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HP unveils new videos to show off its Windows 10 Mobile device, the Elite x3
By Rich Woods Senior Editor for North America Neowin @@TheRichWoods · Jun 2, 2016 19:18 EDT · Hot! with 37 comments
It's been over three months since HP unveiled its Elite x3 'Superphone', but the device isn't slated to arrive until August. Today, HP published four videos to show off the device, featuring Terry Myerson, Don Weisler, Michael Park, and Steve Mollenkopf.
While the device is aimed squarely at businesses, consumers have taken an interest in the device as well. Many users have found Microsoft's own flagship phones - the Lumia 950 and 950 XL - to be mediocre and unexciting. The Elite x3 packs Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 820 chipset and a metal body, something that Windows phone users have wanted for some time.
In fact, when the Elite x3 was announced, it was one of the first phones to use Qualcomm's latest chipset. While it was launched among others - such as the LG G5 and Samsung Galaxy S7 - there were no Snapdragon 820 phones prior to that day, and that's a first for any Windows phone.
First up is Terry Myerson. Most Microsoft fans will be familiar with Myerson, as he's the head of Microsoft's Windows and Devices group.
Next up is Dion Weisler, CEO of HP:
Next up is Michael Park. Park is Vice President of the Commercial Mobility & Software division at HP.
Finally, we have Steve Mollenkopf. His is another name that you might be familiar with, as he's the CEO of Qualcomm Incorporated.
If you pay attention to the minute-long videos, you'll see that Microsoft, HP, and Qualcomm all worked together closely on this project to create a PC-like device. Indeed, Continuum is one of the key selling points, especially when it comes to businesses.
Also, while some haven't been entirely happy with Continuum performance on their phones, it's worth noting that the Elite x3 will be more powerful than anything that's come before it.
It's still a bit of a mystery as to how the Elite x3 will be sold, as it's aimed at businesses entirely, rather than the consumer market. This is how HP told Neowin that it will be sold:
The HP Elite x3 will be sold a variety of ways. On hp.com, via distributor/VARs (indirect/direct channels), the HP sales force and Microsoft will sell this in the carrier channels on our behalf. In some countries, HP Elite x3 may also be sold by partner operators’ sales network.
Still, there is much that's unknown about the device. Since it's clear that the Elite x3 will launch after the Windows 10 Anniversary Update ships in July, we're sure to find out more about it in the coming months.
Elite x3
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No way out: Microsoft is now making it even more difficult to block Windows 10 upgrades [Update]
Samsung chairman sentenced to 2.5 years by Seoul High Court in Front Page News
Apple reportedly removing the Touch Bar from the Macbook Pro and adding more ports in Front Page News
Connect to your PC remotely with Chrome Remote Desktop from any device in Front Page News
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Home / Nuclear / World / What is OPLAN 5029? The 'Mission Impossible'-style plan in place to secure North Korea's nukes
What is OPLAN 5029? The 'Mission Impossible'-style plan in place to secure North Korea's nukes
Nuclear, World
In this Friday, May 1, 2020, photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, visits a fertilizer factory in Sunchon, South Pyongan province, near Pyongyang, North Korea. Kim made his first public appearance in 20 days as he celebrated the completion of the fertilizer factory, state media said Saturday, May 2, 2020, ending an absence that had triggered global rumors that he may be seriously ill. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
Even though North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un popped up at a fertilizer plant on Friday, speculation has been rampant about his health and the stability of the notoriously unstable nuclear-armed country.
Intelligence officials from Texas to Taiwan weighed in on the health of Pyongyang's basketball-loving leader, with some speculating he was in a vegetative state after receiving a botched heart operation. Others claimed he was wounded by an explosion from a missile test while another chalked up his 20-day disappearance from the public eye as Kim just being Kim.
But if the rumors had been true and the dictator did die - or was on the verge of dying - what would happen to the cache of nuclear weapons and missiles the country has bragged about?
Turns out, there is a plan in place and it's part "Cops" part "Mission Impossible."
Operations Plan 5029, or OPLAN 5029, was prepared for a scenario when a sudden shift in power or massive instability occurred in North Korea - something that could happen if Kim was sick or removed from power and his sister, Kim Yo Jong, wasn't able to step in.
The U.S.-South Korean contingency plan, created in 2008 among heightened tensions from Pyongyang's missile launch, addresses everything from securing the border to sending in secret operatives to find Pyongyang's nuclear stockpile and prevent it from being used, stolen or sold to the shadiest bidder.
"The million-dollar question is: When do you invoke the OPLAN and what indicators do you rely on to do so? Because one country's 'securing the country' operation can look to the other nation like an 'invasion plan.' And then all hell can break loose," Vipin Narang, a North Korea nuclear specialist at MIT, told The Associated Press.
OPLAN was created at the request of then-South Korean President Lee Hyuang-bak who asked the United States and South Korea's Combined Forces Command to finalize a joint action plan that would be ready to respond to instabilities in North Korea that could be further complicated by civil war, refugees and an anemic economy.
In 2009, the U.S. and ROK militaries agreed that if something were to go down, the U.S. would take the lead in securing and eliminating weapons of mass destruction.
According to a 2015 RAND report, a major point of concern is whether the U.S. would have sufficient troop strength to lead in a post-Kim world. According to the study of troop size requirements, the U.S. would need more than 850,000 military personnel which would need to include members of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. About 160 vessels and 2,000 aircraft would likely be moved to the Korean region. Such a big presence would be needed to secure and remove WMD any materials with "enough fissionable plutonium and uranium by build up to 75 weapons by 2020," the report said.
Ralph Cossa, president emeritus of the Pacific Forum think tank in Hawaii, warns U.S. intervention should only be about the nukes.
"Beyond that, it makes little sense for the U.S. and/or South Korea to get involved in internal North Korean power struggles," he said.
If the United States makes the wrong move, the consequences could be deadly.
Among the biggest unknowns would be the actual coordination with South Korea's military at a time when Chinese troops would likely be operating in North Korea and funding military and humanitarian efforts.
"China is better positioned than the rest of us if a succession crisis happened, but even China has few inroads and limited leverage," Van Jackson, a former senior defense official for Korea policy told the Asia Times.
Foreign affairs expert Gordon Chang told Fox News he has his doubts about China having the upper hand.
"I wonder whether we are able to implement OPLAN 5029 at this moment, especially with China engaging in a series of provocations in its peripheral waters," he said. "We are stretched thin now, and coronavirus has decreased readiness."
David Straub, a former State Department official, told AT that despite there being plans in place to respond to a crisis in North Korea, "military plans, and especially 5029, depend fundamentally on lots of assumptions, including about what the American president will want to do."
What is OPLAN 5029? The 'Mission Impossible'-style plan in place to secure North Korea's nukes Reviewed by Net-News on May 03, 2020 Rating: 5
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Aaron Rodgers’ backup battle futile without improvement
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Discus thrower packs on 80 pounds to make NFL run with Bills
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New York Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello said he’s not discouraged that star center John Tavares will listen to pitches from other NHL teams ahead of unrestricted free agency, rather than re-signing with the team before the process plays out. “I have no disappointment. No discouragement,” Lamoriello said after Day 2 of the NHL draft […]
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The Springfield Police Officers Association, the union that represents the rank and file in the local police department, on Monday filed suit against the city, alleging city leaders — and by extension, city taxpayers — should be responsible for paying some of the cost of a pension benefit increase that police and firefighters brokered in 1999.
At the time, employees agreed to pay for the benefit (which allows them to accrue full benefits in 25 years, rather than 28) themselves, through an extra payroll deduction called the Additional Funding Contribution, or AFC. But the cost of the benefit has ballooned.
Employees responsible for paying for the benefit began with a significant deficit, because older employees who retired soon after it was approved gained the full benefit without paying an equitable share. Poor stock market performance in the past decade has caused the shortfall to grow even more, even as the overall pension shortfall has been shrinking, thanks to the 3/4-cent sales tax approved in 2009
Despite that, police and fire representatives have said they would have been able to foot the bill if not for the city's decision in 2006 to close the police-fire pension plan to new entrants and shift new employees to a different retirement plan, which has been rolled into the state LAGERS program.
By cutting off the stream of new employees, the city effectively changed the terms of the deal, the police union argues, forcing the dwindling number of "Tier I" employees hired before 2006 to pay off the accumulated debt at an accelerated pace. According to estimates by a pension consultant, the remaining Tier I employees soon could be forced to hand over 20 percent or more of their paychecks to pay the AFC debt, with contributions likely to increase as the number of active-duty officers dwindles further.
How to pay a pension debt when fair isn't an option?
The expected trouble isn't a surprise — the city and police and fire leaders have been discussing the potential problem since before the 2009 pension tax vote. In 2010, the city made a $4.75 million lump sum payment that was meant to settle the issue. But the debt has continued to grow, prompting City Manager Greg Burris to call for further study and discussion of the issue last year.
That effort appears to have stalled. In the lawsuit filed Monday, the police union says it was rebuffed when it asked the city to hold meet and confer sessions about the issue in February.
In the lawsuit, the union asks a judge to declare the city at least partly responsible for paying the AFC debt, and to throw out the 2010 agreement.
The lawsuit also asks a judge to declare that revenue from the city's 3/4-cent pension sales tax, which was renewed through 2019, can be used to pay off the AFC debt employees were supposed to pay. In the lawsuit, the SPOA argues that the ballot language approving the tax doesn't differentiate between the public pension debt and the debt attributed to employees, and that the pension can't be "fully funded" (causing the tax to expire) unless all debts are paid.
Finally, the lawsuit calls for a February vote by the police-fire pension board of trustees, related to certain AFC calculations, to be declared void. In the lawsuit, the union alleges that the vote was not properly advertised on the pension board's posted agenda, in violation of the state Sunshine Law.
SPOA President Mike Evans said the union had been talking with the city about how to resolve the AFC issue. As late as January, Evans said, the city manager had sent notice asking to set up meetings.
But Evans said the union resorted to the lawsuit after the city refused, through a contract attorney, to hold formal meet and confer sessions about the AFC issue.
He said the union's goal is not to get out of the AFC payments entirely, but to have a judge calculate how much employees would have paid if new officers were still available to foot the bill. The remaining employees who receive the benefit are willing to pay that amount, he said, with the city picking up the difference caused by the closure of the plan.
Firefighters, meanwhile, are pursuing their own negotiations with the city, according to union president Tony Kelley.
"We were aware that SPOA was contemplating a lawsuit ... (but) we're not a part of it at this point in time," he said. "We're going to try to enter into negotiations with the city to address the AFC issue and hopefully come out of that with some sort of policy resolution."
Contacted Monday afternoon, city spokeswoman Cora Scott said City of Springfield officials had not yet been served with the lawsuit and could not comment on its contents.
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'Bonnie & Clyde' couple's crime spree ends; man dead
Pensacola (Fla.) News Journal
PENSACOLA, Fla. — A Missouri couple involved in a multi-state crime spree that included kidnapping and armed robbery charges were shot early Friday morning during a shootout with law enforcement in Milton, Fla.
Blake Fitzgerald, 30, and Brittany Nicole Harper, 30 — who were considered a modern-day "Bonnie and Clyde" — led law enforcement on a high-speed chase that ended in Milton with the death of Fitzgerald and Harper shot in the leg and ankle.
The couple were believed to have been responsible for a series of robberies and abductions in Alabama and Georgia. Police said the offenses fit a similar pattern: People were robbed, kidnapped and let go unharmed, usually after a vehicle was stolen.
Wanted teen agrees to return home to Kentucky
After a high-speed pursuit across the Pensacola Bay Bridge, Fitzgerald was shot and killed shortly before 1 a.m. while trying to break into a Milton home, said Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan.
The shooting was the culmination of a nearly five-hour pursuit that began around 8 p.m. Thursday with the armed robbery of a Famous Footwear in Pensacola. Fitzgerald allegedly robbed a store clerk at gunpoint while Harper walked around the store shopping for shoes and socks.
The car was spotted at the Pensacola Beach toll plaza and deputies pursued the suspects back into Pensacola.
Police found the suspects' abandoned truck and a couple of hours later, a family contacted authorities and said they had been held hostage in their home.
They told sheriff's deputies that the suspects had stolen their truck; 10 minutes later the vehicle was spotted on Interstate 10. Deputies were able to corner the couple in a residential neighborhood.
Morgan said the couple remained in the vehicle, refusing to comply withe deputy commands to surrender. They got out of the truck and tried to enter an occupied home. Morgan said deputies shot and Fitzgerald attempted to use Harper as a human shield.
Fitzgerald was killed on scene, and Harper was transported to a Pensacola hospital where she is under guard until she is well enough to be transported to Escambia County Jail. No deputies or citizens were injured during the night's events.
The string of crimes began Sunday in Tuscaloosa, Ala., when the couple allegedly kidnapped a hotel clerk, stole his car, and drove nearly 60 miles to Vestavia Hills, Ala. They released the hostage and abandoned the stolen car.
Police believed Fitzgerald then entered a residential home while the family was present, displayed a handgun and stole the family's Ford Edge SUV, forcing the wife to go with him in the stolen vehicle. The woman was later released unharmed in Birmingham, Ala.
On Monday, a gunman held up a young clerk at a convenience story in Perry, Ga., and took money from the safe and cigarettes before forcing the clerk into an SUV where his female accomplice waited, authorities said. The couple drove about 15 miles before releasing the clerk unharmed, Perry police Lt. Ken Ezell said.
The hotel clerk who was abducted, Kyle Dease, told Al.com that he spoke with his captors during the nearly two hours he was held on the drive from Tuscaloosa to metro Birmingham. Dease said they told him they hoped to make it to Florida to get married and start a new life together.
Kentucky 'Bonnie and Clyde' teens on the run
Fitzgerald also told Dease that he did not plan on going back to prison.
Both were wanted on charges of kidnapping, burglary and theft. It was believed they were responsible for two additional robberies that took place in Walnut Hills and Destin, Fla., on Wednesday.
On Thursday, U.S. Marshals had announced they were offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to the couple's arrest, said spokesman Martin Keely of the Northern District of Alabama office.
Escambia County Sheriff's Office deputies were the only one to fire their weapons during the incident Friday, Morgan said. He added that six deputies are on administrative leave pending a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation. The sheriff declined to say whether all six deputies discharged their weapons, or whether Fitzgerald — who was known to be armed — or Harper fired any shots at officers.
Florida State Attorney William Eddins said unless federal authorities intervene, Harper would remain in the custody in Escambia County until her eventual prosecution.
Contributing: WXIA-TV, Atlanta; The Associated Press. Follow Kevin Robinson on Twitter: @KevRobinsonPNJ
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News Sports Opinions Obituaries E-Edition Legals
Dreno Fulton Cash Jr.
STAUNTON – Dreno Fulton Cash Jr., 86, husband of Priscilla (Desper) Cash, died on Saturday, Aug. 1, 2015.
He was born on June 7, 1929, in Augusta County, the son of Dreno F. Sr., and Gertrude (Moran) Cash.
Mr. Cash was a veteran of the U.S. Army 40th division and served in Korea. He was retired from American Safety Razor. He was also an active member of Christ United Methodist Church.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by a daughter and son-in-law, Jane and Ben Amaba; grandchildren, Landon, Carter and Ashton Amaba; and a brother, John Curtis Cash.
A funeral service will be conducted at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2015, at Christ United Methodist Church by the Rev. Sarah Locke and the Rev. Michael Fitzgerald. Burial will follow in Augusta Memorial Park.
Active pallbearers are David Cash, James Myers, Rex Greaver, Billy Fitzgerald, Danny Fitzgerald, Charles Baker, Wayne Troyer, Scott White, and Sammy Fitzgerald.
Honorary pallbearers are the United Methodist Men.
The family will receive friends from 6 until 7:30 p.m., Monday, Aug. 3, 2015, at the church.
Memorials may be made to Christ United Methodist Church, 1512 Churchville Avenue, Staunton, VA 24401.
Condolences may be sent to the family online at www.henryfuneralhome.net.
© 2021 www.newsleader.com. All rights reserved.
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Dismantle rape culture
By Rachel Leibrock
The numbers are unsettling: One in five college women will experience sexual assault before graduation, according to the 2007 Campus Sexual Assault Study, an inquiry conducted for the Department of Justice.
And locally, UC Davis ranks high when it comes to such reported assaults, according to a July report from The Washington Post, which gathered 2010-12 Clery Act data from every U.S. college with at least 1,000 students.
This week's Feature Story “Does UC Davis have a rape problem?” by Janelle Bitker (see page 16) parses the stories behind those troubling numbers. Reading Bitker's account, which echoes similar tales from across the nation, it's not difficult to spot a disturbing trend: Time and time again, alleged perpetrators face lax consequences, including only temporary suspension. Certainly, they don't endure humiliating victim-blaming questions along the lines of “What were you wearing?”
A Center for Public Integrity study, published in 2010, closely examined 33 cases of assault and surveyed more than 150 crisis-center and clinic reports as well as 10 years of complaints filed with the U.S. Department of Education. The study's researchers, acknowledging a lack of comprehensive institutional data, noted that “abusive students face little more than slaps on the wrist.” And, even as many victims suffer poor grades or drop out of school altogether, “colleges seldom expel men who are found ‘responsible' for sexual assault … these schools permanently kicked out only 10 to 25 percent of such students.”
That's a deplorable standard. It's time to dismantle the college rape culture. It's time to change campus policies and procedures so that an alleged attacker faces the same kind of investigation and, if necessary, the same punishment he would in the so-called real world. To do any less is unacceptable.
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Bend it like Sacramento: I believe Republic FC will win the USL championship
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Ditch the jersey
This isn't just about Ray Rice. It's time to stop supporting athletes, celebrities and other public figures who assault partners and family members.
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New Orleans keyboardist and singer PJ Morton released a gospel album on Aug. 28, 2020.
PROVIDED PHOTO BY DOMINIC SCOTT
R&B star PJ Morton releases 'Gospel According to PJ' this week
Will Coviello
Aug 24, 2020 - 7:00 am
The release this week of “Gospel According to PJ” shouldn’t come as a surprise to PJ Morton’s fans.
“I get asked to do a gospel album every year,” Morton says. “People might be surprised that I finally did it.”
Morton has been on top of the R&B world, drawing Grammy nominations for best R&B album the last three years in a row. After winning his second Grammy In January, for the song “Say So,” he released stripped down versions of mostly R&B songs on “The Piano Album.” And although he’s working on a new Maroon 5 record — as he marks his 10th year with the group — he turned his attention to the gospel project. But he’s never been far from the world of sacred music.
“Even during the first year with Maroon 5, I was playing in my dad’s church in Atlanta,” Morton says. “I played in church during college — always as a side gig, even if I was producing, even after I had mainstream records placed.”
His father, Bishop Paul S. Morton, asked him to start playing during the main Sunday services at New Orleans’ Greater St. Stephen Full Gospel Baptist Church starting when PJ was 14. It wasn’t long before he started writing gospel music. The first song that made an impact was “Don’t Lose Your Candlestick,” recorded by Men of Standard for the album “Feels Like Rain.”
It resulted in his first real paycheck from music writing, but he had to take a CD to St. Augustine High School to prove to his friends that his song had been professionally recorded.
Nicholas Payton fills the pandemic with new music
Nicholas Payton has been busy during the pandemic. He has released two albums and a handful of singles expounding on the era, while finishing …
“Gospel According to PJ” shows his connections to several generations of gospel singers, though it sticks mainly to contemporary styles. Many tracks are new versions with different artists, and a few songs are entirely new releases. The vocalists on the album include Kirk Franklin, Yolanda Adams, Kim Burrell, Tasha Cobbs Leonard, Le’Andria Johnson, Mary Mary and others. He originally wrote “Repay” for local singer Chanel and “Gotta Have You” for Jonathan McReynolds. “Don’t Let Go” was on the charts for more than a year.
“Part of making this album is showing my journey through gospel music,” Morton says.
The album also shows his family connections. His father grew up in Windsor, Canada, and his grandfather also was a pastor. Morton’s aunt was a backup singer for Detroit’s Clark Sisters. “Here He Comes Again” was originally written for Le’Andria Johnson but wasn’t included on her last album. Since Johnson sings in the same vein as Dorinda Clark-Cole, Morton asked The Clark Sisters to record it, and the track has a joyous, throwback feel.
Morton started working on the album before the pandemic, but it was altered by the shutdowns — some of that for the better, he says. He originally planned to travel to recording sessions with the vocalists, but he had to switch to a remote presence. “So in Love” was supposed to be recorded by The Walls Group in Houston. But only Darryl Walls was available, so Morton called Zacardi Cortez and asked if he could make it to the studio that day. Morton wound up with two top vocalists on the track.
While recording during the pandemic didn’t follow his original plan, he’s glad the album is arriving now.
“Growing up in gospel music, it’s definitely the music that inspires and gives hope,” he says. “I started to feel like, ‘let me finish it now,’ because I think people can use this message of love now more than ever.”
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Leigh “Little Queenie” Harris is full of fire and spirit from the first scratchy, belted out “Hey!” on Li’l Queenie & The Percolators’ “Li…
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Home > Books > Composer Books > Anna Bolena (Donizetti) (Philip Gossett) 0-19-313205-2
Item# B1724
B1724. PHILIP GOSSETT. Anna Bolena and the Maturity of Gaetano Donizetti. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1985. 183pp. Illus.; DJ. - 0-19-313205-2
“Though he wrote quickly, Donizetti left extensive evidence of his aesthetic concerns in his autograph manuscripts. These documents reveal with extraordinary clarity the difficult composition process underlying works that, on the surface, appear to be almost effortless. ANNA BOLENA, which marked Donizetti's first triumph and carried his name to every important operatic center in Europe, is a central work in his career. In a close study of the autograph manuscript, Gossett examines Donizetti's musical decisions, shedding light on the composer's relationship with the Rossinian tradition and his efforts to define a personal style. Through this example, the book also seeks to develop a vocabulary and method for the analysis of Italian opera. The argument is illustrated with numerous musical examples.”
“Philip Gossett is an American musicologist and historian, and recently officially retired from the post of Robert W. Reneker Distinguished Service Professor of Music at the University of Chicago. His lifelong interest in 19th-century Italian opera most recently led to the publication of a major book on the subject, DIVAS AND SCHOLARS: PERFORMING ITALIAN OPERA, which won the Otto Kinkeldey Award of the American Musicological Society as the best book on music of 2006.
Philip Gossett's contributions to opera scholarship and how they can influence operatic performance may best be summed up by Newsday's comment that ’some encomiasts claim that soprano Maria Callas did as much for Italian opera as Arturo Toscanini or Verdi. Musicologist Philip Gossett arguably has done as much for Italian opera as any of those geniuses’.
At the time he began graduate musical studies in the mid-1960s, the Italian composers such as Gioachino Rossini, Vincenzo Bellini, Gaetano Donizetti and Giuseppe Verdi had been given little serious academic study. Throughout his career, Gossett's work has frequently taken him to Italy, where he has advised on the presentations of productions at the Rossini Opera Festival in Rossini's hometown of Pesaro, and he has worked directly with the Istituto Nazionale di Studi Verdiani (Institute of Verdi Studies) in Parma which was founded in 1960. Also, for the 2001 centenary of Verdi's death, he worked with the Teatro Regio di Parma on their programming.
Given that Gossett's musical interests focus on 19th-century Italian opera (especially the works of Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, and Verdi), most of his career has been devoted to being General Editor of two important projects while at the University of Chicago: the research for the preparation of critical editions of all the operas of both Rossini (some 70) and Verdi (some 33, in their various forms). These are being prepared and gradually published as THE WORKS OF GIUSEPPE VERDI (by the University of Chicago Press in collaboration with the Italian publishing house Casa Ricordi of Milan) and of THE WORKS OF GIOACHINO ROSSINI (by Bärenreiter Verlag, Kassel).
In the US, he has consulted with the Houston Grand Opera (in 1979 for the first production of the critical edition of TANCREDI, with its then newly discovered tragic ending, starring Marilyn Horne); with the Metropolitan Opera for its November 1990 production of SEMIRAMIDE; with The Santa Fe Opera in 2000 for Rossini's ERMIONE; and with the Chicago Lyric Opera for the first presentations of Rossini's long-lost IL VIAGGIO A REIMS in 2003. Gossett again acted as consultant to The Santa Fe Opera during rehearsals for its 2012 season production of the new critical edition of Rossini's original MAOMETTO II of 1820 and he returned in the same capacity during rehearsals of the company's new production of Rossini's LA DONNA DEL LAGO during the 2013 season.
Gossett was awarded the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation's ‘Distinguished Achievement Award’ in 2004, which gained him a prize of $1.5 million to facilitate his research. Also, in 1998, the Italian government gave him the ‘Cavaliere di Gran Croce’, the highest honor that can be awarded to a civilian. Academically, he has been President of the American Musicological Society and of the Society for Textual Scholarship, as well as Dean of the Division of the Humanities at the University of Chicago. In 2008 Gossett was appointed foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.”
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Passing muster at McLeod's Daughters
2 Oct, 2002 01:31 PM 5 minutes to read
By FIONA RAE
For an Australian series, there sure are a lot of Kiwis in McLeod's Daughters. "It's a Kiwi takeover," laughs Aaron Jeffery, who plays Alex Ryan.
Apart from the lead, our own Lisa Chappell, and Jeffery, the cast also includes Kiwis Jessica Napier and her father, Marshall Napier.
They're all, however, playing true-blue Aussies in the love-in-the-dust country drama that's been a big hit over the ditch.
The story concerns two sisters - Claire, played by Chappell, who won a Logie for the role, and Bridie Carter as Tess - who inherit their dad's cattle station.
Alex is the guy next door who's known Claire forever and is a bit of a tough nut, says Jeffery.
"He's got a tough exterior. He likes to talk with his fists, part of that Australian 'she'll be right' attitude. But the character has some challenges coming up. A darker side shows."
Jessica Napier plays the troubled young Becky Howard, who's given a second chance by Claire. "She's a good character to play," says Napier.
"She's not worried about what people think about her. Her whole life, she's been: 'This is who I am, deal with it'. Deep down, I'm sure she loves sex; she's not afraid of her body or anything like that. She's afraid that people think she's stupid, though. And she's not."
Both Napier and Jeffery are on the phone from near Gawler, the location of McLeod's fictional ranch, Drover's Run. Jeffery, who was recently married, has bought a 110-year-old stone cottage and is busy renovating.
Napier, however, is a city girl at heart and lives in Adelaide while filming, making her home in Sydney the rest of the time.
Filming is a long process: the cast and crew will be there until next May filming the third series (we'll be seeing the second series), which Napier says she has found tough at times.
"There are lots of flies in summer. It's quite green - green for here - over winter, and it gets really quite cold and we've got no studio to work in, so we're out doing everything on the land. We go from being in a dustbowl and being in dust storms to rain and freezing temperatures and wind.
Wellington-born Napier's previous farm experience was running around on her grandparents' stud farm in Paraparaumu.
"I've ridden a Shetland pony and I've fallen off a racehorse and that was my horsey and farmy experience," she says.
"We've done a crash course in farming and, being a vegetarian, it was very hard for me. I'm 'animal liberation girl' and McLeod's Daughters is set on a cattle station."
As part of the training, the cast got to do pony club. "All the girls, we all met out at pony club, which is funny because the minute we get on the farm and work with the wranglers, they go: 'Oh, bugger the pony-club stuff, this is how it's really done.' So I wouldn't say I'm a great rider. I can ride now, I still learn so much every day."
Jeffery, on the other hand, had done his acting training at Nida, worked a bit, then jacked it in and gone bush for three years and was working on properties in Australia and studying theology before McLeod's Daughters.
For him, it's a dream job.
"I kept hearing about McLeod's Daughters and thought it would be great to be able to work in the country." He also believes the series is a benchmark in what has generally been a male-dominated arena.
The Bucklands Beach boy has come a long way. After being a bit of a ratbag on the mean streets of Panmure, driving around in a stock car, at 17 he departed to Australia in a hurry when the police knocked on his door.
"I got lots and lots of tickets and there were warrants out for my arrest, so I basically skipped the country. They knocked on my front door and I jumped out the back and went to the airport.
"I was young and stupid. And then I came to Australia for a little while and then went home and faced the music, paid off my fines."
The acting was a way of conquering his shyness and started with a self-awareness course. When he auditioned for the prestigious Nida drama school in Sydney he
didn't really know what Nida was, "so I sold them a car".
Napier, however, began at 10 when her dad threw her, literally, in the deep end. After relocating his family to Australia, Marshall was working on a Police Rescue episode where a girl had to be submerged in a swamp. When the actors (twins) refused, Marshall offered Jessica.
Her first big part was the lead in another watery effort, Echo Point, a soap that didn't last too long. She's not a Nida graduate, but has hardly been out of a job and was especially regarded for her work, as a mere 18-year-old, in the cop show Wildside.
Napier says she still calls herself a New Zealander - "It's my comfort zone" - but in truth she has that breezy, Australian demeanour that would stand out like, well, a vegetarian on a cattle ranch, should she ever try her luck here.
Jeffery, too, says he couldn't do a New Zealand accent if he tried, but then neither of them really need to because "they're trying to sign us up for years four, five and six". He's happy to carry on, but Napier isn't so sure.
"I have a partner and a home and animals and everything in Sydney and it's very hard to maintain a long-distance relationship, as you might imagine. I love the show, but sometimes I feel like I'm going crazy, because it's hard, it's really hard."
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18 Jan, 2021 01:40 AM 10 minutes to read
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Tamil Film Actresses
Indian Television Actresses
Akanksha Juneja
Hindi Film Actresses, Hindi Television Actresses
June 16, 2018 by Onenov India
Akanksha Juneja Biography
Name : Akanksha Juneja
Date of Birth/Age : 30th march 1990
Home Town : Delhi
Current City : Mumbai
Qualification : Graduate
Occupation : Film & Television Actress, Model
Debut : Do Saheliyaan
Years active : 2009–present
Source of earnings : Serials and Movies
Hobbies : Watching Sports
About Akanksha Juneja,
Indian actress who starred in a variety of Movies, including Bang Bang Bangkok in 2013. She was born on 30 March 1990 in Delhi. Who is working in Hindi film and Television industry. She made her acting debut in the Hindi Television Serial “Do Saheliyaan”along with Sulagna Panigrahi and Mouni Roy, produced by Ratna Sinha. Akanksha Juneja started her career in Bollywood by starring as a Hindi Film Actress in “Bang Bang Bangkok” (2013) directed by Vikram Pradhan and produced by DazzleWave Productions. She has appeared in some well known films such as Bang Bang Bangkok. She also acted with well known Television actress/actors like Neena Kulkarni, Sakshi Tanwar and Roopa Ganguly. Her performances in many films were lauded especially in “Bang Bang Bangkok” which was one of the Best films of the year 2013. Akanksha Juneja Currently doing the Negative role in Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi (Urave Uyire) Serial along with Radhika Madan in Colors TV & Polimer TV.
Akanksha Juneja as Naina Singh Ahlawat role in Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi (Urave Uyire) Serial.
List of Television Serials Acted ;
Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi (Urave Uyire), Mahayatra, Do Saheliyaan, C.I.D., Thoda Hai Bas Thode Ki Zaroorat Hai, Hamaari Beti Raaj Karegi, Saath Nibhaana Saathiya, Dil Se Di Dua… Saubhagyavati Bhava, Bade Achhe Lagte Hain, Emotional Atyachar, The Adventures of Hatim, Uttaran, Adaalat, Yeh Dil Sun Raha Hai, Bhanwar.
List of Movie Acted ;
Bang Bang Bangkok.
Onenov India
© 2018 www.onenov.in
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Oct 11 2018 October 11, 2018 October 11, 2018 NoComment by Administrator
Sri Lanka says no Chinese military base at Hambantota port
Sri Lanka rejected on Wednesday US claims that China might establish a “forward military base” at a strategic port leased to Beijing by the indebted Indian Ocean island nation.
Sri Lanka last year granted a 99-year lease on the Hambantota deep-sea port to Beijing, after it was unable to repay Chinese loans for the $1.4-billion project.
The port, situated along key shipping routes, is one of a string of infrastructure projects in Asia, Africa and Europe being funded under China’s Belt and Road Initiative that has rattled the US and its allies, including neighbouring India.
Last week US Vice-President Mike Pence said Hambantota “may soon become a forward military base for China’s growing blue-water navy,” according to US media.
But Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s office said that there would be no foreign military presence at Hambantota, and that the US State Department had been briefed.
“Some have welcomed the Indo-Pacific as a means of containing China. Others see imaginary Chinese Naval bases – in fact in Sri Lanka – whereas Sri Lanka’s Hambantota Port is a Commercial joint venture between our Ports Authority and China Merchants – a company listed in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.”
“There are no foreign naval bases in Sri Lanka.”
“Our navy’s Southern Command is being relocated in Hambantota to control port security,” Wickremesinghe’s office quoted him as saying in Britain on Monday.
“The US Defence Department has been briefed on these developments. The Sri Lankan Army’s 1-2 Division is stationed in the vicinity.”
Wickremesinghe said Sri Lanka was also concluding a commercial agreement that would see India take over the management of Hambantota airport — another white-elephant project built with Chinese loans under former president Mahinda Rajapakse.
Regional superpower India has been concerned about growing Chinese interest in Sri Lanka, which has traditionally fallen within New Delhi’s sphere of influence.
In August, the US announced it would grant Sri Lanka $39 million to boost maritime security.
At the same time, China has pledged to increase its funding of Sri Lanka’s economy, including through loans, despite the country’s major debt pile.
The International Monetary Fund, which bailed out Sri Lanka in June 2016 with a $1.5 billion staggered loan, has warned Colombo over its heavy liabilities.
Home » Sri Lanka says no Chinese military base at Hambantota port
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What Does Endgame Set Up For The Future of the MCU?
Endgame gave us universe-changing events and I’m fascinated to see what the fallout will be in every subsequent movie and the MCU as a whole
by Kyle Barratt 30/04/2019
This article contains spoilers for Avengers: Endgame. Duh.
Avengers: Endgame marks the end of the MCU’s ‘Infinity Saga’, acting as a colossal conclusion to this 22-film epic narrative. The film’s greatest success is just how satisfying a conclusion it is, ending character arcs a decade in the making and finally assembling all of the franchise’s heroes. But it’s a season finale rather than a series finale, and there’s no denying that the film also sets up a fascinating new chapter of the MCU. A chapter we’ll be seeing the start of very soon with Spider-Man: Far From Home. The events of Infinity War and Endgame have changed this universe forever, so let’s take a look at just how these changes will affect the Marvel Cinematic Universe, both in general and specific projects we know are in the works.
‘The Snap’ has changed the world of the MCU drastically. I’m delighted that, with all the time travelling going on in Endgame, Thanos’ decimation of half the universe couldn’t be undone. The Avengers didn’t stop it from happening, but rather brought everybody back into the same world they left five years earlier. This means the consequences of the events of Infinity War and Endgame will continue on throughout the future films and television shows of the MCU. As Natasha says in Endgame, governments are collapsing and the world is teetering on the brink of chaos. This will still be happening after Endgame, and the return of ‘The Vanished’ is no quick fix to the world’s – or rather the universe’s – problems. The returned will find themselves five years in the future; a future that has developed without them and their family and friends have lived their lives and grown older in their absence. Not everyone will have been unable to move on like our heroes. The returned will find that their jobs no longer exist, technology has changed and are kids just expected to go back to school like nothing ever happened? People will have found new love, remarried and then suddenly their dusted husband or wife returns. Let’s just say, The Jeremy Kyle Show is going to get a whole lot better post-snap.
A character’s fate left ambiguous in Endgame is Loki. The past can’t be changed so Loki is definitely dead in the ‘prime’ MCU timeline, but he’s seemingly alive in a newly-created divergent timeline. The Ancient One says that the stones have to be put back where they were taken from to ‘delete’ negative alternate timelines created by their disappearance, but would the timeline where Loki manages to get hold of The Tesseract and slip away be deleted? I’d argue not because we see Cap take Mjolnir back to Thor: The Dark World-era Asgard at the end as well as the stones to ‘delete’ that timeline, but there’s nothing they can return to end the new Loki timeline. So, Loki is loose in some alternate timeline with an Infinity Stone. We know a Loki series is coming to Disney+ so could this be the start of it? Is it set in an alternate timeline? Or could he use the Space Stone to travel into the prime timeline? I think either are possible, or neither. Everything we’ve heard about the Loki show suggests it’s a prequel that explores how he has interacted with humans throughout different periods of Earth’s history, but that could just be misdirection.
At the end of Endgame, Thor sets out on a new life with the now revived Guardians, leaving behind the person he was always told he should be, and instead searching for of who he truly is. And no doubt he’s on a quest to lose a few pounds too. So, where will we see this “Asgardians of the Galaxy” adventure? In Thor 4 (which I hope is titled “Thor Four”) or Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3? I think we’ll eventually see both and that the two sub-franchises will be connected from this point on, but it looks like Guardians 3 will be released first. James Gunn is back and from what we know the script is already written. Thor’s interaction with the Guardians was a highlight of Infinity War but I hope he’s not a major focus of the next Guardians film. It should be about them tracking down this new version of Gamora (or old version I guess). I also don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility that Guardians 3 is a prequel to Infinity War. Just 6 months took place between Guardians 1 and 2 while there is a four-year gap between Guardians 2 and Infinity War. That’s plenty of time for a movie or two. And as for Thor, after Ragnarok – which I loved – I’m desperate for another film in a similar style and to see the characters of Korg and Valkyrie again, especially now the latter is the Queen of New Asgard.
I couldn’t have cared less about the rumoured Hawkeye series before I saw Endgame, but now I can’t wait for it. The latest film finally made him a fascinating character, and it’ll be interesting to see if he can simply put the past five years of grief and vicious murder behind him to live once again with the family who from their point of view were only gone for a few seconds. Does any part of his brutal vigilante persona of Ronin remain? And will he train his daughter Lila or maybe even Kate Bishop to be the next Hawkeye?
I think it’s fair to say that the Black Widow movie, that’s starting production later this year, is a prequel. The film has always seemed like it should have been released much earlier, probably in early Phase 2, and I would have liked it if Endgame was her final appearance instead of now cutting back to the start of her journey. It’ll be bittersweet to see her join SHIELD and her new family after seeing her sacrifice herself for them in Endgame. It would be cool if the film was actually set in the five-year time jump we see in Endgame because that’s a fascinating period to explore. It’d be a Bourne-style spy thriller set against the backdrop of The Leftovers, and that sounds like the coolest thing ever. If we are to see that period of time though, I think it’s more likely to be the setting of the upcoming season of Agents of SHIELD, but that show has always felt like B-canon MCU. Although considering Endgame gave us our first big screen appearance of a character originating in a TV show in Jarvis from Agent Carter that might change in the future.
We know a Black Panther 2 is on the horizon and in my mind the events of Endgame make that film all the more intriguing. King T’Challa was gone for 5 years because of ‘The Snap’, so who ruled in his stead? Will that person be willing to give up the throne now that the rightful heir has returned? And did Wakanda keep its promise of sharing its wealth and technology with the rest of the world when everything erupted into chaos after Thanos snapped his fingers? Endgame gave us universe-changing events and I’m fascinated what the fallout will be in every subsequent movie. Captain Marvel is the same. Now that she’s fully connected to our other characters in the ‘present day’/2023, will she hang around Earth or will she stay out among the stars helping others affected by Thanos’ crusade? I don’t mind her checking in with Earth every now and again now that she’s an Avenger, but I want her sequel to be a more space-faring adventure. And what’s happened to Talos?! We need to know!
Another announced Disney+ show is “Falcon and Winter Soldier”, and now that we’ve seen Endgame that seems a little disingenuous. Sam Wilson is no longer Falcon but the new Captain America. Or is he? I hope he does fully become the new Cap and gets his own movie over the coming years, but I like the idea of him wrestling with taking on the mantle of this iconic hero. He and Bucky could tackle a threat while Sam decides to embrace the shield passed down by old Steve Rogers, eventually leading into a movie or two. Or the announcement of the show could have cheekily left out certain details and it’s actually a ‘Captain America and Winter Soldier” series.
Let’s end with the film we’re only mere months from seeing: Spider-Man: Far From Home. Details have rightfully been kept under wraps but I think it’s a fair assumption to say the film will be set in 2023 after the events of Endgame, and that Peter will find himself back in school five years after he fatefully leapt from the school bus in Infinity War. Despite his reunion with Ned in Endgame making it seem like Ned wasn’t turned to dust and has lived the past five years without his friend, surely the opposite has to be true or Ned would be five years older and not going to school anymore. That’s the same with all of Peter’s classmates from Homecoming if they appear again in Far From Home. I think that Mysterio will be trying to make himself look like a superhero – but risking lives in the process – because he wants to fill the role that was lost with the many deaths in the last two Avengers movies, and to combat the depression caused by ‘The Snap’. Nick Fury, after seeing the threat the universe is truly in, will once again return to the Avengers Initiative and keep a closer eye on Peter, helping to shape him into a prominent member of The New Avengers, ready for a movie in a few years’ time. Just as Endgame was the end of one saga of the MCU, Far From Home will be the beginning of the next.
There are some of my thoughts on where the franchise might go now that Endgame has drastically altered the status quo. What did you think of Endgame, and what do you predict will be the fallout of the film’s events? Let me know in the comments and geek out with me about TV, movies and video-games on Twitter @kylebrrtt.
Asgardians of the GalaxyAvengers EndgameBlack PantherBlack WidowCaptain MarvelFalcon and Winter SoldierGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3HawkeyelokiMarvelmarvel cinematic universeMCUSpider-Man: Far from HomeThor
ArticleFilmOpinionTV And Movies
Returning to Older Games
by Ben Nother - Apr 29, 2019
by Adam Thomas - May 1, 2019
Kyle Barratt
The world is full of mysterious creatures whose existence spark constant debate. Scotland have the Loch Ness monster, North America have big foot and the Himalayas have the Yeti but none can hold a candle to England's mythical beast. The Kyle Barratt has eluded scientists for decades, many doubt he even exists and is really a man from Ealing named Carl. Yet time and time again proof arrives in the form of completed and well written articles.
30 April 2019 at 12:09 pm
Tbh, I think I’d like to see Thor stick with the Guardians for Vol 3. And into the future and instead of Thor 4 have Valkerie lead a film from Taika Waititi with Korg and that in tow.
Star Wars is a huge franchise, a franchise I am particularly fond of. I’ve loved it since being a kid. We wore out the taped TV versions, full of...
With the success of The Mandalorian and the announcement of countless other series in the works, the future of Star Wars is streaming. Yet a couple of those old-fashioned...
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Shining light on dark issues
A Theatre Near U production reflects on youth suicide and mental illness
by Anna Medina / Palo Alto Weekly
Uploaded: Thu, Jun 2, 2016, 9:37 am 0
The cast of "A Beautiful Glass" reflects on lost friends. Photo by Jackson Wylder.
Georgianna (Emily Liberatore) and Justin (Atticus Shaindlin) study the stars in "A Beautiful Glass." Photo by Jackson Wylder.
"A Beautiful Glass" examines the topic of suicide from the perspectives of a number of characters, including Vincent (Jackson Wylder), Sivvy (Alexandra Dinu) and Malik (Shayan Hooshmand). Photo by Tanna Herr.
What if we stopped wondering whether the proverbial glass was half-full or half-empty and recognized it instead as simply a beautiful glass?
This philosophical reframing lies at the heart of A Theatre Near U's latest original production. In its various forms, art can be understood as a response to culture and society, and writer/producer/director Tony Kienitz's work is no exception. Kienitz created "A Beautiful Glass" in response to recent teen suicides in the Palo Alto area and the community's attempts at understanding the tragedies.
As the founders of A Theater Near U, Kienitz and his wife (co-director and producer Tanna Herr) are in their third year writing, directing and producing an original musical, this time with an 18-member cast ranging in age from 13 to 19. Each year, they've worked with local students they hand-picked -- students who are involved in theater productions at their schools and in the community at large and who are interested in receiving more focused training and experience. "A Beautiful Glass" will be performed in Mountain View and San Francisco.
As Kienitz delved into research for this year's show, he and Herr observed that many teens were in disagreement with the media's portrayal of them.
"The project started out as a response to the media portrayal of Palo Alto in particular, but (also) the Bay Area, ... as a place where teens were in trouble, and the teenagers here (were) saying, 'I don't see what they're saying,'" Kienitz recalled.
Herr noted that teenagers also were disagreeing with a lot of adults about why these suicides had happened. Additionally, Kienitz and Herr began to notice a pattern in the way that communities as a whole tended to address suicides.
"It started to become apparent and clear to us that a lot of the culture the way that communities deal with suicide is so hush-hush. There's a reason you don't publicize who the kid is, but in the end, it also does a disservice to that kid because it dehumanizes (him or her)," Kienitz said.
There was one conversation in particular that introduced a perspective upon which Kienitz expanded. A friend whose sister had committed suicide spoke of how the saddest part after her death was that it was as if her sister had never existed.
"(My friend) said specifically, 'If my sister had died of cancer, we would have had an annual celebration of her life. We would've talked about it all the time. People would've said, "Oh, remember how great she was?" But because she had depression and her illness killed her, nobody talked about it,'" Kienitz said.
This conversation informed the message and the script of "A Beautiful Glass," which tells the story of Justin Capps (played by returning cast member Atticus Shaindlin), who is trying to cope with suicides in his circle of friends while desperately seeking a "cure." A home-schooled senior, Shaindlin plans to attend Carnegie Mellon University, where he will study musical theater. Emily Liberatore, a senior at Gunn High School, plays the smart and idealistic Georgianna, with whom Capps forms a connection.
In addition to exploring the topic from the perspective of modern teens, the play also makes use of cultural and historical points of view, through the lives and deaths of historical figures such as Cleopatra and Vincent Van Gogh and literary figures including Romeo and Lady Macbeth.
The teens receive a unique, inside view of the process of developing an original work one that is written and adapted specifically for them as actors. Students are involved in almost every aspect of the production, from the score, to the lighting and stage managing. They had a hand in composing some of the music, at one point getting together for a jam session.
Since the play touches on so many stories and the topic is global, Kienetz said that rather than having one composer or lyricist, they chose to include a variety. Consequently, the play features different kinds of music, from traditional songs from certain eras to improvised and discordant alternative-rock songs that students created.
"It's been interesting because it's not like at school where you have a lot of adults walking you through it. Working with all the people -- they're definitely dedicated so that makes it a lot easier," said Jessica Wu, who's serving as stage manager.
"What I like about (Kienitz and Herr) is you sort of get a feel for your acting. They let you figure out your strengths, your weaknesses and what you need to work on, and they push you in a way that's so different than how (other teachers) push you," said Alexandra Dinu, a student at Palo Alto High School who will be playing the roles of Sylvia Plath, Portia and Nanette.
Despite the heavy topics of mental illness and suicide, the play is punctuated with surprising moments of levity and humor -- an intentional decision on Kienitz's part, since he believes that humor is crucial to portraying the characters as fully realized individuals.
"It's very uplifting and humorous in a lot of ways because these people were funny. The two people I wrote about that I knew were both really funny people," Kienitz said.
At the end of the day, Herr and Kienitz hope "A Beautiful Glass" humanizes some of the varied and untold stories of those who have died by suicide and, in doing so, brings to light some of the complexities and nuances that surrounds the issue.
What: "A Beautiful Glass," presented by A Theatre Near U
Where: Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St.
When: June 10, 11, 18, 23, 24 and 25 at 7:30 p.m.; June 19 at 2 p.m.
Cost: $17-$22
Info: Go to A Theatre Near You
Uploaded: Thu, Jun 2, 2016, 9:37 am
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John Mahama Is The Best Politician In Ghana � Kofi Wayo
Founder and Leader of the United Renaissance Party - URP, Chuck Kofi Wayo says President John Mahama’s genuine feeling for the ordinary person makes him the best amongst the politicians in Ghana.
Mr. Wayo was speaking on 3fm’s Sunrise Morning show when he described the President as a man for the people and praised him for his kind hearted approach toward the people of Ghana.
“The best amongst all the politicians so far is John Mahama because he has feelings for the Ghanaian people. I know all of them but I can tell you John Mahama has feelings for the people and that is why I am supporting him until I am ready.”
The failed presidential aspirant said there was a divine intervention which led President Mahama to win the 2012 elections indicating that “I thought Nana Akufo Addo had won the 2012 elections and when he didn’t win we all knew there was a divine intervention somewhere.”
Sharing a personal experience with the host of the show, Kofi Wayo said “John Mahama will weep when you go and tell him about children dying and that clearly tells you how much feeling he has for people.
“I remember a day when I went to visit them when he was vice President and a woman came into the house with torn clothes and smelling bad wanting to see the wife of John Mahama. The security forces asked her to leave but the woman had the number of Lordina so she called her and she came to see her.”
He indicated that the incident in question showed him how a simple and noble the first family were. He said the first lady “didn’t forget where she comes from and how many first ladies will do that and that is when I said to myself Glory be to God”.
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A list of the greatest fictional dogs of all time
Whether it’s serious literature or a kids cartoon, dogs have provided inspiration for countless novels, films and television programmes.
While we may not have had time to go through every film or book that stars a dog, we’ve come up with a list of our favourite fictional dogs.
We’re sure you’ll have your own opinion about what we’ve missed so, once you’ve had a read through, feel free to tell us which dog should take the tenth place in our list…
1. Buck from Call of the Wild
Created by Jack London in 1903, Buck is the central character in his most famous novel, Call of the Wild. It tells the story of how the St. Bernard-Scotch Collie was stolen from his home in California and sold to become an Alaskan sled dog. It’s a brutal, emotional and fully deserving of its status as a classic.
2. Scooby Doo
Taking a slight change of direction, next in our list is Scooby Doo. He may not be the most heroic dog but he’s probably the one you’d want to hang out with the most. Created in 1969, Scooby Doo is still going strong (although the less said about Scrappy Doo and the live action films the better) and haphazardly solving crimes to this day.
3. Digby, the Biggest Dog in the World
Digby, the Biggest Dog in the World was a 1973 film about, surprisingly enough, the biggest dog in the world. Digby drinks a growth formula and becomes big enough to bound over buildings in a single leap. The critics may not love it, but it has a particular British charm that remains endearing.
4. Spike from Tom and Jerry
Some may argue that he’s nothing but a dim bully – Jerry constantly tricks him into terrorising Tom – but there is no denying that, above all, he’s a great father to his son, Tyke. He spends a huge amount of time teaching his son the ways of the world and showering him with puppy love.
5. Eddie from Frasier
A Jack Russell Terrier, Eddie was played by Canine actor, Moose. For a show that was relied so much on the wordy comedy of the main characters, Eddie brought a simplicity and light relief that helped Frasier run for 11 seasons and pick up 37 Primetime Emmy Awards.
6. Gnasher from Dennis the Menace
Dennis the Menace was 17 years old when Gnasher first appeared but he has been creating mischief at his side ever since. Artist Davey Law was apparently having trouble illustrating a suitable companion for the stripy-shirted troublemaker and was told to simply draw Dennis’s hair and "put a leg on each corner and two eyeballs at that end". It seems to have worked out pretty well…
7. Snowy from Tintin
Snowy is the companion to the be-quiffed Belgian adventurer, Tintin. The terrier started off with a speaking part but soon lost that ability – but not his ability to help Tintin overcome all manner of dangerous situations. You only need to see the numerous murals, statues and memorabilia around Brussels to see how popular he remains in his home country.
8. K9 from Doctor Who
He may not be the most nimble of beasts, but K9’s ability to shoot a laser and know the answer to pretty much anything, has made him an important companion for the Doctor. He’s essentially a less smug, more dog-like version of the car KITT from Knight Rider – which can only be a good thing.
9. Uggie from The Artist
The most recent addition, Uggie was brilliant in The Artist and, as plenty of people pointed out, managed to steal the limelight from many of the two-legged stars. There were people asking for the Jack Russell Terrier to win an Oscar for his performance – but he had to make do with a special award at the Prix Lumière.
Who should be tenth in our list? Do you have a sort spot for Scrappy-Doo? What about Pluto? Let us know what you think below...
I would choose Hachiko, an Akita dog. This dog is remembered for his remarkable loyalty to his owner which continued for many years after his owner's death. Hachiko is a faithful dog. It was such an inspiring story.
Red Dog, a lovable dog that roamed the outback of Australia, based on a true story
Posted on: August 10 2014
Actually no matter if someone doesn't be aware of after that its up to other users that they will assist, so here it happens.My web-site :: google
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Top 20 ways to reduce your empty property business rates Maximising income and protecting cash flow has never been...
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Kingsley, Manchester / North West
BCSC: Localism requires honesty and trust
Local authorities and developers should not fear localism, but honesty and trust are the key to success, according to industry experts at the annual British Council of Shopping Centres conference in Manchester.
Charles Miller, director at Jones Lang LaSalle, who chaired a seminar titled 'The Localism Dilemma – What it means for future urban development', said the localism agenda is already "ingrained" in the industry.
The Localism Bill, which was unveiled by the Government in December last year, is passing through the latter stages of its parliamentary process and is likely to receive Royal Assent later this year.
The Government said the new legislation will cut red tape, give local authorities more power, revolutionise the planning system, and give communities control over decisions.
At the seminar in Manchester, industry experts argued that, with the economy stagnant and banks unwilling to lend, virtually all development that is not under way is unlikely to be delivered for several years, with worrying consequences for a private-sector led recovery.
Developers must be prepared to approach local authorities with "honesty and open minds about sharing the benefits" if they want support for their projects according to Sean Harriss, chief executive of Bolton Council.
Harriss said: "You've got to be prepared to listen and adapt. Councils are not against growth, but they won't allow growth at any price. We want quality schemes with good quality partners.
"I have seen developments go ahead or halt at the first meeting because developers have to turn up and have a sense of knowing the area they are in, and the politics of the place. Developers who have an open mind about how things will turn out are more successful than those who have fixed ideas."
A panel also included Nick Carter, chief executive of West Berkshire Council, Alistair Shaw of Stanhope and Andy Wallhead, Wakefield Council's corporate director for regeneration and economic growth. They pointed to successful regeneration schemes in Wakefield and Castleford involving the local community, as well as imminent schemes in Hereford and Parkway Shopping Centre in Newbury.
Wallhead said a new footbridge linking a previously disconnected community with Castleford town centre showed what could achieved when residents were genuinely engaged. He said the council had worked very closely with residents right from the start, and as a result people had taken the bridge to their hearts.
Wallhead also spoke of the success of Trinity Walk in Wakefield, which created 1,500 jobs after investing its own money into the scheme and saw a return on its investment within two years.
He added that more than 80% of the new jobs went to local people and half of the new recruits were young people taking on their first job.
The panel agreed that "strong leadership" was needed to push developments forward and sell the long-term benefits of regeneration projects to local people.
Carter, from West Berkshire Council, said the key to localism's success was for local communities to feel they could really make a difference. He said the Parkway shopping centre, which is due to open next month had brought a "new energy" to the town.
Alistair Shaw of Stanhope had a warning for developers who think localism will not translate into well-organised local opposition.
"If you think you can stay in London in your ivory towers, the private sector better wake up," he said, "it's not enough to send some consultants down you've got to be there yourself talking to the community.
"We felt the full force of localism in Hereford – a political party was set up as a result of our proposals.
"Honesty and trust are at the heart of it and if you don't have that with the local authority walk away because you are going to be working together for a long time."
Shaw said the experience of Hereford also showed how a highly organised and passionate minority can speak loudly against a development when in fact the majority of local residents agreed improvements had to be made.
Edward Cooke, executive director of BCSC, said: "What is absolutely clear is that developers and local authorities need to be prepared to listen, to each other, to communities. But equally we need strong leadership that is prepared to sell a vision to residents who can often be sceptical about change.
"Honesty, transparency and trust, whether it is between developers, local authorities and residents, is going to be key to successful developments in future."
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Newly Qualified Architect The company: An opportunity has become available for a...
Clifton Gray, Manchester
City Link buys industrial unit
Parcel delivery company City Link is selling two of its sites following the acquisition of a 67,811 sq ft industrial unit at Appleton Thorn trading estate in Warrington.
The new property on Lyncastle Lane, previously a distribution warehouse owned by MFI, recently underwent an extensive £800,000 refurbishment and is located close to junction 20 of the M6. City Link did not wish to disclose the cost of the property.
Following the collapse of MFI, the unit returned to guarantor Galliform, which bought the property from a private landlord for an undisclosed sum.
Other occupiers on site include G & J Greenall, TDG, Kuehne and Nagel, Currie European Transport, Eddie Stobart, Iron Mountain and DPD.
City Link has appointed the Manchester office of DTZ to dispose of two of its former units. These include a 30,517 sq ft warehouse at Speke Approach in Widnes built in 2004 and a 21,830 sq ft unit at Barleycastle Lane, Appleton Thorn.
Tony O'Keefe, industrial director at DTZ, said: "We are pleased to have concluded this deal and to have been appointed by City Link to dispose of its former premises. With its strong motorway links and strategic location, this recent acquisition at Appleton Thorn meets City Link's requirements and provides it with a new and expanded home in the region."
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Why can’t I get good mobile signal in my apartment building? We rely heavily on our mobile phones in order...
Clear Fibre
Senior Project Manager (Award-winning Construction Consultancy) We are working with an independent and multi award-winning...
Council pension fund stays with CBRE
CB Richard Ellis has been reappointed to manage the £260m Merseyside Pension Fund property portfolio.
The fund, administered by Wirral Council, invests on behalf of thousands of workers and retired staff from the five Merseyside councils and smaller public organisations.
Among its property assets is the Cunard Building at Liverpool's Pier Head. Property makes up less than 10% of MPF's £4bn managed assets. The property portfolio saw a 25% dive in value in the year to April 2009.
CBRE won the £50,000-a-year contract after a competitive tender process. The contract will start from 1 January 2010 and run for four years, with an option to extend for two years.
The client and agent teams won't have far to go for meetings: CBRE's Liverpool office is based in the same building as the pension fund, Castle Chambers, 43 Castle Street, which is also owned by the fund. The building recently underwent a major refurbishment with a San Carlos restaurant opening on the ground floor.
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Principal Planning Officer (Policy) – 12-Month Maternity Cover ONLINE APPLICATIONS ONLY Job Reference: PPP1 Department: Place Directorate...
St Helens Council, St Helens
Eagle Lab comes to Manchester
Barclays is set to open a 12,000 sq ft Eagle Lab, a business advice hub for entrepreneurs, within Bruntwood’s Union building on Albert Square.
Eagle Labs are co-working and innovation spaces set up by Barclays to help businesses network, collaborate and grow. There are seventeen Eagle Labs across the UK, with Barclays staff on site offering advice on how to expand, from access to funding, to mentoring and events.
The flagship Manchester Eagle Lab is set to open later this year.
Union, formerly Commercial Union House, is currently undergoing a £5m refurbishment, and is now also the location of Bruntwood’s HQ.
The Lab will be laid out over two floors with a coffee shop which will be open to the public, an 80-seat auditorium, co-working and breakout space at street level and a combination of private offices, meeting rooms and breakout spaces on the first floor.
Ben Davey, chief executive of Barclays UK Ventures said: “Manchester has thrived on a spirit of innovation and industry – a spirit that led to the development of the world’s first programmable computer. Technology is now transforming the speed at which start-ups can grow and scale and by providing world class space and practical resources alongside our financial and business expertise, our mission is to help individuals, entrepreneurs and businesses to innovate, network and ultimately succeed.
“We recognise the importance of supporting entrepreneurs, start-ups and accelerating high-growth companies, and the vital role they play in creating a sustainable, prosperous Manchester economy.”
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Tickets are very high, It's should be less and reasonable so all can afford…
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February start for Swan Street tower
Funding granted for Metrolink extension
The Government has granted final funding approval of £120.9m to extend Manchester's Metrolink tram system.
It means the Manchester Metrolink system is set to double in capacity once extensions to Ashton and East Didsbury, as well as the ones to Oldham, Rochdale, and Chorlton, have all been completed.
Transport Minister Sadiq Khan said: "Metrolink is at the heart of Manchester's transport system and has been providing a great service to the travelling public for more than a decade.
"People travelling to and from Didsbury and Ashton will now reap the benefits of a having direct link to the city centre – improving job opportunities and giving a boost to local businesses.
"As well as helping to regenerate some of the most deprived areas along both these corridors more passengers on the tram will reduce traffic congestion in the area and provide better local air quality."
The proposed 4.5km Chorlton to East Didsbury extension will run on the route of a former railway line and will include five new tram stops, connecting Chorlton with Withington, West Didsbury, Burton Road Didsbury Village and East Didsbury.
The Ashton extension will see 3.9km of new track laid and four new stops, connecting the town centres of Droylsden and Ashton. The funding will also pay for six trams to the Metrolink fleet and two new park and ride sites at Ashton Moss and Ashton West for over 600 cars.
Phil Woolas, regional minister for the North West, added: "This is fantastic news for the Manchester City Region and its people. Not only will it provide a more reliable, efficient and greener travelling experience for passengers from Ashton and Didsbury into the city centre, but the investment of over £120m from Government, in addition to the funding for extensions to Oldham, Rochdale and Chorlton already announced, reaffirms our commitment to a public transport system that will rival any in Europe."
The projects announced today are in addition to the extensions to Oldham, Rochdale, and Chorlton to which the Government agreed to contribute £244m of funding in May 2008 and which are now under construction. This investment supports the vision for Greater Manchester to develop as a European regional centre and will also improve the city region's economic competitiveness and growth.
Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive plans to commence main construction works early next year, with the East Didsbury line anticipated to be ready for service in summer 2013 and the Ashton line ready for service in the winter of 2013/2014.
Transport Minister Khan also announced that the Government would provide extra funding to allow rail carriages formerly in use on the Oldham Loop line to be used to lengthen busy peak time services. In total, 15 services a day will be lengthened from July 2010, providing capacity for an extra 959 passengers each morning during peak times, with a similar increase in the evening. Some trains will have twice has much capacity as before.
It’s a pity they couldn’t raise the funding for a Liverpool tram system having spent millions on it. OK so it was a bit politically correct, but it would still add a lot to the region particularly if it went to the airport.
March 08, 2010 at 11:50 am By Scouser
About time! As an aside, what happened to the idea of a tram running out to the airport? Is that now dead or will it be resurrected sometime soon?
March 08, 2010 at 12:00 pm By About time
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Workplace mass shootings are rare. Milwaukee rampage was the first of 2020.
Ryan W. MillerUSA TODAY
When a brewery employee gunned down five co-workers at Milwaukee's Molson Coors campus, then killed himself, it was the first mass shooting at a workplace involving a current or former employee in 2020.
The incident marked the 13th mass workplace shooting by a current or former employee since 2006, according to a database of mass killings maintained through a partnership between USA TODAY, The Associated Press and Northeastern University.
"Mass shootings are a rare event and at a workplace even rarer," said James Alan Fox, a professor of criminology at Northeastern who tracks the data.
In 2020, there have been more than 2,300 gun violence deaths, which doesn't include more than 3,800 by suicide, in the USA, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
Since 2006, 90 people have died in the 13 mass workplace shootings, according to the USA TODAY, AP and Northeastern database.
Milwaukee shooting is most recent of rare phenomenon
That's 5% of the 1,800 victims of the 331 mass shootings since 2006. About 40,000 Americans die from firearm-related injuries each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"It's horrific when it happens," Fox said. "But what we do know about mass shootings is that fear is out of proportion with actual risk."
The database includes mass killings during which four or more victims are killed, not including the assailant.
Last year saw more mass killings than any other year dating back to at least the 1970s, according to the database. There were 41 mass killings, of which 33 were mass shootings.
The Molson Coors shooting comes less than a year since a former employee at a municipal building in Virginia Beach, Virginia, opened fire, killing 12 people. The gunman was killed by police in May 2019.
In Aurora, Ilinois, an employee at a manufacturing plant killed five co-workers in February 2019. After a 90-minute shootout, officers killed the gunman.
Workplace shootings follow similar pattern
Many cases involving a current or former employee follow a similar pattern, Fox said.
Often, gunmen are longtime employees who feel wronged by the company or believe their work is not appreciated.
The employees may be older and recently fired. "Someone who is in their 50s, there may not be another opportunity," Fox said.
Some cases involved disputes between employees, Fox said.
At Molson Coors, the alleged gunman had been involved in a long-running dispute with a co-worker that boiled over before he started shooting, according to a law enforcement source who spoke to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and brewery sources.
The shooter worked as an electrician for more than 20 years, about 17 of them at Molson Coors, according to multiple sources and online employment records.
A co-worker who asked not to be identified for fear of being disciplined said the alleged assailant believed he was discriminated against because he was African American, and he frequently argued with at least one of the victims, a fellow electrician.
Killings by disgruntled customers and clients increase
Since 2006, there have 25 mass shootings at commercial locations with 161 victims, including incidents in which the shooter was not a former or current employee, according to the USA TODAY, AP and Northeastern database.
Fox said the number of workplace homicides, not just mass killings, involving current or former employees stayed roughly constant from 1997 to 2015.
Since 2011, the number of firearm-related workplace homicides has fluctuated from 350 to 400, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries. In 2018, 351 people were killed in a workplace homicide involving a firearm.
Cases of disgruntled customers or clients killing one or more people at commercial locations have increased, Fox said. In 1997, there were 20 such cases,he said. That grew to 70 by 2009 and leveled off to 50 by 2015.
Though the risk of disgruntled employees opening fire is low, the impact on the workplace is often much greater, Fox said.
A business may change security protocols after an incident or nearby workplaces may hold training, he said.
Contributing: Mitchell Thorson, George Petras and Grace Hauck, USA TODAY; Gina Barton, Annysa Johnson, Rick Barrett and John Diedrich, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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USA: 4 People Including A Woman Died In Violent Pro-Trump Protest In Washington
Washington, January 7, 2021: Donald Trump’s supporters created a ruckus in Washington’s Capitol Hill on Wednesday. A large number of Trump supporters entered the Capitol Hill building and vandalized it. It was very difficult to control Trump supporters.
However, during the violent clash between the police and supporters, four people including a woman died, while 3 are injured and under critical condition. So far, the police have arrested 52 people. The incident happened when the process of the electoral college was held in the Capitol Hill and Joe Biden’s victory was to be announced. The Trump supporters were demanding that Donald Trump should be re-elected as President and to recount the vote.
Emergency was Declared in Washington DC
In view of the violent attitude of Trump supporters, curfew has been imposed in Washington and police personnel in large numbers have also been deployed. Here, the mayor has declared a 15-day emergency till January 21. Police say Trump supporters also had weapons and inflammable substances to carry out the arson incident. After this violence, two of Trump’s assistants have also resigned from their posts.
Condemnation of the incident worldwide
Former US President Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have also condemned the incident. PM Modi has said in his statement that he is deeply saddened by the news of violent clashes in America. The transfer of power should be completed in a very calm and happy atmosphere. Such incidents have no place in a democracy.
Obama said in his statement that the time to come will always remember the day how the President tried to falsify election results by lying and promoting illegal activities. In his statement, he has described this incident as dishonour and shameful for the United States.
Trump’s social media account suspended
Following the incident, Donald Trumps’ accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have been suspended for his objectionable speech. Confirming this, Facebook’s Vice President of Integrity, G. Rosen, said he believed the video was contributing to increasing rather than reducing the violence. So this video has been removed. Apart from Facebook, this video has also been deleted from other social media platforms.
Trump and Biden attacked each other
At the same time, Trump once accused Biden of rigging the presidential election. After this, responding to Trump, Biden said that they should protect the constitution and end such siege. He has also called the uproar of Trump supporters an attack on the US Constitution. They have called it a bad day in American history. Biden has said that some people are not only accepting the results of the election but are also flouting the law. While Biden has appealed to Trump to pacify his supporters, Trump has said that he is not going to give up.
Biden will take oath on 20 January
On January 20, Joe Biden is to be sworn in as the President of the United States. This is the first time in American history that there has been so much uproar and violence in the presidential election. Meanwhile, Reuters has reported that the newly elected US President Joe Biden has selected Merrick Garland, who is a judge, as his new attorney general.
Trump had argued with Pence
Trump has asked his supporters not to commit violence and there should be peaceful demonstrations. He has categorically refused to give up in the election. Trump has even asked Vice President Mike Pence to send back the election results from the states. However, Pence has made it clear that Trump does not own it. Trump then attacked Pence, saying that he did not do what Pence should have done to protect the Constitution. States should get a chance to verify the facts of election results. The American public wants to know the truth of this election result.
The Whole Incident
Significantly, in the joint session of the US Parliament on Wednesday, the process of counting and certifying the votes of the electoral college started. This was objected to by Republican lawmakers in Arizona. Based on this, Vice President Mike Pence adjourned the joint session of the Senate. He also gave the members of both houses two hours to debate on objections. After this, the commotion started.
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Charlie Groenewegen
Eric Martinez
Jacob Stachowiak
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The Questionnaire: The Bests, Most Disappointing & Most Head Scratching From WrestleMania Week
Written (and assembled) by Ryan Frye, Josh Rushinock, Charlie Groenewegan & Kevin Berge
Questionable Critics takes pride in treating our readers not as if they're the lowest common denominator but as intelligent human beings.
Therefore, we're introducing The Questionnaire series where we ask a panel of writers a series of thought-provoking questions that are designed to require more than simple answers. This is an effort to create a discussion among ourselves as well as among our readers.
This edition will delve into WrestleMania weekend—the bests, the most disappointing, and the most head scratching.
Sifting Through The Racks: Week of 3/16/16
All comic book reviews by: Josh Rushinock and Paul McIntyre
Every week, Josh Rushinock and Paul McIntyre sit down with a combination of the week's comic releases, and one classic comic run, and attempt to sift the good from the bad. Effectively sifting through the trash to find the best work of the week, and the greatest runs of all time, every Friday these two writers come together to share their impressions on the comic book industry they both so thoroughly love.
Welcome to this week's edition of Sifting Through The Racks!
Reviews for the week of 3/16/16
Dragon Age: Mage Killer #4
I mentioned this when last I reviewed this series, but I feel the need to mention it again; I really love these kinds of comics. The idea of taking a pre-established world like Dragon Age and expanding upon it, even in small amounts, has always appealed to me, and Dark Horse does it better than anybody else in the comic business.
When those expansions move to pre-established characters, however, sometimes it's a little bit of a shaky transition. A great example of this is Star Wars where Dark Horse added some of the most memorable ideas in the history of its franchise themselves, but, whenever they seemed to focus on characters from the movies and events surrounding them, it was always a bit of a mixed bag. When Marvel took it over again, they failed in the previous area and succeeded strongly in the latter.
Which isn't really a bad thing. Dark Horse knows where its best works lies. But cameos such as this issue presents do stumble into that issue, making the last story dropping our heroes into the middle of the Inquisition cause for a bit of an eyebrow raise.
Sifting Through The Racks: Week of 3/9/16
Reviews for the week of 3/9/16
I'm only just now realizing that with this cover, the reason I've had problems with this series is that it's not quite my demographic. But hey, at least something familiar is here... an ad for Batman vs Superman!
Starfire #10
Starfire has been somewhat of a frustrating series thus far. It's incredibly hard to follow and understand because it puts so little emphasis on Starfire's history and therefore makes it difficult to track if she's the same Starfire she was before the New 52 or if she's in the infancy of her character or some odd amalgamation of the two, and that makes it hard to track her evolution as a character.
At times, she seems so unaware of Earth customs that you'd have no choice but to guess that she's only just freshly arrived on the planet, and there's plenty of evidence of that being the case, but whenever she runs across someone like, say, Nightwing, their history seems to be there and alive, making those moments of Earthly innocence seem like oddities, or, worse yet, pure stupidity.
Last issue really was permeated with those problems by showing Starfire at her most unaware and terrible, and rushed art direction only served to make that case worse. This week, we enter the largest action sequence the series has seen thus far, with Stella, Atlee, and Kori entering Atlee's subterranean home of Strata, and Kori losing consciousness, and that very well may hide some of the character issues within. Chances are, however, things are only about to get more complicated.
Sifting Through The Racks Annual #1: Reviews for the Weeks of 2/24/16 and 3/2/16
Welcome to a super-sized two-week special! Welcome to Sifting Through the Racks Annual #1!
All-New X-Men #5
Coming off of what may have been my favorite issue I've reviewed since starting this particular trek into the weekly grind of comics that come my way, All-New X-Men has been a surprise hit for me. While I was somewhat a fan of its last run, it was too bogged down in time warping nonsense and a sense of genuine, ever-present dread that I simply had a hard time following it in the long run, and it also fell into the trap of worshiping the characters (and specifically Jean Grey) to a point of making every character surrounding the original X-Men seem either inept or cruel.
This series, however, serves to balance the scales by focusing solely on the young hero dynamic, almost exclusively on their own, and it's worked very well up to this point. Last issue focused heavily on the relationship between Laura in her attempts to literally become The Wolverine while her loving partner in young Warren worried and lost a bit of himself every time he was forced to heal after taking substantial wounds that could have been minimized by working as a team. That particular excellent issue is signed by an ending that seems to have The Blob beat her so badly she might never come back from it.
Will this issue stand up to how good the last one was? Let's not waste anymore time finding out.
Anime Review: My Little Monster (Tonari No Kaibutsu-Kun)
Review written by; Josh Rushinock
As reviewers, there should always be a system in place, even if it's just put in place by you and you alone, that prevents bias from coloring the experience of the media. Sometimes you'll be forced to take an in depth look into something you wouldn't normally review, and, when you do that, you should at the very least be able to understand the media enough to take an objective standpoint. Opinion isn't always the same thing as constructive criticism. Sometimes when you disagree with content of whatever it is you're putting your attention into, you have to take about five steps back and really see it from another person's perspective.
Luckily for me, this writing staff and this site has always put a strong emphasis on opinion, and opinion shouldn't simply be dismissed out of hand, either. If something makes you extremely uncomfortable, for example, something should be said. If something makes you so uncomfortable that you feel you absolutely need to talk about it... well, that isn't bias. That's self-preservation, and a self-given insistence to defend all that a person might thing is right in the world.... and for me, My Little Monster was an experience I simply could not look past without throwing in my two cents in, even if some of the issues that are dealt with in this anime are a little past my depth.
Be forewarned, this review is going to contain talk about very sensitive material, mostly revolving around all forms of abuse. Do not click on that read more button unless you are mentally ready to walk into such a conversation.
And remember:
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New year, old familiar grief
By Rick Alvey, Reid Health Chaplain
Celebrating a new year is one of the most festive times of the year for most people. But if you're going through this time of year for the first time without a loved one then you may be feeling very different than most of the people around you.
Lots of things change with the arrival of a new year. One of those things is not your journey through grief. Some events can be forgotten and left behind when we turn the page of the new year. That's not the case with the heartache of losing someone.
Some people expect that the grief journey can be measured or controlled by time -- they are sadly mistaken. The journey through grief is unique for each of us. There is no "one-size-fits-all" timetable for dealing with it.
"It's been seven years, and I'm still going through it," says Dr. Larry Crabb, whose brother died in a plane crash. "I don't know if it's a holy thing to admit, but when someone says, 'Well, it's been a week, a month, a year - Larry, for you it's been seven years. Get a grip.' I get really angry."
The adage that "time heals all wounds" is only partly true. The intensity of the heartache may lessen over time but it will never fully go away; even if those around us think it should. And it won't magically disappear with the start of a new year.
"Until I get home to heaven," Larry continues, "there's going to be an ache that won't quit. The grieving process for me is not so much a matter of getting rid of the pain, but not being controlled by the pain."
For as long as we are alive and on this journey of life we will feel the ache of loss. The essential question is not "When will the hurting stop?" because it will never fully go away. The better question to ask is, "Who is in control of the journey, you or the grief?"
What does come with the New Year is the realization that you have made it this far already -- so keep going. No matter where you are on your journey through grief or how long you've been traveling it, you are making progress. You have made it to another new year. Keep moving. Keep going. Keep putting one foot ahead of the other. Whether you feel much like celebrating or not, it is a new year.
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1920s Movie Clip: The Circus- Charlie Chaplin (1928)
1920s, 1920s Movie Clips
This scene from the 1928 silent film The Circus finds Charlie Chaplin locked inside of a lion’s cage. He had sought refuge in the cage after fleeing a donkey. The lion scenes took around 200 takes with a real lion and the faces of fear displayed by Chaplin were...
The Great Gabbo- “Every Now and Then” (1929)
The Great Gabbo is a 1929 film starring Erich von Stroheim, Donald Douglas, and Marjorie Kane. It tells the story of a ventriloquist that increasingly uses his dummy “Otto” as his only means of self-expression. This scene features the song “Every Now...
The Jazz Singer- Al Jolson (1927)
In this clip from the 1927 film The Jazz Singer , Al Jolson sings “Dirty Hands, Dirty Face” for the crowd at Coffee Dan’s restaurant. The film tells the story of Jakie Rabinowitz (Al Jolson), a young man from a devout Jewish family who defies...
La Revue Des Revues- Josephine Baker (1927)
This clip from the 1927 French film La Revue Des Revues features dancer, singer, and actress Josephine Baker. The story follows Paris nightlife as it was in 1927. The Jazz Age was in full swing at the time and Baker was the highest-paid entertainer in Europe. The film...
Excedrin Headache Commercials (1960s) under 1960s, 1960s Commercials
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The most interesting part of the game are its breathtaking graphics
by toxictaz
Ever wished you could knock off or blow away anyone or anything that came in your way and get away with it? If yes, Grand Theft Auto - San Andreas is just the right game for you.
This game lets you explore the world on your own in your own way, while still completing
your missions. Based on a gangsters life, whole action takes place in a ficional city called San Andreas. Living in his hood, along with his fellas, for CJ (main character) stuff come cheap and respect is everything. Consequently there is a lot of gore and bloody action taking place in this game.
You have ...
to accomplish a number of missions which usually include killing people or destroying property. The most interesting part of the game are its breathtaking graphics. Every part of the city appears different and has been intelligently designed. Apart from these, the city is so big that the user is bound to get lost.
This is where the minimap comes in use.
The audio is cool. There are a number of radio stations to tune in which are very entertaining. Its downers include excessive gore, and a lot of filthy language. But if you are in for some serious gangsta action, go for it!
Overall, I give it 8 out of 10
Grand Theft Auto:San Andreas (Playstation 2)
Grand Theft Auto 3 (San Andreas). After Vice City (GTA 2) came this great new version of Grand Theft Auto. The game play itself I could say is 3.5/5 and for the graphics 3.5/5. The story of this game is all about Carl Johnson (CJ). After his mother died ...
PCJ 600 in Grand Theft Auto San Andreas
PCJ 600 is a sports motorcycle that you get to ride in Grand Theft Auto San Andreas. The bike can be easily spotted around in any part of the city. This is also one of my favorite bikes. It is capable of touching amazing speeds within seconds. The acceleration ...
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Version 2.0
Grand Theft Auto is one of the most famous and notorious video game series of all time. On the one hand it creates visually stunning, open-ended games where the possibilities are practically endless. On the other, its games are extremely violent and full of coarse language and ...
Rocket Launcher in Grand Theft Auto San Andreas
Grand Theft Auto San Andreas has whole battery of weapons to play with! This is one of my favorite games. It works as a stress buster for me. If I am mad over someone or something, I just grab the mouse, fire up the game and literally go on ...
Few game franchises have engrossed me as much as the Grand Theft Auto series. I've put hundreds of hours into GTA Vice City and San Andreas, so I consider myself a die-hard fan of the series. I had very high expectations for GTA IV. Sadly, the game did not ...
Nitrous Oxide in Grand Theft Auto San Andreas
Nitrous Oxide or more commonly referred as N2O or simply Nitrous is a very popular thing in car races and in games too, it is used in cars extensively. Every gamer knows about it and why is it used to get a boost of speed while driving ...
At one point or another in our gaming life, I think it would be possible that everyone has ever played the game Grand Theft Auto San Andreas. As we all know, the short form GTA is a very popular game, but call me a bad gamer or something, ...
Grand Theft Auto IV is one game I never feels bored even after hours of play. The graphics of the game is improving by leaps and bound with release of each new version of Grand Theft Auto game. In fact Grand Theft Auto IV game is highly addictive game ...
Grand Theft Auto IV for Xbox 360
Grand Theft Auto IV is a good game, but it fails to match up with the previous Grand Theft Auto Game, San Andreas. I have the game for the Xbox 360. The graphics in Grand Theft Auto are better than the graphics in any of the previous games in this ...
Just as you would expect from a game in the Grand Theft Auto Series, San Andreas is an overall great game, with literally infinite playtime. Out of all the Grand Theft Auto games released to this point,including GTA4, San Andreas has the largest map, and most game features available. It ...
I love open world games, and the Grand Theft Auto series is one of the best of that type of game. I'm not as enamored with the adult nature of the content as some people, but this storyline is still as good as most gangster movies and there is ...
Grand Theft Auto 3 for PC
Rockstar games really overachieved with Grand Theft Auto 3: San Andreas. The game play is incredible and unlike the previous Grand Theft Auto 3 titles, I felt like I could connect with the main character, Carl Johnson. From the detailed story-line to the added features, everything about this game ...
I had heard a lot about this game Grand Theft Auto San Andreas. I knew it was a game possibly about stealing cars, but that was basically it. My son who is only 6 years old wanted to it for his birthday. He loves games and play them all ...
"Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" is the fifth installment in the hugely popular Grand Theft Auto series of video games. And it carries on the same features which made the previous games popular. The game is an action adventure game using a sandbox style of non-linear play. The game ...
This playstation 2 game my kids just love to play this awesome entertainment game.The game has a variety of action sounds, and graphics that you can make and the best of all you can choose your favourite background such as mountains, ghost towns, deserts etc. and your control allows ...
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The review was published as it's written by reviewer in March, 2008. The reviewer certified that no compensation was received from the reviewed item producer, trademark owner or any other institution, related with the item reviewed. The site is not responsible for the mistakes made. 282403323020331/k2311a0324/3.24.08
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Rhema Family Churches > Standard Blog > Featured > This far and no further
This far and no further
December 5, 2018 by Deren Featured, Frontpage Article, General, News
RELIGIOUS AND CHURCH LEADERS ARE UNITED WITH ONE VOICE AND ARE READY TO CONFRONT THE SURGE OF ABUSE IN THE SECTOR
Comment by: Ps Ray McCauley
It is said evil thrives when the good among us keep quiet. This is as true in the religious community as it is in every other sector.
It is now common knowledge that the faith community has been going through bad publicity because of the dubious things that have been happening in some church organizations. From allegations of commercializing of religion to the abuse of followers, the church world in South Africa has been rocked with scandals.
In many communities, religious leaders are
looked to as the custodians of socially acceptable moral norms. When religious leaders themselves, or charlatans masquerading as guides in the realm of faith, take advantage of naïve and often vulnerable followers, this harms the very fabric of social life in South Africa. There is therefore a burden of responsibility on all religious leaders, not only to distance themselves from such, and to isolate them, but to take a proactive stand to oppose such practices and ensure that perpetrators are brought to book
The religious community can choose to keep and submit to the reality of human frailty, arguing that for all have sinned and come short of God’s moral standards. But that will be a self-defeatist attitude and would not help.
Therefore, it was heartening last week to see religious leaders from diverse strands of faith coming together to take forward the work that was started by the CRL Rights Commission when it investigated the commercialization of religion.
The time has come for the collective of likeminded and responsible religious leaders to retake this mantle and provide guidance and protection to communities who have been taken advantage of. Working with government, both in terms of the social and community as well as the legal and security aspects, the religious leaders have committed themselves to develop comprehensive measures to ensure that South Africa rids itself from the misuse of religion for – ill-gotten gains, personal enrichment, abuse of woman, children and the vulnerable, and the erosion of faith, the most basic of human rights, to a means for criminality. They have committed themselves to doing so in keeping with the rights-based framework of the constitution and with due appreciation for the rich diversity that constitutes the tapestry of religious faith in South Africa.
Indeed, there are instances when many of us in the Christian faith have felt that the actions of some among us not only tarnish what Christianity represents but cheapen it. What kind of image will the unchurched have after seeing people being exploited by what are supposed to be fellow Christian leaders?
The abuse of people in the name of religion is not unique to Christianity and it should, therefore, sicken all of us to think that people who have been exposed to only the dubious practices of some will only have this one image of our religions.
Sadly, because they have been turned off from religion by the reports they hear and see in the media, for example, they may never experience the countless beautiful and intricate facets of any particular faith. They will only remember the horror stories of people being fed snakes, grass and petrol – which are things that have recently happened in the name of religion.
I am glad that the abuse of people’s beliefs systems is something many credible religious leaders in our country are ready to tackle head on. Many of us are keen to embrace a peer review mechanism that will make it possible for us to be accountable to each other.
To get to this point was not easy and was indeed preceded by differences between Religious Leaders and the CRL Rights Commission. However, we found each other, and we must thank both parties for being frank with each other without necessarily entrenching themselves in their positions. There is consensus between the Commission and the religious community that the latter is best placed to chart the way forward, of course assisted by the Commission.
The Commission has given the religious sector the task to itself find solutions to the problems that have been identified. We are conscious as the sector that our actions impact, whether positively or negatively, a lot of stakeholders. In going about to finding solutions, we will be dialoguing with ourselves but also with a variety of stakeholders.
To this end, we will have a summit of all religious leaders that will be held next year on the 13th of February. The summit will be all-inclusive and involve every religious organisation in the country. Without pre-empting it, it will be inward looking and one expects some catharsis moments by the religious sector.
An iterative process with stakeholders is expected to be happening at the same time. Critically, the summit is expected to focus on the following key aspects: the legal/constitutional framework, developing a code of conduct, developing an accountability system to society and ourselves as religious leaders, working out a relationship framework with the CRL Rights Commission, healthy relationship with the CRL, developing and adopting core values for our multi-faith society, and creating a partnership framework with the Legislature across all three spheres of government, namely the Department of Home Affairs, SAPS and SARS.
We believe that on that day we will be able to adopt a document that speaks to the aforementioned aspects and we will work with Parliament to assist us in terms of giving legal or legislative effect to the document.
A task team has already been set up to coordinate and arrange the summit and I am pleased with its multi-faith character.
Encouragingly, religious leaders are coming out as a collective in dealing with the challenges the sector has been facing. Like Bishop Malusi Mpumlwana prayed at the National Day of Prayer two Sundays ago – we have taken too long to speak, we have taken too long to take action, and we ask the nation to forgive us for this.
By our silence we have allowed these things to thrive. Now we are saying: this far and no further.
We are encouraging all church and religious to get involved and participate in this process.
PASTOR RAY MCCAULEY IS THE PRESIDENT OF RHEMA FAMILY CHURCHES AND CO-CHAIRPESON OF NATIONAL RELIGIOUS LEADERS COUNCIL (NRLC)
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Today's sport news: what you need to know
4:02 pm on 17 October 2019
Latest - The Wellington Phoenix have signed former English premier league striker Gary Hooper on a one year deal.
Hooper played for Norwich City in the premier league and Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship and also spent four seasons with Scottish premiership side Celtic.
The club has been chasing a genuine out and out goal scoring striker since the departure of A league Golden Boot winner Roy Krishna.
Former Sheffield Wednesday player Gary Hooper, left, joins the Wellington Phoenix Photo: Photosport
Hooper is the first and only player ever to have scored in the Premier League, Championship, League One, League Two, FA Cup, League Cup, Football League Trophy, FA Trophy, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, Scottish Cup, Scottish League Cup and the Scottish Premier League.
"His CV is on paper arguably the most impressive of any Wellington Phoenix player to date and I have no doubt he'll contribute - and I'm sure that football fans across New Zealand and Australia will be thrilled to see a player like Gary in action for Wellington," Phoenix general manager David Dome said.
The Phoenix's match against Perth Glory on October 27th is expected to be Hooper's first game for his new club.
New Zealand cricketers involved in new competition
Thirty New Zealand cricketers have put their name forward for the inaugural The Hundred draft.
Black Caps Trent Boult and Kane Williamson Photo: Photosport
The top English players have already been selected by the eight city-based franchises for the 100-ball game.
In total 239 overseas players have registered for next week's draft.
Trent Boult and Kane Williamson have put themselves up for the second top reserve price of 100 thousand pounds.
Henry Nicholls and Tom Latham are the only two members of this year's World Cup final team that aren't in the draft.
Fans suspected of racist abuse identified
Bulgarian police have identified 15 fans they suspect are responsible for subjecting black England football players to racist abuse and arrested six of them.
The nine not arrested are under police investigation, with three wanted.
England's 6-0 Euro 2020 qualifier win over Bulgaria in Sofia on Tuesday was stopped twice in the first half following racist chanting by home supporters.
Bulgaria's football chief Borislav Mikhailov resigned the next day.
-BBC
Boxer dies four days after fight
American boxer Patrick Day has died in Chicago as a result of the traumatic brain injury he suffered during his fight at the weekend, where he was knocked out by Charles Conwell in the 10th round.
Photo: 123rf
Day, 27, had been in a coma for four days following his defeat and, despite having emergency brain surgery at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, doctors were unable to save the junior middleweight.
Day was rushed to the hospital on a stretcher after Conwell landed a flurry of punches that left him motionless on the canvas.
Before turning professional, Day was a highly decorated amateur who won two nationals titles.
He turned pro in 2013 and became a world-rated super welterweight contender, capturing the WBC Continental Americas championship in 2017 and the IBF Intercontinental championship in 2019. In June he was rated in the top-10 by both the WBC and IBF.
Day's death comes after 23-year-old Argentine super lightweight Hugo Santillan died in July from injuries suffered in the ring and 28-year-old Russian Maxim Dadashev passed away two day earlier from brain injuries during his fight.
England women's football international sells out
The England women's team's match against Germany at Wembley Stadium next month has sold out, setting up the prospect of a record crowd for a women's football international in Britain.
Wembley Stadium Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The friendly on 9 November at the 90,000-seat stadium is expected to beat the previous record crowd of 80,203 who watched the 2012 London Olympic final between the United States and Japan.
The attendance is also set to exceed the record for an England women's home fixture of 45,619, set in the game against Germany at Wembley in 2014.
Phil Neville's England team finished fourth at this year's women's World Cup in France and almost 12 million people tuned in to watch their 2-1 semi-final defeat by the U.S.
The attendance record for any women's soccer match is 90,185 for the 1999 World Cup final in Pasadena, California in which the U.S. beat China on penalties.
-Reuters
F1 propose second United States race
Formula One has reached an agreement in principle to host a race at Miami's Hard Rock Stadium from 2021.
F1 driver Lewis Hamilton Photo: Photosport
The proposed Grand Prix on a track around the stadium, that is the home of the Miami Dolphins, would be a second F1 race in the United States, alongside the US Grand Prix at Austin's Circuit of The Americas.
It is subject to a vote by the Miami-Dade County later this month.
If the race is given the go-ahead, F1 will return to Florida for the first time since the 1959 US Grand Prix at Sebring.
-AAP
Bad weather postpones American baseball
Today's game 4 of the American League Championship Baseball Series between the visiting Houston Astros and New York Yankees has been postponed because of expected inclement weather.
The postponement decision was made approximately eight hours before the scheduled start time.
First pitch for Game 4 will now be 24 hours later, while Game 5 has been rescheduled for Friday night at Yankee Stadium.
The Astros hold a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series after posting a 4-1 victory yesterday.
The winner of the ALCS advances to the World Series to face the Washington Nationals, who completed a four-game series sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals yesterday.
Oceania track cycling records broken
The New Zealand men's sprint team have ridden their fastest ever time on the opening night of the Oceania track cycling championships in Invercargill.
NZ team sprint team Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The trio of Sam Webster, Ethan Mitchell and Eddie Dawkins, who have won three world championships, prodcued an Oceania championship record winning time of 42.508sec to win the gold.
Making a rare appearance on his home track, Southlander Dawkins was elated with the result.
"To ride the fastest time we've ever done, it's pretty unreal. Everything clicked, and clicked twice. We rode really close to our PB in the first round and to be able to back it up bodes well for the future," Dawkins said.
Australia's world champions Kaarle McCulloch and Stephanie Morton broke their own championship record on the way to taking out the elite women's team sprint from the young New Zealand pairing of Olivia Podmore and Ellesse Andrews.
New Zealand claimed both the junior and elite women's team pursuit titles.
Olympic marathon on the move
The Olympic marathon and race walking events during Tokyo 2020 will be moved to Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaido from originally planned courses in the capital due to worries about heat.
World Championship marathon Photo: AFP
"Athletes' health and well-being are always at the heart of our concerns," IOC President Thomas Bach said in a statement.
Organisers had been looking for ways to protect athletes and spectators from Tokyo's sweltering temperatures expected during next year's Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games.
Tokyo held a test marathon in September, featuring tents equipped with mist machines for spectators. Officials had also been planning to hold longer-distance races during cooler hours, but questions had persisted over whether such steps were enough.
Suffocating humidity and high temperatures at the recent world championship marathon in Doha proved gruelling despite a midnight start. Nearly a third of the 70 starters failed to reach the finish line, fuelling debate over athletes' welfare.
Temperatures in Tokyo during July and August, when the city hosts the Olympic and Paralympic Games, commonly exceed 30 degrees Celsius, with high humidity adding to the discomfort.
Sapporo temperatures during the period are as much as five to six degrees centigrade cooler during the day than in Tokyo, the IOC said.
Kata switches to union.
Tonga and New Zealand rugby league international Solomone Kata has switched codes to join the Brumbies.
Solomone Kata Photo: PhotoSport
The 24-year-old has signed a three-year contract with the Canberra-based Super Rugby franchise, having previously played in the NRL with the New Zealand Warriors and Melbourne Storm.
Capped six times by Tonga, and on five occasions by the Kiwis, the utility back has been signed from 2020 to add depth to the Brumbies backline.
"He is a point of difference player with a physical profile to add to our squad," said Brumbies coach Dan McKellar.
Kata, who scored 45 tries in 93 matches for the Warriors, joins the Brumbies from the Storm, where he did not make a first grade appearance.
NRL grand final stays in Sydney
NRL boss Todd Greenberg admits the SCG isn't the greatest place to experience rugby league, but won't apologise for ultimately making a deal that sees the grand final stay in Sydney through until 2046.
Photo: Photosport / David Neilson
The NRL has announced it has struck an agreement with the NSW government that ensures its decider will be at the SCG for the next two years.
Allianz Stadium will host the 2022 decider before the league's showpiece event heads back to a renovated ANZ Stadium the following season.
Another 25-year deal with the state government begins in 2022.
The development comes despite fierce criticism of the NRL staging games at the SCG this past season while the Moore Park venue undergoes its reconstruction.
Greenberg said the decision was based on short-term pain, which reportedly includes a $15 million payment from the NSW government to compensate the NRL for hosting the grand final at smaller capacity stadiums for three years.
Messi wins another title
Barcelona forward Lionel Messi picked up a record-extending sixth - and third consecutive - European Golden Shoe award following his outstanding individual 2018-19 domestic campaign.
Lionel Messi Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The award is presented to the top goalscorer in league football across Europe, with the Argentine finding the net 36 times last season as Barca retained their La Liga title.
Messi was three ahead of nearest rival Kylian Mbappe, who scored 33 times for Paris St Germain as they won France's Ligue 1.
Barca have endured a difficult start to the season, losing twice in their first eight league games. They have won their last three matches to pull themselves into second place on 16 points, two behind leaders Real Madrid.
UAE cricketers suspended
United Arab Emirates captain Mohammed Naveed is among three national team players provisionally suspended after being charged under the International Cricket Council's Anti-Corruption code.
The ICC confirmed the three players - Naveed, Qadeer Ahmed Khan and Shaiman Anwar Butt - along with Mehardeep Chhayakar, a participant in cricket from Ajman, were charged with a combined 13 counts of breaching the code.
Naveed faces four charges, including an agreement to "fixing or contriving" aspects of matches in the upcoming World Twenty20 qualifiers.
Top-order batsman Butt is also under investigation for an effort to influence results or any other aspect of matches ahead of the qualifiers, which are scheduled to be played in the UAE starting Friday.
The competition will decide the last six teams to play at the T20 World Cup in Australia next year.
Violence threatens El Classico match
Spain's top football division has asked that this month's El Clasico match between Barcelona and Real Madrid be moved from Barcelona to the capital amid growing protests in Catalonia.
Nou Camp Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Nine Catalan separatist leaders were jailed for between nine and 13 years on Monday for their roles in an illegal referendum and subsequent failed independence bid, sparking protests and clashes across the region. Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia.
The match is due to take place on October 26 at Barca's Camp Nou stadium. But La Liga has asked the Spanish Football Federation to reverse the fixture.
The second meeting of the season is due to take place in Madrid in March.
The announcement of the jail terms triggered mass protests across the region, with chaos at Barcelona's El Prat airport leading to the cancellation of dozens of flights as well as clashes between police and protesters.
More than 40,000 people took to the streets with 125 wounded, with the authorities saying none of the injuries suffered were serious.
Rugby World Cup: A history of off-field gaffes and blunders
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John Bryson
John Bryson (1923-2005) was born in Brownwood, Texas. He attended the University of Texas, where he was the editor of the Texas Ranger. He became the bureau chief and picture editor for Life magazine before embarking on a freelance career. Bryson photographed many film, music, literary, and political figures, including Ernest Hemingway, Frank Sinatra, Richard Nixon, and Clint Eastwood. Bryson’s photos appeared on five Saturday Evening Post covers, and featured the Shah of Iran and his family and actress Carol Lynley.
Featured Cover Art
Cover Artist: John Bryson
View Artwork Carol Lynley
Venezuelan Soldier
View Artwork Venezuelan Soldier
Flowered Bathing Cap
View Artwork Flowered Bathing Cap
Shah of Iran’s Family
View Artwork Shah of Iran’s Family
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Classic Covers: A Summer Wedding
“Practice Proposal” by Frederic Stanley
"Practice Proposal"
from April 30, 1927
It all begins here. Artist Frederic Stanley (1892-1967) was great with facial expressions. Nice detail on the floral chair upon which sits a photo of his beloved and the ring at the ready. Like Rockwell, Frederic Stanley used locals for his models: Vermont clerks, housewives, schoolchildren. Between 1921 and 1935, Stanley illustrated 17 Post covers. The “Practice Proposal” is from 1927.
“Icing the Wedding Cake” by Stevan Dohanos
"Icing the Wedding Cake"
from June 16, 1945
If you’re studied the art of Stevan Dohanos, you know he was all about realism. For this 1945 cover, he enlisted the help of a baker in Westport, Connecticut, one Mr. Gus Volkening. The star baker produced this ornate delicacy for our artist to paint. What does an artist do with such a prop once the painting is complete? Well, normally, he would just eat it, but this was just too lavish. So Dohanos called the marriage license bureau and found that a certain Private Stall was due to wed his sweetheart, Lucia, so the happy couple was even happier to receive a wedding cake so beautiful it appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post.
“Wedding March” by Norman Rockwell
"Wedding March"
One of Norman Rockwell’s most ubiquitous models, James K. Van Brundt makes a charming organist in this 1928 cover. “The day he showed up at my studio,” said the artist, “was one of the luckiest days of my life. ’James K. Van Brunt, sir,’ he said saluting me and bowing all at once. ‘Five feet two inches tall, sir. The exact height of Napoleon Bonaparte.’” Rockwell adored that mustache. “Eight full inches wide from tip to tip,” the little man boasted. “The ladies, Sir, Make much of it.” Rockwell painted him as a hobo, a colonial sign painter, a sentimental cowboy listening to old records and even as gossiping old maids.
“Patient Groom” by E.M. Jackson
"Patient Groom"
It’s nice to see the emphasis on the handsome groom in this 1928 cover by E.M. Jackson. Jackson’s nearly 50 Saturday Evening Post covers showed influences from prominent artists of the time. Some of his work was very much like that of Norman Rockwell, and several of his covers, like our groom here, resembled the lavish and elegant detail of J.C. Leyendecker.
“There Goes the Bride” by Alan Foster
"There Goes the Bride"
from October 12,1929
Of the dozens of covers depicting weddings, this has to be the most unusual. The focus is on the delighted faces of the guests. The bride, except for a bit of her train, is left to the imagination of the viewer, but from the expressions of the observers here, she must be beautiful indeed. And what of the groom? We see only a shoe with spat, and a bit of striped pants leg.
The artist, Alan Foster, did over 30 light-hearted Post covers, several of which we will see in an upcoming feature, “The Fun Covers of Alan Foster.”
“Wedding Reception” by Ben Kimberly Prins
"Wedding Reception"
from June 9, 1962
One can only imagine the work that went into an illustration like this by Holland-born artist Ben Prins (1902-1980). The locale was a Vermont country club, and the guests were “borrowed” from a local wedding. All were happy to cooperate with the artist, and by the time this cover appeared on newsstands, the bride and groom were back to real life; he working in a bank and she as an assistant librarian.
Alas, this is one of the last covers painted by our wonderful stable of illustrators, as photographs of everyone from models to world leaders took over in the 60s.
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A History of Hating the Rich
Billionaires are a threat to democracy.
Most rich people got rich by taking advantage of other people.
Wealth should be taken from the rich and given to the poor.
Those are a few statements on which most people can agree — most people under age 30, that is, according to the Cato 2019 Welfare, Work, and Wealth National Survey.
A few days ago, the Academy Award for Best Picture went to a foreign language film for the first time in Oscar history. The Guardian calls Parasite, a Korean comedy-thriller, “a searing satire of a family at war with the rich,” and the subtitled film saw unexpected popularity in U.S. theaters. Simultaneously, a presidential candidate who stakes his campaign on a fight with billionaire oligarchs has just taken the lead in national poll averages for the Democratic primary race.
This country has always had a precarious relationship with its super-wealthy. The richest rich have, at various points in history, filled Americans with fascination or anger. Lately, a trend toward the latter is evident, and it follows a long tradition of distrust of the upper crust.
Sometimes, the historical parallels of American attitudes toward wealth reveal themselves in subtle ways.
Last March, then-presidential candidate and entrepreneur John Hickenlooper appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe to talk about his presidential bid. Host Joe Scarborough commended Hickenlooper’s business success as “an advertisement for American capitalism” and asked the candidate if he was a proud capitalist. When Hickenlooper evaded the question, decrying the label, Scarborough asked twice more — visibly losing patience each time — if the small business man would even consider himself a capitalist.
Larry Glickman, a professor of history at Cornell University, says he has used this clip in one of his classes to illustrate the criticism of so-called robber barons of the late nineteenth century: “In the Gilded Age, ‘capitalist’ was really a term given by its enemies to people who had earned wealth in an unfair, immoral way, so a lot of small business men said something similar to what Hickenlooper said.” Glickman says the distrust of robber barons (or capitalists) comes back to the question of hard work. “There was this idea that you had labor producing things, and that accumulating wealth through honest production was a good thing,” he says, “but there was a new class of people called capitalists getting their wealth through unproductive, exploitative ways.”
British economist John Stuart Mill referred to this kind of wealth — in the mid-19th century — as the “unearned increment.” Divine right was un-American, but passive income was filling the wallets of a select few in the country while farmers and workers struggled. Men like Cornelius Vanderbilt, J.P. Morgan, and John D. Rockefeller acquired hundreds of millions of dollars in the 19th century by building monopolistic empires and strong-arming competition (and their own workers) into submission.
It was against this backdrop of economic disparity that heiress Cornelia Bradley Martin decided to stage an exclusive gathering for the country’s financial elite.
In 1897, the New York socialite hatched an idea for a costume ball in the Waldorf Hotel that she hoped would be the most extravagant party in the nation’s history. With thousands of orchids and roses, rare tapestries and velvet canopies, and terrine de foie gras, Cornelia would dress as Mary, Queen of Scots, while her husband played a member of Louis XV’s court. Hundreds more of the rich elite would turn up dressed mostly in historic royal garb, like the dozen Marie Antoinettes who, perhaps, had forgotten about the queen’s fate.
Menu of the Bradley Martin ball, The New York Times, February 11, 1897
At St. George’s Episcopal Church in New York, where the congregation included the likes of J.P. Morgan, the clergyman warned his flock against attending Mrs. Bradley Martin’s ball: “Never were the lines between the two classes — those who have wealth and those who envy them — more distinctly drawn … Such elaborate and costly manifestations of wealth would only tend to stir up widespread discontent.” When the night came, hundreds of policemen — led by Theodore Roosevelt — closed the sidewalks outside the Waldorf to pedestrians to make way for the giant dress-up party.
Newspapers around the country, and even many society people, criticized the ostentatiousness (or plain stupidity) of the ball. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers’ Monthly Journal wrote, “The Bradley Martins are said to have spent $300,000 … which would have made glad thousands upon thousands of the poor of New York who are struggling in abject poverty, was used up in some five or six hours of the grossest exhibition of the arrogance of wealth America has ever witnessed.” The host and hostess were puzzled by all of the bad press, since they believed their event had stimulated New York’s economy. After all, “many New York shops sold out brocades and silks which had been lying in their stock-rooms for years.”
Meanwhile, New York’s tenements were filled with people living in crowded, unsanitary apartments, as evidenced by Jacob Riis’s How the Other Half Lives in 1890. Poor and immigrant children worked long hours at factories, and families slept together in rooms stacked with beds.
As the various lower classes grappled with the complications of Victorianism receding, a vocabulary for condemning the lavishness of the rich was taking shape. In 1899, Thorstein Veblen wrote The Theory of the Leisure Class, a groundbreaking volume of social and economic criticism that explained the extravagances that had emerged, as well as the phenomenon of “conspicuous consumption,” in industrial societies. “The possession of wealth confers honour; it is an invidious distinction,” Veblen wrote.
New York Journal, February 11, 1897
That same year, the pages of this magazine recorded the details of the still-excessive lives of New York society, particularly the new set that had grown accustomed to fancy evenings out every night of the year: “Take the dinner with its costly delicacies, wines and flowers, at so much per head; add to that a seat in a portière box at the opera afterward; and go on to the ball or cotillion where the money lavished upon decorations, music, supper at little tables, toilettes and jewels represents an aggregation of opulence almost incredible to the outsider.”
It wasn’t always like this, though, according to the author, Mrs. Burton Harrison, a genteel woman who had lived through the Civil War: “Quiet people who recall the New York of earlier days, and shared in its social diversions then as now, may well stand back in astonishment at our swift advance in luxury.” Mrs. Harrison felt the great wealth accumulation of society families, like the Bradley Martins and the Vanderbilts, was acceptable, even if it had “in theory, no right to exist in an overgrown democracy,” but she believed Americans would adore their burgeoning aristocracy: “our people are fain to give it more deference than the English, or any of the Continental European peoples, bestow on even their reigning family.”
But Mrs. Harrison’s ruby-colored spectacles must have prevented her from seeing the writing on the wall. With the coming Progressive Era, populist politics were on the rise and disdain for the “upper ten” was taking hold across the country.
Historian Michael McGerr wrote in A Fierce Discontent: The Rise and Fall of the Progressive Movement in America:
By choice and by necessity, America’s social classes lived starkly divergent daily lives and invoked different and often conflicting values to guide, explain, and justify their ways of life. The classes held distinctive views on fundamental issues of human existence: on the nature of the individual: on the relationship between the individual and society.
The Progressive Era brought reform that curbed some excess wealth and confronted corruption around the country, but, as McGerr makes clear, the individualist philosophy behind the Carnegies’ and the Rockefellers’ rise to wealth and power persevered.
Likewise, glimpses into the daily lives of the one percent still provoked amusement and ire.
In 1920, Wall Street reporter Edwin Lefèvre derided “some wretchedly rich people” in a Post article called “The Annoyances of Being Rich Today.” Without naming names, Lefèvre detailed conversations with bankers and heirs about their gripes with imperfect service and ungrateful butlers. One rich man told the author that he feared a revolution was afoot after he asked a waiter for bread and — instead of silent obedience — the response came: “Sure thing!” Others complained about accusations of vanity or the prospect of their service staff seeking higher wages.
Lefèvre sums up the groans of the plutocrats by casting wealth as a sort of illness:
I am convinced that there is a definite social disease which we may call gold poisoning. When a man has too much gold, some of it gets into the system; through the pores, it almost seems. It causes deafness and affects the sight. These ailments, gold deafness and gold blindness, are responsible for most of the annoyances of which the stricken rich so bitterly complain today. Instead of seeing or hearing, they are merely aware of a rumbling sound—the tread of their fellow men marching toward them, armed with bombs, bitterness, and taxes.
F. Scott Fitzgerald, even after having seen financial success, wrote about the illnesses of wealth. In his 1926 novel The Rich Boy, Fitzgerald describes the spiritual corruption of the rich, how “they are different from you and me,” and how “they think, deep in their hearts, that they are better than we are because we had to discover the compensations and refuges of life for ourselves.”
Historian Larry Glickman says there is a tradition of suspicion of great wealth because “there is a feeling that at least some of that wealth did not emerge from honest labor but by illegitimate means.” He says this suspicion remains in the background of American life until it is pushed into prominence in a forceful way every couple of generations or so, sometimes because conditions become unbearable for people who are not rich.
Glickman says the Occupy movement and the subsequent Bernie Sanders campaigns have been a somewhat delayed reaction to decades of rising wealth inequality. What follows, historically, is something like a “rich man’s panic” or “elite victimization,” Glickman says, over calls for a more level playing field, like progressive taxation. In 2014, businessman Tom Perkins warned of a “Progressive Kristallnacht” over what he called The San Francisco Chronicle’s demonization of the rich. Although he apologized for the Nazi reference, other billionaires have publically renounced so-called class demonization.
But as long as extreme wealth continues to accumulate among America’s elite, the young and indebted may always see the complaints of the one percent as mere groans from the costumed aristocracy of a nonstop masked ball.
Read “The Annoyances of Being Rich” by Edwin Fefèvre from the January 31, 1920, issue of the Post. Subscribe to the magazine for more art, inspiring stories, fiction, humor, and features from our archives.
Featured image: Illustration from “How to Live on $36,000 a Year” by F. Scott Fitzgerald from the April 5, 1924, issue of The Saturday Evening Post, ©SEPS
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Caregiving: The Trouble with Wearing An ‘Alert’ Bracelet
The necklaces and bracelets made famous by those “Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” TV advertisements back in the ‘80s can seem like a brilliant idea. So simple, so inexpensive. Here, at last, is a way for Mom or Dad to maintain independence as they become frail: a button on the pendant allows you to call for emergency help 24/7.
Such devices, also known as PERS (Personal Emergency Response Systems) certainly can work fine. There’s just one catch. The fallen one has to press a button to signal for help. Sometimes, a fall can leave a person too disoriented to remember what to do. Other times, the very idea of asking for help is so disturbing
that he or she simply refuses to press the alarm. “People quickly learn that if you call for help, the EMTs arrive with a lot of noise and commotion,” says Diane Mahoney, Ph.D., a professor of Nursing at Massachusetts General Hospital and an expert in sensor-based technology for caregiving. “It’s a bit of a stigma.
“We don’t have data on how frequently PERS-wearers choose not to signal for help when they need it,” she adds. “But there are plenty of examples of people lying on the floor all night until they’re discovered.”
Which brings us to Mildred Silver. Mildred is 91 and lives with her son Robert and daughter-in-law Alice in Los Angeles. She’s a bit on the frail side, having broken her ankle a year back. The ankle has been slow to mend, and Mildred uses a walker to get around. Because she’s alone much of the day while her son and his wife are working, her five children have convinced her to wear an “alert” monitor with a button to call for help if she needs it. The button is affixed to a pendant Mildred dutifully keeps around her neck at all times.
Unfortunately, though she’s fallen several times, she’s never actually pressed the button for help.
The first alarm-worthy incident in the Silver household took place a few years back—before Mildred moved in with Robert—and was related to me by her other son David. Back then, Mildred’s husband Sol was still alive, and they lived together in their own home. One morning, Sol slipped and fell outside as he was attempting to retrieve the mail. He pressed the button, but when the responder called their home, Mildred answered.
“Someone called for help,” the responder said.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” said Mildred. “We’re fine.”
“Could anyone else have signaled us?”
“No, my husband is right here. He just went out to get the mail,” she said.
The caller hung up. After a while, Mildred began to wonder what was taking Sol so long. She went outside and found him lying in the driveway. Friends would soon help him up and back into the house. (Note: names have been changed.)
Fast forward to last spring. Mildred is now a widow, and living with Robert. (David, who lives in San Francisco, frequently travels to LA to pitch in with caregiving duties.) David tells the story: “One day she is alone in the house. She is cold—she’s often cold indoors—and she decides to go outside for some sun.
“Slowly she works her way out front with her walker, navigating a step that, for her, is the equivalent of a 20-foot wall. After sitting for a while in the sun, she decides to go look at a rosebush we’d planted in the garden as a memorial to Dad. She loses her balance and falls backwards into the flower bed. She’s unharmed, but can’t move.”
This would be the perfect opportunity to use her PERS system. But Mildred does not do that. She simply remains in the garden, lying on her back.
It’s not long, no more than 20 minutes, David estimates, before a car miraculously pulls up into driveway: “Some guy steps out with a clipboard in his hand. He starts to walk toward the front door, and notices the bottom half of my mother sticking out of the flower bed.”
The man walks up to her and says, “Excuse me, I’m taking a survey and I wonder if you’d have a few minutes to answer some questions.”
Mildred, who’s hard of hearing, asks him to repeat himself, and finally gets his drift. She answers, “Young man, right now that would be hard, because I’ve fallen down. What you need to do is help me get back on my feet.”
Incredibly the man replies, “Would you mind first answering my questions?’
She tells him he’d certainly better help her up immediately or there will be trouble.
The man obediently puts his clipboard down and helps her up—following precise instructions on where and how he is permitted to touch her. They get her in front of her walker and together, they move slowly back to the house.
It’s slow going. It probably takes 10-15 minutes, David figures, to get her across the threshold and into a comfortable chair.
“By this point, Mom is exhausted,” says David. “But, incredibly, the man pulls out his clipboard and says, ‘Now, about those questions…’”
Mildred is not one to mince words. She invites him to am-scray.
When David and his siblings first learn what had happened, they are incredulous. For all the strangeness of the incident, everyone agrees the universe had been kind to Mildred that day.
But, still, why didn’t she just push the darn button?
–Steve Slon
Steve Slon is a writer specializing in health and aging. He is the former editor of AARP The Magazine.
OLDER version below:
Mildred Silver is 91 and lives with her son Robert and daughter-in-law Alice in Los Angeles. She’s a bit on the frail side, having broken her ankle a year back. The ankle has been slow to mend, and Mildred uses a walker to get around. Because she’s alone much of the day while her son and his wife are working, her five children have convinced her to wear one of those “alert” monitors with a button to call for help if she needs it. The button is affixed to a pendant Mildred dutifully keeps around her neck at all times.
Unfortunately, she won’t use it…
The necklaces made famous by those “Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” TV advertisements back in the ‘80s can seem like a brilliant idea. So simple, so inexpensive. Here, at last, is a way for Mom or Dad to maintain independence as they become frail: a button on the device calls for emergency help 24/7. The unit is lightweight and always within reach. And the service can be had for as little as $30 per month.
Such devices, also known as PERS (Personal Emergency Response Systems) certainly can work fine. There’s just one catch. The fallen one has to press a button to signal for help. Sometimes, a fall can leave a person too disoriented to remember what to do. Other times, the very idea of asking for help is so disturbing that he or she simply refuses to press the alarm. “People quickly learn that if you call for help, the EMTs arrive with a lot of noise and commotion,” says Diane Mahoney, Ph.D., a professor of Nursing at Massachusetts General Hospital and an expert in sensor-based technology for caregiving. “It’s a bit of a stigma.
The first “alarm” incident in the Silver household took place a few years back—before Mildred moved in with Robert—and was related to me by her son David. Back then, Mildred’s husband Sol was still alive, and they lived together in their own home. One morning, Sol slipped and fell outside as he was attempting to retrieve the mail. He pressed the button, but when the responder called their home, Mildred picked up.
Fast forward to last spring. Mildred is now a widow, and living with Robert. (David, who lives in San Francisco frequently travels to LA to pitch in with caregiving duties.) David tells the story: “One day she is alone in the house. She is cold—she’s often cold indoors—and she decides to go outside for some sun.
She replies that he’d certainly better help her up immediately or there will be big trouble.
It’s slow going. It probably takes 10-15 minutes, David estimates, to get her across the threshold and into a comfortable chair.
When David and his siblings first learn what had happened, they are incredulous. For all the strangeness of the incident, everyone agreed the universe had been kind to Mildred that day.
–Steven Slon is the editorial director for The Saturday Evening Post. This column was first published by Beclose.com.
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Fun Features
Sir Thomas Bouch
Engineer. Born in Cumbria (England), Bouch spent much of his life in Edinburgh. Along with Thomas Grainger (1794 - 1852), he was responsible for designing the world's first train ferry, the paddle-steamer Leviathan, which was built by Robert Napier (1791 - 1876) and ran between Granton and Burntisland. Bouch gained a reputation for building railways at minimal cost, which appealed to the railway companies and opened less valuable routes in the years following the initial boom in railway construction. Bouch achieved this by using single-track lines rather than double, timber bridges rather than iron, increasing the spacing between sleepers and using second-hand rails. Although capital costs were reduced, maintenance costs inevitably increased. He designed the first railway crossing from Edinburgh to Fife (which was never built) and, infamously, the railway bridge across the River Tay, which collapsed in a storm in 1879. His design was blamed for this disaster and Bouch was disgraced, although corner-cutting by contractors in an attempt to save money, sloppy working practices and poor maintenance were significant contributory factors.
His Ferryden Viaduct (1879) near Montrose is still used, but the associated South Esk Viaduct (1880) failed extensive testing following the collapse of the Tay Bridge and was immediately redesigned. Bouch also designed a pleasure pier at Portobello, which was demolished in 1917, the Leven Railway in Fife and the South Suburban Railway in Edinburgh.
His reputation destroyed by the Inquiry into the Tay Bridge Disaster, he retired a broken man to his country home near Moffat, where he died. Bouch is buried in Edinburgh's Dean Cemetery.
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The Political Compass
May 13, 2020 jimmycompass, political
Right-libertarianism developed within the United States within the mid-20th century from the works of European liberal writers such as John Locke, Friedrich Hayek and Ludwig von Mises and is the most well-liked conception of libertarianism within the United States right now. It is often referred to as a continuation or radicalization of classical liberalism. The most necessary of these early proper-libertarian philosophers have been fashionable American libertarians similar to Robert Nozick and Murray Rothbard. While the defining attribute of some kinds of proper-libertarianism is cultural or social conservatism, Kevin Carson has coined the time period vulgar libertarianism to describe a special variety of right-libertarianism, one which includes the usage of libertarian rhetoric in capitalist apologetics. Carson makes use of vulgar libertarianism to refer to using talk about what might be anticipated in a genuinely free market to justify some or all of “really current capitalism” which based on Carson is distorted by state-secured privilege and lacks many of the defining features of a free market.
Under this view, government transgresses property rights by imposing obligatory tax collection. Right-libertarians see taxation as a violation of the non-aggression precept. Right-libertarians are additionally referred to as propertarians as a result of they maintain that societies during which non-public property rights are enforced are the one ones which are both ethical and lead to the very best outcomes. They typically support free-market capitalism and aren’t against any concentrations of economic energy, provided it occurs via non-coercive means.
The Conservatives returned to power from 1951 to 1964, underneath Churchill, Anthony Eden, Harold Macmillan and Alec Douglas-Home and during this time, Britain noticed a interval of economic and nationwide prosperity. The Conservatives had been led by Edward Heath from 1965 to 1975 and had been in energy from 1970 to 1974. The Conservative and Unionist Party (normally shortened to Conservative Party, or informally as the Tory Party) is the main right-wing political get together within the United Kingdom. They are the biggest party within the House of Commons after the 2019 United Kingdom common election, with 365 out of a attainable 650 seats.
It advocates the best potential economic liberty and the least possible authorities regulation of social life whilst harnessing this to traditionalist conservatism, emphasizing authority and obligation. The thought of taxation as theft is a viewpoint found in numerous political philosophies.
Carson derives this phrase from Karl Marx’s “vulgar political economy”, a style of economic reasoning that “intentionally becomes increasingly apologetic and makes strenuous makes an attempt to speak out of existence the ideas which comprise the contradictions [evident in economic life]”. Carson treats vulgar libertarianism as a tendency within much proper-libertarian writing rather than a category into which any figure could be thought to fit on all events. Carson claims to seek out it in the work of such authors as Eamonn Butler and Madsen Pirie of the Adam Smith Institute as well as on occasion the writings of others including Radley Balko, Milton Friedman and Ludwig von Mises. Anthony Gregory maintains that libertarianism “can discuss with any number of varying and at instances mutually exclusive political orientations”.
In the UK, we’ve just lately witnessed the approaching to energy of a Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition government, whereas in Barack Obama the United States has its most ‘liberal’ president in a era.
The slipperiness of this concept is certain up with its history, and its advanced position within the political culture of Europe and North America.
Faced with all of this, it may be tempting to counsel that from the point of view of political philosophy, the usefulness of the time period ‘liberalism’ is fatally compromised (a view taken by Skidelsky in Prospect journal, June 2010).
The huge ideas of political philosophy are sometimes onerous to get clear in our minds, and there is no higher instance of this than when we attempt to pin down the meaning of ‘liberalism’.
Rothbard’s outreach to conservatives was partly triggered by his notion of unfavorable reactions within the Libertarian Party to Ron Paul 1988 presidential campaign because of Paul’s conservative appearance and his discomfort with abortion. Conservative libertarianism combines laissez-faire economics and conservative values.
Traditionally, libertarian was a term coined by the French libertarian communist Joseph Déjacque to mean a type of left-wing politics that has been frequently used to check with anarchism and libertarian socialism because the mid- to late 19th century. Socialist libertarianism has been included inside a broad left-libertarianism whereas proper-libertarianism primarily refers to laissez-faire capitalism similar to Murray Rothbard’s anarcho-capitalism and Robert Nozick’s minarchism.
This has been criticized because “the holders of enormous quantities of property have great energy to dictate the terms upon which others work for them and thus in effect the power to ‘pressure’ others to be sources for them”. While related to free-market capitalism, right-libertarianism isn’t opposed in principle to voluntary egalitarianism and socialism. However, right-libertarians believe that their advocated financial system would prove superior and that individuals would like it to socialism. For Nozick, it doesn’t indicate help of capitalism, but merely that capitalism is compatible with libertarianism, one thing which is rejected by anti-capitalist libertarians.
Essentials Of Comparative Politics
Legal Aid Services Of Oklahoma
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Home/Fiction, Poetry & Essays/Tokyo Ueno Station
Yu Miri
Tokyo Ueno Station
As a work of post-tsunami literature and a protest against the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, this novel is of utmost importance to this moment, a powerful rebuke to the Imperial system and a sensitive, deeply felt depiction of the lives of Japan's most vulnerable people.
Kazu is dead. Born in Fukushima in 1933, the same year as the Emperor, his life is tied by a series of coincidences to the Imperial family and has been shaped at every turn by modern Japanese history. But his life story is also marked by bad luck, and now, in death, he is unable to rest easily, haunting the park near Ueno Station. It is here that Kazu s life in Tokyo began and ended, having arrived there to work as a labourer in the run up to the 1964 Tokyo Olympics before ending his days living in the vast homeless villages in the park, traumatised by the destruction of the 2011 tsunami and enraged by the announcement of the 2020 Olympics.
Published: in UK in 2019
Publisher: Tilted Axis Press
Please be aware that our website is updated weekly, and on occasion stock may vary from what is displayed. We will contact you the day of purchase in case of any delay on your order and you will be offered a refund or voucher if the timing doesn't work for you.
If the book you're after is not displayed on our website or is 'sold out' please feel free to contact us at shakesandsonsberlin@gmail.com or come into the store and we can let you know the cost of ordering it and expected arrival time.
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School must be a blessing
Published 2:22 pm Tuesday, September 28, 2010
After 40 years spent creating a legacy among Shelby County private schools, Shelby Academy closed before the fall semester in 2009, citing financial troubles.
It’s been more than a year since then, and despite attempts to reopen the school, the doors remain shut. Currently, Evangel rents Shelby Academy’s athletic facilities, but the school itself remains vacant.
The school’s closing came as a shock to the Shelby County community, and especially to those who worked there. According to Jacqueline Curtis, a former Shelby Academy teacher, the educators had already signed contracts for the 2009-2010 school year.
Obviously, those contracts went unfulfilled. Even worse, though, Curtis — along with other Shelby Academy teachers — remain unpaid for their work during the last three months of teaching in the 2008-2009 school year.
Perhaps it’s time for the remaining members of Shelby Academy’s board of trustees to admit that Shelby Academy will not reopen anytime soon — if ever — and find a way to honor their debts by paying the teachers. In our view, the simplest way to do so would likely be selling the building.
Those teachers, many of whom likely had a hard time finding other positions, deserve that money. For them, it would be a blessing, maybe a way to pay off their bills or start building a nest egg.
We urge Shelby Academy’s trustees to vote to sell the school and be that blessing. Shelby Academy’s true legacy will live on through such a noble act.
The We Say is the opinion of the Shelby County Reporter editorial board.
Donald Lee Greene
Donald Lee Greene Shelby Donald Lee Greene, age 80, passed away Sunday, Sept. 26, 2010. He was preceded in death... read more
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OnePlus Nord pre-orders up for 24 hours: How they’ll convince you
Chris Burns - Jul 15, 2020, 1:37pm CDT
If you’ve been following the OnePlus Nord release story for the last few months, you might be interested in owning the device. It’s a low-cost smartphone with features that seem to be far more elite than the phone’s price would imply. It’s a simple proposition, and the OnePlus method for enticing your cash in advance of the device’s full “reveal” event is… shockingly efficient.
Why you’re enticed
OnePlus has always been about that hype. Since the OnePlus One, the OnePlus crew (back when they were still throughouly OPPO-associated) took command of the internet’s love for an outlier, a rebel, a “flagship killer” of sorts.
With the release of the last couple of seasons of OnePlus smartphones, the company’s become willing to make high-end smartphone units. The OnePlus 8 Pro, for example, will cost you at least $899. That’s no budget machine.
With the OnePlus Nord brand and the first OnePlus Nord smartphone, the company’s once again creating a smartphone that appears to be a shocking value – as it needs to be, if OnePlus wants to continue to dominate the Indian smartphone market.
Holding a line at the door
There’s a OnePlus Nord pre-order page out in the wild now that’ll be up and running for approximately 24 hours. If you live in the USA, you cannot access this page. If you live in the UK, you can reserve the right to purchase the phone with a ticket that’ll cost you around 20GPB.
That ticket, or “voucher”, will get you “awesome merch right away” and “a surprise gift, too.” They’ve suggested that “every pre-order comes with exclusive Nord merchandise” and that “the earlier you order, the more merch you’ll get.”
Per OnePlus FAQ, pre-orders get:
• (1st, 2nd round) a “random lifestyle product, a sticker pack, and other mystery gifts”
• (Earliest 3rd round) a “sticker pack and a mystery gift”
• All pre-orders get an invite code and a £20 voucher “that will be sent to you before launch to make sure you secure your Nord”
• Exclusive early packaging
This is very similar to the earliest waves of OnePlus unit sales, where the company had people fighting for the right to purchase their smartphones. This particular pre-order period ends on July 16, 2020, at 9am BST / 4am ET / 1am PT.
This is the third (of three) pre-order periods. The first wo were “Limited Pre-order” sessions on July 1, then July 8, and today’s is a “Pre-orders for 24 hours” session. UPDATE: Though this third period seemed to be a timed release, OnePlus updated the page to say SOLD OUT!
Pre-orders are limited to the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Croatia, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom.
But not USA
If you live in the USA, you’re going to have to go through some 3rd-party means to attain this smartphone. OnePlus has not suggested yet that they’ll release the OnePlus Nord (the first Nord phone, that is) inside North America, and it’s entirely possible this phone will never be released to the United States’ general population.
So if you live in the USA, move along, nothing to see here! You might, instead, want to take a peek at the OnePlus 8 Review we posted this April 2020. That’ll be all you really need… unless you want to go for the OnePlus 8 Pro.
OnePlus Nord release date level leak spills the beans
Two OnePlus Nord camera details just got officially confirmed
OnePlus Nord design revealed by Carl Pei himself
Topics AndroidgoogleIndiamobileOnePlusPhonessmartphonesUK
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21Apr/2004 - Current (at 31 Dec 2005)
11A. Authority may determine market times
(1) The Authority may, by notices erected in such places in the public market and in such other manner as the Authority may determine, indicate ¾
(a) the periods during which the public market is open for business and the produce that may be traded during those periods; and
(b) the periods (other than the periods referred to in paragraph (a)) during which, and the purposes in relation to which, a specified class of person is, or specified classes of persons are, permitted to enter, or prohibited from entering, the public market.
[(2) repealed]
(3) A person who contravenes any provision of a notice referred to in this section commits an offence.
Penalty: $1 000.
(5) For the purposes of any proceedings or prosecution for an offence against subsection (3) a certificate signed or purporting to be signed by the manager of the Authority or any person authorised by the Authority in that behalf which states that on any date or during any period ¾
(a) the public market was open for trading in the produce specified in the certificate; or
(b) the public market was not open for business and the purpose in relation to which the person specified in the certificate was permitted to enter, or prohibited from entering, the public market,
is evidence of those facts.
[Section 11A inserted by No. 64 of 1984 s.2; amended by No. 29 of 1987 s.12; No. 20 of 1989 s.3; No. 6 of 1990 s.10; No. 70 of 2003 s. 43.]
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The man charged with aiming a bow and arrow at Salt Lake City protesters ordered to stay in jail
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Brandon McCormick shouts at protesters after he was beaten up for allegedly brandishing a bow and arrow, after driving his car into the crowd, Saturday, May 30, 2020.
By Jessica Miller
| July 14, 2020, 11:37 p.m.
| Updated: 11:38 p.m.
He had been on a drive through Salt Lake City with his daughter on May 30 when he started to see the protesters gathering in the streets.
Then he heard someone yell, “All Lives Matter!”
That’s when Reggie Wilson spotted a man waving a knife at the crowd, which was part of hundreds of protesters who had gathered near City Hall and the downtown library that day to protest the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and against racism and police violence.
“I told him he needed to get back into his vehicle and leave,” Wilson testified Tuesday at a preliminary hearing. “He was aggravating the situation.”
But Wilson said the man wouldn’t leave — and instead pulled a compound bow from his vehicle after two protesters hit him. He continued to threaten the crowd, Wilson testified, yelling racial slurs and threatening to fire arrows at them.
“I felt that he was a threat,” Wilson recalled. “I thought he was a threat from the minute I started hearing his voice. Just his actions. He was very threatening.”
Wilson said he honked his horn to get the attention of police — and the man, who police later identified as Brandon McCormick, was pulled from the melee by officers as the crowd responded by attacking him and flipping his car. McCormick’s vehicle was also burned.
He was not arrested that day. But prosecutors charged him with three felonies for, as widely shared video has shown, aiming his weapon at protesters.
After hearing testimony from Wilson, 3rd District Judge Paul Parker ruled there was sufficient evidence for McCormick’s case to move forward to trial.
He faces up to five years in prison on each count if convicted.
Parker also decided that McCormick would stay in jail — where he’s been since he turned himself in in early June — despite McCormick’s pleas that he be allowed to leave.
The 57-year-old man said he was in need of shoulder surgery, and he was worried about getting the coronavirus while incarcerated.
“In the past, I was a jackass,” McCormick told the judge. “I was a drug addict and made poor choices. But I’ve been doing good for almost five years. I’ve really been proud of myself … I did some bad things that I’ve regretted ever since.”
But Parker sided with prosecutors, who argued that because McCormick has a long criminal history and could go back to threaten more protesters, he should stay behind bars.
McCormick has been sentenced to prison seven times, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The first was in 1989, when he was convicted of first-degree burglary in San Bernardino County and was sentenced to six years. He was paroled in April 1992 but returned to prison twice later that year for parole violations.
The next 22 years brought a cycle of bouncing in and out of California prisons on parole and parole violations along with a mix of new convictions.
McCormick was last in a California prison in 2014. In all, he served 18½ years in penitentiaries.
He also has another pending case in Utah in connection to an alleged road rage incident.
McCormick is expected to be in court again for charges related to the protest Aug. 17.
jmiller@sltrib.comFollow @jm_miller
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill suggests 22 ways to change Utah’s use-of-force laws
Federal inmates sue Weber County over the coronavirus outbreak in the jail
The police killing of Bernardo Palacios-Carbajal: Where prosecutors and the family’s lawyers disagree.
Police killing of Bernardo Palacios-Carbajal won’t lead to charges, a decision that infuriates his family
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Joyce digs in for keeps to set up Telstra fund
August 1, 2005 — 10.00am
An extended period of horse trading over the $30 billion privatisation of Telstra looms after the Queensland National Party senator Barnaby Joyce indicated he was willing to wait as long as it took for his Liberal Coalition partners to agree to his terms.
Foremost among them is the establishment of a multibillion-dollar trust fund to ensure rural telecommunications services keep pace with those in cities.
The Queensland Nationals yesterday unanimously supported a motion calling for the fund, and other conditions for the sale of the remaining half of Telstra.
It was expected the party conference resolution would stipulate an amount for the fund, perhaps up to $5 billion, but it called only for a pool of cash that was "permanent and significant".
The starting bid for the fund, floated by the National Party leader, Mark Vaile, in his speech to the conference in Brisbane last week, was $2 billion which, if invested, would produce about $100 million a year for rural and regional telecommunications.
But Senator Joyce, the party's new Queensland senator, said the party would conduct an audit to determine the appropriate size of the fund, which was likely to be larger than the $2 billion suggested by Mr Vaile. He indicated he was prepared for long negotiations.
"We've got another two years where we have the majority in both houses," Senator Joyce said. "I don't think this storm will pass very quickly."
The Queensland Nationals also demanded a new regulatory body with the power to review and investigate telecommunications services in country areas. It should be able to force Telstra to make upgrades and fix failings.
Telstra Country Wide would have to keep a presence in the bush, while the Nationals want guarantees that people in remote areas would pay the same for services as those in cities.
The universal service obligation, which requires Telstra to ensure access across Australia to standard telephony services, would be retained, as would local untimed calls.
The Government is already moving to meet these conditions, and the Communications Minister, Helen Coonan, has recently produced numbers that indicate a fund of up to $2 billion might be possible.
A meeting of federal National Party members and senators, beginning today, will consider the Queensland party's position. It is understood Mr Vaile will argue for the formula by which he, in consultation with Senator Coonan's office, came up with his $2 billion figure.
But Senator Joyce again made clear yesterday that he was bound by the wishes of his Queensland constituents and party, not the federal Nationals and certainly not the Liberals.
"I got this job because we stood on our own Senate ticket and we got across the line using votes from the National Party, with preferences from the Family First party, from the Fishing Party, from One Nation," he told Channel Nine's Sunday program.
He noted the Liberal Party had campaigned against him, which, he said "poses the question [of] which team I'm in, because before the election, I apparently wasn't on theirs".
He reiterated he would cross the floor to vote against the sale of Telstra if the Liberals did not agree to the conditions. The Coalition has a majority in the Senate of just one seat.
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STACEY CORRIGAN PICTURE BOOK AUTHOR
Stacey Corrigan PRIVACY POLICY Stacey Corrigan (the “Company”) is committed to protecting the privacy of its users. This Privacy Policy (“Privacy Policy”) is designed to help you understand what information we gather, how we use it, what we do to protect it, and to assist you in making informed decisions when using our Service. Unless otherwise indicated below, this Privacy Policy applies to any website that references this Privacy Policy, any Company website, as well as any data the Company may collect across partnered and unaffiliated sites. For purposes of this Agreement, “Service” refers to the Company’s service which can be accessed via our website at https://staceycorrigan.weebly.com/ or through our mobile application. The terms “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to the Company. “You” refers to you, as a user of Service. I. CONSENT By accessing our Service, you accept our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, and you consent to our collection, storage, use and disclosure of your personal information as described in this Privacy Policy. In addition, by using our Service, or services across partnered and unaffiliated sites, you are accepting the policies and practices described in this Privacy Policy. Each time you visit our website, or use the Service, and any time you voluntarily provide us with information, you agree that you are consenting to our collection, use and disclosure of the information that you provide, and you are consenting to receive emails or otherwise be contacted, as described in this Privacy Policy. Whether or not you register or create any kind of account with us, this Privacy Policy applies to all users of the website and the Service. II. INFORMATION WE COLLECT We may collect both “Non-Personal Information” and “Personal Information” about you. “Non-Personal Information” includes information that cannot be used to personally identify you, such as anonymous usage data, general demographic information we may collect, referring/exit pages and URLs, platform types, preferences you submit and preferences that are generated based on the data you submit and number of clicks. “Personal Information” includes information that can be used to personally identify you, such as your name, address and email address. In addition, we may also track information provided to us by your browser or by our mobile application when you view or use the Service, such as the website you came from (known as the “referring URL”), the type of browser you use, the device from which you connected to the Service, the time and date of access, and other information that does not personally identify you. We use this information for, among other things, the operation of the Service, to maintain the quality of the Service, to provide general statistics regarding use of the Service and for other business purposes. We track this information using cookies, or small text files which include an anonymous unique identifier. Cookies are sent to a user’s browser from our servers and are stored on the user’s computer hard drive. Sending a cookie to a user’s browser enables us to collect Non-Personal Information about that user and keep a record of the user’s preferences when utilizing our services, both on an individual and aggregate basis. The Company may use both persistent and session cookies; persistent cookies remain on your computer after you close your session and until you delete them, while session cookies expire when you close your browser. Persistent cookies can be removed by following your Internet browser help file directions. If you choose to disable cookies, some areas of the Service may not work properly. III. HOW WE USE AND SHARE INFORMATION Personal Information: In general, we do not sell, trade, rent or otherwise share your Personal Information with third parties without your consent. We may share your Personal Information with vendors and other third-party providers who are performing services for the Company. In general, the vendors and third-party providers used by us will only collect, use and disclose your information to the extent necessary to allow them to perform the services they provide for the Company. For example, when you provide us with personal information to complete a transaction, verify your credit card, place an order, arrange for a delivery, or return a purchase, you consent to our collecting and using such personal information for that specific purpose, including by transmitting such information to our vendors (and their service providers) performing these services for the Company. However, certain third-party service providers, such as payment processors, have their own privacy policies in respect of the information that we are required to provide to them in order to use their services. For these third-party service providers, we recommend that you read their privacy policies so that you can understand the manner in which your Personal Information will be handled by such providers. In addition, we may disclose your Personal Information if required to do so by law or if you violate our Terms of Use. 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By using the Service, you consent to Weebly’s collection, disclosure, storage, and use of your Personal Information in accordance with Weebly’s privacy policy available at https://www.weebly.com/privacy. VII. LINKS TO OTHER WEBSITES As part of the Service, we may provide links to or compatibility with other websites or applications. However, we are not responsible for the privacy practices employed by those websites or the information or content they contain. This Privacy Policy applies solely to information collected by us through the Service. Therefore, this Privacy Policy does not apply to your use of a third-party website accessed by selecting a link via our Service. To the extent that you access or use the Service through or on another website or application, then the privacy policy of that other website or application will apply to your access or use of that site or application. We encourage our users to read the privacy statements of other websites before proceeding to use them. VIII. AGE OF CONSENT By using the Service, you represent that you are at least 18 years of age. IX. CHANGES TO OUR PRIVACY POLICY The Company reserves the right to change this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use at any time. If we decide to change this Privacy Policy, we will post these changes on this page so that you are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances we disclose it. Any such modifications become effective upon your continued access to and/or use of the Service five (5) days after we first post the changes on the website or otherwise provide you with notice of such modifications. It is your sole responsibility to check this website from time to time to view any such changes to the terms of this Privacy Policy. 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If you no longer wish to receive those email updates, you may opt-out of receiving them by following the instructions included in each update or communication. XII. CONTACT US & WITHDRAWING CONSENT If you have any questions regarding this Privacy Policy or the practices of this Site, or wish to withdraw your consent for the continued collection, use or disclosure of your Personal Information, please contact us by sending an email to StaceyCorriganWrites@gmail.com. Last Updated: This Privacy Policy was last updated on Mon Jul 09 2018.
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GIRLS BASKETBALL: M.L. King advances to third straight PSL city title appearance, with a 61-38 win over Renaissance
By: Branden Hunter, February 14, 2014, 12:04 am
DETROIT – Martin Luther King girls basketball head coach William Winfield is a living legend. In his tenure at the east side school, he has won five state titles and 21 city championships.
He have to opportunity to capture his 22nd city title next Friday at Calihan Hall, in a rematch with Cass Tech. But first his Lady Crusaders had to get past Renaissance, which they did in convincing fashion, 61-38.
"Normally we play better than what we played tonight," Winfield said. "We missed a lot of lay-ups and Mart’e (Grays) game was off, she usually plays better. But we’re just glad we won."
Grays wasn’t her usual self, but still finished with a team-high 15 points. Her teammates stepped up big time, with Lashai Geeter, Malaysia McHenry and Janae Williams all combining for 37 points and 26 rebounds.
"Those three are going to be the ones who are going to have to do it for us," Winfield said. "On the defensive end they played well and on the offensive end, not so well. Those are things we can correct and we will work on that the next few days."
Renaissance (11-5) came out with a sense of urgency in the first quarter and actually led 9-4 with 3:35 left in the first. King closed the quarter out on a 9-2 run to take a 13-11 lead and never looked back.
"We started off the game fast and really confident," Renaissance coach Kiwan Ward said. "They made a run and we weren’t able to recover from it."
After Winfield called a timeout after his team got behind, King turned it up in the second and a bucket by Geeter (11 points, 11 rebounds) made it 26-15 with 3:02 left in the half. King led by 16 late in the third, then Renaissance went on a run themselves.
Sparked by two baskets from Siyeh Frazier, who led the Lady Phoenix with 15 points, King’s lead got cut down to thirteen, at 43-30, with 1:20 left in the third. But King would close out the final 80 seconds on a 4-0 run, to push their lead back up to 17, at 47-30.
"I believe we came out to relaxed because we had beat them the first time," junior Malaysia McHenry said. "We thought it was going to be easy this game.
Coach just told us to go out there, play hard, play smart and grab them rebounds."
McHenry chipped it 12 points and seven rebounds on her birthday, while Janae Williams, who played well the entire game, scored 14 points.
King remains the No.1 team in the state, with a 18-1 record and will face Cass Tech again for the city title. King won 58-36 back on January 26 and know that it won’t be that easy the second time around.
"I think we will approach this game more focused and aware, defensively and offensively," McHenry said. "It means a lot for us to win another city title and it will feel good to put a smile on my coach’s face for the third time in a row."
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Introducing the STATE CHAMPS! All-Junior Team for the fall 2019 season
By: MATTHEW B. MOWERY, December 20, 2019, 12:06 pm
We’ve introduced a new awards program here at STATE CHAMPS! called the All-Junior Team, a program in which the best of the best of the junior class participants in each sport will be honored with inclusion on the list. Throughout each season, we establish a watch list of probable winners, eventually pare that list down to a final four, then pick the winner from that elite group. At the end of each season, the full list of winners is unveiled.
This is the list of winners for the fall season. Congrats to all!
FOOTBALL — Brendan Sullivan, QB, Davison
A first-year signal-caller, Sullivan completed 67 percent of his passes on the season, his 290-yard performance in the D1 title game putting him over the 3,000-yard threshold for the season. He added a pair of rushing touchdowns in the 35-25 win — the first title in Davison history — giving him 11 scores on the ground for the season. His 3,044 yards rank in the top 25 in state history coming into the year.
VOLLEYBALL — Julia Bishop, S, Farmington Hills Mercy
There’s a large reason that the Marlins lost one match all season, and dropped three of 27 total sets in the postseason, hitting .336 as a team in the semifinals and finals: Bishop feeding the Mercy hitters in the right spots. The Michigan State committed junior had 97 assists, six kills, 14 digs and four block-assists in the final two rounds of the tournament.
BOYS CROSS COUNTRY — Nathan Walker, Fremont
Walker’s 14:52.8 at regionals was the third-fastest boys time of the season, regardless of division, and he followed that up with a 15:23.9 at the state meet, finishing fourth in the D2 race — posting the best time of any junior in the state. Despite being edged by two tenths of a second for third place, Walker led Fremont to a 68-point performance (five scorers in the top 28), good for a 108-point margin of victory, as Fremont won its eighth title, and its first since 2015.
GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY — Karsyn Stewart, Bridgman
Finished 18th a year ago, as a sophomore, but shaved 46 seconds off last year’s time at this fall’s D4 finals, finishing third among placers with a 19:38.9. Not only did it break her own pre-existing school record by 19 seconds — she’s dropped the record by 37 seconds over the past two seasons — but it paced the Bees contingent that won the school’s first state championship in any sport. Bridgman hadn’t even won a regional until this year, finishing 16 points ahead of a Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart program that was going for its state-record-tying fifth consecutive state title.
GIRLS GOLF — Shannon Kennedy, Birmingham Marian
Kennedy shot a 143 — the lowest two-round score of any golfer this weekend — to lead Birmingham Marian to the D3 title. She’s one of four juniors to score for the Mustangs
Kennedy shot a 146 to medal at the D2 meet as a freshman, and tied for third on the D3 leaderboard as a sophomore. A total of 17 juniors finished in the top 10s in their respective divisions at this fall’s girls golf state finals, with a pair of juniors taking home individual titles.
BOYS SOCCER — Shion Soga, M, Novi
Scored 18 goals on the season, four of them in the postseason to go with four assists, as the Wildcats made it all the way to the semifinals, becoming the third team in program history to make the final four. Soga was one of just two juniors named to the Michigan High School Soccer Coaches Association’s Dream Team, and one of 19 juniors (and one of seven Michiganders in all) named to the 96-member All-Great Lakes Region team by United Soccer Coaches.
BOYS TENNIS — Nathaniel Webster, Mattawan
The top seed in No. 1 singles flight in Division 2, Webster beat upset-minded junior Adnan Alousi of Berkley in the title match. The No. 6 seed coming in, Alousi beat No. 3 seed Anish Middha of Midland Dow and No. 2 seed Alex Wootten of Portage Northern to get to the flight finals. Named to the MHSTeCA all-state team for the third straight season, Webster was the runner-up at D2 No. 1 singles a year ago as a sophomore.
GIRLS SWIMMING — Justine Murdock, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood
Contributed 58.5 points to the Cranes’ second-place finish, earning a berth on the MISCA Dream Team in the 100 backstroke, where she defended her title from a season ago, and set a new Division 3 record. She also won the 200 individual medley, swam the lead leg of the second-place 200 medley relay, and the third leg of Cranbrook’s winning 400 freestyle relay, earning MISCA Division 3 swimmer of the year honors.
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Polys expecting more early admission students
Higher proportion to be selected based on course-specific talents
Ms Chia's O-level results would not have got her into Nanyang Poly if not for the direct admissions route. She went on to graduate with a GPA of 3.82 and earned a place in the National University of Singapore.ST PHOTO: MARCUS TAN
Calvin Yang
Jun 22, 2016, 5:00 am SGT
http://str.sg/4w4e
Polytechnics are expecting more students to apply via the new Early Admissions Exercise (EAE), which allows them to secure places in diploma programmes through course-specific talents and interests rather than just academic grades.
A higher proportion of polytechnic places has been set aside for these students next year under the EAE, which begins taking in applications today.
Polytechnics told The Straits Times that a range of education and career guidance activities, such as talks and programmes in schools as well as seminars for parents, may have contributed to the strong interest.
The EAE, which gives polytechnics greater flexibility to choose students based on criteria other than the O-level examination results, can admit up to 12.5 per cent of the intake. It will allow students to receive a conditional offer for admission to a diploma course even before sitting the O-level exams.
Previously, polytechnics took in such students through the Direct Polytechnic Admissions exercise (DPA) and the Joint Polytechnic Special Admissions Exercise, which could admit up to 2.5 per cent and 5 per cent of the polytechnic intake respectively each year.
The EAE is replacing both of these exercises.
Earlier this year, Acting Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) Ong Ye Kung said at the Education Ministry's Committee of Supply debate that all five polytechnics, as well as three of the autonomous universities - Nanyang Technological University, National University of Singapore and Singapore Management University - will expand their existing aptitude-based admissions.
He also said studies have shown that among polytechnic students with similar O-level aggregate scores, those admitted "via DPA do better in their studies... and are far more likely to embark on careers in the sectors for which they were educated and trained".
Mr Ong added: "This confirms what may have been intuitive to us all along - when you are able to choose and enter a course you are interested or feel passionate about, you feel more ownership and enthusiasm, and will likely do better."
The mode of assessment under the EAE can vary and may include interviews, portfolio submissions and aptitude tests.
Polytechnics may consider achievements such as awards, roles assumed in and out of school, work attachments and involvement in relevant projects. For instance, for Temasek Polytechnic's informatics and information technology courses, the selection panel assesses applicants during interviews on their knowledge of how IT is applied in areas like healthcare.
The panel also looks at students' portfolios to gauge their interest.
At Singapore Polytechnic (SP), students applying for the music and audio technology diploma course are required to go for auditions where they will have to display musical proficiency. And applicants for SP's applied drama and psychology diploma must undergo a drama workshop.
Republic Polytechnic registrar Windersalam Shanmugasundar said: "The main theme is that students have to be able to demonstrate their zest in pursuing their interest.
"The EAE serves as an encouragement for students to discover and pursue their passion. It promotes active planning for their own life."
A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on June 22, 2016, with the headline 'Polys expecting more early admission students'. Print Edition | Subscribe
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Yane Sandanski Biography, Life, Interesting Facts
Vlahi, Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria
Sowing the Seed of Revolution: Yane Sandanski
CHILDHOOD AND EARLY LIFE
Yane Ivanov Sandanski alias Jane Ivanov Sandanski was born on May 28, 1872, in the village of Vlahi near Kresna in Ottoman Empire (present-day Bulgaria). His father Ivan Sandanski was entrusted with the authority to carry the symbolic flag of the ‘Kresna-Razlog’ revolution. The revolution was defeated in 1879 and Ivan moved to Dupnitsa, Bulgaria. Here Yane Sandanski received his elementary education. Not much is known about the education of Sandanski.
Yane Sandanski was an active member of the Revolutionary Movement in Macedonia and Thrace and gradually donned the mantle of it’s’ leader. In 1895, he joined the Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee (SMAC) during an invasion of a Muslim majority area of Thrace. He spent the next five years as a SMAC activist in the Pirin region.
In 1900, Yane Sandanski came back to Dupnitsa and became a Director of the local prison. In 1901, Yane Sandanski shifted his allegiance to Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization (IMARO). His excellent work in organizing and building the organization’s network of committees in the districts of Serres and Gorna Dzhumaja in the Pirin region was recognized, and he was nicknamed ‘PirinTsar.’
Yane Sandanski is best remembered for his role in the kidnapping of American Protestant Missionary Ellen Stone and her pregnant companion Katerine Stefanova-Tsilka. The infamous incident is considered as America’s first modern hostage crisis. The crime, which took place in August 1901, was primarily targeted to extricate vast amounts of ransom money to fund the extremist activities of IMARO. After about six months of the kidnapping, the revolutionary group under the diminutive leadership of Yane Sandanski was successful in extracting a huge amount of ransom money which was equivalent to fourteen thousand Turkish gold Liras.
In 1903, Yane Sandanski actively took part in the ‘Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising,’ which was a revolution aimed to oust the Ottomans. Bulgarian Origin people living in the central and south-western regions of the Monastir Vilayet division of the Ottoman Empire supported the revolution. The revolution had a deep impact on these regions. The totalitarian rule of the Ottoman Empire was denounced by Yane Sandanski and in 1908; he became a supporter of the ‘Young Turks Revolution,’ which was in favour of constitutional monarchy. This revolution was significant to the extent that it was successful in terminating the autocratic regime of the 34th Sultan, Abdul Hamid II and restored the ‘second constitutional era’ of the Ottoman Empire and reestablishment of ‘Ottoman Constitution.’
In the same year of 1908, Yane Sandanski and his fellow countryman Hristo Chernopeev founded a new party. The move came after the disintegration of the ‘IMARO’ into three different factions and the failure of his all-out effort to establish the ‘Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization (MARO).’ Yane along with the left-wing members of the defunct ‘IMARO’ founded the new party and name it ‘Peoples’ Federation Party (Bulgarian Section). In 1909, during the removal of the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II, ‘Peoples’ Federation Party participated in the March to Istanbul led by the ‘Young Turks’ Revolutionists.
Next came the ‘Balkan Wars.’ Yane Sandanski along with the members of his party fought the war as members of the ‘Bulgarian Army.’ In 1913, the Bulgarian Government sent Yane to Tirana to negotiate with the Albanians. There was a deal brokered by Yane where it was agreed that the Bulgarian Government would supply the arms and ammunition and required troops for the Albanians. The deal led to a joint revolution involving Albanians of Western Macedonia and the ‘Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization,’ one of the three factions of the Macedonian liberation movement. The revolution is popularly known as ‘Ohrid-Debar Uprising.’
Soon afterwards there was a difference of opinion between Yane Sandanski and a few of the other faction leaders. An altercation between different factions in demanding autonomy and inclusion of Macedonia in the ‘Balkan Socialist Federation,’ led to a struggle among the stakeholders. It is a common belief that Sandanski was involved in the murder of vojvod Michail Daev, Boris Sarafov, and Ivan Garvanov. The centralist faction of the ‘IMARO’ pronounced a death sentence to him for these murders.
PERSONAL LIFE AND LEGACY
After several failed assassination attempts by the Centralists, Yane Sandanski was ultimately assassinated on April 22, 1915, near Rozhen Monastery. The power struggle among the three factions of the Macedonian liberation movement was the cause for the assassination. The native revolutionaries of ‘IMARO executed it.’
Yane Sandanski is regarded as a National Hero of the Macedonian Republic and is honoured by mentioning his name in one of the verses of their National Anthem. Again, in recognition and appreciation of his socialist views, the Sveti Vrach town was named after him in 1949. Even in Antarctica, there is a region called the East Coast of the Ioannes Paulus II Peninsula, which is named after Sandanski.
May 18 Horoscope
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Titans Place TE Delanie Walker on Injured Reserve, Add Kicker Ryan Santoso
NASHVILLE – The Titans have placed veteran tight end Delanie Walker on Injured Reserve.
Also on Wednesday, the Titans signed kicker Ryan Santoso to the team's 53-man roster. The team intends to carry two kickers, including veteran Ryan Succop, on the roster heading into Sunday's game against the Colts.
Walker, who struggled health-wise this season with the ankle he had surgery on last year, ended up playing in seven games in 2019. He finishes this season with 21 catches for 215 yards and two touchdowns. Walker was inactive the last four games, and his last catch came in the team's October 13 contest against the Broncos.
Walker said on Friday his ankle started to get even more tender after returning to the practice field at the beginning of the week.
In his 14-year playing career, Walker has 504 catches for 5,888 yards and 36 touchdowns.
In Walker's absence, the Titans will continue to lean on tight ends Jonnu Smith, MyCole Pruitt and Anthony Firkser. The Titans signed fullback Khari Blasingame last week, and his presence should allow Pruitt to focus even more on his role at tight end after working some in packages with a fullback.
Santoso, who played collegiately at Minnesota, is a big kicker (6-5, 258) with a big leg. He spent each of the past two preseasons with the Detroit Lions, and he also spent time with the Montreal Alouettes of the CFL in September of this season.
At Minnesota, Santoso made 29-of-39 field goals, with a career-long field goal of 52 yards, which lifted the Gophers to a 39-38 win over Purdue in 2014. He also converted 76-of-77 point-after attempts and scored 163 points (29 FGs and 76 PATs). He kicked off 168 times and recorded 80 touchbacks.
Santoso also punted 144 times and averaged 41.8 yards (fourth-best in school history). He placed 46 punts inside the 20 and had a career long of 68 yards in 2017.
The Titans face the Colts on Sunday in Indianapolis.
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The original committee
From 1963 to 1991, ADEC only consisted of six or seven members eminent in the fields of clinical medicine and pharmacology.
Findings were often communicated to other health professionals by publications in the Medical Journal of Australia.
ADEC set up its first subcommittee in 1970, the Adverse Drug Reactions Advisory Committee (ADRAC), to deal with the increasing reporting of adverse reactions.
Later, other subcommittees were formed with specific briefs to provide the necessary expertise in specialist areas, particularly in emerging areas of medicine with new regulatory concerns.
Professor Mervyn Eadie AO, MD, PhD, FRACP, FRCPEd, fifth chair, 1985-1993
Professor Eadie is one of the University of Queensland's most highly regarded academics, having been professor of clinical neurology and neuropharmacology since 1977. Following retirement in 1997 Prof Eadie has continued to publish at a prolific rate, particularly in the area of the history of neurology, as well as continuing in medical practice and university teaching.
Expanding ADEC membership
In the eighties various reviews came to the common conclusion that there was a need for a comprehensive national approach to the regulation of therapeutic goods.
The Commonwealth focus shifted from the point of import to the point of supply with the passing of the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989, and the relevant parts of the then Department of Health, Housing and Community Services were named the Therapeutic Goods Administration, or TGA.
The States and Territories remained responsible for the control of the retail supply of therapeutic goods, scheduling and the regulation of wholesalers.
And from the beginning of 1992 the membership of ADEC was increased, so that in addition to the core members there were also between ten and twenty associate members, each with complementary expertise.
Reforms to separate pre- and post- market regulation
In 2009 reform processes began to separate premarket and postmarket regulation. The aim was to prevent any possible conflict of interest that might arise from the same experts being involved in both premarket and postmarket assessment of medicines and to ensure that sufficient resources were directed towards postmarket regulation.
This change was in line with international trends, and involved changes to the committees as well as the internal structure of the TGA. New committees were formed with the word 'advisory' in the names. This emphasises the advisory nature of the committees, with the decisions being made by the TGA.
ADEC met for the last time in December 2009, and its successor, the Advisory Committee on Prescription Medicines (ACPM) was formed in January 2010. The ADEC subcommittee that dealt with postmarket issues (the Adverse Drug Reaction Advisory Committee) was replaced by the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Medicines (ACSOM).
Professor Susan Pond AM,MD DSc, FTSE, sixth chair, 1994-1996
Professor Pond's influence spans innovation and entrepreneurship in the fields of science, medicine, and biotechnology in Australia and internationally.
Currently, she is Chair of the Australian Initiative for Sustainable Aviation Fuels, Vice President of the Academy of Technological Sciences & Engineering and board member of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization and Innovation Australia.
Consumer perspectives
ADEC initiated the production of consumer-oriented information about medicines. Today, this is known as Consumer Medicine Information and is commonly provided by community and hospital pharmacists when they dispense medicines, as well as being available on the TGA website.
With the changes in 2010, the Therapeutic Goods Regulations were amended so that all the statutory committees, including ACPM, also contain an expert in consumer issues.
Publication of committee advice
The TGA has been publishing ADEC and ACPM advice since December 2009, together with the information provided to the committee, the final decision and a summary of any appeal (Australian Public Assessment Reports - AusPARs).
The TGA publishes the approved Product Information and Consumer Medicine Information on its website. This information is examined and commented on by ACPM.
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Gay former TCU football player says Tank Carder's comments instill shame, denial
Gay former TCU football player says Tank Carder’s comments instill shame, denial
(Editor's note: This story contains language that may be offensive to some readers.)
It might be "just a word," but it can hurt.
That's the message Vincent Pryor, a former 90's TCU linebacker and defensive end player, sent Tank Carder in an open letter published Wednesday morning on Outsports.
The letter is in response to Carder's anti-gay tweets, which have received backlash from the gay community.
On Nov. 21, Carder responded to a joke tweeted by the Twitter account “Because I’m a Guy,” writing: “Unfollowed…your [sic] a faggot for that.” The tweet has since been deleted.
In his letter, Pryor wrote that Carder's slurs instill shame and embarrassment in athletes, causing them to suppress their true identities.
"When I was an athlete at TCU, I lived in fear for many years over what would happen if my coaches or teammates learned that I was gay," wrote Pryor, who graduated in 1995.
The alumnus said he had never written an open letter like this before, but felt compelled to because he felt Carder's comments were not demonstrative of TCU's true culture.
Apart from anti-gay attitudes he experienced in the football program, Pryor said TCU has "always been a place that will welcome people based on the content of their character."
"Tank's comments did not reflect my experience at Texas Christian University and I didn't want people to think he represents us all," Pryor said in a phone interview.
Pryor told TCU360 that during his time as football player at the university, his coach specifically asked if anyone on the team was gay. The coach said he would not "have anyone like that" on his team, Pryor said.
Before his final game as a Horned Frog in 1994, Pryor finally came out to his TCU teammates.
Pryor is engaged to fellow TCU alumnus Alan Dettlaff, who taught social work at the university. During his time as a student, Dettlaff founded the TCU Triangle, the university's first LGBT support group.
Carder's status as a role model is another reason Pryor felt the need to write the letter, he said.
"He might not want to be a role model, but when you play at that level, there are a segment of people who hinge on his every word," Pryor said of Carder.
The Cleveland Browns have since released a short statement on Carder’s language.
“These comments are certainly not reflective of the Cleveland Browns organization, nor do we condone them in any fashion,” Browns spokesman Neal Gulkis said in a statement, according to CBS Cleveland. “We have spoken with Tank and have made this very clear to him.
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) released a statement Wednesday morning saying they were "speaking" with the NFL about Carder's comments.
"We're hoping for a positive resolution to this, one that makes a powerful statement about how the world of professional sports should be a safe space for all fans and athletes, regardless of their sexual orientation," Aaron McQuade, director of news and field media at GLAAD, wrote.
As of 9:00 p.m. Wednesday, the NFL had not released a statement regarding Carder's comments.
The letter in its entirety can be read below:
Dear Tank Carder,
I was surprised and disappointed to read about the anti-gay remarks you made on Twitter. As an alumnus of TCU and a former football player, I know from my own experience that your words do not represent the culture of TCU. However, I am disappointed in the lack of understanding you’ve shown in the effect your words can have on young athletes who consider you a role model.
As a public figure and a representative of both TCU and the NFL, your words have power, especially for young athletes who happen to be gay. When I was an athlete at TCU, I lived in fear for many years over what would happen if my coaches or teammates learned that I was gay.
I feared that I would be kicked off the team or that my scholarship would be taken away and that my family would be embarrassed and ashamed. As a result, I hid in the background and didn’t play to my full potential because I was concerned that any attention I drew to myself would lead to further questions about my personal life and to rumors or ridicule that would ultimately have me removed from the team.
These fears led me to consider suicide on a number of occasions and it was only through the support of a few close friends that I developed the courage to tell my coaches and teammates that I was gay, just before the last game of my senior year. To my surprise, nearly all of my coaches and teammates supported me. In that final game on Nov. 25, 1994, with a share of the conference championship on the line, I felt free for the first time and I had the best game of my college career. With nothing to fear, I played to my full potential and had a record number of sacks (4 ½), helping my team earn a share of the conference championship and the opportunity to play in a bowl game for the first time in 10 years.
While this story may not seem relevant to you, it is. The reason I stayed in the closet was because of fear. I feared that there was nothing worse that could happen to me than other people finding out I was gay. I feared that if anyone found out that I was gay, I would lose everything. When you call someone a faggot, it isn’t “just a word.” It is a degrading term that implies there is something wrong with being gay. It implies disgust in something you don’t want to be associated with. And ultimately, it pushes every young athlete who may be struggling with their identity further into the closet, where they are surrounded by their fears and insecurities.
When you call someone a faggot, you reinforce all of the fears that I struggled with and other young gay athletes struggle with to this day. They will think that your views represent their teammates’ views and they will stay hidden and never realize their full potential as an athlete. Although it may be hard for you to understand, this kind of fear and isolation can be devastating, as it was for me for many years.
I was in the stands at the Rose Bowl game in 2011 when you were named defensive player of the game and helped to seal the victory for the Horned Frogs over Wisconsin, and I admire you as an athlete. But I hope you can come to understand the impact that your words can have on those who look up to you and the fear and pain your words cause.
Everyone who plays sports should be able to play without fear that their identity will affect how others view them as an athlete. I was fortunate to have that chance in the last game of my career. However, until you and others understand the fear and pain your words cause, there will continue to be many young gay athletes who never have that chance.
Vincent Pryor
TCU Class of 1995
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TCU squeaks out 2-1 win against UTA
Despite only coming up with five hits, TCU found a way to win a close 2-1 battle Tuesday night against the University of Texas at Arlington Mavericks.
“This was my favorite game of the season,” TCU head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “I would’ve liked to get more hits, of course, but that’s our brand of baseball: pitching, defense and sound fundamental play.”
With the win, the Frogs complete a season sweep of UTA and improve to 26-25, their first record above .500 all year.
“We didn’t play like that in the first half of the season for whatever reason,” Schlossnagle said. “I’m very encouraged by how we’re playing.”
The game was tied at 1-1 in the bottom of the 8th inning until junior catcher Kyle Bacak hit a sacrifice bunt to bring home junior pinch runner Kevin Daniels.
“Any time you get a chance to help get a run and put us in the lead, going into the ninth especially, it’s big time,” Bacak said. “It’s a lot of fun.”
TCU played six different pitchers during the contest, and none of them pitched more than two innings. They combined for 10 strikeouts and gave up only one run on 10 hits.
Mavericks infielder Travis Sibley hit an RBI-single in the 6th inning against junior pitcher Trevor Seidenberger, giving UTA their lone run of the night.
“Seidenberger had a chance to panic and didn’t, gave up one run and limited the damage,” Schlossnagle said.
The Big 12 tournament-bound Frogs are now going into their final regular season series of the year. They’ll play the University of Texas Longhorns this weekend in Fort Worth for the first time since 1995. TCU also has a chance to prevent the Longhorns from making the Big 12 tournament.
“We look forward to playing them,” Schlossnagle said.
First pitch at Lupton Stadium is scheduled for Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
Previous articleTCU reports $4.1 million more expenses than revenue for FY2012 in 990 filing
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Lifestyle e-commerce platform SquareKey secures funding from 500 Startups, others
Sainul K 6 Aug, 2013
New York- and Mumbai-based SquareKey Inc., which runs the online lifestyle store SquareKey.com, has secured an undisclosed amount in funding from 500 Startups and a few others, including Devaraj Southworth, executive vice president at US-based Zipmark.com, which enables businesses to send and receive digital checks.
The development was first reported by iamwire.
Founded in 2011 by Avantika Daing, SquareKey is an editorially driven e-commerce lifestyle site for Indian consumers with access to a range of international brands and curated services. Its editorial section provides all the relevant information on the latest designers, fashion trends, styles, etc. The firm has partnered with more than 60 brands and manufacturers, including Nicole Miller, BCBG, Nanette Lepore, Ben Sherman and Max Azria.
The platform also offers a feature called Personal Shopper, where a shopper can shop as per his/her choice of apparel in New York, while sitting in India. As soon as the customer contacts the editorial team for the personal shopper option, the SquareKey team interviews (telephonic) the customer to know his/her requirements. The team then selects photos and links from various brands and emails those to the customer for his approval. Once the items get approved, the personal shopper team shops the items and ships it directly to the user.
Prior to setting up SquareKey, Avantika was senior director at Eyetech in New York, which completed a $731 million IPO three years after its founding. Prior to that, she held marketing-management positions at Procter & Gamble and Bristol-Myers Squibb. She has also co-founded Spinfrenzy, a generation-Y social networking and commerce site.
SquareKey SquareKey.com startups Zipmark.com
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A Simple, But Effective, Way to Beat Internet Censorship
A new tool could help get blocked news past government firewalls.
A new tool will join the censorship circumvention arsenal this September.
Feed Over E-mail (FOE) sends restricted content, in the form of RSS feeds, via email. The tool can’t help a user browse censored sites or obtain large files. But its creator, Sho Ho, says that FOE could be particularly hard to block and could work in concert with other circumvention technologies. Ho, who is a researcher with the federal government’s Broadcasting Board of Governors, gave a talk about FOE yesterday at Defcon, a hacker conference that takes place annually in Las Vegas.
There are plenty of other circumvention tools out there, but it can be hard for some people to gain access to them, Ho says. Also, the makers of such tools can get drawn into a game of cat and mouse with governments that block the access points needed to make them work.
To use FOE, a user just needs access to an e-mail service hosted outside of a censoring country, and the FOE client. Information is sent via e-mail, which can come from servers all over the Web, making it hard for censors to spot a consistent source of censored information. Governments also usually don’t block access to foreign mail services (there are some exceptions, such as North Korea).
FOE is different from the average feed reader in that it’s able to fetch content from censored sites without requiring the user to visit those sites to set up the feed. Once FOE fetches the content, it encrypts it and sends it via e-mail much like an attached file. The user’s client gets decrypts the feed once it’s arrived and displays it on the local machine. Ho adds that FOE should be easy for activists to set up and maintain because it uses existing infrastructure.
The version that will be released in September works on machines running Windows, Ho says, but she hopes that volunteers will help add support for other platforms, including mobile devices.
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Election for delegates to attend the Convention of 1836, February 1, 1836
This document is an election return from February 1, 1836. On that date, each settlement in Texas voted on delegates to the Convention of 1836, which would begin meeting on March 1 at Washington-on-the-Brazos. The Convention of 1836 wrote the Texas Declaration of Independence, prepared a constitution, organized an interim government, and named Sam Houston commander-in-chief before hastily adjourning on March 17 to respond to Santa Anna's invading army.
This return was taken in the Alamo fortress, and is sometimes called the "Alamo muster roll," as it is one of the rare pieces of documentary evidence that definitively places individuals at the scene of the Alamo prior to the siege.
Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Back to the "The Battle of the Alamo"
Election for delegates to attend the Convention of 1836, February 1, 1836. Texas Secretary of State, Election Division, Election Returns (county-by-county.) Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
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Arts: Feature
Theater: Modern Times
Local theater troupes are tackling the here and now this spring
By Leigh Moyer
Live Theatre Workshop’s “Mona Lisa on the Loose” brings the art of The Louvre to life.
With the vast majority of plays this spring written after 1980 and many within the last 20 years, the theme is very clearly modern. While it can be a risk to produce newer works, there is also so much to gain. Modern pieces are, well, modern. They deal with issues that couldn't have been imagined a hundred years ago. Sometimes they address current socio-political debates, like in The Cake, produced by Live Theatre Workshop, about a baker asked to make a wedding cake for a gay couple. Sometimes the story is old, focusing on love and how to live a good life, but with the modern twist of a nuclear disaster, as in Angels Fall, offered by Winding Road Theater this spring.
Perhaps the most important perk of newer works is the diversity both behind the pen and on the stage. Theatre is still very often skewed male, especially in the writer's chair. The productions heading our way this spring challenge that, with nine productions written by women playwrights and more than half with woman protagonists. We still have a lot of work to do on gender equality on stage (not to mention racial equality; actors of color are rare on stage and are very often relegated to support roles), but it's a promising start.
Something Something Theatre is committed not only to having women on stage but to share the rich and varied experience of womanhood. They aren't shying away from challenging subjects and are starting the year with Cry It Out, a play about new moms and the very real struggle of deciding how to raise a child in a world rife with advice, criticism and cultural expectations. Named for the decision to let your baby cry it out or rushing to them at every peep, Something Something is telling a story that rarely leaves the domestic sphere.
Ada and The Engine, written by the most-produced living playwright Lauren Gunderson (this is Tucson's third production by her this season), introduces us to one of history's great but oft-forgotten heroines: Ada Byron Lovelace. She was the mind behind the first computer algorithms, and is finally becoming more recognized as a pioneer in computer programming; Ada and the Engine is the story of a brilliant mathematician ahead of her time.
For audiences of all ages, Live Theatre Workshop's Mona Lisa on the Loose brings the art of The Louvre to life. The whimsical story follows Mona Lisa—yes, that Mona Lisa—after hours when she and other famous pieces come to life. Fearing that she will be moved to a less prominent part of the museum, Mona and her friends plot to stay put. I love the idea of literally objectified women—that is, women who are actually objects—claiming their agency and taking up space. (Full disclosure: Playwright Gretchen Wirges is a friend and colleague at Taming of the Review.)
Tim Fuller
Susan Claassen as Dr. Ruth K. Westheimer in “Becoming Dr. Ruth,” now onstage at Invisible Theatre.
Many theatres are exploring what it means to fall in love, fall out of love, grow up, grow old and manage disappointments. In short, they consider life, but from the new perspectives—notably, that of women. Becoming Dr. Ruth (Invisible Theatre) explores the life of sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer, from fleeing Nazi Germany to finding success in America. Ripcord (Live Theatre Workshop), a darkly humorous comedy, follows senior citizens in an all-out battle for the best room in the care facility. At the other end of the age spectrum, The Wolves (Arizona Repertory Theatre) introduces the audience to a high school women's soccer team and all the challenges, comedy and drama of adolescence. The Beauty Queen of Leenane (The Rogue Theatre) digs into a difficult mother/daughter relationship.
For the second year, Winding Road Theater is presenting Eight 10s in Tucson. This play festival features eight brand-new, 10-minute plays written by playwrights from around the country, including one from Tucson. Subjects range from a night of theatre to hitchhiking to murder. These short plays give the audience a night of varied and often unexpected theatre. My only complaint is that a cursory Google search suggests that all eight playwrights are men. I'd love to see a festival celebrating new works to be more inclusive.
In a sharp departure from the modern theme, this spring brings three Shakespeare productions: Twelfth Night at The Rogue Theatre, As You Like It at Pima Community College and The Two Gentlemen of Verona at Arizona Repertory Theatre. These comedies feature love and friendship, as well as incisive examinations of society, relationships and power.
If that isn't enough Shakespeare for you, you can also catch The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) at Arizona Rose Theatre. This fast-paced show squeezes every comedy, tragedy and history into one performance with middling success but plenty of hilarity. Arizona Rose is taking a new approach to the piece, typically performed by three male actors, by casting a woman in one of the roles. If classical Shakespeare isn't your thing, Complete Works is a fun way to get a taste of the Bard.
Sonoran Scratchboarding: Desert Museum’s Ongoing Exhibit Showcases Pieces in Striking, but Relatively Unknown, Medium
Object Lesson: Tom Keifer Creates Art From Migrant Possessions Tossed in the Border Patrol Trash
Zoppé Family Circus Still Swinging During COVID
If you love a good musical, you're in luck! Song and dance will take center stage in eight productions, three of which are family-friendly. Well-known titles like Singin' in the Rain (Pima Community College) and Into the Woods (Arizona Rose Theatre) bring familiar stories to life. The Legend of Georgia McBride (Arizona Theatre Company), The Light in the Piazza (Arizona Repertory Theatre) and The Light Princess (The Scoundrel & Scamp Theatre) each sing their way through journeys of personal growth. Southern Arizona Performing Arts Company rounds out their inaugural season with 1776, the Tony Award-winning tale of the revolution and the Continental Congress.
For younger audience members, Live Theatre Workshop's Family Series and The Scoundrel & Scamp Theatre's For Scamps productions promise to entertain children and their parents. The aforementioned Mona Lisa on the Loose (Live Theatre Workshop), The Old Ball Game (Live Theatre Workshop), and Letter's End (The Scoundrel & Scamp Theatre) were all written by locals. Letter's End takes a slightly different approach to theatre, as creator Wolfe Bowart's work typically eschews wordy monologues, preferring to tell stories through clowning and body language.
Tucson is rich in theatre and we have many exciting productions to look forward to over the next several months. Theatre is best when it is entertaining and gives the audience something to think about, take away, and learn from. These modern pieces offer all that and more.
Find this and other local theatre reviews at tamingofthereview.com, a totally awesome, female-led, local, diverse, and community-oriented collective dedicated to coverage of Tucson theatre.
Leigh Moyer
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Visual Arts: Foreign Exchange
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Jack Antonoff Is a Germaphobe in New Docu-Comedy Series (VIDEO)
Gregory E. Miller June 12, 2015, 11:00 am
https://player.waywire.com/?id=R5257Z1JBHK0DZR0
Jack Antonoff does not want to shake your hand. In fact, he'd much rather hug you.
In an exclusive clip from the Bleachers' frontman's new series, Thank You and Sorry, Antonoff's pals reveal just how big of a germaphobe he really is. But that look at his meet-and-greets is just a taste of the behind-the-scenes reveals to come on the series, streaming for free on Google Play beginning Tuesday, June 16.
Antonoff rocketed into the national spotlight as the lead guitarist of fun., the band that created mega-hits "We Are Young" and "Some Nights." But last year, Antonoff broke out on his own, leading critically beloved new band Bleachers. The six-episode Thank You and Sorry will follow Antonoff on Bleachers' world tour, featuring a blend of docu-series footage with scripted scenes, all in black-and-white.
Interest piqued? Go ahead and preorder the series for free on Google Play now. It'll be up and ready for your watchlist when the show goes live next week.
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Letters from a Stoic, Seneca
This book is the fundamental vademecum for every day life. No person that I know has left this book suffer the dust and the quiet tranquillity that any other philosophy book enjoy in a library. This letters contain all the wisdom and the po...
The Jewish–Roman Wars
The Jewish–Roman wars were a series of large-scale revolts by the Jews of the Eastern Mediterranean against the Roman Empire between 66 and 135 CE. While the First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 CE) and the Bar Kokhba revolt (132–136 CE) were nati...
Suetonius, Roman Historian
Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, commonly known as Suetonius, was an equestrian and a historian during the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is a set of biographies of twelve successive Roman rulers, from Julius Caesar until Domit...
Destruction of the 2nd Temple at Jerusalem
The Second Temple is the term used for the Jewish holy temple, which stood on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, actually two temple complexes which succeeded each other and allowed almost uninterrupted temple service between c. 516 BCE and 70...
Hadrian, Roman Emperor
Hadrian was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. In Latin, the full imperial title of Hadrian was also rendered as Tito Ael Hadriano, just as it appears in ancient epigraphic records. He re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus a...
Naturalis Historia, 1st Encyclopedia
Natural History is an encyclopedia written by Gaius Plinius Cecilius Secundus, known as Pliny the Elder. In its present form the natural History consists of thirty-seven books, the first book including a characteristic preface and tables of...
Zhang Heng, Chinese Scientist
Zhang Heng was a Chinese astronomer, mathematician, inventor, geographer, cartographer, artist, poet, statesman, and literary scholar from Nanyang, Henan. He lived during the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25–220) of China. He was educated in the...
Pompeii and Herculaneum Ruined
Pompeii is a ruined and partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. Along with Herculaneum, its sister city, Pompeii was destroyed, and completely buried,...
Antoninus Pius, 15th Roman Emperor
Antoninus Pius, also known as Antoninus, was Roman emperor from 138 to 161. He was one of the Five Good Emperors in the Nerva–Antonine dynasty and the Aurelii. Born into a senatorial family, Antoninus held various offices during the reig...
Ptolemy, Astronomer / Mathematician
Claudius Ptolemy was a Greco-Egyptian writer of Alexandria, known as a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in the city of Alexandria in the Roman province of Egypt...
Hegesippus, Christian Chronicler
Hegesippus was a Christian chronicler of the early Church and wrote against heresies. His works are lost, save some passages quoted by Eusebius, who tells us that he wrote Hypomnemata (Memoirs) in five books, in the simplest style concernin...
The Annals of Imperial Rome, Tacitus
Tacitus (AD c.55-117), a Roman senator of the 2nd Century AD and famed historian, has written a brilliant year-by-year account of the Roman Empire from 14 AD to 66 AD. The Annals is without a doubt the most important book ever written on Im...
Saint Eustace, Martyr and Soldier Saint
Saint Eustace, also known as Eustachius or Eustathius in Latin, St. Esthak in India, or Sh. Staka in Albania, is revered as a Christian martyr and soldier saint. Legend places him in the 2nd century AD (died AD 118). A martyr of that name i...
Pausanias, Description of Greece
Pausanias was a Greek traveler and geographer of the 2nd century AD, who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. He is famous for his Description of Greece, a lengthy work that describes ancient Greece from firsth...
Marcus Aurelius, 16th Roman Emperor
Marcus Antoninus the Philosopher, Roman Emperor from 161 to his death in 180. It is this quality of Marcus' character which has made him a unique figure in Roman history, since he was the only emperor whose life was molded by, and devoted t...
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Storm's uncertain track sows fear; 10 million in crosshairs
By Jeffrey Collins The Associated Press
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — Hurricane Florence put a corridor of more than 10 million people in the crosshairs Wednesday as the monster storm closed in on the Carolinas, uncertainty over its projected path spreading worry across a widening swath of the Southeast.
Faced with new forecasts that showed a more southerly threat, Georgia's governor joined his counterparts in Virginia and North and South Carolina in declaring a state of emergency, and some residents who had thought they were safely out of range boarded up their homes.
The National Hurricane Center's best guess was that Florence would blow ashore as early as Friday afternoon around the North Carolina-South Carolina line, then push its rainy way westward with a potential for catastrophic inland flooding.
Florence's winds in the afternoon were down to 120 mph from a high of 140 mph, and the Category 4 storm fell to a Category 3, with a further slow weakening expected as the storm nears the coast. But authorities warned it will still be an extremely dangerous hurricane.
"Do you want to get hit with a train or do you want to get hit with a cement truck?" said Jeff Byard, an administrator with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Tropical storm-force winds extended 195 miles from Florence's center, and hurricane-force winds reached out 70 miles.
The National Weather Service said 5.25 million people live in areas under hurricane warnings or watches, and 4.9 million live in places covered by tropical storm warnings or watches.
At the White House, President Donald Trump both touted the government's readiness and urged people to get out of the way of Florence.
"Don't play games with it. It's a big one," he said.
As of 5 p.m., the storm was centered 385 miles southeast of Wilmington, North Carolina, moving at 16 mph. The hurricane center said Florence will approach the coast Friday and linger for a while before rolling ashore.
As of Tuesday, more than 1.7 million people in the Carolinas and Virginia were warned to clear out. Airlines had canceled nearly 1,000 flights and counting. Home Depot and Lowe's activated emergency response centers to get generators, trash bags and bottled water to stores before and after the storm. The two hardware chains said they sent in a total of around 1,100 trucks.
Duke Energy, the nation's No. 2 power company, said Florence could knock out electricity to three-quarters of its 4 million customers in the Carolinas, and outages could last for week. Workers are being brought in from the Midwest and Florida to help in the storm's aftermath, it said.
Boarding up his home in Myrtle Beach, Chris Pennington watched the forecasts and tried to decide when to leave.
"In 12 or 18 hours, they may be saying different things all over again," he said.
Computer models of exactly what the storm might do varied, adding to the uncertainty. In contrast to the hurricane center's official projection, a highly regarded European model had the storm turning southward off the North Carolina coast and coming ashore near the Georgia-South Carolina line.
Reacting to the possibility of a more southerly track, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal declared an emergency but did not immediately order any evacuations.
"I ask all Georgians to join me in praying for the safety of our people and all those in the path of Hurricane Florence," Deal said.
The shift in the projected track spread concern to areas that once thought they were relatively safe. In South Carolina, close to the Georgia line, Beaufort County emergency chief Neil Baxley told residents they need to prepare again for the worst just in case.
"We've had our lessons. Now it might be time for the exam," he said.
Their entire neighborhood evacuated in Wilmington, North Carolina, David and Janelle Garrigus planned to ride out Florence at their daughter's one-bedroom apartment in Charlotte. Unsure of what they might find when they return home, the couple went shopping for a recreational vehicle.
"We're just trying to plan for the future here, not having a house for an extended period of time," David Garrigus said.
Melody Rawson evacuated her first-floor apartment in Myrtle Beach and arrived at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia, to camp for free with three other adults, her disabled son, two dogs and a pet bird.
"We hope to have something left when we get home," she said.
Forecasters worried the storm's damage will be all the worse if it lingers on the coast. The trend is "exceptionally bad news," said University of Miami hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy, since it "smears a landfall out over hundreds of miles of coastline, most notably the storm surge."
With South Carolina's beach towns more in the bull's-eye because of the shifting forecast, Ohio vacationers Chris and Nicole Roland put off their departure from North Myrtle Beach to get the maximum amount of time on the sand. Most other beachgoers were long done.
"It's been really nice," Nicole Roland said. "Also, a little creepy. You feel like you should have already left."
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Luc Missorten has decided to pursue new opportunities
Brussels (Belgium), 2 July 2007 at 7:00 AM (CET) - UCB announces that Luc Missorten, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of UCB, will leave UCB on 1 September 2007. The name of his successor will be announced before that date and an orderly handover will be ensured.
Roch Doliveux, Chief Executive Officer of UCB commented, "I would like to pay particular tribute to Luc Missorten. Luc built and led a high performing team of finance professionals. He was also instrumental in the integration of Celltech and the acquisition of Schwarz Pharma. We thank him for his important contribution to the transformation of UCB and wish him every success in his new endeavours."
Luc Missorten joined UCB in February 2004 as General Manager of UCB Pharma Spain and was appointed Chief Financial Officer in November 2004. Before Luc Missorten joined UCB, he served as Chief Financial Officer of Interbrew (now InBev) and started his career at Citibank. He is also a member of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Audit Committee of the Vandemoortele Group.
UCB (www.ucb-group.com) is a leading global biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the research, development and commercialization of innovative pharmaceutical and biotechnology products in the fields of central nervous system disorders, allergy/respiratory diseases, immune and inflammatory disorders and oncology. UCB focuses on securing a leading position in severe disease categories. Employing more than 8,500 people in over 40 countries, UCB achieved revenue of 2.5 billion euro in 2006. UCB is listed on the Euronext Brussels Exchange and owns 87.6% of Schwarz Pharma.
For further enquiries, please contact
Jean-Christophe Donck
Tel. +32 2 559 9346
070702 UCB DEPARTURE EN 070702 UCB DEPARTURE FR 070702 UCB DEPARTURE NL
© 2007 - 2021 UCB S.A., Belgium. All rights reserved Last updated on: July, 01, 2007
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System Wide Approach
UL Sustainability Report
SDG Labs
SDG 5 Gender Equality
Home | OUR ACTIONS | OUR PROJECTS | SDG 5 Gender Equality
UL initiatives to encourage and support women in STEM education
In February 2019, two UL initiatives aimed at encouraging and supporting women in STEM education were awarded funding by Science Foundation Ireland. Minister for Training, Skills, Innovation, Research and Development, John Halligan TD, announced a national investment of €3.6 million through Science Foundation Ireland’s Discover Programme, to fund projects dedicated to educating and engaging the public in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). UL’s projects include:
1. SOPHia
Science Outreach to Promote Physics to Female Students (UL) - a project that aims to encourage female students to take up physics as a Leaving Certificate Subject.
2. STEMChAT
Women as catalysts for change in STEM education (UL) – looks at the recruitment of female undergraduate STEM Champions and industry mentors who will facilitate informal workshops with school students and parents, in disadvantaged areas.
UL achieves Expanded Charter Bronze Athena Swan Award
In May 2019, UL President Emeritus Dr Des Fitzgerald announced that University of Limerick had reached an expanded charter Bronze Athena SWAN award. He said: “I am delighted to announce that University of Limerick has been awarded a Bronze Athena SWAN award to the expanded charter. “The Athena SWAN Steering Committee (ASSC), made the decision to apply for the Athena SWAN expanded charter, introduced in Ireland in November 2017, rather than renewing to the AS STEMM standard, which primarily focuses on the careers of women in STEMM. We are the first institution to upgrade our existing award to the expanded charter and the second university with NUI Maynooth to be awarded the expanded charter. This award recognises work undertaken to address gender equality more broadly, in arts, humanities, social sciences, business and law (AHSSBL), and in professional and support roles, and for trans staff and students. Athena SWAN therefore is not just about one gender but promotes equality and diversity across all disciplines. We are the best performing HE institute in Ireland regarding female representation at full professor level, rising from 8% in 2007 to 32% in 2018 – eight points above the national average.”
International Women’s Day Conference
In March 2019, University of Limerick hosted its 11th Annual International Women’s Day Conference. The conference was supported by Johnson & Johnson, Northern Trust, Bank of Ireland, and Dell EMC and was attended by hundreds of people from the business and education community. The keynote speaker was cervical cancer activist Dr Vicky Phelan, and the conference was chaired by Catherine Duffy, CEO of Northern Trust, Limerick. The event followed the International Women’s Day theme of #BalanceforBetter and tackled many of the issues facing women in the workforce and in society in general.
UL launches Ireland’s first ‘rainbow housing’ for LGBT Students
In July 2019, Ireland’s first ‘Rainbow Housing’ initiative for students who live on campus was launched at University of Limerick. Rainbow housing is for students who wish to live together in a house/apartment that supports the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, and allied community at UL. Residents of rainbow housing create and maintain a living space that is affirming to all sexual and gender identities. UL is the first university in Ireland and the second across the UK and Ireland to provide rainbow housing for its students living on campus. Organisations that have pledged to support the initiative include Limerick Pride and GOSHH (Gender, Orientation, Sexual Health, HIV) Limerick. Dr Amanda Haynes, Co-director of UL’s Hate and Hostility Research Group, said: “UL will be enriched by the presence on campus of a resource that encourages all of our LGBT students and allies to be active, critical, political, disruptive and constructive contributors to our collective campus life.
120 Transition Year Students take part in ‘I Wish’ programme
In January 2019, 120 transition-year students from over 30 second-level schools in Limerick, Cork, and surrounding counties attended female-only programmes the University of Limerick (UL) and at Cork Institute of Technology (CIT). I Wish is an initiative to inspire, encourage and motivate young female students to pursue careers in STEM. Robots, investigating cancer, designing aeroplane parts and computer games are just a sample of the activities that were on offer during the campus weeks at Limerick and Cork. Mary Moloney who, along with Norma Welch, coordinated the highly successful CIT Campus programme over the past 3 years said: “this is the biggest year yet with over 120 students from across Munster engaging with the sold-out programmes at CIT and UL, these programmes encourage young girls to open their eyes and see the opportunities out there and to keep doors open until they are ready to make an informed choice about what they want to do in the future.”
UL Equality and Human Rights Strategy 2019-2022
In November 2019, UL launched an Equality and Human Rights (EHR) Strategy. This details objectives, actions and expected outcomes for 13 grounds of Equality and Human Rights under 10 themes: Governance, Leadership, Staff Experience, Educational Experience, Research Experience, Campus Development, Events, Clubs and Societies, Public Relations, Marketing and Communications, Technology, Procurement and Budgeting.
Read the strategy in full
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Germany: 'Normandy Four' leaders stand for elections in Donbas under Ukrainian law
Politics 1 min. 312
According to the Speaker of the Federal Government of Germany Steffen Seibert, a telephone conversation between German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin was held to discuss the status of implementation of the Minsk agreements.
"The parties have welcomed the recent ceasefire, which was agreed on September 1 brokered by the Tripartite Liaison Group, and called for enhanced efforts to further improve the security situation, including an unlimited and secure access of the OSCE monitors in the Donbas conflict zone, full withdrawal of heavy weapons and the completion of withdrawal of up to 100mm caliber weapons," Seibert said.
The leaders also agreed that it would be necessary to continue to work on improving the humanitarian situation in the conflict region. The opening of the first Ukrainian humanitarian logistics center along the demarcation line was highly appreciated.
"In the coming weeks, the parties should agree on terms and conditions of the local elections in the war-affected areas on the basis of Ukrainian legislation and standards of the OSCE/ODIHR," Seibert said.
The meeting of the "Normandy Four" foreign ministers in Berlin on September 12 will be dedicated to further discussion of the above-mentioned issues.
In addition, the parties reaffirmed their readiness to meet at the summit in Paris in early October.
12:30 Top event: President's Office discloses date of first Crimean Platform Summit
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William Quan Judge: A Biographical Sketch
By Kirby Van Mater
William Quan Judge is a towering figure of the early theosophical movement. In 1875, at the age of 24, he was a co-founder of the Theosophical Society with H. P. Blavatsky and Henry S. Olcott, He continued to work ardently for its cause for the next 20 years, until his death in 1896. As the leading Theosophical official in America from 1886 to 1896, he guided the Section so that it became the most vigorous in the Society, with the largest effective membership. He relentlessly pursued his high vision for the Society’s work in the world: humanity’s great need for a new perspective on itself and the universe. Judge was born in Dublin, Ireland, on April 13, 1851, to Frederic H. Judge and Alice Mary Quan. His mother died giving birth to her seventh child, and his father decided in 1864 to emigrate to New York with six children. Judge studied law while living with his father, who soon died. At 21 Judge became a US citizen and in May 1872 was admitted to the bar. He married Ella M. Smith, a school teacher, in 1874 and they lived in Brooklyn until 1893 when they moved to New York City.
Judge’s father had been “deeply interested in Freemasonry,” and Judge was interested in religion, magic, and Rosicrucianism.
In 1874 thought of looking up spiritualism & finding Col. Olcotts book “People from the Other World,” [published in March 1875] I wrote him asking for the address of a medium. He replied that he did not then know but had a friend Mme Blavatsky who asked him to ask me to call. I called at 46 Irving Place New York & made her acquaintance. — Letter from WQJ to Sarah W. Cape, October 1891[3?]; photocopy, Archives, Theosophical Society, Pasadena. Documents not otherwise referenced are in the TS Archives, Pasadena.
The time between meeting HPB in 1875 and the publication of Isis Unveiled in 1877 was a truly remarkable one for Judge. He was active in the formation of the Theosophical Society, and studied with and learned from HPB while she lived in New York. He later wrote Damodar K. Mavalankar — a headquarters staff member in India and disciple of one of Blavatsky’s teachers — that HPB as mediator had made possible “the glorious hours spent in listening to the words of those illuminated Ones who came often late at night when all was still, and talked to H. S. O. and myself by the hour.” ( Damodar and the Pioneers of the Theosophical Movement , Sven Eek, Theosophical Publishing House, India, 1965, p. 47.)
But after signing the contract for publishing Isis Unveiled HPB announced that she must go to India as she always said she would. Unlike Olcott, Judge was in no position to go with HPB because of obligations to his wife and little daughter. He was extremely upset, and did not visit HPB for about a year, but the breach was healed before she left for India. During this period, or perhaps a few months later, Judge lost his daughter from diphtheria. This was a severe blow and he later wrote Olcott in India that “often there is much sorrow and longing in my heart after the little one gone away.” (“Letters of W. Q. Judge,” The Theosophist (52:4), January 1931, P. 211.)
After HPB and Olcott left America, Judge became involved in various speculative business ventures because, as he wrote Damodar in March 1880, “I am now striving to accumulate money enough to be able to go there [India], independent of circumstances, and leave my wife with enough, or take her if she will come.” ( Damodar , Sven Eek, p. 48.) General Abner Doubleday describes this period:
I accepted the position [of President ad interim] at the earnest request of H.P.B., intending to rely principally on Judge for counsel and assistance; but Judge thought he had found a mining locality in Venezuela where many valuable leads could be easily worked. He went to Campana Venez. leaving me ignorant and inexperienced as I was to run the Society without knowing anything of the individuals, that composed it.
Judge returned after a time poorer than he was and in distress because his long absence had destroyed his law business. I now hoped he would be able to devote more attention to the T. S., but he got an offer to go to Mexico, left us suddenly. The enterprise whatever it was failed there too, and he again returned discouraged. — Report by Abner Doubleday to Elliott Coues, President of the American Board of Control (1885-6).
In Venezuela Judge contracted Chagres fever, a lingering disease from which he never fully recovered. By 1883 his ventures in South America had left him penniless with a large debt and no law practice. He gradually liquidated these debts over most of the course of his life. In 1883, he picked up his Theosophical work again, and was instrumental in founding the Aryan Theosophical Society of New York City (the word Aryan in Judge’s time was in good repute, having reference to the people of Aryavarta [India], a Sanskrit word meaning “abode of the noble ones.”) To arouse public interest he held meetings — and although in the beginning the only person there, he conducted them as though there were a great audience.
Judge had continued corresponding with Damodar, and on the back of Damodar’s letter of June 11, 1883, was a message: “Better come M. . .” (The original of WQJ’s letter in reply to Damodar’s letter, on the back of which M sends his message, is in the Archives of the Theosophical Society, Adyar; Damodar’s letter is missing.) By 1884 Judge felt able to move to India, although just how he adjusted his financial problems and provided for his wife’s support is not known. Early in that year he went to England where he visited the Sinnetts, Arundales, and other London members, then joined HPB and Olcott in Paris. Judge was eager to move on to India, but Olcott and HPB felt he ought to stay with them a while. At first Judge hesitated, not realizing that his immediate task was to help HPB on what was to become The Secret Doctrine .
In India, meanwhile, the relationship between Alexis and Emma Coulomb and the Council at Adyar reached a critical point. HPB had first met Mme. Coulomb in Cairo in the early ’70s, where she assisted HPB, who was without funds after having been shipwrecked. Years later when the Coulombs arrived penniless in Bombay, they appeared to HPB for assistance. She vainly sought to find them employment, and eventually invited them to Adyar to work temporarily at the headquarters. They soon made themselves indispensable in the physical working of headquarters, and she let them stay. A crisis arose shortly before HPB left for Europe in 1884, when she prevented Mme. Coulomb from defrauding a devoted member of 2,000 rupees. After HPB’s departure, the Coulombs’ relationship with the Council in charge steadily worsened, and the couple was finally asked to leave. About this time the Coulombs approached The Christian College Magazine of Madras with an offer to supply for a price “damaging information” on HPB and the Theosophical Society.
Learning of the gravity of the situation at the Adyar headquarters, Judge continued on his journey to India armed with all the authority and encouragement that could be given him. Olcott, as President-Founder, provided him with two documents: one, bestowing upon him “power to abolish the Board of Control in India constituted by me [Olcott], if he shall see fit, and in every way to act for me in any part of the World as President, as he sees fit and as he may be advised in the usual course”; and a second, reappointing him “Joint Recording Secretary and Treasurer of the Theosophical Society, with authority to exercise the functions of those offices in Asia.” Before Judge departed he received the following message from Master M:
As I expect to see you ere long in Adyar, let me impress you well with the fact that much of the Society’s future welfare and whitewashing depends on your tact discretion & zeal. As you sow so will you reap . It is the infatuated conduct of some of the “Board” — & its consequences that developed themselves in well foreseen reverses. . . .
Go then & save the Cause by saving the Society. Fear naught I will see you helped. Henceforth you are to be the third in the duad — Work all three heart & soul for better & for worse.
In Bombay Judge wrote Olcott on July 15 that the Indian members were untroubled by the Coulomb affair and so he could address many Theosophical groups on his way to Adyar. He finally arrived there on August 10 and on September 11 the first installment of the attack on the Society and HPB appeared in The Christian College Magazine (Two-part article titled “The Collapse of Koot Hoomi” by George Patterson, The Christian College Magazine , September and October, 1884). During this period Judge had not visited HPB’s quarters containing the “shrine” through which messages were sent and received from the Masters, though he had asked Damodar about it several times. After HPB had departed for Europe the Coulombs had tried to make the shrine and room walls appear as if faked messages had been passed into the shrine through trapdoors and sliding panels. Judge describes the state of HPB’s rooms as they appeared when first he visited them:
I found that Mr. Coulomb had partly finished a hole in the wall behind the shrine. It was so new that its edges were ragged with the ends of laths and the plaster was still on the floor. Against it he had placed an unfinished teak-wood cupboard, made for the occasion, and having a false panel in the back that hid the hole in the wall. But the panel was too new to work and had to be violently kicked in to show that it was there. It was all unplaned, unoiled, and not rubbed down. He had been dismissed before he had time to finish. . . . All these things were discovered and examined in the presence of many people . . . . — “Madame Blavatsky in India. A Reply to Moncure D. Conway,” The Arena (5:28), March 1892.
Judge originally intended to spend considerable time in India, but after the shrine was burned in the fall of 1884 and after the October number of The Christian College Magazine had been published, he suddenly departed for America, giving no reason for doing so. Later in a letter to HPB he says, “Now as to me will you ask. . . . How does he explain the meaning of his message through you that I ‘showed intuition by leaving India’?” (February 5, 1886). ( The Letters of H. P Blavatsky to A. P Sinnett , 1925 (reprinted 1973), pp. 313-14.)
The effects of the last seven years of trial, for that they truly were, on Judge’s physical being were obvious to A. E. S. Smythe on the steamer to New York: “He looked old and pallid and had I been told his age was 33 I would have said it was 20 years out.” (“William Quan Judge,” The Canadian Theosophist [20:2], April 15, 1939, p. 35.)
On his return to New York, Judge joined the law firm for which Olcott’s brother worked. He continued to earn his living until the last two years of his life, when his health became so poor that he was supported by the American TS. Once reestablished in law, Judge put his energies into promoting Theosophy. He revitalized the New York work, reorganizing it under its original Charter and name, “The Aryan Theosophical Society of New York,” held regular meetings, started a theosophical lending library, and launched the printing of inexpensive literature.
In April 1886 Arthur Gebhard and Judge founded The Path magazine, with Judge as editor and Gebhard as business manager. This later became the official organ of the American Section TS. Practicing law during the day, he worked at home far into the night, as at first he had to write almost every article himself under various pen names.
The American work at this time was run by a Board of Control established by Olcott in 1884 while in London. Professor Elliott Coues had been elected President of the Board on July 4, 1885. In March 1886 Judge questioned HPB about ambiguous telegrams he had been receiving from various parts of the United States that were allegedly signed by her, and asked her to write him saying she had not sent them. A month later he wrote Olcott more fully, reporting that the Board had appointed Coues “Censor of the . . . American Society for Psychical Research,” and noting that Coues did nothing but organize “a Gnostic Branch which has never held a meeting and to which he talks about astral bells, bodies & what not,” writing members everywhere to join it. Then
one day comes a telegram to our place of meeting commanding the Aryan Branch to close its doors, admit no one, & listen in the silence for the astral bells — in the name of KH and HPB . It was addressed to the Soc’y. . . . Needless to say I am not a fool & didnt comply. — T.S. Letter Copying Book 1A, p. 60.
Coues then tried to form a second New York branch behind Judge’s back, and Judge protested to the Board. Coues’ moral character had also been called into question, and Judge had reason to believe that the mysterious telegrams came from him. Judge had demanded privately that Coues resign as President, and appealed to Olcott to change the Board before the next convention in order to straighten matters out.
Olcott devised a nonconfrontational solution by abolishing the Board of Control both at Adyar and in America. He cabled Elliott Coues to postpone the July 5, 1886, convention at Rochester, New York, and await instructions which were on their way, but Coues held the regular convention of the Board of Control anyway, reading Olcott’s cabled instructions. By letter Olcott had directed that a convention be called to elect an American Section General Council as that portion of the TS General Council resident in America. This 1886 convention was finally held in October and, though Coues was not present, resolved that the Board of Control be dissolved and a new body be formed in which all Branches were to be represented, and a single officer would serve as General Secretary and Treasurer. W. Q. Judge was elected to fill that office in the newly established American Section of the General Council (Minutes of all American conventions in 1886 are entered in “Records Book,” pp. 19-32). The publication of The Path beyond doubt had made Judge known to the Branch presidents and members of the TS in America. The differences between Coues and Judge continued until Coues was expelled from the Theosophical Society, June 22, 1889, by the Executive Committee of the American Section.
Under Judge’s guidance, moves were made to unite in thought and action the membership scattered across the United States. With himself at first as primary speaker, he eventually placed three full-time traveling lecturers in the field to aid struggling groups and to support established centers. The Path , leaflets, and specialized small magazines were regularly circulated among the membership, keeping them in touch with one another and with the headquarters in New York. Local speakers were encouraged to start new centers in nearby communities. With only about a dozen Branches in 1886, by 1896 there were over one hundred.
HPB and Judge continued their close relationship. In a letter to him of October 3, 1886, she wrote:
The trouble with you is that you do not know the great change that came to pass in you a few years ago. Others have occasionally their astrals changed & replaced by those of Adepts (as of Elementaries) & they influence the outer, and the higher man. With you, it is the NIRMANAKAYA not the “astral” that blended with your astral. Hence the dual nature & fighting.
In HPB’s letter to Judge as General Secretary of the American Section, dated April 3, 1888, to be read to the American Convention at her request, she called Judge “the heart and soul” of the TS in America, saying that “It is to you chiefly, if not entirely, that the Theosophical Society owes its existence in 1888.” ( Second Annual Convention — April 22-23 [1888], American Section of the Theosophical Society, Sherman House, Chicago, Illinois; reprinted in H. P. Blavatsky to the American Conventions 1888-1891, p. 3.) Again, in a letter dated London, Oct. 23, 1889, concerning Judge and the American work, she spoke of him as “part of herself since several aeons . . . the Antaskarana [bridge] between the two Manas (es) the American thought and the Indian — or rather the trans-Himalayan — Esoteric Knowledge.”
By 1887 members had asked Judge if esoteric work might be established, and he wrote HPB in May suggesting such a move. She said to wait. Some time early in 1888 or perhaps late 1887 HPB had a conversation with Master KH about the general state of the TS, and he told her that although the TS work by Olcott at Adyar ran like a machine, it was “a soulless corpse” and that matters had reached such a point that the Masters’ influence upon the TS was not possible, and they had let it go. ( Letters from the Masters of the Wisdom , First Series, transcribed and compiled by C. Jinarajadasa, Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar, India; 5th ed., 1973, Letter 47, pp. 100-103 [6th ed., 1988, Letter 60, pp. 125-7].) HPB’s response in 1888 was to propose an Esoteric Section based on the original lines set forth by the Masters. When Olcott learned of HPB’s intention to found an inner section of the Theosophical Society, he hastened to London to keep her from doing so at any cost, leaving Bombay August 7. If it had not been for the intervention of Master KH, perhaps the Society would have divided at that time. One day out of Brindisi on board the steamer Shannon , Olcott received a letter from Master KH covering the following points:
To help you in your present perplexity: H. P. B. has next to no concern with administrative details, and should be kept clear of them, so far as her strong nature can be controlled. But this you must tell to all: — With occult matters she has everything to do . We have not abandoned her; she is not “given over to chelas.” She is our direct agent . I warn you against permitting your suspicions and resentment against “her many follies” to bias your intuitive loyalty to her. . . .
I have also noted, your thoughts about the “Secret Doctrine.” Be assured that what she has not annotated from scientific and other works, we have given or suggested to her. Every mistake or erroneous notion, corrected and explained by her from the works of other theosophists was corrected by me, or under my instruction . It is a more valuable work than its predecessor, an epitome of occult truths that will make it a source of information and instruction for the earnest student for long years to come. — Ibid., Letter 19, pp. 46-7 (6th ed., 1988, Letter 19, pp. 48-9).
In London HPB and Olcott issued a joint announcement about the formation of an Esoteric Section in the October and November issues of Lucifer , 1888, to the effect that an inner section of the work was to be started under HPB’s direction, “to be organized on the ORIGINAL LINES devised by the real founders of the T. S.” After The Secret Doctrine was published in November, HPB invited Judge to London (Olcott was again at Adyar). Together they drew up the Preliminary Memorandum and Rules of the Esoteric Section. Judge thereafter conducted the Esoteric Section in America as Secretary to HPB, and in December HPB appointed Olcott as sole official representative of the ES for Asiatic countries, but he soon relinquished the post.
In 1889 members of the Aryan Branch TS purchased a press and type, and secured the services of a member to operate it. Aside from pamphlets, etc., the first publications included three small magazines for members, Patanjali’s Yoga Aphorisms (1889), Judge’s Echoes from the Orient (1890), his recension of the Bhagavad-Gita with introduction and footnotes (1890), Letters That Have Helped Me (1891) and The Ocean of Theosophy (1893). In 1895 Judge estimated that a half million flyers had been printed by the Aryan Press.
After HPB’s death in 1891, William Q. Judge and Annie Besant jointly headed the Esoteric Section. As American General Secretary and later, in addition, as Vice-President of the TS, Judge continued to concentrate on the American work. He spoke on Theosophy at the Parliament of Religions at the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893, and the following year at the Religious Parliament of San Francisco’s Mid Winter Fair. After the December 1891 convention at Adyar, Colonel Olcott’s health became such that he was unwilling to hold office longer and he resigned his position as President of the Theosophical Society on January 21, 1892. Judge notified the Section and other General Secretaries of this move and, as their yearly conventions came due, their deliberations reflected the views of their membership in regard to the presidency. At the Sixth Annual Convention in America on April 24-5, Judge was duly elected to succeed Henry S. Olcott as President of the TS; the Convention further resolved that Colonel Olcott be asked to revoke his resignation (Sixth Annual Convention Report, 1892, p. 19).
The same year Judge went to London to attend the Second Annual Convention of the European Section, July 14-15. G. R. S. Mead, the European General Secretary, announced that the European members were almost unanimously in favor of Judge as President, and needed only confirmation by the convention. He also reported the request of the American members that Olcott reconsider his resignation. However, Olcott’s May 25th reply to the American resolution was taken by the European delegates as final — that he would not reconsider and Judge was elected President.
A letter from Bertram Keightley, General Secretary in India, addressed to the European Convention stated that the action of the American Convention asking Colonel Olcott to reconsider was unanimously and enthusiastically endorsed. As to the nomination of Judge they would follow the American action if Europe did also. Olcott, however, being deeply moved by requests to continue as president, did reconsider and, on the 17th of August 1892, withdrew his resignation (Seventeenth Anniversary of The Theosophical Society, Adyar, Dec. 27th, 28th, & 29th, 1892, p. 2). He remained president until his death in 1907.
Judge had always been sensitive to the Masters’ influence. He received messages from them, at times in his own handwriting, at other times in theirs (See W. Q. Judge to A. P. Sinnett, Aug. 1, 1881, and to HPB, Feb. 5, 1886, in The Letters of H. P. Blavatsky to A. P. Sinnett , pp. 312-14). There were, however, those who accused him of sending fraudulent messages. In 1894 Olcott, Besant, and various members charged Judge with “misusing” the Mahatmas’ names and handwriting on letters to others, a charge which apparently arose from their not realizing that the Masters often use chelas, such as Blavatsky and others, to communicate their messages in the Masters’ handwriting. Olcott asked Judge to retire from all TS offices, but Judge cabled: “Charges absolutely false. You can take what proceedings you see fit; going London July.” They met in London as planned, and though advised by Judge and others that they could not legally hold such a trial without creating a dogma as to the existence of Masters, they tried to do so. The case was dismissed, and Besant stated that the charges had been blown out of all proportion by other parties and that she never doubted that Judge had in fact received the Masters’ messages.
The attack, however, was continued after a disaffected English official, Walter R. Old, handed over to the editor of the Westminster Gazette , London, papers from the so-called “Judge case” that Olcott had entrusted him with. Judge was again slandered at the 1894 annual convention at Adyar and Besant renewed her charges. Consequently, in an effort to protect Judge against further onslaughts, the delegates to the 1895 annual convention of the American Section, while recognizing Olcott as President-Founder, declared “complete autonomy from Adyar and elected Judge President of the Theosophical Society in America for life, an action supported by groups of members in other Sections. Thereupon Olcott canceled the membership of all individuals and withdrew the Charters of all Branches supporting Judge.
Judge continued his Theosophical work, but years of ceaseless labor, combined with the effects of Chagres fever, finally took their toll. William Quan Judge died March 21,1896, just short of his 45th birthday. His last words were: “There should be calmness. Hold fast. Go slow.”
Claude Bragdon, American architect, writer, and theosophist, sums up the man:
No figure rises out of the dim limbo of that recent, though already distant past, with a more engaging presence than that of this handsome Irish-American, and I venture to say that in a movement which has been a forcing-house for greatness, no one developed such power, such capacity, such insight, in so short a space of time — when the pressure was put upon him — as Judge.
There is abundant evidence, aside from the best evidence of all — the fruitfulness of his labors — that he was under the direct guidance of the Masters. One Adept wrote of him, “when the presence is upon him, he knows well that which others only suspect and ‘divine’.” In the same letter he is referred to as the one “who of all chelas suffers most and demands, or even expects, the least.” He was a man of exquisite sympathy and gentleness; stern with himself, he was lenient toward others. Mr. Keightley has said, “Judge made the life portrayed by Jesus realizable to me.” He was that rare and beautiful thing, a practical mystic. One of his last messages to his intimate band of followers was that they should learn, by actual experience, that occult development comes best, quickest and safest, in the punctilious fulfillment of the small duties of every day. — Episodes from an Unwritten History , pp. 24-5
(From Sunrise magazine, April/May 1996. Copyright © 1996 by the Theosophical University Press)
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Career development: Working overseas
Mark Smulian
For planners seeking to work abroad there is no substitute for researching your target country either on holiday or for a study visit. But bear in mind that working there will be very different. Mark Smulian reports
Working aboard can be an important career development opportunity for planners, but it needs some care. You should have some knowledge of the planning system of any country you are considering. In almost all cases planners work abroad because they have
volunteered through an organisation, or their employer has sent them.
For British nationals there are few legal impediments to working elsewhere in the European Union, but language barriers and differences in planning systems may make this problematic in practice.
Immigration restrictions make working in the US difficult, which means planners more often look to Commonwealth countries, where a history of similar planning systems and qualifications and sometime culture can make things easier.
RTPI international committee chair Peter Geraghty says: “I believe working overseas is a great opportunity to develop skills and experience as well as improving employability. Many countries employ innovative and interesting practices which can inform professional practice in the UK. This exchange of knowledge and experience can only be good for the profession.
“Our relationships with other institutes can often be useful when planners are intending to work abroad.”
The Commonwealth Association of Planners runs a Young Planners Network, and this may offer some informal opportunities for planners to contact each other. Its chair, Viral Desai, says: “We provide interchange of ideas and good practice between young planners, though we do not organise exchanges or placements ourselves.”
The RTPI offers guidance on working abroad on its website, and Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) can find posts for planners, although opportunities are uncommon. The surest way may be getting a job at a consultancy with international reach.
Case study 1: Working with VSO
Michael Fox MRTPI, associate planning director at Nash Partnership, spent two years volunteering in Kapiri Mposhi, Zambia.
“As an experience it’s second to none for personal development. I’d recommend it to anyone,” he says.
Fox worked as regional planning officer for the Central Province of Zambia on a VSO good governance project, “part of which is establishing a planning system that is fair, transparent and accountable”.
He explains: “The Zambian system has not changed much from British colonial times, when it was established to servethe interests of colonisers and a few people they worked with.
“It only applies to 10 per cent of land with the other 90 per cent being controlled by traditional chiefs and even the 10 per cent is still geared to low-density development of bungalows, which is very wasteful and does not produce enough homes.”
His role was to try to bring the remaining land within the formal planning system, which was “difficult as the chiefs mostly perceived this as being against their interests”.
But the new system needed the chiefs’ co-operation to be effective and Fox recalls: “I took part in negotiations with chiefs; I took them through theopportunities, which was quite a learning experience.
“Some are progressive and can see the benefits for their people, but others, frankly, need inducements before they will co-operate by putting their land into the planning system.”
Fox says he went to Zambia being “motivated by the opportunity to have a bigger impact on the world and deal with bigger issues”.
“I also wanted to give something back as I’d been a backpacking traveller when
I was young and had seen conditions in developing countries and I wanted to learn.
“It’s concerning when you are going, wondering if you are going to be living in a hut with snakes roaming or lions outside, but I lived in a three-bedroom bungalow."
Fox says his experience in Zambia helped his career through a better understanding of other cultures, something he is putting into practice though Nash’s programme to seek work in sub-Saharan Africa.
VSO’s volunteer relationship manager Skev Leonida says once the need for a volunteer post has been established
VSO will advertise them, and interview applicants. Each successful person must donate £985 to VSO. They will be provided with flights, a living allowance for food and general expenses, accommodation, medical insurance and £4 a day paid into their UK bank account.
Leonida says: “Town planning is not a skill very often sought, but when we do advertise it attracts plenty of interest.”
Case study 2: Working abroad for yourself
Steve Kemp MRTPI, director of Think OpenPlan, worked in the Caribbean in a previous job and used this experience when he set up his own business.
“The main place we work is the Caribbean, where we did the spatial development strategy and environmental assessment guidance for Trinidad & Tobago, work on a community plan in Barbados and a scoping study for a national plan in St Vincent & the Grenadines,” he says.
Kemp says the country’s new planning law has modernised a system that was based on the British 1947 Planning Act.
“While the UK has changed and developed, in the Caribbean the planning system had fossilised, so they were dealing with legislation that was never well adapted to their needs and was frozen in time too,” he says.
“Trinidad & Tobago has taken what it needs from UK legislation and blended it with some things from North America and with what they have experienced since independence. It is still grounded in the UK and would be familiar to British planners.”
Kemp would advise those wanting to work aboard “tounderstand what different requirements there will be in the planning system in each region and to be very aware of different cultural attitudes and sensitive to them – for example, how land tenure can be seen very differently”.
His colleague Laura Bartle has also worked in Trinidad & Tobago, having previously worked elsewhere with Kemp.
“Its a huge career experience,” she says. “The big thing I took from it is to be much more appreciative of context.
“Keep your eyes open for opportunities and try to find people who already have contacts abroad, as you are not going to be able to just do this for yourself, you need that introduction.”
Case study 3: Working overseas for an employer
Young Planner of the Year Zoë Green MRTPI is a senior planning consultant for Atkins, a firm that works internationally and so can offer its staff experience abroad. She has worked in Bahrain, Colombia, Oman, Qatar and Sweden.
In Suhar, Oman, she worked on following up a master plan that Atkins had created in the 1980s to update it and check what had been done – a task involving some unusual planning measures, such as protecting mangrove swamps.
Green says: “It was my first experience in the Middle East. There are cultural differences, and differences in religious observance to be sensitive to, such as Ramadan, but people are generally open-minded. I thought there might be restrictions as a woman, but did not encounter any and a lot of the government departments we worked with were very mixed. Bahrain and Qatar are similar, although some places are much more strict.”
Her work in Sweden was in the Vetlanda municipality in the rural highlands, where the local planning director had worked in the UK and wanted “to import some of our methods”.
“They were interested in employment land reviews and open space assessments and looked to us for best practice. English is widely spoken in Sweden and I was even able to take part in some public consultations.”
Green has also worked in the Colombian city of Pereira on an urban open space study, where “we found that what they had was quite high quality and they could concentrate on improvements and upgrade them, rather than new spaces".
She says Atkins’ overseas assignments are “pretty full-on and there is little time to be a tourist, although as a planner you are going around seeing things anyway, but it’s quite a different experience to what you would have as a tourist.
“Those wanting to work abroad should look to engineering- based consultancies, as they do larger-scale projects so there is more opportunity to work abroad.”
The RTPI’s advice to planners seeking an exchange with an opposite number abroad warns, “it is as well to be realistic about what can be achieved”.
In most EU countries, differences in language, planning education and systems make exchanges problematic. The RTPI and the American Planning Association run a programme where UK-based planners spend two weeks working together in each other’s offices and living in each other’s homes.
While Australia and New Zealand have systems that will feel familiar, both have far fewer planners per head of population than the UK and salaries are lower, so exchange opportunities are limited.
- RTPI International
- Commonwealth Association of Planners
- Voluntary Service Overseas
- European Council of Spatial Planners
- Global Planners Network
Career development: Working with politicians
Careers Survey 2020: Working conditions, professional development, use of technology - air your views!
Careers month 2020: When wellbeing works
The case for space
A growing body of evidence suggests that green space has tangible health and economic benefits. Economist Caroline Vexler explains why now is the time for planners to focus on the case for green space
The long view: An interview with Wei Yang
Wei Yang takes on the RTPI presidency with a rallying cry: our founding principles should inform our future ambitions. Martin Read reports.
Tech landscape: Data, unchained
Is there truly a case for blockchain technology within the planning process or could it be more hype than help? Unboxed’s Kassie Paschke and Rhian Lewis consider the pros and cons
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Profs: Massive use of wind turbines won't destroy the environment
Would destroy the economy, though
Lewis Page Tue 11 Sep 2012 // 11:17 UTC
Opinion Windy professors in the States have produced research in which they say that massive use of wind power would not, as had been thought, damage the planet's atmosphere and cause undesirable climate changes. They also argue that it would be "practical" to obtain half the energy required by the human race using wind turbines.
Professors Mark Jacobson of Stanford and Cristina Archer of Delaware undertook their latest effort with the aim of rebutting research which came out last year (pdf) by German and American scientists, which said that the potential of global wind power is much less than wind-loving academics have previously assessed. That paper also, and perhaps more controversially, used atmospheric modelling to show that extraction of massive amounts of energy from the atmosphere by huge numbers of wind turbines (as would be required if the human race were to be powered to any large degree by renewables) would have similar negative climate consequences to doubling atmospheric CO2.
Jacobson and Archer set out to disprove this, and they say they have done so in a new paper to be published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"Wind power is very safe from the climate point of view," says Professor Archer.
The new paper contends that maximum power output of 80 terawatts could be safely obtained by covering all the Earth's land masses and ocean near them with wind turbines 100m high, spread out individually. However the two profs seem to accept that this is perhaps a little bit ambitious, and move on to discuss "fixed wind power potential for more practical applications".
In this scenario, Jacobson and Archer suggest that 4 million wind towers, spread "worldwide in windy locations" to avoid harming the atmosphere, could safely produce a steady output of 7.5 terawatts, "more than enough to power half the world's power demand in 2030". This should be quite safe for the planet:
While wind power does alter the atmosphere when extracted at massive scales – decreasing wind speed at hub height and to a lesser extent at the surface, reducing the amount of water vapor and cooling the planet – the impacts are negligible at more practical scales of extraction, such as 7.5 TW.
We here on the Reg energy desk will have to leave Jacobson and Archer to battle it out with the German/American team at the Max Planck Institute regarding the matter of atmospheric damage from wind turbines vis-a-vis carbon emissions, and the actual amount of energy that there is to be had: we haven't got the intellectual ticket to get on the atmosphere-modelling bus.
But we do at least know what a Watt is - so let's take it as read that 4 million wind towers can produce 7.5 terawatts without messing up the weather. Is that actually enough to provide half of humanity's power?
Well, 7.5 terawatts is the same as 237 exajoules each year. Total world energy supply at the moment is 490 exajoules annually right now, so it would seem that Jacobson and Archer have cocked their sums up right out of the gate. Even if they're right, wind can only do 48 per cent of the job.
But given the past history of the two profs - of which, more below - it seems safe to say that they are actually assuming that humanity will be using a good deal less power by the year 2030. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, for instance, believes that humanity must and will slash global consumption down to 390-odd exajoules per year by mid-century.
The trouble with that scenario is that it starts from a situation today where the great bulk of the world's population is miserably poor and therefore using hardly any energy at all, which hardly seems fair - and the population is set to get bigger, too. If today's seven billion people each used only two-thirds of what a present-day European does we'd need supplies of 770 exajoules, not 390. In a more realistic scenario where the human population continues to climb, energy demand in the industrialised nations continues to rise instead of falling enormously and (hopefully) the world's poor start to get a taste of the good life, supplies in the zettajoule (1000 exajoule) range will be required within decades.
So, assuming Archer and Jacobson's figures are correct, wind power can't provide even a quarter of the power the human race might reasonably ask for. The two profs know all this background: the fact is that they don't believe people should be allowed even as much energy as two-thirds of the energy a modern European uses - far less the significantly larger amounts of juice consumed by today's Americans. It's something to bear in mind.
One also notes that wind towers yield about 25 per cent of their maximum rated power capacity over time, meaning that Jacobson and Archer must be talking about towers in the 8-megawatt capacity range if just 4 million of them are to yield 7.5 terawatts over time. No such towers are in service yet, so it might seem rather bold to make assumptions about them, but they are on the drawing boards. Rather optimistically, based on the costs of existing hardware, they might cost say $600k each when land based: which gives us a total cost of perhaps five or six trillion dollars just for the towers. Supporting infrastructure for landbased wind farms (roads etc) generally costs at least as much again on top of tower cost: say $12 trillion to start off with.
Figures so far have been based on landbased farms: offshore ones, which would presumably have to account for many if not most of the professors' proposed future installations (the new 8 MW turbines are intended mainly for offshore use by the wind biz right now) cost hugely more, so much so that the British government is finding that it must offer builders doubled incentive payments under the Renewables Obligation scheme to get offshore farms built, as compared to onshore. (These aren't subsidies from the taxpayer: the British RO scheme works by forcing up electricity prices invisibly and channelling the extra cash to renewables operators.)
Then there's the matter of hooking up the farms to the grid, which generally costs a hefty additional sum - in this scenario a very hefty one indeed as these towers are spread out rather than being clustered in "a few spots", in order to prevent them damaging the climate. This will also push up infrastructure costs hugely as more roads or other transport links must be built.
Don't worry, we can solve the economic problems - literally with hot air
Then, in order to deal with the wind dropping on one continent as it sometimes does we need to be able to pipe in juice from around the world using unprecendented, planet-girdling interconnector power lines (or alternatively we need a vast pumped-storage infrastructure. When wind power reaches these kinds of levels, such relatively minor factors as millions of future electric vehicles plugged in for charging, fridges turning off for a bit etc simply can't help enough.)
It's hard to say what all this would cost as nobody has ever even attempted such things: but we might reasonably think of multiplying our $12tn cost figure a few times at the very least. And given the outrageous amounts of energy-intensive concrete, steel, copper and neodymium that would be required, the idea of doing all this while simultaneously reducing energy demands seems almost comically unrealistic. For instance, US government figures (pdf) suggest that just getting to 50 per cent wind energy (not merely electricity, but the ten-times-greater all-energy requirement) for the USA by 2030 would require something in the region of tripled US consumption of steel, concrete and copper, and multiplication of neodymium supplies many times over. As large amounts of thermal energy are used to make all these things, energy consumption would climb significantly - not fall.
Bearing in mind that the gross domestic product of the entire world is only $69tn (and this would probably contract drastically with the energy scarcity mandated by the IPCC and the two professors - indeed, modern hard-green thinking actually requires the goal of economic growth to be abandoned) we can safely say that 50 per cent energy from wind power is wildly unaffordable, and that the term "practical" isn't being used here in the sense that most people understand the word.
To be fair, however, one should note at this point that Professor Archer has a different plan for coping with windpower's can't-do-baseload problems. Rather than the conventional long-haul interconnectors or pumped storage as favoured by most windpower advocates, she also offers the idea of storing unused wind energy in the form of compressed air for use during calms or demand spikes. Earlier this year she teamed up with a Dr James Mason to look into this. (Dr Mason is not an academic of Archer and Jacobson's standing - both of them hold engineering and atmospheric-science degrees, and both work at respectable universities. Rather Dr Mason is employed at a Heartland-Institute-style nonprofit advocacy organisation called variously "American Solar Action Plan", "Hydrogen Research Institute" etc, and his degrees are in "environmental sociology" and "economic sociology".)
Compressed-air experimental installations are being constructed at present in both the US and Germany, with the idea of using such tech as a means of power storage to help make renewables viable (perhaps reflecting the serious doubts regarding interconnectors, and the undeniably titanic costs and limited capabilities of pumped storage). In power-grid applications, the air would probably be kept in suitable underground geological formations rather than in tanks as seen on the long-hoped-for but disappointing pneumatic cars.
One should bear in mind that compressed-air plants still need to burn fossil fuel (generally natural gas) to prevent the air freezing too much as it expands, which causes unacceptable inefficiencies. In fact a compressed-air storage plant used to back up intermittent wind can be expected to burn a quarter of what a normal gas-turbine plant would when doing the same job, so this is not fully green like interconnectors, pumped storage etc.
But it is potentially far less costly, perhaps requiring a mere doubling of gas prices before it becomes able to compete with straightforward gas turbines in the matter of backing up wind as happens today. Archer and Mason write:
The large-scale introduction of Wind-Compressed Air Energy Storage systems in the U.S. appears to be the prudent long-term choice.
Or if you don't like that idea, perhaps you might go for another of Professor Archer's plans, that of flying mighty windpower kites attached to high-voltage power cables up in the high altitude jet stream (though funnily enough Archer's opponents at the Max-Planck Institute in Germany say (pdf) that that idea's a non-starter as well, both on limited power output and serious damage to the climate. Again, it's hard to say who's right on the atmo-physics.)
There's evidently a good deal of uncertainty regarding the level at which wind power starts to damage the atmosphere the way carbon emissions are thought to. Another paper just out from hefty atmosphere scientists at the Lawrence Livermore lab and the Carnegie Institution says:
We find wind turbines placed on Earth’s surface could extract kinetic energy at a rate of at least 400 TW, whereas high-altitude wind power could extract more than 1,800 TW. At these high rates of extraction, there are pronounced climatic consequences. However, we find that at the level of present global primary power demand (~ 18 TW), uniformly distributed wind turbines are unlikely to substantially affect the Earth’s climate. It is likely that wind power growth will be limited by economic or environmental factors, not global geophysical limits.
"Uniformly distributed", as we've noted above, means "even more unbelievably expensive than you thought". However it would seem that actually harming the planet may not be an issue for windpower up to a point, and if Jacobson et al are right this point is well above any likely human power demand. It also seems quite plausible that a lot of power is there to be had if one is able to cover the entire world in wind turbines and associated roads, power lines etc.
What's not at all plausible, however, is that the necessary infrastructure can be built and made to deliver any reasonably comfortable level of power to the human race at any cost the human race can afford. ®
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No plans to postpone London Mayoral Election again despite Covid restrictions
London Mayoral Election to go ahead in May despite lockdowns
By Joe Talora @jtalora City Hall local democracy reporter
There are currently no plans to postpone the London Mayoral election again. Credit: PA/Newsquest
The London Mayoral Election will be going ahead in May despite Covid-19 restrictions, the Cabinet Office has confirmed.
The election was originally scheduled for May 2020 but had to be postponed due to restrictions at the time, however there are no current plans to push it back again.
A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: “Legislation provides that the elections will go ahead in May 2021.
“We continue to work closely with the electoral community and public health bodies to resolve challenges and ensure everyone will be able to cast their vote safely and securely – and in a way of their choosing.
“Measures are planned to support absent voting at short notice. Guidance will be published in good time ahead of the polls and this matter will be kept under review.”
Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove yesterday revealed that current lockdown measures could be in place until March, but there is a chance some restrictions may still be in place by the time of May’s election.
There are currently no plans to impose an all-postal vote due to concerns over fraud risks.
Chloe Smith MP, Minister for the Constitution and Devolution, wrote to electoral officials in September to outline the Government’s position on how this year’s elections should proceed.
The Minister wrote: “It is my view that, following this analysis work with partners and based on the information currently available, polls can be delivered safely and securely, and the risk of transmission substantially reduced, if Covid-19 secure guidelines are followed closely.
“I believe there is no necessity for significant changes such as imposing an all-postal vote or changing polling days or times (which would require primary legislation). The UK Government remains of the view that all-postal voting increases fraud risks, and removes choice from voters who wish to cast their vote in person.”
Advice will be given on how to ensure polling stations remain Covid-secure and support will be in place for those who need to self-isolate at the time of the election.
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Summer Adjournment
Standards – in the House of Commons at 3:32 pm on 24th July 2018.
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Motion made, and Question proposed,
That this House has considered matters to be raised before the forthcoming adjournment.—(Mims Davies.)
Link to this item In context Individually
(Citation: HC Deb, 24 July 2018, c929)
Peter Bottomley Conservative, Worthing West 3:45 pm, 24th July 2018
I am grateful for the chance to speak. If my leg stops me being here at the end, it is not that I want to miss the reply from the Minister, but I want what I say to be shared with the Metropolitan police, the Crown Prosecution Service, the Secretary of State for Justice and the Home Secretary. I will send it to the Prime Minister as well, who, in answer to my question at Prime Minister’s questions some months ago, remembered the meeting I had with her when she was Home Secretary. It goes back to the disgraceful case of the prosecution of former Sergeant Gurpal Virdi, one of the finest Metropolitan police officers I have known. I could go through a great deal of detail, but I will respect my colleagues who also want to speak.
Perhaps I can start by saying that, when speaking about the police, what comes to mind are stories of reliability, calm bravery and dedicated individuals. I hold Gurpal Virdi in the highest regard, both as an officer and as a friend. I have known him and admired him for nearly 20 years. It was an honour to be with his family at New Scotland Yard when senior officer Bernard Hogan-Howe—before he became Commissioner—apologised on behalf of the then Commissioner for the treatment Gurpal had been subjected to by the Metropolitan police. Hogan-Howe awarded him with a delayed special commendation for exemplary conduct in the case of a near fatal attack on a foreign student. How is it possible that such an impressive officer could be persecuted and prosecuted in both service and in retirement?
Stephen Lawrence lived and was murdered in my former south-east London constituency. I was aware of many of the deficiencies in the police investigation of that attack. Gurpal set a higher standard for policing. There were consequences to his commitment to combating racism and his initiatives following a west London case, where he found the weapon, arrested two suspects and visited the visitor’s home. The trouble for him started when he asked whether it had been recorded as a potentially racist attack. Until cleared, Gurpal faced grim and persistent discriminatory action by his employer. I was one of those who stood up for him and advocated his innocence.
I do not have the words to properly describe the horror I felt when the CPS and the Metropolitan Police Service mismanaged the case that turned up 27 years after alleged events, and after Gurpal Virdi had retired, decided to go into local political service and was adopted to stand as a Labour councillor in Hounslow. His case was heard in 2015 in Southwark Crown Court. It lasted a week and ended with Gurpal’s inevitable acquittal. In the public gallery, I watched and listened as prosecution witnesses, whose evidence was highly dubious or vague beyond belief, took to the stand. It was clear that he was not guilty of misconduct in public office. Charges were thrown in so that, if he were found guilty of an indecent assault on a young person, term could be added to the sentence. He had not assaulted a youth in a police van. The accusations were absurd and unjustified.
As Judge Goymer said in his summing up, which was admirably balanced, the chief prosecution witness, a former officer called Tom Makins, denied there had been an assault, denied it had been sexual, and in particular denied that Gurpal Virdi or any other officer he had known had had a collapsible police truncheon, which the complainant claimed had been put up his bottom. There was no criminal evidence that a crime had been committed and there was nothing to indicate that Gurpal Virdi had even been present. There are two bits of evidence that the police eventually disclosed, one of which they were aware of within days of the complaint first being received. It was that an officer arrested the complainant in the autumn of 1986—I am being slightly vague, because the person claimed to have been under 16 at the time, or actually, he had not claimed it, but the police thought he had claimed it—and the only surviving record from that arrest showed that it was by a PC Markwick, who was not interviewed by the police officers in the department of professional standards in the 15 months that it took to investigate.
The second bit of evidence that survived was the court record showing that Gurpal Virdi and an officer called Mady had arrested the complainant in the spring of 1987 and that, because the person was young, he was held in cells overnight and appeared in court the next day. When the person made the complaint, he did not mention the second arrest at all. He claimed that someone called George had arrested him the first time but, with the second arrest, he did not mention it in any of his interviews to the police, so the one thing that could be confirmed was left out of his memory, and the one thing that could not be confirmed was what the case was built on.
I could go on at length because I know the case backwards, but before it came to trial I wrote to the Director of Public Prosecutions, the head of the Metropolitan police and the Home Secretary, spelling out that the statements from the so-called police witness—Mr Tom Makins, who I do not believe was there either—contradicted six of the major statements of fact made by the complainant: where the person was arrested, why he was arrested, what kind of police van it was, what happened in the police van, whether there was an indecent assault at any time and what was said to have happened in the police station afterwards. Tom Makins contradicted in terms every single one of those significant statements.
Let me go through the trial—I will abbreviate this, because I know that 29 other people want to speak. Before the trial, I had asked the Crown Prosecution Service and the police to note the names of everybody who made a significant decision in this case. After the case, Gurpal Virdi complained to the Independent Police Complaints Commission, as it was in those days, and what did it do? It referred the case to the head of the department of professional standards in the Metropolitan police—the people who cooked up the case against him in the first place.
I know my colleagues think that this is unbelievable, and so would I, if I had not been involved in it step by step and had not been in court. I say to people on the Front Bench: please make sure that the Minister for Justice and the Minister for the Home Office get together with the police and the CPS and ask what kind of inquiry they are going to have to review the decisions that were taken all the way through. Sir Richard Henriques looked into some of these issues over the accusations of indecent assault by people such as Leon Brittan, Ted Heath and others. I demand the same kind of inquiry for Gurpal Virdi—not a well-known person, but one of the best police officers we have got—because if this injustice is allowed to continue unnoticed, without investigation, I think this House does not have the power that it ought to have to try to bring justice to ordinary people.
I say more gently through my hon. Friend the Minister to Cressida Dick, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, and to whoever succeeds Alison Saunders as the Director of Public Prosecutions at the Crown Prosecution Service: please get together and say what you two believe is the right way to have an experienced person review the evidence that I have put forward in part today—and is put forward in rather larger part in Gurpal Virdi’s book, “Behind the Blue Line”—and take evidence from Matt Foot of Birnberg Peirce, Gurpal’s solicitor, and Henry Blaxland QC, of Garden Court Chambers, who represented him in court. Until that happens, I cannot have the confidence I want to have. I would much prefer to go back to praising the police for the good things they do and the bravery they show in answering every blue-light call, every incident of domestic violence, terrorism issues, keeping order on the streets, preventing crime and helping young people to grow up well. Until this happens, my confidence is shaken, and I hope that those who have heard me join me in asking for the kind of inquiry that the police and CPS should voluntarily commit themselves to.
Link to this speech In context Individually
Several hon. Members:
Lindsay Hoyle Chair, Panel of Chairs, Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Ways and Means, Chair, Standing Orders Committee, Chair, Panel of Chairs, Chair, Standing Orders Committee
Order. We will start with a time limit of seven minutes, but of course we have two maiden speeches to come, so that might have to be adjusted accordingly.
Clive Lewis Shadow Minister (Treasury) 3:54 pm, 24th July 2018
It is a pleasure to follow Sir Peter Bottomley
Some Members will have heard me speak before in the Chamber about the closure of the Britvic and Unilever factories in Norwich, corporate acts that will see hundreds of job losses and millions of pounds stripped and lost from the wider economy. If hon. Members are interested—and they obviously are because they are here—Colman’s was started in the early 1800s by Jeremiah Colman, and the mustard brand, as many will know, has become a household name across the country. When I was a young lad, we did not ask that someone pass the mustard; we asked that they pass the Colman’s. Some may still do.
In that time, Colman’s has also become an integral part of the very fabric of the city of Norwich. I remember being taken to the top of Norwich city castle and being shown by an historian and archaeologist the physical structure of the city. It expands in concentric circles: the closer to the castle, the older the building, and one can see, moving outwards, a whole swathe of housing built by the Colman family to house the Colman workers. This institution—it is an institution in Norwich—is not just part of the physical structure of Norwich; it is part of the very fabric of our city. The loss of money and jobs is part of the story, but the closure will have a real effect on the people of my city. Psychologically, it is a blow to the identity of Norwich, our history and our heritage. I am confident that we will recover—it is a resilient city—but none the less it is a blow.
As if that were not enough, I must now tell the House of the disgraceful way in which the workers and their trade union representatives have been disregarded by Unilever and especially Britvic. Some of these staff are third generation workers from families who have committed their entire working lives to a company that has now decided to leave the city, completely forgetting that they were the very people who helped to make the brand. When Britvic made the announcement about the Norwich closure, it stated that it was simply a proposal and that the final decision had not been made. It promised to run meaningful consultations and to listen to the issues raised, yet, just two days after the announcement, it started offering voluntary redundancies to members of staff. That is not the action of a company committed to meaningful consultation, and the consultation that followed was a total sham, with Britvic providing no real evidence for the closure and refusing to listen to alternatives put forward by workers that could have resulted in huge savings, kept the plant open and kept the workers in their jobs.
It was hardly a surprise when in December Britvic announced it would be moving its operations elsewhere. This was announced alongside a promise that it would treat the workers fairly and minimise the impact on the local community, which it did by offering workers the statutory minimum redundancy package. Seven months down the line and Britvic has shown absolute disdain for the community of workers that has united against this injustice, refusing to meet with union representatives and workers or to improve the redundancy package. As a result, the GMB trade union has been forced into an unprecedented situation where its only option is to strike. I stand in complete solidarity with these workers, who have planned 18 days of strikes over the next six weeks, and I think it a total disgrace that Britvic has shown no concern for the wellbeing of its employees.
Some people will shrug and say, “That is the way of the world.”. Others will say that there are plenty of other jobs for the sacked workers to go to, but the reality is that hundreds of workers in Norwich have been cast adrift by a Government and an economic system that has let all of us down again, a system that ignores the negative impact of de-industrialisation in cities outside London, a system where all that matters is how much and how quickly profits can be maximised, a system that legitimises Britvic in saying these closures are being made in the best interests of the business. Let us be clear: this decision was made in the best interests of the shareholders and executives who will receive huge profits when they sell off the Carrow Road site.
I applaud the valiant efforts of the unions, Norwich City Council, Norfolk County Council and the local enterprise partnership to find a viable solution and keep those jobs in Norwich, but I cannot say the same for the Government. When the issue came to a head at the end of last year, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and Chloe Smith promised that they would do all that they could to save the jobs of those workers. Where is the evidence to show that they did anything of the sort? In fact, they have simply become part of a Government who have failed to understand the lessons of the past 35 years, which show that Government cannot be a spectator when it comes to industry.
The Government like to portray themselves as the party of business, but this is a prime example of how they have encouraged a system that works for the shareholders, not the workers. They have created a system whereby companies can pick and choose the members of a so-called “independent” consultation group, and a system whereby workers are only allowed reactive rights to challenge the authenticity of a consultation process after they have already lost their jobs. That is a disgrace.
I am devastated by the way in which the closures have been handled, and the disregard that the companies have shown for their workers and communities. I believe that we must review and overhaul the process by which we deal with site closures, closing the loopholes that help companies to flout the rules with little or no consequences once the gates are closed and production halted. When will the Government step up and create a safe and secure economic system that takes seriously the issues of de-industrialisation and unemployment in the most economically vulnerable towns and cities in the UK? It is not too late to intervene and ensure that these workers are listened to and treated with the respect that they deserve. The Government owe that to the workers at Britvic and Unilever, and they owe it to the city of Norwich.
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown Conservative, The Cotswolds 4:01 pm, 24th July 2018
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for allowing me to catch your eye in this important debate. I wish to raise four matters: the negative revenue support grant for Stroud District Council, the missing link on the A417, M4 and M5, the reasons for making the Cotswolds into a national park, and—this is the most important issue—the delays in the completion of a £400 million contract awarded to the Fire Service College at Moreton-in-Marsh in my constituency.
Stroud District Council sent a petition to the former Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, my right hon. Friend Sajid Javid. It explained that when it accepted the four-year revenue support grant settlement, it did so on the basis that business rates would remain the same, with 100% retention, and that the new homes bonus would also remain the same. It has subsequently been reduced. I suppose that the most worrying aspect of the negative revenue support grant is the fact that it affects 147 out of 200 district councils in England. Not only will councils not receive any of the grant next year, but some councils, such as Stroud, will have to pay money back to the Treasury.
The petition sent to my right hon. Friend reads as follows:
“Stroud District Council strongly objects to Central Government introducing a new stealth tax on local households by demanding the payment of £549,000 from Stroud District to the Treasury in 2019/20… It is a complete reversal of financial support and is a worrying precedent which seriously threatens the Council’s ability to continue providing essential local and facilities;
especially if this payment turns out to be the thin end of a stealth tax wedge which will see ever larger…payments of money siphoned off from local households to Central Government… Council therefore determines to lobby Central Government, through the District’s two Members of Parliament…for removal of the so-called Negative Revenue Support Grant of £549,000”.
There will be a review later in the summer, and I strongly urge my right hon. Friend the new Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to conduct that review in a way that is more favourable to one of the two district councils that I represent.
The second subject that I wish to raise is the missing link on the A419-A417, about which I have campaigned for some 15 years. It is a highly dangerous stretch of road on which, sadly, there have been far too many accidents and far too many fatalities in recent years. It is a very busy road that links the M4 to the M5. Finally, after a lot of campaigning, we had a public consultation earlier this year in which two routes were published. Option 30 was chosen, and it is very important that the Secretary of State lives up to his promise of announcing a preferred route at the beginning of next year, so that we can get on to the development consent order process and get diggers into the ground and start work on this important road in the very early 2020s.
Alex Chalk Conservative, Cheltenham
I thank my hon. Friend for raising such an important point about the A417. Does he agree that the death of a young soldier in May on this treacherous piece of road underscores the importance of delivering that vital project, which is crucial for safety, air quality and the economy of Gloucestershire?
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown Conservative, The Cotswolds
The death of that young man was tragic, and I feel very sorry for his parents and his family. Unfortunately, this is just one of a number of fatalities, as my hon. Friend, who has worked with me very hard on this project, knows only too well. That is why it is imperative that this road scheme goes ahead, and he and I will shortly hold a meeting with the Treasury to make sure we get enough money for it.
The third subject I wish to raise is why the Cotswolds should be designated as a national park. Already 80% of my constituency is designated as an area of outstanding natural beauty. It is, as many Members will know, an important natural landscape and built environment, and I want to make sure that it continues to be protected so that our children and grandchildren can continue to enjoy this very special place. To that end, the chairman and chief executive and I visited the chief planner of the South Downs national park to see how well it operated, and we were impressed. We were also impressed by the number of similarities between our area and the SDNP—it covers 15 local authorities, and a national trail goes right through the middle—and that it seems to work very well in planning terms. There is a high standard of planning in the SDNP; it has very few call-ins, and when it does have appeals, it seems to win most of them because of the professionalism of its planning team. We could learn a lot from that, and the Cotswolds will get increased resources to pay for a lot of that if we are designated as a national park.
The defence fire and rescue contract was recently awarded, and announced publicly, to the Fire Service College in Moreton-in-Marsh. This contract is worth about £400 million over 12 years to the college. It will secure vital jobs in a part of my constituency where jobs are desperately needed—the north of my constituency, which is a very rural part—and my constituents and the FSC employees were looking forward to running this contract, but it seems to have run into some delay. That is most regrettable, and I call on the Ministry of Defence to resolve whatever difficulties there are—I am not entirely sure what they are—as quickly as possible, because that would provide certainty for the workforce. This contract is much needed in my constituency.
I have had discussions with my hon. Friend Craig Mackinlay, whose constituency contains Manston airfield where this activity is currently based, and he is very happy and wants to see this contract resolved as quickly as possible, because Manston airfield can then be used for an aviation freight hub opportunity and for further houses, which are desperately needed in his constituency.
I therefore call on the MOD to resolve the problems and to keep me, as the constituency Member of Parliament, informed. I should add that I have received superb help from the all-party group on fire safety and rescue. My hon. Friend Sir David Amess is present, and I thank him for his support over many years and months. The group’s members have visited the college in Moreton-in-Marsh and seen for themselves the world-renowned excellence of this institution, and it will be made even better and the entire country will benefit if we can get this contract there and it can start selling its services to the rest of the world by proving, through this defence fire and rescue contract, that it is superb at what it does.
Rupa Huq Labour, Ealing Central and Acton 4:09 pm, 24th July 2018
It is good news that I have been called to speak so early, and I want to start with some good news relating to the last time that I was in this slot. I like to use this debate for unfinished business, and last time I mentioned a business in Park Royal called Sweetland, a baklava manufacturer of distinction. It is a patisserie that makes middle eastern food that goes to restaurants all over the west end, and it was having problems with HS2 over late payments relating to its relocation. The Lord Commissioner of Her Majesty’s Treasury, Paul Maynard was the Rail Minister at the time, and he beavered away on this. As a result of his efforts and those of the Deputy Leader of the House, the company got its payments. In more good news, I am pleased to say that I was able to cut the ribbon the other day at the shiny new Sweetland factory in the East Acton ward. The company is very pleased.
I hope that the same magic can be worked again with a couple of other businesses whose cases I want to raise this afternoon. Next door to Sweetland is Med Food, which supplies olives. I emerged from there recently laden with jars of olives in different suspensions and flavours. It has not had a great time from HS2. Its relocation is being queried at every turn, and a receipt for bubble wrap that came in at under £200 was queried as unreasonable. Bubble wrap is the kind of thing that people need if they are relocating many hundreds of cubic metres of stock, and I wonder whether the Minister will look into Med Food’s case.
Altenergy of Chiswick, London, W4, is a solar PV panel manufacturer. Its business was booming as recently as 2011, when it was among the top 100 companies in that field. However, the industry has collapsed over the past couple of years, and the company’s turnover has gone down by 80% since the end of the feed-in tariff scheme was announced in 2011. This is part of a pattern from this Government. They used to want us to hug a husky, but now we see their love of nuclear power at Hinkley Point, which is actually two nuclear power stations, and their Heathrow expansion, which they pushed through the other day, is completely at odds with what they used to believe in, as is all the rest of the un-green stuff that they are doing now.
Will the Minister tell us what will happen to Altenergy of Chiswick, London, W4? The company wants policy clarity and fair treatment for rooftop solar, which is a popular type of renewable energy. It is cheap and obviously green; it is the most popular thing in the global renewables market. It dominates the market globally, but in this country, our Government seem to be dangerously in hock to the nuclear industry, which is getting all the subsidy. Altenergy is very worried. It used to have large offices, but it has now relocated to a shed belonging to the chief executive officer, Rajiv Bhatia. It has massively downsized. It used to employ 50 people, but it now employs just a handful. Can the Minister give me any assurances about what will happen when the feed-in tariff goes next year? The company wants to know about net metering, which would provide some certainty. There is no indication that the export tariff will be maintained after 1 April. May we have some assurances on that? Quinn McGovern from Elan Global Renewables of Acton, W3, is in a similar predicament. Several of these companies are wondering whether they might be about to go to the wall.
The issues being experienced by those businesses are not Brexit-related, but I shall now come to the Brexit-related ones. Hamish Orr Ewing of Ealing, W5, is a wine merchant who runs Wine Source Group, an importer of fine wines. He is concerned that the Government’s plan to ensure that importers pay VAT up front would
“be terminal for many merchants”.
He says that the UK wine industry contributes £9.1 billion to the public purse. He believes this plan to be an act of economic self-harm, and he would like some assurances.
We have heard a lot about the Windrush generation recently, and there are several Home Office-related business issues hitting Ealing and Acton. Manic Textiles wants to hire someone from Ukraine. He is skilled, but the company cannot pay him enough. When is this going to stop? We have ridiculous Government targets for the sake of targets that do not consider the skills gaps in our labour force. People may have seen on BBC News the case of a much-loved teacher at the Christ the Saviour Church of England Primary School who went back to Canada and now cannot come back because he does not earn enough. The situation is just nuts. In every case, the Home Office reply just seems to say, “Tough,” which is a bit embarrassing to pass on to the constituent, so I wonder whether the Department will consider the quality of its responses.
The last case that I want to raise is a really sad one. I was contacted on 12 July by Karl and Abbie Pokorny, who wrote to me to say:
“Our family has had a hard few weeks. Our previously happy and healthy three-and-a-half-year-old daughter has ended up in a drug-induced coma on a heart and lung machine and is on the transplant list, waiting for a new heart.”
I think that a new heart would have come for this little girl in March 2019, and their question was about EU organ donation. We have heard about Galileo and the European Medicines Agency—luckily, a new clause was passed last week with the aim of keeping us in the EMA—but they were wondering about our access to organ treatment networks. I contacted them this morning to ask whether it is okay to raise Sophie’s case this afternoon, and I am sorry to say that she passed at the weekend on Sunday. Perhaps that particular case—[Interruption.] I am sorry for making the tone a little dramatic—I did not wish to do that—but let us hope that Sophie’s death was not in vain. Such things should be uppermost in the negotiations. The answers to my written questions about such things are vague in the extreme and always say “in due course” or whatever.
Anyway, I will end my speech there, because I know that loads of people want to speak. Happy holidays to one and all!
Sir David Amess Conservative, Southend West 4:16 pm, 24th July 2018
I wish to raise several points before the House adjourns for the summer recess, and I am delighted that so many colleagues have stayed to contribute to this debate. We really need a week to do justice to all the subjects that we cover.
I congratulate my hon. Friend Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown on his speech. We absolutely support everything he said about the college.
I was going to mention teachers’ pay, so I am delighted about today’s announcement of the 3.5% increase. I hope that that will do something to address the shortage of teachers.
I am delighted to tell the House that the parliamentary photographic competition, started by Austin Mitchell, restarted this year after a three-year gap. I am bragging when I say that I was in the top five, but I hope that colleagues will enter next year. There are wonderful prizes to be won.
I was proud to learn that Southend’s adoption service has outperformed other local authorities for the second year running. I congratulate everyone concerned.
I recently met some wonderful police cadets. I thank the volunteers who run the scheme at Southend police station—they do a fantastic job—for giving those youngsters such an excellent opportunity.
I went to the Hampton Court flower show, where Southend’s youth offending service gained its 10th medal in 11 years. The team was just one mark off the gold with its wonderful show called “A Place to Think”—I congratulate its members on their work.
I have always supported the Girlguiding movement. I was delighted to visit the 8th Leigh-on-Sea Girl Guides recently to see the wonderful work that they are doing.
Last week I attended a play at Westcliff High School for Boys by N-Act Theatre in Schools. The company was presenting an interactive play called “Friend” that aimed to teach children about the perils of gang culture and how to deal with peer pressure to join a gang. As a Londoner born and bred, I despair at what is happening in our capital city, and we must get everyone together to try to stop the epidemic. I pay tribute to the retiring Chief Constable Stephen Kavanagh of Essex police for doing a wonderful job.
The Colourthon is local charity started by the Southend Round Table in 2007, since when it has raised £1.6 million for more than 700 charities. The wife of Southend United football club’s chairman, with 58 volunteers, has raised money for her niece, Amy May.
Several constituents have raised loan charges with me, and it is deeply unfair that individuals are being pursued by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs for using entirely legal remuneration schemes involving loans. I urge the Government to initiate an open and truthful discussion on the matter.
I recently met Tamils in my constituency—in fact, I attended their games at the weekend—who are seeking to refer the Sri Lankan Government to the International Criminal Court for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide committed during the war and after its end in 2009. I support them in getting justice for all those who have been lost.
I was recently taken around the wonderful South Essex College by the deputy principal, Anthony McGarel. I also visited Edwards Hall Primary School and witnessed its scholars club, which gives young children the opportunity of a head start in working towards university education—a very big jump.
I also visited a food bank in my constituency that is run by Wesley Methodist Church, which does a fantastic job in helping the most vulnerable people in society.
I have raised the issue of the National Fund on a number of occasions. There is a big pot of money sitting there doing absolutely nothing. I met the chief executive of the Growth Partnership, and we need to do something about it. I want to have a meeting with the new Attorney General.
On restoration and renewal, my argument was lost by 17 votes. I am very concerned about the journey we are on. There are all sorts of issues, and I am not sure everyone realises the seriousness of the situation. We only have to see all the scaffolding going up to see how quickly things are moving.
On 14 June, I attended a rally in Parliament Square in support of banning live animal exports. My feelings about the horrific treatment that animals endure are amplified by my frustration that, despite the UK’s good record on animal welfare, we are powerless to ensure the equivalent treatment of British animals while in transit. I hope our animal welfare standards will spread throughout the world when we leave the European Union next year.
My constituent Elizabeth Smith is raising money for a disabled swing, and I hope someone will come up with some money to help her.
The removal of the local 25A bus service has caused great concern, and local councillor Meg Davidson is lobbying First Bus.
Mr Samit Biswas has a taxi company that provides transport for disabled people who are medically stable. There seems to be some sort of argument about the licence.
It is crazy that people can post disgusting comments on social media without having the guts to leave their name and address. They are absolute cowards.
America has presidential libraries, and it is about time we had something similar in this country. Perhaps we could call them prime ministerial houses. We have something for Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher, but all Prime Ministers need to be remembered.
I have a constituent who is upset about the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, which needs to be looked at.
Southend airport is wonderful, but I am getting more and more complaints about noise.
I am most angry on behalf of Mr Gregory Docherty. Four weeks ago his much-loved wife, Debbie, died of a brain tumour. Within four weeks, South Essex Homes sent him an eviction notice, despite his having lived in his property for 25 years. That is an absolute disgrace.
Southend-on-Sea Borough Council is fantastic, and tourism is booming as a result of the wonderful weather. I could go on and on about Southend. It is about time that it became a city.
And Gareth Southgate—what a wonderful job he and his underrated footballers did in nearly bringing football home to this country. Some of us met the Emir of Qatar yesterday, and I suggested that it might be a wonderful World cup final if we saw England play Qatar.
I wish you, Madam Deputy Speaker, Mr Speaker, all his deputies and all those who work in this place a very happy summer.
Roberta Blackman-Woods Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities & Local Government) (Planning)
On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. We have been informed via a written ministerial statement that the Government have today published the revised national planning policy framework. It has not yet been laid before the House, and copies are therefore not available for Members in the Vote Office. This seems extraordinary, given the importance of the document to Members on both sides of the House. Is there anything that you can do to ensure that the document is available to Members before the House rises today?
Rosie Winterton Deputy Speaker (Second Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means)
I thank the hon. Lady for giving me notice of her point of order. As she says, there is a written ministerial statement today announcing the publication of the national planning policy framework. There is no legal requirement to lay this paper. As she says, it has been published online, although it is not available in the Vote Office. She has put on record her point about the inconvenience that this has caused to her and, I suspect, to other Members, and I think it would be good practice if such documents were available in the Vote Office. I am sure that her comments will have been noted by those on the Treasury Bench and that perhaps arrangements could be made for this document to be in the Vote Office before we rise.
Steve McCabe Labour, Birmingham, Selly Oak 4:25 pm, 24th July 2018
I want to take advantage of the debate to raise a few issues of concern to my constituents on which the Government could offer some assistance. On smart meters, the Government persist with the fiction that all is well, but we know that that simply is not true. There are problems with smart meters working in the north of the country, and installation figures are well behind schedule. There is no evidence to suggest that smart meters for gas supply are working on a commercial basis, and the Data Communications Company cannot or will not supply any evidence to show that its plan is on track. The promised dividend for consumers is plummeting, and the supply companies are blaming Government plans for increases in customers’ bills. When will the Minister responsible wake up to the fact that she needs to call a halt and conduct a serious review of this programme before she lands us all with a technological white elephant?
Tomorrow marks Louise Brown’s 40th birthday. That should certainly be a cause for celebration, but although we have heard some encouraging words from Health Ministers, we are yet to see any action on fair access to IVF. The plight of one in six couples with a recognised medical condition continues to be ignored by many of the faceless bureaucrats running our health service. The provision of IVF is patchy and reducing across the country. Clinical commissioning groups are allowed to introduce arbitrary criteria to ration the service. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines are simply ignored, and the two-year-old exercise in price standardisation shows no signs of progress. We are supposed to be celebrating 70 years of the national health service, as well as the 40th birthday of Louise Brown, so when will Ministers take the health of those with fertility problems seriously and offer a national level of service to treat their illness?
Once again, my constituency is suffering from the cat-and-mouse game of illegal Traveller encampments. We have been promised a consultation, but what we need is action. We need action to ensure that all local authorities provide some sites for legitimate, law-abiding Travellers; and action to make it easier to remove and ban those who persistently break the law and treat local communities with contempt. This issue affects constituencies up and down the land, so why do the Government persist in ignoring it?
Jim Cunningham Labour, Coventry South
We have similar problems in Coventry to those that my hon. Friend mentions, and what he says is right. Many years ago, we used to have proper sites where Travellers could go. They could arrange for their children to go to school and, more importantly, there were facilities on these sites to provide cleanliness. Does he agree that we should do something similar?
Steve McCabe Labour, Birmingham, Selly Oak
I agree, and I think that the Government could help by offering some action. The process requires local authorities to work, and the Government need to give a lead.
Last Friday, I saw two women in succession at my advice centre who were living in a local travel lodge with their children. They are homeless, and both the victims of domestic violence. What is happening in the 21st century in this country that means our response to women and children fleeing domestic violence is to condemn them to a life of hostels and travel lodges? These establishments have no cooking or laundry facilities; children are forced to live on McDonald’s and other takeaway meals.
Ruth Smeeth Labour, Stoke-on-Trent North
My hon. Friend is making an incredibly important speech. Does he agree that the situation is made even worse in the summer holidays, when children do not have access even to free school meals?
Yes, that is a real consideration. The situation is bad enough at any time, but it is much worse in this period. The reality is that these poor women are forced to spend their meagre incomes on takeaway meals and at laundrettes. Surely a civilised society ought to be able to do better, and surely these women and their children deserve better.
Finally, I learned this week that phone giants Vodafone and O2 plan to ride roughshod over my constituents’ views and erect a 17.5 metre phone mast in the heart of George Cadbury’s garden village of Bournville. They have not consulted local residents because they are not interested in their views, and they have not obtained proper planning permission. Apparently, officers at the planning authority, in their wisdom, missed the deadline for registering the application, which had previously been refused, by one day. Vodafone and O2 pounced on that error to claim planning permission by default.
These are the people who stand accused of ripping off the British taxpayer through £6 billion in tax avoidance. Their profits are all that matters. Their chairmen do not have the courtesy to reply to letters from the local MP and even refuse to meet local residents. I wonder how Mark Evans or Gerard Kleisterlee would like having a 17.5 metre mast in their gardens. These companies are little more than tax-avoiding parasites, and it is time that we took some action to curb their arrogant, bullying activities. We ought to think seriously about measures to exert far more control over these people, who do not care about our country, our people or our environment.
Bob Blackman Conservative, Harrow East 4:31 pm, 24th July 2018
It is a pleasure to follow Steve McCabe; I agree with his remarks on all the issues he raised.
Let me start by saying that it is welcome news that we are going to see increased pay for public sector workers. That is particularly true for health workers, who do such a brilliant job for us. However, I have been contacted by staff from St Luke’s Hospice, and by people from the hospice movement in general, who say that they are concerned that they are charities that raise more than two thirds of their money from charitable giving, but they have to pay their staff in accordance with health service rates. That means that they will have to raise more money through charitable donations to pay the increased rates. I want to see Government action to ensure that the hospice movement has additional funding so that the money from charitable donations does not just go to pay the staff who do such a brilliant job.
My Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 came into force on 3 April, and the hon. Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak spoke about the problem of homelessness. The reality is that from 3 April, no one—but no one—should have been forced to sleep on our streets because there is nowhere for them to go. Up to 56 days before someone becomes homeless, the local authority should intervene to prevent that from happening and make an offer of housing.
There is still unfinished business, though. I note that at Question Time on Monday the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government seemed to have adopted my Act as their own. I am delighted that it has done so, but it took me a year of effort to get it on the statute book. I am glad that Ministers endorse it, but there is still unfinished business, because regulations are due in October to ensure that other Government services, such as the health and prison services, as well as numerous others, refer people at risk of homelessness to local authorities to ensure that they do not become homeless. That includes people who have served in our armed forces and many others, including children leaving social care. We have yet to see the regulations; it is time that the Government laid them before the House so that we are in a position to scrutinise them when we return in September.
Along with several other Members from different parties, I attended the peace rally in Paris to celebrate the National Council of Resistance of Iran. We met Madam Rajavi and many others who are aiming for freedom and democracy in Iran. Little did we know that a terror plot had been launched by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to try to disrupt that proceeding and threaten our lives and the lives of the 100,000 people who had come to call for freedom and democracy in Iran. I hope that we will take action against Iran and make sure that the IRGC is proscribed as an organisation.
I always take Mr Speaker’s sage advice to persist. I am delighted that I have persisted at Women and Equalities questions for nearly a year. In a written ministerial statement yesterday, finally we got the commitment from the Government to remove caste as a protected characteristic from the Equality Act 2010. Now we need to draw up the legislation and push it through Parliament. Those who put it there in the first place have to consider whether they will accept the challenge from the Government to remove it from the Act because it is unwanted, ill-thought out, unnecessary and extremely divisive for the Hindu, Sikh and Muslim communities across this country.
In some unfinished business, I take the view that our Jain community, of which there are some 50,000 in this country, should have the opportunity to declare on the census the religion of their celebration. At the moment, they have to fill in “other” on the census. I trust that when we come to the census 2021, they will have the opportunity to declare their religion quite openly and satisfactorily. It is very important in many parts of our country.
Equally, on unfinished business, justice for Equitable Life policyholders is still owed by the Government. Some £2.6 billion should go to those people who saved for their pensions but became victims of a scam. Unfortunately, previous City Ministers have decided that they will not meet the all-party parliamentary group, which I have the privilege of co-chairing. I am delighted to say that the current City Minister, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, my hon. Friend John Glen, has agreed to meet us at quarter to six on the first day back after the summer recess. I trust that the 230 members of the all-party group will be present in their droves to hold him to account.
Bob Stewart Conservative, Beckenham
Like me, does my hon. Friend feel very strongly that the Government still have a duty to Equitable Life policyholders, and that they should pay what they owe?
Bob Blackman Conservative, Harrow East
I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. Clearly, this is a debt of honour that we have agreed to pay. The debt is still outstanding, and until it is paid, we will keep going. I say forcefully to those on the Front Bench that we will keep going this until the Government pay up.
I have a number of other issues that I briefly want to mention before I sit down. We are rising for the summer recess, but we should remember that the majority of survivors of Grenfell Tower have yet to move into their permanent homes. I trust that, when we return, every single one of them will be moved into a permanent home that is suitable for their needs.
I also wish to raise the plight of Pinner Wood School in Harrow, which was found to be sited on an old mine and was in danger of collapsing. Very rarely do I congratulate Harrow Council, but in this case it took the very sensible decision to knock down the school and make it safe. However, the Government have refused to fund that decision, and are suggesting that the council and the council tax payers should pay for the cost of that safety measure. That is a shame. I do not believe that that is the right decision by the Government, and I trust that I and other hon. Members in Harrow will carry on applying pressure to make sure that the Government cover that cost.
Let me turn now to a couple of local issues. I must take this opportunity to raise the need for disabled access at Stanmore, Canons Park, Harrow and Wealdstone and Queensbury stations. They are all either in my constituency or border my constituency. I have been campaigning on these issue for 14 years. We still carry on the work. The fight will go on until we get proper access at those stations.
Equally, we need to face the challenge of the tri-borough arrangements for policing. This is a retrograde step for policing in London. I believe that there will be a further problem over the summer and I have been making representations on this issue for quite some time. I am concerned that we are not getting the police service that we need on the streets.
My office is experiencing a dramatic increase in the amount of immigration casework right across the piece. This is a concern because action by the Home Office is clearly causing this increase, and I trust that this will desist.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I end by wishing you, Mr Speaker and the whole House a very happy recess, when we will not be on holiday; we will be working.
Ruth Smeeth Labour, Stoke-on-Trent North 4:40 pm, 24th July 2018
I wish to speak briefly on a matter that is of great concern to some of my constituents and that, unfortunately, I could not raise at MoHoCoLoGo questions yesterday. That matter is the way in which big housing developers across the UK are failing in their responsibilities to homeowners and residents. This country has a housing crisis; that much is clear. We desperately need more homes, affordable homes and a greater variety of housing stock in order to meet our needs both now and going forward. As a proud representative of the Potteries and chair of the all-party parliamentary group for ceramics, I would add that we should be making sure that we are using British ceramics in every home that we build—what could possibly be better than Staffordshire bricks and tiles? However, as great as our ceramics are, I am here today to discuss the quality of the finish of some of our new homes. This is a very real problem in my constituency.
For months, my constituents on the Bluebell Croft estate and elsewhere in Kidsgrove have been forced to live among unfinished roads and shoddy workmanship because the housing developer, Taylor Wimpey, has simply not bothered to finish the job.
I can testify to the appalling state that the estate has been left in. Roads have not been tarmacked and have been left with raised metalwork, which poses a hazard to drivers. Kerbs and pavements have been left damaged or unfinished. A playground built within the estate has a range of safety issues that have not been addressed, and we are now in the school holidays. It has taken one resident nearly a year to get the streetlights outside her house switched on.
Throughout all this, Taylor Wimpey has refused to engage with its customers. One resident, who has been complaining to the company since she moved in last December, told me that she has been fobbed off every single time. The company has ignored communication from the local councillors for the area and has now ceased to respond to correspondence from me. When invited to attend a public meeting, its representatives declined. This is simply unacceptable. On its website, Taylor Wimpey describe itself as a “community developer” that is
“committed to working with local people, community groups…and local authorities”. .
This is an audacious description, including almost every group that has been systematically ignored by Taylor Wimpey in my constituency.
My constituents are not the only people to have suffered in this manner, and Taylor Wimpey is not the only big housing developer to believe that it can ride roughshod over local communities. All too often it seems that it is those homes at the affordable end of the market that are most likely to be left incomplete as developers cut costs wherever they can, bulking up their profit margin at the expense of their customers. When it comes to good quality house building, it appears to be one rule for the rich and another for the rest of us.
What is happening in Kidsgrove is not an isolated incident. It is a snapshot of an issue that is recurring up and down our country. Last year, a YouGov survey for the housing charity Shelter found that 51% of homeowners in recent new builds in England had experienced major problems with their properties. These included unfinished fittings, problems with construction and faults with their utilities. More than half of people purchasing these new homes are unsatisfied with their purchase. In what other industry would these statistics be considered acceptable?
If a car manufacturer sold half its vehicles with faulty steering or a water company only managed to get water to half our taps, there would rightly be a national uproar. Yet in our desperation to tackle a very real housing crisis, we have allowed developers to build properties quick and cheap without fear of the consequences. All too often, the behaviour of these big developers goes unchallenged. They have money, expensive law firms and huge PR budgets to make sure it stays that way. But it is my role, and the role of each and every one of us in this place, to ensure that our constituents’ voices are heard. Money may be a great amplifier, but so is democracy.
It is about time that housing developers who act in this way have their mistakes brought to light and are made to answer for them. Taylor Wimpey proudly declares that its company’s history can be traced back more than 100 years. I need it to understand that my constituents cannot wait 100 years for it to find a conscience.
Order. After the next speaker, I am going to have to take the limit down to six minutes.
Bob Stewart Conservative, Beckenham 4:45 pm, 24th July 2018
I would like to raise the issue of Gibraltar. I declare a personal interest. I speak as secretary of the all-party parliamentary group on Gibraltar, and also for the chairman of the group, my hon. Friend Robert Neill, who would be here today but is preparing for his wedding on Friday. Personally, I am interested because I have been going to Gibraltar for the past 50 years. I first went there as a 19-year-old officer cadet to dive in the waters off the Moles. Gibraltar is a British overseas territory that is self-governing in everything except defence and foreign affairs. Thirty thousand British citizens live at the foot of that great Rock, and they want to remain British.
The issue that I really want to concentrate on is how Brexit affects Gibraltarians. This whole matter requires a bipartisan approach, with Gibraltar and the United Kingdom working hand in glove together. Although Gibraltar’s superb Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, leads a territory that voted 96% to remain in the European Union, he has pragmatically accepted the result of the referendum. In truth, Gibraltar has taken Brexit on the chin, and now it is working closely with London to ensure a smooth withdrawal from the European Union.
This process must take account of the fact that every morning 14,000 European Union workers cross from Spain—they are mostly Spanish—to Gibraltar. Twenty-five per cent. of the GDP of the 300,000-strong hinterland, the Campo de Gibraltar in Spain, is generated from income in Gibraltar, so Gibraltar has a direct effect on the people who live around it. The chambers of commerce and trade unions in both Gibraltar and the areas close to Gibraltar are united in wanting to have a smooth Brexit. This implies the need for easy border controls to ensure that workers, visitors and residents on both sides have fluid access to and from the Rock.
London is absolutely right to stand firm with Gibraltar and reject any notion or proposal, such as that in clause 24 of the European Commission’s guidelines, that Spain could have any veto over what happens in Gibraltar. That would be monstrous and wrong. Of course, we have a duty to the people of Gibraltar to ensure that they do not suffer because of Brexit. Their oft-stated and restated wish to remain British must be honoured, and there should be no talks with Spain about Gibraltar unless Gibraltar agrees. That must also include talks about talks, if hon. Members understand what I mean.
The people of Gibraltar have the right to self-determination, and they have made clear their will to remain British and prosper under the Union Jack. Gibraltar is family. No other British subjects understand the phrase “Rule Britannia” more than Gibraltarians.
Thank you for allowing me to speak, Madam Deputy Speaker. May I wish all colleagues a great working vacation? May I wish you, the other Deputy Speakers, Mr Speaker, the Clerks of the House, the policemen and the people who serve me in the cafeteria but do not serve me in the bars because I do not drink very much a very good summer? God bless everyone, and let us hope that we get things better than we seem to have got them in the last year.
Susan Elan Jones Labour, Clwyd South 4:50 pm, 24th July 2018
It is a great pleasure to follow Bob Stewart, my hon. Friend Ruth Smeeth and all other contributors to the debate.
The main issue I would like to raise is the massive issue of support for older people. I very much hope that, as the years progress, we begin to talk about this issue more in the House. I would like to share some examples from our Welsh Labour Government and local examples from my constituency.
The sharp-eyed will remember that, in Wales, older people’s care is devolved to the National Assembly for Wales, but I raise this subject here today not just because of its relevance in terms of funding settlements, but because I believe that, when it comes to social and economic issues, the nations and regions of the United Kingdom should be keen to learn from one another. I am very much of the view that learning and sharing also means being prepared to tackle head-on the difficult questions that we all face.
Jonathan Baxter and Stephen Boyce reminded us in their research document for the National Assembly for Wales entitled “The ageing population in Wales” that, in 2008, the over-65s made up 18% of Wales’s population and, by 2033, that is expected to rise to almost 26%. That could be euphemistically referred to as a bit of a challenge, but before we descend into doom and gloom, I would like us to consider a little Welsh proverb that translates as, “The old know, and the young think they know.” There is a little caveat in all this. That proverb was not concocted to describe policy making and initiatives, but it makes an important point. Our policies and thinking as they relate to older people need to reflect what older people think and be designed in an appropriate way.
Let me give one example. At the end of May, Welsh Government Housing and Regeneration Minister Rebecca Evans announced nearly £6 million of Welsh Government funding to support the work of Care and Repair agencies with vulnerable older people. Across Wales, there are 13 such agencies, which together enable many older and disabled people to live as independently as possible in their own homes, providing support and repairing work, helping more than 22,000 people through safety and falls prevention work and carrying out some 17,000 small adaptations.
A fine project supporting older people’s care in much of my constituency and in parts of the town of Wrexham is the community agents project, which helps and supports people who are over 50. As someone who became 50 this year, I have a particular fondness for this project. I pay tribute to everyone at county borough council level who has supported the programme and to the town and community councils; without their funding in those areas, the programme simply would not have been possible. I also pay tribute to our local voluntary sector organisations and to the community agents themselves.
Another example of impeccable care for older people that I am delighted to talk about is the Penley Rainbow Centre. That is situated in a rural part of my constituency, very close to the English border. I have had the privilege of visiting it on many occasions and I am deeply glad to support its work. Operating since 1994, the centre is a registered charity that aims to improve the health and wellbeing of our local community. Services include day opportunities, day care, befriending, peer support groups, volunteering and a range of learning and exercise classes, as well as a new community wellbeing service that provides outreach support to the local community.
People at the centre work with many different groups of people five days a week—including those with dementia, frailty, learning difficulties or physical disability—and they also support families and carers. There are not just outstanding day opportunities. Other services include community wellbeing, peer support, lunch and learns, exercise classes, an excellent community garden—with an active gardening group—as well as a choir, art and craft classes, and beauty treatments. Active local fundraising has led to the provision of a new minibus, which means that the centre will serve even more people. “Caring”, “welcoming”, “a lifeline”, “fantastic meals and company” and
“A place that makes me feel much happier”— these quotes prove that the Penley Rainbow Centre is not just a credit to the area I am privileged to represent in Parliament, but a project worthy of replication in communities across Wales and the UK, and indeed more widely across the world.
I believe the three projects about which I have spoken today are as fine initiatives in older people’s care as any that can be found anywhere in our land. As the Member of Parliament for Clwyd South, I am delighted to highlight them and to raise in this Parliament and nationwide the need for more serious discussion of older people’s care.
Rachel Maclean Conservative, Redditch 4:56 pm, 24th July 2018
It is a great pleasure to follow Susan Elan Jones.
I wish to speak about a subject that is very personal to me, as it is to millions of other women, and that is the menopause. I speak about this topic from my own personal experience. I started to suffer from horrible migraines that prevented me from actually doing my job properly. I did not know why I was suffering from them. I thought it might be because I had taken up a stressful job and had a change in my personal circumstances. It was only when I started to do some research and look into the menopause itself that I discovered that migraines could be a symptom. Like many other people, I had heard in the popular press and in the media about hot flushes, but I was completely lacking in any knowledge about the menopause.
On my personal journey into this topic, I have discovered that there is a shocking lack of awareness and treatment for women who are going through the menopause. The menopause affects every woman in this country and it of course also affects every man who works with, lives with or is related to a woman, so it is fair to say that it actually affects every single person in this country. Yet, in my research, I found that it has been mentioned only 27 times in Hansard in the last three years, and I really wonder why.
I will focus on three key areas. The first is the workplace. I want to point out that some fantastic organisations already acknowledge and recognise the effects of the menopause on women in the workplace. The West Midlands police are one. There is tailored support there for women, which helps them to build their confidence, to stay in the workplace and to get access to the support they need. However, it is clear that many other organisations need to take a cue from that. After all, we are all expected to work for longer and to contribute, so it will obviously have an effect on the economic growth and productivity of other organisations if they can also adopt those practices.
The second point is about medical treatment. I am absolutely delighted that the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care announced £20 billion of funding for the NHS. Please can we have some more support for menopause from those funds? Approximately 13 million women in the UK are peri-menopausal or post-menopausal. The symptoms can last up to 15 years, but too many women are suffering in silence. They are left frustrated and disappointed when they go to their GP. Their symptoms are not recognised and they do not get the hormone replacement treatment that they really need. They are misdiagnosed and told to get on with it, and their symptoms are often belittled or not understood. We see that in the popular debate, in which women are talked about as being “crazy” or as “losing it”, and this is just not a good state of affairs. It is a taboo. It is not understood and we need to do better as a Government.
The third point is very much around education. At the start of their life, we educate girls about periods. Why cannot we also explain to them what will happen at the end of their life? It is not just the fact that menstruation ends; it is a whole process. It is a natural process that we go through. It can be a liberating process, which frees people to contribute to society. That is how it should be—a positive experience. It should not be denigrated. Women should not feel that their purpose is used up, and that now they are left to wither and die.
In the course of my research I looked at Instagram—one place where I find that social media is quite positive. There is a lot of support around menopause on Instagram. We are told that it is the club that no one wants to join, and it sometimes feels like that, because if a woman speaks up about the fact that she is suffering from menopause—maybe in the workplace, perhaps in an organisation that is not particularly sympathetic—she may be belittled. But I think it is time that we take back control of our bodies. We should not be joked about. We should not be written off. It is a time for us to be loud and proud about our achievements.
Society’s attitudes to women are changing, and I welcome that. We talk about mental health and a range of issues; that is absolutely fantastic. Menopause should not be a negative time. I pay tribute to some of the fantastic women I have worked with, who have helped me, and whose work I hope to take forward: women such as Paula Sherriff, the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on women’s health—I do not think she is present, but we shall be meeting and working on this issue—Louise Newson, the menopause doctor; Diane Danzebrink; and Liz Earle.
I finish with a really sad quote. A woman asked:
“Does anyone else find that their confidence, their motivation and enthusiasm have disappeared during the menopause?”
I make a plea for us to really look at this issue and give it the attention it deserves. If women are freed up and allowed to live their lives to the fullest at this time of their life, they can contribute to society and give so much back.
I wish everybody a very happy recess.
John Bercow Speaker of the House of Commons, Chair, Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, Chair, Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, Chair, Commons Reference Group on Representation and Inclusion Committee, Chair, Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, Chair, Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, Chair, Commons Reference Group on Representation and Inclusion Committee
Maiden speech: Janet Daby.
Janet Daby Labour, Lewisham East 5:01 pm, 24th July 2018
Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the chance to speak in this debate. I am both humbled and very proud to be here. I thank my constituents in Lewisham East for giving me this opportunity, as well as my family and my wonderful husband for their patience and understanding over the past few months—and continuing patience, probably. [Laughter.]
I will respect tradition by thanking two of my predecessors, Bridget Prentice and Heidi Alexander. The unwavering support and encouragement that I have had from these phenomenal women exemplifies the adage, “Lift as you climb.” Bridget was MP for Lewisham East for 18 years, from 1992 to 2010. She is still a resident, well respected and well known for her community spirit, straight talking and humour. I thank Bridget for her belief in me.
Of course, I wish to pay tribute to my predecessor, Heidi Alexander. As hon. Members know, she was an incredibly hard-working, approachable and dedicated advocate in this place. She was key to the community campaign that saved Lewisham Hospital A&E services, and as shadow Secretary of State for Health, she was vocal in the junior doctors’ dispute. She was passionate and outspoken about the need for us to stay in the single market—a view shared by many people in Lewisham, where 70% of us voted to remain. We in Lewisham East will not tolerate a hard Brexit. I thank Heidi for her dedication as a public servant, and I am sure hon. Members will join me in wishing her well in her new role as London’s Deputy Mayor for Transport. No doubt, I will soon be in contact with her about improvements to the Lewisham transport system.
As for me, when I was a child and even a young adult, I never imagined that I would become a local councillor, and certainly not an MP; it was quite possibly the furthest thing from my mind. Having grown up with my mum and her endless capacity for compassion and kindness—she gave us children a strong sense of social justice—I was keenly aware from an early age of the impact of prejudice and discrimination on people around me. I was aware that while many resilient Black, Asian and minority ethnic people did challenge those who sought to oppress them, there were others who learned how to cope with discrimination rather than to complain; they learned to suffer rather than to speak out. The Windrush scandal is the latest and most shocking cruelty inflicted upon us. I am proud, as a daughter of the Windrush generation and as a Labour MP, that one of the voices raised against that legislation was that of my party leader.
Although I grew up in a single parent family, my father was never far away, and I clearly remember my Uncle Clifton, my late Uncle Lass and my Uncle Sam excitedly discussing politics during family visits. As a child, it was a world I knew little about, but it intrigued me and I did my best to engage with their conversations. I intend to ensure my contributions here are as enthusiastic and as fearless—and rather better informed than I was as a child.
I am so honoured to represent Lewisham East, my home of 22 years, because it is the friendliest, most energetic and multicultural community anyone could hope for. We have it all: from grand mansions to compact urban flats, from leafy expanses to concrete labyrinths. We have the best street parties in London and, indeed, perhaps the country—hon. Members can prove me wrong on that if they wish to! We have a strong community spirit, and our valued civic organisations, such as Eco Communities, Pre-school Learning Alliance, Ubuntu and Youth First, demonstrate this. We are also fortunate to have the Inter-Faith Walk for Peace and the Peace of Cake movement, which work to make Lewisham East safer and to enhance cohesion.
That said, years of austerity have meant that many people live hand to mouth, and having set up a food project in 2013 as a local councillor, with the local community, I know this only too well. I know someone who has three part-time jobs. He works himself to the bone, but still he has to visit the foodbank so he can feed himself and his family. What he and all our constituents are owed, at the very least, is the real living wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation. Instead, our constituents got the much lower national living wage, based on political calculations.
The quality of jobs available is a serious issue. As a Unison trade unionist and former public-sector worker, I believe in fair pay and in proper terms and conditions. I understand that decisions are being made on whether to abolish the widely used and highly exploitative employment contracts that allow for agency workers to be underpaid for their labour. We need to do the right thing and abolish them, and I applaud the Communication Workers Union’s campaign on this issue. Low pay and insecure jobs mean that many of my constituents are spiralling into debt, and they cannot hope to pay their rocketing private rents. The people of Lewisham East are crying out for social housing, and they need it now if we are to stop the number of families being forced out of the area by the housing crisis.
As for our young people, I am deeply troubled by the multiple stops and stop-and-searches that innocent young men, especially black men, are subjected to. This can have a brutal impact on their mental health and wellbeing, often something that is not considered. Our young people do not just need hope for the future; they need tangible change. I will do what I can to address the stop-and-search issue.
I am saddened and outraged that in 2018 some young women in Lewisham East, but not just in Lewisham East, will skip school because their families cannot afford sanitary products. Across the UK, it is estimated that 137,000 girls missed school last year because of this type of poverty. I absolutely support moves for free universal access to sanitary products.
I want to use the privilege of having a voice in this Chamber to help to reduce poverty, improve health, raise educational outcomes and clean up the toxic air that blights parts of Lewisham East. Some people might see this as optimistic for one MP and her constituents, but as the anthropologist Margaret Mead said:
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
On this, I believe that when we come up against a mountain to overcome, we need others to help us make the climb, as we cannot do this alone.
Mr Speaker, at times it has felt overwhelming to come into this great establishment, but I have been met with such hospitality by you, parliamentarians on both sides and the superb staff in both Houses—it is greatly appreciated.
Vernon Coaker Labour, Gedling 5:10 pm, 24th July 2018
I say to my hon. Friend Janet Daby what an amazing privilege it is to follow a speech of that quality—not only that, but what shone through was her absolute dignity. She will be an absolutely amazing addition to our Parliament and to the government of this country. Through what she said, it is clear that she will be an advocate for her local people on poverty, inequality and tackling health issues; but above all, she will be a national advocate for the things that we in the Labour party stand for—we stand up against prejudice and discrimination and show what determination can achieve. It is an amazing privilege and honour to follow my hon. Friend, and I wish her all the luck in the future.
I was moved to speak on two issues in respect of the amazing constituency of Gedling in Nottinghamshire that I represent. I am sick and tired of people coming to see me at my surgeries who have mental health problems but are being refused personal independence payments. I say to the Minister, who will answer a plethora of different things that people raise, that the Government need to get a grip. This is not a party political issue. I talk to Government Members, who have the same problems, and even Ministers say, “This is astonishing. We have to get it sorted out.” Well, the Minister should tell the Department for Work and Pensions to sort it out, because numerous people who have serious difficulties cannot access a benefit on which they depend. It is not good enough, and the Government need to take issue with it. I told numerous people that I would raise that, and I have done so.
I want to use this debate to highlight something that was said by a senior Conservative councillor in Nottinghamshire, and I think that it will shock all Members across the House. Councillor Phillip Owen, chair of the children and young people’s committee of Nottinghamshire County Council, said that the police priorities of modern slavery, domestic violence and hate crime were only priorities because they are “politically correct” and “fashionable”. We think battles have been won—on sexism, discrimination, prejudice and intolerance —and then we hear such statements from a senior councillor about things that have a massive impact.
We heard earlier from my hon. Friend Steve McCabe. The police recorded 1.1 million crimes in 2016 that related to domestic abuse, and 1.9 million people aged between 19 and 65 were the victims of domestic abuse. If that should not be a police priority, I do not know what should be. The fact is that large numbers of people are still not reporting these crimes. The majority of victims are women, and large numbers of people are still not prosecuted for these crimes, because the victims will not give evidence to ensure that the perpetrator is prosecuted. That should be our priority, not some prejudiced statement about these matters that deserves to come from the ark. Of course it should be a police priority; of course it should be looked into. This country has suffered down the centuries because such crimes have been dismissed and kept behind closed doors.
What of modern slavery? This House, this country and, to be fair, this Prime Minister—I have said it to her—led the way with the Modern Slavery Act 2015. It needs to be better implemented, but we led the way, and the Prime Minister was key to it, yet we are told by this senior Conservative councillor that it should not be a police priority. The Gangmasters Licensing Authority has pointed to a 47% increase between 2016 and 2017 in the number of potential victims of forced labour, while the Global Slavery Index announced just a couple of days ago that 136,000 people in this country were potentially victims of modern slavery on any one day, yet we are told it is not a police priority. I say to Councillor Owen and anybody else who has doubts that tackling modern slavery and forced labour must be a priority for the police of our country, and I am proud that it is. We thought these two issues had ended—we thought we had won these battles—but as my hon. Friend the Member for Lewisham East said in her brilliant maiden speech, prejudice and discrimination are still there to be tackled. Likewise, the police still need to tackle the scourges of modern slavery and domestic violence, and I am proud that they do.
Maiden speech: Jared O’Mara.
Jared O'Mara Independent, Sheffield, Hallam 5:16 pm, 24th July 2018
Mr Speaker, thank you. In fact, everybody, thank you—you have all been terribly patient.
I am delighted today to finally be able to make my maiden speech as the MP for the constituency where I grew up, Sheffield, Hallam. I was elected a year ago as Hallam’s first Labour MP, but due to mistakes I made when I was young, and for which I am truly sorry as they hurt a lot of people, I have been unable to speak in the House with confidence until now. I currently speak in the capacity of an independent Member. I am also Parliament’s very first autistic MP, as well as having cerebral palsy and other disabilities. This fills me with immense pride. It is an honour for me to have the chance to represent our country’s disabled people in addition to serving my constituents.
I would like to give praise to my predecessor for his admirable and steadfast belief in the value of our membership of the European Union and for his commitment to multiculturalism, both of which I share. He shall be remembered fondly as a hard-working and capable constituency MP, and for that he has my respect.
I may, of course, be biased, but Sheffield, Hallam is quite possibly one of the most beautiful and greenest constituencies in the country. On the cusp of the Peak District national park, it contains districts including Fulwood, Lodge Moor, Ecclesall, Stannington, Wadsley Park Village—where I lived for a number of years—Loxley, Crosspool, Dore, Bradway and Totley. It is home to too many great schools to mention, including the two I went to, Bradfield and Tapton, and we have the world’s second-oldest football club, Hallam FC, who play their home matches at Sandygate Road.
On the subject of sport, our schools and villages have given rise to some of the nation’s greatest sports people, including Joe Root, Michael Vaughan, Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill, the best right back in world football Kyle Walker—even though I am an Owl and he is a Blade—and gold medal-winning Special Olympian Nathan Hill.
My constituency gets unfairly typecast as one of the least diverse and most wealthy in the north, yet I have had the privilege of meeting and speaking to people from all walks of life in Hallam in this past year, be it our sizeable student community, people from humble beginnings and blue-collar professions—much the same as my own background—successful white-collar workers, academics and business people, inspiring and compassionate representatives of our 300-strong Jewish community, the many graceful and civic-minded British Muslims, or the plethora of bright young people from our local schools, who have impressed me no end. Hallam is in fact the epitome of multiculturalism, as is my city of Sheffield as a whole, and I am very proud to call it home.
In my constituency and my city, I have also met many wonderful Christian people. Indeed my parents, who have been at my side through thick and thin, are Christians themselves. While I consider myself a man of science and more aligned with atheism and humanism, I have the utmost respect for all religious people, and I feel specifically that we can all learn from the teachings of Jesus. He was a man who forgave those who truly repented, and he shared my belief that our utmost human priority should be helping those who are the most disadvantaged and vulnerable amongst us—chiefly, our poor and underprivileged, our senior citizens, our children, people with disabilities and illnesses, and people who want to find the right path again after making mistakes.
I ask my constituents, all parties in the House, and everyone in the country at large to join me now in prioritising those principles, and I thank Members very much for listening to my speech. I promise that I will do my utmost to help all those who are in need of help in my constituency, and to champion the cause of equality. When I return to Parliament in September, I shall do so with renewed vigour and an unwavering commitment to social justice. I look forward to being the best MP that I can possibly be.
I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on his commendably succinct speech, and I wish him well.
Caroline Lucas Co-Leader of the Green Party 5:20 pm, 24th July 2018
It is a great honour to follow two such passionate maiden speeches. Jared O’Mara talked powerfully about the importance of inclusion and equality—I am sure that we all agree with him on that—and Janet Daby talked passionately about her constituency. An aspect of her speech that particularly resonated with me was her opposition to the extreme Brexit towards which the Government are leading us.
I originally intended to spend my brief minutes talking about the immorality of indefinite detention. I will still talk about that, but I feel that before I do so, I must take the opportunity to say a few words about yet another decision that has been smuggled out on this last day before the recess, and about which many Members may not even know. The Government have just given the green light to more fracking at Preston New Road.
This is an absolute kick in the teeth for the local community, who almost unanimously oppose fracking in their back yard, and who have been fighting an incredibly strong campaign against it. However, it is not just a kick in the teeth for localism; it is an extraordinarily perverse decision, given the reality of accelerating climate change. The Government are locking us into a whole new fossil fuel industry at exactly the time when the experts are telling us that we must leave the majority of known fossil fuels in the ground.
We are currently in the middle of a heatwave, and more and more scientists are linking the freakish weather that we are currently experiencing with the likelihood of its happening more often as a result of climate change. The idea that now is a good time to give the green light to fracking, while making it more difficult, for example, to pursue renewable energy—as Dr Huq was saying a few moments earlier—seems to be taking stupidity to new heights. I shall not spend any more time talking about fracking, because I want to talk about my recent visit to Yarl’s Wood, but I think it incredibly cowardly of the Government to smuggle this decision out when they know that people’s attention will be elsewhere, and when we cannot have a serious debate about it.
I recently visited Yarl’s Wood detention centre, having finally been granted permission following 18 months of trying to gain access. The visit was publicised to detainees, and it is difficult to communicate the desperation and heartbreak that I sensed in the 100 or so women who came to meet me. Each wanted her story to be heard. They wanted someone to know where they were, and they wanted to know that they would not be forgotten. They wanted something to be done about the mental torture that they were enduring day in, day out.
I use the term “mental torture” very deliberately. Imagine, Mr Speaker, living in the community where you have made your life and being required to report to the Home Office every week. Imagine that you do that religiously and never fail, and then one week, when you turn up to report as usual, you find yourself being randomly sent, with no notice, to a detention centre. You are given no time even to pack your clothes, and no time to tell anyone—your kids, perhaps. You are given no warning and no explanation. Imagine arriving at Yarl’s Wood and being given no information about the reason for your detention; about what, if anything, you have done wrong; or about how long you will be there. Months or perhaps even more than a year later, you may be released— again, with no warning or explanation. You are still required to make weekly reports to the Home Office. You are none the wiser about the reason for that arbitrary use of power against you, and you have no idea whether it will happen again.
This is intolerable, Mr Speaker, and it is happening on a daily basis in our country. Can you imagine how frightening it must be? It is cruel, it is inhumane, and it must stop. Many of the people to whom it is happening are vulnerable women. A recent research report published by Women for Refugee Women found that survivors of rape, trafficking and torture are still routinely being locked up in Yarl’s Wood. When Her Majesty’s inspectorate of prisons inspected Yarl’s Wood in 2017, it found exactly the same.
The Government’s adults at risk policy is supposed to reduce the number of vulnerable and at-risk people in detention, which the Shaw review identified as needing urgent action. The policy is not working. What I observed is consistent with the findings of HMIP, which is that
“the effectiveness of the adults at risk policy, which is intended to reduce the detention of vulnerable people, was questionable”.
That is, I think, a use of understatement.
The Home Office claims that progress on detaining fewer vulnerable people is difficult to measure because there is no way of assessing how many vulnerable people are detained. Many of the women I spoke to seemed incredibly distressed, and some had obviously been self-harming. Figures from the independent monitoring board at Yarl’s Wood show that levels of self-harm there more than tripled in 2017 alone. Yet I was told by Serco, which runs Yarl’s Wood, that out of 183 individuals detained when I visited, 29 adult women were defined as at risk level 1, and 43 at risk level 2, with none defined at risk level 3. For those who do not know what these risk levels mean, in a nutshell they identify survivors of torture, individuals with suicidal intentions, or those whose health is likely to be
“injuriously affected by continued detention.”
The claim of an absence of any category 3 people was, I think, disproved by the kinds of people we were speaking to, so I am not sure that even the way in which data is compiled is accurate. But even if it is accurate, this demonstrates the level of desperation of women who are being routinely locked up.
We heard a statement today from the Home Secretary, who said that he would look again at the whole issue of indefinite detention. May I use my last five seconds to urge him to do so with the strongest amount of urgency because people’s lives are at risk and what is going on is intolerable?
Order. The next speaker will be the last to do so on the six-minute limit. Thereafter, in an attempt to accommodate all would-be contributors, the limit will have to be reduced to five minutes per speech.
Matt Rodda Shadow Minister (Transport) (Buses) 5:26 pm, 24th July 2018
I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in the debate. It is a pleasure to follow Caroline Lucas, and also my hon. Friend Janet Daby and other hon. Members.
I want to raise an important issue for my constituents and to ask Ministers to consider it carefully. Reading is a historic town which dates back to the middle ages. It has a number of well-known buildings and more than a dozen conservation areas. Arguably our best-known building is Reading gaol, which was written about by Oscar Wilde, who was incarcerated there. The prison was designed by the famous Victorian architect Gilbert Scott, whose work also included the Albert memorial, St Pancras station and many other notable Victorian buildings. The building is no longer used as a prison and has been empty for five years following a reorganisation of the prison estate. I argue that because of its cultural and artistic significance, the prison should be preserved and enhanced through being turned into a hub for the arts. I would like to set out the advantages of this approach, both locally and for enhancing our nation’s heritage, to suggest a way forward, and to encourage Ministers to work with me and Reading Borough Council on this project
There are significant benefits to the project. First and foremost, Reading would benefit from a major new theatre and hub for the arts. Our town is growing rapidly, and cultural and artistic activity is growing commensurately. There is a vibrant arts community, but a lack of large and nationally recognised venues. Secondly, the prison is an ideal location, both because of its history and association with Oscar Wilde, and because of its setting next to the nationally important ruins of Reading abbey, the burial place of Henry I. These grounds were recently restored and now form a venue for open-air theatre in the summer. The location offers the possibility for the town to develop an entire cultural quarter close to the town centre and the station, making it accessible to visitors from the Thames valley, London and Oxford.
Thirdly, using the prison as an arts hub has been tried before temporarily, with huge success. It was opened to the public, and the installations and performance art that were staged attracted thousands of visitors from across the country. Despite the undoubted potential of the prison and its success as a temporary venue for the arts, the regeneration of this historic building is being held up by the need to survey the site and to understand its archaeology. While I fully understand the need for and support the careful assessment of the site, I hope this can be finished soon to allow Ministers to consider a way forward.
I thank the prisons Minister, Rory Stewart, for his interest in the site and the time he has spent talking to me about its future. I encourage the Justice Secretary to approach the matter with urgency. He can rely on me, and on Reading Borough Council and other local groups, to pursue the project with commitment and an ambition to make it work.
I should also like to inform the Minister that the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is involved in this project with Reading Borough Council. It may also support it, and a bid for funding might be under way. This is an important cultural project for Reading and the surrounding area, and I urge all parties to work together to help to deliver the proposal. Reading is a growing town, and it deserves an arts venue that celebrates both its ancient history and its potential for the future. Finally, Mr Speaker, I wish you and other colleagues here today a very happy and relaxing summer break.
Jim Fitzpatrick Labour, Poplar and Limehouse 5:30 pm, 24th July 2018
I am grateful for the opportunity to speak briefly in this debate. The Government have moved positively on a number of issues recently. Last Thursday, for example, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government made not one but two announcements that were very welcome—albeit late, but not on his watch. First, he announced a full-scale review of approved document B, which contains statutory guidance on building regulations relevant to fire, following Dame Judith Hackitt’s well-received review. Secondly, the Secretary of State announced the decision to introduce mandatory requirements of landlords in the private rented sector to ensure five-yearly inspections of electrical installations in their properties. This has been a long-standing request by various organisations, including the Electrical Safety Council, so I would like to commend the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government for this.
Antisocial behaviour seems to be flourishing, especially in my constituency, with issues as trivial as ignoring personal space all the way through to life-threatening violence. I, like other colleagues, receive many emails about antisocial behaviour, including boy racers in cars, noisy and threatening mopeds, late night and early morning loud gatherings, block invasions, verbal and physical abuse of women and members of the LGBT community, open drug dealing, damage to property, and the rest. It is just not acceptable.
Moving to leasehold, there is a lack of protection for leaseholders on so many issues, including: service charges; refurbishment costs; recognition of residents associations; inflated insurance costs; forfeiture; outrageous event fees; lease extensions; cladding reform and replacement; interim fire costs; commonhold; the ground rent scandal; and dispute resolution at first-tier tribunals, which will be the subject of my Adjournment debate later. That dreadful list of problems is faced by 5 million leaseholders every day. The Government are moving encouragingly on many of these issues, but Administrations have failed in this regard a number of times over the past 30 years. I hope that this Government will get it right this time. It would be helpful to have a timetable for how they intend to make progress.
On deafness, the Government have signalled a change of position on the possibility of a GCSE in British sign language, and I welcome the recent comments from the Minister for School Standards, Nick Gibb.
I welcome the Department for International Development’s review of grants and the establishment of the small charities challenge fund. I am sure that this will help a number of organisations doing great work. I also welcome the opportunity to meet the Minister of State, Department for International Development, Alistair Burt, who is also a Minister at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, to discuss assistance for a charity called Fire Aid, which I chair.
One question for the Government on animal welfare that keeps being asked is when we might see the law changed. The Government promised this in relation to a five-year sentence for animal cruelty. The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, George Eustice, stated on 13 June that a Bill would come forward in this Session. Organisations such as Battersea Dogs and Cats Home would be reassured to have more clarity about when this will take place.
I want to refer to an individual constituent’s immigration case that has troubled members of my staff to the extent that they have personally been raising funds for his distraught family. Mr Golam Rabbani is dying; of that there is no doubt. He has no recourse to funds or benefits. He has a wife and two children, and he has been in the UK for 14 years. We have tried to get an early decision on the family’s application to remain before their father and husband dies. Given their length of stay in the UK, they have a very strong case. It is heartbreaking to witness a system with such limited capacity for discretion and understanding. It is my belief that Mr Rabbani would no longer be with us were it not for his will to keep going in the hope of seeing his family’s rights guaranteed. When might we see some compassion in this area?
My final two issues are universal credit and housing. I commend the campaign of my right hon. Friend John Healey and his team, who are putting pressure on the Government to do more on housing, and affordable housing in particular. On universal credit, there is general agreement that the principle has support across the House, but the problems besetting the introduction are causing many claimants great hardship. I do not object to a sanctions regime, because no one should be able to rip off the taxpayer and claim that to which they are not entitled. However, things seem to have gone too far, and the Government just do not seem to get that.
In conclusion, Madam Deputy Speaker, I wish you, Mr Speaker, staff and colleagues a decent break during the recess, and I wish the Government success in their Brexit negotiations, which I am sure will not cease simply because the Commons is in recess.
Jeremy Lefroy Conservative, Stafford 5:35 pm, 24th July 2018
I apologise for only recently coming into the Chamber, but I was at extremely extended Select Committee sitting about our exiting the European Union—the very issue that Jim Fitzpatrick just mentioned. I congratulate him on his speech. I also congratulate the hon. Members for Sheffield, Hallam (Jared O’Mara) and for Lewisham East (Janet Daby) on their maiden speeches, which I shall take great pleasure in reading in Hansard.
I will concentrate on one important domestic issue and then refer to one or two international matters. The domestic issue is local government finance, and my comments will be based on my experience in Staffordshire. Staffordshire County Council and the various second-tier authorities, including South Staffordshire Council and Stafford Borough Council, have done tremendous work over the past eight years. They have reduced costs and increased efficiency while maintaining as many services as possible for local people, but they are reaching a crunch point over the coming year as they face substantial deficits. The deficits are not due to inefficiency or incompetence, but to the increasing demands being placed upon local government, particularly when it comes to adult and children social care. Those costs are vital to our constituents’ wellbeing, but it is unfair to place such burdens so heavily on local government while depriving it of the necessary funds.
I therefore ask the Government to consider the matter closely. This is an issue not just in Staffordshire but in many other authorities, counties in particular, around the country, and we must ensure that we do not do down local democracy, because that is what will happen if we do not take such matters into consideration. If people see local authorities having to close services that they value and depend on, such as libraries—Staffordshire has not closed libraries because it has found other ways to proceed—the people will blame local government. In fact, the pressure is effectively coming from national services, and we either need to fund those more or less nationally or give local government the ability to raise appropriate resources.
I am asking the Government to examine three things. First, social care should be better funded through the better care fund nationally and should not have to rely increasingly on local resources. Secondly, if necessary, councils should be given more discretion to raise resources locally without having to resort to an expensive referendum that will often not produce a result. If people are asked, “Do you want taxes to be raised?” the answer will often be no, even if it is for a worthwhile cause, despite the council being elected and taking the needs of local people into account. That should be enough. Finally, the rate support grant should be reviewed, not rapidly cut, which is happening in so many councils. It is vital for local democracy that local councils, which have done so much over the past eight years, can raise the funds that they need to provide local services that are so greatly valued.
I shall make just a few comments on the international scene. It is extremely important that, as we go into recess, we do not forget the crises around the world, including in Yemen, Syria and elsewhere in the middle east. We should not take our eyes off the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where elections are due before the end of the year but we do not see great progress towards them.
Finally, let us take a moment to celebrate—I declare an interest as the Prime Minister’s trade envoy to Ethiopia —the growing peace between Ethiopia and Eritrea. After so many years, we saw Prime Minister Abiy go to Eritrea, and we saw a coming together of those brothers and sisters, as they effectively are.
On that happier note, I wish you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and all colleagues in the Commons a very happy recess.
Kate Green Labour, Stretford and Urmston 5:40 pm, 24th July 2018
It is always a pleasure to follow Jeremy Lefroy. I too congratulate colleagues who made such inspiring maiden speeches this afternoon.
I return to an issue that was raised a few moments ago by my hon. Friend Ruth Smeeth—I also raised it at last week’s business questions—on the poor quality building and dire customer service experienced by buyers of new homes, such as those buying from Persimmon in my constituency. Since I raised the issue in the Chamber last week, I have been inundated with emails, tweets and Facebook posts from across the country reporting similar experiences not just with Persimmon but, as my hon. Friend said, with other major household names—Taylor Wimpey and Bellway among them.
Buying a home is probably the most important purchase that most of us will ever make. Young people save up to buy a home, in which they invest their hopes for the future. They look forward to putting down roots in the community, but I have too often heard stories of shoddy workmanship, failure to repair defects and homebuyers facing serious risks in the place where they should be safest. I have heard of unsafe staircases, dangerous electrics, gaps and cracks in walls and floors, leaking plumbing and gardens that are not safe for children to play in.
I have also repeatedly heard that house builders refuse to respond to owners’ complaints, but all the owners want is for someone to come round to make good the defects. Instead, they are fobbed off. Appointments are made and not honoured. Repairs are done that are as shoddy as the original work. Promises of improvements do not materialise. When MPs try to intervene, as I said in the Chamber just last week, the companies too often simply refuse to deal with us.
The Government are aware of the problem and, indeed, have recently consulted on improving customer redress in the housing market. We have also had two excellent reports in the past two years from the all-party parliamentary group on excellence in the built environment, which has proposed a number of measures, including a mandatory new homes ombudsman funded by a compulsory levy on house builders, a review of warranty schemes, timescales for settling disputes, and better recompense and inspection arrangements.
My first ask is that the concerns of the House on these matters are relayed to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whom I urge to respond to the consultation and take action as quickly as possible.
Secondly, we also know there are problems with smaller builders that carry out renovations and refurbishments. My constituent Mr Clint Wiltshire has highlighted some of the problems people experience. There are advertisements for small traders on trusted websites that make no checks on the qualifications, experience or track record of those selling their services. Local authority trading standards departments are now massively overstretched as a result of local government funding cuts and are unable to intervene where poor quality workmanship is experienced. Insurance companies frequently try to wriggle out of liability. Indeed, I understand there is no requirement for builders to have professional indemnity insurance cover.
Again, I ask that my concerns are relayed to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and I ask the Ministry to look at how better protection could be afforded to consumers through a code of practice, increased capacity for trading standards departments and a recognition of the importance of our homes to all of us and of our need to feel confident that we are safe, secure and comfortable in our homes.
Finally, another issue of great concern to my constituents is the increasing pressure on our emergency services. I have heard increasing reports that our police are unable to respond in person to reports, often of serious incidents, including most recently in my constituency a case of homophobic hate crime and another of serious sexual offences. We are seeing similar pressures on the North West Ambulance Service, which has been unable to respond for some hours when elderly people have suffered falls or illness and needed the services of paramedics. It really is time we looked at the funding for these vital emergency services to make sure they can properly meet the demands of our communities, and I hope the Minister will convey my concerns to the relevant Departments.
Finally, Madam Deputy Speaker, may I take the opportunity, as others have done, to wish all in this House the very best of summer recesses? I hope that everybody enjoys a restful break and returns refreshed in September.
Alex Chalk Conservative, Cheltenham 5:45 pm, 24th July 2018
What a pleasure it is to follow Kate Green, whom I have had the privilege of serving with on the Select Committee on Justice. May I also take the opportunity to congratulate the hon. Members for Lewisham East (Janet Daby) and for Sheffield, Hallam (Jared O'Mara) on their distinguished maiden speeches today?
I want to take a few moments to speak about CrossCountry services from Cheltenham, because this matter relates not only to the convenience of my constituents, but to social mobility and opportunity. Unless those rail services are at the standard my constituents are entitled to expect, both those vital priorities will be undermined. Putting it simply, those services are too costly and too crowded, and they finish too early. It is particularly important that I mention them at this moment because a public consultation has been announced by the Government about the future of CrossCountry’s rail franchise and it is important that these points are made.
So what is the context? Cheltenham Spa is the busiest station in Gloucestershire, with 2.35 million passengers using it last year, which is an increase from 1.73 million in 2011. So we are talking about some 800,000 additional passengers in that relatively short time. The next busiest station, Gloucester, had 1.48 million users—about 900,000 fewer. There has been good news in recent years: there has been a new, additional, early morning, 200-seat service from Cheltenham to Bristol and through to Taunton and Exeter, as well as an additional 1,000 seats per day on the CrossCountry routes between Bristol, Cheltenham Spa and Birmingham. It is the cost that is the problem. An off-peak return ticket from Cheltenham to Manchester will cost £81.90 and a peak return will cost £129.40. That is extremely expensive—prohibitively expensive. That is important because, if we want to drive things such as the Cheltenham cyber-park, people need to feel that they can go between Manchester and Cheltenham in an affordable way. Oddly, not only is this travel expensive, but there is a strange discrepancy; someone who wants to go north from Cheltenham has to re-mortgage their house, whereas someone who wants to go south from Cheltenham finds that a return to Bristol costs £25.40—[Interruption.] I appreciate that it is a bit closer, but there is an enormous discrepancy.
Overcrowding is a really important issue for my constituents, a number of whom write to me about it. When we drill into the service that is put on, we see why there is overcrowding. The 7.10 am train from Cheltenham to Birmingham, which Members might feel is at a peak time, has just four carriages and the 7.41 am has just five. That means trains are running at or beyond capacity. To put that in context, trains running from Cheltenham to London on the Great Western Railway line have about 10 carriages. So CrossCountry really needs to resolve that.
The final point I wish to raise is the business of these trains finishing too early. Cheltenham residents who want to go to Bristol have to get the 10 pm train back and Cheltenham residents who want to go to Birmingham have to get the 10.12 pm back: the trains finish quite early. By comparison, a Bristol resident who wants to get the train back from Cheltenham gets to stay in Cheltenham until 10.50 pm and if they want to go to Birmingham they get to stay there until 10.58 pm. In other words, these trains need to run until later in the evening.
I wanted to make those short but none the less important points. As I say, it is an issue not only of convenience for my constituents, but of how we provide opportunity and social mobility to people in Cheltenham so that my town can continue to provide great opportunities for young people and for people across its demographics, and so that they are well connected to some of our great conurbations, including Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester and beyond.
Melanie Onn Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government) (Housing) 5:49 pm, 24th July 2018
I join other colleagues in congratulating those who have made their maiden speeches today. I urge them to get their bound copy of their speech and treasure it—something that I failed to do in a timely fashion; I regret it very much.
I wish to take this opportunity to make up for a dreadful oversight of mine during the Westminster Hall debate earlier in the Session on children’s play areas, to which everybody paid close attention and which was secured by my hon. Friend Mr Leslie. In that debate, I referred to just one remaining youth centre in my constituency, but since then I have rightly been reminded of other centres that, although not technically youth centres, certainly provide excellent youth services for those in my constituency.
One of those centres is the West Marsh community centre, which is run by Neil Barber and hosts the Grimsby Town Sports and Education Trust football club for local children. Another centre is the excellent Fusion Centre, which I visited last week. It is a community interest boxing and fitness club run by the incredibly committed Wayne Bloy, who runs classes for young people. If they do not have any money, he will often allow them in for free. The centre also hosts classes for disabled people of all ages. It covers the Heneage and East Marsh areas. I apologise to those clubs, and to the many other clubs and organisations that operate in my constituency—there are so many unsung heroes across all our constituencies who are giving so much back to their communities—but there simply is not enough time in the parliamentary calendar to cover them all, although I will mention Together for the West Marsh, because I am going to the open day there tomorrow.
On a point of policy, one of the best things that the Government could do is to properly fund youth activities of a broad nature and throughout the whole country, to appeal to a wide range of young people of all incomes and none. Mentors should be available to give an often much-needed guiding hand. We have seen a real destruction of youth services, in a way that we would understand. Jeremy Lefroy touched on the issues relating to local government funding, which is a key area where communities have really lost out over the past few years.
I also wish to raise a health issue. I have tried and failed on many occasions to secure either an Adjournment debate or a Westminster Hall debate on cauda equina syndrome. My constituent, Becky Harrington, was very keen for me to raise the issue to bring about greater awareness of the condition. She has become a voluntary ambassador for the Cauda Equina UK charity, so that she can make people better aware of how life changing it can be.
Becky sent me an email late last year to say:
“I am a cauda equina syndrome sufferer and have recently joined the CES UK charity as a voluntary ambassador. We are currently trying to raise awareness to the public about CES and how life changing it can be if gone unnoticed. If it is not dealt with within the first 48 hours you can end up with loss of function and numbness in the saddle area and needing to be catheterized or having a colostomy bag fitted or like myself having a paralysed leg and unable to walk without an aid. This can all stem from having a bad back and not knowing what to do if the symptoms occur.”
It is quite a frightening syndrome and warrants more attention from the House and from the Government Health team.
In my final minute, let me congratulate the Grimsby Institute on being the only college in Lincolnshire to achieve outstanding status. I congratulate Peter Kennedy on his appointment as principal of my old college, Franklin College, and I thank Trevor Wray for all his work as the former principal at Franklin and for raising the issue of further education funding and championing that cause for Grimsby students.
Grimsby had some good news this Session: we secured the Greater Grimsby town deal, in conjunction with Ministers, for whose attention I am grateful. The signing of that deal must not be the only thing that Grimsby sees from the Government; it cannot be left alone. We want to see genuine, tangible and long-lasting change for our community. Some elements are now looking a little shaky and I want to ensure that the Government will make long-term commitments to our town, make them explicit and give confidence to local and national businesses for their continued support.
I did want to touch on universal credit because I had whistleblowers in The Guardian yesterday who were highlighting some systemic issues, but I will bring that back in September. I will just take the opportunity to say thank you to everyone and have a happy recess.
Fiona Bruce Conservative, Congleton 5:55 pm, 24th July 2018
I rise to register my support for Congleton Museum’s aspirations to move to Bradshaw House. In its first 16 years of existence, Congleton Museum, a charitable trust entirely run by volunteers, has had considerable success locally, regionally and nationally. The museum was established as the local history museum for Congleton but quickly evolved to become recognised within the wider area of Cheshire and the north-west through the acquisition of hoards found in east Cheshire. It is now the area’s leading museum in collecting and analysing archaeological finds. It has been entrusted with the care of important Roman coin hoards from further afield in the county, the Knutsford and Malpas hoards, in addition to two further 17th century hoards found locally, but there is now simply inadequate room to display these collections.
The Congleton Museum’s status has brought about many partnerships within the national museum community. For instance, it has been working with the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum and regional holders of national collections such as the Museum of Liverpool. I pay tribute to the dedicated work of the museum’s trustees and other volunteers for those achievements. Given that success, a move from the museum’s current and—dare I say it—now cramped premises at the back of Congleton Town Hall to Bradshaw House would be fitting.
Bradshaw House is a fine Grade II listed late Georgian home from the late 1820s in the historic heart of Congleton. It takes its name from Congleton’s most famous, or possibly infamous, resident, John Bradshaw, who was president of the High Court, oversaw the trial of King Charles I and was the first signatory to his death warrant. Bradshaw House is currently owned by Cheshire East Council but has been unoccupied for some time.
The benefits of a move to Bradshaw House for the museum are manifold, and not only for the museum, but for Congleton, the broader Cheshire East community and our wider heritage. The museum could be more sustainable in the long term. It is a highly appropriate tenant for such a listed building. Cheshire East Council says that it has no current plans for the future of Bradshaw House while seeking a commercial buyer, but if the museum were able to take it over, it could be fully restored and cared for for the full term of a 30-year lease, potentially taking advantage of Heritage Lottery Fund funding, which is much needed for restoration costs, which few commercial purchasers would readily commit to. The museum’s offering could be increased, with space available for larger numbers of children, making a visit more cost-effective for schools.
Bradshaw House is much more visible and attractive than the museum’s current premises, located as it is in the heart of the Lawton Street conservation area. The museum would be able to handle a much larger number of visitors and host conferences. Improved facilities would encourage more visitors to the town, thereby benefiting the economy. There would be exhibition space, storage, education and research facilities as well as room for a café and a larger gift shop. As I mentioned, it would also be able to accept and display more artefacts.
This proposal has not only my strong support, but the support of Congleton Town Council and of local residents, who, in just four weeks, have signed a petition. A total of 857 signatories have been added to the petition and the number continues to rise daily. I look forward to presenting it to the Speaker in this House in the autumn.
I am pleased that, just last month, Cheshire East Council, which has previously rejected the museum’s bid to move to these premises, agreed to suspend activity related to the commercial disposal of Bradshaw House—that is, disposal by way of commercial sale. It has suspended activity pending discussions taking place between the museum and the Heritage Lottery Fund on options for HLF support for this proposal.
I do hope that the proposals will be supported strongly by Cheshire East Council. I am today seeking the active support of the council, which is our principal authority. I also invite the leader of the council, Councillor Rachel Bailey—who I know is a good woman with a real heart for our local communities—to join me and museum representatives to meet the HLF to discuss what support may be available from HLF for this project. Such a meeting would also enable museum trustees to clarify to the leadership of Cheshire East Council that its reservations about the viability of such a scheme can be satisfactorily addressed.
Siobhain McDonagh Labour, Mitcham and Morden 6:00 pm, 24th July 2018
I would like to share with the House how I will be spending my recess. Today is 24 July, and what else would I be doing other than fighting yet another NHS-inspired campaign to close the A&E and the maternity unit at St Helier Hospital? The third week of July is always the time when my local NHS decides that it is a good idea to consult—to consult families who are on holiday, people who are away from work and people who could not possibly get to a consultation meeting in the middle of the day. There are no rules. It is the wild west in the NHS in south-west London.
Last year, at Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust, the chief executive, Mr Elkeles, bet his career on the fact that he could close the A&E and the maternity unit—something that nobody else has done over the past 20 years. So yes, deliver leaflets to the whole catchment area, other than any house in my constituency. Yes, tell nobody that responses will only be accepted on the official form. Yes, get 1,000 responses and accept them, but get 6,000 contributions from other people opposing this move, and, no, they are not to be included.
Let us now talk about the clinical commissioning group, which is following the same pattern as last year. It is about to begin its consultation of four public meetings—all held during working time and all held in July and August. Who says that there is a code of guidance on consultation in the NHS? Nobody in south-west London has ever read it. This is my ninth campaign to fight the reorganisation of my hospitals. The plan, as it has always been for the past 20 years, is to close the A&E and the maternity unit at the hospital, which is surrounded by those who are most in need, with the greatest health issues—those who are the least likely to have a car and the most likely to be dependent on public transport. But no matter; in the NHS in south London, as my mum would say, much gets more. If people live in a wealthy area, they can anticipate greater capital spending. The NHS in south-west London has built the Nelson health centre in one of the richest wards in London, but closed the walk-in centre in a portakabin in my constituency. I would be really interested to know the capital figures involved in doing up GPs’ surgeries, and I suspect that a great deal more money has been spent in Wimbledon.
It is a travesty that over the past 20 years £50 million has been spent on these consultations, which have always come out with the same result. It really does not matter to me how many experts or marketing consultants the trust has or how much money it wants to throw at it. It is wrong to take an A&E, a maternity unit and all the associated services away from a hospital that is in huge demand. During the winter, the hospital saw an uplift of 20% in the number of people turning up to A&E. But this is not just about my area around St Helier Hospital; it is about the health service in south-west London.
If St Helier A&E and maternity unit are closed and moved to Belmont, the consequence will be that the fantastic St George’s Hospital in Tooting will not be able to function because of the number of my constituents who will be going to that hospital to use its services. Similarly, Croydon University Hospital—a hospital surrounded by a population in greatest need—will feel the brunt of my constituents from Pollards Hill and Longthornton using its services.
This madness should end. Somebody should listen. There should be rules about consultations. There should be criteria that people understand. If the NHS is to abide by the Equality Act 2010, it should, in all circumstances, take into account how those who are in most need access their health services. I hope that there is someone, somewhere, who just might listen.
Rachael Maskell Shadow Minister (Transport) 6:04 pm, 24th July 2018
We have heard some excellent speeches this afternoon, not least the two maiden speeches.
In 1772, Robert Hay Drummond, Archbishop of York, commissioned what is now known as Bootham Park Hospital. John Carr was drafted in as the architect, and in 1777 the hospital opened. It was a stunning building based in parkland and 17.85 acres of land, or 21.2 acres including adjacent public land. In 2015, following successive failed Care Quality Commission inspections, the site closed to clinical services, and the site closed to the trust last autumn. Now, a new mental health hospital is being built in Haxby Road, due to be opened in 2019. This leaves in question what will happen to the site. How will public land be disposed of in our city? NHS Property Services Ltd has been required to dispose of the site, and of course an attractive offer will be incredibly tempting.
Similarly, at Duncombe barracks in York, the Ministry of Defence is looking to dispose of that site, favouring 14 executive market-priced homes as opposed to 36 units urgently needed by the local community. Time and again, we are seeing public land being sold off to the highest bidder at the expense of the real needs of our city. No co-ordination or conversation is brought to our local community, which desperately needs homes. Surely, local government should have a say over these disposals. We are seeing more and more luxury apartments and executive homes. We have heard so powerfully today the reality of what happens then.
Of course, this is not what our city wants. The residents of York have been absolutely clear that they want to maintain the hospital site for vital health services for our city. I will explain the geography. Bootham Park Hospital is adjacent to York Teaching Hospital—our acute hospital—which is crammed on to a site that desperately needs additional land to transform health services and bring health into the modern age in our city. Without access to that land and the ability to repurpose Bootham Park Hospital and its site for health service use, health in our city will suffer.
We need transitional care and rehabilitation beds in a newly built specialised unit. We need a primary care-led urgent care centre so that our A&E is not crammed over yet another winter and our hospital is not exploding at its seams. We need to ensure that we house our health sector workers in York. The hospital spends about £30 million a year on agency staff, because people cannot to work and live in our city. As a result, our services are poorer. We therefore need that land to create key worker houses for NHS staff. We need additional mental health services, particularly so that our young people have decent facilities. We need extra care facilities for an ageing population.
We do not want to see the magnificent parkland that I mentioned being utilised as the grand entrance to some luxury apartments, or even a hotel, or perhaps a golf course. No, we need a new public park for our city where children can play and sports activities can take place. We also need to ensure that third sector organisations have access to the land that they need. One Public Estate is on board and the acute trust is on board, but we need the Secretary of State to be on board, too.
Our city is crying out for this NHS facility. We need to expand and build for the modern age and transform healthcare from a medical to a social model and from a sickness service to a health service. We should not look at the short-term goals, which so often happens in politics, and miss the opportunity to build a health and wellbeing village for the future of my community that will touch every life and, of course, save money for the public purse in the long term.
Today, the clock is ticking, the gavel is raised and the highest bidder is making its move. The solution to Bootham Park Hospital is to save the site and ensure that it is there for healthcare in the future. Let us create a new life for Bootham Park Hospital and use our imagination to do so.
Paul Sweeney Shadow Minister (Scotland) 6:10 pm, 24th July 2018
It is nice to round off my first year in Parliament with a recap of some of the highlights that I have been able to contribute to as a new Member. I think that any Member would agree that the most satisfying aspect of our job is seeing the real benefit we can have for our constituents’ lives, particularly in casework. That has made a real impression on me in the past year, in particular when it comes to dealing with the hostile environment policy that this Government have been foisting on some of the most vulnerable people in our communities.
My constituency has a relatively large migrant population, and some cases have struck me as particularly damning. It took a total of 18 years for the Government to grant the Kamil family, who are Iraqi-Kurdish refugees, leave to remain as a refugee family. They have spent their lives in limbo. Indeed, the youngest was denied the opportunity to go to university because the immigration status the family faced was insecure, and the eldest was unable to secure work at an engineering company, despite graduating with a first-class engineering degree from Aberdeen University.
These are highly motivated citizens who have so much to contribute to our society and our economy. We have to recognise the benefits that many of these people can deliver for our country, having overcome such terrible hardship and usually fled some of the most war-torn and desperate situations in the world. We cannot treat them with contempt any more. We have to recognise the value they bring to our country. I hope we can recognise that in a debate in the House in the forthcoming parliamentary term.
Another case was Duc Nguyen, who was not so much a refugee but was trafficked to this country from Vietnam. He was arrested and put in prison for being forced to work in a cannabis factory, released and then detained by the Home Office, even though its own guidance says that it should not detain trafficking victims. The Home Office recognised that. We need to have a debate about how the Home Office puts its policies into practice, particularly in relation to detaining victims of human trafficking. That was another case that struck me as particularly difficult.
I was very pleased to welcome a constituent, Giorgi Kakava, to the House yesterday, and he sat in the Gallery to watch a debate. It was great to bring him to the heart of our democracy, given that he has been under so much stress in the past few months. His mother tragically died in February this year, leaving him an orphan. He is 10 years old and has lived in this country since he was three, yet he was threatened with deportation by the Home Office. Luckily, after my intervention in Prime Minister’s questions, the Home Office decided to grant him temporary leave to remain, but we have to continue to fight for him to be given permanent leave to remain. He speaks with a Scottish accent. He is one of us, and he is at school with his friends in Glasgow. The notion that he could be deported to Georgia—a country that is alien to him—is totally absurd.
Those are some of the absurdities that we see in our immigration system. I hope that we can address them in the forthcoming term, to re-establish confidence and dignity in our immigration system and uphold British values.
We have to address the Government’s industrial strategy, particularly in relation to renewables. Gaia-Wind, a company in my constituency that is a world leader in small-scale renewable energy, nearly went into liquidation because of the Government’s failure to introduce a transition from the feed-in tariff for small-scale renewable energy. That needs to be addressed, and it is irritating and extremely frustrating that the Government continue to leave companies that offer so much potential for wealth creation in our country in limbo.
I am worried about the roll-out of universal credit in my constituency in September. We have already seen failures when it comes to personal independence payment assessments. The level of appeals is absurd, and 71% of appeals are successful, which shows how broken the system is. We have to deal with that. I am worried about the transition from disability living allowance to PIP in my constituency, given that there have been 1.6 million underpayments. That shows that there is a severe drop-off in entitlement, which we need to address.
I have been asked by my constituent Daniel Haggerty to raise the issue of social housing. Last year, the number of social rented houses built was probably the lowest on record since the second world war. We need to seriously address that, and Labour’s commitment to increase the number of social houses built and increase our social house building programme to the largest in 30 years is laudable.
I want to address the industrial strategy in this country. In an announcement sneaked out today, the Government have said that they will delay the procurement of the Type 31e frigate. We have already seen disruption to the shipbuilding programme in the UK from changing the Type 26 programme to a Type 31 build split, and we now to have a delay to that programme. As a matter of urgency, we need to address this and provide certainty for our shipbuilding industry. As someone who grew up around it, I know what that means. In the 1990s, yards competed against each other for contracts—drip fed—which meant insecure employment, disinvestment and a lack of competitiveness. We need to get into a virtuous cycle for our industrial benefit, which means having highly secure jobs. The Government must get a grip on the Type 31 programme as a matter of urgency, which is why I look forward to debating it in the forthcoming term.
Mary Glindon Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) (Farming and Rural Communities) 6:15 pm, 24th July 2018
It is an honour to follow my hon. Friend Mr Sweeney, who has definitely made his mark with the excellent things he is already doing in the House. I congratulate the two new Members who have made their maiden speeches; I am sure that they will be excellent advocates for their constituents.
As a member of the associate and retired members branch of the Public and Commercial Services Union, and as vice-chair of the PCS parliamentary group, I congratulate the PCS on yesterday’s national pay ballot, in which 85.6% of people voted for action, on a 41.6% return. However, I would like to express my concern that because of the Government’s anti-democratic Trade Union Act 2016, the ballot did not quite reach the 50% threshold, and the members were not allowed to do any kind of e-voting. Those civil servants will now be subject to another 1% to 1.5% unfunded pay rise. I hope the Minister agrees that this is particularly worrying because a recent survey by the Department for Work and Pensions showed that more than 70% of its staff had experienced financial difficulty during the past year. We can only imagine the depths of the low morale that civil servants are now experiencing.
As co-chair of the drugs, alcohol and justice cross-party group, I am aware that Public Health England is reviewing the impact of the introduction of minimum unit pricing in Scotland. I am not sure how long that will take, but have the Government considered the health impact of delaying the introduction of minimum unit pricing in England? The 2012 alcohol strategy gave a commitment for its introduction, and it was delayed only because of the drinks industry’s legal challenge to Scotland’s evidence-based policy. The rationale for further reviews is not clear. Surely more delay merely signals that England is less concerned than Scotland and Wales about alcohol-related illness, deaths and crime, and its vulnerable young people.
At last week’s Prime Minister’s questions, the Prime Minister gave a disappointing reply to Alison Thewliss when she restated the Government’s refusal to allow a drug consumption room to open in Glasgow, despite a wealth of evidence showing that drug consumption rooms are effective in reducing transmissions of blood-borne viruses and drug-related deaths. The issue has become vital as there are now well over 100 cases of HIV among this population group, and the outbreak shows no signs of abating. This is a glaring example of what happens when harm reduction, as an approach to drugs policy, is ignored. The drugs, alcohol and justice cross-party group is writing to the Home Secretary to call for permission to be granted for a drug consumption room to open in Glasgow. I urge the Government to show more compassion and less complacency in drugs and alcohol policy at a time when drug deaths are already at record levels and there are more than 1 million alcohol-related hospital admissions each year.
Finally, I invite the Minister to watch the BBC documentary “M.E. and me”—produced by Cat Donohoe and presented by her sister Emma, who has ME—which looks at how young people cope with this debilitating illness. I ask him to urge the Government to provide funding for adequate and appropriate research on ME in support of the 250,000 sufferers in the UK.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I wish you a restful recess. I hope that everyone in the Chamber and across the House has a wonderful recess and comes back refreshed in September.
Eleanor Laing Deputy Speaker (First Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means)
I thank the hon. Lady for her kind words. On behalf of everybody behind the scenes in the House, I thank everyone who has spoken so eloquently this afternoon and wished a good recess to everybody who supports us here in the House of Commons. No, I have not forgotten Jim Shannon—far from it. It has become a sort of convention—almost a tradition—that the last speech from the Back Benches should be made by the hon. Gentleman. Right now is no exception when I call, to make his 44th speech of the Session so far, Mr Jim Shannon.
Jim Shannon Shadow DUP Spokesperson (Human Rights), Shadow DUP Spokesperson (Health) 6:20 pm, 24th July 2018
After such an introduction, I am almost overwhelmed. Thank you so much, Madam Deputy Speaker; you are very kind.
I wish to raise a topic that is very important to me: homelessness on our streets, and what we as communities can do to help. I do not have not enough time to go through this, but I will briefly summarise where we are.
All this started with a discussion in my office during the harsh storms at the end of March. My office manager and a number of friends in Belfast took it on themselves to cook up hot meals and soups, and distribute them to those who were on the streets. We can always measure a nation, a people or an individual by their compassion for others. It is my firm belief that in this developed nation, which seeks to help the poor in developing countries, there must always be a way of ensuring that we take care of our own. Charity must be abroad, but also evident at home.
I put on record my thanks to charities such as the Simon Community that help the homeless. The individuals involved are so kind-hearted as they set out to make the small difference that they can with all that they have.
I want to tell a quick story. A fellow I know quite well from my constituency, who is doing a doctorate in Irish history, recently told me that he had been going down from Ards to Portaferry, admiring along the way all the culture and the rich historic artefacts that we have. It was night-time, so he got on to a bench and went to sleep. Next morning he was woken by a gentleman shaking his shoulder, who gave him a hot coffee and a warm breakfast. In my constituency we have compassion for other people, and I believe that that clearly shows the nature of Strangford. Are we in this place doing enough, like that gentleman, to ease the burden for individuals we perceive as needing a little help?
The Northern Ireland Audit Office says:
“Contrary to popular belief homelessness is not restricted to people who sleep rough, it encompasses a much wider range of individuals in a variety of circumstances”.
We must acknowledge that mental health certainly plays a role. The fact is that, as a result of the troubles, the prevalence of mental health issues is 20% higher in Northern Ireland than elsewhere, and that has a knock-on effect on our homelessness. Indeed, we have a higher proportion of homelessness than any other region of the United Kingdom, so the issue is extremely important. I was startled by the fact that the number of people deemed homeless has increased by 32% in the last five years. Some 12,000 households—individuals and families—were accepted as homeless in 2016-17, and between 2012 and 2017, homelessness in Northern Ireland cost some £300 million. That focuses our minds on the clear issues that we have in my constituency of Strangford and also, I believe, throughout Northern Ireland.
I want to put on record my wonderful relationship with those at the local Housing Executive, who work tremendously hard to secure appropriate housing for needy people as quickly as they can source it. In particular, I want to put on record my thanks to the regional manager for the Housing Executive—Owen Brady, certainly a man of action. He may be small in stature, but I tell you what: he is a man who makes up for that in his energy. Although he is unable to meet the needs of every person who presents themselves to the Housing Executive as homeless, his team works hard to do its best for those who need that the most.
There are simply not enough available houses for those in need. Last year, the Simon Community in Northern Ireland made 369 warm beds available in Northern Ireland, accommodating some 2,391 people. It is increasingly concerned about the high prevalence of mental health issues such as self-harm and suicide attempts among those experiencing homelessness. With mental health issues affecting one in five people in Northern Ireland, that homelessness charity wants to draw attention to mental health issues as both a cause and an effect of homelessness. We must do more in this place to offer and deliver mental health support—not simply to those in the street, but to those who are at risk of shortly finding themselves living in a sleeping bag in our city centre. Do I believe we have got it right? No. Do I believe that we have an opportunity to stop doing the same thing and do it differently? Yes. Do I believe that we must do this urgently? Yes, we must. It is incumbent on us to make changes to the level of housing and mental health needs that are found on our streets in every corner of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
To you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and to Mr Speaker and the other Deputy Speakers, thank you for your kindness, your compassion and your help to Back Benchers. It is always good to speak in this House. I thank my family and my staff, and the good people of Strangford. It is truly the most beautiful constituency—I believe this with all my heart—in the whole of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Come to Strangford for your holidays! I think no matter who you are, you will enjoy it, and I will be there to welcome you.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I wish you and your staff a happy recess. To everyone here who makes our lives much easier—to the Hansard staff who try to understand my Ulster Scots, to the security staff who give us such service, and to those in the Tea Room who look after me with my coffee every day—I say thank you very much.
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his good wishes.
Just before I call the Front Benchers, it might be helpful for the House to know that, following the point of order raised earlier by Dr Blackman-Woods about the availability of copies of the national planning policy framework, I can tell the House that the framework has now been laid before House and copies are available in the Vote Office.
Chris Stephens Shadow SNP Spokesperson (Fair Work and Employment) 6:26 pm, 24th July 2018
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. May I just say that half an hour after I raised my point of order, the Secretary of State for Defence apologised and sent me a letter? That goes to show that if Members raise a point of order in this place, it can be very effective.
I congratulate the hon. Members for Lewisham East (Janet Daby) and for Sheffield, Hallam (Jared O'Mara) on their maiden speeches. I am touched that the hon. Member for Lewisham East is another proud trade union activist and former public sector worker like myself. This Chamber is graced with former public sector workers and trade union activists.
The Deputy Leader of the House is wearing yellow and black socks today. I thank him for that, because he is obviously commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Glasgow East by-election that was won by John Mason.
It is not funny how life imitates art? I was struck by that yesterday when a Scottish Conservative mentioned “Game of Thrones”. Those who watch the programme will know that the series ended with the sometimes popular male blond hero walking out on his female leader because of strategy and tactics. Isn’t that funny? How will this saga end, Madam Deputy Speaker?
The hon. Gentleman has just ruined it for me. I was really looking forward to the end of the series, but now I know the endgame—absolutely ruined!
Chris Stephens Shadow SNP Spokesperson (Fair Work and Employment)
I apologise to the hon. Gentleman, but the series ended a year ago.
How will this saga end? Will the male blond hero be the winner, or will the female leader somehow manage to find another way of clinging on to power? But never mind about that: when are going to get another episode of “Game of Thrones”? As the Deputy Leader of the House will know, Scottish National party Members call the Tories the Lannisters, which makes the Scottish Tories House Bolton.
Let me wish every Member a good summer recess. I think it was Bob Blackman who said it is not a holiday—he is absolutely right. I am hosting a universal credit drop-in event tomorrow morning in Penilee community centre in my constituency. I echo Members’ comments about the effect that universal credit is having on the community. The Government need to look at this week’s revelations by whistleblowers who used to work on universal credit about the very serious effects of systematic errors on claimants. It is time to pause and fix universal credit.
It is not just our social security system that is broken. As hon. Members have pointed out, the immigration system is broken too, with a “hostile environment” and asylum seekers waiting years for decisions. I discovered another issue this weekend when my constituent Hamid Ahmad, an Afghan interpreter for the British Army, came to see me at my surgery.
Several hundred Afghan interpreters for the British Army are part of a five-year resettlement scheme to the UK, and I find it astonishing that when some families who were brought over on the scheme, who now have children born in the UK, applied for British passports, they were told by the Home Office to apply for Afghani passports instead, because they are not being accepted as British citizens. I hope that the Home Office will deal with that. There are also some men who did not bring their families initially, but who tried to bring over their partners on spousal visas and are having difficulties with that, too. I would have thought that interpreters who have helped the armed forces in this country should be treated a lot better than that.
Mary Glindon mentioned public sector pay and the Public and Commercial Services Union ballot, and I want to associate myself very much with her remarks. We have discovered today that the public sector pay cap is still in place, because the Treasury is still only funding each and every UK Government Department 1%, and each and every other Department has to find the additional money to fund a decent pay rise. I hope that as we go into recess, the Ministry of Defence will pay the living wage to those employees who are not in receipt of it. There are 220 in Scotland, and I am sure that there are others elsewhere.
I want to associate myself, too, with the comments by Mr Sweeney on the suspension of the Type 31e frigates procurement process. It is absolutely astonishing that we come here but there has been no statement.
Vernon Coaker Labour, Gedling
indicated assent.
Does the hon. Gentleman want to intervene?
No, I was just agreeing.
It is absolutely astonishing that no statement has been made in the House on the suspension of that programme. What is even worse is that if there was one procurement process suspended in the Ministry of Defence, we would think it would be not for the Type 31e frigate but for the fleet solid support ships—the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships—which, astonishingly, are being put out to international competition, despite the benefits that a UK-wide bid would have to our economy. It is absolutely astonishing.
As an MP from Glasgow, I was delighted to table early-day motion 1534, commemorating the centenary of the birth of the great Nelson Mandela and to congratulate the Nelson Mandela Scottish Memorial Foundation on its work, which is fundraising and trying to find £250,000, so that there can be a statue of the great Nelson Mandela in the city of Glasgow.
Comments have been made by many hon. Members, including Vernon Coaker, on the work that I am proud to have done in the last year with Show Racism the Red Card. As the vice-chair of the Show Racism the Red Card all-party group, I was delighted to see schools in my constituency—Lourdes Primary School and Hillington Primary School—win awards in the Show Racism the Red Card Scotland’s creative competition.
I am proud to be a part of the Youth Violence Commission, which has just published its interim report. It is important that we try to spend some time in this place discussing how the creative industry can help to address the problem with youth violence, giving young people an opportunity to express themselves through film making and various other creative arts. I was delighted that the South West Arts and Music Project received a grant of £91,000 from the Scottish Government.
As I said earlier, this is not a holiday; it is a recess. I want to thank you, Mr Speaker, and the whole parliamentary staff, who look after us, speak to us and often cheer us up. I wish them all the best for the summer. I also want to pay tribute to the constituency staff right across these islands—I am sure that everyone in the House would agree—who help us as Members of Parliament. I place on record my thanks to Joe Murray, Scott McFarlane, Tony McCue, Mary Jane Douglas, and particularly, Keith Gibb and Roza Salih. Their energy, enthusiasm and hard work are infectious, and I look forward to working with them in the summer and beyond.
Karin Smyth Labour, Bristol South 6:34 pm, 24th July 2018
This time last year saw my first speech at the Dispatch Box in this role. We had just returned from the snap general election, and I talked about the clear message the public had sent the Government. I rather hoped the Government had learned from it. I thought they might have learned a bit of humility or taken the opportunity to reflect on the red lines and whether the “no running commentary” approach was perhaps not working, or that maybe it was time to respect Parliament and the voices of Members speaking on behalf of constituents in scrutinising the Executive. But no! Here we are a year later, and the public infighting over Brexit in the Conservative party and the Cabinet is like nothing ever witnessed. When after two years a Brexit White Paper was produced, it had more holes in it than a Swiss cheese, and it was devoured just as quickly. Remarkably, we have had another one today—snuck out on the day when last week they did not even want us to be here. We wait two years for a Brexit White Paper, and then, like the proverbial buses, two come along at once.
Mr Grieve has warned us that we might be heading for a state of emergency. The Brexit Secretary resigned, the Foreign Secretary resigned, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union resigned, and a handful of Parliamentary Private Secretaries resigned. The Prime Minister’s own Back Benchers rebelled, allegedly were duped and then rebelled again. The Work and Pensions Secretary admitted misleading Parliament over her response to the National Audit Office report on universal credit but then apologised— sort of.
If only the Prime Minister had taken a different path last summer. There has been a worrying disregard for parliamentary sovereignty and convention. The history books have been trawled for ways to avoid scrutiny. We have seen a breaking of the pairing convention and nodding through and Government Members continuing not to turn up or vote on Opposition day debates. How do we justify this to the people who send us here to represent them and to debate issues that affect them? How can this be explained to my constituents as a good use of parliamentary time?
Beyond this place, many are giving up raising an eyebrow at Brexit developments—perhaps that was the Government’s plan all along. All the while, critical legislation and policy making are getting kicked into the long grass while this weak Government spend their time infighting rather than governing in the interests of our country. Just 26 Government Bills have received Royal Assent since the general election—a relatively small number considering the amount of legislation that needs to be passed before we leave the European Union.
On a more positive note, one piece of legislation that did pass that I was pleased to see pass was the Haulage Permits and Trailer Registration Act 2018, which I worked on with the Government, trailer safety being an important issue in my constituency. I look forward to working with them on that in the next year.
Today we have heard a tremendous range of speeches and two maiden speeches, and I am delighted at how full the Benches are behind me, 16 Labour MPs having made speeches this afternoon. We started with Sir Peter Bottomley talking passionately about his constituent Sergeant Gurpal Virdi and calling for an inquiry. My hon. Friend Clive Lewis talked about the history of Colman’s. I did my undergraduate degree in the fine city of Norwich, and he put the case well on behalf of the three generations of workers in those companies and how shoddily they had been treated.
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown talked about a range of issues and the potential to designate his area as a national park–it is certainly an area of natural beauty. My hon. Friend Dr Huq spoke on behalf of several businesses. She was very successful last year on behalf of the Sweetland factory, and I wish her good luck this time on behalf of those other companies. Sir David Amess gave us a feast of issues, as he always does, and again mentioned the campaign to make Southend a city. I wish him good luck with that.
My hon. Friend Steve McCabe raised several issues on which he hoped the Government could offer assistance and gave a graphic depiction of the impact of domestic violence on women and children and the shocking conditions in which people are living in hostels and travel lodges without basic facilities. Bob Blackman also talked about a range of issues and gave a strong commitment particularly to Equitable Life pensioners. Somebody from that campaign came to my surgery, and I wish the hon. Gentleman luck with that. I know he will continue fighting on their behalf.
My good friend Ruth Smeeth, a champion for the Potteries, highlighted the importance of using Staffordshire bricks and tiles in future housing developments. She gave us, though, some shocking statistics on the quality of unfinished estates in her constituency and rightly put the developers on notice. I know that she will follow that through. Bob Stewart made an important speech on behalf of Gibraltarians about the impact of Brexit. My hon. Friend Susan Elan Jones told us the old know and the young think they know. She joined me this year in the over-50s, so I am hoping that one day both of us will know. However, she made a serious speech about the real need for discussion of older people’s care and what is happening in Wales.
Rachel Maclean made an important speech about the menopause. She was right to raise that taboo subject, which, as she said, had been discussed only 27 times here in the last three years. She has upped the average today, and I wish her luck with her campaign on women’s health.
In the first of two maiden speeches, my hon. Friend Janet Daby said, “Lift as you climb.” Hers was a well-made speech. We are all looking forward to the party on the streets of Lewisham to which I think she invited us, and we must make sure that our own street parties are equally good.
My hon. Friend Vernon Coaker highlighted problems with benefits of which, as he said, even Ministers are aware. He also made a passionate defence of the important priority for the police of dealing with forced labour and modern slavery, which he will continue to do.
In the second maiden speech, Jared O’Mara talked about his constituency, and also about the important issues of inclusion, equality and social justice. He said that he wanted to be the best MP that he could be, and I wish him well in that endeavour.
Caroline Lucas focused on her experience of managing to visit Yarl’s Wood after waiting for 18 months, and of hearing from the women there about the mental torture that they had endured.
My hon. Friend Matt Rodda presented a great case for making the cultural and artistic heritage of Reading Gaol available to the country, and I hope that he is supported in that aim.
My hon. Friend Jim Fitzpatrick raised a range of issues on which he is well known for running important campaigns. He will introduce the final Adjournment debate this evening, ensuring that the Government keep on working to the very last.
Jeremy Lefroy made important points about local government finance as well as international crises. My hon. Friend Kate Green highlighted the work of developers in her constituency, and the importance of our homes as places in which we need to feel safe. She also spoke of the pressure on the emergency services.
Alex Chalk talked about trains from Cheltenham, and how much more expensive it was to travel to Manchester than to Bristol. That is astonishing, when we consider how much better Bristol is as a city than Manchester. The extra £25 is well worth spending—every penny of it! I also discovered that if I visit Cheltenham for the evening, I can stay there until 10.50 pm, but if the hon. Gentleman comes to visit Bristol, he must leave at 10 pm. Bristol is barely getting going at 10 pm, so I wish him well.
My hon. Friend Melanie Onn talked about youth services, and her important constituency campaign on cauda equina syndrome. She also talked about the Grimsby town deal, and the need to ensure that the Government make a long-term commitment to support Grimsby.
Fiona Bruce made an interesting speech about local museums and Bradshaw House. My hon. Friend Siobhain McDonagh reminded us that she was involved in her ninth campaign to save local hospital services. She said that the NHS had spent £50 million on consultations in 20 years, and that there would be four public meetings in August. I hope that she enjoys them all. I am sure that she will be there and will make sure that people listen, as she always does.
My hon. Friend Rachael Maskell continues her Bootham Park hospital campaign, on which I have worked with her before. She recognises the importance of land as an enabler for decent healthcare services and key worker housing, and I wish her luck with her campaign.
My hon. Friend Mr Sweeney talked about refugees and the value that they bring to our country, about renewable energy, about social housing, and about the importance of shipbuilding to his constituency. My hon. Friend Mary Glindon talked about the Public and Commercial Services Union and how its recent ballot worked; she also talked about drug and alcohol policy and ME.
Finally, we heard the 44th speech of the Session—quite remarkable work—from Jim Shannon, who also invited us to visit his constituency.
I talked about chaos earlier, but at least during the last few months the country has been blessed with weeks of wonderful sunshine, an exciting World cup to enjoy, and—for most of us—an England football team to be proud of. We have also had a royal wedding and a royal birth, and “Love Island” is beguiling the nation. Looking forward, I can tell any Members who are not tired of too much hot air so far this Session that in Bristol in August we will have the annual balloon fiesta, which I can highly recommend. In my constituency this weekend we will have the “Upfest”, a three-day festival celebrating some of the world’s best graffiti art. Apparently, 100 years of women’s suffrage will be celebrated in collaboration with “The Simpsons”; I have been told to watch out for a post-feminist Lisa.
Last year I invited Members to visit my constituency, the home of Bristol City football club, to watch some high-quality football. During the season, Watford, Stoke City, Crystal Palace and Manchester United found out about that high-quality football to their cost. I am sure there will be more victories in the coming months, but this year I extend a special invitation to followers of a different sport, as Bristol rugby team, the Bears, retake their place in the top division. My right hon. Friend Mr Bradshaw, Wera Hobhouse and Richard Graham will be particularly welcome.
Mr Speaker, it has not been dull: since last we broke at Easter it has been a veritable rollercoaster, and I am sure colleagues across the House are looking forward to some well-deserved down time with their families and friends, as am I. I offer a big thank you to all the House staff for their hard work in keeping this unique and wonderful estate running: the kitchen staff, the Clerks, security, housekeeping, facilities, and our own staff, as we have mentioned—the list is endless. I thank everyone present and wish everyone a happy, healthy and peaceful recess.
Paul Maynard Government Whip 6:45 pm, 24th July 2018
In these 95° temperatures, I am sure we have all noted Public Health England’s advice to stay indoors and I am glad that so many hon. Members have taken that advice today and gathered here. But this is a strange venue in which to seek shelter from the heat, given the heated debates we have had over recent weeks here—so hot that perhaps we ought to be wearing aluminised fibreglass suits to withstand the hot air that has been generated. None the less we were all gathered here. Sleepless nights, increased irritability, vexatious points of order—harmony has perhaps not been the watchword of this Chamber over recent weeks. But it has undoubtedly been an historic parliamentary term that will live long in history for what we have collectively achieved, and we can all say that we were there, even though many of us maybe wished we were not.
It is fitting that before our recess—a recess is not a holiday; we are all working hard; I have meetings too this week—we have had the traditional “Matters to be raised before the forthcoming Adjournment” debate. We have had many contributions, far more than usual, and I cannot guarantee to reply to every point raised, but my diligent officials will make sure that all relevant comments are passed on to the relevant Departments.
Many of us attend summer fetes—we have done so already and will do in the coming weeks—and this debate is rather like dipping our hand in a lucky dip bran tub. In it goes, we feel some indistinct, indeterminate shape between our fingers, pluck it out and wonder what it could be. Today it turned out to be the constituency correspondence of my hon. Friend Sir David Amess. We look at it and wonder what to do with it—I will respond in due course. We have also had two fine maiden speeches today, and I congratulate both Members on making them, in particular Janet Daby, who I see in her place. She gave a passionate speech and I look forward to her contributions in the House.
I will do my best to get to every Member who was here. Those who have not made it back for the wind-ups might not get my fullest attention, but those who are here will get an iota of my attention.
First and foremost, Clive Lewis spoke passionately about his town—
Clive Lewis Shadow Minister (Treasury)
Paul Maynard Government Whip
I beg the hon. Gentleman’s pardon; as Blackpool is only a town, not a city, I assume everywhere else has to be a town as well. He spoke passionately on behalf of his constituents and we heard what he had to say about the actions of Unilever in the city of Norwich.
On the speech by Dr Huq, I am delighted to hear that I achieved something during my relatively brief phase as HS2 Minister. I am also glad to hear that there is plenty more for my successor, my hon. Friend Ms Ghani, to engage in in the days and weeks to come. I heard with great sadness the story the hon. Lady told about young Sophie and I am sure the whole House passes on our thoughts to her family at what must be a very difficult time. My officials will make sure that the hon. Lady gets an answer to her question from the relevant Ministers about how the organ donation scheme might operate.
The speech of my hon. Friend the Member for Southend West was a masterclass in compression. I gather he raised 32 separate issues in seven minutes, which you, Mr Speaker, can only approve of: o si sic omnes—if only we could all achieve that, and I rather fear we might. He highlighted the rich fabric of community and voluntary activity in Southend, and again he plugged the case for Southend city status. I reiterate my two-for-one deal: if he backs Blackpool for that status, I will back Southend in turn, but I have heard only a deafening silence since our last recess debate.
Steve McCabe spoke with great passion. He reminded us of the significant benchmark for Louise Brown, a significant lady in the life of this country, and all that she represents. I particularly agreed with him about the unsuitability of using a travel lodge as a domestic violence refuge. I know the importance of the work that Fylde Coast Women’s Aid does, and the importance of refuges, and I am surprised that we still have to have recourse to using travel lodges for that purpose in this day and age.
My hon. Friend Bob Blackman disappointed me: I was hoping to hear rather more about yoga, which I know he is a great proponent of. Given the many contortions that hon. Members have had to go through in recent weeks, and the odd positions that they have found themselves in, yoga would no doubt have been very helpful. It might well come in useful in the weeks to come. None the less, my hon. Friend spoke sensibly about the Equitable Life issue, and drew our attention to his personal role in developing the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017, which I know is so important.
The hon. Members for Stoke-on-Trent North (Ruth Smeeth) and for Stretford and Urmston (Kate Green) spoke on the issue of new homes, and I entirely agree with all the points they made. I have seen some horror stories myself, and I am sure that the Government will be inspired to action. I know that the hon. Members’ pressure will continue. There were many ideas, particularly from the hon. Member for Stretford and Urmston, that I am sure Ministers will want to take forward.
It was a delight to spend seven minutes in Gibraltar with my hon. Friend Bob Stewart. I have no doubt that Ministers are more than aware of their responsibilities with regard to the people of Gibraltar. They are a valiant people on their Rock, and I am sure that we would not wish to let them down in these difficult times.
In responding to Susan Elan Jones, I shall avoid the temptation that many at this Dispatch Box often feel to criticise the Labour Government in Wales. I shall simply point out that there is always a great deal that we can learn from the devolved Administrations—even, just occasionally, the one in Edinburgh. I am never insensitive to what we can learn from Scotland.
My hon. Friend Rachel Maclean spoke with great personal insight and demonstrated how we all bring immense personal experience to our proceedings in the Chamber. There should be no taboos in the House of Commons. We should all be able to speak about what we have learned from our own lives. We all have a unique insight, and we should always feel free to contribute in that way.
Vernon Coaker spoke with his usual force and passion on the issue of mental health and the personal independence payment. I very much recognise the points that he made. It is a case of constant improvement with the PIP; we have to make sure that it continually improves. I know that Ministers are particularly focused on that matter, and the hon. Gentleman was right to raise it. I was disappointed to hear about the comments from the councillor he mentioned. I have fought long and hard to ensure that disability hate crime is recognised for what it is, and he was right to encourage people to continue to report examples of it.
Caroline Lucas spoke with her usual forthright trenchantness, if that is a word; I am not sure that it is. I hope that she will have welcomed the Home Secretary’s comments earlier today when he made his statement on the Shaw review. It is important to remember that anyone who is in detention, for whatever reason, is still a human being. They have a dignity that is unique to them as an individual.
Matt Rodda and my hon. Friend Fiona Bruce showed creativity in what they put forward for their local areas. I will make sure that the Arts Minister gets a bumper pack of things to think about over the summer.
My former MP, Jim Fitzpatrick—he is perhaps still my best former MP—again gave us proof of why he should always be listened to on issues of electrical and fire safety. His list of policy adjustments is not so much a Government achievement as his own, and it proves the Speaker’s adage, “Always persist.” He is certainly persistent on the things that matter most to him.
My hon. Friend Jeremy Lefroy demonstrated why he continues to be held in such high regard on both sides of the House. I am sure that he awaits our social care Green Paper with anticipation, as do I. I am also pleased that he joins me in welcoming the fact that Eritrea and Ethiopia are now getting on better. I saw a fascinating photo of the first flight from Asmara to Addis Ababa just the other day; that was good news.
My hon. Friend Alex Chalk overlooked the key fact that I am not the Rail Minister any more. None the less, the shadow Rail Minister, Rachael Maskell, is here to note his concerns, and I am sure that she will take them up. I could talk for half an hour about the CrossCountry franchise, but don’t worry—I won’t. However, my hon. Friend’s points about overcrowding were very well made.
I am delighted that Melanie Onn had the chance to visit more youth services in her constituency after what I am sure was her unintended oversight. She made an important point about the role of youth services in areas of greater deprivation, and I wholeheartedly agree with her on that. I also welcome the town deal that she mentioned, which gives me an idea to follow up in Blackpool, so I am grateful for that if nothing else.
I say to Siobhain McDonagh that what she described does not sound like a consultation; it just sounds like, “We’re not interested.” I wish her luck with her ninth campaign, and I hope that it is her last, but I am cynical, as I suspect she is.
The hon. Member for York Central raised some important points about the distribution of public land in her constituency and had ideas for new parks. I happen to think that parks are one of this country’s urban treasures, and we should always do more to promote them. I wish her well in her campaign.
It may be the first year that Mr Sweeney has been in the Chamber, but I can certainly say that he has made his eloquent presence felt. I welcomed his recap of stuff that I recognised from business question after business question after business question. His fortitude does him great credit.
Mary Glindon demonstrates why APPGs do matter in this place. Her forensic approach and knowledgeable contribution show that the hours spent in dusty Committee Rooms are not ill-spent at all.
To Jim Shannon, I say that it should be 344, not 44. I hope that he goes on forever and ever and ever, amen. I am sure that he will.
I am so grateful that Chris Stephens paid attention to my socks—so few do—but I hate to tell him that they are Australian, not Scottish. His allusions to “Game of Thrones” were wholly lost on me. I am a “Mad Men” fan, although I have only got to season four of that, so no spoilers, please. I am so busy being an MP that I do not have time to watch the latest television shows, but I am glad that he has the time to do so—only joking.
As we look to our summer recess, I note with some degree of trepidation that the Prime Minister is once again walking at high altitude. I hope she has a pleasant and relaxing break and no bright ideas. Just to be on the safe side, I am very much sticking to low-lying areas for any breaks that I may take.
I want to take this opportunity to thank you, Mr Speaker, for your stewardship over the past year, your team of Deputy Speakers, the Clerks who keep us ticking over, the catering staff who keep us fed and, most importantly, watered, the Library staff who fertilise our brains, and the security staff who protect us from all anxieties. I wish all right hon. and hon. Members the most calm and peaceful summer recess, because I think we all need a bit of a lie down after the time we have had recently, don’t we just?
Before we come to the petitions and any points of order that might precede them, I want to echo what the Lord Commissioner of Her Majesty’s Treasury has said on the Government’s behalf by way of appreciation. Perhaps I can start by thanking all colleagues who have contributed to this debate, but more widely I want to recognise the conscientious application to their task that they have shown ever since we came back after the general election. Whatever may be said about colleagues, and whatever people think of politicians, I know from my vantage point how hard and dedicatedly people on both sides of the political spectrum work in the Chamber, in Committees, in all-party groups and in constituency-related meetings and that should be recognised. People are trying to do the right thing by their constituents and their country. I thank colleagues for their engagement.
I thank the Leader of the House, who applies herself with enormous intensity and commitment to the work that she has to do, and wish her a very agreeable and well-earned summer break. I wish the same to the deputy shadow Leader of the House. Recognising that we can do what we do only because we are magnificently served by a vast number of dedicated, caring, efficient and effective staff at all levels of the House, I thank the staff of the House. Their work does not go unnoticed, and it will always be appreciated. Have a good summer.
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. First, I think everyone would associate themselves with those remarks.
May I apologise to the House for not mentioning my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests before my speech? I should have referred to my entry, and I did not. I apologise to the House for not doing so.
I am extremely grateful to the hon. Gentleman for what he has said, which I think will be readily accepted by everyone in the House.
If I might be forgiven, I want to say thank you once again to our maiden speakers. We heard two outstanding speeches. Jared O’Mara is not now in his place, but I have offered my respects to him. I reiterate to Janet Daby that hers was a speech of great passion, authority and empathy. My very clear sense is that it commanded enormous support and respect across the House, and I wish her and the hon. Gentleman a very good experience here in the House of Commons.
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Cherished Places - Part 2
There is something both odd and wonderful about a group that is meant to be together. I don't know how these things happen but they do. It doesn't matter what type of group it is. It can be a football team, a start-up company or a rock and roll band. For some reason the magic is there from the start and subconsciously, everybody knows it. There is a confidence, a power that cannot be extinguished. For us, it was exactly that way. Sure, we were cocky, we were arrogant, and we were sometimes jerks ... but we had the power. We knew we could do anything! To this day I do not know why things happened so quickly for us. One day you're struggling in a band that nobody cares about. You set your crappy equipment up as the opening act at some podunk club, you play your set, a couple of drunks in the audience demand you to play "Louie Louie" or "Gloria", and then you slink off and watch the real acts perform. I HATED being the opening act for anybody. I loved playing music. But eagles must fly with eagles. And at that early stage of my music career, I think I was trying to fly with a group of skunks ... but they were really nice skunks that didn't really mean to stink. They were doing their very best to sprout wings and learn more than three chords. OK then. Here is one of my basic philosophies.
To be able to play music is a joy for the soul. To be able to perform it in front of other people is a rare and wonderful gift. It should be cherished and not abused. Drugs usually screwed music up. I know, I know, many people think it makes them better musicians. Many of our friends felt that way and would never have thought of performing straight. It really used to piss me off when I'd see a roadie holding up some guitar player by the back of his pants, hidden in the shadows, because he was so messed up he couldn't stand up on his own. Drugs screw with your timing. They distort your energy. They mess with your mind. They make your fingers slow and clumsy or way too fast. They can take that critical edge away that is so necessary for the show to go on. Sometimes, in the middle of a song, I just knew it suddenly had to go in another direction. With a look, with a word, with a gesture, the entire band could suddenly take a left turn and follow me to new heights. That was creativity..That was talent...that's what playing music was all about. On drugs, it was like a hook and ladder fire engine that turned left and the guy steering the back kept going straight. OH SHIT! LOOOOOOOK OUT!!!! Enough said.
Palm Trees and Shore Breezes at the Coconut Grove
There were three places we played on a regular basis that I will never forget. One of them I just visited a few weeks ago. I had not been there in 20 years. The Coconut Grove on the Boardwalk at Santa Cruz was a dream place to play. The room was hot, sweaty and packed with kids on a Saturday night. More than once the fire marshal would come through just before a show to sweep the place clean of all the extra bodies that had exceeded the occupancy level. They could only fit 500 folks and there were always more than 600. It was wall to wall people with big grins on their faces. After the fire marshal had gone, the place would swell back up even bigger than it was before. Nobody gave a damn! It was here one night that the song "I'm A Man" changed from a 4-minute song to a 10 minute one with the entire audience joining in to sing with us. I don't know how it happened, it just did! We never performed the short version again.
Arriving at a show hours before you went on was a feeling I could never get a handle on. I was always the last one to arrive. The group knew it was just something I needed to do. I never wanted to see the other groups performing before us. It distracted me. It stole my edge. I remember a couple of groups we played with and some of them had big hit records, their band members were vomiting back stage they were so scared before they went on. Give me a break! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING UP HERE IF YOU ARE SO SCARED? Get a grip! I remember one time at the San Jose Civic Auditorium, I was so late the band had already started into the first song without me. Walking through the lobby, I heard Marks' guitar notes ringing out as I walked through the crowd to the stage before grabbing the microphone and starting to sing. Everybody thought it was so cool and that we had planned it that way. Not true. I thought we went on stage half an hour later than we really did. I never cut it that close ever again. To this day, I can still see that big frown on Mark's face and the huge smile on Bill's and Sean's. During a show, it was not uncommon for me to lose five pounds in pure sweat. That much energy was expended in an hour. Best workout anybody could ever have.
'Pushing Too Hard' at the Continental Roller Rink
The Continental Roller Rink in San Jose was my second favorite place to perform. There were two stages, one on each end of the roller rink. It was here one night that my old fraternity buddies opened the evening for us in a band that at the moment was kinda strange. They were clean cut, they did not have long hair - the true badge of rebellion - and they wore white furry Cossack hats on their heads. Granted, they were good musicians but nobody paid much attention to them. They should have. One year later, with the hats gone, we all watched them on Ed Sullivan playing their hit "Suzie Q". It was here one night we had a whipped cream pie fight with the 'Other Side'. The promoters had set the whole thing up and we thought it was a great idea. IMPORTANT SAFETY TIP: NEVER hold a pie fight on a hardwood floor. With Jell-O and whipped cream on it, it suddenly turns into greased glass! And, of course, remember that the aerial dynamics of an aluminum foil pie plate, top heavy with Jell-O, makes anyone in the audience a potential target also. And, of course, once hit, the audience feels obliged to rush the pie tables and join in! Hello CHAOS! The most bizarre result, however, were all the people who went home with whipped cream in their hair. The roller rink was probably 80 degrees in temperature, and there was no place to wash this stuff out of your hair. Talk about a great mousse! The looks we got from other motorists at red lights were beyond belief. They wouldn't have looked any more surprised if Jabba the Hut had just stepped out of their shower back home.....
Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco
My favorite place of all to play, however, was the old Fillmore Auditorium. Located in the run-down heart of the San Francisco Tenderloin, it was where music born in garages reached out and touched the heavens. The weekend before we were to play there for the first time, I remember standing in a long line waiting to get in. Down the line comes this guy, short, stocky and very swarthy, checking everybody for booze. Drugs were fine; liquor in breakable bottles was out. As he came up to us, we told him we were the Watchband and we were playing there the next weekend. Suddenly his gruff demeanor changed into a big broad smile. Taking us by the arms, he cut a swathe through the crowds and led us directly inside. This was our first meeting with Bill Graham. How do I describe the Fillmore? It was dark, it was warm, and it was like a living womb. It was the strangest place on the planet. Liquid light shows powered by secret mixtures of food coloring, water and cooking oil undulated all over the walls like giant amoebas devouring everything in their paths. On stage, The Dead warbled on and on and on to the delight of the heavily sedated crowd. Gracie sat in the dressing room charming the pants off of just about any man who walked in while Paul just glared at her. Carlos sat there intensely playing the same riffs over and over again as he warmed up his fingers. Janice laughed and smiled and drank straight from the bottle. That weekend, a band played I will never forget. What in the world IS THIS MUSIC? After the show, they were selling their new album in the lobby and when I walked up to the singer, I couldn't get within 5 feet of him..He STUNK SO BAD! Hello soap and water. I'd like to introduce you to Frank Zappa....
That Saturday night, while the rest of the guys were mingling with the crowd, I found myself upstairs in the dressing room, staring out the window at the hookers on Fillmore Street below. I was absolutely fascinated watching them pick up men, getting into cars and driving off. Some returned in less than ten minutes. They MUST have been good!
HOW THINGS MIGHT HAVE BEEN DIFFERENT:
That first night we played at the Fillmore, two strange things happened. First, one-hour before we were to go on stage, the local musicians union sent a representative to tell Bill the bad news! He was paying the CWB too much for non-scale musicians. We could not go on stage unless there was a paid union musician up there with us. Bill LOST IT! I've never heard so many swear words in my entire life strung together so eloquently without a hint of breathing. Somewhere out there, drifting through outer space, those words still exist. Someday, some alien civilization is going to stumble upon them and the future of our planet may hang in the balance. But, what I love to this day, was his solution to the problem. In a calm but firm voice, he said, "Fine! In exactly 45 minutes, I want a union TUBA PLAYER to be here on stage with this group to perform all their songs. Nothing else will do so you better get on it or get out of here!" And, the tuba player showed up! He sat during the entire show at the side of the stage never blowing into his mouthpiece. Man, I was hoping he would play the harmonica part to "Mystic Eyes" with me .... Oh well.
The other thing I remember about that night was that Bill came up to the dressing room after the show and asked us if he could be our manager. He was thinking of opening up a Fillmore East and along with his other two bands, the Dead and the Airplane, the three of us would shuttle back and forth across the country to play. Who knew? Exactly four days earlier we had signed with Ron Roupe who had caught one of our shows at the San Jose Civic Auditorium. To this day, I can only shake my head wondering how things might have been different if we had signed with Bill Graham. Isn't it amazing how just four days can make all the difference in your life?
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Piedmont Wagon Company
In 1911, local writer George Hahn wrote that Hickory "was cradled in a wagon bed." Though Hahn's prose is arguably hyperbolic, Hickory's development throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth century is due in so small part to the success of the Piedmont Wagon Company. Founded by George C. Bonniwell and Andy L. Ramseur, operations began in 1878. By 1880, the company relocated to be closer to the train tracks, and the production of wagons became the town's largest industry throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Though the company was successful, a number of tax liens and the growing automobile industry resulted in the closure of the Piedmont Wagon Company in the 1940s. Many of the Piedmont buildings were bulldozed or lost in fires, though one remains in relatively good condition. The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985 for its significance in the growth of Hickory into a successful trading center in the late nineteenth century.
Front of the sole surviving Piedmont Wagon Company building
The making of wagon wheels (October 8th, 1918)
In 1878, George C. Bonniwell (1837-1912), a New York native who moved to Hickory in the 1870s, and Andrew (Andy) L. Ramseur (1817-1906) founded the Piedmont Wagon Company on the outskirts of Hickory. The wagon company was one of the first major industries in the town that would help establish Hickory as a major trading center. By 1880, the company relocated to have easier access to the railroad and was incorporated two years later. The company began with $20,000 in capital stock, and would eventually consist of thirteen buildings.
The company employed over 100 workers and could produce 1,000 wagons per month, making it one of the county's most efficient wagon producers. The division of labor at the factory was reflected in the constituent parts of the plant--the lumber yard, blacksmith shop paint shop, bed department, and shipping department--and the company hired skilled workers and general laborers.
Neither of the founders stayed with the company for long. Ramseur, who was sixty-two years old in 1880, returned to operating his mills and forge at Horseford Shoals. George Bonniwell left the Wagon Company and founded the Hickory Cooperative Association in 1881, which was later known as the Hickory Manufacturing Company, a woodworking plant which made sashes, doors, blinds, inside trim, and other building material. George Harvey Geitner operated as the superintendent of the business until 1918, even though the company was sold to New York investors and renamed the Piedmont Wagon and Manufacturing Co. in 1910.
During World War I, the company entered into a contract with the French government to supply 1,000 ammunition wagons within sixty days that each weighed 1,400 pounds and required three horses to pull, which was a modified version of their typical 800 pound model that could be pulled by two horses. This contract was reportedly worth $130,000, which, when accounting for inflation, is $3.2 million today. In 1917, the company established a second government contract with the United States to supply wagons for the soldiers.
The company traded hands again in 1924, when Daniel E. Rhyne, a benefactor of Lenoir-Rhyne College, purchased it for $300,000. However, after Rhyne purchased the company, he had to face tax controversy and a lawsuit because the previous owners failed to pay taxes from 1917-1919. The company was represented in court by Marion Butler, a former United States senator, and their defense was that Daniel Rhyne's nephew, Preston Rhyne, who was the company's secretary and treasurer during the time in question, was just a country boy ignorant of corporations and the law. This would not be the only time that the company faced tax issues, however. As the firm was sold to Henry Leonard in the 1940s and production halted with the rise of the automobile industry, tax liens were placed on the property beginning in 1948 for failure to pay taxes from 1943-1947, resulting in the folding of the business. A fire in 1958 destroyed all but the 2 1/2-story "L" shaped building that still stands today, which had a brick firewall constructed around it to prevent fire damage and was auctioned in 1958. The Hickory Development Corporation bought the property for $60,000 with the intention of using it for new industrial and business sites. In 2015, the Cornerstone United Inc., a company providing warranty solutions, renovated the building for office space.
The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 15th, 1985, for its association to the Piedmont Wagon Company, which helped establish Hickory as one of the dominant trading centers of the late-nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries.
About Us, Cornerstone United. Accessed December 13th 2019. https://www.cornerstoneunited.com/english/about.html.
Bandel, Jessica A. Piedmont Wagon Company Keeps Army Rolling, NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. August 17th 2017. Accessed December 13th 2019. https://www.ncdcr.gov/blog/2017/08/17/piedmont-wagon-company-keeps-army-rolling.
https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/community/gaston-catawba/article9258761.html.
Hahn, George W. The Catawba Solider of the Civil War. Hickory, NC. Clay Printing Company, 1911.
Phillips, Laura A. W. Piedmont Wagon Company, National Register of Historic Places. March 15th 1985. Accessed December 13th 2019. https://files.nc.gov/ncdcr/nr/CT0183.pdf.
Piedmont Wagon Company, Western Piedmont Museum of Labor & Industrial History. Accessed December 13th 2019. https://workinginthefoothills.weebly.com/piedmont-wagon.html.
Williams, Wiley J. Piedmont Wagon Company, NCPedia. Accessed December 13th 2019. https://www.ncpedia.org/piedmont-wagon-company.
Canrobert, Mary. Piedmont Wagon Building Begins New Life, The Charlotte Observer. January 17th 2015. Accessed December 13th 2019.
https://www.hickorync.gov/content/west-hickorywestmont-neighborhood-association-0
https://www.ncdcr.gov/blog/2017/08/17/piedmont-wagon-company-keeps-army-rolling
1022 Main Ave NW
Business and Economic Development
Created by Jeremy Wood on December 13th 2019, 7:55:39 pm.
Last updated by Jeremy Wood on December 13th 2019, 8:05:43 pm.
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4K Hot Takes: Baywatch & Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2
Jeremy Lebens September 9, 2017 Leave a comment
I know you’re probably thinking that I’m running this piece just a few weeks too late, but I’ve had one heck of a month and would feel completely useless if I couldn’t provide SOME information in regards to the latest 4K Ultra HD Blu-rays that I’ve been watching.
I had hoped that I could publish full reviews of both titles, but time hasn’t been on my side — so you’ll have to settle for some brief overviews!
Without further ado, let’s dive into the films…
A lot of people have already wrote up their think pieces on Paramount’s attempted Baywatch reboot. It didn’t do so hot this summer, yet studios are blaming the likes of Rotten Tomatoes and critical lashing, instead of just admitting that they didn’t market it good enough and that the overall film just wasn’t on par with something as creative and clever like 21 Jump Street, despite the star power of Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron and despite the R-rated raunchy comedy approach.
I’ll admit that I’m guilty of trying to come around to the film. My theatrical viewing left me at a crossroads. I wanted it to be funnier than it ever was and because of that I never really had much of a desire to want to re-visit it on the big screen.
Yet, the 4K UHD disc was something I wanted to add to my collection, partly because the format is still new and I’m trying to support it in any way possible and the other part being that the film is mostly a bright and sun-drenched feature, so why not showoff those colors in HDR on my 4K set?
I’ve watched the disc several times, viewing both the original theatrical cut and the unrated extended cut and I can safely say that the 4K disc shines. As I assumed, the daylight content (which is most of the film) soars in 4K, with clarity becoming absolutely beautiful and colors popping off the screen and into my eye sockets. Specifically, pay close attention to the red swimsuits and the blue skies and ocean. There’s a lot of life and color to this film’s presentation and quick references to the 1080p Blu-ray reinforce the noticeable improvement of 4K UHD.
Those looking to beef up their 4K collection with an R-rated comedy will want to pickup Baywatch, because while it’s not the most original or funny film of the year, it definitely works its magic between the two stars and their supporting cast. It tries a little too hard to be more than it truly is and that is where the film starts to crack.
Moving onto Disney’s first 4K UHD title brings us to James Gunn‘s widely successful Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. I’ve watched this film about four times now and I can still confirm what I said in my original review, which is that it is a good film, but a far cry from the first one and definitely not one of my favorite Marvel flicks.
That being said, Disney’s 4K disc is a knockout in every way that counts. The film’s use of HDR is demo worthy in almost every scene, with golds, blues and generally bright colors making strong use of the increased resolution and presentation. Black levels are consistently milky and smooth, while the ATMOS track bangs the film’s memorable soundtrack on high blast.
Disney has also bundled the 4K disc with a 1080p Blu-ray and a digital copy, which is sort of the trend for 4K combo packs. It’s nice to see them taking clues from other studios, but some are complaining that their digital copy only redeems in 1080p, while Disney has a digital only version of the film available for purchase, which includes the Dolby Vision version. Those of you with Dolby Vison-capable TVs may want to read into the comparisons between the 4K UHD disc and the Dolby Vision version, to see which one will give you the best bang for your buck.
I personally always prefer physical discs, because they generally have higher bit rates and don’t require an internet connection. Also, physically owning something is just so much more rewarding.
I’m glad Disney has joined the 4K arena and I surely hope they continue to pump out reference titles like this from here on out.
Would it hurt them to release the first film while they’re at it?
Jeremy Lebens
I talk about films longer than anyone is willing to listen. My favorite genres are horror, sci-fi and action (better be R-rated!) and I have a slight obsession with Blu-rays and the whole high definition craze.
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Trudeau vows better gathering and release of pandemic data
Daniel LeblancParliamentary affairs reporter
Published April 2, 2020 Updated April 2, 2020
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he will soon be able to give Canadians a better sense of the impact COVID-19 is going to have on this country but he isn’t able to do it yet. The Canadian Press
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he will work with provincial governments to improve the sharing of data and to start the release of precise projections on the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic across Canada.
“There has been tremendous transparency on the raw data,” Mr. Trudeau said at his daily news conference on Thursday. “The question of the analysis of those numbers is the next question. People want to know what the model is, how long they are likely to be in this situation, when can kids see their friends again, when are we going to be through this phase and get back to work.”
A number of governments around the world have publicly shared their internal projections for the domestic spread of the coronavirus.
In Canada, there has been a wide discrepancy between the data that is provided by provincial authorities on a daily basis – in addition to different levels of transparency on internal projections.
Mr. Trudeau said there is a wide range of predictions available to federal and provincial officials, from best-case to worst-case scenarios, but that he favours the release of more precise information to the Canadian public. He added the quality of the numbers will improve as provinces reduce their testing backlogs.
“We are improving the quality of the data, we are coordinating with the provinces to make sure that the data is consistent right across the country and that is the numbers that we are putting through the various models. As we get those models more accurate, we look forward to sharing them with Canadians,” he said.
The Prime Minister said he would be discussing the matter later in the day with his provincial and territorial counterparts, saying it is important for all Canadians to have a better sense of the spread of the disease and to start having a sense of the duration of the public-health crisis.
In addition, Mr. Trudeau said he will also be discussing the distribution of medical equipment with premiers and territorials leaders. He said Canada has recently received an order of one million medical masks, which are currently getting ready to be distributed out of a warehouse in Hamilton.
Follow Daniel Leblanc on Twitter @danlebla
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The Republic of the Congo is often confused with the much larger Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire). Therefore, the Republic of the Congo is often referred to as Congo-Brazzaville – in contrast to Congo-Kinshasa. The only difference between the two states is the Congo River and its Ubangi tributary.
The Republic of the Congo is located in Central Africa between the states of Gabon, Cameroon and the Central African Republic. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is also directly adjacent to the Republic of the Congo. The partly magnificent beaches in Congo are washed by the Atlantic Ocean.
traveler find a much friendlier and less threatening atmosphere in the Republic of the Congo than in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The country is best known for the lowland gorillas and chimpanzees (80% of the entire population are found in the Republic of the Congo), which live in the dense rainforests. In the unfortunately very hard to reach Odzala National Park in the northwest you can observe these primates alongside forest elephants – this park is one of the most wonderful places in the world.
Generally speaking, travel security in Congo has improved enormously since 2003.
The origin of the name of the Congo state has not been fully clarified. However, it is known that the first slave trade at the mouth of the Congo River must have taken place as early as the 17th century. The first French mission to the Congo was established in 1766. A military site later emerged here. The city of Brazzaville developed from this in the further course of history. The French occupiers, who turned the entire region into a French colony, had a great cultural influence in the country. The French language is still the official language in the Congo, and the dishes of France are still widespread.
Area: 342,000 km² (land: 341,500 km², water: 500 km²)
Population: 4.24 million residents (July 2011, COUNTRYAAH.COM). With 97% of the population is almost exclusively of Bantu peoples together (48% Congo, 20% Sangha, 12% Mboshi, 17% Teke), continue to live va in the northeastern forest and marsh regions pygmies (1% of the population) as well as Europeans in the capital region.
Population density: 12.4 residents per km², very sparsely populated.
Population growth: 2.835% per year (2011, CIA)
Capital: Brazzaville (approx.1.3 million residents, 2006).
Here is a detailed list of the largest cities in the Republic of the Congo.
Highest point: Mount Berongou, 903 m
Form of government: Congo gained independence from France on August 15, 1960, and Congo became a presidential republic on August 9, 2002. The constitution dates from 2002. The transitional parliament consists of 75 appointed members. The change from military rule to a democratic system has always been accompanied by unrest and civil wars. There was an armistice between the parties in 2003, and since then the security situation has improved.
Administrative division: 10 regions (Bouenza, Cuvette, Cuvette-Ouest, Kouilou, Lekoumou, Likouala, Niari, Plateaux, Pool and Sangha) and one commune (Brazzaville).
Head of state: President Denis Sassou-Nguesso, since October 25, 1997
Head of government: Prime Minister Isidore Mvouba, since January 7, 2005
Language: The official language in the country is French. Lingala (in the north) and Kituba (in the south) are important commercial and transport languages. In addition, many regional dialects such as Sanga, Téké, Ubangi and Kikongo (the most widely used regional dialect) are spoken.
Religion: about 50% of the population are Christian (about 40% Catholics, about 10% Protestants). There is also a small Muslim community that makes up about 2% of the population. About half of the Congolese believe in traditional African religions.
Local time: CET.
There is no daylight saving time change in the Republic of the Congo.
The time difference to Central Europe is 0 h in winter and -1 h in summer
Internet identifier:.kp
Mains voltage: 220 V, 50 Hz. An adapter is recommended.
The Republic of the Congo is located in the northeast of the Congo Basin. In the north, the country borders on Cameroon and the Central African Republic. In the east, the country is bordered by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in the southwest by the Atlantic Ocean and the Angolan enclave Cabinda. Gabon is located in the west of the Republic of the Congo.
Brazzaville, the capital, is located by the Malebo pool (sea-like extension of the Congo River). The capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kinshasa, is on the opposite bank.
Here you can find a detailed topographic map of the Republic of the Congo.
The narrow, sandy coastal plain is interspersed with lagoons and covered with mangrove vegetation and wet savannah.
Following this level, the country rises to a high plateau, the greatest heights are reached at the Gabon border at 1,040 m. More than half of the Republic of the Congo (57.2%) is covered with tropical rainforests.
Large swamp areas lie on the rivers Ubangi and Sanga in the northeastern part of the country. These rivers and the Congo drain these swamps.
Rivers are often the only inland connections, although the Congo is only usable for larger ships above the Malebo pool.
The majority of the population lives in the south of the Republic of the Congo. In 2005, the largest cities were Brazzaville (approximately 1.1 million), Point-Noire (approximately 630,000), Loubomo (approximately 115,000) and Nyaki (approximately 56,000).
Population in the Republic of the Congo
This map of the population distribution in the Republic of the Congo was created by the Worldmapper team. Densely populated areas appear bloated, the area of sparsely populated areas is reduced. The shape of the grid has been preserved; an underlying map with the original geographical extent helps interpret the map. The distorted map should help to present abstract statistical information clearly.
Destinations in AfricaRepublic of the Congo
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Nureyev's Canceled Ballet Mirrors His Soviet-Era Persecution (Op-ed)
The story of the legendary dancer's life could provide answers as to what happened at the Bolshoi Theater this week
By Katerina Gordeyeva
Director Kirill Serebrennikov with the cast of “Nureyev,” after the Ballet's premiere was canceled, July 11, 2017. Kirill Serebrennikov / Facebook
*This article first appeared in The New Times.
Perhaps Rudolf Nureyev's biography holds the key to what just happened at the Bolshoi Theater.
Days before the premiere of a ballet chronicling his life of work, love, and hate, the Theater canceled the performances, saying the ballet was not ready.
Nureyev was a brilliant dancer. But he was also a Soviet defector, openly homosexual and had been diagnosed with AIDS.
It is hard to know which of these factors played a role in the cancelation.
Nureyev was born on a train not far from Irkutsk. He learned to dance from the great St. Petersburg ballerina Anna Udaltsova who had been exiled to Ufa and out of sheer desperation had taken a position teaching choreography at the local Palace of Culture.
Nureyev’s mother was a housewife and his father a political instructor in the army. His parents felt that ballet was not masculine enough for their son and Nureyev had bitter memories of his father beating him for attending ballet classes.
Although he entered the Leningrad school of choreography after great difficulty and much delay, Nureyev became one of its most brilliant graduates, earning a position with the Kirov Ballet, now the Mariinsky.
Leap of Freedom
In 1961, the year Nureyev was recognized as the world’s best dancer, the Kirov Ballet embarked on an international tour. The troupe was to stop first in Paris, then in London.
According to the Soviet rules for touring abroad, performers could only move about in groups of five or more, communicate with approved persons, and take their meals in the presence of their Soviet “handler.”
Nureyev rebelled. He and ballerina Alla Osipenko ran off to dinner at a castle owned by the sister of French actress Marina Vlady. They did everything they could to soak in Paris. The Soviet authorities accused Nureyev of behavior unbefitting a Soviet performer and removed him from the tour. The troupe went on to London without him.
Then, at the Paris-Le Bourget airport, Nureyev achieved what would later be called his “leap to freedom.” Seeking political asylum in France, Nureyev would become the first Soviet defector. In response, the Soviet authorities convicted him in absentia of betraying the Motherland. He was sentenced to seven years and stripped of his property. Nureyev’s only request to Soviet officials, that they allow his mother to visit him, was never granted.
Mikhail Gorbachev personally granted Nureyev permission to enter the country for 72 hours in 1987 to say goodbye to his dying mother. He was forbidden to speak with anyone else.
In 1989 Nureyev danced in several performances on the home stage of the Kirov Theater, and in 1992, a few months before his death, he directed “The Nutcracker” in Kazan, his mother’s hometown.
"This “traitor to the Motherland” was rehabilitated only in 1998, five years after his death."
This was in response to what the Prosecutor General’s Office referred to as “numerous appeals from the mass media.”
To the rest of the world, Nureyev remains forever Russian. He was born in Russia and it was in Russia that he first achieved greatness. He is both the pride and pain of this country, which never issued him the apology he deserved.
History Repeated
Nureyev was a strange, sharp-tongued, vulnerable and, at times, rude and difficult person. He was also a brilliant dancer. He shone in the Royal Danish Ballet, the Royal Ballet of England, and the Vienna Opera. He also led the ballet troupe of the Paris Grand Opera.
Even in declining health, he performed up to 300 times per year, working through holidays and weekends, granting himself nothing so that he could devote all his energy to the art for which he lived — and compared to which, nothing else really mattered.
He was also one of the world’s first open homosexuals, a beloved and loving figure. The main relationship of his life was a long and troubled affair with Erik Bruhn, the leading dancer of the Royal Danish Ballet.
He was also one of the first public victims of HIV, an illness virtually unknown at the time. He lived with the disease for almost ten years, dying in 1993 from AIDS-related complications.
"So in today’s Russia, which part of Nureyev’s biography are still considered unimportant or even taboo for a Russian audience? His birth on a train? His exiled teacher? His defection abroad? His homosexuality? Or perhaps his disease?"
When the management of the Bolshoi Theater signed a contract with another brilliant star — renowned stage and film director Kirill Serebrennikov — was it seriously imagining that he would stage a fictionalized and sanitized portrayal of Nureyev?
Four years ago Serebrennikov was offered a state grant to do a biopic about Tchaikovsky that would have “corrected” the composer’s sexual orientation. Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky actually said so openly, declaring that the state would support a film devoted to “the genius Tchaikovsky, and not to rumors about his biography.”
When he heard that, Serebrennikov returned the money he had received from the Culture Ministry and continued with other work.
In the years since, Serebrennikov has reinvigorated the Gogol Center, turning it into an artistic powerhouse and a center of cultural Enlightenment for the rest of the country.
Those who know him say that the director almost never takes a day off, that he is constantly staging plays, shooting films, and developing new projects. They say he has one overriding obsession — art. Not politics, not squabbles connected with the theater, and not financial gain.
It would be nothing less than poetic justice and a triumph for art were Serebrennikov to tell the story of Nureyev from Russia’s premier stage, the Bolshoi Theater. However, that did not come to pass. Now the authorities are promising to run the show on the very eve of Putin’s next presidential inauguration, in May 2018.
Only three shows were ever canceled at the Bolshoi Theater: Dmitry Shostakovich’s, because he broke with the party line, Yury Grigorovich’s “Swan Lake,” because former Culture Minister Yekaterina Furtseva disliked the sad ending, and the premiere of the Mikael Tariverdiev ballet “Girl and Death” because the country’s Arts Council axed it.
Russia's Forbidden Dancer Rudolf Nureyev
The story of the Nureyev show’s cancelation — or its postponement until a “better time” — is all the more dramatic given the criminal case leveled against Serebrennikov’s Seventh Studio and the fact that Investigative Committee agents have already visited the Gogol Center as well as the homes of Serebrennikov and more than a dozen of the theater’s employees.
Former Seventh Studio General Producer Alexei Malobrodsky and accountant Nina Maslyayeva have been taken into custody, and its director, Yury Itin, is under house arrest.
Investigators allege not only that the employees embezzled funds allocated for the staging of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” but that the production never even opened. Leading Russian and foreign theater professionals have spoken out in support of Serebrennikov and the Seventh Studio, including Bolshoi Theater Director Vladimir Urin, a man known in theatrical circles for his strong-willed, forceful, and unbending character.
Even while under investigation, Serebrennikov has managed to produce the opera “Chaadsky” in the Helikon-Opera House, began filming a movie about Viktor Tsoi, and was preparing for the premiere of Nureyev.
He is also perhaps the first prominent cultural figure in modern Russian history that the authorities have targeted for systematic harassment.
The state never apologized to Nureyev for his persecution. Perhaps Serebrennikov will be more lucky.
Ekaterina Gordeyeva is a Russian journalist.
The Bolshoi Ballet ‘Nureyev’ Just Wasn't Ready, Really (Op-ed)
The views expressed in opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the position of The Moscow Times.
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When masked men raided Moscow's hippest theatre the Gogol Center and interrogated its internationally famous director Kirill Serebrennikov, artists rallied...
Bolshoi Theater Postpones Premiere of Anticipated Ballet on Gay Dancer
“[The story of Nureyev] was the wrong topic, by the wrong guy at the wrong time."
Je Suis Malobrodsky: Theater, Politics and Russian Scandal
This incident is a continuation of a late May attempt to attack Gogol Center’s prominent artistic director Kirill Serbrennikov. Watch this case. Its...
opinion Alexei Zakharov
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US revises Canada, Mexico trade deal; Trump celebrates as return to 'manufacturing powerhouse'
Updated: 12:38 PM CDT Oct 1, 2018
President Donald Trump on Monday celebrated a revised North American trade deal with Canada and Mexico as a return of the United States to a "manufacturing powerhouse," vowing to sign the agreement by late November.But the president noted that the deal would need to be ratified by Congress, a step that could be complicated by the outcome of the fall congressional elections. When told he seemed confident of congressional approval, he said he was "not at all confident" but felt ratification would be granted if lawmakers took the correct action."Anything you submit to Congress is trouble no matter what," Trump said, predicting that Democrats would say, "Trump likes it so we're not going to approve it."Trump embraced the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement during a Rose Garden ceremony, branding the pact the "USMCA." The president said the name has a "good ring to it," repeating U-S-M-C-A several times.The agreement was forged just before a midnight deadline imposed by the U.S. to include Canada in a deal reached with Mexico late in the summer. It replaces the 24-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement, which Trump has lambasted as a job-wrecking disaster that has hollowed out the nation's industrialized base.Flanked by Cabinet members, Trump said the pact is the "most important deal we've ever made by far," covering $1.2 trillion in trade. The president said his administration had not yet agreed to lift tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada, a contentious issue between the two neighbors.For Trump, the agreement reached in the weeks before the November congressional elections offers vindication for his hardline trade policies that have roiled relations with China, the European Union and America's North American neighbors while causing concerns among Midwest farmers and manufacturers worried about retaliation.Trump's advisers view the trade pact as a political winner in Midwest battleground states critical to the president's 2016 victory and home to tens of thousands of auto workers and manufacturers who could benefit from the changes.Trump said he would sign the final agreement in late November, in about 60 days, and the pact is expected to be signed by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and outgoing Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto before he leaves office Dec. 1. Trump said he spoke to Trudeau by phone and told reporters that their recent tensions didn't affect the deal-making. "He's a professional. I'm a professional," Trump said, calling it a "fair deal."Pena Nieto will be replaced by President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, whose incoming administration said the deal would offer more certainty for financial markets, investment and job creation.Ratifying the deal is likely to stretch into 2019 because once Trump and the leaders from Canada and Mexico sign the agreement, the administration and congressional leaders will need to write legislation to implement the deal and win passage in Congress.Trump threatened to go ahead with a revamped NAFTA, with or without Canada. It was unclear, however, whether Trump had authority from Congress to pursue a revamped NAFTA with only Mexico.NAFTA tore down most trade barriers between the United States, Canada and Mexico, leading to a surge in trade among them. But Trump and other critics said it encouraged manufacturers to move south of the border to take advantage of low Mexican wages, costing American jobs.___Gillies reported from Toronto. AP Business Writer Paul Wiseman reported from Washington.
President Donald Trump on Monday celebrated a revised North American trade deal with Canada and Mexico as a return of the United States to a "manufacturing powerhouse," vowing to sign the agreement by late November.
But the president noted that the deal would need to be ratified by Congress, a step that could be complicated by the outcome of the fall congressional elections. When told he seemed confident of congressional approval, he said he was "not at all confident" but felt ratification would be granted if lawmakers took the correct action.
"Anything you submit to Congress is trouble no matter what," Trump said, predicting that Democrats would say, "Trump likes it so we're not going to approve it."
Trump embraced the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement during a Rose Garden ceremony, branding the pact the "USMCA." The president said the name has a "good ring to it," repeating U-S-M-C-A several times.
The agreement was forged just before a midnight deadline imposed by the U.S. to include Canada in a deal reached with Mexico late in the summer. It replaces the 24-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement, which Trump has lambasted as a job-wrecking disaster that has hollowed out the nation's industrialized base.
Flanked by Cabinet members, Trump said the pact is the "most important deal we've ever made by far," covering $1.2 trillion in trade. The president said his administration had not yet agreed to lift tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada, a contentious issue between the two neighbors.
For Trump, the agreement reached in the weeks before the November congressional elections offers vindication for his hardline trade policies that have roiled relations with China, the European Union and America's North American neighbors while causing concerns among Midwest farmers and manufacturers worried about retaliation.
Trump's advisers view the trade pact as a political winner in Midwest battleground states critical to the president's 2016 victory and home to tens of thousands of auto workers and manufacturers who could benefit from the changes.
Trump said he would sign the final agreement in late November, in about 60 days, and the pact is expected to be signed by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and outgoing Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto before he leaves office Dec. 1. Trump said he spoke to Trudeau by phone and told reporters that their recent tensions didn't affect the deal-making. "He's a professional. I'm a professional," Trump said, calling it a "fair deal."
Pena Nieto will be replaced by President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, whose incoming administration said the deal would offer more certainty for financial markets, investment and job creation.
Ratifying the deal is likely to stretch into 2019 because once Trump and the leaders from Canada and Mexico sign the agreement, the administration and congressional leaders will need to write legislation to implement the deal and win passage in Congress.
Trump threatened to go ahead with a revamped NAFTA, with or without Canada. It was unclear, however, whether Trump had authority from Congress to pursue a revamped NAFTA with only Mexico.
NAFTA tore down most trade barriers between the United States, Canada and Mexico, leading to a surge in trade among them. But Trump and other critics said it encouraged manufacturers to move south of the border to take advantage of low Mexican wages, costing American jobs.
Gillies reported from Toronto. AP Business Writer Paul Wiseman reported from Washington.
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Do you know your rights during a traffic stop?
by: Ashley Shook
(WCMH) – A recent survey showed more than 64 percent of motorists have a bit of anxiety when they are pulled over by police. Of that group, about 30 percent say they are afraid.
In most cases, people simply don’t know what to do.
Sgt. Dean Washington of the Columbus Division of police says, “Every officer wants to go home at night just like the driver wants to go home at night. And if you listen to what the officer has to say and be compliant and he’ll get you on your way in due time.”
No sudden moves and display your hands at all times to show you are not a threat to the officer.
Complying with the officer is the best thing for motorists to reduce tension, but you do have rights.
“There’s no need to respond in a disrespectful way. You can assert those rights and just simply say, I’m not going to answer those questions,” says Sarah Schregadus, a local defense attorney.
She says the only thing you are required to answer during a roadside stop is, your identification. Schregadus says the biggest mistake most people make during a stop is talking too much.
“Trying to convince the officer that the reason they were speeding was necessary because a loved one is sick for whatever reason,” says Schregadus.
You are admitting to a crime, in which the officer might not have planned on issuing a ticket.
“Remember, we’re human beings and sometimes emotions get the best of us but we try to be as professional as possible and talking yourself into trouble sometimes does happen”, says Sgt. Worthington.
What about a vehicle search?
“If you say, no, he can’t search and at that point, if it turns out that he inappropriately or improperly searched your car, those issues can be raised later in court,” says Schregadus.
Even if you know an officer has made a mistake in the traffic stop, the side of a road is not the best place to make your point. Schregadus cannot stress enough, the court is the best place for you to present your side.
More Crime Stories
by Digital News Desk, Nexstar Media Wire / Jan 15, 2021
FRISCO, Texas (KDAF) -- Jenna Ryan, a Texas real estate broker who thoroughly documented her trip to the U.S. Capitol last week is now facing criminal charges in the Jan. 6 mob riot.
Ryan is charged with “knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority” and “disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds."
by Jeremy Tanner, Nexstar Media Wire / Jan 15, 2021
WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – Metro police are looking for a man accused of crushing an officer in a doorway as a violent mob of Trump supporters forced their way into the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6.
Video shows Officer Daniel Hodges, his mouth bloodied, crying out as he is pinned between a sliding door and the doorframe.
WASHINGTON (NewsNation Now) — U.S. Capitol Police are investigating if members of Congress gave unsanctioned tours the day before the breach of the Capitol Complex.
Earlier this week, a letter from over 30 House Democrats called for an investigation from Capitol Police, claiming lawmakers saw "suspicious" tours on Tuesday, Jan. 5, the day before the Capitol was breached by violent pro-Trump supporters as Congress certified the Electoral College vote for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
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Brain Changes Seen in Kids After 1 Football Season
Not yet clear if those changes are lasting or meaningful
From the WebMD Archives
By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter
MONDAY, Oct. 24, 2016 (HealthDay News) -- Just one season of competitive football may cause changes in some young players' developing brains, even if they don't get a concussion during play, a small study found.
Using imaging scans, researchers spotted "microstructural" changes in the white brain matter of 25 male athletes aged 8 to 13 after a season of football.
They also found that players experienced more significant brain changes if they took a greater number of hits and stronger hits to the head, said lead researcher Dr. Christopher Whitlow. He's chief of neuroradiology at Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C.
"We're seeing some associations between the amount of change in the brain and the amount of exposure to head impacts," Whitlow said. "The more exposure they've had, the more change you see."
However, Whitlow was quick to add that these changes are imperceptible to the naked eye, and future research might prove these changes harmless.
"Football is a very physical sport, so there are lots of changes in the body after a season of football," he said. "Players have cuts and bruises, and after the season these go away. Perhaps the change we're seeing is just another one of those physical manifestations of playing a season of football that will just go away."
Nearly 3 million youth players participate in tackle football programs across the United States. And there are about 2,000 active National Football League players, Whitlow noted.
Whitlow said he and his colleagues were particularly concerned about the impacts to the head that don't lead to a concussion. The brains of youth and high school football players are still undergoing rapid development, and repeated hits that don't result in brain injury still might have an effect that adds up over time, the researchers said.
To study this, the research team recruited 25 participants from a local youth football team during the 2012 and 2013 seasons.
At the beginning of the season, players had an advanced MRI scan performed on their brain. They also were provided helmets embedded with sensors that measure the severity of every hit to the head that occurs during play.
"We're evaluating the biomechanics of each one of those head impacts, for every practice and every game," Whitlow said. He added that the researchers reviewed video recordings to verify that the sensors had accurately recorded each hit.
None of the players in the study suffered a concussion during the season of play. At the end of the season, the players underwent a second MRI scan, and the researchers compared the two scans to track changes in the brain. The researchers also evaluated the head impact data for each player, to see if there was any connection between the hits they took and the changes observed in their brains.
The researchers concluded that players with more exposure to head impacts displayed more changes to their white matter. The brain's white matter is composed of millions of nerve fibers that act like communication cables, connecting various regions of the brain.
"We're seeing changes in the brain related to exposure, but if you talk to these players, if you look at their clinical imaging, there's nothing you can identify that's abnormal about them," Whitlow said. "So the question becomes, what do these changes mean? And that we don't have an answer to, yet."
Dr. Christopher Giza is director of the Steve Tisch BrainSPORT Program and a professor of pediatric neurology and neurosurgery at the University of California, Los Angeles.
He said the study results are consistent with previous studies, and the tools used by the researchers add valuable new data to the field of study.
"A big strength of this study is they [the researchers] have this very quantitative measure that can essentially count the magnitude, the size and the number of impacts," Giza said. "That's certainly more objective than relying on an athlete or coach to tell you that somebody has symptoms.
"There is some evidence that cumulative impacts, regardless of whether you had a concussion or not, might be a problem," he continued. "Being able to measure those impacts more objectively can be helpful."
However, Giza noted that this study contained too few players to provide conclusive data. Also, a couple of players seemed to suffer more hits and underwent more brain changes than the rest, which might have skewed the results, he said.
"I wouldn't want to make a conclusion about every kid playing football on the basis of 25 kids in this study, particularly if the results are driven by one or two individuals in this study," Giza said.
Whitlow said the new results come from year two of a five-year study, and the researchers will continue to track some of these players. The researchers also conducted cognitive tests on the players, and are analyzing that data for future publication.
"There are some additional questions we need to ask," he said. "What becomes of these changes? Do they linger? Do they go away? Do they have any long-term consequences?"
The new study was published Oct. 24 in the journal Radiology.
WebMD News from HealthDay
SOURCES: Christopher Whitlow, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor and chief, neuroradiology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, N.C.; Christopher Giza, M.D., Ph.D., director, Steve Tisch BrainSPORT Program, and professor, pediatric neurology and neurosurgery, University of California, Los Angeles; Oct. 24, 2016, Radiology
Copyright © 2013-2017 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
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North Macedonia official arrested on suspicion of bribery
SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP) — North Macedonia’s police said Monday they arrested a senior government official suspected of receiving a bribe of nearly 38,000 euros ($43,000) to favor a company that was granted European Union financing.
Police said a state secretary and former head of department in North Macedonia’s Ministry of Information, identified only by his initials J.J., was suspected of unlawfully granting nearly 1.1 million euros from a 1.2 million fund in 2014-2016 that is part of an EU program for the bloc’s candidate countries.
Another civil servant is being sought in connection with the case.
Police said the suspects had been under investigation for two months, in cooperation with Europe’s anti-fraud office OLAF and authorities in Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, Britain and other European countries.
Prosecutors said the other countries’ authorities participated in the investigation as the companies involved in the case had business partners in those locations.
North Macedonia hopes to start accession talks with the EU this fall at the latest and one of the main conditions set for entry is for the country to tackle corruption.
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Listening to Björk's MOMA exhibition through 49 B&W speakers
By Joe Cox 14 April 2015
B&W has teamed-up with Björk to build a 49-speaker 3D sound system as part of the Björk retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
The exhibition runs from March 8th to June 7th and we were part of a small group of journalists to experience the Black Lake '3D immersive sound installation' at the studio in south London where it was meticulously designed - the first time it's been heard outside of MOMA.
The Black Lake experience is built around the track of the same name from Björk's latest album, Vulnicura, and features a specially-designed 3D soundtrack built for the 49-speaker sound system, and accompanied by a 10-minute video.
This is part of a wider Björk exhibition at MOMA, which covers the artist's 20-year career and features music, videos, costumes and more, and also has a B&W P5-powered audio tour.
The Black Lake project has been put together by Marco Perry, a 3D sound designer, engineer and producer who now specialises in spatial sound production at Immersive Audio, following a lengthy career working with the likes of Depeche Mode, The Kinks and Van Morrison.
Designed in a studio in south London with input from Björk and kit from Bowers & Wilkins, the result is a "spatial audio wave field synthesis" built using a Barco IOSONO audio processor.
As Perry explains: "This is object-based audio as opposed to panned information from speaker-to-speaker, as found in conventional 5.1 systems. This is not loudspeaker specific. We create a soundfield, using speakers of course, and we inject images in to this soundfield. The speakers are told by the processor what soundfield to create."
As well as wanting to push the technological boundaries, sound quality was paramount for Björk, as Perry recounts. "Björk came here and told me, 'I want to feel the sound, more than to hear it'. She wanted a lot of bass. We messed around, tried a few things, files were sent back and forth to Iceland... I think she's done a great job, the film is fantastic."
B&W brand director, Danny Haikin, said Björk was "a huge lover of sound" and adamant (against the museum's wishes) that a hi-fi sound system rather than a conventional PA system was in place at MOMA, hence B&W's involvement.
The MOMA system uses 49 B&W speakers, including CT800s, AM-1s and some monstrous subwoofers that were first used in the Bowers & Wilkins Sound System, which debuted at Primavera Sound 2014. The system is housed inside a 40 x 25-foot room in the museum, complete with screens and projectors for the video.
How does it sound?
We got the chance to listen to the replicated system in the studio in London, which uses three rings of 12 B&W AM-1 speakers - one ring at ground level, one at ear-level and one above the listener. There are then more speakers in the ceiling directly above the listener and a smattering of subwoofers.
And how does it sound? Pretty damn immersive. In a relatively small room, surrounded by speakers, the initial impression is disorientating, almost unnerving, as you adapt to hearing music coming from all around you rather than from specific points in the room, as in a standard system.
This feeling of disorientation fits well with the gloomy, uncomfortable story playing out on the screen - the song is based on the recent break-up of Björk's personal relationship.
The surround sound effect is unlike anything you'd hear from a convential home cinema system or even a Dolby Atmos cinema - which uses similar technology - due to the number of speakers in a relatively compact space, and the accuracy of the sound programming.
Once you adapt to standing in the middle of the performance - you're encouraged to walk around the room - the precision and detail of the sound really starts to impress, with drums rolling not just from left to right and front to back, but from the bottom of the room to the very top.
The all-encompassing nature of the experience, with sounds appearing to fill every point in the room, is genuinely impressive and has us wondering about other potential uses, from DJs in clubs to live music performances.
With Dolby Atmos and DTS:X breathing new life in to the home cinema market and reimagining what can be done with surround sound, this system is a brilliant example of what's possible.
While the complete Björk MOMA exhibition has received rather mixed reviews, we'd definitely recommend checking it if you're in New York and have the chance, purely to experience the sound system in the Black Lake room.
For everyone else, Björk will be bringing the installation to eight cities after the MOMA exhibition ends, including London and Paris. The exact cities and dates have yet to be officially confirmed.
B&W will also be getting involved with four music festivals this year, including Primavera and WOMAD.
See all our B&W reviews
Liverpool vs Man United live stream: how to watch the football in 4K, team news, channel
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Driving forces: Australia’s car industry beyond 2017
By Bruce Newton, 30 Nov 2015 Features
We will still have a car industry to proud of when Ford, Holden and Toyota close their doors. Meet the visionaries driving Australia’s automotive future.
NOTHING focuses the mind like knowing you are going to be hung in the morning,” John Conomos deadpans.
The now semi-retired auto industry veteran (below), who played a key role in Toyota’s rise to the top in Australia, is making the point that if you want to be involved in the car industry and base yourself in Australia post-2017, you’d better have your plans in place now.
The good thing is there are smart, hungry, determined people who are doing just that, and some of them have been for years.
They know that when the lines grind to a halt at Ford in 2016 and then at Holden and Toyota in 2017, it will be the end of an era. But they want to be part of an auto industry that continues on, albeit one that will survive on a much smaller scale, without substantive government assistance or local production.
The change will be so great that in 2018, unless a start-up like Ethan Automotive overcomes massive odds and makes it to the start line, there will be just one company left in Australia that has the ability to design, engineer, assemble and market cars locally, and that’s the Walkinshaw Automotive Group, which includes Holden Special Vehicles. It’s a company aware of the risks and difficulties of the car industry, not least because it is based in the old Nissan plant, in the south-eastern Melbourne suburb of Clayton, which churned out its last Pintara in 1992.
The force driving this business into a new era is owner Ryan Walkinshaw (above), the 26-year-old son of automotive and motor racing legend Tom Walkinshaw. While other auto industry exces – older, greyer heads with an era of struggle and eventual failure ingrained within them – see only hurdles and obstacles in the future, this fierce and determined chip off the old block sees opportunity.
Essentially, he argues, once the multinationals have vacated the field of battle, he will own it. So while he is emphatic HSV will continue in some form beyond the end of the Commodore, he intends to pursue other brands as well.
“We are going to be the only engineering and manufacturing house in Australia, so we can offer the manufacturers who are importing here something no one else can, which is a turn-key solution to try and get unique products into the market,” he explains. “We can do it with incredibly short timelines, which we have demonstrated plenty of times.
“We have got a very good supplier base and a commercial model that works very, very well, which has been tried, tested and proved with Holden for a significant period of time. Now we have the opportunity to go in and speak to everyone else and ask what can we do and what value can we add to their business.
“The guys who are going to be left behind are the ones who don’t create anticipation for their brand and don’t create any differentiation.”
Walkinshaw’s ambitions spread beyond Australia. Australia is his launching pad into Asia for the company’s engineering and design capabilities. A relationship with Indian giant Tata has already been established, but that is a starting point only.
“We have a fair idea of where it is going and the details of that are probably what is keeping a few people up at night,” he admits. “But we are pretty confident in what we are doing and what we want to do. And to be honest we’re pretty excited about it.”
There is a certain irony in this being a path already well trodden by HSV’s crosstown rival, Premcar. The company formerly known as Prodrive Automotive Technology, which cut its teeth developing Ford Performance Vehicles Falcons, has had a presence in China since 2005, and also performs engineering and vehicle validation work in India.
Once a direct subsidiary of Prodrive UK, it is now locally owned by a group of Australian engineers who have had to adjust from developing 330kW rear-drive V8 muscle cars for FPV to economy cars for Chinese brands Geely, Lifan and the like.
Premcar still does work for Ford and other customers in Australia, with links into the Blue Oval’s regional development programs in Australia and internationally. But it has also diversified. Premcar recently developed a wet-brake design for mining trucks for a US company, and also works within the defence industry and others.
This jack-of-all-trades approach is the only way to keep an Australian address and stay in the auto industry, according to chief engineer Bernie Quinn.
“It’s worth doing because we’ve got all the guys we have had employed and we are still winning work,” Quinn says. “But to say it has been a challenge – an ongoing challenge actually – is an understatement. Resilience is the key.
“In the last 12 months we have seen a moderate turnaround in the amount of engineering work in Australia and we are riding the back of that, as well as the expected growth in China. We are spending more time here and have been able to add to our headcount.”
Premcar’s Asian business is just the sort of activity Conomos says Australian automotive companies need to undertake to survive. As well as the obvious targets of China and India, he rates Indonesia and Malaysia as emerging markets that need Australian expertise.
“We are good at black-box engineering, we are good at development,” Conomos insists. “So the combination of our know-how and their (Asian) potential volume is pretty exciting for those who wish to become involved and wish to become global.”
Conomos knows of what he speaks. For the past five years he has acted as an ambassador for the Australian automotive industry, heading trade missions and knocking on doors throughout the region. His role has only recently been terminated by the federal government, which has instead thrown that budget into the $155 million pot known as the Growth Fund, which is designed to ease the ‘transition’ – love that word! – of employees and companies away from car manufacturing into something else.
Mark Albert is the sort of entrepreneur Conomos knows will have a go. He already has. Albert is managing director of MTM Automotive Components, a family owned tier-one supplier established by his father, Max, in 1965 in the Melbourne suburb of Oakleigh. While the multinational suppliers will walk away when the cars and money stop flowing, MTM – and a few other locals – will still be here.
“I like Australia,” Albert laughs. “We are one of the few manufacturers growing in the current environment … I am quite positive about the future.”
Albert read the writing on the wall for the Australian car industry years ago. He has aggressively sold his company’s abilities into international markets and has supplied components directly to General Motors in North America – not via Holden – for nearly 20 years. At the time it was a radical action.
Nowadays MTM also services the Ford Ranger programs in Argentina, Thailand and South Africa.
“It took us five or more years to land our first international orders … we’d gone to Asia, we’d gone to Europe and we were in North America; GM at that point had a problem and we could fix the problem.”
MTM has also diversified beyond its traditional automotive base, including manufacture of the Tomcar all-terrain vehicle (driven by Albert below) originally developed in Israel. It also has a plant in China that is an adjunct to its Melbourne plant, not a replacement.
“You need to be tenacious and you need to be bloody-minded to survive here,” Albert says. “You have to get out there on the front foot and that means you have to look forward.”
Walkinshaw Automotive Group
THE Walkinshaw Automotive Group traces its ancestry in Australia back to 1987, when Tom Walkinshaw did a controversial deal with Holden to replace Peter Brock, the Holden Dealer Team and HDT Special Vehicles.
Since Tom’s death in 2010, son Ryan has become the company’s leader and driving force. The highly successful Holden Special Vehicles division is the star act and biggest single entity, employing 115 people to design, engineer, manufacture, market and sell the performance V8 sports sedans it develops from the Holden Commodore.
Walkinshaw's Australian operation has centred on Holden road and race cars, but it may diversify in future.
Walkinshaw Racing employs 65 staff to construct and race four Holden Commodores in the V8 Supercars Championship. Two of these cars form the Holden Racing Team, the most successful team in the history of Australian touring car racing.
Walkinshaw Performance designs, manufactures and sells aftermarket performance parts and vehicle enhancements, employing 15 staff. It also supports motorsport activities.
The most recent addition to the group is Fusion Automotive, which has a staff of 10 and imports, distributes and sells the Indian-made Tata vehicles in Australia.
Each organisation runs as its own entity, but there is cross-pollination of talents and skills. For instance, HSV and HRT operate closely together. The group’s turnover was put at $160 million in 2013.
Performax International
ESTABLISHED in 1989, Queensland-based Performax is Australia’s largest converter of American trucks and high-performance cars to right-hand drive.
It has done more than 3000 conversions and within three years plans to raise its annual production rate from around 300 cars per annum to 450.
It has gained full volume-manufacturer compliance, enabling it to convert the iconic 12th-generation F-Series truck for the local market and sell it without restriction.
With a starting price of $115,000, it’s an attractive business, but Performax admits gaining that accreditation has required an even higher production quality.
It has started importing and retailing the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Denali under the same arrangement.
Having gone to the expense and effort of gaining manufacturer accreditation, general manager Glenn Soper admits Performax is now watching, with some concern, the mooted freeing-up of import rules.
“We think there would be a degradation of quality of vehicles put out in the marketplace,” he says. “We would not like to see any dilution of the current framework.”
Performax is the dominant player in the Australian market, with a 65 percent share and a turnover of more than $75 million a year. It has around 100 employees and a plan to grow that to 110.
It has also developed a national dealer network to sell its products, a servicing facility within its Gympie base, a new retailing facility in Brisbane, and offers a four-year or 120,000km warranty on its vehicles.
The company supplies conversion kits to South Africa and has exported completely built-up vehicles.
PWR Performance Products
IN INTERNATIONAL motorsport, PWR is just about unavoidable.
From its Ormeau development and manufacturing facility on the Gold Coast it supplies cooling products to teams in championships across the globe.
That list starts with Formula One, where it claims 90 percent of the field including Red Bull and Ferrari. There’s the World Endurance Championship, World Rally Championship, NASCAR, IndyCar, the German DTM and more. Back home in Australia PWR last year celebrated its fourth straight V8 Supercars championship with Jamie Whincup and Triple Eight.
PWR is owned by Kees Weel and son Paul (above) – it actually stands for Paul Weel Radiators – and was started in 1997, when the two racers recognised the demand here and internationally for ultra‑high quality cooling products including radiators, oil coolers and intercoolers.
PWR now has 95 employees and revenue of more than $20 million last year. In March, it bought US‑based cooling system maker C&R Racing, giving it an even bigger foothold in US racing.
While racing is the high-profile activity, PWR also services the aftermarket, military, industrial and off-road markets.
PWR supplies most of the field in NASCAR (above), World Rally champion Volkswagen and, as accidentally revealed on TV at Albert Park in march, the Red Bull F1 team.
High-performance road cars are now a target as well, including the Nurburgring lap-record breaking Porsche 918 Spyder hybrid supercar, which comes standard from Porsche with the full PWR cooling package.
The not-so-big three
CLARIFYING the exact size of Ford, Holden and Toyota beyond 2017 is impossible, not least because they admit they don’t know themselves what their post-manufacturing footprint looks like.
What we do know is all three organisations will include sales and marketing and after-sales divisions – the bits required to sell cars here whether you build them locally or not.
Toyota has confirmed the closure of its Sydney base and centralisation of its Australian HQ to Melbourne, and that its Australian workforce will drop from 3900 to 1300. Ford will shift its administrative base from Campbellfield in Melbourne’s north to inner-city Richmond.
In all three cases some form of design and engineering capability has been retained. Ford’s commitment is the most comprehensive, including 1500 staff employed across a design centre at Campbellfield, an engineering centre in Geelong and the proving ground at the You Yangs. That will make the Blue Oval the largest automotive employer in the country post-2017.
GM will retain a design centre, engineering capability and the Lang Lang Proving Ground, but its head count in these areas is unlikely to nudge beyond a couple of hundred.
Toyota will also retain its small design studio in Australia and some form of engineering presence, but the tech centre established with so much pomp in 2005 will not be retained in its current form.
Nissan Casting Australia
FIRST out, last in. That’s the story for Nissan Australia. It bailed out of local car manufacturing in 1992 yet, once everyone else leaves by the end of 2017, it will be the sole OEM still manufacturing in Australia.
That will be via its Dandenong casting plant, which was established in 1982 and at this stage at least has no visible end date.
The plant employs 141 full-time and 23 casual staff. It makes 2.3 million castings a year for Nissan, Infiniti and Renault vehicles, and 25,000 accessory towbars and sports bars, and has sales in excess of $65 million.
As a sign of Nissan’s ongoing commitment, a new tower furnace was installed in the first half of 2013 at a cost of $1.868 million, a third of that supplied by federal government investment programs. The furnace has a forecast working life of 20 years.
In April, Nissan revealed it had won new work to make driveline components for soon-to-be-released new models, new motor technology, and all-new propulsion systems that are yet to be announced.
So how does this one small plant survive when every other manufacturing facility owned by a multinational car company will soon shut down?
“It is never going to make lots of money and it is never going to lose lots of money,” explained Nissan Australia boss Richard Emery (above). “It is basically run to get by, no matter what is thrown at us from a government, regulatory or currency perspective.”
It’s nice to know nearly all Nissan and Infiniti vehicles sold in Australia have locally produced parts, arguably making them as Aussie as any cars will be post-2017. If you want to make sure, just go hunting for the kangaroo logo in the casting.
Road Trip: Australia's top romantic drives
By WhichCar team | 14 Feb 2020
Not just for Valentine’s Day: Here are a few Australian road trips to put in the diary for your next romantic getaway.
We drove a left-hook Commodore across America
By Bob Hall | 24 May 2020
Wind the clock back to ’98 and come for a cross country journey in possibly the most unique Holden Commodore in the world
Blown 1986 Holden VL Calais - flashback
By Greg Stokes | 25 Dec 2020
Not content with an HQ daily driver and a tough Torana race car, Richard Tuthill created this red hot VL
Holden 355-powered 1982 VH Commodore SL/E
Renato Rillotta not only hung on to his first car but turned it into his ultimate dream machine
Home-built, nine-second LS-powered 1982 Holden VH Commodore SL/E
370-cube 1985 Holden VK Commodore Blue Meanie replica
Tracking Holden Commodore SS prices, VP to VFII
733hp 1989 Holden VN Commodore SS - COMPSS
Project Supermang part one – Carnage episode 49
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P.S. If you missed the window for the fundraiser, fear not! The donate button at the bottom of the sidebar will remain where it's always been, and donations are welcome at any time. If you donate over $100 in the next week or so while I'm still figuring out the while sponsor thing, I'll even include you in the list.
Ledall Roll
Additional MS 39564, British Library
Top of the verso side of the roll
Wiktenauer — Leng —
Wierschin — Hils —
Fencing manual
between 1535 - 1550
Early Modern English
J. Ledall
Bastarda (?)
Library catalog entry
The Additional MS 39564 is an English fencing manual apparently written by one J. Ledall between 1535 and 1550. The original currently rests in the holdings of the British Library in London, England. Along with the Man yt Wol and the Cotton Titus manuscript, this is one of only three extant treatises describing Medieval English martial arts.
The only fencer with the name J. Ledall active in Britain in this time period was John Ledall/Ledale (ca.1515-1582), a British merchant born in York, England, between 1513 and 1518 and awarded Freedom of the City of York in 1529 or 1530. The only son of a glover, Ledall was himself a merchant and seems to have been quite wealthy; he was also a prominent member of the Guild of Corpus Christi, which he joined with his wife Elizabeth Vavasour in 1533. In 1547, Ledall was awarded the title Chamberlain of York, which indicates that he must have been a bridge-master at some point before that time. He died in 1582 and was buried at St. John's Chapel Micklegate.
However, this attribution is questionable as the name seems to refer merely to a scribe, not the original author. It appears in the phrase Amen Quod I Ledall ("confirmed by I./J. Ledall") tucked between two lines in the upper part of the back side of the roll, not at the end where a signature might be expected. Additionally, the sequence of plays suggests that it was copied by rote from an older document by a scribe who didn't understand the material well enough to recognize that the pages were out of order, which would argue against its being copied by any sort of fencer.
Recently Featured: Nicolaüs Augsburger – Paulus Kal – Paulus Hector Mair – Vechtboek (MS BPL.3281)
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© Alexandra Fazan
“Raphael was lying in his hospital bed and had no idea that he had suffered a spinal cord injury,” says Annette. “I had sleepless nights and I kept thinking about this situation. How do you tell your child that he’s never going to walk again?” She speaks calmly, yet with strength. Her gaze lingers on her son’s immobile legs. “Every now and then my heart begins to race and I think to myself: this here - his his spinal cord injury - will never go away. But then I repress the thought, reinforce that protective wall around me, and look to the future.”
Raphael’s Day Zero
We meet 15-year-old Raphael and his parents, Annette and Wolfgang, in a café. Raphael doesn’t order anything, which isn’t unusual. “When I used to do a lot of sport, I drank six litres of water a day. Since my accident I can’t sweat anymore. I drink very little now and I’m hardly ever thirsty.” It sounds like a small change, yet it’s another mosaic piece of a completely new life. “Everything was different in the past. I played volleyball and football. I loved skiing and acrobatics. Everything took place in the great outdoors.”
Then came the fateful day in the summer holidays of 2017.
“On the 15thof August, I decided to visit a nearby lake. I arrived ten minutes before my friends and figured I’d kill some time on the trampoline.” The sun was out in full force, scorching the ground. Raphael jumped, sweated, and let off steam. He propelled himself upwards with forceful leg movements, again and again. But his body couldn’t take the strain, his circulation was weakened. “I felt dizzy and hit the middle of the trampoline neck first, unchecked.” Raphael’s body rebounded a little, then remained motionless. “I remember it very well. All I could do was move my eyes.”
After a few minutes, a holidaymaker became aware of the injured boy. “Every touch felt like a burning knife being rammed into my body.” Then his friends arrived.
“I had just left the house when Raphael’s classmate called me. She told me that my son had fallen down and couldn’t move his legs. I’m a mother of two boys, so I’m used to all sorts of trouble. I didn’t think it was anything dramatic at the time…” Annette arrived at the scene of the accident shortly thereafter. She knelt next to her son to calm him down. “In such a situation, you simply function somehow.” Raphael was lifted into a rescue helicopter by emergency physicians.
“Mum, I Know…”
Annette feared for her child at the hospital. Her husband was on a foreign assignment with the Austrian military at the time. Her older son, Philipp, was spending several weeks in Ireland. Raphael was examined closely and had to undergo emergency surgery. Then he was put into artificial deep sleep. Two days later, Wolfgang returned home and had to absorb what had happened.
An attentive pastor soon realised that the parents hadn’t received sufficient information regarding their son’s injury. “Then the head physician filled us in. He explained that Raphael’s vertebrae were displaced by the fall and that the spinal cord was injured at the level of the 5thcervical vertebra. He told us that our son was now quadriplegic, which meant that he cannot walk, that he cannot move his arms and fingers.” It was a horrific diagnosis. “But he also reassured us that our son was young and would cope well with his fate.” Annette and Wolfgang were still struggling to come to terms with it all.
Raphael spent two weeks in artificial deep sleep, which was followed by a long recovery phase. He couldn’t talk. “We were at his side all the time, commuted from Styria to Salzburg, and rented a room nearby for the weekends. All we could do was try and calm him down,” Wolfgang explains.
The worries and fears came when the couple was alone in the evenings. “We were afraid of the future. But the worst aspect for me was that my son didn’t even know that he was paralysed,” Annette remembers.
“They didn’t have to,” Raphael interjects. “I know right from the start was happening with me, kind of. When my condition improved a little and I slowly regained my voice, I talked to a nurse about it.”
When Annette visited her son in the ICU that day, he welcomed her with the words: “Mum, I know.” It was a huge relief for the mother of two. “I couldn’t have looked him in the eye and explained something like that…”
An Arduous Path
Raphael started his rehab after six weeks. None of the functions returned - his body remained paralysed. But he began to familiarise himself with the wheelchair, underwent various therapies, and built up muscles again. “The therapists told me that it was good that I had done a lot of sport before the accident and that I was still young. That made it easier,” the young man says before carefully reaching for his mother’s glass of water.
Raphael was allowed to return home after eight months of rehab. “In the meantime, we had remodelled everything at home. I was initially reluctant to accept donations from friends and acquaintances, but one soon realises how expensive a spinal cord injury is. That’s when one is just grateful,” Annette muses. Raphael seems serene. His family gives him enormous support. His brother, Philipp, takes him out a lot - to parties or to the cinema. “I get up at 2am every night to turn and catheterise him,” Wolfgang explains. “And I help him whenever he struggles with drying himself or dressing,” Annette adds.
Their greatest wish is an independent life for their son. Raphael exercises a lot to achieve this. He started attending an agricultural school that offers a high school diploma a few months ago. An assistant helps him during practical training lessons. “I explain the theory and she does the work for me. That usually works quite well, but not always…”
Raphael wants to be a teacher. He’s very determined. “I’m actually coping quite well,” he says matter-of-factly. “But if there really was a cure, I’d love to play volleyball with my friends again.” He’d like to be as carefree as he was before the accident. At the lake with the trampoline…
Please help us on our way finding a cure for spinal cord injuries or take part at the Wings for Life World Run. Every cent goes to spinal cord research.
Opioids and its harmful effects on recovery
Story Behind
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A Simple Plan to ID Every Creature on Earth
How to Disinfect Everything
Gary Wolf
From his lab in Costa Rica, Dan Janzen (right) collects moth specimens for genetic barcoding. Photo: Andrew Tingle The utopian lepidopterist holds a pin in each hand. His style is ambidextrous and probably unique. He catches two forewings of a dead moth simultaneously and pins them to his drying board, and then, in a continuous sweep, […]
From his lab in Costa Rica, Dan Janzen (right) collects moth specimens for genetic barcoding. *
Photo: Andrew Tingle * The utopian lepidopterist holds a pin in each hand. His style is ambidextrous and probably unique. He catches two forewings of a dead moth simultaneously and pins them to his drying board, and then, in a continuous sweep, he does the same with the hind wings. He repeats these motions again and again, like a conductor with tiny batons. Outside, it is hot and bright. Inside, it is hot and dark. The lepidopterist, whose name is Dan Janzen, has been working here in this Costa Rican forest for more than 40 years. He is married to his research partner, Winnie Hallwachs, and the two of them occupy a small house with a roof of corrugated metal whose eaves cast deep shade. During the day they work under artificial light. At night bats flit through the gaps at the top of the wall, do hairpin turns in the air, and exit again without slowing. The utopian lepidopterist's aim is to put names on all the moths and butterflies in the forest. He wants to know more than just the names, of course; he wants to know who lives where and who eats whom and to unravel the mysteries of the ecosystem. But his first question is always the most basic one. This moth, here on the drying board: What is it called?
All over the world, farmers, port inspectors, game wardens, exterminators, building contractors, and, of course, professional biologists are staring at some form of plant or animal life and wondering helplessly what it is. Matching living things to their names is so notoriously difficult that the problem itself has been given a name: the taxonomic impediment. With insects, the taxonomic impediment is severe. Insects are the glue that holds the web of land-based life together; they are pollinators, soil aerators, and a major source of food. Most of them are as mysterious as extraterrestrials. More than 90 percent of insects, tens of millions of species, have never been described. As every type of information in the world is being encoded into standard formats, accessible on the Web and searchable from anywhere, plant and animal names stand out as a stubborn exception. That's because the quest for a name begins with a specimen, and a specimen is made of atoms, not bits. There is no hole in a computer into which you can drop a bug.
The utopian lepidopterist moves his hands in little semicircles, and another dust-colored insect lies flat, positioned for eternity. All around him are dead moths, wings folded softly on thorax. More will arrive tomorrow; and the next day, more still. He eats at his desk, oblivious to the food in front of him. His needles flash again. He thinks mainly about his project. There may be no person in the world faster at spreading moths. Nonetheless, at this rate, his project will fail.
On the campus of the University of Guelph, in Canada, surrounded by neat embankments of snow, is a two-story building that contains an automatic animal-identifying machine. Its inventor, Paul Hebert, is 61 years old, strongly built, with blue eyes and white hair. He says he came up with the idea for the machine in a grocery store. Walking down an aisle of packaged goods in 1998, he indulged in a moment of awe: Here, in a short row of numerals, was the entire retail universe, billions of individual products, identifiable by a tiny machine-readable barcode. If it works for cans of food, Hebert thought, why not for bugs? Why not for everything?
Hebert is an evolutionary biologist and an expert on water fleas. He has been obsessed with insects since childhood. On his left hand is a scar he got running with a glass bug jar as a toddler. At 12, he began performing operations on caterpillars, experimenting with their endocrine system in a quest to produce dwarfs and giants. He won a scholarship to study at University of Cambridge, and in 1974 he began making collecting expeditions to New Guinea. He went up into the cloud forest and caught 50,000 moths and butterflies, and neatly tagged each one with date and elevation. By his count, there were 4,100 different species.
Except that they weren't really species. "They were operational taxonomic units," he says. "You aren't allowed to call them species until you know what they are." Hebert went to the Natural History Museum in London and began to check his specimens against its large reference collection. He naively thought he knew something about moths. He understood their anatomy, he possessed a microscope, he could speed through the professional literature. He was almost never stumped by anything he found in Canada. He had studied at Cambridge for three years and had quickly found his bearings among the moths of the British Isles. But the tropical moths were different. There was too much diversity, too many dead insects in the drawers. After several years, he admitted defeat. He had failed to identify two-thirds of his specimens. "It was like forgetting how to read," Hebert says. "It was like being struck dumb. I had to face how far I was from attaining what I wanted, how inadequate my ability was."
Barcodes work for cans of soup. Why not bugs?
Photos: Andrew Tingle Hebert started anew with water fleas. Water fleas, he told himself, were the kind of insect a person could get his mind around. There are only about 200 species of water fleas. By the time Hebert had his flash of inspiration in the grocery store, he was running a lab at the University of Guelph with a small coterie of graduate students, a budget of about $120,000 per year, and the ability to answer just about any question on water fleas.
He understood, of course, that animals already carry a numerical code in their genome. Anybody who has watched a crime show knows that DNA can be used to identify organisms down to the level of the single individual. But the genome is impractical for mass identification of species. Commercial barcodes have just a handful of digits; animal genomes run to billions of letters. Sequencing was neither easy, fast, nor cheap. "Students would go off to study variation in a few hundred specimens and disappear for a year," Hebert recalls. Still, there were some common shortcuts. In the 1990s, researchers had begun using easily sequenced fragments of mitochondrial genes to quickly sort their specimens into groups. Mitochondrial genes are inherited maternally. They are not scrambled by recombination, and mitochondrial variation offers rough clues about evolutionary history. Insect people were using the back end of a mitochondrial gene known as CO1 to help identify specimens, marine invertebrate people liked the front end, and vertebrate zoologists used a different mitochondrial gene altogether. Hebert's idea was that, out of a hodgepodge of related techniques, he could build a simple, universal identification system — assuming, that is, the same small piece of mitochondrial DNA worked reliably for all the animals in the world.
To test this assumption, Hebert needed a large, easily accessible collection of already identified specimens. Water fleas wouldn't work — there weren't enough different kinds of them. So Hebert did something he hadn't done in years: He hung a sheet illuminated by a fluorescent light in his backyard and started catching moths. He collected more than a thousand specimens and identified them using traditional methods. It wasn't very hard; these were the Canadian moths he'd known since he was a kid. He sequenced a fragment of CO1 from each bug, and sure enough, every moth was sorted to the right group. His success rate was 100 percent.
In January 2003, Hebert published a paper in Proceedings of the Royal Society in which he claimed his technique could solve the taxonomic impediment. "Although much biological research depends on species diagnoses," Hebert wrote, "taxonomic expertise is collapsing." He went on to complain of the dwindling number of qualified taxonomists, the tendency of expert identifications to be incorrect, the extreme difficulty of telling many animals apart in various life stages, the small number of species identified in the past 250 years, the vast number of unidentified species still remaining, and, perhaps most damning of all, the fact that even when an expert has identified a group of animals and done the identification correctly and produced a guide, the guide itself is so complex that mistakes are common. As a remedy, Hebert set out his own method of identifying animals through a small, standard sequence of DNA; he shared his data about Canadian moths, and he added some additional data gleaned from GenBank, a publicly accessible repository of gene sequences. At the end of the paper, he asked for money. "We believe that a CO1 database can be developed within 20 years for 5-10 million animal species on the planet for approximately $1 billion," he wrote.
Taxonomists were outraged. "Have you heard of the blind-10-year-old problem?" asks Jesse Ausubel, a program officer with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, which funded two small meetings of well-known scientists to discuss Hebert's idea in 2003. "Taxonomy is partly connoisseurship," Ausubel says. "But if you can use a chemical test to identify species, then a blind 10-year-old can do it." Some non-taxonomists objected as well. J. Craig Venter, famous for his work on sequencing the human genome, argued that Hebert's suggestion was uninteresting. The so-called barcode region amounted to just 650 base pairs, less than a ten-millionth of the genome. Why be satisfied with something like that when the cost of whole genome sequencing was rapidly falling? But for Hebert, the triviality of sequencing a little fragment was exactly the point. "It's seven orders of magnitude smaller!" he says. "It's always going to be cheaper. If you can get whole genomes for $10, you will get barcodes for pennies."
Hebert proposed a barcoding factory: Capture a bunch of bugs, remove a leg from each, sequence a bit of DNA, and produce a chart that shows which bugs clump together as a single species. If a sample of that species has already been identified, then the factory can provide a name. Along with legs from bugs, the factory can accept other material that contains DNA — feathers from birds, or bits of mollusk, or samples from a pallet of frozen fish. Once the method is proven and the standard is accepted, such a factory could even be miniaturized. It could be taken out to the field, put in the back of a van.
Paul Herbert has set up a genetic barcoding factory in his lab in Guelph, Canada. Bacteria and viruses don't have mitochondria, but most other life does. The CO1 gene is nearly universal. If it worked on the animals he tested so far, it should work on everything. But as Hebert pressed his case among his peers, he realized that he was on shaky ground. Scientists who had spent their whole careers doing molecular genetics doubted that his good luck with a few groups would carry over to the whole diversity of life. The only thing that could possibly answer such skepticism would be more evidence, but more evidence was exactly what he couldn't get. Hebert had already burned through his lab budget doing sequencing. He had shed his grad students and was down to a single postdoc. He was thinking about mortgaging his house. "OK, I'm saying I have the solution to identifying all animal life, but I've got only a few hundred species to prove it," he recalls. "That's not going to be convincing to any scientist." Hebert knew he needed to conduct a proper test, preferably with a large group of hard-to-tell-apart insects. Tropical lepidoptera, for instance, are some of the most difficult cases in the animal kingdom. But the specimens would have to be newly collected, because it was too hard to extract DNA from old tissue. And Hebert would have to identify the specimens twice, once with a barcode and once with conventional taxonomy to see if the two results matched. Although the work was slow, he could handle the genetic sequencing in his lab. But the traditional taxonomic identification — this was impossible. This was the taxonomic impediment. This was the very problem he had run away from a quarter of a century before.
Dan Janzen and Paul Hebert met in 2003, at the first meeting funded by the Sloan Foundation. Janzen, after hearing Hebert's bold claims, informed the startled inventor that he was thinking too small. A barcode factory was a pretty good idea, but to rescue field biology, they needed more. Why didn't they work on a machine that was the size of a comb — a species tricorder.
"You've raised the bar," Hebert said.
The two men had been in contact before, though Janzen had forgotten. In 1978, he sent Hebert a note saying that he'd heard he had been working in New Guinea and had put together a good collection of butterflies and moths — but there had been no publications. What was he doing with his specimens? Janzen, at the time, was already on his way to becoming one of the most important biologists of his generation. In the mid '60s, he had published a paper on the coevolution of ants and acacia trees that became a classic of evolutionary biology; later, he would do the same thing for wasps and figs. He is a MacArthur Fellow and a winner of the Crafoord Prize. Hebert was forced to write back and admit that he'd given up. "I'm not doing this anymore," he replied.
At the 2003 meeting, Janzen and Hebert made a deal. Hebert would provide discount barcode analysis for around $2 each. Janzen would use his unparalleled field research operation to test whether barcoding worked, and he would create a prototype system to inventory animal life. Each barcode would link to a reference specimen, with collection notes, scientific name where possible, and detailed ecological data. Nobody in the world had access to as many fresh, annotated specimens of tropical moths as Janzen did. For decades, he had been hacking his way through the taxonomic impediment.
Janzen also began to advocate for Hebert's barcode project in every venue he could, taking advantage of his status to advance a vision that made Hebert's claims seem modest by contrast. In an editorial for Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, he wrote:
The space ship lands. He steps out. He points it around. It says "friendly - unfriendly - edible - poisonous - dangerous - living - inanimate." On the next sweep it says "Quercus oleoides - Homo sapiens - Spondias mombin - Solanum nigrum - Crotalus durissus - Morpho peleides - serpentine. This has been in my head since reading science fiction in 9th grade a half a century ago ... Imagine a world where every child's backpack, every farmer's pocket, every doctor's office, and every biologist's belt has a gadget the size of a cell phone. For free. Pop off a leg, pluck a tuft of hair, pinch a piece of leaf, swat a mosquito, and stick it in on a tuft of toilet tissue. One minute later the screen says Periplaneta americana, Canis familiaris, Quercus virginiana, or West Nile Virus in Culex pipiens. A chip the size of your thumbnail could carry 30 million species-specific gene sequences and brief collaterals. Push the collateral information button once, the screen offers basic natural history and images for that species — or species complex — for your point on the globe. Push it twice, and you are in dialogue with central for more complex queries. Or, the gadget, through your cell-phone uplink, says "this DNA sequence not previously recorded for your zone, do you wish to provide collateral information in return for 100 identification credits?" Imagine what maps of biodiversity would look like if they could be generated from the sequence identification requests of millions of users.
The barcoder, for Janzen, is more than just a scientific tool. It is an instrument to revolutionize ecological research, turning it from a specialized occupation into a global collaboration. And he had an idea of where to find support for this kind of dream. Janzen introduced Hebert to his contacts at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, who encouraged him to put in for a small grant, perhaps $2 million. "Two million?" Hebert remembers thinking. "We're married if you give me $2 million." It gave him the money, and the Canadian government followed up with $30 million. Hebert got a new building with a big room full of sequencing machines, along with technicians to run them. The Canadian press picked up the story, mixed it with a bit of national pride, and announced that a scientist in Guelph was on track to put barcodes on all the animals in the world.
At this point, a number of biologists began to feel distinctly annoyed. The claim that organisms could be barcoded was absurd. A can of soup can be barcoded, because it is a particular instance of an original can of soup. The soup had an author, who tasted it and pronounced it good. The same cannot be said of living things. There is no archetype for an animal, no original form that all particular examples of a wolf or a human or a housefly must somehow be expected to match. There is only reproduction. There is only inheritance with variation. There is only evolution. A species is a cluster of genotypes, none of them identical, even within the same brood. Implicit in the word barcoding is the notion that the creatures of Earth comprise a mosaic of stable kinds. This made Hebert's critics laugh, because it is a common idea about species among the uneducated. It predates Darwin by thousands of years.
"We're not accusing Hebert of being a creationist, just of acting like one," says Brent Mishler. Mishler is an expert on moss. He is stocky and thickly bearded, with a gentle demeanor and immense knowledge. We stand and talk amid the tall cabinets of the Jepson Herbarium at UC Berkeley, where he is director. The cabinets contain the dried and pressed remnants of more than 2 million plants, one of the largest collections in the Americas. Mishler's herbarium will identify a plant for you, if you send it in by mail. Although the official cost is $75 per hour, the staff will almost always try to identify your specimens for free because the herbarium is meant to serve scholars and the public. But it is simply impossible to comply with everybody's wishes, especially if the wish is for life to have conveniently ordered ranks, like an illustrated children's book. Mishler is not a conservative. He knows that species names are a swamp of confusion and that the very idea of what counts as a species is a topic of energetic debate. Hebert's automatic animal identifying machine is wrong, according to Mishler, not because it challenges conventional wisdom but because it's backward looking. "The Linnaean hierarchy is an outmoded remnant of a pre-evolutionary worldview," Mishler says. "People want to think of things as members of mutually exclusive, hierarchically organized categories. It is probably hardwired into human beings, but it is not true, and it is the source of tremendous problems in the world. George Bush does this kind of thing all the time." Mishler has a soft expression and a thoughtful tone, but he is very unhappy with Paul Hebert.
"Honestly, I never thought it would get this much steam," says Kipling Will, one of Mishler's colleagues. Will is associate director of the Essig Museum of Entomology. He is an expert on beetles. "My first reaction was that it was silly," Will says. "I don't get any grant money for bitching, but I thought, 'People are going to read this, so it deserves a critique.'"
Will's office is a few minutes' walk from the Jepson Herbarium, in the old core of the Berkeley campus. The Essig Museum has long served the needs of agriculture. Before bugs were interesting to evolutionary theorists, they were pests, and one of the reasons we wanted to know about them was so we could kill them. Will accepts that people need fast, accurate answers from taxonomy, but he warns that urgent utilitarian demands create pressure for shortcuts and attract superficial thinkers eager for a quick fix. "You cannot resolve these questions by looking at a single character, such as a short section of mitochondrial DNA," Will says, "unless you already know that character works in the particular group you are concerned about. And for most of what we're dealing with, you do not know that." Will reaches behind him and brings out a box. "Here are some beetles," he says. "These are a bunch of little black things. A lot of them are probably the only specimen that's ever been collected — or maybe ever will be — because habitats are destroyed and species go extinct. How are you going to get an identification by barcoding these?" If you pulled a leg off one of these beetles and sent it to Guelph, you wouldn't get a name, because no name yet exists. The barcoding project, Will says, is based on a fantasy.
Will never meant to turn his opposition into a crusade. But the overconfidence of the barcoders bothered him. Eventually, he coauthored a lengthy technical attack in Journal of Heredity arguing that barcoding would be useful, at best, only in groups of animals that were already well understood. This undercut Hebert's key claim, for if barcodes depended on expert taxonomy, how could they be the solution to the taxonomic impediment? Other taxonomists joined the protest. Late last year, the prestigious journal Evolutionary Biology published an article by Marcelo R. de Carvalho, an expert on sharks, and coauthored by 29 other taxonomists from museums and universities around the world, warning that programs to automate the identification of species were bound to come to grief. Such schemes, Carvalho wrote, were delivered by "end users" of taxonomy who were "not familiar with the complexity of its hypotheses and its identity as a real, successful, and independent science."
Dan Janzen and Winnie Hallwachs foresee a tricorder-type device that can identify species on the fly. And yet, all the while, Hebert's barcode database continued to grow. Ecologists joined the game, and marine biologists, and more foundations came through to fund the barcoding of specific groups. The Smithsonian Institution launched a global consortium, which held an international conference in Taipei. The barcoders treat their critics in the manner of Copernican astronomers brushing off niggling Ptolemaic complaints. "It's pretty frustrating," Will says.
I'm in a bar near an overdeveloped Costa Rican beach with the utopian lepidopterist. Janzen is working hard to persuade a local real estate speculator — a balding gringo with sunburned cheeks and a Gulf Coast accent — to give up a very large piece of land. With his khaki shirt, oversize digital camera, and uncombed white hair, Janzen looks like an innocent biologist. But in these parts, he is a power player of the first order, and, ten minutes later, the deal is done; $2 million for 2,471 acres. Janzen will add the land to a biological reserve — Area de Conservación Guanacaste, known as ACG — that takes up about 610 square miles and runs from up near the Nicaraguan border down almost to the city of Liberia, as well as a good distance into the sea. When the speculator's land becomes part of the conservation area, Janzen will start cataloging it, collecting specimens of all the lepidoptera he and his colleagues can find, pulling off their legs and sending them to Guelph. As hard as Will works to debunk Hebert's claims, Janzen works harder to register barcodes. He is trying, through sheer accumulation of insects, to impose the automatic animal identifying machine upon the world.
The first time he talked with Hebert, Janzen asked where Hebert was getting his specimens. "He told me he was using a personal butterfly collection," Janzen says. "That resonated, because this is a personal butterfly collection." We are standing behind his little house in a rough, open pavilion strung with ropes. Beneath the ropes hang hundreds of plastic bags full of leaves, and inside every bag there is a caterpillar, a pupa, a moth, or some flies or wasps that have managed to parasitize the caterpillar, eat the pupa, and emerge into the middle of this scientific experiment. Like the insects in the neighboring bags, the destiny of these parasites is to be frozen, dried, identified, barcoded, and shipped to a museum for reference. Here, and in 10 other caterpillar-rearing stations in the forest, Janzen, Hallwachs, and their many local collaborators have solved taxonomic mysteries that go back hundreds of years. "Some of these moths have had names forever, and their caterpillars, too, and they've never been recognized as the same species," Janzen says.
So far they have sent more than 77,000 insect legs to Guelph for barcoding and linked each to a complete digital record, including photographs, collection details, and collateral notes. Janzen knows these insects extremely well, but barcoding has focused his attention on distinctions that had always been impossible to sort out. "Sometimes you've got all these slightly different moths, and according to convention they are the same species," he says. "The original specimen that goes with this name could be sitting in a dusty drawer in Berlin, and who knows what ecological information goes with it? Maybe none! So we send legs of all these supposedly identical insects to Paul, and sure enough, we get different barcodes. We go back to the box and sort them by barcode, and sure enough, one of the barcode clusters is big, one of them is smaller, one of them is gray, and one of them feeds on a different plant. So there goes your variation — there are four species!"
Janzen works his way slowly down the line of plastic bags, shaking them slightly, seeing if anything happened overnight. When he finds a moth, wings open, resting among the leaves, he removes the bag from the line and puts it into a freezer. "A hobbyist could do this," he says. "A child could do it. Biology is common property. That's the good thing, and it is also the bad thing. You need these observations, but there is no way to organize them, to connect them with the taxasphere."
The taxasphere is Janzen's nickname for taxonomic experts and the scientific knowledge they control. This knowledge lives in journals and monographs, in seminars, museum collections, and, least accessibly, in the brains of the taxonomists themselves. One afternoon, standing with me in the forest, Janzen points to a thin tree whose leaves have deep lobes. "Do you recognize this tree? It's a papaya," he says. "I don't suppose you know how it is pollinated? If you look it up, you will see that people believe it is pollinated by moths. But this is not true."
Later, I search the Web and find pictures of hawk moths drinking deeply from papaya flowers in full bloom. "Those are the male flowers," Janzen says. The female trees have smaller flowers that are nearly odorless. Many years ago, here in Guanacaste, Janzen played host to the late Herbert Baker, one of the high priests of insect pollination. All night, Baker watched the flowers of the female papaya tree. No moths stopped in. The only visitors that drank sap from both plants were male mosquitoes. The papaya is an important crop and a popular garden plant, yet misinformation about its pollination is nearly total. Baker's observations never left the taxasphere.
The next day, at a rearing station high on the slopes of one of the volcanoes, Janzen reaches into a plastic bag full of leaves and takes out a green caterpillar with red spots like eyes. "They are not eyes," he says. "Caterpillars don't have eyes." He pokes the caterpillar and it gives a sudden turn, pointing its fake eyes toward his finger and puffing up like a miniature snake. Back in the '80s and '90s, Janzen proved this mimicry can work to deter predators. He had his fellow researchers sneak up on the nests of birds that like to eat big caterpillars and wrap pipe cleaners around the necks of nestlings so they could not swallow. Later, they crept back to unwrap the pipe cleaners and retrieve the uneaten bugs. The biologists kept careful records of 65 nests. "You know what?" Janzen asks. "Not a single caterpillar with eye spots."
Janzen keeps poking the caterpillar, but it no longer puffs and turns. "After you do it a few times they stop," he says. "This caterpillar is going to turn into a moth, Xylophanes germen. The next time somebody finds it, how are they going to connect it with the story I just told you?" Earth, Janzen says, is like an unread book, but unread books can only entice people who are literate. "Take a kid on a field trip today and you can see that he is walking through the forest like a person who is totally blind."
It is 5 am. At the rearing barn in Costa Rica, the researchers — Hazel Cambronero, Ana Ruth Franco, and Sergio Rios Salas — are tired and quiet. We drove out the day before, carrying collecting equipment, plastic bags, and fluorescent lights, but the wind beat hard all night, making the sheet flap relentlessly against the hanging lamp. Every few seconds, the moths were startled away. The researchers gave up at dawn, and now they don't bother with food or coffee but throw their gear into the Land Cruiser and rattle out the gate. Above them the sky is busy: Venus competes with Mercury and a waxing moon and a fruit-loop dawn. We climb back out of the Atlantic drainage, cross the Continental Divide, and descend toward the west. At a one-family village called New Zealand, we have breakfast, and the researchers begin to come to life. They were all born nearby. Franco has been working on lepidoptera here for more than a decade, since she was a teenager.
Janzen calls Cambronero, Franco, and Salas parataxonomists. They are neither university scientists who live off their research grants nor ignoramuses who move through the natural world as if blind. Instead they are observers, discoverers, hunters of specimens. They are like 19th-century botanical and zoological collectors, who were part of a collaborative enterprise that spanned the globe; they traveled and corresponded, strove for credit, sold their services. Their collections and notes formed the undergrowth of biological knowledge from which the modern science emerged. Darwin in his youth was one of them. Aside from his genius, it was the key to his career.
There were standards battles even then. Joseph Hooker, the great director of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, attempted to get everybody to use tiny labels of precise dimensions to encourage brevity and prevent the accumulation of local detail from obscuring what he believed to be the widespread distribution of common species. Hooker wanted his collection to be the touchstone for the world, but he was premature. Nature was too diverse to be standardized by human experts using Latin words to describe salient features on little bits of paper.
In Guelph today, the barcoding factory is running at full speed. So far, Hebert's team has analyzed nearly 375,000 specimens. In Madagascar, a well-known myrmecologist named Brian Fisher has been barcoding ants by the thousands; there is a collaboration under way to get the barcodes of all birds (they have done 30 percent in the past five years) and every species of fish as well.
Barcoding works. When a named reference specimen exists in Hebert's database, the system can accept a bit of tissue, sequence the barcode region, and come up with a species name. Unfortunately, there are only about 47,000 barcodes that link directly to a name, because many of the barcoded specimens still lack a valid, traditional taxonomic identification. But Hebert no longer loses sleep over the taxonomic impediment. After all, the reason you want a scientific name is to connect with other research. When enough of this research is linked to barcodes, then the barcodes, not the names, will be canonical. Names will still exist, but they will be like nicknames, affectionate handles useful in writing and conversation but of fading relevance to science. Slowly, the 250-year history of Linnaean nomenclature will come to an end. "Each sequencer can run 500,000 sequences a year," Hebert says. "Line them up, feed them bug bits, pay the chemistry bill, and we can easily register 1 million species in a decade. Give us a few more sequencers, more chemistry money, more bug bits, and we'll register 100 million species in 20 years and then go swimming on a beach in Costa Rica."
He is kidding about going swimming on the beach. The barcode simplifies a naming process that, until now, has been horribly tangled. But on the other side of this simplification is not simplicity. When even schoolchildren carry automatic animal identifying machines — well, what then? If there are 100 million barcodes, how many observations will there be? How many specimens? How many dollops of fact, semifact, and falsehood mixed together? Who will hack their way through this new tangle, even more fiendish than the old one? Beyond the taxonomic impediment, all the confusion of the natural world awaits.
Fortunately for the progress of science, a messy, almost organic growth of truth and half-truth is exactly the kind of thing that human beings of a certain temperament find impossible to resist. Janzen, Hebert, Will, and Mishler — the barcoders and their critics alike — have been collecting facts since they were children, before they even knew what science was. In the end, barcodes are not just devices to put names on animals; they are also clever traps to catch all the people in the world whose curiosity impels them toward data as if toward light.
Among the first people caught, of course, was the inventor of barcoding himself, who long ago had given away his collection of New Guinea moths and butterflies so it wouldn't torment his conscience. Recently, Hebert felt compelled to stop by the Canadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids, and Nematodes. The possibility of extracting DNA from old specimens has been much on his mind. "They are still there," he says. "Thirty years later, they are still unnamed. They are just sitting in a drawer, waiting for me to pull a leg off."
Contributing editor Gary Wolf (gary@aether.com) wrote about futurist Ray Kurzweil in issue 16.04.
Related Get Your Bug On: How to Identify a Species
TopicsDiscoveriesmagazine-16.10
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William Weems Jones, Sr., Wheatland, PA
J. Bradley McGonigle Funeral Home and Crematory, Inc.
by: MyValleyTributes Staff
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WHEATLAND, Pennsylvania (MyValleyTributes) – Mr. William Weems Jones, Sr., affectionally know at Newt, 86 of Wheatland, went to be with the Lord, Friday, January 8, 2021, in Sharon Regional Medical Center, following a brief illness.
Mr. Jones was born on November 18, 1934, to the late Albert Weems Jones and Rosie Campbell Jones in Bay Springs, Mississippi.
He was the oldest of six children and confessed Christ at an early age.
He learned to hunt and fish as a child and this quickly became his favorite past-time.
He was educated in the Bay Springs School System and he played point guard for the high school basketball team.
William married, Hazel M Newell of Moss, Mississippi in 1955 and they relocated to Pennsylvania for work. To this union were born two children, William W. Jones, Jr. (Marcia) and Hazel Lynnette Jones-Parker (Calvin).
They became members of Valley Baptist Church.
He was employed as a steel worker at National Castings/Midland Ross for 28 years.
William also enjoyed boating and camping and was a lifelong member of the Buckhorn Hunting and Fishing Club. He raised several champion hunting dogs and for many years he looked forward to deer hunting season with his friends and son. Later in life, he enjoyed auctioneering and worked for Reimold Brothers Auctioneers. If there was something you needed, he had ten of them.
William was kind and giving and always assisted others in need. He knew the Lord and enjoyed reading his Bible, listening to his religious tapes and talking on the phone to family and friends about the goodness of the Lord. Whenever he saw you, he always shared some good advice that came with a story.
He leaves to cherish his memory, his wife of 65 years, Hazel; three siblings, Anniebell Gavin (Henry), Mary Crosby (Sidney) and Buddy Jones (Laura); his two children, William “Mickey” Jones (Marica) and Hazel Lynnette Jones-Parker (Calvin); seven grandchildren, Lorenzo, Rodney, Ryan, Jasmine, Jalen, Jamar and Justin; seven great-grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren; numerous nieces and nephews and a host of other family and friends. He had a special bond with his great-great-grandson, Alijah.
He was preceded in death by his parents and two siblings, Freeman Jones and Tommie Ann Moffet.
He will forever be in our hearts and he always reminded us to “Trust God and you will not have to worry about it.”
Calling hours will be 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 Noon, Tuesday, January 12 in J. Bradley McGonigle Funeral Home and Crematory, Inc., 1090 East State Street, Sharon. A private service will be held at Noon. To view a live stream of the service or to send an online condolence please visit www.McGonigleFuneralHomeandCrematory.com.
Interment will be in Morefield Cemetery, Hermitage.
To plant Memorial Trees in memory of William Jones, please click here to visit our Sympathy Store.
A television tribute will air Tuesday, January 12 at the following approximate times: 6:43 a.m. WYTV, 9:32 a.m. on WKBN, 10:58 a.m. on FOX and 8:12 p.m. on MyYTV.
More stories from WKBN.com:
Youngstown church's door shattered after suspect tried breaking in
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Pa. State Police looking for horse donations to join force's tactical mounted section
Pa. officials begin 'Ready to be Ready' campaign, teaching emergency prep
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Etta Virginia “Ginny” Tincher, Hubbard, Ohio
by MyValleyTributes Staff / Jan 15, 2021
HUBBARD, Ohio (MyValleyTributes) - Etta Virginia “Ginny” Tincher, 81, of Hubbard, Ohio, passed away Tuesday evening, January 12, 2021, in Nugent Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation.
Mrs. Tincher was born September 8, 1939, in Duck, Clay County, West Virginia, a daughter of the late Otha and Anna B. (Cumbridge) Eagle.
Thomas Anthony Test, Youngstown, Ohio
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (MyValleyTributes) - Thomas Anthony Test, 77, of Hermitage passed away early Tuesday morning, January 12, 2021, in Sharon Regional Medical Center, following an extended illness.
Mr. Test was born July 9, 1943, in Canton, Ohio, a son of the late Thomas D. and Jennie (Bianco) Test.
Anne Corbin, Hermitage, PA
HERMITAGE, Pennsylvania (MyValleyTributes) - Anne Corbin, 81, of Hermitage, passed away Tuesday, January 12, 2021, in Sharon Regional Medical Center.
Mrs. Corbin was born November 12, 1939, in Grove City, a daughter of the late George and Marion (Fritz) Miller.
Jennifer Denise Lampley, Youngstown, Ohio
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Young man killed in accident at Franklin construction site
by: Brittney Baird
WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — A young man was killed in a construction accident in Franklin early Friday morning.
The incident happened around 6 a.m. on Hospitality Drive off Highway 96, not far from Interstate 65.
(Photo: WKRN)
The Franklin Fire Department told News 2 a crew was pouring concrete into the bottom of a foundation when the accident happened.
The victim was at least 15 feet in the bottom of the foundation when the accident occurred, according to Jose Periut with the Franklin Fire Department. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The medical examiner and Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration have responded to the scene of the accident and a death investigation is underway.
The victim’s identity was not immediately released pending notification to his family.
The construction site is for a new storage facility.
This is a developing story. Stay with News 2 and WKRN.com for updates.
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President Trump honors football coach Lou Holtz as 'one of the greatest'
By KEVIN FREKING, Associated Press
attention to orders. Go home Legend is awarded the Medal of Freedom, a member of the college. My name achievements include 249 wins, 12 full game victories in a national championship. He is the only football coach to lead six different programs. The Ball game. His tenure. Notre Dame was historic, securing 10 straight winning seasons in the 1988 national championship. Off the field, he's a staple of sports television. A powerful motivational speaker, a devout Catholic and a dedicated philanthropist. The United States proudly honors Louis L. Holds for his contributions to our nation. Signed Donald J. Trump, the president of the United States of America. You can you can you hear things like that you can't.
President Donald Trump on Thursday called Lou Holtz "one of the greatest coaches in American history” as he honored the college football Hall of Famer and political ally with the nation's highest civilian honor.Holtz, whose 34-year coaching career included the 1988 national title at the University of Notre Dame, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom during an Oval Office ceremony. Holtz led six different programs to bowl games and is an outspoken Trump backer.“He’s really a life teacher," said Trump, noting the respect and loyalty Holtz earned from the many players he mentored. “He teaches people how to live and how to live properly and how to live with dignity."Holtz is one of several sports figures Trump has awarded the Medal of Freedom during his time office.Others include former NFL Hall of Famer and Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Alan Page, Olympic track and field athlete and former Rep. Jim Ryun, golfer Tiger Woods, Hall of Fame quarterback Roger Staubach, pro basketball greats Bob Cousy and Jerry West and baseball legends Babe Ruth and Mariano Rivera.“They’re recognized for what they did. I’m recognized for what other people did. I never made a block or a tackle, but I did try to teach people to make good choices. That’s all I ever tried to do,” Holtz said.Holtz had a 249-132-7 record over a career that, in addition to Notre Dame, included stops at William & Mary, North Carolina State, the University of Arkansas, the University of Minnesota, and the University of South Carolina. He also coached the NFL’s New York Jets in 1976 to a 3-10 record.Holtz, 83, said said that being honored by Trump made the award particularly meaningful.“I’m even prouder to receive it from President Donald Trump," said Holtz, who added that Trump was the "greatest president in my lifetime”A graduate of Kent State, Holtz also served seven years as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserves.The West Virginia native was among the speakers at this year’s Republican National Convention, offering Trump a strong endorsement while attacking the president’s Democratic rival, Joe Biden. In his remarks, Holtz called Biden a Catholic “in name only.” Biden is a practicing Catholic.Notre Dame’s president, Rev. John I. Jenkins, later issued a statement admonishing the former coach for using the university’s name in his remarks, saying it “must not be taken to imply” that Notre Dame endorses Holtz’s views, any candidate or any political party. Jenkins also admonished Holtz for questioning the “sincerity” of Biden's faith.Trump announced the week after Holtz's convention speech that he would honor the retired coach with the medal.“Wherever Lou went football glory followed," Trump said at a ceremony that included about 30 people, most of whom did not wear masks. Holtz disclosed on Nov. 19 that he had tested positive for the coronavirus.___Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani in Chicago and Darlene Superville contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump on Thursday called Lou Holtz "one of the greatest coaches in American history” as he honored the college football Hall of Famer and political ally with the nation's highest civilian honor.
Holtz, whose 34-year coaching career included the 1988 national title at the University of Notre Dame, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom during an Oval Office ceremony. Holtz led six different programs to bowl games and is an outspoken Trump backer.
“He’s really a life teacher," said Trump, noting the respect and loyalty Holtz earned from the many players he mentored. “He teaches people how to live and how to live properly and how to live with dignity."
Holtz is one of several sports figures Trump has awarded the Medal of Freedom during his time office.
Others include former NFL Hall of Famer and Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Alan Page, Olympic track and field athlete and former Rep. Jim Ryun, golfer Tiger Woods, Hall of Fame quarterback Roger Staubach, pro basketball greats Bob Cousy and Jerry West and baseball legends Babe Ruth and Mariano Rivera.
“They’re recognized for what they did. I’m recognized for what other people did. I never made a block or a tackle, but I did try to teach people to make good choices. That’s all I ever tried to do,” Holtz said.
Holtz had a 249-132-7 record over a career that, in addition to Notre Dame, included stops at William & Mary, North Carolina State, the University of Arkansas, the University of Minnesota, and the University of South Carolina. He also coached the NFL’s New York Jets in 1976 to a 3-10 record.
Holtz, 83, said said that being honored by Trump made the award particularly meaningful.
“I’m even prouder to receive it from President Donald Trump," said Holtz, who added that Trump was the "greatest president in my lifetime”
A graduate of Kent State, Holtz also served seven years as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserves.
The West Virginia native was among the speakers at this year’s Republican National Convention, offering Trump a strong endorsement while attacking the president’s Democratic rival, Joe Biden. In his remarks, Holtz called Biden a Catholic “in name only.” Biden is a practicing Catholic.
Notre Dame’s president, Rev. John I. Jenkins, later issued a statement admonishing the former coach for using the university’s name in his remarks, saying it “must not be taken to imply” that Notre Dame endorses Holtz’s views, any candidate or any political party. Jenkins also admonished Holtz for questioning the “sincerity” of Biden's faith.
Trump announced the week after Holtz's convention speech that he would honor the retired coach with the medal.
“Wherever Lou went football glory followed," Trump said at a ceremony that included about 30 people, most of whom did not wear masks. Holtz disclosed on Nov. 19 that he had tested positive for the coronavirus.
Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani in Chicago and Darlene Superville contributed to this report.
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Posts Tagged ‘Digital Reading’
Beyond the Linear – New ways of entertaining
January 20, 2013 davidllewelynjones 1 comment
The days of P.T. Barnum, and the sense of spectacle an audience received from seeing a live performance have long passed; codified, commodotised, sanitised and made instantly available. Or have they? The way we entertain ourselves nowadays has changed greatly, and keeps changing. But are our tastes evolving or revolving? Is there hope for such seeming anachronisms as the TV, the live performance and even the book?
Two years ago, Zeitgeist wrote a brief article on the nature of contemporary consumption of media. It began with the headline that 8-18 year olds in the US spend a quarter of their media time with multiple devices. Furthermore, almost a quarter of that age group use one other device most of the time while watching television. In 2013, this preference for multiple stimuli has only accelerated. 80% of UK smartphone owners (making up over half the phone-owning population) use their phones while watching the TV. Similar figures were reported in the US, and similar figures were also reported for tablet owners. Such figures give marketers pause for thought as they begin to approach these complementary devices as ways to extend their brand from the television onto the second screen. JWT Intelligence has a great report on this.
However, it is easy to overstate the arrival of shiny, new devices, and the apparent death of television. The blame for this misconception lies partly with the media itself; journalism is less engaging when it merely reports on the maintenance of the status quo (i.e. ‘people are still watching TV’). Far more interesting to hear about what new objects are showing a bit of ankle at CES, and that us mere mortals might one day dare to dream of owning ourselves, at which point all other material objects become unnecessary. All the more so when the journalistic integrity is compromised by corporate meddling, as was the case with CNET’s reporting this year. It was refreshing then to read TechCrunch’s recent article with the headline, ‘TV still King in Media Consumption’. The article, quoting a recent report by Nielsen, was particularly interesting in noting the prevalence of TV when it referenced that almost half the homes with TVs in the US owned four or more sets. Startling. More startling, the average household spends six days a month watching television, far ahead of other media consumption (using the Internet on a computer, at a little over 28 hours a month, came a distant second). The FT writes,
Over the past decade, despite the proliferation of video content on the web, TV consumption in the UK has remained steady with the average person watching about four hours a day. Almost 80 per cent of this viewing is on the top five channels, virtually unchanged from 10 years ago.
Creative destruction is something Zeitgeist takes an active interest in and has written about several times before on this blog. It takes hold in some industries (and households in this case) more quickly than in others. The same Nielsen study found that over 55% of US homes still had working VCRs. Moreover, despite much editorial to the contrary over recent years, the PC has not yet been wiped out by creative destruction and remains a staple for several reasons in both Western and emerging economies. According to Deloitte’s recent publication, “Technology, Media and Telecoms Predictions 2013”, although the attraction of tablets – and now ‘phablets’ – mean powerful computing and a cheaper cost, allowing the potential for leapfrogging of PCs in emerging markets, qualitative research shows a small but significant demand remains for PC ownership. Moreover, many businesses in the West, currently struggling with the implications of BYO devices, are not about to jettison the PC either. Switching costs, Zeitgeist suspects, are at play here, as with those stubborn VCR owners. Click here for more of our thoughts on switching costs.
VCR owners though will one day cease to be in the majority. New avenues of distribution and consumption are opening up, though not as quickly as first thought in some cases, particularly in that of live, streaming TV, which has faced many regulatory hurdles. Variety elaborates, “Loudly trumpeted efforts have fallen short, victims of poor design decisions, overpriced services and/or confusion about the target audience”. Yet alternatives are there. One of the more interesting streaming TV options in the US currently is that of Dyle, with 90 stations in 35 markets. It is run by a partnership that includes Fox, NBC, Hearst Television and others. The really interesting thing about the service is that it neutralises the problem many smartphone users will have of returning data caps by streaming off a separate network spectrum, which doesn’t impact on data allowances. Nice thinking.
Is the increasing popularity of streaming, and the content viewers prefer to watch over such a channel, already beginning to effect the types of films being produced?
Though new technology has not created new tastes in content or viewing habits, it has undeniably acted as a catalyst to desires already present. Zeitgeist remembers hearing a LoveFilm representative speak last year at AdTech in London about the increasing share streaming films took in the marketplace. Nothing too extraordinary in that statement, especially from a purveyor of streaming content. The rub came when he went on to elaborate that people tend to stream films when they are in the mood for instant gratification, in the form usually of an action film or romantic comedy. The increasing popularity of streaming, and therefore the increasing popularity of these particular genres, means the way the medium is distributed may very likely have a very significant influence on the type of content in the future that is commissioned. It was no surprise then to see, on a recent cinema trip, trailers for three films that neatly fit into that category for instant gratification (see above). Zeitgeist wrote at length on the need for film studios to address arbitrary platform release windows at the end of last year. Our article was mentioned in the lead editorial of entertainment trade paper Variety. Part of our argument is beginning to be addressed already. The FT recently published news that studios had managed to stem the six year decline in home viewing figures for films last year. The article elaborates that this is in part due to the strength of digital downloads, with films sometimes being available for digital distribution before they were available on DVD. Taken 2, a superb candidate for streaming given the previous statement by LoveFilm, was released Christmas Day in the US on digital platforms, “weeks before its release on DVD”. Such thinking goes hand-in-hand with the new UltraViolet format, to which several studios are subscribing. This allows those purchasing a movie on DVD – such as the recent Dark Knight Rises – to watch it with ease on multiple platforms. Mashable carried an article last week stating that several electronics firms have now also signed up to the UltraViolet partnership. Consumers will receive ten free movies when they sign up to the service, as incentive.
The example of Netflix is an interesting one in trying to understand the balance between consumers’ desire for multiple media and instantly-accessible content, and content owners desires to drive maximum revenue from their product. The company has been making a bigger push into providing TV shows of late, and is being rewarded for it, particularly with regard to older shows. A cultural trend many a pundit has put their finger on since the credit crunch began to bite back in 2008, nostalgia has manifested itself in consumers’ desire for old shows, including Midsomer Murders and Rising Damp, reports the FT. This long tail effect is turning a tidy profit for Netflix, as well as the original broadcaster, ITV. As a complement to this, the company is also fostering new partnerships, first with Disney in December, giving it “exclusive rights from 2016 to movies from Disney, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Studios, and Disneynature”. Then, at the beginning of this year, it inked a deal with Warner Brothers, to show new and old TV shows from the studio. It should be noted however, as with all these new deals and technological developments and marches into previously uncharted territory, regulatory wranglings have ensued, in this case with sister company Time Warner Cable. The problem in this situation is not perhaps so much that Netflix is trying hard to push its availability into lateral markets, but that it is not trying hard enough to create a cohesive platform that is available across all complementary platforms and devices.
Research from Accenture illustrates a declining demand for single-use devices
One thing which Netflix will want desperately to escape being accused of – and it has done so with much success thus far – is being a niche provider of content. Sadly, the days of the point-and-shoot camera, the dedicated games console, etc., are numbered, according to a recent report by Accenture. It is evidently with such a strategic outlook in mind that Disney have recently announced their Infinity gaming platform. Variety describes it as an “online treasure chest”, featuring a plethora of Disney characters from over the years that can be interacted with over multiple platforms, whether on mobile or on videogame consoles. Importantly, the concept is designed to be an iterative, one that will grow and add characters over time, presumably as new IP is created. It certainly pays heed to the second screen phenomenon by recognising the need for multiple device access. It also plays off the trend started by the game ‘Skylanders’, which involves both physical toys and digital interaction. The same principle will apply with new toys developed for Infinity, which can then be used to create unique stories and drive narratives. The idea of having disparate characters from different Disney franchises is potentially a frightening one for those in charge of the individual brand essences of said titles, but the potential for success can be found by looking no further than the Toy Story films, which feature an assortment of different genre toys that mix well in situ.
We’ve discussed the changing models of consumption for most of the article, but it is worth noting briefly how our cultural tastes are also changing, brought on by technology (again), but also globalisation. Pundits are often quick to point out nowadays that there is a substantial demand for the live experience. Yet if we look at music, one of the most profound things to experience live, recent figures showed attendance to concerts had dipped. At the end of last year, in an insightful roundtable, The New York Times interviewed several talking heads, asking them to round up their thoughts on 2012 in the music industry. One of the more interesting points repeatedly made was that of the abundant opportunity that the Internet now provides for musical talent. Moreover, the Internet at large has become just as viable – if not a more viable – starting place for an emerging artist than signing with a record label:
“Now this year something’s been proven: Pop performers can become truly famous by building their careers themselves online, maybe more efficiently and faster than a major company can help them to do.
… you look at the first-week sales numbers of someone like Kendrick Lamar, who had an independent album that was digital only and is now on [the major-label] Interscope, but basically has no major radio hits, even if he is well-liked by mainstream hip-hop. He comes out and sells about 240,000 in his first week. A couple weeks later Rihanna comes out — not her first album and at the height of her pop fame — and sells a few thousand less than Kendrick did.”
The other trend, globalisation, has meant that voices increasingly other than those that are Western, are more easily heard. The irrepressible Psy had the honour of being the performer in the first YouTube video to cross one billion views. Conversely, in his home country of South Korea, ‘Gangnam Style’ has accrued a pitiful “$50,000 from CD sales and $61,000 from 3.6m downloads”. The point remains, however, that the fallacy of the West as the cradle of pop culture is being exposed. Christopher Caldwell illustrates this masterfully, writing for the FT in December.
Zeitgeist has written before about the upheaval new trends and preferences for media consumption – impacted significantly by the arrival of the Internet – have wrought on financial growth in the media and entertainment sector. Digital, in the form of Napster and its myrmidons in particular, has a lot to answer for. There was some relief then that at the beginning of the year when UK digital sales topped GBP1 billion for the first time (though still failing to off-set the physical media decline). Moreover, Boston Consulting Group predicted last month – in an excellent report entitled Changing Engines in Midflight: The 2012 TMT Value Creators Report – that by 2015 the digital services ecosystem will reach $1 trillion by 2015 (see above).
It is interesting to see where the ownership of content starts and ends across layers, and how content owners are trying to monetise these platforms and grab as much market share as possible from their competitors. Amazon recently began offering digital downloads of any CD you have purchased from them since 1998. It would be a great surprise to see if they do the same for books anytime soon. Fortunately, reading still constitutes an avenue of entertainment, for those of all ages. A recent piece by The New York Times reported that digital reading was on the rise for children. The article notes the numbers give some room for discrepancy, but states “about one-fourth of the boys who had read an e-book said they were reading more books for fun”, which is a desperately important emotional connection to maintain. While e-reading is a commendable past-time, is there any merit in pushing further, and advocating for interacting with a medium that does not involve a digital display? Such a turn of events, perhaps aided by the trend for nostalgia mentioned earlier, is presenting itself in the luxury hotel market, with physical libraries returning to shelves. It has been termed ‘rematerialism’.
So what does this all mean for consumer entertainment? There are evidently lots of new technologies being released, from smart TVs to new gaming devices, that will attempt to capture eyeballs. These devices, far from having to think of their natural competitors, still have the common television – and, as we have seen, even VCRs – to compete with and overthrow first. TV commands such a huge slice of viewing time, but it is under threat from distracted viewers who are now very comfortable – and more importantly socially accepting – of using a tablet, laptop or phone during a show. There are also regulatory implications t consider, which will most likely be shaped, ex-post, along the way. Taking consumers on a journey across multiple platforms and media in a seamless way will be key. Disney’s Infinity platform, when it is released, will hopefully serve as an excellent example to others of how to combine physical and digital entertainment.
Categories: TV & Film Strategy, Uncategorized Tags: Accenture, AdTech, Batman, BCG, Books, Boston Consulting Group, Bruce Willis, Bullet to the Head, BYOD, CBS, Censorship, CES, CNET, Computerweekly.com, Consumer Electronics Show, Consumption, Creative Destruction, Dark Knight Rises, Deloitte, Deloitte TMT Predictions 2013, Devices, Die Hard 5, Digital, Digital Reading, Digital sales, Disney, Disney's Infinity, DVD, Dyle, E-books, Expendables 2, Facebook, Facebook messenger, Film, Forbes, Fox, Franchise, FT, Genre, GigaOm, Hollywood, Hollywood Reporter, JWT Intelligence, Last Stand, Long tail, LoveFilm, Mashable, MIT, MIT Technology Review, Mobile, Music, Netflix, New York Times, Nielsen, Nvidia, Nvidia Project Shield, Paidcontent.org, PC, Phablet, Piracy, Platforms, Psy, Pure Play, Reading, Recession, Regulation, Rematerialism, Report, Schwarzenegger, Second Screen, Skylanders, Stallone, Streaming, Tablet, Taken 2, TechCrunch, Time Warner Cable, TMT, TV, UK, Ultraviolet, US, Variety, VCR, Videogames, VOIP, Warner Bros, Yahoo news
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