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IAAH Website Board index Heraldry Portuguese heraldry
Arms of the Portuguese Red Cross
Heraldry of Potugal
Chas Charles-Dunne
Location: England - TL 80102 93862
Contact Chas Charles-Dunne
Re: Arms of the Portuguese Red Cross
Postby Chas Charles-Dunne » 21 Jul 2014, 12:28
Ryan Shuflin wrote: I suspect that since the Red Cross was established by international law, that there is some extra protection given the red cross symbol, but it's scope, I do not know.
Iain Boyd wrote: Dear Charles,
The red cross symbol may 'belong' to the International Committee of the Red Cross, BUT, I would be very surprised if they could stop any individual (let alone a national organisation) from using the same cross in their coat of arms - whatever it's symbolism in those arms.
Iain Boyd
Ryan is quite right. The various Geneva Conventions govern the use of the symbol.
The overwhelming vast majority of members internationally are not armigerous. Apart from a few County and National Officers (who were appointed for their connections), I know of only one armigerous member in the UK - me.
As a member and officer of almost 20 years standing, I used to train members in the history of the Red Cross and its use. I know for a fact that National Societies do NOT abuse the privilege. For a while, senior officers of the BRCS wore the symbol on a white shield-shaped badge on their collars in full dress uniform. This was discontinued and replaced with a roundel instead. The point being that it was just shield-shaped and not in any way heraldic.
Individual members, as part of their training, learn about the origins of the Societies and the protection afforded by the symbol. I would be very surprised if one of them assumed arms and flouted the conventions. I really can't see either the College or Lord Lyon granting arms with the symbol without consulting the Society first. The same would go for the St John symbol or any other publicly known symbol.
Surprisingly it is the armed forces of the various countries which abuse the symbol the most. When forces are "under arms", they just can't get their heads round the idea of "You can't bring your gun into the first aid post".
IAAH Fellow
JMcMillan
Postby JMcMillan » 21 Jul 2014, 12:56
The red cross and associated symbols used by the military medical services of non-Christian countries (red crescent, red lion-and-sun, and the recently added red crystal) are not controlled by the International Committee of the Red Cross but by the states parties to the 1st and 2nd Geneva Conventions of 1949 and other wartime belligerents.
The red cross, i.e., the Swiss federal arms in reversed colors, was originally adopted by the 1864 Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Wounded in Armies in the Field. Its principal use is on the flags, armlets, facilities, and equipment employed in the medical services of armed forces in combat, and Geneva I (1949), article 44, bans all uses of the red cross or the equivalent emblems for any other purpose, except that:
(1) National Red Cross/Red Crescent Societies may use the emblems in peacetime for activities in conformity with the principles of the Red Cross movement.
(2) In wartime, these societies may use the emblems for their other activities only if they are clearly not implying the protection of the convention.
(3) International Red Cross organizations (such as the International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies) may use the emblems at all times.
It is up to each state party to the Geneva Conventions to give the force of law to the provisions of the conventions within its own jurisdiction. Exactly how this is done varies from country to country.
Joseph McMillan
Alexandra, Virginia, USA
Martin Goldstraw
Location: Shropshire, England.
Contact Martin Goldstraw
Postby Martin Goldstraw » 21 Jul 2014, 13:01
NEW YORK (AP) - A federal judge has tossed out most of a lawsuit in which the health-products maker Johnson & Johnson claimed that the American Red Cross was breaking the law by licensing its famous red and white symbol to other companies.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff, made public Thursday, is the latest blow to Johnson & Johnson in a bitter trademark battle launched in August over the use of the red cross logo, which the two entities have shared for more than a century.
Originally, the trademark infringement suit demanded that the Red Cross stop using its emblem on health care products sold to the public.
A good chunk of the lawsuit was dismissed in November, but Johnson & Johnson persisted with a claim that the Red Cross, in licensing its logo to third parties, broke a federal law making it a crime for anyone to use the insignia 'for the fraudulent purpose of inducing the belief that he is a member of or an agent for the American National Red Cross.'
Rakoff rejected that argument, too. He said that when Congress chartered the Red Cross and gave it the near-exclusive right to use the red cross emblem, it also gave the group leeway to use the logo to promote itself and raise money for its charitable works.
Since then, the American Red Cross has licensed the symbol many times, to companies including manufacturers of first aid supply kits, watchmakers and the jeweler Tiffany & Co.
Johnson & Johnson's interpretation of the law, Rakoff wrote, 'would criminalize not only the licensing agreements that, as noted above, ARC has been entering into for more than a century, but also a host of other familiar and traditional ARC activities.'
The judge left intact only a small part of the suit, which contends that the Red Cross purposefully interfered with Johnson & Johnson's business relationship with two health care supply companies, Water-Jel Technologies Inc. and First Aid Only Inc.
He also dismissed a Red Cross counterclaim in which the organization said Johnson & Johnson was, itself, engaging in trademark violations by using the red cross symbol on certain products.
Johnson & Johnson spokesman Marc Monseau said the company was disappointed that the judge rejected its argument regarding commercial uses of the emblem, but pleased that it was cleared to continue using the red cross as its trademark.
The company began using the symbol in 1887, six years after the creation of the American Red Cross, but prior to the creation of the group's federal charter in 1900. Johnson & Johnson's use of the trademark was grandfathered under a 1905 law.
'We are reviewing the decision and look forward to continuing this process to resolve our legal dispute with the American Red Cross,' Monseau said.
A spokeswoman for the American Red Cross had no immediate comment on the ruling.
http://shares.telegraph.co.uk/news/arti ... 1&epic=JNJ
Cheshire Heraldry
http://cheshire-heraldry.org.uk
Mike_Oettle
Location: Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa
Postby Mike_Oettle » 16 Mar 2015, 20:39
While the International Committee of the Red Cross might have avoided any armorial use of their emblem, it is clearly derived from the Swiss national arms (although that device is hardly of mediæval origin as a national symbol).
So to say that it is entirely non-heraldic is not entirely true.
It seems highly likely that the Portuguese Red Cross makes use of the red cross as a symbol, in addition to its appearance in its corporate coat of arms. And certainly in wartime it would not want its ambulances to be mistaken by the enemy.
I personally like the coat of arms, and feel it a pity that the Portuguese society is probably unique within the Red Cross in having a coat of arms.
The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life.
[Proverbs 14:27]
Return to “Portuguese heraldry”
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Book Ade Makinde and he will enthrall your listeners with a tale which is already capturing the imagination of Hollywood producers; one possessing the raw components of Rocky meets Raging Bull on the Mean Streets of Jersey City.
The story of hard punching Frankie DePaula, one of the American Dream gone awry, is a true-life cocktail of corruption, betrayal, hubris and murder set against the backdrop of the sport of boxing and the world of the Mafia in the 1960s.
It is a gritty retelling of the world epitomised by the ‘Soprano State’ culture bedevilling contemporary New Jersey; a world inhabited by a charismatic but flawed figure who was close friends with both Frankie Valli and Joe Namath, and counted Frank Sinatra among his fans.
Ade will reveal to your audience what he discovered from long-buried government documents as well as the testimonies of first hand witnesses to uncover the murky goings-on in the ‘Dead End’ culture of Jersey City
The death of his manager in circumstances which point to a Mob orchestrated plan to gain control of Frankie’s drawing power
suspicions that he threw a world title bout at the behest of the Mob
his involvement in Mob sponsored endeavours and how suspicions that he was an FBI informant and
his dalliance with the daughter of a high-ranking member of the Genovese family led to his execution-style shooting in an alleyway in Jersey City
Part historical chronicle and part expose, it is a story that will shock as well as inform and entertain listeners.
CREDENTIALS: Adeyinka Makinde trained as a barrister and is a lecturer in law. Based in England, he has served as a programme consultant and provided expert commentary for BBC World Service Radio. He wrote the well-reviewed biography, Dick Tiger: The Life and Times of a Boxing Immortal, which was published in 2005.
AVAILABILITY: Nationwide by telephone & New York City by arrangement
CONTACT: Jed Dimatteo, Ade's US Representative (201-309-0021) and thelawacademy@aol.com
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Ben Kende Official Website: You Tube | Events and Updates | Research
The greater good of Spinal Cord Injury (SCI)
Ben’s Story
Directors, Trustees, and Advisory Committee
Spinal Cord Injuries (SCI)
News – SCI Conference in China
Exercised Based Approaches to Therapy
Resources in Hong Kong for the Disabled
Therapy Centres Overseas
Self Fundraising
On The Beaten Track – Accessible Hikes In Hong Kong
Tips On Taking A Holiday In Inaccessible Countries
BKF Events
Honorable Bernard Chan – Chairman of Hong Kong Council of Social Services (in his role as supporter rather than patron)
The Ben Kende Foundation offers hope and inspiration to anyone who has been affected by spinal injury and associated paralysis and other serious disabilities. The Foundation is making a real difference in encouraging research into spinal cord injuries and therapies, and in offering information and other resources to help victims of such injuries undergo rehabilitation and continue with successful and fulfilling lives. This issue is often overlooked in Hong Kong, and the Foundation deserves the support of the whole community.
Claudia Mo – Member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council
I am honoured to be a Patron of a foundation doing such wonderful work for those with crippling spinal injuries. The Ben Kende Foundation has been the leader in showing what can be done, helping them receive the treatment and support which can enable them to lead constructive lives. Ben Kende himself, who now has a degree in commerce and is studying for another in law, is himself an example of what can be achieved when resources are added to individual determination. I hope the government itself, as well as private firms and individuals, can get behind such efforts. This is not just a humanitarian issue. It is an investment in the future self-reliance of those with such grievous injuries.
Ivy Zhang Wei
My name is Ivy Zhang Wei. I took up gymnastics at the age of four but in 2008 I got injured during a training session and became quadriplegic. Following a two-year hospital stay I returned to the community and worked hard on rehabilitation to strengthen my abilities while continuing to attend school. Thanks for the loves and care from my parents, medical staff and the teachers. Their encouragements and support has helped me to go through the hardships that I encountered.
In 2012, I was named as one of the ” Ten Regeneration Warriors”.
I’m now an undergraduate of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, majoring Applied Biology with Biotechnology. I hope to devote myself in the research on spinal cord injury or related area upon my graduation.
David suffered an extreme accident at the age of 18 in 2009, when he fell from a balcony in Aberdeen. (He had been due to travel to Scotland the next day to start his university degree). His accident was so extreme David could not speak for three months. With incredible courage and determination, and a wonderful family, he re-engaged in his life, doing a Bachelors at Sunderland University Hong Kong and therapy trips to the Philippines.
Rocky Mileto – Hearts in Union
Rocky was a famous New South Wales rugby players who suffered a very serious rugby injury in 1995. As his name implies, nothing would stop him from going forward. He studied law at Macquarie University, and now he helps injured players through Hearts in Union, an Australian charity for injured rugby players. Rocky is happily married with two young children, who he races after in his electric wheelchair.
Perry Cross
While representing Queensland in rugby in 1994 Perry suffered such a serious accident that he as paralyzed from the neck down. Perry has set up a huge spinal injury research foundation in Australia, and recently visited Hong Kong to further his sponsorship of spinal injury research. Perry is particularly interested in stem cell research for spinal injured that is being conducted in Brisbane. Undaunted by his physical challenges, Perry is a determined and energetic guy who is engaged to a professional swimming champion.
THE BLACK AND WHITE SPINAL CURE DINNER
On The Beaten Track – Accessible Hikes In Hong Kong (Part 3)
BKF Supporters & Friends
© · All Rights Reserved · Ben Kende 2018
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Bagwells.com
A Web-based Genealogy Project
(?) Gellinger
(?) Gellinger married Cindy Bagwell, daughter of Travis V. Bagwell and Louise Marilyn Ward, before 1988.
Johnnie Franklin Newman
Johnnie Franklin Newman married Nellie Mae Bagwell, daughter of William Lucious Bagwell and Annie K. Munnerlyn, on 24 December 1930 at Yuma, Arizonia.
John H. Sherman
John H. Sherman married Edith Adlina Bagwell, daughter of William Lucious Bagwell and Annie K. Munnerlyn, before 1971. John H. Sherman and Edith Adlina Bagwell were divorced in March 1971 at San Diego County, California.
Harry H. Haff
Harry H. Haff married Nellie Mae Bagwell, daughter of William Lucious Bagwell and Annie K. Munnerlyn, on 25 February 1956 at Yuma, Arizonia.
James Ernest "Jimmy" Bagwell Jr.
M, b. 17 August 1946, d. 24 May 2007
James Ernest "Jimmy" Bagwell Jr. was born on 17 August 1946 in Brooklyn, New York County, New York. He served as a SGT in the US Air Force during the Vietnam War. He married Janice JOhnson in 1977. James Ernest "Jimmy" Bagwell Jr. died on 24 May 2007 at age 60. He was buried at Garrison Forest Veterans Cemetery, Owings Mills, Baltimore County, Maryland.
Child of James Ernest "Jimmy" Bagwell Jr. and Janice JOhnson
Tashia M. Bagwell
Janice JOhnson
F, b. 18 February 1946, d. 16 September 2020
Janice JOhnson was born on 18 February 1946. As of 1965,her married name was Harris. She married Vernon K. Harris in 1965. As of 1977,her married name was Bagwell. Janice JOhnson married James Ernest "Jimmy" Bagwell Jr. in 1977. Janice JOhnson died on 16 September 2020 at age 74. She was buried at Garrison Forest Veterans Cemetery, Owings Mills, Baltimore County, Maryland;
Obituary for Janice Bagwell
A Time to Be Born
Janice Bagwell entered this world on February 18, 1946 in Baltimore, Maryland. Janice was
the fourth eldest of twelve children born to the late Nathaniel and Esther Johnson. Janice grew up in South Baltimore and lived all of her adult life in West Baltimore.
A Time to Learn
Janice was educated in the Baltimore City Public Schools System where her love for reading and watching educational documentaries were expanded. In 1964, Janice graduated from Edmondson High School with a major in Business Education. When her formal education ended, Janice continued to have an enthusiasm for learning and acquiring new and interesting information. She would often call relatives and friends to share what she learned.
A Time to Work
Upon graduating from Edmondson High School, Janice began her career at Carr Lowrey’s
Glass Company. Janice was a valuable member of the organization and made many significant contributions to ensure the overall effectiveness of accounts and customer needs were addressed. Janice remained as a dedicated and integral member at Carr Lowery’s for thirty-five years before retiring in 2001.
A Time for Love and Family
In 1965, Janice married the late Vernon M. Harris and from this union they were blessed
with one son, Vernon K. Harris, whom she affectionately named “sweet chocolate”. Janice
loved her son dearly and devoted an endless amount of time and showering him with love
and attention and establishing an eternal and loving bond. Janice was Vernon’s “No. 1 girl”
and they spent time together each day.
As life sometimes happens, the union between Janice and Vernon M dissolved and she met the late James “Jimmy” Ernest Bagwell. After a loving courtship the two decided to marry in 1977. With still more love to share, Janice and Jimmy decided to expand their family and were blessed to welcome a beautiful daughter, Tashia Bagwell. Janice loved Tashia and often said “this was the daughter that I always wanted”. And Tashia loved her “Janny-Pooh”.
They were the best of friends and often had long talks about many different topics. Most of the time, those talks ended with Janice’s favorite saying “Mommy knows best” and Tashia would eventually agree. Janice and Tashia loved to go shopping together and would always say “let’s just go in one store” but quickly that one turned into many as they laughed and ended their day with a bite to eat—usually a sandwich from Subway. Janice enjoyed being a mother and dedicated her life to ensuring that Vernon and Tashia understood the value of family and the importance of siblings always supporting
each other.
A Time to Choose God
Janice accepted Christ and received her Christian education at a young age. She became an active and dedicated member of Evergreen African Methodist Episcopal Church. During her time as member of Evergreen AME, Janice served the Lord and participated in a number of ministries including Pastor’s Aide, Women’s Day Committee, Outreach Committee, Women’s Ministry and Ministry for Senior Citizens. Janice grew as a Christian and deepened her understanding of God’s word through the leadership and friendship of Dr. M. Ruth Travis. Once Dr. Travis retired, Janice joined the St. Paul Institutional Baptist Church under the leadership of Pastor Kobi Robertson where she continued her spiritual growth. Janice looked forward to Sunday worship and weekly fellowship with Pastor Kobi and the members of St. Paul Institutional Baptist Church.
A Time for an Earthly Farewell
Janice departed this life on Wednesday, September 16, 2020. Janice fought valiantly until
she slipped away. Janice enjoyed the simple things in life, planting and tending to a beautiful garden, shopping for a bargain, using her creative talents to enhance the home lively conversation with family, friends and neighbors. Janice would meet strangers and within five minutes they would share their entire life story with her.
Leaving some people to say she had a “PhD in common sense.” Janice has earned her crown and was lovingly welcomed into the arms of her savior. Janice leaves to cherish her memory one son, Vernon K. Harris, Baltimore, MD; one daughter, Tashia M. Bagwell, Baltimore, MD, one grandson, Brandon L. Sells, two granddaughters Milan N. Harris and Ryann A. Smith (all of Baltimore, MD) one sister-in law; Harriet E. Skinner (Hampton, VA), one brother-n-law; Vernon Savage (Baltimore, MD), six sisters; Paige Baker(Melvyn), Barbara Weathers, Brenda Young, Linda Johnson, Denise Moore (William) and Gail Baker; one brother Craig Johnson, (all of Baltimore, MD); two aunts; Sylvia Lyles and Bernice Rogers, Favorite Cousin Ronnie Savage (Louise); one Godson Barry Murphy, two Goddaughters Ericka McCray and Janell Westbrook, a very special and dear friend; Ms.Vernell Fussell and a host of nieces, nephews, neighbors and devoted friends.
Child of Janice JOhnson and Vernon K. Harris
Vernon Harris
Child of Janice JOhnson and James Ernest "Jimmy" Bagwell Jr.
Tashia M. Bagwell is the daughter of James Ernest "Jimmy" Bagwell Jr. and Janice JOhnson.
Vernon K. Harris
Vernon K. Harris married Janice JOhnson in 1965.
Child of Vernon K. Harris and Janice JOhnson
Vernon Harris is the son of Vernon K. Harris and Janice JOhnson.
George W. Bagwell
M, b. 21 May 1887
George W. Bagwell was born on 21 May 1887 in Accomack County, Virginia. He was the son of Collier Bagwell and Lucy (?) George W. Bagwell lived in 1890 in Monmouth County, New Jersey. He served in Company F, 3rd US ???. He married Mary Downing on 24 October 1909 at Savageville, Virginia. George W. Bagwell and Mary Downing lived in 1910 in Long Branch Ward 5, Monmouth County, New Jersey. George W. Bagwell lived in 1917 in Accomack County, Virginia. He was buried in 1935 at White Ridge Cemetery, Eatontown, Monmouth County, New Jersey.
Mary Downing
F, b. October 1891, d. 9 October 1935
Mary Downing was also known as Mary Paddy. She was born in October 1891 in Parksley, Virginia. As of 24 October 1909,her married name was Bagwell. She married George W. Bagwell, son of Collier Bagwell and Lucy (?), on 24 October 1909 at Savageville, Virginia. Mary Downing and George W. Bagwell lived in 1910 in Long Branch Ward 5, Monmouth County, New Jersey. Mary Downing died on 9 October 1935 in State Hospital, Marlboro, New Jersey. She was buried at White Ridge Cemetery, Eatontown, Monmouth County, New Jersey.
Collier Bagwell
M, b. before 1870
Collier Bagwell was born before 1870. He married Lucy (?) before 1887.
Child of Collier Bagwell and Lucy (?)
George W. Bagwell b. 21 May 1887
Lucy (?)
Lucy (?) married Collier Bagwell before 1887.
Child of Lucy (?) and Collier Bagwell
Wilson Drummond
Wilson Drummond married Catherine Kate Bagwell, daughter of Ephraim Bagwell and Ann Phillips, before 1923.
Collin Henderson
Collin Henderson married Lucille "Lucy" Bagwell, daughter of Ephraim Bagwell and Ann Phillips, in 1886 at Accomack County, Virginia.
John Thomas Turner
M, b. circa 1868
John Thomas Turner was born circa 1868. He married Lucille "Lucy" Bagwell, daughter of Ephraim Bagwell and Ann Phillips, on 13 July 1919 at Savageville, Accomack County, Virginia.
Charles Bagwell
Charles Bagwell is the son of William John Bagwell and Fannie Van Delia Glenn.
Cordie Bagwell
Cordie Bagwell is the daughter of William John Bagwell and Fannie Van Delia Glenn.
Morris Bagwell
Morris Bagwell is the son of William John Bagwell and Fannie Van Delia Glenn.
Kate Bagwell
Kate Bagwell is the daughter of William John Bagwell and Fannie Van Delia Glenn.
Raymond Bagwell
Raymond Bagwell is the son of William John Bagwell and Fannie Van Delia Glenn.
Esther Bagwell
Esther Bagwell is the daughter of William John Bagwell and Fannie Van Delia Glenn.
Dora Bagwell
Dora Bagwell is the daughter of William John Bagwell and Fannie Van Delia Glenn.
Ulysses Bagwell
Ulysses Bagwell is the son of William John Bagwell and Fannie Van Delia Glenn.
Susan Lynn Szewczyk
Susan Lynn Szewczyk married Kenneth W. Bagwell, son of Maurice Wilbur Bagwell and Mary S. Harron, on 26 May 1990 at Patapsco United Methodist Church, Baltimore, Maryland.
Samuel N. Dickerson
Samuel N. Dickerson married Ruth Margaret Bagwell, daughter of John Wilbur Bagwell and Clara Olivia Fick, after 1930.
Charles F. Mansur
Charles F. Mansur married Ruth Margaret Bagwell, daughter of John Wilbur Bagwell and Clara Olivia Fick, after 1940.
Margaret Elizabeth
Margaret Elizabeth married Charles Edwin Bagwell, son of John Wilbur Bagwell and Clara Olivia Fick, on 1 February 1947 at Maryland.
Child of Margaret Elizabeth and Charles Edwin Bagwell
Robin Lee Bagwell
Descendents of Henry Bagwell
Robin Lee Bagwell is the daughter of Charles Edwin Bagwell and Margaret Elizabeth. Robin Lee Bagwell married Demetrios Kastanaras after 1965.
Demetrios Kastanaras
Demetrios Kastanaras married Robin Lee Bagwell, daughter of Charles Edwin Bagwell and Margaret Elizabeth, after 1965.
Compiler: Hunter Bagwell
Site updated on 18 Jan 2021 at 5:38:17 PM from HUNTER BAGWELL FAMILY HISTORY; 26,367 people
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The Russian Government
Government meeting
Event / Photo / Video / Participants
Dmitry Medvedev , Dmitry Rogozin , Olga Golodets , Viktor Ishayev , Dmitry Livanov , Vladimir Puchkov , Mikhail Abyzov , Igor Slunyayev
Dmitry Medvedev: We are here for our first meeting this year, so I wish everyone success. Today we will be discussing a vital sphere, education, in particular the implementation of the project to modernise the regional elements of our system of general education.
Education has been and will most likely remain the key priority of the state for the coming years and possibly even decades. It concerns long-term development trends and the future of the country and, of course, the lives of millions of people. It concerns both pupils and parents, as well as our large teaching community. The country needs well trained citizens with a modern mindset as the foundation for the country’s competitiveness and its ability to address the key issues of global development.
The implementation of the Education national priority project and the Our New School initiative has created an environment for modernising the content and conditions of education as well as schools’ financing and equipment. We have seen this happening, and this work has not yet been completed. The law On Education has been adopted recently, following lengthy and complex discussions. Working under the project to modernise regional elements of the system of general education, we have consolidated resources in the most important spheres of school development. Federal subsidies are being allocated to give the regions the possibility to fulfil their commitments most effectively.
I’d like to remind you that this project is designed for three years, from 2011 through 2013. In all, 120 billion roubles will be allocated for its implementation from the federal budget, including 60 billion in 2012 and 40 billion this year. The regions allocated about 20 billion roubles for this project in 2011 through 2012.
Much has been accomplished over the past two years. Many schools have been repaired and provided with modern equipment, including for introducing modern educational standards. Sport halls, libraries and canteens have been repaired at many schools. Last year, major repairs were completed at over 3,000 schools. Of course, we have not achieved the desired result at all schools, and parents still have reasons to complain, including to the Government. We understand that nothing had been done in many regions for years, if not decades. The situation there is dramatic, because no money had been invested there, and many schools had not been repaired for decades and so have become dilapidated.
Honestly speaking, the countryside and other regions sometimes lack the basic amenities. Quite often at schools there is no heating, no hot food and even no toilets. Once, I visited a school at a community where they managed to show me everything, including a computer class. When I left the school, the parents whispered to my ear that there was no toilet there. At the same time they boasted of their computer class. We must make sure such situations do not exist. Actually, our consolidated efforts, those of the Federal Government, Russian regions and municipal entities, must aim to accomplish this. I would like to once again draw attention to the fact that substantial funding is being allocated. Therefore, the heads of territories and municipal entities are supposed to ensure their cost-effective spending.
In 2013, we must implement all planned measures. First of all, we must renovate school buildings, purchase additional equipment, which is lacking, install available equipment, deliver modern literature to libraries and connect libraries to online networks. And, of course, we must try to ensure modern Internet connections. The share of schools with broadband Internet access with a speed of at least two megabytes per second should increase. Whenever necessary, the concerned officials must buy vehicles and bus children to schools from other communities, especially where schools with few students are being merged into larger educational institutions. And, at long last, we must provide permanent professional improvement opportunities for teachers in line with the most advanced curricula.
The salaries of school teachers is a special parameter, which continues to be monitored. Indeed, this is a key factor of school renovation. I repeat that this is a key, but not the only, factor. Nevertheless, salaries must serve as an incentive enabling teachers to work better, effectively and creatively. The Ministry of Education and Science will now report on what has been accomplished.
In November 2012, the salaries of all teachers in Russia exceeded the average national economic wages by over 10%. However, this amounts to average wages. This parameter does not reflect the situation in specific regions. However, teachers’ salaries in over a third of Russian regions have exceeded the average regional economic wages in 2012. At any rate, we must completely even out the salaries of teachers, so that they would equal the average economic wages during the comparable period. We must do our best to accomplish this objective. I would like to stress that we have the right to expect effective results, while making such impressive allocations. The Minister will now tell us what has been done in various regions.
As usual, regional leaders have been invited to attend the Government meeting on the main issue. Today, I will give the floor to Tyumen Region Governor Vladimir Yakushev and Kirov Region Governor Nikita Belykh.
The next item on our agenda also deals with education and the allocation of federal-budget subsidies. As I have already said, first-category subsidies will be used to modernise regional education systems. Second-category subsidies will be used to pay bonuses to teachers for classroom management. Almost 11.5 billion roubles will be spent on these purposes in 2013. About 800,000 educators working at state and municipal educational institutions will receive 1,000-rouble bonuses for classroom management. These bonuses will be adjusted, depending on the number of students. And, finally, third-category subsidies worth 200 million roubles will be spent as bonuses for the best teachers. Each of them will receive 200,000 roubles. In all, every year one thousand of the most talented and successful educators receive these bonuses. I would like to remind you that this measure was introduced by the January 2010 Presidential Executive Order. And we will continue to implement it.
We will examine another important issue, although all issues are serious, and they concern the entire country. I am talking about measures to prepare for a more effective and high-tech response to large-scale emergencies and fires. The civil-defence and early-warning systems must be absolutely modern. We all realise this. The events of last year have proved this rather convincingly. It does not matter whether we are talking about industrial accidents or natural calamities. In this context, it is particularly important that we provide units and services of the Ministry of Civil Defence, Emergencies and Disaster Relief with additional state-of-the-art equipment. We have been implementing these decisions over the past few years. Much has been done in line with a programme to re-equip units of this Ministry. We started actively implementing this programme after the events of the summer of 2010 with its wildfires. We purchased new fixed-wing aircraft, new-generation fire-fighting and rescue equipment and mobile communications systems. We spent an impressive 16 billion roubles for these purposes. In 2013, there are plans to purchase an additional 127 pieces of equipment worth over 1.5 billion roubles, along with other technical means. In effect, this work must continue, so that we receive modern capabilities, which would match the scale of our state.
As regards the first issue – the implementation of a project for the modernisation of regional education systems – Mr Dmitry Livanov, you have the floor.
Dmitry Livanov (Minister of Education and Science): Mr Medvedev, colleagues. Implementation of the project for the modernisation of regional systems of education began in September 2011. The key target was to provide systemic changes in our school education, including improving teaching conditions, making the system of education more transparent, and introducing and spreading modern educational technologies. Along with these changes, the average teachers’ salary has reached the average wage level of a region’s economy.
The ideology of the project of modernising regional educational systems is to switch over from supporting the leaders under the Education national project and the Our New School initiative to overall distribution of the best practices that have been accumulated. This should lead to deep and serious changes in our school education. Today every Russian region is implementing a set of measures for the modernisation of regional educational systems, coordinated with the Ministry of Education and Science. The measures contain the main parameters for the project’s realisation and areas on which funding should be spent.
Mr Medvedev, the total volume of the project’s funding is 120 billion roubles, as you have already said. Above that, over nearly two years, the regions have spent 20 billion roubles on modernisation. This includes improving the infrastructure, teachers’ qualifications and more. In 2013, we plan to set aside 15 billion roubles for these purposes from regional budgets. In addition, regions bear serious expenses on increasing teachers’ salaries. By our estimate, in 2011-2012, 55 billion roubles was allocated for this purpose from the regional budgets, and in 2013 the relevant funding will be 23 billion roubles. Federal budget subsidies will mainly be provided for purchasing equipment, including that for gyms and libraries, improving teachers’ qualifications, replenishing school libraries’ shelves, major and minor repairs, energy conservation efforts and purchasing vehicles to deliver students to schools.
The amount of these subsidies depends on the number of pupils in urban and rural areas, but for each rural student the sum is doubled. This means accelerated development of rural schools is prioritised.
Since the implementation of the project for the modernisation of regional educational systems was launched in September 2011, average teachers’ salary grew from 13,800 roubles to 25,200 roubles in November 2012, which is an increase of more than 70%. In 2011, salaries grew on average by 14% as compared to 2010, and by November 2012, by 52% above that. The most substantial increase and growth dynamics were observed in the Republic of Tatarstan, the Chukotka Autonomous Area, the Arkhangelsk and Tula regions and the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area.
Dmitry Medvedev: We still have problem areas.
Dmitry Livanov: Yes, I will speak about them now.
According to the objectives agreed upon in spring 2012 between us and our regions, by the end of 2012 regions were to raise average teachers’ salary to the average 2011 salary level across all industries. That was the project’s ideology, and all the regions fulfilled the task. The President set an even more ambitious task to bring teachers’ salaries to the average level across all industries in the relevant period, that is November to November, the fourth quarter to the fourth quarter, and so on.
This is the current situation: as of November 2012, the average teacher salary was higher than the regional average in 29 regions. The highest growth has taken place in Moscow (142%), the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area (122%), the Perm Territory (117%) and the Leningrad Region (117%). In 34 regions, the correlation between the average teacher salary and the regional average is about 90% - 100%, which is a pretty small gap, and we are confident that we will overcome it in the nearest future. There are also 21 regions where this gap is over 10%, such as the republics of Ingushetia, Kalmykia, Tyva, Dagestan and Altai. We also see that the situation is best in the regions where new models of per capita financing and a new system of teachers’ remuneration were put into practice.
The main results of 2012 projects are displayed in Chart 7, and I will comment on some of them. The main expenditures for 2011 and 2012 were equipment for schools. We pay a great deal of attention, above all, to purchasing equipment for schools in remote rural areas, including equipment for distance learning. We are sure that this trend will continue in 2013. In 2012, 14,000 schools received new equipment. Teachers are provided with additional training opportunities. In 2012, 240,000 teachers took part in additional training and re-training programmes. It is also very important that other personnel changes are taking place. Performance evaluation of teachers will be conducted at least once every five years, with their positions being confirmed. In 2013, we will introduce new requirements for meeting professional standards, thus standardising the performance criteria across each region.
In 2012, some significant funds were allocated to repair and renovate school buildings. This is a new direction, introduced in 2012 by requests of regional heads, school principals and parents. It is indeed very important. Thus, 10,000 schools were renovated in 2012, with a major overhaul conducted in 3,000. In all, 60 regions allocated money for the renovation of schools.
About 3,000 vehicles were purchased, a large number which will definitely solve the problem of accessibility for children living in remote villages.
Our project is being implemented in accordance with the principles of maximum openness. Polls suggest that the changes are having an impact on teachers, students and their parents. Ninety-four percent of respondents say that they are aware of what is being done to modernise the regional education systems, while 76% call the results of the project positive or satisfactory. But people also recognise faults. Most of them have to do with the quality of repair works and modernisaton of the buildings; the opportunity to control the attendance and achievements of children using an Internet or mobile service; free Internet access in any part of the school building (students are also interested in this); and a modern cafeteria with good meals.
Dmitry Medvedev: Children will want to stay all day long in a cafeteria with Wi-Fi access.
Dmitry Livanov: Yes. Teachers and principles see an increase in paperwork as a result of monitoring which we are conducting now.
I will say a couple of words about this. The analysis of the results of the measures aimed at modernising regional education systems for the past two years, social surveys, the constant work which is being done with the regions, have helped us outline the priorities and expected results of the project for 2013, which will be the last year of the project.
Plans call for each elementary school to be provided with multimedia equipment for lessons featuring electronic educational resources. Also, all rural schools attended by children from other villages will be equipped with school buses. We are actively working with the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of the Interior to make such transportation safe, which is also very important. And third, we will provide each high school pupil with the opportunity to study subjects that are interesting to them using distance learning programmes. This is particularly important for children with mobility restrictions and those living in remote areas. Fourth, we will provide advanced training in new educational standards for all primary and secondary school teachers. Fifth, we will provide free textbooks to all students as part of the standard. This hasn’t been done yet, and many parents contacted us, the Government and the President, about this issue.
By late 2013, each school should have water supply and sewage systems in accordance with sanitary regulations. We believe it is critical to conduct repairs at as many school buildings as possible in order to close this matter.
Another very important task that we are faced with is reducing the amount of reporting provided by secondary educational institutions. The current monitoring system covers all 45,158 schools in Russia. Information about teachers’ salaries and changes at schools goes into the system from each school, and is generalised. However, we see that the burden on schools has increased as a result and in the first half of 2013 we will end duplicate requests and introduce uniform federal monitoring. We will introduce a single information system, which will consolidate all existing qualitative and quantitative information about schools.
Mr Medvedev, in accordance with your directives we will expand, starting this year, the project to upgrade regional secondary education systems by including modernisation programmes for preschool and extended education. This will allow us to combine all projects related to increasing salaries of education workers and to bring all regional education systems into one integrated project.
That concludes my report.
Dmitry Medvedev: Thank you. We have dozens of regions where teachers’ salaries are still an issue. I want to have a conference call with them to see why this is happening.
Dmitry Livanov: Mr Medvedev, may I report on the second matter? You have already listed the main types of subsidies that will be used to resolve...
Dmitry Medvedev: Please make arrangements for what I just said.
Dmitry Livanov: Yes, we will. I will not elaborate on this now. All guidelines and all calculations have been made in accordance with the approved Government decisions. The projects have been agreed in due course with the Ministry of Economic Development, Ministry of Regional Development and the Ministry of Finance. We need you to support these projects.
Dmitry Medvedev: All right. Please take a seat, Mr Livanov.
Colleagues, we have heard two reports, including the one on funding regional systems. Are there any questions for the Minister? Are there any proposals?
If you don’t have any material comments, then I would like to give the floor to our governors, who, in fact, are dealing with these projects. Let’s begin with the Tyumen Region. Mr Yakushev, over to you.
Vladimir Yakushev (Tyumen Region Governor): Mr Medvedev and meeting participants, the Tyumen Region has carried out all activities planned under the initiative of the Russian Government to modernise regional secondary education systems. We have complied with all targets provided by the project in accordance with the agreements that the region signed with the Ministry of Education and Science. We have raised salaries of school teachers and staff. As of late 2012, the average salary of school teachers was 29,300, which corresponds to the average salary in the Tyumen Region.
We are building modern education infrastructure. According to the Ministry of Education and Science, 92% of the students go to properly upgraded secondary schools. We have bought requisite amounts of modern teaching, laboratory, computer and technical equipment for schools. We have purchased 174 school buses that meet government standards. All schools have acquired textbooks and study aids in accordance with the new education standards. Internet bandwidth has been increased from 128 kbps to 512 kbps at all schools in the Tyumen Region. Work is being performed to create a barrier-free environment at educational institutions. In 2012, 39% of educational institutions were accessible for children with disabilities. We have created a system to identify and support talented children that includes over 250 regional contests and competitions. We have established a regional database of gifted children with over 1,800 names in it. Schools are improving professional guidance systems for students based on the priorities of innovation-driven development of the region. The focus is placed primarily on engineering, mathematics, physics and chemistry. We are creating a professional guidance centre in Tyumen for the entire Tyumen Region, which will be used not only by students, but by employees of all ages. Nevertheless, it will include a separate programme for schoolchildren.
We have expanded the social package available to employees of educational institutions. The regional budget is paying for housing improvements for teachers, including the provision of housing in rural areas, housing loans and subsidies, and mortgages with preferential terms. We are also covering teachers’ rent in urban areas. As a result, more than 1,740 employees of educational institutions have improved their living conditions over the past two years. As a result, the average age of teachers has dropped from 48 to 41 years over the last three years, and we believe the benefits package has played quite a significant role in this. All teachers and heads of educational institutions, 9,911 in all, have received advanced professional training in accordance with the new educational standards.
These measures are effective, particularly for keeping existing teachers; however, they are not enough to lure young professionals into teaching. We believe that this issue is directly related to the teacher training system. Higher schools, including universities, do not focus on teacher training properly. For them, it has become an almost non-core area of training. We believe that promoting teacher training should be a priority during the next phase of the education modernisation effort.
The monitoring conducted by the Ministry of Education and Science revealed that two federal teacher training universities in the Tyumen Region are inefficient and need to be reorganised. We share this view of the Ministry. However, these universities have accumulated considerable positive expertise over years and the necessary capacity for development. Based on the demographic forecasts, the Tyumen Region will need more skilled teachers trained under new programmes, especially in subjects such as science. Therefore, we believe that we should team up with the Ministry of Education and Science and focus on developing a road map for these educational institutions, taking into account the needs of the regional education system. We believe we should make use of the expertise gained by the Ministry of Healthcare when it organised targeted enrolment of students in medical schools, and at least 50% of students paid for by the budget should be trained as teachers.
To sum up, I can say that the intermediate results of the efforts to modernise the education system in our region lead us to believe that we will be able to further develop and improve it. Thank you.
Dmitry Medvedev: Thank you, Mr Yakushev. Mr Belykh, please tell us how things are in the Kirov Region?
Nikita Belykh (Kirov Region Governor): Mr Medvedev, Government members and guests, unlike the Tyumen Region, the Kirov Region has a number of limitations.
Dmitry Medvedev: We are aware of that.
Nikita Belykh: However, in terms of secondary education, the Kirov Region is a leader among other Russian regions, which can be seen not only from the average score of the unified state exam and the number of medal winners, but also the number of winners in nationwide and international contests and competitions. So, the regional government really focuses on upgrading the regional education system. Our socio-economic development strategy to 2020 includes forming a new education model so that everyone can get a high-quality and affordable education at any level regardless of health conditions or place of residence.
Accordingly, the modernisation project currently underway in Russia has substantially accelerated the process of resolving key issues in this industry. Significant increases in teachers' salaries are among the most important effects. The average salary of teachers was just over 9,000 in the Kirov Region in early 2011, whereas it stood at 19,000 in December 2012, thanks to federal support and our own regional efforts.
This project will greatly improve the technological level of schools and facilitate the implementation of innovative federal educational standards. We are introducing new technology not only for children with disabilities, but also for children living in remote areas. I would like to focus more on the challenges that we are faced with as we implement the regional educational system modernisation programme.
The teaching staff – I fully agree with my colleague Mr Yakushev – is the biggest problem. We are doing our best to resolve this problem. We have developed a systemic approach to attract young professionals to schools. We encourage the best school graduates to become teachers by paying them higher stipends in the amount of 5,000 roubles, and we also provide financial support to those who go to work in schools, particularly in rural areas. However, whereas the regional education system needs 600 teachers a year, only a little over 200 students enrol with teacher training departments. We are sending our considerations and numbers to the Ministry of Education, but they are advisory in nature, meaning that they have no legal power and the Ministry of Education cannot use them to make appropriate decisions. We have discovered an interesting relationship: the higher the average age of a teacher in a given subject, the fewer number of students are willing to choose this subject for taking their unified state exams. We have many teachers of retirement age in physics and chemistry, and the students are less willing to take these exams. If they don’t pass these exams they cannot pursue their studies in technical professions, which we’ve been discussing for a long time now.
The second issue that I would like to focus on is related to distance learning. Schools with small numbers of students are a big problem in the Kirov Region. We have a very large territory and lots of small towns and villages. In fact, we need about 120-140 schools with full attendance, whereas we have 600. Eighty percent of our schools have low numbers of students. We have schools with more teachers than students. It is absolutely clear that we will keep these schools as long as they are needed. However, the quality of education in rural schools should also be maintained at a proper level. The unified state exam makes it possible to run an in-depth analysis using a sufficiently large array of statistical data. It shows that small rural schools offer an inferior level and quality of education. There are, of course, exceptions to this rule. Therefore, we believe that it’s important to consider the system of distance learning not only in the context of children with disabilities, but also children residing in remote areas, and use all the positive achievements and skills that exist in the education system at the federal level. I believe that the experience of regions in distance education for children should be generalised at the federal level, appropriate guidelines developed, and best practices summarised, because each region has something to share.
The last issue I’d like to discuss – I’m glad that Mr Livanov mentioned it at the end of his report – is about additional or extended education and preschool education. We should realise that the processes currently taking place in secondary education will be finite and incomplete without similarly serious modernisation of extended and preschool education. The goal of modern schools is not only to educate but to raise children – the latter being a specific task of the extended education system – because general education builds on the instruction that the child receives in his preschool education and upbringing. Therefore, together with the regions, we should consider introducing a programme to modernise not only general education, but also early-childhood and preschool education.
Dmitry Medvedev: Thank you, Mr Belykh. As far as distance learning is concerned, I think the governor is right: we should sum up all the best practices existing in this country. Our country is very large, and even if we reduce the number of small ungraded schools – which we should do this with care, as the Governor of the Kirov Region said – the need for a modern distance learning will remain and even grow. It will be necessary to sum up all these practices.
Please, colleagues, any more ideas? Over to you (addressing Ignor Slyunyayev).
Igor Slyunyayev (Minister of Regional Development): Mr Medvedev, colleagues, the implementation of the priority project in education as well as the project Our New School have been backed up by a sociological study: 83% of teachers view the changes positively, according to the report. What is lacking? First, education standards, which must be raised. Following the results of 2012, only primary school received such standards, which included programmes, textbooks and all the rest. We should monitor our progress in upgrading standards in general education.
Two more problems – the new wage system and funding per person. We must understand to what extent we have embraced these new principles, this new wage system, and we must have a clear picture as regards inefficient spending in education because this represents a large reserve, including for regions.
The positive practices of regions are very important. We should study them, summarise them and promote them in the education system. For example, school meals, which are the prerogative of the regions. The fact is that children do not get school meals everywhere. In fact, schoolchildren’s health is greatly affected by what they eat during the school year. Unfortunately, not all children come from well-off families; therefore, both federal and regional authorities should take care of that, should shoulder this responsibility. Second, following your instruction, Mr Medvedev, for the first time in 2011 a so-called health passport of the regions of Russia was introduced. However, health of our schoolchildren is of paramount importance for our spending on healthcare in the future. A number of regions have introduced school students’ health cards – all secondary school students undergo regular medical checkups. This helps us analyse the situation and adequately respond to challenges relating to pupils’ health.
The ratio of teachers to other personnel is also a sensitive issue… It is an element of inefficient spending, but at times this ratio is too much. For example, 1:4 – four administrators per teacher. You have also issued an instruction to introduce a third hour of physical fitness a week. The majority of regions have introduced this third hour; it does not require large spending increases, because this hour can include exercise in gymnastics, track and field and so on – it requires no additional equipment or expense, but this is also a component of the health of our schoolchildren. In terms of introducing the third hour of physical fitness, we should bring back something like the famous Soviet-time GTO (Ready for Work and Defence of the USSR) programme: sports, health and so on. A number of regions have such nominations, and we could promote these positive practices, ensuring that 100% of pupils meet qualifying standards in sports.
We need a special programme for small ungraded schools. This is a problem. Many municipal entities and regions are concerned about it. We should understand what path we are taking.
Professional guidance for pupils is also a subject deserving special attention. This has to do with preparing future teachers and training for blue-collar jobs. I recall that in the Soviet times, extracurricular training offered pupils their first blue-collar profession; I recall that we used to develop our skills in trades at a secondary school. We graduated from schools with a secondary school diploma and a certificate of a plumber, tractor operator, driver and so on. It was voluntary, but that was a way to form future labour resources.
The rebirth of patriotic education is an issue regularly addressed in your instructions; and one of its components is not Life Security Foundations, of course, but introductory military training. If we prepare boys to serve in the Armed Forces, if we are thinking about national defence, then we should promote introductory military training across Russia, as a positive regional practice.
All pupils should take part in academic competitions in various subjects. It is true, a child’s specialisation can be seen at an early stage, whether he or she opts for humanities or science. The rate of participation of schoolchildren in such academic competitions should be one such criterion. On the whole, it is very important to use regional experience and promote positive practices throughout Russia. That is all. Thank you.
Dmitry Medvedev: Thank you, Mr Slyunyaev. You did such a good job of telling us about it all that it occurred to me we should propose delegating some of the Education Ministry's functions to the Ministry of Regional Development. Do you think you are ready for this?
Igor Slyunyaev: Thank you very much. I talked about what we'd been doing within one particular region and also of what I'd found out about the work of our counterparts in Tambov, Belgorod, Kaluga, and elsewhere. Thank you.
Dmitry Medvedev: It looks like you're up to the task. So, ladies and gentlemen, we should wrap things up now. For some reason no comments were made after the keynote speech and now suddenly you all seem eager to have your say. Please speak out, but briefly and to the point.
Mikhail Abyzov (Federal Minister): I'd like to comment on the draft decision. Mr Prime Minister, colleagues. I go along with Mr Livanov's point about the inadequacy of today's standards for reporting on teacher performance to local regulators and the Ministry. We discussed this at a ministerial Public Council meeting. In my view, we should put a rigorous timeframe on the adoption of new teacher performance reporting standards for education authorities at every level, making the procedure as simple as possible. There's a lot of information to collate and we should bear this in mind when setting a deadline. I believe it is realistic to complete the information gathering work within the first quarter of the year. That's the first point.
Another point I'd like to make concerns the use of the information being gathered. The data we're putting together relates to the ethnic composition of schools, the Unified State Exam, student performance, and so on. That kind of information is stored in state data bases including ones under regional command. I believe that as part of the efforts to develop an information sharing standard, we should supplement Article 2 of the draft decision with a suggestion to optimise our standards on sharing school-related information. That work, too, should be done by the end of the first or second quarter of the year. Once the standards are optimised and an open-source system is created, we should put this information into the public domain. Thank you.
Dmitry Medvedev: Thanks. The information should be made public, of course. I would support the first part of Mr Abyzov's speech, as well as that of the Education Minister, who brought up the issue of performance reporting. The amount of performance-related information [to be submitted to regulators] is growing with every new programme we launch. There's too much paperwork passing from schools to regional education authorities and then on to the federal ministry. So keeping that paperwork to a minimum and introducing common standards would be a step in the right direction. Ms Golodets, you have something to say on this matter, don't you?
Olga Golodets (Deputy Prime Minister): I'd like to draw your attention to one issue we discussed while assessing the results of this programme and its guidelines. So far, we've been working in a situation where younger generation population is shrinking. But now we've got some demographic readjustments to make... Because there's already a wide enough gap between the generations that entered school, say, in 2000 and those who will be coming along in the next 11 years. To give you an example, there were 1.2 million children born in 1993 and as many as 1,804,000 last year, meaning 604,000 more would-be school pupils. This increase will put pressure on school facilities. These days, any school headmaster in any region will tell you: "I have two secondary school classes, but as many as six primary school classes in the same year." That's a heavy strain on the school infrastructure as well as on the right to free school education guaranteed to every Russian family by the constitution (as was so rightly pointed out here earlier today, the quality of school facilities is key to people's sense of social well-being). So the prospective demographic boom has created a new challenge which we will have to face before long. We've had consultations with demographers on the issue. According to the estimates by the professional community, we were supposed to have zero growth last year. But there were clearly some errors in the forecasts. At the moment, experts cannot tell us with absolute certainty whether there is a link between objective or subjective factors and the actual trends. But we do have a precise idea of how many children will reach school age in each of the seven years ahead and we know that the number of potential pupils is not in line with the school infrastructure we currently have. So we'll have to...
Dmitry Medvedev: I'd put it the other way round: the infrastructure is not in line with the number of potential school pupils...
Olga Golodets: Yes, definitely, the infrastructure doesn't correspond to the numbers. And we should already be preparing ourselves for those new challenges that lie ahead, factoring in prospective demographic growth in our modernisation programme, among others.
Dmitry Medvedev: Fair enough. On the other hand, though, it may be a positive thing that some of the demographic forecasts are not coming true. We make enormous efforts and spend a lot of money [to encourage child birth], and this seems to be paying off. So we do need to make our school infrastructure correspond to the growing birth rate. It's important that we factor in the change into our future draft programmes. I'd like to bring this to the attention of the Education Ministry, the Finance Ministry and all those involved. By the way, this applies to medical institutions as much as it does to schools.
I suggest we now adopt a resolution on two of our points. Okay, they are approved.
The next point is about measures to improve our capacities, including with the use of technology, to respond to large-scale emergencies, such as fires. Mr Puchkov over to you.
Vladimir Puchkov (Minister of Civil Defence, Emergency Situations and Disaster Relief): Mr Prime Minister, colleagues. Last year the Unified Emergency Prevention and Response Service (RSChS) fulfilled all the tasks assigned to it, and the damage and loss from fires, accidents and disasters decreased as a result. You can see the relevant data on Slides 2 and 3.
The number of fires was reduced by 8,000 and the death toll, by 700, thanks to a more effective system of response and prevention. More than 14 billion roubles was paid out in compensation from a federal government reserve fund, with 26 regions benefiting. Over 160,000 individuals received material compensation for property that was destroyed; 695 families received government vouchers for new houses and flats to replace housing lost due to fire. Residential facilities, complete with public service infrastructure, were built in badly affected areas. This was done through joint efforts with the regions concerned. More than 2 million people received aid and assistance from our agency.
Last year, we responded to 136 large-scale emergencies, including 96 major fires. Almost every other day saw a full-scale federal operation, involving the National Centre for Disaster Management and control systems as well as equipment and personnel from the Emergencies Ministry and the RSChS. Large-scale forces from across the country were engaged in the effort, which created an additional strain on logistics.
By and large, all the emergencies and fires we faced in 2012 were dealt with successfully and the Unified Emergency Prevention and Response Service proved their capabilities. In addition, the Russian President set new targets for improving all public administration services. Along these lines, we should continue our work to improve the emergencies agency's capabilities to respond to disasters. This will require the proactive use and introduction of new technologies. Related proposals are presented on slides 5 to 11. Let me touch upon some of them.
First of all, we propose developing the system of monitoring and preventing large-scale emergencies, such as fires. With this task in mind, a set of additional measures has been developed and is now being implemented. We also propose organising a wide-ranging exercise for the Unified Emergency Prevention and Response Service and for disaster management forces. This kind of exercise could be held under the auspices of the Russian Government in the first half of 2013, with the aim of raising the ability of emergencies units to cope with particularly challenging situations on the ground.
Another idea is to take additional measures towards upgrading the technical capacities and equipment of specialised fire and rescue units. The federal government programme to equip Emergencies Ministry forces with modern hardware and equipment is being implemented in full measure. This year emphasis will be made on upgrading hardware and equipment for fire and rescue brigades, including modern aviation technology.
A third proposal consists in introducing a computer-aided control system and other information technology, including smart and high-tech sets integrated with the GLONASS satellite navigation system. We believe there is a need to form a new high-tech force, to respond to large-scale emergencies and fires, primarily in Siberia and the Russian Far East. That force could be formed in the first quarter of 2013 and reinforced, specifically by reducing the managerial staff and increasing the number of stand-by fire and rescue brigades to over 15,000. The Emergencies Ministry has been making consistent efforts towards this goal since 2011.
Given the existing supply schedules, we consider it realistic to cover the emergencies forces' needs for modern hardware by 80% by the end of the year and for modern equipment for personnel by 100%. Our approach to rapid-response operations also requires updating.
A fourth proposal I'd like to highlight here is about adopting new approaches to large-scale emergencies. There are plans to introduce new systems of control, monitoring, prevention and warning of fires and other emergencies, at publicly important sites primarily. We'll be working towards that goal as part of the federal targeted programme Fire Safety in the Russian Federation up to 2017, which was approved on December 30 last year. This will give a new impetus to introducing modern technologies for fighting massive fires.
Other efforts include setting up, with the participation of Russia’s regions, task groups at fire guard garrisons for responding to large-scale emergencies and fighting fires locally in Russia’s regions, as they are primarily affected by such disasters. By late 2013, mobile task groups will be established in each federal district in accordance with the plan of development of the Ministry of Emergencies, which has been approved by the President. The establishment of such groups will allow for a transition from the practice of protecting critical facilities to the practice of providing comprehensive security in the territories and protection of citizens in the country’s regions.
In Russia’s Arctic zone, ten rescue and emergency centres are planned to respond to emergency situations and wildfires. This will include creating reserves to support crews’ activities in northern regions. Top priority activities are already being implemented in this regard. Additional measures will be taken to improve the individual equipment and professional training of fire fighters and rescue workers. The training of related professions is a priority as well.
Based on methods of the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group under the United Nations, we have completed the performance review of the Emergencies Ministry’s central state airmobile search and rescue team Tsentrospas, which has repeatedly been involved in working in severe conditions. Performance reviews will also be conducted for regional search and rescue crews in Siberia and the Far East.
Finally, a proposal has been made to carry out a set of measures, together with Russian executive bodies, to develop and improve the system of prevention and relief in the event of major emergencies and fires with due account of regional specifics. It is also appropriate to prepare related resources and manpower and train citizens and heads of bodies of local self-government chiefs on protection measures during emergencies.
Mr Medvedev, colleagues, all the measures and activities I mentioned are ultimately aimed at increasing the number of lives saved during disasters, reducing risks to people’s lives and health, cutting the response time for fire and rescue and other crews, and reducing losses from massive emergencies and wildfires. The draft resolution on this issue has been prepared and coordinated in accordance with established procedure. I hope that you will support it. That concludes my report.
Dmitry Medvedev: Thank you. Are there any questions for the Minister? Please go ahead [to Dmitry Rogozin].
Dmitry Rogozin (Deputy Prime Minister): Mr Medvedev, colleagues, I would like to make a brief comment. Mr Medvedev, last summer you held a meeting during the massive wildfires, and today Mr Puchkov has mentioned the decisions taken at that meeting. Overall, I would like to say that the programme we are considering today is largely based on those proposals, including the proposal to develop special equipment and hand it over to the Ministry of Emergencies. This equipment is designed for detecting wildfire flashpoints using thermal-imaging tools.
I would also like to confirm that by 2015 we will set up a satellite constellation, which will help us both battle fires and in put them out before they spread.
We will discuss all related technical issues next Monday, on January 21, at the conference call we will hold with all active participants of the defence industry involved in working on technologies that may well be used by the Ministry of Emergencies. Thank you.
Dmitry Medvedev: Thank you. Mr Ishayev, please go ahead.
Viktor Ishayev (Minister for the Development of the Russian Far East, Presidential Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District): Mr Medvedev, colleagues, the meeting attendees have made particular note of Siberia and the Far East. The latter amounts to 36.1% of the country’s area but has only 4.4% of its population – this speaks to additional problems the territory faces due to the low population density. Owing to active efforts of the Ministry of Emergencies, which often went beyond their scope, such as extinguishing wildfires and taking part in other activities, in 2012 we managed to keep the situation at an acceptable level.
We vigorously support such efforts as setting up and enhancing crews and providing new equipment, and we are ready to cooperate in these areas. I have to say that the Ministry of Emergencies actively responds to proposals, and such joint efforts make it possible to keep the situation under control. So I request that you support it as well. I am not sure whether it is reasonable to reduce the number of people involved there. If necessary, the number should be increased. But such mobile equipped crews are highly important, as it is impossible to set up such groups in every region. Thank you.
Dmitry Medvedev: Is that all? Thanks. I propose that we take our final decision with due consideration of what has been said. That’s settled then.
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Poland courts East Africa as strategic partner
As Poland celebrates 100 years of Independence this year, the country is revamping its relations with the region and has already advanced a $110 million credit to Tanzania to improve its agriculture and food security sectors.
Speaking to The EastAfrican in Warsaw, deputy director of the Department of Economic Co-operation in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Konrad Pawlik said that, given its agriculture potential and growing consumer market, Tanzania fits in with Poland’s focus on economic and development co-operation.
In 2008, Poland closed its embassy in Dar es Salaam due to budgetary constraints, but it was reopened last year.
The deputy director of the Department of Africa and the Middle East, Michal Cygan, said that since 2016, Tanzania has been a priority for scholarships including the Ignacy Lukasiewicz programme.
While celebrating the centenary of Poland’s Independence, Polish ambassador to Tanzania Krzysztof Buzalski said his country sees the region as a promising economic partner in agriculture modernisation, efficient water usage and education.
“We are ready to share with you some of our experiences that could be helpful in areas such as economic transformation and efficiency in agriculture and industry,” he said.
Two Polish firms, Feerum SA and Araj, have already been contracted by Tanzania’s National Food Reserve Agency to construct silos for grain storage with a capacity of 250,000 tonnes of maize.
On November 11, Poland completed a year-long celebration of its centenary of Independence, which was gained in 1918 after 123 years of serfdom and domination by Russia, Prussia and Austro-Hungary.
This year, Poles are also celebrating the anniversary of the Bar Confederation — an armed coalition of Polish nobles established on February 29, 1768 in Bar, Podolia.
This year has also been announced as the Year of Women’s Rights as 100 years ago Polish women were granted voting rights. On November 28, 1918, Józef Piłsudski, the architect of Polish Independence, signed a decree stipulating that every Polish citizen, regardless of gender, was a voter.
Source: https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/business/Poland-courts-East-Africa-as-strategic-partner/2560-4849992-w3clw3/index.html
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Chia's blog
Chiara Amisola is 20 going on extinct
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Zankyou no Terror — OP Analysis
written by Chia
Being an amazing anime, I’ve given Zankyou no terror a ton of praise. Enough of that which I feel is so well-deserved, though a bit overwhelming. Honestly, I hadn’t delved too much into the opening aside from acknowledging the amazing song, but upon rewatching it, I decided to pay more attention at the incredulous amounts of detail that this beauty of an opening holds. Additionally, there is a ton of key information about the anime that comes with the understanding of its opening.
I know an article isn’t exactly the most reliable way of reviewing a short introduction piece by piece, but I will do my best to point out the utter brilliance of the opening.
Often, we discount the importance of openings. Take it as a minute or two break to do something else before the actual show begins. In actuality, its purpose is to draw you into the anime, more often than not upon seeing or hearing a great opening we are drawn to watching a show, especially if we see elements in it or characters that we are already drawn to. I know I’ve experienced this upon hearing Hikaru Nara, Shigatsu wa Kimi No Osu’s opening for the first time.
The thing about Zankyou no Terror is that personally, I found the opening so abstract. It gave me an off feeling about the anime; it seemed so oddly serene for a so-called destructive anime about terrorists, bombs, and all that. Serene reverberated through each frame in contrast to the wonderful first episode, when we dive into the destruction and are introduced to our main characters.
Trigger — performed by the Japanese band Galileo Galilei, it is an overwhelmingly mellow tune that accentuates the entirety of the opening. It’s beautiful and accompanies the soft imagery perfectly. The lyrics to it foreshadow the series and are volumes deep; the more you analyze it the more you see. I’ll be tackling the lyricism later on. The song is very light-hearted, yet sinister once you look into the lyrics. It’s the type of dark song masked with soft whimsical tunes, which is comparable to the nature of the characters in Zankyou no Terror itself.
Upon a closer look, the ‘abstract’ imagery and serene feeling that the opening gave truly contrasts the show, the sharp images, the bright colors that would fade into dark shades in the scenes of terror. The surreal, washed out colors in the opening are so much more than just ‘off’ feelings. It’s how you picture it.
At a quick look, the opening in its position in each episode is a breakaway from the mayhem that occurs; with all the investigation, whirring police sirens and drizzling allure of paranoia and fear all-around. Short and sweet just like the anime and characters itself, it is ultimately designed to show the other side to an anime about destruction. It is designed for the sake of bringing importance to what is lacking within these characters and their desires; the serenity and normality that such a rapid, destructive life did not allow for them.
With that, I’ll be speaking about the symbolism found in an opening that seemingly doesn’t match with such a dark show — when in reality, it brings out what is hidden. It brings out the parts of Zankyou no Terror that are obscured amidst the array of fog, bombs, deafening light blasts and more. It brings out the nature of the series, that these aren’t just terrorists. They are so much more.
Looking into the opening as a whole, and as if I haven’t given it enough praise yet — it’s a perfect contrast to what you would expect from such an anime. Stark action scenes, destruction and explosions, fleeting scenes of people scurrying away due to the terror of Sphinx’s reign, but this isn’t the case. We are presented with hazy colors, surreal visuals and abstract imagery. In fact, there is not a single scene of any ‘terror’ occurring at all. The opening greets you with what is mostly visuals of Tokyo, our main characters, plus Detective Shibazaki and Lisa, with hints of Five in the ever-changing seamless background that overlays the main scenes at a lot of points. In fact, the only form of ‘destruction’ we see is the personal destruction of our terrorists, not the actions that they have done themselves; not the bombings or whatsoever.
The opening does not mark the conception of destruction, it shows the bittersweet downfall of Nine and Twelve. Throughout the show itself, we are only given a glimpse at their nature — as characters, there is honestly not much to see in them. They can be compressed into words that describe their personalities. Stoic, aloof, mysterious, kind-hearted, and for the other; playful, needy, energetic, compassionate — both complete geniuses as well. More importantly, their character falls into their actions throughout the series. Their motives, the actions behind the bombings, the interaction with Lisa and even Five, their need for Shibazaki and his validation. Their lives are essentially compressed into eleven episodes because this sequence of actions is what ultimately makes their life, their story, their legacy for all of Japan to know — whether positive or negative. Somewhat mellow and hollow; yet pure at heart like their ideals and motives for their actions — this is what the opening displays. As I’ve said in my Zankyou no Terror review, Nine and Twelve are terrorists in a fashion that we do not expect them to be.
Straying a bit from the opening itself and to add onto the past paragraph, Zankyou no Terror can be viewed as a social commentary on society. As we’ve seen Detective Shibazaki acting on investigations towards the Athena Plan after discovering the horrific truth behind it; the cover-ups for this unforgivable sin towards humanity were intense. It involved a faked suicide, and we can see that in middle-latter part of the anime, Shibazaki truly went through a lot of risks to uncover what had happened. With this, I detail the justified terrorism shortly. Moving along, Nine and Twelve’s existence was molded by Project Athena, their escape and their lives onwards — knowing that it would be short due to the irreversible damage that had been done to them, further insinuated by Nine’s flashbacks throughout the series, horrific scenes that also tell of his mental instability. All that they are is the mission that they have — the mission that was destined for them ever since the moment of their escape from the throes of Project Athena. This is what the series highlights, and in turn; what the opening itself has to say about the show. It isn’t about the destruction caused, it’s about the message sent, the purpose behind the terrorist attacks — not the damage done or the lives lost.
To resort to terrorism may be viewed as somewhat low, but as outcasts from society with no profile, no background, no family except for essentially each other — Twelve and Nine had no other choice. Aside from these striking issues, there’s no way to make a statement without luck. There are many things overshadowed in this world, from something as simple as an uploaded video not being noticed by the general public to atrocities like the Athena Project being so heavily covered-up as discussed in the previous paragraph. It’s not a foreign concept for issues and problems, moreso ones involving figures of high authority, national governments and the like — to hide things from the general public. Nine and Twelve are direct products of this, much to how survivors and other figures that have been directly affected by controversial issues do their best to speak up over what had happened and to bring attention to such. With their status and the situation that they were left to, they resorted to doing what they do best. Destruction, in the softest way. With their sole purpose in life to live the rest of their limited days to the fullest by accomplishing what they had strived to do for so many years, their methods are justified and are practically called for. In the finale, their hope did not go to waste. In the ending episode, we see that the Athena Project was made known to the rest of the world, along with Sphinx (if not already) and their actions. Perhaps Nine and Twelve’s exact stories hadn’t been shared along with the injustices that they were trying to expose, but their mission was completed and they did what they could in order to complete it. What matters is the aftereffect, their completion, the return of the bold to dark world into a hazy state of rebuilding, as the opening shows.
Thus, we see the opening, a mellow and abstract way of perceiving the series. Its contrast works wonders. The very first few shots show a burst akin to an explosion before fading into a flurry of black feathers — a shot of Nine looking up and then at a distorted Five. As I detail later on, black feathers are symbolic of different things. One, it can show change. The blast culminating into Nine and Five details the very beginning of their backstories, their lives together (accompanied by Twelve) in the grasp of Project Athena. The blast that Nine and Twelve initiated is shown, quickly moving onwards to a Nine who looks upwards, changed from the events in the past and determined to expose the atrocities that had been conducted by the Japanese government. Five however, does not share this in the opening. We see that she is quite different, half of her being shadowed. Ever since the beginning, Five had always been determined to surpass Nine; going as far to be utterly engrossed in him. Despite the skip in time, she remains the same person, except a bit more deranged. Another notable thing is that although not clear, we can see the word “Von” etched onto her cheek. Von, meaning hope in Icelandic is a major theme throughout the series (although quite obvious) that is ultimately revealed at the very last episode. In Zankyou no Terror, we find that hope takes form in a multitude of ways, and for Five — it takes form in her belief in Nine, starting with her determination and will to find him again even after all those years. It may be a bit warped and selfish, but everyone has their own personal goals, everyone has their own idealism on the world. It’s worthy to know that Five, along with our two other survivors — don’t really have much to live for. Nine and Twelve do remain idealistic despite all their troubles but really, we can see that in the series their desire for acceptance and compassion is insane. Twelve found comfort in Lisa and so did Nine but on a lesser level; though it’s understandable that due to the traumatic events that have occurred to them in the past – for Five to find hope in Nine as well.
The image above is the boldest depiction of the title card, which is still rendered quite softly in the fast-paced, changing backgrounds that it hovers against.
After the title card, we see a quick shift into a shot of Twelve jumping in the air and quickly fading away. This relates to the first episode, wherein we see Twelve jumping into the pool. I find this symbolic of birth — as pools, water and the like are symbolic of baptism, the beginning of one’s life. Twelve found compassion and a sense of humanity when he first met Lisa Mishima, somewhat of an anchor to ground him and welcome him to a normal life — although warped and not the picturesque one that they wished, it was still a life worth living. It wasn’t dramatic, as evidenced by the soft harmony of colors that we find in the opening — in fact, it’s more melancholic than it is upbeat.
Silhouettes of characters are portrayed, clipped inside with scenes of the aftereffects of the attacks, but not the attacks themselves. Twelve in particular, shows their personal branding, the marking of the word “von” in action. This can be taken to mean that the importance of the anime, the message and all – as well as the actions of the characters themselves are done for the sake of the aftereffect, the message thereafter. We see why Sphinx had resorted to acts of terrorism to get their message across, and why they so valiantly went through strenuous amounts of lengths to avoid injury or death (as evidenced by helping Lisa when they easily could have let her die, and Nine risking his life to save a girl in the incident with the bus). Ultimately, the goal is to spread hope; the hope that the losses that they had gone through and seen with their own eyes won’t end in dismay. The hope that Nine and Twelve had envisioned for Japan, to wake up and see the reality of what they had done, and all they can do to change. The display of “von” after the building that had been displayed can be shown to be almost reminiscent of the crimes that they committed, etching the words wherever they could. Looking deeper, we see that this is for the sake of hope, the hope that others could not decipher immediately due to barriers, such as not being able to realize that von means hope because of the difference in language. Minds are barricaded with the lack of knowledge to realize what the term von means, as the schemes that had occurred during Project Athena are lost and retained only in sealed lips and in the minds of Nine and Twelve; the barriers that had prevented the public from knowing.
We are then greeted by a shot of the young boys, their youth in captivity; their youth as mere subjects of experimentation. Standing in front of a blazing and blurred background, like the explosion that they had caused in order to escape the facility, we see their silhouettes standing static, perhaps portraying their numbness and how it was absolutely necessary for them to do what they had done amidst the ever-fiery blast, growing further. Black doves and feathers return, showing mystery and change. Initially, we do not see the motives behind Twelve and Nine; we just see them as cold-blooded terrorists that do it for the kick of personal gain, there’s no justification or reason for it all in the beginning of the series — in truth, it just seemed like they toyed with Tokyo, with the videos as an additional way of manipulating the mass public. In contrast to white doves, which are very known for their portrayal of freedom, hope, justice — and all that, we are greeted with black ones. Instead of justice, Nine and Twelve are left with the need to earn it, they change over the years, honing what they know how to do with all they can in order to make a change in the world. We are greeted with closer looks at the youthful Sphinx, them looking confused and distraught at the scene they’re in with the ever-present fence of the facility looming behind them. They are trapped in a world at such a young age, further surrounded by birds of graphite that encapsulate them and hide their minds, their hearts and their true wishes. As the series progresses, we see more and more of Nine and Twelve’s character, especially in their encounters with Five and Lisa respectively, though somewhat weaker for the former. This also traces their roots back into their earliest memories, with them standing side-by-side and glancing at each other that they truly are partners, especially with everything that they had went through. The distance between them shows that although partnered, there is still a gap between the two, be it in personality or in physical gaps that we can see later on in the series despite the initial thought of them never leaving each other’s sides. Again, the black feathers and birds show that such a bond also changes with time, but never truly wanes.
We can see this as later on, the black birds are now met with white ones as they fly heights over Tokyo — Tokyo being their city of redemption, the playground that would lead to their plan at work. With every action and every continuous execution of Sphinx, they grow closer to hope, their dream and goals, accentuated by the symbolism of truth, justice, and hope itself that comes with white doves. This is also one of the darker shots of the opening, one of the only ones that make use of bold colors rather than mellow yellow tones. Like the series itself, Tokyo is not vibrant or whimsical, it is sharp and contrasting, somewhat gloomy and realistic. The opening brings importance to this — Zankyou no Terror is not just explosion after explosion; Sphinx are actual criminals, highly wanted ones at that — that are being chased by the Japanese government for a million reasons. Although their motives are kind-hearted and pure, although it is for the sake of hope, there is doubt that such paths are questionable. The wish of chasing a dream comes with the harsh reality of the obstacles you have to face; the unforgiving world that comes no matter how well-intentioned you are.
Following the first appearance of the white doves, we are greeted with a first-person perspective of one of the boys running towards the chainlink barrier that surrounded the testing facility. In the anime, we are made aware that they successfully scaled the chainlink fence and were able to escape; symbolizing their successful freedom from such a demented place. With similar colors to the shot wherein we see Nine and Twelve as kids, we see them standing as adolescents, having planned their whole life for the mission that they are about to execute – a product of change throughout the unknown years of growth that they had gone through. Change again, proves itself a prominent and distinguishing feature in the anime, change that leads to the prevailment of hope in the eyes of Nine and Twelve.
The symbolism of capture and entrapment returns when we see Lisa, with the barrier quickly fading as we get a closer look into her. Much like in the anime, we first see Lisa as an obviously trapped girl with not much in her character. She is extremely similar to Twelve and Nine; who are trapped with their past and find redemption in the hope of escaping it by revealing what it had done to them and their fellow children. Mishima in turn, is trapped due to her strict and over-protective mother, damaging to the point where it is abusive. Throughout the series we are graced with a closer look into her character as she breaks free, most especially with the part in episode four where she is saved by Twelve from the bindings that have restricted her to her past. Although still the shy, unconfident girl that lacked in bravery that she was before, we can see her slowly developing — attempting to cook for Sphinx is a primary example of her desire to become more independent, and to start acting for others. (Although this resulted in failure, that is a part of change.) Sphinx was her first step into breaking from the shell that she was in, to stepping outwards and becoming more aware of the world around her — to be less afraid. The distance in the first shot in contrast to the one with the abolished fence is significantly farther, showing the mystery and lack of depth to her character to the viewer initially until we begin to understand more about her role, which albeit small — is substantially important to the growth and healing of Sphinx, most especially Twelve.
Symbolism involving the fence returns when we are given shots that allow us to look very closely into the gaps of the fence. Lisa appears, closer than ever; again showing her growth and her ability to recognize her upbringings and the barriers that had stood before her that she has now vanished. Sphinx is seen walking, displaying how despite their freedom from the facility of Project Athena, they are still binded to their past; though we see them walking with strength and zeal despite the past that is binding them. Each character in the series, as I’ve stated — is finding their own personal form of hope, striving towards it in their own different ways – no matter how extreme. Their idealism of ‘hope’ all reflects that have occurred in the past. For example, Five’s idea of hope is in Nine, surpassing him and meeting with him — maybe even just seeing him as an equal. This hope has stemmed from their very roots as experimentees in their youth. Twelve and Nine share idealistic thoughts and viewpoints regarding the world. Altruistic yet questionable in nature, their von is the revelation of the public, the scrutiny of the Japanese government as they apologize for their actions; the assurance that such would never occur again in the world, that no human would be subject to the pain and irreversible consequences that they had to bare for the rest of their short lives. Lisa’s hope is in breaking free, releasing herself from the grasp of her mother and finding herself so that she could be accepted, that she could finally be herself, the rebirth that she had so desperately longed for, to change and be the person she never thought she would be. We can see this in her desire to assist Sphinx, particularly in the airport mission as well — where she directly volunteered to offer a helping hand in grand schemes. In the beginning of the series or in the case of Five — the introduction of these characters, we all see them for the barriers that they are trapped in, the defining points of their character – the utterly devoted girl to the point where it may be bordering on insane, two terrorists that voice out their hearts only in the form of elusive videos and attacks to the general public, and a lost girl who is defined by her sadness, her troubles and her problems regarding her mother. With the excellent character development in the series, it ultimately shells out to each character using each other, with the aid of Sphinx, to achieve their goals and retain their hope in the world to their last dying breath.
One important shot that particularly struck me, even without rewatch of the opening is the childish and carefree smile of Twelve, quickly diverting to VCR-like shots of a more twisted version of himself. It is noteworthy that Nine is often seen as the brains of the operation, Twelve being somewhat the heart, the one with more displayable emotions; more life-like and not just cold-blooded, further emphasized by his relationship with Lisa. Personally, I found it difficult to take him seriously as a serialkiller since he seemed so lax over all that was occurring. He remained happy and thoughtful, even during the videos that Sphinx had released online. We often forget to remember that Twelve is just as intellectual as Nine; he just seeks compassion and acceptance more than Nine does. Although sometimes comedic, the jokester and the playful one within Sphinx is also exceedingly crucial, he practically brings out a much more life-like experience to watching the show — I even found it detrimental at first, but who would want to stick with the notion that terrorists do not have feelings, that they are all work and no play? Twelve is an interesting contrast to Nine that balances out the emotions and the tension between the two of them.
The shot reminds us that although Twelve is yet another anchor to the reality of human nature, he is also similar to Nine in their roots. The terrorism attacks and all, sheer brilliance and genius regarding their plans; the lack of remorse for public property and buildings owned by the Japanese government — at his core, Twelve is different. He is more than just a slight comedy relief color, he is Nine’s cohort, as Nine is his. Singular entities that are dependent on each other, that acknowledge each other’s strengths and weaknesses, relationships that have been built from the unstable ground that was the facility. Twelve is twisted, a psychopath as he laughs in the face of destruction — brilliant at hiding himself behind a smile. He initially waves Lisa off as something close to nothing, but we see the growth in feelings that he feels towards her, moreso with the betrayal occurring in the ferris wheel. Twelve is twisted to different people at different times, but in truth, there is something warped in him, just like Nine and Five.
Depictions of Tokyo are seen, prominent in the backgrounds throughout the entire opening. We see that in the moments after Twelve’s shot, it is stripped down to its core. Symbolic for how Twelve and Nine again, see it as Sphinx’ playground; for which they spread their message and mark their own presence throughout. Being the primary location of the anime, it’s no surprise to see how important it is. In other parts of the opening, we see a train station, referencing their failed terrorist attack on a train; another one references the falling electrical post that had let to a power outage, successfully paving the way for their foolproof first plan in the first episode.
Shibazaki, another crucial character in the anime takes his place. We see technological effects around his character, depicting him being analyzed to his very roots by Sphinx. This can also allude to how he is practically the most analytical and perceptive detective throughout despite his laziness and lack of reputation. He is so engrossed in Sphinx that they eventually begin to notice him, use him and rely on him to solve their problems — as if he was some human toy that they were utterly fascinated with. It is a war between realizing how the two are, Shibazaki first questioning their motives and then beginning to take measures into his own to unravel the covered-up Athena Project and see if it was all a hoax or not, to him being rendered Sphinx’ own personal detective. He also appears in the heart of Tokyo, where the mayhem and destruction takes place throughout the course of anime.
Five’s appearances throughout the opening follow a general timeline of her growing older. We see her, pale and holding what appears to be a pair of scissors as she cuts her hair.* There are multiple notions for this act to be interpreted. The cutting of one’s hair can be taken to mean liberation, freedom, and in relation to all that — hope. When one drastically changes their appearance, they are making a change from their past selves. This appears to be the opposite occurrence in Five’s case. As we are unaware of her actions throughout the gap in the series that is not shown to us — we return to the present day to see that she is still obsessive towards Nine, never letting go of her desire to defeat him. There is no guarantee that she knew they were going to cross fates once again; and the act of cutting her hair can be taken to show her abandonment of the woman that she had changed to be (if she had changed at all), returning to the young girl that they were once with in the facility. In the image, we see that her hair has grown significantly longer to what is shown in the anime, as she cuts it back to a length almost exactly like the hairstyle she donned as a child. Five’s growth in this case is nearly backwards — nevertheless, it is still growth significant to her, and her own ideals of growth.
Next, traditionally — lengthy hair is seen as a symbol of strength. Biblically in the case of Samson, his hair is the source of his power, and without it he misses the strength that he had once wielded. In the case of the Dothraki in Game of Thrones, long hair symbolizes your strength as well. When you ended in defeat, you were supposed to cut it short. Thus, the most powerful of warriors had extremely long hair. This can be taken to showcase Five and her ailment, who in the case of the three Project Athena survivors, is the most prominent and life-threatening, even leading to her collapse and bed-ridden state in the series. We are made aware of the fact that in the anime, she had risen to positions of high power and authority within the Nuclear Emergency Support Team. Upon her move to assist in Japan, she was reckless with her power — disregarding lives, the safety and the general public of Japan. Her assistant had even informed her to stop her reckless abuse of power – showing that she indeed had lost all control over it. Five had abandoned all that she was for the sake of once again, completing her life’s mission; catching up to and defeating Nine.
Another noteworthy thing about this frame and image is that her nails are painted with the colors of red, white, and blue. These are the colors of the American flag — the flag of the country that had rescued her and molded her into who she was, giving her opportunities. She was practically representing it. It is a symbol of her disconnection from Japan and her loyalty to another nation, a sign of her change and distance from the rest of the characters of the series. These colors are also shared by the flag of Iceland. These can represent hope, as Iceland has been a recurring theme of calm and serenity for Sphinx.
In the initial shots of her in the opening, the cheek that is covered by her hair was stained with the red marking of von. If we interpret this in another way, we can see the cutting of hair as a complete loss of power — as I’ve said. A complete loss of strength, which is caused by her having no reason left to live after vanquishing Nine. The only hope she had harbored for the entirety of her life is meeting him and defeating him, with no hope present — she took a shot at herself in the anime; ending her life as it no longer had purpose.
Lisa is shown running through a street, going the opposite direction from the people walking down the street. We can take this as a cry of her desperation to escape from the abuse and clinginess of her mother, instead setting her back since she does not know how to escape — or that she is simply lost, confused, incapable; just as her mother tends to claim she is. As Lisa begins to run faster, her image fades into a silhouette where we see Twelve riding his motorcycle. We can take this to mean the scene in which he had saved her from her encounter with a cop, that perhaps running in the wrong direction — a direction wherein two terrorists lie in wait for her was ultimately the right path that boosted her unto a track that ultimately led her to a changed life, leaving her the thankful woman that she was in the finale. Misguided and lost, she once again was graced with the touch of the boys that brought her back, running into a life that she had lost.
One may also take this to see that Lisa is not a normal person, she is broken and misguided; just as I’ve said many times before, just as Sphinx is. When we see her rushing through a crowd of otherwise normal people, we question her decision and instincts, wonder what she is running from; yet we do not bother to help the stranger who seems to be lost. Although this is somewhat of a good thing; we see Lisa desiring to blaze through life after living it dark and sheltered in the past. It’s part of the learning process. She may still be in the wrong direction, she may be running with no goal or destination in mind; but the start is set in the fact that she had begun to run. Twelve giving Lisa a ride on his motorcycle is the advent of her lost upbringing; we see that all the freedom that she had never experienced is given to her in tiny steps as she grows closer and closer to Twelve; each finding compassion in the other.
Nuclear and biochemical symbols appear as we see the motorcycle racing away towards edge of the shot. One can interpret this in the most obvious and blatant way — the stealing of the chemicals needed for the atomic bombs that Sphinx would construct to use in their grand schemes. There is another perspective to it though — in relation to the motorcycle and the ‘rescue’ of Lisa and in turn Twelve, we see them running away, as Twelve did from Nine in the ferris wheel scene where the former had chosen to abandon the latter. To drop association with the terrorist attacks and to leave it in Nine’s hands, they found freedom and relaxation together, although a bit more tense than what is wished for. As the motorcycle had first insinuated the blossoming of their relationship, it again marks the strengthening of it in the actions that Twelve had done in the events of the ferris wheel incident. To go as far as to abandon his lifelong partner for the sake of Lisa — truly an escape from the past, the hazards and the danger associated with it.
What follows is practically one of the most beautiful scenes in the opening, a wonderful conclusion to such an abstract telling of the story, packed with symbolism.
We see Nine, without his glasses, descending into a freefall amidst the hazy and cloudy scenery around him. Falling is symbolic of fear; the fear of what happens, the fear of your perspective of the world around you not resonating with your own moral views, the fear of failure. Although Nine remains possibly the most stoic person in the series, he remains a fearful person, especially in his nightmares that tend to leave him in disarray despite the constant repetition of the same events over and over. Nine is trapped by his past, perhaps more binded by Twelve — we can see Nine’s genuine determination in revealing the atrocities that had happened for him to finally be at peace, after all – it is his hope.
There is no guarantee that Sphinx and their plans would work how they planned – and further no guarantee for their story to not simply be buried in the dust, for their names to be forgotten. Firstly, Nine’s descent downwards represents the everlasting paranoia of the destruction of their plans, what they’ve worked for, and all as such. From the bus incident and the code not being deciphered immediately to the conflicts caused by Five, from the delay of the press conference — all of these are just logically planned out details, that may not fall into place. Next, with Nine’s perspective around the world, there is no doubt that these thoughts may be doubted; in fact when his own partner had betrayed him, we can’t tell what hope was left in Nine’s heart for the events to fall into place. Nine resorted to drastic measures in order to assure that things would still work.
Nine’s glasses are missing in these shots, signifying the lack of clarity. He is disillusioned by the world of him, and although not visibly scared, he is placed under immense pressure throughout the series. Clarity is truly unstable throughout the series, we are unaware of Sphinx’s plans, shocked with them at the turmoil that unfolds, and more.
Nine descends and feathers of hope follow him downwards, he continues in his descent as these feathers transform into glass shards. This is also symbolic of the lack of clarity, there is no clear reflection in each shard, revealing the uncertainty in the roads that Nine and practically Sphinx themselves have to cross. Accentuated by how blurry and dreamy the entire opening is, we clearly see no real path and no end to the fall that Nine is eventually doomed to. However, Nine manages to give off a smug grin and in one sweeping motion; he pulls a trigger, the title of the song itself amidst the flurry of broken glass and all the shards that surround him. Upon pulling it, white feathers shoot out, clouding the screen and eventually covering up all the uncertainty in Nine’s head and in his life. Hope; no matter who’s hope — prevails in Zankyou no Terror. Each major character had accomplished their goal, Nine not being an exception. His grin is the proof of hope, that although it seems impossible — that although he cannot see what is truly going around him and is blinded by the events that overwhelm Sphinx, he had prepared eternally for this very moment. Triggers of hope always take their stand, they always find their way.
The trigger can be taken as a literal one, each time Sphinx character had pushed buttons or triggered explosions, it brought their message closer to being revealed to the entirety of the world. Each success further giving them hope in the completion of their purpose in life, the motivation that kept them going which was the redemption of their childhood. Hope continuously paved the way towards the revelation of the entire world, and hope continuously showed itself in even the darkest times — the cloudiest and most uncertain of moments. The ferris wheel scene in which it seemed like Nine and Twelve would never reconcile from such a dark feud, to the scenes against Five wherein the odds were stacked against them. In even the haziest of moments where analysis and logic began to fail, hope always ended up conquering in the end.
In a final peaceful shot, white feathers fly around to reveal Nine and Twelve looking over the scenery of Japan, the motorcycle that symbolized freedom, escape; the tool that played a crucial part in the beginning of their plans — it is a beautiful shot that simply resembles serenity, the hope that Nine and Twelve had always yearned for is finally there. As they look at Tokyo from a distance, they study the city that had played a crucial part in their life’s journey. In other ways, I also take such a relaxing shot to show the still calm of Tokyo once Nine and Twelve had passed and completed their mission. Eerily homely, for the first time we see Tokyo in mellow colors, in the dream-like haze that we are so used to seeing, with the white feathers fluttering around. Hope is accomplished, their hearts are at peace.
In my eyes, Nine and Twelve aren’t supposed to be in this scene physically — but their memories, their stories, their actions; and all the lengths that they had to go through certainly do deserve to be in this position. Hope for them had come with a cost of lives, but the costs were repayed once more in lives, full lives that were worth living.
An opening may just seem like an opening; but its importance is undeniable when you look closer into it and analyze each and every detail. It is supposed to foreshadow, bring out the elements of the anime that one wants to see — and Zankyou no Terror does this perfectly. With wonderful animation and a mellow song that rings of melancholy, it holds much more than what I had ever expected it to be. With that, an opening may just seem like an opening — but it holds so much more, often overlooked or just skipped — the nature of the characters exposed in feathers and shards is truly astounding and wonderful.
Hopefully this interpretation proved to be of interest. Everyone can see things in their own way; and I relate each frame heavily to the story that Zankyou no Terror follows — but hopefully I exposed some of the magnificence that is hidden amidst this beautiful tune.
When winter comes again, the snow will tell all.
Filed under: review
Tagged with: analysis, anime, opening, zankyou no terror
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Chia is 20 going on extinct.
They know nothing but to create.
This blog has been since 2016 and will be here forever.
I design and develop at chia.design & chia.dev (same thing). I write here.
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Mingering Mike: Searching for a Soul Superstar
This interview has been edited for clarity.
A private investigator turned music enthusiast, a soul superstar that appeared to have vanished from America’s collective memory, and a box of clues, the only evidence that he ever existed at all, left behind. It’s a story that has all the trappings of a mystery novel. You might even say that truth is stranger than fiction, but the real truth here is that there’s nothing strange about Mingering Mike at all. To be clear, this isn’t a story about an eccentric character or outsider artist. This is the story of a kid whose dream lay just beyond their means, who nonetheless dreamt it up anyways.
Mike, whose real name is not publicly known, grew up In Washington D.C. in the 1950’s and 60’s. He remembers as a kid saving his quarters to use on the coin powered televisions when the show Your Hit Parade was on, which played the most popular songs of the week. Later as a teenager, he graduated to collecting his own records, particularly 45’s, because they were more affordable than their 12” vinyl counterparts. As a lover of music, naturally, Mike wanted to try writing his own songs. Without access to traditional instruments or recording equipment, Mike championed a d.i.y. ethos long before it would become a commonly used term. He used whatever he had around him, employing his family members as supporting musicians, using his comb as a drum stick against a telephone book, singing acapella baselines, and quite creatively, tightly rolling a piece of paper to the point that it would mimic the sound of a horn when blown into. There are even a few home recordings, where you can immediately tell that Mike was using his bathroom as a makeshift studio, due to its acoustics.
A post shared by Mingering Mike (@mingeringmike) on Mar 27, 2015 at 10:59pm PDT
Mike and his babies, 1969.
Once Mike started writing songs, he couldn’t stop (he claims to have written over 4,000 of them). With such a prolific output, he needed a name to put to the tracks. One day while riding in the backseat of a relative’s car, he looked out the window and saw a sign that read, “Merging Traffic”. He switched out Merging for Mingering, and came up with Mingering Mike as his stage name.
Mike knew that in order to get the record deal needed to reach his dreams of pop stardom, he would eventually need to record his songs in a professional studio. At one point he responded to a magazine advertisement for a company that claimed to be a recording studio and offered extremely low rates. Interested but cautious of a scam, Mike sent them a home recording of a deliberately terrible song, and when they reacted enthusiastically to it, he confirmed his suspicions that it was too good to be true.
This didn’t discourage Mike. While he was waiting for a chance to record his music, he started crafting his own vinyl LP record sleeves for his many albums. Mostly made out of cardboard, Mike hand painted playful artwork on the covers that reflected the theme of record that it was meant to encase. They were meticulously detailed, with liner notes, fictional record label logos, and sticker prices. For the record itself, he would cut a piece of cardboard into the shape of a vinyl record, punch a hole in the center, etch spiraling vinyl grooves, and apply a black paint which made the records appear to be actual vinyl. However these fake records were only meant to be placeholders, as Mike describes his reasons for making the LP covers as quite practical; he wanted to be ready in case he was ever able to record and release his music. When that day arrived, the album covers would be ready and waiting.
Mingering Mike, “Minger’s Gold Supersonic Hits, Vol. 3” (Minger Records) (1971), mixed media on cardboard.
The first of these albums that Mike created was 1968’s Sit’tin BY THE Window by G.M. Stevens, released on the imaginary Mother Goose Records. However, his most prolific period began in 1970, the year that he was drafted into the Vietnam war, and was faced with the difficult choice of fighting a war in a far off place, or dodging the draft and going into hiding. Mike, a self proclaimed pacifist, chose the latter, and spent the ensuing years mostly indoors, as he could not work a legitimate job as a draft dodger, and being in public risked arrest from authorities. To pass the time, Mike dove into his art, and crafted dozens more LP covers. As Mike’s real world became smaller, the universe of Mingering Mike expanded to include several characters, record labels, and stories. There was Mingering Mike’s Channels of a Dream, released on Decision Records, and there was the album Ghetto Prince, performed by a Mingering Mike collaborator named Joseph War. There was a soundtrack to an imaginary film, Brother of the Dragon, and a track called “The Exorcist”, released on Evil Records. While Mingering Mike and his entourage appeared to exist in their own parallel universe, they were also greatly influenced by real world events in Mike’s non-musical life. The name Decision Records, was actually a nod to the choice Mike had to make regarding the Vietnam war, and the cover art depicted two hands, one reaching for a gun, the other, for a microphone. Mike also wrote an album called isolation, which was about the gentrification he saw happening in his neighborhood at time, and the rising rents that were forcing people out of their homes and businesses.
Mingering Mike,»Soundtrack From: You Only Know What They Tell You» (Relations Records) (1973), mixed media on cardboard.
Mike’s artistic output slowed down around 1977 after president Jimmy Carter pardoned all draft dodgers, at which point he started working a regular full time job. He had put all his records into storage, but unfortunately fell on hard times in the 1990’s and couldn’t make the storage payment, and his records were auctioned off. He thought that he had lost them forever.
Enter Dori Hadar, who in his own way also had a parallel imaginary persona. Dori was a private investigator for a D.C area law firm by day, but moonlighted as a crate digger, basically a vinyl fanatic, someone who loved to spend their time searching for rare vinyl records. One early morning, after he had just finished working all night, he decided that instead of going home he would head towards a local flea market that he often frequented. He was one of the first people there, and he soon came across boxes of what appeared to be Vinyl LP’s. He started pulling them out one by one, continually seeing the name Mingering Mike. Perplexed at first, he thought, how had he never heard this name before? What does mingering even mean? Dori pulled the records out of their sleeve and realized that they weren’t actually real. Fake as they were, he recognized that they were probably deeply personal for someone out there. He knew what he had to do, and bought all 38 of them for 2$ a piece, drove straight home and posted photos of the records onto soulstrut.com, an early website forum for record collectors. Had anyone else heard of Mingering Mike? One other collector had also seen some more Mingering Mike records at another flea market, but from the same vendor. The two crate diggers joined forces and went back to the vendor together, and convinced him to let them see the storage unit where the records had come from. Putting his investigator hat back on, Dori dug through all of the items in the unit, old mail and such, and was able to identify Mike’s real name and some likely addresses. The clues led him to a house that ended up being a cousin of Mike’s, who was understandably cautious, and would only confirm that Mike was still alive and in the southeast D.C. area. Luckily, Dori was the right man for the task, and was able to further utilize his knowledge as a private investigator to search through public documents, and found a likely address for the elusive superstar. Walking up the stairs of an old apartment building, Dori approached the door that when opened, he hoped would lead him to Mike himself. Dori knocked, and the door cracked open. A man cautiously peered out. Dori immediately recognized him. The man, though now older, closely resembled the drawings of Mingering Mike from the album covers. Dori knew it was him, he had finally found Mingering Mike. Dori told Mike that he had some records that belonged to him, to which Mike responded, “My babies, you found my babies?!”
Mingering Mike, «I Can’t Turn you loose / Sing a Song, Any Kind of Song» (Fake Records Inc) (1969), mixed media on cardboard.
Mike was initially skeptical of Dori, afraid that he would try to extort him for the return of the records. But over a cup of coffee at a local diner, he realized that Dori simply wanted to return the records to their rightful owner. However, It didn’t end there, and the two became fast friends, bonding over their mutual love of music and record collecting. Mike could also be called a crate digger, as he owned over 6,000 vinyl records. Dori eventually pitched to Mike an idea to share his artwork with the world, which would materialize into a traveling art show of Mingering Mike’s albums, and a stint at the Smithsonian art museum in Washington D.C., dedicating 3 entire rooms to exhibit all of Mike’s work, and a publishing deal for a book that would document all of Mike’s cover albums and share his story.
Ultimately, it’s because of this unlikely partnership between a private investigator and an aspiring soul singer that we can share this wonderful story with you today. Mike called in to CKUT’s Tuesday Morning Show to share his story, which you can listen to above, or read below for highlights from the interview.
I want to highlight, that you can purchase a book on Mingering Mike, called Mingering Mike: the Amazing Career of an Imaginary Soul Superstar. It does a wonderful job of telling his story, and contains images of much of his work. It’s so important to support artists, and this is currently the best way to financially support Mike and his work, so if you enjoyed Mike’s artwork and story, I highly suggest picking up this book. It’s great both as a deep read and as a coffee table book to impress your guests.
Mingering Mike & Big D, «Boogie Down» at the White House (1975) (Relations Records), mixed media on cardboard.
So who is Mingering Mike?
MM: I call myself a silent observer. I’ve always had the creativity, but it rarely came out. But if I heard someone say a certain word or phrase, I would think, that sounds like a good idea for a song, and I would write it down. Eventually this would blossom into a writing career.
How did you come up with the name Mingering Mike?
MM: At first I was going to call myself The Big M, but it didn’t sound right. One day as a kid I was riding in the car of a relative, we were on the highway, and I saw a sign that read Merging Traffic. I thought to myself, Merging traffic? And somehow I came up with Mingering Traffic, and then I thought, Mingering Mike, that’s it! That’s the story in a nutshell.
At what point did you fall in love with music?
MM: When I was about 5 or 6 years old, they used to have the T.V.’s that you would put quarters in, and they would run for an hour. At the time they had shows like Dinah Shore, mystery shows and things like that. They also had a Show called The Hit Parade, and the singer Patti Page would sing the popular songs of that time. They also had comedy acts on the show, but it was the music that was calling me. When I was 16 or 17 I started paying a lot of attention to music and would constantly listen to it on the radio. Back then I really didn’t have any money to purchase music, so I would just wait for my favorite songs to come on the radio, at which point i’d go running towards the radio shouting “that’s my song!”. I started getting more interested in the albums of my favorite artists, but to a teenager at the time it felt like albums cost a million dollars, so I concentrated on buying 45’s, because they were cheaper.
Mingering Mike, «Ghetto Prince, Joseph War» (Decision Records) (1972), mixed media on cardboard.
Did you ever try to professionally record your music?
MM: Me and my cousin and collaborator Big D recorded some of our music acapella at home on a recorder. To us everything sounded clear, but to others it sounded garbled. At the time, there were sometimes magazine offers to record your music. I saw one that read “have your songs recorded for $40”. To see if the offer was legit, I wrote the most ridiculous song I could think of and recorded it on my home recorder and sent it to them. They wrote back and said ‘this song is fantastic, we have our musicians ready to record it!’, at which point I realized, okay nope, ‹I’m not going this route!› I did eventually get convert some of my home recorded tapes onto acetate records, which are now at the Smithsonian museum.
Is your work still on view at the Smithsonian museum in Washington D.C.?
MM: They are now in storage at the museum, but maybe one day they can put them out again if enough people ask. For my exhibition in 2015, there were 3 full rooms dedicated to showcasing the albums. They put out a book for visitors to sign during the show, and I think there were over 25,000 signatures and so many positive comments, and that was so nice to see.
Even though you didn’t have recorded music to accompany the album LP’s, the album artworks all tell a story. Can you tell us about the album, isolation?
MM: Most of the ideas for the songs on that album came from life itself, and how it is fortunate for some and unfortunate for others. For the album art, I did a conglomerate of drawings of various people in life. I called the album isolation, becasue if you’re a panhandler, you’re like a hidden person. Most people don’t pay attention to them, they just walk on by. So the panhandler is isolated in the environment that they are in.
Mingering Mike, «Isolation» (Minger Records) (1975), mixed media on cardboard.
Were all your albums based off things you saw in your life?
MM: Sometimes. Some albums came from stories that I would hear, or things I saw on T.V. For example when Isaac Hayes came out with the soundtrack for Shaft, or Curits Mayfield came out with Superfly, I wondered if I could do something similar. Sometimes when I would go to the movies, I saw films that I felt like the soundtrack didn’t match the film, so I thought, maybe I can come up with music that would better accompany it.
Mingering Mike, «Evil Records: The Exorcist» (Decision Records) (1974), mixed media on cardboard.
Do you have a favorite album that your wrote?
MM: Of course, I will always love Brother of the Dragon.
Mingering Mike, «Original Music From Brother of the Dragon» (Decision Records) (1974), mixed media on cardboard.
When did you stop making these records?
MM: 1977
Did it feel shocking to have a stranger knock on your door decades later, saying they have the records you made, that you thought were lost?
MM: Oh yes, when Dori showed up and said ‘Are you Mingering Mike? We have your records’, I said ‘My babies, you have my babies?!’
And it’s so great that you and Dori formed a friendship, and your work received a second life.
MM: When I was at the Smithsonian, and heard peoples› kind words, and then I got to go to the Netherlands, and Liverpool, and the SXSW festival in Texas. It’s so nice to hear that people like your work.
You’ve also started making album artwork again, this time for other bands.
MM: yeah, I got to do album artwork for the band The Ar-kaiks, and appeared in the music video. I also did cover art for the band Kings Go Forth, and for Peter Buck of R.E.M., which was pretty fantastic.
To see more work by Mingering Mike, head over to his website
Scott Erik
CKUT Arts & Culture Dept
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Catalogue > THEATRICAL > Full Dome > Full Dome Conversion
Runtime(s)
Adrenaline Rush: The Science of Risk
A journey into the multidimensional world of risk from the soaring and breathtaking cliffs of Norway to the calm and inspiring immensity of the Mojave Desert. Starring world champion skydiver Adrian Nicholas.
Africa: The Serengeti
Africa: The Serengeti introduces the audience to a spectacle that few humans have ever witnessed, the Great Migration, taking viewers on a journey with over 1.5 million animals as they travel more than 500 miles across the Serengeti plains in Tanzania and Kenya. This film is a tribute to the wildebeest as they set out on their yearlong odyssey; it is also a documentary featuring a fascinating array of animals including zebras, giraffes, elephants, monkeys, baboons, and even hyenas, jackals, and vultures, with an abundance of animal trivia.
Air Racers
Fly into Nevada’s “Valley of Speed” for a breathtaking exploration of the fastest race in the world combined with spectacular air show entertainment: the legendary Reno National Championship Air Races. Join today’s elite pilots as they fight for position, wingtip-to-wingtip, and skim 50 feet (15 m) above the ground around an oval course at twice the speed of a Nascar race. Discover this ultra-competitive world through the eyes of rookie pilot Steve Hinton as he attempts to fly his P-51 Mustang fighter plane to victory in the most highly-anticipated and unpredictable race class. Learn about the history and science behind the sport, whose concept dates back to the dawn of aviation, and see top-notch aerobatic performers, including the Canadian Forces Snowbirds. With spectacular aerial photography filmed entirely in 3D and unprecedented access granted to the course, Air Racers 3D, narrated by Paul Walker of “The Fast and the Furious” series, puts you in the cockpit to experience the intensity and high-speed thrills of a sports event like no other for the very first time in IMAX 3D theatres.
Aircraft Carrier: Guardian of the Seas
The mission to protect and defend the world’s oceans has become far more complex and challenging in recent years, and naval aviation has become increasingly vital to success. One of the greatest engineering feats in naval maritime history, the modern Nimitz-class carrier is a masterpiece of technology, and the flagship of the fleet. With RIMPAC, the world’s largest and most comprehensive international maritime training exercise providing a stunning visual context for the story, find yourself aboard the USS Ronald Reagan alongside the 5,000 highly skilled sea and air personnel conducting flight operations in the midst of the simulated war exercises taking place there. Rarely has there been a topic so visually suited and compelling for IMAX® and other giant screen theaters.
Alaska: Spirit of the Wild
Alaska: Spirit of the Wild is the ultimate story of survival, where life triumphs season after season against fierce conditions and challenges.
“It is a place little contaminated by the present, where we can rediscover a vitality and beauty vanishing from our lives. Whether or not we will ever reach Alaska, we all want to know such a place still exists.” This is narrator Charlton Heston’s poignant summation of the film Alaska: Spirit of the Wild.
Transporting viewers on a voyage into the last great frontier where nature enchants the eye with magnificent spectacles, this film takes audiences fishing with brown bears, soaring with bald eagles, dodging calving glaciers, and racing on the hooves of caribou — all from the comfort of their theater seats. Director George Casey masterfully relates the genesis of Alaska and then explores its rich history, surprising wildlife, magnificent landscapes, harsh climate, and abiding spirit.
Amazing Journeys
Witness some of nature’s most incredible spectacles as millions of creatures embark on Amazing Journeys of survival. Film director George Casey introduces audiences to six of nature’s truly unique phenomena. From the distant reaches of a hidden Mexican village to the sunny, warm surf off the Baja coast, fly on the delicate wings of a butterfly and dive into the depths of the oceans with a colossal whale to experience awe-inspiring life and death migrations. Along with the immense distances they travel, these species face many obstacles—obstacles that may change their migratory patterns forever. Go along on a most unbelievable road trip as nature struggles to the very ends of the earth.
Animalopolis
Singing lions, bears that waltz, sea lions turning somersaults. Otters pray, flamingos squawk, a calf who’d rather dance than walk. Children will want to watch it again and again. Animalopolis — a giant-screen matinee film for a truly brand new audience. You’ll like it, too.
With twelve hilarious segments, each featuring a different animal, Animalopolis will stimulate children’s imaginations and curiosity about the creatures they’re seeing.
Antarctica is a unique 40 minute motion picture that portrays the history, science, delicate ecology and awesome beauty of Antarctica – the world’s southernmost continent. For the first time in history the mysterious icy expanse of the highest, driest, and coldest continent has been captured in the giant screen format. The film takes viewers to the home of penguins, seals, and the other exotic life forms and also focuses on the activities conducted at many scientific research stations established by countries from around the world.
Most will never experience the exhilaration of seeing a half-ton-grizzly bear in the wild — but now people of all ages are daring to get closer than ever before to some of the largest predators on the planet.
From the safety of giant-screen theaters worldwide, of course.
From black bears in Montana to polar bears in the arctic, the National Wildlife Federation’s fourth giant-screen film, Bears, features a fresh view of these powerful, majestic and often misunderstood animals in the full glory of their natural habitat, and highlights the universal threats to bear populations.
Dinosaur Passage to Pangaea
Dinosaur Passage to Pangaea is a stop-motion, 3D animated adventure explaining one of the greatest geological events in the history of the Earth: the separation of the supercontinent Pangaea. When two children embark on a geology field trip back in time, they are thrown into a fantastic voyage where they witness incredible geological wonders and learn the mysterious process that created our present-day continents. From racing across the landscape atop Dinosaurs to plummeting to the center of the Earth, Dinosaur Passage to Pangaea is the perfect educational glimpse at the tectonic forces that forged our world. It is the ultimate field trip!
Dinosaurs Alive is a global adventure of science and discovery – featuring the earliest dinosaurs of the Triassic Period to the monsters of the Cretaceous “reincarnated” life-sized for the giant IMAX ® screen. Audiences will journey with some of the world’s preeminent paleontologists as they uncover evidence that the descendants of dinosaurs still walk (or fly) among us. From the exotic, trackless expanses and sand dunes of Mongolia’s Gobi Desert to the dramatic sandstone buttes of New Mexico, the film will follow American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) paleontologists as they explore some of the greatest dinosaur finds in history. Through the magic of scientifically accurate computer-generated animation, these newly discovered creatures, and some familiar favorites, will come alive … in a big way!
Beginning in the 1920s, AMNH scientist and adventurer Roy Chapman Andrews, who is believed to be the inspiration for the Indiana Jones character, led five expeditions to the Gobi Desert. Andrews and his team found hundreds of dinosaur remains, many new to science, including the first Velociraptor, the first dinosaur nests with eggs, and fossils of early mammals that lived alongside dinosaurs in the Late Cretaceous Period. Andrews also happened to take along a Hollywood cameraman with him to film the expedition’s discovery. This rare and beautifully preserved footage, juxtaposed against the large-format footage of today’s expeditions, provides audiences with a unique perspective into field paleontology over time.
Following in the footsteps of Andrews, AMNH paleontologists, Mike Novacek and Mark Norell, have been making annual expeditions to the Gobi every summer since 1990. Some of the greatest dinosaur fossils ever found have come from the Gobi. Collapsing sand dunes quickly and completely covered whole communities of animals, preserving them until the skeletons are exposed today by erosion. One of the most dramatic sequences in the film features a Velociraptor and a Protoceratops locked in mortal combat as a sand dune sweeps over them and kills them. The famous fossil of these fighting dinosaurs shows that they died in a deadly embrace, claws and jaws still grasping at each other. Great dinosaur moments like these, actual fossilized stories, are brought back to life through state-of-the-art CGI.
Dinosaurs Alive will also introduce audiences to the breakthrough discoveries taking place under the towering red sandstone buttes and rock chimneys in northern New Mexico. Since the 1940s, AMNH scientists have uncovered excellent specimens at the mysterious Ghost Ranch, where erosion has cut down through the many levels of sediment to expose fossils of the earliest dinosaurs from the Triassic Period, some 230 million years ago. At that time reptiles still ruled the earth and dinosaurs were actually modest in size—no larger than a cat, dog, or human. Dinosaurs exploded in diversity and size during the later Jurassic Period. Scientists have recently discovered a “monster” buried near Ghost Ranch. It was a long-necked sauropod called Seismosaurus—meaning ‘thunder lizard’—that was a massive 121 feet long. In the film, audiences will witness this behemoth thundering about on screen, in stark contrast to the more diminutive Triassic dinosaurs.
Finally, in an exciting development captured by our cameras, Novacek and Norell, travel to the site and inspect an extraordinary discovery made by AMNH graduate students — one of the oldest dinosaurs ever found in North America. The film will show how the fossil was discovered, protected in a plaster jacket, carefully removed from the rock, and studied at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Dinosaurs Alive shows how new scientific insights are sometimes built from previous discoveries, and each new generation of paleontologists continues the legacy of people like Roy Chapman Andrews.
Dinosaurs: Giants of Patagonia
If it weren’t for a series of cataclysmic events; a comet impact being first on the list, our planet could still be the domain of dinosaurs.
Dinosaurs fascinate us so much, that many people wish they were among us. Fortunately, Dinosaurs 3D will be the closest thing to actually being in the presence of these extraordinary creatures. Deeply rooted in science, the film carries the audience back in time to witness these amazing beasts come to life.
Meet the largest living animals to have ever walked the Earth: the titanesque plant-eating Argentinosaur, and its nemesis, the Giganotosaur, a bipedal carnivore, that could easily challenge the famous T-Rex!
Fighter Pilot: Operation Red Flag
John Stratton is a young American fighter pilot who flies the F-15 Eagle, arguably the most potent and successful fighter plane ever built. His grandfather was a decorated World War II flying ace, and he intended to follow in his footsteps.
At Red Flag, the international training exercise for air forces of allied countries, many of the world’s best pilots meet for the most challenging flying of their careers. Red Flag is the final training for pilots and their aircrews before being sent into actual combat. We follow our young pilot as he makes his way through this extraordinary event held in the desert of Nevada. He is amazed at how complex, challenging and dangerous the exercises are.
He begins to notice team members who were not a part of his childhood vision of heroism, the support team crucial to a successful mission, and to a safe return home. In the aerial combat exercises, there are other pilots who aren’t out just to prove themselves, they are helping him — watching his back. And he is doing the same for them. He begins to realize that being a hero is not quite as simple as he once might have thought.
Misrepresented, maligned, and on the verge of extinction, the Great White Shark is an iconic predator: the creature we love to fear. Great White Shark will explore the Great White’s place in our imaginations, in our fears, and in the reality of its role at the top of the oceanic food chain.
Hearst Castle: Building the Dream
High above the majestic central California coast rises an enchanted castle, a special place created from the dreams of one man, William Randolph Hearst. His vision was inspired by his many trips to Europe’s finest castles. From this unique blend of European influence rose an architectural masterpiece which Hearst furnished with priceless art treasures from around the world. Hearst Castle: Building the Dream will captivate audiences with Europe’s spectacular architectural wonders, the foundation for the dream that became Hearst Castle.
Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Secret Ocean
Jean-Michel Cousteau, son of ocean pioneer Jacques Cousteau, offers a breakthrough look at a secret world within the ocean that is perhaps the biggest story of all—that the smallest life in the sea is the mightiest force on which we all depend. Alongside marine biologist Holly Lohuis, he invites viewers to dive into this whole new world that will leave them in awe of the beauty and diversity of the oceans – the source of all life on our planet – and inspire an even stronger desire to protect what they have either seen for the first time or perhaps re-discovered along the journey.
Narrated by renowned oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle, Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Secret Ocean 3D introduces audiences to over 30 species, illuminating behaviors captured for the first time thanks to the development of new tools that allow underwater filming in 3D, ultra-HD 5K, slow motion, macro, and with motion control, and takes them to remarkable and vibrant environments such as the Bahamas, Fiji, and Bimini.
Journey to Space
NASA’s next era will be its greatest yet. That is the clear “roadmap” painted by Journey To Space. The film absolutely annihilates the perception that the space program died with the end of the Space Shuttle Program by showcasing the exciting plans NASA and the space community are working on, and the challenges they must overcome to carry out audacious missions such as landing astronauts on Mars and capturing asteroids.
By using extensive interviews with astronauts Chris Ferguson (Commander of the final shuttle mission) and Serena Aunon (a new astronaut chosen for future flights), Journey To Space gives a sweeping overview of past space accomplishments, current activities and future plans.
Journey To Space puts into historical context the magnificent contributions made by the Space Shuttle program and its intrepid space pioneers. It uses the most spectacular space footage – including unique views of Earth and operations in space – such as deploying and repairing the Hubble Space Telescope. It then goes on to show how the Shuttle launched and assembled the International Space Station (ISS). Together, these programs have taught us how to live, build and conduct science in space. The ISS will continue operating in space until 2024, and the film shows how it is building a foundation for the next giant leaps into space.
The film concludes with a fascinating, realistic scenario of how astronauts will actually get to Mars, live there for long duration, and then return home after a two-and-a-half-year mission. This includes the new icons of the next chapter of space exploration:
– Orion is NASA’s first spacecraft designed to carry humans on long-duration deep space exploration missions throughout the solar system.
– Olympus, an inflatable transportation habitat, is an early concept 45- or 50-feet diameter module that would provide astronauts the work area and living space necessary for long-duration missions. Smaller versions have already flown in space, and a full-scale version is shown undergoing ground testing.
– The Space Launch System (SLS), a new giant rocket, will carry spacecraft, Mars landers and ascent vehicles to place astronauts on the surface of Mars. SLS will generate over nine million pounds of thrust and will launch hardware into orbit equivalent to the weight of 22 elephants.
Journey To Space will both inspire a new generation of young people to dream of new horizons in space, and engender a new appreciation for the accomplishments of the Space Shuttle Program among an older generation who came to take it for granted.
Journey To Space is co-produced and co-distributed by K2 Films, Inc. and Giant Screen Films and will be released in IMAX(R), Giant Screen and other specialty theaters in 2D and 3D.
Legends of Flight
In the hundred-year-plus history of aviation, truly radical new aircraft designs come along only once in a generation. Since the introduction of the wide bodies of the late 1960s and early 1970s (followed by the Boeing 777 in 1994), there have been no truly “game changing” new passenger airliner designs until now, with the development of the Airbus A380 and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Through the eyes of chief test pilot Mike Carriker, a legendary contemporary pilot who is flight rated in more than 100 airplanes, we will see how a century of aviation trial and error, and some of the seminal airplanes of the 20th century influenced the design of the Dreamliner. The audience will be thrilled with the flight of these legendary airplanes in some of the most breathtaking sequences ever seen on giant (IMAX®) theater screens. Theater-goers will be there for all the important milestones at the dawn of a new era in commercial aviation. They will see the first public flight of the massive, but super efficient Airbus A380 at the 2007 Paris Air Show and the first flight of the smaller, even more efficient 787, the first-ever carbon fiber airliner that made its maiden flight in 2009.
Legends of Flight will also give audiences an insider’s view of how a modern aircraft is built, and make them privy to the manufacturing challenges and incredible financial risks companies assume when they embark on radical new designs. In the end, this unique cinematic experience shows how the 787 might affect the next 100 years of aeronautical design.
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Full Transcripts
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Ari Fleischer
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Presidential Executive Order on a Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety February 9, 2017
Presidential Executive Order on Preventing Violence Against Federal, State, Tribal, and Local Law Enforcement Officers February 9, 2017
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The President’s News Conference in Munich, Germany
Spoken by
July 8, 1992 February 5, 2017
The President. I’ve spent the past 3 days discussing the responsibilities and opportunities that we have for encouraging stronger economic growth in our countries and, indeed, in the entire world. We’ve also discussed sustaining political reform in the emerging democracies as well as regional political issues, including Yugoslavia.
I would cite five key accomplishments at the Munich economic summit. We’ve succeeded in achieving a solid consensus on strengthening world growth. Recovery is underway in the United States. Japan, Germany, and Italy — —
Q. [Inaudible] — the homeless. They mourn your decisions here. Repent. They mourn your decisions here. You’re not giving us your voice.
The President. I’m trying to give — —
Q. [Inaudible] — us your voice in the U.S.
The President. I’m trying to give you my voice right now, and if you’d be quiet maybe you could hear it.
Q. But you’re not giving it to us. We tried.
The President. Well, would you please sit down. We’re in the middle of a press conference here.
Q. You’re not giving us your voice there.
The President. Well, what’s your question, sir?
Q. I’m under 25, and I want to know — —
The President. Well, I can tell that. [Laughter] Now, what’s your question?
Q. I want to know why Siemens gets more credit than the homeless in the United States?
The President. We’ll get back to you on that. Now, if you’d please sit down, or I’ll have to ask — because it’s not fair to everybody else for you to be making a little political statement here. Who are you and who are you accredited to?
Q. My name is Charles Kane. I’m from the United States. I work with a magazine in The Netherlands. It’s a youth magazine, and we want to know why we’re not taken seriously. We’re an environmental group.
The President. Well, maybe you’re rude. People don’t take rude people seriously. And if you interrupt a press conference like this, I’m sure that people would say that’s why we don’t take you seriously. Sit down, and I will take a question from you when we get in the question-and-answer period. Right now I would like to continue my statement, with your permission.
Now, where were we? We were talking about economic recovery. It’s underway in the United States. Japan, Germany, and Italy have taken actions in the last few days to strengthen their growth. Also the United States has cut its interest rates. These actions will help our domestic economy continue its recovery. U.S. exports to a growing world economy will increase American jobs.
We’ll work with Poland on new uses for its currency stabilization fund that will support market reform once Poland reaches agreement with the IMF on a program. I believe this is a very important encouragement for Poland and an expression of our faith in Poland’s commitment to market reform.
We expressed strong support for President Yeltsin’s reform efforts. This is a tribute to his leadership and vision in working to bring a great country firmly into the family of democratic, market-oriented countries.
We’ve demonstrated our commitment to the future of safe nuclear power by agreeing on a coordinated cooperative effort with Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union to improve the safety of Soviet-designed power reactors.
And finally, we’re taking a number of steps relating to Yugoslavia, both to relieve the horrible suffering in Bosnia and to contain the spread of ethnic violence.
With more growth, we will create new job opportunities at home. We will also be able to help emerging democracies establish the vibrant market economies so vital for their political and economic development.
We had a frank exchange of views on trade. We all recognize that completing the Uruguay round will give a major boost to world growth by expanding trade for all countries, developed as well as developing. I’ve worked hard over the past year to identify constructive solutions to tough issues. It’s natural that as we get close to the end, the going gets tougher. But I will persevere because the benefits of success are tremendous. All summit leaders expect that an agreement can be reached by the end of the year.
Now, one thing stands out clearly from our discussions. The triumph of the ideals of democracy and free markets throughout the world means that distinctions between domestic and international economic policies are increasingly meaningless. This is particularly true for the U.S., where over 70 percent of our growth in the last 5 years has come from exports. Over 7 million American jobs are related to exports, and clearly, America’s well-being is tied closely to the health of the world economy. What’s happened here and how we all follow through on our commitments concerns every American.
And now I’ll be glad to take some questions. I think Terry [Terence Hunt, Associated Press] has the first one.
Q. Mr. President, you said in Washington that you supported the idea of making the G – 7 a G – 8 with the addition of Russia. Is that going to fly or — —
The President. I thought I said we were open-minded on it.
Q. Somebody said, “Do you support it?” and you said, “That’s right.”
The President. Well, I think you have to look at the whole statement. But look, this will be considered. Russia attended last year; Russia is attending this year. This matter has not yet come up. It will be discussed this afternoon. But clearly, I support President Yeltsin being here today. We have big differences in the world economies. And maybe it will be concluded that the seven plus one is the answer; that makes eight. But we’ll just have to wait and see how the negotiations go.
Q. Are you concerned that Russia’s backsliding on energy and inflation? Are you satisfied with the progress of their economic reform package?
The President. I don’t think Russia is satisfied with the progress of their economic reform. And what we want to do is just encourage economic reform in every way. See, I feel that one of the quickest ways for that Russian economy to recover is to move forward on the energy front with private investment much more quickly.
What was the other part? Energy and what?
Q. They’re printing many more rubles and adding — —
The President. Inflation. I think there is a concern about inflation. But all of these matters will be discussed this afternoon. But we don’t want to overlook the fact that President Yeltsin has come in; he’s taken some courageous steps in terms of reform. He’s made decisions at home that are quite unpopular. So as this big economy begins to move and begins to be much more market-oriented, there are bound to be problems. And yes, I’m sure they’re concerned, as everybody is, about inflation.
Q. Mr. President, do you think that you have properly defined to the American people and to Congress the future role of NATO in terms of Europe in the post-cold-war world? That is, does it mean American troops will have to go into every ethnic struggle, every national civil war as they are assigned by NATO, and should we do that?
The President. No, it doesn’t mean that American troops will go into every struggle. NATO, in our view, and I think in the view of most of the participants if not all, is the fundamental guarantor of European security. It is in the national interest of the United States in my view to keep a strong presence, a U.S. presence, in NATO. I don’t think anybody suggests that if there is a hiccup here or there or a conflict here or there that the United States is going to send troops.
Yugoslavia is a good example. What we’re interested in doing is moving forward to help, but I’ve not committed to use U.S. troops there, and nobody has suggested that NATO troops are going to go into that arena.
Q. What did you mean by a guarantor of security? Someone said that you were waiting for the Red army to regroup. What is the meaning?
The President. The enemy at this juncture is unpredictability. A strong NATO that has kept the peace, helped keep the peace in Europe for 40-some years can keep it for the next 40 years. That’s what we’re talking about.
Now, let’s go to this gentleman who is so agitated here.
Q. I just want to know why there’s no new nuclear power plants in the United States being built, but you’re proposing for Siemens to build them in Eastern Europe.
The President. Well, I’d like some more to be built.
Q. Why are they so unsafe in our country and so safe in their country?
The President. I don’t think — —
Q. Why is it only the G – 7 — —
The President. You’ve asked your question, sir, and let me try to answer it for you. I favor nuclear power. I believe that it can be safely used. I believe that it is environmentally sound. I have great confidence in U.S. technology. I notice that the French feel the same way. So I am not a President who is opposed to nuclear power. Indeed, our energy bill that we’ve got forward would facilitate ways for more safe use of nuclear power.
The debate here has been that we ought to try to help those areas that have nuclear facilities that might not have the latest technology and might not meet the same standards of safety that we use in our country.
Thank you very much. Now we’ll go here.
Q. Do you respect the —
The President. You’ve had your question.
Q. Come on. Sit down.
Q. Think about it. Is the world going to be a better place — —
The President. This is coming out of your time, gang, and we’ve got 20 minutes.
Q. Mr. President — —
Q. Come on. This guy is not respecting us at all. You guys are all part of the system, too. Thanks a lot. Go ahead. We’ve given up.
World Economic Growth and Domestic Jobs
Q. Much has been said here by you and others about the benefits for the United States of accelerated growth in other economies of the world. You don’t contend, do you, sir, that there will be any immediate benefits, such as on the unemployment rate in the United States, do you?
The President. Immediate benefit to world growth?
Q. From world growth on, for example, the unemployment rate in the United States.
The President. I think world growth is a guarantor of more employment in the United States because I think it will — —
Q. But when?
The President. Well, it’s very hard to put a particular date on it. You’ve got an economy now where, in our country, where you saw this investment from BMW, which is very good. But there’s a delay before it will employ the 2,000 people or whatever that’s predicted. But exports have saved our economy. They would be much more vigorous if the world was growing faster. So I think you just have to wait and see how fast countries grow. But as they grow, that is a much better market for American products.
France and Trade Negotiations
Q. Mr. President, every year, or at least for the last several years, we’ve come to these summits and been promised a trade agreement. You’ve done that again this year. Why should this year be different, particularly since you seem to have encountered such opposition from the French? Do you have promises from Mr. Mitterrand to deal with this once his referendum is over?
The President. I think there’s a general feeling that the referendum is causing problems for the French. All I know is that we are going to keep pushing. We’re ready to conclude one now. I have made very clear, some political comments to the contrary at home notwithstanding, that the politics does not interfere with the United States readiness to go forward. And we’ve made that point here. But I am disappointed.
We didn’t come here, incidentally, Charles [Charles Bierbauer, Cable News Network], thinking that this was going to be the forum in which the GATT round would be solved. If I had felt that way, I think you would have seen our very able negotiators on the scene. But I think there’s some political realities out there that make it more difficult for one country or another to conclude an agreement. All I know is we’re going to keep pushing for it without regard to the U.S. election. It is in our interest. So that’s the only way I know to answer.
Q. How far has President Mitterrand gone to give you assurances that he’ll be prepared to deal after that referendum?
The President. I would not go into how far he’s gone. I simply think that there will be more of a readiness on the part of the French after the referendum.
Q. Mr. President, it seems to me that one could read this final communique and reasonably conclude that Poland and Russia got more out of the economic summit than the United States. Where’s the beef for the U.S. economy?
The President. Where’s what?
Q. Where’s the beef for the U.S. economy?
The President. In the first place, these summits should not be looked at as coming out with an eight-point agenda or something like that. That’s not what they’re about. We have one global economy, and we’re all involved in that global economy. And when we make commitments to growth, that benefits not just the G – 7 plus one, but it benefits everybody else. And so I would simply say, as we move forward together with the Europeans, whether it’s on Yugoslavia or whether it’s on world growth, that is in the interest of the United States of America. You can’t separate out the international economy from the domestic economy.
President Yeltsin
Q. I wanted to ask you about Boris Yeltsin, your latest opinion of him. He crashed in here, gate-crashed the dinner last night. He’s complained about the $24 billion fund, that the IMF put more restrictions on him, that Russia’s sovereignty would be insulted. Do you regard him as a really reliable partner or as a bit of a loose cannon?
The President. I regard him as a very courageous leader who is trying against some pretty tough odds to reform an authoritarian system, Communist system, and to make it into a market economy. And I can understand the frustration that he might feel and express from time to time about where’s the beef, what’s in this for us. But I think he also knows that when he gets advice on genuine reforms from the IMF that he must comply. So I think there may be frustration on his part. But on the other hand, I think all of us at this G – 7 meeting support him and support what he’s trying to do.
I would just take exception to the question, one part of it, where you say he crashed the dinner. A place was set; he got a warm welcome. [Laughter] So I don’t think that’s a very fair assessment to a courageous leader.
Q. Do you think the characterization that he’s like a bull in a china shop is not accurate?
The President. Well, I’ve not heard that particular characterization. But the man is strong, and he’s tough, and he’s committed. And I have seen that in my various meetings with him, bilateral meetings. He’s trying hard, and he has our respect. And he’s up against big odds. We all know that. But he’s got a good, young team around him, and you ought to give him great credit for that, Kozyrev and Gaydar, particularly on the financial side, the latter. And we’re here to support him. I think he’s conducted himself very, very well here.
U.S. Economy and Leadership Role
Q. Mr. President, your aides said this week that they’re having trouble getting your message out, in this case maybe on your international leadership and jobs creation through this global expansion on the economy. Who do you fault for that?
The President. I don’t know what aides you’re talking about. We’ll keep getting it out. I think the way that we met here with these leaders and people see agreement on world growth, that’s good. I think people feel that the world economy is growing, just as I feel the U.S. economy is growing. So if there’s any blame, I guess I take the blame. But I don’t buy into it that the message isn’t getting out. I think people come to the recognition that we’ve got some problems, certainly problems when people are hurting and they don’t have jobs. But on the other hand, as they begin to feel the economy moving, I think things will change.
I’m still interested in the statistic I saw — I forgot I don’t read polls — that I read in a poll. What it said was that 60 percent of the people in the country still think the economy is getting worse. It’s not. It is improving. Now, maybe not improving fast enough, but it is improving. There’s a gap between perception and reality.
So on your question I think maybe the answer is: Just keep getting the truth out, getting the message out. Keep encouraging Congress to do that which I wish they had done long ago instead of about — I wish they would move forward now and stimulate the economy in some selective ways that we’ve been proposing since my State of the Union Message. They haven’t done it. I’m going to keep encouraging them to do it because that would be the best thing we could do to help all Americans get back to work and to stimulate growth.
Q. Mr. President, there’s been a good deal of speculation that the leadership role of the United States in the world and perhaps even that of the U.S. President is somewhat diminished with the end of the cold war, with the difficulties that all of the economies, including our own, are showing. Do you feel that at meetings like this, that the relationship between you and your peers and colleagues is different than it was before? And if so, how?
The President. No, I don’t feel it.
Q. Do you feel that the economy of the United States, being in the shape it is, makes it more difficult for you to speak up and get your points across?
The President. No, because I think as you look around at world economies, a lot of the world economies are sharing the same problems. So I don’t feel that at all. In fact, I feel since Desert Storm something quite different.
Federal Budget Deficit
Q. Mr. President, one of the key points of the communique is that the Government should curb excessive public deficits. At the same time, you’ve presided over the largest increase in the Federal deficit in the U.S. in history. My question is, we’ve heard you talk about the problems of the Great Society programs, the Carter administration, and the Democratic leadership. Have you given serious reflection to the thought of many economists that the deficit you are grappling with is in large part due to the policies of the Reagan administration, in which you served?
The President. No, I haven’t given much thought to that, but I’ve given a lot of thought to how to get the deficit down. And the way to get the deficit down is to contain the growth of mandatory spending and is to keep the caps that we negotiated back in 1990 on discretionary spending and to stimulate economic growth. That is the way to get the U.S. deficits down. And some of that is reflected, incidentally, in the statement on growth that we made with the leaders here.
Q. Just a followup. Just after the Los Angeles riots you were asked whether trickle-down economics had, in fact, worked to help the lower income people move up. And you said that you would consider everything, whether everything worked. Have you looked at that particular policy?
The President. Yes, and I’ve looked at what we ought to do for the cities. And we’ve proposed a good program, and I hope it will pass the Congress.
Future U.S. Troop Deployment
Q. The United States has supported a proposal at the summit that will be going to Helsinki for NATO to take part in peacekeeping in places like Yugoslavia. The United States will have 200,000 troops in NATO. Earlier you said that the United States would not be going to such places as Yugoslavia. How can we avoid taking part in peacekeeping with the use of American troops if NATO is going to undertake that role?
The President. Well, if NATO undertakes a role, of course, the United States of America is going to be involved in it. But in terms of Yugoslavia, our interest is in terms of trying to get humanitarian support in there. I have no plans to inject ourselves into a combat situation in Yugoslavia. We have naval power, we have air power, and we are a part of the security, obviously, a key and critical part of NATO. But nothing in that should be read that I would commit U.S. forces into combat. I’m just not saying what we’re going to do on all that.
I thought Colin — I was looking at his statement today, and I think that he expresses administration policy very well on that, the purpose of providing humanitarian aid and not for trying to resolve the underlying political issue. So, Saul [Saul Friedman, Newsday], I think you’ve jumped out ahead of where consideration of the NATO role is for Yugoslavia at this point.
Q. I’m speaking of other such conflicts.
The President. Well, that’s too hypothetical to go into. You saw the United States respond in the Middle East, and that wasn’t a NATO operation. And yet, most of the countries in Europe in one way or other responded to be helpful.
Q. A follow on Don’s [Don Oberdorfer, Washington Post] earlier question. You’ve said several times at home that the U.S. is now the undisputed leader of the free world. I think a lot of people would agree. Yet, we’re having difficulty exerting our national interest in areas like trade. And in these bloody conflicts in Yugoslavia and South Africa our leadership doesn’t seem to be respected; our democratic values aren’t being followed. I just wondered what do you make of this?
The President. I don’t agree with your assessment of U.S. leadership, and I don’t think anybody in this G – 7 would agree with that. I just think that people still look to the United States. Now, we are working in concert with our allies. We’ve got a global economy. It’s just not one country that solves a problem. I’ve believed since I’ve been President of working multilaterally when it’s in our interest and when it can produce the most good, and I’m going to continue to do that.
So I don’t accept the assessment. I think one thing that has been celebrated by everybody since we’ve been here is the significant reduction in nuclear arms. They look to that as a major leadership achievement of the United States of America and Russia. So I haven’t encountered the kind of theme that you were asking about.
Q. I just wonder whether you feel that being a superpower isn’t necessarily what it used to be cracked up to be.
The President. No, I think, in all candor — and I don’t want to be offensive to others while I’m here in a multilateral environment — I think we are the sole remaining superpower. And that’s when you consider economic and military and everything else. And I think others see it that way. But that doesn’t mean that the way you lead is to dictate. That’s not the way you try to do it.
Q. You’ve said that you went to war in the Persian Gulf for principle and that a new order came out of that. And now you’re saying that you can’t address the political problem in Yugoslavia. What does the new world order have to offer for the people of what used to be Yugoslavia, who need to have their political problems addressed, who have lost land and — —
The President. I didn’t say we couldn’t address political problems. I said we’re not going to use United States troops to solve the political problems. That’s very different. We’ve got some vigorous diplomacy. We first work the humanitarian question, and then you do what you try to do in preconflict situations or conflict situations and try to use your best diplomatic effort. In this case, you work with the Europeans. You support Lord Carrington; you support Cyrus Vance when he was on the mission for the United Nations; you support these G – 7 neighbors of Yugoslavia. And so it’s not a view of do you put force every time there is an occasion like this.
Take a look at the countries now free from the yoke of international communism and the former Soviet Union. If I followed your question to its logical conclusion, it would be suggesting the only way you’re going to solve the problem of Azerbaijan and Armenia or the Crimea or wherever it is, is to inject U.S. force. And that’s not the way we conduct our policy. That’s not the way you keep the peace.
Q. Back to Mr. Yeltsin, sir. Economists are sounding increasingly alarmed that the $24 billion which are on offer to him overall is rather paltry given the enormous task and risks involved. For example, Germany has already spent more than $100 billion on transforming Eastern Germany just to maintain stability there. What’s your view — I’m talking numbers here — what’s your view, is $24 billion sufficient?
The President. I don’t know that there’s enough money in the world to instantly solve the problem of the Russian economy. I think it is a substantial commitment. But it’s got to be accompanied with a continuation of this vigorous reform program in Russia. And that will do it more quickly than anything else.
We were talking before this meeting about the amount of capital that has flowed into South America since we’ve come into office and since the Brady plan and the Enterprise for the Americas have been put into effect. It is amazing the billions of dollars that have flowed into those countries as they have reformed — some are in the process of reforming — but as they have reformed their economies.
And therein lies the answer for Russia. It isn’t going to be done simply through a grant from the IMF. But they’ve got to stay with the reform program that Yeltsin and Gaydar have very courageously put into effect, and they’ve got to build on it. They’ve got to move forward more quickly with energy investment. There’s a lot of things that they’ll be able to do and should do in order to get that dynamism of the private sector involved. And therein lies the ultimate answer. It isn’t going to be through an injection of cash from one of the IFI’s, the international financial institutions.
Time for two more.
Multilateral Trade Negotiations
Q. Mr. President, the interests of the European farmers seem to have been defended fairly effectively at this summit. Why is it that the interests of U.S. workers and farmers keep losing out at the trade talks?
The President. I don’t think the U.S. farmers lost out at all. We are not going to enter into a deal that is detrimental to the U.S. agricultural economy. And I don’t think anybody thinks we are.
What do you mean, “keeps losing out”? Maybe I missed something.
Q. Every year we’re promised that there’s going to be a GATT agreement by the end of the year, every year since you’ve been President. And every year it doesn’t happen. Is there a reason to think it’s going to happen — —
The President. But that’s not — making a bad deal is not something that the American farmer should be anything but grateful about. We’re going to make a good deal, and it will benefit the agricultural economy because we can compete with anyone anywhere. So that’s kind of the underpinning of the negotiation. So I don’t think the U.S. farmer loses out when you don’t rush to make an agreement that might not be a good one. You keep plodding until you get a good one, and that’s what we’re trying to do.
Q. Is the status quo acceptable to U.S. farmers?
The President. The status quo is better than a bad deal, but it’s not as good as a good GATT agreement. And that’s the answer. The way you asked the question, I don’t think the American farmer keeps getting shafted. What he wants is access to markets because we know we can compete. That’s the kind of agreement we’re determined to get. It should be a fair agreement, and it will be a fair agreement.
Economic Summit and Domestic Politics
Q. Could you tell me a little bit about the atmospherics of this meeting and others? With the exception of Prime Minister Major, everyone has their own domestic, political, electoral problems. Does that come up between you, and do you commiserate? How would you describe it?
The President. That’s a very interesting question. And one thing you do get out of this summit is it’s not just the United States that has this kind of mood of turmoil. It’s very interesting when you talk to these leaders, not just strictly on the economic side but on the political side as well. And we do discuss it. Everyone, I think, shares the same confidence that I do that as the world growth takes place a lot of that discontent will go away. A lot of it is economic, not all of it; some of it’s just antipolitical. But yes, we had some very interesting discussions on that.
Q. Do you ever come to the point of saying, “Look, I can’t deal with that now; I’ll have to deal with it 2 months from now”?
The President. No, I can’t think of a single international question that I would address any differently if the election weren’t right over the horizon. I made that very clear on the Uruguay round. So let me just clear the air on this. We want a deal. We think it’s in everybody’s interest to have a deal. And in no way is domestic election politics interfering with this.
I would cite the same thing here today in terms of the North American free trade agreement. It is in the interest of America to conclude a North American free trade agreement. And we’re going to work to do just that. That will mean more jobs and more investment. Every time you get free trade, it does it. Look at the agreement with Canada. Trade’s done nothing but go up, and that means jobs on both sides of the border.
So I can’t think of anything that would be on the agenda that we have here or possible agenda where I would conduct myself differently because of an election coming up.
Thank you all very much.
Posted on July 8, 1992 February 5, 2017 Author George BushCategories Press ConferencesTags imported
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