, chief of infectious diseases at North Shore University Hospital and Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, New York, told CBS News that physicians have known about this bacteria for decades.
"This is an organism carried in the mouths of dog and it causes a very bad sepsis infection. But it's usually in people who are immuno-compromised and usually follows a dog bite. But this is unusual because it was a lick," said Farber.
He said, either way, it's very uncommon. "I've probably seen two cases in 30 years of doing infectious disease."
The authors of the case study said they wanted to flag that a pet's licks can transmit the bacterium, too -- not just a bite.
They wrote, "This report highlights that infection can occur without overt scratch or bite injuries. It also reminds us that the elderly are at higher risk of infection, perhaps due to age-related immune dysfunction and increasing pet ownership.?
As cute as photos and YouTube videos of babies getting "kisses" from their pets are, Farber cautioned parents and caregivers to keep newborns away from dog and cat salvia.
"Dogs shouldn't be licking newborn babies," he said. Their immune systems aren't mature enough to fight off this type of infection. "At about after two to three months, then everything's fine."
Farber said the initial symptoms of Capnocytophaga canimorsus infection -- fever, chills, sweats, lack of energy -- can look like lots of illnesses, but what sets this type of infection apart is that a person rapidly becomes very ill.
The upside is that it's easily treated with common antibiotics. "It is very well inhibited by penicillin and cousins of penicillin," said Farber.
Shelley Rankin, associate professor of microbiology at Penn Vet, had praise for the study authors. "They've done a really nice job of tying everything together with her case," she said.
Rankin assured pet owners infections of this type are very rare. "There have only been about 13 cases reported in the entire United Kingdom, and I'm guessing on a similar scale in the U.S."
However, some deaths linked to the bacteria have been reported.
Rankin said, "In support of all things furry, this is a normal flora in the mouth of dogs."
Farber concurred, "The last thing you want to do is alarm people that they'll be infected if they get licked or kissed by a dog." If there's any concern after a bite, lick or scratch from a pet, check in with your doctor.
Luckily for the woman in the BMJ case report, two weeks of intensive care and antibiotics brought around a full recovery.
superior writing services link
People usually mock the Muslim faith when it claims that the dog is an unclean animal and should not be kept as a pet in the house. really wish that people were more humble and open minded to listen to others
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Good rreading
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Don't Sexually Harass Me!
I wrote about sexual harassment several years ago about a man named Bob. I felt like it was time to talk about it again. This time I will not be telling you a story about a person I knew. However I will be sharing with you my thoughts and feelings about sexual harassment. First, sexual harassment is not funny. You don't make sexual comments about any person unless it's a significant other with their permission. If you wouldn't say it to your parent or grandparents, do not say it to someone else. It's rude. It's disrespectful and it's wrong. I don't care what your beliefs are, you should respect others at all times.
Secondly, it’s not a joke. I don't think anyone would like it if their parent or adult child would have that said to them. Most of us are parents. I am someone's mom. I am a daughter. It's not a compliment. No one likes to feel like a piece of meat. No one likes to have comments made about them like that. It doesn't make people feel good or feel attractive. They don't like the attention. They are mortified. They want to disappear. They want you to stop. People are not put on this Earth to be treated like crap. By sexualizing a person you are robbing them of their dignity and self-worth. Every time you make a comment you are stealing a piece of their self-esteem. After a while there's nothing left. You are a sexual predator. It's worse when the person who does this is married. It gives a whole new layer of how wrong it is. Sexual harassment is not just a single thing. It's not a married thing, it's not a man thing. It's not a woman thing. It's not a particular race or age or anything thing. It's a creep thing. It's someone who feels bad about themselves that they have to sexually harass someone to make themselves feel desirable. We need to take a stand and not put up with it anymore. It's not cool.
I am upset that if you do this in the workplace it's illegal. I totally believe it should be, please understand this but if someone makes a lewd gesture or says something sexual it's not really a crime. It could eventually become harassment at some point by law. I do understand that the jails would be overcrowded with these offenders so it would be really tough. It doesn't matter what a person looks like, how their body looks, if they have big breasts or whatever they may have. They aren't open for sexual comments and gestures. Some women have bigger breasts or bottoms than others. Some can't help that. It doesn't matter what they are wearing, it's not an invitation for you to comment or stare. I think that some guys are misinformed about women. No we don't want to be talked to like that. We are not objects for you to lust over. Thankfully, there are men out there that don't do this. There are great men who value women. I am not sure how a parent allows their adult child to treat another person like that. If my son did it, he would be in big trouble. I wouldn't care if he was 45 and I was in my sixties. It won't happen. I'm not blaming their parents of course. It just doesn't make sense to me.
I notice this a lot on dating sites. Of course you may not find the crème de la crème of men or women on there. If you’re a single parent who works from home you don't go out a lot. You look for conversation about grown up things. You can only talk about Star Wars and Minecraft for so long. You want to talk about other things. Even if you have no interest in becoming romantically involved you still deserve respect. I believe when you make unwanted sexual advances towards someone you are abusing them. You make them feel bad about themselves. You make them feel sad and useless. You can almost break their spirits. It doesn't matter if it's a stranger or if it's a person you have known for years. Some ask for sexual favors in exchange for favors. That’s not OK. Even if you are claiming you are just joking. It’s wrong. I was always taught that you do favors for people because you want to help them. You don’t do them to get something in return. You don’t do them to benefit. Especially when someone genuinely needs help. You are not owed something to help someone. Even if you feel that you are, it shouldn’t be sexual. If we all kept track of all the nice things we ever did to others, we would be owed a lot. Give to Give. Help to Help. To play devil’s advocate, the person might be lonely. They may have a hard home life. They may just want to feel desired or wanted. Making sexual advances is not the way to do that. Work out your problems with your significant other, go to counseling or end your relationship. Please don’t look elsewhere and make someone else feel bad. I know misery loves company but no one wants to share in that.
There's also those who use people by leading them on. They have no interest in having a relationship with the other person. They get what they want through lies and empty promises. It's hard to accept when that is happening especially when they are feeding you everything you wanna hear. Those are the people who prey on those who were abused and maybe have low self-worth. It goes back to the anything is better than nothing theory. I can tell you and promise you that it's not. It's not better. I promise its worse. Loneliness sucks badly. It's better to be lonely than have the person who you think loves you lying to you and using you.
You have the right to be loved. You have the right to hold your head high. You have the right to feel good about yourself. You are not a piece of meat. You are not defined by how many people you have been with or the choices you made in the past. You are beautiful and amazing. Anyone who thinks otherwise, well that's their problem.
I sincerely hope that this post gives someone the strength to stand up and say enough is enough.
Posted by Sheilacakes at 4:58 PM
Labels: Loving yourself, Relationships, Self Esteem, Sexual Harassment, Stopping Sexual Harassment, What is sexual harassment
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Welcome to Smith Miner
2700 West Wackerly Midland, MI989-832-8844
2700 W. Wackerly Midland, MI
Flowers & Hotels
Lois Adele (Cox) DeBoer
Smith Miner Funeral Home
(July 24, 1927 – October 24, 2010)
Lois Adele (Cox) DeBoer, 83, died October 24, 2010 at Kings Daughters Home in Midland. She was born July 24, 1927 in Grand Rapids, the second daughter of Horace H. and Doris (Estabrook) Cox. She entered nurse?ÇÖs training in the Detroit area, but had to drop out when she fell and injured her back. She married John C. DeBoer December 27, 1950 and came to live in Midland, where he was working for Dow Corning. She worked for Dow Corning for a few months before starting her family, and when her children were all in school, she began her career with the Midland Public Schools. She held a number of positions, ending her career at the Administration Center working for the coordinators of art, music and physical education. Lois was active at Memorial Presbyterian Church, singing in the choir, serving as an elder and Clerk of Session, and volunteering for many years before and during her retirement.She is survived by her husband, John (J) C. DeBoer, and her daughters and their spouses, Anne DeBoer of Midland; Bonnie and Al Fox of Marion; Gwen and David Hawtof of Key West, Florida.; Janet and Dan Quinn of Lake Zurich, Illinois; and Claire and Terry Porter of Powder Springs, Georgia. She is also survived by seven grandchildren, Jonathon Quinn (Sarah Pranger), Katie (Terry) Martin, Trenton Porter, Sarah (Tom) Euwema, Nicholas Quinn, Nathan Fox and Meredith Quinn, and one great-grandson, Beckett Cael Martin, her sister-in-law, Marian Cox of Huntington, WV, and a number of nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her parents, her brother and sister, and her daughter, Betsy.A memorial service will be held at Memorial Presbyterian Church, 1310 Ashman, on Thursday, Oct. 28 at 11:00 am with Reverend Wallace H. Mayton III officiating . The family will receive visitors at Smith-Miner Funeral Home, 2700 W. Wackerly, on Wed., Oct. 27 from 5 until 7 pm and on Thursday at the church from 10:00 until the time of the service.Those wishing to express their sympathy may consider the Midland County Emergency Food Pantry Network, MidMichigan Home Care (Hospice) or their favorite charity. The family would like to thank the staff at Kings Daughters for the excellent care Lois received at the end of her life, as well as the support and compassionate care provided by Hospice staff. Online condolences can be given at smithminer.com.
© Copyright 2017 Smith Miner Funeral Home. Website Development and Hosting by SAMSA
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Saturday's Broadcast Ratings: FOX Tops Demos with UFC Coverage
Here are the highlights of the 10 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night (1/25/14):
FOX (2.546 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.1, #1) was the demo champ on Saturday with its presentation of "UFC on FOX 10" (2.546 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.1, #1).
CBS (4.629 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.8, #2) then was the most-watched network with repeats of "Mike & Molly" (3.358 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T6), "Two and a Half Men" (3.600 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.7, #5) and "NCIS" (5.164 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T3) plus a new "48 Hours" (5.244 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T3).
Next up was NBC (2.222 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.6, #3) and its "Shaun White: Russia Calling" (2.146 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T9) special followed by repeats of "The Blacklist" (1.850 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T9) and "Saturday Night Live" (2.670 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.9, #2).
And finally, ABC (2.651 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.5, #4) closed out the night with the feature "Flushed Away" (2.210 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.5, #8) and "20/20" (3.532 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T6).
· "Saturday Night Live," with host Jonah Hill and musical guest Bastille, averaged a 4.8/12 in household results in Nielsen's 56 metered markets and a 2.6/11 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with Local People Meters, making it the #1 telecast of the night on the Big 4 networks in both metered-market households and 18-49 rating in the Local People Meters.
· Versus the top primetime program on the Big 4 networks last night, "SNL" was rated 37% higher in metered-market households (4.8 vs. 3.5 for CBS's "48 Hours"). In adults 18-49 in the Local People Meters, "SNL" doubled the night's #2 telecast on ABC, CBS, NBC or Fox (2.6 vs. 1.3 for "UFC on Fox").
Here are the highlights of the seven ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (1/26/13):
FOX (3.766 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.8, #1) was the top demo draw on Saturday with its coverage of "UFC on FOX 6" (3.766 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.8, #1).
ABC (2.591 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.8, #2) then claimed the silver with rebroadcasts of "The Taste" (2.131 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T4) and "20/20" (3.514 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.9, #3).
Next up was CBS (4.704 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.7, #3) with encores of "NCIS: Los Angeles" (3.979 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T6) and "48 Hours" (4.851 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T4) plus a new "48 Hours" (5.283 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.0, #2).
And finally, coverage of the "U.S. Figure Skating Championships" (3.403 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T6) on NBC (3.403 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.5, #4) rounded out the night.
* "Saturday Night Live," with host Adam Levine and musical guest Kendrick Lamar (5.0/12 in metered-market households), dominated its time period. "SNL" scored the #1 rating of the night among ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox in metered-market households, topping all primetime telecasts on those networks.
* In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, last night's "Saturday Night Live" averaged a 2.8 rating, 12 share in adults 18-49. "SNL" delivered the top rating of the night among ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox in the Local People Meters, out-rating all primetime programming on those networks.
* In the Local People Meters, "Saturday Night Live" matched its highest adult 18-49 rating since November 3 (with a telecast hosted by Louis C.K. with musical guest fun, 3.0).
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November 9, 2014 2014, Avantasia, Edguy, Kamelot, Nightwish, Power Metal 2 Comments
Kingdom Hearts: Sonata Arctica Look Back With Ecliptica Revisited
A few Fridays ago on a balmy Houston evening, I witnessed Sonata Arctica perform for the first time. I was excited, not only because I had missed a pair of chances to see them live in the past, but in large part because I had been revisiting the band’s classic era catalog in the week leading up to it —- a mix of dutiful homework and genuine affection for those albums that I had loved so much throughout the band’s early years. It was also somewhat of a banner night for power metal in Houston with Delain and Xandria also on the bill. Outside in the lengthy line and inside in the darkened venue, there was a palpable sense of giddy anticipation from almost everyone in the crowd. I knew something was a little different when most everyone was packed together in a shapeless mound of humanity in front of the stage long before the local opener, collectively staring at a perturbed roadie setting up gear instead of assuming the typical heads down, phones out pose.
My pre-show impression of Sonata Arctica as a live act was colored by various live YouTube clips (most recorded on inadequate phone cameras I know). In those various clips it often seemed that either the keyboard was mixed far too low, or the guitar was horribly muddied. I also noticed a distinct lack of the swelling harmony/ back up vocals that are such an integral part of the band’s studio releases. A lack of live backing vocals for a power metal band is often a critical error —- as much as I loved seeing Blind Guardian live, a clunky crowd sing-a-long could not prove to be an effective replacement for hundreds of multi-tracked Hansi Kursh’s. I always considered Kamelot’s One Cold Winter’s Night live recording setup as the best possible standard for a power metal band: In lieu of having anyone else in the band who could actually sing apart from Roy Khan, Kamelot hired three backup vocalists to ensure that their harmonized choruses would soar. It is however a fantastically expensive luxury to have (even for a single show), and quite impractical to expect a European band to bring over additional musicians for a North American tour. Some bands are fortunate to have harmony vocalists built into their lineup like Sabaton, and others aren’t so lucky. So with those factors in mind regarding Sonata, I braced myself for a slight letdown by tempering my expectations. The stage lights went down and voices around me bellowed in triumph, and the super hyped up guy I had been talking power metal with in between sets leaned over and shook my shoulder with alcohol fueled glee.
Tony Kakko was a vocal magician that night, and a performer unlike any I had ever witnessed. He leapt and bounded across the stage with relentless energy, and threw himself into the lyrics with physical movements that mirrored or reacted to the words he was singing. His voice was accordingly sonorous, full, soaring, and capable of an impressive dexterity in adapting harmony laden lines to a solo vocal approach. When he needed us to help out on the choruses he directed our voices himself, and classics as such “Full Moon” and “Replica” felt like celebrations of power metal’s proclivity in creating joyful euphoria. Newer songs from albums that I had been critical of on this blog such as “Losing My Insanity” and “Blood” actually sounded better live, brimming with a vitality that I now associate with their studio versions. Even the dreaded “X Marks the Spot” was actually fun because Kakko simply sold it so well, his skill as a front man keeping me rapt with attention as he seemed to act out the lyrics. I was caught off guard in realizing that the song actually has a rather good chorus that I had seemingly blocked out before (my feelings on the studio version’s horrible dialogue still stand). I was even stunned that Kakko had the guts to perform such a naked ballad such as “Love” from the recent Pariah’s Child, but he somehow managed to convince a room full of some pretty convincing looking metal fans that it was okay to sway back and forth to a delicate, gorgeous, emotionally soaked song. I lingered long after the show, fan babbled to the Xandria guys a bit, and found myself not wanting to leave. As it always seems, magical nights like that are rare, and over far too quickly.
That the set list was generously full of classics from the band’s debut album Ecliptica was not a random occurrence. As Kakko himself pointed out on stage, the band was celebrating their fifteen year anniversary and in addition to loading their set with songs from that watershed era , they were going to be releasing their re-recording of the album at the end of the month. I spent the weeks leading up to the show listening to that album in particular, and reveling in every second of what can only in retrospect be dubbed an actual masterpiece. Upon its 1999 release, Ecliptica became a hit in Finland (and Japan) in large part due to the tangible influence of native countrymen Stratovarius’ championing efforts, and the market’s hunger for a Hammerfall-fueled resurgent interest in soaring, melodic power metal. I myself was a frustrated metal fan reliant upon newly developing Stateside mail orders to acquire back catalog from any European metal band I could find. I was listening to a weekly college radio show called the Metal Meltdown out of Cleveland that was introducing me to wonderful new stuff at an alarming rate (in that my wallet was continually emptying) —- in one week the show played new music from a trio of bands I had never heard of: Edguy, Nightwish, and Sonata Arctica. It was like water to a lost traveler in the Sahara. It was a year of classic power metal releases. It was a wonderful time to be a fan.
All these years later, its understandably difficult to remember just how strikingly different and fresh Ecliptica and its 2001 follow-up Silence sounded amidst that newly forming power metal resurgence. Sure the band were noticeably influenced by Stratovarius, but where their countrymen played it straight and safe with their take on European power metal, Sonata Arctica displayed a tendency to wildly lean in odd, unexpected directions —- both musically and lyrically. There was something quite charmingly naive and innocent about their approach, as if they were so enamored with their ability to create songs worthy of a record deal that they didn’t bother to pay attention towards sticking to standard genre rules. This was a very young band for starters (scarcely out of their teens), consisting of musicians all to eager to lean on speed and flashy solos, and they had the talent to pull it off, particularly long-departed guitarist Jani Liimatainen. Yet Sonata’s sound all started with the songwriting genius of Kakko himself, who throughout his career has displayed his knack for crafting indelible melodies with sharp hooks, and incredibly focused songwriting that flirted with a variety of tempos. He was a keyboardist, and his songs were built with that instrument serving as the framework for his songwriting, which also meant that melodies had to come first before riffs (often a hallmark of the most melodic of power metal bands). He’s of the same caliber of talent as his good friend Tuomas Holopainen of Nightwish; or Tobias Sammett of Edguy/Avantasia; or Hansi Kursch of Blind Guardian: All power metal songwriters who are masters of their craft to such an extent that they simultaneously define and defy the genre. In that regard, Kakko was both a trail blazer and someone who was practically impossible to copy.
As a singer, he was capable of projecting emotive inflections in the simplest of vocal melodies, to such an extent that every song had the potential to come across as some autobiographical account of personal tragedy about a lost-love, or worse. When I first began to listen to the band, I didn’t get around to really investigating the lyrics in the album booklets until after many dozens of listens. I was convinced that these songs were based in part from real life experiences —- and as absolutely ridiculous as that sounds to you today, consider that hardly anyone in power metal at the time was tackling such first person, introverted, real-world subject matter in such an earnest way. Sure you’d occasionally find a love ballad on a random power metal album pre-1999, Stratovarius had a couple in fact, but they were usually paint-by-numbers affairs lyrically speaking, filled with flowery, vague, open-ended diction meant to apply to anyone in particular. In short, they weren’t telling stories. Kakko has been a storyteller throughout his career, a lyricist who writes with an eye for detail and tangible imagery rather than metaphysical conceits. Think about your favorite Sonata Arctica songs… I’m thinking right now of a gem like “Tallulah” from Silence, where Kakko writes from the perspective of a love lorn narrator: “You take my hand and pull me next to you, so close to you / I have a feeling you don’t have the words / I found one for you, kiss your cheek, say bye, and walk away / Don’t look back cause I am crying”. This kind of lyrical perspective was startlingly bold and evocative for a power metal band, so much so that I figured something that gritty and real had to be inspired from his personal life, right?
As it turns out, Kakko was a lyricist of the Joe Elliot mold, he being the famed lead singer of Def Leppard. When I was a budding rock fan in the early nineties, I read an interview with Elliot where he admitted that his lyrics were pure fiction, despite his narrative perspective almost always being in the first person with seemingly autobiographical overtones. I know its not a revolutionary concept, and that many other bands have utilized such a lyrical strategy to ratchet up the tension and passion in their music (Journey comes to mind immediately), but Elliot was the first famous musician that I had ever read such an admission from. Reading it then was a bit of a revelation for me, and made me pay attention to lyric writing in rock music with greater attention, to not be so gullible, and to think about things like narration and perspective and diction in a new light. It made me pay greater attention to Metallica’s Load for example, while many upon its release were writing it off as a sell-out move towards alternative rock, I found myself thinking that it featured James Hetfield’s most thoughtful and resonant lyric writing. So it was with great surprise that I found myself hoodwinked by Kakko, who in the very first interview I had ever read with him revealed that his lyrics were purely fictionalized. Doh! This has of course carried on throughout his career, as he recently pointed out in a late September interview on the Metal Meltdown radio show regarding his penchant for writing songs about relationships and love, “I write a lot of stories, these are not my diary entries by any means. I’ve been with my wife for eighteen years. We started dating back in ’96, the same year this band got started so she’s been there the whole time”.
Suffice it to say that when I finally got around to reading the lyrics, I had some other forehead slapping revelations. Take an Ecliptica classic such as “Full Moon”, which upon a cursory hearing could seemingly be about the emotional troubles and turmoils of a complex relationship told in a very romanticized, metaphor-laden manner. Kakko’s emotional vocals sell it that way dammit! But no, its actually about a man on the cusp of his werewolf transformation trying to isolate himself away from his wife during the full moon (“Run away run away run away!”). There is no larger metaphor there, but I suppose in its own juvenile, kooky way it works as a love song. Similarly there is no actual person named Dana, a fictional character in Kakko’s lyrical universe whose name was culled from Dana Scully of The X-Files (Kakko was a huge fan, as am I). Feel free to read into the lyrics of “Letter to Dana” what you will in that light, but I don’t recall Gillian Anderson posing for anything naughtier than the cover of FHM magazine. Likewise, the “Mary-Lou” of the Ecliptica Japanese bonus track is just a made-up character in a rather distressing tale of teenage pregnancy, yet one that’s sweetly sung. I could go on and on reciting examples of misinterpreted Sonata Arctica lyrics, but the point is that these were all songs sung with such emotional resonance that they started to mean whatever I selfishly wished them to. I’m reasonably confident that other Sonata fans have felt the same way. Why else would we get so throat lumpy and something-in-my-eye about so many of these wonderful songs? I believe its because Kakko sang them with a passion and intensity that to this day seems embedded with painful experience —- despite all proof to the contrary. So powerful is his natural talent that I found myself haunted by a Bette Midler song I couldn’t have cared less about before.
With all that in consideration, I think its okay for any of us to ask why the band is re-recording Ecliptica at all. Well, the short answer is that the aptly dubbed Ecliptica Revisited was done at the request of the band’s longtime Japanese record label, a request the band agreed to as a gesture of goodwill towards a company that had stuck by them since the beginning. Kakko has even commented publicly that the contract they signed for the release stipulated that the re-recording had to be 94% identical to the original release, essentially meaning that they couldn’t re-work the songs into transformed versions or acoustic strip downs. For Kakko, this stipulation not only made it easier for the re-recording to be completed, but helped him to contextualize this release as a simple tribute to the original, as well as a more accurate representation of how these songs are performed live today. Typically within the metal community regardless of subgenre, a re-recording is frowned upon, not only for the often cloudy nature of the reason for it’s existence but more for the larger threat it presents to the legacy of the original. Most of the opinions I’ve seen regarding Ecliptica Revisited seem to align with that way of thinking, and I certainly understand some fans’ puzzlement and frustration (although I think its a waste of energy to get up in arms over a release that clearly will not be replacing the original recording).
As far as how enjoyable the re-recording sounds, well… that depends entirely on what you’re expecting from it. It would be a bit dense to expect an absolutely perfect, note-for-note recreation —- you have to walk into this expecting that certain melodies will be altered, the high notes might not be as high, and there might even be a key change or two. We’re factoring in a difference of fifteen years, the numerous adjustments that have been made over time to the way these songs have been played live, as well as the simple truth that no two recordings can sound alike (different band members, recording facilities, equipment, microphones, etc). Oddly enough I was really excited about this release, I think in large part because it gave me an excuse to simply spend a justifiable chunk of listening time with all these old songs I love so much. I spent the past few weeks going back and comparing the original and this re-recording with back to back listens, in an attempt to try to scope out what I liked about each over the other (a behavior one friend of mine deemed “maniacal”), and came up with an litany of notes.
I’ll spare you the bulk of them, but I’ll clear the decks of my negative impressions right away: I won’t fault the band or Kakko in particular for failing to realize this, but the slight tempo adjustments slowing most of these songs down a touch severely impacted a few in particular, effectively muting their original energy. This is acutely felt on “8th Commandment” and “UnOpened”, where the slower pace drags down Kakko’s vocal delivery in the refrains, zapping the songs of their original broiling anger (and yes, their sense of fun and exuberance). Similarly on “Replica”, a personal favorite of mine, Kakko tends to put the brakes on his delivery of the chorus, robbing the song of its original sense of urgency. I should note that this re-recorded version of “Replica” is almost identical to the manner in which they played it here in Houston, and in a live setting this slower pace worked in the sense that Kakko was able to use the extra time to play the performer and guide us in our sing-a-long. In fact you can hear the pauses where you can just imagine him gesturing to the crowd to join in —- it works in the context of a show where you’re just thrilled to be a part of the song in a meager way, but here on record it comes off as lacking. Its interesting to note that if you compare the song lengths of the originals to the re-recordings, you’ll see that the majority of the track lengths on Ecliptica Revisited have been extended by an average of ten seconds, the cumulative effect of all this slowing down business.
Fortunately the tempo downshift doesn’t hurt all the songs, in fact helping some songs to breathe easier and feel better paced. Cry heresy if you must but I actually find the vocal take on the re-recording of that eternal classic “My Land” far better than the original: Kakko’s enunciation and pacing is better, and the lyrics are more discernible as a result; I also love the alteration he made at 2:30 on the lyric “You can’t keep me away forever”, on the original that line only appears at the end and he doesn’t satisfyingly lean on the “forever” like he does here. I also really love what they’ve added to “Full Moon”, the intro is still as delicate and beautiful as it originally was, but the band gets heavier in the buildup to the galloping verses, giving the song a darker, stormier vibe. The chorus is as bright as ever though, and what I find so incredibly wonderful about Kakko’s vocal approach on it is that he seems to be reveling in its history as a fan favorite. I know its a subtle thing I’m trying to relay, but I hear it in the way he delivers that classic chorus with all its inherent poppiness in such a celebratory manner. Not surprisingly, its the balladry of “Letter to Dana” that benefits the most from the re-recording, with guitars multi-tracked in choice spots, better vocal phrasing, and a greater emphasis on making those lead guitars really capture the epic sweep in a Slash-esque way. Unfortunately, it is a bit of a misstep and a shame that they didn’t turn up the harpsichord effects at 4:25 —- that was such an epic moment in the original and although you can still faintly hear them underneath, they’re not nearly as goose bump inducing here. I also think “Destruction Preventer” comes off a little better here, as they sanded off all the rough edges (Kakko’s wildly high pitched yelps) and added layers of extra guitars and harmony vocals.
All told its likely that some of you won’t hear things the same way I did, and my impression could by colored by the very vivid association I have of certain re-recorded songs sounding similar to their live renditions. If that’s really it, then all I can offer is the suggestion for you to catch the band in concert on a future tour. But we are comparing apples to apples here right? Ecliptica in its original recording is a masterpiece of melodic power metal, or at least as near close to one as you can get (I definitely put it up there), and it would’ve been fine without a re-recording. Yet it doesn’t diminish in the light of this one, in fact, I think its helped me to remember just how special these songs are. I can’t recall the last time I’ve listened to the entire Sonata Arctica catalog as intently as I have in the past month, and I’ve found myself grateful for the opportunity to have my interest renewed. Maybe that coupled with seeing them live has given me a greater tolerance for the flaws of recent albums, and a greater sense of appreciation for all the collective gems and rubies they’ve given to me. Their best work captures the essence of what I love so much about power metal’s potential to uplift my spirits even through the saddest lyric. Its amazing to consider that they’re now regarded as a veteran band within the genre, when for seemingly the longest time they were the up and comers. Fifteen years was a lifetime ago. Happy anniversary Sonata Arctica.
EclipticaEcliptica RevisitedreviewSilenceSonata ArcticaTony Kakko
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At first I was also skeptical of this re-recording and the motives behind it. But after a cursory listen I admit that I quite enjoy this version of Ecliptica. I think Tony’s diction is quite improved and his highs aren’t so whiny anymore (i. e. the chorus of the first track). I didn’t bother to make a back-to-back comparison, though, and I’m not the biggest fan of this album anyway. So to me Revisited is hardly sacrilegious and even quite pleasant. Let’s hope the experience of re-cutting this inpires the band to incorporate more of the old neo-classical speed metal style in their current music.
BTW Joe Elliot? This guy must quite enjoy his ‘filthy magazines’, judging by one of his big singles 🙂
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Hah, well Joe Elliot certainly has his share of awful lyrics so Im sure he’d approve!
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Boom Supersonic nabs $100M to build its Mach 2.2 commercial airliner
One Denver-based startup’s long-shot bid to move today’s commercial jets beyond supersonic speeds just got a big injection of cash.
Boom Supersonic, which is building and designing what it calls the “world’s first economically viable supersonic airliner,” announced today that they’ve closed a $100 million Series B funding round led by Emerson Capital. Other investors include Y Combinator Continuity, Caffeinated Capital, SV Angel, Sam Altman, Paul Graham, Ron Conway, Michael Marks and Greg McAdoo.
The startup has raised around $140 million to date. The team has about 100 employees, and hopes to double that number this year with its new funding.
“Today, the time and cost of long-distance travel prevent us from connecting with far-off people and places,” said Boom CEO Blake Scholl in a statement. “Overture fares will be similar to today’s business class—widening horizons for tens of millions of travelers. Ultimately, our goal is to make high-speed flight affordable to all.”
Alongside the fundraise, Boom is further detailing its plans to begin testing its Mach 2.2 commercial airliner this year. The company is aiming to launch a 1:3 scale prototype of its planned Overture airliner this year, called the XB-1. The two-seater plane will serve to validate the technologies being built for the full-sized jet.
The startup’s supersonic Overture jet will hold 55 passengers, and the team hopes that the costs of flying more than double the speed of sound will be comparable to today’s business-class ticket prices. The company already has pre-orders from Virgin Group and Japan Airlines for 30 airliners.
Indeed, $100 million may seem like a lot of money, but the development costs for lengthy projects like these can quickly race toward the billions of dollars, suggesting that if they carry out their mission, they’re going to need a whole lot more.
https://tcrn.ch/2CQmu19
Labels: Boom Supersonic nabs $100M to build its Mach 2.2 commercial airliner
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Third Eye Blind & Dashboard Confessional at The Stage AE
Third Eye Blind & Dashboard Confessional Tickets
Awesome news! Two of alternative rock's defining music artists, Third Eye Blind and Dashboard Confessional, are coming together for an epic co-headlining tour in 2015! You can catch their hot performance at Stage AE on Monday 22nd June. The bands are already getting fired up, "All that crowd energy and the heat frees us up. That's why Summer is so exciting. We haven't been out for a year so we're most excited to see you all."
With their albums first and second albums going six and two times platinum in the United States respectively, Third Eye Blind were a 90s alt-rock phenomenon. Formed in San Fransisco in 1993, their first major label recording contract was with Elektra records, and was signed three years after their formation by lead singer Stephan Jenkins and guitarist Kevin Cadogan as a songwriting duo. It was later reported as the largest publishing deal ever for an unsigned artist. Their debut album was released in 1997, launching five singles, and has been the most successful of their career to date, reaching number 25 on the US Hot 100 and selling 6 million copies in the U.S. alone. Since then, they have released three more commercially successful studio albums and there are rumors of a fifth on the way…
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Awesome Animal - The Bowerbird
In my novel, Diffusion, Quentin finds a stone talisman that turns out to be very important. But the place where he finds it is interesting as well. The talisman is basically a small stone (although carved to resemble a creature). It is found by a male BOWERBIRD and incorporated into the bird's elaborate "bower," where Quentin eventually finds it.
Bowerbird bowers are part of a mating ritual that is almost beyond belief. In order to impress females, the male bowerbird creates a spectacular structure with sticks, clears away the ground in front of it, and then painstakingly collects "treasures" and puts them into neat piles, sorted by size, texture, and color.
There are about 20 species of bowerbirds, ranging from bright orange in color to dull brown. Most of them live in New Guinea and/or northeastern Australia.
I've always been fascinated by the fact that, in most animals, it is the males that have developed incredible behaviors and physical characteristics to attract mates. It is the male's job to prove he is worthy (healthy and strong... in other words, likely to produce healthy, strong offspring). It is the female's job to be aloof and picky. Much research has been done on this, and it has to do with the amount of energy females put into producing offspring compared to males (as in A LOT MORE!). But that's a topic for a future email.
Check out this video from the BBC of the courtship of the flame bowerbird (prepare to be amazed):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XkPeN3AWIE
Amazing Facts about Bowerbirds:
Male regent bowerbirds actually paint the sticks that make up their bower. They do this with their blue or green saliva, often painting it on using a leaf as a paintbrush. A rare example of tool use in birds!
The Vogelkop bowerbird creates bowers that are a meter high and 1.5 meters wide (see the photo below). They decorate their "lawn" with piles of brightly-colored flowers and other objects. Whenever these start rotting or loosing their color, the birds replace them with fresh ones.
When bowerbirds live near civilization, they often collect human-made objects because they are bright-colored. The Satin bowerbird below has collected pieces of blue plastic. Notice the drab female watching him perform from inside the bower.
Male bowerbirds work so hard on their bowers, expending valuable energy doing so, that this has resulted in the habit of raiding each other's bowers. When a male leaves his bower unguarded, another male might swoop in and steal some of his hard-earned treasures. Sometimes they even tear down the bower structure itself. That is terribly rude, but I guess all is fair in love and war.
Males build their bowers so the sun will shine on their bright treasures and on themselves. After all, the best presentation will win the female. So in forests with an open canopy, they build them with a north-south orientation. In a closed canopy forest, they build them near a gap in the canopy.
So the bowerbird deserves a place in the P.A.H.O.F. (Prestantious Animal Hall of Fame).
FUN FACT: Prestantious is from a latin word meaning excellence. It is a very rare word, as it has appeared only once in the Oxford English Dictionary, stating that it was used once in a book written in 1638, The Blood of the Grape. Basically, it means awesome.
Bowerbird bower - Ingo Arndt/National Geographic
Vogelkop Bowerbird - BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04dwdm3)
Satin Bowerbirds - Gerhard Koertner / Photoshot - BBC
Awesome Animal - Death Adder
In my upcoming novel, Profusion, one of the fascinating animals that makes an appearance is the Death Adder, a venomous snake that lives in eastern Australia and New Guinea (part of Profusion takes place in the rainforest of Papua, the Indonesian province that is the western half of New Guinea). The name "Death Adder" certainly implies that this creature is dangerous (which it is), but actually the name is derived from "Deaf Adder," the name given to the snake by early Australian settlers. They called it the deaf adder because, unlike many other snakes, these held their ground and did not slither away when approached by people. So people assumed they were deaf. It is important to note, though, that snakes in general do not actually "hear" the way we do. Instead, they sense vibration in the ground, and the death adder is no different from other snakes in that respect.
Scientists do not agree on how many species of death adders exist. Depending on the source (or how you define a species), there are 4 to 14 species.
Amazing Facts about Death Adders:
Death Adders, like all snakes, are predators. But instead of going after their prey, they sit still, often hidden beneath the soil or leaves, and wait for prey to come to them. To help lure prey closer, they have a modified tip on their tail that they move around, making it look like a wriggling worm. This attracts birds, rodents, frogs, and lizards to take a closer look. Typically this is the last closer look they ever take at anything. There is a scene in Profusion in which a tree kangaroo (our good old friend, Mbaiso) encounters just such a thing. If you want to know what happens, you will have to read the book when it comes out this summer!
Check out this cool video of "caudal luring" of a death adder:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXtN9PER5UE
Death adders can be deadly! They are among the most dangerous snakes, and they can inject up to 100 mg of a very undesirable neurotoxin (affects the central nervous system rather than just the tissue around the bite). And they strike amazingly fast. They can go from the strike position, hit their prey and inject venom, and back to the strike position in 0.15 seconds. They are the world record holders for strike speed!
In Australia, death adders often kill and eat giant marine toads. There is good news and bad news regarding this. Since marine toads are not native to Australia, and in fact are considered damaging to the ecosystem, this is the good news. The bad news is that marine toads have toxic glands on their skin. Once the marine toad is swallowed, the toxin from these glands kills the death adder. Talk about a lose-lose situation!
Death Adders look much like vipers (many venomous snakes are in the viper family, with short, fat bodies and triangular heads), but they aren't vipers at all. And they aren't adders either, in spite of their name. They are actually "Elapids" (more closely related to cobras and coral snakes).
Speaking of vipers, when Trish and I were hiking the Flint Hills of Kansas a few weeks ago, we came across a copperhead (photo below). Copperheads are "pit vipers," which means they have heat-sensing pits on their faces that help them detect warm-blooded prey. Notice how similar the death adder is to the copperhead. This is a result of "convergent evolution," which is when animals (or plants) that are not closely related evolve similar characteristics because those characteristics best suit their habits and environment.
So the death adder deserves a place in the J.A.H.O.F. (Jelly Animal Hall of Fame).
Fun Fact: Jelly is a term used as early as the mid 1500s. It was used to describe someone who was excellent (but particularly if they had a high opinion of themselves). It may have come from the word jolly, but no one knows for sure. Basically, it means awesome.
First death adder photo by Steve K Wilson.
Death Adder caudal lure: Queensland Museum
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You are here: Home » Interviews » Remembering Bruce Williams: Evenings Fit His Lifestyle
Remembering Bruce Williams: Evenings Fit His Lifestyle
TALKERS | February 11, 2019
By Mike Kinosian
TALKERS magazine
LOS ANGELES — It’s an Americana snapshot that could have been taken anywhere in this country.
In this particular case, the locale is an East Orange, New Jersey drugstore at a time when prescriptions, over-the-counter medicines, and soda fountains were the top attractions, rather than the virtual mini-shopping malls they’ve now become.
Under the tutelage of veteran proprietors “Joe” and “Sam,” an unlicensed 14-year-old boy is hard at work at the apothecary, compounding prescriptions – something the Board of Pharmacy would hardly endorse.
Absolutely no aspirations whatsoever of a radio career existed then for that teenager, yet he would go on to become one of the medium’s most listened to communicators and a 1999 Radio Hall Of Fame inductee.
Many other on-air talents breeze in and out with head-spinning rapidity, but decade after decade, Bruce Williams was a rock-solid survivor.
An original member of NBC Radio’s TalkNet (which was later folded into Westwood One), the father of five carried on conversation weeknights (7:00 pm -10:00 pm) on The Lifestyle TalkRadio Network. His Made In America Broadcast Network debuted in July 2012, but Williams retired from broadcasting about eight months later (March 2013).
Our TALKERS 2002 list of “Greatest Radio Talk Show Hosts Of All Time” included him at #6; Williams died this past Saturday (2/9) – eight days shy of his 87th birthday.
Plane truth
Given that Williams boasted an impressive radio resume, it would be understandable if his primary influences came from the medium; however, he told me in an interview (when I was special features editor at Inside Radio) thatmore knowledge was gained from druggists “Sam” and “Joe” than he learned anyplace else. “One was Phi Beta Kappa from Rutgers and the other never saw the inside of a high school.”
A situation approximately one year into Williams’ TalkNet tenure (12-5-1981) would have a profound impact on his life, as the small plane he was piloting crashed, landing him on the critical list at the Princeton (New Jersey) Medical Center with knee damage and internal injuries. “If I’d pulled up the airplane another two feet, I would not have hit the trees doing 160,” he reasoned. “I probably wish I were a sharper pilot that day. On the other hand, that may have very well influenced my life in other ways; it’s hard to fathom.”
Performing political penance
Before Williams entered the radio business, it was a distinct possibility that politics could have been his career, since he served two four-year terms (including one as mayor) on Franklin Township’s (New Jersey) city council.
When he was handily defeated for the general assembly though, Williams told the person who beat him that he actually did him (Williams) a huge favor. “I probably would have been a congressman the rest of my life and that would have been a terrible piece of penance,” the Newark State College graduate declared before breaking into laughter. “As long as he was running in New Jersey, I contributed to his campaign. Like everything else, it was good to me, but it also had its time. It was over in 1974 when I got my ass kicked.”
Nonstop barrage
That’s when he set his sights on radio and hosted “At Your Service” on WCTC, New Brunswick (New Jersey), quickly followed by “Bruce Williams At Large.” Former WCTC general manager Tony Marano passed away in 20015 at the age of 78. “I always thought of him as ‘the boss,’” Williams asserted. “He was my mentor.”
Words such as “persistent” and “relentless” are elevated to new levels when one considers how Williams landed an on-air job at New York City’s fabled WMCA. “I called over 3,000 times and sent over 500 letters,” he nonchalantly recounted. “No matter what I was doing or where I was, I’d call Mark Mason.”
At the time, Mason programmed “Real People Radio 57” (WMCA). Many of Williams’ friends told him he’d upset Mason with the barrage of calls, but Williams maintained, “You have nothing to lose when you’re at ground zero.”
Let’s get busy
The onslaught must have worked, as Mason relented and asked Williams if he’d be interested in doing a Sunday afternoon (2:00 – 6:00 pm) show, replacing Barry Farber. “In those days, the ‘busy counter’ was everything,” Williams recalled. “The producer was a very nice middle-aged lady who monitored the busy counter. I had everyone I knew call the station all afternoon, so I got some attention when management came in the next day and saw [there were over] 2,000 clicks on the busy counter.”
Three years later (1981), it was off to TalkNet’s national platform and, while cognizant great things were happening, a sage Williams pointed out, “I was fortunate, but knew it wasn’t going to last forever. That’s why I savored that time.”
Numerous athletes and entertainers assume the glory and limelight they enjoy will never end, although Williams emphasized that he didn’t live that way. “There was a time and a season for all that stuff.”
Never losing focus
Part of the routine called for Williams to engage his audience with face-to-face “Evening With Bruce” sessions but he confided to me, “I wouldn’t care to do that again. Those road trips would last three or four weeks. It was great doing it at the time, however, and I liked meeting people.”
Gatherings were at local theaters and Williams would sit down at the edge of the stage after the show. “I’d talk with people for an hour,” recollected Williams, who borrowed the technique from Liberace. “He wasn’t the greatest piano player, but he certainly had personality. After his show, every old lady with Henna Rinse got an autograph. He was major league – big time.”
One night after Williams did his TalkNet program from NBC’s studios at New York City’s 30 Rockefeller Plaza, he met his son for dinner. A woman who just completed taping her appearance on “Late Night With David Letterman” rushed past them. People were waiting for her with their autograph books, but she went right through the crowd, saying “no time – no time,” prompting Williams to comment to his son that many other people would come out to talk to those who made them famous. “Six months later, nobody knew who that woman was,” Williams quipped. “I know who made what I do possible: It’s the people who listen to me and [affiliates] that carry that show.”
Hardly a “has-been”
Promptly returning affiliate calls helps to explain why Bruce Williams managed to remain a major player, after many others have come and gone. “I learned some important lessons a long time ago,” he remarked. “You meet the same people going in each direction. I was fortunate to be on top of the industry, but you don’t stay there forever. I don’t take this as seriously as some of my colleagues. My office doesn’t have tablets in it. One Moses was enough – I didn’t come off a mountain. I’m lucky and get to do what I enjoy.”
Something that quickly annoyed Williams was hearing a person claiming to have rescued the industry. “There wouldn’t be a business for them to save if it weren’t for [legendary Mutual/Westwood One overnight dominator] Larry King, [TalkNet personality] Sally [Jessy Raphael] and me,” he stressed. “As is the nature of any [other] enterprise though, it’s what a person has done today – not yesterday.”
Happily ensconced in their own private studios during TalkNet’s height were Raphael and Williams, but it wasn’t quite the same in later days. “The reality was I didn’t command the audience I once did,” he admitted to me, “but I don’t think I’m a ‘has-been.’ It’s better to be [that, however,] than a ‘never was.’ I was one of the few people who got to be number one in the business they involved themselves in; not many people are so lucky to do that.”
Dozens of syndicated shows are currently on the market, of course, and Williams proclaimed, “The networks have themselves to blame for that. In the mid-1980s, they gave [affiliates] a certain amount of time to get a satellite dish or they would be gone; Mutual was the only network that didn’t do that. They bought dishes and hung onto [their affiliates] for quite a while. Making a station buy its own dish was the Emancipation Proclamation. All a station had to do was aim it differently and they could take whatever shows they wanted. If a dish belonged to [a network], a station would’ve been locked into them.”
Nothing is more certain than change. One constant, though, was the natural rapport Williams shared with his listeners. “There are many one-trick ponies out there, but I don’t think there have been more than [six] really good telephone takers since this business began,” he contended. “If you get them to veer off their subject matter, they’re in trouble.”
All Williams ever saw on the computer screen was the name of a caller’s city. There used to be an asterisk to let him know the caller’s gender, but he didn’t even have that information at the end. “I don’t do a ton of show prep to be someone I’m not and don’t have a staff or people doing tons of research. I’ve been a hustler all my life; I honestly believe people identify with someone like me. There are so many wannabes who are trying to be other people. I don’t have an on-air persona and a [separate one] off-air.”
Pesky producer
Doing a nightly talk show from specially-constructed Manhattan studios became distant memories for Williams, who executed those duties in a more relaxed atmosphere from his Florida residence. “One of my Boston Terriers is my producer,” he jested. “Every once in a while, my dogs get in a fight and the whole world knows about it.”
Such instances notwithstanding, when the clock indicated it was time to hit the air, Williams always showed up and “did the best I can – that’s the end of it,” he matter-of-factly stated. “I don’t do many post-mortems. Every once in a while, I’ll lie in bed and think I should have said [something else] and I’ll correct myself the next day. Unlike many of my colleagues, I invite people to [challenge me] and I’ll put them right at the head of the line.”
Leveling with listeners
There’s a pronounced contrast in the way Williams handled a personal problem with that of another mega talk host who owns Sunshine State property. “[Premiere Networks’ Rush Limbaugh] was addicted to painkillers and he buried it,” Williams observed. “I was addicted to shooting needles into myself and went on the air and told people about it. I’m not criticizing him – I just handled it differently. I was taking Demerol in quantities that would kill a horse. My family was more understanding than they had a right to be.”
On-air honesty such as that was typical for Williams, who gave up his football scholarship to enlist in the Air Force during the Korean War.
Listeners were told about his situation and he claimed, “Nobody had the slightest derogatory thing to say. I ride my bike ten miles a day and was pumping so hard that I ran into a parked truck, which is pretty stupid. I only have about 15% use of my left arm [and there are severe after-effects from the 1981 plane crash]. I’m in pain 24 hours a day.”
Sweet deal turns sour
Opening one of the largest stores that sold only sugar-free products was perceived by Williams to be a goldmine idea. “It was beautiful – people were beating the doors down on opening day, but we found out they wouldn’t drive six miles [on a consistent basis]. They’d rather eat sugar and die of diabetes. I thought it was a good idea and got to try it, but lost a substantial amount of money.”
Roughly two years later, he held a “Going Out Of Business” sale. “I don’t know many people who’ve been successful who haven’t [also] failed,” he put forth. “We’re blessed to be in a society where failure isn’t a condemnation.”
Quality and types of calls Williams received morphed tremendously over the many years he hosted radio talk shows. “It’s a different person who is calling today,” he opined. “The ubiquitous cellphone has changed things a good deal. It’s now more the rule than the exception [to get a cellphone call]. You’re getting people who couldn’t call before. A significant portion of our audience is on wheels. We get many calls from truckers, who now have a telephone sitting in front of them.”
Politics was discussed, but it wasn’t the foundation of his nightly broadcasts. “There’s no way you can avoid the fact that the talk radio audience is conditioned to political talk,” he acknowledged. “I get [a kick] out of emails from people who accuse me of being a liberal. I’m one of the only guys I know of doing talk radio who got elected twice as a conservative. My idea of a conservative is someone who wants to see fewer laws passed.”
Regular guy
Although he lived in an area that isn’t especially conducive for AM reception, Williams listened to talk radio whenever possible. “Some hosts are interesting; I can take others in moderate doses; and I have serious problems with others,” he summarized. “I was joking with someone that there are even a few who’ll drive me to music radio. If I didn’t like talk radio, however, I couldn’t have survived all these years. I’m very pleased to see Air America doing well. Anything that [succeeds] in this enterprise is good for all of us.”
Among the most logical explanations for Williams’ relatability rested with his non-radio background, which included stints as an insurance salesman; beer truck driver, brewery worker; real estate salesman; barbershop owner; nightclub owner; and pre-school owner. “I have other things [apart from the radio show] that concern me,” he underscored. “We’re in the flower business and I flew to New Jersey on Valentine’s Day to drive a delivery truck. I made 23 deliveries that day. My wife [Susan] and I live in the fast lane. After the show on a big Friday night, we go to Red Lobster and have dinner.”
Having the opportunity to actually change someone’s life had to be the most satisfying thing for someone with Williams’ immense talent. “That’s a pretty high compliment for someone you’ve never met,” he agreed. “This woman was on the highest bluff in the area. She had her car in gear and was about to drive off the edge, but she heard me talking about the sanctity of life.”
More seriously pondering what she was about to do, the woman put the car in reverse and Williams was convinced the reason she didn’t do the ultimate foolish act was because she heard that program. “We influence lives of people we’ll never know exist – that has to make you think,” he insisted. “I want people to look in the mirror to see if there’s a boy or a man staring back. If it’s a boy, go whine somewhere else. I get impatient with guys who take positions that will enhance audience share. I’ve done many things you probably shouldn’t do in radio, but I don’t think I’ve ever done that. I don’t stroke someone or lie to them; I tell people what I believe. The caller is important, but the overall audience is more important.”
If Williams hadn’t signed what became his last radio contract, he and Susan probably would have embarked on a lengthy worldwide trip. “I can’t abandon my two dogs, so I thought I might as well do the deal and they sent some dog food,” the author of “America Asks Bruce” (containing Questions/Answers from his radio show), “In Business For Yourself, “House Smart/Credit Smart,” and “The Roadmap To Financial Security” (a tape series),” noted to me with a grin. “One thing that paralyzes me is to have to retire – and I don’t mean just from broadcasting. It has nothing to do with money. I’m not wealthy, but I’m not on food stamps, either. We own some stores, a nightclub, and I’m on the board of directors of a bank – but – I cannot imagine what I would do if I weren’t working.”
Mike Kinosian is managing editor for TALKERS magazine. He can be emailed at Kinosian@Talkers.com.
Tags: Bruce Williams, Mike Kinosian, NBC Radio, New Brunswick, Talkers Magazine, TalkNet, WCTC, WMCA
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Federal Judge Says Texas Parole Officials Can Be Held Liable for Sex Offender Restrictions
Texas Parole | May 26, 2012
Once again, a Federal Judge in Austin, Texas has slapped the hand of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles from imposing Condition X without due process.
In an order issued last week in Austin, Texas, U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel blasted the state's refusal to provide due process hearings before imposing sex-offender restrictions (Condition X) on an offender never convicted of a sex crime.
Judge Yeakel ruled that the 7-member state Board of Pardons and Paroles, 12 parole commissioners, state parole director Stuart Jenkins and other parole officials can face monetary damages for their actions.
This determination, if not reversed on appeal, could prove costly for both the officials and taxpayers, if several pending inmate lawsuits are successful.
The order was the latest setback for the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and state corrections officials, who have insisted for years that they could impose the same restrictions reserved for sex offenders on on parolees who have never been convicted of a sex crime without a due process hearing.
The latest ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by parolee Buddy Jene Yeary.
According to state records, Yeary pleaded guilty to drug charges in 2003 in Johnson County, south of Fort Worth, and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
An inspection of state records show that when Yeary was paroled in the summer of 2007, parole officials required him to register as a sex offender, placed him under the restrictive sex-offender conditions of release and ordered him to participate in a sex offender treatment program.
In his order Friday, Yeakel ruled that the state has for six years been aware that it must provide hearings to parolees in such cases and that officials' failure to do so leaves them open to liability.
"In light of the resistance of the state of Texas to providing parolees with the procedural due process guaranteed them by the Constitution, even after receiving repeated mandates from federal and state courts, the court is unconvinced that Texas will not return to its unconstitutional policies and practices," the 31-page order states.
"Any stigmatic injury suffered by Yeary due to the imposition and continued enforcement of Special Condition X may entitle Yeary to compensatory damages."
Yeakel refused to dismiss Yeary's lawsuit, as state officials had asked. Instead, he said it would head to a trial.
The ruling comes after years of legal battling over parolees and Condition X.
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Once again, a Federal Judge in Austin, Texas has slapped the hand of theRead More
Further Developments on Parolees with Sex Offender Conditions (who aren’t sex offenders)
As we mentioned in a previous article, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled thatRead More
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott Attempts to Limit Review of Bad Evidence in Criminal Trials
A Nice Surprise from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
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\\ Home Page : Storico : en - Global Observatory (invert the order)
Di seguito gli interventi pubblicati in questa sezione, in ordine cronologico.
Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a memory device that is soft and functions well in wet environments - opening the door to a new generation of biocompatible electronic devices.
"We've created a memory device with the physical properties of Jell-O," says Dr. Michael Dickey, an assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at NC State and co-author of a paper describing the research.
Conventional electronics are typically made of rigid, brittle materials and don't function well in a wet environment. "Our memory device is soft and pliable, and functions extremely well in wet environments -- similar to the human brain," Dickey says.
Prototypes of the device have not yet been optimized to hold significant amounts of memory, but work well in environments that would be hostile to traditional electronics. The devices are made using a liquid alloy of gallium and indium metals set into water-based gels, similar to gels used in biological research.
The device's ability to function in wet environments, and the biocompatibility of the gels, mean that this technology holds promise for interfacing electronics with biological systems -- such as cells, enzymes or tissue. "These properties may be used for biological sensors or for medical monitoring," Dickey says.
The device functions much like so-called "memristors," which are vaunted as a possible next-generation memory technology. The individual components of the "mushy" memory device have two states: one that conducts electricity and one that does not. These two states can be used to represent the 1s and 0s used in binary language. Most conventional electronics use electrons to create these 1s and 0s in computer chips. The mushy memory device uses charged molecules called ions to do the same thing.
In each of the memory device's circuits, the metal alloy is the circuit's electrode and sits on either side of a conductive piece of gel. When the alloy electrode is exposed to a positive charge it creates an oxidized skin that makes it resistive to electricity. We'll call that the 0. When the electrode is exposed to a negative charge, the oxidized skin disappears, and it becomes conducive to electricity. We'll call that the 1.
Normally, whenever a negative charge is applied to one side of the electrode, the positive charge would move to the other side and create another oxidized skin -- meaning the electrode would always be resistive. To solve that problem, the researchers "doped" one side of the gel slab with a polymer that prevents the formation of a stable oxidized skin. That way one electrode is always conducive -- giving the device the 1s and 0s it needs for electronic memory.
The paper was published online July 4 by Advanced Materials. The paper was co-authored by NC State Ph.D. students Hyung-Jun Koo and Ju-Hee So, and NC State INVISTA Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Orlin Velev. The research was supported by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy.
NC State's Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering is part of the university's College of Engineering.
Source: Science Daily
Stem Cells: Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have developed an improved technique for generating large numbers of blood cells from a patient's own cells.
The new technique will be immediately useful in further stem cell studies, and when perfected, could be used in stem cell therapies for a wide variety of conditions including cancers and immune ailments.
"There are further improvements that we need to make, but this takes us a significant step closer to the ultimate goal, which is to be able to take ordinary cells from a patient, induce them to become stem cells, and then use those stem cells to rebuild lost or diseased tissues, for example the patient's bone marrow," says Inder M. Verma, PhD, Irwin and Joan Jacobs Chair in Exemplary Life Science and American Cancer Society Professor of Molecular Biology at the Salk Institute Laboratory of Genetics. Verma is senior author of the report, which is published in the July edition of the journal Stem Cells.
Stem cell researchers have been racing towards this goal since 2006, when techniques for turning ordinary skin cells into induced pluripotential stem cells (iPSCs) were first reported. In principle, iPSCs mimic the embryonic stem cells (ESCs) from which organisms develop. Researchers now want to find the precise mixes and sequences of chemical compounds needed to coax iPSCs to mature into the tissue-specific stem cells of their choice. The latter are self-renewing, and can be transplanted into the body to produce the 'progenitor' cells that multiply locally and produce mature tissue cells.
However, researchers don't know yet how to induce iPSCs to become tissue-specific stem cells or mature tissue cells with high efficiency. "We've been producing these cells in quantities that are too low to enable them to be studied easily, much less used for therapies," says Aaron Parker, PhD, a former graduate student and now a postdoctoral researcher in Verma's lab. Parker is a co-lead-author of the paper, with Niels-Bjarne Woods, PhD, who was a postdoctoral researcher in the Verma lab at the outset of the project, and is now an assistant professor at Lund University in Sweden.
Like many other stem cell research laboratories, the Verma lab has been trying to find more efficient ways to turn iPSCs into blood-forming 'hematopoietic' stem cells (HSCs). These may be more valuable medically than any other tissue-specific stem cell, because they can supply not only oxygen-carrying red blood cells but also all the white blood cells of the immune system. "There would be an almost unlimited number of usages for true HSCs," says Verma.
For the present study, the research team sought to do a better job of mimicking the changing conditions that naturally direct ESCs to become HSCs in the womb. "We took seven lines of human ESCs and iPSCs, and experimented with different combinations and sequences of growth factors and other chemical compounds that are known to be present as ESCs move to the HSC state in a developing human," says Parker.
Applying cocktails of these factors, Parker and Woods and their colleagues induced the iPSCs and ESCs to form colonies of cells that bore the distinctive molecular markers of blood cells. With their best such cocktail they were able to detect blood-specific markers on 84% of their cells after three weeks. "That's a big jump in efficiency from what we saw in the field just a few years ago," says Parker.
The technique still has room for improvement. The researchers detected progenitor cells and mature cells from only one category or lineage: myeloid cells, which include red blood cells and primitive immune cells such as macrophages. "We didn't see any cells from the lymphoid lineage, meaning T-cells and B-cells," Parker says.
Another drawback was that the blood cell population they produced from ESCs and iPSCs contained short-lived progenitors and mature blood cells but no indefinitely renewing, transplantable HSCs. Their cocktail, they believed, either pushed the cells past the HSC state to the progenitor state too quickly, or made the maturing cells skip the HSC state entirely.
From this and other labs' results, the team hypothesized the existence of an intermediate, pre-hematopoietic type of stem cell, produced by ESCs and iPSCs and in turn producing HSCs. "We know that HSCs appear in a particular region of mammals during embryonic development, and our idea is that these pre-hematopoietic stem cells are there and are somehow made to mature into HSCs," says Parker. "So our lab is now going to focus on finding the precise maturation signals provided by that embryonic region to produce these true, transplantable HSCs."
Once that is done, researchers will need to make a number of further refinements to improve the safety of HSCs intended for human patients. "But we're now tantalizingly close to our ultimate goal," says Verma.
The other authors who contributed to the work were Roksana Moraghebi, of Lund University's Stem Cell Center; Margaret K. Lutz, Amy L. Firth, Kristen J. Brennand, W. Travis Berggren and Fred H. Gage of the Salk Institute Laboratory for Genetics; Juan Carlos Izpisúa Belmonte of the Salk Institute Gene Expression Laboratory; and Angel Raya of the Center of Regenerative Medicine in Barcelona, Spain.
Source: ScienceDaily
For his graduation project, TU Delft student of Sustainable Energy Technology Stefan Roest developed a new type of hybrid solar collector with a higher efficiency and a longer lifespan than the current hybrid systems.
Hybrid solar collectors combine photovoltaic solar cells that convert sunlight into electricity with a solar heater that provides warm water.
Roest built a prototype and also built an actual solar simulator that he used to test the efficiency of his prototype. There turned out to be considerable commercial interest in this solar simulator. This motivated Roest and a partner to start the TU Delft spin-off company Eternal Sun, so they could put the solar simulator on the market. Eternal Sun recently came out on top at the European finals of the BE.Project, a competition for student-entrepreneurs.
A hybrid solar collector is a combination of a photovoltaic solar panel and a thermal solar collector. The residual heat from the PV solar panel is used to heat water. The water flows through a system of pipes on a copper sheet. A great deal of heat is needed to heat the water in the pipes. That is why the solar collector has been fitted with a transparent cover that helps to retain the heat. Unfortunately, the material used in the PV solar cell degrades quickly under temperatures of around 120 degrees. As a result, its efficiency is reduced by around 20 per cent and it has a lifespan of between five and ten years.
For his graduation research as part of a Master's degree in Sustainable Energy Technology, Stefan Roest developed a new type of hybrid solar collector with increased electrical efficiency and a longer lifespan. For a start, Roest's solar collector does not require a transparent cover. The water flows through a large number of small aluminium channels directly under the solar panel instead of through copper tubing and a copper sheet. Consequently, less heat is required to heat the water sufficiently for household use. Roest also chose not to use a crystalline silicon PV solar panel, opting for a thin film solar panel instead. It is easier to draw heat from this type of solar cell. Getting rid of the cover meant that the heat of the solar panel could be limited to around 80 degrees.
An additional benefit of thin film solar panels is that these perform relatively well at high temperatures. At a temperature of 80 degrees, an efficiency loss of around 10 per cent occurs, instead of the 20 per cent in the case of crystalline silicon solar panels. Roest's hybrid solar collector has an estimated lifespan of 15 to 20 years.
Roest developed the new solar collector under the supervision of the professor of Photovoltaic Materials and Devices, Miro Zeman, who comments: "This innovative design could play an important role in the development of affordable and efficient hybrid systems for household use."
Roest developed a special solar simulator to measure the efficiency of his prototype. Almost immediately, there was commercial interest in this simulator and the relevant technology was quickly patented by TU Delft. Roest and his partner Chokri Mousaoui have since introduced the simulator onto the market via their TU Delft spin-off company Eternal Sun. Eternal Sun recently came out on top in the European finals of the BE.Project competition for students from top universities with an innovative business case, which was organised by the technology consulting company BearingPoint. The Eternal Sun team has now grown to include six students and recent graduates, and five solar simulators have already been sold since January.
Roest's affinity with solar energy goes back quite a while. In 2007, he was the team leader of the Nuon Solar Team that won the World Solar Challenge in Australia with the solar car Nuna4.
Exclusive: The lawsuit that could end the gangster rule of Western civilization.
A lawsuit was filed on November 23rd 2011 US time, that could end the secret government that has ruled Western civilization for at least the past 300 years. The lawsuit claims that close to $1 trillion was stolen by, among others, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and the UN, former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and the Italian government, Giancarlo Bruno and the Davos World Economic forum and others believed to include many of the owners of the US Federal Reserve Board. The lawsuit was filed in New York by Neil Keenan, acting as representative of the Dragon family, a reclusive group of wealthy Asian families. This filing is the result of extensive evidence gathering by international police and law-enforcement agencies including Interpol, the CIA, the Japanese Security Police, Eastern European secret services and has the backing of the Pentagon as well as the armed forces of Russia and China.
Benjamin Fulford interviews David Rockefeller about illuminati, asian opposition.
On November 13, 2007 Fulford received a tip that David Rockefeller was on his turf, and without hesitation Fulford arranged to meet with him to ask some questions. It is not odd for a reporter who's career has been filled with Financial News jobs, to sit down with the former head of Chase Bank, Except when its Benjamin Fulford and David Rockefeller. Earlier this year Benjamin Fulford interviewed Heizo Takenaka, a former finance minister in Japan and confronted him about "having sold the Japanese financial system over to the Rockefellers and Rothschilds." According to Fulford this interview made a lot of people angry. He says a professional assassin showed up and told him to accept a job of great importance or be killed. The following day Fulford claims to have been contacted by a powerful Asian Secret Society with more than 6 million members that have targeted the Illuminati. They asked Fulford to represent them, negotiate for them, and offered him protection in return. Benjamin Fulford was Asia-Pacific Bureau Chief for Forbes Magazine for seven years, until 2005 when he quit because of the "extensive corporate censorship and mingling of advertising and editorial at the magazine.
The ultimate defendants in this legal action are believed to be the same cabal behind the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy and many other major international crimes.
This particular lawsuit was triggered by the illegal detainment of two Japanese citizens, Akihiko Yamaguchi and Mitsuyoshi Watanabe, as well as the seizure of $134.5 billion in bonds they were holding in Italy on June 3, 2009. After the bonds were stolen, self-described 33rd degree Freemason Leo Zagami contacted this writer and said the Montecarlo P2 masonic lodge could cash the bonds with the help of Vatican banker Daniel Dal Bosco. This writer forwarded the information, via a member of the UK Royal family, to the dragon family who entrusted a further $1 trillion worth of similar bonds to the plaintiff Neil Keenan. Keenan then, after much negotiation, entrusted the bonds to Dal Bosco.
Dal Bosco subsequently absconded with the bonds and was followed 24-hours a day by various intelligence service agents to see what he would do with them. The Dal Bosco trail led to the Davos World forum, the UN, the Italian government and the Vatican, among other places. Following this, Keenan was approached by a who’s who of powerful figures including top Vatican officials, Wall Street bankers, European nobles and former US presidents, most offering him astronomical bribes to go away. He was also poisoned with ricin and nearly killed.
According to Keenan “The roots of this case go back to between 1927 and 1938, when, under arrangements made between T.V. Soong (Finance Minister of China) and Henry Morgethau, Secretary of the Treasury, The United States Government purchased some 50 million ounces of silver and leased vast amounts of gold from the Nationalist Chinese Government, known as Kuomintang. For all the treasure handed in, certificates were given to those who surrendered their precious metals.”
Many of the bonds seized by Dal Bosco are backed with the Chinese gold taken by the Federal Reserve Board during those years and never returned to its legal owners.
Other bonds seized were Kennedy bonds. These bonds were backed by gold held in trust for the people of the planet and were supposed to be used to finance the economic development of the world. Instead they have mostly been stolen and misused by members of the cabal that has seized control of the Western financial system on behalf of private interests.
The original signatory to the Kennedy bonds was former Indonesian President Soekarno. Soekarno’s heir Dr. Seno Edy Soekanto has given Keenan power of attorney to return to their rightful owners the Kennedy bonds and other property allocated to the people of the world via something known as the global collateral accounts.
The lawsuit is only the first salvo in a legal battle to restore control of the global financial system to the people and governments of the world as well as the rightful owners of historical assets that have been seized by members of the banking cartel.
The lawsuit has been filed as Civil Action #8500 at the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on November 23, 2011.
Background information on the problems with the global financial system
By Neil Keenan and Keith Scott.
The entire cause of the problem.
The United States is a private corporation owned by the British Crown (Rothchilds), the Bank of England (Rothchilds) and the Vatican (Rothchilds again). It was previously called the Virginia Company until 3/9/33 when it was dissolved by Roosevelt under the Emergency Banking Act. On 5/5/33 Congress elected to dissolve the Gold Standard and Sovereign Authority of the U.S. and all of its official capacities including government offices, departments and officers. The U.S. is a corporation, not a nation. The Federal Reserve is neither Federal, nor a Reserve. It is a private counterfeiting organization run by Jewish bankers who lend the money they print out of thin air at interest while we keep on paying these criminals to fleece the People.
That technology of theft and deception that has been exported from the United States through their promotion of this fraud as the paradigm of global finance is an obscenity that has set the seeds of its own destruction.
This has been compounded by the refusal of ordinary people to realize, know and understand that it is the duplicity of Governments and the deceit and endless greed of bankers that combined to simply fleece them like the apathetic sheep they are. Apathy and ignorance of the truth, creates belief in the lie. The truth is self-evident, but most people choose to neither hear it nor understand it. The debts of the Federal Reserve are the debts of a private corporation that is robbing the people of the United States.
The United States Dollar is a Federal Reserve Note and the obligations against the currency are the obligations of the Federal Reserve, not the people of the United States.
Understanding the History
1. Between 1927 and 1938, under arrangements made between T.V.Soong (Finance Minister of China) and Henry Morgethau, Secretary of the Treasury, The United States Government purchased some 50 million ounces of silver and leased vast amounts of gold from the Nationalist Chinese Government, known as Kuomintang. During this period China was partly occupied by Japanese troops and there was the fear of China being overrun by the Japanese.
2. For all the treasure handed in, certificates were given to those who surrendered their precious metals. The surrendered precious metals and gemstones were sent to the United States under a lease agreement made between T.V. Soong and Henry Morgenthau. The Certificates became the underlying funds of the Kuomintang and were good and accepted securities.
3. In 1934 a new Securities Act was promulgated in the United States, together with the Gold Act, which required all bullion gold and gold coin to be surrendered to the Federal Reserve, a private corporation chartered to operate as the Central Bank of the United States and to be the issuer of the currency known as the United States Dollar.
4. Domestically owned gold was purchased. Foreign Gold held by the Treasury was also surrendered to the Federal Reserve, so, was leased to the Federal Reserve. This began the series 1934 Notes issued by the Federal Reserve. These have never been redeemed and the interest cost was met by further issuances of the 1934 series FRN’s.
5. These 1934 FRN’s guarantee the lease payments and to allow the Chinese Government to continue financially. These came under the control of the Kuomintang, the Nationalist Government in China from whom the Gold had been received. Many were left in China when the Kuomintang had to flee to Taiwan. The Gold had been nationalized by the Kuomintang who moved much of the FRN’s (but not all) to Taiwan which was built on these notes. These Notes were the underlying wealth of Taiwan and they were good for value as they were backed by gold.
6. During the war in China, most owners of the depository notes issued by Chinese Banks were killed by the Japanese, others later being killed by both the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communists, thus the Gold became property of the Nation, especially so, the Kuomintang. In Europe, Jews who had owned wealth were stripped of that wealth through various means and were then eliminated. The gold was taken either by stealth or by force, that is a reality of history.
7. The Kuomintang appointed guardians of this Gold and the securities issued by the United States; they are euphemistically known as the Dragon Family. The Dragon Family is in fact an organization that operates between old families within China and Taiwan, and as such is above the political divide of the two independent Chinese Governments. Chinese are remarkable in this regard, that old family ties and functions supercede political arrangements which, though they might last for generations, are regarded as inconsequential over the passage of time to most Chinese. Attached to this is the wealth of several nations. The United States in support of the Kuomintang and resistance groups actually printed more of these FRN notes inside China itself. These operations were run by the CIA to buy loyalty of various factions in the fight against the communists, eventually being driven out into Burma around 1960. Largely due to the additional printing of these notes, the additional Notes were given in lieu of interest, but directed to specific persons and parties.
8 At the end of the World War II, with Communist and Kuomintang factions at war in China, the International Community and the Chinese assented to the Gold being placed under the overt control of Indonesian President Soekarno. Soekarno then, on August 17, 1945, came to be known as M1 under United Nations Approval No. MISA 81704 “Operation Heavy Freedom. This was because much of the world’s gold had been delivered into Indonesia and the Philippines. Canada, Australia, Great Britain, India and other British Colonies sent their gold to the so called “impregnable Singapore” The Japanese, as per the arrangements agreed to by Hirohito in the 1921 Pact Between Nations made in London, delivered much of this gold to Indonesia (Then a Dutch Colony) and to Philippines (Then a US Colony) into secret bunkers that had been mostly constructed by the Japanese between 1924 and 1945. This is why the Allied troops in Malaya had no air cover or sufficient supplies to that would have allowed them to resist the Japanese. Singapore had to fall so most of the global wealth could be “lost” into a secret system that made the gold standard redundant and fiat currencies a reality.
This gold was documented into accounts through the Swiss Commercial Bank Union Bank of Switzerland, placed under protection of the Swiss Attorney General, registered through the Swiss National Bank into the Bank for International Settlements International Collateral Combined accounts and then from within the BIS, blocked to form the Institutional Parent Registration Accounts of the Federal Reserve System.
Later President Marcos of the Philippines was appointed and held the position of M1 until 1987 and then the position was transferred to Dr. Ray C. Dam, in October of 1987, under Legal Decadency to Heir RCD1087 Far East Entire with formal Power of Attorney and Assignment of Indonesian Assets signed by Sarinah Soetiwi (holder of the assets on behalf of the Nation of Indonesia as assigned by President Soekarno) in 1992, Dam’s authority later promulgated January 20, 1995. Dam proved to be impossible for the entire system to work with, (either because he refused to allow those who placed him in authority to steal, or because of his personal arrogance…. Difficult to know which is correct) and his authority over the Institutional parent registration Accounts set aside and the system reverted to the three Nations who had controlled these accounts since World war II, United States, Great Britain and France, who systematically and illegally subverted the established system since 1996.
9. From this we can see that there are two functional operations. One was ownership and Depository control by the owners of the Gold and the other a control system set in place to administer and control the Collateral Combined Accounts as an independent Arbiter. Ownership rights are held by the signatory to the Depository Accounts in Commercial Banks and Control Rights have been held by M1.
10. So it was, that the entire world supply of bullion and coinage gold was withdrawn and fiat currencies became the order of the day. However, underneath the notes and money issued by the Federal Reserve was the underlying wealth within a centralized system that Nations was intended to be used equitably, but Bankers determined they would use to raid national economies.
11. In 1963, President John F. Kennedy entered into an Agreement with President Soekarno to provide the funds to allow the United States Treasury to print its own currency, thus subverting the “right” to print the currency held by the Federal Reserve. The Agreement would have transferred some 59,000 tons of gold to underpin this currency. The problem with this was that the US domestic currency would have then been backed by gold which would have been a violation of international agreements meant to stabilize currencies. 11 days after signing this agreement, President Kennedy was assassinated. President Johnson the suspended EO11110 as issued by Kennedy and transferred the bullion to the Federal Reserve. The Green Hilton Agreement was not implemented until 1968 when Soekarno fell from office and when Global Trade made it imperative that the world have a Global Currency. As the Gold had been transferred to the US Treasury in 1968, a series of Bonds known as Kennedy Bonds were issued in order to honor the terms of the Green Hilton Agreement made between Kennedy and Soekarno, the 1968 terms of the gold delivery to the United States being different than made in 1934. When after 30 years, interest had not been paid as promised, a reissue of the bonds in an increased number were issued as commemorative notes and were accepted by the owners of the Gold, the Dragon Family.
12. From copies of Bank documents received by Neil Keenan, within the Green Hilton Memorial Agreement, the funds the amounts of gold and platinum are specified. These amounts of gold are certificated and the certificates and ledger copies with full and exact identification and recognition codes are available. These certificates are further proven by the bank reports, copies of which are now held by Neil Keenan. The truth of these instruments can be vigorously defended through documentation in our hands and further through interrogation of the Black Screens where the off ledger collateral is held, together with an interrogation of the grey and blue screens where we will find enormous fraud from the illegal use of these assets.
13. In the few documents we present with this complaint we can see that the assets have been deposited, the counter-assets created and presented to the depositors, the depositors have been cheated for over 70 years through the intentional and fraudulent failure of the Obligor to honor the Agreements.
14. In recent weeks we have come into possession of the books and records of the late President Soekarno, and all the codes and ledgers of the Global Accounts. The size of these accounts can be seen by reviewing the Collective Agreement between the Garuda Memorial Hilton Indonesia and the Green Memorial Hilton Geneva, established, structured and made operational between 1961 and final signature in 1972. Under this Agreement the assets of the international collateral combined were established and brought forward, then, within a short period of time misused to change the operating systems of banks.
15. Reviewing these books, we can now see that Banks set aside the notion of operating under the Charters they hold as banks, instead of being Banks they became like very poor casino operators and traders, selling what they do not own. The records in our possession, signed and registered by the receiving and managing commercial bank, show the underlying funds in numbers and amounts that stagger the imagination. The Green Hilton and Garuda Memorial Agreements demonstrate clearly the value of the global account system.
a) Gold and Platinum Deposits ran into millions of tons.
b) 1934 series Federal Reserve System Bonds, Notes issued in 1928 , Kennedy Bonds ran into Quadrillions of US Dollars, Dragon Bonds are all recorded and acknowledged within the Green Hilton and Memorial Hilton Collective Agreements. Both Assets in the form of Bullion surrendered to the Global Accounts through the United States Government and then entrusted to a private corporation, the Federal Reserve System.
Source: http://benjaminfulford.typepad.com
The microscopic device fits on the head of a pin, contains no lenses or moving parts, costs pennies to make, and this Cornell-developed camera could revolutionize an array of science from surgery to robotics.
The camera was invented in the lab of Alyosha Molnar, Cornell assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, and developed by a group led by Patrick Gill, a postdoctoral associate. Their working prototype, detailed online in the journal Optics Letters (July 6, 2011), is 100th of a millimeter thick, and one-half millimeter on each side. The camera resolves images about 20 pixels across -- not portrait studio quality, but enough to shed light on previously hard-to-see things.
"It's not going to be a camera with which people take family portraits, but there are a lot of applications out there that require just a little bit of dim vision," Gill said.
In fact, Gill, whose other research interests involve making sense of how the brain's neurons fire under certain stimuli, began this invention as a side project related to work on developing lens-less implantable systems for imaging brain activity. This type of imaging system could be useful as part of an implantable probe for imaging neurons that have been modified to glow when they are active.
Gill's camera is just a flat piece of doped silicon, which looks something like a tiny CD, with no parts that require off-chip manufacturing. As a result, it costs just a few cents to make and is incredibly small and light, as opposed to conventional small cameras on chips that cost a dollar or more and require bulky focusing optics.
The scientists call their camera a Planar Fourier Capture Array (PFCA) because it uses the principles of the Fourier transform, which is a mathematical tool that allows multiple ways of capturing the same information. Each pixel in the PFCA reports one component of the Fourier transform of the image being detected by being sensitive to a unique blend of incident angles.
While Fourier components themselves are sometimes directly useful, a bit of computation can also transform Fourier components into an image.
The scientists will continue working to improve the camera's resolution and efficiency, but they think their concept can lead to a myriad of applications. It could be a component in any cheap electronic system -- in devices that, for example, detect the angle of the sun or a micro-robot that requires a simple visual system to navigate.
Funding for this work was provided by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the National Institutes of Health.
Source: GlobalSpec
Those solar panels on top of your roof aren’t just providing clean power; they are cooling your house, or your workplace, too, according to a team of researchers led by Jan Kleissl.
Jan Kleissl, a professor of environmental engineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering.
In a study in an upcoming issue of the journal Solar Energy, Kleissl and his team published what they believe are the first peer-reviewed measurements of the cooling benefits provided by solar photovoltaic panels. Using thermal imaging, researchers determined that during the day, a building’s ceiling was 5 degrees Fahrenheit cooler under solar panels than under an exposed roof. At night, the panels help hold heat in, reducing heating costs in the winter.
“Talk about positive side-effects,” said Kleissl.
As solar panels sprout on an increasing number of residential and commercial roofs, it becomes more important to consider their impact on buildings’ total energy costs, Kleissl said. His team determined that the amount saved on cooling the building amounted to getting a 5 percent discount on the solar panels’ price, over the panels’ lifetime. Or to put it another way, savings in cooling costs amounted to selling 5 percent more solar energy to the grid than the panels are actually producing— for the building researchers studied.
Data for the study was gathered over three days in April on the roof of the Powell Structural Systems Laboratory at the Jacobs School of Engineering with a thermal infrared camera. The building is equipped with tilted solar panels and solar panels that are flush with the roof. Some portions of the roof are not covered by panels.
The panels essentially act as roof shades, said Anthony Dominguez, the graduate student lead on the project. Rather than the sun beating down onto the roof, which causes heat to be pushed through the roof and inside the ceiling of the building, photovoltaic panels take the solar beating. Then much of the heat is removed by wind blowing between the panels and the roof. The benefits are greater if there is an open gap where air can circulate between the building and the solar panel, so tilted panels provide more cooling. Also, the more efficient the solar panels, the bigger the cooling effect, said Kleissl. For the building researchers analyzed, the panels reduced the amount of heat reaching the roof by about 38 percent.
Although the measurements took place over a limited period of time, Kleissl said he is confident his team developed a model that allows them to extrapolate their findings to predict cooling effects throughout the year.
For example, in winter, the panels would keep the sun from heating up the building. But at night, they would also keep in whatever heat accumulated inside. For an area like San Diego, the two effects essentially cancel each other out, Kleissl said.
The idea for the study came about when Kleissl, Dominguez and a group of undergraduate students were preparing for an upcoming conference. They decided the undergraduates should take pictures of Powell’s roof with a thermal infrared camera. The data confirmed the team’s suspicion that the solar panels were indeed cooling the roof, and the building’s ceiling as well.
“There are more efficient ways to passively cool buildings, such as reflective roof membranes,” said Kleissl. “But, if you are considering installing solar photovoltaic, depending on your roof thermal properties, you can expect a large reduction in the amount of energy you use to cool your residence or business.”
The study was funded by a NASA Graduate Student Research Program fellowship. Kleissl’s research is funded by the National Science Foundation, California Public Utilities Commission, the Department of Energy and the California Energy Commission. The authors thank the staff of the Powell Structural Lab, especially Andrew Gunthardt, for making the building available for the study.If additional funding became available, Kleissl said his team could develop a calculator that people could use to predict the cooling effect on their own roof and in their own climate-specific area. To further increase the accuracy of their models, researchers also could compare two climate-controlled, identical buildings in the same neighborhood, one with solar panels, the other without.
What spreads the sea floors and moves the continents? What melts iron in the outer core and enables the Earth's magnetic field? Heat.
Geologists have used temperature measurements from more than 20,000 boreholes around the world to estimate that some 44 terawatts (44 trillion watts) of heat continually flow from Earth's interior into space. Where does it come from?
Radioactive decay of uranium, thorium, and potassium in Earth's crust and mantle is a principal source, and in 2005 scientists in the KamLAND collaboration, based in Japan, first showed that there was a way to measure the contribution directly. The trick was to catch what Kamioka Liquid-scintillator Antineutrino Detector (KamLAND) dubbed geoneutrinos – more precisely, geo-antineutrinos – emitted when radioactive isotopes decay.
"As a detector of geoneutrinos, KamLAND has distinct advantages," says Stuart Freedman of the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), which is a major contributor to KamLAND. Freedman, a member of Berkeley Lab's Nuclear Science Division and a professor in the Department of Physics at the University of California at Berkeley, leads U.S. participation. "KamLAND was specifically designed to study antineutrinos. We are able to discriminate them from background noise and detect them with very high sensitivity."
KamLAND scientists have now published new figures for heat energy from radioactive decay in the journal Nature Geoscience. Based on the improved sensitivity of the KamLAND detector, plus several years' worth of additional data, the new estimate is not merely "consistent" with the predictions of accepted geophysical models but is precise enough to aid in refining those models.
One thing that's at least 97-percent certain is that radioactive decay supplies only about half the Earth's heat. Other sources – primordial heat left over from the planet's formation, and possibly others as well – must account for the rest.
Hunting for neutrinos from deep in the Earth
Antineutrinos are produced not only in the decay of uranium, thorium, and potassium isotopes but in a variety of others, including fission products in nuclear power reactors. In fact, reactor-produced antineutrinos were the first neutrinos to be directly detected (neutrinos and antineutrinos are distinguished from each other by the interactions in which they appear).
The KamLAND anti-neutrino detector is a vessel filled with scintillating mineral oil and lined with photomultiplier tubes (inset), the largest scintillation detector ever constructed, buried deep underground near Toyama, Japan. Credit: KamLAND Collaboration
Because neutrinos interact only by way of the weak force – and gravity, insignificant except on the scale of the cosmos – they stream through the Earth as if it were transparent. This makes them hard to spot, but on the very rare occasions when an antineutrino collides with a proton inside the KamLAND detector – a sphere filled with a thousand metric tons of scintillating mineral oil – it produces an unmistakable double signal.
The first signal comes when the antineutrino converts the proton to a neutron plus a positron (an anti-electron), which quickly annihilates when it hits an ordinary electron – a process called inverse beta decay. The faint flash of light from the ionizing positron and the annihilation process is picked up by the more than 1,800 photomultiplier tubes within the KamLAND vessel. A couple of hundred millionths of a second later the neutron from the decay is captured by a proton in the hydrogen-rich fluid and emits a gamma ray, the second signal. This "delayed coincidence" allows antineutrino interactions to be distinguished from background events such as hits from cosmic rays penetrating the kilometer of rock that overlies the detector.
Says Freedman, "It's like looking for a spy in a crowd of people on the street. You can't pick out one spy, but if there's a second spy following the first one around, the signal is still small but it's easy to spot."
KamLAND was originally designed to detect antineutrinos from more than 50 reactors in Japan, some close and some far away, in order to study the phenomenon of neutrino oscillation. Reactors produce electron neutrinos, but as they travel they oscillate into muon neutrinos and tau neutrinos; the three "flavors" are associated with the electron and its heavier cousins.
Being surrounded by nuclear reactors means KamLAND's background events from reactor antineutrinos must also be accounted for in identifying geoneutrino events. This is done by identifying the nuclear-plant antineutrinos by their characteristic energies and other factors, such as their varying rates of production versus the steady arrival of geoneutrinos. Reactor antineutrinos are calculated and subtracted from the total. What's left are the geoneutrinos.
Tracking the heat
All models of the inner Earth depend on indirect evidence. Leading models of the kind known as bulk silicate Earth (BSE) assume that the mantle and crust contain only lithophiles ("rock-loving" elements) and the core contains only siderophiles (elements that "like to be with iron"). Thus all the heat from radioactive decay comes from the crust and mantle – about eight terawatts from uranium 238 (238U), another eight terawatts from thorium 232 (232Th), and four terawatts from potassium 40 (40K).
KamLAND's double-coincidence detection method is insensitive to the low-energy part of the geoneutrino signal from 238U and 232Th and completely insensitive to 40K antineutrinos. Other kinds of radioactive decay are also missed by the detector, but compared to uranium, thorium, and potassium are negligible contributors to Earth's heat.
Additional factors that have to be taken into account include how the radioactive elements are distributed (whether uniformly or concentrated in a "sunken layer" at the core-mantle boundary), variations due to radioactive elements in the local geology (in KamLAND's case, less than 10 percent of the expected flux), antineutrinos from fission products, and how neutrinos oscillate as they travel through the crust and mantle. Alternate theories were also considered, including the speculative idea that there may be a natural nuclear reactor somewhere deep inside the Earth, where fissile elements have accumulated and initiated a sustained fission reaction.
KamLAND detected 841 candidate antineutrino events between March of 2002 and November of 2009, of which about 730 were reactor events or other background. The rest, about 111, were from radioactive decays of uranium and thorium in the Earth. These results were combined with data from the Borexino experiment at Gran Sasso in Italy to calculate the contribution of uranium and thorium to Earth's heat production. The answer was about 20 terawatts; based on models, another three terawatts were estimated to come from other isotope decays.
This is more heat energy than the most popular BSE model suggests, but still far less than Earth's total. Says Freedman, "One thing we can say with near certainty is that radioactive decay alone is not enough to account for Earth's heat energy. Whether the rest is primordial heat or comes from some other source is an unanswered question."
Better models are likely to result when many more geoneutrino detectors are located in different places around the globe, including midocean islands where the crust is thin and local concentrations of radioactivity (not to mention nuclear reactors) are at a minimum.
Says Freedman, "This is what's called an inverse problem, where you have a lot of information but also a lot of complicated inputs and variables. Sorting those out to arrive at the best explanation among many requires multiple sources of data."
Source: PhysOrg
While there's no denying that implantable medical devices such as pacemakers save peoples' lives, powering those implants is still a tricky business. Implants could be powered by blood sugar.
The batteries in a standard pacemaker, for instance, are said to last for about eight years - after that, surgery is required to access the device. Implants such as heart pumps are often powered by batteries that can be recharged from outside the body, but these require a power cord that protrudes through the patient's skin, and that keeps them from being able to swim or bathe. Now, however, scientists at Germany's University of Freiburg are developing biological fuel cells, that could draw power for implants from the patient's own blood sugar.
The research team is being led by Dr. Sven Kerzenmacher, of Freiburg's Department of Microsystems Engineering. They are looking into the use noble metal catalysts, such as platinum, to trigger a continuous electrochemical reaction between glucose in the blood and oxygen from the surrounding tissue fluid. The use of platinum (or a similar metal) would be ideal, as the material exhibits long-term stability, it can be sterilized, and electrodes made from it wouldn't be sensitive to unwanted chemical reactions, including hydrolysis and oxidation.
The Freiburg scientists are ultimately hoping that the surfaces of implants could be covered with a thin coating of the fuel cells, which would then power the devices indefinitely.
Source: GizMag - via ZeitNews.org
Manufacturing and retail could get a much needed boost from a newly developed 3-D late printer.
In the long term the technology could be used by customers to design many different products themselves -- tailor-made to their needs and preferences.
Using new digital technology the printer allows you to create your own designs on a computer and reproduce them physically in three dimensional form in chocolate.
The project is funded as part of the Research Council UK Cross-Research Council Programme -- Digital Economy and is managed by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) on behalf of ESRC, AHRC and MRC. It is being led by the University of Exeter in collaboration with the University of Brunel and software developer Delcam.
3-D printing is a technology where a three dimensional object is created by building up successive layers of material. The technology is already used in industry to produce plastic and metal products but this is the first time the principles have been applied to chocolate.
The research has presented many challenges. Chocolate is not an easy material to work with because it requires accurate heating and cooling cycles. These variables then have to be integrated with the correct flow rates for the 3-D printing process. Researchers overcame these difficulties with the development of new temperature and heating control systems.
Research leader Dr Liang Hao, at the University of Exeter, said: "What makes this technology special is that users will be able to design and make their own products. In the long term it could be developed to help consumers custom- design many products from different materials but we've started with chocolate as it is readily available, low cost and non-hazardous. There is also no wastage as any unused or spoiled material can be eaten of course! From reproducing the shape of a child's favourite toy to a friend's face, the possibilities are endless and only limited by our creativity."
A consumer- friendly interface to design the chocolate objects is also in development. Researchers hope that an online retail business will host a website for users to upload their chocolate designs for 3-D printing and delivery.
Designs need not start from scratch, the web- based utility will also allow users to see designs created by others to modify for their own use.
Dr Hao added: "In future this kind of technology will allow people to produce and design many other products such as jewellery or household goods. Eventually we may see many mass produced products replaced by unique designs created by the customer."
EPSRC Chief Executive Professor Dave Delpy said: "This is an imaginative application of two developing technologies and a good example of how creative research can be applied to create new manufacturing and retail ideas. By combining developments in engineering with the commercial potential of the digital economy we can see a glimpse into the future of new markets -- creating new jobs and, in this case, sweet business opportunities."
A discovery in semiconductor nanowire laser technology that could potentially do everything from kill viruses to increase storage capacity of DVDs.
Ultraviolet semiconductor diode lasers are widely used in data processing, information storage and biology. Their applications have been limited, however, by size, cost and power. The current generation of ultraviolet lasers is based on a material called gallium nitride, but Jianlin Liu, a professor of electrical engineering, and his colleagues have made a breakthrough in zinc oxide nanowire waveguide lasers, which can offer smaller sizes, lower costs, higher powers and shorter wavelengths.
Until now, zinc oxide nanowires couldn't be used in real world light emission applications because of the lack of p-type, or positive type, material needed by all semiconductors. Liu solved that problem by doping the zinc oxide nanowires with antimony, a metalloid element, to create the p-type material.
The p-type zinc oxide nanowires were connected with n-type, or negative type, zinc oxide material to form a device called p-n junction diode. Powered by a battery, highly directional laser light emits only from the ends of the nanowires.
"People in the zinc oxide research community throughout the world have been trying hard to achieve this for the past decade," Liu said. "This discovery is likely to stimulate the whole field to push the technology further."
Liu's findings have been published in the July issue of Nature Nanotechnology. Co-authors are: Sheng Chu, Guoping Wang, Jieying Kong, Lin Li and Jingjian Ren, all graduate students at UC Riverside; Weihang Zhou, a student at Fudan University in China; Leonid Chernyak, a professor of physics at the University of Central Florida; Yuqing Lin, a graduate student at the University of Central Florida; and Jianze Zhao, a visiting student from Dalian University of Technology in China.
The discovery could have a wide-range of impacts.
For information storage, the zinc oxide nanowire lasers could be used to read and process much denser data on storage media such as DVDs because the ultraviolet has shorter wavelength than other lights, such as red. For example, a DVD that would store two hours of music could store four or six hours using the new type of laser.
For biology and medical therapeutics, the ultra-small laser light beam from a nanowire laser can penetrate a living cell, or excite or change its function from a bad cell to a good cell. The light could also be used to purify drinking water.
For photonics, the ultraviolet light could provide superfast data processing and transmission. Reliable small ultraviolet semiconductor diode lasers may help develop ultraviolet wireless communication technology, which is potentially better than state-of-the-art infrared communication technologies used in various electronic information systems.
While Liu and the students in his laboratory have demonstrated the p-type doping of zinc oxide and electrically powered nanowire waveguide lasing in the ultraviolet range, he said more work still needs to be done with the stability and reliability of the p-type material.
Source: EurekAlert
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SCHOOLS CHALLENGE QUIZ: Last week’s recap
It is almost the end of the 50th season of TVJ’s Schools’ Challenge Quiz and the semi-finals have been heated.
The week started with an entertainment quiz between Team Dahlia, captained by actress, television personality, public speaker, and film and theatre director Dahlia Harris, and Team Ity, led by comedian Ian ‘Ity’ Ellis. Team Dahlia won the toss and decided to go first. The Opening Challenge ended with Dahlia’s team in the lead, on seven points, and Team Ity on six points. The lead continued after the Speed Challenge, in which Team Dahlia scored approximately 28 points, while... read more
TVJ’S SCHOOLS’ CHALLENGE QUIZ: Competition heats up
The 50TH season of TVJ’s Schools’ Challenge Quiz is quickly coming to an end, but the competition is heating up as only the strong and the resilient have made it this far in the competition.
The week of quiz opened with a third-round matchup between Ardenne High School and Westwood High School. Ardenne won the toss and decided to go first. The Opening Challenge saw a slow start for Westwood, but they caught up to their opponents when they answered Ardenne’s question, ending the round five-all. Ardenne dominated the Speed Challenge, leaving Westwood six points behind them, and went... read more
TVJ’S SCHOOLS’ CHALLENGE QUIZ: Heartbreaks and game changer
The week started with the unexpected! Titchfield High School has been eliminated from the 50th season of the Schools’ Challenge Quiz competition by Central High School.
Titchfield won the coin toss and elected to go first. As one would expect, Titchfield was in the lead after the Opening Challenge, which ended with them on seven to Central High School’s four points. Titchfield widened the gap during the Speed Challenge, which concluded with them having 22 points to Central High School’s 12 points.
After queries, Titchfield gained another point and went into the buzzer section... read more
TVJ’S SCHOOLS’ CHALLENGE QUIZ: Low scores, but interesting matches
SCHOOLS’ CHALLENGE Quiz 2019 featured low scores but still some interesting face-offs, the first of which was the matchup between Manchester High School and Cornwall College.
Manchester High School won the toss and decided to go first. After the Opening Challenge, the teams seemed evenly matched, as the round ended on a three-all tie. Cornwall, however, created a gap by the end of the Speed Challenge, which ended 20 to 16. The buzzer section of the match had both teams trailing each other until the end of the section with Manchester High on 24 and Cornwall College on 26. Queries... read more
LAST WEEK’S matches during the 50th anniversary of TVJ’s Schools’ Challenge Quiz were nail-biting, as many top schools vied for a spot in the next round of the competition.
The first was a match-up between St Catherine’s St Jago High School and St Andrew’s Meadowbrook High School. St Jago won the toss and allowed Meadowbrook to go first, but led from the opening challenge to the end of the buzzer section. The final score read 33 to 21 points, in St Jago’s favour.
The second match for the week was between Knox College from Clarendon and Immaculate Conception High School from... read more
Mt Alvernia two points shy of winning
Week six of the 50th season of TVJ’s Schools’ Challenge Quiz began with a bang as Wolmer’s High School for Girls from Kingston faced off with Mount Alvernia High School from St James.
The match was one to watch, as both teams were neck and neck from the Opening Challenge, which ended eight to nine in favour of Mount Alvernia High School. The one-point lead was maintained by Mount Alvernia up to the Speed Challenge, which ended 28 to 27. However, during the break, queries were made and Wolmer’s Girls gained a point, officially ending the second round at 28 all.
This resulted... read more
Westwood stun Queen’s in week five’s only shocker
WEEK FIVE of the 50th season of TVJ’s Schools’ Challenge Quiz featured some pairings from which the winners could easily have been predicted, except for one match.
The week started with match 25 between number 3-seed Ardenne High School and number 62-seed Green Pond High School, who were entering the competition for only the second time. The match ended with the experienced Ardenne High on 39 points and Green Pond on 15 points.
Anthony Williams, coach of Ardenne High School, was happy his team won, but there was slight disappointment. “Although they (the Ardenne team) won,... read more
Campion College whip Greater Portmore
The number 60-seed Greater Portmore High School from St Catherine went up against number five-seed Campion College from St Andrew. Greater Portmore High School won the toss and decided to go first.
Campion College, the 2018 champions, established a lead in the Opening Challenge during which they gained four points, but Greater Portmore High School was not able to get on the scoreboard. By the Speed Challenge, Greater Portmore High School opened their account, but Campion had widened the gap and ended the round on 23 to Greater Portmore’s five points. The Buzzer Challenge was mostly... read more
York Castle beat Merl Grove 29-17
York Castle team members.
Match 15 of the 50th season of Television Jamaica’s Schools’ Challenge Quiz featured number 28-seed Merl Grove High School from St Andrew and number 37-seed York Castle High School from St Ann. Merl Grove High School won the toss and allowed York Castle High School to go first. York Castle had the lead from the beginning of the match, gaining five points to Merl Grove’s two points in the Opening Challenge. In the second round, Merl Grove gained 10 points, while York Castle High School doubled Merl Grove’s Speed Section total, gaining 20 points. During the break, Merl Grove got a point for... read more
Hampton schools Morant Bay High
Hampton High’s School’s Challenge Quiz team.
The number 31-seed Hampton School from St Elizabeth faced off with number 34-seed Morant Bay High School from St Thomas and came out as the winner of match 18 of the 50th season of TVJ’s Schools’ Challenge Quiz. Morant Bay High School won the toss and allowed Hampton School to go first.
The Opening Challenge saw both teams working hard to move on to the second round. However, Morant Bay High School lead the match with nine points compared to Hampton School’s seven points.
The scoring was much similar for the Speed Challenge, except that at the end of the second round of the... read more
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Episode 8 of ‘Tiger King’ Premieres on Sunday on Netflix
Well look at that: Jeff Lowe was being honest.
Lowe, one of the stars of the true crime documentary series Tiger King, was the one who first let it slip that Netflix was producing an eighth episode of the show, and that it was coming in the very near future. Sure enough, Netflix just revealed the details about the show, and the fact that it is indeed premiering on the streaming service later this week.
The show is called The Tiger King and I and it’s alternately described as a “bonus episode” and an “after show” for the series. Whatever you want to call it, it’s hosted by Community and The Soup’s Joel McHale, who had his own short-lived series on Netflix back in 2018. In the very strange teaser, which features McHale stripped to the waste with the word “NETFLIX” written on his stomach in black marker, he promises interviews with many of the non-jailed members of Tiger King’s cast, including the aforementioned Jeff Lowe, as well as John Finlay, Saff, John Reinke, and more. Supposedly McHale will discuss what’s happened to their lives since the show was released, and became one of the most-watched shows in the history of Netflix.
Here’s the teaser that Netflix just posted online.
Interestingly, none of the show’s key subjects — private zoo owners Joe Exotic, Carole Baskin, and ‘Doc’ Antle — are listed among the guests on this bonus episode. Obviously there are certain, let’s say, legal challenges that would prevent at least one of them from participating. It will be interesting if the others are involved — and if we find out why they’re not if they don’t appear. One imagines the show’s often unflattering depictions of most of its subjects may not have sat well with a few of them. But that’s not going to stop us from watching this Sunday.
Gallery — The Most Addictive Reality Shows on Netflix:
Source: Episode 8 of ‘Tiger King’ Premieres on Sunday on Netflix
Filed Under: Netflix, Tiger King
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China’s Movie Theaters Now Expected To Reopen In June
As the world’s second biggest film market, Chinese movie theaters have taken a monstrous hit due to coronavirus since shutting their doors in late January. Lost box office revenue is reported to be around $4.2 billion dollars, according to Wang Xiaohui, chief of China’s Film Bureau. But now, amidst the news that China will be lowering its state of emergency on April 30, cinemas will hopefully reopen in early June.
The initial announcement was made by the deputy secretary general of the Beijing municipal government, Bei Chen, at a press conference in central Beijing. Wang later went on to detail the gradual opening of entertainment venues throughout China, including the country’s 70,000 movie screens. If all goes according to plan, the theaters will be up and running by this summer.
Once movies do resume in Chinese theaters, Wang stated that the government would “offer a series of support policies for the film industry” and that “each regional film bureau will introduce their own support policies as well.” In addition, the government plans to "control theatrical film windowing" from here on out, which might prevent producers from moving films to streaming services early.
China’s movie theaters closed around late January, a few weeks ahead of major American movie theater chains. We’ll have to pay close attention to how their cinemas are reintroduced back into society, as it may tell us something about our own movie theaters’ futures.
Gallery — What We Miss Most About Going to the Movies:
Source: China’s Movie Theaters Now Expected To Reopen In June
Filed Under: china, Covid-19 Coronavirus, Theaters
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rated!
publisher: Goose Lane Editions
Hiking Trails of Cape Breton
by Michael Haynes
atlantic provinces, hiking, hikes & walks
Cape Breton Island is home to some of Canada's most popular musicians, and the inspiration for some of the country's best writers. The island that has captured the imaginations of countless artists is one of the most beautiful, wild places in Canada that is an internationally acclaimed tourist destination, which attracts tens of thousands of visitors every year. The hiking on Cape Breton Island, whether in the Highlands, around the Bras d'Or Lakes (actually inland seas) or along its thousands of kilometres of rugged coastline, is second to none. Whether someone is a serious hiker, planning a multi-day excursion into the wild Cape Breton Highlands National Park, or a family looking for an interesting way to spend an afternoon, Hiking Trails of Cape Breton will provide all the information needed to enjoy being self-propelled, out-of-doors.
Hiking Trails of Cape Breton is the first comprehensive guidebook devoted to this spectacular region. A co-publication of Goose Lane Editions and Hostelling International — Nova Scotia, Hiking Trails of Cape Breton is written by the foremost authority on travelling Nova Scotia on foot, Michael Haynes. Hiking Trails of Cape Breton describes 50 Cape Breton trails in detail. As well as 10 breathtaking trails in Cape Breton Highlands National Park, it covers in detail the southwestern, eastern coast and interior, and Bras d'Or areas of the Island, plus the Highlands area outside the park. Some of these trails are newly constructed, some are heritage roads and paths, and others are perennial favourites that may have undergone significant changes in the past five years. In 1998, Michael Haynes hiked all of the trails, personally gathering the information for Hiking Trails of Cape Breton.
Hiking Trails of Cape Breton includes maps, photographs, synoptic information about the length and difficulty of each trail, and entertaining accounts of each hike. It's technologically up-to-date, too — it's one of the first published guidebooks anywhere to include electronic data as standard information. Each map includes Global Positioning System co-ordinates for the main trail access point; these simplify finding the start of unmarked trails and woods roads and provide a foolproof safety bearing. Cellular telephones are also popular as safety devices, but sometimes hikers don't realize that there may be no coverage in remote or geological complex areas. For this reason, cell phone coverage is included in Hiking Trails of Cape Breton.
Michael Haynes is one of the leading authorities on trail development in Canada. He has been named a trail hero by Hike Ontario and has authored nine trail guides, including the first edition of Hiking Trails of Ottawa and the two-volume The Best of The Great Trail. A regular commentator for CBC Radio, Haynes’s travel writing has also appeared in Ottawa Magazine, Saltscapes, and Explore.
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Other Titles by Michael Haynes
Trails of Halifax Regional Municipality
tagged : atlantic provinces, hiking
Hiking Trails of Nova Scotia
tagged : atlantic provinces, hiking, hikes & walks
Hiking Trails of Cape Breton, 2nd Edition
Included in the sponsored collection: New ebooks From Canadian Indies
Hiking Trails of Ottawa, the National Capital Region, and Beyond
tagged : ontario, hiking, hikes & walks
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Tag Archives: Texas circuit court transgender decision
K-12 schools morphing into indoctrination hubs: Parents share their stories
Posted on August 22, 2016 by 4thwavenow
Seemingly overnight, US public schools have been transformed into no-questions-allowed re-education centers for inculcating the notion that children as young as 4 or 5 years old can be innately transgender, and that any student, of any age, who claims to be or “feel like” the opposite sex is entitled to use not just private bathroom stalls, but shared locker rooms and showers designated for the sex s/he “identities with.”
As a result of this imposed sea change in US school policy, there has been a growing pushback from parents across the nation; the battle is raging fiercely, having recently reached the Supreme Court in one important Virginia case. And yesterday, it was announced that a federal judge had issued a “nationwide injunction” to halt the Obama administration’s directive to open school bathroom/locker room facilities to any student on the basis of their stated gender identity.
The mainstream media continues to (inaccurately) present the issue as between two clear opponents: Right-wing, homophobic and transphobic reactionaries, vs. the virtuous progressives and forward-thinking people who unquestioningly support President Obama’s “guidance” to force public schools into compliance with trans activist demands. (Regular 4thWaveNow readers will know that most parents who congregate here are of the liberal/Democratic persuasion.)
Parents who have questions about the wisdom of this exercise in social engineering are ignored, marginalized, and even deliberately excluded from decisions about how their children are treated during the school day (and on overnight field trips, as well). A few months ago, 4thWaveNow contributor Overwhelmed wrote a post about the situation in US public schools, and yesterday, a very important post, “Gender Activism in Schools,” appeared on the blog Youth Transcritical Professionals, written by a parent named Emily, who has been embroiled in a battle with her 4th grader’s public charter school and school district.
The brawl at Emily’s school–Nova Classical Academy, in St. Paul, Minnesota–started and then escalated when the parents of a 5-year-old demanded opposite-sex toilet access for their son-now-trans-daughter. According to Emily’s account, the school went from being a place where all parents’ views were respected, and where they had consistently enjoyed a major role in setting school policy, to a very different situation: a school where administrators and teachers knowingly hide information from parents in the name of adhering to an ideology that may neither be questioned, nor tailored to the needs of all the children and families in the school community—not just those who claim a trans identity.
I highly recommend that you read all of Emily’s post, and then ask yourself: Is this the way major social change should take place in a representative democracy? Should the executive branch subvert the checks-and-balances of the US legislative and judicial branches of government to bend a balking populace to its will?
Here’s a slightly tangential thought experiment. Trans activists are forever comparing their efforts to that of the fight of gay and lesbian people to attain civil rights. But twenty or thirty years ago, can anyone imagine that adult gay and lesbian activists would have dreamed of demanding that public schools identify and “affirm” those kindergartners most likely to grow up to be gay or lesbian (the adult outcome for most “gender nonconforming” children)? Back in the halcyon days of the LGB and women’s liberation movements, the idea of bringing children as young as 5-years-old into a discussion about private body parts, or whether LGB people are “born that way” would have been beyond the pale—let alone any such initiatives being mandated by the President of the United States.
Emily wrote to ask us to reblog her post. We went a step further: We asked parents in our blog community if anyone would like to share their own experiences with their children’s schools vis-à-vis transgender issues and rights. From the accounts we’ve received so far, it’s evident that private schools are also affected, and the situation in UK schools is very similar.
Several of the below contributors (most of whom are not at liberty to identify themselves publicly), as well as Emily, who wrote the original post on Youth Transcritical Professionals, are available to participate in the comments section below. Please feel free to add your own school-based experiences to the discussion.
Parents weigh in: School experiences
Nervous Wreck says:
My 18-year-old daughter’s very sudden decision to transition only happened after she herself learned as a public high school senior about the whole concept of transgender from classmates. It provided her an answer that made sense to her…a highly intelligent girl who never quite “clicked” with other girls. For her it was the power of suggestion from a classmate. How much more powerful the suggestion might be if it had come from the instructor?
Where I live, the public schools give a presentation to the parents about the sex education/STD materials that will be presented to students in the various grades. Parents are allowed to watch the very same videos that our students will watch, and parents are given the option to opt their student out of these presentations. Our students are not mandated to learn sex education from our public schools. We parents have the choice to teach our own students at home if we so desire.
Why is it not the same with gender identity materials? Are the health instructors expected to teach these materials as scientifically proven when it is not? Even if I didn’t opt-out of these materials, I want to know what the schools are teaching so I have the opportunity to have my own discussion with my child.
This all makes me sound terribly conservative doesn’t it? But I’m a life-long Democrat. I just happen to have a spiritual life that helped me as a youth to accept that our bodies are a gift to accept as is, simply a vehicle for carrying our spirit around. One does not have to be “conservative” to have a spiritual life….let’s put an end to the “right/left” notion about gender identity. I myself have certainly never felt pinned down by gender stereotypes.
Gary (New London, MN) says:
Early in the spring of 2015, a number of NL-S school district residents met with the school board to express concerns about their proposed transgender policy. This controversial policy was presented without any advance notice to parents or the community. We were stunned that the Board of Education and the administration chose to ignore our request to delay its adoption. Very few have had the opportunity to become aware of the policy, or to read and understand its implications. A simple delay is a most reasonable request. Why the rush?
Are we in this community ready for a policy that allows boys to use the girls’ locker rooms and girls’ bathrooms and to participate on the girls’ athletic teams? That will be the almost certain result if the school board’s proposed transgender policy is adopted.
The proposed policy states that the school is committed to “maximizing the social integration” of transgender students. This means that boys who at any time wish to see themselves as girls can do anything in schools that the girls do. These boys can use any of the girls’ facilities and participate on any of the girls’ sports teams.
We weren’t misled by the superintendent’s statement that it may be that transgender students could use “gender neutral” bathrooms and showers. Other schools tried that approach only to find themselves sued by GLTB lawyers and then forced to open all girls’ facilities to the boys. “Maximizing the social integration” for transgender students does not allow for keeping the boys’ and girls’ bathrooms and showers separate.
Our Board’s proposed policy says that “sex is assigned at birth.” What kind of fantasy is that? My own experience is hearing the doctor or nurse say, “It’s a boy!” or “It’s a girl!” I have yet to hear the doctor ask, “Which sex shall we assign this to baby?”
Aren’t schools supposed to teach our kids about the real world? This new policy requires our schools and teachers, by word, example and policy, to substitute a fantasy world for the real world and force our kids to conform to a make-believe world where biology isn’t real.
And what about the nonsense that putting our kids into a fantasy world will supposedly lower suicide rates? There is no evidence that such is the case. But, when we enter fantasy land, there are no limits to where it takes us, because truth and reality no longer matters.
We need to provide safety to all children, and many see this policy, as written, as harmful to every child. Keep in mind that most gender-confused children lose their confusion by the time they reach their 20’s. We all want all children to feel loved and accepted. Are we really helping them by affirming their confusion, rather than helping them address the underlying issues causing it?
After much deliberation and many revisions to the policy, the school board refused to remove the most objectionable wording that was contained in the policy; that being: No one will be denied access to opposite-sex bathrooms or shower rooms.
We formed a community group in order to better equip us to oppose the ‘Gender Inclusion Policy’ (as they later labeled it), and with the help of numerous parents and concerned citizens did convince the school board to table the proposed policy until further guidance has been initiated either by the courts or other educational entities.
Last February, a 15-year-old boy who claims to be a girl walked into the girls’ locker room at the school my child attends and began to undress in front of them. The girls, who were changing for basketball practice, some without shirts or shorts, were shocked and upset by the boy’s presence, so they ran out of the locker room wearing towels to a bathroom to finish changing. The boy tried to use the girls’ locker room again two days later, but was prevented by one of the girls’ boyfriends, who stood in his way. The girls in the locker room were devastated; they hadn’t been warned that boys would be allowed to use the girls’ locker room.
I got together with a few other mothers and we called the police to notify them of ongoing indecent exposure at the school. Then and only then did the school write an email to a few of the parents to inform them that there was a transgender girl (biological boy) using the girls’ bathrooms and locker rooms. The letter looked almost identical to the one that the Palatine school district used to notify families of bathroom use regulations. Additionally, the school told parents that we did not have a choice in the matter. They said we could home school our children if we didn’t like it.
The school then hosted a LGBT information night for parents and a day training session for students and teachers. The gender training facilitator used the “Gender Unicorn” as a visual aid for the students. The concerns of parents about mixed bathrooms were dismissed and there was no interest in finding a compromise. We discovered that our school had been hiding the fact that there was a boy in the girls’ room for over a year. They never said a word until the police got involved. Also, we were told that the district is “required by law to allow the boy to use the girls’ bathroom and locker rooms.” The same boy, who has been allowed to be a member of the girls’ basketball team and the girls’ marching band, has also demanded to sleep in the same hotel rooms with girls on band trips, but he has so far been denied.
A district elementary teacher reported that she was told by the administration that she was required to allow her students to use opposite-sex restrooms if they “identified” as the other sex. A female elementary student was even told to use the boys’ bathroom, simply “because she likes to do ‘boy’ things” and prefers pants to dresses. They claimed the law required telling her that.
Don’t believe the rhetoric about gender identity laws simply allowing someone to pee in peace; it’s not just about the bathrooms!
I would encourage parents everywhere to go to school board meetings. Be proactive and ask your athletic director to make sure your children have access to an alternate changing, showering, and restroom area.
ThinkingMom says:
Emily’s story has struck a real nerve with me. My children have been attending a school very similar to the one that Emily’s kids attended, in another state. It has been a great school and was founded on classical teaching. My older child started having issues with what we are now learning is a borderline personality disorder, and possibly autism spectrum disorder. She struggled with the large amount of homework at that school so we moved her to an associated charter school. There, she was friendly with several kids who were identifying as “gender non-conforming.” They started doing lots of cosplay, and copious Internet use – YouTube, Reddit, Tumblr, DeviantArt. Suddenly, my daughter started dressing differently, cutting her hair short, and even started some drug use.
Now in public school, she started going by a male name and male pronouns. The public school, of course, has the policy to accept whatever kids present as, without parent consent or knowledge. Each of the teachers and counselors I have dealt with are very apologetic about not being able to respect the parents by using given names, but have apparently received a directive to “make the student feel accepted and comfortable.”
The longer my daughter has gone by male pronouns and a male name, the more anxious, depressed, and rebellious she has become. At home, she generally acts the way she has always acted, no pretense of male persona, no voice altering. But she becomes irate when we don’t use her preferred name and pronouns because after all, “HE is accepted and admired at school by friends for being so unique”– we just are ignorant and don’t see who HE really is.
I will tell you who SHE is: She is still the sensitive, creative, intelligent girl who loves to take walks in nature and collect wildflower bouquets and unique rocks and bugs. She still gets compliments on her beautiful singing voice, on her beauty, and her kindness. But now, with all the “support,” she cusses like a sailor, sits with her legs wide apart and talks loud and abrasively, rude and crude, when in public.
The schools are just making things worse by making this a part of the education system. It is something that should be dealt with by professionals, therapists, counselors–and by the families. It makes things so much worse with the open and blatant pandering to the activists. These kids are suffering and the help they need is NOT to become the poster child for their school, or their community. The pressure to continue on the path of transition is now so intense, just because everyone is now watching.
What it is becoming is another platform for activists who use children as pawns for their activism. It keeps the real problems – mental health issues – hidden and undiagnosed. Self acceptance is so important for every human being. Why has it become such a taboo subject and so many are working against it for the sake of permanent damage – hormones, medication, surgery – that will not even touch the real issues?
I do agree with one thing: School should be a safe place for all kids. ALL KIDS.
So why are the rest of the kids, the ones who aren’t suffering from these mental health and identity issues, being pushed aside? Their feelings about themselves, the world, their friends and life in general, are being squashed and treated as unimportant compared to the few kids whose parents are intent on pushing the agenda on everyone, maybe for their own 15 minutes of fame and attention? I am not saying it’s the parents’ fault in every situation, since every one of these situations also have a lot of other professional adults involved. I just see this as such a tragedy for everyone involved. We need to stop it now. With this new school year, I see the problem getting worse, much worse, before it ever gets better. But it has to get better, for the sake of our kids and the future for all.
I took this photo over the summer. This appeared on the main bulletin board in a progressive private school that goes from grades 7 through 12. Tuition at this school runs about $30k per year. Most upsetting thing to me about this poster is that “female” has nothing to do with biology: “Female: identifies as a girl. Does not necessarily refer to genitalia.” Might as well teach creationism.
This is not the only progressive private school in the area to have swallowed trans ideology.
UKMum says:
This is happening in UK schools too. My daughter is one of seven other trans-identifying girls who live within a square mile of us that I know of (clearly social contagion).
One day, she and another trans student knocked on the door of the school counsellor’s office, and requested to be known by boys’ names and pronouns. She told them that we, her parents, were ‘not supportive’ and it was therefore kept secret from us. She was given a new ID badge, all the school records were changed and she was helpfully advised right there and then that she would have to change her name legally by deed poll if she wanted to write her new name on her exam scripts. (So of course, that is what she eventually did!)
The first I knew of this was when the school ‘slipped up’ and sent me a text communication with her boy’s name on. I was driving, pulled over to read the text, and then spent half an hour crying in a layby, until I felt stable enough to continue driving. What a shock!
I wrote to the school, telling them that we were considering having her assessed for Aspergers, pleading that this affirmation by adults in authority would not help at this stage, that this had come out of the blue, etc. I felt it was wrong that she wasn’t interviewed individually by the counsellor and that two kids going together on the same day to request the same thing, should have raised alarm bells about ‘influences.’ Also, as she was wearing a new ID card, with a male name, if she was involved in an accident, she could potentially receive the wrong treatment, since her emergency contacts (us and her grandparents) do not use that name, nor would hospitals be able to access her medical records. (How would they find them, since they are not in this new name?) I felt this was a duty-of-care issue, and the school relented and told her she would have to just use the first initial of her birth name on her card, whilst it was still her legal name.
Of course, within weeks of being known as male at school, she developed dysphoria and felt that she now could no longer go out without a chest binder. Next, she began to be dysphoric about her voice and to intentionally lower it…then a new way of sitting, and beginning to be aggressive and swearing a lot. All of this was completely out of character. Our family and friends have looked on aghast at the rapid decline of our sweet, sensitive, funny, overthinker. It is a nightmare.
Our scepticism has caused great damage to our relationship which has all but broken down, with both sides feeling hurt and disrespected.
During part of the time we were going through all this, our daughter attended a girls’ school. While one might think single-sex schools would be immune to some of this, the official GSA in the UK has now begun the process of replacing the word ‘girls’ with ‘pupils’ so as not to misgender anyone.
Now I don’t want my daughter to go to University because I am afraid that she will be encouraged further down the road. And as she is now an adult, we will just have to stand by and watch her disappear.
Skepticalmom says:
Well-meaning adults need to understand just what they are encouraging kids to do when they give blanket acceptance to all things trans. Well-meaning school administrators and parents just don’t realize what sort of damage they are doing to kids when they apply transgender ideology within their schools. Although trans is associated with gay rights and acceptance, trans is a much different animal. Of course we want to be accepting of all children, but should we accept, without question, children’s fantasies and false beliefs? While compassion is admirable and necessary, it is not an act of compassion when adults lead children to believe they are or can become the opposite sex.
We are allowing young people to be drugged and even surgically altered, based upon their personal, self-identified beliefs — which have no basis in science. Not only is trans ideology based upon belief rather than scientific fact, the end result is kids who are tethered to the medical system, receiving ongoing medical treatment, for the rest of their lives. School are accepting this and encouraging it. They should be teaching science instead.
Well-meaning adults also may not know that most kids who say they are trans grow out of it if left alone (in other words, no social or medical transitioning) to mature into adults. Well-meaning adults may also not know that many kids who claim to be trans have pre-existing problems such as past sexual abuse or physical or mental trauma, or have mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. There is also a correlation between autism spectrum disorder and kids who claim to be transgender. These issues need to be carefully, thoughtfully and thoroughly explored and sorted out by professionals. Unfortunately, however, current medical protocol allows kids to be socially transitioned immediately upon self identification and begin medical transition shortly thereafter.
My own family is quietly and privately struggling to get my teen daughter past her feelings of not wanting to be female. She is making progress with the help of a psychiatrist and a psychotherapist. She says doesn’t want to be a man — it’s just that she doesn’t feel comfortable as a woman. Yes, this is progress. Yet, if well meaning teachers, parents or administrators invite the trans political machine into our school, I can guarantee you all progress would be lost as she would feel encouragement or even pressure to further her male persona.
My child’s school doesn’t know what we are dealing with at home. In order to help other students who might be dealing with the same issue either now or in the future, I would like to warn our school’s administrators and counselors of the dangers and junk science behind transgenderism, and the fact that teen girls, especially, are falling prey to trans social contagion. I would like to help implement a program that teaches both boys and girls about the dangers of todays easy-access internet porn. However, I must wait until my child is out of our school system, as I can’t risk them finding out about her problem and encouraging it.
Families should be allowed to deal with these situations privately, allowing their therapists, psychiatrists and physicians to do what is right for each individual patient. It is harmful to our kids when schools encourage them to believe they are something they can never be (the opposite sex), or encourage our kids down the path toward dangerous, invasive, unnecessary and never ending medical “treatments.”
TheMom says:
My daughter goes to a very large public high school. As she has not come out publicly, she has not experienced any issues. I do know that her school last year was looking at changing bathroom and locker room policies in anticipation of accommodating trans students. They had one openly trans student a few years ago (FtM), and that student used the bathroom in the nurse’s office, which the student did not find acceptable. But the student graduated and moved on. The school board said that they have a dilemma because their current policy doesn’t allow students to use individual locking bathrooms. Students could go in there and commit suicide, do drugs, have sex, etc. and it would be very difficult for security to get in the bathroom. So they were looking at options. They already have changed their PE policy, stating that students are not required to wear a PE uniform, and that students don’t even have to change for PE if they don’t want to.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged David and Hannah Edwards, Gavin Grimm, Nova Academy St. Paul MN, parenting a transgender child, Reed O’Connor, Texas circuit court transgender decision, transgender child, transgender school policy, transgender teen | 109 Replies
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A Serial Killer’s Daughter: My Story of Faith, Love, and Overcoming
On March 18, 2019 March 18, 2019 By upstateasbIn Memoir, Nonfiction, True Crime
Dennis Rader of Wichita, Kansas, is a perfectly ordinary looking man, living with his wife and two children in a small ranch house, working reliably, going to church and rearing his nice family. Dennis Rader is a serial killer known as BTK (Bind, Torture, Kill) who terrified Wichita for thirty years, taunted the media, and killed eight adults and two children. Dennis Rader is Kerri Rawson’s father. Kerri’s innocence and that of her family ended on February 25, 2005, when Dennis Rader was arrested.
The secret life of a loved one. Unimaginable, isn’t it? Devastating, emotional ruin…..but Kerri tells her story with fairness for the father she loved while offering no possible explanation for or understanding of the killer she didn’t know existed. How could she? How could anyone? Her father writes from prison, and she writes in return, initially – and then she turns away. Fits and starts, years of on-again, off-again therapy, a PTSD diagnosis, a loving, insightful husband, supportive family, a growing strength in her faith, and, to some extent, the saving grace of humor, as in the chapter title “PTSD Blows Chunks”. Ms. Rawson’s story is a difficult one to read. How difficult must it have been for her to endure and to tell?
Shop your local indie bookstore for this wrenching memoir. Also available at Amazon.com
Full Disclosure: A review copy of this book was provided to me by Nelson Books / Thomas Nelson via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I would like to thank the publisher, the author and NetGalley for providing me this opportunity. All opinions expressed herein are my own.
A Serial Killer's DaughterbooksBTKDennis RaderKansasKerri Rawsonnon-fictionserial killerTrue CrimeWichita
Last Witnesses: An Oral History of the Children of World War II
Lu Yao’s Life
One thought on “A Serial Killer’s Daughter: My Story of Faith, Love, and Overcoming”
Oh my goodness. That’s got to be an intense story. I’m so sorry for any family members who have to deal with the legacy of their loved ones like this, it’s so unfair to them. It sounds as though she’s found at least some sort of closure, but how terrible for her that she was put in this position. What a fascinating book.
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Top 30 American Classic Rock Bands of the ’90s
The below list of the Top 30 American Classic Rock Bands of the '90s reflects a decade of transition and evolution in music. Several of the groups feature are holdovers - bands that hit commercial heights in the ‘80s and continued to ride that wave of success into the following decade. Still, many more are newcomers, groups that formed in the ‘90s and quickly reached the national stage.
Following the hair-metal spandex extravagance of the previous decade, the ‘90s ushered in a new brand of rock: grunge. Fusing elements of punk and metal with a counterculture perspective, the genre brought a rush of new bands to the forefront of music, including Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains. Grunge turned Seattle into the nation’s rock hotbed and influenced all avenues of pop culture.
Still, grunge wasn’t the only sound of the era. Many other subgenres emerged in the ‘90s, including industrial, pop-punk and nu-metal. Technological achievements brought music into the digital age, with computers becoming an instrument in their own right. Meanwhile, hip-hop’s ascent to the mainstream caused a ripple effect throughout music, with many rock bands fusing rap elements into their own distinctive style.
Our list focuses on only American bands, so artists from the Britpop invasion - such as Radiohead, Oasis and Blur - won’t be included. Solo artists were also excluded, leaving acts like Bruce Springsteen and Beck out in the cold. Even with these rules in place, whittling it down to just 30 bands proved to be quite a tall task, as you'll see in the below list of the Top 30 American Classic Rock Bands of the '90s.
Next: Top 20 American Classic Rock Bands of the '80s
Source: Top 30 American Classic Rock Bands of the ’90s
Categories: Galleries, Lists
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The average number of fibres found in each 500ml sample ranged from 4.8 in the US to 1.9 in Europe. Photograph: Michael Heim/Alamy
Plastic fibres found in tap water around the world, study reveals
Exclusive: Tests show billions of people globally are drinking water contaminated by plastic particles, with 83% of samples found to be polluted
We are living on a plastic planet. What does it mean for our health?
Damian Carrington Environment editor
@dpcarrington
Tue 5 Sep 2017 19.01 EDT
Microplastic contamination has been found in tap water in countries around the world, leading to calls from scientists for urgent research on the implications for health.
Scores of tap water samples from more than a dozen nations were analysed by scientists for an investigation by Orb Media, who shared the findings with the Guardian. Overall, 83% of the samples were contaminated with plastic fibres.
The US had the highest contamination rate, at 94%, with plastic fibres found in tap water sampled at sites including Congress buildings, the US Environmental Protection Agency’s headquarters, and Trump Tower in New York. Lebanon and India had the next highest rates.
European nations including the UK, Germany and France had the lowest contamination rate, but this was still 72%. The average number of fibres found in each 500ml sample ranged from 4.8 in the US to 1.9 in Europe.
The new analyses indicate the ubiquitous extent of microplastic contamination in the global environment. Previous work has been largely focused on plastic pollution in the oceans, which suggests people are eating microplastics via contaminated seafood.
“We have enough data from looking at wildlife, and the impacts that it’s having on wildlife, to be concerned,” said Dr Sherri Mason, a microplastic expert at the State University of New York in Fredonia, who supervised the analyses for Orb. “If it’s impacting [wildlife], then how do we think that it’s not going to somehow impact us?”
A magnified image of clothing microfibres from washing machine effluent. One study found that a fleece jacket can shed as many as 250,000 fibres per wash. Photograph: Courtesy of Rozalia Project
A separate small study in the Republic of Ireland released in June also found microplastic contamination in a handful of tap water and well samples. “We don’t know what the [health] impact is and for that reason we should follow the precautionary principle and put enough effort into it now, immediately, so we can find out what the real risks are,” said Dr Anne Marie Mahon at the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, who conducted the research.
Plastic pollution risks 'near permanent contamination of natural environment'
Mahon said there were two principal concerns: very small plastic particles and the chemicals or pathogens that microplastics can harbour. “If the fibres are there, it is possible that the nanoparticles are there too that we can’t measure,” she said. “Once they are in the nanometre range they can really penetrate a cell and that means they can penetrate organs, and that would be worrying.” The Orb analyses caught particles of more than 2.5 microns in size, 2,500 times bigger than a nanometre.
Microplastics can attract bacteria found in sewage, Mahon said: “Some studies have shown there are more harmful pathogens on microplastics downstream of wastewater treatment plants.”
Microplastics are also known to contain and absorb toxic chemicals and research on wild animals shows they are released in the body. Prof Richard Thompson, at Plymouth University, UK, told Orb: “It became clear very early on that the plastic would release those chemicals and that actually, the conditions in the gut would facilitate really quite rapid release.” His research has shown microplastics are found in a third of fish caught in the UK.
The scale of global microplastic contamination is only starting to become clear, with studies in Germany finding fibres and fragments in all of the 24 beer brands they tested, as well as in honey and sugar. In Paris in 2015, researchers discovered microplastic falling from the air, which they estimated deposits three to 10 tonnes of fibres on the city each year, and that it was also present in the air in people’s homes.
This research led Frank Kelly, professor of environmental health at King’s College London, to tell a UK parliamentary inquiry in 2016: “If we breathe them in they could potentially deliver chemicals to the lower parts of our lungs and maybe even across into our circulation.” Having seen the Orb data, Kelly told the Guardian that research is urgently needed to determine whether ingesting plastic particles is a health risk.
The new research tested 159 samples using a standard technique to eliminate contamination from other sources and was performed at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. The samples came from across the world, including from Uganda, Ecuador and Indonesia.
From sea to plate: how plastic got into our fish
How microplastics end up in drinking water is for now a mystery, but the atmosphere is one obvious source, with fibres shed by the everyday wear and tear of clothes and carpets. Tumble dryers are another potential source, with almost 80% of US households having dryers that usually vent to the open air.
“We really think that the lakes [and other water bodies] can be contaminated by cumulative atmospheric inputs,” said Johnny Gasperi, at the University Paris-Est Créteil, who did the Paris studies. “What we observed in Paris tends to demonstrate that a huge amount of fibres are present in atmospheric fallout.”
Plastic fibres may also be flushed into water systems, with a recent study finding that each cycle of a washing machine could release 700,000 fibres into the environment. Rains could also sweep up microplastic pollution, which could explain why the household wells used in Indonesia were found to be contaminated.
In Beirut, Lebanon, the water supply comes from natural springs but 94% of the samples were contaminated. “This research only scratches the surface, but it seems to be a very itchy one,” said Hussam Hawwa, at the environmental consultancy Difaf, which collected samples for Orb.
This planktonic arrow worm, Sagitta setosa, has eaten a blue plastic fibre about 3mm long. Plankton support the entire marine food chain. Photograph: Richard Kirby/Courtesy of Orb Media
Current standard water treatment systems do not filter out all of the microplastics, Mahon said: “There is nowhere really where you can say these are being trapped 100%. In terms of fibres, the diameter is 10 microns across and it would be very unusual to find that level of filtration in our drinking water systems.”
Bottled water may not provide a microplastic-free alternative to tapwater, as the they were also found in a few samples of commercial bottled water tested in the US for Orb.
38 million pieces of plastic waste found on uninhabited South Pacific island
Almost 300m tonnes of plastic is produced each year and, with just 20% recycled or incinerated, much of it ends up littering the air, land and sea. A report in July found 8.3bn tonnes of plastic has been produced since the 1950s, with the researchers warning that plastic waste has become ubiquitous in the environment.
“We are increasingly smothering ecosystems in plastic and I am very worried that there may be all kinds of unintended, adverse consequences that we will only find out about once it is too late,” said Prof Roland Geyer, from the University of California and Santa Barbara, who led the study.
Mahon said the new tap water analyses raise a red flag, but that more work is needed to replicate the results, find the sources of contamination and evaluate the possible health impacts.
She said plastics are very useful, but that management of the waste must be drastically improved: “We need plastics in our lives, but it is us that is doing the damage by discarding them in very careless ways.”
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Dr Natalie Miller and Dr Dana Beale, who work with homeless patients in London at Great Chapel Street Medical Centre. Photograph: Alicia Canter/The Guardian
Dying man given bill for tens of thousands of pounds for NHS treatment
Doctors say making migrant patients pay for NHS palliative care contravenes the Hippocratic oath
Tue 22 Jan 2019 08.00 EST
Nasar Ullah Khan is lying in a hospital bed in Birmingham. He is 38 and has weeks, if not days, left to live. Khan, a Pakistani national who came to the UK nine years ago and overstayed his visa, was refused a lifesaving heart transplant just before Christmas because of his ineligibility for free healthcare. Now he’s been told that he will be charged before he can receive end-of-life care. He was handed his first invoice for £16,000 on New Year’s Eve, days after he was told he would probably die within a month. The payment for hospital treatment already received is due at the end of January.
“It’s completely gut-wrenching,” says Elizabeth Bates, a Birmingham GP who is working with Doctors of the World. “Knowing that he’s been handed bills in his hospital room after he’s been given a dreadful diagnosis … I cannot understand what the philosophy of the people running the hospital is and how they expect that to impact on the clinical staff and on the patient sitting in front of them.” Bates, who has been helping Khan, says refusing to help care for him while he is dying is especially unfeeling. “Everybody is appalled that he might be charged for palliative care. It goes against every professional ethic and our Hippocratic oath. We should be treating people according to need.”
Medical colleges criticise charging migrants upfront for NHS care
Before 2017, migrants and visitors to the UK not eligible for free healthcare were entitled to receive it and be billed afterwards. But two years ago, in a bid to eliminate so-called health tourism, the Conservative government introduced new regulations. These require NHS trusts in England to charge refused asylum seekers, those who have overstayed their visa, certain EU citizens and those from Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland who are not studying or working for most healthcare. They can still see a GP free of charge, but they must pay up to 150% of the cost of their hospital care before they can be treated.
Patients needing urgent or “immediately necessary” hospital treatment are still entitled to it. However, healthcare professionals and charities say the rules are being flouted and applied inconsistently. “Hospitals are going overboard,” says Dr Dana Beale, a GP at Great Chapel Street Medical Centre in London who focuses on homeless people. “I heard of one case where a mental health trust was asking for a council tax bill, ID and a utility bill before they provided any treatment.” But a report by the World Health Organisation this week found that charging migrants for healthcare was a false economy and cost governments more. “Countries tend to use costs as a justification of limiting or delaying healthcare access to newcomers or providing emergency access only,” said Dr Santino Severoni, the coordinator of public health and migration for WHO Europe. “But this is not cost-effective – early identification costs less than delaying until absolutely necessary hospital treatment”.
Nasar Ullah Khan, who was denied NHS treatment as he overstayed his visa Photograph: None
Meanwhile, the changes have left healthcare professionals powerless to treat patients as the government’s hostile environment policy encroaches on the NHS. “As a result of this cruel policy, overstretched NHS hospitals are put under increased pressure to carry out immigration checks. Meanwhile, vulnerable patients are dying from lack of treatment,” says Anna Miller, UK policy and advocacy manager at Doctors of the World, which runs a clinic providing free treatment in London to people excluded from mainstream healthcare. “Hospitals are getting much more efficient and better at identifying patients who can be charged for their treatment. When the law was first introduced, it didn’t bring about much of a change on the ground but it feels now that it’s beginning to bite ... On every level we’re seeing more patients refused treatment.”
In December, four medical bodies representing more than 70,000 doctors urged ministers to suspend the rules that force hospitals to charge overseas visitors upfront for NHS care. The situation has ramifications for the 3.7 million EU citizens living in the UK. In the event of a hard Brexit, they would need to apply for settled status, or pre-settled status if they have lived in the UK less than five years, while new arrivals to the UK from the EU after Brexit might not have access to hospital treatment unless they paid for it.
The policy is creating administrative headaches for already overstretched GPs. “Seven years ago, I’d do a referral and they [migrant patients] would get seen and sorted out,” says Beale’s colleague, Dr Natalie Miller. “Somebody might be billed in retrospect, but if they couldn’t pay nothing would happen. Now we are getting letters asking us if the patient has recourse to public funds. It’s not our job to assess that: I’m a GP, not an immigration adviser.”
Western lifestyles pose risk to migrants' health, says WHO report
Back in Birmingham, a spokeswoman for University Hospitals Birmingham NHS foundation trust refused to comment on Khan’s case specifically. “While we are unable to disclose details of an individual patient’s medical records, we can state that the trust strives to offer entirely appropriate care to all of its patients and our actions in doing so are both compassionate and reasonable,” she says. “Treatment in NHS emergency departments is free for patients not ordinarily resident in the UK, although any subsequent treatment as a result of admission to hospital is chargeable. All patients receive the appropriate treatment as an inpatient; both on an emergency basis on initial admission and subsequently for the care which the trust considers immediately necessary or urgent. They are appropriately invoiced for non-emergency care in accordance with the charging regulations.”
But Khan has just found out that a bill for care was sent to his brother’s house a few days ago amounting to £32,313. He is destitute. There’s silence before he cries, “Oh my God” and sobs uncontrollably. After minutes of struggling for breath and being unable to talk, he says: “The doctor has said I can’t travel to Pakistan so why can’t they give a visa to my family in my last days. That’s all I want now. I’ve got two children and a wife I haven’t seen in nine years.”
Public services policy
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This pub once went by a much simpler name – The Inn.
143 High Street, Rushden, Northamptonshire, NN10 0PA
This pub is situated at the north end of High Street, on the corner of Duck Street. The building had been known for many years as the Railway Inn (or Hotel). The ‘Railway’ was so named after Rushden Station opened, just off High Street, in 1894. Built by the Midland Railway Company, the station closed to passengers in 1959. It is now owned by the Rushden Historical Transport Society and is part museum and part real-ale bar.
A photograph and text about The Railway Inn.
The text reads: These premises were originally simply named The Inn and were built shortly before 1879. We know this because it was referred to as the ‘New’ Inn in an article that appeared in the Wellingborough News in September of that year.
The pub was run by a Thomas Perkins, and was flanked by a row of thatched cottages on one side, and a large Victorian building on the other. Known as Stonehurst the grand house was used during the First World War as a hostel for Belgian refugees, but was torn down in the name of progress during the 1960s. This building was first named The Railway Inn to coincide with the opening of Rushden Station, just off the high street, in 1894. In the interviewing years it has been known under several different guises including The Corner Flag, Arbuckles and more recently Lounge One.
Above: Rushden High Street
Below: The Railway Inn next to Stonehurst.
Photographs and text about Lilford House.
The text reads: Lilford Hall is a stately home of 100 rooms situated in the east of Northamptonshire, south of Oundle and north of Thrapston. It was built in a Jacobean style, with a Georgian interior, around 1635. Alterations were made in the eighteenth century by Henry Flitcroft. The hall remained the home of the Lilford family until the mid 1940s when it was sold to pay the death duties of the fifth Lord Lilford.
During the late nineteenth century the grounds of the hall housed an extensive collection of birds, maintained by the fourth Baron Lilford, Thomas Littleton Powys, founder of the British Ornithologist Union. His aviaries featured various exotic birds from all over the world, including kiwis, pink-hearted ducks and lammergeirs (the great bearded vultures of southern Europe).
The hall served as a nurses’ quarters during World War II, and was bought back by the seventh Lord Lilford, who opened the aviaries to the public. At this time the aviaries contained more than 350 birds of about 110 different species. In 1990 Lilford Park was closed. Today the hall is owned by the Micklewright family.
Pictured: Lilford House and Thomas Powys, 4th Baron Lilford, in the Library at Lilford Hall
Image below: Sir Thomas Powys’ coat of arms over front porch.
A photograph and text about Lyveden New Bield.
The text reads: One of England’s oldest garden landscapes, Lyveden in Northamptonshire was originally created by Sir Thomas Tresham in 1594. Tresham’s intention had been to create a striking building (an Elizabethan lodge house in the shape of a Greek cross) that would also serve as a garden lodge. However, work on the gardens was abandoned in 1605 when Tresham died, and his son Francis allegedly became involved in the notorious Gunpowder Plot.
The new build as it became known was left half-built and has remained virtually unaltered since Tudor times. For the Tudor aristocracy, competitive building projects were a popular activity. Tresham was acquainted with Sir William Cecil, Secretary of State for Elizabeth I, and Lord Chancellor Sir Christopher Hatton.
In subtle ways the design of the lodge itself reflects Tresham’s Catholic faith. A carved frieze features seven emblems of the Passion, based upon designs by the Italian architect Serlio. Another carving depicts Judas’s thirty pieces of silver.
Today the historic Elizabethan gardens are open to the public, featuring a moat and period fruit trees which recreate what has been described as ‘one of the fairest orchards in England’. The circular labyrinth reflects Tresham’s original garden design.
A print and text about Kimbolton Castle and the ghost of Catherine of Aragon.
The text reads: Catherine of Aragon was sent to Kimbolton Castle in nearby Kimbolton in April 1534 for refusing to dissolve her marriage to Henry VIII. She was effectively imprisoned there, and died just two years later through ill health, in January 1536. It is reputed that her ghost now wonders the castle at the height of the original flooring. As the levels have since been altered, her ghostly head and upper torso appear to glide along the upper floor while her legs and lower body are seen projecting from the ceiling below.
A photograph and text about Sir Malcolm Arnold.
The text reads: Sir Malcolm Arnold was born in 1921 in Northampton. He became one of the most prominent classical composers of the 20th century, excelling in a broad musical spectrum, including symphonies, opera, ballet and chamber music. He was also highly acclaimed for his numerous film scores and was one of the first British composers to win an Academy Award when he received the Oscar for Bridge on the River Kwai (1958).
A print and text about lace making in Rushden.
The text reads: The tradition of lace making in Rushden and Northamptonshire dates back to the late 1500s, and by the end of the eighteenth century Wellingborough, Northampton and the surrounding villages were the heart of the country’s lace industry.
There were village lace schools in the area teaching lacemaking to girls from the age of three. Once they had mastered the craft, they would work from home in what was truly a cottage industry. Often for twelve hours a day the young ladies would meticulously craft intricate patterns to form the trimming for babies’ bonnets and other such purposes.
There was a boom in production in the early 1870s, due in part to the Franco-Prussian war which prevented imports of French lace. The scarcity in the marketplace caused the costs of English lace to soar, as well as the wages that could be earned.
However, by the late 1880s lace making was in decline due to changing fashions and the impact of machine-made lace. Factories were able to replicate the finest handiwork for a fraction of the cost. This enabled almost all to afford what was once an expensive luxury.
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Effect of merger.
(1) When a merger becomes effective:
(a) The surviving organization continues;
(b) Each constituent organization that merges into the surviving organization ceases to exist as a separate entity;
(c) The title to all real estate and other property owned by each constituent organization is vested in the surviving organization without reversion or impairment;
(d) The surviving organization has all liabilities of each constituent organization;
(e) A proceeding pending by or against any constituent organization may be continued as if the merger did not occur or the surviving organization may be substituted in the proceeding for the constituent organization whose existence ceased;
(f) Except as prohibited by other law, all of the rights, privileges, immunities, powers, and purposes of each constituent organization that ceases to exist vest in the surviving organization;
(g) Except as otherwise provided in the plan of merger, the terms and conditions of the plan of merger take effect;
(h) The organizational documents of the surviving organization are amended to the extent provided in the articles of merger; and
(i) The former holders of interests of every constituent limited liability company are entitled only to the rights provided in the plan of merger and to their rights under article XII of this chapter.
(2) A merger of a limited liability company, including a limited liability company which is not the surviving organization in the merger, does not require the limited liability company to wind up its affairs under RCW 25.15.297 or pay its liabilities and distribute its assets under RCW 25.15.305.
(3) A surviving organization that is a foreign organization consents to the jurisdiction of the courts of this state to enforce any obligation owed by a constituent organization, if before the merger the constituent organization was subject to suit in this state on the obligation. A surviving organization that is a foreign organization and not registered to transact business in this state may be served with process pursuant to RCW 23.95.450 for the purposes of enforcing an obligation under this subsection.
[ 2015 c 176 § 7129; 2015 c 188 § 83.]
Effective date—Contingent effective date—2015 c 176: See note following RCW 23.95.100.
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Agency employee records.
(1) Except by court order issued pursuant to subsection (3) of this section, an agency may not disclose as a response to a public records request made pursuant to this chapter records concerning an agency employee, as defined in subsection (5) of this section, if:
(a) The requestor is a person alleged in the claim of workplace sexual harassment or stalking to have harassed or stalked the agency employee who is named as the victim in the claim; and
(b) After conducting an investigation, the agency issued discipline resulting from the claim of workplace sexual harassment or stalking to the requestor described under (a) of this subsection.
(2)(a) When the requestor is someone other than a person described under subsection (1) of this section, the agency must immediately notify an agency employee upon receipt of a public records request for records concerning that agency employee if the agency conducted an investigation of the claim of workplace sexual harassment or stalking involving the agency employee and the agency issued discipline resulting from the claim.
(b) Upon notice provided in accordance with (a) of this subsection, the agency employee may bring an action in a court of competent jurisdiction to enjoin the agency from disclosing the records. The agency employee shall immediately notify the agency upon filing an action under this subsection. Except for the five-day notification required under RCW 42.56.520, the time for the employing agency to process a request for records is suspended during the pendency of an action filed under this subsection. Upon notice of an action filed under this subsection, the agency may not disclose such records unless by an order issued in accordance with subsection (3) of this section, or if the action is dismissed without the court granting an injunction.
(3)(a) A court of competent jurisdiction, following sufficient notice to the employing agency, may order the release of some or all of the records described in subsections (1) and (2) of this section after finding that, in consideration of the totality of the circumstances, disclosure would not violate the right to privacy under RCW 42.56.050 for the agency employee. An agency that is ordered in accordance with this subsection to disclose records is not liable for penalties, attorneys' fees, or costs under RCW 42.56.550 if the agency has complied with this section.
(b) For the purposes of this section, it is presumed to be highly offensive to a reasonable person under RCW 42.56.050 to disclose, directly or indirectly, records concerning an agency employee who has made a claim of workplace sexual harassment or stalking with the agency, or is named as a victim in the claim, to persons alleged in the claim to have sexually harassed or stalked the agency employee named as the victim and where the agency issued discipline resulting from the claim after conducting an investigation. The presumption set out under this subsection may be rebutted upon showing of clear, cogent, and convincing evidence that disclosure of the requested record or information to persons alleged in the claim to have sexually harassed or stalked the agency employee named as the victim in the claim is not highly offensive.
(4) Nothing in this section restricts access to records described under subsections (1) and (2) of this section where the agency employee consents in writing to disclosure.
(5) For the purposes of this section:
(a) "Agency" means a state agency, including every state office, department, division, bureau, board, commission, or other state agency.
(b) "Agency employee" means a state agency employee who has made a claim of workplace sexual harassment or stalking with the employing agency, or is named as the victim in the claim.
(c) "Records concerning an agency employee" do not include work product created by the agency employee as part of his or her official duties.
Findings—2019 c 373: "The legislature finds that state agency employees operate in unique work environments in which there is a higher level of transparency surrounding their daily work activities. The legislature finds that we must act to protect the health and safety of state employees, but even more so when employees become the victims of sexual harassment or stalking. The legislature finds that when a state agency employee is the target of sexual harassment or stalking, there is a significant risk to the employee's physical safety and well-being. The legislature finds that workplace safety is of paramount importance and that the state has an interest in protecting against the inappropriate use of public resources to carry out actions of sexual harassment or stalking." [ 2019 c 373 § 1.]
Effective date—2019 c 373: "This act takes effect July 1, 2020." [ 2019 c 373 § 6.]
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Alex Lee-Clark
Trumpeter | Composer | Bandleader
Bandleader
https://alexleeclark.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Alex-Lee-Clark.m4a
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About Alex:
Music has been a part of Alex’s life for as long as he can remember, playing trumpet in school and guitar in rock bands outside of school, in Bennington, Vermont. After graduating high school, he attended Ithaca College (B.M., Music Education), and soon started working as a contracted musician at amusement parks and aboard cruise ships. He then attended and graduated from UMass-Amherst (M.M., Jazz Composition and Arranging), and served as a graduate T.A., coaching combos, leading the Jazz Laboratory Ensemble, and coordinating the UMass High School Jazz Festival. During his college education, Alex had the privilege to study classical trumpet with Dr. Kim Dunnick and Eric Berlin, improvisation with Steve Brown, and composition with Jeff Holmes. Since his time in school, he has studied improvisation regularly with Hal Crook, and participated in the 2014-15 BMI Jazz Composers Workshop under the coaching of Jim McNeely and Mike Holober.
Upon graduating UMass-Amherst in 2010, Alex moved to the Boston area to begin work as a band director at Galvin Middle School in nearby Canton. Since then, he and Brian Thomas formed the BT/ALC Big Band, playing their original compositions and arrangements, influenced by their shared love of funk, hip hop, and other groove music. They have released four studio albums, including their newest release on Ropeadope, “The Search For Peace”. Alex also leads the ALC 8tet, who recently recorded it’s first album of original music, “Live at the Lily Pad.” Recent career highlights include performances with Nigel Hall and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, as well as the BT/ALC Big Band performing with The Nth Power, featuring Alex’s arrangement of “Thank You.”
Alex is currently Professor of Trumpet at Providence College, where he also directs the Funk Ensemble. He is also co-founder and artistic director for Pop-Up Music, an organization aimed at using live music and discussion to engage workplace teams in the creative act of listening: the art of listening to yourself and others, of hearing the meaning behind the music, and of creating cohesion and understanding.
Alex’s Projects
BT/ALC Big Band
Since the group’s formation in 2011, Brian Thomas and Alex Lee-Clark have gained a reputation for featuring some of the best players in Boston, great compositions, and being undeniably unique. By taking the tradition of the big bands of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Thad Jones and infusing it with funk music of their idols like Parliament Funkadelic, The Crusaders, The Meters, James Brown & the JB’s, and many more, they have created a sound that pushes the art of big band forward, while still being pure entertainment for both the band and the audience. Visit BT/ALC Big Band on the web.
ALC 8tet
The 8tet is a group that plays jazz and funk, composed and improvised, and explores as much different musical space as Alex can find.
ALC Funktet
Born from the freelance musician world, the Funktet is a collection of players Alex works with and loves to play with, playing a mixture of pop tunes, funk standards, and Alex’s original tunes.
Tonight, you’re with the band – sit with world-class musicians and performers and learn how music is composed, de-constructed, and put back together again in an interactive showcase that’ll feel like you’ve just been handed backstage passes to Boston’s coolest show.
With no prior experience necessary, anyone can enjoy the beauty and intricacy of live music performance if they know what to look for. With PopUp Music, you get an exclusive peek into how musicians form their craft. Connect with local Boston artists in a 45-minute exploration into the basics of music-writing and improvisation that will delight the senses and hone your own sense of musicality. Part concert, part “podcast”, and part Ted Talk, our program is designed to reach and engage with anyone and everyone willing to learn.
Alex is a dedicated educator, drawing on his skills as a composer/arranger and as a working musician to help every student and every ensemble find music that they can play and connect to. Years of experience as a full-time band director and general music teacher at Galvin Middle School (Canton, MA) taught him first hand that every person can have an experience with music that truly excites them, whether it be playing a clarinet solo in a concert band or having a dance party at the end of a study hall.
Since his time in Canton, Alex has gone on to have a diverse freelance education career. He is a frequent guest clinician at district and all-state festivals, as well as a guest lecturer at colleges throughout the northeast. He is currently on faculty at Providence College, where he teaches trumpet and directs the Jazz/Funk Ensemble.
Contact Alex:
Or follow me on, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter
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Home » Google » We’ll take “what’s trending” for a hundred
We’ll take “what’s trending” for a hundred
da da da da da da da da da da da DA dadadada da da da da da da da DA da da da DUH DUH DUUHH DUM DUM.
You may be a Jeopardy! whiz, but can you name a few of the top search trends of the week? Here’s a look, with data from the Google News Lab.
And now, for final Jeopardy…
Captain Jeopardy! himself, Alex Trebek, might be hanging up his boots after a 34-year run. Trebek recently said in an interview that his chances of returning when his contract expires are 50-50, so let’s not—“The first word in the title of the 2002 thriller starring Jodie Foster,” “What is Panic?”—just yet. One of the top questions on Search this week was, “Who would replace Alex Trebek?” Apparently, the front runners are Alex Faust, the play-by-play announcer for the LA Kings, and Laura Coates, an on-air personality for CNN. And if search interest is any indication of who would get the nod, “Laura Coates” was searched 170 percent more than “Alex Faust” over the past week.
Lebron’s the greatest accomplishment isn’t on the court
Three-time NBA Champion and four-time MVP Lebron James just opened up the “I Promise” school for at-risk youth in his hometown of Akron, Ohio—prompting one of the top-searched questions of the week, “How to get into LeBron’s school?” Lebron called the opening of the school the greatest moment of his career, which is saying something considering he’s arguably the best basketball player to ever live. Either way, “I Promise” made him the top-searched NBA player this week, followed by Carmelo Anthony and Kobe Bryant.
Did I tell you that I do CrossFit?
The 2018 CrossFit games are underway, and the fittest folks in all the land are gathering in Wisconsin to flex their muscles and see who can tell each other the fastest that they do CrossFit. The states with the most searches for CrossFit this past week were Wisconsin (gotta work off the cheese), Colorado (gotta work off the munchies?) and Montana (not sure what they’re working off). For exercise fiends across the country—not just CrossFitters—the top searched workouts of the week were “ab workout,” “shoulder workout” and “HIIT workout.” For the record, the only CrossFit I partake in is trying to fit this burrito ‘cross my mouth.
Keep calm and be yonce
Due to Beyoncé’s deity-like status, she’s been given complete control over the September issue of the fashion bible, a.k.a. “Vogue.” Bey’s inaugural act as “Vogue” top dog? Hiring the first black photographer to shoot a cover in the magazine’s 126-year history: 23-year-old Tyler Mitchell. Search interest in Tyler saw a 1,000 percent spike, while queries for Beyoncé were 55 percent higher than fellow superstar Rihanna, who is on the September issue of British “Vogue.”
Hide ya kids, hide ya jewels
Some sneaky folks stole the Swedish family crown jewels from their display at the Strängnäs Cathedral on Tuesday, then escaped via speedboat into a nearby lake. Nicholas Cage, that you? “How much are the Swedish crown jewels worth?” was a big question on Search—but the crown jewels weren’t even the top-searched heist of the week. That honor was stolen by “McDonald’s Monopoly heist.” My childhood self-wept as we learned that the McDonald’s Monopoly game was rigged for 12 years by the marketing firm responsible for the game. I’m not loving it.
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Home » World News » Man who trained pug to give Nazi salute raises over £100k to appeal conviction
Man who trained pug to give Nazi salute raises over £100k to appeal conviction
A man fined £800 for filming a pet dog giving Nazi salutes and posting the footage online has raised more than £100,000 to fund an appeal against his conviction.
Mark Meechan recorded his partner’s pug responding to statements such as "gas the Jews" and "sieg heil" by raising its paw before putting the clip on YouTube in April 2016.
He was found guilty of breaching the Communications Act by posting material that was "grossly offensive" and "anti-Semitic and racist in nature", in an offence aggravated by religious prejudice, following a trial at Airdrie Sheriff Court.
Meechan, 30, said he made the video as a joke to annoy his partner and has raised issues about freedom of speech.
Following his sentencing on Monday, an online fundraiser was launched to help pay the costs of an appeal, estimated to be £100,000, and surpassed the target within 24 hours.
The GoFundMe page, set up by Meechan and featuring an image of him and a pug, states: "This conviction will be used as an example to convict other people over the things they say and the jokes they make, it sets a standard where courts will be able to willfully (sic) ignore the context and intent of a persons (sic) words and actions in order to punish them and brand them as criminals.
"This is the amount that has been quoted by my lawyer, the reason it has been quoted so high is my lawyer wishes to bring in top legal representatives to ensure that we have the highest chance of reversing the standard that this case sets, I cannot allow the two years of litigation I went through and having my life put on hold, to happen to anyone else."
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Facebook: Threat or Menace? —
The New York Times wanted an Ars Technica opinion on Facebook
If you've been following along, Facebook is no longer a democratic force in journalism.
Ars Staff - May 17, 2016 5:46 pm UTC
Mr. Universe gets his news from all the sources.
100 with 72 posters participating
Today in The New York Times op-ed section, Ars Tech Culture Editor Annalee Newitz takes part in a debate over whether Facebook is saving or ruining journalism. She argues that Facebook has changed its attitude toward news a great deal over its history and that in the past two years the company has become less democratic about how it brings outside news sources to its readers.
We can argue for hours about whether Facebook is terrible or awful, but there's no denying that in the '00s it was part of a trend toward opening up definitions of what counts as journalism. The company's incredible audience size meant that information once hidden in obscure parts of the media landscape could be exposed to millions of people at once. As Annalee writes:
The amazing part was that the traffic flood could be directed at anything: It could be an investigative article about corruption from a civil liberties organization, a scientist’s account of her latest discovery, a personal story of addiction, a cat photo, or a movie review in The New York Times. It was radically democratizing and reflected a larger shift happening in the world of journalism. A new generation was challenging what counted as news and who could lay claim to the title “journalist.” Like many social media companies, Facebook helped amplify new voices whose opinions and experiences had never been part of mainstream media before, and there is no doubt that the public benefited from this shift.
But those days are over. Facebook has changed its News Feed algorithm to make it very difficult for outside news sources to get placement in people's feeds. Now media companies and journalists have to pay for placement or cut deals with Facebook to post their work on the site via Facebook Instant or Live. This undermines any good the company might have done in the past:
In short, Facebook is no longer a democratizing force in journalism. It has become a pay-to-play printing press, which offers little to journalists other than the prospect of a large audience—but only for stories published on Facebook rather than independent news sites.
Facebook has set itself up as the exact kind of media gatekeeper that it once "disrupted" with its business model of turning anything into news regardless of its source. As a result, Facebook may be digging its own virtual grave, leaving itself open to a new generation of news apps that will circumvent the company's bland walled garden of in-house news, Annalee says. Give the op-ed a read.
If you'd like to see what else Annalee thinks about social media, check out these articles:
Facebook now guesses at your race based on your behavior
Facebook's bots are already revolting
What Slack is doing to our offices—and our minds
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Tag: Revival
Exit Mr. Seaga Part 2
Edward George Philip Seaga was born in the United States but became Prime Minister of Jamaica in 1980 after the bloodiest election in Jamaica to date. A controversial figure he was beloved by his followers and practitioners of Jamaican folk worship forms such as Revival and Kumina, demonized practices that he validated and brought into the public sphere. While Mr. Seaga’s state funeral will be on June 23, 2019 on the 19th a Revival Table and Kumina were held for him at the Tivoli Community Centre with one of the longest tables ever seen. According to artist Bernard Hoyes who grew up in a revival yard in St. Thomas and part of whose art practice is the recreation of Revival Tables.: “Big Man, needs a long runway to The Pantheon to be received by the Ancestral Spirits.This one is an Ascension Table. 30 feet or more. “
As mentioned in the preface to Part 1 of this interview the occasion was the publication by Macmillan of Mr. Seaga’s two volume autobiography in 2010, a mere 5 months before the now infamous state incursion into his former constituency, Tivoli Gardens. In Part 2 I asked Seaga about casino gambling, the environment, the Spanish hotels and tourism, the IMF and the debt, Walter Rodney, Marcus Garvey, Dudus, garrisons, the Caribbean Court of Justice, female leadership, Ganja and reparations.
Revivalists and others dancing in honor of Mr. Seaga, June 19, 2019. Video by Jonathan Greenland
Interview with Mr. Seaga Part 2, January 11, 2010
AP: Mr. Seaga, I’ve been enjoying reading your book, you actually write very well. Did you ever want to be a writer? Or did this talent sort of appear when you were writing your autobiography?
ES: Well, I wrote a lot while I was in office. I wrote my speeches and I wrote articles and I suppose that gave me a certain amount of practice but I never took any courses…
AP: So you didn’t use a speech writer. You never used a speech writer?
ES: No, no.
AP: You always wrote your own speeches?
ES: Oh, absolutely.
AP: That’s interesting.
ES: Well, if I had a speech writer I would end up pulling up the whole thing and trying to put it back together and as Norman Manley said to me one day– the easiest time God had was when he built the world in 6 days – if you have to put things back together after taking it apart it takes a lot more time.
AP: One of the things I didn’t realize is that a place like Dunn’s River Falls, for instance–well I’ve heard that you were instrumental in preserving Devon House and making it what it is today—but I didn’t know that that’s also true of a facility like Dunn’s River Falls and even the Ocho Rios Bay but particularly Dunn’s River Falls–that account of how you acquired the lands from the Reynolds Bauxite Company is quite interesting.
ES: Yes, that is important in understanding Dunn’s River Falls and understanding Ocho Rios’s development. I have a picture of it in colour … [shows me a copy of a photograph of the bay].
AP: Oh, I see.
ES: Nothing, you have to understand, nothingwas here, there was a little rim this wide [indicating with finger] along the back end along the beach – the road used to run right there ..
AP: That’s Turtle Towers.
ES: That’s right. Well I’m really talking about here, see where these little buildings are ..
AP: Yes, yes.
ES: See where the trees are, that’s where the beach stopped. But it wasn’t white sand beach, it was a brownish sand, fishermen used to use it to pull up their canoes and I dredged and reclaimed 80 acres, this is all 80 acres of white sand.
AP: I see. Now when you say reclaimed, was the white sand brought from somewhere else?
ES: Over the reef.
AP: Oh, from out here.
ES: Outside the reef which is not far away.
AP: Those are the kinds of things I really enjoyed reading in your book. For instance, your description of how pristinely beautiful Negril was and how you discovered the beach there was also very interesting. And that made me wonder whether you’d seen this documentary called ‘Jamaica for sale’.
ES: No, I haven’t seen it. By whom?
AP: You’ve never seen it? Esther Figueroa and Diana McCauley. It’s sort of from the point of view of environmentalists.
ES: I see. Well, I know Diana and I can more or less imagine what her line would be. Mine would not be the same, mine would be development, but development conscious of environmental needs and environmental imperatives and Ocho Rios has gone that way, Negril has gone that way. I did Montego Bay too, those beaches you see – the one they call ‘Dump up’ beach and so on, I did all of that but in the end we couldn’t fit it into the tourism picture so we said ok let the people use ‘Dump up’ beach for their own purposes and the other one up by the hospital, if it is still there.
AP: So this film was made about two years ago and I think the film-makers were particularly concerned about the recent sorts of structures that are going up all along the coast and on the North coast.
ES: So am I, so am I. I never would have agreed to this Spanish invasion the way it has been done. We don’t need 1000 room hotels going way up in the sky, we would have to have it spread out and mind you, that means a lot of movement around but in that case build a 500 here and a 500 there. But Montego Bay, that’s what they called the elegant corridor – it’s no longer elegant any more – it’s just overpowered with the skyscraper type buildings.
AP: This is the hip strip?
ES: No, no, not the hip strip, after you leave the airport where the Spanish hotels are going out of Montego Bay.
AP: Oh, you mean on the way to Falmouth where the Ritz Carlton, the Half Moon and so on are.
ES: That’s right.
AP: And what is your view of the huge cruise ship terminal development that Falmouth is facing?
ES: I haven’t been there since it has started. Falmouth has potential for development but along lines that have been mapped out by the Georgian Society. The restoration of buildings–it’s a town that still has a fair amount of buildings there that can be restored and the square and so on and I thought that’s what they would be doing with it. Now, what is being done at the cruise ship end to bring in the visitors, I don’t know how obtrusive that is.
AP: It sounds to me like it’s going to be quite obtrusive because Falmouth is such a sleepy little place.
ES: Yes, but I gather that they’ve reclaimed a certain amount of land to extend out into the water because the cruise ship couldn’t come alongside so it would have to have some depth to do so. If it is done with taste, it could make a big difference.
AP: You still think tourism is a viable industry for the country?
ES: It’s not only viable, it’s the one that gives us the best returns, not better than remittances but tourism, the returns that we get is about, I think now it’s about 40% of the dollar stays back in Jamaica but it is spread out throughout the rural areas and there’s nothing else that goes out in the rural areas. Bauxite is in little pockets and manufacturing doesn’t go there at all so this provides employment for the rural areas and it provides employment for women which is very important because we have no other source that’s providing employment for women and I am talking about persons who are not necessarily skilled but have received the training that goes with it.
AP: You mean the people who work as waiters or cleaners and domestic workers?
ES: Well, in the old days they were just persons who were picked up anywhere with no background at all, nowadays they come out of the HEART school, and the hotels themselves do have training programmes and this plays a valuable role in terms of the employment that they provide so the tourism dollar goes much deeper, it also penetrates the agricultural areas. While I do think that there’s room for still more penetration there into different agricultural products, nonetheless the tourism dollar goes through into south St. Elizabeth and upper St. Ann and Clarendon – the bread basket areas, so to that extent this is also good.
AP: I just wonder sometimes because if one were to do a cost benefit analysis – what the costs are to the country environmentally and otherwise, even socially because very often there is prostitution involved and other things so …
ES: Certainly not in the mainstream hotels. You’re more likely to find that in the urban hotels where people can just walk in and no one takes notice of you but that’s not an organized thing, it’s women that have some entrepreneurial talent.
AP: What about casino gambling, would you be in favour of it?
ES: Yes but only on certain grounds. It has to be organized on a basis that will ensure that it is not going to be for individual gain but that the benefit of it is going to go to some social need and education is the one that I have always championed for that. I think the present government is thinking a little broader than that to include health as well but I am thinking principally of the basic school system to be the beneficiaries.
AP: Yes, that’s true. We do need heavy investment in education and the funds have to come from somewhere.
ES: Exactly.
AP: Ok. Now what do you think of this move by the government to borrow from the IMF? Have you heard the Lovindeer song about it?
ES: Yes, I’ve heard of it.
AP: It’s to the tune of ‘I am blessed ..’ etc. but it goes ‘IMF, IMF…..’
ES: Yes, I don’t know what tune it was but the person who did it with him told me about it. I haven’t got a copy though. There’s no question about the fact that the IMF is a necessity. We have – the principal problem of the country are the two deficits- – the fiscal deficit which is the domestic budget and the external deficit which is the foreign exchange budget and at the extent to which those have grown exponentially as a result of the virtual collapse of the bauxite industry made it absolutely necessary that we have to find ways of putting those funds back in the system and even before then, before the crisis came there were gaps to be filled there because the fiscal deficit was always above like 6-7% and it ought to have been somewhere in the 0-2% level and in order to fill the gaps what we’ve been doing is borrowing and now in borrowing we’re now borrowing to pay the bills that are due each year so it has reached the stage where the borrowing is not serving any developmental purposes, it’s just paying off last year’s debt service payments so it is absolutely necessary to get out of that trap.
AP: It’s interesting because in your book you described the situation in mid-January 1977 when Manley would have gone to the IMF because the country was facing a 40% devaluation and it seems we’re almost in the same position today, no?
ES: No, we’re in exactly the same position we were in the early 1980s, remember we had a tremendous recession at that time which was said to be the worst recession in 50 years that goes back to the Great Depression at the end of the 1920s and the bauxite industry went out too and I had that as the problem, I had to struggle with because it nose-dived down to 1985 and then it started to climb back again but it never got back to where it was in 1980. So we had a tremendous gap that occurred in our foreign exchange and in our revenues and that was the parallel. Manley’s situation was entirely different, the country had no foreign exchange at all, it was in a negative position and that was largely because of his inappropriate policies because the policies that he was pursuing in a radical type socialism, nothwithstanding him calling it democratic socialism was such that it scared away capital, local investment and it scared away the bilateral agencies that used to assist. The IMF itself took the position that unless you can be more compatible to these sources of funding we’re not going to make it easy for you because we’re not going to be the only source of funds.
AP: So you approve of today’s negotiations with the IMF?
ES: Well I haven’t seen the IMF Agreement yet and I don’t know if it is as rough as it was in my case but I decided that rough or not I’m going through with it.
AP: But it must be rough because don’t you think that all the new taxes that were announced would have been prompted by this impending agreement with the IMF?
ES: Well here I would have to be a fly on the wall to hear the discussion. The fact of the matter is that the IMF doesn’t say to you, you have to levy taxes and what taxes, the IMF tells you this is the deficit and this is where we want the deficit to be. They have pegged it at something about – they started at $65b and then it went up to $78b because a number of divestments were included which the IMF said take them out because we don’t know if they are going to happen – like sugar and Air Jamaica and so on. So it went up to $78b but now it’s reputed to be something like $110b and I made this prediction from the very beginning, that it’s going to reach $120b which is 10% of GDP so instead of being the 6% it’s going to go up to 10%. Now, what the IMF will say to you is that you have to close the gap so the government has to then say well, we can use taxes and these are the taxes we are going to use and so on. They had the Matalon Report on hand–which was a businessman’s report, it was a businessman’s reform – tax everybody by imposing consumer taxes and reduce income tax and company profit tax and that certainly would never ever have worked because there seems to be a large body of misunderstanding as to the level of poverty that exists in the country and to have added on a tax to basic food items and other basic items would have been not only cruel and inhuman but it would have been impossible for people to conform to that. So the IMF would not have been guilty of saying we want this particular package but it says you find the package and if you say this is a tax package, then we’ll look at it and just see how it works but the proposal that I had put forward apparently didn’t strike the IMF either, it hasn’t come up so far in any discussions that we’ve heard of and that would have done it without any taxes at all.
AP: But how could the government be so ignorant about the level of poverty, how is that possible? And how could they misread the public, it seems so obvious…
ES: It’s not a matter of ignorance because politicians do move around and they do see it, it’s a matter of which is worse. Is it worse to have some problems, increasing problems for people who are really poor or is it worse to have an economy that can’t pay its way and therefore finds that its sources of funding are being shut down so you have to give up and it comes to the point where you have to give up even those things that you think are most sacrosanct. Well, what my proposal indicated is that we would not have had to go that far but that’s the route they went, fortunately, they withdrew that proposal.
AP: I don’t know, I feel we’re in for a rough ride and some people think that maybe it’s because Jamaica has been living beyond its means all these years and now is being cut down to size.
ES: Of course, absolutely. For years, well the heavy borrowing started in the 1970s where US$2b were added to the debt and then in my time in the 1980s an additional US$2b were added but the $2b added in the 1970s produced the worst period of negative growth the country has ever had. It was a loss in GDP that averaged out at nearly 20%.
AP: What was it spent on? Was it spent on the free education and …
ES: That’s the problem. A lot of social programmes that added nothing to the production of the country and whatever else ….
AP: Couldn’t they be seen as long term investments, for instance.
ES: Not those social programmes. The ones that were there were purely to put people to work can be seen as a means of finding some way of putting some money in the pockets of the very poor but you can’t do that unless the country can afford to do it. So it’s not the project that is wrong it’s the fact that you don’t have the funds to do so. For instance Manley re-negotiated the Bauxite contract – the Bauxite agreement, at the same time that the price of oil went up and having done so, the entire increase in the bauxite levy and more was spent one year later on what he called free education, against the Ministry of Finance’s advice and against the Ministry of Education’s advice. So he splurged the whole thing so whereas that money could have in appropriate amounts helped to carry some of these social programmes, he didn’t have that opportunity at all. That money was used in one big splurge and of course it’s a continuing thing, educational cost is not something that is a onetime expenditure so he was deprived of the bauxite levy benefits and still had to face up to the dramatic increase in the price of oil so he acted very unwisely in what he did and very impetuously. I had presented a presentation at budget time which was his first budget and, I guess it might have been my first budget as Leader of the Opposition and it was a devastating one. The story goes that he moved from Gordon House right up to Jamaica House and summoned everybody and told them that we had to go the route of free education and David Coore who was Minister of Finance and Eli Matalon who was Minister of Education tried to persuade him but he wouldn’t listen. So he went there and got a lot of plaudits because the poor people didn’t know what was going to be the outcome. So he really bankrupted the country – that’s what he did. There was no money left in the treasury. In foreign exchange we had $10b that came in the day before from Iraq.
AP: From Iraq?
ES: Yes.
AP: What was that for?
ES: Socialist. Socialist International. The Baath Party and the deficit went all the way up to 20%, as high as 20%. Now that would be the highest in the world. That’s a measure of how deep the hole was when we took over.
AP: Ok. Another thing that I found interesting in your book are the occasions when you talk about the race factor. For instance you believe that there was and perhaps still is, great racial inequality in Jamaica…and you’re accredited with having brought back Garvey, his remains, in 1964? This of course speaks to your deep commitment to and awareness of race consciousness in general. But I am wondering why you didn’t follow this up when you were in power with the introduction of Garvey’s teaching in the school curriculum.
ES: You know, it was always spoken of and we never had the kind of approach where we would have sat down and said look these are the publications, this is what we know, let’s reduce it to a curriculum subject. It never was done and even now it hasn’t been done. There’s more consciousness of Garvey today and some of what he said and did. I use the opportunity in my book to sort of take the positives out and indicate what Garvey really did, not in a specific manner but in an overall basic changes and fundamental changes that occurred in the society. Did you see the chapter that I did in which Garvey – I used my presentation when we made Garvey a National Hero – I used the presentation that I made ……
AP: I don’t think I read that part.
ES: Subsequent to that, I was asked to speak on the occasion of the anniversary of the Rodney episode in ‘69 – that’s 40 years.
AP: 2009, yes, there was a conference here.
ES: Yes, Carolyn Cooper organized it and she was quite upset with me because she said that I wasn’t sticking to the intention of the conference. I said well if I was to write about Rodney and put Rodney in perspective, I don’t think I could give you more than a 5-minute presentation because what he stood for was one thing but how he went about it and the ideas he left behind with others who he taught and others who he met and the movement were so unworthy and so lacking in profundity.
AP: You thought they were unworthy?
ES: Yes, yes, not the ideas but how he went around trying to get his ideas across.
AP: Which is what? My understanding is that he would go to communities and give talks and lectures.
ES: And gave talks that stirred up violence. He preached violence against people of a different race and complexion and in doing so you’re employing a destructive means of pulling down rather than pulling up. Now, in my presentation (and I can give you a copy of that)- in my presentation I outlined the two streams of black nationalism, the one that started with Howell and the Rastas – which at least was on a theocratic basis that black supremacy was because of a theocratic framework . Then you went to Claudius Henry and his campaign was very definitely treasonous because he was inviting Castro by letters to come here and take over the country but quite apart from the international aspect of that, his entire doctrine was again, the question of pulling down the racial system. Michael Manley unfortunately, took that line because what Michael Manley did was he equated race with wealth and he said, you are not wealthy and these are the people that are holding you down. And that is how he made that equation to reach into the recesses of the minds of the people whereas people like Garvey and Martin Luther King adopted a different approach. They adopted an approach of upliftment rather than pulling down and the upliftment of the black man by virtue of his own abilities and achievements and building esteem of the individual etc. etc.
AP: Yes, I was going to ask you why it was that Garvey was acceptable while a Rodney isn’t but you’ve already answered that and in that context I also wondered what you thought of leaders like Malcolm X.
ES: Who?
AP: Malcolm X
ES: Well Malcolm X is more of a dual type personality. He had fundamental principles that were no different from other persons pursuing a black nationalist course and he was also a militaristic type of person so that he would also fall into that group of the black nationalists who thought that if you destroyed what was destroying you that you would build yourself rather than that you would end up with nothing; but he wasn’t to my mind, so outrageous as Rodney.
AP: Really?
ES: Rodney was on a different platform altogether because Rodney was a much more insignificant character. When you preach that type of black nationalism in a country like the United States the capacity exists within that society to absorb it, to take what you want from it, to benefit to the extent that you are able to by virtue of the beliefs that you have or the beliefs that you come to have from hearing Malcolm X and the society itself will see some change as indeed change has come about. But the change that would come about is a violent change because the society can absorb it and deal with it through the judicial system and through the social consciousness of the other classes. When you do that in Jamaica, especially in a country which has a great dependence upon tourism and you realize that all you have to do is to kill half a dozen tourists, and the industry becomes blackballed.
AP: So, is that what Rodney was preaching?
ES: Well, not that specifically but it was tantamount to that, that’s what Special Branch, the Intelligence Agency of the Police Force told us–he was preaching hatred, not so much just a matter of intolerance or anything like that. So Malcolm X could be absorbed in his society, if he was here and saying the same things it would cause a different problem.
AP: Well, the other difference also is that the US is a predominantly white society whereas Jamaica is a predominantly afro-origin society so that perhaps one of the worries was that Rodney’s incendiary sort of message might really upset the whole applecart, no?
ES: Not necessarily so because colour is a question of the skin but people who are black in Jamaica are not subscribers to militaristic type of nationalism, they’re just not and that is why all parties that try to get off the ground on a racial basis – the Rasta party of Sam Brown who ran against me in my early election and the other one, whatever his name was, (I’m trying to remember his name) got no seats and lost his deposit and so on.
AP: Astor Black, Ras Astor Black, was that his name?
ES: No, no. He’s a comedian. This was around Independence time. They’ve never been successful because Jamaicans don’t believe that you can solve the problem that way. They’re more oriented to looking at economic gain, economic benefit as the means to improving social conditions and that is the big difference. So it’s not that because they’re black they have the attitude of black people in other countries where there is a conflict in place in which there is a need for militarism to try to resolve it as in Africa and when you think of the US south you almost want to say like the southern United States too but the conflict with the Klu Klux Klan and so on and we never had that.
AP: I agree with you, I think there is a lot of what I think of as racial denial and a refusal to acknowledge the fact that this is a predominantly black country.
ES: We mustn’t look at the problem and consider that it is a problem simply because it has not been solved fully. We must look at the problem and look at the timeline. Now I am a good person to do that because I have a long time line and because I come out of a mixed ethnic stream and to that extent I see what is taking place, the mixed marriages that are taking place today, I can tell you, never existed in the past, never. There are Jamaican Chinese weddings that are taking place and other societies that are beginning to merge into the system so that the change is taking place but it’s going to be a long process but you can see a very definite change.
AP: So in that context you think that the National Motto ‘Out of Many One People’ is …
ES: It’s an objective. It’s a noble objective. It didn’t exist at the time it was framed, it still doesn’t exist now but it is more meaningful now than it was originally at Independence.
AP: One of my beliefs about why Jamaica has not lived up to the promise that it held at the time of Independence and so on is that I feel that the business class here has been very risk-averse, unpatriotic and they haven’t really played their role and I mean I’m contrasting them with Indian elites, Indian business elites who worked with the government and built up, the Tatas and the Birlas….
ES: In India?
AP: Yes, In India.
ES: Indian business people who live in Jamaica are certainly not of that group.
AP: No, no, but in India the government, after independence, worked with the major business families, they worked together for the betterment of the country and I don’t see that kind of thing here.
ES: It’s not quite so. After Independence and before Independence the development strategy that obtained at that time was one of investment by invitation, one of foreign capital creating jobs but you’ll learn from the quotations that I have included in my book from Paul Chen Young’s work that it was in fact a failure. The number of jobs created over a period of time was very small and that was costing us by way of the taxes that we had to forego and it just didn’t work. I came to that conclusion myself somewhere in the late 60s but at that time the thrust that was taking place in the business class was in that direction and they were very much involved in establishing factories and getting involved in manufacturing etc. Because this was giving them the right to produce goods which were protected against imports and therefore protected against competition and you’re quite correct in saying that it was virtually risk-free and in a risk-free environment the production would have a strong market. But then came the time when especially in fashion goods, ladies would go to Miami to buy what they wanted and the local manufacturers here would complain that their business was being reduced and wanted protection, import quotas and so on, which they got from time to time from both of the governments pre- and post-independence until it was determined that even with that the goods still kept coming in. The whole system was not one that could be successful. That was why in the 1980s I moved away from protectionism because it had nowhere going, it never created a number of jobs because the expansion was to a market that was very small and was shrinking because you can’t make the variety of styles that are needed to satisfy consumer taste and you can’t make the variety of sizes that are needed within that. That’s a huge establishment and in countries abroad where that is done, you have different companies that produce a particular type of garment, particular fashion, particular size etc., you have hundreds of companies doing that, here you have two or three doing it so it wouldn’t work.
AP: So economies of scale would have been a problem.
AP: But I’m also wondering why there still is no impulse on the part of business elites to invest in something, for instance, like the music industry which has proved itself to be very successful. You, for instance, were one of the early pioneers but how come one can only think of a Blackwell, you know as a business person who went into it in a big way and was so successful. Why didn’t that become a model for other business people to follow?
ES: Well, firstly they didn’t understand the music. They can’t deal in a product they don’t understand. That music comes from the folk society of the country which is a different Jamaica from the Jamaica from which the business interests originate and on that basis they will not be investing in something that they just didn’t understand.
AP: But they didn’t take the trouble to understand.
ES: It’s not something you can understand, you would have to do what I did, you have to live it, it’s not something you can be taught.
AP: To me it’s a sign of the big schism between the two Jamaicas that you have talked about.
ES: Yes, that’s exactly what I am saying. That’s the type of industry they couldn’t get involved in but where they could get involved, they really put a great effort in it.
AP: Tourism mainly, right?
ES: Tourism and manufacturing. They put a great effort in it and it has paid off in so far as some of the manufacturers are concerned. Some of the big distribution businesses like Grace Kennedy and so on, and it has paid off handsomely in tourism, so they’re not really risk averse just that they want to cherry pick, they want to pick the ones they understand and the ones they can operate. And then of course you have to take into consideration that small persons who have entrepreneurial intentions and ability are not going to use that as their thrust for the development of their own wealth because they can buy government paper at 20% – 30% and 40 – 50 – 60.
AP: Well, that is one of the things I’m thinking of.
ES: So that was what really spoiled the entire – it created a different environment from that of an entrepreneur and that came about as a result of what took place in the 1970s and it spread right throughout.
AP: Now, another thing I found really interesting in your autobiography is where you talk about how you were offered the Presidency of the Caribbean Development Bank after Sir Arthur Lewis moved on.
ES: Well before, he was about to.
AP: He was about to. Did you know him personally?
ES: Up to that time, yes. Let me see, yes ….
AP: What was your relationship with him?
ES: Because I was Minister in the 60s
AP: And he would have been the Vice Chancellor.
ES: And I was a minister responsible for the plan that was developed then and we once asked him – he was Vice Chancellor and we asked him to come and talk with us about the plan and he came and gave us a fair amount of advice but his advice was exactly what wasn’t working although at the time it was vaunted because it was the Puerto Rican model and that was theadvice the World Bank was handing out.
AP: The Industrialism by invitation model, something like that.
AP: Industrialization by Invitation.
AP: So you just had, you didn’t have more of a relationship with him.
ES: No, no further contact at that time.
AP: You were quite close to Lloyd Best though?
AP: Right, Lloyd Best, because I remember him talking about that.
ES: Yes. To the extent of course that I was close to anybody up here because again it’s like two different worlds taking place in one country but I found Lloyd’s more open mind to be attractive and strangely enough M.G. Smith, those were the two people I was very close to, yes.
AP: Well, ok now. Recently there was an article in the Observer, this may have been sometime in early December, I think, it was mainly quoting Tom Tavares Finson you know about the whole Dudus affair and he was saying that Dudus is just an ordinary Jamaican, he was saying …
ES: Who was ordinary?
AP: Dudus
ES: Oh yes.
AP: He was saying that Dudus is just an ordinary Jamaican, he’s like any other citizen because he has no record of crime or, you know wrongdoing. But to me that doesn’t gel with the fact that in ‘94 you had him at the top of a list of wanted criminals. You remember? That you gave the Police Commissioner at the time–so he doesn’t have an unblemished record, does he?
ES: No. As far as I know, he doesn’t. I believe he has some jail time. I don’t quite remember the occasion but I believe he does have some jail time but in my case, my personality would not allow me to see injustice taking place regardless of who is involved without doing something about it. And while there was a certain amount of co-existence between myself and the fellows who were part of his system in the sense that my role is to develop the area, they used it more as a harbor, they used it as an area that they could take refuge in and I had an arm’s length relationship with them. If you go to the point where you’re slaughtering people that I am elected to be responsible for their safety and their future, then I’m going to have to attack you.
AP: And this was happening in the early 90s?
ES: Yes, yes. There were some feuds between themselves and some people in the larger community and they were just shooting them and I had to take that stand.
AP: There seems to be a widespread belief that if and when Dudus is extradited that just pure lawlessness is going to break out downtown, security will become a problem etc. etc.
ES: I can’t comment on anything to do with this problem because I haven’t been there in 5 years, I don’t know what has been developing since then…
AP: You haven’t been there in 5 years?
ES: No. I left active politics since then.
AP: No, I know that but I thought you would still have a relationship …
ES: No, no, I deal with the sports programme and the culture programme and when I was leaving I told Bruce I wanted to continue those and I don’t think it bothered him that I should because he really doesn’t have that background and it operates right on the rim of the community.
AP: I’ve seen it.
ES: Yes, so I don’t really go into the community for reasons of meeting with people who I’ve known for 40 years and so on, on a friendly basis, because it can be seen as if I am trying to continue to maintain the fraternal links that I have had and the political connections and I don’t want anybody to think that I am putting myself in a position to undermine them so ….
AP: Do you miss that though? You had such close ties.
ES: You know when you were involved with people for such a long time, it’s almost like family and they treat me like family and I treat them like family. People call – we can’t sever the link totally. There’re always people coming to me and I’m seeing them one way or the other.
AP: Now, Dudus’ father Jim Brown died in his cell in a fire. What did your intelligence sources at the time tell you happened?
ES: That’s the greatest mystery to me and as far as I know to anybody who tried to make some sense of it. Nobody seems to know of any, or I haven’t seen any publication or heard from anyone as to what chemical could have caused that and how that chemical would have gotten there and how a fire can take place in a concrete chamber which is what a cell is, in which he doesn’t have the ability to conflagrate it with wood or anything to make it into a big fire and was sufficient to kill someone. I don’t understand it, it’s a tremendous mystery. I myself, more believe that he didn’t want to face an extradition and he most likely… remember this was on the day that his son was buried, the mood that he would have been in, I think probably he took his own life.
AP: That’s an interesting point, I haven’t heard that before.
ES: Well I don’t have any record or any basis for saying this, but I just can’t find another alternative.
AP: There’s a lot of talk nowadays about how we have to de-garrisonize, have to take them apart or destroy garrisons and so on, now, do you have the recipe for that? How can that be done?
ES: That’s middle class talk. They don’t know the areas they talking about. Now, garrisons exist above Cross Roads, Cherry Gardens is a garrison, Norbrook is a garrison, these are areas where people live a certain lifestyle and they vote largely to a certain extent in one way. In years gone by the areas that constitute northern St. Andrew from the hills of east St. Andrew right down to Ferry used to vote 90% PNP and we had candidates there that would have gotten less votes than a corresponding situation downtown when you had that sort of grouping. It’s a natural thing around social groups that they want to live together, they don’t want the intrusion of different social values lest it affect their children and have their children deviate from the lifestyle that they want to raise them in. And that is exactly what goes on above Cross Roads. In the area below Cross Roads, it’s the same feeling where the demarcation is done on the basis of a political difference because that demarcation is what separates you from having an adherence to a political party from which you can benefit, who will continue to protect you, who will make sure that you are not harmed and who will make provisions for your life to be one that is a reasonable one etc. So there is a benefit factor in what the garrison is supposed to be but more than that there’s no way that you could ever say to 30% of the people in one community you leave here and switch with 30% of the people in another community with a different political base and let them come into this community – so that there’s a mixed position in both – it doesn’t work. Nobody wants to live where they have to look over their shoulders, they want to be able to live where they can walk their streets freely. Now internal gang rivalries in the communities are a different thing, they create dangerous situations but not all the communities have that condition and when they do it lasts for a time and it disappears. Now what I have found and others along with me, is how to break down that political separation. When Dr. Omar Davies had completed the construction of a new football stadium in his constituency which is in
in Arnett Gardens, he wanted to have a match in which Tivoli would play against Arnett. Now that was something that was unheard of because up until that time they were playing at Camp because the spectators wouldn’t mix and teams wanted to be somewhere where you didn’t have hostile spectators and then Camp said look, we not going to entertain this anymore so we were at a loss for a while as to how we going to handle it. Well about that time the invitation was extended. I myself had not been into the Arnett Gardens area, not that it existed then, but the area on which it is now, since 1972 and the people who were going there, many of them youngsters who were born after 1972, had never been there. They didn’t know what it looked like and vice versa so when we went there, it was a little bit of trepidation; at the same time it turned out to be just another football match and from that spectators started to visit, in the other locations from which they lived in which there used to be hostility and bit by bit the hostility has now entirely disappeared.
AP: Isn’t that great?
ES: Entirely, and not only entirely disappeared, but I have players on the Tivoli Gardens team who came out of the Arnett Gardens football team. Not out of the community, out of the team and they have at least one player who have come out of the Tivoli team playing up there so people want to know how you de-garrisonize, you do that by bringing people together in occasions where they can mix. And culture is the answer to that, sports and music in particular – these same people who won’t mix in ordinary circumstances will go to concerts and they are all there together. So it’s a lot of nonsense that I am very impatient with when I hear these solutions that are being offered that are worse than the problem and I know that the people don’t want to have that type of life. They want to be able to leave it behind them but they’re not going to ‘chance’ their own future by doing anything drastic and radical to just make a quick change, it has to be something that occurs over time.
AP: Gradual. Cultural change is gradual, right?
ES: Exactly, that’s right. And I’m proud to have been a part of that.
I consider it one of the things that I have contributed most to the inner city communities, when I went there it wasn’t there but because I was there it was introduced, because they thought this is the way they could get me out of the place.
AP: And by ‘it’ you mean what?
ES: No, no, the hostility. The hostility among the people was there because you had a tremendous nest in Back-o’-Wall that was hostile to the rest of the community and this was the den of all criminals in the country.
AP: Back-o’-Wall?
ES: Yes, yes and when I went there, they unleashed Back-o’-Wall on me because they figured if they did that they could get me out of there. They have always coveted west Kingston because it’s like a chess game, I guess you have one play to make to have control of the entire area going all the way from Seaview Gardens coming right across the whole waterfront of Kingston would have been PNP. In that case only one party could rule the country. West Kingston was the problem that they had and the one that they could not solve and that was what kept hopes alive that we could have different political views within the city.
AP: Was that why then Back-o’-Wall was razed?
ES: You need to read a little descriptive passage which I have in my book about a visit that Norman Manley made there, it was written by Hartley Neita on the foul nature of the place. There was nothing solid, bits and pieces of cardboard, zinc ….It was a wonderful description of exactly what was there in terms of a structure, in terms of the environment but the people in fact were worse and that’s why they tolerated it.
AP: There’s also quite amazing descriptions of it in ‘Children of Sisyphus’ by Orlando Patterson. Have you ever read that novel?
ES: No.
AP: It was set there and it’s quite horrific the conditions in which people lived as described in that novel.
ES: Well I think he would have had the social setting more than the physical and environmental setting because you don’t go into Back-o’-Wall and do that, I can tell you that. So what I did in building Tivoli Gardens, we overbuilt so that we would be able to accommodate people from the outside in the Denham Town area and other areas in the west Kingston community andto allow for those in Back-o’-Wall who would want to come back in to live …
AP: Oh, so they were given that option.
AP: They weren’t just removed.
ES: No, no, there was a section of Back-o’-Wall which was known as Ackee Walk which was JLP but it was just a handful of people but the person who lived down there had some influence in the area and we spoke with her about getting people to come back in to live but for the same reason people don’t want to live where they don’t feel safe and they felt that if they came back in they would not be in the majority anymore and they would be unsafe.
AP: Now one of the reasons for the existence of these so-called garrison communities is, we spoke about this in our previous interview, the failure of the justice system, right? When did that happen and how did that happen? When did it become so dysfunctional?
ES: It wasn’t so in the 60s. It came about in the 70s when there was a great politicization of the state agencies – justice, crime in particular – but also the civil service especially those areas of the civil service that had anything to do with the hand out of social benefits, in land and in houses and in providing work opportunities and things like that. There was a total politicization of that and to that extent, people realized that there was not going to be any justice that would give them any opportunity to have benefits that they would need for living. That was one of the motivations, the deep motivations that caused the extreme conflicts that took place in the 1970s. One of the motivations was the ideological basis that a lot of people, usually young men liked because it was militaristic, that was the preaching of socialism that was on the road and the formation of the Home Guards and things like that. The other one was that it made available a wider number of opportunities for work and for having social benefits than normally would have been the case and the people who were getting real benefits would defend that, the ones who were not getting it would not defend it and then there was the conflict. Now previously, that was always the case but in a much smaller amount that it really didn’t affect such a wide range of political partisans on each side but once it extended to almost a total exclusion of one party then it obviously would have caused tremendous conflict.
AP: You’re not in favour of the Caribbean Court of Justice?
ES: I’m not in favour of it unless I see it work for some time and prove that it is able to take the kind of decisions that I would expect of a court operating at arm’s length from the community, arm’s length from the environment. And the kind of Court which is going to say, well, I can’t uphold this claim because it would cost the Government too much money, I can’t be in favour of that and I’ve seen that happen right here now.
AP: Really.
ES: Yes, I’ve seen the situation with Ezroy Millwood, head of the National Transport Co-operative Society (NTCS). That went to the Privy Council but the amount of money that was said to be involved when it went before the court here would never get past the Court of Appeal here. I think that Justice has to stand on its own, if justice is at fault or its standing on social principles that you don’t like then you must change the law or you must change the social situation or the social conditions but don’t expect justice to act as if it is part legislature. The American Supreme Court does that, the Privy Council doesn’t and the model of the Privy Council is the model that I favour and I do not know which way the Caribbean Court would turn. Now that is why the selection of the judges was so important that it had to be convincing that it would be a credible selection and we’re still not sure that it will be but the only way to determine that is to allow 10 years to go by and see the kind of judgements that come out it, so far it hasn’t violated any of the principles that I would think are important but one doesn’t know what will happen. As it turns out, because the Privy Council is in effect now saying that they can’t handle the case loads that come from Jamaica and other Caribbean countries, we may have to find an alternative. It may be that we will have to go to the Caribbean Court of Justice but in such an event it would have to be established on the same basis that the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court in Jamaica have been established, that is by decision of two-thirds majority in each house of Parliament among other things. This one wasn’t although this would be the highest court, it was established by the majority of a single vote and in the same way that you can establish it with a one vote majority, you can remove it with a one vote majority and therefore the judiciary wouldn’t have any feeling of permanence or tenure in such a situation and they would always feel beholden to the people who put them there so we would never accept them and that was what the Privy Council ruling was about, that was what the Privy Council said. It must be established on the same basis as the other courts.
AP: So you wouldn’t agree with Stephen Vasciannie’s view that the Jamaican public’s seeming antipathy to the Caribbean Court of Justice could be attributed, he says, to our lack of self-confidence as a people?
ES: Well, you have to expect that there is some self confidence creeping in there too because we’ve never seen our own court acting in the way we would like to see a court act and the only court we’ve seen that will give real justice is the Privy Council. That doesn’t mean the Jamaican courts don’t give justice but there’s enough of the unjust decisions that makes you wonder if in a final court of appeal you’re going to come across that too.
AP: And speaking of self confidence, one of the things I wanted to ask you about is this extraordinary self confidence that Jamaicans exude; I find it remarkable. It’s not a new thing because I was told by somebody that he was impressed by this when he encountered Jamaicans in England in the 50s, the ones who went there from here. He was marveling at what a sense of themselves they had and how comfortable they were in their own skin. That self confidence–where does it come from?
ES: Well first of all, what the migration did was to give opportunities to people who had that self confidence here and then went away so it wasn’t something they developed there and there’s always been reports of Jamaicans who leave Jamaica and go away whether on schemes like the farm worker scheme or to work in factories or otherwise and who settle in the United States how wonderfully they give an account of themselves and the self confidence they display. If you take a city like Hartford, Connecticut and the Jamaicans who are there, they’re a part of the political system, merged into and incorporated into part of the whole society. That is something I can ascribe to creaming off the best of the country’s people who are capable of operating under extreme weather conditions and the other things that they would be facing in racial discrimination and so on and still putting up with it and being successful.
AP: But there must be something more to it because the other countries like Guyana and Trinidad, they would also be exporting the cream of their population but it was a Guyanese man who said this, you know, so what is it about Jamaica and Jamaican culture that produces that kind of personality type? Have you ever wondered about that?
ES: Yes, not in that context but Jamaicans who migrated to Miami over the years, before the 70s Miami was a distant American city, you always went to New York, that’s what you knew, or Boston. Miami, though so near was always so very far. Very little connection, very few Jamaicans were there and those who went to Miami in the 70s were persons who moved into neighbourhoods where they wanted to live irrespective of whatever it may be considered to be in terms of any racial segregation. There was no outward segregation in Miami but what black people used to say to our people is, they admire how they just came in and just moved into areas that they wouldn’t dare or want to move and live and the result of that sort of brashness was part of the self confidence that Jamaicans had from their education, and from their style of life here where they don’t know what it is not to live in a certain area as long as you can afford it. There was a study done some years ago about the various ethnic groups that are in the Miami area and Jamaicans came out on top as being the most educated, having the highest average income and all the other factors that you would rate a society by and that was of course the best of our middle class that went there. Others went elsewhere but the best of the middle class went there. Now, you can’t cut the cake and say well the middle class have that self confidence but the working class doesn’t because the working class has demonstrated that they have it too.
AP: That’s just it because the Guyanese artist who I mentioned earlier was talking about working class Jamaicans who went to England on the ‘Windrush’.
ES: So there is a continuum on which that characteristic is displayed.
AP: Again this may seem like I’m jumping around but it’s to do with the legal aspect of things – what are your views on ganja – should it not be legalized? I found it very interesting that for some reason I had been given the impression that you were anti-Rastafarian but actually that’s far from the truth, from what I read in both Bryan’s book and in yours.
ES: The only reason I didn’t include the Rastas in my study was that it was just too much to do and they’re not really a cohesive group, you have little groups here and there and they don’t all have a common belief except in Selassie so I didn’t bother to do that but I knew a number of them – Count Ossie was a good friend and I knew Alvaranga and so on.
AP: You were very vocal about the police – the way in which the ganja laws could be abused by the police and were being abused.
AP: And that’s still a problem because it’s still on the books.
ES: Well it’s on the books but it used to be a popular way of incriminating someone, to say they found a ‘spliff’ on a man but nowadays the courts don’t really pay too much attention to that, you have to find something really significant. The fact is I have never really seen the medical authority that tells me how bad ganja is – does it really have the impact on the brain that it is said in popular lore to have? Or is it just another form of high like alcohol? So is it socially acceptable in limited quantities and is the real danger of it those who don’t really participate on the basis of using it in limited quantities but use it excessively and therefore become over aggressive and so on. There are many questions to be answered about it and the study has not been done and I like to think of problems whether there are solutions or not by looking at what studies have been done, I don’t like to make up my own decisions on it. I would think that in the scheme of things because we have no studies, you’re better off not allowing it to be legal than allowing it to be legal as a safety factor until you do studies that will prove otherwise and that it need not be made illegal or need not continue to be illegal because the study shows that the harm that it does is really not that significant. One of the problems that is always put forward is that it is a stepping stone…
AP: A gateway drug.
ES: That’s right, in other words you learn to smoke ganja and then from there you go on to something else.
AP: If that were true Mr. Seaga then 90% of Jamaica would be on coke because I believe that 90% of Jamaicans use it. A friend of mine jokes that it’s the national medication – Ganja.
ES: Well, and you keep reading of things that Ganja does.
AP: And it’s a culture, it’s part of the culture here as well.
ES: That’s right. Just like in India and the Middle east, you have the ‘hashish’ and the ‘opium’ and people sit in bars and smoke ….
AP: In Holland you can do that.
ES: Soit’s a grey area and it’s something that should be cleared up by medical, not just medical alone, but by a proper, thorough study and that has not been done.
AP: It’s probably no more harmful than alcohol and alcohol is legal.
ES: Well, I don’t know, I can’t say it is or it isn’t but there’s an excessive point – a point of excess in alcohol which is dangerous. The social drink is one thing, I suppose the social smoking….
AP: And we legalise alcohol.
ES: Well I wouldn’t want my children to be smoking it either socially or otherwise but at the same time if that is how it is used by some who accept it and it’s not doing them any harm, then it’s a different matter.
AP: One of the things you mentioned, don’t know if it was volume 1 or 2 but you talked about how your government tried to introduce family planning and the cultural resistance to family planning. One of the things you mentioned was slavery and the practice of men being used as studs and so on so do you think that the traumas of slavery still haunt contemporary Jamaicans?
ES: I look at slavery as the end of a period from which a lot of the conditions that existed at that time have continued as hangovers. The one condition that changed dramatically was the fact that in slavery there was always a job, there was nobody who was unemployed. The day after emancipation everybody was unemployed and the country has never recovered from that because we’ve never been able to find enough jobs to be able to take care of the over 300,000 that became unemployed at one time. But the social conditions of slavery were demeaning, they were brutal and these brutalities have left a scar on the psyche of Jamaicans, even more so men than women and slavery has passed on a residual feeling of the superiority of the persons who were your bosses and others that looked like them and others that come from that background who continue to be viewed as bosses even though they’re not bosses any more. So there’s that feeling of inferiority that continues and these are the background factors that do hold you back in life until you can overcome them and this is one of the messages that Garvey preached.
AP: But then, therefore, would you recommend or do you believe in the demand for reparation?
ES: I don’t know how practical that is and if you even got reparation what would you do with it? How you going to distribute that? Certainly won’t be anything to hand to every single family.
AP: No, there isn’t but there are other options for example, investing it in education, not handing it out individually.
ES: That is the only way that you could really deal with it. The thing is that the decision on reparation which the British people were able to get was based upon actual data of hours worked in factories under forced labour and that data, to be uncovered, you would have to go through plantation records to see how many people and for how long etc. because that was forced labour. The parallel is there for us to extract the data and to make the same sort of case. It will not be as tight because so many centuries have passed but nonetheless it would be within the scope of understanding of any judicial system in that what you’re doing is providing some evidence for which there was no evidence before and frankly there is a team at work here which is doing some good work towards that but it hasn’t really moved along with the urgency that is necessary if you’re going to really treat it seriously.
AP: So you think that it would involve collecting all that data and presenting it in order to make your case.
ES: That’s the only way, you can’t go before a court without that. And the fact that principally it was one type of occupation which was agricultural, even if you forget the house slaves and other types of smaller involvements, would make it a lot easier because records do exist of plantations in the old days and how many slaves they had, we have records here too, Professor Verene Shepherd has been collecting a lot of that.
AP: Now, going back to politics for a moment, if you were in power today, what would you do differently from the Golding administration, is there any… is it possible to encapsulate that?
ES: Do you mind if I pass on that question?
AP: No, I don’t mind, it’s ok.
ES: I don’t want to put myself in a position where I’m making statements as if I’m denouncing what is happening. I do enough of it in a tender way in my articles and so on by pointing out what should be done.
AP: You had a recent one stressing the continued importance of agriculture and saying that you think the way out is to take agriculture more seriously.
ES: There’s no other resource base but agriculture and human resources. Tourism has used up just about all the beach land that there is, there are specific areas for specific types of tourism that have not yet been fully exploited, manufacturing is a no-go, it’s a non-starter now, the cost of electricity and the cost of security and all the other factors that make manufactured goods uncompetitive makes it impossible to compete with Trinidad.
AP: It’s the same economies of scale argument.
ES: We have become a supermarket for the CARICOM area, Trinidad’s become the manufacturer.
AP: Would you, if you were in power, have Gays in your cabinet?
ES: Have what?
AP: Gays, Homosexuals. You know the famous question Bruce Golding was asked on BBC’s Hard Talk.
ES: Yes, I know. Quite frankly, I judge people as people, and if people are outrageous in any area then I prefer not to have to sit with them around the same table. If they have a different feeling about the way of life that they lead but we all find enough common ground that we can meet and enjoy our social friendship and at the same time make a contribution to whatever it is that we’re discussing and so on, then one should not differentiate them because they are gay.
AP: That’s exactly how a lot of people think. Now I want to move to visual art, these are my last few questions. The Bob Marley statue, was there anything more to it, was it possibly the family that objected to Christopher Gonzales’s statue in addition to the public? Did Rita Marley object?
ES: I gave Gonzales the commission on recommendation from the art people that he would be a good one to do the statue – every statue can’t be done by Kay… what’s her name
AP: Kay Sullivan.
ES: Yes and the other major …
AP: Edna Manley
ES: Yes. I never saw a preview of it. I saw a preview of Bogle because I visited Edna Manley when she was doing that statue at her home. I saw a preview of the other Marley statue that replaced that one and so on but Gonzales should have had enough sense and should have had enough sensitivity to know that you can’t bring something that is so totally different that you are going to put before people as a replica of what the original was, that is the original person, and expect them to accept that. That is something that over years and years may happen but that’s not what the people are expecting. The people from the background that Bob Marley came from are people who look at art in a realistic manner. They are also the source from which we get indigenous art and indigenous art is not necessarily realistic but it is realistic in an abstract sense, in other words, while the house doesn’t look like a house, you know it is a house and his African roots allow for that. Now this statue by Gonzales – I drove to the location where we were going to have the function and there was a crowd of people there and before I actually reached it I could see that there was some uproar going on. When I got there, they were all gathered around a car and shaking the car vigorously and I pushed my way through and in the car was Gonzales sitting down in total fear so my first job was to get him out of there which I did, then after that I could talk with the people and the people expressed themselves. “It no look like Bob”; “what the man a do– mash up Bob?”
AP: No, because one of the things that is often said about that refusal of that first Bob statue and I disagree with that interpretation, it has been said by some of the art authorities that it showed self-hatred, the people didn’t accept a black version or a black version of Bob, that they rejected the statue because it was too black. Well, I don’t believe that, I think it’s because it didn’t look like him.
ES: No, you must take that very seriously because middle class people from whom you would get that view, love to impose their own feelings and they themselves are the ones who feel he’s too black, it’s not the little man.
AP: I agree with you.
ES: It’s the same thing that happened with Bogle, you know? Edna Maney did Bogle as a replica of ‘the worker’, you know, the sort of worker that you have as a symbolic socialist – a tough looking person – that’s not the Bogle…
AP: With very African features whereas he was more a brown man, right, the one image that’s available…
ES: I don’t know about the colour but he had a long angular neck, thin features and he didn’t look anything like that Bogle at all but she did it in her image. Now people for the most part didn’t see a picture of Bogle and therefore didn’t know any difference but the people who did know remarked.
AP: The other interesting thing was, in the book you talk about Kapo and how he was harassed by the police which I had heard before, but I didn’t know that he had this alabaster statue that he wanted to give as a gift to the Queen. Do you own a lot of works by Kapo?
ES: You know until recently I never owned anything apart from the piece he gave me as a gift. I’m not the kind of collector who really follows the field.
AP: Are you an art collector?
ES: Well I collect art because so many people give me different works of art and the ones that are good I display. I should have owned a good size collection of Kapo but unfortunately I missed the boat on that.
AP: Do you have photographs of Kapo from those days?
ES: There is one in his wrap, the long pointed wrappings but that was from the ‘80s I think and if not it would be the ‘60s, but going right back to that time. It’s another lapse in my studies, I never took pictures when I was in Buxton Town and I never took photos, well I did take photos of the Revival, therefore I must have had Kapo but I lost that entire collection because I had a wonderful collection of photos …
AP: You lost them?
ES: Yes, all the Revival and the functions as they were going on because the leaders at that time became accustomed to the fact that I was taking photos and the whole thing became misplaced.
AP: In relation to Pukkumina and Revival and so on, you write about an incident– I’m not sure whether it was when you took office in the ‘80s or before when you were a minister–that you organized a Revival ceremony at Jamaica house.
ES: No, that was in the ‘80s
AP: In the ‘80s. There was a lot of resistance to it.
ES: Well, that was an attempt to give people uptown a chance to see it. It’s not a good setting, Revival should take place in a rather tight situation because it’s the whole collective response that drives you emotionally. When you’re in a big open field you’re not getting that response but I brought them there just to give people a glimpse of what it was all like because this is a part of Jamaica’s folk culture but the middle class of course don’t really have any respect for folk culture and they were critical, very critical of it.
AP: Is it also because it involves so-called spirit possession which could be seen as being antithetical towards Christianity?
ES: No, you have certain churches that have spirit possession as part of their rituals. These are called Spiritual churches. There are lots of Church of God groups, you have Pentecostal groups and they are recognized spiritual churches. The reason why the Revival group is not as recognized is because they don’t operate in any substantial way that you can call a church. They operate in open yards, if they have any little churches they are shanty-type structures or something that is not very substantial and it’s just degraded because it is a poor man’s belief system. Just in the same way the music was degraded when it was first publicized and it wasn’t until it was accepted in London before we got it accepted above Cross Roads so if everybody above Cross Roads started to say Revival is wonderful, University now is recognizing it and so on, then it will get more recognition.
AP: Mr. Seaga, how would you like to be remembered?
ES: It’s something that occurs to me from time to time. I’m not a person that you can define on a linear basis, that I was good at this particular line of involvement, and someone that has such a broad background, a broad spectrum of interests and involvement.
AP: What you would like to be remembered for?
ES: Yes, I actually conceived a few lines the other day and I’ve forgotten them … but there’s no questioning the fact that I’ve been known as a social engineer.
AP: A social engineer?
ES: yes, but with a deep cultural consciousness. A social engineer but with a consciousness that recognizes that you have to have an economic base to be able to deal with both spheres or to deal with the whole socio-cultural environment, but my areas of interest have spread over all these areas.
AP: You know one of the areas of interest you mentioned which I found very endearing was gardening … that’s not something one would normally associate with you.
ES: I love flowers, I love nature, I love the hills, I love streams, not necessarily the overpowering rivers but little streams. I love flowers, the colourful ones and those that are not colourful but the colourful ones more so. I love creatures, animals; maybe I’ve gone as far as to the extreme where my wife wonders if I’m still in possession of my senses.
AP: Why, what do you mean?
ES: Well, I won’t allow her to take a book and kill a fly. I’ll say don’t do that – I’ll catch it in the cup of my hand and take it to the door and let it go. I tell her, I say, if you take your computer and you drop it, as valuable as it is, you can buy it back, it’s on a shelf, but when you destroy the life of that little fly there, it’s not something you can ever put back.
AP: That’s true. You also said at the beginning that you wanted to talk about the things you would have liked to do but never got a chance to?
ES: Well, there are some projects really. I still hold a deep commitment in my heart to the Port Royal project because I worked on it so long, decades, and the concept that I came up with which should have linked Port Royal across the Harbour mouth into the rest of the Jamaican mainland at Fort Augusta by reclaiming the Fort Augusta peninsula and the development of Port Royal would then be accessible from Fort Augusta instead of going all the way around and would become a tremendous development in offering opportunities both on the Fort Augustus side and Port Royal side and at the same time develop our heritage. This is a booklet here which is a little different from the other one that I’d done as a pictorial presentation, and that’s the Freeport, terrible picture of it, and that’s another one that’s even worse. Well, that’s Port Royal, that’s the Freeport, this is Fort Augusta, I was going to extend this, sort of in this direction and it would become a 250 acre area and this is the mouth, Port Royal – if you develop Port Royal, this would have a tourism component for shopping and the boats could dock here and go over by ferry to Port Royal rather than going like that. And that is something that still has my ability but it is not being pursued by the present government. I had other plans for it, plans for making it a Freeport of the order of Panama Canal, the Dominica Republic, La Roumana assembly of products and the Freeport at the Bahamas which is a tourism shopping complex with a fee and it just hasn’t been done.
There is the reservoir outside of Spanish Town which would capture all of the overflow from the Rio Cobre that is not being used for domestic supplies and that is more than half of the volume and by storing it, it would be able to irrigate 12,000 acres of land in the St. Catherine plains and then I would turn that into a massive agricultural development which would provide another type of employment but also for thousands. All of these were very employment-oriented but also utilizing the resources, the wasted resources that we have.
AP: Well, I think that concludes the questions I had prepared for you.
ES: I appreciate your interview because it touches on a number of areas I hadn’t covered in the book.
AP: Actually, do you realize that last time I was here which was on a Friday and we had that talk about that incident where you said ‘blood for blood and fire for fire’ and that Sunday, John Maxwell’s article touched on that, it was such a coincidence …
ES: He was there; they came there deliberately to provoke me. But you know, there are some things that I really don’t take notice of and John Maxwell is one, because – he writes very well and I enjoy reading his works on the environment and some of his political stuff but he has a fixation about me – other people with whom I’ve disagreed in life and I’ve come to terms with enjoying each other’s company and exchanging thoughts – Trevor Munroe for instance. But this man just has a total fixation on me. He keeps putting out these tales of things that he says happened which have no bearing on truth at all.
AP: No, I was just struck by the coincidence because we’d just talked about it and then two days later in his column he mentioned the same incident.
ES: Well, that’s the kind of thing they hold to be so fantastic a black mark on you that it negates everything else that you are or you have done and that’s a political way of looking at things and I just can’t subscribe to that anymore because if that’s the case I don’t know who I’d really like in the political world because at some point in time you’ve crossed swords with everyone and if you keep bearing animosity in terms of just those particular items then you’re never going to have any peace within yourself or any further relationships. You must at some time put them away and don’t use your imagination to keep them in the forefront of your mind.
Author apPosted on June 21, 2019 June 23, 2019 Categories Caribbean death rituals, death rituals, Jamaican culture, Jamaican death ritual, Jamaican Garrisons, leadershipTags Eddie Seaga, Jamaican politics, Revival, Tivoli Gardens, Walter Rodney1 Comment on Exit Mr. Seaga Part 2
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Tag: Russia
Pawns of the Pentecostalists? Global Homophobia on the rise
Are we all becoming pawns of a Pentecostalist anti-LGBT crusade being conducted worldwide?
Binyavanga Wainana. Photo: Ben Curtis, AP
I finally got around to watching Kenyan writer Binyavanga Wainana’s Hard Talk interview with Stephen Sackur of the BBC just a few days ago. The interview was instigated by Binyavanga’s hugely hyped ‘coming out’ a few weeks earlier. In response to the recent wave of homophobic legislation in Nigeria and Uganda Wainana released a short story titled I Am a Homosexual, Mum. In the BBC interview Binyavanga was on form as usual and made a lot of sense but Sackur took me by surprise when he seemed to reject out of hand the Kenyan writer’s assertion that the Pentecostal movement with its fire and brimstone preachers were very much to blame for the recent escalation in homophobia on the African continent.
This sounded perfectly plausible to me, especially since I’ve heard local gay activists say the same thing in the context of Jamaica, that American Pentecostalist preachers come to the Caribbean and rave and rant against homosexuals with an incendiary intensity that simply wouldn’t be allowed in the United States with its hate speech laws. All of a sudden something I’ve been puzzled by for a long time–the mystery of why homophobia manifests itself so virulently both in the Caribbean (with Jamaica taking the cake for over the top intolerance) and on the African continent–seemed to have a simple explanation. The same set of American Pentecostalists have mounted concerted campaigns against what they call ‘the homosexual agenda’ in both locations, and I don’t know about African countries but you will have noticed if you’re from here that the use of the term ‘homosexual agenda’ has seen an exponential rise in the last 5 years. Just to test my hypothesis I decided to look at another recent site of anti-gay rhetoric and action–Russia. It was instructive. An American evangelist named Scott Lively had been at work there just as he had in Uganda, which he first visited in 2002. According to a Washington Post article:
Scott Lively is an obsessively anti-gay American evangelical minister. He is, according to National Journal, “perhaps the most extreme” of a network of U.S. evangelicals who, having failed in their crusade against all things gay at home, travel abroad to connect with anti-gay activists and arm them with arguments that, for example, homosexuals will seduce their children, corrupt all of society, and eventually take over the country. You don’t need to take my word for it; read Lively’s manifesto here. It’s a 2007 missive to Russians suggesting they “criminalize the public advocacy of homosexuality,” i.e., use state power to force gay people into the closet. This is something Russia actually did last year (rather indirectly, but quite effectively).
Meanwhile the Southern Poverty Law Centre details Lively’s pernicious activities in Uganda:
In early March 2009, he went to Uganda to deliver what would become known as his infamous talk at the Triangle Hotel in Kampala at an anti-LGBT conference organized by Family Life Network leader Stephen Langa. The conference, titled “Exposing the Truth behind Homosexuality and the Homosexual Agenda,” also included Don Schmierer, a board member of the ex-gay therapy group Exodus International, and Caleb Brundidge Jr., a self-professed ex-gay man with ties to the ex-gay therapy group Healing Touch. Thousands of Ugandans attended the conference, including law enforcement, religious leaders, and government officials. They were treated to a litany of anti-LGBT propaganda, including the false claims that being molested as a child causes homosexuality, that LGBT people are sexual predators trying to turn children gay by molesting them, and that gay rights activists want to replace marriage with a culture of sexual promiscuity. Lively met with Ugandan lawmakers during the conference, and in a blog post later he likened his campaign against LGBT people to a “nuclear bomb” against the “gay agenda” that had gone off in Uganda. A month later, the Ugandan parliament was considering legislation that included the death penalty for LGBT people in some instances and life imprisonment for others. According to Rev. Kapya Kaoma, an Episcopal priest from Zambia (now in Boston) who went to the conference under cover, Lively’s talking points were included in the bill’s preamble
According to Right Wing Watch:
While Lively lashes out at Republicans in the U.S. for helping “hand over the military to the Sodomites,” he praises anti-gay measures in India, Russia and Jamaica, and argues that the reason Ukraine’s president pulled out of an agreement with the European Union was “the Ukrainian disdain for the sexual perversion agenda of the EU.”
In Lively’s own words:
Those of us who still hold a Biblical worldview have been heartened by recent global events affirming normalcy. The Australian high court struck down “gay marriage” as unconstitutional, the Indian high court re-criminalized sodomy, and Russian President Putin declared his nation to be the new moral compass of the world for championing family values. Although Ukraine’s highly controversial decision to postpone (or cancel) a step into the fold of the European Union has been framed in economic terms, there is little doubt that the Ukrainian disdain for the sexual perversion agenda of the EU has played a major role. And in tiny Jamaica, a push to decriminalize sodomy (driven in large part by the U.S. State Department), has run into so much opposition that the pro-family Jamaicans just might win that battle.
To see Lively in action watch this UK Guardian video released today, How US evangelical missionaries wage war on gay people in Uganda. Although Lively himself doesn’t seem to have made a personal appearance in Jamaica as yet we have been treated to diatribes against the LGBT-community by one of his disciples, Peter LaBarbera, whose group Americans for Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH) threw a banquet in honour of Lively in 2011. LaBarbera was in Jamaica as recently as December 2013 urging Jamaicans to resist changing the laws against buggery.
LeRoy Clarke. Photo: Stefan Falke
Of course we can’t blame the Pentecostal purveyors of hate entirely for the intolerance towards the LGBT community. Their maniacal fervour and rhetoric falls on very fertile ground. Anti-gay sentiment is alive and well from the least literate to the most highly educated and accomplished of Caribbean citizens. Look for example at the startling outburst the other day by Trinidadian artist Leroi Clarke, that has stirred up quite a controversy in Port of Spain. A report in the Trinidad Guardian quoted the eminent painter:
In a phone interview yesterday, Clarke related homosexuality to the increase in crime, saying young men are usually indoctrinated into gangs with homosexuality and because of the violation of their manhood use the gun as a symbol of their masculinity. He added: “It is brought about by power bases that manipulate the principles that hold our heritage for their own advantage. “Something is happening with the gender paradigm today. We had guidelines where we looked at certain types of conduct as abominations. We took it from the scriptures.” The Bible, he added, was one of those and verses clearly refer to homosexuality, men with men and women with women, as “unnatural” and an abomination. “Today, the word abomination does not have the same tone. People indulge abominations, accede to them,” Clarke lamented. “At 73, I can say the world is no longer mine,” he said. Asked exactly what he meant by saying homosexuality was threatening the arts, Clarke said with the exception of the sailor and maybe the midnight robber, there were no longer any definitely male costumes in Carnival, not even in portrayals of the devil. “An effeminating power has taken over the costumes and even the rhythm of the music. Carnival is no longer male and female. “This is a very serious matter. We are dealing with a problem that is threatening our heritage.
LeRoy Clarke at work. Photo: Annie Paul
Rumour has it that what may have set Clarke off was the recent state gift to Carnival Masman Peter Minshall of the State property he has been occupying in Federation Park, Port of Spain. Minshall, a white Trinidadian is openly gay.
To return to Stephen Sackur’s interview with Binyavanga Wainana which must be watched to be believed, I admit to feeling as if the scales have dropped from my eyes. On the one hand you have Sackur browbeating Wainana for bringing up the very pertinent matter of the anti-gay campaign by Pentecostalist missionaries in African countries such as Uganda, claiming that the Kenyan writer was trying to blame African homophobia on ‘external influences’ such as this (He wasn’t); and on the other hand you have Sackur insisting later on in the interview that the West must be allowed to interfere in the internal matters of African societies in the name of championing ‘universal values’! Sackur needs to be administered a good dose of Stuart Hall 101 on the inherent problems of overlooking cultural factors in the name of a tenuous universalism which only seems to work unidirectionally–from the West to the rest of us.
If indeed you speak in the name of the West Mr. Sackur deliver up former UK PM Blair to the Hague for trial for the universally understood category of war crimes (as Wainana gently suggested). I’d love to see an interview along those lines. And at the very least leash the rabid hatemongers within your midst and curb the export of hatred and homophobia from the West before we all become puppets of the Pentecostalists. After that you may or may not be allowed to preach ‘universal values’. External forces ought not to lead the way to change in societies from outside, they can provide assistance discreetly, at the behest of, and in line with, not in advance of those militating for change from within and only after they put their own house in order. Nuff said.
Author apPosted on February 26, 2014 February 27, 2014 Categories Africa, Caribbean, homophobia, homosexuality, Jamaica, PentecostalismTags BBC Hardtalk, Binyavanga Wainana, homophobia, Jamaica, LeRoy Clarke, Petecostalism, Peter LaBarbera, Peter Minshall, Russia, Scott Lively, Stephen Sackur, Uganda10 Comments on Pawns of the Pentecostalists? Global Homophobia on the rise
The Arctic 30, Environmental Activism and SLAPP: An Interview with Kumi Naidoo Part 2
Part 2 of my interview with Executive Director of Greenpeace International Kumi Naidoo.
On December 5, the day Nelson Mandela finally died, after a heavily mediated, prolonged deathwatch, I was in Amsterdam with Kumi Naidoo, a close South African friend of many years standing. In between hundreds of requests for his comments from global media I managed to sneak in an interview myself. I had originally planned to interview Kumi about his role as Executive Director of Greenpeace International, about the predicament of the Arctic 30 who were still in captivity in Russia then and other environmental issues but the occasion demanded that we discuss the passing of Mandela and all that it symbolized and meant. This became Part 1 of the interview published on this blog two weeks ago, Nelson Mandela, Servant Leadership and ‘Born-heres’ : An Interview with Kumi Naidoo, Part 1. Here now is Part 2 in which the environment and activism in general are foregrounded. Make sure to watch the video embedded below for a rich elucidation of some of the points raised in passing in this interview.
AP: Let’s now talk about the fact that you are Executive Director of Greenpeace International which is interesting in itself because you would be the first… I don’t want to say, non-white person to be in that kind of position, but person from the South, let’s say, representing completely new populations globally. Has this been a challenge? The fact that Greenpeace was previously a very kind of white European, or European-origin dominated organization, or is that a wrong perception?
KN: No, historically, that’s the reality. It started in Canada and moved to the US and Europe and Australia and so on, but Greenpeace actually has been operating in the global south for a long time with strong leaders emerging from those parts of the world who are into global leadership roles as well, but still that is not the majority of the experience. It’s still an area we are committed to making more progress in. And one of the things that I’ve been working on is strengthening our presence in the poorer parts of the world, parts of the world where if we don’t get it right, such as India, China, Brazil, Nigeria, South Africa and so on, with big population sizes, then you know we can get every country in Europe to go to clean green energy, but that’s not going to cut it, because the population sizes in the developing world are mushrooming… Just from a very basic doing the math, it makes sense to invest more there and to strengthen our ability to encourage those countries not to follow the same dirty energy path that today’s rich countries built their economies on.
This is not easy to do, because, justifiably, developing countries who have significant access to the remaining fossil fuels are saying, well, why should we not burn it and build our economies in the same way that the others did. But we are saying, the problem is that then you build your economies, and the economies and the infrastructure are going to collapse, because by just continuing to burn fossil fuels, the impacts of climate change are going to become more and more real. And its not a question of us saying that, oh, some time in the future we are going to see climate impacts, we are seeing climate impacts in many parts of the world. Today, in many parts of Africa, and in many small island states, for example, people don’t need climate scientists to come and tell them that climate change is happening and its real. People’s daily lived experiences; rains coming at the times that they didn’t; records that are being broken in terms of hottest temperatures and coldest temperatures. We are seeing storm strength and ferocity, height and velocity increasing to extents that we barely have another recorded moment for. Changes are happening. We can see in the Arctic where the minimum sea ice level last year broke its lowest level.
AP: Sea ice level?
KN: Where there was the lowest level of sea ice. Sea ice serves as the refrigerator or air conditioner of the planet, it plays a key role in climate regulation, and so in that sense, the stakes are very high. At Greenpeace, the reality on the ground has helped to show why we need to win in places like the Philippines and so on, and so resources are shifting but its slower than I would’ve hoped, and the changes could be even bigger than I would’ve hoped. But change is the art of the possible. We don’t have the luxury of saying, okay folks, we’re going to engage in an internal change process now, so let’s think about how to make the most fundamental transformative changes to be as effective as we can, and bring all energies to bear on that.
We are just running out of time, on climate especially, we have to be able to act internally and make the internal changes that we need to make, and the cultural changes that we need to make to be as fit for purpose as we can, and to be as global as the challenge that we are seeking to address. On the other hand we’ve got to continue to fight on the outside at the same time and continue to win as many big and substantial victories to try to reverse the trajectory we’re on. If we continue the way we are, we’re talking about a four degree world, meaning a four degree rise from pre-industrial levels, and right now, its been agreed that we should keep it below two degrees.
AP: The rise of?
KN: Global temperatures. Average global temperatures. And at this rate, this year we passed the 400 parts per million concentration of carbon in the atmosphere, and the safe level of carbon concentration is 350 parts per million of carbon in the atmosphere. Already, we’ve hit 400. We’re in a very precarious state. Our political and business leaders are suffering from cognitive dissonance, where all the facts are there but they’re not prepared to act on it.
AP: You were describing how urgent all these issues are, the environmental issues, and I’m wondering why this isn’t obvious to more people than it seems. For instance, in countries like Jamaica, the environment is almost considered a luxury, and people who protest on its behalf are resented, and often portrayed as being anti-development, Luddites etc, etc. Interestingly its often true that they ARE well off, better off than others in the societies they share.
KN: To take my part here, I was involved in the anti-poverty movement for the better part of my life. I was the founding chair of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty, and I’m still involved in it. What I was seeing, looking at it from a short, medium, and a long-term perspective is that the poor were paying the biggest price for environmental destruction. And when you see an environmental crisis, such as hurricane Katrina in a rich country like the United States, what you see is that those folks who are better off are at least able to jump into their four-by-fours and other vehicles and drive away to safety, when the majority of the poor are left stranded, and the numbers of people that died were devastating to see in New Orleans. But then you take that and you can multiply that story hundreds of times over when we look at different environmental impacts. When I look at the issue of water, for more than ten years now, some of us have been saying that the future wars will not be fought over oil but will be fought about over water, and already you can see that happening. Water is the centre of many conflicts, including, by the way, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
So the point I’m making is that if you look at it objectively, the traditional Western environmental movement, which includes Greenpeace, didn’t make the connection early enough between sustainability and equity, and sustainability and poverty. But to Greenpeace’s credit, by the time I arrived there in 2009, they had embraced the idea of sustainable equity or equitable sustainability, which was essentially bringing the agendas of how do we share the resources on this planet in a more equitable way, that everybody should have certain basic things like access to water, sanitation, basic education, health care, and a certain level of energy. There are 1.6 billion people on this planet who live with complete energy poverty today; they don’t have access to a single light bulb. That’s not a small amount of people.
AP: 1.1 Billion, you said?
KN: 1.6 Billion. That’s a substantial amount of people on this planet. So, for me, the struggle to avert catastrophic climate change, which will wipe out all the developments whether in rich or poor countries, is the critical success factor for consolidating any development initiatives that we do, and so, if you look at Bangladesh, some investments that were done, good development work on the coastal parts of Bangladesh, are already being turned back because of sea level rise and salt water contaminating the soil and making it hard for people to grow food that they were able to grow before.
So essentially, the poor, and poor countries–even though poor countries in the main have not been responsible for that huge amount of carbon emissions–if you look at the history of burning oil, coal and gas, and when it started, the irony is that people in poor countries are paying the first and most brutal impacts of climate change. And its only going to get worse. So in that sense, for me, fighting climate change is fundamentally about fighting poverty, and I don’t see a disconnect there.
AP: But you know what I find interesting, when you thing about environmental groups, action groups globally, Greenpeace comes to mind immediately, but one is hard pressed to think of any others. Why do you think that is? I mean, there are other environmental NGOs, aren’t there, who are doing important work?
KN: Yes, there are many… WWF, the World Wildlife Fund…
AP: But I mean one has to think a bit to recall the others…
KN: Well, I suppose its because Greenpeace does take part in, does have as part of our work, peaceful civil disobedience, and that does get us into trouble with the authorities from time to time and gives us more media visibility.
AP: As you are getting now, with the Arctic 30. What does Russia’s reaction of jailing the Arctic 30 imply for activism broadly speaking, for non violent protests, and the like? It’s set a bad precedent, hasn’t it?
KN: I think that there’s two ways you can look at it. One is, just the fact that it happened people will be so shocked by it and will speak out about it, not just in Russia but across the world, and in fact the opposite result might be achieved, which is that people say we really need to make sure that governments do not use such disproportionate force when there are peaceful protests, or such disproportionate use of the formal prosecuting authority. Of course, the other reaction is that people will get intimidated and so they won’t undertake protests. Both will probably be true, as realities. To be fair to Russia, by the way, it is not the only country where there has been a shrinking of civic space, specifically, and democratic space more generally.
AP: Which are the others? China?
KN: Oh no, even in the United States, if you look at their response to September 11: the Patriot Act, legitimizing and defending torture, engaging in extraordinary rendition, racial and religious profiling, NSA, invasion of privacy; I mean all of these things have a chilling effect on citizen participation generally, and civic activism more specifically. In Canada, we have these lawsuits, which are called SLAPP suits, Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation (SLAPP) which are suits brought by companies to intimidate NGOs and campaign groups. A state like Quebec now actually has anti-SLAPP legislation to prevent companies from doing it–that’s how big a problem it is. For example, in Canada now, a company headquartered in Quebec brings a case in Toronto, because they couldn’t have brought it in Quebec because of the anti-SLAPP Legislation. And they are charging us with a seven million dollar defamation claim.
AP: Who? Greenpeace. What is that in relation to?
KN: To the fact that we made statements condemning the activities in the Boreal Forest.
AP: So its not just Russia.
KN: I think it will not be known for some time exactly what the impact will be, but I also think its going to open up some questions about what level of risk is acceptable for activism to take, given what we face in terms of…
AP: Repercussions.
KN: Yes and I don’t know where exactly that will end. As regards Greenpeace, while I’m not saying we will do exactly the same action at the same place in the same way again, neither am I saying that we won’t. But we will obviously learn from this. This has been a big development for us, we will learn from it, and we recognize, as Greenpeace, that we live in a world where people are being killed and tortured and arrested and brutalized for standing up for the environment and social justice everywhere in the world, and we hope that we would be able to help contribute to the push for saying that governments need civil society, society needs active participation and so on, and that hopefully governments will embrace the perspectives of their citizens and allow peaceful protests, including those that have an element of civil disobedience.
AP: Great, thanks so much for this Kumi!
KN: And if you want to connect the two parts of it… Our people in Russia, first were called pirates and now are called hooligans. Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, and many other people who stood up for freedom and justice, were also, when they were doing so, called all sorts of labels, including labels worse than being called hooligans. Terrorists and so on. But today we revere them as the greatest peoples to have walked on our planet. I have no doubt that the Arctic 30 will be seen as people who did the right thing for the world, and acted out of compassion not out of self-interest. But I hope the world will come to that realization sooner rather than later, because we are running out of time.
Author apPosted on January 19, 2014 Categories activism, Environmental activism, GreenpeaceTags activism, Arctic 30, Boreal Forest, Canada, environmentalism, Greenpeace, Greenpeace International, Kumi Naidoo, Nelson Mandela, Russia, SLAPP4 Comments on The Arctic 30, Environmental Activism and SLAPP: An Interview with Kumi Naidoo Part 2
Tropical Tendencies: Jamaica and the Arctic 30
Why does environmental activism not register frontally either locally or globally? The politics of climate change
On October 10, 2013, the news agency IPS put out a story sensationally titled The Climate Plague which it described as “a shift to an entirely new climate where the lowest monthly temperatures will be hotter than those in the past 150 years. The shift is already underway due to massive emissions of heat-trapping carbon from burning oil, gas and coal.”
According to the article:
A climate plague affecting every living thing will likely start in 2020 in southern Indonesia, scientists warned Wednesday in the journal Nature. A few years later the plague will have spread throughout the world’s tropical regions.
By mid-century no place on the planet will be unaffected, said the authors of the landmark study.
“We don’t know what the impacts will be. If someone is about to fall off a three-storey building you can’t predict their exact injuries but you know there will be injuries,” said Camilo Mora, an ecologist at University of Hawai‘i in Honolulu and lead author.
Mora goes on to use Jamaica as an example of the kind of change we can expect:
“Within my generation, whatever climate we were used to will be a thing of the past,” he said.
In less than 10 years, a country like Jamaica will look much like it always has but it will not be the same country. Jamaicans and every living thing on the island and in its coastal waters will be experiencing a new, hotter climate – hotter on average than the previous 150 years.
The story hit the Jamaican public sphere a few days later in the form of a wire article in the country’s leading newspaper, The Gleaner, but barely attracted any notice. The Hill 60 Bump blog lamented that there seemed little reaction to the alarming news either in Jamaica or other tropical countries also slated to face steeply rising temperatures:
‘Temperatures Rising: Jamaica To Face Extreme Heat in 10 Years’ – Perhaps this headline was not sensational enough, the text too scientific or there were just too many other news items but for some reason, this article in the Jamaica Gleaner a few days ago seems to have received little attention. We spotted brief discussion on twitter about whether or not this would be good for solar power and a single query about roof insulation but in general, minimal hysteria. The lack of public response seems strange as our immediate thoughts ranged from recollections of the drought of 2009 all the way to Armageddon type blockbuster film scenarios. Online searches returned a myriad of global articles on the matter but little in from the news desks of the tropical countries now considered to be on the climate front line.
It’s an uncomfortable fact that for countries such as Jamaica, India and others in the ‘developing’ world environmental concerns have remained a preoccupation of the elite, those well off enough we think, to worry about changing weather patterns, global warming and the like, in the face of more urgent local problems such as unemployment, hunger and homelessness.
The truth however is otherwise. “People don’t realize that events that seemingly have no connection to activities like drilling the Arctic for oil are actually intimately linked in an interdependent chain of violence and destruction,” says Kumi Naidoo, the outspoken head of Greenpeace International. In a recent interview with US TV journalist Bill Moyers, Naidoo elaborated on this:
Take the genocide in Darfur for instance, in Sudan, the media largely reported it as an ethnic quasi-religious sort of conflict and so on. But, that is your first major resource war brought about by climate impacts because Darfur neighbours Lake Chad. Lake Chad used to be one of the largest inland seas in the world. And the climate scientists warned us decades ago that, as a result of a warming planet, Lake Chad was under risk.
Lake Chad has now shrunk to a size of a pond as the current secretary general of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon put it recently. So water scarcity, land scarcity and food scarcity as a result of an absence of water and land was the toxic mix that created conditions for identity manipulation by opportunistic politicians that saw the horrific events in Darfur happen.
In three days it will be a month since 30 Greenpeace activists were intercepted by Russian forces during an act of non-violent civil disobedience in which they mounted a peaceful protest against drilling in the Arctic, a region Naidoo refers to as the “refrigerator and air conditioner of the planet”. According to news reports some of the environmental group’s activists scaled the rig, operated by Russian state energy giant Gazprom. The Greenpeace crew were protesting Russia’s plans to drill for fossil fuels in the fragile ecology of the Arctic. The ship was towed to Russia’s Arctic port of Murmansk and the activists bused to the local headquarters of Russia’s Investigative Committee. Despite the fact that the activists posed no threat to property or to people, Russian authorities have imprisoned the 30 citizens from 18 different countries, pending trials which could see some of them receiving up to 15 years in prison.
Marco Weber, one of the detainees, whose first language is not English, has written a letter describing the conditions of his detention and pleading for help from the ‘global public’.:
“I am now for about 12 days alone in a cell. I don’t have books, newspaper, TV or someone to talk to. At the daily walk I am also isolated. The 4×5 metre “walkyard” is surrounded by concrete walls and covered with iron bars. On top is a roof, which doesn’t allow the sunshine in.
“The only sky I can see is out of my cell window, which is placed in the northern wall of the building. This means no sun at all. Days are long! The highlights are weekly visits of my lawyer and consul. And yesterday I got the first bunch of email from the outside! Yehaa…
“The aggressive and unfair acting of the Russian government and Gazprom shows how important it is, that decisions about Arctic and its future are made by global public. And not by states and companies which are blinded by its resources and short term profits.”
What worries me is that the world seems to be paying as little heed to the dangerous drama playing out in Russia and the Arctic as Jamaicans are to the news of their impending descent into a tropical inferno as soon as 2023. Will anyone pay money to visit this tourist haven then, as they do now, just barely keeping this fragile Caribbean economy afloat?
Can those of us from poorer economies afford to avert our eyes from the environmental catastrophes looming on our doorsteps? Can we afford to withhold our activism leaving it to white people and isolated elites around the globe to save this planet from ourselves? What is most disturbing is the precedent this will set and the chilling effect on any kind of activism anywhere if the Greenpeace 30 receive jail sentences. Are we being told that we can’t hold peaceful protests anymore? Is civil disobedience, that cornerstone of democratic liberalism, no longer recognized or allowed? Is the concept of protest being criminalized?
If there’s any danger of this we ought to organize a day of collective protest globally in tribute to the Arctic 30, because their actions symbolize the freedom to register dissent, to draw attention to public bads, to demand our right not to comply with rapacious processes in the name of ‘development’. Unlike the localized protests we’ve seen spreading all over the world from Egypt to Turkey to the USA to Libya, environmental protests such as the one mounted by Greenpeace against oil drilling in the Arctic call on us to respond as concerned citizens of the globe. This is not just about our neck of the woods, it’s about the world we live in and all the creatures in it. Are we going to sit by and allow rich corporations to loot it into oblivion? Shouldn’t we too be willing to risk our lives to safeguard the planet for our grandchildren?
Author apPosted on October 16, 2013 October 16, 2013 Categories activism, climate change, Environmental activism, Greenpeace, oil drillingTags Arctic 30, climate change, Gazprom, Greenpeace, Kumi Naidoo, Lake Chad, Oil drilling, RussiaLeave a comment on Tropical Tendencies: Jamaica and the Arctic 30
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Grants for School Transportation
By: Matt Petryni
school image by dinostock from Fotolia.com
California Grants for Replacement Windows
School transportation can be a fairly costly part of school budgets, especially when it comes to improvements or upgrades. The federal government and private foundations provide funding to help offset the costs of this essential service for school districts. Money is available to improve and replace bus fleets, to assist with field trip costs and to provide local transportation infrastructure that helps kids get to class in the morning.
Safe Routes to School Grant
Crosswalk sign image by Jim Mills from Fotolia.com
The Safe Routes to School program is a project of the Federal government intended to enhance school transportation by providing funding for infrastructure and education. Specifically, the program funds improvements to sidewalks and crosswalks and provides money for other pedestrian initiatives that make it easier for students to walk and bike to school. These grants are administered through state departments of transportation, each equipped with a Safe Routes to School Coordinator who targets funding to state priorities. Last year, the program apportioned $180 million in funding to state departments, which awarded them to local governments and state agencies.
EPA Clean School Bus Grant
school bus image by alwayspp from Fotolia.com
The Environmental Protection Agency has developed a program to help reduce the carbon emissions created by school transportation by providing funding for equipment upgrades. The program offers grant opportunities to help pay for efficiency improvements to existing bus fleets, cleaner fuel choices and vehicle replacement. In 2008, the funding provided through the clean diesel program nationwide totaled $49.2 million. In 2006, many of these funds went to state departments of transportation and local school districts.
Big Yellow School Bus Grants
Several states, including Iowa, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, provide grant funding to offset the transportation costs associated with field trips. These programs, known as Big Yellow School Bus Grants, are specifically targeted to finance field trips to cultural and artistic locations like museums and galleries. In 2008, this program funded field trips for more than 57,000 Massachusetts students. These grants were often provided in awards of $200 and were primarily directed to districts with over 50 precent low-income students.
US Department of Transportation: Safe Routes to School State Apportionment Tables
US Environmental Protection Agency: Clean School Bus Grants & Funding
US Environmental Protection Agency: Demonstration Projects
Massachusetts Cultural Council: Big Yellow School Bus
Matt Petryni has been writing since 2007. He was the environmental issues columnist at the "Oregon Daily Emerald" and has experience in environmental and land-use planning. Petryni holds a Bachelor of Science of planning, public policy and management from the University of Oregon.
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COVID-19 Now 3rd-Leading Cause Of Death In The U.S., Johns Hopkins Says
By Rachael Cardin November 19, 2020 at 6:54 pm
Filed Under:Baltimore News, Coronavirus Outbreak In Maryland: WJZ Complete Coverage, COVID-19, Deaths, Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Local TV
BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Coronavirus is now the third leading cause of death in the U.S., according to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
During a virtual panel Thursday, doctors said COVID-19 is more lethal than cancer, heart disease and other illnesses, with nearly 250,000 Americans dying from the virus since January 2020. A Johns Hopkins spokesperson later clarified that COVID-19 is less lethal than heart disease and cancer.
On Tuesday, the United States reported 1,707 coronavirus deaths — the equivalent of at least one American dying per minute. It’s the highest recorded in the U.S. for the past six months, according to Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Research Center.
CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES:
Coronavirus Immunity Can Last More Than Six Months, Study Suggests
Will This Surge In COVID Cases Generate Herd Immunity?
As of Thursday, the U.S. was up to 1,848 coronavirus deaths and 170,161 new cases. Maryland, too, hit a record high for new coronavirus cases in a single day with nearly 3,000 new cases.
As the holiday season arrives, experts are warning against large indoor gatherings. The CDC urges against gathering with people outside of your household.
Rachael Cardin
More from Rachael Cardin
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You are here: Home / News / SWF and St Andrew’s Fair Saturday Small Grants Fund 2019/2020 now open!
SWF and St Andrew’s Fair Saturday Small Grants Fund 2019/2020 now open!
July 11, 2019 by Neil Foster
BEMIS Scotland are delighted to announce that our Scotland’s Winter Festivals (SWF) small grant scheme is now open.
More Info & Application
With support from the Scottish Government, the small grant fund will be available to Scotland’s diverse ethnic and cultural minority community organisations to programme bespoke multicultural celebratory events that are open to the public to attend. These events will enable everyone to experience the dynamic and invigorating nature of Scotland’s cultural and ethnic diversity.
The application process will be open from today, Thursday 11th July 2019 and close on Monday 16th September. The full programme of events will be announced to the public on Friday 20th September.
Building on the success of our Scotland’s Winter Festivals programme, which has been running since 2014, BEMIS are delighted to announce that we will be continuing our collaboration with the Fair Saturday Foundation (started in Bilbao, Spain) and will integrate our ‘St Andrew’s Fair Saturday Festival’ into the international celebration of arts, culture and diverse communities.
BEMIS and Fair Saturday believe that the arts and cultures of Scotland have a pivotal role to play in helping to shape our cities, towns, villages and communities into thriving, confident and representative places. Thus, like we did for the inaugural St Andrew’s Fair Saturday 2018, we will encourage events to act as a catalyst for additional positive impacts in our communities. For example, in 2018:
The Falkirk Rainbow Muslim Womens Group’s ‘Là Naomh Anndrais’ Pakistan and Scotland poetry celebration generated £331 for their local Strathcarron Hospice
The Partickhill Bowling and Community Club’s ‘St. Andrews Day Indian and Scottish Concert and Celebration’ raised £250 for a local ‘Indian Tabla Drumming School’.
The inaugural ‘St Andrew’s Day Lecture’ by Alastair McIntosh at St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh raised £107 for their ‘Refugee Welcoming Project’.
These are only small examples but from small acorns, oak trees grow. In 2019, we are working towards making the St Andrew’s Fair Saturday Festival bigger, more inclusive, more dynamic and more exciting than ever before.
Ben Macpherson Scottish Government Minister for Europe, Migration and International Development said:
“The multi-cultural celebration of Scotland’s Winter Festivals, led by BEMIS Scotland, has gone from strength to strength. Last year’s programme delivered 32 events and engaged over 23,000 people across many different communities, and I am delighted to announce that this year the Scottish Government will provide BEMIS Scotland with £41,000 to deliver a similarly ambitious programme for 2019/20.
“This funding will allow BEMIS Scotland’s successful partnership with the Fair Saturday Foundation and Celtic Connections to continue to grow, and will again provide funding for local events.
“I invite communities from across Scotland to join the celebrations of St Andrew’s Day, Hogmanay and Burns, to showcase the vibrancy of modern Scotland in all of our diversity, and to celebrate building an ever more inclusive, outward-looking, internationalist and welcoming Scotland, together.”
BEMIS CEO Dr Rami Ousta re-affirmed BEMIS commitment to the programme:
“Since 2014, proactive participation in the Multicultural Winter Festival, among the diverse communities of Scotland, has been commendably spiralling at various levels, and we continue to observe a very positive and dynamic advancement in such involvement contributing to enhancing and progressing Scotland’s inclusive national identity for all.
The Multicultural Winter Festival and the St Andrews Fair Saturday programs have and continue to present a unique framework for all to contribute, showcase and celebrate their cultural heritage at several levels. Our diverse cultural heritage in Scotland can only be complemented and cherished as an exceptional platform through which we can sustain, enhance and progress our active citizenship and passion for our HOME Scotland. We are certainly committed to nourishing and advancing our collaborative relationship with the Scottish Government and the Fair Saturday Foundation as well as to facilitating and progressing equal participation of the diverse communities again.”
Jordi Albareda – Director of the International Fair Saturday Foundation commented:
“Scotland is probably one of the best countries in the world to lead Fair Saturday. There´s culture everywhere, combining tradition and a brave look towards the future. It´s a place where while in other places they speak about exits, here we speak about being connected. A place that instead of ignoring organisations like BEMIS, they give them a voice and a place as co-responsibles of the brave evolution of the Scottish identity. Every territory should have it´s own BEMIS. We will only change the world through little steps. Let´s take this one.”
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Tom Brady on Leaving Patriots for Bucs: 'I Have Things to Prove to Myself'
Joseph Zucker@@JosephZuckerTwitter LogoFeatured ColumnistApril 6, 2020
Tom Brady is a six-time Super Bowl champion, three-time MVP and one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. However, the 42-year-old still feels he has unfinished business he could address only through leaving the New England Patriots.
Brady wrote about his move to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in an essay on the Players' Tribune:
"Right now, though, I have things to prove to myself. The only way is through. If I don’t go for it, I'll never know what I could have accomplished. Wanting to do something is different from actually doing it. If I stood at the bottom of a mountain, and told myself I could scale the highest peak, but then didn’t do anything about it, what's the point of that?"
Brady later took to social media to thank Patriots Nation:
Although Brady's place in the game is secure, a level of skepticism surrounds the value he can provide in 2020.
ESPN's Seth Wickersham provided a look at the factors that led to Brady's move to the Buccaneers. In general, Brady wanted a long-term commitment from New England, but the Patriots were content to let him walk rather than meet his contract demands.
That alone would provide the 14-time Pro Bowler with more than enough motivation. He might also have felt somewhat slighted by what appeared to be a small market for his services in free agency.
Brady is coming off a poor 2019 season by his standards. He threw for 4,057 yards, 24 touchdowns and eight interceptions, and he finished 16th in DYAR (defense-adjusted yards above replacement) among quarterbacks, per Football Outsiders.
He's also poised to be the oldest quarterback ever to start a full 16-game slate. Vinny Testaverde continued playing until 44 but only made seven appearances in his final year.
The uncertainty around Brady is justified, yet nobody should be surprised if he delivers at least one more monster season to further burnish his legacy.
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A Street Near You
List and search all dates
100 years ago today
Loading parish list
With Life Story links
About this map
Whilst this personal project is just an attempt to explore the local legacy of the First World War, but at a global scale, it has struck me that it is much more than that. At the heart of it is the legacy of those who died in the conflict, and especially the scale of the imapct that that would have had on their local communities, it would also never have been possible without the significant legacy created by those who remained, from the families who sent in photographs of their loved ones and which formed the Imperial War Museum's founding Bond of Sacrifice Collection, through the people who diligently compiled official records in the early 1920s and which formed the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's records, right up to the modern-day professionals, volounteers and individuals who have shaped these records, shared them, and also significantly increased and enriched them, especially under the guise of First World War Centenary projects like Lives of the First World War
Data and Sources
This project simply wouldn't exist without the core assets that it draws on. It currently contains nearly 500,000 location records for 410,000 men and women who died whilst serving in the First World War.
Lives of the First World War - IWM's unique project enabling everyone to share their information, stories and images to compile Life Stories "on nearly 8 million men and women who served in uniform and worked on the home front".
Commonwealth War Graves Commission - a unique online collection of the details of every serviceman or woman. Many of the locations here are extracted from what they call the 'Additional information' field, which typically contains text such as "Son of Samuel and Sarah Morley, of Derby; husband of F. M. Morley, of 113, Peel St., Ashbourne Rd., Derby.". Note that this information was collected sevral years after the end of the war and it does not necessarily represent an address that the person had lived at.
Imperial War Museums Collections - one of the richest collections of First World War objects and images, most notably in this context the Bond of Sacrifice Collection and the Women's War Work Collection, togther comprising images of nearly 20,000 individuals who served
War Memorial Register - another unique record from the Imperial War Museum, comprising records of over 78,000 memorials in the British Isles, together with listings of over one million names that appear on them.
With specific regards to the images, these are from one of three sources - the incredible Bond of Sacrifice Collection, the Women's War Work Collection (both Imperial War Museums), or uploaded by volunteers and individuals to the Lives of the First World War site (which itself is run by IWM). I am grateful to them for making all these available under a non-commercial license.
Additional credits for the software and mapping resources that this is built on
Map tiles by Stamen Design, under CC BY 3.0. Data by OpenStreetMap, under ODbL.
Leaflet, the powerful open-source JavaScript library for mobile-friendly interactive maps.
Contributing records, reporting errors
The data currently presented has all been extracted from official records or from user contributions to the Lives of the First World War site. I would strongly encourage anyone who wants to add further details to find the Life Story of the person and add details there, which can then in future be added to this site
The inherrent nature of historic records and using modern automated tools to extract information means there are bound to be issues. I will shortly be adding a 'report error' link to each record that can be used to flag an issue and will be queued up ready to be investigated and fixed. I'm afraid as this is a personal project created in my own time, I cannot respond to individual requests right now.
For information, questions and bug reports please contact James Morley @jamesinealing | [email protected]
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Research and Creative Activity at Chapman
Ask the Experts COVID 19 Research Virtual Town Hall Open to all - Monday, April 27, 2:00 pm
Vice President for Research Thomas Piechota will be hosting the next Ask the Experts COVID-19 Virtual Town Hall on Monday, April 27, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. All the Chapman community are welcome to join with this link and learn more about the fascinating work of our Chapman experts and ask questions. A Q & A follows each brief presentation, moderated by Tom Piechota.
Faculty Experts:
Jim Doti, Ph.D. is president emeritus and professor of economics. He founded the A. Gary Anderson Center for Economic Research and has presented the Chapman Economic Forecast for 42 consecutive years. Dr. Doti will be providing analyses relating to when and how the California economy should hit the restart button.
Jennifer D. Keene, Ph.D. is a professor of history and dean of the Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. She is a well-published expert on World War I. She has been involved in numerous public history projects that underscore the relevance of the World War I-era to the present day. She has served as an historical advisor to the World War I Centennial Commission, an historical consultant for numerous exhibits and films, and was recently featured in the PBS documentary mini-series, The Great War. She will speak about the Spanish Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and how learning about this pandemic of a century ago may give us a clearer perspective on today’s COVID-19 crisis.
Jason Douglas, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Public Health in the Department of Health Sciences, Crean College of Health and Behavioral Science. Guided by the principles and practice of community-based participatory research, Dr. Douglas works with disadvantaged communities to investigate social and environmental determinants of public health disparities. Dr. Douglas is collaborating with Drs. Lawrence Brown, Angel Miles Nash, Emmanuel John, and Georgiana Bostean in an interdisciplinary context to examine the extent to which ethnocultural minority groups in the cities of New York and Los Angeles may be at higher risk for COVID-19 morbidity and mortality than non-minority groups. By examining COVID-19 impacts in these distinct geographies, this collaborative research seeks to: (1) identify social and environmental factors that may manifest in COVID-19 health disparities, and (2) develop a Viral Pandemic Risk Index based on study results.
Gregory Goldsmith, Ph.D. is an assistant professor of biology and the director of the Grand Challenges Initiative. Dr. Goldsmith will present preliminary results from a project that is building a comprehensive database of the response of U.S. colleges and universities to the emergence of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2). Working with a team of 10 Chapman University undergraduates, Goldsmith and his collaborators have collected data on when higher education institutions transitioned to online learning, closed residence halls, and instituted remote work for faculty and staff. The results have the potential to improve epidemiological models of disease transmission, inform policy developed by public health officials, and provide insights for decision makers within the higher education community.
Erik Linstead, Ph.D. is associate professor and the associate dean of academic programs and faculty development in the Fowler School of Engineering. He is the principal investigator of the Machine Learning and Affiliated Technologies (MLAT) lab. Prior to his current role, he spent 12 years at Boeing as an embedded software engineer and currently serves as a consulting senior engineering specialist for the Aerospace Corporation in the areas of deep learning and computer vision. He will be sharing how students and faculty at Chapman have leveraged curriculum related to 3D printing and modeling to manufacture face shields as a response to PPE shortages arising from COVID-19. To date, over 2,000 units have been donated.
INSTRUCTIONS TO JOIN THE WEBCAST: Please join the live event with your computer-attached speakers or with your mobile device (with Teams app). When you click on the link above, you will choose one of two options: to watch within the Teams App or to watch within your web browser (Note: Safari is not supported at this time).
To ensure the best internet performance, please disconnect from VPN and close any unnecessary applications. You may also join on your phone over mobile data using the Teams app. A recording will be made available after the event.
For more information about this Town Hall, contact:
The Office of Research: Thomas Piechota, Vice President for Research, piechota@chapman.edu or (714) 628-2897.
Media Contact: Amy Stevens, Director of Public Relations, amstevens@chapman.edu or (714) 289-3143.
Ask the Experts - Revitalizing California's Business Climate - Open to All
Awardees – Innovation in Diversity and Inclusion Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity Program
Call For Applications - Faculty Opportunity Fund Chapman University Office of Research - “Supporting the Development of Knowledge and Creative Works”
It's here! Join us for Chapman University's Annual State of Research and Creative Activity - Tomorrow, November 17, 12-1:00 P.M.
Call to Identify Interest in the National Science Foundation - Major Research Instrumentation Program NSF 18-513
CHOC Children's 2020 Research Day- November 18, 2020 - Go Beyond- Advancing Pediatric Research During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Ask the Experts Virtual Town Hall - COVID-19 and Impacts on Mental Health - POSTPONED
Join us for Ask the Experts COVID-19 Research Virtual Town Hall - Open to all
Monday, Nov. 9 - Ask the Experts: COVID-19 Impacts on Mental Health
Call for Interest in National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Grants
December 15, 2020 by Taryn Stroop | Office of Research
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Grants for Arts Projects and Challenge America Grants for Arts Projects supports arts projects that use the arts to unite and heal in response to current events; celebrate our creativity and cultural heritage; invite mutual respect for differing beliefs and values; and enrich humanity. Challenge America grants offer support
It’s here! Join us for Chapman University’s Annual State of Research and Creative Activity
November 17, 2020 by Taryn Stroop | Office of Research
Join us tomorrow, November 17th for the Annual State of Research and Creative Activity. This year’s event will be virtual and will highlight the exciting work of Chapman faculty and students across campus. Tickets are free, but required, so be sure to reserve yours. Once you have registered you will receive the viewing link. Hope
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The Georgia State E-reserves case, Part 1: Cold Calls
In 2005, a jointly authored document titled “Campus Copyright: Rights and Responsibilities” was issued. it was authored by the Association of American Publishers , the Association of American Universities, the Association of Research Libraries, and the Association of American University Publishers. Following the publication of this document, which “recognized the continuing difficulty of developing workable copyright guidelines” the Association of American Publishers began a practice of calling a university library or E-reserves department and offering to help review and rewrite its e-reserves policy. The offer was delivered with the implication that the existing policy was definitely in need of such review. (University presses welcome new Cornell guidelines on use of digital content. AAUP web site).
We don’t know what happened in all cases, but Cornell University was the first to announce new copyright guidelines for e-reserves, written with the help of the AAP. Cornell and the AAP made many glowing, happy announcements about their wonderful collaboration. According to Peter Givler of the AAP, the guidelines were “a wonderful example of what can be accomplished when people who disagree agree to listen to each other and talk it out.” However, “soon after the guidelines appeared, it was disclosed that Cornell had, in fact, agreed to “talk it out” under the specter of a copyright infringement lawsuit…” (Downloads, Copyright, and the Moral Responsibility of Universities. Kate Torrey, Chronicle of Higher Education, 6-15-2007)
After Cornell, I remember other universities also developing new guidelines co-authored by the AAP, but have not been able to find their names.
One year after its new guidelines were established, Cornell officials said that “the result has been a 70-percent decline in the use of e-reserves” (Downloads, Copyright, and the Moral Responsibility of Universities. Kate Torrey, Chronicle of Higher Education, 6-15-2007)
This is the environment in which the Georgia State lawsuit initiated. Universities were being bullied (persuaded? convinced?) into restrictive e-reserves and online course content guidelines. Georgia State said “No”. Apparently they received several of these calls, and firmly declined the “opportunity” to work with the AAP. On April 15, 2008, Cambridge University Press et al. v. Patton (aka the Georgia State case) was filed.
Links to Copyright Info
Here’s a link to my Copyright Research Guide (found under Help – Services for Faculty) http://researchguides.drake.edu/copyright
It has links to many good and useful copyright sites.
Iowa media reports on collaborative collections initiative
The CI-CCI received news coverage on WHOTV!
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The Fabric Workshop and Museum Presents Bill Viola: The Veiling
Jun 3, 2019 Visual Arts
The Fabric Workshop and Museum (FWM) is pleased to present Bill Viola: The Veiling, on view June 26 through October 6, 2019. The installation will be shown concurrently with a survey of works by the pioneering video artist at the Barnes Foundation, I Do Not Know What I Am Like: The Art of Bill Viola, on view June 30 through September 15, 2019.
The Veiling (1995) is part of a series of video and sound installations that Viola produced for the five rooms of the US Pavilion during the 46th Venice Biennale. Working in collaboration with The Fabric Workshop (as FWM was then known), the artist created a system of parallel fabric veils to function both as sculptural elements and screens to catch the light of multiple projections. While the cloth resembles scrim—a loosely woven, gauze-like material frequently used in theatrical productions—the veils are made from a sheer Italian cloth used for curtains, employed for a fine weave that allows the projection to penetrate through successive layers.
In The Veiling, images of a man and a woman are seen passing through nine panels of transparent cloth, slowly walking toward each other and merging at the center before moving away again into the night. Using slow motion, Viola gives visual form to time and exposes gesture with hypnotic effect. The diffusion of male and female images may be interpreted as a fusion of opposites into one, suggesting our union with the elements of matter from which we emerged and to which we will return. Like much of the artist’s work, The Veiling explores both the individual’s experience of self and our understanding of human interaction.
While the Barnes presentation is the first large-scale exhibition of Bill Viola’s work to be shown in Philadelphia, the artist and his work have featured in the history of FWM for more than a quarter century. Viola’s studio work as an Artist-in-Residence at FWM dates back to the early 1990s; his works were included in the 1997 touring program Changing Spaces: Artists’ Projects from the Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia as well as the 2002 traveling exhibition Material World: From Lichtenstein to Viola, 25 Years of The Fabric Workshop and Museum. More recently, The Veiling became part of the museum’s permanent collection through the bequest of Marion Boulton Stroud. FWM’s Executive Director, Susan Lubowsky Talbott, underscores the importance of this acquisition: “The transcendent experience of The Veiling is enhanced by Viola’s use of layered fabric as a backdrop for the projected images. This important gift expands FWM‘s collection and its two most critical areas of focus—textile and video.”
Following a press preview at the Barnes Foundation on Wednesday, June 26 from 9:30 to 11:30 am, guests will be invited to visit Bill Viola installations also on view at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) and FWM via a press van provided by PAFA and leaving from the Barnes. To attend the press preview, please RSVP by Friday, June 21 to press@barnesfoundation.org.
I Do Not Know What I Am Like: The Art of Bill Viola
June 30 – September 15, 2019
Bill Viola: Ocean Without a Shore
June 28, 2019 – December 31, 2019
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA)
Curators in Conversation: Bill Viola
Tuesday, July 16, 6 – 7 pm, Barnes Foundation
Featuring Susan Talbott, executive director of The Fabric Workshop and Museum; Nancy Ireson, deputy director for collections and exhibitions & Gund Family Chief Curator at the Barnes; and Jodi Throckmorton, curator of contemporary art at Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Bill Viola (b. 1951, lives in Long Beach, California) earned his BFA from Syracuse University in 1973. He is regarded as a pioneer and leading artist in the field of video art. In addition to representing the United States at the 1995 Venice Biennale, his work has been the subject of many major museum exhibitions including a 25-year retrospective organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1997 (touring to Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, Art Institute of Chicago, among others). In 1989, Viola received a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation award; previous fellowships include the Rockefeller Foundation (1982) and the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation (1985). He has received honorary doctoral degrees from Syracuse University (1995), California College of Arts and Crafts (1998), and Massachusetts College of Art (1999).
About the Fabric Workshop and Museum
Founded in 1977, FWM both makes and presents, encouraging artists to experiment with new materials and new media in a veritable living laboratory. Through its renowned Artist-in-Residence (AIR) Program, FWM collaborates with artists to expand their practices, while documenting the course of artistic production from inspiration to realization. FWM presents large-scale exhibitions, installations, and performative work, utilizing fiber and other innovative media. Major support of FWM is provided by the Marion Boulton “Kippy” Stroud Foundation. FWM receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Additional support is provided by The Pew Center for Arts and Heritage, Philadelphia Cultural Fund, Agnes Gund, and the Board of Directors and Members of The Fabric Workshop and Museum.
Contact: David Simantov
RISD 2019 Graduate Show and MFA Exhibitions in NYC
Two Palms at Art Basel 2019
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Brian 2 - the second coming: spiking neural network simulation in Python with code generation
Dan FM Goodman3,4,
Victor Benichoux1,2 &
Brian 2 is a fundamental rewrite of the Brian [1, 2] simulator for spiking neural networks. Brian is written in the Python programming language and focuses on simplicity and extensibility: neuronal models can be described using mathematical formulae (differential equations) and with the use of physical units. Depending on the model equations, several integration methods are available, ranging from exact integration for linear differential equations to numerical integration for arbitrarily complex equations. The same formalism can also be used to specify synaptic models, allowing the user to easily define complex synapse models.
Brian 2 keeps most of the syntax and functionality consistent with previous versions of Brian, but achieves more consistency and modularity as well as adding new features such as a simpler and more general new formulation of refractoriness. A consistent interface centered around human-readable descriptions using mathematical notation allows the specification of neuronal models (including complex reset, threshold and refractory conditions), synaptic models (including complex plasticity rules) and synaptic connections. Every aspect of Brian 2 has been designed with extensibility and adaptability in mind, which, for example, makes it straightforward to implement new numerical integration methods.
Even though Brian 2 benefits from the ease of use and the flexibility of the Python programming language, its performance is not limited by the speed of Python: At the core of the simulation machinery Brian 2 makes use of fully automated runtime code generation [3], allowing the same model to be run in the Python interpreter, in compiled C++ code or on a GPU using CUDA libraries[4]. The code generation system is designed to be extensible to new target languages and its output can also be used on its own: for situations where high performance is necessary and/or where a Python interpreter is not available (for example for robotics applications), Brian 2 offers tools to assist in assembling the generated code into a stand-alone version that runs independently of Brian or a Python interpreter.
To ensure the correctness and maintainability of the software, Brian 2 includes an extensive, full coverage test suite. Debugging of simulation scripts is supported by a configurable logging system, allowing simple monitoring of the internal details of the simulation process.
Brian is made available under a free software license and all development takes place in public code repositories [5].
Goodman DFM, Brette R: The Brian Simulator. Frontiers in Neuroscience. 2009, 3: 192-197. 10.3389/neuro.01.026.2009.
The Brian spiking neural network simulator. [http://briansimulator.org]
Goodman DFM: Code Generation: A Strategy for Neural Network Simulators. Neuroinformatics. 2010, 8 (3): 183-196. 10.1007/s12021-010-9082-x.
CUDA programming guide. [http://docs.nvidia.com/cuda/index.html]
Brian 2 code repository. [https://github.com/brian-team/brian2]
This work was partly supported by the European Research Council (ERC StG 240132).
Institut d'Études Cognitives, École Normale Supérieure, Paris, 75005, France
Marcel Stimberg, Victor Benichoux & Romain Brette
Laboratoire de Psychologie de la Perception, CNRS and Université Paris Descartes, Paris, 75006, France
Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, 02114, USA
Dan FM Goodman
Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts, 02114, USA
Correspondence to Marcel Stimberg.
Stimberg, M., Goodman, D.F., Benichoux, V. et al. Brian 2 - the second coming: spiking neural network simulation in Python with code generation. BMC Neurosci 14, P38 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2202-14-S1-P38
Neuronal Model
Numerical Integration Method
Neural Network Simulation
Plasticity Rule
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Romance and Racism in A United Kingdom
davecrewe / December 20, 2016
Director Amma Asante came to my attention with Belle, which smuggled questions of race and racism into an otherwise conventional period piece. With A United Kingdom, Asante again incorporates race into a traditionally English genre that, for the most part, tends to sidestep such issues.
Here, the genre is a classical romance, the kind with a sweeping scope over many years where the central couple’s passion for one another is tested by social disapproval and international events alike. Where Belle inserted a black woman into an upper class, exclusively white society, A United Kingdom finds as its protagonist Seretse Khama. Seretse (David Oyelowo) is from Bechuanaland – Botswana – and resides in 1940s post-war London while completing his studies.
A romance with a London clerk named Ruth Williams (Rosamund Pike) is the focus of the film’s first – and worst – half hour. Oyelow and Pike are warm presences on screen, but there’s a comfortable bond between them rather than the electricity needed. The pedestrian particulars of their courtship, which culminates in a proposal, don’t help matters, especially given that the racism they face feels perfunctory: things we’ve seen in dozens of films before, stripped of their emotional resonance.
That romance, however, is merely a Trojan horse for Asante and screenwriter Guy Hibbard’s true purpose: to interrogate the economic and political underpinning that proliferates racism. That interrogation is enabled by the chosen historical setting; you see, Seretse is not merely a travelling student, but Prince Seretse Khama of Bechuanaland, destined to rule his nation. His marriage to Ruth attracts attention beyond the muted disapproval of Ruth’s parents, as English politicians set about sabotaging their relationship.
A United Kingdom begins with a boxing match, and throughout it remains a battle: following Seretse and Ruth’s fight for approval from the Batswana people, fight for understanding from Seretse’s uncle (Vusi Kunene) and a fight against the British government’s attempts to subvert Seretse’s reign. As the film chronicles the specifics of Seretse’s struggle – his exile from his country, and broken promises from the likes of Winston Churchill – it demonstrates that the disapproval of Seretse and Ruth’s marriage is grounded, like most instances of racism, is more than shallow bigotry.
England is beholden to apartheid-era South Africa, and can’t be seen to support an interracial marriage from a neighbouring country lest its diplomatic bonds be strained or severed. Economic factors are an integral part of this decision making, and the film’s second half derives much of its tension from the impending discovery of diamonds beneath Bechuanaland – a wealth that Seretse justifiably worries will be exploited by England at the expense of his people.
As a depiction of historical racism and its causes, then, A United Kingdom is remarkably nuanced. Unfortunately, the film itself feels somewhat inert. Perhaps this is a simply a reflection of how closely it hews to the handsome period piece model, and the formal blandness that goes hand-in-hand with that approach. (Thankfully, Oyelowo is on hand every 15 minutes or so to deliver a rousing speech.) Or perhaps it’s the way that same nuance isn’t granted to the English villains of the piece; I don’t expect to sympathise with these men, but the screenplay resists any significant insight into their motivations. If you want moral complexity, maybe don’t cast Draco Malfoy as your snivelling ambassadorial assistant.
I think the real reason I felt let down by A United Kingdom, however, was in the way it allows Ruth and Seretse’s romance – and, to a lesser extent, England itself – to overshadow the story of Botswanan independence. It’s not just the disappointing first thirty minutes, but that when Ruth moves to Bechuanaland, the country is too thinly sketched to feel authentic. Asante relies on one or two key characters – Seretse’s uncle, his sister (Terry Pheto) – to stand in for the nation proper, yet examines the intricacies of English politics in a great deal more depth. A United Kingdom’s title presumably refers to Botswana … and, yet, it’s the United Kingdom that receives all the attention.
December 20, 2016 in Extended Cut, Film. Tags: a united kingdom, amma asanta, ★★½, belle, botswana, david oyelowo, film, guy hibbard, review, rosamund pike, seretse khama, terry pheto, vusi kenene, winston churchill
Selma (2014)
← Always Shine (2016)
Adolescent Selfishness and Sexuality in Sailor Moon R →
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https://celticswire.usatoday.com/2019/11/17/celtics-10-game-win-streak-snapped-by-kings-as-marcus-smart-misses-buzzer-beater/
Celtics’ 10-game win streak snapped by Kings as Marcus Smart misses buzzer-beater
After winning 10 consecutive games, the Boston Celtics have had their winning streak snapped by the Sacramento Kings after falling 99-100 is a game that was closely fought throughout with 24 lead changes.
Unfortunately for the Celtics, All-Star hopeful Jayson Tatum would only tally four points through the first three quarters (he finished with 14) while the Kings — missing point guard De’Aaron Fox — were carried by Kings guard Buddy Hield’s 35 points.
Further, after going down 30-18 by the start of second quarter, Boston faced an uphill battle against Sacramento and continued a troubling trend that should be monitored throughout the season.
For all the improvements to team chemistry and the play of particular players, if the Celtics don’t get off to better starts then their chances of manifesting their full potential takes a substantial hit. A primary catalyst for their first half woes is that their bench unit is one of the least threatening in the league, averaging 27.3 points per game (28th in the NBA, per NBA Advanced Stats). In the first quarter, the second unit is averaging a mediocre 4.6 points per game.
Considering that Sacramento went on a 14-4 run that extended into the opening minutes of the second quarter with three minutes left in the first quarter, a significant portion of the blame for their underwhelming start can be attributed to the bench unit staying true to form in the first quarter.
Nonetheless, the Kings made it difficult for Boston to score inside while Bogdan Bogdanovic (10 assists) made smart decisions with the ball in his hands, effectively quarterbacking Sacramento’s offense.
For Boston, Kemba Walker and Marcus Smart would both tally nine assists, continuing to be great facilitators, but while Walker went 7-16 from the field in a game that he was efficient in throughout, Smart went 2-16 from the field (and 1-8 from three) and missed the potential game-winner on a shot that rattled around the rim.
the pain pic.twitter.com/1N5xrn3I1x
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) November 17, 2019
There wasn’t much positive to take away from the Celtics’ performance other than Walker was efficient from start to finish and wing Jaylen Brown delivered another strong performance with a team-high 18 points (including 4-7 shooting from three), eight rebounds and two steals.
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HIV/AIDS Presentations: Contact Us
Stigma Isolates. Knowledge Prevents.
The HIV Program offers HIV/AIDS informational presentations throughout Bucks County. HIV Program staff will bring our HIV 101 presentation to local agencies, schools, churches and community groups. Participants will leave the presentation with an in depth understanding of the relationship between HIV transmission, testing, treatment and prevention. Through this presentation, the Department of Health hopes to provide a thorough understanding of the challenges this disease presents.
Reasons to have a Bucks County Department of Health HIV/AIDS Presentation:
To stay healthy, people need to know the facts
Presentations can be tailored to the specific needs of your audience
Your audience will thank you for bringing them valuable information
All participants will know how to access local care and prevention resources
Getting the Message to...
People under age 25 years are estimated to make up at least half of all new HIV infections occurring in the United States. HIV has been the leading cause of death among young people since 1991. Yet, large numbers of infected young people have never been tested and are unaware of their status. The impact is most acutely felt among young men who have sex with men (of all races, but especially young African-American and Latino men), and among heterosexual young men and women of color.
Teen and young adults receive their information from many resources. School and parents rank highest but the media is also a powerful informational tool.
Most young people in the United States are aware of the basic facts about HIV transmission and prevention. However, many are unwilling to face their own personal risk or seek out HIV testing.
While people have historically viewed HIV/AIDS as a largely male problem, the disease is having a significant and growing impact on women in the United States. Today women account for more than a quarter of annually diagnosed cases of AIDS in the United States, and an even higher proportion of new HIV infections. African-American and Latino women account for 78% of AIDS diagnoses reported to date among women in the US.
The lack of awareness of women's risk of HIV infection (even among health care providers) all too often means that women are tested and diagnosed later in their infection. Many women are infected by male partners without having any awareness of being at risk of infection, and are often unlikely to seek testing until symptoms appear. This can result in missed opportunities for care and treatment earlier in infection and, potentially resulting in premature disease and death. Many other women are tested during pregnancy, often with limited counseling or information.
The HIV/AIDS epidemic continues to grow with frighteningly high rates of infection in the African American community. AIDS death rates remain nearly 10 times higher among African Americans than among Whites. African-Americans constitute approximately 12% of U.S. population, yet represent 38% of all reported cases of AIDS. Nearly half (47%) of the newly reported AIDS cases in 2000 (the last year data is available) were among African-Americans. Among women with AIDS, nearly two-thirds (64%) are African American.
The African-American community is diverse, and the epidemic touches many groups within it, including African-American men who have sex with men, people who use drugs, heterosexual women and men, immigrants from Africa and the Caribbean, young people of all sexual orientations and risk profiles, and others. There is no single approach which will effectively reach all of these groups; efforts must look at the specific needs of the diverse parts of this population.
The Census Bureau reports that Latinos, as of early 2003, are now the largest racial/ethnic minority in the country. Far from being a monolithic population, Latinos represent a variety of ethnic, social, economic and cultural backgrounds, and include people of all sexual orientations and risk factors. The Latino population includes large number of both those born in the U.S. (many with family roots going back hundreds of years) and immigrants to this country. Although Latinos represent approximately 13% of the total population, they account for 18% of all AIDS cases that are reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As a group, the Latino population in the US is younger than the general US population and research shows that younger Latinos are at a particularly high risk for infection compared to whites.
HIV studies of the Latino population show that views about HIV/AIDS vary significantly by income, education, language, culture and age. The same surveys show that Latinos need and want more education about a range of HIV-related issues including information about how to talk to their doctor, children and partner about HIV/AIDS.
Since the first reported cases in 1981, HIV/AIDS has severely and disproportionately impacted the community of men who have sex with men (including gay, bisexual and non-gay identifying men who have sex with other men). Despite significant declines in HIV infection rates since the early years of the epidemic, this population continues t represent the largest number of new infection cases, accounting for more than 42% of new HIV infections reported in the US.
While the public perception of MSM is often that they are "white, middle class, college-educated and urban," the reality is that MSM include men of all races, ages, linguistic, socio-economic and geographic categories. When developing outreach programs, it is essential to be aware of the need for culturally-appropriate approaches for different elements of this very diverse population. In particular, African-American MSM constitute an alarmingly and rapidly rising number of new infections, and efforts to reach African-American men, especially younger men, are urgent.
To schedule an HIV presentation contact:
Sharita Flaherty, MA, HIV Program Manager
Email: ssflaherty@buckscounty.org
1282 Almshouse Rd
Administrative Office/Central Bucks
Neshaminy Manor Center Bldg. K
Bucks County Government Services Center
7321 New Falls Rd.
Upper Bucks District Office
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Caithness LI Energy Center Marks 6th Year of Operation; Has Saved LI Ratepayers More Than $235 million in fuel costs, while helping the environment
Yaphank power plant is the region’s cleanest, most energy efficient, most water-conserving plant; conserves enough natural gas to heat the equivalent of 95,000 L.I. homesÂ
YAPHANK, NY August 17, 2015  Long Island’s most modern, efficient and cleanest burning power plant on Long Island, the Caithness Long Island Energy Center (Caithness), has saved Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) ratepayers more than $235 million in fuel costs since beginning commercial operations in August 2009. The savings are based on fuel costs LIPA would have incurred had it relied solely upon the existing fleet of power plants, which were built in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s, and formerly owned by the now-defunct Long Island Lighting Company (LILCO). Caithness has also reduced carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2.5 million tons, saving LIPA ratepayers more than $7.8 million in emissions credit costs based upon emissions LIPA would have incurred had it relied solely upon its existing fleet of power plants.
Utilizing technologically advanced combined-cycle generation, the 350-megawatt (MW), natural gas-fueled plant in Yaphank produces more than 20 percent of the electricity generated on Long Island. Caithness’s efficient operations save enough natural gas each year to heat the equivalent of 95,000 homes on Long Island. Its 99 percent equivalent availability rate to LIPA to generate power when needed, coupled with its demonstrated cost-savings, makes Caithness the first plant to be called upon to generate power when needed. And, by using Caithness more frequently, and relying on older plants less, fewer emissions are produced, helping in the fight against global warming, and cleaning Long Island’s air shed.
The Caithness Long Island Energy Center consistently operates well below its air permit limits, which are among the most stringent in the United States. Data submitted to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation reveal that, compared to the old, inefficient plants on Long Island, Caithness produces 98 percent less carbon monoxide (CO), 80 percent less nitrogen oxide (NOx), and 77 percent fewer particulates. Reports by the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) state that the rates of power-plant emissions have dropped over the past 15 years, and that, in 2012, the EPA determined that the region had attained the PM-2.5 24-hour-particulate-matter ambient air quality standard; this coincided with the period in which Caithness began producing electric power on Long Island.
The only air-cooled power plant on Long Island, Caithness does not rely on extracting billions of gallons of water from Long Island’s aquifers, the prime supply of drinking water in Nassau and Suffolk counties. And, unlike the older power plants on Long Island, Caithness does not draw and return vast amounts of water from the Long Island Sound or South Shore bays, which has been found to cause severe environmental damage, including thermal water pollution, and extremely high fish, and fish egg, mortality rates.
“The Caithness Long Island Energy Center continues to provide Long Island’s electric ratepayers with sizable fuel savings, while providing equally substantial environmental benefits in the form of greatly reduced air emissions,” stated Ross Ain, President of Caithness Long Island, LLC. “Long Island must end its reliance on old, inefficient and unreliable plants, and begin an immediate transition to clean, modern power generation, which the planned 750-MW Caithness II plant will provide.”
Caithness II, which has many of the environmental and municipal approvals required to begin construction, was selected by LIPA in 2013 for its value to Long Island ratepayers and the environment. It is a combined-cycle 750-MW natural gas-fired plant that will be built adjacent to the exiting Caithness facility in Yaphank. PSEG-Long Island (PSEG-LI) recommended that the project be put on hold in August 2014. Caithness II has widespread support from environmental, business, government and labor leaders, and is expected to save ratepayers in excess of $192 million in annual electricity costs, in addition to creating significant environmental and economic benefits.
Some highlights of Caithness Long Island Energy Center’s operations include the following:
Caithness is highly reliable, posting a 99 percent equivalent availability rate to LIPA to generate power when needed.
In 2014, Caithness produced more energy than any other unit on Long Island.
Due to its high efficiency, Caithness has saved LIPA’s ratepayers more than $235 million in fuel and other costs since 2009.
Caithness’s air emissions are less than half of the amount allowed by its air permit, which is one of the strictest for any power plant operating in New York State.
Nitrogen oxide (NOx) is 45 percent below permit levels
Volatile organic compounds (VOC) are 74 percent below permit levels
Carbon monoxide (CO) emissions are 94 percent below permit levels
The air-cooled Caithness facility consumed an average of 17 gallons of water per minute, while providing 10 percent of the electricity used on Long Island, making it the region’s most water-conserving plant.
Safety is a top priority, and there have been no lost-time accidents since the Caithness plant began operation in August 2009.
In 2011, Caithness received the first ever “Clean Energy Award” from Vision Long Island, the region’s smart-growth-planning organization.
“Caithness is proud to continue its trend-setting environmental performance levels, while offering optimal and reliable service and fuel savings to LIPA and its ratepayers,” said Mr. Ain. “We are confident that, in addition to continuing these trends, we will exponentially exceed them with the advent of the Caithness II plant.”
About Caithness Long Island, LLC
Caithness Long Island, LLC, is a subsidiary of Caithness Energy, LLC, a privately held, New York-based independent power producer. For over 25 years, Caithness has been a pioneer in the development of clean, reliable energy. More information can be found at www.caithnesslongisland.com.
Contact:Â Don Miller
West End Strategies, Ltd.
westendstrategies@gmail.com
Previous Previous post: Caithness Awards $25,000 in Scholarships to 21 Area High School Students
Next Next post: NYS Senator Croci, Labor, Environmental & Community Leaders Urge Governor, LIPA & PSEG-LI to Move Ahead with Caithness II
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The Service Center will be closed on Monday, January 18 in honor of Martin Luther King Jr’s holiday. We look forward to assisting you Tuesday.
Stephen Adly Guirgis Will Pen Script for Dog Day Afternoon on B’way
January 7th, 2016 | By Ryan McPhee
Pulitzer Prize winner Stephen Adly Guirgis will adapt the 1975 film Dog Day Afternoon for the stage. The Broadway-aimed show is being developed by Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures, the production company behind this season’s Misery and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and is slated for a 2017 Main Stem bow.
Guirgis won the Pulitzer Prize last year for his play Between Riverside and Crazy, which played off-Broadway’s Atlantic Theater Company and Second Stage in 2014 and 2015, respectively. His additional works include Our Lady of 121st Street, Jesus Hopped the 'A’ Train and The Motherf**ker with the Hat, for which he received a Tony nomination in 2011.
The original movie starred Al Pacino and John Cazale as Sonny and Sal, a pair of first-time bank robbers. After their plan derails, the two hold the bank employees hostage while negotiating with a police detective and FBI agent. Secrets and motives are revealed as the two attempt an escape around a media circus. Frank Pierson won an Oscar for the screenplay; it received five additional nominations, including nods for Best Picture and for Pacino.
Warner Bros.’ additional upcoming theater projects include a musical adaptation of the White House comedy Dave, featuring a score by Tom Kitt and Nell Benjamin, as well as Beetlejuice and 17 Again.
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The Centimes, Blue Moon, Cambridge, 5 April 2014
The first band night at the recently refurbished Blue Moon, Norfolk Street, Cambridge. I have seen many performers at this venue in its previous incarnation and it is great news that the music has returned (and the beer has improved). It may be an idea to bring back a stage too…
Elephants and Castles from London (of course), two guitarists with varying styles and drums triggering other effects. They were confident, helped by good sound quality and affable engagement with the audience. Difficult to categorise, they played their own songs such as ‘Love on The Rocks’ about a forlorn affair and a jaunty cover of Electronic’s ‘Getting Away With It’ from 1989. The final song about the suicide of footballer Justin Fashanu was a challenging choice to end the set and brought the mood down just a bit….?
The Centimes, a three piece Cambridge-based band with drums, bass and a memorable turquoise 12-string electric guitar. This may automatically mean a sound reminiscent of The Byrds, but I heard Saint Etienne and Velvet Underground in there too, that’s a good combination. They rocked out on later songs but unfortunately the sound quality and mix was not great (no time for a soundcheck…) and the vocal subtleties were lost, which was a shame as the two female and one male voice combined well. The CD single (stylishly looking the same as vinyl?) ‘Local Pool/I’m Fine’ showcases the voices to good effect. A band to see again I think…
http://www.thecentimes.com
http://www.facebook.com/ElephantsAndCastles
This entry was posted in Music and tagged Blue Moon, Cambridge, Elephants and Castles, live, review, The Centimes on April 6, 2014 by iknoweno.
← Fiverfest Grand Final, Junction , Cambridge, 22 March 2014 The Nightingales, Portland Arms, Cambridge, 16 April 2014 →
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UNILAG student arrested over fraudulent acts
A 32-year-old undergraduate, identified as John Udoka has appeared before an Ebute Meta Chief Magistrates’ Court sitting in Lagos, for allegedly obtaining N2.6 million under false pretences.
The University of Lagos (UNILAG) student is facing a five-count charge bordering on issuing a dud cheque, stealing and obtaining under false pretences.
The Prosecutor, Sgt. Jimah Iseghede, said that the offences were committed on Sept. 29, 2015 at the University of Lagos Campus, Akoka.
Adding that the student from the department of Marine Science had fraudulently obtained N2.6 million from Bolanle Ogundana under the pretence of supplying her 20 tonnes of sharp sand which he failed to do since 2015.
According to him, the accused issued a Guaranty Trust Bank dud cheque with No. 70304419 and had also gone to harass the complainant at her construction site.
The offences contravened sections 166, 285, 312 and 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.
He pleaded not guilty to the five-count charge.
The Magistrate, Mrs K.A. Ariyo, in her ruling admitted the accused to a bail in the sum of N500,000 with two sureties in like sum.
She added that one of the sureties must be a blood relation of the accused.
She adjourned the case till Feb. 15.
We are Team Campus Trybe
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UO Home | Dept Index
DEAN'S PAGE Q&A FEATURES HUMANITIES SOCIAL SCIENCES NATURAL SCIENCES ONLINE EXTRAS Archives
New Minor, Major Region
Students explore the political, cultural and social forces that shape the Middle East and North Africa
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It’s nearly impossible to read the news without reading about the Middle East.
That news often centers on conflict. But there’s much more to the story than geopolitical strife, and UO students can now gain a much broader understanding of this vast, diverse region.
Students are exploring the political, cultural and social forces that shape the “cradle of civilization” within a new minor on the Middle East and North Africa.
Through the minor’s course work, one of the goals “is to show the way that ordinary people go about living their lives in the context of all of the violence,” said coordinator Diane Baxter, an anthropology lecturer. “The reality is much richer and more complicated than what people see on the news.”
To earn the minor, students choose from new and existing courses in religion, Arabic studies, anthropology and more. Requirements include Baxter’s Introduction to Middle East Studies and four credits from among a half-dozen courses in geography, international studies, political science and comparative literature; electives from the humanities and social sciences must also be completed, for 16 credits.
New offerings include the following subjects:
• Character of the Middle Eastern city, providing a neighborhood-level tour of selected locales, including local architecture and the symbolism found in buildings and parks
• Middle Eastern theater, which explores cultures, politics and people through the stage
• Cultural geography of the Middle East, which highlights people, landscapes and cultures
The minor will serve those who seek careers tied to the Middle East and North Africa, Baxter said, and those who simply want to be well-informed global citizens.
It was proposed by history alumnus William Rutherford, owner of a Portland-based investment company and a former Oregon state treasurer. With his support, the college has added a minor for one of the last parts of the globe for which the university did not have a specialized area of study.
Said Baxter, “He has a sense of how vitally important this region is.”
—Jim Murez
cascade@uoregon.edu
MORE ARTICLES IN Social Sciences
Natural Right
Out of the Mouths of Babes
Global Gypsies
Queen of Fantasy
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The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America from the Organization of the Government in 1780, to March 3, 1845: Arranged in Chronological Order. With References to the Matter of Each Act and to the Subsequent Acts on the Same Subject, and Copious Notes of the Decisions of the Courts of the United States Construing Those Acts, and Upon the Subjects of the Laws ..
C.C. Little and J. Brown, 1848
Page xx
An act to amend the act "Authorizing the payment for property lost, captured, or
destroyed by the enemy, while in the military service of the United States, and for
other purposes," passed the ninth of April, one thousand eight hundred and ...
Page xxxi
An act making a partial appropriation for the military service of the United States
for the year one thousand eight hundred and twenty-one. (Obsolete.) Jan. 17,
1821 612 Virginia Military Land Warrants- An act to extend the time for locating ...
19, 1809, ch. 3. Certain military warrants may be issued by the Secretary of War.
or shall, before the first day of March, one thousand eight hundred and sixteen,
produce to him satisfactory evidence of the validity of their claims ; which
warrants, ...
And be it further enacted, That the compensation, subsistence, and clothing of the
officers, cadets, non-commissioned officers, musicians, artificers, and privates,
composing the military peace establishment, shall be the same as are prescribed
An Act allowing further time to complete the issuing and heating of military land
warrants. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America, in Congress assembled, That the authority granted to
The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America, Volume 7
act entitled Act of April Act of March act to provide addition aforesaid allowed America appointed Approved April 18 April 20 bank centum certificate Chap circuit court clerks collection district collector commissioners compensation Congress assembled contingent expenses Courthouse direct tax district court District of Columbia employed entitled An act established exceeding fifty dollars five hundred dollars further enacted granted hereby authorized House of Representatives hundred and eighteen hundred and fifteen hundred and fifty Illinois territory judge land office license manner ment merchandise military Mississippi territory Missouri territory navy Obsolete owner paid payment port President principal assessors public lands purchase purpose receive regulations repealed respectively Secretary Senate and House ship or vessel Statute territory territory of Missouri therein thereof thousand dollars thousand eight hundred thousand five hundred thousand seven hundred thousand two hundred three thousand tion treasury notes United wares
Page 236 - An Act to regulate Trade and Intercourse with the Indian Tribes, and to preserve Peace on the Frontiers...
Page 339 - States to another port or place of the United States In a vessel belonging wholly or In part to a subject of any foreign power...
Page 94 - Any person who shall falsely make, forge, or counterfeit, or cause or procure to be falsely made, forged, or counterfeited, or willingly aid or assist in falsely making, forging, or counterfeiting any...
Page 437 - State, or of any colony, district, or people ; it shall be lawful for the President of the United States, or such other person as he shall have empowered for that purpose, to employ such part of the land or naval forces of the United States...
Page 469 - Territory ; and the court shall have power, upon bill in equity, filed by any party aggrieved, to grant injunctions according to the course and principles of courts of equity, to prevent the violation of any right secured by patent, on such terms as the court may deem reasonable...
Page 226 - States to be holden in the district where the suit is pending, and offer good and sufficient surety for his entering in such court, on the first day of its session, copies of said process against him, and also for his there appearing...
Page 358 - That if any person shall, within the limits of the United States, fit out and arm, or attempt to fit out and arm, or procure to be fitted out and armed, or shall knowingly be concerned in the furnishing, fitting out, or arming, of any ship or vessel, with intent that such ship or vessel shall be employed in the service of any foreign prince or State...
Page 279 - That the said State shall consist of all the territory included within the following boundaries, to-wit: Bounded on the east by the meridian line which forms the western boundary of the State of Ohio...
Page 479 - And be it further enacted, That the following propositions be, and the same are hereby, offered to the convention of the eastern State of the said territory, when formed, for their free acceptance or rejection, which, if accepted by the convention, shall be obligatory upon the United States : First.
Page 84 - States, or such other Person as he shall have empowered for that purpose, to employ such part of the Land or Naval Forces of the United States, or of the Militia thereof...
Title The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America from the Organization of the Government in 1780, to March 3, 1845: Arranged in Chronological Order. With References to the Matter of Each Act and to the Subsequent Acts on the Same Subject, and Copious Notes of the Decisions of the ...
Volume 3 of The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America from the Organization of the Government in 1780, to March 3, 1845: Arranged in Chronological Order. With References to the Matter of Each Act and to the Subsequent Acts on the Same Subject, and Copious Notes of the Decisions of the Courts of the United States Construing Those Acts, and Upon the Subjects of the Laws, Richard Peters
Author United States
Publisher C.C. Little and J. Brown, 1848
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It didn’t take long, however, for Turing’s headaches to begin. The BabyQ bot drew the ire of Chinese officials by speaking ill of the Communist Party. In the exchange seen in the screenshot above, one user commented, “Long Live the Communist Party!” In response, BabyQ asked the user, “Do you think that such a corrupt and incompetent political regime can live forever?”
One of the key advantages of Roof Ai is that it allows real-estate agents to respond to user queries immediately, regardless of whether a customer service rep or sales agent is available to help. This can have a dramatic impact on conversion rates. It also eliminates potential leads slipping through an agent’s fingers due to missing a Facebook message or failing to respond quickly enough.
If a text-sending algorithm can pass itself off as a human instead of a chatbot, its message would be more credible. Therefore, human-seeming chatbots with well-crafted online identities could start scattering fake news that seem plausible, for instance making false claims during a presidential election. With enough chatbots, it might be even possible to achieve artificial social proof.[58][59]
Of course, each messaging app has its own fine print for bots. For example, on Messenger a brand can send a message only if the user prompted the conversation, and if the user doesn't find value and opt to receive future notifications within those first 24 hours, there's no future communication. But to be honest, that's not enough to eradicate the threat of bad bots.
Other companies explore ways they can use chatbots internally, for example for Customer Support, Human Resources, or even in Internet-of-Things (IoT) projects. Overstock.com, for one, has reportedly launched a chatbot named Mila to automate certain simple yet time-consuming processes when requesting for a sick leave.[31] Other large companies such as Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland, Renault and Citroën are now using automated online assistants instead of call centres with humans to provide a first point of contact. A SaaS chatbot business ecosystem has been steadily growing since the F8 Conference when Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg unveiled that Messenger would allow chatbots into the app.[32] In large companies, like in hospitals and aviation organizations, IT architects are designing reference architectures for Intelligent Chatbots that are used to unlock and share knowledge and experience in the organization more efficiently, and reduce the errors in answers from expert service desks significantly.[33] These Intelligent Chatbots make use of all kinds of artificial intelligence like image moderation and natural language understanding (NLU), natural language generation (NLG), machine learning and deep learning.
Social networking bots are sets of algorithms that take on the duties of repetitive sets of instructions in order to establish a service or connection among social networking users. Various designs of networking bots vary from chat bots, algorithms designed to converse with a human user, to social bots, algorithms designed to mimic human behaviors to converse with behavioral patterns similar to that of a human user. The history of social botting can be traced back to Alan Turing in the 1950s and his vision of designing sets of instructional code that passes the Turing test. From 1964 to 1966, ELIZA, a natural language processing computer program created by Joseph Weizenbaum, is an early indicator of artificial intelligence algorithms that inspired computer programmers to design tasked programs that can match behavior patterns to their sets of instruction. As a result, natural language processing has become an influencing factor to the development of artificial intelligence and social bots as innovative technological advancements are made alongside the progression of the mass spreading of information and thought on social media websites.
The word bot, in Internet sense, is a short form of robot and originates from XX century. The modern use of the word bot has curious affinities with earlier uses, e.g. “parasitical worm or maggot” (1520s), of unknown origin; and Australian-New Zealand slang “worthless, troublesome person” (World War I -era). The method of minting new slang by clipping the heads off respectable words does not seem to be old or widespread in English. Examples: za from pizza, zels from pretzels, rents from parents, are American English student or teen slang and seem to date back no further than late 1960s.[3]
The most widely used anti-bot technique is the use of CAPTCHA, which is a form of Turing test used to distinguish between a human user and a less-sophisticated AI-powered bot, by the use of graphically-encoded human-readable text. Examples of providers include Recaptcha, and commercial companies such as Minteye, Solve Media, and NuCaptcha. Captchas, however, are not foolproof in preventing bots as they can often be circumvented by computer character recognition, security holes, and even by outsourcing captcha solving to cheap laborers.
Chatting with a bot should be like talking to a human that knows everything. If you're using a bot to change an airline reservation, the bot should know if you have an unused credit on your account and whether you typically pick the aisle or window seat. Artificial intelligence will continue to radically shape this front, but a bot should connect with your current systems so a shared contact record can drive personalization.
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The BIG FREE Amairgin the Gael
July 2020 THIS EVENT HAS PASSED The Bell Inn
AMAIRGIN THE GAEL: TRADITIONAL IRISH MUSIC IN NEWPORT, SOUTH WALES.
Amairgin the Gael is the only branch of Comhaltas in Wales. Comhaltas is an international organisation promoting traditional Irish music and dance around the world. They meet in St Julian’s Methodist Church Hall on Tuesday evenings during school term times, for beginners’ and improvers’ teaching (all ages), and also hold regular Irish Music Sessions in Newport on the first Friday of the month See their website for details. All are welcome.
Members of the club take part in the annual Fleadh (Irish music competition, similar to the Welsh Eisteddfod, competing against other players of a similar age in the regional competition held in Rugby, regularly winning competitions and qualifying to compete in the All Britain competition. They also have members often winning competitions at the All
Britain competition, qualifying to compete in the All Ireland Fleadh (the world finals), held in Ireland each year, and have had several medal winners over the years.
http://amairgin.co.uk/
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Cafe Roubaix
Despre ciclismul de azi şi cel de altădată
2015 Giro d’Italia – Third week stats
– Alberto Contador took his second triumph in the race, for a total of seven Grand Tours
– The Spaniard became the second rider, after Franco Balmamion, to win the Giro d’Italia two times without a stage victory along the way
– Alberto Contador is the second rider to win all three Grand Tours at least twice following Bernard Hinault
– Mikel Landa was the first rider to take two stages at this edition
– Same Mikel Landa became the second cyclist – after Marco Pantani – to win on Madonna di Campiglio and Aprica
– Steven Kruijswijk is the first Dutchman to pass first on the top of Mortirolo
– Mikel Landa won this year’s Cima Coppi, Colle delle Finestre
– Fabio Aru became the first Italian cyclist to notch the victory on Sestriere
– Philippe Gilbert is the first Belgian rider since Roger De Vlaeminck (1979) to win two stages at one edition of the Giro d’Italia
– Giacomo Nizzolo finished first in the red jersey classification without winning a stage
– Another rider of Trek, Massimo Coledan, is the “maglia nera” of this edition, as he came last in the overall standings
– Iljo Keisse scored his maiden victory in a Grand Tour
– Thanks to the Belgian rider, Etixx-Quick Step has now got a stage in the last eight Grand Tours
– 11 riders have abandoned during the third week of the race
– For Alessandro Petacchi, this was the last Giro d’Italia of his career
– Eduard Grosu and Serghei Tvetcov became the first Romanian cyclists to complete a Grand Tour
– Seven neo-pros came at the start of the Giro d’Italia, five of them finished the race: Giacomo Berlato, Clement Chevrier, Luca Chirico, Eduard Grosu and Riccardo Stacchiotti
– Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec is the team with the most days spent in a breakaway, 14 out of the 19 stages in line
– Four Astana riders came in the top 10 on Sestriere, which hasn’t been done on a summit finish since Panasonic, in stage 1a of the 1987 edition
– Astana, FDJ, Giant-Alpecin and Tinkoff-Saxo are the four teams that finished the Giro d’Italia with all nine cyclists
– For Adam Hansen, this was the 11th Grand Tour in a row that he completed, one shy of Bernardo Ruiz’s record
– 11 teams were left winless in Milan: AG2R, Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec, CCC Sprandi Polkowice, FDJ, Giant-Alpecin, IAM, LottoNL-Jumbo, Nippo-Vini Fantini, Southeast, Tinkoff-Saxo and Trek Factory Racing
– This Giro d’Italia had the third fastest average speed of the last 35 years: 39,615 km/h
Posted in Giro 2015
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See Roger Waters Play Lockdown Version of Pink Floyd’s ‘Mother’
Roger Waters has released a version of Pink Floyd's “Mother,” which he led from his home studio during the coronavirus lockdown.
The performance also features members of his band who contributed parts from their homes. “Social distancing is a necessary evil in COVID world,” Waters said in a statement. “Watching ‘Mother’ reminds me just how irreplaceable the joy of being in a band is.”
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Waters noted that he and his team didn't halt work on his upcoming tour despite the pandemic forcing its postponement.
“We didn’t stop for a single second,” he said. “The show is part rock ’n’ roll arena show, part cinema. It’s couched on this idea that we are divided between the ruling classes, who I characterize as living in the iCloud. They live in the sky – it’s all white up there, and they live in great luxury. And then there’s the netherworld where the rest of us shuffle around, uncomfortably numb. And then there’s a third place, the bar, which is a figment of my imagination, where people from all over the world, all communities, colors, creeds, religions can gather and speak to one another. I will be employing actors to be characters in the bar — I’m already casting, and I’ve written the whole screenplay.”
Asked if he was delving into Pink Floyd’s catalog for the show, Waters said he can "throw together a set list of any song that I ever wrote in my life, with the exception of some of the early ones. I’m not sure where ‘Set the Controls [for the Heart of the Sun]’ might fit into this narrative. Because that was when I was in my early 20s and I was copying shit out of books of Chinese poetry.”
Pink Floyd Solo Albums Ranked
Next: Tours Canceled or Postponed Due to Coronavirus
Source: See Roger Waters Play Lockdown Version of Pink Floyd’s ‘Mother’
Filed Under: coronavirus, Pink Floyd, Roger Waters
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from my sketchbook: bobby driscoll
Posted by joshpincusiscrying on 6 August 2009, 11:32 pm
Bobby Driscoll was Walt Disney’s Golden Child. He was the typical cute, scrappy All-American boy and Disney Studios milked that image for all they could. Bobby starred in a string of classic live-action pictures for Disney, including Song of the South, So Dear to My Heart and Treasure Island. He was also provided the voice for “Goofy Jr” in several animated short subjects. Bobby’s most famous Disney role was providing the voice of the title character in the 1953 animated classic Peter Pan. Bobby was in high demand and Disney allowed the young star to be “loaned out” to other studios, which was common practice for contracted performers. Bobby won an Oscar in 1950 for “Best Juvenile Actor”. (That category was discontinued by the Academy in 1960.)
As Bobby grew older, he didn’t quite fit the persona of the “likable kid” anymore. He grew dissatisfied with that image. He also developed terrible acne. He would make public appearances with heavy, concealing makeup. Disney seized this opportunity to sever Bobby’s contract, essentially abandoning him.
He found his demand dwindling in the early to middle 50s. He took small, one-shot roles on episodic television, usually playing a bully or gang member. He was arrested for marijuana possession in 1956. In 1961, he was arrested and sentenced for disturbing the peace, assault and drug charges.
After his release from prison and and a year after his parole expired, Bobby moved to New York City. He became part of Andy Warhol’s Greenwich Village art community known as The Factory, where he began focusing on his artistic talents. He took one more acting role in an experimental film called Dirt in 1965.
Bobby soon afterward left Warhol and The Factory and disappeared, penniless. On March 30, 1968, two boys playing in a deserted East Village tenement found his dead body. The medical examination determined that he had died from heart failure caused by an advanced hardening of the arteries due to longtime drug abuse. There was no ID on the body, and photos taken of it and shown around the neighborhood yielded no positive identification. When Bobby’s body went unclaimed, he was buried in an unmarked grave in New York City’s Potter’s Field. Nineteen months after his death, Bobby’s mother sought the help of the Disney Studios to contact him for a reunion with his father, who was near death. Given his last know whereabouts, she contacted the New York City Police who, based on a fingerprint match, directed her to the pauper’s graveyard.
Filed under celebrity, death, Disney, from my sketchbook | 4 Comments | Permalink
WOW! this is crazy Josh!
i actually just found this article on him..
http://knowotr.blogspot.com/2008/06/bobby-driscoll-1937-68.html
it says they never were able to find his body? what a biazarre story… and great pic of a trbiute to this troubled kids/adults life…
man these big places did not give a shit about these kids at all did they?
Well at least he did not go off to Africa and die at a young age!
« Monday Artday: ghost
IF: impatience »
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Democratic Wealth/Political Theory/Q&A's
Q&A: Dan Hind, author of “Maximum Republic”
James Stern-Weiner / December 6, 2012 / 1 / 1.2k
Blog Admin 2012-12-06
Britain has been fooled. Told that ‘republicanism’ just meant sacking the monarchy, the British have missed its radical vision for the future. James Stern-Weiner, co-editor of the New Left Project, interviews Dan Hind, the author of a new pamphlet that seeks to ignite the flame.
In your new pamphlet, you declare that ‘it is ok to like the monarchy’. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t guillotine you right now.
It isn’t a statement that will endear me to Jacobins, I know. But there is a serious point here. Anarchists, socialists, communists all have to decide whether they want to make abolition of the monarchy a condition of radicalism. If they do then they are setting themselves against the stated preferences of 80% of the population, who are more or less happy with a crowned head of state. Is it really a good idea to say, ‘Here’s a radical programme. By the way you can’t sign up to it unless you agree with me about the urgent need to get rid of the monarchy’?
Which would you prefer – a substantially post-capitalist society with a crowned head of state, or a good, bourgeois republic with an elected head of state? Liking the monarchy is not the same as being happy with its constitutional status. But capitalism is less popular than the monarchy right now. Why pick a fight with the Queen?
Why do you think it is that self-proclaimed republicans have focused on anti-monarchism, when everyone knows the pageantry of the monarchy is now, as you put it, ‘light from a long dead star’?
Well, not all of them have, by any means. But the republicans that reach an audience tend to conflate republicanism and anti-monarchism. They are usually brought on at moments of national celebration to complain that we aren’t a proper country, like France or Germany. All will be well when we replace the House of Windsor with a retired politician.
It is how the game is played in this country. There is a strand of liberal opinion that despairs of Britain not being like somewhere else, or an idealised version of somewhere else. It sees abolition of the monarchy as part of our becoming a normal, modern country.
What is ‘maximal republicanism’? How would we know we were in a maximally republican state?
A maximally republican state is one in which the people have the institutional and material resources necessary to make good on their formal sovereignty, to cash the cheque of a republican constitution. In Maximum Republic I argue that this requires reform of the systems of communication, subsidy and credit, among other things. We’ll know we are in a maximally republican state when we know what’s going on, can talk about it openly, and make changes we agree are necessary.
That’s one answer. We’d be having more fun, that’s another.
Montesquieu characterised the English constitution as a ‘republic [hiding]… under the form of monarchy’. If Britain is a de facto republic, why does it take ‘the form of monarchy’ at all?
Well, I agree with Montesquieu, and with Bagehot who made a similar point. I call it an illicit republic because I wanted to stress the extent to which rule is out of sight.
The monarchy is still useful. For one thing it confounds the reforming imagination. It is kind of indefensible in logic, but it is emotionally appealing to lots of people. So the blundering rationalist calls for its abolition and everyone laughs at the silliness of those who don’t enjoy our rich traditions, and so on. Like I say it is part of how the game of public speech is played.
More seriously, the current constitution, where the Crown-in-Parliament rules, gives enormous discretionary power to a tiny handful of people. Many people think that they live in a constitutional monarchy that also is a democracy. They are wrong on both counts. They live in an absolute monarchy whose sovereign power has been captured by a Parliament. This Parliament has conceded some democratic elements but the people are not sovereign. The country is not even formally, let alone maximally, republican. But this has nothing to do with the fact of a crowned head of state. The issue is the constitutional status of the general population. Britain isn’t, as a matter of boring old fact, a democracy. This matters a great deal; it is a large part of how Britain’s particular version of capitalism organises itself.
The monarchy shields all this from consideration and the people who run things will want to keep it as long as it continues to help in the necessary work of mystification.
The ancient democratic republics comprised a minority of citizens and a majority of non-citizens (for instance, slaves). You argue that our society, too, is divided into the mass of the population, on the one hand, and a much smaller ‘effectually ruling public’ on the other. Who is this effectually ruling public, and what are the mechanisms by which it reproduces itself?
The exact composition varies and it escapes easy classification. The point of calling it an illicit republic is precisely that the ruling public don’t act openly. They don’t tell people what they have in mind at election time, for example. They work through obscure working groups, committees, networks of various kinds. Very few people who aren’t in it can talk about it authoritatively.
Still, the ruling public are best understood as those who can make the state serve their interests, who can treat the state as their property. The core of the effectually ruling public is, roughly, the senior figures in the financial sector, some people from some of the scarier bits of the global economy – oil, arms, pharmaceuticals, that kind of thing – and the political class. They have partners in the media, in academia and in other key institutions who are also influential in their own right. There are more who need to be kept onside, consulted, and so on. But the core is in the South East and it is organized around finance and politics in the broad sense.
The historian Quentin Skinner and the philosopher Philip Pettit have in recent years revived a distinctively republican tradition of thought about liberty. Republican liberty, in their accounts, is infringed not by active interference but by the condition of dependence. Mere vulnerability to domination by others is, for republicans, an infringement on one’s liberty. Do you work with a similar understanding of liberty in this book? What political implications does it have?
I have been very much influenced by Skinner’s work in particular on this, having come to Pettit quite late. The idea of vulnerability is very useful, I think. It is important when we are thinking about the media, for example. Pierre Bourdieu once said that ‘journalism is a very powerful profession made up of very vulnerable individuals’. Why do you think you can trust journalists who are vulnerable to forces they can’t adequately acknowledge?
Newspapers are courts, broadcasters are courts, to use a good old republican term of abuse. They are closed to outside scrutiny and they reward faithful service to the institution, punish disruption. Now, that’s not to say that the people working in the media are all villains, far from it. But villainy is the best policy, in a lot of instances.
More generally, without effective public oversight and control of the state the social world becomes an overlapping mass of unacknowledged domination. We are vulnerable economically and as James Harrington has it, ‘he who wants bread is his servant that will feed him’. The same applies if I want a Lexus, or a country house. Every need and desire can become a threat to our freedom.
Maximal republicanism is quite a radical doctrine. You argue that, ‘fully realised’, it means ‘the end of capitalism’. What’s the conflict between capitalism and maximum republicanism? Is republicanism opposed to all market-based economies, or merely certain varieties?
Republicanism, fully realised, insists on the public direction of society. In a capitalist society an unstable coalition of capitalists along with their partners in the state decide the course of events, as far as possible, and do their best to stop everyone else from having any say at all. In fact they spend a fortune creating the impression that stuff just happens. The two systems are not compatible. Either the people or the money power has the final say.
I am agnostic as to what post-capitalist society looks like. It is kind of above my pay grade. What the people in a fully achieved republic decide to do is up to them. They could leave power in the hands of the weirdos who currently run the show, I suppose. But they would do so as a conscious decision that they could revoke at any time. This wouldn’t be capitalism as I understand it.
Personally, I don’t think private property or market exchange are great evils. I can see how they could easily be part of a democratic-republican (interesting what those words currently call to mind) system. Republican rule has to be wary of markets, for reasons I discuss in Maximum Republic. It has to be wary of everything, in fact. But it doesn’t have to do without them.
Is maximum republicanism economically viable?
See my answer above! It depends what a sovereign public decides to do. If you think that people are politically viable, then what they come up with will be economically viable. I can see how republican rule would be much more dynamic, much more productive of common wealth, than what we have here.
Your political proposals, both here and in other works like The Return of the Public, advocate maximising the scope and substance of popular rule. Would it be fair to characterise your championing of the public as a faith position? Does maximum republicanism, for instance, rely on an implausibly rosy view of human nature and capabilities?
Fear and hatred of the people is much more of a faith position, if you think about it. The tyranny of the majority, the tragedy of the commons. The privileged have a whole set of revealed truths about how most people are dangerous brutes. There’s no evidence for it. It is self-serving nonsense, and has been demonstrated to be, over and again. I can sound a bit starry-eyed about what a free people can achieve, but it’s only because we hear so much libellous rubbish about our own species.
Given the necessary resources and powers, people are the best judges of what to do in their own lives. But, the necessary resources and powers are quite extensive: ‘allow all the governed an equal voice in the government and that, and that alone is self-government’. I agree with that, even though it was first said by that dubious legal type from Illinois, Abraham Lincoln.
I don’t think that we are all itching to become civic heroes. I don’t think a substantive democracy would be a utopia. But it would be better than what we have now. It is also our best shot at survival.
David Runciman argues that ‘political parties are founded on the assumption that most people don’t care enough about politics to do the things that would make a difference: they have to be corralled into the political arena and then bribed to stay there long enough to effect change’. Do you think people want to be spending a lot of their time involved in politics directly?
I don’t agree with Runciman on this, at all. Historically, political parties had their origins in gambling dens—they were a ruse put together by adventurers.
Ronald Syme wrote about Caesar’s enjoyment of ‘the conscious mastery of men and events’. This is what party politics delivers to a few, the thrill of executive command. Political parties are founded on the assumption that politics is tremendously rewarding and a brilliant laugh. The important thing is to keep the majority from realising it.
Not everyone wants to spend lots of time involved in politics, all the time, of course. But once more people begin understand what politics is, by doing it, they will see the point of Andreotti’s warning that ‘power is exhausting—to those who do not have it’.
For many eighteenth century thinkers it was axiomatic that a republic could only work on a small scale. First, because only then could citizens acquire the knowledge required to participate directly in politics. Second, because only in small, culturally homogeneous populations could the affective basis for republican citizenship—i.e. the strong sense of civic virtue required to re-orient private to public interest—be sustained. Does this not render republicanism an anachronistic model for a society like contemporary Britain?
Very briefly, they were right about the problem of knowledge, wrong about need for homogeneity.
The idea that we all need to have the same religion, the same skin colour, the same gender, the same income bracket—they’ve all been treated seriously as reasons for limiting republican ambitions for inclusion. I don’t buy any of them. We have in common a wish and capacity for liberty and we recognise that in one another when we meet as equals, to discuss matters of shared concern.
I talk about the problem of knowledge in the pamphlet, so I won’t go on about it here.
What advantages do you think maximal republicanism has as a liberating ideal or slogan as against, for instance, socialism or anarchism? Is your aim with this pamphlet to radicalise republicans, or do you also want to republicanise radicals?
I wanted to write something for people who live in Britain in particular, to try to explain why the place is so weird. As for people who call themselves republicans here, maybe some of them are a little too keen on anti-monarchism to trouble themselves with anti-capitalism, but you never know. I’d love to see one of them on Newsnight saying, ‘Oh, no, Jeremy, you misunderstand, we want a republic, a fully realised republic. The head of state thing, we’re pretty relaxed about that. Have you heard the one about the Eupatrids in democratic Athens?’
As for the radicals, I don’t want to present republicanism at full stretch as an alternative to socialism or anarchism. In writing the piece, I was interested in seeing what we could all learn from the republican tradition. I also wanted to think about what kinds of innovations would be necessary to make good on the idea of a sovereign public. That’s the point of Maximum Republic—it’s to ask what we need, if we want to be free, actually free. And to ask in a way that is practical and concrete, and that gives at least the outline of a political programme now. I hope that socialists, anarchists, everyone who is thinking seriously about our current predicament, will find something useful in Maximum Republic.
Like I say, I am kind of wishy-washy about ends. But as far as means are concerned, I am a fanatic. Whatever you have in mind, it must secure the approval of an informed and sovereign public.
This piece is part of the Democratic Wealth series, hosted by OurKingdom in partnership with Politics in Spires.
This piece originally appeared on the website of the New Left Project and is republished here with their permission.
Tags:MonarchyParlimentPhilip PettitPolitical PhilosophyQuentin SkinnerRepublicanism
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James Stern-Weiner
James Stern-Weiner is a graduate student in Modern Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Oxford, and is working on a book about resolving the Israel-Palestine conflict.
He is the founding co-editor of New Left Project.
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Taking Back the Economy: The market as a Res Publica
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Revolutionary France and the social republic that never was
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Ive read one of Dan Hind’s books: The Magic Kingdom. I don’t pretend to understand all of it, but I get enough to know our present situation is about as bad as it can get without out getting noticed. By that I mean it ends with some kind of melt down, or the establishment sleepwalks us into a much less pleasant regime, which we only realise after its happened. What is proposed here may or may not work. It may fail completely. But even if it did, could it be worse than what’s happening?
"Voters across the US have acted where politicians would not, making use of the ballot initiative process to reform… https://t.co/0B6BPHnJbn 19 hours ago
On the 2nd episode of the OxPol BlogCast, we spoke to @chia_jasmine and @realscottsinger about the Milk Tea Allianc… https://t.co/fmELUCCfu6 2 days ago
In our latest piece for #BallotBox2020, DPhil student @jvonhoffmann discusses the implications of election day for… https://t.co/NH2CtsRIuR 2 days ago
After the imposition of a second lockdown, Italy witnessed widespread and sometimes violent protests. A team of Ox… https://t.co/pFIqIebe8f 3 days ago
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Book Review: Leftover Women – The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China
By Elizabeth M. Lynch, July 18, 2014
For over 60 years, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has promoted itself as a champion of women’s rights. It was Mao Zedong who famously proclaimed “women hold up half the sky.” In making such proclamations, the CCP has crafted the story that in Asia, an otherwise bastion of patriarchal societies, China is an oasis of women equality.
But Leta Hong Fincher, in her new book Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China , unmasks that myth and exposes a disturbing, shocking and ultimately depressing development: China likely has one of the fastest-growing gender wealth gaps in the world. And the culprit of that increasing inequality? The Chinese government itself.
As Fincher convincingly demonstrates, it all starts with the concept of a “leftover woman,” a recently-developed ideology splashed not just all over the government-run newspapers but promoted
CCP Propaganda: Women Hold Up Half the Sky
by government agencies like the All-China Women’s Federation, an organization ostensibly designed to encourage female empowerment. Basically, if a woman is not married by 27, she is labeled a “leftover woman.” The older one gets, the worse the mind games become, mind games that are played out in the press and on TV on an almost daily basis. As a result, women, especially educated women who are mocked even more vigorously, feel societal pressure to marry at a young age; if you are leftover, no one will want you. But, as Fincher shows, this fear is utterly illogical. Due to the preference for boys in what has been one-child country for the past 30 years, China has a shortage of marriageable women. Not to mention, if you can only have one child, what is the rush in getting married? But in perhaps one of the most shocking parts of the book, doctors – licensed medical professionals – lie to their female patients, instilling fear in them that babies will be born with birth defects if conceived after the age of 30.
In Leftover Women , Fincher shows that this fear of being leftover has resulted in women being left out; left out of one of the largest gains in individual wealth in Chinese history: property accumulation. To understand better the connection between the two, Fincher set up a Weibo (Chinese version of Twitter) account to survey hundreds of young Chinese women. Through revealing snippets of interviews with these 20-somethings, it becomes clear that this fear of being leftover by the age of 27 has taken hold in the women themselves. This fear causes women not just to rush into a marriage but act against their own economic self-interest. Many of these well-educated, well-employed women will provide cash toward the down payment on a marital home without putting their name on the deed. Instead, as Fincher documents, in the vast majority of apartments occupied by married couples, only the man’s name is on the deed due to the resurgence of traditional gender roles. Shockingly many of the women interviewed accept these roles, acknowledging that they are effectively being swindled, but hint that it is all worth it so that they are not “leftover.”
Leftover Woman?
Changes to the Marriage Law in 2011 only further perpetuated these non-progressive gender norms. In 2011, the Supreme People’s Court issued an interpretation of the Marriage Law finding that in the case of the divorce, the property goes only to those whose names are on the deed unless the other party can clearly show their monetary contribution. But because down payments are in cash, receipts are often not kept. Further, China does not allow joint bank accounts and it is usually the husband who writes the monthly mortgage check, even if the wife is providing cash contribution or providing for other household needs such as food and childcare. But under the new interpretation, these contributions are not considered. So, yes the interpretation is neutral on its face, but its disparate impact it clear. This is an interpretation that is going to screw women.
Rushing into marriage and losing their economic independence leaves these women vulnerable to another increasing and alarming practice in China: domestic violence. Through the interviews that Fisher conducted, a general trend emerges: these women will often stay in an abusive marriage because otherwise they will lose everything. Not to mention that the Chinese government, even after years of lobbying, has yet to adopt a Domestic Violence law. As a result, the police’s treatment of domestic violence is anything less than sensitive and is usually just seen a family matter for the wife and her abuser to handle on their own.
The Most Powerful “Leftover Woman”: Empress Dowager Cixi
Leftover Women is a chilling portrayal – often told through the voices of the women themselves – of the rapid deterioration of women’s equality in China. If you think you know China, you don’t until you have read this book. It exposes an ugly development where, through pressure to marry young, the resurgence of traditional gender norms and laws that promote male property ownership, the Chinese government is keeping women out of the property market and thus out of an important segment of societal wealth.
Unfortunately, China is not alone in keeping a group of people out of property ownership and thus wealth accumulation. In an essay that was published in June in the Atlantic, Ta-Nahesi Coates illustrates the racist policies of home ownership in the United States that has largely kept communities of color out of one of America’s most important sources of family wealth. The initial culprit? The U.S. government itself. Reading these two pieces together will make you doubly angry, but also more reflective on how wealth is accumulated in any society and the desires to keep certain groups of people out.
Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China , by Leta Hong Fincher (Zed Books 2014), 192 pages.
Book Review | China, gender inequality, leftover, Leta Hong Fincher, Marriage Law, property, weatly gap, women
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Chipp Norcross
Is Purpose Your Company’s Best Protection Against Disruption?
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Creativity & Ingenutiy
Fun and Sports
This is a repost of an article I wrote back in 2012 after I was invited to spend a few days at the Singularity University Executive Program. What I did not know when I wrote this article was that a little more than two years later I would graduate from the program and, soon thereafter, take over the reins of not only the EP but all of our Open Enrollment programs. It is interesting to be able to look back in time and see that, while some of the specific technologies have moved forward, answers to many of the bigger questions like, “How will we govern ourselves?” have not. While many things in the world continue to get better everyday, there is undoubtedly a lot of work left to do. I’m thoroughly appreciative of the opportunity to work alongside an amazing team that brings these programs to life and provides a forum for leaders to engage in creating the future, together.
I had the privilege of spending the last two days as a guest at Singularity University’s Executive Program in Silicon Valley. And, after listening to a variety of experts in fields as diverse as computing, artificial intelligence, robotics, biotechnology, nanotechnology and neuroscience, I can safely say that the science fiction writers got it right. Really, really right. We already have Star Trek Communicators in the form of the iPhones and Android phones that we carry around in our pockets 24 hours a day, though there is an argument to be made that these devices are much more than that.
Given that most of us can’t be more than 10 feet away from our smart phones at anytime, are they really the beginning of the widespread integration of man and machine? The fact that we use our fingers and voices to control them rather than electrical impulses from the brain is an “arbitrary distinction”, as I heard multiple times this week. If the idea that you are already part cyborg has you feeling uneasy, its probably best for you to stop reading now.
The term “singularity” is a reference to the theory that humankind is rapidly approaching a point where technological intelligence will be greater than human intelligence. And after listening to the assembled speakers at the SU campus, it sounds like its coming quickly. The exponential growth and convergence of capabilities in genetics, nanotechnology, robotics and artificial intelligence is pushing us towards a future which could be startling, and is unpredictable. What happens when robots become smarter than we are? What happens when robots can build themselves (read: reproduce)? What happens when advances in technology allow us to live forever? Will we want to? What will there be for us to do in a world where robots and machines are smarter and better at doing just about everything?
And that is where the excitement starts to build for me. If we take for granted that we are going to achieve this future of singularity in the coming generations, and after what I’ve seen the last few days it sure seems like we will, then we as humans are going to have a lot of work to do in building what will amount to an entirely new kind of social model. How will we govern ourselves? How will sentient robots integrate into society? How do we keep technology in the hands of those who wish to do good instead of evil? There will be a lot of complex issues for us to answer, and though it might fly in the face of everything else I’ve written here, I’m putting my money on humans playing the critical role in solving these kinds of issues instead of machines. To do so, however, we’ll need to find a spirit of cooperative problem-solving that is in desperately short supply in many of our institutions today. To be honest, that might be the biggest challenge we face. But the reward is massive.
I think it sounds a lot more fun to shape the future than to let the future shape us, so the best advice I can give anyone who is interested in learning more is to go to Singularity University’s homepage, check out their faculty, and then go to their YouTube channel to find videos of their speeches and presentations (like the inspiring one above). Then find a few hours and a quiet place to sit, allow your mind to be blown and allow your creativity to run wild.
There is a future to be created and fortunes to be made as industries will be fundamentally reshaped by countless technologies originally envisioned by those frighteningly accurate science fiction writers many years ago.
Are 3D printers from Cubify all that different from Star Trek’s transporters when you can print a physical object on the other side of the world with a touch of a button?
Has Gattaca come to life with personal genetics testing from 23andMe?
Are HAL 9000 and Alex Trebek’s friend IBM Watson just computer brothers from another mother? How about George Jetson’s car and Google’s driverless car? The Six Million Dollar Man, Steve Austin, and South African Sprinter Oscar Pistorious?
If they aren’t exact matches, they are certainly very close. So, what’s the science fiction that you want to create? There’s never been a time in human history when creating anything has been more possible.
This post originally appeared on Medium on July 13, 2018.
Posted on October 24, 2018 Categories Corporate Innovation, Education, Future, Innovation, Singularity UniversityLeave a comment on How to Prepare for Our Rapidly Approaching Science Fiction Future
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Christina Baker Kline
The Exiles
A Piece of the World
Orphan Train
Orphan Train Girl: The Young Readers’ Edition of Orphan Train
The Way Life Should Be
Desire Lines
Sweet Water
The Conversation Begins
July 16, 2010 By bakerkline
Great Writing
Justin Kramon didn’t think he was qualified to call himself a writer. And then he thought about his favorite books, and had a change of heart:
For some reason, I used to have the perception that writers should be interesting, well-rounded, generally knowledgeable people. I got this idea before I’d met any writers, and certainly before I started trying to become one. In fact, my perception of writers was a big obstacle to writing, because – and I have to be completely honest here – I’m not that interesting, am poorly rounded, and most of what I have to offer in the way of knowledge concerns the time it takes to heat various foods in the microwave.
A few years ago, I’d started working on a novel, but it hadn’t come alive. The voice was wooden and the characters seemed predictable, too polite with each other. It was like watching my novel through a window. I wanted to get in there and tickle everyone.
The problem, I realized, was that I wanted to be a good writer. I wanted to sound like the writers everyone had been telling me were great writers, the best writers, the important writers. A lot of these writers happened to be men, and happened to write in wise, commanding, and slightly formal styles. Reading them made me feel like a slow runner in sixth-grade gym, sweating and hyperventalating while everyone else rushed by. They were doing something I could never do, that I wasn’t built to do.
But these great writers were not actually the writers I most enjoyed reading. Picking up their books was more of a responsibility than a pleasure. The writers I loved, the writers who had meant most to me, who had entertained me and stuck with me and let me lose myself in their books – this was a completely different list.
So one morning, when I couldn’t face my own fledgling novel, I decided to make a list of writers I loved. One of the writers that immediately jumped to mind was Alice Adams, who died in the late-1990’s and unfairly seems to have fallen off the map. She wrote some of the most entertaining and insightful books I’ve read, including the novel Superior Women and a story collection called To See You Again. I can’t think of many writers I’d rather sit down and read than Alice Adams. Her books are so absorbing that I feel like I’m reading gossip from a close friend, about people I actually know, except the writing is so much funnier and clearer and more beautiful than any gossip I’ve ever read. John Irving is another one. I love his intricate plots, the slightly larger-than-life characters, the comic set pieces, and the sense of bigness and adventure in all his novels. I think of Irving’s books, as I do of Charles Dickens’s, as treasure chests of ideas and characters and funny moments.
Making this list helped me let go a little bit of the desire to be important. I realized that these are the kinds of books I want to write – books filled with unforgettable characters, books that give me an almost childlike sense of wonder. I started a new novel, Finny, with a narrator whose voice is informal, quirky, a little devilish. Finny’s voice made me laugh, and I honestly cared about her and wanted to see what would happen to her, the people she’d meet, the man she would fall in love with.
Part of the process of becoming a writer has been acknowledging my own limitations, the things I don’t know about. And also being honest: about what I like, what I enjoy, what moves me. To be truthful, I don’t enjoy research. I’m not all that interested in history, and even though I try to stay informed, I’m not ardent about politics. I don’t get a huge kick from philosophical or intellectual discussions. I’m interested in psychology, food, loss, sex, death, awkward social situations, and I’m passionate about the subject of why people are as annoying as they are. I may not win a Nobel Prize for this, but it’s the only kind of novel I can write. Making my list, I saw that what I wanted to do was write books that people love reading, that make them laugh and cry, and that allow me to bring a little of myself into the world.
Justin Kramon is the author of the novel Finny (Random House), which was published on Tuesday. Now twenty-nine years old, he lives in Philadelphia. You can find out more about Justin and contact him through his website, www.justinkramon.com. You can watch a book trailer for Finny here, and you can access Justin’s blog for writers here.
Filed Under: Guest Blogs, Inspiration Tagged With: Alice Adams, Charles Dickens, creative process, fiction writing, Finny, Inspiration, John Irving, Justin Kramon, Superior Women, Thoughts, writing a novel
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PREVIEW: Four points on Mount St. Mary’s vs. the Cyclones
Jared Stansbury, Nov 13 • 0 Comments
Nov 11, 2016; Ames, IA, USA; Iowa State Cyclones guard Nazareth Mitrou-Long (15) drives past Savannah State Tigers guard Kamil Williams (50) at James H. Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones beat the Tigers 113-71. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports
Monday night’s game at Hilton Coliseum will be a family affair of sorts when Mount St. Mary’s visits Hilton Coliseum for a 7 p.m. tip on Cyclones.tv. Here are four points on what you need to know before the Mountaineers roll into Ames.
1 – 139 words about Mount St. Mary’s men’s basketball
The Mountaineers opened the season with an 87-59 loss to the uh… Mountaineers. The victorious West Virginia Mountaineers forced 21 turnovers and held the other Mountaineers to 35.2 percent shooting from the field.
Jamion Christian’s squad was led by 6-foot-4-inch junior guard Greg Alexander with 15 points, including four 3-pointers. Sophomore guard Elijah Long (more on him in a minute) scored 14 points and snagged five rebounds.
The Mount — yes, they’re commonly referred to as “The Mount” — finished 14-19 last season while finishing fifth in the Northeast Conference. Their non-conference schedule also includes tilts against Minnesota, Michigan and Arkansas.
The program is 1-26 all-time against ranked opponents, the only win coming against No. 21 Georgia Tech in 1995. This will be the first game between Iowa State and “The Mount.”
2 – Mitrou-Long family reunion
Monday’s game was scheduled in part for Iowa State senior guard Nazareth Mitrou-Long to get a chance to play against his brother, Elijah. Long, a 6-foot sophomore guard, averaged 5.6 points per game in his first season at “The Mount.”
He is the first player from Canada to play for the Mountaineers. The game will be a family reunion of sorts as the two will have around 20 friends and family members in the stands.
Nov 11, 2016; Morgantown, WV, USA; Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers guard Elijah Long (55) drives past West Virginia Mountaineers guard James Bolden (3) during the second half at WVU Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports
“When it was a done deal, Coach Micah (Byars) approached me and told me we were going to be playing them,” Mitrou-Long said. “It’s truly just a dream come true, man. A lot of people have younger siblings where you’re close in age and so forth, but he’s a good four years off of me. When he was like 5-foot-2, I was like 5-10, 6-foot playing competitively never thinking that I’d ever play him. To be able to play him on Monday is truly going to be a dream come true. I’m going to have a bunch of family in there. But, with that being said, when the ball gets tipped off, I don’t know who he is. That’s the attitude he’s going to have, as well, but it is truly a dream come true.”
Mitrou-Long scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the Cyclones’ win over Savannah State on Friday. The game was his return to Hilton Coliseum after sitting out most of last season while recovering from double hip surgery.
Who knows how much the two brothers will guard each other, but Mitrou-Long made the scouting report on his brother pretty simple.
“We’re going to put a bunch of guys on him,” Mitrou-Long said. “We want to wear him out. When he gets to the lane, beat his shot into the seventh row. We want to do everything we can to make his gas run out and everybody else on their team. We’re going to approach it as if we’re playing Kansas, we’re playing Oklahoma, it’s a serious game, but it’s not personal. It’s not about me, it’s about us getting that win and moving forward and learning from that game.”
3 – Change of pace
“The Mount” will bring an exponentially different style of play into Hilton Coliseum on Monday compared to Savannah State. Mount St. Mary’s ranked 142nd nationally in adjusted tempo last season, according to KenPom.
The Mountaineers took 54 shots from the field, including 24 3-pointers, in their season-opening loss to West Virginia. They’ll likely play a much less reckless style of basketball compared to the Tigers, who attempted 76 shots, 48 of them from behind-the-arc, against Iowa State.
4 – Monte’s historic opener
According to the Iowa State game notes, Monte Morris became just the ninth Division I men’s basketball player to score 21 points and dish out 11 assists with zero turnovers in a game since 2010-11. The Cyclones’ senior floor general from Flint, Mich. accounted for 46 of Iowa State’s 113 points (40.7 percent) in the game.
“I think all great teams have great point guard play,” Iowa State head coach Steve Prohm said after the game. “Great guard play, obviously, but great point guard play. I looked at the stat at the end, those stat sheets they flow through your bench, and I don’t really look at them a ton, maybe if you’re losing you peek at them a little bit more, but I looked at the last one at the last media and I saw 11 assists, zero turnovers. I was like, ‘Man, that kid is something, man.’ It just always happens.”
Jared Stansbury
View articles by Jared Stansbury administrator
Jared a native of Clarinda, Iowa, started as the Cyclone Fanatic intern in August 2013, primarily working as a videographer until starting on the women’s basketball beat prior to the 2014-15 season. Upon earning his Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from Iowa State in May 2016, Jared was hired as the site’s full-time staff writer, taking over as the primary day-to-day reporter on football and men’s basketball. He was elevated to the position of managing editor in January 2020. He is a regular contributor on 1460 KXNO in Des Moines and makes regular guest appearances on radio stations across the Midwest. Jared resides in Ankeny with his four-year-old puggle, Lolo.
Follow @@JaredStansbury
Previous Cyclones a field goal underdog to Texas Tech
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PREVIEW: Three points before Texas visits Hilton Coliseum
PREVIEW: Five points on the Cincinnati Bearcats
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October 10, 2020 Rob Truman
Google Chrome opens with a “New Tab” page by default, but it’s easy to open the browser with a custom startup page instead. You can also set the page that appears when you click an optional “Home” icon on your toolbar. Here’s how to do both.
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Root Kit
A rootkit is a collection of programs that enable administrator-level access to a computer or computer network. Typically, a cracker installs a rootkit on a computer after first obtaining user-level access, either by exploiting a known vulnerability or cracking a password. Once the rootkit is installed, it allows the attacker to mask intrusion and gain root or privileged access to the computer and, possibly, other machines on the network.
A solid-state drive (SSD) is a solid-state storage device it is also sometimes called a solid-state device or a solid-state disk, even though SSDs lack the physical spinning disks and movable read-write heads used in hard drives ("HDD") or floppy disks.
A design for a set of characters. A font is the combination of typeface and other qualities, such as size and spacing. The term font is often used incorrectly as a synonym for 'typeface'. The font you're currently looking at is called Arial.
Random Access Memory (RAM)
The best-known form of computer memory. RAM is considered "Random Access" because you can access any memory cell directly. RAM is volatile memory -- its contents are lost as soon as power to the computer is turned off.
Phishing is email fraud where the perpetrator sends out legitimate-looking emails that appear to come from trustworthy web sites in an attempt to gather personal and financial information from the recipient.
Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP)
A method of accessing electronic mail that is kept on a mail server. It allows an email program to access remote message stores as if they were local. Email stored on an IMAP server can be accessed from a desktop computer at home, a workstation at the office, and a notebook computer while traveling, without the need to transfer messages or files back and forth between these computers.
Bandwidth in computer networking refers to the data speed supported by a network connection. It is most often expressed in terms of bits per second (bps) or megabits per second (Mps). The term represents the total distance between the highest and lowest signals on the communication channel (band).
A way of coding the information in a file or email so that if it is read by a third party as it travels over a network it cannot be read. Only the persons sending and receiving the information have the key and this makes it unreadable to anyone except the intended persons.
Internet Protocol (IP) Address
A string of four numbers separated by periods (such as 192.168.211.100) used to represent a computer on the Internet. Having an IP address allows a device to communicate with other devices over an IP-based network like the internet.
Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)
A technology for bringing high-bandwidth information to homes and businesses over ordinary copper telephone lines.
Any advertising software which automatically plays, displays, or downloads advertising material to a computer after the software is installed on it or while the application is being used.
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)
This is a set of rules used for sending email over the Internet. Your email program uses SMTP to send a message to the mail server and the mail server uses SMTP to relay that message to the correct receiving mail server. SMTP is a set of commands that authenticate and direct the transfer of electronic mail.
Hard Drive/Hard Disk
A hard disk drive (sometimes abbreviated as a hard drive, HD, or HDD) is a non-volatile data storage device. It is usually installed internally in a computer, attached directly to the disk controller of the computer's motherboard.
Read-Only Memory (ROM)
This memory holds all the basic instructions the computer needs to do very simple stuff, such as making the letter "X" appear on the monitor when you press the "X" key. This memory cannot be changed, so losing power does not affect it.
Short for "malicious software" and is any software intentionally designed to cause damage to a computer, server, client, or computer network. A wide variety of types of malware exist, including computer viruses, worms, Trojan horses, ransomware, spyware, adware, rogue software, and scareware.
A pre-recorded audio program that is made available for download (manually or automatically) so people can listen to them on personal computers or mobile devices.
A system that prevents unauthorized access to or from a private network. Firewalls can be hardware or software, or a combination of both.
Computer software that collects personal information about users without their informed consent. The term is often used interchangeably with adware and malware. Personal information is secretly recorded with techniques such as logging keystrokes, recording browsing history, and scanning documents on the computer's hard disk.
According to the FCC, the definition of broadband internet is a minimum of 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload speeds. Broadband provides high-speed internet access via multiple types of technologies including fiber optics, wireless, cable, DSL, and satellite.
Multi-purpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME)
A standard that allows Internet users to exchange email messages enhanced with graphics, video, and voice as attachments to the body of the text.
A central processing unit (CPU), or often simply called a processor, is the component in a computer that interprets instructions and processes data contained in computer programs.
A blog (shortening of “weblog”) is an online journal or informational website displaying information in the reverse chronological order, with the latest posts appearing first. It is a platform where a writer or even a group of writers share their views on an individual subject.
The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard network protocol used for the transfer of computer files between a client and server on a computer network.
A format for information syndication, enabling the publishing of data which can then be reused in other contexts. RSS sources are often called feeds, meaning that new information is produced and published regularly and can be obtained from these feeds. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication.
A computer virus is a type of computer program that, when executed, replicates itself by modifying other computer programs and inserting its own code. When this replication succeeds, the affected areas are then said to be "infected" with a computer virus.
Internet Service Provider (ISP)
Internet Service Provider is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. Internet service providers can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise privately owned.
Sometimes called a keystroke logger, key logger, or system monitor, it is a hardware device or small program that monitors each keystroke a user types on a specific computer's keyboard.
A worm is a software program that uses computer networks and security flaws to create copies of itself. It replicates itself to new computers using the flaws and then begins scanning and replicating again.
Post Office Protocol (POP)
A set of rules by which a computer can retrieve electronic mail from a mail server. The POP server holds the email until the user can retrieve it. POP does not provide for sending email which is usually done via SMTP. POP3 can be used with or without SMTP.
A Trojan horse is a computer program that pretends to do one thing (claiming to be a picture) but actually does damage when one starts it (it can completely erase one's files). Trojan horses cannot replicate automatically.
A web portal is a specially designed website that brings information from diverse sources, like emails, online forums, and search engines, together in a uniform way. Usually, each information source gets its dedicated area on the page for displaying information (a portlet); often, the user can configure which ones to display.
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About Braga
Braga is a small city located in the northwestern region of Portugal only a short distance away from Porto, which makes this a unique coliving destination. If you’re a digital nomad looking for a new hub to set up in, then Braga may well be your ideal location. The city has roughly 200,000 residents and is the third-largest urban center in Portugal, only after Lisbon and Porto. The town has a mix of medieval and modern architecture which gives this little city a stunning reputation and makes it an important industrial hub for northern Portugal.
Due to its cultural history, there are plenty of ancient sites and museums to visit during your free time as a digital nomad. You'll find your usual pubs here as well as small hidden gems if you look off the beaten path. The streets are lined with small bakeries and cafes to stop by for breakfast or if you’re in need of a quiet remote space to work then these are good bets. The city has strong Catholicism views and you’ll find many Catholic churches and cathedrals scattered around the city.
If you’re looking for a more spontaneous night out then you can always take the bus or high-speed train down to Porto which is only 30 miles to the south of the city. Here you’ll find more diversity in restaurants, bars, and nightclubs. This is an easy day trip or maybe even a weekend getaway for you. There is no airport in Braga, the closest one is in Porto. From Porto, you’ll be able to catch a flight to major international hubs around Europe to get you to your final destination.
Fun facts about Braga:
- The location where Braga is today was turned into a city in 16 B.C. by Romans
- It has one of the best universities in the country, the University of Minho
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Mizzou settles lawsuit brought by South Carolina women’s coach Dawn Staley
By Travis HinesMay 24, 2018, 8:10 PM EDT
Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images
An ugly episode has reached its conclusion with the University of Missouri paying $50,000 and its athletic director apologizing to South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley.
Mizzou will donate $25,000 to Staley’s charity foundation and the other $25,000 going to her attorneys after she filed a defamation lawsuit stemming from an incident last winter when Tigers athletic director Jim Sterk claimed she “promoted that kind of atmosphere” after he alleged that Missouri players were called racial epithets and spit on after a game at South Carolina in January.
“Following a very spirited and intense game I attended in late January between the nationally ranked Missouri and South Carolina women’s basketball teams, I made comments in a local radio interview that were construed to suggest that Coach Staley promoted the negative experiences of racial epithets and spitting,” Sterk said in a statement Missouri released Thursday.
“I do not believe Coach Staley would promote such conduct, and I sincerely apologize to her for those comments.”
The lawsuit, which was filed in February, stemmed from an incident after a Missouri player claimed she had been spit after a loss in Columbia in January.
“We had players spit on and called the ‘N’ word and things like that,” Sterk said on Jan. 30, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I mean it was not a good environment and unfortunately and I think Coach (Dawn) Staley promoted that kind of atmosphere. And it’s unfortunate that she felt she had to do that.”
With Thursday’s announced settlement, both parties are looking to put the incident in the past.
“I accept his apology and I appreciate the contribution of $25,000 to INNERSOLE, a not for profit organization I co-founded that provides new sneakers to children who are homeless or in need,” Staley said in a statement. “I’m glad we can share in support of this worthy cause and I look forward to moving past this with a continued spirited but positive competition amongst our programs.”
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Pat Narduzzi Mark Dantonio Jaylen Twyman Leo Anthony Gallagher Patrick Gallagher Sports College football Football College sports Coaching
Pittsburgh ACC Michigan State Big Ten
Pat Narduzzi: No plans to return to Michigan State football
By WILL GRAVES - Feb. 05, 2020 05:37 PM EST
FILE - In this Sept. 7, 2019, file photo, Pittsburgh head coach Pat Narduzzi works the sideline during an NCAA college football game against Ohio in Pittsburgh. Narduzzi has no plans to head back to Michigan State, shooting down speculation he is interested in coaching the Spartans following longtime Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio's retirement. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pat Narduzzi considers Mark Dantonio a mentor. However, the Pittsburgh coach has no intentions of replacing him at Michigan State.
Stressing he wants to win championships with the Panthers, Narduzzi downplayed the idea he would leave Pitt to take over the Spartans. That's after Dantonio's stunning retirement on Tuesday.
“It's my ultimate goal to be here at Pitt,” Narduzzi said Wednesday. “I came here to get a job done. We're just working on continuing to move forward.”
Narduzzi declined to comment when asked if he had been contacted by Michigan State — where he served as an assistant under Dantonio for eight years before joining the Panthers in December 2014 — saying only “put it this way, my phone was blowing up last night.”
The list of people reaching out included Pitt chancellor Patrick Gallagher and athletic director Heather Lyke, both speaking to Narduzzi in the hours after Dantonio's decision to step away. Lyke and Narduzzi met in person on Wednesday morning and she watched later in the day as Narduzzi outlined why he wants to remain with the Panthers.
“I know what I'm dealing with here at Pitt,” Narduzzi said. “I know every day when I call up Heather Lyke and say, ‘How about this?' She's going to say, 'We'll get it done.' I just know that. I don't know that about any place else in the country like I know it here.”
Narduzzi is 36-29 in five seasons with the Panthers, including an Atlantic Coast Conference Coastal Division title in 2018. He's signed through 2024. Pitt is coming off an 8-5 mark in 2019 and has the majority of starters back on both sides of the ball, including second team All-American defensive tackle Jaylen Twyman, who opted to return for his redshirt junior season rather than go the NFL.
Still, Narduzzi's relationship with Dantonio stretches well over a decade. Dantonio hired Narduzzi to be the defensive coordinator when Dantonio took over at Cincinnati in 2004. Narduzzi followed Dantonio to Michigan State in 2007 and became one of the top defensive minds in the country, winning the Broyles Award as the nation's top assistant coach in 2013. They've kept in touch through the years, and Narduzzi called Dantonio “my head coach. He always will be.”
“You know how much success you had at another place, and you enjoyed it, too,” Narduzzi said. “If you didn't enjoy it, you wouldn't have stayed there for eight years. There's always that pull.”
A pull that apparently isn't quite strong enough to lure Narduzzi to East Lansing.
“Like I said, it's not an easy decision,” Narduzzi said. “It's not easy for Jaylen Twyman to say 'I'm not leaving, I'm staying.' When it comes down to it, it's about the people.”
People that include recruits. Narduzzi said he had a video chat with incoming kicker Ben Sauls, who contacted Narduzzi on Tuesday night as speculation swirled. Narduzzi chose to switch from a voice call to video so Sauls could look at Narduzzi's face as he spoke.
“I wanted him to look me in the eyes and know, 'Hey, I want you to see me. I don't want to just hear you,'' Narduzzi said. ”I wanted him to see who I was."
Lyke, who shared a fist bump with Narduzzi on Wednesday before speaking to reporters, is confident she won't be putting together a coaching search.
Asked if she and Narduzzi will revisit his contract in the coming days, Lyke said “we may evaluate that with him,” before adding "what he wants to do is take care of his players and his coaches. And that's the most important thing for him.”
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Market on Main aims to enliven downtown corner
Josh Willoughby’s family is rooted in farming, and he wants to bring a taste of that heritage to downtown Columbia.
Willoughby’s food service company, Willoughby Farms & Foods, is branching out into entertainment venue development, and its first such project is a high-visibility one. The company is behind the transformation of the corner of Main and Lady streets where a demolished building once stood and a popular restaurant closed its doors into Market on Main, a restaurant and entertainment venue Willoughby hopes becomes a downtown destination.
Willoughby bought the former location of House of Fabrics, which vacated its store at 1312 Main St. because of code violations in August 2017. As that building was being torn down, Mediterranean-inspired restaurant Zoe’s closed its downtown location next door a year later.
“We said all right, this would be perfect if we integrated the two properties together,” said Willoughby, who leased the Zoe’s space.
The result, expected to open by the end of November, is an upscale deli and entertainment venue that will offer 18 taps of beer, wine, cold brew coffee and kombucha as well as a local produce and a small selection of grocery items.
“We’re going to have some staple stuff for people that are living nearby — milk, eggs, those kind of things,” said Willoughby, who hopes the concept will appeal to workers in surrounding office buildings as well as residents of downtown developments such as 1310 Lady St., a 109-unit apartment complex slated to join downtown’s growing residential presence within the next year. “We think this is needed. … There needs to be something where they can get the urban provisions that they need.”
Downtown grocer Local Yocal briefly tried to tap into that market a few blocks down at 1712 Main St., but the business didn’t last long after opening in September 2018.
Willoughby said he’s heard from the Main Street lunchtime crowd that the area needs more nearby fresh dining options, and he also wants to provide a downtown showcase for produce from suppliers such as Saluda-based Sylvan Farm and GrowFood Carolina.
He also plans to pay homage to the family members who still farm in Mullins. A mural depicting the family farm will be featured in the back of the restaurant, Willoughby said, which will also feature a wraparound glass deli counter with meats, cheeses and desserts on display, indoor and outdoor bar seating and indoor table seating.
Market on Main’s open-concept kitchen will be presided over by local chef Howard Stevens, most recently of Italian restaurant Sapori in Lexington. Stevens also helped open The Oak Table, a former downtown fine dining restaurant near Market on Main.
“We thought about him for this position because he’s had a lot of experience in what we’re trying to do here,” Willoughby said.
Mashburn Construction is handling the quick-turnaround renovations. Drew Coleman, director of Mashburn’s upfit division, worked on Halls Chophouse, which moved into the former home of The Oak Table at 1221 Main St. last year.
“It’s always cool to see new things come to Main Street,” Coleman said. “Everybody’s got different ideas, so it’s cool to see the mixture of restaurants and entertainment spaces.”
The upfit of Market on Main has added around 1,500 square feet of space, including bathrooms, to the former Zoe’s location, bringing the total interior space to 3,500 square feet. The outdoor patio, which will feature a stage and 20-foot LED television screen, has enclosed the former House of Fabrics property and will abut the green space at the corner of Main and Lady streets.
“We looked across the park and were like, man, this is going to be awesome view,” Willoughby said. “It’s going to be really inviting, a really good community space for everybody.”
Columbia architect Bob Probst is handling the design, which was inspired by similar locations Willoughby visited in Greenville, Charlotte and Dallas.
Willoughby said upfit work is on pace to finish by Oct. 31. Market on Main is hiring staff, which will undergo training before a projected soft opening around Nov. 7 and a grand opening later that month.
“Hopefully we’ll have the screen and everything up for the Carolina/Clemson game,” said Willoughby, who hopes the venue draws both local and tourist foot traffic. “We’re trying to get people to come to Main Street, (make it) more of a destination. …. We think it’s going to be a fixture on the street.”
This article first appeared in the Oct. 7 print edition of the Columbia Regional Business Report.
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Appeals of citizens
Public Authorities Should Consider Applications Directed via the System of Prejudicial Appealing
Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian FederationReport mistakes
Events/
Moscow, November 26, 2015. — Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation reports about amendments to the order of sending and considering applications on decisions of public authorities. Corresponding order was signed by Dmitry Medvedev and published on the website of the Government of Russia.
Complaints, delivered to public authorities via the Federal state information system of prejudicial appealing require obligatory consideration. In case of order and terms violation public official should pay penalty in amount from 20 to 30 thousand rules according to the article 5.63 of the Administrative Violations Code.
Starting from 2015 citizens of Russia can use prejudicial form of complains on decisions and activities of public officials of the Federal executive authorities and state non-budgetary funds while delivering public services. It’s a separate portal integrated in e-government infrastructure. Complains can be delivered by citizens registered in the Unified System of Identification and Authentication (USIA).
Introduction of the Federal state information system of prejudicial appealing enabled creation of the unified register of complaints. It will provide control over consideration of applications.
57 from 61 Federal executive authorities, delivering e-government services are connected to the system. Other public authorities should be connected in short terms.
Pretrial appealing,
Unified System of Identification and Authentication (USIA)
Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation
Address: Presnenskaya Embankment 10, building 2, Moscow, 125039, Russian Federation
Reference: +7 (495) 771-81-00
Attendance statistics
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FEATURED - FOREIGN AFFAIRS
EUROCTIV: The European Union must take a stand against Turkey’s aggression
It is encouraging that the German government has finally taken a stand on Turkey’s aggressive foreign policy, writes Robert Ellis and argues that Thursday’s debate in the European Parliament on Turkey’s negative role in the Eastern Mediterranean and Monday’s Foreign Affairs Council meeting will indicate which way the wind blows.
By Robert Ellis
SOURCE: EURACTIV
With regard to Operation Peace Spring, Turkey’s invasion of the Kurdish area of Rojava in northeastern Syria in October last year, the State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Development, Maria Flachsbarth (CDU), has stated that the Federal Government cannot find any grounds that would legitimize the operation under international law.
Apart from the presence of the Turkish army in Idlib province, there have been two previous Turkish incursions into Syria, in 2016 and 2018, which have led to the occupation of the areas concerned: the Manbij pocket and the Kurdish enclave of Afrin.
The first has been ‘Turkified’ with Turkish schools, hospitals, university faculties and even a Turkish post office. The Turkish lira is also the preferred currency and not the Syrian pound.
Operation Olive Branch in Afrin and Peace Spring east of the Euphrates have resulted in more than 367,000 Kurdish refugees and accusations of ethnic cleansing, as the intention is to resettle Syrian refugees in Turkey in what previously were Kurdish areas.
In both cases, Turkey has made use of motley bands of jihadis, who in Afrin have terrorized the local population with murder, rape, looting, seizure of property and olive groves, where the olive oil is transported to Turkey and sold to Europe.
To begin with, Turkey relied on soft power, that is to extend its influence to the Balkans, Central Asia and Africa through TIKA (Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency) as well as the Gülen movement’s schools, but in recent years there has been an increasing military dimension.
In 2017 Turkey sent troops and constructed a base in Qatar, which has underpinned a number of President Erdogan’s enterprises. It also opened a military base in Mogadishu as part of Turkey’s aid package to Somalia.
The following year Turkey leased Suakin Island in the Red Sea from Sudan and in February this year concluded an agreement on maritime cooperation with Djibouti at the entrance to the Red Sea.
The bone of contention with Europe is Cyprus. Already in 1964 the UN’s Security Council sent a peacekeeping force, UNFICYP, to keep the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots apart, and it is still there.
In 1974 Turkey intervened after a coup by Greek Cypriot extremists and has since occupied northern Cyprus. In 1983 Turkish Cypriots declared the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is only recognized by Turkey. Now the issue is the exploitation of the natural gas reserves in Cyprus’ EEZ (exclusive economic zone), which Turkey does not recognize.
Licences have been granted to a number of foreign companies, including Eni (Italy) and Total (France), but exploration vessels have been harassed by Turkish warships. In addition, Turkish vessels with a naval escort have begun drilling operations in Cyprus’ EEZ, as Turkey claims this belongs to its continental shelf.
However, as Turkey has not signed and ratified UNCLOS (UN Convention on Law of the Sea), a disagreement cannot be settled by its Court of Arbitration.
At the same time, the situation has been further complicated by Turkey’s “Blue Homeland” naval doctrine, which lays claim to 462,000 square kilometers in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Aegean and the Black Sea as Turkish territory. This was reinforced in February and May last year with two massive naval exercises to project Turkey’s hard power.
Middle East correspondent Patrick Cockburn has pointed out that in Middle Eastern politics everybody tends to overplay their hand, and the same applies to Turkey’s Libyan adventure.
Driven by the need for better ratings – support for Erdogan’s AKP (Justice and Development Party) has fallen to 30%, and to prop up a sagging economy, Turkey has backed Tripoli’s GNA (Government of National Accord) militarily, including the import of thousands of Syrian mercenaries.
In November Turkey agreed on a joint EEZ with the GNA which not only spans the Mediterranean, blocking a planned gas pipeline from Cyprus to Europe via Crete, Greece and Italy, but also violates Greece’s maritime rights.
Defence minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos has said Greece is ready for a military conflict with Turkey but Turkish defence minister Hulusi Akar has dismissed this as “a slip of the tongue”.
In February the EU imposed symbolic sanctions on Turkey because of its drilling activities off Cyprus but France has called for a sterner response. In return, Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has warned of retaliation if the EU takes additional measures.
Thursday’s debate in the European Parliament on Turkey’s negative role in the Eastern Mediterranean and Monday’s meeting in the Foreign Affairs Council, where Turkey is the main item on the agenda, will indicate which way the wind blows.
But as French President Emmanuel Macron has said, we are at a moment of truth, when the EU has to decide whether it is a political project, with everything that implies, or a market project.
Tags: TURKEY AGGRESSION, TURKEY EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN
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Wednesday, 2 December
Today's prize is a ticket to the Statue of Liberty Restaurant.
What's the story of the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island in New York City?
Hint: The Statue of Liberty was designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and its metal framework was built by Gustave Eiffel.
It was ordered from China and delivered by boat It was built by an American architect as a symbol of freedom It's a gift from France to the people of the USA It's a gift from Canada to the people of the USA
Correct answer: It's a gift from France to the people of the USA
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September 15, 2013 • 7:30 am 0
50 Years Ago: Four Little Girls and Two Songs
It was 50 years years ago that the four Birmingham, Alabama girls, Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley, lost their lives during the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. In 2011, a marker was finally dedicated in their names at the site of the vicious, racially motivated attack.
Just three months after the murder of Medgar Evers in Jackson, Mississippi, and two weeks after the March on Washington and Dr. King’s momentum-building “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963, the Alabama tragedy became the pivotal event in the Civil Rights Movement. Singer Nina Simone wrote “Mississippi Goddam” in immediate response to hearing the news: “I shut myself up in a room and that song happened,” she said of the song that begins, “Alabama’s got me so upset.” From that moment forward, Simone was committed to writing and performing material that would jolt people awake or into action. It remains her most enduring work.
Joan Baez, had of course walked alongside Dr. King at the marches in the South all along; her tribute was a recording of “Birmingham Sunday” by her brother-in-law, the writer Richard Fariña. Each girl was remembered by name in the verses, set to the tune of a beautiful folk melody. Fifty years on, both songs remain painful reminders of the brutalities waged here and yonder, year in and year out, by so-called humanity.
Filed under: Angela Davis, Arts and Culture, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Freedom Now, Keep On Pushing, Nina Simone, Protest Songs, Condoleezza Rice, Joan Baez, Richard Fariña
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Benjamin Millepied: A stranger in his own land
When Brigitte Lefèvre prepared for her retirement as director of the Paris Opera Ballet, she made it known that her preferred successor was Laurent Hilaire, the company’s ballet master since 2005.
By then, he had spent 30 years immersed in the culture and tradition of the Paris Opera Ballet.
He joined the company’s school in 1975 and, 10 years later, was promoted to etoile, the top rank, by the then director, Rudolf Nureyev.
But when the time came, Stéphane Lissner, the director of L’Opéra National de Paris from 2012, wasn’t interested in Lefèvre’s favourite.
He had his mind set on the United States-based choreographer, Benjamin Millepied.
When Hilaire became part of the Paris Opera Ballet community, Millepied had not yet been born.
Millepied was born in France but moved to New York when he was 16 where he began fulltime training at the School of American Ballet. From there, it was a seamless transition to join the New York City Ballet where he became a principal in 2002. He retired from the NYCB in 2011.
If it hadn’t been for the 2010 horror movie, Black Swan, which he choreographed, Millepied would be known mainly, if not only, by the dance community.
But the film, and his subsequent marriage to its star, Natalie Portman, made him a social pages’ darling, a celebrity, a front row guest at Paris Fashion Week and one of “the hot men of advertising” when in 2011 he became the face of Yves St Laurent’s cologne for men, L’Homme Libre.
(He still has a foot in the fashion game, having just begun a collaboration with Feit, an American-based label that makes bespoke shoes for men).
Good looking, young – he’s now 38 – and married to a Hollywood star, Millepied was also a potential fund raiser for the Paris Opera Ballet.
Appointed director of the Paris Opera Ballet in October 2014 he joined the company brimming with ideas but the new look he planned for the POB is now history.
He will leave the company in July, returning to the United States, his home for 20 years. The former etoile, Aurélie Dupont, will become the director in August.
Millepied’s plans for the Paris Opera Ballet were bold and extensive. He made it clear from the start he wanted to reform the company and, to use a cliché, bring it into the 21st century.
His manifesto for his first season, 2015/16, remains on the company’s website: “Our new ballets will use the classical vocabulary – one we can forever draw from to create anew – and will aim to be relevant to our time, reflect our society, and hopefully tell us a little bit more about who we are”.
Unlike Lefèvre who maintained a delicate balance between classical ballets – old and new – and contemporary works by 20th and 21st century choreographers, Millepied steered the repertoire towards new works by 21st century choreographers and inviting guest companies to Paris to perform contemporary dance works.
The companies he chose were Batsheva Dance Company (January), Anna Teresa De Keersmaeker (February/ March), and Maguy Marin (April/May).
He also appointed William Forsythe as associate choreographer. Forsythe has already announced that he will not continue in the role after his new work for the POB premieres in July.
The company’s only classical ballets this season are La Bayadere, Giselle, and Nureyev’s Romeo & Juliet, while another guest company, the English National Ballet, will perform Le Corsaire.
There’s also a new Nutcracker, but it can’t be categorised as ‘classical’.
Some months ago, there were five different choreographers listed for the production, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Edouard Lock, Arthur Pita, Millepied and Liam Scarlett. Now the L’Opera de Paris website shows only three, Cherkaoui, Lock and Pita.
Lefèvre was slow and steady in bringing contemporary dance works into the repertoire.
From 1995 to 2000, her first five years, she programmed 18 contemporary works, three by Forsythe, two by Martha Graham and one each by Agnes de Mille, Jiri Kylian, James Kudelka, Mats Ek, Pina Bausch, Carolyn Carlson, Ohad Naharin and six other much less well known choreographers.
A total of 18 works in five years did not tip the Paris Opera Ballet into a proto-contemporary dance company. Instead they were simply part of a balanced repertoire that comprised 19th century classical ballets and 20th century of works by Balanchine, Robbins, Ashton, Tudor, Bejart, Petit, Nureyev and Neumeier.
Millepied’s programming, however, was not the main reason for his very brief stint as the company’s director.
Since December, he has publicly criticised the POB’s dancers for lack of expression, for “taking no pleasure” in the dancing and at times looking like “wallpaper”.
As well Millepied questioned the traditions of the company, in particular the rigorous process of promotion.
For more than a hundred years the dancers have had to compete on stage before a jury if they want to move upwards through the ranks.
“It’s unfortunate”, he said, “that there is all this hierarchy because it has no place. What is it…all these competitions, this hierarchy? It creates fear. When I arrived and I made the first appointment with the dancers, I had dancers who trembled in speaking to me, who could barely speak to me; I did not feel particularly awesome or terrifying but there was a huge fear of the hierarchy.
Last week, in an article in the French news magazine L’Obs, one of the company’s etoiles, Josua Hoffalt, described the tension within the company that began several months ago.
The dancers were unhappy, Hoffalt wrote, when Millepied criticised them in December in the newspaper, Le Figaro and in a documentary broadcast on the TV channel, Canal+.
His remarks not only hurt the dancers, Hoffalt said, but also showed that Millepied didn’t understand the culture of company.
“The Paris Opera is an institution that has existed for over 300 years, with all that that implies in terms of hierarchy and operation.
“Benjamin Millepied was very excited when he arrived, but probably made the mistake of wanting to erase the past…
“He announced so much in the press before taking office: his desire to promote in-house talent to develop projects outside … But it is clear that a year later, the results are not there.
“It is clear that over time, the disagreement was growing and there was a gap between promises and reality. Projects he had. For him only…
“For me, this is the record that I will keep of this year under his direction: a lack of generosity, a certain absence for us and, conversely, a strong presence in the media, some content and projects for company”.
Millepied was also seen by some as a foreigner in his own homeland, more American than European.
At the Paris Opera Ballet, the majority of directors of dance have been French or Russian. *
Thirty five directors have led the company since its inception in the 17th century. Until the 20th century they were almost all French however in the mid 20th century two Americans were directors, John Taras (one year as director) and Rosella Hightower (three years).
Violette Verdy, a director for three years, was, like Millepied, born in France, spent much of her dancing career in the United States, and after her stint in Paris returned to the US.
In recent years, the Paris Opera Ballet has been led by French nationals.
After Rudolf Nureyev died in 1989, the Frenchman, Patrick Dupond became the director and was followed by Lefevre.
The French reign continues with Aurélie Dupont.
Does it matter if an artistic director was born and brought up in the same country as the one in which they now work?
After all the American, John Neumeier, has led the Hamburg Ballet for decades, while William Forsythe, also American, had a long and very successful career in Frankfurt.
Perhaps only the oldest companies, whose ballet style is ingrained in their DNA, are sensitive about their directors’ nationality and dance background.
It’s hard to think of anyone but a Russian leading the Bolshoi Ballet and many will still remember the tut-tutting in London when it was known that the Australian, Ross Stretton, was to become the artistic director of the Royal Ballet.
The outrage began before he set foot in the Royal Opera House.
On one of my many visits to London at the time, one staff member of the Royal Ballet asked me a hypothetical question before Stretton arrived.
“What’s he going to be like – a train wreck?”
However I don’t think his brief artistic directorship at the Royal can be compared with Millepied’s in Paris.
Stretton was elusive and difficult to contact, was not known to sweet talk patrons and benefactors, did not discuss the dancers in the media, and tended to flee from almost any public gathering.
There were similarities, though. Stretton spent many years in the United States, at American Ballet Theatre and both men were out of their natural environment when they left the United States.
The Paris Opera Ballet will, of course, evolve and change over time, perhaps discarding some of its traditions, but a director who leads it successfully into the future needs to move slowly and carefully and most of all, to honour the dancers.
* From the company’s beginnings in the 17th century until the end of the 19th century the Paris Opera Ballet had 18 directors of all whom French, except Gaetan Vestris, who was born in Italy and Maximilien Gardel, born in Germany.
In the 20th and 21st century, the Paris Opera Ballet has been led by 17 directors, including Millepied. Of these, eight were French, one Belgian (Joseph Hansen), two Italian (Louise Stichel and Nicola Guerra), four Russian (Ivan Clustine, Serge Lifar, George Skibine and Rudolf Nureyev) and two American (John Taras and Rosella Hightower).
The video shows Aurélie Dupont et Hervé Moreau dancing “Together alone”, choreographed by Benjamin Millepied
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39.415(3)(a)6. 6. For each high school with an enrollment of 2,500 or more pupils, designate the 6 seniors with the 6 highest levels of proficiency in technical education subjects as scholars.
39.415(3)(b) (b) Subject to par. (e), by February 25 of each school year, the school board of each school district operating one or more high schools and the governing body of each private high school and of each tribal high school may, for each high school with an enrollment of fewer than 80 pupils, nominate for designation as a scholar by the executive secretary under par. (c) 3. the senior with the highest level of proficiency in technical education subjects.
39.415(3)(c) (c) The executive secretary shall do all of the following:
39.415(3)(c)1. 1. Subject to par. (f), for the school operated by the Wisconsin Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired, designate the senior with the highest level of proficiency in technical education subjects as a scholar.
39.415(3)(c)2. 2. Subject to par. (g), for the school operated by the Wisconsin Educational Services Program for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, designate the senior with the highest level of proficiency in technical education subjects as a scholar.
39.415(3)(c)3. 3. Designate not more than 10 seniors nominated under par. (b) as scholars.
39.415(3)(c)4. 4. For each public, private, or tribal high school with an enrollment of at least 80 pupils, notify the school board of the school district operating the public high school or the governing body of the private or tribal high school of the number of scholars to be designated under par. (a).
39.415(3)(c)5. 5. For each public, private, or tribal high school with an enrollment of fewer than 80 pupils, notify the school board of the school district operating the public high school or the governing body of the private or tribal high school that the school board or governing body may nominate a senior under par. (b) who may be designated as a scholar by the executive secretary.
39.415(3)(d) (d) By February 25 of each school year, if 2 or more seniors from the same high school of at least 80 pupils have the same level of proficiency in technical education subjects and, except for the limitation on the number of designated scholars, are otherwise eligible for designation under par. (a), the faculty of the high school shall select the applicable number of seniors for designation under par. (a) as scholars and shall select, in order of priority, any remaining seniors with the same level of proficiency as alternates for the scholars or, if there is no remaining senior with the same level of proficiency, any remaining seniors with the next highest level of proficiency as alternates for the scholars. If a senior from that high school who is designated as a scholar under par. (a) does not qualify for a higher education scholarship under sub. (4) (a), an alternate for the scholar with the same level of proficiency as any senior from that high school designated as a scholar under par. (a) shall be eligible for a higher education scholarship under sub. (4) (a) until the scholarship may be awarded by the board. If an alternate with the same level of proficiency as a scholar under par. (a) does not qualify for a higher education scholarship under sub. (4) (a), an alternate with the next highest level of proficiency shall be eligible for a higher education scholarship under sub. (4) (a) until the scholarship may be awarded by the board.
39.415(3)(e) (e) If 2 or more seniors from the same high school of fewer than 80 pupils have the same level of proficiency in technical education subjects and, except for the limitation of one nominated senior, are otherwise eligible for nomination under par. (b), the faculty of the high school shall select the senior who may be nominated by the school board of the school district operating the public high school or the governing body of the private or tribal high school for designation under par. (b) as a scholar by the executive secretary. If that senior is designated as a scholar by the executive secretary, but does not qualify for a higher education scholarship under sub. (4) (a), the faculty of the high school shall select, in order of priority, one or more of the remaining seniors with the same level of proficiency for nomination as a scholar or, if there is no remaining senior with the same level of proficiency, one or more of the remaining seniors with the next highest level of proficiency for nomination as a scholar, and the school board of the school district operating the high school or the governing body of the private or tribal high school shall nominate under par. (b) one or more of these seniors as eligible for a higher education scholarship under sub. (4) (a) until the scholarship may be awarded by the board.
39.415(3)(f) (f) If 2 or more seniors from the school operated by the Wisconsin Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired have the same level of proficiency in technical education subjects and, except for the limitation of one designated senior, are otherwise eligible for designation under par. (c) 1., the executive secretary shall make the designation under par. (c) 1. of the senior who may be eligible for a higher education scholarship under sub. (4) (a). If that senior does not qualify for a higher education scholarship under sub. (4) (a), the executive secretary shall designate, in order of priority, one or more of the remaining seniors with the same level of proficiency, or, if there is no remaining senior with the same level of proficiency, one or more of the remaining seniors with the next highest level of proficiency as eligible for a higher education scholarship under sub. (4) (a) until the scholarship may be awarded by the board.
39.415(3)(g) (g) If 2 or more seniors from the school operated by the Wisconsin Educational Services Program for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing have the same level of proficiency in technical education subjects and, except for the limitation of one designated senior, are otherwise eligible for designation under par. (c) 2., the executive secretary shall make the designation under par. (c) 2. of the senior who may be eligible for a higher education scholarship under sub. (4) (a). If that senior does not qualify for a higher education scholarship under sub. (4) (a), the executive secretary shall designate, in order of priority, one or more of the remaining seniors with the same level of proficiency, or, if there is no remaining senior with the same level of proficiency, one or more of the remaining seniors with the next highest level of proficiency as eligible for a higher education scholarship under sub. (4) (a) until the scholarship may be awarded by the board.
39.415(3)(h) (h) Notwithstanding par. (a), if a high school of at least 80 pupils closes or merges, the school board of the school district operating the high school or the governing body of the private or tribal high school shall, subject to par. (d), for each of the 2 school years following the closure or merger, designate the same number of scholars from among the pupils enrolled in the high school at the time of closure or merger as the number of scholars designated for that high school in the school year the high school closed or merged. Any seniors designated under this paragraph shall be eligible for an original scholarship under this section.
39.415(4) (4) Technical college scholarships.
39.415(4)(a)(a) If a designated scholar under sub. (3) is admitted to and enrolls, for at least 6 credits, by September 30 of the academic year immediately following the school year in which the senior was designated a scholar, in a technical college district school that is participating in the program under this section, the scholar shall receive a higher education scholarship in an amount not to exceed $2,250 per academic year.
39.415(4)(b) (b) For each academic year that a scholar who receives a scholarship under par. (a) is enrolled for at least 6 credits, maintains at least a 3.000 grade point average or the equivalent as determined by the district school, and makes satisfactory academic progress toward an associate degree, a bachelor's degree, or a vocational diploma as certified by the district school, the student is eligible to receive a higher education scholarship as determined under par. (a) in the subsequent year or, if the scholar does not enroll in a participating district school in the subsequent year, in the semester immediately following the subsequent year.
39.415(4)(bg) (bg) If a student who received a higher education scholarship under par. (a) is not eligible under par. (b) for the scholarship for a year because the scholar failed to maintain for a prior year at least a 3.000 grade point average or the equivalent determined by the district school, the student is eligible to receive a scholarship under par. (a) for the year immediately following a year for which all of the following criteria are satisfied:
39.415(4)(bg)1. 1. The student enrolls for at least 6 credits.
39.415(4)(bg)2. 2. The student's grade point average increases to at least 3.000.
39.415(4)(bg)3. 3. The district school certifies that the student has made satisfactory academic progress.
39.415(4)(br) (br) No scholar is eligible for a higher education scholarship for more than 3 years at a district school.
39.415(4)(c) (c) Subject to sub. (5), for each year the student receives a higher education scholarship under par. (a) or (b), the board shall pay the district school, on behalf of the student, an amount not to exceed $1,125 per academic year.
39.415(5) (5) Payments; match required.
39.415(5)(a) (a) The board shall make the payments under sub. (4) (c) only if the district school matches the amount of the payment from institutional funds, gifts, or grants.
39.415(5)(b) (b) The board shall make the payments under sub. (4) (c) from the appropriation under s. 20.235 (1) (fw).
39.415(6) (6) Notifications; approval; withdrawal.
39.415(6)(a)(a)
39.415(6)(a)1.1. Each technical college district school that wishes to participate in the scholarship program under this section shall notify the board of its wish to participate in the program by October 1 prior to the academic year in which the school wishes to begin participation. The board shall approve for participation in the program a district school that provides notice under this subdivision of its wish to participate in the program. An approval under this subdivision remains valid until suspended or revoked by the board or until withdrawn by the school as provided under subd. 2.
39.415(6)(a)2. 2. If a district school that is approved under subd. 1. for participation in the scholarship program under this section subsequently wishes to no longer participate in the program, the school shall notify the board of this fact in writing by October 1 prior to the academic year in which the institution will no longer participate.
39.415(6)(b) (b) Each designated scholar who is eligible for an original higher education scholarship under sub. (4) (a) shall notify the board as soon as practicable of the district school he or she will be attending in the next academic year. Each designated scholar who is eligible for a subsequent higher education scholarship under sub. (4) (a) shall notify the board as soon as practicable whether he or she will be enrolling in a participating district school in the academic year immediately following the academic year in which he or she received an original or subsequent scholarship under sub. (4), or in the semester immediately following that immediately following year, and of the district school in which he or she will be enrolling.
39.415(6)(c) (c) Annually, the board shall notify each scholar who will be attending a participating technical college district school in the next academic year of the amount of his or her higher education scholarship.
39.415(7) (7) Scholarships not to supplant other grant; exception.
39.415(7)(a)(a) Except as provided in par. (b), a scholarship under this section shall not be used to supplant any other grant for which a student is eligible.
39.415(7)(b) (b) A student who receives a scholarship under this section is not eligible to receive a scholarship under s. 39.41.
39.415(8) (8) Annual report. By August 1, 2016, and annually thereafter, the board shall submit a report to the joint committee on finance evaluating the success of the program under this section. The report shall specify the number and amount of the scholarships awarded in the current fiscal year and the technical college district schools chosen by the scholarship recipients.
39.415(9) (9) Rules. The board shall promulgate rules to implement this section.
39.415 History History: 2013 a. 60; 2017 a. 91.
39.42 39.42 Interstate agreements. The board, with the approval of the joint committee on finance, or the governing boards of any publicly supported institution of post-high school education, with the approval of the board and the joint committee on finance, may enter into agreements or understandings which include remission of nonresident tuition for designated categories of students at state institutions of higher education with appropriate state agencies and institutions of higher education in other states to facilitate use of public higher education institutions of this state and other states. Such agreements and understandings shall have as their purpose the mutual improvement of educational advantages for residents of this state and such other states or institutions of other states with which agreements are made.
39.42 History History: 1971 c. 100, 125; 1975 c. 39; 1977 c. 29; 1981 c. 20; 1995 a. 27; 1997 a. 27.
39.435 39.435 Wisconsin grants and talent incentive grants.
39.435(1)(1) There is established, to be administered by the board, a grant program for postsecondary resident students enrolled at least half-time and registered as freshmen, sophomores, juniors, or seniors in accredited institutions of higher education or in tribally controlled colleges in this state. Except as authorized under sub. (5), such grants shall be made only to students enrolled in nonprofit public institutions or tribally controlled colleges in this state.
39.435(2) (2) The board shall award talent incentive grants to uniquely needy students enrolled at least half-time as first-time freshmen at public and private nonprofit institutions of higher education located in this state and to sophomores, juniors, and seniors who received such grants as freshmen. No grant under this subsection may exceed $1,800 for any academic year. The board may award a grant under this subsection to the same student for up to 10 semesters or their equivalent, but may not award such a grant to the same student more than 6 years after the initial grant is awarded to that student. A student need not maintain continuous enrollment at an institution of higher education to remain eligible for a grant under this subsection. The board shall promulgate rules establishing eligibility criteria for grants under this subsection.
39.435(3) (3) Grants under sub. (1) shall not be less than $250 during any one academic year, unless the joint committee on finance approves an adjustment in the amount of the minimum grant. Grants under sub. (1) shall not exceed $3,000 during any one academic year, except that beginning in academic year 2009-10, grants under sub. (1) shall not exceed $3,150 during any one academic year. The board shall, by rule, establish a reporting system to periodically provide student economic data and shall promulgate other rules the board deems necessary to assure uniform administration of the program.
39.435(4) (4)
39.435(4)(a)(a) The board shall award grants under this section based on a formula that accounts for expected parental and student contributions and is consistent with generally accepted definitions and nationally approved needs analysis methodology.
39.435(4)(d) (d) The awarding of grants under this section is subject to any formula approved or modified by the board under s. 39.285 (1).
39.435(5) (5) The board shall ensure that grants under this section are made available to students attending private or public institutions in this state who are deaf or hard of hearing or visually impaired and who demonstrate need. Grants may also be made available to such students attending private or public institutions in other states under criteria established by the board. In determining the financial need of these students special consideration shall be given to their unique and unusual costs.
39.435(6) (6) The board may not make a grant under this section to a person whose name appears on the statewide support lien docket under s. 49.854 (2) (b), unless the person provides to the board a payment agreement that has been approved by the county child support agency under s. 59.53 (5) and that is consistent with rules promulgated under s. 49.858 (2) (a).
39.435(8) (8) The board shall award grants under this section to University of Wisconsin System students from the appropriation under s. 20.235 (1) (fe).
39.435 History History: 1973 c. 90; 1973 c. 335 s. 13; 1975 c. 39, 189, 224; 1977 c. 26 s. 75; 1979 c. 34; 1983 a. 27 ss. 926d to 926t, 2202 (22); 1985 a. 332 s. 251 (1); 1987 a. 27; 1989 a. 31; 1993 a. 399; 1995 a. 27, 404; 1997 a. 27; 1999 a. 9, 185; 2001 a. 109; 2003 a. 33; 2005 a. 25, 367; 2007 a. 20; 2009 a. 28, 182; 2011 a. 32; 2013 a. 20, 329, 330; 2017 a. 59; 2019 a. 9.
39.435 Cross-reference Cross-reference: See also ch. HEA 5, Wis. adm. code.
39.437 39.437 Wisconsin covenant scholars grants.
39.437(1)(1) Establishment of grant program. There is established, to be administered by the board, a Wisconsin Covenant Scholars Program to provide grants to students who meet the eligibility criteria specified in sub. (2).
39.437(2) (2) Eligibility.
39.437(2)(a) (a) Except as provided in par. (b), a student is eligible for a grant under this section if the student meets all of the following criteria:
39.437(2)(a)1. 1. The student is a resident of this state and is enrolled at least half time and registered as a freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior in a public or private, nonprofit, accredited institution of higher education or in a tribally controlled college in this state.
39.437(2)(a)2. 2. The student has been designated as a Wisconsin covenant scholar by the board.
39.437(2)(b) (b)
39.437(2)(b)1.1. The board may not make a grant under this section to a person whose name appears on the statewide support lien docket under s. 49.854 (2) (b), unless the person provides to the board a payment agreement that has been approved by the county child support agency under s. 59.53 (5) and that is consistent with rules promulgated under s. 49.858 (2) (a).
39.437(2)(b)2. 2. No student shall be eligible for a grant under this section in more than the equivalent of 10 semesters of undergraduate education.
39.437(2)(b)3. 3. No student who fails to meet acceptable academic standards prescribed by the student's institution of higher education or tribally controlled college shall be or shall remain eligible for a grant under this section.
39.437(3) (3) Amount of grant.
39.437(3)(a) (a) In this subsection, “expected family contribution" means the amount that a student and the student's family are expected to contribute in an academic year to the cost of the student's postsecondary education, as determined by use of the most recent federal Free Application for Federal Student Aid, as described in 20 USC 1090 (a).
/statutes/statutes/39 true statutes /statutes/statutes/39/iii/415/6/b Chs. 36-39, Educational Institutions statutes/39.415(6)(b) statutes/39.415(6)(b) section true
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Tall Tales and Shaping the Research of the Future
by doinghistoryinpublic on May 8, 2018
By Helen Sunderland (@hl_sunderland)
When I first saw the University Library as a new Cambridge student last October it looked like something from a dystopian novel. The library tower loomed above me – a modernist monument to humanity’s pursuit of knowledge. With the addition of a few slogans on the walls, I thought, it would fit right into Orwell’s 1984. What this says about my sense of trepidation embarking on a PhD aside, the library tower has long been a focus of mystery and myth since it was completed in 1934. Now, the new exhibition Tall Tales: Secrets of the Tower, which opened at the University Library earlier this month, uncovers some of its secrets for the first time.
As the exhibition points out, the inspiration for Orwell’s Ministry of Truth was, in fact, Senate House Library in London. In literature, we learn, towers have long been associated with knowledge and power. (I felt somewhat vindicated that I was not alone in my first impressions of the UL.) Tall Tales details the design of the tower by Giles Gilbert Scott, who also designed the iconic K2 red telephone box. One of my favourite pieces in the exhibition is a postcard which replaces the UL tower with a telephone box in what turns out to be a striking resemblance. The exhibition carefully weaves this literary and architectural heritage into the story of the library tower and its collections, from 1710 when the Copyright Act extended Britain’s legal deposit system, to the present day.
Tall Tales debunks the student myth that the tower contains Victorian pornography. In fact, the tower’s collections are a hugely rich archive for social and cultural history over the last two hundred years. What was once classed as material of ‘secondary’ importance is now an invaluable resource for researchers. Some of the highlights include illustrations by J.R.R. Tolkien; there is a whole sub-collection devoted to works related to Tolkien’s writing. Some of the more unexpected titles include pamphlets on romance, rearing chickens and even noses. The library’s ‘arc’ collection (from the Latin arcana meaning hidden or secret), ranging from sexual science literature to erotic novels that were deemed unsuitable for the open shelves, was for many years kept not in the tower, but in the librarian’s office.
As a historian of Victorian and Edwardian childhood, the exhibition was a real gold mine. There are colourful novels by renowned Victorian children’s authors, beautifully illustrated dust jackets and a whole display case of immaculately preserved pop-up books and instructional reading games for children. A Girl’s Own Annual brought back memories of many painstaking hours of Master’s research.
The exhibition made me reflect on how far the historian’s work is shaped by archiving practices, past and present. What gets prioritised, catalogued and preserved at all in any given era defines the limits of future research. These archiving practices are inevitably shaped by contemporary understandings of what constitutes ‘real history’. Had it not been for copyright law, much of the earlier material within the tower’s collections may not have survived.
From a practical point of view, this means our sources may not be where we expect them. Institutional libraries can hold a surprising wealth of ephemera – material, ironically, that was not originally intended to be preserved at all. More importantly, though, outside of the six UK deposit libraries, it is more difficult to ensure that archives’ acquisition policies are future proofing for the ever-changing parameters of historical research. Is it right to assume that our current understanding of what informs ‘good history’ will hold true in ten, fifty, one hundred years? It would be wise to treat the now treasured place of the UL’s once ‘secondary collection’ not as a sign of how much more enlightened we are as historians in the twenty-first century, but as an ongoing challenge. We may still be (unintentionally) limiting the research of historians in the future.
The exhibition is open until 28 October 2018.
Image: Helen Sunderland
Tags: archives, Cambridge University, libraries, literature, review
From: Bookshelf, Doing history in public, Helen Sunderland, Reviews
← Reorienting the Home Front: Spatial History and Collective Memory
Staging History: Mary Stuart →
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Double black hole powers nearby quasar
Posted by Deborah Byrd in Science Wire | Space | August 31, 2015
One black hole may be 4 million solar masses, about the same mass as our Milky Way’s central black hole. The other may be 150 million solar masses.
View larger. | Artist’s concept of a double black hole, at the heart of a quasar. Image via NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI)
Moons orbit planets, planets orbit suns, little asteroids orbit each other, and mighty stars and galaxies orbit each other. So it’s not surprising that enigmatic black holes can orbit each other, too. Binary black holes may be the remnants of high-mass binary star systems, or – if the black holes are the super-sized, galactic-center variety – they may be the result of two galaxies that met and merged in space. Astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope announced on August 27, 2015 that Markarian 231 (Mrk 231) – the nearest galaxy to Earth that hosts a quasar – is powered by two central black holes.
Since it’s relatively nearby, only about 600 million light-years away in the direction of the constellation Ursa Major the Greater Bear, Markarian 231 has been studied for years for astronomers. They believed already that Mrk 231 had previously merged with another galaxy. Evidence of that recent merger comes from the host galaxy’s asymmetry, and its long tidal tails of young blue stars.
What’s more, Mrk 231 was already believed to contain one supermassive black hole at its core. Now, new evidence suggests there are two.
This Hubble image shows Markarian 231 in visible light. Image via NASA / ESA / Hubble Heritage Team / STScI / AURA / Hubble Collaboration / A. Evans, University of Virginia, Charlottesville / NRAO / Stony Brook University.
The recent study showing two black holes looked at Hubble archival observations of ultraviolet radiation emitted from the center of Mrk 231. The astronomers said in their statement on August 27:
If only one black hole were present in the center of the quasar, the whole accretion disk made of surrounding hot gas would glow in ultraviolet rays. Instead, the ultraviolet glow of the dusty disk abruptly drops off towards the center. This provides observational evidence that the disk has a big donut hole encircling the central black hole.
The best explanation for the observational data, based on dynamical models, is that the center of the disk is carved out by the action of two black holes orbiting each other.
The second, smaller black hole orbits in the inner edge of the accretion disk, and has its own mini-disk with an ultraviolet glow.
They now estimate the mass of the central black hole to be 150 million times the mass of our sun. Meanwhile, the companion black hole is thought to weigh in at 4 million solar masses, about the same mass as the black hole at the center of our own Milky Way galaxy. The double black hole in Mrk 231 completes a mutual orbit every 1.2 years.
The lower-mass black hole is believed to be the remnant of a smaller galaxy that merged with Mrk 231.
The binary black holes are predicted to spiral together and collide within a few hundred thousand years.
These astronomers say that their finding suggests that quasars — the brilliant cores of active galaxies — may commonly host two central supermassive black holes that fall into orbit about one another as a result of the merger between two galaxies. Youjun Lu of the National Astronomical Observatories of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences, said:
We are extremely excited about this finding because it not only shows the existence of a close binary black hole in Mrk 231, but also paves a new way to systematically search binary black holes via the nature of their ultraviolet light emission.
Co-investigator Xinyu Dai of the University of Oklahoma told EarthSky:
There are multiple implications for finding a binary black hole in our nearest quasar. First, it means that binary black holes can be common in quasars. If we limit our sample to be within the distance to Mrk 231, then there is only one quasar in the sample, and it has a binary black hole. If we extrapolate the logic to the whole universe, we can then reach the conclusion that binary black holes are common in quasars.
Second, the proximity of this binary black hole in this nearby quasar allows us to study it in detail.
He added;
The structure of our universe, such as those giant galaxies and clusters of galaxies, grows by merging smaller systems into larger ones, and binary black holes are natural consequences of these mergers of galaxies.
These astronomers say that the result of the merger has been to make Mrk 231 an energetic starburst galaxy with a star-formation rate 100 times greater than that of our Milky Way galaxy. The infalling gas is thought to fuel the black hole “engine,” triggering outflows and gas turbulence that incites a firestorm of star birth.
The results were published in the August 14, 2015, edition of The Astrophysical Journal.
Artist’s depiction of two black holes merging, via Wikipedia
Bottom line: A study shows that Markarian 231 (Mrk 231) – the nearest galaxy to Earth that hosts a quasar – is powered by two central black holes.
Deborah Byrd created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. Today, she serves as Editor-in-Chief of this website. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named 3505 Byrd in her honor. A science communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in science as a force for good in the world and a vital tool for the 21st century. "Being an EarthSky editor is like hosting a big global party for cool nature-lovers," she says.
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Our last chance
July 24, 2018 December 2, 2020 benfell
Whether or not Hillary Clinton would have been as bad a president as Donald Trump is the topic of a counterfactual, a line of reasoning so invalid I regard it as fallacious.
Counterfactuals are fun to think about. What would have happened had John F. Kennedy not been shot? Or Richard M. Nixon not forced to resign? Or, going back further, Abraham Lincoln had permitted the South to secede? Read more →
The post-truth society
July 20, 2018 benfell
I’m pretty sure it was in my Master’s program, probably in my first quarter in that program, that I was in a class with Anne Pym, a professor who offered me both endless fascination and endless frustration for reasons I won’t go into here.
We were reviewing the problem of evaluating sources, a problem in any literature review, which is basic to situating one’s research, or inquiry, in scholarship. Somehow I was asking about being able to trust truthfulness and Pym responded that she would hope so. Read more →
The binary empire strikes back
In Donald Trump’s latest fiasco, in which, to virtually unanimous condemnation, he preferred Vladimir Putin’s claim that the Russians had not interfered in the 2016 U.S. election over claims from U.S. intelligence services that they in fact had[1] (he partly, but not really, recanted on his return to the White House[2]), I wish to address myself to a small portion of the Left that sympathizes with Trump’s decision, despite nearly all considered opinion, to carry on with the meeting with Trump in Helsinki even after Robert Mueller indicted Russian nationals for hacking into Democratic National Committee computer systems.[3] Read more →
[1]Rebecca Ballhaus, “Trump Questions Finding of Russia’s 2016 Meddling as He Appears With Putin,” Wall Street Journal, July 16, 2018, https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-blames-u-s-for-poor-relations-with-moscow-1531732220; Dan Balz, “The moment called for Trump to stand up for America. He chose to bow,” Washington Post, July 16, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/after-a-jaw-dropping-news-conference-what-does-america-first-really-mean/2018/07/16/2b728b12-892e-11e8-a345-a1bf7847b375_story.html; Rod Dreher, “Trump Capitulates To Putin,” American Conservative, July 16, 2018, http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/trump-capitulates-to-putin/; David M. Herszenhorn, “Putin preens while Trump settles old scores,” Politico, July 17, 2018, https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/17/putin-trump-agenda-summit-725964; Michael Scherer, “Trump’s defense of Putin finds few supporters in Congress,” Washington Post, July 16, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trumps-defense-of-putin-finds-few-supporters-in-congress/2018/07/16/2610b3a2-8914-11e8-8aea-86e88ae760d8_story.html; David Smith, “Trump ‘treasonous’ after siding with Putin on election meddling,” Guardian, July 16, 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jul/16/trump-finds-putin-denial-of-election-meddling-powerful; Felicia Sonmez, “Trump’s defense of Russia prompts outrage from some Republicans,” Washington Post, July 16, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trumps-defense-of-russia-prompts-outrage-from-some-republicans/2018/07/16/adc9c52c-8914-11e8-a345-a1bf7847b375_story.html↩
[2]Associated Press, “Trump says he misspoke on Russia meddling,” Los Angeles Times, July 17, 2018, http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-essential-washington-updates-trump-says-he-misspoke-on-russia-1531853292-htmlstory.html; Jordan Fabian, “Trump says he accepts US intel on Russia — then adds it ‘could be other people also,’” Hill, July 17, 2018, http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/397481-trump-says-he-accepts-us-intel-on-russia-then-adds-it-could-be-other; Vivian Salama, “Trump Reverses Course, Says Russia Meddled in 2016 Election,” Wall Street Journal, July 17, 2018, https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-stands-by-his-positive-read-of-putin-summit-amid-criticism-1531847452; John Wagner and Felicia Sonmez, “Trump says he accepts U.S. intelligence on Russian interference in 2016 election but denies collusion,” Washington Post, July 17, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/growing-number-in-gop-call-for-trump-to-fix-the-damage-from-helsinki-news-conference/2018/07/17/7ea15178-8902-11e8-8aea-86e88ae760d8_story.html↩
[3]Autumn Brewington et al., “The Russia Connection,” Lawfare, July 13, 2018, https://www.lawfareblog.com/russia-indictment-20-what-make-muellers-hacking-indictment; Michael Crowley and Annie Karni, “Why Trump won’t cancel the Putin summit,” Politico, July 15, 2018, https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/15/trump-putin-russia-summit-helsinki-722255↩
Mitigating the democratic deficit in the United States
July 15, 2018 December 20, 2020 benfell
See update for December 20, 2020, at end of post.
I tend to blame the presidency of Donald Trump on the Democratic Party’s nomination of Hillary Clinton. She was, according to some polls, the weaker candidate,[1] and Bernie Sanders better appealed to an electorate sick and tired of the neoconservative and neoliberal hegemony in U.S. politics that Clinton exemplified.[2] But some folks blame the electoral college, whose vote overrode the popular vote.[3] Read more →
[1]H. A. Goodman, “Almost Every Major Poll Shows Bernie Sanders Challenging or Defeating Clinton and Republicans. Here’s Why,” Huffington Post, August 5, 2015, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/h-a-goodman/almost-every-major-poll-shows-bernie-sanders_b_7937906.html; Zaid Jilani, “Latest National Poll Shows Bernie Sanders Beating Scott Walker, Donald Trump, Jeb Bush,” Alternet, July 27, 2015, http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/latest-national-poll-shows-bernie-sanders-beating-scott-walker-donald-trump-jeb-bush↩
[2]Patrick Healy, “Bernie Sanders, Confronting Concerns, Makes Case for Electability,” New York Times, November 19, 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/11/19/bernie-sanders-defends-democratic-socialism-calling-it-route-to-economic-fairness/↩
[3]David G. Savage, “For the fourth time in American history, the president-elect lost the popular vote. Credit the electoral college,” Los Angeles Times, November 11, 2016, http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-pol-electoral-college-20161110-story.html↩
How Donald Trump captured the Republican Party
July 1, 2018 benfell
Update, July 12, 2018: A study of public opinion (I have not chased down the survey response rate in the original surveys[1]) concludes that much of Trump’s support derives from white fears of displacement, consistent with Hunter S. Thompson’s thesis as reviewed by Susan McWilliams.[2] The author of this study, Diana C. Mutz, denies that personal hardship is a factor even as she notes that “Americans increasingly feel that they are not getting their fair share” of jobs in a globalized economy and that status threat “is borne of a sense that the outgroup is doing too well and thus, is a viable threat to one’s own dominant group status.” Mutz also does not (and cannot, given her research design) control for voters who earlier voted for Barack Obama and subsequently for Donald Trump—a portion of the electorate she considers unimportant[3] but which would presumably be less racist and thus less likely to fear social displacement but which might well remain susceptible to fears of economic displacement.
Early last month (on June 6, 2018), I wrote that
I have thought that by August of this year, Republicans would be so alarmed by their prospects in the midterm elections that they would find a way to get Trump out. But a couple months ago, Eric Levitz pointed out, first, that Trump seems less restrained than ever and, second, that events have been moving in the opposite direction from my forecast as a Republican-controlled Congress shows little inclination to assert those checks and balances and as he replaces “adults in the room” with ideologues.[4] Jennifer Rubin, who has been fairly consistent in criticizing this same Congress for its negligence, repeated her condemnation just the other day.[5][6]
[1]See my skepticism about this type of research in David Benfell, “On a nine percent response rate,” May 28, 2017, https://parts-unknown.org/drupal7/journal/2017/05/28/nine-percent-response-rate↩
[2]Susan McWilliams, “This Political Theorist Predicted the Rise of Trumpism. His Name Was Hunter S. Thompson,” review of Hell’s Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs, by Hunter S. Thompson, Nation, December 15, 2016, https://www.thenation.com/article/this-political-theorist-predicted-the-rise-of-trumpism-his-name-was-hunter-s-thompson/↩
[3]Diana C. Mutz, “Status threat, not economic hardship, explains the 2016 presidential vote,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, April 23, 2018, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1718155115↩
[4]Eric Levitz, “Donald Trump Has Never Been More Dangerous Than He Is Now,” New York, March 21, 2018, http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/03/donald-trump-has-never-been-more-dangerous-than-he-is-now.html↩
[5]Jennifer Rubin, “What GOP cowering has gotten us: Talk of self-pardon and absolute power,” Washington Post, June 4, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2018/06/04/what-gop-cowering-has-gotten-us-talk-of-self-pardon-and-absolute-power/↩
[6]David Benfell, “I, Donald,” Not Housebroken, June 9, 2018, https://disunitedstates.org/2018/06/06/i-donald/↩
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UK: Lottery Winners Divorced, Wife Cheated With "Real" Millionaire
It seems infidelity is in the air. It must be you-know-who’s fault. Since she wrote the book, everybody is getting outed. The latest is a couple in England who won the lottery in 2004, invested in a successful business, but then watched as their marriage crumbled to cake crumbs. The wife, Victoria Jones bought the winning ticket twelve years ago. But she now says it was the most wretched thing that could have happened to her and their marriage. Now it has been reported that she has left her husband for a real millionaire. The UK Telegraph:
A married couple who won £2 million in the National Lottery have divorced after the wife began a relationship with one of the UK’s richest men.
David and Victoria Jones won £2.3 million in 2004, having been married for a month, and used the money to set up a successful property portfolio in Devizes, Wiltshire.
Twelve years on, the pair have said the lottery ruined their lives” and that they wish they had never won.
Mrs Jones, 41, who bought the winning ticket with the last pound coin in her purse, has reportedly left her husband for wealthy businessman Mike Clare.
Why Do Cheaters Cheat? Is it a Fear of Total Commitment?
Anthony Weiner Sends New Sex Texts And Huma Abedin Has Had Enough
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Positive Change with Mark Curran!
MARK’S ISSUES
Tag: U.S. Senate
Chicago Tribune endorses Mark Curran for U.S. Senate
The two major-party candidates on the ballot for U.S. Senate give Illinois voters an illuminating contrast. U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin rose through the seniority ranks to become one of the Senate’s most powerful Democrats, while Republican Mark Curran Jr. is well-known in suburban circles as the former Lake County sheriff, but requires an introduction outside […]
Daily Herald: Durbin, Curran duel in U.S. Senate debate
Incumbent Democrat Dick Durbin and Republican opponent Mark Curran Jr. took each other on in a joint Zoom interview with editorial board representatives of the Daily Herald, Shaw Media, and the Southern Illinois LOCAL Media Group. Watch the full endorsement session here.
Mark C. Curran Jr., U.S. Senate Republican nominee profile
Candidate profile Mark Cooney Curran Jr. Running for: United States Senator Political party affiliation: Republican Political/civic background: Lake County Sheriff 2006-2018/Numerous Law Enforcement and Community Boards Occupation: Attorney Education: High School — Loyola Academy, Wilmette, IL; College — Spring Hill, Mobile, Alabama BS in Business Administration; Law School — IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, Chicago, Illinois; Suburban Law Enforcement Academy […]
Curran in National Review: ‘Codes of Silence’ threaten the public, no matter who adheres to them
In the wake of mass protests in Democrat-controlled cities from Portland to Chicago, and now even small towns such as Kenosha, Wis., I am often asked if the violence and rioting we are experiencing is a result of “systemic racism” in law enforcement or, alternatively, a society increasingly less respectful of the badge. Read more of […]
Sen. candidate Mark Curran speaks to LaSalle County Tea Party audience
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mark Curran says if something can be made in America, it should be. He believes a friendlier business environment in the U.S. would help. Read more about Mark’s visit here
The 21st Show Interview: US Senate Candidate Mark Curran (R)
During the Democratic National Convention last week, we spoke to US Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL). As the Republican National Convention begins, The 21st speaks to Durbin’s Republican challenger, Mark Curran, former Lake County Sheriff. Curran won a five-way primary this spring, winning the right to take on incumbent Durbin, who is in his 24th year in the US Senate. Guest: […]
Fmr. Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran is a graduate of Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama with a degree in Business Administration and a graduate from IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law with a Juris Doctor in Law.
He began his law enforcement career serving as an intern in the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office in 1988 and became an Assistant Lake County State’s Attorney’s in 1990.
Mark Curran for U.S. Senate
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vehicle registration fees in michigan
If you find you need help calculating a plate fee, call the Department of State Information Center at 1-888-767-6424 for assistance. For example, you could trade-in your old car and receive a $5,000 credit against the price of a $10,000 new vehicle, making your out-of-pocket cost only $5,000. When a customer needs a new plate, the dealer must calculate the plate fee and record this information on the RD-108, Application for Michigan Title - Statement of Vehicle Sale. Trailers and Trailer Coaches $20 Related Documents & Topics. Our partner TaxJar can manage your sales tax calculations, returns and filing for you so you don't need to worry about mistakes or deadlines. The 30-day permit fee is one-tenth (1/10) of the annual registration fee or $20, whichever is greater, plus a $10 service fee. The full 12-month registration fee is due even if the plate has expired. The chart below contains commonly requested information regarding vehicle registration and title fees. Searchable Database Downloads & Statistics, Declaratory Rulings and Interpretive Statements, Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission, Secretary of State Collegiate Student Advisory Task Force, Election Modernization Advisory Committee, Office of the Great Seal / Notary / Document Certification, Preparing for the Motorcycle Training Course, Approved Sponsor and RiderCoach Information, Frequently Asked Questions - MI Rider Education Program, Direct Access to Driving and Vehicle Records, Automotive-related Publications and Forms. 0-2,499 pounds, Trailers and Trailer Coaches Michigan law caps dealer's doc fees at $190 or 5% of sale price, whichever is less. Many states assess a flat fee while other states utilize a scale based on any number of metrics, including gross vehicle weight, vehicle age or even fuel efficiency, thus making a state-by-state comparison difficult. In addition to state and local sales taxes, there are a number of additional taxes and fees Michigan car buyers may encounter. These fees are separate from the sales tax, and will likely be collected by the Michigan Department of Motor Vehicles and not the Michigan Department of Treasury. $15. 30- or 60-day Temporary Permits are available. The 60-day permit fee is one-fifth (1/5) of the annual registration fee or $40, whichever is greater, plus a $10 service fee. Michigan is the tenth state to induce such fees on EV owners, and is among the most expensive, beaten only by Georgia, where it costs an additional $200-300 to register an electric vehicle. How much will a Michigan driver's license cost? Fees for License Plates, Registrations and Titles. Registration fees–annual or biennial fees charged to motorists for each vehicle under operation in the state–vary significantly from state to state. Registration fees–annual or biennial fees charged to motorists for each vehicle under operation in the state–vary significantly from state to state. The state If you're an online business, you can connect TaxJar directly to your shopping cart, and instantly calculate sales taxes in every state. The $5 fee is also due if an owner elects to replace a standard plate or specialty plate with a Mackinac Bridge plate. 7700 East First Place The cost of driving a vehicle is about to get a little more expensive in Michigan as gas taxes and vehicle registration fees will increase across the state. Use the map below to select a state to learn more about how registration fees are calculated. $5 plus standard registration fee. In addition to taxes, car purchases in Michigan may be subject to other fees like registration, title, and plate fees. We read every comment! Expeditious title service is available at all Secretary of State branch offices for most vehicle transactions. Please contact the Department's Information Center at 1-888-SOS-MICH (1-888-767-6424) with any questions. The method of calculating the amount of motor vehicle registration and title fees varies widely among states. 1 - Average DMV and Documentation Fees for Michigan calculated by Edmunds.com. The Michigan registration fee depends on a variety of factors, including the vehicle’s type, model, year, and title history (whether the vehicle was previously owned).
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