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TanJay & ALIA
At Geri Fashions we strive to provide the latest looks to satisfy our customers who are young at heart. That is why we are a retailer of TanJay and Alia products.
TanJay and Alia are well known brands that are recognized for their colourful and modern pieces of clothing. They provide a fashion forward look while still being practical in their uses. By using designer patterns and fabrics TanJay and Alia clothing beats the rest when it comes to obtaining the best style.
TanJay and Alia are brands of NYGÅRD International, headquartered in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada. A leading fashion company that designs and markets women’s fashion apparel, the company expanded into the United States in 1978. The company operates world wide, with complete design, production and distribution facilities in Winnipeg, Toronto and Los Angeles; research and design studios in New York, San Francisco and Hong Kong; and sales offices throughout Canada and the US.
The buyers at Geri Fashions are proud to hand-select new TanJay and Alia fashions each season and offer them as a great-value, great-comfort line of conventional clothing for women Canada-wide.
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Florence and the Machine takes the stage at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on May 17th, 2019 as part of their High as Hope Tour. Joined by acts such as Blood Orange, Perfume Genius, and Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats at other venues along the 2019 Florence and the Machine tour, Las Vegas will be delighted by special guest and opener, Christine And The Queens.
An English indie rock band that formed in London in 2007, Florence and the Machine consists of vocalist Florence Welch, keyboardist Isabella “Machine” Summers, and a collaboration of other musicians. The band’s music received praise across the media, receiving the Brit Awards “Critics’ Choice” award. Welch’s distinctly powerful range of vocals has also received six Grammy nominations including Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal Album.
After first coming to Las Vegas on their Ceremonials Tour in April 2012, and most recently at the 2018 Life Is Beautiful Festival, the Florence and the Machine Tour graces the Las Vegas stage once again! Join us for setlists said to include songs from their fourth studio album, High As Hope, as well as fan favorites like “Dog Days Are Over”, “Only If for a Night”, and “Shake It Out”.
The Florence and the Machine concert promptly begins at 7:30 PM (doors open at 6:30 PM).
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Residents Fight To Remove Flying Foxes From Coombabah
"The smell and sound is repugnant"
Coombabah residents are being driven batty by a roost of flying foxes at Chiba Park.
The bats have been keeping them up at night with their screeching, and locals say the smell is unbearable.
They have been trying for years to get council to move the growing population of native animals on, but the state government has to grant permission first.
"It's repugnant; the smell, the sounds," said Broadwater MP David Crisafulli.
"People are having to leave their homes to get a good night's sleep".
He has written to the government to urge them to put people above bats.
"Council have applied to the state government and they keep getting knocked back," he said.
"This crazy scenario where the rights of an animal are coming before the rights of someone who pays taxes is just absurd."
David Crisafulli
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Can IQ Tests Really Predict Your Success In Life?
November 28, 2018 • Contributed by Zawn Villines
Dozens of online intelligence tests promise to measure intelligence and even to predict a person’s future success. Most of these online quizzes are not supported by research. Instead, psychometric testing typically relies on Intelligence Quotient (IQ) tests. These include the Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale, the Multidimensional Aptitude Battery, and the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test.
These tests purport to measure a person’s general intelligence (also called the G factor). Many people believe general intelligence is a predictor of success. Yet research suggests IQ is just one of many factors that plays a role in a person’s success.
The Challenge of Defining Success
Success is a vague, broad concept. It means vastly different things to different people. Some examples might include:
Successful relationships with others. This might involve a happy marriage and many friends.
Financial success. This could include the ability to pay bills, save for the future, and make large purchases.
Career success. This might mean succeeding in a career, such as law or medicine, that others view as prestigious. Or it could mean finding a career that is personally satisfying or challenging.
Academic success. This can involve earning an advanced degree, making excellent grades, or getting a scholarship.
Success as a parent. This might mean having close relationships with children, raising children who succeed by several measures, or simply enjoying parenting.
Feeling happy. This could involve achieving a sense of meaning or inner peace.
Moral success. This might mean feeling like a good person, finding ways to help others, or following the dictates of one’s faith or conscience.
IQ scores cannot measure every type of success. In fact, it is difficult for IQ scores to fully and accurately measure even a single type of success. While there is some correlation between IQ scores and financial or career achievement, even these categories are broad and nonspecific. Individuals can have different goals for the same category. For example, one person may have a low-paying job that they find personally fulfilling. Another person with a high-status job might develop workplace issues like boredom or burnout.
IQ Scores and Other Correlates of Success
A handful of studies have found a modest correlation between IQ score and success in the workplace. For example, a 2004 study found that IQ is a good predictor of both a person’s ultimate career level and their success within that field. People with higher IQs tend to occupy more prestigious careers and to excel in those careers. The study theorizes that this is because people with high IQs can master new skills more quickly. In highly demanding fields—medicine and law, for instance—the ability to process and retain new information is key.
Various studies have shown IQ correlates with income, but the extent to which this is true varies significantly. In a 2007 review of research on IQ and income, most studies found low to moderate correlations between income and IQ. IQ was about as good of a predictor of success as parental socioeconomic status.
Research shows many individual and social factors also affect a person’s outcomes. Some individual factors that may affect success regardless of intelligence include:
Motivation.
Willingness to learn new information.
Ability to pay attention.
Mental health.
Lifestyle factors.
Social factors that can affect success include:
Social class (whether one comes from wealth or poverty).
Access to economic and social resources, such as quality schools.
Institutional discrimination, such as racism, sexism, and homophobia.
Individual discrimination, such as discrimination by a biased teacher.
The correlation between IQ score and socioeconomic status suggests IQ tests may measure access to opportunity rather than innate qualities.
IQ Scores and Socioeconomic Status
IQ scores correlate fairly well with socioeconomic status (SES). This is not necessarily because people with high IQs make more money. Instead, research suggests greater social and economic privilege afford children access to tools that improve their IQ.
For example, research published in 2011 found a heritability rate for intelligence of just 5% among children of low SES. Heritability measures the extent to which differences between individuals can be explained by genetics. A 5% heritability rate means nongenetic factors explain 95% of intelligence differences. Experiences like food insecurity or homelessness are more likely to affect an impoverished child’s IQ than their biology.
The same study found a higher heritability rate for intelligence among more privileged children—50% on average. The study authors believe high-SES families may be able to provide more chances to realize differences in children’s genetic potentials. Families with more economic means are often better situated to do things that boost intelligence, including:
Move to areas with excellent schools or put children in gifted education programs.
Hire private tutors.
Connect children to adults who can help them master new skills.
Spend time with children on intellectually challenging tasks such as building blocks, completing puzzles, or reading.
Research also points to a class bias in IQ tests. Children raised in households with lower socioeconomic status participate in fewer conversations and hear fewer words than children from more privileged backgrounds. Middle and upper-class children who take IQ tests are more likely to have heard the words and been exposed to concepts on the test.
Critics argue this trend biases tests against poorer children, measuring their experiences rather than their raw reasoning skills. Other people claim this bias actually makes IQ tests a more reliable measure of success. They argue these tests measure cultural knowledge that may affect a child’s ability to fit in, understand the world, and ultimately succeed.
Are IQ Scores Reliable?
A significant body of research questions the validity of IQ scores as a measure of intelligence. Some researchers are skeptical of the very notion of general intelligence, which is what IQ tests purport to measure.
IQ tests may also discriminate against certain groups. Many early IQ tests are now widely acknowledged to have been biased, perhaps even by design, against people of color, women, and other marginalized groups. Today’s IQ tests are not deliberately discriminatory but may still be biased. IQ tests may inadvertently test not for intelligence, but for cultural knowledge that dominant groups are more likely to have.
Groups historically exposed to oppression can also experience stereotype threat when taking standardized tests. When a person is exposed to stereotypes about their group, their stress levels may rise. Anxiety in turn can undermine their performance. Even something as seemingly innocuous as filling a demographics survey before taking a test may activate stereotype threat.
The Role of Other Forms of Intelligence
G, the “general intelligence” IQ tests measure, is just one way to assess intelligence. Researchers, teachers, and mental health professionals have identified numerous other forms of intelligence.
Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner identified nine types of intelligence:
Visual-spatial intelligence: the ability to visualize objects and navigate spatial relationships. It may be used in drawing, solving jigsaw puzzles, or designing buildings.
Intrapersonal intelligence: the ability to know and understand oneself.
Interpersonal intelligence: the ability to understand and relate to others.
Musical awareness: the ability to recognize patterns in tone and rhythm, to express oneself through sound.
Linguistic intelligence: the ability to use words effectively, such as through writing a persuasive essay or beautiful poem.
Logical-mathematical intelligence: the ability to do logical problem-solving. It may be used in math and computer programming.
Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence: the ability to use the body effectively in activities such as dancing and playing sports. It often includes dexterity, balance, and other skills.
Existential intelligence: the ability to tackle questions of existence and spirituality.
Naturalistic intelligence. the ability to work well with animals, recognize plants in nature, and so on.
According to Gardner, most people are competent in a few areas, with limited skill in others. It’s very unlikely that anyone could show total mastery in all nine areas, undermining the notion of a true general intelligence.
Other researchers divide intelligence into IQ and EQ, or emotional intelligence. EQ measures one’s ability to recognize and respond to emotions, both in oneself and others. Someone with high emotional intelligence can use their understanding of emotions to work well with others. Much research suggests the ability to understand and cooperate with others may predict success in multiple areas of life.
Even in intellectually demanding careers, emotional intelligence is often necessary. For example, a 2014 study shows emotionally intelligence correlates with the success of medical students. According to the study, the ability to regulate one’s emotions was an especially significant predictor of success. The study even recommends medical schools use emotional intelligence measures on their applications.
A 2010 study found the ability to regulate emotions was a predictor of higher income and socioeconomic status. It also predicted greater overall well-being.
Therapy: A Path to Success Regardless of IQ
People concerned about their intelligence or their path to success can find significant help from therapy. In a limited number of circumstances, therapy can even help someone feel smarter or perform better on an IQ test. For example, a person with testing anxiety may reduce stress through therapy. Likewise, a person who struggles with motivation or impulsivity may learn more effectively after tackling these issues with a therapist.
Even when therapy doesn’t directly improve intelligence, it can still greatly increase a person’s chances of success. Therapy may:
Help a person identify barriers to success at work or in their relationships.
Strengthen a person’s emotional and social intelligence, helping them collaborate more effectively.
Move beyond impostor syndrome, chronic feelings of inadequacy, and other forms of low self-esteem.
Define what success looks like, then set specific and actionable goals for achieving success.
A licensed therapist can help you feel smarter and more successful. Find a therapist today!
Balter, M. (2011, April 25). What does IQ really measure? Retrieved from https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2011/04/what-does-iq-really-measure
Class bias is found in most IQ tests. (2014, June 9). Retrieved from http://oxfordpresents.com/breedlove/blog/iq-tests
Côté, S., Gyurak, A., & Levenson, R. W. (2010). The ability to regulate emotion is associated with greater well-being, income, and socioeconomic status. Emotion, 10(6), 923-933. Retrieved from http://psycnet.apa.org/record/2010-25761-009
Hanscombe, K. B., Trzaskowski, M., Haworth, C. M., Davis, O. S., Dale, P. S., & Plomin, R. (2012). Socioeconomic status (SES) and children’s intelligence (IQ): In a UK-representative sample SES moderates the environmental, not genetic, effect on IQ. PLoS ONE,7(2). Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3270016
Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences [PDF]. (n.d.). Northern Illinois University. Retrieved from https://www.niu.edu/facdev/_pdf/guide/learning/howard_gardner_theory_multiple_intelligences.pdf
Libbrecht, N., Lievens, F., Carette, B., & Côté, S. (2014). Emotional intelligence predicts success in medical school. Emotion, 14(1), 64-73. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24219393
Martschenko, D. (2018, February 1). The IQ test wars: Why screening for intelligence is still so controversial. The Conversation. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/the-iq-test-wars-why-screening-for-intelligence-is-still-so-controversial-81428
Rosales, J. (n.d.). The racist beginnings of standardized testing. Retrieved from http://www.nea.org/home/73288.htm
Schmidt, F. L., & Hunter, J. (2004). General mental ability in the world of work: Occupational attainment and job performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86(1), 162-173. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14717634
Standardized testing and stereotype threat. (2018, March 12). Retrieved from http://kirwaninstitute.osu.edu/standardized-testing-and-stereotype-threat
Strenze, T. (2007). Intelligence and socioeconomic success: A meta-analytic review of longitudinal research. Intelligence, 35(1), 401-426. Retrieved from http://www.emilkirkegaard.dk/en/wp-content/uploads/Intelligence-and-socioeconomic-success-A-meta-analytic-review-of-longitudinal-research.pdf
© Copyright 2018 GoodTherapy.org. All rights reserved.
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Ahead of Final GOP Debate of 2015, Franklin Graham Urges Christians To Pray for 'Most Important Election in Nation's History'
By Leah Marieann Klett ( [email protected] ) Dec 14, 2015 12:08 PM EST Comment
Republican U.S. presidential candidates (L-R) former Governor Jeb Bush, businessman Donald Trump, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio and Dr. Ben Carson congratulate each other at the conclusion of the debate held by Fox Business Network for the top 2016 U.S. Republican presidential candidates in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, November 10, 2015. Reuters
Just ahead of the final GOP debate of 2015, Rev. Franklin Graham is urging all American Christians to not only pray for the future U.S. president but to vote in what may be the "most important election in our nation's history."
On Tuesday night, nine candidates will appear for the final Republican presidential primary debate of 2015, held in Las Vegas, Nevada. The debate will air on CNN at 8:30 p.m. ET, and will be moderated by Wolf Blitzer, with CNN's Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash joining Salem Radio Network talk show host Hugh Hewitt as questioners.
On Monday, Rev. Graham shared his thoughts on Facebook about the upcoming event, which is expected to help shape the contest heading into the Iowa caucuses.
"Tomorrow night in Nevada the Republican presidential candidates will be having their last debate of 2015," he wrote. "I don't know what questions can be asked that haven't been asked already, but I plan to be watching and I plan to be praying."
Participants in the primary debate include businessman Donald Trump; retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson; Texas Sen. Ted Cruz; Florida Sen. Marco Rubio; former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush; businesswoman Carly Fiorina; New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie; Ohio Gov. John Kasich, and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul.
Four candidates -- former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham and former New York Gov. George Pataki -- will appear in the first debate on Tuesday evening.
In continuing his Facebook comments, Graham, 64, clarified that while he is not endorsing any specific candidate, he is "endorsing prayer-and I'm strongly urging Christians to get out and vote."
"We need to elect candidates at all levels that most closely support biblical values and principles," he charged. "This may be the most important election in our nation's history. America is headed in the wrong direction and only God can turn it around."
As the presidential election draws closer, the evangelist plans to travel to all 50 states in 2016, from capital to capital, for the "Decision American Tour 2016" beginning in Des Moines, Iowa on January 5. During this time, Graham will "be urging Christians to vote, to live out their faith in every part of their lives, and to pray for our nation just as Nehemiah cried out to God to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and restore hope to His people," according to the event website.
The entire list of "Decision America Tour 2016" locations can be found here.
"I hope you will stand in prayer with me for America. The Bible says, 'Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord' (Psalm 33:12)," Graham concludes.
According to Politico, Tuesday's debate will stream for free at www.cnn.com, and no cable subscription is necessary to stream. CNN also will allow access to the debate on mobile devices. Radio listeners can tune into any Salem Network broadcast across the country.
Tags : GOP Debate, Republican Debate 2015, Franklin Graham, election, Evangelical Poll, Christian voters, Ben Carson, Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee, Carly Fiorina
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Ari Lennox Went From Uber Driving to Headlining Her Own Tour
Lil Nas X’s New EP Proves “Old Town Road” Wasn’t a Mirage
Max Cea
21 Savage: From Robbin’ Season to Role Model
Atlanta’s realest rapper doesn't say much—but when he does, we listen.
Ask 21 Savage questions about his life or music and you’ll be lucky if he looks up from his phone. But ask him to light himself on fire and he perks right up. We’re in a white-walled photo studio 24 stories up in downtown Manhattan, where photographer Geordie Wood is demonstrating a shot that involves 21 Savage’s right index finger, rubbing alcohol, and a white Bic lighter. 21 has been fixing his deadpan stare on the camera for an hour or so, and the self-proclaimed Saint Laurent Don is ready to go back to his hotel after waking up at 6 a.m. to fly in for Anthony Vaccarello’s first standalone menswear show just a few hours from now. As Wood demonstrates on his own finger, 21 catches a second wind. “Hell yeah,” he says, and it’s on.
The 25-year-old rapper, dressed in a white Sandro mesh T-shirt and shiny black Dolce & Gabbana silk jacquard trousers, soaks his finger in a cup of rubbing alcohol. An assistant gingerly extends the lighter. All of a sudden, 21’s digit bursts into blue flame down to the second knuckle, a tail of fire dancing above his long, manicured fingernail. Wood gets off a single shot before 21 flails his slender hand to extinguish the blaze. If it hurts, he bears it the way he reacts to everything: hardly at all.
After a few more shots, 21 gets up to meet Pusha-T—in the building doing Daytona press—who has stopped by to quizzically watch the pyrotechnics. “Don’t let him do that to you, man!” Pusha says as they dap. 21 flashes a gold-toothed smile—the first anyone in the crew has seen all day. After a brief chat, Pusha is whisked to his next interview, and 21 walks back on the seamless floor to get his finger ignited once again.
Shirt, $300, by No. 21 / Pants, $745, by Dolce & Gabbana / Belt by Versace (price upon request)
It’s hard to tell what 21 Savage is thinking during all this primping, prodding, and borderline torture. He wears a perpetual expression of apathy or intensity depending on the angle: lips tight, brow unfurrowed, eyelids hugging his jet-black pupils, dagger tattoo splitting his forehead. He is notoriously short-spoken. When I ask him how his finger feels after he’s changed back into the bright red Adidas wind suit he arrived in, he simply says in a gravelly monotone, “It’s a’ight.”
Don’t mistake his inwardness for a bad attitude. After all, his violence- and crime-ridden backstory has turned him into something of a gangster antihero. Born Shayaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, he grew up in Atlanta with his mom and ten siblings. When he was in the seventh grade, he was banned from all DeKalb County, Georgia, schools for bringing a gun to class and did time in juvenile. (“That shit was really fun,” he says.) In 2013, on his 21st birthday, he was shot six times in a drug deal gone wrong; his best friend was killed, memorialized in a large tattoo on his right pec. It turns out that while 21 isn’t keen on elaborating on his fashion sense or songwriting process, he doesn’t mind discussing one of his main hustles before rapping.
“I used to rob the hell out of everybody,” he says. “If you had it, if it was worth something, I’d take it.” He has a taste for designer fashion now, but back then he rarely stole clothes. Mostly money and, when he was younger, cars. The fastest whip he ever jacked? “A Camaro SS,” he says. He was arrested only once on serious felony charges when a contraband-filled car he was riding in got pulled over. “It wasn’t my fault, though, and I done sold every drug, robbed every—I did everything there is to do, except rob a bank. I swear to God on my life I did everything in between. And I ain’t never go to jail for that shit.”
It wasn’t your fault you got arrested?
“It wasn’t my fault that we got caught,” he says.
21 Savage on His Extremely Painful Head Tattoos
21 Savage’s music busts open a vivid window into some version of his life: one driven by deadly rivalries, mediated by AK-47’s and Glocks, and set in run-down trap houses. His catalog is fairly two-dimensional, but he has a good taste in syrupy beats by a bevy of Atlanta producers, notably Metro Boomin, and an intuition for lyrics that go shockingly hard despite his unadorned delivery. Many of his tracks are autobiographical and, well, savage: Seventh grade I got caught with a pistol, sent me to Panthersville / Eighth grade started playin' football / Then I was like fuck the field / Ninth grade I was knocking niggas out / Nigga like Holyfield.
21 didn’t grow up wanting to be a rapper, only deciding to enter the studio after the 2013 shooting. “There wasn’t nothing else to do, really,” he says. Now that he’s not in front of the camera, he blasts a small silver vape every minute or so. “I had to change. I was a wild nigga. And I knew one day karma was gonna come back around. So when I got shot, I was like, All right, this is my sign. I’m getting a second chance or some shit.”
Blazer, $3,690, by Saint Laurent
His songs are often deeply depressing, but it’s the kind of emotionally hard-edged rap that the SoundCloud generation connects with—moody hooks and uncut lyrics painting a picture that’s painfully real. “All these bitch-ass rappers be rapping about shit that I really do,” he says, “so I’m like, Shit, I might as well rap about it, ’cause I really do it.”
Though 21 doesn’t officially look up to anyone in the rap world—“Nah, these niggas some hoes,” he says when I ask—Drake is probably the closest thing he has to a mentor. He put 21 on “Sneakin’” and was rumored to be signing him to OVO. There was also speculation that Drake bought him a red Ferrari 488 like the one featured in the “Sneakin’” music video. “Nah, I bought it,” 21 says. “But Drake brought me one for my birthday to ride around L.A. He the only one that got me something for my birthday that year.”
“Hell yeah, don’t nobody else get me shit but Drake.”
And why’s that?
“Drake just a genuine-ass good-hearted person,” he says, punting on why nobody else got him anything. “He did a lot of shit he didn’t have to do. He do a lot of shit for up-and-coming rappers, period. I don’t think he get his respect for that. Every fuckin’ year, he pull a new artist up. Ain’t no other artist on his level do that shit.”
Shirt, $4,375, by Dolce & Gabbana / T-shirt, $175, by Sandro
A few days earlier, at the height of the Pusha-Drake feud, 21 tweeted a plea for peace, one that some read as an entreaty for Pusha and Drake to squash their high-profile beef: “I wish everybody come together and kill all this beef They want us to kill each other especially now since we young and rich.”
“When I was talking about that, I wasn't talking about [Pusha-T and Drake’s] beef. ’Cause they beef is like competition beef; it’s more like who-can-out-rap-who type shit. It’s different,” he tells me. “If I beef with somebody, it's going to be more than just a song. I’ma be trying to kill your ass.” Given the recent fatal shootings of XXXTentacion and Jimmy Wopo, and the attempted shooting of Chief Keef in Times Square, the stakes outlined are, perhaps, not abstract. (There is no indication those shootings were related to rap feuds, but celebrity is not bulletproof.) “If you do a song saying you gon’ harm somebody that you rap beefing with, cut that shit out, unless you ready to kill somebody or die,” 21 says. “If I got beef with you, that mean I want to kill you. And I ain’t go through all this shit to get rich to goddamn go to jail for killing.”
The next weekend, in Atlanta, 21 was caught on video holding a gun during a brawl at a pool party; no shots were fired.
After the surprise success of his first release, The Slaughter Tape, 21 Savage was propelled from cult-favorite Atlanta spitter to mainstream hitmaker, who now has a number one single (Post Malone’s “Rockstar”), a number two album (Issa Album, his debut), and features with Future and Cardi B. But 21 still considers himself an outsider of sorts. When he first started getting rich, he did what he saw other rappers doing: He bought chains, cars, and racks of clothing from Barneys and Saks. But recently he put “$2 or 3 million” of his chains in a safe-deposit box and swore off jewelry in an effort to be more financially responsible. He arrived on set wearing not so much as a ring or Rolex. “Motherfuckers rap, get money, buy cars, buy jewelry, be broke, that be the end of the story,” he says.
Are you trying to be some kind of role model?
“I’m trying to change that for myself,” 21 replies. “If motherfuckers want to follow, then that’s cool.”
We hop in a black Escalade to fight our way through midday traffic back to 21 Savage’s hotel. He’s here for Saint Laurent but doesn’t seem that interested in talking about it; when I ask him about his ambitions in the fashion world, he queues up a music video on his phone. “Yeah, I just like clothes,” he replies. I wonder if he’s always been an introvert or if he naturally throws up his defenses when peppered with questions he doesn’t feel like answering. “Yeah…you said have I always been a what?”
Shy, reserved.
“Yeah, you can say shy. I’ve always been…I stay to myself.”
Jacket, $4,750, by Tom Ford / Shirt, $930, by Tom Ford / Pants, $1,575, by Ami
Shirt, $4,375, by Dolce & Gabbana / T-shirt, $175, by Sandro / Pants, $875, by Dolce & Gabbana / Loafers by Tom Ford (price upon request)
As our SUV crawls through Tribeca, we talk about his plans after he finishes touring with Post Malone. Earlier, he mentioned that he misses his old life, tenuous though it was. “I like to reflect on the past,” he says. “I wish I could go back. I feel like I had more fun when I was young.” He keeps one foot firmly in his past life—even though he lives in a new high-rise elsewhere in Atlanta, he still hangs out in his hood “every day” when he’s home. Plenty of rappers rep their hometown as they come up in the industry, but few seem to stay as intensely connected to their block as 21. (The number itself is a reference to his street.) He tells me that when he gets back home, he’ll continue working on his next project, which will introduce an expanded 21 Savage sound; he hints that this will include R&B elements, but when I ask for specifics he demurs: “Nah, niggas be copying me.”
As we fall into the rhythms of start-and-stop traffic, 21, looking at his phone, slumps in his cushioned seat, and I estimate there’s a 50 percent chance he falls asleep and our conversation ends there. But then he asks if there’s a Balenciaga store nearby, and as we change courses for the Mercer Street shop, he opens up.
The topic turns to what he does to unwind on the road: “I like to watch war movies about Iraq and shit. All I watch is war movies. The stories be touching…just to see what they go through on both sides of the fence. In the movie I was just watching, what’s the name—Jamie Foxx is in it. I just watched that shit.”
Neither of us can come up with the name, but his bodyguard in the front seat pipes up: The Kingdom.
“The Kingdom. Like, they roll past, and they shooting a whole bunch of innocent people. But my point is, the American army was like, you know, doing what they gotta do, and like a little boy crawled out into the street, and they hesitated ’cause they thought he was innocent. But he had a bomb, and it was just like dayum.” I think he’s now confusing The Kingdom, set in Saudi Arabia, with American Sniper. “So it was just like, damn, imagine growing up like that, just see motherfuckers getting killed left and right.” The parallels are clear: “We go through that over here, but nowhere near like what they go through. That shit is like every day, motherfuckers bombing shit, and the innocent people, they just caught in the middle, ’cause it’s like…shit, we don’t want ’em here, the government trying to ban them from coming here, and so it’s like damn, they just left with no hope, in a country where it’s just mayhem...kids really gotta grow up like that.”
Why, exactly, do you like watching these movies?
“It makes me appreciate my life more.”
Blazer, $3,690, by Saint Laurent / Shirt, $990, by Saint Laurent / Pants, $1,575, by Ami / Boots, $1,195, by Christian Louboutin
21 now asks me a question: “Was we fighting over there before 9/11? I think 9/11 is when it started.” I tell him that we invaded Iraq in the ’90s. “America, we like jack boys,” 21 replies. “We like to take shit. That’s what all this shit be about at the end of the day: money. ’Cause shit, Kim Jong Whatever-His-Name-Is, he been fucking testing out bombs and shit. Why ain’t we went to war with his ass yet? ’Cause they ass-broke. Ain’t nothing for us to take over there.”
We sit in silence as our SUV rumbles over the cobblestone streets of SoHo. I mention that certain politicians and media outlets often compare America’s inner cities to war zones. “It’s not like Iraq,” he replies. “Shit, statistically, it is.” His voice trails off. “I wish that shit gon’ get better one day, though. You can’t name one place in America that’s just like an all-white ghetto where white people just savage, killing each other and hating each other. Ain’t no white neighborhood like that in America, period. It’s just sad, ’cause it ain’t nothing but black people killing black people. And that’s ’cause of the way we been wired. We been wired to hate each other. ’Cause everybody else hate us. So they make us hate ourselves subconsciously, and we don’t even know it. So we just kill each other off like animals. We the only people who do that shit.”
21’s voice has softened, and he’s staring out the window. “I rap about what I rap about, but my mind-set different. My music is my music, that’s what people want to hear, so I’m going to give ’em what they want to hear.” Meaning: violence and sexual conquest. “But my mind is way beyond that shit.” He pauses, seemingly disappointed. “I try and go there in my music, but motherfuckers don’t appreciate that shit, so that’s why I just rap what they want to hear…” Meaning, again: violence and sexual conquest. His voice trails off to a near whisper. “At the end of the day, this how I eat.”
We pull up to the Balenciaga store, where the staff, who quickly recognize 21, offer to lock the door while he shops. “Nah, I’m good,” he replies. 21 might be trying to embrace financial responsibility, but he’s not over a splurge, picking out a half-dozen pairs of Speed Knits and a few tees and wind pants. I recommend throwing in a pair of the chunky Triple S franken-sneakers in neon green and he brushes me off—he knows exactly what he wants.
“I don’t really get just anything,” he tells me on our way out, about 15 minutes and $7,500 later. We drive around the block to the Louis Vuitton store, where he is determined to get a pair of Archlights. (The staff manage to rustle up the last pair of size 9s, in black and white.) As he waits on different sizes of a few sweaters and a pair of floral jean shorts, a tourist asks if he can take a picture of his son with 21. He obliges with his typical mean mug. “Famous!” the guy exclaims by way of thanks, and they drift off to look at some luggage. When 21 is engaged in the pedestrian pursuits of a major celebrity, it’s easy to forget that he saw his best friend murdered in front of his eyes. He has rocketed to the forefront of hip-hop by spinning verses out of his own trauma. Robbing people, selling drugs, jacking cars—it puts him on a plane that few can access.
At this point, 21’s enthusiasm is at Uniqlo-shopper levels. He stands around the store in silence, simply waiting for them to bring him some new clothes that fit. He’s done shopping, and definitely done talking.
T-shirt, $175, by Sandro
Related Stories for GQProfilesEntertainmentMusic
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Stephens Green
by expression on March 31, 2013
Stephen’s Green Dublin Photographed By William Murphy
While the central park of St. Stephen’s Green is one of three ancient commons in the city, its current layout owes much to the restorations of the 1800’s (see History above).
Some key features:
(A) Fusilier’s Arch
(B) O’Donovan Rossa
(C) O’Connell Bridge
(D) WolfeTone & Famine Memorial
(E) Lord Ardilaun
(F) Markievicz
(G) Playground
(H) Bandstand
(I) 3 Fates
The grounds are roughly rectangular, measuring (approximately) 550 by 450 metres, and are centred on a formal garden.
One of the more unusual aspects of the park lies on the north west corner of this central area – a garden for the blind with scented plants, which can withstand handling, and are labelled in Braille.
Further north again (and spanning much of the length of the park) is a large lake. Home to ducks and other water fowl, the lake is fed by an artificial water fall, spanned by O’Connell bridge, and fronted by an ornamental gazebo. The lakes in the park are fed from the Grand Canal at Portbello.
To the south side of the main garden circle is more open heath surrounding a bandstand, and often frequented by lunching students, workers and shoppers on Dublin’s sunnier days.
Other notable features and include:
The Fusilier’s Arch (first termed “Traitors Gate” by Redmondites) at the Grafton Street corner which commemorates the Royal Dublin Fusiliers who lost their lives in Second Boer War.
A group representing the Three Fates inside the Leeson Street gate (a gift from the German people in thanks for Irish help to refugees after World War II)
A seated statue of Lord Ardilaun on the western side, the man who gave the Green to the city, facing the College of Surgeons which he also sponsored
The Yeats memorial garden with a sculpture by Henry Moore
A bust of James Joyce facing his former university at Newman House
A memorial to the Fenian leader Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa near the Grafton Street entrance
A bronze statue at the Merrion Row corner of Theobald Wolfe Tone, the leader of 1798. Flanked by monoliths, it was immediately nicknamed ‘Tonehenge‘.
A memorial to the great famine of 1845-1850 by Edward Delaney
A bust of Constance Markievicz on the south of the central garden
A statue of Robert Emmet standing opposite his birthplace (now demolished) at No 124.
Filed Under: DUBLIN, DUBLIN 1, FOTONIQUE, INFOMATIQUE, IRELAND, OF INTEREST, Photographed By William Murphy, Photographs By William Murphy, PHOTOGRAPHY, Public Art Photographed By William Murphy, PUBLIC PARK, Street Photography, Street Photography By William Murphy, STREETS OF DUBLIN PROJECT, TO SEE AND DO IN DUBLIN, UPDATED 2017 Tagged With: Constance Markievicz, Dublin, Edward Delaney, Famine Memorial, Fotonique, Fusilier's Arch, Green, henry moore, Ireland, Lord Ardilaun, O'Connell Bridge, O'Donovan Rossa, PUBLIC PARK, Robert Emmett, Stephens, Stephens Green, Three Fates, Tonehenge, WILLIAM MURPHY, Wolfe Tone
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Common Scams
Credit, debt, and loans
Fraud against older adults
Health fraud
Money-making scams
Phony prizes and sales
Scams of the heart
Tech scams
Feds spotlighting the mass mail fraud schemes that cost consumers millions
Scammers using United States Postal Service as part of mass mail fraud
The United States mail is supposed to be a way for consumers to send and receive important messages -- account statements and bills, jury duty notifications, personal correspondence, and more. Unfortunately, the mail is also a method for scammers to reach tens of millions of consumers with fraudulent pitches, potentially netting these criminals tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars in illicit profits.
In fact, mail fraud has become such a serious threat to consumers that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced a wide-ranging crackdown on mail fraud schemes targeting vulnerable Americans with promises of easy riches and good fortune. The DOJ and its agency and nonprofit partners are also launching a special educational campaign to open consumers’ eyes to the reality of mail fraud.
In one mail fraud scheme shut down earlier this year, scammers in the Netherlands defrauded thousands of consumers in the United States, including many seniors, out of more than $18 million with mailings promising big lottery winnings. All the victims had to do, the scammers promised, was send $15-$55 back to the scammers in pre-addressed envelopes provided by the scammers. In reality, there were no winnings to be gained and the scammers were just out to defraud vulnerable consumers.
Federal law enforcement agents like the DOJ and U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) investigate and prosecute these scammers. NCL is proud to be a partner of the DOJ’s efforts to urge consumers to be on the lookout for mass mailing fraud scams. The criminals running these scams are sophisticated and well-versed at making the letters that arrive on consumers’ doorsteps look convincing. However, by following the right advice, consumers can help stop mail fraud before it happens.
Beware of mail saying you’ve won a prize. Promises of big lottery or sweepstakes winnings is a common way that mass mailing fraudsters get victims to open their letters and engage.
Never pay to collect a prize. No lottery or sweepstakes program should require you to pay a fee in order to collect winnings. Claims that you must pay upfront “processing fees,” “administrative fees,” “taxes,” or other fees are big red flags.
Just because the envelope or letter is addressed to you doesn’t make it legit. Scammers know that the more personalized a letter looks, the more likely a victim is to open it and fall for the pitch. Because of this, mass mailing fraud letters often seem very individualized and may even look like they have handwritten notes on them. In reality, the are mass-produced and sent to thousands of consumers like you.
Watch out for mail from “psychics.” Earlier this year, a fraud scheme claiming to be associated with psychics was shut down, but not before it netted more than $180 million in ill-gotten gains for the scammers. If you receive a letter claiming a “special” message has been sent just for you, it’s almost certainly a scam.
If you receive a suspicious piece of mail, report it! Law enforcement needs your help to shut down these mass mail fraudsters. If you receive a piece of mail that looks like it might be part of a scam, report it to NCL’s Fraud.org campaign via our secure online complaint form. We share complaints with our network of more than 90 law enforcement partners who can investigate and shut down the scammers.
Sign Up for Fraud Alerts
Sign up to email updates
Fraud.org is a project of the National Consumers League.
Copyright © 2019 National Consumers League. All Rights Reserved.
1701 K St NW suite 1200, Washington, DC 20006 · (202) 835-3323
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Scattered clouds with the possibility of an isolated thunderstorm developing this afternoon. Hot and humid. High 98F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 30%..
Isolated thunderstorms this evening, then skies turning partly cloudy after midnight. Warm and humid. Low near 75F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
...HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 11 AM THIS MORNING TO
8 PM EDT THIS EVENING...
* HEAT INDEX VALUES...105 TO 110 DUE TO TEMPERATURES IN THE MID
90S, AND DEWPOINTS IN THE LOWER 70S.
EDITORIAL: A noble sacrifice, a questionable purpose
THESE DAYS, Americans are not often confronted with the fact that the nation’s longest war is still cutting short the lives of its soldiers. But our war in Afghanistan, in its 19th year, rages on, and it has ended the life of Marine Cpl. Robert A. Hendriks of Locust Valley, N.Y.
Hendriks, a 26-year-old reservist and infantry machine gun specialist, was killed Monday when his convoy was hit by a roadside bomb near the U.S. base in Parwan Province. Also killed were Sgt. Christopher A. Slutman of Yonkers, a New York City firefighter, and Sgt. Benjamin S. Hines of York, Pa.
It’s not surprising that the war has mostly faded from the top headlines. More than 2,300 U.S. service members have died in the conflict, 13 last year and seven this year. The United States once had 100,000 service members there, but now has fewer than 14,000. And with then-President Barack Obama promising to end the war in his second term and President Donald Trump promising the same since his presidential campaign, many Americans likely have a sense that this war is largely past.
But Hendriks’ mother, Felicia Arculeo, said she is “broken into a million pieces.” His brother, Joseph Hendriks, also a Marine stationed in Afghanistan, is accompanying the body home.
The United States went into Afghanistan to destroy al–Qaida and remove the Taliban from power. Today, America is trying to negotiate a peace that grants the Taliban power in hopes it can control the Islamic State insurgents who sprang up when al–Qaida faltered.
Hendriks died doing his duty for his nation. That nation has a duty to stop asking its soldiers to die for no clear purpose in Afghanistan.
Joseph Hendriks
First, they lost their children. Then came the conspiracy theories. Now, the parents of Newtown are fighting back.
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United93
The United93: The United93
Valerie March 9, 2012
The United93 is a rock band from the Korea. In a country where rock music is a minority and pretty much pop music reigns supreme, it's amazing and a real treat to find groups that rock out as much as these guys. Although it's a bit tough to find info about them, it does seem that they're quite popular in the Korean rock scene. They were named as Band of the Month in a prestigious music magazine in Korea. This self-titled EP was released back in 2010 and available as a free download under a Creative Commons license. The compilation is an uncharacteristic marriage of prog, punk and industrial elements.
Alternative RockInternationalMusicRapRock2 views 0
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Thomas Earl Doyle
(26 Jun 1900 - 13 Jan 2001)
Born June 26, 1900 in Barr Township Daviess County, Indiana to Martin and Cisley (Kelly) Doyle the second of eight children. The others being James, Mary, Gertrude, Agnes, Cletus, Austin (all deceased) and Ernestine Palmer Washington, Indiana.
He was educated in Barr Township schools and graduated from Montgomery High School.
He was noted for being a runner and jumper. It was said there was not a fence in Barr Township that he couldn't jump. He often raced horses and would finish many races running backwards.
He attended Indiana State Normal, now Indiana State University, in Terre Haute, Indiana. He taught in Barr Township schools for three years from fall of 1922 through May of 1925.
He married Rose Nalin on September 28, 1927 at St. Patrick's Church, Corning, Indiana. She died August 2, 1974.
They have 6 children, Charles Edward Doyle (Washington, Indiana), Vincent Walter Doyle, (Dunedin, Florida), Lewis Eugene Doyle (Washington, Indiana, Mariam Rose Knese (Dayton, Ohio), Thomas E. Doyle, Jr. (Washington, Indiana), Jean Ann Sorensen (Olney, Illinois). There are 17 Grandchildren, and 27 Great-grand children. In his 100 years not a single descendent had died.
He married Louise (Young) Richardson at St. Simons Church on May 10, 1980.
He began working at the US Post Office as a Parcel Post carrier and later became a city carrier and retired on disability after 30 years due to being hit by a car that ran a stop sign, receiving broken ribs and crushed left arm. After 5 years of personal exercise he had fully recovered from the injuries and went on regular retirement. At one time he figured he had walked enough "official miles" to circumnavigate the world 2 times.
He was also active for 55 years in the construction business beginning in the early 1920's in several overlapping partnerships with Alvin McCracken, as "McCracken and Doyle", Curt Wildridge as "Wildridge and Doyle", Cecil Booker as "Booker and Doyle" and with his brothers James, Cletus and Austin Doyle as "Doyle Bros. Contractors" ending in 1975.
During the construction years he built over 78 homes in the Washington area as well as Churches in Vincennes, Oakland City, Indiana, Lawrenceville, Robinson, and Heathville, Illinois, American Legion in Washington, Indiana, Elks and Moose Lodges and Sandridge school in Lawrenceville, Illinois, several additions to the Sullivan Elementary School, Sullivan, Indiana and Jasper 6th Street School, Jasper, Indiana, water treatment plants in Odon, Martin County State park, Shoals, Shakamak State Park, Jasonville, Indiana, and Dugger, Indiana. Pride's Creek Park, Petersburg, Indians and the last job was a sewer treatment plant in Dugger, Indiana as well as over 350 contracts at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane, Indiana and 7 State Highway garages.
He was an avid Gardner all his life.
He became well known nationally as the "plastic man" and "blackberry man" after 1959 when he developed a method of using black plastic to cover a garden and planted through small holes. Because the plastic was used for up to 10 years, he called it "Gardening without Cultivation" and marketed his special formulated plastic sheets under that name. He also wrote a gardening book that has been printed in 7 editions.
In the early 1970's he discovered a thornless blackberry that can product up to 10 gallons of extra large and extra sweet blackberries and in 1975 was granted a patent on the plant as "Doyles Thornless Blackberry" This was the first thornless blackberry patented since 1940 and he was inducted into the Agricultural Hall of Fame for this achievement. His blackberry is a featured attraction at the Agricultural Hall of Fame west of Kansas City, Kansas and for 25 years visitors have adjusted their travel plans after seeing the plants and came to Washington to meet the originator.
He has been featured on television and in several national publications including Grit (twice) ,Mother Earth News (three times, last being in 1999) and Organic Gardening, Montgomery Times, Washington Times Herald and Evansville Courier.
In 1969 Tom visited the Washington K of C club and noticed they were looking for bowlers. Since he always had enjoyed bowling and now had some free time he joined the K of C league and two others. Although his averages were around 135-160 over the years he had several 600 series and especially enjoyed the challenge of having to finish with three or four strikes to beat a much younger opponent. He seldom failed. He finally gave up bowling in 1995. In the mid 70's his knees began to wear out but being the determined man he was, he would use crutches to get to his acre garden and then do all the necessary work by crawling around on his hands and knees. It did handicap but not stop his bowling. In 1979 he had both knee joints replaced and returned to his normal activities after a few months or recuperation.
During his lifetime he strongly encouraged education and many people have reported how his encouragement led them to continue with school and enabled them to become nurses, accountant, bankers, a county treasurer or successful businessman.
He owned the fourth car he ever rode in, but there is only one known time he ever used second gear and that was to cross Skyline Bridge in St. Petersburg, Florida.
He also had interesting theories about raising children.
First, he always wanted his children to mind him so after he told them to do something twice and they did not do it he would tell them not to, so they would be doing what he told them.
Second, it did not matter how many children you have, it takes everything you have to raise them.
The only difference for a big family or small family is the size of each child's share.
Tom licensed Severtson Farms, of Wylie, Texas to sell Doyles Thornless Blackberry. This contract has been terminated by both parties and Doyles Thornless Blackberry of Washington, IN now has exclusive rights to the selling of Doyles Thornless Blackberry Plants.
Lewis E. Doyle
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You are here: Home > Automobile Insurance > Property and Casualty - Auto Bulletins > 2003 > No. A-06/03
Filing & Other Regulatory Requirements for Paralegals (SABS Representatives)
- Auto
The purpose of this bulletin is to provide information concerning the new requirements for individuals who are not lawyers and who provide representation to claimants under the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule ("SABS representatives"), in order to comply with the amendments to the Insurance Act introduced by the Keeping the Promise for a Strong Economy Act (Budget Measures), 2002 (Bill 198).
As announced in Bulletin A-04/03 (Implementing Bill 198: New and Amending Regulations), the provisions applicable to SABS representatives come into force on November 1, 2003.
As a result of these changes, no one may act as an adviser, consultant or representative on behalf of a person concerning a claim for statutory accident benefits, unless the representative meets the requirements set out in the regulations. This includes, for example, a person who does any of the following activities concerning a claim for statutory accident benefits:
advises another person about his or her rights under the SABS;
completes or assists in completing application forms;
discusses and negotiates with an insurer or adjuster;
attends dispute resolution proceedings at FSCO, in Small Claims Court or private arbitration; or
negotiates the settlement of SABS claims.
The regulations require SABS representatives to file information required by the Superintendent with the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO); carry errors & omissions (e & o) liability insurance coverage of $1,000,000 in respect of any one occurrence; and refrain from acting for any individual who they know, or ought reasonably to know, has a catastrophic impairment as defined in the SABS (O. Regulation 664 amended by O. Reg 275/03).
The regulations also amend the definition of "unfair or deceptive acts or practices" to prohibit the following conduct by SABS representatives:
charging fees under a contingency fee arrangement;
paying or accepting referral fees;
committing an act or omission inconsistent with a Code of Conduct issued by the Superintendent; and
failing to disclose any conflict of interest to the claimant and the insurer (O. Reg. 7/00 amended by O. Reg. 278/03).
Lawyers acting in the usual course of the practice of law and insurer representatives are exempt from these requirements. Lawyers’ employees are also exempt, provided they act only under the direct supervision of a lawyer who is retained, or whose law firm is retained, by the claimant.
Persons who provide representation without compensation (such as a friend or family member who assists a claimant in an informal and unpaid manner) are also exempt from these requirements. However, a person is considered to be providing representation for "compensation" if he or she receives, directly or indirectly, a financial benefit in connection with the claimant’s representation. Individuals who are paid service providers who combine the provision of health care or other services with claimant representation, must comply with these requirements.
Filing requirements for SABS representatives
All SABS representatives must file a declaration form with FSCO before November 1, 2003. Anyone who becomes a SABS representative after November 1, 2003, will need to file before engaging in the activities of a SABS representative. SABS representatives may commence filing with FSCO on September 2, 2003. In addition, he or she must re-file on or before the renewal date of his or her e & o liability insurance policy and any time the filed information changes (e.g. change to personal or business information, change to e & o liability insurance, or ceasing to act as a SABS representative).
The required information in the declaration includes basic personal identification information (name, home address and contact information); business information (business name, business address, and contact information); details of e & o liability insurance (information on the broker or agent, insurance company, and policy), confirmation and signature. There is no fee for this filing. The declaration is not an application for a licence or registration.
The easy-to-use e-filing service will be available through FSCO’s website at www.fsco.gov.on.ca beginning September 2, 2003. Simply go to the Paralegals / SABS Representatives page of FSCO’s website, which can be accessed through the Insurance or Consumers sections. A copy of the web page filing form is included with this bulletin for your reference.
A searchable list of SABS representatives who have filed with FSCO will be posted on the Paralegals / SABS Representatives page of FSCO’s website at www.fsco.gov.on.ca Only the SABS representative’s name, business name, and city in which he/she does business will be posted; no personal information will be posted. This list will ensure that claimants and insurance industry participants can verify that a SABS representative has filed with FSCO. It does not mean, however, that FSCO has endorsed the services or qualifications of the persons whose names are on the list.
A SABS representative who fails to file or fails to update the filing as required, is in violation of the Insurance Act and is not entitled to act as a SABS representative. He or she may also be subject to prosecution and administrative action taken by the Superintendent. Effective November 1, 2003, FSCO will not accept an application in any dispute resolution proceeding from a SABS representative who has not filed. Nor will FSCO allow a SABS representative to participate in existing proceedings after the deadline, if he or she has not filed.
SABS representatives are required to obtain e & o liability insurance coverage
Effective November 1, 2003, all SABS representatives must have e & o liability insurance coverage. This insurance may be available to some SABS representatives through membership in one of the paralegal associations. If not, he or she will need to obtain insurance directly. Please contact your insurance broker or agent directly for more information or ask them to contact ENCON Group Inc., which currently arranges this coverage.
A SABS representative must obtain and continue to maintain e & o liability insurance coverage in an amount that is not less than $1,000,000 in respect of any one occurrence, with an overall policy aggregate limit of at least $1,000,000 per person. The deductible must not exceed $5,000 in respect of any one occurrence.
Information with respect to the policy must be provided to FSCO when making and filing the declaration. In addition, if requested by FSCO, a SABS representative must provide a copy of the insurance certificate or policy.
SABS representatives are required to adhere to a code of conduct
The Code of Conduct for Statutory Accident Benefit Representatives (Code), issued by the Superintendent, sets out the standards of conduct expected of SABS representatives. The Code also includes requirements set out in legislation and regulation so as to be a comprehensive document.
A copy of the Code is attached. The Code is made under authority of the Insurance Act (Act) and subsection 4(1) of Ontario Regulation 7/00, as amended. The effective date is November 1, 2003. The Code governs the conduct of all SABS representatives, whether or not they appear in dispute resolution proceedings at FSCO.
A link to the Code is posted on the Paralegals / SABS Representatives page of FSCO’s website at www.fsco.gov.on.ca The Code will also be published in The Ontario Gazette. A copy may also be obtained by contacting FSCO. See contact information at the end of the document.
Additional information is available
Answers to frequently asked questions are attached. Further information is available through the Paralegals / SABS Representatives page of FSCO’s website. Simply go to the Insurance or Consumers sections of FSCO’s website to locate the link.
If you have questions about the requirements, new regulatory changes or the Code and how it applies to you, please contact FSCO at 416-250-7250 or 1-800-668-0128, or by e-mail at paralegalinfo@fsco.gov.on.ca
Bryan P. Davies
Attachments (PDF):
Code of Conduct for Statutory Accident Benefit Representatives Size: 275 kb
Filing & Other Regulatory Requirements for Paralegals (SABS Representatives) Size: 240 kb
© Queen's Printer for Ontario, 2012-15 - Last Modified: Aug 12, 2013 02:47 PM
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Friendly URL: http://www.gtp.gr/MeganissiIsland
MEGANISSI, Island, IONIAN ISLANDS
You are here GREECE IONIAN ISLANDS MEGANISSI
MEGANISSI Photo gallery
Displaying 10 out of 19 total images found for MEGANISSI. View all.
MEGANISSI Island IONIAN ISLANDS
Meganisi is a small island covered in vegetation lying to the east of Lefkada with an area of almost 20 square kilometres and a permanent population of 1,200. It lies at a distance of four nautical miles from Nydri, with which there is a daily ferry-boat connection. It has three villages, Vathy, Katomeri and Spartochori, and three quaint ports, Spilia at Spartochori, Atherino at Katomeri and Vathy. The island's capital is the village of Katomeri, which is located high above Vathy and is also the seat of the Municipality of Meganisi.
In ancient times Meganisi was probably known as the island of the Tafiots. This name appears for the first time in Homer, probably taken from the myth of Tafios, son of Poseidon and King of the region. Homer mentions that, when he left for Troy, Odysseus entrusted King Mentor of the Tafiots with his ships.
Other people believe that Meganisi was the island of Asteria, which is also mentioned by Homer. On Meganisi there are still several bays in which ships sailing over the Ionian Sea can find shelter. These include Ambelaki, Balos, Platiyiali, Svourna, Kolopoulos, Dichali, Limonari, Elia, Limni, whilst there are also caves in the south-east of the island. The most noted of these is the so-called Cave of Papanikolis. This is a cave situated in the sea on the island's south-west coast; it is around 30 metres deep and has sand in its interior. Tradition has it that this was one of the hiding places for Papanikolis' submarine, so that the enemy would not spot it.
It is also said that during the period of Turkish rule a priest (papas) and his students sought refuge here in order to save themselves from the pirates. Other interesting caves are the Giovani cave, a little further above the Cave of Papanikolis, and the Daimonas cave. These beautiful caves can only be reached via the sea. Every day, small caiques come here and to the island's surrounding sandy beaches, giving the visitor to Meganisi the opportunity to view this exceptional scene, with the sheer, hanging cliffs. The villages consist of small farmers' houses, many of which are stone-built.
The pretty little streets, tiny like 'kantounia' or alleyways, evoke other eras and the few cars which exist on the island, as well as the small bus which serves all the island's residents and visitors, are careful when moving around. Spartochori is built above the port of Spilia on high cliffs with an exceptional view. The area is a luscious green. Pine trees reach out until as far as the edge of the sea and provide the perfect shade for walking. The ascent up the footpath from the port to the village high above is made easier with the help of some small steps. Somewhere in the middle of this walk there is a small opening onto the Cave of the Cyclops, which is still unexplored.
Many locals believe that this cave is very large and it is quite likely that the area took its name from the cave, as 'spilia' means cave in Greek. Katomeri is three kilometres further down.
The small and spartan, clean little houses also provide the stamp of the rural life of the village's inhabitants. Those who have stayed are farmers and fishermen, whilst those who left were expert boatmen and sea captains. Olives and vines are the main cultivations here as well. Large olive groves, such as the Misoi olive grove, with giant olive trees which grow on the plateaus and on slopes fixed with dry stone walls so that they will hold well in the earth, everywhere fill the landscape. The area thus once had many olive-presses, both privately and cooperatively owned, only a few of which survive today. There is, however, one machine which still operates normally. This is the Zavitsanos olive-presses in the village of Spartochori. The Municipality of Meganisi has recently undertaken to restore the horse-drawn olive-press of Panoutsos at Vathy and to turn it into an industrial museum.
Many abandoned windmills are scattered around on the high peaks over which the winds blow; these were at their most glorious in an earlier period, in the 19th and 20th centuries. Most of these are on raised areas above the port of Atherinos. They are situated at points where they will be found by the south, west and east winds. These mills were all privately owned and usually took the nicknames of their owners, such as the mills of Bakolas, Patsis or of Hymos. One of these, Paliomylas (Old Mill) still stands proudly, solidly built in stone, even though its roof is missing. There are many, around forty, threshing floors here still, located high up, made of stone and remnants of the old farming life. They were worked non-stop, so as to separate the wheat from the other produce. One of these is the Konidaris threshing floor. The island's little water was drawn from wells which were opened at various points on the island. Today only a few wells are still in operation, although they stand out for their artistic quality.
Most of them are built in stone and have very low circular walls with small openings above. The well of Ferentinos at Spilia as well as Rementanis' well-known one are typical. The island has many valuable Christian monuments. The small monastery of Ayios Ioannis Prodromos (St John the Baptist) is built on the pebbly beach on the west of the island. It may no longer have any fine wall-paintings or architecture to show, but it does have a great history. Without having been fully confirmed, tradition has it that the monastery was founded before 1477. It is said that it was destroyed by pirates who then threw the Saint's icon into the sea, from where a fisherman dragged it up in his nets. In 1800, the monk Ioannis Patrikis, who was from a rich family and much loved on Ithaki and also on Meganisi, which he visited often, sent a nun over to rebuild the monastery.
The nun made constant appeals for money, along with her assistant the Meganisian Vasilis Politis. It is said that for this purpose they even reached as far as the Tsar of Russia. The monastery was finally rebuilt and the nun remained there until her death. Her grave lies between the foundations of the old and new walls of the sanctuary. It is believed that the church of the cemetery of the Ayioi (Saints) Constantine and Eleni, which belongs to the parish of Vathy, was built in 1620 and the style of the wall-paintings generally fits in with this date. It is a single-aisled wooden-sculpted church with a built iconostasis.
Sections of a wall-painting representing a horse-backed saint, Ayios Georgios, were recently found under a thick layer of plaster. There is evidence that monks lived here before the church was built. In 1790 the shipowner Malamas restored the temple and donated the land to the cemetery. The new windows which were opened during the restoration destroyed a part of the wall-painting of Ayios Georgios. The church of Ayios Nikolaos is also ttached to a cemetery and was recently restored. It is located in the area of the plain, a little outside of Bosoi, and dates to the early 19th century.
Meganisi is an island full of unadulterated natural beauty, it is hospitable and peaceful, without many cars and noisy activities.It is ideal for walking along the many footpaths which cover the island and the narrow roads which have little traffic. And it is especially ideal for all those who seek simplicity and authenticity. The Meganisians, who love their island, are respectful towards the environment and take good care of it, preserving its features unadulterated. activities.It is ideal for walking along the many footpaths which cover the island and the narrow roads which have little traffic. And it is especially ideal for all those who seek simplicity and uthenticity. The Meganisians, who love their island, are respectful towards the environment and take good care of it, preserving its features unadulterated.
This text is cited April 2004 from the Prefecture of Lefkada URL below, which contains images
http://www.lefkada-monuments.gr/English_version/me... (14 img.)
Find within MEGANISSI
Additional area information for MEGANISSI
Homeric world (5)
Ancient literary sources (2)
Civic geography (1)
Type of location: Municipality, Homeric island
Other Names: TAPHIUS, TELEVOIS (Ancient), TAPHOS (Homeric)
Altitude: 301 meters
(Prehistoric times) AKARNANIA, Ancient area, ETOLOAKARNANIA , GREECE
West (W) of: KALAMOS, Island, IONIAN ISLANDS , GREECE
MEGANISSI (Island) belongs to TILEVOIDES ISLANDS (Island complex)
TILEVOIDES ISLANDS (Island complex) belongs to LEFKADA (Prefecture)
LEFKADA (Prefecture) belongs to IONIAN ISLANDS (Island complex)
IONIAN ISLANDS (Island complex) belongs to GREECE (Country)
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Experience Sydney Opera House
By Anne Majumdar
In Destinations, Explore, Explore Australia-Oceania, Popular Sights
Find Sydney Guides Now
Dan Breckwoldt / Shutterstock.com
An architectural wonder, the Sydney Opera House is without a doubt one of the most recognisable structures ever built and is usually at the top of the agenda for any visitor to the New South Wales capital.
The building was designed by award-winning Danish architect Jorn Utzon and took 16 years to build – years filled with challenges as the project pushed the boundaries with its ambitious design.
Completed in 1973, the futuristic shell-shaped sails set on a huge granite platform at Bennelong Point have become the focal point of Sydney Harbour, and one of Australia’s greatest icons.
The building is also a cultural hub – one of the world’s foremost performing arts centres with a number of different spaces that play host to more than 2,000 events a year including concerts, operas, plays and much more – with an annual audience of more than 2 million people.
Backstage tours are also popular, with more than 200,000 people each year heading behind the scenes for a glimpse at the day-to-day runnings of the building and its fascinating history.
It’s popular for socialising too, with many food and drink options tucked beneath and around the giant edifice, all offering those amazing views across the harbour.
Sydneyoperahouse.com
Javen / Shutterstock.com
“The sun did not know how beautiful its light was, until it was reflected off this building.”
American architect Louis Kahn
Unique Things to See and Do in/near Sydney Opera House
Take a behind the scenes tour of the Opera House
Watch a concert or a play in this world class arts centre
Have a drink at the famous Opera Bar with views across the harbour
Head to Matt Moran restaurant Aria for a spot of fine dining with some very fine views
A Brief History of the Sydney Opera House
Danish architect Jorn Utzon was initially rejected by three judges in the 1956 competition to design the Sydney Opera House, with his entry said to have been consigned to the rubbish bin. But it was rescued with fourth judge, American architect Eero Saarinen, who was convinced of its merits. In the end, Utzon beat off the 232 other entrants to snare the prize.
But after years of working to make his ambitious vision a reality, Utzon resigned from his position as chief architect in February 1966, after the election of a new Liberal government saw the Minister of Works cease payments to him. Although there were calls for him to be reinstated with protests in the streets, Utzon left Australia that April of the same year and never returned to see his design become a reality.
That wasn’t the end of his association with the Opera House, however. In the late nineties, the Sydney Opera House Trust re-established communications with the architect, appointing him as a design consultant for future works at the site.
And when Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the Sydney Opera House on October 20, 1973, Utzon, who was absent from the ceremony, was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of Architects Australia.
Getting to Sydney Opera House
Located right by Circular Quay, the Sydney Opera House is surrounded by transport options. It is just a five to seven minute walk to Circular Quay Station and trains that will connect you with the rest of the city and beyond. You can also catch buses and ferries from right outside Circular Quay Station.
Although originally estimated at AU$7 million, the cost of building the Sydney Opera House actually finished up at a whopping AU$102 million.
Did you ALSO know…?
15,500 lightbulbs are changed every year at the Opera House.
Some bike parking spaces are also available to the public underneath the Sydney Opera House Monumental Steps.
There is also a shuttle service between the station and the Opera House which is designed for elderly and less mobile customers, although seating is limited and available on a first come, first served basis.
Ready to plan your visit to Sydney? Check out these popular guides and trips.
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Home/News & Events/Press Releases/Guidepost Solutions Grows DC Office and Compliance Practice with Strategic New Hires
Adds Government Expertise to Address Ongoing Regulations and Mandates Imposed on Companies
Washington, D.C. – February 18, 2015 –Guidepost Solutions LLC grew its presence in the Washington, D.C. market with the addition of three new hires whose backgrounds include substantial government experience. David H. Katz joined as a senior managing director; John G. Connolly joined as a managing director, and Kent Solt joined as senior director.
“Over the past few years companies in a wide range of industries have faced a dramatic increase in compliance related responsibilities as a result of the growing number of regulatory mandates imposed by federal and state governments,” stated CEO Julie Myers Wood. “David, John and Kent, with their combined experience and in-depth backgrounds, will help our clients navigate complex and changing regulations; assess their business compliance programs and plan initiatives to meet new compliance requirements.”
As Senior Managing Director, Katz will work with Guidepost’s clients on matters related to compliance, securities, commodities, tax, litigation, and financial fraud. Previously, he was Senior Counsel to the U.S. Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations where he advised the Subcommittee and its Chairman Senator Levin on investigative and legislative matters. Katz also held senior positions with the Internal Revenue Service, and the National Association of Securities Dealers (now Financial Industry Regulatory Authority/FINRA). He began his career at the U.S. Department of Justice as a Trial Attorney for the Fraud Section of its Criminal Division. His private sector experience includes serving as a partner at Petillon, Hiraide, Loomis & Katz LLP where he represented broker-dealers and corporations in connection with financial fraud, insider trading, and security fraud matters. Katz received a Juris Doctor from the University of Miami School of Law and he graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in international relations from Boston University.
Connolly joined Guidepost as a managing director. Previously, he was the Deputy Executive Associate Director for the Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement (DHS-ICE) where he had a wide range of management responsibilities including the supervision of Homeland Security Investigations daily operations and oversight of its financial and national security divisions. Since 2002, Connolly served DHS in several senior positions including Special Agent in Charge of the Washington, D.C. and Houston offices; Deputy Assistant Director for Domestic Operations; Senior Advisor to the Director; and Assistant Director for International Operations where he oversaw ICE’s 67 offices around the world. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in criminal justice from Northeastern University and completed the Senior Executive Fellows Program at Harvard University Kennedy School of Government.
As a senior director for Guidepost’s diligence services group, Solt will work closely with investigation teams providing research and data analytics. Most recently, he was a senior investigative analyst with KeyPoint Government Solutions where he was a member of the monitoring team for a large international bank. In addition, he provided due diligence and analytical services for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Clean Energy Loan Guarantee Program. Earlier in his career, Solt spent over a decade with LexisNexis Legal Publishing and held several positions including editorial manager and lead content planner. He received a Juris Doctor from the University of Nebraska School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree, summa cum laude, in journalism/mass communications from the University of Northern Colorado.
View Latest News & Events
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Video: Tom Morello Talks About Bob Dylan
By Josh Hart 2012-02-02T15:52:11Z News
Tom Morello is one of nearly 80 musicians who took part in Chimes Of Freedom: The Songs Of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International, a new art project from Amnesty International honoring the music of Bob Dylan.
In a new video interview, Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello talks about the importance of Bob Dylan, as well as the crucial need for organizations like Amnest International. You can watch the interview below, courtesy of Spin.
"Amnesty International is important for many reasons, one of which is that it stands of for freedom of expression around the globe," said Morello. "My freedom of expression has been threatened a number of times here in the U.S. where you think it'd be protected by the First Amendment."
Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry also contributed to Chimes of Freedom, and earlier this week made an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno to perform his cover of "Man of Peace." You can watch his performance here.
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Summer NAMM 2019: Blackstar Announces amPlug 2 FLY Headphone Amp
Mr. Black Introduces New Mini Reverb Universal Reverberator
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Yorkshire had the highest number of measles cases in the North last year
Conor Matchett
Published: 16:02 Updated: 17:03 Friday 12 April 2019
Outbreaks of measles were worse in Yorkshire than any other part of the North of England between 2017 and 2018.
With at least 25 total cases of the deadly disease reported last year, the numbers are worse than Lancashire and the North East who reported no more than seven cases.
Cases of measles are on the rise across the UK (Photo: Shutterstock)
The revelation has come following a release of data from NHS England showing the level of Victorian diseases in the country today.
What else is on the rise?
The data, from NHS England, is based on the number of cases reported as both a primary diagnosis, the main reason for someone being admitted to hospital, and a secondary diagnosis, which someone may suffer from but not be the main reason they are in hospital.
Yorkshire has also seen more than 520 cases of tuberculosis, which used to kill one in four people in 1850, nearly 700 cases of malnutrition, 35 cases of whooping cough and 150 cases of scarlet fever which killed one in four people that were infected by it Victorian era..
Rickets, a condition which can affect bone strength and growth, also had more than 30 cases last year in Yorkshire.
Scurvy, a disease caused by a lack of Vitamin C, was spotted more than 30 times in the county.
What are the symptoms of measles?
Cases of measles usually start with symptoms such as a runny or blocked nose, combined with sneezing, watery eyes, and swollen eyelids.
White spots in the mouth, a cough, and a rash can follow, with the disease also raising the chance of catching a more deadly disease such as pneumonia which can kill.
Measles is easily avoided through a vaccine, offered on the NHS in two doses at the age of around six months and four years old, as part of the mumps, measles and rubella vaccine.
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For the Record: Thursday, July 26, 2018
Havre Police Department
A Washington Avenue caller reported Wednesday at 7:57 a.m. that his truck had been stolen sometime after midnight.
Wednesday at 9:39 a.m., a caller on Sixth Street reported a stolen gun.
An arrest was made after someone stopped at the police station Wednesday at 11:24 a.m. and asked to speak with an officer. No details on the charges were provided.
A caller on Third Avenue reported Wednesday at 1:26 p.m. that one of the windows on his vehicle was broken out.
Someone at the police station reported at 3:32 p.m. Wednesday his car had been keyed.
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48 Hours in Valencia
by Hertz - 16 November 2017
Situated on Spain’s south-eastern coast, the port of Valencia is a thriving city. Famous for its forward-thinking attitude, Valencia has seen wide-scale redevelopment, as well as a diversion of the river through the city. As a result, you’ll feel a strong sense of innovation during your time here, with contemporary architecture and experimental design that fuses with culture and tradition. Easily rivalling the likes of Madrid and Barcelona, there’s a lot to see in Valencia – but if your time is limited, here are four places to prioritise in and around the city.
City of Arts & Sciences
Set within a landscaped park is Valencia’s state-of-the-art science complex, a major tourist attraction built on what used to be the riverbed of the Turia. It’s a striking complex of remarkable architecture (designed by Santiago Calatrava) with some real futuristic flair, and the educational and entertainment offerings inside each of the buildings are remarkable too. Explore the endless blue of the largest aquarium in Europe at the Oceanogràfic, or be swallowed up by the concave screen at the Hemisfèric – a digital 3D cinema.
Barrio del Carmen
With narrow alleys, balcony-fringed buildings and curved streets steeped in history, Barrio del Carmen brings a taste of the traditional. Considered the soul of Valencia’s Old Quarter, this scenic area is peppered with cafés (perfect for a spot of people watching over a cup of coffee), and feels atmospheric both night and day. Notice the competition and contrast between the artistic graffiti and old architecture, as you explore the side streets and small boutiques.
Valencian Albufera Natural Park
Lying a short distance south of Valencia’s city limits, you’ll find the Albufera Natural Park. This freshwater lagoon is home to the largest lake in Spain, and is a place of special importance for both wildlife and traditional communities. Hire a car to get there so you can see rare species of wading birds stretching their wings and feeding in the shallow waters. Soak up the tranquillity of the Mediterranean pine forest stretching into the sky from soil. Boat rides to El Palmar (a fishing village in the centre of the park) are available if you’d like to explore more. Here the locals practice 750-year-old fishing traditions, and you can sample traditional dishes in the village’s many restaurants.
Ruzafa
For a different pace altogether, head to bohemian Ruzafa, popular with young artists and locals looking for a good time. During the day it’s alive with independent art galleries and shops selling quirky wares, as well as cafes and bookshops, making it a revered cultural hotspot. During the evening, Ruzafa buzzes with the chatter of diners and drinkers in the bars and restaurants – the perfect place to make the most of the city’s nightlife.
48 hours may not seem like enough time in Valencia, but by taking your time and exploring these four places, you won’t feel rushed off your feet. In fact, you might even look forward to returning for a longer visit next time, now that you have a better feel for a city with as much dynamism and personality as Valencia.
Article by Hertz
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Election special - Tory rule continues as Labour support slumps
THE people of Leicestershire backed the Tories to continue as the county council’s ruling group on a glorious night for the party.
They took 36 seats across the county, while support for Labour Party slumped, with the party taking just four seats.
The new opposition at County Hall are the Liberal Democrats who took 14 seats including Burbage Castle.
The biggest shock came when the British National Party won their first seat on the authority.
Their candidate, Graham Partner, won with 27% of the vote in Coalville. The Tories won 25% and Labour won 22%.
Writing on his blog after the count, Cllr Partner said: “Coalville does deserve better than me as a councillor”.
Despite experts suggesting that the expenses scandal could force the number of voters up, turnout was just 39.3%.
The vast majority of those voters stuck with what they knew, as few divisions changed hands during the night.
Most of the changes came as a result of the slump in Labour support, as the Tories took seats in Loughborough, Ibstock and Appleby, Forest and Measham, and Loughborough.
Leicestershire County Council controls how council tax is spent in key areas like education, roads and transport and social care.
Leicestershire County Council
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Memories of Higham in print
Celia Hornbuckle put together Around the Village with Gordon Taylor a collection of memories of the village during the 1930s, 40s and 50s
A vintage school photo from St Peters Primary School in Higham on the Hill, 1934, was brought in to The Hinckley Times. Do you recognise anyone?
Two churches have benefited from a book detailing the history of Higham on the Hill.
Celia Hornbuckle put together Around the Village with Gordon Taylor a collection of memories of the village during the 1930s, 40s and 50s.
Mrs Hornbuckle said: “The book is a sort of guide to the history of the village and Gordon who lived in what is now the Methodist Church takes you from house to house.
“I would like to say thank you to all the people who lent me their photographs to copy and save for future generations.
“I am very pleased to say that £1,000 has been made from the sale of Gordon Taylor’s memories of Higham.
“This was started with a copy of a school photograph taken in 1934 given to me by Mary Embra now aged 91.
“It has revived many memories for lots of people and renewed friendships.”
St Peter’s, Higham on the Hill, and Higham Methodist Church building funds will both receive £500.
Mrs Hornbuckle added: “So well done to Gordon and all your school pals, it’s a been a pleasure to get to know you.
“If anyone has any more photos of Higham I may copy please let me know.
“Lots of people have told me about Lane Farm Cottage with a mail box built in the wall and I wondered if anyone might have a photograph of it?”
Anyone with any photographs can contact Mrs Hornbuckle on Hinckley 619250.
Higham on the Hill
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To receive news and publication updates for Complexity, enter your email address in the box below.
Volume 2017, Article ID 8581365, 12 pages
https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/8581365
Connecting Patterns Inspire Link Prediction in Complex Networks
Ming-Yang Zhou, Hao Liao, Wen-Man Xiong, Xiang-Yang Wu, and Zong-Wen Wei
Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Popular High Performance Computers, College of Computer Science and Software Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
Correspondence should be addressed to Hao Liao; moc.liamg@025oailsemaj
Received 9 August 2017; Revised 27 November 2017; Accepted 6 December 2017; Published 27 December 2017
Academic Editor: Diego Garlaschelli
Copyright © 2017 Ming-Yang Zhou et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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education sports brandstudio-live photos business ht-brand stories ht-weekend videos health ht school lifestyle tech cricket
India’s FIFA World Cup dream: Bhaichung Bhutia, IM Vijayan question lack of ‘football culture’
Bhaichung Bhutia and IM Vijayan believe that for India, who are currently ranked No.97 in the world rankings, need a strong “football culture” to ensure they play the FIFA World Cup regularly in the future.
football Updated: Jun 10, 2018 13:07 IST
PTI, New Delhi
India have never qualified for the FIFA World Cup and stalwarts like IM Vijayan and Bhaichung Bhutia have blamed the lack of “football culture” for the poor development. (AP)
“Sleeping giants”, “passionate giants”, so says FIFA but it’s cheerleaders that best describes India when the world’s biggest single sport spectacle comes around every four years.
Playing in a FIFA World Cup remains a pipe dream for India and if stalwarts of the game -- such as Bhaichung Bhutia and I M Vijayan -- are to be believed, the scenario is unlikely to change anytime soon with distinct lack of “football culture” in the country.
On and off, here and there, football is discussed in the build-up to the quadrennial FIFA event, but hopes of competing continue to border on absurdity.
“I think that will remain so till we have a strong sporting culture, a strong football culture,” Bhutia, who wore the blue jersey a record 104 times during an illustrious career spanning a decade and a half, told PTI.
Events, such as a friendly international involving Lionel Messi’s Argentina and a star-studded Bayern Munich turning up for Bhutia’s farewell game, did generate unprecedented frenzy all over the country but these at best can be termed as exceptions.
But the 41-year-old Bhutia feels more “needs to be done” for the global sport in a country otherwise enamoured with cricket.
FIFA remains convinced of football’s potential in the world’s second most populous nation, its belief bookended by the successful hosting of the U-17 World Cup last year.
After a string of impressive results over the last couple of years, India are currently ranked 97th in the FIFA chart, but rankings alone are not a true reflection of progress.
“It’s obviously great that we have done well in recent times, but if you talk of World Cup, then it’s a different thing,” Bhutia said, reiterating, “building a football culture is paramount”.
“There is no dearth of talent, the infrastructure is much better now, and youth development schemes are being initiated. But culture is one thing that is still missing,” the ‘Sikkimese Sniper’ harped.
The 41-year-old Bhutia himself is one of India’s best strikers to have played the game.
Vijayan, the man who preceded Bhutia as the torchbearer of Indian football, was often described as one born in a wrong country owing to his precocious talent.
He also feels there is lack of football culture in major pockets of India.
“That is there, I agree. I think our clubs and associations must look forward to tying up with top clubs from overseas, and when I say tie-up it’s not just for the heck of it, I mean serious tie-ups.
“For example, the Barcelona academy will do a world of good to our budding footballers,” the 49-year-old Vijayan said.
India is full of football talent, Vijayan is convinced, and he recalled a meeting with a foreign scout to buttress his point. “We were discussing that when we put the Indian age-group kids among the ones from other football countries, you will not be able to differentiate the Indians and the ones from elsewhere.
“As the players grow, it is important that the transition into the senior team happens in the best possible way,” Vijayan said. “Now, if one talks about World Cup qualification, it is obviously difficult at this point to say when we would be able to play, but really hope that we are there, if not in 10, then in 20-25 years’ time at least.”
Stressing on youth development, Vijayan said it’s imperative to “catch them young”.
“Scouting has to start early, as early as eight-nine years. Select the ones who show promise and keep them together for long enough. There are no two ways about it - having sound grassroots programmes is a must to revive our fortunes.”
First Published: Jun 10, 2018 13:03 IST
Bhaichung Bhutia
IM VIjayan
FIFA World Cup dream
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/ The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009: Impact on Tax-Exempts
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009: Impact on Tax-Exempts
By: John D. DraikiwiczScott A. Galano
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the “Act”) was signed into law by President Obama on February 17, 2009, and components of the Act should prove to create a much needed beneficial impact, namely lower borrowing costs, on a tax-exempt bond landscape plagued by the ongoing credit and liquidity crises. Borrower costs on tax-exempt bonds are lower because the interest on such bonds are exempt from federal income tax, and in many cases state and local taxes. Tax-exempt bonds have traditionally been utilized by both governmental and non-governmental entities to finance various public and quasi-public projects including economic development, education, housing, infrastructure, renewable energy, and transportation. While the Act should have a profound impact on strained state and local government operations, the focus of this article will be its effect on the tax-exempt financings of non-governmental or conduit borrowers.
Financial Institutions – Deductibility of Interest on Tax-Exempt Bonds
Section 265(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”) currently disallows financial institutions a deduction for interest expense incurred to purchase or carry an inventory of tax-exempt bonds. The Code excepts from this general rule “qualified tax-exempt obligations” or “bank-qualified bonds” which are designated tax-exempt bonds and issued by a “qualified small issuer.” “Bank-qualified bonds” are more attractive to purchasers because of a financial institution’s ability to deduct such bond’s interest expense, and they are thus willing to offer a lower rate of interest on such bonds, ultimately resulting in lower borrowing costs to issuers and conduit borrowers of “bank-qualified bonds.” A “qualified small issuer” until recently has been defined, with respect to tax-exempt bonds issued during any calendar year, as an issuer who issues no more than $10 million of tax-exempt bonds during the calendar year. For the years 2009 and 2010, the Act redefines a “qualified small issuer” as an issuer issuing no more than $30 million of tax-exempt bonds. Consequently, larger sized projects can be undertaken and benefit from this expansion. Any interest savings realized by issuers as a result of this expanded ability to issue bank-qualified debt will necessarily pass through to benefit their conduit borrowers.
Additionally, the Act creates a temporary 2% safe harbor (up to 2% of a financial institution’s assets) permitting financial institutions to purchase tax-exempt bonds in 2009 and 2010 without the corresponding interest expense disallowance under Section 265(b) of the Code. Previously this safe harbor applied solely to corporations. This safe harbor is in addition to the exception from the interest expense disallowance under the “qualified small issuer” provision described above. Thus, the 2% safe harbor will also likely result in lower borrowing costs to issuers and their respective conduit borrowers since the financial institutions will likely offer a lower interest rate.
The Act also treats 501(c)(3) entities and governmental conduit borrowers as separate issuers for purposes of the bank-qualification requirements, and therefore if they are participating in a pooled, composite or conduit borrowing they are not aggregated with other conduit borrowers. Based upon the foregoing, the Act would now enable a non-profit school conduit borrower participating in a pool of non-profit school borrowers, to lower its borrowing costs since it will not be aggregated with other non-profit conduit borrowers in a pooled context, as such transactions will more likely qualify for the “qualified small issuer” exception described earlier.
Temporary Repeal of AMT for Private Activity Bonds
Currently, individuals and corporations must account for the interest from private activity bonds which is excluded from gross income for federal income tax purposes when computing their alternative minimum tax (the “AMT”). A bond is a private activity bond if, with certain exceptions, more than 10% of the proceeds of the issue are used for any private business use and the payment of the principal of or interest on more than 10% of the proceeds of such issue is secured by or payable from property used for a private business use. A bond also is a private activity bond if, with certain exceptions, the amount of proceeds of the issue used to make loans to non-governmental borrowers exceeds the lesser of 5% of the proceeds or $5 million. Typically, interest on private activity bonds is not excluded from gross income for federal income tax purposes unless the bonds fall within certain defined categories under the Code. The Act temporarily repeals the AMT for private activity bonds, the interest on which is excluded from gross income for federal income tax purposes, issued in 2009 and 2010, thus interest on such bonds are no longer treated as a preference item for purposes of the AMT, and is also not included in the current earnings adjustment under the corporate AMT. The effect of this measure will be that borrowing costs associated with these types of private activity bonds will reduced for issuers of such bonds, and such savings will necessarily be realized by their conduit borrowers.
High Speed Rail Bonds
The Act also provides a modification of the current law as it relates to high speed intercity rail facility tax-exempt bonds. Previously such tax-exempt private activity bonds could only be issued for such facilities where the vehicles utilizing such facilities operated at speeds in excess of 150 miles per hour between scheduled stops. The Act modifies this definition to permit bonds to be issued for facilities involving vehicles merely capable of attaining a maximum speed in excess of 150 miles per hour. This less stringent standard should promote the undertaking and financing of a greater number of rail transportation projects by non-governmental entities.
Clean Renewable Energy Bonds and Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds
Another provision of the Act expands the ability of governmental and non-governmental entities to undertake certain clean renewable energy projects through the issuance of clean renewable energy bonds (“CREBs”) to finance facilities that generate electricity from wind, closed-loop biomass, open-loop biomass, geothermal, small irrigation, hydropower, landfill gas, marine renewable, and trash combustion facilities. A clean renewable energy bond is a tax credit bond whereby governmental and non-governmental entities can borrow funds at a 0% interest rate and the holder of the bond receives a federal tax credit in lieu of an exemption from taxation for interest paid by the issuer. The Act authorizes the issuance of an additional $1.6 billion of CREBs. Additionally, the Act authorizes the issuance of an additional $2.4 billion of qualified energy conservation bonds in order to further incentivize the undertaking of projects directed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Similarly to CREBs, bondholders receive a federal tax credit and the issuer receives interest-free financing. Both measures should further promote the undertaking alternative or green technology initiatives by governmental and non-governmental entities.
Qualified Small Issue Bonds – “Manufacturing Facilities”
Prior to the enactment of the Act, non-governmental entities could have tax-exempt private activity bonds issued on their behalf to finance “manufacturing facilities” which are facilities used in the manufacturing or production of tangible personal property. Additionally, facilities that were ancillary to a manufacturing facility could be eligible for tax-exempt financing, but only if not more than 25% of the net proceeds of a bond issue were used to construct such ancillary facilities. The Act, for bonds issued in 2009 and 2010, expands the definition of “manufacturing facility” to include any facility used in the manufacturing, creation, or production of tangible or intangible property, such as patent, copyright, formula, process, design, know-how, format, or other similar items. Furthermore, the Act, for bonds issued in 2009 and 2010, expands the scope of a “manufacturing facility” to include, on an unlimited basis (eliminating the 25% of net proceeds standard), those facilities which are functionally related and subordinate to the manufacturing facility. The Act’s expansion of the types of qualifying structures should encourage the construction and tax-exempt financing of such facilities by non-governmental borrowers.
School Construction Bonds
A new category of tax credit bonds in an amount not to exceed $22 billion in 2009 and 2010 ($11 billion each year) is created under the Act to finance the construction, rehabilitation and repair of public school facilities, or the acquisition of land on which a school facility would be constructed. The Act specifies an allocation formula for availability of funds to the states, but generally the largest share of funds will be available to the largest school districts in the country. The same beneficial tax attributes of tax credit bonds (bondholders receive a federal tax credit in lieu of an exemption from taxation for interest received) are applicable to this new category of school construction bonds and should stimulate further construction, rehabilitation and repair of the nation’s public school infrastructure.
Qualified Zone Academy Bonds and Recovery Zone Bonds
Currently, qualified zone academy bonds can be issued by eligible schools located in empowerment or enterprise zones to rehabilitate or repair public school buildings, provide equipment for public school use, develop course materials, and train teachers and other school personnel. The Act authorizes an additional $1.4 billion of qualified zone academy bonds for state and local governments in 2009 and 2010 to finance renovations and repairs at existing school facilities.
The Act also creates a new category of tax credit bonds in 2009 and 2010 called recovery zone economic development bonds which may be issued in the amount of $10 billion to finance the redevelopment of designated recovery zones plagued by significant poverty, unemployment, or home-foreclosure rates. The Act also creates a new related category of tax-exempt private activity bonds in 2009 and 2010 called recovery zone facility bonds, authorized to be issued in the amount of $15 billion, to finance depreciable property to be utilized in designated recovery zones in the active conduct of a trade or business.
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Houma chamber kicks off membership drive today
Kathrine Schmidt
Apr 27, 2009 at 12:01 AM Apr 28, 2009 at 9:06 AM
HOUMA - The Houma-Terrebonne Chamber of Commerce wants to expand its membership, and began a drive today aimed at making that happen.
"Over the years, a lot of businesses have never joined the chamber," CEO Drake Pothier said, adding that "In many cases that's because no one has ever asked them. This is a great way to finally ask them."
The business-advocacy group has about 840 members, compared with the 5,000 to 6,000 businesses in the parish. And it hasn't conducted a drive in 7 or 8 years, Pothier said.
So the chamber has sent out invitations to join to about 4,000 non-members. About 70 volunteers will take three-hour shifts to begin follow-up calls on those invitations throughout next week, starting with a kick-off lunch and prizes on today.
The group hopes to register at least 100 new members, but Pothier hopes that's a conservative estimate. It has already received about 10 interested calls from the invitations themselves.
The chamber can provide many varied benefits to businesses, though they join for different reasons, Pothier said.
First, it offers networking activities for all size of companies with at least two events per month. That's can be a boon for the smaller entities that might not come into contact with a wide cross-section of contacts in their normal course of business.
The chamber also offers businesses, particularly small ones, visibility through its newsletters, events, Web site and other methods.
"We have a lot of oppurtunities to market their business that they wouldn't have otherwise," Pothier said.
Also, new members would have the benefit of chamber referrals from out-of-town contacts interested in a particular industry.
That's in addition to the chance to shape the community through committee work on issues like education and coastal issues, including wetlands restoration and hurricane protection.
Membership dues are according to the number of employees, but most small businesses are able to join for $200 to $300.
Troy Cloutier, regional president at MidSouth bank and one of the team leaders for the drive, said he's seen the benefit of fresh ideas in the organization.
"The more people around the table expressing their opinions, the better," Cloutier said.
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Finding the perfect ‘fit'
Mike DetillierSports Correspondent
Mar 30, 2013 at 12:01 AM Mar 30, 2013 at 11:40 PM
I have written this for many years, and I will write it again.
Just as teams prepare for the NFL draft, they will have to find five-to-six players in free agency each season that would play at the same level no matter where they end up.
The rest is about finding the right player to "fit" what you do offensively and defensively. It is the key to success in the NFL.
New Orleans Saints Sean Payton and his staff have done a terrific job finding those "fit" players offensively in the past.
Either by the draft or free agency, the Saints have been able to find the right players to fit in his high-tech offense.
The problem is they haven't been nearly as successful on the defensive side of the ball, where Payton has turned over a lot of the personnel and evaluation power over to his defensive coordinators.
We've seen this with former Saints defensive coordinators in Gary Gibbs and Gregg Williams and now with new defensive coordinator Rob Ryan.
This offseason, Ryan wanted a big and very physical cover cornerback, and he got one in Keenan Lewis, a free-agent pickup from Pittsburgh.
Lewis is a perfect "fit" in what Ryan wants his cornerbacks to do, which is press wide receivers hard when they come off the ball, physically get after them down the field and use their size and length to get their hands on a football.
Lewis is a perfect "fit" player for the Saints and Ryan.
The signing of veteran free agent tight end Ben Watson was an excellent pick-up for the Saints also. He is the perfect fit in this offensive scheme that ulitilizes the two-tight end offense at a high rate. I expect to see more of these sets with Watson and Jimmy Graham this season.
On few occasions since returning to the Saints, Payton has talked about wanting to go back to more two tight end sets and less of using an extra offensive lineman in short-yardage sets like what we have seen in the past with offensive tackle Zach Strief and last season with Eric Olsen.
But what I think Payton has in mind is what we have seen in New England, with how the Patriots have used Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez in the two-tight end look.
Watson has developed into a good blocker in the NFL, but the very athletic former Georgia star tight end is also an effective pass catching threat down the field.
In the last three seasons with the Cleveland Browns, Watson caught 154 passes for 1,674 yards and eight touchdowns. During his time with the New England Patriots, he grabbed 87 passes for 1,002 yards and 13 touchdowns.
Watson is a perfect fit for a Saints offense that wants to spread the ball down the field this season, especially over the middle where you see so many coverage mismatches.
The Saints want to put a heavier emphasis on running the ball as well, featuring Mark Ingram as a major part of the offensive arsenal, and Watson is a very accomplished blocker.
Watson's in-line blocking skills and his speed and eye-hand coordination as a receiver make him the perfect match for the Saints.
Last week's addition of former Dallas Cowboys outside linebacker Victor Butler to the team was a "moneyball" football deal.
Butler has never been a full-time starter in the NFL. In four seasons, the former Oregon State defensive end recorded 73 tackles, 11 sacks and forced five fumbles.
He has only had two starts in those four seasons.
Dallas' DeMarcus Ware is one of the elite players in this game and clearly one of the best pass rushers this game has to offer today, but the Cowboys chose to keep the high-priced Anthony Spencer over Butler earlier in the year.
Spencer is a well-respected outside linebacker in run defense, but he never fully developed that great array of pass rush moves that he flashed at times, especially in 2009, on a consistent basis.
Dallas owner Jerry Jones, who is never known for making great football moves by all by himself, chose to put the franchise tag on Spencer instead of making a much better money deal to keep Butler in Dallas.
Spencer is a good NFL starter, but no star talent by any means of the football imagination.
Jones is not the high judge of football talent he pretends to be, but he is a really good business man, and in this case, he chose the higher price brand of Spencer over Butler.
In watching and evaluating Butler through his years in college and in the pros, the 6-foot-2, 245-pound outside linebacker is built with from the same mold as Junior Galette and Martez Wilson.
Butler is a well-built and very quick off the edge pass rush specialist. He has flashed excellent edge speed and closing ability in the pocket and a very strong one-move shot up the field.
He is also a consistent hard worker. There is no let up in his play, and I like his hustle and desire.
There is also room for Butler to improve. He needs to learn how to use his arms and hands better when engaged with blockers, and he needs to utilize better moves to get by blockers because he often tries to beat his man with a strong power move or just running through the potential block.
One pro scout who paid close attention to Butler made the remark to me this week that Butler is a really good athlete, but has never developed that full array of pass rush moves you want to see from a top-flight edge outside linebacker.
When Butler gets hot as a pass rusher, watch how NFL teams scheme up to try and take him away from being that consistent threat off the edge. But for the money and age, Butler is the best option for the Saints right now at outside linebacker.
It also takes the pressure from the Saints having to use that first-round pick on a pass rush outside linebacker. While Butler, Galette and Wilson have done little to show they are the answers to the pass rush woes, the depth at the position means that the Saints have options to go another route if they chose.
The one thing for sure over the past few months is that the need for the edge pass rushers have intensified immensely and Oregon's Dion Jordan, Brigham Young's Ezekel Ansah and LSU's Barkevious Mingo will not be on the board when the Saints pick at 15.
What is shocking is that two players that have really played well the last two seasons and at times dominated — Florida State defensive end Bjoern Werner and Georgia outside linebacker Jarvis Jones — have tumbled a bit and could be available when the Saints picks at 15.
We see it every year that players who don't have a stellar season in the fall make a momentual leap up the charts during pre-draft workouts, and the Saints could still be in a prime spot to take an elite defensive end or outside linebacker.
There are still openings on this football team, as a veteran left tackle is a huge must get for the Saints and also a veteran back-up quarterback. Keep a close eye on the developments in Cleveland with Colt McCoy, who would be a great fit as a back-up to Drew Brees because of his similar playing style.
Despite having money management issues to start the offseason, the Saints have made good moves to upgrade their football team. You have to give general manager Mickey Loomis and salary cap expert Khai Harley great credit for finding creative ways to keep this team in the football hunt.
And on the first day of the NFL draft, don't be surprised to see the Saints trade back to acquire extra picks.
NFL analyst Mike Detillier is based in Raceland.
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Christine M. Riordan, Ph.D., Contributor
Christine M. Riordan, Ph.D., is the 10th president of Adelphi University in New York. Her writing focuses on diversity and inclusion, leadership effectiveness and career success.
The Gold Standard: The Powerful Impact of Residential Liberal Arts Colleges
01/20/2014 04:55 pm ET Updated Mar 22, 2014
As the president of a residential liberal arts college, I have for years championed these institutions as the gold standard for higher education. My oldest two children have begun their college journeys and I have been reflecting on their respective experiences. These reflections are those of a parent, not an educator, but they reinforce my professional conviction about the distinctive and powerful impact of residential liberal arts colleges.
My oldest daughter attends one of the best-known and most well-regarded research universities in the world. She is surrounded everyday by the very brightest peers, she will be part of an incredible alumni network, and she has had some really exceptional graduate teaching assistants. But it weighs on me that there is, to my knowledge, not a single regular faculty member at the institution who knows her name despite establishing what appears to me to be a fine, if not, sterling academic record during her first three years. Her major department does not even assign faculty advisors given the volume of majors. Who will help guide her discernment about professional paths? Who is there to help challenge and support her as she writes a senior thesis? Who will write letters of recommendation for her and advocate for her?
Let me contrast that with the experience of my second daughter, who attends an exceptional residential liberal arts college in Southern California. What is happening to her in her first semester is extraordinary and it is hard to imagine it happening at any place but a residential liberal arts college.
During her first week on campus, by design Maggie and her classmates were all in the company of their academic advisors three times. These advisors are full-time faculty members. They discussed what classes to take during their first semester, adjusting to college life including being homesick, and how to become involved in campus life. The intention was clear that relationships between faculty members and students are central, essential and expected.
During a visit to Maggie in mid-October, we shared a meal with some friends and one of them asked her if she had a favorite class. She responded immediately that her interdisciplinary seminar was her favorite. She was finding the course material on early Christianity and Islam fascinating, and Maggie went on to say she found her professor inspiring. That is what every parent wants to hear.
Later that Saturday as we walked across the campus, we encountered the professor who was walking his dog and talking on his cell phone. He ended the call so as to have an opportunity to be introduced to us and I shared with him what Maggie said. He replied that Maggie and her classmates were inspiring him. The fact that he knew her name, was invested fully in her learning and was passionate about teaching was truly meaningful to me both as a dad and as a committed educator.
While I could provide other examples, let me share one final experience of what is different about residential liberal arts colleges. Maggie wanted to come home to Pennsylvania for her birthday weekend, which coincided with fall break. This necessitated taking a shuttle to LAX for a red-eye flight and meant she would miss the last half hour of her last class of the week. When she went to discuss this with the professor, she received an unexpected response, "Maggie, I want you to fully participate in the whole class." How surprised was she when the full professor who holds an endowed chair said, "I will take you to the airport myself." Wow! For parents, it does not get any better than that.
To be sure, there are profound experiences in all educational settings and individual student effort trumps all, but year after year, data from the National Survey of Student Engagement demonstrate that liberal arts colleges more deeply engage their students than any other sector. Places like Pomona College and Susquehanna University, where I serve, and the other members of the Annapolis Group really are the gold standard for undergraduate education.
Both of my daughters' institutions are among the most expensive in the world. Guess which one feels like a greater value to their parents? What happens at residential liberal arts colleges is as the commercial says, "priceless."
College College Value College Presidents
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Build-to-rent or buy-to-let? New research helps renters find the best property to live in
New research suggests there are a total of seven areas across the UK where build-to-rent offers even better value than the wider market
Amardeep Bassey
Build-to-rent properties can offer good value for money
Finding the right sort of property to rent can be a bewlidering time for many when faced with the choice of buy--to-let or build-to-rent or some other jargon-filled combination.
However new research suggests the build-to-rent market will emerge victor and soon account for a third of the private rental market.
But many believe the government’s encouragement of iinvestment away from the buy-to-let sector and into the build-to-rent sector will be costly for those who want to rent.
Leading room share platform, ideal flatmate, looked at the cost of renting a room in all of their build-to-rent developments and then compared this to the average cost of renting in the wider buy-to-let market
The website has the exclusive listing rights for all UK build-to-rent properties, matching groups of tenants who show interest in a given development and then providing them to each developer once a flat is fully let.
Its research found that the vast majority of build-to-rent developers offered a wealth of additional benefits included in the price such as gym use, amenities, wifi and even parking.
So ideal flatmate also looked at the cost of these extras on top of the average rent for the wider area to give a more like for like comparison on build-to-rent value for money.
The study shows that on average, the cost of renting a room in a build-to-rent development is just 15% higher than the cost of renting in the buy-to-let market - £868 on average compared to £752.
However, there are a total of seven areas across the UK where build-to-rent offers even better value than the wider market.
JLL - Queen Street, Leicester
JLL’s development in Queen Street in Leicester has a rental cost of just £405 a month, 33% cheaper than the room rental average and cost of amenities in Leicester (£605).
JLL - Greenwich
Their development in Greenwich is also 18% cheaper than the wider cost of renting and amenities in the borough at £717 a month.
Urbanbubble - Liverpool
Urbanbubble’s development in Liverpool costs just £500 a month compared to the average of £575 for a room and amenities elsewhere in the city - a 13% difference.
Allsop - Newcastle
Allsop’s Forth Banks development in Newcastle is also 13% cheaper at a cost of £500 a month with renting a room and bills across the city as a whole totalling £591.
Liv Group - Bath
LIV Group in Bath and JLL’s Harrow development are also 6% and 5% better value than the wider area respectively.
Way of Life - Manchester
In Manchester there is almost no difference in value between the average build-to-rent cost between LIV Group and Way of Life’s developments and the city average, coming in £2 cheaper on average.
The highest build-to-rent premium is in Tower Hamlets where the average cost of a room in a development is 44% higher than the borough average.
Lewisham is the home to the next highest rental premium at 35%, with Salford build-to-rent costing 14% more on average.
Co-founder of ideal flatmate, Tom Gatzen, commented: “Build-to-rent has come under scrutiny due to the higher rental costs but when you consider the additional benefits there is a very strong argument that these developments provide much better value for money.
"For a start, they are new builds so the quality is very good and they have a much more professional management structure in place to support tenants when compared to the traditional communication chain of the tenant, letting agent and landlord.
"They also offer a lot more for your money in terms of amenities included in the price, with many providing wifi, bills and a gym as standard.
"This comes on top of other benefits such as parking and private gardens and while you pay more as a lump rental sum for these benefits, the convenience of paying for everything in one go is something that appeals massively to today’s generation of tenants."
UK & World NewsHomeless man offered job and a roof over his head after online fury over council fineGary Cannop was reading a book in an alleyway when he was fined £60
Fruit MarketHull bar boss speaks out on Steak\1884 shock closure and what will replace itThe fine dining restaurant shut 'with immediate effect' earlier this month
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Historical Sites and Ruins
Find yourself fascinated and captivated by Central America's evocative history and archaeology, with an array of ruins, temples and parks to explore.
If you're holidaying in Mexico, visit the ancient Mayan temples and pyramids at places like Chichen Itza and the cliff-top Tulum. Mexico City should also be high on your list if you're wanting to dive into the country's heritage: here you'll find the remains of the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan, Or perhaps you're staying in Costa Rica: in which case, you'll want to plan a trip to the Cartago ruins that feature 18th century buildings that were destroyed by earthquakes. Isla San Lucas also offers a fascinating insight into Central American history with the remains of a Costa Rican prison that you can tour for true insight into the country's past.
There’s no question too small. Start planning your dream trip by talking to our Central America Destination Specialists.
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For health practitioners
Mother-to-mother peer support
Baby Friendly Initiative
Breastfeeding publications
A number of publications relating to breastfeeding have been published by the Ministry of Health. These are listed below.
Infant Feeding in an Emergency
Advice for emergency management staff on planning for and responding to infant feeding needs in an emergency. This includes the Guide for DHB Emergency Management Staff and the Roles and Responsibilities document.
Food and Nutrition Guidelines for Healthy Children and Young People (Aged 2–18 years): A background paper
This background paper provides evidence-based technical information and best practice recommendations on nutrition and physical activity for health practitioners working with children and young people.
Code of Practice for Health Workers
This A3 poster has been developed for health workers working with pregnant mothers and/or new mothers and their families, to increase awareness of The Code of Practice for Health Workers as contained in The Code in New Zealand.
National Strategic Plan of Action for Breastfeeding 2008-2012
The National Strategic Plan of Action for Breastfeeding 2008-2012 sets out a strategic framework to support the establishment of a breastfeeding culture in New Zealand. It is the advice of the National Breastfeeding Committee to the Director-General of Health.
Food and Nutrition Guidelines for Healthy Pregnant and Breastfeeding Women: A background paper
This document provides evidence-based population health advice for pregnant and breastfeeding women on healthy eating and being physically active.
Food and Nutrition Guidelines for Healthy Infants and Toddlers (Aged 0–2): A background paper - Partially revised December 2012
The Food and Nutrition Guidelines for Healthy Infants and Toddlers (Aged 0-2): A background paper - Partially revised December 2012, brings together and updates key areas of food and nutrition that affect the health of infants and toddlers.
Comprehensive Plan to inform the design of a national breastfeeding promotion campaign
The government has funded the Ministry of Health to develop a national breastfeeding promotion campaign to improve breastfeeding rates and duration, especially for high-need groups, and Māori and Pacific peoples who have lower rates of breastfeeding than the non-Māori and non-Pacific population.
Implementing and Monitoring the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes in NZ: The Code in NZ
Breastfeeding is key to providing the best start for New Zealand infants and it is important for both mother and baby’s health. Following a review of the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes in New Zealand, the Ministry has prepared a single, standard reference document which now includes the Code of Practice for Health Workers in New Zealand and the New Zealand Infant Formula Marketers’ Association Code of Practice for the Marketing of Infant Formula.
Review of the NZ Interpretation of the World Health Organization's International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes
Eleven action points which will provide a framework for refining and strengthening New Zealand's interpretation of the World Health Organization's International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes, have been agreed by the Ministry of Health.
Breastfeeding: A Guide to Action
The outcome expected from this Breastfeeding Action Plan is an overall improvement in the breastfeeding rates of Maori and Pacific peoples, and an overall increase in the breastfeeding rate of other New Zealanders.
Drug Safety in Lactation (Medsafe website)
Breast milk is the perfect food for your baby and breastfeeding is perfect for you too. Find out why.
Page last updated: 26 June 2015
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Fact Checked
Anti-Inflammatory Drugs May Help RA Patients with Morning Stiffness
Written by Ashley Boynes-Shuck on July 19, 2018
We know NSAIDs can ease pain and inflammation — but in some cases, these medications could help with creaky morning stiffness, too.
Many people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) scoff at the notion of anti-inflammatory drugs being much of a help when it comes to painful flares.
But the truth is these nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) can help some people with pain and inflammation — and now, research shows they may help ease morning stiffness, too.
A recently published article in the medical journal Drugs & Aging showed evidence that anti-inflammatory drugs might help lessen morning stiffness in some people with RA.
Joint pain and stiffness are hallmark symptoms of RA and are often worse in the morning upon waking. Many people report that morning stiffness from RA is debilitating and disabling.
But what can be done about it?
Rheumatologists wanted to know if current and recently developed NSAIDs can reduce the severity of morning stiffness.
Researchers also wanted to know how much of an impact morning stiffness had on the lives of people living with RA.
One clinical study showed that more than two-thirds of those with RA experienced stiffness in the morning. A quarter of these people experienced morning stiffness for at least an hour.
A different study found that half of those tested with RA had stiffness for more than an hour, according to a story in the Medical News Bulletin.
Yet another scientific study found that the duration of morning stiffness decreased in patients who’ve had RA for a longer period of time, according to the article.
Degree as well as duration
These studies on morning stiffness usually only measure the duration of stiffness.
They don’t often take into consideration the severity of pain or the degree of disability.
But morning stiffness can be disabling and may greatly impact quality of life.
One study of retirees who had rheumatoid arthritis concluded that most of them had been forced to stop working prior to the usual retirement age. Most of the study participants said that morning stiffness was a primary factor in the decision.
In a 2014 study, almost half of working people with RA said that morning stiffness negatively affects their work life and job performance. A third stated that morning stiffness sometimes would cause them to be late for work or miss work completely.
But those with RA who take NSAIDs and those who take targeted biologics could possibly see a reduction in morning stiffness.
Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs and steroids can also help reduce morning stiffness from RA but aren’t usually a long-term solution.
What the people say
People with RA who spoke to Healthline seem to have mixed results when it comes to taking anti-inflammatory drugs for morning stiffness.
“I take Motrin every day. It helps with inflammation. I can tell a difference when I don’t take it,” said Sonja Adkins Wood, 42, a Michigan resident who’s had RA for 24 years.
“I’ve taken Celebrex for years and frequently try to go off it. My body tells me no. I recently ran out and took two Aleve when I started to feel it and it was better than nothing,” said Luanna Baughman, 47, a Florida resident who received her RA diagnosis 15 years ago.
“I take ibuprofen. It does help with my RA pain and stiffness. I’m 41 and have RA, lupus, fibro[myalgia], osteoarthritis, and degenerative disc disease among a few others. It helps,” added Jessica D. Rowe.
Other patients mentioned topical ointment NSAIDs such as diclofenac as a source of relief for morning pain and stiffness.
It’s important to note that this recent review looked at all kinds of anti-inflammatory medications.
While NSAIDs were a part of the research, the rheumatologist conducting the review also looked at steroids and targeted biologic therapies as sources of relief for morning stiffness and inflammation.
Baking Soda May Be Just What the Doctor Ordered for Rheumatoid Arthritis
Regenerative Stem Cell Treatment Offers Hope for People with Rheumatoid Arthritis
Scorpion Venom May Help Reverse RA Symptoms
The Best Rheumatoid Arthritis Apps of 2019
How Exercise Can Lower a Woman’s Risk for Rheumatoid Arthritis
An apple a day may keep the doctor away… but a new study also indicates that some baking soda each day may keep the arthritis at bay.
A stem cell-based medication has done well in phase II trials. There's hope it can be a future drug for people with RA.
Yes, venom from scorpions sounds scary - but a new study shows that it could also scare away rheumatoid arthritis symptoms.
Living with rheumatoid arthritis means more than dealing with pain. Between medications, doctor's appointments, and lifestyle changes, there's a lot…
Researchers say regular exercise can lower a woman's risk for RA and benefit women who have the painful condition.
Rheumatoid Nodules: What Are They?
Rheumatoid nodules are lumps and bumps that can appear on different parts of the body when you have rheumatoid arthritis. They aren't typically…
The Best Rheumatoid Arthritis Blogs of 2019
Those living with RA know the pain can be exhausting and isolating. These blogs are at the top of their game to help you cope and connect with others…
Rheumatoid Arthritis in the Feet: What to Know
Medically reviewed by Nancy Carteron, MD, FACR
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that causes your immune system to attack the lining of the joints, leading to joint destruction over…
Rheumatoid Arthritis in the Neck: What to Know
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that affects the lining of the joints, causing swelling, pain, and stiffness. Often it can affect the…
Rheumatoid Arthritis Remission: 5 Things You Need to Know
One of the goals of rheumatoid arthritis is remission, or freedom from disease activity. Learn more about the definition of remission, why early…
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Police stations in Leeds, Keighley and Bingley to be sold off
Killingbeck Police Station in Leeds, which is to be sold off.
Rob Parsons
Yorkshire’s largest police force is to sell three of its police stations and four other buildings after revealing that several are rarely used by its officers.
West Yorkshire Police is planning to sell off its stations at Keighley, Bingley and Killingbeck in Leeds, as well as smaller ‘section boxes’ at Fartown, Milnsbridge and Moldgreen in Kirklees district and Wyke in Bradford district.
The force - which has lost 1,400 employees since 2010, says the move will save money and reduce the number of buildings it owns which are empty or “largely unused”.
But a councillor in one of the affected areas says he is worried about the impact the closure will have on response times.
Senior officials say the use of modern technology, with frontline officers able to do their work on new tablets rather than from police stations, means it no longer makes sense to keep some buildings open.
Deputy Chief Constable John Robins said: “Much of our plans are about having smaller, newer and more cost effective police stations in a similar location, albeit some will not be replaced where very few officers and staff work from them.
It all forms part of a wider ongoing strategy to reduce the number of properties across the organisation, which have either been left empty, are largely underused or are very expensive to run.
John Robins, West Yorkshire Police
“The number of officers and staff working in these areas is not changing. Indeed, we are committed to increasing the numbers of Neighbourhood Police officers and PCSOs over the next year. Saving money on estates helps us do that.
“Since 2010, due to Government austerity measures, the size of our workforce has decreased and we need to reduce our costs. We are now operating with around 1,400 fewer people.
“Alongside all this, newly built state-of-the-art buildings across the force have given us greater capacity and are specifically designed with 21st century policing in mind.
“Response times will not change as a result of these plans and the existing operational deployment centres, which are not changing, will ensure we continue to police all areas effectively.”
Keighley police station, also known as Airedale House, is a former divisional HQ and has a large custody complex which is no longer used.
The force says it will be sold once alternative arrangements have found for the neighbourhood policing team and helpdesk facility, which could be moved closer to the town centre.
Burglars target Real Junk Food Project social supermarket - but volunteers refuse to be disheartened
Bingley police station has not been used by officers since 2015 and has not been open to the public for “a number of years”.
West Yorkshire Police says it would not make “financial or practical sense” to keep it open and that officers covering Bingley can access facilities at the market town’s fire station.
The force says Killingbeck police station is “now vastly under-occupied” and that its neighbourhood policing team and response team will move to Killingbeck fire station later this year.
The helpdesk facility has been earmarked for closure, as it is claimed alternative means of contacting police such as the 101 number and live web chats make the service unnecessary.
Brian Selby, a Labour councillor in the Killingbeck and Seacroft ward, said he was concerned about what the closure of the station would mean for response times to incidents in east Leeds.
He said: “I think people will be concerned about it, there has been very little consultation. I am concerned there will be a loss of service, notwithstanding the proposals they are making.
“This will be an issue not just for Killingbeck and Seacroft wards, but the nearby wards such as Cross Gates and Whinmoor and Gipton and Harehills.”
The section boxes, which are satellite bases for officers to stop off at, are the last to be used by the force.
Earlier this week, The Yorkshire Post revealed that three modern West Yorkshire Police buildings financed using the Private Finance Initiative are costing taxpayers £12.1m a year.
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America Needs a Strong Air Force
COMMENTARY Defense
Dec 3rd, 2018 2 min read
John Venable
Senior Research Fellow for Defense Policy
John “JV” Venable, a 25-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force is a senior research fellow for defense policy at Heritage.
Aircraft readiness rates plunged by half.
The last great power competition ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1992.
As a share of the national budget, defense spending today is lower than at any time over the last 70 years.
The United States Air Force has never been smaller. Some would also argue that it has never been less prepared to fight a near peer competitor. Air Force Heather Wilson wants to change all that. So she must, if she is to accommodate the new national defense strategy, which directs the services to prepare for strategic international competitions with China and Russia.
The last great power competition ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1992. Congress immediately cashed a peace dividend. Year after year of crimped defense funding reduced the size and readiness levels for all of the services, particularly the Air Force. The situation was aggravated as wars in the Persian Gulf coupled with a long term War on Terror ate away at the very fabric of the organization. Fatigue brought on by the continual stream of deployments wore out both men and machines. Retention rates fell. By 2016, the service was short 4,000 aircraft maintenance personnel. Last year, it was short more than 2,000 pilots.
Meanwhile, aircraft readiness rates plunged by half. So did size. The Air Force now has 55 active duty, guard and reserve fighter squadrons — less than half what it had available for Desert Storm. Among the 32 active fighter squadrons, less than half were rated “mission ready” in 2017 for any level of combat; only four were ready for a high-end fight and there is little evidence to show things have improved since. Fully aware of these debilitating conditions Secretary Wilson commissioned a study to determine the size and composition of force she would have to be able to field in order to meet the new defense strategy.
The study concluded that the Air Force needs 386 operational squadrons — 74 more than it has now. The service’s core fighting units, these squadrons include everything from fighter, bomber and airlift units to those responsible for cyber operations. The study determined that the Air Force needs at least 15 more tankers, 50 more bombers, 182 more fighters, and 210 more refueling aircraft.
Are these numbers reasonable? We think so. They jibe well with our own assessments. In preparing the Heritage Foundation index of military strength, we studied what it took, in capacity, to prevail in every major regional conflict from the Korean War to the present. We determined that the only consistently reliable measure of force size is the number of fighter aircraft deployed for each endeavor. Airlift, bomber, tanker, and other mission areas are equally important, but much more challenging to calculate due to the lack of staging/basing within a theater of war. The requirements for each are, therefore, based off the total fighter requirement.
Historically, it takes 600 combat coded fighters (those not dedicated to replacement aircrew training and operational test and evaluation) to win a major regional war. That number doubles — to 1,200 fighters — if the job is to 1) win that war, 2) deter other adversaries from acting up elsewhere, and 3) provide continuation training for pilots who are not deployed. And that three-part mission is exactly what’s set forth in the National Defense Strategy.
The Air Force currently has 924 combat coded fighters in its active duty force — 276 (23 percent) short of what’s needed to execute the national defense strategy. Secretary Wilson’s proposal would increase that force structure by 24 percent — almost an exact match. Few serious analysts who study the Air Force and understand the changing global environment will take issue with these assessments. Yet, when Wilson revealed her vision to add 74 operational squadrons and at least 460 aircraft, critics were quick to object, saying that undertaking such an expansion was flatly impossible in an era of trillion-dollar deficits.
But it’s not defense spending that’s driving record deficits. As a share of the national budget, defense spending today is lower than at any time over the last 70 years. Secretary Wilson is telling the nation what the Air Force needs to execute its National Defense Strategy, and she is telling it straight. She should be commended for delivering the hard truth to the American people. Now they, and Congress, must decide if they are willing to pay what is required to keep our nation safe.
This piece originally appeared in The Hill on 10/01/18
REPORT9 min read
The Way Forward for the Fiscal Year 2020 NDAA
The House NDAA Puts the Mighty U.S. Military at Risk
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Book Cheap Flights to Hong Kong
Cheap flights to Hong Kong
A bustling metropolis teeming with endless attractions, soaring skyscrapers, the famous Victoria peak, stunning museums, brilliant churches, amazing themeparks, and of course, breath-taking landscape and scenery. Book your flight to Hong Kong, and explore the best of what this brilliant destination has to offer.
There is no shortage of fascinating activities to indulge in and amazing landmarks to see in Hong Kong. Some of the top landmarks include Victoria Peak, Temple of Ten Thousand Buddhas, Kowloon Walled City Park, St John’s Cathedral, Hong Kong Museum of history, Lantau Island, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, Ocean Park, Ngong Ping 360, Man Mo Temple, Che Kung Temple, Tian Tan Buddha Statue, Hong Kong Wetland Park, Lamma Island, and so much more! Besides, there are also numerous surreal beaches worth checking out, including Repulse Bay, Middle Bay, Shek O, Big Wave Bay, Hung ShingYeh Beach, and so on.
If you want to lay your hands of ground-breakingairfare deals and humongous discounts on air prices for Hong Kong flights, you might want to check out HolidayMe’s efficient, user-friendly website which will give you ample options to book Hong Kong flights, in the best prices possible! What’s more, besides flights,Holidayme also offers epic deals on holiday packages, sightseeing activities and hotel bookings! This way, you can book your entire holiday package from scratch, based entirely on your budget and your interests! Travel to the amazing land of Hong Kong, and have a memorable holiday exploring its numerous wonders.
Most of the Hong Kong flights arrive at the Hong Kong International Airport, which is the primary airport in Hong Kong. Located on the island of Chek Lap Kok, the Hong Kong International Airport is also known as Chek Lap Kok Airport. Known to be one of the world’s busiest passenger airports, the Hong Kong International Airport also features one of the world’s largest passenger terminal buildings. One can book quick flights to Hong Kong from an array of cities across the planet, including major hubs like Bahrain, Moscow, Chennai, Brisbane, Johannesburg, Tokyo, London, Amsterdam, Singapore, Stockholm, New Delhi, New York, Mumbai, Los Angeles, Paris, Kuala Lumpur, and many more!
Hong Kong International Airport, also referred to as the Chek Lap Kok Airport, is the primary airport that serves Hong Kong. It is situated on the Chek Lap Kok Island. The airport has been constructed on the land that has been reclaimed from the sea, and it resides at an elevation of 28 feet above mean sea level. This is a civilian airport, which started its operations in the year 1998 that is being operated by the Airport Authority Hong Kong. Hong Kong International Airport is the primary hub for several airlines such as Air Hong Kong, Dragonair, Cathay Pacific, UPS Airlines, Kalitta Air, Hong Kong Airlines and Hong Kong Express Airways. It is also a focus city for China Airlines, China Eastern Airlines and Air India. The airport has two separate terminals, with one catering to domestic passengers and the other one catering to international commuters.
Regular scheduled flights to Hong Kong International Airport are available through a majority of airlines such as Air France, Bangkok Airways, Beijing Capital Airlines, Air Busan, Air Canada, Emirates, Jeju Air, Jin Air, Lufthansa, KLM, Kenya Airlines, Jet Airways, Qatar Airways, Royal Jordanian and several others. Even seasonal and charter flights to Hong Kong International Airport are available through a few airlines to destinations around the world.
Kai Tak Airport, officially known as the Hong Kong International Airport, the erstwhile international airport of Hong Kong, was able to serve the country from the year 1925 to the year 1998. AT this point, the newly constructed and operational Hong Kong International Airport that is also known as the Chek Lap Kok Airport, took over the operations of the old airport, and thus the old one was declared closed. Kai Tak Airport was a solely civilian airport, and although now defunct, connected the region to a large number of destinations. Perched atop an elevation of 30 feet above mean sea level, was located at Kowloon Bay and was operated by the Civil Aviation Department. Kai Tak Airport used to be a major hub for Cathay Pacific, the international carrier of the country. It was also served by several other airlines such as Hong Kong Airways and Air Hong Kong. Kai Tak Airport also used to house the erstwhile RAF Kai Tak, as well as Government Flying Service, Hong Kong Aviation Club, as well as several eateries and a few shops.
Regular scheduled flights to Kai Tak Airport were offered by several airlines such as Cathay Pacific, Dragonair, Hong Kong Airways, and Air Hong Kong Limited.
Flights To Aswan
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Top Flight Routes from Hong Kong
Hong Kong to Dubrovnik
Hong Kong to Ahmedabad
Hong Kong to Zadar
Hong Kong to Chennai
Hong Kong to Bahrain
Hong Kong to Punta Cana
Hong Kong to Hyderabad
Hong Kong to Dijon
Hong Kong to Frejus
Hong Kong to Lille
Hong Kong to Montpellier
Hong Kong to Nantes
Hong Kong to Nimes
Hong Kong to Rennes
Hong Kong to Tours
Arrival Airport:Hong Kong International Airport
IATA Code:HKG
Area Served:Hong Kong
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Richard An
RICHARD AN (b.1995) was born and raised in Los Angeles.
He began piano lessons at the age of four and began composing through a school arts competition in high school. Soon after, he was selected for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Composer Fellowship Program, taught by James Matheson and A.J. McCaffrey.
Through this innovative program, Richard wrote his Miniatures for String Quartet, new/old, Piece for Pierrot Ensemble, quartet and Monitor, which the Los Angeles Philharmonic premiered in April 2013.
During his undergraduate Composition Degree studies at the USC Thornton School of Music, studying with Donald Crockett, Brian Head, Andrew Norman and Frank Ticheli, he's written many pieces, including Five Etudes for Piano, quartet for four bassoons., and Piano Concertino.
Richard performs often as pianist, percussionist, electronic musician and vocalist in numerous groups, constantly performing and premiering new music. He is also the Executive Director of USC Kazan Taiko (2016-2017), a Japanese taiko drumming group based at USC, and is a member of the USC Chamber Singers under Dr. Jo-Michael Scheibe.
Bowl Area Map Accessibility Info Hollywood Bowl Museum Watch & Listen
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You Are Here: Home > 2017 Chrysler Pacifica & Pacifica Hybrid
2017 Chrysler Pacifica & Pacifica Hybrid
Whether summer break or the school year, families always have a lot of running around to do. From summer camp to family road trips or rides to school and sports practice, life with children is never dull. One way parents can get a little helping hand with all of the running around is with a vehicle built for parents, children and the busy lifestyle, and that vehicle is the Chrysler Pacifica, a minivan available with a gas or hybrid powertrain.
Since its debut in early 2016, the Chrysler Pacifica has racked up awards for everything from its interior design to its efficient and capable engine to its convenience features for parents and children. Among some of its top honors are Highest Ranked Minivan in Initial Quality in the 2017 J.D. Power Initial Quality Study as well as its Top Safety Pick+ rating from the I.I.H.S.
The Pacifica lineup includes two powertrain options, one is a gas powertrain, which is standard on the Chrysler Pacifica and the other is an award-winning hybrid powertrain, which is standard on the Pacifica Hybrid. The gas engine is a powerful 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 engine that generates 287 horsepower and 262 lb-ft of torque. This engine helps to make the Pacifica one of the most fuel efficient in its class as it averages 19 mpg in the city and 28 mpg on the highway. Additionally, the powerful engine gives the Pacifica a maximum towing capacity of 3,600 pounds, which is as much and in some cases more than some CUVs and SUVs on the market.
Buyers looking for a more fuel efficient family vehicle will want to check out the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid, the first plug-in hybrid electric minivan in the U.S. Included in WardsAuto’s 2017 Top 10 Engines List, the powertrain in the Pacifica Hybrid includes a modified version of the 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 engine as well as a 16 kWh lithium-ion battery that powers its dual motors. The innovative PHEV system can be powered in one of three ways – the gas engine, the battery, or a combination of the gas engine and battery working together.
The Pacifica Hybrid can travel up to 33 miles when only powered by electricity, and for each of those 33 miles, the minivan releases zero tailpipe greenhouse gas emissions. When operating in hybrid mode, the Pacifica Hybrid has an average fuel economy of 84 MPGe of combined city and highway driving. With a full tank of gas and a fully charged battery, the Pacifica Hybrid can travel more than 530 miles before needing to refuel.
Everyone is happy in the Chrysler Pacifica. Driver, front seat passenger and back seat passengers all have plenty of space and modern amenities to keep them comfortable on any car ride. Several of the Chrysler Pacifica trims come standard with a 5-inch touchscreen and the Pacifica Touring L Plus, Hybrid Premium, Limited and Hybrid Platinum all come standard with an 8.4-inch touchscreen. The standard sound system in the Pacifica is a six-speaker system, and the Pacifica Touring L Plus and Limited trims comes standard with a 13-speaker system, and buyers can opt to upgrade their vehicle with a 20-speaker Harmon Kardon sound system. All Pacifica trims come standard with a complimentary one-year subscription to SiriusXM radio.
The Pacifica comes standard with seating for seven passengers, but buyers can upgrade to eight-passenger seating as well. All Pacifica trims are equipped with active noise cancellation, automatic sliding doors and a 3-zone automatic air conditioning system for the front and rear seats, but the star feature of the Pacifica is the Stow ‘n Go seating system. The Stow ‘n Go seating system includes built-in floor storage compartments, which make it easy and convenient for users to fold the second- and third-row seats into the compartments to make extra room for large cargo. But, if all of the vehicle’s seats are in use, users can use the floor storage compartments to store cargo as well. Due to the Pacifica Hybrid’s large battery, the Pacifica Hybrid is only equipped with Stow ‘n Go seats in the third row.
The Pacifica and Pacifica Hybrid are equipped with convenient exterior features as well as convenient interior features. All Pacifica trims are equipped with automatic halogen quad projector headlamps, chrome accent fog lamps and LED tail lamps. Power mirrors come standard on the Pacifica Hybrid Platinum and buyers can opt to add Mopar splash guards on all Pacifica trims.
The Chrysler Pacifica is the only minivan to get a Top Safety Pick+ rating from the I.I.H.S. It is available with more than 100 safety features. In addition to supplemental side curtain airbags in all rows, supplemental front seat-mounted side airbags and advanced multistage front airbags, the Pacifica’s frame is 72 percent high strength steel, which is extremely protective in case of an accident.
Additionally, the Chrysler Pacifica is also available with a slew of advanced safety features including Forward Collision Warning, a 360-degree surround view camera system and self-parking features. These features not only make the Pacifica safer, but they also make driving more convenient.
The 2017 Chrysler Pacifica LX has a starting MSRP of $28,995. The 2017 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid Premium has a starting price of $41,995 and it also qualifies for a $7,500 federal tax credit.
Body Shop:954-342-5102
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September 01, 2017 9:29am PT by Ryan Parker
'South Park' Creators Look Past Rough Trump Season to Fresh Start
Trey Parker and Matt Stone talk Mr. Garrison, Cartman's girlfriend and Member Berries.
Matt Stone and Trey Parker are geared up for a new season of South Park — maybe even more than fans realize.
Following a rough 20th season that became disjointed due in part to the outcome of the presidential election, the Colorado pals who created one of the most beloved — and for some, despised — cartoons of all time are ready for a fresh start.
Hanging out in Parker's office at South Park Studios, the pair granted an interview to The Hollywood Reporter to talk about the upcoming season, which premieres Sept. 13 on Comedy Central. As most fans know, details can't be shared because Parker and Stone haven't thought them up yet. The South Park crew works on each new episode the week of air. Still, the duo were able to share some overall sentiments about last season and thoughts on the near future.
"Last year was such a headfuck, and we were so happy when it was done," Parker told THR. "And we just wanted to go back to the kids, which we still do. But it's also like, you can't avoid [Mr. Garrison as Trump]. So, we are not actively putting it in, but we are not actively leaving it out. It's the world we live in."
Unlike previous seasons, last year's 10 episodes had an overarching theme, which was Garrison as Trump. However, it was assumed Hillary Clinton would be elected president, which would allow Garrison to return to form. That didn't happen and the guys were stuck.
"Last season we really tried to do a serialized thing, and it was just really hard," Stone said. "In some ways it was cool and in some ways it trapped us. The way we do that show is not compatible with full serialization. We're going to do the first show (this season) and maybe don't have to sitcom wrap it up at the end."
He added, "The first 18 seasons of the show, we spent so much time thinking how do we get this back to resolution. And no TV shows do that anymore. You're so used to watching shows now where it doesn't end at the end, it teases the next one."
Parker said he didn't "appreciate" how tonally different South Park episodes could be until last season.
"We would always talk about how great it is because on South Park, one week it can be about the kids and then the next week it is about Garrison and then the next week it is about Randy," he said. "And that's what I really miss."
So, what will be in this season? Well, Parker said he was a fan of Cartman having a significant other, Heidi Turner, which showed a new side to the usually foul-mouthed, angry, fat kid.
"We don't want her to go away," Parker said. "But, I really liked in the end that he was now a dude stuck in a relationship."
It is too soon to tell about Member Berries, the adorable little fruit stuck in the past and always reminding each other how great things were.
"Now that Spielberg is doing Ready Player One — which is like the most Member Berry thing ever invented — we can't out-Member Berry that," Parker said. "All the Member Berries left our show to go be on that."
South Park season 21 premieres Sept. 13. The highly anticipated videogame, South Park: The Fractured But Whole, comes out Oct. 17.
Watch a trailer for the new season below:
Ryan Parker
ryan.parker@thr.com theryanparker
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Home Instead Senior Care Announces 2017 CAREGiver of the Year: Christine Collins
OMAHA, Neb. (April 27, 2017) – Last night, Christine Collins of New Port Richey, Florida, was named the 2017 North American CAREGiverSM of the Year for her extraordinary compassion and lifelong dedication to serve others. Since 1997, Home Instead Senior Care selects one of its 60,000 North American professional caregivers for the prestigious award each year – identifying a CAREGiver who has exemplified exceptional compassion and care toward his/her senior clients.
"I have always been a caregiver – a trait, I feel, was derived from my Irish heritage," said Collins in her acceptance speech to the more than 1,600 attendees at the Home Instead annual convention in Omaha. "Our clients' families entrust their loved ones' well-being to us. This is truly a privilege, and I am so honored that they allow me to come into their lives at such a vulnerable time and help them along their journey."
After experiencing 9/11 from the perimeter of ground zero, Collins was made all too aware how precious life is. She left her 40-year career at a Manhattan investment banking company and headed to Florida to be closer to her mother, who was living with dementia. She served as her mother's caregiver until she died in 2010. It was then that she discovered Home Instead and has since worked as a Home Instead professional caregiver, never missing a single shift.
Home Instead Senior Care franchise network, the leading provider of home care services for older adults, employs more than 65,000 CAREGivers worldwide. Home Instead CAREGivers help seniors remain as independent as long as possible in the comfort of their own homes or in care communities as they age, providing services and companionship, from meal preparation and medication reminders, to personal care and Alzheimer's care.
"For Home Instead, there is no greater accolade than CAREGiver of the Year," said Lori Hogan, co-founder of Home Instead Senior Care. "CAREGivers are at the heart of our mission of enhancing the lives of seniors, and it is truly a blessing to be in the presence of people like Christine Collins. They give us all hope for the future of aging."
It came as no surprise to Stacey Murphy, co-owner of the Home Instead franchise in New Port Richey, when Christine was selected to receive this prestigious award.
"She treats her clients how she would treat her own mother," said Murphy. "There is truly no one else like her. She has a way of making the people around her feel special, important and loved."
In the face of all the praise and accolades Collins has received, she remains thankful to her senior clients for giving her an opportunity to serve others.
"Even though I'm in the latter part of my life, I feel like there's been a really big change in me, and I'm happy with it. Doing this work, I have discovered my niche in life. After my husband passed away, this gives me purpose again. There is no better award than that."
To learn about becoming a CAREGiver and joining the Home Instead family, visit www.homeinstead.com/jobs.
ABOUT HOME INSTEAD SENIOR CARE
Founded in 1994 in Omaha, Nebraska, by Lori and Paul Hogan, the Home Instead Senior Care® network provides personalized care, support and education to help enhance the lives of aging adults and their families. Today this network is the world's leading provider of in-home care services for seniors, with more than 1,000 independently owned and operated franchises that are estimated to annually provide more than 50 million hours of care throughout the United States and 12 other countries. Local Home Instead Senior Care offices employ approximately 65,000 CAREGiversSM worldwide who provide basic support services that enable seniors to live safely and comfortably in their own homes for as long as possible. The Home Instead Senior Care network strives to partner with each client and his or her family members to help meet that individual's needs. Services span the care continuum from providing companionship and personal care to specialized Alzheimer's care and hospice support. Also available are family caregiver education and support resources. At Home Instead Senior Care, it's relationship before task, while striving to provide superior quality service.
200 B Kings Way W Sewell NJ 08080
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The Evil Within: The Interlude #2
By: Ryan Noble
In: Comics
"The Evil Within: The Interlude #2" Comic Review
Written by Ryan Noble
Published by Titan Comics
Written by Ryan O'Sullivan
Illustrated by Damien Worm and Szymon Kudranski
Additional colours by Guy Major
Letters by Simon Bowland
2017, 29 Pages, $3.99
Comic release on October 11th, 2017
The mind-f*ckery of The Evil Within continues in the pages of issue two, a comic that brings the twisted narrative ever closer to the events of the second game, releasing this Friday, October 13th. If you haven't yet read my review for issue one, read it here, and then join me below for the next issue. Already read that first review? Then you're in the right place, and you get a gold star.
As I said, the surreal, mind-bending events of issue one have very much bled into issue two. Not just bled into it, but soaked its pages red with more questions than ever before. If writer Ryan O'Sullivan's story is anything to go by so far, Sebastian, the protagonist from the games, doesn't stand a chance at a healthy mental state in The Evil Within 2.
We follow Sebastian as he tries to solve two cases at once. One case is all business, trying to track down a serial killer known as The Nursery Rhyme Killer. The other case is much more personal, as he continues his search for his missing daughter, Lily. These two threads intertwine more than ever in this issue – that is, until something happens which makes you doubt every single event, conversation, and character up until that point.
This is what The Evil Within series does so well, and it's great to see how this has blended so perfectly into another medium. Hell, I might not know what is real and what isn't anymore, but the harsh, instant way that these reality-questioning moments are revealed – both in dialogue and art – really grabbed my attention. I may have even audibly gasped at a certain reveal, though I can't remember if this was real or not. This comic is messing with me.
With all of the different strands running through the comic, there is a part of me that is slightly concerned I won't be able to connect all of the dots between issues, or even between the prequel comics and the upcoming game. I mean, when I'm struggling to keep track of which dots are even real to begin with, how will I know which ones to join up and which ones to forget?
Nevertheless, I enjoyed the twists and turns of The Evil Within issue two, and am feeling ever-more excited to see how everything plays out in The Evil Within 2. As much as I'd love to promise a review of the game soon, and I really, really would, I'm still yet to finish the first game, which I shamefully confessed in the first comic review. Though, Beacon Mental Hospital is calling out to me louder than ever, so I may have to catch up or risk losing my mind.
Author: Ryan NobleWebsite: http://noble-gaming.blogspot.co.uk/
If Ryan isn't watching, reading or playing some form of horror, he's probably writing about it. He used to be an Editor at Indie Game Magazine so he has a soft spot for independent creators, especially when they're creating fear. Whether you're one such creator, or a fellow horror fan, let's speak about spooks on Twitter or email.
Slender: The Arrival (Nintendo Switch)
Horror Games You Need in July
Friday the 13th: The Game Coming to Nintendo Switch
Monstrum 2
Horror Games You Need in June
Szymon Kudranski
Ryan Noble
Ryan O'Sullivan
Damien Worm
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Port Hueneme (pronounced /ˌpɔrt waɪˈniːmi/ "wye-NEE-mee") is a small harbor city in Ventura County, California surrounded by Oxnard. The name derives from the Spanish spelling of the humash wene me, meaning "resting-place". The population was 21,845 at the 2000 census. It boasts a south-facing beach, known for its surfing and beach park, which stretches eastward about a mile from the harbor and the naval base and includes a fishing pier.
Port Hueneme is the only deep water port between the Port of Long Beach and the Port of San Francisco, and the only military deep water port between San Diego Bay and Puget Sound. The harbor is a shipping and receiving point for a wide variety of goods destined for the Los Angeles Basin, and beyond including automobiles, pineapples, and bananas. Agricultural products such as onions, strawberries, and flowers are shipped.
The Naval Reserve Center of Port Hueneme facility.The United States Navy maintains a facility at Port Hueneme, in support of the naval air station at Point Mugu to the south and San Nicolas Island 60 miles offshore, with which it comprises Naval Base Ventura County. Port Hueneme is the West Coast home of the Construction Battalion, the famous "Seabees," as well as a link in the coastal radar system. Naval Base Ventura County is the largest employer in Ventura County, and is the key component of the economy of the City of Port Hueneme. NBVC and its tenants employ over 6,000 civilians, 9,000 military personnel and 1,300 contractor personnel. In addition, NBVC hosts over 60 tenant commands.
Also located on the military facility at Port Hueneme is the Navy and Marine Operational Support Center Port Hueneme, which is the successor to the Naval Reserve Center Santa Barbara.
Alaska Airlines Flight 261
Main article: Alaska Airlines Flight 261 The Sundial Memorial of Alaska Airlines Flight 261Alaska Airlines Flight 261 was a flight route operated by Alaska Airlines that provided service between Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, California, and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Seattle, Washington. On January 31, 2000, after experiencing problems with the horizontal stabilizer, the flight was diverted to Los Angeles International Airport. During the diversion, the plane inverted and crashed at high speed into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Port Hueneme near Anacapa Island on January 31, 2000. All 83 passengers and 5 crew members on board perished. The residents and businesses of Port Hueneme were very helpful during the days and weeks following the crash. Roughly one year after the crash, the friends and family of the victims dedicated a giant sundial on Hueneme Beach as both a memorial to their loved ones and a work of public art in gratitude to the residents of Port Hueneme for their assistance in the recovery effort.[citation needed] On January 31, 2007, the bronze heart on the sundial was found sawed off. The thief has yet to be found, but a new heart is being made.[citation needed]
Port Hueneme is located on the southwest portion of the Oxnard Plain at 34°9′37″N, 119°11′40″W (34.160250, -119.194509)[1], on the Pacific Ocean. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 12.1 km² (4.7 mi²). 11.5 km² (4.4 mi²) of it is land and 0.6 km² (0.2 mi²) of it (4.72%) is water.
As of the census[2] of 2000, there were 21,845 people, 7,268 households, and 5,000 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,895.4/km² (4,912.9/mi²). There were 7,908 housing units at an average density of 686.1/km² (1,778.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 57.27% White, 6.06% African American, 1.69% Native American, 6.33% Asian, 0.50% Pacific Islander, 21.84% from other races, and 6.30% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 41.02% of the population. There were 7,268 households out of which 37.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.9% were married couples living together, 13.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.2% were non-families. 24.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.86 and the average family size was 3.42. In the city the population was spread out with 27.6% under the age of 18, 13.2% from 18 to 24, 32.0% from 25 to 44, 16.5% from 45 to 64, and 10.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females there were 101.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.7 males. The median income for a household in the city was $42,246, and the median income for a family was $46,056. Males had a median income of $30,314 versus $25,703 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,311. About 9.8% of families and 12.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.7% of those under age 18 and 8.9% of those age 65 or over.
In the state legislature Port Hueneme is located in the 23rd Senate District, represented by Democrat Sheila Kuehl, and in the 41st Assembly District, represented by Democrat Julia Brownley. Federally, Port Hueneme is located in California's 23rd congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of D +9[3] and is represented by Democrat Lois Capps.
See the City of Port Hueneme website or the Official Conejo Valley Website, a Web site with local history, events, and community information.
Source: Wikipedia.com - All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.)
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The Fantastic (1970) - Tzvetan Todorov
Related: fantastic - fantastique - fantastic literature - genre theory - gothic novel - the uncanny - Tzvetan Todorov - the marvelous - literary theory - structuralism
The Fantastic: A Structural Approach to a Literary Genre (1970) - Tzvetan Todorov [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
French title: Introduction à la littérature fantastique (1970)
Structuralist view of 'the fantastic', May 30, 2002
Those interested in the structuralist criticism of the 1960s-70s will find the most joy here, with Todorov applying the rigorous structuralist stance to one of literature's most fascinating genres. His demolition of Northrop Frye's approach to `genre' in Chapter 1 is still cogent after thirty years (and an amusing read in its own right), but it's Todorov's chapters on the `themes of the fantastic', and his conclusion on its role in literature generally, which are most compelling. This is not, however, an easy read. As Robert Scholes notes in his foreword, "neither structuralism itself nor poetics in general is noted for its ability to charm readers." You don't say. Fortunately, Todorov uses many examples from well known fantastic texts - such as `The Arabian Nights' and the works of Edgar Alan Poe - and also from lesser known French works which will have you rushing out to the antiquarian bookstore to hunt them down. You can accept or reject the structuralist position - but if nothing else, this book will open up a whole new world of `fantastic' novels for you to enjoy. --Steven Reynolds (Sydney, Australia) via Amazon.com
see also: fantastique - fantastic - fantasy
Problem of the corpus
Various criticisms regarding The Fantastic's corpus:
The concepts of Tzvetan Todorov on fantastic literature, inspired by structuralism, have met with such critical acclaim that today they are part of the national curriculum, at least in France. Many a fan of the genre has been reprimanded by some teacher for talking about Dracula or The Fall of the House of Usher in relation to the fantastique. Officially, Dracula belongs to the realm of the marvelous and The Fall of the House of Usher to the fantastic-uncanny. Unfortunately, the famous todorovian concepts are a web of errors and contradictions.
The problem is accentuated by the fact that the choice of the todorovian corpus is aberrant. Present are the French writers situated chronologically between Cazotte and Maupassant (Balzac, Gautier, Mérimée, Villiers de l'Isle-Adam, etc.), the Germans Arnim and Hoffmann, the Americans Poe, Bierce and James, but, paradoxically, since the definition of Todorov is in reality British and even Victorian, not a single British writer, apart from the naturalized Henry James. Not one Victorian (where is Dickens, Collins, Stevenson, Doyle, Kipling, Stoker ?), not one Edwardian (where is Machen, Blackwood, de la Mare, Hodgson, Dunsany ?). Not one single Belgian (Ray, Owen, Ghelderode ?), no modern Americans (Merritt, Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith ?). In addition, the well known 18th century tendencies of Todorov impel him to introduce the gothic novel into his corpus (The Manuscript found in Saragossa, The Monk) and the Arabian Nights, with which he subsequently does not know what to do. --translated from Harry Morgan's French http://www.sdv.fr/pages/adamantine/todorov.htm [Jun 2006]
Since structuralism in literary studies is largely of French origin, this attempt to ruin its reputation takes as its motto the words of a Frenchman, Pierre Bertaux: "At one time it was hoped that the beginnings of a formalization of the humanities analogous [to that of the sciences] could be expected from structuralism. Unfortunately, it appears today that precisely the loudest advocates of structuralism have let it degenerate into a mythology—and not even a useful one." I fully agree with this verdict. However, inasmuch as it is difficult to expose in a single article the barrenness of a whole school of thought—one moreover which has spawned divergent tendencies, since every author has his own "vision" of the subject—I will limit myself to dissecting Tzvetan Todorov’s book The Fantastic. The author begins by deriding the investigator who would, before proceeding to description of a genre, engage in endless reading of actual works. Todorov’s "sample" of works discussed, as displayed in his bibliography, is astonishing. Among its twenty-seven titles we find no Borges, no Verne, no Wells, nothing from modern fantasy: all of SF is represented by two short stories. We get, instead, E.T.A. Hoffman, Potocki, Balzac, Poe, Gogol, Kafka—and that is about all. What this structural account proclaims to us as the bounds of the fantastic is really quite an antique piece of furniture: the bed of Procrustes. --Stanislaw Lem via http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/backissues/4/lem4art.htm [Jan 2007]
The fantastic as a means to cross boundaries
Todorov contends that authors had to resort to the fantastic in order to cross boundaries and elude censors.
"for many authors, the supernatural was merely a pre-text to describe things they would never have dared mention in realistic terms. [Peter Penzoldt]" We may doubt that supernatural events are merely pretexts; but there is certainly a degree of truth in this assertion: the fantastic permits us to cross frontiers that are inaccessible so long as we have no recourse to it. page 158
Todorov compares a story by Gautier on necrophilia with Georges Bataille's frank account in realistic terms of a necrophiliac near-encounter in Le Bleu du Ciel.
There is a qualitative difference between the personal possibilities of a nineteenth-century author and those of a contemporary author. We may recall the devious means a Gautier had to employ in order to describe his character's necrophilia, the whole ambiguous business of vampirism. -- page 159
That the pretext of the fantastic was no longer necessary, he attributes to the rise of psychoanalysis:
Psychoanalysis has replaced (and thereby has made useless) the literature of the fantastic. There is no need today to resort to the devil in order to speak of an excessive sexual desire, and none to resort to vampires in order to designate the attraction exerted by corpses: psychoanalysis, and the literature which is directly or indirectly inspired by it, deal with these matters in undisguised terms. -- page 160,161
But in the end, he does not wish to map psychoanalysis onto the fantastic:
In doing so, we have not tried to establish a relation of signification between the two groups (such as: the devil means sex; the vampire means necrophilia) but rather a compatibility, a co-presence. -- page 143
The Marvelous and Todorov
In search of the marvelous
The Marvelous vs. the Uncanny
According to Tsvetan Todorov, a certain hesitation exists throughout a Gothic tale: the hesitation of the reader in knowing what the rules are in the game of reading. Can our understanding of familiar perceptions of reality account for strange goings-on or do we have to appeal to the extraordinary to account for the setting and circumstances of the mysterious story? At the novel's close, the reader makes a decision, often apart from the character's or narrator's point of view (see unreliable narrator), as to the laws that are governing the novel. If she decides that new laws of nature must be in place for the phenomena to occur, the novel is classified in the genre of "the marvelous," also called supernatural accepted. If she decides that the laws of nature as she knows them can remain unchanged and still allow for the phenomena described, the novel is in the genre of "the uncanny," or supernatural explained.
Examples: Comparing the works of Horace Walpole and Clara Reeves illustrates the difference between "marvelous" and "uncanny" works. Walpole's The Castle of Ortranto resides in the genre of the marvelous, or supernatural accepted, adopting new laws of nature for the setting and circumstances. Clara Reeves' works, on the other hand, fall into the genre of the uncanny, or supernatural explained, citing known laws of nature as reasons for the phenomena described. She, in fact, consciously set out to rehabilitate the extravagances of Walpole's Gothic vision in Otranto.
For more on the debate see UVa's "The Uncanny and the Fantastic." --http://www.georgiasouthern.edu/~dougt/goth.html#mar [Jun 2006]
In his book The Fantastic: A Structural Approach to a Literary Genre (1975), Tzvetan Todorov offers the following definitions of fantastic fiction:
"In a world which is indeed our world, the one we know....there occurs an event which cannot be explained by the laws of this same familiar world. The person who experiences the event must opt for one of two possible solutions: either he is the victim of an illusion of the senses, of a product of the imagination-- and the laws of the world then remain what they are; or else the event has indeed taken place, it is an integral part of reality--but then this reality is controlled by laws unknown to us (p. 25)."
"The fantastic occupies the duration of this uncertainty....The fantastic is that hesitation experienced by a person who knows only the laws of nature, confronting an apparently supernatural event (p. 25)."
Todorov later comments:
"The fantastic requires the fulfillment of three conditions. First, the text must oblige the reader to consider the world of the characters as a world of living persons and to hesitate between a natural or supernatural explanation of the events described. Second, this hesitation may also be experienced by a character; thus the reader's role is so to speak entrusted to a character, and at the same time the hesitation is represented, it becomes one of the themes of the work--in the case of naive reading, the actual reader identifies himself with the character. Third, the reader must adopt a certain attitude with regard to the text: he will reject allegorical as well as "poetic" interpretations (p. 33)."
Todorov distinguishes the fantastic from two other modes, the uncanny and the marvelous. While these modes have some of the ambiguity of the fantastic, they ultimately offer a resolution governed by natural laws (the uncanny) or the supernatural (the marvelous).
"[In the uncanny], events are related which may be readily accounted for by the laws of reason, but which are, in one way or another, incredible, extraordinary, shocking, singular, disturbing or unexpected, and which thereby provoke in the character and in the reader a reaction similar to that which works of the fantastic have made familiar (p. 46)." Todorov's definition of the uncanny might be applied to stories in which the character realizes s/he is mad or has just awakened from a dream. Thus, the uncanny is an "experience of limits."
"If we move to the other side of that median line which we have called the fantastic, we find ourselves in the fantastic-marvelous, the class of narratives that are presented as fantastic and that end with an acceptance of the supernatural (p. 52)." --http://www.unc.edu/~bardsley/ghosts/todorov.html
On Lem on Todorov:
Historically speaking, prior to what we refer to as the "Enlightenment," there could be no such hesitation. The supernatural was accepted as a part of life. Witches and God co-existed with men and women, and a story could, in Todorov's terms, be "marvelous," but never "fantastic." Examples abound: Sinbad the Sailor, fairy tales, chivalric romances. At the other end—our end—of the nineteenth century, with the psychoanalytic discovery of the unconscious, there is again no hesitation. The witness to bizarre events, or at least the reader of the story, knows them to be the creations of his or her own mind. A story then may be "strange" (étrange, inexplicably translated as "uncanny" by Richard Howard), but, again, never "fantastic," science fiction and Todorov's careless remarks about it notwithstanding. For Todorov, science-fiction is a species of the marvelous, but the sense in which "robots, extraterrestrial beings, the whole interplanetary context" are supernatural is entirely different. Here the marvelous and the strange intersect without creating that cognitive hesitation characteristic of the fantastic, for the explanation of the events, while currently impossible (we as yet know no interplanetary beings) is implicitly rational (we recognize the possibility that we will know such beings in another time). --http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/backissues/6/lemtodorov6forum.htm
From Terry Heller's 1987 Delights of Terror:
In the marvelous tale, according to Todorov, events take place that violate the reader's conceptions of natural laws, but the characters behave as if the events were normal. Both Todorov and Rabkin point out that this is the fictional world of the fairy tale. Indeed, in "Hansel and Gretel," no one questions the existence of a rich witch in the woods who builds a house out of food to trap children or of a white bird to lead the children to her or of a duck to help ferry them back home. Likewise in Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles (1950), there are no questions about the possibility of space travel, though it had not yet happened when the book was published. The existence of Martians, the physical conditions on Mars, the possibilities of interactions between humans and Martians -- these are just as marvelous as witches and obedient wild ducks. Bringing science fiction and fantasy into the marvelous along with fairy tales, shows the mode's extensiveness. We might go even further by mentioning the marvelous sympathy among some members of the Bundren family in Faulkner's As I Lay Dying or the marvelous power of poetic justice in Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Like Todorov's uncanny genre, his marvelous genre shades off into all of literature, where the marvelous appears in many guises, depending to some extent on what constitutes natural law for any particular cultural group. --http://www.public.coe.edu/~theller/essays/delights/dt3.html [Jun 2006]
See also: gothic novel - Todorov - fantastic literature - uncanny
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Verizon Wins the Battle for Straight Path. Will It Win the War for 5G?
Verizon outbid AT&T with an all-stock deal for high-band spectrum owner Straight Path Communications. Is this a forward-thinking bargain or a $2.2 billion boondoggle?
Billy Duberstein
(TMFStoneOak)
Only a little more than a month ago, Straight Path Communications (NYSEMKT:STRP) stock was at $36 per share. Last week, however, Verizon (NYSE:VZ) agreed to buy the company in an all-stock deal for $184, a whopping 404% premium to where the little-known, nine-employee company was trading on April 7. That's because AT&T (NYSE:T) and Verizon were involved in a bidding war for Straight Path's high-band spectrum assets, which may be the building blocks of a future 5G network.
As I previously wrote, AT&T and Verizon are competing to assume pole position in the 5G race because their core wireless businesses are in trouble, due to the incredible success of low-cost provider T-Mobile. AT&T and Verizon are still much bigger so they are attempting to leverage their scale to be the leader in the next wave of innovation and differentiate their service based on quality. Right now, both Sprint and T-Mobile have upgraded their networks to a similar level of quality as the bigger players, so that advantage has waned.
5G is make-or-break
It is perhaps fitting that Verizon won this bidding war, as the new 5G is most crucial to its future. 5G is also important to AT&T, but the company has more diversification than Verizon, with a large media arm due to its acquisition of Direct TV and the pending acquisition of Time Warner, a larger enterprise fiber network, and a growing Latin American division.
T-Mobile has promised a 5G network by 2020 as well. It believes that it will be able to deploy 5G on the low-band spectrum it purchased in the government auction this winter, when it spent $8 billion for lots of low-band 600 MHz spectrum. It's still unclear how comprehensive that network will be, however.
Verizon, however, seems to be betting on leading technological innovation of the core network.
5G: Holy grail or hype?
There is still a debate about what 5G is and what it will mean. Perhaps the most bullish and intriguing thesis is that 5G could eventually replace cable companies' fixed broadband delivery. That would be an incredible boon for companies with 5G capabilities and a potential danger for players such as Comcast and Charter, which dominate this space. Interestingly, those two companies recently teamed up to offer wireless service and coordinate on similar technology platforms going forward. This is intriguing, and could be due to this potential threat as wireless operators move into cable and vice versa.
Cowen & Co.'s analyst Colby Synesael recently discussed this phenomenon in a 25-minute video, in which he concludes that 5G could very well be a cable killer, but will not arrive until 2020 or later, and then only in developed countries such as the U.S. Also, the 5G buildout is likely to be complex and expensive.
In the presentation, he notes that 5G will initially incorporate millimeter-wave spectrum (the kind that Straight Path owned), but will eventually be available on all spectrum waves. The government is likely to open up even more spectrum for 5G deployments in the years ahead.
One might ask, then, why Verizon just paid $2.2 billion for these spectrum assets, when 5G will eventually become available on mid-band spectrum as well. Probably because even at $2.2 billion, the price paid for Straight Path's spectrum amounted to a rate of less than a penny per megahertz per person.
This is in contrast to the recent auction the Federal Communications Commission held for the 600 MHz band, where that spectrum went for $0.93 per MHz-POP. So, Verizon is paying up now to likely be the first -- though not the only -- company to build out 5G, which will require this millimeter-wave spectrum for the first part of the network.
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Verizon shelled out $2.2 billion in stock for spectrum that will allow it to be a leader in the race for 5G. It's still unclear how much this will mean for its network superiority and its earnings in the 2020s, but investors need to keep an eye on the 5G race, as it will likely transform many big industries as we know them.
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Why Square Is Up 85% So Far in 2018
Square's business keeps growing, and the best could be yet to come.
Matthew Frankel, CFP
(TMFMathGuy)
Payment-processing and fintech company Square (NYSE:SQ) has done incredibly well for shareholders, having more than doubled in the first nine months of 2018. Soaring revenue, new products, and investor optimism are responsible for the excellent performance, but the stock has actually performed poorly in recent weeks due to some negative catalysts.
With that in mind, here's why Square has performed so well, and why shares could actually be a bargain at the current level.
Image source: Square.
Square's core business continues to grow impressively
Square's main business is its payment-processing hardware, and it continues to grow at a rapid pace. In the most recent quarter, Square's gross payment volume (GPV) grew at a 29% year-over-year rate.
It's also important to mention that the GPV of $22.5 billion in the third quarter translates to an annual rate of $90 billion, which is still just a small fraction of the company's addressable market opportunity. So it's certainly possible that this growth rate could be sustained for quite some time.
Other revenue streams are growing even faster
Square's adjusted revenue grew by an astounding 56% over the past year, propelled in large part by the company's other revenue streams.
Specifically, Square's subscription and service-based revenue grew by 155% year over year. This includes Square Capital, the company's business loan origination platform, which originated $405 million in loans during the third quarter (34% more than a year ago), as well as Square's Caviar food-service platform, the Cash Card, and the Instant Deposit service.
The company's new hardware offerings have also been rather successful. The company's Square Register and recently launched Square Terminal have been selling well, and the upgraded Square Reader is still a popular product. In all, hardware revenue, while a relatively small portion of the total, grew by 74% year over year.
Because of the excellent growth, Square has increased its full-year guidance along with each earnings report it has issued in 2018. The company is now expecting revenue to come in about 19% higher than originally projected.
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The most powerful growth engine could still be untapped
Square's core payment-processing business, the Square Capital business lending platform, and the company's other revenue streams are certainly performing very well, but it's possible that the best long-term growth driver hasn't even begun to scratch the surface of its potential.
I'm talking about the Square Cash person-to-person payment app, which has been downloaded more times than Venmo and has millions of active users.
To be clear, Square isn't really making much on the Cash app yet. In fact, considering that the company is paying for the Cash Boost rewards program out of pocket, the app is probably losing quite a bit of money for the time being.
Having said that, the app is building a massive user base that can eventually be monetized in some big ways. For example, Square could offer personal lending products, an investment platform, savings accounts, and more that can be cross-sold to the company's loyal Cash App users.
To give you an idea of how big of an opportunity this is, consider that the Cash App had about 7 million active users as of last December, and this number has likely grown since then. For comparison, Square's merchant-focused businesses currently have about 2 million customers.
Square was up a lot more until recently
As a final thought, it's worth pointing out that although Square has more than doubled in 2018, the stock has actually pulled back quite a bit recently. In fact, since peaking in late September at over $100 per share, Square has declined by 35%.
SQ data by YCharts.
This is due to a combination of reasons. First, CEO Jack Dorsey sold more than 100,000 shares of stock. Then, the company announced the upcoming departure of highly successful CFO Sarah Friar, which was the biggest negative catalyst. And most recently, while Square's earnings continue to show impressive growth, the company's fourth-quarter guidance wasn't quite what the market had hoped for.
So, if you were waiting for an entry point in Square, now could be the time. The stock's upward momentum in 2018 has been well-justified, and I can't make the case that the company is worth three-quarters of its share price of just over a month ago.
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Exchange-traded funds have become one of the most popular ways to invest. Find out why.
Dan Caplinger
(TMFGalagan)
Updated: Mar 27, 2019 at 12:12PM
Published: Jan 9, 2019 at 1:46PM
Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have taken the investing world by storm, and investors have piled into them to take advantage of the opportunities that they provide. All told, investors have put about $3.5 trillion into ETFs as of October 2018, according to the Investment Company Institute's statistics, and hundreds of different ETFs are available for purchase.
The popularity of ETFs owes itself to their unique characteristics and features. We'll go into great detail below about what ETFs are and why they're useful for investors, but above all, ETFs have opened the door to a wide variety of investments to which many investors had never before been able to gain access. With their efficiency, diversification, simplicity, and broad focus, ETFs have benefits that no other investment vehicle can match.
What are ETFs?
Exchange-traded funds are baskets of different types of investments that are pooled together into a single entity, which then offers shares to investors that are subsequently traded on major stock exchanges. Each share of an ETF gives its owner a proportional stake in the total assets of the exchange-traded fund.
ETFs generally track various benchmarks, with each fund investing with the objective of matching the returns of the benchmark that the fund has chosen. There are a few ETFs that have portfolio managers that actively select their own investments, but because of the disclosure rules that require such funds to tell investors about their holdings on a daily basis, most managers who want to manage money using active management strategies choose vehicles other than ETFs.
Most ETFs are considered to be registered investment companies for tax purposes. That means that they rarely pay any corporate taxes at the fund level, but any taxable income that they bring in is required to be passed through to their shareholders. For instance, ETF investors who focus on funds that invest in dividend-paying stocks are entitled to receive their proportional share of the dividend income that the ETF generates from its investment portfolio. Funds typically accumulate dividends over short periods of time and then distribute the total at regular intervals, such as quarterly or annually.
One unique aspect of ETFs is how shares get created and redeemed. Rather than working directly with shareholders, most ETFs use special market makers to facilitate trade. These market makers can create new ETF shares by purchasing the underlying stocks or other investments held by the fund and delivering them to the ETF company, which in turn issues shares that the market maker can sell. Conversely, the market maker can deliver a large block of ETF shares to the fund company and get the corresponding investment securities back in kind. This structure ensures that the market for ETFs remains efficient, and it also contributes to some of the tax advantages you'll learn about in more detail below.
Why do so many investors like ETFs?
The advantages of ETFs have contributed to their nearly ubiquitous use in the financial markets. The biggest benefit to investors of ETFs is that you don't need to have a lot of money to invest in exchange-traded fund shares, and each share gives you exposure to a well-diversified portfolio of investments. Most ETF shares trade for $100 or less, but even one share will give you a small fractional interest in dozens or even hundreds of different companies. By contrast, if those with limited money to invest instead decide to buy shares of just one or two individual stocks, then they risk losing everything if something bad happens to those particular companies. Of course, they also have the opportunity to see dramatic returns if those individual companies do particularly well, which is less likely with a well-diversified ETF. Nevertheless, most investors are more comfortable with the steady profit potential that exchange-traded funds offer.
Besides their ease of access, you can find ETFs that cover almost the entire range of available investment assets in the financial markets. Stock ETFs are by far the most common, but you can also find funds that target other asset classes. Bond ETFs, commodity ETFs, foreign exchange ETFs, and hybrid ETFs that mix and match multiple types of assets are readily available if you want exposure.
In addition, the way that ETFs target those asset classes differs. Some ETFs aim to give you the broadest possible swath of investments in a given asset class, seeking to offer an entire market in a single fund. Other ETFs drill down on particular subsectors of an asset class, letting you benefit from trends that favor one industry or type of company over rivals or companies in completely different areas of the market. Given that there are so many ETFs on the market, the odds of finding one that matches up with your particular desires for investing are better than you might think.
For budget-conscious investors, ETFs also offer a fairly cost-effective way to invest. Most ETFs don't charge extremely high management fees, because the responsibilities that the fund manager has are limited to doing whatever's necessary to track the performance of the index that the ETF has chosen as its benchmark. That saves ETFs the cost of paying investment professionals to pick certain investments over others in the hopes of outperforming the market. When you compare the typical fees that ETFs charge to those of similar options for diversified exposure to a particular asset class, you'll often find that the ETF offers the lowest-cost option available.
The only thing to keep in mind on this final point is that there are some costs that are unique to ETFs. Because ETF shares trade on exchanges, you'll usually have to pay a commission to your brokerage company in order to make purchases and sales of given ETFs. Yet in part because of their popularity, many ETF providers that also have affiliated brokerage companies allow their own brokerage customers to buy and sell ETF shares at no commission. That gives both the ETFs and the brokerage division a competitive advantage over their rivals. Yet even if you do end up paying a commission, the rise of discount brokers has made it a lot less painful to bear that cost than it was in the distant past.
ETFs vs. mutual funds: What's the difference?
Many investors who are just getting acquainted with ETFs already have some experience with mutual funds. That makes sense because the mutual fund market is older and quite a bit larger than the ETF market. Even with the rise of ETFs, mutual fund assets dwarf them, with more than $18.4 trillion in assets as of October 2018. However, the mutual fund market has grown less than 1% over the past year, compared to nearly 7% growth for ETF assets, so ETFs are closing the gap.
Mutual funds have a lot of similarities to ETFs. They're pools of investments that match up with a given investment objective, and investors can buy shares of mutual funds in small dollar amounts to get access to a diversified portfolio of investment holdings. Index mutual funds track specific benchmarks just like most ETFs do, but there are more actively managed mutual funds than there are actively managed ETFs. Mutual funds are also treated as regulated investment companies in determining income tax liability, and you can find a wide variety of mutual funds that cover asset classes including stocks, bonds, and cash as well as certain other types of investments.
Like ETFs, mutual funds pass their costs through to their investors, and the expenses for index mutual funds are fairly similar to what an ETF investor would pay. Yet that's where some of the similarities end, because actively managed mutual funds are in a completely different league in terms of cost. Typical actively managed mutual funds charge roughly 1% of investors' assets every year. That compares to less than a tenth that much for a wide swath of ETFs, as well as index mutual funds. The drain on your investment returns that the fees for active management represents is one of the biggest contributors to the relative growth of the ETF industry compared to mutual funds.
One key difference between mutual funds and ETFs is when you can trade shares. For mutual funds, you're only able to buy and sell fund shares as of the close of regular trading on weekdays. Even if you enter an order first thing in the morning, nothing happens until the end of the trading day. That can create huge lags that in turn can cause you to get a much different price for your mutual fund shares than you had initially expected at the time you entered your purchase or sale order. By contrast, because you can trade ETFs any time the market's open, you're able to react quickly to news that moves the market. Sometimes, that can mean capitalizing on a favorable opportunity that might well have disappeared by the time the market closes.
Also, mutual funds have some negative tax attributes that most ETFs are able to avoid. Especially for mutual funds that are actively managed, when the fund sells shares of its holdings at a profit, it has to distribute the resulting capital gains tax liability to its shareholders. These distributions typically happen at year-end, and if you hold your mutual fund shares in a regular taxable account, then you can end up having to pay substantial amounts of capital gains tax as a result. This is true even if you automatically reinvest the distribution into additional fund shares. The IRS won't hesitate to tax those mutual fund capital gains distributions -- even if you never touch the cash. As you'll see in more detail below, ETFs are able to avoid some of these tax pitfalls, allowing investors to keep more of their hard-earned money.
What's the difference between an ETF and a closed-end fund?
Less well-known than mutual funds or ETFs are closed-end funds. This relatively small $270 billion market mixes some attributes of mutual funds and ETFs. Closed-end funds are structurally similar to mutual funds, and they've been around a lot longer than ETFs. However, closed-end fund shares trade on stock exchanges, giving you the same advantages of immediate trading access that ETFs provide.
The big difference between ETFs and closed-end funds is in the number of total shares outstanding. Exchange-traded funds have mechanisms whereby certain market participants have the ability to create or redeem large blocks of ETF shares with the financial institution that manages the ETF. As a result, when there's high demand for ETF shares, these market participants can go to the ETF manager and make a block purchase of shares that it can then turn around and sell to individual investors on the exchange.
By contrast, with closed-end funds, there are only a fixed number of fund shares available at any given time. The company that manages the closed-end fund does not have the ability to issue new shares at will. Instead, any subsequent offerings of shares have to be handled in the same way that a publicly traded company issues new stock in secondary offerings, with registration and regulatory requirements.
Because closed-end fund companies rarely choose to do that, supply and demand considerations among investors seeking out a fund play a huge role in the price of closed-end shares. If everyone's interested in a particular fund, then those shares might well trade at a premium above what the proportional value of the fund's underlying assets would suggest is the appropriate number. If a particular fund falls out of favor, then the shares can trade much more cheaply than the value of the assets held within the fund. Because fund investors can't demand that the fund turn over its underlying investments, these premiums or discounts can persist for years.
Closed-end funds have mostly fallen out of favor, because they tend to be actively managed and have fees that are even higher than their traditional mutual fund counterparts, let alone typical ETFs. Nevertheless, there are some areas of the financial markets in which closed-end funds continue to prosper. ETF investors can usually get a better deal by seeking out exchange-traded funds with similar investment objectives.
How do taxes work with ETFs?
As mentioned above, ETFs typically pass through the tax attributes of the income their investments generate. If an ETF holds stocks whose dividends qualify for favorable tax treatment, then shareholders will get the benefits of that treatment. Similarly, holders of ETFs that invest in tax-free bonds don't have to pay income tax on the interest payments they receive from the ETF.
ETFs have some key tax advantages over mutual funds. ETFs and mutual funds are both required to pass through any tax liability to their shareholders on an annual basis, but mutual funds tend to make trades in their investment portfolios more frequently than ETFs. That results in greater capital gains tax liability that gets passed through to mutual fund shareholders year after year. Conversely, ETF investors are largely able to avoid having to pay taxes related to capital gains during the period as long as they hold on to their ETF shares.
What types of ETFs are there?
ETFs are broken into various categories:
Stock ETFs focus on owning individual stocks.
Bond ETFs primarily own bonds.
Commodities ETFs put their money into various commodity-linked investments.
By far, the majority of assets in ETFs are invested in stock funds, with less than 20% going into bonds, commodities, and hybrid-style ETFs.
There are further subdivisions in these categories. For stock funds, nearly three times as much money is invested in U.S.-focused stock ETFs than in international or global stock ETFs. Out of almost $2.1 trillion in money dedicated to U.S. stock funds, about $1.7 trillion is in broad-based ETFs that seek to cover wide swaths of the entire stock market. By comparison, only about $375 billion is invested in more focused ETFs that drill down on specific sectors or industry groups within the market.
Most stock ETFs weight their holdings by the market capitalization of the companies they hold, so a fund's position in a stock with a market cap of $10 billion would be twice that of another stock with a $5 billion market cap. However, there are notable exceptions to this rule, with some using equal-weight strategies while others use different fundamental business metrics like earnings or dividends to decide how much of each stock to own.
In addition to these categories, there are some other kinds of ETFs you should be familiar with:
Leveraged ETFs offer returns that are some multiple of the return of the underlying index. For instance, one popular leveraged ETF is set up to generate daily returns that are equal to twice the return of the S&P 500 index. If the S&P climbs 1% in a day, then the ETF should rise 2%. If the index falls 1%, then the ETF will lose 2%.
Inverse ETFs are set up to move in the opposite direction of the underlying index. For instance, an inverse S&P 500 fund would rise 1% if the S&P fell 1% on that day, but the ETF would lose 1% if the S&P rose 1%. Inverse ETFs can also be leveraged to produce some multiple of the inverse of the daily return of the index.
There are also some exchange-traded products that aren't funds at all. Some financial companies structure products as debt, with exchange-traded notes being available on major stock exchanges just like ETFs. ETNs share a lot in common with ETFs, but one key distinction to understand is that ETNs represent debt obligations of the company that sponsors them. There's therefore credit risk involved, and unlike how most ETFs work, an ETN doesn't actually have to hold any assets related to the index that it tracks.
4 simple tips to find the right ETF for you
With hundreds of different offerings to choose from, there's no perfect set of ETFs that's right for everyone. However, in order to come up with a customized list of ETFs that fit your own particular investment strategy, you'll want to consider following this four-part plan:
First, decide how much of your money you want to allocate very broadly across asset classes. For instance, investors seeking a balanced investing approach with a slight bias toward faster growth might decide to put 60% of their money into stock ETFs and 40% into bond ETFs. More conservative investors would likely put less money into stocks, while those seeking more aggressive growth could reduce their bond ETF allocations.
Second, figure out whether you're comfortable with broad exposure to the entire stock or bond market, or if you'd prefer to have a more discerning approach to investment selection. It's easy to find broad exposure through ETFs that track some of the most popular stock and bond market indexes in the market, such as the S&P 500 or the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Picking individual sectors or industry groups gets a lot more customized, but you can generally find ETFs that will get the job done.
Third, unless there's a compelling reason to do otherwise, eliminate any ETF that charges more than 0.10% in expenses. It might seem overly miserly to insist on this step, but once you build up a sizable nest egg, even small percentages going to expenses add up to a lot of money. Having $1 million invested in an ETF can save you a boatload of money compared to the $10,000 per year that a mutual fund with a 1% expense ratio would charge -- but even 0.10% means $1,000 going out of your hands into the pockets of your ETF provider each and every year. As you'll see below, there are some circumstances in which it's impossible to find a good ETF with that low an expense ratio that covers the specific area you're interested in, but even then, finding the lowest-cost provider available is a valuable exercise.
Last, once you've identified low-cost ETFs that match up with the investment objectives you think will do best over the long run, see if you can score any deals that will reduce your fees even further. If you like ETFs from a particular family of funds, see if there's a way to get access to those funds without paying commissions. Especially if you want to make regular additions to your investment account, finding a commission-free option can save you thousands over the course of your lifetime.
Obviously, where you end up going through these steps will be a lot different from what another investor might choose. But neither of you is wrong. As long as you're comfortable that the ETF you've selected will give you exposure to investments you think will do well, then following the simple four-step process above should give you good candidates.
To help give you a sense of which ETFs are most likely to fit with these criteria, you'll find four solid choices below.
Assets Under Management
Expense Ratio
5-Year Total Return
SPDR S&P 500 (NYSEMKT:SPY)
$240 billion
Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets (NYSEMKT:VWO)
$56.1 billion
iShares Core MSCI EAFE (NYSEMKT:IEFA)
Vanguard Total Bond Market (NASDAQ:BND)
Data source: Fund companies.
Each of these ETFs covers a different part of the investing universe. The SPDR S&P 500 was the first major exchange-traded fund available to investors. It aims to match the return of the S&P 500 Index by owning all 500 of the U.S. companies that are its components.
By contrast, the Vanguard and iShares ETFs listed above focus on international stocks, with the Vanguard fund looking at emerging market economies while the iShares fund owns shares of companies based in established developed-market economies. Note that the emerging markets ETF has an expense ratio above the 0.10% threshold mentioned earlier -- that's because investing in these small international markets is more expensive than making similar investments in the U.S., but rest assured that the Vanguard ETF's expenses are among the lowest available in this category of ETFs.
Finally, the Vanguard bond ETF owns a broad swath of fixed-income securities. These include Treasury bonds, debt issued by various government entities, and corporate bonds representing company borrowings.
Don't let their returns trick you: despite being a tough time for international stocks and the bond market, these funds have held up well compared to their peers.
Take a closer look at ETFs
ETFs are a great way to invest for the long run, and their combination of long-term growth and low costs can make them a valuable tool in anyone's investing strategy. Going through the universe of ETFs can seem like a daunting task, but, in reality, there are dozens of great ETFs that can all help you reach your financial goals successfully.
Dan Caplinger has been a contract writer for the Motley Fool since 2006. As the Fool's Director of Investment Planning, Dan oversees much of the personal-finance and investment-planning content published daily on Fool.com. With a background as an estate-planning attorney and independent financial consultant, Dan's articles are based on more than 20 years of experience from all angles of the financial world. Follow @DanCaplinger
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Huawei P20 Will Be 'Much Better Than iPhone X,' According To Product Chief
Ben Sin Contributor
I cover consumer tech in Asia
Huawei consumer business group chief Richard Yu went on an epic rant after Huawei's pre-MWC event.
Ben Sin
The very first thing Michael Jordan does when he meets someone, according to those in the NBA circle, is look at that person's shoes. If he or she is wearing a sneaker that's not Nike-branded, Jordan will have words. Huawei's consumer business group chief Richard Yu appears to be the same way.
Shortly after launching the world's slimmest bezelled laptop in Barcelona, Yu met with a small group of media, including myself, and one of the first things he noticed was that most of us journalists were using iPhones.
(I actually had been using the Huawei Mate 10 Pro as my daily driver up until two weeks ago when I swapped back to the iPhone due to the Apple Watch)
"You guys using iPhones should try to use our Mate 10 Pro and see how much better battery life it has, and with much faster speed -- 4G, 4.5G network speed," Yu said.
Then, unprovoked, he mentioned the upcoming Huawei P20: "Next month, the P20, we will have some big, bold innovations of camera technology. It will be much much better than all the other phones..."
Yu then picks up someone else's iPhone X from the table and says, "including this."
He continues: "I know I may not be humble, but [the P20] will be much better. It's not going to be a little bit better, but much better."
Later, while talking about the audio capabilities of his company's new laptop, Yu again went at Apple, pointing out that the MacBook another journalist is using would not be able to compare.
Yu later added that Huawei is able to push out products that are "better" because it invests heavily into R&D. He mentions the unfortunate situation in which some phone companies find themselves: stuck losing money and thus unable to spend on R&D.
"It's a chicken or egg thing. If you don't invest in R&D, you are irrelevant," Yu says. "But if you're already losing money, it's tough to just spend more on R&D."
That is why so many other phonemakers are disappearing, he says, while Huawei is growing. Yu says Huawei's current fiscal year is looking to way surpass last year.
As a journalist who's done hundreds of these post-media event round table interviews, let me tell you that Yu's candor and confidence is extremely rare and refreshing. Usually these group interviews are a snore-fest, with the interview subject giving stock answers. Yu just says whatever is on his mind.
Now if Huawei hasn't been putting out good products, then his boisterous claims could be annoying. But no, Huawei has been delivering -- I love the Mate 10 Pro -- so Yu's trash-talking is funny, charming, and not entirely preposterous.
And if you think a proud, confident, outspoken man like Yu is over the U.S. government killing Huawei's carrier deals at the last minute. You would be mistaken.
Yu believes the U.S. government has been swayed by Huawei's "competitors" to keep the company out of the states.
"All the carriers want to do business with us, but our competitors use the government to keep us out," Yu says. "That's unfair. It shows they are worried about us getting too strong. We sell our products to 170 markets globally. Every country, we have no issue, so why only one country say we are a problem?"
Yu concludes his epic rant by saying Huawei will be top two in global market share soon, likely this year or next.
I'll add this: while Richard Yu isn't quite a legend like Michael Jordan, but he definitely has MJ's notorious competitive streak and desire to win in everything at all times.
Read more: Hands On With Huawei's Bezel-less Laptop With A Hidden Camera
Read more: Huawei Mate 10 Pro Review
I'm a Chinese-American journalist in Hong Kong, covering consumer tech in Asia. Before focusing on this exciting beat, I was a general culture writer and editor with byl...
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Home > Is War in Gaza Unavoidable?
Tuesday, August 22, 2017 - 12:00am
Is War in Gaza Unavoidable?
Why the Current Peace Won't Hold
Ghaith al-Omari and Grant Rumley
GHAITH AL-OMARI is a Senior Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. GRANT RUMLEY is a Research Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
Earlier this summer, it seemed like war in the Gaza Strip [1] was inevitable. Israel had accepted [2] Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas [3]’ request to cut off electricity for the approximately two million Gazans who live under Hamas rule. Abbas hoped to pressure Hamas into relinquishing control over the strip, which was plunged into darkness as the cornered faction faced pressure from Israel and Abbas on one side and Egypt on the other. It seemed only a matter of time before Hamas lashed out. That is, until an unlikely savior emerged: exiled Fatah leader Muhammad Dahlan. The archrival of Abbas rushed to Egypt and brokered [4] an agreement between Cairo and Hamas for an emergency fuel shipment. As the situation calmed, Dahlan announced a new arrangement [5] for Gaza: he would raise money for Gaza abroad. In return, Hamas would allow his supporters to return to Gaza and operate freely there.
Yet this latest Middle East agreement is only a temporary fix. Hamas leaders have few goals in common with the exiled leader of their rival party, save two important ones: to ameliorate the hardships of life in Gaza and thwart their mutual rival, Abbas, in the West Bank. The current arrangement ostensibly serves these two purposes, but it does so only in the near term. It may have delayed a war this summer, but it has made a future conflict more likely.
For Hamas, siding with Dahlan was the only realistic option to avoid launching another war. Strapped for cash and facing a restive population (10,000 Gazans marched [6] on Hamas’ electricity headquarters in January in protest), Hamas was starting to feel the effects of the Saudi and United Arab Emirates–led blockade [7] of one of its patrons, Qatar. Dahlan, too, was desperate for a way to remain relevant. Ever since Abbas exiled him in 2011, the former security chief in Gaza has made his home in the UAE, courting regional favor and pumping money [8] into the Palestinian Territories. Yet Dahlan has been increasingly marginalized in Palestinian
Source URL: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/middle-east/2017-08-22/war-gaza-unavoidable
[1] https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/israel/2017-06-27/gaza-brink
[2] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/12/israel-cuts-gaza-electricity-palestinian-president-says-will/
[3] https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/palestinian-authority/2017-01-11/abbas-ropes
[4] https://www.apnews.com/c8f45dd6cc224ffc966bc0208e591ba9
[5] http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/07/dahlan-reveals-controversial-hamas-deal-gaza-170723173731563.html
[6] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/12/world/middleeast/gaza-strip-hamas-protests.html?_r=0
[7] https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/06/qatar-crisis-saudi-arabia-hamas-iran-syria-gcc-gaza/530229/
[8] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-16/abbas-rival-dahlan-plans-comeback-through-restoration-of-gaza
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Home > The Quiet Threat to Human Rights in Tunisia
Tuesday, August 7, 2018 - 12:00am
The Quiet Threat to Human Rights in Tunisia
How to Keep Democracy on Track
Sarah E. Yerkes
SARAH E. YERKES is a Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Tunisia is often heralded as the sole success story [1] to come out of the 2011 Arab uprisings, insomuch as it is the only country that established a democratic government in their wake. In a 2017 study conducted by Freedom House, Tunisia was the only country in the Middle East and North Africa ranked as “free.” [2] But the relative success of Tunisia’s transition does not mean that the process has been an easy one. The country’s seven-year-long transition to democracy has been excruciatingly difficult, marked by several terrorist attacks [3], ongoing economic crisis, political stalemate, and tenuous compromises between Islamists and secularists. At several points since the overthrow [4] of former President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisians have been forced to question whether their democratic experiment will survive the pressure.
If you ask many Tunisians what has made the difference in holding together the fabric of their democracy, they will say civil society. Civil society was deeply repressed during the decades of Ben Ali’s rule and flourished in the postrevolution period. Thousands of civil society organizations (CSOs) were formed, with missions ranging from protecting human rights to monitoring the government to fighting corruption. CSO efforts have been behind most of the important human rights advances in Tunisia and have helped keep the government on track and accountable. In 2015, four CSOs (two labor unions, the Tunisian Human Rights League, and the Tunisian Order of Lawyers) were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their role in brokering an important 2013 compromise between Islamists and secularists that is widely believed to have saved the country’s democracy.
The critical importance of CSOs makes Law 30 of 2018, which the Tunisian parliament adopted [5] on July 27, very worrisome. The law establishes a national registration of institutions and requires public and private companies, including CSOs, to register with this new entity. The law came in response to the European Parliament [6] adding Tunisia to its list of countries at “high risk” of money laundering and terror financing in February, a decision that harmed
Source URL: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/middle-east/2018-08-07/quiet-threat-human-rights-tunisia
[1] https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/tunisia/2017-07-06/tunisia-success-story
[2] https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/freedom-world-2017
[3] https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/tunisia/2015-12-07/isis-strikes-tunisia
[4] https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/middle-east/2011-01-16/morning-tunisia
[5] https://www.babnet.net/cadredetail-165505.asp
[6] https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2018/02/tunisia-european-union-blacklist-terrorism-money-laundering.html
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1,300 students spell 'FRIEND' to end bullying
Updated: 6:46 PM CDT Sep 27, 2016
More than 1,300 students gathered to create the largest human formation of the word “friend.”
More than 1,300 students from the West Des Moines Community Schools gathered on the Valley Stadium field Tuesday to create the largest human formation of the word “friend.”The event is part of a launch the “Profriend” movement to promote friendship in action and positively impact the conversation about bullying prevention.School officials said students involved in service learning wanted to create a new movement to prevent bullying. The students identified friendship as a powerful and positive action. The result of this collaboration is a “Profriend” social awareness campaign designed to promote friendship in action.Student ambassadors from each building in the district will then go back to their schools to bring people together, connect with each other, encourage people to be considerate of one another, and spread friendship.
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa —
More than 1,300 students from the West Des Moines Community Schools gathered on the Valley Stadium field Tuesday to create the largest human formation of the word “friend.”
The event is part of a launch the “Profriend” movement to promote friendship in action and positively impact the conversation about bullying prevention.
School officials said students involved in service learning wanted to create a new movement to prevent bullying. The students identified friendship as a powerful and positive action. The result of this collaboration is a “Profriend” social awareness campaign designed to promote friendship in action.
Student ambassadors from each building in the district will then go back to their schools to bring people together, connect with each other, encourage people to be considerate of one another, and spread friendship.
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Fig. 4. Hall, Louis Comfort Tiffany Apartment, Bella Apartments, 48 E. 26th Street, New York, c. 1881. Louis Comfort Tiffany. G.W. Sheldon, Artistic Houses New York: D. Appleton, 1883 1884). Note the stained glass window on the right.
Another incident that may have added fuel to the fire was a contract written by Louis Tiffany in March, 1881, a month after his patent was granted, with Louis Heidt, one of the Brooklyn glassmakers with whose flint glass factory both artists had been working since the mid-1870s to obtain the opalescent glass for their windows.
Opalescent glass was still custom-made under an artist's direction in 1881 and Heidt was one of only three or four known glassmakers from whom Tiffany and La Farge obtained the materials for their early windows. This contract bound Heidt to sell his entire output of glass only to Louis C. Tiffany & pany for one year, renewable.10 Although there is no evidence that the contract was ever renewed, it effectively denied La Farge access to one of the principal sources of opalescent glass and probably hurt his business at a time when he had many large commissions to fulfill for clients like the Vanderbilts.
By 1882, there are indications that a legal battle had been launched. Searches of court records in New York City, Morris County, New Jersey (where Tiffany may have filed suit), and elsewhere have not yet resulted in locating any mention of an actual lawsuit.11However, correspondence concerning a lawsuit between the artists does exist, and provides the only concrete evidence that it was La Farge who sued Tiffany. In September 1882, Thomas Gaffield, a retired glassmaker who kept a journal of the glass industry, engaged in correspondence with the New York law firm of Betts, Atterbury, & Betts on the question of the first use of opalescent glass in windows. The attorneys asked Garfield, "in relation to a patent suit of ours, whether or not you have yourself used or known to be used by others opalescent glass, in the construction of panes and sashes for windows."12 Gaffield responded that John La Farge and Louis Comfort Tiffany were the ones he knew of.13 In response to Gaffield's request for more information, the firm stated that they were working in counsel with the law firm of DeForest & Weeks for Tiffany in defense of a suit brought by La Farge for infringement of his patent. Their aim was to have the patent set aside and to make "the path of art in this as in other directions free and unobstructed to all."14 Gaffield's response does not survive, but Betts, Atterbury & Betts' final communication with Gaffield does. By the end of September, two weeks after their initial letter to Gaffield, the attorneys state that their response to the suit must be filed by the following week and that they had located some manufacturers and glass dealers who they felt could provide suitable information to defeat the patent.15 Although it does not appear that the papers were ever filed, this correspondence clearly places the date of the suit in the fall of 1882.
The precise outcome of the dispute is unknown. It appears that it was settled, abandoned, or vacated by 1883. Both artists' reticence to push the argument further suggests that Tiffany and La Farge came to some mutual agreement allowing both to pursue their art. There is no record in the Patent Office that either patent was invalidated. By this time, competition from other artists had increased. Opalescent glass factories had opened to produce the material in quantity, making it easier for anyone to make stained glass windows. The ubiquity of Tiffany's process and La Farge's glass was such that, by 1883, Alphonse Friedrick, a Brooklyn stained glass maker, even patented a lead came of double height to aid in building layered windows, which his patent described in terms suggesting that the practice was common.16 There were more and more artists and craftsmen using the process, and to defend the patent from one, it would have been necessary to defend it from all, which would have been prohibitively expensive. Therefore, the patent argument may have been abandoned due to the sheer impossibility of defending it.
The tenor of the relationship between Tiffany and La Farge is observable in the articles of the period that chronicled their work. In the early 1880s, it was La Farge who was clearly recognized as the first to use opalescent glass in stained glass windows. The first published mention of it appeared in the New York Herald in November, 1879, describing La Farge's Derby window (Fig. 3)17 Despite the fact that Tiffany was experimenting with stained glass windows in the late 1870s, he did not receive media attention for them until a year after La Farge did, in November, 1880, the same month in which he applied for his patent. The New York Times ran an editorial stating that "Mr. Louis C. Tiffany has finished a window in stained glass which bids fair to mark an epoch in the United States in a new art industry."18 While this article lauded the window, it did not call Tiffany the first to use this glass. One month later, another Times editorial described La Farge's commission for the home of Darius Ogden Mills in New York, calling La Farge "one of the first, if not absolutely the first, to devote himself' to the solution of problems" in stained glass.19
Fig. 5. Louis Comfort Tiffany, opalescent window made for his apartment in the Bella Apartments, c. 1880. 24" x 29". Private collection. Helga Photo Studio, courtesy of The Magazine Antiques.
The story that La Farge worked directly with glassmakers to produce glass to his liking was first related in the press in February, 1881. Tiffany would not make such claims for another decade. George Parsons Lathrop, working from notes provided by the artist, reported that "Mr. La Farge was also the first artist in America to manufacture glass to suit himself."20 For the next several months, most articles about American stained glass included the work of both artists, giving almost equal credit to both. From April to June, 1881, just after Tiffany received his patent, Roger Riordan (who had worked with both artists) published a three-part series called "American Stained Glass," in which he gave a balanced description of both artists' work and credited them equally for developments in both glass and artistry in windows.
At the same time, there was an increase in the number of articles about American stained glass naming artists other than La Farge and Tiffany. None of these articles is devoted exclusively to one or the other, and in some, neither is mentioned.21 Clearly, within less than two years of La Farge's Derby window, the use of opalescent glass in American stained glass windows was becoming widespread, despite Tiffany's and La Farge's patents. But where Tiffany's name was used, La Farge's was also found, suggesting the writers worked to antagonize or lionize neither, giving similar coverage to both.
In the fall of 1881, articles once again became devoted to one artist or the other but not both, led by reviews and notices of La Farge's exhibition of stained glass at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, a coup of recognition.
Tiffany had just received his patent.22 As favorable notices of La Farge's show began to appear in November, Tiffany appears to have launched an ambitious public relations campaign resulting in articles in which he began to assert his superiority to La Farge in both artistry and innovation.
The largest of these was the series of eleven articles called "From Lobby to Peak," begun in February, 1882, in which Donald G. Mitchell, writer and close friend of Tiffany's, described Tiffany's own apartment at the Bella on E. 26th Street in New York (Fig. 4 and 5).23 The articles were not merely descriptive, but also explained Tiffany's philosophy of decoration and included descriptions of several stained glass windows and uses of glass. Nevertheless, La Farge was riding a wave of great success and was further recognized in articles on his commissions for the William H. and Cornelius Vanderbilt houses and reviews of the exhibition at his studio of the Battle Window for Harvard's Memorial Hall (Fig. 6).24 The escalation of tone in the published responses to their work in 1882, which they were instrumental in placing, suggests that they were engaged in a stormy battle of some sort, if only for market share. La Farge must have initiated his suit around this time.
The rate of appearance of articles on either artist began to abate in 1883, after the suit had disappeared. The majority published that year were about La Farge.25 Perhaps with the lawsuit now out of the way, it became less important to both artists to pursue their fame in the newspapers. Mentions of La Farge's patent ceased after 1881, and Tiffany's patent was never mentioned in articles of this period. Tiffany did receive press attention about his interiors, such as the Seventh Regiment Armory (Fig. 7) and the Union League Club, where La Farge also provided windows and decorations. These articles rarely mentioned, let alone focused, on Tiffany's window designs, though. In 1884, few articles on the stained glass of either appeared. In fact, until 1889, the number of articles about stained glass in general and Tiffany or La Farge specifically was considerably less than in the years 1879 to 1882. Both artists experienced personal and financial difficulties in the mid-1880s. Despite repeated costly efforts between 1879 and 1885, Tiffany failed to establish a glass furnace of his own. His first wife, May Goddard, died in January of 1884. The following year he lost thousands of dollars in the financial failure of the Lyceum Theater, which he had decorated for a share of the profits instead of being paid. This coincided with La Farge's legal troubles over his decorating company, which culminated in his arrest for grand larceny of his own sketches (the charges were later dropped). These events suggest that both artists had less time to cultivate their images in the media or to develop their artwork.
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"We are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield
to fascism, Nazism, or communism. Our one advantage
is that we might learn from their experience."
— Timothy Snyder
On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century is a pocket-sized powerhouse of a read. Looking back two generations to the propaganda of Moscow and Berlin of the '30s and '40s, and then forward to today's Moscow and Washington, Timothy Snyder draws ominous parallels across the Left, Right, and Center of contemporary politics. And perhaps most importantly, the author offers guidance for how to arm oneself against the rise of political authorities.
Snyder's On Tyranny examines the timeless tactics employed by political rulers to gain power at the expense of the people. It's not about Trump. Or Putin. Or Hitler and Stalin. For Snyder, it's about reminding a too-insulated generation that peace and prosperity are not automatic, but earned—by keeping authorities in check.
I especially enjoyed the book's Epilogue, which categorized two viewpoints politicians often espouse: the "Politics of Inevitability" and the "Politics of Eternity":
Politics of Inevitability: "the sense that history could move in only one direction: toward liberal democracy." Snyder argues that since communism's official collapse in 1989-91, we as Americans have "lowered our defenses, constrained our imaginations," and in doing so, leave us vulnerable to the return of history's worst regimes.
Politics of Eternity: The sense that if the nation would just return to a mythical utopia in the past (which never existed), we'd be better off. We have to go backward to recapture greatness. "If the politics of inevitability is like a coma, the politics of eternity is like a hypnosis: We stare at the spinning vortex of cyclical myth until we fall into a trance—and then we do something shocking at someone else's orders."
Timothy Snyder is the Levin Professor of History at Yale University. He is the author of Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin, and Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning. Snyder is also a member of the Committee on Conscience of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and a fellow of the institute for the Human Science in Vienna.
5. "The politics of inevitability is a self-induced intellectual coma. So long as there was a contest between communist and capitalist system, and so long as the memory of fascism and Nazism was alive, Americans had to pay some attention to history and preserve the concepts that allowed them to imagine alternative futures. Yet once we accepted the politics of inevitability, we assumed that history was no longer relevant. If everything in the past is governed by a known tendency, then there is no need to learn the details."
4. "In the politics of eternity, the seduction by a mythicized past prevents us from thinking about possible futures. The habit of dwelling on victimhood dulls the impulse of self-correction. Since the nation is defined by its inherent virtue rather than by its future potential, politics becomes a discussion of good and evil rather than a discussion of possible solutions to real problems. Since the crisis is permanent, the sense of emergency is always present; planning for the future seems impossible or even disloyal. How can we even think of reform when the enemy is always at the gate?"
3. "To abandon facts is to abandon freedom. If nothing is true, then no one can criticize power, because there is no basis upon which to do so. If nothing is true, then all is spectacle. The biggest wallet pays for the most blinding lights...Post-truth is pre-fascism."
2. "The symbols of today enable the reality of tomorrow. Notice the swastikas and the other signs of hate. Do not look away, and do not get used to them. Remove them yourself and set an example for others to do so..."
1. "Be kind to our language. Avoid pronouncing the phrases everyone does. Think up your own way of speaking, even if only to convey that thing you think everyone is saying. Make an effort to separate yourself from the internet. Read books."
"In politics, being deceived is no excuse."
— Leszek Kolakowski
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Employment Tribunal Deposit Orders Must Be Affordable
Category: Legal News, News
Employment Tribunals (ETs) can, in certain circumstances, require the payment of deposits as a condition of proceeding with a complaint. However, as one case clearly showed, deposits must be affordable and must not act as a bar on access to justice.
The case concerned a youth and community worker who was dismissed by her local authority employer on capability grounds after 30 years of service. She lodged a number of claims with an ET, including race and age discrimination, harassment and victimisation.
All but one of her claims were, however, ultimately struck out on the basis that, in the absence of legal advice, she had consistently failed to put forward a coherent case. She was permitted to proceed with a single direct race discrimination claim, but only on payment of a £250 deposit within 21 days. When that payment was not made, that claim too was struck out.
In upholding her appeal against the latter decision, the Employment Appeal Tribunal noted evidence of her past dependence on state benefits. The ET had no evidence before it as to her current financial position or her ability to pay. In the circumstances, the only appropriate order was that she could proceed with her remaining claim on payment of a nominal deposit.
Employment Law for Employers
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Think you know every single thing about the JofA—and the profession itself? You’ll be surprised at some of the unusual details we’ve uncovered.
BY BARBARA J. SHILDNECK
Uncategorized Article
All About the JofA
The first JofA was published on the eve of momentous events in U.S. history. A year after the JofA ’s birth, the great earthquake and fire destroyed San Francisco. Two years later, the last of the federal lands—in Oklahoma—opened for settlement. Amid all these events, the JofA remained a steady source of technical knowledge.
An early JofA editor was the father of a distinguished scientist whose work and writing were admired worldwide. Margaret Mead, the famous anthropologist, was the daughter of Dr. Edward Sherwood Meade (later Mead), one of the two editors of the first issue of the Journal , and director of the Evening School of Accounts and Finance at the University of Pennsylvania. He resigned from the JofA after a year, leaving the editorship to Dean Joseph French Johnson.
Technical literature in 1905 had only one outlet—the JofA . In its early years, the JofA constituted nearly the entire body of technical literature for accountants. Readers relied on articles by preeminent accountants, such as Robert H. Montgomery and Arthur Lowes Dickenson, for their professional insights.
Today, the Official Releases section continues to enhance the Journal’ s stature in the profession, helping readers keep up-to-date with the latest authoritative literature. It also has helped the JofA solidify its status as one of the world’s foremost accounting publications.
The JofA ’s circulation is 184 times greater than it was in the early 20th century. In 1909, circulation had reached nearly 2,000. A recent circulation tally found just over 368,000 readers.
The JofA ’s ad revenue puts it in the ranks of top magazines. It is the market share and advertising revenue leader in the accounting channel and is listed in Advertising Age ’s Top 300.
The JofA ’s Lawler Award is named after a past Journal editor. The award is presented to the author of the best article every year as determined by the magazine’s editorial advisers. John Lawler, the JofA’ s chief editor for a year, retired in 1976 after serving the Institute for 26 years in various management positions, including secretary of the board of directors.
In one early issue, a CPA wrote a peace plan three years before the League of Nations was proposed. In the February 1915 issue, soon after hostilities broke out in Europe, the JofA published “A Plan for International Peace” by Elijah Watt Sells. The article was the first reference to the war in the JofA .
The JofA has a tradition of helping CPAs become authors. Throughout its 100 years, the JofA has relied on members to relate their experiences and advice to readers; in the first issue the editors called on its readers to help improve the magazine. The magazine continues to be a collaboration between accounting and journalism professionals.
A Profession in Progress
An Institute committee feared the world would forsake reading with the introduction of modern innovations. A change in “reading of magazines was brought about by cars, radios and movies,” according to a 1931 report by the AICPA committee on publications. It was doubtful, the report continued, that things could ever return to life as it had been 20 or 30 years before.
Carman G. Blough set early professional standards virtually by himself. Blough, the first chief accountant of the Securities and Exchange Commission, also was the Institute’s first full-time director of research. In the latter position, he was the primary authority on accounting principles and auditing procedures and wrote a monthly column in the JofA that established all technical issues and answered queries on accounting and auditing.
It took nearly 40 years for the concept of earnings per share to go from idea to an APB Opinion. In 1930, the JofA published an article mentioning EPS. For nearly 40 years thereafter, CPAs had no official literature on how to account for it—until the AICPA Accounting Principles Board issued Opinion no. 15 in 1969 to settle the matter.
CPA John C. (Sandy) Burton played Superman for New York City. Dean of the Columbia University Graduate School of Business and a former SEC chief accountant, Burton in 1976 was appointed New York City’s deputy mayor for finance during a period of fiscal crisis. He is credited as being one of the major figures in helping the city salvage its financial status.
The profession was clearly accepted into popular culture when, for the first time during the 1970s, an answer in a New York Times crossword puzzle was “CPA.”
The AICPA board of directors has been photographed by a celebrated photographer. The May 1987 JofA featured a remarkable photograph of the 1986–87 AICPA board—everyone is smiling. Every photographer knows the difficulty of capturing such a moment. That shot, however, was in the hands of master photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders. His work is shown in top New York City galleries, and his subjects range from 1950s Abstract Expressionists to more contemporary artists, as well as pop stars and other celebrities. And his portfolio includes a bit of accounting history.
The 1987 AICPA centennial drew TV gurus. “The McLaughlin Group,” nationally known participants in a weekly TV program of economic and political analysis, and Time magazine columnist Hugh Sidey provided their opinions and forecasts at the AICPA’s 99th annual meeting.
The AICPA centennial in 1987 was a boon for collectors. Commemoratives with the centennial logo for sale included Tiffany plates and clocks, silk neckties, walnut bookends, five-piece wine sets, Cross pen sets, brass key tags, cloisonn lapel/tie pins, silk scarves, pewter tankards, Lucite paperweights and wall posters testifying to the commitment, integrity and objectivity of the accountant.
Who was the most amusing accountant in the country? At the Comic Strip Live in New York, where stand-up comedy reigns, 13 finalists went head-to-head in 1988 to gain the distinctive title of Funniest Accountant in America. Winner Gary Press, 26, of the small Manhattan firm Siegel, Sacks & Co., had a one-liner that brought down the house: “An accountant trying to be a comedian makes as much sense as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir performing at Woodstock.”
A prediction in the first JofA has come true. A crystal ball in volume 1, issue 1, said accountants would provide services in “all countries where the profession is practiced.” A century later, the profession has fulfilled this forecast by being involved in international accounting and auditing standards, the global economy and worldwide connections through the Internet.
Barbara J. Shildneck, a former editor of the JofA , is now a contributing editor.
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Man holds Palestinian and Egyptian flags at Cairo rally 311.(Photo by: REUTERS)
Muslim Brotherhood rally vows to 'kill all Jews'
By OREN KESSLER
Organizers at Cairo's iconic al-Azhar Mosque warn against "Judaization of Jerusalem."
A Muslim Brotherhood rally in Cairo on Friday at the Sunni world’s most prestigious center of learning turned into a call for genocide, with protesters pledging to “one day kill all Jews.”
Eldad Beck, Ynet’s Arab affairs correspondent, reported from Cairo that some 5,000 people attended the rally at al-Azhar Mosque, convened to coincide with the anniversary of the approval of the 1947 UN Partition Plan for Palestine.
The event, organizers said, was aimed at rallying Egyptians behind the “battle against Jerusalem’s Judaization.”
Speakers at the demonstration condemned “Zionist occupiers” and “treacherous Jews,” and organizers distributed maps of the Old City highlighting areas where “Zionists are aiming to change Jerusalem’s Muslim character.”
Muhammad Ahmed el- Tayeb, the imam of al-Azhar Mosque, told the crowd: “Al- Aksa Mosque is currently under an offensive by the Jews... We shall not allow the Zionists to Judaize al-Quds [Jerusalem]. We are telling Israel and Europe that we shall not allow even one stone to be moved there.”
Protesters chanted, “Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv: Judgment Day has come,” and passages from the Koran vowing that “one day we shall kill all the Jews.”
Al-Azhar Mosque is part of al-Azhar University, a millennium- old compound in central Cairo that is the world’s leading center of Arabic literature and Sunni jurisprudence.
Beck quoted an elementary school teacher outside the mosque telling him, “All Egyptian Muslims are willing to embark on jihad for the sake of Palestine.”
“Why is the US losing in Afghanistan?” he asked.
“Because the other side is willing and wants to die. We have a different mentality than that of the Americans and Jews.”
Meanwhile, late last week, Egypt’s Youm7 newsweekly reported that the Brotherhood’s spiritual leader, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, had returned to Cairo for the first time since his dramatic return in February from a half-century in exile.
The immensely popular television preacher arrived at Cairo Airport on Wednesday “to follow the incidents in Tahrir Square,” the center of anti-government protests.
Qaradawi hosts the weekly program Shari’a and Life on Al Jazeera. Exiled from Egypt in 1961, he has since resided in the Persian Gulf emirate of Qatar.
Following February’s ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, Qaradawi made a triumphant return to Tahrir, where he led at least 200,000 Egyptians in mass prayer.
The 85-year-old is hailed by supporters as an engaging and telegenic preacher, and vilified by critics for his often venomous attacks on Americans, Shi’ites and Jews.
Qaradawi has been described as the spiritual leader of Hamas, and has justified suicide bombings against Israeli civilians and against US soldiers serving in Iraq.
Marc Ginsberg – the former US ambassador to Morocco and a top Middle East adviser during Jimmy Carter’s presidency – wrote an op-ed last week highlighting what he sees as an “unholy alliance” between the Muslim Brotherhood and Egypt’s ruling military council.
“The Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) met secretly with representatives of the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist-oriented political movements last April to establish local political ‘action committee’ bank accounts,” he wrote on the Huffington Post website, citing a “reliable European military intelligence source.”
The payouts in question could amount to millions of dollars, Ginsberg wrote.
“The SCAF’s surreptitious political maneuvering favoring Islamists over more secular political movements is based on one simple equation,” he wrote. “The military is determined to prevent secularists from gaining a parliamentary majority which would likely impair its insatiable appetite for controlling Egypt’s national budget and its own extensive business operations.
“It is determined to prevent a civilian government from interfering with its cherished prerogatives.”
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This is the real reason US airlines should be terrified of a European upstart you've never heard of
Benjamin Zhang
A Norwegian Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.
Norwegian Air International's expansion into the US has ruffled feathers. It's a potentially industry-changing move that US airlines and unions have vigorously opposed.
The US airlines are objecting on the grounds that NAI could exploit foreign labor laws, but in truth they should be worried about the kind of international network the carrier is attempting to create.
Last month, the US Department of Transportation tentatively approved the Irish — yes, Irish — airline's application to fly into the US.
You may be wondering why an airline called "Norwegian" would be based in Ireland. That's the root of the issue.
NAI is one of several subsidiaries operating under the Norwegian banner. Unlike the rest of the company, including Norwegian Air Shuttle, NAI is based in Dublin instead of in Norway.
This, critics say, allows NAI to take advantage of Ireland's employment laws, which are significantly less stringent than Norway's. As a result, they say, NAI could hire lower-cost pilots and cabin crew members from Asia to fly trans-Atlantic routes. (The company's current service to the US is operated by NAS with European crews.)
AFL-CIO Transportation president Edward Wytkind referred to the DOT's decision as one to "green-light this low-road air carrier whose operating plan will destroy fair competition and extinguish middle-class airline jobs here and in Europe."
But NAI says none of its Asia-based crews will operate flights into and out of the US. Further, the pay differential between the airline's Asia- and Europe-based pilots is roughly 1%, Norwegian Air spokesman Anders Lindstrom told Business Insider.
And all this complaining about NAI is happening even though it is tiny, with a fleet of just 10 Boeing 787 Dreamliners. The major US airlines and their European alliance partners have more than 1,000 wide-body long-haul jets at their disposal and are responsible for more than 80% of the traffic across the Atlantic.
Here's why Norwegian is scary
Here's the real problem for US airlines: Norwegian is going to expand rapidly and in a way that eats at the foundation of the hub-based system major US airlines depend on for survival.
A Norwegian Air flight attendant.
How? By offering direct flights to smaller cities in the US from underserved cities in Northern Europe.
In practice, this means passengers in Hartford, Connecticut, or Providence, Rhode Island, no longer have to fly to Boston or New York for an international trip. Instead, for a far lower cost than a US carrier, they might fly NAI to Oslo, Norway; Stockholm; or Hamburg, Germany. Later this year, Norwegian is launching service to Paris from New York, Los Angeles, and Fort Lauderdale.
This kind of setup not only undercuts US airlines' international business; it could also threaten their domestic operation.
But there's more
With its base in European Union-member Ireland, NAI will also be able to use its hubs in Europe as transit points for passengers traveling into and out of Asia and Europe to the US. As a result, NAI will be able to tap into the lucrative US-to-South Asia market over which US, European, and Middle Eastern airlines have fought for the past decade.
The presence of Norwegian and its low-cost model could provide competitive pressure on legacy carriers for value-minded travelers the same way Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar have for premium-cabin clients.
A Norwegian Airbus A320neo.
In fact, NAI could be the airline to disrupt the trans-Atlantic long-haul business the same way other low-cost carriers have transformed the European airline industry. In Norwegian's home market, it has forced its local rival SAS to revamp the way the 70-year-old airline does business.
"We have made significant transformative changes to stay competitive and to survive," SAS CEO Rickard Gustafson told Business Insider in March. "We have cut overhead costs, adjusted pensions and union contracts."
NAI's weapon in all this will be narrow-body jets like the Boeing 737 Max 8 and the Airbus A320neo. The company has orders for as many as 350 of these aircraft in place.
While trans-Atlantic service has traditionally been operated using large wide-body jumbo jets, the narrow-body jets are cheaper to buy and cheaper to operate. The first of the 737 Max aircraft are expected to enter service in 2017, while Norwegian is expected to see its first A320neos later this year.
A Norwegian Boeing 787 Dreamliner interior.
Norwegian won't be able to reach the US legacy carriers' bread-and-butter customer: the high-end business traveler. Major US airlines depend these high-value clients, who fly often and pay full-business or first-class prices, to generate the revenue they need to stay afloat.
Norwegian's low-cost premium cabin on its Dreamliners may attract some of these customers, but it is unlikely to sway high-end corporate clients.
But based on how Norwegian has shaken up the airline industry in its homeland, US carriers should be wary of the disruptive power of this airline.
One final detail: According to Norwegian's CEO, the target price for admission to one of his airline's flight across the Atlantic is $69.
NOW WATCH: When to book flights to get the best deal
More: Norwegian Air Boeing Dreamliner Boeing 737 Airbus
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Q & A: Class of 2020 guard Mike Saunders talks recruiting
Class of 2020 Wasatch Academy (UT) guard Mike Saunders Jr. opened eyes this spring with his play for G3 Grind on the Under Armour Association circuit.
The Indianapolis native, who played at Lawrence North before transferring to Wasatch, recently added a scholarship offer from Cincinnati and was watched by Archie Miller during the lone April evaluation period.
Inside the Hall spoke at length with Saunders recently about his recruitment, his interest and relationship with Indiana and much more. Our full Q & A is available below:
On the first evaluation period and playing in front of coaches:
“It was a very good experience. I’ve done it in the past so it wasn’t anything new to me. I didn’t really pay attention to who was there because I feel like if I get caught up in who is there and who is not there, then that is going to affect my game. I think I had a pretty good weekend. I feel like it was very productive.”
On what he’s heard from Indiana and his relationship with the coaching staff:
“I’ve talked to Archie Miller one time. He seems like a very good guy and he’s shown a lot of interest in me. I’ve also talked to Bruiser Flint. He has a very good relationship with my father. IU has been showing interest lately.”
On the newest schools involved in his recruitment:
“My dad told me that Cal-Berkley has been showing interest. Also Arizona, BYU and Tennessee. Those are just interest at this point.”
On the experience of playing at Wasatch and the adjustment moving away from home:
“It was definitely a big adjustment because I was leaving my family for the first time. Not having my family around was a big change. And just coming from a public school to out here in the middle of nowhere. The school is in a small town with not a lot of people. It was a big change, but I feel like over time I matured. It’s a good environment.”
On whether it’s been helpful to be forced to focus on school and basketball at Wasatch:
“Definitely. Because there are no distractions or anything like that. And my head coach, Dave Evans, he puts you on a big stage. And the fact that traveled a lot across the country, it’s helped me boost my platform and helped a lot to be able to focus on basketball and school.”
On what he’s working on in the gym:
“Mostly just shooting consistently. Midrange and also the 3. Because I feel when I’m hot, I don’t miss. And when I’m cold, it might take a little bit of time to get going. I like to shoot when I’m tired so that when I’m in a game and I’m tired, it’s natural to me to stay in the same motion and stay locked in.”
On his plans for the rest of the summer:
“School ends May 25, I believe. I’ll home at the end of May and the beginning of June, I think, for some time. And then I’ll come back here as we have some team camp at some colleges on the west coast. And then mostly in July and August, I’m home.”
On the connection that brought him to Wasatch:
“Coach Evans is really close with George Hill. And that’s my god brother. And at the time when I was in eighth grade or a freshman, coach Evans was at a school called Lone Peak. Nobody really knows that, but I was actually looking at that school before I went to Lawrence North, but at the time, I felt like I was too young. But then after my sophomore year, coach Evans got in touch and told us he was getting the job at Wasatch and laid out the plan and just told me how the season would be. Basically it was my decision and it was all up to me and I chose to come here.”
On whether he wants to get back to the midwest for college:
“I’m open to go anywhere. Honestly, I don’t see myself going to a certain location. I’ll pick the best fit for me. I don’t think it matters regionally where I go.”
On IU as a program and his thoughts on the program’s stature in the state:
“I’ve been to a couple of Indiana games and I can just tell that everybody in the area is a diehard fan. A lot of the fans are so supportive of the team whether they’re doing good or bad. They’re always going to be behind them. I really like that aspect of Indiana. And the fact that it is home. I wouldn’t mind coming back home. It’s a very good atmosphere. I’ve always liked the basketball there.”
Filed to: Mike Saunders
Video: 2020 guard Trey Galloway adidas Gauntlet highlights
Video: 2021 guard Khristian Lander adidas Gauntlet highlights
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Pokémon Go: the Dawn of Global Augmented Reality
Ivo Dias de Sousa
“with special thanks to Kevin Schoeffler and André Costa”
“Augmented reality (…) is a live direct or indirect view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented (or supplemented) by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data. It is related to a more general concept called mediated reality, in which a view of reality is modified (…) by a computer.”
The first time I noticed how important the Pokémon Go phenomena was becoming, was with a conversation with a friend. He told me that in the last days the word “Pokémon” was the most searched on Google. “Pokémon” keyword exceeded even words like “porn”.
Pokémon Go is considered the most popular game ever for smartphones. It has more daily users than the social network Twitter. In the United States, on the first week, more than 10% of mobile phones with Android downloaded the game. The numbers are amazing.
Most of my friends play Pokémon Go on their phones. I am one of the few exceptions but not because I don’t want to play. I have an older Android that doesn´t meet the requirements to run the game.
But that will change in a few days after I write these words – as I have ordered a new phone capable of running Pokémon Go. I have the perfect excuse: it’s for science. 🙂 I give lectures about digital economy and I do some research on the field. Pokémon Go is, definitely, part of the digital economy. I can always say I’m doing research while I play. 🙂
I went with some of my friends on a group hunt of pokémons. I think the game is good for their health. It “forces” them to walk more than usual. All the stuff is virtual but the players need to go to real places to catch pokemons and do other tasks related with the game.
Pokémon Go is a sort of virtual geocaching. The relation that the game establishes between the virtual world and the real world is well done, relying on the connection to Google Maps. People recognize the places displyed on their mobile phones and “believe” the pokémons are there.
For example, it is possible to take photos with the pokémons before they get caught by players. The pokémons are always moving, to provide the illusion that they are real, as such, it is difficult to take good photos with them.
I also think Pokémon can be dangerous to players. It isn´t a surprise to me to know that some users died while playing the game. On their hunts after pokemons, they behaved like little children carelessly crossing busy streets. An improvement taht could be done to the game is to warn players of the danger of streets with heavy traffic and other dangers.
One of the sources of revenue of the game is the usual: the players. It is possible to play without paying so long as one has a connection to the Internet. However, if the players want to accelerate their progress in the game they can buy stuff like incubators. Why? Every user can hatch an egg of pokémon while he walks. Someone told me that to hatch a pokémon like pikachu is necessary to walk 10 kilometers. And hatch an egg while going on a car doesn’t work because the game detects when the player is moving too fast. The incubator permits to hatch two or more pokémons while the players walk.
The other source of revenue is every small business which is open to public, because the game is geo-located. For example, in Lisbon (Portugal) several bars located in gardens buy “lures” to attract pokémons to their surroundings. An abundance of pokémons in a particular area will attract players that sometimes will buy something to drink.
McDonalds will be one the companies that has associated itself with the game. Many restaurants will have Pokéstops that will permit players to have new eggs and poke balls (necessary to hunt pokémons).
I believe Pokémon Go is just the dawn of augmented reality. Now, the fever of pokémons just uses smartphones. Simply, imagine if the players used glasses that permitted to see the Pokémon together with the non-virtual reality that we see everyday.
Definitely, I will play Pokémon Go on the phone I am about to buy. If some people will find funny a lecturer playing Pokémon Go, I can always say: “Don’t worry. It’s ok. I’m a doctor”.
Ivo Dias de Sousa is a Portuguese writer born in Mozambique. Ivo is also a Professor at Universidade Aberta, Portugal, giving courses on information management. Currently, Ivo is interested in using his experience on information management to construct applications (see http://windit-app.com/ ) for smartphones, in collaboration with others. Ivo holds a Master in Statistics and Information Management (Universidade Nova de Lisboa) and a Ph.D. in Information Management (Universidade Aberta). Amongst his main interests are information management, psychology of luck and literature.
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AI 29/09/2017
Airports of the Future
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Barriers stymie North American banks from expanding insurance distribution
Home News Industry News Barriers stymie North American banks from expanding insurance distribution
The bancassurance distribution channel is entrenched in Europe and growing in popularity in Asia
siraanamwong/123RF
Long-standing barriers to banks selling insurance have prevented the “bancassurance model” from taking off in North America like it has in Europe, and increasingly, Asia, Toronto-based DBRS Ltd. said Thursday.
In a new report, the credit rating agency finds that this distribution model enabling banks to sell insurance products is “strongly embedded in Europe”, and is growing in Asian markets, too, as both banks and insurance companies seek to diversify their revenues and expand distribution.
“The bancassurance distribution model is very attractive because it allows banks to diversify their revenue stream, which decreases their dependence on net interest income, particularly during times of interest rate compression,” DBRS says in a news release.
At the same time, insurance companies enjoy growing sales without major distribution costs, it says.
“Both sides of a typical bancassurance partnership can profit from diluting their fixed costs over a larger revenue base, which potentially improves profitability,” says DBRS, and bancassurance has outperformed other insurance distribution channels when it comes to selling life insurance in recent years.
Between 2011 and 2017, bancassurance sales of life insurance enjoyed a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6%, compared with 3.7% for other channels, with bancassurance growing faster than other channels, “as more insurers seek to expand their distribution strategy.”.
Over the same period, the banassurance channel’s share of global premiums written (including both life and non-life insurance) grew from 15.% in 2011 to 16.5% in 2017, DBRS reports.
Despite the model’s growing popularity in Europe and Asia, DBRS finds that “regulatory intervention and market dynamics have constrained the expansion of bancassurance in North America.”
In Canada, there have long been regulatory barriers preventing banks from selling most insurance and banking products in the same location (except in Québec), DBRS notes.
In the U.S., despite legislative reforms to eliminate barriers against bank holding companies owning other financial institutions and selling insurance in their branches, the bancassurance distribution model still isn’t as popular there as it is in the rest of the world.
Profit survey: A flat start to 2019
CIBC signs deal to buy Milwaukee-based boutique investment bank Cleary Gull
Scotiabank to sell Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands assets to OFG Bancorp
Banking industry,
Life insurance industry
Latest news In Industry News
China’s economy growth cools further amid U.S. tariff war
Growth hit a 26-year low in Q2
By: Joe McDonald, The Associated Press
Hong Kong protests augur murky outlook for financial hub
Investors, residents worry city will lose Western-style freedoms
By: Johnson Lai and Elaine Kurtenbach, The Associated Press
China imports from U.S. plunge 31% in June amid tariff war
Exports to the U.S. were down 7.8%
Banks reported some improvement in earnings in the first few months of the year, although most other financial services firms reported decreases
By: Catherine Harris
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"Moment After a Kiss" by Tauno Kangro
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› 100 years of Republic of Estonia
100 years of Republic of Estonia
Independence Day parade in 1928. Photo by Karl Akel.
National Archives of Estonia
You may have noticed that Estonia celebrates two Independence days - February 24 and August 20. August 20 celebrates Estonia’s independence after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The Estonia 100 celebrations refer to the first Estonian independence in 1918. We’ve told you a lot about the celebration that have been leading up to Estonia 100, but let’s take a quick look at the events that led to Estonia’s independence on February 24, 1918.
The Birth of the Republic
Quickly put, the “Manifesto to the Peoples of Estonia” was written by the Estonian Salvation Committee and Estonia was declared an independent republic on February 24, 1918. This did not happen overnight, however.
In the 19th century, Estonians began to study the local language and founded consciousness-raising societies, leading to the spread of literacy throughout the region and the printing of Estonian language publications. In the second half of the century, the National Awakening begun, raising a national consciousness among Estonians. The first song festival, a tradition still carried out today, was held in Tartu in 1869 and represented the first demonstration of Estonian national identity. Tsar Alexander III stifled this when he came to the throne in 1881, initiating a period of intense Russification.
After February Revolution of the Russian Empire, the Estonian people sought administrative unification of their historic area of settlement, which led to the unification of the Estonian Province with the northern part of the Livonian Province on April 12, 1917. This covers most of the area that is now called Estonia.
Taking advantage of the instability in Russia, the democratically-elected Estonian Provincial Assembly convened on July 14, 1917 and on November 28, 1917, declared itself the highest power in Estonia.
Estonia takes advantage of the chaos in Russia caused by WWI and the Bolshevik Revolution, declaring independence on February 24, 1918.
The Council of Elders of the Provincial Assembly formed by the Estonian Salvation Committee granted itself all administrative power in Estonia on February 19, 1918 until a normal state of affairs was reached. Keep in mind, this was just before WWI as the Red Army was leaving Estonia and the Germans were moving in. The Manifesto mentioned above was drafted and publicly declared on February 23, 1918 in Pärnu.
The Germans arrived the next day and it was only after the end of WWI that Estonia was truly free of occupation. In the meantime, the Estonian Defence League (Kaitseliit) and the ministries were formed on November 11, 1918. On November 28, 1918, the Estonian War of Independence began near Narva. The War lasted 13 months until February 2, 1920, when the Tartu Peace Treaty was signed. At the time, Soviet Russia renounced claims to the territory “for all time”. The Estonian Parliament was born on April 23, 1919. In October of 1919, the historic Land Law was passed, giving Estonians the right to own land and on December 1, the University of Tartu opened its doors with degrees taught in Estonian.
In 1921, the Republic of Estonia was accepted into the League of Nations. Reforms progressed quickly and social welfare laws were on a par with those in Europe. A political crisis in the mid-1930s brought the young republic to the verge of authoritarianism. President Konstantin Päts banned political parties and restricted civil rights, but maintained popular support.
Independence would not last long. On August 23, 1939, the USSR and Germany signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, in which secret protocols carved Eastern Europe into spheres of influence. On June 16, 1940, the USSR accused the Baltic states of aggression and demanded the right to occupy them. ‘Elections’ took place July 14 - 15, with Soviet-approved candidates. The phoney parliament applied for admittance to the USSR, which was granted on August 6. WWII continued to rage across Europe and by the end of 1941, the Nazis won Estonia from the Soviets. The German occupation lasted three years. Soviet forces begin air attacks on March 15, 1942, and caused serious damage in the infamous attack of March 9, 1944. By September, the Germans had fled. Estonia was declared a Republic again on September 18, but Soviet forces reached Tallinn four days later. From 1944 to 1991, Estonia fell under Soviet Occupation.
From April 2017 to February 2020, 100 years will have passed since the events leading up to and after the birth of the Republic. Estonia100 aims to celebrate these anniversaries and especially Estonia’s future. While the celebrations have already begun, the centenary will be observed on February 24, 2018. Look at our Events section and Independence Day feature to find out how you can join in.
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Home Crime news 14 year old boy stabs classmate after she refused to date him
14 year old boy stabs classmate after she refused to date him
Views Ernest August 25, 2018 Crime, news,
14 year old school boy has reportedly stabbed his female classmate after she refused to date him.
The young lad stabbed his classmate more than 11 times because she refused to date him and said she “only likes him as a friend”.
The unnamed girl, who is also 14, was stabbed in a school assembly on the first day of the term at Luther High School.
She was airlifted to hospital with life-threatening injuries following the gruesome attack on August 16, but has since been discharged from hospital.
She has not yet returned to school since the unfortunate incident.
The victim told police on Wednesday that the boy attacked her because she told him she wasn’t interested in a relationship. Luther police chief David Randall told NewsOk;
“There was one point where he approached her in reference to try to have some type of relationship, to which she said she wasn’t interested in it.
“She said she liked him as a friend not anything more and that they remained friends.”
Despite being friendzoned, the boy continued to slip notes into her locker asking her to go out with him. When she kept refusing, he stabbed her.
Police chief Randall added that the victim had no idea the 14-year-old boy held any ill will towards her and that the vicious attack came as a complete surprise.
On Wednesday the boy remained in the Oklahoma County Juvenile Detention Centre in lieu of $50,000 (£39,000) bail on a complaint of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.
Tags # Crime # news
Views By Ernest at August 25, 2018
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Water Polo Team Makes National Top Ten
The King's College Premier Water Polo team travelled to Wellington to compete at the National Championships during the April Holidays and placed among the top ten schools.
We started the tournament with a 10–7 win over Wellington Combined High Schools. This game was a nice easy start to the tournament and was won by a more comfortable margin than the score would suggest. Jordan Lane top scored with 4 goals and the match highlight was a superb outside shot by Tevyn Anitelea.
Our second match of the day was against the tournament’s second seed and eventual winner, Auckland Grammar. Some poor defensive decisions saw us concede two penalties and a kick out to find ourselves 3 – 0 down after the first two minutes of play. The team did well to come back and trail by 5 – 4 at half time. However the Grammar team had both strength and depth. We struggled on attack in the final quarter and the end result was an 11 – 4 loss. Highlights of this game were a fifteen metre goal from sharp-shooter Jordan Lane and a pool-length counter-attack goal for Connor Tomoana.
Next we needed to beat the Aquinas College of Tauranga for a spot in the top eight. This game ended up being a very low scoring affair in which we defended well and created plenty of opportunities on attack, but failed to put enough away. As a result, we left the pool regretting our missed opportunities on the wrong side of a 5–3 score. The big positive to come out of this game was the coming of age of Year 9 player Amosa Gould who scored twice from centre forward while under great pressure. It is interesting to note that Aquinas made the final alongside Auckland Grammar meaning that our pool was the toughest at the Championships this year.
The third day was a demanding one as we came up against players from Westlake Boys’ High School, who were bronze medallists at the North Island Championships two weeks previously and had controversially dropped out of the championship round for the first time in over ten years. Westlake played a strong attacking game and led by 6–4 going into the final quarter. However it was the King's team who proved to have the stronger desire and we dominated play in the final period to end up with 7 – 6 win; our first ever in the premier grade against a Westlake team. This was a game which saw the whole team step up when called upon to do so and goals went to Jackson Astley, Jordan Lane, Connor Tomoana, Keith Spencer Edgar and the winner was put away by Jake Parker-Allen.
The victory over Westlake put us into the Plate final for our fourth match against Mount Albert Grammar School for the year. Mount Albert started out strong and early in the third quarter we were 6 – 1 down, looking like we would end the tournament with a whimper. However the tide turned and we managed to pull back to 7 – 8 down with 30 seconds to go. In the final moments Connor Tomoana topped off a Man-of-the-Match performance by scoring his third goal of the game, and putting us into a penalty shoot out to win the match. Goalkeeper Ben Goodwin played his part beautifully blocking two out of five penalties. Regrettably, our attackers couldn't finish the job and we ended the match 11 – 10 down. This left us in tenth position for the tournament and looking forward to another season next summer.
Ben Simperingham
Teacher in Charge of Water Polo
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Storm Win Third Straight, Snap Walsh's Winning Streak
Walsh (11-3, 7-3 GLIAC) 31 43 74
Lake Erie (8-8, 5-5 GLIAC) 37 48 85
Pts: Jesse Hardin - 24
Ast: Brad Dupont - 7
Reb: Garrick Sims - 8
Ast: Tom Parker - 4
PAINESVILLE, Ohio-- The Lake Erie College men's basketball continued to roll in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) play as they won their third straight and snapped Walsh University's six-game winning streak, defeating the Cavaliers 85-74 on Saturday (Jan. 18) in Painesville.
Riley Thomas (Cardington, Ohio/Cardington-Lincoln) led the Storm (8-8, 5-5 GLIAC) with 25 points- his third straight game of scoring 20 or more and the 11th time overall this season. Thomas hit seven-of-13 shots from the floor and converted nine-of-ten free-throws.
This was the first road loss for Walsh (11-3, 7-3 GLIAC) this season.
Lake Erie started the game on an 8-3 run, hitting their first five shots. Garrick Sims (Barberton, Ohio/Barberton) scored four points on the opening run. The Storm continued to shoot well as they maintained their lead early on. Thomas scored 10 points in the opening 10 minutes as the Storm shot 68.8% (11-of-16) from the floor, including three-off-four three-pointers.
Leading 25-20 with 9:43 to play, the Storm went on a 8-2 run off a lay-up by Andy Bosley (Coumbus, Ohio/Orange) and threes from Michael Morris (New Palestine, Ind./New Palestine) and Thomas to take their biggest lead of the half at 11 points.
The Cavaliers cut the Storm's lead to four with less than a minute to play in the half but Tom Parker hit a lay-up with 11 seconds left to give the Storm a six point advantage heading into the break.
Thomas led the Storm with 13 first-half points while Parker had six. Roy Alexander (Columbus, Ohio/Walnut Ridge), Sims and Bosley had four apiece. In addition to his four points, Sims grabbed five rebounds. The Storm shot 48.5% (16-of-33) in the opening half compared to the Cavaliers 38.2% (13-of-34). Walsh hit just three-of-16 threes but owned a slight 20-19 lead in rebounding.
Walsh cut the Storm lead down to one, 40-39, early in the second-half but Parker scored four straight to put the Storm back up by five. The Cavaliers eventually tied the game on a four-point play but Alexander hit a jumper and Morris and Sean Howard (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) hit back-to-back three points as the Storm went on a 8-0 run to regain an eight point lead.
The Storm continued to roll in the second-half, amassing a 12 point lead with six minutes to play. After Walsh hit a three, Nick Wells (Akron, Ohio/St. Vincent-St. Mary) answered with one of his own followed up by a pair free-throws from Thomas to give the Storm a 71-57 lead with five minutes to play.
Lake Erie led by as much as 16 in the final five minutes as they shot well down the stretch. Sims and Bosley capped off the game with a pair of dunks in the final minute to seal the victory for the Storm.
In addition to his game-high 25 points, Thomas had four steals, two rebounds, one block and one assist. Sims ended the game with 14 points on six-of-ten shooting and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. Parker scored 12 points to compliment his four assists and two rebounds. Howard and Alexander netted nine and eight points off the bench respectively. Bosley had six points and six assists with a block.
The Storm never surrendered their lead.
Jesse Hardin led the Cavaliers with 24 points and seven rebounds. Trey Fletcher had 16 points and six rebounds while Brad DuPont (12) and Hrvoje Vucic (11) also scored in double-figures.
Lake Erie shot an impressive 54.2% (32-of-59) while holding the Cavaliers who ranked first in field goal percentage in the GLIAC to 42.9% (27-of-63). The Storm hit 10-of-23 three-pointers (43.5%) and converted 11-of-13 free-throws.
The Storm returns to the road after a four-game homestand to face Hillsdale College on Thursday (Jan. 23).
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Claire Sweeney to record album with London Philharmonic Orchestra and Carl Davis
LIVERPOOL actress Claire Sweeney today announced she will team up with world-class musicians to record an album of wartime classics.
Tina Miles
03:00, 29 DEC 2009
The 38-year-old will work with conductor Carl Davis, who delivered the city’s original classical Summer Pops and co-wrote Sir Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Oratorio.
Claire, who shot to fame as Scouser Lindsay Corkhill in Brookside, will also be joined by the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
She is set to perform the songs – including favourites by World War II sweetheart Vera Lynn – at concerts throughout 2010.
The Walton-born star will hit the road after appearing as Carrion The Wicked Fairy in Sleeping Beauty at The Churchill Theatre in Bromley, Kent until January 10.
And she can’t wait to belt out the hits of veteran singer Dame Vera, who kept up the spirits of millions of soldiers during World War II.
The one-time cruise ship singer said: “It is going to be gorgeous.
“I’m really looking forward to recording with Carl Davis and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
“The songs are timeless. Dame Vera Lynn recently went to number one in the UK album charts with her album of greatest hits, which shows the songs are still popular today.”
The album, We’ll Meet Again – The Very Best of Vera Lynn, was originally released to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the declaration of war.
Claire, who fronts the Park Christmas Savings TV ads and played Roxie Hart in the West End musical Chicago, is warming up her vocal cords in panto.
She said: “There wasn’t the right part for me in Peter Pan (this year’s big Empire show) but I would love to do a panto in Liverpool.”
But the singer, who now lives in London, is enjoying slipping into her low-cut red and black floor-length dress to play the pantomime villain.
She said: “I’ve played the Wicked Fairy for the past two years and the theatre is near to where I live so I have a nice commute to work.
“It is really good fun to play the evil character and I love hearing the children hissing and booing.”
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Flat fire - Woolwich
https://www.london-fire.gov.uk/incidents/2018/september/flat-fire-woolwich/
Five fire engines and 35 firefighters were called to a fire at a block of flats on Frances Street in Woolwich.
Half of a four roomed flat on the ground floor was damaged by fire.
One woman left the property before the Brigade arrived and was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation by London Ambulance Service.
The Brigade was called at 1008 and the fire was under control by 1046. Fire crews from East Greenwich, Plumstead, Eltham and Greenwich fire stations were at the scene.
East Greenwich fire station, Eltham fire station, Greenwich fire station, Lee Green fire station and Plumstead fire station. News and events about the borough of Greenwich.
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ePrivacy at the European Parliament : La Quadrature publishes its analysis
Posted on 6 March 2017 8 March 2017
Paris, 6 March 2017 — The nomination of Marju Lauristin last Tuesday, MEP of the “Socialists&Democrats” group, as a rapporteur of the ePrivacy regulation on “the respect of privacy and personal data protection in electronic communications” kicks off negotiations at the European Parliament. It is an opportunity for La Quadrature du Net to publish its arguments and recommendations, which it will promote loud and strong during the upcoming months with MEPs of all political sides.
Click here to directly access the recommendations
The five years of negotiations which have been needed to adopt the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)1The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has been adopted in April 2016 after years of negotiations.https://wiki.laquadrature.net/Synth%C3%A8se_du_r%C3%A8glement_sur_la_protection_des_donn%C3%A9es resumed with greater intensity with the ePrivacy proposal. Given the shortcomings in the GDPR, there is still a long way to go to ensure that Europeans’ privacy is respected and that trust between service providers and individuals is restored. The wind is turning and the digital lobbies are beginning to sense that it’s not favorable to them: the European Commission has not yielded to their calls for the suppression of the text, and studies on this matter are multipltying to show that Europeans are increasingly concerned about protecting their privacy on the Internet. But a natural adaptation of service providers to the changes in society, so dear to the laissez-faire enthusiasts, does not seem to be under way. On the contrary, new techniques and tracking tools are constantly being developed, and electronic communications service providers increasingly seek to collect and process our metadata and analyze our content.
The future ePrivacy regulation on the respect for privacy and personal data protection in electronic communications is therefore essential to counter those harmful developments and to restore power to the users.
Yet the battle is far from won. As we said in early January, the Commission’s proposal turns out to be far below what the speeches say, and the attacks from some conservative Members of European Parliament (MEP) against even the usefulness of the text are extremely disquieting.
The arguments published today are a summary of our recommendations and the points that La Quadrature du Net will promote in the coming months with MEPs and the member states. La Quadrature recommends that MEPs should:
cut back new opportunities for service providers to deal with electronic communications metadata;
force data to be processed anonymously whenever possible;
block third-party cookies by default in browsers (and any other access to the device by third parties);
rebuke the Commission’s proposal allowing devices to be tracked in certain physical locations (whether private, such as in a shop, or public, such as a square or a park) and formally prohibit such highly intrusive practices;
limit as much as possible derogations granted to member states for national security reasons. It is on the basis of these regulations that the member states have been able to introduce data retention measures in the past, or may introduce measures which weaken encryption tools and electronic communications confidentiality in the future;
declare that infringing on the protection of terminal device (illegally accessing a device, or tracking a device) is a very serious violation that should be subject to the highest penalties provided for in the General Regulations on Data Protection;
These recommendations – somewhat technical – will soon be supplemented by more political explanations, that is to say arguments that everybody will be able to use, and by a calendar so that together, we can fight this battle for the defense of our privacy and to regain control of our data.
Link to the full analysis">–> Link to the full analysis <--
1. ↑ The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has been adopted in April 2016 after years of negotiations.https://wiki.laquadrature.net/Synth%C3%A8se_du_r%C3%A8glement_sur_la_protection_des_donn%C3%A9es
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Home > UHLC Faculty
The University of Houston Law Center Faculty
124 BLB
alderman@uh.edu
SSRN Author Page
Center for Consumer Law
Richard M. Alderman
Director, Consumer Law Center
B.A., Tulane University; J.D., Syracuse; LL.M. University of Virginia
Richard M. Alderman earned his B.A. from Tulane University in 1968 and attended Syracuse University Law School, where he was graduated first in his class. After a year practicing poverty law with a legal service office, he attended the University of Virginia Law School and was awarded a Master of Law degree.
Alderman has been a faculty member at the University of Houston Law Center since 1973. He is currently the Dwight Olds Chair in Law. He also serves as the director of the Center for Consumer Law. Alderman is a prolific author who has authored 20 books and numerous articles. His most recent publications include Consumer Credit and The Law, Consumer Protection and The Law, Texas Consumer Law: Cases and Materials, and The Lawyers Guide to the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. He also authored the 7th edition of Know Your Rights!, and the 2nd edition of Your Texas Business, for the layperson. Professor Alderman serves as the Editor-in-Chief of "The Journal of Commercial and Consumer Law," the quarterly newsletter of the Consumer Law Section of the State Bar of Texas. In 2007 Alderman was awarded the University of Houston’s Teaching Excellence Award.
In addition to his responsibilities at the Law Center, Alderman appears regularly as the "People's Lawyer" on radio, television and the newspaper. He currently appears on KTRK-TV, Channel 13 and has a syndicated newspaper column, entitled “Know Your Rights.” Professor Alderman has twice received the highest honor given by the American Bar Association and the State Bar of Texas for his work in educating the public about the law. In 1999 the Mayor and City Council of Houston declared October 16th as Richard Alderman day in recognition of his contribution to the city.
Secured Financing
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Shirt Number 4
Çaglar Söyüncü
Follow Söyüncü on social
Caglar Söyüncü joined Leicester City Football Club on a five-year contract in August 2018.
12st 13lbs (82kg)
A Turkish international, Söyüncü made his senior debut for his national side at just 19 years-old against Sweden in March 2016 and has since become a regular for the Crescent-Stars.
Born in Izmir, Turkey, Söyüncü began his career with his local side, Altınordu F.K. in TFF First League, the second tier of the Turkish Football League.
He made his professional debut in 2014 and appeared 34 times for the side over the following two seasons. SC Freiburg made their move for the centre-back shortly after he turned 19.
An impressive debut Bundesliga campaign followed in 2016/17 which saw Söyüncü earn 24 first-team appearances as Freiburg finished seventh and qualified for UEFA Europa League.
The following season, he played 30 times for Freiburg and scored his first Bundesliga goal in a 3-2 win over Hoffenheim.
With Söyüncü established in the first-team, the German side finished 15th in the league and reached the round of 16 of DFB-Pokal.
With over 20 caps to his name, including five in FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Söyüncü scored his first international goal with a last-minute equaliser against Tunisia in June 2018.
During his first season at King Power Stadium, he made eight appearances for the Foxes.
Shutout For Söyüncü’s Turkey
Twenty-One Foxes In International Contention
Puel's Arsenal Fitness Update: Gray, James, Söyüncü
Söyüncü's Turkey Suffer Nations League Defeat
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Home Sports St. Thomas may be booted from the MIAC
St. Thomas may be booted from the MIAC
Travis Fauchald
Rachel Gessner/Manitou Messenger
One of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) top performers, the University of St. Thomas, is rumored to be potentially expelled from the conference.
The Presidents of the other MIAC schools will meet to discuss St. Thomas’ expulsion from the conference on April 18, with a final vote scheduled for some time in May.
The MIAC is a NCAA Division III athletic conference comprised of small private colleges. The MIAC, along with its Wisconsin counterpart, the WIAC, hold prestige and often possess some of the nation’s best sports teams across a variety of sports.
St. Thomas has dominated the other Minnesota private colleges in athletics for years. This may be due to their well-known business school and proximity to the Cities. The school possesses an undergraduate student body of over 6,000 students, almost doubling the St. Olaf student body, which is the next largest in the conference.
Currently, the 12 other schools may not kick out any member, as the only basis for expulsion is for illegal and/or unethical behavior. In order to boot the Tommies, the other schools would have to vote to change the conference’s bylaws.
This decision, if made, would first take effect in 2021.
Ryan Bowles, St. Olaf’s Athletic Director, wrote an email to St. Olaf’s student-athletes regarding the school’s role in discussions.
“Membership in the MIAC is determined by the member institutions. St. Olaf, along with the presidents of all of the institutions, is engaged in a discussion of membership,” Bowles wrote. “We are participating in those discussions in good faith … committed to providing all student-athletes with a quality, equitable and competitive NCAA experience consistent with the excellence in all other areas of the college.”
St. Thomas has been eyeing a potential Division I move for some time now. With the University’s financial and recruitment resources, facilities and winning traditions, St. Thomas could move to the Summit League, Big Sky, Missouri Valley or Pioneer Conference to compete with Division-I teams across the country.
This potential transition could also be a multi-level division move, with some sports competing on a different level than most. The University of Minnesota Duluth, Mankato State and St. Cloud State’s hockey teams, for example, which compete Division I, while otherwise being members of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC).
St. Thomas has previously looked at moving into D-I, once hiring a consulting firm to help with their decision.
Regardless, a MIAC expulsion of St. Thomas and a transition to Division I would be extremely beneficial for evening the playing field and raising the level of quality competition for all involved parties.
faucha1@stolaf.edu
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The Brouhaha Around the Pulping of Wendy Doniger’s Book
Written by Dr. Seshadri Kumar
Wendy Doniger, a professor of religion at the University of Chicago, wrote a book in 2009, titled “The Hindus: An Alternative History” that became quite popular as a textbook in US universities that taught Hinduism. Many Hindus took exception to some of the content in the book, accusing it of sexualizing Hindu mythological references in a manner that was offensive to them (e.g., an Oedipus complex analysis of Ganesha’s relationship with his father Shiva). There was a court case in India, which ended in an out-of-court settlement whereby Penguin, the publisher of Doniger’s book, agreed to remove all copies of the book from circulation and pulp them.
The reaction from self-styled defenders of secularism has been predictable: outrage. Comparisons are made to the banning of the Satanic Verses; the withdrawal of the book is linked to the rise of the Hindu right-wing; this is further linked to the almost inevitable victory of Narendra Modi in the coming 2014 elections in May; a conclusion is made that “Hindu intolerance” is making free speech impossible in India; lists of past books banned in India are paraded and Doniger’s book is mentioned in the same breath, with a lament on the state of censorship in India; Siddharth Varadarajan, former editor of “The Hindu,” asks for Penguin to return his copyright on his book to him and to pulp copies of his book as a protest; Arundhati Roy protests Penguin’s decision, asking them to explain their decision; and “The Hindu” innovatively finds a way to somehow link this event with the 2002 riots in Gujarat and calls it a manifestation of totalitarian tendencies of the Hindu right.
All of these reactions are overblown hyperbole and just plain nonsense. Why? Here are the facts.
1. This is NOT a book ban. Book bans are carried out by the state. The state did not intervene in this case.
2. There is a law in India: section 295A in the Indian Penal Code, 1860, that reads, “Deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.-- Whoever, with deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any class of 6 [citizens of India], 7 [by words, either spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representations or otherwise] insults or attempts to insult the religion or the religious beliefs of that class, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to 8 [three years], or with fine, or with both.”
3. The language of section 295A is ambiguous, and allows people to sue anyone who offends, willingly or not, their religious beliefs by writing or speaking publicly about them. But this was not a law created by the Hindu right, or even in independent India. It was a British law, created to protect Islam from any Hindu writing derogatory things about it. All that has happened in this instance was that people have used this intolerant law on the books in India to prosecute something that offended them.
4. A Hindu religious group believed that Doniger’s book was insulting to Hinduism and so filed a lawsuit against Penguin under section 295A of the IPC. After fighting the case in court for some time, Penguin thought it better to settle the case, for reasons known only to them.
5. So, in summary, there was a law that provided relief to those who felt their religious sentiments were hurt by a book; a party that felt its sentiments were hurt filed a legal case; and the defendant settled out of court. There is nothing illegal in this. This is not similar to a case like that of James Laine, who wrote a biography of Shivaji that was violently opposed by the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, leading to the ban of the book after much rioting. In the present case there was no violence; the state never got involved; and the legal process was duly followed.
6. If Hindus displayed intolerance to Wendy Doniger’s writing, they did so within their legal right. I am not going to discuss here whether or not what Doniger wrote was offensive. That is beside the point here. What is relevant is that the law in India gives legal recourse to anyone who feels their religious sentiments are hurt. To say that Hindus should NOT avail of such a law is to DENY them the legal recourse provided by Indian law, and is unfair. Keep in mind that section 295A is equally applicable to Muslims or Christians who feel that their sentiments are hurt by a book or speech.
7. One cannot conclude anything negatively about the Indian courts and judiciary from this case either. Penguin could have waited for the court to rule whether or not the learned judges found that there was something offensive in the book to Hinduism or not and, more importantly, whether the offense was “deliberate and malicious.” Why they did not is not clear; but the statement they released suggested that they believed that the law on the books was ambiguous enough that they could not hope to win the case.
The real culprit in this case is the presence of section 295A in the IPC of 1860 that is still being used today. The presence of this law serves to remind us that in India, the freedom of speech is not absolute. I am no fan of book bans and personally believe that if a book offends you, don’t read it. But section 295A is a reality, and the plaintiffs in this case merely asked for relief under the existing laws.
If Siddharth Varadarajan or Arundhati Roy are truly outraged about what happened, they should expend their energies, not on the dramatics they are indulging in, but in trying to get the offensive law from 1860 amended so that freedom of speech is truly allowed in India. As long as section 295A is on the books, true freedom of speech will not exist in India in matters of religion. It is silly and futile to argue that a law should remain on the books, but no one should avail of its protections. It is something like saying that people should not avail of a tax exemption provided under the tax code. If a particular tax exemption unfairly favours a particular group, the correct recourse would be to lobby to correct the apparent injustice, viz., change the law, not get angry at those who use the tax exemption. And that’s how we should react here as well. Doniger herself has recognized this.
So here is what I propose. I do not like section 295A, and would like to participate in a movement to remove the section from the Indian Penal Code. I hope Siddharth Varadarajan and Arundhati Roy will use their celebrity status to lead this movement. But I seriously doubt this movement will succeed, even if Varadarajan and Roy agree to lead it – not only because of Hindu fundamentalists, but equally because of Muslim and Christian fundamentalists, who have also conveniently used this law to oppress (and sometimes ban) books they didn’t like.
Labels: Arundhati Roy, Hinduism, Indian Penal Code, Penguin Books, Section 295A, Siddharth Varadarajan, The Hindus: An Alternative History, Wendy Doniger
The Bottlenecks to Innovation in India
Why Wendy Doniger’s Book Offends Hindus
The Brouhaha Around the Pulping of Wendy Doniger’s...
The Voice of a Real Aam Aadmi (Common Man) of Indi...
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Vaigai - A Short Story
Vaigai – A Short Story
Written by Dr. Seshadri Kumar, 24 September, 2016
This is my second attempt at fiction. I wrote this to enter a writing contest. I did not win, but I thought it might be worth sharing. I hope you like it.
Subramanian got up from his chair. He was in the boardroom in his flagship restaurant-cum-head office, the “Vel Murugan” in the Mylapore area of Chennai, the capital city of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It was 10 pm, just past closing time.
He had just finished tallying the receipts, along with his senior managers, and analysing the results of the past year of all his restaurants: his 20 restaurant branches in Chennai, the remaining 20 branches in the rest of the state of Tamil Nadu, the 30 other branches in leading cities in India, and the two dozen international branches in the Middle East, the USA, and the UK.
South Indian vegetarian fare was constantly increasing in popularity the world over, because of its nutritious value and its vegetarian nature, and Subramanian’s “Vel Murugan” was at the top of the heap when it came to the South Indian restaurant business.
Subramanian congratulated his managers, ended the meeting, and reflected. Business was good. It always had been, thought Subramanian to himself, ever since he started being an entrepreneur in the food business, 25 years ago.
Twenty-five years ago…
He had grown up in the town of Rameswaram, in the southern part of the state of Tamil Nadu, the closest point to Sri Lanka. When he was a kid, there was nothing to live for in that place. Rameswaram had only two things – a temple and fishing. As a person born into poverty and into a low caste, mobility was not easy for him, and he grew up as a help in a tea stall. Later he started his own fast food joint, focusing on Tamil vegetarian food – idlis, steamed rice and lentil cakes; vadas, deep fried lentil doughnuts; dosas, lentil-rice pan-fried crepes; accompanied by sambars, fiery sauces of tamarind and chilli powder; and chutneys, made of coconut, coriander leaves, and tomato paste. Another popular accompaniment was a dry spice powder often referred to as “gunpowder” because of the punch it packed. Then there were the spicy rice mixes – coconut rice, tamarind rice, and lemon rice – always ready to be packed for people in a hurry.
The local townspeople frequented his joint and it was quite popular, but Subramanian was not happy. He wanted to do bigger things. A couple of years after he started his own fast food restaurant, his uncles and aunts insisted he get married (his parents had died when he was young and he was raised by an uncle and aunt and his grandmother), and found him a bride through the “arranged marriage” system. Sitamma was a girl distantly related to him – they could only marry within the caste and their community preferred a known family, and this family was well-known to them.
The marriage was a happy one, and within a year Sitamma was expecting. But Subramanian was not happy staying in Rameswaram. His ambitions were bigger. He wanted to see the big world, hit the big time. A sleepy fishing town could not contain the turbulence within him. So, with his pregnant wife, he decided to take the ferry on the Vaigai river from Rameswaram to Madurai, the nearest big town, as a transit point to Chennai, his eventual destination, where the fortunes of the high and mighty were being made.
It had been a very good monsoon that year, and the Vaigai was full with water. As his luck would have it, the ferry was hit by an unexpectedly fierce evening storm as the ferry approached Madurai, and most of the passengers drowned when the ferry capsized. Subramanian, meant for better things, miraculously survived, but Sitamma, the only person to ever mean anything to him – the only person he ever loved, even more than himself – along with their child that she was bearing – went missing.
In Madurai, Subramanian waited for months to find out if any news of his wife had been reported, but after 4 months of searching, the authorities told him there was no point in waiting – that he might as well do the final funeral rites for her. They had scoured the entire length of the river. A heartbroken Subramanian went back to Rameswaram, performed the last rites for his wife, and swore never to come back to the place that had cursed him with such bad luck. From now on, the only place he would call home was Chennai.
With all his savings that he had brought with him after selling his restaurant in Rameswaram, Subramanian bought a place in Mylapore in Chennai for his restaurant. Chennai was a bustling city and the hub of business in South India. An urban centre like it was full of hungry people looking for a quick meal. Subramanian also knew that his upwardly mobile patrons came predominantly from the upper castes, and so made sure to keep the place running as per their standards – pure vegetarian food, no alcohol, sparkling clean. Whoever he hired got told that these principles were non-negotiable. Plus, there was to be no haggling and service had to be outstanding. Honesty was a value he would never compromise on.
In return, Subramanian took care of them. Of ALL their needs. He got workers from rural areas who had just migrated to the city, who did not have a home, provided them lodging, took care of their medical needs, their children’s education, employment, and marriage, their retirement – everything. In return, he asked for absolute loyalty and perfect performance from his employees. No other restaurateur offered such amazing benefits to his employees.
The workers loved him; the quality of his food was outstanding; the service was fantastic; naturally, the business was a roaring success. In the first five years, he expanded from his flagship restaurant in Mylapore to 5 new restaurants all over Chennai. In the next 5 years, 15 more restaurants followed. In the next 5 years, he expanded all over India, and in the next 10 years, he turned his attention to the world.
But there was a darker side to him. He had learned about succeeding in business, and his ambition took him to greater and greater heights; but on the personal side, the loss of his wife devastated him so much that he never married again, because he believed that all he loved was doomed – his parents had died when he was just ten – and then the tragedy of his wife and his yet-to-be-born baby drowning in the Vaigai. He took to drink to drown the loneliness, and found comfort in whores when the physical need was too great.
Success also meant friends in high places, and this meant people from diverse occupations such as politics and crime. The vice equation in his life meant he did not limit his lust for whores. A few times a woman in his restaurant had caught his fancy, and he had had his way with her, sometimes using his money to get his way and sometimes using threats after forcing himself on her. His loyal deputy in the business, Sankaran, made sure matters were kept entirely hush-hush, and his connections with politicians and criminals served him well in these indiscretions.
Most of his employees were unaware of his trysts; the few who knew explained it away as the product of a life of loneliness and forgave his conduct in light of his otherwise impeccable behaviour – for, apart from this occasional vice, his behaviour towards both his employees and towards the general public was impeccable. He had established three colleges in the city and run a few centres to help destitute women stand on their own, and was generally considered one of the upstanding citizens of Chennai.
And Then, Jayanthi…
Subramanian continued pacing in his office after the managers had left. Normally he would walk to his home, just a block away from the restaurant, and go to sleep after a meeting like this. But today he could not.
He was thinking about Jayanthi and what had transpired this morning.
Jayanthi and her husband, Muthuvel, had come to his restaurant in Mylapore three months ago, looking for a job. The cooks had put them through a few tests to see how good their skills were, and the duo had passed all the tests with flying colours. The final decision on hiring senior cooks at the restaurant was always Subramanian’s own, as the chief cook, Palani, knew. The test was for him to sample a dinner they had prepared for them.
Subramanian had a policy of not meeting the applicants until he had tasted the food first.
“Palani, serve the rasam.”
“Yes, sir.” Palani knew his boss well. Many a time he had said, “Palani, a cook who cannot prepare good rasam cannot be called a good chef, no matter what else he does.” Rasam is a tamarind-based spicy soup that is eaten with rice and also often drunk, one of the standard features of Tamil cuisine.
“Exquisite. Now the sambar…hmm, this has a unique freshness all its own…the tamarind and the red chilli powder are perfectly matched. And the fenugreek flavouring is subtle.”
And so it went, until all the items had been sampled. At the end, he said, “bring the cooks in.”
In came Jayanthi and Muthuvel.
Subramanian was too stunned to say anything. Jayanthi seemed more beautiful than anyone Subramanian had ever seen. More than beauty, there was something magical about her that he could not take his eyes off her – he could not understand why. But keeping in mind that her husband was also there, he controlled himself with a great effort and said,
“Your cooking is outstanding. Where are you from?”
“Manamadurai, sir,” replied Muthuvel.
“Ah, Manamadurai…” replied Subramanian, closing his eyes. Manamadurai was a town that was on the river between Rameswaram and Madurai, and it was after they had passed that town that the boat had capsized…
He tried not to think about it. The reminder of the loss he had tried to forget his whole life had killed his appetite for any more questions.
“Well, you two are hired,” he said abruptly. “Palani will take care of everything else. Congratulations!” he said hurriedly and rose, signalling an end to the interview. Some memories that should have remained buried had been exhumed, and he wanted them to go back into the ground.
The Tryst…
Subramanian not get Jayanthi out of his mind. Why was he so drawn to her? After fighting his feelings for a while, he decided he would make her another of his conquests. But whenever he wanted to make his move, Muthuvel was always there. They did not suspect anything, but he was never getting the perfect opportunity.
And then, after three months, he had thought of a plan that morning. He called Palani and told him, “Palani, the season for the small mangoes for the pickles is starting. We need the best quality. Send Muthuvel to the villages today – he knows where to go – to get the best for the restaurants. Shouldn’t take him more than 4-5 days.”
Palani had taken care of that. Around noon, Subramanian called in Jayanthi and said, “We are having a family function tomorrow at my mansion on Old Mahabalipuram Road. I want you to personally prepare food for the guests there – your cooking is the best I have seen and I want nothing less for my guests. Be there by 2 pm to start preparing.” Jayanthi, suspecting nothing, agreed.
Subramanian could not sleep the whole night. He was thinking of his upcoming tryst with Jayanthi the next day. He did not come to the restaurant in the morning; instead, he went to the stylist, got his hair styled, got a manicure, and then went straight to his mansion around noon. On the way, he bought vegetables and other supplies and brought it with him to the mansion for the “function” that he had asked Jayanthi to come cook for so there would be no suspicion when she arrived.
She came promptly at 2 pm. “Come in,” he said, smiling broadly.
She looked at the empty house and said, “No one is here, master?”
“No, no, they will all start coming in at 5 pm, and I want everything to be ready by then. Let me show you into the kitchen.”
He took her to the kitchen and told her what needed to be prepared, told her what he had procured and how he wanted it done. She got to work.
He went back to the living room and poured himself a drink to calm himself down and prepare himself for the next move.
An hour later, he tiptoed into the kitchen. Jayanthi was looking gorgeous as she wiped the sweat from her brow, stirring the sauces. As always, she wore jasmine in her hair, which drove Subramanian crazy with desire. As she was stirring the sauce, Subramanian came from behind and, one hand holding her waist and another holding her hand, said, “That’s how it is done, my dear.”
Jayanthi recoiled with horror and turned around to see Subramanian. “Master!” she screamed.
“Not master. You should call me ‘Subbu’ from now on.”
“What are you saying?”
“Isn’t it obvious? I want you. I desire you. I wish to feel your body around mine. I have not been able to forget you since the day I first saw you.”
“But I am married to Muthuvel!”
“Ah, don’t worry about him. He need not know. Satisfy me, and the world is yours. Just give yourself to me once in a while, and see where I take you.”
“Aren’t you ashamed of talking like this? I am young enough to be your daughter!”
“Come now, don’t play hard to get now. Many women would kill to be in your place,” said Subramanian, moving towards her.
Knowing she needed to act quickly, Jayanthi picked up a large kitchen knife and said, “Don’t you dare!”
Subramanian laughed. “My dear, I am a veteran at these things. Why are you being childish?”
But she wouldn’t budge. Subramanian decided he had had enough. He would take her forcefully. He tore off her saree, and was about to pin her down, when she lost her balance. The knife in her hand accidentally turned around and impaled her on the chest as she fell to the ground.
Subramanian was stunned. He never wanted things to end this way.
It was not the first time he had seen an unnatural death. There had been a couple of women over the years who had been stubborn and would not give themselves willingly to him – and bad things had happened. He was not unnerved by Jayanthi’s death. But he was truly sad to see Jayanthi die. A pity. She could have had such a great life.
He prepared to make the call to Sankaran to take care of the mess. Suddenly he noticed that her handbag had fallen down and everything in it had fallen out. He should put everything back in her bag – or there would be trouble with the police. Sankaran would take care of things, but why take chances?
As he was collecting her things, he suddenly noticed an old, faded photograph, with the Tamil word for mother written on it: “Amma.” Curious, he looked at it … and the blood drained from his face.
It was a very pregnant Sitamma.
Subramanian’s head was spinning. Jayanthi was Sitamma’s daughter?
It all made sense to him now. Manamadurai…so Sitamma had survived and been saved in Manamadurai … so she died giving birth to Jayanthi … why else did Jayanthi have no other photo? But… he had waited for four months … how did they not find her? And if she had survived, why did she not try to contact her family? Did she lose her memory? Who took this photograph?
He would never know now. The only person who knew the answers – his own daughter – was dead on the floor before him.
He should have been the one to drown in the Vaigai.
There was only one thing to do.
He went to the living room, opened his bag, found his gun, and put the barrel to his mouth. “Please forgive me, Sitamma,” he said to himself, tears flowing down his face, as he pulled the trigger.
Disclaimer: This is entirely a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any persons living or dead is purely coincidental. The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this short story are fictitious. No identification with actual persons, places, buildings, and products is intended or should be inferred.
How American Media Manipulates Perceptions About Russia
In their 1988 classic, “Manufacturing Consent,” Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky talk about how the media can be manipulated and alternative perceptions of reality created by what they call “framing” the topic.
Well, I got an excellent example of how this is done a couple of days ago while watching CNN.
The program was “Amanpour,” anchored by renowned journalist Christiane Amanpour, who covers a range of global topics. One of the topics in this show was how Russia is now playing a greater role in world politics. The specific focus of the program was the news that day that Russia was planning to hold peace talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis.
Amanpour sets the stage for us by telling us that, closely following on its aggressive actions in Syria, Russia is now trying to broker peace between Israel and Palestine. Why would Russia want to do this, she asks.
Russia’s Historic Ties with Middle Eastern Countries
At this point, anyone with a sense of history and a desire to present an objective view of world affairs would probably point out that historically, Russia has always had close ties with the countries in the Middle East – with Iran, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Jordan, etc. This was only to be expected, given how close the Middle East is to Russia. Prior to the breakup of the Soviet Union, the USSR shared a border with Iran and one with Turkey.
In particular,
1. Russia has close economic ties with Iran and is a major benefactor while western nations have imposed severe sanctions on the Iranian regime. Much of Iran’s military equipment comes from Russia. Iran is the only country in the Middle East that has been invited to join the Collective Security Treaty Organization, Russia’s response to NATO. Their ties with Iran go back to 1521, when Iran, then Persia, was ruled by the Safavid Dynasty. For hundreds of years, the Persian and Russian empires fought many wars and also collaborated against their common rival, the Ottomans. During the early 20th century, Iran was practically under Russian control. After the second World War, Iran slipped into the American sphere of influence; however, after the Iranian Revolution of 1979, things changed dramatically. Although the Soviets supported Iraq in the Iran-Iraq war, they became a major arms supplier to the Islamic Republic of Iran after the war. Russia also started helping Iran in developing their nuclear program starting in the 1990s.
2. The Soviet Union, and later Russia, had strong military ties with Iraq. Most of Saddam Hussein’s military equipment came from the USSR; he relied heavily on them to assist him in the ruinous Iran-Iraq war that lasted from 1980 to 1989. Russian oil companies have strong interests in Iraqi oil fields.
3. The Soviet Union has been a supporter of the Palestinians from as far back as 1922. In 1975 they were instrumental in passing a UN resolution that equated Zionism with racism. A lot of Yasser Arafat’s PLO militants were trained by the KGB. The current President of Palestine, Dr. Mahmoud Abbas, earned his doctorate at Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow. In 2006, Vladimir Putin even said that he did not consider Hamas a terrorist organization. To this day, Moscow is a strong supporter of Palestine in international fora.
4. Although the Soviet Union and later Russia were always opposed to Israel, they were paradoxically one of the earliest in the world to recognize the newly-formed state of Israel in 1948, thinking that Israel might end up becoming a socialist country. Once it became clear that this would not happen and that Israel would be a strong ally of the US in the Middle East, the USSR and later Russia were strong opponents of Israel and very good friends with its enemies. However, after 1991, when the USSR collapsed and the Iron Curtain was shattered, millions of Jews migrated from Russia to Israel, the Jewish homeland. This created new cultural ties between Russia and Israel that have created a strong counterbalance in the Russia-Israel relationship. Russian is now the third-widest spoken language in Israel, after Hebrew and Arabic.
5. The USSR had close ties with Egypt for a very long time, mainly because Gamal Abdel Nasser was a fierce anti-imperialist critic and developed close friendships with the Soviet Union. Many Egyptians, including Hosni Mubarak, studied in the USSR. Khrushchev even bestowed the Soviet Union’s highest honor, the Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin to Nasser in 1964. Sadat was more pro-American, and ties with the USSR suffered; but they came back up when Mubarak became President.
6. The USSR played a key role in the Suez crisis of 1956, when Britain, France, and Israel invaded Egypt in retaliation for Nasser nationalizing the Suez canal. The USSR strongly supported Egypt’s cause, even threatening to use nuclear missiles against Britain and France if they did not withdraw from Egypt. This endeared the Soviet Union greatly to Arab countries, and the USSR had huge influence for several years in Egypt. They actively supported Egypt (and Syria) during the Yom Kippur War in 1973, with military advisors, hardware, and even nuclear missiles stationed on Egyptian soil.
7. The USSR, and later Russia, have had deep strategic ties with Syria for decades, from as far back as 1944. They played an important role in arguing for the French departure from Syria in 1946 which made Syria an independent country. After Hafez al-Assad took power in a coup in 1970, Syria entered into an agreement with the USSR that allowed it to open a permanent naval base in Syria at the port of Tartus, an agreement that continues to this day. The USSR and Syria signed a 20-year treaty of friendship and cooperation in 1980. Thousands of Syrian professionals and military personnel were trained in the former USSR and later Russia. Most of Syria’s military equipment is Soviet- and Russian-made. After Hafez al-Assad’s death, his son Bashar al-Assad continued the close ties with Moscow, and to this day Russia is a staunch ally of Syria and has supported Assad in the ongoing civil war.
8. Russia is a member of the Middle East Quartet or the Madrid Quartet, a group of four entities that was formed in 2002 to help resolve the Israel-Palestinian conflict: the US, Russia, the UN, and the EU. This organization survives to this day, and was meeting every few months until May 2015.
Given all this history, should it come as a surprise to anyone that Russia should try one more time to find a solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict? One would think it is the natural thing.
How Amanpour Chose to Frame the Discussion
However, in her opening remarks, while trying to answer the question she herself posed, viz., why Russia would want to broker peace between the Israelis and Palestinians, Amanpour offered two choices:
1. That this was driven by megalomania – that Putin wanted to project an image of himself as a strongman, OR
2. That Putin wanted to deflect attention away from Russia’s internal problems.
To quote Amanpour, “Vladimir Putin is really making a play as a global leader – whether in Syria; he’s just announced he wants to hold new Israel-Palestinian talks; and of course, he has a lot of say about Brexit, about the European Union, and the United States.”
Now excuse me, is Vladimir Putin, as the President of one of the largest and most powerful countries in the world (do not forget it still has thousands of nuclear ballistic missiles that could destroy the world several times over), with huge natural reserves, and one of the largest conventional militaries in the world, not a global leader???
And is it so beyond the pale that such a leader of a country that has historically had very strong ties with and influence in the Middle East should think it is in his country’s interest to have a peaceful Middle East, a region that is very close to the borders of Russia, especially when Russia has been intensely engaged in the Israel-Palestine peace process for decades?
Is it even remotely sensible to suggest that his support for Syria is “making a play as a global leader” when Russia and Syria have strong ties going back 70 years?
As part of Europe, should Russia not have a say in what happens in Brexit or the European Union? One-third of all Europe’s gas comes from Russia. Are the trade implications not important to Russia that it should not express its opinions on the matter?
And, given that the United States is actively interfering in Europe, a continent that is separated from it by a vast ocean, should Putin not comment on what is happening, essentially, in his backyard?
None of this appears to strike Amanpour. She has framed the debate. Now the only two choices are that either Putin is a megalomaniac or that he wants to distract Russians from the serious problems of their country, because elections (which are now over, were considered free and fair, and have resulted in a massive victory for Putin) were just around the corner.
It is like the old joke about asking someone, “Have you stopped beating your wife yet?” – a question that slanders the person who is being asked, whichever way he answers: “Yes” would imply he was beating his wife in the past, while “No” would imply he is still beating his wife. That’s the kind of approach to journalism that CNN has chosen.
The Choice of the Source of Opinions
Also notable is the fact that this was not just a statement from Amanpour. This was an interview. And who was she interviewing? A Russian dissident and critic, Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Who is this Khodorkovsky? A shady figure and a criminal, this man was one of the many oligarchs who became overnight billionaires after the fire sale of Russia’s assets during the bankrupt and unbelievably corrupt regime of Boris Yeltsin. Like all the other oligarchs, this man indulged in a lot of shady deals to become a billionaire. Unfortunately for him, he fell afoul of Vladimir Putin, who had him arrested and convicted on (probably very real) charges of fraud, embezzlement, and money laundering, and spent 8 years in jail following a court conviction before being pardoned by Putin. After his pardon, he left Russia to live in Switzerland, his fortune much diminished but still considerable (his estimated worth is $500 million) and now regularly attacks Putin in media statements from outside Russia.
It is such a shady person of very questionable character that Amanpour chooses to ask about Putin’s motivation for being a global leader, about asking questions and making statements on Brexit and the EU, and for proposing a new peace initiative in the Middle East – and with a leading question that begs the answer. With so much prompting, and his past enmity with Putin, Khodorkovsky predictably lashed out at Putin (you can see the interview in the link given earlier.) The audience is led to conclude that the megalomaniac Putin was trying to project himself as a man of great importance (falsely implying that he is absolutely unimportant in reality) to deceive the Russian public ahead of the elections.
What kind of gutter reporting and analysis is this???
It is obvious that this slant was taken to besmirch Putin’s reputation because the US and Russia are currently engaged in a highly adversarial relationship. Russia openly backs the Syrian government headed by Assad, and the US openly backs the rebels that have vowed to topple him. This is a Cold War being played out in 2016. And American news outlets have dropped all pretences of objectivity in their analysis.
Do the American media impute such motives to American Presidents who talk about Brexit, about the EU, about Russia, or about Israel and Palestine? Did they attack Obama when he made a statement in June 2012 that America’s bond with Israel was unbreakable that it was a cynical statement made only to impress American voters ahead of the elections in November 2012? Or did they say that President Jimmy Carter was only trying to impress American voters as a global leader when he held the Camp David accords in 1978 to mediate peace between the Israelis and Palestinians?
Decidedly not. Such venom is reserved for “enemies of the USA.”
Anyone who reads Herman and Chomsky’s book, and wants a real-life modern example, should just watch this interview to know how biased American media outlets like CNN “frame the discussion” in a certain way that the uninformed audience can only get one conclusion from the discussion.
This is how “thought control” is achieved in a democracy.
Labels: Amanpour, Britain, Chomsky, CNN, Egypt, France, Herman, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Madrid Quartet, Manufacturing Consent, Middle East, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Palestine, Russia, Suez, Syria, USA, Vladimir Putin
Why Donald Trump Will Win
Executive Summary:
Donald Trump will win the US elections in November. The main reason is that the American people have been hit hard because of job losses due to globalization over the last 16 years, and trust neither mainstream Democrats nor Republicans to have any solutions – because there are none and both parties have lied to them. Trump will win, not because of his ideas, and despite his outrageous behaviour, because he is an outsider.
The Republican National Convention (RNC) is over for a month. Donald J. Trump is the Republican nominee for President of the United States of America.
A lot of Americans are very surprised at this development. You could even say that they are stunned.
When Donald Trump entered this race, he was considered to be only a distraction and a source of entertainment. But today, he has left his rivals in the dust, and has won the Republican Party nomination by a huge margin. Figure 1 shows a chart of poll numbers from Huffington Post that tracked the candidates in the Republican race. Donald Trump polled 3.7% on April 2, 2015. By July 6, he had taken the lead, and never relinquished it since.
It is fair to say that, other than perhaps Trump himself, no one in America expected this win.
And yet, there is little serious analysis of why this has happened. Most of the analysis in the media is shockingly flippant in nature, and reveals more about the writers’ biases than a serious attempt at fact-finding. For example, the Washington Post, in an article on February 26, by which time Trump was very clearly in the lead, postulated that the reason Trump was winning was that no one took his chances of winning seriously. This kind of conclusion seriously insults the intelligence of the American voter.
Donald Trump said all the things one would not expect a Presidential candidate to say. He said he would build a wall on the Mexican border and expect Mexico to pay for it. He referred to a woman as “a piece of ass.” He called Mexican immigrants drug dealers, rapists, and criminals. He called for a complete ban on Muslims entering the USA. He publicly expressed his support for torture methods like waterboarding. He made personal attacks on his opponents, like saying Hillary Clinton could not satisfy her husband. He bragged about his penis size. He even suggested that if Ivanka were not his daughter, he would date her. He hinted that he would not come to the aid of NATO allies if they were attacked – a statement that shocked allies over the world. There are many more.
Figure 1. Poll Numbers of Candidates in the Republican Primary
And yet, despite all this, not only has Trump won the Republican nomination, he is within 5% of Clinton at the time of writing, and has even led in the polls briefly – this after both parties have had their conventions and after Hillary Clinton got the post-convention bounce. Again, analysts in the media are unable to understand the reason behind the rise and rise of Trump. Some have suggested that many Americans are being racist and this is the reason for Trump’s rise. There is some truth in this conclusion, but it is not the entire truth. Some have talked about Hillary Clinton being a weak, unlikable, and corrupt candidate, and there is truth in this statement as well – but it is not the complete story. It is not complete because Hillary also has many advantages over Trump, which were clearly highlighted in the DNC. And yet Trump continues to rise.
The Democratic National Convention made it a point to talk about Hillary Clinton’s “qualifications” for being President and contrasted them with the Donald’s virtual lack of the same. They ridiculed his un-Presidential demeanour, his misogyny, his racism, his political incorrectness, his exaggeration of his own abilities and his covering up of his business failures, and so on. They are completely correct about all of those. During the DNC, Donald Trump made a statement asking the Russians to hack Hillary’s email account and retrieve 33,000 missing emails – a statement that appalled many Americans for involving a foreign and adversarial power in American domestic matters.
And yet, all of that is irrelevant.
Trump will win, and will win big, in November. I expect a landslide victory, around 360 electoral votes.
The reason why Trump will win is that Americans do not trust either the Republicans or the Democrats. In the present circumstances, only an outsider – a Donald Trump or a Bernie Sanders – could inspire the American voters.
Bernie had a similar rise in the Democratic Party primaries, as can be seen in Figure 2, again from the same Huffington Post source mentioned earlier.
Figure 2. Poll Numbers for Candidates in the Democratic Primary
Bernie Sanders might have also pulled off a Trump in the Democratic Party, but various factors conspired to defeat him.
First, he was an outsider – an Independent who joined the Democratic Party to contest in the primaries. This automatically meant that he did not get the automatic support that Hillary got by being a party veteran. This manifested itself in many ways, one of the chief ones being the fact that most of the super-delegates threw their weight behind Hillary Clinton early on, a fact that would definitely have had a strong psychological impact on the Democratic voters in the primaries – that the Party organization viewed Clinton as a more bankable candidate.
Second, Sanders is a socialist, which would have turned off many traditional, rich donors away from him, because the policies he was advocating ran counter to their interests. The fact that he could still have a substantial war chest was only because of loyal rank-and-file Democrats, and is a testimony to the strength of the movement he built. People sometimes misinterpret the fact that he was able to amass this war chest as evidence that he was not affected by the loss of powerful supporters. That is a myopic view. One must remember that all the influential media is in the hands of rich and powerful people; and if they view a candidate as unfavourable, there are a million ways to undermine his or her campaign. Power cannot be measured by money alone.
Third, as the DNC email scandal showed, the Democratic Party organization itself was working to defeat him. The full scale of the manoeuvres against him will never be known – we know only what is known from the WikiLeaks expose.
The consequent defeat of Bernie Sanders in the Democratic Primary left Donald Trump as the only outsider choice. One could argue that many of these disadvantages were shared by Donald Trump as well – being an outsider and not being liked by many leading Republicans. But a crucial difference was that Trump was wealthy, and belonged to the same economic class as the rich and powerful donors who fund both Democratic and Republican parties. And that, as we will see, makes a difference.
Globalization and the Collapse of the American Working Class
The rise of Trump (and Sanders) is a direct consequence of the globalization of business. Since 2000, America has lost as many as 5 million manufacturing jobs. Millions more have been lost in the service sector, such as call centres and service centres. Not only have the number of American jobs dropped drastically, the quality of what jobs remain has also dropped. Many of the jobs available today are part-time jobs or contract jobs with no benefits, and many are minimum wage jobs. The available government data on the percentage of unemployed is also not completely reliable because it does not measure the large number of people who have completely given up looking for jobs. Home ownership dropped in the second half of 2015 to its lowest levels since 1967.
In all, it is a very perilous situation for the blue-collar American.
Why Has This Happened?
All this has been an inevitable consequence of the globalization of business. It is an inevitable consequence of capitalism.
Capitalism seeks to get the cheapest and highest-quality inputs for any business and produce the highest quality goods and services for achieving the greatest profits for the company shareholders – mainly the promoters of firms, as they are usually the largest shareholders.
For decades, Americans enjoyed very high standards of living relative to the third world. This was sustainable for a long time because of two reasons: 1. most countries had barriers to trade, and 2. the technology for conducting international trade were very primitive.
This meant that Americans developed technologies in America (for example, the Wright Brothers building the first airplane), built factories and employed Americans to build products (like the Ford Motor Company did), and sold cars and other products worldwide by shipping them abroad. The profits were retained within America, and the workers who benefited were American. This was true in every country. Both the workers and the company paid taxes to the American federal government and to local and state governments, financing the upkeep of public works and public services.
But then, American capitalists realized that they could make more profits if their input costs were lower. Initially, they achieved this by getting the government to encourage immigration to the US from all over the world. The constant influx of new labour kept the costs of labour low and kept American manufacturing robust.
However, even this was not enough, because any workers in America would have to be paid according to American labour laws, including rules like minimum wage. It would be much more profitable if American companies could establish overseas operations and employ workers in foreign countries with much lower wage requirements, as well as lower environmental standards and worker safety standards. But this came with two major constraints, and in some cases three.
How Early Barriers to Globalization Were Overcome
One, products made in distant countries like India or China needed to be shipped back to the USA for consumption by American consumers, because America was the largest prosperous country and consumed the most goods. Transoceanic shipping is expensive and adds significantly to product cost. In spite of this, for decades, clothes commissioned by American designers were mass-produced in sweat shops in India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, and sold in American malls. The fact that these workers were paid pennies to the dollar offset the costs of transportation.
Two, communication between the headquarters in America and the satellite offices in India, China, or anywhere else were very poor. In the old days, a transoceanic trunk call would be very painful. Mail would take weeks. For a top executive to fly to the satellite operation was a costly and time-consuming affair.
Three, in many non-English speaking countries, language was an issue.
The communication issue was overcome by rapid advances in communication technology. In 1990, very few people outside of Universities in the US had email accounts. Today, almost everyone who is in business worldwide has an email account. Telephone communication has become ubiquitous and extremely efficient, and the growth in mobile telephony has revolutionized business. Combine this with the power of e-mail, and now colleagues in the US and in India can seamlessly exchange information, edit common documents, and even have teleconferences with technology that makes you feel the other person is in the same room. So doing transoceanic business has become much easier.
Language issues do exist in a lot of countries, such as China, where English is not as easily understood. In India, it is not a problem at all, as most Indians do study in the English language. Even in China, people have realized the advantage of learning English, and the movement to learn English is very big.
The third issue, or rather the first in my list, which was the issue of transportation costs, also changed decisively because of decisions by countries like India and China on liberalizing their economies.
China was a completely closed economy since the Communist revolution in 1949, until Deng Xiaoping opened the country to business with the west in the 1980s. He offered incentives to western companies to set up manufacturing plants in China, so that Chinese workers would get employment and an income. Over the last 35 years, China has moved from an impoverished country to the second-largest economy in the world. The economic prosperity has created a booming middle-class with a huge appetite for consumers goods, cars, luxury items, housing, and the like.
A similar transformation occurred in India. In 1991, faced with a balance-of-payments crisis, India agreed to liberalize its economy in return for an emergency loan by the IMF. 25 years later, India has a staggering 250 million plus people in the middle class alone – equal to the entire population of the United States – again with a huge appetite for consumerism. And this is expected to double by 2025.
The net effect of these changes is that the biggest market for American businesses is no longer America but Asia. So the old idea of making goods in a China or an India for America does not make economic sense any more. You needed to make for India or China. If the main buyers of products were living in India and China, what is the point of making something in America and shipping it across the oceans and incurring a huge shipping cost?
So, for American businesses, making a profit now meant changing the location of their factories. This is no longer just a question of getting cheap labour. It means having the manufacturing units where the consumers are. There was no need to ship products back to the US, since the markets were in the same countries the factories were.
So American companies started shipping factories, and thereby jobs, overseas. And since communications were now excellent, they could manage entire factories in third-world countries from the US with just a few people sitting in headquarters in the USA and a few business trips now and then.
Consequences of Accelerated Globalization
All this was (and still is) true not only for America, but for any industrialized nation, be it Germany, France, Italy, Japan, or the UK. And it is true not only for manufacturing, but also for a range of other professions, from software to medical transcription.
In Bangalore, where I used to live, there is a place called Electronics City, which is full of companies from over the world, in every imaginable business domain, having back offices, service centres, and R&D operations – including GE, 3M, Amphenol, HP, APC (Schneider Electric), Continental AG, Bosch, and Siemens. Another location in Bangalore, with bigger units, is Whitefield, full of companies with R&D operations and technical headquarters. The main software development centre of SAP is located here, as is the main back-office of Tesco, as are the huge R&D operations of General Electric, General Motors, Daimler Benz, Dell, Shell, Schneider Electric, UTC, and a host of other companies.
The southern city of Chennai is the biggest automotive hub in India. It is home to the manufacturing operations of several foreign automotive and automotive ancillary companies, including Ford, Hyundai, Renault, Mitsubishi, Nissan, BMW, Daimler Benz, Datsun, BorgWarner, Caterpillar, and Visteon, to name just a few.
Pune, where I live today, is another major hub for the automotive industry in India. Every major automotive company and automotive ancillary company has a presence here, from GM to Fiat to Piaggio to Daimler Benz to JLR to Volkswagen to John Deere. A big reason for this is that sales of cars in India are booming because of the growing middle class. John Deere sells its tractors to the huge farming sector in India.
Local governments are keen to have foreign investment in their states, and so offer plenty of incentives to western companies, such as tax holidays and cheap land to help them establish their units in India. This makes opening overseas manufacturing facilities extremely profitable for American companies. And it shows in their balance sheets and in their stock prices. If you were working for a company like Ford and had shares in the company, your shares probably appreciated when they laid you off along with 2000 of your fellow-workers, as they closed down the Detroit plant in which you worked, and relocated the plant to Pune.
Each time a company lays off people, shuts down factories in the USA, and moves manufacturing to India or China, the company’s bottom line looks better, because it has traded expensive workers for cheaper workers, and it has established a factory closer to the intended market, reducing its labour and transportation costs. And of course, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) will probably go up as a result of these transactions which may have resulted in the company becoming “leaner.” But it is an easy calculation as to whether you are better off by your stock portfolio appreciating $10,000 this year or by not losing your job.
The stock market is one of the common distortions of reality that is highlighted extensively in the media. People are made to think that the country is doing well when the NYSE index is higher, though all that number does tell you is how profitable companies are. The idea that profitable companies translate to more prosperous citizens is a major and deliberate misconception that mass media actively indulges in perpetuating. This is true worldwide. In India, too, the media obsessively focuses on how the Indian stock exchange index, the SENSEX, is doing, tracking its performance intra-day, weekly, monthly, and yearly. A layoff, which actually means misery for the people laid off, usually helps a company shed unprofitable businesses and employees, and boosts the NYSE (in the medium term; in the short term, the company takes a hit because it needs to make severance payments to the employees who are laid off). The public trading of company shares gives rise to the illusion that the public at large benefits from a bullish market; in reality, only a small percentage of the total stock is traded by common people, the rest being held by very wealthy investors. So while the DJIA going up will push up your stock value, it helps rich investors orders of magnitude more than someone from the middle class.
Loss of jobs sets up a vicious cycle for the country as a whole. If people do not have jobs, or have low-paying jobs, they cannot pay as much in taxes into the system. If the government does not earn revenue in taxes, it becomes hard for it to provide services.
Of course, the government does earn in corporate taxes, and this could make up for the shortfall in taxes from common people. But how much do corporates pay by way of taxes? The nominal rate in the US is about 35%; however, due to various deductions and loopholes in the law, the actual amount paid is much less. In a report published this April, the US Government Accountability Office made the following points:
1. At least two-thirds of all active corporations had no federal income tax liability.
2. Among large corporations (more than $10 million in assets), 42.3% paid no federal income tax in 2012.
3. Of those large corporations whose financial statements showed a profit, 19.5% paid no federal income tax.
4. Even though the statutory rate for corporate tax is between 15% and 35%, between 2008 and 2012, profitable large corporations paid only an effective rate of 14% on their pre-tax income.
Does it make sense that profitable companies should pay no taxes at all? Or that they should pay a tax rate that is significantly lower than what many salaried workers pay? What this means is that there are clearly many loopholes in the tax code which allow companies to legally evade paying tax.
Globalization and the relocation of American manufacturing has not happened by accident or by a natural process of economic evolution. Quite to the contrary, they have been actively promoted by the government in Washington at the urging of corporate bigwigs. The example of job exports to India will make this very clear.
How the American Government has Lobbied for Jobs to Be Exported
India was traditionally (since independence in 1947) a socialist government, which means that it did not believe in the free market. Instead, India believed in tight government control on every sector of the economy for a very long time. The government decided how much of a product could be produced, which products be produced, and where they could be produced. This changed in 1991, when India liberalized and opened up its economy, forced by the US-dominated International Monetary Fund (IMF), which agreed to loan India money to solve its balance-of-payments crisis only if India agreed to its conditions.
But the story does not end here. In spite of the push, India only partially liberalized its economy. But even this half-hearted liberalization allowed a lot of American companies to come in and set up shop, mostly in joint ventures with Indian industry, because the rules at that time were still quite restrictive and did not allow American companies to fully own Indian subsidiaries. But American companies immediately saw the huge business potential of opening shop in India, and have been lobbying the US government to put more and more pressure on the Indian government to keep opening up its economy.
India has come a long way since 1991, and most sectors of the Indian economy now allow companies from foreign nations like the USA to open fully-owned subsidiaries in India. Yet American business continues to lobby the US government to operate even more freely in India. When President Obama visited India on a state visit in 2015, he was accompanied by 150 top executives of American companies seeking closer business relationships with India and more concessions from the Indian government.
Since the Obama visit in 2015, the Modi government in India has further reduced restrictions for American companies (and companies from other countries) to establish operations in India. One important change is the fact that now American defence companies can start 100% owned subsidiaries in India. The same is true of civil aviation. These will be established not only to sell defence equipment to India, but also to use Indian labour and engineering skill to produce aircraft, tanks, and other military equipment that will be sold to other countries as well, including even possibly the USA. This has happened because of concerted lobbying by companies like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and others with the American government in order that their profitability can improve.
And Obama has delivered for American industry by pushing for and obtaining concessions from the Indian government. What does this mean for Americans? It means that Boeing can now build airplanes in Gurugram in India (as an example location) in addition to Seattle, and sell those planes to India as well as to other countries in Asia, Europe, and Africa from its India plant. It means that Lockheed Martin can set up a plant in Pune to build F-16 aircraft and export it to customers worldwide, in addition to the Indian government.
What does that mean for the employees of Boeing in Seattle and the 30,000 employees working there? Or for the employees of Lockheed Martin who make the F-16 aircraft at its plant in Texas? For a few years, probably nothing. But once the management of these companies is able to confirm that the plants in India are successful and working efficiently to produce the same quality airplanes that are being made in their American operations, they would have to downsize their American operations. Lockheed Martin has already indicated that it intends to close down its American plants that currently manufacture the F-16 if it can move those factories to India. There is no economic sense is maintaining an expensive operation in the US when one can make the same product for a fraction of the cost in India. Apart from the key management and the top technical staff, who would still be based in the US and directing all operations in India, most of the blue-collar American workers would probably be given pink slips.
None of this is a secret, and this does not involve only the President. US lawmakers – Congressmen and Senators – have actively lobbied the President to help open up India more to benefit American businesses. In a letter to President Obama before his 2015 visit to India, several American Senators urged the President to create more favourable conditions for American business in India, also noting the potential of such actions to help create more jobs in India:
They also focused on the job-creation potential of such liberalisation, they said, noting, “It also has the potential to increase competition in India by providing less expensive goods and creating 250,000 jobs directly, with the potential for more than 1 million jobs in customer service, IT, logistics, transportation, and administration by 2021.”
So the export of jobs outside the USA has been actively promoted by American lawmakers, both Republican and Democrat, with the express intent of helping American businesses. But helping American businesses is not the same as helping ordinary Americans. In fact, there is a direct contradiction between the two when it comes to globalization. Because of the high wages of American labour relative to the developing world, helping American-owned businesses with globalization usually means getting rid of expensive American jobs.
Helping American companies, even at the cost of ordinary Americans, is not unique to Obama. George W. Bush did the same thing, as every American President has done. When Bush visited India in 2006, he also brought in a huge contingent of business executives with him to expand opportunities for those companies to establish base in India. Helping big business is not a partisan issue.
So why do American Presidents, Congressmen, and Senators act so explicitly against the interest of American people and in the interest of American businesses? Because it is campaign contributions from American businesses that help parties finance expensive elections. In return for all that cash, elected representatives and Presidents have to pay them back, and the way to pay back big business is to do whatever possible to help the businesses prosper – by creating the right conditions in the USA or elsewhere in the world – even if that ends up hurting ordinary Americans.
It should be remembered that corporations in today’s world have no national loyalties. Most global multi-national companies earn a significant portion of their revenue from overseas operations. A US News report from 2011 stated that, for example, Exxon-Mobil earned 45% of its total revenues of $342 billion from overseas operations, and GE earned 54% of $149 billion from overseas operations. The figures for several other prominent large corporations, from the same source, can be seen in Table 1.
Table 1. Percentage of Total Revenue From Overseas Operations for Major US Corporations (from 2011)
Looking at this table, could anyone say with a lot of conviction that Dow Chemical, IBM, Intel, McDonald’s, GE, and Nike are truly “American” companies? Their loyalty is not to America, but to their shareholders; their only sacred duty is to ensure year-on-year profits to their shareholders, increase in share values, and greater dividends. Even if their CEOs are American (not always the case), the most they can do is express sympathy for the American jobs that are being slashed as the company looks to greater and greater profitability for that amorphous mass called “shareholders.”
Why Voters Support Bernie and Trump
With that background on the consequences of globalization, we can come back to the main premise of this article: why do I think Trump will win, and win big, in November?
Since 2000, there have been four American Presidencies – two terms of Mr. George W. Bush, and two terms of Mr. Barack Obama. Time and again these Presidents, along with their party lawmakers, have told the American people that they will bring back jobs to America.
Time and time again, they have lied. The jobs will never return.
And now, finally, after 16 years of job losses, the American people have figured out they were being lied to. This was the reason for the Occupy America protests as well – people realized that the policies of this country were being set to help the top 1% of Americans prosper, not the remaining 99%. More realistically, it is the top 10%. Needless to say, these are the wealthy people who benefit the most when American industry is helped, and when stock prices go up. The top 1% own 35% of all stock in the US. The next 9% own nearly 46% of the total stock, leaving only 19% for the remaining 90% of the people. This can be seen in Table 2 below.
Table 2. Distribution of Wealth in the US by Type of Asset
Political parties need to cater to those who help them win elections and run campaigns. Ultimately, money talks, and the parties pay back by helping businesses.
For the disenchanted and unhappy American middle-class and lower-class workers, what remedy do the mainstream parties have? Nothing whatsoever.
This is what has led to the rise of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders – disillusionment of the middle-class American with the mainstream parties. Both of them, as outsiders, correctly identified the main problem – free trade. It is free trade that has brought America to this pass. And free trade is an essential component of capitalism.
But there is one more reason. America has been a victim of its own success. It is because it was so successful in the days past when it was insulated from the world that it is now too expensive a destination to do business in a globalized world.
Why are Republicans and Democrats unable to provide a solution to the problem?
Because there is no good solution for ordinary Americans.
In a free market system, the only way for things to turn is for an equilibrium to happen. Right now, things are far from equilibrium. There are people in America who live in 2000 sq. ft. homes and still want more while making $60,000 a year, and there are people in India who live in 400 sq. ft. homes and are grateful for $5,000 a year. When the gulf is so great, jobs will move from the US to India, China, Vietnam, Romania, and a host of other countries until the world is more equitable, unless artificial barriers are imposed. The fact is that if free trade were allowed to continue, the process will take perhaps 20 or 30 years to equilibrate. And for that long, things are going to be bad in America. The American standard of living will need to drop and the standard of living in the rest of the developing world will have to rise, until they reach the same level.
No American politician has the guts to say this bitter truth to the American people. American leaders have floated ridiculous and unrealistic solutions to what is (in the short term) an unsolvable problem. It is understandable, though – no politician will ask for voters to elect him while saying, “Things are going to get worse for you.”
One example of an unrealistic solution was when President Obama said in a speech that the way out for Americans was to excel in math and science so that students in Beijing and Bangalore do not out-educate them. The flaw in this speech is that it is not that Indian or Chinese kids are particularly smarter than American kids. There is a bell curve for intelligence in any country. What American businesses get by coming to Bangalore is not smarter students necessarily, but a much larger talent pool. India has a population of 1.2 billion people, as against 250 million Americans. That means more engineers, more scientists, etc., merely from a numbers perspective. And this is the case today, when many Indians do not have proper access to good education. As India’s prosperity improves, this is only going to get better for India. So right now, the ratio of educated and skilled Indians to Americans will be less than the 1.2/0.25 ratio, but it will get there eventually. And it will only get harder for Americans then.
The solution is not, and cannot, be for Americans to get more educated in math and science. These things cannot be forced. In any population, there are only a certain percentage of people who will do well in math, science, and engineering. India will have more skilled scientists and engineers in the long run simply because it has a bigger population. You cannot force an artist or a cook to become a scientist. But yes, economic competition can incentivise someone to go for science and engineering. That is what has happened in India. Engineering has been seen for decades as the means to a good life, and so most Indian students try to become engineers. But the problem in the USA is not that there are no engineers for the jobs there; the problem is that the high standard of living in the USA has made them unaffordable for companies to hire them.
Do the Candidates Have Solutions to the Problem?
So, do the “outsiders,” Trump and Bernie, have solutions to this problem? They did identify it, but what is the solution? Can we find the answer in their positions (I only discuss the published positions dealing with the export of jobs)?
Donald Trump’s Proposed Solutions
Let us first examine Donald Trump’s positions, because they are much easier to analyse:
1. Build a wall on the Mexico border. Like I said, the Trump part is going to be easy. First of all, it won’t be that easy to make Mexico to pay you, and second, you cannot stop the remittances. People will find ways. There will be a huge black market. Third, even if you did build that wall, people will find ways to smuggle people. There are already miles of barbed wire, watch towers, searchlights, dogs, and lots of police. It has not stopped illegal immigration. This is a hare-brained idea.
2. Reforming the US-China trade relationship. The details contain a lot of adversarial language, but they fail to understand the key issue: US businesses are going to China because they find it lucrative, despite all the problems that Trump highlights. For example, Trump talks about how China forces companies to part with their IP rights and how this is unfair. True, but what does it tell you when China informs companies of this requirement up front, as a condition for investing in China, and companies still go in? It means companies know all these things and still think investing in China is a good deal. As for lax labour and environmental standards – yes, stopping that will make labour in China costlier and can make American companies re-calculate the cost of doing business in China, but good luck trying to get China to comply. Environmental change in China will not happen because of external pressure; it will happen once the prosperous middle class in China, having sated its immediate consumerist needs, starts to think of quality of life issues, such as Beijing’s polluted air and its effects on their life spans.
All in all, utterly worthless ideas. But Trump has skilfully turned this debate around and found a scapegoat for America’s problems: immigrants. He has channelled Americans’ frustrations about their economic condition into anger against immigrants, because that is a problem he can suggest solutions to. It is like replacing a difficult question in an exam paper that you don’t have an answer to with an easy question that you can answer. He has over-simplified the problem and turned it into a war against “the other” – be they Mexicans or Muslims. It is a smart strategy, because the solution is easy to grasp.
Many have complained that Trump has led to the rise of racism in the United States. But that would be putting the cart before the horse. Trump did not make the US a more racist country. The fact that Trump’s racist ideas have traction tells us that he is a person in the right place at the right time. The problem is that America has become more racist. This is not a surprise. A country that is prosperous will be more tolerant of others and be willing the share the wealth. One that is in economic crises will be angry, be willing to blame others, and become more intolerant. And that is what has happened.
Bernie Sanders’ Proposals
Let’s come now to Bernie, because the man has clearly put more thought into his proposals:
1. Sanders does get the corporate tax theft, and proposes to be stricter about this. I believe this is probably why he lost in the primaries – the big corporates who fund the Democratic Party would never approve of a man like Sanders.
2. But the corporate tax reform, while it might give the government more money, does not address the jobs problem. What has Sanders to say about that? Well, he has an FDR New Deal-type plan to revive the economy through massive public spending. Not a bad idea.
3. Go back on trade deals like NAFTA, etc. Not a practical idea. If the US went into isolationism, American corporations would collapse. Let’s take an example. Let us say that GE pulled out of the world and stuck to America and only hired American workers with their high wages. Siemens, one of GE’s biggest competitors, being a Germany-headquartered company, does not follow suit. What happens? Siemens continues to have its plants in India and China, producing goods much cheaper than GE. GE becomes unprofitable and shuts down, and all its employees are out of a job. You cannot put the free trade genie back in the bottle. Free trade cannot be ended until everyone agrees to end it and go back into their isolationist bubbles, and that clearly is not going to happen.
So both Trump’s and Bernie’s ideas on getting the jobs back are unreasonable. On most other issues, Bernie is a lot more sensible and his positions are well thought-out and well-argued.
Hillary Clinton’s Solutions
For completeness, let me also bring in what Hillary Clinton has to say about this issue:
1. A $10 billion investment to help manufacturing in the US. Businesses that take part will pledge not to ship jobs overseas.
2. Make China behave (similar to Trump’s idea, which we have already discussed.)
3. Tax incentives for hard-hit communities.
4. Crack down on companies that ship jobs overseas.
5. Create incentives for companies that create jobs in the US.
6. Create apprenticeships and training to improve American manufacturing skills.
Seriously, who writes this stuff? You probably noticed that I had very few comments. What do you comment? This is such vague stuff that it is mostly not worth commenting about – still, I’ll try.
Okay, so you give me money so I don’t ship jobs overseas. Are you going to compensate me adequately to the extent that my competitor is saving by operating a factory in India or China? How long will that work? Plus, if you do that, how different are you from China? How will you defend yourself in the WTO? After all, your complaint against China is that it gives its home-grown companies unfair advantages. How different would this be?
You are going to “crack down” on companies that ship jobs abroad to stay competitive? Then what? Force them to operate in the US and be uncompetitive? And eventually shut down? Are you even thinking about the economics of this thing? If China is giving unfair advantages to companies there, you cannot make them stop. You have no leverage. You stop your companies from dealing with China, you are only disadvantaging them. The most you can do is complain against China in the WTO. The US is already doing that, and that takes time. It is hard to fight China on trade. China is very powerful economically. If you try things like sanctions, they have plenty of ways to retaliate.
And American manufacturing skills are not the problem. There is nothing wrong with American manufacturing skills. They don’t need specialized training. This is a problem of economics, not skills. The Chinese are beating the Americans not because they are more skilled than the Americans. It is because they are willing to work for much lower wages. Often, their skills may not even be up to American standards. And they are still worth it because of their low cost.
So Hillary is clearly clueless. This “manufacturing plan” seems to have been written only to tick off a box – so she can say “I have a plan.” But I kind of expected that, because that is the lie that the American people have figured out by now. That neither the Republicans nor the Democrats really have a plan. They come up with nonsense like Hillary did, and do not have the guts to level with the American people on just how serious the problem is and how there is no real solution.
Why Trump Will Win
So if all the candidates’ plans to stop the basic problem of the American economy – the export of jobs – are unrealistic, why are Americans in support of Trump and Bernie?
Because, having been fooled by both the Democrats and Republicans, the American public now has deep distrust of both parties. At this point, it is not about logic. It is about emotion. Ordinary people don’t have the time and energy to analyse every position and figure out if the candidate is talking nonsense. Beyond a point, they go with emotion. At this point, only an outsider can win. Hillary is untrustworthy because she is part of the same establishment that has created the status quo and fooled them into thinking there is a solution where there is none. That only leaves Trump.
Had the Democrats voted Sanders as their nominee, he would have the same advantage that Trump has, of being an outsider. Most of his ideas are sensible, with the exception of pulling America out of free trade agreements. That one can never happen. With Sanders as a nominee, the Democrats might have had a reasonable chance of winning the Presidency. But with Trump as the nominee, it is clearly advantage Trump. The strike against Hillary is that with all that experience in government, she could not solve these problems in spite of being in the establishment.
Trump may talk nonsense, but at least he is not trying to bullshit people with management mumbo-jumbo like Clinton; and he is untested in politics, so there is no record on which to attack him. In fact, the more outrageous he can be, the better for him, just to draw the distinction between him and an establishment candidate. I strongly suspect he is being deliberately outrageous to make this point – using blunt and coarse language to convey the impression that he is a man who says it like it is and does not sugar-coat his responses. And more and more people are loving it – the idea that he may be rude, crude, and definitely not a prude, but that he is honest. (I am talking about the image he is projecting, not the reality.)
To add to all this are the already well-discussed issues like Hillary’s basic un-likeability, her email scandal which will keep haunting her, her corruption scandals with her husband, and the fact that, very likely, the fact that Sanders Democrats will not forget the way their candidate was out-hustled in the primaries, and in any case do not see Hillary as being able to deliver on their agenda – as a person who has sold her soul to the big corporates.
If all of Sanders’ supporters were to stay home on Election Day, it would hurt Hillary a lot more than it would hurt Trump if all of Ted Cruz’s and John Kasich’s supporters stayed home.
A lot of this is going to be about who can get the vote out. And I doubt if Hillary can get the Sanders Democrats to come vote for her in sufficient numbers. I wouldn’t blame them. This is a demoralized electorate.
One of my friends said to me that Trump could not win because “fear can only take you so far.” She was referring to fear of Muslims, of Mexicans, etc., that you can hear in the Trump rhetoric. But I’d like to turn it around and tell Hillary the same thing: Fear – fear of Trump – that voting Donald Trump in as the President of the USA will be a catastrophe and utterly destroy America – will only take you so far. The British realized this truth in the recent Brexit vote. The Remain campaign indulged in as much scaremongering as they could – on how leaving the EU would be disastrous for the UK and sink the economy – and still the Leave campaign won handily, by a 52%-48% margin. The same thing is true here. Hillary does not have a positive agenda on how to solve the problems America is facing. Scaring voters about Trump only goes so far.
And all that is why I predict a landslide victory for Donald Trump in November.
360 Electoral Votes.
I realize that what I am predicting now is going against the tide. Most people expect Hillary Clinton to win the Presidency in November. To illustrate, Nate Silver's highly respected website, Five Thirty Eight, has put Donald Trump's chances of winning at the time of writing at 27%. However, that number is based on the current percentages that support Trump and Clinton, and how things have played out from this point in past elections. I do not believe that past elections are a good guide to the results this elections, because I believe the fundamentals have changed, as I have discussed in this article. That is why I am being bold enough to offer my prediction - I believe the political fundamentals are conducive to a Trump victory in November.
I would like to thank my wife, Sandhya Srinivasan, for reading a draft of this article and giving me her feedback. I would also like to thank Swapnil Pathare for some helpful discussions on a few select topics that have helped make this article clearer.
Labels: Bangalore, Bernie Sanders, Bush, DNC, Donald Trump, Globalization, Hillary Clinton, India, Obama, Occupy America, Outsourcing, Primaries, RNC, US Elections
How American Media Manipulates Perceptions About R...
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Low and medium energy
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Arranging a room and managing effluents
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MRI compatible equipment
Building radiation protection
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Define and design
Build and retrofit
Equip and outfit
Treat and recycle
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Accueil > 3 questions to Jean-François Chatal, pioneer of Nuclear Medicine in France
Interviews, News
3 questions to Jean-François Chatal, pioneer of Nuclear Medicine in France
Professor Jean-François Chatal is former director of the nuclear medicine department at Nantes University Hospital, as well as the city’s Cancer Centre. He and his team were responsible for the installation of a high energy/high intensity cyclotron known as Aronax, used to produce innovative radioisotopes for nuclear medicine. In 2013 Jean-François Chatal was awarded the Antoine Béclère Medal for his contribution to the development of nuclear medicine.
What was it like being involved with the early days of nuclear medicine in Nantes?
Jean-François Chatal: In the early 70s we were all feeling optimistic. The possibilities were seemingly endless. Nuclear medicine was still a recent invention: it first emerged in Nantes in 1962, and I got involved in 1969. But it hasn’t always been an easy ride. In the 1990s the wave broke and we all became rather pessimistic: we though the whole field was doomed. Why? The rise of scanners and ultrasounds, and then the arrival of MRI scans on the scene, all raised questions about the long-term future of nuclear medicine. I was worried that it would disappear altogether. At the time we were focused almost exclusively on diagnostic tasks, with cardiac and bone gamma scans accounting for 98% of our work. In the meantime, I had become fascinated by a form of therapy which seemed to offer a new field for experimentation, but at this time was still in its infancy. In 1975 I set up a small research unit working on nuclear cancer treatments. It was the year that monoclonal antibodies were discovered, and we were looking at using antibodies for targeted cancer treatment. And then, as if by miracle, salvation arrived in the form of the PET scan (Positron-emission tomography). Not many people believed in it to begin with, but PET soon proved itself in the treatment of lymphoma. In fact it was so effective that, when combined with scans and MRIs, the PET scan and PET MRI soon became the benchmark for scanning in cancer treatment.
And how do you see nuclear medicine developing in the future?
Jean-François Chatal: There’s a question which I can’t answer: what’s going to happen to positron emission systems with regard to Technetium? 99mTc is the most widely used radioactive isotope in the world for gamma scans. In 2017 we performed over a million gamma scans in France using technetium, eight million in Europe, over thirty million in the world. There are 4 times more SPECT cameras than PET cameras. In the USA the use of technetium has dropped off somewhat, and we’ve seen a slow increase in the use of PET scans. What does the future hold? I’m convinced that PET will continue to develop gain ground. It can deliver results which are better than even the latest CZT cameras. In an ideal world, the most reasonable solution would be for the two technologies to coexist. But I still think that PET is going to become the dominant force. The number of new molecules being developed for PET is much bigger than the number of technetium-based molecules! Will that be enough? I don’t know, but in my opinion therapy is the future of nuclear medicine. That’s not just an off the cuff prediction, there are good industrial and commercial reasons for thinking this will be the case. I’m thinking in particular of the fact that Bayer recently bought out oncology specialists Algeta to get their hands on Xofigo, and Novartis acquired Advanced Accelerator Applications (AAA) for their neuroendocrinal tumour treatment, and of course Novartis also bought Endocyte, with their targeted prostate treatment. And then of course there’s Atlab Pharma, which I know well because I set it up in 2008 with Jean-Marc le Doussal and Jacques Barbet. The company was sold to Australian lab Telix Pharmaceuticals on 11th September this year. At the time we had exclusive rights to the use of antibody J591, developed by Neil Bander’s team at Cornell University in New York. And although all of the clinical trials were conducted in the USA, we were able to have a certain input in the indications process, with excellent results. Neil’s team had a real wealth of experience in clinical development for urological oncology. They developed the first series of monoclonal antibodies targeting prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA). It is largely thanks to Neil Bander’s work that PSMA is now recognised as the cell surface antigen most typical of prostate cancer, making it a subject of significant interest in the academic and biopharmaceutical fields. I think we’ll be seeing the end of chemotherapy for this indication before too long. Radio-immunotherapy is now a very credible alternative. Better still, I have high hopes for a new category of radioisotopes fabricated by Arronax: alpha emitters. These days big pharma isn’t interested in diagnostics, they’re focused on therapy, and alpha therapy in particular. Here in Nantes we’re preparing our first alpha therapy study using an alpha emitter which will be produced by Arronax. Is alpha therapy the future in terms of treating residual conditions? In Nantes, we’ve already demonstrated that alpha particles can be much more effective than the electrons used in molecular radiotherapy, when it comes to destroying isolated tumour cells. Will the technique become widely used?. I don’t know. But we certainly believe that the future lies in combining molecular radiotherapy, alpha or beta, with immunotherapy. Because we already know the potential for synergy with immunotherapy, which becomes more effective after treatment with ionising radiation, either by external radiotherapy or molecular radiotherapy.
Is Nantes on the nuclear medicine map?
Jean-François Chatal: I’d say yes! Very much so. Nantes is on the map because all the world’s specialists came to visit Arronax, our high-energy 70MeV cyclotron, which was the most powerful cyclotron in the world when it was first installed. It’s even spawned three offshoots in Indianapolis, Moscow and Arizona, supplied by Belgian firm IBA. Along with a few friends, I founded Naogen Pharma to commercialise production of Strontium-82. My hope is for the company to become the heart of a thriving radiopharmaceutical hub in the Basse-Loire region. That’s why my Nantes-based colleagues and I are, so grateful to Jean-Luc Harousseau, an internationally-renowned haematologist and former president of the Pays de la Loire region, for his support in getting the Arronax cyclotron project off the ground, allowing us to produce innovative radioisotopes for nuclear medicine. Right now the priority is to consolidate our business and get everybody on board. I’ve stepped back from academia to enter the world of business: it’s a different kind of pressure. We’re currently seeking financial backing for clinical trials, an extraordinary situation really when you think that Rubidium has been in use in the USA since the 1990s. Tens of thousands of cases have been studied, and everybody knows that rubidium is more effective than technetium. But in Europe, you need a European study to prove that. In order to boost our standing and expand our portfolio, we have also come up with a second product – an antibody with an Astate 211 marker, allowing us to conduct an initial alpha therapy study and establish proof of concept for this new treatment. So we’ll soon be creating a spin-off from Naogen to focus on this new product. After 40 years in academia, I’m finally discovering the world of business. It’s not always plain sailing, but I’m still as excited as ever about nuclear medicine and the therapeutic possibilities it offers for patients.
Interventional cardiology, neurology and radiology
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Lead in cans didn’t cause Franklin disaster: chemists - Macleans.ca
Lead in cans didn’t cause Franklin disaster: chemists
Ships vanished in the Arctic in 1845
by The Canadian Press
A long-standing Arctic mystery has become even more baffling with research that appears to debunk a common theory about the demise of the Franklin expedition.
Chemists at the University of Western Ontario used an array of the latest analytic techniques to conclude that poorly made cans of food were probably not responsible for the lead that poisoned the officers and crew of the doomed 19th-century voyage to explore the Arctic.
“We’ll probably never know what happened to the crew of the Franklin (expedition), so it will remain one of the great mysteries of Canadian history,” said Prof. Ron Martin.
“Our resources fail to support the hypothesis that the lead in the bones came from tins, and I certainly believe it didn’t.”
The Franklin expedition headed north, never to return, in 1845. Although some remains of the 129 crew have been discovered, along with ghastly evidence of cannibalism, the two ships Erebus and Terror have never been found despite a century and a half of searching.
Their mystery and legend remain to this day.
Three graves of Franklin crew members discovered on Beechey Island were exhumed in 1984 and their corpses analyzed in an attempt to shed light on the disaster.
While diseases, including pneumonia and tuberculosis, are believed to have been the immediate causes of death, high levels of lead found in the sailors’ bones are thought to have weakened the men and clouded their judgment. Looking for a source of the lead, scientists concluded it probably came from the solder used to seal the cans of food in the ships’ stores.
Martin’s work, published in February in Applied Physics A, re-examined some of the bones using techniques developed since the original analysis. Martin and his colleagues concluded there was so much lead in the bones, and it was distributed so widely, that it couldn’t have accumulated during the few months the men were at sea before they died.
Nor did he find areas where lead was concentrated, as there would be if the potent toxin had only recently been ingested.
“The wide distribution and high concentrations of lead in the measured bones is indicative of long-term exposure before the start of the expedition,” says the paper.
“The lead distribution is essentially uniform as might be expected from lifetime lead ingestion. There is no evidence for a sudden massive increase in lead during the latter part of any individual’s life.”
Martin points out the sailors buried on Beechey Island had died only three months into the voyage. At that point in the expedition, the crew is unlikely to have even dug into the cans.
“They ate everything that was fresh first,” he said. “They wouldn’t have started on the tins yet.”
Martin said evidence — including early results from tests on bones from a pioneer cemetery outside London — suggests that high lead levels were common in those times.
“All the bones we looked at there, the lead levels would have been pretty much the same,” he said.
“In that time period, there was lead everywhere. They had lead coming out their ears.”
Martin’s work would also appear to exonerate other sources of lead that some researchers have proposed as a source, including the ship’s water system. Water pipes on Franklin’s vessels were made of lead.
Lead is toxic to the heart, bones, intestines, kidneys and reproductive and nervous systems. Symptoms of lead poisoning include confusion, which makes it an attractive explanation for some of the decisions made by Franklin and his crew after their ships were stuck in the ice, such as dragging heavy lifeboats over the tundra laden with non-essentials such as silverware.
Martin’s team concludes that if Franklin and his men were poisoned by lead, it probably began long before they set sail for what is now the Canadian Arctic.
The mystery, which has inspired Canadian artists from folksinger Stan Rogers to novelist Mordecai Richler, persists.
— By Bob Weber in Edmonton
Canadian history
Cool Canuck Research
Ron Martin
What fights about 'erasing' history are really about
How a scuttled U.S. trade deal helped lead to modern Canada
CEO says Geographic Society had no control of Franklin documentary
Another Chris Alexander Heritage Minute
How Jim Balsillie plans on selling the North
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With When I Get Home, Solange Knowles Reaffirms What It Means to Be a Black Woman, and an Auteur
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7 ways the Nasdaq’s changed since the tech crash
Published: Apr 1, 2014 8:00 a.m. ET
VictorReklaitis
Money & Politics reporter
This is an updated version of a slide show first published in April 2014.
About 15 years ago, tech stocks started to come screaming back to earth after surging to sky-high peaks.
These days, they’re enjoying another upswing. The U.S. stock index known for being tech heavy — the Nasdaq Composite COMP, -0.43% — traded Thursday within 1.2% of its all-time closing high hit on March 10, 2000.
Some market watchers might be thinking: “Uh oh. Here we go again.” But the Nasdaq has changed in many ways.
It’s less tech heavy, valuations aren’t at dot-com era levels and Nasdaq companies are much larger and fewer in number, according to a 2014 whitepaper from the Nasdaq OMX Group and more recent data.
Plus the last tech boom’s CEOs, such as Microsoft’s MSFT, -1.31% Bill Gates and WorldCom’s Bernie Ebbers, have given way to today’s leaders, who include Apple’s AAPL, -0.35% Tim Cook and Google’s GOOG, +0.28% Sergey Brin. That quartet is shown in the adjacent graphic.
Read on to learn more about the changes, as well as what they mean for investors today.
Remember WorldCom and Sun Microsystems? They ranked among the top 10 Nasdaq stocks by market capitalization before the dot-com bust. WorldCom and its chief, Bernie Ebbers, were felled by a massive accounting scandal, while Sun was gobbled up by Oracle.
The top 10 now includes Apple AAPL, -0.35% Facebook FB, -0.03% Google GOOG, +0.28% GOOGL, +0.26% and Amazon.com AMZN, -0.55% Fifteen years ago, Apple hadn’t yet launched the iPod, much less the iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch, and Google wasn’t a publicly traded company. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was still in high school, and Amazon had been public for less than two years.
Who’s stayed in the top 10 after all this time? Microsoft MSFT, -1.31% Cisco CSCO, -0.74% and Intel INTC, -1.90% — though their market capitalizations are all greatly diminished.
The Nasdaq Composite COMP, -0.43% remains a tech-heavy index, but it’s significantly less laden with purely tech stocks than it was at the peak of the dot-com bubble.
Information Technology companies accounted for 43% of the Nasdaq as of Wednesday’s close, down from 57% at the end of 1999. It’s an exact flip for IT and other sectors over the past 15 years, as other sectors now make up 57% of the index, up from 43%.
Software — “prepackaged software” is actually the exact government label for that industry — fell to 10% of the index from 24% over a 14-year period starting at the end of 1999. The biological products, cable TV and pharma industries all came to have more weight over that period, ranking among the top seven industries.
It’s still correct to describe the Nasdaq as a tech-heavy index, but another option is to say “growth heavy,” said David Krein in an interview last year. At that time, Krein was head of index research at Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. NDAQ, -0.89% which runs the Nasdaq exchange.
It’s not hard to find folks here and there seeing another Internet bubble.
However, you can at least take comfort in the fact that the Nasdaq Composite’s overall valuation is still much lower than it was 15 years ago. The index’s price/earnings ratio was an “otherworldly” 152 at the end of 1999, says the Nasdaq OMX Group’s whitepaper. That ratio stood at 26 on Thursday, according to FactSet data.
In addition, the P/E ratios for certain closely watched companies aren’t back to 1999’s bubbleicious levels. Yahoo’s US:YHOO P/E was 787 versus 36 more recently. Apple AAPL, -0.35% was at 37 versus 17.
“Valuations today are clearly lower, by virtually every measure, than they were in 1999,” Nasdaq OMX Group’s Krein told MarketWatch.
MarketWatch’s Mark Hulbert sounded a similar note in a recent column, saying the Nasdaq is nowhere nearly as overvalued today as it was 15 years ago.
The Nasdaq Composite consists of roughly half as many companies today, with the number of components diving to 2,568 from 4,715 in 1999. Nasdaq companies are now generally larger and older.
Regulation often gets the blame for the decrease in publicly traded U.S. companies, which also has hit the New York Stock Exchange. Critics of the post-Enron scandal Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 say it’s simply made it too expensive to be a publicly traded company., while the law’s supporters emphasize it’s helped to restore trust.
There are still 500 stocks in the S&P 500 SPX, -0.34% and 30 members of the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.09% of course.
That’s because the other two main U.S. stock indexes are created by committees, while the Nasdaq Composite represents the value of all stocks listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Yes, you can laugh or cry about Pets.com and other dot-coms that turned into dot-bombs. But going bust isn’t the No. 1 reason that a company is no longer in the Nasdaq, according to the whitepaper.
The top reason for deletion from the Nasdaq has been merger and acquisition activity.
In some cases, two Nasdaq companies merged, resulting in one listing going away. In other cases, components would get acquired by companies not listed on the Nasdaq, leading to fewer listings for that exchange.
M&A activity resulted in the disappearance of 54% of stocks on a market-cap basis, and 46% of stocks based on the overall number of deleted stocks. That’s for the 14-year period starting at the end of 1999.
“This runs counter to the popular belief that in the collapse of the tech bubble most of the Nasdaq stocks were ‘dot-coms’ and deleted due to bankruptcy,” the whitepaper says.
While the overall number of Nasdaq companies has dropped sharply, it isn’t all about a rush to the exits due to M&A, bankruptcy or other factors.
There have been plenty of newcomers since 2000. Google and Facebook FB, -0.03% are probably the most well-known IPOs from this period. What about Twitter TWTR, -1.78% ? Well, it listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
The NYSE has achieved some tech-listing wins over its rival exchange, as a MarketWatch blog post noted. Trading issues marred Facebook’s Nasdaq IPO in 2012, and that influenced some tech companies to pick the NYSE, said one expert quoted in that post.
About 20% of the Nasdaq Composite’s weight as of December 2013 came from companies that had their initial public offerings in the prior 14 years. That’s 710 companies, according to one draft of the whitepaper.
The Nasdaq Composite on Thursday almost topped 5,000 — a psychologically-important round number that it hasn’t seen in nearly 15 years.
All-time highs aren’t too far away. The index on Thursday traded within 1.2% of its record close of 5,048.62 on March 10, 2000. Beyond that, there’s just the all-time intraday peak of 5,132.52, hit on that same day in 2000.
The Nasdaq Composite gets attention in news reports each day, mentioned alongside the S&P 500 and Dow, but Nasdaq OMX Group’s Krein emphasizes that the Nasdaq 100 NDX, -0.50% is the index with massive assets tied to it.
One of the largest, oldest ETFs — the PowerShares QQQ Trust QQQ, -0.52% also called the Qs or Cubes — tracks the Nasdaq 100, which is made up of the top 100 non-financial firms listed on the Nasdaq exchange. This ETF has $40 billion in investor money.
But if you’re making a bet on tech, it doesn’t make sense to bet only on firms that just happened to list on the Nasdaq exchange, argues Dave Nadig, ETF.com’s chief investment officer. The three biggest providers of ETFs all have tech-focused plays as well. They are State Street’s Technology Select Sector SPDR XLK, -0.93% the Vanguard Information Technology ETF VGT, -0.85% and the iShares U.S. Technology ETF IYW, -0.73% which is ETF.com’s top pick among U.S. tech plays.
The Nasdaq Composite gets attention in news reports each day, mentioned alongside the S&P 500 and Dow, but Nasdaq OMX Group’s Krein emphasizes that the Nasdaq 100 US:NDX is the index with massive assets tied to it.
One of the largest, oldest ETFs — the PowerShares QQQ Trust US:QQQ also called the Qs or Cubes — tracks the Nasdaq 100, which is made up of the top 100 non-financial firms listed on the Nasdaq exchange. This ETF has $40 billion in investor money.
But if you’re making a bet on tech, it doesn’t make sense to bet only on firms that just happened to list on the Nasdaq exchange, argues Dave Nadig, ETF.com’s chief investment officer. The three biggest providers of ETFs all have tech-focused plays as well. They are State Street’s Technology Select Sector SPDR US:XLK the Vanguard Information Technology ETF US:VGT and the iShares U.S. Technology ETF US:IYW which is ETF.com’s top pick among U.S. tech plays.
CSCO
NDAQ
NDX
XLK
IYW
Apple Inc. U.S.: Nasdaq: AAPL
P/E Ratio 17.2
Alphabet Inc. Cl C U.S.: Nasdaq: GOOG
Facebook Inc. Cl A U.S.: Nasdaq: FB
Alphabet Inc. Cl A U.S.: Nasdaq: GOOGL
Cisco Systems Inc. U.S.: Nasdaq: CSCO
Intel Corp. U.S.: Nasdaq: INTC
Nasdaq Inc. U.S.: Nasdaq: NDAQ
Twitter Inc. U.S.: NYSE: TWTR
NASDAQ 100 Index (NASDAQ Calculation) U.S.: Nasdaq: NDX
Invesco QQQ Trust Series I U.S.: Nasdaq: QQQ
Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF U.S.: NYSE Arca: XLK
Vanguard Information Technology ETF U.S.: NYSE Arca: VGT
iShares U.S. Technology ETF U.S.: NYSE Arca: IYW
Volume 48712
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William McDonough » News & Events » Business + Innovation » Cherokee-McDonough Challenge
Cherokee-McDonough Challenge
February 20, 2013 - Business + Innovation, Cradle to Cradle, The Upcycle
The Cherokee-McDonough Challenge is designed to identify, fund and develop high impact environmental business ventures. Up to five ventures will be offered $20,000 in seed funding from Cherokee and will then be invited to participate in an intensive three month accelerator.
William McDonough, winner of two U.S. Presidential awards for environmental sustainability, announced today that he will partner with Cherokee to support environmental startups through the Cherokee-McDonough Challenge.
The Cherokee-McDonough Challenge is important because it encourages and empowers solutions to the massive environmental challenges that face our world.
Based in North Carolina’s Research Triangle, the Challenge is designed to identify, fund and develop high impact environmental startups. Now accepting applications, the Challenge is sponsored by Cherokee, an investment fund manager and globally recognized leader in environmentally sustainable business practices. McDonough, co-author of Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things (2002) AND THE UPCYCLE: BEYOND SUSTAINABILITY–DESIGNING FOR ABUNDANCE (2013), will partner with an advisory committee of experienced entrepreneurs and investors to counsel the Challenge entrepreneurs.
“The Cherokee-McDonough Challenge is important because it encourages and empowers solutions to the massive environmental challenges that face our world,” says McDonough. “As the keynote speaker at last year’s finale, I was inspired by the 2012 class. I look forward to being more involved this year and I hope our collective efforts increase the success rate and impact of these startups.” Now entering its third year, the Challenge will again invest in three to five high impact environmental startups. Each venture will receive:
$20,000 in seed funding
free office space for three months in Raleigh, NC, (a focal point in the renowned Research Triangle)
complimentary back office support from Cherokee Investment Services, including help with incorporation, accounting and IRS compliance
hands-on mentoring from an advisory committee of experienced entrepreneurs and investors
an opportunity to present their venture to other investors and the public
Cherokee-McDonough Challenge portfolio companies should finish the summer with a working prototype, a refined and vetted environmental strategy, a professional web presence, knowledge of intellectual property strategy and tactics, investor-ready fundraising documents, a stronger network of investors and mentors, a polished pitch and a runway towards a Series A capital raise.
The Challenge’s Director JT Vaughn says, “It is a great honor to have William McDonough involved in our efforts. Entrepreneurs are forced to focus on blocking and tackling, so they have little time to think about how to optimally articulate their environmental vision, strategy and impact. I can think of no one better in this regard than William McDonough, and I am thrilled our entrepreneurs will benefit from his counsel.”
For more information, visit www.cherokeechallenge.com or email JT Vaughn at jvaughn@cherokeefund.com or challenge@cherokeefund.com
About William McDonough
William McDonough is a globally recognized leader in sustainable development. A PIONEER ARCHITECT OF THE GREEN BUILDING MOVEMENT, McDonough’s interests and influence range widely, and he works at scales from the global to the molecular. Time magazine recognized him in 1999 as a “Hero for the Planet,” stating that “his utopianism is grounded in a unified philosophy that-in demonstrable and practical ways-is changing the design of the world.” In 1996, McDonough received the Presidential Award for Sustainable Development, the nation’s highest environmental honor, and in 2003 he earned the first U.S. EPA Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award for his work with Shaw Industries, the carpet division of Berkshire Hathaway. In 2004, he received the National Design Award for exemplary achievement in the field of environmental design. McDonough advises major enterprises including commercial and governmental leaders worldwide through McDonough Advisors. McDonough also co-founded Make It Right (2006) with Brad Pitt to bring affordable, Cradle to Cradle-inspired homes to the New Orleans Lower 9th Ward after Hurricane Katrina. He is co-author of Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things (2002) and The Upcycle: Beyond Sustainability—Designing for Abundance (2013).
About Cherokee
The Challenge is sponsored by Cherokee, an environmentally focused investment company. Cherokee has raised over $2 billion in private equity funds focused on brownfield remediation and, separately, founded a number of environmental businesses and invested in over 70 startups or venture funds in the past 28 years. Through the Challenge, Cherokee hopes to lend experience and expertise to other environmental entrepreneurs.
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HHS effort aims to end new HIV cases within 10 years
Publish date: February 6, 2019
Kari Oakes
FROM A HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES BRIEFING
WASHINGTON – Leaders from five federal agencies came together to announce the framework for a bold new national initiative that aims to eliminate new cases of HIV infection in the United States within 10 years. The announcement came the day after President Trump’s State of the Union address, which highlighted the new effort.
Courtesy U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
“HIV has cost America too much for too long,” said Adm. Brett Giroir, MD, assistant secretary for health at the Department of Health & Human Services, in a press briefing. In addition to the 700,000 U.S. lives the disease has claimed since 1981, “We are at high risk of another 400,000 becoming infected over the next decade,” with about 40,000 new infections still occurring every year, he said.
Dr. Giroir will lead a coordinated effort among HHS, the Centers for Disease Control, the National Institutes of Health, the Health Resources and Services Administration, and the Indian Health Service. The goals are to reduce new cases of HIV by 50% within 5 years, and by 90% within 10 years.
The new initiative will target 48 counties that are current hot spots for new HIV diagnoses. These 48 counties, together with Washington and San Juan, Puerto Rico, accounted for more than half of the new HIV diagnoses in 2016 and 2017, said Dr. Giroir.
“This is a laser-focused program targeting counties where infection is the highest,” said CDC Director Robert R. Redfield, MD. “We propose to deploy personnel, resources, and strategies” in these targeted areas to maximize not just diagnosis and treatment but also to reach those at risk for HIV to enroll them in preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) regimens, he said.
In addition to the targeted counties, seven states in the rural South as well as Native American and Alaskan Native populations also will receive intensified education, diagnostic, and treatment services. The targeted states are Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, and South Carolina.
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World's Leading Scientists Join Forces To Set Priority Interventions To Save 36 Million Lives From Non-Communicable Diseases
Published Tuesday 5 April 2011 Published Tue 5 Apr 2011
NCDs (non-communicable diseases), mainly heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancers, and chronic respiratory disease, are responsible for two out of every three deaths worldwide and the toll is rising. A landmark global alliance between leading scientists and four of the world's largest NGOs brings together evidence from a 5-year collaboration with almost 100 of the world's best NCD experts and proposes a short-list of five priority interventions to tackle this increasing global crisis. Reducing tobacco and salt use, improving diets and physical activity, reducing hazardous alcohol intake, and achieving universal access to essential drugs and technologies have been chosen for their health effects, cost-effectiveness, low costs of implementation, and political and financial feasibility.
Just 5 months ahead of the UN High-Level Meeting (HLM) on NCDs, only the second of its kind to focus on a global disease issue and with the potential to stimulate action globally as well as nationally, The Lancet NCD Action Group and the NCD Alliance* launch a clear set of commitments Online First in The Lancet that they would like to see from the meeting.
"The most important outcome of the UN HLM on NCDs will be sustained and strong high-level political support for a framework of specific commitments to tackle the NCD crisis", explain the authors. The aim is to reduce NCD death rates by 2% per year which will avert an estimated 36 million deaths over 10 years.
Despite numerous national and international policies, strategies, and plans to tackle NCDs progress has been slow-partly, say the authors, because of the "pressing nature" of other global health issues.
In the lead up to the UN meeting, the authors call on heads of state and governments to commit to a coordinated set of feasible actions and interventions for which specific and timed targets and indicators can be developed, and against which progress can be measured.
The top priority must be to reduce tobacco use followed by lowering salt intake, say the authors. Key to the success of this intervention will be the accelerated implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) to achieve the proposed goal, "a world essentially free from tobacco by 2040", where less than 5% of the population uses tobacco; achieving this goal would prevent at least 5.5 million premature deaths over 10 years.
By 2025, they would like to see salt intake reduced to less than 5 g per person. They point out that reducing global salt consumption by just 15% through mass-media campaigns and reformulation of processed foods and salt substitution could prevent an estimated 8.5 million deaths in just 10 years.
Importantly, the costs of these interventions will be small, say the authors. The yearly cost to implement tobacco control and salt reduction will be less than US 50 cents per person per year in countries like India and China. The total package of priority interventions will require a new global commitment of about $9 billion per year.
Key to the immediate delivery of these interventions is a set of priority actions-securing broad political leadership at the highest levels nationally and internationally, support for strengthening health systems (with a strong focus on primary care), building international cooperation and consensus for priority interventions (particularly primary prevention), and establishing independent monitoring systems and accountability mechanisms for assessing progress.
The Lancet NCD Action Group is an informal collaboration of academics, practitioners, and civil society organisations. The NCD Alliance is made up of four key international NGOs-the International Diabetes federation, International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, Union for International Cancer Control, and the World Heart Foundation-representing 880 member associations in 170 countries.
Breast cancer: Blood test may predict relapse New research introduces an innovative blood test that may predict the chances of breast cancer recurring by measuring a person's antitumor response. Read now
Stroke Diabetes Heart Disease
Visit our Cancer / Oncology category page for the latest news on this subject, or sign up to our newsletter to receive the latest updates on Cancer / Oncology.
Lancet. "World's Leading Scientists Join Forces To Set Priority Interventions To Save 36 Million Lives From Non-Communicable Diseases." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 5 Apr. 2011. Web.
Lancet. (2011, April 5). "World's Leading Scientists Join Forces To Set Priority Interventions To Save 36 Million Lives From Non-Communicable Diseases." Medical News Today. Retrieved from
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The prevailing religion in Mexico is the Catholic-Christian. The Virgin of Guadalupe, Christ and the Saints are highly venerated. A great percentage of the population attends mass on Sundays. There is a great variety of creeds related to the Catholic Church, and its importance varies from region to region. There are also temples of all types in Mexican cities, including Los Cabos. You will not find religious prejudices in Cabos.
Amistad Cristiana
Christian Chapel - Pastor Valdir Corte
Alvaro Obregon and Ocampo Street (next to Hotel Santa Fe), Cabo San Lucas, BCS, Mexico. Services: Wednesdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 11:00 am. Phone: (624) 143-1320 .
Cabo English Church
Non Denominational Christian Church - Pastor Mike Gratzke.
Iglesia de San Lucas
The main Catholic Church in Cabo San Lucas is the most widely-attended church in the area. It was constructed in 1730, and has been under renovation for some time. While the structure is rather simple, it is a tribute to the local history because little has changed in its appearance since the original construction.
Avenida Cabo San Lucas and Zapata Street, Cabo San Lucas, BCS, Mexico. Services: Saturdays at 7:00 pm and Sundays at 12:00 noon and 8:00 pm. Bi-lingual services Sunday at 12:00 noon. Phone: (624) 143-2666.
Calvary Chapel Los Cabos
Pastor Eban Browne - Non-denominational Christian -
Downtown, 2 blocks east of the Municipal Market on the corner of Coronado and Degollado , San Jose del Cabo, BCS, Mexico. Services: Wednesdays at 7:00 pm and Sundays at 10:00 am. The phone number for pastor Eben Brown is 044-624-128-8447
English Congregation For Jehovah's Witnesses
Ave. de la Juventud and Leona Vicario, Cabo San Lucas, BCS, Mexico. Nehemias Villanueva Home: (624) 143-2793 Cel. (624) 113-9190
Saturday - Public meeting 4:00 pm - A different vital topic on current needs each week.
Saturday - Watchtower study 4:00 pm - A question and answer meeting on selected bible subjects.
Monday - Theocratic ministry school 7:00 pm- A speaking course featuring the teaching of the bible
Monday - Service meeting 7:00 pm - Talks and demonstration on practical use of bible knowledge.
Christian Church "Redes"
Pastor: Arq. Valdir.
Obregon and Ocampo, Cabo San Lucas, BCS, Mexico. Phone: 624-143-1320.
Christian Family Center
Felix Ortega and Narciso Mendoza, Col. Juarez, Cabo San Lucas, BCS, Mexico. Phone: 624-143-1258. Services: Sundays at 10am and 6pm; Wednesdays at 7pm.
Misión de San José del Cabo Anuiti
Catholic Church - Iglesia (Parroquia San Jose)
Padre (Father) Juvencio Gonzalez. Founded by the Jesuit Priest, Nicolas Tamaral in 1730 and watered with his own blood when tortured in 1734, the Mission of San Jose is a testimony of the immense evangelized work in these lands. The present construction, although rebuilt after the hurricane of 1918, preserves the original structure and some of its walls. In its facade emphasizes the mosaic that relates the martyrdom of the Father Tamaral.
Main Square, San Jose del Cabo, BCS, Mexico - Services: Daily - Monday to Friday at 7:00 pm.; Saturday at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 7:00 am; 10:00 am; 12:00 noon; 6:00 pm and 7:30pm. English Mass every Sunday at 12 noon. Visitors welcome. Phone: (624) 142-0064; Email: padrejuve@hotmail.com .
Santuario de Guadalupe - Cabo San Lucas. Phone: (624) 143-2666
Templo Betsan Chulavista
?Howard or Ron - English Bible Study
Up the hill at Formula Uno, San Jose del Cabo. Cell Phone: 044 (624) 119-0468.
Torres Alcala Javier - Melchor Ocamp y Ave. Obregon, Cabo San Lucas, BCS, Mexico. Phone: (624) 143-1320.
We have done our best to verify the times of these Church services. It is suggested that you call to confirm the times once you are in the Los Cabos area. Churches, please send us updates as needed.
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Home / Viral / Heartbroken Man sues his wife’s lover for having an affair with her & wins $8.8 Million
Heartbroken Man sues his wife’s lover for having an affair with her & wins $8.8 Million
Naija Broads August 02, 2018 - Viral
In North Carolina, it’s a serious offense to commit adultery and it attracts punishment if a jilted spouse sue for “alienation of affection.”
According to New York’s Pix11, a judge awarded a North Carolina man $8.8 million from a man who had an affair with his wife on Thursday.
The man, Keith King, 48, who runs BMX Stunt Shows sued his wife’s lover and was just awarded $8.8 million from the judge after citing an obscure law, Pix11 reported.
Keith King
“To me, that was the most important thing, the most sacred thing my family,” he said. “Every time he knew I was out of town, he would come into town.”
King claimed his marriage to his wife Danielle, 33, was in great shape until his her boyfriend came along and ruined everything.
According to father of one, he found out his wife was cheating on him with Francisco Huizar in 2015 after viewing phone records.
Francisco Huizar III
“I called him from her phone and I said, ‘She’s a married woman, leave her alone. Don’t you ever contact her again,'” King told Inside Edition.
He says the affair continued for months in secret. Then last year, she moved out of their home. Soon after, he went to her new apartment and was shocked to find the lover there.
“She’s my wife man — she’s my wife!, I felt like I just witnessed her die,” he said of confronting her lover.
Speaking on the $8.8 million dollar award, King said :”There isn’t a dollar amount that you can put on it for what I think my family’s worth,” he said.
Heartbroken Man sues his wife’s lover for having an affair with her & wins $8.8 Million Reviewed by Naija Broads on August 02, 2018 Rating: 5
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High-rel thin-film chip attenuators available
Engineers at State of the Art Inc. of State College, Pa., are making their line of high-reliability thin-film chip attenuators available in the industry-standard case size of 0.75 by 0.6 by 0.1 inches. These components are for RF applications such as base stations and antennas, as well as for microwave applications in power dividers and power amps where reduction of an electrical signal is necessary. The device comes in four termination styles. Metallization options include solderable, epoxy-bon
Engineers at State of the Art Inc. of State College, Pa., are making their line of high-reliability thin-film chip attenuators available in the industry-standard case size of 0.75 by 0.6 by 0.1 inches. These components are for RF applications such as base stations and antennas, as well as for microwave applications in power dividers and power amps where reduction of an electrical signal is necessary. The device comes in four termination styles. Metallization options include solderable, epoxy-bondable, and wire-bondable types. The chip attenuators come with an alumina body, and a proprietary thin-film resistor element. For more information, contact Bernie Hoy of State of the Art at 800-458-3401, by fax at 814-355-2714, or on the World Wide Web at http://www.resistor.com/. - J.K.
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Home News Indo-Greek King Lysias
Indo-Greek King Lysias
03 Oct 2018 Wed
The History of the Indo-Greek Kingdom covers a period from the 2nd century BCE to the beginning of the 1st century CE in northern and northwestern India. There were over 30 Indo-Greek kings, often in competition with each other on different territories. Many of them are only known through their coins.
Lysias Anicetus is one such King whose history can be constructed with help of the numismatics evidence. Lysias seems to have been a close successor to Menander I and Zoilos I, and therefore may have ruled around 130–120 BCE. His territory covered the areas of the Paropamisade and Arachosia, but his coins have also been found in the Punjab hence it is possible that Lysias ruled most of the Indo-Greek territory for a period.
Lysias issued a number of bilingual Indian coins. On his silver portrait types he appears either diademed or dressed in various types of head-gear like the elephant scalp, a bull's horns helmet or Corinthian helmet with scales, and the Greek flat hat "kausia". He also appeared throwing a spear. The reverse is always Herakles crowning himself, and holding his club, with the new addition of a palm to signify victory. He also issued a series of Attic tetradrachms, and even smaller denominations (a hemidrachm is known) for circulation in Bactria. His Indian type square bronzes show a bust of Herakles/elephant.
The coin depicted alongside is a Silver Tetradrachm minted in Pushkalavati mint. The obverse has Bust of king in centre looking to right wearing an elephant truck headdress. No legend. The reverse features Hercules standing in centre facing front with club and lion skin in left hand and crowning himself with a wreath by right hand. Greek legend starting at 6 o'clock reading left to right clockwise "Basileos Aniketou Lusiou".
Image Courtesy: numismatics.org
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In focus: Alex Revell
mkdons.com takes a closer look at the Dons’ new striker, Alex Revell, who has joined on a deal until the end of the season.
A graduate of Cambridge United’s Academy, Revell made his senior debut in a 2-0 victory over Northampton Town in April 2001. He made a further three Football League second division appearances at the back end of the 2000/01 campaign.
He scored his first goal for the U’s in a 2-2 draw with AFC Bournemouth the following campaign and followed that up with another strike in a 3-1 triumph at home to Bury.
In March 2003, he joined Conference side Kettering Town on a month’s loan and he scored four games into his spell, to earn the Poppies a 1-1 draw at home to Ebbsfleet.
He scored a further three times for United in the 2003/04 campaign before leaving Abbey Stadium that summer.
Revell spent the next two seasons in non-league football with Braintree, where he found the net 35 times and helped the Iron gain promotion to the Conference South.
Following his successful spell in Essex, League 1 side Brighton & Hove Albion swooped for the striker’s services and he netted on his debut for the Seagulls to earn them a 1-0 victory over Rotherham United.
He found the net 11 times in his first season at the Withdean Stadium and enjoyed a stretch of scoring seven goals in eight games, during which time he bagged a brace against a Martin Allen-led Dons side. He also provided four assists.
Revell followed-up his impressive 2006/07 campaign up by scoring seven goals before Christmas, including his first career hat-trick in a 3-2 win over Bournemouth.
In January 2008, he moved to Southend United on a two-and-a-half year contract.
Three games into the 2008/09 season, he scored his first Shrimpers goal to earn them a 1-1 draw at Millwall. He netted a further three times before suffering a season-ending injury in January, after helping Southend hold Premier League Chelsea to a draw in the FA Cup.
Revell returned to action the following campaign but spent the majority of the season out on loan at Swindon Town and then Wycombe Wanderers. In total, he scored eight goals during 2009/10.
In June 2010, Revell signed for Leyton Orient on a two-year deal and he began his career at the Matchroom Stadium by scoring in his first two games. He enjoyed a very prolific first season with the O’s, finding the net on 16 occasions.
Revell started the 2011/12 season with Orient but signed for Rotherham United on deadline day in August.
In his first appearance for the Millers, against Swindon Town, he bagged an impressive brace and he followed that up with by netting a further nine goals, including the final goal ever scored at the Don Valley Stadium.
The season after, he continued to find the net by scoring six times en route to helping the Yorkshire outfit clinch promotion to League 1.
The goals continued into 2013/14 and he took his career tally for the Millers up to 30 as they secured back-to-back promotions and a Championship berth. Revell scored in the semi-final first-leg draw with Preston North End and then netted two goals in the final at Wembley Stadium, the second of which was a stunning volley from 40-yards.
In the first-half of his first-ever Championship campaign, Revell scored four times, including a winner away at Wigan Athletic in December 2014. He then signed for Cardiff City in January, joining-up with Russell Slade, whom he played under at Orient.
Revell, who found the net in only his second game for the Bluebirds, scored three goals for the Welsh club, including the opener in their Capital One Cup clash with the Dons at stadiummk earlier this season.
He spent November and December with League 1 side Wigan Athletic and scored the winner for them in a 1-0 victory over Shrewsbury Town.
Revell returned to the Cardiff City Stadium in January but was limited to just two appearances before deciding to leave the Bluebirds and make the move to MK1.
Edu departs for Crawley
Senior Professional Development Coach Edu Rubio has left Milton Keynes Dons to take up a first-team coaching role at Crawley Town.
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UC San Diego Health Cardiovascular Institute Performs Its 50th Heart Transplant of the Year
UC San Diego Health Heart Transplant Program grows with community, performed its 50th heart transplant of the year.
“This is surreal. I am so appreciative for this life-changing opportunity,” said the former high school football coach. “I’m ready to take on life as a new me.”
“Mr. Jackson walked more than a mile around the hospital floor just days after the heart transplant. We are so proud of him and this achievement,” said Victor Pretorius, MBchB, surgical director of cardiac transplant and mechanical circulatory support at UC San Diego Health. “We want to thank Mr. Jackson for allowing us to treat him and express our deep gratitude to the donor who made this extraordinary gift of life.”
The mission of the transplant team is to help patients live life with purpose and to its fullest, said Eric Adler, MD, cardiologist and director of cardiac transplant and mechanical circulatory support. “When we see a patient like Mr. Jackson, we are reminded of how privileged we are to care for these inspiring patients.”
Adler noted that only a small number of heart centers worldwide perform 50 or more heart transplants annually. Over the past three years, the Institute’s heart transplant program has tripled in size while maintaining excellent outcomes.
UC San Diego Health Cardiovascular Institute transplant patients have a one-year survival rate of 97 percent; the waitlist death rate is one of the lowest nationally, according to Adler. “The fact that we have a high volume and superb outcomes is testament to our commitment to providing lifesaving care that is safe and reliable.”
The institute is currently transplanting more hearts than any other hospital in San Diego. Local residents received more heart transplants in 2018 than in any year since the inception of the university’s program. This is due, in part, to the fact that locally donated hearts stay in San Diego. The institute also has a high organ acceptance rate, which allows the teams to transplant more patients overall.
“Often patients who are turned down at other hospitals, get a second chance at UC San Diego Health. As an academic health system we have the resources, technologies, therapies, and experts only found inside a university,” said Pretorius.
According to Lifesharing, a regional nonprofit group that coordinates all organ donations in San Diego and Imperial counties, more than 3,800 people nationwide are on heart transplant waiting lists. In San Diego and Imperial Counties, 47 require a new heart. Of these 47, almost half have been waiting more than six months for a donated organ.
As the region’s only academic health system, Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center at UC San Diego Health Cardiovascular Institute specializes in transplanting patients with the most challenging cases of heart disease. Its stellar reputation is built from its stellar faculty, peer-reviewed research, bridge-to-transplant technologies and clinical outcomes.
Multidisciplinary teams transplant high-risk hearts, including those infected with curable hepatitis C virus. The institute also specializes in treating complex conditions, such as congenital heart disease, cardiogenic shock, chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension and patients with left ventricle assist devices who need repeat surgeries. The institute’s techniques and treatments are setting new standards in vascular, cardiac and transplant care to the benefit of all patients.
Source-Newswise
New Insights into Children Awaiting Liver Transplants
Organs from a Brain-Dead Girl Saved Three Lives in Kolkata
World's First Baby Born After Robot-assisted Uterus Transplant
Five-month-old Girl Becomes the Youngest Indian to Get Liver Transplant
Racial Disparities Exist in Kidney Transplants
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Downtown announces first ever signing in Australia [EXCLUSIVE]
Written by Poppy Reid on 22nd May, 2018
Less than three months after announcing its expansion to Sydney, global rights-management firm Downtown Music Publishing has signed its first artist to the local roster.
Western Australia singer-songwriter Stella Donnelly signed an international deal with Downtown during her tour through the UK and Europe, where she’s showcasing her 2017 debut EP, Thrush Metal.
Donnelly has had an almost unbeatable 12 months. After taking out Bigsound’s inaugural Levi’s Music Prize as the ‘most outstanding talent’, she was named triple j ‘Unearthed Artist of the Year’, dominated the Western Australian Music Industry Awards, taking out Best EP, Best Folk Act, Best Single, Best Female Vocalist and Most Popular New Act, was nominated for two AIR Awards, and took home the grand prize at this year’s West Australian Music’s (WAM) Song Of The Year Awards for ‘Boys Will Be Boys’.
Watch the video for ‘Boys Will Be Boys’ below:
The global industry has certainly taken notice of Donnelly’s local accolades. In late February she inked an international deal with US indie Secretly Canadian, home to The War On Drugs, Antony and the Johnsons, and Yoko Ono – to name but a few.
Now, Stella Donnelly adds to Downtown’s vast and impressive catalogue, which includes works from The Beatles, John Lennon & Yoko Ono, Ryan Tedder, Hans Zimmer, The Kinks, One Direction, Mötley Crüe, and Santigold.
Commenting on the signing Donnelly said:
“I’m so pleased to be signing a world deal with Downtown Publishing and also to be the first of many artists that represent the Australian base that the amazing Rachel Kelly has opened with her great world team around her. It’s been a pleasure meeting everyone already, exciting times ahead!”
Rachel Kelly joined the Downtown team earlier this year as creative director and head of sync in Australia and New Zealand. She’s responsible for establishing and promoting Downtown’s brand and catalogue across ANZ, signing and developing local songwriters, artists, and producers, and more efficiently collecting songwriting royalties.
Previously, Kelly acted as the creative director at BMG Australia, having joined the company in 2016.
Rachel Kelly said Stella Donelly is “part of the next wave of storytellers”
“I’m incredibly honoured to be supporting Stella in this phase of her career, as we work closely with Philip Stevens and the good people at Secretly Canadian,” she said. Being our first signing in Australia, this moment is particularly special.
“I look forward to working with our team on this debut album and watching her star rise on the global stage,” Kelly added.
Daniel Lloyd Jones, Downtown’s Senior Vice President of Global Creative Services and Head of UK A&R, said:
“She’s a one in a million artist, a troubadour. Her lyrical prowess is second to none. Her narratives are hard hitting, honest, vulnerable and heartfelt. We are so proud that she’s chosen us to represent and nurture her art, but also that Stella is the artist by which we lay the foundation of our intent in ANZ.”
Daniel Lloyd Jones, Stella Donnelly, Rachel Kelly
As part of the global deal, Downtown will provide creative and advisory services as well as their global royalty collection platform to Donnelly’s catalogue, covering her debut EP, Thrush Metal, as well as her forthcoming album to be released in early 2019 on Secretly Canadian worldwide.
Watch the video for ‘Mechanical Bull’ below:
The article was originally published on The Industry Observer
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Marlborough school board makes picks for repair, tech needs
Kendall Hatch/Daily News staff
Jul 29, 2011 at 12:01 AM Jul 29, 2011 at 12:45 AM
The School Committee approved a set of capital planning recommendations yesterday that aim to improve technology throughout the district and make important repairs at schools.
The committee recommended an $8 million school improvement project, $500,000 in upgrades to the middle school auditorium and $500,000 in technology upgrades.
Capital requests are due to Mayor Nancy Stevens next week. She will likely present her recommendations for capital projects to the City Council next month.
The $8 million in repairs would likely come with a 54 percent reimbursement from the Massachusetts School Building Authority.
The repairs at the high school and Kane Elementary School are primarily energy upgrades, said John Ghiloni, director of public facilities for Marlborough and the school district.
Most would be done at the high school, including roof work, window and door replacement, and new boilers and chillers, Ghiloni said. At Kane, the work includes replacing windows and doors.
Ghiloni said he received cost estimates for the work yesterday.
The district has submitted statements of interest to the building authority for the last few years so Marlborough would be in the pipeline for potential projects, he said. He hopes to present the repair project to the authority next month.
The School Committee also voted yesterday to request about $500,000 for renovations to the middle school auditorium. The auditorium was recently outfitted with a large high-definition projection screen, but it still needs other repairs, committee members said yesterday.
If the spending is approved, the auditorium's sound system will be replaced along with a new floor and new seats, lights and paint.
The committee talked about possible technology upgrades, considering which projects should be funded with the $500,000 the city has traditionally allotted for technology initiatives.
Superintendent Anthony Pope said he worked with Mark Gibbs, the information technology director for the city and school system, to establish a few priorities.
About $125,000 would likely go toward server maintenance and hardware replacement for the city and school district, which share some servers and networks, Pope said.
Pope also said he wants mounted projectors in every classroom. So far, 281 classrooms out of 341 don't have them. The cost to do the rest will be about $375,000.
It's also important, Pope said, to set up wireless networks in the middle and high schools, particularly with the new Science, Technology, Engineering and Math academy starting in the fall. The academy's students will be using laptops that the district recently bought with leftover federal stimulus funds.
Pope said he wants three to five computers for student use in as many classrooms as possible, possibly starting with the middle and high schools. Gibbs said refurbished computers can be bought for around $300 apiece.
All of the technological initiatives cost more than $500,000. School Committee members said they prefer to start with the projectors districtwide and to add the computers later.
Pope said he will consider phasing in the wireless networks at the high and middle schools, costing about $50,000 per school, through the operating budget.
(Kendall Hatch can be reached at 508-490-7453 or khatch@wickedlocal.com.)
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European Court of Human Rights : Death penalty abolition
European Court of Human Rights : Child protection
European Court of Human Rights : Detention and prisons
European Court of Human Rights : European Union
European Court of Human Rights : Environment
European Court of Human Rights : Expulsions and extraditions
European Court of Human Rights : Forced labour and trafficking
European Court of Human Rights : Homosexual rights
European Court of Human Rights : Police arrest/assistance of a lawyer
European Court of Human Rights : Reproductive rights
European Court of Human Rights : Roma and Travellers
European Court of Human Rights : Terrorism
The Court's Press Service has compiled Factsheets by theme on the Court’s case-law and pending cases.
These factsheets are available on the Court's website (www.echr.coe.int/ECHR/EN/Header/Press/Information+sheets/Factsheets)
We summarized some of them for our readers and recommend to visit the Court's website on these topics.
Article 15 of the Convention (derogation in time of an emergency) enables a State to unilaterally derogate from some of its obligations to the European Convention on Human Rights in certain exceptional circumstances and has been used by certain member States in the context of terrorism.
Article 15 makes it clear that some measures are not permissible whatever the emergency. For example, Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment or torture) is an absolute non-derogable right.
Ill-treatment
1. From August 1971 until December 1975 the UK authorities exercised a series of “extrajudicial” powers of arrest, detention and internment in Northern Ireland. The case concerned the Irish Government’s complaint about the scope and implementation of those measures and in particular the practice of psychological interrogation techniques (wall standing, hooding, subjection to noise and deprivation of sleep, food and drink) during the preventive detention of those detained in connection with acts of terrorism.
The European Court of Human Rights found the methods to have caused intense physical and mental suffering : violation of Article 3 but no violation of Article 5 or Article 14.
E.C.H.R., 18.01.1978, Ireland v. the United Kingdom
2. Applicant complained that his detention in 1992 on suspicion of aiding and abetting PKK terrorists was unlawful and that he had been tortured (“Palestinian hanging" ie stripped naked, with arms tied together behind back, and suspended by arms) : the European Court of Human Rights found violations of Article 3, Article 5 and Article 13
E.C.H.R., 18.12.1996, Aksoy v. Turkey
3. The European Court of Human Rights found that the Spanish authorities had failed to carry out an effective official investigation into the applicants’ allegations that they were ill-treated in police custody when arrested in the summer of 1992, shortly before the Olympic Games in Barcelona, in connection with an investigation into terrorist offences : violation of Article 3
E.C.H.R., 02.11.2004, Martinez Sala v. Spain
4. The case concerned the conditions of the transfer to Turkey and subsequent detention of Abdullah Öcalan who was sentenced to death for activities aimed at bringing about the secession of part of Turkish territory :
the European Court of Human Rights found violation of Article 3 as the death penalty had been imposed following an unfair trial, of Article 5 §4 and Article 5 §3, of Article 6 §1 and Article 6 §1 in conjunction with Article 6 §3(b) and (c)
E.C.H.R., 12.05.2005, Öcalan v. Turkey
5. Better known as “Carlos the Jackal” and viewed during the 1970s as the most dangerous terrorist in the world, the applicant complained about his solitary confinement for eight years following his conviction for terrorist-related offences : the European Court of Human Rights found a violation of Article 13 on account of the lack of a remedy in French law that would have allowed the applicant to contest the decision to prolong his detention in solitary confinement.
E.C.H.R., 04.07.2006, Ramirez Sanchez v. France
6. A former member of the extreme left armed movement “Action directe”, convicted in 1995 to 30 years’ imprisonment complained about strip searches in prison : the European Court of Human Rights found violations of Article 3, Article 8, Article 13 and Article 6 §1.
E.C.H.R., 12.6.2007, Frérot v. France
Extradition / deportation of (suspected) terrorists
Where there is a real risk of ill-treatment in another state, the obligation not to send an individual to that state is an absolute one; it cannot be claimed that public interest reasons for deporting or extraditing an individual outweigh the risk of ill-treatment on the individual’s return, regardless of the offence or conduct
1. The European Court of Human Rights held that the applicant, an advocate of the Sikh separatist cause who was served with a deportation order on grounds of national security, faced a real risk of ill-treatment if he were to be deported to India: violation of Article 3 if the deportation order to India were to be enforced.
E.C.H.R., 15.11.1996 Chahal v. the United Kingdom
2. The European Court of Human Rights found a violation of Article 3 if the decision to extradite Mr Gelogayev to Russia – on the ground that he was a terrorist rebel who had taken part in the conflict in Chechnya – were to be enforced.
E.C.H.R., 12.04.2005, Shamayev and Others v. Georgia and Russia
3. The European Court of Human Rights found a violation of Article 3 if the applicant were to be deported to Tunisia, where he claimed to have been sentenced in his absence in 2005 to 20 years’ imprisonment for membership of a terrorist organisation.
E.C.H.R., 28.02.2008 Saadi v. Italy
4. The applicant, an Algerian national, was arrested and convicted in France in the context of an operation to dismantle a radical Islamist group affiliated to al-Qaeda and suspected of having prepared a suicide attack on the United States Embassy in Paris : the European Court of Human Rights found a violation of Article 3 if the applicant were to be deported to Algeria
E.C.H.R., 03.12.2009, Daoudi v. France
Reasonable suspicion
Article 5 does not permit the detention of an individual for questioning merely as part of an intelligence gathering exercise (there must be an intention, in principle at least, to bring charges.
1. Applicants were arrested in Northern Ireland by a constable exercising a statutory power (since abolished) allowing him to arrest for up to 72 hours anyone he suspected of being a terrorist. The European Court of Human Rights concluded that the evidence provided was insufficient to establish that there had been an objectively determined ‘reasonable suspicion’ for the arrests : violation of Article 5 §1.
E.C.H.R., 30.08.1990, Fox, Campbell and Hartley v. the UK
2. Concerned the police power in the United Kingdom under sections 44-47 of the Terrorism Act 2000 to stop and search individuals without reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing : the European Court of Human Rights found a violation of Article 8.
E.C.H.R., 12.01.2010, Gillan and Quinton v. the UK
Right to be brought promptly before a judge or ‘other officer’ after arrest
An arrested person is to be brought ‘promptly’ before a judge or other office, the ‘clock’ beginning to tick at the point of arrest
Four applicants suspected of terrorism were arrested by the police in Northern Ireland and, after being questioned for periods ranging from four days and six hours to over six days, were released without being charged or brought before a magistrate. The European Court of Human Rights held that the requirement of ‘promptness’ could not be stretched to a delay of four days and six hours or more : violation of Article 5 §3.
E.C.H.R., 29.11.1988, Brogan and others v. the UK
Indefinite detention
Complaints about detention in high security conditions under a statutory scheme which permitted the indefinite detention of non-nationals certified by the Secretary of State as suspected of involvement in terrorism.
The European Court of Human Rights found that the applicants’ detention had not reached the high threshold of inhuman and degrading treatment for which a violation of Article 3 could be found but held that there had been a violation of Article 5 §1 - since the applicants (except for the Moroccan and French applicants who had elected to leave the UK) had not been detained with a view to deportation and since, as the House of Lords had found, the derogating measures which permitted their indefinite detention on suspicion of terrorism had discriminated unjustifiably between nationals and non-nationals; violations also found of Article 5 §§ 4 and 5.
E.C.H.R., 19.2.2009, A. and Others v. the United Kingdom
Restriction on defence rights
1. Concerned applicants’ right to remain silent and their right not to incriminate themselves following their arrest on suspicion of serious terrorist offences : the European Court of Human Rights found a violation of Article 6.
E.C.H.R., 21.12.2000, Heaney and McGuinness v. Ireland
2. The applicant, a minor at the time, was arrested on suspicion of participating in an illegal demonstration in support of the imprisoned leader of the PKK and accused of hanging an illegal banner from a bridge. He was subsequently convicted of aiding and abetting the PKK.
The case concerned restriction on applicant’s right of access to a lawyer while in police custody for an offence falling under the jurisdiction of the state security courts, regardless of age : the European Court of Human Rights found a violation of Article 6 §3(c) in conjunction with Article 6 §1.
E.C.H.R., 27.11.2008, Salduz v. Turkey
Victims of terrorism
States are under the obligation to take the measures needed to protect the fundamental rights of everyone within their jurisdiction against terrorist act.
The applicant complained in particular under Article 8 and Article 1 of Protocol N°1 that the Turkish authorities had refused to allow him to return to his home and land after he was evicted from his village in late 1994 on account of terrorist activities in the region.
The case concerned question of the effectiveness of the remedy before the commission set up under the Law on Compensation for Losses resulting from Terrorism.
The European Court of Human Rights found that the Law provided adequate redress, and the applicant was now unquestionably free to return to his village. Some 1,500 cases concerning the possibility of returning to villages were thus declared inadmissible by the Court in the light of this decision).
E.C.H.R., 12.01.2006, Içyer v. Turkey
Use of force by the State in self-defence or defence of another
All measures taken by States to fight terrorism must respect human rights and the principle of the rule of law, while excluding any form of arbitrariness, as well as any discriminatory or racist treatment, and must be subject to appropriate supervision.
Article 2 §2 justifies the use of force in self-defence only if it is ‘absolutely necessary’
Three members of the Provisional IRA, suspected of having on them a remote control device to be used to explode a bomb, were shot dead on the street by SAS soldiers in Gibraltar. The European Court of Human Rights found a violation of Article 2 because the operation could have been planned and controlled without the need to kill the suspects.
E.C.H.R., 27.09.1995, McCann and Others v. the UK
Dissolution of political parties
Concerned dissolution of the United Communist Party of Turkey (“the TBKP”) and banning of its leaders from holding similar office in any other political party. The European Court of Human Rights held that the dissolution had not been “necessary in a democratic society”, finding in particular that there was no evidence that the TBKP had been responsible for terrorism problems in Turkey : violation of Article 11.
E.C.H.R., 30.01.1998, United Communist Party of Turkey and Others v. Turkey
1. A case concerned the ban on the circulation of a book on the Basque culture.
The European Court of Human Rights found that there was nothing in the book’s content suggesting incitement to violence or separatism and held that the interference with applicant’s freedom of expression had not been ‘necessary in a democratic society’ : violation of Article 10.
E.C.H.R., 17.7.2001, Association Ekin v. France
2. A case concerned the applicants’ complaint about their criminal conviction under the Prevention of Terrorism Act for publishing press articles designating State agents as targets for terrorist organisations : the European Court of Human Rights found a violation of Article 10.
E.C.H.R., 19.12.2006, Falakaoglu and Saygili v. Turkey
3. A case concerned the applicants’ complaints about the suspension of the publication and dissemination of their newspapers, considered propaganda in favour of a terrorist organisation : the European Court of Human Rights found a violation of Article 10.
E.C.H.R., 20.10.2009, Ürper and Others v. Turkey
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https://www.middletownpress.com/nhl/article/After-championship-hat-trick-Chicago-celebrates-11790908.php
After championship hat trick, Chicago celebrates Blackhawks
Andrew Seligman The Associated Press
Published 2:19 pm EDT, Thursday, June 18, 2015
Chicago Blackhawks players, with the Stanley Cup, ride in an open-top bus across the Monroe Street Bridge over the Chicago River during a parade celebrating their Stanley Cup championship on Thursday.
Photo: Charles Rex Arbogast — The Associated Press
CHICAGO >> Jonathan Toews kissed and hoisted the Stanley Cup as he was introduced toward the end of the latest raucous rally honoring the Chicago Blackhawks. Then the captain headed toward the back of the stage at Soldier Field.
The roaring crowd wanted more and, as usual, he delivered.
“We all know this is amazing to be able to hoist this thing,” a hoarse Toews said. “But to do it on home ice in front of you guys, in front of our fans, to share this with you guys, the best fans in the world it doesn’t get any better than this.”
He thanked the crowd and added: “Maybe the only way it does get better is if we win four.”
Tens of thousands of fans turned out on a warm, humid Thursday to cheer their beloved Blackhawks as they celebrated their third Stanley Cup championship in the past six years with a downtown parade and a rally at Soldier Field.
Goalie Corey Crawford told the fans “you guys made this unbelievable.” Duncan Keith, the defenseman who won the Conn Smythe trophy as the playoffs MVP, hinted at another win saying, “four sounds better than three.” Earlier, the crowd cheered for Blackhawks legends Bobby Hull, Denis Savard and Tony Esposito.
Former Blackhawks star Stan Mikita, who suffers from a progressive brain disorder, wasn’t left out.
“Stan ... we’re thinking of you,” said Hall of Fame play-by-play announcer Pat Foley, the emcee.
The Blackhawks captured their latest championship with a victory over Tampa Bay in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final at the United Center on Monday night. It was the first time Chicago has won the Cup on home ice since 1938 and the Blackhawks haven’t stopped celebrating since.
Players, coaches and team executives rode to the rally in double-decker buses, passing screaming fans of all ages decked out in red and black, as they wound their way from the United Center downtown to Michigan Avenue and the rally at the home of the Chicago Bears. “Let’s go Hawks!” chants rang throughout downtown.
It was a familiar scene for this Original Six franchise, and another reminder just how far it has come in recent seasons, with Toews and Patrick Kane leading the way.
The Blackhawks won it all in 2010, ending a 49-year championship drought, and captured the Cup again in 2013. But this year’s run was different. The Blackhawks endured the suicide of their longtime equipment manager Clint Reif, the death of former teammate Steve Montador and Patrick Kane’s broken collarbone.
Yet there they were on Thursday, celebrating the franchise’s sixth championship. Chicago is the first NHL team to win three titles in a six-year span since Detroit in 1997, 1998 and 2002.
It’s hard to believe that this organization not long ago was little more than an afterthought in Chicago and the “Madhouse on Madison” felt more like a library with its sparse crowds. The late owner Bill Wirtz refused to televise home games and drove away franchise icons such as Hull and Mikita.
Those two now have statues outside the arena, and the Blackhawks have a vice-like grip on the city.
“What a great day for the city of Chicago and the state of Illinois,” new Gov. Bruce Rauner, decked out in a black Toews jersey, said as he exited the United Center before the parade. “This is fantastic to celebrate one of the greatest franchises in all of sports.”
Soldier Field was rocking in a way that it rarely did last fall, with the Bears struggling. But with the Blackhawks taking center stage, there was a different vibe at the home of the Monsters of the Midway. Fans held up red placards that read “one goal achieved.” Players took turns hoisting and kissing the Cup as fans cheered.
The crowd roared a few minutes into the rally when Kane leaned in to the microphone, asked “What’s up, Chicago?” and invited out Toews, who walked onto the stage holding the Cup above his arms.
There were highlight videos. There were touching moments, like the nod to Mikita and Kris Versteeg awarding the player of the game championship belt to the young son of Reif. He did not have the title with him, but it was a heartfelt, symbolic gesture.
There were also some lighter moments, like when CEO Rocky Wirtz decided to take this playful dig at Tampa Bay following a tornado warning in the Chicago area two hours before Game 6: “Anyone notice the rain on Monday night? I didn’t see any lightning.”
Team President John McDonough felt the wrath from at least some in the crowd when he thanked Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who stood on the podium dressed in a gray Blackhawks T-shirt.
He had them cheering moments later, when he said: “Today as we celebrate the third Stanley Cup in six seasons, I wanted to reiterate that our goal will always be to reward your allegiance to the Chicago Blackhawks.”
The Blackhawks let Crawford speak, too. His comments were PG-rated compared to the colorful speech the usually reserved goaltender gave at the rally two years ago in Grant Park, although he did start this one with a word not fit for print or the airwaves.
Toward the end of the festivities, Versteeg and Joakim Nordstrom grabbed the microphone and started singing the lyrics to Macklemore’s “And We Danced.” They asked the crowd to sing and dance along with the team as confetti fell.
It was quite a celebration. And a familiar scene.
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memphisredbirds.com | The Official Site of the Memphis Redbirds
Individual Tickets Promotions Tickets with Food & Drinks Included Seating Chart & Box Office MyTickets Account Season Memberships Mini-Memberships Group Outings Military Discount courtesy of Ford Lipscomb & Pitts Non-Profit of the Game
Schedule Game-by-game Results 2019 Schedule (PDF)
Front Office Staff Directory AutoZone Park Miracle-Gro Rooftop Garden Papa John's Rockey's Kids Club Digital Birdfeeder E-Newsletter Sign-Up Videoboard Messages Donation Requests Rockey the Rockin' Redbird Redbirds Community Fund
Roster Watch Video MiLB.TV Listen Live Roster (PDF) 2019 Media Guide (PDF)
Tickets & Promotions Schedule Fan Zone Shop Team Stats & Scores MyTickets Account News
Memphis Redbirds News
Redbirds Announce 2019 Schedule
Back-to-Back Pacific Coast League Champions Open 2019 Season at AutoZone Park on Thursday, April 4
(Memphis Redbirds/Roger Cotton)
By Memphis Redbirds | November 15, 2018 1:44 PM
DOWNLOAD 2019 MEMPHIS REDBIRDS SCHEDULE
MEMPHIS, Tennessee - The two-time defending Pacific Coast League champion Memphis Redbirds have announced their 2019 season schedule, with the quest for a three-peat set to begin on Thursday, April 4 after a "Battle of the Birds" exhibition game at AutoZone Park against the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday, March 25.
The Redbirds are scheduled to play 140 games from April 4-Sept. 2 and will be vying for their third-straight PCL crown, which has not been accomplished in the league since the 1980-82 Albuquerque Dukes. The 2019 season is the 20th in AutoZone Park history.
The home slate includes 11 Saturday games that feature postgame fireworks, plus home games with fireworks on Sunday, May 26 (Memorial Day Celebration) and Wednesday, July 3 (Independence Day Celebration).
Of note, the home schedule concludes with an 11-game homestand from Aug. 15-25, which is the Redbirds' longest homestand since also playing 11-in-a-row at AutoZone Park from June 23-July 3, 2015.
The PCL will have a new look in a few ways in 2019. Four PCL teams have new affiliates, with the Washington Nationals taking over the Fresno Grizzlies, the Houston Astros changing from Fresno to the Round Rock Express, the Texas Rangers switching from Round Rock to the Nashville Sounds, and the Oakland Athletics changing from Nashville to the Las Vegas 51s.
In addition, the San Antonio Missions, previously the Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres, are now in the PCL as the Milwaukee Brewers' top farm club. Milwaukee's previous PCL team, the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, are now a Rookie-level affiliate of the Brewers.
Also, the Redbirds will now play in the PCL American Northern Division alongside the Iowa Cubs (Chicago [N]), Nashville Sounds (Texas), and Omaha Storm Chasers (Kansas City).
The Redbirds claimed their second-straight PCL title and fourth in franchise history in September and went on to win their first Triple-A National Championship with a 14-4 win over the Durham Bulls, the champions of the International League. The Redbirds went 83-57 in 2018 after going 91-50 in 2017. The 174 wins between the last two regular seasons are the most in a two-year span by Memphis professional baseball clubs since 1933-34, and the back-to-back league championships are the first by Bluff City pro baseball teams since the Memphis Chickasaws in 1952 and 1953.
The Redbirds will have a new manager in 2019, as the skipper for those two PCL titles in 2017 and 2018, back-to-back PCL Manager of the Year Stubby Clapp, was recently promoted to the St. Louis Cardinals as first base coach. The new manager will be the eighth in Redbirds history.
Additional information about ticket on-sales, promotions, theme nights, and giveaways will be available in the coming weeks and months.
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Welcome to America
April 12, 2012 By: NCVeditor Category: Community, Culture, Devon G. Pena, Politics
Connecting Indigenous Autonomy and Immigration
by Devon G. Peña
A recent poster prepared by Michigan State University assistant professor and artist, Dylan Miner, asks that we “decolonize immigration through indigenous and migrant solidarity.” On seeing this beautiful artwork, I was compelled to once again reflect on the perverse nature of U.S. immigration law. The struggle to decolonize immigration law and policy challenges an unjust, racialized, and convoluted history, and reveals the highly problematic qualities of modern state sovereignty in the policing of borders across a region that remains a resurgent indigenous homeland.
I recall the sorrow and discrimination provoked by Arizona’s SB 1070 when numerous Native American elders were suspected of being “illegals” because they could not produce birth certificates to prove otherwise. Imagine that: natives seen as “illegals” and deemed subject to deportation under the state of exception for failure to provide documentation of their right to live on their native land. A deeper injustice and more banal contradiction is not possible, since the authors of 1070 arrived in Arizona but a mere night ago and are now dictating the legal status of peoples inhabiting the bioregion for tens of thousands of years.
This is what it means to be a stranger in your native land. This is what it means to be denied your indigeneity under the policing of borders and citizenship instigated by the telluric partisans who are allied with the fear-driven state of exception.
What the history of U.S. immigration policy reveals is that the politics and policies of white resentment and racialization were and continue to constitute a failed response born of the perception that Native peoples (including Mexicans) are a demographic and biopolitical threat: The difference we represent has had to be managed and eradicated precisely because of our continuously illustrated resilience and long-term “reproductive fitness.”
Of course, it is too late for that game despite the militarization of the border, criminalization of immigrants, and alienation (really self-estrangement) associated with the neoliberal trap of identity politics that has always accompanied the state of exception. This is the exact same fearful logic that drives the law seeking to render our collective wisdom and cultural traditions as forbidden knowledge in the attack on Chicana/o and Ethnic Studies in Arizona under the unconstitutional HB 2281.
Miner’s insightful poster speaks to an issue that has been on my mind for some time and that of many fellow sojourners: What is an indigenous policy or traditional view of immigration and naturalization? What can we learn from such policies and traditions? And how might we rekindle and assert these traditions in practice?
This poster, created in the best tradition of political poster art in the Chicana/o movement (I am reminded of the work of countless artists associated with Self-Help Graphics) teaches us an important principle: Regardless of the direction and presumed legitimacy of U.S. immigration law, there are much deeper traditions that Native American and MesoAmerican peoples have practiced and are starting to embrace once again as they negotiate their experience of trans-border citizenship, regardless of the state of exception that seeks to suspend the rule of law and declare the undocumented flow of Natives as the moral equivalent of terrorists and drug runners.
A study by social scientist Fiona Nicoll examining aboriginal rights in Australia offers an observation that is certainly relevant to our own context in North America:
When non-Indigenous people are welcomed to [a] country by the Indigenous owners, we acknowledge not only the traditional ancestors but also their living descendants as bearers of a sovereignty that exists within and beyond the [settler’s] nation…. The legacy of Terra Nullius sticks to our shoes with the dirt as we walk over Indigenous sovereignties everyday.
This is the supreme irony of U.S. history: If not for Native people warmly and generously welcoming the Mayflower’s itinerants; if they had not fed them and showed them how to grow crops; these newcomers would have died off. The settlers then returned the favor not with thanksgiving but with murder, genocide, and displacement of the Natives so they could imagine their right to a land rendered void and empty of the original people.
Because of laws like SB 1070, today this problem is further complicated when Indian [sic] people become dupes and accomplices of immigration and border control as has some times occurred along the U.S,-Mexico Border. As one critic has noted, “anti-immigration policies are ultimately about asserting U.S. sovereignty over and against indigenous sovereignty. By instituting repressive immigration policies, the U.S. government is asserting that it, and not indigenous nations, should determine who can be on these lands.”
It is therefore not a surprise that the mass media has often featured stories of Native Americans serving as agents of border control, which reinforces the idea that Natives support U.S. sovereignty over indigenous autonomy.
Indigenous solidarity with the struggle for immigrant rights is important because many if not most immigrants from Mexico and Central America are displaced Native peoples; they are relatives, cousins of northern Native Americans. Chinantca, Chontal, Hña Hñu, Maya, Mixteca, Nahua, Raramurti (Yaqui), Seri, Totonaca, Triqui, Zapoteca, and many others are part of the post-NAFTA MesoAmerican Diaspora.
Indeed, many tribal nations are divided by our politically-imposed borders as illustrated by the cases of the Raramuri and Tohono O’odham in Sonora-Arizona on the southern border; the Tlingit and Haida First Peoples along the Alaska-Canada border; and the Ojibwe, Salish, Mohawk, and Blackfeet who are now negotiating the northern borderlands between the U.S. and Canada.
Finally, there is a largely hidden but long and complicated history that reveals how indigenous polities have long asserted the right to grant naturalization status to newcomers in their midst. One of the best-known examples of non-Natives being “naturalized” is the case of Mary Jemison, who wrote of her experiences in a book first published in 1824. A commentary on this narrative provides insight on the effects of the practice of naturalization among the Seneca:
In 1753, fifteen year old Mary Jemison was captured by Indians along the Pennsylvania frontier during the Seven Years’ War between the French, English, and Indian peoples of North America. She was adopted and incorporated into the Senecas, a familiar practice among Iroquois and other Indian peoples seeking to replace a lost sibling or spouse. Mary married and raised a family in the decades before and after the American Revolution; many captives, once adopted and integrated into an Indian community, refused the opportunity to return home, finding life in Indian society more rewarding.
This is a truly profound example of the type of humane and just immigration policy our country should adopt. Native peoples have long accepted strangers in their communities and indeed have deeply grounded cultural traditions for the integration of these newcomers. This is why today we have children born at Neah Bay with Makah mothers and Zapotec fathers; this is why there is a “Mexican” clan in the Dine [Navajo] Nation; this is why the Tlingit in Canada’s west coast villages are welcoming Mixteca, Zapoteca, and Maya brothers and sisters as new members of their communities.
We would do well to learn from this example; better, we need to embrace a social movement that creates an autonomous track to citizenship based on the indigenous traditions that integrate newcomers into the community based not on some paranoid fear of the other but on the ability to judge people based on the content of their character. This is presumably a basic ideal of American democracy from the ice flows of Inupiat to the rocky pine barrens of Tierra del Fuego.
Devon G. Peña, Ph.D., is a lifelong activist in the environmental justice and resilient agriculture movements, and is Professor of American Ethnic Studies, Anthropology, and Environmental Studies at the University of Washington in Seattle. His influential books include Mexican Americans and the Environment: Tierra y Vida (University of Arizona Press, 2005) and the edited volume Chicano Culture, Ecology, Politics: Subversive Kin (University of Arizona Press, 1998). Dr. Peña is the founding editor of the Environmental & Food Justice blog, and is a Contributing Author for New Clear Vision.
Tags: autonomy, citizenship, democracy, diaspora, immigration, indigenous
2 Comments to “Welcome to America”
j.kelvyn richards says:
Devon’s analysis reveals yet again the ways in which the citizens of the USA and Canada assert and exercise the principle of ‘might is right’. The truth is that these citizens do not care about the rights and conditions of the indigenous peoples of North America.
The descendants of the Mayflower regard themselves as right, with might, and the true followers of Christ.
Yet again we have to confront the hypocrisy, and arrogance of the descendants of the immigrants from Europe!
These immigrants have been busy suppressing and exploiting the native peoples of America, and Africa, and Australia, and India from 1500 to the present day.
go to http://www.kelvynrichards.com…..A Discourse: Social Ecology
NCVeditor says:
Devon’s powerful and important essay has also been picked up by CounterPunch, Common Dreams, ZNet, Dissident Voice, and other venues…
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Index » Games » PlayStation 4 » Batman: Arkham City
Reviewed on PlayStation 3
Also known as: Batman: Return to Arkham
Batman: Arkham City builds upon the foundation of Batman: Arkham Asylum, sending players soaring into Arkham City, the new maximum security “home” for all of Gotham City’s thugs, gangsters and insane criminal masterminds.
Batman: Arkham City Videos (1)
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Why Do People Move to Berlin?
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You’ve probably heard Berlin touted as one of the best expat and immigrant destinations in the world. People come to enjoy the elusive “work-life balance” that Germany offers, take advantage of the stellar social services, and dig into German culture.
But what makes Berlin so special, when compared to places like London, Paris, or Rome?
1. Berlin is a city that takes personal freedom seriously.
No matter where you go in Berlin, everyone is an individual, someone living out his or her personal vendetta — whether that involves beers at noon, or a career in the tech industry, or spending 14 hours a day in an artist studio.
And that’s all because of the next point…
2. Berlin is still relatively cheap.
Unlike other cities, Berlin has been able to cap its rent prices, ensuring that even the most bustling sectors don’t reach rent prices akin to London or Paris. In fact, according to a 2015 report from immobileScout, people in...
10 Biggest Mistakes When Moving to Germany
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The decision to move to Germany will change your life forever.
That change can be good. But it can also be difficult, scary, and detrimental to personal growth, if you mess up. It can also be a huge waste of time and money.
Check out the following biggest mistakes people make when moving to Germany. You can never be too prepared.
1. You don’t do your own research.
Moving to Germany means building a new life in the context of new laws, different visa requirements, alternate ways of renting apartments, and so many other little intricate details that add up to so much. If you don’t get out ahead of all these changes, research on all the appropriate and approved National websites, and even opt for a course or two, you could be setting yourself up to overstay your visa, pay thousands of dollars worth of fees, or worse.
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Home / News / Politics / Trump’s Address To Congress Boasts of ‘New National Pride’ Sweeping Nation
Trump’s Address To Congress Boasts of ‘New National Pride’ Sweeping Nation
March 01, 2017 News, Politics
WASHINGTON — In his first speech to a joint session of Congress, President Trump on Tuesday challenged divided lawmakers and a polarized nation to look past his turbulent early days in office and rally behind the “America First” vision of his history-making campaign.
President Trump addresses a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 28, 2017, as Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Paul Ryan listen. (Photo: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)
“A new national pride is sweeping across our nation,” Trump declared to a packed House of Representatives at the outset of the hourlong address. “What we are witnessing today is the renewal of the American spirit.”
The entrepreneur stayed true to many of the core messages of his insurgent and profoundly nationalist candidacy — blaming immigration and global trade for a range of ills, expressing resentment at the burdens of America’s post-World War II global leadership, pushing for dismantling Obamacare — while dropping some of his most inflammatory rhetoric.
“By finally enforcing our immigration laws, we will raise wages, help the unemployed, save billions and billions of dollars, and make our communities safer for everyone,” he said. But, he insisted, “the time for small thinking is over. The time for trivial fights is behind us.”
The speech received a chilly reception from congressional Democrats, who audibly gasped when the president mentioned his directive to track crime by undocumented immigrants, and laughed at another point when Trump said he was draining the swamp. Many of the female lawmakers were dressed in white, a symbol of the women’s suffrage movement.
“I saw Democrat women all put on white clothes and sat in the same place, what was that about?” asked Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, after the speech, adding that no one had explained to him what rights men have that women do not. He said Democrats had been “tepid” and “flat” during the address.
Other Republican lawmakers, however, pointed out that Democrats stood and applauded for Trump’s lines on infrastructure and American steel. “I don’t think the Democrats came in tonight thinking they would ever applaud, let alone stand and applaud,” Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., told Yahoo News. He said the laughter was “inappropriate,” but that overall he was pleased with the “respect” Democrats showed Trump.
Rep. Keith Ellison, chair of the Progressive Caucus, told reporters after the speech he thought about interrupting Trump’s “divisive” speech at one point, but “decided to have some class and respect — not for him but for the institution,” Ellison said.
In Trump’s telling, his chaotic first 40 days in office became a story of promises kept — construction will begin soon on the “great, great wall” along the border with Mexico, he said, and the stock market is already setting records. And he took pains to defend his controversial executive order halting refugee flows and suspending immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries, now frozen in the courts. Aides said he could issue an updated version as early as Wednesday.
The president darkly warned of “uncontrolled entry from places where proper vetting cannot occur” creating a “beachhead of terrorism” in America. In doing so, he brushed aside the complex, frequently years-long government process for ensuring that newcomers are not extremists, and the fact that the countries affected by his new restrictions were not home to terrorists who struck inside the United States.
But he also laid down an ambitious marker, suggesting that the elusive goal of comprehensive immigration reform might be within reach.
“I believe that real and positive immigration reform is possible, as long as we focus on the following goals: to improve jobs and wages for Americans; to strengthen our nation’s security; and to restore respect for our laws,” Trump said. “If we are guided by the well-being of American citizens, then I believe Republicans and Democrats can work together to achieve an outcome that has eluded our country for decades.”
At the same time, the president pushed for a specific, dramatic shift in U.S. immigration policy: limiting entry to would-be newcomers who are “able to support themselves financially.”
“Switching away from this current system of lower-skilled immigration, and instead adopting a merit-based system, we will have so many more benefits,” he said. “It will save countless dollars, raise workers’ wages, and help struggling families, including immigrant families, enter the middle class. And they will do it quickly, and they will be very, very happy, indeed.”
But he did not repeat his suggestion, in the traditional pre-speech interview with television news anchors, that he would be open to permitting millions of undocumented immigrants already in the United States to remain, legally, provided they had no criminal record.
Trump also gave more details than he has in the past about his vision for repealing Obamacare and replacing it — a task that has exposed deep divisions in the Republican-controlled government despite the party having had years to agree on a strategy.
“Action is not a choice; it is a necessity,” he said, calling for an approach that provides Americans with tax credits and expanded health savings accounts and permits them to buy insurance across state lines. Some of these ideas have been popular with some Republicans, but Trump’s remarks were unlikely to erase divisions inside the GOP.
Carryn Owens (center), widow of William “Ryan” Owens, applauds with Ivanka Trump (right), after being mentioned by President Trump. (Photo: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
The president ran down a list of ambitious policy priorities but provided few details — a typical omission from speeches of this kind, particularly in the first year. He said his tax overhaul plans would provide “a big, big cut” to what corporations pay and “massive tax relief” for the middle class. He pushed Congress to fund “school choice for disadvantaged youth.” He highlighted his planned request for a $54 billion increase in military spending, as well as his forthcoming strategy for a ramped-up war on the so-called Islamic State.
And he called for “a new program of national rebuilding,” with a $1 trillion price tag borne by an unspecified blend of private and public capital and fueled with a “buy American and hire American” philosophy.
“Crumbling infrastructure will be replaced with new roads, bridges, tunnels, airports and railways, gleaming across our very, very beautiful land. Our terrible drug epidemic will slow down and ultimately stop. And our neglected inner cities will see a rebirth of hope, safety and opportunity,” he promised.
Trump opened his remarks with a denunciation of “recent threats targeting Jewish community centers and vandalism of Jewish cemeteries” as well as the shooting last week of two Indian men in a Kansas City bar.
The FBI has said it is investigating the latter incident as a hate crime.
“While we may be a nation divided on policies, we are a country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all of its very ugly forms,” he said.
In another emotional moment, Trump paid tribute to a Navy SEAL, Ryan Owens, killed in a raid in Yemen, highlighting the presence of Owens’ widow, Carryn. After a very lengthy, bipartisan standing ovation, the president said, “Ryan is looking down right now. You know that. And he’s very happy, because I think he just broke a record.”
Trump mostly stayed away from the vitriolic denunciations of the news media that were a campaign refrain and have become a White House staple, and he did not explicitly address the troubles that have beset his young presidency.
Trump’s first 40 days have featured the firing of his national security adviser for misleading his vice president, the withdrawal of his labor secretary nominee in the face of opposition from Republicans as well as Democrats, turn-downs by his choices for secretary of the Army and secretary of the Navy, typo-filled official statements about terrorism, jarring telephone confrontations with the leaders of Mexico and Australia, the chaotic rollout of his order restricting travel from seven Muslim-majority nations, reports that the nation’s spies are spooked by his team’s alleged relations with Russia, a spat with China, and newly belligerent actions by Moscow. He has signed no significant legislation and has yet to nominate people to fill hundreds of government positions requiring Senate confirmation. Through it all, some of Trump’s senior aides have anonymously fed the news media a steady diet of backstabbing palace intrigue and gossip while publicly insisting that everything is fine and nervously trying to anticipate the president’s next angry tweet.
At the same time, Trump has forged ahead with some core campaign promises — like starting the difficult process of repealing and replacing Obamacare, moving ahead with building a wall along the border with Mexico, removing undocumented immigrants from U.S. soil, formally pulling out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, and taking aim at government regulations. He has also signed executive actions meant to tackle violent crime and shore up police, and roll back federal oversight of water-quality rules. The president has met with leaders of Britain, Japan, Jordan, Canada, and Israel. And the stock market has soared, amid hopes for a corporate-friendly overhaul of tax laws.
“I turn on the TV, open the newspapers and I see stories of chaos. Chaos! Yet it is the exact opposite. This administration is running like a fine-tuned machine,” he said at his first press conference.
The president has posted historically terrible approval ratings. But he does not seem to be losing his base, or even reluctant Trump supporters, many of whom said in November that they did not care whether he had the temperament for the job because at least he would shake up a system they felt had left them behind.
There have been signs that the president is tired of the turmoil — his top two advisers, chief of staff Reince Priebus and senior strategist Steve Bannon, have done a wave of joint interviews to showcase an unconvincing buddy routine and banish talk that they are frequently at odds.
On Tuesday, Trump offered an almost impossibly sunny vision of what he can accomplish.
“Everything that is broken in our country can be fixed. Every problem can be solved,” he said. “And every hurting family can find healing and hope.”
Trump’s Address To Congress Boasts of ‘New National Pride’ Sweeping Nation Reviewed by newsrepublique media on March 01, 2017 Rating: 5
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Austria and Slovenia tired of riding relegation elevator
by Bill Meltzer
Like players who've proven they can dominate minor-league hockey but have trouble finding a regular role at the top level, Austria and Slovenia have experienced plenty of success at the Division I level of international competition but have had trouble defending their spots at the elite level once they get there. After winning gold medals in their respective IIHF Division I World Championship groups in April, the Austrians and Slovenians have 10 months to prepare to play the world's best hockey countries at the 2011 World Championships in Slovakia.
It won't be easy, as there is a lot of work to be done between now and then. In order to avoid the typical fate of teams jumping a grade of competition -- which usually turns into relegation the following year -- both Austria and Slovenia will have to elevate their games higher than they did at the 2010 Division I tourneys. It's a challenge that neither nation has had much success in conquering. In Slovenia's case, the national team's victory on home ice in this year's tournament ended a two-year stint in Division I since its last crack at the elites. Austria will be back after a one-year absence.
Austrian Ice Hockey Federation
Slovenian Ice Hockey Federation
Even at the Division I level, when Austria or Slovenia do not have their best players available -- the Buffalo Sabres' Thomas Vanek or Los Angeles Kings' Anze Kopitar, respectively -- they play a caliber of hockey that's closer to their top challengers in the Division I pack than to the average non-medal-round teams at the elite level. The top two forward lines and top defensive pair are a jump from the typical grade of Division I talent, but the remainder of the roster is unremarkable. Between the two countries, the Austrian hockey program is somewhat better than its Slovenian counterpart on an overall player-development basis, but the Slovenians arguably have the more promising young core of talent for the future.
In both cases, however, the nations have trouble retaining their best young players. Typically, the top Slovenian and Austrian junior talents must go elsewhere in Europe (usually Sweden or the Czech Republic) or to North American junior or collegiate hockey to find a suitable caliber of competition. This experience is taken back to their respective national teams at the senior level but most of their fellow players who remain home throughout their hockey development do so because they are not talented enough to be recruited by a program in an elite hockey nation.
For right now, the Austrians and Slovenians can look at what went right at the Division I tourney and which areas they need to improve. The Slovenians had the advantage of being the host nation for their bracket of the 2010 Division I Worlds. In a tournament that also featured top challenger Hungary, Great Britain, Poland, South Korea and relegated Croatia, the Slovenians played to partisan home crowds that more than doubled the size of the audiences that turned out for games between the other participants.
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Even without the services of Kopitar, who was involved in the first round the Stanley Cup Playoffs at the time of the tournament, Slovenia had the advantage of being able to send out two formidable forward lines dominated by young talent. The line of Ziga Jeglic (2 goals, 9 assists), Rok Ticar (7 goals, 3 assists) and Jan Urbas (2 goals, 5 assists) combined to score 11 of the 29 goals the Slovenians tallied in the tournament, placing first, second and sixth among all skaters. Detroit Red Wings prospect Jan Mursak held down the fort on the second line, ranking fourth in tournament scoring with 5 goals and 7 points. His linemates were brothers David and Marcel Rodman.
The 20-year-old Ticar played this season in the Austrian-dominated Erste Bank Eishockey Liga for Slovenian team Acroni Jesenice, for which he scored 13 goals and 28 points in 45 games. The center spent the previous two seasons playing for Timra IK in Sweden's Elitserien and top Under-20 league. Jeglic, 22, is Ticar's teammate on Jesenice. He scored 9 goals and 22 points during the EBEL season. The 6-foot-3 Urbas, 21, formerly played in Sweden for the Malmo IF Redhawks.
Mursak, 22, was a sixth-round draft pick by Detroit in the 2006 Entry Draft who opted for the junior hockey route in the Czech Republic and Ontario Hockey League. He spent the 2009-10 season in the AHL with the Grand Rapids Griffins, for which the right winger had 24 goals in his second professional campaign. The 28-year-old Marcel Rodman, a former draft pick of the Boston Bruins (ninth round in 2001), played OHL junior hockey before returning to Europe, where he now plays for Vienna in the EBEL. He scored 21 goals and 50 points in 50 league games this past season. David Rodman, 26, played junior hockey in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League before going back to Europe. He played in the EBEL for Vienna during the 2009-10 season, racking up 27 goals and 70 points.
Led by these six players, Slovenia boasted a 5-0 record at the Division I Worlds, but it wasn't always easy. The Slovenians did not play especially well in beating Poland, 3-2, in the opener and were not suitably challenged by the tourney's weakest team, Croatia, in a 10-1 romp in the second game. In the third game, the Slovenians shut down their engines a little too early, blowing third-period leads of 2-0 and 3-2 to Great Britain before Ziga Zeglic's overtime goal saved the day. The Slovenians then played a more focused 60 minutes of hockey in dispatching South Korea, 8-3.
That set up a final-day showdown with previously unbeaten Hungary for the right to play in Slovakia at the 2011 Worlds. Slovenia showed itself to be the better team, going on to win 4-1 behind a two-goal effort from Ticar and a Mursak tally.
Thomas Vanek (Getty Images)
Success on the power play played a big part in the Slovenians' success at the Division I Worlds. The team went 7-for-28 on the man advantage to rank first among the six teams in the field. The penalty kill was not quite as strong, ranking fourth at 82.6 percent (19 of 23). If the Slovenians are to have any chance of avoiding relegation come next spring, it will be critical for the club to pick up the pace when it is playing shorthanded.
Unlike the Slovenians, the Austrians had to leave the comforts of home to earn their Division I gold medal and return to the elite level. In an overlapping tournament played in Tillburg, Netherlands, the Austrians posted a 5-0 record against a field of Ukraine (the Austrians' most viable challengers), the host Dutch team, Lithuania, Japan and relegated Serbia.
Austria had a glorified tune-up game in the opener, drawing Serbia. The Austrians ended the suspense quickly, going on to rack a baker's dozen worth of goals in a 13-0 romp. The Lithuanians provided somewhat tougher opposition, but the Austrians still breezed, 6-2. In the third game, Austria took on a pesky Japanese team that played strong team defense and featured one-time Los Angeles Kings goalie Yutaka Fukufuji. Austria goalie Reinhard Divis, a former member the St. Louis Blues, bettered the play of his Japanese counterpart and Austria sweated out a 3-1 win. The Austrians then got past the Netherlands, 4-1, to set up a final-game meeting with Ukraine for the gold medal and promotion.
In the decisive game, Austria took an early 1-0 lead on a Thomas Raffl power-play goal and then nursed the slim advantage until midway through the third period. The least-penalized team throughout the tourney, the Austrians found themselves in penalty trouble for much of the latter part of the game against the Ukrainians. After Ukraine tied the game on the man advantage at 10:06 of the third period, Austria answered right back just 1:49 later. Moments after forward Oliver Setzinger (1 goal, 9 assists in the tourney) was denied on a breakaway, the tournament's top-scoring defenseman, Matthias Trattnig (3 goals, 6 assists), put his country back on top to stay.
Anze Kopitar (Getty Images)
In order to hang on for the victory, however, the Austrians had to survive a five-minute penalty kill after David Schuller was given a major penalty and game misconduct for boarding longtime AHL defenseman Sergei Klimentiev. In the waning minutes, the Austrian penalty killers blocked several shots and Divis took care of the rest.
Much of the victorious Austrian roster was comprised of EBEL and Swiss National League players. Three of the top seven scorers in the tournament were Austrians. Left winger Setzinger, a former Nashville Predators prospect who played part of one season in the AHL before returning to Europe to play in Switzerland, ranked third. Forward Thomas Koch, who previously played in Elitserien and stockpiled 24 goals and 78 points in the EBEL this season for Salzburg, ranked fifth at the Division I Worlds with 5 goals and 9 points. Trattnig, who was once a Chicago Blackhawks prospect and has NCAA, Elitserien, AHL, and DEL experience, ranked seventh among all skaters. The 31-year-old has spent the last five seasons with Salzburg.
Although Fukufuji was chosen as the top goaltender in the tournament, Divis did a fine job in his own right. In many cases, it's tougher on a goalie when he has to deal with long periods of inactivity rather than staying busy all game. Thirty-five-year-old Salzburg goaltender Divis, who appeared in 27 NHL games over parts of four seasons and has a wealth of experience in various European elite leagues, allowed just five goals in five games, shutting out the Croatian team and stopped 95.1 percent of the shots fired at him.
As with Slovenia, Austria owed much of its success at the 2010 Division I Worlds to its power play. The Austrians ranked second in the tourney, converting 7 of 32 opportunities. On the penalty kill, Austria posted an 88 percent success rate, including the critical five-minute kill that secured its spot in Slovakia next spring.
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Northern Indiana Community Foundation Welcomes Interns Alyson Braden, Kennedy Niedbalski, and Miranda Shepherd
19 Jun Northern Indiana Community Foundation Welcomes Interns Alyson Braden, Kennedy Niedbalski, and Miranda Shepherd
Posted at 20:48h in Fulton County News & Events, Miami County News & Events, Starke County News & Events by tempadmin
Left to right: Alyson Braden, Kennedy Niedbalski, and Miranda Shepherd
This summer, the Northern Indiana Community Foundation (NICF) received funding from the Lilly Endowment to hire interns seeking to gain experience with the Fulton, Miami, and Starke County Community Foundations. Miranda Shepherd, Alyson Braden, Kennedy Niedbalski have been selected to serve as the interns for the NICF this summer.
This is Shepherd’s second summer with the Starke County Community Foundation (SCCF). Last year, she was hired to help coordinate Moving Starke County Forward, another local organization with which the SCCF is affiliated. This year, she will work exclusively with the Community Foundation as Management Intern.
Shepherd is a Knox High School graduate. After graduation in 2015, Shepherd began her studies at Ancilla College. She then transferred to Indiana University South Bend, where she is now a senior majoring in general studies with a minor in medical billing and coding. Miranda plans to be a physical therapist.
“I am so grateful for the opportunity to work with the Foundation,” said Shepherd. “It is a joy to witness the great things that are happening in my community and to be a part of it. I look forward to learning more about this amazing organization and all that they do.”
Braden graduated from Maconaquah High School in 2017. She is a sophomore at Purdue University, where she is majoring in communications and minoring in art and design. She hopes to work in marketing with a focus on graphic design.
“Working at the Northern Indiana Community Foundation has opened my eyes to the generosity and hard work of fund founders and employees at the Foundation,” said Braden. “I love the energetic atmosphere, and I feel very at home working here.”
Niedbalski graduated from Tippecanoe Valley High School in 2017. She is also a sophomore at Purdue University, where she is majoring in corporate communication with a minor in dance and a certificate in entrepreneurship. She intends to open a competitive all-star cheer gym someday.
Niedbalski said, “I am beyond grateful for the opportunity to intern for the Northern Indiana Community Foundation. The people I interact with throughout the community are very inspiring, and I enjoy working with them every day.”
Throughout the summer, the interns will help to plan events, interview donors, and write their families’ stories, write press releases, attend various meetings and events, and help with office tasks.
“We’ve had the privilege of working with many interns over the years, and we’ve seen these young people grow during their time with us and move on to become successful, community-minded individuals,” said Jay Albright, NICF Executive Director. “We’re excited to welcome our three interns this year and to see how their individual talents will help strengthen our organization.”
For more information, contact the Northern Indiana Community Foundation toll free at 877-432-6423, or at 574-223-2227.
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Nicholsons Trip to the Maasai Mara
By Niel Nicholson
As a company, Nicholsons are very keen to support charity and have 3 main focuses. Local educational support of deprived schools to help build forest schools. Supporting staff with individual charitable projects. And lastly to be involved with tree planting in Africa to combat deforestation and help climate change.
18 months ago I went out to visit a private project I was involved with in Kenya, where we were trying to support the Maasai people and engaging them on a new system of pastoralism. The purpose of this was to encourage better grazing and increased herd genetics, to reduce the pressure on the Mara and allow farming and wild animals to coexist, so increasing eco-tourism which is a much-needed income to the people there. See www.enonkishu.org for more information about the fascinating project.
While there, on the northern edge of the Mara, I could see the issues of severe overgrazing and the massive reduction in woodland cover in the neighbouring village and into the Mau forest, where they have lost well over 250,000 acres (over 25%) in the last 17 years! Where we were staying had facilities and an interest in conservation work, and so we discussed the possibility of starting up a tree nursery there.
Rosi Nicholson went out in early 2018 to make a start, find a site, purchase materials and build a fence, dig beds etc. She was assisted by 2 other members of the Nicholsons staff a few weeks later and they made unbelievable progress. The site was chosen, fenced up, water tank sourced and beds built. Since then they have grown a few trial trees for local community projects, as well as using the site for vegetable production.
I went out this January to take the project to the next stage. At least that was the plan. I met with some of the local people, and staff on site, as well as meeting a fascinating lady, Teresa, from the International Tree Foundation, who came up from Nairobi to give advice and will, we hope, help us in achieving the next stages:
do a survey of which trees do well locally
identify some demo projects we can do on the local school site and in a woodland situation
source the seeds and get the project underway.
Once the demonstration sites are underway it will be easier to roll it out further. The village people were very responsive and I think will buy into the project. The scope of work needed is vast but every little counts.
Apart from getting the nursery going remotely, we will hope to set up an annual trip with staff from Nicholsons – this will not only help the staff engage in the project and help in its delivery but, will also give those team members an opportunity to see another country and culture. We hope it will be a long term project and that we will be able to see long lasting progress.
Deddington Primary School Vegetable Garden
Nicholsons build a nursery in Africa
How to Enjoy Your Garden Safely
Inspiring Children to Understand and Appreciate Wildlife Conservation
Updates from Holt Copse
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Wagorō Arai: His World of Silhouette Animation
荒井和五郎～影絵アニメーションの世界～, 2013)
At Hiroshima International Animation Festival 2014, I had the pleasure of meeting the famous train photographer and animation expert Masatoki Minami (南正時, b. 1946). He gave me a screener of his short documentary Wagorō Arai: His World of Silhouette Animation (荒井和五郎～影絵アニメーションの世界～ / Arai Wagorō – Kage-e Animēshon no Sekai – , 2013) which he made with the support of the JAA (Japan Animation Association). The 16-minute film screened at JAA’s Into Animation 6 event in August 2013.
Wagorō Arai (荒井和五郎, 1907-1994) was an early Japanese animation pioneer and contemporary of Noburō Ōfuji (大藤 信郎, 1900-1961). Inspired by the films of German animator Lotte Reiniger, whose pre-war films were shown extensively in Japan (Donald Richie, A Hundred Years of Japanese Film, p.247), Arai and Ōfuji each developed their own brands of silhouette animation in the tradition of Japanese shadow plays and 19th century utsushi-e (写し絵 / magic lantern shows).
Minami first encountered the work of Arai at the 2nd Hiroshima festival in 1987. He saw a screening of Madame Butterfly’s Fantasy (お蝶夫人の幻想, 1940), a 12-minute silhouette adaptation of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly (1904) and was moved by the experience. Speaking to Arai at the festival, he discovered that the elderly gentleman was working on a new film and on October 15, 1987 he traveled to Arai’s atelier in Shinmachi (today incorporated into Takasaki-shi) in Gunma Prefecture for an interview.
For the next 2 decades, this VTR material stayed in storage and was not publicly screened. It wasn't until Minami showed the footage to a fellow animation expert that he learned just how rare and valuable the material was, and so plans were set in motion to turn the footage into a documentary with the support of the JAA. The screenplay was planned with the assistance of the late Prof. Masahiro Katayama (片山雅博, 1955-2011) of Tama Art University.
The documentary uses the VTR footage of Arai in his atelier in 1987 answering Minami’s off-camera questions and intercuts it with National Film Center footage of his original films. Salient details about his life and career are also given through the use of title cards and other onscreen text. The footage is not of the highest quality, but this really does not matter because the fact that footage exists at all of Arai talking about his craft is remarkable. I have looked for years for information about Arai and his career and it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Minami’s short documentary illuminates many details I previously had not known about Arai from why his career as an animator was so short to how he made his films.
Born in 1909, Arai trained as a dentist. His passion for silhouette animation led him to make his first film, The Gold Key (黄金の鈎 / Ougon no Kagi) in 1939. He continued to work as a dentist and made the animation in his spare time. His next project, Madame Butterfly’s Fantasy (お蝶夫人の幻想 / Ochōfujin no gensō, 1940) together with Jack and the Beanstalk (ジャックと豆の木 / Jakku to mame no ki, 1941) and Princess Kaguya (かぐや姫 / Kaguya Hime, 1942) solidified his place as one of the top independent animators of the early anime period. He is unique in Japanese animation history for his dedication to silhouette animation. The only other animator to experiment with the medium at this time, Ōfuji, also made animation in other styles, most notably cutouts using washi paper (See: Song of Spring, The Village Festival).
Minami’s interview reveals that two of his animation staff, including assistant director Nakaya Tobiishi (飛石仲也), died during World War II and their deaths were what caused him to stop making animation. In the late 1980s, he decided to make an animation called Mukashi-banashi Nagori no Futomeno (昔噺名残之太布). This story is better known as Tsuru no Ongaeshi (鶴の恩返し), “The Crane Returns a Favour” or Tsuru Nyōbō (鶴女房), “The Crane Wife”, a popular folktale about a man who rescues a crane from a trap and the crane repays him by coming to him in the form of a beautiful woman whom he marries. This is the project that Arai was working on when Minami went to interview him in October 1987. In the documentary, Arai sits in a wheelchair at his animation table with various silhouettes prepared for filming and others in envelopes within easy reach.
On Madame Butterfly’s Fantasy:
3 people, including Arai himself, made it over the course of 1 year
Arai’s animation crew were either students of dentistry or working actively as dentists, they weren't people looking into becoming animators full-time, it was something they did in their spare time
Wilhelm Plage (ウィルヘルム・プラーゲ, 1888-1969), the notorious German copyright hound, made it difficult for Arai to get the rights to use Puccini’s music, because the music was not yet 50 years old.
fortunately, the soprano Tamaki Miura (三浦環, 1884-1946), celebrated for her international performances as Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly, lived in his neighbourhood and supported his efforts and even performed on the soundtrack.
critics praised him for his depiction of the evening light in the film.
On his New Work Mukashi-banashi Nagori no Futonuno and his Techniques:
Arai vociferously declares his dislike of colour in silhouette films. Fascinatingly, he gives the example of Ōfuji’s The Phantom Ship (幽霊船, 1956) as an example of the style of silhouette animation that he does not like. This is particularly fascinating as not only has Ōfuji received high praise internationally for The Phantom Ship – it received an Honourable Mention for Experimental Film at the Biennale in 1956 (learn more in my discussion of the film) – but Lotte Reiniger, who is said to have been Arai’s role model (she is not mentioned in this documentary), used colour in her films – though I believe it was mostly colour tinting (at least for her films of the 1920s) not cellophane cutouts as Ōfuji used in The Phantom Ship and Whale (くじら, 1952).
Arai laughingly says he wants to submit Mukashi-banashi Nagori no Futonuno to some world competition for animation
he puts heavy lead on the paper so that it doesn't move easily
he uses a multi-plane animation table to create depth of space
his animation table is 40 years old – in the documentary he is using his original animation table
everything is handmade
the camera is placed looking down from the ceiling
the tiny figures for walking from a distance have no movable parts. He makes a series of small cutouts and keeps replacing them for each shot
he is using the exact same methods as he used to
he finds it difficult to make the cutouts exactly identical, but on that day they got the face exactly the same (his hands look as though he is suffering from arthritis so I am sure this was no easy task for him)
he puts the kimono on top of the naked body, so that when they walk you can see the gap opening in the kimono –such realistic details are important to him
he wants to express the softness of the kimono material, wants it to look natural
Arai discusses with Minami his negotiations with a shop in Asakusa for Kabuki music for the opening title sequence – he seems particularly interesting in the distinctive Kabuki percussion sounds
Arai likes cute or beautiful faces, not rough faces
he wants to improve his techniques from the past and has been looking to Ningyō jōruri, also known as Bunraku, for ideas about how to handle his figures
Minami concludes the interview by encouraging him to finish the animation as soon as possible
In the afterword, Minami writes that Arai did indeed complete the film and submit it to Hiroshima
Arai died of a heart attack on 4 January 1994 at the age of 87.
Although the film is brief – it would have been wonderful to hear more about Arai's life and times – it gives a rare insight not only into Arai's career, but also into his personality. He comes across as someone who takes his craft seriously, but also has a sense of humour. If it hadn't been for the tragic deaths of his animation team during the war, I feel sure we would have had many more delightful silhouette animations from this early master.
Posted by Cathy Munroe Hotes at 10:01 pm
Labels: cutouts, documentary, early anime, festivals, hiroanim87, puppet theatre, shorts, silhouette animation
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Janelle Monáe calls out the music industry from Grammys stage: 'Time's up for the abuse of power'
Monáe introduced Kesha's performance of 'Praying' with a speech about standing in solidarity with women.
Janelle Monáe calls out the music industry from Grammys stage: 'Time's up for the abuse of power' Monáe introduced Kesha's performance of 'Praying' with a speech about standing in solidarity with women. Check out this story on naplesnews.com: https://usat.ly/2DSJXzX
Entertain This
Carly Mallenbaum, USA TODAY Published 12:00 a.m. ET Jan. 29, 2018 | Updated 12:59 a.m. ET Jan. 29, 2018
Janelle Monae introduces Kesha during the 60th Annual Grammy Awards. (Photo: Robert Deutsch/USA TODAY NETWORK)
It's about time musicians said "Time's Up," aloud, and Janelle Monáe is here to prompt the conversation.
Though the Me Too movement and Time's Up campaign have taken hold in Hollywood, the initiative dedicated to confronting abuse and gender inequity hasn't caught on in the same way in the music industry.
More: News & Views: Why Me Too hasn't taken off in the music industry
At the Grammy Awards Sunday night, though, Monáe's introduction of Kesha's performance began to acknowledge the movement that was earlier represented by the white roses worn on the Grammy red carpet.
“Tonight, I am proud to stand in solidarity, as not just an artist, but a young woman with my fellow sisters in this room who make up the music industry: artists, writers, assistants, publicists, CEOs, producers, engineers and women from all sectors of the business. ... We come in peace, but we mean business. And to those who would dare try and silence us, we offer you two words: Time’s up," she said.
"We say time’s up for pay inequality. Time’s up for discrimination. And time’s up for the abuse of power," she said, before addressing the music industry in particular. "You see, it’s not just going on in Hollywood. It’s not just going on in Washington. It’s (also) right here."
Then, she introduced Kesha, the performer who has been public about her legal battle with her alleged abuser, producer Dr. Luke. Kesha released her nominated comeback album Rainbow in August, after her sexual assault case was dismissed. Kesha's empowering ballad Praying, from that album, was also nominated.
"And as artists so often do, our next performer embodies the great tradition of delivering important social messages though their music," Monáe said about Kesha, who went on to perform Praying along with Cyndi Lauper, Camilla Cabello, Andra Day, Bebe Rexha, Julia Michaels and the Resistance Revival Chorus.
The Grammy Awards are music's biggest night of the year. Here are our must-see moments from the show! USA TODAY
More: Brutally honest reviews of every Grammy performance
Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2DSJXzX
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Watch 4,000 Endangered Toads Fly Commercial for Release Into Wild
By Brian Clark Howard 06 December 2016
Delta passengers unwittingly flew with Puerto Rican crested toads, a species that was presumed extinct for decades.
People on a series of redeye flights from San Francisco to Puerto Rico in late October "had no idea they were flying with four thousand highly endangered toads," says Adam Fink, the zoological manager of the Oakland Zoo.
And rather than take up seat space or overhead bins, the tadpoles were stashed away in an insulated container in the plane's hold.
The tadpoles represent hope for the critically endangered Puerto Rican crested toad (Peltophryne lemur), the only toad native to Puerto Rico, and a unique species that had been thought extinct for much of the 20th century. Preferring arid or semi-arid areas of Karst limestone, the toads are identifiable by their unique head crests.
NEW HOPE FOR AN ENDANGERED TOAD: THOUSANDS OF TADPOLES RELEASED
On October 20, the tadpoles were unpacked and safely released into ponds in two protected national forests in Puerto Rico.
"This release will help bolster the numbers of the species significantly," says Fink, who leads reptile and amphibian breeding efforts at the Oakland Zoo.
The Puerto Rican crested toad has declined due to introduction to Puerto Rico of the marine toad and other invasive species, which eat the toads and tadpoles and out compete them for resources. The crested toad has also experienced loss of habitat from development and intensive sugarcane production.
Scientists thought the species had gone extinct by the 1930's, until a small population was rediscovered in the '60s. A few individuals were taken into captivity, where they have been bred ever since, at a number of zoos around the U.S. and Canada. Several of those zoos have been involved in a coordinated breeding program (facilitated by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association), which seeks to maximise the remaining genetic diversity of the species.
In October, a total of about eleven thousand of the tadpoles were released on the island. They were bred at the Oakland and three other zoos: the North Carolina Zoo, Omaha Zoo, and Sedgwick County Zoo (Wichita, Kansas).
GROWING TOADS
The Oakland Zoo has a special facility for breeding the toads, a species that was chosen because of its rareness and high priority among the scientific community (the zoo also works with several endangered California species). The zoo has 19 adult Puerto Rican crested toads on hand.
When it's time for breeding—based on a schedule coordinated across participating zoos—Fink places a few carefully selected individuals in a wine refrigerator. That readily available equipment has a fine level of temperature control, so the cold-blooded toads can be gradually cooled. When their body temperatures get to the mid-60s, they begin to hibernate.
After a few weeks, the toads are gradually warmed back up, causing them to wake up. Next, they are placed in a "rain chamber," a terrarium with plastic plants and a soil substrate. Regular dowsing with imitation rain puts the amphibians in the mood.
The toads are paired with potential mates, which are typically sent from other zoos on loan, in a plan to maximize genetic diversity. If they hit it off, the males fertilise the eggs of the females. Within a few days, those eggs develop into tadpoles, which can be carefully scooped up.
To count the little wigglers, Fink places the tadpoles into shallow pools and takes their picture. With a Sharpie, he counts each one on the image—recently he counted 4,096, a big increase over last year's 732. The tadpoles are then packed up and driven to the airport.
"We've had great luck shipping them via commercial airlines," Fink says.
HOPEFUL FUTURE
Fink hopes the toad will begin to rebound and re-establish itself on its own over time, although challenges with invasive species and limited habitat remain. Still, wildlife managers are now more aware of the threats.
And the species does not seem to be susceptible to the invasive chytrid fungus that is attacking so many other amphibians around the world.
Frogs and toads play important roles in their ecosystems, Fink adds, from keeping insects in check to serving as a food source for larger animals.
"Without these reintroduction programs the species would probably be extinct," says Fink. "Seeing these animals released, and knowing that we are having an impact on this species, is why I got into this kind of work."
Brian Howard is a senior writer covering environment, science, technology, and other topics.
FOLLOW BRIAN ON TWITTER
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NBC 5 News at 5:30am
Theo Epstein Says Plenty of Blame to Go Around for Chicago Cubs
Epstein spoke to reporters prior to the Cubs' game against the White Sox on Saturday
Published Jul 6, 2019 at 8:40 PM
Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
President Theo Epstein of the Chicago Cubs is seen before a game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field on September 23, 2016 in Chicago, Illinois.
President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein insisted Saturday he's not pinning the Chicago Cubs' struggles on manager Joe Maddon.
The way Epstein sees it, there's blame to go around.
"I see us as in it together," Epstein said. "My job is to put him in a position to succeed. I like nothing more as an executive than sitting back — the team's playing well, the manager's on a roll, you guys are all talking about this is the best job he's ever done. That makes me feel good. Now, the team's struggling so there's going to be speculation in the other direction."
The Cubs entered Saturday's game against the crosstown White Sox trailing NL Central leader Milwaukee by a half-game at 46-42. They were coming off an 11-3 romp at Pittsburgh on Thursday, but the Cubs have been in a funk for weeks, struggling at the plate and making mistakes in the field and on the bases.
They were 22-28 in the 50 games prior to Saturday. That included a 14-15 mark in June — their first losing month since May 2017.
"The sloppiness has kind of surprised all of us," Epstein said.
Maddon led the Cubs to the playoffs in each of his first four seasons, including a World Series championship in 2016 that ended a 108-year drought. But with an early exit last year after struggling down the stretch and a contract that expires after this season, there are questions about his future.
"We're in this together," Epstein said. "Look, Joe's been remarkably effective and remarkably consistent. I'm not going to sit here and say this is on him. My job is to put him in a position to succeed. And when we're not succeeding, you can't point at any one thing."
Epstein said the Cubs are "not close" to making any trades. How the team performs over the next few weeks will go a long way toward determining the types of moves Chicago tries to make prior to the July 31 deadline.
"I think we all feel fortunate to be within half a game of first place, giving the way that we've played," Epstein said. "If the (division) had shaken out a little bit differently, we'd be in a lot different mindset — probably looking more longer term. Right now, we're looking very short term. We're looking at how to claw back to first place and then build a lead."
Epstein said he expects veteran Ben Zobrist to rejoin the team this season, though there is no set date. The 38-year-old Zobrist is going through a divorce and has been on the restricted list since May 8.
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