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Jun Hasegawa (32) of the model announced in writing that he had divorced through his office 10 days. In writing, “This time, I, Jun Hasegawa has a period of marriage,” said, “there were a lot of happy things for the last eight years, and I have only gratitude for the fact that I had two children,” he told her thoughts to her ex-husband. In the future, “married couples will be eliminated, but I would like to live with a lot of love while cooperating with my father and mother without changing the future for children.” We hope that you will be able to keep a warm eye on our future. ” Her father is American and her mother is Japanese and Hasegawa is a model debut at the age of 15.Active in the regular model, such as [ViVi], to appear in many ads today.Married to a general man in June 2011, who was 25 years old.In December of that year, she gave birth to a girl who became the first child and a boy who was a second child in September 2002. ■ Hasegawa Jun comments This time, I, Jun Hasegawa has a period of marriage. For the last eight years I have had a lot of happiness, and I am only thankful that I have had two children. I would like to continue to live with a lot of love while working together as a father and a mother without changing the future for the children though the form of the married couple will be solved over time. We hope you will be able to keep a warm eye on our future, thank you. Http://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/16439821/
Jun Hasegawa announces divorce.
I have been an assistant of another sky before, the Times in Hawaii, such as the story of the marriage birth is Hasegawa Jun was impressive,
It seems that there were few scenes to talk on TV after childbirth.
I saw the video of the street shop of the other party who married only once, but it seems that there was not much to be talked about in detail. Just as her character was bright and the smile was impressive,
Maybe you didn’t want to reveal the downside in real life.
I’m not even sure whether the bases were Japan in the first place. Because I think that it is a favorable image to a woman and a man in the standpoint,
As a passing point of one divorce
Let’s hope that she will shake off the positive energy for her skin.
I didn’t seem to get divorced.
jun hasegawa
KanJani Murakami Shingo, Sangenjaya [Goukon] or ⁉
TV Asahi Takeuchi Yoshie [marriage] had been ‼
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Playing different types of ball
Steven Luke, Staff Writer|March 27, 2014
Cathie Lawrence
LMC Softball player Venessa Laxa reacting to ball that was possibly coming her way. March 18, 2014. LMC softball field, Pittsburg, Calif.
The baseball and softball seasons at Los Medanos College are now in full swing. Both teams have begun the important conference schedule that will determine who makes the playoffs and who will stay at home. Baseball is still in the mix, but softball is playing for pride at this point.
Baseball coach Anthony D’Albora’s squad came out of the gates swinging in conference games with a 4-1 record (13-9 overall), but have now dropped two in a row and sit in a three-way tie for second in the Bay Valley Conference.
Softball coach Tim Griffin’s team has had trouble getting started all season, and currently sits dead last in the Bay Valley with a 1-7 conference record (3-18 overall).
The two teams are headed in opposite directions, but both look to end the season on a strong note with the men fighting for a playoff spot and the women are trying to win more games and prepare for next season.
For D’Albora’s team, they are looking one game at a time, and trying to win every series the rest of the way out.
“We always look at it game by game,” he said. “The goal is to win every series but you’ve gotta win on Tuesday to give yourself a chance to do that, and if you do that you turn the page and find a way to win on Thursday.”
Griffin’s team has a different focus as they are building towards next season.
“We possibly have nine returning players, and our focus is on retaining them and building around them,” he said.
While the softball team is preparing for next season, baseball is working off of a solid core that made the playoffs last season, and is looking to return to the tournament.
It won’t be an easy road to return to the playoffs, though, as they face first place College of Marin this week and the two teams they are tied with for second over the next two weeks.
“Our plan no matter who we play, whether it’s a team that’s at the bottom of the list or the top of the list, it’s going to be the same everyday,” D’Albora
said. “One thing we saw last year is that our conference is getting a lot better. There is a lot more competition at the top than we’ve ever seen before.”
They won’t be taking anyone lightly because even the teams that are currently at the bottom are only a winning streak away from jumping up the standings.
Griffin’s team, although they are building towards next season, could be one of those teams who jump to the top with a winning streak.
“No one is giving up on this season,” he said. “There is still plenty of time to turn it around and I don’t believe any other team will improve as fast as this one will.”
While it will be an uphill road to catch currently undefeated Solano College, but if they win out they still have a chance at the playoffs.
Both teams have a long way to go before this season is over, but one could be playing longer than the other. Griffin will not let it get him down, though.
“It can only get better.”
Steven Luke, Sports Editor
My name is Steven Luke and I am currently in my fifth semester at LMC and my third on staff for the LMC Experience. This semester I am the Sports Editor...
Cathie Lawrence, Sports Photographer/ Staff Writer
I'm very excited to be working on the staff of the Experience. I continue to enjoy my position as a Sports Photographer and Staff Writer...
Student athletes training despite pandemic
New season, new faces
LMC player signs fake National Letter of Intent to Texas Tech
Life without sports sucks
CCCAA suspends season
Time’s up. Pay up.
NBA league suspended
CCC you later
Staff softball game is coming up
LMC coaches react to coronavirus fear
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441 U.S. 786 - Kentucky v. Whorton
441 US 786 Kentucky v. Whorton
99 S.Ct. 2088
Commonwealth of KENTUCKY, Petitioner,
Harold WHORTON.
No. 78-749.
Rehearing Denied Oct. 1, 1979.
See 444 U.S. 887, 100 S.Ct. 186.
In Taylor v. Kentucky, 436 U.S. 478, 98 S.Ct. 1930, 56 L.Ed.2d 468 (1978), this Court reversed a criminal conviction resulting from a trial in which the judge had refused to give a requested jury instruction on the presumption of innocence. Relying on its understanding of that decision, the Kentucky Supreme Court in the present case held that such an instruction is constitutionally required in all criminal trials, and that the failure of a trial judge to give it cannot be harmless error. Ky., 570 S.W.2d 627. We granted certiorari to consider whether the Kentucky Supreme Court correctly interpreted our holding in Taylor. 439 U.S. 1067, 99 S.Ct. 832, 59 L.Ed.2d 31.
* The respondent was charged in three separate indictments with the commission of several armed robberies. At trial, numerous eyewitnesses identified the respondent as the perpetrator. Weapons, stolen money, and other incriminating evidence found in the respondent's automobile were introduced in evidence. The respondent did not take the stand in his own defense. The only evidence on his behalf was given by his wife and sister who offered alibi testimony concerning his whereabouts during the time of the commission of one of the robberies.
The respondent's counsel requested that the jury be instructed on the presumption of innocence.1 This instruction was refused by the trial judge. An instruction was given, however, to the effect that the jury could return a verdict of guilty only if they found beyond a reasonable doubt that the respondent had committed the acts charged in the indictment with the requisite criminal intent.
The jury found the respondent guilty of 10 counts of first-degree robbery, 2 counts of first-degree wanton endangerment, and 2 counts of first-degree attempted robbery. The respondent was sentenced to consecutive terms of imprisonment totaling 230 years.
On appeal, the respondent argued that he had been denied due process of law in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment by reason of the trial judge's refusal to give an instruction on the presumption of innocence. A divided Kentucky Supreme Court agreed, interpreting this Court's decision in Taylor "to mean that when an instruction on the presumption of innocence is asked for and denied there is a reversible error." Ky., 570 S.W.2d, at 633.2
Two justices filed separate dissenting opinions. In their view, the Taylor case should be understood as dealing with the factual situation there presented, and not as establishing a constitutional rule that failure to instruct the jury on the presumption of innocence requires automatic reversal of a conviction. Since these justices concluded that the respondent received a fair trial, they would have affirmed the convictions.
While this Court in Taylor reversed a conviction resulting from a trial in which the judge had refused to give a requested instruction on the presumption of innocence, the Court did not there fashion a new rule of constitutional law requiring that such an instruction be given in every criminal case. Rather, the Court's opinion focused on the failure to give the instruction as it related to the overall fairness of the trial considered in its entirety.
The Court observed, for example, that the trial judge's instructions were "Spartan," 436 U.S., at 486, 98 S.Ct., at 1935, that the prosecutor improperly referred to the indictment and otherwise made remarks of dubious propriety, id., at 486-488, 98 S.Ct., at 1935-1936, and that the evidence against the defendant was weak. Id., at 488, 98 S.Ct., at 1936. "[T]he combination of the skeletal instructions, the possible harmful inferences from the references to the indictment, and the repeated suggestions that petitioner's status as a defendant tended to establish his guilt created a genuine danger that the jury would convict petitioner on the basis of those extraneous considerations, rather than on the evidence introduced at trial." Id., at 487-488, 98 S.Ct., at 1936.
It was under these circumstances that the Court held that the failure of the trial court to instruct the jury on the presumption of innocence denied the defendant due process of law. Indeed, the Court's holding was expressly limited to the facts: "We hold that on the facts of this case the trial court's refusal to give petitioner's requested instruction on the presumption of innocence resulted in a violation of his right to a fair trial as guaranteed by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment." Id., at 490, 98 S.Ct., at 1937 (emphasis added). This explicitly limited holding, and the Court's detailed discussion of the circumstances of the defendant's trial, belie any intention to create a rule that an instruction on the presumption of innocence is constitutionally required in every case.
In short, the failure to give a requested instruction on the presumption of innocence does not in and of itself violate the Constitution. Under Taylor, such a failure must be evaluated in light of the totality of the circumstances—including all the instructions to the jury, the arguments of counsel, whether the weight of the evidence was overwhelming, and other relevant factors—to determine whether the defendant received a constitutionally fair trial.
The Kentucky Supreme Court thus erred in interpreting Taylor to hold that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment absolutely requires that an instruction on the presumption of innocence must be given in every criminal case. The court's inquiry should have been directed to a determination of whether the failure to give such an instruction in the present case deprived the respondent of due process of law in light of the totality of the circumstances.
Accordingly, the judgment is reversed, and the case is remanded to the Supreme Court of Kentucky for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.
Mr. Justice STEWART, with whom Mr. Justice BRENNAN and Mr. Justice MARSHALL join, dissenting.
No principle is more firmly established in our system of criminal justice than the presumption of innocence that is accorded to the defendant in every criminal trial. In In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358, 90 S.Ct. 1068, 25 L.Ed.2d 368, the Court held that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt of a defendant's guilt. I believe that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment equally requires the presumption that a defendant is innocent until he has been proved guilty.
Almost 85 years ago, the Court said: "The principle that there is a presumption of innocence in favor of the accused is the undoubted law, axiomatic and elementary, and its enforcement lies at the foundation of the administration of our criminal law." Coffin v. United States, 156 U.S. 432, 453, 15 S.Ct. 394, 403, 39 L.Ed. 481. Only three years ago the Court reaffirmed that the presumption of innocence "is a basic component of a fair trial under our system of criminal justice." Estelle v. Williams, 425 U.S. 501, 503, 96 S.Ct. 1691, 1692, 48 L.Ed.2d 126. See also Cool v. United States, 409 U.S. 100, 104, 93 S.Ct. 354, 357, 34 L.Ed.2d 335. And a fair trial, after all, is what the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment above all else guarantees.
While an instruction on the presumption of innocence in one sense only serves to remind the jury that the prosecutor has the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt, it also has a separate and distinct function. Quite apart from considerations of the burden of proof, the presumption of innocence "cautions the jury to put away from their minds all the suspicion that arises from the arrest, the indictment, and the arraignment, and to reach their conclusion solely from the legal evidence adduced." 9 J. Wigmore, Evidence § 2511, p. 407 (3d ed. 1940). And because every defendant, regardless of the totality of the circumstances, is entitled to have his guilt determined only on the basis of the evidence properly introduced against him at trial, I would hold that an instruction on the presumption of innocence is constitutionally required in every case where a timely request has been made.1
There may be cases where the failure to give such an instruction could not have affected the outcome of the trial. If that conclusion can be drawn beyond a reasonable doubt, failure to give the instruction would be harmless error. Cf. Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 87 S.Ct. 824, 17 L.Ed.2d 705; Harrington v. California, 395 U.S. 250, 89 S.Ct. 1726, 23 L.Ed.2d 284. Since the Kentucky Supreme Court did not consider this possibility, I would vacate its judgment and remand the case to that court, but only for consideration of whether the failure to give the instruction in the circumstances presented here was harmless error.2
The respondent's lawyer made a timely request that the following instruction be given:
"The law presumes an accused to be innocent of crime. He begins the trial with a clean slate, with no evidence against him. And the law permits nothing but legal evidence presented before the jury to be considered in support of any charge against the accused. So the presumption of innocence alone is sufficient to acquit an accused unless the jury members are satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt of the accused's guilt from all the evidence in the case."
The wanton endangerment convictions were reversed on state-law grounds not relevant here.
At least one Member of the Court understood our opinion in Taylor v. Kentucky, 436 U.S. 478, 98 S.Ct. 1930, 56 L.Ed.2d 468 to hold precisely that. See id., at 490, 98 S.Ct., at 1937 (Brennan, J., concurring).
On remand, the Kentucky court would of course be free to hold as a matter of state law that it would not consider the question of harmless error in this context. See Watson v. Commonwealth, 579 S.W.2d 103 (Ky.).
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You are here: Home / Blog / Henry and Anne, True Love?
Henry and Anne, True Love?
June 27, 2020 by EllenFiodoir Leave a Comment
Love and marriage at Henry Tudor’s Court
Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived; this is the old rhyme that reminds budding historians about the tragic stories of the women who had the misfortune to marry Henry the Eighth. He was the English king notable for his careless attitude towards the easy disposal of unwanted wives.
Henry’s wives; Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleeves, Catherine Howard, Catherine Parr.
To Henry, the people of his court, including wives, were pawns in the game of monarchy, pieces to be moved around the board for his benefit and quickly discarded when they were of no further use to him. His courtship of, and marriage to, Anne Boleyn has always been the most notorious.
Henry’s father
Henry the Eighth’s whole motivation as king was that he was never secure on his throne. His father, Henry Tudor, snatched the crown from the rightful king, Richard the Third, at the Battle of Bosworth with the help of the Stanley’s, who had turned traitor.
He became Henry the Seventh at that battle; then married Elizabeth, daughter of Elizabeth Woodville and Edward the Fourth (brother of Richard the Third), thus uniting the houses of York and Lancaster, ending the Wars of the Roses and bringing peace to the country.
He always knew that as he had gained the throne through the treachery of the nobility he could lose it again just as easily. He lived his life in fear of plots, betrayals and rebellions and passed that fear onto his son.
Anne Boleyn’s downfall has often been attributed to the failure of her personal relationship with the king just as Catherine’s abandonment and divorce has been partly attributed to her increasing age and loss of physical attractiveness. In both cases the personal relationship was of no importance.
Henry always had his own agenda and the people around him were used for his own benefit. Henry was never ‘in love’ with Anne so he did not suddenly have her charged with treason and executed because he fell ‘out of love’ with her. If she had succeeded in giving birth to a son she may have survived a little longer but her early death was still inevitable.
Henry’s Early Life
Henry had not been brought up to be king. He was the second son, brought up among women, while his older brother Arthur, heir to the throne was Prince of Wales and had his own household from birth. As a fifteen year old Arthur was married to the beautiful, blond-haired Spanish princess, Catherine of Aragon, in the year 1501.
All that changed and Henry’s prospects changed dramatically when Arthur died suddenly five months after the wedding. Henry became heir to the throne, taking his brother’s place and becoming second in importance only to his father, the king.
Catherine stayed on at the English court after the death of her young husband, Arthur. She remained a dependant of Henry the Seventh for seven years. In April 1509 Henry the Seventh died and his son became Henry the Eighth, recognised and accepted by all. One of his first decisions on becoming king was to marry Catherine. This was a smart political move because Catherine was the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella.
They were the joint rulers of a powerful European dynasty whose grandson became Charles I of Spain also Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. This is that same Charles who was one of the major obstacles to Henry getting the Pope to agree to his divorce from his aunt Catherine.
Ferdinand and Isabella are also remembered now as the people from whom Christopher Columbus received finances. The colonies Columbus established, and conquests in the Americas in later decades, generated an influx of wealth into the new unified state of Spain, leading it to be the major power of Europe from the end of the sixteenth century until the mid-seventeenth century, and the largest empire until 1810.
Henry needed a dispensation from the Pope in order to marry Catherine because she was his brother’s widow. This was easily granted and they were married in June 1509. In marrying Catherine he was, in a sense, stepping into his brother Arthur’s shoes and bolstering his claim to be worthy to inherit the throne.
Henry never again married a woman who was superior to him by birth and pedigree as Catherine had been. He was eleven years old when his brother Arthur died and he became Prince of Wales and heir to the throne. He was just turning eighteen when his father died and he became king.
Catherine and Henry’s children
In January 1510 Catherine gave birth to a stillborn daughter. In all, she bore Henry six children, including three sons, but all of them died except one, their daughter Mary, born in 1516. In the eyes of his fellow countrymen Henry needed to show that he had the approval of God. He had to be able to present himself as God’s chosen one, God’s anointed king.
When he failed in his duty to have a son and heir, which was deemed essential for the peace of the kingdom, it looked as though Henry’s claim to the throne was not sanctioned by God and was weak and invalid. No one wanted a return to the Wars of the Roses. Henry needed a scapegoat and so turned on the person nearest to him, his loyal wife Catherine.
Henry’s Obsession
Seemingly due to his obsession with and devotion to Anne, Henry indulged in some extreme behaviour. He put aside his loyal wife, abandoned Catholicism and the Pope, started the Church of England, closed the monasteries and took their property and had many good and holy people horribly executed.
How and why then did he so suddenly and vindictively turn against her? Her fall has been attributed to her failure to produce a son. After all the drama of the divorce and marriage she gave birth to a daughter, Elizabeth, at Greenwich in September 1533.
Thomas Cromwell and others are credited with a complicated conspiracy to turn the king against her and invent the most astonishing list of crimes with which to accuse her. Even Anne in her speech at her execution seems to absolve Henry of all blame, but as always the decision lies entirely with Henry.
Catherine’s Death, Anne’s Downfall
When Catherine died on 7th January 1536 Henry and Anne danced and celebrated. Anne was pregnant again and would surely have a son this time so her position must finally be secure. In fact, the opposite was true; Anne only had five months left to live. She would be arrested on 2nd May 1536 and executed on 19th May. Henry needed to draw a line under the whole miserable business of ‘saintly Queen Catherine’ and ‘wicked Queen Anne’ and make a fresh start. He needed a scapegoat again.
The separation from Rome and the dissolution of the monasteries was a terrible upheaval for the country. The people depended so much on the monasteries for their spiritual welfare, their social welfare in times of need, their medical treatment, their education; their social and spiritual sustenance. The Reformation in England was imposed from the top. Protestantism was a foreign import and public resistance persisted until the 1570s.
Henry gave the job of organising Anne’s downfall to his faithful servant, Thomas Cromwell. The charges against her had to be so outrageous and even include her own brother so that the common people, the nobility and the courts of Europe would know that they were exaggerated. This would reduce the insult to the king’s manliness which would result from the charge of adultery against the queen. It was essential that she was charged with adultery because this guaranteed the sentence of death which the king was determined on.
These charges, including incest with her brother,also implied witchcraft as witches were believed to be promiscuous. If Anne were indeed believed to be a witch this further reduced the king’s responsibility for this most unsuitable marriage and all of its unfortunate consequences. Anne was his excuse for turning against Catherine and the Church. She was also his excuse, with the help of Tudor propaganda for the looting of the monasteries and the magnificent cathedrals.
Marriage in Tudor Times
In Tudor times marriage among the nobility was not dependant on romantic love but was a civil contract between two people, blessed by the church and involving their two families. The bride and groom would hardly know each other and would certainly never spend any time alone together because of the absolute necessity of preserving the bride’s virginity until the wedding night when the successful consummation of the marriage was a very important, in fact essential part of the contract.
This was the case in Catherine and Arthur’s marriage when the question of consummation became all-important; because the marriage had not been consummated they were not legally married and Catherine was therefore still an unmarried virgin and free to marry Henry. Henry accused her of lying when he wanted to end the marriage.
The necessity of the bride’s virginity was ultimately about land and property. A man must be absolutely sure that his title, land and property will be inherited by his son and there can be no doubt as to the paternity of his heir.
The King’s Mistress
It was understood of course, that the king would have a mistress, certainly as soon as the queen became pregnant. Tudor doctors believed that sex during pregnancy to be damaging to the baby and was to be avoided. A royal baby and potential heir was all-important and no risks could be taken.
The king taking a mistress was actually a positive sign that the queen must be pregnant. A wise queen did not complain. There was never the slightest possibility of the king divorcing the queen and marrying one of these women. The young woman would have a suitable marriage arranged for her when the king had no more need of her.
It was perfectly acceptable for the king to bring his illegitimate son to court and acknowledge him. Henry Fitzroy, the king’s fine handsome son by his mistress, Bessie Blount, was brought to court and given titles and lands.
Whilst it was accepted for the king to have a mistress, expected even, it was life-threatening for the queen to be even suspected of having a lover. The son she gives birth to will inherit the throne. There must be no question as to his paternity.
Allowing another man’s son to inherit would be treason and punishable by death. In the hothouse of the Tudor court, constantly surrounded by people it would have been impossible for the queen to stray. Anyone who knew would have to tell or be guilty of deceit and equally at risk of the ultimate punishment.
Ladies-in-Waiting
The predatory men at the Tudor court would have been in constant competition for the favours of the young ladies-in-waiting, the king of course, being the top predator. As time passed it would become more and more important for him to maintain this status.
The ‘ English rose’ type of girl with her fair skin and fair hair, as Catherine had been, was the ideal of female beauty most admired at the time. When Anne arrived at court with her self-confidence, her olive skin and dark hair and eyes, her French fashions and her French hood she must have created quite a stir.
Anne and her older sister Mary had spent their teenage years at the French court as ladies-in-waiting. Mary Boleyn returned to England first while Anne stayed on in France. Mary went to the English court as one of the ladies-in-waiting to Queen Catherine while her family arranged her marriage but this was delayed when she caught the eye of the king and he chose her as his mistress.
It is unclear how much choice these young women would have had in this situation. Having been selected by the king a young woman was unlikely to turn him down – until Anne of course. If a girl decided to be brave and refuse the king it might make life difficult for her family as well as herself. They would fall out of favour but if she did co-operate then her family could benefit in the form of influence, land and property.
Anne Boleyn at Court
Anne returned to England in 1522 at the age of 22 and went to the Tudor court as lady-in-waiting to Queen Catherine while her marriage was arranged. Two of her potential marriage contracts did not proceed, one with the heir of Ormonde and one with Henry Percy. Was this because the king was interested in her? Did this give Anne the courage and determination to refuse to become his mistress and insist on becoming his wife? Her own marriage prospects were becoming limited as time passed. She would have known that the king had already had Arthur and Catherine’s marriage annulled so it should be possible for him to have another marriage annulled.
To Henry, Anne, or any other young woman of the court was a potential trophy to flaunt his superiority over the other men. Just as in any other courtly pastime; jousting or hunting, poetry or dancing, Henry always had to be the top, even more so as time went on and his rivals were younger. The fact that he had taken her older sister as his mistress would have made Anne more tempting; the conquest of two sisters would have been even more of a triumph. Henry would have professed undying love, have promised anything to achieve this and having once made clear his intentions he could not back down and be seen as a fat, middle-aged failure, a bit of a joke.
Would Anne Boleyn, a young woman in her early twenties, have found fat, middle-aged Henry Tudor all that attractive? If she did find him utterly irresistible why did she make him wait seven years? In demanding marriage, she was copying the example of Elizabeth Woodville, Queen to Edward the Fourth and maternal grandmother to Henry the Eighth, who was said to have told King Edward she would only be his wife, not his mistress.
Power and Wealth
It may have been Anne who planted the seed of the idea in Henry’s mind that in her he could have a new, young wife who would give him a healthy son and so consolidate his power. It was Henry who decided that she would not be his mistress and they would not have a sexual relationship until they were married, or as it happened, nearly married. It was essential that his next son was his legitimate heir.
Henry Fitzroy
When he looked at his handsome son, Henry Fitzroy, he must have been enraged to know that he could not name him as the next Tudor king. It was Henry who persisted against all reason to break with Rome, divorce his wife, disinherit his daughter and marry Anne. She suited his purposes at the time and when she no longer suited he got rid of her. He had written her romantic letters because Henry, although middle-aged at the time wanted to appear as a young, lusty king.
Everyone and everything in the country ultimately belonged to the king and he had absolute power. It must have galled him to see that the church was beyond his power and even the king had to depend on the church to mediate between himself and God.
Thomas Cromwell may have planted the idea in Henry’s mind of getting rid of the monasteries and claiming their property. They had been so long established in the country and were so much a part of people’s everyday lives it must have been a very radical idea. It was Henry who broke with Rome, killed the monks, sold their land and property, became immensely rich and so consolidated his power. He invented the Act of Supremacy knowing as he did that they would never be able to swear to it.
Henry Moves On
Henry and Anne were married for three years, from January 1533 until May 1536. They had one healthy child, a daughter, born in September 1533. Henry gave her his mother and grandmother’s name, Elizabeth, to bolster again his claim to the throne by reminding everyone that his family represented the unity of the houses of York and Lancaster and the promise of peace.
Before Anne was even arrested Henry had already chosen a new younger wife, Jane Seymour, to replace her. The wedding which took place eleven days after Anne’s execution had to proceed with the same extreme haste as Anne’s arrest and execution.
He convinced himself that he had been deceived in marrying Catherine; he had been bewitched in marrying Anne. Now, at last, in Jane he had found a true wife who proved his kingliness by immediately becoming pregnant and bearing him a son, thus finally cementing his position as God’s chosen, anointed king ruling his kingdom by divine right.
As he grew older and naturally began to lose his great physical strength and athleticism Henry became more insecure, angry, frightened and dangerous. The killings increased and he turned on everyone he had ever trusted.
Henry VIII by Hans Holbein
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Our Space, Our Place, Our Comfort
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Coalition "desire to finally address problems the country faces"
The three coalition parties have now reached an agreement and are even able to present a complete programme for the next few years.
(ADW) The three coalition parties have now reached an agreement and are even able to present a complete programme for the next few years.
Xavier Bettel stated after a long day of negotiations that the three partners have drawn up a future coalition programme and agreed on the distribution of different “jurisdictions”.
The names of future ministers, and maybe even the secretaries of state, will not be revealed until early next week.
After four weeks and clocking up about 180 hours of negotiations, the DP, LSAP and Déi Gréng have completed their work in order to present a coalition programme. "There was no rivalry but a common desire to finally address problems the country faces," stated Xavier Bettel before adding, "on Friday, we will present to the public a programme that is more concrete".
The focus will be on the consolidation of public finances. "The goal is to spend 1.5 billion euros less until 2015. Our goal must be better politics with less money", concluded Bettel.
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March 21, 2018 mullinse
Phobias are plaguing the population: A look into the lives of those who have them
Hannah Johnson ’18
Imagine you are in an airplane, 30,000 feet in the air. How do you feel? Are you nervous? Nauseous? Apprehensive? Overwhelmed? Some people don’t want the thrill of the ride to ever end. Others fidget in their seats uncontrollably, wanting nothing more than to be back on the ground where they feel secure. For those who would rather drive through the night than fly, they may have what is considered a phobia.
According to an article from Healthline called “Phobias,” 19 million Americans experience phobias that govern their day to day activities. That is 19 million people in this country who walk around on a daily basis affected by certain objects, animals, people, or situations that produce fear, anxiety, and stress.
These fears, or phobias, although to some, may seem illogical or extreme, are nightmares for those who experience them.
One of the biggest fears, that is part of the process of life, is the fear of death. In fact, 68 percent of Americans are afraid of dying, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Although this one is most prominent, there are many others that may go unnoticed or are not as common. Some of those phobias plague students right here at South Lyon High School.
For freshman Ava Mac, it’s germaphobia, or, the fear of germs. Although her fear hit its peak in middle school, it still affects her today.
She explained that her fear stems from “the horror stories of illnesses and diseases.”
The freshman recalled her middle school experiences when she said, “I used to carry around tons of hand sanitizer everywhere I’d go… I would wash my hands so much that my skin would be raw and red.”
The second Mac would touch something she considered “weird,” she would immediately go and wash her hands.
While germs get Mac, spiders have gotten senior Jennifer Miller since elementary school.
Miller’s arachnophobia became real when she “learned that when you’re asleep, if your mouth is open, [spiders] crawl in your mouth.”
While Miller does enjoy the outdoors, she does not like to be in the presence of a spider. Everything is alright unless she actually sees the spider. If this happens, she relocates.
Over the years, Miller has been able to handle these situations more calmly. She can now look at spiders and slowly move away instead of screaming at the sight of one.
Another senior Madeline Taylor avoids clowns under all circumstances.
Like Miller, Taylor has had her phobia, coulrophobia, since elementary school.
Taylor can put her finger on the origin of her fear. “[Clowns are] basically made for children, but there’s something…beneath the surface that’s just so creepy about them,” Taylor said. She went on to note that the stories about serial killers dressed as clowns add to her phobia.
For fellow senior Hannah Elandt, tight spaces are a definite no go.
Elandt knows what to expect when faced with small spaces. “I can’t breathe, and I get sweaty, and I shake,” Elandt said.
Her fear becomes especially prevalent during long car rides. “Ever since I was little, [I’ve hated] sitting in the middle [seat] in a car… I can’t do it because I don’t like people being so close to me and touching me,” the senior said. Elandt always dashes for a window seat when she knows she will be on the road for a while.
Even though these fears greatly influence these students’ lives, they are able to offer advice for those going through the same thing.
For germaphobes, Mac suggests thinking about how much it is really necessary to wash your hands to avoid damaging your skin.
For arachnophobes, Miller believes it’s crucial to not let the spider determine your actions.
For coulrophobes, Taylor proposes staying out of any situations that would bring about the fear.
For claustrophobes, Elandt advises taking deep breaths and not thinking about what is happening when in a small space.
While these students offer support for others, they receive varying levels of support themselves.
Miller said she feels supported by her mother, who shares the same fear. Taylor added that others see where she is coming from. Elandt believes others support her as well.
On the contrary, Mac said that her friends and family would not understand her when they would see her trying to protect herself from germs. She explained that people would label her as a ‘germaphobe’ whenever they saw her with her hand sanitizer. Her family would get after her whenever she would wash her hands.
Phobias are prevalent in our world, whether we realize it or not. It is important that we come alongside those who have them and show them that we understand them.
People all over the world have disabilities, illnesses, and fears that are a part of their daily lives. These do not take away from their humanity, and they should not be reasons to look down on them. Kindness and understanding are the best things we can give to people dealing with these challenges. We are all the same inside, and we must use our differences to unite us, not divide us.
Photo courtesy of http://www.hypnotherapykent.co.uk
Inside the life
Previous How to find your own voice: South Lyon High School students can go to a safe place to socialize
Next Break up Playlist
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Man gets 40 to life for California church shooting
A California man who shot two people inside a church last year has been sentenced to 40 years to life in prison.
MARTINEZ, Calif. – A California man who shot two people inside a church last year has been sentenced to 40 years to life in prison.
Despite pleas from the family of 20-year-old Marcel Buggs for leniency, a judge handed down the sentence Friday during an emotional hearing.
Buggs of Richmond was convicted in July of three counts of attempted murder, commercial burglary and gang charges for a Valentine's Day 2010 shooting at New Gethsemane Church of God in Christ in Richmond.
During the trial, prosecutors told jurors that Buggs shot and wounded two brothers inside the church but had intended to hit the brothers' older sibling, who was in a rival gang.
The Contra Costa Times (http://bit.ly/tHFYZ9 ) reports that during Friday's sentencing, Buggs sobbed as his mother, Stacey Porter, told the judge that her son suffered from mental illness.
Information from: Contra Costa Times, http://www.contracostatimes.com
End of Minn. shutdown brings relief, frustration
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U.S. Cities Spend at Least $13M on Occupy Protests
Buffett invests $5 billion in Bank of America
Materials stocks fall on fear of Chinese rate hike
LinkedIn shines light on re-emergence of big IPOs
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Full speed ahead at Elliott Hall Medical Centre
Works are well underway at the Elliott Hall Medical Centre in Pinner, Middlesex to provide a raft of changes to the facilities to accommodate the continued growth of the practice. The scheme, funded in part by the NHS Estates and Technology Transformation Fund, will see the vibrant practice benefit from a multi-phase scheme incorporating both a major extension, space-planning and internal re-modelling to create a range of new facilities.
The first phase has seen the construction of a new two-storey extension, expanding the existing ground floor waiting room and the practice’s training facilities located on the first floor. Subsequent phases have seen the conversion of the existing loft space to centralise the administrative function, which has then allowed a third phase to convert the first floor in to a solely clinical area with three new consulting rooms. Due to the nature of the building, which has been developed over the past twenty-five years, this phase has also seen the provision of a fully DDA-compliant access way throughout the first floor to assist patients. The final phase which is now well underway will see the conversion of the former ground-floor waiting area in to two further consulting rooms.
The scheme represents a diverse project incorporating both the extension and space-planning/re-modelling throughout the building. Elliott Hall Medical Centre is a fast-growing and popular practice, the works have been implemented to enable the practice to continue its growth and development within the Pinner area, as well as improving the patient experience when visiting. As a medical facility, all works have been specified and delivered to the standards set out within the NHS’s Health Technical Memoranda (HTM).
This project sees a keen return to the Practice for Munday + Cramer who successfully delivered an earlier refurbishment and churn scheme for Elliott Hall.
Tagged: Architecture Extension GP Healthcare Sector HTMs Medical Sector Middlesex NHS Practice Space Planning
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Microsoft Steers OOXML Into Apache POI Project
Microsoft yesterday disclosed some collaborative efforts that will help Java applications read Microsoft Office file formats. The company is working with Sourcesense, a European open source systems integrator, on the Apache POI project.
The project was established by the open source Apache Software Foundation to create Java libraries that can read the various binary file formats used in Microsoft Office applications. Microsoft and Sourcesense are "contributing to a new version of Apache POI," according to an announcement issued by Microsoft.
In addition, Microsoft donated code to the Apache Software Foundation, according to Sam Ramji, Microsoft's senior director of platform technology strategy -- although exactly what code was donated wasn't specified in Microsoft's news release.
The news comes not long after another open source milestone for Microsoft, of sorts, when Ramji announced Microsoft's work with the Eclipse Foundation to enable Eclipse tools support for Microsoft's Windows Presentation Foundation.
Microsoft's collaboration with Sourcesense aims to get Apache POI project support for the Ecma Office Open XML File Formats, which is the Ecma designation for the file formats used in Microsoft Office 2007 applications, such as Excel, PowerPoint and Word. The standard, also known as Office Open XML (OOXML), has been ratified as Ecma 376, but it was voted down as an ISO/IEC open international standard in September of last year.
The Apache POI project is working on application programming interfaces (APIs) that can work with Microsoft's OLE2 Compound Document formats (.doc, .ppt and .xls).
"POI" apparently stands for "Poor Obfuscation Implementation," according to a Wikipedia definition, because the Microsoft Office file formats were deemed to be "obfuscated" but not enough to prevent the reverse engineering of them.
The Apache Foundation plans to release Apache POI support for OOXML sometime during the second quarter of 2008, according to Microsoft's release.
The OOXML file format standard is not the only one out there. The Open Document Format, originally developed by Sun Microsystems, has already been published as an open ISO/IEC international standard. ODF is used in alternative office productivity suites such as OpenOffice.org.
Some in the open source communities cried foul as Microsoft's OOXML was fast-tracked in ISO/IEC. However, Microsoft has slowly been gaining new momentum. The U.S. government signaled its support for modified OOXML standards. Microsoft Office Program Manager Brian Jones points to recent "Yes" decisions for OOXML as an ISO standard by the Czech Republic and Germany in his blog.
Final ISO/IEC international votes on the proposed OOXML standard will be tallied on March 29.
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Postnatal depression linked to depression in offspring until age 16
by Elsevier
Fortunately, postnatal depression often resolves itself in the weeks following childbirth. But for mothers with more profound or prolonged postnatal depression the risk of subsequent development of depression in their children is strong. A recent study by Lynne Murray and colleagues published in the May 2011 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP) is the first to demonstrate that the effects of maternal depression on the likelihood of the child to develop depression may begin as early as infancy.
In the article titled "Maternal Postnatal Depression and the Development of Depression in Offspring Up to 16 Years of Age," Dr. Murray and her British colleagues report on 100 mothers (ranging from 18 to 42 years of age), 58 with postpartum depression, and the likelihood of their children to development depression over a 16 year period.¹ The authors identified first time mothers with depression at 2 months postpartum, along with a group of non-depressed women, and evaluated the mothers and their children at 18 months, and 5, 8, 13, and 16 years of age.
Maternal depression was assessed using the SPI at recruitment, the Schedule for Affective Disorder and Schizophrenia, and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV. At each assessment, marital conflict was assessed using a combination of interview and questionnaire tools. At 18 months, infant attachment was assessed, using a standardized observational measure of infant responses to maternal separation and reunion in an unfamiliar environment, known as Ainsworth's Strange Situation Procedure. At 5 and 8 years, trained researchers rated the children on emotional and behavioural responses to assess their ego resilience. At 16 years, diagnostic interviews were conducted by a clinical researcher blind to maternal state using the Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia, Present and Lifetime Version (KSADs).
Murray and colleagues discovered that children of postnatally depressed mothers were at substantially increased risk for depression. In fact, offspring's rate of depression by age 16 was more than 40%, with the average age of first onset of depression at age 14. Interestingly, the researchers found that some years before the onset of depression, an associated impairment of the children's attachment to their mother during infancy. In addition, lower child ego resilience, measured at years 5 and 8, were associated with the increased risk of depression. Marital conflict and further maternal depression, extending beyond the postnatal period, were significantly associated with offspring lifetime depression.
In a related editorial in the same issue of the Journal, Dr. David Reiss observes, "The striking findings from Murray et al. emphasize the impact of maternal depression on the marital process and how important this process in the evolution of the child's depression.²
The researchers conclude, "The substantially raised risk for depression among offspring of postnatally depressed mothers underlines the importance of screening for PND and of delivering early interventions."
Depression in teenage years linked to maternal postnatal depression
More information: References
1. Murray L, Arteche A, Fearon P, Halligan S, Goodyer I, Cooper P. Maternal Postnatal Depression and the Development of Depression in Offspring Up to 16 Years of Age. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 2011;50(5):460– 470.
2. Reiss D. Parents and Children: Linked by Psychopathology but Not by Clinical Care. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 2011; 50(5):431-434.
Provided by Elsevier
Citation: Postnatal depression linked to depression in offspring until age 16 (2011, June 16) retrieved 19 January 2021 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-postnatal-depression-linked-offspring-age.html
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The aging brain is more malleable than previously believed
by The Kavli Foundation
Neuroscientists are finding that, as we get older, our aging brains are proving surprisingly malleable, and in ways not previously anticipated. But there are limitations.
There is growing evidence that, beyond what was previously believed, the adult human brain is remarkably malleable and capable of new feats -- even in the last decades of life.
In fact, new experiences can trigger major physical changes in the brain within just a few days, and certain conditions can accelerate this physical, chemical and functional remodeling of the brain.
"We used to think that the brain was completely formed by development and its basic structure didn't change much in adults, but as research went on we discovered that wasn't true, at least in the cerebral cortex," explains Randy Bruno, a member of the Kavli Institute for Brain Science at Columbia University. "We now know that an underlying portion of the brain called the thalamus, which feeds the cortex information from our senses, is also remarkably plastic."
Change can also happen quickly. Using new research techniques on rats, Bruno's lab has found that the neuronal connections bridging the thalamus to the cortex are not only massively plastic, but they grow and retract rather rapidly in only a few days in response to different sensations. "The rapidity of this growth is really striking—it happens within just three days, which is something nobody in the past thought was possible. Those kinds of rapid physical changes also probably occur in other parts of the brain as well."
In fact, certain conditions accelerate this physical, chemical and functional remodeling of the brain. Said Michael Merzenich, Emeritus Professor at the Keck Center for Integrative Neurosciences at the University of California at San Francisco, and Director and founder of the Brain Plasticity Institute, "In our experiments in adult rats, changes only occurred when the animal was attentive within a rewarded learning environment. When we train the animals to improve their behavioral capabilities under near-optimal contextual conditions, we can drive easily recordable functional and physical changes in the cerebral cortex within a day or two. By contrast, little or no change is induced by the passive exposure of an animal to many days of stimulation with thousands of the same stimuli applied in training."
At the same time, there are limitations that come with age. "There is no evidence that there is any part of the adult brain that is not plastic," said Randy Nudo, Director of the Landon Center on Aging and Professor in the Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology at the University of Kansas. "But studies indicate that some aspects of musical training, such as the ability to perceive temporal patterns, require the brain to be trained during early developmental periods when its primed for certain types of stimuli. For other aspects of musical development, such as the ability to perceive and repeat a sequence of tones, it's irrelevant whether you've had that experience and training early in life."
All of this matters when considering the relationship between age and brain developmental disorders such as autism, Down's syndrome, and dyslexia. "The brain is plastic for life," said Merzenich. "The fundamental thing that determines how much [persons with brain disorders] will improve is the level of their initial impairment, but not their age."
More information: The complete story is available at: www.kavlifoundation.org/scienc … tastic-plastic-brain
Provided by The Kavli Foundation
Persistent sensory experience is good for aging brain
New adult brain cells may be central to lifelong learning
Brain changes may hamper decision-Making in old age
Researchers show reduced ability of the aging brain to respond to experience
Picower research finds unexpected activity in visual cortex
Disinhibition plus instruction improve brain plasticity
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Home Uncategorized Coronavirus in Russia: The Latest News | April 1
Coronavirus in Russia: The Latest News | April 1
As the new coronavirus that has killed more than 42,000 people worldwide continues to spread, Russia has stepped up its measures to tackle the pandemic and prevent its spread within the country.
There have been 2,777 cases of coronavirus infections reported in Russia so far and 24 deaths.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Russia as of April 1. MT
April 1: 3 things you need to know today
Russia confirmed 440 new coronavirus infections on Wednesday, bringing the country’s official number of cases up to 2,777.
Moscow has enacted a citywide quarantine from Monday, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said as the city’s number of coronavirus cases surpassed 1,000 over the weekend.
Moscow residents will only be allowed to leave their homes to seek emergency medical care, shop for food or medicine, go to work, walk pets or take out the garbage. The self-isolation order will apply to all residents regardless of age.
Russian lawmakers on Tuesday swiftly passed legislation imposing severe punishment — including up to five years in prison — for people convicted of spreading false information about the coronavirus.
The proposals are part of a package of draft legislation that also aims to impose tough punishment — including up to seven years in prison — for people breaking coronavirus quarantine rules.
More updates:
— Moscow authorities have developed a QR code system to allow residents to leave their homes as well as a smartphone app to monitor coronavirus patients’ movement in self-isolation, the city’s IT chief said Wednesday after tech experts raised privacy questions.
— President Vladimir Putin is now practicing social distancing with everyone and doesn’t shake hands, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. He has also started holding meetings remotely.
— A nurse at a police hospital in the Lipetsk region has potentially infected eight of her colleagues with the coronavirus after she returned to work with symptoms instead of self-isolating, the Kommersant business daily reported. Lipetsk region governor Igor Artamonov condemned what he said was “criminal negligence” in a statement.
— Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport, the capital’s main transport hub, has closed a third terminal due to reduced air traffic caused by the coronavirus, leaving three terminals open.
— Several regions of Russia have imposed limits on alcohol sales during their self-isolation regimes. Some cities in Siberia’s republic of Sakha, including Yakutsk, have banned the sale of alcohol altogether.
— Russia’s consumer protection watchdog has ordered quotas on the number of Russians being returned from abroad per day, the Kommersant business daily reported, a move that the Foreign Ministry said “immediately complicated, and in some places paralyzed, the process of returning” the approximately 35,000 Russians seeking to return.
— Russia confirmed 500 new coronavirus infections, bringing the country’s official number of cases up to 2,337 and marking its sevent consecutive one-day record in new cases.
— Denis Protsenko, the head doctor at the infectious diseases hospital treating Moscow’s coronavirus patients, has tested positive with the virus, the state-run Rossia 24 television station reported. He was photographed shaking hands with President Vladimir Putin six days ago.
— A Russian plane carrying medical equipment and protective gear has departed for the coronavirus-hit United States. U.S. President Donald Trump had said earlier that Russia sent a “very, very large planeload” of medical aid. “Trump accepted this humanitarian aid with gratitude,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday.
— The Justice Ministry has proposed suspending registrations of marriage and divorce in Russia until at least June 1 in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
— Russia’s second-largest city St. Petersburg announced stay-at-home orders for their residents following Moscow’s quarantine.
— Moscow’s self-isolation order will be active through April 14, the city’s coronavirus crisis center said. It later deleted the statement from its Telegram channel.
— In televised comments on state television, President Vladimir Putin said decisive measures by Russia had helped win it time in its battle to contain the coronavirus and to prevent an explosive growth in cases, but that it was vital authorities now used that time effectively.
— Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin asked Russia’s regional governors to consider imposing the same restrictions on movement to halt the spread of the coronavirus that have been imposed in Moscow, the state-run RIA news agency reported.
— The makeshift memorial to opposition politician Boris Nemtsov at the site near the Kremlin where he was gunned down in 2015 has been abandoned for the first time since his death due to Moscow’s stay-at-home order, the activists who had maintained a 24/7 watch at the memorial said.
— Several regions of Russia have enacted region-wide stay-at-home orders for residents, following suit with Moscow’s quarantine:
Russian regions that have enacted full self-isolation orders as of April 1. Regions in light red have enacted partial self-isolation regimes. MT
— Russia confirmed 270 new coronavirus infections on Sunday, bringing the country’s official number of cases up to 1,534 and marking another record one-day increase.
— Russian Orthodox Church head Patriarch Kirill has called on believers to avoid churches as the coronavirus is spreading across Russia. Earlier, the Church resisted calls to close its doors despite the Moscow mayor’s advice to the public to avoid church services.
— According to official statistics, 40% of all the patients that are using artificial ventilation are under 40 years old and 15% of seriously ill patients in Moscow are under 40 years old.
— Russia confirmed 228 new coronavirus infections, bringing the country’s official number of cases up to 1,264.
— Russia will close its borders starting March 30 in a bid to curb the spread of the coronavirus, a government order said. The measure will come into force at all vehicle, rail and pedestrian checkpoints, and apply to Russia‘s maritime borders.
— Russian anti-doping agency RUSADA said it was temporarily halting all testing in response to government measures aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus.
— Moscow’s famed Bolshoi Theatre has begun streaming some of its most notable past performances online after being forced to shut its doors to the public as a result of tough new restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus.
As Russia faces a deadly global epidemic, a constitutional change that could keep the president in power for life and a warming climate, the need for free, independent and objective coverage of Russia has never been greater.
The Moscow Times is at the forefront of this coverage — and we need your support to do it.
Please donate today and support the only independent, English-language news outlet reporting within Russia. Your contribution helps ensure our reporting is free and open to all!
— Russia confirmed 196 new coronavirus infections, bringing the country’s official number of cases up to 1,036 and marking the largest one-day increase in cases so far. It also said one person had died in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of deaths to four.
— Russia will suspend all regular and charter flights to other countries starting today.
— President Vladimir Putin has declared that the week from March 28 to April 5 will be a nationwide paid holiday to encourage Russians to stay home and slow the spread of the virus. All restaurants and cafes have been ordered to close during this time with the exception of delivery services.
— Russia is urging its citizens to refrain from traveling, with the exception of essential trips, asking people to stay at home in an effort to stop the spread of coronavrius, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said. Mishustin said tough measures were needed, adding that the more stringent changes in Moscow should be extended to other regions of the country.
— Russia will close all resorts, sanatoriums and children’s camps until June 1 in an effort to slow the spread of the virus. Regional authorities have been advised to tell their residents to avoid traveling.
— The Kremlin confirmed that a member of the presidential administration has tested positive for coronavirus. According to spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the infected person had no contact with Putin.
— A Russian citizen infected with coronavirus has died in a hospital in Cuba.
— The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and its partners have produced 500,000 coronavirus test kits so far, but are planning to soon ramp up production to 2.5 million kits a week, Kirill Dmitriev, RDIF’s head, told Reuters in a phone interview.
— Russia confirmed 182 new coronavirus infections, bringing the country’s official number of cases up to 840.
— Russia’s coronavirus situation could be resolved in less than three months, President Vladimir Putin told a meeting with members of the business community.
— Putin called for sanctions relief during the coronavirus pandemic, telling G20 leaders it was a matter “of life and death.”
— Russia will suspend all regular and charter flights to other countries starting March 27, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin ordered.
— All federal government employees will switch to remote work starting March 27, Mishustin’s order said.
— Moscow will close all shops except for pharmacies and grocery stores, the city’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. This measure, which also includes the closure of restaurants, cafes and bars, will last from March 28 until April 5, a period that President Vladimir Putin declared a paid holiday.
— St. Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov has ordered the city’s restaurants, cafes, bars and non-essential shops to close for the same period. People will also be barred from visiting parks or religious buildings during this time.
— The popular southern Russian resort city of Sochi has asked Muscovites to stay away during the week-long nationwide holiday.
— Next week, Sberbank and VTB with backing from the Central Bank will launch a pilot business loan program that offers six-month, 0% interest loans to businesses to help them pay employee salaries during the coronavirus crisis.
— A staffer for the Russian government’s chief of staff has tested positive for coronavirus, the Meduza news website reported.
— Russia has loosened its ban on foreigners entering the country to allow the spouses and immediate relatives of Russian citizens to enter.
— Russia’s Rosatom is continuing the construction of nuclear stations abroad despite the global coronavirus outbreak, the state atomic agency’s head Alexei Likhachev said.
— Russia’s April 22 public vote on a package of constitutional amendments will be postponed until after the coronavirus outbreak is under control, President Vladimir Putin said in an address to the nation. He added that next week would be a nationwide paid holiday to encourage Russians to stay home and slow the spread of the virus.
— Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced that libraries, theaters, recreational centers and nightclubs will be ordered to close in an effort to stop the spread of coronavirus.
— “Half of the people who arrived [in Russia] from abroad passed through Moscow. A suitcase of viruses was brought from Courchevel,” Sobyanin said in a television interview, referring to a French ski resort.
— Russia has closed all sporting and cultural events and most large gatherings in an effort to halt the spread of coronavirus. Starting Thursday, Moscow residents aged 65 and older will be ordered to self-isolate at home.
— The Russian Embassy in the United States advised Russian citizens to return home due to the possibility that the U.S. could close all its airports to slow the spread of coronavirus there.
— The Russian government has told the country’s regions to close nightclubs and cinemas to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
— The Moscow health department said it will allow patients with mild cases of coronavirus to recover at home rather than in the hospital.
— Putin has ordered the Russian army to carry out drills designed to increase its readiness to fight the coronavirus if necessary, the Defense Ministry said.
— Russia confirmed 57 new coronavirus infections, bringing the country’s official number of cases up to 495.
— Russia is facing a “serious situation” as the coronavirus spreads, Moscow’s mayor told President Vladimir Putin, adding that “the real number of those who are sick is much greater” than official numbers indicate.
— Putin visited the hospital in Moscow’s Kommunarka suburb where patients with coronavirus are being treated, wearing a special protective suit during the visit. He also took a moment to shake the hand of the hospital’s head doctor.
Alexei Druzhinin / POOL / TASS
— Moscow hospitals will receive up to 200,000 rubles ($2,500) per coronavirus patient from the city’s health insurance fund to help cover the cost of their treatments.
— A 69-year-old woman suspected of being infected with coronavirus has died in Moscow’s Infectious Diseases Hospital No. 1, the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper reported. She had been hospitalized after her daughter returned from Portugal. The Moscow health department later said she died from terminal cancer and tested negative for coronavirus.
— The republic of Chechnya has become the first Russian region to close all restaurants, cafes and “crowded places” after it registered its first three coronavirus infections, the region’s leader Ramzan Kadyrov announced. He said some restaurants popular with tourists would be allowed to stay open.
— Aeroflot said it will reduce its flights to Vietnam, Thailand, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Cuba starting March 28 due to the coronavirus.
— Volkswagen will suspend its car production in Russia over a supply shortage caused by the coronavirus outbreak in Europe, Volkswagen Group Rus said. Production will be stopped from March 30 to April 10 at its car plant in Kaluga and assembly line in Nizhny Novgorod.
— Russia confirmed 71 new coronavirus infections on Monday, bringing the country’s official number of cases up to 438.
— Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has ordered all residents over 65 to self-isolate at home starting Thursday, saying each elderly citizen would receive a total of 4,000 rubles ($50) in exchange for following the order.
— The Kremlin later said that Sobyanin’s order does not apply to Putin, who is 67.
— Moscow announced it has finished converting a seventh hospital building to treat coronavirus patients. Sobyanin said the city has the capacity to more than double this count if needed.
— Moscow is changing the way it counts its coronavirus cases. Patients will now be considered positive upon a single positive test rather than having samples sent to a lab Novosibirsk, Siberia for further verification.
— The head of infectious diseases in the Stavropol region has been indicted after she returned to work with coronavirus symptoms after vacationing in Spain and later tested positive.
— Alexander Chepurnov, a virologist at the Russian Academy of Sciences, told state television that Russia is three weeks behind Italy in terms of coronavirus infections and that it can expect to see a similar spike in cases as those seen across Europe.
— Some of Russia’s biggest steel producers have suspended alcohol tests for employees because of the coronavirus outbreak, replacing the breathalyzer tests with “alternative procedures with a lower risk of spreading infection.”
— The Kremlin said that medical assistance Russia was providing to Italy to help it battle the coronavirus was not part of an attempt to get Rome help lift EU sanctions on Moscow.
— Russia confirmed 61 new cases of coronavirus, bringing its official count to 367.
— The Russian military will start sending medical help to Italy from Sunday in order to help it battle the new coronavirus after receiving an order from President Vladimir Putin, Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement.
— Moscow authorities again ruled out the possibility of a citywide lockdown. Meanwhile, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the city’s metro will not close down.
— The Tokyo 2020 Olympics should be postponed by a year because coronavirus outbreaks worldwide have disrupted athletes’ preparations and could jeopardize their health, the head of Russia’s Boxing Federation said.
— Moscow has closed all sports facilities including swimming pools and fitness clubs due to the coronavirus outbreak, the city’s health authorities said.
— The Moscow Times has found evidence, based on dozens of interviews, that Russia’s rich are buying up and hoarding ventilators that have proven essential in saving lives in severe cases.
— Russia‘s largest carmaker Avtovaz, which employs around 35,000 workers, has reported the first two coronavirus cases among its workers and quarantined 29 employees. The carmarker said it doesn’t plan to stop production.
— Russia confirmed 54 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the country’s total number of infections to 253.
— There is “no need” for President Vladimir Putin to take a coronavirus test because he hasn’t shown any symptoms of the illness, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
— The Russian Armed Forces’ spring draft will go on as planned despite the coronavirus, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said at a military meeting. All new recruits will be checked for the virus, he said.
— Russian public figures, doctors and citizens have launched a petition urging the government to take urgent action against the coronavirus as the country’s number of confirmed cases continues to climb, including postponing the April 22 vote on President Vladimir Putin’s constirutional amendments.
— Moscow traffic police have launched spot checks on the city’s taxis to ensure drivers wear face masks and regularly disinfect their vehicles. Under new regulations, drivers must change masks every three hours and use sanitizer to clean their hands and disinfect their vehicles twice a day.
— Russia has postponed a scheduled test for compliance with its “internet isolation” law due to the coronavirus, officials told Interfax.
— The head of infectious diseases in the Stavropol region — who returned to work after vacationing in Spain despite having coronavirus symptoms — has been hospitalized with suspected coronavirus, the Mediazona news website reported.
— Russia has reported 52 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total to 199. This marks a 35% jump in cases in the past 24 hours.
— A 79-year-old Russian woman with pre-existing conditions has died in a Moscow hospital after testing positive for the coronavirus. It is the first coronavirus-related death in the country.
— President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed the coronavirus by phone and agreed to deepen cooperation on developing pharmaceuticals, the Kremlin said. Putin praised China’s efforts in preventing the spread of the virus which emerged in China late last year, the Kremlin said in a readout of the phone call.
— The Russian government announced a “high alert” status for all 85 of its regions, requiring the whole country to take anti-coronavirus measures such as banning large gatherings, moving schools to online classes and encouraging working from home.
— Russia’s consumer protection watchdog has ordered mandatory two-week isolation at home for all people entering the country even if they show no symptoms of coronavirus.
— Russian courts will stop considering all except the most urgent cases from Thursday onwards until April 10 to contain the spread of coronavirus, a decision by the Supreme Court on Wednesday showed.
— Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport — the capital’s main international transport hub — will close two of its terminals, C and E, starting Friday as closing borders and travel restrictions have suspended many flight routes. Flights operating out of terminals C and E will be transfered to terminals D and F.
— The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said it will invest in Medpromresurs, a Russian company that is currently developing coronavirus tests.
— Russia reported 33 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total up to 147 from 114 the previous day and marking a 29% increase.
— President Vladimir Putin has ordered an April 22 nationwide vote on constitutional amendments, which would allow him to run again for president. He said the vote will be postponed if the coronavirus pandemic requires it.
— Russian schools will go on a three-week vacation from March 23 to April 12 to prevent the spread of coronavirus, Education Minister Sergei Kravtsov said.
— Russia will limit flights to the United States, Britain and the United Arab Emirates starting Friday, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin ordered.
— Russian prisoners, students and military personnel will produce medical masks and other equipment as the country faces down the coronavirus pandemic, the RBC news website reported.
— Employees of the presidential administration and journalists covering President Vladimir Putin’s upcoming trips are being tested for coronavirus, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
— Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has urged employers to allow their employees to work from home to prevent the spread of infection.
— St. Petersburg has banned events and gatherings with more than 50 attendees as well as all sporting and cultural events.
— The Federal Penitentiary Service said it will suspend visits to inmates in pre-trial detention centers and prisons.
— Journalists accredited with foreign media outlets have been barred from the Russian State Duma over the coronavirus, BBC Russian correspondent Pyotr Kozlov said. Journalists from Russian media are still permitted to enter, he added.
— Moscow’s network of facial recognition cameras has detected more than 200 people who violated orders to self-quarantine because they might be infected with the virus, the city’s police chief Oleg Baranov said.
— Russia has closed Bolshevik revolutionary Vladimir Lenin’s tomb on Moscow’s Red Square to the public, the Kremlin guard service said, making it the latest Russian tourist attraction to shut down amid coronavirus fears.
— The annual Eurovision song contest has been canceled due to the coronavirus epidemic, its organizers announced. Rave-pop band Little Big had been set to represent Russia in this year’s competition.
Russia Says It Has Very Few Coronavirus Cases. The Numbers Don’t Tell the Full Story.
— The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Russia has risen to 114, Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova said, a 22% increase from Monday. Ten of these infections were transmitted within the country rather than contracted abroad, she added.
— Moscow authorities have denied reports that they will introduce a near-total shutdown of the city to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
— President Vladimir Putin said the situation with the spreading coronavirus is “under control” in the country after infections were “contained.”
— Russia’s embassies and consulates have suspended the processing of documents and issuing of all types of visas, including e-visas, the Foreign Ministry said. The ministry said there are a small number of exceptions, including for diplomats and people attending funerals of close relatives in Russia.
— Football’s 2020 European Championship has been postponed for a year because of the outbreak of the coronavirus, the Norwegian and Swedish FAs said on Tuesday.
— Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin’s cabinet plans to unveil a slew of new economic and regulatory measures to reduce the coronavirus’ impact on Wednesday, including creating an anti-crisis fund of 300 billion rubles ($4.05 billion) to support Russian citizens and the Russian economy and compensating quarantined citizens, including freelancers and the self-employed, for lost income.
— Ukraine has temporarily closed 107 of its border checkpoints, including those with neighboring Russia, as it seeks to prevent the coronavirus from spreading.
— Russia’s airlines could lose 100 billion rubles ($1.4 billion) due to the coronavirus outbreak and risk going bankrupt, the head of Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency, also known as Rosaviatsiya, told Interfax.
— Russia’s Agriculture Ministry has ordered all of Russia’s regions to ready a two-month food supply to prevent shortages.
— The Russian Orthodox Church is instigating an unprecedented list of measures aiming to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in its sacred spaces nationwide, it said in a statement.
— Russia’s Energy Ministry has suspended the majority of its foreign and domestic business trips, with the exception of urgent cases, to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
— Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied reports that President Vladimir Putin is preparing an address to the nation about the coronavirus.
— Russia’s consumer protection watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, has ordered Russia’s regions to test everyone who has been in Europe in the past two weeks for the coronavirus.
— All football, hockey and basketball games will be suspended in Russia until April 10, the state-run TASS news agency reported, citing a source to Russia’s national leagues. The Russian Football Union confirmed the news.
— Russian tourists in Europe are trapped abroad as flights have been canceled and borders closed due to the coronavirus crisis, a spokeswoman for Russia’s travel industry union told Interfax.
— Russia will ban the entry of foreign nationals and stateless people from March 18 to May 1 in response to the coronavirus outbreak, the government said. The ban will not apply to diplomatic representatives, airplane crew members and some other categories of people.
— The number of coronavirus infections in Russia has risen to 93, a 47% increase from the previous day, the state-run TASS news agency reported, citing Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova.
— European Union leaders are considering temporarily banning all non-essential travel into the Schengen borderless travel zone by non-EU citizens, the BBC reported, citing a diplomatic note it obtained.
— Moscow has banned all public events larger than 50 people from now until April 10, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in a new decree. Older citizens are also advised to stay at home.
— From March 21 to April 12, all schools and universities will be closed, Sobyanin said.
— An Irish citizen has been hospitalized with suspected coronavirus infection in the city of Murmansk in Russia’s Arctic after participating in a chess tournament.
— People entering Russia from the United States, Britain, the European Union, Ukraine, Belarus and all other non-EU countries in Europe — as well as those who live with them — will now be required to self-isolate for 14 days upon arrival.
— Starting today, coronavirus tests will be available for free in St. Petersburg, city health officials said.
— President Vladimir Putin has ordered the creation of a special working group within the State Council to fight the spread of the coronavirus. Putin put Sobyanin in charge of the new group, which will also include government officials.
— Russia‘s Science and Higher Education Ministry recommended that higher educational institutions switch to distance learning from Monday.
— Russia has closed its border with neighboring Belarus as a “proactive step” to halt the coronavirus’ spread, the state-run TASS news agency quoted Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin as saying.
— A Russian patient has escaped from coronavirus quarantine near Moscow, the hospital’s head physician said Monday. The woman has been detained and returned to the hospital after police found her at her home.
— Russia registered four more cases of coronavirus, Interfax reported, bringing the total number of infections to 63.
— Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin denied that the authorities are downplaying the numbers of coronavirus patients in the capital.
— The Russian protection watchdog Rospotrebnadzor confirmed the first community transmission of the coronavirus in Russia, RBC reported, but this information was later removed from Rospotrebnadzor’s statement.
— Rospotrebnadzor also said it ran just over 104,000 coronavirus tests since the start of the outbreak while 14,742 people are currently being monitored for coronavirus.
— A Russian Orthodox Church spokesperson said it will not be closing churches or canceling religious proceedings.
— Russian Railways announced it would stop international passenger trains from Moscow to Berlin and Paris. Earlier it was announced that train connections to and from Ukraine, Moldova and Latvia will be suspended.
— Russia has confirmed 14 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total to 59, the state-run RIA news agency reported. Nine of the new cases are in Moscow, one in the Moscow region, one in St. Petersburg, two in Kemerovo and one in Kaliningrad.
— Moscow’s chief sanitary doctor Elena Andreeva signed a decree on new measures to combat coronavirus, including compulsory hospitalization of patients with atypical course of flu and banning visitors in hospitals, orphanages and boarding schools.
— Russia will close its land borders with Poland and Norway to foreigners in a bid to limit the spread of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said.
— Russia confirmed 11 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total to 45, the RBC news website reported, citing the country’s coronavirus crisis center.
— Russia is limiting flights with Europe from Monday to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
— Prominent Russian-Azerbaijani artist Aidan Salakhova says she has been quarantined in a hospital after returning from Italy on a flight that was carrying two people infected with coronavirus. All the passengers on Salakhova’s flight have been placed in hospital quarantine as well.
— Two Russian tourists in Israel have been diagnosed with coronavirus.
— St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region banned events with more than 1,000 people.
— The Kremlin told journalists who cover President Vladimir Putin to stay away from official events if they felt unwell as a precautionary measure to protect Kremlin staff from the coronavirus.
— Polish President Andrzej Duda will not travel to Russia next month due to the coronavirus, missing ceremonies marking the 10-year anniversary of a plane crash which killed Poland’s president, central bank chief and military commanders.
— Russia’s border will temporarily be closed to Italian citizens and foreigners traveling from Italy starting today as Italy continues to grapple with the worst coronavirus outbreak in Europe.
— Russia has confirmed six new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases to 34, Interfax reported, citing the country’s coronavirus crisis center. Four of the new cases are in Moscow, one in Krasnodar and one in Kaliningrad.
— The Moscow region’s governor has announced a “high alert” status for the region due to the coronavirus, banning all large events over 5,000 people and encouraging companies to allow their employees to telecommute. The remote-working measures do not apply to the city of Moscow, home to 12 million people.
— A joint Russian-European mission to Mars has been postponed for two years, the Russian and European space agencies said Thursday, citing the coronavirus and technical issues.
— A religious procession in central Russia aimed at fighting the coronavirus has been canceled due to the threat of the virus itself.
— About 100 Chinese students in Moscow will be deported from Russia because they violated their self-quarantine orders, the Kommersant business daily reported.
— State Duma lawmaker Sergei Katasonov did not self-quarantine after returning from France and was present at work for several days before his colleagues told him to go home, libertarian party leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky has said. Zhirinovsky, who leads the party Katasonov belongs to, proposed stripping him of his parliamentary powers as punishment.
— The World Health Organization declared that the coronavirus is a pandemic as the number of cases worldwide surpassed 112,000 in 114 different countries.
— Russia will suspend most flights to and from Italy, Germany, France and Spain over the coronavirus outbreak starting from Friday, Russia’s coronavirus crisis center said in a statement. Russia will also stop issuing tourist visas to Italian citizens, the center said.
— The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Russia rose to 28 from 20. All the people tested positive in the last day had previously traveled to Italy, according to the coronavirus crisis center’s statement.
— Moscow has banned large events of more than 5,000 people until April 10 in a move to prevent the spread of the virus, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in a decree. Critics accused the city of using the health crisis as an excuse to prevent people from protesting President Vladimir Putin’s constitutional reforms that could allow him to stay in power past his term limit.
— Thailand has suspended visas on arrival for citizens of 18 countries including Russia in an effort to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
— State Duma Deputy Speaker Pyotr Tolstoy is isolating himself in self-quarantine after returning to Moscow from Paris, he wrote on Facebook, adding that he is “completely healthy” and will work from home.
— Russia’s Defense Ministry has canceled the Moscow International Security Conference due to the threat of coronavirus. The defense and international affairs conference, which would have been attended by more than 1,000 delegates from 115 countries, had been scheduled for April 22-23.
— Russia‘s consumer safety watchdog recommended that people avoid public transport, shopping malls and other public places at rush hour as a precaution against the coronavirus, the state-run RIA news agency reported.
— Another three people in Moscow have been diagnosed with coronavirus overnight, the RBC news website reported, citing a report from city officials it obtained. The three individuals had recently visited Italy.
— Moscow city authorities threatened prison terms of up to five years for people failing to self-isolate in their homes for two weeks after visiting countries hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak.
— Russia confirmed four new cases of coronavirus, taking the total number to 17 — three of whom have since recovered.
— Russia has reported six new cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours, including five in Moscow and one in Nizhny Novgorod 400 kilometers east of the capital. All six cases were contracted in Italy, one of several virus hubs outside China, the authorities said.
— Russian officials have conducted more than 51,000 tests for the coronavirus nationwide, the consumer protection watchdog said.
— Seven Russian passengers from the Diamond Princess cruise ship who were placed in a two-week quarantine in Russia’s Far East have been discharged. Two other quarantined patients are awaiting test results.
— Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced a “high alert regime,” ordering self-isolation for Russians returning from China, South Korea, Iran, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
—Russia canceled its flagship annual St Petersburg International Economic Forum this year as a precaution against coronavirus. The forum, usually chaired by President Vladimir Putin, was due to be held in St. Petersburg on June 3-6.
— Russia‘s state carrier Aeroflot said it would suspend its flights to and from Hong Kong amid fears over coronavirus.
— Moscow authorities have drafted an emergency plan that envisions a near shutdown of the Russian capital in case of a coronavirus outbreak.
— Officials confirmed a seventh coronavirus infection in the country. The patient is an Italian citizen who had arrived to Russia on Feb. 29, asked for medical help on March 2 and tested positive for the virus. He is being treated at an undisclosed hospital.
— Russian businesses have started to cancel foreign business trips and participation in international conferences after a recommendation from the Health Ministry to restrict foreign travel.
— Students at a university dormitory in St. Petersburg have been placed under quarantine and prohibited from leaving the building after the hospitalization of an Italian exchange student who had been living there. The number of patients in the city that are being monitored for coronavirus symptoms has nearly doubled to 44 people.
— Two Russian citizens have been diagnosed with the coronavirus in the United Arab Emirates, the country’s health ministry said.
— Russia has temporarily banned the export of medical masks, gloves, bandages and protective suits.
— President Vladimir Putin said that fake news reports about coronavirus were being sent to Russia from abroad to spread panic. He urged the government to ensure that citizens were correctly informed about the situation in Russia.
— Russian gas giant Gazprom has suspended foreign trips for its staff due to the coronavirus outbreak, a company spokesman said.
— The Moscow metro has begun random checks of passengers’ temperatures at station entrances, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.
— A Russian national who was quarantined in a Moscow hospital after recently returning from northern Italy, a hub for the coronavirus outbreak, has the coronavirus. The man, 29-year-old Moscow resident David Berov, is the first known Russian national to test positive for coronavirus while in the country.
— The impact of coronavirus on the Russian economy will be deeper than originally expected, Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov said. The ruble’s depreciation and stock market decline have gained momentum since mid-February due to the fast-spreading coronavirus and concerns about its economic impact, which sent oil prices crashing.
— Schools across Moscow have canceled swimming classes and large-scale events to prevent the spread of the flu and respiratory infections, the city’s education officials said in a Feb. 28 letter cited by Interfax.
— Moscow authorities are deporting 88 foreign nationals who violated quarantine measures imposed on them as a precaution against coronavirus, the state-run RIA news agency cited Moscow’s deputy mayor as saying.
— A Russian citizen has tested positive with coronavirus in Azerbaijan after arriving there from Iran, Interfax reported. It marks the fourth case of coronavirus among Russian citizens and the first infection in Azerbaijan.
— The Russian government temporarily barred Iranian citizens from entering Russia and said it would also restrict the entry of South Korean citizens from March 1 as a precaution against the spread of coronavirus, decrees published online showed.
— The government also said it would not allow in any foreign citizens traveling from Iran or South Korea, and ordered the Foreign Ministry to suspend the issue of visas to Iranian citizens.
— Russia will suspend its train service from Moscow to the southern French city of Nice starting March 4, the state-run TASS news agency reported, citing the Transport Ministry. The ministry said the train link would be suspended until further notice as part of wider measures aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus in Russia.
— Moscow authorities have identified 88 people who violated the city’s self-isolation orders after returning from China, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. The Russian capital deployed its facial recognition network to enforce the quarantine.
— Russia has developed five prototypes for a coronavirus vaccine, Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova said.
— Russia’s Federal Tourism Agency recommended national tour operators suspend tours to Italy, South Korea and Iran until the outbreaks of coronavirus there are brought under control.
— Moscow will suspend flights between Russia and South Korea from March 1 over coronavirus fears, except those operated by Aeroflot and Aurora, Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova said.
— Golikova said Russia would also stop issuing visas to some Iranian citizens from Feb. 28 and was advising Russians against traveling to Italy.
— Other restrictions related to the outbreak which have been previously announced will be extended by one month to April 1, Golikova said.
— The Chinese Embassy in Russia has asked Moscow authorities to stop the profiling of Chinese nationals on the city’s public transport. According to Novaya Gazeta, the embassy’s letter said that Moscow police and subway workers had begun questioning passengers believed to be Chinese to check for signs of coronavirus, something that isn’t being done anywhere else in the world.
— Around 2,500 people arriving from China have been ordered placed under quarantine for the coronavirus and monitored by the Russian capital’s facial-recognition technology, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.
— Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told the RBC news website that the coronavirus had caused a drop in Chinese trade with Russia of 1 billion rubles ($15.68 million) a day.
— Two Russian citizens from the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship were diagnosed with the new coronavirus, bringing the total number of infected Russian nationals to three.
— Russia’s ban on the entry of Chinese citizens to its territory has gone into effect. The temporary suspension will be for Chinese citizens entering Russia for employment, private, educational and tourist purposes.
— The 144 Russians evacuated from the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in China have left a quarantine area in Siberia’s Tyumen region following a 14-day quarantine.
— Russia discharged a Chinese national from the hospital in the Siberian city of Chita after he recovered from coronavirus infection, the second of Russia’s first two confirmed cases of coronavirus to recover.
— The coronavirus outbreak may delay Russia’s delivery of S-400 air defense systems to China, the state-owned arms exporter Rosoboronexport said.
— Authorities in the Chelyabinsk region 1,500 kilometers east of Moscow walked back plans to set up a quarantine center after local residents formed a human shield to prevent entry to Chinese nationals.
— The Kremlin has started checking the body temperatures of individuals attending events with President Vladimir Putin as a “precautionary measure,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
— Russia will temporarily restrict the entry of foreigners arriving from China, Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova said. She said the restrictions would not apply to Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport.
— Russia’s second-largest food retailer Magnit said it is suspending fruit and vegetable imports from China due to the spread of the coronavirus and logistical complications.
— State-run Russian Railways said it would halt passenger trains to China, including the Beijing-Moscow route, until further notice.
— In addition to observing personal hygiene, the consumer protection watchdog advised against loose hair, as well as kissing and hugging in public.
— Russian state lender VTB said it has temporarily suspended all business trips by its employees to China and several other Asian countries.
Reuters and AFP contributed reporting to this article.
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Home Uncategorized Coronavirus: Why healthcare workers are at risk of moral injury
Coronavirus: Why healthcare workers are at risk of moral injury
It is widely known that veterans can return from war with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Far less appreciated is moral injury – a trauma wrapped up in guilt that we are now learning more about thanks to US-based research, writes James Jeffrey.
Moral injury most often occurs when a person commits, fails to prevent or witnesses an act that is anathema to their moral beliefs.
The Department of Veterans Affairs website likens it to psychological trauma involving “extreme and unprecedented life experience”, that can lead to “haunting states of inner conflict and turmoil”.
US-based research into moral injury is now illuminating how such injuries can impact people in all walks of life, but especially first responders and healthcare workers facing the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak.
Amid reports of New York City’s emergency services getting overwhelmed and states struggling to provide enough ventilators, first responders and healthcare workers potentially face having to decide who gets a ventilator and who gets saved – something one nurse has described as “her biggest fear”.
‘You prepare for the worst as a nurse but not this’
Already thousands are dying in their care – and medical workers say they are facing scenarios they had never anticipated.
One doctor told the BBC the stress was intense. “Seeing people die is not the issue. We’re trained to deal with death… The issue is giving up on people we wouldn’t normally give up on.”
The young doctors being asked to play god
Arthur Markman, a professor in the department of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, says: “Few people in healthcare have had real-life experience with triage in which a significant number of life-and-death decisions had to be made because of equipment shortages. That increases the chances that they may experience moral injury as a result of their jobs.”
The risk is compounded, he says, by workers at the front-lines of the epidemic – in places like New York, Italy and Spain – working long shifts with little break and sleep before they get back on the job. This leaves little if any time to process an incident that, if left unattended, may prove a moral injury in the making.
“A person doesn’t just take the gloves off afterwards without that loss affecting their moral fibre, their soul,” says Nöel Lipana, who was left with a moral injury from his 2008 Afghanistan tour. He now works as a social worker while promoting better understanding of moral injuries both in the military and beyond.
“They came into this profession to help people, so what do you do when there is that sense of helplessness: you are a great physician, a great surgeon, you have some of the best medical equipment in the world, but you still can’t save someone.”
Mr Lipana notes how veterans are often the focal point of a trauma discussion that needs be much wider. Veterans Affairs treats about 500,000 veterans a year with PTSD symptoms while the National Institute of Mental Health estimates about 7.9 million civilians suffer from some form of PTSD.
“The range of human experiences that are potentially damaging, socially, psychologically, biologically and spiritually because they cause a crisis of conscience are in no way limited to the military serving in warzones,” says Brett Litz from the Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiological Research and Information Center, who is also a professor of psychological and brain sciences at Boston University.
A recent paper co-authored by moral injury experts Rita Brock and HC Palmer states that “the fight against the coronavirus is strikingly similar to battlefield medicine: desperate and unrelenting encounters with patients, an environment of high personal risk, an unseen lethal enemy, extreme physical and mental fatigue, inadequate resources and unending accumulations of the dead.”
Mr Lipana deployed to Afghanistan as an Air Force major acting as his unit’s counter improvised explosive device (IED) officer. He oversaw and trained US troops in how to detect and disable IEDs planted by insurgents. Two army soldiers he worked alongside died in separate explosions during his deployment.
“They were killed by the thing I was meant to protect them from,” says Mr Lipana, who was also involved in an operation during which four Afghan children were killed in a blast. “You play over what you could have done, should have done differently.”
Guilt has been identified as the crucial factor that distinguishes a moral injury, even as other symptoms – anxiety and despair, flashbacks, social isolation and suicidal thoughts – overlap with PTSD.
“Traditional trauma treatment is about what’s going on between your ears – it says you are just thinking about the incident wrong,” Mr Lipana says. “That has zero to do with the connection I have with my battle buddies, those kids, with our fundamental spiritual soul connection in this universe.”
The breach of a person’s personal ethical code at the heart of a moral injury can inflict lasting behavioural, emotional and psychological damage, distorting a person’s self-identity and provoking reflexive distrust of others.
“In the military, we have it better in a way, as we get this break between deployments,” Mr Lipana says. “Firefighters and cops have to reset themselves every 12 hours and go back out on their next shift.”
Research in America has identified how for many veterans the pride in once wearing their uniform collides with a feeling of futility about what their service achieved and a belief that military leaders failed or deceived them and their fallen comrades. The resulting sense of violation from this can further fuel a lingering crisis of the conscience and spirit – deepening the moral injury.
While healthcare workers know they are doing the right thing by helping people with Covid-19, they may still be affected by responses of leaders, from the hospital hierarchy up to the national level.
“One of the most toxic forms of moral injury is betrayal,” says Ms Brock, who is also co-author of Soul Repair: Recovering from Moral Injury After War. “Our healthcare workers are working to save people, but they have been betrayed by the government’s inadequate response.”
Healthcare workers’ self-knowledge that they are involved in an entirely virtuous endeavour – as opposed to how veterans view the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan – can “actually make it even worse,” Ms Brock says.
“You know you are on a life-saving mission, and so you can’t understand how the president doesn’t seem to get it in the same way.”
An estimated 11-20% of the 2.7 million men and women who deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan have received a diagnosis of PTSD linked to their service. The percentage of former service members coping with moral injury appears comparable, though experts warn that the prevailing emphasis on PTSD means moral injury can often go unrecognised and ignored.
Between 2005 and 2017, 78,875 veterans took their own lives, according to the most recent data from Veterans Affairs. Currently, about 17 veterans are estimated to kill themselves each day.
The period following the acute phase of the coronavirus epidemic will likely be hardest for medical professionals in terms of psychological impact.
“Once the rest of society has said thank you and moved on to getting back to normal and thinking about the economy, that’s when these people will sit down and think, ‘What the hell happened back there?'” Ms Brock says.
Her paper with HC Palmer states that some medical personnel may take their lives because of moral injury, having been “crushed by decisions they had to make, swamped by unrelenting grief, consumed by fury and humiliation at the authorities who failed them”.
Ms Brock explains that, as in the military, often these emotions and reflections don’t sink in for months due to the initial response’s all-consuming pace.
Prof Markman stresses that “moral injuries are not inevitable” – and that medical professions will need time to reflect, and support from their managers.
“Leaders of hospitals need to communicate with the people working for them that they are using their training to make the best possible decisions under horrible circumstances. Everyone in the profession needs to recognise that they are trying to do the least harm possible in a situation in which it is impossible to provide the highest-quality care to every patient in need.”
Meanwhile, experts say that individuals in society have an important role to play too.
“The rest of us can offer compassion to those who must, because of safety, keep us separated from those we love who are dying,” Brock and Palmer write.
“Essential, too, is support for the families of medical professionals who are our friends or neighbours. And every time we interact with a medical professional, we should thank them.”
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Military schools and military academies for teenage boys or girls from Orange, California – school for troubled teens and schools troubled teens.
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Information About Military Schools in Orange, California
If you are a parent, you’ve surely heard a lot of things about military schools and aren’t sure quite what is true and what isn’t. Are they boot camps? Are they for troubled or misbehaving children? Are they just a trick to get kids to join the military? Let’s go ahead and set the record straight.
Militaryschoolusa.com is a directory which provides information on all the military schools in the USA, including, of course, military schools that might be near Orange, California. Before you investigate each program individually, allow us to explain the basis of what military schools can provide for your son or daughter.
Military schools in Orange, California are basically boarding schools with a history of military tradition. The significance of this is that, while many of these programs are not directly working with the US military in any way, they do use military style in the way they are organized and interact with students. A lot of military schools have hierarchies which are rooted in military drills and traditions. As students move forward in the program, they rank up and earn more privileges and responsibilities. Having the students on campus 24/7 allows teachers to work with the cadets after school hours, and students are able to build close-knit relationships with their peers, something they don’t the chance to do at traditional high schools.
Even though these schools are tightly structured and discipline-oriented, they are not usually indicated for students who are having a hard time. Academic requirements at these places are very high and the overall aim is to prepare students for the rigors of high level universities. For most top students, military schools provide the right atmosphere needed to set them apart from their peers, and you won’t find a more complete listing of military school than here at MilitarySchoolUSA.com!
My teenager is aiming for a very challenging university, can a military school near Orange, California help him/her with that?
Most military schools in Orange, California are known for their stringent academic standards. These are not the kinds of places for kids struggling in school. Instead, the purpose is to challenge your son or daughter and set them up to meet the entrance requirements of the top universities in the country. Additionally, classes employ military style which emphasizes discipline and organization. This is vital, because it develops habits for study habits which will not only get your teenager enrolled in a good college, but enable them to really excel once enrolled there. Go through the complete listing of military schools at MilitarySchoolUSA.com to find the one that’s best for your teenager.
My son or daughter is very clever and has a great deal of potential, but sometimes I worry that they’re getting lazy or unmotivated. Will a military school in or near Orange, CA accept them?
Although military schools near Orange, California aren’t meant for troubled teenagers, they do provide a highly structured and supervised atmosphere that can help all students. If your son or daughter sometimes loses focus or, at times, can be prone to laziness or procrastination, military schools can straighten that out quickly and easily. At a military academy, students are given help in organizing their priorities. They will begin to take a more disciplined approach to each day, ensuring that they are being productive and maintaining momentum. Even the most intelligent of teenagers can sometimes be absent-minded and unfocused. Teaching teenagers the importance of their future and the way their decisions, even now, can affect their entire life is a valuable part of what military academies are all about. You won’t find a more comprehensive list than the directory found at MilitarySchoolUSA.com!
My son or daughter in Orange, California isn’t considering joining the military, is that an issue? Do military schools help teenagers who have interests in other fields of study and work?
Although a lot of military schools started off being directly affiliated with the military, that isn’t always the case anymore. Although joining the military after graduating one of these schools is frequent and sometimes encouraged, your son or daughter is definitely not obligated to. It’s a simple fact that the sort of discipline and training that is offered in such a military setting can have great results in many fields. From business to politics to entrepreneurship, graduates from military schools have proven to have more success in their careers than graduates of public high schools. Military schools focus on discipline, integrity, communication, teamwork, and leadership, and it turns out that these are highly desired traits in just about any area of study or employment.
Find the military school that will help your son or daughter in Orange, California thrive by searching the complete military school listing by city and state at MilitarySchoolUSA.com.
More about military schools in Orange, California:
Orange is located in Orange County, California. It is approximately 3 miles north of the county seat, Santa Ana. Orange is unusual in that many of the homes in its Old Town District were built prior to 1920; whereas many other cities in the region demolished such houses in the 1960s, Orange decided to preserve them. The small affluent city of Villa Park is surrounded by the city of Orange. The population was 136,416 at the 2010 census.
Excerpt about military schools in Orange, California, used with permission from Wikipedia.
MILITARY SCHOOLS
Random Partial Listing:
Military Leadership Academy
Charlotte, NC |MGLA
California Maritime Academy
Vallejo, CA |CMA
Milledgeville, GA |GMC
Marine Academy (MAST)
Highlands, NJ |MAST
Delaware Military Academy
Wilmington, DE |DMA
The Military College of Georgia
Dahlonega, GA |UNG
Culver Military Academy
Culver, IN |CMA
Castine, ME |MMA
Selected by Our Editors:
Fork Union Military Academy
St. John’s Northwestern Military Academy
Massanutten Military Academy
Marine Military Academy
Camden Military Academy
Howe Military School
Oak Ridge Military Academy
Military Schools Help Boys With ADHD
The Benefits of Enrolling Your Child in a Military Boarding School
Five Ways That Boys Learn Best
Unique Features of Military Schools
Choosing a Military School
Top Rated Military Academies
ABOUT MILITARY SCHOOL USA
This directory is designed to help families understand the ins and outs of military school education. It is a new day for military schools — they are not for troubled kids, but instead they are for those who wish to get ahead in life and career. This directory of military schools and military academies will help you explore the available options and select the best military school.
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In addition to information about military schools and academies for boys and girls, we can also help you in your search for teen drug rehabilitation centers, therapeutic boarding schools, boarding schools for troubled youth, home for troubled youth. The term military school primarily refers to secondary-school-level (junior high and high school military institutions). The term military academy commonly refers to a collegiate institution. Learn all about both military-type programs here.
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BYLAWS OF THE FACULTY SENATE
MONTANA TECH OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA
(Revised according to faculty action 10/21/11)
Article II. Purpose, Function & Duties
Article IV. Elections
Article V. Organization
Article VII. Transaction of Business
Article VIII. Amendments
See Montana Tech Faculty/Staff Handbook - Appendix E
To promote the stable growth and continued improvement of higher education at Montana Tech of The University of Montana and in the State of Montana; to facilitate communication and cooperation among administrative and faculty personnel; and to insure the continued development of our educational programs and policies: We the Faculty, do hereby establish and subscribe to this Constitution of the Faculty Senate of Montana Tech of The University of Montana.
The name of this organization shall be the Faculty Senate of Montana Tech of The University of Montana (the Faculty Senate) at Butte, Montana.
Article II. Purpose, Functions and Duties
SECTION 1: Purpose
The purpose of this organization shall be:
To participate as an advisory body in the formulation, implementation, and review of institutional policy and to provide the means for the faculty to initiate action on matters with which it is directly concerned.
SECTION 2: Functions
Within the framework of rules and regulations set forth by the State Board of Regents, the functions of this organization shall be:
a. To study and discuss institutional problems referred to it and, where appropriate, to make recommendations to the administration.
b. To initiate suggestions for changes in the area of institutional policies affecting the instructional program of the college.
c. To serve as a channel of communication between faculty and the administration and, through the administration, to the State Board of Regents.
d. To aid the students, the faculty, the administration, and the State Board of Regents in developing policies coordinating the total college community.
e. To consider policies concerning admissions, curricula, granting of degrees, and comparable academic concerns.
f. To consider policies concerning faculty selection, promotion, tenure, leaves, and termination of employment.
g. To advise, with the Chancellor, in the selection of administrative
personnel when vacancies exist.
h. To advise, with the State Board of Regents, in the selection of a Chancellor when a vacancy exists.
i. To seek means for raising the level of all aspects of professional performance.
j. The Faculty Senate shall conduct a Faculty Satisfaction Survey every spring semester.
SECTION 3: Duties
The duties of the organization shall be:
a. To examine all matters under consideration from the point of view of the welfare and best professional interests of the college and in the light of its total educational objectives.
b. To acknowledge each recommendation or request submitted and, upon completion of its considerations, state the action recommended.
In the performance of its duties, the Faculty Senate is not to interfere with or infringe upon the academic freedom of individual faculty members.
SECTION 4: Channels and Procedures
a. To accept for consideration from the faculty or the administration any projects which fall within the scope of Article II, Sections 1 and 2 above.
b. To initiate projects which fall within the scope of Article II, Sections 1 and 2 above.
c. To submit recommendations to the faculty or the administration of the College concerning matters which have been considered.
d. To submit to conference with the entire faculty if necessary any differences of opinion which arise as a result of disagreement between the Faculty Senate and the administration concerning recommendations made.
e. To refer questions still unsolved after conference to the Chancellor or final reference to the proper agency, such as Faculty Service Committee, Attorney General, State Board of Regents, etc.
(Art. III, Sec.1 replaced by following according to faculty action 10/21/2011. Revised according to faculty action 4/24/2016.)
SECTION 1:
The Faculty Senate shall consist of 26 members composed as follows:
School of Mines and Engineering Faculty............................9 Senators
College of Letters, Science, and Prof. Studies Faculty........ 9 Senators
Highlands College Faculty....................................................4 Senators
Research & Library Faculty..................................................3 Senators
Adjunct Faculty.....................................................................1 Senator
The representation shall be subdivided and elected at the department level as follows:
Geological Engineering
Geophysical Engineering
Safety Health and Industrial Hygiene
Trades and Technology
College of Letters, Science, and Professional Studies
Health Care Informatics
Business and Information Technology
Computer Sci. & Software Engr. and Network Technology
Professional and Technical Communication
Research, Library, & Adjunct Faculty
Library Faculty
Research Faculty (2 senators)
As needed, the size and composition of the Faculty Senate shall be re-evaluated to account for changes in faculty and department structure of the College.
(Article IV, Section 1 replaced by following according to faculty action 10/21/2011.)
Membership in the Faculty Senate shall be determined by annual elections held in March at the department level. Only persons holding faculty rank are eligible to vote, except in the case of Adjunct Faculty. Members shall be elected to two-year or three-year terms at the option of their respective departments. Vacancies created by unexpired terms shall be filled by special election.
SECTION 1: Officers
The officers shall consist of a Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, and Secretary. These officers shall be elected from the total membership of the Faculty Senate at the initial meeting after its annual election.
SECTION 2: Duties of Officers
The Chairperson shall be the principal executive officer and shall have such powers as are appropriate to the office. The Chairperson shall appoint committees and shall be an ex-officio member of all committees except the Nominating Committee.
The Vice-Chairperson shall fulfill the duties of the Chairperson in the Chairperson's absence and shall, otherwise, serve as an assistant to the Chairperson.
The Secretary is responsible for the usual functions of the office, such as:
Keeping the minutes of all regular meetings of the Faculty Senate and making available copies to the entire professional staff and the Chancellor.
Maintaining archives of important papers of the Faculty Senate.
Furnishing notification of all Faculty Senate meetings to all faculty members.
Carrying on pertinent correspondence relative to the Faculty Senate and its activities.
SECTION 3: Committees
The duties of all committees shall be determined by the Faculty Senate. Committees shall be appointed by the Chairperson, when necessary, with the approval of the Faculty Senate body.
(Revised according to the faculty action 11/6/72)
SECTION 1: Regular Meetings (Open)
Regular meetings of the Faculty Senate shall be held monthly or as needed during the regular academic year) with additional meetings or cancellations of the scheduled meeting at the option of the chairperson. It shall be understood that at all open meetings an invitation to attend is extended to all of the administrative staff, all faculty members, and to a student representative. It shall be further understood that this invitation includes both the right to engage in the discussions of the committee and the right to introduce motions.
It does not include, however, the right to second nor amend motions, nor the right to vote upon them when they are placed before the Faculty Senate for final action.
SECTION 2: Special Meetings (Closed)
A special closed meeting of the Faculty Senate may be called at a designated time by the officers of the Faculty Senate or by a petition signed by one-third of the total membership of the Faculty Senate, or by a petition of ten percent of the total membership of the faculty.
SECTION 1: Initiation of Action
The Faculty Senate shall receive written suggestions for agenda items from any member of the faculty or from the administration. In the case of delicate matters, at the discretion of the Faculty Senate, the referral items can be received by oral communication at a meeting.
Any member of the Faculty Senate may initiate debate.
Where appropriate, the agenda item shall be referred to a committee for study.
SECTION 2: Nature of Sessions
A quorum for the transaction of business shall be privileged to call members of the college community as advisors when information concerning a matter under consideration is required.
The minutes shall be as complete as the nature of the problem requires.
The rules contained in the current edition of Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised shall govern the Faculty Senate of Montana Technological University in all cases to which they are applicable and in which they are not inconsistent with these bylaws and any special rules of order the Faculty Senate of Montana Technological University may adopt.
SECTION 3: Transmittal of Recommendations
The Chairperson shall direct the Secretary to transmit to the appropriate individual or body a written statement of actions and recommendations of the Faculty Senate when approved at a regularly constituted meeting.
SECTION 1: Proposed Amendments
Proposed amendments shall be submitted in writing to the Chairperson of the Faculty Senate who shall submit them to the faculty for action.
SECTION 2: Notification of Amendments
The text of the proposed amendments must be circulated among the members of the faculty at least one week prior to action by the faculty.
SECTION 3: Ratification of Amendments
Ratification of amendments shall require a simple majority vote of all members of the faculty.
SECTION 4: Submission of Amendments
In keeping with Article 2, Section 2, all amendments will be submitted to the administration for review and appropriate action.
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Tag: Ann Peebles
basement jukebox
Ann Peebles (1947-), “Breaking Up Somebody’s Home” (A Jackson, T. Matthews), 1971
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
Tuesday, July 7th
Ann Peebles (1947-), “I Can’t Stand the Rain” (A. Peebles, D. Bryant, B. Williams), 1973
other day, Chicago
Friday, July 3rd
Ann Peebles (1947-), “I’m Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down” (E. Randle), 1973
yesterday, Chicago
reading table
In pale moonlight
the wisteria’s scent
comes from far away
—Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), translated from Japanese by Sam Hamill
Willie Mitchell, record producer, March 1, 1928–January 5, 2010
O. V. Wright (1939-1980), “A Nickel and a Nail,” 1971
Syl Johnson (1936-), “Take Me to the River,” 1975
Otis Clay (1942-2016), “Trying to Live My Life Without You,” 1972
Ann Peebles (1947-), “I Can’t Stand the Rain,” 1973
Al Green (1946-), “Let’s Stay Together,” 1971
other day, Kankakee, Ill.
desert island disc
Ann Peebles, I Can’t Stand the Rain (Willie Mitchell, prod.), 1974
“I Can’t Stand The Rain” (Don Bryant, Bernard “Bernie” Miller, Ann Peebles) – 2:31
“Do I Need You” (Bryant, Peebles) – 2:33
“Until You Came into My Life” (Bryant, Miller, Peebles) – 3:13
“(You Keep Me) Hanging On” (Ira Allen, Buddy Mize) – 2:44
“Run Run Run” (Bryant, Darryl Carter, Peebles) – 2:38
“If We Can’t Trust Each Other” (Earl Randle) – 2:55
“A Love Vibration” (Bryant, Miller, Peebles) – 2:50
“You Got to Feed the Fire” (Bryant, Miller, Peebles) – 2:22
“I’m Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down” (Earl Randle) – 2:45
“One Way Street” (Bryant, Peebles) – 2:50
Ann Peebles, I Can’t Stand the Rain,* 1974 (Hi Records)
The only thing worse than trying to look younger than you are is trying to look wiser than you are.
—Jack Haubner
*Track list (courtesy of YouTube):
“I Can’t Stand The Rain” (Don Bryant, Bernard “Bernie” Miller, Ann Peebles)
“Do I Need You” (Bryant, Peebles)
“Until You Came into My Life” (Bryant, Miller, Peebles)
“(You Keep Me) Hanging On” (Ira Allen, Buddy Mize)
“Run Run Run” (Bryant, Darryl Carter, Peebles)
“If We Can’t Trust Each Other” (Earl Randle)
“A Love Vibration” (Bryant, Miller, Peebles)
“You Got to Feed the Fire” (Bryant, Miller, Peebles)
“I’m Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down” (Earl Randle)
“One Way Street” (Bryant, Peebles)
Wednesday, 3/24/10
Unlike Aretha Franklin, she doesn’t have a big, commanding voice. But just as some actors are able to do as much (or more) with less, so, too, with singers. And when it comes to expressing heartache and vulnerability, a voice that’s smaller, less powerful isn’t necessarily a liability—it can be a strength.
“(You Keep Me) Hanging On” (1973 [album], 1974 [single])
“I Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody’s Home” (1972)
“I Can’t Stand The Rain” (1973)
(Yeah, I posted this last clip before, when Willie Mitchell passed away. [And the next day I posted a track that samples it.])
Friday, 1/8/10
Presence, immediacy, feeling: the way his records sound, you’d swear they were nailed in just one take.
What higher compliment could you pay a record producer?
Willie Mitchell (March 23, 1928 – January 5, 2010)
O.V. Wright, “A Nickel and A Nail” (1971)
Ann Peebles, “I Can’t Stand the Rain” (1973)
Syl Johnson, “Take Me To The River” (1975)
Al Green, “Love and Happiness” (1977)
Thank you so much, Richard. . . . Stay well and Happy New Year. Love, Sheila
(Sheila Jordan, 1/6/10, 9/28/09 [in response to an email letting her know she was being featured here])
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St. Joseph's Preparatory School was founded in 1851 in Philadelphia. The school grew out of a small church created by Rev. Joseph Greaton, S.J. in center city in 1733. As the city and the parish grew over time, the Jesuits of the Maryland Province decided to create St. Joseph's College with a preparatory department to serve the public.
The college was first located in Willings Alley at the site of Fr. Greaton's residence, but in the late 1800s the school moved to Girard Avenue. The new location allowed for the building of a new school and a new church, the Gesu. Soon after the move, St. Joseph's College moved to City Line Avenue leaving all the buildings for St. Joseph's Preparatory School.
The school continued to grow and change over the next seventy years until a devastating fire in January 1966 burned two-thirds of the school down. While at this time it would have been easy to move out to the suburbs as other schools were doing, the Jesuits chose to remain here, in this urban environment.
Sixteen months after the fire, The Prep was rebuilding again on Girard Avenue. The traditions of The Prep still continue today as the school, the faculty, and the student body continue to grow and change.
Early Philadelphia
William Penn founded Philadelphia as the economic and political capital of his colony in 1682. By 1730, Philadelphia had a population of 8,500 - putting it in the first tier of American cities along with New York and Boston. Forty years later, Philadelphia ranked first among colonial cities with a population of 28,000.
The U.S. was about 95% rural and Pennsylvania was no exception. Goods, especially grain from the backcountry, made their ways down creeks and roads to the navigable waters of the Delaware and the Schuylkill. Farms and open country still occupied most of the peninsula between the two rivers. The Ridge, which today is a slow and crowded urban street, was a country road leading from the port area on the Delaware past a number of country estates.
Several printers, including Ben Franklin, established shops to serve many colonial government, business and literary interests. Philadelphia had several newspapers and a magazine even before the Revolution. While Boston was the center of revolutionary agitation, Philadelphia, as a center of trade situated in the center of the seacoast, became the meeting ground for the Founding Fathers.
By the year of The Prep’s founding, Philadelphia had begun to exist as a major industrial center. In the 1850 Census Philadelphia had slipped to fourth nationally despite the growth of its population to 121,376. However, two factors were already beginning to change, the city's economic and ethnic face. Germans fleeing the failed Revolutions of 1848 and Irish fleeing the famine flocked to the Delaware Valley where employment was plentiful and growing. Steam was making it possible to build factories away from rushing streams and near large population centers. It could drive factory equipment and move the goods to market. Scattered towns on the banks of the two rivers blended into one. Philadelphia ranked 4th among American cities in 1850 only because of its compact design.
One of the most important companies for the city, and eventually for The Prep, was the Baldwin Locomotive works. Located at Broad and Callowhill Streets, just opposite the Inquirer building, it helped to strengthen the movement of industry and population away from the old city into what were then industrial suburbs.
Catholics in Philadelphia
In May of 1733, Rev. Joseph Greaton, S.J. bought property between Third and Fourth Streets and south of Walnut. This site would become the first Catholic Church in Philadelphia. The climate for Catholics in Philadelphia was very intolerant at the time. Not long after the church's completion, Protestants complained to the Governor that this "Popish Chapel" was against the law of England. Fr. Greaton claimed his right to have the church under William Penn and the church was allowed to remain open. It was the only place in the English-speaking world where public celebration of mass was permitted by law. The church was dedicated to St. Joseph, the Guardian of The Holy Family. The present Name of St. Joseph's Preparatory School derives directly from St. Joseph's Church.
As 1850 approached the city entered the manufacturing age. With it’s growth and population, charitable and religious societies came to Philadelphia and began to provide free education. The appearance of Catholic immigrants in Philadelphia, especially the Irish, in the 1840s complicated the politics of the city and its schools. Catholics had objected to Protestant prayers and use of the King James version of the Bible. When the school Board finally responded by removing the Bible from Public schools a three day anti-Catholic riot ensued. The Old St. Augustine's Church was burned to the ground in that riot.
The Start of St. Joseph's Prep
Fr. Greaton's residence and small chapel in center city soon became surrounded by the growing city. The Jesuits decided to open a college to serve its population. In 1851, St. Joseph’s College opened in the buildings of St. Joseph’s Parish off Willings Alley, just a couple of blocks from Independence Hall. By then a permanent church had replaced the old Chapel attached to the Jesuit Residence. Over the years, two additional stories had been added to Fr. Greaton’s residence. The College, which consisted largely of a preparatory department, held class in these rooms.
On September 15, 1851, ninety-five students greeted Fr. Felix Barbelin, the first President of St. Joseph’s College, for their first day of class. The founding of the school was chartered by the State of Pennsylvania when it incorporated the school under the title of "The St. Joseph's College In The City of Philadelphia" on January 29, 1852.
The order of the day for these early students was very detailed. All had Mass at 8:00am and classes began at 8:30am. These early classes were probably Latin or Greek. At 10:25am Mathematics class began. At lunch time, students were given until 2:00pm to return to class because many of them had far to go to get their lunch. In the afternoon, students were in German, French, and Classical Studies until school ended at 5:00pm. Tuesday and Thursday afternoons there was no school. Catechism was Wednesday and Saturday afternoons. On Mondays students were to present a ticket from their own church indicating that they had been to confession on Saturday.
There were strict regulations that the students had to follow as members of the St. Joseph's community. The students were to be polite with their teachers and friendly with their classmates. The regulations stressed neatness and directed the students in their hair styles, dress, and state of their desks. There were strict rules about silence in the chapel, classrooms, and hallways. The students were aware that they were to go home directly after classes and not to play in the neighborhood. They were also informed that study should occur from 6:00 - 8:00pm every night and 6:00 - 7:00am before they arrived at school each day.
Within three years the school offered a commercial as well as a classical course and was bursting at the seams. The old part of the city was becoming more commercial and less residential, so the college purchased an unoccupied parish school building farther west and north at Filbert and Juniper Streets, near today's City Hall. The move to Filbert and Juniper, was a short, unhappy experiment. Whether it was the new location, the sudden drop in immigration in 1854 as the effects of the Irish potato famine lessened, or the collapse of the economy following the 1857 Panic, the College/Prep attendance dropped significantly. The debt service for the new building was so great that the school was forced to give it up and return to Willings Alley in 1860. From 1861 to 1889 the College department ceased operations but the Preparatory Department continued in some form. During this ignominious period in its history The Prep’s former building on Juniper Street was first used by The Academy of Notre Dame and then by LaSalle. The Prep tradition was carried on by a few students studying classical languages in the parlors of the rectory at Willings Alley.
History: Moving to Girard Ave.
In 1876, the land that is now St. Joe’s Prep was open country that was near the Centennial Exposition in Fairmount Park. The Centennial's purpose was to celebrate the country’s 100th year of independence. For the Centennial Exposition, the old wooden bridge at Girard Avenue was replaced with a new steel one, which subsequently led to the development of the Girard Area. Around this time, the Jesuits of the Maryland Province were making plans for another parish in a part of the city more conducive to operating a college. The Girard Area seemed like a natural place because it was a blossoming suburb with Girard Gollege, Eastern State Prison, a hospital, and a reservoir. Fr. Barbelin found an undeveloped block measuring 395 feet by 259 feet between 18th and 17th Streets and bounded on north and south by Thompson and Stiles Streets. Because of its high water table no one else had built there. While the owner wanted an inflated price of $60,000 he eventually settled for $45,000, and the transaction was completed on November 20, 1866.
Building a Parish
In 1868, just as the existing College at Willings Alley was fading to 60 students, Rev.. Burchard Villiger, S.J. took up residence in North Philadelphila to begin the building of a parish, a lower school and a college off of Girard Avenue.
The original building housed a chapel and classrooms in the basement and a Jesuit residence on the back. The basement was completed in 1873 and grade school classes as well as Greek and Latin constituted what was called the Preparatory department of St. Joseph’s College. At first the parish was called New St. Joseph’s, but this was very confusing, so the name was changed to Holy Family Church.
This complex was no sooner completed in 1879 than work began on what would later be called the Gesu Church. Fr. Villiger’s wisdom was not always apparent. The Gesu church was a massive undertaking for a new parish, burdened with debt from the land purchase and the $30,000 for the Stiles Street building. A shortage of funds as well as design and construction problems slowed its completion. Francis Drexel, the father of Mother Catherine, died in 1885 leaving St. Joseph’s College $72,000, relieving the “College” of one problem. On Oct 8, 1888, Fr. Villiger celebrated his 50th anniversary in the Society of Jesus in the midst of pomp and scaffolds in the new Gesu Church. This great new church did not command the view of Girard Avenue that it does today. St. Matthews Episcopal church occupied the corner of 18th and Girard. The original interior of the church was painted white, presumably for reasons of cost, light and taste.
Freed from major debt by the Drexel money, St Joseph’s actively recruited students again in the Fall of 1889, in the building just vacated by the parish when it moved to the other end of the block. Fewer than 80 of the 300 applicants were allowed to begin classes in the first year of the College’s revival. The number of applicants were no doubt bolstered by the decision not to charge any tuition. Besides the desire to provide an education for all students without regard to income, the school also faced the hostility of City government, which indicated its intention to tax the school property if it were not a completely charitable operation.
The building debt having consumed Mr. Drexel’s money, there was no endowment to pay for a free school, but there was a growing parish with good income and a huge debt free church. The Gesu parish supported the Jesuits who ran the college at a cost of over $6,000 per year. Rapid growth pushed the student body to 25 in the college and 144 in the Preparatory department in 1893. The original structure became inadequate, but had been designed for future expansion. A corner building was built in front of the old Holy Family Church, and the roof of the old church was raised to allow for an auditorium on the upper level and offices on the lower level along Stiles Street. The classrooms extended up 17th Street. This new building would hold 280 students in 1899. This was a large enough number to begin planning the separation of the College division and the Preparatory department.
The Gesu School had already begun to operate separately in a building occupying a space facing 17th Street south of Stiles. The Dean of Students office and the theater occupy that area today. Just as war was breaking out in Europe in 1914 the Jesuits were moving into their new residence at the corner of 18th and Thompson. As soon as it was finished, the old Stiles Street residence adjacent to the Gesu, was converted into a chapel and classrooms, but the major addition was the huge 60 by 30 foot third floor gym. The growth of the student population provided the impetus to complete the block of building. The building now housing the Gesu school was built in 1923, as Villiger Hall for the College division. The caged in roof of the Thompson Street building provided additional sports space even as buildings covered the available ground. The Thompson Street building also recognized the emerging importance of laboratory science with the installation in student experimental labs. Just to the right of the Gesu was the old residence which had been converted into a gym, just beyond that flat roof to the right was the auditorium. The 17th Street building with its two towers had classrooms and the fabled marble stairway. The Gesu School, having moved out of its original buildings to make room for the expanding College, needed more space and built the Convent which still stand across 17th Street.
Even with all the extra space, the College division continued plans to move to City Line Avenue. Once that move was complete, the Prep would occupy all of the school buildings on the original block. The transition to two distinct institutions began in 1890 and was completed in 1927 when the first class building of St. Joe’s College opened on City Line Avenue.
By the 1920’s The Prep had taken on many of the characteristics of a modern high school, including a powerful football tradition. In the 1920s and 30s The Prep won 9 Catholic League football Championships, including 6 under the legendary coach “Ank” Scanlon. Now The Prep had the entire building to itself. Despite the Depression, which began just two years after the separation, The Prep’s student population almost doubled from 464 in 1927 to 735 by 1939. This occurred despite the tuition increase to $150 per year. The separation of the College and its Preparatory department, and the rapid increase in student population meant that the faculty needed to increase beyond the power of the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus in order to keep pace. Soon there were 14 lay faculty teaching along with the 12 Jesuits at the school.
On a cold, blustery night in January the history of St. Joseph's Prep changed suddenly. A fire broke out at 5:20am in the basement of the Stiles Street building. The fire was probably sparked by an electrical problem and initially the firemen thought they had it under control. However, soon the fire raged out of control and turned into 8-alarms with two hundred firemen fighting the blaze. The fire quickly engulfed the building and the freezing cold air turned the firefighter's water to ice. Half of the block was a total loss and so dangerous that demolition was begun immediately. The Prep’s hallmark marble staircase was snowcoated and icicles hung from the ceilings.
Luckily, the Jesuits rushed to the Thompson Street building and closed the fire doors, which saved what is now the Gesu School and important records and files in the Principal's office. Those doors are still visible under the stucco on the Gesu school building next to the facade of the new Fieldhouse.
The fire razed two-thirds of the Prep building, but students were not out of class long. Even as the clean up and demolition continued, classes opened a week after the fire using every square inch of Villiger Hall on Thompson Street. The band practiced in the empty pool, the cafeteria and ends of hallways were converted to classrooms, and unused classrooms in the Gesu Convent were used for Prep classes. Soon the planning began for a new school.
Before the fire, The Prep had already begun acquiring land for outdoor athletic facilities and a plaza. Much of the area in front of the Prep was already owned by the school or the parish, so the fire changed the vision for the block between Stiles and Girard. The Gesu grade school vacated their home in the old Quaker school and moved to temporary quarters blocks away to make room for the new building. During the 1960s, the Southwest corner of Stiles and 18th Street housed the Gesu parish center and was the intended site for the construction of a new Gesu School. There had been a great deal of discussion of moving to the suburbs, but the easy access to the subway, trolley and commuter lines meant that The Prep could not only stay to serve the people of North Philadelphia, but also the entire region.
Construction began in May 1967, sixteen months after the fire. The money had not been raised to complete the project. Instead The Prep took out a 30 year mortgage which was just recently repaid. The new modern Prep cost five million dollars. Two million dollars came from insurance from the fire, while two more million was raised through the generosity of alumni, faculty, and friends of The Prep. The new building had a pool with a balcony and large windows to brighten it. The new gym floor was laid on wooden beams supported by thousands of small leaf springs. Today this is the cafeteria floor. The marble stairs from the old building had been buried under the glass and slate foyer to signify the strength of The Prep.
The Prep Shield
UPPER LEFT: Seven stripes number the sons of the House of Loyola
UPPER RIGHT: Two wolves over a kettle signify the hospitality of the House, even to the beasts of the field
LOWER LEFT: The lilies of St. Joseph symbolize the purity which was his crowning virtue
LOWER RIGHT: The seal of the Society of Jesus, containing the Greek letters IHS, the first three letters of the name of Jesus
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With the new federal budget just weeks away, Canada's airports are optimistic existing resources and revenue streams can be re-allocated to improve the passenger experience and stimulate economic development.
Last fall, in its pre-budget submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance, the CAC elected to focus primarily on items of an immediately urgent nature, in particular the provision of resources for pre-board security screening.
Funding for screening is critical given that customer experience and airport reputation is directly impacted by wait times.
Consistent with the Government of Canada's user-pay approach to air travel, screening is conducted by the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) and paid for by passengers via the Air Travellers Security Charge (ATSC), which is applied to every airfare. Despite steady year-over-year growth in passenger volumes nationwide and a corresponding rise in ATSC revenue, however, the CATSA budget has been cut significantly and is essentially frozen at 2010 levels.
In fact, 2014-15 estimates show a $74 million surplus for CATSA and aviation security functions supported by the ATSC. As such, the CAC remains optimistic the government can reallocate funding to sufficient levels in the upcoming budget, resulting in shorter lines at airports, fewer missed flights, and less frustrated passengers. Over the longer term, strengthening the reputation of Canadian airports as reliable transiting hubs will also have a positive economic impact on communities served by this tourism and trade-enabling infrastructure.
Airports Canada 2015 Conference and Exhibition: Come Take Flight to Vancouver!
Airports Council International-North America and the CAC invite airport, airline and aviation leaders from Canada and beyond to attend the Airports Canada 2015 Conference and Exhibition in Vancouver from March 25 to 27, 2015.
The premiere event of its kind in Canada, this biennial industry conference serves as a valuable opportunity for key decision-makers across the sector to share ideas, best practices and intelligence on the leading strategic and operational tools in use at Canadian airports and around the world.
The CAC is putting together a dynamic program this year featuring David Emerson, Chair of the CTA Review and David Solloway, President of Canada Jetlines Ltd., as well as presentations and panel discussions involving influential leaders across Canadian and international aviation, transportation, tourism, business and public policy.
In total, seven sessions are being organized that will focus on connectivity, air service development, promoting Canada abroad, enhancing security, the CTA Review, the need for a national transportation strategy, and the realities of political Ottawa.
Rooms at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver may sell out so make your reservations as soon as possible. We look forward to welcoming you to Vancouver!
Johanne Gallant takes the helm at YFC
The chair of the Fredericton International Airport (FIAA), Brent Melanson, announced on February 16 the board had hired Johanne Gallant as its new CEO. Formerly the director of airport development and acting president and CEO at Moncton International Airport, Ms. Gallant assumed her new duties in Fredericton on March 2.
Gallant spent the last decade at the Moncton Airport, where she was instrumental in developing and growing its cargo services to and from Europe. She also oversaw a major runway expansion, and negotiated new airline services. The new CEO succeeds David Innes, who had served as FIAA's president and CEO since 2001.
Regina Airport Authority appoints Richmond Graham as new CEO
On March 2, the Regina Airport Authority (RAA) announced it had appointed Richmond Graham as its new President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Graham brings to the airport more than 20 years of executive leadership and senior management experience in the mining and natural resources sectors.
"I am excited to work with the RAA team and continue to drive innovation, delight our customers, deliver superior operating results, and build the infrastructure necessary to position the region for continued growth and success," he said in a statement.
Mr. Graham assumes his new duties March 23 as head of an airport that recently earned a prestigious award in the under 4 million passengers category at the 2015 Routes Americas Marketing Awards last month in Denver, Colorado.
First issued in 1997 to recognize excellence in airport marketing, the awards are voted on by senior members of the airline network planning community who review submissions from a shortlist of airports to determine the winner.
Edmonton Airport named one of Alberta's Top Employers for 2015
The Edmonton International Airport was named in February as one of Alberta's Top 70 Employer fo r 2015 by Mediacorp editors.
The airport was recognized for its approach to vacation allowance and time off, retirement planning assistance, staff benefits and pension plans, professional development, maternity leave top-ups for new moms and the option to extend maternity leave into an unpaid leave of absence.
The Alberta's Top Employers list is created by the editors of Canada's Top 100 Employers and is now in its eleventh year.
YVR opens new A-B Connector
The Vancouver International Airport Authority in January celebrated the opening of its newly expanded and upgraded domestic terminal, the A-B Connector. The terminal features new gate capacity, an expedited baggage system, seismic technology to mitigate against an earthquake, and a wide range of new dining and shopping options.
The new $213 million expansion represents the first major infrastructure project completed as part of YVR's 10-year gateway strategy announced in 2012 to keep the airport competitive and an economic generator for British Columbia. It was built using funds collected from the Airport Improvement Fee, retail sales and airplane landing fees.
The A-B Connector contains architectural features that evoke the province's vineyards and orchards, fishing lodges and the Fraser River Canyon and is anchored by The Rivers Monument, a contemporary art piece by First Nations artist Marianne Nicolson.
A�roports de Montr�al benefits from funding deal
In January, A�roports de Montr�al (ADM) welcomed an announcement by the Government of Qu�bec and the Caisse de d�p�t et placement du Qu�bec which paves the way for an innovative new framework for future financing and the completion of major infrastructure projects in the province.
As part of the new framework, a public transit system linking downtown Montreal, Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport and the West Island of Montreal will be prioritized. ADM regards the public transit system as essential to the future of airport operations and development of air services in Montreal.
UP Express intensifies testing for spring launch
The new Union Pearson Express rail service linking Union Station and Toronto Pearson International Airport increased test runs in February in anticipation of a spring launch.
A division of Ontario's Metrolinx transit agency, the UP Express is a significant addition to the public transit landscape in Toronto and part of an overall strategy to improve coordination and integration of transportation throughout Canada's largest city.
According to UP Express, the official date for the start of service will be announced after the successful completion of the testing phase. The 25-minute, 25 km. end-to-end service is expected to operate at 15-minute intervals in both directions and remove 1.2 million cars of the road in its first year.
"Y" it's great to fly here
When it comes to Canada's interconnected economy, our airports are indispensable. On an annual basis, Canada's airport sector serves approximately 120 million passengers while supporting 141,000 direct jobs, generating $35 billion in GDP and accruing $7 billion in taxes.
Airports facilitate business, international trade and tourism-the movement of people and goods-that ensures Canada can compete on the global stage. To put it simply: airports are a pillar of the economy.
Today, the vast majority of airports in Canada are non-share, not-for-profit, community-governed airport authorities. They operate as self-sustaining businesses that support economic development in local communities.
In order to continue growing passenger and cargo traffic, the Canadian Airports Council (CAC) is seeking measures to ensure visa programs such as Transit Without Visa (TWOV) are expanded, streamlined and aligned with other countries. The CAC and its member airports also support technological innovation and policy reform to achieve meaningful reductions in security screening and
border wait times--all in the name of improving the traveller experience.
The positive economic impacts from increased trade, travel and tourism are indisputable. Assuming Canadian airports are able to capture just 5% of US-bound traffic from Asia, an expanded TWOV program with new origins and carriers would have an estimated impact of $270 million in GDP, producing 3,200 jobs and $110 million for government fiscal balances.
Learn more about the priorities of Canada's airports and what this infrastructure needs to remain an essential part of "Y" it's great to fly here.
The Canadian Airports Council (CAC), a division of Airports Council International-North America, is the voice for Canada's airports. Our 45 members represent more than 100 Canadian airports, including all of the National Airports System (NAS) airports and most passenger service airports in every province and territory.
Gregory Kampf
Senior Manager, Public Affairs and Communications
gregory.kampf@cacairports.ca
Airports Canada 2015 Conference and Exhibition
ACI-NA
ACI World
Tourism Industry Association of Canada
National Airlines Council of Canada
Hotel Association of Canada
Air Cadet League of Canada
Airports Canada 2015 Conference & Exhibition
2015 ACI-NA Annual Conference & Exhibition
October 4-7
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Words for the journey — June 2019
Greetings, Friends!
Dr. Phaedra P. Blocker
Director of Programs
It’s June! The traditional season of celebrating dads and grads, brides and grooms — and of me randomly offering renditions of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “June is Busting Out All Over!” But I digress. 😊
June is also the month that we commemorate “Juneteenth,” June 19, 1865, the day that the total emancipation of Black people held in slavery went into effect in Texas. This was more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, and nearly six months after the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. Communities throughout Texas and elsewhere in the country celebrate Juneteenth each year with festivals and other public activities, many of which include a reading of General Order No. 3:
“The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and free laborer.”
Unfortunately, although slavery was legally abolished (under most circumstances), the hope of Reconstruction was quickly dashed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by the rapid establishment of “black codes” and “Jim Crow” laws that functionally stripped Black Americans of the rights and privileges of citizenship. And although progress has certainly been made over the ensuing decades, we must acknowledge that efforts to undo that progress have continued as well.
Even where laws have changed, hearts have not. We are seeing serious efforts to legislate (or re-legislate) what unchanged hearts believe should be the reality for those they deem inferior and unnecessary. We seem to keep cycling through a Reconstruction/Post-Reconstruction dynamic — one in which power and privilege are bitterly determined to maintain, and increasingly strengthen, their positions at the expense of people of color, the poor, the immigrant and anyone else considered “the other.”
And what’s worse, they are quite happy to misuse the mantle of Christianity to do it. And so, while we continue to celebrate the victories, we must also continue to “watch, fight and pray” for justice and equality.
On a brighter note (no pun intended), June is also Black Music Month! This month we highlight and celebrate the creativity of Black composers, musicians and singers in a wide variety of musical genres — from classical music to jazz, from traditional gospels to metered hymns and anthems, from blues to gospel, from spirituals to contemporary praise and worship, and more. Music has always been a vital form of cultural and artistic expression, of political commentary and protest, of celebration and worship.
This month, I encourage you to explore the music of artists from the African Diaspora. Learn the stories; share the music. After all, music is called a “universal language.” Let it bring us closer as we work together toward becoming “beloved community.”
Wishing you joy for the journey,
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a volunteer group dedicated to promoting New Philharmonic
NEW PHILHARMONIC
MAESTRO MUSPRATT
Puccini’s Tosca Concert Production
Saturday, September 20, 2014, 8:00 pm
Sunday, September 21, 2014, 3:00 pm
Tosca: Karen Slack
Cavaradossi: Dominic Armstrong
Scarpia: Corey Crider
Northwest Indiana Symphony Chorus Director: Dr. Nancy Menk
Love and jealousy. Politics and murder. Fire and passion. Puccini’s opera tells the immortal tale of the singer Tosca and the painter Cavaradossi, whom she loves, and their betrayal at the hands of jealous Scarpia. Everything is driven by love — of others, of country and of power. This concert production features the gifted soloists and 100 members of the Northwest Indiana Symphony Chorus as they bring this story of longing and destruction to life. Sung in Italian with English subtitles.
Oktoberfest with a New Philharmonic Twist
It will be Wunderbar and fun! Replete with an outdoor Oktoberfest dinner and Oom-Pah Band, bratwurst and schnitzel (for an additional fee). It will be a barrel full of Bach, Mozart and Strauss as well as polkas, toasts, and of course, the unexpected.
New Year’s Eve with an International Twist!
Wednesday, December 31, 1:00 pm, 5:00 pm, 9:00 pm
John Irvin, Tenor
You now have THREE performances to choose from! Yes, you read it correctly. New Philharmonic’s New Year’s Eve concert has become so popular that we had to add a performance. Continuing our tradition of featuring soloists from the Lyric Opera Ryan Center for Young Artists, John Irvin, a smashing young tenor who is about to turn the world on its heels is the perfect choice for the evening. There will certainly be Johann Strauss, Stoltz and Von Suppe — but hold on to your champagne glasses — there will be even more surprises!
Ravel & Rachmaninoff
Saturday, February 7, 2015, 8:00 pm
Sunday, February 8, 2015, 3:00 pm
Winston Choi, Piano
Ravel, Concerto for the Left Hand
Rachmaninoff, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, op.43
Shchedrin, Carmen Suite for Percussion and Strings
Rimsky-Korsakov, Capriccio Espagnol
Two concerti on the same program? A tall order, but not for Winston Choi. Laureate of the 2003 Honens International Piano Competition and winner of France’s 2002 Concours International de Piano, Choi is one of the most sought after pianists in Chicagoland. Whether he is collaborating with members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra or soloing on WFMT, he is amazing. The second half of the program features the Shchedrin Carmen Suite written for five percussionists and string orchestra. This piece is magical to hear and to behold.
Bach to Bock
Saturday, April 18, 2015, 8:00 pm
Sunday, April 19, 2015, 3:00 pm
David Taylor, Violin
Bach, Double Concerto for Oboe and Violin — Kevin May, oboist
Vaughn-Williams, The Lark Ascending
Bock-Williams, Cadenzas from Fiddler on the Roof
Mendelssohn, Wedding March from Midsummer Nights Dream
Mendelssohn, Symphony No. 3 (Scottish)
New Philharmonic has been trying to arrange for CSO Assistant Concert Master, David Taylor, to play with them for years. John Williams selected him to help edit his “Fiddler on the Roof” cadenzas. We have all loved the opening music to Fiddler and now that it is published, New Philharmonic has the opportunity to perform it live. In addition, New Philharmonic will also perform one of your most requested pieces of repertoire — the joyous “Scottish Symphony”.
Next Performance: ENCORE with David Taylor, Violin, Apr. 8 @ 7:30pm & Apr. 9 @ 3pm
Concerts at the MAC
425 Fawell Blvd
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New Philharmonic in the News
New Philharmonic Honored As 2017 Professional Orchestra Of The Year By The Illinois Council Of Orchestras March 30, 2017
New Philharmonic ends season with ‘Encore’ March 29, 2017
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Countdown is on to the “Live at the Beach Portrush Festival” in celebration of 50 years of Kellys
It’s just over six days until world-class musical artists from all over the world fly-in for Northern Ireland’s biggest and best beach to mark 50 years of partying in Portrush – all thanks to Kellys and Lush!
Next Saturday 10 August, Kellys Portrush/Lush! will host a 12,000 capacity Beach Festival in their spiritual home of Portrush in partnership with the Ulster Orchestra and world-class DJs. Tickets have been selling like hot cakes for the hugely anticipated event which follows the overwhelming success of the sell-out Lush! Classical shows at the SSE Arena Belfast and Ebrington Square, Derry/Londonderry for the Clipper Yacht Race celebrations.
This event takes the show to the next level with their biggest classical show to-date…taking the ‘Lush Classical’ concept outdoors with the North Coast’s stunning coastline as its backdrop.
Lush! Classical Live at the Beach will be staged at Portrush’s famous East Strand and will see a 55-piece Ulster Orchestra, produced by Kylie Minogue’s musical director Steve Anderson combined with the genius of DJ and musical producer, Dave Seaman and featuring ‘Ibiza’s favourite saxophone player’ Lovely Laura and Maria Nayler. The event has capacity for 12,000 music fans -making it the biggest ever outdoor Classical dance event in Northern Ireland estimated at contributing more than £1.8million to the local economy.
Special guests include Seb Fontaine, Tall Paul, K Klass, Ben Santiago, Dee Montero and Junior J.
The event is part of a three-day music festival event in partnership with LSFX Productions.
For generations of music-fans in Northern Ireland, Kellys in Portrush has always been synonymous with the biggest stars of the local and international dance scene filling the floors every weekend for the most enthusiastic revelers.
The newly revamped Kellys venue is also renowned for innovation and pushing the boundaries of genre, while pioneering new forms of dance music.
Peter Wilson, owner, Kellys Portrush said: “This is our golden year for Kellys as we celebrate our 50th anniversary, so we really wanted to pull out all the stops and give our loyal fans the party of their life,” Peter said.
“We have already had an unbelievable summer with the success of The Open and next weekend is the icing on the cake.
“This event will build on the success of our previous classical meets dance events, which actually started as a one-off three years ago to mark Lush’s 20th anniversary.
“Such was the success of Lush! Classical events held in previous years at SSE Arena in Belfast, that we wanted to bring it all back home and recreate an Ibiza-style beach party on the North Coast to celebrate a landmark year for Kellys.
“Demand for an even bigger and better event has been such, that we decided to use the fantastic coastal venue on our doorstep to host a party worthy of Kellys’ five decades as the North’s premier entertainment hub.”
Given the nature of the dance/classical mash-up, these events attract people from 18 to 60 as many of the greatest dance tunes of all time are reinterpreted for the 21st century by superstar DJs, supported by the 55-strong Ulster Orchestra.
To date, Lush! has entertained over one million partygoers, with people travelling from all over the north and beyond every week to enjoy fresh and classic beats, with many top DJ’s citing the atmosphere in the club as the best in the world.
“This is event going to be huge,” Peter says. “We took a chance in 2016 with what admittedly sounds like a bit of crazy idea as the Ulster Orchestra backing some of the world’s biggest house music DJs didn’t sound like it would work.
“The last three years have seen us stake our reputation and invest a lot of capital into something that had never been done in Northern Ireland before.
“Lush! Classical was born out of an idea presented to me by Col Hamilton, our co-founder and resident DJ of Lush. He had seen the fantastic success of the Ibiza Proms and had the idea to run an even better version using our own Ulster Orchestra in the SSE Arena.
“Col has been with us since Lush! started back in 1996 and I am glad I trusted his judgement as fans have loved it and fully supported every ‘classical meets dance’ event we have organised over the last three years.
Col Hamilton continued: “We are so excited to be on the final countdown for this event which we have been planning for many months.
“There are a limited number of tickets left so I recommend anyone still hoping to go to go onto Ticketmaster now and purchase them asap.
“Following on from the huge success of The Open this is going to be THE legendary party on the North Coast this summer,” he added.
“The first year we ran the Lush! Classical in 2016 we sold out the 5,000 capacity of the arena, and the following years we doubled the numbers with over 10,000 revellers gathered in the SSE Arena. That proves we are doing something right.
“This year is going to be even bigger and better, and I am delighted that we are bringing jobs and investment into my home town. I cant wait to share the night with the people of Portrush and the North Coast.”
Lush! Classical Live at the Beach will be staged on August 10, 2019, at Portrush’s East Strand from 5pm to 11pm.
Tickets cost £35 and £50 (plus booking fees) for the VIP area (hosted by Ibiza’s Café Mambo) and can be purchased from the usual outlets.
For more information go to www.liveatthebeach.co.uk. Note, this event is strictly over 18’s only.
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Matt Andriese Sidelined Until August with Hip Ailment
Posted on June 12, 2017, by Bryan Zarpentine
Image via tampabay.com
As expected, the Tampa Bay Rays placed starter Matt Andriese on the 10-day DL Monday. However, the prognosis on the righty appears to be worse than expected. The Rays originally planned to send Andriese to the DL wit a strained right groin. But he has now been diagnosed with a hip issue that will keep him sidelined until at least August.
Andriese started on Saturday but lasted just one inning against Oakland before being removed due to the groin strain. Further examination of the groin injury revealed a stress reaction in his hip. A team official said that Andriese won’t need surgery to treat the hip injury. However, Andriese will require a considerable amount of rest for the hip to heal, keeping him out for at least a couple months.
When he’s been healthy this year, Andriese has been one of Tampa Bay’s best starters. Andriese has bounced between Tampa’s rotation and the bullpen the past two years. However, this year he has finally solidified a permanent spot in Tampa’s rotation. In 12 starts this year, Andriese is 5-1 with a 3.54 ERA, the lowest among the team’s starters.
With Andriese going to the DL, the Rays have recalled rookie Jacob Faria. The 23-year old will start Tuesday against the Blue Jays, pushing everyone else in the rotation back a day. Faria was impressive in his big-league debut last week against the White Sox. He allowed just one run on three hits over 6.1 innings, striking out five.
Faria is rated as Tampa Bay’s 9th best prospect, according to MLB.com. He was sent back to triple-A right after his start last week. But the injury to Andriese has forced the Rays to bring him right back. The Rays have other options for their rotation if Faria doesn’t work out. Blake Snell, who began the season in the rotation, has pitched well in the minors since being demoted. Of course, the Rays are hopeful Faria will prove to be a long-term replacement for Andriese.
“The way he just threw strikes overall, that was the biggest thing,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said after Faria’s big league debut. “He showed zero fear of attacking and getting outs in the zone. And that’s a big ask for a young guy to come in and come get some of these hitters out. But you gotta prove and establish that you’re willing to get them out in the zone, not looking for a chase every single time they’re going to swing, and he did that. I was just really impressed with the fastball command and not altering his approach because he’s at a different level now.”
Faria certainly looked ready for a full-time spot in a major league rotation in his debut last week. But the loss of Andriese for an extended period of time is a serious blow for the Rays nonetheless. Tampa Bay has quietly moved into third place in the AL East and a tie for the second wild-card spot in the American League.
The Rays have moved into that position on the back of their starting rotation, which is one of the best in baseball. If Tampa Bay can continue to pitch at a high level, the club will undoubtedly be relevant in the playoff race the second half of the season. But losing Andriese, who’s arguably been their best starter this year, poses a problem for the Rays, despite considerable depth in their rotation.
Blake Snell, Jacob Faria, Kevin Cash, Matt Andriese, Tampa Bay Rays
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Accenture Reports Financial Results for First-Quarter Fiscal 2005
Revenues Increase 14%; EPS of $0.32 is Ahead of Company’s Expectations
NEW YORK; Jan. 6, 2005 – Accenture (NYSE: ACN) today reported net revenues of $3.73 billion and earnings per share of $0.32 for the first quarter of fiscal 2005, ended Nov. 30, 2004.
Net revenues grew 14 percent overall, with outsourcing increasing 15 percent and consulting increasing 14 percent. The company achieved net revenue growth across all three of its geographic regions, and net revenue growth in U.S. dollars across all five of its operating groups, with exceptional top-line contributions from its Financial Services and Products operating groups. In addition, the company revised its expectations upward for both net revenues and earnings per share for the full fiscal year.
Revenues before reimbursements (“net revenues”) were $3.73 billion, compared with $3.26 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2004, an increase of 14 percent in U.S. dollars and 9 percent in local currency.
Diluted earnings per share were $0.32, compared with $0.33 for the first quarter last year, and ahead of the company’s expected range of $0.28 to $0.31. Year-over-year diluted EPS growth was 22 percent excluding a $0.06 benefit from an $86 million reduction in reorganization liabilities in the first quarter last fiscal year and a $7 million reorganization expense in the first quarter this fiscal year.
Operating income was $458 million, or 12.3 percent of net revenues, compared with $507 million, or 15.5 percent of net revenues, for the first quarter last year. Excluding reorganization costs and benefits described above, operating income for the first quarter of fiscal 2005 was $465 million, or 12.5 percent of net revenues, compared with $421 million, or 12.9 percent of net revenues, for the first quarter of fiscal 2004.
William D. Green, Accenture’s CEO, said: “We’re pleased with our strong top- and bottom-line performance in the first quarter, which reflects our ability to execute our strategy of helping clients become high-performance businesses. Our net revenues were the highest of any quarter in Accenture’s history, with growth in all three geographic regions and U.S. dollar growth in all five operating groups. We are particularly pleased with the growth in our consulting revenues, the strongest we’ve seen since we became a public company.
“Looking ahead, we are encouraged by the high level of activity in the marketplace, the momentum we are seeing in demand for our services, particularly in consulting, and our strong pipeline. At the same time, we have several operational areas that we will improve upon in the second quarter and beyond. We are confident that we will achieve our financial objectives for the full fiscal year.”
Gross margin (gross profit as a percentage of net revenues) was 33.0 percent, compared with 34.1 percent for the first quarter of fiscal 2004 and 32.4 percent for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2004. The year-over-year decline was primarily due to higher labor costs in the quarter, reflecting an increase in compensation effective September 1 and short-term staffing inefficiencies due to growth in demand for the company’s services and increased resource utilization.
Selling, general and administrative costs were $765 million, or 20.5 percent of net revenues, compared with $690 million, or 21.2 percent of net revenues, for the first quarter last year. The improvement was due to continued cost-management efforts and the ability to grow revenues without a corresponding increase in SG&A costs.
Accenture accrued variable compensation expense of $47 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2005. In the first quarter last year, the company did not accrue variable compensation and reversed $4 million of previously accrued variable compensation.
The company’s effective tax rate for the first quarter of fiscal 2005 was 34.0 percent, compared with 34.8 percent for the same period last year.
Income before minority interest was $320 million, compared with $335 million for the same period last year. Income before minority interest in the first quarter last fiscal year was $271 million excluding the $64 million after-tax benefit from the $86 million reduction in reorganization liabilities.
Accenture’s total cash balance at Nov. 30, 2004 was $2.27 billion, compared with $2.33 billion for the year-ago period and $2.55 billion at Aug. 31, 2004. Cash combined with $939 million of fixed-income securities classified as investments on the company’s balance sheet was $3.21 billion at Nov. 30, 2004, compared with $2.33 billion for same period last year and $3.15 billion at Aug. 31, 2004. Total debt at Nov. 30, 2004 was $40 million.
For the first quarter of fiscal 2005, free cash flow, defined as operating cash flow net of property and equipment additions, was negative $116 million, operating cash flow was negative $61 million, and property and equipment additions were $55 million. Free cash flow was reduced by the planned payout of $216 million of accrued variable compensation and an increase in client balances. The increase in client balances was due to growth in revenues, increases in client financing, the amortization of prepayments from clients, and some temporary delays in billings.
Consulting and Outsourcing Net Revenues
Consulting net revenues were $2.385 billion, or 64 percent of net revenues, an increase of 14 percent in U.S. dollars and 8 percent in local currency over the first quarter of fiscal year 2004.
Outsourcing accounted for $1.345 billion, or 36 percent of net revenues, an increase of 15 percent in U.S. dollars and 10 percent in local currency over the year-ago period.
Net Revenues by Operating Group
Net revenues for Accenture’s five operating groups were as follows:
Communications & High Tech: $973 million, compared with $879 million for first quarter of fiscal 2004, an increase of 11 percent in U.S. dollars and 6 percent in local currency. Growth was primarily driven by an increase in consulting revenues across all industry groups.
Financial Services: $807 million, compared with $646 million for the same period last year, an increase of 25 percent in U.S. dollars and 17 percent in local currency. Growth was driven mainly by the strength of the company’s business in the United Kingdom, as well as by strong growth in the Capital Markets and Insurance industry groups globally.
Government: $524 million, compared with $478 million for the year-ago period, an increase of 10 percent in U.S. dollars and 5 percent in local currency, driven primarily by higher consulting revenues from clients in Europe, particularly in the United Kingdom.
Resources: $564 million, compared with $555 million for the same period last year, an increase of 2 percent in U.S. dollars and a decrease of 4 percent in local currency. Revenues increased in the EMEA region and in the Energy and Metals & Mining industry groups but declined in North America and in the Chemicals and Utilities industry groups.
Products: $862 million, compared with $701 million for the year-ago period, an increase of 23 percent in U.S. dollars and 17 percent in local currency, driven by strong growth in consulting and outsourcing revenues, particularly in the Retail & Consumer industry group in North America.
Net Revenues by Geographic Region
Net revenues by geographic region were as follows:
Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA): $1.92 billion, compared with $1.55 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2004, an increase of 24 percent in U.S. dollars and 12 percent in local currency.
Americas: $1.54 billion, compared with $1.49 billion for the year-ago period, an increase of 3 percent in both U.S. dollars and local currency.
Asia Pacific: $270 million, compared with $220 million for the year-ago period, an increase of 23 percent in U.S. dollars and 19 percent in local currency.
New Bookings
New bookings for the first quarter totaled $4.03 billion, with consulting accounting for $1.96 billion and outsourcing accounting for $2.07 billion.
Share Repurchase Activity
During the first quarter of fiscal 2005, Accenture repurchased approximately 1.6 million of its Class A common shares with a total value of $39 million. At Nov. 30, 2004, Accenture had $3.25 billion of share repurchase authority remaining, of which approximately $1 billion remained for use in connection with the Company’s open-market share purchase program. The balance was available for redemptions and purchases from Accenture’s partners, former partners, their permitted transferees and employees. Accenture expects to purchase or redeem $1.25 billion to $1.75 billion of its shares during the balance of the fiscal year, through both open-market share purchases and its ongoing Share Management Plan transactions.
Second Quarter Fiscal 2005
For the second quarter of fiscal 2005, Accenture expects net revenues in the range of $3.60 billion to $3.75 billion and GAAP diluted earnings per share in the range of $0.33 to $0.35. GAAP diluted earnings per share for the second quarter will include a benefit of $0.03 per share from a $41 million reduction in reorganization liabilities that were established in connection with Accenture’s transition to corporate structure in 2001. This reduction was recognized in December 2004.
Full Fiscal Year 2005
For the full fiscal year 2005, Accenture now expects net revenue growth in the range of 13 percent to 16 percent in U.S. dollars and continues to expect net revenue growth in the range of 9 percent to 12 percent in local currency. Accenture has revised its guidance for GAAP diluted earnings per share upward to the range of $1.41 to $1.46. Diluted earnings per share for the full fiscal year will include a benefit of $0.04 per share from the $41 million reduction in reorganization liabilities that was recognized in December 2004. Diluted earnings per share for the full fiscal year will also include a $0.02 benefit in the second half of the fiscal year associated with Accenture’s expected share repurchases.
As previously stated, the company expects operating cash flow to be $1.85 billion to $2.05 billion, property and equipment additions to be $400 million, free cash flow to be in the range of $1.45 billion to $1.65 billion, and the annual effective tax rate to be in the range of 32 percent to 34 percent. Accenture continues to target new bookings for fiscal year 2005 in the range of $18 billion to $20 billion.
Conference Call and Webcast Details
Accenture will host a conference call at 4:30 p.m. EST today to discuss its first-quarter fiscal 2005 financial results. To participate, please dial +1 (800) 230-1074 [+1 (612) 288-0318 outside the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada] approximately 15 minutes before the scheduled start of the call. The conference call will also be accessible live on the Investor Relations section of the Accenture Web site at www.accenture.com.
A replay of the conference call will be available online at www.accenture.com and via telephone by dialing +1 (800) 475-6701 [+1 (320) 365-3844 outside the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada] and entering access code 762547 from 9:45 p.m. EST Thursday, Jan. 6 through 11:59 p.m. EST Thursday, Jan. 20.
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Committed to delivering innovation, Accenture collaborates with its clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. With deep industry and business process expertise, broad global resources and a proven track record, Accenture can mobilize the right people, skills and technologies to help clients improve their performance. With more than 100,000 people in 48 countries, the company generated net revenues of US$13.67 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2004. Its home page is www.accenture.com.www.accenture.com.
This news release contains forward-looking statements relating to our operations and results of operations, the accuracy of which is necessarily subject to risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied include general economic conditions and the factors discussed under the "Risk Factors" heading in the Business section of our most recent annual report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Accenture undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements made in this news release or to conform such statements to actual results or changes in Accenture’s expectations.
Non-GAAP Financial Information
This press release includes certain non-GAAP financial information as defined by Securities and Exchange Commission Regulation G. Pursuant to the requirements of this regulation, reconciliations of this non-GAAP financial information to Accenture’s financial statements as prepared under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) are included in this press release. Accenture discloses operating income and fully diluted earnings per share growth excluding reorganization costs and benefits because Accenture’s management believes this information provides investors with additional information regarding Accenture’s results of operations. Accenture also excludes reorganization and restructuring charges as well as certain other items from diluted earnings per share for purposes of determining the amount, if any, of variable compensation to be accrued. Accenture also discloses free cash flow, defined as operating cash flow net of property and equipment additions. Accenture’s management believes that by providing more visibility on free cash flow and reconciling it to operating cash flow, Accenture provides another consistent metric from which the quality of its business may be monitored. While Accenture’s management believes that these non-GAAP financial measures are useful in evaluating Accenture’s operations, this information should be considered as supplemental in nature and not as a substitute for the related financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP.
ACCENTURE LTD
CONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENTS
For the Three Months Ended November 30, 2004 and 2003
(In thousands of U.S. dollars, except share and per share data)
% of Net Revenues % of Net Revenues
Revenues before reimbursements (Net revenues) $ 3,730,355 100% $ 3,261,585 100%
Reimbursements 341,017 9 312,903 10
Revenues 4,071,372 109 3,574,488 110
Cost of services:
Cost of services before reimbursable expenses 2,500,439 67 2,150,890 66
Reimbursable expenses 341,017 9 312,903 10
Cost of services 2,841,456 76 2,463,793 76
Sales and marketing 360,943 10 350,597 11
General and administrative costs 403,815 11 339,356 10
Reorganization costs (benefits) 7,008 0 (86,398) (3)
Total operating expenses 3,613,222 97 3,067,348 94
OPERATING INCOME 458,150 12 507,140 16
Gain on investments, net 14,540 0 498 0
Interest income 20,121 1 10,423 0
Interest expense (6,316) 0 (5,751) 0
Other income (expense) (2,327) 0 1,526 0
Equity in losses of affiliates - 0 (686) 0
INCOME BEFORE INCOME TAXES 484,168 13 513,150 16
Provision for income taxes 164,617 4 178,576 5
INCOME BEFORE MINORITY INTEREST 319,551 9 334,574 10
Minority interest (123,278) (3) (160,234) (5)
NET INCOME $ 196,273 5 $ 174,340 5
Basic $ 0.33 $ 0.34
Diluted $ 0.32 $ 0.33
WEIGHTED AVERAGE SHARES:
Basic 590,029,649 519,417,011
Diluted 980,298,997 1,019,952,588
SUMMARY OF REVENUES
(In thousands of U.S. dollars)
2004 2003 % Increase/
US$ % Increase/
(Decrease) Local
Currency % of Total
2005 Net
OPERATING GROUPS
Communication & High Tech $ 972,931 $ 879,010 11% 6% 26%
Financial Services 806,693 646,049 25 17 22
Government 523,803 478,219 10 5 14
Products 862,198 701,141 23 17 23
Resources 564,392 554,627 2 (4) 15
Other 338 2,539 n/m n/m 0
TOTAL Net Revenues 3,730,355 3,261,585 14 9 100
Reimbursements 341,017 312,903 9 - -
TOTAL REVENUES $ 4,071,372 $ 3,574,488 14 - -
Americas $ 1,542,204 $ 1,491,569 3 3 41
EMEA 1,918,187 1,550,130 24 12 52
Asia Pacific 269,964 219,886 23 19 7
n/m = not meaningful
OPERATING INCOME BY OPERATING GROUP (OG)
Operating Income as Reported
Operating Groups Operating Income % of OG Net Revenues Operating Income % of OG Net Revenues Increase (Decrease)
US$ Percent
Communications & High Tech $ 149,329 15% $ 75,032 9% $ 74,297 99%
Financial Services 95,426 12 103,680 16 (8,254) (8)
Government 46,267 9 93,903 20 (47,636) (51)
Products 85,868 10 133,837 19 (47,969) (36)
Resources 81,260 14 100,421 18 (19,161) (19)
Other - n/m 267 11 (267) (100)
Total Operating Income 458,150 12 507,140 16 (48,990) (10)
Operating Income Excluding Reorganization Costs/Benefit (1)
Communications & High Tech $ 151,071 16% $ 53,322 6% $ 97,749 183%
Financial Services 96,960 12 84,729 13 12,231 14
Resources 82,253 15 86,327 16 (4,074) (5)
Total Operating Income 465,158 12 420,742 13 44,416 11
(1) For the three months ended November 30, 2004, Accenture recorded reorganization costs of $7,008 relating to Accenture’s transition to a corporate structure in 2001, allocated to the operating groups in the following amounts: Communications & High Tech $1,742; Financial Services $1,534; Government $1,116; Products $1,623; and Resources $993. For the three months ended November 30, 2003, Accenture recorded a benefit of $86,398 relating to a decrease in reorganization liabilities established in connection with Accenture’s transition to a corporate structure in 2001, allocated to the operating groups in the following amounts: Communications & High Tech $21,710; Financial Services $18,951; Government $12,709; Products $18,934; and Resources $14,094. These amounts are excluded from the table.
November 30, 2004 and August 31, 2004
(Unaudited) August 31, 2004
Cash and cash equivalents $ 2,273,522 $ 2,552,958
Short-term investments 591,714 285,288
Receivables from clients, net 1,825,284 1,662,211
Unbilled services 1,489,075 1,049,870
Total current assets 6,913,488 6,212,016
NON-CURRENT ASSETS:
Investments 392,595 340,121
Property and equipment, net 656,526 643,946
Other non-current assets 949,612 872,223
Total non-current assets 1,998,733 1,856,290
TOTAL ASSETS $ 8,912,221 $ 8,068,306
Short-term debt $ 38,490 $ 31,715
Accounts payable 733,112 523,931
Deferred revenues 982,407 980,461
Accrued payroll and related benefits 1,412,645 1,508,126
Other accrued liabilities 1,600,051 1,449,378
Total current liabilities 4,766,705 4,493,611
NON-CURRENT LIABILITIES:
Long-term debt 1,508 2,161
Other non-current liabilities
Total non-current liabilities 1,280,964 1,161,926
MINORITY INTEREST 1,109,859 940,963
Shareholders’ equity 1,754,693 1,471,806
Total equity 1,754,693 1,471,806
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND EQUITY $ 8,912,221 $ 8,068,306
RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES TO GAAP ADJUSTED DILUTED EARNINGS PER SHARE
As Reported As Adjusted As Reported As Adjusted
Net income $ 196,273 $ 196,273 $ 174,340 $ 174,340
Minority interest (1) 121,681 121,681 160,158 160,158
Net income for per share calculation 317,954 317,954 334,498 334,498
Reorganization Cost / (Benefit) - - - 7,008 - - - (86,398)
Reorganization Cost / (Benefit), tax effect (2) (3) - - - (2,383) - - - 22,668
Weighted average diluted shares 980,298,997 980,298,997 1,019,952,588 1,019,952,588
Earnings per Share 0.32 0.33 0.33 0.27
Year-over-Year (Decrease) Increase (3)% 22%
(1) This represents minority interest attributable to Accenture SCA Class I common shares and Accenture Canada Holdings Inc. exchangeable shares not held by Accenture.
(2) The $2,383 tax amount for fiscal 2005 is based upon an annual effective tax rate of 34% for fiscal 2005.
(3) The fiscal 2004 reorganization benefit of $86,398 reduced the 2004 annual effective tax rate from 36.6% to 34.8% but increased income tax expense in the first quarter by $22,668 because the annual tax rate reduction was allocated over all four fiscal 2004 quarters.
Download the PDF of TablesDownload the PDF of Tables
Roxanne Taylor
roxanne.taylor@accenture.com
Accenture Corporate
Financial/ Earnings
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Stoic Brits’ “Stiff Upper Lip” Takes Its Toll on the Nation’s Health
Simplyhealth app
2.7 million Brits1 suffer with minor health issues, such as the cold, stomach complaints and headaches, every day
When it comes to staying healthy, just 16% focus on visiting the doctor when they feel unwell, and over a third (39%) feel it’s quite hard or very hard to get a GP appointment
Residents of Plymouth2 consider themselves the healthiest in the UK; Cardiff the most unhealthy
Millennials (31%) and Generation Z (30%) are more likely to take care of their mental health than any other demographic3
New research by Simplyhealth reveals Britain’s “keep calm and carry on” culture, coupled with lengthy wait times for treatment and lack of access to healthcare, could be having a detrimental impact on the nation’s health, with mental wellbeing a key area of concern.
According to the report, the majority (59%) of Brits consider themselves to be very or fairly healthy, yet it seems many are in fact neglecting their everyday health needs.
For instance, an estimated 2.7 million UK adults1 suffer with minor health concerns, such as the cold, stomach complaints and headaches, every single day. However, when it comes to staying healthy, just 16% focus on visiting the doctor when they feel unwell, while the average Brit will wait for over two weeks to book an appointment with their doctor about a minor health concern.
This appears to be taking its toll, with one in 5 (21%)4 admitting their illnesses last longer as they can’t get to the doctors due to other commitments.
Other reasons for not seeking medical attention for minor illnesses or injuries include not being able to get an appointment, lack of access to a local GP and not wanting to waste the doctors’ time.
Furthermore, many people are failing to take proactive steps to maintain their everyday health, with less than half (46%) of those surveyed booking regular check-ups with the optician to monitor their eye health and just 51% making an appointment with the dentist for a general check-up.
Regional healthcare disparities
The findings also reveal significant regional disparities regarding the UK’s everyday health. Respondents in Plymouth, Bristol and Brighton consider themselves to be the healthiest5, while those in Cardiff consider themselves to be the unhealthiest6.
In addition, Birmingham has the highest incidence of illness, with 10% of the population suffering from minor health issues every single day.
The top 3 healthiest cities in the UK
(% consider themselves to be healthy)5
The top 3 unhealthiest cities in the UK (% consider themselves to be unhealthy)6
Plymouth (67%)
Cardiff (26%)
Bristol (65%)
Sheffield (26%)
Brighton (64%)
Liverpool (25%)
Nottingham is identified as the most challenging city for GP access, followed closely by Bristol, Cardiff, Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh, while Plymouth, Brighton, and Newcastle are thought to be easiest areas in the UK to book a GP appointment.
The hardest city in the UK to book a GP appointment
(% of respondents saying it’s hard)
The easiest city in the UK to book a GP appointment
(% of respondents saying it’s easy)
Nottingham (45%)
Newcastle (41%)
Glasgow (41%)
Norwich (39%)
Manchester (41%)
London (39%)
Barriers to healthcare
When it comes to maintaining their overall health and wellbeing, waiting times and challenges with access to treatment are the primary barriers that Britons face.
For example, well over a third (39%) of Brits say it’s very hard or quite hard to get a GP appointment, while one in three (32%) refrain from seeking medical attention for minor illnesses or injuries as it takes too long to get an appointment.
In addition, 28% state their reluctance to be a burden on the NHS as a key factor preventing them from seeking medical attention for minor illnesses or injuries.
Mental health is a key concern
Despite greater awareness of mental health, it seems there remains a stigma associated with the issue, with the majority of Brits continuing to disregard their wellbeing in this area.
The survey highlights that less than a third (30%) of UK adults feel more comfortable discussing personal mental health issues now than they have done previously.
A further two fifths (40%) state that nothing would make them book an appointment with a counsellor, even though one in three respondents7 (33%) have either been personally diagnosed or a family member has been diagnosed with a mental health condition.
The findings also bring to light stark regional differences in attitudes towards mental wellbeing. For instance, those in the South East of England are almost twice as likely to focus on their mental health to stay healthy compared to those in Northern Ireland (31% vs 16%).
Furthermore, residents of Liverpool, Belfast and Edinburgh2 are less likely to focus on their mental wellbeing to stay healthy than other major cities in the UK.
A look to the future
However, when it comes to mental health, the survey suggests positive signs of progress for the future, with Millennials and Generation Z3 taking a more considered approach.
Almost a third (30%) of 16-24-year-olds focus on taking care of their mental health to stay healthy, while Millennials are almost twice as likely than those aged 55+ (31% vs 18%) take care of their mental wellbeing.
Along with highlighting a need for better access to healthcare in the UK, it is clear from our research that more needs to be done to raise awareness of the everyday steps people can take to protect their physical and mental wellbeing.
Ultimately, prevention is better than cure, so it is important to make the time to focus on your health and be aware of anything that doesn’t seem quite right. I would encourage people to approach a healthcare professional when they have any concerns instead of putting off problems and finding that they get worse or develop into something else.
Catherine Rutland, Clinical Director at Simplyhealth
Eating more fruit and veg, taking regular exercise and sleeping well will all help our physical and mental wellbeing, but we also need to prioritise routine check-ups to ensure any potential problems are picked up before they become a bigger issue.
There is a lot of truth in the old adage “prevention is better than cure”. A health cash plan can offer easy access to GP appointments and telephone counselling as well as covering the cost of prescription medicines, new glasses and physiotherapy.
GP and Simplyhealth Ambassador, Dr Dawn Harper
Simplyhealth is a cost-effective and convenient alternative to private health insurance. With different levels of cover to choose from, the new Simplyhealth cash plan and app provides instant access to GPs, counsellors and physiotherapists and enables customers to claim cashback on everyday healthcare treatments, from prescription medication, physiotherapy, podiatry and more.
To find out more, visit www.simplyhealth.co.uk.
This survey was carried out by Censuswide on the behalf of Simplyhealth and surveyed a nationally representative sample of 3,000 UK adults aged 16+ between 03.01.2020 – 10.01.2020. Censuswide abide by and employ members of the Market Research Society which is based on ESOMAR principles.
1 This statistic was calculated using the 16+ adults sample from the ONS 20182019 midyear estimates.
2 This refers to respondents who live in or closet to city mentioned. This is applicable to any further reference of city.
3 The term Generation Z refers to those aged 16-24 years old and Millennials refer to those aged 25-34 years old.
4This statistic refers to respondents who find managing a busy lifestyle impacts their everyday healthcare management
5 This statistic was calculated by combining those who selected ‘Very healthy’ and ‘Fairly healthy’ when asked how healthy or unhealthy do you consider yourself to be.
6 This statistic was calculated by combining those who selected ‘Very unhealthy’ and ‘Fairly unhealthy’ when asked how healthy or unhealthy do you consider yourself to be.
7 Respondents refer to those who feel more comfortable discussing personal mental health issues now than they have done previously
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Supporting America's Infrastructure
Coeur Mining: Meeting the Needs of America’s Energy Infrastructure
The U.S. is home to a diverse energy mix that includes coal, natural gas, oil, nuclear, wind and solar.
Always a leader in innovation, the U.S. is one of the top solar users in the world – with 18,317 megawatts of solar capacity. In fact, the oldest solar power plant in the world is located right here in the U.S.: the 354-megawatt SEGS thermal power plant in California.
Mining is key to the solar industry because solar panels are dependent on silver. As the most reflective metal, with the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of all metals, silver is an important component of photovoltaic cells. A majority — or 90 percent — of crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells, which are the most common solar cell, use a silver paste.
With the average solar panel relying on about two-thirds of an ounce of silver, which is about 20 grams, the solar industry depends on mining companies like Coeur to provide the key raw materials for manufacture. And by the end of 2016, Coeur is expected to have produced 14-16 million ounces of silver. With two large-scale silver mines in the United States and three more located internationally, Coeur Mining is more than prepared to meet the growing demands of the solar industry.
As explained by Coeur Mining CEO Mitchell Krebs in a recent Financial Times article: “Ten years ago, silver demand going into solar panels was just a blip, a rounding error. Solar looks like it will become a larger and larger part of the overall demand picture for silver and become something significant.”
Twin Metals, Providing the Copper and Nickel We Need
Recently, Elon Musk of Tesla Inc. urged producers to mine more nickel, a critical component of electric cars. But more than nickel is needed... Read More
Warrior Met Coal: Supporting the Steel Industry in Recovery
Steel is a vital part of infrastructure projects. It supports structures including buildings, roads and bridges, telecommunications networks,... Read More
Freeport-McMoRan: Providing Minerals for America’s Infrastructure
When America gets back to work after the COVID-19 crisis, infrastructure projects – and the products of mining that make them possible – will... Read More
At the core of America’s infrastructure is copper. It is a critical metal for wiring, building bridges, highways and ports, and, once these projects... Read More
CORESafety
@NMACORESafety Jan 16
Be sure to watch January's episode of CORESafety TV, available here: ow.ly/XaGz50D2GZ2 pic.twitter.com/D4wZxlQyzp
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From the “Governors who never came up with bail money” category
By wallye • 03/09/06 4:43pm
Republicans had expected to win the Governor’s race in 1961, when Democrat Robert Meyner was retiring after two terms. Their candidates was James Mitchell, a Democrat-turned-Republican who had served as U.S. Secretary of Labor under President Dwight Eisenhower. He won a multi-candidate GOP primary against Walter Jones, the State Senator from Bergen County. Mitchell had begun his political career in 1933 as a New Deal Democrat, working for President Franklin Roosevelt’s administration as the head of the New Jersey Relief Administration’s Union County office. He later went to Washington as head of labor relations for the U.S. Army Construction Program and became Director of Personnel for the U.S. Department of War in 1942. After World War II, Mitchell returned to New Jersey to head the personnel department at Bloomingdales, and contined to work for the Army in Germany and Korea. He became a national leader of Democrats for Eisenhower in the 1952 campaign; after Eisenhower’s election he became the the Assistant U.S. Secretary of Labor. Ten months later, Eisenhower appointed Mitchell to his cabinet, where he served until January 1961. In the general election, Mitchell faced 52-year-old Richard Hughes, a former Superior Court Judge and federal prosecutor who became the compromise choice of Democratic party leaders. Hughes, the father of Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes and former gubernatorial candidate Michael Murphy, had served as Mercer County Democratic Chairman and had lost a bid for Congress 23 years earlier. For the first time, two Roman Catholic candidates faced off in a campaign for statewide office in New Jersey. Hughes proved to be a tremendous campaigner, while Mitchell was forced off the campaign trail for several weeks that fall after breaking his leg. Hughes won by 34,920 votes, a 50%-49% margin. Hughes went on to win a landslide re-election in 1965, and served as Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court from 1973 to 1979. Mitchell returned to the private sector after the election and died of a heart attack on October 19, 1964. He was 63-years-old. Had Mitchell won the gubernatorial election, he would have become the first Governor of New Jersey to die in office since William Livingston, the state’s first Governor, in 1790. Mitchell would have been succeeded by the State Senate President, 42-year-old Charles Sandman of Cape May County. Sandman lost Republican primaries for Governor in 1965 and 1969; he upset incumbent Governor William Cahill in the 1973 primary, but lost the general election to Brendan Byrne by 721, 378 votes. Footnote: Hughes had been serving as a County Court Judge when Republican Governor Alfred Driscoll appointed another New Jersey Democrat, William Brennan, as an Associate Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court. Driscoll then named Hughes to replace Brennan on the Superior Court. Eisenhower later nominated Brennan for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. Hughes’ campaign for Governor was launched by law partner was Mercer County Democratic Chairman Thorn Lord, a former U.S. Attorney who had run for U.S. Senate against Clifford Case in 1960.
SEE ALSO: Another view
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Uber and Lyft Ban Alt-Right Activist Laura Loomer After Anti-Muslim Tweets
Laura Loomer. Laura Loomer
Both Uber and Lyft have garnered their fair share of bad press in recent months, but the ride-sharing companies’ latest move is actually being widely praised.
Alt-right activist and independent journalist Laura Loomer has been banned from both platforms because of her reaction to the Lower Manhattan terror attack on Tuesday, in which eight people were killed and 11 others injured. The attack was carried out by a Muslim man named Sayfullo Saipov who had pledged allegiance to ISIS—he was also an Uber driver.
In the days since the incident, Loomer has tweeted dozens of anti-Muslim messages. She criticized Muslim women for simply walking down the street in hijabs, claiming they were “rubbing it in everyone’s face.” She also retweeted an image of Keith Olbermann wrapped in the ISIS flag—Olbermann defended Muslims in the wake of the attack.
But it was a series of tweets against Muslim Uber and Lyft drivers that got Loomer in the most trouble.
Someone needs to create a non Islamic form of @uber or @lyft because I never want to support another Islamic immigrant driver.
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) November 1, 2017
I'm late to the NYPD press conference because I couldn't find a non Muslim cab or @Uber @lyft driver for over 30 min! This is insanity.
By last night, Uber and Lyft had deactivated Loomer’s accounts because she violated their community guidelines.
Loomer’s tweets drew criticism on Twitter as well. Supermodel Gigi Hadid called her a “fucking moron,” while other tweeters labeled her “human trash” and “thundercunt.”
But instead of backing off, Loomer doubled down. She dubbed herself “one of the few people on this planet with balls big enough to tell the truth about Islam.” She also said she would sue Uber and Lyft.
This isn’t the first time Loomer, who is Jewish, has tangled with a ride-sharing company. She and a friend have already filed another suit against Uber, claiming that a Muslim driver refused to transport them after he heard them talking about Rosh Hashanah. The case is pending in the New York City Commission on Human Rights.
A former correspondent for the conservative site Rebel Media, 24-year-old Loomer is infamous for her viral alt-right activism. She tried to start a student group supporting ISIS at Barry University and disrupted a Shakespeare in the Park performance featuring a Trump-inspired Julius Caesar.
Loomer also asked Chelsea Clinton to sign a copy of her children’s book She Persisted for Juanita Broadrick, who accused Bill Clinton of rape.
Many Twitter users said Loomer should be banned from the site because of her vitriol, just as right wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos was. Twitter did not respond to an Observer request for comment about the matter.
Filed Under: Innovation, Technology, Digital Media, News, twitter, Bill Clinton, Uber, ISIS, Chelsea Clinton, Lyft
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5 Epic Battles That Changed History Forever
April 29, 2015 Topic: Security Tags: BattlesHistoryWar
History is filled with battles that have shaped world events. Here are the true game changers.
by Akhilesh Pillalamarri
Battles can make or break states and change the destiny of nations forever. As such, they represent some of humanity’s most important events. While there have been dozens of important, interesting battles over the past five thousand years of recorded warfare, here are five that changed history forever, though by no means is this list exhaustive. Instead, I have selected a wide range of battles from across different regions and times and have specifically avoided focusing on more well-known modern battles, many of which will be covered by The National Interest soon to mark the end of the Napoleonic Wars and World War II.
Milvian Bridge (313)
This seemingly random skirmish should have been just another battle in a series of long-forgotten skirmishes in the civil wars that consumed the Roman Empire during much of the third century. However, the fact that Constantine the Great won the battle to become the Roman Emperor was a major event in world history.
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Constantine, who was fighting to become emperor, arrived near Rome to fight an army twice the size of his. The night before the battle, he allegedly saw a cross or chi-rho sign in the sky with the words “by this sign, you shall conquer.” He ordered his soldiers to paint the cross onto their shields and won the subsequent battle, becoming emperor in the process. He then began to patronize Christianity, leading to its spread from a small persecuted sect to the official religion of the empire by 380. His actions led to the establishment of an organized sort of Christianity that would play an important role in the Western world’s subsequent development. It is also inconceivable that Islam would take root and become so widespread had Christianity not first changed the religious orientation of much of the world away from polytheism toward monotheism.
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Manzikert (1071)
Though not as well known as the later fall of Constantinople in 1453, the Battle of Manzikert was the what led to the inevitable crash of the Byzantine Empire, the Crusades, and the rise of Turkish power in Anatolia (the peninsula that makes up most of Turkey today).
The base of Byzantine power was Anatolia, rather than Greece itself. Just compare the population of Greece today (around 11 million) to Turkey (around 75 million). Anatolia was the base of Byzantine power in asserting control over the Balkans and parts of Italy and the Middle East. The Caliphs of Baghdad had ceased to hold effective power by 900 and a number of independent Islamic states arose on the Byzantine frontier, while the Caliphs themselves became puppets of temporal rulers.
In an attempt to correct this, the Caliphs invited Turkic warriors to restore them, but this did not work and led instead to the creation of a new power, the Great Seljuk Turk Empire, which stretched from Central Asia to Turkey. The Seljuks under Sultan Alp Arslan began entering Byzantine territory, which lead to a response under the Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes. The two armies met in eastern Anatolia in 1071. Half the Byzantine army didn’t even fight due to internal Byzantine politics leading to treachery. The Byzantine Emperor was captured and though released, the Empire fell into civil war.
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Within a decade, the empire lost most of its heartland and had to call for help from the Pope, which lead to the Crusades. In the meantime, the Seljuks also captured Jerusalem from the Shia Fatimid Egyptian dynasty in 1073, making conditions worse for everyone there.
Second Battle of Tarain (1192)
The relatively obscure Second Battle of Tarain was ultimately the most important battle in the Indian subcontinent’s history because it made it what it is today. In geopolitical terms, the battle led to South Asia becoming politically a part of the greater Islamic world to its west.
Until the 12th century, most of India, one of the world’s wealthiest regions, was ruled by native Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms, though Islamic states had made some inroads into northwest India (parts of today’s Pakistan). However, in the late 12th century, one Muhammad of Ghor, a local ruler in today’s Afghanistan decided to do more than just raid India for loot—he wanted to establish a permanent Islamic empire in the subcontinent.
After conquering much of what is today Pakistan, he came face to face with a large Rajput (a Hindu warrior caste) coalition led by commander Prithviraj Chauhan at Tarain (near Delhi) in 1191, where he was defeated. The next year, he returned with 120,000 men against the Rajputs’ 300,000 (likely exaggerations). At the Second Battle of Tarain, he used his swift cavalry to break the Hindu forces by charging their center and scaring their elephants, winning decisively and killing their Chauhan.
After removing the main coalition against his rule in the fertile northern Indian heartland, Muhammad of Ghor’s armies swept over all of north India, reaching Bengal by 1200, and pretty much destroying Indian Buddhism en route. Most of India eventually came under Islamic rule, with the subsequent establishment of the Delhi Sultanate (1206) and the Mughal Empire (1526). This laid the groundwork for the future states of Pakistan and Bangladesh and strong empires like the Mughals that were able to unite most of South Asia. The largest concentration of Muslims in the world today is in South Asia.
Meanwhile, Hindus, who form the majority in the region reacted toward Muslim ruler in a variety of ways—resistance, collaboration, enmity, alliance. None of this was inevitable or even likely had the Muslims not won at Tarain.
Battle of Ain Jalut (1260)
This was the battle that stopped the previously unstoppable Mongol juggernaut and preventing them from advancing further in the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. Mongol armies clashed against a Mamluk force in modern day Israel in 1260, after destroying Baghdad in 1258. The Mamluks were a military caste of Muslim soldiers descended from slaves who had their base in Egypt. The Mongols were led by a secondary commander as their leader Hulagu Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, had returned home due to a succession dispute. He was aiming to conquer the Levant and Egypt.
Both forces had over 20,000 men. However, the Mamluks defeated the Mongols using an old Mongol tactic, drawing them into an ambush. The Mamluk leader Qutuz, who had actually been captured by the Mongols and sold as a slave, hid most of his cavalry in the hills around the plain and ordered a small force forward in order to provoke a Mongol attack. This caused the Mongols to charge into the Mamluk trap. The battle marked the first time the Mongols were defeated in open battle.
The legacy of Ain Jalut was the fact that it preserved much of the Islamic World and Europe against further Mongol onslaught by preventing them from moving further west and proved that the Mongols could be beaten. Shortly after, the united Mongol front for world conquest fell apart and Mongols began fighting one another.
Battle of Cajamarca (1532)
The Battle of Cajamarca was fought in the Andes Mountains of modern day northern Peru between the Spanish under Francisco Pizarro and the Incas led by the Emperor Atahualpa. It was one of the weirdest battles in history because of the disproportionate numbers the two sides had.
Pizarro ventured deep into the heart of the Inca Empire with only 168 men in 1532, a number so small as to defy belief, especially since it seems like Pizarro’s plan was conquest from the beginning. Pizarro had studied the previous conquests of Hernan Cortes in Mexico, where that Spanish conquistador had defeated the much more numerous Aztec Empire with only a thousand men.
In order to defeat the Incas, he resorted to deceit and leveraging his advantages. Feigning benign intentions, he arranged to meet with Atahualpa, who brought 80,000 warriors to the meeting in the town square of Cajamarca (most were encamped outside the town). In a bold move, Pizarro captured the Atahualpa and killed most of his major commanders with no loss to his men using his horses, guns, and steel to shock the Incas, who were not expecting a battle and who lost over two thousand men. The main Inca army was thrown into a rout and scattered.
Pizarro’s control over the Inca emperor led to his control of his empire, first through puppets and later directly. The destiny of most of a continent was sealed as a Spanish colony for the next three hundred years. The silver mined in Peru flooded the world market and led to the increased monetization of the world economy, in places as far away as Europe and China.
Akhilesh Pillalamarri is an assistant editor at the National Interest. You can follow him on Twitter:@AkhiPill.
Image: Wikimedia Commons/Slick-o-bot
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Andrew HamiltonEssays
The Torch Bearers
Bradford Hanson (Editor) · 15 May, 2016
by Andrew Hamilton
DESPITE the triumph of modernism, a handful of American sculptors, including Anna Hyatt Huntington, creator of The Torch Bearers (1955), continued to work in the neoclassical mode prior to and after WWII. Huntington was highly regarded for her large-scale public commissions at a time when the preferred product of most women sculptors was the small bronze statuette. In the words of one art journalist, she “made a name for herself depicting fierce creatures, strong leaders, and legendary heroines.” (ILLUSTRATION: Los portadores de la antorcha (The Torch Bearers) (cast aluminum, University of Madrid, 1955))
Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1876 to Alpheus Hyatt II, a professor of paleontology and zoology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Anna had an older sister, Harriet Hyatt Mayor, who was also a sculptor, and a nephew, A. Hyatt Mayor, who was a prominent art historian.
Anna Hyatt studied sculpture at the Art Students League of New York under Hermon Atkins MacNeil and Danish American Gutzon Borglum, who later carved Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. Borglum, who was born into a polygamous Mormon family in Idaho Territory, later became a member of the second Ku Klux Klan.
Anna Vaughn Hyatt at work on her model for Joan of Arc. Preparatory models, or maquettes, represent an artist’s vision of the final monument before translation into permanent media such as bronze or stone.
In 1923 Anna Vaughn Hyatt married wealthy philanthropist Archer Milton Huntington, the adopted son and heir of a builder of the transcontinental railroad, Collis P. Huntington (Central Pacific Railroad; Southern Pacific Railroad, Pacific Mail Steamship Co.), when he was 54 (it was Archer’s second marriage) and she, a world-class sculptor who had never married, was 47. As early as 1912 Anna had been listed among the top 12 American women who earned a minimum of $50,000 a year ($1.2 million today). This she earned from her sculptures. The couple had no children.
Archer Huntington founded New York City’s Hispanic Society of America, the largest Mariners Museum in the US at Newport News, Virginia, and Brookgreen Gardens, a sculpture park and nature preserve in South Carolina situated on a ten-thousand-acre beach and wilderness tract uniting what had once been four antebellum rice plantations. He was a major benefactor of several other organizations as well.
Founded by Archer Huntington in 1904, this institution, which in the 1950s accommodated 50,000 visitors annually, is still housed in its original Beaux Arts headquarters on Audubon Terrace in the Washington Heights section of New York City. Anna’s towering El Cid Campeador (bronze, 1923) graces the entrance. The museum and research library boasts world-class paintings by Goya, Velázquez, and El Greco, thousands of decorative-arts works, and important manuscripts, prints and photographs.
As the New York Times noted in 2011, though the name of the now down-at-heel Hispanic Society misleadingly suggests a relationship to the Mestizo neighborhood which today engulfs it, the museum “primarily celebrates the Old World cultures of Spain and Portugal, not the arts and traditions of the New World lands they colonized. The potential audience [sic] just outside the museum’s doors has never had much contact with it.”
Archer Huntington’s goal was to display art and artifacts that captured “the soul of Spain” at a time when the word “Hispanic” was associated with the Iberian Peninsula, not Latin America. Even today the museum has no intention of fundamentally altering its mission.
This rubs representatives of the ruling class the wrong way.
Marjorie Schwarzer, the Jewish editor of an influential academic journal, Museums & Social Issues, sniffs that to survive museums like the Hispanic Society must “breathe,” “embrace innovations,” and “evolve.” Otherwise, she snickers, “They could become like grandma’s jewels, admired, but no one wears them.”
Schwarzer approvingly cites the Swedish American Museum in Chicago as a model. It shifted its focus from Swedes exclusively to immigration by others, and created a children’s museum to appeal to non-Whites who have been imported to ethnically cleanse its once-White (and Swedish) neighborhood.
Similarly, Pamela Palanque-North (note the impressively hyphenated surname), a colored woman who makes a professional living as a corporate, academic, and government “diversity” consultant, complains that the museum’s art “depicts Europe. It’s definitely not Caribbean artists.” (“An Outpost for Old Spain in the Heights,” New York Times, November 11, 2011)
Much of Anna’s work was in the form of public monuments. Throughout the ages, public sculptures, symbols of civic pride, have served as didactic tools offering moral, patriotic, and cultural instruction. Such works, together with their custom-designed pedestals, architectural settings, fountains, and approaches, in the most successful instances seamlessly harmonize with the parks, squares, cemeteries, or grounds on which they are situated.
The growth of the bronze casting industry in the United States during the late 19th century facilitated the transition from marble as the preferred sculptural medium to bronze, a durable material that has greater tensile strength than stone and better withstands the outdoor elements.
At the same time an ancillary market developed for models and reductions of monuments, effectively bringing public statues into private homes. Reductions are small-scale reproductions of works, while excerpts replicate a portion of a larger whole, sometimes with modifications. For example, 359 bronze casts were made of a 13-1/4-inch-long version of Huntington’s Yawning Tiger (bronze, c. 1917), which one art historian refers to as an “astounding” number, exceeding even that of Frederic Remington’s iconic Bronco Buster.
Anna was well known for her animal art. Her companion sculptures Jaguar and Reaching Jaguar (bronze, 1906-1907), based on studies she did of the first feline occupant of the Lion House at the Bronx Zoo, are representative. Stone versions adorn the gateposts of the Bronx Zoo.
But much of her work evinced heroic themes. Joan of Arc (bronze, 1915, Riverside Drive and 93rd Street, Manhattan) depicts the French heroine in full armor astride her horse, raising her sword heavenward to receive God’s blessing upon that instrument of war.
Because Huntington’s Joan of Arc was so well-known, the organizers of a large pageant in Madison Square Garden asked Anna to lead a procession on horseback as Joan. Armor resembling the heroine’s was used. “It was the most uncomfortable thing you ever could imagine to ride in,” Huntington, a skilled horsewoman, later said. “I don’t know how she ever managed to be active and go into battle with it because it was a very stiff, heavy, uncomfortable thing. I had to be lifted on the horse; I couldn’t get up otherwise.”
The Torch Bearers (aluminum, 1957, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia)
One of Huntington’s most striking works is The Torch Bearers (Spanish Los Portadores de la Antorcha) (cast aluminum, 1955, University of Madrid), a gift to the people of Spain. It is a massive public sculpture depicting a muscular young man on a mission symbolizing the life force — energy, strength, capability, and iron determination — astride a powerful stallion, leaning over to grasp a torch from a fallen, dying comrade, symbolic of the passing of the flame of Western civilization. Upon completion, it was the largest aluminum statue in the world — 15 feet high, 12 feet wide, 12 feet long, weighing 3,500 pounds.
Anna conceived the work in 1949 and by 1953 had completed the clay model. The following year she finished the final plaster form and had it cast at a foundry in Long Island City. From there The Torch Bearers was shipped by truck to the Jerome F. Gould Corp., a Jewish packing firm in Brooklyn, which boxed it in 24 hours. The company packed everything from Wedgwood porcelain to oil refineries for assembly in Turkey. Because the statue was made of aluminum, it was not necessary to spray it with an oil-based rust inhibitor or wrap it in paper that would emit an anticorrosive vapor to ward off the salt air during the long cross-Atlantic voyage. But the packing crate and base, together weighing 4,000 pounds, had to be heavier than the sculpture itself, which was moved with special soft manila-hemp ropes rather than ordinary wire ropes that might cut into the soft metal.
Two New Yorker writers who saw The Torch Bearers while it was in the Gould yard described it as a large “dull-silver statue, its figures lithe-looking.” (Les Arstak and Rex Lardner, “The Talk of the Town: Package,” The New Yorker, May 14, 1955, pp. 31-32)
From Brooklyn it was loaded onto the largest flat-bed trailer in New York City and driven to a barge in Newtown Creek, a 3.5-mile estuary forming part of the border between the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, which empties into the East River. At Jersey City it was loaded onto a ship for Barcelona, from whence it was transported 300 miles inland to the centuries-old University of Madrid, the top university in Spain.
Inscribed vertically on the base of the statue is a poem composed by Anna’s husband. The English translation reads in part:
Man bears the holy torch fidelity,
Across the glazed and burning sands of Time.
A woman’s soul uplifts maternity
Starlight to mark a course no less sublime!
Archer M. Huntington, who wrote and published several volumes of poetry, privately printed a collection called The Torch Bearers (New York: Hispanic Society of America, 1955), the frontispiece of which was a photograph of his wife’s statue. The lines probably derive from a poem in the volume.
Replicas of The Torch Bearers are located on the grounds of the Mark Twain Library in Redding, Connecticut (bronze), the University of South Carolina’s Wardlaw College (bronze), the Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia (aluminum, 1957), the Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey (aluminum, 1964), and, until December 2013, the Discovery Museum in Bridgeport, Connecticut (bronze).
That month, the Discovery Museum sold its 5-ton replica to a private collector, sight unseen, for $315,000. The museum had hoped it would fetch more than $400,000, but a Houston, Texas man was the only bidder. The bill to move the 15-foot-tall statue 700 miles overland from Connecticut to Houston was $40,000.
The sculpture is expected to be displayed publicly in Houston’s Lindale Park, a 1930s-era housing development near the city’s downtown that has about 1,200 single-family homes valued at $175,000 to $350,000. The collector lives in Lindale Park, although his name was not publicly revealed.
An oral history interview conducted by the Smithsonian Institution in 1964, when Anna was 88, offered interesting glimpses into Archer and Anna Huntington’s political views. Both she and her husband thought the widely-demonized Spanish leader Francisco Franco “had really been excellent” for Spain, giving the country 25 years of peace and prosperity.
In Anna’s estimation, Juan de Ávalos (1911-2006), who executed monumental works for Franco during the later years of the Caudillo’s regime, was Spain’s — and indeed, Europe’s — greatest living sculptor. Franco had ordered a monument to Archer and Anna Huntington, on which de Ávalos was then at work.
Asked what she thought of contemporary art, Anna replied, “I’m very much of a conservative. I’m a great conservative in politics. I was for Goldwater. And then that follows through for art. The modernists are undoubtedly extremely interesting to a great number of the young people today, but they don’t satisfy me very much.”
An aged Anna Hyatt Huntington, 78, working on The Torch Bearers, 1954
Active as a sculptor for more than 70 of her 97 years, and the creator of 262 works, Anna’s last major commission, completed when she was 94, was the Revolutionary War sculpture Israel Putnam’s Escape at Horseneck (bronze, 1970, Putnam Memorial State Park, Redding, Connecticut). After a series of strokes, she died in 1973 and was interred in the Huntington family mausoleum together with her husband Archer Huntington (d. 1955) and father-in-law Collis P. Huntington (d. 1900) in the 400-acre Woodlawn Cemetery, the Bronx, one of the largest cemeteries in New York City, where more than 300,000 people, many eminent, are buried.
In a harsh world of strife, The Torch Bearers symbolizes the ideals of heroism and willed perpetuation, through action and the voluntary acceptance of personal responsibility, of Western creative imagination and civilization across the eternal expanse of time.
James F. Cooper, “Archer Huntington and the Hispanic Society: A Centennial Celebration,” American Arts Quarterly (Fall 2010)
Mary Mitchell and Albert Goodrich, The Remarkable Huntingtons: Chronicle of a Marriage, (2004), based upon a voluminous diary kept by Anna Hyatt Huntington.
Oral history interview with Anna Hyatt Huntington, December 14, 1964, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution
Stephanie Strasnick, “The Most Famous New York Sculptor You’ve Never Heard Of,” ARTnews, January 21, 2014, announcing a new exhibition at Columbia University titled “Goddess, Heroine, Beast: Anna Hyatt Huntington’s New York Sculpture, 1902–1936,” celebrating the artist’s work.
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Home » Newswire » Paqtnkek announces CEO for Bayside Development Corporation
Paqtnkek announces CEO for Bayside Development Corporation
by ahnationtalk on June 6, 2019322 Views
Chief Paul (PJ) Prosper of Paqtnkek Mi’kmaw Nation has announced that Rose Paul is the successful applicant for the new position of Chief Executive Officer of the Bayside Development Corporation. The corporation is the Band’s business arm that will manage the development of reserve lands on the south side of the Trans Canada Highway.
“Rose has all the business and leadership credentials required to guide our long-term economic development,” said Chief Prosper. “She has committed herself for more than a decade to helping our community grow – including the construction of the $13.5 million Trans Canada Highway interchange at exit 36-B, which opens up direct access to our community and will bring significant traffic to our new Bayside Travel Centre.”
Darryl McDonald, director of administration, says the hiring committee worked diligently to find the right person for the position. “Rose has shown through her commitment and dedication to be the successful candidate.”
Due to weather delays this spring, construction of the $11 million travel centre is expected to be completed by October 1st.
As part of her responsibilities, Ms. Paul will help oversee Band businesses that provide own-source revenues, including fisheries, tobacco shop and gas bar operations and the entertainment centre. She will develop a five-year strategic plan that will include capacity development and provide options for the board of directors on diversifying and investing in businesses through economic development partnerships. As CEO she will report directly to the corporation’s board of directors. She continues her current responsibilities for community economic development.
Ms. Paul obtained her Masters in Business Administration from Cape Breton University and was chosen valedictorian of the inaugural Indigenous Women in Community Leadership program at St. Francis Xavier University.
She has won numerous awards and recognition, including the 2017 Cando Economic Developer of the Year award, the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee award and the Nova Scotia Community Spirit award.
Business, Indigenous
https://nationtalk.ca/story/paqtnkek-announces-ceo-for-bayside-development-corporation
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Home/Nation/Marley with Mauricio Macri in the Casa Rosada: Mirko's reaction when she sat at the Rivadavia chair
Marley with Mauricio Macri in the Casa Rosada: Mirko's reaction when she sat at the Rivadavia chair
argentina August 20, 2018 Nation Leave a comment
In the last program of the year of All over the worldThe driver and his son were with the president. Video!
The last program of the year of All over the world and what better way to do it than from Argentina. Marley and your baby, Mirko, toured along the streets of Buenos Aires Lizy Tagliani and they marveled at some of the city's attractions.
The trio visited the Teatro Colón, the National Congress, the Japanese garden, the Olympic village, the Puente de la Mujer in Puerto Madero and the Casa Rosada, where they were received by none other than the president, Mauricio Macri. The president acted as a guide, showing them his office, the historic furniture of the place and the privileged view that can be seen from the mythical balcony.
At the end of the interview, the president allowed Mirko to sit in the Rivadavia chair. "In thirty or forty years, the future president," Marley joked with his typical humor. However, everything would indicate that the baby has different plans because he started to cry immediately. "He did not like it, a lot of responsibility," the driver finished.
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U.S. goes medal-less at World Championships; Bolt, Gatlin, Felix advance
By Nick ZaccardiAug 25, 2015, 10:13 AM EDT
American stars clipped hurdles, fouled jumps and even flung a shoe. In the end, none of them reached the podium at he World Track and Field Championships in Beijing on Tuesday.
After Usain Bolt, Justin Gatlin and Allyson Felix easily advanced in sprint heats and semifinals, the U.S. was favored to win medals in three of the five finals at the Bird’s Nest.
But the world’s best track and field nation won zero medals for the second time in four days of competition at Worlds. The U.S., predicted by some to better its record 26 medals for a single Worlds, has one gold medal and six total with five days left.
Kenya, boosted by victories from 800m Olympic champion and world-record holder David Rudisha and in the men’s 400m hurdles on Tuesday, leads the medal standings with four golds and nine overall (full Tuesday results here).
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Jenny Simpson, the 2011 World champion and 2014 Diamond League season champion, finished 11th in the 1500m, 8.19 seconds behind Ethiopian winner Genzebe Dibaba.
Simpson was undone after the heel of her teal left New Balance shoe got caught and partially slipped off while making a move about halfway through the race.
“Pretty intense jostling, and that’s where I started to lose half of it,” Simpson told Lewis Johnson on Universal Sports. “I was clinching my toes as hard as possible.”
Simpson gave up and kicked the shoe off with about 600 meters left while trailing only Dibaba.
“Of all things in my mind, what I was thinking was I didn’t want to kick it into the crowd of people and take anyone else out,” she said. “It was terrible for me, but I didn’t want to ruin anyone else’s race.”
Runners quickly passed her, and Simpson was in eighth place as the bell rang for the final lap. Simpson’s thoughts turned to preserving her foot for future races as the track ripped skin.
“It’s not that it’s so intensely painful that you can’t keep running, but it’s for training,” Simpson told Johnson on Universal Sports. “You can’t run on a foot that doesn’t have skin. … As everyone went by me, I just thought, I’ll get them next week.”
Shannon Rowbury, the American record holder and another medal contender, finished seventh. Dibaba, the world record holder, is also entered in the 5000m and on Sunday can become the first woman to win the 1500m and 5000m at a single Olympics or Worlds.
American gold-medal favorites succumbed in the men’s 400m hurdles and long jump.
In the hurdles, the 2012 Olympic and 2013 World silver medalist Michael Tinsley clipped hurdles eight and nine and finished in last place.
Kenyan Nicholas Bett prevailed out of lane nine in 47.79 seconds, a national record and the world’s fastest time this year, to become the first Kenyan athlete to win an Olympic or Worlds race shorter than 800 meters.
Tinsley entered the race as the favorite given the 2012 Olympic champion, 2013 World champion, fastest man in 2014 and two fastest men in 2015 were not in the field.
The nine medals at the last three World Championships in the recently volatile 400m hurdles have been won by nine different countries.
As the 400m hurdles went on, Great Britain’s Greg Rutherford was long jumping toward his first World Championship. The 2012 Olympic champion leaped 8.41 meters for the title, continuing to disprove doubters who called his London triumph a fluke.
“I’m hoping 8.41 is acceptable for people this time,” Rutherford, who won the 2012 Olympic title at 8.31, the shortest victory jump since Munich 1972, said on the BBC. “Last time I wasn’t jumping far enough for people. … Maybe I’m not too bad a long jumper.”
The pre-event favorite was American Jeff Henderson, who has the three best jumps in the world this year, all farther than 8.41. Henderson failed to place in the top eight after three jumps, fouling two of them, and didn’t earn another three jumps. He ended up ninth.
“Jeff Henderson coming into this, I think everybody already hung the medal around his neck,” Rutherford said on the BBC.
Rutherford’s win meant all of Great Britain’s 2012 Olympic “Super Saturday” gold medalists repeated their feats in Beijing. Mo Farah won the 10,000m on Saturday. Jessica Ennis-Hill won the heptathlon on Sunday.
No Americans were in the men’s 800m final won by Rudisha, who used a similar front-running style from setting the 1:40.91 world record in the electric 2012 Olympic final. No world record this time, though. Rudisha prevailed in 1:45.84, followed by Poland’s Adam Kszczot and Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Amel Tuka.
Rudisha’s two biggest rivals, defending World champion Mohammed Aman of Ethiopia and Botswana’s Nijel Amos, the Olympic silver medalist and fastest man in 2014, failed to make the eight-man final.
Rudisha, 26, capped a comeback after first noticing a right knee injury while running in Central Park in May 2013 and going more than one year between races until May 31, 2014.
“This is really special for me, despite the fact that I was coming from a bad injury … that almost pushed me out of my career,” Rudisha said on the BBC. “At some point, I thought, maybe, if I come back, I’ll never be back to that top level.”
“I think I’ve proven to the world that I’m back,” Rudisha said on Eurosport.
Sprinters will return to center stage with finals the next three days.
Bolt, the three-time defending World 200m champion, clocked 20.28 to prevail in his 200m first-round heat Tuesday, jogging on the final straightaway (video here). Bolt, who holds the 200m world record of 19.19, won the 100m by .01 over Gatlin on Sunday.
Gatlin, racing in the next heat a few minutes later, prevailed in 20.19, easing in his final several strides (video here). Gatlin won the 2005 World 200m title, one year before he failed a drug test that led to a four-year doping ban and two years before Bolt won his first Worlds medal, silver in the 200m behind Tyson Gay.
Of his 100m defeat, Gatlin said he would “leave it in the past” on Eurosport.
“I gave it my heart [in the 100m], had some mistakes in the final, I think I cost myself the victory,” Gatlin told Johnson on Universal Sports. “But I’m here for the 200m. It’s a new day.”
The 200m semifinals are Wednesday, with the final Thursday.
Gatlin has run the world’s four fastest 200m times since Bolt took the 2013 World title in 19.66. Gatlin’s fastest times the last two years have been 19.57, 19.68, 19.68 and 19.71. Bolt’s best time since his 2013 World title is 20.13.
Three-time Worlds 200m medalist Wallace Spearmon withdrew before his heat due to a small tear in his left calf muscle, according to USA Track and Field.
Felix, a three-time World 200m champion hoping to win her first World 400m title, was the fastest qualifier into Thursday’s 400m final, winning her semifinal in 49.89.
Felix chose to run the 400m and not the 200m at Worlds, because the 400m marked a greater challenge and opting not to do both because the 400m final and the 200m semifinals are a little more than an hour apart Thursday. She’s run the 400m at one prior Olympics or Worlds, taking silver at the 2011 World Championships.
In the final, Felix will not have to face Olympic champion Sanya Richards-Ross nor another American, Francena McCorory, who owns the three fastest times in the world this year. Neither Richards-Ross nor McCorory qualified for Worlds in the individual 400m at the U.S. Championships in June.
Felix’s biggest competition Thursday appears to be the Bahamas’ Shaunae Miller, who is eight years younger than the 29-year-old Felix and the third fastest woman in the world this year behind McCorory and Felix.
Also Tuesday, Cuba’s Denia Caballero won gold in the discus, relegating 2012 Olympic and 2013 World champion Sandra Perkovic of Croatia to silver and German Nadine Muller to bronze. American Gia Lewis-Smallwood, ranked No. 2 in the world in 2014, finished 11th.
Gatlin notices his mom getting heckled during medal ceremony
#usainbolt after 200m heat "Am tired am not going to lie. My legs are still slightly tight" #BoltGatlin #beijing2015 #Jamaica @BBCSport
— Ade Adedoyin (@ade_adedoyin) August 25, 2015
#usainbolt also said he thinks he is a better technical runner over 200m than Justin Gatlin #beijing2015 #Jamaica #Athletics
There's no better mover than @allysonfelix! If she continues to make the 400m her number 1 priority, she'll break 49secs easily #Beijing2015
— Cathy Freeman (@CathyFreeman) August 25, 2015
Ethiopia's Genzebe Dibaba says she's talked with her older sister Tirunesh nearly everyday. This morning Tirunesh said to be "courageous"
— John Howe (@JohnHoweNBC) August 25, 2015
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Senegal set to host 2022 Youth Olympics, history for Africa
By Nick ZaccardiSep 7, 2018, 12:21 PM EDT
Senegal is set to become the first African nation to host an Olympic event, recommended by the IOC executive board to host the fourth Youth Olympics in 2022. IOC members are expected to confirm the decision in a host-city vote next month.
Botswana, Nigeria and Tunisia were the other candidates.
IOC president Thomas Bach said in February that the executive board wanted the 2022 Youth Olympics to be held in Africa, a recommendation confirmed by IOC membership days later.
The first Youth Olympics were held in Singapore in 2010, followed by Nanjing, China, in 2014 and Buenos Aires next month.
The Youth Winter Olympics debuted in Innsbruck, Austria, in 2012, followed by Lillehammer, Norway, in 2016 and Lausanne, Switzerland, in 2020.
Senegal’s capital of Dakar would share the Games with Diamniadio and Saly.
“It is time for Africa,” Bach said in a press release. “Africa is the home of many successful and prominent Olympic athletes. Africa is a continent of youth. That is why we want to take the Youth Olympic Games 2022 to Africa and to Senegal.”
Senegal owns one Olympic medal, a 400m hurdles silver from the 1988 Seoul Games earned by Amadou Dia Ba.
The closest an African bid came to getting an Olympics came in 2004, when Cape Town, South Africa, finished third behind Athens and Rome.
MORE: Egypt wants to be first African nation to host Olympics
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Nathan Chen, skating coaches react to cancellation of world figure skating championships
By Philip HershMar 11, 2020, 9:01 PM EDT
For two-time defending champion Nathan Chen, the cancellation of the World Figure Skating Championships in Montreal because of the coronavirus pandemic brought disappointment and relief.
“Given how quickly this virus has spread across the world, it’s definitely the right move for the populace as a whole,” Chen said in a Wednesday teleconference after a Quebec government minister had announced the cancellation.
“Even before this decision was made, I was concerned about people around me. I was worried about Raf [his coach, Rafael Arutunian] because he has been traveling a lot. Ultimately, I’m glad they are able to stay at home, to stay where they are, to sort of prevent the spread of this virus.”
His U.S. teammate Mariah Bell, like Chen coached by Arutunian and prepared to compete in a fourth straight worlds, echoed his feelings.
“I certainly understand there are bigger things than sport,” Bell said during the teleconference.
Danielle McCann, the province’s health minister, said Wednesday afternoon that in light of the rapidly spreading coronavirus, there was too much risk to allow the event scheduled for next week at the Bell Centre arena to take place.
She cited the number of foreign visitors, the fact it would take place indoors, the thousands of people involved and the declaration of a pandemic by the World Health Organization as reasons for the decision.
“As an athlete, we put a lot of time and effort into this, so it’s a little disappointing,” Chen said. “But there’s always worlds next year, and we will prepare for that.”
In fact, the International Skating Union said in a statement it would discuss the possibility of having the 2020 worlds later this year but that it could not occur before October. The ISU did not say if Canada would be the only country under consideration.
“We will do our due diligence to see if that is possible,” Skate Canada chief executive Debra Armstrong said Wednesday evening. “We appreciate that the ISU also is looking into it.”
Armstrong added she has had “very preliminary conversations” with management of the Bell Centre.
“They have provided us possible opportunities to consider,” she said, “but a lot more is involved than just, ‘Can we get the rink again?’”
A rescheduled World Championships would presumably have to end at least a couple weeks before the seven-week Grand Prix season, scheduled to begin Oct. 23-25 at Skate America in Las Vegas. The six “regular season” events run one week after another, with a one-week break before the Dec. 10-13 Grand Prix Final in Beijing.
Arutunian said that even if the 2020 worlds were held this autumn, he would not alter training plans designed to have his skaters peak at the more significant pre-Olympic worlds March 22-28, 2021 in Stockholm.
If U.S. Figure Skating’s Olympic team selection process remains the same as it has been recently, results of the 2021 worlds would factor heavily in the two-year “body of work” considered for selection. The 2021 worlds would be one of three “Tier 1” events in those selection criteria, along with next season’s U.S. Championships and Grand Prix Final.
The results of the 2021 worlds will also significantly impact countries’ quota spots in each discipline at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China.
“Yes, it would be a world title, but you cannot be prepared to be your best in October and then prepared again to be in your best shape in March,” Arutunian said.
It might lead athletes to intensify summer training, which could take its toll by the end of the next winter.
“An (autumn) worlds would not be ideal,” Chen said. “We would all be ready for it and do the best we can, but it will be a very strange situation.
“I think we would take summer pretty normal because we wouldn’t want to burn ourselves out early in the season. Worlds would almost be a progression step into the next season.”
Montreal-based Marie-France Dubreuil, who has a hand in coaching 13 ice dance teams that would have competed at worlds, said via text she thought it would be “a little unlikely” to have two world championships within a few months of each other in a pre-Olympic season.
“It’s interesting,” Brian Orser, who coaches two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan and 2014 U.S. Olympian Jason Brown of the U.S. in Toronto, said in a text message about the prospect of another worlds in autumn.
Asked if it would mean training harder in the summer, Orser replied, “Possibly. But we do what we must.”
Lee Barkell, who coaches reigning world bronze medalist Vincent Zhou of the United States in Toronto, felt most skaters and coaches will “move forward and begin preparations for next year’s competitive season and [the Olympic season].”
“It would be difficult to wait that long to reschedule / relocate,” Barkell continued in a text message. “I think we need to be mindful of the athletes’ health and workload to ensure they are at their full potential for the 2021 World Championships.”
In a statement, the Russian Figure Skating Federation said it would “soon consider and discuss with the coaches of the Russian national team further plans for training athletes in connection with the current situation.”
Asked via email what the Russian skating federation thought about the possibility of an autumn worlds, spokesperson Olga Ermolina said, “It’s hard now to talk about plans definitively.”
This was the 16th time in the event’s 124-year history a figure skating world championships has been cancelled but only the second not caused by a World War. The 1961 championships in Prague were cancelled after a plane carrying the U.S. team and coaches and officials on their way to the event crashed in Belgium, killing all 72 people on board.
Now the event has been cancelled because of a deadly virus. Once again, sport has been subsumed by an awful reality.
“I’m disappointed not to have the opportunity to compete at worlds,” Brown said in a text message. “At the same time, I recognize this situation is way bigger than me or figure skating, and I’m 100% in support of doing everything we can to protect each other and our communities.”
Philip Hersh, who has covered figure skating at the last 11 Winter Olympics, is a special contributor to NBCSports.com/figure-skating.
MORE: Final women’s Alpine World Cup races canceled, spoiling Mikaela Shiffrin’s planned return
As a reminder, you can watch the events from the 2019-20 figure skating season live and on-demand with the ‘Figure Skating Pass’ on NBC Sports Gold. Go to NBCsports.com/gold/figure-skating to sign up for access to every ISU Grand Prix and championship event, as well as domestic U.S. Figure Skating events throughout the season. NBC Sports Gold gives subscribers an unprecedented level of access on more platforms and devices than ever before.
Follow @nbcolympictalk
#WorldFigure ❤️ pic.twitter.com/tmmhvc5jy5
— Evan Bates (@Evan_Bates) March 11, 2020
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Tag Archives: school-visit
P-20 Network > school-visit
Lake County Tech Campus – Creating a Team-Based Challenge
The Lake County Tech Campus provides a wide range of Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs to high school students from throughout Lake and McHenry Counties in Northeastern Illinois. Education is one of the many high quality career areas in which programming is offered at Tech Campus, with a team of three teachers who provide instruction for juniors and seniors in high school. These students, in turn and alongside their professional teachers, provide instruction and learning opportunities three days per week for early childhood students in the specifically designed early childhood classrooms at Tech Campus.
As part of this work, the Education teacher team decided to incorporate Team-Based Challenges from the Illinois Career Pathway Endorsement model, and the P-20 Network team both facilitated the instructional planning and participated in this effort alongside the Education teachers. The Education teachers identified two potential real-life, complex problems of practice that they believed an in-depth Team-Based Challenge would help their high school students learn and solve and through which they could develop a deeper understanding as potential pre-service teachers. Together, we spent one entire “professional development day” building out the Team-Based Challenge.
First, we explored the key College & Career Pathway Competencies that would be taught and on which students would be assessed. Specifically, both the Essential Cross-Sector Employability Competencies as well as the Human and Public Services Career Pathway Competencies (which are currently defined through EDU-specific competencies) were studied and discussed. After examining all of these competencies, the teachers specifically identified the ones that would be best taught and assessed through the Team-Based Challenge.
Then, the teachers determined how they would assess each of these competencies as well as, through that discussion, beginning to plan instructional lessons and activities that would be embedded in the Team-Based Challenge.
Finally, using the Backwards Design Model of instructional planning, multiple assessments were fully built-out prior to the end of the professional development workday.
Ultimately, in one day, the teachers learned more about the Career Pathway Endorsements, identified the competencies that would be taught and assessed, created those specific assessments, and outlined a two-week instructional unit that would serve as a Team-Based Challenge.
For more information about Career Pathway Endorsements or to reach about arranging for professional development and planning support around the Career Pathway Endorsements and Team-Based Challenges, please contact either Brooke (bsimon3@niu.edu) or Jason (jason.klein@niu.edu) at the P-20 Network.
Focusing on Career Pathways with an emphasis on individual students’ plans
Belvidere School District 100 has been focused on putting each piece in place to support students’ engagement with the College and Career Pathways.
One of the early key steps in this work was exploring the “crosswalk” (pictured below) between the Postsecondary and Career Expectations Framework (PaCE), the Illinois State Board of Education’s College and Career Readiness Indicators (CCRI), and the College and Career Pathway Endorsements (CCPE) outlined by the Postsecondary Workforce Readiness (PWR) Act.
PaCE-CCRI-CCPE Framework Crosswalk (Click to enlarge)
Belvidere School District 100 knew that they wanted to support student learning and exploration with the Career Pathways and to ensure that students had the requisite knowledge and skills to be successful beyond high school – in postsecondary education and in the workforce. Nik Butenhoff, Director of Career Readiness, said the the framework crosswalk, “supported the hunch that we had. This was the evidence that if we have to track the College and Career Readiness Indicator (for the State), if we just go all-in for the Endorsements, we will then land on the work that we needed to support the Indicators.”
Nik goes on to point out that this work is central to the efforts of teachers and administrators in Belvidere to improve learning, “The stuff that the State is giving us; this is good. These frameworks show how its all intertwined with each other. It is not separate initiatives, but it’s all connected.”
Belvidere School District 100 has developed its own graphic to show the importance of individual planning with each student. The State’s College and Career Pathway Endorsement graphic, which is linked above, also places individual planning at the top of the framework, but the Belvidere viewpoint is to stress it even further as pictured below with the “Individualized Plan” section wrapping around each of the key components.
In addition to this, students are asked to be thinking about their College and Career Pathway in a number of different ways. One small, easy, yet very powerful, example of this is on student’s Course Selection Form (pictured below). As student’s consider what courses they are requesting for the following school year, they are also asked to think about their desired College and Career Pathway Endorsement area.
Belvidere 100 – Course Selection Sheet with Endorsement Area
In addition to these strategies, the posters pictured with this post are up in the high schools and the middle schools to help students consider the Pathways as they move through the day, and the District 100 Career Guide is offered to students and families in both English and Spanish.
Possibly the most important component in helping make the College and Career Pathways begin to come alive for high school students in District 100 is that all ninth graders are required to complete a Freshman Careers Course, during which a wide range of career exploration and skill-building activities take place.
Career Pathways Endorsement – Mapping out the course sequence well in advance in Naperville 203
While the Class of 2020 is the first group of students in the State of Illinois that can earn Career Pathway Endorsements, data gathered across the P-20 Networks suggests that very few students will earn Career Pathway Endorsements this coming spring. At the same time, many school districts are deeply engaged in providing career-focused experiences for students and working toward the full implementation of Career Pathway Endorsements with the following critical elements:
a sequence of courses aligned to the Career Pathway Endorsement including courses that will offer the possibility of at least 6 hours of postsecondary credit (Dual Credit or Advanced Placement)
a minimum of 2 Team-Based Challenges that students can experience either through instruction in the aforementioned courses or through extra-curricular activities or other outside experiences
an in-depth work-based learning experience of a minimum of 60 hours (or 2 micro-internships of at least 30 hours each)
Though, like most school districts, Naperville Community Unit School District 203 does not plan on having students graduate with Career Pathway Endorsements for a few years, the District has already mapped out course sequences for Career Pathway Endorsements. Pictured below is a bulletin board in a hall at Naperville Central High School that outlines two different course sequences for students to work toward an Career Pathway Endorsement in Information Technology.
While educators in Naperville continue to build out other critical elements of the Career Pathway Endorsement, from the outset of their high school experience, students can be inspired by and begin to plan to participate in one of these entire course sequences.
There are a few important lessons from this:
It’s not too early to plan out course sequences, which can be done at any time, even if you are not able to fully implement the course sequence this year.
Planning a course sequence early can result in being better able to prepare facilities, equipment and supplies, and professional development well in advance.
Once a course sequence is planned, it can be shared widely with students and families in order to help them both develop a general awareness of Career Pathway Endorsements and to be able to consider specific course sequences as students are selecting courses (and “trying on” different career ideas).
Hinckley-Big Rock – #AuthenticLearning with Agriculture and Beyond
Hinckley-Big Rock School District 429 is situated in the countryside between Aurora and DeKalb, Illinois. Hinckley-Big Rock has been a leader statewide in building a strong foundation for all students with career readiness and postsecondary options through its implementation of the HBR Career Readiness Plan. This plan, which builds skills and experiences for students from elementary school through high school, was developed within the school district and is based on the Illinois Postsecondary and Career Expectations (PaCE) Framework.
Not only has Hinckley-Big Rock invested a great deal of time and energy in ensuring that students have experiences and skills to help them make choices about careers and postsecondary learning, but Hinckley-Big Rock also seeks to provide students with authentic learning experiences in which their “classwork” is “real work”. While this is desired across the curriculum and all courses, these efforts are most noticeable within the Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources Career Pathway.
Like many school districts in Illinois, Hinckley-Big Rock has a rich history with providing students with authentic learning experiences through extra-curricular activities. With the understanding that such experiences can lead to deeper, more complex and longer lasting learning, ensuring that students learn through authentic problem-based units and lessons is a priority. Hinckley-Big Rock is furthering these efforts with a multi-year initiative to take advantage of the size of its property and expand the resources available for student learning on the working farm on the east side of the high school building.
Over the past couple of years, a small orchard has been planted and water and electrical have been added and/or upgraded. Next, a building will be added to support the fully functional agricultural operations in which students participate as part of their coursework and learning.
Being able to fully experience the work allows students to learn both career-specific knowledge and skills as well as develop the type of skills that are needed across careers as defined by the Cross-Sector Essential Employability Competencies (see page 6 of this PDF).
These efforts are not limited to just agriculture nor Career & Technical Education (CTE) courses at Hinckley-Big Rock, but they are also noticeable outside the building as Indian Valley Vocational Center CTE students also construct the actual dug-outs that generations of student-athletes will use for decades to come.
Rochelle – Mapping out success for the future during high school
Like other schools, Rochelle Township High School District 212 has embarked on a focus to ensure that all of its students are thinking forward beyond high school while they are still in high school. This effort is focused both on helping ensure that students know, understand, and have a variety of postsecondary options while also participating in significant and ongoing planning and counseling during high school.
At Rochelle High School, which is located about 20 miles directly west of DeKalb, Illinois, a series of key indicators for future success have been identified, and together these have been termed the Tomorrow Readiness Student Profile (pictured here below).
Rochelle Tomorrow Readiness Student Profile – Cover
Rochelle Tomorrow Readiness Student Profile – Interior
Following each semester, student information in the Tomorrow Readiness Student Profile is updated by school staff and shared with all students and parents. This ongoing education allows students and parents to keep up-to-date on their progress, and it has the secondary benefit of making the Tomorrow Readiness Student Profile a living tool in the lives of students and families.
Many schools and school districts are embracing the creation of a holistic view of a student that includes learning critical skills that go beyond traditional academics. For example, one way that these are now defined in Illinois as a result of the Postsecondary & Workforce Readiness Act is through both the Cross-Sector Essential Employability Competencies and the Entrepreneurial Competencies (see page 6 of this document). Rochelle has included these skills that are so critical for both careers and citizenship as the Efficient, Adaptive, and Self-Reliant Learner Behaviors. Where Rochelle goes one step further is by having teachers assess students in each of these areas and, most importantly, asking students to self-assess in each of these areas.
Alongside what courses a student has taken and their personal and career interests, the Tomorrow Readiness Student Profile provides a strong foundation on which students and their families, counselors, and teachers can engage in detailed discussions about both an individual student’s strengths as well as the target areas for additional growth during their high school experience and beyond.
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Phonetics / Phonology x
Language Families (9)
Phonetics / Phonology (46)
Psycholinguistics / Neurolinguistics / Cognitive Linguistics (4)
Theoretical Linguistics (5)
Asymmetries in Vowel Harmony: A Representational Account
Harry van der Hulst
Linguistics, Phonetics / Phonology
This book deals with the phenomenon of vowel harmony, a phonological process whereby all the vowels in a word are required to share a specific phonological property, such as front or back ... More
This book deals with the phenomenon of vowel harmony, a phonological process whereby all the vowels in a word are required to share a specific phonological property, such as front or back articulation. Vowel harmony occurs in the majority of languages of the world, though only in very few European languages, and has been a central concern in phonological theory for many years. In this volume, Harry van der Hulst puts forward a new theory of vowel harmony, which accounts for the patterns of and exceptions to this phenomenon in the widest range of languages ever considered. The book begins with an overview of the general causes of asymmetries in vowel harmony systems. The two following chapters provide a detailed account of a new theory of vowel harmony based on unary elements and licensing, which is embedded in a general dependency-based theory of phonological structure. In the remaining chapters, this theory is applied to a variety of vowel harmony phenomena from typologically diverse languages, including palatal harmony in languages such as Finnish and Hungarian, labial harmony in Turkic languages, and tongue root systems in Niger-Congo, Nilo-Saharan, and Tungusic languages.Less
Asymmetries in Vowel Harmony : A Representational Account
This book deals with the phenomenon of vowel harmony, a phonological process whereby all the vowels in a word are required to share a specific phonological property, such as front or back articulation. Vowel harmony occurs in the majority of languages of the world, though only in very few European languages, and has been a central concern in phonological theory for many years. In this volume, Harry van der Hulst puts forward a new theory of vowel harmony, which accounts for the patterns of and exceptions to this phenomenon in the widest range of languages ever considered. The book begins with an overview of the general causes of asymmetries in vowel harmony systems. The two following chapters provide a detailed account of a new theory of vowel harmony based on unary elements and licensing, which is embedded in a general dependency-based theory of phonological structure. In the remaining chapters, this theory is applied to a variety of vowel harmony phenomena from typologically diverse languages, including palatal harmony in languages such as Finnish and Hungarian, labial harmony in Turkic languages, and tongue root systems in Niger-Congo, Nilo-Saharan, and Tungusic languages.
Keywords: vowel harmony, phonology, locality, unary features, dependency phonology, government phonology, variable element, licensing, Radical CV Phonology, system dependency
Contrast and Representations in Syntax
Bronwyn M. Bjorkman and Daniel Currie Hall (eds)
Linguistics, Syntax and Morphology, Phonetics / Phonology
Syntactic contrasts, the systems of grammatical oppositions that exist within individual languages, are typically formally encoded in terms of features. The nature of syntactic contrast is tied to a ... More
Syntactic contrasts, the systems of grammatical oppositions that exist within individual languages, are typically formally encoded in terms of features. The nature of syntactic contrast is tied to a fundamental question in generative syntactic theory: What is universal in syntax (and in language more generally), and what is variable? This volume explores the dual role of features, on the one hand defining a set of paradigmatic contrasts, and other the other hand acting as the building blocks of syntactic structures and the drivers of syntactic operations. In both roles, features are increasingly seen as the locus of parametric variation. The identification of parameters with features has opened up new possibilities for exploring connections between the morphological system of a language and its syntax, and suggests a new role for featural contrast in syntactic theory. The papers collected here represent a diversity of topics, perspectives, and concerns, but are united by an interest in morphosyntactic representations, and in the formal encoding of syntactic contrasts.Less
Syntactic contrasts, the systems of grammatical oppositions that exist within individual languages, are typically formally encoded in terms of features. The nature of syntactic contrast is tied to a fundamental question in generative syntactic theory: What is universal in syntax (and in language more generally), and what is variable? This volume explores the dual role of features, on the one hand defining a set of paradigmatic contrasts, and other the other hand acting as the building blocks of syntactic structures and the drivers of syntactic operations. In both roles, features are increasingly seen as the locus of parametric variation. The identification of parameters with features has opened up new possibilities for exploring connections between the morphological system of a language and its syntax, and suggests a new role for featural contrast in syntactic theory. The papers collected here represent a diversity of topics, perspectives, and concerns, but are united by an interest in morphosyntactic representations, and in the formal encoding of syntactic contrasts.
Keywords: syntax, features, contrast, inflection, argument structure, syntactic theory
Expression in Speech: Analysis and Synthesis
Mark Tatham and Katherine Morton
This book is about the nature of expression in speech. It is a comprehensive exploration of how such expression is produced and understood, and of how the emotional content of spoken words may be ... More
This book is about the nature of expression in speech. It is a comprehensive exploration of how such expression is produced and understood, and of how the emotional content of spoken words may be analysed, modelled, tested, and synthesized. Listeners can interpret tone-of-voice, assess emotional pitch, and effortlessly detect the finest modulations of speaker attitude; yet these processes present almost intractable difficulties to the researchers seeking to identify and understand them. In seeking to explain the production and perception of emotive content, the book reviews the potential of biological and cognitive models. It examines how the features that make up the speech production and perception systems have been studied by biologists, psychologists, and linguists, and assesses how far biological, behavioural, and linguistic models generate hypotheses that provide insights into the nature of expressive speech.Less
Expression in Speech : Analysis and Synthesis
Mark TathamKatherine Morton
This book is about the nature of expression in speech. It is a comprehensive exploration of how such expression is produced and understood, and of how the emotional content of spoken words may be analysed, modelled, tested, and synthesized. Listeners can interpret tone-of-voice, assess emotional pitch, and effortlessly detect the finest modulations of speaker attitude; yet these processes present almost intractable difficulties to the researchers seeking to identify and understand them. In seeking to explain the production and perception of emotive content, the book reviews the potential of biological and cognitive models. It examines how the features that make up the speech production and perception systems have been studied by biologists, psychologists, and linguists, and assesses how far biological, behavioural, and linguistic models generate hypotheses that provide insights into the nature of expressive speech.
Keywords: emotive content, tone-of-voice, emotional pitch, speaker attitude, biological models, cognitive models, expressive speech
Frequency of Use and the Organization of Language
Joan Bybee
Linguistics, Historical Linguistics, Phonetics / Phonology
This book essentially argues for the importance of word frequency as a factor in the analysis and explanation of language structure. In other words, the roles of words and other linguistic phenomena ... More
This book essentially argues for the importance of word frequency as a factor in the analysis and explanation of language structure. In other words, the roles of words and other linguistic phenomena such as morphology, phonology, and syntax are highly influenced by low, medium, or high frequency with which they occur. The book includes three decades of influential research in one thematic source. It provides an introductory overview that traces the development of thinking on this important subject. The discussion covers word frequency in lexical diffusion, morphophonemics, lexical and morphological conditioning of alternations using Spanish verbs as example, rules and schemas in the development and use of the English past tense, morphological classes as natural categories, regular morphology and lexicon, sequentiality as the basis of constituent structure, and mechanisms of change in grammaticization.Less
This book essentially argues for the importance of word frequency as a factor in the analysis and explanation of language structure. In other words, the roles of words and other linguistic phenomena such as morphology, phonology, and syntax are highly influenced by low, medium, or high frequency with which they occur. The book includes three decades of influential research in one thematic source. It provides an introductory overview that traces the development of thinking on this important subject. The discussion covers word frequency in lexical diffusion, morphophonemics, lexical and morphological conditioning of alternations using Spanish verbs as example, rules and schemas in the development and use of the English past tense, morphological classes as natural categories, regular morphology and lexicon, sequentiality as the basis of constituent structure, and mechanisms of change in grammaticization.
Keywords: word frequency, language, morphology, phonology, syntax, grammaticization, lexical diffusion, lexicon, morphophonemics
The Interplay of Morphology and Phonology
Sharon Inkelas
This book presents a phenomenon-oriented survey of the ways in which phonology and morphology interact, including ways in which morphology, i.e. word formation, demonstrates sensitivity to ... More
This book presents a phenomenon-oriented survey of the ways in which phonology and morphology interact, including ways in which morphology, i.e. word formation, demonstrates sensitivity to phonological information and in which phonological patterns can be sensitive to morphology. Chapters focus on morphologically conditioned phonology, process morphology, prosodic templates, reduplication, infixation, phonology-morphology interleaving effects, prosodic-morphological mismatches, ineffability and other cases in which phonology interferes with morphology, and paradigmatic effects of morphology on phonology, and vice versa. The overview points out theoretical issues on which particular phenomena bear. These include the debate over item-based vs. realizational approaches to morphology, the question of whether cyclic effects can be subsumed under paradigmatic effects, whether reduplication is phonological copying or morphological doubling, whether infixation and suppletive allomorphy are phonologically optimizing, and more. The book is intended to be used in graduate or advanced undergraduate courses or to have as a reference for those pursuing individual topics in the phonology-morphology interface. The overarching aim of the book is to bring together, and connect in as many ways as possible, the large and diverse set of topics that fall under the umbrella of the phonology-morphology interface.Less
This book presents a phenomenon-oriented survey of the ways in which phonology and morphology interact, including ways in which morphology, i.e. word formation, demonstrates sensitivity to phonological information and in which phonological patterns can be sensitive to morphology. Chapters focus on morphologically conditioned phonology, process morphology, prosodic templates, reduplication, infixation, phonology-morphology interleaving effects, prosodic-morphological mismatches, ineffability and other cases in which phonology interferes with morphology, and paradigmatic effects of morphology on phonology, and vice versa. The overview points out theoretical issues on which particular phenomena bear. These include the debate over item-based vs. realizational approaches to morphology, the question of whether cyclic effects can be subsumed under paradigmatic effects, whether reduplication is phonological copying or morphological doubling, whether infixation and suppletive allomorphy are phonologically optimizing, and more. The book is intended to be used in graduate or advanced undergraduate courses or to have as a reference for those pursuing individual topics in the phonology-morphology interface. The overarching aim of the book is to bring together, and connect in as many ways as possible, the large and diverse set of topics that fall under the umbrella of the phonology-morphology interface.
Keywords: phonology, morphology, templates, reduplication, cyclicity, interaction, infixation, paradigmatic effects
Intonation and Meaning
Daniel Büring
Linguistics, Semantics and Pragmatics, Phonetics / Phonology
Speakers can modulate the meaning and effects of their utterances by changing the location of stress or of pauses, and by choosing the melody of their sentences—jointly referred to as Information ... More
Speakers can modulate the meaning and effects of their utterances by changing the location of stress or of pauses, and by choosing the melody of their sentences—jointly referred to as Information Structure. Although these factors often do not change the literal meaning of what is said, tools and models to describe these more elusive aspects of linguistic meaning have, in recent years, been developed in formal semantics and pragmatics. This volume provides a guide to what we know about the interplay between prosody—stress, phrasing, and melody—and interpretation—felicity in discourse, inferences, and emphasis. It presents the main phenomena involved, and introduces the details of current formal analyses of prosodic structure, relevant aspects of discourse structure, intonational meaning, and, most importantly, the relations between them. Büring explains and compares the most influential theories in these areas, and outlines the questions that remain open for future research.Less
Speakers can modulate the meaning and effects of their utterances by changing the location of stress or of pauses, and by choosing the melody of their sentences—jointly referred to as Information Structure. Although these factors often do not change the literal meaning of what is said, tools and models to describe these more elusive aspects of linguistic meaning have, in recent years, been developed in formal semantics and pragmatics. This volume provides a guide to what we know about the interplay between prosody—stress, phrasing, and melody—and interpretation—felicity in discourse, inferences, and emphasis. It presents the main phenomena involved, and introduces the details of current formal analyses of prosodic structure, relevant aspects of discourse structure, intonational meaning, and, most importantly, the relations between them. Büring explains and compares the most influential theories in these areas, and outlines the questions that remain open for future research.
Keywords: Information Structure, intonation, prosody, formal semantics, formal pragmatics, focus, information packaging
Morphological Length and Prosodically Defective Morphemes
Eva Zimmermann
Linguistics, Phonetics / Phonology, Syntax and Morphology
This book investigates the phenomenon of Morphological Length-Manipulation: processes of segment lengthening, shortening, deletion, and insertion that cannot be explained by phonological means but ... More
This book investigates the phenomenon of Morphological Length-Manipulation: processes of segment lengthening, shortening, deletion, and insertion that cannot be explained by phonological means but crucially rely on morpho-syntactic information. A unified theoretical account of these phenomena is presented and it is argued that Morphological Length-Manipulation is best analysed inside the framework termed ‘Prosodically Defective Morphemes’: if all possible Prosodically Defective Morpheme representations and their potential effects for the resulting surface structure are taken into account, instances of length-manipulating non-concatenative morphology and length-manipulating morpheme-specific phonology are predicted. The argumentation in this book is hence in line with the general claim that all morphology results from combination and that non-concatenative exponents are epiphenomenal and arise from affixation of autosegmental elements. Although this position has been defended various times for specific phenomena, it has rarely been discussed against the background of a broad typological survey. In contrast to most existing claims, the argumentation in this book is based on a representative data set for attested morphological length-manipulating patterns in the languages of the world that serves as basis for the theoretical arguments. It is argued that alternative accounts suffer from severe under- and overgeneration problems if they are tested against the full range of attested phenomena.Less
This book investigates the phenomenon of Morphological Length-Manipulation: processes of segment lengthening, shortening, deletion, and insertion that cannot be explained by phonological means but crucially rely on morpho-syntactic information. A unified theoretical account of these phenomena is presented and it is argued that Morphological Length-Manipulation is best analysed inside the framework termed ‘Prosodically Defective Morphemes’: if all possible Prosodically Defective Morpheme representations and their potential effects for the resulting surface structure are taken into account, instances of length-manipulating non-concatenative morphology and length-manipulating morpheme-specific phonology are predicted. The argumentation in this book is hence in line with the general claim that all morphology results from combination and that non-concatenative exponents are epiphenomenal and arise from affixation of autosegmental elements. Although this position has been defended various times for specific phenomena, it has rarely been discussed against the background of a broad typological survey. In contrast to most existing claims, the argumentation in this book is based on a representative data set for attested morphological length-manipulating patterns in the languages of the world that serves as basis for the theoretical arguments. It is argued that alternative accounts suffer from severe under- and overgeneration problems if they are tested against the full range of attested phenomena.
Keywords: non-concatenative morphology, morpheme-specific phonology, lengthening, shortening, subtraction, prosodic morphology, autosegmental phonology, containment, Optimality Theory
The Morphology and Phonology of Exponence
Jochen Trommer (ed.)
Exponence is the mapping of morphosyntactic structure to phonological representations, a research area which is not only the traditional bone of contention between phonology and morphology, but also ... More
Exponence is the mapping of morphosyntactic structure to phonological representations, a research area which is not only the traditional bone of contention between phonology and morphology, but also approached in fundamentally diverse ways in different theoretical frameworks such as Optimality Theory and Distributed Morphology: by morphological rules carrying out complex phonological operations, highly abstract morphophonological representations, and/or by phonological constraints which are sensitive to morphological information. This volume presents a synopsis of the state-of-the-art in research on exponence, based on a novel conception: Every chapter systematically discusses a specific aspect of exponence from the point of view of current theoretical morphology, but also from a theoretical phonology perspective. Topics include nonconcatenative morphology, allomorphy, iconicity, dissimilation and truncation processes. Two detailed chapters formulate a new coherent research program for exponence which integrates the central insights of the last decades and provides important new challenges for years to come.Less
Exponence is the mapping of morphosyntactic structure to phonological representations, a research area which is not only the traditional bone of contention between phonology and morphology, but also approached in fundamentally diverse ways in different theoretical frameworks such as Optimality Theory and Distributed Morphology: by morphological rules carrying out complex phonological operations, highly abstract morphophonological representations, and/or by phonological constraints which are sensitive to morphological information. This volume presents a synopsis of the state-of-the-art in research on exponence, based on a novel conception: Every chapter systematically discusses a specific aspect of exponence from the point of view of current theoretical morphology, but also from a theoretical phonology perspective. Topics include nonconcatenative morphology, allomorphy, iconicity, dissimilation and truncation processes. Two detailed chapters formulate a new coherent research program for exponence which integrates the central insights of the last decades and provides important new challenges for years to come.
Keywords: morphology-phonology interface, nonconcatenative morphology, allomorphy, morphological polarity, syncretism, dissimilation, iconicity, morphophonology
The Morphosyntax-Phonology Connection: Locality and Directionality at the Interface
Vera Gribanova and Stephanie S. Shih (eds)
The essays in this volume address a core question about the structure of linguistic systems: how much access do grammatical components (syntax, morphology, and phonology) have to each other? Each ... More
The essays in this volume address a core question about the structure of linguistic systems: how much access do grammatical components (syntax, morphology, and phonology) have to each other? Each essay argues in favor of a particular view of the interaction of these components. Each sheds light on the nature of locality domains for allomorph selection, the morphosyntactic properties of the targets of phonological exponence, and adjudicating between the competing theories of morphosyntax-phonology interaction. This volume incorporates insights from recent theoretical developments (e.g., Optimality Theory, Distributed Morphology) and insights made available to us by contemporary empirical methodologies (field work, experimental and corpus-based quantitative work).Less
The Morphosyntax-Phonology Connection : Locality and Directionality at the Interface
The essays in this volume address a core question about the structure of linguistic systems: how much access do grammatical components (syntax, morphology, and phonology) have to each other? Each essay argues in favor of a particular view of the interaction of these components. Each sheds light on the nature of locality domains for allomorph selection, the morphosyntactic properties of the targets of phonological exponence, and adjudicating between the competing theories of morphosyntax-phonology interaction. This volume incorporates insights from recent theoretical developments (e.g., Optimality Theory, Distributed Morphology) and insights made available to us by contemporary empirical methodologies (field work, experimental and corpus-based quantitative work).
Keywords: morphosyntax, phonology, syntax, morphology, grammar, methodologies, theory, empiricism, linguistics
A Natural History of Infixation
Alan C. L. Yu
This book presents a cross-linguistic study of the phenomenon of infixation, typically associated in English with words like nullim-bloody-possiblenull, and found in all the world's major linguistic ... More
This book presents a cross-linguistic study of the phenomenon of infixation, typically associated in English with words like nullim-bloody-possiblenull, and found in all the world's major linguistic families. Infixation is a central puzzle in prosodic morphology: the book explores its prosodic, phonological, and morphological characteristics; considers its diverse functions, and formulates a general theory to explain the rules and constraints by which it is governed. The book examines 154 infixation patterns from over a hundred languages, including examples from Asia, Europe, Africa, New Guinea, and South America. It compares the formal properties of different kinds of infix, explores the range of diachronic pathways that lead to them, and considers the processes by which they are acquired in first language learning. A central argument of the book concerns the idea that the typological tendencies of language may be traced back to its origins and to the mechanisms of language transmission. The book thus combines the history of infixation with an exploration of the role diachronic and functional factors play in synchronic argumentation: it is an exemplary instance of the holistic approach to linguistic explanation.Less
This book presents a cross-linguistic study of the phenomenon of infixation, typically associated in English with words like nullim-bloody-possiblenull, and found in all the world's major linguistic families. Infixation is a central puzzle in prosodic morphology: the book explores its prosodic, phonological, and morphological characteristics; considers its diverse functions, and formulates a general theory to explain the rules and constraints by which it is governed. The book examines 154 infixation patterns from over a hundred languages, including examples from Asia, Europe, Africa, New Guinea, and South America. It compares the formal properties of different kinds of infix, explores the range of diachronic pathways that lead to them, and considers the processes by which they are acquired in first language learning. A central argument of the book concerns the idea that the typological tendencies of language may be traced back to its origins and to the mechanisms of language transmission. The book thus combines the history of infixation with an exploration of the role diachronic and functional factors play in synchronic argumentation: it is an exemplary instance of the holistic approach to linguistic explanation.
Keywords: infixation, prosodic morphology, Asia, Europe, Africa, New Guinea, South America, diachronic pathways, language learning
Origins of Sound Change: Approaches to Phonologization
Alan C. L. Yu (ed.)
Linguistics, Phonetics / Phonology, Psycholinguistics / Neurolinguistics / Cognitive Linguistics
This volume showcases the current state of the art in phonologization research, bringing together work by leading scholars in sound change research from different disciplinary and scholarly ... More
This volume showcases the current state of the art in phonologization research, bringing together work by leading scholars in sound change research from different disciplinary and scholarly traditions. The book investigates the progression of sound change from the perspectives of speech perception, speech production, phonology, sociolinguistics, language acquisition, psycholinguistics, computer science, statistics, and social and cognitive psychology. This volume highlights the fruitfulness of collaborative efforts among phonologists with specialists from neighboring disciplines seeking unified theoretical explanations for the origins of sound patterns in language, as well as seeking to move toward a new and improved synthesis of synchronic and diachronic phonology.Less
Origins of Sound Change : Approaches to Phonologization
This volume showcases the current state of the art in phonologization research, bringing together work by leading scholars in sound change research from different disciplinary and scholarly traditions. The book investigates the progression of sound change from the perspectives of speech perception, speech production, phonology, sociolinguistics, language acquisition, psycholinguistics, computer science, statistics, and social and cognitive psychology. This volume highlights the fruitfulness of collaborative efforts among phonologists with specialists from neighboring disciplines seeking unified theoretical explanations for the origins of sound patterns in language, as well as seeking to move toward a new and improved synthesis of synchronic and diachronic phonology.
Keywords: sound change, phonologization, vowel harmony, phonological development, experimental phonology, dissimilation, assimilation, coarticulation, experimental phonology
The Oxford Turkish Grammar
Gerjan van Schaaik
The point of departure of this book is the fundamental observation that actual conversations tend to consist of loosely connected, compact, and meaningful chunks built on a noun phrase, rather than ... More
The point of departure of this book is the fundamental observation that actual conversations tend to consist of loosely connected, compact, and meaningful chunks built on a noun phrase, rather than fully fledged sentences. Therefore, after the treatment of elementary matters such as the Turkish alphabet and pronunciation in part I, the main points of part II are the structure of noun phrases and their function in nominal, existential, and verbal sentences, while part III presents their adjuncts and modifiers. The verbal system is extensively discussed in part IV, and in part V on sentence structure the grammatical phenomena presented so far are wrapped up. The first five parts of the book, taken together, provide for all-round operational knowledge of Turkish on a basic level. Part VI deals with the ways in which complex words are constructed, and constitutes a bridge to the advanced matter treated in parts VII and VIII. These latter parts deal with advanced topics such as relative clauses, subordination, embedded clauses, clausal complements, and the finer points of the verbal system. An important advantage of this book is its revealing new content: the section on syllable structure explains how loanwords adapt to Turkish; other topics include: the use of pronouns in invectives; verbal objects classified in terms of case marking; extensive treatment of the optative (highly relevant in day-to-day conversation); recursion and lexicalization in compounds; stacking of passives; the Başı-Bozuk and Focus-Locus constructions; relativization on possessive, dative, locative, and ablative objects, instrumentals and adverbial adjuncts; pseudo-relative clauses; typology of clausal complements; periphrastic constructions and double negation.Less
The point of departure of this book is the fundamental observation that actual conversations tend to consist of loosely connected, compact, and meaningful chunks built on a noun phrase, rather than fully fledged sentences. Therefore, after the treatment of elementary matters such as the Turkish alphabet and pronunciation in part I, the main points of part II are the structure of noun phrases and their function in nominal, existential, and verbal sentences, while part III presents their adjuncts and modifiers. The verbal system is extensively discussed in part IV, and in part V on sentence structure the grammatical phenomena presented so far are wrapped up. The first five parts of the book, taken together, provide for all-round operational knowledge of Turkish on a basic level. Part VI deals with the ways in which complex words are constructed, and constitutes a bridge to the advanced matter treated in parts VII and VIII. These latter parts deal with advanced topics such as relative clauses, subordination, embedded clauses, clausal complements, and the finer points of the verbal system. An important advantage of this book is its revealing new content: the section on syllable structure explains how loanwords adapt to Turkish; other topics include: the use of pronouns in invectives; verbal objects classified in terms of case marking; extensive treatment of the optative (highly relevant in day-to-day conversation); recursion and lexicalization in compounds; stacking of passives; the Başı-Bozuk and Focus-Locus constructions; relativization on possessive, dative, locative, and ablative objects, instrumentals and adverbial adjuncts; pseudo-relative clauses; typology of clausal complements; periphrastic constructions and double negation.
Keywords: syllable structure, invective, recursion and lexicalization of compound, stack of passive, Başı-Bozuk construction, Focus-Locus construction, pseudo-relative clause, clausal complement, periphrastic construction, double negation
Palatal Sound Change in the Romance Languages: Diachronic and Synchronic Perspectives
André Zampaulo
This monograph presents a thorough investigation of the main historical and present-day variation and change patterns undergone by palatal sounds in the Romance languages. By relying on phonetic and ... More
This monograph presents a thorough investigation of the main historical and present-day variation and change patterns undergone by palatal sounds in the Romance languages. By relying on phonetic and phonological information to motivate a formal account of palatal sound change, the analyses proposed in this book offer a principled, constraint-based explanation for the evolution of palatals in the Romance-speaking world. It provides a robust and up-to-date literature review on the subject, taking into consideration not only the viewpoints and data from diachronic research, but also the results from various phonetic, phonological, dialectal, and comprehensive studies. By taking into account the role of phonetic information in the shaping of phonological patterns, this book approaches sound change from its inception during the speaker-listener interaction and formalizes it as the difference in constraint ranking between the grammar of the speaker and that of the listener-turned-speaker. This perspective is intended to model how and why similar change events may take place in different varieties and/or the same language across periods of time.Less
Palatal Sound Change in the Romance Languages : Diachronic and Synchronic Perspectives
This monograph presents a thorough investigation of the main historical and present-day variation and change patterns undergone by palatal sounds in the Romance languages. By relying on phonetic and phonological information to motivate a formal account of palatal sound change, the analyses proposed in this book offer a principled, constraint-based explanation for the evolution of palatals in the Romance-speaking world. It provides a robust and up-to-date literature review on the subject, taking into consideration not only the viewpoints and data from diachronic research, but also the results from various phonetic, phonological, dialectal, and comprehensive studies. By taking into account the role of phonetic information in the shaping of phonological patterns, this book approaches sound change from its inception during the speaker-listener interaction and formalizes it as the difference in constraint ranking between the grammar of the speaker and that of the listener-turned-speaker. This perspective is intended to model how and why similar change events may take place in different varieties and/or the same language across periods of time.
Keywords: palatal, variation, change, Romance, constraint, diachrony, synchrony, speaker, listener
Paradigms in Phonological Theory
Laura J. Downing, T. Alan Hall, and Renate Raffelsiefen (eds)
This book presents insights on the phonology-morphology interface. It discusses a wide range of central theoretical issues, including the role of paradigms in synchronic grammars, and does so in the ... More
This book presents insights on the phonology-morphology interface. It discusses a wide range of central theoretical issues, including the role of paradigms in synchronic grammars, and does so in the context of a wide variety of languages including several non-Indo-European languages. Paradigm uniformity has a long tradition in pre-generative linguistics but until recently played a minor role in theoretical phonology. Optimality Theory has drawn renewed attention to paradigmatic effects, formalized by constraints comparing the surface pronunciation of morphologically related words. The ten chapters in this book illustrate how a wide range of exceptions to regular phonological processes can be explained in this fashion. The chapters address such important theoretical questions as: do paradigms have a morphological base? If so, how is it defined? Why do paradigmatic effects hold for only certain subsets of words? In which areas of the grammar are paradigmatic effects likely to be found? The book discusses new data from the synchronic grammars of a wide variety of unrelated languages, including: Modern Hebrew, Chimwiini and Jita (Bantu), Halkomelem (Salish), Hungarian, and Arabic.Less
This book presents insights on the phonology-morphology interface. It discusses a wide range of central theoretical issues, including the role of paradigms in synchronic grammars, and does so in the context of a wide variety of languages including several non-Indo-European languages. Paradigm uniformity has a long tradition in pre-generative linguistics but until recently played a minor role in theoretical phonology. Optimality Theory has drawn renewed attention to paradigmatic effects, formalized by constraints comparing the surface pronunciation of morphologically related words. The ten chapters in this book illustrate how a wide range of exceptions to regular phonological processes can be explained in this fashion. The chapters address such important theoretical questions as: do paradigms have a morphological base? If so, how is it defined? Why do paradigmatic effects hold for only certain subsets of words? In which areas of the grammar are paradigmatic effects likely to be found? The book discusses new data from the synchronic grammars of a wide variety of unrelated languages, including: Modern Hebrew, Chimwiini and Jita (Bantu), Halkomelem (Salish), Hungarian, and Arabic.
Keywords: phonology-morphology interface, role of paradigms, pre-generative linguistics, theoretical phonology, Optimality Theory, synchronic grammars
Phonetic Causes of Sound Change: The Palatalization and Assibilation of Obstruents
Daniel Recasens
The present study sheds light on the phonetic causes of sound change and the intermediate stages of the diachronic pathways by studying the palatalization and assibilation of velar stops (referred to ... More
The present study sheds light on the phonetic causes of sound change and the intermediate stages of the diachronic pathways by studying the palatalization and assibilation of velar stops (referred to commonly as ‘velar softening’, as exemplified by the replacement of Latin /ˈkɛntʊ/ by Tuscan Italian [ˈtʃɛnto] ‘one hundred’), and of labial stops and labiodental fricatives (also known as’ labial softening’, as in the case of the dialectal variant [ˈtʃatɾə] of /ˈpjatɾə/ ‘stone’ in Romanian dialects). To a lesser extent, it also deals with the palatalization and affrication of dentoalveolar stops. The book supports an articulation-based account of those sound-change processes, and holds that, for the most part, the corresponding affricate and fricative outcomes have been issued from intermediate (alveolo)palatal-stop realizations differing in closure fronting degree. Special attention is given to the one-to-many relationship between the input and output consonantal realizations, to the acoustic cues which contribute to the implementation of these sound changes, and to those positional and contextual conditions in which those changes are prone to operate most feasibly. Different sources of evidence are taken into consideration: descriptive data from, for example, Bantu studies and linguistic atlases of Romanian dialects in the case of labial softening; articulatory and acoustic data for velar and (alveolo)palatal stops and front lingual affricates; perceptual results from phoneme identification tests. The universal character of the claims being made derives from the fact that the dialectal material, and to some extent the experimental material as well, belong to a wide range of languages from not only Europe but also all the other continents.Less
Phonetic Causes of Sound Change : The Palatalization and Assibilation of Obstruents
The present study sheds light on the phonetic causes of sound change and the intermediate stages of the diachronic pathways by studying the palatalization and assibilation of velar stops (referred to commonly as ‘velar softening’, as exemplified by the replacement of Latin /ˈkɛntʊ/ by Tuscan Italian [ˈtʃɛnto] ‘one hundred’), and of labial stops and labiodental fricatives (also known as’ labial softening’, as in the case of the dialectal variant [ˈtʃatɾə] of /ˈpjatɾə/ ‘stone’ in Romanian dialects). To a lesser extent, it also deals with the palatalization and affrication of dentoalveolar stops. The book supports an articulation-based account of those sound-change processes, and holds that, for the most part, the corresponding affricate and fricative outcomes have been issued from intermediate (alveolo)palatal-stop realizations differing in closure fronting degree. Special attention is given to the one-to-many relationship between the input and output consonantal realizations, to the acoustic cues which contribute to the implementation of these sound changes, and to those positional and contextual conditions in which those changes are prone to operate most feasibly. Different sources of evidence are taken into consideration: descriptive data from, for example, Bantu studies and linguistic atlases of Romanian dialects in the case of labial softening; articulatory and acoustic data for velar and (alveolo)palatal stops and front lingual affricates; perceptual results from phoneme identification tests. The universal character of the claims being made derives from the fact that the dialectal material, and to some extent the experimental material as well, belong to a wide range of languages from not only Europe but also all the other continents.
Keywords: velar softening, labial softening, (alveolo)palatal stop, diachronic pathway, palatalization, acoustic cue, articulatory data, phoneme identification test
Phonetics and Philology: Sound Change in Italic
Jane Stuart-Smith
This book presents a treatment of a long-standing problem of Proto–Indo–European and Italic philology: the development of the Proto–Indo–European voiced aspirates in the ancient languages of Italy. ... More
This book presents a treatment of a long-standing problem of Proto–Indo–European and Italic philology: the development of the Proto–Indo–European voiced aspirates in the ancient languages of Italy. In so doing it tackles a central issue of historical linguistics: the plausibility of explanations for sound change. The book argues that the problem can be resolved by combining a traditional philological investigation with experimental phonetics. Philological methods enable the presentation of the first integrated account of the evidence for the Italic languages, with detailed discussion of languages other than Latin. Theory and methods from experimental phonetics are then adopted to offer a new explanation for how the sound change might have taken place. At the same time, phonetic methods also confirm the traditional reconstruction of voiced aspirates for Proto–Indo–European. Thus the book offers a case-study of the successful application of synchronic theory and method to a problem of diachrony.Less
Phonetics and Philology : Sound Change in Italic
This book presents a treatment of a long-standing problem of Proto–Indo–European and Italic philology: the development of the Proto–Indo–European voiced aspirates in the ancient languages of Italy. In so doing it tackles a central issue of historical linguistics: the plausibility of explanations for sound change. The book argues that the problem can be resolved by combining a traditional philological investigation with experimental phonetics. Philological methods enable the presentation of the first integrated account of the evidence for the Italic languages, with detailed discussion of languages other than Latin. Theory and methods from experimental phonetics are then adopted to offer a new explanation for how the sound change might have taken place. At the same time, phonetic methods also confirm the traditional reconstruction of voiced aspirates for Proto–Indo–European. Thus the book offers a case-study of the successful application of synchronic theory and method to a problem of diachrony.
Keywords: Proto–Indo–European philology, Italic philology, experimental phonetics, Latin, Italic languages, synchronic theory, diachrony
The Phonetics and Phonology of Geminate Consonants
Haruo Kubozono (ed.)
Linguistics, Phonetics / Phonology, Theoretical Linguistics
Geminate consonants, also known as long consonants, appear in many languages in the world, and how they contrast with their short counterparts, or singletons (e.g. /tt/ vs. /t/), is an important ... More
Geminate consonants, also known as long consonants, appear in many languages in the world, and how they contrast with their short counterparts, or singletons (e.g. /tt/ vs. /t/), is an important topic that features in most linguistics and phonology textbooks. However, neither their phonetic manifestation nor their phonological nature is fully understood, much less their cross-linguistic similarities and differences. As the first volume specifically devoted to the phonetics and phonology of geminate consonants, this book aims to bring together novel, original data and analyses concerning many individual languages in different parts of the world, to present a wide range of perspectives for the study of phonological contrasts in general by introducing various experimental (acoustic, perceptual, physiological, and electrophysiological) and non-experimental methodologies, and to discuss phonological contrasts in a wider context than is generally considered by looking also at the behaviour of geminate consonants in loanword phonology and language acquisition. Studying geminate consonants requires interdisciplinary approaches including experimental phonetics (acoustics and speech perception), theoretical phonology, speech processing, neurolinguistics, and language acquisition. Providing phonetic and phonological details about geminate consonants across languages will greatly contribute to research in these fields.Less
Geminate consonants, also known as long consonants, appear in many languages in the world, and how they contrast with their short counterparts, or singletons (e.g. /tt/ vs. /t/), is an important topic that features in most linguistics and phonology textbooks. However, neither their phonetic manifestation nor their phonological nature is fully understood, much less their cross-linguistic similarities and differences. As the first volume specifically devoted to the phonetics and phonology of geminate consonants, this book aims to bring together novel, original data and analyses concerning many individual languages in different parts of the world, to present a wide range of perspectives for the study of phonological contrasts in general by introducing various experimental (acoustic, perceptual, physiological, and electrophysiological) and non-experimental methodologies, and to discuss phonological contrasts in a wider context than is generally considered by looking also at the behaviour of geminate consonants in loanword phonology and language acquisition. Studying geminate consonants requires interdisciplinary approaches including experimental phonetics (acoustics and speech perception), theoretical phonology, speech processing, neurolinguistics, and language acquisition. Providing phonetic and phonological details about geminate consonants across languages will greatly contribute to research in these fields.
Keywords: geminate consonants, experimental phonetics, theoretical phonology, speech perception, neurolinguistics, speech processing, loanword phonology, language acquisition
Phonological Architecture: A Biolinguistic Approach
Bridget D. Samuels
This volume endeavors to bridge one of the gaps between linguistic theory and the biological sciences by presenting a comprehensive view of phonology which simultaneously addresses linguists and ... More
This volume endeavors to bridge one of the gaps between linguistic theory and the biological sciences by presenting a comprehensive view of phonology which simultaneously addresses linguists and those who from other fields who would like to make contact with phonological theory. It proposes a new theory of phonological computation using representations and operations informed by a broader biolinguistic perspective, breaking the human language externalization system into component parts and investigating their possible origins in cognitive abilities found throughout the animal kingdom. Issues discussed include phonology in evolutionary perspective, the role of phonology within a Minimalist conception of the language faculty, phonological operations and representations, arguments for parallel cyclicity across linguistic modules, the order of operations at the syntax/phonology interface, diachronic phonology, the role of language acquisition in language change, and the sources of linguistic variation.Less
Phonological Architecture : A Biolinguistic Approach
This volume endeavors to bridge one of the gaps between linguistic theory and the biological sciences by presenting a comprehensive view of phonology which simultaneously addresses linguists and those who from other fields who would like to make contact with phonological theory. It proposes a new theory of phonological computation using representations and operations informed by a broader biolinguistic perspective, breaking the human language externalization system into component parts and investigating their possible origins in cognitive abilities found throughout the animal kingdom. Issues discussed include phonology in evolutionary perspective, the role of phonology within a Minimalist conception of the language faculty, phonological operations and representations, arguments for parallel cyclicity across linguistic modules, the order of operations at the syntax/phonology interface, diachronic phonology, the role of language acquisition in language change, and the sources of linguistic variation.
Keywords: biolinguistics, phonology, evolution, syntax-phonology interface, minimalism
Phonological Templates in Development
Marilyn May Vihman
Based on cross-linguistic data from several children each learning one of eight languages and grounded in the theoretical frameworks of usage-based phonology, exemplar theory, and Dynamic Systems ... More
Based on cross-linguistic data from several children each learning one of eight languages and grounded in the theoretical frameworks of usage-based phonology, exemplar theory, and Dynamic Systems Theory, this book explores the patterns or phonological templates children develop once they are producing 20–50 words or more. The children are found to begin with ‘selected’ words, which match some of the vocal forms they have practised in babbling; this is followed by the production of more challenging adult word forms, adapted—differently by different children and with some shaping by the particular adult language—to fit that child’s existing word forms. Early accuracy is replaced by later recourse to an ‘inner model’ of what a word can sound like; this is a template, or fixed output pattern to which a high proportion of the children’s forms adhere for a short time, before being replaced by ‘ordinary’ (more adult-like) forms with regular substitutions and omissions. The idea of templates developed in adult theorizing about phonology and morphology; in adult language it is most productive in colloquial forms and pet names or hypocoristics, found in informal settings or ‘language at play’. These are illustrated in some detail for over 200 English rhyming compounds, 100 Estonian and 500 French short forms. The issues of emergent systematicity, the roles of articulatory and memory challenges for children, and the similarities and differences in the function of templates for adults as compared with children are central concerns.Less
Based on cross-linguistic data from several children each learning one of eight languages and grounded in the theoretical frameworks of usage-based phonology, exemplar theory, and Dynamic Systems Theory, this book explores the patterns or phonological templates children develop once they are producing 20–50 words or more. The children are found to begin with ‘selected’ words, which match some of the vocal forms they have practised in babbling; this is followed by the production of more challenging adult word forms, adapted—differently by different children and with some shaping by the particular adult language—to fit that child’s existing word forms. Early accuracy is replaced by later recourse to an ‘inner model’ of what a word can sound like; this is a template, or fixed output pattern to which a high proportion of the children’s forms adhere for a short time, before being replaced by ‘ordinary’ (more adult-like) forms with regular substitutions and omissions. The idea of templates developed in adult theorizing about phonology and morphology; in adult language it is most productive in colloquial forms and pet names or hypocoristics, found in informal settings or ‘language at play’. These are illustrated in some detail for over 200 English rhyming compounds, 100 Estonian and 500 French short forms. The issues of emergent systematicity, the roles of articulatory and memory challenges for children, and the similarities and differences in the function of templates for adults as compared with children are central concerns.
Keywords: cross-linguistic data, dynamic systems theory, English rhyming compounds, Estonian short forms, exemplar theory, French short forms, hypocoristics, phonological templates, systematicity, usage-based phonology
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Innovation x
Organization Studies (8)
Pensions and Pension Management (1)
The Associational Economy: Firms, Regions, and Innovation
Philip Cooke and Kevin Morgan
Business and Management, Innovation, Political Economy
This book explores important issues of corporate reorganization in the context of heightened global competition. Its special focus is upon how firms associate with regional milieux. Innovation is a ... More
This book explores important issues of corporate reorganization in the context of heightened global competition. Its special focus is upon how firms associate with regional milieux. Innovation is a key factor in corporate and regional economic performance and the book shows how interactive innovation based on collective learning and associative practices are becoming increasingly significant. In-depth studies of inter-firm and firm-agency interactions are presented for four European regions: Baden-Württemberg and Emilia-Romagna as accomplished regional economies; Wales and the Basque Country as learning regions. The book is theoretically informed by an evolutionary economics perspective and draws policy conclusions which emphasize the importance of decentralized industrial policy in support of both corporate and regional economic development ambitions. It concludes that the associational economy may be the ‘third way’ between state and market co-ordination of modern economies.Less
The Associational Economy : Firms, Regions, and Innovation
Philip CookeKevin Morgan
This book explores important issues of corporate reorganization in the context of heightened global competition. Its special focus is upon how firms associate with regional milieux. Innovation is a key factor in corporate and regional economic performance and the book shows how interactive innovation based on collective learning and associative practices are becoming increasingly significant. In-depth studies of inter-firm and firm-agency interactions are presented for four European regions: Baden-Württemberg and Emilia-Romagna as accomplished regional economies; Wales and the Basque Country as learning regions. The book is theoretically informed by an evolutionary economics perspective and draws policy conclusions which emphasize the importance of decentralized industrial policy in support of both corporate and regional economic development ambitions. It concludes that the associational economy may be the ‘third way’ between state and market co-ordination of modern economies.
Keywords: corporate reorganization, global competition, regional milleux, interactive innovation, Wales, Basque Country, decentralized industrial policy
Business Model Innovation: The Organizational Dimension
Nicolai J Foss and Tina Saebi (eds)
Business and Management, Innovation, Strategy
Business model innovation is an important source of competitive advantage and corporate renewal. An increasing number of companies have to innovate their business models, not just because of ... More
Business model innovation is an important source of competitive advantage and corporate renewal. An increasing number of companies have to innovate their business models, not just because of competitive forces but also because of the ongoing change from product-based to service-based business models. Yet, business model innovation is also a massive organizational change process that challenges existing processes, structures and modes of control. The specific angle, and the novel feature of this book, is to thoroughly examine the organizational dimension of business model innovation. Drawing on organizational theory and empirical observation, the contributors specifically highlight organizational design aspects of business model innovation, focusing on how reward systems, power distributions, routines and standard operating procedures, the allocation of authority, and other aspects of organizational structure and control should be designed to support the business model the firm chooses. Also discussed are how existing organizational structures, capabilities, beliefs, cultures and so on influence the firm’s ability to flexibly change to new business models.Less
Business Model Innovation : The Organizational Dimension
Business model innovation is an important source of competitive advantage and corporate renewal. An increasing number of companies have to innovate their business models, not just because of competitive forces but also because of the ongoing change from product-based to service-based business models. Yet, business model innovation is also a massive organizational change process that challenges existing processes, structures and modes of control. The specific angle, and the novel feature of this book, is to thoroughly examine the organizational dimension of business model innovation. Drawing on organizational theory and empirical observation, the contributors specifically highlight organizational design aspects of business model innovation, focusing on how reward systems, power distributions, routines and standard operating procedures, the allocation of authority, and other aspects of organizational structure and control should be designed to support the business model the firm chooses. Also discussed are how existing organizational structures, capabilities, beliefs, cultures and so on influence the firm’s ability to flexibly change to new business models.
Keywords: Business model innovation, business models, organizational design, organizational theory, dynamic capabilities, transaction cost economics, strategy
Cluster Genesis: Technology-Based Industrial Development
Pontus Braunerhjelm and Maryann P. Feldman (eds)
Business and Management, Innovation
This book examines the origins and emergence of technology-based industrial clusters — regional concentrations of related firms and organizations — in order to understand the forces that promoted ... More
This book examines the origins and emergence of technology-based industrial clusters — regional concentrations of related firms and organizations — in order to understand the forces that promoted economic development. Many places attempt to emulate the world's most famous industrial cluster Silicon Valley, with its rich institutional landscape of engaged and leveraged research universities, high-flying local venture capitalists, world class supporting business and legal consultants, and rich collaborative networks. While mature clusters may look similar, what really matters is the process by which clusters come into existence. But there is little understanding of such processes, and little guidance provided on the role of policies in promoting cluster emergence. The book attempts to bridge this gap in the literature by focusing on the early origins of high-technology cluster in Europe, the United States, and China, and the ensuing policy implications. The book is organized around three main themes: Creation Myths Revisited, Considering the Development Cluster Context, and Crafting Cluster and Economic Development Policy. The empirical analyses suggest that clusters that grow rapidly as compared to the less successful ones are distinguished by vigorous entrepreneurial activity and the active building of institutions aided by the forces of agglomeration economies.Less
Cluster Genesis : Technology-Based Industrial Development
This book examines the origins and emergence of technology-based industrial clusters — regional concentrations of related firms and organizations — in order to understand the forces that promoted economic development. Many places attempt to emulate the world's most famous industrial cluster Silicon Valley, with its rich institutional landscape of engaged and leveraged research universities, high-flying local venture capitalists, world class supporting business and legal consultants, and rich collaborative networks. While mature clusters may look similar, what really matters is the process by which clusters come into existence. But there is little understanding of such processes, and little guidance provided on the role of policies in promoting cluster emergence. The book attempts to bridge this gap in the literature by focusing on the early origins of high-technology cluster in Europe, the United States, and China, and the ensuing policy implications. The book is organized around three main themes: Creation Myths Revisited, Considering the Development Cluster Context, and Crafting Cluster and Economic Development Policy. The empirical analyses suggest that clusters that grow rapidly as compared to the less successful ones are distinguished by vigorous entrepreneurial activity and the active building of institutions aided by the forces of agglomeration economies.
Keywords: Silicon Valley, economic development, high-technology, entrepreneurship, policy, entrepreneurs, agglomeration economies
The Coming Prosperity: How Entrepreneurs Are Transforming the Global Economy
Philip Auerswald
Ours is the most dynamic era in human history. The benefits of four centuries of technological and organizational change are at last reaching a previously excluded global majority. This ... More
Ours is the most dynamic era in human history. The benefits of four centuries of technological and organizational change are at last reaching a previously excluded global majority. This transformation will create large-scale opportunities in richer countries like the United States just as it has in poorer countries now in the ascent. This book argues that it is time to overcome the outdated narratives of fear that dominate public discourse and to grasp the powerful momentum of progress. Acknowledging the gravity of today's greatest global challenges—like climate change, water scarcity, and rapid urbanization—the book emphasizes that the choices we make today will determine the extent and reach of the coming prosperity. To make the most of this epochal transition, it states, the key is entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs introduce new products and services, expand the range of global knowledge networks, and, most importantly, challenge established business interests, maintaining the vitality of mature capitalist economies and enhancing the viability of emerging ones. The book frames narratives of inspiring entrepreneurs within the sweep of human history. The book's deft analysis of economic trends is enlivened by stories of entrepreneurs making an outsize difference in their communities and the world—people like Karim Khoja, who led the creation of the first mobile phone company in Afghanistan; Leila Janah, who is bringing digital-age opportunity to talented people trapped in refugee camps; and Victoria Hale, whose non-profit pharmaceutical company turned an orphan drug into a cure for black fever.Less
The Coming Prosperity : How Entrepreneurs Are Transforming the Global Economy
Ours is the most dynamic era in human history. The benefits of four centuries of technological and organizational change are at last reaching a previously excluded global majority. This transformation will create large-scale opportunities in richer countries like the United States just as it has in poorer countries now in the ascent. This book argues that it is time to overcome the outdated narratives of fear that dominate public discourse and to grasp the powerful momentum of progress. Acknowledging the gravity of today's greatest global challenges—like climate change, water scarcity, and rapid urbanization—the book emphasizes that the choices we make today will determine the extent and reach of the coming prosperity. To make the most of this epochal transition, it states, the key is entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs introduce new products and services, expand the range of global knowledge networks, and, most importantly, challenge established business interests, maintaining the vitality of mature capitalist economies and enhancing the viability of emerging ones. The book frames narratives of inspiring entrepreneurs within the sweep of human history. The book's deft analysis of economic trends is enlivened by stories of entrepreneurs making an outsize difference in their communities and the world—people like Karim Khoja, who led the creation of the first mobile phone company in Afghanistan; Leila Janah, who is bringing digital-age opportunity to talented people trapped in refugee camps; and Victoria Hale, whose non-profit pharmaceutical company turned an orphan drug into a cure for black fever.
Keywords: climate change, water scarcity, rapid urbanization, entrepreneurship, global knowledge networks, Karim Khoja, Leila Janah
Creating and Capturing Value through Crowdsourcing
Christopher L. Tucci, Allan Afuah, and Gianluigi Viscusi (eds)
Examples of the value that can be created and captured through crowdsourcing go back to at least 1714, when the UK used crowdsourcing to solve the Longitude Problem, obtaining a solution that would ... More
Examples of the value that can be created and captured through crowdsourcing go back to at least 1714, when the UK used crowdsourcing to solve the Longitude Problem, obtaining a solution that would enable the UK to become the dominant maritime force of its time. Today, Wikipedia uses crowds to provide entries for the world’s largest and free encyclopedia. Partly fueled by the value that can be created and captured through crowdsourcing, interest in researching the phenomenon has been remarkable. For example, the Best Paper Awards in 2012 for a record-setting three journals—the Academy of Management Review, Journal of Product Innovation Management, and Academy of Management Perspectives—were about crowdsourcing. In spite of the interest in crowdsourcing—or perhaps because of it—research on the phenomenon has been conducted in different research silos within the fields of management (from strategy to finance to operations to information systems), biology, communications, computer science, economics, political science, among others. In these silos, crowdsourcing takes names such as broadcast search, innovation tournaments, crowdfunding, community innovation, distributed innovation, collective intelligence, open source, crowdpower, and even open innovation. The book aims to assemble papers from as many of these silos as possible since the ultimate potential of crowdsourcing research is likely to be attained only by bridging them. The papers provide a systematic overview of the research on crowdsourcing from different fields based on a more encompassing definition of the concept, its difference for innovation, and its value for both the private and public sectors.Less
Examples of the value that can be created and captured through crowdsourcing go back to at least 1714, when the UK used crowdsourcing to solve the Longitude Problem, obtaining a solution that would enable the UK to become the dominant maritime force of its time. Today, Wikipedia uses crowds to provide entries for the world’s largest and free encyclopedia. Partly fueled by the value that can be created and captured through crowdsourcing, interest in researching the phenomenon has been remarkable. For example, the Best Paper Awards in 2012 for a record-setting three journals—the Academy of Management Review, Journal of Product Innovation Management, and Academy of Management Perspectives—were about crowdsourcing. In spite of the interest in crowdsourcing—or perhaps because of it—research on the phenomenon has been conducted in different research silos within the fields of management (from strategy to finance to operations to information systems), biology, communications, computer science, economics, political science, among others. In these silos, crowdsourcing takes names such as broadcast search, innovation tournaments, crowdfunding, community innovation, distributed innovation, collective intelligence, open source, crowdpower, and even open innovation. The book aims to assemble papers from as many of these silos as possible since the ultimate potential of crowdsourcing research is likely to be attained only by bridging them. The papers provide a systematic overview of the research on crowdsourcing from different fields based on a more encompassing definition of the concept, its difference for innovation, and its value for both the private and public sectors.
Keywords: Crowdsourcing, Crowd-Driven Innovation, Crowdfunding, Internal Crowdsourcing, Tournaments, Contests, Platforms, Co-creation, Boundary Spanning, Innovation Intermediaries
Creating Economic Space for Social Innovation
Alex Nicholls and Rafael Ziegler (eds)
Social innovation is a topic of increasing interest to policymakers, civil society, and business globally. However, there has yet to be a comprehensive account of the economic contexts of social ... More
Social innovation is a topic of increasing interest to policymakers, civil society, and business globally. However, there has yet to be a comprehensive account of the economic contexts of social innovation. This book aims to address this research gap. It weaves together work from economics, sociology and ethics for a novel theoretical approach: the Extended Social Grid Model (ESGM). Based upon four years of work across a range of countries, this book provides a thorough and nuanced discussion of how social innovation can address major social issues including marginalization, access to housing, clean water, and microcredit. Empirically, the book considers how social innovation has interfaced with the economy, but also the state and civil society in terms of long-term projects, programmes, and policies that have emerged and evolved within and across European states to drive more equitable, inclusive, and sustainable societies.Less
Social innovation is a topic of increasing interest to policymakers, civil society, and business globally. However, there has yet to be a comprehensive account of the economic contexts of social innovation. This book aims to address this research gap. It weaves together work from economics, sociology and ethics for a novel theoretical approach: the Extended Social Grid Model (ESGM). Based upon four years of work across a range of countries, this book provides a thorough and nuanced discussion of how social innovation can address major social issues including marginalization, access to housing, clean water, and microcredit. Empirically, the book considers how social innovation has interfaced with the economy, but also the state and civil society in terms of long-term projects, programmes, and policies that have emerged and evolved within and across European states to drive more equitable, inclusive, and sustainable societies.
Keywords: social innovation, marginalization, power, institutions, cognitive frames, social networks, capabilities approach, social innovation policy
The Dilemmas of Wonderland: Decisions in the Age of Innovation
Yakov Ben-Haim
Business and Management, Innovation, Knowledge Management
Innovations create both opportunities and dilemmas. Innovations provide new and purportedly better opportunities, but—because of their newness—they are often more uncertain and potentially worse than ... More
Innovations create both opportunities and dilemmas. Innovations provide new and purportedly better opportunities, but—because of their newness—they are often more uncertain and potentially worse than existing options. There are new drugs, new energy sources, new foods, new manufacturing technologies, new toys and new pedagogical methods, new weapon systems, new home appliances, and many other discoveries and inventions. To use or not to use a new and promising but unfamiliar and hence uncertain innovation? That dilemma faces just about everybody. Furthermore, the paradigm of the innovation dilemma characterizes many situations even when a new technology is not actually involved. The dilemma arises from new attitudes, like individual responsibility for the global environment, or new social conceptions, like global allegiance and self-identity transcending all nation-states. These dilemmas have far-reaching implications for individuals, organizations, and society at large as they make decisions in the age of innovation. The uncritical belief in outcome optimization—“more is better, so most is best”—pervades decision-making in all domains, but this is often irresponsible when facing the uncertainties of innovation. There is a great need for practical conceptual tools for understanding and managing the dilemmas of innovation. This book offers a new direction for a wide audience. It discusses examples from many fields, including e-reading, online learning, bipolar disorder and pregnancy, disruptive technology in industry, stock markets, agricultural productivity and world hunger, military hardware, military intelligence, biological conservation, and more.Less
The Dilemmas of Wonderland : Decisions in the Age of Innovation
Innovations create both opportunities and dilemmas. Innovations provide new and purportedly better opportunities, but—because of their newness—they are often more uncertain and potentially worse than existing options. There are new drugs, new energy sources, new foods, new manufacturing technologies, new toys and new pedagogical methods, new weapon systems, new home appliances, and many other discoveries and inventions. To use or not to use a new and promising but unfamiliar and hence uncertain innovation? That dilemma faces just about everybody. Furthermore, the paradigm of the innovation dilemma characterizes many situations even when a new technology is not actually involved. The dilemma arises from new attitudes, like individual responsibility for the global environment, or new social conceptions, like global allegiance and self-identity transcending all nation-states. These dilemmas have far-reaching implications for individuals, organizations, and society at large as they make decisions in the age of innovation. The uncritical belief in outcome optimization—“more is better, so most is best”—pervades decision-making in all domains, but this is often irresponsible when facing the uncertainties of innovation. There is a great need for practical conceptual tools for understanding and managing the dilemmas of innovation. This book offers a new direction for a wide audience. It discusses examples from many fields, including e-reading, online learning, bipolar disorder and pregnancy, disruptive technology in industry, stock markets, agricultural productivity and world hunger, military hardware, military intelligence, biological conservation, and more.
Keywords: innovation, discovery, invention, innovation dilemma, dilemma, decision, technology, optimization, uncertainty, info-gap
The Disruptive Impact of FinTech on Retirement Systems
Julie Agnew and Olivia S. Mitchell (eds)
Business and Management, Pensions and Pension Management, Innovation
This volume examines how technology is transforming financial applications, and how FinTech promises a similar revolution in the retirement planning processes. Robo-advisors and mobile savings apps ... More
This volume examines how technology is transforming financial applications, and how FinTech promises a similar revolution in the retirement planning processes. Robo-advisors and mobile savings apps are a few harbingers of innovations to come. Nevertheless, these changes will bring with them new ethical and regulatory considerations, design challenges related to promoting adoption by an older population less trusting of technology, and concerns over data security and privacy. Our contributors take stock of the disruptive impact of financial technology on retirement planning, saving, investment, and decumulation; and the book also highlights issues that regulators, plan sponsors, academics, and policymakers must consider as retirement practices evolve at a rapid pace.Less
This volume examines how technology is transforming financial applications, and how FinTech promises a similar revolution in the retirement planning processes. Robo-advisors and mobile savings apps are a few harbingers of innovations to come. Nevertheless, these changes will bring with them new ethical and regulatory considerations, design challenges related to promoting adoption by an older population less trusting of technology, and concerns over data security and privacy. Our contributors take stock of the disruptive impact of financial technology on retirement planning, saving, investment, and decumulation; and the book also highlights issues that regulators, plan sponsors, academics, and policymakers must consider as retirement practices evolve at a rapid pace.
Keywords: robo-advisors, insurance, FinTech, retirement, investments
The Dynamics of Entrepreneurship: Evidence from Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Data
Maria Minniti (ed.)
Why are some individuals more entrepreneurial than others? What types of institutional environments are more conducive to entrepreneurship? Does entrepreneurship contribute to the growth of a ... More
Why are some individuals more entrepreneurial than others? What types of institutional environments are more conducive to entrepreneurship? Does entrepreneurship contribute to the growth of a country? Answering these questions is particularly important at a time when governments all over the world are looking to entrepreneurship as a way to increase employment and the competitiveness of their countries. The chapters in this volume cover topics such as entrepreneurial motivation, gender and migration, entrepreneurial financing, urban entrepreneurship, growth-oriented entrepreneurship, economic growth, and regional entrepreneurship policies. Each chapter is based on data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. The GEM project collects detailed and comparable data on representative population samples in more than 60 countries. No other existing book provides such a coherent global view of entrepreneurship and its implications. Other studies use a hodge-podge of data from different sources to study entrepreneurship. The data used to support the different parts of a given argument are not always consistent with one another or easily compared. The scientific validity of such empirical findings is limited as the various pieces of evidence do not belong to the same puzzle. Therefore, the coherence of a universal approach is lost and important aspects of the entrepreneurial process may be overlooked or undervalued. This volume, on the other hand, tests all theoretical arguments against the same empirical data, all the pieces fit into the same puzzle and a coherent and unitary picture of entrepreneurial activity, from its causes and motivations to its macroeconomic impact and implications, emerges.Less
The Dynamics of Entrepreneurship : Evidence from Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Data
Why are some individuals more entrepreneurial than others? What types of institutional environments are more conducive to entrepreneurship? Does entrepreneurship contribute to the growth of a country? Answering these questions is particularly important at a time when governments all over the world are looking to entrepreneurship as a way to increase employment and the competitiveness of their countries. The chapters in this volume cover topics such as entrepreneurial motivation, gender and migration, entrepreneurial financing, urban entrepreneurship, growth-oriented entrepreneurship, economic growth, and regional entrepreneurship policies. Each chapter is based on data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. The GEM project collects detailed and comparable data on representative population samples in more than 60 countries. No other existing book provides such a coherent global view of entrepreneurship and its implications. Other studies use a hodge-podge of data from different sources to study entrepreneurship. The data used to support the different parts of a given argument are not always consistent with one another or easily compared. The scientific validity of such empirical findings is limited as the various pieces of evidence do not belong to the same puzzle. Therefore, the coherence of a universal approach is lost and important aspects of the entrepreneurial process may be overlooked or undervalued. This volume, on the other hand, tests all theoretical arguments against the same empirical data, all the pieces fit into the same puzzle and a coherent and unitary picture of entrepreneurial activity, from its causes and motivations to its macroeconomic impact and implications, emerges.
Keywords: entrepreneurship, GEM, Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, cross-country studies, entrepreneurship data, entrepreneurial process, entrepreneurial dynamics, entrepreneurs, early-stage entrepreneurship, TEA rates, cross-country entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship theory, entrepreneurship policy
Embracing Complexity: Strategic Perspectives for an Age of Turbulence
Jean G. Boulton, Peter M. Allen, and Cliff Bowman
Business and Management, Organization Studies, Innovation
The book describes what it means to say the world is complex and explores what that means for managers, policy makers and individuals. The first part of the book is about the theory and ideas and ... More
The book describes what it means to say the world is complex and explores what that means for managers, policy makers and individuals. The first part of the book is about the theory and ideas and science of complexity. This is explained in a way that is thorough but not mathematical. It compares differing approaches, and also provides a historical perspective, showing how such thinking has been around since the beginning of civilisation. It emphasises the difference between a complexity worldview and the dominant mechanical worldview that underpins much of current management practice. It defines the complexity worldview as recognising the world is interconnected, shaped by history and the particularities of context. The comparison of the differing approaches to modelling complexity is unique in its depth and accessibility. The second part of the book uses this lens of complexity to explore issues in the fields of management, strategy, economics and international development. It also explores how to facilitate others to recognise the implications of adopting a complex rather than a mechanical worldview and suggests methods of research to explore systemic, path-dependent emergent aspects of situations.Less
Embracing Complexity : Strategic Perspectives for an Age of Turbulence
Jean G. BoultonPeter M. AllenCliff Bowman
The book describes what it means to say the world is complex and explores what that means for managers, policy makers and individuals. The first part of the book is about the theory and ideas and science of complexity. This is explained in a way that is thorough but not mathematical. It compares differing approaches, and also provides a historical perspective, showing how such thinking has been around since the beginning of civilisation. It emphasises the difference between a complexity worldview and the dominant mechanical worldview that underpins much of current management practice. It defines the complexity worldview as recognising the world is interconnected, shaped by history and the particularities of context. The comparison of the differing approaches to modelling complexity is unique in its depth and accessibility. The second part of the book uses this lens of complexity to explore issues in the fields of management, strategy, economics and international development. It also explores how to facilitate others to recognise the implications of adopting a complex rather than a mechanical worldview and suggests methods of research to explore systemic, path-dependent emergent aspects of situations.
Keywords: complexity, worldview, emergence, system, modelling, narrative, strategy, uncertainty, chaos, economics
The Emergence of Novelty in Organizations
Raghu Garud, Barbara Simpson, Ann Langley, and Haridimos Tsoukas (eds)
With the growing influence of discursive perspectives and of research on organizational discourse, business discourse, and narrative perspectives on organizing, organizational scholars are focusing ... More
With the growing influence of discursive perspectives and of research on organizational discourse, business discourse, and narrative perspectives on organizing, organizational scholars are focusing increasing attention on the constitutive role of language and communication in organizational processes. This view conceptualizes language and communication as bringing organization into being, and is therefore inherently sympathetic to a process perspective. However, our understanding of the role of language in organizational processes and organizational action is still limited, partly due to the tendency in discourse analysis to focus on language alone, without explicit linkages to organizational practices, activities, and actions. Moreover, analyses elucidating the agency and power of discourses in specific organizational contexts have been scarce. Thus, there is a paucity of knowledge of the ways in which language and communication operate in organizational activity. This fourth volume focuses on language and communication at work, and examine language and communication as an inherent part of ongoing organizational processes. The chapters explore the question of language and communication as constitutive of work; analyze how language and communication work in the context of organizing and managing; and examine the role of language and communication as part of strategic and institutional work in and around organizational phenomena. More generally, the chapters concentrate on one or several aspects of organizing by showing how communication, discourse, and narrativity are constitutive of what is taking place. These analyses focus on micro-level instances of communication or discourse, or more macro-level processes of organizing or change.Less
With the growing influence of discursive perspectives and of research on organizational discourse, business discourse, and narrative perspectives on organizing, organizational scholars are focusing increasing attention on the constitutive role of language and communication in organizational processes. This view conceptualizes language and communication as bringing organization into being, and is therefore inherently sympathetic to a process perspective. However, our understanding of the role of language in organizational processes and organizational action is still limited, partly due to the tendency in discourse analysis to focus on language alone, without explicit linkages to organizational practices, activities, and actions. Moreover, analyses elucidating the agency and power of discourses in specific organizational contexts have been scarce. Thus, there is a paucity of knowledge of the ways in which language and communication operate in organizational activity. This fourth volume focuses on language and communication at work, and examine language and communication as an inherent part of ongoing organizational processes. The chapters explore the question of language and communication as constitutive of work; analyze how language and communication work in the context of organizing and managing; and examine the role of language and communication as part of strategic and institutional work in and around organizational phenomena. More generally, the chapters concentrate on one or several aspects of organizing by showing how communication, discourse, and narrativity are constitutive of what is taking place. These analyses focus on micro-level instances of communication or discourse, or more macro-level processes of organizing or change.
Keywords: process perspective, novelty, narratives, discourse analysis, organizations, language, communication, organizational process, business discourse
Entrepreneurs in High Technology: Lessons from MIT and Beyond
Edward B. Roberts
This is a book about the formation, development, and success or failure of new high technology companies, focusing on those that grew under the auspices of entrepreneurs from Massachusetts Institute ... More
This is a book about the formation, development, and success or failure of new high technology companies, focusing on those that grew under the auspices of entrepreneurs from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston at the end of World War Two. Trained in high-technology in MIT's labs and academic departments or in the local industrial marvel that became known as the “Route 128 phenomenon”, these entrepreneurs took their technical and innate skills with them to found their own new companies. The book is based on extensive empirical research on these firms conducted over a period of twenty-five years and much previously written work on the subject, and is the culmination of such earlier work and synthesized findings. It centers on people, technology, money, and markets, and its main goal is to provide insights that may eventually contribute to fulfilling other entrepreneurs' dreams and other communities' hopes. The book chapters comprise three connected sections — treating birth, transition and growth, and success or failure.Less
Entrepreneurs in High Technology : Lessons from MIT and Beyond
This is a book about the formation, development, and success or failure of new high technology companies, focusing on those that grew under the auspices of entrepreneurs from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston at the end of World War Two. Trained in high-technology in MIT's labs and academic departments or in the local industrial marvel that became known as the “Route 128 phenomenon”, these entrepreneurs took their technical and innate skills with them to found their own new companies. The book is based on extensive empirical research on these firms conducted over a period of twenty-five years and much previously written work on the subject, and is the culmination of such earlier work and synthesized findings. It centers on people, technology, money, and markets, and its main goal is to provide insights that may eventually contribute to fulfilling other entrepreneurs' dreams and other communities' hopes. The book chapters comprise three connected sections — treating birth, transition and growth, and success or failure.
Keywords: high technology, entrepreneurs, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, empirical research, technology, development, Boston
Evolutionary Innovations: The Business of Biotechnology
Maureen McKelvey
This book examines the initial commercial uses of genetic engineering. Genetic engineering is one of the most modern, controversial and dynamic of the science-based technologies. It is not an object, ... More
This book examines the initial commercial uses of genetic engineering. Genetic engineering is one of the most modern, controversial and dynamic of the science-based technologies. It is not an object, but a set of techniques or way of doing things. The development of these technologies from the 1970s onwards illustrates the changing relationships between universities and firms, and between basic science and research oriented towards commercial uses. The main focus of the book is on two firms — DS Genentech in the United States and Kabi in Sweden — and their activities and ‘knowledge-seeking’ behaviour in the development of human growth hormone and how those ran in parallel with university science. This book was awarded the Schumpeter Society book prize in 1996. This paperback edition includes a new introduction in which the author reflects upon the most recent developments in biotechnology. The book will interest those who wish to understand the complexities of innovation processes in the ‘knowledge society’, for example, management and organisation researchers, economists, policy advisors, and managers and strategists responsible for turning knowledge into product and profit.Less
Evolutionary Innovations : The Business of Biotechnology
This book examines the initial commercial uses of genetic engineering. Genetic engineering is one of the most modern, controversial and dynamic of the science-based technologies. It is not an object, but a set of techniques or way of doing things. The development of these technologies from the 1970s onwards illustrates the changing relationships between universities and firms, and between basic science and research oriented towards commercial uses. The main focus of the book is on two firms — DS Genentech in the United States and Kabi in Sweden — and their activities and ‘knowledge-seeking’ behaviour in the development of human growth hormone and how those ran in parallel with university science. This book was awarded the Schumpeter Society book prize in 1996. This paperback edition includes a new introduction in which the author reflects upon the most recent developments in biotechnology. The book will interest those who wish to understand the complexities of innovation processes in the ‘knowledge society’, for example, management and organisation researchers, economists, policy advisors, and managers and strategists responsible for turning knowledge into product and profit.
Keywords: commercial uses, genetic engineering, science-based technologies, techniques, universities, firms, DS Genentech, Kabi
Expertise, Communication, and Organizing
Jeffrey W. Treem and Paul M. Leonardi (eds)
Business and Management, Innovation, Organization Studies
This book challenges the perspective that organizational expertise exists to be recognized and utilized, and offers an alternative lens that views expertise, and experts, as emergent and constituted ... More
This book challenges the perspective that organizational expertise exists to be recognized and utilized, and offers an alternative lens that views expertise, and experts, as emergent and constituted in communication among organizing actors. Scholars of diverse backgrounds explore how recent changes in the structure of organizational life have altered the nature of expertise, and discuss opportunities to advance the study of expertise. The work of experts is commonly characterized by exclusivity or an esoteric nature, making it both seemingly difficult to acquire and understand. Trens towards specialized work and employees’ increased reliance on communication technologies to complete tasks further complicate the evaluation of workers’ knowledge and abilities. Examining the intersection of communication and expertise within and across different contexts of organizing offers new insights into the discursive, material, and structural influences that contribute to an understanding of expertise. This presents theoretical frameworks for the study of expertise, providing reviews of how the study of expertise has evolved, applying perspectives on expertise to different domains of organizational practice, and presenting new directions for the study of the intersection of expertise, communication, and organizing.Less
This book challenges the perspective that organizational expertise exists to be recognized and utilized, and offers an alternative lens that views expertise, and experts, as emergent and constituted in communication among organizing actors. Scholars of diverse backgrounds explore how recent changes in the structure of organizational life have altered the nature of expertise, and discuss opportunities to advance the study of expertise. The work of experts is commonly characterized by exclusivity or an esoteric nature, making it both seemingly difficult to acquire and understand. Trens towards specialized work and employees’ increased reliance on communication technologies to complete tasks further complicate the evaluation of workers’ knowledge and abilities. Examining the intersection of communication and expertise within and across different contexts of organizing offers new insights into the discursive, material, and structural influences that contribute to an understanding of expertise. This presents theoretical frameworks for the study of expertise, providing reviews of how the study of expertise has evolved, applying perspectives on expertise to different domains of organizational practice, and presenting new directions for the study of the intersection of expertise, communication, and organizing.
Keywords: authority, communication, expertise, experts, knowledge, organizing, organizations, organizational communication, professionals, technology
Explaining the Future: How to Research, Analyze, and Report on Emerging Technologies
Sunny Bains
Explaining the Future addresses the questions “will this new technology solve the problem that its inventors claim it will,” “will it succeed for any application at all,” “can we narrow down the ... More
Explaining the Future addresses the questions “will this new technology solve the problem that its inventors claim it will,” “will it succeed for any application at all,” “can we narrow down the options before we spend a lot of money on development,” and “how do we persuade colleagues, investors, clients, or readers of our technical reasoning?” Whether the person answering these questions is a researcher, a consultant, a venture capitalist, or a CTO, they will need to be able to answer them clearly and systematically. Most learn these skills only through years of experience. However, by making them explicit, this book makes the learning process more efficient and speeds its readers toward higher-level careers. First, it will provide the tools to think through matching new (and old) technologies, materials, and processes with applications: it covers the questions to ask, the resources needed to answer them, and who deserves trust. Then, it discusses analyzing the information that has been gathered in a systematic way and dealing with uncertainty. Next, there are chapters on communication, including tailoring documents to a specific audience, making a persuasive and structured technical argument, and writing an explanation that is credible and easy to follow. Finally, the book includes a case study: a real worked example that goes from an idea through the twists and turns of the research and analysis process to a final report.Less
Explaining the Future : How to Research, Analyze, and Report on Emerging Technologies
Explaining the Future addresses the questions “will this new technology solve the problem that its inventors claim it will,” “will it succeed for any application at all,” “can we narrow down the options before we spend a lot of money on development,” and “how do we persuade colleagues, investors, clients, or readers of our technical reasoning?” Whether the person answering these questions is a researcher, a consultant, a venture capitalist, or a CTO, they will need to be able to answer them clearly and systematically. Most learn these skills only through years of experience. However, by making them explicit, this book makes the learning process more efficient and speeds its readers toward higher-level careers. First, it will provide the tools to think through matching new (and old) technologies, materials, and processes with applications: it covers the questions to ask, the resources needed to answer them, and who deserves trust. Then, it discusses analyzing the information that has been gathered in a systematic way and dealing with uncertainty. Next, there are chapters on communication, including tailoring documents to a specific audience, making a persuasive and structured technical argument, and writing an explanation that is credible and easy to follow. Finally, the book includes a case study: a real worked example that goes from an idea through the twists and turns of the research and analysis process to a final report.
Keywords: research, writing, analysis, audience, argument, explanation, communication, technology
The Future of the MBA: Designing the Thinker of the Future
Mihnea C. Moldoveanu and Roger L. Martin
The MBA is probably the hottest ticket among the current university graduate degree offerings—every year, more than 120,000 students enroll in MBA programs in the United States, and the estimates in ... More
The MBA is probably the hottest ticket among the current university graduate degree offerings—every year, more than 120,000 students enroll in MBA programs in the United States, and the estimates in Europe do not lag far behind. In addition, job prospects have never looked better for business-school graduates; corporations are hiring more business-school graduates every year, and compensating them more handsomely. This book is a review of the major contemporary debates on management education. At the same time, it makes a proposal that will certainly have an impact in business schools: that managers need to develop a series of qualitative tacit skills which could be appropriately developed by integrative curricula brought from different disciplines, including sociology, philosophy, and other social sciences. The book's authors, both involved in the integrative business-education program at the Rotheman School of Management, provide a guide on how to design a reliable integrated program for management students.Less
The Future of the MBA : Designing the Thinker of the Future
Mihnea C. MoldoveanuRoger L. Martin
The MBA is probably the hottest ticket among the current university graduate degree offerings—every year, more than 120,000 students enroll in MBA programs in the United States, and the estimates in Europe do not lag far behind. In addition, job prospects have never looked better for business-school graduates; corporations are hiring more business-school graduates every year, and compensating them more handsomely. This book is a review of the major contemporary debates on management education. At the same time, it makes a proposal that will certainly have an impact in business schools: that managers need to develop a series of qualitative tacit skills which could be appropriately developed by integrative curricula brought from different disciplines, including sociology, philosophy, and other social sciences. The book's authors, both involved in the integrative business-education program at the Rotheman School of Management, provide a guide on how to design a reliable integrated program for management students.
Keywords: MBA, university, graduate, degree, managers, job prospects, business school, corporations, management education
Holistic Innovation Policy: Theoretical Foundations, Policy Problems, and Instrument Choices
Susana Borrás and Charles Edquist
This book is about holistic innovation policy: its theoretical foundations, its problem-oriented approach, and its instrument choices. We start with the observation that most of the current ... More
This book is about holistic innovation policy: its theoretical foundations, its problem-oriented approach, and its instrument choices. We start with the observation that most of the current innovation policies are not holistic because they only focus on a few determinants of innovation processes. This book provides a theoretically anchored foundation for the design of holistic innovation policy by identifying the core policy problems that tend to afflict the activities of innovation systems, including the unintended consequences of policy itself. This is a necessary stepping stone for the identification of viable, relevant, and down-to-earth policy solutions. The book also offers a critical analysis of policy instruments and their choice in innovation policy design. It is not a ‘recipe’ nor a ‘how-to’ guide. Instead, it provides analytical depth and substantial considerations about the ways in which policy might be providing solutions to problems in systems of innovation. After introducing its conceptual framework about innovation and innovation policy, the book delves into the following areas of innovation policy-making: knowledge production and research and development; education, training, and skills development; functional procurement as demand-side; change of organizations through entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship; interaction and innovation networks; changing institutions and regulations; and the public financing of early stage innovations. Its critical and novel perspective serves policy-makers, scholars, and anyone interested in the design of innovation policy. The summary chapter (Chapter 12) can be read independently of the rest of the book.Less
Holistic Innovation Policy : Theoretical Foundations, Policy Problems, and Instrument Choices
Susana BorrásCharles Edquist
This book is about holistic innovation policy: its theoretical foundations, its problem-oriented approach, and its instrument choices. We start with the observation that most of the current innovation policies are not holistic because they only focus on a few determinants of innovation processes. This book provides a theoretically anchored foundation for the design of holistic innovation policy by identifying the core policy problems that tend to afflict the activities of innovation systems, including the unintended consequences of policy itself. This is a necessary stepping stone for the identification of viable, relevant, and down-to-earth policy solutions. The book also offers a critical analysis of policy instruments and their choice in innovation policy design. It is not a ‘recipe’ nor a ‘how-to’ guide. Instead, it provides analytical depth and substantial considerations about the ways in which policy might be providing solutions to problems in systems of innovation. After introducing its conceptual framework about innovation and innovation policy, the book delves into the following areas of innovation policy-making: knowledge production and research and development; education, training, and skills development; functional procurement as demand-side; change of organizations through entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship; interaction and innovation networks; changing institutions and regulations; and the public financing of early stage innovations. Its critical and novel perspective serves policy-makers, scholars, and anyone interested in the design of innovation policy. The summary chapter (Chapter 12) can be read independently of the rest of the book.
Keywords: innovation policy, systems of innovation, grand challenges, policy instruments, innovation processes, holistic, procurement, mission-oriented, R&D policy, additionality
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Rhetorical Devices Analysis of the Narrative of "The Life of Frederick Douglass"
What Do Memoirs & Autobiographies Have in Common?
What Is the Difference Between Autobiography & Narrative?
Characteristics of 20th Century Literature
What Point of View Is Used in "Was It a Dream?" by Guy de Maupassant?
Advantages & Disadvantages of an Autobiography
Timothy James Updated July 20, 2017
••• Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images News/Getty Images
A biography details a person's life, while an autobiography is a biography written by the person discussed in the work. Many of the world's greatest works of literature are autobiographies, including Julius Caesar's "Commentaries," Benjamin Franklin's "Autobiography," and the early portions of St. Augustine's "Confessions of St. Augustine." The modern personal biography began in 15th century Europe, perhaps with Margery Kempe, an English religious mystic.
Advantage: Inform Readers
Authors use autobiographies to not only to share events that occurred in their lifetime, but help future generations relate to those events by explaining their affect on the lives of those who lived through them. This has the advantage of personalizing historical events. For example, it's one thing to read about the civil rights movement in the abstract; it's entirely another to read firsthand accounts, especially from those who benefited from the changes.
Advantage: Persuade Readers
An old adage says: "Don't judge a man until you've walked a mile in his shoes." Autobiographies allow readers to walk, so to speak, in the shoes of someone else and come to understand his motivations and behavior. The "Autobiography of Malcolm X," for example, recounts his childhood, criminal past, and religious journey and has softened attitudes toward his legacy.
Disadvantage: Skepticism
Because an author may write an autobiography with persuasion in mind, readers often regard autobiographies skeptically. This is a major disadvantage of the genre. Readers may feel that an author's true purpose in writing is to persuade, perhaps be embellishing or even lying, rather than to inform. Some authors may misrepresent facts inadvertently because they wrote many years after the events being detailed occurred.
Disadvantage: Judgment of History
Bernal Diaz de Castillo wrote "The Discovery and Conquest of Mexico" to entertain and inform his readers. His autobiography, however, details his participation in a war between Spain and its indigenous allies and the Mexican empire and its allies. Many of the events that occurred, such as the destruction of ancient Mexico City, subject him to criticism from modern readers who find his actions repugnant. All autobiographical writers face the possibility that future generations may judge them from a different perspective than expected.
Encyclopedia Britannica: Autobiography
Colorado State University: Malcolm X - An Islamic Perspective
The Discovery and Conquest of Mexico; Bernal Diaz del Castillo; 1632
Timothy James is a business litigation attorney licensed to practice law in California. He is also a programmer and website developer specializing in C++, JavaScript/JQuery, HTML, CSS and several other languages. James holds a Juris Doctor, as well as a Bachelor of Science in planning and resource management. He has written about law, health, programming, culture, news and politics.
Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images News/Getty Images
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by bzupnick 3 Comments
Economic Outlook: Financial Flows,Taxation, and Accountability
The primary function of taxation is to collect revenue to pay for public goods and services. Public goods and services are non-rival and non-excludable, they therefore often suffer from a “free-rider problem” (people benefit from the positive externalities regardless of whether they pay into the cost of the good or not). It is because of this free-rider problem that the private sector cannot efficiently provide public goods, necessitating what is sometimes referred to as the “social contract” between people and their governments (I will give up something, in this case money via taxation, in order to have certain publicly provided provisions). Examples of public goods are basic infrastructure (such as roads), and public services (such as police officers, firefighters, and public school teachers).
Individual countries decide for themselves at what level taxes should be set, and what should be provided for via taxation. Individual countries also decide to what extent taxes should be progressive or flat. But across the world, in societies as fundamentally different as you can imagine, this general “social contract” relationship exists. Taxes also provide resources for social safety-net programs, which are important for inter-generational income smoothing, social mobility, and reducing inequalities (despite the “47% argument”)
Taxes can also be used for legitimizing purposes. Every modern country has tax collection and income monitoring services (performing similar functions as the IRS in America). One of the major functions of these organizations is ensuring that everyone pays what they are supposed to. A secondary function is to provide legitimacy to ones income; if someone claims large amounts of money with a questionable source, it will raise a red flag, and an investigation will ensue (if the system is working properly).
Taxes can also be used to influence ones behavior. The tax on cigarettes in NY is a good example of this. While the government cannot stop people from smoking, they can make it prohibitively expensive to smoke in hopes that people pursue healthier activities.
These are just some of the general functions of taxation.
As we know here at NN, not everyone plays by the rules, particularly when it comes to taxation. Offshore banking is a huge problem, perpetuating income inequality, human rights abuses, and robbing governments of resources to fulfill their obligations. Some countries systematically provide rock-bottom tax rates and legitimacy for depositors without properly vetting the source of their money, leading to destabilizing financial inflows that dwarf the countries annual output (Cyprus is the most recent example you may remember).
As governments face difficult choices in the wake of the Great Recession, it has become more and more obvious that greater coordination and accountability are needed between countries to ensure that the world’s wealthiest pay their fair share for the public goods and services that have helped them to amass their wealth (and are held accountable for their role in the Great Recession).
The silver-lining of the Great Recession is that much more focus has been put on destabilizing forces that have accompanied financial globalization (and more recently technological advances which have made high speed / arbitrage seeking investment all the more possible). One example of this is the breaking of secrecy by Swiss Banks. Swiss Accounts are arguably the most famous example of elite tax-evasion; their exposure serves as a symbolic as well as practical turning point in offshore banking history. Another example is the imposition of a financial transaction tax (FTT), even if it has been watered down for now.
Swiss Banking:
“The Swiss government said on Wednesday that it would allow its banks to disclose information on American clients with hidden accounts, a watershed move intended to help resolve a long-running dispute with the United States over tax evasion.
The decision, which comes amid widening scrutiny in Europe of tax havens, is a turning point in what has been an escalating conflict between Switzerland and the United States.
Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, Switzerland’s finance minister, said the move would enable Swiss banks to accept an offer by the United States government to hand over broad client details and pay fines in exchange for a promise by United States authorities not to indict any banks.”
“Ms. Widmer-Schlumpf declined to say how much banks might have to pay. But she said the Swiss government would not make any payments as part of the agreement. Sources briefed on the matter say the total fines could eventually total $7 billion to $10 billion, and that to ease any financial pressure on the banks, the Swiss government might advance the sums and then seek reimbursement.
“It is important for us to be able to let the past be the past,” Ms. Widmer-Schlumpf said at a news briefing in Bern, Switzerland. She declined to give any details about the program, but said banks would have one year to decide whether to accept the American offer.
American clients whose names are handed over by Swiss banks but who have not voluntarily disclosed hidden accounts to the Internal Revenue Service would probably face criminal tax-evasion charges, lawyers said. Dozens of Americans have been indicted or charged in recent years for failing to disclose their accounts.”
Calling the decision ‘a good, a pragmatic solution for the banks to emerge from their past,’ Ms. Widmer-Schlumpf said, ‘We expect this to create the base for banks to again gain some room for maneuver so that calm can return to the sector.’”
“‘This is an important step for the banks; it will apparently allow them to disclose statistical information, such as the number of accounts with U.S. beneficial owners, the number of accounts with foreign corporations or foundations, and the amount of assets under management,’ said Scott Michel, a tax lawyer in Washington, D.C. ‘The I.R.S. and D.O.J. can use this information as the basis for financial penalties under settlement agreements, which might be deferred-prosecution agreements or non-prosecution agreements.’”
It seems Switzerland wants to shed it’s stigma of an off-shore tax haven, and move forward with a more sustainable and transparent financial sector.
“‘Resolution of the conflict ‘has taken longer than it should have, with a lot of otherwise avoidable damage suffered on the Swiss side,’ said Robert Katzberg, a white-collar criminal defense lawyer in New York with Swiss and American bank clients. ‘But it now appears the end is in sight.’”
Financial Transaction Tax: It is no secret that irresponsible lending practices perpetuated financial bubbles around the world which eventually led to the Great Recession. One way of holding financial institutions responsible for their role in the Great Recession, while also raising revenue governments desperately need, is a financial transaction tax (FTT). CESR is a great resource for background info on the financial sectors role and human rights implication of The Great Recession, as well as the FTT.
A recent NYT article is critical of a watered down FTT in the works in Europe. While I agree it is disappointing the tax has been significantly reduced, the introduction of any FTT is a movement in the right direction. An incremental approach may be the best way to introduce this important new policy, and give it a real chance to work (instead of leading to large-scale capital flight to non-FTT countries):
“European countries planning a tax on financial transactions are set to drastically scale back the levy, cutting the charge by as much as 90 percent and delaying its full roll-out for years, in what would be a major victory for banks.
“Under the latest model, the standard rate for trading bonds and shares could drop to just 0.01 percent of the value of a deal, from 0.1 percent in an original blueprint drafted by Brussels. That would raise only about 3.5 billion euros, rather than the 35 billion initially forecast, a senior official said.”
“The tax may now also be introduced more gradually: rather than applying to trades in stocks, bonds and some derivatives from 2014, it may apply next year only to shares. Bond trades would not be taxed for two years and derivatives even later.
The roll-out could be scrapped altogether if, for example, the tax pushed traders to move deals abroad to avoid paying it.”
“The Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) resurrects an idea first conceived by U.S. economist James Tobin more than 40 years ago and has been symbolically important for politicians to show they are tackling the banks blamed for causing the financial crisis.”
‘You can introduce it on a staggered basis,’ said a second official. ‘We start with the lowest rate of tax (0.01 percent) and increase it bit by bit.'”
“‘The risk is that if you have some countries not participating, you have some shift of business from the countries in the tax to the countries without the tax,’ said one official, familiar with French government thinking. ‘This step by step approach can make sense.’“
There is also the issue of which financial assets should be included in the proposed FTT:
“Within the group of 11 countries, Italy and France have expressed concerns about widening the tax beyond shares to government debt as both believe it could discourage investors from buying their bonds.”
I agree with Italy and France on this issue. The main reason many Euro countries are facing such crippling austerity is due to a “sovereign debt crisis“. These countries cannot afford to borrow sustainably, forcing them to make painful cuts which have led to a double-dip recession and high unemployment throughout Europe.
The FTT could potentially add to the borrow costs governments face if it included bonds as well. If however, a tax included everything except bonds, it would have the effect of lowering government borrowing costs. Making other financial transactions more expensive would make bond purchases more profitable by comparison (assuming financial institutions will pass on some portion of the tax to the customer, which is a pretty safe assumption). While the difference would be marginal, even a marginal decrease in borrowing costs can unlock millions if not billions in government resources.
What we see is the international community slowly working to make financial globalization more accountable and sustainable. While we may be frustrated with the slow rate of progress (as the author of the NYT article clearly is), it is important to realize that we are making meaningful progress.
Despite the political and economic cynics out there, who in their great “wisdom” will tell you nothing is happening to hold powerful interests accountable for their role in the financial crisis, we have as a global community learned lessons (albeit incredibly hard learned lessons) and are taking steps to ensure we do not repeat our past mistakes.
Categories: Blog Posts, Economic Outlook | Tags: Austerity, Banking in Switzerland, Cyprus, Debt sustainability, European Debt Crisis, Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, financial transaction tax, FTT, Great Recession, Human Rights, Internal Revenue Service, offshore trading, social mobility, sustainability, Swiss government, Switzerland, tax evasion, United States, Widmer-Schlumpf | Permalink.
by bzupnick Leave a comment
Transparency Thursday: Making Sanctions “Smarter”
Sanctions are defined as penalties or other means of enforcement used to provide incentives for obedience with the law, or with rules and regulations. In a foreign affairs context, sanctions are generally imposed by a group of countries (the greater the participation the more effective sanctions can be, and in many cases without strategic involvement sanctions can effectively be useless) in order to influence a political/military/economic outcome abroad. Sanctions allow countries to show their dislike of a particular course of action without infringing on the sovereign rights of states and without military intervention. Sanctions are often used in the face of gross human rights violations. Prominent examples of sanctions in use today are North Korea, Iran, and Syria (covering both the government and the opposition).
Despite the ability to hold powerful interests accountable, sanctions are not a unanimously popular foreign policy instrument. One reason, as stated before, is that without strategic agreements (neighboring countries, trade partners, ideologically aligned states) sanctions will be ineffective. They can lead to the formation of black markets, giving criminal organizations even more resources for nefarious activities. The main concern regarding sanctions however is in regards to their human rights implications.
Although sanctions are often meant to end human rights violations, their existence can actually exacerbate humanitarian crises, especially in the short run. While each sanction is uniquely tailored to the situation it is trying to influence, the indiscriminate shortages that sanctions generally cause affects everyone in society (and arguably vulnerable / marginalized groups the most). Because of this, the practice of imposing sanctions has evolved towards the imposition of “smart sanctions“. In essence, smart sanctions are more targeted sanctions (think freezing financial assets as opposed to a complete embargo), meant to put pressure on strategic parties while considering and sometimes providing aid to compensate for human rights issues that may arise.
Smart sanctions are the topic of today’s lesson. I am referring specifically to recent changes made in sanctions against Iran and Syria.
Iran: A little background, Iran is currently facing sanctions which are attempting to deter Iranian nuclear capacity development, which Iran has insisted is for peaceful purposes (medical), but the Western world has strongly opposed.
Iran is also in presidential campaign season, and preliminary reports do not look good for denuclearization and human rights interests:
“Mr. Jalili, known as Iran’s unyielding nuclear negotiator and a protégé of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is emerging as the presumed front-runner in Iran’s presidential election on June 14, an unsettling prospect for future relations with the West. Mr. Jalili, 47, who many analysts say has long been groomed for a top position in Iran, is by far the most outspoken hard-liner among the eight candidates approved to participate in the election.”
“He has been featured in flattering terms in recent weeks in the semiofficial Fars news agency, which is connected to the Revolutionary Guards, as well as in dozens of Web sites and other news outlets. By contrast, the other candidates now sometimes discover their campaign appearances canceled for unclear reasons and often find themselves under sharp attack in interviews on state TV, while Mr. Jalili gets softball questions.”
“If he gets elected I foresee even more isolation and conflict, as he doesn’t care about foreign relations, the economy or anything,” the analyst said.”
To make matters worse, lack of transparency has marked previous Iranian elections.
“Iran’s presidential elections, lacking independent opinion polls and subject to manipulation, are notoriously unpredictable. In 2005, Mr. Ahmadinejad came out of nowhere to win. In 2009, millions of people took to the streets to protest what they said was widespread fraud in the voting that returned Mr. Ahmadinejad to office over the more popular opposition candidate, Mir Hussein Moussavi.”
In order to prevent against corrupt election practices, and possibly to help organize opposition to Mr. Jalili, the U.S. today announced it will repeal sanctions on mobile devices and communication software / equipment.
“The change is intended to help Iranians communicate through social media, text messaging and mobile-phone videos in order to overcome some of the media and communications restrictions imposed by Iranian authorities.
The action “aims to empower the Iranian people as their government intensifies its efforts to stifle their access to information,” according to a Treasury Department statement.”
“Providing the democracy movement in Iran with access to the latest social media organizing tools will strengthen their efforts to bring about positive change to a government that fears information it can’t control,” Democratic Representative Jim Moran of Virginia, who has sought such action, said in an e-mailed statement today.”
“The U.S. has supported attempts to boost democratic movements and stepped up efforts to stop regimes such as those in Iran and Syria from blocking social media through what Obama has called the “malign use of technology.”
In November, the administration imposed sanctions on Iranian officials –including the nation’s communications minister — and government agencies for blocking Internet access, mobile-phone lines and satellite-television channels to stifle free speech.
The Treasury named today additional individuals and entities for “contributing to serious human rights abuses committed by the Iranian regime, including through the use of communications technology to silence and intimidate the Iranian people.” The State Department issued visa restrictions on about 60 Iranian officials linked to human rights abuses.”
This story highlights the importance of media independence and transparency for effective democracy. The use of social media has been instrumental in “The Arab Spring” revolutions, enabling the dissemination of information, while overcoming collective action problems that tend to allow powerful interests to remain in control to the detriment of society as a whole. Communications technology also has positive uses for healthcare, education, and e-governance. But in this case, it is clear that the U.S. is trying to allow more liberal Iranians to communicate, in hopes of challenging Mr. Jalili’s candidacy. Additionally, mobile devices make it easier to report political rights abuses, such as coercive measures at polls and other means of election-rigging.
At a recent ECOSOC Partnerships forum I was lucky enough to attend in my capacity as a UNDP intern, Mr. Suneet Singh Tuli, CEO of Datawind, called access to affordable mobile internet access a human right–I agreed with him, and it seems the Obama administration is of like mind. These smarter sanctions should help uphold electoral integrity in the upcoming elections, and should help improve the average Iranian’s opinion of America.
Syria has now been engaged in a civil war that has lasted over 2 years, claimed over 80,000 lives, and lead to over 1 million refugees and internally displaced people in the Middle-East. The civil war and refugee flows have threatened the already tenuous stability of the region, and a full blow humanitarian crisis has enveloped the entire country of Syria.
Gridlock in the U.N.S.C. has prevented direct international military intervention. Russia and China have repeatedly vetoed international intervention, championing Syria’s national sovereignty despite undeniable human rights violations committed by the Assad regime. As the fighting continues, and Western support has lagged compared to Russian military support of the Assad regime (with no signs of slowing down, as Assad has apparently just received a new shipment of Russian arms), the Syrian opposition has turned towards extremists groups for support, which has further complicated international involvement.
Recent actions show that the EU is reconsidering its position on it’s Syrian arms embargo.
“Divisions among European Union foreign ministers on Monday prevented the renewal of the arms embargo on Syria, raising the possibility of a new flow of weapons to rebels fighting to bring down the government of President Bashar al-Assad.
“While we have no immediate plans to send arms to Syria, it gives us the flexibility to respond in the future if the situation continues to deteriorate and worsen,” William Hague, the British foreign secretary, said after more than 12 hours of stormy talks.”
“The ministers did agree to renew all the economic sanctions already in place against the Syrian government.”
“There were also fears that Russia, which already sends arms to the Syrian government, would feel freer to send more.”
“The only effect you could have — let’s be realistic about this — is that it will stimulate the Russians to provide even more arms,” he said. “But they’ve been providing so many arms that I’m sure even more will not make much of a difference.”
While nothing will change immediately, it is significant the Europe has left the door open to providing military aid to the Syrian opposition in the future. The fact the Europe is taking the lead on this is encouraging. It also makes much more sense, as Europe is geographically much closer to Syria and it’s main ally Russia. While I am sure any coordinated European effort would have American support, it is nice to have the spotlight off American foreign affairs for a change.
There is also some concern that increased arms flow will undermine proposed peace talks in Geneva, which would include the Assad regime, the Syrian opposition, the U.S. and Russia among other participants. This is also a legitimate claim, although I see this as more of a measure to ensure the peace talks do bear fruit. European leaders are putting pressure on the Assad regime to negotiate a political transition by signaling their willingness to further aid the rebels should the peace talks break down. Syria has been in a hurting stalemate for sometime now, perhaps European powers are giving the Assad regime one more chance at a political transition to end this war before pursuing a military end.
These two stories are linked, as Mr. Jalili, a hardliner and supporter of Hezbollah, would likely step up support to the Assad regime if elected as Iranian president. Perhaps the Assad regime is just trying to buy time with “peace talks” until it has a stauncher ally in Iran.
There has also been the issue of whether Iran should be allowed to participate in Syrian peace talks (if you have been paying attention, the usual suspects are backing the sides you would expect them to in this dispute).
Sanctions are getting smarter, as human rights considerations gain more recognition as the cornerstone of the modernization process. Will these “smart sanctions” help achieve the desired outcome without exacerbating human rights violations? Lets be cautiously optimistic; be sure to check back for regular updates on these evolving and inter-related issues.
Categories: Blog Posts, Transparency Report | Tags: Ali Khamenei, civil, Economic, Europe, Fars News Agency, Human Rights, Iran, Jalili, Mir-Hossein Mousavi, Political, rights, sanctions, Sanctions against Iran, sanctions against north korea, Sanctions against syria, social, Syria, USA, Western world | Permalink.
Conflict Watch: Secretary of State Kerry Visits Sub-Saharan Africa; Talks Human Rights
Two days ago President Obama made a speech envisioning a new direction for American foreign policy. Unsuprisingly, Secretary of State John Kerry is doubling down on Obama’s vision (NYT article):
“Making his first visit to sub-Saharan Africa as secretary of state, John Kerry urged Nigeria on Saturday to uphold human rights as it steps up its fight against Islamic extremists.”
“…reports that Nigerian forces have carried out extrajudicial killings, including against civilians, have become a problem for the United States, which provides law enforcement assistance and has cooperated with Nigeria, a major oil supplier, on counterterrorism issues.”
“‘We defend the right completely of the government of Nigeria to defend itself and to fight back against terrorists,’ he added. ‘That said, I have raised the issue of human rights with the government.’”
“Earlier this month, Mr. Kerry, in a statement, noted ‘credible allegations’ that Nigerian forces had been engaged in ‘gross human rights violations.’”
“Asked about reports of human rights violations — there have been reports of large-scale civilian killings by the army and police in Nigeria — Mr. Kerry said the Nigerian government had acknowledged that abuses had occurred.”
“‘One’s person’s atrocity does not excuse another’s,’ Mr. Kerry said, when asked about reports of serious human rights violations by Nigerian forces.
“What is needed ‘is good governance,’ Mr. Kerry said. ‘It’s ridding yourself of a terrorist organization so that you can establish a standard of law that people can respect. And that’s what needs to happen in Nigeria.’”
Secretary of State Kerry also met with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, in attempts to support Egypt’s rocky transition towards effective democracy:
“Mr. Kerry was scheduled to meet with the Egyptian president, Mohamed Morsi, later on Saturday. At a March meeting in Cairo, Mr. Morsi promised to move ahead with negotiations with the International Monetary Fund, and Mr. Kerry announced that the United States would provide $250 million in assistance to Egypt. But concerns have mounted since that Egypt is not prepared to undertake serious economic reforms.
The African Union, the organization that Mr. Kerry is in Ethiopia to celebrate, remains, half a century in, a work in progress. First molded by the Pan-African ideals of Kwame Nkrumah, who led Ghana in the 1950s and 60s when it became the first African state to break its colonial bonds, the union, then known as the Organization for African Unity, emphasized African self-reliance and independence.
But those notions quickly curdled into a doctrine that led African leaders to believe that they were above reproach. Autocratic, corrupt leaders like Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire, now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo; Idi Amin of Uganda; and Félix Houphouët-Boigny of Ivory Coast earned the organization the nickname “dictator’s club.”
Many dictators have fallen in the “Arab Spring” revolutions. The article also discusses the Syrian civil war, frayed relations with Pakistan, terrorist networks in Yemen, pulling out of Afghanistan, and sectarian conflicts in Iraq and between Sudan and South Sudan. As far as extreme poverty and human rights violations are concerned, there is a very strong argument that these issues are becoming more and more exclusive to the African continent. While this is a disturbing if not suprising trend, it also provides a strong mandate for where the vast majority of future humanitarian aid, assistance, and debt forgiveness should be focused (not that there was really much of a question on this to begin with).
Obama and Kerry continue to be a sort of super-team on foreign affairs; their pragmatic and diplomatic approach towards foreign economic and security issues have the potential to bolster America’s standing in foreign affairs while simultaneously spending fewer resources on military endeavors.
I hope my readers realize that by writing about “The End of Team America World Police” that I am in now trying to belittle the efforts of our brave men and women who serve in the armed forces. You can support the troops without supporting some of the Wars they are told to fight in (which the troops themselves have very little no say over). You can support the U.S. D.o.D. While believing that a more even distribution of resources between itself and the D.o.S. would allow America to have a more meaningful impact in global affairs. And you can certainly give military personnel training in human rights, so that our normative vision for this nations role in global affairs can be practiced in the field, instead of our military presence inciting anti-American prejudices.
Another article in the Times today picks apart Obama’s speech. And while I cannot argue with the issues raised in this article, I can question the overall point of the article. The the basis of the argument is that it will not be easy to accomplish what Obama has set out to do, and he did not offer many concrete examples of military action in his public address.
Of course it will not be easy to accomplish the global vision President Obama set out. As I said before, the transition will be neither quick nor linear, there are many obstacles in the way and many more unforseen obstacles will present themselves as vested interests struggle against the forces of modernization. And of course President Obama did not lay out the specifics of his national security agenda; only this nations top security advisors will ever be privy to that information.
After over a decade being engaged in a costly “War on Terror”, America has an administration who is willing to work with the global community to achieve real results on issues that we require coordination to be adequately addressed, instead of ineffective and inefficient unilateral action. This approach will unlock resources that can be spent at home, and raise America’s standing abroad by creating more lasting alliances.
One indisputable fact remains, and that is that America cannot continue its military operations indefinitely as it has since 9/11/01–this is not a sustainable position fiscally or theoretically. The changes Obama has laid out are something Americans should embrace–nobody should ever want us to have to use our armed forces.
Categories: Blog Posts, Conflict Watch | Tags: Africa, America, Department of Defense, Department of state, dictator, DoD, DoS, Human Rights, Kerry, Middle East, Obama, Pakistan, sub-saharan africa, Sudan, Syria, Team America, Yemen | Permalink.
Economic Outlook: Tax Dodging, Tax Havens, Fiscal Space and Human Rights
Two related pieces caught my eye this morning. Both pieces explore how owners of wealth (be it large corporations, wealthy individuals, or autocratic rulers) benefit from “offshore” financial centers.
The first piece, from the NYT, emphasizes how corporate tax avoidance disproportionately shifts the burden of paying for government services to regular people:
“As muddled and broken as the individual income tax system may be, the rules under which the government collects corporate levies are far more loophole-ridden and counterproductive.
That’s not entirely Washington’s fault. Unlike individuals, multinational corporations can shuttle profits — and sometimes even their headquarters — around the globe in search of the jurisdiction willing to cut them the best deal on taxes (and often other economic incentives).
Much of this occurs under the guise of “transfer pricing,” the terms under which one subsidiary of a multinational sells products to another subsidiary. The goal is to generate as high a share of profit as possible in the lowest-taxed jurisdictions.
A study by the Congressional Research Service found that subsidiaries of United States corporations operating in the top five tax havens (the Netherlands, Ireland, Bermuda, Switzerland and Luxembourg) generated 43 percent of their foreign profits in those countries in 2008, but had only 4 percent of their foreign employees and 7 percent of their foreign investment located there.
All in all, it is a race to the bottom on the part of revenue-starved governments eager to attract even a relatively small number of new jobs.
As a consequence, the effective corporate tax rate in the United States fell to 17.8 percent in 2012 from 42.5 percent in 1960, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. (The share of federal revenues arriving at the Treasury from companies has fallen even more sharply, in part because an increasing number of businesses are taxed as individuals rather than as corporations.)
That’s just not fair at a time of soaring corporate profits and stagnant family incomes.”
“Happily, the gaming of the tax system is becoming a global concern, with an action plan coming from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in July. The O.E.C.D. should work toward taxing business profits where they actually occur, not where they’ve been shifted by some tax adviser.
As we strive for a global solution, we should take a number of interim steps, including better policing of transfer pricing.”
Another piece, written by Jeff Sachs at the Earth Institute, expands on this topic to bring other forms of money-laundering into the mix, as well as crystallizing the fiscal space / austerity argument against tax evasion:
“In recent weeks, citizens in many countries suffering from government budget cutbacks have been learning more and more about one of the biggest and most dangerous scams in the world: the global web of tax havens that U.S. and European politicians and bankers have nurtured over the years. The only real purpose of these havens is to facilitate tax evasion, money laundering, bribery, and lack of accountability for environmental and social calamities inflicted by international companies.”
“During the boom years, the rich and powerful kept the public distracted from the tax haven reality. Yet now with budget austerity, the public is having a close look at tax evasion by the rich and powerful. As a result, the veil over the tax havens has started to slip, and the sight is not lovely.”
“The politicians of rich nations who protect the exorbitant privileges of bankers and hedge-fund managers, who wink at mega-tax evasion by billionaires, and who tolerate unpardonable games played by major companies, are playing with fire. We are now all sharing austerity. The havens represent unacceptable privilege and abuse, not fair sharing.”
“Developing countries too are saying that enough is enough. For decades they’ve been on the receiving end of hypocritical lectures about good governance. For them, the tax havens have served the purpose of paying bribes to potentates, and providing easy ways for elites to keep their money safe from tax collectors. Yet it is the rich countries that have fostered that system.”
The existence of tax havens represent the political power of the ultra-wealthy and the collective-action problem facing the rest of the world. However, the internet and watchdog groups, along with crushing austerity programs in the wake of The Great Recession, have thrust tax-avoidance into the spotlight. This is the first step towards pressuring governments for real, coordinated action against this unfair practice.
At best, tax-havens allow wealthy people to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. Every dollar not paid in taxes is a dollar more of debt for a government, a dollar less available for an important social program. Forget the moral and ethical implications of this “reverse-Robin-Hood” system for a minute. Economically speaking, this system leads to stagnant growth. Less wealthy people have a higher average and marginal propensity to consume, and tend to keep their money in their home country. Also, diminishing marginal utility of money states that less wealthy people (in the aggregate, there is of course there is anecdotal evidence against this point), spend a greater percentage of their money on things that are beneficial for social welfare. The current system provides for less, more wasteful consumption. It corrodes the “American Dream” by reducing social mobility and perpetuates income inequality. And this is what I would consider the “best case scenario”.
At worst, tax-havens offer a stable place for oppressive regimes to park their money. Elites can amass rents from a variety of places (most commonly extractive industries, or through black-markets / drug trade), and know that they have a safe place to keep that money. This money can then be used for personal reasons, or to build up a military to further entrench Elite control–particularly in less developed countries where democracy does not exist. It is not difficult to draw the link between entrenching autocratic, rent-seeking regimes, and human rights abuses.
A Reuters blog about the book “Treasure Islands”, by Nicholas Shaxton, articulates this point very well. “The broad brush — and this is a simplication of the overall argument — is that tax havens enable the flight of scarce capital from Africa to other regions, stunting the continent’s ability to develop on a range of fronts. Such havens inclue not only tropical destinations like the Cayman Islands but the City of London and the U.S. state of Delaware.” The book “Offshore: Tax Havens and the Rule of Global Crime”, by Alain Deneault, makes a similar argument.
The U.N. recently passed an Arms Treaty, with human rights considerations at it’s core. While arms trade was a natural starting point, I believe this is a strong model for all international transactions. Any time large amounts of money are transferred, be it tax-avoidance or the hiding or ill-gotten gains, this money has the potential to fund / perpetuate human rights abuses. The sooner the international community realizes this, and acts in a coordinated fashion to review and (act on) the human rights implications of ALL financial flows, the sooner we will see a meaningful reduction in human rights abuses around the globe.
The U.S. famously prosecuted Al Capone, not for criminal activities, but because of tax avoidance. Autocratic regimes are in many ways similar to mafias, and they enjoy the additional protection of “national sovereignty” which allows them to continue to abuse human rights with relative impunity. Maybe we can take a page from history and allow the paper-trail bring down some of today’s worst human-rights abusers. Of course this would require a strong international justice system–with real punitive powers–which unfortunately does not currently exist.
The best case scenario of tax-avoidance is it unfairly shifts the burden of paying for government services from the wealthy to the not-wealthy, which compromises the ability of governments to pay for social programs. The worst case scenario is the perpetuation of human-rights violations. Obviously neither of these outcomes should be tolerable–we can only hope that a silver-lining of The Great Recession is that it will force governments to work together to tackle the issue of tax-avoidance and offshore financial centers, which affects developed and developing countries alike.
Categories: Blog Posts, Economic Outlook | Tags: Austerity, autocratic regimes, developed world, Developing World, fiscal space, G7, G8, global commons, inequality, natural resource curse, OECD, reverse robin hood, social mobility, tax avoidance, tax dodging, tax haven | Permalink.
The (Real Beginning of the) End of Team America World Police Part 3(? 4? 5?, I’ve Lost Count…)
I started my narrative on this topic with a two-part political and economic analysis of current U.S. Defense Policy. I then wrote a piece on the true cost of the war on terror, and more recently a piece on how Europe’s shrinking military expenditure is hurting it’s credibility as a meaningful security partner to the United States. Current U.S. military policy has long been an issue affecting America’s fiscal space, constraining resources for social programs which compromise our future growth prospects and social mobility, thereby perpetuating rising inequality in America. At the heart of the matter is the uneven proportion of Global Security expenditure that America pays. Today, President Obama signaled he is of similar mind on the subject.
“Taken together, the president’s words and deeds added up to an effort to move the country away from the perpetual war on terrorism envisioned by his predecessor, George W. Bush, toward a more limited campaign against particular groups that would eventually be curtailed even if the threat of terrorism could never be eliminated.
‘Our systematic effort to dismantle terrorist organizations must continue,’ Mr. Obama said. ‘But this war, like all wars, must end. That’s what history advises. That’s what our democracy demands.’
Mr. Obama rejected the notion of an expansive war on terrorism and instead articulated a narrower understanding of the mission for the United States. ‘Beyond Afghanistan, we must define our effort not as a boundless ‘global war on terror’ but rather as a series of persistent, targeted efforts to dismantle specific networks of violent extremists that threaten America,’ he said.
‘Neither I, nor any president, can promise the total defeat of terror,’ Mr. Obama added. ‘We will never erase the evil that lies in the hearts of some human beings, nor stamp out every danger to our open society. But what we can do — what we must do — is dismantle networks that pose a direct danger to us, and make it less likely for new groups to gain a foothold, all the while maintaining the freedoms and ideals that we defend.’”
“As our fight enters a new phase, America’s legitimate claim of self-defense cannot be the end of the discussion,” Mr. Obama said. “To say a military tactic is legal, or even effective, is not to say it is wise or moral in every instance. For the same human progress that gives us the technology to strike half a world away also demands the discipline to constrain that power — or risk abusing it.”
“The changes reflect a conclusion by the White House that the core of Al Qaeda has been decimated by years of strikes and the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. But in the speech, the president said that the threat had evolved in a complicated mosaic of dangers from affiliated groups and homegrown terrorists, like the bombers who attacked the Boston Marathon.”
As is to be expected, Republicans were critical of Obama’s realistic, transparent, straightforward and even-handed speech:
“Speaker John A. Boehner, Republican of Ohio, issued 10 questions to the president in reaction to previews of his speech. “Is it still your administration’s goal to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat Al Qaeda?” he asked. “If you are scaling back the use of unmanned drones, which actions will you be taking as a substitute to ensure Al Qaeda’s defeat? Is it your view that if the U.S. is less aggressive in eliminating terrorists abroad, the threat of terrorist attacks will diminish on its own?”
Senator Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, the top Republican on the Intelligence Committee, was sharper in reaction. ‘The president’s speech today will be viewed by terrorists as a victory,’ he said. ‘Rather than continuing successful counterterrorism activities, we are changing course with no clear operational benefit.'”
First to address Senator Chambliss, are you sir a moron? how could the winding down of the war on terror have “no clear operational benefit”? Does making a military mission less costly both in dollar terms and American lives have no effect on the operational benefit of The War on Terror? Not to mention the impact on public opinion of the U.S. abroad (which is directly related to terrorism). Or do you not consider the costs of an operation unless the money is going to those lazy “takers”? (i.e. any social program the G.O.P. will fight tooth and nail). If anything, we should have much sooner reconsidered the operational benefit of the War on Terror in the first place (which has been marginal at best, as highlighted by recent sectarian violence in Iraq).
Speaker Boehner’s questions are more substantive; I have actually grown to like Senator Boehner, I almost pity him for the impossible job he has of trying to legitimize the current cluster-fuck of ridiculous soundbites and indefensible policy advocacy that has come to define the G.O.P. I’m sure Mr. Boehner did not imagine his constituents would be so unrealistic and uncompromising that his time as House Speaker would be marked as a period of historically low congressional approval ratings.
But back to Congressman Boehner’s Questions. Questions 1 and 2 (“Is it still your administration’s goal to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat Al Qaeda?” he asked. “If you are scaling back the use of unmanned drones, which actions will you be taking as a substitute to ensure Al Qaeda’s defeat?”) were already addressed by President Obama in his speech:
“But what we can do — what we must do — is dismantle networks that pose a direct danger to us, and make it less likely for new groups to gain a foothold, all the while maintaining the freedoms and ideals that we defend.”
Obviously Al-Qaeda would be considered a “network that poses a direct danger to us”, probably the primary of such networks. One has to question whether John was not sleeping through the President’s speech with questions like those. And to expect a President to openly discuss his defense strategies, probably our most important national security secret, is not exactly proposing a reasonable question.
President Obama also alluded to the answer to Speaker Boehner’s 3rd question in that very same breath. Mr. Boehner asked, “Is it your view that if the U.S. is less aggressive in eliminating terrorists abroad, the threat of terrorist attacks will diminish on its own?”
The answer to that is, of course not. The President stated he planned to “make it less likely for new groups to gain a foothold”, but what exactly does that mean? It could only mean putting more resources into preventative peace-building and diplomacy efforts, as I have advocated for here at NN.
Conflict resolution theory tells us that the majority of todays armed conflicts are “Protracted Social Conflicts”. This means that their roots are in human rights violations, which almost always involve inadequate service delivery and security being provided by a country’s government. In situations like this, conflict is likely to break out. When conflicts break out, there is no military to keep terrorist activities at bay (assuming the regime in power is not allied with extremist groups to begin with).
Terrorist groups seize onto this absence of government human rights “duty bearers” and begin to provide services and security themselves. People on the ground, having no other option other than living in extreme poverty and extreme discomfort, welcome these terrorists in with open arms. Terrorists are able to buy goodwill, gain footholds for their operations, and attract a new generation of young Jihadists.
The only way the President can prevent new terrorist groups from forming is to scale up the capacity of strong, democratic governments in developing countries around the world (or factions within countries that do not have democratic governments). If America undertakes this much more noble pursuit, we can build sustainable relationships that foster greater economic and security alliances, rather than destroying nations and then attempting to build them back up from scratch, which is costly in money, time, and lives.
We must remember that building these relationships is not easy. Transitions to democracy and a higher standard of living take time, and the process is not always linear. Vested interests will never give up easily, as they have so much to lose as society reaps the benefits of modernization, and more resources are invested into basic infrastructure as well as physical and human capital.
Though we face an uphill battle, we must never falter in our fight to promote peace, security, and mutually beneficial and environmentally sustainable economic relationships. Only through cooperation and coordination can the global community confront and overcome the issues we collectively face in the 21st century and beyond.
And we must always remember we are not alone in this fight. Our Allies around the world remain committed to the same vision as us. Institutions such as the UN, NATO, WB, IMF, WHO and countless other international, national, and regoinal institutions, alongside non-governmental organizations, charities, and civil society organizations join our ranks. The day when extreme poverty and human rights violations are no longer a threat is just beyond the horizon, and I look forward doing whatever I can to work towards that future.
Categories: Blog Posts, Conflict Watch, Economic Outlook, Transparency Report | Tags: Al Qaeda, democracy, Democratic Transition, drone strikes, extreme poverty, Global Security, Human Rights, human rights violation, morals, national security, NATO, Obama, poverty, protracted social conflict, PSC, Terrorism, Transparency, UN, values, war on terror | Permalink.
Conflict Watch: Oil Sand and Renewable Energy, a New Case for a Carbon Tax / Cap and Trade
An interesting piece in the NYT about how a less incentive-laden renewable energy sector in Europe is actually helping the industry grow “sustainably”:
“Europe used to be nirvana for companies in the clean-energy business, but in the past couple of years it has become a much tougher place. With economies anemic, electricity demand is down; and, not surprisingly, once-generous subsidies that encouraged installing swaths of solar collectors in sun-poor Germany or wind farms in relatively calm areas of France are either being reduced or look as if they could be.
But for some people and companies, the harsher environment is fostering a tough-minded approach that may be healthy for the effort in the years ahead to curb the greenhouse gases that are blamed for global warming.
Europe’s struggles, for instance, pushed Enel Green Power, one of the world’s largest electricity generators from renewable sources like wind and solar, to explore markets like Brazil, Chile and Mexico, that may turn out to be a lot more promising than Europe.”
“Contrary to the practice in much of Europe, where subsidies are used as a lure for renewables projects, developing countries like Brazil often award contracts to build new power capacity through competitions that sometimes pit clean energy against fossil fuels like natural gas and diesel. For instance, Enel Green Power recently won wind power deals in Brazil in bake-offs that included proposals for natural gas-fired stations.
‘There was a competitive approach to renewables that we liked a lot,’ said Francesco Starace, the company’s chief executive'”
“Mr. Starace especially likes long-term deals like the ones he has worked out in Mexico with Nissan and Nestlé to build wind farms to supply factories with power. He hopes to replicate this sort of arrangement across emerging markets, including east Africa. These private, one-on-one arrangements are more sustainable, he figures.
You don’t run the risk of a regulator or a state coming back at you and saying, ‘Guys, the good days are over, now we have to talk about reducing this and that,’ he said.”
“The goal of the renewables business, Mr. Murley said, should be to be competitive eventually on costs with other energy sources and not to rely on subsidies. He also believes in building businesses like his clusters of Swedish wind farms that have the scale to engage a team of managers and the clout to cut better deals with suppliers. His organization tries to buy turbines and other equipment that are reliable rather than cheap and does not skimp on spending money on maintenance.
The closer you are to the wholesale price of power, the less you are at risk,’ he [Tom Murley of HgCapital] said. He is also investing in onshore wind projects in Ireland, where the operating environment resembles that of Sweden.”
Talking about the “sustainability” of the renewable energy sector may be an interesting choice of words, but how the renewable energy sector matures is yet to be decided. Perhaps a rethinking of the subsidy approach to developing renewable energy would be a good think, if a more efficient complimentary / substitute path is proposed. Subsidies distort markets, so governments must have a credible threat that they will stop providing subsidy support if companies in the industry do not mature as they are supposed to. But pulling the plug on subsidy programs is a bad move politically–it is always difficult to find politicians that are willing to let jobs leave their municipality.
What you get is subsidies and tax-breaks that are not at all linked to any real C-B analysis or long term commitment from companies (Another reason that making MNC themselves finance sustainable energy infrastructure makes sense as it locks the company into a longer term commitment–the cost of closing up shop is greater). Some tax breaks and subsidies are good ideas, but they should be based on adequate C-B analysis and should contain long-term legally binding commitments. Additionally, tax breaks and subsidies for “dirty-energy” have to go, so that these two competing industries can actually compete on common ground. If we are considering an approach to scale back subsidies for an “infant industry”, removing subsides for a more mature competing industry must be part of that approach.
Ending tax breaks for “dirty energy” brings us to the next point of this article, which is the argument for some sort of carbon-tax or cap-and-trade system. If we are not going to reward the renewable energy industry for its implicit positive externalities, we should make dirtier forms of energy pay for their negative externalities. An article about “petroleum coke” highlights the need for something to keep emissions in check:
“Assumption Park gives residents of this city lovely views of the Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit skyline. Lately they’ve been treated to another sight: a three-story pile of petroleum coke covering an entire city block on the other side of the Detroit River.
Detroit’s ever-growing black mountain is the unloved, unwanted and long overlooked byproduct of Canada’s oil sands boom.
And no one knows quite what to do about it, except Koch Carbon, which owns it.
The company is controlled by Charles and David Koch, wealthy industrialists who back a number of conservative and libertarian causes including activist groups that challenge the science behind climate change. The company sells the high-sulfur, high-carbon waste, usually overseas, where it is burned as fuel.”
““What is really, really disturbing to me is how some companies treat the city of Detroit as a dumping ground,” said Rashida Tlaib, the Michigan state representative for that part of Detroit. “Nobody knew this was going to happen.” Almost 56 percent of Canada’s oil production is from the petroleum-soaked oil sands of northern Alberta, more than 2,000 miles north.”
“Detroit’s pile will not be the only one. Canada’s efforts to sell more products derived from oil sands to the United States, which include transporting it through the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, have pulled more coking south to American refineries, creating more waste product here.”
“And what about the leftover coke? The Environmental Protection Agency will no longer allow any new licenses permitting the burning of petroleum coke in the United States. But D. Mark Routt, a staff energy consultant at KBC Advanced Technologies in Houston, said that overseas companies saw it as a cheap alternative to low-grade coal. In China, it is used to generate electricity, adding to that country’s air-quality problems. There is also strong demand from India and Latin America for American petroleum coke, where it mainly fuels cement-making kilns.
“I’m not making a value statement, but it comes down to emission controls,” Mr. Routt said. “Other people don’t seem to have a problem, which is why it is going to Mexico, which is why it is going to China.”
“It is worse than a byproduct,” Ms. Satterthwaite said.“It’s a waste byproduct that is costly and inconvenient to store, but effectively costs nothing to produce.””
“Lorne Stockman, who recently published a study on petroleum coke for the environmental group Oil Change International, says, “It’s really the dirtiest residue from the dirtiest oil on earth,” he said.”
–Here we have an example of billionaire industrialists selling oil and shipping the dirty byproduct around the world to be burned, releasing even more emissions. And how much does all this profit-generating business pay for it’s emissions? Essentially zero. Oil sand creates 3rd degree pollution (burning of the oil, transportation of petro-coke, and burning of the petro-coke), and because of their lobbying power, industrialists are able to shift the cost onto future generations.
It is appalling our government, and other governments, let companies do this without paying anything for the emissions they produce. Companies claim they cannot deal with a carbon-tax or cap and trade, while posting billion dollar profit margins. At the end of the day, a carbon tax is a small blip on the companies cost-function. Cap and Trade would initially not even make emissions more expensive, as the market is depressed (due to lower energy demand following the Great Recession) and swamped with low-price / free vouchers. For these reasons, a carbon tax would likely be more effective in the short-run, but having either system in place would be better than what we have now (which is essentially having no system in place to check emissions).
Corporate interests will always claim the sky is falling, and that any additional cost will bring that industry to it’s knees, forcing them to outsource jobs and close operations. What we would see , I imagine, is that if you call this bluff, often companies will decide the cost and uncertainty of relocation is not worth the small price of paying for emissions (especially if that company had to install, say, a wind-farm when it started operations). If companies want access to developed countries markets, they should have to pay for their emissions. If America and Europe came up with a strong carbon-market (perhaps part of a larger U.S.-Europe FTA?), the rest of the world would join in. The ultimate goal would be a global carbon-market, which would eliminate the threat of companies to move operations to a lower regulation area.
A double sided approach–ending subsidies / tax-breaks for both renewables and “dirty-energy”, combined with a carbon-tax / cap-and-trade system, could allow market forces to help renewable energy prices converge towards the price of more traditional forms of energy. It would do so while creating a more resilient renewable-energy industry, create a cleaner environment, and open up fiscal space for spending on important social programs.
This approach is different, and theoretically sound–it would be very interesting to see how effective a pilot version of this program could be.
Categories: Blog Posts, Green News | Tags: Canada, Detroit River, emissions, Enel Green Power, Energy, environmental degradation, fiscal space, greenhouse gas, HgCapital, Keystone Pipeline, Keystone XL, Renewable Energy, social programs, subsidy, Sustainable energy, tax break, Wind farm | Permalink.
Economic Outlook: The United States of Europe?
The title of this post is a bit of a joke, even in the unlikely scenario that such a federation is established, I’m sure they would make it a point to make a name less similar to that of the USA. What is not a joke is the state of the European economy, whose unemployment rate and output gap makes America seem like the a model of economic efficiency. (It is impossible to find a single EU or Euro Zone output gap figure, but one can safely assume based on unemployment levels that it is significantly large).
French President Francois Hollande made strong, if not novel, points.
“The French proposal, which Hollande said he would submit to his eurozone partners, also calls for much deeper fiscal integration between the eurozone nations, with a common budget and the authority to issue debt. The government would also debate the main political and economic decisions to be taken by member states and launch a battle against tax fraud.”
“He acknowledged he could face resistance from Germany, Europe’s dominant power, which opposes mutualising debt among member states. Berlin is also reluctant to give the euro zone its own secretariat for fear of deepening division in the EU, between the 17 members of the single currency and the 10 others.
Non-euro Britain’s government already faces growing domestic pressure to hold a referendum on leaving the bloc.
Hollande said he wanted Britain to stay in the EU but added: “I can understand that others don’t want to join (the single currency). But they cannot stop the euro zone from advancing.”
Hollande said a future euro zone economic government would debate the main political and economic decisions to be taken by member states, harmonize national fiscal and welfare policies, and launch a battle against tax fraud.
He proposed bringing forward planned EU spending to combat record youth unemployment, pushing for an EU-wide transition to renewable energy sources, and envisaged “a budget capacity that would be granted to the euro zone along with the gradual possibility of raising debt”.
He also called for a 10-year public investment plan in the digital sector, the promised energy transition, public health and in big transport infrastructure projects.”
Indeed, these concepts are not new. There has always been doubt as to whether the Europe had the necessary preconditions for a strong currency union (based on the theory of optimal currency area). There is considerable economic interdependence, but differences in language and culture make labor less mobile (which is why some countries in the EU have unemployment rates above 25%, while others are high but more manageable).
The head of the Economics department at Fordham, Dominick Salvatore, (a man whom I greatly admire) wrote about the issue of having a currency union without fiscal coordination in the early 1990s. He was probably not the only one to identify this obvious flaw. European leaders thought that by creating the EU and Euro zone, that greater coordination would naturally occur, however this has largely not taken place (at least with respect to fiscal coordination).
The E.U. is at a cross-roads (it has been at it for some time). Britain will eventually have a referendum on whether or not to stay in the EU (a few high level officials have recently signaled they would vote to leave). The economic recovery in Europe has been non-existent. If a stronger European economic government make the Euro zone project more sustainable, it would be in the best interest of both the 17 Euro Zone countries and the 10 countries in the E.U. but without the Euro.
I used to be worried about a E.U. breakup, but I do not think such an outcome would be as painful as a Euro zone breakup. The E.U. was recently given the Nobel Prize, a symbolic move emphasizing the importance of the block of countries in promoting democracy and human rights globally. But if the E.U. wished to merely become a FTA or common market, I do not see any of the countries drastically changing their political ideology. All of these countries still have a shared history in which peace and trade led to mutually beneficial outcomes, while war and isolation led to pain and suffering; allowing countries to leave the E.U. to sustain the Euro Zone would not change this. Indeed, I do not believe there is any foreseeable outcome that could change decades of hard learned lessons .
Economic integration would continue to exist between non Euro Zone and Euro Zone countries. The Euro Zone, with a more unified political and economic voice, would undoubtedly be a more meaningful partner with the U.S. in terms of global governance. The Euro Zone would become more effective in global security measures, with a strong unified military–in this sense having the Euro Zone move forward without all of the E.U. would help achieve many of the original goals of the E.U.
There is no question that a monetary union cannot be sustained without fiscal coordination. President Hollande was dead on when he said “I can understand that others don’t want to join (the single currency). But they cannot stop the euro zone from advancing.” Sometimes you have to cut off the limb to save the patient, and it seems like this might be the case with the Euro Zone. E.U countries not in the Euro Zone could wake-up tomorrow, decide to leave, and as long as economic ties remained very little would change. If the Euro Zone fell apart, there would be unprecedented losses as countries scrambled to put the pieces of their monetary policies back together.
If allowing countries to leave the E.U. is what it takes to make the Euro Zone sustainable, then this option has to be explored. When has forcing someone to stay, when popular consensus is to go, ever led to a sustainable union? If countries want to go, they should be allowed to go, so that those who remain can move forward.
Categories: Welcome | Tags: Berlin, Britain, Euro, European Union, Eurozone, fiscal coordination, Germany, Hollande, President of France, unemplotment | Permalink.
Transparency Thursday: In Response to the Bangladeshi Factory Collapse, Who is Responsible for Ensuring Safe Working Conditions?
The collapse of the Rana Plaza Complex in Dhaka, Bangladesh was a tragic event which has resulted in the deaths of more than 1,100 people. If there is any silver lining to this horrific event, it is that more attention is being paid to factory safety conditions and workers rights in Bangladeshi factories and in the garment industry as a whole. Bangladesh is the second largest producer of apparel globally after China.
The origin of goods and a consumer demand for sustainable production processes has its origins in the food production industry. The trend has expanded into the garment industry in recent years. When garment producers first came under scrutiny, much of the focus was on workers rights. “Sweatshops” and child labor became lightning-rod issues. While these issues have not been fully eliminated, progress has been made—the “spotlight effect” can greatly change the actions of large MNCs. The new issue on consumer and producer agenda’s is factory safety conditions. How best to address this issue is open for debate.
In the past week, many European and a few American clothing producers have agreed to sign onto a legally enforceable plan which mandates; “rigorous, independent factory inspections, and helping to underwrite any fire safety and building repairs needed to correct violations.”
An alternative approach, championed by The Gap, seeks a watered down version of the plan without the legally binding aspect. “Under Gap’s proposal, if a retailer were found to have violated the agreement, the only remedy would generally be public expulsion from the factory safety plan.
“The U.S. is quite litigious,” said Bill Chandler, a Gap spokesman. “We put forward specific proposals that we thought would bring other American retailers into the fold. We thought it would be a step forward and would turn it into a much more global agreement.”
According to Gap, its plan is not to exonerate companies from having a legal obligation, but rather an attempt to bring many more companies on-board. Admittedly, the spotlight-effect of public expulsion from such a plan would probably be very costly for a clothing producer, leading the company to seriously consider internalizing the cost of bringing its factories up to code.
Walmart is planing on its own internal safety audit system,which is likely to be rife with conflicts of interest. Walmart’s reasoning is efficiency, it does not believe a global mechanism can work efficiently as there will be lots of bureaucracy involved.
I believe a large element of the picture has gone largely unnoticed in the aftermath of this tragedy—the role of Government on working conditions. What exactly are Bangladeshi factory safety-standards like? How do they compare to other developing / developed countries? If the rules on the book are not adequate, then requiring MNCs to underwrite getting up to code will not fix anything. If the rules are adequate, and are simply not enforced properly, then requiring producers to pay for bringing factories up to code should theoretically work.
The Bangladeshi government response has been significant. “This week the Bangladesh government said it had closed 16 garment factories in Dhaka and two in the south-eastern port city of Chittagong for safety reasons after the collapse of Rana Plaza.
“These factories will only be allowed to reopen after they have made structural and safety improvements,” a senior official of the labour ministry said. “Every factory in the country will be inspected as part of a government initiative to ensure safety.”
There are concerns that corruption and political influence may allow owners to evade regulations.”
Again, is the issue the laws in place, or how they are enforced? Actions by the Bangladeshi government make it seem like it is an enforcement issue. If this is the case, the issue likely reaches beyond apparel and is one of corruption and lack of transparency (and is likely government-wide). Is the movement towards stronger enforcement authentic, or is it merely an attempt to appease clothing producers until media attention dies down?
Ultimately, a mixed approach will need to be taken. Pressure has to continue to be put on the Bangladeshi government to enforce better safety conditions for workers. In a country with over 4 million garment workers, this is an important step in protecting the rights of Bangladeshi workers.
Pressure can also be put on MNCs by consumers. Consumers can “shop with their wallets”, but will they? I had a conversation with a co-worker, and we both felt that when considering the food and garment industries, it would be harder to pass the extra cost onto the consumer in the garment industry. Our reasoning was that when it comes to food, people are willing to pay extra because they believe they are putting something better into their bodies—it is a mutually beneficial relationship. When it comes to garments, the benefits to the consumer are diminished, far off, and often forgotten except in the direct aftermath of events like the one this article is based on.
So MNC will perhaps have to make up more of the cost on this one. MNCs can also “vote with their wallets”. By shifting production to other countries, the Bangladeshi government will understand the value of having a reasonable minimum standard for worker safety and workers rights. MNCs can pressure the Bangladeshi government to better enforce safety regulations (if the cost cannot be passed onto consumers, perhaps part of it could be shared with the Bangladeshi government). The government’s role cannot be overstated in this issue—without good governance any plans by MNCs will be hampered.
As far as what MNCs can/should do, I think that a more inclusive, less binding plan that relies on the spotlight-effect is more practical even if theoretically less effective. What good is the legally binding plan if the majority of producers do not sign onto it? If a less binding plan got the majority of garment producers on board (as opposed to just a handful), those producers would have a more unified voice. The Bangladeshi government would have less options and ultimately would have to appease MNC s (since such a large portion of the Bangladeshi economy is based on textile exports) by helping enforce stricter factory safety standards.
A more recent Bangladeshi factory fire, in which 8 were killed, highlighted that there is indeed much more work to be done.
Categories: Blog Posts, Transparency Report | Tags: Bangladesh, Bangladeshi, Bangladeshi government, Bill Chandler, Dhaka, factory collapse, factory fire, Gap, Human Rights, Rana Plaza. Rana Plaza Complex, sweatshop, United States, Walmart, workers rights | Permalink.
Conflict Watch: Pakistan; Modernization v. Vested Interests, Effective v. Formal Democracy
Today, Pakistani’s are voting in a milestone election. Before diving into specifics of how effective Pakistani democracy may be, some background on the lead-up to the election:
“The election is Pakistan’s 10th since 1970 but only the first where a civilian government has served a full five-year term and is poised to peacefully hand power to another political administration.
Unlike previous elections, in which the military’s Inter Services-Intelligence Directorate had been widely accused of vote manipulation and intimidation, there was little evidence of involvement in this campaign by the military, which has ruled Pakistan directly for more than half its 66-year history.”
“The election has evoked a rare sense of enthusiasm for politics in Pakistan. Some 4,670 candidates are fighting for 272 directly elected seats in the national Parliament, while almost 11,000 people are battling for the four provincial assemblies. Aside from more traditional politicians, candidates included astrologers, openly transgender candidates, former models and the first female candidates in the tribal belt along the Afghan border.
Also standing for election are dozens of candidates from Sunni sectarian groups, some with links to violent attacks on minority Shiites.
But the sense of a vibrant, if flawed, democracy has been tempered by Taliban attacks throughout the campaigning. The militant movement’s ability to derail wide tracks of the campaign, particularly in the mountainous northwest, is being taken as a signal that it has evolved beyond its nihilistic guerrilla roots and has become a powerful political insurgency bent on upending Western-style democracy in Pakistan.
In a statement on Friday, the Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud ordered his commanders to attack the “infidel system” of democracy, warning that teams of suicide bombers would hit targets across the country.
At least 17 people were reported killed in attacks across Pakistan on Saturday, including a gunfight and an attack on a polling station in the western province of Balochistan, and two explosions in the northwest, including Peshawar, that left several people injured. The deadly bombing in Karachi appeared directed at a candidate from the Awami National Party, one of three secular-leaning parties that have borne the brunt of Taliban attacks in the last month that have killed at least 110 people.”
“But after a slow start to polling, large numbers of voters emerged by midmorning, including many women. About 300 burka-clad women stood in line outside the Lady Griffith High School, where policemen warned photographers not to take their picture.”
“There were also signs of irregularities that have tainted some past votes. At least one party, Jamaat-e-Islami, withdrew its candidates from Karachi and Hyderabad to protest against alleged rigging of the elections at different polling stations of the city.
“The votes of J.I. are being frightened and harassed by MQM armed activists in different parts of the city,” said Muhammad Hussain Mehanti, the party’s chief in Karachi, referring to the party MQM, which has traditionally dominated the city. He called for a peaceful strike on May 13 as a sign of protest against alleged rigging in the polls in the city.
Prominent officials of both Mr. Zardari’s PPP party and Mr. Sharif’s PML-N party lodged accusations of vote rigging in Karachi, saying they would reject results in the city.”
While time will tell whether the claims of J.I. party have any truth, and violence surrounding the elections is troubling, overall the elections seem to be going very smoothly. It would be naive to think that nobody would try to play “spoiler” in the first true democratic election Pakistan has ever had.
But Pakistani’s, who have “election fever” remain undeterred. It will be interesting to see what the overall voter turnout is once the election is over. Modernization and democratization cannot be imposed from the outside, they have to come from the will of the people, and it seems that Pakistani’s have fulfilled this important prerequisite for sustainable democracy.
The question now can turn from sustainable democracy to effective democracy—the existence of democracy on paper does not ensure it will work in practice. To this end, there are mixed signals for what to expect. I will base effective democracy on the following criteria; the ability of people to vote and run in elections, indiscriminate protection of human rights, an independent judiciary system, and the existence of independent media outlets. There are certainly others, but I had to draw the line somewhere for the sake of writing this piece. I left out military control, as the NYT article already highlights that the military has remained uninvolved in this election (perhaps too much so, as the military arguably should be providing security and not letting 100+ people die during the buildup to the election).
Ability of people to vote and run in elections: As stated in the article, “Some 4,670 candidates are fighting for 272 directly elected seats in the national Parliament, while almost 11,000 people are battling for the four provincial assemblies. Aside from more traditional politicians, candidates included astrologers, openly transgender candidates, former models and the first female candidates in the tribal belt along the Afghan border.” Clearly the right to run for office has been upheld.
As far as voting rights, while the system is not perfect, steps have been taken to make the voting process indiscriminate. “In January 2002, President Musharraf introduced a “joint electorate,” lifting the requirement to declare religion when registering to vote. Millions of Hindus and Christians in Pakistan were listed along with Muslims, and could vote in general elections.”
“Pakistan’s constitution sets aside 10 seats in Parliament for religious minorities, but they are not filled by direct elections. After general elections, each political party nominates candidates from minority communities for the seats based on the party’s proportional representation in the new Parliament.”
Women are also voting in this election, while expatriates will not have their votes counted. The system is not perfect, but it is certainly heading in the right direction.
Indiscriminate protection of human rights: In this sense, the country is not doing as well as it could be. Deaths surrounding the election (over 110), show that the right to life is not being protected indiscriminately. The Ahmadi community is particularly disenfranchised:
“Pakistan’s Supreme Court took up a petition against the practice last month, but neither Pakistan’s Attorney General nor the Election Commission replied to the court’s request to explain why Ahmadis were being listed separately. The listing could also allow religious extremists to easily identify Ahmadis in each electoral district, the Ahmadi spokesman said. In 2010, 86 Ahmadis were killed in attacks on worshippers in two mosques in Lahore. Last year, at least 20 Ahmadis were killed in Pakistan”
Effective democracy must uphold the will of the majority and the rights of the minority. A national human rights institution (NHRI) passed parliamentary voting late in 2011, but has yet to be operationalized. Having such an institution in place would go a long way in making Pakistani democracy more effective. Assuming the election goes as planned, operationalizing the NHRI should be one of the first objectives of the new Pakistani government.
Independent judiciary system: “In Pakistan, neither the judiciary as an institution nor the individual judges are independent… Independence of judiciary is the hallmark of liberal democracies. On the other hand, our judicial process is based on arbitrary principles, from the appointment and removal of judges to the process of deciding the cases. And particularly, the absolute powers of the chief justices to grant cases to different benches.”
Independent media outlets: “Since 2002, the Pakistani media has become powerful and independent and the number of private television channels has grown from just three state-run channels in 2000 to 89 in 2012, according to the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority.
Pakistan has a vibrant media landscape and enjoys independence to a large extent. After having been liberalised in 2002, the television sector experienced a media boom. In the fierce competitive environment that followed commercial interests became paramount and quality journalism gave way to sensationalism. Although the radio sector has not seen similar growth, independent radio channels are numerous and considered very important sources of information – especially in the rural areas.”
However, recent news that a NYT reporter was expelled from Pakistan on the eve of elections has to draw concerns about media independence. Certainly this one instance does not undo recent gains in Pakistani media independence, but it does question the countries commitment to media’s role in providing information transparently and indiscriminately.
There are many signs suggesting that Pakistan is ready for democracy. However, there are still hurdles to be cleared. The first is obviously a smooth transition of power following elections. After that, judicial reform should be pursued and a NHRI must be established. These two actions will ensure that human and civil rights are upheld indiscriminately. Additionally, the independence of media outlets, both domestic and international, should be reaffirmed (an official apology, explanation and invitation back to Pakistan for the expelled journalist would be a good start).
An effective democratic government must also protect personal and societal security. The newly elected leaders must figure out a way to reduce the homicide rate, which has been a problem since before the recent uptick in violence surrounding the elections began .
What do my readers think? Is Pakistan ready for effective democracy? Will vested interests whom oppose democracy (for example, the Taliban) allow a peaceful transition to democracy? This is an exciting time for the sixth largest country in the world, with a population of 180 million people. A democratic transition in Pakistan could greatly shift the geopolitical landscape in the Middle-East and Southern Asia. I will try to update the Pakistani shift to democracy whenever a relevant story presents itself.
Categories: Blog Posts, Conflict Watch | Tags: Ahmadi, Asia, Awami National Party, democracy, Democratic Transition, Elections, Karachi, Lahore, Middle East, Pakistan, Pakistani, Peshawar, Taliban | Permalink.
Economic Outlook: (Hopefully Learning) Lessons From Japan
Japanese economic policy, named “Abeconomics” after Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, offers a natural experiment from which the U.S. can draw lessons. There is a much more obvious natural experiment for the U.S., which is U.S. economic policy, but those against “Quantitative Easing” are never short on reasons for why QE hasn’t debased the dollar / led to soaring interest rates on U.S. bonds (but soon will ahhtheskyisfallingmoralhazard!!!!!). Perhaps Japan’s experience, which is further removed from the U.S., can allow us to be more objective in our analysis.
The basis for expansionary monetary policy is due to “liquidity trap” macroeconomics. When the Fed cut’s interest rates near zero, non-traditional means of using monetary policy are the only policy choice left to stimulate aggregate demand and reduce unemployment (as far as monetary policy goes, fiscal policy is another story to be addressed shortly).
Both the U.S. and Japan have greatly increased the supply of money in attempt to revive the economy. QE in the U.S. has basically quadrupled the Feds holdings since 2008, while Abeconomics has doubled Bank of Japan’s (BoJs) holdings. In the U.S., the dollar has remained strong despite QE. In Japan, the Yen has slid in value (and this is a desired result, to increase export competitiveness):
“Normally a weakening exchange rate might be taken as a sign of decline. The yen has fallen nearly 14 percent against the dollar this year, and no currency has fallen more except the Venezuelan bolívar.
In Japan’s case, it is a sign that the policies put in place by Mr. Abe and Haruhiko Kuroda, chairman of the Bank of Japan, are starting to work. A weaker yen makes Japanese exports more competitive around the world.”
The U.S. probably benefit from a slightly weaker dollar, making exports more competitive which could help revive U.S. manufacturing and renewable energy industries (among others). I believe the USD role as primary international reserve currency (60% of international holdings) are keeping the dollar strong despite QE. Foreign holders do not want to see the value of their reserves go down, so the dollar continues to be the safe-haven for investments despite unprecedented monetary stimulus.
How effective have these policies been? U.S. unemployment has dropped to 7.5%, although underemployment and people dropping out of the labor market may be producing a rate that doesn’t capture the stagnation in the job market in the U.S. Japanese unemployment sits at 4.1%, a rate that for the U.S. would currently constitute an economic pipe-dream.
Japan certainly has its issues, but it is not letting doomsayers dictate its economic policy. Despite much higher gross government debt to GDP (Japan has roughly 235% debt to GDP ratio, while the U.S. is at about 107%) Japan is pursuing fiscal stimulus. Abeconomics includes a 2-2.5% of GDP stimulus plan for Japan. Compare that with the fiscal contraction in the U.S.
So the U.S. and Japanese economic policies give us a natural experiment. Both are advanced countries with highly skilled labor forces and strong financial markets. Both are pursuing monetary expansion. One of the countries, despite a much higher debt-to-GDP ratio, is also pursuing fiscal stimulus, while the other is pursuing fiscal contraction. Granted Japan went through years if not decades of stagnant growth before flipping the script to “Abeconomics”. The U.S. is “only” 5 years removed from the Great Recession. Do we really need to wait decades before we pursue policy that we know will stimulate the economy and reduce unemployment / the output gap?
As Keynes said, “In the long run, we’re all dead”. It is not enough to say give it time and things will get better. Peoples skills and confidence in their abilities are deteriorating in the U.S.. The output gap is large and growing, and spending on safety-net policies will not decrease until unemployment goes down (hence “automatic stabilizers”). Hopefully Japan’s successes will inspire confidence in fiscal stimulus; if a country with twice as high of a debt-to-GDP ratio (and an unemployment rate almost half as low) can benefit from fiscal stimulus, surely the U.S. can as well.
Categories: Blog Posts, Economic Outlook | Tags: Austerity, Bank of Japan, BoJ, Federal Reserve, Fiscal policy, Japan, keynes, Monetary policy, output gap, Quantitative Easing, Stimulus, US | Permalink.
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Fan the flames
Fan the flames is an idiom that has been in use for several hundred years. An idiom is a word, group of words or phrase, or phrasal verbs that have a figurative meaning that is not easily deduced from its literal definition. These figures of speech often use descriptive imagery, common idioms are words and phrases used in the English language in order to convey a concise idea, and are often colloquialisms or descriptors that are spoken or are considered informal or conversational. English idioms can illustrate emotion more quickly than a phrase or expression that has a literal meaning, even when the etymology or origin of the idiomatic expression is lost. An idiom is a metaphorical figure of speech, and it is understood that it is not a use of literal language. Figures of speech have definitions and connotations that go beyond the literal meaning of the words. Mastery of the turn of phrase of an idiom or other parts of speech is essential for the English learner. Many English as a Second Language students do not understand idiomatic expressions that native speakers understand such as in a blue moon, spill the beans, let the cat out of the bag, chin up, eye to eye, barking up the wrong tree, bite the bullet, beat a dead horse, hit the nail on the head, kicked the bucket, blow off steam, jump on the bandwagon, piece of cake, hit the sack, and raining cats and dogs, as they attempt to translate them word for word, which yields only the literal meaning. In addition to learning vocabulary and grammar, one must understand the phrasing of the figurative language of idiomatic phrases in order to know English like a native speaker. It is possible to memorize a list of idioms, but it may be easier to pay attention to the use of idioms in everyday speech, where peculiar imagery will tell you that the expressions should not be taken literally. We will examine the meaning of the idiomatic phrase fan the flames, where it came from, and some examples of its use in sentences.
To fan the flames means to agitate a situation, to make a bad situation worse, to make someone who is angry or aggravated even more angry or aggravated, to encourage hostility, to make a bad situation even more volatile. The imagery is of someone fanning a fire in order to cause the flames to leap up and create an inferno. The idiom fan the flames came into use in the mid-1700s, related phrases are fans the flames, fanned the flames, fanning the flames.
In short, unlike many other critics who rage against a problem and then hardly rise from their armchairs but to fan the flames of the ensuing argument, Gioia rolls up his sleeves and gets to work. (America Magazine)
Black argued in the rehearing petition that the woman “sought to further fan the flames of animosity” in their communications and “actively participated in the continuation of the relationship.” (The Tallahassee Democrat)
The intelligence wing of the Delhi Police has issued a fresh advisory to the district police on law and order situation in the city after they detected distribution of inflammatory pamphlets in certain pockets of the city as it could fan the flames, said a senior police officer on Wednesday. (The Hindu)
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Targeting ISIS, US Planes Kill Dozens of Syrian Troops
By Rick Moran Sep 17, 2016 3:17 PM ET
Photo taken Sept. 14, 2016, shows a family living in a house riddled with bullet marks. A quietness brought by the recent cease-fire fills the air in the war-torn city, but most residents are resigned to a resumption of hostilities. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
US planes targeting ISIS fighters in northern Syria mistakenly hit a Syrian army base killing up to 80 soldiers.
Voice of America:
Syrian war monitors and Russian officials say U.S.-led coalition warplanes bombed Syrian army positions in the east of the country Saturday, killing as many as 80 government fighters who were battling Islamic State extremists for control of the area.
A statement from the U.S. Central Command said U.S. coalition aircraft struck near Deir Ezzor, believing they were targeting IS fighters that aircraft had been tracking “for a significant amount of time” before the strike.
The U.S. statement did not provide casualty figures. But it said “the airstrike was halted immediately, when coalition officials were informed by Russian authorities that it was possible the personnel and vehicles targeted were part of the Syrian military.”
he statement identified Deir Ezzor, about 100 kilometers west of the Iraq border, as an area targeted by coalition aircraft in previous operations. It also said coalition commanders had earlier informed Russian authorities about the planned strike.
For its part, Russia’s Defense Ministry described the coalition strike as evidence of Washington’s “stubborn refusal” to coordinate its actions with Russian forces fighting alongside government forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
It remained unclear late Saturday how or whether the airstrikes would affect a cease-fire that took effect earlier this week.
The truce, aimed at halting military operations by Syrian forces, their Russian allies and U.S.-backed rebels seeking to oust the Assad government, was designed to clear the way for humanitarian aid to besieged areas of the war-torn country. Hundreds of thousands of civilians in those areas have been cut off from outside aid for months and are facing critical shortages of food and medicine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country was holding up its end of the cease-fire agreement, but he cast doubt on the U.S. commitment to the deal, saying Washington was deviating from its own call for openness.
“I don’t really understand why we have to keep such an agreement closed,” Putin said in a televised appearance on a trip to Kyrgyzstan. He also said Moscow would not unilaterally release the terms of the deal.
The Russian leader further criticized U.S. officials for their inability to separate the so-called healthy part of the opposition from what he called “the half-criminal and terrorist elements.”
“This is a very dangerous route,” he said.
The Russians have a point, but there’s a very good reason the US has so far refused to share information with Russia on rebel forces they are backing. The Pentagon is livid at Secretary of State John Kerry for not consulting them on the protocols for military cooperation. Not surprisingly, the brass doesn’t trust Russia or Assad to bomb Islamic terrorists and leave US backed rebels alone. To Assad and Putin, any rebel is a terrorist.
Before US cooperation on targeting ISIS is forthcoming, the Pentagon wants concrete proof that Russia will uphold its end of the bargain. And that’s where aid to Aleppo comes in. With the Syrian army refusing to let aid convoys into the besieged city – probably with Russia’s blessing – the Pentagon has no reason to believe anything coming out of Damascus or Moscow when it comes to military cooperation. Russia must allow the convoys access to the city as a sign of goodwill before we share any information about ISIS and other terrorist targets.
Putin seems puzzled by the fact that the state department and the White House have refused to make the terms of the deal public – for obvious reasons. As is becoming clear, we have basically allied ourselves with a man the president of the United States swore “had to go.” Assad and Putin must be taking a grim satisfaction from humiliating the US.
Kerry and Obama are far more trusting of these cutthroat regimes than generals at the Pentagon. You wouldn’t exactly describe the mistaken attack on the Syrian army a “friendly fire” incident, but it was a tragic error nevertheless.
Packers QB Aaron Rodgers Calls Out Democrat Lockdown Hypocrites
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Train to Jamshedpur: The story of Tata, India’s global giant
India | Industry
A BBC documentary in which Dr Zareer Masani tells the story of this 150-year-old Indian giant with a reputation for ethical capitalism.
India’s biggest industrial plant is hidden away in what were once the jungles of Bihar. Jamshedpur, named after its founder, Jamsetji Tata, is a four hour train journey away from Calcutta. And its remote location is the result of pioneering prospecting way back in the early 1900s, when the founder’s son and a small band of American engineers and geologists discovered rich deposits here of coal and iron ore.
Article by Zareer Masani | The Daily O
They spent months travelling on horseback and camping in tents in forests still populated by tigers. My own trip was rather less arduous. The Gitanjali Express from Calcutta, named after a famous Tagore heroine, was as crowded and chaotic as any other Indian train. Even though our seats were reserved, we had to fight our way through a mad rush of other passengers and porters. Thanks to the kindness of strangers, we managed to squeeze ourselves and our very bulky BBC filming equipment on board. A middle-aged gentleman seated opposite was fascinated that BBC radio and television were both making documentaries about the House of Tata, India’s biggest business for a century and a half and now Britain’s largest manufacturer too. “Jamshedpur”, he assured us, “is still the cleanest city in India, and that’s because it’s run by Tata and not some corrupt elected municipality. You won’t see even a dead leaf on the streets, let alone rubbish.”
I soon discovered that the picture isn’t quite so simple. The Tata-administered town was built as one of the world’s first model industrial towns, laid out, according to its founder’s instructions, with broad tree-lined avenues, plenty of green open spaces and purpose-built workers’ housing with electricity and modern sanitation. Tata Steel was Asia’s first steel plant, and its working conditions compared with the best in the world, with an 8-hour day, paid annual leave, pension and sickness benefits introduced much before they were required by law. Tata, then and now, are considered India’s most philanthropic business, with free health care and education offered to their employees, many of whom have been promoted up the company hierarchy for generations. Tata charity, or what today is pompously called Corporate Social Responsibility, has spread out from Jamshedpur into surrounding areas populated by tribal communities who have suffered pollution caused by Tata mining.
In one such tribal village, I was shown a class of about a hundred tribal women being taught about basic health and nutrition. It’s a women’s self-help project run for Tata by a remarkably feisty lady, herself of tribal origin. She marched me across a field to an artificial pond, which the village women have dug to promote better irrigation and more rotation of crops. Tata, she assured me, also has a policy of greening over all its exhausted mines with newly planted trees. Back in Jamshedpur, the enormous factories, belching out clouds of smoke, are still surrounded by stately parks and boulevards, with the whitewashed mansions of managers encircled by a periphery of workers’ housing and a picturesque river. It’s easy to forget you’re at the heart of one of the world’s biggest industrial complexes, producing 7 million tons of steel a year. And yet Tata has its critics.
Once you cross the river from the Tata-administered town, you’re back in the rubbish-strewn streets and insanitary slums so characteristic of Indian cities. I was taken to a shanty town of Dalits of the former “untouchable” caste, who complained that Tata had laid them off work. I was shown allegedly toxic effluent flowing from Tata factories into the river. And an elderly, retired local businessman told me about the legal battle he’s been waging for the past decade, right up to India’s Supreme Court, to force Tata to hand over to elected local councillors.
When I put these demands to the present and former Managing Directors of Tata Steel, their answers were similar. Tata could hardly be blamed for pollution caused by other industries which have sprung up around their own complex. Local referenda had shown that people were overwhelmingly in favour of continued Tata administration. What was undeniable was that even the disaffected Dalits in their slum dwellings were unanimous in demanding that Tata, not any elected municipality, should come to their aid. It’s testimony that Tata ethics, though far from perfect, still command far greater trust than the politicians who run the world’s biggest democracy.
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Music Leadership Panel
The Next Normal
Artists Panel
Arts Funders Panel
Reinventing the Performing Arts through Design Thinking
Dean's Symposium
Dean's Incentive Grants
Career Development Grants
Peabody Notes Archive
February 10 | 1:00- 2:00 pm ET
A panel of the chief executives leading major performing arts organizations will delve into the long-term impact of COVID on established organizations, anticipated audience trends, and the role of technology in moving forward.
Fred Bronstein – Moderator
Fred Bronstein – an accomplished pianist, dedicated music educator, and successful chief executive of American symphony orchestras – began his appointment as the first dean of the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University on June 1, 2014. He was renewed for a second five-year term beginning July 1, 2019. Continue to read Fred Bronstein’s bio>>
Afa Dworkin
A recipient of Kennedy Center’s Human Spirit Award, as well as one of Musical America’s Top 30 Influencers in the nation and Detroit Crain’s 40 Under 40, Afa Sadykhly Dworkin is a musical thought leader and cross-sector strategist driving national programming that promotes diversity in classical music. She currently serves as President and Artistic Director of the Sphinx Organization, the nation’s leading organization transforming lives through the power of diversity in the arts. In this role, she oversees all fundraising, strategic and artistic initiatives through which Sphinx expands access to classical music education and supports a national roster of distinguished musicians of color, while annually reaching 10,000 through its programming and more than 2 million through live and broadcast audiences. During her tenure, Dworkin has expanded the organization’s international partner network to 50+ foundations and leading enterprises, resulting in the organization’s most successful fundraising campaign in its twenty-three year history. Under her leadership, her team’s national artistic network has also grown to 60+ symphony orchestras, enabling Sphinx to continue scaling its programming to new audiences worldwide. The strength of Dworkin’s leadership across sectors and national divides is informed by her musical training, 25+ years of experience in the field, as well as her international corporate experience as a trilingual interpreter and Executive Assistant to the President of ARCO, The International Oil and Gas Company in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Margaret Lioi
Margaret M. Lioi has been Chamber Music America’s Chief Executive Officer since 2000, and recently announced her retirement after serving as the longest-tenured executive in CMA’s 43-year history. During this time, CMA incorporated jazz into its small ensemble portfolio, increased its grant-making to more than $1 million annually, established May as National Chamber Music Month, and ratified the organization’s Commitment to Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity, solidifying its dedication to equitable practices in every area of its operations.
After receiving a Masters in Piano Performance from New England Conservatory, Lioi was a collaborative pianist and vocal coach, working with regional opera companies and individual singers and instrumentalists. After 10 years as a performer, she returned to school to pursue an MBA with a concentration in arts management at Binghamton University/SUNY. She interned at the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, SC, was subsequently hired as the Development Associate, and became the Director of Development six months later.
Following Spoleto, Lioi was the Executive Director of The Eleanor Naylor Dana Charitable Trust, and the Senior Director of External Affairs at The Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival prior to CMA. She serves on the Advisory Board of The Sphinx Organization, is a member of the Board of The Performing Arts Alliance, and is an adjunct faculty member in the MA in Arts Management Entrepreneurship program at The New School.
Deborah Rutter
In an age marked by social and technological change, Deborah Rutter has emerged as one of the nation’s most adroit leaders in the arts, combining artistic daring with fiscal sustainability, inclusivity, and responsiveness to the needs of the community. Rutter began as President of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on September 1, 2014, and serves as curator of the Kennedy presidential memorial, and artistic and administrative director to the world’s busiest performing arts center. In an ever-expanding celebration of JFK’s legacy, the Center presents theater, contemporary dance, ballet, vocal music, chamber music, Hip Hop, comedy, international arts, and jazz, alongside dynamic seasons with the Kennedy Center’s world-class affiliates: the National Symphony Orchestra and Washington National Opera. As the work of a living memorial is never finished, Rutter is advancing the Center’s commitment to 21st-century programming. In her first year at the Kennedy Center, Rutter broke ground on a transformative arts facility, the REACH, which provides flexible indoor and outdoor performance space to nurture new art, community, innovation, arts education, and informal encounters between the artist and the public. Designed by renowned architect Steven Holl, the REACH graces the southern end of the campus and connects the Kennedy Center to the popular pedestrian and bicycle trail along the Potomac River. Working at the vanguard of community engagement, Rutter manages one of the nation’s most extensive arts education networks, reaching millions of people of all ages across all 50 states with live performances, as well as providing multidisciplinary arts training and support to schools, students, children at risk, teachers, artists, and civic leaders. Today, Rutter is reshaping Kennedy Center offerings to include more artist-led programming while challenging people across the industry to reimagine creative expression through the lens of cross-disciplinary collaborations. Prior to her position as the Center’s President, Rutter served as president of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association. She has also served as executive director of the Seattle Symphony, executive director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and the orchestra manager of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Marc Scorca
Marc A. Scorca joined OPERA America in 1990 as president/CEO. Since then, OPERA America has awarded nearly $20 million in grants to member companies and their partners to support the creation and production of new work, encourage innovative practices in all areas of administration and production, increase civic practice and audience development activities, and promote racial justice across the industry. During this time, membership in OPERA America has increased from 120 opera companies to nearly 2,500 organizations and individuals, with another 18,000 subscribers receiving a variety of free and fee-based services.
In December 2005, as the first step in the establishment of a National Opera Center, OPERA America relocated from Washington, D.C. to New York City. Since opening in September 2012, the custom-built National Opera Center has increased communication and collaboration with and among members both locally and nationally. Hosting 80,000 visitors annually, the Opera Center provides a number of unique facilities and related services for organizations and artists that have never before been available under one roof.
Scorca conducts strategic planning retreats for opera companies and other cultural institutions internationally, and he has participated on panels for federal, state and local funding agencies, as well as for numerous private organizations. A strong advocate of collaboration, he led the Performing Arts Research Coalition (2000 to 2003) and the National Performing Arts Convention (2004 and 2008). He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Performing Arts Alliance and on the Music Advisory Board of Hunter College (CUNY), and on the Boards of the Association for Opera in Canada, Opera Europa and Ópera Latinoamérica. Scorca has also served on the U.S. delegation to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Board of Overseers of the Curtis Institute of Music. He appears frequently in the media on a variety of cultural issues.
Scorca attended Amherst College, graduating with high honors in both history and music. An internship at the Metropolitan Opera lasted through his college years, after which he held positions at the Opera Company of Philadelphia (now known as Opera Philadelphia), New York City Opera and Chicago Opera Theater before joining OPERA America.
Simon Woods joined the League of American Orchestras as President and CEO in September 2020.
Born in London, England, Woods earned a degree in music from Cambridge University and a diploma in conducting from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.
From the late 1980s to the late 1990s, he worked as a record producer at EMI Classics in London, where he initiated and produced recordings at Abbey Road Studios and on location with many of the world’s foremost classical artists and ensembles.
From 1997 to 2004, he was Artistic Administrator and later Vice President of Artistic Planning & Operations at The Philadelphia Orchestra. From 2004 to 2005, he was President & CEO of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, before moving back to the UK in 2005 to become Chief Executive of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, one of the United Kingdom’s leading symphony orchestras.
Returning to the US in 2011, he became President & CEO of the Seattle Symphony, a post he held for seven years. In November 2017, Woods was appointed CEO of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, a post he held until September 2019. From February to August 2020, Woods was Interim Executive Director of the Grand Teton Music Festival, in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Woods brings more than 30 years of experience working with orchestras. He is deeply committed to equity, to the role of arts organizations in community, and to nurturing the next generation of arts leaders. He is known throughout the sector as a highly trusted mentor to orchestra management professionals, emerging leaders, and conductors. For two decades he has contributed to the League of American Orchestras’ professional development programs, including acting as Director of the League’s signature immersive training program, Essentials of Orchestra Management. In March 2020 he joined the Board of Directors of National Arts Strategies.
We welcome you to join us on February 10!
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Home Campaign Against Extremism Core vs Peripheral Islamic World Jerusalem Declaration And The Future Of US Islamic World Ties
Jerusalem Declaration And The Future Of US Islamic World Ties
For many President Trump’s decision to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem came as a surprise. However, the changes in the political, economic and security landscape of the Middle East have been pointing in this direction for a number of years now. PoliTact had noted this trajectory in July 2015 as the emerging ‘Outside In Approach’ to the Middle East peace process and Kashmir. The variables influencing this move involve the dynamics associated with War against Extremism, Arab Spring, Iran-Saudi tussles, and the ongoing Syrian conflict.
The December 6th US declaration to transfer its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, under the influence of its America First Doctrine, has marked a new phase for the shift in the balance of power from the Core to the Peripheral Islamic world, a theory that has been discussed in detail in this space. It has reinforced the path that is bringing the peripheral Muslim nations represented by Turkey, Iran, and Pakistan, closer. These states have harshly criticized the American move.
This may have been one of the reasons why Pakistan’s military and security assistance is now in jeopardy. President Trump had threatened to penalize those countries that opposed the American decision to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital in the December 21st UN General Assembly vote. The US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, had commented that Washington will not forget the countries which “disrespected” America by voting against its unilateral recognition.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s ambassador to the UN, Lodhi, had stated that the American move was a serious violation of international law and had gravely dented the Middle East peace process. She went on to add the US should refrain from using undiplomatic and threatening moves to garner support for its decision. On the other hand, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan had warned before the US decision that Jerusalem is the red line for Muslims. He clarified that considering Jerusalem as belonging only to Israel will result in Turkey ending ties with Israel.
The Sunni Arab nations, with the focus on GCC, reflect the other side of the equation. These Arab nations are steadfastly holding on to the western powers whose support is critical for their survival. Media reports indicate that Saudi Arabia and Egypt may have privately consented to the American move.
The key question now is how the dramatic changes in the political dynamics of the Core Islamic world, represented by Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Yemen, Syria etc., will now impact the fate of the Peripheral. Our previous assessment had noted how the predicament Middle East finds itself in would impact South and Central Asia, including Afghanistan conflict. We are now entering a stage where that distinction will be harder to maintain, as it will represent one wide theater of operations, one on the West of Iran (South and Central Asia), and the other to the East (Middle East).
Implications of the Jerusalem Decision
The Core versus Periphery theory also stipulated that under threat the Core Muslim nations, which carry exclusive religious significance, will likely reach out to the Peripheral nations for support and protection. This has now manifested in the form of Saudi Arabia seeking Pakistan’s assistance for the alliance formulated to counter Daesh. The former chief of Pakistan’s Army, General Raheel Sharif, now heads the Saudi led military alliance called Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition (IMCTC).
While the liberal global order is itself going through modification, Pakistan appears to be on a gradual slide out, and so is NATO member Turkey, while Iran departed a long time ago. Ironically, Saudi Arabia has reaffirmed it membership to the liberal order. But what does the America First Doctrine, mean for the Core versus Peripheral Muslim world theory? Following is a list of some key implications of the American decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem.
Countering the Ideological Narrative
With the recent US decision to move its embassy, and now deteriorating relations with Pakistan, the perception is taking hold that the US, and the War against Terror, is against Islam. Previous US administrations have gone to great length to avoid strategies that convey or strengthen the perception that War against Extremism is against Islam. On the other hand, the extremists have used this narrative to convert the war against extremism in to a religious war.
To recruit and motivate, extremists have claimed that Muslim governments for the most are not credible as they achieve power with Western support, are corrupt, and serve there interests at the cost of their citizens. This lack of credibility was what sparked the Arab Spring which resulted in the removal of many of the authoritarian rulers in the Middle East.
The Jerusalem decision will pose acute challenges in the way of countering the ideological narrative being used by the extremists. The extremist groups will utilize this against the role of UN and its failure to peacefully resolve long simmering Palestinian issue. While Daesh has been physically defeated in Iraq and Syria, reports indicate they are strengthening in Afghanistan, posing an emerging threat to the reconciliation efforts, and to the wider South and Central Asia region. Deash and Associates are also likely to exploit Muslim resentments related to Kashmir and Rohingya genocide. On the other hand, AQ in the India Subcontinent (AQIS) is making in roads in Kashmir. This scenario was explored in PoliTact’s April 2015 assessment: Can IS Jeopardize Afghan Peace Process and Pakistan India ties?
Decreasing Private Space for American Allies to Cooperate
As indicated above, the US relations are already under stress with other major Islamic nations, such as Turkey and Iran. Now worsening ties with Pakistan will further decrease American leverage in the Islamic world, which will be, and is being exploited by China and Russia. Thus the liberal order will be further weakened.
The Jerusalem decision will shrink the private space for Muslim nations and their civilian and military leadership, including Pakistan, to continue their cooperation with the US in the war against extremists. The loss of credibility is likely to trigger Arab Spring 2.0 in the Middle East, especially if the two-state solution is eroded any further. If the variance in the Public and Private stances of the Muslim leaders widens too much, naturally it will become untenable to the point where the narrative of the extremists will look more realistic.
In case of Pakistan, tensions are likely to mount. There is a difference of opinion between US and Pakistan on how to approach the Afghan peace process. At this juncture, US wants to pressure the Afghan Taliban and Haqqani network with the assistance of Pakistan, before attempting the peace process.
On the other hand Pakistan thinks the military tactics and strategies have not worked up to this point, and thus it’s time to put more emphasis on reconciliation. Moreover, Russian, China, and Iran consider Afghan Taliban to be the bulwark against the spreading influence of groups like Daesh with global ambitions. The Jerusalem decision implies that America is not interested in negotiated settlement of long simmering conflicts, to include Afghanistan and Kashmir.
With the deteriorating US-Pakistan ties and sanctions, the American position is likely to be weakened. Especially when China is also attempting to pull Afghanistan in to its One Belt One Road economic vision. In this, the significance of Saudi Arabia will increase, and it will attempt to create divisions between the Peripheral nations, and to keep Pakistan from drifting too far from the liberal order.
The Role of Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia is increasingly caught in a quandary. It needs the support of Peripheral nations, especially Pakistan, to counter the spreading forces of extremism. However, as pointed out earlier, these Peripheral nations are in the process of moving out of the liberal world order. This poses unique challenges for the Kingdom.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is entangled in a bitter regional rivalry with another Peripheral nation, Shiite Iran. The Saudis are also not on the same page with Turkey when it comes to the matters of Palestine, Iran, Lebanon, Libya, and to some extent Syria. These reasons resulted in rupturing of its relations with Qatar. Furthermore, these factors have pushed Saudis closer to Israel and the US, and inadvertently to India, at the cost of its ties with Core and Peripheral Muslim nations.
Convergences and Risk Mitigation
While there are differences along the lines pointed to above, there are also areas where convergences exist and which can be exploited if there is a will. At the same time, if these common interests are not built upon they also pose serious risks. At this stage of the War against Extremism, if these threats are not mitigated, they can now cause interstate conflicts.
Now that the US has taken the decision on moving its embassy to Jerusalem, there is an urgency to understand the wider peace plan being envisioned by the Trump Administration and for preserving the two-state solution. Delaying the unveiling of this plan can cause extremists to exploit the circumstances, especially against the Muslim allies of the US. This will make it impossible for them to cooperate in the campaign against extremists.
There is consensus amongst all players that extremist groups with global ambitions, like AQ and Daesh, need to be countered. The disparity exists on the next level of non-state actors that are known as Associates of AQ and Daesh. The variance also persists when it comes to the third kind of non-state actors, such as Kurds that have nationalist aspirations.
No one wants the extremist groups with local ambitions to become fully integrated with groups with global agenda and transform into a much bigger and lethal threat. Dealing with the grievances of these associates with local aspirations can deliver the biggest blow to groups like AQ and Daesh. This remains the best strategy to win the war against extremists. Furthermore, the strategy has the capacity to bring the global powers, including the Core and the Peripheral Muslim nations, on the same page. However, this would have to be on a case by case basis. The first step remains to eliminate the reasons which motivate these groups.
Previous articlePresident Trump’s Jerusalem Decision And Winning The Fight Against Extremism
Next articleDeteriorating Situation Of Afghanistan And The Emerging US-Pakistan Ties
Biden’s Middle East Policy, China-Iran Ties, and CPEC
Promise And Premonition; Historical Context Of The US-Pakistan Relations And Emerging China Factor
The Future Of Middle East Peace Process, Extremism, And China-Iran Deal
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With More Than 2M Downloads, HotelTonight Raises Another $23M From US Venture Partners
Last-minute hotel booking startup HotelTonight just announced that it raised a $23 million Series C round led by U.S. Venture Partners (USVP). The financing includes existing investors Accel Partners, Battery Ventures, and First Round Capital. In addition to the funding, HotelTongiht will be adding USVP general partner Rick Lewis to its board of directors.
HotelTonight has rolled out a number of mobile apps for iPhone, iPad, and Android, which allow users to find low-priced, last-minute hotel accommodations on the fly. That lets hotels sell unsold inventory, and gives users cheap options at high-quality locations in more than 40 cities in the U.S. It’s gained some decent user traction for its free-to-download apps, with 2 million downloads to date.
The startup is growing quickly, and says it will use the funding to help expand its team as it moves beyond its home U.S. market. In April, HotelTonight added accomodations in its first two international cities, Toronto and Vancouver, and it plans to add more Canadian cities later this year.
Last November, HotelTonight raised $13 million in a round led by Battery Ventures and Accel Partners. Today’s funding brings total financing up to just under $36 million.
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A Superman #2 Review – Superman Smiles
TITLE: Superman #2
AUTHORS: Peter Tomasi, Patrick Gleason
PENCILLER: Gleason
RELEASED: July 6, 2016
I’m aware this series doesn’t mark the first time Superman has smiled in the last five years. But it sure feels like it. Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason’s effort to inject optimism back into the character makes for a refreshing departure from recent attempts to darken him. Truth, justice, hope. Dare I say, love? These are the things we need from Superman in 2016.
The Superman of the pre-New 52 Earth has finally put the cape on again in this new universe. At the same time, his young son Jon is discovering super powers of his own. When we open this issue, the Man of Steel has taken his son to observe him on a routine rescue. But when things go awry, Jon is pulled into the action. Will this new “Superboy” see his run tragically cut short?
In working on Superman, Peter Tomasi has two tremendous advantages over many of his peers. First, he’s inherently good at writing heart-felt stories that highlight the humanity of these iconic, often god-like heroes. As evidence, I direct you to yet another of father and son story by he and Gleason, Batman & Robin: Born to Kill.
Second, and more importantly, he understands Superman. (I assume Gleason does too. I speak of Tomasi because we’ve obviously seen more of his writing. Gleason has mainly been an artist.) Case in point, our hero saying the following to his son: “It’s not about our powers, or strength, or heat vision. It’s about character. It means doing the right thing when no one else will, even when you’re scared…even when you think no one is looking.”
Yes. A thousand times, yes.
What so many people either don’t understand or don’t appreciate about Superman is the importance of what he stands for. He’s not a boy scout. He’s not a sell out. He’s not an outdated product of a bygone era. It’s not as simple as that. He’s a man with a set of principles, and he acts on those principles in the hopes of making the world a better place. Tomasi understands all of this, and knows it’s critical that Clark and Lois raise Jon with these same principles. As Clark himself says in this issue, Jon may be need to wear the iconic S symbol sooner than later.
It’s very fitting that we’ve re-emphazied these elements in a story that has brought back a previous version of Clark. In a very real sense, this feels like Superman is back.
From an artistic stance, the colors are on point. In particular, John Kalisz’s reds and oranges really pop. Superman’s cape looks fantastic, which makes me miss his red boots even more. There’s also a sequence where Jon is trying to hone his heat vision, and the scene becomes engulfed in an intense red that really brings you into the moment.
In interviews, I seem to recall Tomasi and Gleason talking about being fathers themselves. In Gleason’s case, that would explain why much of the body language in Superman, as well as Batman & Robin, seems very natural. Not always real, per se. But natural within the context of this world. The panel to the right is my favorite in the issue. That face says a lot. We’ve got patience, compassion, reassurance, protectiveness, and of course, love. Where has this Superman been?
Obviously this new Superman series is meant to be a starting point for new readers. But I maintain that the replacement of the New 52 Superman with the post-Crisis Superman from another universe makes things confusing for new readers. Especially once you get to the end of the issue, where a villain from the post-Crisis era seems to resurface. Mind you, this isn’t Tomasi or Gleason’s fault. And for the record, I’m in favor of this new direction for the Superman books. But this shake-up has come at a price. Picture yourself as a newbie picking up this series. You’d have all kinds of questions about where this Superman came from, what that other universe was like, and where it went. The upside is that might entice one to buy trade paperbacks. But someone on the fence might simply drop the book.
Either way, once you get past the confusion, this is good stuff. Tomasi and Gleason did about 40 issues on Batman & Robin. Obviously Gleason can’t be expected to do that many consecutive issues on a bi-weekly series. But if this team sticks with Superman for the foreseeable future, the smart bet is they’ll deliver quality comics. More often than not, that’s what they do.
Images from readcomics.net.
Tagged: Clark Kent, comic book reviews, comic books, comics, DC Comics, DC Universe Rebirth, Fatherhood, John Kalisz, Jon Kent, Jonathan Kent, Lois Lane, Mick Gray, New 52, Patrick Gleason, Patrick Gleason Superman, Peter Tomasi, Peter Tomasi Superman, single issue reviews, Superboy, superhero comics, superheroes, Superman, Superman comics, Superman costume
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Knight of Freedom Award
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The Knight of Freedom Award Presentation
On 7 December 2019, the annual Knight of Freedom Award was presented to Mr. Thorbjørn Jagland, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe (2009 to 2019). The ceremony took place during the European Academy of Diplomacy Commencement Ceremony and gathered over 250 students from 40+ countries as well as many international guests, including a delegation from the Council of Europe.
During the ceremony, the accomplishment of Mr. Jagland have been presented by Mr. Zbigniew Pisarski, the President of the Casimir Pulaski Foundation, followed by a laudation delivered by President of the European Court of Human Rights Mr. Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos. Mr. Jagland received the Knight of Freedom “for his continuous commitment to the European integration project, active engagement in fostering international dialogue and a tireless effort to promote democracy, the rule of law and human rights in Europe and beyond”.
The ceremony was concluded with a panel discussion on “The state of human rights & democracy in Europe. A reflection for the XXI century.” The panelists were the two honoured guests: Mr. Thorbjørn Jagland and Mr. Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos. The discussion was moderated by Prof. Katarzyna Pisarska, Director of the European Academy of Diplomacy .
The Knight of Freedom is an annual award given by the Casimir Pulaski Foundation to outstanding international figures promoting the values for which “the father of American cavalierly” General Pulaski fought: freedom, justice, and democracy. The prize is given out in the form of a handmade replica of General Pulaski’s sabre.
Thorbjørn Jagland, Secretary-General of the Council of Europe (2009-2019)
Before joining the Council of Europe Thorbjørn Jagland has held two of the most influential governmental positions in Norway: Prime Minister (1996-97) and Minister of Foreign Affairs (2000-2001). He was a member of the Storting for over 15 years, presiding over the works of the Norwegian Parliament between 2005- 2009. Today, Jagland is a member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee – awarding the annual Nobel Peace Prize – as well as the Chairman of the Board of Directors at the Oslo Centre for Peace and Human Rights, and a Member of the International Board of Governors at the Peres Center for Peace.
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Pulaski Foundation Grants Student Scholarships
The panel discussion “An Unbridgeable Divide? How to Heal the EU’s East-West Fracture”
PULASKI POLICY PAPER – P. Przybyło: The last oil peak in the history of the world – geopolitical, sociological, and economic factors that shape the future of the Energy sector
Pulaski Policy Paper: T. Otłowski – Peace at Any cost? Implications of the US-Taliban Deal in Afghanistan
PULASKI POLICY PAPER – J. Gajda: The Death of General Soleimani – a Turing Point in the US-Iran Conflict?
im. Kazimierza Pułaskiego
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faks: 022 205 06 35
e-mail: office@pulaski.pl
Fundacja im. Kazimierza Pułaskiego posiada status partnerski
Rady Europy.
CPF in Press
Cooperation with CPF
Academic Association
© 2015 Fundacja im. Kazimierza Pułaskiego. All rights reserved.
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rabble blogs are the personal pages of some of Canada's most insightful progressive activists and commentators. All opinions belong to the writer; however, writers are expected to adhere to our guidelines. We welcome new bloggers -- contact us for details.
European, Canadian labour opposes investor-state arbitration, municipal procurement restrictions in CETA
Stuart Trew
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The European Trade Union Confederation and Canadian Labour Congress issued a joint statement on the Canada-EU free trade negotiations (CETA), which continue this week in Brussels, Belgium.
"Negotiators have claimed that their work will be finalized in the coming days and weeks, but unions on both sides of the Atlantic have made it clear that any agreement is only acceptable if based on a high standard, setting a benchmark for future agreements worldwide, and certainly not undermining existing conditions in relation to labour rights, public policy space and the provision of public services," says a press statement from the ETUC.
The joint declaration emphasizes three conditions that should be met if CETA is concluded. Notably the unions oppose the inclusion of an investor-state dispute settlement process like the one in NAFTA's notorious Chapter 11, which is used more and more these days to challenge non-discriminatory, non-trade distorting government decisions, legislation and other environmental or public health measures.
"It is imperative," they state, "that the failings of the NAFTA are not replicated, let alone aggravated, by any future CETA. This applies to investor rights in the first instance. We oppose the inclusion of an investor-state arbitration mechanism in the agreement. We concur with the European Parliament's assessment that 'a state to state dispute settlement mechanism and the use of local judicial remedies are the most appropriate tools to address investment disputes'."
The unions also insist that CETA "should not include any commitment to open or liberalize public procurement at the subnational level, including at the municipal level. Local governments should have a clear and permanent exemption from the CETA so they can use public money in support of sustainable, local, economic development."
Finally, the declaration calls for a democratic process before CETA can be ratified. "The public has the right to full disclosure, along with the right to meaningful and informed input into the negotiations," say the unions.
Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA)
Canada-EU free trade deal
ETUC
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Sarah Gross, Rescue Chocolate
https://responsibleeatingandliving.com/shows/2009_2010/ItsAllAboutFood042110.mp3
Sarah Gross has always shared her home with dogs and has felt a lifelong empathy for animals. Research about the horrendous conditions on factory farms led her to become a vegetarian and then a vegan while still in middle school. Throughout high school, she volunteered at her local animal shelter in Shreveport, Louisiana. For 3 years she worked as a professional ballet dancer on the West and East Coasts and received her BA in Humanities from the University of Maryland. Moving to New York City three years ago, she became a certified Pilates instructor and part-time chocolate bar developer for a raw chocolate company in Queens. In founding Rescue Chocolate, she was able to marry two of her greatest loves: helping animals and chocolate. Her rescued pit bull, Mocha Bella, graces all Rescue Chocolate labels.
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coronavirus 2020 elections School segregation / integration All Topics
Essential education reporting across
America
Republishing the Chalkbeat article "Dyslexia advocates want screening for every struggling reader. A Colorado bill takes a first step."
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Dyslexia advocates want screening for every struggling reader. A Colorado bill takes a first step.
Originally posted on Chalkbeat by Erica Meltzer on March 1, 2019
Lindsay Drakos’ daughter didn’t get diagnosed with dyslexia until she was in fifth grade, after years of struggling with reading.
Leaving Children’s Hospital Colorado after a nine-month wait to get screened, Drakos recalled the years she spent reaching out to teachers and wondering if something was wrong. She turned to her daughter and said, “What I learned today is to trust your instincts.”
Her daughter, now 13, replied, “What I learned today is that I’m not dumb.”
Students with dyslexia and their parents have been telling these types of stories to Colorado policy makers for months, pressing them to make sure children are tested earlier for dyslexia, and that those affected receive the right reading instruction. And on Thursday, they packed a hearing room and an overflow chamber and urged Colorado lawmakers to pass legislation that could ultimately expand screening and support for children with dyslexia at younger ages.
The bill, which passed unanimously out of the House Education Committee, would convene a group of parents, educators, and experts in literacy, dyslexia, and special education to make policy recommendations. It would also establish a pilot program to be run in five schools in which the same assessments used to identify struggling readers would be used to see if dyslexia might be an underlying cause. Educators in those schools would get additional support on providing appropriate interventions for students identified as having dyslexia.
The bill is much more modest legislation than what advocates originally had hoped for — dyslexia screening for all children with reading challenges and better training to help teachers recognize dyslexia — but they’ve come out in support of it as a necessary step to develop a more consistent approach across the state.
State Rep. Janet Buckner, an Aurora Democrat and the bill’s co-sponsor, said she understands where parents of students with dyslexia are coming from because she is one herself. Her daughter, now 41 and a successful professional with a master’s degree, didn’t learn to read until the sixth grade, even as her twin sister breezed through school. Not enough has changed in the decades since her daughters were in elementary school, Buckner said.
“I know what these parents have gone through,” she said. “I’ve lived it. I know how frustrated they are, but if we delay a year, we can do this in a really thoughtful manner.”
By delay, Buckner means the time it will take the working group to look at best practices from around the country and make recommendations on everything from the screening tools used in schools to the training that aspiring educators get in college. Those recommendations should come by the summer 2020.
Parents have connected their fight to a broader debate about reading instruction in Colorado. Roughly 60 percent of third-graders in the state don’t read at grade level. The 2012 READ Act requires reading assessments for all children in kindergarten through third grade and provides additional money to help children who are identified as having significant reading deficiencies.
Students who don’t read at grade level by the end of third grade often struggle in school as their classmates shift from “learning to read” to “reading to learn,” and they are more likely later on to drop of out school, with all the challenges that brings in life.
But since the passage of the READ Act, the number of students with significant reading deficiencies has not budged. Meanwhile, schools don’t get additional money to help students who are below grade level but not in the bottom 15 percent of readers, so those students don’t always get the same level of attention. Many parents said teachers would not screen their children for dyslexia because they weren’t far enough behind. But a lack of early screening meant those same children didn’t get the help they needed and fell further behind academically as they entered the higher elementary grades.
Early screening is critical because dyslexia involves differences in how the brain processes language, and the interventions help retrain the brain. The younger students are when they start that process, the better.
“Those screening tools need to be in place in the school system within the first week of kindergarten,” said Michelle Qazi, associate clinical manager of learning services at Children’s Hospital Colorado and a former classroom teacher. “If kids come in below those benchmarks, then start the intervention right away. It is possible they don’t have dyslexia, but they are below their peers. So let’s get started right away.”
About half of children on READ Act plans have a disability, yet the READ Act makes no mention of dyslexia, and many teachers report having no training in recognizing dyslexia or helping students who have it. The state department of education has been working with parents and plans to release a handbook for school districts this spring, but officials acknowledge there is a lot of work to do.
The state doesn’t know how many students have been identified as dyslexic because districts are not required to report that information. Those students are put in a broader category of specific learning disability. Meanwhile, an estimated 10 and 20 percent of the population have dyslexia.
“Quite frankly, that’s what caught my attention in the first place,” said state Rep. Jim Wilson, a Salida Republican and co-sponsor of the bill, who is a former teacher and school superintendent. “Being an educator, having seen the test scores kind of stagnate and not move the needle, if you can help even 10 percent of the students, that could move the reading scores.”
The Colorado Department of Education is also running a pilot program in 17 schools serving 4,100 students in which rather than doing one-on-one interventions for struggling readers, as envisioned by the READ Act, all of the teachers in the school get more training and coaching in using structured literacy, an approach to reading instruction that focuses on teaching students how to decode words in an explicit and systematic way.
A full evaluation of the data is expected in the fall. However, the initial results have found that students in those schools have lower rates of significant reading deficiencies, according the Melissa Colsman, associate commissioner for the Colorado Department of Education.
This pilot is not focused on students with dyslexia, but they especially benefit from this approach to reading. Many dyslexia advocates believe that if this type of reading instruction were used in all schools, their dyslexic children would need fewer interventions and could spend more time in general education with their classmates.
At the same time, some school districts have their own specialized programs to help children with dyslexia. Falcon School District 49 in El Paso County has a school dedicated to dyslexic students, and the St. Vrain Valley School District convened a dyslexia task force and is expanding programs into new schools.
Some states have instituted the universal screening that advocates want to see in Colorado or have requirements that educator preparation programs include training on dyslexia.
“The pilot has already happened in other areas, so why do we need another one?” asked Orion Watkins, one of several dyslexic students from Vertical Skills Academy, a private school, who testified on behalf of the legislation.
It’s a question many parents have as well.
There are a lot of factors in play. Some districts are using screening tools for struggling readers that can also be used to identify risk factors for dyslexia, while others are not. Teachers don’t have the same level of training in how to interpret the results, and they might not have the same kind of instruction in teaching reading. None of this can be changed overnight, and in a local control state like Colorado, it’s hard for state officials to mandate it.
Colsman said the pilot project can serve as a “bridge” between policy and classroom practice and help more school districts put effective programs in place.
Parents of students with dyslexia have been fighting for better screening and services in districts around the state, but progress too often is dependent on finding sympathetic administrators, they said.
“With a change in administration, all of that progress gets wiped out,” Drakos said. “I just cannot believe this is the best way, that we all have to fight our own battles, and then administration changes and then all that progress goes away.”
That’s why they want a statewide approach. One job of the working group will be to recommend additional legislation that might be needed.
There is also the question of cost.
“I don’t think it’s the local control that makes it so difficult, but the diversity of the school districts and the fiscal ability of a school to address it,” Wilson said.
Bridget Dalton, an associate professor of literacy studies at the University of Colorado’s School of Education, said dyslexic students deserve better interventions, but that shouldn’t be conflated with broader questions about reading instruction.
“It would be overkill to provide that kind of intensive instruction to all children, who benefit from phonics instruction but not at that level,” Dalton said. “If there is too much attention to phonics and phonological awareness and decoding, it turns into a laborious task and could divert them from that love of reading.”
Alison Boardman, an associate professor of education equity and cultural diversity at the University of Colorado, said she’s concerned that students who speak languages other than English are largely absent from the discussion around dyslexia. Those students need screening tools in their dominant language and may benefit from different interventions, like learning to decode in their native language before applying those skills to English.
“We know that dyslexia doesn’t just appear in one language, but it will look different,” she said.
Right now, many students who get a dyslexia diagnosis end up going outside the public school system to get help. Parents described spending tens of thousands of dollars on private screenings, tutors, and private school tuition — options that aren’t available for most low-income families. They also described children who cried through homework every night, who said, “I hate my brain” and “I want to die.” But getting their students the right kind of instruction opened the doors to reading and helped them love school again.
Parent after parent told the committee: “It is not unreasonable to expect our schools to teach our kids to read.”
Today, Drakos’ daughter, who once thought she was “dumb,” loves to read.
“She was a bookworm that was trapped in this dyslexic mind,” Drakos said. “Now if you ask her what your favorite thing to do is, it’s read. And she reads out loud, and I can hear her reading through the vent.
“That’s why I’m fighting.”
Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.
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Video Sources 22602 Views Report Error
Part 1 - Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears (1980) - EN, ES, ET, FR, HE, HU, RU, SR, ZHUnknown resource
Feb. 11, 1980Soviet Union142 Min.PG
ComedyDramaFreeRomance
Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears is a classic, Oscar-winning Soviet movie. It’s said to depict the famous Russian soul better than any other movie.
1 Background to the film
2 Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears plot
2.1 Part 1
3 Reception of Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears
3.1 Critical response and awards
3.2 Quality film reviews
3.3 Podcast episodes
Background to the film
Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears (Москва слезам не верит / Moskva slezam ne verit) is one of the most beloved Soviet films of all time. Made in 1980, it won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film the following year. The film is directed by Vladimir Menshov and stars his wife, Vera Alentova, in the leading role – Katerina.
The film tells the life stories of Katerina and two of her friends. We get to experience their dreams, wishes, and disillusions. And, of course, in this romantic drama, we see how and whom they love.
Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears is often said to be the movie that best depicts the famous Russian soul. In fact, according to Russian newspaper, Kommersant, American President Ronald Reagan watched the movie “at least eight times” before he first met then Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev. All that to better understand his Russian counterpart. All that to better understand the “russkaya dusha” (русская душа).
Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears plot
A 19-year-old provincial girl, Katerina arrives in Moscow full of hope and optimism. She starts out living in a boarding house with her two friends, Lyudmila and Antonina. At this time, Katerina is a chemistry student and works part time in a factory.
When Katerina house sits for some relatives, Lyudmila convinces her to throw a dinner to meet some successful young men. And so, the girls organize a dinner party and pretend they are the daughters of Katerina’s relative, a famous professor.
At the party, Lyudmila partners up with a professional hockey player. They get married, even when he finds out she lied about who she was. Meanwhile, after the party Katerina starts dating Rodion, a hotshot cameraman for a TV station. However, when he finds out that she deceived him about being the daughter of a professor, he breaks things off. He leaves her, though she is already pregnant with their child.
Fast forward 20 years and we meet Katerina again. She is single and lives with her daughter, Aleksandra. Katerina has had quite the career. She is now the executive director of the same factory – a well-respected position. However, it’s clear she holds within her a deep sadness and longing for something more.
One evening returning from her friend, Antonina’s dacha, Katerina meets a man in the train. The man, Gosha (Aleksey Batalov), looks a bit shabby and is somewhat too insistent on pressing for a conversation with her. On top of that, he makes some off-color comments, like how he thinks a woman should not earn more than her husband. he Eventually, Katerina relents – the ice of mistrust melts in her soul and she sees that Gosha could be what she needs.
Meanwhile, back in the factory she manages, Katerina happens to meet Rodion again. He’s back to film another TV report on the factory exceeding expectations. Learning that he has a daughter, he asks to meet her, but Katerina tells him she does not want to see him again.
Nevertheless, Rodion comes to Katerina’s house uninvited while she is having dinner with Gosha and Aleksandra. Rodion shares the interview he had with Katerina as the head of her factory – something Gosha did not know about. In a huff at Katerina’s deception and higher salary, Gosha leaves angrily. Katerina then reveals to Aleksandra that Rodion is her father.
After Gosha’s exit, Katerina is distraught. Her friends try to comfort her, but she is still beside herself.
At the same time, Gosha is getting blind drunk. However, his friend, Nikolai, convinces him to return to Katerina. Back together, while Gosha munches away on some food, Katerina whispers,
“I have been looking for you for so long” (“как долго я тебя искала”).
Reception of Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears
Critical response and awards
When Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears was first released, it received lackluster reviews from film critics. The industry first viewed it as a cheap rom-com. However, the reception of Soviet audiences and foreign film festivals was very different.
The film won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards and was also nominated for the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. It also became the second most watched film in the Soviet Union that year. In the Soviet Union, the film received 90 million viewers – the second highest box office numbers that year after Pirates of the 20th Century.
Subsequently, Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears’s director, Vladimir Menshov was awarded the USSR State Prize in 1981.
Quality film reviews
Film reviews in English
derekwinnert.com – Derek Winnert
Scopophilia: Movies of the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s – Richard Winters
The New York Times – Vincent Canby
Обзоры фильмов на русском языке
AllOfCinema.com – Evgeniy Nefyodov
Eesti subtiitrid
English & Русский
Magyar feliratok
Sous-titres français
Srpski prevod
Subtítulos en español
כתוביות בעברית
Original title Москва слезам не верит
Vladimir Menshov
Vera Alentova
Катерина Александровна Тихомирова (Катя)
Irina Muravyova
Людмила Свиридова (Люда)
Raisa Ryazanova
Антонина Буянова (Тося
Aleksey Batalov
Георгий Иванович (Гоша
Yuri Vasilyev
Рудольф (Родион) Петрович Рачков
Aleksandr Fatyushin
Сергей Гурин
Boris Smorchkov
Natalya Vavilova
Александра Александровна Тихомирова (Сашка)
Oleg Tabakov
Yevgeniya Khanayeva
Watch online English Part 2
Rent or Buy English Full movie
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Washington and Lee Law Review
Home > JOURNALS > Washington and Lee Law Review > WLULR > Vol. 41 (1984) > Iss. 1
The Decline and Fall of a Detroit Neighborhood: Poletown vs. G.M. and the City of Detroit
John J. Bukowczyk
John J. Bukowczyk, The Decline and Fall of a Detroit Neighborhood: Poletown vs. G.M. and the City of Detroit, 41 Wash. & Lee L. Rev. 49 (1984), https://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu/wlulr/vol41/iss1/5
All Issues Vol. 77, Iss. 4 Vol. 77, Iss. 3 Vol. 77, Iss. 2 Vol. 77, Iss. 1 Vol. 76, Iss. 4 Vol. 76, Iss. 3 Vol. 76, Iss. 2 Vol. 76, Iss. 1 Vol. 75, Iss. 4 Vol. 75, Iss. 3 Vol. 75, Iss. 2 Vol. 75, Iss. 1 Vol. 74, Iss. 4 Vol. 74, Iss. 3 Vol. 74, Iss. 2 Vol. 74, Iss. 1 Vol. 73, Iss. 4 Vol. 73, Iss. 3 Vol. 73, Iss. 2 Vol. 73, Iss. 1 Vol. 72, Iss. 4 Vol. 72, Iss. 3 Vol. 72, Iss. 2 Vol. 72, Iss. 1 Vol. 71, Iss. 4 Vol. 71, Iss. 3 Vol. 71, Iss. 2 Vol. 71, Iss. 1 Vol. 70, Iss. 4 Vol. 70, Iss. 3 Vol. 70, Iss. 2 Vol. 70, Iss. 1 Vol. 69, Iss. 4 Vol. 69, Iss. 3 Vol. 69, Iss. 2 Vol. 69, Iss. 1 Vol. 68, Iss. 4 Vol. 68, Iss. 3 Vol. 68, Iss. 2 Vol. 68, Iss. 1 Vol. 67, Iss. 4 Vol. 67, Iss. 3 Vol. 67, Iss. 2 Vol. 67, Iss. 1 Vol. 66, Iss. 4 Vol. 66, Iss. 3 Vol. 66, Iss. 2 Vol. 66, Iss. 1 Vol. 65, Iss. 4 Vol. 65, Iss. 3 Vol. 65, Iss. 2 Vol. 65, Iss. 1 Vol. 64, Iss. 4 Vol. 64, Iss. 3 Vol. 64, Iss. 2 Vol. 64, Iss. 1 Vol. 63, Iss. 4 Vol. 63, Iss. 3 Vol. 63, Iss. 2 Vol. 63, Iss. 1 Vol. 62, Iss. 4 Vol. 62, Iss. 3 Vol. 62, Iss. 2 Vol. 62, Iss. 1 Vol. 61, Iss. 4 Vol. 61, Iss. 3 Vol. 61, Iss. 2 Vol. 61, Iss. 1 Vol. 60, Iss. 4 Vol. 60, Iss. 3 Vol. 60, Iss. 2 Vol. 60, Iss. 1 Vol. 59, Iss. 4 Vol. 59, Iss. 3 Vol. 59, Iss. 2 Vol. 59, Iss. 1 Vol. 58, Iss. 4 Vol. 58, Iss. 3 Vol. 58, Iss. 2 Vol. 58, Iss. 1 Vol. 57, Iss. 4 Vol. 57, Iss. 3 Vol. 57, Iss. 2 Vol. 57, Iss. 1 Vol. 56, Iss. 4 Vol. 56, Iss. 3 Vol. 56, Iss. 2 Vol. 56, Iss. 1 Vol. 55, Iss. 4 Vol. 55, Iss. 3 Vol. 55, Iss. 2 Vol. 55, Iss. 1 Vol. 54, Iss. 4 Vol. 54, Iss. 3 Vol. 54, Iss. 2 Vol. 54, Iss. 1 Vol. 53, Iss. 4 Vol. 53, Iss. 3 Vol. 53, Iss. 2 Vol. 53, Iss. 1 Vol. 52, Iss. 5 Vol. 52, Iss. 4 Vol. 52, Iss. 3 Vol. 52, Iss. 2 Vol. 52, Iss. 1 Vol. 51, Iss. 4 Vol. 51, Iss. 3 Vol. 51, Iss. 2 Vol. 51, Iss. 1 Vol. 50, Iss. 4 Vol. 50, Iss. 3 Vol. 50, Iss. 2 Vol. 50, Iss. 1 Vol. 49, Iss. 4 Vol. 49, Iss. 3 Vol. 49, Iss. 2 Vol. 49, Iss. 1 Vol. 48, Iss. 4 Vol. 48, Iss. 3 Vol. 48, Iss. 2 Vol. 48, Iss. 1 Vol. 47, Iss. 4 Vol. 47, Iss. 3 Vol. 47, Iss. 2 Vol. 47, Iss. 1 Vol. 46, Iss. 4 Vol. 46, Iss. 3 Vol. 46, Iss. 2 Vol. 46, Iss. 1 Vol. 45, Iss. 4 Vol. 45, Iss. 3 Vol. 45, Iss. 2 Vol. 45, Iss. 1 Vol. 44, Iss. 4 Vol. 44, Iss. 3 Vol. 44, Iss. 2 Vol. 44, Iss. 1 Vol. 43, Iss. 4 Vol. 43, Iss. 3 Vol. 43, Iss. 2 Vol. 43, Iss. 1 Vol. 42, Iss. 4 Vol. 42, Iss. 3 Vol. 42, Iss. 2 Vol. 42, Iss. 1 Vol. 41, Iss. 4 Vol. 41, Iss. 3 Vol. 41, Iss. 2 Vol. 41, Iss. 1 Vol. 40, Iss. 4 Vol. 40, Iss. 3 Vol. 40, Iss. 2 Vol. 40, Iss. 1 Vol. 39, Iss. 4 Vol. 39, Iss. 3 Vol. 39, Iss. 2 Vol. 39, Iss. 1 Vol. 38, Iss. 4 Vol. 38, Iss. 3 Vol. 38, Iss. 2 Vol. 38, Iss. 1 Vol. 37, Iss. 4 Vol. 37, Iss. 3 Vol. 37, Iss. 2 Vol. 37, Iss. 1 Vol. 36, Iss. 4 Vol. 36, Iss. 3 Vol. 36, Iss. 2 Vol. 36, Iss. 1 Vol. 35, Iss. 4 Vol. 35, Iss. 3 Vol. 35, Iss. 2 Vol. 35, Iss. 1 Vol. 34, Iss. 4 Vol. 34, Iss. 3 Vol. 34, Iss. 2 Vol. 34, Iss. 1 Vol. 33, Iss. 4 Vol. 33, Iss. 3 Vol. 33, Iss. 2 Vol. 33, Iss. 1 Vol. 32, Iss. 4 Vol. 32, Iss. 3 Vol. 32, Iss. 2 Vol. 32, Iss. 1 Vol. 31, Iss. 3 Vol. 31, Iss. 2 Vol. 31, Iss. 1 Vol. 30, Iss. 2 Vol. 30, Iss. 1 Vol. 29, Iss. 2 Vol. 29, Iss. 1 Vol. 28, Iss. 2 Vol. 28, Iss. 1 Vol. 27, Iss. 2 Vol. 27, Iss. 1 Vol. 26, Iss. 2 Vol. 26, Iss. 1 Vol. 25, Iss. 2 Vol. 25, Iss. 1 Vol. 24, Iss. 2 Vol. 24, Iss. 1 Vol. 23, Iss. 2 Vol. 23, Iss. 1 Vol. 22, Iss. 2 Vol. 22, Iss. 1 Vol. 21, Iss. 2 Vol. 21, Iss. 1 Vol. 20, Iss. 2 Vol. 20, Iss. 1 Vol. 19, Iss. 2 Vol. 19, Iss. 1 Vol. 18, Iss. 2 Vol. 18, Iss. 1 Vol. 17, Iss. 2 Vol. 17, Iss. 1 Vol. 16, Iss. 2 Vol. 16, Iss. 1 Vol. 15, Iss. 2 Vol. 15, Iss. 1 Vol. 14, Iss. 2 Vol. 14, Iss. 1 Vol. 13, Iss. 2 Vol. 13, Iss. 1 Vol. 12, Iss. 2 Vol. 12, Iss. 1 Vol. 11, Iss. 2 Vol. 11, Iss. 1 Vol. 10, Iss. 2 Vol. 10, Iss. 1 Vol. 9, Iss. 2 Vol. 9, Iss. 1 Vol. 8, Iss. 2 Vol. 8, Iss. 1 Vol. 7, Iss. 2 Vol. 7, Iss. 1 Vol. 6, Iss. 2 Vol. 6, Iss. 1 Vol. 5, Iss. 2 Vol. 5, Iss. 1 Vol. 4, Iss. 2 Vol. 4, Iss. 1 Vol. 3, Iss. 2 Vol. 3, Iss. 1 Vol. 2, Iss. 2 Vol. 2, Iss. 1 Vol. 1, Iss. 2 Vol. 1, Iss. 1
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Decoupling Sales Law from the Acceptance-Rejection Fulcrum
Jody S. Kraus, Columbia Law SchoolFollow
The determination of whether the buyer has accepted or rejected goods provides the sales law solution to the problems of allocating burden of proof, assigning duties to salvage goods in failed transactions, and reducing systematic undercompensation. But one doctrine is unlikely to provide the best solution to each of these distinct problems. Decoupling the rules addressing burden of proof, salvage, and undercompensation from the doctrines of acceptance and rejection, and thus from one another, would significantly improve sales law.
This strategy has a distinguished precedent in the history of sales law. Karl Llewellyn based his objection to the doctrine of title in large measure on his conviction that the policy issues arising in sales cases called for more fine-grained distinctions than the concept of title allowed. In light of the fact that more than ten separate legal questions turned solely on the determination of the location of title, Llewellyn concluded that “[title] remains, in the Sales field, an alien lump, undigested, and interfering with the digestive process.” When he took principal responsibility for drafting Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code (U.C.C.), Llewellyn thus set about the task of ridding the concept of title from substantive sales law. Despite this largely successful effort, however, Llewellyn left in place the doctrines of acceptance, rejection, and revocation. Whereas title provided one of the most important unifying doctrines of the Sales Act, these doctrines, which I shall refer to collectively as the “acceptance-rejection fulcrum,” constitute the most distinctive and unifying doctrines in Article 2. Although the acceptance-rejection fulcrum considerably improves upon the prior title regime, I will argue that it is vulnerable to the central objection Llewellyn leveled against the title doctrine: it improperly lumps the promotion of several policy goals into a single doctrinal inquiry. By reducing the treatment of burden of proof, salvage, and undercompensation to the question of whether goods have been accepted or rejected, the Code takes an inefficient “one doctrine fits all” approach to disparate problems in sales law.
Jody S. Kraus, Decoupling Sales Law from the Acceptance-Rejection Fulcrum, 104 Yale L. J. 129 (1994).
Business Organizations Law Commons, Commercial Law Commons, Law and Economics Commons
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Boyd Irwin
The Invisible Detective
A Double Life
A Double Life (1924 film)
Boyd Irwin (12 March 1880 – 22 January 1957) was an English film actor. He appeared in 135 films between 1915 and 1948.
He was born in Brighton, Sussex and died in Los Angeles, California.
The Fatal Sign (1920)
Around the World in Eighteen Days (1923)
Enemies of Children (1923)
Captain Blood (1924)
Madam Satan (1930)
Cardinal Richelieu (1935)
Give Me Liberty (1936)
Passage from Hong Kong (1941)
Boyd Irwin at the Internet Movie Database
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - https://wn.com/Boyd_Irwin
Double Life may refer to:
Double Life (album), a 2002 album by Värttinä
Double life, the life led by a person who has an alter ego
A Double Life (1924 film), a 1924 Czech film
A Double Life, a 1947 film noir
"Double Life" (PlayStation ad)
"Double Life", a song by Styx from Kilroy Was Here
"Double Life" (song), a 1979 song by The Cars from their album Candy-O
Double Life (Invisible Detective), the U.S. title of the first book in the Invisible Detective Series
Double Live (disambiguation)
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - https://wn.com/Double_Life
An alter ego (Latin, "the other I") is a second self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or original personality. A person who has an alter ego is said to lead a double life. The term appeared in common usage in the early 19th century when dissociative identity disorder was first described by psychologists.Cicero was the first to coin the term as part of his philosophical construct in 1st century Rome, but he described it as "a second self, a trusted friend".
A distinct meaning of alter ego can be found in literary analysis, wherein it describes characters in different works who are psychologically similar, or a fictional character whose behavior, speech or thoughts intentionally represent those of the author. It's also used to designate the best friend of another character in a story. Similarly, the term alter ego may be applied to the role or persona taken on by an actor or by other types of performers.
The existence of "another self" was first recognized in the 1730s. Anton Mesmer used hypnosis to separate the alter ego. These experiments showed a behavior pattern that was distinct from the personality of the individual when he was in the waking state compared to when he was under hypnosis. Another character had developed in the altered state of consciousness but in the same body.
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - https://wn.com/Alter_ego
The Invisible Detective is a series of juvenile adventure novels, written by Justin Richards. Originally published in the United Kingdom between 2003 and 2005, the series has also been released in the United States.
The books are detective fiction with science fictional and/or fantastic elements (depending on the book). Set in London in the 1930s, the series recounts the adventures of four children, Art, Jonny, Meg, and Flinch, who act as "Baker Street Irregulars" to the detective Brandon Lake, who is known as "the Invisible Detective" as no one has seen more than his silhouetted figure in a darkened room. In fact, Brandon Lake does not exist; he was invented by the four children, who investigate all his cases themselves. Art plays the Invisible Detective in weekly sessions held in a darkened room, during which the Detective addresses the concerns of local residents, in exchange for a small fee.
Each book also has a parallel subplot set in the 2000s, where Art's grandson, also named Art, and his friend Sarah have related mysteries to solve.
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - https://wn.com/The_Invisible_Detective
A Double Life is a 1947 film noir which tells the story of an actor whose mind becomes affected by the character he portrays. The movie starred Ronald Colman and Signe Hasso. It was directed by George Cukor and written for the screen by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin. Ronald Colman won the Academy Award as best actor for his performance in this film.
Celebrated stage actor Anthony John (Ronald Colman) has driven away his actress wife Brita (Signe Hasso) with his erratic temper. However, they star together in the play Othello. Gradually, his portrayal of a jealous murderer undermines his sanity, and he kills his mistress, Pat Kroll (Shelley Winters).
Ronald Colman as Anthony John
Signe Hasso as Brita
Edmond O'Brien as Bill Friend
Shelley Winters as Pat Kroll
Ray Collins as Victor Donlan
Philip Loeb as Max Lasker
Millard Mitchell as Al Cooley
Joe Sawyer as Pete Bonner
Charles La Torre as Stellini
Whit Bissell as Dr. Stauffer
Noir analysis
Julie Kirgo wrote that A Double Life is truly a picture of opposing forces, mirror images and deadly doubles: "Anthony John is at war with Othello, the elegant world of the theater is opposed to the squalid existence of Shelley Winters' Pat Kroll, and illusion versus reality are all conveyed in opposing lights and darks of Krasner's luminous photography."
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - https://wn.com/A_Double_Life
A Double Life (Czech: Dvojí život) is a 1924 Czechoslovak drama film directed by Václav Kubásek.
Mary Jansová ... Zofie Drazilová
Sasa Dobrovolná ... Zofie's Mother
Jan W. Speerger ... Rudolf Slaba
Eduard Malý ... Jan Rokyta
Jerzy Pawikowski ... Benes
Frantisek Havel ... Vojtech Benes
Marie Cerná... Jitrenka
Antonín Marek ... Svoboda
Tekla Cerná ... Katerina Svobodová
Betty Kysilková ... Bábinka
Jirí Gsöllhofer ... Jaroslav Benes
Marie Fingerová ... Jaroslav's Mother
Emilie Boková ... Beggar
Marie Tajcová ... Mrs. Robová
Jan Richter ... Gambler
Dvojí život at the Internet Movie Database
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - https://wn.com/A_Double_Life_(1924_film)
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Double Life, We As Human
Double Life, Matthew Good Band
Double Life, Styx
Double Life, Hadise
Double Life, Seagull Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Her
Double Life, MATTHEW GOOD
Double Life, The Cars
Show me the lines of your hand, I want to know who you are, who hides behind your gaze, your smile, who hides behind your tears, what you did and will do, who you loved and betrayed, caressed or killed...
Which roads did you cross, luckily or unfortunately, which bodies have you penetrated, struck or soiled, honored, dishonored ? In which undergrounds did you hold out your hand, rummage these pockets, glide between these thighs.
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GEORGI LOZANOV PDF
This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, Capstones and Projects at USF Scholarship: a digital. Suggestology and Outlines of Suggestopedy (Psychic Studies) (Bulgarian and English Edition). Nov by Georgi Lozanov and Marjorie Hall-Pozharlieva. Visit ‘s Georgi Lozanov Page and shop for all Georgi Lozanov books . Check out pictures, bibliography, and biography of Georgi Lozanov.
Author: Dicage Doutilar
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Lozanov’s theory and practice triggered an accelerated learning movement in the West, where various techniques not originally included in the Lozanov’s theory were introduced. Such techniques included elements such as breathingvisualizationand biofeedback. Georgo is a school in Sliven dedicated to preparing teachers for using suggestopaedia during lessons in order to improve the learning speed of pupils. Lozanov had earlier also conducted advanced long-term lzanov in loznov field of parapsychologyespecially on clairvoyance.
Georgi Lozanov in Georgi Lozanov Bulgarian: Such techniques included elements such as breathing, visualization, and biofeedback. Lozanov had earlier also conducted advanced long-term re Suggestopedia is a teaching method developed by the Bulgarian psychotherapist Georgi Lozanov. It is used mostly to learn foreign languages.
The theory applied positive suggestion in teaching when it was developed in the s. However, as the method improved, it has focused more on “desuggestive learning” and now is often called “desuggestopedia”.
A common misconception is to link “suggestion” to “hypnosis”. However, Lozanov intended it in the sense of offering or proposing, emphasising student choice.
In practice Physical surroundings and atmosphere in classroom are the vital factors to make sure that “the students feel comfortable and confident”,[2] and various techniques, including art and music, are used by the trained teachers.
The lesson of Suggestopedia consisted of three phases at first: The teacher introduces the grammar and lexis of t She was a premature baby who suffered from health complications. In accordance with local tradition, the baby was not given a name until it was deemed likely to ggeorgi.
When the baby first cried out, a midwife went into the street and asked a stranger for a name. The stranger proposed Andromaha Andromachebut this was rejected for being “too Greek” during a period of anti-Hellenic sentiment with In the late s, DePorter was a co-founder of the Burklyn Business School in Lozannov — an avante-garde school that taught traditional business subjects in a non-traditional manner.
DePorter studied with Dr. Georgi Lozanov, who developed accelerated learning, and applied his methods at the school. InDePorter teamed-up with Eric Jensen and Greg Simmons to co-found SuperCamp — a summer camp program designed to introduce teenagers to accelerated learning academic skills and valuable life skills.
Sincemore than 50, students worldwide have attended SuperCamp. Human brain and skull The 10 percent of the brain myth is a widely perpetuated urban legend that most or all humans only use 10 percent or some other small percentage of their brains.
It has been misattributed to many people, including Albert Einstein. Changes in grey and white matter following new experiences and learning have been shown, but it has not yet been proven what the changes are. Though mysteries regarding brain function remain—e. This is a list of famous or notable Bulgarians throughout history. The list comprises people from Bulgaria and also people of predominantly Bulgarian heritage. Education The Cyrillic Alphabet, invented by St. Clement of Ohrid and used by most Slavic people right.
ASSAB 709 PDF
Its predecessor – the Glagolitic alphabet by Sts.
Georgi Lozanov | Revolvy
Cyril and Methodius left. Clement of Ohrid – a Bulgarian scholar and writer, the most prominent disciple of Saints Cyril and Methodius and the inventor of the Cyrillic alphabet. Georgi Lozanov – Suggestopedia Physics Prof. Georgi Nadjakov discovered the photoelectrets.
Ivan Stranski, the father of the kinetic theory of crystal growth Georgi Nadjakov – discovered the photoelectret state essential to modern photocopying.
Ivan Stranski – Prof. Stranski is considered the father of the kinetic theory of cryst The club’s highest league finish in the top division is fourth, which was achieved in the and —61 seasons. Minyor played in the Bulgarian Cup Final infinishing runners-up to Spartak Plovdiv and have reached one Bulgarian Cup lozanoov in — History The origins of the club date back to Minyor came into existence with the merger of several football clubs from Pernik.
The club finally came to be known as Minyor in The club joined the Bulgarian top division in That same year, they laid the lozano of a Transparency of media ownership refers to the public availability of accurate, comprehensive and up-to-date information about media ownership structures to make possible for media authorities and the wider public to ascertain who effectively owns and controls the media.
According to the expert Nelly Ognyanova, lack of transparency in media ownership is one of the major problem in the media system in Bulgaria. The relevant law, in particular the Law on Radio and Television and the Law on Mandatory Deposition of Press and Other Works, requires the submission of data identifying the actual owners of electronic and print media and online registers are available to the public.
Dr. Georgi Lozanov
Also, a law imposing restrictions on offshore companies to acquire shares georgj assets in different lozanovv including the media sector, entered into force in In addition, under Bulgarian law, media are obliged to provide information about The Museum of Socialist Art Bulgarian: It was established on 19 September amidst a controversy over the name, which was initially proposed as “Museum of Totalitarian Art”.
The museum’s collection of large and small statues, busts, and paintings represents the period from tofrom the establishment of the People’s Republic of Bulgaria to the fall of communism. The following is a llzanov of notable deaths in May Entries for each day are listed alphabetically by surname. A typical entry lists information in the following sequence: Name, age, country of citizenship and reason for notability, established cause of death, reference and language of reference, if not English.
Access to yeorgi information and freedom of information FOI refer to the right of access to information held by public bodies also known as “right to know”. Access to public information is considered of fundamental importance for the effective functioning of democratic systems, as it enhances governments’ and public officials’ accountability, boosting people participation and allowing their informed participation into public life. The fundamental premise of the right of access to public information is that the information held by governmental institutions is in principle public and may be concealed only on the basis of legitimate reasons which should be detailed in the law.
CIELITOS Y DIALOGOS PATRIOTICOS DE BARTOLOME HIDALGO PDF
It is regulated by the Access to Public Information Act first introduced in and amended in December The amendments enhanced proactive disclosure, encouraged electronic requests and facilitate re-use geodgi information, in line with Directi The four top ranking nations from the second group stage, Poland, Switzerland, Portugal, and Italy, qualified for the World Cup and moved on to the knockout stage to ultimately crown a champion of the event.
Group 6 Hungary as the strongest team of this group was seeded. Greece and Palestine British Mandate would play against each other on a home-and-away basis.
Hungary would play against the winner at home. World Cup qualifier Group 5 Date: Saturday22 January Kick off: Maccabiah Stadium, Tel Aviv Attendance: Greco-Roman wrestling competition began in the Olympics in The Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet were civil demonstrations against high electricity and hot water bills resulting from monopolism in the sphere that began in Blagoevgrad on 28 Januarysubsequently spread to over 30 cities in Bulgaria and ended with the resignation of Boyko Borisov government on 20 February They were caused by abnormally high electricity bills, but later turned into a mass non-partisan movement against the government and the political system.
The events were marked by seven self-immolations five of them fatal ,[13] spontaneous demonstrations and a strong sentiment against political parties. The demands of protesters, however, were not addressed, and demonstrations continued throughout the country, calling for a change of the political model and nationalisation of strategic economic sectors. Georgi Lozanov in Georgi Lozanov passes away”. Member feedback about Georgi Lozanov: People from Sofia Revolvy Brain revolvybrain.
Suggestopedia topic Suggestopedia is a teaching method developed by the Bulgarian psychotherapist Georgi Lozanov. Member feedback about Suggestopedia: Pseudoscience Revolvy Brain revolvybrain. Baba Vanga topic Grandmother Vanga Bulgarian: Member feedback about Baba Vanga: Loxanov from breast cancer Revolvy Brain revolvybrain.
Member feedback about Bobbi DePorter: American educators Revolvy Brain revolvybrain. Ten percent of the brain myth topic Human brain and skull The 10 percent of the brain myth is a widely perpetuated urban legend that most or all humans only use 10 percent or some other small percentage lozamov their brains.
Member feedback about Ten percent of the brain myth: Urban legends Revolvy Brain revolvybrain. List of Bulgarians topic This is a list of famous or gerogi Bulgarians throughout history. Member feedback about List of Bulgarians: Lists of people by nationality Revolvy Brain revolvybrain.
Member feedback about List of Bulgarian inventors and discoverers: Lists of inventions or discoveries Revolvy Brain revolvybrain. Member feedback about FC Minyor Pernik: Started in in Bulgaria Revolvy Brain revolvybrain.
BC EBC WELFARE DEPARTMENT BIHAR SCHOLARSHIP FORM 2012-13 PDF
ADVANCES IN HUMAN PALAEOPATHOLOGY PDF
ITF BIOMECHANICS OF ADVANCED TENNIS PDF
LA GRAMMATICA DELLA MUSICA OTTO KAROLYI PDF
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LIBSYS LIBRARY SOFTWARE PDF
LA MARRANA NEGRA DE LA LITERATURA ROSA PDF
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Home / High Road for Human Rights / ISSUES / CLIMATE CRISIS
Human Implications of the Climate Crisis
Great wisdom – and a reminder of our tremendous, sacred responsibility – is reflected in the Great Law of the Iroquois Confederacy, which declares:
“In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.”
Sustainability – economically, environmentally, and as it relates to the public health and quality of life – is achieved only when those who propose, advocate for, make, and implement public policy keep in focus the best interests of residents and visitors – now and far into the future.
“This is how we evolved. There was great Darwinian pressure to pay attention to the tiger roaring in front of you. It’s no wonder that we find it hard to concentrate on something like global warming that plays out over decades, not news cycles.”
– Bill McKibben
The EPA, and the national science academies of every country that have opined on the matter, have taken a stand on the certainties associated with global warming: The earth’s climate is warming and humans are the cause due to our burning of fossil fuels. Greenhouse gas emissions are also responsible for the alarming phenomenon of ocean acidification. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and in water are in equilibrium with one another. Therefore, as atmospheric levels increase, so do the levels of CO2 dissolved in the ocean waters, especially in shallow waters where most ocean life flourishes. Dissolved CO2 reacts with seawater to form carbonic acid, which increases the water’s acidity.
According to a 2005 report of the Royal Society of London, in the past 200 years the oceans have absorbed approximately half of the CO2 produced by fossil fuel burning and cement production. Calculations based on measurements of the surface oceans and our knowledge of ocean chemistry indicate that this uptake of CO2 has led to a reduction of the pH of surface seawater of 0.1 units, equivalent to a 30% increase in acidity. This constitutes an enormous threat to much of the life in our planet’s oceans.
In particular, the Pacific Island of Tuvalu is disappearing under rising ocean waters (see: above image). The prime minister of New Zealand had to give haven to islanders from Tuvalu as floods have made the island uninhabitable.
Global warming results in killer heat waves. In 2003, the August European heat wave broke all records for heat-related deaths. There were 35,000 deaths, with the death toll in France alone nearly 15,000. A group of British scientists has concluded that the risk of major heat waves has doubled due to climate change. In the US, heat-related deaths exceed those from all other weather-related deaths combined.
Coastal regions, with about half the world’s population, are at enormous risk of massive flooding, as glaciers and ice shelves are melting at rapidly accelerating rates. For instance, the Arctic Ward Hunt Ice Shelf, 150 feet thick in 1980, thinned to less than half that depth by 2003 (see: below image).
The Kyoto Protocol is not enough to protect us from devastating climate change. High Road for Human Rights will work toward the global community can joining together as it did through the Montreal Protocol, which put in place the policies and practices that significantly limited the release of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) into the atmosphere and ultimately solved the problem of ozone depletion.
We must unite and act quickly to achieve these same results as it pertains to climate change. Ultimately, the responsibility for mitigating the disastrous impacts of climate change on human rights rests on each of us.
Let us do all we can to assure that the failure to protect the atmosphere, as well as protecting the human rights effected by global climate change, is never again condoned because of a perception of public apathy in the United States – and to do all we can, consistent with our moral values, to express our concern, compassion, and insistence on constructive action in the clearest, most powerful possible terms. Together, through High Road for Human Rights, we can change the wind. We can increase awareness about preventable suffering and work together, through focused organizing, to effectively push for change that will bring about a safer, kinder, more just world.
To protect against the most catastrophic impacts of climate disruption, we must:
Stop building coal-burning power plants and phase out existing plants, achieving greater efficiencies in energy use and utilization of alternative clean energy sources
Preserve existing forests and restore lost forests
No matter what else we do, if we continue burning coal at current rates, the oceans will rise, coastal areas will be inundated, hundreds of millions of people will be killed or displaced from their homes, droughts will occur in some areas, massive floods will devastate other areas, and drinking water resources will be destroyed. The earth will be a very different, inhospitable place and its inhabitants will be at tremendous risk of starvation, loss of water resources, disease, wars over diminishing resources, the death of forests, and destruction of communities, and extinction.
See the following speeches on the climate crisis and human rights:
February 12, 2010 – Remarks at Climate of Change Conference, Healthy Planet Mobilization Committee
December 4, 2009 – Leadership on Climate Change: The Future of our Earth and its Inhabitants Is Our Responsibility. Presentation by Rocky Anderson at a Candlelight Vigil Sponsored by Students at Rowland Hall/St. Marks School
November 6, 2009 – “Human Rights and Climate Change: Taking the High Road,” Bioneers Conference: Westminster College, Salt Lake City, Utah
May 15, 2008 – Keynote Address to the ICLEI Local Action Summit: Albuquerque, New Mexico. Upstanding in a Time of Crisis: Leadership Toward Solutions and Embracing Opportunities
The Science of Why We Don’t Believe
Red Mind, Blue Mind
Made-up Minds
Climate Change Understanding Falls Along Political Lines
The Psychology of Climate Change Communication
Climate Crisis: Communicating the Problem
Fewer Americans See Solid Evidence of Global Warming, Pew Report, October 2009
Gallup Poll Finds More Americans Say Media Overstate Warming Risks, 2009
Signals and Noise: Mass-Media Coverage of Climate Change in the USA and UK, EMBO, November 2007
Talking about a Revolution: Climate Change and the Media. An International Institute for Environment and Development Briefing, December 2007
Climate Change and Journalistic Norms: A Case-Study of US Mass-Media Coverage, Oxford Report, 2005
Global Warming’s Six Americas, January 2010, Yale/George Mason University, January 2010
Media Coverage of Climate Change: Current Trends, Strengths, Weaknesses, Human Development Report, 2007/2008
Fewer Americans See Solid Evidence of Global Warming, Pew Report, Oct 2009
There has been a decrease in the percentage of Americans that accept the reality of global warming.In 2008, 71% of Americans thought there was sufficient evidence that global warming is happening. In 2009 this dropped to 57%. Furthermore, 44% of Americans believed global warming was a threat in 2008, but this dropped to 35% in 2009. Additionally, in 2008, 47% of Americans believed that global warming was anthropogenic, but in 2009 this decreased to 36%. Policies on climate change are also unknown by the general public. For example 55% of people do not know what “cap and trade” is and the impact it has.
Gallup Poll Finds More Americans Say Media Overstate Warming Risks, Gallup Poll (2009)
Public skepticism of global warming is on the rise. More people believe that the media exaggerates global warming. In 2009, 57% of Americans believed that the media correctly portrays global warming or underestimates it. This is a decrease from 2006 in which 66 % believed that the media correctly portrays global warming or underestimates it. In 2009, 41% of Americans believed the media exaggerated global warming, while in 2008 only 30% believed the media exaggerated global warming.
Media coverage of global warming directly influences public perception and policies. Since media coverage of global warming expresses skepticism of scientific consensus and anthropogenic global warming, it results in the public also being skeptical. Global warming is also portrayed in a “balanced” way, in which skeptics of global warming are give a prominent voice. Boykoff and Rajan report that “Even when there is sufficient consensus over data and models, skepticism is induced either by manufacturing opposing facts or conflating facts with value.” Presenting opinions rather than scientific facts is another weakness that must be improved upon.
Talking About a Revolution: Climate Change and the Media. An International Institute for Environment and Development Briefing, Dec 2007
There have been improvements in media coverage of climate change, but the media still covers climate change in a “balanced” way and ignores scientific consensus. The media also fails to connect climate change to people’s lives. There are two main techniques used in climate coverage, and both techniques dampen public interest and activism: one style of coverage is alarmist, emphasizing catastrophes and disaster, while the other over-emphasizes small-actions such as recycling, “going green” etc. There should be an emphasis on policies that reduce CO2 emissions, and the ways in which climate change is relevant to people’s lives.
Coverage of climate change in the media is impacted by “journalistic norms.” Journalistic norms include: personalization, dramatization and novelty, authority-order and balance. Selling a story and generating public attention are the main objectives in journalism. Climate change sells when there is controversy. This has resulted in partiality in climate change coverage.
Concern about and belief in global warming has decreased. In 2008, 18% of adults in the United States reported that they were alarmed about global warming (being the highest level of belief/acceptance of global warming). Another 33% were concerned (second highest level of belief/acceptance of global warming) and believed it was happening. In 2009, there was a sharp decrease: only 10% were alarmed, and additional 29% were concerned. The percentage of adults in the United States that rejected climate change in 2008 was 7%; another 11% reported that they were doubtful; 12% felt disengaged from global warming. In 2009 this increased:16% rejected climate change, 13% were doubtful and 6% felt disengaged.
Television and daily newspapers are top providers of scientific information. The internet is also playing an increasing role in climate coverage. In the 1990’s there was an increasing presence of “skeptical” scientists represented in climate change coverage in the media. Furthermore, journalism tends to indiscriminately diffuse information, rather than providing accurate information. Media coverage is also affected by the framing and presentation of the story being covered. Economics, political pressure and culture also contribute to the framing and presentation of a piece. There are three main factors affecting the media’s coverage of climate change: lack of understanding of climate change facts, the difficulty of overcoming the need to “sell” a story, and the lack of financial resources in covering climate change.
The Language of a Clean Energy Economy
HIGH ROAD ACTIONS
High Road Actions: Climate Crisis
ARTICLES, VIDEOS & ORIGINAL SOURCE DOCUMENTS
Industry Voices Support U.S. EPA Action on Clean Air Act, World Resources Institute
HRHR Video: Leadership on the Climate Crisis
Original Source Documents
International Panel on Climate Change Synthesis Report, 2007
Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 1998
Articles referenced in the Climate Change Declaration:
Climate Change and Utah: The Scientific Consensus, September 2007
“American Physical Society Rejects Climate Anti-Science,” Skeptical Inquirer, March / April 2010
“Climate Change in Park City: An Assessment of Climate, Snowpack, and Economic Impacts,” Park City Climate Change Assessment, September 29, 2009
“IAP Statement on Ocean Acidification,” The InterAcademy Panel on International Issues, June 2009
“Variability and Trends in Mountain Snowpacks in Western North America,” Climate Warming in Western North America
Climate Change Statement from eighteen U.S. Scientific Organizations to Congress, October 21, 2009
Statement of American Physical Society, November 18, 2007
Understanding and Responding to Climate Change – Highlights of National Academies Reports, The National Academies, 2008
“The Science of Climate Change,” Joint Statement of Sixteen National Science Academies on the Science of Climate Change, May 17, 2001
“Joint Science Academies’ Statement: Global Response to Climate Change,” June 2005
Open Letter to the Utah Public Utilities and Technology Interim Committee, Governor, U.S. Senators and Congressmen,” issued November, 2009
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16 January 2017 / SF News / Jay Barmann
FBI Arrests Noor Salman, Widow Of Orlando Shooter, Outside San Francisco
Noor Zahi Salman, the 30-year-old widow of Orlando nightclub shooter Omar Mateen, was arrested Monday morning at the home where she's been living with family in the Bay Area, and will be making her first appearance in federal court in San Francisco on Tuesday. As the New York Times reports, the extent of the charges against Salman have not been revealed, but a source tells the paper that she has at least been charged with obstruction of justice in connection with the June 12, 2016 mass shooting that claimed the lives of 49 people and injured 53 others. It is considered the worst mass shooting in US history.
Prosecutors have been trying to determine ever since how much Salman knew of her husband's plans, and whether she aided and abetted them. And it looks as though the interview Salman gave to the Times in November was as much to clear her name in federal prosecutors' eyes as in the eyes of the public. In that interview, she and her own hired domestic abuse expert made the case for the fact that as an abused wife, she was simply trying to survive herself and protect her three-year-old son, and she was "unaware of everything" when it came to Mateen's intention to commit mass murder.
That runs contrary to statements she gave to investigators shortly after the shooting, as CBS News reported, in which she allegedly said she tried to stop her husband from committing the attack.
We know that in the hours after the attack took place, while Mateen was still barricaded inside club, he posted to Facebook and texted his wife to ask if she had seen the news. We also know that Mateen was in the vicinity of the nightclub for several hours that Saturday night before he finally stormed the entrance and began shooting and the implication has been that he could have been in contact with Salman then as well.
Salman accompanied Mateen, along with their son, on trips to Disney World twice, in both April and June of last year, and investigators believe both trips happened so that Mateen could case the amusement park for a potential attack. Salman also admitted she had driven to Pulse nightclub with Mateen, and had driven him to purchase ammunition at a Walmart something she would later say in the Times interview was simply a routine errand because her husband carried a weapon as a security guard, went to a shooting range, and the ammunition was cheapest at Walmart. She says she knew her husband watched ISIS videos on YouTube and may have become radicalized over the year prior to the shooting, and investigators found many books on Islam in the apartment the couple shared in Fort Pierce, Florida.
Salman submitted to hours of interviews, as well as a polygraph examination, following the attack, and the FBI has been cagey about what they've discovered since, or what they might ultimately charge her with.
As we learned shortly after the tragedy, Salman grew up in the East Bay town of Rodeo where her family may still be residing, and she returned to live there after divorcing her first husband, staying until 2013, when she married Mateen. She returned again to live with family sometime after the shooting last year, and in December it came to light that she had filed a petition in Contra Costa County court to legally change the name of her son, who shares a last name with his father, and has his father's first name, Omar, as a middle name.
She said in the November Times interview, "I just want people to know that I am human. I am a mother."
Previously: Widow Of Orlando Nightclub Shooter Files Petition In East Bay Court To Change Son's Name
Orlando Shooter's Wife Grew Up In The East Bay, May Face Charges
As Many As 10,000 Attend Castro Rally, March To City Hall In Honor Of Orlando Shooting Victims
SF Will Email or Text You When You’re Eligible for the COVID-19 Vaccine
70-MPH Winds Forecast Monday Night For East Bay, North Bay Hills
Part of Moderna Vaccine Distribution to Pause in California Due to Allergic Reactions
Trump Won't Use @POTUS Twitter Handle, Will Use Current Account To Keep Whining About SNL For Four Years
When he assumes the presidency in less than a week, will Donald Trump make the final transition to power, setting aside his @realDonaldTrump Twitter account and his penchant for petty feuds to adopt
Monday Morning Linkdump: Sheriff's Deputy Arrested In Sacramento Shooting
Follow SFist on Twitter and Instagram, and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here Your weekend ICYMI: SFPD released photos of the alleged
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International Men's Day: Why the pandemic is weighing heavily on midlife men
James Innes-Smith
James Innes-Smith is the author of a new book about modern masculinity
Never has Henry David Thoreau's quote about “the mass of men” leading lives of “quiet desperation” seemed so apposite. Today is International Men's Day, a yearly opportunity to highlight the challenges and inequalities that men face – and I’m struck by the thought that we’ve never needed it more than now. All around me, I see Covid and its lockdown pushing men to breaking point, exposing us to forces that threaten our work, our families and our sense of who we are in the modern world. How can we cope with the longstanding male malaise when it’s amplified by such powerful, pandemic forces?
In truth, men weren’t in a great position before Covid hit. Yes, there will be the usual carping about today – that every day is International Men’s Day – but you only need to look at the suicide statistics in England and Wales to see that all was not right for 21st Century Man. Data from the Office for National Statistics found that the male suicide rate in 2019 was the highest in two decades, with men accounting for roughly three-quarters of the 5,691 suicides registered in 2019 (4,303 compared with 1,388 women). Men aged 45-49 were found to be at the highest risk, leading to the ONS to theorise that it “might be because this group is more likely to be affected by economic adversity, alcoholism and isolation”.
Economic adversity and isolation? You can see where this is going. As The Samaritans chief executive Ruth Sutherland put it: “With the impact of the pandemic this year taking a huge toll on people’s mental wellbeing, we should be even more concerned. Many callers have been worried about losing their job and/or business and their finances, with common themes around not being able to pay rent/mortgage, inability to support the family, and fear of homelessness.”
Already, the pandemic has permanently altered our relationship with the working world. It almost goes without saying that we’re fearful of redundancy – but there’s also been a subtler shift that has divested us of so much that we thought central to our existence. Men are no longer needed to travel to the office – we’re at home, embracing family life while simultaneously missing the release of the commute or a working lunch; the self-definition of a life outside the house. The “primary provider” instinct hardwired into men's DNA is being challenged like never before.
How are we reacting? If the middle-aged men around me are anything to go by, then the answer is exactly what you’d expect: with a mixture of confusion, anger, impetuousness, feelings of betrayal, sadness – the hallmarks of deep existential worry. I know men who have sought solace in overeating, alcohol, or porn. I have a friend who’s blown his life savings on a sports car; another who’s given up his day job to write a novel he still hasn’t started. One married friend in his 40s told me how lockdown had awakened a hitherto suppressed promiscuity, leading to a string of Tinder dalliances with younger women: “I wanted to remember what it felt like to be alive” he said, mournfully. Personally, I’ve managed to avoid the more cliched tropes of the male midlife lockdown-breakdown – but I’ve still found myself awake at 4am, worrying about my place in this new and threatening Covid world.
So, what can we do about it? How can middle-aged men like me fight back against the malaise we’re feeling?
It’s a question I turned to while researching my new book The Seven Ages of Man – How to Live a Meaningful Life and the starting point, inevitably, is work. Men are obsessed by work: we habitually define ourselves by what we do, rather than who we are; and because we’re naturally competitive, we can’t help but compare ourselves to others. More often than not, it’s to our detriment.
A good example of this is what I call Busyness Derangement Syndrome. How many times have you heard a male friend lament (or is it boast?) of the long hours he works? He wants you to know that he’s needed in the world; that he’s sacrificing himself for the noble cause of work. Perhaps, in an evolutionary sense, that’s understandable – but who, in the cold light of day, wants to judge their worth by how exhausted they feel at the end of the day?
Here, lockdown provides us with an opportunity. Many men latch onto the busyness bug so we don’t have to think about deeper, more existential questions. If lockdown is giving you empty days, then now is the moment to ruminate on how you might lead a more meaningful existence.
It’s something I’m trying to embrace: I take time out of my day to gaze off into the middle distance, to escape the busyness bug. It’s not an instant cure – I still have those 4am moments, where I worry about my place in the world and the alienation that comes with aging – but at least it gives me space to observe the thought processes I can fall prey to. My distance gazing helps me to see midlife a bit like puberty without the spots: a stage we all go through, where feelings of sadness and anger and confusion are only natural. In time, they’ll pass.
It's important to remember that even when the world appears to be spinning off its axis, things are rarely as bad as they seem. Stay grounded, foster deep connections, show gratitude, moral courage, humility and forgiveness. And however desperate you may quietly feel, remember there are others you can help, who can also help you.
How to live a (more) meaningful midlife – James Innes-Smith's ten point guide
Try not to be defined by your work and don’t allow yourself to become embittered by disappointments
Be aware of your changing physiology
Take pride in your appearance
Try not to let disillusionment turn to rage
Take things as they come and keep it simple
Most of us feel we haven’t achieved enough so don’t berate yourself if life hasn’t turned out the way you planned.
Don’t let yourself go physically or mentally
Maintain a healthy sex life and don’t be afraid to seek medical help if things stop working
Nurture close friendships and put other people's needs before your own
Laugh at life's absurdities, observe your own silly pomposities and try not to take yourself too seriously.
The Seven Ages of Man – How to Live a Meaningful Life by James Innes-Smith (Little, Brown). Buy now for £16.99 at books.telegraph.co.uk or call 0844 871 1514
Dua Lipa Stands Out in a Brocade Corset Dress & Barbie Pink Knee-High Boots
The singer took on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" with flair.
Chipotle Is Adding This to Its Menu for the First Time Ever
Following in the footsteps of McDonald's, Chipotle just announced a new celebrity partnership and the addition of a limited-time menu item. The collaboration is the first of its kind for the fast-food chain.Superstar singer Shawn Mendes is getting his own Shawn Mendes burrito bowl, which is now available to order on the chain's website and app. The $12.20 bowl features the recently launched Cilantro-Lime Cauliflower Rice, the chain's low-carb grain alternative, as well as chicken, black beans, roasted chili-corn salsa, romaine, and guacamole. (Related: Grocery Shortages To Expect in 2021, According to Experts.)The partnership marks the first philanthropic menu item for the chain. One dollar from each Shawn Mendes burrito bowl sold will go to the Shawn Mendes Foundation, the singer's charity supporting young leaders driving positive change. In particular, it will fund the Wonder Grants, which will be awarded to young activists in the sustainability space in the coming weeks.The sustainability cause is something Chipotle has championed in recent years. The chain added a sustainability impact tracker feature called Real Foodprint to its website and app last year, where customers can learn the impact of their Chipotle orders on the environment and animal welfare."We are thrilled to partner with Shawn Mendes and use the power of our real food to back the next great innovations in sustainability," said Chris Brandt, Chief Marketing Officer in a press release. "Together with Shawn's team and our passionate fans, we continue to pursue our mission of cultivating a better world."The singer has expressed similar sentiments around prioritizing sustainability. "It is important to me to partner with a company that values sustainability—I'm excited to partner with Chipotle and appreciate their support for my Foundation and young changemakers who are leading the charge in these crucial efforts," Mendes said.Don't forget to sign up for our newsletter to get the latest restaurant news delivered straight to your inbox.
Kamala Harris’ Niece Previews Inauguration Ball Look in a Glittering Dress & Thigh-High Boots
The author appealed to Gen-Z as she unveiled the look on TikTok.
The Adidas Yeezy Boost 700 ‘Sun’ Arrives This Week — and It’s Less Expensive Than Past Colorways
Here's how you can buy a pair.
Ana de Armas Just Debuted Chic, Post-Breakup Micro Bangs
The actress recently split from her fellow actor beau, Ben Affleck.
The Seychelles has reopened to vaccinated tourists – which destinations might follow?
The Seychelles has reopened to visitors from anywhere in the world who have received two doses of an authorised vaccine for Covid-19, becoming the first country in the world to do so. In December, Cyprus also announced a plan to waive testing requirements for arrivals who have been vaccinated, making it the first destination to specify that immunised travellers will not need to meet other Covid-related entry rules. However, the country's ministry of health is yet to confirm if this will go ahead, as planned, in March. The announcement from the Seychelles followed the start of its vaccination roll-out: it plans to become the first country to immunise more than 70 per cent of its population under 18. “From there we will be able to declare Seychelles as being COVID safe,” said President of the Republic of Seychelles, H E Wavel Ramkalawan. International visitors are vital to the economies of both countries. The contribution of travel and tourism to the Seychelles' GDP is around 65 per cent; for Cyprus it is 23 per cent. It should be noted that no approved Covid-19 vaccine has yet been shown to prevent transmission of the virus. Other countries have also made steps towards allowing unrestricted, or less restricted, entry to those inoculated against the virus. Iceland allows proof of Covid-19 antibodies for entry in lieu of a negative test result (surely vaccinated tourists will soon be given the same pass). Meanwhile, European Union members are lobbying for a “vaccination passport”, with the EU as a whole considering a bloc-wide certificate. Other nations, such as Israel, have firm plans to launch one. So which countries might be among the next to re-open to immunised tourists? Based on vaccination roll-outs, economic dependence on tourism and support for vaccine passports, these could be in the running. Greece EU countries should adopt a “standardised” vaccination certificate in order to boost travel, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in a letter to European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen last week. Mr Mitsotakis said people who have been vaccinated should be free to travel. "It is urgent to adopt a common understanding on how a vaccination certificate should be structured so as to be accepted in all member states," he said, calling for a "standardised certificate, which will prove that a person has been successfully vaccinated". Greece is far down the worldwide leader board of vaccine roll-outs with just 0.8 doses delivered per 100 people. However, mainland Greece and its islands, which remained one of a limited number of quarantine-free destinations for Britons for much of last summer, rely heavily on tourism: the contribution to its GDP is around 21.5 per cent. UAE The United Arab Emirates is at second place in the worldwide race to immunise populations; 19.9 Covid jabs have been administered per 100 people. Meanwhile, the UAE has licence for the Sinopharm vaccine, which it can produce itself rather than importing it. It has begun to donate doses to other, less developed countries: 50,000 were delivered to the Seychelles. Dubai specifically was keen to welcome back tourists in 2020, opening up in July and allowing entry with a short quarantine and negative Covid test. This has since been changed to a negative Covid test taken no more than 96 hours before departure for UK travellers. The contribution of travel and tourism to the UAE’s economy is 10 per cent. Most recently, a UAE airline has launched a vaccine passport. In partnership with the International Air Transport Association, Emirates is one of the first airlines worldwide to trail the IATA Travel Pass, which comes in the form of a mobile app. The pass will allow passengers to create a digital passport to verify their pre-travel Covid test or vaccination meets the requirements of their destination. It will also be used to share test and vaccination certificates with authorities and airlines. Emirates plans to start the first phase of this trial in Dubai, from April; customers travelling to Dubai will be able to share their Covid-19 test results with the airline prior to arriving at the airport.
The Biden-Harris Inauguration Is Shaping Up to Be a Hell of a Celebration
Celebrities set to appear on January 20th include Tom Hanks, Lady Gaga, Bruce Springsteen, Garth Brooks, Jon Stewart, and many more.
ViacomCBS’ CBS All Access streaming service will finally be rebranded as Paramount+ on March 4, the company said Tuesday. That day is when the rebranded streaming service will go live in the U.S. and Latin America, with planned launches for the Nordics on March 25 and in Australia in mid-2021. Canada’s version of CBS All Access will also be rebranded to Paramount+ on March 4 and “an expanded offering will be available later in the year.” ViacomCBS will host an investor-focused ViacomCBS Streaming Event on Feb. 24, eight days ahead of the Paramount+ rebrand. Per the company, “The presentation will deliver a comprehensive overview of the company’s streaming strategy, including Paramount+, Pluto TV, and Showtime OTT.” Also Read: Miranda Cosgrove to Return for 'iCarly' Revival at Paramount+ Paramount+ will heavily increase upon CBS All Access’ original series output, with projects like a revival of BET’s “The Game,” a reimagined “Behind the Music,” a 10-episode limited series about the making of “The Godfather,” titled “The Offer,” an “iCarly” revival, a “Flashdance” TV series and more, as well as original films. In September, ViacomCBS revealed that CBS All Access will be called Paramount+ beginning early next year. The rebranding is the second, and much bigger, phase of the two-phase expansion of CBS All Access, which first launched in 2014 and was among the earliest entrants in the streaming space. In July, All Access added more than 3,500 episodes from Viacom networks BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon and Smithsonian Channel, along with a smaller redesign that incorporates hubs for the Viacom networks. In the weeks after the July addition of content, ViacomCBS said that All Access broke a new record for total monthly streams in August and experienced one of its best months ever in terms of new subscriber sign-ups (though revealed no actual numbers). In addition, the average age of new subscribers in August was measurably younger than the service’s overall average subscriber age, due in large part to the addition of UEFA and the newly added content from various ViacomCBS brands. Read original story CBS All Access to Finally Rebrand as Paramount+ on March 4 At TheWrap
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Category Archives for Science Fiction Reviews
Crouch, Blake (2016), Dark Matter, Pan
I’ve said it before, on this blog and elsewhere – the power of science fiction is to make familiar things less so, to expand the way we read, both texts as well as the world that surrounds us. That doesn’t mean that all texts have to be Dhalgren, but they don’t also have to be Crichton light. It is particularly odd when basic structures of our world as we know it, are lazily reinforced in fiction that would not need to be tied to them. Some books are under-girded by sexist stereotyping but are otherwise well meaning and expansive in other ways. None of that is true for Blake Crouch’s Dark Matter the most disappointing book I can remember reading in a long time. Not the worst, mind you, there are a lot of bad books out there and I do read epic fantasy. But the most disappointing. A book I was told was, to quote a blurb, “mind-bending,” when, in the end, there wasn’t as much bending as settling. My god what a boring book Dark Matter turned out to be. A book about the multiverse, about identity, reality, about who we are, or at least that is what it could have been. Instead, Dark Matter is about one man’s quest to get back the woman he feels he owns. It’s utterly baffling that anyone who has ever read a good science fiction novel would look at this godawful mess and think, yes, this is good, I have no notes for the author. To be clear – this is not about the prose. With genre, I am willing to make compromises. Not everybody is Brian Evenson. So yes, the prose is absurdly bad. It’s not overwritten purple prose. It’s merely plain, and banal, and utterly unaware and directionless, with its writer having invested as much effort into crafting interesting sentences as he has into the structure of the novel as a whole.
The main effort, clearly, went into researching the science behind it all. The whole book has a massive masculinity problem, as has the odd modern obsession with science over philosophy (Neil Degrasse Tyson is a particularly noxious example) and general forms of thought. Science fiction has always attracted scientists and sometimes they have not been the greatest stylists. But writers like Asimov and Clarke are considered classic writers because they use their background to dig deeper into the soft flesh of the world, to grope for possibilities, for pushing our understanding. There is none of that here, or in the current fascination with science, or rather, engineering, as an answer to all our problems. Fittingly, the book has a blurb by Andy Weir, whose Martian had also disappointed me, a book unwilling or unable to imagine anything beyond an engineering problem. But Dark Matter even undercuts the Martian on the marketplace of ideas. And it’s such a bummer, because as always, the science is truly fascinating and begs for someone to find the right literary approach. What’s worst is that the book isn’t even any fun. I have a big heart and soft spot for genre books that may not enlarge the language or possibilities but are greatly enjoyable. That’s not the case here. There is no difference between the incessant, dour, seemingly unending monologue of Crouch’s protagonist and all the many thousands poor, put-upon white men all over mainstream fiction who walk through their cities, their banal, unfair worlds, eager to stick it to the lesser people around them, and to stick it into a woman, any woman, ideally a woman that somehow belongs to them. These are worlds that give the lie to Galileo – the earth doesn’t revolve around the sun, it revolves around the taint of mediocre white men who think they are geniuses in disguise.
Only in this case, Crouch constructs a fictional universe that does revolve around his unbelievably unbearable protagonist. He gives up the game real early – his protagonist used to be a brilliant scientist, and teaches at a second rate college now, because he gave up his career to raise a child with a woman who’s an artist. Yes, this is the same gender split as in Charlie Jane Anders’s reactionary novel. But what’s worse is that he makes the woman such a wooden regurgitator of the praise he feels is owed to the protagonist.
I move to the cabinet beside the sink, open it, and start hunting for a box of fettuccine.
Daniela turns to Charlie, says, “Your father could have won the Nobel.”
I laugh. “That’s possibly an exaggeration.”
“Charlie, don’t be fooled. He’s a genius.”
“You’re sweet,” I say. “And a little drunk.”
“It’s true, and you know it. Science is less advanced because you love your family.”
I can only smile. When Daniela drinks, three things happen: her native accent begins to bleed through, she becomes belligerently kind, and she tends toward hyperbole.
Who is he talking to here? This last condescending remark – who is he arguing against? Do men have to explain their silly wives, even when they are fictional? Don’t mind her, after a few drinks, you know how she gets. And also – “hyperbole”? This misplaced modesty is both unpleasant and typical. We know, from the rest of the book, that it’s true, that the protagonist has indeed made a spectacular discovery. He made it largely on his own, which is not how big scientific discoveries are made, but coming up with a team of scientists would have complicated Crouch’s shitty narrative, so it’s one man, one theory, and, crucially for the plot, once that man vanishes, nobody can reconstruct what happened, not even with all notebooks and data intact. I mean, he’s a real genius, and somewhere in Crouch’s infested mind, this is how geniuses work in science.
So what happens in the book is this (spoilers, spoilers, etc): a version of our protagonist, who didn’t abandon his career for a baby, creates a machine that allows people to access the infinite other selves that exist in the multiverse. You have to take a drug, and hop into a kind of time machine, which is half TARDIS, half HG Wells. Now, that scientist visits our protagonist, takes him and basically does an exchange of hostages, takes over his happy family life. Our protagonist, meanwhile wakes to a world where he is a successful scientist who has made a pact with a ruthless billionaire. Chaos ensues. Eventually, the protagonist decides to get back to his original “world” and reverse the exchange. He takes with him a female scientist who, of course, is a psychologist, because GOD forbid there are female physicists in Crouch’s dick-shaped worldview.
Now, due to complications and an equal amount of stupidity on the part of the so-called genius that’s our protagonist and the so-called “mind-bending” nitwit who wrote him, a proliferation of versions of the protagonist, a multitude of selves, descends on this original world, and in the end, after some chases, some gun- and knife-fights, the protagonist escapes with his wife and child, into the multiverse. If this sounds like a stupid plot, it is. But the most bizarre thing is that the idea isn’t necessarily bad? Crouch is aware that his scientific research gives him no firm ground to stand on, ontologically. Differences between the multiverses are minute, the same applies to the different versions of the protagonist. At no point does this lead Crouch to introduce the idea of undecidability, of ambiguity, into the book. Everything in the book is always exactly clear, exactly nailed down. We know that the world he lands in last is the original world, because he can tell, of course. And what’s more important, because we always follow his voice, we are never shaken in our faith that the person we’re listening to is the original one, the real one, the one who “deserves” to get the wife.
If anything’s mind-bending, it’s the author’s utter gall to write a novel based on a science of ambiguity, and undecidability, and make it absolutely, boringly immobile. Nothing changes, nothing is odd or unexpected. We are always where we need to be. It’s always clear what’s real and what’s not, who’s real and who’s not. And added to that, we are let into the mind of our protagonist, who needs his wife back – not any old version of her, but the one he met and fucked. I mention that part, because that part is particularly important to him. He’s obsessed whether the self that replaced him temporarily fucked his wife better than he did. It’s constantly on his mind, and once he re-acquires his wife, it is one of only a handful questions he asks, and she, of course, answers in detail. And symbolically, she only becomes fully his (and comes fully on board with this multiverse story he tells her) after they have sex and he re-asserts his territorial importance.
This is a story about two things: about identity and how fractured it is in a multiverse, and about love. But this is a diseased, greedy, kind of love where the woman is a mere bit player. And the question of identity? We are never, not for one moment, shaken in our sense of who we follow, who is where, and it feels like taunting when Crouch has his stodgy, surprisingly stupid protagonist say: “My understanding of identity has been shattered – I am one facet of an infinitely faceted being who has made very possible choice and lived every life imaginable. I can’t help thinking that we’re more than the sum total of our choices, that all the paths we might have taken factor somehow into the math of our identity.” But of course, he has to say it, absolutely HAS to, because the novel doesn’t fucking say it anywhere in the way it’s made. And as if to affirm all this, the very next sentence is “but none of the other Jasons matter. I don’t want their lives. I want mine.” I thought these facets are inseparable? They are not? Who’d a thunk it.
Dark Matter has already been optioned for the screen and it will make a passable movie, maybe even a good one. The writing already reads like explanations for the screen. As far as thrillers go I have read worse. But this is mainly disappointing, because of what it could have become, instead of what it is, a spoonful of spunk after 300 pages of masturbatory, uninspired middle-of-the-road thriller fare. Sad.
July 15, 2019 by Shigekuni - Book Blog Categories: Literature (U.S.), Reviews, Science Fiction Reviews | Tags: Andy Weir, Blake Crouch, Charlie Jane Anders | 5 Comments
Mur Lafferty: Six Wakes
Lafferty, Mur (2017), Six Wakes, Orbit
I’m behind on reading all kinds of lists and books – and this year’s Hugo shortlist is no exception. For whatever reason, the first book I picked off that list is a novel I had never heard of by a writer I had never heard of: Mur Lafferty’s Six Wakes. It was an excellent choice: Six Wakes is a very good science fiction novel. For some reason, reviewers of science fiction – and genre generally – are obsessed with the question of ‘transcending genre’ – can a book be more than ‘just’ a genre novel? It is a bad question and the books that ‘transcend genre’ can be quite dull, to be honest. And it is applied more often to science fiction and fantasy novels than to crime novels, for example. And while it’s true that certain novels, mired in genre conventions, may not be appealing to a general public, it is not due to immutable literary laws. SO yes, it is true: there may be readers who may not take to Six Wakes, because it is written within the conventions of science fiction – but at the same time, it also has all the trappings of a conventional mystery. Most of the book’s events could also take place in a locked house, or a house locked down due to weather phenomena – and inside the house, a drama between six individuals with their secrets develops. It would be a quite traditional set-up, if not for the fact that the house is a space ship, and the house itself is a character here. But everything truly science fictional has happened in the past, and Lafferty cleverly restricts the possibilities of the book’s present in such a way that you could replay most of its plot with Agatha Christie’s vocabulary and furnishings. This allows us to appreciate what the truly unique elements are that science fiction brings to this particular table: questioning the limits of what it means to be human, in a way that is just not possible for a plain ‘realist’ mystery. Lafferty won’t win any points for language or concision here – the book is a bit longer than it needed to be – but it is an exceedingly intelligent book, which, like all good mysteries, is very well constructed. This is a genuinely good work of science fiction, and I cannot for the life of me come up with a reason why you shouldn’t read it. Should it win the Hugo? Probably not – but it is a strong field this year. It is still one of the better science fiction novels I’ve read over the past years.
It’s a bit of an irritant: Mur Lafferty, the internet tells me, has written a lot of books and I have read none of them before Six Wakes. At the same time, this appears to be her first foray into ‘proper science fiction,’ after several books that sound more like urban fantasy. And while I enjoy zombies as much as anyone, a book that interrogates our sense of identity and self – and the future of the way we construct those two things – is more up my alley. On the surface, the book is about a generation starship which is run by a small crew of six people. One day they all wake up with no memories of what happened – except the knowledge that one among them is a murderer. The rest of the book is spent figuring out who dun it and what it means for their mission. The actual details of that surface plot are a bit more complicated, and I’ll get to that in a minute. But the most interesting aspect of the whole book was the unexpected decision by Lafferty to make much of the book about religion and faith. One character in the book has an obvious, strong connection to the topic, but ultimately, the question of religion and faith touches all the characters, and Lafferty yokes her discussions of what it means to be human to the question of what it means to have faith. There is no snideness or irony to any discussion of faith here – it is, excuse the pun, enshrined by the author as a fundamental human act, one that helps us and our selves, our morals and values cohere in a way that nothing else does. And it is the aspect of humanity that is the first to be endangered when the basic parameters of being human fall by the wayside and we can become, technically, immortal. Over the past five, six years, there’s been an on/off debate about secularism, and the role of faith in our world – this debate left its fingerprints all over the humanities. At every conference, someone brings up at least Charles Taylor. The religiousness of everything has been offered, denied, interrogated. It is quite refreshing to see a use of faith that does not take sides in this debate, that takes faith seriously as a technique of the self. This is not about God. This is about people.
And people are, in some ways, on their way out in the world of Lafferty’s book. At least people as we define and understand them today. Cloning has become viable – more than viable, it has become an almost everyday occurrence, a tool. In fact, abuse of cloning has become enough of a problem that laws dealing with it have been enacted. Lafferty’s invention here is the idea, which I have not seen before, of the use of cloning. Books involving cloning very rarely follow the interesting uses such a technology might have: in this case, a form of immortality. Humanity has learned how to make mindmaps – and if you want, you can have your mindmap implanted in a clone that carries your DNA, thus living on for as long as someone is there who can wake a new clone and imprint it with your most recent mindmap. There is, in the world of Lafferty’s book, a debate between humans (people who have not exceeded the “normal” human lifespan) and clones. Since there is always only one version of each person (multiple clones are banned by law), clones are as individual and unique as normal humans. This development also gave rise to a new form of hacking. If you hack someone’s mindmap, kill them, and wake a clone with their modified mindmap, you have created a version of the same exact person that may be more to your liking. A rebel who is no longer interested in being a rebel, for example. She does not make the connection more explicit, but this is the first novel I have read that almost directly engages with the ideas put forth by Achille Mbembe in his seminal essay “Necropolitics” – and puts a new spin on it. The new technology of cloning was at first a wild field of possibility – the law, specifically, to rein in the numbers of clones (only one at a time) seems like an exercise of sovereign power in line with Mbembe’s ideas.
The cloning technology also allows for longer distances to be bridged in space travel, with the crew dying and waking up again anew in the cloning bay. And indeed, this is what happens as the book opens – with one crucial technical problem: before death and revival, the mindmaps had not been updated – indeed they had been wiped of everything that happened since they were loaded into the ship’s data. What’s more, the previous bodies of the crew were not properly disposed of. They are found floating around the ship with signs of violent death. Someone stabbed, strangled and poisoned the crew. It stands to reason that it was one of the six. It could have been any one of them. Not only do they not know – the murderer him or herself also does not know since all six mindmaps have been wiped clean. The rest of the book is dedicated to resolving that mystery.
Six Wakes very specifically works on two levels: each person’s memory of the time before the ship’s take-off is a dive into Lafferty’s ideas and the political and social consequences of technology as she envisions it. That part is straight – and very good – science fiction. Everything that happens on the ship after waking, could strictly speaking, with one significant difference (the AI on the ship plays a major role), be rewritten as a Gothic mystery. The ship functions as a big gothic mansion. The six people in it barely know each other. They all have secrets that they hide from one another and the revelations of those secrets will lead straight to the discovery of the murderer. While this story has SF elements, it doesn’t need them, and it is quite clever of Lafferty to write a novel so clearly in two different conventions. It allows her questions about humanity and identity to resonate on different levels as well, allows her novel to push and pull at the reader in two different, but entirely conventionally recognizable ways, which makes the fundamental ideas of the novel stand out. The impression, structurally, is one of craft and care – which, regrettably, doesn’t filter down all the way to the sentence level. The book is too long for the story it tells, and many paragraphs feel padded and superfluous. Long mystery novels structured like Lafferty’s tend to employ incident, conflict and revelation more densely. She does not do that – and at the same time, many of the recollections that form the backbone of the crucial SF parts of the novel are not structured at all with notions of conflict, they are meant to add up to a final revelation, to add up to a picture of the society and this difficult technology it has brought forth. And there is one final weakness: almost all mystery novels I have read suffer from a very weak conclusion and revelation. Six Wakes doesn’t escape that particular fate either.
And yet – this is a very enjoyable book, despite its weaknesses. It is very smart, its ideas unique and cleverly used. The use of genre is done with judiciousness and care. It is not meant to be analyzed sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph, but as a whole the book holds up very well to careful critical (even academic) analysis. This book is very good.
August 19, 2018 by Shigekuni - Book Blog Categories: Reviews, Science Fiction Reviews | Tags: Achille Mbembe, Hugo, Hugo Awards, Mur Lafferty, Woldcon | 1 Comment
Charlie Jane Anders: All the Birds in the Sky
Anders, Charlie Jane (2016), All the Birds in the Sky, Tor
So I love science fiction. And nothing bums me out more when a book or text or movie is marred by a lack of imagination or a conservatism that is both boring and extremely reactionary. I wrote an essay in The Fanzine on the topic. It’s particularly frustrating with books that are otherwise interesting and engaging. This brings us to Charlie Jane Anders’s novel All the Birds in the Sky which is a hybrid fantasy/science fiction novel that spans a long period of time, involves high school intrigue, adult disillusionment and a powerful war between science and magic. Oh, it also contains a very romantic love story. The novel contains so much. Written by someone who is clearly around silicon valley types a lot, the book discusses the atmosphere and thinking in tech start ups and how it connects to contemporary ways of viewing the world, it discusses magic and the romantic attitudes towards it. It discusses, movingly, the alienation of “weirdo” high school kids, and much of the novel focuses on a search for belonging – on how we make our communities, how we deal with ourselves, what role technology plays in this process and what role nature does. It’s an enjoyable read – but as with many fantasy novels, you’ll have to hold your nose about some aspects. In particular its oppressively anachronistic view of gender roles.
Fantasy has the most annoyingly persistent conservative attitudes towards gender and gender roles – and while science fiction has recently (and traditionally, see Delany) offered diverging and interesting takes on these attitudes, one feels like in this case, the fantasy component of the novel has dragged its science fiction portions into the same regrettable conservative hole. In a novel that is so fundamentally based on the binary – science and magic, destruction and creation, nature and technology, it’s very sad that the author’s apparent reactionary views mar it all. By making the story fit a very simple heterosexual frame, and by connecting everything in line with the usual, very typical associations, there’s a lack of tension and intrigue to the structure of the book. The female protagonist, of course, likes nature and magic, and the male protagonist likes technology and maths. This is such a fundamentally anachronistic view of gender roles that you can find a critique of it in Wollstonecraft’s classic treatise on the subject. These associations have been recognized by progressive writers as anachronistic and reactionary for longer than the whole modern genre of fantasy and science fiction have existed. Which is some kind of achievement, I suppose. Interestingly, it doesn’t mar the readability of the book. In fact, in some sense, this conservative throwback view of gender connects with the old fashioned way the story is narrated: a sweeping, traditional kind of narrative, unafraid of big moments and well executed sentimentalism.
Honestly, if this wasn’t partially science fiction, I wouldn’t have reacted negatively to its 1950s view of gender roles at all – if you are in the habit of reading fantasy novels, particularly epic fantasy, you know that this kind of thing is to be expected. Fantasy doesn’t usually, in my reading experience, enlarge the pool of possibilities in quite the same way as science fiction does. And All the Birds in the Sky downright teases us with its allusions to Donna Haraway, Deleuze and other theories of change, dissolution and new formations. There are so many possibilities, so much potential – the same thing that bothered me about the Luc Besson movie – and Charlie Jane Anders picks the most boring one, boring, that is, from a SciFi point of view. As fantasy, it mines a trope that works extremely well. Fantasy and romance are a great combination – with a lot of room to maneuver, too. Even in mainstream fantasy, one sometimes gets something not as GOP-approved straight as this one (Jen Williams, in her fantasy novels, has a remarkable hand at sketching gay attraction, for example), but let’s be fair – this is the norm. And it’s so well executed by Anders. Trust me, if you’re looking for romance, this is right up your alley. Not to mention that Anders is extremely skilled at writing erotic scenes. The whole package is wildly engaging. I have a weak spot for romance in fiction and on screen and boy did this novel deliver. Anders manages to pace her two storylines, one of the war between science and magic and the other one of the love story between her protagonists, extremely well, so that as one comes together slowly, haltingly, so does the other, and each story’s ebb and flow is mirrored on the other level, until the dramatic conclusion, which feels extraordinarily satisfying.
One of the most interesting aspects of the whole set-up is that the idea of shifts and shape-changing, despite me mentioning Haraway just now, isn’t just a riff on the idea of the cyborg, or anyway not in the way you’d expect. Yes, the technological part of the story is in many ways a story about augmentation, about changing the limited abilities of human beings to achieve means seemingly out of reach. And to Anders’s great credit, the book isn’t full of artificial limbs or other boring feats of imagination. The very first invention we are made aware of is a clock that allows its wearer to jump just a handful of seconds into the future. It’s not a time machine, not anyway as you’d imagine it. Its effect is small enough that it works, indeed, like an augmentation, like a stronger limb or a better eye, but Anders picked an unexpected human ability to augment – to interact with time. The small amount of seconds truly makes it akin to moving a bit faster, or seeing a bit better. As time goes on, the gains, the leaps with technology get bigger, and less pleasurably surprising. I don’t mean this in a bad way, but Anders just settles more comfortably into various genre tropes. Artificial intelligences, wormholes, she uses many things that we know from science fiction, in the exact way we know them to work. She distinguishes herself in these sections specifically through her enormous skill. The whole book reads as if it went through a hundred drafts, because all the details work, the allusions, the structure.
This includes a character that tries to stop a catastrophe by finding the people who will cause the catastrophe and killing them as children or at least stop them from doing their evil deed. That person’s narrative is a roving narrative, it doesn’t fit the solemn binary nature of the whole book, and, consequentially, she writes this character differently. He wears his influences much less lightly than the two protagonists, he is much more obviously a compositum, and Anders’s very tone in the prose reflects this.
But to get back to why this book doesn’t use Haraway in the way you’d expect – it’s not just the technological parts that are augmenting. The natural – regrettably gendered female, as technology was gendered male – part of the equation is also about augmentation, and about becoming more, doing more, understanding more. The initial augmentation, the mirror of the tiny time jump I mentioned, is the ability to talk to animals, but not fluently, at will and at all times, but a stubborn, halting, difficult ability that could, in some ways, be seen as an augmentation of human empathy, human abilities to understand animals through gestures, tone etc. Making this ability this inaccessible, and hard to use, was an extraordinary authorial decision, that doesn’t fit the usual smooth discoveries of magic. Often, while actually using magic skill is shown to be hard, fantasy novels treat the discovery of mere magical ability like the discovery of someone, thrown into water, that they can, indeed, breathe under water. This decision, and several others, show us a writer who has done some careful thinking about genre and how it works and how it is usually presented. It is such a shame, and such a bummer that Charlie Jane Anders decided to stop there, and thus meshed this intelligent careful use of tropes with this medieval view of gender roles, not to mention class or race. Maybe she kept to 1950s attitudes because of the enormous colorful way the whole book works. I mean it’s so much fun, even in the dramatic parts.
One reason I may have been disappointed is that, at the same time as All the Birds in the Sky, I read and reviewed Gwyneth Jones’s most recent book – and Jones takes on a very similar topic, but she takes only the sci-fi aspects: as in All the Birds in the Sky, there’s a think tank that tries to find a way to save humanity, that tries to open something akin to a worm hole, and that spends approximately as little time thinking about the consequences in a race to push through a scientific barrier. Like Anders, Jones’s book touches on the ecological aspect (though Anders’s book is specifically about ecology in a way that Jones’s book isn’t). But Proof of Concept is a dark novel, and not ultimately as hopeful as Anders’s fable. Jones is daring in terms of what humanity means for our bodies, in a way that Anders is not, but one feels that to use all these ideas in the sharp way that Jones does would not allow for the engaging, joyful, almost, ride that All the Birds in the Sky clearly is. So I understand why Anders made the decisions she did. Doesn’t mean I have to like it. The book itself, outside of its medieval attitudes, I loved. If you don’t like the book, you don’t like fun. I don’t always need innovation. Sometimes, nigh-perfect execution and the sparkle of narrative is a lovely thing to have, also. Read the dang thing already.
November 29, 2017 by Shigekuni - Book Blog Categories: Literature (U.S.), Science Fiction Reviews | Tags: Charlie Jane Anders | 1 Comment
Nina Allan: The Rift
Allan, Nina (2017), The Rift, Titan Books
I love Nina Allan. You can read my review of her debut novel The Race here. Go ahead. And this week, I am pleased to tell you that Strange Horizons has published my review of Nina Allan’s excellent sophomore novel The Rift. You can read the whole review here. Below an excerpt from my review. You should read the whole thing though. And the novel. Nina Allan. She’s the real deal.
This is additional language that enhances speech, enhances empathy, and allows for other, different, and kinder connections between people. Nina Allan’s vision of what science fiction can do is unique, and if the improvement she offered from The Race to The Rift holds, she may be one of the more important science fiction writers of our time.
November 21, 2017 by Shigekuni - Book Blog Categories: Reviews, Science Fiction Reviews | Tags: Nina Allan | 1 Comment
Nina Allan: The Race
Allen, Nina (2016), the Race, Titan Books
There’s so much good science fiction coming out these days, it’s quite mind boggling. Not, I think, since the heyday of Delany, Blish, and Ballard have we had such ample riches of good science fiction, with the good, older writers like M. John Harrison and China Miéville still actively contributing masterful work, and newer writers like Ann Leckie and Karl Schroeder offering astonishing contributions to the field. And even among all that competition, the Race, Nina Allen’s debut, stands out. It’s not even entirely clear that it IS indeed science fiction, depending on where you’d draw your line, but it contains science fiction, and as a whole offers a new direction in the genre, reflecting on the possibilities of the languages of science fiction, and presenting a story that is connected to present day concerns like violence, misogyny, race, fear and class. Nina Allen isn’t a great stylist, and in her debut, her cuts and shift are still a bit abrupt (she manages these much better in her sophomore novel) but the overall effect is enormous and stunning. I’m not sure who can read this book and not like it. It’s entertaining, smart, if sometimes a bit on the nose. It draws from all kinds of literature, in all kinds of genres, and it explicitly names Lessing, Murdoch and James Herbert as some of its parameters. It’s science fiction, and for that matter, hard science fiction, as it’s called. But it’s also literary fiction about science fiction. It’s careful and kind and generous, and truly unique. I recommend you go and buy it now, before you read on. I think this book is best read if you don’t know what’s coming, if you experience the book and its turns “cold.” And it’s not about not giving away a putative “twist” ending – the whole structure of the book should come as a pleasant and intriguing surprise to the reader. So, I mean, go, go, go.
I assume if you are reading this paragraph you have either read the book or are not planning on reading it. Or maybe you are in neither camp but still read on? So I’ll say more about the way the book is built, without giving away everything. The book has basically four major sections and one small one.
The first section, “Jenna,” named after protagonist and narrator, is the longest one. It’s a “hard SF” story about a literal “race,” a dog race that is. In an unspecified future in a place called Sapphire, people have developed “smart” dogs which can connect to human handlers through a process involving complicated technology which is sorta-kinda explained. The narrator is a woman whose brother runs a stable of such dogs. Her brother is in a lot of debt and one day, his daughter gets kidnapped. This child had developed a kind of psychic connection with dogs that doesn’t need technology. While we at that point don’t know who kidnapped the child, some aspects of the development had me thinking of Childhood’s End (I was wrong, kinda), but certainly, Allen’s science fiction story combines many other SF stories of human evolution, but Allen also weaves into it a different kind of narrative that I’m still not entirely sure how to pinpoint, but I think there’s a connection to some female centric YA literature in the way we are told about the protagonist’s involvement in making special gloves for racing the dogs. And finally, Allen makes a point of mentioning James Herbert’s Rats trilogy in that section.
James Herbert’s 1974 debut The Rats is a masterpiece of horror, structured in a simple way, absolutely terrifying, but offering a story that is both a kind of biological horror, and a metaphor for the state of the United Kingdom in the 50s and 60s, with suburbs disintegrating, and the darkness of poverty and marginalized existence breeding a new, almost unsurmountable terror, that will hunt you down, eat you and your children. The main terror coming from the rats is not their size and ferocity, though that contributes, it’s their intelligence. A few times in the book, Herbert has a human character look at one of the smart rats and feel how their intelligence changes the level of power. One is tempted to see in this fear the common fear of the establishment at minorities moving closer to power. Brexit voting in the UK and Trump’s ascendance in the US are examples of this fear. Herbert manages to both offer a metaphor, and the thing itself, marginalized communities and poverty, that is, in the same, rather slim, tale. Allen doesn’t reference the first, but rather the third book, Domain. The third book keeps the subtext, but moves the whole conflict into a postapocalyptic future, an obvious reference to the The Race itself.
The second section, “Christy,” is set in our time, and from the first sentence reveals that this section is narrated by the person who wrote the science fiction story of the first section. And immediately, Allan sets about not just complicating the previous section, but commenting on the writing generally: “You’ll imagine that I created Sapphire as an escape – from the ordinariness of my own life, from the difficulties I found in making friends, from the isolation I felt after our mother left. I’ve learned not to waste time denying this, some of it is probably true after all, at least partly – but my main reason for writing about Sapphire was because the place felt so real to me, and I wanted to imagine it in greater detail.” We get imagined places both as something that has its own logic, as well as something that has some undeniable connection to the “real” world, whether as metonymy, metaphor or allegory. Christy’s story also involves a brother, but it’s a much darker story of rape, queer love and suspected murder. It ends on a brilliantly written, harrowing, cinematically powerful scene. Christy also offers books as comparisons, particularly Doris Lessing’s Briefing for a Descent into Hell, Memoirs of a Survivor and her Golden Notebook, as well as Iris Murdoch’s The Unicorn. Briefing for a Descent into Hell somehow anticipates Nina Allen’s second novel more than it helps understand The Race, but the Golden Notebook (though the protagonist prefers Briefing due to its title) is actually very fitting in the way its chapters are structured. Lessing’s masterpiece, apart from being one of the many, many reasons she was one of the last deserving winners of the Nobel Prize in Literature, is a complex meditation on the connection of life, experience and fiction, with journal entries, novel-in-novels, memoir and conventional literary fictional narrative.
I found this focus on Lessing an interesting choice (Say, Atwood’s Blind Assassin would also have been fitting in some ways), that points to the specific concerns Nina Allan’s novel has with female experience, British colonialism and race. Indeed, the third, the book’s shortest section, called “Alex,” concerns a black male character who has made an appearance previously and whose role it is to sort out some mysteries, to provide a different angle on Christy-as-writer and on the topics of masculinity and race. “Christy,” the second section, is intensely class conscious – it provides a very clear sense of how poverty limits the possibilities of children, teenagers and adults, and how education can helps navigate these limits, but cannot completely overcome them. We also see how gender interacts with these limits. What’s more, the second section contextualizes the science fiction we started with, by rooting and grounding its elements and concerns, which has two effects. It makes our original reading of the first section deeper, it also asks us to read the realist second section with eyes trained by reading the previous science fiction. And there’s a third effect – being so plainly and unsubtle prodded to connect section one and two, we’re also quietly asked to expand our reading of the many science fiction intertexts. Not James Herbert, whose own book is already doing the same things, but the unnamed intertexts, from YA novels to Clarke. The third section doesn’t add a ton to this mechanism, except to reflect on some previous assumptions regarding race. It feels like the third section’s main function is narrative, as it provides some kind of closure for the literary fiction of the second and third section, without answering all the questions.
The two final sections, then, are two more science fiction stories, one, like the first section, offered in tone and font like the first, expanding on the tropes, ideas and story of the original science fiction story. It’s set in the same world and shares the same characters. The same, to an extent is true for the last section. But while the literary fiction in “Christy” implied that the first section was written by Christy, it is only the final section that is explicitly labelled as “written by Christy Peller,” which returns us to Christy’s assertion of the world having its own logic. Nina Allan never clarifies anything, but there’s a good case to be made that the science fiction of the book is not a “novel within a novel” kind of writing, but that as presented, it is a third space, not reality, not the “author’s” imagination, but something else, a new space, as only, it is implied by this book, science fiction can create. This is a topic that the sophomore novel The Rift would expand and improve upon, but it’s already clear in the debut. The Race is a complex book, with engaging characters, good ideas, and many, many worlds contained within.
November 11, 2017 by Shigekuni - Book Blog Categories: Literature (British), Reviews, Science Fiction Reviews | Tags: Nina Allan | 1 Comment
Tevis, Walter (1962, 2015), The Man Who Fell To Earth, Gollancz
Greene, Graham (1936, 2009), A Gun For Sale, Vintage
I read Walter Tevis’ SF novel on a hot summer afternoon in preparation for a paper that I will not, as it turns out, present at a conference (travel expenses to Salzburg didn’t work out, regretfully). The topic was the idea of the Good. Walter Tevis puts a curious spin on this, in a book that is as much a moving and plausible examination of loneliness as it is anything else. My original paper examined the many science fictional narratives of Alien visitation that were in some ways trying to communicate a sense of the Good to the human race, whatever the ends ultimately were. Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End is the most famous, I think, example of this. There’s a sense in which one can read Newton, the alien who arrives on earth with plans for advanced technologies and a secret mission to save his home planet, as another one of those aliens. Newton ultimately fails, and I’m not spoiling the story here, because the whole book is imbued with a sense of resignation, and the sad and shabby way in which Newton fails is notable more for its Kafkaesque ordinariness more than anything else. There’s a darkness at the heart of the novel, but unexpectedly, it’s only marginally connected to the science fiction story at the heart of it. Fundamentally, if you strip this novel down to its most essential elements it is a searing novel about the horrifying loneliness many of us feel, the desperation of being alone and the way alcohol offers a welcome but destructive recourse to it. Tevis manages to tell a heart wrenching story by not indulging in the sad parts of it – he employs shifts in perception and time to provide a distance, making the final confrontation all the more emotionally charged. I end these first paragraphs on the blog with a recommendation to read or not read the book. In this case, I assume you know you should read this book, right? It is a classic of science fiction, but even if you don’t like the genre it is a powerfully sad tale about the difficult to stay the course in the face of public resistance, and personal mistrust. The way Tevis depicts the attraction and use of alcohol to the lonely mind is exceptionally sharp and painful to read. Go, go and read the damn thing already.
His planet having run out of fuel – and soon sure to witness the death of his race, Newton was carefully selected by his peers to do this job: use the knowledge about his planet’s advanced technology to quietly build a business empire on Earth and within a few years, assemble enough money to build a large rocket and send fuel back. In 1963, Tevis’s vision of the dying planet “predicts” our own trouble with fuel, but then, these kinds of predictions were in the air – just think of JG Ballard’s first three novels. Newton isn’t personally brilliant – he was chosen for the task, the plans were given to him. He was chosen for his resilience – an important factor, since even he, an exceptionally resilient member of his race, is pale and thin, basically walking on bones of glass. The first time he rides and elevator, the mild gravity pressure lands him in a hospital. More importantly, for people around him, Newton is weird. He talks weirdly, he looks weird with his long limbs and pale skin, and he doesn’t do well at the usual social games. He doesn’t comply with the expectation of heterosexual masculinity, he’s just himself, a weird person. And his reaction to seeing this reception is to retreat, and restrict contact to humans to the absolutely necessary. He keeps a servant around, an isolated, somewhat weird woman, who I will talk more about below. Eventually, he takes an engineer into his inner circle. That engineer, too, is a bit on the strange side. Clearly, he attracts people who are a bit “off,” just because he himself is perceived in that way.
And increasingly, he starts drinking alcohol to balance himself emotionally. The pressure of his mission, the complicated relationship to the human race (and the humans around him), all of this becomes just the teeniest bit smoother with alcoholic lubricant. And In Tevis’s novel it is alcoholism, but this mechanism is absolutely true for all kinds of coping mechanisms of people who feel they have to deal with a kind of intense loneliness. Looking at someone in front of you and seeing your insufficient self reflected back, and still having to deal with that person and people like him – it explains many addictive behaviors and choices, from drugs and alcohol, to the barely-better-than-placebo world of psychopharmacology (I comment on it here). At the end, in Newton’s most human moment of the whole novel, a bartender remarks to another customer: “I’m afraid that fellow needs help.” And he doesn’t mean: help to reach his home planet. He means help dealing with what is clearly a severe case of addiction, desperation and loneliness. Newton, throughout the book, operates on the margins of sanity and while the alcohol doesn’t help, Tevis demonstrates with enormous skill the attraction of it as a coping mechanism. And despite all this, Newton manages to maintain a solid performance, until, in the novel’s dramatic finale, his professional self, the part of him that worked on the mission, also fails. That’s when everything truly ends, when his half-imagined pride in his work, his confidence of sorts in its success collapses.
And he’s not the only one with such problems and such coping mechanisms in the book, but before I expand on that, I want to pivot for a second: I decided to make this a double review of sorts. Recently, on a train ride home with dampened spirits, I was reading Graham Greene’s novel A Gun For Sale. I have not read as much Greene as I should have, but this is, as far as I can tell, considered a minor novel. Greene split his work into serious fiction and what he called “entertainments.” A Gun For Sale is such an entertainment and indeed – what you have is a very entertaining noir crime novel, with murder, shootouts, twists, betrayals, and dark conspiracy. It tells the story of a contract killer, the gun for sale from the title. He kills an ambassador and is then framed for a robbery and soon, the police is closing in on him – not for the crime he committed, but the one he did not commit. On the surface, the novel does not seem to be very similar to Walter Tevis’ novel of alien visitation, but as I was reading it, I kept thinking of Newton and his isolation. Raven, Greene’s protagonist has a cleft upper lip and he’s always painfully aware of his reflection in the eyes of the people he talks to. When a woman offers him genuine trust and affection, he, raised to be lonely, has a hard time understanding it – and by the time he accepts it, the facts on the ground already changed and he has lost that trust without realizing it. Yes, Greene’s novel is about crime and murder, and Greene depicts various seedy characters extremely skillfully, including a Thénardier-like couple, but at the same time, it is an extended study in loneliness. Raven, fleeing the police, is trying to clear his name – or rather: he’s trying to find out who cheated him, who disturbed his professional routines and environment, in order to exact some revenge on him, to regain some balance. This is not about being declared innocent, as it is about fighting to maintain some professional pride. Because really, that is all he has. Even an occasional love interest in his past admits openly to be repulsed by his harelip, and the structures and connections he expected to be able to trust prove to be slippery and deceitful. His reaction is not anger or noir cynicism. It’s a desperate confirmation of his profound loneliness: “ He was touched by something he had never felt before: a sense of injustice stammered on his tongue. These people were of his own kind […]. He had always been alone, but never so alone as this.”
Now, of course, Newton is a kind of benefactor to humanity, and is on a mission to help his own race, while Greene’s Raven is a cold and particularly brutal killer, and so on some level their situations are not comparable (though Raven’s efforts to exact revenge on the man who tricked him do lead to a beneficial outcome for his country, but unintentionally). But the way they are isolated from their fellow man, the way a profound experience of loneliness is mediated by both men on the professional level, until, for both men, that level, too collapses, leading to catastrophe. I’m sure that’s not the most common or popular reading of Greene’s novel, I suspect many readers are more interested in the connections it makes between class and war and gender. And it’s true, it’s a frightfully complex and interesting novel on those levels as well, but I am fascinated by the thread of loneliness that runs through it all. In a way, Raven’s abject loneliness helps motivate others to deal with their own fears of abandonment, from a recently-engaged couple, to a young muscular bully, who, forced by Raven at gunpoint to strip down to his underwear, is seized with immediate social anxiety. In a sense, class pressures, predatory capitalism and war are presented as weapons that only work because we are lonely and isolated and cling to our fears and coping mechanisms. There are not as many carefully detailed characters in The Man Who Fell To Earth, which is more of a character study of Newton, but even there, loneliness abounds. Newton “learns” his alcohol habit from his servant, a woman who is also riven with fears of dying alone, and who drinks to compensate. It is meeting Newton that leads to her and another character to eventually marry, to avoid the strange and unpleasant isolation Newton spends his life in. Newton’s desperation is encouragement enough.
The right street for our time
As with Greene’s novel, I focused on one aspect of Tevis’s novel to the great detriment of many others. It does offer a take on the idea of the Good and how it is connected to human actions (I suspect Tevis shared Iris Murdoch’s distrust of what she calls “the rational man”). It also makes very interesting observations on race, on reality, on hope, language and many more topics. There’s a reason Tevis’s novel is considered a classic of science fiction, and it’s not because it’s a very realistic and harrowing portrayal of loneliness and alcoholism. But I think these are important aspects of the book, and it, in itself, is a very important book, but it is not a happy one. Maybe I should close with the words Greene uses to describe Raven’s death:
Death came to him in the form of unbearable pain. It was as if he had to deliver this pain as a woman delivers a child, and he sobbed and moaned in the effort. At last it came out of him and he followed his only child into a vast desolation.
How is that for an outlook on life. And indeed, some of us will be heading into a vast desolation with pain as the only companion. In this, Walter Tevis and Graham Greene agree. Cheerful.
July 22, 2017 by Shigekuni - Book Blog Categories: Reviews, Science Fiction Reviews | Tags: Graham Greene, Walter Tevis | 4 Comments
Jones, Gwyneth (2017), Proof of Concept, Tor
So I am biased, I suppose. I love science fiction, and I love every Gwyneth Jones book I have ever read. Regrettably, that’s not a ton, because she hasn’t written that much. So coming across a new novel, however short, by this outstanding writer in the genre was a great delight for me, and I would have probably liked this book even had it been remarkably mediocre (see Williams, Tad). Thankfully, Proof of Concept is absolutely excellent. This is everything you want from science fiction: a riveting plot, plausible (to the layman) science, and most importantly, a brilliant literary mind using the unique narrative and tropological tools offered by SF to say something interesting, complex and maybe profound. Jones has done it before: in her novels about the Aleutians and their invasion she took the science fictional tradition about physicality, race and identity and ran with it, creating a meaningful literary discourse about these issues. If you have read any of her recent novels there can be no doubt she should be counted among the major British writers. Compare the Booker shortlist with her 2010 novel Spirit: or The Princess of Bois Dormant. Using the language developed in earlier books she takes on James, Conrad, Greene and contemporary discourses of identity with an ease that puts the whole shortlist to shame (and I liked that Galgut novel). Proof of Concept is not on the same level as those novels, but it’s a smaller novella, anyway, working through its ideas on just over 100 pages. This is the closest that I can remember Jones coming to a technological thriller, and the best, most condensed example of an interrogation of that form itself that I can remember reading. The assumptions regarding knowledge, necessity and, again, identity are all put into play here, and a complete, complicated plot is introduced and seen through all the way to the end. If you like science fiction at all, you want to read this. I cannot vouch for a scientist’s view of the science here, but if you are an interested layman, proceed.
This will be one of my shorter reviews because I am loath to give away anything of the plot and the scientific concept, because the slow, precise unraveling of these two things is one of the major pleasures of reading the book in the first place. The novel is set in a future where earth has been horribly affected by climate change. Humans have colonized the nearby planets, but that’s not a solution in a situation where all of humanity is in danger of being wiped out. All humans live in so-called hives. They keep up the pretense of nationality, but really, they are all part of one of three distinct clusters of humanity, all three controlled by corporations. Outside the livable cluster is the Dead Zone. It’s not really “dead,” but the plant- and wildlife is largely poisonous to eat, and one cannot survive without gas masks, if survival is possible at all. The book itself explicitly connects the Dead Zone to Chernobyl, with all the attendant tropes and traditions. Here, as in other places, Gwyneth Jones gestures towards a genre and asks of us to follow and understand. There’s a specific discussion half way through the book that reads very metatextually, where a character, deprived of the main bulk of some important information, infers the majority of it through allusion and metainformation. Jones, in her fiction generally but in particular here, asks of us to do the same. The same applies to her vision of the future, dominated by corporations, and a dying earth. It’s not new, but very blatantly and carefully so: Jones relies on us seeing and understanding the trope so she can move on. The future of mankind hinges on getting everybody off the planet and far, far away. To achieve this, Dan Orsted, a populist, and Margrethe Patel, a scientist, pool their public funds and influence and embark on a year-long experiment underground called The Needle. The team consists partly of Orsted’s team, mostly young, virile people whose life is one big live-streamed social media feast, and Patel’s team, a group of younger and older scientists who will work on the actual engineering and science. Jones’ protagonist is the most essential member: a young woman named Kir, who was rescued from the Dead Zone as a child and had a quantum computer implanted in her head without her consent. Kir is brilliant, but as the book develops, she notices that the computer in her brain, an AI called Altair, has some doubts about the project. And then, people get murdered.
Doesn’t this sound like fun? And it really is! Having a suspense plot turn around an intellectual mystery and a murder is what moves this novella so forcefully into technothriller territory. I am very fond (see this review and this one) of comparing science fiction novels to the works of Michael Crichton, due to his outsize influence on the literature of suspense and (bad) science, and the way various ideologies come together in his books. Additionally, Crichton, no stranger to bending science to serve his ideology (see particularly the “climate change is a hoax by fat cat scientists” novel State of Fear) or plot (Timeline seems particularly worth noting here) always seemed curiously self-limiting in what he could say or show, keeping certain ontological assumptions close to the vest, and I feel, among the “technothriller” SF, you can distinguish hacks (Charles Stross) from real, intelligent writers (Jones or Scalzi) by the way they deal with the genre as coded. I think many of the good recent works of SF can be read with Giorgio Agamben’s work in mind. The idea of a state of exception and the way he explores, in his recent Stasis, how a civil war, for example, draws on the private and the public but is of neither, can, I think, be considered in connection with Jones’ novel and the way it deals with sexuality, identity and humanity. Also, after finishing it, I pulled Malthus from my shelf to look up some things, and wandered over to Deleuze and ideas of becoming. I really enjoy science fiction that invites me to look at the philosophy shelves behind my desk and consider some of its implications. Agamben, Malthus, Deleuze, I think that’s the core of the book, with some light waffle about social media as an appetizer. But I think I am drifting off course. This book is primarily a thriller. A very well done one, with a moving emotional resolution and a complicated moral arc. It doesn’t talk down to you, but it does cajole you into keeping up, rereading older texts and finding a way in which this story fits into how you think about the issues it raises. It’s playful more than anything.
As for the writing, well, it’s hard to say. It’s good, but it’s not as exact as it could be. It’s the kind of writing where you don’t notice it – it won’t bother you, but you also won’t stop to admire sentence construction. Strike that – I went back to the book after writing the last sentence: Jones’ writing here is definitely beyond what one might call dismissively ‘serviceable’ – her prose in this book has to do a lot of work: moving a plot forward, making scientific concepts understandable all while not losing sight of the emotional core of the narrative, and it does this remarkably well. In fact, of you look at the language on the page, you can tell how well Jones manages the limited real estate offered by a novella, how she shifts perspectives and manages events and dialogue. So, while I didn’t notice anything while reading the book, I can see the writing’s power now that I go back to the page. I don’t teach an MFA course, but some of these pages could easily be used as illustrative material. I just looked at last year’s Booker nominees and except for Levy and the tumultuous Beatty, none of the writers, including the inexplicably lauded David Szalay, are as remarkable on the page as Jones is, if you look closely what the language has to achieve and what it does achieve.
July 2, 2017 by Shigekuni - Book Blog Categories: Literature (British), Science Fiction Reviews | Tags: Gwyneth Jones | 1 Comment
Andy Weir: The Martian
Weir, Andy (2013), The Martian, Gollancz
So I have become a bit of a science fiction fan in the past decade. I mean, I’ve always liked it, but it’s only fairly recently that I started reading more of it. My awakening, if we want to call it that, came when I first encountered the work of Samuel Delany, and so my early reading was more in the New Wave vein, plus contemporary weird science fiction. It took a while to read more broadly, but if you look at my reviews, it’s books by China Miéville, Adam Roberts plus that smelly thing you found behind your couch. It’s no accident that I haven’t read John Scalzi (who is fantastic) until this year. All this is to say that I’m a bit worried I might be a bit of a snob when it comes to science fiction. Not that I’m not willing to call trash what it is, but some books just make me apprehensive. The Martian is one such book. It was recommended on the internet as a ‘scientifically accurate’ book that would ‘make a great movie.’ All the comments on it stressed the accurate nature of its descriptions and the technical obsessiveness of its tale of a Martian Robinsonade. I evaded getting the book for months until I found it among my birthday presents. And as it turns out, I was both wrong and right. The Martian is damn, damn good. A book that I assumed to be movie fodder, it’s surprisingly clever in its structure, deft in its characterization and written in surprisingly effective prose. At the same time, for an exhaustively researched book that makes living on Mars, even just a few hundred days, believable and plausible in a way that even Kim Stanley Robinson hasn’t managed, I was profoundly struck by the novel’s utter lack of imagination and vision. The effectiveness of the prose style is achieved through a kind of sleight of hand – Weir has his protagonist write a diary, in the style that’s current among Internet denizens today. The voice of his protagonist is clear and recognizable – because we know that person. Many of his early readers are, in fact, that kind of person, a white male narcissist. Which, to be fair, is the central character in many Robinsonades. Weir, however, stops there. He makes no use of the form, displays no real sense of the traditions he works in and squanders the potential of both genres he works in, science fiction and the Robinsonade. And yet, despite all this, do I recommend the book? Of course I do. Ultimately, it’s a big bag of fun and you’ll remember all its good parts for a long time. A vivid, exciting read. And smart.
It’s more clever than it is actually intelligent, though. We don’t get the sense that Weir has thought about his form beyond coming up with a fun idea and working out the practical details. A comparison with a similar science fiction novel, Arthur C. Clarke’s A Fall of Moondust shows us both the strengths and weaknesses of his approach. The Martian is much more immediate, and its world unfolds in a much more palpable and believable fashion for the reader. At the same time, Weir’s secondary characters are all cardboard cutout caricatures. Not having seen the movie, I assume that losing the voice of the man stranded on Mars, Mark Watney, and getting more (quite literally) fleshed out versions of the other characters, the overall depth and verisimilitude of the story’s characters is more balanced. Weir’s big sticking point is the science, and he applies it well to create -and sustain- excitement. He is quite excellent at adding new elements to his world, new bits of knowledge, just at the right time to catch falling arcs of suspense and create new ones. Much like classic 19th century works of fiction, this book was written in small installments and you can tell by its structure. A Fall of Moondust is just as technical (although probably not as plausible today as it was then), and just as exciting, but instead of consisting mainly of one character’s ramblings, it’s an ensemble piece, with a large section of moon-inhabiting humanity involved in the accident and the eventual rescue. I’m not totally spoiling the book because, much like The Martian, it’s a story that is predicated on the excitement of following along. There is no abyss of unknowability, no postmodern darkness here. In my Scalzi review I mentioned the push by reactionaries for a more obviously and directly enjoyable science fiction and The Martian is really it. It might seem that Clarke’s book is an obvious predecessor – but that’s only superficially true. If you read Clarke’s work you know he doesn’t shy away from the difficult questions – so why is this such a straightforward book? I always assumed that Clarke was aware of the genre he was working in and its traditions, the Robinson Crusoe line of writing, and instead of making the easy choice of just transposing the situation onto a different, more spherical, kind of island, he leaned on something that was actually rather common in old fashioned science fiction, contra Puppies, the idea of looking at a future society.
Make no mistake, Clarke doesn’t offer us any kind of grand vision of the future either, but there is a broader sense of community, of where he thought society might go in the time allotted between his time and the time he assumed we’d be living in lunar colonies. Unless I missed a major element (in which place, please comment), there’s really no obvious reason -apart from the actual technology- that The Martian couldn’t happen next year. Drop us the necessary technology under the Christmas tree (please?) and this story could happen in January. There’s no inherent reason why this has to be on Mars or in the future. My complaint here is similar to what bothered me about Charles Stross’ mediocre look at the near future, except it’s a bit more frustrating and that’s because while Stross draws on contemporary traditions that have limited potential as is, and he lacks the punch/interest to push them beyond what they are, Andy Weir is working in a line of writing that has, almost from the moment of its inception, produced interesting and exciting literature. Having man isolated from others, or a selection of humanity separated from the rest, this motif has led to some of the most memorable and powerful books. The ur-text of the genre, Daniel Defoe’s novel, is already much more complicated than you’d think. Defoe already has his stranded man tied into some important questions of his day. The question of owning another human being, selling them, how it ties into wealth and colonial narratives are, unexpectedly for anyone who hasn’t read the book, raised. Crusoe is sold himself into slavery, escapes with the help of a black boy, and then, deliberately declines selling the boy into slavery (but gives in and hands him over for a three year period of enforced labor) because “he had assisted me so faithfully in procuring my own [liberty].” Just a short time later, he is convinced to embark on an expedition to buy and trade “negroes” for rich plantation owners. It is this trip that puts Crusoe on that island. After his escape, he returns to his “colony” which in his absence has become plentiful and Crusoe, almost by accident, has become a rich man. Intentionally or not, Defoe offers us a discourse on freedom, and on the way colonialism was built on the self-interest of the English despite knowing full well its harmful effects. Books afterwards kept adding to the debate. Frequently, they used the situation between Crusoe and Friday to illuminate power dynamics. Michel Tournier’s book is probably the most accomplished take on that. The Martian completely rejects this tradition, and declines absolutely to offer any sort of commentary or context. We even get odd, borderline racist, but definitely contemporary (for us) pieces of slang. Multiple times, a rough construction is described as “ghetto” by the white, definitely not “ghetto” protagonist of the book. If any thinking has gone into his book concerning contexts and futurism, it’s that the near future is just as terrible in terms of racial construction as the present. Harsh pessimism, if so, Mr. Weir.
But there’s more. The central conceit of Defoe’s book is (along the line of many books of his time) that the story is the journal of a real person and the book merely “a just history of facts.” The diary/journal has been enduring as one of the most interesting literary genres. Some takes on Crusoe’s story, like Coetzee’s masterful novel Foe, have examined the epistemological situation. What’s truth in narrative? The diary as a whole is interesting, as it is splayed wide between authenticity and artificiality. A few decades ago, in an essay that still holds up marvelously, Felicity Nussbaum painted a picture of the diary as a pre-modern attempt at constructing a public self. That explains why women, whose writing had been relegated to the margins for a long time, used the diaries to gain purchase for autobiographical narratives. One of the interesting aspects of the way The Martian uses journals as the primary way to record the story is that these diaries are half way between journals and letters. They are written with the express purpose of being preserved for people to find in case Mark Watney’s goose is cooked and his life on Mars ends ignominiously. This method would explain why so much of this diary is a performance. Stranded alone – one thinks of William Golding’s Pincher Martin as a particularly brutal variety – does not bring out the sadness, isolation, alienation of brutality one might expect or fear. In fact, Watney, isolated for hundreds of days, is as upbeat on his last day as he is on his first. This could be due to the performance aspect of the journals-turned-letters, a way, say, of putting up a facade for those coming after him. But there’s no undercutting of this attitude in the later scenes of the book where we see him interact with other people and we are privy to their points of view. In all the research that Andy Weir has undertaken to make his book realistic and interesting – one wonders how much of it was spent looking at anthropology, sociology and psychology. I do agree, as I said elsewhere, that bleak writing has become a tired and tiring cliché in and of itself, but the buzzing happiness in the pages of The Martian can be a bit grating.
This is a book that, carefully, intentionally, thoroughly, has NOTHING to say about people, the future, emotions, society – anything, really, that doesn’t involve the growing of potatoes on a wasteland planet. What it does express is a sense of social isolation of a certain class of citizen and writer today that exceeds the blindness of slave trader Crusoe. Crusoe was aware of how terrible it is to lose one’s freedom when he embarked on his slave trading mission. Defoe wrote this into Robinson Crusoe. Like many Europeans during colonialism, he just didn’t consider the treatment of black people a moral imperative that was more important than developing and growing wealth. Mark Watney – and by extension, Andy Weir – don’t even have that level of reflection. And yet – it’s such an expertly written book. The prose is never great, but always at least serviceable. The book is captivating and fun, and for a week after finishing it, I walked about town, partly living on Mars in my head. The Martian could have been more – but it’s a sign of the times that it is not. And what it is, is quite a lot.
November 29, 2015 by Shigekuni - Book Blog Categories: Literature (U.S.), Reviews, Science Fiction Reviews | Tags: Adam Roberts, Andy Weir, I am an idiot, John Scalzi, Samuel R. Delany, The Martian | 2 Comments
John Scalzi: Lock In
Scalzi, John (2014), Lock In, Tor
[A note: this review has somehow turned out very digressive, so here’s a quick tl,dr summary of my opinion: Lock In is an intelligent, fun, exciting science fiction novel built around a brilliant idea, somewhere between Merleau-Ponty and Michael Crichton and executed by one of the most prolific and best SF authors we currently have. If you like techno-thrillers and/or you like science fiction, read Lock In. It’s very good.]
So if you are not following what’s happening in English-language science fiction, it’s quite likely you missed quite a solid amount of drama. The magnificent Adam Roberts has summarized the affair succinctly here. If you don’t feel like clicking on links (another good take is here), the even shorter version is this: dismayed by a distorted perception of who is being fêted by the prize-giving crowd in science fiction, a group of mediocre-to-terrible writers have set up a list of “preferred” writers. Their moniker is “sad puppies” or “rabid puppies” (technically two different groups, practically indistinguishable) and they feel they have to protest what they feel is boring, politically correct fiction. Recent Hugo winners and nominees include books that question gender, race and class, and writers like Larry Correia, who runs a gun shop and likes to shoot guns in his spare time (like, really likes to shoot guns) feel there’s not enough old fashioned ass-kicking and shooting going around, and very much not enough veiled (or not so veiled) xenophobia and misogyny. They are just, we hear, not enough fun. The Hugos should be awarding the fun books, the popular books rather than the books well loved by critics. I remember a similar debate around the Booker Prize and its dreary results [insert here a complaint about many recent Booker shortlists]. But the Booker is not a award that the public can vote on, so what the “Sad Puppies” did wouldn’t have been possible there: they organized a crowd of rowdy, angry, mostly white and male supporters and rigged the voting process, getting a disproportionate amount of “Sad Puppies” on the list. Now, the awards ended in a curious result, which you can find summarized here and here. But of all the essays and thinkpieces on the award, what struck me most strongly somehow was this Hugo analysis (and it’s follow-up here) which I was interested in for two reasons. One, apparently, without the Puppies voters, the award for best novel would have gone to The Goblin Emperor, a nice but not spectacular book (my review here). Two, and more relevantly for this review, without the “Puppy” books, John Scalzi’s Lock In would have been nominated. This is interesting. Neither The Goblin Emperor, which treats class and power with dubious sloppiness nor Lock In are boring-but-critically well received books. In fact, the closest non-SF point of comparison for Scalzi’s excellent book is Michael Crichton’s oeuvre. It’s a fast paced thriller, brilliantly conceived, with smart ideas and a sleek, efficient execution. If you like fast paced SF-y thrillers, read it. It’s a blast.
The reason I suppose Scalzi was not among the recommended authors is not this work in particular. It’s not even his work in general. Lock In is not some nifty exception to an otherwise more complicated and/or difficult oeuvre. It’s not to his oeuvre what Kraken was to Miéville’s, for example. In fact, his Hugo-winning novel Redshirts (2012) is similarly an absolute joy to read. It’s a story about Star Trek, it toys with genre, with conventions and characters. It’s absurdly funny. Sure, there’s a level on which it’s a clever take about truth and narrative, but we are at no point obliged to stop and consider this take in order to enjoy the book. In fact, the reason I never reviewed it here is because I thought it was lovely but a bit breezy and slight. Would I recommend it? Of course. It’s endlessly amusing. And I think the deeper its reader has fallen down the SF culture wormhole, the more enjoyable it is. So is this the kind of dour politicking the Sad Puppies warned us? It’s clearly not about popularity because Scalzi’s books sell like cold drinks in a hot summer. He’s so successful in fact, that Scalzi recently inked a 3.4 Million $ contract with Tor (read the man’s own explanation here). Scalzi is popular, he writes breezy, not entirely weighty books that are not super left wing (Old Man’s War is a good example) in an accessible style – the kind of style, indeed that would allow him to publish 19 books in 10 years. So the issue isn’t with his work per se – it’s with Scalzi the person who runs a blog that frequently discusses political issues in science fiction, and a Twitter account that does the same. For these reasons, Scalzi has become the bête noire of the “Puppies” crowd. And the most fascinating part about it is that Scalzi at no point in his recent work fills the role he’s expected to fill. There are practically no flat polemics, no open and excessive politics, nothing. Lock In is politically interesting, but not overtly so, and his asides that may be read as commenting on the debate are minor, such as when a character says to the other “I get that you’re used to saying what you think to anyone, anytime. That comes from being an entitled rich kid.” Compare this to, say, Rushdie’s grumpy asides on the New Atheism debate in Enchantress of Florence, for example, where he inserted anachronistic debates just to (I guess) make a point.
For all the baggage that comes with the name Scalzi and with the science fiction community and the Hugo dustup, Lock In is an intricate (but not overly so) techno thriller that happens to be SF, but reads in many ways like a novel by Michael Crichton. A new technology is introduced, it proves to be dangerous and influential people behind the curtain try to abuse it to their own benefit and it’s up to some detective-like character to figure it out. It’s not the first time on this blog that I’ve compared a SF writer to Crichton, and last time, it was Charles Stross’ lamentable Halting State. (click here for my review) – but there is a key difference. Stross copied the school of Crichton to a fault, from the narrative skill to the odd politics and even xenophobia. Stross presented a SF novel entirely denuded of all that makes science fiction such a vital and important genre. Because that’s another way that the “Puppies” got it wrong. Science fiction has always been full of exciting books that pushed the intellectual envelope, that managed to say things in the grammar of science fiction that couldn’t have been said equally well within the genre of “literary fiction” – Coreia, Beale and their ilk didn’t just misread and mistreat contemporary science fiction – they also seem entirely unaware of the genre’s proud and interesting tradition. Scalzi on the other hand – and unlike Stross- wrote a book that makes heavy use of the advantages of SF. That summary just now doesn’t really do justice to Lock In and that’s because the book, despite having a thriller corset, wouldn’t work as it does in a pure thriller structure. It’s SF skeleton are as important to the book as its thriller muscles. Unlike Halting State, whose speculative technologies are at best hair’s breadth more futuristic than the technology that Crichton’s more speculative books revolve around, Scalzi’s basic idea is the backbone, the most essential element of the whole book. In fact, in some of its slighter moments the book feels like the author competently-but-quickly fleshed out his ideas. There’s no complex structure to the book, it develops rather straightforwardly from its initial premise. Much like the idea of Redshirts, i.e. what if the characters on a TV show were somehow real, and script rewrites would inexplicably change the world around them. And what if they then managed to escape to “our” world and contact the actors and scriptwriters and producers of “their” show? The rest of the book just fleshes out that idea, expands on it, adds joke and easter eggs. In a more serious way, the same thing is true for Lock In. There’s a premise and the writing just fills in the gaps and wrangles a plot. That premise, however, is so good that it allows Scalzi to really go to town.
The basic idea is that in the near future, an illness strikes a vast portion of the population, the so-called Haden’s syndrome. For a small percentage of those inflicted, falling ill means being locked out of your body. These people are basically paralyzed for the rest of their lives, with active brains and nerves, but without control over their bodies. And there is no cure for Haden’s syndrome. However, after a few years, technology has developed to help the millions inflicted. Many of those technologies involve the transfer of consciousness. Into a virtual community called the Agora, into robots, and into the brains of people who serve as carriers. These solutions are not permanent. The Haden’s victims still have their bodies around which need to be tended to and there is a transfer of physical sensation from the body to the consciousness, and if the body dies, the consciousness dies with it. The transfer is achieved via neural transmitters. Some people, born with the illness, never really encounter the physical world actively and spend all their life in the Agora. Some enter some means of transportation every day. There are CEOs, politicians and people from all walks of life who suffer from Haden and use robots to get around town. This technology is accessible to everyone because, until very recently in the book’s timeline, it was heavily subsidized by the government. The book’s protagonist is a famous Haden’s patient, Chris Shane, who we meet on day one of his new line of work: rookie FBI agent. Shane comes from a famous/rich family, but want to make it on his own. I think you can recognize the trope. On day one, he and his new partner, the troubled but brilliant agent Leslie Vann, are called to the scene of a murder involving Hadens. The book covers roughly one week during which their initial murder case leads them to uncover a conspiracy that involves more murder, corporate greed, terrorism and a popular uprising of those affected by Haden. The book moves quickly, as there’s just not enough time to meander, given all that happens, and it does it with efficiency and narrative excellence. However, just because the book doesn’t offer us digressive essays and pamphlets, it doesn’t mean the book is bereft of intelligent points on a wide range of things.
I have recently been reading (in PhD work breaks) quite a few genre novels and I am vaguely aware of the attempt to establish the term “slipstream”, which I mostly encounter in the writings of genre writers who want to sidle up to the “literary fiction” genre by claiming a kind of shared space. But good literary fiction does more than tell a good yarn, it offers us structures and ideas and an elevated level of prose. Some books, like the incomprehensibly dull The Doors You Mark are Your Own by “Alexander Tuvim” mistake the recent resurgence of narrative (I commented a bit on that resurgence in my review of Jen Williams’ The Copper Promise) for some new literary license to sprawl without having the intellectual nous to actually say something rather than merely indulge. If there was a slipstream genre, surely it would involve books with genre trappings that also fill the shoes usually worn by what is generally perceived as literary fiction. The problem with that is that this is already amply covered, say, by science fiction. M. John Harrison, Iain Banks, Samuel Delany, Gene Wolfe and China Miéville are as skillful writers of prose as many “literary” novelists (and certainly better than “Tuvim”), and intelligent and even brilliant ideas abound in science fiction, which has never confortably settled within any arbitrary set of genre conventions. The mere history of science fiction explodes that idea. I know the idea comes from Bruce Sterling who is always worth considering, but to me what he describes is more like a gothic alienating technique (which you’ll also find in the recent works of William Gibson), but I’m always open to being proven wrong about the validity of “slipstream” as a genre. If it hadn’t come from Sterling, I would have assumed it came from someone who doesn’t really understand the reach and power of science fiction. And Lock In is an excellent example of the reach and unconventional positioning of science fiction. Scalzi employs the tropes of thriller writing, with small but significant twists. At the same time, his reliance on his science-fictional premise allows him to implicitly debate issues such as the question of how society and the structures of knowledge intersect with disability. How do we construct a disabled body? Where does deficiency end, and identity begin?
There is a moment where the protagonist is offered a broken robot as his only option to get around town. The robot works, but its legs don’t, so the rookie agent is offered a wheelchair to get around in. It comes near the end and allows the reader to come to terms with the many other ways disability has been portrayed in the book. There are mental disabilities that are shown to be both limiting as well as empowering. We are confronted with the question of how connected our sense of humanity is to our corporeality. In many places, Scalzi appears to offer a riff on Merleau-Ponty’s famous discussions of the corps propre. Even as early as in his 1942 work The Structure of Behavior, Merleau-Ponty points out that “[l]’esprit n’utilise pas le corps, mais se fait à travers lui” – the consciousness doesn’t merely use the body as a host. It could not just be made independent from the body – despite the fact that Hadens can easily and quickly transfer their consciousness from and into different hosts as you would get into and out of different cars (the protagonists keeps traveling throughout the country by downloading into available robots). Very subtly, Scalzi also discusses the topic of race and how visibility and disability play into the cultural construction of race. Least subtly, and likely connected to contemporary American domestic debates, he offers a withering indictment of the opposition to government-supplied healthcare. And I’m not transposing some kind of reading on a more innocuous book – all this is really in there, and he uses plot and setting to offer a debate without having to stop for narrative breath. This is enormously hard to do in “literary fiction” because it’s not as easy to mold the environment to convey a philosophical argument as it is with the grammar of science fiction, and downright impossible to do while maintaining fluid readability. Lock In is a barrel of excitement – did I mention that it’s also humorous and witty? It’s just enormously good at what it does – and it does a lot. It#s the best book by Scalzi that I’ve read so far – although I am far from a Scalzi completist. This is very good and I recommend it to you with all the conviction I can muster. It’s a fantastic book, and the “Puppies” can go suck my big toe.
August 27, 2015 by Shigekuni - Book Blog Categories: Literature (U.S.), Reviews, Science Fiction Reviews | Tags: Alexander Tuvim, Charles Stross, China Miéville, Hugo 2015, Hugo Awards, Jen Williams, John Scalzi, Katherine Addison, larry correia, MAN Booker Prize, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, rabid puppies, Sad Puppies, Science-Fiction, The Goblin Emperor, theodore beale, Tom Doherty Associates, Tor, vox day | Leave a comment
Charles Stross: Halting State
Stross, Charles (2008), Halting State, Penguin
These past years, I have recommended Philip K. Dick’s impressive novel Ubik to a number of serious readers of literature interested in Dick and/or Science Fiction literature in general. It’s the perfect introduction to Dick’s work, because it’s both straightforward and pleasantly odd. But there’s more. Several readers have written back to me to complain about how little sense the book supposedly made, how Dick made gross errors in narrative logic etc. This is more than the usual philistine hurry to blame the author for one’s own careless reading. I ‘d suggest that it points to something that is quite typical of the genre of Science Fiction. Dick isn’t the only writer who’s used to infusing a narrative that seems straightforward enough with a dose of the odd or strange. There’s something angular, uncomfortable about many good books of the genre, a sort of basic difficulty, almost independent of the literary skills of the writer in question. Science Fiction demands, like no other genre, that its readers take each book on its own terms. It’s always dangerous to interpret difference as erroneous writing, but with regard to SF, this assumption is more likely to be incorrect. There is no other genre I know of that constantly mixes the tools of experimental fiction with the storytelling of an action movie to produce all kinds of inventive yet readable results. Given the prolificacy of many prominent SF novelists, it’s also astonishing that a great deal of them are greatly attentive not just to matters of literary structure and the like, but also pay extraordinarily close attention to the words they use, to the way they connect to the ideas put forth in the novel. Form is always connected to content in SF, and more often than not, it’s germane to any significant understanding of the book in question. All this means that any work of SF is likely to be less encumbered by conventional expectations of narrative logic, and it’s why Science Fiction is such a worthwhile genre to read. Even so-so works like Tobias S. Buckell’s Ragamuffin contain a daunting intellectual structure; apparent mistakes in narrative logic (as the aforementioned readers thought to find in Ubik) are usually more than that. They are part of a sophisticated, passionate, elaborate literary undertaking that has languished for far too long on the grubby shelves of ‘genre literature’ while the Franzens, Austers and Mitchells of this world reaped critical success and broad public appreciation. This tension between quality and lack of critical success has, on the other hand, led to a tradition in SF that tried to make the genre palatable, relatable, clean, acceptable, slowly draining the genre of everything that made it as powerful as it was. Charles Stross’ 2007 novel Halting State represents a kind of end point for this development. It would be silly and facetious to compare it to accomplished works of science fiction. In fact, the author it most resembles is not strictly speaking a SF writer, it’s Michael Crichton.*
Make no mistake, Halting State is a very good read, a real page turner of a novel; it’s both efficiently written and smartly constructed. Charles Stross is clearly a highly competent novelist, and Halting State is a well-nigh flawlessly executed thriller: in it, Stross displays an uncanny knack for timing, for example. Characters, plot elements, surprises and moments of shock and breathless action are released at just the right moment, a skill that should not be underrated. The book’s sleek efficiency is also visible in the way the characters are fleshed out in just the right amount. There is enough depth to care about the things that happen to Stross’ characters, worry about them, and cheer them on when they fall in love or have an arduous fight to endure, yet not so much as to make readers stumble over potential ambiguities and complexities. To sum up: if you like thrillers and/or Michael Crichton’s work, you’ll love Stross. Another similarity with Crichton’s post-Sphere work is the gentle way that Stross introduces his futuristic technology. Halting State is set in the near future and its technologies are rather similar to ours; the same is true for the kind of social and political structure we encounter. The changes are so slight, so carefully wrought, that they allow any reader to catch up with the author and quickly relate to the events without having to think or re-contextualize. The contexts stay, broadly speaking, the same; additionally, Stross presents a near future with completely believable and utterly dull developments. Nothing is surprising in any way, every single technology in the book is rooted in something that we already use and, in some cases, he uses ‘new’ technology that is already in development. One of the fundamental conceits of Halting State, about the interconnection of private entertainment and the grander world of global espionage, is so banal and unsurprising that it’s been taken up in various guises in pop culture, most recently in an episode of Nathan Fillion’s comedy-drama TV show Castle. Well, I have to admit: this is not necessarily a bad thing. Indeed, what it means is that Stross has utterly professionalized his genre. He has moved away from visions and conceptual difficulties into the realm of professional thriller writers whose books are based on easy emotive access and, ultimately, fear. A fear of that which is still somewhat alien to us, a term which usually means foreigners and technology, i.e. things and people we can’t really understand. That’s why easy relatability is so important – only in a sequence of knowns can the unknown stick out as it does in the work of Crichton. This kind of discourse is of course buttressed by a defense or acceptance of the status quo, of things as they are, of ruling hierarchies and exploitative mechanisms. That this sort of thing, hitherto mainly typical of thrillers, crops up in SF as much as it does these days is sad, but true. Stross is only one of many examples: Cory Doctorow (cf. my review of Little Brother) is another, though less problematic one.
Thus, with a cleaned up language, efficient plot and relatable discussions of future technologies, only one potential stumbling block for readers remains, and it’s one of the few concessions Stross makes towards his genre: he toys a bit with pronouns. The book has three distinct protagonists, each of whom narrates their own chapter. However, the book does not use the first or third person singular, but the second person singular. This trick, which has no further consequences for the way the story is told, does not extend to difficulties of speech and perception, barely engages questions of identity or anything else. Stross could have removed this from the manuscript by copy & paste without damaging the rest of the text except in negligible ways. It’s a nod to his genre, no more than that. Since the novel is concerned with virtual realities, and the ways that our world interacts with the virtual, the use of the second person singular allows Stross to mirror virtual relationships as well as relations that we engage in in dealing with one another (and us ourselves) through online media. As as I mentioned before, using form in order to reflect on content is a commonly used tool in science fiction prose and this appears to be Stross’ main difference to Crichton et al. In most other ways, he follows the mainstream thriller guidelines almost exactly. The similarities to Crichton in particular are both general structural similarities, as well as more specific resemblances. Among the closer ties is an eery similarity to Crichton’s famously racist 1992 novel Rising Sun, which painted the ascendancy of the Japanese economy as a threat to Americans in several garish colors. The apprehension towards dominant Japanese companies had already produced books like Tom Peters’ fun but ridiculous In Search for Excellence (1982), but for Crichton, exalting American values or Americans in general was not enough. His novel contains murderous Japanese businessmen, scheming Japanese officials and two Americans caught in the middle of an intricate intercultural intrigue. Something somewhat similar happens in Halting State. A robbery and a murder have been committed and a police officer, an insurance investigator and a software geek are trying to get to the bottom of an affair that keeps getting more and more complicated. As in Rising Sun, inquiries are quelled or at least hampered by political interference, by executives’ and politicians’ schemes and manipulations. In Stross’ 2007 novel, the Japanese are no longer the bad guys as they were in Crichton’s and other novels of the late 1980s and early 1990s, it’s (as can be expected) Chinese hackers on the payroll of the evil Chinese government that are the enemy now. Actual people of Chinese descent barely make an appearance in the book, but that’s largely unimportant, since, as any racist will be able to tell you, it’s not the specific individual that attracts their rage, it’s the general idea of the foreign culture/race. ‘They’ are different, and ‘they’ are a threat. That’s the name of the game Charles Stross is more than happy to play.
Like Crichton, Stross leaves, of course, ample room for a denunciation of corporate greed. For both writers, this is an important element, because readers are just as likely to reject executives as grossly incompetent, stupid or gluttonous, as they are to reject foreigners as scheming, lazy or destructive, and both writers are engaged in an attempt to build an alliance with their readers built on shared prejudice. Stross even does Crichton one better. Unless I misremember, there is nothing in Crichton’s post-Sphere work that corresponds to what I like to call Stross’ trinity of identification. Stross’ three protagonists are Elaine Barnaby, a woman, who is drawn in a mildly clichéd but not aggressively sexist way, a smart and quirky closet geek. There is Jack Reed, the software engineer, who is the most knowledgeable of the three, constantly explaining facts about the technological background, a nerd who likes to drink, is shy around women, and incredibly smart. The third narrator and protagonist is Sue Smith, a police officer, and representative of a whole strain of elements that crop up all over the book. Thing is, Halting State, a book about the global world of hackers, espionage and online gaming, is rooted in a weird sort of patriotism tinged with localism. It’s set in Edinburgh, and reflects its Scottish background in multiple ways. For starters, there’s Sue, who speaks/writes a mild sort of Scots-inflected English, which stands out among the verbal offerings of the other characters. It is Sue’s point of view that foregrounds most a contrast between locals and foreigners, because in Halting State, only Scottish citizens are truly locals, and Jack and Elaine, the two English geeks, are always slightly out of place. The book crawls with comments about how little the streets and facades of Edinburgh have changed; this is accompanied by comments about the specific/unique relationship that this Scottish metropolis has with the modern world outside. In a way, Stross reproduces the larger discursive concerns that power books like Crichton’s and includes a miniature model of them, localized in terms of references and language. And it’s all so incredibly well made! Halting State is a stunningly crafted thriller, but a mediocre, fifth rate work of science fiction. If the genre did not also contain writers like Gwyneth Jones, China Miéville, Adam Roberts or Vernor Vinge (who, by the way, praises Halting State), I might be worried. There is much to admire in this book, and compared to other, let’s say, thrillers, it would stand out. In its own genre, however, it’s its deficiencies that stand out starkly. If you want a quick, good read by a writer with a good grasp of current technology and excellent command of a certain kind of narrative, this book is highly recommended. If you want something more, you’ll have to look elsewhere.
*A lot of Crichton’s books can of course be categorized as science fiction, among them probably Sphere or Jurassic Park (incl. sequels). I’d argue, and in a way that is what I’m doing in this review, that Crichton’s main influence and the genre he mainly belongs to is the thriller genre. He may use a SF tool now and then, but they are just props. Crichton’s intentions and visions are those of a mainstream thriller writer, and his approach is the same in Jurassic Park, Next, Rising Sun or any other of his best known works. Finally this: what I take to be the core of the Science Fiction genre I laid out in my first paragraph. It’s a different kind of approach to seeing the world. Iris Murdoch wrote in The Book and the Brotherhood about Marxism: “The only good Marxist is a mad Marxist. It’s not enough to be a revisionist, you’ve got to be a bit mad too – to be able to see the present world, to imagine the magnitude of what’s happening.” I think this madness is necessary for good science fiction, as well, this imagination of possibilities and impossibilities. This is true for space operas, hard sf, cyberpunk, steampunk or the straight madness of Dick’s later novels. The best test for good SF is this: if you take away the odd objects, and the unfamiliar settings, are the texts in front of you still different from mainstream fiction? In my review’s first paragraph I suggest they should be, and any of the authors I mentioned appraisingly in this review have produced works for which that is indeed the case. It is not true for Halting State which is powered by the same visionary black hole that brought forth Michael Crichton’s works. A reader on a literature forum suggested that part of the book were a straight yet awkward pastiche of Ian Rankin‘s books. I would not be surprised to find that to be the case, although I haven’t been able to sample Mr. Rankin’s work yet.
February 6, 2011 by Shigekuni - Book Blog Categories: Reviews, Science Fiction Reviews | Tags: Charles Stross, Michael Crichton, Science-Fiction | Leave a comment
Adam Roberts: Yellow Blue Tibia
Roberts, Adam (2009), Yellow Blue Tibia, Gollancz
Here’s the deal. You will have to read Adam Roberts, unless Yellow Blue Tibia, his most recent novel, grossly misrepresents his oeuvre. There is just no way you can bypass this writer, who is so self-controlled, so sure of his capabilities and his craft, who is able to engage both the humorous and the darkly serious nature of his work. Yellow Blue Tibia may not be a masterpiece, but it is certainly an excellent novel and a truly dazzling display of skills. So far, he has ten novels under his belt, a few academic studies (including a regrettable one on Frederic Jameson, in the sense that any study on Jameson is regrettable), some parodies and a few shorter pieces. If any of them so much as approach the quality of Yellow Blue Tibia, you’re in for a treat. Read it. You don’t even have to like science fiction, because one of the remarkable things about the book is that it is as much a literary novel about science fiction as it is a science fiction novel proper. In this extraordinarily funny and smart book, Roberts managed to seize his genre, and put it through the wringer, spinning it around, examining it, without ever becoming too intellectual or too cerebral. It’s also a joy to read, a book that scoops up a lot of the canonical postmodern playfulness of the 1970s, but has, below this, the elegant, moving structure of a more traditional novel. What’s more, Roberts’ playfulness is always in the service of real concerns, real problems, and implies the possibilities of real actions. Adam Roberts is a very serious writer, who likes to use the word “ballsack” a lot. And he excels at both of these kinds of writing. Read this writer. You will not be disappointed.
The plot is hard to describe, mostly because it’s actually quite surprising. It’s not that you can’t see the final twist coming a mile off, but Yellow Blue Tibia, at the beginning, hedges its bets, shows you ways of continuing its tale, before stepping up to the plate and fully delivering its story. It starts off like this: in 1945, Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili, i.e. Joseph Stalin, ruler of all the Russias, asks a group of well-known Soviet Science Fiction writers to convene in a cabin in the woods. They come by train, by mule cart, they are both giddy and elated to meet Stalin, and mortally afraid. Instead of sending them all to the Gulag, however, Stalin asks them to write a story. In what seems to be a very Wag the Dog-ish line of thought, Stalin has decided that the USSR needs an enemy to unite against. Now that the Germans have been beat, and that (in Stalin’s estimation), victory against the US is, at most, five years away, it is time to plan and come up with a new enemy after the US are conquered. And why not invent an enemy? This is what Stalin wants his science fiction writers to do: invent an enemy to rally the peoples of the USSR against, “an extraterrestrial menace. It will be the greatest Science Fiction story ever told! And we will write it collectively! It will inspire the whole of the Soviet Union – inspire the whole world!”. So, this is what they do. After long discussions and deliberations, they come up with a species of “radiation aliens”, and they even imagine some of their early attacks, such as a destroyed US spaceship, and a bomb launched against the Ukraine.
This section is very densely narrated and it contains a lot of the ideas and themes that the rest of Yellow Blue Tibia later pursues. We learn that these men are all tired, all afraid, but they’re all, additionally, Communists. In period novels such as Vassili Grossmann’s Life and Fate, we learn hat even those afraid to be murdered by Stalin’s henchmen, even those in camps and at the front, that there are many ardent Communists among them, because the idea of Communism is unharmed by the horrific political events in the 20th century, engineered by Lenin, Stalin, Mao and their vassals. So it is with the men in that cabin. Their visions, thought, and basic motivation are informed by Marxism even as their faith in the political reality of their country has long gone. These writers are beat, exhausted, they are all soldiers, and they’re tired of war. One of the writers grumbles that, if he were alive today, Tolstoy wouldn’t write “War and Peace but War and War. He would write War and War and More War”.The connection between fiction, and history, as well as individual fates is established in that first section; also, the truthfulness of journalistic nonfiction, as well as, very importantly, questions of authorship. But as soon as we start to enjoy the odd rhythms of that discussion, that creation of an original story, the meeting in the woods is stopped short. Stalin, without offering explanations, dissolves the project, and swears all the writers to silence. For some decades, nothing else, pertaining to these days in the cabin, happens, as the narrator explains. Until 1986, when the narrator is visited by ghosts of his past.
The narrator of Yellow Blue Tibia is called Konstantin Skvorecky, one of the Science Fiction writers from the cabin. Choosing that name was certainly not accidental: in part it appears to be a clear reference to Josef Škvorecký, the Czech writer, who, like Roberts’ creation Konstantin Skvorecky, is a translator from English to a Slav tongue, and Roberts’ use of detective fiction tropes and his use of some elements of the roman noir may also, albeit in a more subdued manner, tie in with Škvorecký’s Lieutenant Boruvka novels. One suspects that all the names in Roberts’ fine novel are fraught with allusions and references, more than one. Is it coincidence that another writer, Ivan/Jan Frenkel shares his surname with a renowned Soviet physicist? That one writer’s surname and the title of his main book are semantically related? These are just a few of the examples and ideas that will creep up on the reader, and that crowd the margins of my copy of the novel. This is part of the method (and success) of this book: it creates a text that is often suggestive of ideas, that implies tangents, and hints at propositions, rather than blathering at length about them. It’s a book, like the best literary novels, that keeps the reader thinking: not just whodunit, but about all kinds of things, more or less connected with the book’s subject matter. And as we make our way through the book, more and more suggestions and ideas accumulate, making us think, not about a specific topic or problem, but making us, in a broader sense, just think. And for every association and loose idea, there is also a theme threaded through the book, recurring in different guises, suggesting different conclusions each time.
One of these themes is the topic of authorship, and, ultimately, of truth, fiction and authorial intent. The book’s subtitle is Konstantin Skvorecky’s memoir of the alien invasion of 1986 but much of the book’s suspense revolves around the question whether the alien invasion is really taking place or not, and in answering (or not) that question, the book makes use of our belief and disbelief in authorizing genres and gestures. An appended fictional Wikipedia entry for Konstantin Skvorecky ties in these concerns with our reading of our own history and how we understand chronology and time-lines. In this, there is an odd connection of Yellow Blue Tibia to the mad work of writers like Anatoly Timofeevich Fomenko. But, I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s return to 1986 and Konstantin Skvorecky’s troubles. After decades during which nothing happened that related to the events in the cabin, Skvorecky, a resigned old man, left by his wife, recovering alcoholic, who makes some money as a translator now, is suddenly swept away by a series of events that are all connected to the story he and his colleagues made up 41 years ago. People claim that the fiction has come true, that UFOs really exist and radiation aliens, as well, and that the January, 28, 1986 breakup and disintegration of the Challenger space shuttle was the attack prognosticated in the story. What ensues is a delightfully strange picaresque tale that borrows quite a few elements of the noir, mostly in its setup of situations with shadowy government agents who may or may not pursue their own agenda. In scene after scene we encounter wonderfully warm and colorful images, although some of the events that are recounted for us, are dark and brutal.
Generally speaking, Roberts manages to bridge the distance between a serious, even vicious, kind of story/background and a laugh-out-loud funny tale with great aplomb. Like all great satirists (cf. Tova Reich), he is able to approach a situation like an interrogation in the cellars of the KGB and lace them with a humor that is at times almost silly, as with an interrogator, who, off the record, enjoys threatening his interlocutors with castration, which leads to a dialog that had me wheezing with laughter. This does not take away or detract from the dark history that Roberts engages here. But Roberts wants more than just instigate sadness in his readers, he wants us to think, comprehend, and contextualize this mass movement with others in the 20th century. He does this not by lecturing us, by cloaking non-fictional propositions in the soft cloth of a novel. Instead, what is on display in Yellow Blue Tibia is a genuine interest in the ideas and concerns of the novel and its readers are invited to take part in the swirls and eddies of its thinking. This makes for a very rich reading that does not bludgeon the reader with a disquisition on, for example, mass culture, or mass movements; we are rather presented with different elements that we can connect if we want to and in what way we see fit, although the general theme and focus of the novel do limit us somewhat. That theme and focus is writing, specifically the writing of Science Fiction. We are presented with a handful of categorical statements of what science Fction is, or is not, of what it can do, and what it can’t. It is, again, not a coincidence, that we are reminded of a classic of SF here, L. Ron Hubbard’s Typewriter in the Sky.
L. Ron Hubbard, his dangerous religion and his mediocre writing have often been mentioned in these contexts and they are a great example for mass movements, because in the evolution of Scientology from Dianetics and Hubbard’s work as a writer of science fiction the interconnectedness of fiction and religion becomes most obvious and clear. Hubbard’s pseudoscience, first published in the leading SF weekly Astounding Science-Fiction under John W. Campbell, Jr.’s editorship, is one of Yellow Blue Tibia‘s most important references. Not only does the book feature two members of the Church of Scientology, but its discussion of aliens, its depiction of UFO obsession, and, finally, its overriding theme of how narratives shape our perceived reality share many links to Hubbard’s new religion. The suggestibility of human beings, especially those ‘schooled’ by authoritarian belief systems is repeatedly brought up, with links, perhaps, to Elias Canetti’s brilliant opus magnum Crowds and Power. Crowds, for Canetti, don’t need a leader, they need a direction. Fiction, for both Hubbard and Roberts, provides the possibility of shaping exactly that: a direction that crowds can use as orientation, orientation that is beyond doctrine. It gives direction not just to explicit thought, but to the essentials of perception. In this criticism, Yellow Blue Tibia allies itself with orthodox Marxist thought and its Ideologiekritik, but it exceeds these narrow boundaries as well. Although it is committed to its ideas, it is not settled or determinate. The whole story is pervaded by a thorough ambiguity, an irony, if you will, which does not undermine the ideas of the book, but is part and parcel of these very ideas.
In the end, despite its concern with crowds, it is, I think, in part a rejection of Mao II‘s dictum that the future belongs to crowds. Nonsense, the book says, the future belongs to human beings, but they have to think for themselves. It is crowds and their narratives that are limiting, forcing people onto their narrow paths of thought. In this, Yellow Blue Tibia tars religion and ideologies with the same brush, calling on its readers to emancipate ourselves from hierarchies and structures that are narratives, i.e. fiction (in what is clearly a work of fiction, a contradiction that the book seems very aware of). This is by no means even close to be new, but then Roberts does not employ the gesture of much science fiction that wants to be ‘mind-blowing’. Yellow Blue Tibia is a novel that is very conscious of its antecedents, philosophically and literary. There is Stirner, maybe, Wilhelm Reich, certainly, Golden Age science fiction, 1970s paranoid classics like the novels of Robert Anton Wilson and Philip K. Dick, and many many novels about 20th century’s totalitarian systems. The associative, broad nature of its references and allusions means that its connections extend to books that the author may not have read at all, like the trash of Maurice Dantec and Imre Kertész’ fine meta-novel A Kudarc. Yellow Blue Tibia is conscious of the libraries of books that preceded it and doesn’t even attempt to be full of new ideas. Instead, it opts, surprisingly, for something else. The structure of the book’s narrative, as its ending shows us, is incredibly traditional, and both moving and charming, and it’s Adam Roberts’ major achievement that he managed to ground the story and its ideas in a humane, personal narrative that suggests to us that its concerns are more than fun and games. They matter.
As does science fiction. Yes, the book constantly contrasts fact with fiction, showing how lines get blurred, creating an atmosphere, a sense of undecidability, but it’s not plain ‘fiction’. It’s science fiction. Adam Roberts wrote a paean not just to imagination proper but to science fiction especially. Science fiction is stronger than imagination: at one point, a character exclaims
I only mean – it’s science fiction! If your science-fictional imagination is broken, you can rebuild it with imaginary high technology! If your writer’s soul is amputated, then because we are talking of science fiction you can fit it with a robotic prosthesis. You can write again, write better, stronger, as a cyborg!
Good science fiction offers tools not just to understand history or the present but to change our perception. The ‘cyborg’ bit here is significant: technology does not just provide props (as furnishings in historical novels tend to be), it allows the writer to supplement the imagination. Science fiction does not need to pretend to work from within a fixed, limiting world, its hierarchies and priorities need not be the small, polar ones of what we perceive to be the necessary, inevitable limits. There is, I think, an openness to good science fiction that is more than seeing clearer. It’s not seeing clearer, which is implying an exploration of limits, it’s glimpsing possibilities beyond this table, that wall or that window, without indulging in sloppy metaphysics. Science fiction, dark or light, is a kind of dreamy materialism. Adam Roberts does not attempt to seriously engage these possibilities, instead he highlights the literary genre of science fiction, and its viability as a tool in world building. Science fiction, he says, is worth engaging with, worth writing and reading. As is Yellow Blue Tibia. Read it. You will not regret it.
February 17, 2010 by Shigekuni - Book Blog Categories: Literature (British), Reviews, Science Fiction Reviews | Tags: Adam Roberts, Science-Fiction | 8 Comments
Marcel Theroux: Far North
Theroux, Marcel (2009), Far North, Faber and Faber
Had Marcel Theroux’ latest novel not made the shortlist of the National Book Award, I doubt I would have looked twice at the book, which seemed to me rather unremarkable, a book in the vein of Cormac McCarthy’s decent The Road and Sarah Hall’s The Carhullan Army (recently recommended by a friend), to name just two of the many post-apocalyptic books published this decade. It’s not that the book is horrible, it’s not. It’s dull, but as a whole decent enough not to throw into the garbage right away although it’s sure as hell not a good book. Its saving grace is not the actual writing or storytelling but its protagonist. Makepeace, who is the narrator and protagonist of the novel, is a fascinating character, and, what’s more, a very well drawn one, whom the reader gladly follows across the rickety bridge that is the novel’s construction and writing. It’s a surprise, really, that, after putting this book down with almost a sigh of relief, I felt a vague but definite yearning for another story featuring the jolly heroine of Theroux’ mediocre novel.
By calling her a ‘heroine’ I have given away a ‘surprise’ that Theroux reveals some twenty pages into the story. As we enter the book, we encounter a lonesome figure, patrolling an empty town. The first sentence of the novel ably conveys the atmosphere of that part of the book: “Every day I buckle on my guns and go out to patrol this dingy city.” That sentence could well belong to a western, but the story is set ‘Far North’, in the vast emptiness of the Siberian tundra. It’s also set in the future, in a world after natural catastrophes have destroyed civilization as we know it. The explanation how the catastrophes came about is, let’s say: interesting.
The planet had heated up. They turned off smokestacks and stopped flying. Some, like my [Makepeace’s] parents, altered the way they lived. Factories were shut down […] As it turned out, the smoke from all the furnaces had been working like a sunshade, keeping the world a few degrees cooler than it would have been otherwise. He said that in trying to do the right thing, we had sawed off the branch we were sitting on. The droughts and storms that came in the years after put in motion all the things that followed.
Theroux, however, isn’t a scientist (although, in 2004, he did present a TV show on climate change on Channel 4) and Far North isn’t a scientific essay on the topic of impending ecological doom. In fact, the ecology of the story, the science, takes a back seat, almost as much as in The Road, where we have no idea what happened, we’re just confronted with the brute facts of post-apocalyptic reality and how to deal with it. In contrast to The Road, Theroux does express an interest in history, both the general history, for example, of the US, and the particular history of Makepeace’s family and people in her time frame.
All this history is so important in the novel because of its overriding interest in Makepeace’s character. Makepeace is an odd character, who dresses like a man and behaves like one. Due to a disfiguring accident she suffered as a girl, she can also quite easily pass for a man, without actually aiming to deceive. This is because she dresses in the most practical fashion possible and that kind of dress is usually, in our time, as in Makepeace’s, read as masculine. Theroux toys with our expectations a bit at the onset of the story, letting us buy into the idea of this tough male frontiersman who, in the opening pages, shoots a thief for making away with some books. During the rest of the book, the revelation accorded to us, the readers, is likewise accorded to several groups or individuals in the novel who find out what or who that man is who can prowl the woods and hunt caribou with the best of them. He could have revealed Makepeace’s sex at the end of the book, but he didn’t, and some of the reasons for his decision go a long way towards explaining why Far North is such a weak book. One of the reason sis that Theroux is a weak writer.
Not just a weak writer in the sense of a mediocre writer. He is weak in the sense that, instead of working through his ideas and assumptions, instead of engaging more fully his concepts and the world he built, frequently opts for easy, weak solutions. The ecological science might be one of them. Another is the world. People, places and objects flit in and out of focus, without anything that is really endowed with depth. Apart from Makepeace, all characters are caricatures, cardboard cutouts, like the Bad Priest, the Evil Corporate Boss, and a few characters which are even tinged with racism. There is The Muslim, but most importantly, the indigenous peoples of the area, whom Theroux called the Tungus people. These days, these people are called the Evenks, the ‘tungus’ moniker gained currency when the Russians conquered and colonized Siberia, but apparently, it will be popular again in the future (here’s an interesting factsheet about the okrug where most of them live). Theroux places them, and this is what’s problematic, as a group, clearly racially defined, into the ideational structure of the book where they represent the opposite of civilization, an Other of sorts, living in a natural state devoid of ‘civilized’ morality, but also devoid of hypocrisy.
Here, as in other places, Theroux holds back, not ready to doff the overcoat he’s brought with him, spread on the floor for the reader to inspect. The Tungus people are not better or superior to civilized people, they’re just not as bad, and regret drips from Far North‘s pages where Theroux extols their practical morality. The book, in the end, ends up with the image of someone cuddling up in a nest of books while the world outside is slowly reclaimed by nature. Books are good and nature, while not bad, is, in more than one sense of the word, outside, as are the Tungus people. Sex and gender are subject to a very similar kind of indecision. On the one hand, Theroux’ heroine flaunts traditional gender roles, she shoots from the hip, rides horses, can catch and corral several caribou at once and is generally badass. She wears men’s clothing, doesn’t care much for so-called feminine wiles and never expresses an interest in make-up or jewelry. Diamonds are not, in fact, her best friends, but the bullets that she herself casts are. A writer herself, she is thus also shown to be at the beginning of a new tradition, with the whole of Far North the self-narrated manuscript she leaves to posterity, thus usurping a role traditionally accorded to men. But, to see it this way is to dismiss the reason why she behaves as she does. It’s the absence of men.
Granted, Makepeace can better all the men she meets, but it’s still their absence that has her fill in for them. And as for looks and the maintenance of them, men, again, have fouled up her looks which has set her on the masculinized path that we then, in the opening pages of the book find her on. And this is not enough. Additionally, Theroux surrounds her narrative with images of birth and rebirth, in such an emphatic manner that I was under the impression that he strained to smooth out any irritation caused by the first passages. Look, she’s a woman after all, he appears to say. Although I did find another, far more subtle reference I thought I saw in the ties of Theroux’ book to Canadian literature. Nothing in his biography or in explicit references supports this, but hear me out. On the one hand, his construction of the landscape is in keeping with a lot of well-known clichés about the north, which have been particular well explored with respect to the Canadian north. In her 2001 study on the topic, Sherrill E. Grace ends an enumeration of typical elements (a disconcerting number of which turn up in Far North) with the sarkastic exclamation: “and…Voila! A northern novel!”
But Grace mentions another novel about the north, Margaret Atwood’s haunting Surfacing, which is also an appropriate reference here, in a more positive way. Atwood’s novel of contacts with nature and awakenings, replete with images of birth and rebirth, too, might be an antetype, conscious or not, to Theroux handling of issues of sex and gender. His cliché idea of female experience. however, demonstrates how sorely, in this, too, his book is lacking. He mentions an idea but doesn’t really follow through with it. This is what I called weakness and holding back. Tentatively, Theroux shows us what you can do in such a radically altered social landscape, the possibilities in such a narrative, but he quickly smooths things over. The impulses I just described culminate in the last fifth of the book, where he tacks on an impossibly saccharine, contrived and far-fetched ending that would not be jarring in any of the hundreds of telenovelas that crowd daytime television in most countries, and that is a fitting conclusion for a messy book that consists of odd pieces and ideas, some of whom work and some don’t. Makepeace, the protagonist, is one of those that work. She’s such a good character that she can almost make the book work and cohere all on her own.
Almost, I said. Of the other ideas, so many are lame or dull that I caught myself pitying Makepeace as I watch her being shoved through Theroux’ story, in effect running the gauntlet. The most interesting of Theroux ideas is his use of early American history. These are not hidden references: after the aforementioned catastrophe, American Quaker families and similarly minded communities move to the Far North, to start anew, to establish communities in the wilderness, on a different continent. Their fate in general and a cartoonish but surprisingly effective depiction of a particularly pious settlement (Makepeace’s encounter with this community really sets the story in motion) will remind any student of American history of the reports and stories that tell us about that time. No-one who’s read sermons from the time of the Great Awakening can be deaf to the echoes of that rhetoric in the sermons and speeches of Far North‘s Christian preachers and believers. It is, of course, part of Theroux’ essentially conservative tropes of rebirth that keep cropping up in the novel, but as a motif, and an idea it is remarkable, and solitary in the novel in that it is complete and satisfying. Using frontiersmen and puritan-like communities appears to me to be quite a common motif, almost de rigeur, in SF, but I have rarely come across a rendition of that particular theme as interesting as this.
An equally well known but infinitely less well wrought motif is that of the ‘Zone’. In the novel we will encounter prisoner camps, with men used as working slaves and other men employed to scout out ‘the Zone’, a huge abandoned city that was used by the Russians, before the catastrophe, as a scientific and intellectual center. Now, however, no-one is alive or reachable who knows its secrets but maps have survived, and rumors of dangers and treasures hidden in it. Not gold, but odd and inexplicable objects created by a science that the scavengers roaming the city can neither understand nor really make use of. The nature of some of the objects recalls Clarke’s famous bonmot (actually I think it’s one of his three rules) that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. If that reminds you of the Strugatzki brothers’ classic science fiction novel Roadside Picnic, or the movie or even the video game that has been made of it, it reminded me, too, and not in a good way. Again, Theroux is content with spreading this coat, too, on the floor, not really committed to wearing it. Theroux dips in and out of the theme, suggesting loads of interesting ideas but following up on few of them. There is a strong undercurrent that is concerned with myth and modernity, and the Zone is part of that, but, as far as its execution is concerned, it’s sketchy at best.
I’ve left the writing for last. Far North is written in what seems to me to be an American idiom or, alternatively, a simple English based upon the American variety of English (I may well be wrong, since Theroux lives and works in London and has barely any connections to the US, according to his wiki). However, although it needs to be stated that Theroux enjoys making Makepeace say trite and trivial aphoristic sentences far too much, the writing is solid throughout the book. The contrast to a book like Paul Auster’s most recent novel Invisible, which is similarly built with a great deal of grandstanding remarks, but written less well, shines a favorable light on that aspect of Theroux’ book, although, by itself, the writing’s not actually good. The simple language and even the flat aphoristic sentences are even put to good use in characterizing the simple mindset and education of Makepeace. As a reader I may have wished for more, for at least an attempt to use language in an interesting way, but you take what you get and with the slim pickings that the book otherwise provides, I’m fine with the writing. But, with all the coats tried on and spread on the floor for inspection, the novel feels quite bare. Not naked in any sensual or interesting sense, more like a mannequin robbed of its clothes. The face may charm you, but the body, in a bland color, with screws and joints visible, is a turn-off at best. Much to Theroux’ credit, the basic idea, the scenario, is a winner, it’s, as Grace would have said, a case of “and…voilà! a postapocalyptic novel!” and while his world-building is perfunctory and cliché-ridden, Theroux is competent enough not to ruin this solid foundation altogether. Far North‘s certainly no recommendation but it won’t make you chop off your own hand either in an attempt to forget the book. It’s really ok.
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October 29, 2009 by Shigekuni - Book Blog Categories: Literature (British), Literature (U.S.), Reviews, Science Fiction Reviews | Tags: Marcel Theroux, National Book Award, Sherrill E. Grace | 6 Comments
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The Rise, Fall and Rise Of Retirees
HomeMoney / Personal FinanceThe Rise, Fall and Rise Of Retirees
/ Bernard Salt, The Australian
Deep below the surface of the Australian people there are powerful tectonic forces that can shift consumer and property markets. These forces might stem from the 1960s and earlier, but they are surfacing this decade and will continue into the next.
We all understand the baby boom and its effect on the school-age market in the 1970s, on household formation in the 1980s, and on the demand for sea-change property in the 2000s.
But over the next seven years Australia (and other nations) will pass through a different phase as the baby-boomer generation shifts wholly into retirement.
The net annual number added to Australia’s 65-plus population averaged 20,000 over the half-century to 1980. Over the following 30 years this number ramped up to 50,000, but from 2011 onwards the number has jumped to 120,000.
Our rising retiree population results from the inflow and outflow of migrants and the interplay between the number of deaths and the number of people turning 65. Its recent uplift is being driven by a surge in retirees born in the early years of the baby boom (1946-1956) and who are now turning 65.
But the retiree market is also being driven by a global trend of longevity. There’s more people hanging around in their 80s and the 90s, whereas a century ago most people died in their 60s. Longevity, plus the 1950s baby boom, is shaping demand for business, for property and for government services.
It’s tempting to think that “longevity” will increase the retirement population for decades into the future, but this is not the case. The time to be in retirement services — however this sector might be defined — is very much over the coming decade.
There’s way more people hanging around in their 80s and the 90s, whereas a century ago most people died in their 60s.
The number of Australians annually added to the 65-plus bucket will peak at 137,000 in 2026, then dramatically contract to 54,000 by 2043, and then recover to 126,000 by 2060.
Australia’s retirement population will never actually contract over the next half century, but this cohort’s growth rate will rise, then fall, then rise again.
So, how does all this coming and going of the retirement market affect business and careers today?
Let’s say that you’re in your mid-30s working in aged care, in financial planning, in health care or in the delivery of government services. You entered the workforce in the mid-2000s; you prospered because of the demographic uplift brought about by retiring baby-boomers.
You fight your way to the top of the sector over the next decade as more baby-boomers enter retirement. By your mid 40s you will be at the top of an industry that has expanded every year for 20 consecutive years. It looks like you made a prescient career choice all those years ago.
But then something happens. The market subsides. The skills that got you to the top are no longer relevant in the 2030s. In the decades to 2026 it was all about expansion and getting the model right; in the decade beyond 2026 it will be about cost-cutting, taking market share and managing mergers and takeovers.
This year, and the subsequent six years, is precisely the time to acquire, to build, to invest and to grow businesses associated with retirement, with older healthcare, with life’s later indulgences (for example, cruises), with medical technology such as titanium hips, with the provision of financial planning advice and the development of downshifter properties.
In fact, plan to sell your business in 2026 at the demographic peak of the retirement market.
The time to reduce business and career exposure to this market is in the 2026-2031 time frame, as growth in the 65-plus bucket plummets 30 per cent to 100,000 a year. The retirement sector is still growing, but at a reduced rate.
There is a different skill set required to prosper in a falling market than there is in a rising market.
Throughout the 2030s the strategy might be to acquire distressed businesses and assets in readiness for retirement’s second coming from 2043 onwards.
Maybe the aged-care sector should recruit from the manufacturing sector to get the right skills.
The reason why Australia’s 65-plus market rises and then falls is because of Gen X shrinkage. Rising birth rates between 1946 and 1961 are driving today’s retiree growth. But between 1961 and 1978 the introduction of the contraceptive pill caused birth rates to drop, producing a smaller Gen X cohort following the boomers.
And then of course came the voluminous millennial generation — the children of the baby-boomers — who will boost the 65-plus population from 2043 onwards.
So, there you have it. The reason why there will be a hiccup in the demand for retirement services in the 2030s is because of the pill, which delivered a modest pool of Xers in the 1960s.
But the 65-plus market is actually a grab bag of subgroups that hang around the workforce exit.
It is true that an increasing proportion of over-65s will work, but this will always remain a relatively small number.
At the younger end (65-69) of this grab bag are workers as well as “big trip” travellers, suburban downshifters and an assortment of corporate types in denial and who simply refuse to retire.
The 70s deliver grandparents, legacy-seekers and wellness and enlightenment pursuers.
The 80s and beyond are society’s greatest consumers of healthcare and of a range of government support services.
The 85-plus bucket really is ground zero for the healthcare and the aged-care sectors. There’s about 500,000 Australians aged 85-plus today; this number is currently growing at 10,000 a year in net terms. This market will expand exponentially over the next decade, peaking at growth of 53,000 in 2032.
The strategy, then, should be to continue with the development of retirement homes, the provision of retiring living services, the management of SMSFs, until the mid-2020s and then expand and/or diversify into total healthcare, into delivery of powers of attorney, into ultraluxury cruising, indeed into all of the accoutrement of the dependently aged.
One of the great challenges for business is that from the perspective of age 45 and younger, the 65-plus market looks like a big grey blob. But, up close the market is clearly stratified with each layer being subjected to different demographic forces. Work, superannuation and indulgence eventually give way to family, reflection and legacy, which in turn give way to almost a spiritual preoccupation with the meaning of life.
Business needs to be aware of the big-picture demographics as well as of the segments within the grab bag world that lives, loves and lingers beyond the end of work.
Bernard Salt is managing director of The Demographics Group. Research by Simon Kuestenmacher.
Robo Adviser’s Retirement Role
Money / Personal Finance, News, Retirement
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Cheryl Jones is the host of the radio show Good Grief. She is also a grief counselor, cancer educator and is Manager of Professional Education at the Women’s Cancer Resource Center (Oakland, CA), where she developed, manages and teaches in their Continuing Education program.
Frank Samson: I'd like to introduce our guest today who will discuss a very important subject matter that we're all going to be facing. We have with us Cheryl Jones. She is a host of a talk radio show called Good Grief. She is also a grief counselor, cancer educator, and a Manager of the Professional Education at the Women's Cancer Resource Center. It is in Oakland, California, where she develops, manages, and teaches their continuing education program. She has trained extensively with Erving Polster, leader in the field of gestalt therapy and author of Everybody's Life is Worth a Novel. She also facilitates grief workshops, integrating music into the art of remembrance. Cheryl, thanks so much for joining us on The Aging Boomers. I really appreciate it.
Cheryl Jones: It's a pleasure. Thanks for having me.
Frank: First of all, thank you for what you do on your show. I know you've helped educate a lot of people, as we try to do on The Aging Boomers. On your show, “Good Grief”, you talk to people who've made something pretty miraculous out of a difficult situation, heartaches that they have through loss, and I want to talk to you about some of those experiences of your guests, but first I would like to ask you about your own story. You have your own story of loss and transformation from that loss, so tell us a little more about that, if you would.
Cheryl: I like to start there, because it’s at the heart of everything that I do in my work life, and also the way that I think about my personal life. I guess I sometimes think of it like I skipped the line on aging boomers, and faced a lot of the issues that many of my aging friends are facing now. I'm 63, but I faced them early, when my first wife was diagnosed with a very, very lethal form of cancer. We were in our mid-to-late 30s at that time, and she was given a 6-month to 1-year prognosis. There's been such a change in cancer; that was during the period where doctors offered a prognoses. These days, I don't feel they do very much, because they don't know. That landscape has changed so much, but she was given that timeline, and she then lived 8 1/2 years. She never was considered in remission, she was ill that whole time.
The form of cancer she had was substantially disabling, it affected her bones, lots of broken bones and surgeries, and so death was never really out of our minds. The fact that death would arrive for her, in all probability, sooner than it would for me, and of course, we came to know that you never know. Lots of our friends who were just fine when she was diagnosed were dead before she was. For whatever reason, maybe because of the nature of our relationship and both of our personalities, we tackled it, as opposed to trying to put it aside. I'm not sure how that would have been possible, but I see people try, for sure, and so we were very immersed in that period with how to die, how to face loss, which, honestly, within a couple of years, transformed into "how to live well."
It transformed not just our relationship, our community, and our way of living, but after she died, I realized that it had transformed me, that I was a remarkably different person. I had been extremely shy in my early life, I'd be the first one to leave the party, just socially uncomfortable, kind of an insulated and introverted type of person, by and large, and afterwards, I was not like that at all. You can see that in what I do now, it is very public. That was that experience, and during that same period, I was training as a counselor, and so the two got folded together. I've always called myself a grief counselor; I've always felt that no matter what the issue is that someone is bringing into my office, there's loss involved. Maybe that's a particular lens I gathered during that time, but it has really helped me, and what's helped me even more is understanding that something can come out of a bad experience that is profound, that we can learn, that we can grow, that there's a way to make meaning out of difficulty.
Frank: You are interviewing people who are going through it, have gone through it, or professionals like yourself in the industry? Who are the people that you're interviewing?
Cheryl: The vast majority of the people that I interview have had some form of loss, and, of course, losing someone to death is not the only kind of loss that we experience in our lives, but my guests have had some form of loss, and something has come out of it that's remarkable. I would never be doing a show called "Good Grief" without having had that experience? I really highly doubt it, so for me, as an example, where that loss led, is something completely unexpected. That's true of most of my guests, that you could not have predicted what they would end up doing, and that the loss catalyzed something.
Then there are some people who have changed the way they do things because of their loss, or the people with whom they do things, because of their loss. I think I've had a couple guests who came from a much more professional viewpoint and had just been drawn to that kind of work, and have been changed by doing the work, but that's very rare. It's very rare that someone is drawn to working with grief of any sort, or end of life, or illness, without any experience of it in their own lives. That's very, very rare, from my view.
Frank: Before your wife became ill, what work you were doing? You're a psychotherapist, correct?
Cheryl: I was training to be a psychotherapist when she was diagnosed.
Frank: You were training. This continued and really led more into a specialty, in a sense, right?
Cheryl: Yes, that's a way to put it. I had very good therapy myself, and that's what led me to be interested in that field, and I would say that it was kind of more typical life problems I was dealing with, like anxiety, and trying to adjust to being a parent, and a kind of life adjustment, how to relate better. That helped me a great deal, and changed me, certainly. I didn't use the word "transformation" in regard to myself until this profound and deep loss in my life. Certainly, all the things that I had engaged in to change my life before that probably helped to favor that transformation, but I've seen people radically change without all that preliminary, if you will, just as a result of a major loss.
Frank: I'm sure that you've done a lot of interviews with people, and when I think of it, I can think of a few that stand out in my mind. Can you tell us a little bit about any particular interview that stands out in your mind?
Cheryl: Sure, one person I talk about a lot and think really exemplifies what I'm talking about is a woman named Terri Wingham. She was a corporate person, and in PR, from a young age, finished college, went right into that, that was always her plan, and then she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Maybe some people don't think of it this way, but I consider cancer to be a major loss, actually more than one type of loss. For sure, you lose the confidence in your health and longevity that you had before. She got cancer, she did treatment, it was successful, she went back to her job. There's a lot of detail within that, but those are the outlines. She could not do it anymore. Within a year, she realized that she could no longer do the work that she did before, and so she quit her job. It was pretty risky because she had just become established. She then sat in her house saying, "What do I do now?”
She had a thought, "I'm going to go to Africa." She had never had such a thought before. That had not been on her radar whatsoever, but she, having nothing better to do, I guess, followed the impulse, and she thought, "Well, if I'm going to Africa, I should offer some kind of service," so she found a place to volunteer some time. She did that, she went on safari, and it was very life-changing for her. Then she thought, "This really helped me to assimilate cancer and send me forward," so she started a nonprofit, it's called A Fresh Chapter, where she takes groups of people all over the world, people who've had cancer and their caregivers, and they offer service and have an adventure. For instance, they go to India, they offer service in a school there, and they go visit the Taj Mahal.
She's using some of her previous skills to market the program, but there's no way her life would have predicted that turn. That came out of loss, and one thing I've noticed repeatedly is that when you've suffered with your grief, when you've grappled with it, I don't think just loss does it, I think it's that struggle that eventually causes people to surrender to their grief, and allow it. Once you've done that, these kind of, we could call them "brainstorms" or "intuitions," the things that come to you to do, have a lot of power, and they're not coming from "how can I be good at this," and "how do I impress people." All those usual achievement factors are less important than "this is what's calling me." That's what I've noticed with all my guests, almost all my guests, and they would say that the loss was a part of that. How they dealt with the loss, and how they came to allow it, was a part of that.
Frank: Would you say that most of your guests, as well as your clients that you deal with as a grief counselor, are the individuals that are experiencing that loss themselves, the ones that have a disease, like cancer, or other loved ones who are going through it because of their spouse or loved one?
Cheryl: Oh, it varies. I have a particular love for memoir, because I have a particular love for story, so a lot of the people I interview, a very sizable portion, are people who have had some terrible loss and written about it. They've survived, and then grown, and then shared. There's a guest of mine who I've interviewed several times, Marianna Cacciatore, and she actually interviewed me for my very first show, as well. She's writing a book right now about love, grief, and generosity. I just interviewed her a couple of weeks ago about that new book, which is not published yet. Her idea is that when we struggle with loss, and come through it in some way ... "Get over it" is not a phrase I resonate with at all. I think we come through changed. Once that happens, there's a kind of impulse to give, and that might be that you become the person that gets called when someone else is diagnosed, or when someone else loses a child.
It could be that simple, and it could be these big things, like writing a book, or starting a nonprofit, or becoming a doctor, or having a radio show, all of those things that are more eye-catching, I guess, or that seem sort of huger than you would have predicted. I really agree with her that there's some different motivation for action that comes when you've gone through a major loss. Of course that's true for my guests. I'd be a good example of that. I had to wait for the right impulse, which was just a little voice in my head that said, "Take this to a broader audience." That's what was going on when someone asked me to do a radio show, that thought was pushing at my mind, as opposed to the other way around.
Frank: What's your suggestion to those out there that either are going through it themselves, or they have a loved one going through it? Some people react differently, like you said earlier, I mean, you might have someone that just doesn't want to talk about it and just holds everything in, which obviously is not healthy, but everybody's different. What's your recommendation in a situation like that?
Cheryl: I wouldn’t say, “Obviously, it’s not healthy.”
Frank: Okay, all right, good.
Cheryl: I would say that you need to trust grief. That is very hard, because we are actually not trained in this culture to trust our feelings at all, and grief is a kind of miasma of different feelings. I do think it takes two things, two major categories of things, to have the kind of experience I'm talking about with grief. One is solitude. I think that there's a way we have to be alone with our grief some of the time. Paradoxically, the other is witness. We need people in community, or a community could be several people one at a time, but I think we do need witness. We need someone to see what we've gone through and receive it.
If you're in the solitude part of that, you might not want to go out, you might not want to show up at the party, so to speak, and that's just fine. I think that can be differentiated from depression, for instance. Grief and depression really are not as similar as they seem. They might result in the same action, but they're not coming from the same place. A grief invited moves. You have many different feelings, and grief tends to be full of feeling, and depression tends to be dull, and tends to consistently pull you down. I think the mind speaks differently. Depression tends to speak in a very self-critical and demeaning voice, and grief tends to speak in a more loving voice, if it's invited.
Frank: That's a good point, because it's important for loved ones to understand that and recognize the difference.
Cheryl: I notice with my clients who have, in their lives, been deeply depressed, it's a little harder for them to trust grief, because it looks a little the same. Maybe they don't want to get out of bed one day, and they get scared that they're depressed, and then they make themselves get out of bed, and then grief doesn't get its moment, if that makes sense. I think the biggest skill it takes to grieve well is to allow yourself to connect with your deeper self. I had all that time to prepare. I'll use myself as an example. We went to a lot of Stephen and Ondrea Levine workshops. He died just a few months ago, but he has written lots of books on what I'm talking about, accepting your own experience, learning to be with your own experience.
We'd had a ton of practice with that, and somewhere along the line, when it became clear that she was getting closer to death, I thought, "Okay, for at least a year after she dies, I'm giving myself everything my grief wants that I can. If I can afford it, if I can get someone to take care of my kids, and if I can get the time, and I'm going to work hard to get the time, I'm giving it to myself." I found grief to be a very deep and meaningful experience. That preparation actually did help a lot, and there was something very satisfying in caring for myself that way, because I don't think we're taught to do that.
Frank: You went through that kind of grief after. You said your wife had several years after she was diagnosed, and you were able to communicate and, in a sense, share it together for some time. Not everybody has that experience, it could come suddenly.
Cheryl: That's right. I'm thinking of a guest I had recently, her name is Anne-Marie Cockburn. I'm not sharing my more famous guests, because I'm sharing who's coming to my mind. Her daughter was 15 when she tried ecstasy for the first time and died. Quite an accomplished young woman, nothing to predict her actually trying that, really. She had the immediate thought, "I still have a life," which is quite remarkable, that she had that thought, but I've heard that from a few people that have lost children, that against all reason, they realized right away, "I have to keep living.”
She, at the very same time, really allowed herself to grieve. Her family and friends took care of her, she didn't go back to work, she wrote. That's something ... I tend to go to music, but many people go to writing, and I think it's important to say that creative expression really helps grief. Grief loves a creative expression. She wrote, and she wrote for 5742 days, and ... No, I'm sorry, she wrote for, I think, 100 days, and what she named the book was "5742 Days," because that's how long her daughter had lived. She wasn't in the same place at different times. Her book is a very good representation of how many different places we go with grief, but she just let it be, and came through very well.
I feel, for myself, quite strangely grateful for all that time, but the amount of time doesn't determine things. It changes the course a little, like I could have that advance thought, "I'm giving myself everything that I need," but I've seen people come to it through sudden loss. The other thing is that one, in a sense, prepares for the other. My father did die suddenly, years later, and obviously, that was a profound event in my life, but what I had done to come to terms with loss and grief itself did help me quite a lot, and it helped me show up, you know, and just stay with him as he died, and not be afraid of it, because I'd already experienced it. Every grief is different, but your own capacity to be with it increases from loss to loss, I think.
Frank: Cheryl, unfortunately, we're near the end here, but I want to make sure you share with our listeners how they can get more information about your show, so they can listen to it as well, and any contact information you would like to share. Why don't you go ahead and do that, and then, unfortunately, we'll have to sign off.
Cheryl: Absolutely! The easiest way to get to the show is to just put in the search bar "Good Grief, VoiceAmerica," and that's all one word, "VoiceAmerica," put no space in between, and I will pop up. That is the easiest way. Once you are at that page, it has every show, every interview I've ever had, and I've been doing it for almost three years now, and it also has links to my website and all my social media. Just in case someone would rather go to my website directly, it's weatheringgrief.com. I do, as you mentioned,counseling in the Bay Area, and I do teach. I am also a speaker and do grief workshops, so people can get on my mailing list, and they'll find out about everything I do, including notices about the show every week.
Frank: Great, Cheryl.
Cheryl: It's also available, just like you, on iTunes, Stitcher, all of those outlets, so they can look for the show there too, under "Good Grief."
Frank: All right, check it out, Good Grief. Cheryl Jones, thank you so much for joining us. You're a wealth of information, and I really appreciate it very much.
Cheryl: You're very welcome. It was a pleasure.
Frank: It was a pleasure for me as well. I want to thank everybody out there again for joining us on The Aging Boomers. Just be safe out there, and we'll talk to y'all soon.
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Loose Canons
The Military Clemencies Trump Got Right
Once again the president is attacked for acting well within his powers.
by Jed Babbin
Regardless of what President Trump does, the media are quick to find “experts” to condemn his action. They’re doing that right now to the president’s decision to grant clemency to three military men — two Army officers, one of whom was a special forces major, and one Navy chief petty officer who was a SEAL operator.
The “experts” are whining that Trump’s intervention in these cases interferes with the military justice system under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) as well as military order and discipline. In at least two of the three cases — those against former Army Lt. Clint Lorance and Navy Chief Petty Officer Eddie Gallagher — that’s nonsense because both cases had reached final decisions. In these cases, at least, it was precisely the right time for Trump to act. The case against former Army Maj. Matt Golsteyn is more complicated.
Article 2, Section 2 of the Constitution gives the president unfettered power to pardon or grant clemency in the case of every federal crime, which obviously includes crimes under the UCMJ. The only limitation on that power is that a president can’t undo an impeachment. Some presidents use that power corruptly.
Remember President Clinton’s pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich? Rich was a big-time crook who had cheated people (and the government) out of millions of dollars. He was a former hedge fund manager under indictment for wire fraud, tax evasion, and racketeering who fled to Switzerland with part of what he had stolen. Clinton, on the last day he was in office, pardoned Rich for all of his federal crimes.
It’s unsurprising that Clinton did so because Rich’s ex-wife had made generous contributions to the Democratic Campaign Committee, the Clinton presidential library, and Hillary’s Senate campaign. While Adam Schiff remains insistent that Trump is guilty of bribery, Schiff would never accuse the ex–Mrs. Rich of bribery, far less accuse Clinton of accepting and acting upon bribes.
In January 2017, just before he left the presidency, Barack Obama commuted the 35-year sentence of Army private Chelsea (née Bradley) Manning, who had been convicted of violating the Espionage Act by illegally copying and giving to WikiLeaks tens of thousands of classified documents. Manning had served seven years of his sentence.
Obama’s action wasn’t politically corrupt. Manning was (is) a homosexual activist who leaked the documents in protest of the Clinton-era “don’t ask, don’t tell” law that prevented Manning from serving while openly homosexual. Obama — who was at the time conversing with Hillary about top-secret information on her “Clintonmail” unsecured system — didn’t care about keeping government secrets. He cared more about gay votes.
Both the Clinton pardon of Marc Rich and the Obama commutation of Bradley Manning’s sentence were corrupt. Trump’s actions in pardoning the two Army officers and ordering restoration of the SEAL’s rank and pay were precisely — in two of the cases — the right thing to do.
Last week, President Trump pardoned Major Matt Golsteyn and First Lt. Clint Lorance. He also ordered the restoration of rank and pay to Navy CPO Eddie Gallagher, all of whom had been accused of war crimes. These weren’t Trump’s first pardons of military men. In May, he pardoned former Army Lt. Michael Behenna, who had been convicted of unpremeditated murder for shooting an al-Qaeda suspect in 2008. Behenna claimed self-defense, and the appellate court, while affirming the conviction, expressed concerns about how the trial court had considered the self-defense claim. Behenna, serving a 25-year sentence, was released on parole in 2014. Trump was right to pardon him.
Of the three new cases, Gallagher’s is the easiest to understand. He was charged with murdering an ISIS fighter who had been wounded. The charges were brought after members of his platoon — a bunch of more junior SEALs who resented Gallagher’s efforts to bring discipline to his unit — were the principal witnesses.
The Navy treated Gallagher terribly and interfered illegally in his defense. He was kept in solitary confinement, his visitors severely limited. And Navy investigators and prosecutors spied on Gallagher’s lawyers throughout Gallagher’s pretrial confinement leading up to the trial.
Trump, after learning of the solitary confinement, ordered that Gallagher’s pretrial confinement be less restrictive. In doing so, the president did interfere improperly if understandably. But not now.
At Gallagher’s trial, another SEAL, Petty Officer Corey Scott, confessed to blocking the ISIS man’s breathing tube and killing him. Gallagher was acquitted of the murder charge and convicted of posing with the dead body of an ISIS fighter. He was sentenced to a reduction in rank and pay. (Gallagher retired from the Navy after the trial.)
Trump’s restoration of Gallagher’s rank and pay — which means a lot for his pension — was not only justified but also the right thing to do. So was his order rescinding the commendations that the Navy had given Gallagher’s prosecutors despite their misconduct.
The cases of former Lt. Lorance and former Maj. Golsteyn are quite different.
Lorance’s platoon was patrolling in southern Afghanistan in July 2012 when three men on a motorcycle approached his position at high speed, reportedly ignoring signals to stop. Lorance ordered his men to open fire, killing all three.
At his court martial, nine members of his platoon testified against Lorance, some of whom were given immunity in order to do so. Lorance was convicted of two counts of second-degree murder and sentenced to 19 years in prison. By the time Trump pardoned him, Lorance had served more than six years of the sentence.
Lorance is the victim of the second-guessing that happens in every war. He paid the price of deciding to protect his men from an evident danger that turned out later to have been ephemeral. By pardoning Lorance, Trump gave him back his life.
Maj. Golsteyn’s case is even more complicated. It has dragged on since 2010. After Golsteyn had questioned a suspected bomb maker in Afghanistan’s violent Helmand province, the man was released and later found shot to death outside the base. No charges were brought against Golsteyn at the time, and he left the Army.
In applying for a job with the CIA in 2015, Golsteyn admitted to a role in the shooting. He was recalled to active duty, and his court martial was scheduled for February 2020.
That’s where things gets more complex. Golsteyn reportedly said he had shot the man because he believed his bomb-making would have continued to threaten American lives. Last year, Trump tweeted that Golsteyn was a “military hero.”
Trump should have waited until Golsteyn’s court martial had concluded and he was either convicted or found innocent. By tweeting that Golsteyn was a hero and pardoning him before the court martial, Trump interfered improperly in the military justice system. Once the court martial had concluded, a pardon could have been immediate and entirely appropriate if Golsteyn had been convicted of any offense.
Like its civilian counterpart, the military justice system is imperfect. Clemency, particularly for soldiers, sailors, and airmen who make split-second life-or-death decisions during battle, is almost always appropriate — but only after the system has been allowed to do its job.
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Stevenage Community Food Bank
Accreditation's and Legalities
Everyone needs good advice, whoever you are.
Citizens Advice reacts to announcement on local government fundingPublished 02/07/2020
Citizens Advice welcomes the new funding package for local councils announced today. It says the commitment to look at council tax debt in more detail in the forthcoming spending review is an opportunity to help those in financial difficulties caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Dame Gillian Guy, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, said:
“Local councils have seen their incomes drop sharply during the coronavirus pandemic. The government’s new financial support package will no doubt be welcome news.
“Millions of people have also had to cope with a sudden fall in income, and are struggling to pay their council tax and other essential bills. It was good to see this problem recognised in today’s announcement, and a commitment to look at council tax debt in more detail in the forthcoming spending review.
“It’s an opportunity for the government to help lift people out of the financial difficulties caused by three months of coronavirus lockdown, and prevent them becoming entangled in longer term debt problems.”
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Don’t Get Left Behind
Jonathan Carabba February 22nd, 2011
Veteran funnyman Kevin Nealon strives to keep current
Many experts argue that laughter is good for you. They say it’s therapeutic to the mind, body and soul, that it relaxes the whole body and even boosts the immune system. If this is the case, comedian/actor Kevin Nealon has been healing millions of people worldwide for decades. From 1986 to 1995, Nealon was hilarious on Saturday Night Live (remember The Subliminal Man? How about Hanz and Franz?); he also had us rolling on the floor with his appearances in such films as Happy Gilmore, The Wedding Singer and Grandma’s Boy, and he’s currently keeping the laughs going as Doug Wilson, the stoner city councilman, accountant and part-time pot dealer on the hit Showtime series Weeds and as the lead in Glenn Martin, DDS, a stop-motion animated series on Nick at Nite.
One thing that’s stayed consistent throughout his lengthy career is his love for doing stand-up. He says that stand-up came first and then the acting gigs flowed. “That’s what I really wanted to do was stand-up comedy,” Nealon says of his early years. “The acting came secondary. Stand-up was what I loved and then I got on talk shows and then I was in that Roxanne movie with Steve Martin and I got on SNL in 1986, but I never stopped doing stand-up.”
Lucky for us he still hasn’t stopped, and on Jan. 14 and 15, 2011 he’ll bring his act to Tommy T’s Comedy Club in Rancho Cordova. Nealon was gracious enough to take some time to chat with Submerge while in Hawaii on vacation, sort of.
How’s Hawaii? Are you there for fun time or work time?
Well, it’s rest time to be ready for work. Or, you know, to recover from work I guess [laughs]. I don’t know. I had an interesting morning, though. I was at breakfast and this guy starting choking and a friend of mine did the Heimlich maneuver on him. I’d never saw that in person. He saved the guy’s life.
So you were just sitting there watching it all?
I was there just watching and enjoying my breakfast. I didn’t know that there was entertainment with the breakfast.
Talk about all-inclusive.
Yeah, but I’d never seen that actually happen in real life.
I’ve never seen that happen in real life either, but it’s one of those situations that’s depicted in so many movies and TV shows that you feel like you’ve seen it happen, you know?
Yeah and It’s usually in comedies where you see it, you know, where the thing pops out of the person’s mouth and goes flying across the room [laughs].
Probably wasn’t so funny in real life.
No, it was funny.
You’re going to appear in a ton of films this year. For example, Just Go With It, the Adam Sandler and Jennifer Anniston flick. You play a character called Adon, right? What can you tell us about that?
Well, Adon is Middle Eastern, and he’s a plastic surgery junky. He can’t get enough and he’s fairly persuasive to the people around him. He just likes to have a good time and likes to look good.
I saw something on your website about that role that said, “You might not even recognize me.” Was there major makeup involved?
Oh yeah, it was six hours in the makeup chair. I think we shot like three or four days and they only used one scene. That’s the way movies are. It was fun doing the movie though, it was fun hanging out with Jennifer and Sandler and I think it’s going to be a funny movie.
Heidi Montag plays your wife, right? That seems kind of fitting considering she’s a real-life plastic surgery addict. How was it working with her?
It was nice. She was very sweet. It couldn’t have been more pleasant. She was very eager.
How about the Nick Swardson and Christina Ricci porn-tinged comedy called Born to Be a Star. Who do you play in that?
That’s a fun one; I can’t wait until that one comes out! That’s a really funny film. I play Nick Swardson’s character’s abusive roommate trying to connect with Christina Ricci’s character. Nick’s character becomes my roommate because she asks my character to take him in and I’m just totally abusive to him. I don’t think you’ve seen anything more abusive.
Couple more. How about Jack and Jill, the one where Adam Sandler plays, well, Jack and Jill. How do you fit into that one?
Well I just play a doctor at the beginning of that film delivering two kids. And that’s actually Sandler’s sister who’s giving the baby in real life and his brother plays her husband [laughs].
Keeping it in the fam! Finally, there’s And They’re Off with Martin Mull and Sean Astin. Who do you play in that one?
That was a fun movie. My wife and I did that together. It’s more of an improv scene, which was really fun. Martin Mull and Sean Astin were great to work with. It was just a great day, one of those days where it clicks and it just goes by in an instant.
You thrive in improv situations, don’t you?
Yeah, we had a good time doing it. My wife was in The Groundlings for a while, the comedy company, so she loves improv too and she’s a great actress. It was kind of like playing all day, you know, and when you work with Martin Mull and Sean Astin it’s just a real heyday.
You’re a really busy guy! How do you shuffle all your projects?
Well, you know, it sounds like I’m busy, but for example I did that Swardson film over a year ago I think.
So on paper you’re busy?
Yeah, on paper it looks like I’m really busy and people tell me, “You got to slow down,” but really I have so much free time, it’s crazy.
As far as work ethic goes, whom do you look up to in the comedy world?
Well first and foremost Adam Sandler, that guy is a workhorse. He’s constantly working and looking forward to the next project. Sarah Silverman, Gary Shandling was also a big influence for me. If you go back a little bit, Albert Brooks. Steve Martin of course–he’s a genius.
You had a stand-up DVD out a while back called Now Hear Me Out. When can we expect another one?
I am actually working on one, yeah, that’s one of the reasons I’m doing so much stand-up is to come up with another special. That was my first one-hour special after all those years of doing stand-up. I figured it was time to do one. I’m such a perfectionist in a lot of ways, and I keep waiting to come up with better material, but you know what, that may never happen [laughs].
How tough is it for comedians to compile an hour’s worth of solid material to do a full-on special like that? It seems like it’s the equivalent of writing an album for a musician, or a screenplay for a writer, or a book for a novelist or something like that.
It is intense depending on the comic and how often they try their new material and write. Some of these comics come out with a new special every year, and they’re kind of not as good as their first special, because that’s when they had all of their material. Unlike musicians. I was just reading “The Beatles: 100 Greatest Songs” in Rolling Stone, and they had deadlines when they had to come up with songs, so they were kind of like forced to write songs by a certain time. Sometimes they came up with a great song, sometimes not so great, but they had record deadlines. But comedy has to be a little more organic, you know? You have to really find the material and hone it down. I’ve done stuff on talk shows, and I look back on it now and I think, “What happened to that hunk?” but I didn’t have the other half of that bit at that point.
When it comes to writing new material for your stand-up routine, where do you usually find your inspiration?
A lot of it is based on my life, you know, an exaggeration of my life. Or you know it’s me sitting with friends, talking and me coming up with something funny because I’m relaxed and loose. Like I was thinking about how people meditate, and I was thinking my New Year’s resolution would be to relax more, so I thought, “Maybe I should start meditating.” I tried that, but it becomes more of a worrying thing for me, I just start worrying. Then I thought maybe that’s because my mantra is, “Ohhhhh noooooo.”
Did becoming a father change the way you write your stand-up material?
Well, he’ll [Gable, Nealon’s son] be 4 at the end of January. Anytime you have a big life change like that, it kind of shifts your thinking pattern. It really was an influence on my writing, but I don’t have a lot of material about being a father. I had a lot of material about going through the pregnancy, in fact I wrote a book about it. As far as being a father, I haven’t really dissected that too much. I’m just kind of enjoying it. Some club owner told me once, “The best way to kill your career is just to do stuff about being a father.”
So that’s really stuck with you?
It has stuck a little, but I don’t know if it’s always true. I haven’t seen Seinfeld’s act lately, but I’m sure even he’s doing stuff about being a Dad. I mean Bill Cosby based his whole career on it.
Have you showed your son any of your movies or your stand-up DVD yet? If so, how did he react?
Oh yeah, he’s seen me in a few things. He’s watched Glen Martin, DDS and he heard my voice and recognized it. He points and he laughs and he goes, “Look it’s Daddy.” I think he thinks I go down to a Walmart or something and just put myself in a movie [laughs].
Weeds has had a ton of success; and in my opinion, your character, Doug Wilson, is one of the funnier ones on the show. How do you prepare for that sort of “stoner-ish” role? Because contrary to popular belief, you don’t smoke pot, do you?
That’s right. I think I go in with the attitude of a friend of mine who smokes a lot of pot, in that he basically doesn’t really have any concerns about the rest of the world. It’s kind of like he’s just looking out for what he enjoys doing, and if he has to make a decision between what’s right and what’s good for him, he’ll usually pick what’s good for him [laughs]. So I think it’s that kind of mental attitude that my character assumes, and he’s basically just out to have fun.
I bet you get people coming up to you all the time like, “You’re on Weeds, let’s go smoke a doobie!” That’s probably annoying, huh?
[Laughs] We went to Haight-Ashbury about a year ago, and you wouldn’t believe the amount people gave us. We were walking around, my wife and I, and I just had a hand full of pot.
I’m always curious about this with comedians: what makes you laugh?
Um, usually the Heimlich maneuver.
So this morning you were set, then huh?
Yeah, I fell off my chair. Real people doing unpredictable things makes me laugh. You know, Candid Camera used to be one of my favorite shows. You know what I mean, though, people not trying to be funny and it just happens. Or kids–kids are really funny. Just their rationale and thinking is just so funny because they are just so innocent. I like dry humor, you know, like Flight of the Concords and Eastbound and Down.
You just seem to be getting funnier with age. You’re like a fine wine or something. How much longer do you see yourself making people laugh?
Well yeah, I don’t think I’ll ever retire because I enjoy doing this. But you know, I start thinking about that as I get older. I think the most important thing is to kind of stay connected and relevant and to stay on top of things, so you can kind of relate to people that are younger than you.
With close to 1.3 million Twitter followers, I’d say you’re pretty on top of things.
[Laughs] Yeah, I guess so. Anyways, that’s my objective: stay current as much as possible.
If you missed Kevin Nealon when he was in Sacramento you can see him on Feb. 26, 2011 at Montbleu in South Lake Tahoe.
Swiss Army Stand-up • Sacramento’s Multi-Talented Cory Barringer Comes Clean on Music, Comedy and Digimon
Road Dogs: Keith Lowell Jensen & Johnny Taylor Jr. Birthday Show at Punch Line • March 4, 2020
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Summer Jump Off! 10 Events to Kick Off An Epic Sacramento Summer
Jonathan Carabba June 7th, 2018
This summer is already shaping up to be a great one in Sacramento, and to kick things off, the month of June is stacked with rad events, outdoor concerts, night markets and block parties galore. Besides all the other great stuff featured throughout this issue, we wanted to be sure to highlight these 10 fun events happening this month around Sacramento to help jump start your kick-ass summer.
Local indie mainstays Sun Valley Gun Club are throwing an album release party at the Red Museum (212 15th St.) on Friday, June 8, celebrating the release of their third album, the water, the stars. Also on the bill is Bastards of Young and Ani Maul. This will be a banger, folks. All ages, 8 p.m., $8.
The popular THIS Midtown Second Saturday block party series returns June 9 with live music from Viceroy, Pink Skies, DJ Greg J and others. The party goes down on 20th Street between K and J streets from 4:30 to 11 p.m. and features local artists, vendors, beer garden, cocktails and tons of fun. Visit Facebook.com/this916 for more. Free, all ages welcome.
UPcyclePOP’s upcoming Fathers Summer event is a market and art lab happening at 7300 Folsom Blvd. on Saturday, June 9, where you can watch artists upcycle discarded items into works of art, fashion, furniture and other creative inventions. Sip on a drink, check out the live music jam, and pick up a unique Father’s Day gift. Noon to 6 p.m., no cover, family friendly event. Upcyclepop.com for more info.
June is pride month! Celebrate the LGBTQ community at the massive Sacramento Pride Parade March and Festival on Sunday, June 10. The free, all-ages parade march kicks off at 11 a.m. at 3rd and N street, and ends at 10th and N street. The festival is $10 (kids 10-and-under are free) and takes place on Capitol Mall between 3rd and 7th streets from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visit Sacramentopride.org for more.
Keeping with the pride theme, don’t miss the next installment of the always awesome ArtMix series at Crocker Art Museum (216 O St.) on Thursday, June 14 from 6 to 9:30 p.m. Pride the Musical is the theme, and the 21-and-over event will feature performances from Britney Spares and Friends, Underground Theatre Company, Green Valley Theatre Company, DJ Lady Char, Sacramento Gay Men’s Chorus and many others. Free for Crocker members, or just $10 otherwise. Crockerart.org for tickets.
The inaugural Front Street Brewfest is Saturday, June 16 from noon to 5 p.m. and all proceeds benefit Friends of Front Street Animal Shelter. Expect 30-plus breweries, unlimited beer tastings, SactoMoFo food trucks, live entertainment and games, all in a block party environment. The fest takes place at 2127 Front St. Visit Frontstreetbrewfest.com for more info and to purchase tickets, which are $40, or $10 for non-drinkers.
Check out some high-energy, hard-hitting roller derby action at the Sacramento Roller Derby’s upcoming Double Header on Saturday, June 16 at The Rink (2900 Bradshaw Road). Doors open at 6 p.m., snag tickets in advance through Brownpapertickets.com.
Capital Public Radio is throwing a cool Tiny Desk Sacramento concert in the CapRadio Garden (7055 Folsom Blvd.) on Saturday, June 16 from 6 to 8 p.m. featuring performances from some of the station’s music guru Nick Brunner’s favorite regional Tiny Desk contest entries, like Lillian Frances from Davis, Stop Motion Poetry from Modesto, and Bobby Waller from Sacramento. Free event! Facebook.com/capradio for more.
Hometown heroes Dance Gavin Dance return to rock the Concerts in the Park stage on Friday, June 22 at Cesar Chavez Plaza (9th and J streets). Also performing is Nerv, VERNO and DJs from Emo Night Sacramento. CIP is always free, and always a good time. Runs from 5 to 9 p.m. Hit up Godowntownsac.com or Facebook.com/cipsacramento for more.
Check out the first-ever Our Street Night Market on Saturday, June 23 on R Street between 11th and 12th streets. This open-air party runs from 7 p.m. until late night (1 a.m.) and will feature a ton of vendors, street food, a beer garden, two bars, arcade games, a silent disco, salsa dancing and more. Free event, all ages welcome.
**This piece first appeared in print on page 8 of issue #267 (June 4 – 18, 2018)**
Grass Valley’s Center for the Arts to Host B: The Underwater Bubble Show • March 19, 2020
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Posted on March 4, 2015 September 20, 2019 by The Strand Magazine
The Strand Magazine publishes in-depth and exclusive interviews with some of today’s most renowned writers, actors, and producers. We have featured interviews with Sir Peter Ustinov, Anne Perry, Elizabeth George, Colin Dexter, Mary Higgins Clark, Dick Francis, Sue Grafton, Elmore Leonard, Tony Hillerman, Sir John Gielgud, Michael Bond, and David Suchet.
Don Winslow – The Number One bestselling author spoke about the drug war, his long path to success, and the writing craft.
Caleb Carr – The author of The Alienist shared the inspiration of his tour-de-force with us and also spoke about the craft of writing, history, and Theodore Roosevelt.
Steven Moffat – The writer and producer of the hit TV series Sherlock spoke to us about his admiration for Arthur Conan Doyle and a gave us a behind the scenes look at working with Benedict Cumberbatch.
Heather Graham –The bestselling author talks history, romance, and vampires.
C.J. Box – The bestselling Wyoming author shares his tips on how to write a bestselling novel and gives us the scoop on his journey to becoming a top thriller author.
Robert Crais – The bestselling author of L.A. Requiem gives us a glimpse into the creative process behind his wonderful crime novels.
Dick Francis – The late writer and racing jockey shared his experiences and over an hour and a half was a great storyteller.
Colin Dexter – The creator of Inspector Morse spoke to Andrew Gulli about the inspiration behind his characters, the writing process, and the city of Oxford (the location for most of his books).
A.E. Hotchner – Talks about Hemingway, Bullfights, and Paul Newman.
Hank Phillippi Ryan -Gives us the scoop on how investigative reporting has a long shadow
Mickey Spillane – Perhaps one of the feistiest interview subjects–Spillane gave this entertaining interview just a few months before he passed away.
Elmore Leonard – While in Leonard’s office, the legendary writer mapped out his work technique and of course gave some much needed advice to aspiring writers, “cut out the parts which readers skip.”
Reginald Hill – The award winning creator of Dalziel and Pascoe shared the lessons he’s learned after over thirty years of writing some of the best British mysteries.
Robert B. Parker – The late but never to be forgotten Parker was a wisecracking interview subject, but beneath that steely exterior you could see the vast warmth and intellect that Parker possesed.
Alexander McCall Smith – If there was ever a writer whose books matched his warmth and generosity, it’s Alexander McCall Smith. The bestselling author of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency spoke about his experiences in Africa, Law, books, and his incredible imagination.
Sue Grafton – The bestselling author of the Alphabet series of books, spoke about her characters, working as a screenplay writer, and of course gave some tips on finding a good hamburger in California.
Elizabeth George – During the hour long interview, virtually gave a writing clinic which would not only interest aspiring writers but readers as well.
Jeffery Deaver – A sincere, and frank interview subject, Jeffery Deaver is universally acknowledged as one of the greatest living thriller writers, his words of wisdom about writing, educational system, and the creative process made this one of the best interviews ever published in the Strand.
R.L. Stine – The creator of the phenomenally successful Goosebumps is also a huge mystery thriller fan with excellent forays in to the adult mystery genre.
Douglas Preston – The acclaimed thriller author spoke about an episode in his life that’s almost as strange as a plot in one of his books.
David Baldacci – The author of mass market thrillers, who has elevated the genre and written several “thinking men’s” books shared his knowledge about the craft of writing, reading, and his struggles as a writer before achieving enormous success.
Stacy Keach – The well known star of Mike Hammer spoke to the managing editor of the Strand Andrew Gulli about his long and illustrious career as an actor.
Anne Perry – If there is a mystery writer today who can pick up where John Dickson-Carr, Dorothy Sayers, G.K. Chesterton, and Arthur Conan Doyle left off, it would certainly be Anne Perry. Her books have sold more than ten million copies worldwide, earning her a reputation as one of the most popular writers today.
David Suchet – is known to millions of people around the world for his superb portrayal of Agatha Christie’s Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, in London Weekly Television’s series Poirot, which lasted for six years-from 1988 to 1994. After a five year hiatus Mr. Suchet has reprised the role of Hercule Poirot in two new films by A&E.
Michael Bond – Since 1983 mystery fans have enjoyed Michael Bond’s series of detective comedies featuring retired Surete member Monsieur Aristide Pamplemousse and his dog Pommes Frites. The Monsieur Pamplemousse novels are a unique blend of comedy and mystery just what you’d expect from the creator of the very unique Paddington Bear. Mr. Bond spoke to Andrew Gulli about his early writing career, the inspiration behind his two most famous characters, and the state of writing in general.
Sir Peter Ustinov – is a man of many talents. He has used his talents as an actor, playwright, director, producer, writer, and set designer to entertain and enlighten audiences the world over. He remains an eloquent and tireless voice for world peace and understanding between nations. For the past 31 years he has served as ambassador-at-large for UNICEF.
Christopher Lee In a career spanning over four decades, Christopher Lee has entertained audiences in a wide variety of roles, portraying characters that range from the diabolical and sinister to the wise and elderly, justly earning a reputation as one of the world’s most versatile actors
Peter Lovesey – is widely regarded around the world as one of the most skilled practitioners of both the historical and the contemporary crime novel. His long list of award-winning novels and short stories, whether set in Victorian or contemporary times, capture their respective periods evocatively through Lovesey’s canny ear for dialogue and seamless interweaving of plot and atmosphere.
Michael York – The esteemed and versatile actor shared his thoughts with us about his career, his writing, and his upcoming projects.
Mildred Wirt Benson – The Strand magazine has an exclusive interview with original Carolyn Keene, the original author of the Nancy Drew series.
Joss Ackland – One of England finest stage and character actors spoke to about his long career and his various dark and villainous roles, from films such as Lethal Weapon to Raymond Chandler’s “House on Turk Street.”
Sir John Mortimer – The creator of Rumpole of the Bailey spoke to us about Rumpole, his legal career, his plays, and best-selling novels.
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Dancers Ranch
3000 6th St SW Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Dancers Ranch Cedar Rapids, Iowa ONE OF EASTERN IOWA HOTTEST NIGHTCLUBS!! COME JOIN US AND FIND OUT FOR YOURSELF
Lumberyard CR
Lumberyard CR Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Woody’s Showclub
Woody's Showclub Cedar Rapids, Iowa Woody's is an intimate setting for social gathering and live adult entertainment.
3 places in "Iowa/Cedar Rapids"
Guide and advice to the best Strip Clubs in Cedar Rapids.
Strip Clubs in Cedar Rapids, Sister club The Lumberyard II can be found in Cedar Rapids. Which is also home to topless club Dancers Ranch and fully nude Woody’s Show Club.
The lack of many name brand Strip Clubs in Cedar Rapids means the ones you’ll visit will have lower prices. But without the major amenities that larger clubs offer. The Strip Clubs in Cedar Rapids offer a mix of bikini bar, topless and fully nude offerings.
Most of the fully nude clubs are BYOB or juice bars, while others offer full bar options for your drinking pleasure. As for prices, most of the clubs offer dances at the industry average of $20 per song.
While nighttime cover charges are usually at or below the $10 industry average. Prostitution is illegal in Cedar Rapids, as it is within the rest of the country. With the exception of a select number of counties in the state of Nevada. Cedar Rapids is the second-largest city in Iowa and is the county seat of Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River, 20 miles (32 km) north of Iowa City and 100 miles (160 km) northeast of Des Moines, the state's capital and largest city.
Find Gentlemen clubs in the following Iowa cities:
Carter Lake
Find all Gentlemen clubs in Iowa here.
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Cody’s Bar and Grill
408 Service Road Dallas, South Dakota
Cody's Bar and Grill Dallas, South Dakota Great Food,Cold Beer,Good Times.This western-themed bar is your #1 entertainment destination.Have a drink.Enjoy the…
Frank Days Bar/Rumors
400 Service Rd Hwy 18 Dallas, South Dakota
Frank Days Bar Dallas, South Dakota Frank Day's established in 1980 (PKG Liquor 74) is a unique step back into old…
2 places in "South Dakota/Dallas"
Guide and advice to the best Strip clubs in Dallas, South Dakota.
Dallas in South Dakota is home to two fully nude clubs: Cody’s Bar & Grill and Frank Day’s Bar.
Without having personally visited the strip clubs in Dallas. I can’t say for a fact that they’re bad, but I certainly wouldn’t go out of my way to visit them unless I was a local or desperate for a lap dance. While reviews of the strip clubs in Dallas on various sites haven’t exactly been full of praise. The clubs themselves don’t have websites and details are hard to come by. Such as you’d almost always find at upscale, quality establishments.
Dancers working in Gentlemen clubs in Dallas, South Dakota, base the income on the lap dance system. That means they get tips on stage, there is s big tipping culture in the US Gentlemen clubs. They also get income from selling lap dances.
The adult clubs in Dallas themselves are a diverse mix of fully nude, topless and pastie levels of nudity. Many clubs offer food, but don’t expect to find a full menu of appetising entrees. And most, even the ones with full nudity, offer alcoholic beverages for customers. As for prices, Most clubs offer lap dances at the industry average of $20 each. Although nighttime cover charges rarely rise above half the industry average of $10 per person. Prostitution is illegal in Dallas, as it is within the rest of the country. With the exception of a select number of counties in the state of Nevada.
Attitudes to strip clubs in Dallas, South Dakota.
The strip clubs in Dallas is sparse due to its low population, but gets a lot of out-of-state tourists, especially during hunting season. Surprisingly, there are no reports of violence in the news for any of the strip clubs in Dallas, a rarity for the industry. Be sure to check the internet and social media and check out any club before you visit.
Find Gentlemen clubs in the following South Dakota cities:
Find all Gentlemen clubs in South Dakota.
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Justia › US Law › US Case Law › US Supreme Court › Volume 101 › Broder v. Water Company
Broder v. Water Company, 101 U.S. 274 (1879)
Broder v. Water Company
A., a water and mining company, constructed in 1853, over public land in California, a canal, and its right, which it has ever since exercised, to use the water for mining, agricultural, and other purposes has been uniformly recognized by the local customs, laws, and the decisions of the courts of that State. B. is now the owner of lands through which the canal runs. He acquired title to one portion of them by a preemption settlement made after the passage of the act of July 28, 1886, 14 Stat. 251, and to another portion under the grant made to the Central Pacific Railroad Company, by the amended Pacific Rail road Act of July 2, 1864. 13 Stat. 358. In his suit against A., B. seeks the recovery of damages, and also prays that the canal may be declared a nuisance, and as such abated.
1. That B.'s title under the preemption laws is subject to A.'s right of way under said act of 1888.
2. That said act expressly confirmed to the owners of such canals a preexisting right, which the government had by its policy theretofore recognized. A. had, therefore, within the meaning of said act of 1864, a "lawful claim" to the continued use of the water, which was not defeated or impaired by the grant of the lands to said railroad company.
The facts of the case and the legislation bearing upon them are set out in the opinion of the Court.
ERROR TO THE SUPREME COURT
OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
MR. JUSTICE MILLER delivered the opinion of the Court.
The Natoma Water and Mining Company owns a canal for conducting water and distributing the same for mining, agricultural, and other uses, which is some fifteen miles long. It was completed in the year 1853, and since then has been in constant and successful operation under the control and in the possession of the company. Its cost was about $200,000. The court of the first instance on the trial of this cause found also as a fact that the canal and branches have, ever since their construction, been uniformly acknowledged and recognized by the local customs, laws, and the decisions of the courts of the State of California, in which they lie, and that the land covered by them is indispensable to their use. At the time they were finished, and for many years after, in fact up to the passage of the Pacific Railroad Acts of 1862 and 1864, the land
through which they ran was the public property of the United States. A portion of it is included in the grant made by that act to what has since, by change of name and consolidation of corporate franchises, become the Central Pacific Railroad Company, and the plaintiff in error, by proper conveyance from said company, has become the owner of it. A small part of it is traversed by the canal, and he brought this action in the proper court of that state against said water and mining company, to have the canal declared a nuisance and abated, and to recover $12,000 damages on account of its maintenance on his land.
The case was submitted to the court, which found the facts we have stated, and others that will be referred to.
The inception of the title of plaintiff to the land described in his petition, other than that derived from the railroad company, was a declaratory statement for preemption, filed Aug. 6, 1866, by himself for one tract, and a similar statement filed Sept. 14, 1866, by his brother, Jacob Broder, for another. But prior to either of these dates, to-wit, on the 26th of July of the same year, Congress enacted a law, the purpose of which was to deal with the rights of miners who had theretofore, without objection, and with the tacit encouragement of the United states, discovered, developed, and mined the public lands. 14 Stat. 251. The ninth section of that act contains this declaration:
"That wherever, by priority of possession, rights to the use of water for mining, agricultural, manufacturing, or other purposes, have vested and accrued, and the same are recognized and acknowledged by the local customs, laws, and the decisions of courts, the possessors and owners of such vested rights shall be maintained and protected in the same, and the right of way for the construction of ditches and canals, for the purposes aforesaid, is hereby acknowledged and confirmed."
As to the canal of the defendant, so far as it ran at that date through the land of the United states, this act was an unequivocal grant of the right of way, if it was no more. As the plaintiff's right to the lands patented to him and his brother commenced subsequently to this statute, he took the title subject to this right of way, and cannot now disturb it.
In reference to his lands held under conveyance from the railroad company, it might be a question of some difficulty
whether the right was so far vested in that company before the passage of this act of 1866, that the latter would be ineffectual as regards these lands. But we do not think that the defendant is under the necessity of relying on that statute.
It is the established doctrine of this Court that rights of miners, who had taken possession of mines and worked and developed them, and the rights of persons who had constructed canals and ditches to be used in mining operations and for purposes of agricultural irrigation, in the region where such artificial use of the water was an absolute necessity, are rights which the government had, by its conduct, recognized and encouraged and was bound to protect, before the passage of the act of 1866. We are of opinion that the section of the act which we have quoted was rather a voluntary recognition of a preexisting right of possession, constituting a valid claim to its continued use, than the establishment of a new one. This subject has so recently received our attention, and the grounds on which this construction rests are so well set forth in the following cases, that they will be relied on without further argument: Atchison v. Peterson, 20 Wall. 507; Basey v. Gallagher, id., 670; Forbes v. Gracey, 94 U. S. 762; Jennison v. Kirk, 98 U. S. 453.
We turn now to the Act of July 2, 1864, 13 Stat. 356, which makes the final grant to the Pacific railroad companies, the acceptance of which by the companies bound them to its terms, and we find in sect. 4, which enlarges the grant of lands made by the act of 1862, this clause of reservation from the general terms of the grant:
"Any lands granted by this act, or the act to which this is an amendment, shall not defeat or impair any preemption, homestead, swamp land, or other lawful claim, nor include any government reservation or mineral lands, or the improvements of any bona fide settler on any lands returned or denominated as mineral lands, and the timber necessary to support his said improvements as a miner or agriculturist."
We have had occasion to construe a very common clause of reservation in grants to other railroad companies, and in aid of other works of internal improvements, and in all of them we have done so in the light of the general principle that Congress, in the act of making these donations, could not be supposed to
exercise its liberality at the expense of preexisting rights, which, though imperfect, were still meritorious, and had just claims to legislative protection. See Wolcott v. Des Moines Company, 5 Wall. 681; Williams v. Baker, 17 Wall. 144; Leavenworth, Lawrence, & Galveston Railroad Co. v. United states, 92 U. S. 733.
In construing the grant to the Pacific railroad companies this principle is eminently applicable. The lands were vastly greater in extent than those embraced in any previous grant, and surrounded by much more varied circumstances. The number and diversified character of the interests which might be affected largely exceeded any with which Congress had theretofore dealt.
Hence we have in the clause of reservation a much more liberal and extended protection of preexisting rights than in the reservation clause which had become a formula in previous grants.
Not only are prior reservations made by the government, and rights of preemption excepted, but the improvements of bona fide settlers on land returned or denominated mineral lands, and the timber necessary to support the miners' improvements, and any other lawful claim, are unaffected by the grant. Of course, this means any honest claim evidence by improvements or other acts of possession.
The defendant had been in possession of the claim in question for twelve years when this act was passed, and had expended $200,000 upon it. It was of great utility, nay necessity, to a large agricultural and mining interest, and we cannot doubt that it was of the class which this section declared should not be defeated by the grant which Congress was then making.
As the judgment of the Supreme Court of California was based on this principle, it is
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TenMania
Life Hacks, Entertainment, How-tos, Trivia & More!
Online Killed the Video Star: Top 20 Internet Music Sensations
October 18, 2013 By Juan McQueen
Is the Internet killing culture as we know it, or is it simply redefining it? Opinions are still divided, but while theorists on both sides of the copyright/ copyleft fence are wondering whether or not the Internet is closing down, the ‘masses’ are giving rise to up-and-coming Internet music sensations. It’s no wonder, given the rising popularity and mass appeal of YouTube. According to official data released by the website, it boasts no fewer than 1 billion unique users per month, with some 6 billion hours of video watched over the same span of time. There are 100 hours of video uploaded to YouTube each minute. Of those billions and billions of hours and content, we’ve selected 20 internet music sensations that have, in one way or another, managed to transcend the online medium.
These are the videographers, singers, artists, producers, and comedians that have become famous in the mainstream. Their millions of watches and thousands of subscribers translated into award wins, platinum records, and even spectacular career revivals. How did they do it? Each of them has their own impressive story, so read on to find out what it takes to go from anonymous bedroom performer to superstar status, with legions of dedicated fans from around the world.
20. MysteryGuitarMan (Joe Penna)
YouTube channel: MysteryGuitarMan
Official website: MysteryGuitarMan.com
He may be only 26, but MysteryGuitarMan, a.k.a. Joe Penna, has definitely taken the online world by storm, with his mad guitar skills, perfectly complimented by his talent as a video animator. The amateur filmmaker is a typically handsome Brazilian, who has moved to Los Angeles ever since his ascent to celebrity. How did he manage to find fame at a relatively early age? By uploading videos every Thursday, which, in turn, led him to become the most subscribed to YouTube channel manager in Brazil. As of the date this article was written, in October 2013, Penna had no fewer than 2.7 million subscribers on his first channel. That’s because, yes, he also has a second YouTube channel, jp, launched in early 2010, which became the third most subscribed to channel in Brazil within 6 hours of its launch.
Penna has been slowly but surely rising to fame since 2007, when his video The Puzzle was featured on the website’s front page. He got a repeat of that honor two years later, with his Guitar: Impossible video, which also garnered him a ton of other accolades: coverage on the Netherlands’ highest rating primetime TV show, on an Austrian radio station, and on the front page of MSN. The same video won him $15,000 from Best Buy, and attention from top brands such as Oreo and Ford. The same video has been shortlisted for the YouTube Play, a collaborative project between the website and the famous Guggenheim museum. His T-Shirt War video won him a prestigious award at the Cannes Lions, the most famous competition in the advertising world.
[youtube id=MuU00Q3RhDg width=”620″ height=”360″]
19. Mac Lethal (David McCleary Sheldon)
YouTube channel: MacLethal
If you’re not into white boys rapping, then the phenomenon best known under the name of Mac Lethal may have escaped your attention until now. However, the Kansas City-native with Irish blood in his lineage has been in the rap game for over a decade now. The 31 year-old seemed off to a promising start in 2002, when he released his first album, which he followed up with a tour alongside hip-hop legend Sage Francis (clearly not a coincidence, since Lethal’s early work garnered him a lot of comparisons with Francis, in terms of style, delivery, and issues he raps about). However, by 2011, it seemed like Mac Lethal was doomed to be an indie artist for the rest of his life.
But in late 2011 Lethal was inspired enough to put out a video of himself rapping in the kitchen while making pancakes, a cover version of Chris Brown’s Look at Me Now (which has come to be referred to as Pancake Rap). The video, which now has well over 30 million views, went viral in a matter of days. Before he knew it, McCleary was giving interviews to CNN and The Washington Post. Nowadays, he is a published author, who has produced a book based on the (allegedly) genuine conversations he has with his cousin Bennett. You can read the text message discussions that lead to the apparition of the book on the Tumblr blog he personally manages and you can buy the book online here.
[youtube id=Teaft0Kg-Ok width=”620″ height=”360″]
18. The Piano Guys
YouTube channel: ThePianoGuys
Official website: ThePianoGuys.com
The Piano Guys are, well, just that: five guys (Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson, Tel Stewart, Paul Anderson, Al van der Beek) who make music and videos with a piano background. Their story started in Paul Anderson’s piano shop back in Utah, where he met Jon Schmidt, an aspiring musician at the time. A few months later, Anderson and Stewart started shooting videos of Schmidt rehearsing inside the shop, with no other purpose than their own enjoyment. Soon enough, they co-opted Nelson and Van Der Beek (as the technician), started making music, and posting a YouTube video of their motley group each week. And, just as quickly, they found fame: in June 2011, their channel became YouTube’s ‘Most Up-and-Coming’. In 2012 they signed a recording contract with Sony, which has thus far released their two self-titled albums. And by 2013, as of the writing of this article, their YouTube channel had amassed more than 263 million video views, as well as 1.8 million subscribers.
The Piano Guys have become famous for their mashups between classical and pop music. Michael Meets Mozart, one of their most famous videos and songs, pits classical music against hip-hop, in a genuinely monumental track that allegedly combines over 100 recorded tracks. They have also taken on and adapted Bach, Beethoven, and Rachmaninoff, but their most famous song and video by far is the Star Wars-inspired Cello Wars. The song employs several movie themes composed by John Williams, while the video is a recreation of the fight between the Jedi and the Sith – but this time using cellos as weapons.
[youtube id= BgAlQuqzl8o width=”620″ height=”360″]
17. The Gregory Brothers
Official YouTube channels: schmoyoho/thegregorybrothers
Website: TheGregoryBrothers.com
Yes, this band actually comprises three brothers (Michael, Andrew Rose, and Evan, plus Evan’s wife Sarah). In their own words, they play “country & soul, folk & roll” and they are the famous four behind the (in)famous series of viral YouTube videos Auto-Tune the News. They’ve been around since 2007, when the brothers moved from Virginia to New York, met Sarah there and decided to start a band. Their initial blue-eyed soul effort was praised by critics, albeit shunned by more recent fans, who are only acquainted with the brothers’ Auto-Tune work. Incidentally, if this says anything about their musical prowess, they have worked with Sufjan Stevens as a producer (on the Welcome Wagon’s 2009 nearly self-titled album).
The Auto-Tune the News series probably needs no further introduction, but it’s worth poring over the accolades and types of recognition the show has received thus far. For one thing, they started being featured on national television as early as the spring of 2009, but they really crossed over into mainstream media in mid 2010, when the Bed Intruder Song made their popularity peak. The video’s first half a year online amassed no fewer than 50 million views and it was the year’s most viewed YouTube material which hadn’t been produced by a major label. As of the writing of this article, the video has over 100 million views. Nowadays, they’re also producing a less politically-inspired series titled Songify This – that is, when they’re not busy appearing at the Academy Awards Ceremony. That’s what they did in 2010, when they auto-tuned segments from the scores of 4 major movies, including Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows I, Toy Story 3 and The Social Network. Their performance was good enough to garner them an Emmy nod for Outstanding Short-Form Picture Editing in 2011.
[youtube id= hMtZfW2z9dw width=”620″ height=”360″]
16. Princess Chelsea
Website: PrincessChelsea.LilChiefRecords.com
Chelsea Nikkel, now better known as Princess Chelsea, is yet another example of an artist who had been making music for quite some time, yet only managed to reach mainstream popularity once one of her videos went viral on YouTube. The now famous Cigarette Duet, which you can watch below, firmly planted New Zealand, Nikkel’s homeland, on the map of up-and-coming electro-pop acts. Detractors have been quick to compare her work as Princess Chelsea with her previous efforts. Nikkel was a founding member of The Brunettes, one of New Zealand’s most popular names on the local twee scene.
The Cigarette Duet is twee in its purest form, in that it is repetitive, sugary sweet, and can become downright infuriating from overexposure. However, the song has been praised by mainstream media such as the New Zealand Herald after the video managed to score 10 million views. The Guardian also featured her as the New Band of the Day – and it’s all because of the oddball video which you can watch below, as well as of the witty, funny, and often nonsensical lyrics of the song. As for Chelsea’s future plans, fans can expect a new single with the participation of indie sensations Alt-J, as well as a European tour.
[youtube id= 4TV_128Fz2g width=”620″ height=”360″]
15. Tay Zonday
YouTube channel: TayZonday
Official website: TayZonday.com
His real name is Adam Nyerere Bahner, but you probably know him better as Tay Zonday: voice artist, comedian, actor, baritone singer, Internet music star and one of YouTube’s most prominent personalities. Zonday is a Math and Science dropout from Minneapolis, Minnesota, as well as a former cabaret performer, who realized that fame was his true calling in life. He started out as a guest performer on several web series and TV shows, including shows broadcast by BBC and Comedy Central. After his Chocolate Rain song turned viral, Zonday produced a commercial version, in collaboration with Dr Pepper – the aptly titled Cherry Chocolate Rain.
The history of Chocolate Rain started on April 22, 2007, when the video – and its famous caption “*I move away from the mic to breathe in” – first saw the light of YouTube. For all its simplicity, the video sure earned its fair share of accolades: a ton of parodies at the above-mentioned caption, but also CTV’s hottest viral video title for that summer, the title of 2nd greatest viral video in the world from UTalkMarketing.com, and YouTube’s 2007 award for Best Music Video. As of the writing of this article, the video has almost 93 million views, and it is the same video that garnered his performer comparisons with Rod Stewart. This, in spite of the fact that Zonday has no formal music training. The song likely became popular after having been extensively shared on the infamous internet community of 4chan. Zonday himself has called the song cheesy, but has also explained that the lyrics deal with a serious theme: that of racism. Interestingly enough, the song is licensed under Creative Commons by-nc-nd, which means it’s not entirely free, but it can be used free of charge in most circumstances.
[youtube id= EwTZ2xpQwpA width=”620″ height=”360″]
14. Tangerine Kitty
YouTube channel: DumbWays2Die
Tangerine Kitty is not a real band, unfortunately for those who enjoyed the wildly popular Dumb Ways to Die song. Yet it is a super-group of sorts and an Internet music phenomenon, born out of an advertising initiative. Clues as to the real identity of Tangerine Kitty can be found in the group’s name: the melody was composed by Ollie McGill, from the Cat Empire, while the vocal track is performed by Emily Lubitz, the lead singer of Tinpan Orange. Both the song and the video reached almost instant popularity: the song charted in the iTunes Top 10 within 24 hours of being released (in Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and Vietnam). It has been dubbed the biggest viral hit in the history of Australia. No fewer than 85 cover versions had been uploaded to YouTube within two weeks within the release of the video.
So what’s the story behind this song? It’s part of a massive ad campaign by McCann Melbourne, devised to act as a safety message for the Melbourne, Victoria (Australia) subway network. The campaign was featured in the trains themselves, on the radio, in newspapers, on Tumblr, YouTube and on outdoor billboards. The campaign had generated some 700 media stories and $50 million worth of media value within two weeks, as well as a 30 per cent cut in near-miss accidents. The song has a karaoke version, an associated mobile device game app, and has been likened to the infectiousness of PSY’s Gangnam Style. It has also given rise to some controversy, when the Russian government agency for Internet censorship decided to forbid the video in Russia. Apparently, the Russian authorities were not all too happy with a song that described several ways of committing suicide, no matter how humorous the video may be.
[youtube id= IJNR2EpS0jw width=”620″ height=”360″]
13. Rebecca Black
YouTube channel: Rebecca
Official website: RebeccaBlackOnline.com
She’s only 16 and started her career in pop music at the tender age of 14, in 2011, but Rebecca Black is definitely one of the day’s most easily recognizable names and voices on YouTube. Her story is rather a cautionary tale of “all the wrong things one can do to become a star” – although her efforts did, eventually, bring her popularity. Apparently, Black’s mother wanted the girl to become a star to such an extent that she paid producers Clarence Jey and Patrice Wilson $4,000 to release the song and video for Friday. The song has been called “the worst song ever” by many, which, in turn, prompted Black to remove it from her channel four months after first uploading it. Yet the video had already gone viral, with some 167 million views amassed in those four months – so Black decided it to upload it again in September 2011.
Interestingly enough, Rebecca Black paints her own life story as one of perpetual bullying. She moved from a private to a public school because of bullying in the 6th grade, she failed her English classes at school because of bullying, and she eventually opted to be home schooled – you guessed it! – because of bullying. After the release of Friday, Black actually did see massive amounts of negative attention: the video initially garnered over 3 million dislikes on YouTube (compared to a paltry 451k likes). The song became the day’s hottest topic on Twitter in March 2011 and Black actually received death threats via phone and email in February that year, all because of the same song. For the time being, Black’s career seems to be on hold, as her debut album, announced for the end of October 2012, has yet to be released.
[youtube id= kfVsfOSbJY0 width=”620″ height=”360″]
12. Buckwheat Boyz
Official website and/or YouTube channel: N/A
The Buckwheat Boyz are no more: the group disbanded in late 2001, when Jermain Fuller, the band’s lead singer and one of its founding members, passed away. However, until Fuller’s death, the Baltimore club band had managed to find fame in one of the most unlikely ways. Their Peanut Butter Jelly Time song, featured below, is actually one of the Internet’s first viral video hits. The video was done in flash, only includes a (hilariously) dancing banana and is the creation of a fan. It has become legendary, however, with recognition coming from popular TV shows such as The Proud Family, Family Guy, and The Regular Show.
Peanut Butter Jelly Time was not the Buckwheat Boyz’ only hit song – they were also the creative force behind the Ice Cream and Cake song, video, and dance mania, which started in 2009, as part of a marketing campaign by ice cream brand Baskin-Robbins. The campaign also included a dance competition, which made its debut with the Guinness World Records Largest Cheerleading Dance event, held at UCLA. Until August 2011, the event held the Guinness World Record title, with no fewer than 225 professional dancers in attendance. The Ice Cream and Cake song has since become the homecoming anthem of the Old Dominion University basketball team.
[youtube id= Z3ZAGBL6UBA width=”620″ height=”360″]
11. The Hampster Dance
If you’ve been online for a long enough time, there is no way you have never seen the Hampster dance – one of the first memes in the history of the World Wide Web. The video was created by Deidre LaCarte, an art student from Canada, for her personal Geocities page. It includes a sample from the song Whistle Stop, composed by Roger Miller for the Disney cartoon Robin Hood, playing in a sped-up loop in the background. The video was created over 15 years ago, in August 1998, when LaCarte wagered a bet against her sister, claiming she could generate more traffic for her website. She dedicated the video to her pet hamster (whose name was, of course, Hampton Hamster). She created four simple .gifs at first and used HTML (which was quite the novelty in those days) to embed the code of the musical track.
It’s difficult to tell what made the song, video, and website go viral, as it only amassed about 800 views in the first year. However, after being quietly shared over e-mail and blogs, and even becoming a fixture on bumper stickers, that number suddenly exploded at 15,000 visits per day. The song got featured in a TV commercial and a new prank emerged, where co-workers would set each other’s homepage to the Hampster Dance website without warning. Alternate versions of the video emerged, featuring politicians and inanimate objects. Interestingly enough, although LaCarte did produce special versions of the song and even redesigned her own website to support the massive afflux of new traffic, she failed to register the domain name HampsterDance.com, and was beaten to it by an Internet humor company. The video, which was released to accompany the official Hampster Dance single, was named the worst video of the year by MuchMusic, in 2001.
[youtube id=1qN72LEQnaU width=”620″ height=”360″]
Naomi on 10 Mythological Weapons of the Ancient Gods
Evelina on 10 Mythological Weapons of the Ancient Gods
Bram van Overdijk on 10 Mythological Weapons of the Ancient Gods
Troy on 30 Best Responsive Business WordPress Themes
David on 10 Types of Pants we Secretly Hate
Copyright © 2013-2019 - All rights reserved *TenMania.com
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TechCrunch Include Office Hours expand to NY
Samantha O'Keefe 5 years
Include is TechCrunch’s diversity program, launched in 2014, aimed at facilitating opportunities for underrepresented groups in tech to take their startups to the next level. The Office Hours program is part of that effort.
Once monthly, TechCrunch works with VC partners to provide feedback and advice to early-stage companies. Since October 2015, more than 60 entrepreneurs in the Bay Area have met with partners from Accel, Andreessen Horowitz, Emergence Capital, General Catalyst and Sequoia.
TechCrunch is excited to announce the expansion of the program to serve the NY community. Confirmed participants include Brooklyn Bridge Ventures, Union Square Ventures, Lerer Ventures, ff Venture Capital, Bain Capital Ventures and AngelPad, among others.
Today, applications to meet with Homebrew for West Coast-based startups, and ffVC for East Coast-based startups are open. To be considered for either session, fill out the application here.
Underrepresented groups in tech include, but are not limited to, Black, Latino, Native American, LGBT and female founders.
Let’s learn more about our co-hosts from Homebrew and ffVC:
Prior to Homebrew, Satya Patel was vice president of product at Twitter, building and leading the product management and user services teams. Before Twitter, he was a Partner at Battery Ventures, where he co-led the seed and early-stage investing practices. He joined Google in 2003 and was responsible for AdSense product management and partnerships. Before heading to Silicon Valley for Google, he worked for DoubleClick in venture capital and as a strategy consultant.
Preceding Homebrew, Beth Scheer spent five-plus years at Salesforce leading executive search, sales leadership and sales growth/professional services recruiting teams. She joined Google in 2003 to build out the AdSense team and then spent six years hiring for business operations, corporate communications, corporate development and various engineering teams, including new graduate PhDs.
Before Homebrew, Hunter Walk led consumer product management at YouTube, starting when it was acquired by Google. He originally joined Google in 2003, managing product and sales efforts for AdSense, Google‘s contextual advertising business. His first job in Silicon Valley was as the founding product and marketing guy at Linden Lab. Before graduate school, he was a management consultant and also spent a year at Late Night with Conan O‘ Brien.
Adam Plotkin is a partner at ff Venture Capital. In this capacity he provides targeted strategic counsel to a range of ffVC investments, with a focus on technological innovation in logistics and manufacturing, insurance, e-commerce, financial services and media. Adam has experience serving on the boards of CardFlight, Drop Loyalty, Four Mine and Sure, to name a few.
Prior to ffVC, Adam spent several years in business development, advisory and operational roles with several startups in New York and Los Angeles. Adam was the first hire at Lake Baldwin Management, a Princeton, N.J., opportunistic hedge fund, where he was a generalist investor, managing an array of public and private market investments. Adam began his career at Goldman Sachs in the Leveraged Finance Group, where he advised clients in the telecom and insurance industries, and in the Risk Markets Group, where he was involved in the design, structure and marketing of two of the early catastrophe risk-linked bonds.
If your firm is interested in participating in Office Hours please email sam@beta.techcrunch.com.
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Lowe’s and Virginia Tech Equip Retail Employees With Futuristic Wearable Robotic Suit
Electronics, Engineering, Press Releases, Technology
MOORESVILLE, N.C., May 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Lowe’s and Virginia Tech have joined forces to develop an exosuit—a wearable robotic suit with lift-assist technology— for Lowe’s store employees. Currently in pilot at Lowe’s Christiansburg, Va. store, the lightweight exosuit is designed to support employees by helping them lift and move product through the store more efficiently, to aid against muscle fatigue that can result from repetitive motion.
“Our employees ensure our stores are always ready for customers,” said Kyle Nel, executive director of Lowe’s Innovation Labs, the company’s disruptive technology hub. “As a way to support them, we found a unique opportunity to collaborate with Virginia Tech to develop one of the first retail applications for assistive robotic exosuits.”
As part of Lowe’s Innovation Lab’s narrative-driven approach, the team works with science fiction writers to envision the future, using storytelling as inspiration for innovative initiatives. The Lab envisioned a future where the use of technology could provide special superpowers to employees and maximize performance. To bring this narrative to life, Lowe’s engaged Dr. Alan Asbeck, assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and a team of eight graduate and undergraduate students from Virginia Tech’s Assistive Robotics Laboratory.
Together, Lowe’s and Virginia Tech designed and developed an exosuit prototype after months of lab testing. The outcome was a light-weight wearable exosuit that reinforces proper lifting form, and is intended to make lifting heavy objects easier. The exosuit is designed to accomplish this by absorbing energy and delivering it back to the user, enabling them to exert less force to complete certain movements. As they bend and stand, carbon fiber in the suit’s legs and back act like a taut bow ready to launch an arrow, helping them spring back up with greater ease. As a result, commonly lifted objects, like a bag of concrete or a five-gallon bucket of paint, feels significantly lighter to the user.
“Over the past couple years, human assistive devices have become an area of interest,” Asbeck said. “But, our technology is different, not only because of the suit’s soft, flexible elements, but because we’re putting the prototype in a real world environment for an extended period of time.”
The first four suits are currently in use by the stocking team at the Christiansburg store. During the coming months, Asbeck and his team will work with Lowe’s to assess the physical impact of the suit. Lowe’s will also lead employee engagement studies to better understand the impact of the exosuit on the work experience.
About Virginia Tech
Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.
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Social distancing app uses space to save lives
by European Space Agency
Credit: Lanterne
A free app that helps people observe social distancing to slow the spread of coronavirus is about to launch.
Devised by Lanterne, a UK start-up company supported by ESA, it uses satellite data and artificial intelligence technologies to identify where people are congregating anywhere in the world.
People who need to leave home to go to the supermarket or the pharmacy can check before they depart whether the shops are becoming crowded. If there are too many people, they can delay their trip until its less busy or switch to less-crowded shops nearby.
The "Crowdless" app uses anonymised existing data sources, such as Google Maps and Google Places data, that track the movements of mobile devices. It combines this information with crowd-sourced data by asking the user to confirm whether or not the location is busy.
Lanterne co-founders Alex Barnes, Yohan Iddawela and Sebastian Mueller created the app by applying the skills and knowledge they gained while developing their core product, which is designed to help people in conflict zones to navigate safely.
It took them just three days to create the app and it has since gone through six further prototypes over the past four weeks.
Yohan Iddawela said: "The mission of our social enterprise, Lanterne, is to use data to improve safety and promote economic development. As a result, we wanted to see what we could do with our skillset to help people out at such a trying time.
"Our hope is that 'Crowdless' can help people observe social distancing more effectively, stay safe and play a part in slowing down the infection rate of COVID-19. We are also committed to ensuring that this remains 100% free for everyone to use."
Sue O'Hare, Operations Manager for the ESA Business Incubation Centre in the UK, said: "Lanterne is a magnificent example of how space and satellite technologies can be used and adapted to create globally game-changing ways to help the world in the war against COVID-19.
"I'm thrilled that the Science and Technology Facilities Council, through the ESA Business Incubation Centre UK, has provided Lanterne with the right technologies and support it needed to develop this ground-breaking and ultimately life-saving technology."
Nick Appleyard, Head of Business Applications at ESA, said: "One of ESA's main priorities is safety and security, assured from space. We are all taking care to maintain social distancing and to avoid crowds, and looking forward to the day that we can resume more normal day-to-day lives. This app can help to bring that day forwards, and to keep us all safe as we do so."
Crowdless is publicly available for free download on iOS and on Android.
Google to publish user location data to help govts tackle virus (Update)
Provided by European Space Agency
Citation: Social distancing app uses space to save lives (2020, April 20) retrieved 19 January 2021 from https://techxplore.com/news/2020-04-social-distancing-app-space.html
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Reject the Media’s Darkness, Barstool Shines on America’s Soul
Evan Berryhill
For the last nine months, COVID-19 has been at the front and center of our lives. The coronavirus has impacted every single person and every single thing those people do in just about every single country in the world.
With a story that consequential, who can blame the media for covering every angle? Except, they really aren’t. When you turn on the news and hear reports on COVID-19, what are some words that come to mind describing how you feel after watching? Words like “concerned,” “depressed,” “demoralized,” or “sad” are likely to be some of the first out of your mouth. That should be no surprise. When it comes to the media, negativity, fear, and sex are what sells.
With the media’s focus largely on a negative narrative, you would be forgiven for not being familiar with the Barstool Fund, a fund, started by Dave Portnoy of Barstool Sports with help from The Profit’s Marcus Lemonis. The fund was created to support and help small businesses survive after being saddled by government-mandated lockdowns for the better part of the last 10 months.
America is an exceptional country and when there is a crisis, we come together. If you really want to know the true spirit of America and how we really act – go to Barstool Sports and learn about what 155,000 individual contributors have done so far and the impact they’ve had.
That impact is in excess of $20 million in contributions and over 80 small businesses saved with no signs of slowing down. Donations have come in large and small amounts. They’ve come from average Joes, celebrities like Tom Brady and Guy Fieri, and even from other small businesses who themselves have suffered during shutdowns but just wanted to do their part to help others.
The Barstool Fund has happened because Dave and the staff at Barstool Sports said, “we need to help people.” Then, they had the vision and creativity to successfully build something so powerful. There is no litmus test on your religion, politics, or race to donate or receive their support. The Barstool Fund is simply an example of seeing a need and taking action to save people’s businesses and lives. As the government is dilly-dallying, Barstool is taking action.
So why is the mainstream media largely ignoring this story? Other than hits on Fox News and The Today Show, the Fund hasn’t been covered by mainstream media. Why aren’t more media outlets telling the story of what the Barstool Fund is doing? The answer is simple.
First, the media largely focuses on the negative, which makes sharing compassionate stories like the Barstool Fund bad for business. Any story that doesn’t help to further their narrative won’t get the coverage it deserves.
Second, it’s because of the source: Barstool Sports. Our mainstream media has spent years targeting Barstool with the false narrative that Barstool is sexist, racist, misogynistic, homophobic, and every other unoriginal platitude the media uses for those who refuse to be politically correct. So, it makes sense that same media doesn’t want to eat crow now by giving Barstool Sports or Dave Portnoy positive coverage through recognition of the Barstool Fund. Too much time has been invested running with the narrative that Barstool Sports is the root of all evil with their disregard of the PC culture that infests our media. It’s a perfect storm of media pomposity.
Look no further than a recent San Francisco Chronicle write up on a 171-year-old local business that was saved by the Barstool Fund. The Chronicle couldn’t help themselves and had to turn what should have been a positive and uplifting article into an opportunity to badger the struggling small business owners with questions about fake “controversies” from Barstool’s past and noting racist accusations against the business themselves. It proves there are no depths to which the media won’t sink.
Of course, Barstool Sports has built its brand on finding success in the face of alienation from the mainstream media. So, they will continue to do now what they always do: thrive in spite of those who don’t believe in them or actively seek their downfall. But try, just for a second, to imagine the impact of the Barstool Fund with a supportive media presence that wanted to do its part by highlighting and bringing awareness to this noble cause.
As a society, it should give us pause that we have a mainstream media willing to selectively choose its own prideful narratives at the expense of promoting a cause that highlights the best of America.
Despite what many try to tell us, we are a kind nation that helps each other out. In tough times, we lift one another up. The Barstool Fund has seen hundreds of thousands donate what they could to help total strangers.
There is perhaps no better example in recent memory of the American spirit refusing to let the American Dream die for those who had the guts to pursue it. Positive stories of people doing good for others are still out there in this greater narrative of the downtrodden COVID-19 times in the United States. It would be a refreshing change if the media started doing its job and showing these stories to us – people who are desperately searching for positivity in today’s society.
If you want to donate to the Barstool Fund, click here.
NY Times says we need a return to Trump’s booming economy but CNN admits Biden has no ‘magic wand’
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Book Review: Push Butt, Receive Bacon, Hand Dryers, by Samuel Ryde
Review: NU’s Virtual Opera Orfeo, Tie-Dyed-in-the-Wool Creativity
Porchlight’s The Scottsboro Boys Shines Light on Judicial Injustice
By Brent Eickhoff on February 27, 2017 • ( Leave a comment )
The cast of The Scottsboro Boys in its Chicago premiere by Porchlight Music Theatre. Photo by Kelsey Jorissen.
Porchlight Music Theatre’s production of The Scottsboro Boys satirically presents a true story in the controversial style of the minstrel show. There is no doubting that the musical, which chronicles the injustice faced by nine wrongly convicted African-American teenagers on trial in Memphis, is relevant, especially to Chicago audiences. Nominated for 12 Tony Awards in 2010, the concept of the musical certainly presents a chilling juxtaposition; however, director Samuel Roberson Jr.’s somewhat tentative production lacks the tonal punch necessary to be fully affecting.
Featuring music and lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb–famed for their work on Cabaret and Chicago—The Scottsboro Boys centers on Heywood Patterson (James Earl Jones II) and eight other African-American boys riding a freight train in search of a better life in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Sung near the top of the show, “Commencing in Chattanooga” is a catchy and ebullient start to their story. Along with songs like “Go Back Home” and “Never Too Late,” it illustrates Kander and Ebb’s talent for crafting songs with both emotional and narrative heft.
As Heywood, Jones carries many of these songs, and his voice and acting ability particularly shine performing “Nothin’,” a defense of his and his companions’ innocence. While the heart of Kander and Ebb’s score is present throughout the production, the piece doesn’t always deliver on the caustic ramifications of its satirical premise. Roberson’s staging steps towards these implications in moments when the cast mugs to the audience after lines that ironically poke at the injustice of the time.
The framing device of the minstrel show is run by The Interlocutor, the one white member of Scottsboro’s cast, played in this production by Larry Yando. Yando imbues both a wryness and manic quality to the Interlocutor’s proceedings as he forces the ensemble through the motions of their performance. He has a commanding stage presence, and, in some ways sets the bar higher than other members in the cast can reach. Florence Walker-Harris’ choreography, although accurate to the era and genre, is at times performed tentatively.
Overall, Porchlight’s The Scottsboro Boys delivers less than its intriguing concept promises. Its relevance in 2017 is undeniable; however, relevance alone isn’t enough, especially in a city with upwards of 50 performances playing weekly. With bolder choices, this historical musical by a talented songwriting duo could be just as impacting as its premise pledges.
The Scottsboro Boys is presented by Porchlight Music Theatre at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont, through March 12. The performance schedule is Thursdays at 7:30pm (except March 2), Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 4 and 8pm and Sundays at 2pm. There is an added matinee performance at 1:3opm Thursday, March 2. Tickets run $45-51 and may be purchased at PorchlightMusicTheatre.org or by calling 773-327-5252.
Categories: Stages, Theater
Tagged as: Porchlight Music Theatre, scottsboro boys
Monster at Steppenwolf for Young Adults Probes Perception and Identity
The Columnist Revisits the Vietnam Era, When Journalists Were Not “The Enemy of the People”
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‘SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE’ (Special presentation for people registered for the ‘Banquet Under the Stars’ – REGISTER NOW)
How was the solar system formed? What are black holes? Will our sun really die? Will we live on Mars? How are stars made? Are there really other universes? These questions and more will be answered in a fascinating astronomy show called ‘Secrets of the Universe’.
Designed especially for Australian audiences by astronomy writer and lecturer David Reneke, ‘Secrets of the Universe’ is a full colour audio-visual program detailing the evolution of the Universe and the history of the space program. Dozens of amazing facts and figures about space will be revealed for everyone attending the talk.
Throughout the talk, David will be using the latest, most up to date visual material available from NASA and the Hubble Space Telescope. Audience members will marvel at close-up images of incredible planets, moons, stars, galaxies and black holes. They’ll revisit the Moon landing, examine the latest images of the surface of Mars – they’ll even get to hold a real meteorite, and much more!
David Reneke is one of Australia’s most well known and respected amateur astronomers and lecturers and has over 40 years experience in astronomy with links to some of the world s leading astronomical institutions.
David is also the publicist and writer for Australasian Science Magazine, he teaches astronomy at college level, is an invited speaker at astronomy conventions throughout Australia, a feature writer for major Australian newspapers, and is currently a science correspondent for ABC and commercial radio speaking on dozens of stations each week across the country on astronomy and space science issues.
This unique show will leave you astounded and on the edge of your seat as you discover the ‘Secrets of the Universe.’
Night Sky Viewing
After this amazing presentation, everyone will have the opportunity for telescope viewings. There is a laser guided sky tour to show people how to identify the different planets, bright stars and constellations. There will be several high power pro grade telescopes operating to cater for the expected interest.
Safe Solar Viewing
During the day, ‘safe solar viewing’ sessions will be run, allowing attendees unique viewings of the sun’s disc, large sunspots and solar flares if they are happening. Don’t miss this BIG crowd pleaser. This has been run for years using only the world’s best solar filtering equipment.
About David Reneke
David Reneke, one of Australia’s most well known and respected astronomers and lecturers, David has over 40 years experience in astronomy with links to some of the world’s leading astronomical institutions. He has an enthusiasm which is infectious, and it shows in his presentations.
David is the editor for Australia’s Astro-Space News Magazine and a writer for the prestigious Australasian Science magazine.
David teaches astronomy at college level, is an invited speaker at astronomy conventions throughout Australia, a feature writer and columnist for dozens of Australian newspapers, and is a celebrity science correspondent heard on more than 13 ABC & commercial radio stations across Australia every week – total audience, around 3 million! As a new author, David has two E-Books to his credit.
David has been featured on Regional TV stations in NSW, Good Morning America, American MSNBC news, the BBC, Spanish television and Sky News here in Australia.
He’s recently entertained passengers across Australia onboard the famous ‘GHAN’ with his show and has been invited back in the New Year. David has developed a style of presenting astronomy that is incredibly unique, fast paced and entertaining.
David recently toured the USA on a magazine assignment where he met Sir Richard Branson in New York and visited astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the Moon, at his home in California. David also runs his enormously successful ‘Astronomy Outreach’ program.
This special presentation is strictly for people registered who have registered for the ‘Banquet Under the Stars’ – CLICK HERE TO REGISTER NOW)
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Posted in Science Discovery
Cover news New Year’s dedication let time shine into every dream
Despite people’s bitter smiles, they repeatedly “implore” the end of early 2020. However, when it is really about to finish, it can not help but feel lost. < / P > < p > 2020 is a complicated year and a heavy narrative. In this year, we have lost a lot and gained a lot; we have experienced grief and moved. It’s not difficult to know what happened, because it’s “very difficult, very difficult”, and it’s more heroic to overcome difficulties, and it’s more pleasant to see the sun through the clouds. < / P > < p > epidemic situation and war epidemic are the main line throughout 2020. Under the call of the mission of “people first, life first”, the whole society should mobilize urgently to overcome the difficulties. The medical and nursing staff should go out in white and retrograde, and all the forces should be united, which can turn the tide and shake the earth. Fortunately, we have overcome this unprecedented challenge and won a battle that concerns the fate of our country. < / P > < p > at the beginning of 2020, the faces under the masks are dignified; at the end of 2020, Ding Zhen’s bright smile makes the whole network fall in love at first sight and feel good-bye. One head and one tail seem to form a circle and a cycle. The good life, the good life, all come back. With a year’s time, people slowly recover. No longer fear, no longer anxiety, no longer complain, but to regain confidence, calm, and the most beautiful vision of the future. < / P > < p > the past year was a year of war epidemic, but it was not just a year of war epidemic. In 2020, it will also be colorful and full of harvest. In the end, the people who “lived up to the storm” and “worked as supervisors” for a year. In the face of major difficulties, we have handed over answers to the people’s satisfaction and the world’s attention. In 2020, “China will become the only major economy with positive growth in the world” and “all 832 poverty-stricken counties in China will be lifted out of poverty”. If we say that poverty and disease are the most serious crises facing mankind. Then, China’s outstanding performance in poverty reduction and anti epidemic can be regarded as the greatest contribution to the community of shared future for mankind. < / P > < p > every year will not be smooth sailing, but as long as you have enough courage and wisdom, you can turn danger into opportunity. RCEP was officially signed, realizing a counterattack of multilateralism and free trade against unilateralism and isolationism; the nine chapter quantum computing prototype opened a new dimension of the sea of stars with “the superiority of quantum computing” There is no doubt that it is still the best stage for science to create a legend. 2021, let’s watch and lock in more miracles together. < / P > < p > the epidemic has exacerbated isolation, distance and alienation; and in the new year, we are bound to repair, re link and come together again. Please believe that everyone has great potential. Even if it is a down-to-earth “brick moving” every day, it is also a “new infrastructure” for individuals to build the future; even if it is an ordinary “three points and one line”, it can also draw the latitude and longitude of a grand blueprint. < / P > < p > 2021 is the first year of the fourteenth five year plan. Now, we are stepping forward from the beginning to pursue our dreams and create glory. Please believe that a good start may be more than half the success. Fifth personality will be updated, please remember your game account, otherwise you may not be able to play normally
Why do humans dream? What is the secret of human dream?
There's so much bad news that I can't get started…
Great Wall lubricating oil: Escort heaven to shine the world
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The soft and comfortable Monet makes your eyes shine…
Huawei is about to "shine the sword". Although the…
Chinese enterprises lead the world’s smartphone market →
← The taxi brother charged the passenger’s left mobile phone and the owner called two days later
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Home>United States>New York
Arguably Van Gogh's most famous painting, 'Starry Night' is on display at the MoMA.
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See all attractions in New York
This imposing Neo-Gothic construction has been the beacon of Catholicism in New York since 1878.
An iconic complex of Art Deco buildings and public art, commissioned by the Rockefeller family.
A beloved entertainment venue that has earned the moniker of 'Showplace of the Nation.'
A green swathe through Manhattan, Central Park is a marvel of urban planning and one of the most filmed locations in the world.
A 68 story skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, built and owned by the billionaire Donald Trump.
Gallery devoted to the story of art from the late 19th century to the modern day
Private Tour of the MoMA
New York has acquired a worthy reputation amongst art lovers, with an array of fantastic elite galleries for visitors to peruse. Experience a glimmer of this in our 2 hour tour of the MoMa.
See art from across the world in the Museum of Modern Art - home to over 200,000 pieces of art
Uncover the art history behind iconic artists such as Cézanne, Matisse, Picasso, Klimt, and Frida Kahlo
Snap photos of the greatest masterpieces, including Van Gogh's Starry Night , Picasso's Girl Before a Mirror and Andy Warhol's Gold Marilyn Monroe
Flexibility to request what you would like to focus on - perhaps specific galleries, or mediums of art, or periods of art history, or collection area you've been looking forward to for months?
The Museum of Modern Art (commonly known as MoMA) is a superb place to see many of the best artists of the 20th and 21st centuries. With a permanent collection of around 150,000 artworks and design objects, the main Manhattan rival of the Met challenges concepts of what “art” means. It is home to some of the world's greatest paintings- Salvador Dalí's The Persistence of Memory, Vincent van Gogh's The Starry Night, and Pablo Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. Not only will you be able to see these iconic pieces of artwork, but you will experience their beauty, uncover the art history, and step away with a more rounded view of the MoMa and all of its intricacies and historical beauty.
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TMJ Sindrome #54 – Borderlands 3 Review and the death of Movie Pass
Welcome to the TMJ Sindrome podcast #54!
Jason played Borderlands 3 and he’s got some things to say about it. This may be the first time that Jason has given a semi-good review on anything! Even though Borderlands 3 had a lot of technical problems, it got an impressive 6/10 Jasons.
You all remember Movie Pass? If you just thought, “what’s Movie Pass” in your head, first of all, you need to listen to more TMJ Sindrome. Secondly, it’s not really that surprising considering the “disruptive” movie ticket subscription service has been on a death spiral since they lowered their prices. Tim sings the swan song of the once great (it wasn’t ever really great) service.
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Bengaluru-Based Musician Ricky Kej Wins Grammy
9 Feb 2015 9:09 AM GMT
Kej’s album, “Winds of Samsara”, which he co-produced with South African flautist Wouter Kellerman, has sounds inspired from India and the African continent, and had debuted at #1 on the US Billboard New Age Albums Chart late last year.
Ricky Kej won the Best New Age Album award at the 57th Grammy Awards at the Staples Center on Sunday, in Los Angeles.
“Winds of Samsara” edged out “Bhakti” by Paul Avgerinos, “Ritual” by Peter Kater and R Carlos Nakai, “Symphony Live In Istanbul” by Kitaro, and “In Love And Longing” by Silvia Nakkach and David Darling, to win its category.
Kej, 33, an American citizen, was born into a family of doctors in North Carolina and moved to Bangalore when he was eight years old. He attended Bishop Cotton Boys’ School and acquired a degree in dentistry from Oxford Dental College, although he didn’t practice even for a day.
The world of music soon won him over. A self-taught musician, he was part of now defunct local Bangalore outfits such as Angel Dust, University and Techno Rave Band.
“I started playing around with the guitar in the ninth standard. In college, I was playing with Angel Dust, during which I got more serious and disciplined with band practices,” he was quoted as saying in a newspaper in 2008.
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Apple looks to expand China presence with new Apple Stores in Chengdu and Shenzhen
by Jon Russell — in Apple
Chinese government officials have revealed that Apple is making plans to increase its presence in China by opening two new Apple Stores in Chengdu and Shenzhen.
The move would represent the first retail outlets that the Cupertino-based firm has opened outside of Beijing and Shanghai, and would take the total number of Apple Stores in China to seven, Reuters reports.
Both proposed new cities are among China’s top tier, in terms of wealth, influence and population, and would help give the US company a larger reach that it currently enjoys.
The possible expansion is entirely logical since Apple’s business continues to go from strength to strength in China. The company’s first quarter earnings revealed that its business in China had made $7.9 billion in revenue, up five fold year on year.
Despite big figures, its market share — which is considerably below Samsung’s — has been criticised, its iOS-based smartphones accounted for 5.7 percent of country-wide smartphone sales in the final quarter of 2011. However, a recent report suggested that its share of sales during the first quarter of 2012 was 16 percent.
A greater number of stores could help increase market share but, essentially, Apple is unlikely to be as success as Samsung in China as its device are sold at the top end of the price scale, unlike Samsung which has products at multiple price-points.
The development of carrier subsidies does have the potential to change this but, for now, they remain too expensive for many mainstream consumers, who have no intention of entering into an expensive, long-term operator lock-in.
Another important story for Apple in China is the only negotiation for a settlement with Proview over the ownership of the ‘iPad’ trademark in China. Apple is reported to have tabled an offer of $16 mullion, which is some way short of the Taiwanese-headquartered company’s expectations.
The case thought to be one of the issues that is holding up the release of the new iPad in China. The tablet was recently granted a sales permit suggesting it could be launched in the coming months, if not sooner.
Read next: Airtime's Android app to launch within four weeks, says Sean Parker
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Home › Book Reviews › Elvis Is Alive: The Complete Conspiracy (Adventures Unlimited Press)
Elvis Is Alive: The Complete Conspiracy (Adventures Unlimited Press)
By Joseph Kyle • January 30, 2015
In the film Men In Black, a humorous exchange while listening to Elvis Presley. “Elvis is dead,” declares Will Smith. “No, Elvis is not dead. He just went home.” Tommy Lee Jones states. It’s an absurd notion, to be sure—but Elvis had once been referred to as “a prince from another planet.” What makes this statement even more interesting is a bizarre but true incident that happened. The day before he died, a SETI organization at Ohio State University picked up a signal from outer space; the scientist who read the results circled the abnormality on the printout and wrote “Wow!” on it. This information was filed a day before the morning of August 16th, which would soon become a rather infamous day in cultural history.
But did Elvis Presley actually die? It’s been the subject of speculation since day one, all of which is documented in Elvis Is Alive: The Complete Conspiracy. I’ve always been skeptical of the conspiracy theory aspect of Presley’s life, and when I sought this book out, i was not aware that it was the work of a writer and a publisher of conspiracy theory and paranormal activity. No matter; curiosity is curiosity, even though I was prepared to read a book full of hokum and absurdity. Instead, what author Xaviant Haze has offered the world is a book that rather objectively documents the conspiracies that have posthumously graced the legacy of Graceland’s fallen monarch.
Conspiracy theories are not borne in a vacuum, though. To be sure, Presley’s life had plenty of bizarre moments, and when examined, it’s easy to understand how conspiracies would develop. The most well known theory—that Elvis faked his death in order to live a life out of the spotlight and in private—is actually not the implausible notion one might think. By the time of his passing, Presley’s life had grown into a pathetic and sad rut; unable to enjoy privacy and normal day-to-day living, Elvis’ world had devolved into chronic prescription drug use, poor health, and no close companionship. Happiness came in the form of acts of expensive generosity, often with little emotional reward and a growing sense of entitlement from those around him.
His was a cautionary tale—a poor boy made good yet seemingly cursed the ability to have anything he wanted, a real-life King Midas meets Charles Foster Kane, destroyed by the success that defined them, left, in the end, wanting the simple pleasures of life before wealth damned them to a living hell. In his last years, he talked often of a desire to escape from his prison of wealth, seeking to live a quiet, modest life out of the spotlight, where he could enjoy his friends, his family, his success, and his faith like the simple Christian boy he used to be. If he wanted to fake his death, he certainly had the means to do so, as well as the motive and the opportunity. Knowing what we know now about Presley’s hell, the “Elvis is Alive” theory isn’t as implausible as one might think.
The problem with conspiracy theories, though, is that they take the plausible and turn it into something beyond the grasp of logic and rationality, and Presley’s life is no exception. Elvis’ spiritual emptiness would lead him to seek out and develop a hybrid Christianity, one that embraced the tenants of the faith yet would delve into the occult, mysticism, and numerology. It’s when the conspiracy theories start to go into these shadier, more bizarre theories that one starts to finally feel the bounds of reality start to slip. Tales of ancient predictions, allegations of him being a supernatural being, and rumors of being murdered by the Illuminati—it’s here where things start to get a bit…peculiar. Throw in notions that Lisa Marie is in fact a double, that Presley was a Federal informant who fell victim of a mob hit, and that there’s a lengthy connection between Presley and Michael Jackson, and one’s head will start to swim.
Thankfully, Haze never allows the reader to drown in the absurdity that goes along with conspiracy theory literature. He has a bit of skepticism, and is willing to call out obvious hoaxes and things that are obviously bogus, but he’s rather respectful towards what the theorists believe. He might hint at what he believes to be the case, but he never attempts to convince the reader that the things he says are true, either. The “just the facts, ma’am” approach is refreshing, making Elvis Is Alive a rather objective, unbiased, and rather enjoyable presentation of some truly odd things that some Elvis people believe.
Tagged as: Adventures Unlimited Books, Book Reviews, Conspiracy Theories, Elvis Is Dead, Elvis Presley, Xaviant Haze
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The Death And Resurrection of Elvis Presley (Reaktion Books) – The Recoup
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Dr. Emilie Townes speaks at DuBose lectures
October 8, 2019 thesewaneepurple News Leave a comment
Dr. Emilie Townes answers questions during her lecture series, “Premeditated Indifference: Facing (In)Justice With the Power of Hope.” Photo courtesy of The University of the South’s Flickr.
By Samuel Carter
As the clapping to welcome Dr. Emilie Townes to the stage of Guerry Auditorium died out, she approached the podium, humming. The song was an old gospel hymn, “The Storm is Passing Over.”
The song was written by Reverend Charles Albert Tindley, an African American pastor who led one of the largest Methodist congregations of the 1920s. Townes used this song to open her second lecture of three, all entitled “Premeditated Indifference: Facing (In)Justice With the Power of Hope.”
The DuBose lectures, which are part of the School of Theology’s homecoming events, have had the same theme for the last three years: racial reconciliation. Townes was the perfect speaker for the week, as she has pioneered the study of African American women’s insights into the traditions of Christian theology.
As the current dean of Vanderbilt Divinity School, she leads future clergy people in growing their faith and understanding how they can use it to spark change.
Unsurprisingly, the focus of Townes’ lecture was how modern Christians can bring about such change. She sees the need for change through the works of the Church as important now as ever: “you and I look out and live in a troubled country,” she said; “we are not happy with one another.”
To shed light on this lack of unity, or the storm, Townes referenced the 18 fatal faith-based shootings that have taken place across the globe, then decried warring political parties that leave everyday citizens in the wreckage.
She proceeded to recite the last words of the aforementioned hymn, saying, “thanks be to God, the morning light appears, the storm is passing over.” The reason for her using the hymn, she said, is because it reminds her that “it is our responsibility to work for peace and justice in the world.” She believes that justice can be achieved if the church takes courage and, with God’s provision, works toward the morning light.
As to what work is needed to achieve this justice, Townes quoted the author James Baldwin, saying that we must “do our first works over.”
To prepare to do these works over, Townes said that “an honest, personal inventory” is first needed. Doing so will reveal the unconscious bias in everyone’s life.
Taking notes from a recent workshop held for the Vanderbilt administration by social advocate Howard Ross, Townes analyzed the steps everyone must take to recognize their unconscious bias. “Everyone has bias,” she told the audience, “but to deny that we have it gives it more power.”
“Let’s begin to see the humanity in each other and in ourselves… and recognize that some people have suffered more in society because of the institutionalized bias,” she said.
But Townes doesn’t want the recognition of bias to bring about guilt; she instead encourages everyone to take responsibility and to evaluate the road they have traveled, understanding their bias and acknowledging where they and others have been. This act of doing first works over is, for Townes, each Christian’s “spiritual homework.”
This homework includes acknowledging individual reactions, impressions, and thoughts. These should then be confronted by immersion in new communities and befriending those whom bias has labeled as “other.” Townes said by doing this, “we will get to live in the fullness of knowing who each of us is.”
Townes cautioned the audience to avoid this becoming “Christian tourism,” which is the result of appropriating a culture instead of appreciating it. For this reason, and to better understand bias, individuals should receive feedback to see where they are excelling and falling short in their trek toward the clear skies of justice.
Townes realized doing all this can be challenging and require hard choices, but she warned, “we should not hoard our comfort… This may sound like a daunting task, and that’s because it is. That’s why you don’t do it alone.”
With final words of encouragement for the audience to work together toward reconciliation, Townes concluded her lecture to a roaring round of applause. The air seemed lighter, and with hope for the future, it seemed possible that the storm could indeed pass over—hallelujah.
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CONSTANT GROWTH
CO-GP
PROACTIVE NOT REACTIVE
Tzadik sells 196 unit community for $15,750,000 in Atlanta at a record breaking price per door
by Jemari Amaro | Oct 18, 2019 | Press Release, Sale
Tzadik Management closed late Wednesday afternoon on the sale of a 196-unit community located near Atlanta, GA. The sale, totaling well over $15.5M, was the third community Tzadik has sold in the past two months.
ATLANTA, Oct. 18, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Tzadik Management closed late Wednesday afternoon on the sale of a 196-unit community located near Atlanta, GA. The sale, totaling well over $15.5M, was the third community Tzadik has sold in the past two months. Closing on two Albany area communities in Q3, Tzadik still has decided to strategically keep a Georgia footprint via locations in Warner Robins, GA.
This sale ranks amongst the highest in price per door for workforce housing in the Atlanta area, with their price of $80,357 per door more than doubling their purchase price at under $40,000 just a year and a half ago. “This is a true testament to the amazing work of our construction and asset management teams,” said Chief Executive Officer, Adam Marcus Hendry. “We were pleasantly surprised with how quickly we were able to reposition the community given the various market factors we had to deal with.”
This is the first of many moves the company plans to make in Q4. In addition to adding several communities in Houston, Omaha, Sioux Falls and Rapid City, Tzadik is set to break into the North Dakota market with properties set to close in both Dickinson and Fargo. The company is also planning to break back into the commercial real-estate market, eyeing up to 60 properties in the Central Florida region via buying a company.
Tzadik is a growing, innovative, and driven real estate and property management company based in Miami, Florida. Since its formation in 2007, Tzadik has managed over $1 billion in apartment complexes and commercial real estate, totaling over 19,000 units in more than 20 states. Through excellent management, a focus on company culture, and a tech driven style of operating, Tzadik management has established a reputation for building lasting relationships.
Tzadik Management Sells Original Property
by Jemari Amaro | Dec 9, 2016 | Press Release, Sale
MIAMI, December 7th, 2016:
Tzadik Management has closed on the sale of the 7136 Building, one of the earliest properties ever owned by Tzadik. The 20-unit apartment complex located at 7136 NW 14th Place, sold yesterday ending Tzadik’s 6-year ownership of the property.
This sale caps the latest distressed property disposition orchestrated by Tzadik, further establishing the trend they have set in past years. “We were able to take a shell of a building and revitalize it into a home. We are comfortable knowing we leave this property in far greater shape than when we acquired it” said Chief Executive Officer, Adam Hendry. The building sold for $800,000 and are 2 the 16 buildings sold in the South Florida Region this year.
Tzadik started in 2007 with one, two-story 36-unit, apartment complex in Miami, FL. Today, they own over 25 different multi-family apartment communities in 10 different cities, totaling over 4,500 units. They have managed over $300 million in apartment complexes and luxury condo developments. As one of the most rapidly growing Multi-Family management companies in the state, continue to look for more re-capitalizations and acquisitions in the future.
Tzadik Management Completes Another Miami Sale
MIAMI, October 18th, 2016:
Tzadik Management has closed on yet another Miami Apartment sale. The 2-Story, 36 Unit Garden Style Building located at 820 NW 70th Street in Miami, FL sold yesterday for $1.35 Million, ending Tzadik’s 5-year ownership of the property. This sale is the latest in a series of sales completed by Tzadik in the Miami area in the past year.
This sale caps the latest distressed property flip orchestrated by Tzadik, further establishing the trend they have set in past years. “We were able to take advantage of the opportunity to revitalize what at the time was a distressed and run down property” said Chief Acquisitions Officer, Alex Arguelles. “Our ability to recognize the potential in this area and capitalize on it is encouraging moving forward.”
Tzadik has managed over $300 million in apartment complexes and luxury condo developments. As one of the most rapidly growing Multi-Family management companies in the state, continue to look for more sales and acquisitions in the future.
Tzadik completes another turnaround, sells two Miami Apartment Buildings.
by Jemari Amaro | Nov 14, 2016 | Press Release, Sale
In another step of analogous sales, Tzadik Management has sold two of their earlier assets, 1251 and 1281 NW 61st Street for $1.45M million in early September.
Falling in line with their niche market approach of distressed real estate acquisition and turn-around, these sales act as a thorough illustration of their business model. “Looking back on these acquisitions, I am proud of what we were able to accomplish on this sale given the many challenges the properties posed” said Managing Director, Adam Hendry, “Our goal was to make a difference for all parties involved and I believe we did that”.
The sale is one of many transactions completed by Tzadik this year. “Being able to sell these two properties at the right price allows us to reinvest and expand into other markets. It was really an overwhelming success” said Chief Visionary Officer, David Runyon. Tzadik recently acquired 6 new properties in both Orange and Volusia counties, bringing their total units to over 4,500.
Tzadik has been active in the real estate market since 2007. Today, they own over 30 different multi-family apartment communities in 10 different cities. They have owned and managed over $450 million in apartment complexes and condo developments throughout the state of Florida. As one of the most rapidly growing Multi-Family management companies in the state, they look towards more strategic acquisitions and expanding their institutional third party management platform both statewide, as well as in the southeast United States.
Tzadik closes another Miami Beach Sale
by Jemari Amaro | Mar 31, 2016 | Press Release, Sale
Tzadik Management has closed on yet another Miami Beach sale. ‘Tzadik Boutique’, a 28-unit 2 story apartment complex in the heart of Miami Beach, sold yesterday ending Tzadik’s 5 year ownership of the property. The sale of this property marks the second Miami Beach sale in the past year.
This sale caps the latest distressed property flip orchestrated by Tzadik, further establishing the trend they have set in past years. “We were able to take advantage of this opportunity to revitalize what at the time was a distressed and run down property” said Chief Acquisitions Officer, Alex Arguelles. “Our ability to recognize the potential in this area and capitalize on it is a good sign moving forward.”
‘Tzadik Boutique’, upon listing, quickly became one of the most sought after Apartment Communities after Tzadik’s ownership thanks to their commitment to cleaning up the area. “We love what we have been able to do with this property in the time that we’ve been able to own it” said Chief Visionary Officer, David Runyon.
Tzadik Management Announces Sale of of River Gardens Apartments
Tzadik Management has closed on the sale of the River Gardens Apartment Complex, located at 2300 NW 6th Street in Fort Lauderdale, FL. The 12-unit Apartment Complex was acquired by a local buyer after after Tzadik owned the complex for nearly 18 months.
Several renovations took place during the tenure of Tzadik’s ownership, as well as a thorough stabilization process. This strategy resulted in a profit at sale that exceeded profoma calculations and a established a continued trend of distressed real-estate transformations. “Completing this sale is a true full circle moment for us” said Chief Acquisitions Officer, Alex Arguelles, “The speed in which we took this dilapidated shell and renovated it into a fully occupied Apartment complex is encouraging.”
Sub Categories Select Category Awards (2) Bios (27) Blog (4) Business Development (4) Case Studies (11) In The News (17) Press Release (36) Property Management (7) Purchase (16) Sale (7) Speaking Engagements (3) Trends (3)
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Johnny Depp Accuses Ex-Wife Amber Heard Of Repeatedly Punching Him And Severing His Finger With A Vodka Bottle
Daniel Welsh
7 July 2020, 11:28 am ·3-min read
Johnny Depp has accused ex-wife Amber Heard of repeatedly punching him in the face and severing his finger by throwing a bottle of vodka at him.
On Tuesday, Depp began the first day of his libel action against The Sun’s publisher, News Group Newspapers (NGN) and its executive editor Dan Wooton, over an article the tabloid published in April 2018 in which they called him a “wife beater” and referred to “overwhelming evidence” that he attacked Heard during their relationship.
Depp has always vehemently denied being violent towards Heard, and has branded accusations that he had subjected her to “torture and other abuse” as “sick” and “completely untrue”.
He also dismissed claims that he has an “overbearing, manipulative or controlling personality”, alleging that Heard had an “obsessive need” to control him during their relationship.
Johnny Depp during a break in his hearing at the High Court in London (Photo: PA)
In one of his witness statements, Depp claimed that “rage-filled violent incidents on planes were common with Amber”.
The Pirates Of The Caribbean actor went on to detail one such alleged incident during a chartered flight in late 2014 or early 2015, during which he said she branded him a “pussy” and “spineless” for “running away” from fighting with her.
“Then she became physically violent and repeatedly punched me in the face. As I moved towards the back of the plane to get away from her, she followed me into the plane’s bedroom and punched me again in the face and the head,” he said.
“I pushed her away from me, onto the bed. I then grabbed a pillow and locked myself in the bathroom, where I slept for the duration of the flight.”
Amber Heard arriving in court on Tuesday (Photo: PA)
He also described an incident in which he said she severed his finger by throwing a vodka bottle at him, an injury she has said was caused by him smashing a telephone into a wall.
According to Depp: “Amber severed my finger with the second of two thrown vodka bottles at me in the early afternoon of Sunday March 8. Amber claims this was on the second day of a ‘three-day hostage situation’.
“Amber claims that during these three days, I subjected her to a variety of what sounds like torture and other abuse. These sick claims are completely untrue.”
Instead, Depp has maintained that Heard did not sustain any injuries during the period of time she described, while he suffered “grievous” injuries including the severed finger and a cigarette being stubbed out on his face.
“As to the other ‘details’ which Amber has now added, I did not urinate throughout the house, I did not paint Amber’s clothes, nor did I hide raw meat around the house,” he added.
Both Depp and Heard wore face covering as they arrived in court (Photo: Empics Entertainment)
Depp is suing NGN and Dan Wootton over an the article, published in April 2018, with the headline: “Gone Potty: How can JK Rowling be ‘genuinely happy’ casting wife beater Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic Beasts film?”
The following morning, the words “wife beater” were removed from the headline in question, though he has said the piece caused “serious harm to his personal and professional reputation”, as well as “significant distress and embarrassment”.
NGN is defending the article as true and said that Depp was “controlling and verbally and physically abusive towards Ms Heard, particularly when he was under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs” during their three-year relationship.
The former couple attending the premiere of The Danish Girl in 2015 (Photo: JB Lacroix via Getty Images)
The former couple split in 2016 - the year after they married, with Heard filing for divorce in May of that year.
They reached a settlement three months later, and issued a joint statement calling their relationship “intensely passionate and at times volatile but always bound by love,” adding that “there was never any intent of physical or emotional harm.” Heard went on to donate the $7 million (around £5.57 million) settlement to charity.
Both Depp and Heard were present in court on Tuesday, after the former failed in a last-minute bid to stop the latter from attending until she is called to give evidence.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
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Home Opinions Where Violence and Liberation Come Together
Illustration by Robert Perez
Where Violence and Liberation Come Together
Jack Alegre
It was not enough that the University of California, Berkeley’s College Republicans organization invitation to the controversial Milo Yiannopoulos to speak at the campus flared tensions; the real indignation came after violent protests and damage at Berkeley forced the Breitbart technology editor to scurry away.
However, the campus’ outrage should not be directed towards the self-proclaimed anarchists for their use of obstructionist and frightful tactics. Instead, the student body should be mad at the black-masked figures for stealing the call to violence from them.
There’s a conception in our society that a peaceful protests is the best way to attract attention to a cause. Through non-violent actions you reverse the dynamics of oppression and leave your opponent for what they truly are: an aggressor. This approach only works well in some cases. In order for a peaceful protest to truly work, there needs to be enough voices in positions of power not only to listen to the will of the protesters, but to actually act.
By not heeding the will of the students to not extend a hand of welcome to Yiannopoulos, the university has already shown itself not only unwilling to join as an ally against oppression but unwilling to even listen to the students in the first place.
It’s not about protecting a liberal bubble, oh no. If we are to truly progress as a society, free speech and difference of opinion must be tolerated. What should not be tolerated now, however, are views that are explicitly harmful and contemptuous of large swathes of humanity — and the people who blatantly proclaim these views.
Inviting someone proud of their hatred makes the university a collaborator. While it may have been the campus’ College Republicans who orchestrated Yiannopoulos’ appearance, it was the University that ignored the concerns of the majority of its student body and allowed him to speak in the first place.
Now the idea of violence being used as a means of opening up discourse between the two parties is not a new one, but it finds itself best grounded in the “Wretched of the Earth,” an analysis of the relationship of subject and ruler by the anticolonial author Frantz Fanon.
Born in colonized Martinique, Fanon’s experiences in World War II and the Algerian War helped him to understand the relationship between the oppressed and their colonial overlords. Noting the ingrained disdain that the colonial authorities held for their subjects, there was no place else to go but violence. If they could not be seen as people, why be bound by the rules of people?
Only through violence can their will be transmitted. It is violence and terror that the master used to keep the slave in line and it is violence and terror that is being transplanted onto not just the American populace, but the globe. Because of the immersion in violence on the part of the more oppressive aspects of the establishment, violence is the only thing that they will recognize.
Fear not retribution, for you are taking your fate into your hands once more. You need to force those in charge to listen to you now, not at their leisure.
Perhaps saying that the students have a right to violence is a bit absurd. After all, there are too many ways in which they can use an ideology of resistance to draw others into the crossfire. Instead, they should have the right to destruction.
In Fanon’s time he was facing the nigh unstoppable juggernaut of the imperial machine. Students don’t have the odds quite so stacked against them. However, what they do have is a university that allows a platform to speakers who promote the very same missions and agendas of intolerance that Fanon struggled hard against.
Destruction is emotion made manifest, is the catharsis of resentment towards an uncaring and immovable overlord. The confusion and obstruction that comes afterwards is important because it’s tangible. It’s there and in your face, and it really forces you to ask what exactly the motive is. It’s only when people unrelated to the event are hurt by it that the idea of a “violent” protest becomes an issue at all.
Violent protest is and always will be a controversial subject. While many do prefer the idea of a peaceful resistance, it is too passive and too divorced from the relationships of power between authority and ruled. From a country born of violence it is ironic that we now condemn it for being “repugnant” and “beneath us.”
People may decry more aggressive forms of resistance as they normalize the idea of a disruptive and harmful struggle. What is more harmful, however, is not bothering to employ the judgement necessary to separate the desperation of the oppressed from the depredations of the repressive. Only through concrete physical actions including destruction can we truly gain the recognition we need.
Flea Botinum February 16, 2017 at 10:40 am
You don’t actually have the right to destroy property that isn’t explicitly yours. Silly goose-muffin.
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The Museums of Costa Rica: Preserving Our Heritage
Our national cultural treasures are in good hands
Guillermo Agudelo
National Museum of Costa Rica.
Immerse yourself in one of the most interesting and impressive museums in Costa Rica, The National Museum of Costa Rica is the most versatile and complete museum in San José. This museum has become one of the most important cultural institutions in Costa Rica thanks to research studies and the protection, conservation, and dissemination of Costa Rican heritage that takes place inside.
Among its different areas of study we can highlight the natural history, with a collection that has more than twenty thousand items; also the more than thirty thousand objects that we find in the area of anthropology and archeology; or the area of Costa Rican history, which has a collection of 33,544 pieces.
The National Museum of Costa Rica has several kinds of exhibitions, visual, temporary and permanent. Among the permanent exhibitions that the museum houses, the following rooms can be highlighted: the Indigenous Gold, the Colonial House, the Pre-Columbian, the Palmar Sur de Osa and the Puntarenas.
Since 1950, the museum sits between the Second and Central Avenue of the Plaza de la Democracia in the old Bellavista barracks, which is already an attraction in itself with its warm tones. It also has a wide range of services: workshops, lectures, research halls, and libraries, which are open to the public. One of the most outstanding services of the museum is its virtual tour, which you can enjoy through its official website and enjoy the museum as if you were there.
Undoubtedly, the National Museum of Costa Rica has become one of the must-sees when traveling to San José. A center for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage is a dependency of the Ministry of Culture and Youth, which seeks to strengthen the cultural diversity of Costa Ricans through actions of preservation of particular cultural events. Its mission is to be the organ of the Ministry of Culture and Youth that safeguards the cultural heritage materialized in the historical-architectural legacy and in the manifestations of traditional and popular culture, through research and specialized service for all the Costa Rican society to view, in order to strengthen our identity as a nation.
The José Figueres Ferrer Cultural and Historical Center.
It is an institution attached to the Ministry of Culture and Youth, whose purpose is to promote art and promote culture, as a way to strengthen democratic values. It was conceived as a place where people can “lean out” to art in its different manifestations, and develop sensibility, so that the phrase of Don José Figueres Ferrer, “What for tractors if no violins! does not become worn words.
It is a living monument, where children, young people, and adults enter daily with the illusion of learning about dance, music, literature, visual arts and where people have a space for the free discussion of thought. It directs its goals to foster a stimulating environment for learning and enjoyment of art through various artistic training and promotion projects and the strengthening of democratic values, among which the following stand out:
Plastic exhibitions. Throughout the year an Art Gallery is open, in which each month there is a different exhibition, in order that plastic art, especially among young people, can be known. Art training workshops. It offers training in various artistic disciplines with the idea of promoting the expression and creativity of children, youth and adults. It also programs short courses oriented to literature, photography, and crafts, among others.
Guided visits. It promotes the visit of students from pre-school, primary, secondary and higher education, through the implementation of different modalities of guided visits, including training in values, historical reinforcement, and reflection on cultural issues. It organizes painting, essays, stories, poetry and photography contests, among others, in order to stimulate creativity and draw the attention of the local and national community about issues that privilege the democratic values of the Costa Rican nation. In addition, it takes into account customs and traditions and organizes competitions of portals, typical foods, and music rehearsals, among others.
Support for community initiatives. It supports activities of high educational, cultural and artistic content, promoted by the community or organized groups and facilitates its spaces for events aimed at promoting new values in the field of music, plastic arts, literature, and popular tradition. Rescue, preservation, and dissemination of historical memory. Special emphasis is given to the recovery of written and audiovisual documents of the life and work of Don José Figueres and of the History of San Ramón, with the aim of spreading his thoughts and promoting values that strengthen democracy and social justice.
Recitals, concerts, plays, and others. It presents shows of different musical manifestations and scenic art, of great national and international prestige, in which both established and new artists participate. Talks, round tables, and conferences. It organizes round tables, conferences, film forums, and debates on topics of national and international interest, which promote and strengthen democracy.
Juan Santa María Cultural Historical Museum.
The Juan Santamaría Cultural Historical Museum (MHCJS) is an institution attached to the Ministry of Culture and Youth. It bears the name “Juan Santamaría” in honor of the national hero. It occupies the building of the Old Jail of Alajuela. By Law Decree No. 7895, dated July 30, 1999, it was also assigned the building of the Old Weapons Barracks, both built in the second half of the 19th century and declared Historical and Architectural Patrimony of the Nation.
On December 8, 1978, a formal and symbolic act was carried out that began the process of remodeling the building that occupied the old prison, headquarters of the Museum. The remodeling of this building was in charge of the Club de Leones de Alajuela. The work lasted from January 1979 to March 1980. The Museum’s collections are made up of materials that testify historical aspects related to the Central American war waged against the invading filibuster WilliamWalker in 1856-1857: oil paintings, portraits, documents, weapons and various objects linked to this heroic deed.
The Museum has assumed its task as a civic and community commitment center. For its work of cultural promotion, it has been the subject of various awards. Among the main functions of the museum include keeping in force in the collective memory of the Costa Rican people in the heroic deed carried out against Walker, it is also responsible for assuming a value function of the cultural heritage and provide alternatives for the enjoyment and the community participation in the history, education, art and cultural in general.
VIATCRN staff
SOURCEOsmary Torres
art costa rica
costa rica culture
Costa Rica National Museum
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I was born in Colombia, I come from humble parents but with good habits and love for God. I had the great opportunity to grow up with a special aunt in my life, she took me to live in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. I grew up there, I studied at Lehi High and then I started studying at BYU. In the year 2000 I returned to my land and obtained the title of Bachelor in Education Mension integral
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8 Mountain Spirits You Need to Try this Winter
Lucy Pierce
After a hearty alpine meal, possibly a little heavy on melted cheese or potatoes, you will most likely be offered one of the following. Why not try the locals’ favourite digestif? It’ll certainly give you a warm glow. For every town in the Alps, these liquors are the answer to many a malaise. Here’s our guide to eight mountain spirits you need to try during a cold snap.
This popular mountain liquor can be found in every establishment in the Savoy region in France and Italy, made from the aromatic Artemisia plant, which is more commonly known as wormwood and has plenty of medicinal values. Usually consumed as a digestif, the pungent smell might be too much for some, although leaving the sprigs in the bottle does add to its flavour.
Artemisia | © Marco/flickr
This distilled alcohol comes in either a distinct green or a yellow colour. The green liquor consists of 130 types of herbs, plants and flowers, while the yellow has a less pungent taste and is a little sweeter.
Chartreuse | © wikimedia/googleimages
A fruity brandy made with the sour morello cherries, you may have come across it in cakes and desserts. Unlike most cherry liqueurs, this one is not a sweet treat, some of the top kirschwassers have a subtle hint of bitter-almond which comes from the cherry stones.
Kirsch | © wikimedia/googleimages
Found in Italy, Grappa is a fragrant grape based brandy, although, it’s high alcohol percentage makes it quite firewater-esque. There are many different flavours, some of which are fruity and fabulous, others an acquired taste, such as pepper grappa.
Liquor | © vividsoup/pixabay
Schnapps, also know as paint stripper, is an extremely strong liquor so take it steady! Not to be confused with the alcopop Archers peach schnapps, it is a distilled spirit that is common in the mountains and the herbal concoctions are said to have health benefits, you will also find numerous flavours.
This Italian herbal liqueur has a yellow colouring due to the inclusion of saffron in its ingredients and is enjoyed after dinner. With a long history dating back to 1860, it has been tried and tested over the years with around 70 ingredients, including mint and fennel. Strega can also be used in a Torta Caprese.
Strega wikimedia/googleimages
Branca Menta
A digestif amaro, Branca Menta was created in the mid 1960s when mint syrup was added to the classic Fernet Branca to make it sweeter. Swedish skiers favour this shot over the other traditional varieties.
Amaro Alpino
This Italian digestif is similar to other liqueurs that have been produced throughout Europe, such as Kräuterlikör in Germany. Composed of mixed alpine herbs, bark, roots, flowers and / or citrus peels, it sometimes has a smoky taste.
Branca Menta & Amaro | © wikimedia/googleimages
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The Art Memberships Every Cultural Traveler Needs in New York City
MoMA | © Emmanuel Debrand / Flickr
Julia Goicochea
Home to countless art institutions revered around the world, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Museum of Modern Art, New York City is a museum lover’s mecca. No need to tire your wings, though, culture vultures: we’ve rounded up the city’s best memberships so that you can spend your time savoring, not searching, New York’s art scene. From iconic institutions to underrated attractions, here are the art memberships you need in New York City.
Not only does membership to the Metropolitan Museum of Art include its three diverse branches—the Met Fifth Avenue, the Met Breuer, and the Met Cloisters—but it also comprises membership subgroups as varied as the institution’s offerings. Members of the Curatorial Friends Group enjoy a behind-the-scenes peek into the international art world, while the Met Family Circle group enables families with young children to engage with art at an early age. Membership perks vary by group, ensuring that subscribers may enjoy advantages most relevant and exciting to them.
Metropolitan Museum of Art l Pixabay
Often credited as one of New York City’s most underrated attractions, the Museum of the Moving Image is enhanced further by having a membership. A museum for the modern age, this Queens institution is dedicated to TV, film, and digital media and is known for its core exhibition comprising artifacts from over 1,000 film productions as well as its regular screenings, ranging from live-scored silent films to the latest international releases. A great gift for the culture vultures in your life, membership provides unlimited free admission to the museum’s offerings, free admission to the nearby Queens Museum, two-for-one admission to Museum of the City of New York, discounted movie tickets at Cinema Village, and much more.
Photo: Brian Palmer / Museum of the Moving Image.
Experience the new Whitney—and a new level of superb quality—as a member of the Whitney Museum of American Art. In addition to expected perks, such as unlimited express admission and deals at the museum’s shop and restaurants, Whitney membership also grants you private viewings after the museum closes. It also offers discounts at more than 50 Manhattan restaurants and businesses and free admission to the world’s leading modern and contemporary art institutions through the museum’s Reciprocal Admission Program.
Whitney Museum of American Art | © MusikAnimal / WikiCommons
New Museum of Contemporary Art
As “Manhattan’s only dedicated contemporary art museum,” the New Museum of Contemporary Art is one of New York’s most coveted cultural experiences. That’s why, at just $60, membership to the New Museum and access to the priceless perks that come with it can be considered a steal. Snag your membership today to enjoy free, unlimited admission; receive invitations to private viewings, receptions, and tours; have the first pick of Annual Gala tickets; and much more.
New Museum of Contemporary Art l Lauren Manning/Flickr
With buzzy exhibits, such as the international The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk and Ai Weiwei: According to What?, the Brooklyn Museum has set itself apart as New York’s museum for the next generation. The second largest museum in New York City, Brooklyn Museum has plenty to offer, not the least of which being its attractive membership perks. Members of this trendsetting institution enjoy complimentary admission to the museum’s exhibits, libraries, and archives; free or discounted tickets to local concerts, performances, and more; and discounts on children and adult art classes.
Brooklyn Museum | © Jim.henderson / WikiCommons
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Falcons shake Ravens with late TD
ATLANTA -- If this was a Super Bowl preview, that's going to be quite a game in Big D.
Roddy White hauled in a 33-yard touchdown pass from Matt Ryan with 20 seconds remaining and the Atlanta Falcons, after squandering a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter, rallied to beat the Baltimore Ravens 26-21 on Thursday in a prime-time matchup between two of the NFL's top teams.
With commissioner Roger Goodell looking on, just adding to the big-game feel, the Falcons (7-2) appeared to be control after Ryan hooked up with White on a 4-yard touchdown with 11:34 remaining to make it 20-7. Curiously, Atlanta coach Mike Smith didn't attempt a 2-point conversion, which nearly came back to bite him.
After barely touching the ball in the first half, Baltimore (6-3) rallied behind Joe Flacco's two fourth-quarter TD passes, the second of them a 9-yarder to Todd Heap with 1:05 left.
Back came the Falcons, who improved to 18-1 at home with Ryan as the starter. He needed less than a minute to pull off an 80-yard drive, hooking up with Michael Jenkins on a huge third-down pass along the sideline before going back to his favorite receiver for the winner.
Ryan rolled to his left to get away from the pressure, and White appeared to push off Josh Wilson with his right hand to get free, sending the cornerback tumbling to the turf. Ryan delivered the ball perfectly, White caught it with no one around and cruised into the end zone.
Wilson hopped up, screaming for a flag. But the official kept the yellow flags in his back pocket and held up both arms. Touchdown.
White came into the game listed as questionable after hurting his right knee in last Sunday's win over Tampa Bay and practicing only once during the short week. But he danced out of the tunnel during the pregame introductions with a big smile and clearly wasn't bothered.
He finished with 12 catches for 138 yards. Ryan threw 50 passes, completing 32 of them for 316 yards and three scores.
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Exodus of EU Citizens from UK: ‘There has Been So Much Hate’
by Marina Watson Pelaez
in Featured, World
London, May 9, 2016. Photo: David Holt, Flickr
When 63-year-old Monique Self, from the Netherlands, moved to Kent with her British husband 15 years ago, she soon got a job as a business development coordinator. She was earning a good salary and felt integrated. But for the past 18 months, she has been among the 3 million E.U. citizens in Britain feeling unsettled. Despite Prime Minister Theresa May’s recent promise to secure their British residency rights, Ms. Self has decided to sell her home and is leaving for good.
“I’ve never been ill or used benefits. I paid a lot of tax, and still, I am being treated as a third class citizen. Now I feel unwelcome,” Ms. Self told The Globe Post. “In the past 18 months there has been so much hate and the government has just been feeding the hate. I was doing my shopping the other day, and I got a phone call from my best friend in Holland, and then, of course, I spoke in Dutch with her. Then someone passing by suddenly started insulting me telling me to go back to my own country,” she added.
“The reason I want to move now is that I want to be settled [in the Netherlands] before March 2018 because at the moment my husband can come with me under E.U. freedom of movement, but I don’t know what is going to happen.”
And she has no plans to return. “Even if they [the British government] offered me British Citizenship for free, they have hurt us all so much in the past 18 months and treated us so badly, that the trust is gone.”
According to a survey carried out by KPMG, a perception that British society has changed is the main reason for E.U. citizens leaving, with half of the people, interviewed saying they felt less welcome and valued in the U.K. following the Brexit vote. Around 33 percent of people said they might not stay because they are pro-European and disagree with Brexit, and 18 percent said the residency process was too difficult.
At least 230,000 E.U. citizens have left Britain already following the Brexit vote, although 28,500 E.U. citizens have applied for British citizenship to be able to remain in the U.K. The Migration Observatory, which is based at Oxford University, has pointed out that thousands of E.U. nationals could face hurdles when applying for “settled” status in the second half of next year.
Although 49-year-old interpreter and translator Elena Remigi, from Italy, obtained British citizenship earlier this year, she is distressed with the situation facing thousands of other E.U. nationals like herself.
“I have become a British citizen, so in theory, I could feel safe and happy, but I don’t,” Ms. Remigi, author and co-editor of In Limbo, told The Globe Post. “I’ve just been lucky because I can afford £1,500 to apply for citizenship. And many countries don’t allow dual nationalities.”
The government has said that E.U. nationals who have been lawfully living in the U.K. by 29 March 2019 for five years will be able to apply to stay indefinitely by getting “settled” status. They can then go on to apply for British citizenship. The last-minute deal, signed last Friday, also allows E.U. nationals to have their spouses and family members living abroad to join them.
“I know our country would be poorer if you left and I want you to stay,” Theresa May said in an open letter to E.U. citizens in the U.K. after the initial agreement signed in Brussels.
But Ms. Remigi fears it won’t be that simple.
“They [the U.K. government] keep saying that it is going to be very easy, that it’ll just be a few questions. Well, we don’t know what those questions will be and people risk not being eligible. I worry about the most vulnerable, like disabled people and people with small jobs,” Ms. Remigi said.
“Our rights should have been guaranteed from day one,” she pointed out.
The risk facing vulnerable E.U. citizens in the U.K. was proved after the Home Office recently was accused of illegally deporting rough sleeping — homeless — E.U. citizens, with the Home Office having the option to remove E.U. citizens for supposedly failing to exercise their rights in the U.K. under the E.U. law.
E.U. campaigners have said in response to the agreement on December 8 that they are not reassured. “Our rights should not have an expiry date,” Nicolas Hatton, Chair of the3million, a grassroots organisation of E.U. citizens in the U.K., said in an official statement.
“More worryingly, there is still no clarity around the registration criteria for these rights. There are a huge number of people still in the dark about whether they will qualify or not. Hundreds and thousands of them might get a letter that they have to go,” he pointed out.
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Pan African Parliament wants travel ban on Chad lifted
By admini
The Pan African Parliament (PAP) has expressed shock at the decision by the United States to ban Chadians from entering the US and has adopted a Motion calling for the immediate lifting of the travel ban.
The Motion, which was moved by Hon. Sekou Fantamadi Traore (Mali), expresses solidarity and unwavering support of PAP to the government and people of Chad and calls on the US to rescind its decision to include Chad on the list of countries whose citizens are not allowed to travel to the United States.
In March this year, the US issued the Executive Order, which came into effect on 25 September 2017. The ban was premised on grounds that Chad does not share public safety and terrorism related information. This brings to eight the countries with travel restrictions, namely, Chad, Libya, Iran, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen. The White House called the ban “a critical step towards establishing an immigration system that protects Americans’ safety and security.”
Meeting in Midrand, South Africa on Monday, 16th October 2017 in its Fifth Ordinary Session, the MPs argued that Chad’s commitment to combating terrorism by deploying its defence and security forces side by side with the regions military forces, points to good intentions by the country and therefore does not deserve such high handedness by the US.
Legislators reasoned that the action by the US to impose travel restrictions on Chad is one of many of its interventionist policies on the sovereignty of African nations.
“The US must be disabused of its attitude of making itself the self-appointed police of the world. This ban is testing the resolve of Africa as a continent. It may be Chad today but tomorrow it will be another country,” said Hon. Hunadi Mateme (South Africa).
“How about us reminding them to focus on governing their country because since their last election, they are yet to embark on governance; they are still in the election mood. They must also move in step with other countries in as far as human rights is concerned. They preach democracy in their country but kill and maim people in other parts of the world,” she added.
Just only last week, the PAP MPs had patted themselves on the back for leading a delegation of legislators to the United States and successfully negotiating the lifting of sanctions on Sudan. The African MPs that included Hon. Anifa Kawooya (Uganda) described to the US Congress real life testimonies about the effect of the sanctions on the people of Sudan.
“I will fight for their justice and I call upon all of you, just like we put up a spirited fight in the US Congress in ensuring sanctions on Sudan were lifted, that we do the same for Chad,” Hon. Kawooya said.
According to Chief Fortune Charumbira (Zimbabwe) such action by the US is a manifestation of lack of respect by the West on Africa. He said it was improper for the US to impose such restrictions on Chad without the African Union expressing itself on it.
Professor Morris Ogenga Latigo (Uganda) re-echoes similar opinions. “If really there was a crisis, given the status of Chad in it holding the Chair of the AU, the US ought to have consulted with some key countries such that they take a considered decision,” he said, “Unfortunately for the US, policies at the moment are being driven by the impulsiveness of President Trump who allows his Foreign Secretary to go to negotiate with Koreans and then tells him ‘don’t waste your time’. That is the tragedy of American leadership in the world at the moment.”
Legislators said it was a paradox that instead of supporting the efforts made by the President of Chad with his peace and security forces in combating terrorism in Africa, the US President had unfairly imposed sanctions for inexplicable reasons against Chadian people.
In collective approbation, the PAP said the action constitutes a violation of human rights and affects the free movement of people.
PAP President Roger Nkodo Dang said there is a need for Africans to be united and to support all countries that are faced with sanctions.
Uganda’s Members to the continental legislature include: Hon. Jacquiline Amongin (NRM, Ngora); Prof. Ogenga Latigo (FDC, Agago North); Hon. Anifa Bangirana Kawooya (NRM, Ssembabule); Hon. Felix Okot Ogong (NRM, Dokolo South) and Hon. Babirye Kadogo (Ind. Buyende).
Related Items:Chad, Pan African Parliament, PAP
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Media-OutReach
Suncity Group Sponsoring "1st Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area Chinese Opera Cultural Festival"
Update: November, 06/2020 - 17:45
Promoting Traditional Cultures and Enhancing Cultural Exchanges
MACAU - Media OutReach - 6 November 2020 - The "1st Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area Chinese Opera Cultural Festival", co-organized by China Theatre Association, China-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area Chinese Opera Association and Hong Kong Tai Kung Wen Wei Media Group, was solemnly opened on November 5 at 8:00 p.m. at Venetian Theatre, The Venetian Macau. The opening night featured Chinese opera artists including Beijing Opera, Kunqu Opera, Yu Opera and Cantonese Opera, bringing amazing performances for the first large-scale Chinese Opera Cultural Festival.
The officiating guests performed the opening ceremony
Xiqu artists wholeheartedly performed for the opening ceremony of "1st Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area Chinese Opera Cultural Festival"
The Opening Ceremony was inaugurated by Ao Ieong U, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture of the Government of the Macau Special Administrative Region, who represented the Chief Executive, Kou Hoi In, President of the Legislative Assembly of the Macau Special Administrative Region, Wang Dong, Acting Commissioner of Commissioner's Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China in the Macau Special Administrative Region, Zhu Hong, Deputy Director of the Economic Affairs Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Macau Special Administrative Region, Chen Yan, Secretary of the Leading Party Member's Group of China Theatre Association, Meng Guanglu, Vice President of China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and Alvin Chau, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Suncity Group as well as honourable guests, experiencing the traditional Chinese opera culture and the national treasure with other audiences.
It is the responsibility of every Chinese to continue the legacy of Chinese traditional art. As an enterprise rooted in Macau that has long been committed to fulfilling its social responsibility, Suncity Group spares no effort in supporting the development and dissemination of art. With sponsoring the first ever Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area Chinese Opera Cultural Festival, the Group aims to facilitate the building of 'A Cultural Bay Area' as well as actively promotes and constructs the 'Chinese Opera Cultural Festival' as a new 'Go Global' campaign, demonstrating the quintessence of Chinese culture to the world.
Alvin Chau stated, "With its sophistication and long history, the traditional Chinese culture forms the basis of Macau's diverse culture. The strategic positioning of Macau as a base for exchange and cooperation in the "Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area" is not just an affirmation of Macau as an important hub in the "Belt and Road Initiative". It is also an expectation for Macau to utilize its unique advantages in enhancing the development of the culture sectors of the Greater Bay Area and promoting traditional Chinese culture to other countries. I believe, through the success of this "1st Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area Chinese Opera Cultural Festival", Macau can promote to its younger generations the traditional Chinese culture and patriotism, reinforce national self-confidence and the cultural identity of the Chinese while enhancing the diversification of its economy. As always, I will continue to leverage on my strength in promoting the spectacular traditional culture of the Chinese."
High-resolution images can be downloaded in the gallery:
https://dropbox.suncity-group.com/url/qrmftap74nmmhsxq
About Suncity Group
Suncity Group was founded in 2007. Since establishment, Suncity Group has been striving to provide the extraordinary VIP entertainment service for our guests, and we then opened a number of VIP Clubs in various 6-star hotels and resorts throughout Macau with the rapid growth of our business. Meanwhile, we successively set up exclusive VIP Clubs in Manila, Seoul, Incheon, Phnom Penh and Da Nang, etc.
Adhering to the spirit of "Innovating With Diversity, Striving For Success", Suncity Group spared no effort to develop high-end entertainment services and products as well as roll out global VIP loyalty program for the selected members to enjoy entertainment, travel, catering services, luxury shopping and motion picture. Today, the scope of our business covers most sectors, especially in the fields of global travel, film production, concert and event planning, catering and luxury goods.
As a Macau born and bred enterprise, Suncity Group is not only devoted to develop the Asian market, but also oriented to expand the global network. In the future, we will surely continue to diversify our VIP entertainment services, attract more exclusive members and make every effort to promote our business in every corner of the world.
Official Website | www.suncitygroup.com.mo/en
Suncity Group
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Utah Lake
Utah Lake Trail Plan
Adopt a Shoreline Program
Utah Lake Festival
Meeting Schedules, Agendas and Minutes
Utah Lake Photo Contest
Invasive Plants at Utah Lake
October 31, 2019 Posted by Guest Author Utah Lake No Comments
Utah Lake is a favorite with hikers and runners, boaters and fishers — but it may surprise you to learn it’s also a battleground of sorts. Utah Lake is in a pitched fight against a number of invasive species that threaten to take over the shoreline and upset the natural ecosystem of the Provo area. Here are some of the invasive plants to look out for at Utah Lake.
Pronounced “frag-MIGHT-tees,” it’s also known as the common reed. There’s actually a subspecies that is native to North America — but that’s not the problem plant. The European subspecies was introduced in the 19th century, and by the 1990s, outgrew its native American cousin. Phragmites wreaks havoc on Utah Lake by dominating and pushing out native species such as cattails and bulrush. This invader also drinks up more than its share of water and poses a fire hazard. It also limits habitat for native fish and bird species.
You might have seen some of the eradication efforts such as giant crushers and mowers laying waste to the phragmites. Crews are also applying an herbicide called AquaNeat in the late summer. But it takes more than one pass to get rid of the stubborn phragmites. In fact, workers go over it for three years, just to make sure they stamp it out. So far, the treatment has been working well.
The state of Utah has been trying to eradicate tamarisk for years. It’s a small tree or shrub native to parts of Asia but is now spreading across the western United States. Utah Lake isn’t alone in its problems with tamarisk, nor its eradication effort. The United States Geological Survey says introducing a leaf-eating beetle from the tamarisk’s native region has been successful. But because the beetle is not native, there’s a reason to be cautious about the use of them.
Russian Olive
This tough tree with silvery green leaves has been the bane of environmentalists around the country for decades. It came to the U.S. in the late 19th century as an ornamental plant and expanded from there. Now it’s one of the invasive species found along the Utah Lake shoreline, and the poster child for why people should not introduce foreign plants to local soil. The Russian olive grows so well in North America that it crowds out native species. It’s been included in invasive species eradication efforts over the years at Utah Lake as well. In an effort to avoid future issues, beetles are not used at Utah Lake. Instead, state and county employees follow a specific treatment regimen.
Most invasive species introduced to North America over the decades came here either accidentally, or unwittingly — with no understanding of the consequences to the native habitat. Now in the 21st century, we understand how devastating an invasive species such as phragmites can be. In fact, there are several more invasive species growing around Utah Lake, like cheatgrass and medusahead. These, too, push out native species and cause harm to the environment. You can do your part, by helping restore the natural environment at home, in your own backyard. Choosing native plants will help restore the natural environment. It will also give you a true appreciation of what we stand to lose at Utah Lake if invasive species are allowed to continue to spread.
John Williams is an outdoor living expert, explorer, and writer for LawnStarter. When he’s not traveling to nature’s most well-known beauty spots, he tends to the greenery surrounding his home.
About Guest Author
The Utah Lake Commission invites guest authors to create content on our blog. Blog post topics include conservation, lake history, promotional content, recreation information and more.
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Fall in Love with Utah Lake in under 60 minutes! Watch this Video!
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Common Dials Up His Friendship With Prince on ‘Star *69′
Debra Filcman
MCA Records
When the rapper Common was still a child, it was the unexpected mix of God and sex that drew him to Prince's music. Years later when he was making music himself, he nabbed several dream interactions with the veteran musician, including Prince's contribution to his own "Star *69 (PS With Love)" from his 2002 record Electric Circus.
Co-produced by the Roots' Questlove, the album featured a number of guests, from Cee Lo Green and Erykah Badu to Pharrell Williams and Mary J. Blige. Even on "*69," Prince shares billing with Bilal. But according to Prince Vault, it remains unknown what exactly Prince's contributions to the song are, despite being credited with keyboards and guitar. "It is likely that Prince only plays on the 0:34 instrumental coda following the song itself, although this is not confirmed," the site says, and the two musicians didn't even record together in the studio.
But in addition to playing on the song, however small his part, Common recalls Prince inspiring him at that time. "He did have influence on me and that record. I even recorded some of it at Paisley Park," Common said. "At that time, I was being introduced to a lot of rock in general. I was listening to groups that were from different genres of rock, like Pink Floyd, Stereolab and Prince was definitely a heavy influence."
But despite recording on the premises, he never saw Prince. "I assumed he was going to be there…and to this day I never knew if he was there or not," he said. "Because he could be watching you, we were there hoping he would pop up, but he never did. I did end up hearing a song we did and laid keyboard on it. So it was the mystery of, Is he going to show up? But then he ended up adding to the record."
Their relationship began in Common's hometown. "I first met him at this event in Chicago at this place called the Riviera. I was just happy that he spoke to me and knew who I was," he said. They told me he had asked about me and I was just grateful. He was just nice and open to talk. We talked about this song I did called “The Light.” He said, 'It’s in a major key and I like songs in major keys.' I said 'Man, I don’t know what key it’s in.' I was just honored that one of the greatest artists knew who I was and knew my music."
Of course, that's not to say all of their interactions went well. After Prince invited him to perform at his birthday at Paisley Park in 2001, he also asked him to perform at one of his own shows at O2 in London. "I didn't even know exactly which song I was gonna do until I get to the venue. And they said, 'Prince wants you to get up and do [Wild Cherry's] 'Play That Funky Music White Boy,'" Common recalled. "First of all, I don't know the words and I don't sing really ... of course, I can't really turn him down. ... I take a deep breath, and I'm lookin', they got a teleprompter."
Saved, right? Wrong! "Earlier that day, one of my contacts was itchy and red and I couldn't keep it in. I had to take one of the contacts out. This happened that afternoon before I got to the venue," he continued. "So really, kinda, I'm seeing out of one eye. I can't see all the words, and the song is going and I'm missing where the words are and the cues. Prince looked at me and they quickly cut the song shorter than they were gonna go. So Prince finished the show and I see him, he comes up. 'Wow, that, um, really went well.'"
In 2014, Common and John Legend won a Golden Globe for Best Original Song for "Glory," which they wrote for the film Selma. It was the last time he saw the man. "When Prince announced the award, I was ready to just run up. I gave him a hug," he said. "I just said, 'Thank you, thank you' and he was like, 'Man, congratulations. You deserve it.' He saw how joyous I was, he came and handed me the envelope when John was talking."
Listen to "Glory" by John Legend feat. Common
"I felt like he showed up because he knew we were gonna win," he continued. "It doesn't seem like Prince would just show up for anything."
In another interview, he said accepting the award from Prince was one of the highlights of his life, but the hug may have been a bit over the top. "Just simply to win the Golden Globe with John Legend for Selma and then for Prince to present it," he said. "I remember some of my team members saw Prince walking and people’s reaction to Prince was, 'That’s Prince.' No matter how big of a movie star, everyone was amazed. To see him come out on stage and deliver the award to us made me so happy. I even remember going up to him and hugging him. People told me he had a look on his face that kinda said, 'Get off me.' I am just incredibly grateful I got to share that moment with him."
Next: Prince Shames the Greedy on 'Money Don't Matter 2 Night'
Source: Common Dials Up His Friendship With Prince on ‘Star *69′
Categories: Songs
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Home Blog About Press Kit
How it started. Part 3.
Before I started writing anything, before I even had a clear idea of the project, I told Beto the idea. We had worked together and I knew perfectly well that she was the person who could help me make what I had in mind come true. Beto has many qualities: she knows how to negotiate, connect people, manage teams, take care of people and she also loves everything that smells like innovation. But if I had to single out one thing, Beto is one of those people who makes things happen.
It happens to me that I have ideas (most bad, honestly) but I recognize that I need help to carry them out. I don’t know if because of insecurity or disability, but it doesn’t matter. When I tell Beto the proto idea of unmemory, I do it wishing she would join the project. And I’m lucky and relieved that she accepts to participate in the project.
From that moment, the two of us began to work together, to outline and define the project, its magnitude, its scope, its dimension. She puts my feet on the ground (she always does), bringing pragmatism and realism to the decisions we should make, the steps we need to take and the vision of the project. An example: she has always bet on unmemory being a game, but not too much a game so that anyone interested in the story could not enjoy it. In other words, push the book side of the project. And that north, we have always had in mind in unmemory.
Beto also has the idea to do a crowdfunding campaign to finance unmemory on Kickstarter. That would allow us to test the demand for the product through a pre-sale, at the same time that we begin to communicate the product and create a community around it. I will never thank her enough for that initiative. Kickstarter has been key to develop our project, it’s been a sweet surprise that deserves a separate article.
In short, I think unmemory and myself, we both needed someone like Beto. Together we possibly make a good team because we go with each other. And together we started to walk and look for more talent to join the project. Pere and Ferran first. Then Joan and Julio. And later Jaime and Rachael.
Be the first to know everything about our project
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Skeletor Destroys Self-Esteem In This Supercut Of His Best Insults
Dan SeitzTwitterSenior Contributor
He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe is a strange show to revisit for many reasons, but not the least of them is the fact that clearly, the writing staff had a “Skeletor Insult Generator.” No, really, watch this supercut found by Kotaku and see if you disagree.
It’s kind of funny that Skeletor could basically call everybody a “boob” in the ’80s. Now the Parent’s Television Council would coordinate an angry letter-writing campaign that the word makes them think of breasts, and won’t somebody think of the whiny people who probably don’t even have children?
As for why Skeletor was so insult-happy, although tidbits are hard to find about the show, we do know that behind the scenes, it was a rather bizarre affair. J. Michael Stracyznski fondly recalls ignoring everything the sponsors and the psychologists they hired told them and Paul Dini admits that the staff took full advantage of the fact that nobody cared what the writers put together as long as it arrived on time.
Yes, they both wrote for this cartoon. Explains a lot, huh? But at least, in the end, we know Skeletor became a happier, more open-minded, and centered individual. Really, that’s what’s most important.
Topics: #SupercutsTags: he-man, he-man and the masters of the universe, INSULTS, Nostalgia, Skeletor, Supercuts
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Social Security Will Be There When Today’s Young People Retire
Neil H. Buchanan
Posted in: Politics
Republicans have been gunning for Social Security for decades. This is understandable, as an ideological matter, because Social Security’s very existence undermines the anti-government mythology on which the modern conservative movement thrives. The nation’s public retirement system stands as living proof that large government programs can be successful, popular, and extremely efficient.
What can conservative ideologues do when faced with such inconvenient facts? One possibility would be to adapt to reality and move on to a different fight. Instead, Republicans have chosen the path of obfuscation and distortion. Sadly, their long-term disinformation campaign has successfully confused today’s young people, who might actually become so cynical that they could end up agreeing to changes to Social Security that would harm their own interests. In addition, Republicans have succeeded in confusing the press, which now reflexively repeats conservative talking points as if they were facts.
The simple facts are these:
Social Security is NOT going bankrupt
Social Security will continue to exist in perpetuity (unless Republicans succeed in repealing or undermining it)
Social Security will continue to provide a modest but essential retirement income for all Americans, long after Baby Boomers have met their maker
The path of the economy will determine the size of future Social Security benefits, and finally
Any of the alternatives to Social Security would be worse for young people than keeping the current system.
Before describing some recent examples of Republicans’ dishonest attacks on Social Security, and the press’s uncritical acceptance of those attacks, it is essential to understand exactly what we know about the future of Social Security. In particular, we need to debunk certain hoary myths about the Social Security trust fund.
Social Security Basics: Future Benefits for Today’s Younger Workers
The key source of information about Social Security’s finances is the annual report from the trustees of the Social Security system. That annual report (the most recent version of which is available here) includes hundreds of pages of accounting information and economic forecasts. Because the report is so long and so technical, it is easy for political players to distort its content, knowing that neither the press nor the public is likely to check the original source.
In order to understand what the trustees’ forecasts mean for younger Americans, it is helpful to think about a prototypical 25-year-old worker, whom I will call Chelsea. She is a couple of years out of college (although her level of education has nothing to do with the determination of her benefits) and just began working a new job at a salary of $40,000 per year, which is approximately the median salary for people in Chelsea’s age range.
Chelsea, who was born in 1991, will be eligible for full retirement benefits when she is 67 years old (which is the retirement age for everyone born from 1960 onward, notwithstanding the persistent belief that the retirement age is still 65). This means that, unless she opts for early or late retirement, Chelsea will receive retirement benefits starting in 2058. How much will she receive?
Even assuming that Chelsea never receives a raise during her entire career—which is extremely unlikely for someone so young—her retirement benefit will be somewhere between $1,117 and $1,573 per month, in inflation-adjusted dollars. These are hardly luxurious benefit levels, but receiving such benefits can mean the difference between comfort and starvation in retirement. (If she receives only a one percent raise each year, ending her working life with a salary slightly over $60,000, Chelsea’s Social Security monthly benefit would be between $1,512 and $2,130.)
Why is there a range of possible benefits, and what will determine the actual level of benefits that people will receive? The trustees provide forecasts based on three different sets of economic assumptions. The least favorable assumptions—which are so bad that they imply Depression-level economic outcomes for the next seventy-five years—result in the lower estimate for Chelsea’s benefits, $1,117 per month. Under the trustees’ middle-range assumptions—which are still quite conservative, showing decades of unnecessarily slow growth—Chelsea will receive $1,243 per month. And under relatively realistic assumptions that are somewhat more optimistic than the other two scenarios, Chelsea will receive the full $1,573 benefit.
Where did I get these numbers? On their website, Social Security’s trustees provide a few helpful calculators, which allow anyone to see what their benefits would be under different assumptions about future earnings, retirement dates, and so on. The estimated benefits that the calculators provide are the “full benefit” amounts. According to the 2015 annual report, the benefit under the middle scenario will be 79 percent of the full amount, or 71 percent under the most pessimistic scenario.
Obviously, anyone would prefer to receive the higher amount, but it is essential to understand that even the very worst case has Chelsea receiving over $1,100 per month during her retirement. Even if she ultimately receives higher benefits, she will still want to save on her own for retirement through IRAs and 401(k) accounts, but Social Security will—at the very minimum—provide an $1,117 per month cushion for her retirement. As the saying goes, that ain’t nothin’!
But Isn’t the System Going Bankrupt? No, It Isn’t.
Anyone who has been following the political discussion in recent years is likely to object that Social Security will not be there at all when younger Americans retire. If one were to believe what one hears from Republicans, not only will Chelsea not receive $1,573 per month, but she will not even receive $1,117 per month. She will, under this nightmare scenario, receive nothing at all. This, however, is false—not as a matter of opinion or political belief, but as a matter of arithmetic and accounting.
Even so, people have come to believe that Social Security will completely disappear, because Republicans and journalists tell them so. For example, in his last debate before dropping out of the Republican presidential primaries (transcript available here), Senator Marco Rubio asserted: “Social Security will go bankrupt and it will bankrupt the country with it.” How is it possible that Social Security could go “bankrupt” yet still, as the Social Security trustees tell us, provide at least $1,117 to someone who earns an average of $40,000 per year over her career?
Rubio misled his listeners by using the word “bankrupt” not to describe a situation in which Social Security has no money and must shut down, but one in which the Social Security trust fund reaches a balance of zero. But a balance of zero in the trust fund is nothing like bankruptcy. (Rubio’s claim that Social Security’s supposed bankruptcy will then lead to national bankruptcy is so absurd as to require a separate column, which I expect to publish here on Verdict within the next few months.) Even with a zero balance in the trust fund, the system could still pay benefits equal to incoming revenues, which would be (as I noted above) at least 71 percent of the maximum benefit level, even in a long-term depressed economy.
According to the trustees, the trust fund could reach a zero balance as early as 2028 in such a depressed economy, or in 2034 in the middle-range scenario (which is the estimate most often reported by news organizations as unquestioned fact). If the economy returns to something like normal health, however, the trust fund would not be depleted during the entire 75-year range of the forecast (through 2090, when Chelsea will be 99 years old).
The trust fund allows the system to pay a higher level of benefits for a longer period. But if there were no trust fund at all, the system would still be collecting tax revenues every year and thus could pay benefits every year. The system would not be bankrupt but would, instead, simply pay the lower level of benefits required by law if the trust fund reaches a zero balance.
Perhaps it is unfair to pick on poor Marco Rubio. After all, he uttered this claim in the last days of a disastrously failed presidential campaign, having been exposed as the emptiest of empty suits. Maybe more knowledgeable and sophisticated Republicans know not to make such uninformed remarks.
Would that it were so. Although House Speaker Paul Ryan is himself an empty suit, Republicans universally hail him as their leading intellectual light, especially on budgetary matters. And in a recent interview, Ryan said that both Social Security and Medicare are “not going to be there for my generation when we retire. You have to change these benefits to prevent them from going bankrupt.” Ryan is more than twenty years older than Chelsea, yet he loudly proclaims that Social Security will “not be there” for him or anyone who follows.
If anything, therefore, Rubio was simply repeating (and, as was his wont, repeating and repeating) Ryan’s party line about Social Security. This was, in other words, not a glitch. Rubio was faithfully repeating a fallacy to try to get younger people to agree to change the Social Security system. If you can convince younger people that they will get nothing from a system, then you can get them to agree to vote against their actual interests.
The Media Is Complicit in Spreading Untruths About Social Security
It is not, moreover, merely partisan Republicans who are making these claims. The moderator of that presidential debate, CNN’s Dana Bash, began a follow-up question by stating as fact that “Social Security is projected to run out of money within 20 years.” Again, the trust fund might be depleted in the future, but that does not mean that Social Security will “run out of money.” It simply would mean that the benefit levels would change.
Even left-leaning commentators have often become confused. Gail Collins, an op-ed columnist for The New York Times, criticized Rubio’s claims about Social Security by saying that “[t]here will be a gap. Most of which would be bridged if Congress eliminated the rule saying that people can stop paying the payroll tax on any income over $118,500. Nobody mentioned that factoid.” As I described above, however, there may or may not be a “gap” (by which Collins means that the trust fund would reach a zero balance, requiring that benefits be reduced from the higher level). One of the trustees’ own forecasts shows that such a gap might never come into existence. Saying that “there will be a gap” is simply not a statement of fact.
Even so, Collins is much better informed than most people who feel no compunction about sharing their ignorance regarding Social Security. And she certainly deserves credit for saying that Rubio’s claim that “[a]nyone who tells you that Social Security can stay the way it is, is lying” is a lie (or a misrepresentation).
Leaving Social Security Alone Is Better Than the Republicans’ Alternatives
In that same debate on CNN, Ohio Governor John Kasich repeated the well known polling result that “there are more 18-year-olds who believe they have a better chance of seeing a UFO than a Social Security check and we have a lot of seniors who are very nervous.” Gee, I wonder how that happened! With most of the press having been confused into believing the nonsense about Social Security going bankrupt, younger Americans can certainly be forgiven for believing that Social Security will not be there for them.
Yet it is rather disingenuous for Kasich to make such a remark as a reason to change Social Security. After all, it is Kasich and his Republican colleagues who have assiduously nurtured the myths about Social Security that now have younger Americans so confused and scared. Telling kids ghost stories and then noting excitedly that they all believe is ghosts is hardly a basis for making serious policy choices. The better path is simply to be honest with younger people, and to tell them that the levels of future benefits will depend on the path of future wages and salaries.
Kasich has, however, made another statement about Social Security that is particularly revealing. Last October, in a campaign appearance in New Hampshire, Kasich told his audience that benefits will have to be reduced in the future. When someone objected, Kasich said, “Well, you’d get over it, and you’re going to have to get over it.”
In a sense, that is right. But most young people today do not know what their future benefits might be. They are worried because people like Ryan and Rubio have convinced them that the system will be bankrupt long before they reach retirement age. In their minds, the issue is not whether they will receive $1,573 or $1,117 per month, or somewhere in between. They are worried that they will receive nothing at all.
Kasich’s “get over it” statement, however, is actually interesting, because it accidentally captures the idea that benefit levels decades in the future are not truly fixed quantities but must necessarily change in response to long-term economic trends. If it turns out that benefits for a person who earns $40,000 per year are, say, $1300 (better than the worst case, but not as good as they might be), then people like Chelsea will indeed “have to get over” the fact that her benefit will not be $1,573.
That is not, however, a reason to give up on Social Security, nor is it a reason for younger Americans to agree in advance to make cuts that will simply worsen the best-case scenario. The Republicans’ proposed changes to retirement ages and possible cuts to benefits, or even the increases in payroll taxes along the lines that Gail Collins described, will fall on younger Americans, not on older people like me.
There are plenty of ways to improve the retirement prospects for younger Americans. Most importantly, we should enact policies to reverse decades of wage and salary stagnation, because doing so would not only allow Social Security to pay the highest levels of benefits under current law, but it would also allow us to enhance Social Security to give today’s younger workers even higher benefits. Meanwhile, those younger workers could use some of their enhanced incomes to build up their own savings to supplement their Social Security benefits.
All of this means that we should stop believing in the trickle-down policies that have so spectacularly failed ordinary Americans over the last three or four decades. If we cannot do that, however, at the very least we should stop trying to scare younger people and instead reassure them that Social Security will be there for them, so long as we all remain committed to it.
Posted in: Politics, Tax and Economics
Tags: Politics, Social Security
Author: Neil H. Buchanan
Neil H. Buchanan, an economist and legal scholar, holds the James J. Freeland Eminent Scholar Chair in Taxation at the University of Florida's Levin College of Law. His research addresses economic and philosophical aspects of justice between generations, and he is particularly interested in policies that affect budget deficits, the national debt, health care costs, and Social Security.
Follow @NeilHBuchanan on Twitter
5 responses to “Social Security Will Be There When Today’s Young People Retire”
screaminmeme says:
Thoughts on second point in the second paragraph: If “the press” “reflexively repeats [disinformation]” it is not because it has become “confused” of has been duped, it is because there are few real journalists worthy of the term in today’s media market, and because these so-called reporters — who are employed more because they look good in front of a camera per innumerable focus groups — are simply ignorant or just plain lazy, and have never bothered to learn and master the craft. (Also, because the network managers and producers, themselves, are increasingly ignorant of, or are wholly disinterested in, caring on the traditions and standards of real news reporting.)
Frank Willa says:
Thank you for the reality check!
Richard Oakley says:
HITORY LESSON ON YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY Just in case some of you young whippersnappers (& some older ones) didn’t know this. It’s easy to check out, if you don’t believe it. Be sure and show it to your family and friends. They need a little history lesson on what’s what and it doesn’t matter whether you are Democrat or Republican. Facts are Facts. Social Security Cards up until the 1980s expressly stated the number and card were not to be used for identification purposes. Since nearly everyone in the United States now has a number, it became convenient to use it anyway and the NOT FOR IDENTIFICATION message was removed. Franklin Roosevelt, a Democrat, introduced the Social Security (FICA) Program. His promises are in black, with updates in red.
1.) That participation in the Program would be Completely voluntary [No longer voluntary],
2.) That the participants would only have to pay 1% of the first $1,400 of their annual Incomes into the Program [Now 7.65% on the first $90,000, and 15% on the first $90,000 if you’re self-employed],
3.) That the money the participants elected to put into the Program would be deductible from their income for tax purposes each year [No longer tax deductible],
4.) That the money the participants put into the independent ‘Trust Fund’ rather than into the general operating fund, and therefore, would only be used to fund the Social Security Retirement Program, and no other Government program [Under Johnson the money was moved to the General Fund and Spent], and
5.) That the annuity payments to the retirees would never be taxed as income [Under Clinton & Gore up to 85% of your Social Security can be Taxed]. Since many of us have paid into FICA for years and are now receiving a Social Security check every month — and then finding that we are getting taxed on 85% of the money we paid to the Federal government to ‘put away’ — you may be interested in the following:
Q: Which Political Party took Social Security from the independent ‘Trust Fund’ and put it into the general fund so that Congress could spend it? A: It was Lyndon Johnson and the democratically controlled House and Senate.
Q: Which Political Party eliminated the income tax deduction for Social Security (FICA) withholding? A: The Democratic Party.
Q: Which Political Party started taxing Social Security annuities? A: The Democratic Party, with Al Gore casting the ‘tie-breaking’ deciding vote as President of the Senate, while he was Vice President of the US AND MY FAVORITE:
Q: Which Political Party decided to start giving annuity payments to immigrants? A: That’s right! Jimmy Carter and the Democratic Party. Immigrants moved into this country, and at age 65, began to receive Social Security payments! The Democratic Party gave these payments to them, even though they never paid a dime into it! Now, after violating the original contract (FICA), the Democrats turn around and tell you that the Republicans want to take your Social Security away! And the worst part about it is uninformed citizens believe it! If enough people receive this, maybe a seed of awareness will be planted and maybe changes will evolve. Maybe not, though. Some Democrats are awfully sure of what isn’t so — but it’s worth a try
J.E. Tarrant says:
The article also tap dances around the inconvenient fact of what social security really is. The “trust fund,” has never been anything but Treasury Certificates. What the Federal Government has been doing all along is buying government bonds with the money. It isn’t invested, or even left to just sit. They borrow money from it, and since the only source of income the government has is taxpayers, we will all end up paying to make up the difference in the supposed fund. If anyone other than the Federal Government was doing this it would be a Ponzi scheme (which is, of course, illegal), and for good reason. If we are to keep benefits at anywhere neither there present levels, those Americans born between 1970 and 1990 will have to pay at least 30% of their income into FICA. Social Security is an example of a government failure, no matter how much you may want to pretend it isn’t it.
I happen to think that the Democrats share responsibility for this one. They are the one, primarily, who raided the Social Security TRUST FUND.
More Commentary by Neil H. Buchanan
Hawley’s Excuse for a Coup: Dangerous Nonsense in Search of a Legal Fig Leaf
Yes, Trump Is (Still) Engaged in an Attempted Coup; and Yes, It Might Lead to a Constitutional Crisis and a Breaking Point
Update on Trump’s Coup: Do Not Think That This Is Guaranteed to End Well
The Coronavirus and the Election: Trump’s Fateful Decisions Are Shocking and Disqualifying
How in the World Can Republicans Think the Economy Is Their Strong Suit?
Publications by Neil H. Buchanan
The Debt Ceiling Disasters: How the Republicans Created an Unnecessary Constitutional Crisis and How the Democrats Can Fight Back
by Neil H. Buchanan
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CEBA extended to October 31st. Expanded to include more businesses.
September 1, 2020 /in 2020 Only, Blog, Coronavirus, Coronavirus - Practice Owners, Debt /by Videre Financiers
On August 31st, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland announced the extension of the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) to October 31st, 2020. This will give small businesses 2 additional months to apply for the $40,000 loan.
In addition, the Federal Government said it was working with financial institutions to make the CEBA program available to those with qualifying payroll or non-deferrable expenses that have so far been unable to apply due to not operating from a business banking account.
TD: https://www.td.com/ca/en/personal-banking/covid-19/small-business-relief/
See full details on ceba
https://videre.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/CEBA_extended_to_Oct_31_and_expanded@2x.png 640 1000 Videre Financiers https://videre.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/videre2.png Videre Financiers2020-09-01 16:44:542020-09-01 16:30:14CEBA extended to October 31st. Expanded to include more businesses.
The Difference between Segregated Funds and Mutual Funds Throne Speech: Recovery Plan Highlights
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Tech woes
Aw man, what a week.
The hosting company that we use to host client websites got a virus that spread through at least a couple of their servers, and infected a bunch of our clients' sites, so I spent quite a bit of time today dealing with that, and earlier this week we had similar (although not virus-related) problems at a different hosting company, and I guess my Palm Pilot must have had some kind of error overnight which caused it to stay ON all night, completely discharge the battery, and go back to its original state, which means that ALL of the data that was on it is gone.
It's currently syncing with my desktop, but I hadn't synced it for awhile, since the battery is so long-lasting -- before, with the other one, I'd plug it in and sync it every day, but the rechargable battery in this one lasts a week or more, so I'm much less diligent. I don't know when I synced it last, frankly. So I have no idea what I've lost. Certainly the checkbook entries that I made when I paid bills last weekend; any calendar events that I entered, although I've been pretty good about entering those in iCal, so I'm probably okay there . . . And, of course, I can get the checkbook stuff from the bank sites online; since more and more things like that are online, carrying it all around with me becomes less important, but I like to at least have the illusion of control . . .
It's enough to make me want to go back to a paper calendar, which I have actually been thinking about.
My friend Micki was here last weekend for her highschool reunion. One of our very favorite things to do when she lived here a decade ago was to go to office supply stores. We went to Office Max on Sunday for old time's sake, but it wasn't really the same. Still, it was fun, and we looked at calendars there. She asked me what I used, and I said a Palm Pilot, but I was getting a little disillusioned with it because it's heavy, and I've been entering calendar items on my phone, which works pretty well.
And I've been writing my grocery list on a pad of paper. I don't know, maybe I had a premonition that this was going to happen, and this was the universe's way of letting me down easy and preparing me for the data loss.
It's still syncing. I'm almost afraid to look.
Micki and I had a good time last weekend. I knew she was coming this month, but not exactly when. She called on Thursday and said she was in town, and that she was cold--she hadn't counted on it being so cool here in September. She lived in Hawaii up until a couple of weeks ago, though, so that's probably to be expected.
So I took her to Target and she bought warm socks and sweatshirt (blue) and I bought the same sweatshirt (lavender), which was fun, then we went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant and talked for about four hours. It's pretty cool how you can see someone only once every few years (I think it was at least five years since I had seen her, maybe more), and then just immediately, and easily, drop back into the old friendship.
She had reunion stuff going on on Friday and Saturday, but she called on Sunday and went to Office Max and WalMart and ate out again, and went to one of those public storage locker places where she had some stuff stored, and just spent most of the day running around. Just like old times. Oh, and then went back to her hotel and sat in the bar for another hour or so, still talking.
Later . . .
It's now close to midnight, and I've spent about four hours updating the Palm Pilot. The sync worked pretty well, except that my photos got all screwed up, and while I realize that they're not really vital, it's something that I really like, so I probably spent about two of those hours reinstalling photo apps and photos (no, it shouldn't have taken that long, but . . . it did. Long story, not worth telling). Then I spent another hour (probably) updating my checkbook record, and then another hour trying to get everything else back the way it was. The big problem with restoring a Palm from backup is that although I may have deleted things from the device itself, the backup copy on the computer doesn't know that.
So when you restore it, you get a bunch of stuff that you didn't really want and (at least in my case) there's so much that the memory fills up, and then you're basically screwed. I had to reset it a couple of times. What a pain.
Periodically I check out new blogging tools; it's also something that we've been exploring at work, and also just something that I have fun with. Brandy had sent me some information about Vox a month or so ago, but I didn't think I was interested, and didn't do anything about it. But over the weekend something made me think of it again, and I played around with it and created a Vox blog. Vox is a free product from Six Apart, who make TypePad and Movable Type, both of which you have to pay to use.
I don't think there's anything wrong with paying to use something like TypePad, but Blogger works just great for me, and it's free, so I don't see any reason at all to change. But I did want to check out Vox, since it was also free, and it's fun.
It's also a little frustrating for me, since I can't get "under the hood," so to speak -- if there's something that isn't working the way I would like it to, I have to work with the provided tools and can't just go in and fix it from the backend, so more than once I've ended up deleting an entry, and re-inputting it in a different way.
For instance, I wanted to indent a paragraph, then decided to unindent it, but in doing that, it obviously added two sets of tags and added a lot of unnecessary space that I couldn't remove without deleting the paragraph and starting again. In the same vein, my designer's eye doesn't like the amount of whitespace that shows up underneath the tarot card picture abpve, but there doesn't seem to be any way to control that.
It also bugs me that while they give you the option of adding books, CDs, and videos from Amazon, they don't (as far as I can tell) give you the option of adding your own code to the link so that you get the commission rather than them, but since my commissions are generally on the order of about $20/year, I guess it doesn't matter. But it still rankles a bit.
But it's colorful, and fun to play around with, and while I didn't think I would like the "question of the day" journal prompts, I kind of do. Not all of them, but some of them, and it's fun to read the variety of responses that other people have written. There are a few little things that bother me, but on the whole I think it's a really fun place to play, and I'll probably keep on updating it, at least for the time being. I'm pretty sure that most people who use it wouldn't find the things I mentioned that confining. And I know that it's also probably true that if they gave people access to customize it, people would screw it up, and they'd have to spend a lot more money and time running tech support, so it's not that it's not understandable.
Since I guess I'm going to keep it, I'm trying to think of a better title for it than "Willa's Blog," but so far I haven't thought of anything better.
Edited to add: Vox is theoretically invitation only right now (it's still in beta), but I have five invitations that I can give away if anyone wants, just let me know.
The Blue Angels were back on Friday; it was about 3:30, I guess, when I heard Jeff say, "I hear jets!" and he and Shane and I (the only ones left at the office that late on a Friday afternoon) rushed out to the back to watch them. Just as we came out the door, four of the jets flew overhead very low in tight formation. What a thrill!
Jeff and Shane went up to the roof, but I stayed on the ground. I stood up on the concrete wall, hanging onto the fence and looking up to the sky, and I felt like a little kid, almost giddy with happiness. I know that I enjoyed that afternoon more than I would have enjoyed the actual airshow -- there was something so cool about it happening in the middle of a normal day, something wild, almost. It's hard to explain, but I was just thrilled. Thinking about it, it reminds me of how I feel when I see the ocean, or how Misty describes herself as being about to "burst from happiness." That's how I felt. And you don't get that feeling very often.
Something else that's been making me happy lately is watching movies on the laptop. It becomes, for me, a . . . more intimate experience, I guess. I put a DVD in, and make it into a smaller window, and I can still keep doing other things like checking email, etc., but there's this entertainment going on as well. I'm actually not sure why I enjoy it so much, but I do. This weekend I watched Pow Wow Highway and Grosse Pointe Blank, one of my very favorite movies.
I also discovered that ABC Family broadcasts a few of their shows on the web, and now every Monday night I watch Three Moons Over Milford, after it's aired on television on Sunday night. Yeah, obviously I could watch it on Sunday on the television, but I think it's cool to sit in my chair in the corner and watch it on the laptop. It's fun, and something I look forward to, and I don't have to worry about being in front of the television at a particular time.
Trying their wings
Today was fun. I almost always have fun at work -- I love the people I work with, and I love my job -- but today I noticed at the end of the day that I felt like I'd laughed a lot, and that's always nice. It had been a pretty quiet day, several people were gone, and it was quiet, everyone was sitting with their headphones on, working away. Then Dave took the dogs out at lunchtime, and as soon as he got outside, he called and said that the Blue Angels were practicing, and we all rushed outside.
They were buzzing downtown, mostly just flying, but occasionally doing a roll or something (I don't know anything about it). A couple of times they flew over really low, and you could read the writing on the plans. Very cool, very exhilarating. The guys went up to the roof, but I declined -- before we moved into the building, we took a tour, and there's a pull-down stairway up to kind of a crow's nest on the roof; I'm not really afraid of heights, but I don't like open staircases or ladders, so I just stayed outside in the back for awhile. Someone said that there's an air show this weekend, and I guess they were just trying their wings.
It was a beautiful day! A little breezy and cool, but the sun was out, and felt hot on my face. It felt nice to stand outside and look up into the sky.
Pretty soon Dave came back with the dogs, and he stood out there with me for awhile. The dogs were very good, and stayed on the dock, mostly.
Then, of course, Jojo decided she needed to come out with us and explore, and Dave pulled her onto his lap.
She is such a sweet dog. Very mellow (I imagine Dave would disagree, he says she's a terror in the evenings), very calm, hardly ever barks. When she gets sleepy she will go and get in her crate all by herself, which I think is kind of amazing. Simon is in charge of her, and he doesn't let her get very far away. He doesn't let Dave get very far away, either.
Dave was getting ready to leave tonight, and Simon was over at Jeff's desk getting his ears scratched, and he didn't notice. So Dave played a trick on him, and hid in the kitchen with Jojo. When Simon surfaced, he looked around and didn't see Dave or Jojo, and started to panic. He rushed around and checked every office, checked all the doors, checked the bathroom. What was surprising to us was that he apparently couldn't smell Dave or Jojo -- he must operate on sight and hearing, I guess. Anyway, after a few minutes Dave stood up and called him, and he was so relieved! Simon was worried -- he couldn't do his job.
Cello got me two new flat panel monitors, and I switched them out yesterday. So much more desk space! And they make my office look a lot larger.
Back view, showing the beautiful newly-painted blue wall:
I guess I should have cleaned off my desk first. These are just phonecam photos anyway; maybe tomorrow I'll take some real pictures. Kurt said he was going to bring his camera tomorrow--the Blue Angels are supposed to be practicing again--so maybe I will, too. He's a real photographer, and I just take snapshots, but it might be fun anyway.
Bob's at the lake this weekend, so it's just the kitties and me. I've got a cold -- Bob had a cold, then bronchitis, and as careful as he was not to give it to me, I think it was inevitable -- so I haven't been sleeping very well, and I kept waking up all night. Dinah was right beside me every time I woke up, but Pyewacket wasn't in bed, and I wondered where she spent the night. I thought maybe she was in her little bed in the hall (she lies there when Bob throws her out of his office for being annoying). But when I got up to go to the bathroom, I found her:
I went back out in the bedroom and got my cell phone, which I keep by the bed if Bob's gone, and took her picture. Dinah used to pull my towel down off the rack and sleep on it. Pye would see her do it, and she'd try, but she just couldn't get the hang of it. But after many attempts, she finally figured it out. I'm not sure why it's so appealing--wouldn't it be more comfortable on the bed rather than on the bathroom floor? It's probably just the novelty--kind of like camping out.
Friday night's my television watching night, although I watch USA, and they have that weird schedule where the new shows are on in the summer, and from now until the first of the year it'll be repeats. But it's still nice to look forward to Friday nights -- I picked up Chinese food at the grocery store kiosk (sweet and sour chicken, noodles, and crab rangoon) and ate in front of the television. When I finished eating, I knitted for a little while. It was getting late, and Pyewacket needed cuddling, so I put the knitting away and let her climb up into my lap (yeah, she climbs rather than jumps), and she settled in.
In fact, she got really relaxed. I wished that my camera was within reach, but it was in the other room. I did have the cell phone next to me, though, so I tried to capture the scene. It was difficult, though. This is the best I could do:
Crazy cat.
David sent me a copy of his new CD, Songs for the Siren, and it's amazing! It's a bit harder-edged than some of his other recent stuff, more rock, I guess, but also with some Tex-Mex influences--lots of energy, and really wonderful. He has a few clips up at his MySpace site; I imagine he'll put up more in the coming weeks.
Amazon won't have it until October, and then at a crazy import price, but David has some now. If you like his work, I'd grab one while they're available.
I keep thinking, where did the week go? And where did the month go? In fact, where did the summer go? I've been working a lot, both at work, and at home. Last weekend I put up a new redesign of Bertrice Small's website, with a new focus toward fantasy:
More random stuff
Remember little Arni?
I don't want to go into this too much (for one reason, it's not my story to tell, and for another, I'm sure there will be a lawsuit over it), but he was being boarded while his owner was out of town, and the people caring for him let a Great Dane into the same space he -- this little, 4 pound dog -- was in, and the Great Dane picked him up like a toy, dropped him, and he died. Poor Arni.
And one of Bob's brothers had a heart attack last week, but he's okay. He has a lawn service, and he was out mowing a lawn when he started to feel badly. He got to his truck and cell phone and called 911, but couldn't talk. Fortunately another lawn care guy was out and saw him, and came over and took the phone, and told the emergency people where to come. Later, Bob and his dad went out to pick up the truck and equipment, and found that this guy had loaded the truck, picked up the equipment, and had it all ready. Talk about your random acts of kindness.
Anyway, he's out of the hospital now, and doing fine, thankfully.
What a week.
Okay, I guess that's enough for today. My battery is running out (I'm in bed with the laptop), and I need to go out and see if I can get my oil changed. More later, maybe.
Oh -- one more. Dinah always gets short-shrift because it's hard to take good photos of a black cat. But here she is, lounging on the bedside table next to me:
That isn't water in the water bottle among the hair clips and zinc lozenge wrappers, but green tea; have I mentioned that I'm currently addicted to Lipton Green Tea to Go? I'm scared to death that they'll stop making it, so every time I'm at the store, I buy more. I've been drinking gallons of it lately, especially since I started getting the cold. I thought maybe it would help fend it off, and it's one of the few things that have tasted good to me lately.
Posted by Willa at 9:56 AM 0 comments
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