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People's Choice Credit Union
Basic Variable Investment Loan (Principal and Interest)
Monthly Repayment Schedule
Basic Variable Investment Loan (Principal and Interest) from People's Choice Credit Union
Repayment frequency
Number of repayments
Total interest paid
Results are estimates only. Please allow for slight rounding differences.
1 Feb 2021 $536.15 $1,145.00 $1,681.15 $299,463.85
2 Mar 2021 $538.20 $1,142.95 $1,681.15 $298,925.65
3 Apr 2021 $540.25 $1,140.90 $1,681.15 $298,385.40
4 May 2021 $542.31 $1,138.84 $1,681.15 $297,843.09
5 Jun 2021 $544.38 $1,136.77 $1,681.15 $297,298.71
6 Jul 2021 $546.46 $1,134.69 $1,681.15 $296,752.25
7 Aug 2021 $548.55 $1,132.60 $1,681.15 $296,203.70
8 Sep 2021 $550.64 $1,130.51 $1,681.15 $295,653.06
9 Oct 2021 $552.74 $1,128.41 $1,681.15 $295,100.32
10 Nov 2021 $554.85 $1,126.30 $1,681.15 $294,545.47
11 Dec 2021 $556.97 $1,124.18 $1,681.15 $293,988.50
2021 Total $6,011.5 $12,481.15 $18,492.65
12 Jan 2022 $559.09 $1,122.06 $1,681.15 $293,429.41
13 Feb 2022 $561.23 $1,119.92 $1,681.15 $292,868.18
14 Mar 2022 $563.37 $1,117.78 $1,681.15 $292,304.81
15 Apr 2022 $565.52 $1,115.63 $1,681.15 $291,739.29
16 May 2022 $567.68 $1,113.47 $1,681.15 $291,171.61
17 Jun 2022 $569.85 $1,111.30 $1,681.15 $290,601.76
18 Jul 2022 $572.02 $1,109.13 $1,681.15 $290,029.74
19 Aug 2022 $574.20 $1,106.95 $1,681.15 $289,455.54
20 Sep 2022 $576.39 $1,104.76 $1,681.15 $288,879.15
21 Oct 2022 $578.59 $1,102.56 $1,681.15 $288,300.56
2022 Total $6,851.76 $13,322.04 $20,173.8
64 May 2026 $681.57 $999.58 $1,681.15 $261,215.82
65 Jun 2026 $684.18 $996.97 $1,681.15 $260,531.64
66 Jul 2026 $686.79 $994.36 $1,681.15 $259,844.85
67 Aug 2026 $689.41 $991.74 $1,681.15 $259,155.44
68 Sep 2026 $692.04 $989.11 $1,681.15 $258,463.40
69 Oct 2026 $694.68 $986.47 $1,681.15 $257,768.72
70 Nov 2026 $697.33 $983.82 $1,681.15 $257,071.39
71 Dec 2026 $699.99 $981.16 $1,681.15 $256,371.40
72 Jan 2027 $702.67 $978.48 $1,681.15 $255,668.73
73 Feb 2027 $705.35 $975.80 $1,681.15 $254,963.38
74 Mar 2027 $708.04 $973.11 $1,681.15 $254,255.34
75 Apr 2027 $710.74 $970.41 $1,681.15 $253,544.60
100 May 2029 $781.76 $899.39 $1,681.15 $234,866.89
101 Jun 2029 $784.74 $896.41 $1,681.15 $234,082.15
102 Jul 2029 $787.74 $893.41 $1,681.15 $233,294.41
103 Aug 2029 $790.74 $890.41 $1,681.15 $232,503.67
104 Sep 2029 $793.76 $887.39 $1,681.15 $231,709.91
105 Oct 2029 $796.79 $884.36 $1,681.15 $230,913.12
106 Nov 2029 $799.83 $881.32 $1,681.15 $230,113.29
107 Dec 2029 $802.88 $878.27 $1,681.15 $229,310.41
108 Jan 2030 $805.95 $875.20 $1,681.15 $228,504.46
109 Feb 2030 $809.02 $872.13 $1,681.15 $227,695.44
110 Mar 2030 $812.11 $869.04 $1,681.15 $226,883.33
111 Apr 2030 $815.21 $865.94 $1,681.15 $226,068.12
2030 Total $9,877 $10,296.8 $20,173.8
2031 Total $10,338.99 $9,834.81 $20,173.8
2032 Total $10,822.6 $9,351.2 $20,173.8
2033 Total $11,328.8 $8,845 $20,173.8
165 Oct 2034 $1,001.40 $679.75 $1,681.15 $177,098.63
166 Nov 2034 $1,005.22 $675.93 $1,681.15 $176,093.41
167 Dec 2034 $1,009.06 $672.09 $1,681.15 $175,084.35
168 Jan 2035 $1,012.91 $668.24 $1,681.15 $174,071.44
169 Feb 2035 $1,016.78 $664.37 $1,681.15 $173,054.66
170 Mar 2035 $1,020.66 $660.49 $1,681.15 $172,034.00
171 Apr 2035 $1,024.55 $656.60 $1,681.15 $171,009.45
172 May 2035 $1,028.46 $652.69 $1,681.15 $169,980.99
173 Jun 2035 $1,032.39 $648.76 $1,681.15 $168,948.60
174 Jul 2035 $1,036.33 $644.82 $1,681.15 $167,912.27
175 Aug 2035 $1,040.28 $640.87 $1,681.15 $166,871.99
176 Sep 2035 $1,044.26 $636.89 $1,681.15 $165,827.73
233 Jun 2040 $1,297.50 $383.65 $1,681.15 $99,221.96
234 Jul 2040 $1,302.45 $378.70 $1,681.15 $97,919.51
235 Aug 2040 $1,307.42 $373.73 $1,681.15 $96,612.09
236 Sep 2040 $1,312.41 $368.74 $1,681.15 $95,299.68
237 Oct 2040 $1,317.42 $363.73 $1,681.15 $93,982.26
238 Nov 2040 $1,322.45 $358.70 $1,681.15 $92,659.81
239 Dec 2040 $1,327.50 $353.65 $1,681.15 $91,332.31
240 Jan 2041 $1,332.57 $348.58 $1,681.15 $89,999.74
241 Feb 2041 $1,337.65 $343.50 $1,681.15 $88,662.09
242 Mar 2041 $1,342.76 $338.39 $1,681.15 $87,319.33
243 Apr 2041 $1,347.88 $333.27 $1,681.15 $85,971.45
244 May 2041 $1,353.03 $328.12 $1,681.15 $84,618.42
285 Oct 2044 $1,581.75 $99.40 $1,681.15 $24,463.18
286 Nov 2044 $1,587.78 $93.37 $1,681.15 $22,875.40
287 Dec 2044 $1,593.84 $87.31 $1,681.15 $21,281.56
288 Jan 2045 $1,599.93 $81.22 $1,681.15 $19,681.63
289 Feb 2045 $1,606.03 $75.12 $1,681.15 $18,075.60
290 Mar 2045 $1,612.16 $68.99 $1,681.15 $16,463.44
291 Apr 2045 $1,618.31 $62.84 $1,681.15 $14,845.13
292 May 2045 $1,624.49 $56.66 $1,681.15 $13,220.64
293 Jun 2045 $1,630.69 $50.46 $1,681.15 $11,589.95
294 Jul 2045 $1,636.92 $44.23 $1,681.15 $9,953.03
295 Aug 2045 $1,643.16 $37.99 $1,681.15 $8,309.87
296 Sep 2045 $1,649.43 $31.72 $1,681.15 $6,660.44
297 Oct 2045 $1,655.73 $25.42 $1,681.15 $5,004.71
298 Nov 2045 $1,662.05 $19.10 $1,681.15 $3,342.66
299 Dec 2045 $1,668.39 $12.76 $1,681.15 $1,674.27
2045 Total $19,607.29 $566.51 $20,173.8
300 Jan 2046 $1,674.27 $6.39 $1,680.66 $0.00
2045 Total $1,674.27 $6.39 $1,680.66
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by Alan Rapp on December 20, 2011
in Home Video
Title: Blackthorn
IMDB: link
We all know that in 1908, alongside the Sundance Kid, Butch Cassidy died in Bolivia in 1908. But what if that isn’t the case? Several people believe Cassidy survived Bolivia and there are several accounts of his movements decades later.
Blackthorn centers around an elderly Butch Cassidy who has been hiding in Boliva for decades as a horse trader named James Blackthorn (Sam Shepard). As the movie opens Blackthorn has decided to return to the U.S. but an expected encounter with a thief (Eduardo Noriega) in possession of $50,000 puts Cassidy on the path for one final adventure.
The script by Miguel Barros is passable, but nothing special, relying on late twists and old adversaries to spice up a story without much to say. Blackthorn isn’t a bad film, but it’s far too close in themes and story to the immensely superior Unforgiven.
Shepard is well-cast in the role as the grizzled gunslinger, and his tale works well-enough, but the best moments of the film (aside from a brutal chase through the desert) almost all occur in flashbacks featuring a younger Butch (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), Sundance (Padraic Delaney), and Etta Place (Dominique McElligott) staying one step ahead of Mackinley (Stephen Rea) and the Pinkertons.
Both the Blu-ray and DVD include deleted scenes, a pair of behind-the-scenes featurettes on the making of the film, the trailer, and a collection of short films by director Mateo Gil.
[Magnolia, Blu-ray $29.98, DVD $26.98]
Previous post: Leverage – The Boys’ Night Out Job
Next post: Atomic Robo and the Ghost of Station X #4
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Judge Andrews Denies Without Prejudice Motion to Vacate Summary Judgment of Invalidity
In CallWave Communications LLC v. AT&T Mobility LLC, C.A. No. 12-1701-RGA (D. Del. Oct. 10, 2017), and related cases, Judge Andrews denied the plaintiff’s motion to vacate the Court’s claim construction of a particular term and the Court’s grant of summary judgment that certain claims of an asserted patent were invalid under 35 U.S.C. § 101. The motion arose after the parties settled the dispute while the case was on appeal. Noting that both he and other judges in the district had previously addressed similar requests, Judge Andrews denied the motion but granted leave to renew with a “fully briefed” motion.
Key Point: Judge Andrews stated that he would grant the motion to vacate the Court’s claim construction and summary judgment of invalidity only if “exceptional circumstances” were present.
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Can Collaboration Fuel Asia’s Philanthropic Power?
Deepali Khanna — Managing Director, Asia Regional Office, The Rockefeller Foundation
More than half of the world’s economic growth in recent years came from Asia. This eastward shift of the world’s economic center of gravity is fueling the expansion of individual wealth, with the number of high-net-worth individuals in Asia nearly doubling since 2012. According to the Forbes World’s Billionaires list for 2019, one out of five newly minted billionaires from last year came from China, making up the largest number of new billionaires in the world.
With growing wealth comes the potential for a new era of charitable giving laser-focused on solving the world’s most intractable problems—like climate change, inequality, and scarce food supplies. That this can be Asian-led is unprecedented. In fact, according to the Doing Good Index 2018, Asian philanthropists have the capacity to contribute $500 billion in charitable giving, surpassing that of the U.S. China, for example, has already begun to unleash this potential by harnessing the highest number of millionaires engaged in environmental, social and governance-related investing. Across the region, a new generation of globally minded and mission-driven ultra-rich are now taking the helm of the exponential growth in capital. This convergence uniquely positions Asia to fuel a new model of philanthropy that can make the biggest bets in bridging the $2.5 trillion funding gap needed to solve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015.
Yet despite a strong heritage of collective action among Asian cultures, philanthropy in the region has also traditionally been a lonely mission. This is beginning to change, with a number of consortiums and alliances taking root. But as development challenges become increasingly globalized and complex, the time has come to accelerate collaboration and the pooling of resources to create outsized impact.
Bolder momentum, bigger bets
As one of the world’s oldest family established philanthropies, we at The Rockefeller Foundation believe we have a clear answer: a partnership among Asia’s diverse and inspired philanthropists who share a like-minded mission to improve the well-being of humanity. Issues such as climate change and halting the spread of HIV go beyond national borders and require information, capital and know-how to be shared, and activities to be coordinated to effect lasting change.
Collaborative philanthropy helps to amplify and structure developmental programs for outsized impact.
Asia’s ultra-rich, old and new, are already well-known for being pillars of their communities, shepherding and contributing to economic and social transformation. This sense of community can and should be elevated to a global level with Asia’s next generation of givers.
Collaborative philanthropy helps to amplify and structure developmental programs for outsized impact. Consider Project ECHO, which re-imagines the way healthcare delivery is made by connecting frontline providers, specialists, public institutions and private sector entities to provide more accessible healthcare around the world. By catalyzing collaboration between several philanthropic organizations, the project seeks to transform India’s healthcare delivery system over the next five years and make healthcare accessible to between 3 and 6 million people. This was made possible by a grant from Co-Impact–a collaborative initiative among various philanthropic organizations including The Rockefeller Foundation–which deployed $80 million in its first round of grant-making to reach 9 million people across Africa, South Asia and Latin America.
Project ECHO demonstrates that strong partnership between philanthropists—those best positioned to contribute risk capital and pool resources—program partners and anchor organizations with local credibility, can make a difference for millions.
Imagine the possibilities of a strategic, collective effort by Asian philanthropists. Imagine a new paradigm, where the sense of community–ingrained in family values and powered by modern capital–can create the building blocks for a new, sustained model of economic growth and opportunity. Take the Asia Philanthropy Circle, where more than 30 philanthropists have pooled their resources under a community impact fund to make greater impact in Indonesia and Myanmar, or the Paradise International Foundation, led by Jack Ma and Pony Ma, who are bringing together the efforts of a range of philanthropic actors to better protect the environment in China. Collaboration not only pools resources, but creates disciplined mechanisms for learning, measurement, and accountability.
Big problems require big partnerships. Globally, most grants award less than $10 million and have short horizons of approximately 1 to 2 years, with many uncoordinated funders each with their own requirements. This encourages social changemakers to think and act small. By banding together around common themes and a commitment to results, philanthropists have the power to dare social innovators to build bigger and bolder, empowering them to create the breakthrough solutions that will help billions of people rise out of poverty and vulnerability.
The region’s growing number of philanthropists care deeply about addressing the greatest social and environmental challenges of our time and want to be a part of a lasting, transformational change. Ultimately, large, widespread challenges are impossible to solve with a single intervention, or one philanthropic actor, no matter how big the investment. Lasting, transformative change takes time, some dimension of partnership across sectors, and a considered, strategic marshaling of resources. From this vantage point, by bringing their resources, social values, networks and deep-rooted culture of collectivism to bear, Asia’s philanthropists are in an enviable position to shape a new era of giving and a legacy of the impact that can transform the world.
This piece originally appeared on Forbes on March 2019 and reposted with permission.
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Read Next Sublime Get Their Own Graphic Novel Via Z2 Comics: 'Sublime: '$5 at the Door'
Home Movies Movie News
July 27, 2020 2:42PM ET
‘Tenet’ Will Premiere Internationally Before Opening in Select U.S. Theaters
Christopher Nolan blockbuster will open August 26th internationally ahead of its new Labor Day release in North America
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Christopher Nolan's 'Tenet' will debut internationally on August 26th before opening in select theaters in North American over Labor Day.
Christopher Nolan’s Tenet may get a summer release after all — despite of COVID-19. Warner Bros., who have been pushing for the blockbuster’s theatrical premiere in the midst of the global pandemic, now say that Tenet will debut internationally on August 26th before opening in select North American cities over Labor Day weekend on September 3rd.
The 70 global territories where the film is scheduled to premiere include Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Russia and the United Kingdom. There are currently no plans to release Tenet in China, one of the film industry’s largest markets.
Although U.S. theaters still generate the most revenue for Warner Bros., a recent surge in coronavirus cases in the country has forced the studio to consider alternatives. Last week, Variety reported that Warner Bros. was in talks with exhibitors in Europe and Asia to open the film over the August 26th to 28th weekend. Even countries where it would have been previously unthinkable to screen films during the pandemic are now gradually opening up their theaters and finding strong ticket sales at the box office. Peninsula, the sequel to the Korean zombie film Train to Busan, has generated $21 million in Korea since it opened on July 15th.
Meanwhile, other blockbusters that were planned for spring and summer 2020 remain on hold. Disney recently took its live-action Mulan reboot off of the official calendar, and the highly anticipated sequel to John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place has been moved from this Labor Day weekend to April 2021.
In This Article: covid-19
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Drew Angerer/Getty Images News/Getty Images
Trump Advisor Calls Climate Change Research "Politicized Science," & It's Factually Wrong
by Keiko Zoll
As President-elect Donald Trump and his transition team name more and more appointees for his forthcoming administration, Trump's personnel picks have begun to shed some light on potential policy agendas. Bob Walker, a former congressman who represented Pennsylvania's Lancaster County from 1970 to 1997, is one of Trump's many surrogates, and a senior advisor for Trump's presidential campaign. Speaking to The Guardian, Walker revealed the Trump administration's plans to strip funding from NASA's Earth Science division, calling climate change "politicized science." The only problem for Walker, and ultimately Trump — is that there's a bevy of empirical evidence for climate change and our planet's seemingly unstoppable race toward environmental devastation. Specifically, Walker said:
I believe that climate research is necessary but it has been heavily politicized, which has undermined a lot of the work that researchers have been doing. Mr Trump’s decisions will be based upon solid science, not politicized science.
That such a statement about "politicized science" would come from Walker is not a surprise; this isn't the first time he's criticizing the truth about climate change. In 2014, Walker told Newsmax that he believed most research about climate change is driven by politics instead of "the reality of science," as he put it. What's more concerning is that not only is Walker factually incorrect, but that the Trump administration seeks to implement policy that would halt vitally important climate change research.
Even though the above clip is from Aaron Sorkin's fictional drama, Newsroom, the facts outlined by the character are far from fiction: Mother Jones fact-checked Newsroom's climate change scene, and barring a little extra added drama, it's actually largely factually correct. But you don't need an HBO original series to tell you that the world is heating up at levels with which we can no longer keep up — just look at time-lapse imagery of receding glaciers and rising sea levels:
Trump himself has even denied the effects of climate change, even going so far as to say that global warming is a hoax created by the Chinese. Oh I wish how I were making this up about our incoming president, but Trump has never been shy about airing his grievances on Twitter:
However, Trump told The New York Times on Tuesday he believes that there is "some connectivity" between climate change and human actions, in a move that many analysts believe is an attempt to soften his previously hard-line position on climate change. But apparently it's not that much softer if he plans to strip one of the most important federally funded research groups on climate change and how it affects our planet — despite all the evidence out there to support just how imperative it is that we act now for the future of our planet.
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The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh's State Visit to the Baltic
THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT IS ISSUED BY THE PRESS SECRETARY TO THE QUEEN
The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh will make State Visits to the Baltic states in October.
At the invitation of President Arnold Ruutel, The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh will visit Estonia.
At the invitation of President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh will visit Latvia.
At the invitation of President Valdas Adamkus, The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh will visit Lithuania.
This will be the first time that The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh have visited these countries.
The Queen visits the Fiji Exhibition in Norwich
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Our thoughts are with the families of the victims and the wounded, and with the Turkish people at this time.
The Queen's message of condolence to the President of Turkey
I am delighted to offer all Canadians my best wishes and congratulations on the 150th anniversary of Confederation
A message from The Queen to the people of Canada
C’est un plaisir pour moi de transmettre mes meilleurs voeux et mes félicitations aux Canadiens et Canadiennes à l’occasion du 150e anniversaire de la Confédération
A message from The Queen to the people of Canada (written in French)
Queen's Young Leaders in South Africa meet Vlogger Caspar Lee
The Queen and Honours
Since you became an independent country in 1966, you have continued to flourish and grow into a strong and confident nation.
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I am proud to know of the excellent progress you continue to make in the many different fields represented here
A speech by Princess Alexandra at a reception to celebrate her Patronages
On behalf of my grandmother, The Queen, I am grateful to the Government and the people of St. Lucia for this most generous contribution.
A speech by Prince Harry on the Queen's Commonwealth Canopy dedication in St Lucia
Reception to celebrate Princess Alexandra's patronages
Service of Thanksgiving to celebrate 60 years of The Duke of Edinburgh's Award
Prince Philip and I send our warmest wishes to Antigua and Barbuda on the occasion of this celebration to mark 35 years of Independence
A message from The Queen to Antigua and Barbuda on its 35th Anniversary of Independence
The Queen and Prince Michael of Kent celebrate 125 years of Royal Life Saving Society
Each Parliamentary year begins in May when The Queen officially opens Parliament...
Prince Harry announces Royal Household Hospitality scholarships on behalf of The Queen
Royal Maundy Service
Presentation of Colours
Investitures
Holyrood Week
The annual Holyrood Week celebrates Scottish culture, achievement and community...
Each year The Queen welcomes over 30,000 guests to garden parties...
I send my condolences to the families of those who were killed and to the people whose homes and businesses have been affected
A message from The Queen following the earthquakes in New Zealand
The Queen's Commonwealth Canopy reception held at Buckingham Palace
I am sure of a shared, bright future for both of our countries as long-standing allies working together towards global peace and prosperity
The Queen’s Speech at the State Banquet in honour of the President of the Republic of Colombia
The Queen welcomes the President of Colombia to the UK
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The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh, accompanied by The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall visit Poundbury
I want you to know that you are in my own and my family’s thoughts, as well as the thoughts of the nation
The Queen's message to the people of Aberfan
The Queen receives a maquette of Canadian soldier and poet John McCrae
I would wish all Sappers, wherever they may be, every success and good fortune in the future
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The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh attend a Royal Academy of Arts Award ceremony
The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh will give a reception for Team GB and ParalympicsGB medallists
The Queen visits Ballater
I offer my warmest congratulations to the athletes of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and indeed to the athletes of all Commonwealth countries, for their many successes in Rio de Janeiro
The Queen's message to ParalympicsGB and Commonwealth athletes following the 2016 Paralympic Games
Our thoughts and prayers are with people of Italy, especially the family and friends of those affected.
A message from The Queen to the President of Italy following the earthquake in central Italy
I offer my warmest congratulations to the athletes of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the Commonwealth, for their success at this year's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
The Queen's message to Team GB and Commonwealth athletes following the 2016 Olympic Games
I was deeply shocked and saddened to hear of the terrible loss of life in Nice
The Queen's message to the President of France in the wake of the attack in Nice
The Queen visits Dundee
Resignation of The Right Honourable David Cameron MP as Prime Minister
The Queen received in audience The Right Honourable Theresa May
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Abandoned by God? Italian churches turned into banks, bars, shops (PHOTOS)
Madonna della Neve church in Como, Italy was turned into a successful car repair shop by the building’s new owners. (Photo by Di Martino)
With the Italian economy crippled by recession, more and more churches are being deconsecrated and sold to private buyers, who repurpose these former houses of God into banks, theaters, night clubs and even car repair shops.
Several thousand churches have recently found new owners, indicating the hard times experienced by the Catholic Church and Italy’s general switch towards secularity.
“I loved all of them. I like places, which have irony in them. And that was the feeling I experienced in all of those churches,” says local photographer, Andrea Di Martino, who visited and took pictures of 70 former churches.
Madonna della Neve church in Como was among the first such churches he visited, inspiring the whole project.
It was deconsecrated in the late 1950s and turned into a successful car repair shop by the building’s new owners.
“When I left it, I realized that I want to learn what’s happened to the rest of those churches,” the photographer said.
Churches in Italy are deconsecrated when the condition of the building makes it dangerous, or when attendance drastically decreases.
They sell pretty well due to being solid structures, with high ceilings, usually located in the centers of towns and villages.
In the port town of Ugento, clerics had to clear the St. Philomena church so that court hearings could be held there.
The Santa Lucia church in Montescaglioso fell into the hands of sports fans, who decorated the walls with football posters and also installed a Ping-Pong table.
A church in Salerno, dating back to 1,000 AD, has been turned into a museum of the local medical school.
The former Santa Sabina church, which was completed in 1036, has served as a bank for the last four decades.
A multimedia library found its home at Milan’s former church of Santa Teresa, which was built in 1694.
A former house of God in Viareggio, which was deconsecrated in 1977, became a pizza place, named ‘La Chiesina’ (the church).
Repurposing defunct church buildings is a practice common not only in Italy, but in other Western European nations as well. In 2008, Dutch bookstore chain, Selexyz, turned a 1294 church in Maastricht into one of the most famous book shops in the Netherlands.
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God behind Big Bang and evolution - Pope
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US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano resigns
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano (Reuters / Jonathan Ernst) © Reuters
United States Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano resigns from her federal role on Friday in order to head the University of California school system.
Following an initial report from Reuters suggesting Sec. Napolitano was set to resign, the Los Angeles Times reported early Friday that the former two-term governor or Arizona will exit her role with the Obama administration in lieu of job that will give the UC system their first female head in its 145-year history.
Napolitano is presently only the third person to serve as Homeland Security secretary, a position created by George W. Bush following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Napolitano has held that rank since January 2009 when she was appointed at the start of President Barack Obama’s first term as commander-in-chief.
“I think she loves working for President Obama and serving the American people, but at the same time, this is a unique opportunity,” a source close to the secretary told the Times on condition of anonymity. Napolitano knows “UC is probably the premier institution in the country. She is motivated by the fact that being a part of UC, she will be a part of educating future leaders of tomorrow and be part of a state that sets so much of the agenda nationally.”
In a statement being released Friday by the head of the UC search committee that settled on the secretary, the group wrote that Napolitano may be considered “an unconventional choice,” but in the eyes of the school she is “without a doubt the right person at the right time to lead this incredible university.”
"She will bring fresh eyes and a new sensibility -- not only to UC, but to all of California,” Sherry Lansing of the search committee told the Times. “She will stand as a vigorous advocate for faculty, students and staff at a time when great changes in our state, and across the globe, are presenting as many opportunities as challenges.”
By leaving her role at the Department of Homeland Security, Napolitano will say goodbye to a position that has put her in charge of the third-largest Cabinet department since 2009. The DHS has an annual budget of around $60-billion and employs just shy of a quarter-of-a-million employees.
In a statement issued by Napolitano on Friday, she wrote, “The opportunity to work with the dedicated men and women of the Department of Homeland Security, who serve on the frontlines of our nation’s efforts to protect our communities and families from harm, has been the highlight of my professional career.”
At UC, Napolitano will oversee a system with a substantially smaller budget of $23 billion, but includes a roster of 230,000 students across 10 state schools, as well as 191,000 faculty members instructing at institutions that are among the most well-respected in the US. There, she said, she will “play a role in educating our nation’s next generation of leaders.”
“I thank President Obama for the chance to serve our nation during this important chapter in our history, and I know the Department of Homeland Security will continue to perform its important duties with the honor and focus that the American public expects” she said.
Napolitano has been in charge of the federal agency responsible for thwarting terrorist attacks during a five-year stint that has spanned the attempted detonation of an underwear bomb on Christmas Day 2009 through the recent explosions at the Boston Marathon. During that tenure, the single 55-year-old former attorney general of Arizona has advocated heavily for passing cybersecurity legislation and also expressed interest in deploying surveillance drones over the US as a public safety mechanism.
DHS wants to use spy drones domestically for 'public safety'
DHS gears up for civil unrest prior to presidential elections
Homeland Security's Napolitano invokes 9/11 to push for CISPA 2.0
Homeland Security under investigation for massive ammo buys
DHS defends suspicionless searches of laptops and cell phones
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Apollo officials, Hungarian prime minister christen tire plant
Don Detore
Attila Ozse, Apollo Tyres Ltd.
Apollo Tyres Ltd. Chairman Onkar S. Kanwar (right) christens the company's new tire plant in Hungary with help from Apollo Vice Chairman/Managing Director Neeraj Kanwar (left) and Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
GYONGYOSHALASZ, Hungary—More than 1,400 Apollo employees, vendors, dealers and dignitaries—including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban—were on hand April 7 to watch as Apollo Tyres Ltd. inaugurated its first greenfield plant outside of India, a $505 million car and truck tire plant in rural Hungary near Budapest.
Another 16,000 Apollo employees watched the ceremony live-streamed over the Internet.
The plant—Apollo's sixth worldwide—will have the capacity to produce 5.5 million passenger and light truck tires and 675,000 commercial vehicle tires per year once Phase I is complete. It will produce both the Vredestein and Apollo brand of tires for the European market.
"With this inauguration today, we have crossed another milestone in our global growth journey," said Onkar Kanwar, chairman of the company. "This facility will help us further increase our presence and market share in Europe. From being a replacement-market focused company in Europe, we would soon be starting supplies of our tires to all the leading OEs in Europe."
The 1.6-million sq.-ft. plant is situated on a 180-acre plot of land located near Gyongyoshalasz, a community of 2,500 residents surrounded by rolling hills and greenery about 50 miles east of Budapest.
Orban returned to the plant to celebrate the inauguration 24 months after he helped lay the foundation stone of the plant, calling the project one of "national importance." He told the onlookers that the plant not only has made a strong relationship between India and Hungary even stronger, but also he and his fellow Hungarians look at the Apollo team as family.
"They are now part of the great family of Hungary," he said. "As a result of this plant, they bring more employment to our region. This is important for our people."
Kanwar and Orban, along with Kanwar's son, Neeraj Kanwar, vice chairman and managing director of Apollo, broke coconuts together on stage as part of a traditional Indian ceremony.
Others on hand for the inaugurations were Peter Szijarto, Hungary's Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister and Rahul Chhabra, India's ambassador to Hungary.
The Hungarian facility is Apollo's second in Europe. The other is located in Enschede, Netherlands, and operates under the Apollo Vredestein B.V. name. It produces high-end passenger and specialty tires.
The tire maker's largest facility is located near Chennai, India, and is one of four located in the country. Those four have the capacity to produce 1,450 metric tons of tires per day.
Apollo, the world's 17th-largest tire maker, has more than 16,000 employees worldwide, with sales of $1.8 billion in the fiscal year 2015-16. Europe accounts for about one-third of Apollo's global sales.
Now that the Hungarian plant is operational, work continues on another factory under construction on the southeast coast of India.
Neeraj Kanwar, however, has his sights set on the North American market, specifically the U.S. and Canada. He said his goal is for 10 percent of Apollo's revenue to be driven by the North American market within five years.
"First we have to have product," Neeraj Kanwar said. "We have to have 70 percent of the market covered."
To achieve this, Apollo would need to build a plant in the U.S. within the next four or five years, according to Neeraj Kanwar. Apollo, he added has already has looked at possible sites in five or six states.
"The U.S. clearly is my No. 1 priority going forward," Neeraj Kanwar said. "It is important for us to create a strong presence there."
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Getting 'Head'
“I was told playing gay would hurt my career” Justin Xavier & Damian Quinn talk ‘Road Head’
By David Reddish March 7, 2020 at 11:03am
Writer Justin Xavier on the set of ‘Road Head’
We’ve seen Justin Xavier naked.
Then again, so has anyone familiar with the cult holiday comedy Shared Rooms, about four queer couples falling in love on Christmas. Xavier appears as an actor in the film, and spends most of his scenes showing off his assets.
Never one to show fear of artistic risks, Xavier has also added the role of screenwriter to his resume. His first film as writer, Sick For Toys (in which he also appears on screen) gained a cult following on its 2018 release. His follow up, Road Head, sees Xavier venturing into the world of horror again, this time, with a very gay twist.
Road Head follows a gay couple, Bryan and Alex (played by Clayton Ferris and Damian Joseph Quinn) along with their friend Stephanie (Elizabeth Grullon) on a road trip gone awry. What starts as a min-vacation to get a tan and smoke some weed takes a violent turn when the group discovers decapitated heads in the desert…and a sword-wielding executioner hot on their trail. More than that, we can’t reveal here, except to say Road Head takes some very homoerotic twists, and does so with a very dark sense of humor.
We meet Xavier–who now sports a mohawk–at a fashionable Burbank coffee shop, where he greets us with a smile. Road Head‘s out-gay star, Damian Quinn, also joins us to chat about the film, its queerness and the satire of masculinity & sexuality it jabs with. Road Head has its world premiere at the 2020 Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival in San Jose, CA on March 7 before hitting the festival circuit this year. The film is currently seeking distribution.
This movie is all kinds of bonkers. Where did you start with the premise? A dark horror road comedy about a gay hero, his girl bestie and a weird homoerotic cult?
[Damian laughs]
Do you ask him this?
DQ: Well, I know already.
Then why not enlighten us.
JX: The idea initially started when Jon Paul [Burkhart, executive producer] pitched to me the title. He just wanted to make a horror-comedy called Road Head, and would I be interested in writing something like that? And I said “Yeah, but what’s the pitch?” And he just said, “I have the title.”
And he said I could do whatever I liked with it. I said, “Are you ok if they’re gay?” And he was fine with that. He was really cool with whatever. So I took it from there.
Director David Del Rio (far right) on set
JX: When he initially pitched it to me, he was trying to shoot it for a very, very low budget with a very small cast. So I had to keep it cheap. And we built from there. We expanded [the story]; I worked with DDR [director David Del Rio], he had notes and suggestions. And it slowly morphed into the very bizarre film you see.
As far as what I was feeling at the time I was writing it: ultimately, it’s a dark movie in it’s themes. Not it’s tone, but the themes are heavier than the tone. I was writing in late 2017, at the end of the first year of the Trump Presidency. So I was feeling down on the world and on the LGBTQ place in it. So the initial concept was that all the heroes would by LGBTQ characters, and all the villains are incels.
JX: So that was the initial version. It’s taken many turns.
You mention the tone. Finding the right tone as a writer or an actor, between absurdity and terror is very, very tricky. You have these scenes of intense horror punctuated by slapstick comedy. How do you go about doing that as a writer, and then working with a director and your actors to make sure everybody is on the same page?
JX: That was really hard. I think everybody had a kind of slightly different idea as far as what we were going for. So it is a mishmash of a lot of ideas. I think the darkness of the themes was there from the beginning. The level of cartoon comedy we added on set. The cast brought a lot of that. DDR inspired that. Maybe that’s a better question for you…
DQ: For me it was almost the opposite. I think am more drawn to drama, but my resources really lend to comedy. I can play music. It involves different emotional prep work. Ultimately our direction was into finding the real root of what’s going on—the real anxiety. For my final scene, I was on my hands and knees hysterically crying. Then I’d get in the car, we’d shoot, and I’d continue to scream and wail until we shot it again. But the script naturally lends itself [to comedy]. It’s a great break. It’s a great break for us too: shooting in the desert for two weeks ripping our hearts out. We needed a lot of goofiness. But DDR’s vision was always truthful. He wanted us to find the emotional truth.
And this is your second feature film.
DQ: Yeah. I’d done about ten shorts and a web series.
Damian Quinn & Elizabeth Grullon
So you have to carry a lot of the movie by yourself. That’s very tricky for someone who doesn’t have a lot of feature experience, especially with something that has such a specific tone. How did you prepare?
DQ: I was more nervous to audition. I remember DDR pulled me out and said “If I need you to cry in the desert, can you do it? We’re going to go back in and I want you to cry.” That was really stressful. And I did break out with a fever blister before shooting, so I was definitely nervous.
DQ: I was nervous about how to prepare. But ultimately, meditation and trust work worked well. I graduated from Tish [school of the arts, at New York University]. I’ve been acting my whole life. So this is my calling, my purpose. And it really felt like a family from day one. No ego.
Because you’ve been acting so long, if mostly on stage and in shorts, what’s the biggest difference for you in your approach to a character when acting in a film?
DQ: Stage is my world. The director might nudge me a little bit, but it’s my play. I can listen to an audience and paint a picture with them if they’re into it. On camera is totally different. I might get two words in on set before someone calls “cut.” It’s a hive mind, and I just put in one piece. It’s an ensemble.
I see a lot of Texas Chainsaw and Mad Max’s influence, certainly in terms of the aesthetic.
JX: That is true. I never thought about that, but yeah, the second Mad Max has a similar aesthetic. It wasn’t anything I really discussed with anyone. The look of the film was more DDR and Ryan Verbell [cinematographer] working together. That’s their vision. What we discussed was more my intention behind the characters, their motivations, and the tone I was going for.
In a weird way this is a movie about the unpleasantness of road trips: getting sick of each other, dealing with unknown surroundings, local weirdos. It also strikes me as venturing into sexual kink. The leather, the chain mail, the weird hierarchy of it all. Where does that come from?
JX: The kink, I think stylistically in the wardrobe and whatnot, came from DDR and our production designer. In terms of the plot kink and the weird interactions of the characters, I drew upon real relationships I know. The characters aren’t based on people I know, but the relationship dynamics are. In terms of the cult, a lot of that is because I was in one for a while.
JX: Yeah. That’s something I’ve talked about elsewhere and don’t want to go into. It was traumatic. But in terms of the actual way the cult functions, and the interactivity of people in one, that’s based on first-hand experience.
That’s crazy. There’s also odd homoeroticism about the villainous cabal—they’re men who just want to use women for sex and to breed, but otherwise, just kind of want to have sex with each other. But they don’t strike me as gay. You also draw a big contrast from you gay hero and these villain characters. What’s that about? You’ve said that that’s influenced by Trumpism. So are the villains meant to be Trump or his supporters? Or incels?
JX: Before I can answer that, I have to talk about the development of the film. Originally they were very much incels. They were self-hating people who had decided they no longer had a place in society and wanted to go make their own. The joke of the cult was a combination of the fact that they are so staunch in their beliefs until something benefits them, that hypocrisy. The joke is that they are saying what they are doing is wrong, and they do it anyway. Then when we got into casting, people wanted a lighter tone rather than these very dark, toxic guys being awful. So I ended up rewriting the entire cult based on our cast to match what we had found.
JX: So some of that balance was found on set. Some of it was found in rewrites, in casting. It’s hard to talk about without giving away the plot.
Right. We don’t want that. But on the subject of sex and sexuality which is very key here—Justin, you’re straight. Damian, I’m not sure how you identify…
DQ: Oh yeah, I’m very gay. It’s great.
Quinn & Grullon with Clayton Ferris in Road Head
Well both of you have played gay characters. When you are associated with a gay character on screen, do you worry how that will affect your career? What have your experiences been? Were you ever advised against playing a gay role, particularly where you have to do nude scenes?
DQ: In some ways I’m really lucky to be who I am today, because it’s a lot safer to be queer. I use the word “safer” also knowing that Burn in Hell F*ggot is written on my apartment. I know I’m perceived differently by the general public because of who I am.
Sure. Safer than it was, but obviously not safe for a lot of us.
DQ: I play straight characters mostly. But I think it’s a funny time with identity. It’s almost like the actor behind the character on Instagram or whatever and the life they are nursing is more prominent than the characters they portray. I really love the characters I play, but there is a whole marketing tactic—when convenient—of hey look, a queer actor!I’m also at this weird point where I’m not diverse enough. I go out for a lot of queer roles and I’m not diverse enough, even though I’m queer and on the gender spectrum. A lot of networks don’t even see being queer as a diverse thing anymore. Casting directors will even say “You can’t play straight, but straight guys can play you and it’s really great.”
Related: Director Carter Smith rings in the New Year with gay horror in ‘Midnight Kiss’
That’s infuriating.
DQ: It is super infuriating. But part of what I love about my work is working as a chameleon. One of the short films I did is about to “bros”–and I mean bro bros. My character gets hit by a car and breaks his neck and can’t move. And he asks his friend to jack him off, but says “Don’t be a f*g.” So I can straight pass, and I love to play themes that talk about fragile masculinity. But when it comes to the queer part, I love it, because I play so many different things. When I play straight, [the characters] are so much more constrained.
Is that because of you and the way you present, or is that because straight people are generally more constrained?
DQ: Maybe it’s a bit of both, but generally straight people are more constrained. It depends. There are a lot of guys that you meet where you think that guy’s gay, right? And no, he’s straight. Fortunately, we’re getting to a place where gender and sexuality conversations are really opening up. The industry will be 10-15 years behind, but it’s an amazing time to pioneer queer storytelling and be publicly out. Most of the talent we know and love are super gay, but it’s still risky to come out. I would be disappointed if I wasn’t able to play a role because of who I am, but it has happened before.
Justin Xavier (left) in Shared Rooms
So Justin, what was your experience doing Shared Rooms [where Xavier appears naked as a gay character in very sexual situations]?
JX: I was definitely told playing gay would hurt my career, especially early on by acting coaches, by casting directors, by my parents—a lot of people. I was told it would hold me back. I just didn’t see how that would happen. I thought if there were repercussions, they would be repercussions I would be happy with. Oh no, I’m not going to work with people who are homophobic?! That doesn’t sound like a bad thing. People will know I’m an ally, and [queer people & allies] are the people who are creating the kind of art I like anyways. I am much more interested in storytelling that breaks ground and pushes the boundaries of what has been done before. Gay storytelling has been on the rise, which is very exciting. I’m seeing stories that, growing up, were not available to me. That’s part of the reason I wanted to make the characters in Road Head gay. We’re not making a “gay film,” but gay people exist and can have adventures like everybody else.
JX: In terms of acting in Shared Rooms, I went in looking at the nudity as a challenge to see if I could do it. I was definitely nervous about it. I was scared that I would end up on some website…and ultimately, I am.
But it hasn’t had a negative effect on me. I’m very lucky. There isn’t any hatred or discrimination to come my way because of it. And I get recognized at the gym.
We won’t ask where in the gym.
[Laguhter]
JX: When I took the role and called my parents to tell them that I was excited about a movie I had been cast in, my dad said he hoped it would lead to a real role. And I was like, what is not real about this role? So I came into that feeling like I needed to prove that it was real, and that I needed to do a good job. If I did a bad job of portraying a gay male, that’s even worse than not taking the role at all.
So let me ask you this one: when you’re approaching something that will have lots of homoeroticism and a gay couple at the center, when kind of research do you do to get it right? There’s so much conversation about proper representation right now.
JX: I have a few trusted people I can ask for notes. I call them my “beta readers.” I ask if its accurate to someone that they know. There’s no universal way to portray homosexuality that pertains to everyone. Bryan and Alex aren’t based on actual people, but I do know a couple on the east coast named Bryan and Alex. Bryan loves horror, is a horror writer. He mentioned to me that there’s a lack of representation of gay people in horror. And I asked him to name the character after him. He was so excited. So he was someone that I trusted to ask about what I was going for.
So what’s next for the two of you?
DQ: I’m playing Roy Cohn in The United States vs. Billie Holiday, which shoots next week. I have another short film shooting Monday. I’m on the waitlist for The Groundlings writing lab. It’s an exciting time for me. I’ve had a great couple of months.
What about you Justin? Writing? Acting?
JX: I think my ambitions lay more on the writing/directing side of things than with acting, which is where they were before. That’s surprising. For a long time, acting was the only thing that made me happy. But I’ve found more fulfillment in writing, in creating characters. I have a script that I’m very interested in directing. I’m still developing it. It’s called Pain, and it’s a horror movie about a young Catholic boy who gets infected with a demon in a small town. Everyone goes about trying to fix him in unhealthy ways. I have a media company with my partner, Amber-Tiana doing social media management. We have podcasts we produce. I’m just looking forward to moving forward in storytelling in whatever form that takes.
Road Head has a world premiere March 7 at the 2020 Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival in San Jose, CA. The film is currently seeking distribution.
Entertainment damien quinn justin xavier road head The Queerty Interview
Subscribe to Queerty for a daily dose of #entertainment #damienquinn #justinxavier stories and more
wikidBSTN
The only reason playing gay could hurt an actor’s career is because there are still some Hollywood executives that will make it so. These people should be identified and held accountable – simple as that.
Time to weed-out the homophobes in Hollywood.
March 8, 2020 at 11:03am Log in to Reply
Look how “playing gay” ruined Tom Hanks career. He’s only gotten 3 Oscar nominations since winning one for “playing gay”. SAD
March 8, 2020 at 1:03pm Log in to Reply
nitejonboy
Yeah, if you play one dying of a disease or one being ridiculed or living a miserable life….Philadelphia, Brokeback Mountain, etc…they don’t mind straight actors playing gay as long as they don’t have fun doing it.
March 10, 2020 at 6:03am
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Breaks ahead for Mass. college students
PUBLISHED: April 22, 2016 at 12:00 a.m. | UPDATED: July 11, 2019 at 12:00 a.m.
LOWELL — A groundbreaking statewide program announced Thursday will create a more affordable college degree for community college transfers, with tuition rebates and freezes estimated to knock an average of at least $5,090 off of a four-year degree.
Touted as the first agreement of its kind in the nation, the Commonwealth Commitment program will offer a 10 percent rebate off tuition and mandatory fees at the end of every successful semester, officials announced at Middlesex Community College.
“From my point of view, this is really all about giving kids and their families a set of options that can make the cost of a college education dramatically less expensive,” said Gov. Charlie Baker, standing among higher-education officials from across the state.
The program also offers a freeze on tuition and mandatory fees throughout a student’s four years in the program.
And once they’re at a state university or UMass campus, students with a 3.0 GPA can earn a 100-percent tuition waiver through the existing MassTransfer program.
Eligible students begin full time at one of the state’s 15 community colleges, maintain a 3.0 GPA and complete their associate degree within 2.5 years. If they are accepted into a state university, they must complete their bachelor’s degree within another two years.
Only certain majors are eligible for the program, ranging from biology to psychology at UMass and state universities or painting, printmaking and sculpture at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design.
Baker estimated a 20 percent to 35 percent reduction in the cost of a four-year degree.
“You’re talking about a possibility of getting a four-year degree in one of these key fields in four, four and a half years for somewhere between $20,000 and $25,000 before grants and scholarships,” he said. “I really think this is a terrific opportunity for folks.”
The goal is not only to make college more affordable, but to encourage students to complete their degrees more quickly.
“One of the reasons why, in some instances, the cost of higher education is going up is because folks are taking too long to graduate,” said UMass President Marty Meehan. “We want to get students that are graduating in four years, or four and a half years.”
Individual campuses will bear the cost of tuition rebates and freezes.
“The campuses are really stepping up,” said Higher Education Commissioner Carlos Santiago. “To them it’s an advantage. If you can get students through the system at a faster rate, that does lower their cost as well.”
But beyond affordability, the program streamlines transferrable credits throughout the entire 28 campuses of the state’s public higher-education system.
That makes it easier for students to transfer from a place like MCC to Worcester State University, for example.
The agreement emerged from the many $30,000-degree initiatives that colleges adopted throughout the region. Fitchburg State University, Worcester State University, Mount Wachusett Community College and Quinsigamond Community College adopted the initiatives last year.
“The campuses created the framework for this project,” Santiago said. “Our thinking was simply, if a student can move seamlessly within a region and pursue a high-quality, affordable degree, why not across the entire system of public higher education?”
“The biggest thing we can do is make college more affordable,” Mount Wachusett President Daniel Asquino in a statement. “Collaborative agreements such as the Commonwealth Commitment and the $30K Commitment create opportunities while controlling costs, while addressing crucial areas such as college completion, economic development, innovation and college readiness.”
It’s a program highly pertinent to Lowell, where 34 percent of MCC students transferred to UMass Lowell last year.
MCC President James Mabry called the program a three-way win.
“We all win because the students we transfer are well prepared,” he said. “They all succeed. So it’s not hard for them to get into a state university when they have a community college degree.”
The program is welcome news for students like Hilton Sanchez, a senior at Lawrence High School who plans to come to MCC and transfer to UMass Lowell or Salem State. He works at Whole Foods to save money for college.
“I think it’s a really good opportunity for students,” Sanchez said.
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Interview: The Doors’ Robby Krieger
Duncan Haskell
on 28 June 2017 at 1:22 pm
The Doors: John Densmore, Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek, Jim Morrison. Photo by Elektra-Joel Brodsky/Wikimedia Commons
We chat to The Doors guitarist and songwriter about his time in one of the most influential bands on earth
Of all the bands who brought rock music to the masses in the 1960s, The Doors were perhaps the most unique. With their blues backbone, loose jams and hazy poetry, their records still stand out as something genuinely original. Just as much as Jim Morrison’s counterculture persona and Ray Manzarek’s pioneering organ work were a key part of their appeal, the guitar playing of Robby Krieger helped to define their sound. Yet it’s still not common knowledge that Krieger also wrote, or co-wrote, many of the band’s most famous songs, including Light My Fire, Love Me Two Times and The End.
We recently interviewed Krieger to hear the full story of how Light My Fire was written, which you can read about in our new book. Catching him in chatty mood we had a few minutes left at the end to talk a little bit more about writing for The Doors. It was an opportunity too good to miss…
It was fascinating to learn the story behind Light My Fire, we’d love to hear a little about another of your favourite songs?
“Well, we could talk about Love Me Two Times. I think that was the next song I wrote after Light My Fire and I kind of got the idea from an old blues song that I heard, oddly enough on a record that Paul Rothchild produced called The Blues Project. I came on to this song that was by Danny Kalb. The Love Me Two Times thing was about some of my friends that got drafted and had to leave for Vietnam and they were going to see their girlfriends for the last time, or not for a long time, and so that’s where it came from.
“We all loved blues songs but when The Doors did the blues we changed it around. Love Me Two Times was sort of like the blues but then it goes to kind of a circle where it goes D, C ,B, B-flat, A, which is unusual and then it had that kind of bouncy beat.”
How would a song become fully formed after you had the initial idea?
“There were all different ways that it happened. Usually, Jim or I would come up with the original idea and then we would all work it out together. That’s what a real band does. We all worked very well together as far as that goes, there were no egos involved. We were lucky that we had a good relationship.”
Robby Krieger: “I think lyrics are a young man’s business because that’s when you’re learning about everything.” Photo: Jill Jarrett
Was there a point when that relationship changed at all?
“Well if Jim was too drunk or something then obviously it wouldn’t work but I think the greatest example of it working was when we did L.A. Woman. We really worked well together on that record, probably because Paul Rothschild wasn’t involved and we all had to come together and make the record ourselves, it was a little scary. I thought we did great on that album. A lot of the songs just came together just from us jamming, like the song L.A. Woman where we just started playing. A song like Riders On The Storm; one day we were just playing the track (Ghost) Riders In The Sky and instead of ‘ghost riders in the sky’ Jim came up with ‘riders on the storm’. There’s a similar sound with the surf guitar and the chords.”
How do you think The Doors sound had evolved up to that point?
“I don’t know, I think you learn more about music and you want to go on to different styles and different chords and stuff but I think there’s something to be said that my first song was Light My Fire. Maybe it’s better to not know too much about music when you’re trying to be a songwriter and not to get too tricky. Simple is often better. Maybe it’s youthful energy, I don’t know. Songwriting is a funny thing. How does someone like Burt Bacharach do what he does? When I wrote Light My Fire I didn’t know a thing about music, a minor chord sounded really cool to me. I was 19.”
What would you say your strengths are as a songwriter?
“I don’t know. I always start with the music and then the words come later. Words have always been harder for me, for the last 20 or 30 years I’ve mostly written instrumentals. I think lyrics are a young man’s business because that’s when you’re learning about everything; life and love and everything and it’s all new to you.”
Robby Krieger: playing guitar in London in June 2017. Photo: Caroline Bonarde Ucci/Wikimedia Commons
Do you think the different influences you all brought to The Doors was a key factor in your unique sound?
“I think so, definitely. I started playing flamenco and folk music and John was more into jazz. Ray grew up in Chicago so was used to seeing Muddy Waters and all those guys and then Jim really knew nothing about music, he was more into the words. He actually heard those first songs he wrote in his head, he said it was like listening to a concert. He smoked some Acapulco Gold and was sat on his friend’s roof, he used to sleep on this guy’s roof, and the songs just came to him – he could hear them in his head. Later that didn’t happen so much and that’s when Jim and I used to write a lot of stuff together. He would write a few words and I would do a few words and songs like The End for instance, we just wrote that together in about five minutes.”
What do you think The Doors would have done after L.A. Woman had Jim still been alive?
“That’s a good question, I have no idea. I’m pretty sure we might have gone into videos pretty heavily, because both Jim and Ray went to film school and I’m sure we would have made use of that more. We were going in more of a bluesy direction too at that point. Jim really loved the blues, as you can tell from L.A. Woman. There’s some pretty straight-ahead blues on there.”
What’s it like to still be playing those songs.
“They’re great songs to play, that’s why I still do it. A lot of musicians love to play The Doors stuff, when we ask people to come sit-in and play, they all want to do it.”
Interview: Duncan Haskell
You can read about how Robby wrote Light My Fire in our new book How I Wrote and you can check out robbykrieger.com for all his latest news.
Read more interviews here > >
Acapulco GoldBurt BacharachDanny KalbHow I wroteJim MorrisonL.A. WomanLight My FireLove Me Two TimesMuddy WatersPaul RothchildRay ManzarekRobby KriegerThe Blues ProjectThe DoorsThe End
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Our founder, Alison, started making jewelry after a particularly tough year in her life. She had just finished up surgery and cancer treatments. During her recovery, she discovered the therapy of creativity and art and began stamping jewelry. The only spot she had with enough room was the unheated garage beside her house, and that is where Southern Stamped Jewelry was born. Every night after work as a radiologist at the hospital, she would work on getting her jewelry creations just right. For most of those months, it was winter, and the garage was far from insulated. She knew she had stayed out too long when she could see the chickens waking up for the day and moving between the slats in the floor. She had at least 3 space heaters running and wore fingerless gloves, and it was still cold. The table she worked on would shake each time she hammered the pieces and they would all jump and jumble around so that nothing ever stayed put. But she kept at it because this was important. This mattered.
After a few hundred tries, she started finding her groove. The art she was creating reflected what she wanted to put into the world. It told a story and it helped her heal. Soon word spread and Alison was thrilled to create unique treasures for family and friends, then friends of friends and coworkers. In a few months came a Facebook page that’s now grown to nearly 400,000 followers, a website with over 45,000 customers and thousands of heartfelt reviews and messages from people all over the country. Next came a new state of the art studio. While her surroundings have changed, the quality and devotion she puts into every piece of jewelry hasn’t. She still holds every single thing she sells in her hand before it heads to its new home. While SSJ is now a full-time job, she still finds time to work part-time at the hospital doing cat scans because helping people is part of who she is and what she loves.
What Alison didn’t know when she stamped her first piece of jewelry, was that she was creating more than just a keepsake. She was starting a community. A place for people to share their joy and their sorrow and have it honored, shaped and retold. She was creating a village where her friends and family could work side by side. Where her husband, John, could join her and find his passion for learning and innovating business practices. Where they were supported and encouraged when their family grew unexpectedly and she and John were thrown headfirst into parenthood with their precious 9-year-old daughter, Joanna. Where dogs are usually asleep at your feet during work and a true crime podcast is playing in the background of the studio.
Most importantly, she encouraged others to share their most authentic selves. In a world of social media that highlights the not so real parts of us, Alison encourages us to share our unique stories. The raw parts, the happy parts, the hard parts, the scary parts, the pure joy, the pure heartache and always the real us. Each piece of jewelry, made by hand and with a lot of heart, tells a story. She creates treasures that allow us to wear our stories and show the world our hearts. Knowing that our stories matter makes us stronger, braver, more compassionate and more joyful.
Southern Stamped Jewelry is much more than a jewelry store. It’s a friend sitting on the front porch with sweet tea. It’s riding around listening to music late at night. It’s tucking our kids in and kissing them a few extra times. It’s saying goodbye for the last time. It’s saying I do for the first time (or the 5th, because you know, life happens). It’s all the memories we hold so tightly, lovingly polished and personalized and worn close to your heart. And it’s an honor to do this work.
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Date of Incident: December 01, 2017
Attack Types: Killings, Violence, Disappearances
Institution(s):Agricultural Training Institute
Region & Country:Southern Asia | Pakistan
New or Ongoing:New Incident
On December 1, 2017, a group of armed militants attacked the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) and an adjoining residence hall in Peshawar, Pakistan, killing twelve people.
At approximately 8:30 am, three men wearing burqas and suicide vests drove an auto rickshaw onto the ATI campus in the early hours of the morning, immediately firing on security personnel at the campus gates, killing one guard and injuring another. The attackers then made their way to a dormitory, where from outside they opened fire on students. According to state officials, police forces arrived on the scene within minutes of the attack and killed the attackers after a gunfight that lasted several hours. All told, at least twelve people—six of them students—were killed in the attack, while another 37 people were injured. The attack came on Eid Milad un-Nabi, a holiday celebrating the birth of the Prophet Muhammad; fewer students were reportedly on campus that day due to the holiday weekend.
In the hours that followed, officials from Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a national Taliban militant group, publicly claimed responsibility for the attack (although TTP officials later claimed that the attackers were ordered to target a secret intelligence office allegedly located on the ATI campus, instead of students; state officials have refuted TTP’s claim of an intelligence office on site).
Scholars at Risk condemns this extreme, targeted, violent attack on the higher education space, and sends condolences to the victims, their families, and the Agricultural Training Institute community. In addition to the terrible loss of life and injuries, such attacks target the core values of higher education, including academic freedom, the free exchange of ideas, institutional autonomy, and social responsibility. State authorities have a responsibility to safeguard these values by taking all reasonable steps to ensure the security of higher education communities and their members, including a responsibility to deter future attacks by investigating incidents and making every effort to hold perpetrators accountable, consistent with internationally recognized standards. Members of society similarly have a responsibility to help safeguard the higher education space, especially following incidents of such gross violence, by pressing demands to State authorities for greater protection and accountability, and by contributing to efforts to understand and reinforce principles of autonomy and academic freedom.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/251320-four-injured-in-firing-near-peshwars-zar
https://tribune.com.pk/story/1573434/1-four-injured-heavy-fire-continues-inside-peshawars-agricultural-training-institute/
https://www.voanews.com/a/pakistan-agriculture-university-gunmen/4144814.html
https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2017/12/01/peshawar-university-attack-shows-terrorists-were-based-in-afghanistan-dg-ispr/
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/gunmen-attack-agriculture-institute-pakistan-wounding-11-51504976
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How to Watch Croatia vs. Greece: World Cup Playoff Live Stream, TV Channel, Game Time
How to watch the World Cup qualifying playoff first leg between Croatia vs. Greece on Nov. 9.
Greece travels to Zagreb on Thursday to face Croatia in the first leg of a UEFA World Cup qualifying playoff.
Greece finished second on the Group H table with 19 points after winning five matches out of 10. The Greeks have not lost away from home, however, and will look to continue their success against Croatia. An away victory would be crucial for Greece to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Croatia finished with 20 points in Group I, two points behind table leader Iceland. The Croats won six out of ten matches and did not lose at home. Overall, Croatia allowed just four goals throughout the group stages and will look to shut down a Greek offense that scored 17 goals.
Find out how to watch the match below.
Game Time: Thursday, Nov. 9, 2:45 p.m. ET
TV Channel: ESPN Deportes
Live Stream: Watch the match via WatchESPN.
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Ariana Grande to Perform at Halftime of 2015 NBA All-Star Game
by SLAM Staff January 22, 2015
NBA All-Star Weekend is coming to New York City in one week. And now we know who the musical performance will be at halftime of Sunday’s 2015 All-Star Game at Madison Square Garden: Ariana Grande. Details, straight from the NBA press release:
NEW YORK, Jan. 22, 2015 – The National Basketball Association (NBA) announced today that singing sensation Ariana Grande will headline the 64th NBA All-Star Game halftime show during the “Entertainment Series presented by JBL” on Sunday, Feb. 15 at Madison Square Garden. The game will air live at 8 p.m. ET on TNT.
Known for her wide range and powerful voice, Ariana Grande has taken the music world by storm. Last year, Grande became the first woman in history – and the first artist since Michael Jackson – to simultaneously have three songs in the Top 6 of Billboard’s Digital Songs chart. Additionally, her platinum-selling album “My Everything” and smash hit “Bang Bang” earned Grande her first Grammy nominations. This year, Grande will add NBA All-Star halftime performer to her list of accomplishments when she takes the stage to regale fans with a compilation of her biggest hits.
With HARMAN serving as the Official Sound of the NBA, its featured brand, JBL, will serve as presenter of this year’s NBA All-Star Entertainment Series, bringing the excitement of musical performances to State Farm All-Star Saturday Night in addition to pregame introductions and the halftime show at Sunday’s All-Star Game.
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Why We Must Raise CT's Minimum Wage To $15
12/7/2016 - by: Kent Siladi - Justice and Witness
In Connecticut, we happily receive goods and services from many people — retail workers, home health aides and food service workers — who are paid less than the poverty level. We ought to do better. And there is a growing understanding that we can.
On Dec. 1, a state legislative advisory panel on low-wage workers agreed, recommending that Connecticut establish a $15 minimum wage. Earlier this year, the Connecticut Conference of United Church of Christ also asked the legislature to set the minimum wage at $15 per hour, effective 2019. The conference also asked its member churches to review compensation of their staff and develop plans to pay at least $15 per hour.
Why should a religious community such as the United Church of Christ be concerned about the state's minimum wage?
The UCC and other religious traditions speak clearly to matters of injustice, expecting their members to work actively for justice. For example, the UCC has a history of advocating for the end of American slavery and school segregation. Economic and racial injustice and environmental degradation are now abiding concerns of the UCC.
The current $9.50 minimum wage in Connecticut is manifestly unjust. Connecticut has one of the highest standards of living in the United States. Yet, the annual income for a minimum-wage worker for a 40-hour workweek is several thousand dollars below the federal poverty level for a family of four. That is indefensible.
Senior Minister Damaris Whittaker of the First Church of Christ in Hartford points out that a rented two-bedroom apartment in Hartford, Bridgeport or New Haven might cost $1,500 a month — unaffordable to a full-time worker making $10 an hour, or $1,600 a month. The United Way of Connecticut calculates that the cost of the basic essentials of housing, child care, food, health care and transportation is more than $60,000 annually for a family of four. To reach this annual income after taxes requires a wage of more than $30 an hour.
Economist Steven Fazzari of Washington University in St. Louis says that not raising the minimum wage substantially leaves many workers "without the ability to afford a decent life, despite working hard at a full-time job. [This is] fundamentally unjust in a rich society."
Taxpayers also effectively subsidize the employers of low-wage workers who remain in poverty. Because the wages are so low, many of those workers receive government housing assistance, food stamps and Medicaid — all paid for by taxpayers.
Although not ideal, $15 an hour is nearly 50 percent higher than the current minimum wage. In recent months, two states have moved to phase in a minimum wage of $15 per hour — California by 2023 and New York by 2019. Recognizing the stress that immediate implementation might have on small businesses, both states implement a $15 wage more slowly for small businesses. Massachusetts has a minimum wage of $15 per hour for home health and food service workers. Many other cities and counties across the country have increased their minimum wage — some to $15.
Businesses recognize that a higher wage increases worker morale, decreases staff turnover and attracts better-qualified job applicants. The Aetna in Hartford sets its minimum wage at $16 per hour. IKEA has recently raised its minimum wage — twice. The second time because the first increase was so successful.
A more robust minimum wage also helps our economy. A low-wage worker, the vast majority of whom are age 20 and older, with higher pay will spend it for more goods and services in the local economy — encouraging local businesses to hire more workers. Higher-paid workers help all of our state's economy.
The practical and moral imperative is clear. A person working full time should not remain in poverty. An American society with integrity cannot justify paying people a poverty-level wage. The UCC believes that we can pay our low-wage workers fairly and remain a robust society and economy. How we treat and pay our lowest-paid workers is a measure of who we are and aspire to be as a people.
This blog post originally appeared as an Op-Ed in the Hartford Courant on Dec. 4, 2016.
Kent J. Siladi
Rev. Kent Siladi is Bridge Conference Minister. The Rev. Kent Siladi began his ministry as Conference Minister for the historic Connecticut Conference in June of 2013. The Rev. Kent Siladi is a Connecticut native, growing up in Stamford, and a ...
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The Department of Music at SOAS is the largest and leading centre in Europe for the study of music from Asia, Africa, the Middle East and their diasporas, located in the heart of a city famous for its thriving and diverse musical cultures. We offer a BA in Music — which may be taken as a stand-alone programme or in a wide range of combined degrees with other subjects — and a BA in Global Popular Music. We offer Master’s degrees in Ethnomusicology, Performance, Music in Development, and the Global Creative and Cultural Industries, and an MPhil/PhD in music research.
View Degree Programmes
Studying Music at SOAS
SOAS Music CDs and DVDs
Lessons for Schools
SOAS Music Workshops
Welcome to the Music Department
The Music Department embraces SOAS’ commitment to widening horizons, fostering cross-cultural perspectives, and engaging critically with social issues. Our academic staff are leading authorities on the traditional and popular musics of Africa, Asia, the Middle East and their diasporas, and we offer a wide range of exciting courses with performance, research and practical skills being integral to all our programmes.
Many of our staff members and senior students are involved in professional performance, composition and music production, and are the proud recipients of international awards and even Grammy nominations. Our students join us from all over the world, and our graduates enjoy successful careers in a range of sectors, from professional performance, academia, radio and print journalism, to composition for film, theatre and digital gaming, music education, and working on arts-based interventions with local and international NGOs.
Our Department has played a leading role in the development of the discipline of ethnomusicology in the UK. Amongst other initiatives, it has been instrumental in developing the British Forum for Ethnomusicology, the internationally acclaimed journal Ethnomusicology Forum, and the SOAS Musicology Series (published by Routledge).
The Department of Music is situated within the School of Arts.
Fall in love with Music at SOAS
in the UK for research output - REF 2014.
88% of undergraduates say that staff are good at explaining things (NSS 2015)
88% of undergraduates say that staff have made the subject interesting (NSS 2015)
88% of undergraduates say that staff are enthusiastic about what they are teaching (NSS 2015)
94% of students say the library resources and services are good (NSS 2015)
Music Department at SOAS has been ranked first in the UK for research output
Alumni and student stories
Clara Wenz PhD Student
"More than any other place, the SOAS Music Department allows me to combine my interests in music, philosophy and culture in the Middle East. "
I've experienced SOAS as a place of profound research and interdisciplinary cooperation, and as home of an inspiring community of people who are connected through their love for music and openness to new ideas.
Almira Farid BA Music
"SOAS has helped tremendously in opening up my eyes and ears to how culturally colourful our musical world is. "
As a future music educator, ethnomusicology has become a highly empowering tool in reinforcing that all our voices are unique and are worthy of being listened to.
Thomas Graves MMus Ethnomusicology
"As soon as I first walked into the Junior Common Room I said ‘this is what university should be like!’ "
When I mentioned my interest in ethnomusicology to the academics at my previous university, their instant reaction was SOAS.
"I would sum up my studies here so far as a white-knuckle intellectual adventure. "
I would sum up my studies here so far as a white-knuckle intellectual adventure. It has opened doors not only in my mind, but in real life, especially in terms of people I have met.
Marina Di Giorgi MMus Ethnomusicology
"I chose SOAS because it is the only place in London where I could gain a broad knowledge of Music in the Middle East."
SOAS is a great place to study Ethnomusicology. It has the flavour of the world spread through the music made by the students, lecturers and guests.
Read more alumni and student stories
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Sabaton Tickets
Judas Priest with Sabaton (Rescheduled from September 17, 2020) 19:00 - PNC Music Pavilion Charlotte, Charlotte, United States
Judas Priest with Sabaton (Rescheduled from September 24, 2020) 19:30 - Covelli Centre, Youngstown, United States
Judas Priest with Sabaton (Rescheduled from September 29, 2020) 19:30 - Miller High Life Theatre, Milwaukee, United States
Judas Priest with Sabaton (Rescheduled from September 30, 2020) 19:30 - Saint Louis Music Park, Maryland Heights, United States
Judas Priest with Sabaton (16+ Event, Rescheduled from October 9, 2020) 20:00 - Mission Ballroom, Denver, United States
Wed Oct 6
Judas Priest with Sabaton (Rescheduled from October 15, 2020) 20:00 - Microsoft Theater, Los Ángeles, United States
Judas Priest with Sabaton (Rescheduled from October 17, 2020) 20:00 - Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood, Las Vegas, United States
Judas Priest with Sabaton (Rescheduled from October 13, 2020) 19:30 - Arizona Federal Theatre, Phoenix, United States
Tue Oct 12
Judas Priest with Sabaton (Rescheduled from October 6, 2020) 20:00 - Freeman Coliseum, San Antonio, United States
Judas Priest with Sabaton (Rescheduled from October 5, 2020) 19:30 - H-E-B Center at Cedar Park, Cedar Park, United States
Fri Oct 15
Judas Priest with Sabaton (Rescheduled from October 3, 2020) 19:30 - The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory, Irving, United States
Sat Oct 16
Judas Priest with Sabaton (Rescheduled from October 2, 2020) 19:30 - Oklahoma City Zoo Amphitheatre, Oklahoma City, United States
Thu Oct 28
Judas Priest with Sabaton (Rescheduled from September 9, 2020) 19:30 - The Theater at MGM National Harbor, Oxon Hill, United States
Judas Priest with Sabaton (Rescheduled from September 12, 2020) 21:00 - The Grand Theater at Foxwoods Resort Casino, Ledyard, United States
Buy tickets for Sabaton at StubHub US
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Gaali Free India: Swachh Bhasha, Swachh Bharat
Neeva Jain
August 8, 2020,
Vandana Sethhi.
Vandana Sethhi, founder and director of Water Communications, and founder of ‘Gaali Free India’, talks to G20 about her social initiative aiming to make the society free of abuse.
Q. A Gaali-free India, Bollywood especially. How did this unique concept unfold?
A. The idea was to raise awareness so at least people would start talking about it, and hopefully, from there more people would be conscious when using such language—something that had become subconscious or even unconscious thing! In the process, as more and more people get conscientized, it may ultimately lead to an end or at least an arrest or slowing down of the use of such filthy language.
For sure, there were personal triggers—or like you would call them ‘inflection points’. Personal experiences that kind of became the final straw after which I knew I had to do something.
So, one day, while standing on a pavement in Delhi, waiting for the car to arrive, there was a young man, a boy, in fact, talking right next to me on the phone. From the context, it was clear he was talking to his girlfriend or something because he was pretty loud and oblivious to everyone around. But, every second word was a gaali—abuse in Hindi, English, and languages a multi-linguist would not have been able to identify. It went on for over 15 minutes—I mean what energy and perseverance… all for a wrong cause!
For me, each gaali spewed recklessly was one more nail in the coffin of a decent society. Something had to be done soon and someone had to it. And then I realised, I had to be that someone!
Q. Can you expound the tagline ‘Swachh Bhasha, Swachh Bharat’ to our readers?
A. The entire premise for the tag-line was that Swachh Bhasha is also a component of Swachh Bharat. Let’s not only clean up our surroundings and environment but our language and minds as well.
Q. What type of traction have you received to date, in terms of support from Bollywood?
A. Thank God for social media! Online has given us so much traction, I’m very sure we would not have been able to achieve as much as we have in such a short time if we launched this initiative say 20 years ago when social media had not yet found its feet and the internet lacked true penetration.
We’ve also tried to stay topical and newsy, because that’s the best way to grab people’s attention. So during the recent lockdown, our research showed that one big problem—and not just in India, but worldwide—was domestic abuse. The situation was leading to deteriorating mental health and precipitating violent episodes, where most often the victims were wives and other weaker members in the household.
Q. Tell us more about the mission.
A. It’s more of a powerful passion and hopes that we can one day conscientize every Indian—however hopelessly ambitious that may sound.
But yes, we have no illusions about anything changing overnight. This is a lifetime project. a project of several lifetimes. The hope is that if we start now, we can reduce the incidence for the next generation and so on.
The aim, therefore, is to conscientize as many people as we can with the objective of insulating subsequent generations from this, well, curse.
Q. Would you enlighten our readers about the process of spreading awareness regarding this mission?
A. There has been some of that, as I mentioned earlier, all thanks to social media. But sadly, not enough. It’s sad—and I say this coming from the same space and industry—that media has not taken up this issue. It’s not like they wouldn’t know what we’re doing. We live in an extremely connected world; so when media can pick up small, insignificant or sordid stories and sensationalise them, why can’t they do something for this which would actually lead to the betterment of society?
It’s a simple chain reaction… If I improve, my family improves, and progressively so does society, country, and world. Whether the world becomes better or worse… it all begins with me!
Pandemic shifted theatre from stage to online: Raveesh
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Easy remedies for hair problems
Vajrayana: The saga of buddhist and Hindu Ideals
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5 transfers that damaged players' careers
Shambhu Ajith
Modified 05 Nov 2020, 19:50 IST
Most players look at big transfers as a step up in their career but it doesn't always work out in their favour.
Some of these players went from being worshipped to ridiculed in the span of a few months.
#3 Eden Hazard to Real Madrid
Eden Hazard gave nightmares to Premier League defenders for close to a decade. The attacker was one of the finest to grace the English top-flight since the turn of the millennium and delivered consistently for the Blues over the course of his stay at Stamford Bridge, winning a Champions League title, two Premier League titles, two FA Cups and two Europa Leagues.
Real Madrid had always been a dream destination for Eden Hazard and when they finally came knocking in the summer of 2019, Chelsea caved and decided to cash in on the Belgian. It was the signing that was expected to give Real Madrid the kind of returns they got from buying a certain Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United in 2009.
However, everything that has happened subsequently has been anticlimactic. Hazard's stay at Real Madrid has been blighted by injuries so far. He underperformed heavily in his first season and scored just one goal from 16 appearances in the La Liga.
Hazard is yet to hit his stride and if you look at how well he was doing at Chelsea, the lows that he has hit since Real Madrid would warrant the conclusion that Eden Hazard's dream switch hasn't worked out and has in fact, hampered his career.
#2 Fernando Torres to Chelsea
If you had just started following Fernando Torres after he joined Chelsea, you will be excused for wondering what the hype was all about. The Spaniard was an absolute menace in the Premier League when he was at Liverpool and used to be a pain in the neck of some of the best defenders in the world.
Fernando Torres was one of the best marksmen in the world when he was tearing it up at Anfield and even humbled the likes of Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand regularly. He was third in the 2008 Ballon d'Or race. However, his downfall was abrupt and was even at the receiving end of a lot of jokes and disrespect.
However, he did win the UEFA Champions League and the FA Cup with Chelsea. So let's just say that he did get something out of the move ultimately.
🔵 2012 winner Fernando Torres at Chelsea...#UCL | #TBT | @ChelseaFC pic.twitter.com/yvdGwXszmS
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) July 23, 2020
#1 Antoine Griezmann to Barcelona
As far as transfer sagas are concerned, Antoine Griezmann's move to Barcelona would be that one dragged out festival movie that just irks you with its pace and its focus on the buildup and then ultimately fizzles out without a payoff.
Griezmann had even rubbed his current employers the wrong way prior to joining, filming an entire documentary on why he decided to reject Barcelona when they first came calling for him in 2018. However, the Cules decided to pay up the next summer and signed Griezmann for a sum of £120 million.
Griezmann has been a disappointment since joining Barcelona and has now fallen down the pecking order with talented teenagers taking over alongside Messi in Ronald Koeman's frontline. There were suggestions that Griezmann was struggling because he was used in a wide role as opposed to his preferred central one.
However, Griezmann did nothing of note even when deployed down the centre and his numbers have come nowhere close to what we've seen from him during his best days at Atletico Madrid.
He looks out of place at Barcelona, finding it hard to get with the program. The Frenchman seemed to have been hitting his peak and was one of France's best players in their World Cup triumph before moving to Barcelona. Now he just looks like an expensive reject.
In his first season at the Camp Nou, Griezmann scored just nine goals and provided four assists across 35 appearances. Well, that just sums it up, doesn't it?
How will i explain to my unborn children that Griezmann missed this goal pic.twitter.com/yfolIgimrJ
— KinSiLee © (@kinsilee_ks) November 4, 2020
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UEFA Champions League 2020-21 Real Madrid CF Football Barcelona Eden Hazard Antoine Griezmann Ronald Koeman Zinedine Zidane
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Solstice @ Pangaea
starting from RM 0.00
450 sq ft - 880 sq ft
More about Solstice @ Pangaea
Solstice is set to be a special landmark in Pan’gaea, which is a mixed-development project comprising service apartments, boutique shop offices, a shopping mall, and also a resort hotel. The freehold property houses 946 units of small-medium modular units, which come in 3 different designs of 1 bedroom units, 2+1 bedroom duplexes and 3-bedroom units. The built-ups are fairly cosy, with sizes measuring 450 sq ft, 958 sq ft for the duplex and 893 sq ft.
The Solstice homes, being modular units, offer flexible housing options, which makes it easier among yuppies and students to share space. Solstice, deriving its name from nature, recognises the importance of natural scenes and breathtaking vistas to soothe the eye and mind, thus it has transformed its 40th floor into a sky garden, a green vantage point over the lights of Cyberjaya.
All the units come ready for occupancy, with furnishings such as kitchen cabinets, hood and hob, air-conditioning, a sofa set for the living room, wardrobe, light fittings, dining set, water heater, shower screen, and even curtains, leaving owners to only bring themselves, their clothes and their bed to make it a complete home. The interior design is much in line with Pan’gaea’s contemporary modernist look, with much thought put into catering to the young and the young-at-heart.
Solstice is an investor’s delight as it has the potential for capital appreciation and rental returns, thanks to the many students currently pursuing their education there, and the many multinational companies and government agencies venturing into Cyberjaya. One of the facilities that one can look forward to in the Pan’gaea township is a 5-acre central park, which comes in handy for those days you feel like jogging outside instead of on the treadmill, and will also be a perfect picnic spot.
Other proposed facilities for the residents of Solstice are water features such as a swimming pool, a children’s pool and a cascading pool, a poolside deck replete with sun beds, a whirlpool and floating cabanas. Other fitness and health features are a squash court, an elevated techno-gym with changing rooms, and a children’s playground for the young ones to explore. Green spaces are also prominent, with the Garden Pavilion, garden terraces and the aforementioned rooftop landscaped sky garden.
Solstice’s location within Pan’gaea places it within reach of Multimedia University and the Cyberjaya Lake Gardens, apart from the other companies and education institutions. Other schools that are nearby include SK and SMK Cyberjaya and ELC International School. Not far off from Cyberjaya is Putrajaya, which houses many schools, government agencies and offices, and also has a shopping mall known as Alamanda Putrajaya.
The excellent connectivity from Cyberjaya to the rest of the Klang Valley is evident from the many highways snaking into the Silicon Valley of Malaysia. One can use the Maju Expressway (MEX) to reach Bukit Jalil, Cheras and more, while the South Klang Valley Expressway (SKVE) connects to Kajang, Serdang and most of southern Klang Valley.
There is the Lebuhraya Damansara-Puchong (LDP) for a fuss-free ride to Puchong, Kepong and anywhere in between, and the North-South Expressway exit to reach Seremban, Sungai Buloh and the other townships safely. Other highways include the ELITE and the Putrajaya Link, which leads to Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya respectively.
The Solstice Lifestyle Service Apartments & SOHO, which is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2015, is a home that will win the hearts of yuppies, students and families looking at settling down in Cyberjaya. The launch of the development will be from 19 October to 4 November 2012 at the fountain area at Plaza OSK, Jalan Ampang, where you can find out more about the early bird privileges and the 7% discount offered to interested Bumiputera buyers.
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Obama ramps up bid to explain how US will fight extremists
JOSH LEDERMAN
WASHINGTON (AP) — Working to ease public jitters ahead of the holidays, President Barack Obama on Monday opened a rare meeting with his National Security Council outside of the White House, part of a weeklong push to explain his strategy for stopping the Islamic State group abroad and its sympathizers at home.
Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and the top national security team gathered at the Pentagon for a private meeting to be followed by a public update from the president about the fight against the Islamic State group.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Obama did not intend to announce any major changes in approach.
"If there's an opportunity for us to intensify efforts behind one aspect of our strategy, then that is something that he wants his team to be prepared to do," Earnest said.
The president is also slated for a briefing at the National Counterterrorism Center later in the week.
The high-profile visits to agencies charged with keeping the U.S. safe follow an Oval Office address Dec. 6 that aimed to reassure the public but that critics said failed to do the job. Obama is also hoping to draw a contrast with Donald Trump and his inflammatory remarks about Muslims, which Obama's administration has warned emboldens extremists looking to pull the U.S. into a war with Islam.
"Terrorists like ISIL are trying to divide us along lines of religion and background," Obama said in his weekly address, using an acronym for the extremist group. "That's how they stoke fear. That's how they recruit."
This week, he said, "we'll move forward on all fronts."
After a series of setbacks, the U.S. and its coalition partners have been claiming progress recently in wresting back territory from IS and eliminating some of its key leaders in Syria and Iraq.
Iraqi forces recently retook a military operations center and a neighborhood on the outskirts of Ramadi, the provincial capital of Anbar province seized by IS forces in May. U.S. airstrikes in recent days killed an estimated 350 Islamic State fighters holed up in the western Iraqi city, an American military spokesman said Thursday, suggesting the extremists lost as much as half of their defending force.
Col. Steve Warren, spokesman for the U.S. military command in Baghdad, told reporters at the Pentagon that there had been an estimated 600 to 1,000 Islamic State fighters inside Ramadi, which the extremist group captured in May. Despite this depletion of Islamic State forces, U.S. officials are reluctant to predict how long it will take to reclaim the city, which is the capital of Anbar province and a key to the Iraqi government's hopes of restoring its borders.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter, speaking last week, said Iraqi progress in retaking Ramadi has been "disappointingly slow."
The commando force that Obama is dispatching to Iraq to conduct clandestine raids against the Islamic State group does not fit neatly into a picture of the U.S. military strategy for defeating the extremist army.
Even the name — "specialized expeditionary targeting force" — is a bit of a riddle.
Officials say the force is intended to ratchet up pressure on the Islamic State by using a small group of special operations troops — possibly fewer than 100. Obama remains opposed to major U.S. ground combat in Iraq or Syria.
The public relations campaign, one week before Christmas, comes as the public is jittery about the specter of extremism after the mass shooting in San Bernardino, California this month and the Paris attacks a few weeks before. Seven in 10 Americans rated the risk of an attack in the U.S. as at least somewhat high, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll. That was a sharp increase from the 5 in 10 who said that in January.
U.S. officials have insisted there are no specific, credible threats to the United States. But the apparent lack of warning before San Bernardino has raised concerns about whether the U.S. has a handle on potential attacks, especially during high-profile times such as the end-of-year holidays. Obama, who leaves Friday for his annual vacation in Hawaii, had to interrupt that trip in 2009 when a would-be attacker tried to blow up a plane on Christmas Day.
On Thursday, at the National Counterterrorism Center, which analyzes intelligence at its facility in suburban Virginia, Obama plans to address reporters after a briefing by intelligence and security agencies on threat assessments. Obama receives a similar briefing each year before the holidays.
Concerns about extremism emanating from the Middle East have taken center stage in the presidential race. Hillary Clinton, the leading Democratic candidate, planned a speech in Minnesota on Tuesday to present a plan for protecting the U.S. homeland from homegrown violence and other threats.
Obama has tried to use his bully pulpit as a counterpoint to GOP front-runner Trump and his widely condemned proposal to bar Muslims from entering the U.S. The White House scheduled a conference call Monday with religious leaders about ways to fight discrimination and promote religious tolerance.
Aiming to put a human face on the Syrian refugee issue, Obama is to speak Tuesday at the National Archives Museum, where 31 immigrants from Iraq, Ethiopia, Uganda and 23 other nations will be sworn in as U.S. citizens. Obama planned to use that occasion to reframe the national conversation about immigrants around the country's founding values of tolerance and freedom.
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Our Beliefs & Mission
Service Recordings
Orders of Service
soul space 2020-21
Enquiry and Booking Form
The Friends of St Cuthbert's
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The Parish Church of St Cuthbert
For much of its existence St Cuthbert’s was a country kirk, outwith the city wall and in the county of Lothian and Tweeddale. In the reign of King David I of Scotland (1124 – 1153), Edinburgh was clustered on the ridge which runs eastwards from the Castle. All along the foot of the northern slope of the Castle rock was a morass or marsh and from there northwards it was all countryside until one came to Newhaven and Leith on the coast.
The Kirk below the Castle of Edinburgh has a claim to great, but imprecise, antiquity. One theory about its origins is that St Cuthbert journeyed from Melrose and stayed awhile in the sheltered hollow below the Castle rock. Another view is that the Church came into being only fifty years before the 1127 Charter. Simeon of Durham, in 1130, wrote of a church in Edwin’s Burgh in 854 but whilst some believe it was St Cuthbert’s others think St Giles.
1127: King David I granted a Charter giving all the land below the Castle to St Cuthbert’s. This is the oldest document in the Scottish Records Office, Register House, Edinburgh.
1128: Foundations laid for the Abbey of Holyrood. A few years later, King David gave the Church and Parish of St Cuthbert to the new Abbey. St Cuthbert’s parish was very extensive in the 12th century with considerable revenues but the transfer to the Abbey meant a material lessening of status. The new Augustinian Abbey employed vicars to care for the souls of the parish but it also pocketed the surplus revenue!
Very little is known of the life of the Church during the Roman Catholic period – the 12th to the mid-16th century – but an occasional reference to St Cuthbert’s appears in Vatican documents.
1242: 16th March, St Cuthbert’s-under-the-Castle rededicated by the Bishop of St Andrews.
1314: An English Knight, St Giles de Argentine, fought and died at Bannockburn. Sir Walter Scott would later describe in his “Tales of a Grandfather” and “Lord of the Isles”, how the Knight’s body was brought to a quiet resting place “in Sanct Cuthbertis Kirk beside Edinburgh”. Scottish Independence was restored after Robert the Bruce’s defeat of the English army.
1385: Richard II led an army north and burned Holyrood and Edinburgh. It is possible St Cuthbert’s was damaged or even destroyed at that time.
1450: Large marshy area beside the Church used to form the Nor’ Loch.
1544: The Earl of Hertford was sent by King Henry VIII to enforce marriage between Mary, Queen of Scots and Henry’s son, Edward. Mary had become Queen at one week old in 1542. The Scots refused this “Rough Wooing” and so Leith was captured, Border Abbeys destroyed, Holyrood and Edinburgh burned and St Cuthbert’s suffered severely.
1550: In “Cosmographie”, published in Basle, Alexander Alesius wrote that “Under the rock of the Maiden Castle is the new parish Church of St Cuthbert”.
1559: John Knox became leader of the Reforming Party and drew up the Scottish Confession of Faith. The Reformation sought to restore Christianity to its early purity.
1560: Scottish Confession of Faith adopted by the Scottish Parliament.
20th December, William Harlow, first Protestant Minister of St Cuthbert’s, attended the first General Assembly of the Church of Scotland (held in the Church of St Mary Magdalene). Originally a tailor in the Canongate, Harlow became a noted leader in the new Kirk of Scotland. He conducted the first reformed service in St Cuthbert’s. Previously a priestly exercise watched by the people, this service – in their own tongue – invited participation. Each parish appointed a Kirk Session of lay-elders. Any wrong-doers, be they rich or poor, were brought before the Session. One of the elders’ duties was to go out into the parish on Sundays and find out what the absentees were doing!
1573: English artillery sent to end the siege of Edinburgh Castle, held for Mary, Queen of Scots (reign 1542-67, executed 1587). A battery, set up near the Church by the English, attracted gunfire from the Castle and the thatched roof of St Cuthbert’s Church was set ablaze.
1574: Rev. William Harlow gained a distinguished colleague named Robert Pont. Under their ministries, the West Kirk, as it was now called, had “ane greit congregatioun”. King James VI (reign 1567 – 1625) had grown to hate the Presbyterian Church, especially when it became extreme and calvinist. He appointed bishops and forbade the Assembly to meet. Robert Pont was the second minister of St Cuthbert’s after the Reformation. He was one of the most eminent of its Ministers and was born in Culross and educated at St Andrew’s University. Learned in law, he was, at various times, a senator of the College of Justice, Provost of Trinity College, Commissioner of Orkney and five times Moderator of the General Assembly. He strongly opposed James VI’s attempts to introduce Episcopacy but he and others had to flee to England. On his return he was briefly imprisoned. Nicol Dalgleish was appointed in Robert Pont’s absence, and he too was arrested for sympathising with his exiled brethern.
1583: Kirk Session issued begging permits for use by the parish poor.
1584: During Robert Pont’s absence, William Aird became Minister of the West Kirk. This able and fearless man was chosen by the Presbytery to excommunicate the wild Earl of Bothwell, a great favourite of the King!
1585: Robert Pont welcomed back to St Cuthbert’s.
1592: Being near the City, the Church had many aged, helpless, infirm and vagrant people to provide for. The list of the poor recorded 80 names.
1593: Badge system introduced to help each parish identify its own poor.
1594: Extensive church repairs left no money for a Manse. Robert Pont agreed to pay for one himself and it was later bought from his heirs. By the end of the 16th Century, the Kirk also had a small cemetery which – in over a century’s time – would have the unwelcome attention of grave-robbers. The main thoroughfare we now call Princes Street was then a straight country road called the Lang Dykes and, to the north, was a bleak common called Bearford’s Parks. A road called Kirk Loan ran from the Church to Stockbridge and, because of this, the Princes Street gate of St Cuthbert’s is still known as the Stockbridge Gate.
1596: First reference made to a school, run by the Session Clerk
1606: After much loyal service to St Cuthbert’s, Rev Robert Pont died. His body was originally interred in the Church but was later moved to the churchyard. At the Reformation, the parish population was 2000 but, by 1606, congregation size had increased considerably so lofts were added inside the Church and new parts were built on.
1612: Samuel West applied to run a school at West Port and others followed in different parts of the Parish.
1621: Parliament disjoined several parts of the burgh of Edinburgh which lay within St Cuthbert’s parish. These transferred to Kirks within the city.
1627: Another Act led to more lands being annexed and so began the gradual reduction in size of St Cuthbert’s Parish.
1633: King Charles I (reign 1625 – 49) visited Scotland and tried to establish Episcopacy. He appointed a bishop in Edinburgh and introduced an English style Prayer Book but the West Kirk refused to conform.
1638: Opposition to the rule of the King led to the drawing up and signing of the National Covenant in Greyfriars Churchyard (it disavowed the Divine Rights of Kings in favour of man’s duty to God). The General Assembly met, deposed the bishops and rejected the Service Book. Charles I sent an army but it was defeated by the Covenanters.
1640: St Cuthbert’s Church and Churchyard used by the Covenanters.
1650: After defeating the Scots at Dunbar, Oliver Cromwell (rule 1653 – 1658), his troops and their horses, occupied the Church. The result was described thus: “The Church was altogider spoyled; naither pulpit, laft, nor seat left therein and full of filth; and also the roof ruinous by shotts of canone and muskett”!
1661: In this year, King Charles II (reign 1660 – 85) re-instated bishops, and banned the Assembly. Reverends Reid and Williamson of the West Kirk were amongst about 350 non-conforming ministers deprived of their charges. David Williamson, probably the most romantic of St Cuthbert’s Ministers, prophesied he would “return and die minister of this Church”. He served the persecuted Covenanters over many years, preaching in the hills and fields. His most famous narrow escape took place at the house of a Lady Cherrytrees near Edinburgh. Troopers arrived suddenly, but the astute Lady Cherrytrees gave Williamson a night-gown and put him into bed with her daughter, Jean Kerr. That escapade may have earned him the sobriquet of “Dainty Davy” but he may also have been dainty in person. He was probably a lady’s man because he married seven times, including the girl in the bed! As he prophesied, he returned in happier days as Minister of St Cuthbert’s.
1688: The “Glorious Revolution” replaced James VII (also James II of England, reign 1685-1688) with William and Mary and the Presbyterian Church was restored in Scotland. Rev Williamson and Rev Anderson substantially increased St Cuthbert’s congregation. This was reflected in collections for the poor whose numbers had continued to grow.
1706: Reverend David Williamson died aged about 72 years. He was buried next to his predecessor, Robert Pont but his widow erected no headstone – perhaps because her six predecessors would have had to be listed!
1707: The Union of Parliaments. There was much opposition to this, particularly in Scotland, where people felt they would lose more than they would gain. Rev Neil McVicar was appointed to the collegiate charge of St Cuthbert’s. Courage and a muscular Christianity marked the Rev Neil McVicar, a Highlander and previously an army chaplain at Fort William. He spoke Gaelic and so was appointed to take charge of the Highlanders in and around the city. He strenuously upheld the Government position during the two Jacobite Rebellions of 1715 and 1745 – the Jacobites being those who remained loyal to James VII after he was deposed by his son-in-law, William of Orange. This Minister feared God but feared no man. Once he was threatened by a fellow who said he would have thrashed McVicar but for his clerical coat. In a moment the coat was on the ground and the Minister cried: “There lies the Minister of the West Kirk and here stands Neil McVicar, and by Yea and by Nay, sir, come on”. The man wisely fled!
1721: Act of Parliament restored patronage, that is the congregation lost the right to choose their own Ministers. Ministers and congregation strongly opposed the Act but did so in vain.
1732: Edinburgh was notorious for its riots and St Cuthbert’s experienced this around the Church doors. A new Minister was presented to the congregation but he was not acceptable to some of them and so a riot began. The City Guard, commanded by Captain Porteous, was called for, to quell the disturbance. Musket shots were fired and several rioters injured. Four years later, the same Captain Porteous and his Guards fired at rioters in the city, killing six of them. The mob took their revenge then and hanged Porteous in the Grassmarket.
1743: Rev Neil McVicar produced a survey of the Parish population – 9,493 people living throughout 26 area divisions.
1745: September, news reached Edinburgh that the Highland Army was approaching. The Gaelic-speaking horde had a fearsome reputation and so great excitement and terror was roused in the population. Prince Charles Edward Stuart seized the city. Several hundred in Edinburgh actively supported him and attended the Ball at Holyrood House after the Jacobite victory at Prestonpans but the Ministers of St Cuthbert’s Church – Rev Pitcairn and Rev McVicar – opposed him. Apart from one service held at the Tron Church, there was no public worship in the city itself during this time and many people sought refuge in the countryside. The Ministers of St Cuthbert’s, however, continued to hold normal services which were well attended despite the political and military upheaval happening all around.
1747: After nearly forty years serving St Cuthbert’s, Neil McVicar died aged 75. He was buried in the Churchyard.
1753: Parish population over 12,000 and Church accommodation quite inadequate. The Little Kirk, as it was known, was almost a ruin.
1754: Proposal made and approved by the Kirk Session to build a Chapel of Ease on the south side of the parish. Funds were duly raised.
1756: The Chapel of Ease opened. It accommodated 1200 people and cost £640 and 10 shillings.
1758: Proposal made to build a Charity Work-house for the parish. It was in Riding School Lane to the west of the Church. 84 people were there the first year and it was enlarged as the need arose.
1759: In this year, the draining of the Nor’ Loch (Princes Street Gardens area) was begun.
1763: The Little Kirk’s bell was hung in the Chapel of Ease.
1772: Sunday 27th September, the imminent collapse of the Church was feared. Tradesmen gave their verdict that it was beyond repair and should be replaced.
1773: Workmen, digging in the foundations of the pre-Reformation St Cuthbert’s Church, found a leaden coffin containing bones and a leaden urn. They opened the urn and a fragrant smell issued forth. It was found to contain an embalmed human heart. This most likely belonged to a Crusader killed in the Holy Land because the custom was to send the embalmed heart home to the Crusader’s family.
1775: 31st July, the new St Cuthbert’s Church was opened. Unusually, it had no steeple or bell but was fitted with a sundial !
1789: A steeple was added to the tower of 1775.
Ninteenth Century
1822: Parish population in the southern division was recorded as 20,250 and half of them had no place of worship. The northern division situation was similar and so the Kirk Session resolved to build two more Chapels of Ease.
1823: Stockbridge Chapel opened. This later became part of Kirk O’ Field.
1824: Hope Park Chapel in Clerk Street opened. This is now the Queen’s Hall.
1831: An existing Chapel in Gardiner’s Crescent bought for £2,500. It was named St David’s out of respect for Dr David Dickson, the senior Minister at St Cuthbert’s, and it served a local population of 2000. As the number of parish residents increased, many new churches were formed as Chapels of Ease.
1837: The Charity Work-house now had 539 people working at various trades. There was a school attached for nearly 200 pauper children and also a sewing school. Out-of-door poor also received payments.
1867: Charity Work-house removed when the Caledonian Railway was built.The poor were taken to a mansion about a mile and a half from St Cuthbert’s. This building is now the oldest part of the Western General Hospital
1883: At this time, Dr James MacGregor was the Minister, respected and loved by his congregation. His colleague, Andrew Wallace Williamson, was a “prodigy” of 26 years old. The two men were of different generations and tastes. One was a Highlander and the other a Lowlander; one full of humour, the other serious and solemn but together “they pedalled the bike of St Cuthbert’s for 27 years and remained friendly”.
1893: Both men later became Moderators of the General Assembly. They created an immense and lively congregation which threw itself into the project of a new Church building. Parish population recorded as 65,243.
1894: 11th July. Day of dedication for the new Church. The architect was Mr Hippolyte J. Blanc. His building retained the 1775 tower and the 1789 steeple. Mr Blanc’s Church building is the present day Parish Church of St Cuthbert, the ‘Kirk below the Castle’. He was also the architect responsible for the designs used during the 1887-91 renovation of Edinburgh Castle’s Great Hall.
1906: An alabaster frieze, representing Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Last Supper’, was erected in the Apse. The minister of the time, Rev Dr James MacGregor, had to defend the beauty of the Apse and its decorations against some who thought it too richly adorned.
1908: The Font was installed. The mother and child sculpture set on the middle raised considerable controversy because some considered it a representation of the Madonna and Child.
1912: As reported in ‘The Scotsman’ newspaper of 31st July, the Font sculpture issue was discussed at the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. It became something of a national issue, the pros and cons debated from the theological and aesthetic viewpoints both in committee and in the press!
1928: The internal fabric of the church was redecorated and the church organ was restored.
1942: On 15th November the church bells rang out to celebrate the victory at El Alamein (site of the decisive British battle in the North Africa campaign). They were broadcast with bells from across the UK. Up until then, the bell clappers had been ‘tied’ for three years because of the war.
1956-57: The church organ was completely re-designed and rebuilt, with a number of tonal additions. It was dedicated on Palm Sunday 1957 by the Very Reverend Charles L. Warr, Dean of the Chapel Royal and the Order of the Thistle, the opening recital being given by W. O. Minay.
1988: St Cuthbert’s ‘The Kirk below the Castle’ Exhibition was held. The Change-ringers rang the church bells for 3 hours on Saturday 28th May as the Exhibition drew to a close.
1989-91: The church interior was altered to the design of Stewart Tod & Partners, Architects of Edinburgh to provide hall accommodation on two floors. The new west wall was given splendid plasterwork to match the existing interior of the church.
1994: Centenary year of the present church building, believed to be the 7th on the site. As part of the celebrations, a booklet was published telling the story of St Cuthbert’s Church and Parish. Much research had already been skillfully carried out by Congregation members and friends for the 1988 Exhibition, and this was built upon for the booklet (references).
1997-98: Thanks to generous bequests from Elders John Shepherd and Janet Lusk, the organ was extensively restored, reconstructed and improved upon. Care was taken to retain the romantic tonal qualities of the instrument and the original organ cases were retained.
1999: St Cuthbert’s Church first web site developed.
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August 24, 2010 / Autumn 2010 / Issue 60 (originally published by Booz & Company)
Strategy by Design
Enterprise architecture can eliminate the gap between an organization’s technology and its business model.
by Hugo Trepant and Daniel Newman
For years, many companies have experienced a problematic tension between their IT departments and business units. On the one hand, IT works best when it is tied tightly to the company’s overall business goals. That’s why chief information officers have long worked to get a seat at the executive table — to help set the company’s strategic mandate and align IT with the organization’s aspirations. On the other hand, business unit executives remain doubtful about IT’s ability to support them in creating value. And despite the best intentions of managers on both sides of this gap, companies continue to struggle to integrate IT systems and to determine whether IT actually improves performance, and if so, by how much.
One approach to closing the distance between IT departments and business units is the discipline called enterprise architecture (EA). We define EA as the logical framework that establishes the links between business strategy and organizational structures, processes, databases, and technologies. For example, a bank that wants to capture better customer information in order to energize an effort to sell additional, higher-margin products and services to existing customers would use an EA system to align its customer relationship management, information retrieval, and sales planning software. At the same time, EA applications would be set up for staff training, account management, and frequent assessments of the campaign’s efficacy. The goal of EA is thus twofold: to add value through its support of business goals and to enable companies to measure the value added.
A recent survey conducted by Booz & Company confirmed that EA can successfully resolve the differences between technical specialists and nontechnical management. We asked executives at more than 60 financial-services companies and government agencies to evaluate EA’s effect on performance in four areas: decreased cost, reduced complexity, reduced risk, and increased agility. The responses were nearly unanimous: Almost every organization that had implemented EA reported that the approach had value, and the amount of value identified varied by the level of maturity of the EA efforts.
Of the organizations in the top third in terms of EA maturity — measured by the degree to which EA was integrated into the organization’s overall planning efforts — 60 percent reported gains in all four performance dimensions. By contrast, the few organizations claiming that their EA efforts had produced little or no business value so far were all at the emerging level of EA maturity, in which EA was still restricted to the IT function, with no clear engagement with the business units.
The experience of one large U.K. government agency typified the responses. The agency had been largely paper-based, with separate business processes for the various benefit packages it administered. Fragmented workflow processes and outdated IT systems had adversely affected customer service, efficiency, and staff morale. By implementing an overarching EA framework across its operations, the agency reduced the average time it took to process claims by more than 70 percent, to just five days from more than four weeks, and slashed the number of processing centers by 60 percent, to 10 from 25.
By providing an integrated view of its business and IT architectures, EA not only was instrumental in vastly improving agency performance but also controlled operational risk by allowing for the coexistence of old and new processes. Moreover, the discipline EA brought to the agency gave it a framework to transparently link business objectives with IT requirements.
Attaining high levels of EA maturity, however, is no easy task. An organization that wants to do so must see EA not as a state to be reached but rather as an ongoing process, a long-term effort to improve both the company’s technology and its receptivity to using IT as a fulcrum for improved performance. Four key elements must be addressed to master EA maturity.
1. Strategic alignment. Every EA effort must be focused directly on achieving real business results. Organizations with mature EA programs nearly always design their EA functions to be included in both technology and strategic planning processes — to compel formal engagement between the two.
2. Leadership and staff development. A successful EA program depends on top management effectively communicating its value throughout the organization (in both technical and nontechnical settings). It also relies on the training and development of enterprise architects who understand the business and can further strengthen the organization’s EA capability.
3. Performance measurement. Accurately measuring the results of EA efforts in terms that show its impact on the business (and using these results to further drive support for EA) is critical. This helps strengthen the message that EA is not simply the preserve of the IT department.
4. Organizational structure and formal processes. Our study found that creating the frameworks, tools, and methodologies of EA is necessary in developing a functional capability, but that they mattered much less in driving business value than the first three elements outlined above. That’s because organizational structure and formal processes, although foundational elements of EA, are not differentiating facets of enterprise architecture implementation.
At a time when all industries are being reshaped by changing business conditions, organizations should define their strategies clearly, and then design, implement, and maintain cohesive enterprise architectures that build IT capabilities around those strategies. Organizations possessing these capabilities will be best equipped to create innovative new products and services that can build competitive advantage.
The keys to long-term success are agility, responsiveness to markets and customers, and flexibility in pursuing partnership and acquisition opportunities. A mature EA capability offers the potential to guide organizations in these efforts — to link business processes and technology more tightly with strategy, to make better investment decisions, and to adroitly measure the results of those decisions.
Hugo Trepant is a partner with Booz & Company based in London. He focuses on business and IT strategy, transformational change, enterprise architecture, and benefits realization, primarily in the oil and gas and the public sector and government industries. He also leads the defense and security team in the United Kingdom and the Middle East.
Daniel Newman is a senior associate at Booz & Company based in Canberra, Australia. He works with government agencies and financial institutions on business and IT strategy, enterprise architecture, and operating model development.
Topics: training, technology, strategy, operations, defense
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SYDRIFIED
In 100 best careers In BASKETBALL In blogs In hoops In jordan In nba In pinoy In SYD SALAZAR In SYDRIFIED In THE SYDMAN SHOW
100 Best Careers in the NBA (Part 1 of 5)
By Sydrified
I had an epiphany. You see, I saw this blog article that recalls the 100 Best NBA players of All Time!
http://motownsportsrevival.blogspot.com/2008/05/top-100-basketball-players-of-all-time.html
It’s his take so it’s infallible. But there were a lot of things that didn’t suit me. First of all, let’s examine his Top Ten. Michael Jordan comes in first followed by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Tim Duncan, Larry Bird, Oscar Robertson, and Karl Malone. This ten deserve a lot of praise so I wouldn’t mind this (although I can’t see Bill Russell dropping from the Top 4). The next 10 however is disputable. Kobe Bryant is at number 11 with Hakeem Olajuwon, Julius Erving, Moses Malone, David Robinson, Bob Pettit, Kevin Garnett, Charles Barkley, George Mikan and Jerry West rounding out the group.
That didn’t suit me…
Just like this… would not suit you probably.
Let me level something to you guys: I expect this article to have criticisms. Yes, some of the rank ratings are not satisfying. I hope I can channel my inner “writer” and produce an awesome article. However, to make this fair, I’ll institute a little thing I call… RULES!
ELIGIBILITY: Only All-Star selected players are eligible in this list. Except for two notable players, all players mentioned should have at least played for 400 games. There is a two-point deduction to players that have yet to play more than 500 games. There is also a player I bumped off from the list. He will be replaced from one of the players that rated 101 to 110 in the rankings. The reason for the bump off is the fact that the player is currently playing in the NBA but isn’t making any waves… to the point of his career going downward spiral.
POINT SYSTEM: The list will undergo the PBfantasy system where PTS = 1, REB = 1.5, AST = 2, STL = 2.5, and BLK = 2.5. These five stats will be added and the sum will be divided to their games played. However, the sum of these stats will decrease when we subtract their turnovers. And if you ask the old players… don’t worry! They’ll fare well in the system even if they don’t have steals and blocks (since they also have no turnovers).
ADDITIONAL POINTS:
MVP = 3 points x number of awards
FINALS MVP = 3 points x number of awards
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR = 3 points x number of awards
ALL-STAR MVP = 3 points x number of awards
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR = 2 points x number of awards
ALL-NBA SELECTION = 1 point x number of selection
ALL-STAR CITATION = 1 point x number of citation
PART OF A CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM = 1 point x number of rings
EXCEPTIONS: Bill Russell, since he didn’t had a Finals MVP trophy, will get an automatic 20 plus points because he had 11 titles with Boston and the trophy is renamed in 2009 as the BILL RUSSELL FINALS MVP AWARD.
OUTSIDE LOOKING IN:
Before I see hate mails, let state my claim regarding why these guys were left out.
SOME 50’s GUYS – Sorry but, when they say you’re an All-Star then, you score an average of 15 points, pick up a high of 3 rebounds, and an assist or two. Even with the steals and blocks, guys like Joe Fulks, Max Zaslofsky, Andy Philip, Carl Braun, Slater Martin, Cliff Hagan, and Bobby Wanzer will find it hard to qualify even if they are certified Hall of Famers.
REGGIE MILLER, JOE DUMARS, EARL MONROE, DAVID THOMPSON, JAMAAL WILKES, ROLANDO BLACKMAN, LOU HUDSON, RIP HAMILTON, CHARLIE SCOTT, WORLD B. FREE, GAIL GOODRICH, MARK AGUIRRE, JERRY STACKHOUSE, JOE JOHNSON, GLEN RICE, OTIS BIRDSONG, PAUL WESTPHAL, CALVIN MURPHY – Names of some players that almost got in the list because of their abilities to sizzle in the outside… or score in the inside… or pretty much score.
DENNIS RODMAN, RED KERR, BILL LAIMBEER, TOM GOLA, BILL BRIDGES, CLYDE LOVELLETTE, RUDY LARUSSO, HARRY GALLATIN, CHET WALKER, RUDY TOMJANOVICH, LARRY NANCE, RALPH SAMPSON, MAURICE LUCAS, DAN ISSEL, CLIFF HAGAN, JACK TWYMAN, GEORGE YARDLEY, CONNIE HAWKINS, CARLOS BOOZER, DAN ROUNDFIELD, JERMAINE O’NEAL, SIDNEY WICKS, BAILEY HOWELL, SHAWN KEMP – Names of some players who almost got in the list because they had a great knack of acquiring rebounds.
TERRELL BRANDON, GUY RODGERS, MAURICE CHEEKS, MARK JACKSON, NORM VAN LIER, REGGIE THEUS, NORM NIXON, TONY PARKER, CHAUNCEY BILLUPS, MARK PRICE – Players that contributes in passing that were mere breaths away from getting a seat in the rankings.
(Note: this introduction would likely repeat in the following installments).
GAME STARTS NOW!
When I say best careers, you have to factor the best things that happened on why that player ranks high or very high in the list. Who knows? Definitely some choices will shock you! Remember Michael Jordan’s dismal Washington stint where his scoring averages decreased! Or how about Kobe Bryant first three seasons in the league! Tell me, will the fact that Karl Malone not having a championship gets some semblance when this gets factor in? How about the 50’s guys, those championship-less players, those that played on until their averages decreased considerably???
100 Dennis Rodman: I had the audacity to bump off Elton Brand (minus Rodman, he should have been 82) because I didn’t think Brand has done anything to make the NBA an international phenomenon. Rodman was weird and his antics were pretty crazy. David Stern’s version of popularity didn’t involve the Worm dressed in a wedding gown doing macho poses with Madonna. However, the Worm is a championship magnet. Rodman had 5 rings with the Pistons and the Bulls. He was also a rebounding champion for eight consecutive seasons. He was a 2-time All-NBA member, a 2-time All-Star, and a 2-time Defensive Player of the Year winner. Sure, Brand could blossom in the later years but until he gives people something to cheer at, Rodman takes his spot.
99 Sidney Moncrief: While the former Buck is a virtual unknown amidst the youngsters, Sid the Squid was an offense and defense gem during the 80’s. Appearing in 5 all-star games and 5 All-NBA citations, the first back-to-back Defensive of the Year winner was also one of those mentioned by Michael Jordan as one of his premier headaches when he was attacking the rim.
98 Dennis Johnson: The late great DJ was the ultimate chameleon. At the start of his career he was an off-the-bench scorer that helped Seattle win their first championship. In Phoenix he was the jump shooting go-to-guy. And then when he played in Boston, he was the hard-nosed quarterback who’ll likely pass the ball than shoot it. He got 3 rings in his career as well as a Finals MVP in Seattle, a 2-time All-NBA induction, and five appearances in the All-Star games.
97 Ed Macauley: This 11-year vet played when the league had a team called the St. Louis Bombers. He was a 4-time All-NBA member and a 7-time All-Star. He was also the first player to win the All-Star MVP award. He played for Boston and the St. Louis Hawks where he got his only championship. Alongside Cliff Hagan, they were traded to the Hawks for a St. Louis draftee called Bill Russell. Their departures paved the way for Boston’s rise in the 1960’s.
96 Sam Jones: Jones was never a big-time scorer and had to play behind the shadows of Russell, Havlicek, Heinsohn, Cousy, et al before getting fame. However, he played in 10 of 11 championship teams that Big Russell played. He was a key contributor for the Celts, being a 3-time All-NBA member and a 5-time All-Star. He is best known for his game-winning heroics, thus giving him the Mr. Clutch moniker.
95 Artis Gilmore: Gilmore was a player that played his best in the ABA. He is a 6-time All-Star in the NBA, but in the ABA, he was an MVP, a many-time mythical member, an All-Star MVP, Rookie of the Year, Playoff MVP, and is cited as part of the ABA All-time team. He remains to be the NBA’s career field goal percentage leader with a 59.9 percent clip.
94 Lenny Wilkens: The scrappy point guard was a one of the earliest playground legends to dazzle the NBA. With a streaky shooting and a gift to pass brilliantly, this former 9-time NBA All-Star (and a 1-time NBA All-Star MVP) was a crowd favorite. However, he was not inducted in any other citations. He didn’t even make any of the All-NBA teams in his more than decade-long tenure. He did become a playing coach, and then coached the Seattle Supersonics to the first championship, as well as becoming the winningest coach in the NBA.
93 Kevin McHale: He started out as a sixth man for Boston, replacing Cedric Maxwell every now and then. When Maxwell got hurt, he quickly owned the starting spot and completed the Celtics’ scary frontline. With an array of superb post-up moves he takes part of the defense away from Larry Legend. He won 3 rings with Boston, had a stint in the All-NBA Team, and appeared in seven All-Star games.
92 Michael Ray Richardson: One could wonder who this guy is – often in his career he wondered who he was too. During the 80’s, this 4-time All-Star was a star, finishing awesome numbers in four major statistical categories. However, this guy succumbs to the addition of booze and drugs – the typical NBA environment in the 80’s. He was banned twice in the NBA for failing the league’s drug policy. He did play 14 seasons in Europe and was known as a super guard-forward during his Knick and Net days.
91 Spencer Haywood: Ladies and gentlemen… we have an illegal player in our rundown. This more or less was the introduction Haywood received during his rookie season in the NBA. Because he has yet to finish college, the 1968 gold medalist played in the ABA (NBA prohibits early-entry players). The move was primarily to feed his poor family. When the Sonics obtained his rights, their owner launched an anti-trust suit against the league. He was a 4-time All-Star and a 4-time All-NBA team member. Drugs destroyed the end of his career (he’s basically Seattle’s first Shawn Kemp) but he did win his only NBA ring with the Lakers… while not playing due to drug suspension.
90 Bernard King: New Jersey, New York and Washington fans remember this guy’s athleticism and hard work. The world remembers him as an injury-plagued player. In his 14 seasons in the league, King was hardly healthy within a long period of time. Too bad, because this 4-time All-NBA member and 4-time All-Star could have been an awesome pair up if he reached Patrick Ewing in the Knicks. While he did, the tandem never got to play sweet music because he’s pretty much in the sidelines at this point.
89 Pau Gasol: Juan Antonio San Epifanio is considered as one of the best Spaniards to play in Europe. Why this doesn’t ring any bells? Well, “Epi” never played in the NBA. For the millions of basketball-crazy fans in the world, this distinction is reserved to Pau Gasol. Since getting drafted to Memphis, the 1-time All NBA member is seen as an exceptional big man with an array of shots. His stock increased significantly when he was traded to the Lakers for virtually nothing (Kwame Brown). This move gave the 2-time All-star a NBA ring aside from his Rookie of the Year award.
88 Ben Wallace: Funny how a player with zero offensive capabilities would rank so high in this list. This undersized center entered the league as an undrafted player that recently played in Italy. After being a second-string player for Washington and Orlando, he was part of the package that sent Grant Hill from the Pistons to the Magic. His presence rang a familiar sound in Motown as they became championship contenders. He captured an NBA crown despite opposition from the monstrous Lakers. He is a 5-time All-NBA member and a 4-time All-Star. Big Ben is tied for having the most Defensive Player of the Year citations of all time.
87 Gilbert Arenas: The former second round pick quickly rose to the top when he was given the chance by the Warriors where he became the league’s Most Improved Player in just his second season. However it was in Washington where he saw his stars bloom to the fullest. This awesome combo guard can dish out the goods as well as jam the lights out of any arena. Hibachi is a 3-time All-Star and a 3-time All-NBA member. He is also an excellent blogger who dreams of laying waste to the Cavs after a continuing struggle of botched missions.
86 Amar’e Stoudemire: Coming out of high school, this explosive and athletic mammoth conquered “high school”-ness to defeat Yao Ming in the Rookie of the Year race. Stat also won the battle of the Suns’ feuding forward (displacing long-time forward Shawn Marion). Sure, he is injury-prone and often plays the center spot undersized, but the guy is a prolific scorer and a great defender. In his short time in the pros he had 3-All NBA citations and he is a 4-time All-Star.
85 Jo Jo White: At first look, White looks like second-best to everybody. However, his admirable team leadership and the bringing of the other intangibles made him a force to reckon during the 70’s. He had two rings with the Celtics, where one of those runs earned him a Finals MVP trophy. He was part of two All-NBA teams as well as seven All-Star games. He was part of NCAA History when his Kentucky Wildcats coached by legendary mentor Adolph Rupp lost to the Texas Western Miners (now UTEP) in the finals of the 1966 NCAA Championship (Texas Western was the first team to start five black players in the championship). He was also part of the 1968 gold medal squad in the Mexico City Olympics.
84 Dave DeBusschere: At age 24, he was the youngest player-coach in NBA history. While it was unsuccessful, inside the shaded paint, he was unstoppable. Arguably he is one of the best power forwards the NBA has laid its eyes on. The 8-time All-Star’s trade from Detroit to New York gave DeBusschere two championships. However, sharing the limelight with a crop of superstars made his scoring a tad less of what he has been doing with the Pistons. Playing in an era dominated by Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the former Major League Baseball player was also a 1-time All-NBA member.
83 Jack Sikma: He owns the distinction as one of the most accurate shooting centers in NBA history. Long before Dirk, Memo Okur, Chris Webber, and Vlade Divac went above the arc, no coach on his right mind would ever think of making their big man score triples. While he was still restrained, he is 33 percent accurate from that spot and a career 85 percent shooter. He helped Seattle claim a championship in the 78-79 season. Despite a 7-year All-Star though, he played quiet and steady while delivering the numbers in Seattle and later Milwaukee. Actually, he played TOO QUIET! These clubs were mere padding just to make the Boston-LA finals seem to not look “too obvious” and he didn’t do shit to make it otherwise for the Bucks.
82 George McGinnis: Here’s another player who traces his roots from the defunct ABA. As a member of the ABA’s Indiana Pacers, this 3-time NBA All-Star became a mythical team member, an All-Star, a scoring leader, a MVP and an owner of two ABA champ rings. As a member of the Sixers, he almost led the team to a crown in the 1977 Finals. But he also played his best years in the ABA. It also seemed that he a couple of trades made his rise to superstardom regress. The only team that gave him love was Indiana, which is why he returned to his stomping grounds a couple of years before his retirement.
81 Brad Daugherty: Under the tutelage of Dean Smith at NCAA’s North Carolina, Cleveland made him the team’s top pick in 1986. He was a consummate scorer and a hard-nosed defender. The 1-time All-NBA member and 5-time All-Star was not at all flashy… but his presence changed the then-luckless organization into an Eastern contender. Think of Big Dukie as the late 80’s version of Tim Duncan. However, recurrent back problems forced him to retire in just 8 seasons. He last played his NBA game at age 28 which is sad because prior to the injury he was averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds in 3 of his last four seasons. It seems like he was the perfect player to give the Cavs its first championship… which will now fall to the lap of LeBron.
Wow, writing 20 names is tough! How about the next 20? Catch the next installment to find out! You'll probably see a Keanu Reeves film, a giant, a crossover genius, a type of gun, a chief and RUN TMC! Until next time…
GAME OVER!
Tags: 100 best careers, BASKETBALL, blogs, hoops, jordan, nba, pinoy, SYD SALAZAR, SYDRIFIED, THE SYDMAN SHOW
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Sydney by-election, 2012
Sitting independent MP Clover Moore also serves as Lord Mayor of Sydney. The state Coalition government recently passed legislation prohibiting sitting MPs from running for Mayor or Council. Clover Moore has stated that she will resign from Parliament prior to the September council elections in order to run for a third term as Lord Mayor. Read the profile for the seat of Sydney at the 2011 state election.
Incumbent MP
Clover Moore, since 2007. Previously Member for Bligh 1988-2007.
Central Sydney. The seat of Sydney mainly covers parts of the City of Sydney, as well as parts of the neighbouring Woollahra and Randwick local government areas. It covers the Sydney CBD and the suburbs of Pyrmont, Ultimo, Surry Hills, Darlinghurst, Potts Point, Woolloomooloo, Paddington and Woollahra.
The current electoral district of Sydney was only created in 2007, replacing the abolished seat of Bligh.
The original Legislative Assembly had four members elected representing the City of Sydney. In 1859 the seat was split into the two districts of East Sydney and West Sydney. Each district elected four members, and were the most prestigious districts in the colony. Leading political figures would contest these seats, and if they failed to win them, they would then move on to another district, as elections were not all held on the same day.
The 1894 election was the first where all MLAs were elected in single-member districts. The former multi-member districts of South Sydney, East Sydney and West Sydney were broken up into ten districts, all of which had “Sydney” in their name, along with the name of a significant figure in early NSW (Bligh, Phillip, Cook, Gipps, Lang, Flinders, Fitzroy, Denison).
From 1904, the word “Sydney” was dropped, but there continued to be numerous seats in the area now covered by Sydney. The 1904 seats included Pyrmont, Darling Harbour, Surry Hills, Belmore, Darlinghurst, Paddington and King (which covered the CBD itself).
Throughout this period, most of these seats reliably elected Labor candidates. In 1920, the multi-member district of Sydney was created, covering a similar area as the current seat, stretching from Pyrmont/Ultimo to Paddington. The seat elected a majority of Labor MPs for all three elections, but it was abolished in 1927, being replaced by a number of inner-city seats.
By the 1970s, the area only included three seats. The seat of King covered the CBD and stretched west to cover Glebe and Newtown. The seat of Phillip stretched from Surry Hills to Rosebery. The seat of Bligh covered Paddington and Kings Cross.
The 1973 election reduced the number of seats to two. King was abolished, and Phillip moved up to cover Redfern, Glebe, Ultimo and the city centre.
For the 1981, election, Phillip was renamed Elizabeth, and Bligh shifted closer to the city centre. The new boundaries saw the ALP’s Fred Miller win Bligh. He only held it for one term, losing in 1984 to the Liberal Party’s Michael Yabsley.
In 1988, Yabsley was challenged in Bligh by City of Sydney councillor Clover Moore. She had been elected to South Sydney Council in 1980. The council was merged with the City of Sydney in 1981, and she was elected to the new council. Moore was the favourite to win the next Lord Mayoral election when the ALP state government sacked the City of Sydney council in 1987. She then decided to run for the seat of Bligh as an independent, and defeated the sitting member Yabsley.
Not long after the 1988 election, Liberal Member for Vaucluse Ray Aston died, and Yabsley won his seat at the following by-election. He immediately became a minister in the Coalition government. He moved to the backbench in 1992 and resigned in 1994.
Meanwhile, in 1988 the seat covering the CBD and western parts of the City of Sydney was again renamed as McKell. This seat, whatever the name, had been held by the ALP continuously for decades. The seat of Phillip had been won in 1954 by Lord Mayor of Sydney Pat Hills. He became a minister in 1959, and Deputy Premier in 1964. He served as Leader of the Opposition from 1968 until 1973, when he was succeeded by Neville Wran. When Phillip was renamed Elizabeth in 1981 he won the new seat, and retired in 1988.
The again-renamed seat of McKell was won by Sandra Nori, also of the ALP. In 1991, McKell was merged with Balmain to form the new seat of Port Jackson, which stretched from Leichhardt and Balmain to Potts Point and Woolloomooloo. Nori held the seat from 1991 until her retirement in 2007. She served as a minister from 1999 to 2007.
Clover Moore continued to win Bligh throughout the 1990s. In the 1991 parliament she was a number of independent MPs to support the Coalition government in minority. She won re-election in 1991, 1995, 1999 and 2003.
In 2004, the ALP state government merged the City of Sydney and the City of South Sydney together just before the local government elections, much as they had done 23 years earlier. The ALP expected that strong Labor-voting areas in South Sydney would allow Labor to gain control of Sydney Town Hall, and ran former federal minister Michael Lee. Clover Moore ran for Lord Mayor and won a solid victory, with a number of her supporters elected to the City of Sydney council. She won re-election in 2008.
The 2007 redistribution redrew the central Sydney electorates substantially. Port Jackson was split between the seat of Balmain, which covered everything west of Glebe, and the seat of Sydney. Sydney covers the city centre and much of Moore’s former seat of Bligh. Cr Moore moved to the new seat, and won re-election for a sixth term in the Legislative Assembly with relative ease.
At the 2011 election, the Liberal Party gained a substantial swing, increasing their primary vote by 14%. Clover Moore, Labor and the Greens also suffered swings. Labor fell from third place to fourth place on primary votes. Labor had come second after preferences in 2007, but the Liberal Party replaced them in that position in 2011. Clover Moore’s margin fell from 16.6% against Labor in 2007 to 3.1% against the Liberal Party in 2011.
Robyn Peebles (Christian Democratic Party)
Alex Greenwich (Independent)
Chris Harris (The Greens)
Shayne Mallard (Liberal)
Glenn Wall (Independent)
Political situation
Clover Moore previously dominated the seat of Sydney as an independent. Without her presence, there are two key questions: how much of her independent vote goes to her anointed successor Alex Greenwich, and how the rest of her vote breaks down party lines.
You can analyse what Sydney looks like without a strong independent by looking at the vote in the NSW upper house at the 2011 state election. The Legislative Council vote in Sydney was dominated by the Greens and the Liberal Party, while the ALP was far behind.
Alex Greenwich is a strong candidate. Clover Moore is actively supporting him with endorsements and he is running a well-resourced and prominent campaign. His marriage equality activism is well suited to a seat with a large gay population.
One poll in the electorate had Liberal candidate Shayne Mallard and Alex Greenwich tied on 31% with Chris Harris not far behind on 25%.
If the vote is split roughly evenly between the three serious candidates, the seat will likely go to Greenwich or the Greens. If the Liberals were to come in the top two in that scenario the other candidate in the top two would likely win with a solid preference flow.
If the Liberals are to win they will likely need to have a substantial lead on primary votes, however some preferences will exhaust so it won’t be necessary for the Liberal candidate to win a majority of the primary vote.
2011 result – Legislative Assembly
Clover Moore IND 16,909 36.3 -3.3
Adrian Bartels LIB 16,855 36.2 +14.6
De Brierley Newton GRN 5,961 12.8 -2.8
Sacha Blumen ALP 5,247 11.3 -8.7
Andrew Patterson IND 676 1.5 +1.5
Peter Madden CDP 508 1.1 +1.1
Victor Shen FP 464 1.0 +1.0
2011 two-candidate-preferred result
Clover Moore IND 20,651 53.1
Adrian Bartels LIB 18,220 46.9
2011 result – Legislative Council
Party Votes %
Liberal/National 20,449 44.0
Greens 13,289 28.6
Labor 7,771 16.7
John Hatton 1,084 2.3
No Parking Meters 878 1.9
Democrats 584 1.3
Pauline Hanson 467 1.0
Christian Democratic Party 418 0.9
Others 1,513 3.3
Booths in Sydney have been divided into four areas. Most booths lie in the east of the seat, around one of three suburbs: Surry Hills, Darlinghurst or Paddington. Booths have been divided into these three areas. The remainder of the seat, including the CBD, Pyrmont and Ultimo, has been grouped as “Sydney”.
Clover Moore won three of the areas, with the Liberal Party winning Paddington. In the Legislative Council, the Liberal Party won three of the areas, with the Greens winning Surry Hills.
Breaking the seat down geographically, the Liberal Party won the six booths in Woollahra Council as well as five booths in the City of Sydney, while Clover Moore won sixteen booths, all in the City. Moore’s vote peaks in Surry Hills and Darlinghurst.
When you look at the Legislative Council vote, the Liberal Party won all the same booths, as well as five that were won by Moore in the Legislative Assembly. The Greens won the remaining eleven booths, all of which were won by Moore in the lower house.
Polling booths in Sydney at the 2011 state election. Sydney in red, Darlinghurst in green, Surry Hills in blue, Paddington in yellow.
Voter group IND % LIB % GRN % ALP % Total votes % of votes
Sydney 36.1 35.5 11.0 12.9 10,703 23.0
Darlinghurst 38.0 34.0 14.8 10.1 9,116 19.6
Paddington 34.6 45.8 10.1 7.3 6,933 14.9
Surry Hills 46.6 24.6 13.8 11.4 5,803 12.4
Other votes 31.9 38.1 13.8 12.6 14,065 30.2
Primary votes for independent Clover Moore in Sydney at the 2011 state election.
Liberal primary votes in Sydney at the 2011 state election.
Greens primary votes in Sydney at the 2011 state election.
Labor primary votes in Sydney at the 2011 state election.
Polling booths in Sydney at the 2011 state election. Booths are coloured according to the party that won the vote in each booth in the Legislative Assembly: Clover Moore in yellow, Liberal in blue.
Polling booths in Sydney at the 2011 state election. Booths are coloured according to the party that won the vote in each booth in the Legislative Council: Greens in green, Liberal in blue.
Sam Bauers May 14, 2012 at 11:12 am
I’m no supporter of Clover Moore, but the way she has been thrown out makes my blood boil. I just hope the electorate sees this for what it is and thumps the Liberals for it.
Geoff Robinson May 14, 2012 at 12:29 pm
Was there a Vaucluse b/e in 1988? The last ALP MP for King was known for his links to organised crime.
Mick Quinlivan May 15, 2012 at 12:45 pm
yes I agree……. the voters should decide who represents them
I suspect the Sydney byelection will have voting similar to Balmain
the Greens, Clover Moore people and the ALP polled over 60% of the vote last time
surely they have Common ground against the libs and can exchange preferences to some
extent……. PUT the libs last
Taj May 24, 2012 at 10:38 am
I would fully expect Labor to contest this. They contested Clarence to protect the Federal member up there. Tanya Plibersek would get the same treatment. It’s worth noting that, like Clarence, Labor did a bare-bones campaign here in 2011, knowing they couldn’t win, but I would expect them to pump in some funds for a by-election and do substantially better, though the Libs would remain the clear favourite.
Kate Johnson June 16, 2012 at 1:11 pm
I think there is a real problem with a conflict of interest issue when both a council position and a state seat are occupied by the same person. If you take the opposite view then it is also logical to extend the theory to say that the same person should also have a federal seat! The only state still allowing this is tasmania – surely we should be leading the way in NSW, not being stuck in the past with little old tassie!
Mick Quinlivan July 12, 2012 at 11:29 am
Despite what is claimed this is a grubby exercise …… The get clover_ Moore bill
If there is any justice in the world the libs will not win this byelection
I think in a normal contest…… minus the approx 15% swing to the libs in the last state election
This would be held by the non liberal forces
GNav July 12, 2012 at 4:32 pm
Geoff Robinson asked a question about Vaucluse in 1988 (above). There was no actual by-election because Michael Yablsey was the only candidate who nominated. He was thus declared the member for Vaucluse as of the date of close of nominations. Hard to imagine something like that ever happening again.
Luke Weyland July 20, 2012 at 11:17 am
This city, this state and this nation needs a real alternative to the Lib/Lab duopoly.
I would be happy to see the seat either going green, or to a progressive independent.
david thompson October 8, 2012 at 4:57 pm
is there room for a true Independent – as so much of Politics is sinking and creating real disinterest
quite true – The City The State And the Nation needs a real alternative !
an a progressive Independent is more than food for thought! who will join the list of 15 signatures required ? and who would like to be agent? dt
Glenn Wall October 18, 2012 at 4:40 pm
I am also running in this election but it seem only the three who jumped the gun are getting any air! Please be aware Glenn Wall of Pyrmont is also running a true Independent. I have lived and worked in this City for 3 decades and am across all issues be they “The White paper” for development part 3a by another name. Public housing maintance or lack of it, Police violence and thuggery, Sale of Ultimo school and lack of places for children in our City schools, open space and sports fields, Youth culture, Night culture and problems. I have worked in Hospitals and Hotels with the wider communities of Sydney on many objections to over development the on going one is Barranagaroo were we forced the state and the developers to de-toxic the site. This has taken more then a year to de-toxic it. Any way Vote 1 VOTE GLENN WALL a true Independent.
Shockadelic October 27, 2012 at 6:12 pm
The Get Clover Bill? The legislative changes effected *28* members of parliament. The only reason we aren’t having 28 by-elections today is that all the others resigned from their local councils.
Clover is the one who forced this waste of time and money. She could have completed her term in parliament like the other 27 members.
She chose to flatter her ego one moore time instead.
SHE chose to nominate for the council elections. Nobody forced her to do that.
Two of the prominent candidates here (Chris Harris, Shayne Mallard) were also on the same council. They CHOSE to focus on winning a seat in parliament instead.
Clover knew she couldn’t have both, but still went ahead with the local election anyway.
She deserves contempt, not sympathy.
Ben Raue October 28, 2012 at 8:15 am
Don’t be ridiculous. Only two of those 28 had run for another term on council since they won their seat in Parliament. All of the party members (Labor, Liberal, Greens and CDP) were planning on retiring from council.
It was clearly aimed at Clover who had done both jobs over an extended period.
Also she was given no notice this was going to happen at the last election – so how could she have chosen to stay on council and give up Parliament without a by-election?
She had notice that she couldn’t be on council and in parliament when the local elections were held. That was only a few weeks ago!
She could have simply NOT nominated herself and continued in parliament.
27 other members held dual positions at the time the change OCCURRED.
They all chose to either resign or NOT NOMINATE themselves for council re-election. Clover could have done the same. She didn’t.
She, and only she, is responsible for the cost of this by-election. She should have to fork out the money herself.
Ben Raue October 28, 2012 at 3:52 pm
That only makes sense if you assume that everyone wants to be an MP instead of a councillor. When she was elected to Parliament she was allowed to hold both jobs.
She wasn’t given an opportunity to choose to just be a councillor/mayor and not be an MP. Your theory only works if there’s no reason why she would have wanted to remain Lord Mayor of Sydney. Clearly she wanted to, and clearly the voters of Sydney did (considering they easily voted her back in). It’s totally reasonable that she would choose to continue.
The O’Farrell government completely changed the rules and didn’t give anyone an opportunity to finish their term in Parliament and continue on Council.
Compare Clover Moore to the other 27. She wanted to continue on council, they all wanted to continue in Parliament. O’Farrell didn’t force them to resign from council, he gave them until the election to retire in order to give them time to finish their term and not trigger a by-election. He didn’t give that same courtesy to Moore to finish her term in Parliament and then continue as Lord Mayor.
His law was grossly undemocratic. Moore hasn’t misled anyone that she would only do one of these two jobs, nor has she promised to retire from one and then backed down on that. At every step in the process she has been honest with the voters and the voters have voted her back in. They elected her Lord Mayor in 2004 and re-elected her in 2008 and 2012, and re-elected her to Sydney in 2007 and 2011. That’s five times she was elected to public office with a majority of the 2CP vote since she announced that she planned to do both jobs simultaneously. Her endorsed candidate has now won an even bigger victory, indicating that the voters of Sydney rejected O’Farrell’s law blocking Clover from being their local MP.
Since all local councils are elected at the same time, the other 27 MPs had the same notice as Clover regarding these changes.
I’m sure many of them would have preferred to continue in dual roles too.
The change brought NSW in line with other states and probably most jurisdictions in the democratic world.
For the same person to serve the same population at multiple levels of government creates the potential for conflicts of interest and lack of accountability. If people object to the mayor’s decisions, they can’t voice their concerns to the MP, or vice versa, because it’s the SAME PERSON!
There is also a prohibition on state MPs being federal MPs. Was this “oppressing” Clover, too? Maybe she wanted to be federal MP too all these years, but the rules say you can’t, so tough!
Most politicians when given the choice between a higher and lower level of government choose the higher. The other 27 MPs did. So did two candidates in this by-election. Clover could have done the same. Nobody “forced” her to do anything.
david thompson October 29, 2012 at 5:32 pm
Sadly all these politocs are questionable re their real honest intentions !
Instead of much limited money/resources being wasted on such campaigns , we only end up with more misfits ! & questinable intentions ?
City Of Sydney, should have been able to secure a more worthwhile
& sincere candidate – instead they are all posing to their own pathetic agenda!
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Government submits estimates to donor countries
[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 January 2005, 14:46 GMT]
Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) has submitted a special report to donor countries outlining plans and estimates for tsunami relief work. The report's estimated total for tsunami relief work is Rs. 1.5 billion. Report was prepared by the Department of National Planning within the ministry of Finance and Planning.
"Information has been disclosed in the report with a view to obtaining aid at Ministry level" official sources said.
"Largest amount of aid has been requested for construction of houses and new towns. The estimated cost for this is around US$ 400 million. The government hopes to construct 12 large towns, 20 medium-sized towns and 30 small towns through the Urban Development ministry. Among other plans are playgrounds and office complexes."
"The proposal also allocates US$75 million for the Education ministry headed by ministry secretary Dr. Tara de Mel. The government has asked donor countries for US$80 million for housing complexes to be built by the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources ministry for the fishing folks. The objective is to construct 110,000 houses for 400,000 fishing families."
"Report also sets out a plan to start the Inginiyagala Hydropower project under the Energy Ministry to supply electricity to tsunami-affected areas in the East. The amount requested for the Post and Telecommunication ministry and Upcountry Development ministry is US$30 million. This plans to provide 120,000 new wireless telephone connections for the Hampanthodda, Matara, Galle, Kaluthra, Colombo, Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Ampara, Mullaithivu, Jaffna, Chilaw, Negombo and Panadura areas" official sources added
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Your Commute: Roadwork Wednesday through Nov. 13
The following are scheduled road closures and roadwork for Monterey County commuters, subject to change.
Willow Creek Bridge, 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday: North- and southbound No. 1 one-way traffic control for bridge work.
Prewitt Creek Bridge, 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday: North- and southbound No. 1 one-way traffic control for bridge work.
Mill Creek Bridge, 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday: North- and southbound No. 1 one-way traffic control for bridge work.
Burns Creek Bridge, 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday: North- and southbound No. 1 one-way traffic control for bridge work.
Fullers Point to Lime Creek Bridge, 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. through Friday: North- and southbound No. 1 one-way traffic control for bridge work.
Castro Canyon Bridge, 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday: North- and southbound No. 1 one-way traffic control for bridge work.
Pt. Sur Naval Facility to Garrapata Creek Bridge, 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. through Friday: North- and southbound No. 1 one-way traffic control for drainage cleaning.
Southbound Highway 68, 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. Wednesday evening to Thursday morning: Southbound all connector lanes full closure for K-rail installation.
Olmsted Road to Josselyn Canyon Road, 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. through Friday morning: East- and westbound No. 1 one-way traffic control for utility work.
Foster Road to Stephanie Drive, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday: Westbound No. 2 lane closure for roadway excavation.
Hitchcock Road, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday: Westbound full closure for roadway excavation.
Westbound Highway 1 (west) to northbound Highway 1 and Westbound Highway 1 to northbound Highway 1, 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. Wednesday through Friday morning: Full connector closure for K-rail installation.
Central Avenue to Hobson Avenue, 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. through Friday: Southbound No. 2 lane closures for tree removal.
Elm Avenue Overcrossing, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday and Friday: No. 1 one-way traffic control for bridge work.
Walnut Avenue Overcrossing, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday and Friday: No. 1 one-way traffic control for bridge work.
North Greenfield Overcrossing, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday and Friday: No. 1 one-way traffic control for bridge work.
South Gonzales Overcrossing, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday and Friday: No. 1 one-way traffic control for bridge work.
North Gonzales Overcrossing, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday and Friday: No. 1 one-way traffic control for bridge work.
Arroyo Seco Road to Highway 146, 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. Thursday to Friday morning: Northbound No. 1, No. 2 moving lane closures for bridge work.
Jolon Road (King City), 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. Thursday to Friday morning: Southbound No. 1, No. 2 moving lane closures for bridge work.
Highway 146 to Arroyo Seco Road, 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. Thursday to Friday morning: Southbound No. 1, No. 2 moving lane closures for bridge work.
Spence Road/Abbott Street, 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. Thursday to Friday morning: Southbound No. 1, No. 2 moving lane closures for bridge work.
Sanborn Road, 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. Thursday to Friday morning: Southbound No. 1, No. 2 moving lane closures for bridge work.
Alisal Road, 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. Thursday to Friday morning: Southbound No. 1, No. 2 moving lane closures for bridge work.
Pine Valley Road to Fresno County Line, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. through Friday: East- and westbound No. 1 lane closures for slide removal.
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Home News Peterson And Heron W...
Peterson And Heron Win Gold And Silver In Open Water Swimming
By USA Swimming | July 12, 2015, 10:11 p.m. (ET)
David Heron (L) and Chip Peterson (R) of the stand with their silver and gold medals after the men's 10-kilometer open water swimming race at the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games on July 12, 2015 in Toronto.
TORONTO – Chip Peterson (Pine Knoll Shores, N.C.) and David Heron (Mission Viejo, Calif.) gave Team USA a sweep of the gold and silver medals in the Pan American Games men’s 10-kilometer open water race Sunday at Ontario Place West Channel.
After making the final turn, Peterson pulled away from the rest of the leaders to touch in 1 hour, 54 minutes, 3.6 seconds to claim the gold, with Heron finishing in 1:54:07.4 to earn the silver. Ecuador’s Esteban Enderica Salgado rounded out the podium in 1:54:09.2.
“I felt like there was a little bit of pressure coming in, and I’m really, really pleased with that result,” said Peterson, who topped the podium today after winning Pan American Games silver in 2007.
Peterson and Heron established themselves among the leaders from the start and swam in the top four throughout the race. As the lead group approached the end of lap four, Peterson and Canada’s Richard Weinberger began to push the pace and stretch out the lead group. With two laps, just over 3 kilometers, to go the top 12 swimmers were within 30 seconds of one another.
Over the fifth lap, the four leaders made a move, putting a 6 second gap on the rest of the field. After rounding the final buoy, Peterson and Weinberger pulled in front with Heron and Enderica Salgado swimming side-by-side on their heels.
“It was a very, very steady race. It was strong through the first five laps, and I wanted to be able to move on that last lap,” Peterson said. “I had Richard right on my feet coming around the last turn. I saw him there and knew that it could come down to a tight finish over the last 200 meters.”
Peterson made his move and had at least a body-length lead as he entered the finish chute to secure the gold. Heron sprinted to the finish to touch for silver.
Heron said his aim was to save enough in the tank to sprint the last 300 meters. “I managed to do that and pass Richard,” he said. “I couldn’t see the last 500 because my goggle got knocked off, so I was a little worried but it worked fine.”
Eva Fabian (Keene, N.H.) won the women’s gold medal Saturday to give the U.S. a sweep of the Pan Am Games open water events for the first time since 2007.
Eva Fabian Wins Open Water Gold By A Nail
Led By Flag Bearer Kim Rhode, Team USA Readies For Competition In Toronto
Team USA Swimmers Aim To Make A Splash At Pan American Games
Team USA Athletes Share Words Of Wisdom From Their Dads
Meet Simone Manuel, The Swimmer Missy Franklin Calls Fearless
David Heron
Chip Peterson
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Huawei's MateBook X Pro now available in the US for just $1,200
Back at Mobile World Congress, Huawei unveiled the follow-up to its 2017 MateBook X, the MateBook X Pro. The laptop has received some excellent reviews since then. Now, it's finally available in the US, and for less than what was expected.
The MateBook X Pro ups the screen size of last year’s model to 13.9 inches. The LTPS ten-point touchscreen features a 3000 x 2000 resolution and, thanks to its super-slim bezels, has a 91 percent display-to-chassis ratio.
One of the laptop’s most unusual features comes as a result of those bezels. Their thinness meant Huawei couldn't place a webcam in the traditional spot above the screen; instead, it’s hidden on the keyboard. A special key pops up to reveal a front-facing lens when pressed. Great for those worried about privacy, though there are questions over how well it works given the shallow angle.
The base configuration consists of an 8th gen Intel Core i5-8250U, 8 GB of LPDDR3 memory, a GeForce MX150 card with 2 GB of DDR5 memory, and a 256 GB NVMe SSD. It was thought that this entry level model would cost around $1850, but it’s on sale for $1199.
For those wanting more space and power, paying an extra $300 will get you the model with a Core i7-8550U, 16 GB of RAM, and a 512 GB SSD.
The MateBook X Pro also features a fingerprint scanner integrated into the power button, two USB-C ports (one with Thunderbolt 3), one USB-A port, and a 57.4 Wh battery that manages 12 hours of video playback.
If you’re thinking of buying a MateBook X Pro, Newegg is giving away a $150 gift card with both versions of the laptop. It’s a limited offer, so you better move fast.
https://www.techspot.com/news/74760-huawei-matebook-x-pro-now-available-us-1200.html
Last edited by a moderator: May 24, 2018
VitalyT
Did ozzies come up with the name? LOL.
iamcts
DDR3 RAM? What year is it?
iamcts said:
its for power efficiency
shadowangel replied
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Audials Radio App – Music and More for iOS Devices
Want the best of music on your Apple iPhone or iPad? Try out Audials Radio App
There are several different available apps on which to stream media. You have Netflix for videos. You have Spotify for music. Even baseball, football, and hockey have their own streaming apps, allowing their fans to experience their content with only an Internet connection. Streaming is the future for users who want to access any type of content without the need of downloading or purchasing movies and music.
One of the premium apps to listen to music is the Audials Radio iOS app. This app allows its users to access up to 80,000 different radio stations via online streaming. Though primarily focusing on radio stations located in the United Kingdom, the app allows users to access radio broadcasts from around the globe. All you need to do is access the radio menu and choose from the available broadcasts.
Furthermore, if you don’t want to access radio stations, you can access individual songs from several artists or genres. This allows users to discover new stations that feature the searched music styles. And, if you find something you like, you can store the music on any cloud service and then access it in offline mode. It’s the perfect app for any user whose life is surrounded by music.
Additionally, the Audials Radio app allows the user to streamline content on AirPlay devices. This is one of the top selling features as it allows the app to sync with speakers, giving you the ultimate radio experience from your phone. No longer do you need to listen to the same local radio shows. With the car mode, you can now start your car, open the app and you’re set to listen to a vast variety of radio stations.
Or maybe you don’t want to listen to music? No problem, Audials Radio has got you covered. Music is not the only available feature. You can access talk show radios or even podcasts that you can store on your device and then play at a later opportunity.
Unlike Spotify and other music apps, Audials Radio is free of unwanted ads. There are no banners on the app and no breaks between songs that force you to listen to ads before resuming your playlist. Audials will allow you to listen to your music non-stop, only taking a break when the radio station cuts to commercials.
Another interesting feature is that you can configure your radio stations like playlists. Suppose you want to listen to one radio station and then another and a third one. You can set the app to automatically jump from one station to the other at any desired moment.
It’s the perfect streaming app for music. Not only does it feature global radio stations and music, but also talk shows and podcasts that range from news to sports shows to comedic events. If you’re a fan of online streaming – especially music streaming –, this app is a must have on your phone. Hurry and enjoy world radio broadcasts.
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Over half of voters are in favour of repealing the Eighth Amendment and abortion up to 12 weeks
56% of voters said they would vote in favour of changing the Constitution.
By Hayley Halpin Friday 26 Jan 2018, 7:42 AM
Jan 26th 2018, 7:42 AM 18,793 Views 352 Comments
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Image: Leah Farrell via Rolling News
A MAJORITY OF voters say they will back the repeal of the Eighth Amendment and support the introduction of abortion on request up to 12 weeks into a pregnancy, according to the latest Irish Times/MRBI opinion poll.
The latest poll shows that the repeal side has an almost two to one lead over those who wish to keep the Eighth.
Poll respondents were informed that it was likely the government would seek to legislate for abortion to be available on request up to 12 weeks and that in order to legislate for this, the Eighth Amendment needed to be changed in a referendum.
They were also asked: “Will you vote to change the Constitution so that the government can legislate for abortion up to 12 weeks, or will you vote not to change the Constitution?”
56% of voters said they would vote in favour of changing the Constitution, while 29% said they were not in favour. 15% said they did not know or had no opinion on the matter.
Once undecided voters were excluded from the results, 65% were in favour of repeal and abortion being permitted up to 12 weeks, and 35% were not in favour.
Among political parties, support for abortion up to 12 weeks is lowest among Fianna Fáil supports, however, 49% of the party’s declared voters were still in favour.
With regard to all voters, support for repeal and legislation up to 12 weeks is strongest in Dublin (64%), among women (58%), among urban voters (60%) and among younger voters.
Voters were asked if their view on abortion being more widely available had changed in the last year. 19% said they were now more open to the idea. Just 3% said they were less open to wider availability of abortion.
Voters were then asked why they had changed their opinion over the last 12 months, they cited influences such as thinking a woman should have the right to choose (12%), the news media (12%), having become more informed (8%), that they were “considering it under circumstances such as rape and fatal foetal abnormality” (22%), the availability of abortion pills/women going to England (3%), and personal experience of that of a friend or relative.
Read: ‘It breaks my heart that my daughter might think she only exists because terminations were forbidden’
More: Varadkar says Ireland’s abortion laws are ‘too restrictive and need to be reformed’
Hayley Halpin
@HayleyHalpin1
hayley@thejournal.ie
See more articles by Hayley Halpin
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Academy 6 v 2 Grimsby Town - Report
Millers record win over Mariners...
A successful Saturday in the Millers’ calendar concluded as the first team recorded victory over Birmingham City at St. Andrew’s following an impressive first triumph of the season for the club’s Academy who prevailed as 6-2 winners over Grimsby Town in the morning.
Garreth Barker’s young Millers side set the tone for a jubilant weekend for the club as they came from behind to record a comfortable victory over the Mariners with goals from Kuda Muskwe, Adam Johnson, Fabian Bailey and Brandon Potts ensuring they took maximum points for the first time this season.
“It’s terrific when the first team win but it’s equally as good when we can say we’ve played well." Barker told www.themillers.co.uk.
“We’ve had an indifferent start to the season and the boys know that but its youth team football. At the weekend I thought that we played very well. It’s been a very business-like week and there’s been a lot of talking about areas in which we could improve and work done with individual players.”
The Millers fell behind but were buoyed by the deficit and levelled through Kuda Muskwe who combined with Darnelle Bailey-King in a move Barker says they have practiced on the training ground.
“We went 1-0 down but they responded positively to that. There was plenty of encouragement and they were still trying to work the right way.
“Our equaliser came from some excellent work from Darnelle Bailey-King wide on the right where he beat two players and delivered a fantastic ball which Kuda got on the end of. He doesn’t score many from headers considering how tall he is but it was something we’ve been working on and it was a great header.”
The Millers profited from some more good work on the wing which saw them double their tally when a move crafted by Adam Johnson provided Muskwe with his second of the morning.
“The second goal was really pleasing because it was great work from Adam Johnson in the left hand channel which saw him deliver a great cross which Kuda rose two or three feet off the floor to volley in.”
Goals from Johnson, Bailey and Potts followed to ensure there was no coming back for Grimsby Town but Barker admitted that he was disappointed to see his side concede a second goal but insisted his side could have won by a bigger margin on another day.
“It finished 6-2. We were a bit disappointed to concede the second goal which came about as a result of a breakdown in communication but in reality we could have had a couple more ourselves as well."
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Browsing: DEEPWATER HORIZON
2 - FILM NEWS
2017 BAFTA Awards: The Complete List of Winners
The BAFTA Awards — which are essentially the across-the-pond-Oscars — were handed out this weekend and, to no surprise, Damien Chazelle’s musical La La Land cleaned up by picking up five trophies including Best Film, Best Actress, and Best Director.
5 - AWARDS & FESTIVALS NEWS
The Complete List of 2017 Annie Awards Winners
At the 44th Annual Annie Awards this weekend, presented at UCLA’s Royce Hall, the Disney animated film Zootopia took home the top prize, further cementing its lead to win the Oscar for Best Animated Feature.
1 - BREAKING NEWS
2017 Oscar Nominations – The Complete List, Led by “La La Land”
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the nominees for the 89th Academy Awards. Lionsgate’s musical “La La Land” led the pack with a record-tying 14 Oscar nominations, including two for Best Song.
4 - INDUSTRY NEWS
The Complete List of Winners from the People’s Choice Awards
While the debate continues over whether or not Deadpool will receive any Oscar love, The People’s Choice Awards is happy to show the actioner the love, as the film picked up wins for Favorite Action Movie and Favorite Movie Actor.
The Complete List of 2017 BAFTA Awards Nominations
Right after taking home a record number of Golden Globes, Damien Chazelle’s La La Land once more came out on top with an astonishing 11 nominations for the BAFTAs. The British Academy also gave recognition to films from their own country, namely the Cannes-winner I, Daniel Blake.
The Complete List of 2017 People’s Choice Awards Nominations
As we head into a season of indie films and critical darlings fighting for a few awards season nominations, the 2017 People’s Choice Awards has released their list of nominees, celebrating the big hits that gained pop culture notoriety over the past year.
Deepwater Horizon Film Review: Mark Wahlberg Real-Life Disaster Pic Could’ve Had a Bigger Impact
Peter Berg’s Deepwater Horizon easily entertains, with the likeable presence of Mark Wahlberg, some lean and mean plotting, and of course, that big fiery wreck at the center of it all. Yet, there’s a nagging feeling that the disaster film, based on a true story, could have been a movie with more to say.
The Complete List Of Winners From The Teen Choice Awards
This weekend Fox aired the 18th annual Teen Choice Awards, hosted by John Cena and Victoria Justice. The big winners of the night were actor Dylan O’Brien and recently rebranded Freeform network.
Deepwater Horizon – Teaser Trailer (Dylan O’Brian, Mark Wahlberg, Kate Hudson)
A story set on the offshore drilling rid Deepwater Horizon, which exploded during April 2010 and crated the worst oil spill in U.S. history.
Kate Hudson and Kurt Russell Join Mark Wahlberg In “Deepwater Horizon”
They will join Mark Wahlberg, Gina Rodriguez, Dylan O’Brien and John Malkovich in the story following the BP oil rig spill that killed eleven people in 2010, becoming the largest offshore oil spill in the history of the United States.
John Malkovich Sinks Into “Deepwater Horizon” With Mark Wahlberg
The “Red” star joins Mark Wahlber and Gina Rodriguez in the true story following the BP oil spill.
“Teen Wolf” Star Dylan O’Brien In Talks For “Deepwater Horizon” With Mark Wahlberg
The “Maze Runner” star is in talks to join Wahlberg and Gina Rodriguez in the upcoming drama.
Gina Rodriguez Dives Into “Deepwater Horizon” With Mark Wahlberg
The “Jane The Virgin” is set to hit the big screen, opposite Mark Wahlberg.
Summit Entertainment In Talks With Peter Berg To Helm “Deepwater Horizon”
The “Lone Survivor” direct is the top choice to helm the drama.
Mark Wahlberg Is Bound for Lionsgate’s “Deepwater Horizon”
Wahlberg is in talks to star in the true story of an oil rig disaster.
J.C. Chandor Steps Aboard “Deepwater Horizon”
The “All Is Lost” director may helm big screen adaptation of The New York Times article.
Ric Roman Waugh Plans “Deepwater Horizons”
Director in talks for oil rig flick!
DEEP WATER HORIZON (SALES)
Logline: Kept under wraps.
DEEPWATER HORIZON (SALES)
Logline: Story centers on the courage of the men who worked on the “Deepwater Horizon” oil rig and the final minutes they fought to save the rig, and stop the explosion that would take eleven men’s lives, and cause the largest oil spill in the world.
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Home Calendar Holidays Spain San Antonio
San Antonio in Spain
When Is San Antonio 2021 in Ceuta?
13Jun2021Sun, Jun 13, 2021 Add to calendar
Sun, Jun 13, 2021Ceuta
Mon, Jun 13, 2022Ceuta
Sat, Jun 13, 2020Ceuta
The Day of Saint Anthony of Padua (Romería de San Antonio) commemorates St Anthony's death on June 13, 1231. It is a public holiday in the city of Ceuta on June 13. This saint was venerated in Ceuta, which was a Portuguese colony in 1415.
Is San Antonio a Public Holiday?
A statue of St Anthony with child Jesus.
©iStockphoto.com/Lakelady
Many Christians attend special church services to celebrate the life of St Anthony of Padua. His statue is then taken is paraded through the streets of Ceuta. Many people follow in a parade behind it. Some also hold communal meals later in the day. These often feature wine and paella (meat, fish and shellfish with rice and saffron) cooked in pans that are about four meters (12 feet) in diameter.
Many people, particularly in France, Portugal, Spain and Italy, believe that Saint Anthony of Padua will help them find a romantic partner or spouse. For this reason, single young people may pray at his altar or spend some time sitting on the steps of his altar in Ceuta on June 13.
June 13 is a public holiday in the city of Ceuta. Public life is generally quiet and many businesses and other organizations are closed. Many stores are closed but some bakers and food stores may be open. Public transport services may run to a reduced schedule. The Day of Saint Anthony of Padua is not a public holiday in the rest of Spain on June 13.
St Anthony was born in Lisbon, Portugal, on August 15, 1195 CE. He joined the Augustinian Abbey of St Vincent, near Lisbon and later played an important role in this monastery. He joined a Franciscan order in 1220 CE and later travelled to France, Italy and Portugal.
He died on June 13, 1231 CE, and was canonized on May 30, 1232 CE. He is venerated as St Anthony of Padua and St Anthony of Lisbon. The Day of Saint Anthony of Padua is also a municipal holiday in Lisbon, Portugal, where it is marked by parades and is a popular date for marriage ceremonies.
Images and artwork of St Anthony of Padua often depict him with an infant Jesus in his arms, a lily, a book and bread. There is a hermitage dedicated to him in Ceuta. Inside is a statue depicting him as a Franciscan monk holding an infant Jesus. The area at his feet is often decorated with fresh, white lilies.
San Antonio Observances
Mon Jun 13 San Antonio Autonomous Community Holiday Ceuta
Tue Jun 13 San Antonio Autonomous Community Holiday Ceuta
Wed Jun 13 San Antonio Autonomous Community Holiday Ceuta
Thu Jun 13 San Antonio Autonomous Community Holiday Ceuta
Sat Jun 13 San Antonio Observance Ceuta
Sun Jun 13 San Antonio Autonomous Community Holiday Ceuta
Fri Jun 13 San Antonio Autonomous Community Holiday Ceuta
Sat Jun 13 San Antonio Autonomous Community Holiday Ceuta
Other Holidays in June 2021 in Spain
Jun 3, Corpus Christi
Jun 9, Day of Murcia
Jun 24, Saint John the Baptist Day
United Nation Holiday on June 13, 2021
International Albinism Awareness Day
Fun Holiday on June 13, 2021
Sewing Machine Day
Celebrate the humble sewing machine on this special holiday. More
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Roy Horn of Siegfried & Roy dies from coronavirus at 75
LAS VEGAS — Roy Horn of Siegfried & Roy, the duo whose extraordinary magic tricks astonished millions until Horn was critically injured in 2003 by one of the act's famed white tigers, has died. He was 75.
Horn died of complications from the coronavirus on Friday in a Las Vegas hospital, according to a statement released by publicist Dave Kirvin.
"Today, the world has lost one of the greats of magic, but I have lost my best friend," Siegfried Fischbacher said in the statement. "From the moment we met, I knew Roy and I, together, would change the world. There could be no Siegfried without Roy, and no Roy without Siegfried."
He was injured in October 2003 when a tiger named Montecore attacked him on stage at the Mirage hotel-casino in Las Vegas. He had severe neck injuries, lost a lot of blood and later suffered a stroke. He underwent lengthy rehabilitation, but the attack ended the long-running Las Vegas Strip production.
The darker-haired of the flashy duo, Horn was credited with the idea of introducing an exotic animal — his pet cheetah — to the magic act.
"Roy was a fighter his whole life including during these final days," Fischbacher said. "I give my heartfelt appreciation to the team of doctors, nurses and staff at Mountain View Hospital who worked heroically against this insidious virus that ultimately took Roy's life."
The two became an institution in Las Vegas, where their magic and artistry consistently attracted sellout crowds. The pair performed six shows a week, 44 weeks per year.
They returned to the stage in February 2009 for what was billed as their one and only comeback performance, to raise funds for the new Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas. The brief performance, which included Montecore, became the basis of an episode of the ABC television show "20/20."
Horn and Siegfried Fischbacher, both natives of Germany, had first teamed up in 1957 and made their Las Vegas debut a decade later. Siegfried & Roy began performing at the Mirage in 1990.
When they signed a lifetime contract with the Mirage in 2001, it was estimated they had performed 5,000 shows at the casino for 10 million fans since 1990 and had grossed more than $1 billion. That came on top of thousands of shows at other venues in earlier years.
"Throughout the history of Las Vegas, no artists have meant more to the development of Las Vegas' global reputation as the entertainment capital of the world than Siegfried and Roy," Terry Lanni, chairman of MGM Mirage, the casino's parent company, said after the attack.
The pair gained international recognition for helping to save rare white tigers and white lions from extinction. Their $10 million compound was home to dozens of rare animals over the years. The white lions and white tigers were the result of a preservation program that began in the 1980s.
"The good news is that the white tigers and white lions are going into the 21st century," Horn said in a 1999 interview with The Associated Press. "The bad news is that if we don't do something about the tigers in the wild, they will disappear."
Siegfried & Roy's show, incorporating animal antics and magic tricks, included about 20 white tigers and lions, the number varying depending on the night. The show also had other exotic animals, including an elephant.
"Their show is so fast-paced the viewer has time only to gasp before the next dazzlement," an Associated Press reviewer wrote in 1989 when they brought their act to New York.
"A white car drives on stage — as Liberace used to do — bringing a mother white tiger and three cubs. Roy rides an elephant, which disappears, then reappears. At the end, a 650-pound white tiger climbs atop a globe. With Roy on his back, they're pulled into the air."
"It's a Las Vegas show and it's nonstop entertainment. New Yorkers aren't too sophisticated for this."
A later spectacular developed for the Mirage opened with a flashy "Star Wars" scenario and Horn and Fischbacher arriving in their own mini space capsules. Another segment had Horn sitting atop a 30-foot (9.1-meter) pyramid that was "destroyed" by an explosion and fire, leaving him levitated high above the stage.
It was halfway during a performance Oct. 3, 2003, when Horn was alone on stage with the tiger that it suddenly lunged at him.
Horn, who had turned 59 that day, had never been injured during a show before, "not a scratch, not by an animal," Bernie Yuman, the pair's longtime manager, said at the time.
He said he thought Montecore, a 7-year-old male, got distracted by something in the audience and Horn was trying to calm him. Horn himself said later that he fainted and the tiger was trying to help him by dragging him offstage, though animal experts disputed that possibility.
An investigation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture explored a variety of theories but was unable to reach a conclusion on what caused the tiger to attack. In its final report, the USDA also said the show's producers had failed to protect the audience because there was no barrier separating the exotic animals from the crowd.
In October 2006, three years after the attack, Horn and Fischbacher attended their induction into the Las Vegas Walk of Stars. Horn's speech was sluggish at times and he walked a bit slow, but he called the event "a deeply emotional experience."
Born in Nordenham, Germany, Horn met Fischbacher on a cruise ship in 1957. Fischbacher performed the magic tricks, while Horn became his assistant, eventually suggesting using the cheetah in the act.
They honed their animal-magic show in small clubs in Germany and Switzerland in the mid-1960s. Their break came in a Monte Carlo casino when an agent in the audience invited them to Las Vegas. The pair made their debut at the Tropicana hotel-casino in the late 1960s.
The illusionists became popular in the 1970s, receiving their first star billing in 1978 as headliners of the Stardust's "Lido de Paris." Their show "Beyond Belief" opened in 1981 at the Frontier and played to thousands over seven years.
When Horn and Fischbacher became U.S. citizens in 1988, an elated Horn said, "Being an American means all the things we believe in."
Horn once hand-fed a white lion cub born prematurely, starting with an eyedropper. But when a cub was donated to a zoo, Horn said he was heartbroken.
"When you love something, the hardest thing is to let it go," he said. "But this is what Siegfried and Roy do. We live our dreams, and we fulfill our destiny."
Funeral services will be private, with an expected public memorial.
http://www.siegfriedandroy.com
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Prosecutor’s office investigates theft
By Staff | Apr 23, 2014
After last week’s allegations that a water system at the Sistersville Sewer Plant was dismantled and stolen, piece by piece, new information has come to light.
The allegations by City Commissioner Daniel Grimes and the corresponding story in last week’s Tyler Star News prompted Tyler County Prosecutor Luke Furbee and Investigator David Kelly to look into the matter.
Furbee said his office had never received any such complaint and the allegations recited in the article first came to the attention of his office with the publication of the article in the April 16 Tyler Star News.
The article quoted Sistersville Police Chief Ben Placer to say, “That employee was arrested and charged. He served some jail time for it.”
He elaborated that the former employee spent five days in jail.
Furbee disputed that comment, saying on Oct. 30, 2012, Michael A. Southerly pleaded guilty to misdemeanor embezzlement and was sentenced to five days in the North Central Regional Jail. The charge was based on a complaint filed by Chief Placer alleging that Southerly, a former employee of the City of Sistersville (as waste management operator), had converted to his own use a computer system. The system was located at Southerly’s residence and was recovered by Chief Placer, according to Furbee.
After the article was published Chief Placer agreed that the time served was not for an alleged theft of the water system, which would reportedly cost about $15,000 to replace. It was for the computer theft.
Placer said confusion at the meeting didn’t allow him to fully explain the matter.
Upon further examination, Placer said former City Commissioner Vance Ash said the water system at question never worked correctly. Former City Manager David Bassett had tried to make it usable and former Water Board Member Allan Maxwell designed a new system but it never came to be. Both of those men are now deceased.
Southerly was reportedly told to scrap the system and the money was put in a “slush” fund for employee needs.
However, this is reportedly part of a current investigation into the city’s finances as any gain from the system should have gone back into the general fund, which paid for it in the first place.
“Mike (Southerly) had no financial gain,” said Placer. “He was just doing what he was told. There were no accusations of wrongdoing.”
“This office is already supervising open investigations regarding certain aspects of the governance of the City of Sistersville,” said Furbee in a written statement on April 16.
“Those investigations are being conducted by the West Virginia State Police. Those investigations remain active and this office will have no further comment on them at this time.”
Sistersville City Council Meets
Sistersville City Council held their regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, January 11, 2021 at 7 PM. Due to ...
Western Mule Riders
Sistersville Police Chief Releases December Activity Report
Sistersville police kept busy during the month of December answering 96 calls, including 26 traffic stops, which ...
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Emily Writes: OnlyFans is for sex workers, not attention-hungry celebrities
Emily Writes | Parents Editor
What is OnlyFans and why are sex workers upset about celebrities using it?
I heard about OnlyFans at the beginning of the year when friends who were sex workers started using the platform during the first Covid-19 lockdown. Back in March, few people outside of sex workers and their supporters understood or used the platform. That has changed significantly in just a few months.
This week alone I’ve seen dozens of women say they’re joining up as creators. Some of this might be attributed to lockdown boredom, but a significant part will be due to former Disney star Bella Thorne last week earning more than US$1 million in a mere 24 hours on the platform.
Even before Thorne joined the site, OnlyFans was starting to explode. In May, CEO Tim Stokely told BuzzFeed the site had around 200,000 new users every 24 hours and 7,000 to 8,000 new creators joining every day.
OnlyFans is a not-safe-for-work content subscription service. It’s like Patreon with nudes. A Substack newsletter with sex toys. It’s for fans, and only fans. Hence the name. Sure there are some fitness types and musicians on there, but OnlyFans is a platform that sex and sex workers use for work. Whether it intended to be that or not, that’s what it is.
In general, sex work is not a “work from home” profession, so when lockdown came many sex workers struggled with a sudden complete loss of income. Even in level two, when work was able to begin again, sex workers told me their income never went back to previous levels, due to the challenges of balancing client privacy with the need to record contact tracing information.
OnlyFans provided a safer alternative for some sex workers to regain some of their income.
But over the last few months many have seen an increase in people using the platform who are taking customers from sex workers. And those in the adult industry are not happy about it.
Please join us in giving a big OnlyFans welcome to Hollywood star, Award Winning Actress, Director & Best Selling Author @bellathorne. The fabulous Bella is connecting with fans & sharing exclusive insights into her exciting life. Head over to meet her at: https://t.co/JiCKp4ewFA pic.twitter.com/T4NVU2wwzd
— OnlyFans (@OnlyFans) August 19, 2020
Olivia, 30, turned to sex work on OnlyFans after her mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer. She laughs bitterly down the phone at the increasing use of OnlyFans by those who think it’s easy money, or claim it isn’t sex work.
“Not only do you have to create content, you have to talk to every customer and the people that are subscribing and paying for the content that you put up. You don’t get every single dollar either. You get a percentage of it and the rest goes to OnlyFans. It’s hard work, honestly. And it is absolutely sex work because you are providing a customer base with sexualised images of yourself. It’s legitimate work. I have to use social media to get business just like any other self-employed person needs to.”
It’s a 24-7 job made harder by a wage gap created by race, ethnicity, disability and body size. For sex workers, building a social media profile to promote their OnlyFans account is nearly a fulltime job. Bella Thorne has 23.7 million followers on Instagram alone, she has 6.7 million followers on Twitter.
“As a brown, fat woman,” says Olivia, “I’ve literally had Instagram pictures of my already censored body taken down and my account threatened, just because I’m being brown and fat unapologetically on the gram. The average consumer wants a skinny blonde chick with big tits to masturbate on camera and that’s socially acceptable to consume. But a customer who likes BBW (big beautiful women) – well, there’s shame in that. He’s not likely to tell his friends he looks at that type of pornography so there’s no referred clients.”
Olivia says brown and fat people have to work harder for less money than thin white women.
“Bella charges $20 a month and some POC are charging around $3 per month. It’s another wage gap fuelled by anti-fat bias. There are expectations of fat bodies [that they should] take any attention they can. Westernised views of beauty uphold skinny white women as the ideal and that works against our bodies every single day of our lives and on platforms like OnlyFans. Brown people, fat people, disabled people feel worth less in day to day life and then they’re seen in the [sex work] market as being worth less. We can see that across all markers of life.”
White, thin women experimenting in an already crowded market without showing solidarity for sex workers – or understanding their privilege with regard to race and disability – makes Olivia’s job even harder, she says. And when they say it’s not “sex work” it’s another kick in the teeth.
“It makes me feel sick that so many skinny white women who have a [cultural] monopoly anyway are now using OnlyFans in a way that silences black and brown bodies. People who have privilege jumping on OnlyFans is a choice they’re making. They’re a tourist, somebody who can put their feet in and out if they want to; it’s not a survival mechanism. They’re taking the customer base of people who genuinely need these platforms and they’re taking customers and money from people who work really fucking hard to survive as well.”
Prostitutes Collective national co-ordinator Dame Catherine Healy says 2020 has been uniquely difficult for sex workers. “It is a very, very tough time for sex workers at the moment to have your work stop overnight, as has happened to our sex workers in Auckland. It has been extraordinarily difficult for them.”
OnlyFans is an alternative space, but it’s still work. “Of course it’s work and the money doesn’t come easily either. It’s a crowded market place.” A lack of experience or understanding of the industry can cause issues for those trying out OnlyFans as a gimmick, Healy says.
“We always say to people to make sure you’re well informed before you put your identity out there. There can be some great benefits but unforeseeable things can happen and your identity can be exposed in ways that you can’t control. No matter what kind of work you do, you need to know your rights in terms of the context of the work.”
While contact sex work and the advertising of sex work in adult forums is decriminalised in New Zealand, it is definitely not in other parts of the world. Keeping your identity hidden matters for many sex workers, who can face stigma for undertaking what is legal work. That’s something those dabbling in OnlyFans might not understand.
“We call it the whore-archy,” Healy says, describing those who insist what they’re doing isn’t sex work. “For example ‘sugar’ dating sites are built on the premise that this isn’t about being a sex worker. But of course there’s a commercial sex component in most of those scenarios. They’re trading sex for goods and money and assistance but there’s this effort to distance themselves from sex workers. And you get it too when people say ‘I’m not a sex worker, I’m really a social worker and I just talk to my clients.’ I mean come on,” she laughs.
While Healy says she understands the self-protection that can be involved in avoiding the “sex worker” name, doing so only reinforces the stigma undergirding laws harmful to sex workers. Whether you describe yourself as a sex worker or not, she has some advice for you if you’re thinking about jumping on the OnlyFans bandwagon: “Seek support if something goes wrong.”
Vixen Temple is a sex worker in Auckland. She’s scathing of celebrities she says are “cosplaying” sex work – people like Bella Thorne on OnlyFans, FKA Twigs in a music video, and Jennifer Lopez in Hustlers.
“They have so much privilege. They have the protection of their loyal fans, the public, they’re idolised. They don’t face the same stigma and fear of being ostracised by their family, their community, their friends and their loved ones for being sex worker. They can cosplay as sex workers, they can play dress ups, and they get to leave. You’re already a minority when you’re a sex worker, but within sex work if you’re trans or non-binary, if you’re disabled, or if you’re not white, you are facing so much more danger just by being on the internet. [Thorne] doesn’t face any of that.”
Thorne’s choice to take over a platform for sex workers during a global pandemic horrifies Vixen. “She has a net worth of $12 million dollars and she made $2 million in a week. They already have so much wealth and success and glory”. And Thorne’s involvement in OnlyFans isn’t just taking clients from sex workers, she says. Many potential clients are already fearful of being scammed and sex workers like Temple spend a lot of time and emotional labour convincing clients they will get what they’re paying for.
“When Bella Thorne says you’ll get nudes and instead you get her eating a hot dog in a bikini she is stealing our customers and then scamming them, which means they don’t trust us. Sex workers will never scam you. We are ethical people, we are hardworking. We need that trust to get the work, because we need it to live.”
After interviewing Vixen, news arrived that OnlyFans had changed its payment policy after Bella Thorne’s mega-pay day. They have limited the amount creators can charge for exclusive content to $50 and the amount creators can be tipped to $100. This will have a devastating impact on the incomes of sex workers using the app.
If anyone thinks sex work is easy, Vixen’s message is simple. It’s not.
“Unless you know what it’s like to be naked alone in a room with a man, knowing you have to laugh at his gross comments and pretend to be into it otherwise you can’t eat this week? Then you don’t understand. Celebrities will never experience that. A lot of sex workers have had to lower their moral standards when it comes to customers as we are in desperate times right now. Many of us are forced to go to customers that make us feel unsafe. We don’t have the luxury to be picky with clients and that puts us at a greater risk. Unless you’ve worked as a sex worker, you will never understand.”
These difficult times require people to show support and solidarity with sex workers, she says. It’s not the time to play tourist.
“We need empathy.” she says. “I have to remind people that we have pets, we have children, we have mouths to feed, including our own.
“I have to remind people that we’re human.”
Alice Snedden’s Bad News: Why is sex work still only legal for some?
Alice Snedden's Bad News
Alice Snedden: How I grew up and got on board with the sex industry
Alice Snedden
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FIRST NIGHT | THEATRE
Mephisto (A Rhapsody) review — darkly comic take on modern cultural collusion
Gate Theatre, W11
Dominic Maxwell
Thursday October 10 2019, 5.00pm, The Times
Anna-Maria Nabirye in Mephisto
CAMERON SLATER
“If the extreme right get in power, I will give up theatre and take to the streets,” suggests a posturing actor in a regional theatre somewhere in modern-day Europe. You don’t have to know the 1936 novel this show is based on, Klaus Mann’s Mephisto, to know that the actor, Aymeric, will do no such thing. Mann based his story on that of Gustaf Gründgens, with whom he had worked in a theatre company in the 1920s. Mann fled Germany in 1933. Gründgens stayed on to prosper under the Nazis.
That much is predictable about this play by the French playwright Samuel Gallet, translated nimbly by Chris Campbell. Little else is. This collision of art and politics opens the 40th-anniversary season of this
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I TRAVEL FOR…
Accommodation Review
Hotspot Review
Home > Spain Travel Guide > One Day in Burgos, Spain? Complete Guide to a Perfect City Break!
August 9, 2019 April 2, 2020
One Day in Burgos, Spain? Complete Guide to a Perfect City Break!
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If you only have one day in Burgos, of course you want to make the most of it! Let The Travel Tester guide you to some of the highlights of this city.
We continue our road trip through Northern Spain and travel from the town of Santo Domingo de Silos to the town of Burgos. It is not a very well-known place (unless you’re one of the pilgrims walking the Camino de Santiago), but I can highly recommend a stop here of (half) a day!
Burgos is the old capital of the Kingdom of Castile and León Spain and is located about 250 kilometers North of Madrid and 200 kilometers South of San Sebastian. The city was founded as an outpost during the Reconquista and is located next to the Arlanzon River. Burgos has stunning medieval architecture including the landmark structure: Burgos Cathedral.
On my road trip along the Romanesque Heritage route from Castile Leon Spain to Northern Portugal, I travelled together with Transromanica, a network of Romanesque heritage sites. As part of the Council of Europe’s Cultural Route, Transromanica shows us the shared cultural heritage in Europe and really take us on a journey without boundaries, through different countries and cultures, space and time. I
Last year, I also travelled with them to another part of the route: the region of Saxony Anhalt in Germany, and there are many more cultural routes to explore in the rest of Europe. Make sure to check out their website for the full route.
On this year’s route, I also visited the Spanish cities of Santo Domingo de Silos and Zamora and in Portugal, we visited Lousada, Amarante and Porto, on which I will be writing city guides and give you a full northern Spain itinerary soon!
ONE DAY IN BURGOS ITINERARY
How to Spend Your Morning in Burgos?
Admire Arco de Santa María
Burgos used to be a walled city, but these days only the 12 gates that gave entrance to the city are left.
For example, there is Arco de San Juan (the very first arch that was part of the gate through which the pilgrims accessed the centre of the city through the wall) and Arco de San Martin (the second arch from the 14th century, in Mudejar style, that was the exit gate for pilgrims who were on their way to Santiago de Compostela).
One of the most stunning arches however, is the Arco de Santa María, which provides an almost magical entrance to the main square.
This arch was built during the 14th-15th centuries and was remodeled (by Juan Vallejo and Francisco de Colonia) during the 16th century with the splendor that you can admire today, it was the main entrance to the city throughout the Middle Ages. It was also the Town Hall until the end of the 18th century.
The building has a museum, a place to hold art exhibitions and was declared a National Historic-Artistic Monument in 1943.
If you look closely to the main façade of the arch, you can see it is in the shape of an altarpiece. It represents, among others, emperor Carlos V, El Cid (a Spanish hero who is buried here), Diego Porcelos (the city’s founder), the guardian angel and the city’s patron saint: The Virgin Mary.
Read more about this arch on the website of my friend Sophie >>
For the structure, they used Local white stone and made it look like a castle with two tall circular towers. The city is one of the official stops of El Camino (the Pilgrim’s Way of Saint James) and as soon as we arrive, we see some pilgrims on horseback, which was amazing to see!
We arrived here by crossing the bridge over the Arlanzon River and walked under the gate to the Plaza de San Fernando, where you can find the Burgos Spain Cathedral. That’s where we are going on our next stop!
Visit Burgos Cathedral
Burgos Cathedral Spain was built in the 13th century on command of King Ferdinant III and is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It was officially named the Cathedral of Saint Mary of Burgos, or even more officially: Santa Iglesia Catedral Basílica Metropolitana de Santa María de Burgos.
The building is one of the best examples of French Gothic architecture in Spain. The cathedral of Burgos had multiple restorations and additions in the last centuries and got it’s current Gothic style at the end of the 18th century. While the church is built with white limestone, it looks like marble!
When you look at the façade of the cathedral Burgos, you can see it was inspired by the cathedrals of Paris and Reims, except that in Burgos, there are two additional twin towers that end in a spire, which -according to our funny guide León- makes it the best cathedral of them all.
Read more about the Burgos Cathedral on Sophie’s blog >>
The Burgos cathedral architecture looks like some other famous cathedrals!
Thought the outside of the cathedral looked good? Then it’s time to have a peek inside, where you can find Gothic, Baroque and Renaissance styles all together. There are no less than 15 chapels, so it’s easy to spend some time here and look at all the rich details.
Don’t miss the tomb of El Cid and his wife Doña Jimena Diaz in the transept and the stunning Renaissance Golden Staircase. Also the Chapel of the Constable is one not to skip on your visit.
On the upper floor, you can find the Cathedral Museum, where there are many tapestries of the 16th and 17th centuries on display, as well as works of art having to do with the church.
The tomb of El Cid (top right) can be found in the cathedral in Burgos
The Golden Staircase (top left) at the cathedral in Burgos
Spain Burgos Cathedral Museum
Another thing not to miss is the Papamoscas, otherwise know as the “flycatcher” clock that opens its mouth to the sounding of the bells. You can see it below:
Because the heritage of the Burgos Cathedral is so unique, it got added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1984. This made it the first ever cathedral in Spain to get onto the list on it’s own!
For about 7 Euros (2 for kids under 14) you can get a ticket with an audio guide (reduced prices if you’re doing El Camino!) and have a look at the stunning Burgos cathedral interior.
Interested in seeing more churches in Burgos? Here are some more suggestions:
St. Lesmes Abad Church & St. John’s Monastery – With the mortal remains of the patron saint of the city of Burgos. The interior of the church is decorated in Gothic style, with a late 18th-century baroque altarpiece.
Church of San Nicolas – A 15th-century Gothic church completed by generous donations from wealthy local merchants. The interior of the church has a monumental limestone altarpiece, something that hadn’t been done in that time.
Church of San Gil – A Gothic church built between the 14th and 16th centuries. It has a simple facade, three naves and there are many funerary chapels inside. The Nativity Chapel has a starred vault and an impressive Renaissance altarpiece.
Learning all about the Burgos cathedral history from our fantastic guide!
How to Spend Your Afternoon in Burgos?
Stroll Around Paseo del Espolon
After a visit to the cathedral, walk back under the entrance gate to step onto the Paseo del Espolon. This tree-lined shaded promenade forms a natural air-conditioning because the branches of the trees are intertwined above you and form a green umbrella!
It runs between the arch of Santa Maria and the bridge of San Pablo, parallel to the Arlanzo River.
Along this promenade, you can find stunning buildings from all different areas, as well as many sculptures, nice restaurants, cafes, shops and a lovely band stand with some seating around it, so it makes for a perfect place for a relaxing afternoon!
We walked here during the day, but I am sure that the promenade will liven up even more at night, with the locals going for a drink or a bite to eat.
Besides the tree-covered promenade, there is another green space in Burgos: Parque Isla. This park is almost one kilometer long and runs along the banks of the River Arlanzón. There is a fountain with a waterfall made from stalactites and stalagmites from the Atapuerca cave, so quite impressive!
From the promenade, you also get to Plaza Mayor, the hexagon-shaped square where you can find the City Hall that was built at the beginning of the 13th century in a Gothic style.
Plaza Mayor used to be a weekly market in Medieval times, where local farmers and travelling merchants sold food, textiles and many other items. It became an important place of commerce, but these days it’s mainly government administrative offices occupy the buildings.
In the middle of the square you can find the statue of King Carlos III (made by artist Alfonso Giraldo Bergaz in 1784) and all around are colourful buildings with plenty of restaurants and bars. Tapas Time!
City Hall on Plaza Mayor
Sculpture ”Girl next to the railing” (left), the statue of King Carlos III (top center) and Plaza de la Libertad (bottom & detail of the fountain top right)
Also don’t miss a quick visit to Plaza de la Libertad, were you can spot the stunning looking Palacio de los Condestables (also known as Casa del Cordón) in this old market square.
Casa del Cordón is the most important building of Burgos civil architecture and was constructed in the 15th century for the Constable of Castile Pedro Fernandez and his wife Mencia de Mendoza. The architect of this building was Simon de Colonia.
Palacio de los Condestables
At Plaza Mio Cid, you can find a large bronze statue of medieval military leader and Burgos’ national hero El Cid Campeador on horseback (erected in 1955 by sculptor Juan Cristobal Gonzalez Quesada) in the middle of the road.
If you want to learn more about El Cid, then make sure to read the Cantar del Mio Cid, a medieval poem written in Old Castilian that narrates his adventures expelling the Moorish from the Iberian Peninsula. There was also a movie called “El Cid” that starred Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren as El Cid’s wife Jimena Diaz.
Close to the statue, you can find the Puente de San Pablo bridge, built in the 13th century across from where the medieval gates of San Pablo used to stand. The bridge is lined with statues of Castilian noblemen from the Middle Ages.
From here, you can find a shopping district where even the most modern shops are housed in decorative old buildings, such as the H&M you can see on the picture below!
Statue of El Cid on Plaza Mio Cid (top center)
How to Spend Your Evening in Burgos?
Eat.All.The.Tapas
In Spain, there is a siesta between 2 PM and 5 PM, so you might want to have lunch early (and something that will fill you up) and finish the day with the typical Spanish tapas! In Burgos, there are plenty of places to go for a nice drink and bite, so you won’t have any problems there.
Here are some suggestions on where to go:
100 Montaditos – Tapas and brewery with sharing platters [See on Tripadvisor >>]
Rincon de España – Restaurant overlooking the cathedral with outdoor terrace [See on Tripadvisor >>]
Cervecería Morito – Delicious food for low budget [See on Tripadvisor >>]
Cerveceria Flandes – Sample a wide selection of beers and ciders in a cosy atmosphere [See on Tripadvisor >>]
Jarra’N’Heavy – Bar with rock music [See on Tripadvisor >>]
Cooper Club – Clubbing time with new wave classics & cocktails [See on Tripadvisor >>]
Must-try dishes:
Queso de Burgos – Cheese of Burgos (white, soft cheese)
Jamon Serrano – Ham
Morcilla de Burgos – Pig’s blood sausage stuffed with onions, herbs and rice
Sopa Castellana – Cow’s stomach
El Postre del Abuelo – Fresh cheese from Burgos with local honey
Tinto de Verano – Spanish summer wine (Sangria’s fizzy cousin)
Do You Have More Time in Burgos?
Explore the Region of Burgos
Besides the city of Burgos, there is so much to explore! Here are some suggestions:
Archaeological sites of the Sierra de Atapuerca (UNESCO World Heritage Site). This is the site which has provided 90% of all the fossils found in the world – it’s estimated only 2% of the fossils have been found so far!
The birthplace of El Cid: Vivar del Cid. Everything in this town is dedicated to this Spanish national hero.
The church in the Carthusian Monastery at Miraflores (first built in 1401, rebuilt in 1484) offers a glimpse into the class roles that once dictated medieval life.
The Monasterio de Las Huelgas is a working Romanesque monastery filled with historical and religious artifacts, including medieval textiles, a unique 14th-century music manuscript and Royal tombs. Visits with a guided tour only.
At the Museum of Human Evolution in Burgos (Museo de la Evolución Humana), you can learn all about the changes in humanity and the relationship of humans with nature over the past few millennia.
Visit Burgos Castle
Another place you might want to visit, that we unfortunately didn’t have time for during our visit, are the remains of Burgos Castle (raised in 884). I didn’t even know this when I visited, but Burgos has a castle that is located on San Miguel hill and rises 981 meter above the sea! From the top of the towers, you can have a fantastic view over the city and the cathedral.
The lookout is called Mirador de Castillo and this short circular tower offers you a sweeping panorama over the city. From the Old Town, you can walk there in just 200 meters. Enjoy the sunset here with a drink from la Ciudadela, the restaurant adjacent to the viewpoint.
Inside the castle you can find a small museum, where you can find a comprehensive Burgos history of the building and its location. Admission to the castle is only two Euros.
Learn more about the history of Burgos Spain [photo credit: Pixabay]
[all photos credit: Pixabay]
PLAN YOUR TRIP TO BURGOS!
I hope this article helped you deciding what to do in Burgos. Here is more information to help you plan your trip:
Time Zone in Burgos? Castile Spain is in the Central European Summer Time (GMT+2)
Currency in Burgos? Euro (EUR). Check the latest exchange rate here.
Electrical Plugs in Burgos? In the Castile region Spain, you can use plug types C (two round pins) and F (two round pins with two earth clips on the side). The country operates on a 230V supply voltage and 50Hz.. We recommend getting [amazon_textlink asin=’B01KLMW9GY’ text=’a universal travel adapter’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thetraveltester-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’1798619a-ecb8-11e8-8af7-5980e1425c5f’] to never worry about having the right plug on your travels!
Languages Spoken in Burgos? While you can get by with English just fine in Northern Spain cities (especially in the larger villages), in the rural villages most people prefer to speak Spanish (Castilian, or castellano). In the restaurants, you can find English-language menus, but you will find that places such as museums will mostly have Spanish labels, so it’s always wise to download the Spanish language set on the Google Translate app and to learn a few words! In Burgos tourism is quite developed, so it’s easy to get by if you don’t speak Spanish.
Best time to visit Burgos? Average temperatures in Burgos vary greatly, but in general the warmest time to visit is July, August and June, but of course this is also the busiest time for tourism. In fall, you can expect chilly Burgos weather because of humidity and wind. It rains or snows for about 3-7 days per month. Winters are very cold and windy with temperatures regularly dropping below freezing.
Don’t let the fact that you’re in Castilla Spain fool you: Burgos is known as one of the coldest cities in the country due to its altitude (over 850 meters above sea level). It has one of the most harsh winters in the Iberian Peninsula.
Insurance for Burgos? Make sure to get travel insurance! We recommend checking out worldnomads.com
How to get to Burgos? Burgos is located about 2,5 hours drive to Madrid and 50 minutes drive from Santo Domingo de Silos. The train station in Burgos (called Rosa de Lima) is very modern, but located quite a bit from the city centre. Buses are frequent and the city is well connected by high-speed train to other parts of Spain and Europe. You can take the train to Burgos from Madrid from Chamartin Station (about 2 hours and 20 minutes, about 50 Euros).
How to get around Burgos? Central Burgos is small enough to walk around on foot. From the train station, you can take a taxi of about 10 Euros to get to the Cathedral Square.
Where to stay in Burgos? For Burgos hotels check Booking.com for the best deals of Hotels in Burgos Spain >>
Northern Spain Map of Burgos
Where is Burgos? I didn’t know either before visiting, that’s why I created this map with all highlights. I really thought that Burgos was one of the nicest cities in Northern Spain regions!
Find all things to see and do in Burgos with our handy map of Northern Spain travel:
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All Transromanica Articles
Have a look at all our articles of things to see and do along the Transromanica Route:
Transromanica Road Trip In Germany: Harz Mountains To The Strasse Der Romanik
One Day In Magdeburg, Germany? Complete Guide To A Perfect City Break!
Review Arthotel Magdeburg: Unique Hundertwasser Architecture In Germany!
You Need To See The Incredible Nebra Sky Disk: The Oldest Depiction Of The Cosmos Found In The World!
One Day In Santo Domingo De Silos, Spain? Complete Guide To A Perfect City Break!
One Day In Zamora, Spain? Complete Guide To A Perfect City Break!
One Day In Amarante, Portugal? Complete Guide To A Perfect City Break!
Unique Architecture Road Trip in Portugal: Rota Do Romanico
Looking for more ‘One Day in…’ City Guides?
One Day in Aquileia, Italy
One Day in Bath, England
One Day in Berlin, Germany
One Day in Bremen, Germany
One Day in Brussels, Belgium
One Day in Casablanca, Morocco
One Day in Dublin, Ireland
One Day in Exeter, England
One Day in Exmouth, England
One Day in Fez, Morocco
One Day in Freiburg, Germany
One Day in Galle Fort, Sri Lanka
One Day in Gengenbach, Germany
One Day in Ghent, Belgium
One Day in Grado, Italy
One Day in Greenwich, England
One Day in Hamburg, Germany
One Day in Helsinki, Finland
One Day in Innsbruck, Austria
One Day in London, England
One Day in Manchester, England
One Day in Marrakech, Morocco
One Day in Southampton, England
One Day in Stockholm, Sweden
One Day in Stratford-Upon-Avon, England
One Day in Stuttgart, Germany
One Day in The Hague, Netherlands
One Day in Vienna, Austria
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Disclaimer: I was invited by Transromanica for the #Transromanica Burgos travel campaign and was compensated for creating content on our website and social media channels. All photos and words are our own, as always.
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Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade: 8 Memorable Moments and Biggest Milestones (Photos)
The annual holiday celebration has evolved since its inception in 1924
Reid Nakamura | November 26, 2020 @ 5:30 AM Last Updated: November 26, 2020 @ 5:31 AM
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is a time-honored tradition, but the annual holiday spectacle has changed a lot over the years.
In its 90-year-plus history, the parade has gone from a regional attraction featuring live animals and Macy’s employees to a time-honored tradition attended by 3.5 million people and watched by tens of millions more on TV and YouTube.
1924: The First Parade
The annual holiday parade got its start in 1920, featuring Macy’s employees in costume and animals from the Central Park Zoo. Animals were banned from participating in 1926, reportedly because they were frightening the children. The company then recruits puppeteer Tony Sarg to design the giant balloon characters the parade has been known for since.
1932: Balloon Meets Airplane
For the first few years of the parade, organizers would release some of the balloons into the air with attached instructions for how onlookers could exchange the retrieved balloons for a small reward. However, when a Tom the Cat balloon wrapped itself around a plane in 1932, nearly causing a devastating accident, the practice was stopped for good.
1948: First TV Broadcast
The parade was first broadcast nationally on CBS in 1948, after several years of regional coverage. NBC became the official broadcaster in 1952.
1965: A Whole New Style of Balloon
Prior to the debut of the Underdog balloon in 1965, all of the balloons featured in the display used a similar upright stance. But when the cartoon superhero dog made its entrance with a horizontal flying pose, that quickly became the default style. “Up until that point, even Superman was depicted standing straight up,” author Robert Grippo told the New York Post.
1993: Peak Viewership
According to Nielsen, the most-watched broadcast of the past several decades (the period when viewership was measured) came in 1993 when 31.1 million people watched the parade on NBC. The ratings have largely held steady ever since, with 25 million viewers in 2016.
1997: Four People Injured
In 1997, The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was hit with a round of bad press when strong winds sent a Cat in the Hat balloon rogue, injuring four people, one of whom was put into a month-long coma. According to the New York Times, the balloon slammed into a metal lamp post, breaking off one of the arms and sending it into the crowd.
2005: Another Accident
In a repeat of the 1997 incident, an M&M balloon was punctured by a light post in 2005, sending debris into the crowd and injuring two — a 26-year-old with cerebral palsy and her 11-year-old sister.
2013: “Kinky Boots” Controversy
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has served as a showcase for some of the biggest talent on Broadway for decades, but in 2013 the decision to feature a performance by the cast of “Kinky Boots” was met with criticism over the characters dressed in drag.
Thanksgiving Viewing Guide 2017: What’s on TV (Photos)
By Reid Nakamura | November 23, 2017 @ 9:00 AM
How to Watch or Live Stream Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (Video)
Thanksgiving Box Office Preview: Will ‘Coco’ Be Hurt by John Lasseter Accusations?
By Jeremy Fuster | November 21, 2017 @ 4:37 PM
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Congratulations To Former TKU Player – Kyle Adams
ByRachel Sturges
Congratulations to former Three Kings United player, Kyle Adams, who has been signed by the MLS club Houston Dynamo in Texas, USA.
In 2018, Kyle will begin playing for their USL team, Rio Grande Valley, in the USL (United Soccer League) as he embarks on his professional football career.
Having commenced football with TKU in 5th grade and playing with the club through all its Junior and Youth levels, Kyle then played one season for the Premier Men’s team before leaving for Wellington.
There he resided at the Ole Football Academy in Porirua and played one season for Western Suburbs before heading to USA.
For the past 3 years, Kyle has attended San Diego State University in San Diego, California, where he played 56 matches as starting centre back for the Aztecs and earned numerous team, PAC 12 conference and Far West region soccer and academic honours.
He’s also played in the u-23 USL Premier Development League for two summer seasons, one at the Portland Timbers in Oregon and the other at FC Tucson in Arizona.
In the 2017 winter, Kyle returned to Western Suburbs and as starting centre back he helped its Premier Men’s team to win the Central Region League.
Kyle is an example of a home-grown TKU player who has developed through the Player Development Pathway offered by Three Kings United.
Having progressed from the youngest Junior grade level through to the club’s highest Men’s team, and now earning his first professional football contract at the age of 21, is a tremendous achievement.
The Club Executive has passed its congratulations onto Kyle on behalf of members, and also wished him well as he kicks off his professional football journey.
Additionally, TKU has seven other home-grown players, Cam Philpot, Will Hunt, Nathan Metzger, Anton Moore, Martine Puketapu, Isabella Richards, and Jess Philpot who are currently playing College soccer in USA.
All of these players similarly played for Three Kings United junior, youth, and senior teams before heading to USA.
Clearly, the opportunities possible for our young TKU players within the global football landscape are very real.
Registrations NOW Open...
Three Kings United New KAPPA F...
Rachel Sturges
Summer Football Cancelled 25-Nov-2020
23rd ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING – for the year ended 31 December 2019
AUFC Summer 7s
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USNA News Center
NAVAL ACADEMY MIDSHIPMAN AWARDED MARSHALL SCHOLARSHIP
POSTED ON: Monday, December 7, 2020 12:36 PM by mediarelations@usna.edu
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Naval Academy Midshipman 1st Class (senior) William “Quinn” O’Loane, 22, of Prospect, Kentucky, was recently awarded a Marshall Scholarship. This highly-competitive academic scholarship provides up to two years of postgraduate study at a United Kingdom university. This year, over 1,100 candidates competed for one of the 46 scholarships awarded.
This semester, O’Loane serves as executive officer to the 4,400-strong Brigade of Midshipmen at the Academy. The position puts him second in command of the brigade and makes him responsible for the efficient operation of the brigade staff. O’Loane also previously held the position of Brigade Training Sergeant, during which time he was responsible for the indoctrination of 1,200 plebes (freshmen) at the Academy.
As part of an ethical research seminar at the Academy’s Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership, O’Loane is currently conducting research into the ethics of grey-zone warfare and intelligence activities. The findings of his research will be applied to the ethics courses at the national service academies.
O’Loane is a member of the Midshipman Action Group (MAG) community service organization at the Academy. As a volunteer with MAG, he participates in activities such as honor salutes at veteran funerals, beautification projects, and food drives.
O’Loane intends to pursue a master’s in international relations at the University of York and the London School of Economics, where he will focus on U.S.-China relations and cooperative approaches with our allies — particularly the United Kingdom — to seek solutions to great power competition. He hopes to be able to use his education to support international order as a member of the U.S. Navy. After the completion of the Marshall Scholarship program, O’Loane will report to Naval Air Station Pensacola for flight school. Following successful completion of flight school, he will join the fleet as a naval aviator.
The Marshall Scholarship Program was founded by an Act of Parliament in 1953 to commemorate the humane ideals of the European Recovery Program (Marshall Plan). Goals of the program include enabling future leaders of America the opportunity to study in the U.K., to help scholars gain an understanding and appreciation of contemporary Britain, to contribute to the advancement of knowledge at Britain’s centers of academic excellence, and to motivate scholars to act as ambassadors throughout their lives, thus strengthening British-American relations. The program has awarded over 2,000 scholarships to date.
For more information on the Marshall Scholarship please visit http://www.marshallscholarship.org/.
For more information about the Naval Academy please visit www.usna.edu or our Facebook page.
Category: Academics, Midshipmen, Press Releases
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Protesters burn Bible, American flag as tensions rise in Portland
byIsabel Vincent, New York Post
Protesters burned an American flag and a Bible in Portland, Oregon, sparking outrage just as weeks of violent demonstrations seemed to be coming to a close.
For more than 60 days, Black Lives Matter demonstrators, including a “Wall of Moms” and a “Wall of Vets,” have clashed with federal agents in the city, drawing national attention as authorities blasted marchers with tear gas and the civilians at times responded with weapons of their own — such as feces, bleach, bricks or batteries.
Friday night’s demonstrations were largely peaceful, appearing to mark a break from the chaos as federal agents made a recent deal to allow local authorities to handle the protests.
But just after midnight, marchers were caught on video using the flag and holy book as kindling for bonfires lit outside the federal courthouse, which has been a focal point of rioting after the death of George Floyd in police custody in May, according to a news report.
“Left-wing activists bring a stack of Bibles to burn in front of the federal courthouse in Portland,” claimed Ian Miles Cheong on Twitter Saturday.
The post featured a video that showed ...
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Jeffrey Oliver, MSN
Jeffrey J Oliver, MSN, Lieutenant Colonel, Air Force
Name: Jeffrey J Oliver, MSN, Lieutenant Colonel, Air Force
Adult Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist Program
Instructor and Director of Clinical Education
Wrong Site Surgery
jeffrey.oliver@usuhs.edu
Lt Col Jeffrey Oliver is an instructor and Director of Clinical Education for the Adult-Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist Program. He also serves as the Air Force Consultant to the Surgeon General for Perioperative Nursing.
Lt Col Oliver began his nursing career 25 years ago as a pediatric intensive care nurse in Birmingham, Alabama. He received his commission in the United States Air Force in 1995 and continued to practice in pediatrics until 1998 when he cross trained into perioperative nursing. Since that time, he has filled a variety of positions in the operating room and has deployed multiple times as a perioperative nurse. In 2010, he obtained his MSN as a Clinical Nurse Specialist from the Uniformed Services University. Since that time, he has practiced as a CNS, Infection Prevention and Control Officer, and a Surgical Services Flight Commander. Additionally, he has served as a local chapter AORN president.
Major military awards include the Meritorious Service Medal (2) and the Air Force Commendation Medal (3).
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Going on vacation? You can rent Sandra Bullock's Georgia home with private beach access
Oscar winner Sandra Bullock is not only diversified when it comes to the roles she plays from awkward and lovable girl next door in Miss Congeniality to romantic comedy in films like Hope Floats, a film in which she not only starred but was also executive producer. Her highly successful film career has also given her the wealth to own almost any home she chooses, and she doesn’t choose like other celebrities who vie with each other to own the latest and greatest Hollywood pad. In fact, While You Were Sleeping, Sandra has quietly been building a diversified real estate empire. She owns, rents out, sells and lives in homes and vacation homes from coast to coast and north to south, but what many would say is one of the best is a secluded beach estate on Tybee Island, Georgia which she has owned for 18 years. Her busy schedule has prevented Sandra and her two children from spending vacation time there and she has decided to put it on the market, priced at $6.5 million.
RELATED: This 'houseboat of the future' runs on solar power and can withstand a hurricane
This quintessential vacation property or full-time residence for those for whom a year-round vacation is possible, has an architecturally stunning main house and guest house on almost three acres made up of nine parcels, but also has private access to one of the prettiest white-sand beaches in the country. The estate has the capacity to sleep 12 family and friends in luxury and fun with the large pool, game room, gym, a basketball court and private beach entrance. Structures include the 3,360-square-foot plantation-style main house with multiple screened verandas, double-height living room ceiling with beachy decor and a 2,848-square-foot guest house with living room fireplace, a crow’s nest and an outdoor grill. Overall there are seven bedrooms and six baths between the two buildings. The home is decorated with emphasis on white linen and wicker with a contemporary airy, beachy vibe and all furnishings, except for a few personal items, are included in the sale. Always the astute business woman, and knowing it is not good for a property to sit idle, Sandra has rented the estate as a vacation rental at $1,400 a night with a minimum of a three night stay.
Having just starred in the Netflix original, Bird Box, it is rumored that she will again star in another of the streaming service’s original films, Reborn. Approaching life with the energy of an action hero, she is still making films while administrating her investment rentals and buying and selling other properties. At present it looks like she is keeping her numerous homes in Austin, her vacation house in Jackson Hole, her Beverly Hills mansion and her Manhattan townhouse.
Only 20 minutes to Savannah’s gourmet restaurants and unique shops, Sandra Bullock is selling her beach vacation compound on nearby Tybee Island, priced at $6.5 million. Co-listing agents are Ruthie Lynah Whitlow and Rachel Umreit of Celia Dunn Sotheby’s, West Charlton Street Office, Savannah.
RELATED: Check out the $4.5 million Hollywood home once owned by Bette Midler and George Lucas
This article originally appeared on TopTenRealEstateDeals.com.
Photos: Tybee Vacation Rentals / TopTenRealEstateDeals.com
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Why is America so Depressed?
The economy is out of sight. Unimaginable luxury is all around. America rules the world. So why are Americans so unhappy?
by Kalle Lasn and Bruce Grierson, from Adbusters
The United States is probably too independent-minded a country ever to trust a therapist telling it that it’s sick. That’s understandable: The paradox of mental health is that those who need help most are often least likely to recognize it.
America is the opposite of a hypochondriac: It underestimates how bad it’s hurting—even with the evidence staring it in the face. What would you say about a friend who showed the following behavior?
Always, always on the go, seldom if ever taking a quiet moment to reflect.
Willing to plunge deeper and deeper into debt to finance shopping sprees for nonessentials.
Unshakable conviction that happiness is as close as the next stock split, breast augmentation, or Mazatlan vacation.
Martin Seligman, University of Pennsylvania psychology professor and head of the American Psychological Association, believes that the United States is in the throes of an "epidemic" of clinical depression. An American today, he says, is significantly more likely to suffer clinical depression at some point in his or her life than at any other time in the past hundred years.
Other modernized nations are not far behind us. A nine-nation study by epidemiologist Myrna Weissman of Columbia University and a cross-cultural group of international scholars found that people born after 1945 are three times more likely to experience depression than people born before. Clinical depression may, however, simply be the tip of the iceberg of America’s mental distress. Skeptics will scoff—Crisis? What crisis?—but strip away the denial, the vested interest in the myth of sunny, can-do Americanism, and it begins to feel that something is awry at a fundamental level in many people’s lives. It’s not so much what’s happening to us as what isn’t. Something is missing. Something essential and meaningful has been displaced by something . . . hollow. The possibility that forces outside our control might be overwhelming us—changing us—is so frightening that most of us busily hunt down safe responses to our escalating anxiety. We rely in record numbers on prescription drugs. We escape into the media/entertainment pleasureplex. We pile on the amusements only to find (as Leonard Cohen sings) that "you are locked into your suffering, and your pleasures are the seal."
Situationism, an aesthetic and political movement that influenced young radicals of the 1968 Paris uprising, identified the beginnings of all of this more than 30 years ago. "A mental illness has swept the planet," wrote Gilles Ivain, an early leader in the Situationist Movement. The symptoms: "Banalization: no more laughter, no more dreams. Just the endless traffic, the blank eyes that pass you by, the nightmarish junk we’re all dying for. Everyone hypnotized by work and comfort."
No one credibly claims to have identified the precise cause of the malaise. Psychologists, sociologists, epidemiologists speculate: Is it something in the environment—electromagnetism or microwaves in the air; a chemical in our food or water? Are cultural and economic factors creating stress that’s opening us up to other kinds of problems? Answers to these questions may elude us until well into the future. But for each of us living in America, a Faustian, personal, almost religious question presents itself right now: What’s the point of living in the most dynamic and affluent nation on earth if you’re feeling sad and anxious a lot of the time? Have we, and the rest of the industrialized world, gained power and wealth at the price of—let’s just say it—a piece of our soul? The moment you confront these questions head-on, the cool, commercial facade of modern life suddenly dissolves. Behind it is a web of psycho-, socio-, and cybercultural threads. Why am I sad? Why am I anxious? Why can’t I love? The answer, perhaps, lies deep in our collective subconscious. The route to the surface passes through the postmodern hall of mirrors. The trip looks forbidding.
And yet it is a worthwhile excursion. Think of it as trying to solve the tantalizing psychothriller of your own life—the ultimate existential whodunit.
Is it a disease of modernity?
The paradox is painfully clear: America is enjoying unprecedented levels of prosperity, life expectancy, health care breakthroughs, food supply, and peace. Life has never been more rich or stimulating, yet there are similarly unprecedented rates of melancholy and anxiety.
Perhaps the puzzle is itself the answer: The modern world that brought these advances is responsible for this epidemic of sadness.
Depression in China is three to five times less common than in the West. Worldwide, depression is increasing most quickly among the young and the well-off.
Psychologists Bernardo Carducci and Philip Zimbardo claim, based on their research, that hypercommercialized contemporary life, with its speed and complications, alters the nature of day-to-day interactions: "As we approach the limits of our ability to deal with the complexities of our lives, we begin to experience a state of anxiety. We either approach or avoid. And indeed, we are seeing both—a polarization of behavior in which we see increases both in aggression, marked by a general loss of manners, and in withdrawal."
Is it social isolation?
America is still a nation of lonely wanderers—folks who are achingly anonymous in the crowd. This is the downside of fierce American "individualism."
The U.S. Census Bureau tells us that more than 26 million Americans now live alone. And that figure is expected to rise by 5 million over the next 10 years. It’s doubtful that any society in human history has experienced this kind of fundamental isolation. Living alone is hard on us. According to the National Institute for Healthcare Research (NIHR), "depression is significantly more common among people living by themselves than among those residing in families." It’s more common still among the utter loners—folks living without any support or affinity group at all. Researchers believe that’s partly why, in Western societies—where the young are increasingly cut off from the influence of families and other support systems, and left to forge a unique identity on their own—depression rates are far higher than in countries where solid social networks are the norm.
Is it the electronic environment?
Now, into this American culture of loners drops the Internet. We are the most cyber-literate nation in the world. Whether the Net will ultimately build more connections than it severs is a question that is still very much up in the air, but early returns suggest that it diminishes actual social participation. The authors of a Stanford University study released this year found that the Internet steals time normally spent with other human beings.
Even the online magazine Slate , which has an obvious interest in promoting Net culture, admitted that while it’s true that you can "stay ‘in touch’ with thousands of people," the interaction is necessarily limited. You laser in by subject, interacting with people "along a slender strand of common vocational interests." Where once the few people in our lives fulfilled many roles, now we have effectively surrounded ourselves with specialists, whom we call on briefly for one thing only.
Our species has just made a sudden leap from a natural to an electronic environment. For 3,000 generations, human beings got their cues from each other and from nature. Now we’re getting them from computer and video game screens.
"Reality" is disappearing as our navigable star. A predictable but nonetheless key culprit remains television. For 50 years, television has been the great anodyne. It lifts the mood, calms the nerves, fills the void. Like most things, it’s probably harmless enough in judicious moderation. But TV-philic America is neither judicious nor moderate, and we now have overwhelming evidence that heavy TV watching is doing harm—to kids in particular.
In a study published this year, a team of Harvard researchers added even more damning evidence to the heap. Chronic TV watching was linked to low public engagement and lack of sociability. It "even correlates positively with ‘giving the finger’ to people," said David Campbell, a member of the research team.
Television has been around long enough now that some of the most interesting writing about it no longer concerns its effects, but rather the effects of its absence. A fair number of self-experimenters have managed to give it up, and they overwhelmingly report an increase in quality of life. They speak with the passion of those who didn’t know they couldn’t see until they got glasses.
Of course, television is just one ingredient in the postmodern media bouillabaisse. Steaming forth are sex, violence, race and gender stereotypes, and about 3,000 marketing messages a day. Pop culture fully occupies the psyche of a nation. The sole purpose of this new electronic environment is to keep us entertained. The product and purpose is the "escape."
But escape from what? Danger? Confinement? Disadvantaged circumstances? Or something deeper from a self we can no longer live with? Ironically, the more anxious we get, the more we need to be distracted; the more distracted we are, the more anxious we get. It’s a closed loop. Sometimes, the way out seems to involve getting our hands on more information. If we were only more perfectly informed, all would become clear.
Yet we don’t know what to do with the vast amount of useless information we ingest. We can’t sweat it out, or excrete it, or trash it. It stays, imperfectly stored, somewhere, taking up space, forever. The result is a kind of low-level tension, as if we’re perpetually preparing for an exam that never comes. New York University communications professor Neil Postman calls the information explosion a "cultural garbage problem": "The chief function of computers," he said in a lecture in Vancouver in February 2000, "will soon be to help people filter out unneeded information."
Postman often makes the point that when a new technology is introduced into a culture, that culture is forever and permanently changed, through and through. If you drop the Internet (or the telephone, or television) into an existing culture, you don’t end up with the Internet plus that old culture; you end up with an utterly new culture.
Is it consumer capitalism?
In a consumerist capitalist system, author David Korten (When Corporations Rule the World, Kumarian, 1996) points out, we are all caught to some degree in a downward spiral of deepening alienation: Our quest for money widens the gulf between ourselves and our families and communities. Our growing alienation then creates an inner sense of social and spiritual emptiness. That’s when advertisers get into the loop by assuring us that their products can make us whole again. We go out and buy their products, which requires money. And so we’re back at the beginning, the quest for money.
The booming economy is minting new millionaires right and left. Staggering wealth at the top of the pyramid creates a psychological climate in which, ironically, everybody suffers. The "have-nots" lose, since they are seized by envy for a happiness they never knew they lacked, until they happened to peek through the hole in the wall and spied the elites enjoying unimaginable riches. The "haves" lose in a different way. "Sudden wealth syndrome" can afflict the newly rich with a sense of isolation and uncertainty, as if they had been teleported into an alien world. Uberprosperity drives a wedge down the middle of America, scattering seeds of guilt and insecurity on both sides of the divide.
Under consumer capitalism, corporations wield unprecedented power; they are sovereign, untouchable, far more powerful than any elected government. Could this power imbalance between citizens and corporations be linked to high rates of depression?
Is it an existential crisis of meaning?
Randolph Nesse, director of the evolution and human adaptation program at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research, believes that there are more kinds of depression than the diagnosticians have identified. Some depression may be a useful, adaptive response to situations in which a desired goal is unattainable.
"If I had to put my position in a nutshell," Nesse has explained, "I’d say that mood exists to regulate investment strategies, so that we spend more time on things that work and less time on things that don’t work."
Many Americans use antidepressants to pull them back to "normal," but this may be precisely the wrong response. If, as Nesse and others theorize, depression is a defensive response, one that tells us something important about ourselves or our culture, it makes no sense to clip its alarm wires with drugs.
Enter the young, urban, modern, fabulously "successful" Americans who are nonetheless disconnected from things they, at the most profound level, want: nature, intimacy, a quiet, unmediated environment. There’s nowhere they can immediately go to find these things. The desired goal seems unattainable. So depression sets in as the organism adapts to the problem, searching for a way out. Searching for meaning.
Austrian psychiatrist Victor Frankl, who died in 1997, believed that there is an existential dimension to much mental illness—as distinct from, but sometimes in addition to, psychic or social or physical dimensions.
Specifically, he identified people caught in what he called the "existential vacuum." It’s not a mental affliction, but a spiritual one: Your life seems utterly devoid of purpose. No path beckons. Eventually, a kind of paralytic cynicism sets in. You believe in nothing. You accept nothing as truthful, useful, or significant. You don’t value anything you’re currently doing and can’t imagine doing anything of value in the future.
Frankl believed that the existential vacuum he described was a modern condition. Carl Jung identified it in about a third of his patients, and he and his contemporaries noted that it was different from any neuroses they had seen before.
We pump for meaning. We hope to find it in malls. As Daniel Boorstin, retired Librarian of Congress, has pointed out, Americans shop not to get what they want (as Europeans, say, do) but to discover what they want. This may tie into modernity’s new, heroic explanation about the meaning of life, which has swept aside older spiritual teachings and cosmologies. We now place our faith in a grand narrative of consumer choice, of never-ending economic growth and technological progress. But this largely excludes the spiritual dimension of human existence.
Is it postmodernism?
And so now we find ourselves in the postmodern hall of mirrors. It’s difficult to talk about postmodernism because nobody really understands it—it’s elusive to the point of being impossible to articulate. But what this philosophy basically says is that we’ve reached an endpoint in human history, that the modernist traditions of advancement and ceaseless extension of the frontiers of innovation are now dead. Originality is dead. The avant-garde artistic tradition is dead. All religions and utopian visions are dead. And resistance to the status quo is impossible because revolution, too, is now dead. Like it or not, we humans are stuck in a permanent crisis of meaning, a dark room from which we can never escape.
Postmodernism pulls the philosophical carpet out from under us and leaves us in an existential void. And it poses an intellectual challenge to the next generation of thinkers who we hope will show the way to a post-postmodernism—a place where everything isn’t relative, where all meaning isn’t just a social construct, where faith means neither a sexy country singer nor slavish devotion to a monotheist myth, but a belief that there are things worth living for, and that those things are simpler and closer at hand than we imagine.
How do Americans deal with mood disorders? We pop a pill or escape into frenzied activity that keeps us from dwelling on how we feel.
But here’s the thing. No one can count on these things to restore in them what they never had in the first place. We want our problems to be solved without ever having to trouble ourselves with investigating their root causes—or, worse, having to entertain the idea that some problems simply have no solutions.
Two centuries of philosophers stand in opposition to the modern American recipe for happiness and fulfillment. You can’t buy your way in. You can’t amuse yourself in. You can’t even expect falling in love to deliver you. The most promising way to happiness is, perhaps, through creativity, through literally creating a fulfilling life for yourself by identifying some unique talent or passion and devoting a good part of your energy to it, forever.
The trouble with being passive ticketholders in the media/entertainment pleasureplex is that we’re standing in a "happiness" line that isn’t moving. Receiving rather than acting, we insure that we will never feel a unique creative spark, much less nurture one. We forestall the moment of asking the big question: What am I doing here?
The way forward begins—it must begin—with voluntarily taking a step back and then looking around for clues.
There are parts of the world not yet thoroughly saturated with postmodern culture, places that still have some lush mental wilderness. Places where people still connect—not electronically, but physically and emotionally—with one another. There are intact communities where vital human juices still flow. There are countries where people do things differently than mainstream North Americans and, lo and behold, the sun still comes up in the morning.
We can learn from these places and cultures before they disappear. Their very existence challenges the American idea that there is a single right way for human beings to live—that the lone choice is either the grand narrative of consumer capitalism or the highway to benighted misery. At the very least, such places prompt questions, about their culture and ours. Can they possibly "develop" without suffering the same sort of psychological homogenization we have? Can we develop as a culture when millions of us live with minimal human interaction—when reality has become just one of many options? Has our own "progress" been worth it?
Kalle Lasn is the author of Culture Jam: The Uncooling of America (HarperCollins, 1999). Bruce Grierson is a Vancouver-based writer and editor. From Adbusters (June-July 2000). Subscriptions: $20/yr. (4 issues) from Adbusters Media Foundation, PMB 658, 250 H Street, Blaine, WA 98231.
Mitaky
First we need a new economic paradigm of happiness and well being. Second a government that listens to 'we the people' and their petition for a universal living grant based on debt-free public currency not privatized debt-currency that producing boom-bust, mindless production, consumption and waste of resources. So people can devote time for community service, personal spiritual growth, life-long learning and restoring our planet, forests and oceans. https://www.facebook.com/mindful.economics
PhilosopherBen
I think the answer is that we need to slow down and think and contemplate what happiness is and what it means to be happy. Is it really being rich? Is it acquiring more stuff? Is it the American dream? I don't think it is. I think it's having time for hobbies, for relationships, and for contemplation. This is lost in our American culture. In many european countries they have more time for all of the above. It's unfortunate that we don't get a clue but I think that's on us as a society and not something government can ultimately solve.
MelanieH
What’s happiness? Too often, we are that grasshopper trying to jump high enough to reach the stars, with nary a chance. When you ask, are we a nation who has acquired power and wealth at the price of our soul? Who are you referring to? Studies show those in middle-income category keep losing ground, and the gap between the rich & poor keeps widening. Politicians don’t seem to want to touch income inequity. There are many issues that make up the “roots” of unease in U.S. Some say that Gen-X/Y were led to believe that the world was their oyster – all paths led to happiness. But college degrees are expensive, and graduates find it hard to get a job earning enough to pay off their college loan. Meanwhile, outdated “scripts” espouse what people “should” be doing to be happy. What worked for our parents may not work for us. There’s no template for “happy,” it’s subjective according to your goals, situation. We don’t have safety nets for the poorest of poor. We don’t have services for mentally ill. We look to the private sector to solve our biggest issues because “Big Government is Bad.” A platitude that might ring true until someone you love is in need of help.
Ramon Sender
For a test, I'm posting the Youtube link here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvyW3-2QSeQ
Second Comment try: If you would like to coast all day long on what I can only describe as a post-orgasmic tingle, then learn to purr, both on the in and out-breath. A 3-minute demo can be found on youtube by searching for "Purring to Nirvana." I'd post the link, but worry that once again my comment will disappear. More info available if you contact me.
Sam Jeasea
My short answer to why Americans are so depressed: We have left God out of our equations.
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Verizon Supports 38 Vermont Nonprofit Groups to Promote Literacy, Technology and Work Force Development
SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. - Verizon reaffirmed its commitment to the communities that the company serves in Vermont by providing grants in 2004 for a broad range of literacy, work force development, technology and human service programs.
The Verizon Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Verizon Communications, last year donated $155,862 to 38 nonprofit groups in Vermont. Nationwide, the foundation donated more than $71.4 million to charitable and nonprofit organizations, including matching $18.7 million in donations from employees.
"We believe in investing in our communities through strategic partnerships with organizations that support education and literacy, technology education, and health and human services," said Verizon Vermont vice president Pamela Porell. "Verizon's grants continue to underscore our long-standing goal of improving the communities we serve and our commitment to providing excellent service to our customers."
Recipients of major grants included:
Stern Center for Language and Learning -- $20,000 in partnership with the UVM College of Medicine to create a two-hour course to teach medical students to recognize and refer children who are at risk for reading failure.
CVOEO Micro Business Development Program -- $13,384 for the Refugee Computer Literacy for Business program.
Childcare Resource -- $9,500 to launch expanded Web-based service for parents and child-care programs.
In addition, literacy grants went to Burlington Literary Festival; Children's Literacy Foundation (CLiF); Commission on Women Education and Research Inc.; Everybody Wins! Vermont Inc.; Kids On The Block-Vermont Inc.; Northeast Kingdom Learning Services; the Tutorial Center Inc.; Vermont Library Association; Vermont Public Radio; and Weston Playhouse Theatre Company.
In support of technology, Verizon also awarded grants to Champlain Senior Center; Chittenden Community Television; Clara Martin Center; Franklin-Grand Isle United Way Inc.; Green Mountain United Way; Northeast Rural Water Association; Outright Vermont; The Little School; United Way of Chittenden County, United Way of Lamoille County Inc.; and United Way of Windham County.
Verizon recognized the importance of the state's work force development programs by awarding additional grants to Combinet-NH for Vermont WorkNet; Linking Learning To Life Inc.; Lyndon State College Foundation; Saint Michael's College; UVM College of Engineering and Math; Vermont State Mathematics Coalition; and Vermont Telecommunications Application Center Inc.
Other grant recipients include the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts Ltd.; New Alpha Missionary Baptist Church; Vermont Arts Council; Pathos Dance Theatre; Rokeby Museum; Vermont Public Television; Vermont Symphony Orchestra; and Yellow Barn Music School & Festival.
In addition to the Verizon Foundation grants, 92 agencies received $106,393 through Verizon Volunteers, a program that encourages Verizon employees to volunteer in their communities and provides matching gifts to the nonprofit organizations that employees support.
The Verizon Foundation ranks as one of the largest corporate foundations in America, providing grants and developing programs to support the communities where Verizon does business. The foundation places special emphasis on literacy, work force development and the use of technology for the benefit of all people. For more information on the foundation, visit www.verizon.com/foundation.
With more than $71 billion in annual revenues, Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) is one of the world's leading providers of communications services. Verizon has a diverse work force of more than 210,000 in four business units: Domestic Telecom serves customers based in 29 states with wireline telecommunications services, including broadband and other services. Verizon Wireless owns and operates the nation's most reliable wireless network, serving 43.8 million voice and data customers across the United States. Information Services operates directory publishing businesses and provides electronic commerce services. International includes wireline and wireless operations and investments, primarily in the Americas and Europe. For more information, visit www.verizon.com.
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VMware Completes Acquisition of Pivotal
VMware, Combined with Pivotal, Committed to Connecting Infrastructure and Application Owners to Accelerate Software Delivery and Drive Business Outcomes
Read the Press Release
VMware Acquires Pivotal
With the acquisition now completed, Pivotal’s offerings will be core to the VMware Tanzu portfolio of products and services designed to help customers transform the way they build, run and manage their most important applications with Kubernetes.
Pivotal Blog
M&A Blog
VMware Newsroom
Additional Information about the Pivotal Acquisition and Where to Find It
This communication may be deemed to be solicitation material in respect of the proposed merger with Pivotal (the “Pivotal Merger”). This communication does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy VMware securities or the solicitation of any vote or approval. The proposed Pivotal Merger will be submitted to Pivotal’s stockholders for their consideration. In connection with the proposed transaction, Pivotal has filed a preliminary proxy statement on Schedule 14A with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). The preliminary proxy statement contains important information about the Pivotal Merger and related matters. Promptly after being filed with the SEC, the definitive proxy statement and a proxy card will be mailed to Pivotal’s stockholders.
BEFORE MAKING ANY VOTING OR INVESTMENT DECISION WITH RESPECT TO THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION, INVESTORS AND STOCKHOLDERS OF PIVOTAL ARE URGED TO READ THE DEFINITIVE PROXY STATEMENT REGARDING THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION (INCLUDING ANY AMENDMENTS OR SUPPLEMENTS THERETO) AND OTHER RELEVANT MATERIALS CAREFULLY AND IN THEIR ENTIRETY WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION. The preliminary proxy statement, the definitive proxy statement, any amendments or supplements thereto and other relevant materials, and any other documents filed by Pivotal with the SEC, may be obtained once such documents are filed with the SEC free of charge at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.
In addition, Pivotal’s stockholders may obtain free copies of the documents filed with the SEC through the Investors portion of Pivotal’s website at pivotal.io/investors or by contacting Pivotal’s Investor Relations Department via e-mail at ir@pivotal.io.
Pivotal, VMware, Dell Technologies Inc. and certain of their respective executive officers, directors, other members of management and employees, may under the rules of the SEC, be deemed to be “participants” in the solicitation of proxies from Pivotal’s stockholders in connection with the proposed transaction. Information regarding the persons who may be considered “participants” in the solicitation of proxies will be set forth in Pivotal’s preliminary and definitive proxy statements when filed with the SEC and other relevant documents to be filed with the SEC in connection with the proposed transaction, each of which can be obtained free of charge from the sources indicated above when they become available. Information regarding certain of these persons and their beneficial ownership of Pivotal’s common stock is also set forth in Pivotal’s preliminary proxy statement on Schedule 14A filed with the SEC on October 10, 2019 and Pivotal’s proxy statement for its 2019 annual meeting of stockholders filed on May 3, 2019 with the SEC, which may both be obtained free of charge from the sources indicated above.
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Home Entertainment News Ant-Man and The Wasp Theory: Is The Original Wasp A Villain?
Ant-Man and The Wasp Theory: Is The Original Wasp A Villain?
Varun Malhan
Ant-Man and The Wasp is set to be the next release after the hit Avengers: Infinity War. While the film has almost reached its release date but we know nothing about the film’s villain – Ghost. While the film does have a part where Ant-Man and the Wasp (Ant-Man and The Wasp Theory) try to rescue the original Wasp from the Quantum Realm but in what state will the Janet be is still unclear. Janet has spent almost thirty years inside the Quantum Realm, and it’s not clear what effect it’s had on her. It’s possible that Marvel’s big twist when it comes to Ant-Man and the Wasp will be the reveal that Janet van Dyne has become a villain.
We naturally don’t know much about what role Janet will have in Ant-Man and the Wasp(Ant-Man and The Wasp Theory), but with Michelle Pfeiffer cast in the role we know that the original Wasp is in the story. Scott Lang is the key to rescuing Janet in the film, as he receives some sort of signal that she’s still alive. Hank, Hope and Lang, together they’ll journey to the Quantum Realm and explore it more fully than in the first movie. It’s assumed they’ll then encounter Janet, who has somehow gained new items of clothing, altered her suit, and been nourishing herself somehow all these years.
Janet may have changed during her course of living in the quantum realm and movie will have to certainly address this. On asking questions about how Janet has aged and survived the Realm will be answered in the movie, but when questions were asked about how her thirty years of isolation has changed Janet, the Marvel secrecy crept in and the answer to the question was that Janet may have become a little weird but in the end, they are one happy family once again. Though Ghost was assumed to be the big villain in the film, all involved with the movie have pointed out that she’s really one antagonist. In fact, it’s been said the team will face many obstacles and antagonists in the movie. Clearly, there’s something more to Ghost than it was at first assumed.
Janet’s time in the Quantum Realm could have easily driven her mad. Likewise, it may have changed her ideology or even turn up against Hank. Any of these could see her emerge as a villain, or at least else another antagonist. But if this happens, there will be a problem that Marvel has to take care of – Redemption of the original Wasp.
The whole Ant-Man franchise goes along the path of redemption with Scott Lang and the others redeeming in the end even if Janet turns out to be an antagonist we should see Janet redeeming herself. Also, Pfeiffer is set to appear in Avengers 4, after all. So, we should see her coming back to her old self in the film even if she goes off the doing good line and actually turns out to be the antagonist.
What do you think of Ant-Man and The Wasp Theory? Will Janet be an antagonist in the film? Do let us know in the comment section below!
Ant-Man and the Wasp Theory
Ant-Man and the Wasp villain
Varun is a budding writer and an engineer hailing from New Delhi, India. He is an ardent follower of the fiction entertainment industry and loves to read and follow comics, anime and box-office smashing superhero movies and TV series. Apart from writing, he invests most of the time coding and singing. He loves people sharing their ideas and views with him, so do share your views and ideas in the comment section if you liked the article
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Sleepy Hollow VR Experience Heading to Comic-Con
By Jamie Feltham On Jul 23, 2014
20th Century Fox has already announced one virtual reality (VR) experience for the upcoming San Diego Comic-Con on 24th – 27th July 2014 based on its X-Men film franchise. Now the company has revealed that it will have a second exhibit that uses the Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD) at the show, this time based on its supernatural police drama television series, Sleepy Hollow.
In this new VR experience users will travel to the town of Sleepy Hollow, New York, where they will be given a warning from resurrected Colonial soldier, Ichabod Crane and eventually come face-to-face with the show’s Headless Horeseman. The experience will be located at the Petco Interactive Zone/Lexus Premiere Lot on 100 Park Boulevard (Cross Streets of Park Boulevard & Imperial Avenue) in San Diego.
20th Century Fox isn’t the only company to utilise the Oculus Rift at this year’s Comic-Con. Film studio Warner Bros. recently revealed that it would be bringing a new experience based on its upcoming Into the Storm film to the show. A range of VR supported videogames are also expected to be on display. VRFocus will continue to follow any and all news surrounding VR, reporting back with the latest.
Oculus RiftSleepy HollowVirtual RealityVRFocus
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Funding Network Kaleidoscope Relaunches at Sundance Film Festival
By Peter Graham Last updated Jan 29, 2019
The Sundance Film Festival isn’t purely a place to see the latest independent films and immersive content. The event is also used as a key opportunity for creators to sell their works, or find publishing deals to help distribute content to a wider audience. One great example of this came from last year’s festival, with virtual reality (VR) series Spheres managing to secure a seven-figure deal from distribution company CityLights, helped in part by funding network Kaleidoscope. For 2019, Kaleidoscope has announced a relaunch of its platform to help connect XR creators with investors, festival programmers, museum curators, and industry leaders.
Kaleidoscope has spent the last year redesigning itself from the ground up to include robust messaging, a directory of thousands of XR artists and innovators, and the ability for members to directly add projects seeking investment, distribution, festival and museum curation, and other opportunities.
And probably most helpful for indie creatives, the platform has now dropped its $199 USD per month membership, making it completely free to join.
The biggest change to how Kaleidoscope is run comes from its new review and approval system. Previous decision-making was handled by a few executives. This has now been altered so that all curatorial control will be overseen by an independent Review Committee made up of 25 members from the community. The body will approve new members, curate projects for special programmes like DevLab, and manage the community at large.
“When selecting projects or approving new members, it’s incredibly important to me that curatorial decisions are made by a diverse and representative committee of your peers,” said René Pinnell, founder and CEO of Kaleidoscope in a statement. “Our mission at Kaleidoscope has always been to empower independent artists. Handing over curatorial control is just our latest effort to put XR creators in the driver’s seat.”
“The biggest challenge independent artists face is fundraising,” said Pinnell. “And the current system for financing projects is hopelessly broken. Just look at Orson Welles, one of greatest filmmakers of all time, who struggled for most of his career to raise money. But at Kaleidoscope, we’re inventing a new future where artists are in control, where talent is rewarded, and where fundraising is open and accessible. The launch of Kaleidoscope’s new platform is an important step toward achieving this dream, but just one of many. Expect more announcements in the coming months.”
As Kaleidoscope continues to help more creative projects get off the ground VRFocus will keep you updated.
KaleidoscopeSundance Film Festival
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A man walks by a COVID-19 test pod at the Vancouver airport in this undated handout photo. A study has launched to investigate the safest and most efficient way to rapidly test for COVID-19 in people taking off from the Vancouver airport. The airport authority says the study that got underway Friday at WestJet’s domestic check-in area is the first of its kind in Canada. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Vancouver Airport Authority *MANDATORY CREDIT*
COVID-19 rapid test study launches at Vancouver airport for departing passengers
Airport authority says that a positive rapid test result does not constitute a medical diagnosis for COVID-19
A study has launched to investigate the safest and most efficient way to rapidly test for COVID-19 in people taking off from the Vancouver airport.
The airport authority says the study that got underway Friday at WestJet’s domestic check-in area is the first of its kind in Canada.
The Calgary and Toronto airports have hosted studies to test passengers who are arriving, rather than departing, using the Health Canada-approved PCR test.
The study in B.C. involves researchers from the University of British Columbia and Providence Health Care, who are responsible for collecting the samples.
The airport authority says in a statement a positive rapid test result does not constitute a medical diagnosis for COVID-19 and those who test positive would have to undergo testing approved by Health Canada, with their flights cancelled or changed at no charge.
Dr. Don Sin, co-principal investigator and a professor at UBC’s faculty of medicine, says the study will help public health leaders understand how people who don’t have symptoms of COVID-19 are contributing to the spread of the illness.
“We know that asymptomatic carriers exist, but what we don’t know is exactly how common it is,” he says in a statement.
The airport authority says that prior to launching the study, researchers evaluated several rapid tests that use nose swabs and oral rinses, and passengers’ test results should be available within 20 minutes.
It says researchers plan to submit the results for publication in a peer-reviewed journal once the study wraps up, in an effort to contribute to a future testing framework for the aviation industry.
The study is open to WestJet passengers who are B.C. residents between the ages of 19 and 80, and who haven’t tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 90 days.
READ MORE: Strong support for pre-flight COVID testing ahead of upcoming WestJet trial
CoronavirusVancouver International Airport
Indigenous actor, author, elder, leaders appointed to Order of Canada
COVID-19 cases in Canada remain on troubling course, Tam says, amid rising numbers
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Countries Travel destinations all over the world. More than you could possibly hope to visit in a lifetime, but go for it. We help you find what is the most interesting, newest, most exotic and charming travel destinations in this world of ours.
Africa Africa as a continent is where we all come from as a species, and where we are on our way to, as the food writer and globetrotter Anthony Bourdain said so precisely. Our eyes open to the great continent as an economic and political power these years, but also as a fantastic destination from Tunisia in the north to South Africa.
America America is understood here as the entire American continent covers North America and South America, also collectively referred to as “the New World”. The total population is just over 1 billion, of which 65 percent live in one of the three countries the USA, Brazil, and Mexico.
Antarctica With most of the land mass located south of the Polar Circle, Antarctica is the southernmost continent in the world. The South Pole is completely surrounded by the Southern Ocean which is connected to the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean. T
Beijing den forbudte by fra vandet
Asia Visit Asia. This is the biggest continent of all. The entire Asian continent covers a mass of countries, which, for the rest of the world, is a myriad of destinations for holiday and leisure.
Europe Europe and the EU (28 countries in 2019) are second identities for many nationalities in this part of the world. As such, they exert a strong influence on their daily life, lives as a whole, and their future.
Middle East The Middle East covers a number of exciting destinations that many tourists have taken to a long time ago, and some new, we should clearly experience as well. They just waiting for a visit. Here are selected countries:
Oceania Oceania is immense. Difficult to define such an area precisely, we do know that it consists of 16 countries and at least as many territories, including, among others, Hawaii, (which actually belongs to another rather well-known country), Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, the largest countries in the group.
Africa Africa as a continent is where we all come from as a species, and where we are on our way to, as the food writer and globetrotter Anthony Bourdain said so precisely. Our eyes open to the great continent as an economic and political power these years, but also as a fantastic destination from Tunisia in the north to South Africa. 53 countries and 1.2 billion people are waiting.
Botswana antelopes
Ethiopia. Simien Mountains National Park. Imet Gogo peak and Giant Lobelia in the foreground
Mount Kilimanjaro and clouds line at sunset, view from savanna landscape in Amboseli, Kenya, Africa
mauritius lagoon
Namibia landscape from plane
Durban Golf Course South Africa early morning
sydafrika golf
Seychelles beach and wooden pier
Tunesia, relaxing
Nilen nær Jinja i Uganda
Zambia, Victoria Falls, sunset with rainbow, dramatic sky
America America is understood here as the entire American continent covers North America and South America, also collectively referred to as “the New World”. The total population is just over 1 billion, of which 65 percent live in one of the three countries the USA, Brazil, and Mexico. The largest cities in the continent are Mexico City (Mexico), New York (US), Sao Paulo (Brazil), Los Angeles (US), Buenos Aires (Argentina) and Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), all so-called megacities with is 10 million inhabitants or more.
Anguilla (British)
Montserrat (British)
Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba
Saint-Martin (France)
Antarctica Antarctica – ultimate place to visit With most of the land mass located south of the Polar Circle, Antarctica is the southernmost continent in the world. The South Pole is completely surrounded by the Southern Ocean which is connected to the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean. The continent covers an area of more than 14 million sq. km., making it the 5th largest continent in the world.
Asia Visit Asia. This is the biggest continent of all. The entire Asian continent covers a mass of countries, which, for the rest of the world, is a myriad of destinations for holiday and leisure. However, it is not a well defined geographical area. Sometimes overlapping with parts of Europe and other places. The most-traveled country in Asia is Thailand with millions of visitors every year. Not far behind are Cambodia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, China, Malaysia as well as several other favorite destinations. People often travel a long way to experience Asia: The dazzling nature, the exotic touch, and even the well-developed golf courses are alluring.
Bali, Pura Ulun Bratan
Sun temple - Buddhist shrine in the Himalayas
Sunrise view of popular tourist attraction ancient temple complex Angkor Wat with reflected in lake Siem Reap, Cambodia
japan-intro-pic-1
Mount Khüiten, Mongolia
Yangon, Myanmar skyline with Shwedagon Pagoda.
View of Singapore city skyline at sunset
Beautiful view of Kalpa village (2960 m) and Kinnaur Kailash sacred peak (6050 m) at sunrise. Spiti valley, Himachal Pradesh, India.
tyrkiet-anatolien
Europe Europe and the EU (28 countries in 2019) are second identities for many nationalities in this part of the world. As such, they exert a strong influence on their daily life, lives as a whole, and their future. Not only that, but Europe offers such a fantastic selection of travel destinations to choose from. Not many can say that they have visited them all, so there are plenty of new experiences to choose from for almost anyone – each has something unique, welcoming and special to offer. France remains, as always, one of the most popular travel destinations, not only in Europe but in the world, but there are numerous other small pearls just waiting for you to discover and explore, such as Montenegro or Moldova. Sometimes the most amazing travel experiences are those that are just around the corner! They are ideal, too, for just a short trip or city break. So take a look at what´s on offer and prepare to be surprised!
Catania-Sicily
Middle East The Middle East covers a number of exciting destinations that the Danes have taken a long time ago, and some we should clearly experience as well. just waiting for a visit. Here are selected countries: Ajman is Dubai’s relatively unknown “little brother” and the smallest of the 7 Emirates only a short drive from Dubai. Several Danish travel agencies arrange trips and excursions to this.
Abu Dhabi at dusk, United Arab Emirates
Bedouin on camel near pyramids and ankh in desert
Oceania Oceania is immense. Difficult to define such an area precisely, we do know that it consists of 16 countries and at least as many territories, including, among others, Hawaii, (which actually belongs to another rather well-known country), Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, the largest countries in the group. It was the Danish geographer, Malthe Conrad Bruun, who first defined the concept of this collection of water and land that is now officially recognized as a continent – where it is often a very long way indeed to the next neighbor! Land-wise, it is the smallest of the continents – a colorful mélange that was first settled 30,000-50,000 years ago. European explorers didn´t show up until the 16th century onwards. The total population numbers relatively few in comparison with the land mass. Australia has approximately 24 million inhabitants, and the small island nations typically have less than a million each.
country Australien
Fiji Islands huts
Road trip travel - girls driving car in freedom. Happy young girls cheering in convertible car on summer Hawaii vacations.
New Caledonia, seaside
A traditional hut in an Indonesian mountain village
Travel Ideas Travel interests from City Break to Adventure Holidays. Many vacationers go to traveltalk.travel to browse our several 100 articles based on travel interests. A good way to search for your desired vacation is to use the filter option and select a theme such as active sports or castle holidays, then combine it with the destination you’d like to visit. Click and see where your next possible travel maybe or just read more about it. Inside each topic in Travel interests, you will find a number of articles and inspiration about a theme such as a city break, plus a number of suggested destinations that specifically cover the selected travel interest.
Adventure Adventure vacation is a vacation type simply with a exotic destination or exciting activity you like, and with endless possibilities. Traveltalk features all kinds of adventure trips from the discovery of forgotten cities, in exotic jungles, air balloons, to a journey across the Alps. An adventurous journey lets you experience something different and delivers beyond the expectation of your vacation. Do you like to participate in an extraordinary adventure, an experience that brings memories for life? And you don´t even have to be Indiana Jones. So read on and find travel inspiration. We constantly find adventure travel and travel inspiration with the extra kick, and we share it with you. We have posts and travel ideas with lots of adventure trips from Antarctica to Iceland.
Active Vacation Looking for an active vacation? Traveltalk features active vacation opportunities and travel advice for vacation goers who want to do sports and activities for their leisure. You may want to practice and improve your skills in sports like cycling & running or experience unique and exciting activities such as surfing and mountain climbing. There are also new adventure sports which are considered new concepts such as “extreme sports” and more. An adventure and active vacation rarely involve being inside a badminton hall or swimming pool with little “risk” of fresh air and sunshine. Most of the time, your skill and training is a must when engaging in outdoor adventure sports.
Art and Culture Art museums, exhibitions, concerts are popular travel interests nowadays. You learn more about the culture of a country or a particular artist’s influence in his/her locale. The arts and culture vacation is getting broader and diverse experiences. As individuals, our travels leave a lasting impact that contributes to our growing wisdom and well-being. Some destinations are more known than others in cultivating art such as museums on major cities in classical Europe, New York, and other metropolis cities like Tokyo, Brazil, etc. These are our focus points, but traveltalk.dk also offers guides to art and culture that is a little harder to find than usual.
Camping Vacation The camping vacation is “here to stay”: There are approximately 140,000 registered caravans in small Denmark with 6 mill inhabitants as an example excluding 15,000 small campers. That is, about half a million caravans total. Danes have access to a camping vacation every year. Do they all make use of it? That’s another question, but that’s an impressive number nonetheless. Like a snail with houses on their back, Danish campers are all around Denmark. Rarely do they have to travel far away from their homes due to the abundance of campsites nearby major cities. Recently, Danish camping holidays in the small islands have become very popular and the go-to choice for many. This is because it lets you experience nature very closely and it is also easy to improvise using different camping methods.
Castle Holidays Castle holidays are super popular in countries like Italy, France, England, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, France, Austria, and Scandinavia. And more. Let’s then start with an example, a castle-break in the small and beautiful country of Denmark and slowly but surely work our way from there in 2019. In Denmark, a large number of castles, manor houses, and hunting lodges are available for private holidays and business use. Denmark has one of the oldest histories as a nation, and for centuries from ca. 1200 castles were established around the most beautiful places in Denmark. Some of these are now accepting guests. Castles are an excellent place for a different vacation, wedding, conference or family celebration.
City Breaks City breaks are defined by traveling to a destination with a lot to see within a short radius, and there are a pulse and a dynamic and many new impressions in a short period of time. City breaks and weekend breaks are the perfect type of vacation for a shorter trip with a maximum experience factor. A long weekend or a themed trip about experiences, culture and good food and wine. It is probably not the most perfect travel form for the family with children. The little ones get astonishing quickly tired legs and feel bored a little or much over being dragged from attraction to attraction.
krydstog intro
Cruises Cruises are a relatively new concept. Sailing like a snail with houses on your back just for pleasure is a newer holiday form in strong growth. In the good old days you could sail from Europe to “anywhere” with a commercial ship that brought goods or as a primary transport. Eg. to New York or to southern Spain to move on to Africa. It was the situation as late as the 20th century, but times are changing, but you can still book a cabin on a commercial cargo ship for a completely different transport at sea where the soul is all along. And there are still a number of direct routes that are not underpinned by the dominance of air transport.
Cycling holidays Cycling holidays are extremely popular in many countries like in cycling holidays first mover Denmark and Holland and now also in the UK and USA proved by extensive city planning for biking in as an example even New York. So it makes good sense to add it to an interesting way to travel, even in major cities. Let´s take Denmark first as an example It comes as no surprise given Denmark’s wide range of cycling facilities and infrastructure, that it is attractive for people to swop to cycling in densely populated cities. The country is also known for its successful cycling sports culture with lots of victories over the years at the highest level from the racecourse to mountain biking. In other words, the Danes are naturally adept at biking.
Diving vacation Diving Vacation Worldwide: Palawan, Australia, Belize, Cozumel, Honduras Diving vacation has become an extremely popular vacation choice from England to Egypt, from America to Australia as an active vacation concept or family interest or all-embracing hobby. “Diving vacation” defines a hobby or sport that provides amazing travel experiences in closeness with nature. Here we will gather travel inspiration and tips and stories about “diving vacation” from near and far.
Food and Wine Food and Wine that makes you feel good and well is worth a trip any given day. If you are a bit of a food enthusiast or a person with a specific taste for culinary adventure, then this type of holiday is for you.Think of gourmet restaurants like Noma i Denmark, the best restaurant in the world for a few years recently, which was/is visited by people from all over the world. Or your favorite food writer, now sadly demised Anthony Bourdain, who critically and lovingly illustrates the close link between food culture and the good friendships involved in the experience.
Golf Breaks Golf holidays are a huge hit especially during the winter months in many countries. Golf trips and golf traveling go to many destinations from Sweden to the Far East’s new major golf courses, which are of course especially popular in the winter months. At traveltalk.travel we follow the golf world closely, and we add new golf travel tips each month. We have already added golf courses in Abu Dhabi, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Turkey, France, Dubai, Thailand, South Africa, and many other golfing destinations.
Health & Fitness Health & fitness can easily be a part of your next vacation. All it takes is a bit of searching for the places, that provide your flavor of exercise. It’s nice to recharge physically as well as mentally during a vacation, perhaps by getting a little spoiled without renouncing the joy of travel life such as good food, wine, partying, seeing the sights. On the contrary. Spoil yourself a little or a lot. Ingredients could be massages, work-out, yoga, delicious juices, and healthy food, running on the beach and much more. We call it health and fitness as a travel interest. Train with your spouse, good friends or children or alone down at the beach in the morning. Go to a tai-chi or yoga class in a resort. Is it all about your wellness. Only you decide, what makes you happy.
Grootberg Canyon in Northern Namibia taken in January 2018
Sailing vacation Sailing vacation is a way to travel that captures the essence of adventure and relaxation in one term. Whether it’s on an trip to a few of the 700 Danish islands, or in the Greek archipelago or in Croatia, sailing holidays and boat holidays are some of the preferred holiday modes. Your sailing holiday can also be customized based on your personal skill or preference. It does not matter whether you choose to hire a captain or place yourself at the helm, with either big or small sails. You may also opt to travel at a relaxed pace on the French channels in a rented motorboat. Nothing is more relaxing and refreshing, not to mention perfect for family bonding and/or team-building. Traveltalk will bring you sailing stories from near and far.
South Luangwa National Park in eastern Zambia, the southernmost of three national parks in the valley of the Luangwa River, is a world-renowned wildlife haven
Safari Today, safari enthusiasts can bypass the arduous trekking of yesteryear to reach the depths of the African bush within 24 hours of an airport.
ski-intro-world-cup
Ski vacation A ski vacation for a week or so is very close to a national holiday in many countries, especially in Europe, but not exclusively. Whether near or far, millions of families and individuals travel each year to a skiing destination for the best vacation experience. New ski vacation destinations show up all the time. From exotic Japan or South Korea to Argentina. Here are some of the ski vacation destinations we cover at traveltalk.travel
Tunesia beach
Destinations Travel destinations all over the world. More than you could possibly hope to visit in a lifetime, but go for it. We help you find what is the most interesting, newest, most exotic and charming travel destinations in this world of ours. From New Guinea to New York.
Tourist Offices Selected tourist offices for major travel destinations. Click on the country for more travel info. This will provide you with the link to the tourist authorities in the country of your choice, but also open the door to all of Traveltalk´s info and relevant links at this site.
traveltalk.travel takes you around the world
Travel Agencies Traveltalk.dk collaborates with selected travel agencies around the world and has since 2018 short-listed selected tour operators and travel agencies with international reach, so you can easily find them here and plan your vacation having read relevant travel posts and advice at Traveltalk.travel.
Airlines Airlines from around the world Here you will find an overview of all major international route airlines. Below you will find links to our most-read profiles and descriptions for airports relevant to international travelers.
Airports Is there a flight from your place to there? How far to the nearest big city? Shopping opportunities? Links to booking on the fly, if you feel inspired. We will build that information as we go along and link it to posts about the best holiday destinations in the relevant countries.
Hotels Travel talk Hotels
Africa Vacation information to Africa Africa as a continent is where we all come from as a species, and where we are on our way to, as the food writer and globetrotter Anthony Bourdain said so precisely. Our eyes open to the great continent as an economic and political power these years, but also as a fantastic destination from Tunisia in the north to South Africa. 53 countries and 1.2 billion people are waiting.
America America is understood here as the entire American continent covers North America and South America, also collectively referred to as “the New World”. The total population is just over 1 billion, of which 65 percent live in one of the three countries the USA, Brazil, and Mexico. The largest cities in the continent are Mexico City (Mexico), New York (US), Sao Paulo (Brazil), Los Angeles (US), Buenos Aires (Argentina) and Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), all so-called megacities with is 10 million inhabitants or more. The topography is defined not least by the American Cordillera, a long mountain chain that literally runs Alaska and from Canada (Rocky Mountains) to Columbia in South America. The eastern side of the continent again seen north to south is dominated by large lakes and river systems such as Amazon, St. Lawrence River / Great Lakes basin, Mississippi , and La Plata . This continent stretches stunningly 14,000 km from north to south with enormous climatic variations from tundra in northern Canada, still icy Greenland and Alaska to the tropical rain forests of Central and South America.
Man sightseeing on small raft amongst beautiful Icebergs at Antarctica.
Europe Europe and the EU (28 countries in 2019) are second identities for many nationalities in this part of the world. As such, they exert a strong influence on their daily life, lives as a whole, and their future. Not only that, but Europe offers such a fantastic selection of travel destinations to choose from. Not many can say that they have visited them all, so there are plenty of new experiences to choose from for almost anyone – each has something unique, welcoming and special to offer. France remains, as always, one of the most popular travel destinations, not only in Europe but in the world, but there are numerous other small pearls just waiting for you to discover and explore, such as Montenegro or Moldova. Sometimes the most amazing travel experiences are those that are just around the corner! They are ideal, too, for just a short trip or city break. So take a look at what´s on offer and prepare to be surprised! In geographical terms, Europe is neither the largest continent nor the most heavily populated. Europe has just 750 million inhabitants, give or take a few, compared with Africa´s 1.2 billion or Asia´s 4.4 billion (2016). The global population is currently estimated to have rounded the 7 billion mark.
Middle East Looking for a trip to the Middle East? The Middle East covers a number of exciting destinations that the Danes have taken a long time ago, and some we should clearly experience as well. just waiting for a visit. Here are selected countries: Ajman is Dubai’s relatively unknown “little brother” and the smallest of the 7 Emirates only a short drive from Dubai. Several Danish travel agencies arrange trips and excursions to this.
Oceania Immense Oceania – a mind-blowing travel experience! Oceania is immense. Difficult to define such an area precisely, we do know that it consists of 16 countries and at least as many territories, including, among others, Hawaii, (which actually belongs to another rather well-known country), Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, the largest countries in the group. It was the Danish geographer, Malthe Conrad Bruun, who first defined the concept of this collection of water and land that is now officially recognized as a continent – where it is often a very long way indeed to the next neighbor! Land-wise, it is the smallest of the continents – a colorful mélange that was first settled 30,000-50,000 years ago. European explorers didn´t show up until the 16th century onwards. The total population numbers relatively few in comparison with the land mass. Australia has approximately 24 million inhabitants, and the small island nations typically have less than a million each.
Tourist Offices Tourist offices, a wealth of useful travel information Selected tourist offices for major travel destinations. Click on the country for more travel info. This will provide you with the link to the tourist authorities in the country of your choice, but also open the door to all of Traveltalk´s info and relevant links at this site. These sources of information provide valuable information and assistance to travelers both over the phone, on their website and on personal attendance. Traveltalk collaborates with several of these tourist representations and thus has access to updated travel information and travel information from many relevant sources.
Englands Tourist Office Visit Britain is an invitation to no less than 4 excellent travel destinations close to each other and with a deep shared history and yet with each their own individual personality, landscape, and culture. London has gradually become synonymous with England from a travel perspective. When did you last visit to Liverpool on holiday? Or Newcastle? Or Manchester? Or Wales or Scotland or Northern Ireland. Perhaps if you are a die-hard football fan of premier- league team, then you do or a more adventurous type of person. But relatively few are familiar with the English countryside, and most catch only a glimpse of it from their seat in the train, traveling between the airports surrounding the capital.
France Tourist Board La Belle France, the world’s most popular travel country France is the world’s most visited travel country with over 80 mill. visitors coming from all over the world seeing all of France from Alsace to Provence. France has an official tourism website, which will also show you if your country has it own French tourist office and where. Here at traveltalk.dk you can read about the 7 most important wine regions, about the rich culture and about ski trips etc.
Norway Tourist Office Norway. Amazingly beautiful is the land of the fjords Norway is one of the most incredible destinations. We love the country in the winter as much as in the summer. It is a geographically huge country with a difference from north to south, which is overwhelming for everyone. There really is a need to know much more about the travel possibilities in Norway. The great travel experience may well be towards the North. Maybe the best part of the country is the people: Open, friendly and with a great sense of humor as shown in the Netflix comedy series Lilyhammer.
Portugal Portugal – one of the sunniest destinations in Europe For many of us, Portugal is synonymous with sunshine, and a people as warm and welcoming as its climate. One of the southern European destinations, it is situated on the Iberian peninsula, with the Atlantic on both its western and southern coasts, and a land border shared with Spain to the north. Out in the Atlantic Ocean lie the islands of Madeira and the Azores which have a degree of autonomy from Portugal. Madeira, in particular, is a very popular destination.
Spain Tourist Office Spanien er et kæmpe rejsemål for danskerne snart i mange år, fra Barcelona over Madrid til Malaga og Mallorca. Et stort land på alle måder. Traveltalk vil dele rejseviden, inspiration og tilbud med vore læsere løbende. Det spanske Turistkontor i Danmark Spanien er repræsenteret i Danmark med eget Turistkontor, et godt sted at besøg før sin næste rejse til Spanien. Se mere her
Visit Sweden Sveriges Turistkontor hjælper os, når vi skal på ferie i Sverige, Vort store naboland hører til de meste besøgte for danskerne året rundt. Sverige er repræsenteret i Danmark med Sveriges Turistkontor, som enhver kan kontakte for mere information. Se link herunder. Der er kun fire kilometer mellem Helsingør og Helsingborg – mellem Danmark og Sverige – og dele af Sverige har været dansk i mere end 800 år.
Thailands Tourist Office Thailand er det største rejsemål for danskernes rejselyst i Asien Thailand er så ubetinget det største rejseland for danskerne i Asien med 175.000 årlige besøg herfra. Det varme gæstfri land er for danskerne et yndet og solbeskinnet rejsemål for hele familien, især i vinterhalvåret. Her bydes på Østens varme og gæstfrihed og oceaner af muligheder for rejseformer. Derfor er landet også et prioriteret emne her på Traveltalk.. Thailands turistkontor for Danmark ligger i Sverige. Se sitet her
Trinidad & Tobago Trinidad & Tobago, paradise clones Trinidad & Tobago is centrally located in the Caribbean with perfect climate and beaches as long as the eye can see. There is also an amazingly beautiful nature in the hinterland. But it is the dream beaches and a climate with 30 degrees heat during our long winter time and 30 degrees hot sea water most of the year that draws tourism.
Austrian Tourist Office Austria is one of the most visited travel destinations in Europe Visit Austria is the name of the official tourist website. Austria has the most dramatic mountain landscape, a great number of skiing places, Salzburg and Vienna for romantic getaways and city breaks, and summer vacation options with a wealth of activities from spa and wellness places, sailing the lakes to mountain biking and mountain walking or climbing.
Travel Agencies Traveltalk.dk collaborates with selected travel agencies around the world and will beginning of 2018 list a selected list of tour operators and travel agencies with international reach, so you can easily find them here and plan your vacation having read relevant travel posts and advice at Traveltalk.travel. We have already made a cool “travel configurator”, which a lot of people already use, to help you find either a destination to read more about or a trip interest like “skiing” or “city breaks”, then it lets you combine destination and interests for your search query. You’re one step closer to your next vacation. Traveltalk.dk believes that the more you are prepared, the better travel decision you make, and the happier you will be on your travels.
ABC Travel Service
Aboriginals making fire in the bush culture australia
Abercrombie & Kent If you want to travel in style. If you have ever wondered what it would feel like to live a life in luxury close to the white sands of the Mediterranean beaches, Abercrombie & Kent might be able to help you. Unfortunately, they cannot provide you the means to carry on living the lavish life of European royalty or some pop sensation, however, they can give you a snippet of that life. And what a snippet it is, indeed. Whether you prefer swimming in some of the planet’s most attractive beaches, a stroll along the Great Wall of China with the family or a safari holiday on first class, Abercrombie & Kent will take you by the hand and gently lead you down the paths of wonder and relaxation.
Alhind Tours & Travel
Artisans of Leisure Artisans of Leisure regularly top the charts when it comes to crafting luxurious and highly customized tours to a variety of culturally rich destinations. The artisans boast a top professional team, with many of the guides and organizers having spent multiple years living and traveling abroad themselves. This gives them unique insights into well-known tourist attractions and must-sees as well as how to drill deeper into the fabric of the destination’s culture and history if one so wishes.
Asia Transpacific Journeys (ATJ) When it comes to crafting tours encompassing the magic and mystery of East Asia and Oceania, there may be no tour operators as experienced and talented as the team behind ATJ. From Taj Mahal and the Hindu temples of India, through the mountains of Tibet and Nepal, across the sandy beaches of Thailand all the way to the lush jungles of Vietnam, ATJ has their finger on the pulse in each of these endearing locations. ATJ favors deep local knowledge and expertise and intimacy over larger unwieldy trips and groups, which is why their group trips have a maximum size of 18 people. Creating the atmosphere of a tight-knit group of friends or a family, ATJ delivers the top professional levels of service and knowledge of your destination of choice wrapped in the welcoming spirit of a trusted friend.
Bouteco
bunch of penguins sitting on melting ice floes in the antarctic region
Aurora Expeditions
Busabout
Tuscany Landscape
Classic Journeys Classic journeys handcrafts cultural walking adventures. That was the niche area the founder of Classic Journeys saw several decades ago and has pursued ever since. While based in La Jolla, California, they send travelers far and wide, across all regions of the planet. Swimming with warm-water penguins in the Galapagos, journeying to the remains of Machu Pichu in Peru or hanging out with indigenous rainforest tribes in Panama; Classic Journeys can provide travelers with these delights with a unique local touch.
Dream Vacations
Expedia Group
Green Traveler
Hurtigruten Hurtigruten is an almost iconic phenomenon. It started with shipping that has tied Norway together for over 100 years and still does. It has been further developed into an experience and personal development travel form that welcomes ship visitors from all over the world to a number of unique cruises that can be defined as a collection of unique nature experiences, combined with culinary pampering, knowledge acquisition of nature and history. You make new friends you’ve shared something unique with. Travel occasion may be private or in a framework of business meetings, celebrating an event and much more. You are your own explorer for a week or two in comfortable and safe surroundings with Hurtigruten.
Intro Travel
Omega World Travel
Dramatic sunset over Cite in Paris, France, with Conciergerie, Pont Neuf and river Seine. Colourful travel background. Romantic cityscape.
Pickles Vacations
Reiseservice Sacco
That Vacation
Vietnamese food: Spring rolls with vegetables and chicken. Spring rolls with vegetables and chicken
RIO DE JANEIRO, RJ /BRAZIL - MARCH 03: Rio Samba School Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel perform, especial group in Carnival 2014 at Marques de Sapucai on march 03, 2014 in Rio de Janeiro
Tucan Travel Tucan Travel is one of the absolute global heavyweights when it comes to adventure travels. With over 200 group tours across six continents and an age span stretching from 18 to 65 years, Tucan Travel has its finger on the beating pulse of the world’s most thrilling adventure spots. While the focus on adventure and active trips is clear as day, the company remains versatile in its capacity to accommodate the wishes of many different types of travelers. Tucan Travel mentions on their website that 60% of their travelers are “solo travelers” but still allows for sharing a room with a fellow traveler if one so wishes during the trips. This attracts both young and old, male and female and makes for diverse travel groups that are easy to fit into.
Topdeck
Vantage Deluxe
Virgin Holidays Virgin Holidays is part of the Virgin Group founded and owned by the iconic British businessman Richard Branson. The huge travel agency group has been arranging holidays for British and international travelers since 1985 and has one won several awards at the British Travel Awards for impeccable customer service and delivery. These include Best Holiday Company to the USA, Best Holiday Company for Weddings and Honeymoons, and Best Holiday Company to the Caribbean and Bermuda, just to name a few. This is the short list of main destinations
Zicasso
Aeroflot Aeroflot is a Russian, semi state-owned airline established in 1931. Aeroflot’s headquarters are in Moscow, Russia, and it is still widely considered as the de facto national airline of Russia. Besides operating a wide array of routes domestically from its main hub at Sheremetyevo International Airport, Aeroflot flies to over 50 countries and over 146 cities. Its main carriers are the Airbus A320-200, Airbus A321-200 as well as Boeing 737-800, all of which you will have a chance to explore first-hand if you book your next trip through Aeroflot.
airBaltic airBaltic, (formally: AS Air Baltic Corporation) is a state-owned Latvian airline and flag carrier. airBaltic is primarily run from its headquarters in Riga, Latvia while the airline maintains secondary hubs in neighboring Tallinn, Estonia and in Vilnius, Lithuania. This airline was originally created as a joint venture between SAS and the Latvian state but this partnership ended in 2009 when SAS sold all its shares in the venture.
AIitalia Alitalia is by far the largest Italian airline. Its main hub is the Leanoardo da Vinci/Fiumicino airport just outside of Rome. Other prominent hubs include the Linate airport in Milano as well as the Catania-Fontana Rossa Airport, Milan-Malpensa Airport, Palermo Airport, and Naples Airport. As of 2017, Alitalia clocked in as the 11th biggest carrier in Europe.
Austrian Airlines Austrian Airlines has been around since the 1950s. From modest beginnings, the airline has grown into a full-fledged quality carrier with a fleet counting 83 aircraft dipped in the red and white colors of the Austrian flag. Mostly consisting of Airbus planes, this main Austrian Airline offers in-flight entertainment on the Airbus A320-200 and both business and economy class seats. For those interested in such lavishness, Austrian Airlines also invites its passengers and frequent flyers to its lounges.
British Airways British Airways is one of England’s biggest aviation companies and remains the flagship carrier. BA’s main hubs are London Heathrow Airport (LHR) and Gatwick Airport (LGW). BA was founded in 1974 and is a founding member of the OneWorld Alliance. More than 160 destinations across Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, and Oceania can be reached by stepping onto a BA aircraft, including 6 domestic routes within England. BA does codeshare with 26 other carriers and its fleet tallies an impressive 295 aircraft, offering various travel experiences ranging from First Class, Business Class (branded as Club Europe or Club World), Premium Economy Class (branded as World Traveler Plus) and Economy Class (branded as Europe Traveler, World Traveler or UK Domestic).
Easyjet easyJet is a British airline and has been one of the most successful low-fare carriers since its inception in 1995. Its main hubs are London Luton at Gatwick Airport in native England. easyJet operates on more than 800 routes in more than 30 countries, relying on more than 11,000 employees to ensure passengers reach their destinations in the quickest and most enjoyable way possible. The relentless focus on making air fares as cheap as possible for the avid traveler has been achieved while still maintaining solid growth in the company as a whole, with many expansions and acquisitions of new aircraft since the company was founded more than 20 years ago.
Emirates Emirates has one of the youngest fleets in the world, which means that – on top of nothing short of extraordinary service and on-board entertainment – you can count on unparalleled comfort and the latest developments within cabin design, regardless of whether you’re flying coach or first class. Specifically, this airline from Dubai is relying on Airbus A380s and the spacious Boeing 777 to offer unforgettable flying experiences to passengers from all over the world.
Finnair Finnair is well-known throughout the Scandinavian countries where it has its routes. But Finnair is also a strong travel companion when the trip extends beyond European borders, with many routes to Asia going over the North Pole. This saves both time and fuel and can make for some breathtaking views of the indigo ocean and the arctic ice formations.
Iberia Iberia is the largest Spanish airline and operates predominantly from the Madrid-Barajas airport where they also manage their two subsidiaries: Air Nostrum & Iberia Express. Iberia Express operates short and medium-haul flights from the main hub in Madrid and serves as the company’s low-cost brand. The Spanish carrier flies to over 100 destinations across 39 countries and an additional 90 routes through partnerships using so-called “code-sharing”.
Jet Time It is a Danish airline that was approved by the Danish aviation authorities in 2006 and commenced operations the same year. After a few years of financial turbulence. The airline finished 2017 with positive earnings and great optimism. As of 2018, Jet Time has established a charter summer- and winter program to classic vacation hot spots in the Mediterranean with an increase in flights to Greece and Spain. Egypt is also waking from a tourism slumber, and Jet Time will reopen their Thursday flight to Sharm El-Sheikh with Atlantis Travels (Atlantis Rejser).
LOT LOT connects Central and Eastern Europe with the rest of the world and have done so with excellence for many years. Every year, more than 5 million travelers start their trip by boarding one of LOT’s 70+ planes. This airline delivers some of the quickest and most comfortable routes in and out of the Polish capital, Warsaw, as well as more than 60+ exciting destinations throughout Eastern Europe and beyond.
Lufthansa Lufthansa is the biggest German airline company and the biggest in Europe measured in fleet size if you include subsidiaries. Lufthansa operates 18 domestic destinations and a whopping 197 international destinations throughout 78 countries. Lufthansa has a strong network of partners and was one of the five founding members of Star Alliance, which in addition to Lufthansa includes United Airlines, Air Canada, Thai Airways and SAS. While Lufthansa’s corporate headquarters are located in Cologne, Germany, its main hub is Frankfurt Airport.
Norwegian Since its inception in the year 1993, Norwegian has grown to become the second largest airline in Scandinavia and the third largest in Europe and employs upwards of 5,500 people. Today, Norwegian operates out of 17 different airports, with the most traffic going in and out of native Oslo Airport in Norway. The airline operated 450 routes in 2017 throughout 35 countries in Europe, Africa the Middle East, Thailand and North America. Out of its many routes, 20 of them are to domestic locations – a testament to how vast Norway truly is.
Philippine Airlines Philippine Airlines (PAL) is Asia’s oldest commercial airline company and celebrated its 71 birthday in 2017. PAL and San Miguel, owner of 49% of the shares, succeeded in executing an aggressive growth strategy following the financial crisis between 2007 and 2012. While the aviation industry was in dire straits, Phillippine Airlines came through with a renewed and relentless focus on service and an upgrade to its domestic as well as international fleet that now counts 67 aircraft in total. In short, PAL is back on track – or rather, on the wings.
Qatar Airways Qatar is one of the richest countries in the world and is home to Qatar Airways who are surely known for their exquisite services in the sky. The airline was established in 1993 and remains owned and controlled by the government of Qatar. The main hub is Hamad International Airport in Qatar, more commonly known as Doha (DOH). From here, Qatar Airways offers a broad selection of routes to more than 150 destinations on all 6 continents except the South Pole.
Ryanair It’s no stretch to say that the Irish airline company Ryanair has revolutionized the commercial airline industry in Europe over the past decade. Led by notorious and controversial CEO Michael O’Leary, the airline’s focus on driving down costs and insisting on delivering the cheapest flights have made Ryanair the preferred airline of swaths of Europeans on a budget. While airline’s dominance as the low-cost carrier is a relatively new phenomenon, the company was founded more than 30 years ago and enjoyed many years as a small airline company, operating almost exclusively on UK routes.
SAS SAS is owned by Denmark (14,3%), Norway (14,3%), and Sweden (21,4%) and by a mix of private shareholders (50%). In other words, there is a 2:2:3 split between the three mainland Scandinavian countries in the ownership of the largest Scandinavian airline. Not surprisingly then, the company’s main hubs are Kastrup Airport (Denmark), Oslo Gardermoen (Norway) and Stockholm Arlanda Airport (Sweden). Founded in 1946, SAS continues to serve as a reminder of the strong historical and cultural ties between the Nordic countries, and the airline still maintains a strong presence in the heart and mind of many a Scandinavian traveler.
Singapore Airlines Singapore Airlines is an international and ambitious airline company based in Singapore. Singapore Airlines operates many routes throughout Asia as well as to and from Europe and America. The airline is considered by many peers in the industry and passengers as one of the best airlines in the world. Many awards have indeed been given to Singapore Airlines, recognition their supreme service and comfort in the air and on the ground.
Tap Portugal TAP Portugal is the Portuguese flag carrier and takes you straight to the well-known and beloved travel hot spots in Portugal such as the beautiful capital, Lisbon, coastal town Algarve, or Funchal on Madeira. Regardless of whether you’re looking to fly into your next golfing vacation or whether you’re ready to sit back and enjoy a glass of port wine in Porto, TAP is here to help. Due to Portugal’s colonial history, there are also plenty of routes to former colonies, such as Brazil. In fact, TAP Portugal has the highest number of departures for Brazil every week, counting roughly 60 every week.
Thai Airways You don’t have to be a royal to have a royal experience. Thai Airways is flying proof of that as they offer many different levels of service, equaling some of the very best airlines in the world. The Thai culture radiates as clear as day from the airline’s brand and the experiences provided to the many travelers that travel with Thai Airways every year. You may want to enjoy a refreshing beverage such as the Violet Breeze once you step onboard or simply sit back and relax as Thai takes you to your next destination.
Vueling Vueling is a Spanish airline owned and operated by private investors. The main hub and corporate headquarters are located in Barcelona El Prat airport in the Catalan city of El Prat de Llobregat by Barcelona in Spain. Vueling also has a secondary hub at Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy. The airline commenced operations in 2004 and had 70 destinations throughout Spain as well as the rest of Europe as of 2013 with the fleet consisting mainly of Airbus A320 planes.
Airports International Airports across the world See which are the most relevant international airports in the world for your travel plans, and what they can offer from a vacation/holiday perspective. Is there a flight from your place to there? How far to the nearest big city? Shopping opportunities? Links to booking on the fly, if you feel inspired. We will build that information as we go along and link it to posts about the best holiday destinations in the relevant countries.
Antalya Airport Antalya International Airport is located 13 km north-east of Antalya´s city centre in Turkey. Antalya International Airport handles over 20 million passengers a year. The airport is used primarily by charter services that fly foreign vacationers to the Turkish Riviera along the Mediterranean coast. So your holiday to Antalya and the other Turkish pearls along this coast begins right here!
Arlanda Airport Stockholm-Arlanda often referred to simply as Arlanda is Stockholm´s international airport, which is situated 42 km north of Stockholm and only 3 km from the suburb of Märsta. The airport is Sweden´s largest and is served by approx. 70 different airlines, which transported almost 20 million passengers to and from the airport´s 172 destinations in 2011, Copenhagen is the main destination/transfer point.
Barcelona Airport This airport, also known as El Prat has grown in importance as a gateway to Northern Spain Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, is one of Spain´s most beautiful cities. With over 7 million visitors a year, a well-functioning airport such as El Prat, situated just 14 km from Barcelona, is a must.
Billund Airport Billund Airport is Denmark´s jumping off point from the western part of the country. With over 3 million passengers a year it is undergoing a period of dynamic growth which will encourage more and more airlines to offer direct destinations from Billund. The ongoing expansion of its facilities makes Billund a convenient and comfortable airport to start your journey from or transit through, either for leisure or business travel.
Brussels Airport Brussels Airport is an international airport that offers a number of direct connections to and from Denmark. The airport is centrally located in relation to Brussels itself which is located only 12 km from the airport. A medium-sized airport, it handles over 23 million passengers a year. As well as the air traffic it handles, there are over 260 different companies located within the airport area.
Changi Airport In 2018, Singapore´s Changi Airport did it again! And it is, in fact, the 9th time altogether, since the World Airport Award for the world´s best airport was introduced in 2000. And make no mistake – that´s not an achievement to be taken lightly. It requires millions of votes, but airport customers have had their say. More about this to follow.
Charles de Gaulle Airport Charles de Gaulle International Airport is the largest and most important airport in France, situated just over 30 km north-east of Paris. With its 60 million passengers a year, it is not only France´s largest airport, it is also one of the largest in Europe. Transport links via motorways, scheduled rail services (TGV, Eurostar), regional and subway trains (RER B) and several bus lines provide direct connections to the airport.
Copenhagen Airport Copenhagen Airport in Kastrup is the largest airport in Denmark. Thanks to its many international routes, in addition to Copenhagen it also services the Zealand and Oresund regions and a large part of Southern Sweden. In 2013, the airport set a record with 24.1 million passengers, of which 22.2 million were international passengers. In 2015, the airport broke their own record, achieving a new high of 26,610,332 passengers, an increase of 3.8 % in total. This makes it the largest airport in the Nordic region. With its 22,000 workers at one address, the airport is Denmark’s largest employer.
Düsseldorf Airport Düsseldorf International Airport is one of Germany´s international airports, and is situated approx. 9 km north of Dusseldorf in the German state of North Rhine Westphalia. It operates as the major airport hub for the entire Rhine-Ruhr region.
Fiumicino Airport Rome Leonardo da Vinci Fiumicino Airport is the main airport in Rome. It is also the home-base of Alitalia, Italy´s largest airline. Rome Leonardo da Vinci Fiumicino Airport was established in 1961, when the air traffic was already exceeding the capacity available. It is the largest airport in Rome and was built to relieve pressure on Rome´s Ciampino Airport.
Frankfurt Airport Both SAS and Lufthansa offer a short, efficient direct service that takes 1 hr 30 min. to Frankfurt International Airport. Alternatively, you can drive it in ….just 10 hours! Frankfurt International Airport is a major international airport just 12 km outside Frankfurt am Main. It is the largest airport in Germany both in terms of passenger numbers and size.
Gatwick Airport London Gatwick Airport is London´s second largest, international airport with the highest volume of traffic in Great Britain after Heathrow, on a passenger- per -year basis. It takes just 1 hr. 47 min. to reach London from Copenhagen, and you land close to the city, which is a huge advantage. Several airlines have direct flights from Copenhagen to London Gatwick Airport, including Norwegian and EasyJet.
Haneda Airport In 2018, Haneda Airport in Tokyo was awarded third place in the prestigious Skytrax ”World´s Best Airports Awards”, after Changi Airport in Singapore who took first place for the sixth consecutive year and Incheon International (Seoul) – an impressive feat nonetheless, with 183 million nominations from travellers around the globe. It was also voted the World´s Best Domestic airport and the World´s Cleanest airport in 2018. Here are a few facts about the airport.
Istanbul Airport Istanbul har ikke mindre end to internationale lufthavne. Den anden er Istanbul Atatürk Airport, som ligger på den europæiske side af Bosporusstrædet, og denne Sabiha Gökçen Airport, som ligger på den asiatiske side af Bosporus.
Lisbon Airport Lisbon Airport (Aeroporto de Lisboa in Portuguese) is an international airport and is located 7 km north of the Portuguese capital of Lisbon. It is the most westerly airport in Portugal and handled 22.4 million passengers in 2014, and with its 211 destinations and 47 airlines, is an important European hub. It is also the major hub for onward connections to South America and Brazil in particular.
Oslo Airport, Gardermoen Oslo Lufthavn, Gardermoen er Norges største lufthavn. Den ligger i Ullensaker kommune, nær Jessheim i landskabet Romerike i Akershus fylke, ca. 35 km nordnordøst for Oslos centrum.
Palma de Mallorca Airport Palma de Mallorca Airport, Spain is Mallorca´s international airport. In 2009, it handles a total of 21,203,028 passengers, 177.492 aircraft movements (takeoffs and landings) and 17,086 tons of cargo, making it the country´s third busiest airport after Madrid-Barajas Airport and Barcelona Airport.
Paris-Orly Airport Is Paris’ second large, international airport and is situated partly in Orly and partly in Villeneuve-le-Roi, approx. 13 km south of Paris. Before Paris Charles de Gaulle International Airport was built, it was the major international airport for the city. Paris Orly Airport is the country´s second largest hub for both domestic flights and international connections, usually for departures to other points within Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Caribbean, and North and Southeast Asia.
Stansted Airport London Stansted Airport, London-Stansted eller blot Stansted er en engelsk civil lufthavn, der betjener landets hovedstad, London. Lufthavnens landingsbane blev indviet i 1969. Lufthavnen er beliggende i Uttlesford, Essex, ca. 40 km. nordøst for London
Suvarnabhumi Airport
TAP Air Portugal TAP Air Portugal is Portugal´s national flag carrier. You can, of course, fly to Lisbon and the Algarve with TAP, but you can also connect to the Azores, Africa or South America – all areas that are logical destinations given Portugal´s rich history of exploration. As Portugal is extremely dependent on tourism, TAP Air Portugal is an important player when it comes to bringing tourists to Portugal – and not only to Lisbon, but also to all four corners of the country.
Vienna International Airport Vienna´s Airport, officially known as Vienna International Airport, is located in Schwechat, 18 km southeast of Vienna´s city centre, and only 57 km from Bratislava. It is Austria´s largest airport and a hub for Austrian Airlines, Eurowings and Niki. It is an extremely busy airport with a wealth of connections to choose from – not only to Europe and Eastern Europe, but also direct flights to Asia, North America and Africa. Its annual volume of traffic is in the range of 25 million and growing.
Zürich Airport Zürich International Airport is one of the major airports in Switzerland. It lies 13 km north of the city centre of Zurich – the financial hub of Switzerland. The airport area actually includes parts of the municipalities of Kloten, Rümlang, Oberglatt, Winkel and Opfikon, all situated in the canton of Zurich.
Hotels worldwide Hotels worldwide is a selected list of interest of hotels with that special extra quality: Maybe a designer hotel, a boutique hotel or a hotel situated a beautiful spot worth the detour. Hotels worldwide is a gradual collection of posts, starting late 2018.
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Travel Gear Proper travel gear is equally important just for about any kind of holiday than most people think. By global flight standards, you only have 20 kilos in total for checked in luggage, and you’d need clothes, shoes and other travel essentials at the very minimum. Choosing the right travel equipment will help ensure you get the most out of your dream vacation. Do you have everything ready for your trip? Are all your personal effects, gadgets and necessary travel gear in place, as well as the absolute necessities such as passports, money and tickets? If not, check out our recommended travel gear below.
Newsletter Traveltalk News takes the pulse of travel news on new destinations, experiences and exciting travel opportunities worldwide. Traveltalk News is very strong on Europe and vacation in Europe. We deliver to you our most-read travel stories in a newsletter for the past month or so, plus a few deals and prizes that you simply cannot miss. Receive special offers and get a chance to win various travel-related goodies such as travel gear, accommodation, and tickets. It’s all part of the Traveltalk´s concept and our main objective is to bring more fun and savings to your dream travels. The only requirement to be eligible for these deals and prizes is to have an existing subscription to our newsletter.
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Travel Insurance With the new travel insurance regulations, a growing number of countries than before require a special travel insurance. Therefore, it is vital to read about how to best secure you and your fellow travelers – virtually regardless of destination, whether its a personal trip or business-related. All it takes is a couple of minutes and it even made easier with ERV.
Varadero, Cuba - June 21, 2017: American blue Chevrolet classic car with silver roof parked on the beach in Varadero Cuba - Serie Cuba Reportage
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Travel News 10 fascinating places to visit in Japan. Finally, we got to Japan. It should have been much sooner, the country is so beautiful, so stretched out between tradition and history and amazing high-tech and future visions.
Newsletter Traveltalk News takes the pulse of travel news on new destinations, experiences and exciting travel opportunities worldwide. Traveltalk News is very strong on Europe and vacation in Europe.
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PUNJAB INDEX
P U N J A B S T O R I E S
MPs’ grouses delay Punjab Cong list
New Delhi, January 10
With the Congress MPs from Punjab unbending on their demand for ticket to their relatives and confidants and former Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal expressing her reservations over ticket distribution and seat-sharing with the CPI, the Congress high-command is finding difficulties in releasing the list of party candidates.
Though elaborate exercises have been done over the past few days with the AICC Treasurer Motilal Vora meeting both PCC chief Amarinder Singh and party MPs from Punjab, little progress has been made to solve the issue of giving ticket to close relatives.
The high-command has indicated its willingness to accommodate claims of at least two MPs but others have told the central leaders that not getting tickets for their candidates would be a loss of face for them among the public.
At a meeting with Mr Vora today, five party MPs expressed concern over the “slackening” of party’s election campaign in Punjab as the ticket aspirants were camping in Delhi for the past many days. The MPs said the party should put a good show at the Maghi Mela in Muktsar on January 14. They urged the high-command to request Rajasthan and Delhi Chief Ministers to come for the Congress rally at the mela as the Shiromani Akali Dal has invited Chief Ministers of Himachal Pradesh, Haryana besides senior BJP leader Madan Lal Khurana for its political conference.
Sources said besides Mr Vora and Ms Ambika Soni, Ms Bhattal has also been invited for the Maghi Mela at Muktsar which falls in the parliamentary constituency of Mr Jagmeet Singh Brar. PCC chief Amarinder Singh is likely to preside over the rally. Stressing that party should “kick-start” its election campaign from the Maghi mela which would be the biggest congregation of people in the state before the Assembly poll, the MPs called for sending the “right message” to the electorate. Sources close to Ms Bhattal said at her meetings with the central leaders, she had conveyed her unhappiness at agreement with the CPI saying that many “winnable” seats had been given.
Ms Bhattal and Mr Brar are strongly esposuing cases of their candidates among the “pending seats’’ and the high-command is making efforts to strike a balance. Sources said Ms Bhattal had been able to convince the high-command about the claim of Mr Raj Khurana from Rajpura. She has also suggested names from Pakka Kalan, Nathana, Sardoolgarh, Malerkotla, Sangrur and Dhanola. The Congress high-command has apparently decided to give ticket to relatives of two of the six MPs as their cases were close to the guidelines fixed for deciding the party ticket.
Sources said while not agreeing to the demand of other MPs, whose relatives were considered relatively inexperienced, the high-command has asked them to have some other candidate of their choice from the seats they were seeking.
The high-command seems convinced about the claims of MPs in the seats of Muktsar and Sham Churasi. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal is likely to contest from one of the seats in Muktsar and his relatives may also contest from adjoining constituencies. The Congress wants to put up strong candidates in these seats even if guidelines for ticket had to be somewhat relaxed. Except Ms Parneet Kaur and Mr Charanjit Singh Channi, all other party MPs have met Mr Vora in the past two days. The MPs have also raised the issue of some rich industrialists and persons having links with militants figuring as party candidates.
Akali politics, brain teaser
P. P. S. Gill
Chandigarh, January 10
Punjab politics revolve around Akali (Sikh) politics which is a brand of politics with a curious mix of religion. It is a puzzle.
The Punjab political system has been marked by a long spell of President’s rule due to either the Centre-state political mismatch or terrorism. Therefore, no previous election, that for Parliament or Assembly, provides a clear and cogent insight into the Punjabi political mind or can be considered a “model” for a forecast to elections-2002.
The past elections have been marked by unforeseen developments, emerging from one or the other kind of euphoria since the first election in 1969 held three years after the reorganisation of the state at the end of a long-drawn struggle by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) when the Akalis were voted to power.
Indira Gandhi’s slogan, “Garibi hatao”, brought the Congress back in 1972. After the Emergency in 1975, the Congress was trounced in the Assembly and Parliament elections in 1977.
The Janata Party government took over in New Delhi and Chandigarh. Its misrule and varied interests got it kicked out in 1980, bringing in the Congress. Then came terrorism and Operation Bluestar (1984). After an accord was signed between Rajiv Gandhi and Sant Harchand Singh Longowal, Punjab went to the polls in a climate of fear: at gunpoint in 1985. The perceived “friendly match” between the Congress and Akalis enabled Mr Surjit Singh Barnala to form the government. That also split the SAD. Then Mr Parkash Singh Badal and Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra were together.
Soon, terrorism grew deep roots and spread, turning Punjab’s grain producing green fields red. The SAD sarkar was sacked. The next elections in 1992 were boycotted by the SAD due to a threat held out by terrorists. The Congress returned with Mr Beant Singh as the Chief Minister.
This was a turning point in Punjab politics. Terrorism was contained and peace restored. Therefore, when the SAD decided to contest the February 1997 elections, it had a new ethos reflected in its policy in the wake of the 1996 Moga convention— “Punjab, Punjabis and Punjabiat” . It opened its party door to the Hindus. If today, the Akalis have completed a full five-year term, they should remember peace was gifted by the Congress. Earlier, the Akalis’ participation and performance in a string of elections —panchayat and municipal, byelections to the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha— between 1992 and 1997 — is all recent history.
Looking at the track record of the SAD, it is apparent that Akalis, in every respect of their religio-political life, have remained “ill-matched”. They have spent more time nursing their bruised egos, while fighting in the name of the Panth. For them, trading charges in the name of “religious misconduct, betraying the Panth, defying Akal Takht, stabbing the party in the back, indulging in nepotism etc.” are common traits. So, is their art of stoking religio-political sentiments to prove themselves right and the others wrong.
The Akalis had romped home with 75 Assembly seats in 1997. Now when Elections-2002 are at the doorstep, they are left with 62 MLAs. The other 13 MLAs owe allegiance to Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra. Is this the final positioning of Badal-Tohra? Wait and watch!
The SAD contested seven byelections from May, 1997, to February, 2001. It won five and the Congress two. The Akalis were up in the 1998 and down in 1999 Parliament elections.
Traversing the course of the Akalis over the past decades, one finds that unlike any other political party, the SAD has constantly split and united. At one time, there were six factions, each claiming to be the “real” one.
The SAD has another distinction. It is the only party without a permanent office, record or accounts. It is always confined to whosoever is the “President”.
Malwa has always been the citadel of the Akalis. An overview of the past elections in Punjab shows that “alliances” played an important role. The key parties, the Congress, the SAD, the BJP, the BSP, the CPI, the CPM etc. have all at one or the other election-time had alliances. Therefore, different types of assimilations and eliminations emerging among the key political parties is neither new nor unexpected. Any line-up is possible any time. This is so despite all parties being ever ready to get at each other’s jugular.
The word “Akali” means “spirited”. The belief is that an Akali is one, who has been ordained by the divine power to fight against “evil, injustice and inequality—religious, social, economic, political, cultural”. This an Akali does in a state of mind in which he voluntarily undergoes suffering without feeling of “anger, rancour, revenge or violence, thereby, subliming his suffering into sacrifice”.
Will the SAD repeat its 1997 performance? It is banking upon performance and peace. It may claim an advantage over the Congress that has failed to put its act together since the assassination of Beant Singh in 1995. But the Akalis may find it difficult to answer corruption charges. The anti-incumbency factor is pretty strong against them. Both charges stick to them.
PUNJAB BACKGROUNDER-I
It has been tussle between Congress, SAD
Prabhjot Singh
Punjab is one of those states, which after continuous Congress domination till 1966 , has been witnessing a fierce tussle for power between a national party — Congress — and a state party — Shiromani Akali Dal — since then.
For the past 34 years, these two major political opponents have been ruling the state alternately, punctuated with spells of varying periods of President’s rule. Incidentally, Punjab has had the rare distinction of remaining under President’s rule, at different times for a total of more than eight years since Independence. This is, perhaps, the longest in any state in the country.
The Congress has had five full-term governments — those of 1952, 1957, 1962, 1972 and 1990. And the Shiromani Akali Dal made history this time by completing its first full term in office since Independence.
The Akalis tasted power for the first time in 1967 when they had the entire Opposition united against the Congress to form the United Front government. In 1985, they graduated to absolute power, winning 73 of the 100 Vidhan Sabha seats they contested.
In the 1997 elections, they took this supremacy for power a step further by improving their individual tally to 75 out of 92 seats contested by them.
Looking back, when elections were called in Punjab in 1946, the Muslim League emerged as a major political force. The British had been successful in deliberately communalising the political scenario, which, unfortunately, has remained unchanged even after 56 years. The British had cleverly defined Muslim, Hindu and Sikh seats. The Congress, the second largest party in pre-Partition Punjab, had 51 legislators, of which 40 were Hindus, 10 Sikhs and one Muslim and was clearly accepted as a secular party.
It continued to enjoy this status in Punjab till the 1984 developments. Operation Bluestar, the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and the anti-Sikh riots were the developments that alienated this party largely from the Sikhs.
In the 1946 elections, the Akalis had won 22 Sikh seats. The Unionist Party, which rose above communal and religious lines, won 20 seats.
After Partition, it was the Congress which emerged as the single largest party. Dr Gopi Chand Bhargava became the first Congress Chief Minister of Punjab. After an initial love-hate relationship with the Congress, the Akalis merged with the ruling party. The Congress, though divided into Bhargava and Sachar groups, saw Mr Bhim Sen Sachar replacing Dr Bhargava as the Chief Minister in April, 1949.
The first General Election in Punjab was held in 1952, wherein the Congress swept to power by winning 122 of 186 seats by polling 34.8 per cent votes. The Akalis were the next with 33 seats by getting 14.7 per cent votes.
In the 1957 elections, the Congress-Akali combine won 120 seats, including 28 won by the Akalis. A year later, when the Akalis started the Punjabi Suba Morcha, it asked all its 28 MLAs to come out of the government. Only seven came to revive political autonomy of the Dal.
The first test for the Akalis came in the 1962 elections when they sought the people’s verdict with Punjabi Suba as the main issue. Of the 42 seats contested by them, they won 19. The Jan Sangh won eight seats against 90 won by the Congress for its third successive government in the state.
The Dal could not stay together as it was divided into Sant Fateh Singh and Master Tara Singh groups. As the demand for Punjabi Suba gained support, the state was brought under President’s rule after Mr Ram Krishan, the then Chief Minister, quit on June 22, 1966. The Union Government announced the creation of a unilingual Punjabi state by carving out Hindi speaking areas and formed a new state of Haryana, besides declaring Chandigarh as a Union Territory and making it the joint capital.
(To be concluded)
SAD keeps unity door ajar
With the release of the second list of 24 candidates for the Assembly elections, the ruling SAD has cleared the names of a total of 67 candidates. The first list of 43 was made public on December 24.
Significantly, the ruling SAD President, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, has left the unity door ajar by not naming any candidate for the 10 constituencies represented by those Akali MLAs who now owe allegiance to Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra.
The list shows that out of 11, Mr Badal has filled the two slots of Zira in Ferozepore and Joga in Mansa district. While, Mr Hari Singh Zira replaces Mr Inderjit Singh Zira on the Zira seat, Mr Jagdeep Singh Nakai has replaced Mr Baldev Sing Khiala on the Joga seat. Mr Inderjit Singh and Mr Khiala are among the 13 Akali MLAs who are now in the camp of Mr Tohra. In the first list, Mr Badal had nominated Mr Ujaggar Singh Badali in place of Mr Ravi Inder Singh for the Morinda seat in Ropar.
The other noticeable changes in the list are in respect of Sangrur, where two ministers, Mr Ranjit Singh Ballian and Mr Gobind Singh Kanjla, do not figure. In place of Mr Ballian, the Sangrur seat has been given to Mr Sanmukh Singh Mokha and the Sherpur seat, represented by Mr Kanjla, to Mr Piara Singh.
The list shows that Mr Gagandeep Singh, son of Mr Surjit Singh Barnala, has been given ticket from Dhuri, while Mr Parminder Singh, son of Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, has already been nominated from Sunam. This is, in a way, a balancing act by Mr Badal, who is conscious of the deep-rooted infighting in Sangrur. But at the same time, denial of ticket to Mr Ballian and Mr Kanjla is being talked about. Both are believed to be close to Mr Barnala.
With this step, Mr Badal has given a further impetus to the poll campaign that he launched from Tanda on January 5. The other aspect is that despite his criticism of the Panthic Morcha, he has kept the hope of unity alive. This is also seen as a tactical political move to either woo the remaining 10 Akali MLAs loyal to Tohra or to create confusion in the Morcha constituents on seat-sharing and adjustment with other parties. It is also interpreted to mean that Mr Badal has an open mind on unity with only one objective: defeat the Congress. The other message to the masses being conveyed could be that the SAD had no pre-conditions for unity except willingness to ensure that the Congress was kept out of power.
Out of 24 seats that the SAD had given to the BJP in 1997, the latter had won 18. Now the two coalition partners have reportedly reached an understanding on seat-sharing, with the chances of winning as the only criterion. Therefore, leaving aside those 24 (BJP may eventually end up with 26 seats in its kitty), plus 67 that SAD had announced, there remain 26 seats for which the announcement is awaited.
Convention opposes fee hike in colleges
Cautioning the Punjab Government against reducing the 95 per cent grant-in-aid to non-government aided colleges, a convention on ``Save higher education’’, organised at Panjab University here today, flayed the recommendation on the generation of funds by hiking fee and making higher education an ``expensive affair’’.
Organised by the Joint Action Committee (JAC) comprising the federation of managements and principals, the Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union and the non-teaching staff of the colleges, the convention, the first of its kind, was aimed at mustering the support of society against the inevitable fee hike.
The Chairman of the JAC, Dr Ishar Singh, said that the tussle between the colleges and the government was not for teachers’ salaries or funds for college managements alone.
“We are fighting for the students who will suffer the most on account of increased charges. A cut in grants will have a direct bearing on society since education will be completely out of bounds for the salaried class,’’ he added.
The general secretary of the Principals Federation, Mr P.S. Sangha, said that the SAD-BJP government had failed to implement its election manifesto of 1997 to bring all colleges and additional posts created after November, 1981, under the 95 per cent grant-in-aid scheme.
Expressing strong resentment, the JAC leaders said that the 172 non-government colleges were finding it difficult to maintain high standards on account of increasing expenditure due to infrastructure upgradation and improved teaching through the use of specialised aid.
They alleged that ``under an arbitrary decision’’, the government had failed to release Rs 100 crore pending salary grants since 1999, including Rs 21 crore UGC pay scale arrears, when these colleges were taking care of 80 per cent of the students.
Two student leaders, Raminder Singh of the Punjab Students Union, and Kashmir Singh, secretary in the All-India Students Federation, stressed the need for taking the issue of fee hike to all colleges of the state and involving society as a whole. Among those who addressed the convention were Dr A.C. Vaid, convener, Principal Tarsem Bahia, Prof K.B.S. Sodhi, Principal Bharpur Singh, and Prof G.S. Kahlon, PCCTU.
Meanwhile, the spokesperson of the JAC, Prof Charanjit Chawla said that if the pending issues were not resolved, colleges would be closed and rallies held in the constituencies of the Chief Minister and ministers of the SAD-BJP government during the coming assembly elections.
Badal visits border villages, promises help
Chander Parkash and Anirudh Gupta
Ferozepore, January 10
Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, who visited various villages located near the Indo-Pakistan border in the district today, said suitable compensation would be given to those whose crops had been damaged due to deployment of the Army on the border.
Mr Badal, who visited Hussainiwala, Gatti Hazara Singh Wala, Gatti Rajo Ke and Bareke despite his physical constraints, interacted with the Army personnel and appreciated their role and contribution in protecting the honour of nation.
He said he had made Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee and Mr George Fernandes aware of the problems being faced by the border people. He added that the orders for carrying out a special girdawari had already been issued and Rs 1 crore had been given to the district. He added that suitable help would be given to those labourers who were residing in the border areas. The DC and SSP had been directed to help the people, he added.
Later, Mr Badal while addressing a party rally in the city added that Punjab had been getting step-motherly treatment by successive Congress governments.
Later, while talking to mediapersons he refused to comment when asked about the state government’s reaction in connection with the transfer of Deputy Commissioners of Kapurthala, Muktsar and Amritsar districts and said he did not want to get entangled into any sort of controversy. He further said the Punjab Government was abiding by the instructions of the Election Commission and it was committed to conduct the elections in a free and fair manner.
He stated that another list of party candidates would be released within two days. When asked that the BJP was demanding more than 23 seats for the coming assembly elections, Mr Badal said it was an internal matter and would be sorted out. Mr Zora Singh Mann, MP, Mr Janmeja Singh Sekhon, Punjab Irrigation Minister and various MLAs and party leaders were among those present on the occasion.
Unity chances dim, says Badungar
Chak Fatehsingwala (Bathinda), January 10
The chances of unity between the Shiromani Akali Dal (B) and the Sarb Hind Shiromani Akali Dal (SHSAD) are dim and Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, former SGPC president is responsible for it.
If Mr Tohra was sincere in his efforts to forge a unity between the two Akali Dal factions he should not have laid down preconditions for the same.
This was stated by Mr Kirpal Singh Badungar, President, SGPC while addressing a rally here today. He said if the SHSAD wanted to stop the Congress from coming to power after the Assembly elections in the state it should think sincerely about the unity moves started by various persons who had influence over the Akali politics.
“The talks about unity had almost reached their conclusive end if Mr Tohra had not laid down preconditions,” said Mr Badungar.
Though unity moves had failed to yield any positive result yet he was optimistic that in the coming days it could start again.
Mr Badungar did not speak about inclusion of other factions of the Akali Dal in the unity move. He also failed to tell about any solid formula that could help bring Mr Tohra and Mr Badal closure.
Meanwhile, the list issued by the SAD (B) today included the candidate for Zira constituency which could have gone to the Tohra faction in case of unity between the two groups.
Lok Bhalai Party names three nominees
Samana, January 10
Mr Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, MP and President of the Lok Bhalai Party of India, addressed an election rally in Doger Bazar here today. It was organised by the local unit of the party. He announced that his party would contest 90 seats in Punjab.
He declared the names of candidates for three seats in Patiala district. From Samana, the party will field Mr Rajbir Singh Dhillon, from Shutrana (Reserve) the candidate is Mr Pyara Singh advocate, and from Dakala, Mr Janak Raj Kulbanu. He alleged that the Congress and SAD in Punjab were selling ticket to aspiring MLAs for Rs 20 lakh or more.
He criticising Mr Parkash Singh Badal, CM of Punjab, Capt Amarinder Singh, President of the PPCC, and Mr G.S. Tohra, president, SHSAD, said they were chips of the same block.
JDU to contest 20 seats
Amritsar, January 10
The Janta Dal United (JDU) will contest 20 seats in the forthcoming elections in Punjab. This was informed by Mr Arun Kumar Srivastva and Mr Jaspal Singh Kapoor, national general secretary and state president of the JDU, respectively, in a press conference here today.
However, the number of seats could be adjusted if the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) forged an alliance with the JDU. Talks were going on with Mr Parkash Singh Badal, President, SAD, in this regard, he said.
The party will contest two seats in Amritsar. It planned to contest in Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Sangrur, Ferozepore, Ropar and Kapurthala also.
INTUC firm on seat demand
The Punjab unit of INTUC has called a meeting of its executive at Kapurthala on January 12 expressing apprehension that the Congress is not going to allot 10 assembly seats to it as demanded from the party high command.
This was announced today by its organising secretary, Mr Subhash Sharma, who said it seemed the Congress was not serious about giving its labour wing adequate representation in the state Assembly elections.
The organisation said the 10 seats included Jalandhar and Kharar where the labour class could play a vital role.
BJP ‘rath yatra’ reaches Nawanshahr
Nawanshahr, January 10
The “rath yatra” being taken out by the Punjab unit of the BJP reached here today. Some senior leaders of the BJP were present to welcome it. The State BJP president Prof Brij Lal Rinwa, while addressing the gathering on the occasion, said the people should compare the achievements of the SAD-BJP government during the past five years and the “misrule” of the Congress in the past 45 years before making a decision.
Promoted on minister’s recommendation?
Bathinda, January 10
The Diploma Engineers Association of the Punjab State Tubewell Corporation has alleged that an assistant engineer of the department has been promoted as Sub-Division Engineer by superseding 35 seniors on the recommendation of a Punjab minister.
The union alleged that for promoting, the engineer five annual confidential reports were prepared afresh to show his performance as outstanding. The union members added that the performance of the engineer was not good during the past five years.
Mr Sarabjit Singh Toor, chairman, and Mr Amrik Singh Bedi, press secretary of the union, respectively, said in a press note issued here today that they had asked the management of the department not to promote the official when he did not deserve the same. They alleged that the said engineer was promoted on an earlier occasion by violating the rules but due to the pressure of the union he was demoted.
A meeting of the association was held at Ludhiana recently in which they decided to launch an agitation if the promotion orders of the engineer were not taken back.
Stay order against Kewal Singh cancelled
Giani Kewal Singh, Jathedar, Takht Damdama Sahib, could face rough weather as the stay on the operation of orders of a lower court, issuing summons and non-bailable warrants against him, his son and a family member, was cancelled today by the Additional District and Sessions Judge, Mr Surjeet Singh.
The Jathedar who has been booked in a criminal case along with his son, Baljinder Singh, and a family member, Joginder Kaur, under Sections 304-B and 34 in connection with death of his daughter-in-law, Sharanjeet Kaur, had got a reprieve on June 14, 2001, when the District and Sessions Judge, Mr B.C. Rajput, had stayed the operation of the lower court issuing summons and non-bailable warrants against him and his relatives. The case was later shifted to the court of Mr Surjeet Singh.
However, it could no be ascertained whether the non-bailable warrants issued by Mr Jatinder Singh Bheniwal, Judicial Magistrate, Talwandi Sabo, against them on June 11 were still in force or new orders would be issued.
The case against Giani Kewal Singh, Baljinder Singh and Joginder Kaur was registered on the directives of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in connection with the death of the Jathedar’s daughter-in-law on May 18, 1997, under mysterious circumstances. When the police failed to take any action against the accused, Mr Amarjit Singh, brother of Ms Sharanjit Kaur approached the court through a writ petition.
The case took an interesting turn when after registering the case against the accused, an application in the court of the Judicial Magistrate, Talwandi Sabo, was filed by the then SHO, Talwandi Sabo, for cancellation of the FIR, claiming that all three had been found innocent.
Sharanjit Kaur, who got married to Baljinder Singh in 1996, was found dead under mysterious circumstances in 1997. Her body was found from the sarovar of Likhan Sar Gurdwara located in front of the official residence of Giani Kewal Singh at the Takht Shri Damdama Sahib complex.
Pressure had mounted on Giani Kewal Singh to quit in June 2001, when high priests including Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti, Jathedar, Akal Takht and Prof Manjit Singh, Jathedar, Kesgarh Sahib, had held an in-camera meeting to take stock of the situation.
Four die in mishaps
Phagwara, January 10
Four persons died and six others were injured in accidents due to poor visibility caused by thick fog that had engulfed the area today. All accidents took place on the G.T. Road between Phagwara and Chiheru.
Those killed have been identified as Sanjay and Mukesh, both aged 30 Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh, a scooterist Pawan Khana of Jalandhar and a cyclist Dev Raj of Khangura village. The vehicles involved in these accidents included two trucks, a Canter, a motor cycle and three cycles.
NTAS honours doctor, scribe
Patiala, January 10
The National Theatre Arts Society (NTAS), Patiala, honoured Dr H.S. Sohal and Mr Avtar Singh during a three-hour New Year cultural programme at Dr Khushdeva Singh Leprosy Patients Colony here yesterday.
Mr Gurbachan Singh Kakkar, president, NTAS, inaugurated the function. Dr Sohal, Head, Department of Orthopaedics, Aggarsain Hospital, Patiala, and Mr Avtar Singh, veteran journalist and chief editor of the Punjabi weekly Gairat, were given the Annual Khushdeva Singh National Integration Award 2002, consisting of a memento, shawl and cash award each.
Both recipients donated the award money to the colony. Dr Sohal announced financial help of Rs 5100 for the inmates of the colony and assured provision of bandages for them every month.
PSEB women celebrate Lohri
The PSEB women’s welfare association celebrated Lohri with great enthusiasm in the head office here today. A large number of women employees took part in the celebrations. Jaswinder Kaur, Sukhbir Kaur, Darshana Soni and Mandeep regaled the gathering with traditional Lohri songs.
The function was presided over by Mrs Surinder Bains. Mrs Meena Sharma, general secretary, and Mrs Harjit Walia, senior leader of the association, were also present.
Merger of PAU offices opposed?
Members of the Young Farmers Association have urged the government not to merge the agriculture extension offices, Krishi Vigyan offices and regional research centres of the PAU.
At a meeting held recently members of the association said these institutions were useful to farmers and merger would have an adverse effect on extension education. The farmers would have to face difficulties in getting information regarding new varieties of seeds, pesticides and other agriculture-related matter, they said.
Mr Sukhpal Singh Bhullar, president of the association, said they would seek the support of other farmers’ to urge the government to reverse the decision.
Hijack case: defence plea rejected
A local court today dismissed the defence plea in the Indian Airlines flight IC-814 hijack case seeking furnishing in the court the record of negotiations between the hijackers, UN and Indian diplomats.
Designated CBI Judge S.N. Aggarwal dismissed the plea of counsels who appeared on behalf of the three accused Abdul Latif, Yusuf Nepali and Dalip Bhujbal.
The court adjourned the case to January 15. The counsel had in their plea stated that the record of negotiations be placed in the court by the CBI, which investigated the case. The three were arrested from Mumbai. PTI
Holy book found burnt
Phillaur, January 10
A holy book was found burnt at a religious place at Dhand-Dhindsa village in Phillaur subdivision today.
DSP Satinder Singh while confirming the incident told the correspondent after his return from the gurdwara that a short circuit was the cause of the fire. He said he visited the gurdwara and found some fans, lights and other valuables also burnt in the fire.
Payment of retiral dues stopped
Sangat darshan bills, however, cleared
Lalit Mohan
Ropar, January 10
The stoppage of payments due to the financial crisis in the state has severely hit retirees. Sources said death-cum-retirement gratuity payments worth about Rs 55 lakh had been withheld since the past six months, delaying dues of about 100 retirees.
Similarly, other retiral benefits were also being withheld on flimsy grounds. A total ban on payments had been imposed from January, they said.
Mr Guresh Chander, a government employee who opted for voluntary retirement on September 30, said he had opted for the scheme due to acute financial shortage. He had hoped that he would get his dues soon but he had not even got his pension so far.
Similarly, many government employees who had retired in the past six months, were still visiting authorities concerned to get their dues and pension.
Advances from the provident fund (PF) had also been stopped. Hundreds of requests for advance withdrawals from the PF were lying pending. Thirtyfive such applications of the police department alone had been lying pending since the past six months. The employees alleged that PF was their own deposit and that government should have no right to stop its withdrawal.
The other payments which had been banned included office expenses, material supply, payment of special services, rent rates and taxes, travelling allowance and all kinds of arrears. The sources said the government had been withholding these payments which might prove to be an additional burden later.
Due to persistent pressure from those seeking payments, some of the treasury officers in the district had openly started refusing payments.
But for salaries and pensions, the only major payment cleared in Ropar during the past six months, were the bills of Rs 80 lakh cleared for the sangat darshan of the Chief Minister held on September 7 at Kharar.
The budget of the third quarter of this financial year lapsed on December 31. All above said payments had to be shifted to the next quarter, disturbing financial planning. The sources said if the current government kept postponing its financial liabilities, it would prove to be a huge burden on the next government.
CM’s assurance on officers’ transfer
Jalandhar, January 10
The Punjab Congress has termed the transfer of over 20 PCS officers by the Punjab Government as an “open” violation of the poll code of conduct “under the garb” of the Election Commission directions. The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, yesterday sought to clarify by saying that any wrongdoings in the list of transfer would be amended.
The Punjab Government had ordered the transfer of 20 PCS officers in the light of the Election Commission’s direction to transfer officers who had completed a tenure of four years at a place. The Punjab Congress alleged that the step had been taken to seek officials help in the forthcoming elections.
Mr Avtaar Henry, vice-president of the Punjab Congress Committee, said his party had taken up the matter with the Election Commission.
Bid to sell girl, three held
In a stunning incident of its kind in the state, the Morinda police, yesterday arrested mother, step father and paternal aunt of a 17-year-old girl on the charge of trying to sell her off. The SSP, Ropar, Mr G.P.S. Bhullar, while giving this information said they were tipped off by an informer that the girl was allegedly being sold at Morinda.
The girl was brought to Morinda by her mother, Reshma, alias Kuresha, and step father, Balbir Singh, to the house of her paternal aunt, Satya at Morinda a few days ago. They were looking for a customer who could purchase the girl. The police sent a decoy customer to the house of the girl and the deal was settled at Rs 20,000. The decoy customer paid Rs 1,000 as advance to the girl’s parents after which the police arrested the culprits, the SSP said.
A case under Section 372 of the IPC has been registered against the accused. They were produced at the court of the Additional CJM, Ropar, today and remanded in police custody till January 12. The judge has also ordered that the girl should be sent to Nari Niketan in Jalandhar.
The sources also added that Reshma, who originally belonged to Karnataka had earlier fled with girl’s father leaving behind four children. After the death of her father from whom she had two children, she started living with Balbir Singh his younger brother. Both had now decided to sell Babli to make some easy money.
Youth in custody for ‘roughing up’ policeman
Tanuja Batra, son of a rich man, was yesterday remanded in judicial custody till January 22 by Sub-Judicial Magistrate Harbhajan Das. His one-day police remand had expired on Tuesday. Tanuja was arrested on Sunday on charges of assaulting, manhandling, kidnapping, hurting and obstructing from discharge of duty a traffic policeman, Mr Gurmit Singh.
His brother Manu Batra and eight others are wanted in the case. However, they have not yet been arrested.
Manu Batra had hit a scooterist and refused to stop his car when two traffic cops, Mr Gurmit Singh and Mr Satnam Singh, signalled him to do so. When chased and caught, Manu called his brother Tanuja and other supporters from their clothes showroom and allegedly roughed up Mr Gurmit Singh, torn his uniform and took him away. However, Mr Gurmit Singh was later rescued.
Fest disappoints youth
The much-awaited Zonal Youth Festival at DAV College here failed to meet the expectations of the youths due to seemingly inexperienced organisers.
The festival, which was postponed earlier, was awaited by the students of the city colleges in general and those of DAV College in particular as such festival was held in their college for the first time.
The colleges affiliated with Punjabi University, Patiala and situated in the Bathinda-Faridkot zone participated in the three-day festival which ended last evening.
On all three days of the festival, many participants were distracted by audience due to which they were not able to perform well.
Some students felt that the items like giddha and bhangra should have been scheduled for the concluding day. A teacher of the college said the schedule of events had been decided by the authorities of Punjabi University.
Hooting crossed all limits during the festival. Students made it difficult for the performers to give their best performance.
On the second day, during a session of ghazal recitation, hooting by the students reached its peak. The performing student was able to complete it with a great difficulty. The judges were not able to hear the participant properly.
Mr Daljit Singh, Dean, Youth Services, Punjabi University had to go to the stage and appeal to the students to keep calm.
Some students said the lack of coordination was probably due to the inclusion of some new and inexperienced persons in the organisers.
An item which was appreciated by the audience was the performance of Punjabi comedian Bhagwant Maan. The comedian and his wife were honoured by the college authorities on the concluding day.
Admissions to Thapar through AIEEE
The Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala, has decided not to make admissions through the Common Entrance Test (CAT). In a press note released here today, the Registrar of the institute said admissions to the institute would now be made through the All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE). The test would be conducted on May 19, 2002, and about 30 engineering institutes of the country would admit students through the test.
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40 Fascinating Photos Capture Street Scenes of London in the Late 1980s
December 01, 2020 1980s, England, life & culture, London, street
The 1980s were an iconic time for the United Kingdom, and London was at the centre of it all. Short of a world war, there was probably no other period in which the social and political atmosphere changed so drastically.
The 1980s in London was a decade of considerable change. Long established industries, street scenes, shops and ways of life were being swept away.
Unions and family-owned shops gave way to privitisation and impersonal, foreign-owned stores. While some took to the streets in protest, others gathered in Wembley for a concert to bring help to less-fortunate populations.
These fascinating photos of London’s street scenes were taken by David Levine during his trip around Europe in the summer of 1989.
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Violinist.com - News & Advice - Teaching
Laurie Niles
Master Class with Ray Chen
October 28, 2015, 4:51 PM ·
I haven't heard of too many violin master classes that had to be moved to a larger venue because elementary-school children and young teens were clamoring to get in, but that's just what happened earlier this month when world-class violinist and social media phenom Ray Chen came to town to teach a master class at the Pasadena Conservatory of Music in California.
Working with students ages 11-18 for an audience of 150, Ray brought that cartoonish humor that his fans see on social media, along the musical sophistication and attention to detail that have made him sought-after soloist and international competition winner.
The first student to play for Ray was Eddie, 11, who played the first movement of Haydn's Concerto No. 2 in G.
Ray talked about follow-through with the bow: when a baseball player hits a ball with a bat, the bat keeps going. Similarly, "keep the bow going to make the note ring as long as possible," he said. It's a subtle difference, but it really allows the music to breathe.
Ray also talked about creating character in Haydn, whose music is constantly changing from one kind of emotion to another. Without the character, things start to sound robotic. He talks about it here:
Ray also explained that traditionally, cadenzas were improvised, and so "you have to make us feel like you are improvising."
Next was Albert, 13, who played Meditation from "Thaís" by Massenet.
The danger in a beautiful, slow piece such as this, Ray said, is that it can get boring for the audience. For this reason, you have to add a little fire: move the bow a little more, keep the vibrato going.
It also needs to keep moving, in its slow way. To feel the motion of this piece, imagine being on the moon, where you can stay in the air longer than you can here on Earth, he said. "There's not as much gravity on the moon --everything is a soft landing," he said. Ray coached him through various phrases.
He talked about making a high F# bigger -- to make it bigger, widen the vibrato and flatten the fiddle.
"When you play on the E string and you need a boost, always angle your violin back," so that the E string sits on top and can ring out. "The wider your vibrato, the more stress your instrument can take," he said, and that means you can apply more weight to the bow.
Once you learn how to create more power in the sound, then it's simply a matter of learning to control it.
Also, with every "ahhhh" moment in the music (as in that "B" highlighted in the excerpt from "Meditation" to the right) there must be a tense moment before it. "Tension and release -- that's how you capture people's hearts," Ray said.
Sara, 17, played the first movement of the Mendelssohn Concerto, and Ray wanted her to bring out the feeling of passion and longing in the opening. How to describe passion to this room full of kids? Well, most of us can get pretty passionate about our favorite food, especially when we're really, really hungry...
He also talked about having a bow hold isn't too high, a bow hold that uses the fingers actively for suspension. Bows have a tendency to tremble, "my bow trembles as well," he said, "but I'm keeping it calm with my fingers, which act as springs."
Anyone who has played the Mendelssohn knows about the infamous octaves passage on the first page -- it's nothing to shy from. In fact, "you have to go a little ballistic at moments like these," he said. Play near the bridge and bring them out. Also, whatever kind of fiddle you have, know its maximum capacity and learn to use it.
Last to perform for Ray was an excellent quartet (with a number of members from this year's junior division gold-medal quartet at the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition) who played Mendelssohn's String Quartet Op. 44, No. 3.
When they concluded, Ray said he had little advice for them after such "kick-butt playing" -- then he proceeded to dive into a great deal of technical nitty gritty!
After the master class Ray treated the audience to a question-and-answer session during which he spoke about taking risks in performance, the nature of confidence, his musical upbringing in Australia (at which point he let his Australian accent take over), and about how to practice, even if you don't like it. Here is that full Q and A:
Interview with Ray Chen: Outreach Through Social Media
When a classical music concert stops feeling like one: Review of Ray Chen in concert in Melbourne
Pasadena Conservatory Master Class with Dylana Jenson: shoulder rests, vibrato and more
Raphael Klayman
October 31, 2015 at 01:17 PM · Very charming and fun! And brilliant playing - bravo! He also shares an important secret about getting into role and frame of mind for performing.
BTW, it was nice to hear him re-charge his Australian accent. I'm American and briefly dated an Aussie girl. At one point I made an apparent faux pas by saying that I liked her accent. She replied in no uncertain terms: "Oi dain't 'ave ain aiccent. YEEOI 'ave ain aiccent!" I stood corrected!
Kenneth Choo
November 1, 2015 at 01:26 PM · Hi Raphael...did you ever come across this one? How to spell Australian-good eye might! :-)
November 3, 2015 at 05:35 PM · Great article! I just checked out Chen's social media, (and playing) and I have to say I am now a fan. There was one thing. I came across him playing the Paganini he talked about in the question and answer session. And, guess what? He was doing the original bowing! To be fair, this was seven years ago at the Menhuin competition. Frankly, he didn't look too comfortable using that bowing,but I understand why he did it. Probably the "two people" who would be impressed by that bowing as he stated in the session were probably jury members at that competition!
The thing is, though, I wonder why he acted like he flat out never used that bowing, instead of just something like, "yeah, I did it for a competition, but it's really not me, and I like to do it another way", or something like that. Maybe he just forgot,after all, this was a long time ago. He's still a great player. I would love to hear from the pros on this. Anyone? If you want to look at the video, just go to You Tube and type in Ray Chen, Paganini. Cheers!
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Jackie Kennedy Net Worth
How much was Jackie Kennedy worth?
Profession: Professional Writer
Date of Birth: July 28, 1929
Binge Worthy
Who Is Jackie Kennedy
Marrying John F. Kennedy
Life as Jackie Kennedy
First Lady, Jackie Kennedy
Assassination of President Kennedy
President Kennedy’s Funeral
Jackie O
Jackie the Editor
Illness and Death
As the wife of President John F. Kennedy, Jackie Kennedy became the 35th First Lady of the United States. She remains an icon and one of the favorite First Ladies of all time for her beauty, grace, and restoration of the White House as a national treasure.
American writer, literature editor, photographer, and socialite Jackie Kennedy had a net worth of $50 million dollars at the time of her death, in 1994. She became First Lady of the United States as the wife of President John F. Kennedy.
Dates: July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994
Also Known As: Jacqueline Lee Bouvier; Jackie Onassis; Jackie O
On July 28, 1929, in Southampton, New York, Jacqueline Lee Bouvier was born into wealth. She was the daughter of John Bouvier III, a Wall Street stockbroker, and Janet Bouvier (née Lee). She had one sister, Caroline Lee, born in 1933. As a youth, Jackie enjoyed reading, writing, and horseback riding.
In 1940, Jackie’s parents divorced due to her father’s alcoholism and womanizing; however, Jackie was able to continue her prestigious education. Two years later, her mother married a wealthy Standard Oil heir, Hugh Auchincloss Jr.
After attending Vassar, Jackie spent her junior year learning French literature at the Sorbonne in Paris. She then transferred to George Washington University in Washington D.C. and in 1951 she received a Bachelor of Arts degree.
Newly out of college, Jackie was hired as an “inquiring photographer” for the Washington Times-Herald. Her job was to surprise random people on the street with questions while taking their pictures for the entertainment section.
Although busy with her job, Jackie also made time to have a social life. In December 1951, she became engaged to John Husted Jr., a stockbroker. However, in March 1952, Bouvier broke her engagement to Husted, saying he was too immature.
Two months later she began dating John F. Kennedy, who was 12 years her senior. The newly elected Massachusetts Senator proposed to Bouvier in June 1953. The engagement was short for the couple married on September 12, 1953, in Newport, Rhode Island, at St. Mary’s Church. Kennedy was 36 and Bouvier (now known as Jackie Kennedy) was 24. (Jackie’s father did not attend the wedding; alcoholism was cited as the reason.)
While Mr. and Mrs. John F. Kennedy settled down in Georgetown in the Washington D.C. area, Kennedy was suffering from back pain from a WWII injury. (He had received the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for saving a dozen of his crewmembers’ lives, but had hurt his back in the process.)
In 1954, Kennedy opted for surgery to repair his spine. However, since Kennedy also had Addison’s disease, which can cause very low blood pressure and coma, he became unresponsive after his back surgery and was administered the last rites. Married less than two years, Jackie thought her husband was going to die. Thankfully, after several weeks, Kennedy came out of the coma. During his long recovery, Jackie suggested that her husband write a book, so Kennedy wrote Profiles in Courage.
After the near loss of her husband, Jackie hoped to start a family. She got pregnant but soon suffered a miscarriage in 1955. Then more tragedy struck on August 23, 1956, when a devastated Jackie gave birth to a stillborn girl named Arabella.
While still recovering from the loss of their daughter, that November Kennedy was nominated for vice president on the Democratic ticket with the presidential nominee, Adlai Stevenson. However, Dwight D. Eisenhower was to win that presidential election.
The year 1957 proved to be a much better year for both Jackie and John Kennedy. On November 27, 1957, Jackie gave birth to a girl, Caroline Bouvier Kennedy (named after Jackie’s sister). John Kennedy won the Pulitzer Prize for his book, Profiles in Courage.
In 1960, the Kennedys became a household name when John F. Kennedy announced his candidacy for U.S. President in January 1960; he soon became the frontrunner for the Democratic ticket against Richard M. Nixon.
Jackie had monumental news of her own when she discovered she was pregnant in February 1960. Being part of a national presidential campaign is taxing for anyone, so doctors advised Jackie to take it easy. She took their advice and from her Georgetown apartment she wrote a weekly column in national newspapers called “Campaign Wife.”
Jackie was able to also help her husband’s campaign by participating in TV interviews and campaign spots. Her charm, young motherhood, upper-class background, love of politics, and knowledge of multiple languages added to the Kennedy appeal for presidency.
In November 1960, 43-year-old John F. Kennedy won the election. Sixteen days later, on November 25, 1960, 31-year-old Jackie gave birth to a son, John Jr.
In January 1961, Kennedy was inaugurated as the 35th President of the United States and Jackie became the First Lady. After the Kennedy family moved into the White House, Jackie hired a press secretary to help her with First Lady obligations since her priority was to raise her two children.
Unfortunately, life in the White House was not perfect for the Kennedys. The stress and strain of the job added to the continued pain President Kennedy felt in his back, which caused him to excessively resort to pain pills for help. He is also known to have had numerous extramarital affairs, including an alleged affair with actress Marilyn Monroe. Jackie Kennedy continued on, focusing her time on both being a mom and restoring the White House.
As First Lady, Jackie renovated the White House with an emphasis on history while raising funds to support the restoration. She created the White House Historical Association and worked with Congress to pass laws for historic preservation, which included the creation of a White House Curator. She also worked to ensure that the White House furniture remained the property of the federal government through the Smithsonian Institution.
In February 1962, Jackie gave a televised tour of the White House so that Americans could see and understand her commitment. Two months later, she received a special Emmy award for public service from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for the tour.
Jackie Kennedy also used the White House to showcase American artists and lobbied for the creation of the National Endowments of the Arts and Humanities.
Despite her successes with the White House restoration, Jackie soon suffered another loss. Pregnant again in early 1963, Jackie sadly delivered a premature boy, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, on August 7, 1963, who died two days later. He was buried next to his sister, Arabella.
Just three months after Patrick’s death, Jackie agreed to make a public appearance with her husband in support of his 1964 presidential reelection campaign.
On November 22, 1963, the Kennedy’s landed in Dallas, Texas, via Air Force One. The couple sat in the backseat of an open limousine, with Texas Governor John Connally and his wife, Nellie, sitting in front of them. The limousine became part of a motorcade, headed from the airport to the Trade Mart where President Kennedy was scheduled to speak at a luncheon.
While unsuspecting Jackie and John Kennedy waved to the crowds lining the streets in the Dealey Plaza area of downtown Dallas, Lee Harvey Oswald waited in the sixth floor window at the Schoolbook Depository building where he was an employee. Oswald, a former U.S. Marine who had defected to the Communist Soviet Union, used a sniper rifle to shoot President Kennedy at 12:30 p.m.
The bullet hit Kennedy in the upper back. Another shot struck Governor Connally in the back. As Connally screamed, Nellie grabbed her husband down onto her lap. Jackie leaned toward her husband, who was grasping at his neck. Oswald’s third bullet shattered President Kennedy’s skull.
In a panic, Jackie bolted onto the rear of the car and across the trunk towards Secret Service Agent, Clint Hill, for help. Hill, who had been on the fender of the Secret Service car following the open limousine, hurried onto the car, pushed Jackie back into her seat, and protected her as the President was rushed to nearby Parkland Hospital.
In her now famous Chanel pink suit splattered with her husband’s blood, Jackie sat outside of Trauma Room One. After insisting to be with her husband, Jackie was beside President Kennedy when he was pronounced dead at 1:00 p.m.
John F. Kennedy’s body was placed into a casket and boarded onto Air Force One. Jackie, still wearing her bloodstained pink suit, stood next to Vice President Lyndon Johnson as he was sworn in as President of the United States at 2:38 p.m. before takeoff.
Oswald was arrested just hours after the shooting for killing a police officer and subsequently the slain President. Two days later, when Oswald was being transported through the basement of police headquarters to the nearby county jail, nightclub owner Jack Ruby jumped out of the crowd of spectators and fatally shot Oswald. Ruby said Dallas was redeemed by his action. The bizarre sequence of events shocked the mourning nation, wondering if Oswald acted alone or was in conspiracy with the Communists, Fidel Castro of Cuba, or the mob, since Ruby was involved in organized crime.
On Sunday, November 25, 1963, there were 300,000 people in Washington D.C. watching the funeral procession as the John F. Kennedy’s casket was taken to the U.S. Capitol Rotunda via horse and carriage in model of Abraham Lincoln’s funeral. Jackie escorted her children, Caroline age six, and John Jr. age three. Instructed by his mother, young John Jr. saluted his father’s coffin as it passed by.
The grieving nation watched the tragic funeral unfold on television. The procession then went to St. Matthew’s Cathedral for the funeral and on to Arlington National Cemetery for burial. Jackie lit the eternal flame over her husband’s grave that continues to burn.
On November 29, 1963, just days after the funeral, Jackie was interviewed by Life Magazine in which she referred to her years in the White House as “Camelot.” Jackie wanted her husband remembered in a positive way, how he listened to the record Camelot before going to sleep at night.
Jackie and her children moved back into their Georgetown apartment, but by 1964, Jackie found Washington unbearable due to the many memories. She purchased a Manhattan apartment on Fifth Avenue and moved her children to New York City. Jackie memorialized her husband at many events and helped establish the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston.
On June 4, 1968, New York Senator Bobby Kennedy, President Kennedy’s younger brother who was running for President, was assassinated in a hotel in Los Angeles. Jackie feared for her children’s safety and fled the country. The news media coined the phrase, “the Kennedy Curse” regarding the Kennedy tragedies.
Jackie took her children to Greece and found comfort with the 62-year-old Greek shipping magnate, Aristotle Onassis. In the summer of 1968, 39-year-old Jackie announced her engagement to Onassis, stunning the U.S. public. The couple married on October 20, 1968, on Onassis’ private island, Skorpios. Jackie Kennedy Onassis was dubbed “Jackie O” by the press.
When Onassis’ 25-year-old son Alexander died in a plane crash in 1973, Christina Onassis, Onassis’ daughter, said it was “the Kennedy Curse” that followed Jackie. The marriage became strained until Onassis’ death in 1975.
Forty-six-year-old Jackie, now twice widowed, returned to New York in 1975 and accepted a publishing career with Viking Press. She left her job in 1978 due to a book regarding the fantasy assassination of Ted Kennedy, another Kennedy brother in politics.
She then went to work for Doubleday as an editor and began dating a long-time friend, Maurice Tempelsman. Tempelsman eventually moved into Jackie’s Fifth Avenue apartment and remained her companion for the rest of her life.
Jackie continued memorializing President Kennedy in helping design both the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and the JFK Memorial Library in Massachusetts. In addition, she helped with the historic preservation of Grand Central Station.
In January 1994, Jackie was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a form of cancer. On May 18, 1994, 64-year-old Jackie passed away quietly in her sleep in her Manhattan apartment.
Jackie Kennedy Onassis’ funeral was held at Saint Ignatius Loyola Church. She was buried in Arlington National Cemetery beside President Kennedy and her two deceased infants, Patrick and Arabella.
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Billie Holiday Net Worth
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Harsco Corporation’s Track Technologies Division Gets New Order From Brazil’s Companhia Vale Do Rio Doce To Construct And Support New Mainline Rail Grinder
WEBWIRE – Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Worldwide industrial services company Harsco Corporation (NYSE:HSC) announced today that its Harsco Track Technologies (HTT) division has been awarded a new order from Brazil’s Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) to construct and support a new mainline rail grinder that will be used by CVRD to reprofile some of the world’s most heavily-used railway freight lines. Terms of the sale were not disclosed.
CVRD has contracted with Harsco Track Technologies to construct a wide gauge, 96-stone mainline rail grinder for delivery by early 2008, together with two years of post-delivery operator and maintenance training, field service and spare parts support. The rail grinder unit will operate on CVRD’s Carajas line, an 892 km (550 mile) link that transports iron ore and other cargo to the main maritime port at Sao Luis in Brazil’s northern region. CVRD accounts for approximately five percent of Brazil’s total exports.
The order is HTT’s first in Brazil in more than a decade and could lead to additional orders as CVRD continues to evaluate its system-wide railway track maintenance equipment needs. HTT is one of the world’s largest railway track maintenance services and equipment specialists, serving as a primary source for over 140 types and models of work equipment designed and built for the maintenance, renewal, and new construction of railway track. The division expects to benefit from the significant presence in Brazil of Harsco’s MultiServ mill services operations, whose extensive on-site services to most of Brazil’s major steelmaking operations typically involve heavy vehicle repair and maintenance capabilities at several locations.
Rail grinding has emerged as one of the fastest-growing and most effective maintenance practices for extending rail life, limiting rail traffic disruption and reducing the potential for rail failures. HTT’s rail grinders are designed to reprofile rail surfaces for proper wheel-to-rail contact, which reduces surface stresses in the rail and also enables railways to move high-tonnage loads at increased speeds, thus reducing fuel consumption. Harsco’s HTT division is one of the railway industry’s leading rail grinding specialists, having developed and produced similar systems for major U.S. and international railroads and metro transit networks, including customers throughout China, Japan, India and Europe. Additional market opportunities are anticipated on a worldwide basis.
This news content was configured by WebWire editorial staff. Linking is permitted.
Architecture / Construction / Building
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Pie shop bakes grandma's love into every homemade recipe
Mr. Dye's Pies doesn't cut any corners when it comes to baking
Victoria Ottomanelli
Homemade pies are a staple dish for every family holiday, and one pie shop in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is offering its customers the taste of grandma's secret recipe.Mr. Dye's Pies has been in business for seven years and is owned and operated by Johnathan Dye. His passion for pies comes from his grandmother, with whom he would cook and bake when he was younger. Now, as a baker and business owner, he is bringing new meaning to the phrase "grandma's homemade pies."Watch the video above to find out more about how Mr. Dye's Pies is taking the community by storm.
Homemade pies are a staple dish for every family holiday, and one pie shop in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is offering its customers the taste of grandma's secret recipe.
All the delicious deals for Pi Day
Mr. Dye's Pies has been in business for seven years and is owned and operated by Johnathan Dye. His passion for pies comes from his grandmother, with whom he would cook and bake when he was younger. Now, as a baker and business owner, he is bringing new meaning to the phrase "grandma's homemade pies."
Watch the video above to find out more about how Mr. Dye's Pies is taking the community by storm.
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Home>Education>Local>PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY EDUCATION BRIEFS: ‘No Homework Week’
PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY EDUCATION BRIEFS: ‘No Homework Week’
Dorothy Rowley – Washington Informer Staff Writer Send an email January 6, 2021
During "No Homework Week," students are encouraged to engage in student-based club organizations or other hobbies at the end of the day. (PGCPS photo)
There will be no homework (independent practice) assigned for students in all grades from Monday, Jan. 4 through Monday, Jan. 11. However, students are encouraged to engage in school-based clubs and organizations or other hobbies at the end of the school day.
Virtual Conversation Dates
The public is invited to join one of four upcoming Virtual Community Conversations to discuss PGCPS’ Comprehensive School Boundary Initiative.
The Boundary Initiative will provide an impartial analysis of current school boundaries, feeder patterns and program locations and to develop, with community input, scenarios for adjustments to populate new and expanded school facilities.
Conversation dates are as follows:
South County — Thursday, Jan. 7, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Spanish language — Saturday, Jan. 9, 10 a.m. to noon (This event will be held in Spanish/ Este evento se realizará en español) ¡Regístrese aquí! https://bit.ly/PGCPSconversaciones)
Central County — Tuesday, Jan. 12, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
North County — Wednesday, Jan. 13, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Join meetings here: Meeting ID: 861 6511 4561 Passcode: 321743
*Join Spanish meeting here: Meeting ID: 878 8659 9000 Passcode: 393286
Brief Survey
PGCPS is conducting a brief survey to assess the community’s support of School Resource Officers in buildings and other school safety measures.
The results will be used to inform the school system’s future direction on student and staff safety and well-being. Deadline: Friday, Jan. 8.
Schools Honored
Kenmoor Middle School, Maya Angelou French Immersion School, Tulip Grove Elementary School and University Park Elementary School have qualified for the 2020 Maryland Excellence in Gifted and Talented Education Schools designation, which recognizes excellence in gifted and talented education.
RBSP Applications Due Jan. 9
Applications for participation in the Ron Brown Scholar Program must be postmarked by Jan. 9. The 24-year-old program offers a great opportunity for talented high school seniors to earn a college scholarship worth up to $10,000 for four years.
The program, which identifies students who will make significant contributions to society, also enhances students’ skills in academic excellence, exceptional leadership potential while they make an impact in their respective communities through service to others.
SAT and ACT scores are not mandatory. If applicants have taken the standardized tests, they are encouraged to submit those scores as part of their application. Applicants who have not or cannot take the exams before the final deadline, will not be penalized.
Free Reading Tutors
The time to sign up for free tutoring from a professional or volunteer reading guide is now. This opportunity is open for kindergarten – 5th-grade students attending a PGPCS school. Tutoring will occur from January through early April.
Due to overwhelming demand, PGCPS may not be able to match all families with a tutor and will fill seats on a first-come, first-served basis. As spots become available, parents will be notified.
For questions, contact tutoring@booknooklearning.com.
Dorothy Rowley education PGCPS Prince George's County Prince George's County Public Schools
Dorothy Rowley – Washington Informer Staff Writer
I knew I had to become a writer when at age nine I scribbled a note to my younger brother’s teacher saying I thought she was being too hard on him in class. Well, the teacher immediately contacted my mother, and with tears in her eyes, profusely apologized. Of course, my embarrassed mother dealt with me – but that didn’t stop me from pursuing my passion for words and writing. Nowadays, as a “semi-retiree,” I continue to work for the Washington Informer as a staff writer. Aside from that, I keep busy creating quirky videos for YouTube, participating in an actor’s guild and being part of my church’s praise dance team and adult choir. I’m a regular fixture at the gym, and I like to take long road trips that have included fun-filled treks to Miami, Florida and Jackson, Mississippi. I’m poised to take to the road again in early 2017, headed for New Orleans, Louisiana. This proud grandmother of two – who absolutely adores interior decorating – did her undergraduate studies at Virginia Union University and graduate work at Virginia State University.
Outrage Surges in Wisconsin as Prosecutors Decline to Charge Officers in Jacob Blake Case
Warnock, Ossoff Claim Wins in Georgia Senate Runoffs
Q&A with Juanita Miller
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Northam Says Virginia Schools Can Reopen if Done Carefully
Urbanski Gets Life in Prison for U.Md. Campus Killing of Richard Collins III
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Pilot hurt after crash landing in Marion
Disaster_Accident
Cliff Sessoms
MARION, Ind. (AP) - Marion police say a pilot has been treated for minor injuries after a crash landing at Marion Municipal Airport.
Deputy Police Chief Cliff Sessoms says dispatchers received a 911 call Saturday afternoon from the pilot of an airplane that had crashed while landing.
Sessoms says that when emergency crews arrived on the scene, the plane was on its top but the pilot had been freed from the aircraft. He says the pilot was taken to Marion General Hospital for treatment of some cuts and scrapes.
The name of the pilot and other details were not released.
Marion is about 45 miles southwest of Fort Wayne.
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Ryan Whiting wins shot put at USA Indoor
Ryan Whiting
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - Ryan Whiting had a simple explanation for his victory Sunday in the shot put at the USA Indoor Track & Field National Championships.
Whiting won with a mark of 72 feet, 11¼ inches Sunday on the fifth of his six attempts.
“I knew I was on my way up,” Whiting said. “I just threw better than everybody else. I’m a lot stronger than I was last year. I’m a lot more ready. I’m just getting stronger and I think that just comes with the age.”
The 27-year-old Whiting had the fifth-best indoor mark in the world, about 17 inches shy of the world indoor record set by American Randy Barnes in 1989.
He qualified for the U.S. team for the world championships in Poland on March 7-9.
“It just happened that you had to throw far to be able to do it,” Whiting said. “I had been doing some things wrong and I tried to fix it the last few meets. The other guys have proved that no mark is safe in U.S. shot putting.”
Seventeen-year-old Mary Cain successfully defended her title in the 1,500 meters, winning in 4:07.05.
She credited the partisan crowd.
“I have a fan base in New Mexico,” said Cain, from Bronxville, N.Y. “Who would have thought? I really wanted to do it for them.”
On a speedy track, she said it helped to overcome the mile-high elevation.
“I’m glad it was a fast pace,” Cain said. “I would have been fine if it was slower. I would have been able to keep my cool, but this just gives me more confidence that I can run a 4.07 at altitude. I still feel pretty good.”
Omoghan Osaghae won the 60 hurdles in 7.553 seconds, two-thousandths of a second ahead of Dominic Berger and six-thousandths ahead of Terrence Trammell.
“It was such a great field as the times reflected,” said Osaghae, who has been battling a series of ailments. “I’m just beyond blessed to be in this position because in no way, shape or form a month ago was USA in the realm. It was just getting through practice and getting ready for outdoors without having something flare up so to be here and being crowned champion and being able to defend it is just, I don’t even know. It’s more than amazing.”
Mary Saxer won the women’s pole vault with a personal best of 15-5½, beating Olympic gold medalist Jenn Suhr by 2 inches.
“I literally am kind of speechless,” she said. “Beating Jenn is amazing, but I know she didn’t have her best day, too. But it’s my first national title. So I’m going to soak up the moment.”
Nia Ali won the women’s 60 hurdles for the second straight year, finishing in 7.8 seconds.
Lopez Lemong won the men’s 1,500 in 3:43.09, rebounding for a disappointing showing Saturday in the 3,000.
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How Qatar Gained Rights to World Cup 2022?
September 26, 2020 Uncategorizedindex
With the World Cup 2022 coming up and being the first to be held in a Middle East country, there have been several questions raised as to how Qatar came to win the rights for this world event. The decision was finalized several years ago as is customary. Today the preparations go on but if we go back to how the selection process came about, it is probably the financial and economic power of the country that helped it win the right to host the event.
It is a wonder since it is probably the smallest country to host such an event. Qatar’s whole area is 12000 square kilometers which makes it twice the size of one of the smallest sovereign states, Delaware. Qatar overcomes its physical size with richness. Forbes studies reveal that GDP per capita for this Gulf nation is higher than in any other country. Doha skyline would seem to be a scene out of The Jetsons.
When it comes to acquiring rights to host the upcoming World Cup, six factors were used by Qatar to land the bid. Among them, money became the defining factor. Qatar spent nearly $200 million whereas its competitors spent much less. Australia spent about $42.7 million for the bid, the US less than $5 million, and England spent about $24 million which was considered to be excessive. The success of its bid was reflected in how more supporters stood by it and its opponents such as South Korea, Japan, and Australia were discarded as well as the US who had to admit defeat.
The fact that the country has a reigning monarch also helped. The long-standing Emir, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and his successors have ruled the country since its formation in 1850. FIFA authorities find absolute monarchies easier to deal with since decisions and governance happen faster and more speedily than in democracies.
← DORTMUND ADMIT STAR DUO COULD LEAVE COVID-19 Pandemic Shrinks Football Season in Philippines →
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York Unlimited
What happens to pharmaceuticals in the digestive system of a bird?
Scientists at the University of York have conducted new research into measuring how commonly-prescribed pharmaceuticals behave in the guts of starlings.
A close-up of worms in a waste water treatment system (trickling filter system) credit: Professor Alistair Boxall
In a study led by Tom Bean, Professor Alistair Boxall and Dr Kathryn Arnold, from the University’s Environment Department, researchers developed an in-vitro model (a laboratory-based system that avoids use of animal tests) to simulate the digestive system of a starling, recreating gastro-intestinal conditions that appear in real birds.
Worms containing fluoxetine - the active ingredient in antidepressant product Prozac - were fed to the in-vitro system to simulate birds feeding on worms and other invertebrates that have accumulated pharmaceuticals from wastewater treatment plants and soils. Such contamination happens when sewage sludge is applied to land as a fertiliser.
Worms were also fed into an in-vitro model of the human gut to explore how Prozac, when introduced in worms, will behave in a bird gut compared to a human.
The researchers found that the drug behaved similarly in both the bird and human systems. Such results are invaluable in understanding how to use data detailing the effects of pharmaceuticals in humans, applying this across to wildlife species.
The study provides an important part of the toolkit for assessing the potential ecological risk when developing drugs, as little is currently known about the different ways in which pharmaceuticals can impact on wildlife.
Professor Boxall said: “There is increasing recognition that biologically active ingredients contained in pharmaceuticals could potentially affect wildlife, with fish and birds being prime candidates.
“Simulating starling ingestion of Prozac through prey, this research helps to bridge the gap between our knowledge of how drugs affect humans and how this translates to animals in the natural environment. Understanding what happens at different stages of the animal digestive process enables us to build a picture of wider environmental implications.
“With active drug ingredients often entering the environment indirectly through waste treatment systems, it is hoped that new test methods such as this, which do not involve testing on real animals, will be developed and used in the future for assessing the potential ecological impact of pharmaceuticals.”
Tom Bean, PhD student and lead author of the project, said: “This study characterises the environmental impact that pharmaceuticals can have, paving the way for intelligence-led assessment in the development of new drugs.”
An In Vitro Method for determining the bioaccessibility of pharmaceuticals in wildlife is published in the journal Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry and can be viewed here: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/etc.3406/full
For more information about the University of York’s Environment Department, visit: https://www.york.ac.uk/environment/
Saskia Angenent
Tel: work 01904 323918
saskia.angenent@york.ac.uk
YO10 5DD
Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us YouTube
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Rich in dramatic Catholic history, Nagasaki awaits the pope
by: MARI YAMAGUCHI, Associated Press
In this Nov. 16, 2019, photo, Japanese Archbishop Mitsuaki Takami, who heads Nagasaki’s Catholic community of 60,000, the biggest in Japan, speaks in front of a statue of the Virgin Mary that was damaged in the A-bomb attack, at the Urakami Cathedral in Nagasaki, southern Japan. Pope Francis will start his first official visit to Japan in Nagasaki, ground zero for the Christian experience in a nation where the Catholic leader once dreamed of living as a missionary. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
NAGASAKI, Japan (AP) — It’s fitting that Pope Francis will start his first official visit to Japan in Nagasaki, the city where Christianity first took hold in the country and where nearly 500 years later it remains steeped in blood-soaked symbolism, both religious and political.
It was here that a small group of beleaguered Catholic converts went deep underground during centuries of violent persecution. It was here that their descendants dramatically emerged from hiding in the 19th century, their faith unbroken. And it was here that a U.S. atom bomb brought death and destruction to the cathedral that community was finally able to build.
As Francis makes the first papal visit to Japan in 38 years, he will likely look to the past by honoring the doggedness of those so-called Hidden Christians, while also laying out his vision for a future free from the threat of nuclear weapons.
In many ways, Nagasaki is the perfect backdrop for his visit to a nation that was once coveted by the West as a place of Catholic expansion but where only 0.35% of the 127 million people are Catholic. One of the highlights of the visit starting Saturday will be his prayer at a memorial to 26 martyrs crucified in 1597 at the start of an anti-Christian persecution that lasted until about 1870.
“Our Christian ancestors were oppressed and monitored, and then suffered from the atomic attack. This all made me think, ‘What is it supposed to mean?’” Japanese Archbishop Mitsuaki Takami said. “Perhaps the followers in Nagasaki have been given a mission to convey peace.”
Takami, who heads Nagasaki’s Catholic community of 60,000, by far the biggest in Japan, is a Hidden Christian descendant who was exposed to radiation in his mother’s womb when the atom bomb fell on Aug. 9, 1945, near Urakami Cathedral. He had several relatives die in the bombing that killed 74,000, a number that includes two priests and 24 followers inside the cathedral.
Takami, who has traveled the world with a statue of the Virgin Mary that was damaged in the blast, and other activists expect the pope will send a powerful anti-nuclear message on behalf of everyone in Nagasaki.
Many bomb survivors and supporters hope it will push Japan’s government, which is protected by the U.S. nuclear umbrella, to sign the U.N. nuclear-ban treaty. Japan has refused to sign, saying it seeks to bridge the gap between nuclear and non-nuclear states.
Francis has gone further than other popes on the nuclear matter, saying that not only the use, but the mere possession of nuclear weapons is “to be firmly condemned.”
Francis will likely repeat his appeal for a total ban on nuclear weapons when he visits Nagasaki and Hiroshima, where 140,000 were killed by another U.S. atomic bomb. He will meet with survivors of those bombs, as well as those affected by the Fukushima nuclear disaster that followed a March 2011 tsunami and earthquake in northern Japan.
“Your country knows well the suffering caused by war,” Francis said in a video message to the Japanese on the eve of his trip. “Along with you, I pray that the destructive power of nuclear weapons never is let loose again on human history. The use of nuclear weapons is immoral.”
Takami, 73, grew up hearing stories from his relatives of the suffering that many in Nagasaki endured after the bombing and is reminded of his determination for peace every time he visits Urakami Cathedral.
“Any weapon is ghastly, but nuclear weapons are hundreds of times more so,” Takami said, adding they should be abolished. “World leaders should be ashamed of talking from a safe and distant place about nuclear weapons, calling them a deterrent even though they can kill hundreds of thousands, even millions of people.”
Many in Nagasaki are happy that the pope is coming first to their city, which is often eclipsed by the events in Hiroshima.
“I hope he will use his trip to Nagasaki to send a powerful message of the need to ban nuclear weapons,” said Chizuko Maruo, the daughter of an atomic bombing survivor who will attend the pope’s Sunday Mass at a city baseball stadium.
Francis will also greet some descendants of the Hidden Christians, who developed their own unique prayer known as the “Orasho,” or oratio, while hiding in Nagasaki’s northern islands, where some local Shinto and Buddhist residents supported them.
Francis, who is known to Japanese Catholics as Papa-sama, will also hold a Mass in Hiroshima and in Tokyo and meet with Japan’s emperor and prime minister.
Francis’ messages about life are universal and still can reach people’s hearts, especially given the state of global politics, said Kagefumi Ueno, a former Japanese ambassador to the Vatican.
“At a time when global leaders are increasingly becoming populist, the pope’s words can be a virtue of the international community and a moral authority,” he said.
As a youth Francis is said to have been fascinated by the history of the Christian experience in Nagasaki and wanted to be a missionary there.
The area around Nagasaki became the center of a rapid Catholic expansion after the 1549 arrival to Japan of St. Francis Xavier, the first Jesuit missionary. More than a quarter-million Japanese are said to have converted until the Tokugawa shogunate, fearing that Christianity was the beginning of Western domination, outlawed it 1612.
Christians were forced to renounce their beliefs on pain of death and to trample on Catholic icons. When discovered, Christians were tortured. Many were thrown into boiling hot springs or burned to death.
A small, determined Catholic minority went into hiding and practiced their faith in secret for more than 250 years. The Hidden Christians finally broke their silence in 1865 by approaching a foreign priest. But with the ban on Christianity still in place, the 3,300 Catholics were banished from Nagasaki and were not allowed to return until the ban was lifted in 1873. They built their long-dreamed-of cathedral in 1914.
Mitsuho Nakata, an artisan who makes Catholic statues near Urakami, is the great-grandson of a samurai who cut ties with his feudal lord to pursue his Catholic faith. A group of samurai ambushed and killed most of his great-grandfather’s family.
After studying at a Catholic theological school, Nakata returned to work in the family-run workshop his father started.
“My family is here only because our ancestors kept their faith despite constant fear of getting killed or tortured,” Nakata said at his workshop, surrounded by dozens of statues of the Virgin Mary and saints. “I’m so impressed by their devotion and their strong faith and that they abandoned everything they had for it.”
Follow Mari Yamaguchi on Twitter at https://twitter.com/mariyamaguchi
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The Latest: Mexico’s Chihuahua border state back in lockdown
Two city police officers patrol the Navigli area, a popular evening spot of restaurants and pubs bordering canals in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. Authorities in regions including Italy’s three largest cities have imposed curfews in a bid to slow the spread of COVID-19, as many of the cases in Lombardy’s surging outbreak have occurred in Milan. On Thursday, an overnight curfew takes effect in the city, known for its lively night-time bar scene, and the rest of the region, as authorities try to slow the spread of the contagion. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s northern border state of Chihuahua returned to the highest level of alert and lockdown Friday after coronavirus cases jumped there and hospitals began to fill up.
The Chihuahua state government declared the return to the “red” level of alert Friday, which closes down most non-essential services and encourages people to stay at home.
The Health Department said the state’s hospital beds were now 69% occupied, and that only about 23% of intensive care beds were open. The department said steps were being taken to expand hospital facilities.
The department also said that three other northern states — Durango, Coahuila and Nuevo Leon — were at risk of returning to maximum alert unless infections were brought under control.
Nationwide, 19 of Mexico’s 32 states will be at high alert starting Monday, 11 will be at medium alert and one state was considered at moderate risk level.
HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:
— France surpasses 1 million coronavirus cases
— WHO says Northern hemisphere at ‘critical juncture’ with rising cases, deaths
— FDA approves first COVID-19 drug: antiviral remdesivir
— UN chief says G-20 leaders must coordinate to fight coronavirus. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is frustrated leaders of 20 major industrialized countries didn’t do it in March as he proposed.
— Schools from New Jersey to California have been hit with teacher and staff layoffs. Urban areas lacking the property wealth of suburban communities are especially vulnerable to budget cuts, with many schools hoping for a new round of federal money.
— An online Japanese-language text messagingservice for suicide prevention has grown to 500 volunteers since March.
Follow all of AP’s coronavirus pandemic coverage at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
BOISE, Idaho — A hospital in southern Idaho says it can no longer accept any children because it is overwhelmed with coronavirus patients.
St. Luke’s Magic Valley Medical Center announced Friday afternoon that anyone needing treatment who is under the age of 18 will be sent to a hospital in Boise — 128 miles (206 kilometers) away. The hospital will still admit newborns and neonatal intensive care unit patients, however.
The hospital in Twin Falls is like many around the United States that are running out of space and reeling from a surge in COVID-19 patients. One out of every four patients at the Idaho facility is a COVID-19 patient, and hospital leaders spent the week warning Idaho Gov. Brad Little and local public health officials that the state’s healthcare system would soon be swamped until steps are taken to stem the virus’ spread.
Still, neither the governor nor the regional public health department has issued a mask mandate.
ROME — Protesters in Naples, angry over a just-imposed 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. regional curfew and by the local governor’s vow to put the region under lockdown to try to tame surging COVID-19 infections, clashed with police on Friday night.
The demonstrators, who Italian media said numbered several hundred, headed toward the Campania region’s headquarters near the southern Italian city’s Mediterranean waterfront.
RAI state TV said local merchants joined the protest, hours after Gov. Vincenzo De Luca told citizens in a televised speech that he was “moving toward closing everything down” except essential services.
Demonstrators threw rocks and smoke bombs, and police officers responded with tear gas, Italian media said.
“You close us down, you pay us,” was one of the shouted slogans, the Italian news agency ANSA said.
Unemployment in the south runs double or even higher than in the productive north, and the country’s economy, already sluggish before the pandemic struck in late winter, risks being crippled by another lockdown like the nationwide one the central government placed the country under for some 10 weeks early in the COVID-19 outbreak.
Several people were detained in Naples, the Lapresse news agency said.
HONOLULU — Hawaii had about 60,000 travelers arrive in the islands in the first week of its pre-travel coronavirus testing program.
That’s a state effort to get the tourism-based economy moving again.
Lt. Gov. Josh Green said Thursday that nearly 60,000 returning residents, military members, essential workers, tourists and others had been tested since Oct. 15.
The vast majority tested negative and were allowed to skip the previously required two weeks of quarantine.
The state accepts only negative nucleic acid amplification tests from certain entities.
Other travelers came to Hawaii without being tested at all. Nearly 7,300 people were ordered to quarantine upon arrival.
UNITED NATIONS — The president of the United Nations General Assembly has expressed concern that New York Mayor Bill de Blasio rejected a meeting with him to discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the work of the 193-member world organization.
Volker Bozkir said in a statement that the United Nations “has been proud to call the city its home since the middle of the last century” and is “happy to generate billions of dollars in economic benefits and tens of thousands of jobs in New York City.” But the Turkish politician said he was disappointed at the mayor’s refusal to meet him.
Bozkir said: “This lack of interaction concerns me.”
His spokesman, Brenden Varma, told reporters that Bozkir reached out about two weeks ago to ask for an appointment with the mayor. But the assembly president received a response a few days ago declining the request, he said.
Penny Abeywardena, New York City’s commissioner for international affairs, responded to the assembly president’s statement without mentioning the mayor’s decision not to meet Bozkir.
She pointed to de Blasio’s “excellent relationship” with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and “deeply collaborative relationship with Mr. Bozkir’s predecessors,” and said the city looks forward “to continuing our partnership with the United Nations.”
NEW YORK — The number of people hospitalized in New York because of the coronavirus has climbed back over 1,000.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said there were 1,023 hospitalizations around the state as of Thursday. That’s more than double the number that were hospitalized month ago, and the first time since late June that the state has seen that many in hospitals with the virus.
At the pandemic’s peak in April, nearly 19,000 people were hospitalized. Statewide, 1,637 people tested positive with the virus on Thursday, on par with where levels have been for the month.
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Iowa has among the nation’s highest coronavirus infection and death rates and residents should avoid gatherings in most counties, federal health experts say.
Iowa had 238 new cases and 2.8 deaths per 100,000 people last week, about double the national per capita average between Oct. 10 and Oct. 16, the White House Coronavirus Task Force reported.
The task force report of Oct. 18 was released Friday by the Iowa Department of Public Health. The grim statistics came as Iowa’s hospitals faced a surge of coronavirus patients. The number hospitalized hit a record 536, according to data released Thursday.
In all, 90% of Iowa’s 99 counties are experiencing high or moderate levels of virus transmission.
The report recommends “mask wearing, physical distancing, hand hygiene, avoiding crowds in public and social gatherings in private and ensuring flu immunizations.”
The state reported a one-day record of 31 deaths on Wednesday and 38 more in the two days since for a total of 1,617.
PARIS — France has surpassed 1 million confirmed coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, becoming the second country in Western Europe after Spain to reach the mark.
The national health agency announced 42,032 new cases on Friday, bringing the total to 1.04 million cases. Health experts say the actual numbers are likely higher because of a lack of testing, asymptomatic cases and reporting issues.
French President Emmanuel Macron called on citizens to respect a nightly curfew and other measures to fight the rapid spread of the coronavirus.
Macron says cases are “very strongly accelerating,” with coronavirus patients occupying more than 42% of ICU beds nationally and 64% in the Paris region.
The government announced a six-week curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. in 46 regions and Polynesia.
France has more than 34,200 deaths, the fourth-highest death toll in Europe behind Britain, Italy and Spain.
LONDON — Bars, restaurants and most shops have closed across Wales in a lockdown to curb surging coronavirus cases.
The Cardiff-based government has imposed the U.K.’s strictest lockdown for 17 days starting Friday night. Most businesses will close, high school students will be taught online and people will avoid non-essential journeys.
The U.K. has Europe’s deadliest coronavirus numbers, with more than 44,500 confirmed coronavirus-related deaths. There have been 1,756 deaths in Wales, which has a population of about 3 million.
LA GUAIRA, Venezuela — Some Venezuelans headed back to the beach on Friday after the government relaxed measures aimed at containing the coronavirus.
It’s been seven months since tourists went to the La Ultima beach in the Caribbean town of La Guaira, outside the capital of Caracas.
Vendors again peddled drinks and snacks to sunbathers. Umbrellas waved above the sand.
Restaurants, flower shops, bars, liquor stores and ice cream parlors also opened along the seaside boulevard, with social distancing rules in place.
President Nicolás Maduro this week announced a broad reopening of most private businesses, parks and beaches around the country, saying the curve of new infections has flattened and “is steadily descending.” Open-air concerts, amusement parks and drive-ins return as well.
But Venezuela’s airports remain closed to international travel and officials haven’t said when they plan to resume operations. The government has reported 88,416 confirmed cases and 759 deaths since March.
GENEVA — The head of the World Health Organization warns that countries in the Northern hemisphere are at a “critical juncture” with rising cases and deaths.
“The next few months are going to be very tough and some countries are on a dangerous track,” said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at a press briefing on Friday. “Many countries are seeing an exponential increase in cases,” and he called for immediate action.
Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s technical lead on coronavirus, says the U.N. health agency had recorded about 445,000 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours; nearly half of those were from Europe.
She says in many cities across Europe, “the capacity for ICU is going to be reached in the coming weeks.” .
SOFIA, Bulgaria — Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov will go into self-isolation after contact with an official who tested positive for the coronavirus.
Borissov was informed Friday that deputy construction minister Nikolay Nankov had tested positive earlier in the day.
Borissov says he was in contact with Nankov five days ago and a PCR test done Friday was negative. Before these events on Friday, Borissov had met with visiting U.S. Under Secretary of State Keith J. Krach.
Bulgaria hit record levels on Friday with 1,595 new infections. The Balkan nation of 7 million people has recorded 34,930 confirmed cases and 1,064 deaths.
MADRID — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez appealed to Spaniards to pull together and defeat the coronavirus, warning: “The situation is serious.”
Sánchez, in a televised address to the nation Friday, acknowledged public fatigue with restrictions to contain the spread. But he added: “We have to step up the fight.”
This week, Spain became the first European country to surpass 1 million confirmed cases. Sánchez says the actual number could be more than 3 million because of gaps in testing.
The current pressure on the health system, including hospitalizations, is not as acute as it was in the spring, he says. Even so, he asked for the public’s cooperation, discipline and unity during the winter months.
WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s government has announced the entire country will become a “red zone” of strict anti-COVID-19 restrictions starting Saturday, just short of a lockdown.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki appealed Friday to Poles to strictly observe the restrictions in order to protect lives. The appeal came as the nation of 38 million hit another daily record of new registered infections — over 13,600 and 153 deaths.
The measures, expanded from local red zones, include wearing masks at all times outdoors and switching all primary schools to remote learning. Morawiecki says the goal is to limit social contacts and the number of passengers on public transport. In other measures, restaurants and other eateries can provide takeout only for another two weeks and gatherings cannot exceed five people, except for professional activity.
More than 1,000 Beaufort County students in quarantine
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In Manhattan, High-End Condo Sales Surging
10 Madison Square West Sells 60% of 125 Units in Four Weeks
10 Madison Square West
VUW Renderers
Eliot Brown
@eliotwb
Eliot.Brown@wsj.com
For an understanding of the strength of demand for Manhattan condo projects aimed at the super-rich, look at the condominium conversion project at 10 Madison Square West.
Sales to the public began less than four weeks ago for the 125-unit building at 24th Street and Broadway, where prices top $30 million for a penthouse, and already the selling work is mostly complete. Buyers have signed contracts for nearly 60% of the units, according to people involved with the project.
"If you get lucky, a market makes you look smarter than you are," said the project's developer, Steven Witkoff. The 56-year-old builder said that while he believes he "planned a good project," overall demand for such high-end units has been far stronger than when he bought the property in 2011.
Even while the broader Manhattan apartment market is still below peak levels—the average sales price of an apartment was $1,149 a square foot in the second quarter, compared with $1,322 a square foot in the second quarter of 2008, according to Miller Samuel Inc—demand has been soaring for new high-end projects over the past two-and-a-half years.
Apartments are selling for well over $5,000 a square foot in slim skyscrapers near Central Park such as One57 and 432 Park Ave., which isn't slated for completion until at least 2015. Another project by Mr. Witkoff, 150 Charles St. in the West Village, has found buyers for all its 91 units after sales began in February, with prices topping $3,000 a square foot.
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No. 15 Coastal Carolina rallies past Appalachian State 34-23
Coastal Carolina quarterback Grayson McCall (10) scrambles as Appalachian State’s Caleb Spurlin (97) and Nick Hampton close in during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 21, 2020, in Conway, S.C. (AP Photo/Richard Shiro)
CONWAY, S.C. (AP) — Reese White scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 3-yard run with 2:24 to play, and No. 15 Coastal Carolina continued its perfect 8-0 start with its first-ever win over Appalachian State, 34-23 on Saturday.
The Chants (6-0 Sun Belt Conference) had lost all six previous games to the four-time defending Sun Belt champion Mountaineers. But they held Appalachian State to just two field goals in the second half after falling behind 17-9 at halftime.
The Mountaineers tried to rally after White’s score. But D’Jordan Strong intercepted Zac Thomas’ 4th-and-22 pass and returned it 38 yards for a touchdown to clinch it.
Coastal Carolina, picked last in the Sun Belt in the preseason, is now a victory away from winning the league’s East Division and playing West winners Louisiana-Lafayette for the conference title next month.
The Chants play at Texas State next week and a make-up of a COVID-19-postponed game at Troy on Dec. 12. In between is a potential undefeated showdown against No. 22 LIberty on Dec. 5.
Coastal Carolina freshman quarterback Grayson McCall threw for 200 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for another 69 yards and a score. Wide receiver Isaiah Likely had 118 yards receiving and a score, and the Chants’ defense forced three turnovers, all interceptions, off the usually steady Thomas.
Two of those came in the second half, when the Mountaineers led twice. Appalachian State, thanks in part to Camerun Peoples’ huge first half, was up 20-15 after a 36-yard field goal by Chandler Staton a little over four minutes into the third quarter. Less than five minutes later, McCall hit C.J. Marable for a 19-yard touchdown to push the Chants in front.
Staton added his third field goal of the game with 11:47 to go, giving ASU a 23-21 advantage.
It stayed that way until the scores from White and Strong.
Thomas threw for 211 yards and a touchdown, and Peoples finished with 178 yards rushing, although nearly all of those came before halftime.
Appalachian State: The Mountaineers almost assuredly lost out on a chance to play in the Sun Belt title game but remain on solid footing for a bowl berth.
Coastal Carolina: The Chants are expected to improve upon their No. 15 ranking as they inch up for the chance to play in a New Year’s Six bowl game.
Appalachian State plays Troy at home next Saturday night.
Coastal Carolina looks to clinch the Sun Belt East Division at Texas State next Saturday.
More AP college football coverage: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
More College Football Stories
Panthers’ Satterfield hired as Gamecocks OC
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WSPA) - Former Carolina Panthers assistant coach Marcus Satterfield has been officially hired to be the Gamecocks' offensive coordinator, the school announced on Sunday.
Following Mike Bobo's departure, USC head coach Shane Beamer's primary task was to fill that void on his staff. Beamer and Satterfield worked together as graduate assistants under Phillip Fulmer at Tennessee in the early 2000s.
The Athletic: Collin Hill will not return to USC for final year of eligibility
by WSPA Staff / Jan 8, 2021
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WSPA) - Collin Hill will be foregoing his final year of eligibility at USC, Josh Kendall of The Athletic reported on Friday.
The news came just one day after it was announced that Mike Bobo, Hill's head coach at Colorado and offensive coordinator at South Carolina, was leaving the Gamecocks program to join the staff at Auburn.
Etienne signs with sports agency, earns All-American honors
CLEMSON, S.C. (WSPA) - Travis Etienne has signed with a sports agency ahead of the NFL draft and earned All-American honors on Thursday.
Etienne signed with Ballengee Group, the agency announced on social media Thursday. This move signifying his expected entry into the 2021 NFL Draft, choosing to forego an additional year of eligibility granted by the NCAA.
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Officer: I quit Proud Boys over fears of ‘far-left’ attacks
by: MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, Associated Press
FILE – In this Nov. 14, 2018 file photo, East Hampton, Conn., Police Chief Dennis Woessner addresses the Town Council in East Hampton. East Hampton officer Kevin P. Wilcox, has retired from the force after Committee for Civil Rights Under Law raised concerns about his membership with the Proud Boys, a far-right group known for engaging in violent clashes at political rallies. In September, Woessner told the civil rights organization that Wilcox’s Proud Boys membership didn’t violate department policies. (Jeff Mill/The Middletown Press via AP)
A Connecticut police officer who belonged to a far-right group accused a civil rights activist who had complained to his department of trying to “silence conservative voices,” according to a letter obtained by The Associated Press.
In his letter, addressed to East Hampton’s police chief, Officer Kevin Wilcox said he was a dues-paying Proud Boys member for about eight months. But he said he quit the group because he suspected its members would be attacked by “far-left political organizations” and labeled as bigots due to their “love” for President Donald Trump.
The AP obtained a copy of Wilcox’s July 31 letter in response to a public records request.
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law called for Wilcox’s removal from the police department after inquiring about his social media connections with members of the Proud Boys, a group known for its violent clashes at political rallies.
In September, East Hampton Police Chief Dennis Woessner told the organization that Wilcox’s Proud Boys membership didn’t violate department policies.
Wilcox, 53, retired from the East Hampton Police Department on Oct. 22, one week after the AP reported that Wilcox had been a Proud Boys member and made online payments to a group leader.
Kristen Clarke, the civil rights group’s president and executive director, had urged the department to investigate Wilcox’s “possible connections with white supremacist groups and individuals.” Her July 24 letter to the police chief described the Proud Boys as a “male-chauvinist group with ties to white nationalism.”
The chief asked Wilcox for a written response to Clarke’s allegations. Wilcox said Clarke’s claim that he publicly associated with white supremacists was “an outright lie and an assault on my character.”
“Clarke’s letter is filled with links to far-left propaganda that expose her motive, which is to silence conservative voices. The law firm that she represents is a cudgel used to bludgeon anyone who doesn’t follow their far left ideology,” he wrote.
The links in Clarke’s letter included articles published by PBS, National Public Radio, the Guardian newspaper and the Hartford Courant.
Wilcox also said it is “very telling” that Clarke’s organization is funded by “many uber-progressive (alt-left) foundations like George Soros’s Foundation to Promote Open Society.”
Soros is a billionaire philanthropist and Hungarian-born Jew who is frequently demonized by right-wing conspiracy theorists.
Clarke said her group’s “sole goal is ensuring public safety at a time of increasing hate activity, extremism and racial violence.”
“Extremists undermine the integrity of law enforcement and pose a threat to public safety,” she wrote in a text message Wednesday. “We won’t stop until we eliminate extremists from the ranks of law enforcement, root and branch.”
Wilcox said he only was a “passive” member before he quit the Proud Boys in February, about five months before Clarke’s group first inquired about his Proud Boys ties.
“They were childish and annoying,” he wrote.
Vice Media co-founder Gavin McInnes started the Proud Boys in 2016. McInnes and the Proud Boys have described the group as a politically incorrect men’s club for “Western chauvinists” and deny affiliations with far-right extremist groups that overtly espouse racist and anti-Semitic views.
In February, McInnes sued the Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center for labeling the Proud Boys as a hate group. In response to the lawsuit, the law center said Proud Boys members often spread “outright bigotry” over the internet and have posted social media pictures of themselves with prominent Holocaust deniers, white nationalists and “known neo-Nazis.”
In New York City in October 2018, police arrested several Proud Boys members who brawled with anti-fascist protesters following a speech by McInnes at a Manhattan Republican club. Proud Boys members also have frequently clashed with counterprotesters at rallies in California and Oregon.
Wilcox said he paid dues to a group leader and was told the money would pay for food and a room for “meet-ups.” The civil rights group claimed those publicly visible, online dues payments helped fund the Proud Boys’ “violent or otherwise illegal” activities.
But the town’s police chief said he closed the department’s inquiry as being “unfounded,” with no evidence to support a policy violation or any proof that Wilcox is a white supremacist.
“Different individuals or organizations can have their own opinions of certain groups or individuals, which may or may not be correct according to others,” the chief wrote. “As an example, there are certain individuals/groups who view President Trump as a racist and others do not. Does that mean any person who contributes to the Republican party is therefore a racist?”
Wilcox had been an East Hampton police officer since 1999. The town is about 20 miles (30 kilometers) southeast of Hartford and has a population of nearly 13,000 residents, roughly 90% of whom are white.
Kunzelman reported from College Park, Maryland. Follow him on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/Kunzelman75
New hot sauce challenge spreading among UConn fans helping Connecticut kids
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Weston Turville Church of England School
Weston Turville Pre-School
Lockdown January 2021
PTA Newsletters
Nursery Provision Consultation
The day Year 8 came to town!
Supporting Your Child's Learning
SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities)
Disadvantaged Pupils
Trips & Visitors
Secondary School Transfer
St Mary the Virgin Church, Weston Turville
Topsy Turvy Pre-School
Weston Turville Parish Council
Barnowls After School Club
Jigsaw Summer Playscheme
Buckinghamshire County Council
Oxford Diocese
The John Colet Liaison Group of Schools
Bucks Family Information Service (BFIS)
Services Support Worker
We send out newsletters on Wednesdays during term time as well as publishing them on the School Newsletters page in the News and Events area.
Although teachers are usually available at the start or end of the school day to discuss urgent matters that can be dealt with quickly, they are often preparing resources before school and we encourage parents to see them after school whenever possible. The Headteacher is usually available at these times too. If you feel more time is needed it is best to make an appointment which can be done through either the school office, or by emailing the class teacher directly.
We encourage the children to be proud of their achievements in school but we are aware that parents may not get to see all of it. To try and address this we have an "open classroom" session between 3:00 (3:15 for juniors) and 3:30 every Monday afternoon during term time. All parents are invited to come in at these times to see their child's work in the classrooms.
In the Autumn and Spring Terms parents’ evenings are held. These are prearranged appointments when you are invited to discuss how your child is getting on at school.
We welcome parents who have time to come and help with various activities, e.g. reading, cooking, sewing, computing etc. If you would like to help please let the office staff know. All parents belong to the Parent Teacher Association (PTA). This organisation consists of parents, teachers and governors and runs a number of events each year, e.g. Discos, Quiz Nights, Summer Festival, Christmas Fair, Barbecues etc. to raise funds for the school. The money received from these events gets spent on projects chosen by the PTA committee, making a big difference to the facilities that are available to the children. Over the past years the PTA has been responsible for refurbishing the library, providing the wooden play apparatus and supporting the school IT suite. The committee is elected at the AGM in the summer term and more details of its events and operation can be found in the dedicated PTA section. The PTA also issue a newsletter on a regular basis, and these can be found in the PTA Newsletters section of the News and Events area.
© 2021 Weston Turville Church of England School • School Website Design by e4education • High Visibility Version • Sitemap • Privacy Policy • Cookie Settings
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Zoning Archives
This section contains archives only. For a copy of the current Zoning Ordinance, please select the Zoning Ordinance link on the left hand side of the screen.
1988 Zoning Ordinance
On January 1, 2013, Williamson County made effective the update to the Zoning Ordinance. At that time, the previously used 1988 Zoning Ordinance was replaced and became no longer effective.
Cover Sheet & Table of Contents
1988 Official Zoning Map
2013 Zoning Ordinance Public Hearings and Meetings
Williamson County Regional Planning Commission, Public Hearing
Complete Draft of the Proposed Williamson County Zoning Ordinance
Williamson County Regional Planning Commission, Special Called Session
Within Article 10, changed the minimum lot width on tracts of five (5) acres or greater from 300 feet to 200 feet;
Within Article 10, changed the minimum front yard setback on tracts of five (5) acres or greater from 150 feet to 100 feet; and
On the Official Zoning Map, changed the zoning of Parcels 9, 26, 34, 34.01, and 34.02 on Map 106, which are current zoned Suburban and were proposed to be MGA-1, to MGA-H. The revised Proposed Zoning Map can be found by clicking here.
Williamson County Planning Staff is currently working on a revised draft of the UPdate to the Zoning Ordinance and will have it posted as soon as it is completed.
Complete Draft of the Proposed Williamson County Zoning Map
Williamson County Regional Planning Commission, Recommendation
On April 13, 2012, the Williamson County Regional Planning Commission has recommended that the Williamson County Board of County Commissioners adopt the update to the Zoning Ordinance and Official Zoning Map. The Board of County Commissioners wold a public hearing on the update on May 14, 2012 at 7:00 PM.
Zoning Map - County Commission (May 14, 2012)
Zoning Ordinance - County Commission (May 14, 2012)
Board of County Commissioners, Adoption
On May 14, 2012, the Board of County Commissioners adopted the update to the Williamson County Zoning Ordinance and Official Zoning Maps, to be effective on January 1, 2013.
Williamson County Zoning Ordinance, effective January 1, 2013
Williamson County Zoning Map, effective January 1, 2013
2013 Zoning Ordinance Development Process
Diagnosis and Annotated Outline
Williamson County is undertaking an extensive update to its Zoning Ordinance, which was adopted in 1988 as a tool to implement the then County's recently adopted Comprehensive Land Use Plan. Completion of this update is anticipated in the Summer of 2009. Staff is working with the consulting firm, McBride Dale Clarion to complete this update.
The first step in this process is the diagnosis of the current Zoning Ordinance and the annotated outline of the new Zoning Ordinance. The diagnosis identifies what is and is not working with the current regulations, and also serves as a basis to frame community discussion about what changes need to be made during the update process. The annotated outline consists of a detailed outline of how the new Ordinance would be structured if the goals and major themes identified in the diagnosis are implemented in the new Ordinance.
Once feedback and direction has been received regarding the diagnosis and annotated outline, the text of a new Ordinance will be drafted. This will occur at a later stage in the process.
During the course of the update, there will be an opportunity for the public to comment upon the proposed changes. Please check back frequently for more information regarding these opportunities.
Module 1 - Administration and Procedure
For the purposes of easier review, the draft revisions to the Williamson County Zoning Ordinance will be undertaken in three modules. The following is the first module that comprises the articles that address the administration, procedures, and enforcement aspects of the new Zoning Ordinance.
These articles are described further in the introductory language within the draft Module 1 but they generally address the permits, certificates, and special review processes necessary to use or develop land or buildings in the County. Module 1 also identifies those boards (e.g., the County Commission, Planning Commission, and Board of Zoning Appeals) and staff members responsible for the review processes.
Note: There were no comments from the public related to Module 1.
Module 2 - Zoning Districts and Use Regulations
The second module is comprised of the articles that establish the zoning districts and use regulations. The specifics (e.g., bulk standards) of each zoning district, the table of permitted uses, and the use standards are described in detail throughout these articles.
Revision to Module 2
This Module was revised in May of 2011 to reflect a number of changes that were made by the Zoning Ordinance Update Steering Committee. The changes were made following the Committee's review of the comment received by the public during the Public Outreach Meetings or submitted by individuals following those meetings.
A listing of each comment received by members of the public regarding Modules 1 and 2, along with the response and reccommendation from staff and the Steering Committee, can be found below.
Module 3 - Development Standards
The third Module is comprised of the articles that establish standards for developments within the unincorporated areas of Williamson County. These standards include, among other things, parking, signage, landscaping, resource protection, and open space.
Module 1-Administration and Procedure
Module 2- Zoning Districts and Use Regulations
Modules 1 and 2 Public Comments and Staff/Steering Committee Recommendations
Module 3 - Public Review Draft
Module 3 - Revised Public Review Draft
Summary of the Articles contained within Modules 1 and 2
Summary of Articles contained within Module 3
Table of Zoning District Translations
Text Amendments
Map Amendments
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Our Network is for Selling Mops
Phil Windley // Thu Feb 27 21:57:00 2003
I was telling this story to someone the other day and they suggested that I ought to write it down, so I decided it might make a good blog article.
In 1994, a friend of mine, Steve Fulling, was in Oregon building a statewide, high-speed network to connect the state's engineering schools at DS3 speeds (for you youngsters that was pretty fast in 1994). The project was called NeroNet. Steve talks about how they'd sit around the conference room hypothesizing things that people might do with a high-speed network. They came up with lots of lofty ideas: exchanging x-rays, doing weather simulations, doing physics experiments, distributed computations, etc.
At the same time, I was in Utah build an eCommerce site called iMALL.com with another friend named Ross Jardine. One of our first ideas was to create something we called "Deals of the Day." There was a company in Orem Utah that was kind of a 1980's version of an Overstock.com: they bought distressed merchandise and then liquidated it. But since there was no Internet, they did it by sending out faxes to thousands of small merchants who paid a monthly subscription fee to get access to the deals. We signed up to get the fax for few dollars a day and then put them on the net. Within months we were the company's largest distributor by far and Deals of the Day was off to a multi-year run as an iMALL.com staple.
That's where these two stories come together. In the beginning of October 1994, iMALL.com went live and Deals of the Day featured its first deal: a case of six Wonder Mops. I called Steve with some excitement and told him we were live and that he could now buy something on the Internet. It so happens, that he was just going into one of these brainstorming sessions on what to do with all the bandwidth NeroNet would deliver to the engineering schools of Oregon. He walked in, pulled up iMALL.com in Mosaic (bonus points if you know what that is) and told the assembled group of academics, "I know what our network is going to be used for: selling mops."
Of course, there were the expected guffaws and then they all pitched in and bought a case of mops---iMALL.com's first sale. If I remember right, the price for a case of mops was $36. Now, I don't know for sure that these mops were the first credit card purchase of a consumer good on the Internet, but if it wasn't the first, it was darn close. We've still got one of those mops (courtesy of Steve) and I've shown it off many times as the beginning of eCommerce.
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WIRED Awake June 7: France plans to ban petrol and diesel cars
France's environment minister has outlined plans to eliminate petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040, memory sales have driven Samsung's biggest ever quarterly profit
Getty / JUNG YEON-JE / Staff
Your WIRED daily briefing. Today, France's environment minister has outlined plans to eliminate petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040, memory sales have driven Samsung's biggest ever quarterly profit, a Google-backed journalism fund has invested in robot reporters for the UK and more.
Get WIRED Awake sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning by 8am. Click here to sign up to the WIRED Awake newsletter.
1. France plans to ban petrol and diesel cars, coal-fired power stations
French environment minister Nicolas Hulot has said that the country plans to end the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2040, and cease coal-fired electricity generation by 2022 (Ars Technica). The latter goal is a relatively simple one, as coal contributes just 4 per cent of the country's power generation. The move to eliminate petrol and diesel vehicles, described as a "public health agenda" is a more complex proposition, but one that could be aided by the French government's part-ownership of Peugeot and Citroen parent PSA, as well as Renault, potentially prompting them to follow in Volvo's footsteps by committing to electric vehicle production. Hulot also said that he wants to reduce nuclear power to a 50 per cent share of the country's energy mix by 2025, in favour of solar, wind and other renewable energy sources, although he was not clear on how this would be achieved.
2. Samsung reports biggest ever quarterly profit
Korean tech giant Samsung has reported a record quarterly operating profit of 14 trillion won (£9.3 billion) for the three months to June, thanks to booming memory chip sales (BBC News). The company's profits are up 72 per cent on 2016, and also show increased consumer hardware sales figures thanks to the new Galaxy S8 flagship phone, indicating that the firm's mobile division has successfully weathered the storm of the exploding Galaxy Note 7. Some researchers predict that growth in Samsung's components division could mean that the company overtakes Intel as the world's biggest-selling chipmaker this year.
Razer Book 13 review: a flawed productivity masterpiece
By Adam Speight
3. Google-backed journalism fund invests in robot reporters for the UK
The Google-funded Digital News Initiative has given €706,000 (£621,600) to the UK Press Association's Reporters and Data and Robots (RADAR) initiative for digital journalist, which will see software robots produce data-driven stories for newspapers around the UK (The Register). The award comes from a €22 million fund being distributed to data journalism projects around Europe. The Press Association says: "RADAR is intended to meet the increasing demand for consistent, fact-based insights into local communities, for the benefit of established regional media outlets, as well as the growing sector of independent publishers, hyperlocal outlets and bloggers". Press Association editor-in-chief Pete Clifton describes it as "a cost-effective way to provide incisive local stories".
4. Microsoft confirms that it's cutting sales jobs worldwide
Microsoft has confirmed rumours circulating earlier this week with the announcement that the company's sales division is to undergo worldwide staff cuts, but has refused to state exactly how many positions are to go (BBC). In a statement, the company said: "Microsoft is implementing changes to better serve our customers and partners. Today, we are taking steps to notify some employees that their jobs are under consideration or that their positions will be eliminated. Like all companies, we evaluate our business on a regular basis. This can result in increased investment in some places and, from time-to-time, re-deployment in others". BBC News reports that "the majority of cuts are expected to be outside the US", noting that the company has a global staff of around 121,000 people, with 3,000 of those in the UK. The company is in the process of refocusing on cloud services as it faces off against rivals Amazon and Google.
5. You're about to get more control over your Facebook and Google data
Europeans are about to get a lot more control over their social media data (WIRED). A major change to EU data protection law will require Facebook and others to significantly change how people access and use personal information. In the midst of a data gold rush, that's a big deal. The changes will be required under the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which comes into force in May 2018. The regulation sets out a series of "harmonised" data protection principles, that will be implemented into local laws for the 28 member states. The focus of the GDPR is to give greater protections to individuals as well as tougher rules on those who handle data.
Book now for WIRED Security
Hackers are getting more and more innovative, and it's more important than ever that security professionals and business leaders understand what the latest trends and developments are to combat such threats. WIRED Security 2017 takes place in London on September 28.
6. Scientists map the receptor that makes weed work
New research has found that the human body's cannabis receptors are more malleable than previously though, meaning that it should be easier to target them with synthetic compounds designed to trigger only cannabis's most desirable qualities, such as pain relief (WIRED). "People have been using cannabis for a variety of therapeutic indications for centuries," says study co-author Alexandros Makriyannis, director of Northeastern University's Center for Drug Discovery. He and his colleagues have now mapped the receptor in various states of activation and deactivation using X-ray crystallography. CB1 receptors look like a bundle of microscopic sausage links. The sausages, seven in all, are spirals of amino acids that weave in and out of a cell's membrane. And they are very flexible. When a cannabinoid goes into the receptor, the sausage links—called helices—coalesce around that receptor's binding site. The big surprise came when Makriyannis' group crystallised CB1 as it was binding to the THC-like molecules meant to switch it on. The crystallography revealed that two of the helices twisted and collapsed to fit around the molecule, shrinking the receptor to less than half its size when it received the off-switch molecule. Makriyannis says this is a big breakthrough for his work, and that he'll keep looking for new cannabinoid molecules. "We want to make compounds that will modify the receptor differently, so we can make better drugs".
AirPods Max one-month review: heavy, pricey and not worth it
By Jeremy White
7. This astronomer photographed Jupiter's moons using a Game Boy camera
Proving that equipment limitations are no excuse for not getting the job done, Dutch astronomer and keen astrophotographer Alexander Pietrow has captured images of both our Moon and three of Jupiter's moons using the 2-bit monochrome camera released in 1998 for the Nintendo Game Boy (PetaPixel). He used a universal cell phone camera adaptor to pair the Game Boy Camera with the 1838 6-inch Fraunhofer telescope in Leiden University’s Old Observatory and waited for a suitably cloudless night. Pietrow writes of his remarkable lunar images: "The second moon series was much better, especially when looking at the border between the light and dark sides. We can clearly see craters on the Moon".
8. Nintendo Online for Switch is launching on July 21
Nintendo has finally announced that its Nintendo Online service for voice chat and multiplayer matchmaking will be coming to the Switch on July 21, timed to coincide with the launch of multiplayer-friendly colour-blaster Splatoon 2 (EuroGamer). The game is getting its own SplatNet 2 matchmaking and stat tracking service as part of Nintendo Switch Online, and will play host to annual mass multiplayer SplatFest events, with the first to take place as a free demo of the game and service on July 15, between 17:00 and 21:00 BST. Once it launches, Nintendo Switch Online will be available as a free trial until 2018.
9. PS4 games are now available on PC via Sony's PSNow streaming
Sony has for the first time added PlayStation 4 games to its PlayStation Now game streaming service, with 51 games available to European subscribers (VG24/7). PSNow has clients for both Windows and the PS4, which means that the PS4 titles, including PlayStation exclusives such as Heavy Rain and God of War 3: Remastered, are available to play on PC for the first time. A PSNow subscription costs £12.99 a month and requires a minimum 5Mbit/s internet connection.
10. Meet Overwatch's long-awaited villain, Doomfist
Blizzard has finally introduced Doomfist – real name, Akande Ogundimu – with an action-packed story trailer that, as usual, reveals a little of the character's background (Rock, Paper, Shotgun). Doomfist has been teased in animated trailers since before the game was released, and his background paints him as a former leader of the villainous Talon, originally taken down by super-intelligent gorilla hero Winston, and now escaped from prison. He's a heavy duty front-line melee fighter, and he's available to play now in the test realm.
Popular on WIRED
One year on, who still plays Pokémon Go?
On July 6, 2016, strangers around the world started congregating on street corners to share tips and form alliances. Hordes of people, phones outstretched in their hands, would stampede into parks, hoping to catch a glimpse of their elusive prey. Phone batteries were drained and data allowances exhausted. It was the launch of Pokémon Go.
WIRED 07.17 – on sale now
With five Olympic medals, Ben Ainslie is one of the world's most successful sailors. His next challenge? To win the America's Cup. In this double issue, WIRED joins him and the Land Rover BAR team in Bermuda as he prepares for the race. Plus, we go inside the UK's new unicorn Improbable, and behind the lines at Elon Musk's distribution factory. Subscribe and save now. Out in print and digital. Subscribe now and save.
Podcast 324: Google's big fine, ransomware scare
Get social. Follow WIRED on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
Tuesday briefing: Government advisors urge 2030 petrol and diesel car ban
Thinking of buying an electric car? Read this first
By Alistair Charlton
How Polestar's electric cars are changing an entire industry
In partnership with Polestar
Here are the 24 most exciting electric cars coming in 2021
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Waymo Has Taken the Human Out of Its Self-Driving Cars
Alex Davies
And in just a few months, it will invite passengers to climb aboard.
Eight years after launching its self-driving “moon shot,” Waymo, a k a Google’s driverless car company, is having its Neil Armstrong moment.
The company is now running its autonomous minivans around Phoenix with no human inside to grab the wheel if things go bad, CEO John Krafcik announced Tuesday. And in just a few months, it will invite passengers to climb aboard the world’s first driverless ride-hailing service.
This launch brings up a host of unanswered questions about the details and practical elements of such a service, but what’s already clear is Waymo is taking one of the final steps on the long road toward taking the human driver out of the picture and finally cashing in on the profits and safety benefits that come with the transition to robot chauffeurs.
“Fully self-driving cars are here,” Krafcik said at Web Summit in Lisbon, where he announced the move.
Waymo took its first driverless spin on public roads in October 2015, when it was still officially part of Google. (In December 2015, it launched as a stand-alone company under the umbrella of Alphabet, Google’s parent company.) Steve Mahan, a blind man, took a solo, 10-minute ride around Austin, Texas in the company’s “pod car,” the funky one without a steering wheel or pedals (Waymo retired those cars this summer in favor of its minivans).
The difference here, Krafcik says, is that the cars prowling Phoenix sans humans aren’t part of a demo. “What you’re seeing now marks the start of a new phase for Waymo,” he said in Lisbon.
Indeed, this is a massive step toward the driverless future Waymo/Google has been pursuing since starting this project in 2009. The company has been toting select riders around the Phoenix metro area since April, but with safety drivers at the wheel to make sure everything stays on track. Now, those drivers are coming out.
And once you’ve taken the driver out, putting a rider in becomes something like an afterthought. “The difference between those two things is relatively slight,” Krafcik told reporters last week. “You’ve still got a fully driverless car interacting with the world, all of the other human-driven cars, pedestrians and cyclists and other things that are on the road at the same time.”
In other words, the technology has to be damn near perfect to get to this point. Then it’s just a matter of buttoning things up—and reaping the safety benefits and dollars that come with it.
Waymo is also experimenting with self-driving trucks and will consider selling autonomous technology straight to automakers who want to implement it in their vehicles, but a ride-hailing service makes sense as a starting point.
OK, here’s the part where we go over all the things that aren’t quite clear. Waymo hasn’t disclosed how much territory its cars will cover or what kind of hours they will run, whether it will charge passengers for rides, or the timeline for announcing or figuring out any of that. (Company reps recently declined to give any such details for the existing early rider program in Phoenix.)
It’s also unclear if there’s a system for preventing a freaked-out passenger from clambering into the driver’s seat and grabbing control of the car—or how that would affect questions like insurance, if they then caused a crash. Waymo hasn’t shared clear plans for helping autonomous cars find the people they’re supposed to be picking up—which you know is a problem if you’ve ever been on the phone with an Uber driver, insisting I’m right here on the dot!
Then there are the bigger questions, less specific to Waymo: How do you insure this sort of service? (Larry Burns, a former GM exec and onetime adviser to Google’s self-driving project, has suggested operators might provide insurance themselves, at least until the technology is proven enough for regular insurers to get into it.) How do you regulate it? How does that change if Congress and President Trump agree on a national system for governing autonomous driving? How do you ensure the cars can handle all the craziness of roads populated by unpredictable humans? What happens when the weather suddenly turns nasty?
Starting in Arizona lets Waymo dodge some of these questions, at least for now. The weather is good, the roads aren’t too crazy or complicated, and self-driving cars don’t need any special permissions to hit the road there. "There's no oversight that we provide," says Matt Burdick, a spokesperson for the city of Chandler, just outside Phoenix, where the cars are running. The city has given Waymo detailed maps of its streets and its traffic signal timing data. "They got a permit to do some of the filming, but not for the testing." (You can see the result of that filming, Waymo’s latest promo video, here.)
Once Waymo is up and running in Arizona, it will gradually expand its service area to cover a 600-square mile swath around Phoenix, Krafcik says. Then comes the possibly never-ending slog to bring this kind of service to other cities, states, and countries. But once you’re standing on the moon, the rest of the solar system looks a lot closer.
Aarian Marshall contributed reporting.
Way More Self-Driving
Our trip inside Castle, the ersatz city where Waymo trains its driverless cars
Want to save lives? Deploy self-driving cars ASAP
To fully understand how robots drive, climb onto this terrifying cart
Alex Davies is a senior editor at Insider and the former editor of WIRED’s transportation section, where he specialized in covering autonomous and electric vehicles. He is also the author of Driven, a book chronicling the origin of and race to create the self-driving car.
Senior Associate Editor
Meet the Blind Man Who Convinced Google Its Self-Driving Car Is Finally Ready
Google is getting serious about self-driving cars. So serious that it put a legally blind man in one that drove him around safely on his own. The successful trip means that the tech giant can now launch its own self-driving car company, which it's calling Waymo.
TopicsgoogleWaymoSelf-Driving Cars
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Commentary OpinionTODAY'S OLIGARCHY
Replace the partisan sham, or liberty dies
Exclusive: Alan Keyes predicts 'implosion' of American way of life within 2 years
By Alan Keyes
What will it take to get the people who are supposed to represent us in government to realize that America's survival as a free nation urgently requires that Barack Obama and his collaborators be called to account? The situation of the United States today reminds me of the period during the 9/11 terrorist attack, between the moment when each tower was struck and the moment of its breathtaking collapse (about 2 hours, as I recall).
Obama's two terms are like those hours. This analogy suggests that sometime in the next two years we have reason to expect the breathtaking implosion of what's left of the American way of life. The collapse has already begun. Hopeless unemployment is being obscured by systematically falsified government statistics and debt-financed welfare expenditures. This is an intentional effort to create a permanent urban "lumpenproletariat," ripe for violent outbreaks. Such outbreaks are already being stirred and manipulated for purposes of political/social intimidation.
In addition to domestic decline, our relative stature internationally is also declining. For the first time since post-Reconstruction era after the Civil War, the United States of America is not the world's largest economy. Despite the rich natural endowments of our land and people, and our highly developed material and educational infrastructure, government policies inimical to our productivity are debasing the self-discipline and stifling the productive genius characteristic of the American people. These policies include the over-regulation and taxation of our economic activity. But what is often missed is that the promotion of irregular, self-indulgent moral behavior, specifically targeting the integrity of the family unit, works decisively toward the same bad end.
In his semi-fictional autobiography, Barack Obama portrays himself as an assiduous student of Marxism, an ideology inherently inimical to America's economic and political institutions. The purposeful disintegration of America's strength that is taking place on his watch is in line with that ideology. It corresponds to the deconstruction of bourgeois, capitalist society, intended to hasten the moment when the decadence occasioned by its historically inevitable internal contradictions leads to its collapse. From this ideological viewpoint, the destructive effect of the changes being imposed on the nation during Obama's occupancy of the White House are successful acts of class warfare.
So are his persistent efforts to evade or overthrow constitutional constraints. But even though his Marxist background suffices to explain his destructive actions, it would be a mistake to conclude that he alone is the reason for them. The understanding of government on which the U.S. Constitution was based involves a far more ancient and compelling understanding of the class warfare endemic to human political affairs, one that involves the age-old struggle between the many and the few, the princes and the people at large, whom the nobility or gentry have habitually been tempted to regard as less than human.
Ironically, the left-wing ideologies rooted in Marxism are all of them predicated on some version of this dehumanization of what the Marxists are pleased to call the "masses" (as if the preponderance of human beings are no more individually distinctive than the cells in a mass of biological tissue.) This language is a clue to the fact that, for all its pretensions of indignant sympathy with the plight of the "people" and its proclaimed commitment to "progress," in practice leftist ideology has uniformly ended up producing government by the few, predicated on nothing more than their ability to consolidate manipulative power by whatever means necessary. Americans commonly sense that, in terms of the understanding of justice on which their way of life has been predicated, this is not progress at all. It's regression. It returns humanity to government of, by and for the powerful few, with their abuses unconstrained by any prescribed limit.
This common sense of the lie at the heart of Obama's promise of "change" is leading more and more Americans to reject it. They are awakening to the fact that the damage America is suffering is no accident of circumstances, no happenstance of good intentions incompetently gone awry. They are finally acknowledging that an implacable foe is laying siege to our constitutional form of government, our faithfully self-disciplined free society and indeed our whole way of life.
The recent midterm election offered more than convincing evidence that a majority of Americans now stands decisively against Obama. Yet since the election every day brings new evidence that the juggernaut of anti-American change, for which Obama is the figurehead, moves forward apace. Though the GOP is supposedly committed to upholding the liberty he aims to destroy, its quisling leaders have been taking pains to make sure the election outcome doesn't interfere with that juggernaut's momentum.
In the past week or so, despite all their rhetoric to the contrary, these quislings have agreed to full funding for Obama's dictatorial assault on the Constitution and integrity of the sovereign body of the American people. They are also open to cooperating with Obama on other agendas Americans reject, including approval of a new so-called "free trade" agreement for the Pacific, which further extends the regime of socialist regulation masked with that misnomer. Its passage will involve the reinstitution of "fast track" negotiating authority, giving the man the quislings decry as "lawless" free rein to negotiate trade deals in secret and then force them through the Senate without proper scrutiny or debate.
This is done precisely in order to impose results that advantage an elitist few at the expense of the people at large, results informed Americans would therefore reject. Do we require more striking proof that the so-called "two-party" system is now a vehicle for rubber-stamping dictatorial rule by an elitist few? When will Americans act in recognition of the fact, now painfully clear, that this corruptly phony partisan process must be urgently replaced? If it is not, government of, by and for the people will have suffered that fate instead.
Media wishing to interview Alan Keyes, please contact [email protected].
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Once a high-level Reagan-era diplomat, Alan Keyes is a long-time leader in the conservative movement. He is well-known as a staunch pro-life champion and an eloquent advocate of the constitutional republic, including respect for the moral basis of liberty and self-government. He has worked to promote an approach to politics based on the initiative of citizens of goodwill consonant with the with the principles of God-endowed natural right.
@loyaltoliberty
As it murders conscience, will abortion kill self-government?
The only true meaning of love
Our disrespected borders: A failure of moral will
The Deathocrats
Electoral College scheme: Grounds for civil war?
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Reports from polling places in Cleveland and North Carolina
JOHN HOCKENBERRY:
Good morning, everyone. The polls are open and the exit pollsters are lurking.
[BEEP]
FRANCINE:
My name is Francine. I’m calling from New York City. I got to the polls just as it opened at 6 o’clock, and there was already a line. I was walking my dog and they even let me bring my dog in and tie her inside the polling place.
Tell us your Democracy dog stories at 877-8MY-TAKE or mytake@thetakeaway.org. We re live across the country. Adaora Udoji is in Atlanta, Georgia. Andrea Bernstein, The Takeaway’s Political Director is here in New York. And we’re continuing to talk with places in key states that are seeing extraordinary turnouts, and also are looking at races that are probably going to be key to what happens tonight nationally.
Dan Malthroup is the host of WCPN’s Sound Ideas from Cleveland Public Radio’s public radio station in Cleveland. And Rob Christensen is chief political reporter for Raleigh News and Observer. Rob, where are you right now?
ROB CHRISTENSEN:
I am in a, a voting place in a suburb of Raleigh called Cary. It is - it is a town of about 120,000. It’s in the fast-growing high tech area in the Research Triangle Park and it is, it’s an affluent area. I’m in a church, Fellowship of Christ. And it is - this is the area that Obama hopes to do well in. It is an area with a lot of people who have come in from other parts of the – other, other parts of the country. The - we have, in fact, Cary is spelt C-A-R-Y, and the joke is, it stands for Containment Area for Relocated Yankees.
[JOHN LAUGHS]
So it is a – it is an area that is open to change.
[VOICE IN BACKGROUND]
I’m in the middle of, I’m in the middle of a-
VOTING OFFICIAL:
Are you an observer, sir?
Oh no –
You can leave the polling place now!
[LAUGHS] Hold, hold on there Rob. While you get arrested, we’re going to talk to Dan Malthroup.
[VOICES IN BACKGROUND]
Dan, where are you exactly?
VOTING OFFICIAL IN BACKGROUND:
- if you’re not an observer.
DAN MALTHROUP:
At the polling place. I, I’m in the parking lot outside the Addison Branch Public Library in the huff neighborhood of Cleveland. And –
Dan, don’t go inside, okay, you can get in serious trouble.
I won’t.
All right, continue.
I know, I know. But, you know, there’s – this is the place where in 2004 there were huge lines. You remember Fannie Lewis, a Cleveland councilwoman, died earlier this year – in 2004 she spent the entire day fighting to get the Board of Elections to bring more voting equipment down here because there were lines out the door. A documentary was made about that, and there’s a documentary crew here right now –
[WOMAN’S VOICE]
- actually interviewing voters. I’ve also seen - I’ve visited about four or five different polling places in the last two hours, and at every one, there are Obama volunteers, a so-called line manager, comfort workers, all of these people that are coming in from all over the country to just make sure that people are casting their vote and, and know how to vote. And there’s a little confusion about the paper ballots in Cuyahoga County. They’re helping them work out that confusion, but obviously are putting sort of a good face on the Obama campaign for anybody who might be doubting. But that’s really not an issue in this blue corner of Ohio.
Well, let’s talk about the poll workers and the infrastructure. I mean, as that documentary you referred to spoke about, it was really the poorly educated staff.
[DAN TALKING/BOTH AT ONCE]
You know, I mean, there needed to be double the number of people. How do they have it deployed today?
Today - you know, at that time we had electronic voting machines in this state, and since then the entire - the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections has had an entire staff leadership turnover at the very top. The board members and the - and the director are all new. We also have new voting equipment and new procedures for training poll workers and all of that.
I’ve talked to Candace Hoke who runs the Center for Election Integrity this morning, and at the Cleveland State University she’s more or less Ohio’s chief independent poll observer. She said she’s never seen things go better in Cuyahoga County –
- than they’re going today.
Well, that’s good.
A hundred percent of the polls were open on time. They’re all staffed, they’re 100 percent capacity. They had lost a few, you know - about 100 poll workers who couldn’t make it, and they were quickly filled, you know, replaced with reserves. They’re really doing a – they appear so far to be doing a much better job than they ever have in the past.
All right, Rob Christensen down in the suburbs of Raleigh. Are you doing okay down there? Did you get in a little trouble?
I’m okay. They asked me to leave right in the middle of the conversation, so I’m sorry about that.
That’s all right.
Right now, we’re seeing a – it’s raining here in North Carolina and there actually are no lines. And, and – but there’s, there’s a reason for that, is that we have early voting in North Carolina and two and a half million people have already voted, as of last Saturday, when the early voting period closed. That is 41 percent of the registered voters.
So there has already been a tremendous turnout in North Carolina. And so we’re not seeing the huge lines. We saw the lines earlier, for example, Saturday, which was the last day for early voting. People typically waited an hour to vote, but in some places it was as much as three hours. So the, the long lines were for the early voting.
Now we can - there’s a couple of things we can say about the early voting. One is that it’s been heavily Democratic, which suggests that the Obama organization, which has a massive organization in this state, has - has been very effective in getting out the vote. We expect that today’s voting will be – lean a little bit more Republican than the early voting because they didn’t have the, the kind of organization in the state that Obama does.
Well, what about the Senate race there, Rob? I mean any, any chance that there’ll be a kind of a counter wave in support of the Republican Senate candidate?
Well, right now it looks like that, that there is some Obama coattails here that may work against the incumbent Republican Senator Elizabeth Dole. The race is close, but Dole has been behind in most of the polls, so it looks like she may be in some trouble right now, in part because she was very tied to President Bush and the White House.
She was recruited to run for the seat in 2002 by the White House, and in 2002 President Bush campaigned for her in the state five times, which is more than any other candidate in the country except for his brother Jeb Bush –
- that year. And so she, she certainly is feeling the national tide and the - and the skepticism about Bush and, and the hard economy, and that’s, that’s showing up.
[TWO AT ONCE/OVERTALK]
And definitely under siege. She didn’t even make it to the Republican Convention. We should remind people there are 15 electoral votes there in North Carolina. Rob, thanks so much for joining us.
Rob Christensen, chief political reporter for The Raleigh News and Observer.
Dan Malthroup, there are 20 electoral votes at stake in Ohio. You want to give us a quick last word?
Well it’s - you know, it’s anybody’s guess as to how Ohio’s gonna – which way Ohio’s gonna swing tonight, and it’s anybody’s guess about whether or not the - the count will actually come in tonight, or will we be waiting until tomorrow morning. So, it’s a –
Well, it’s your guess there in Cleveland. I’m sure you’re going to have to be talking about it between now and the late hours when they finally figure out what’s going on there in Ohio. Dan Malthroup, host of WCPN’s Sound Ideas in Cleveland at a neighborhood, at the Addison Branch Public Library in the –
Great -
- Huff neighborhood of Cleveland. Thanks, Dan.
Great talking to you, John.
Andrea?
ANDREA BERNSTEIN:
What amazes me about Ohio is it’s still - everybody’s considering it a toss-up state. It seems so close. When you look at the differences between the Obama campaign and the Kerry campaign, the Obama campaign has spent so much more money. He’s organizing in all of the counties in the state, as opposed to three for John Kerry. And he’s turning out these huge crowds. And yet, it remains neck and neck.
Right. Will organization work? And where does that organization go after this election? Again, that is the story.
Produced by PRI and WNYC
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List of American Universities in Dubai
Post category:Education / Universities
There are around a hundred different curriculum universities in Dubai, and the programs in degrees such as BA, BSc, BEd, BE ng, BBA, MA, Msc, MEd, ME ng, MBA, PhD, the below listed American Curriculum Universities are teaches through American standard, the Universities list with Contact and location details and some other important details.
Source: http://www.dubaiinternetmarketing.com
Universities Name and Other Info
American University Dubai
Address: P. O. Box 28282, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Phone: 971 4 3999000
Fax: 971 4 3998899
Web: www.aud.edu
Undergraduate Programs: Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch.), Bachelor of Arts in International Studies (B.A.I.S.), Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A.), Bachelor of Communication and Information Studies (B.C.I.S), Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) in Interior Design, Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) in Visual Communication, Bachelor of Science in Computer and Information Technology (B.S.C.I.T.)*, Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering (B.S.C.E.), Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering (B.S.Comp.E.), Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (B.S.E.E.), Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (B.S.M.E.)
Graduate Programs: Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.), Master of Education (M.Ed.), Master of Science in Construction Management (M.S.C.M.)
Other Programs: Certificate in Middle Eastern Studies (M.E.S.T.), Intensive English Language Program (I.E.L.P.)
American InterContinental University Dubai
Address: Dubai
Qualifications: BBA, BBA, BIT, MBA, MEd, MIT
Duke University Dubai
Address: 100 Fuqua Drive, Box 90120, Durham, NC 27708-0120 USA
Web: www.fuqua.duke.edu
Graduations: Daytime MBA Program, Cross Continent MBA Program, Global Executive MBA Program, Weekend Executive MBA Program, Master of Management Studies, Master of Management in Clinical Informatics
Programs: Daytime MBA, Cross Continent MBA, Global Executive MBA, Weekend Executive MBA, Health Sector Management, Executive Education, Joint Degree Programs, MMS: Foundations of Business, MM: Clinical Informatics, PhD Program
Fuqua School of Business Dubai
Address: Dubai, UAE
Date founded: September 2008
Qualifications: MBA, EMBA
Griggs University Dubai
Address: Academic City, Dubai
Web: www.griggs.edu
Harvard Medical School Dubai
Address: Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC), PO Box 505002, Dubai, UAE
Website: hmsdc.hms.harvard.edu
Date founded: 2004
Qualifications: Postgraduate
Address: Dubai Internet City, PO Box 502988, Dubai
Website: www.hult.edu/en/campuses/dubai/
Qualifications: MBA, EMBA, Masters
University fees: 170,000 dhs per year (2008-2009)
Michigan State University Dubai
Address: Dubai International Academic City, Block 10, Dubai Knowledge Village Block 2A, PO Box 345001, Dubai.
Telephone: 971-4-4361500
Website: dubai.msu.edu
Web: dubai.rit.edu
Qualifications: BSc, MSc, MA
University fees: 50,000-60,000 dhs per year (2009-2010)
Date founded: August 2008
Number of students: (approx) 200
Number of staff: (approx) 20
RIT – Rochester Institute of Technology – Dubai Campus
Address: Dubai Silicon Oasis (near Dubai Academic City), PO Box 341055, Dubai.
Phone: 971 4 371 2000
Web: www.rit.edu/dubai
Qualifications: MBA, MEng, MSc
University of Phoenix Dubai
Address: Block 3, First Floor, Dubai Knowledge Village, PO Box 502968, Dubai
Web: www.phoenix.edu
Qualifications: Bachelors, Masters, MBA
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Health and Personal Development
Froth on the Cappuccino By Maeve Haran
Froth on the Cappuccino
Good bread, warm towels, crisp mornings, girls' nights out, eating the froth on the cappuccino: these are the ordinary pleasures that make life worth living. Yet sometimes other things in our lives can be so overwhelming that we forget their healing power. This book describes how the little things in life can prove to be the most satisfying.
Froth on the Cappuccino Summary
Froth on the Cappuccino: How Small Pleasures Can Save Your Life by Maeve Haran
Good bread, warm towels, crisp mornings, girls' nights out, eating the froth on the cappuccino: these are the ordinary pleasures that make life worth living. Yet sometimes other things in our lives can be so overwhelming that we forget their healing power. In this inspiring book, bestselling author Maeve Haran describes how the little things in life can prove to be the most satisfying. Swapping jokes with a shopkeeper or getting a smile from another driver when you let them into the traffic makes you feel better about yourself than any self-help book. Froth on the Cappuccino celebrates hundreds of everyday delights all designed to remind us how joyous life is.
Customer Reviews - Froth on the Cappuccino
Maeve Haran, a former TV producer, rose to fame with her first novel, Having It All. She has written nine further novels, over 50 short stories and regularly contributes to national newspapers. She has two daughters, a son, a black and white cat, and a very naughty Tibetan terrier. She is married to an extremely tall Glaswegian. They live in north London and a have a cottage on the Sussex Downs. Her hobby is trying to balance work, motherhood and having a good time.
Hay House UK Ltd
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Contract Law By Ewan McKendrick
by Ewan McKendrick
Part of the MACMILLAN LAW MASTERS series, this 3rd revised edition incorporates the enactment of the Unfair Terms in Comsumer Contracts Regulations 1994, the publication of the Law Commission's report on the reform of the doctrine of privity of contract, and a number of decisions of the House of Lords. For students of Law or Business Studies.
Contract Law Summary
Ewan McKendrick has updated his popular textbook which explores the underlying themes and explains the basic rules of English contract law. He introduces the current debates about the nature, scope and functions of this law and discusses some of the wider controversies which surround certain basic doctrines such as consideration and privity. This new edition has been expanded to incorporate the enactment of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1994, the publication of the Law Commission's report on the reform of the doctrine of privity of contract and a number of decisions of the House of Lords.
Customer Reviews - Contract Law
About Ewan McKendrick
Ewan McKendrick is Herbert Smith Professor of English Private Law, Registrar of the University of Oxford, and a fellow of Lady Margaret Hall. He is a barrister at 3 Verulam Buildings, Gray's Inn, London, and has published widely in the areas of contract law, commercial law, and tort law. He is one of the editors of Chitty on Contracts.
Preface - Table of Cases - Table of Statutes - Introduction - PART I: THE FOUNDATION AND SCOPE OF A CONTRACT - Agreement: Clearing the Ground - Offer and Acceptance - Certainty and Agreement Mistakes - Consideration and Form - Intention to Create Legal Relations - Privity - PART II: THE CONTENT OF THE CONTRACT - What is a Term? - The Sources of Contractual Terms - The Classification of Contractual Terms - Exclusion Clauses - PART III: POLICING THE CONTRACT - A Duty to Disclose Material Facts? - Misrepresentation - Common Mistakes and Frustration - Illegality - Capacity - Duress, Undue Influence, and Inequality of Bargaining Power - PART IV: PERFORMANCE, DISCHARGE AND REMEDIES FOR BREACH OF CONTRACT - Performance and Discharge of the Contract - Breach of Contract - Damages for Breach of Contract - Obtaining an Adequate Remedy - Bibliography - Index
Ewan McKendrick
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Mallory C. Koger
Alabama, U.S.A.
Local Time: Thu. 18:57
Mallory Koger is an associate in Bradley’s Corporate and Securities Practice Group.
Mallory received her J.D. (magna cum laude) from the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University, where she was executive editor for the Cumberland Law Review and was a Judge Abraham Caruthers Teaching Fellow. While in law school, Mallory also served as a judicial intern for the Hon. Madeline H. Haikala of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. She graduated from Auburn University with a B.A. (magna cum laude) in English Literature.
Cumberland School of Law at Samford University, J.D., 2020, magna cum laude; Executive Editor, Cumberland Law Review; Dean’s List; Judge Abraham Caruthers Teaching Fellow; Scholar of Merit
Auburn University, B.A., English Literature, 2017, magna cum laude; Dean’s List; Spirit of Auburn Founders Scholarship
© Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP, 2021
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REBECCA ALLEN PLAYLIST X DAATA
ZELDA presents:
15th October – 16th January (extended)
VIP and Press days: 15th – 17th October
Arcade (re-opening on the 2nd December)
87 Lever Street,
London, EC1V
Rebecca Allen is an artist inspired by the aesthetics of motion, the study of human perception and behaviour, and the potential of advanced technologies. Her early interest in utilising the computer as an artistic tool led to her pioneering art involving human motion simulation, artificial life algorithms and other generative techniques for art creation. Throughout her career, now spanning nearly four decades, Allen has moved fluidly between artist studio and research lab, using technological research to inform her art. Her artwork has taken the form of virtual and augmented reality art installations, experimental video and large-scale performances, bringing together the worlds of fine art, performing arts, pop culture and technology research. Allen has collaborated with artists such as Kraftwerk, Mark Mothersbaugh (Devo), John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin), Peter Gabriel, Carter Burwell, Twyla Tharp, Joffrey Ballet, La Fura dels Baus and Nam June Paik.
The Bush Soul (1997-1999) is a series of artworks exploring the relationship between artificial life-forms and human presence in virtual worlds. This project represents the evolution of her work from experimentation in simulating human motion in animation and graphic representations of the human body in the 1980s, resulting in groundbreaking works such as the music video Musique Non-Stop (1986) for Kraftwerk and The Catherine Wheel (1982) with choreographer Twyla Tharp, to the new possibilities of generative art-making in an area of A.I. called artificial life to simulate natural motion of all kinds of human and non-human forms, personalities and group behaviours. Having already collaborated with Craig Reynolds (the inventor of Boids, an artificial life system that simulates the flocking behaviour of birds) on the work BEHAVE (1987) with music by Peter Gabriel, which examines the role of behaviour in communication, The Bush Soul was an opportunity to build something more complex, experimental and interactive.
The works are created using Emergence, a 3D game engine and an artificial life software system for the creation of interactive artworks that she designed and built with students in computer science and design at UCLA. As has been the case throughout her career, Allen situated herself in a research environment in order to access the equipment and software to make art. She is often responsible for conceiving of and building the required tools, seeking also to influence the development of these new technologies as an artist. Emergence is one of these tools created before the ubiquity of Unreal and Unity game engines in the development of CGI and virtual worlds. Allen drew on her experience in the video games industry having worked for Virgin Games in 1993 as a 3D Visionary and Creative Director to consult on what was an industry-wide transition from 2D to 3D games, as well as her knowledge of interfaces and interaction developed through her previous research in CGI, animation, machine vision and early forms of motion capture at the Computer Graphics Lab at the New York Institute of Technology and the Architecture Machine Group at MIT in the 1970s and 1980s.
The resulting work is an interactive video game artwork that leads with notions of animism, non-verbal and non-visual forms of communication and open-ended exploration, with sound created by Mark Mothersbaugh from Devo, another example of a practice of collaboration with other artists and practitioners across disciplines. To experience The Bush Soul is to visit a living artificial world populated with abstract life-forms in which you explore as a ‘travelling consciousness’ moving between these different creatures, taking on their ‘soul’ in order to offer different perspectives and experiences of the world. As with much of Allen’s work, you are reminded of your own presence in the virtual space through a sensorial connection to the body provided by a force feedback joystick that gives you vibrations and movements indicating the powerful energy of special places and characters through your sense of touch. There is no objective or goal, you can wander around the world freely, but every twenty minutes, a full day in this world, a ritual takes place at dusk in which all the creatures congregate around the energy spirit when your soul will fly out of your control to this location, reminding you once again that there are always rules and parameters in the development of any form of system.
The Observer (1999-2019) and landscape / enter / life (1999-2020) mark a return to the Emergence system to create new contemplative artworks akin to moving paintings that form a narrative through the same synthetic, unfamiliar world as The Bush Soul. The viewer’s experience draws attention to the abstracted nature of the natural landscape which is designed in opposition to our obsession with the hyperreality in most CGI and game environments, and to the abstracted life-forms with their own rules of behaviour. In these works the viewer becomes an observer to this closed artificial world and the life that inhabits it, and unlike The Bush Soul, is unable to influence or change its pattern of events.
The Bush Soul, The Observer and landscape / enter / life are ground-breaking works that encapsulate Allen’s creative interrogations into human motion, consciousness and interaction through the use of simulation, artificial life and generative techniques that have been core to her work since the 1980s. They also tell us so much more about her pioneering approach to art-making, in which she has consistently moved between artist studio and research lab. Her use of early stage technological research to inform her art, in turn uses that art practice to influence the development of technologies. As we transition towards an increasingly virtualised art world, and the infrastructure of video games continues to have a demonstrable impact on the production and distribution of art, it is vital to recognise and acknowledge the work of artists like Allen who have been experimenting, innovating and questioning for decades.
Text by Kay Watson, Arts Technologies Curator at Serpentine Galleries for ZELDA Presents: Rebecca Allen (October 2020).
Rebecca Allen (b.1953, USA) has had recent solo institutional exhibitions at QUAD, Derby (2019), and Zabludowicz Collection (2019). Recent group exhibitions include: you feel me_, FACT, Liverpool (2019-20); Enter Through the Headset 5, Gazelli Art House, London (2020). Her work has been exhibited internationally and is part of the permanent collection of the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Museum of Modern Art, NY. She has collaboratively worked with artists, musicians and choreographers including Nam June Paik, Kraftwerk, Twyla Tharp, Mark Mothersbaugh (Devo), Peter Gabriel, John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin), Carter Burwell, Joffrey Ballet, and La Fura dels Baus. Allen received a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design in 1975, and Masters of Science degree from MIT with the Architecture Machine Group (predecessor to MIT Media Lab) in 1980. She was the founding chair of Department of Design Media Arts at UCLA where she is currently a research professor.
In September 2020, The Serpentine released the interview Rebecca Allen on Kraftwerk, Video Games, and Artificial Life by Kay Watson, Art Technologies Curator.
With special thanks to:
Alice Cork
Christian Mooney & Caterina Avataneo at Arcade
The Approach, London and Zabludowicz Collection for the loan of AV equipment.
ZELDA presents: Rebecca Allen is the first in a two part series of solo exhibitions curated at Arcade, London. ZELDA is dedicated to providing a platform for artists who have been largely under-recognised for remarkable contributions to their medium. The second instalment, ZELDA presents: Sonia E. Barrett, will feature an immersive installation of sculpture and video work by the Hampshire based multi-media artist. Alongside this two part project we are launching our inaugural Free Artist Mentorship Programme, funding 11 artists selected via an open call to work over three months with 8 expert mentors.
For full information on our first free artist mentorship, including the current cohort of mentees and mentors, visit our 'artist support' page.
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Design and Socioeconomic Differences
Prototyping and Design
明尼苏达大学
课程 3（共 4 门，用户界面设计 专项课程）
In this course you will learn how to design and prototype user interfaces to address the users and tasks identified in user research. Through a series of lectures and exercises, you will learn and practice paper- and other low-fidelity prototyping techniques; you will learn and apply principles from graphic design, including design patterns; you will learn to write a design rationale; and you will learn how to design for specific populations and situations, including principles and practices of accessible design.
it is great . I thank the teachers who helped me with this knowledge
Awesome Course.Loved it and learned a lot. Thank you Coursera!!!
Universal Design, Accessibility, Special Populations
An introduction to universal design, with specific lectures focused on particular impairments, limitations, and populations.
Introduction to Universal Design29:42
Universal Design: Sensory Impairments40:35
Universal Design: Cognitive Impairments12:41
Universal Design: Physical Limitations15:25
Universal Design: Tools and Standards28:02
Design for Older Adults (Interview with Anne Marie Piper)10:31
Design for Children17:57
Design and Socioeconomic Differences18:37
Supporting Low-Literacy Self-Help (Interview with Apala Chavan)25:09
Loren Terveen
Haiyi Zhu
Lana Yarosh
Dr. Brent Hecht
Joseph A Konstan
Distinguished McKnight Professor and Distinguished University Teaching Professor
Hey, folks. Welcome back. In this video, we're going to be talking about a pretty important topic, and that is doing design in the context of socioeconomic differences in your user base. So before we get started talking about design in the context of socioeconomic status, let's talk about socioeconomic status in general. This is a concept that most people are somewhat familiar with, maybe implicitly. But it's important to talk about it explicitly and provide some data points with regard to the tremendous diversity that exists in this context. So a definition is always helpful when we're talking about socioeconomic status. A lot of people have different, but broadly overlapping definitions. The best one that I think more or less represents a standard is the one from the APA, and they say that education, income, and occupation are the three key variables to consider when we're talking about socioeconomic status. But oftentimes, you also see people add in some additional things, like for instance, related factors, say whether someone lives in a rural or urban or suburban area, and these types of things. Very important point you'll often see socioeconomic status abbreviated as SES, and I'll be using that abbreviation here. And an even more important point is that the world is sadly full of tremendous socioeconomic status differences. And I just want to give you a quick tour of these just within the United States of relatively high-income country, overall we have a tremendous variation in overall incomes. So for instance, the highest income county, counties are secondary administrative units. So below the state, right. Each state has a bunch of counties. The highest income county in the United States is this county in Virginia. It has a median per household income of over $115,000. So take all the households in this county in Virginia, half of them have an income greater than this. Half of them have an income less than this and this is a pretty large amount of money, right. To give you an idea of where Silicon Valley falls here, Silicon Valley being where a lot of the technologies we use today are designed. Silicon Valley is the 14th richest county in the United States. So not very far behind at least in terms of rank with respect to that county in Virginia. I'm using Santa Clara county here as a proxy for Silicon Valley. It's where the heart of Silicon Valley is. The median per household income there is $91,000. Again, a great deal of money, I think most people would be pretty happy to have a salary for instance. A single person salary of $91,000. Okay, so all the way down to the end of the spectrum, the lowest income county in the United States is Buffalo County in South Dakota has a median income of 21,000, right. So we have 21,000 median household income, $21,000 to $117,000, so we're talking about roughly a factor of 5 or 6. And Silicon Valley where most of the technologies we use today are designed way up towards the rich end, right. But there are a lot of people there are poorer than the folks who are around the people who are designing and who are the people who are designing these technologies. Moving to a global scale here, we see even greater variation. This is data from the World Bank. You can see in this map right that out there are some countries that have a median, excuse me, this is per capita, this is per mean per capita income. So this is per person in the United States it's over $44,000 in Northern Europe, Western Europe that's pretty similar but if you look at for instance, Sub-Saharan Africa you'll see that the per capita income in thousands, as you can see on this map, much, much, much less. So we're talking about less than, for instance, 6 to $7,000 a year. So tremendous variation in income. So what does all this mean for design? Well, there are a couple of key points that we're going to cover in this video. And these are two of them, first research is showing that socioeconomic status is tremendously important to consider when designing technologies and that very few existing technologies adequately account for socioeconomic status in their design. So let's walk through a couple of examples here. One is very very recent, this is extremely hot off the presses research, I just got this from my students actually last night. And this could change, of course, it's hot off the presses, but it gives you a sense of what's going on. This is the number of pokestops per square kilometer in the United States. Pokestops being a critical component of the game Pokemon Go which is currently a big deal as I'm recording this. Over here, on this graph, you can see, let's get that arrow there. Over here on this graph, right, you can see these are counties that are, as the US government defines them, the most urban. And these are counties that are the most rural. And we want to pay attention here to this green line. And you can see that there in the most urban counties right there are two pokestops per square kilometer. And over here in the most rural counties we can see that there are many, many, many fewer. So when we're talking about design, what are the implications here? Well the implications are that Pokemon Go was not designed to take into account the 15 to 20% of the American population that lives in rural areas. If you know anything about the game Pokemon Go, you have to go to these Pokemon stops to do well in the game. It's a lot easier to get to a pokestop with two per square kilometer in these urban counties than it is in these rural counties with many, many, many, many fewer per square kilometer. You have to travel a lot longer distance, and I wouldn't be surprised if we looked at Pokemon Go's data behind the scenes, if they basically have no usage from people who live in these types of rural counties, right. So this product was not designed to take into account a variable that is typically consider, or is often considered when considering socioeconomic status, this urban versus rural spectrum, right. This is a clear case of failure. Another clear case of failure here is foursquare. This is a chart from a paper I published with a colleague a couple years ago. You can see here that foursquare has 25 times more users per capita in urban areas, and 23 times more check-ins per capita in urban areas than in rural areas. Again, a lot foursquare's design assumes, for instance, that you have a lot of restaurant selection, and assumes that you would want to compete with other people to be the mayor of individual restaurants and individual locations. None of these are true in rural areas. So, the designers of foursquare failed to consider the needs of rural users as they went about designing their product. Since this is not atypical, right, you see cases where products work very well with a certain socioeconomic group and just dramatically badly with other SES groups. So, let's continue our list of key points here. These days this was not the case I said five to ten years ago, these days the points I just made, in part because of the research that's getting done in the research side of user interface design. These days, it is pretty widely recognized that we have a problem here and that we need to figure out what to do. We need to figure out ways to design technologies for a wider range of various socioeconomic spectra. That said, I'll say that is very complex and nuanced and often you need to take things on a case by case basis, so you'll see a research papers and products that sort of bite off a chunk here and there. We're slowly trying to bite off all the chunks. I do want to cover three strategies that I think are relevant across many of these chunks, many of these problem, many of these use cases, or many of these, I should say, socioeconomic status contexts. These strategies work in pluralities here or minorities there. But there are three ideas, three things to think about that at least can get you started designing your products for a wider range on the socioeconomic spectrum. Okay, let's talk about strategy number 1. And this is probably the most important of the three I'm going to talk about. You really have to consider all technological contexts for your user base. All the technological context that your users will be considering. And this is something that those of us who are designing technologies very, very often forget about. So, those of us who are designing these technologies, your median household income's $91,000. Your company's super rich, doing well. You got all these sweet things that you're designing your technologies for and that you're using in your everyday life. You got your MacBook. You got your iPhone 7. Who knows, you maybe even have your iPhone 8, if you work at Apple. You got your smartwatch. You have maybe a tablet to keep at home and a tablet for the road, these types of things. This is what you're using to develop your software, this is what you're using to test your software and these types of things. Very common situation. The bad news is, that the vast majority of your users do not exist in this technological context, especially if your user base includes a significant proportion of the lower income population. Which if you're developing a mass market technology like for instance, almost any of these, tablets, computers, smartphones, smartwatches, I'd say, aren't mass market yet. This situation is not at all representative of the majority of what your users experience. Let me tell you what might be. You might be dealing with users who have low end phones that are older that have smaller screens and critically that have limited or no data plan, right. So the people might just use Wi-Fi, go to get free Wi-Fi at the library and these types of things. These are all technological context that if you're designing a mass market technology you really need to consider. On the desktop side, you have similar deals, right. You might be dealing with people who are using under-powered desktops, using, for instance, even Windows 98 or Windows XP, older machines, right, and also people who don't have computers, to use a computer have to go to a nearby school or library. And all of these have just fundamental design implications, right? If you're designing for people with low end phones, you have to support those old Android operating systems, those old iOS operating systems, right? If you're designing technology for people with no data plan. You've gotta make sure that offline modes work well. You've gotta support the use case, where someone goes to a library, goes to a school, downloads what they need, and then uses that offline. I'm consistently surprised that how many sort of broad mass market technology, mass market apps don't support this well, weather apps, these types of things. Same type of deal with desktops when systems are designed for desktops, right? So if someone is just going to the library to use it, you'll have to realize that, if a larger users are doing that, you have to design for that context, right? I mentioned earlier that a lot of technology companies do recognize this problem and are making progress on it, although slowly. Facebook is one of those companies, and I think this is pretty interesting. When I was at Facebook, I guess a year and a half ago to give a talk, I noticed that they had something called their empathy lab. And their empathy lab had a lot of different components. But one key component was it was sitting right there, smack in the middle of one of their main eateries, and it encouraged employees to come in and use Facebook on devices that they themselves probably had never used. Devices with very small screens devices that are much older than the phone they probably have in their pocket. But these are the devices that are being used by a huge percentage of Facebook users in Africa and Southeast Asia, and these types of places. So the company was sort of publicly saying we need to take into account all of our users' technological contacts, not just the technological contacts that exist in Facebook, in this sort of Candy Land. High income Candy Land that all of these very fortunate people and very intelligent people are lucky enough to work in. Okay, second strategy I want to point out that is very important but usually for a specific class of products is that geography matters. So when we're talking about socioeconomic status, we're also talking about geographic variation because unfortunately, you're socioeconomic status in almost every country on the world, defines typically where you live. People who are richer live in one type of neighborhood, right. And people who are poor tend to live in another type of neighborhood. This here is a map of Chicago and you can see this very visibly. Now the darker orange here indicates areas that are richer. The lighter orange indicates areas that are poorer. And you can see that there's this cluster of wealthy areas in the city of Chicago and then in the suburbs. And this cluster of poor areas on the south side of Chicago. And there is a great deal of clustering in this map. So dark colors are clustered together, light colors are clustered together. Now if you're designing a product that has an explicit geographic component, and often one that has an implicit geographic component as well, you really have to keep this strategy in mind in order to make your product work for all people in all areas. And this map here is a great example. We looked at the base map here. We looked at the colors, right? But now I want to call your attention to the little dots. These are data from a study I ran with some of my students. Where we surveyed people who work for TaskRabbit which is a sharing economy service. You can hire people to do your laundry, to go pick up your groceries for you and these types of things. And these dots indicate where people lived. One thing that's pretty clear, right, is that there are no dots down here. And what does this mean? Well it means that to get someone to come down here, to hire someone for TaskRabbit, to hire, excuse me, someone to do your work, you're going to have to pay someone to travel further. Sometimes they won't go that far, right? That's too far away. I can do tasks that are closer to me. So you're going to have a situation where people are less willing to do the works and it's probably going to cost more as well to do that work relative to the richer areas. So you have a great irony here, if you're living in a poor area TaskRabbit's more expensive and it's also less accessible. And I would say combined, those mean that TaskRabbit is less effective in these lower SES areas. So, this is just a quick example of how these geographic SES factors can affect the effectiveness of a technology. In terms of ways to fix this problem, the first thing is to be aware of it, right? Prior to this research no one was aware of this phenomenon in TaskRabbit and the sharing economy as a whole. In terms of action items, you can take with that knowledge, well you can incentivize people to go down to these areas and maybe hang out for a bit. So there'll be people we're ready to take on tasks. You can provide discounts for the people that live there, and you can take many other steps. But being aware of things is the beginning and in many cases we're not even there yet. Okay, so the third and final strategy is to consider correlates of socioeconomic status that may be important for the technology that you're designing. People at different points in various socioeconomic spectra will they have different interests. They have different constraints, they have different needs, and so on and so forth. And as we'll see here in a second, those can have very important implications for the technologies that you design, if your technology is targeting a wide swath of a given socioeconomic spectrum. So for instance, what we have here is a chart of how people spend their money in the United States. It's from the U.S. Bureau of Labor, and the data's from the U.S. Bureau of Labor, the chart is produced by the National Public Radio. And what you see here is that lower income folks have very different spending patterns from higher income folks. And this is a critical thing to consider for many different technologies. So for instance, lower income folks tend to spend more money on cooking at home, on food for home, relative to high-income folks. If you're designing the many, many, many delivery products and sort of restaurant oriented products that we see today. This is for these people, right? It does not appeal as much to these people. These people need technology to help them cook at home. So if you're designing technology related to food, this is a very important thing to consider, right? Let's go to another one, utilities. Let's say you're designing a technology that helps people save energy. Well, for this population, helping them save money, specifically might be more interesting, way more appealing to them. For this population, helping people, for instance, protect the environment. That might be more appealing to them, right? And then down here, we see transportation and gasoline, same type of thing, right? Developing, for instance, a new routing algorithm that's more ecofriendly. This would appeal to these folks, but the exact same type of idea, but optimized specifically for saving money. You might want to point people to the cheapest gas stations and these types of things. That's going to appeal more to this population. So considering all three of these classes, the entire income spectrum can lead to designed successes considering only a part of this spectrum will essentially cut some people out of the design. And we saw that right in an extreme way in the Pokemon Go and the foursquare examples I presented earlier. I do want to reiterate that what I've talked about today is just a very tip of the iceberg. There are many more strategies and many more factors to consider. I focused in particular on SES factors and strategies for people in the United States. There are a lot of great researchers in industry and academia who are focusing on SES factors globally. A lot of great research coming out in that domain right now. I will say though that the research community can never do enough at this point on this topic. We want to be designing technology so that everyone benefits, not just folks who are lucky enough to be at the high end of the spectrum, which is where most of the focus has tended to be. Again, because many of the people designing technologies tend to be at that end of the spectrum. And with that, I will see you next time.
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BARLASTON BOWLING AND TENNIS CLUB - EVENTS/NEWS
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Many members will remember Maurice Green, who before this year was a regular attendee of Friday afternoon social bowling. The Club is very sorry to hear that Maurice has passed away, and extends its sympathy to his family and friends. RIP Maurice.
Permanent downpipe now fitted, and inside now being tarted up. In the meantime Chris has done a great job of clearing the entrance road and transferring the debris to form the start of what will be a slope down to the green-side.
Fascia boards have now been finished off, and guttering added (downpipe shown is temporary). Alan Corbett has given the walls a good wash and they are now gleaming. Good friend of the Club Chris Roberts has also begun clearing the entrance road slope to the club, which will eventually allow improved and disabled-friendly access to the green.
Despite lockdown 2, our intrepid team use their allowed exercise periods to continue work on the Pavilion. The inner back wall has now been painted white, and fascia boards fitted around the roof.
Basic construction of the Pavilion is now almost complete - the waterproof membrane is on the roof, and the glass panels have been fitted to the walls. It is mainly cosmetic work that remains. In the meantime the green has been scarified ready for the winter.
Our team Captains are always asking us to be ruthless, and we struggle to comply. Now the new Pavilion has come out in sympathy, and is also no longer 'roof less'... well to be exact it now has an internal ceiling and the start of the exterior roof.
Some people didn't get the Wishbone Ash reference below, well how about Take That - our new Pavilion has now got a back for good!
A representative group of members gathered outside the Club on Wednesday 26th August to pay respects to the cortege of Dean Williams as it passed by. The Club has also made a donation to the Woodland Trust in Dean's memory. RIP Dean.
COVID: Nil, BOWLS: One
Whilst closely following both Government and BCGBA guidelines, the Club hosted a very enjoyable friendly match against Trent Vale on Saturday 15th August. This was the first of a double-header - the return match takes place on August 29th. The weather stayed fine, and thankfully not as hot as earlier in the week, and the Home team ran out narrow 79 to 73 winners. Many thanks to Des for organising the match, and thanks to everyone from both teams who took part and took a very sensible common sense approach to the current restrictions.
In the immortal words of 'Wishbone Ash', our Pavilion, like a Phoenix, has "raised its head to the skies".
The Club extends its sincere sympathy to the family and friends of Dean Williams - may he rest in peace.
The base within the Pavilion is almost done, and elsewhere, Chairman Brian has trimmed his hedge (not a euphemism!), and the back of the green is now very neatly shielded from Meaford Road.
The entrance area to the Pavilion is now flat and wheelchair-friendly.
Another week on, and now we've done some whacking!
More easing of lockdown restrictions has allowed us to finally start work on the new Pavilion. Foundations have been fully dug out, building materials have been delivered and some have been moved into place. Many thanks to the two Micks and the Monday afternoon team.
As mentioned on the Home page, we are now able to bowl again, under strict conditions - these are illustrated on the following photos, alongwith a photo of the superb new set of steps into the Clubhouse kindly constructed by Alan Corbett.
Someone has made good use of their alloted daily exercise to sink the first four supporting posts for our new pavilion. Obviously things are quite rightly very restricted at the moment, but where possible we are maintaining the green and surrounds, in order that we will be ready to resume when, as the Queen said, "We'll meet again".
A small but determined group turned up on Saturday 14th March to undertake a clean-up ahead of the new season (assuming it takes place)! Many thanks to Malcolm & Carol, Keith S, Brian A, Des & Val, Greg, Neil, Gary and Andrew.Our newly refurbished mower had its first tour of the green. Some photographic evidence of their efforts below, plus a shot of the start to the foundations for the new Stand/Conservatory/Pavilion which was done previously. There is no truth in the rumour that Brian and Neil "put on women's clothing and hang around in bars"!
At the Club Lunch, Brian thanked Michael Wainwright for the excellent job he had done in repairing the steps down to the Clubhouse - here's the photographic evidence:
A very successful annual Club Lunch and Presentation ceremony at Barlaston Golf Club on 23rd February. The sun shone, Club members 'scrubbed up' well, and a good time was had by all. Club Chairman Brian passed on good wishes from Club President Gareth Jones, whose Mayoral duties unfortunately prevented him and his consort Renee attending today, and Brian also took the opportunity to make various important 'housekeeping' notices.
Club Chairman Brian then handed out the following trophies:
Life-time honorary membership certificate: Anne Boswell
Leading average ladies League team: Carole Duffy
Leading average mens Stoke League team: Andrew Maddams
Leading Newcastle League average: Brian Bromley
Club Person of the Year: Carole Duffy
Internal Doubles Tournament winners: Tim Georgeson (unable to attend) and Sue Ramm
Storm Dennis didn't stop our intrepid team from moving our acquired Conservatory from its home in Stone to the Club. All we've got to do now is build it...and they will come!
Apart from one roofing panel now being single-glazed rather than double,(which is a pane in the glass!) we're all set to go.
The '13th' was certainly unlucky for this Conservatory as a crack team of Club members took it down ready to be reassembled alongside the green as our new third Stand. Many thanks to Des's neighbours for the donation, and to the hard-working team of Mick M, Des, Gary, Alan, Brian and Andrew (not forgetting Val for supplying the teas). We hope to shortly transport the pieces to the green, ready for re-construction over the coming weeks/months.
Huge congratulations to longstanding Club member Ken Boote and his wife Pauline who, on 10th October, celebrate their Diamond Wedding anniversary.
The season is over, but now the hard work begins. Paul Bradley and his team (with support from Club members Des, Gary, Brian and Andrew) did a thorough job on October 9th of scarifying, tining, seeding and fertilising. You can see from the third photo below just how much grass etc was removed from the green.
We were so lucky to have a glorious late summer's day for our 2019 Internal Doubles Tournament. 14 pairs took part, who were divided into three groups. In theory the three group winners plus the best overall runners-up then contested the Semi-finals and Final but a slight adjustment had to be made as not everyone could stay as afternoon became evening. As word grew that an enthralling competition was taking place, our Green was visited by the local Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress, and a hot-air balloon also flew over for a better look! With the shadows lengthening and dusk about to fall the Final saw an epic tussle with newcomer Sue Ramm and partner Tim Georgeson roaring into an early lead, which was then wiped out by a sterling comeback from opponents Denise Georgeson and Fred Shaffery, before Sue and Tim reasserted their authority to emerge victorious at 7.15pm! Huge thanks to Club Chairman Brian Astbury for organising the afternoon so well, and to the ladies who made sure no one went short of excellent cakes and refreshments. The Finalists all received bottles of wine for their efforts, and the Winners will be presented with their Trophies at the annual Club Dinner.
Many thanks to Carole, her family, and her small yet dedicated team of helpers for laying on yet another very enjoyable Garden Tea Party on 21st July. It was overcast but importantly stayed dry, and so a good time was had by all, with over £400 being raised for the Club. Carole was presented with a bouquet of flowers from the Club by Club Chairman Brian Astbury as a small gesture of appreciation for her wonderful efforts and hospitality. Some photos from a lovely afternoon are below:
Huge congratulations to Club stalwarts, John and Anthea Plant, who celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary on Friday 12th July. The couple who bowl together, stay together!
Some photos from a sunny Ladies match against Florence Pvt 2 on 23rd May 2019.
The Club extends its sincere sympathy to Stoke Mens Team Captain Neil Jeffs on the loss of his mother, Jean. May she rest in peace.
Congratulations to our Club President, Gareth Jones, who was installed as Mayor of Stafford Borough Council in a colourful ceremony full of pomp and circumstance on 18th May. When he does manage to fit in some bowls this summer, we hope his chain of office will not hinder his efforts!
The 2019 Stone Festival Doubles Competition starts with two Qualifying Events. The first, at Little Stoke, was held on Monday 6th May. We were represented by Emma & Des, and Gary & Dave. Unfortunately both couples were drawn against teams from the home club, and despite playing very well, each team could only muster 3 points.
On Friday 10th May it was our turn to play host, with our Club represented by Carole & Andrew, as well as Tim & Denise masquerading as Stonefield players! Despite the home advantage, neither of our teams were able to progress, Carole & Andrew scoring 15, and Denise & Tim 18. All visitors seemed to be impressed by our green and hospitality - thanks to all who helped with scoring, measuring and the excellent refreshments. We wish all the winning teams good luck in the Finals, and warn them that we'll be back next year!
Our new Club polos and fleeces are now available for (subsidised) purchase. Huge thanks to Carole Duffy for organising these, and she is the lady to contact if you're interested in buying one. They look and feel great - see photos below:
Along with John Plant (see below), former Club Chairman Vin Turner has been granted honorary Life-time membership. He has been presented with his certificate by current Chairman Brian Astbury, and was kind enough to send us the attached letter of appreciation.
A very enjoyable 2019 Club Lunch took place at Barlaston Golf Club on February 24th. As well as a hearty meal, the opportunity was taken to present a few trophies, and to introduce members to our new Club uniform.
The following trophies were presented by Club Chairman Brian Astbury:
Life-time honorary membership certificate: John Plant
Leading average ladies League team: Anthea Plant
Leading average mens Stoke League team: Ken Marshall (Accepted on Ken's behalf by Neil Jeffs)
Leading Newcastle League average: Glyn Needham
Club Person of the Year: Des Robinson
Internal Doubles Tournament winners: Tim Georgeson and Brian Astbury
Chris Roberts and his band (Des, Andrew, Steve, Neil, and Alan) gave up performing 60's covers for two days and instead have cleared an enormous amount of brambles from the Green surrounds. The long-term plan is to seed the area with wild flowers, thus making our Club an even more pleasant place to visit and play. Thanks to all concerned for your efforts.
Thanks to the skills of Alan Corbett, our Club name is now proudly displayed for all to see.
Our annual internal Doubles tournament took place on Friday 28th September in dry, sunny conditions (if slightly cool towards the end!). An excellent turnout had a very enjoyable afternoon enhanced by excellent refreshments kindly provided by various Club members. Photos and scoresheet below. The four finalists were rewarded with a bottle of wine each for their efforts, and the winning pair, Brian Astbury & Tim Georgeson, will be presented with their trophies at a later date.
Scoresheet (click to enlarge):
The season has concluded for our Stoke Men's and Staffs Ladies teams, and both have performed admirably. On an individual note, congratulations to Ken Marshall for achieving the highest aggregate, which took him to 4th place in the Division totals. Grandson Kyle couldn't hold on to his aggregate prize, but still achieved the highest average amongst our players. For the Ladies, congratulations to Anthea, Carole, Renee and Rose who finished 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th respectively in the Division averages.
The Club extends its sympathy to former Club stalwart Dave Beech, on the loss of his wife, Sheila. May she rest in peace.
The odds were that this glorious summer would come to an end before our Garden party, but, of course, the sun shines on the righteous so we were OK. An excellent turnout ensured that a goodly sum of money was raised for Club funds, and the Club owes a huge debt of gratitude to Carole and her family for the use of their garden, and also many thanks to the many tireless volunteers without whom such events are not possible. Here are some photos from a lovely afternoon:
Many congratulations to Rashmi Katbamna, who finished as runner-up in the Staffordshire County Ladies Bowling Association 'Nancy Hackwood Cup' on Sunday 29th July. Rashmi is pictured here with her impressive trophy.
On Saturday 4th August the Club sucessfully hosted a qualifying round in the Saturday Mixed League Triples Competition. Our Triples team of Brian & Rose Astbury with Carole Duffy unfortunately lost 21-10 to a team from Wolstanton Park in the first round of their qualifying competition staged at New Stoke Park.
Congratulations to Emma Dawson, who has passed her degree at Loughborough. Emma is now free to concentrate on the important things in life e.g. Bowling!
In the Saturday Mixed League Doubles Competition qualifying rounds on Saturday 16th June, Carole and Andrew at Wolstanton Park won their first match against Trent Vale 21-17, but were beaten in the second round 21-12 by the pair from Knypersley. Many thanks to Josh from the host club for scoring. Jan and Ken were unfortunately knocked out 21-14 in their first match against Hem Heath at Hollybush.
There are plans for a summer social day with internal bowls competition at the Club, which will take place towards the end of the summer.
The Club extends its sincere sympathy to Ladies Team Captain Carole Duffy on the loss of her father. May he rest in peace.
In order to comply with BCGBA rules, the Club is now required to have a trained Safeguarding Officer. Brian Astbury was kind enough to take on the job, and is pictured here (just!) with his fellow trainees:
As members will know, the marsh grass has been spreading on the green, and so it was decided to lay a new drainage pipe along the edge of the green in front of the 'North Stand'. The pipe is connected to the drainage ducts in the rough area to the side of the green, and has been covered in a membrane and then a layer of gravel. The bowling gully in front of the stand is now wider than it used to be, and the one remaining task is to cover the gravel with a layer of soil, then a membrane, and finally woodchip.Photos of three days of hard, wet and muddy work are below. A huge vote of thanks to the willing (!) workers (Des, Brian A, Brian B, Alan, Neil and Andrew), and in particular to non-member Chris Roberts (the man with the digger), who went way beyond the call of duty.
At the 2018 AGM of the Stoke Men's league, our team picked up a cash prize for finishing in 4th place, whilst Kyle Marshall was awarded a trophy for finishing top of the League Division Six Aggregates. Incidentally, Barry Massey has agreed to step in as temporary League Secretary, so the League will be continuing for 2018 at least.
2018 Annual Club lunch and trophy presentation:
We returned to The Upper House in Barlaston for a lunch enjoyed by almost 30 Club members and their partners. We were well looked after by new Manager Jo and her staff, and although the lunch was perhaps a little expensive, there were plenty of empty plates, so it seems it was enjoyed by all. An innovation this year was a trophy presentation ceremony, where the following received prizes from Chairman Gareth:
Stoke League Highest average: Kyle Marshall (accepted on his behalf by Neil Jeffs).
Ladies League Highest average: Rashmi Katbamna (accepted on her behalf by Val Robinson).
Newcastle League Highest average: Rashmi Katbamna (accepted on her behalf by Val Robinson).
Internal Doubles Tournament winners: Neil Jeffs and Mick Manning.
Club Member of the Year: Alan Corbett.
2017 Season review:
For the second season running, one of our teams has been promoted, and so pride of place goes to the Saturday Mixed ‘A’ team who finished second in Division Two and should be in Division One in 2018. Winning six away games was the key to success, along with consistent scoring – only twice did the team fail to register 140 points in a match. The new ‘B’ team made their debut and finished 9th. With the team consisting of largely new members of the Club, there was no real ‘home advantage’, but that will change next year, and should lead to more than 5 home wins.
After their promotion last year, our Newcastle League team found life tough in Division Two, but on a personal level, congratulations to Rashmi who finished high in the League averages.
In the Oakhill League, our ‘A’ team did very well to consolidate in mid-table of Division Four following last season’s promotion. If it wasn’t for poor away form (only one win) they could have done even better. Our new ‘B’ team struggled a little and also only picked up one away win but hopefully things will pick up next year.
Our Stoke League team were flirting with possible promotion for much of the season, but injury to Carl (who had been having a fantastic season) saw the team fall away to repeat last season’s (more than respectable) finish of 4th.On an individual note Kyle finished top of the League aggregates.
The Ladies team saw a vast improvement on 2016, as they finished comfortably mid-table.
Away from competition, our improved green and surrounds received many favourable comments from visiting players, so it is good to see our investment in the Club bearing fruit. This also enabled us to act as a neutral host green for various tournaments. We had also had a successful Open Day and internal Doubles Competition, and continue to attract new members.
Work has already begun on further ground improvements for 2018 as we continue to progress the Club. Well done to all Club members for your efforts both on and off the Green.
The Doubles Tournament saw the conclusion of competitive bowls for this season, which means groundworks can start! Still concerned with the dampness of the green closest to the main stand, a couple of exploratory holes were dug, without finding any real hopes for an improvement. So attention turned to the entrance area, where some old floor tiling and steps have been uncovered which should lead to easier access once they have been tidied up and 'Health and Safety' measures taken.
< Before < After
The Club held what may well become an annual internal Doubles Competition on Saturday 7th October. 16 players took part and were drawn out of a hat into 8 teams. The 8 teams were then divided into two groups whereby each team in each group played each other in a round-robin format in a series of 11 end matches. The winners of each group played each other in the Final, which saw Mick Manning and Neil Jeffs defeat Tony Goldsmith and Brian Bromley. The mid-competition interval was enlivened by a 'nearest bowl to the middle' event which saw Jane Hart win a bottle of wine. Many thanks to Adam (?!) for the organisation.
Full scorecard and photos below:
Congratulations to our Saturday Mixed League 'A' team who have finished second in the League, and should therefore be promoted to Division One in 2018. Our team scored 140 in the final match, which wasn't quite enough to guarantee second place, but fortunately New Stoke Park could only manage 171 in their final match.
Our new Oakhill 'B' team finished 9th in their inaugural season - room for improvement!
Following their promotion to Division Four last season, our Oakhill 'A' team did very well to consolidate in a comfortable mid-table 6th place.
Club stalwart and former Treasurer Arie de Pee and his wife Margaret recently celebrated 60 happy years of married life. This marvellous achievement was recorded for posterity in The Sentinel, as can be seen here. Congratulations Arie and Margaret!
The final Ladies League Table has been published and our team has finished in a very creditable 5th position, representing a vast improvement on 2016 - well done Ladies! The published individual averages for the Division is a mystery, as it seems Rashmi ought to be about 7th, but for some reason she doesn't appear!
A qualified Coach is available to run informal coaching sessions at the Club on Sunday afternoons until the end of the season. Anyone who feels they need a little help (probably all of us!) please ring 07954 161907 to find out more details.
The Newcastle League run a 'Champion of Champions' Competition each season. Our entrant this year was Rashmi, who was extremely unfortunate to be drawn against the eventual winner in the first round. Rashmi scored a very praiseworthy 15 against him, and, as mentioned below, has represented the Club excellently this season in this League.
The final league Table for the Stoke League saw our team repeat last year's performance to finish 4th. A lowest score of the season in the final match saw the chance to finish 3rd go to waste. On an individual note many congratulations to Kyle who finished TOP of the League Aggregates (Mick Wainwright was also 14th), and Kyle was also in the top ten of the averages.
The final league Table for the Newcastle League has been published. Following last season's excellent promotion, our team found life somewhat tougher in Division two and finished 7th. On an individual note however, congratulations to Rashmi who finished 8th in the League averages.
Saturday 29th July saw the big grudge match between...
the Saturday Mixed 'A' team:
and the Saturday Mixed 'B' team:
The rain stayed away, and after 8 of the 9 matches, the 'A' team held a narrow 2 point lead, and in the final doubles match, the Club Chairman and Secretary pulled rank to ensure an overall 5 point victory for the 'A' team.
The match provided the excuse for the Club to hold an Open Day, which attracted four newcomers, who hopefully liked what they saw and will be back for more. Everybody contributed to the excellent refreshments which rounded off the day, and over £55 was raised for the Club. Photos from a most enjoyable day are below.
Two locals (a mother and daughter) had heard that keeping the green surrounds neat and tidy is an expensive and time-consuming exercise, so they came along to help out:
Mid-Season review:
In the Newcastle League our team is finding the higher Division a bit of a struggle, but on an individual level, Rashmi is 5th in the Division averages. In the Oakhill League, our 'A' team are solidly mid-table in Division 4, whilst the new 'B' team are still finding their feet in Division 5, but hopefully will push towards mid-table in the second half of the season. On Saturdays our two teams are both in the same Division, and, as the description would suggest, the 'A' team are doing slightly better than the 'B' team, although both teams are performing well, with two vital away wins each. The Stoke Men's Team are second in Division 6, by virtue of scoring very well in every match, even when defeated. A top three finish is very much on the cards. On the individual front, both Kyle and Carl are in the top four of the Division averages.Finally, after struggling for the last couple of seasons, I'm delighted to observe that the Ladies Team are recording much better results this season, and sit comfortably mid-table. Once again, on the individual front, Rashmi is riding high, being 4th in the Division averages.
In other matters, our improved green has received much praise, both from opposition teams, and, as a neutral venue for various competitions. The new stand (built almost single-handedly by Alan) has proved to be a very welcome addition to our facilities. We continue to attract new members, and hopefully our forthcoming Open Day will bring even more. All in all, much to look forward to for the rest of the season.
Whilst our Club hosted some qualifying matches in the Saturday Mixed League Doubles Competition, we had two teams competing on other greens. Sadly neither Rashmi & Steve, or Jan & Kyle progressed to the next stage, but better luck next year.
Unfortunately Des and Dave's appearance in the Stone Festival Bowls Finals day was somewhat brief, but here's some photos to prove that at least they got that far!
Ever wondered how the cabin and the new stand suddenly appear much greener - is it a team of magic elves? If so, here's the chief one caught on camera:
The Club hosted a preliminary round for the Stone Festival Bowls Doubles Knockout Competition on Friday 12th May at 6.00pm. Despite changeable weather, the evening proved to be a success, with our improved green coming in for much praise. Particular thanks to Val and Rashmi for their help with refreshments, and to Steve for measuring. Congratulations on the green to Brian Bromley and his team mate Hilary who progressed through to the next round.
The Club extends its sincere sympathy to youngest member Emma Dawson on the loss of her grandmother, Rita. May she rest in peace.
A slight case of dyslexia, as our new stand asked for a "short back and sides", but instead received a short sides and back! Seriously though, it's a work in progress and not far off completion now.
Congratulations to Stoke Men's Team Captain Neil Jeffs, who celebrated a milestone birthday on Friday 14th April. Which milestone? - suffice to say he will qualify for the Oakhill Jubilee League in exactly ten years time.
The roof has gone on the new stand - at the moment it's keeping the sun off, but no doubt that will soon change to rain!
As mentioned previously, Kyle Marshall finished as runner-up in the Newcastle League Division Three Champions of Champions 2016 Tournament, held at Wolstanton Park. Kyle was presented with his prize for this achievement by Team Captain, Brian Astbury.
The photo was taken on the occasion of the internal practice match between our Stoke Men's and Newcastle Teams. There were many very close games and the overall result saw a narrow victory for the Stoke Team. Most importantly everybody got in some semi-serious practice before the imminent start of the League season.Rumours of the improvements to our Green and surrounds even brought a surprise visit from former Club Members the Beech boys, who gave us a quick rendition of "Good Vibrations"...oh sorry, not those Beech boys!!
As most of you will be aware, our team in the Oakhill League in 2016 finished second in Division Five. Members of the squad are pictured here with their magnificent trophy. The photo was taken prior to the practice match between our 2017 Oakhill 'A' and 'B' teams, which resulted in a narrow victory for the 'B' team. Unfortunately, a vital member of the Squad, Club Chairman Gareth, was unable to be present for the photo, or maybe he just wanted a separate picture of his own! Well done everyone involved!
Despite the drizzle, an enthusiastic team of volunteers did a splendid job on the Club Clear-up day on 1st April. Thanks to your efforts the ground is looking spick and span and all ready for the new season.
Work has begun on the new Stand - book now to reserve your Season Tickets!!
The Club extends its sincere sympathy to the family and friends of Raymond Stowe, an occasional Friday afternoon social bowler, who sadly passed away recently. Rest in Peace, Raymond.
A hive of activity on Wednesday March 15th, as the concrete was delivered which will form the base of the new Stand. The surplus concrete was used to firm-up the area in front of the existing Stand, and to build a ramp to the Tool Shed. Huge thanks to Chief Organiser Alan, and his willing team of helpers, Brian, John, Neil, Des, Steve, Andrew, and Rashmi, and not forgetting Val who did the vital job of keeping the tea and coffee flowing.
Despite the fact that the missing results have still to be published, it was declared at the Newcastle League AGM that our team had finished runners-up in Division Three, and will be promoted to Division Two for 2017. This earned a prize of £30, and there was also confirmation of individual success, as Kyle Marshall finished as runner-up in the Division Three Champions of Champions Tournament, held at Wolstanton Park.
At the AGM of the Saturday Mixed League, we were advised that we will be unable to enter a second team in the League for 2017. With Neil Jeffs taking over as Captain of the Stoke Men's Team, it has been decided to ease Neil's workload by having Des Robinson as Captain of the Saturday team for 2017.
An excellent annual Club Lunch was enjoyed by 40 members and their partners at The Upper House in Barlaston. As mentioned by Club Chairman Gareth, we were well looked after by Phil and his staff, and Gareth also took the opportunity to thank Secretary Renee for organising the event, and to comment on the growing numbers and improving facilities at the Club, which hopefully reflect the friendly nature of our Club.
At the 2017 AGM of the Stoke On Trent & District Bowling League, the Club was presented with a prize of £35 for finishing 4th in Division Six of the Men's League in 2016. Congratulations to Skipper Keith Hughes and the team!
Friday 2nd December was a hive of activity at the Club, as we brought in a mini-digger to dig out the foundations for the new Stand. Some of the removed earth/clinker was used to build up the bank behind the new backing boards in front of the home seating. At the same time Steve continued his excellent work painting the backing boards, and Des did more work on the Green. We are ahead of schedule, and with any luck will have a green and surrounds to be really proud of for the 2017 season.
The Club extends its sincere sympathy to Ian Goodman on the loss of his mother, Beryl. Beryl was a resident of Heyfields, and is seen here celebrating her 100th birthday earlier this year.
The new backboards in front of the 'home' seating are now fixed in place - next job is to build up the bank behind them. John Plant has constructed a new handrail for the corner that will be in much more use once the new stand is built.
Many thanks to those who attended the 2016 AGM (over 20) - the Minutes are on the Membership page. The changes affecting the Contacts page will appear in the New Year once all aspects have been ratified.
Work continues on the green - it's beginning to look "all white"!
The Club extends its sincere sympathy to Carl Williams on the loss of his father-in-law Jim, who passed away on October 25th. Jim was a staunch supporter of Carl and the Stoke Men's League team, and his stentorian cry of "cracking wood!" will live long in the memory. RIP Jim.
Groundworks to the green have taken place on October 27th, so the green is now out of use until next year. The green has been scarified, seeded, fertilised, and had top-dressing applied. We've had a lot of praise this season for the improvement to the green, and this work should ensure further improvement for next year.
You may have noticed as you drive past that a car has crashed into the perimeter fence; this has been boarded-up, and the matter has been brought to the attention of St Modwen.
It is hoped that now work is starting in earnest on the St Modwen site that security will be improved, as we have had yet another break-in recently, although fortunately it seems nothing was taken this time. In his letter to St Modwen our Chairman has also raised the question of the dead trees near the Clubhouse which need to be felled, as well as seeking assurances as to St Modwen's continued commitment to the Bowls Club, which may assist us in obtaining any grants towards improving facilities. In the meantime, new scaffolding boards have been purchased, creosoted and painted ready for forming the green surrounds.
It is hoped that as many of you as possible will attend the AGM - it's YOUR Club and your input is vital. This is a chance to air any grievances you may have, and/or make any suggestions that you may think will improve the Club on or off the green. All contributions would be most welcome.
Work has started on reconstructing the edge of the green in front of the 'home team' seating, but the green is still in use, so why not take advantage of these last days of summer. Be warned however - there's now nothing to stop a few rabbits joining you!
Well done to the Saturday Mixed Team , who finished 5th in 2016, missing out on 4th place by only ten points. This is a great improvement on last year, so well done to everyone involved.
Please allow me to remove my 'neutral' webmaster hat, and say a huge personal thankyou to everyone at the Club who made my special birthday so memorable. The cards, gifts, and number of people who turned out for the party was truly overwhelming, and indicative of what a tremendously friendly and social Club we are - long may it continue. More importantly, the team won as well! Thank you all again, and here are some photos from the day. - Andrew
Our team in the Oakhill league have finished second, and therefore, all things being equal, should be promoted for next season. CONGRATULATIONS!!!
The final table for the Ladies league has been published, with our ladies finishing 10th. A difficult season , but the green shoots of recovery are there, and hopefully things will improve for next season.
The sun honoured us with its presence at our Garden Party, generously hosted by Carole Duffy. The ladies team presented their joint Captains Carole and Rosemary with bouquets to thank them for their efforts during the season. Steve Kettle won the lawn darts competition, and Club Chairman Gareth presented Carole with a bouquet on behalf of the Club to thank her for hosting the Party, which has raised around £300 for the Club. It was great to see Jill Corbett and Margaret Goodman at the party after their recent health scares, and we hope this happy event will aid them on the road to full recovery. Here are some photos which hopefully capture the mood of the day:
At last!!! It took all season, but the Ladies finally managed to win a game - their last match of the season. Well done to the ladies for keeping up their morale under such trying circumstances, and it is worth noting that despite all those defeats, they scored consistently and therefore will not finish bottom of the League. Plans for an open-top bus tour through Barlaston on Saturday, culminating at the village Show/Fete, had to be cancelled due to the inclement weather!
Look out for an article on our Club training day on page 33 of the September edition of The Stone & Eccleshall Gazette.
The Club wishes to extend its sincere sympathies to Dave Jones on the sad loss of his wife - may she rest in peace.
The final league table for the Stoke men's league has been published, and we have finished in a very creditable 4th place - a great improvement on last season, and only 36 points away from finishing second! Well done to skipper Keith Hughes and the team.
Well done to Mick Manning, whose efforts in running a weekly raffle this season have raised over £120 for the Club - many thanks Mick!
Many thanks to Brian Astbury for these photos from various fixtures this season:
Garden party poster: (Carole would welcome any contributions towards stalls).
Ever since the redevelopment of the St Modwen site has been announced we have received verbal assurances that our Club/green would be protected. The Club is now delighted to advise that these assurances have been put in writing. Following on from this, the Club continues to be in liaison with St Modwen with a view to re-establishing water and electricity supplies.
Coaching Day:
General opinion was that the Coaching Day was a huge success. Many thanks to Carole Duffy for getting in touch with National Coach Alan Tizard and arranging it all, and to Carole and her team of ladies for providing excellent refreshments which sustained participants throughout a long but rewarding day. Nothwithstanding all the excellent personal advice and tips from Alan and his four colleagues, perhaps the most useful and educational part of the day was seeing yourself on video - not always a pretty sight but very interesting! (Thanks to Brian for setting up the generator). It was also very pleasing to hear the Coaches say that we were one of the friendliest Clubs they had visited.
Was it pure coincidence that on the next day the Saturday team won all their matches?!
Here are some photos of an excellent day (which, as always, you can click on to see full screen):
Next Friday (29th July) the Club will be holding a Training Day, hosted by National Coach Alan Tizard. Cost will be £10 per head, and refreshments will be provided. The session will run from 10.00 until about 3.30, so there will be no social bowling that day until after that time. Anyone who wants to take part, and who hasn't already contacted Carole Duffy, please let her know as soon as possible.
Tradition has dictated that this review starts with the Ladies team, partly because it’s the gentlemanly thing to do, but mainly because they’ve been our most successful team. Unfortunately this year has been more of a struggle. The team is recruiting from a very small pool of players, two of whom are not only new to the team, but new to the game of bowls. The majority of their remaining games are at home, so, in the immortal words of D:ream, ‘Things can only get better’!
The Oakhill team are, as usual, going well (3rd at the time of writing). It has often been stated in these reviews that more away wins are needed, and the Oakhill team have three so far, which is much to their credit.
The Saturday team’s good performances are perhaps not reflected in their League position. Undefeated at home, and with two away wins, the season has been blighted by a disastrous weekend when a rearranged fixture on a Friday night, and the next day’s normal game, saw two heavy away defeats.
The Stoke men’s team are another whose performances are not reflected in their League position. Although most of their remaining games are at home, their away record has actually been better so far, with two away wins, so it will be interesting to see how the season pans out.
The big success story of the year has been our debut in the Newcastle League. Performing equally well at home and away, the team are currently second and in with a real chance of promotion.
On a general note, we have managed to recruit several new players, and whilst more are always welcome, we have to strike a balance which ensures that as many players as possible are able to get a regular game.
Away from the playing side of the Club, following the large outlay on a one-off treatment by a professional groundsman last year, the efforts this season of new recruit Des Robinson and his colleagues has seen a vast improvement in the quality of the Green, which has received many comments of approval from visiting players. The Club continue to work on improving the facilities, so watch this space!
You will have noticed the improved condition of the green this year. A lot of this is due to the hard work of Des Robinson and his colleagues, and here they are hard at work in June.
We're not just 'fair-weather' bowlers at this Club!
The Club wishes to extend its best wishes for a speedy and full recovery to Alan Corbett's wife Jill.
As some of you will know, on April 30th, the Saturday League match was cancelled because of a hail-logged green! What was Robert Browning thinking when he wrote "O to be in England now that April's there"?!
Many thanks to all those who turned up to ready the Club for the new season, which is only a couple of weeks away. Thanks to the hard work of the ladies who came along (Anthea, Jane and Renee) the Clubhouse and Toilet are bright eyed and bushy tailed, and whilst there's still a bit of work to do on the Green and surrounds, the bulk of this job has been done, and the Monday afternoon team should have everything done by the time the season starts. Speaking of which, Friday social bowling will resume on March 25th (Good Friday).
We are having a clean-up day on Friday, 18 March 2016 at 2.00pm. Below is a list of the work we hope to do, and we hope as many of you as possible will come along to help.
Clean and tidy Clubhouse and kitchen area
Clean Toilet Hut
Tidy up garden area in front of clubhouse
Weed crazy paving area and steps
Paint benches with wood preserver
Weed path round the green
Burn rubbish by Car Park and by the tennis courts
Sorry for the short notice but with Easter being early this year it limited our choice.
The Club wishes to extend its sincere sympathies to Mick Wainwright, whose wife Davina has sadly lost her long battle against illness. Davina was always very supportive of Mick's bowling, and none more so than when Mick picked up the trophy for being best performer in the Stoke League team in 2015. May Davina rest in peace.
2016 Annual Club Lunch:
For the second year running our lunch venue was The Upper House in Barlaston. A windy but not unpleasant day (considering it's February) did not stop 32 people attending. Everyone seemed to have a good time, and in his address, Chairman Gareth Jones announced apologies from those who were unfortunately unable to attend, and then gave a warm welcome to new members who were joining this occasion for the first time. He also thanked new Secretary Renee for her excellent organisation of the event, and Treasurer Andrew for ensuring the Club had sufficient funds to supply the drinks for the lunch. Gareth also commended the work of the Monday afternoon Work Party for their efforts on the Green and surrounds, and was hopeful that as the overall site is developed, St Modwen will endeavour to improve the infrastructure around the Club grounds, although this may be a year or two in the future.
Club Lunch, Sunday 21st February:
Please arrive at The Upper House from 12.30 for a 1.00 pm start. The Club will once again pay for your drinks, but please try not to take too much advantage of the Club's generosity in this regard. The Treasurer will take payment for the lunch on the day, and will also accept payment of the annual Club subs. Above all, have a good time!
The menu is now available from Renee, and has been sent to those members on email. If you are aware of anyone planning to attend who is not on email, please pass a copy on. Renee needs to know your choices prior to 14th February, and any special dietary requirements should also be made known. The cost will remain £18 per head.
Despite the intrusion of the festive season, work has continued apace at the Club. New fencing has been installed in front of the 'away' team seats, and the plan is to build up the ground behind the fence in order to virtually eliminate the dangerous dip that previously existed.
Happy New Year to one and all!!
With effect from 12.00 noon on Monday 7th December, the code number for the entry gates will change. The new code will not be posted here, but anyone on email has been advised.
An update on the generator situation - the new toilet system only requires occasional use of a generator, and we hope to be able to borrow generators as and when we need one.
As some of you will know, the Club suffered yet another break-in last week (around 24th/25th Nov), and the most valuable item taken was the Generator. Not only did this have significant monetary value, it was also a key component in our new toilet system, so is unfortunately quite a blow. The relevant authorities have been informed, and any updates on the situation will appear here. Earlier in the week we procured three large water tanks as part of the toilet function, which hopefully will not be in vain, despite this latest setback.
Thank you to all who attended the Club AGM. The changes to the elected Officers are now reflected on the Contacts page, and the full Minutes are available on the Membership page (click on them to see them full screen).
The Club AGM will take place on Thursday 12th November at 7pm in the Ruth Dickson room at Barlaston Village Hall. Please make every effort to attend as there one or two vacant positions to be filled, and some important matters to be discussed. If you know anyone not on Computer or email please let them know these details.
Season Review 2015:
Once again pride of place goes to the Ladies team, who finished in 6th place (out of 12) in their League. In common with all our teams, it was the home form that stood them in good stead, and they also managed one win on the road. Carol Duffy picked up the individual honours, and was presented with her trophy by Pam and Margaret before their departure.
After initial concerns about a lack of players, the Men's team ended up having to adopt a rotation system. They finished 9th (out of 12), mainly due to 9 home wins, but unfortunately they were unable to win away, despite twice coming very close. Mick Wainwright picked up the individual honours, and was presented with the trophy in front of his very proud wife by Captain Keith Hughes.
The Oakhill team started the season very well, but then faded, and eventually finished 10th (out of 12). Seven home wins were backed up by one away win.
The Saturday Mixed team finished 8th (out of 11). The Team won 9 out of 10 at home, which was the second best record in the League, and also managed two away wins.
Well done to all the new Captains, and their deputies, who have kept all the teams running smoothly this year.
Off the field the Club gained ten new members over the summer, which was much needed after the loss of the Marshalls and Beechs last year, and the more recent departure of Pam and Margaret. Various positions are up for grabs for the new season, and it is hoped there will be no shortage of volunteers at the forthcoming AGM.
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The green has been subject to a major restoration effort on Thursday 1st October, which it is hoped will lead to a much smoother surface next year. Consequently the green is now out of bounds until further notice. This is obviously unfortunate in view of the current indian summer, but the long-term future of the green is paramount.
The Monday afternoon team, under the leadership of John Plant (and with a little help from Heath Robinson!) have rigged up a system which will enable the Club Toilet to function again, until such time as the water supply is restored.
This does of course mean we have to say a sad farewell to the Portaloo, which is no bad thing, as in the immortal words of Abba,
Portaloo - Couldn't escape if I wanted to
Portaloo - Knowing my fate is to be with you
Portaloo - Finally facing my Portaloo
Members may like to be aware that a fictional book has been published which reflects the humour that can be found within the bowling community. I've no idea of its quality, but if anyone wants to purchase it, details are below.
Due to inclement weather, the Friday afternoon (Aug 14th) friendly against U3A was cancelled. If an alternative date can be found, it will be announced here.
Pam and Margaret's farewell Garden Party:
We were blessed with fine weather for what proved to be a lovely afternoon, and it was great to see such a large turn out, which reflects the high esteem and love felt for two ladies who will be sorely missed in many ways. Many thanks to Gareth for providing the venue (although those who tried to have a bowl found the green rather slow!), and to Renee for co-hosting. Thanks also to those who contributed to the fabulous spread, which was thoroughly enjoyed by all.
Pam and Margaret have asked for the following message to be made known to all members:
"We really appreciate all the efforts everyone made to make the Garden party such an enjoyable and memorable occasion for us. The catering was excellent and the cakes were works of art. Special thanks to Gareth and Renee for hosting it and providing a beautiful setting and perfect weather. Many thanks to you all".
Friday 14th August will see what has become almost the annual friendly match against U3A. Please contact Brian and/or Rose if you are willing/able to play.
Coaching Day on this Friday 31st July CANCELLED, due to unavailability of coaches. The Club apologises to all who have made special arrangements to attend and help out, and it is hoped the day can be arranged at some time in the future.
FREE Coaching Day, Friday 31st July
This date is rapidly approaching and there are just a few places available - BOOK EARLY (with Adele) TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT!!
Mid-Season Review
Once again the Ladies team are leading the way, currently lying 4th in their League, having won 6 and lost 6 of their matches, including one away win.Several individuals are figuring highly in the current player averages according to the League website.
The Oakhill team are perhaps not quite performing to the level of recent seasons, as they currently lie 7th in their League. They've won 6 and lost five of their games, including one away win.
The Saturday Mixed Team are also struggling a little, as they are currently 9th in the table, having won 4 and lost 5 of their matches. Again they have picked up just one away win.
The Men's team are also 9th, having won 5 and lost 7 of their matches. They have yet to win away, despite twice having come within a handful of points of that achievement. Current player averages according to the League website are: Bill 2.90, Carl 0.00, Keith -0.11, Mick W -0.60, Neil -1.20, Brian -1.44, Dave -2.17, Andrew Maddams -2.33, Arie, -3.10, John -3.50, Andrew Marshall -4.67, Mick M -6.10, Ralph -19.00. Special praise is due to Bill and Mick W who are both performing brilliantly despite difficult home circumstances.
Overall the Club is recovering well from the loss of several stalwart players from previous seasons, and it is heartening to see the healthy number of new players who have been recruited, some of whom are already making good contributions to League teams. The closure of Meaford Road has had one positive effect, in that home games are much quieter, but the lack of a water supply remains a frustrating issue.
On the positive front, two big events are ahead of us, a Training Day and a Garden Party (see below), which hopefully will both be well-supported, and we look forward to improved League results in the second half of the Season.
One of our new members, Adele Leigh, has kindly arranged a training day at the Club. There will be no charge for the course, and refreshments will be provided by the Club, so you really have nothing to lose except your time!
Its a very honourable event as we have Mr Tizard (National Coach), Bob Marsh ( Regional Coach for Staffordshire, Warwickshire & Worcestershire) and Brian Chamberlain - BCGBA Lead Video Coach attending.
Adele will be taking one group, Bob Marsh another and the other two groups will be taken by those who are having the assessment for level 2.
Brian Chamberlain will be taking each group for video coaching throughout the day.
We need to have at least 15 people to partake, and it is hoped that as many of you as possible will take advantage of this wonderful opportunity. Full details of the FREE course are provided in the leaflet below (click to see full screen), and please let Adele know if you are planning to attend.
Garden Party, August 9th
In order to recognise Pam and Margaret's massive contribution to the Club, Chairman Gareth Jones will be hosting a Garden Party in their honour. All Club members and partners are invited, including Friday social bowlers. The below invitation (click to see full screen) is being emailed to as many members as possible, and hard copies are available for anyone who cannot be contacted electronically. You will notice that Gareth would appreciate an indication of your attendance in order to assist catering arrangements. It will undoubtedly be a day of mixed emotions, but hopefully as many of you as possible will come along to say a fond farewell to Pam and Margaret.
Watch this space for news of an exciting coaching day at the Club - details to follow later.
Members should be aware that Club Officials, led by Chairman Gareth Jones, are in constant contact with both St Modwen and Severn Trent Water in an effort to resolve the current unacceptable water situation.
Two more potential new members came along and gave us a try on Friday 5th - a warm welcome to Liz and Graham, and we hope to see much more of you.
Delighted to report Anthea is now back home, and hopefully will be back showing off her skills before too long.
Visitors to the Club can currently enjoy a colourful experience.
The Club would like to extend its best wishes to Anthea, and hopes she has a full and speedy recovery.
This perhaps a good time to thank everyone involved in our recent 'recruitment drive', and to extend a warm welcome to new members, Ralph, Dave, Bill, Jane, Steve, Adele and Di. We hope you enjoy bowling with us and will stay with us for years to come.
Those of you who have been recently "inconvenienced" at the Club, will be pleased to know a Portaloo has now been installed.
In case you are not aware, there are links on the Home page to the websites for the Ladies' and Men's Leagues, which provide more detailed averages/results etc if you are interested.
The Saturday Mixed Team began the season with a resounding home victory, and you will notice from their results page that Norton Central have withdrawn from their League, which releases two Saturdays from the schedule.
Barlaston WI have informed us they will resume their Thursday afternoon bowling on 14th May.
The first Friday afternoon social bowling of the season took place in glorious weather, and it was great to see some new faces, all of whom we hope were sufficiently encouraged to come along again, and hopefully in due course become members.
The Ladies team fully exacted revenge for the Men's team result against Bucknall Ex, no doubt helped by a lot of support, including Mr and Mrs Boswell.
Let's get ready to rumble!:
Thanks to everyone who came along to the two recent clean-up sessions - their work, together with the regular efforts of the Monday afternoon team, mean that we are all set for the start of the new season. In addition the Green has been scarified (on 8th April) and the ditches weeded,, so we are all ready for the first home match of the season, which sees the ladies hosting Bucknall Ex on 9th April.
St Modwen and Severn Trent Water have so far been unable to trace the source of the water leak, and have therefore turned down the water supply to a minimum. There is sufficient pressure for us to supply refreshments, but our newly-decorated Toilet is currently out of commission. Fortunately, however, we have been able to secure access to the nearby toilet block, so apart from the inconvenience (pardon the pun) of a two minute walk, this problem has been resolved.
The closure of the south (A34) end of Meaford Road has been put back to 8th May, with Rookery Lane closed from 27th April, but as most people approach the Club from the north (village) end of Meaford Road, this should hopefully not be too much of a problem.
Unfortunately the men's team started the season with a defeat, but the good news was a return to competitive action for Bill Boswell, who only lost by the narrowest possible margin, and played like he had never been away - welcome back Bill!
The threat of inclement weather saw somewhat reduced numbers on the second clear-up day, but there was still some good work done. The new season beckons!
The 2015 fixtures are now on the website. All our teams are in 12 team Leagues this year, which leads to a more even spread of fixtures, as well as seasons of similar length. The 'Other Club Addresses' page has been updated with the 'new' teams we will be facing in 2015, and the 'Contacts' page has been personalised!
The first of two clear-up days took place on 23rd March, and some of the participants are shown here, both working away, and having a well-earned cuppa afterwards. The Green is now safe to play on - the bobbles on the green are in fact a good sign as they are bits of dead moss. The second clear-up takes place on 30th March, and after that the Green will be scarified, ready for the first home match of the season on 9th April (ladies first, as it should be). Incidentally, all our fixtures will appear on this website later this week.
The green has been treated with some feed and moss-killer on 10th March, and to ensure that this treatment is most effective, it is strongly requested that everyone keeps off the green until further notice. Unfortunately this means there will be little opportunity for practice on our green before the season-proper starts, but recent weather has been against us being able to treat the green any earlier.
Unfortunately, the Club has been the victim of some vandalism, with the Toilet door being damaged. The door has been repaired, and the attack has been reported to St Modwen in the hope that they will make some efforts to improve security at the site. Incidentally, some of the potholes at the main gate have been (crudely) filled in, making the entrance a little smoother.
There have been some amendments to the Team Captain line-ups for the 2015 season, and these are reflected on the Contacts page.
2015 Club Lunch:
Despite blizzard conditions that would have made Robert Falcon Scott think twice, there was an excellent turn out for the annual lunch at a new venue, The Upper House in (appropriately) Barlaston. We were well looked after by our hosts, and the general opinion on the food was favourable. Chairman Gareth Jones took the opportunity to thank Arie for arranging the lunch, the Monday afternoon team for their work towards solving the drainage problem, and to Pam for her initiative in producing a leaflet which can be handed to potential new members, of which we need a few. Everyone was also delighted to see the Boswells in attendance, and we hope to see more of them throughout the forthcoming season.
Annual Clear-up:
We are very grateful to the Monday afternoon grounds working group for all their hard work - even during the winter! Since many hands make light work, they would welcome support from all those who can make it on either Monday, March 23rd or Monday, March 30th between 2pm-3.30pm to get the green and surrounds and clubhouse ready for the season. We know that the ladies start their season on April 9th so we need to be ready for then.
Don't forget the annual Club Lunch this coming Sunday (details below). Payment can be made to Andrew on the day, and annual subscriptions are also welcome. Don't worry if you've forgotten your menu choices - Pam and Andrew will have available copies of your selections.
For those of you not aware, the Club unfortunately suffered a break-in, in which our petrol-driven strimmer, and a few smaller items were stolen. The matter has been reported to the police, and apparently this is one of a number of such incidents that have taken place in the Meaford Road area. Let's hope the perpetrator(s) are soon apprehended.
Green Improvements six:
The wire fencing to keep out the rabbits has now been replaced, and new backboards have been fitted along half of the side of the green we have been working on. The inside of the toilet has also received its first coat of white paint. There's still plenty of work to do as time and weather permits.
We have now heard back from U3A regarding our offer to make use of our green. U3A have decided to continue using their existing facilities, although they did appreciate our offer. They have also noted that our Friday afternoon social bowling is open to allcomers, and so there may be a few U3A members who take advantage of that.
The annual Club Lunch will take place on Sunday February 22nd at The Upper House in Barlaston, ST12 9AE at 12.30 for 1.00pm. Cost per person will be £18, payable on the day to Andrew. Menus are available now from Pam, and please let her know your choices in advance.
Happy 2015 to all!
Following the recent AGM, a small 'sub-committee' met, and have decided to formally approach a Groundsman in order to carry out various 'one-off' jobs. An offer has also been made to Stone U3A to ascertain whether or not they wish to hire our green at certain specified times. Furthermore, an appeal for more players will appear in the December/January edition of the Parish Magazine.
Green Improvements Five:
The trench has now been filled in to a certain degree, but some leeway has been left for the fitting of new (scaffolding) boards, to replace the rotten ones that have been removed. The new boards will be the next job, but as the weather worsens, the plan is also to paint the inside of the toilet.
Green Improvements Four:
The new drainage pipe has now been laid along the entire length of the right-hand side of the Green, with short sections also turning the corners at both ends. The next stage of re-filling the gutter has begun.
NB 2014 AGM Minutes: Moved to Membership page.
Green Improvements Three:
The drainage works have turned the corner - literally! The trench has now been extended from the right-hand side of the green round to the back of the green, where the water will be allowed to drain away. There are already indications that the damp corner of the green is beginning to dry out, which is very engouraging for the grounds team. Next job is to complete laying the pipework, and then the trench can be refilled. The trench works have revealed that the old scaffolding planks were rotten and will need to be replaced, so if anybody has access to any please let the club know.
DON'T FORGET - AGM THIS THURSDAY OCT 30TH IN THE VILLAGE HALL AT 7.30.
Green Improvements Two:
Work has continued apace, with a trench now dug along the entire length of the right-hand side of the green, and the new pipe laid to around halfway. Hopefully you can see from the first photo the ripples indicating the amount of water that runs into the damp corner of the green, so it is no wonder that so much damage has been caused. Work will continue as time and energy permits!
Green Improvements:
The Monday afternoon work party have started work on laying a new drainage pipe along the right-hand side of the green, which it is hoped will solve the problem of the damp corner of the green. Interestingly, initial excavations have revealed that a (clay) pipe had been put in place when the green was originally constructed (possibly in anticipation of the current problems) but the pipe has become damaged and broken over the years and therefore has not been doing the intended job. Watch this space for further developments.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING:
The AGM will be held on Thursday, October 30th at 7.30pm at Barlaston Village Hall. Obviously this is an important meeting and it is hoped that as many members as possible will be able to attend.
So close and yet so far:
Going into the final day, the Oakhill team seemed on course to finish second, but a rare heavy defeat, coupled with a strong win by their closest rivals , saw the team slip to joint 3rd (although officially 4th). The team won more away games than any other team in the League, and this, coupled with steady home form, undoubtedly contributed to an excellent overall season. Well done to all Oakhill team members!
A 'mixed' season for the Saturday team:
The final table for the Saturday team shows a respectable 7th place finish - if things had gone perfectly on the final day it could have been 4th, but that was always unlikely. An impressive home record of 8 wins out of 10, was backed up by a good 4 wins on the road, to record a solid performance overall. As mentioned below Ken and Janet did a splendid job as captains, and have a set a good standard to follow for next season's new captain.
Improvement to the website:
I suppose "improvement" depends upon how photogenic you are (!), but it is now possible to click on the photos on this site and they will expand to full screen.
Thanks for everything:
At the final Saturday Mixed league match of the season on 27th September, Club Chairman Gareth proposed a vote of thanks to Ken and Janet for their hard work this season in running 3 teams and they were presented with a planter full of flowers from the club. Many thanks to Margaret for providing some photos of both the match and the presentation.
What a delight to have the Boswell family come and support the Saturday team on 13th September, and undoubtedly this served to inspire the home team to victory. It was great to see Anne looking so well, and hopefully we will see Anne and Bill at (and maybe on) the Green much more next season.
Not so well done Gents!!:
Our team in the Wednesday men's League have unfortunately finished 11th, and if you notice how many teams are in that League you will realise what that means! The team have had to cope without regular players Bill and Carl this season, and the new players that have been introduced haven't quite hit the ground running. Hopefully however this season's experiences will stand them in good stead in the future, where Division Six awaits.
Well done Ladies!!:
The final League table has now been published for the Ladies League, and our team have finished in a very creditable fourth place. The team were only 12 points away from finishing third, but that would have put them in danger of being promoted, and an insider advises that this was never the intention! On an individual level, congratulations to Pam Bedford who finished 6th in the averages for the entire Division, although Pam would be the first to say it has been a real team effort, with everyone pulling their weight in the light of the unavailability this season of two previous stalwarts in Anne and Emma.
Out of date Website (08/14):
Apologies to all that the website has been a little behind lately, but as many of you will know the website manager has been unexpectedly hospitalised. I'm now back (and so is the site) and would like to use this forum to personally thank Club members for your many and much appreciated good wishes. On a similar note best wishes go out to Neil Jeffs for a full recovery after his recent bike accident. We're a poor old lot - maybe we should take up a gentle pursuit like bowling....!
Junior County News:
On Sunday 13th July Kyle represented Potteries & District against Lancashire in the third match of Section 3 of the Drakes Pride Junior County Championship. This time Kyle was selected for the away trip to Lancashire and travelled to Wigan where he enjoyed an excellent 21-16 victory - one of only two wins by the Potteries team. Unfortunately the team lost this match by 142 to 246, and the home match at Florence also saw a defeat for the Potteries by 248 to 139. The Potteries team have therefore finished bottom of their section and do not qualify for the semi-finals. Nevertheless congratulations again to Kyle (and Emma) for representing their County.
A tribute to our most loyal supporter:
Come rain or come shine, he stands stoically at the side of the green, quietly urging on the home team to success. Nothing will deter him from this task, and there's no doubt he has an intimidatory affect on our opposition. So, let's hear it for 'BARL-EE', the number one supporter of our Club.
Following Jan Marshall's recent unfortunate fall, the Monday afternoon maintenance team have been working on improving the 'Health & Safety' aspect of the steps. The results are shown below and hopefully this will help to avoid such accidents in the future.
After a traumatic pre-season necessitating an EGM, it was good to just get out on the greens and bowl. Pride of place so far this season must be shared by the Ladies and Oakhill teams, both of whom are riding high in their respective Leagues. The Oakhill team have actually won more games away than at home - always the secret to success. The Ladies started with a 100% record for the first four weeks, and remain a force to be reckoned with in their Division. For the Saturday Mixed and Stoke Men's Teams it's been a different story. The Saturday team have a 100% home record (opponents finding our 'slow' green difficult to adjust to), but have managed only one win away. The Stoke Team have struggled through trying to bed in new players in the team, but hopefully this will have long-term benefits.
As a Club we can be proud of the way we are coping with recent difficulties, - the Boswell's (hopefully temporary) retirement, damp corner of the Green, negotiations with St Modwen, - and let's hope for a brighter future. Particular thanks to Ken and Jan Marshall, and Anthea/Margaret for taking over the running of the League teams at such short notice.
A Thankyou message from Bill Boswell:
"Anne and Bill Boswell would like to thank everyone for the cards, telephone calls, prayers and not least, cakes, following Anne's stroke. Your support has been overwhelming and greatly valued! Anne is making slow but steady progress but unfortunately still has a long way to go, so your support has been invaluable. Many thanks, Anne and Bill".
On Monday 16th June a drainage expert visited the Club, and concluded that our problem with the damp corner of the green could be solved by laying a drainage pipe about half a metre below the surface along the length of the ditch running along the front of the green (in front of the stand). He will be sending us a quote for this work which obviously cannot be carried out until the end of the season. Once that work is done we will be able to consider how to treat the marsh grass problem. Watch this space!!
Our two young stars represented Potteries & District against Derbyshire in the second match of Section 3 of the Drakes Pride Junior County Championship on Sunday 8th June at Bucknall Private BC. Emma Dawson was unfortunately beaten 10-21, whilst Kyle Marshall fared a little better in being beaten 16-21. Potteries & District were beaten 157 - 235 in this home match, and the away team also lost by a similar margin 148 - 248. So, a disappointing overall result, but well done to our two young players for representing our Club and the County so well. The next match is against Lancashire on Sunday 13th July.
Meaford Power Station - Following the initial consultations, Meaford Energy Limited are now ready to present their findings. There will be two public exhibitions, the first at the Lakeside Tavern on Wednesday 11th June from 3pm to 8pm, and the second at Barlaston Village Hall on Thursday 12th June from 3pm to 8pm. Apparently they have listened to public concerns and are proposing to develop the south site, i.e. the one closest to Stone and furthest from our Green.
Wet corner of our Green:
Arie De Pee has had a meeting with St Modwen and backed this up with the following letter:
Dear Mr. Lindsay,
Ref.: Bowling Green at Meaford Power Station site.
We refer to your meeting with Arie de Pee earlier today when he impressed upon you the urgency with which action now needs to be taken to prevent the loss of an ever increasing area of the bowling green at Meaford,
As we have been advising you over a period of time,part (getting larger all the time) of the green is constantly being soaked by water coming from the area of the access road. This part of the green has become sodden,causing the formation of moss and, more detrimentally, marsh-grasses which we cannot eradicate without killing off any "proper" grass. Neither can it be properly mown as the mower just rolls over the tufts formed by these grasses.
We firmly believe that this problem is caused by water leaking from the pool adjacent to the gatehouse and that by draining this pool the problem could be solved. You agreed to have this looked at on an urgent basis and to let Arie know whether you can arrange for this to be done and when. We apologise for again stressing the urgency of this matter.
You and Arie also discussed the possibility of carrying out drainage work if emptying the pool does not solve the problem. That would, of course, be quite expensive and we hope that St.Modwen might be prepared to help with this. In any case, we would need your permission to carry out the work, as well as a drawing of the existing drains in the area in order to avoid any damage or unnecessary work and expense. We shall be pleased to hear from you about this eventuality as well.
Pam Bedford
Secretary.
Let's hope this leads to some improvement.
The Club has presented Anne and Bill with a planted decorative basket for the garden, for which they were very grateful. Anne seems much brighter now that she is home, and it is hoped that this gift alongwith the excellent start to the season by both the Oakhill and Ladies teams will hasten her recovery.
For those of you not aware, the excellent news is that Anne Boswell is now back home, as she continues on the road to recovery. The Club wishes her and Bill all the best.
Our two young stars represented Potteries & District against Shropshire in the first match of Section 3 of the Drakes Pride Junior County Championship on Sunday 11th May at Bucknall Community BC. Emma Dawson played well but was unfortunately beaten 12-21, but Kyle Marshall strode to a 21-13 victory and was voted man of the Match. Potteries & District were beaten 160 - 229 in this home match, and the away team also lost by a similar margin 152 - 228. So, a disappointing overall result, but well done to our two young players for representing our Club and the County so well. The next match is against Derbyshire on Sunday 8th June.
Many congratulations to the Oakhill team, who started the season as they mean to go on with victory in arguably their most difficult fixture of the season by 7 points to 4. It would have been 8-4 but someone who shall remain nameless (new Club Chairman) was unable to attend.
The new toilet is now functional, although has yet to be 'decorated' - many thanks to Keith, Brian, Alan and plumber Paul for their hard work in this regard.
The changes that have taken place to the Club following the EGM on 25th March are now reflected on the History, Contacts, and Membership pages of this site.
The annual 'Clear-up' day took place on Saturday 29th March on a glorious spring day. A good turn out saw a lot of work done, and with a bit more titivating to be done by the working party, as well as the plumbing-in of the new toilet, everything will be ready for the new season.
Don't forget - Extraordinary General Meeting tonight (Tuesday 25th March) - details below.
On a miserable day, the new toilet shed has been erected, although the toilet itself has yet to be plumbed in, so, until further notice, make sure you go before you leave home!
Toilet disappears!!
The Club Toilet has gone today (24th March) and members are searching for clues as to where it has gone. At the moment members have nothing to go on! The police have been advised that all that is left is a hole in the ground - police are looking into it! (Bonus jokes of the week courtesy of The Two Ronnies c. 1981!)
NB Green out of bounds
For those of you looking to get in some pre-season practice, please note that the green is currently out of bounds until Friday 28th March as it has been given some anti-moss treatment. The green will therefore be ready for the clear-up day on Saturday 29th March - all volunteers welcome from 10.00 to 12.00.
Extraordinary General Meeting Tuesday 25th March
The Club would like to extend its warmest best wishes to Anne Boswell for a full and speedy recovery, and trust that she and Bill will be back on the greens leading their teams in the near future. In the meantime a meeting has been called for Tuesday 25th March at 7.30 at the Methodist Church Hall which is in Park Drive, in order to discuss various issues that need to be resolved whilst Anne and Bill concentrate on getting Anne back to full health. As you all know Anne and Bill have been fundamental in the success of the Club in recent years and fully deserve our support at this difficult time, so it is hoped that as many of you as possible can come along on Tuesday to discuss how to keep the Club running in their absence.
2014 Fixtures are now available for all our teams on the Leagues page.
Some dates for your diary:
Saturday March 29th - Club clean-up day (all volunteers welcome).
Tuesday 8th April - Oakhill Jubilee League first fixture.
Wednesday 9th April - Stoke Men's League first fixture.
Saturday 12th April - Saturday Mixed League first fixture.
Thursday 17th April - Ladies League first fixture.
Sunday March 9th saw the annual Club Lunch take place at the Stone House Hotel on a glorious Spring day. Here are some photos of the happy attendees. Congratulations to Emma and Bill who were presented with trophies for being the highest Club scorers in their respective Leagues.
DON'T FORGET - next Sunday (9th) sees the annual Club Lunch. At the last count there's going to be 29 of us there so let's hope a good time is had by all.
NB Please note that the annual Club lunch will take place on Sunday 9th March (not as previously advised) at the usual venue, the Stone House Hotel. Menus are available from Bill and Anne. Other dates for your new Diary/Calendar: a clean-up session will be held on Saturday March 29th, with the possibility of carrying this over to April 5th.
The Club wishes to extend its sympathy to the family of past Chairman, Roy Finney, who sadly passed away on February 8th. May he rest in peace.
Happy New Year and may all your bowls nestle alongside the jack!
Father Christmas will be delivering presents, but only if you've been good!
Happy Christmas to one and all.
As some of you may be aware, Meaford Energy Limited have published their report on the recent consultation process regarding the proposed development of a power station. The full report is available in the Library section of their website, www.Meaford-Energy.com. Of main interest to us is that most people were in favour of the station being built on the south site, which is the one furthest from our Green. We will keep you informed of any significant news in this regard.
The Club wishes to extend it's sincere sympathy and best wishes to Gareth Jones on the sudden and untimely loss of his lovely wife, Jenny. May she rest in peace.
The AGM has taken place, and the minutes are available from Pam. All Club Officers were re-elected so must be doing a good job! Congratulations and thanks to them all.
A date for your diary. The Club's 2013 AGM will take place on Thursday 7th November at 7pm in Barlaston Village Hall (meeting room at rear). In the words of the Club Chairman "Please do try and attend, the future of the club is in your hands".
Hopefully some of you attended one of the consultation events for the proposed Power Station development. It seems our green will not be affected, and furthermore the main entrance to the site will be at the far Meaford end of the site, so it seems the impact on us will be as minimal as we could have hoped. Time will tell!
The final Oakhill table shows that our team have been our most successful this season, finishing in an excellent 7th position out of 14. Winning four out of their 13 away games certainly contributed to this high placing, so well done to all involved with the Oakhill team.
The final table for the Saturday Mixed League has been published, showing our team finishing in 9th place out of 12. Once again solid home form (8 wins out of 11), was compromised by only one win away from home. Nevertheless it was a good season with the team always mid-table and well clear of the bottom 3 teams.
Further to the report immediately below, there will be three public exhibition events in which we can learn more about these proposals. They are as follows:
Wednesday 9th October from 1pm to 7pm at Lakeside Tavern.
Thursday 10th October from 1pm to 8pm at Station Community Centre, Stone Rail Station.
Friday 11th October from 1pm to 7pm at Barlaston Village Hall.
It would seem worhtwhile to attend one of these events if you can.
As mentioned on the history page of this website, our green is part of a site that used to house Meaford Power Station. As some of you may be aware, there is now the possibility of a new power station being built on the site. The implications for our green/club are not yet clear, but may be positive. The BBC news report on the subject follows:
"Plans have been drawn up for a gas-fired power station in Staffordshire, a developer has confirmed.
It would be built on the site of a former coal-fired station at Meaford Business Park.
The proposals, which are yet to be finalised, will require the approval of the secretary of state for energy and climate change.
Meaford Energy Ltd, which is a branch of property developer St Modwen, said the plans were at a very early stage.
The company estimated 800 construction jobs would be created, with a further 30 to staff the plant once it is operational.
The plans include a new connection to the national gas and electricity distribution networks.
Igniting gas
Meaford Energy said: "We are currently developing outline plans and, at the appropriate time, we will begin an initial, informal consultation with the community and key stakeholders."
The plant works by igniting compressed air and gas which are fed into a combustion turbine, which in turn drives a generator.
The surplus heat from the generator is used to create steam, which is used to drive a second turbine attached to another generator.
"This turns what could be waste heat into an efficient source of additional power," the company said.
A date for the informal consultation has not yet been set. Meaford Energy said it would be a number of years before any work could begin on site".
Monday 9th September saw a friendly match take place against Little Stoke on our green. Despite the appearence of a couple of heavy showers, a good time was had by all, in a match that saw a narrow 5 point victory for the home team. It is hoped a return match may be arranged before the end of the season.
The final table for the ladies league shows that our team has finished in a solid 6th position. Even during a difficult start to the season, the team always scored well, and this, coupled with a strong finish to the season, has seen them achieve a comfortable mid-table position. Well done ladies!
The final table for the Stoke Men's League has been published, with our boys finishing in 8th place. A creditable performance at home, winning 6 and only losing 3 of the games, but unfortunately losing every game away from home has cost the team dear. Oh well, there's always next season!
Unfortunately not such good news this time from our two star youngsters in the Drake's Pride Junior County Championships. Emma lost 21-12 and Kyle was beaten 21-8 as Potteries & District lost out to Warwick & Worcester, who now go on to play Yorkshire in the final. The next big occasion for these two is the British Parks Crown Green Bowling Association Junior Merit Competition which takes place on Sunday 22nd September at Florence Tennis & Bowling Club, Cemetary Road. Once again we hope they have benefitted from their experience on Sunday and bring their 'A' game to the Junior Merit Competition. Good luck to both!
As mentioned below, this Sunday, 11th August sees Emma and Kyle representing Potteries & District against Warwick & Worcester in the semi-finals of the Drakes Pride Junior County Championship. The match takes place at Wolstanton WMC, and Emma will be in match 3 against Natalie Bubb, whilst Kyle is in match 8 against Bradley Williams. If you're free why not go along and give them your support - we wish them both the best of luck!
Hopefully the change in appearance of the website is making it easier for you to find your way around. You may also notice a new page (on the far right of the screen) showing the addresses of local clubs, which those of you on email will already have seen, but being here should make it easier to find.
A big thank you to Carole and her family for hosting the Garden Party. Unfortunately the weather chose to have the only iffy day for the last two weeks, but still a good time was had by all. All 'the votes have yet to be counted', but current indications are that proceeds will approach £300, so thank you for your generosity.
DON'T FORGET - this coming Sunday (21st) sees Carole's 'annual' garden party. Full details below in red - be there or be square!
Kyle and Emma continue to do us proud. On Sunday 14th July they both represented Potteries & District in a section four match against Merseyside in the Drake's Pride Junior County Championships at Florence T&BC. Kyle won his match 21-18 and Emma won 21-16 thus helping their team through to the semi-finals. Well done both! In the semi's, which take place on Sunday 11th August, Potteries & District have been drawn against Warwick & Worcester.
More good news from our 'next generation'. On 30th June Kyle represented the county in the Parks Inter-county championships at Birkenhead, but unfortunately Staffs failed to reach the final. On 7th July Kyle and Emma took part in the Knypersley Junion Open competition. Emma reached the quarter final, and Kyle made it all the way to the final, where, after a poor start he fought a long way back, before finally losing 21-16. A great and encouraging effort from these two fine young players.
2013 - The season so far
With most teams currently experiencing a break in fixtures, it seems a good moment to review the season so far. The comments are based on the latest information I have available, and are purely those of the author and not representative of the Club.
Starting with the ladies, they are currently revelling in 3rd place in the league. Admitedly this is a slightly false position as teams just behind have games in hand, but nevertheless is a tribute to the fact that even in defeat the team have been scoring highly and this is now standing them in good stead.
In the Stoke mens league the team are currently 6th out of ten, representing a good solid mid-table position. Unfortunately the team have been unable to win away, but this has been counter-balanced by good home form.
Similarly, the Saturday Mixed team are currently 6th out of 12, with a 100% record at home, and some solid points scoring away, with the notable exception of the 'impossible' Goldenhill green!
The Oakhill team are 8th out of 14, and to their credit have managed to pick up two away wins, which has helped them to the current healthy position.
On the individual front, it has been great for the club to see Kyle and Emma receive junior county recognition, and hopefully this bodes well for the long-term future of the club.
So, in general all our teams are performing solidly, and, most importantly, are enjoying their bowls. It has been noticeable on a couple of occasions that members of opposition teams have fallen out with each other, and whilst we all like to win, it shouldn't be at the expense of having a good time.
Off the green, the social side of the club continues to prosper, with the annual club lunch, Friday social bowling, and Carole's garden party all being well supported. A small group of volunteers have also been working on the green and surrounds to good effect, thus adding to the experience for home players and opposition alike.
As is customary, it would be remiss not to express thanks to all those who help the club and teams to run so sucessfully. In conclusion, enjoy the second half of the season, which hopefully will be played in somewhat warmer conditions!
The friendly match against Stone Crown resulted in a win for the home team by 192 points to 153. An unusual format of multiple doubles matches played up to 15 points enabled players to partake in up to 3 games each and thus gain plenty of match time. Many thanks again to those who provided and served the refreshments , and to Gareth for his organisation.
Just a reminder that this Friday (21st June), the usual social bowling will be replaced by a friendly match against Stone Crown, starting at 2pm. Those who have missed their social bowling 'fix' will be pleased to hear it will return on 28th June.
14th June 2013 saw the second annual friendly challenge match against Stone U3A, Despite mixed weather, a good time was had by all, and more importantly (!) we managed to reverse last year's result, winning by 4 matches to 2, or alternatively 102 points to 90. Many thanks to Gareth Jones for organising the event, and thanks also to all those who provided the refreshments. Some photos of this enjoyable occasion can be found below:
Following in the footsteps of Kyle Marshall, many congratulations to Emma Dawson who has been called up to play for the County at Junior level.
Royal Ascot, Lords Test Match, Henley Regatta, Wimbledon - all part of the english "season". The latest addition to that list is of course Carole's Garden Party, which this year will take place at 2pm on Sunday 21st July. As before,there will be refreshments, home produce, plants, tombola, raffle, cakes and the proceeds will go to the bowling club. Tickets will be available nearer the time (priced at a bargain £2.50), and it will all take place at West View, Church Close, Meir Heath ST3 7LQ.
You hopefully will have noticed the improvement to the Green surrounds in recent weeks, This work is being undertaken by a small but dedicated group of volunteers on Monday afternoons at 2.00. Extra pairs of hands are always welcome.
On Friday 14th June the usual social bowling will be replaced by a friendly match against U3A. Anyone wishing to take part should contact Gareth Jones.
Another date for your diary: It is the intention to repeat the success of last year's Garden Party at Carol Duffy's. The proposed date is 21st July, and keep checking here for further details.
The 2013 fixtures and tables for all the Leagues in which we participate are now available. Sorry for the delay and many thanks to Steve Hall for his valuable assistance in creating these.
We shall be starting our Friday afternoon sessions again on
Friday 12th April at 2.00 – 4.00 pm
Anyone who is interested in having a game of bowls, please come along on any Friday. Members free, non members £1.00 per afternoon. The sessions don’t take place if it is raining!
If you want to learn to play there are people to help and we have spare bowls if you need them.
Saturday March 23rd - Club Clear up day 10.00 to 12.00. All welcome!
Tuesday April 2nd - Jubilee League starts
Wednesday April 10th - Stoke on Trent Men's League starts
Friday 12th April - Friday social bowls starts
Saturday 13th April - Saturday Mixed League starts
Thursday 18th April - Ladies League starts
ANNUAL CLUB LUNCH
From all accounts a good time was had by all. Thanks to Anne Boswell for organising it, who unfortunately was unable to attend, and I'm sure everyone at the club joins me in wishing her a speedy recovery.
Happy New Year and may all your bowls be good ones!
The Club AGM takes place this Tuesday (20th) at the Village Hall at 7pm.
Best wishes for a speedy recovery from everyone at the Club to Renee after her recent fall.
Steve Holding
Steve's funeral will take place on Wednesday 24th October at 12.00 at the Crematorium in Leek Road.
Our team in the Oakhill league have finished in a very good 8th place out of 14. Winning the last three games of the season represented a strong finish which hopefully can be carried forward into the new season next year.
The final Saturday Mixed League table is now available and reveals that we have finished comfortably mid-table in 7th place. As with the other leagues it is the away form that let us down but nevertheless a good solid season which I believe was enjoyed by all.
The final of the Mixed Triples competition is taking place on our Green on Saturday 6th October at 2pm. If it's a nice day why not pop along and take in the action.
Stephen Holding
The Club is deeply saddened to hear the news that Steve passed away in the tragic aircrash which occurred in Nepal today (28th September). Steve was a very popular member of the Club who regularly participated in social bowling on a Friday afternoon. On behalf of the Club we extend our sympathies to his family and friends. Rest in peace.
NB The Club AGM will take place in the Village Hall at 7pm on Tuesday 20th November.
Completion of the Staffs Ladies League fixtures see our team unfortunately unable to lift themselves from 10th place, despite a marked improvement in results in the final few weeks. Hopefully they will be one of the favourites to win Division Five next season.
The Stoke League fixtures have been completed and our team have finished in a very creditable 5th place out of 9. Frustratingly the team were only 3 points off finishing 4th, but nevertheless this represents a very solid season - well done to all.
Many congratulations to Emma Dawson, who on Friday 24th August won not one, but two trophies for winning the North Staffs Junior Bowls League Under 15 Championship for 2012. Here she is proudly showing off her trophies, whilst receiving deserved applause from fellow club members.
Also congratulations to Pam Bedford, tireless secretary of our Club who has very deservedly been nominated to receive a Certificate of Commendation for her contribution to Barlaston village life. Well done Pam!
Friday 24th August saw the usual Friday afternoon social bowls take on a competitive edge, as a team from Stone U3A came along for a friendly match. A whole series of very close doubles matches took place, only interrupted by tea and (excellent) cakes. Many thanks to Gareth for suggesting the fixture, and to Margaret for organising everything. A good time was had by all (despite some late rain) and hopefully the event can be repeated in the future. A sentiment also reflected in the following message received from Mike from the U3A team:
The U3A bowlers entered into the world of competitive action on Friday, August 24th, when following the suggestion of Chairman, Gareth Jones, a friendly match took place at Barlaston BC. Six very close doubles took place----U3A victorious by 5-1-----interrupted only by tea and excellent cakes. A good time was had by all (despite some late drizzle) and hopefully the event will be repeated in the future.
GARDEN PARTY JULY 2012
Carole Duffy kindly volunteered to host an Open Garden/Social Afternoon with all proceeds going to the Club.
This event took place on Sunday 29th July at 2pm and featured Home Produce, plants, raffle, tombola and cakes.
Despite a couple of showers, the event went very well and raised a significant sum for the club. Many thanks to Carole for her excellent hospitality, and thanks to all who volunteered to help in various ways.
Being roughly halfway through the season, I thought it would be a good opportunity to review the season so far. The comments are based on the latest information I have available, and are purely those of the author and not representative of the Club.
Being a gentleman, I will start with the ladies. They are clearly the strongest team in their division, as they are holding the rest up! They've scored consistently but have yet to secure that first win, but I'm sure it's just around the corner.
The Oakhill team are currently 9th out of 14 and are undefeated at home. So far they've only managed one win away, so perhaps that's where they can look to improve in the second half.
The Stoke team are 6th out of 9, and have yet to win away, and so, like the Oakhill team, this is where they could look to improve.
The Saturday Mixed team are currently 6th out of 11, having been beaten only once at home, but unfortunately the win in their first away game of the season has not been repeated, so again the away form holds the key to a better position.
Friday social bowls has undoubtedly been affected by this wonderful summer (!), but hopefully the regular diehards will be joined by others when (if) the weather improves.
Finally thanks are due to all those who voluntarily give their time and effort to keep the Club and teams running so well.
Congratulations to Pam Bedford and Margaret Catlow who have both qualified as Class 1 Coaches with the BCGBA.
Saturday March 24th - Annual Spring Clean
A group of willing volunteers gave the Green, its surrounds, and the clubhouse its annual spring clean in preparation for the new 2012 season.
Keith does some edging
Ken clears the way
The group takes a well-earned rest!
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Friday — March 9, 2018 — Issue No. 796
BlackBerry sues Facebook, claims messaging apps infringe on multiple patents
The company may be trying to force Facebook to negotiate a licensing deal.
Greg Sterling on March 7, 2018 at 1:16 pm
Marketing Land
BlackBerry has sued Facebook for patent infringement in federal district court in California. The claim is that Facebook’s various messaging tools, including WhatsApp, are using and infringing on BlackBerry’s intellectual property.
Reportedly, the companies were involved in licensing discussions, which didn’t produce the desired outcome for BlackBerry. The suit states seven counts of infringement. The various infringement claims cover messaging security, UI, messaging and gaming, power consumption innovations and other features.
The complaint states:
Defendants have used BlackBerry’s own intellectual property to compete with it in the mobile messaging space. These applications are ever expanding, including Facebook Messenger, Facebook Messenger Lite, Facebook Pages Manager, Facebook.com and Facebook Workplace Chat, the WhatsApp Messenger application made by WhatsApp Inc., and the Instagram application made by Instagram, Inc. The importance of mobile messaging is emphasized by the reported $19 billion dollars Facebook spent to acquire WhatsApp.
Facebook general counsel Paul Grewal provided a statement to CNBC, saying, “Blackberry’s suit sadly reflects the current state of its messaging business. Having abandoned its efforts to innovate, Blackberry is now looking to tax the innovation of others. We intend to fight.”
BlackBerry is seeking monetary damages including lost profits and injunctive relief. As the quote above indicates, Facebook has said it will fight the suit.
BlackBerry was founded in 1984 in Ontario, Canada, as a paging company and eventually began making smartphones. Together with Nokia, it dominated the market from 2000 to roughly 2013, until Apple and Android eventually forced the company to change its model and abandon its proprietary OS business.
BlackBerry today does a number of things but is primarily a mobile software and licensing company. BlackBerry devices still exist, but they’re made by third parties and run Android OS (like Nokia’s phones).
The company’s long history in the mobile messaging space and its many patents suggest the case may not be simple or quickly resolved for Facebook. [Source: Marketing Land]
First Responders Serve and Protect
Hark Technologies (David George & Bill Noyes)
Swissphone (Angelo Saccoccia, et al)
Blooston, Mordkofsky, Dickens, Duffy & Prendergast, LLP is pleased to announce that Salvatore Taillefer, Jr. has become a Junior Partner with the Firm.
Sal has been with the firm since 2007. Since that time, he has made significant contributions to the firm and its clients. He advises both wireline and wireless carriers on a wide array of legal issues, including regulatory compliance, auction participation, and federal contract and tariff disputes.
Congratulations, Sal!
Sal’s contact information:
Salvatore Taillefer, Jr.
Blooston, Mordkofsky, Dickens,
Duffy & Prendergast, LLP
2120 L Street, NW Suite 300
(202) 828-5562 direct line
sta@bloostonlaw.com
Source: Blooston, Mordkofsky, Dickens, Duffy & Prendergast, LLP
If you are interested, please e-mail Rick directly by clicking here.
Variety of Grants Available to Help Agencies with Technology Needs
By Danny Ramey, Web Editor
Both technology-focused and non-technology-focused grants can help local law enforcement agencies acquire or improve their technology, including First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) services, with the right planning and approach.
“A lot of them don’t say technology in the name of the grant, but they’re what we call technology-friendly grants in that they can include a significant amount of technology if you as the applicant decide that a technology-rich or technology-empowered program is the way you want to go forward to achieve the objectives of the grant,” said Michael Paddock, CEO of Grants Office, during a webinar hosted by the National Sheriff’s Association (NSA).
One of the keys to a successful grant application is focusing on the goals and outcomes of the proposed project instead of the product or technology, said Ashley Schultz, a grants development consultant for Grants Office.
“It’s the project that gets funded, not the product,” Schultz said.
The technology shouldn’t be the main purpose of the grant but a means to achieving specific goals or addressing specific needs of the law enforcement agency,” Schultz said. For a strong grant application, she suggested targeting a specific crime or geographic area in the community.
For example, the Phoenix Police Department bought body-worn cameras for its patrol officers using grant funding. The department assigned the cameras to officers in neighborhoods that had high rates of sexual and domestic violence. The cameras were used for more than sexual and domestic violence calls, but the focus provided the police department with data that showed the program was achieving a specific outcome to address sexual and domestic violence, Schultz said.
In another example, the Henderson (Nevada) Police Department determined that there was an increased number of stolen items appearing on quick trading websites such as Craigslist and realized that its officers were spending a lot of time following leads on those websites.
The agency applied for a grant and partnered with the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) to create a data-mining tool that could collect and analyze data from those sites and identify stolen items for sale.
Many grants, whether they’re specifically related to technology or not, could help agencies with costs related to FirstNet services, Paddock said.
For example, an agency could leverage existing grant programs focused on criminal justice, traffic security or homeland security preparedness as a way to improve communications in those areas, Paddock said. He also suggested looking at grants such as the Department of Agriculture’s (DOA) rural broadband grants, which are focused on improving broadband coverage in rural areas across the country.
As with other technology, the key in applying to use some grant funding for FirstNet services or related costs, such as training, is again to focus on how those services will assist the agency in achieving specific goals or outcomes, Paddock said.
Agencies can look toward a variety of different grant opportunities to help fund technology. Many of the major law enforcement grant funding opportunities come from either the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or the Department of Justice (DOJ), Paddock and Schultz said.
About half of the DHS grant funding generally goes to high-density, high-threat urban areas, through programs such as the Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI), Paddock said.
For agencies not in those particular urban areas, state homeland security grants are an option. The money comes from the federal government, but is distributed by the states so deadline, matching fund requirements and other details are determined by the states, Paddock said.
DOJ grants mainly come from three of its offices — the BJA, the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) and the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW).
The BJA’s Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants (JAG) are the DOJ’s largest provider of law enforcement grant funding, distributing more than $260 million per year, Schultz said.
Because the JAG program supports a variety of activities from basic law enforcement to corrections to technology improvement programs, the funds can be used on many different types of equipment, Schultz said.
Last year, the JAG program specifically called out items such as body-worn cameras, storage and policy development as priority areas for funding, Schultz said. “I will be very curious to see if that funding priority comes around again,” she said.
JAG funding is determined by a formula that takes into account population and Part 1 violent crime statistics. Agencies eligible to receive more than $10,000 in funding receive their grant funding directly from DOJ, and the anticipated application deadline will likely be sometime in June, Schultz said.
For agencies eligible for less than $10,000 funding, generally smaller agencies, the funding is distributed through states, and those agencies must apply to their state for funding. Funding priorities and deadlines generally vary from state to state, Schultz said.
Schultz highlighted the Improving Criminal Justice Response to Sexual Violence and Reduce Sexual Violence on Campuses grants from the OVW as potentially technology-friendly grants.
Both grants are focused on bringing together agencies such as law enforcement, courts, nonprofit organizations, and universities and their staff to collaborate in solving issues related to sexual violence.
There is a variety of potential technology that could help support the goals and objectives of those particular grants, Schultz said. For example, under the Improving Criminal Justice Response to Sexual Violence grant, a police department could use some of the funding to improve or expand its infrastructure so that it could more easily or efficiently share large amounts of data with a local prosecutor’s office.
Both grants have quite a few moving parts because they require bringing together disparate groups to collaborate. The grants are due soon, at the end of February and in mid-March, so Schultz suggested that agencies interested in the grants that have not planned for them focus on the 2019 grant cycle to ensure that they have a foundation for collaboration for their grant application.
Grants such as the COPS Office Anti-Heroin Task Force and Anti-Methamphetamine programs, which provide funds for agencies to investigate and combat activity related to the manufacture and distribution of illegal drugs, can also be used to leverage technology, Paddock said. For example, an agency might use a portion of the funding to invest in GPS technology to help track potential illegal activity.
Grants such as the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) Smart Policing Initiative (SPI), which Phoenix and Henderson used for their projects, and the Technology Innovation for Public Safety (TIPS) are more directly focused on technology than some of the other grants, Schultz said. The SPI focuses on innovative and cost-effective solutions to address local crime and requires that grantees partner with a research partner to evaluate the effects of the solution, Schultz said.
The TIPS program is focused on strategic information between agencies to address specific problems related to fighting crime. Because of the nature of the program, the grant funds can generally be used on a variety of technology that promotes collaboration between different agencies.
Paddock and Schultz also encouraged law enforcement agencies to look at grant opportunities outside of the DHS and DOJ from organizations such as the Department of Transportation (DOT), the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the E9-1-1 State Grant Program. All of those programs offer opportunities for partnerships that can include technology, Schultz said.
Source: MissionCritical Communications
Reject Our Tower? See You in Court, Verizon Says
Following the rejection of its special-use and wetlands permits for the construction of a new tower to bridge a critical coverage gap, Verizon Wireless has filed suit against the city of Philipstown, NY in U.S. District Court in White Plains, requesting that the court grant the denied permits and authorize work to begin on the new tower, as reported by WestfairOnline.com.
In Verizon Wireless et al v. Town of Philipstown, et al, the carrier alleges that neither the conservation board nor the zoning board provided sufficient evidence to warrant the denial of the permits, in breach of the federal Telecommunications Act. The suit, which names the zoning board of appeals, the town and conservation boards, and the town’s building inspector and natural resources review officer, alleges that the town engaged in discriminatory practices, levied excessive fees, unreasonably delayed the project, and violated federal and state laws, according to a report from WestfairOnline.com.
The conflict began in May of 2017, when Verizon applied for permits for a new 180-foot pole at 50 Vineyard Road to replace a 120-foot tower nearby; its signal is occluded by the local topography, according to WestfairOnline.com. As noted in Verizon’s complaint, Philipstown’s consulting engineer confirmed that the existing tower could not solve the signal gap, even if the tower were elevated to 210 feet. Verizon contends in the suit, that the proposed project met all requirements, but that town officials “were intent on catering to a small but vocal group of politically influential objectors” and unreasonably delayed mandated public hearings and attempted to impose new fees.
Two members of that “small but vocal” group are zoning board member Paula Chair, who described cell towers as “an abomination,” to WestfairOnline.com, and board member Vincent Cestone, who is concerned about towers’ impacts on real estate values. However, Philipstown’s fire department stands behind the proposed tower, noting that it is needed to bridge gaps in emergency communications, according to Verizon’s complaint.
BloostonLaw Telecom Update Vol. 21, No. 11 March 7, 2018
Accessibility Recordkeeping Compliance Certification Due April 1
Since April of 2013, all providers of telecommunications services have been required to file with the FCC an annual recordkeeping certification under Section 14.31 of the FCC’s rules, certifying under penalty of perjury that the company maintains records about its efforts to consult with individuals with disabilities; the accessibility features of its services and products; and information about the compatibility of its services and products with specialized peripherals. The certification is filed electronically at https://apps.fcc.gov/rccci-registry, and you will need the company's FRN and associated password to log into the RCCCI system.
Filing the required certification is the easy part: Clients must also implement the system of keeping the records described in the certification. BloostonLaw has prepared a compliance manual to help clients understand the requirements and implement their own recordkeeping system. BloostonLaw is also available to assist with the certification process.
FCC Announces Tentative Agenda for March Open Meeting
On March 1, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai announced that the following items are tentatively on the agenda for the January Open Commission Meeting, which is currently scheduled to take place on March 22:
Wireless Infrastructure Streamlining Order: a Second Report and Order that would clarify and modify the procedures for NHPA and NEPA review of wireless infrastructure deployments. (WT Docket No. 17-79)
Reassigned Numbers Database: a Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to address the problem of unwanted calls to reassigned numbers. (CG Docket No. 17-59)
Location-Based Routing for 911 Calls: a Notice of Inquiry examining location-based routing of wireless 911 calls to ensure that calls are routed to the proper 911 call center. (PS Docket No. 18-64)
4.9 GHz Band: a Sixth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to stimulate use of and investment in the 4.9 GHz band. (WP Docket No. 07-100)
Streamlining Television Satellite Station Reauthorization: a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that proposes to streamline the reauthorization process for television satellite stations that are assigned or transferred in combination with a previously approved parent station. (MB Docket Nos. 18-63, 17-105)
Consumer Signal Boosters: a Second Report and Order that would remove the personal use restriction for Provider-Specific Consumer Signal Boosters and a Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that seeks comment on ways to further expand access to Consumer Signal Boosters. (WT Docket No. 10-4)
The Open Meeting will be streamed live at www.fcc.gov/live and can be followed on social media with #OpenMtgFCC. Continuing with the FCC’s pilot program, public drafts of each item described above is linked within the description. One-page cover sheets are included in the public drafts to help summarize each item. These are not final drafts and may be different than what the FCC ultimately considers and adopts.
FCC Provides Further Guidance on Reporting for CAF BLS Recipients
On March 1, the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau issued a Public Notice providing additional guidance and clarification regarding FCC Form 477 and High Cost Universal Broadband (HUBB) reporting obligations. As we reported in a previous edition of the BloostonLaw Telecom update, in the 2016 Rate-of-Return Reform Order, the FCC directed the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) to develop an online system (later named the HUBB) to accept high-cost carriers’ broadband location information and related certifications. Connect America Fund-Broadband Loop Support (CAF-BLS) recipients with less than 80 percent pre-existing deployment in their study area as of December 31, 2015 are subject to defined deployment and HUBB filing obligations. CAF-BLS recipients with 80 percent or more pre-existing deployment are not subject to defined deployment and HUBB filing obligations.
Corrected FCC Form 477 Data. In its Public Notice, the FCC clarified that any CAF-BLS recipient that believes its pre-existing deployment percentage is incorrect due to an error in its filed 2015 FCC Form 477 Data must refile corrected data. However, corrected 2015 FCC Form 477 data that shows a carrier 80 percent or more deployed will not convert a CAF-BLS carrier with a defined deployment and HUBB filing obligations into a carrier without these obligations.
Process to Demonstrate Full Deployment. Additionally, the FCC clarified that any CAF-BLS carrier will be able to voluntarily certify to USAC that it is fully deployed (and thus has fulfilled its buildout obligation) because it has deployed qualifying broadband to all locations in its study area that do not result in its total support per line exceeding the $250 per-line per-month cap or the carrier’s Maximum Average Per Location Construction Project Limitation.
Separate Duties. Finally, the FCC clarified that carriers’ annual reporting and deployment obligations are separate and independent duties, and that carriers with HUBB filing obligations must submit locations information and make related certifications on an annual basis until the end of their support term, regardless of whether they have already met their final deployment obligation.
BloostonLaw Contacts: Gerry Duffy and Mary Sisak.
NTIA Identifies Additional Mid-Band Spectrum for Potential Wireless Broadband Use
To meet the growing need for 5G, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), in coordination with the Department of Defense (DOD) and other federal agencies, has identified 100 megahertz of mid-band spectrum for potential repurposing to spur commercial wireless innovation. This spectrum, which is in the 3450-3550 MHz (3.4 GHz) band, is immediately adjacent to the 3550-3700 MHz (3.5 GHz) Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) spectrum.
In the United States, military radar systems currently operate in the 3450-3550 MHz band. This band is also part of the 3300 to 3500 MHz band that is allocated on a secondary basis for Amateur Radio use. According to a recent blog post by NTIA Administrator David Redl, DOD plans to submit a proposal under the Spectrum Pipeline Act to carry out a comprehensive radio-frequency engineering study to determine the potential for introducing advanced wireless services in this band without harming critical government operations.
“We hope the result of this hard work will be a ‘win-win,’ enabling the continuing growth of the U.S. wireless industry while protecting radars that are vital for national security,” wrote Redl.
The FCC, in coordination with NTIA and DOD, has already adopted rules for shared wireless broadband use of the 3.5 spectrum allocated to CBRS. These rules call for protection of incumbent users, and control/management of the shared spectrum by a real-time sensing and database (known as the “SAS”), and expand upon the non-exclusive nationwide licensing and site registration procedures for the 3.65 GHz band that were adopted in 2005. General Authorized Access (“GAA”) tier operations in the 3.5 GHz band could begin as soon as 4Q of this year once a certified SAS is available. An auction of 3.5 GHz Priority Access Licenses (or PALs) is expected sometime thereafter, but has not yet been scheduled by the FCC. At this point, a 2019 auction date for 3.5 GHz PALs appears likely. Next steps for a PAL auction include completion of an FCC rulemaking to determine the optimal geographic size for PAL licenses (census tracts versus Partial Economic Areas) and FCC Public Notice procedures to establish an appropriate auction design.
It would appear that the 3.4 GHz band spectrum could be folded into the CBRS, but a fair amount of work still needs to be done by NTIA and DOD to study the feasibility of sharing or finding alternative spectrum for DOD radar operations. This work is likely to take at least another year if not more. Thereafter, assuming the spectrum can be made available, the FCC would need to conduct a rulemaking to determine how the spectrum should be allocated and licensed. Portions of the 3.4 GHz band have been slated for auction in the UK later this year, and the 3.4 GHz band has been identified as central to 5G rollout across Europe.
Together with the 3.7-4.2 GHz spectrum (the satellite “C Band”), which FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has been promoting for terrestrial use as part of the Mid-Band Spectrum NOI, the allocation of the 3.4 GHz band would conceivably make a total of 800 megahertz of contiguous spectrum (3.4 – 4.2 GHz) available for a variety of fixed and mobile 4G and 5G services.
Verizon, Straight Path Pay $600 Million Civil Penalty to Settle FCC Violations
On February 28, the FCC announced that Straight Path Communications and Verizon Communications have paid a civil penalty of over $600 million dollars in connection with a January 2017 settlement that Straight Path entered into with the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau—prior to the sale and transfer of its licenses to Verizon. According to a Press Release, this is the largest civil penalty ever paid to resolve a FCC investigation.
The settlement resolved an investigation into allegations that Straight Path failed to use the spectrum it was awarded, and thus violated the FCC’s buildout and discontinuance rules in connection with approximately 1,000 licenses in certain millimeter wave spectrum bands. The settlement required Straight Path to sell its licenses and remit 20 percent of the overall proceeds of the transaction to the U.S. Treasury. Verizon and Straight Path entered into an agreement on May 11, 2017 to transfer the licenses, and on January 18, 2018, the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau approved the transfer.
This payment is in addition to $15 million that Straight Path previously paid to the U.S. Treasury, and its earlier relinquishment of 196—approximately 20 percent—of its licenses to the FCC that were not included in its transaction with Verizon.
Congress Announces Agreement on FCC Reauthorization Bill
On March 2, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR), Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD), and Ranking Minority Member Bill Nelson (D-FL) announced a bipartisan, bicameral agreement on legislation reauthorizing the FCC. The legislation, RAY BAUM’S Act (H.R. 4986), was approved in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, March 6, 2018. The Senate Commerce Committee passed its own bipartisan FCC reauthorization bill last Congress.
The legislation, if passed into law, would:
Reauthorize the FCC and include reforms to ensure the FCC continues to improve its efficiency and transparency.
Enact key provisions from the Senate-approved MOBILE NOW Act (S. 19) to boost the development of next-generation 5G wireless broadband by identifying more spectrum – both licensed and unlicensed – for private sector use and reducing the red tape associated with building wireless networks.
Authorize a repack fund to address the shortfall in funding available to relocate broadcasters being displaced following the successful Incentive Auction, and set up new relocation funds for translators, low-power television, and radio stations that will be impacted by the repack – supplemented by a consumer education fund.
Include a spectrum auction deposit “fix” which allows the FCC to deposit upfront payments from spectrum bidders directly with the U.S. Treasury. This step is important as future auctions are in limbo until the upfront payment mechanism is resolved.
Direct the FCC to craft a national policy for unlicensed spectrum that includes certain specific considerations and recommendations.
Advance proposals that would help the FCC and law enforcement protect consumers from fraudulent telephone calls, and to educate Americans about their options to stop these illegal calls.
The bill is named for former Energy and Commerce Committee Staff Director Ray Baum, who lost his battle with cancer last month.
Chairman Pai Announces $954 Million Fund for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands
On March 6, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai proposed to direct approximately $954 million toward restoring and expanding communications networks in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Specifically, he proposed to create a $750 million Uniendo a Puerto Rico Fund (Bringing Puerto Rico Together Fund) and a $204 million Connect USVI Fund. Each of these funds would provide additional short-term assistance for restoring communications networks in the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria and longer-term support for expanding broadband access throughout the islands.
According to a Press Release, the plan includes:
An immediate infusion of approximately $64 million in additional funding for short-term restoration efforts.
A proposal to allocate approximately $631 million in long-term funding for the restoration and expansion of fixed broadband connectivity in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
A proposal to allocate approximately $259 million in medium-term funding for the restoration and expansion of 4G LTE mobile broadband connectivity in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The immediate conversion of the advanced funding the FCC provided last year to carriers in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands into new funding by declining to offset that advanced funding against future universal service support payments.
The plan would reportedly be funded by providing approximately $256 million in new funds as well as repurposing universal service support currently directed to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens, Gerry Duffy, Mary Sisak, and Sal Taillefer.
Hearing Aid and Compatibility Rules Effective March 30
On March 6, the FCC issued a Public Notice announcing that its amended the hearing aid compatibility (HAC) rules governing wireline and wireless handsets will go into effect on March 30, 2018. As we reported in a previous edition of the BloostonLaw Telecom Update, in its October 24, 2017 HAC Order, the FCC approved a new wireline HAC volume control standard, adopted a requirement for volume control in wireless handsets, and eliminated an obsolete wireless handset standard, among other things.
FCC and FTC To Host Joint Forum on Robocalling
On March 7, the FCC, in conjunction with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), announced two upcoming events “aimed at furthering the fight against illegal robocalls and caller ID spoofing.” On March 23, the two agencies will co-host a Policy Forum at FCC headquarters to discuss the regulatory challenges posed by illegal robocalls and what the FCC and FTC are doing to both protect consumers and encourage the development of private-sector solutions. The live video feed and other information related to this event will be available at: www.fcc.gov/news-events/events/2018/03/fighting-scourge-illegal-robocalls.
On April 23, the FCC and FTC will also co-host a Technology Expo for consumers at the Pepco Edison Place Gallery in Washington, D.C. This event will feature technologies, devices, and applications to minimize or eliminate the illegal robocalls consumers receive. The FCC and FTC have worked closely with phone companies, tech innovators, and others to find solutions for consumers to the problems of illegal robocalls and malicious spoofing. More information on this Expo, including how innovators can seek to participate, will be available at: www.fcc.gov/news-events/events/2018/04/stop-illegal-robocalls-expo.
“Scam robocalls and deceptive spoofing are real threats to American consumers, and they are the number one consumer complaint at the FCC,” said FCC Chairman Pai. “We’re committed to confronting this problem using every tool we have. I’m pleased to announce these efforts in our continued work with the FTC to protect consumers.”
“Consumers are fed up with illegal robocalls that disturb their privacy and often pitch scams,” said Acting FTC Chairman Ohlhausen. “We’re going to expand our fight against this scourge through initiatives like the upcoming Technology Expo and Policy Forum, which amplify our impact through close coordination with the FCC and other partners.”
MARCH 31: STREAMLINED INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT CAPACITY REPORT. No later than March 31, 2018, all U.S. international carriers that owned or leased bare capacity on a submarine cable between the United States and any foreign point on December 31, 2017 and any person or entity that held a submarine cable landing license on December 31, 2017 must file a Circuit Capacity Report to provide information about the submarine cable capacity it holds. Additionally, cable landing licensees must file information on the Circuit Capacity Report about the amount of available and planned capacity on the submarine cable for which they have a license. Last year, the FCC eliminated the requirement for U.S. International Carriers that owned or leased bare capacity on a terrestrial or satellite facility to show its active common carrier circuits for the provision of service to an end-user or resale carrier, including active circuits used by itself or its affiliates.
BloostonLaw Contacts: Gerry Duffy.
APRIL 1: FCC FORM 499-A, TELECOMMUNICATIONS REPORTING WORKSHEET. This form must be filed by all contributors to the Universal Service Fund (USF) sup-port mechanisms, the Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) Fund, the cost recovery mechanism for the North American Numbering Plan Administration (NANPA), and the shared costs of local number portability (LNP). Contributors include every telecommunications carrier that provides interstate, intrastate, and international telecommunications, and certain other entities that provide interstate telecommunications for a fee. Even common carriers that qualify for the de minimis ex-emption must file Form 499-A. Entities whose universal service contributions will be less than $10,000 qualify for the de minimis exemption. De minimis entities do not have to file the quarterly report (FCC Form 499-Q), which was due February 1, and will again be due May 1. Form 499-Q relates to universal and LNP mechanisms. Form 499-A relates to all of these mechanisms and, hence, applies to all providers of interstate, intrastate, and international telecommunications services. Form 499-A contains revenue information for January 1 through December 31 of the prior calendar year. And Form 499-Q contains revenue information from the prior quarter plus projections for the next quarter. (Note: the revised 499-A and 499-Q forms are now available.) Block 2-B of the Form 499-A requires each carrier to designate an agent in the District of Columbia upon whom all notices, process, orders, and decisions by the FCC may be served on behalf of that carrier in proceedings before the FCC. Carriers receiving this newsletter may specify our law firm as their D.C. agent for service of process using the information in our masthead. There is no charge for this service.
BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens, Gerry Duffy and Sal Taillefer.
APRIL 1: ANNUAL ACCESS TO ADVANCED SERVICES CERTIFICATION. All providers of telecommunications services and telecommunications carriers subject to Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act are required to file with the FCC an annual certification that (1) states the company has procedures in place to meet the recordkeeping requirements of Part 14 of the Rules; (2) states that the company has in fact kept records for the previous calendar year; (3) contains contact information for the individual or individuals handling customer complaints under Part 14; (4) contains contact information for the company’s designated agent; and (5) is supported by an affidavit or declaration under penalty of perjury signed by an officer of the company.
BloostonLaw Contacts: Gerry Duffy, Mary Sisak, and Sal Taillefer.
Mar. 27 – Reply comments are due on national television audience reach cap review.
Mar. 30 – Deadline for CAF Phase II Auction Applications.
Mar. 31 – FCC Form 525 (Delayed Phasedown CETC Line Counts) is due.
Mar. 31 – FCC Form 508 (ICLS Projected Annual Common Line Requirement) is due.
Mar. 31 – Streamlined International Circuit Capacity Report is due.
Apr. 1 – FCC Form 499-A (Annual Telecommunications Reporting Worksheet) is due.
Apr. 1 – Annual Accessibility Certification is due.
From: Allan Angus adangus@me.com
Subject: MIMO
Date: Mar 4, 2018, at 2:23 PM
To: Brad Dye
Dear Brad,
A few weeks ago, we wound up in a discussion about the narrow point of view of cellular industry folks. (How odd is it that the broadband people have narrow POV and the narrowband people have broad POV?) Anyway, as you will recall, I brought up the topic of MIMO during that discussion. I believe that it’s a great example of how cellular reinvents the wheel.
MIMO (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIMO if you want some background) stands for multiple-input multiple-output, and it refers to spatial diversity on the forward and reverse channels that can be achieved in a variety of ways. The original method involved distinct antenna diversity and the more recent approach is to separate multiple propagation paths into distinct channels via signal processing methods. Of course, two-way paging systems, like ReFLEX, are a perfect example of MIMO as they employ diversity on both the macro and micro scales. Likewise, FLEX and similar paging systems employ these diversity methods on the forward channel. Note that you want find any reference to the applications of MIMO in paging in that Wikipedia article; naturally, it is as if paging is soooo antiquated that it doesn’t even involve digital radio but maybe tin cans and string.
I will allow that the modern cellular implementations of MIMO depend upon linear modulations, while paging typically employs nonlinear modulations. Likewise, cellular transmissions are typically interference-limited while paging transmissions are almost always noise-limited. Cellular networks aim for high capacity. Paging systems aim for high reliability. Given these structural differences, I find it consistently odd that the cellular industry never acknowledges that alternative philosophies with respect to customer service are even feasible. My own point of view is that the cellular carriers have been so successful in marketing what is good for them as if it were good for everyone that possible alternatives design philosophies are swept away without any consideration at all.
With that in mind, I did make proposals for the adoption of linear modulations in paging several years ago while I was still active in the industry. I continue to believe that the paging industry as a whole continues to miss a significant opportunity to attack cellular on a well-defined set of customer grade-of-service criteria. As near as I can tell, the primary issue is the fear of technical and marketing risks associated with any new capital investment in the industry. The industry needs someone with the confidence and audacity of an Edison or Jobs or Musk, again, IMHO.
But back to MIMO, if you or your readers ever happen to be in discussion with some cellular industry apologist, and the topic of MIMO comes up, you have my permission (for whatever it’s worth) to laugh in their faces.
-Allan Angus
Thanks Allan,
I have been looking forward to your comments on MIMO. I have long been fascinated by more complex ways of radio communications. (More than half duplex, simplex.) Back when I was a teenage radio operator in the Navy (1960-1964) we did some cool stuff like simultaneous transmission on two different frequencies and both frequency and space diversity reception on the receive side.
When the first nuclear fleet made a round the world cruse to show off, I operated a “state-of-the-art” tube-type HF receiver in ISB mode, with voice in the lower sideband and and a dozen or so multiplexed teletype channels in the upper sideband. I was stationed at a receiver site out in the country—5,000 acres that straddled the Virginia/North Carolina state line. The antenna “farm” was really interesting to a radio nut like me. There were many different types, including giant 3-wire rhombics that we used to receive signals from the ships in the Mediterranean.
Good morning, Brad!
Sorry that it took me a while to sit down and write that MIMO thing. These days, it seems I’m up at 5am and at work until 5pm, which is when I start in to cook dinner and pick up or deliver teenagers spread all over southern Colorado. It’s an endless cycle, but I guess it keeps me off the street.
Anyway, my favorite antenna farm of all time was over on Lulu Island near the Vancouver International Airport. They had this insane array of long wire LF antennas that must have been designed by old Spark-gap Marconi himself. I wound up having to deal with them because I was working as a director for Alberta Government Telephones, later Telus, mobile division. They’d put up several VHF sites in that area for the Richmond Fire Department that were supposed to do tactical coordination with neighboring first responders. We had a number of roof-top installations at locations around Richmond and the airport. They were all subject to such god-awful intermod that they would barely function. No one else could figure out what the problem was, so they’d sent me out from Calgary to analyze the situation. I learned a lot on that trip. The local BC team had outsourced the engineering to a guy living there who wasn’t actually an engineer. He didn’t have a clue about how to achieve an RF ground for equipment on the top floor of a 6 story building built on salty marshland. He also didn’t seem to have any idea about how to predict and correct for intermod from that high powered (megawatts) LF antenna farm less than a mile away.
But that installation was a thing of beauty. The antennas looked like gigantic soccer goals. The place was, and is, operated by the Canadian Dept of National Defense. Unfortunately, Google Earth wipes out any detail from their maps, but it’s along Aldredge Way in Richmond. I imagine that they must have been playing games like you were back in the day. You would have imagined that a radio engineer, local to that area, asked to do a first responder grade design for an installation within a mile or two of that DND site, would have factored it into his work. Guess not.
Anyway, go have a great day. I’m back to making coffee here for the south Denver metro area. . .
-Allan
From: Jim Stovall stovie47@gmail.com
Subject: The Wireless Messaging News for Jim Stovall
I thought you might like to hear how the things that you share with us can spread. I looked at the slides that you had in last week's newsletter by Crown Castle about “How the Cellular System Works.” They were very clear and relatively simple, so I used them in a presentation to my Masonic Lodge this week.
Everyone appreciated the information. Most did not have a clue about the distance that a call or text travels to get to its recipient and all of the equipment and lines that it goes through.
The presentation was very significant to us because we have a large tower on the Lodge site. We rent the space to Crown Castle on a very long lease.
Jim Stovall
[Off topic, but very interesting.]
Bones discovered on a Pacific island belong to Amelia Earhart, a new forensic analysis shows
An undated portrait of Amelia Earhart.
By MARWA ELTAGOURI
Amelia Earhart's story is revolutionary: She was the first woman to fly alone across the Atlantic Ocean, and might have been the first to fly around the world had her plane not vanished over the Pacific Ocean in 1937.
After decades of mystery surrounding her disappearance, her story might come to a close.
A new scientific study claims that bones found in 1940 on the Pacific Island of Nikumaroro belong to Earhart, despite a forensic analysis of the remains conducted in 1941 that linked the bones to a male. The bones, revisited in the study "Amelia Earhart and the Nikumaroro Bones" by University of Tennessee professor Richard Jantz, were discarded. For decades they have remained an enigma, as some have speculated that Earhart died a castaway on the island after her plane crashed.
The bones were uncovered by a British expedition exploring the island for settlement after they came upon a human skull, according to the study. The expedition's officer ordered a more thorough search of the area, which resulted in the discovery of several other bones and part of what appeared to be a woman's shoe. Other items found included a box made to hold a Brandis Navy Surveying Sextant that had been manufactured around 1918 and a bottle of Benedictine, an herbal liqueur.
"There was suspicion at the time that the bones could be the remains of Amelia Earhart," Jantaz wrote in the study.
When the 13 bones were shipped to Fiji and studied by Dr. D. W. Hoodless of the Central Medical School the following year, Jantz argues that it is likely that forensic osteology — the study of bones — was still in its early stages, which therefore affected his assessment of which sex the remains belonged to. Jantz, in attempting to compare the lost bones with Earhart's bones, co-developed a computer program that estimated sex and ancestry using skeletal measurements. The program, Fordisc, is commonly used by forensic anthropologists across the globe.
Jantz compared the lengths of the bones to Earhart's measurements, using her height, weight, body build, limb lengths and proportions, based on photographs and information found on her pilot's and driver's licenses. His findings revealed that Earhart's bones were "more similar to the Nikumaroro bones than 99 [percent] of individuals in a large reference sample."
"In the case of the Nikumaroro bones, the only documented person to whom they may belong is Amelia Earhart," Jantz wrote in the study.
Earhart's disappearance has long captivated the public, and theories involving her landing on Nikumaroro have emerged in recent years. Retired journalist Mike Campbell, who authored "Amelia Earhart: The Truth at Last," has maintained with others that Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, were captured in the Marshall Islands by the Japanese, who thought they were American spies. He believes they were tortured and died in custody.
But Ric Gillespie, director of the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) spoke to The Washington Post's Cleve R. Wootson Jr. in 2016 about how he too believes the bones found on Nikumaroro belong to Earhart.
In 1998, the group took Hoodless' measurements of the Nikumaroro bones and analyzed them through a robust anthropological database. They determined the bones belonged to a taller-than-average woman of European descent - perhaps Earhart, who at 5 feet 7 to 5 feet 8, was several inches taller than the average woman.
In 2016, the group brought the measurements to Jeff Glickman, a forensic examiner, who located a photo of Earhart from Lockheed Aircraft Corp. that showed her with her arms exposed. It appeared, based on educated guesses, that Earhart's upper arm bone corresponded with one of the Nikumaroro bones.
Glickman, who is now a member of TIGHAR, told The Washington Post at the time that he understands some might be skeptical about his findings, as they were based 76-year-old medical notes. But the research made clear, he said, that Earhart died on Nikumaroro.
Both Gillespie and Glickman could not be immediately reached by The Post for comment on Jantz's findings.
In June 2017, researchers traveled to Nikumaroro with dogs who had been specially trained to sniff the chemicals left behind by decaying human remains. They thought they might discover a bone, and were especially hopeful when the dogs seemed to detect the scent of human remains beneath a ren tree. But there were no bones.
A week later, the History Channel published a photo suggesting Earhart died in Japan. Based on a photograph unearthed from the National Archives, researchers said Earhart may have been captured by the Japanese after all, as the photo showed Earhart and Noonan, in Jaluit Harbor in the Marshall Islands after their disappearance.
In the photo, according to The Post's Amy B Wang, "a figure with Earhart's haircut and approximate body type sits on the dock, facing away from the camera. . . . Toward the left of the dock is a man they believe is Noonan. On the far right of the photo is a barge with an airplane on it, supposedly Earhart's."
After the History Channel program aired, a Japanese-military-history blogger matched the photo to one first published in a 1935 Japanese travelogue, two years before Earhart and Noonan disappeared.
The History Channel released a statement addressing the discrepancy.
"HISTORY has a team of investigators exploring the latest developments about Amelia Earhart and we will be transparent in our findings," the statement read. "Ultimately, historical accuracy is most important to us and our viewers."
Gillespie still stands by his theory, he told Wootson in 2017 after the photograph's discovery. His group, TIGHAR, has tried to debunk the photo, and Gillespie still thinks the "overwhelming weight of the evidence" points to Nikumororo.
Source: Stars and Stripes
Faith Ako — Blue Bayou
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Floydian Slip
Rock/Alt
AIRS ON: Mondays // Midnight - 1 AM
HOSTED BY: Craig Bailey
"Floydian Slip" is a one-hour, weekly radio journey through the history of the rock band Pink Floyd.
Host Craig Bailey works classic Floyd songs, deep album cuts and Floyd’s unique brand of ambient segues into a seamless blend of music and sound best described as a listening experience.
Accented with succinct and thoughtful commentary, “Floydian Slip” is programming that becomes a weekly destination for classic rock fans.
History of the show
Craig aired his first episode of "Floydian Slip" in January 1989 on Ithaca College's 106-VIC in Ithaca, N.Y., as a senior Television-Radio major. He also produced it for two FM stations in the Burlington, Vt./Plattsburgh, N.Y. market between 1994 and 2009.
In 2009, Craig began syndicating the show from his home studio in the Burlington, Vt., area. He established the Random Precision Radio Network with a single netcasting affiliate, and has grown the network to include 67 stations in the United States, Canada and overseas.
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Weekend Estimates: 'The Boss' ($23.48M) & 'Batman v Superman' ($23.44M) in Tight Race for First Place; 'Hardcore Henry' ($5.10M) Arrives SoftlyApril 10, 2016 09:42 AM
by Daniel Garris
It was an extremely close race between Universal's The Boss and Warner's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice for first place this weekend. The Boss is currently estimated to come out ahead with $23.48 million, but with an estimated lead of only $45,000, either film could ultimately end up in first place this weekend.
Regardless of whether or not it ends up in first place this weekend, The Boss outpaced expectations and performed well with its modest price tag in mind. The Melissa McCarthy led R-rated comedy also proved to be critic-proof this weekend. The film's opening weekend performance was 9 percent ahead of the $21.58 million opening weekend of 2014's Tammy (though it should be noted that Tammy's opening weekend take was softened by a Wednesday debut) and 19 percent below the $29.09 million debut of last year's Spy (it should be noted that The Boss had been widely expected to open below Spy). With this weekend's performance of The Boss, McCarthy continues to remain one of the more consistent box office draws in recent years. McCarthy will next appear in Sony's Ghostbusters, which arrives on July 15.
The Boss started out with $8.11 million on Friday (which included an estimated $985,000 from Thursday night shows), increased a healthy 20 percent on Saturday to take in $9.73 million and is estimated to decline 42 percent on Sunday to gross $5.64 million. That gave the film an estimated opening weekend to Friday ratio of 2.90 to 1. The Boss skewed heavily toward female moviegoers (67 percent) and slightly towards moviegoers under the age of 35 (51 percent). Audience reception to The Boss appears to be lackluster as the film received a C+ rating on CinemaScore and current has a Flixster audience score of just 50 percent. With that in mind, it's quite possible that The Boss won't hold up as well going forward as McCarthy's previous hits have. On the other hand, the film's mentioned strong Saturday hold is an early encouraging sign.
After leading the box office for the past two weeks Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice fell to a close second place this weekend with an estimated $23.44 million. The blockbuster 3D superhero film starring Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill continued to fall off sharply, as the film was down 54 percent from last weekend. Batman v Superman is now on the verge of reaching the $300 million domestic mark with a 17-day take of $296.69 million. However, as a result of its soft holding power thus far, Batman v Superman is now running just 1 percent ahead of the $294.51 million 17-day take of last year's Furious 7 (which fell 51 percent in its third weekend to gross $29.16 million). With that in mind, Batman v Superman will soon fall behind the pace of Furious 7, especially with Disney's highly anticipated The Jungle Book entering the marketplace this coming Friday.
While Batman v Superman continued to decline sharply this weekend, Disney's Zootopia continued to display strong holding power with an estimated third place take of $14.35 million. The blockbuster 3D computer animated film was down just 26 percent from last weekend. Without taking into account ticket price inflation, Zootopia registered the eighth largest sixth weekend gross of all-time. Zootopia is also on the verge of reaching the $300 million domestic mark with a 38-day take of $296.01 million. The film is now running just 8 percent behind the $320.39 million 38-day take of last year's Inside Out and will continue to make up ground in that comparison going forward. Zootopia already has a current total gross to opening weekend ratio of 3.94 to 1.
Universal's My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 placed in fourth with an estimated $6.42 million. The PG-13 rated comedy sequel starring and written by Nia Vardalos was down 43 percent, as the film took a hit from the debut The Boss this weekend. My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 continues to perform towards the higher end of expectations with a 17-day take of $46.75 million. That places the film 6 percent behind the $49.59 million 17-day gross of last year's The Intern (which fell just 26 percent in its third weekend to take in $8.68 million). My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 will hope to re-stabilize next weekend with the debut of The Boss behind it.
Hardcore Henry rounded out the weekend's top five with an estimated $5.10 million. The low-budget action film from STX Entertainment opened below pre-release expectations and delivered a lackluster per-location average of $1,690 from just 3,015 locations. The trailer for Hardcore Henry had gone over well, especially online, but that reception ultimately failed to get moviegoers to see the film this weekend. Hardcore Henry delivered the lowest debut for STX Entertainment to date in the distributor's young history. The film opened with $2.01 million on Friday (which included an estimated $380,000 from Thursday night shows), declined a concerning 7 percent on Saturday to gross $1.87 million and is estimated to slide 35 percent on Sunday to take in $1.22 million. That places the film's estimated opening weekend to Friday ratio at a fairly front-loaded 2.54 to 1. Much like The Boss, Hardcore Henry doesn't appear to be going over all that well with moviegoers. Hardcore Henry also received a C+ rating on CinemaScore and has a respectable current Flixster audience score of 66 percent.
Faith-based films Miracles from Heaven and God's Not Dead 2 claimed sixth and seventh place with respective estimated takes of $4.80 million and $4.05 million. Sony's Miracles from Heaven was down a very solid 34 percent this weekend, while God's Not Dead 2 was down a sizable 47 percent. Miracles from Heaven passed the $50 million mark this weekend and continues to perform nicely with $53.81 million in 26 days. God's Not Dead 2 has been far less impressive with $13.84 million in ten days and clearly isn't duplicating the word of mouth or the performance of its predecessor, 2014's God's Not Dead, which grossed $21.75 million in its first ten days after falling just 4.5 percent in its second weekend to take in $8.80 million.
Daily Domestic Gross Mon, Apr. 11 2016
Wide (1000+)
Mon, Apr. 11 2016
Wks.
1 The Boss $1,628,110 -72% 3,480 -- $468 $25,214,755 1 Universal
2 Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice $1,474,602 -78% 4,102 -154 $359 $298,088,223 3 Warner Bros.
3 Zootopia $781,940 -81% 3,444 -254 $227 $296,786,844 6 Disney
4 My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 $435,880 -74% 3,027 -152 $144 $47,244,900 3 Universal
5 Hardcore Henry $426,517 -66% 3,015 -- $141 $5,534,121 1 STX Entertainment
6 Miracles from Heaven $298,005 -78% 2,783 -372 $107 $54,011,305 4 Sony / Columbia
7 God's Not Dead 2 $269,673 -81% 23,804 21385 $11 $14,293,762 2 Pure Flix
8 Eye in the Sky $246,780 -66% 1,089 60 $227 $10,719,890 5 Bleecker Street
9 10 Cloverfield Lane $220,506 -69% 1,886 -625 $117 $68,101,236 5 Paramount
10 The Divergent Series: Allegiant $218,404 -75% 2,503 -515 $87 $61,965,947 4 Lionsgate / Summit
11 Deadpool $177,658 -66% 1,435 -533 $124 $358,587,687 9 Fox
12 Meet the Blacks $163,295 -71% 1,007 -8 $162 $7,485,252 2 Freestyle Releasing
Limited (100 — 999)
1 Hello, My Name Is Doris $157,434 -65% 979 16 $161 $9,539,658 5 Roadside Attractions
2 Midnight Special $107,424 -64% 493 435 $218 $2,381,367 4 Warner Bros.
3 Demolition $102,156 -62% 854 -- $120 $1,202,198 1 Fox Searchlight
4 London Has Fallen $82,645 -69% 914 -596 $90 $60,838,572 6 Focus / Gramercy
5 Star Wars: The Force Awakens $24,858 -75% 346 -116 $72 $935,553,170 17 Disney
6 The Revenant (2015) $24,437 -64% 286 -48 $85 $182,994,930 16 Fox
7 Kung Fu Panda 3 $23,312 -81% 341 -55 $68 $140,974,496 11 Fox / DreamWorks Animation
8 Gods of Egypt $18,754 -63% 194 20 $97 $30,732,199 7 Lionsgate / Summit
9 Whiskey Tango Foxtrot $18,635 -66% 277 -180 $67 $22,733,163 6 Paramount
10 The Perfect Match $11,207 -64% 153 -148 $73 $9,587,271 5 Lionsgate / Codeblack Films
11 Spotlight $8,070 -57% 112 -90 $72 $44,734,935 23 Open Road
12 Eddie the Eagle $6,702 -67% 128 -30 $52 $15,570,065 7 Fox
13 How to Be Single $6,435 -68% 176 -66 $37 $46,819,801 9 Warner Bros. / New Line
Platform (1 — 99)
1 Everybody Wants Some!! $36,463 -70% 63 44 $579 $989,117 2 Paramount
2 Saturday's Warrior $17,414 523% 28 19 $622 $299,775 2 Purdie Distribution
3 Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip $5,577 -50% 80 -31 $70 $85,791,205 17 Fox
4 April and the Extraordinary World $4,048 -71% 13 11 $311 $89,272 3 GKIDS
5 Brooklyn $3,448 -56% 50 0 $69 $38,205,890 23 Fox Searchlight
6 Race (2016) $3,322 -68% 73 -31 $46 $19,047,537 8 Focus
7 The Hateful Eight $3,286 -53% 66 53 $50 $54,048,941 16 Weinstein Company
8 Triple 9 $3,240 -64% 62 -39 $52 $12,630,145 7 Open Road
9 Louder Than Bombs $2,706 -61% 4 -- $677 $26,965 1 The Orchard
10 Mr. Right $2,298 -68% 35 -- $66 $27,667 1 Focus World
11 The Young Messiah $959 -69% 41 -111 $23 $6,447,047 5 Focus
12 Only Yesterday (2016 re-issue) $800 -42% 12 -1 $67 $448,191 15 GKIDS
13 Ran (2016 re-issue) $242 -- 1 -2 $242 $50,623 7 Rialto Pictures
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You are here: Home Current Articles Telangana 3: Linguistic Provinces are the Foundation of Indian Federalism and Unity Linguistic Provinces are the Foundation of Indian Federalism and Unity
Telangana 3: Linguistic Provinces are the Foundation
of Indian Federalism and Unity
While resolving to split Andhra Pradesh, the Parliament has formally abandoned the linguistic principle of provincial organisation. The principle was not even debated or discussed. It was as if the principle did not exist or were of no particular consequence for the polity of the nation.
Yet, the linguistic principle of provincial organisation was among the fundamental ideas that inspired the Indian freedom struggle. The principle was enunciated at the very beginning of the new and decisive phase of the struggle that began with Mahatma Gandhi taking over the leadership of the Indian National Congress. To make it an effective instrument of the freedom struggle that he envisaged, he completely recast the Congress; its objectives, priorities, methods, membership and decision-making processes were all changed and fashioned afresh. All this was written into a new Constitution that the Congress adopted in its Nagpur session held in December 1920. Linguistic organisation of provinces formed a major aspect of this new constitution.
In the letter forwarding the draft of the new Constitution to the then Chairman of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), the members of the drafting committee, underlined the significance of this principle thus:
Another noteworthy change we have made is to redistribute the provinces on a linguistic basis. We believe that the present distribution made from time to time to meet the exigencies of a conquering power is unscientific and is calculated to retard the political and social progress of the respective communities speaking a common vernacular and therefore the growth of India as a whole. We therefore feel that so far as the Congress is concerned, we should re-divide India into provinces on a linguistic basis. This would also strengthen the movement for securing such a redistribution by the Government.
Following this principle, the Congress Constitution divided the country into 21 provinces. All of these, except Bombay City, were linguistically uniform. Bombay was bilingual, comprising both Marathi and Gujarati-speaking populations. The list also included 3 Marathi-speaking provinces besides Bombay and 6 Hindustani-speaking provinces. Hindustani for Mahatma Gandhi included Urdu, and NWFP of undivided India was counted as a Hindustani-speaking province. Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Gujarati, Sindhi, Punjabi, Oriya, Assamese, Burmese and Bengali all had a separate province of their own. Most of the States as we know them today, including Andhra Pradesh, were thus formed already in 1920 and perhaps existed from much earlier times. After Independence, we have only made our administrative structures conform to the pre-existing linguistic, cultural and political reality of India. Therefore, when we make moves to split a State like Andhra, we should remember that we are splitting a unit of much longer historical standing and significance than the mere administrative and electoral reordering of 1956.
The list of provinces drawn by Mahatma Gandhi represented the reality of India as he came to know during his repeated sojourns through much of India since his arrival here in 1915. It was because this linguistic division came naturally to the people of India that the existing Provincial Congress Committees (PCC) forthwith proceeded to reorganize themselves along these lines and continued to function thus until Independence. The Constitution of the Congress was amended in 1934, but the list of Provinces remained unchanged.
For Mahatma Gandhi, this reorganisation was essential because it allowed people speaking the same language to live together as a single political unit and conduct their affairs autonomously in their own language. Mahatma Gandhi believed that organising the people into such homogenous and autonomous units was necessary even for obtaining their full participation in the freedom struggle; that is why he reorganised the Congress in this manner at almost the very beginning of the struggle. The right of the people to organise themselves on the linguistic basis became a part of the struggle for swaraj and freedom. It was one of the major articles of the Swaraj Scheme of 1924, where Mahatma Gandhi asserted, “There should be re-distribution of provinces on a linguistic basis with as complete autonomy as possible for every province for its internal administration and growth.”
The linguistic basis of organising provincial polity was indeed so natural, and Mahatma Gandhi’s provincial list was so prescient, that when after Independence the reorganisation of States was completed in 1956, the States that then came into existence were nearly the same as Mahatma Gandhi had formed for the purposes of the Congress in 1920. Of the 21 States of the Congress Constitution, Burma, Sindh and NWFP, in addition to parts of Punjab and Bengal, had gone out of the Indian Union. Of the remaining 18 Provinces, the 4 Marathi-speaking provinces, including Bombay City, were merged to form the greater Maharashtra and Delhi became a union territory. Only States like Goa and Jammu & Kashmir where there was no Congress organisation in the pre-Independence period got added to the list. Later Haryana and Himachal were formed out of Punjab and 6 new states were created in the northeast. Later still, Sikkim became a State of India. India had these 25 states until the creation of Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. And now Telangana becomes the 29th state.
It is a measure of the pettiness that came to prevail in the Indian polity immediately after the achievement of Independence that it took several years of struggles and sacrifices by the people of different regions to implement the principle of linguistic provinces, which was meant to be the natural consequence of Independence and swaraj. Mahatma Gandhi himself gets greatly distressed by the various pulls and pressures that began to arise already in 1947; referring to a letter he received from Acharya Shriman Narayan Agrawal regarding delay in the formation of linguistic provinces, he writes, in the Harijan of 23 November 1947:
…that what is proper to be done should not be delayed without just cause, and that what is improper should not be conceded under any circumstances whatsoever. There can be no compromise with evil and since linguistic redistribution is desirable from almost every point of view, all delay in carrying out the project should be avoided. …But the reluctance to enforce linguistic redistribution is perhaps justifiable in the present depressing atmosphere. The exclusive spirit is ever uppermost. Everyone thinks of himself and his family. No one thinks of the whole of India. …The Congress does not command the prestige and authority it found itself in possession of in 1920. …Let there be no undue strain upon the Congress, whose foundations have been shaken to their roots. It is ill-equipped today either for arbitrating between rival claimants or imposing its will upon recalcitrant….
Part of the reason for the delay and distress perhaps lay in the reality of the situation in which the British had left India. While writing the Congress Constitution in 1920, Mahatma Gandhi took into account only those provinces which were under direct British control. It was wisely decided not to extend the Congress organisation into areas ruled by Indian kings. The Independence struggle was to be fought against the British, not against the Indians. After Independence, and the subsequent merger of the territories of the Indian States in the Indian Union, the latter had to be accommodated in the appropriate linguistic units. This was the cause of much of the struggle around the reorganisation of States that was witnessed in the early years of Independence; this was also perhaps the main reason why we had to wait up to 1956 before the formation of linguistic States along the lines that had already been settled in 1920.
But there was also certain reluctance on the part of some of the senior Congress leaders to implement the principle. There should have been no reason for the central leadership to wait until the sacrifice of Potti Sriramulu before conceding the formation of the Telugu-speaking state of Andhra Pradesh. Telugu-speaking parts of the Nizam’s territory of Hyderbad, which are now being separated again into Telangana State, were added to Andhra Pradesh at least three years later, after much further struggle.
This reluctance to form the linguistic States reflected some ambivalence about the nature of Indian federalism. Mahatma Gandhi had no ambivalence on this. For him India was to be a federation of provinces formed “on a linguistic basis with as complete autonomy as possible for every province for its internal administration and growth.” And the provinces themselves were to work on a federal basis with each PCC consisting of representatives elected annually by the members of the District and lower-level Committees according to rules framed by the respective Committees. Even such rules were not to be centrally framed. Mahatma Gandhi wanted Independent India to be such a federal polity; he had repeatedly asserted that for him the Congress Constitution of 1920 was the model for the Constitution of Independent India.
However, the Congress leadership which came to rule over India after Independence did not have the same unconditional respect for federalism at every level and autonomous functioning of all units up to the lowest level. That is why Indian Constitution accommodated federalism in a rather weak form and the central Governments tried to ride roughshod over the States whenever they could get the opportunity. That is why achieving linguistic States became such a long drawn out struggle for the people. And since the formation of linguistic States, there have been repeated attempts to violate the linguistic basis of provincial organisation. Formation of Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand also constituted breaking up of linguistically homogenous regions; but that could partly be justified on ethnic and geographical grounds. Formation of Telangana is the first time when the linguistic principle has been violated without adequate reason and without the consent of the representatives of the people of the State. We have thus removed the solid foundation of Indian federalism that Mahatma Gandhi had presciently laid in 1920.
It is sad that such a momentous decision affecting the basis of state-formation in India has been taken in such a hurried and unseemly manner. It is hard to imagine the consequences of this shaking of the foundations for the polity of India. The statement of Mr. Venkaiah Naidu asserting that the Parliament was merely dividing a State and not the country may yet come to haunt the nation!
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Age and Wisdom: Sister Rose Troy Is Retiring
by Elizabeth Cooper, Utica Observer Dispatch, June 2, 2012
Sister Rose Troy has been helping families cope with death for almost three decades.
And though she is retiring from that role, the 71-year-old Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet plans to find ways to continue her work from her new home at her order’s provincial house in Latham.
She is leaving the work she loves because she has Parkinson’s disease.
“Otherwise, I would just keep going,” she said.
Recently, Sister Rose spoke eloquently about why easing families’ pain was her passion.
“It’s being able to work with people who have been devastated by a death, and when that happens they have no idea how that affects every part of their lives, emotionally, physically and spiritually,” she said.
Sister Rose first started working with the bereaved in 1983 when she came to St. John the Evangelist Church in New Hartford to work as a pastoral associate.
Among the many things she did at St. John’s was leading a support group for bereaved parents.
“I saw the need for other areas of grief counseling and created other support groups, too,” she said.
She started groups for people who lost loved ones to suicide, widows and widowers, and facilitated six-week bereavement sessions for anyone who had experienced a death.
Read the complete article in The Utica Observer Dispatch.
Sister Rose Troy at Dimbleby, Friedel, Williams & Edmunds Funeral Home in New Hartford, NY
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Cardinal Daoud
H.E. Ignace Moussa I Card. DAOUD
Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches
90 (Born Thursday, September 18, 1930)
Cardinal Bishop of
Cardinal Ignace Moussa I Daoud, Patriarch emeritus of Antioch for Syrians, Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches and Grand Chancellor of the Pontifical Oriental Institute was born on 18 September 1930 in Meskaneh, Syria. He was ordained on 17 October 1954 and holds a licentiate in canon law from the Pontifical Lateran University, Rome.
On 2 July 1977 he was elected by the Syrian Patriarchal Synod as Bishop of Cairo, Egypt, and ordained on 18 September. He was a member of the Commission for the Revision of the Eastern Code of Canon Law and chaired the commission that translated the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches into Arabic.
On 1 July 1994 he was promoted to Archbishop of Homs for Syrians, Syria.
On 13 October 1998 he was elected Patriarch of Antioch for Syrians and enthroned on 25 October. On 20 October 1998 he obtained the ecclesiatica communio.
On 25 November 2000 he was appointed Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches.
Patriarch emeritus of Antioch for Syrians, resigned 8 January 2001.
Created and proclaimed Cardinal by John Paul II in the consistory of 21 February 2001.
Curial membership:
»Doctrine of the Faith, Causes of Saints (congregation)
»Christian Unity, Legislative Texts (council)
»Special Council for Lebanon of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops
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The Top Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Projects in 2018
There’s been a change in the outlook for cryptocurrency during the past few months. People seldom talk about the markets or the price of Bitcoin. Volatility has been causing a lot of uncertainty, and mainstream adoption came to a virtual standstill.
Nonetheless, the cryptocurrency space showed remarkable resilience as blockchain projects continue to expand its borders with more lateral thinking and “out-of-the-box” blockchain solutions. We’ll explore some of their use-cases and find out whether these currencies and platforms are the next big thing.
Why People Invest in These Projects
Despite the recent lull in cryptocurrency trading and mining, blockchain projects and ICOs are very much in the business for 2018. Investors and tech companies remain optimistic about the future of the cryptocurrency space amidst tightening restrictions and negativity. In fact, according to Coindesk, the amount of money raised in ICOs in the first quarter alone exceeded the total amount last year.
Most ICOs and blockchain projects didn’t end up well for a lot of investors (more than 90% failed to deliver). However, there are a few examples like Binance and EOS which turned out as good investments. Binance became one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges with a BNB market cap of over $1 billion – the second most valuable token on Coinmarketcap. EOS, on the other hand had a successful, albeit controversial mainnet launch, and is now a full-fledged decentralized application platform second only to Ethereum.
Smart investors consider the current state of affairs as a golden opportunity to hunt for new projects with the greatest potential, particularly in their early stages when they are mostly undervalued. Investing early on has the advantage of maximum gains with the least amount of exposure. For instance, a hundred dollars’ worth of investments at ten cents per token won’t break the bank if things go south. But if it turns out to be a real investment, gains will be exponential (e.g., BNB and EOS tokens are worth a hundred times more than their initial price in 2017)
Blockchain Projects to Watch for in 2018
Finding a good investment can be a real challenge since we’re dealing with dozens of new blockchain projects and ICOs every month. If you’re lucky enough, you might be able to land on some big winners from a list of projects. But before anything else, please bear in mind that this is not investment advice, and you are solely responsible for any gains or losses. That said, here are five of the most talked-about blockchain projects in 2018.
Zilliqa (ZIL). Launched in January, the project puts a lot of work in building a highly scalable decentralized platform using a method known as “sharding.” Unlike in Bitcoin, each node will be working in parallel within a group of nodes called “shard,” verifying a subset of all the transactions occurring at the same time (also called parallel processing). Sharding works perfectly in many centralized systems (Ultima Online, Google, etc.). However, it presents an immense technical challenge when applied on a decentralized environment. Ethereum has been working hard on it as part of its on-chain scaling solution in hopes of solving the security/scalability/decentralization trilemma. Zilliqa’s entry into the whole sharding scene threatens to steal the thunder from Ethereum by becoming the first to come up with a workable solution. Some estimates it to be around January 2019. Key features include:
faster transaction throughputs (speed improves as the network grows)
employs practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance as a consensus mechanism
reduced energy consumption (mining is spaced a hundred blocks apart)
maintains a decentralized network structure (a new shard is created for every 600 nodes)
Basic Attention Token (BAT). Cutting the middleman goes beyond peer-to-peer transactions to include decentralized, blockchain-based digital advertising in the form of an open-source, ad-free browser with its own currency. Brave Browser is one of today’s hottest Internet browsing software because it allows users to block ads and trackers completely free. In fact, as many as 3 million people have already been using Brave, becoming one of Google Play’s top ten in the Android browser category. The project is moving towards the creation a decentralized advertising platform using its own currency – Basic Attention Token – to incentivize both content creation and user attention. It works in some ways like Google Ads but in a more transparent and decentralized manner. The key advantages of BAT from an investor’s point of view include:
good potential for adoption (sold out BAT worth $35 million in 30 seconds)
strong support from the community (Brave browsing experience receive a lot of positive feedback from users)
a solid team of experienced developers (founded by no less than the co-founder of Mozilla, Firefox, and creator of JavaScript)
Kin (KIN). Canadian messaging app company Kik Interactive is making headway into cryptocurrency adoption with the launching of Kinecosystem. The company hopes to build a community of users and developers sharing resources, and making digital goods and services. However, unlike most blockchain startups with no real users, Kin’s integration into the Kik Messenger meant its value could potentially rise with over 300 million active users. The company is now moving towards the next phase, inviting all developers and content creators in building the ecosystem for large KIN payouts. Gains will take time, but you might want to consider its advantages, namely:
KIN’s practical use-case as a digital currency on an existing application (Kik has been in use since 2010)
user base is mostly made up of digital-natives (teens, millennials, and active mobile users)
Kik’s emphasis on anonymity
DeepBrain Chain (DBC). Blockchain companies like DeepBrain Chain sees decentralization as the future of the AI industry. Development of AI applications use up a huge amount of computing power. DeepBrain Chain works by utilizing computational resources across millions of nodes on the neural network in building AI applications which are then published onto the blockchain. Nodes that successfully deploy mirror images will receive payouts in DBC. It plans on migrating out of NEO to its own mainnet in Q4, with its own consensus algorithm (proof of importance and delegated proof of stake). The goal is to become the deep learning machine for the AI industry. Successful adoption is achievable through:
growth in people’s interest in the AI industry
reduced computational cost of AI companies through resource-sharing
secure, decentralized method of storing AI information.
Wormhole. Bitcoin Cash might soon be able to run smart contracts through its proposed protocol layer known as Wormhole. Developers plan on forking the Omni Layer to create a platform for smart contracts on top of Bitcoin Cash. Much of it is still in the works as of this moment, but news is, they’re going to issue a token named “Wormhole Cash.” Investors and crypto-enthusiasts are keeping track of its progress since it is expected to have a very high demand upon release.
The cryptocurrency space has been constantly evolving even as the noise and the hype surrounding cryptocurrency have mostly faded. Cryptocurrency is here to stay, and we’ll be seeing more projects in the near future that will bridge the gap between the average user and blockchain technology.
The End of Currency as We Know It?
The growing optimism of financial institutions with blockchain technology has spurred a lot of interest within the cryptocurrency community. They’re now exploring the possibility of using cryptocurrency as a global currency, much like its real-world counterpart, but without the need for governmental intermediaries.
This, however, requires nothing short of a compromise since the technology used in cryptocurrencies, which were meant to cut off intermediaries, will now be used in the interest of banks and financial institutions they initially sought to eliminate.
Financial Institutions on the Use Blockchain Technology
The challenge with decentralized currency is the way which central banks create money. Cryptocurrency protocols which gave birth to Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin uses “proof of work”, hashpower/electricity to mine currencies until they reach a fixed limit. And, unlike central banks, anyone with adequate resource and hashpower can participate in the process of increasing money supply.
But not all cryptocurrencies follow this convention. Some currencies are neither mineable nor obtainable by any other means except through exchanges. Ripple (XRP), for instance, is one of those few currencies with such peculiar characteristics.
First, it has no need of miners to keep the system stable and secure, and does the exact opposite each time transactions are made: a specific unit of XRP is “destroyed” (around 0.00001 XRP or 10 “drops”) per transaction. Accordingly, this would discourage people from spamming the system. Maximum supply is programmed at 100 billion XRP, 55% of which is held in escrow.
Although “decentralized,” Ripple is backed by big institutions primarily Google (Google Ventures), and other venture capitalists such as Standard Chartered, Siam Commercial (SCB Digital Ventures), Japan’s SBI Holdings, CME Group, Seagate Technology, and Venture 51. The focus of blockchain adoption was not so much on creating a global decentralized currency envisioned by Bitcoin, but in making transactions “frictionless” and resistant to hacking.
Banks and financial institutions loved the concept and saw in Ripple the potential of using blockchain technology to make money transfers many times faster, a lot cheaper, and more secure than conventional banking and money service business. In fact, Ripple protocol is already supported by hundreds of banks and financial businesses across the globe, including American Express and SBI Holdings.
Use Cases of Blockchain Technology in Business
Banking & Money Service
Blockchain technology is the key to solving the age-old “Byzantine General’s Problem” when it comes to trust-based peer-to-peer transactions, one of which is the problem of “double spending.” In a traditional banking system, transactions between accounts and different banks have to be cleared to preclude the possibility of fraudulent transactions going through, especially now that most transactions involve digital cash and electronic money transfers over the Internet.
Although quite secure, they’re not essentially 100% hack-proof. The Bangladesh Bank Heist of February 2016 proves the vulnerability of a centralized method of transaction over the Internet (hackers employed the Dridex malware to send instructions to the Bangladesh Bank at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York through the SWIFT network.)
Banks and financial institutions are now looking to adopt a decentralized, consensual way of confirming transactions – one of the defining features of cryptocurrencies and distributed ledgers – to make cross-border, bank-to-bank transactions that are virtually hack-proof. To address the issue of congestion due to slow rate of confirmations, they’ve opted for cryptocurrency protocols which take mining out of the equation, i.e. pre-mined currencies.
The fact that tech giants, like Google, have invested in blockchain technology could be a strong indication that we are, indeed, looking into the future of cashless transactions. IBM also works with a pre-mined cryptocurrency, Stellar (XLM), to make cross-border payments more efficient and secure. Using this platform, they hope to eliminate the “costly, laborious, and error-prone process of making global payments.”
Microsoft retracted in their previous decision to stop accepting Bitcoin payments. Volatility and high transaction fees during peak hours can make Bitcoin payments troublesome for most businesses. But because of its high-yield potential for long-term investment, some businesses prefer Bitcoin over much stable but dormant pre-mined cryptocurrencies like Ripple and Stellar.
Several countries in North America, Europe, and Asia have brick-and-mortar businesses that accept Bitcoin payments with the same goal in mind. Since Bitcoin is regarded as a rare, highly-prized commodity, accepting them as payments is a viable way to make long-term cryptocurrency investments.
Some people went as far as using Bitcoin to acquire properties like one of Malaysia’s top entrepreneur who bought a piece of land for half a Bitcoin, and a property developer in the UK who sold two luxury homes for Bitcoin.
Internet Sites & Social Media
Blockchain technology can also have a positive impact on Internet sites and social media because of the massive traffic they generate. Having a cryptocurrency for users and subscribers seems to be the way forward. Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg recognized the potential of having a cryptocurrency for its 2 billion users and subscribers.
Online stores and online services would also benefit from cryptocurrency payments for the very same reason banks and money service business are using it with the Ripple currency/protocol.
Implications of Institutionalizing Cryptocurrencies – Two Sides of the Story
Based on these observations, two possible scenarios are starting to emerge. Blockchain technology is undoubtedly the next generation of secure, peer-to-peer transactions. But as to the control of money supply and the ability of users to store value outside the realm of government regulation, the issue of decentralization could reach a stalemate between institutionalized cryptocurrency like Ripple, and a truly decentralized cryptocurrency like Bitcoin.
In such a case, we might be seeing two types of cryptocurrencies serving two different purposes – one as a fast and secure method of payment and money transfer (akin to fiat currency), and another as a store of value. Ripple has its merits as a payment method because of its liquidity, stability, and abundant supply. Bitcoin could also be used for the same purpose, but until it creates a permanent solution to scalability issues, transaction fees, and slow transactions, it might be best to keep it as a store of value or as an investment option.
Another possibility would be one of them prevails over the other. In the case of Ripple taking the lead as the dominant cryptocurrency, we might see a resurgence of centralized money in the form of a peer-to-peer currency based on trust. If Bitcoin, however, stays on top and manages to solve the issue, the other type of cryptocurrency could weaken or fall into disuse.
Interested in mining? Learn the basics of cryptocurrency mining at CryptEdu.com or start hassle-free cloud mining at Cryptmin.com today.
Should You Use Libra? – Understanding the True Intentions behind Facebook’s Cryptocurrency
Decentralization Is the Way Forward for Cryptocurrency Mining – Here’s Why
Should You Be Worried About The State of Cryptocurrency?
Banks and Blockchain Transactions – Which Is Better?
A WordPress Commenter on How to Buy Cryptocurrency – Basic Guide for Beginners
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USPTO 2008 Fiscal year-end results
USPTO 2008 Fiscal Year-End Results Demonstrate Commitment to Sustaining High Performance Patent and Trademark Operations Rose to Highest Performance Levels in Agency’s History
Washington, D.C. - The U.S. Department of Commerce’s United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) today released fiscal year-end numbers that demonstrate the agency’s commitment to sustaining high performance in the quality and timely examination of patent and trademark applications. For the first time the USPTO met 100 percent of its Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) goals. The results are contained in the USPTO’s FY 2008 Performance and Accountability Report, which was released to the public today.
“Our exceptional performance reflects the hard work and dedication of the USPTO management team and most importantly, the more than 9,500 bright, quality-focused and results-driven USPTO employees,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO Jon Dudas. “Their perseverance in sustaining high performance for the USPTO will carry the agency into the future and continue to help strengthen the IP system for years to come.”
Patents – Optimizing Patent Quality and Timeliness
In FY 2008, USPTO met and, in some cases, exceeded its patent pendency, production, and quality targets. Patents maintained a high level of patent quality by achieving an allowance compliance rate of 96.3 percent, exceeding its goal.
Patents increased production by an additional 14 percent over FY 2007 by examining 448,003 applications—the highest number in history. Production has increased by 38.6 percent over the past four years, compared to a 21.3 percent increase in application filings during the same period.
Patents received a record number of utility patent applications filed electronically (332,617), and achieved a record rate (72.1 percent) of applications filed electronically as well.
Patents achieved an average first action pendency of 25.6 months and an average total pendency of 32.2 months.
Patents received 1,765 patent application filings through the Accelerated Examination Program, 173 percent more than in the program’s introductory year of FY 2007. A 12-month or less pendency rate was also maintained for every application, with an average time to final action or allowance of 186 days.
Trademarks – Optimizing Trademark Quality and Timeliness
For the third year in a row, USPTO met or exceeded all of its performance goals for trademarks as well.
Trademarks ended its year with first action pendency at three months. Trademarks has maintained its first action pendency within the 2.5 to 3.5 month range for more than 18 months, a historic first. Disposal pendency was also maintained at record low levels, ending the year with 11.8 months pendency for cases without inter partes or suspended cases and at 13.9 months for all disposals. This disposal pendency is the lowest in 20 years.
This year saw a record number of applications filed electronically--approximately 268,000 applications comprising 390,000 classes. This represented a record rate of filing; 96.9 percent of all applications were filed electronically.
Quality remained high throughout the year with a first action compliance rate of 95.8 percent and a final action compliance rate of 97.2 percent. Both measures exceeded performance expectations.
Improving IP Protection and Enforcement
The USPTO worked more closely in FY 2008 with its international counterpart offices than ever before. The Agency hosted the follow-up to the 2007 Heads of Office meeting for the five largest IP offices (Europe, Japan, Korea, China, and the United States) to discuss further cooperative initiatives to meet the growing patent application filing demands and improve patent quality.
The USPTO’s Global Intellectual Property Academy trained more than 4,100 foreign officials on best practices for strengthening IP rights and enforcement in their nations.
Achieving Organizational Excellence
The USPTO continues to be recognized as the leader in federal government telework initiatives through its award-winning programs. At the end of FY 2008, 54 percent of USPTO’s employees were eligible to participate in one of 20 different telework programs across the agency. Among those employees who were eligible to telework, nearly 83 percent chose to do so.
Full results of the agency’s progress can be found in USPTO’s FY 2008 Performance and Accountability Report at http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/annual/2008/2008annualreport.pdf.
For more information go to www.GAPATENTS.com or www.Google.com or www.yahoo.com..
Posted by Galasso & Associates, L.P. at 7:15 AM
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The Return of the King is Near
Prophecy Studies
Prophecy Studies 2
Archaeologists Make ‘Mind Blowing’ Discovery Of The Biblical City Of Corinth Intact And Underwater
Palestinian claims to Jerusalem lose Saudi as well as US support
Are California Wildfires Part Of God’s Judgement Upon America? ‘The Lord Is Going To Bring Judgment Upon Evil In These Cities Whether By Wildfires, Earthquakes, Or Fireballs From Heaven’
By admin in America, Harbinger
Www,discerningthetimes.me
Submitted to All News Pipeline by Mary Taylor
Heed the biblical warnings about a scorched earth! As all-consuming wildfires continue to race across California, are we witnessing the fulfillment of ancient prophecies about fiery judgment on sinful cities and states across this nation?
Just last summer the Quayle site featured an ANP article about evangelist Dumitru Duduman’s vision of America’s sinful playgrounds going up in smoke. God showed him all of California and said, ‘This is Sodom and Gomorrah! Its sin has reached the Holy One. It will burn!”
As Duduman watched, the same scene was repeated with Las Vegas, New York, and Florida. The prophecy ended with, “This country will burn!”
As of this week, wind-fanned flames still churning through canyons and up and down hillsides so far have claimed more than 240,000 acres in California. The LA Times has called the Thomas fire, now burning for 12 days, “Southern California’s largest and most destructive wildfire.”
The newspaper stated that although it is the fourth largest fire in California’s history, the cause is still under investigation. While cooking accidents in homeless camps have been blamed for starting the holocaust, end-time believers are more likely to agree when the prophets make the call as an act of God.
“The Light of Israel will become a fire, their Holy One a flame; in a single day it will burn and consume his thorns and his briers. The splendor of forests and fertile fields it will completely destroy. The Lord, the Lord Almighty will carry out the destruction decreed upon the whole land.” Isaiah 10:17
But wildfires in California may be only the beginning of coming judgments on this country. In his book Racing Toward Judgment printed in 1975, the late David Wilkerson pointed out that God’s judgments have always begun at the “entrance gates” of nations, such as seaports, harbors and immigration points of entry.
For instance, the prophet Jeremiah warned of whirlwinds and violent storms on the coasts of seaport cities. Just witness the devastation this year when tropical storms Harvey and Irma battered cities off the Gulf Coast and Atlantic Seaboard.
“Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.” Jeremiah 25:32
Now that the focus has shifted to the West Coast, we’re seeing the futility of human attempts to keep wildfires from turning once-fertile land into scorched and blackened earth. Wilkerson cautioned that as the nation continues to ignore warning calls for national repentance, God’s judgments will only get worse and spread to other sinful cities.
In a devotional blog written in 2009, the late evangelist reminded readers that for 10 years he had been warning about a thousand fires coming to New York City.
“It will engulf the whole megaplex, including areas of New Jersey and Connecticut,” Wilkerson predicted. “Major cities all across America will experience riots and blazing fires, such as we saw in Watts, Los Angeles, years ago.
“There will be riots and fires in cities worldwide, and there will be looting—including Times Square, New York City. We are under God’s wrath.
“God is judging the raging sins of America and the nations.”
Wilkerson and other prophetic messengers have looked back in history to cite cities like London, Paris and Rome as examples of God’s judgment by fire. London in the 17th century was considered the business mart of the nations and was the world’s most prosperous city.
But when atheism and agnosticism became popular philosophies, a spirit of iniquity took over, and the city laughed at the idea of judgment for sin. God first sent a warning to the people in the form of pestilence—the bubonic plague that became known as the Black Death–that claimed as many as 100,000 victims.
When the plague abated, people breathed sighs of relief but continued in their ungodly ways, unaware that God’s fire of judgment was soon to fall. But one day a single fire set by one man spread uncontrollably, and the city, dry after a rainless season, was suddenly engulfed in flames.
The 1666 fire of London became known as the raging holocaust that no one could extinguish. Over the years, the city was slowly rebuilt, but it never regained its former prosperity or its title as the “Jewel of the British Empire.”
Even now, America’s cities are ripe for a similar fiery judgment, according to Lois Vogel Sharp, an outspoken prophetess for King of Glory End-Time Ministries. In a video she shared last week on the Quayle dreams and visions site, Sharp predicted a great shaking about to level California, Chicago and New York as seen in the final video below.
“The Lord is going to bring judgment on evil in these cities,” she said. “They are going to burn, whether it happens by wildfires, earthquakes, or by fireballs from heaven.”
In 1984 when evangelist Duduman had similar visions of cities on both coasts going up in flames, he asked the Lord, “Will this country really burn? America is the most powerful country in the world. How will it burn?”
His answer was that Russian spies have discovered where the nuclear warehouses are in America. “When the Americans will think that it is peace and safety, from the middle of the country some of the people will start fighting against the government.
“So the government will be busy with internal problems. Then from the ocean, Cuba, Nicaragua, Mexico, and other countries will come and bomb the nuclear warehouses.
“When the warehouses explode, America will burn.”
David Wilkerson World Challenge devotional blog March 2009
An Urgent Message David Wilkerson
For ten years I have been warning about a thousand fires coming to New York City. It will engulf the whole megaplex, including areas of New Jersey and Connecticut. Major cities all across America will experience riots and blazing fires—such as we saw in Watts, Los Angeles, years ago.
There will be riots and fires in cities worldwide. There will be looting—including Times Square, New York City. What we are experiencing now is not a recession, not even a depression. We are under God’s wrath. In Psalm 11 it is written,
“If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (v. 3).
God is judging the raging sins of America and the nations. He is destroying the secular foundations.
The prophet Jeremiah pleaded with wicked Israel, “God is fashioning a calamity against you and devising a plan against you. Oh, turn back each of you from your evil way, and reform your ways and deeds. But they will say, It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart” (Jeremiah 18:11-12).
In Psalm 11:6, David warns, “Upon the wicked he will rain snares (coals of fire)…fire…burning wind…will be the portion of their cup.” Why? David answered, “Because the Lord is righteous” (v. 7). This is a righteous judgment—just as in the judgments of Sodom and in Noah’s generation.
Permanent link to this article: http://discerningthetimes.me/?p=8909
rosa elisad on September 13, 2020 at 3:14 pm
California and all the rest of big cities of America will be judged by God because the immoral politicians who are demon possessed legalized Satan’s immorality of abortion, LGBTQ which is against the commandments of God and people are encouraged by immoral politicians to go ahead and enjoy Satan’s immoral lifestyle.
Revelation 1:3 "Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near". Tommy Settipani, Watchman for Christ
Ancient Cilvilizations and Giants
Gog-Ezekiel 38 & 39
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7 (Training) Regiment Army Air Corps
7 (Training) Regiment Army Air Corps Explained
Unit Name: 7 (Training) Regiment Army Air Corps
Dates: 1969 – present
Type: Aviation
Role: Training
Size: Regiment
Command Structure: Army Aviation Centre
Garrison: Middle Wallop
Garrison Label: Base
7 (Training) Regiment Army Air Corps is a regiment of the British Army and is part of the Joint Helicopter Command.[1] The regiment is responsible for providing all of the flight training of Army Air Corps (AAC) pilots.[2] The regiment is based at the Army Aviation Centre at Middle Wallop.[2]
The regiment constists of three squadrons and one flight:
No. 670 Squadron AAC is responsible for the Operational Training Phase (OTP) of the Army Pilots Course.[2] [3]
No. 671 Squadron AAC conducts Conversion to Type training on the Gazelle and Bell 212 helicopter for graduates of the Operational Training Phase and students on the Aviation Crewman course.[2] [4]
No. 673 Squadron AAC conducts Conversion to Type training on the Apache attack helicopter for both newly qualifed and experienced Army pilots.[2] [5]
No. 25 Flight AAC based at Nanyuki in Kenya is responsible for providing 24/7 medical evacuation and range clearances operating Bell 212 helicopters for the British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK).[2] [6]
7 Army Aviation Regiment was formed 1969 at Airfield Camp, Netheravon.[7] In 1971, the regiment was renamed to 7 Regiment Army Aviation Corps.[7] During its time as a regular unit, the following squadrons and flights were part of the regiment: 651 Squadron, 658 Squadron, 2 Flight and 8 Flight.[7] 658 Squadron had reformed 1982.[8] The Agusta A109A helicopter had entered service with 8 Flight in 1984.[9] 666 (V) Squadron had became part of the regiment in 1986.[7] [10]
In April 1995, the regiment re-roled as a volunteer unit 7 Regiment AAC (V).[7] [11] [8] The regiment consisted of 666 Squadron (V), 658 Squadron (V), 3 Flight (V) at RAF Turnhouse (later RAF Leuchars) and 6 Flight (V) based at Shawbury.[7] [12] [13]
On 1 April 2009, the regiment re-roled as a regular training unit 7 (Training) Regiment AAC based at Middle Wallop as part of the School of Army Aviation.[2] On 1 August 2009, the school was renamed as the Army Aviation Centre.[2] The regiment consisted of 670 Squadron, 671 Squadron and 673 Squadron.[2]
Web site: Joint Helicopter Command . British Army . 21 March 2020.
Web site: Army Aviation Centre . British Army . 11 March 2020.
Web site: 670 Squadron Army Air Corps . British Army . https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140409175940/http://www.army.mod.uk/aviation/29781.aspx . 9 April 2014.
Web site: 25 Flight Army Air Corps . British Army . https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140409175945/http://www.army.mod.uk/aviation/30325.aspx . 9 April 2014.
'LZ' . Airfield Camp, Netheravon 1912 – 2012 . Army Air Corps Journal . 52 . Spring 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130227004933/http://army.mod.uk/documents/general/aac-Airfield_Camp_Netheravon.pdf . 27 February 2013 . 40-42.
Web site: 658 Sqn Army Air Corps History . British Army . https://web.archive.org/web/20070223054045/http://www.army.mod.uk/aac/units/7_regiment_aac_v_/658_squadron.htm . 23 February 2007.
Web site: Helicopters - Secretary of State for Defence - Column 1835W . www.parliament.uk . 3 July 2019 . 22 June 2008.
Web site: History of 666 Squadron. British Army . https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20070109154101/http://www.army.mod.uk/aac/units/7_regiment_aac_v_/666_squadron.htm. 9 January 2007.
Web site: Major Units 5 to 9 . British Army units from 1945 on . 11 March 2020.
Web site: 7 Regiment (V) of the Army Air Corps. British Army . https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20061023212505/http://www.army.mod.uk/aac/units/7_regiment_aac_v_/7regtrole.htm. 23 October 2006.
Web site: 3 Flight History. British Army . https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20070708112019/http://www.army.mod.uk/aac/units/7_regiment_aac_v_/3_flight_aac.htm. 8 July 2007.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "7 (Training) Regiment Army Air Corps".
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Douglas Messerli | "To Begin Is to Never End" (on László Krasznahorkai's War & War)
sculpture by Mario Merz
TO BEGIN IS TO NEVER END
László Krasznahorkai Háború és Háború (Budapest: Magvető, 1999). Translated from the Hungarian by George Szirtes as War & War (New York: New Directions, 2006).
Hungarian novelist László Krasznahorkai’s War & War (Háború és Háború), first published in 1999, is a story of a total failure, a fool named Korin. Krasznahorkai’s “hero,” who works, similarly to the anti-hero of José Saramago’s 1997 novel All the Names, as an archivist—a man who, like one of Eliot’s living dead, is afraid not only to “eat a peach,” but is fearful of literally “losing his head” which, he is absurdly told by doctors, is only tangentially connected to his spine and will ultimately break loose and fall off.
The fiction begins with what will be a series of attacks on the “hero” as he is surrounded by members of a brutal young gang who attempt to rob him and are willing and ready to slit his throat. But the strange, incoherent story Korin begins to tell—the complexity of which the author suggests throughout his work by dividing his fiction into 2-3 page units, each consisting of one long, rambling sentence—strangely transfixes them, not so much because of its (im)possible content, but because of the intensity with which the old man speaks. To the young gang members he is a human specimen so ridiculous that they are fascinated by his absurdity, and, in listening to his tale, like Scherezade’s Schahriar, spare his life. Little do they imagine that he has a large sum of money sewn into the lining of his outdated and filthy greatcoat.
In the very next scene Korin repeats his verbal assault, this time in the company of a good-looking flight attendant to whom he, apologetically and, once again, somewhat incoherently, attempts to tell his life story. Apparently he has discovered by accident a manuscript in the archival files that has completely transformed him. As he reads and rereads this mysterious fiction, filed mistakenly with other family records, Korin realizes a new purpose in life. Abandoning his job, selling all his possessions, and attempting to escape the authorities he believes are determined, because of his condition, to deny him travel, our hero eludes his invisible trackers through a series of meandering train rides, ultimately arriving in a Budapest ticket office in hopes of continuing on to New York.
Because he has no visa he is forced to procure a quickly issued one at great expense. The travel agency, moreover, cannot assure him of space on a plane for the next few days. His intense conversation with the stewardess in the agency offices and his idiotic determinedness, however, work in his favor, and miraculously he arrives in New York.
Arriving without luggage and with no clear destination in mind, he is whisked away to security where he finds himself face to face with a disinterested Hungarian interpreter, who, like the others before him, is bored and transfixed by Korin’s attempts to explain himself. The interpreter loses his job because, recognizing the incompetence of the man he questions, he hands him his personal business card, containing his home address.
Not without further ado, Korin makes his way through the terminal and is delivered up by taxi to a Bowery flop, where for days he holds up before attempting to adventure out into the Manhattan streets. When he does leave the room, the event ends in a fearful encounter with the abject poor seemingly incarcerated in a nearby flophouse, and in horror Korin calls the number listed on the interpreter’s card. Since the interpreter now has no income he agrees to let a room to Korin and even helps him to set up—in what has been the secret aim of the man’s confused wonderings—a website where the former archivist hopes to post a copy of his discovered manuscript.
Perhaps the most poignant and intense moments of this episodic work occur in this apartment where the interpreter lives with his mistress—an abused Hispanic woman—who, knowing only a little Hungarian, nonetheless silently endures Korin’s breakfast litanies about his life and the mysterious manuscript he is determined to post to his website for posterity.
Gradually Korin becomes aware of the beatings she endures and the nefarious activities of his landlord, but, in his obsessive single-mindedness, he has little power to change the course of their fate. A friendship between the “hero” and the woman, however, develops, even if the words he shares with her have little meaning. Once more, the intensity with which he tells his story is what seems to matter. The reader, however, begins to perceive the nature of his literary discovery: a tale of four men (Kasser, Falke, Bengazza, and Toót) who voyage freely through time, in each story discovering a near-paradiscal society (the mythical Kommos and the historical Venice) or architectural wonders (the cathedral of Cologne and Hadrian’s Wall) that in the midst of their admiration are destroyed soon after the appearance of an enigmatic figure (Mastemann). We recognize that each version of the tale reveals the same message, that cultural and societal achievement and harmony is perpetually destroyed by evil. But Korin is confused by the various stylistic maneuvers of the storyteller, particularly in the last section, when the narrator—not unlike how others have perceived Korin himself—seems to go mad, jumbling together various lists and information that transgresses against any coherent message the story might wish to convey.
Safely ensconced in the interpreter’s apartment, where he is forbidden late afternoon and evening use of the computer, Korin ventures out, gradually exploring the unfathomable city around him. When, accordingly, he has finished posting his tale, and, after suffering, along with the interpreter’s lover, a series of strange events wherein intruders suddenly remove all the apartment’s contents, followed, a few days later, by new intruders delivering boxes that fill the small living space, the “hero”—piecing together these events with his discovery of a large cache of money hidden behind a piece of tiling in the toilet—escapes what has been his only home in this new world in order to seek someone in the Hungarian community who will sell him a gun, presumably to accomplish the suicide he has promised earlier in the narrative.
But even here, Korin reveals his incompetence. Hooking up with a slightly mad figure of the streets (a man who places manikins in various artfully life-like positions throughout the neighborhood) our “hero” stays the night with his newfound friend, awakening to discover photographs of work by the real-life artist Mario Merz upon the walls of the man’s apartment. One of Merz’s tent-like environments so moves Korin that he determines to travel to Zürich where he believes the author resides to seek out one of the structures in which to kill himself. If he has previously been blessed by a sort of innocent madness, armed with his new, negative resolve, Korin is no longer blessed and is finally robbed and left for dead on the streets; without money, he returns to the interpreter’s apartment to discover that both the man and his mistress have been brutally murdered. Now perceiving (or perhaps only sensing) what the murderers have sought, he removes the money from behind the tile, and uses it to pay for his final journey.
In Zürich he discovers that Merz himself does not live there, but that one of his artworks—pictured in the photographs—is housed in a nearby museum. Korin, however, has grown even more deluded—interpreting the strange disintegration of his manuscript’s narrative as an evocation and expression of madness that has overtaken the world and believing that the characters from the fiction have joined him in person to seek “a way out.” He finally finds a way to purchase a gun and makes his way to the museum. Arriving in the middle of the night, Korin attempts to enter the museum, while the guard explains that the building is closed until the morning. Fearing, however, that the late-night stranger may be an artist or even a guest curator, the guard calls the director. Unable to gain access to the museum, Korin seeks shelter in at all-night bar, where, brandishing his gun, he shoots himself in the arm. Even in suicide he fails, although the shot so terrifies him that he collapses, remaining unconscious; the book ends without answering the reader’s questions about Korin’s condition: “Later they took him away.”
What we do know, however, is that Korin ultimately does succeed in suicide, for a plaque within the Schaffhausen Museum testifies: “This plaque marks the place where György Korin, the hero of the novel War and War, by László Krasznahorkai, shot himself in the head. Search as he might, he could not find what he had called the Way Out.” The plaque, strangely enough, seems to indicate that, finally, someone has made sense of Korin’s story, that his life has mattered; if nothing else, it testifies to his heroic attempt to escape from the horrible fate of the world revealed in both the archivist’s manuscript and in the novelist’s fiction wherein the tales are embedded.
In fact, the sensitive reader—and anyone who has persisted in reading Krasz-nahorkai’s bleak tale, perhaps by definition, is such a reader—has perceived, Korin may be an idiot, but like Erasmus’ man of folly, he is a Christ-like figure, a man of deep compassion, belief, and hope. He is a wise-fool, desperately seeking in a world of fleeting fragments a unified vision that will give meaning to life. Even if his magnificent posting will never be read—and with the death of the interpreter who has sworn to keep the website alive, one can only suppose that eventually that website will disappear (indeed a visit to www.warandwar.com results in the message: Please be informed that your homepage service has been called off due to recurring overdue payment. Attempted mail deliveries to Mr. G. Korin have been returned to sender with a note: address unknown. Consequently, all data have been erased from your home page.)—it is the effort to share his discovery that truly matters. In his reading—even his misreadings of the work—Korin has himself become a creator, and in that creation, that recreation, he has brought purposefulness to life. Through each of his absurd attempts to relate information, Korin reveals the transformative power of storytelling itself. It is not just the story that matters, perhaps not even the story that is important, but the telling itself, the very act of creating fiction can completely change lives.
The reader perceives this already in the first scene, where the gang of young thugs, seemingly entranced by Korin’s storytelling even as they disdain it, begins to tell their own tales the next morning about the old man and his bizarre behavior. The stewardess has her own tales to tell about the silly man who entertained her while she was waiting to accompany a disabled traveler; but we perceive also how she is touched and moved by Korin’s words. Even more affected by the storytelling is the interpreter’s companion, who in the midst of abused life, waits patiently each morning just to hear the boarder’s words, touchingly revealed several times in the work, particularly as she turns her bruised face toward him and, in the last scenes, they lay together upon a bed in a gentle conspiracy of hope against what they both recognize are destructive acts by the master of the house, who parallels the Mastemann figure of the War & War fiction.
Korin’s great discovery, the source of both his joy and desperation, evidenced in his suicide, is that all of life matters, all life is “of equal gravity, everything equally urgent,” a fact that any artful storyteller and reader recognizes as the truth. It is no wonder that Korin hardly knows where to begin and has no comprehension of how to end once he has started. As for Scherezade, once the telling has begun, once one has embarked upon the perilous voyage of the imagination, there can be no end but in death. 1001 nights do not cease in a mere two years and nine months; for the ancient Egyptians the hieroglyph for 1000 represented “all,” and one more than all, accordingly, stood for an infinity. There is, alas, no “way out,” no ultimate redemption for Scherezade. The characters of Korin’s discovered fiction are blessed as well as doomed to begin again and again in their search for paradise, in their foolishly wise search for a world in which everything matters and all is of equal importance.
Los Angeles, August 9, 2006
Reprinted from First Intensity, No. 22 (Fall 2007).
Copyright (c) 2006 by Douglas Messerli
Birne May 23, 2012 at 5:10 AM
A very nice summary of the novel and of some of its concerns. I am slightly confused about your chronological order. Even though the "Isaiah Has Come" text was placed at the end of the novel by the English publisher (for whatever reasons) it does not come in chronological order after the events of the main novel. On the contrary it works as a kind of prologue to the novel (see also the author's webpage for an introduction, in particular it is interesting to note that it was published in various journals before the novel even came out) and describes events that took place a long time before the main novel. Please compare Chapter 6, Section 26 of the novel. While still being in New York Korin explains that the scar on his hand comes from a self-inflicted gunshot wound from when he shot at his hand a long, long time ago. The Isaiah text details those events as they happened in a bar probably somewhere in Hungary long before his travels to New York. If I remember correctly there are other details in the novel as well as in the Isaiah text that confirm this.
Birne is completely correct.
Thanks for posting what the plaque says. I was trying to find a video of its unveiling but I can't seem to find it anywhere. After reading the novel, and even though I now know what the plaque says, I kind of want to see it for myself as well. So I'm thinking of visiting the museum some time. Is the plaque still there? There really was a plaque, right?
War and War is my favorite novel. I gave my copy to someone I met who's going through some trouble. I hope he's still okay. I found some comfort in the protagonist's plight, though I know it's an overall dark story.
Birne January 28, 2013 at 11:25 AM
Hey George,
War And War is also my favorite of his works.
The plaque with it's inscription in English and German can be found here:
http://www.krasznahorkai.hu/web/nemet/vege2.htm
here you can also find a video in German of the unveiling:
www.krasznahorkai.hu/web/video/h56k1.rm
(you can play this file with the VLC player for example)
All of this, including English excerpts of the novel and the full Isaiah Has Come text can be found on the author's webapge, here:
http://www.krasznahorkai.hu/books_WarAndWar.html
If you navigate this page you can also find the complete book in Hungarian or German including the Isaiah texts, the videos and pictures. Just click on "War And War Online" then either on the Hungarian flag or the German flag.
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US Supreme Court Patent Law Decsions - Top 24 Patents Cases Decided By The Supreme Court
Graver Tank & Manufacturing Co. v. Linde Air Products, 339 U.S. 605, 85 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 328 (1950) - [Opinion | Brief]
Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. v. Super-market Equipment Co., 340 U.S. 147, 87 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 303 (1950) - [Opinion | Brief]
Hazeltine Research, Inc. v. Brenner, 382 U.S. 252, 147 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 429 (1965) - [Opinion | Brief | Arguments audio (MP3)]
(the "Graham Trilogy") Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 459 (1966) - [Opinion | Brief | Arguments audio] and United States v. Adams, 383 U.S. 39, 148 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 479 (1966) - [Opinion | Brief | Arguments audio]
Brenner v. Manson, 383 U.S. 519, 148 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 689 (1966) - [Opinion | Brief | Arguments audio]
Lear v. Adkins, 395 U.S. 653, 162 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 1 (1969) - [Opinion | Brief | Arguments audio]
Anderson's-Black Rock, Inc. v. Pavement Salvage Co., 396 U.S. 57, 163 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 673 (1969) - [Opinion | Brief | Arguments audio]
Standard Industries, Inc. v. Tigrett Industries, Inc., 397 U.S. 586, 165 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 289 (1970) - [Opinion | Brief | Arguments audio]
Blonder Tongue Laboratories v. University of Illinois Foundation, 402 U.S. 313, 169 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 513 (1971) - [Opinion | Brief | Arguments audio]
Gottschalk v. Benson, 409 U.S. 63, 175 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 673 (1972) - [Opinion | Brief | Arguments audio]
Kewanee Oil Co. v. Bicron Corp., 416 U.S. 470, 181 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 673 (1974) - [Opinion | Brief | Arguments audio]
Dann v. Johnston, 425 U.S. 219, 189 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 257 (1976) - [Opinion | Brief | Arguments audio]
Sakraida v. Ag Pro, Inc., 425 U.S. 273, 189 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 449 (1976) - [Opinion | Brief | Arguments audio]
Parker v. Flook, 437 U.S. 584, 198 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 193 (1978) - [Opinion | Brief | Arguments audio]
Diamond v. Chakrabarty, 447 U.S. 303, 206 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 193 (1980) - [Opinion Briefs Arguments audio]
Dawson Chemical Co. v. Rohm & Haas Co., 448 U.S. 176, 206 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 385 (1980) - [Opinion | Briefs | Arguments audio]
Diamond v. Diehr, 450 U.S. 175, 209 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 1 (1981) - [Opinion | Briefs | Arguments audio]
Dennison Manufacturing Co. v. Panduit Corp., 475 U.S. 809, 229 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 478 (1986) - [Opinion | Briefs]
Christianson v. Colt Industries Operating Corp., 486 U.S. 800, 7 U.S.P.Q.2d (BNA) 1109 (1988) - [Opinion | Briefs | Arguments audio]
Cardinal Chemical Co. v. Morton International, Inc., 508 U.S. 83, 26 U.S.P.Q.2d (BNA) 1721 (1993) - [Opinion | Briefs | Arguments audio]
Markman v. Westview Instruments, Inc., 517 U.S. 370, 38 U.S.P.Q.2d (BNA) 1461 (1996) - [Opinion | Briefs | Arguments audio]
Warner-Jenkinson Co. v. Hilton Davis Chemical Co., 520 U.S. 17, 41 U.S.P.Q.2d (BNA) 1865 (1997) - [Opinion | Briefs | Arguments audio]
Pfaff v. Wells Electronics, Inc., 119 S. Ct. 304, 48 U.S.P.Q.2d (BNA)1641 (1998) - [Opinion | Briefs | Arguments audio]
Dickinson v. Zurko, 527 U.S. 150; 119 S.Ct. 1816; 144 L. Ed. 2d 143; 67 U.S.L.W. 4445; 50 U.S.P.Q.2D (BNA) (1930) - [Opinion | Briefs | Arguments audio]
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Title: King David
Subject: Abba Arika, Assassination, Book of Revelation, Bear, Christianity and Judaism, Gospel of Barnabas, Gospel of Matthew, History of Israel, Judah the Prince, Maimonides
This article is about the biblical king. For other uses, see David (disambiguation).
"King David" redirects here. For other uses, see King David (disambiguation).
King of Judah
c. 1010 – 1002 BC (Judah)
c. 1002 – 970 BC (Israel)[1]
c. 1040 BC
Bethlehem, Judah, Israel
c. 970 BC
Jerusalem, Judah, Israel
Ish-bosheth
Ahinoam
Maachah
Haggith
Abital
Eglah
Amnon
Chileab
Absalom
Adonijah
Shephatiah
Ithream
Shammua
Shobab
Ibhar
Elishua
Nepheg
Japhia
Elishama
Eliada
Eliphalet
Nitzevet (Talmud)
David (; ISO 259-3 Dawid; Arabic: داود Dāwūd; Strong's: Daveed) according to the Hebrew Bible, was the second king of the United Kingdom of Israel, and according to the New Testament Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus. His life is conventionally dated to c. 1040–970 BC, his reign over Judah c. 1010–1002 BC, and his reign over the United Kingdom of Israel c. 1002–970 BC.[1]
The Books of Samuel, 1 Kings, and 1 Chronicles are the only sources of information on David, although the Tel Dan Stele (dated c. 850–835 BC) contains the phrase ביתדוד (bytdwd), read as "House of David", which most scholars take as confirmation of the existence in the mid-9th century BC of a Judean royal dynasty called the House of David.[2]
He is depicted as a righteous king, although not without faults, as well as an acclaimed warrior, musician, and poet, traditionally credited for composing many of the psalms contained in the Book of Psalms.
David is central to Jewish, Christian, and Islamic doctrine and culture. Biblical tradition maintains that a direct descendant of David will be the Messiah, and in Islam he is considered to be a prophet.
1 Biblical narrative
1.1 Saul rejected
1.2 At the court of Saul
1.3 David and Goliath
1.4 David and Jonathan
1.5 Proclaimed king
1.6 Jerusalem and the Davidic covenant
1.7 Bathsheba and Uriah the Hittite
1.8 David's son Absalom rebels
1.9 Death
1.10 Family
2 Historicity
2.1 Archaeology
2.2 The biblical account
2.3 Physical descriptions
3 Abrahamic religious traditions
3.1 David as Psalmist
3.2 Judaism
3.3 Christianity
3.3.1 Latter Day Saints
3.5 Baha'i Faith
4 Legend and legacy
5 Representation in art and literature
5.1 Art
5.2 Literature
5.3 Film
5.4 Music
5.5 Musical theater
5.6 Television
8.1 Translations of 1 and 2 Samuel
8.2 Commentaries on Samuel
Saul rejected
Main article: Saul
According to the biblical narrative, the prophet Samuel sought a new king from the sons of Jesse of Bethlehem. Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, "The Lord has not chosen these.” So he asked Jesse, "Are these all the sons you have?" "There is still the youngest," Jesse answered. “He is tending the sheep." Samuel said, "Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives." So he sent for him and had him brought in. He was ruddy and handsome. Then the Lord said, "Rise and anoint him; this is the one." So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David. Samuel then went to Ramah.[3]
At the court of Saul
An evil spirit from the Lord tormented Saul (1 Samuel 16:14) and his attendants suggested he send for David, a young warrior famed for his bravery and for his skill with the harp. Saul did so, and made David one of his armor-bearers. From then on, "whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would take his harp and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him."
Main article: Goliath
The Israelites, under King Saul, faced the Philistines near the Valley of Elah. He heard the Philistine giant Goliath challenge the Israelites to send their own champion to decide the outcome in single combat; Goliath used to regularly stand opposite the Israelite camp and shout insults concerning King Saul and the Israelite people. But neither the soldiers nor King Saul himself had the courage to face the Philistine adversary. David told Saul he was prepared to face Goliath alone. Saul tried to fit him with a suit of armor, but none were small enough. David decided to face the giant without armor. He picked five smooth stones from a nearby brook. David struck Goliath in the forehead with a stone from his sling. Goliath fell dead. David took Goliath's sword and beheaded him. The Philistines fled in terror. Saul inquired about the name of the young champion, and David told him that he was the son of Jesse.[4]
David and Jonathan
Main article: David and Jonathan
Saul made David a commander over his armies and offered him his daughter Michal in marriage for bringing 100 foreskins of the Philistines but David brought back 200, saying "God was with me". David was successful in many battles, and his popularity awakened Saul's fears — "What more can he have but the kingdom?" By various stratagems the jealous king sought his death, but the plots only endeared David the more to the people, and especially to Saul's son Jonathan, who loved David (1 Samuel 18:1, 2 Samuel 1:25–26).[5][6] Warned by Jonathan, David fled into the wilderness, where he gathered a band of followers and became the champion of the oppressed while evading the pursuit of Saul. He accepted the town of Ziklag from the Philistine king Achish of Gath, but continued secretly to champion the Israelites. Achish marched against Saul, but David is excused from the war on the accusation of the Philistine nobles that his loyalty to their cause cannot be trusted.
Proclaimed king
Jonathan and Saul are killed in battle with the Philistines at Mount Gilboa. David mourned their deaths, especially that of Jonathan, his friend. He went up to Hebron, where he is anointed king over Judah. In the north, Saul's son Ish-Bosheth was anointed by Abner as King of Israel. War ensued between Ish-Bosheth and David, until Ish-Bosheth was murdered. The assassins brought the head of Ish-Bosheth to David hoping for a reward, but David executed them for their crime against the Lord's anointed. Yet with the death of the son of Saul, the elders of Israel came to Hebron and David, who is 30 years old, was anointed King over Israel and Judah.[7]
Jerusalem and the Davidic covenant
Main article: Covenant (biblical) § Davidic covenant
David conquered the Jebusite fortress of Jerusalem, and made it his capital. "Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, also carpenters and masons who built David a house." David brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, intending to build a temple, but God, speaking through the prophet Nathan, announced that the temple would be built at a future date by one of David's sons (Solomon). God made a covenant with David, promising that He will establish the house of David : "Your throne shall be established forever."
With God's help, David was victorious over his people's enemies. The Philistines were subdued, the Moabites to the east paid tribute, along with Hadadezer of Zobah, from whom David took gold shields and bronze vessels.[8]
Bathsheba and Uriah the Hittite
David committed 2 Samuel 12:14).
David 2 Samuel 12:22–23
David's son Absalom rebels
David's son Absalom rebelled against his father. They came to battle in the Wood of Ephraim. Absalom was caught by his hair in the branches of an oak and David’s general Joab killed him as he hung there.[11] When the news of the victory is brought to David, he did not rejoice, but was instead shaken with grief: "O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!"[12]
When David had become old and bedridden, Adonijah, his eldest surviving son and natural heir, declared himself king and worthy to marry Abishag. Bathsheba, David's favorite wife, and Nathan the prophet went to David and procured his agreement that Solomon, Bathsheba's son, should sit on the throne. Thus, the plans of Adonijah collapsed, and Solomon became king.[13] It is to Solomon that David gave his final instructions, including his promise that the line of Solomon and David will inherit the throne of Judah forever, and his request that Solomon kill his oldest enemies on his behalf.[14] David died and was buried on Mount Zion, which was in close proximity to the City of David, having ruled forty years over Israel, seven in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem.
David was born in Bethlehem, in the territory of the Tribe of Judah. His grandfather was Obed, whose mother was the Moabite Ruth and whose grandmother was the prostitute Rahab, who are two of the most famous women of the Bible, even though they were "goyim", i.e. they did not belong to the chosen people.[15] David's father was named Jesse. His mother is not named in the Bible, but the Talmud identifies her as Nitzevet daughter of Adael.[16] David had seven brothers and was the youngest of them all. David also had two sisters, Zeruiah and Abigail.[17] He had eight wives: Michal, the second daughter of King Saul; Ahinoam the Jezreelite; Abigail the Carmelite, previously wife of Nabal;[18] Maachah, daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur; Haggith; Abital; Eglah; and Bathsheba, previously the wife of Uriah the Hittite.
The Mephibosheth to his table after giving him the land which previously belonged to King Saul.
David also had at least one daughter, 2 Samuel 13
Main articles: Tel Dan Stele, Mesha Stele and City of David
Two archaeological finds, the Tel Dan Stele and the Mesha Stele, have direct bearing on the question of the existence of a historical David. The first of these is an Aramean victory stele (inscribed stone) discovered in 1993 at Tel Dan and dated c. 850–835 BC: it contains the phrase ביתדוד (bytdwd), and the reading "House of David" for this "is now widely accepted"[by whom?]. [19] The Mesha Stele from Moab, dating from approximately the same period, may also contain the name David in line 12, where the interpretation is uncertain, and in line 31, where one destroyed letter must be supplied.[20]
The evidence from surface surveys indicates that Judah at the time of David was a small tribal kingdom.[21] The Bronze and Iron Age remains of the City of David, the original urban core of Jerusalem identified with the reigns of David and Solomon, were investigated extensively in the 1970s and 1980s under the direction of Yigal Shiloh of the Hebrew University, but failed to discover significant evidence of occupation during the 10th century BC.[22] In 2005 Eilat Mazar reported the discovery of a Large Stone Structure which she claimed was David's palace,[23] but the site is contaminated and cannot be accurately dated.[24]
The biblical account
The biblical account about David comes from the Books of Samuel and the Books of Chronicles. Chronicles merely retells Samuel from a different theological vantage point, and contains little (if any) information not available there, and the biblical evidence for David is therefore dependent almost exclusively on the material contained in the chapters from 1 Samuel 16 to 1 Kings 2.
Since Martin Noth put forward his analysis of the Deuteronomistic history, biblical scholars have accepted that these two books form part of a continuous history of Israel, compiled no earlier than the late 7th century BCE, but incorporating earlier works and fragments. Samuel's account of David "seems to have undergone two separate acts of editorial slanting." The original writers show a strong bias against Saul, and in favour of David and Solomon. Many years later the Deuteronomists edited the material in a manner that conveyed their religious message, inserting reports and anecdotes that strengthened their monotheistic doctrine. Some of the materials in Samuel I and II — notably the boundary, allotment and administrative lists — are believed to be very early, since they correspond closely to what we know of the territorial conditions of the late Davidic-early Solomonic period.[25]
Beyond this, the full range of possible interpretations is available. The late John Bright, in his History of Israel (which went through four editions from 1959 to 2000), takes Samuel at face value. Donald B. Redford, however, thinks all reconstructions from Biblical sources for the United Monarchy period are examples of "academic wishful thinking".[26] Thomas L. Thompson rejects the historicity of the biblical narrative, "The history of Palestine and of its peoples is very different from the Bible's narratives, whatever political claims to the contrary may be. An independent history of Judea during the Iron I and Iron II periods has little room for historicizing readings of the stories of I-II Samuel and I Kings."[27] Amihai Mazar however, concludes that based on recent archeological findings, like those in City of David, Khirbet Qeiyafa, Tel Dan, Tel Rehov, Khirbet en-Nahas and others "the deconstruction of United Monarchy and the devaluation of Judah as a state in 9th century is unacceptable interpretation of available historic data". According to Mazar, based on archeological evidences, United Monarchy can be described as a "state in development"[28]
Some studies of David have been written: Baruch Halpern has pictured David as a lifelong vassal of Achish, the Philistine king of Gath;[29] Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman have identified as the oldest and most reliable section of Samuel those chapters which describe David as the charismatic leader of a band of outlaws who captures Jerusalem and makes it his capital.[30] Steven McKenzie, Associate Professor of the Hebrew Bible at Rhodes College and author of King David: A Biography, states the belief that David actually came from a wealthy family, was "ambitious and ruthless" and a tyrant who murdered his opponents, including his own sons.[31]
Physical descriptions
1 Samuel 16:12 "And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the LORD said, "Arise, anoint him, for this is he." - Holy Bible; English Standard Version.[32] 1 Samuel 17:41-43 "And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance."[33]
The Hebrew word for 'ruddy' used in the above passages is admoni (ואדמני), from the root ADM (אדם, see also Adam and Edom).[34][35][36][37] "Admoni", reddish-brown, was the ideal colour for men, and indicates David's heroic nature.[38] Despite the fact his hair is not mentioned in the passages, the description led to a later Sephardic and Ashkenazi tradition that David was a red-head.
Abrahamic religious traditions
David as Psalmist
While almost half of the Psalms are headed "A Psalm of David" (although the phrase can also be translated as "to David" or "for David") and tradition identifies several with specific events in David’s life - Psalms 3, 7, 18, 34, 51, 52, 54, 56, 57, 59, 60, 63 and 142.,[39] the headings are late additions and no psalm can be attributed to David with certainty.[31]
King David the Prophet
Pieter de Grebber (c. 1640)
Holy Monarch, Prophet, Reformer, Spiritual Poet & Musician, Vicegerent of God, Psalm-Receiver
December 29 - Roman Catholicism
Psalms, Harp, Head of Goliath
David is an important figure in Judaism. Historically, David's reign represented the formation of a coherent Jewish kingdom centered in Jerusalem. David is an important figure within the context of Jewish messianism. In the Hebrew Bible, it is written that a human descendant of David will occupy the throne of a restored kingdom and usher in a messianic age.
David is also viewed as a tragic figure; his acquisition of Bathsheba, and the loss of his son are viewed as his central tragedies.
Many legends have grown around the figure of David. According to one Rabbinic tradition, David was raised as the son of his father Jesse and spent his early years herding his father's sheep in the wilderness while his brothers were in school. Only at his anointing by Samuel – when the oil from Samuel's flask turned to diamonds and pearls – was his true identity as Jesse's son revealed.
David's adultery with Bathsheba was only an opportunity to demonstrate the power of repentance, and the Talmud states that it was not adultery at all, quoting a Jewish practice of divorce on the eve of battle. Furthermore, according to Talmudic sources, the death of Uriah was not to be considered murder, on the basis that Uriah had committed a capital offence by refusing to obey a direct command from the King.[42] However, in tractate Sanhedrin, David's broken heart pleads and numerous actions for forgiveness are discussed, God ultimately forgives but would not remove his sins from Scripture.[43]
According to midrashim, Adam gave up 70 years of his life for the life of David.[44] Also, according to the Talmud Yerushalmi, David was born and died on the Jewish holiday of Shavuot (Feast of Weeks). His piety was said to be so great that his prayers could bring down things from Heaven.
The concept of the Messiah is important in Christianity. Originally an earthly king ruling by divine appointment ("the anointed one", as the title Messiah had it), the "son of David" became in the last two pre-Christian centuries the apocalyptic and heavenly one who would deliver Israel and usher in a new kingdom. This was the background to the concept of Messiahship in early Christianity, which interpreted the career of Jesus "by means of the titles and functions assigned to David in the mysticism of the Zion cult, in which he served as priest-king and in which he was the mediator between God and man."[45] The early Church believed that "the life of David [foreshadowed] the life of Christ; Bethlehem is the birthplace of both; the shepherd life of David points out Christ, the Good Shepherd; the five stones chosen to slay Goliath are typical of the five wounds; the betrayal by his trusted counsellor, Achitophel, and the passage over the Cedron remind us of Christ's Sacred Passion. Many of the Davidic Psalms, as we learn from the New Testament, are clearly typical of the future Messiah."[46] In the Middle Ages, "Charlemagne thought of himself, and was viewed by his court scholars, as a 'new David'. [This was] not in itself a new idea, but [one whose] content and significance were greatly enlarged by him."[47] The linking of David to earthly kingship was reflected in later Medieval cathedral windows all over Europe through the device of the Tree of Jesse, its branches demonstrating how divine kingship descended from Jesse, through his son David, to Jesus.
Western Rite churches (Lutheran, Roman Catholic) celebrate his feast day on 29 December, Eastern-rite on 19 December.[48] The Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches celebrate the feast day of the "Holy Righteous Prophet and King David" on the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers (two Sundays before the Great Feast of the Nativity of the Lord), when he is commemorated together with other ancestors of Jesus. He is also commemorated on the Sunday after the Nativity, together with Joseph and James, the Brother of the Lord.
In the Latter Day Saint movement, the Book of Mormon offers a negative commentary on David's practice of polygamy. In the Book of Jacob, the Nephite nation begins to practice polygamy, justifying it by the example of David and Solomon. In response the prophet Jacob denounces both David's taking of "many wives"[49] and the Nephites' taking of multiple wives,[50] though he stops short of denouncing polygamy altogether.[51]
Editions of the Doctrine and Covenants utilized by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the largest Latter Day Saint denomination, state that of David's sexual relationships, only his relationship with Bathsheba was a sin. However, in consequence of this sin and the further sin of killing Uriah, David had "fallen from exaltation" and would not be married to any of his wives in the next life.[52]
The Community of Christ, the second-largest Latter Day Saint faction, does not accept the validity of 132nd section of the LDS Doctrine and Covenants; nor does the Church of Christ (Temple Lot), the Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite), and many other smaller factions. Although the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite) accepted the validity of polygamy as an institution, they do not accept Doctrine and Covenants 132, nor do they believe that Joseph Smith instituted or taught it (they believe that James Strang was responsible for that, when he released his Book of the Law of the Lord in 1850).
Main article: David in Islam
David (Arabic داود, Dāwūd) is a highly important figure in Islam as one of the major prophets sent by God to guide the Israelites. David is mentioned several times in the Qur'an, often with his son Solomon. The actual Arabic equivalent to the Hebrew Davīd is Dawūd. In the Qur'an: David killed Goliath (II: 251), Goliath was a powerful king who used to invade random kingdoms and villages. Goliath was spreading evil and corruption. When David killed Goliath, God granted him kingship and wisdom and enforces it (XXXVIII: 20). David is made God's "vicegerent on earth" (XXXVIII: 26) and God further gives David sound judgment (XXI: 78; XXXVII: 21–24, 26) as well as the Psalms, which are regarded as books of divine wisdom (IV: 163; XVII, 55). The birds and mountains unite with David in uttering praise to God (XXI: 79; XXXIV: 10; XXXVIII: 18), while God instructs David in the art of fashioning chain-mail out of iron (XXXIV: 10; XXI: 80). Together with Solomon, David gives judgment in a case of damage to the fields (XXI: 78) and David judges in the matter between two disputants in his prayer chamber (XXXVIII: 21–23). Since there is no mention in the Qur'an of the wrong David did to Uriah nor is there any reference to Bathsheba, Muslims reject this narrative.[54]
Muslim tradition and the hadith stress David's zeal in daily prayer[55] as well as in fasting. Qur'an commentators, historians and compilers of the numerous Stories of the Prophets elaborate upon David's concise Qur'anic narratives and specifically mention David's gift in singing his Psalms as well as his musical and vocal talents. His voice is described as having had a captivating power, weaving its influence not only over man but over all beasts and nature, who would unite with him to praise God.[56]
In the Baha'i Faith, David is described as a reflection of God and one among a long line of prophets who came in the shadow of the dispensation of Moses to develop and consolidate the process he set in motion.[57][58] The Kitáb-i-Íqán describes David as being "among the more exalted Manifestations who have appeared during the intervening period between the revelations of Moses and Muhammad, ever altered the law of the Qiblih".[59]
Legend and legacy
In European Christian culture of the Middle Ages, David was made a member of the Nine Worthies, a group of heroes encapsulating all the ideal qualities of chivalry. His life was thus proposed as a valuable subject for study by those aspiring to chivalric status. This aspect of David in the Nine Worthies was popularised firstly through literature, and was thereafter adopted as a frequent subject for painters and sculptors.
Representation in art and literature
Famous sculptures of David include (in chronological order) those by:
Donatello (c. 1430 – 1440), David (Donatello)
Andrea del Verrocchio (1476), David (Verrocchio)
Michelangelo (1504), David (Michelangelo)
Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1624), David (Bernini)
Antonin Mercié (1873)
Dryden's long poem Absalom and Achitophel is an allegory that uses the story of the rebellion of Absalom against King David as the basis for his satire of the contemporary political situation, including events such as the Monmouth Rebellion (1685), the Popish Plot (1678) and the Exclusion Crisis
Elmer Davis's novel Giant Killer (1928, The John Day company) retells and embellishes the Biblical story of David, casting David as primarily a poet who managed always to find others to do the "dirty work" of heroism and kingship. In the novel, Elhanan in fact killed Goliath but David claimed the credit; and Joab, David's cousin and general, took it upon himself to make many of the difficult decisions of war and statecraft when David vacillated or wrote poetry instead
Gladys Schmitt wrote a novel titled "David the King" (1946, Doubleday Books) which proceeds as a richly embellished biography of David's entire life. The book took a risk, especially for its time, in portraying David's relationship with Jonathan as overtly homoerotic, but was ultimately panned by critics as a bland rendition of the title character
In Thomas Burnett Swann's Biblical fantasy novel How are the Mighty Fallen (1974, DAW), David and Jonathan are explicitly stated to be lovers. Moreover, Jonathan is a member of a winged semi-human race (possibly nephilim), one of several such races co-existing with humanity but often persecuted by it
Joseph Heller wrote a novel based on David, God Knows (1984, Simon & Schuster). Told from the perspective of an aging David, the humanity—rather than the heroism—of various biblical characters is emphasized. The portrayal of David as a man of flaws such as greed, lust, selfishness, and his alienation from God, the falling apart of his family is a distinctly 20th-century interpretation of the events told in the Bible
Juan Bosch, Dominican political leader and writer, wrote "David: Biography of a King" (1966, Hawthorn, NY) a realistic approach to David's life and political career
Allan Massie wrote "King David" (1996, Sceptre), a novel about David's career which portrays the king's relationship to Jonathan and others as openly homosexual
Madeleine L'Engle's novel Certain Women (1993, HarperOne) explores family, the Christian faith, and the nature of God through the story of King David's family and an analogous modern family's saga
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle used the story of David and Bathsheba as the main structure for the Sherlock Holmes story The Adventure of the Crooked Man. The betrayal of the Crooked Man is paralleled with David's betrayal of Uriah the Hittite, carried out in order to win Bathsheba
Stefan Heym's "The King David Report" (1998, Northwestern University Press) is a fiction depicting the writings of the Bible historian Ethan, upon King Solomon's orders, of a true and authoritative report on the life of David, Son of Jesse
Malachi Martin's 1980 factional novel King of Kings: A Novel of the Life of David relates the life of David, Adonai's champion in his battle with the Philistine deity Dagon
William Faulkner's "Absalom, Absalom!" (1936) refers to the story of Absalom, David's son; his rebellion against his father and his death at the hands of David's general, Joab. In addition it parallels Absalom's vengeance for the rape of his sister Tamar by his half-brother, Amnon.
Dan Jacobson's The Rape of Tamar (1970) is an imagined account, by one of David's courtiers Yonadab, of the rape of Tamar by Amnon
Gregory Peck played King David in the 1951 film David and Bathsheba, directed by Henry King
Jeff Chandler played David in the 1960 film A Story of David
Finlay Currie played an aged King David in the 1959 film Solomon and Sheba, directed by King Vidor
Richard Gere portrayed King David in the 1985 film King David directed by Bruce Beresford
Josquin des Prez's Planxit autem David is a polyphonic setting of 2 Samuel, chapter one verses 17–27, David's lamentation for the dead Saul and Jonathan. His Absalon fili mi is a polyphonic lamentation from David's perspective on the death of his son.
George Frideric Handel's oratorio Saul features David as one of its main characters
Arthur Honegger's oratorio Le Roi David ('King David'), with a libretto by Rene Morax, was composed in 1921 and instantly became a staple of the choral repertoire; it is still widely performed
Leonard Cohen's song "Hallelujah" (1984) has references to David ("there was a secret chord that David played and it pleased the Lord", "The baffled king composing Hallelujah") and Bathsheba ("you saw her bathing on the roof") in its opening verses
The song "One of the Broken" by Paddy McAloon, performed by Prefab Sprout on the 1990 album "Jordan: The Comeback", has a reference to David ("I remember King David, with his harp and his beautiful, beautiful songs, I answered his prayers, and showed him a place where his music belongs").
"Mad About You", a song on Sting's 1991 album The Soul Cages, explores David's obsession with Bathsheba from David's perspective
"Dead" (1989) by the Pixies is a retelling of David's adultery and repentance
Eric Whitacre composed a choral piece, "When David Heard" (1999), chronicling the death of Absalom and David's grief over losing his son
The Song "Gimme a Stone" appears on the Little Feat 2000 album "Chinese Work Songs" chronicles the duel with Goliath and contains a lament to Absalom as a bridge.
"The Angel of Death Came to David's Room" (2009) by MewithoutYou is in reference to King David
"Your Heart" by Chris Tomlin on Music inspired by The Story (2011) is a prayer of David
King David, a modern oratorio, with a book and lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Alan Menken
TV film David (1997), with Nathaniel Parker portraying King David
Max von Sydow portrayed an older King David in the TV film Solomon, a sequel to David
The NBC series Kings (2009), explicitly designed as a modern retelling of the David story
The episode "Little Big Dog", of the PBS series Wishbone, recounts the story of David, his favor with Saul, and his triumphant battle over Goliath
The season two episode of Xena: Warrior Princess "Giant Killer" features David and his killing of Goliath
For a considerable period, starting in the 15th century and continuing until the 19th, French playing card manufacturers assigned to each of the court cards names taken from history or mythology.[60][61] In this context, the King of Spades was often known as "David".
Large Stone Structure
David's Tomb
David's Mighty Warriors
Midrash Shmuel (aggadah)
Translations of 1 and 2 Samuel
Samuel 1 and 2 at Bible Gateway
Kirsch, Jonathan (2000) King David: the real life of the man who ruled Israel. Ballantine. ISBN 0-345-43275-4.
Dever, William G. (2001) What did the Bible writers know and when did they know it? William B. Eerdmans Publ. Co., Cambridge UK.
Commentaries on Samuel
Coogan, Michael D. (2009) A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament: the Hebrew Bible in its Context Oxford University Press
Commons has media related to David.
has a collection of quotations related to: David
Complete Bible Genealogy David's family tree
Double Identity: Orpheus as David. Orpheus as Christ? Biblical Archaeology Review
David engravings from the De Verda collection
David of the United Kingdom of Israel & Judah
Cadet branch of the Tribe of Judah
Regnal titles
Rebellion from Israel under Ish-bosheth
1010 BC–1003 BC Succeeded by
Saul King of the United
Israel and Judah
1003 BC–970 BC
Adam to David according to the Hebrew Bible
Creation to Flood
Mahalalel
Lamech
Cain line
Mehujael
Tubal-cain
Patriarchs after Flood
Arpachshad
Serug
Nationhood to Kingship
Hezron
Amminadab
Nahshon
Family and reputed relations
Queen of Sheba
Judgment of Solomon
Solomon's Pools
Solomon's shamir
Islamic view
Reputed works
Odes of Solomon
Key of Solomon
Lesser Key of Solomon
Psalms of Solomon
Testament of Solomon
Prayer of Solomon
Solomonic column
Solomon's knot
United Monarchy
Davidic line
Abba Arika
Hebrew language, Amoraim, Talmud, Mussaf, Zugot
Pakistan, John F. Kennedy, Capital punishment, Assassins, Israel
New Testament, Bible, Old Testament, Second Epistle to Timothy, Gospel of John
Extinction, Carnivora, Brown bear, Asia, Latin
Christianity and Judaism
Judaism, Christianity, Messianic Judaism, Jerusalem, Trinity
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