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Press Release - Sentencing of Vincent Scardino, Jr.
Sussex County Prosecutor Francis A. Koch announced the sentencing of Vincent Scardino, Jr., who appeared before the Honorable Louis S. Sceusi, J.S.C. at the Sussex County Courthouse in Newton on February 27, 2020.
Scardino, age 49, of Newton, was sentenced to two years Probation and 180 days in the county jail. He must also undergo a TASC evaluation and follow all recommendations and pay $160.00 in court fines and fees.
He pled guilty on January 21, 2020, to Driving While Suspended for a Second or Subsequent DWI, a crime of the fourth degree and a Disorderly Persons charge of Obstruction.
When the defendant was stopped by Newton Police for a motor vehicle violation, he was found to be driving with a suspended license for a second or subsequent DWI. He also failed to appear for several Court ordered appearances.
Scardino was represented by Shaun Russell, Esq. and the State was represented by Assistant Prosecutor Brent M. Rafuse.
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Former state Rep. Kathy Sims booted from May ballot; link to my full story
Mon., April 30, 2018
Kathy Sims
Former state Rep. Kathy Sims, R-Coeur d’Alene, is being removed from the ballot in her bid for a comeback in a Post Falls district, after the Idaho Secretary of State’s office determined that she had just registered in her new district in February; you can read my full story here at spokesman.com. Under the Idaho Constitution, candidates for the Legislature must have been registered in the district where they run for a year prior to the election. The same rule last week tripped up former state Rep. Phil Hart, who represented a Kootenai County district for five terms and was trying for a comeback with a Kellogg address.
Because the ballots already have been printed for Idaho’s May 15 primary election, Sims’ name, like Hart’s, will be blacked out on the ballot.
Posted April 30, 2018, 2:15 p.m.
By Betsy Z. Russell
betsyr@spokesman.com
Betsy Z. Russell joined The Spokesman-Review in 1991. She currently is a reporter in the Boise Bureau covering Idaho state government and politics, and other news from Idaho's state capital.
Follow Betsy online:
Recent Eye On Boise posts
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News > Spokane
After pharmaceutical companies poured billions of opioid pills into Washington, rural counties try to recover
By Arielle Dreher arielled@spokesman.com(509) 459-5467
NEWPORT, Wash. – Pharmaceutical companies flooded Pend Oreille County with more than 6.6 million painkillers from 2006 to 2012, enough for 73 pills per person per year.
That’s according to an analysis of Drug Enforcement Administration data obtained by the Washington Post that shows some rural areas around the country were among the hardest hit from 2006 to 2012, including many counties like Pend Oreille, which sits right in Spokane’s backyard.
In Idaho’s Silver Valley, drug makers supplied more than 6.8 million opioids to Shoshone County, enough for 75 pills per person per year.
And in northwest Montana, Lincoln County pharmacies and drug stores received more than 8 million pills from 2006 to 2012, or about 61 pills per person per year.
One drugstore in Lewis County, Idaho, received an average of 87 pills per person in the seven-year period, the highest rate in the state.
All told, more than 1.8 billion prescription opioid pills flowed into Washington state from 2006 to 2012, with the majority of the supply coming from the top national manufacturer, SpecGx LLC, and distributed by McKesson Corp., the Washington Post revealed.
In Washington state, Pend Oreille County had the second-highest average number of pills per person in a year, the Post analysis found. From 2008-2009 alone, more than 2 million pills were supplied to pharmacies and providers in the county, a Spokesman-Review analysis of the DEA data found.
While the opioid epidemic peaked about a decade ago, the consequences for communities persist.
“That past data demonstrated that we had a problem, and we’re still dealing with the ramifications,” said Matt Schanz, administrator of the Northeast Tri County Health District, which covers Stevens, Pend Oreille and Ferry counties.
Doctors, for their part, were prescribing opioids in line with what the medical field was recommending them for at the time: treating patients’ pain.
Dr. Clayton Kersting, a longtime family practice doctor at the hospital in Newport, the seat of Pend Oreille County, recalls a shift in practice, when he began hearing that pain should be treated as a “fifth vital” for patients. Enter opioids.
“We were duped,” Kersting said, willingly admitting that doctors prescribing opioids to patients were a part of the problem. At the time, it wasn’t widely known how addictive opioids were.
When people started dying of overdoses, the potential problems with opioids surfaced. From 2008 to 2012, prescription opioid overdoses accounted for more than half of all drug overdose deaths in the state, Washington State Department of Health data show, with 499 deaths during that five-year period attributed to prescription opioids.
Opioids are used to treat pain, but they also produce euphoria in the brain, according to the National Institutes of Health, which makes them potentially addictive, even when used for a short time. When a person becomes reliant on a painkiller to feel normal, what started as a prescription can become a substance-use disorder. Addiction is a brain disease, which can literally alter the brain’s wiring, affecting a person’s thought patterns and behavior. Often, people who get addicted to opioids through prescriptions did not intend to.
“A lot of people didn’t want to get addicted,” Kersting said of his patients with opioid-use disorder.
Dr. Charissa Fotinos, the deputy chief medical officer at the Washington State Health Care Authority, was working as a community health care provider in the late 1990s, when leaders at the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries noticed a surge in the deaths of injured, young workers.
“When they dug into that, they noticed it was all people who had been prescribed opioids,” she said.
Eventually, state and federal policies cut back how many pills health care providers could prescribe, but the crisis has led to a persistent and current need for treatment and intervention.
Fast forward nearly a decade, and Washington state is working off a 2018 opioid response plan in order to provide access to treatment and limit prescribing practices statewide.
By November 2017, Washington state Medicaid policy changed to include limits to the amount of opioids prescribers could give to patients, excluding those undergoing cancer treatment, palliative care or opioid therapy. Providers are only allowed to prescribe Medicaid patients under the age of 20 three days’ worth, or 18 tablets of opioids. Patients over the age of 21 are only allowed a week’s supply, or 42 tablets.
When doctors scaled back opioid prescriptions, sometimes without a replacement for pain relief, many patients turned to the heroin or to synthetic opioids, like fentanyl.
While the prescription opioid overdose death rate has steadily fallen in Washington since 2011, the heroin and synthetic opioid overdose death rates have continued to climb. In 2017, heroin and synthetic opioids were responsible for more overdose deaths than prescription opioids in Washington.
“There’s a lot of conjecture about why that is,” Fotinos said. “In the early phase of the opioid epidemic, there were people who started on prescription opiates and transitioned to heroin as their provider stopped prescribing it.”
Whether current heroin overdose rates are associated with opioids is difficult to determine, but years later, treatment is finally catching on statewide. Kersting has used medication-assisted treatment, called MAT, for over a decade, which is an evidence-based substance-use disorder treatment that combines medication management with counseling. MAT is an FDA-approved way to treat opioid-use disorders with medications, like suboxone, which Kersting and his three other MAT-certified colleagues in Newport use.
“If we treat these patients right, we don’t stop their opioids,” he said. “We taper; we wean them off.”
And in reality, Kersting said it is not common in his experience for a person who is addicted to opioids to be completely off of them.
“I get probably 5 to 10% of people off, but most people who you try to ween off will relapse because their brain has been permanently changed, and as soon as you stop them, they don’t like it,” he said.
Physicians must complete an eight-hour training to get a waiver and be MAT-certified to provide the treatment. MAT treatment is available throughout the state, including in some rural counties, due to community-wide support. In Stevens, Pend Oreille and Ferry counties, leaders got local support for a syringe services program that includes a needle exchange and disposal service. A Northeast Tri County Health District coordinator can also make referrals to MAT and other counseling services through the program.
“We’ve really tried to have concerted efforts about how we respond to this situation we find ourselves in,” said Schanz, with the health district.
Schanz noted that one reason Pend Oreille might have had a higher rate of painkillers distributed from 2006 to 2012 is due to its proximity to the Idaho state line. Patients at Newport are not just from Pend Oreille County. In the Tri County Health District area, MAT treatment is available at six sites, which are also the health care hubs of the region: Republic, Kettle Falls, Colville, Chewelah, Wellpinit and Newport.
Medicaid enrollees in Washington state were hit hardest by the opioid epidemic, a Department of Social and Health Services report found. The opioid overdose death rate for Medicaid enrollees was more than four times higher than for those Washingtonians with other insurance from 2006 to 2012. The risk of drug-overdose death is strongly related to behavioral health risk factors.
Newport Hospital and Health Services recognized this early, and hospital leaders worked to get clinical care coordinators into their clinic as early as 2013, so providers could simply do a warm hand-off to counselors under the same roof.
“We started a long time ago trying to coordinate the behavioral health and chemical dependency,” said Tom Wilbur, CEO of Newport Hospital and Health Services. “We’re treating pain and illness which may not be medical.”
Schanz noted that the Northeast Tri County Health District serves a big Medicaid population. The numbers of uninsured people in the northeastern part of the state fell after Washington expanded Medicaid, and MAT is covered by Medicaid in the state. In Newport, 65-70% of patients seen by Newport Hospital and Health providers are covered by Medicare or Medicaid. Pend Oreille County’s current opioid numbers could be higher, too, due to providers’ willingness to continue MAT-treatment for patients regardless of their insurance provider. Kersting said he treats patients in the MAT program who could not find a doctor to do so in Spokane.
“We pick up a lot of patients because we are on the map as MAT providers,” Kersting said. “I have so many patients that are turned away from other providers and told they can’t, so I think our numbers are inflated because we take on people, and we don’t say no to anybody.”
Beyond MAT, however, options for other forms of pain treatment may or may not be reimbursable.
Marian Wilson, a WSU College of Nursing professor and researcher, has studied alternative treatment options, beyond drugs, for pain but notes that the pendulum has potentially swung too far.
“At this point, I think providers are fearful enough for their own possible liability to prescribe opioids the way they did before, and I’m not saying that’s a bad thing,” Wilson said. “The bottom line for me and many people in the pain world is we want every person to be treated as an individual.”
Treatments like acupuncture, massage, physical therapy or even yoga could be used to mitigate patient pain, but whether doctors will prescribe those treatments – and whether insurers will cover the costs of those treatments – is not settled, even more than a decade since the opioid epidemic swept the country.
Wilson and other researchers studied how online pain self-management programs can help manage physical and emotional symptoms for people with pain and opioid-use disorders, but the study also referenced research that shows, “Many MAT participants do not have insurance plans that cover potentially helpful non-opioid pain therapies, such as acupuncture or cognitive behavioral therapy.”
Medicaid now covers cognitive behavioral therapy, which can include mindfulness-based and physical therapy, said Fotinos, with the Health Care Authority. The Legislature has asked the authority to give a report of other evidence-based treatments that the state’s Medicaid program could also cover. That report is due in early 2020. For now, however, people looking for alternative pain treatment outside of MAT are at the mercy of what their insurer will cover.
“As a family doctor, I can write a prescription for anybody I want … but the challenge is if Medicaid doesn’t pay, they have to figure out how to pay for that,” Fotinos said. “Because most folks with Medicaid, if they can’t pay for anything, it becomes this sort of cycle of challenges.”
The opioid crisis might seem like old news, but the state’s response and treatment options for people with opioid-use disorder remains a pressing issue, Wilson said.
“Once we get them into treatment, they find that they can get back into life, they get jobs, go to school, their life can really turn around, so it’s not a bad thing,” Wilson said. “But we need to look at what we’re going to do for these people long term.”
In recent years, more people have accessed MAT treatment throughout the state, but the end-game strategy is far from complete on a state-policy side and many treatment questions remain for those with substance-use disorder going forward, like how to support people in recovery going forward.
“We’re really trying to take a long-term view of this, as opposed to, ‘You’ll be on medicine for a while and then you’ll be good to go,’” Fotinos said. “We know (that’s) not how it works, unfortunately.”
For 24-hour substance-use disorder support, the Washington Recovery Help Line can be reached at 1-866-789-1511.
Arielle Dreher's reporting for The Spokesman-Review is funded in part by Report for America and by members of the Spokane community. This story can be republished by other organizations for free under a Creative Commons license. For more information on this, please contact our newspaper’s managing editor.
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Earlier this year, we committed to investing more in communities of color across the country to help create a more equitable society.
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The Economics of Sport
A Primer on Gaelic Games
By Robbie Butler
We will be taking our usual Christmas break and will return on Monday the 16th of January. We would like to wish all of our readers a happy Christmas and prosperous new year.
Sportseconomics.org Workshop
The 3rd annual sportseconomics.org workshop on sport and economics will take place on Friday 21st of July 2017 at University College Cork.
The purpose of the workshop is to discuss and stimulate research ideas from those working in the areas of sports economics, sports management, coaching, public health, and related fields from Ireland and abroad.
Further details on the keynote and call for papers will be issued in the New Year.
The Organising Committee: David Butler, Robbie Butler, John Eakins
Restricting Supply - Mayweather Style
Anyone that has ever taken an introductory course in economics will probably have studied competitive markets. Economics textbooks argue that consumers are best served when competition exists amongst sellers. In theory, perfect competition is the best outcome from the consumer, as prices are driven to the point where suppliers are able to cover their average costs and no more.
One way for producers to increase prices is to restricted supply. This is not always possible, but in some markets conditions exists to allow producers to do this. The most extreme example is a monopoly.
The Forbes List of world's highest-paid athletes provides a really nice example of restriction of supply. Various familiar names appear on the list over the past five years such as LeBron James, Tiger Woods, Lionel Messi and Roger Federer. Each moves places over the period. There is one constant throughout - if Floyd Mayweather fights he will be top of the list.
Mayweather has been top in 2012, 2014 and 2015. His absence in 2013 and 2016 was down to inactivity in the ring from May 2012 to May 2013, and retirement. Not only does the boxer top the list, his earnings far exceed the next highest sports star, with the Grand Rapids native earning an estimated $300 last year.
One of the ways the boxer is cashing in is by deliberately restricting the supply of fights to the market. Since Christmas 2007 (almost a decade), Mayweather has fought just ten times. The hype that his infrequent reappearance in the ring generates, results in huge box office and pay-per-view broadcasting demand and generates revenues far above more frequently viewed sports stars.
As David touched on recently, uncertainty of outcome is largely irrelevant in boxing, yet the undefeated Mayweather finds this no impediment to generating interest in his fights.
Brexit And Player Opportunities
On Thursday it will be 21 years to the day since the European Court of Justic heard Union Royale Belge des Sociétés de Football Association ASBL v Jean-Marc Bosman (C-415/93).
Following the submissions by both sides, the court ruled that the transfer system that existed placed a restriction on the free movement of workers. This was prohibited by Article 39(1) of the Treaty of Rome. The court instructed that all other European Union football players had the right to move freely at the end of their contracts, so long as they were transferring to another club within the European Union. The rest is history.
While not directly testable, this had an impact on young Irish players hoping to sign professional contracts in the UK. It's now appears much harder for Irish players to make it at top clubs in the Premier League. As late as the mid-1990s Irish stars populated the top teams, with players contracted to Manchester United, Liverpool, Tottenham, Arsenal, Aston Villa and Chelsea. This is not the case today and is partly down to the global pool of talent open to all clubs in the Premier League. Clubs can, and do, sign players from every continent on the planet. The competition to "make it" is fierce.
Brexit may ironically provide an opportunity for Irish players. It is impossible to know what Britain's exit from the EU will look like but already the "special relationship" with Ireland is being mentioned in both the UK and Europe. The House of Lord has mentioned drafting a bilateral agreement, with EU approval, that could apply to citizens on both islands. While this may not be possible, as member states can't make their own agreements with countries outside the EU, special arrangements have not been ruled out.
Should the UK restrict the movement of people entering from the EU (migration was cited as the single biggest factor for voting to leave), it is likely the number of EU-born players playing in the Premier League will fall. If Ireland has a "special agreement" it might be possible for players to move more freely. Effectively, it could be an return to conditions similar to those pre-Bosman.
Should this opportunity arise it can only be a good thing for Irish players and we may start to see stars emerging again within the confines of Old Trafford, the Emirates and Anfield. Only time will tell.
Boxing PPV and (Un)certain Outcomes
By David Butler
In the last post on this website Robbie discussed how uncertainty of outcome is often what drives interest in sport. As he said “contests where the outcome is predictable are often criticised for being boring”. He also notes that “some might argue that watching a dominant champion can increase interest in a sport”. At times people enjoy watching a champion or a well-known star as much as a close contest.
Looking at the betting for this weekend’s big boxing fight made me think about this a little more. The betting on the Anthony Joshua v Eric Molina fight currently stands at Joshua 1/50 to win. Molina is 14/1 to succeed and a draw is 50/1. Why would customers pay £16.95/€21.95 for what the markets suggest is a foregone conclusion?
When it comes to major boxing matches, uncertainty of outcome rarely seems to influence promoters or those buying the product. The list below shows the average odds for HBO fights in 2016. HBO serves as a distributor of major boxing events for pay-per-view. A clear favorite has existed in almost all of the bouts with the exception of the Sergey Kovalev vs. Andre Ward and Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley fights. In all cases the favourite has won (marked in blue below).
While the data for subscribers by fight is a little patchier, the relationship between uncertain outcomes and demand seems spurious. From this list, the fight the market priced as the closest contest , Sergey Kovalev vs. Andre Ward, had a reported 160,000 buyers. The fights such as Canelo Alvarez vs. Liam Smith and Canelo Alvarez vs. Amir Khan had 300,000 and 600,000 subscribers respectively.
Naturally, this raises the question of why people shell out cash to view outcomes that are hardly uncertain. Many reasons might exist. Maybe viewers enjoy seeing a dominant champion succeed? Many of the headlines after these bouts use the words 'demolish' or 'crush' to describe the fight. Maybe nationalism is a factor? The Mexicans tune in to see Alvarez and the British follow Khan. Maybe viewers rarely get to see certain fighters or it could be close to the end for one star? Maybe the major broadcasting firms and promoters just do a great marketing job? Maybe fans are risk averse and just don't want to miss what could be a major upset in boxing history? Maybe viewers just don't want to feel out of the loop in the coffee room on Monday morning. The list could go on...
Uncertainty Of Outcome & Handicapping
When watching sport, uncertainty of outcome is often what drives interest. Contests where the outcome is predictable are often criticised for being boring. Although some might argue that watching a dominant champion can increase interest in a sport (think of Tiger Woods or Roger Federer over the past 15 years), almost everyone accepts uncertainty of outcome is desirable at some level.
Sports governing bodies employ a variety of techniques in order to increase uncertainty of outcome, with varying levels of success. Some sports are more amenable to levelling the playing field than others. For example, in football financial fair play rules are an attempt to restrict dominate teams from becoming even more powerful. The success of these rules is debatable.
A sport where uncertainty of outcome is more readily tackled is horse racing. The most widespread means to generate uncertainty of outcome is through the handicapping process. For those unfamiliar with the sport, each horse has a handicap rating. In Ireland at the moment this is a number between 65 and 177 (see full list here). Don Cossack is the highest rated National Hunt horse running in Ireland today on a rating of 177. In theory, this rating predicts that this horse would beat every other horse in training.
In order to overcome the predictability this would bring, handicapping is used, with higher rated horses carrying more weight in races. This process increases uncertainty of outcome, as the ability of the horse is not the only consideration when attempting to predict the outcome of a race.
Sponsors and the public appear to embrace uncertainty of outcome also.
Recently my father presented me with a list of the of the top 15 most valuable jump races during the 2016-2017 season (presented to the right). The races marked in red are handicaps. The other races are those where equal weights are carried by all horse (gender concessions still apply).
The biggest prize is a handicap – the world famous Aintree Grand National. As is the 3rd biggest (Irish equivalent). In fact, almost half of the list are handicaps. In total the list adds to €5,610,400. The Aintree Grand National is more than 20% of this amount. In total, the seven handicaps are worth €2,824,000 (50.34%).
The irony here of course is that the best horses generally don’t run in handicaps. It is difficult to conceive lesser athletes in baseball, football, basketball, rugby, tennis, golf, etc. playing for more prize money than elite athletes. This just does not happen. The best players play for the biggest prizes.
Incentives prevent handicapping of this sort being introduced in most human sports as it would act as a disincentive to top performers. Horse racing is fortunate in this regard and interest in handicap races on these islands is as popular as ever. In fact, given the distriubtion of prizemoney above it's likely 'better' horses will appear more frequently in handicaps in the months ahead.
This website was founded in July 2013.
Competitive Balance
Declan Jordan
Ed Valentine
Impact Studies
John Considine
John Eakins
Paul O'Sullivan
Robbie Butler
Simpsonomics
Sporting Bodies
Stephen Brosnan
The website is not formally affiliated to any institution and all of the entries represent the personal views and opinions of an individual contributor. The website operates on a not-for-profit basis. For this reason we decline all advertisement opportunities.
To contact us email sportseconomics2013@gmail.com or find us on Twitter @SportEcon.
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Foot Locker disappoints, sales to drag in H1 but Asia growth, Carbon 38 could be highlights
Foot Locker shares plummeted more than 12% in Friday trading after weaker-than-expected quarterly results were compounded by news sales would likely continue to drag into H1 2018.
However, chief executive Richard Johnson remained upbeat about the future. While he said he wouldn’t be offering any strategy details for improving the business until later in the year, he hinted at expansion in Asia and highlighted the $15m stake it took in the luxury women’s activewear brand Carbon 38 in Q4 as positives.
But for Q4, comparable-stores sales fell 3.7% as total revenues of $2.21bn in the period just missed analyst’ $2.22bn call.
There was also a loss of $49m/40 cents per share for the quarter ended February 3, compared to a profit of $189m/$1.42 a year ago. Adjusted earnings, however, came to $1.26 per share, beating analysts’ view by a penny.
For the full year, the company earned $284m/$2.22 per share on a record $7.78bn in sales.
“The first quarter of 2018 will likely see the continuation of sales and margins in line with trends in the second half of 2017,” admitted CFO Lauren Peters. “However, we are confident that we will inflect back to positive comparable-store sales by the middle of 2018.”
Johnson added: “We remained a highly profitable company in 2017, even though our sales and profit results were not what we planned for going into the year. Looking ahead, with the product and other strategic initiatives we have underway, we believe we are positioned well, both organisationally and financially, to successfully transform our business to continue inspiring and serving an exceptionally dynamic youth culture for generations to come.”
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// EN //
Another rock fisher dies of fish poisoning after catching one
par Alexandre de Susini | Sep 10, 2020 | 카지노 가입 머니
WACO, Texas – A Texas rock fisherman died Friday, August 1, 2012 after he caught a wild fish with an ax.
It happened on the Pecos River when 51-year-old Tony S. Williams was fishing near the end of his shift with the Gulf Ranch Rock Fishermen’s Associa바카라 룰tion.
That’s when he pi용인출장안마cked up a wild trout fish.
Says Willie Wachter, a member of the association, Williams and another volunteer tied the fish to a pole. The fish flew away and landed near shore.
A few seconds later, Williams noticed what looked like a sharp blade protruding out of the end.
“We pulled the fish off the pole and then he went to the ground and fell on his face,” says Wachter. “He died about 3 o’clock that night. He probably hit his head and there’s nothing he could have done about it.”
Williams had just taken his first wild trout on his first day at the camp.
The fish got stuck to another rock and his friend, Bob Ramey, pulled it away while Williams was still down there. Ramey has been with the Gulf Ranch Rock Fishermen’s Association since 1991.
But the blade was still there and not gone. Wachter says his colleague didn’t notice it when they started taking the fish down to the river.
“The fish wasn’t even 카지노alive, just holding the bait,” says Wachter.
At the time of the incident, there was only one other person who had died after eating a rockfish. The other was the co-worker who was bitten by a rockfish, Wachter adds.
On the Facebook page of the Gulf Ranch Rock Fishermen’s Association, a man who said he was at the same spot as Williams and said it took him “several hours” to find the fisherman says, “Tony would have wanted to know how to properly catch one of these.”
Says William L. McKeown, a member of the association, “We are devastated by Tony’s loss. The only people left at the camp can’t explain how they did not see it happen.”
When Wachter’s crew found the dead fish they immediately checked to make sure no one was hurt. They got a few pieces of the fish and went to the scene and made a beeline for a few locals to grab it.
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RCS PARIS B 441 201 654 – 5912 Z
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Students Rank Colleges in New Living Wage Table
Luke Hallam 8 February 2019
Student activists, working with information gathered through Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, have ranked Cambridge University’s thirty-one colleges in order of favourable employment practices.
The table, dubbed ‘Taylor’s Table’ after a fellow at Trinity College, who in 1907 gave £500 to pay for the dental inspection of every schoolchild in the city, creates a points system based on three criteria. First, the lowest hourly wage paid to staff (including ‘casual’ workers) above the age of 18. The highest paying college is Queens’, the only college currently accredited by the Living Wage Foundation, which paid a minimum of £9.08 an hour excluding holiday pay. The current median hourly salary in the UK is around £11.31. The lowest was Churchill, paying a minimum £6.80 hourly.
The table also includes the number and percentage of staff paid less than the Real Living Wage which, at the time of data collection (August 2018), stood at £8.75. Nearly a quarter of colleges do not pay any staff below this figure, while Robinson paid 128 staff below. This amounts to nearly 59% of non-academic, non-administrative workers at the College.
The Real Living Wage now stands at £10.55 in London, and £9 elsewhere. However, the average monthly rent for a two bedroom property in Cambridge is over one and a half times the cost in the rest of England, leading to calls for a specific Cambridge Living Wage to be adopted.
Data on wage payments was combined to create a total ranking, placing Queens’, Trinity, and Sidney Sussex in the top three, with Magdalene, Clare and Robinson coming bottom.
The table was compiled by Joe Cook and Abdullah Shah, creators of a well-received documentary about inequality in Cambridge entitled ‘A Choice to Look’, which was released in July. Work on the table began the same month, involving individual FOIs to each college in order to compile a comprehensive ranking.
Source: Taylor’s Table
The FOIs also appeared to reveal a disparity in the additional benefits that colleges pay their lowest-paid staff. Certain colleges – including Gonville and Caius, Jesus, and Trinity – reported paying their staff an annual Christmas bonus. Others, including Sidney Sussex (ranked third best), reported not paying any additional “cash benefits” to their lowest-paid staff. The responses concerning such benefits were not uniform, as certain colleges distinguished between permanent and non-permanent staff. The fact that some colleges reported providing free meals for staff while others did not likely arises from a difference in interpretation about what constitutes a “cash benefit”. Cook and Shah explained to TCS that these variations meant details of additional benefits were not included in the ranking: “while theoretically including these benefits in the ranking could have a small impact, we believe benefits should not be used as a way for colleges to distract from the fact they do not pay a living wage.”
In further comments, Cook and Shah lambasted the practices of some colleges as “exploitation”, and expressed a hope that the rankings will accelerate calls for change.
Daniel Zeichner MP was among those to welcome the transparency: “I congratulate campaigners for digging out this important information, and urge colleges to look closely at their employment practices to make sure that their low-paid staff are getting a fair deal”. Meanwhile, CUSU’s Evie Aspinall said that she finds it “incredibly disappointing” that colleges consistently fail to pay their staff the Real Living Wage. The table reveals that only eight colleges paid all their staff above £8.75, compared with the eleven Oxford colleges signed up to the Living Wage Foundation scheme.
The University as a whole has committed to paying all direct employees the Real Living Wage, however this does not extend to the thousands of workers employed across the colleges.
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Staff at Milwaukee Art Museum move to create ‘wall-to-wall’ union
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which already represents security guards, could cover all the institution’s departments
Billy Anania
13th August 2020 02:19 GMT
Workers at the Milwaukee Art Museum (MAM) have announced their intent to unionise with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 10. Staff announced their organising campaign on a new website, demanding better diversity in hiring, especially at the upper level of management, fair pay and benefits, and job security.
“We cannot sustain ourselves on the prestige of working at Wisconsin’s most recognisable cultural institution,” the group statement reads. “Our combined creativity and strength will make MAM stronger and better poised to face the challenges of the future. But we need to be heard first.”
The union has represented the museum’s security guards for decades, recently winning them a new three-year contract and wage increases. With the guards’ support, the organising staff is seeking a “wall-to-wall” union that would cover all of the museum’s departments. Despite pandemic-related furloughs, the union is collecting signed cards from all MAM employees who want to be represented, regardless of their employment status.
“We are still in an early period and unsure if management plans to recognise the respectful relationship we’ve had for decades, or if this will go the way so many other organising campaigns go,” the union’s spokesman Alex Hoekstra says.
While organisers have worked behind the scenes for about eight months, management says they are only now learning about the efforts. “We continually work toward creating a safe, healthy, and open environment for all our employees,” a spokesman says in a statement. “We invite dialogue and encourage staff to address any issues with their supervisor or human resources.”
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A Triple Threat
by Riley Lane
photography courtesy of Riley Lane
New Yorkbased indie-rock band Beach Fossils and new-punk band Wavves stopped at Paradise Rock Club on Sunday, October 28th as part of their nationwide “I Love You” tour. Beach Fossils and Wavves change off headlining intermittently throughout the tour, and it was Wavves who headlined this Boston performance.
Indiana native and former Hoops guitarist Kevin Krauter opened the show, playing a myriad of tracks from his new LP, Toss Up, as well as the “Reckless” single off of his 2016 LP, Changes. He brought along his band for a guitar and synth-heavy set, finished off by Krauter’s own unique blend of soft rock and electronica pop.
Toss Up marked up a change in Krauter’s style, leaning into the contemporary indie-pop scene, blending retro ‘80s synth patterns with rock centered guitar-based chord structures. Moving away from his more acoustic focused music, this change reveal a more energetic set, with a faster and louder soundscape.
This sound is becoming increasingly more popular in the young indie community, drawing on ‘80s pop influences, hip-hop and big indie rock acts of the late 2000s. Krauter stands out with his exceptional vocal ability and unique melodies, which pairs incredibly with his vivid songwriting.
Highlights from Kevin’s set included “Rollerskate,” and “Lonely Boogie,” two electronica-rock pieces that showed off the band’s varied skillset and energetic performance ability.
Coming on stage with their SNL spoof opening, Beach Fossils performed next, playing a number of songs from their 2017 LP, Somersault, as well as numerous classics from earlier works. Starting off with the LP’s lead single, “Down the Line,” the band instantly energized the crowd, who formed a small mosh pit near the front of the stage. Patrons who attempted to crowd surf were escorted to the back, which didn’t deter them from getting back in and doing it all over again.
Somersault shows Beach Fossils perfecting the sound they’ve been cultivating since their 2011 EP, What a Pleasure. While focused, the album innovates and pushes the sound less than what might have been expected. It does, however, feature incredibly thought-out production and songwriting, taking its place as one of Beach Fossils’ most polished records.
The band played a number of other hits, such as “May 1st,” “Sugar” and their extremely popular hit “Sleep Apnea,” from 2013’s LP, Clash the Truth. The entire set was exceptionally tight, showcasing the band’s extensive touring and live experience.
As headliner, Wavves performed last, bringing a high tempo, high energy and electrifying set. Playing their stand-out singles from their 2017 LP, You’re Welcome, the band ended up needing the help of two additional security guards to control the increasingly energized crowd.
“It was much better than I expected, initially I was surprised by the choice to put Kevin Krauter, Beach Fossils and Wavves together because they all seem like pretty different groups, but it actually made for a really great show,” said Annie Millman (Pardee ’22). An extremely polished three-part performance, the bands put on an exceptional night of indie-rock soundscapes.
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Students with Drug Convictions can now Receive Federal Aid
Tilray-Aphria Merger Spawns Big Cannabis
UN Loosens International Cannabis Classification
House Votes to Decriminalize Marijuana, But…
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4 Reasons to Include Cannabis in Your Beauty Routine
Caffeine and CBD?
5 Great Ways to Consume CBD Products
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Top CBD Oil Companies
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What Are The Benefits of CBD Oil?
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Products by and for women
Products for pleasure
Pain-relief products
Nasdaq gets first cannabis listing as Cronos joins exchange
The Nasdaq Stock Market listed its first cannabis shares on Tuesday, marking a key milestone for an industry that has been rejected by the Trump administration.
Cronos Group Inc., which already trades in Canada, will be the first marijuana company on a major U.S. exchange — right alongside Nasdaq stocks such as Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Starbucks Corp.
The listing could help expand the so-called Green Rush. U.S. investors who were previously uncomfortable or restricted from putting funds abroad or into over-the-counter stocks now have a mainstream option that has passed muster with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
“It’s very significant for the company and the whole industry,” Mike Gorenstein, Cronos founder and chief executive officer, said in an interview. “It’s a huge moment — just shows the stigma is continuing to erode on cannabis.”
The move comes as the marijuana industry is expanding across the world. Uruguay has legalized cannabis federally for all adults, and Canada is expected to follow suit later this year. Germany is among about 30 countries that allow medicinal sales of the plant.
Don’t miss our reviews of strains, vape oils and other cannabis products.
In the U.S., nine states and Washington, D.C., have legal recreational pot, and 29 states have legal medical cannabis. The American market alone is expected to reach $50 billion by 2026, up from $6 billion in 2016, according to investment bank Cowen & Co.
Cronos is taking advantage of the international opportunity. The Toronto-based company produces and sells medical marijuana in Canada. It also ships its products to Germany, where they are distributed by G. Pohl-Boskamp GmbH.
Israel partnership
Cronos is also building a growing facility in partnership with a kibbutz in Israel and has received a license through a joint venture in Australia. Eventually, the company hopes to have a presence in the U.S. too, Gorenstein said, but not until it’s legal at the federal level.
Nasdaq’s approval came after Cronos spent six months doing preparatory work, leading up to an application for listing filed this year. The company had worked with Nasdaq to get approval for an over-the-counter listing last year.
FILE – In this Tuesday Jan. 30, 2018, file photo, a Nasdaq employee works at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
The news helped send Cronos shares up as much as 11 percent to $9.83 on Monday. The stock had fallen 7.3 percent this year through Friday’s close.
For Cronos, listing in the U.S. could open the doors to significant capital. It will also clear up confusion surrounding legal investment, Gorenstein said. About one of every three calls and discussions he’s had with American investors has focused on whether they can legally invest in the Canadian entity.
“A lot of U.S. investors still are unsure about the legality: There’s not a lot of awareness about the fact that it’s federally legal in Canada versus the U.S.,” he said. “By listing on Nasdaq, it will open up the opportunities for a lot of U.S. investors that otherwise were unsure — even on the institutional level.”
Clouds over industry
The confusion isn’t without cause. Cannabis is still federally illegal in the U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions in January rescinded the Obama-era protections that allowed state-legal industries to thrive.
Still, that illegality doesn’t prevent U.S. investors from putting money into foreign companies that operate legally in their respective countries, Gorenstein said.
Cronos was “laser-focused” on making sure it was absolutely ready to conform to the U.S. SEC standards before filing its application to list on Nasdaq. That made the process relatively smooth.
Check out our updated map showing shops licensed to sell recreational cannabis in California.
“It was an exercise in checking everything we do and looking in the mirror and asking are there any gaps, because if we’re used as an example for other cannabis companies, we want to make sure that we’re setting the right example,” Gorenstein said.
Even before he founded Cronos, Gorenstein was no stranger to regulated industries. He started his career as an M&A lawyer, mainly working with alcohol and pharmaceutical companies.
Constellation deal
There may be opportunities to team up with big companies in those spaces. Constellation Brands Inc., which sells Corona in the U.S., last year made a direct investment in Canopy Growth, one of Cronos’s competitors. A bigger partner can help capitalize on the industry’s enormous growth potential over the next few years.
“We’re driving to go from zero to Pepsi in two years,” Gorenstein said. “That’s quite a bit to do without any help, so having partnerships — whether it’s an investor, distribution, joint development with alcohol and pharmaceutical companies — is very, very helpful.”
Gorenstein’s legal background has kept the company rooted in compliance, he said. Federal illegality in the U.S. is what drove Cronos’s founders to locate and expand the company in Canada, where the plant has been federally legal for medical use since 2001. Still, Gorenstein said he hopes Cronos’s listing will bolster companies on both sides of the border.
“This hopefully serves as a catalyst and is helpful to the U.S. companies as well just in terms of eroding stigma,” he said. “Because we do want to see the industry move forward as a whole.”
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Ashton’s Relationship Frustrates Demi
Updated Apr. 21, 2017 3:22PM ET / Published Oct. 18, 2012 7:23AM ET
Getty Images (2) ; AFP / Getty Images
Well, it wasn’t an easy year. People reports that Demi Moore is “jealous and frustrated” by former husband Ashton Kutcher’s relationship with Mila Kunis. Moore, who’s turning 50 soon, split with Kutcher last November after six years of marriage ended with his cheating. Moore’s friends are also concerned about her diminishing weight, saying she still hasn’t recovered. Meanwhile, Kutcher topped Forbes’s list of highest-paid actors, while Kunis was named the Sexiest Woman Alive by Esquire.
Read it at People
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Short Film - Ian
Today sees the release of Juan José Campanella’s animated short film, Ian, a little film with a big message. Find a spare ten minutes to watch it ...
Ian was born with cerebral palsy. All he wants is to make friends, although it seems impossible to achieve when discrimination and bullying keep him away from his beloved playground. However, this young boy is determined and won’t give up easily.
This important film is based on a true story of a boy called Ian and aims to help children to understand disability and for the message of inclusion to reach every home. Ian’s mother, Sheila Graschinsky, set up the Ian Foundation to fight the lack of information that often leads to people with disabilities being bullied and feeling isolated. Sheila originally approached MundoLoco CGI with the idea of using film as a teaching tool and Emmy nominee Gastón Gorali wrote the film around the real story of Ian, which was then directed by Abel Goldfarb.
“IAN” was produced at MundoLoco CGI by Oscar winner and two-time Emmy winner Juan José Campanella using a unique animation technique that combined stop-motion sets made out of recycled waste with the latest CG technology. The film doesn’t use dialogue to express the children’s feelings making it inclusive to everyone regardless of their age, race, or language they speak.
Latin-American filmmaker Juan José Campanella has written, directed and produced international box-office hits, like The Son of the Bride, Metegol, and Academy Award winner The Secret in Their Eyes.
Image - Fundacion Ian
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In Reversal, Iowa Governor Issues Statewide Mask Mandate as Hospitalizations Climb
An observer is removed from the hall by police after refusing to properly wear a mask as election officials begin the recount process of ballots from the November 3 election at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee on Nov. 20, 2020. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Masks Have No Significant Effect Against CCP Virus: Study
By Meiling Lee
November 21, 2020 Updated: November 21, 2020
A recent study on surgical mask-wearing found no significant difference in CCP virus infections between those who wore a mask and those who didn’t. But the study will probably not have any impact on mask-wearing, as many places are imposing lockdowns and strict mask mandates due to increasing cases.
The study, which was carried out in Denmark and published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, involved more than 6,000 participants who spent over three hours outside their homes. They were divided into two groups and observed for a month from April to May or May to June, where half of the people in each group were provided 50 three-layered, disposable surgical masks and given instructions on how to properly wear them.
At the time of the study preventative measures such as physical distancing and hand hygiene were practiced, but mask-wearing wasn’t enforced by the Danish government outside hospital settings.
The participants were tested for the CCP virus at the end of the month and the mask group was compared to those in the non-mask-wearing group.
The researchers found that wearing a “surgical mask when outside the home among others did not reduce, at conventional levels of statistical significance, incident SARS-CoV-2 infection compared with no mask recommendation.”
Forty-two participants (1.8 percent) in the mask group caught COVID-19, and 53 (2.1 percent) in the control group contracted the disease.
SARS-CoV-2 is another name for the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus that causes the disease COVID-19.
This is the first randomized controlled trial to address if masks protect the wearer from being infected with the CCP virus in a community setting. Its findings are contrary to that of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which announced on Nov. 10 that “the prevention benefit of masking is derived from the combination of source control and personal protection for the mask wearer.”
Prior to the latest update, the CDC said that wearing a mask protected those around the wearer, and not specifically the person wearing the mask.
A child wears a mask as she has her temperature checked at the entrance to Alton Towers in Alton, England, on July 4, 2020. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
Data Lacking in Support of Mask Wearing
The Danish trial falls short when attempting to determine if masks mitigate the spread of the CCP virus, according to Dr. Lee Merritt, MD, an orthopedic surgeon and a member of America’s Frontline Doctors, as it “suffers from several flaws which they themselves admit: ‘Inconclusive results, missing data, variable adherence, patient-reported findings on home tests, no blinding, and no assessment of whether masks could decrease disease transmission from mask wearers to others.’”
She said there are currently no controlled studies that show widespread mask-wearing decreases the transmission of “small size virus infection,” although there have been “numbers of papers [that] have been published which have attempted to justify masking the world against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, but none actually demonstrate real world data to support the practice.”
There are, however, randomized controlled studies for influenza or influenza-like illness, that found that masks have little to no effect on whether a person contracts influenza or not.
The Danish study’s findings were “compatible with the findings of a review of randomized controlled trials of the efficacy of face masks for prevention (as personal protective equipment) against influenza virus.”
That review on masks for influenza was published in the CDC’s Emerging Infectious Diseases journal in May. Researchers evaluated randomized controlled trials of the transmission of the flu and mask-wearing, and determined that they “did not find evidence that surgical-type face masks are effective in reducing laboratory-confirmed influenza transmission, either when worn by infected persons (source control) or by persons in the general community to reduce their susceptibility.”
Proponents of mask-wearing argue that the studies on masks and influenza shouldn’t be applied to COVID-19, as the CCP virus is different from the flu virus and the trials were not conducted during a pandemic.
But Merritt said influenza is “a similar disease in size of virus and transmission characteristics.”
After the Spanish flu, the surgeon general of the U.S. Navy wrote in an annual report in 1919: “The wearing of face masks by healthy persons was made compulsory at several stations and on board a few vessels. On the whole this was not a practicable measure and little or no good was accomplished by the use of masks. The eyes were not protected. The masks quickly became soiled and required frequent adjustment by the fingers.”
He further continued: “No evidence was presented which would justify compelling persons at large to wear masks during an epidemic. The mask is designed only to afford protection against a direct spray from the mouth of a carrier of pathogenic microorganisms.”
At that time, masks were only recommended for visitors and those who “examine or wait upon the sick” at the hospital. And while masks were constantly worn at the hospital, the surgeon general said, “The morbidity rate, nevertheless, was very high among those attending the sick.”
Furthermore, those who wore a mask had a slightly higher incidence of influenza than those who didn’t wear a mask while caring for the sick during the epidemic.
“At the United States Naval Training Station, Great Lakes, Ill., of 674 hospital corpsmen and volunteers of other ratings who were on duty caring for the sick during the epidemic, 96 wore gauze masks. The others did not. Of the latter, 7.9 percent developed influenza, while 8.3 percent of those who wore masks contracted the disease.”
Workers display a sign during the Montage Mountain rave in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 23, 2020. (Kena Betancur/AFP via Getty Images)
While masks are already mandatory in many U.S. states, daily cases continue to rise as the country heads into the flu season. Now, some states are expanding their mask mandates and imposing new lockdown measures, which the CDC doesn’t recommend if there’s already mask policies in place.
According to the CDC, “Adopting universal masking policies can help avert future lockdowns, especially if combined with other non-pharmaceutical interventions such as social distancing, hand hygiene, and adequate ventilation.”
In Pennsylvania, the secretary of health issued a stricter mask mandate (pdf) that began on Nov. 18 and will last until certain criteria are met. The Pennsylvania Department of Health did not reply to a request for comment on the criteria.
Pennsylvanians are required to wear a mask whether they are indoors in their own home when they have guests over at other indoor spaces, and while outdoors when unable to maintain physical distance. Warnings and citations will be given if masks are not worn, according to the order.
In New Hampshire, Gov. Chris Sununu announced a statewide mask mandate on Friday for the first time after saying he wouldn’t do so on Nov. 9 in response to Joe Biden’s call for governors to make masks mandatory.
Everyone over the age of five must now wear a mask while in public when they are unable to maintain six feet apart, whether indoors or outside. The order (pdf) took effect on Friday and will end on Jan. 15.
The Granite State was one of 16 that did not have a statewide mask mandate according to Patch.
North Dakota also announced for the first time a mask mandate (pdf) and other mitigation measures to curb the spread of COVID-19.
And in California, Gov. Gavin Newsom expanded his mask order on Nov. 16, requiring Californians to wear a mask whenever they are outside their home unless they meet certain criteria.
Socialism & Freedom
‘They Want to Cancel Our Culture, Our History, Our Liberty’: Goya CEO
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Home Birth
#1 Post by Maria Mac » September 4th, 2008, 1:07 pm
gcb01 wrote:
Alan C. wrote: I was directed to this website by a link in one of the NSS articles.
A site called What’s the Harm? has collected together thousands of stories of what happens when people suspend critical thinking. It makes fascinating reading.
useful debunker of some of the weirder stuff we get here, home birthing, vaccine denial, homeopathy, etc.
There's nothing weird about home birthing. My younger child was born at home and it was a million times better than being in hospital. I would recommend it to anyone for a second or subsequent child provided their GP surgery supports it as mine did.
Re: Complementary therapies
#2 Post by Alan C. » September 4th, 2008, 1:41 pm
There's nothing weird about home birthing. My younger child was born at home and it was a million times better than being in hospital.
My mother had her first six at home and her seventh (now deceased) in hospital.
Fortunately the midwife lived just around the corner from us
#3 Post by gcb01 » September 5th, 2008, 2:10 pm
Maria wrote: There's nothing weird about home birthing. My younger child was born at home and it was a million times better than being in hospital. I would recommend it to anyone for a second or subsequent child provided their GP surgery supports it as mine did.
oh dear, it's that old sample size = 1 problem. I thought your husband would have put you straight on this one.
Ah but what about my mothers sample size gcb01? 6 out of seven aint bad.
#5 Post by gcb01 » September 6th, 2008, 11:41 am
right. That's our sample size up to 7 - only 993 to go.
#6 Post by Fia » September 6th, 2008, 11:36 pm
I'll add three - not mine sadly - but I was there at some stage of labour at three planned homebirths.
gcb01 wrote: right. That's our sample size up to 7 - only 993 to go.
If the contention we are trying to prove here is that home birthing is not 'weird' and if this can be proven by the fact that a significant proportion of women actively choose it and don't regret it, then the 15,000 or so women who successfully give birth at home in the UK annually should surely suffice but perhaps the fact that home birthing (unlike vaccine denial) has UK government support adds some weight to the argument?
The Department of Health says it wants to end assumptions that a hospital is always the best place to have a baby.
Or can that just be dismissed as blatant vote-catching?
Maria wrote: Or can that just be dismissed as blatant vote-catching?
Well, like most things this government does then yes. If it is so safe then how come independent midwives can't get insurance cover? I don't deny that the experience if everything goes ok is hugely better than stuck in a hospital.
I see we've moved from whether it's weird to whether it's safe.
gcb01 wrote: If it is so safe then how come independent midwives can't get insurance cover? I don't deny that the experience if everything goes ok is hugely better than stuck in a hospital.
Is this a serious argument? That independent midwives can't get insurance cover tells us nothing about the safety or otherwise of home births any more than does the fact that the Department of Health are encouraging it and increasing numbers of NHS Trusts are providing for it.
Here's an article giving the most up to date information: http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/nh ... 4251839.jp
It's not just about being better than stuck in a hospital. It's about having less unecessary medical intervention and, as a result, an easier birth and post-partum experience which, in turn, can make for a more successful mother-baby relationship in those crucial early days. The reason my first labour lasted 22 hours and ended up in a forceps delivery and a baby who wouldn't take to the breast for several days was because I was given an epidural. The reason I was given an epidural was because in the hospital environment I found it impossible to relax and be in control of myself. I screamed the place down and assaulted medical staff and that just wouldn't do! The pain was no less during my 9-hour second labour but, without a team of medical staff around me stressing me out, I was able to manage my own labour without pain relief, give birth normally to a baby who was alert and fed immediately and enthusiastically.
Around 15,000 women a year will have had a similar experience.
I'll split off the posts about home birth as they don't belong in the CAM thread.
#10 Post by gcb01 » September 7th, 2008, 8:34 pm
Maria wrote: I see we've moved from whether it's weird to whether it's safe.
I'll give you that one - I had lumped home births in with "weird" given the propensity of those advocating the other "weird" items to go for home births. I don't consider home births weird, just relatively less safe.
Maria wrote:
Why wouldn't independent midwives be able to get insurance cover if home birthing was safe?
The NHS's enthusiasm for home births may be due to it being much cheaper as saving money always seems to be more important than outcomes.
Maria wrote: Here's an article giving the most up to date information: http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/nh ... 4251839.jp
This seems to say that home births are safe if you don't need to transfer to hospital and the report did not appear to cover maternal complications. I'm not sure how it advances things.
Maria wrote: It's not just about being better than stuck in a hospital. It's about having less unecessary medical intervention and, as a result, an easier birth and post-partum experience which, in turn, can make for a more successful mother-baby relationship in those crucial early days. The reason my first labour lasted 22 hours and ended up in a forceps delivery and a baby who wouldn't take to the breast for several days was because I was given an epidural. The reason I was given an epidural was because in the hospital environment I found it impossible to relax and be in control of myself. I screamed the place down and assaulted medical staff and that just wouldn't do! The pain was no less during my 9-hour second labour but, without a team of medical staff around me stressing me out, I was able to manage my own labour without pain relief, give birth normally to a baby who was alert and fed immediately and enthusiastically.
I hope their outcomes are as good as your home birth was.
kbell
#11 Post by kbell » September 7th, 2008, 11:06 pm
gcb01 wrote: Why wouldn't independent midwives be able to get insurance cover if home birthing was safe?
Because insurance companies have nothing much to lose by erring on the side of over-caution. It's not as if there are huge numbers independent midwives - most work in the NHS. Anyway, it's a curious yardstick by which to measure the safety or otherwise of home births. Isn't it better just to look at the available statistics? This site contains a page with links to summaries of all research carried out on the subject in the 1990s: http://www.homebirth.org.uk/
Here, for example, is the summary of a meta-analysis carried out in Denmark:
Olsen O (Department of Social Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.)
Birth, 24(1):4-13; discussion 14-6 1997 Mar
Olsen looked at six controlled studies covering 24,092 mainly low-risk women planning home or hospital births. Outcomes were compared for mortality, morbidity (injury and illness), Apgar scores, maternal lacerations (perineal and vaginal tears etc.), and intervention rates. Perinatal mortality was not significantly different between the planned home and planned hospital groups, but the planned home birth group had fewer low Apgar scores, and fewer severe maternal lacerations. There was less medical intervention in the planned home birth group: fewer inductions, fewer episiotomies, fewer assisted deliveries, and fewer caesareans. Unfortunately, the abstract does not give transfer rates, but these outcomes do compare planned home births with hospital births. Olsen concluded: 'Home birth is an acceptable alternative to hospital confinement for selected pregnant women, and leads to reduced medical interventions.'
From what I've read, there does not appear to be any evidence that home births are any more or less safe than hospital births but there are a number of reasons why home birth might be preferable.
Indeed a home birth costs about 70% of a hospital birth but do you seriously think the NHS would be promoting home births if they were significantly less safe than hospital births?
Well, you started by lumping home birth in with vaccine denial and homeopathy implying that home birth is just as potentially dangerous. The article says that "The reports are based on a large UK study which has calculated national death rates following home births over a 10-year period. The study found that home births were generally safe and not associated with an increased risk of death," which would seem to undermine your original suggestion.
I don't think anything radical is being claimed here: simply that home confinement is at least as good an option as hospital confinement, if not better, for women who are in good health, have normal pregnancies and are supported by competent medical practitioners. Doesn't sound weird to me.
Re: Home Birth
#12 Post by Alan H » September 7th, 2008, 11:15 pm
I certainly accept the thrust of the arguments for home births, but I suspect the data are skewed a bit. It is likely that if the Doctor/midwife thought that a birth is obviously going to be difficult (some existing condition, previous difficult births, etc), he/she would advise the mother to have it in hospital (and many would take this advice) and the ones where there is no evidence of possible difficulties would be home births.
#13 Post by Maria Mac » September 8th, 2008, 12:16 am
Alan H wrote: I certainly accept the thrust of the arguments for home births, but I suspect the data are skewed a bit. It is likely that if the Doctor/midwife thought that a birth is obviously going to be difficult (some existing condition, previous difficult births, etc), he/she would advise the mother to have it in hospital (and many would take this advice) and the ones where there is no evidence of possible difficulties would be home births.
Nobody is claiming that home births are always better than hospital births. My contention is that, provided there are no contra-indications, home births are a perfectly reasonable alternative to hospital births and there is nothing weird about this contention.
I realise that the kind of people who are heavily into weird stuff like complimentary therapies may also be the kind of people who are sympathetic to home births but this shouldn't blinker people to the advantages of home births. In fact, the majority of women who use complimentary therapies choose hospital births. There is no connection between home births and CAM.
LilacHamster
#14 Post by LilacHamster » September 8th, 2008, 7:20 pm
There certainly seems to be a high rate of complications with human births, maybe something to do with the size of babies heads. Many women CANNOT give birth naturally, in my case I was told it was due to a high pelvic arch that I had problems. You are lucky Maria, I envy you a bit that it worked out for you.
I tried the whole home birth thing, didn't work out, I had to be taken to hospital as baby was stuck and needed the ventouse (two out of three of my children's births this happened), so it's always important to be prepared for sudden transfer to hospital if it goes wrong and medical intervention is needed.
As for Freebirthing and the ideas of Laura Shanley, one of whose babies died, unlike many of my likeminded "CAM" friends even I think that's totally dangerous and bonkers to try to give birth with no-one else present.
Even after my experience I am not totally against homebirth but one has to know when it's time to need assistance and to be honest in my case the dr and midwife did let it go on too long before getting me to hospital. It was my first baby and I did not know how long was acceptable to be pushing before having help to get the baby out, they should have known though! I certainly would have been happy to go to hospital earlier for help but I was not sure what was normal and I feel now that my trust was misplaced.
Hospital caterers generally have no idea about vegans which was yet another reason I had wanted to avoid hospital but actually ended up in there 4 days due to complications caused by a long extended 2nd stage with my first baby, and this was all because of trying to have a home birth.
I was severely anaemic (not because of being vegan but blood loss as I was not anaemic at all before the birth) and had to have a catheter in for several days due to muscle or nerve damage to the waterworks from extended pushing, so I could not wee even when bladder was full.
If I had been in hospital they would have got my son out earlier with the ventouse and avoided some of these problems. The ventouse is not nice but it is a lifesaver and less nasty than forceps.
I was at Northwick Park which actually has a bad record and has had a higher than average rate of deaths after caesareans but it was not the hospital's fault things went wrong, it was the dr and midwife dealing with the homebirth not getting me in as early as they should have done.
I didn't make a complaint as I was not sure I would have had a case and there was no longterm damage although I still wonder if my son's Aspergers has anything to do with the difficult birth. He is bright and not learning disabled so would be impossible to prove a link.
My last of three childen was induced a few days early due to concerns about antibodies (I have A rhesus negative blood type and despite having had the recommended anti-D injections after the other births I still produced some antibodies which I was told could be attacking my baby) but came out more naturally without the ventouse, and although I thought an induced birth would be worse it was actually not any more painful or unpleasant than those I tried to have more naturally.
I don't think it's weird, or unsafe for everyone, but reports about it need to honestly deal with what happens when it does go wrong.
#15 Post by Bryn » September 8th, 2008, 8:16 pm
LilacHamster wrote: Even after my experience I am not totally against homebirth but one has to know when it's time to need assistance and to be honest in my case the dr and midwife did let it go on too long before getting me to hospital. It was my first baby and I did not know how long was acceptable to be pushing before having help to get the baby out, they should have known though! I certainly would have been happy to go to hospital earlier for help but I was not sure what was normal and I feel now that my trust was misplaced.
I'm astonished that they let you have your first baby at home. Maria recommended it for a second or subsequent child and I agree. It was only after having a straightforward first pregnancy and birth that my wife and I decided our second child would be born at home. One of the factors in our decision was that we really didn't have anyone to look after our toddler. If things had gone wrong he would have had to come to hospital with us but as it was, the entire labour and birth took place at night and were over in a few hours. He slept through the whole thing.
I'm sure nobody would disagree with you. We did a hell of a lot research before making our decision and were fully aware of the risks both of giving birth at home and of giving birth in hospital. The latter isn't risk free and sometimes bad things happen during hospital births that wouldn't have happened at home.
Honestly, I'm really shocked at your story, LilacHamster. Our midwife team would definitely have erred on the side of over-caution and got you into hospital sooner rather than later. I hope they learned from the experience. Home births are set to continue increasing: Huge rise in number of home births
One home-birth hotspot is Bridgend, South Wales, where one in four babies were born at home last year. Although home births in England shot up by 10 per cent in 2006 against 2005, at 16,923 they were still just 2.5 per cent of all births. Mums-to-be in the South-west lead the way: West Somerset has the highest proportion of home births in the UK at 14.2 per cent, due to strong local midwife teams.
Link between home births and suicide anyone?
#16 Post by Alan H » April 15th, 2009, 10:37 am
In today's Times:
Births at home as safe as hospital, study suggests - Times Online
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_a ... 094366.ece
Births at home as safe as hospital, study suggests
Midwives are calling for a “seismic shift” to enable more women to give birth at home after a study suggesting that home deliveries can be as safe as those in hospital.
Research covering nearly 530,000 births in the Netherlands found that women had a no greater risk of their baby dying or becoming ill if they gave birth at home rather than in hospital.
The Royal College of Midwives said that the study was a “major step forward” in showing that home births were safe for women with low risk of complications, but added that the NHS would need a fundamental reorganisation to support more home births.
The Government has promised all women in England a choice of where they would prefer to give birth by the end of this year, but experts say that a lack of community midwives could make this unrealistic in many areas. According to the RCM Royal College of Midwives an extra 5,000 full-time midwives are needed urgently to fulfil this and other pledges on maternity, but ministers have promised only to recruit an extra 3,400 full-time midwives by 2012.
Louise Silverton, the deputy general secretary of the college, said that “to begin providing more home births there has to be a seismic shift in the way maternity services are organised.
“The NHS is simply not set up to meet the potential demand for home births, because we are still in a culture where the vast majority of births are in hospital. There also has to be a major increase in the number of midwives because they are the people who will be in the homes delivering the babies.”
Celebrity mothers including Davina McCall and Charlotte Church are credited with making home births more popular, but less than 3 per cent of all births in England and Wales took place at home in 2006, the latest figures show.
This compares with nearly one in three (30 per cent) of all births taking place at home in Holland.
Standing up early in labour 'speeds birth'
Lying down during the early stages of childbirth may prolong the agony of labour, a review of medical evidence by the Cochrane Collaboration suggests. Researchers found that the first stage of labour was significantly shorter for women who kneel, stand up, walk around or sit upright.
The review by the Cochrane Collaboration, the organisation that promotes evidence-based medicine, used data from 21 studies involving 3,706 women in developed countries since the 1960s. The first stage of labour was about an hour shorter in those who adopted upright positions compared to those who lay down, the researchers said.
Annemarie Lawrence, of the Institute of Women’s and Children’s Health at the Townsville Hospital in Queensland, Australia, commented: “In most developing countries, women stand up or walk around as they wish during the early stages of birth with no ill effects. Based on these results, we would recommend that women are encouraged to use whichever positions they find most comfortable, but are specifically advised to avoid lying flat.”
[Retrieved: Wed Apr 15 2009 10:36:32 GMT+0100 (GMT Standard Time)]
#17 Post by Maria Mac » April 17th, 2009, 12:57 am
With a few adjustments to the stats (e.g. I think it was only 2% of births happened at home) that report could've been lifted from the mid-1980s. Back then all the evidence said the same thing both about the safety of home births and the desirability of being upright when delivering.
#18 Post by Paolo » April 20th, 2009, 1:53 pm
Primary research data are available for free from PubMed on this issue.
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/picren ... obtype=pdf
Desirability:
Home birthing appears to be safe and desirable for normal pregnancies, based on a quick literature search. Obviously if there are problems identified during the pregnancy it is better to have a fully equipped medical institution on hand.
I would point out that humans have been giving birth without hospitals or pre/post natal care for quite a long time. The fact that hospitalisation has played a role in helping in difficult births shouldn't be taken to mean that it is a prerequisite for all healthy births.
#19 Post by Nick » April 20th, 2009, 6:26 pm
Paolo wrote: I would point out that humans have been giving birth without hospitals or pre/post natal care for quite a long time.
...but a huge proportion of women and babies died as a result of lack of modern medical care.
I say that for completeness, not because I have a strong position to maintain. I have no scientific or statistical evidence, but it seems to me that if there is no medical requirement for a hospital, then home birth is likely to be less stressful, and that seems to be what the stats say too.
The question that needs to be answered, it seems to me, is what is the probability of an expected 'normal' delivery going wrong, necessitating a move to hospital, and to what extent would that cause medical problems or worse for the mother and/or baby, through delay in receiving treatment for example?
I'm well out of my depth on this topic, so I'm happy to leave it to those closer to the issue.
Nick wrote: ...but a huge proportion of women and babies died as a result of lack of modern medical care.
Yes, but such deaths were/are probably due to problems that would be identified by modern pre natal examinations. I don't think anyone is arguing that medical care shouldn't be available, simply that hospitalisation is not a necessity.
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Humanities › Literature
Top Singing Drummers of the '80s
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Playing drums in a rock and roll band is often more than enough activity for a musician to handle, especially for technically proficient, highly skilled drummers. However, every now and then a drummer steps up to take lead vocal duties, instantly becoming a uniquely respected figure within the fellowship of musicians. Here's a look at the best examples of singing drummers from the '80s, presented in no particular order. In some cases, musicians like these seem like drummers only as an afterthought, but in rare cases the performance of dual duties is equally impressive.
Kelly Keagy of Night Ranger
Chris Walter/WireImage/Getty Images
Although Genesis frontman Phil Collins and long-time Eagles member Don Henley immediately spring to mind as lead singing drummers in rock music, both share a gradual diminishment of drumming duties as they became more successful as lead vocalists both in their bands and during hitmaking solo careers. For this reason, I'm starting with Night Ranger's Kelly Keagy, a very organic and underrated example of the singing drummer. In addition to singing lead on such iconic tunes as "Sing Me Away," "Sister Christian," "When You Close Your Eyes," "Sentimental Street" and "Goodbye," Keagy also served as more than an occasional songwriter for the band. Keagy is so skilled as a lead singer, in fact, that Night Ranger leader Jack Blades, a fine vocalist himself, gave several of his own compositions to Keagy to sing.
Grant Hart of Husker Du
Album Cover Image Courtesy of SST Records
One-half of one of rock music's most legendary and explosive creative partnerships of all time, Hart shared lead vocals and songwriting duties in the legendary college rock band Husker Du with guitarist Bob Mould. The two played off one another in fascinating fashion, and Hart quickly built a reputation as the more melodic of these two prolific and gifted musicians. While that may be generally true, Hart also wildly succeeded as a vocalist on several of Husker Du's early hardcore tunes, mastering a tunefully shouted, passionate style. Standout Hart compositions and performances include "Pink Turns to Blue," "Books About UFOs," "Don't Want to Know If You Are Lonely" and "Sorry Somehow."
Roger Taylor of Queen
Album Cover Image Courtesy of Hollywood Records
Being stuck behind the drum kit supporting a frontman as commanding as Freddie Mercury couldn't have made it easy for Roger Taylor to indulge his songwriting and lead vocal aspirations, but somehow the relatively democratic band dynamic within Queen allowed that to happen more than a few times. Aside from being a powerful drummer and prominent harmony vocalist on all the band's efforts, Taylor also earned a few key moments of personal spotlight time. By the band's latter '80s period, Taylor sang lead only occasionally, notably on album tracks "Coming Soon," "Don't Lose Your Head" and "The Invisible Man," but his high harmony vocals are recognizable on almost all of Queen's hits.
Gil Moore of Triumph
Album Cover Image Courtesy of RCA
Although the recognizably high vocal strains of guitarist Rik Emmett dominated most of Triumph's best-known hard rock and arena rock staples, drummer Moore was also clearly a powerhouse singer in his own right. Sporting a style a bit more typical for those genres, Moore nonetheless exercises some impressive pipes even as he lays down power drum fills and keeps the band's rhythms chugging along. In particular, worthy tracks like "Fool for Your Love," "Follow Your Heart" and "Tears in the Rain" spotlight Moore's penchant for anthemic rockers but also his stand-alone vocal prowess. Many fans would have lined up to hear Moore sing lead on entire albums of material; instead, he lives on as a major example of this type of multi-layered drummer.
Jimmy Marinos of The Romantics
Album Cover Image Courtesy of Epic
As lead singer on this American new wave band's most beloved song, "What I Like About You," Marinos strikes a memorably excitable pose behind the drum kit, pounding out the rhythm and expressively barking the track's iconic vocals. Otherwise featured heavily as lead vocalist, particularly on the band's self-titled 1980 debut, Marinos served as an important songwriting contributor until he left the band in 1984 following 1983's smash In Heat release. "One in a Million" functions as a fitting swan song for Marinos' spirited and compelling lead vocals for this understated but significant American power pop band.
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Go to TN.gov
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The Current Economic Contraction
Contraction and expansions of the U.S. economy are dated by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) a private, non-profit, non-partisan research organization composed of academic and non-academic economic researchers from across the country. The NBER Business Cycle Dating Committee is the group that determines the date of the beginning and end of phases of U.S. business cycles.
The committee offers the following statement regarding the determinants for dating turning points:
The NBER does not define a recession in terms of two consecutive quarters of decline in real GDP. Rather, a recession is a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in real GDP, real income, employment, industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales. For more information, see the latest announcement from the NBER's Business Cycle Dating Committee, dated 12/01/08.
As of April 2009, the recession was in its 17th month which makes it longer than any post-World War II contraction to date. The recessions of July 1981 to November 1982 and November 1973 to March 1975 both lasted 16 months. By comparison, total employment during the 1981-82 recession fell by 3.1 percent from the beginning of the recession to its bottom while, so far in the current contraction, employment has fallen by over 4.2 percent.
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Source: U.S. Department of Labor and MTSU Business and Economic Research Center
The above chart shows the number of Tennesseans in the labor force and the total number employed since January 2005. The labor force is defined as the number of persons, aged 16 and older, who are employed or are actively seeking work. That number typically moves up and down as the economy expands and contracts. The data are provided for non-farm employment only on a monthly basis since farm employment is highly seasonal.
Employment by Sector for Tennessee
The unemployment rate is not necessarily the best gauge of the state of economy as employers often resist laying workers off at the beginning of a contraction and are slow to recall them as the economy begins to expand again. For example, during the ‘81-82 recession the unemployment rate in July 1981, at 7.3 percent, was lower than it had been the year prior and the unemployment rate peaked in December 1982 at 10.5 percent. In December 2007 the national unemployment rate was 4.6 percent while currently the U.S. unemployment rate is 8.5 percent.
As can be seen from the graph of the U.S and Tennessee unemployment rates the state economy does not track perfectly with the national economy. [That observation is even more true in comparisons among the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee and rural versus urban counties]. Again, comparing Tennessee’s experience in the 1981-82 recession with the current situation and the national economy there are substantial differences.
At the beginning of the national recession in July 1981, Tennessee’s unemployment rate stood at 9.3 percent, almost two percentage points higher than in July 1980 and exactly two percentage points higher than the national rate. In December 2007 Tennessee’s unemployment rate was 5.3 percent, less than one percentage point above the national rate. When the national economy bottomed out in November 1982, the Tennessee unemployment rate stood at 12.3 percent, still nearly two percentage points higher than the national rate. As of April 2009 the Tennessee rate is 9.6 percent or just less than one percentage point above the U.S. unemployment rate.
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Construction activity has been one of the strengths of the Tennessee economy for many years. Nationwide the number of new privately owned housing units permitted in 1981 averaged more than 82,000 units per month by the end of the 1981-82 recession that number had increased by more than 1,200 units. At the beginning of the current recession the average number of units authorized was 116,500 per month and currently the number has fallen to slightly more than 37,000. In Tennessee, from 1981 to 1982 the monthly average number of housing units permitted rose from 973 to 1,233. In December 2007, the number of units permitted was 1,669 down from a peak of 5,000 in March 2006 and in February 2009 the number was 984 units.
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The city of Prato is the capital city of the Province of Prato with a population of 194,590 inhabitants.
Standing at an elevation of 65 metres above sea level, it covers a total area of 97 km² and lies 20 kilometres north west of Florence, the regional capital of Tuscany.
Prato's population makes it the second biggest city in Tuscany, only behind close neighbour Florence. Historically a wealthy city, Prato's success has traditionally come from the textiles industry.
The Italian word "prato" has various English translations including lawn, pasture or meadow for example and it is from here that modern Prato takes its name: the meadow area that the city was built upon. A settlement has existed here since Etruscan times but it is to the medieval and Renaissance periods that Prato owes the majority of its sights that we can still see today.
You could be forgiven if you feel a little confused as you approach Prato; the proximity of such a large city as Florence means you're hardly out of its suburbs when you reach the outskirts of Prato and this can cause a few glances at the map just to double-check you're actually going to a different city. The River Bisenzio edges the city centre to its east and north; there are several bridges that cross the river with the most attractive being the Ponte Mercatale. As you cross the bridge you can get an idea of how it was defended historically by its city walls. Pass under the Porta Mercatale city gate and you find yourself in a bustling square called Piazza Mercatale. If you're driving, this is a good place to park the car and start to discover the city on foot.
From Piazza Mercatale it's a 5 minute walk (500 metres) to the main sightseeing area of Prato: Piazza Santa Maria delle Carceri. This expansive square is home to the city's castle, the 13th century Castello dell'Imperatore which you can walk all the way round, through the middle or even up on its ramparts to get some of the best views of the city. On the same square you'll find one of the most important churches in the city, the Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Carceri, built in the 15th century. Just a few steps south west of the Piazza lies another important church: the 13th century Chiesa di San Francesco with its excellent collection of medieval frescoes.
Heading away from Piazza San Francesco on to the busy shopping street Via Ricasoli, you'll eventually come to Piazza del Comune, home of the Palazzo Pretorio which houses the art museum of the same name. After the Piazza del Comune the same street changes name to Via Mazzoni; continue along here and you shortly reach the star attraction of Prato, the Duomo.
Otherwise known as the Cattedrale di Santo Stefano or simply Prato Cathedral, the first thing you notice about the structure is its unique Pisan-Romanesque facade. The unmistakable feature here is the pulpit, built on the outside of the church, which was added for ceremonial purposes. The real magic of the Cathedral lies within its walls though, with its famous frescoes by Filippo Lippi. You can further explore the historical treasures of the Cathedral at the adjoining Museo dell'Opera del Duomo.
On your journeys around the city you will almost certainly notice a certain sweet snack on display in the shops; the famous Cantucci almond biscuits originate from Prato and are often enjoyed with the Vin Santo dessert wine.
There are two train stations in Prato, both convenient for the city centre and both on the same line. Porta Serraglio station is at the northern edge of the city centre, a 5 minute walk (350 metres) from Piazza del Duomo. The other station, Prato Centrale, is further from the city centre but if you get off here you can walk along the river to Ponte Mercatale and view the city walls before entering the centre.
From Stazione Prato Centrale it's just a 20 minute train journey to the centre of Florence (Santa Maria Novella), or heading in the opposite direction, the same journey time to the city of Pistoia, stopping along the way at Stazione Porta Serraglio (3 minutes). There are also faster trains to Pistoia which take 13 minutes and continue to the coast, stopping at Lucca (59 minutes) before reaching Viareggio (1 hour 19 minutes).
By car from Prato to Florence takes around 40 minutes, depending on traffic (24 km), while the journey times and distances to the other provincial capitals of Tuscany are as follows: Pistoia - 22 mins (21 km), Lucca - 50 mins (60 km), Pisa - 58 mins (81 km), Siena - 1 hour 7 mins (88 km), Arezzo - 1 hour 7 mins (96 km), Massa - 1 hour 9 mins (101 km), Livorno - 1 hour 11 mins (102 km) and Grosseto - 1 hour 51 mins (158 km).
The most convenient airport for Prato is Florence Airport which is just a 15 minute drive away (13 km), while Tuscany's other major airport, Pisa Airport, is around an hour away (88 km).
Places to visit nearby Prato include the two equidistant cities to its east and west: Florence and Pistoia, while heading a short distance south you come to the town of Carmignano, centre of the eponymous wine region. In the area around Carmignano there are two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Medici Villas of Poggio a Caiano and La Ferdinanda in Artimino.
Accommodation options in and around Prato currently include 19 hotels, 46 private apartments and 7 bed & breakfasts. See the link further down to our Hotels page where you'll find live availability and prices.
Category: Cities of Tuscany
Administrative area: Capital of Prato Province
Highlights: Cathedral frescoes, Santa Maria delle Carceri
Close by: Florence, Pistoia, Medici Villas and Gardens, Lucca
Recommended accommodation: Hotel Giardino
Public transport: Two central train stations, local buses
By train: Florence - 20 minutes, Pistoia - 20 minutes
By car: Pistoia - 22 mins (21 km), Florence - 40 mins (24 km)
By air: Florence Airport - 15 minutes by car (13 km)
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ZIP code 42167 Education Attainment Charts
This section of charts contains education data for ZIP code 42167 Kentucky based mainly on the latest year 2020 American Community Survey census data but also the survey from Common Core Data available for Public Elementary through Secondary Schools. In Figure 1, the percent of all people aged 25 years or older, who have either graduated from high school or completed the Graduate Equivalency Degree (GED) or some equivalent certification/credential. 42167 depicts it has a High School Grad or higher of 75% which is less than most other zip codes in the local area. The zip code with the highest percent high school graduates or better in the area is 42151 which depicts a high school graduates of 100% (34.2% larger).
In Figure 2, the percentage of people aged 25 years or older who have graduated from college/university with at least a bachelor's degree is provided. Note that the bachelor's degree is also called a four-year degree because it normally takes four years of full-time study to finish the course curriculum required to obtain the degree. This chart portrays the proportion of the population in this region who are college graduates with at least a bachelor degree or higher. In many ways, this analysis alongside the prior chart are very quick measures of the level of education in any particular area. ZIP code 42167 shows it has a Bachelors Degree or higher of 15% which is in the mid point range of other zip codes in the metropolitan area. The zip code with the highest percent with a bachelors degree or higher in the area is 42151 which depicts a percent with a bachelors degree of 46% (approximately 3.1 times bigger).
Figure 4 shows the percentage of people 25 years of age or older who either have no schooling at all or dropped out of school before being able to complete high school. Additionally, these are people who also do not have a Graduate Equivalency Degree (GED) or some other high school level type credential/student achievement. This analysis, along with the last two charts, provides another high level review and comparative data on the ZIP code 42167 Kentucky educational level. 42167 shows it has a School Dropout Rate of 25% which is the third most percent who dropped out of school of all other zip codes in the greater ZIP code 42167 region. The zip code with the highest percent who dropped out of school in the area is 42731 which shows a percent who dropped out of school of 35% (36.1% larger).
Figure 5 provides a more detailed look at the educational attainment for ZIP code 42167 Kentucky. This chart provides the proportion of people aged 25 years of age or older and what was their level of educational attainment. The chart provides 5 broad categories including: No Education/No School, Some High School, High School or equivalent, Some college or Associates Degree, and Bachelors Degree or higher. ZIP code 42167 has one of the largest proportions of percent of people with no schooling at 23% of the total and is ranked #3. Only #2 42157 (27%), and #1 42731 (35%) are larger. Second, it has the second smallest when sorted by percent of people with no schooling of all the other zip codes in the metro area when sorted by percent of people with less than a high school education at 38% of the total.
The next chart shows a break down of people who have received a bachelor's degree or higher advanced degree generally in a campus learning environment. In particular, Figure 6, provides the proportional breakdown of all the people who have received a postsecondary education along with what the level of advanced degree that was obtained. Note that these categories do not include any type professional development type activities such as those related to maintaining professional credentials in workshop lessons. Note Professional Degree includes medical, dental, lawyers, etc. ZIP code 42167 has one of the largest proportions of percent of people with a bachelors degree at 23% of the total and is ranked #2. The only larger zip code being 42140 with 24%. Second, it has one of the largest proportions of percent of people with a masters degree at 8% of the total and is ranked #3. Only #2 42140 (10%), and #1 38575 (15%) are larger. Third, it has the largest proportion of percent of people with a professional school degree at 6% of the total and is ranked #1.
The chart in Figure 7 shows the broad area of academic concentration or the discipline for people who have received a bachelors degree. This high level classification is essentially the field of study for which a degree was obtained. ZIP code 42167 has one of the largest proportions of percent of people with a science or engineering degree at 12.8% of the total and is ranked #2. The only larger zip code being 42166 with 20.3%. Second, it has one of the largest proportions of percent of people with a degree in a science or engineering related at 20.2% of the total and is ranked #3. Only #2 38575 (25.7%), and #1 42140 (38.3%) are larger. Third, it has the largest proportion of percent of people with an arts, humanities, or other degree at 12.0% of the total and is ranked #1.
The next chart (Figure 8) provides a more detailed deep dive on the category of major degree obtained for people aged 25 years or older who earned a bachelor's degree or higher. Specifically, this frequency distribution details out what the major field of study was the degree obtained. ZIP code 42167 has the largest proportion of percent of people with a degree in biological, agricultural, and environmental sciences at 0.9% of the total and is ranked #1. Second, it has one of the largest proportions of percent of people with a degree in engineering at 1.0% of the total and is ranked #2. The only larger zip code being 42157 with 28.3%. Third, it has the largest proportion of percent of people with a degree in science and engineering related fields at 12.0% of the total and is ranked #1. Also, it has the largest proportion of percent of people with a degree in liberal arts and history at 2.9% of the total and is ranked #1.
A more detailed frequency distribution of educational attainment is provided in Figure 10. In particular this illustration breaks out the highest levels of university educational opportunities beyond the four year college degree. Included in the breakout are the relative proportion of masters degrees, PhD/Doctorate/Doctorial holders, and professional degrees such as medicine, dentistry, lawyers, etc. ZIP code 42167 has one of the largest proportions of percent of people with no schooling at 23.3% of the total and is ranked #3. Only #2 42157 (27.0%), and #1 42731 (34.7%) are larger. Second, it has the second smallest as measured by percent of people with no schooling of all the other zip codes in the metropolitan area as measured by percent of people with less than high school at 38.4% of the total. Third, it has the smallest proportion of percent of people with some college but not a graduate at 7.0% of the total. Also, it has the largest proportion of percent of people with a bachelors degree at 5.0% of the total and is ranked #1. In addition, it has the largest proportion of percent of people with a professional school degree (e.g. law or medicine) at 1.2% of the total and is ranked #1. The next exhibit (Figure 11) provides detailed cross tabulation analysis that provides education success data broken out or cross tabulated by age group. Please note that the columns add to 100% and you must use the pagination buttons at the bottom of the table to see all the rows. Figure 12 is a cross tabulation analysis that shows large educational success categories and is broken out or cross tabulated by racial group. Please note that the columns add to 100% and you must use the pagination buttons at the bottom of the table to see all the rows.The final cross tabulation analysis is provided in Figure 13 and shows education success broken out by gender. Please note that the columns add to 100% and you must use the pagination buttons at the bottom of the table to see all the rows.
ZIP code 42167 School Enrollment Charts
The next section of chart resources look at school enrollment by a variety of educational institutions and are categorized into a number of other groupings. Figure 14 provides the overall school enrollment by broad range of school age/level groupings. ZIP code 42167 has the percentage of percent of children in kindergarten less than most other zip codes in the area at 19.5% of the total. Second, it has in the mid range of other zip codes in the local area in terms of percent of children in grade 1 to 4 at 25.8% of the total. Third, it has one of the largest proportions of percent of children in grades 5 to 8 at 28.3% of the total and is ranked #2. The only larger zip code being 38575 with 41.9%. Also, it has the largest proportion of percent of children in grades 9 to 12 at 17.3% of the total and is ranked #1.
Figure 15 provides a simple high level comparison of the proportion of students that are enrolled in public schools versus students enrolled in private schools in the ZIP code 42167 Kentucky region. ZIP code 42167 shows percent enrolled in public schools very much bigger as the percent enrolled in private schools.
The next comparison provided in Figure 16 shows the proportion of students enrolled in private schools versus students enrolled public schools for students enrolled in Kindergarten through 8th grade (grade 8) or (K through 8). ZIP code 42167 shows percent of children enrolled in public k-8 grades considerably bigger as the percent of children enrolled in private k-8 grades.
Figure 17 provides a comparative analysis all students enrolled in a public high school versus those students who are enrolled in private high school schools. ZIP code 42167 depicts percent enrolled in a public high school appreciably bigger as the percent enrolled in a private high school.
The next chart in this series of resources shown in Figure 20 looks at the total number of students enrolled in any educational institution for each place in the greater ZIP code 42167 region. (Total enrollment in this case includes all students from preschool all the way through students enrolled in graduate school.) ZIP code 42167 indicates it has a Total Enrolled of 1,603 which is the largest of all zip codes in the greater region. Comparing total population enrolled in school to the United States average of 81,084,866, ZIP code 42167 is only about 0.0% the size. Also, benchmarked against the state of Kentucky, total population enrolled in school of 1,054,000, ZIP code 42167 is only about 0.2% the size.
ZIP code 42167 Area Schools Charts
Figure 23 lists all the schools in the area along with the school district, county location and other program information/credential such as if they are a public charter school or private charter school or magnet school. Some of the Area Schools are: Tompkinsville Elem, Monroe Co Middle, Joe Harrison Carter, Monroe Co High, and Gamaliel Elementary. The next illustration in Figure 24 shows the total child school enrollment for all grades (through 12th grade) at the school shown using NCES data (Common Core of Data, Public Elementary-Secondary School Universe Survey.) Looking at Enrollment for Area Schools we find that Celina K-8 ranks the largest with a value of 583 enrolled students. The next largest values are for: Monroe Co High (575), Cumberland County Elementary School (507), Monroe Co Middle (432), and Tompkinsville Elem (400). The difference between the highest value (Celina K-8) and the next highest (Monroe Co High) is that the enrolled students is about only slightly larger.
Figure 25 show the ratio of the number of students to the number of teachers in the classroom. A good student to teacher ratio should be low because it indicates that there are less students for any one teacher to educate in a class and generally a better learning environment, better success and optimal teaching excellence. Teachers includes all educational staff such as special education teachers and any other educator. Note that distance learning (online learning/remote learning) is not included in these values. Looking at Student to Teacher Ratio for Area Schools we find that Summer Shade Elementary School ranks the largest with a value of 11.4 student to teacher ratio. The next largest values are for: Red Boiling Springs School (13.1), Clay County High School (13.3), Gamaliel Elementary (13.9), and Hermitage Springs Elementary School (14.0). The difference between the lowest value (Summer Shade Elementary School) and the next lowest (Red Boiling Springs School) is that the student to teacher ratio is 15.0% larger.
The next chart, Figure 26, shows the racial mix of students at each location in this district of the state of Kentucky department of education.
Zip code 42167, Kentucky Education Data
Figure 1: 42167, KY At least High School Education
Figure 2: 42167, KY Bachelors Degree or Better Education
Figure 4: 42167, KY School Dropout Rate
Figure 5: 42167, KY Education Attainment Breakdown
Figure 7: 42167, KY Bachelors Degrees Field of Study
Figure 8: 42167, KY Bachelors Degree Obtained
Figure 9: 42167, KY Education Attainment by Level Comparison (Age 25+)
Figure 10: 42167, KY Education Attainment Detailed Comparison (Age 25+)
Figure 11: 42167, KY Detailed Education Attainment Breakout by Age Group (Age 18+)
Figure 12: 42167, KY Detailed Education Attainment Breakout by Race (Age 25+)
Figure 13: 42167, KY Detailed Male and Female breakdown of Educational Attainment
Figure 14: 42167, KY School Enrollment by Aggregate Categories
Figure 15: 42167, KY Overall Public vs. Private School Enrollment
Figure 16: 42167, KY Public vs. Private K-8 School Enrollment
Figure 17: 42167, KY Public vs. Private High School Enrollment
Figure 18: 42167, KY Public vs. Private College Enrollment
Figure 19: 42167, KY Public vs. Private Graduate or Professional School Enrollment
Figure 20: 42167, KY Total Enrolled in Schools
Figure 22: 42167, KY Public vs. Private Preschool
Figure 23: List of Schools in the 42167, KY Area (2013)
Figure 24: 42167, KY School Enrollment (2013)
Figure 26: 42167, KY School Racial Mix (2013)
Select a City-PlaceGlasgowLafayetteTompkinsvilleCelinaBurkesvilleEdmontonRed Boiling SpringsGamalielSummer Shade CDPFountain RunMarrowbone CDP
Select a CountyBarren CountyMacon CountyOverton CountyAllen CountyAdair CountyJackson CountyMonroe CountyClinton CountyMetcalfe CountyClay CountyCumberland County
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Townshend International School
Created to Carry Forward an Ever-Advancing Civilization
We believe that every person has a
two-fold moral purpose in life
To pursue their spiritual, material and intellectual growth
To contribute to the well-being
and advancement of society
"..the honour and distinction of the individual consist in this, that he among all the world’s multitudes should become a source of social good" - Bahá’í writings
Magdalena Karvayova graduated from Townshend in 2008. Since then she has worked tirelessly to ensure that the under served Romani community in Czech Republic have access to education.
Jordan Raj was a student at Townshend for 8 years. He went on to study Media and Communications, and now produces socially conscious entertainment and gives talks on the power of humour.
Thomas Bodin completed his studies at Townshend in 2012. He is now the co-founder of
a not for profit organization in Colombia. They act to preserve and protect indigenous culture and communities.
Amrita Roy grew up in India, but after graduating from Townshend she went on to study medicine in Poland. She completed her degree with honors, now allowing her to practice as a clinical tutor and medical doctor.
Copyright © 2020 Townshend International School. All Rights Reserved.
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Frequent Shoplifter Jailed for Felony Theft
LaGrange Police have charged a repeat shoplifting offender with Felony Shoplifting for allegedly attempting to steal a pack of socks and a cat collar.
Sunday evening, about 5:10 p.m., officers with the LaGrange Police Department responded to Walmart on New Franklin Road in reference to a report of shoplifting that had just occurred. Police were told that the male suspect had fled from the area on foot toward the Valley Ridge Apartment complex after attempting to take several items.
After an initial check of the area, officers were unable to locate the suspect, so they relocated to Walmart and spoke to Loss Prevention.
When police arrived, Loss Prevention officers met them at the front door saying that the suspect had returned and was entering a red truck in the parking lot. The suspect was then spotted leaving the parking lot in an older model red Ford pickup truck. An investigative stop was later conducted on the truck on Colonial Street.
Police then confronted the driver, Reginald Siron Moody, about the alleged theft. Moody claimed that he had left Walmart around thirty minutes prior, but officers advised him that he had just been seen leaving the Walmart parking lot in the truck he was driving.
Moody was then detained, and police returned to Walmart where they reviewed security video of the incident. Police say the video showed Moody placing items into a bag from the shelf and then attempting to exchange the items in the bag, a pack of socks and a cat collar, valued at $15.40.
The cashier would not accept the exchange, so Moody attempted to leave without paying, but was confronted by Loss Prevention. When Moody refused to go to the Loss Prevention office, the merchandise was reclaimed, and he fled the location on foot, later returning for his truck.
Moody was later determined to have 11 Theft by Shoplifting convictions.
As a result, Moody, age 60, was arrested and transported to the Troup County Sheriff’s Office where he was booked into the jail charged with Felony Theft by Shoplifting – Four or More Convictions and Probation Violation.
Moody is currently being held at the Troup County Jail where he was denied bond.
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People in the News March 7, 2013
President Stephen C. Ainlay was among
Ron Bucinell, associate professor of mechanical engineering,
was awarded Fellow grade status in the American Society of
Mechanical Engineers (ASME) during a recent ceremony on
a number of local leaders who attended a celebration for the 175th anniversary of Higgins, Roberts and Suprunowicz, a law firm in Niskayuna. At the ceremony, Ainlay spoke of the firm's long ties to the College. To read a story in the Daily Gazette, click here.
Deidre Hill Butler, associate professor of sociology and director of the Africana Studies program, recently delivered the keynote address, "President Obama’s Second Term: Has Racism Died?" at the School of Hotel, Culinary Arts and Tourism at Schenectady County Community College’s Soul Food Luncheon.
Ron Bucinell, associate professor of mechanical engineering and chair of the Faculty Executive Committee, was awarded Fellow grade status in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) during a recent ceremony on campus. Nominated by their peers, ASME Fellows have had 10 or more years of active practice and at least 10 years of active corporate membership in ASME. Bucinell was honored for his outstanding accomplishments in the areas of design, research and development, and education. Bucinell "has been at the forefront of developing international experiences for engineering students, integrating the entrepreneurial mindset in engineering students, and creating laboratory facilities where undergraduates can experience the physical phenomenon they are studying in the classroom," his nomination letter states.
Victoria Chee ’13, a Leadership in Medicine student who coordinates Campus Kitchens and is active with the Presidential Interfaith Campus Challenge, was among 10 winners presented with 2013 GOBY (Get on Board Volunteer) Awards during a ceremony this week at GE Theatre at Proctors, Schenectady. Chee had been named a “Future Stakeholder” by the Stakeholders, an Albany-based not-for-profit that inspires people to take positive action in their communities. To read the original story, click here.
Phil Wajda, director of Media Relations, attended the Council for the Advancement of Secondary Education (CASE) conference in Pittsburgh this week to collect three Accolades awards on behalf of the Department of Communications and Marketing. The department won a CASE Gold in the category of Student Recruitment, a Silver in the category of Excellence in News Writing and an honorable mention in the Social Media category for its work during the men's hockey team's trip to its First Frozen Four in school history. To read the original story, click here.
Cay Anderson-Hanley, associate professor of psychology, and her research team were included among the top research articles funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
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Categories: Astronomy
Here’s what we know about Earth’s new minimoon
For only the second time in history, astronomers have discovered a new, natural-origin, minimoon orbiting the Earth. The minimoon, known as 2020CD3 (CD3 for short), was first discovered by Kacper Werizchos and Teddy Pruyne using data from the Catalina Sky Survey. Once CD3’s orbit was determined to be geo-centric, Queens University Belfast Post-Doctoral Research Fellow Dr. Grigori Fedorets assembled a team of 23 astronomers worldwide to make careful observations of the object to determine its identity. Based on the team’s findings, a paper was published on November 24, 2020, in the Astronomical Journal, characterizing the minimoon.
One of the main reasons for the careful nature of the identification process is the fact that we’ve been fooled before! Spent upper stage rocket boosters from lunar missions have been mistaken for asteroids in the past. Both Apollo 12 and the Chinese Chang’e 2 missions left upper stages in space that briefly passed for minimoons. Another hilarious case of mistaking a human-made object for an asteroid is the legendary ESA Rosetta spacecraft observed by the Catalina Sky Survey in 2007 during a flyby of the Earth was briefly given the provisional asteroid designation of 2007 VN84. There’s something intensely entertaining about a spacecraft that was bound to visit a comet being mistaken for an asteroid.
Rosetta and its lander Philae at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. On a flyby of Earth before reaching the comet, the spacecraft was misidentified as an asteroid! Credit: ESA
What is CD3 like, and how can we be sure it isn’t human-related space debris? Like all solar system objects, the minimoon experiences a slight pressure from the solar wind and solar radiation. This effect is directly proportional to the surface area of the object in question. By measuring the size of an object and observing the deviation in its orbit from that predicted solely from the influence of gravity, we can gain useful insight into our target.
When asked about it, the lead author of the Astronomical Journal paper, Grigori Fedorets, commented, “We compare the surface area to the mass. For rocket boosters, which are hollow, the surface to mass ratio is much higher”. Another way to look at it is that the sun has less influence on the orbit of CD3 than we would expect for anything human-made, leading us to determine that the object is solid. It is now thought that the object is made of some kind of silicate. Essentially, as one might expect, it’s a space-rock.
S-!VB stage of Apollo 17, identical to the Apollo 12 stage that was mistaken for an asteroid. The hollow nature of these stages means they are more easily pushed by solar radiation pressure. Credit: NASA
How big is our new neighbor? Is this something to worry about? What would happen if the minimoon collided with the Earth? When space-rocks are found close to Earth, questions like this seem to pop up inevitably. In addressing such fearful questions, Fedorets puts it this way; ”This particular minimoon has a diameter of one or two meters. If it were to hit Earth, it would burn up in the atmosphere.” Fedorets continues, “…in general; these minimoons are quite small.”
Another reason to put your mind at ease is the fact that CD3 has already left the Earth-Moon system! It is by calculating the object’s path backward in time that we know it was a minimoon to begin with. “It was discovered on its way out of the Earth-Moon system. Before it left, it had been captured for 2.7 years.” Fedorets explained that this capture time is actually quite extended, “According to our simulations, an average minimoon would only be captured for about nine months…it’s a longer capture time than we expected.”
Animation of the path of 2020 CD3. Credit: Phoenix7777 Data source: HORIZONS System, JPL, NASA
Three long exposures of different colors are stacked to give a true-color composite image of 2020CD3. The streaks are stationary stars that are smeared out due to tracking the motion of the minimoon. Credit: The international Gemini Observatory/NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory/AURA/G. Fedorets
Not only did CD3 stick around longer than expected, but it also rotated slower than most simulated minimoons do, with a rotation period of once every three minutes. Compared to an enormous object like a planet, that might seem fast, but given the tiny size of this object, it is a most leisurely spin.
CD3 is only the second natural minimoon discovered, the first being 2006 RH120, found fourteen years earlier. Should we expect this pace to continue? Not if the astronomical community has its way.
The upcoming Vera Rubin Observatory should blow the doors off of the rate of minimoon discovery. According to Fedorets, the observatory will find many more minimoons. “We would expect to find one every two or three months in the best case.” With first light expected in 2021, we may very well be on the verge of a new era in minimoon astronomy (along with the myriad of other discoveries that are associated with observatories of this magnitude.)
The Vera Rubin Observatory under construction in 2017 (known as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope or LSST at the time) Credit: LSST
Objects like CD3 are particularly fascinating for astronomers. Unlike the minerals on Earth’s surface, which undergo various weathering and geological processes, asteroidal material is pristine. Fedorets remarks, “They [objects like CD3] contain the oldest material in the solar system, and studying them in detail tells us about how the solar system was born and shaped.” He continues, “This is a rare treat for astronomers to find such an object…it would be exciting to one day go and visit one of these, touch it with some instruments, and learn more about the solar system… and we don’t really know so much about these meter to ten-meter size objects. They’re not studied much because they’re quite hard to detect.”
Extraordinary discoveries in dark matter, gravitational waves, black holes, supernovae, and exoplanets (not to mention spacecraft both crewed and unmanned) all garner big headlines. These tremendous stories often inspire many of us to remark that we live in a golden era of astronomy. We shouldn’t overlook small, close-to-home discoveries like CD3. This couch-sized lump of space rock might be a little thing, but the current and future study of this and similar objects is a big deal.
Catalina Sky Survey
Rubin Observatory
Ralph Crewe
Next China's Chang'e-5 Probe Is Off to Bring Back a Moon Sample — and NASA Hopes to See the Data »
Previous « At One Time, This Region of Mars was Inundated by a "Megaflood"
The Roman Space Telescope’s Version of the Hubble Deep Field Will Cover a 100x Larger Area of the Sky
Here’s the Asteroid Hayabusa2 is Going to be Visiting Next
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Search of people
Building Universities' Reputation
Building Universities Reputation International Conference
BUR '15
UNIVERSITY REPUTATION
Lidia Borrell-Damián
Director of Research and Innovation, European University Association (EUA)
Lidia Borrell-Damian is Director for Research and Innovation with responsibilities for EUA's work on supporting and enhancing the role of universities as key research and innovation actors at European level. Responsibilities include the coordination of policy and project development activities. Since she joined EUA in 2006 she developed project and policy work in the areas of university-business research collaboration, knowledge transfer and the role of universities in regional innovation. She also developed work in the energy policy field through the development of the European Platform of Universities in Energy (EPUE).
Lidia Borrell-Damian has a doctorate in chemistry (chemical engineering Specialty) from the University of Barcelona. Before she joined EUA, she was Director of Research at Universitat Pompeu Fabra from 2003 to 2005. She also had worked in the private sector in a chemical company in Barcelona as R&D Deputy Director from 2001 to 2003. Prior to that she was a researcher in the university sector and held the positions of assistant professor at the University of Barcelona from 1990 to 1998; visiting scholar at the North Carolina State University (USA), 1997 to 1998; and post-doctoral researcher from 1999 to 2000 at the University of Western Ontario (Canada).
+ speakers
The BUR Workshop is the first international forum on the reputation of universities from all over the globe held in Spain
bur@unav.es
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Curious About Our BSc?
Still Deciding Which Bocconi Program Is Right for You?
Find Out More About Our Fields of Study
Program Director Riccardo Zecchina
This unique program stands at the intersection of major scientific disciplines: mathematics, computer science, physics, and economics. All of them are crucial for analyzing natural and social phenomena and, in particular, to develop the Artificial InteIligence (AI) tools that model the complex realities stored in the vast datasets available today.
Bright, math-oriented students who want to acquire a deep and well-rounded understanding of the natural and social worlds, and who grasp the growing impact of AI, will see in this program a great opportunity. Through this multidisciplinary path, they will have the chance to step into the elite ranks of scholars and professionals who will guide the development of future knowledge and its real-world applications, in AI and elsewhere. They will learn to nurture the emergence of new knowledge and to value new points of view.
Demand for skillsets that combine elements of STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) is very strong and growing. This BSc focuses on critical and methodological abilities from those same areas that will remain valid even as new technologies succeed one another, so graduates can confidently expect long and rewarding careers.
The study plan aims to provide a rigorous theoretical preparation, in terms of contents and methods, in different areas of mathematics and computer science and in the modelling techniques of physics and economics. Students receive methodological training in data driven AI (machine learning, computational statistics) and, at the same time, master the main mathematical, computational and modelling methods for the solution of quantitative problems and for making progress in the AI field itself.
In addition, soft skills such as effective communication and ability to work in a team are developed, enabling graduates to integrate and collaborate effectively in academic and professional contexts.
The BSc in Mathematical and Computing Sciences for Artificial Intelligence will open students’ minds and empower them with the best preparation to excel in the new digital era.
Starting from 2020-2021, this brand-new program will provide you with the skills needed to understand the machine learning tools revolutionizing the social and natural sciences
Watch it on YouTube
Our Research Team
This program is rooted in the knowledge and skills of our researchers and professors, a multidisciplinary group that is part of the Artificial Intelligence Lab
AI’s Multidisciplinary Approach
Program Director Riccardo Zecchina describes the past, present and future of AI
Explaining Why Algorithms Work
Computer scientist Luca Trevisan’s research focuses on finding structure in noisy data, while his blog celebrated the Alan Turing centennial
Our Community Explains AI
Interviews with the Rector, Faculty and a student, who discuss artificial intelligence at Bocconi (in Italian)
Why Bocconi
Ask our students
Bocconi Stories
Guidance Activities
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2011 Nepal: Evaluation of UNICEF's Early Childhood Development Programme with Focus on Government of Netherlands Funding (2008-2010) - Nepal Country Case Study Report
As early as the 1960s, national and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs and INGOs) in Nepal have been working to expand access to Early Childhood Development (ECD) activities and services as a key strategy for improving primary-school retention and performance. Today, ECD in Nepal consists primarily of center-based Early Childhood Education and Development (ECED), parenting orientation classes, awareness-raising campaigns, health services, and nutrition support for infants and young children that promotes physical and cognitive development. Nepal’s primary focus in scaling up ECD activities has been on centers. There are currently more than 29,089 ECD centers operating in Nepal (Ministry of Education [MOE] 2009). Overall, 66.2 percent of the population of 3- and 4-year-olds is enrolled in an ECD center—64.8 percent of girls and 67.5 percent of boys (MOE 2009).1 Nepal is ranked among the poorest countries in the world, with a Human Development Index rating of 144 out of 182 countries (United Nations Development Programme [UNDP] 2009). Nearly 20 percent of the population is under age 6, and half of these children fall within the age range of 3 to 6 years (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization [UNESCO] 2008). The primary-school net enrollment rate is 94 percent. However, only 78 percent of children who start grade 1 will continue in school to reach grade 5 (MOE 2009).
UNICEF’s ECD Focus in Nepal
The UNICEF country office ECD Specialist, along with the Education Section Chief and Country Office Representative, works primarily with national government counterparts in the MOE, Department of Education (DOE), and partner INGOs and NGOs to advocate for and provide technical assistance for developing policies and plans for ECD services, as well as related training and other materials. The ECD Specialist also works within UNICEF to integrate ECD into other ongoing work in the other sections.
UNICEF’s ECD goals are stated succinctly in the current Country Programme Action Plan (CPAP) with Nepal: ―"The early childhood development project will provide support to expand the ECD system to marginalized communities. In the most marginalized communities in 15 districts, 80 percent of parents and guardians of children ages 3 to 5 years will receive orientation on ECD and on the importance of primary education. By 2010, there will be ECD centers in each of the category 3 and 4 VDC [Village Development Committee] settlements in disadvantaged groups’ VDCs in 15 DACAW [Decentralized Action for Children and Women] districts."3
Nepal’s ECD initiatives include center-based care and instruction, parenting orientation classes, awareness-raising campaigns, and health services for infants and young children that support physical and cognitive development. This section provides a snapshot of these services. The primary modality for provision of ECD services is center-based care and instruction for 3- and 4-year-old children.4
Purpose/ Objectives:
This report presents the results of a retrospective case study of policy and programmatic initiatives to promote ECD in Nepal, with an emphasis on those supported by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in partnership with the Government of Nepal. The evaluation team conducted the study as part of an evaluation of the UNICEF-Government of Netherlands (GoN) Cooperation Programme on ECD, 2008-2010. The Cooperation Programme on ECD emphasizes three strategic objectives: (1) capacity building, (2) knowledge generation and dissemination, and (3) mainstreaming ECD into policies and services for young children. In addition, the Cooperation Programme on ECD focuses on cross-cutting issues, such as use of a human rights based approach to planning and providing ECD services, as well as gender equity and outreach to the marginalized.
For the Nepal case study, in June 2010, the evaluation team conducted eight days of in-country data collection, including field visits to locations where ECD is implemented. Primary data sources included key informant interviews with UNICEF country office staff, officials from the ministries of education and health, and staff from key UNICEF partner organizations; focus group discussions with parents, ECD facilitators,2 local ECD stakeholders, and district and local government officials; and observations of ECD centers. The evaluation team employed two main qualitative evaluation methods in analyzing case study data: (1) thematic framing and (2) triangulation. The analysis is structured around the logical framework for ECD in Nepal and the questions, outcomes, and indicators specified in the case study matrix (Appendix A). Triangulation confirmed patterns and identified important discrepancies across data sources and respondents participating in interviews and focus groups.
1 These data are taken from official statistics. The quality and accuracy of this data is questionable, as noted in a recent study of Nepal’s ECD programme (MOE/UNICEF 2009).
2 ECD facilitators are the teachers/caregivers who staff ECD centers, which are essentially preschool classrooms.
3 The DACAW programme is the primary mechanism for UNICEF’s ECD work at district and local levels. DACAW is UNICEF’s framework of collaboration with communities and local and district government through which UNICEF’s Health, Education, Child Protection, Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune-Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS), and Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) programmes are implemented. Specifically, DACAW works to build the capacity of individuals and communities, especially women, to demand change; to build capacity among local service providers to meet the needs of the population; and to build the capacity of local government to plan, implement, and monitor programmes that support the interests of women and children. DACAW is currently operating in 23 districts throughout Nepal (UNICEF 2008b).
4 In Nepal, children begin the first grade at the age of 5.
The report presents the case study findings in nine areas. These findings are summarized below.
Alignment with National Goals and Priorities
Activities undertaken in Nepal as part of the Programme of Cooperation on ECD are well aligned with national goals and priorities. ECD became a formal part of national education policy in 2000, when Nepal adopted the goals and strategies of the Education for All (EFA) Dakar Framework for Action, which included the goal of ―expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education‖ (UNESCO 2000). The School Sector Reform Plan (SSRP), adopted in 2009, includes concrete steps toward mainstreaming ECD into the national education system; the SSRP specifies a target gross enrollment rate (GER) for ECD centers of 80 percent by 2015. UNICEF has also made significant investments in parent education consistent with the CPAP objective. CPAP seeks to increase the number of parents with specific knowledge of ECD messages. ECD activities carried out by Nepal with support from UNICEF focus heavily on capacity building for start-up and support to ECD centers, and are well aligned with the government’s goals for expansion of the ECD activities into new districts and Village Development Committees (VDCs).
Effectiveness: Increasing Access and Coverage
Access to ECD services has increased substantially in Nepal. ECD in Nepal has expanded rapidly in the past few years, from 5,023 centers in 2004 to 29,089 in 2009 (MOE/ UNICEF 2009). In 2007, only 33 percent of children entering grade 1 had any experience with ECD.
Access to ECD services in Nepal has increased for the most disadvantaged and marginalized groups. These groups include Dalits, the Hindu caste formerly known as ―untouchables,‖ and Janajati, which includes Hindu and non-Hindu ethnic groups. Data reported by the MOE for 2009-10 do not disaggregate GER for ECD by caste or social group.5 However, according to MOE data from 2006-07 and 2008-09, the proportion of Dalit and Janajati entrants to grade 1 who have some ECD experience increased substantially in this short time period (8.6 and 12.7 percent, respectively). Other groups experienced less growth (20.2 percent).
Nepal has not achieved ECD targets set in cooperation with UNICEF. These goals are to by the end of 2010 establish an ECD center and provide orientation to 80 percent of parents of young children in the most marginalized communities in 15 DACAW districts. According to the 2009 Annual Report, by the end of 2009, ―ECD centers were present in 63 percent of wards in the most disadvantaged VDCs in UNICEF-supported districts,‖ and 49 percent of parents in the most disadvantaged communities had received parenting orientation, compared with 39 percent in the previous year. There are several possible explanations for why targets have not yet been met. The case study team found no evidence that Nepal is targeting funding for ECD centers to the most disadvantaged VDCs, or evidence that funding is allocated in a way that prioritizes the meeting of UNICEF targets. Also, the availability of parenting orientation (PO) classes in the 15 DACAW districts is not sufficient to reach 80 percent of parents.
Effectiveness: Building Capacity for ECD
The Government of Nepal, with support from UNICEF, has taken a strategic approach to capacity building focused on addressing the needs of local service providers and officials. The Government of Nepal and its partners are engaging in a strategically appropriate ―mix‖ of capacity-building activities that contribute to a supportive environment for ECD in homes, communities, and the education system. Through its extensive work with communities and districts as part of the DACAW approach, UNICEF has gained an understanding of the needs and abilities of local officials and other stakeholders. The cooperation programme has strategically targeted capacity-building resources to teachers, head teachers, and district and VDC officials. The cooperation programme has also taken into account the importance of parent involvement in the creation and expansion of ECD services and has employed a participatory approach in raising parents’ awareness of ECD, creating demand for it, and building their capacity to provide the health and nutrition supports that make ECD most effective.
Nepal has implemented district-level ECD training, but not all stakeholders receive the training they need. Although the Government of Nepal and its partners recognize the importance of ECD orientation for head teachers, ECD management committees, and district and VDC officials, training to date has not been implemented consistently in all districts. Orientations are organized locally according to the initiative and interest of individuals in the community and thus do not occur in all districts for all relevant stakeholders. Systematic data about who is trained and the amount of training received and thus precise estimates of training coverage are not available. However, multiple facilitators and stakeholders interviewed noted that some facilitators receive only 8 or 12 days of the required 16-day basic training, and most had not received refresher training. Moreover, some facilitators had received no training, because turnover rates are so high that training cannot keep up with the intake of new facilitators. Uneven provision of training is likely related to the lack of monitoring of the training process and poor follow-through on the part of the local government and INGO and NGO partners responsible for managing and implementing ECD.
The impact of PO classes on parents’ behaviors is unclear. Although the classes appear to be successful in creating demand for ECD, they may not be reaching their full potential for improving parents’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices about caring for and stimulating their young children’s holistic development. The Center for Education Innovation and Development (CERID), with UNICEF support, conducted a baseline study of parents’ knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to ECD in five DACAW districts in 2008 to inform the parenting education curriculum. A follow-up survey planned for 2011 will measure changes. Meetings with parents in Tanahun and grandmothers in Parsa yielded very little evidence of behavior change related to child care practices. Informants in both districts recalled information related to immunizations and child feeding, but did not mention changes in children’s cognitive, social, or emotional development. Parents, however, did report that PO classes convinced them to send their children to ECD centers.
Effectiveness: Generating Knowledge for ECD
Data are not consistently collected and used for planning and managing ECD activities and services in Nepal. Nepal does not have accurate information about the total number of ECD centers that currently exist in the country; the breakdown of community-based, school-based, and privately run centers and pre-primary classes; or the exact geographic distribution of these centers.6 Systematic data are also not collected about other ECD activities being piloted on a smaller scale, including PO classes, facilitator training, awareness raising, stakeholder orientation, and ECD messages in the micronutrient-supplementation activities.
Early Learning and Development Standards (ELDS) will be a vital tool to define and monitor quality of ECD services. The ELDS will not only allow Nepal to obtain a baseline for children’s status at the outset of ECD services but will also provide measures that can be used for monitoring of ECD centers and will form the basis for improved curricula and training materials for facilitators as well as parents. The challenge will be to ensure that the standards are turned into the necessary tools and that key groups are properly trained in their use.
There is little evidence on the effectiveness of ECD services in Nepal. Aside from a lack of basic information to describe and monitor the state of ECD services in Nepal, there is also a lack of data regarding the effectiveness of ECD services. CERID has conducted several qualitative studies about ECD’s positive influence on student retention in primary grades. A 2003 study conducted by Save the Children examined the impact of ECD services on children, families, and communities, combining administrative data from ECD centers and schools with qualitative data collected from parents, teachers, and other stakeholders (Save the Children 2003). This study found that children with ECD experience had higher rates of enrollment in grade 1, performed better in primary school, and attended more regularly. However, the study focused on a single district in Nepal, and the authors noted significant data-quality issues in school and other administrative records. Additionally, the study was designed in such a way that it is not possible to attribute differences in outcomes to exposure to ECD.
There appear to be no rigorously designed, nationally representative studies examining whether ECD services, as they are currently being provided, have succeeded in improving rates of dropout and repetition in grade 1 and later grades, or have achieved other important outcomes related to school performance, or cognitive and socioemotional development in the medium and long term.7 Similarly, no evaluations have been conducted of parenting education activities to determine whether participating parents behave differently with their children than parents who do not participate, or whether outcomes differ between their children. 8
Effectiveness: Mainstreaming ECD into National Policies and Plans
ECD is not yet integrated across sectors in Nepal. Considerable efforts to work toward integration of ECD have taken place and have involved Ministry of Local Development (MLD), MOE, National Planning Commission (NPC), and CA members. However, more work is needed in this area. ECD policy is implemented largely within the education sector in Nepal. The most current government policies on ECD, particularly the SSRP, are in the education sector. Other ministries may believe that ECD is primarily an education-sector issue and do not understand the importance of intersectoral coordination for reaching younger children and those without access to ECD centers and for affecting parenting behaviors that can support children’s growth and development.
The Government of Nepal has developed strong partnerships with UNICEF and others to support ECD policymaking and planning at all levels. MOE and DOE officials at the national level noted consistently that UNICEF had played an important role in keeping ECD on the national agenda and in pushing for more recognition and funding. Some respondents noted that UNICEF’s credibility and its professional capacity are extremely important factors in its work and gives it a high degree of influence with the government and other partner organizations. Respondents also consistently cited UNICEF’s ability to bring organizations together to discuss and collaborate on ECD policy development and implementation efforts.
ECD is not fully mainstreamed into all components of UNICEF’s country programme. Nearly all of UNICEF’s ECD activities fall under the education programme, which mirrors the concentration of Nepal’s ECD policy development and implementation in the education sector. Country Office (CO) staff indicated that efforts have been made to collaborate on ECD across sectors, such as monthly meetings for key staff from all sections and exchanges of annual work plans across sections for review and comment. However, in only a few instances has ECD been integrated into activities in other sections. Specific examples of this integration include the ECD Specialist’s work with the nutrition section to include messages about ECD in micronutrient-supplementation activities. Similarly, a page about children’s needs and risks throughout the development cycle was included in a resource kit on community mobilization for child protection (UNICEF 2010a). In addition, there are references to ―bad practices‖ in the parent-orientation materials. Aside from these examples, however, ECD has not truly been integrated into the activities of sections other than education.
Nepal has taken a critical step toward mainstreaming ECD into formal education through the passage of the recent SSRP, but the plan has limitations. Incorporation of ECD in the SSRP reflects significant progress toward mainstreaming ECD, however the plan has some limitations. First, although the EFA had established ECD as a priority for 3- and 4-year-old children, the SSRP limits its commitment to 4-year-olds. Second, the plan provides only enough funding to cover the one-time costs of establishing a new ECD facility (and only enough centers to cover the country’s 4-year-old children), the facilitator’s salary and training, and some basic materials.
Efficiency and Quality of ECD Services
The quality of ECD services provided varies from center to center. The site visit team visited a few centers and cannot generalize to all settings; however, the findings provide some insight into ECD issues in Nepal. All four of the ECD centers the team visited had a wide variety of interesting materials available to use as aids for play-based learning, including blocks, dolls, homemade storybooks, basic household items labeled with their Nepali names, charts of the seasons, and other educational materials on the walls. However, the case study team did not observe organized use of the materials in any of the classrooms visited. Interactions with the facilitators were brief and not very stimulating or responsive to children’s interests and developmental needs. On the other hand, one center had a facilitator who organized her classroom and activities very well, led an interactive story time with the class, and described for us creative games she had devised to teach children colors and numbers. Interviews with UNICEF staff and national and local stakeholders confirmed these observations about the variability of center quality. Nepal does not collect consistent data from monitoring visits to ECD centers. Therefore, no systematic information is available about the quality of ECD center-based services in Nepal.
Monitoring of ECD facilitator performance is insufficient. There are no standard procedures in place to monitor the quality of ECD services provided in Nepal. Although nearly every stakeholder—including district education offices, ECD management committees, village development committees and municipalities, education resource centers, school management committees, and I/NGOs— in a district monitors ECD centers, there are no standard monitoring tools and no formal mechanism for reporting monitoring findings to district-level education officers or any other body. Monitoring conducted by multiple stakeholders, without coordination and standardized monitoring and reporting tools, is not an efficient use of ECD resources.
Processes for Planning, Management, and Coordination
Intersectoral collaboration on ECD at the national level is minimal. The official inter-ministerial ECD coordination bodies, which sit within the NPC and MOE, have become inactive. The only functioning coordination body at this time is the interagency working group, which sits within the DOE. Representatives from MLD are invited to these meetings, but it is not clear whether other ministries are actively involved in this committee. The context for efforts to collaborate across sectors is a fragile state at a political impasse.
Interagency collaboration on ECD at district and local levels varies by district. The Strategy Paper on Early Childhood Development (MOE/UNESCO 2004) details guidelines for the management of ECD centers and other activities at district and local levels, including the formation and functioning of ECD management committees, the roles of VDC/municipality officials, the District Education Office and Resource Persons, and community members, INGOs and NGOs, and (community-based organizations) CBOs. These guidelines lay out general goals for collaboration between these groups to carry out the establishment, management, funding, and monitoring of school-based and community-based ECD centers.
Data collected through site visit interviews indicates that the effectiveness of collaboration between stakeholders varies substantially by district, and possibly by VDC/municipality as well. The school and local governance officials the case study team met in Tanahun district described a well-functioning and highly engaged network of local ECD stakeholders who had established clear roles and responsibilities, and who met regularly to coordinate ECD services among themselves. In Parsa, however, VDC and district officials were less engaged and informed about ECD in the district, and most of the work of managing, supporting, and monitoring ECD centers there was done by INGOs and NGOs. Because Nepal does not systematically collect ECD monitoring data, there are no national data sources that can be used to assess the effective of collaboration on ECD more broadly.
Results-based planning for ECD is limited in Nepal both within the government and the UNICEF country office. Ideally, any set of activities should be guided by a detailed results framework that elaborates on specific, measurable objectives and targets for outputs and outcomes expected for all activities. Outputs and outcomes should be measured using clearly defined, measurable indicators to track progress toward the objectives. The lack of activity-specific objective-setting and monitoring within the Government of Nepal-UNICEF programme of cooperation hampers the country’s ability to determine whether its investments have been properly targeted, its resources are being used as intended, and its activities are achieving the desired results. UNICEF monitors all objectives, but in the context of the Paris Declaration focuses primarily on monitoring impact rather than inputs and process. UNICEF uses the Education Management Information System (EMIS) data from MOE to align with other development programmes and facilitate joint monitoring of trends and results. Also within the context of the Paris Declaration, use of resources is jointly monitored through reports to GoN.
Current country programme monitoring and evaluation (M&E) focus only on outputs, not outcomes. The current MOE indicators on ECD provide information about outputs—the number of ECD centers and enrollment rates—that can be used to assess expansion. Data are not currently collected or reported regarding the effectiveness of ECD in improving educational, socioemotional, or health outcomes for young children in Nepal.
Incorporation of Human Rights Based Approach and Strategies to Improve Equity and Participation of the Disadvantaged and Marginalized
Nepal has emphasized the importance of extending ECD services to the most disadvantaged and marginalized populations. National policies and plans consistently emphasize the importance of increasing access to services for disadvantaged groups and reducing disparities in access to services and in related outcomes. The government has carried out a poverty-mapping exercise, in which it collected data on basic poverty and millennium development goals (MDG) indicators through qualitative data collection and community mapping, and then categorized VDCs according to the data provided. UNICEF has used poverty-mapping data to plan and target its support to the VDCs categorized as most in need.
Specific strategies and targets for reaching disadvantaged groups with ECD have not been fully developed. Despite the policy emphasis on extending services to disadvantaged groups and the availability of some education statistics disaggregated by social group (Dalit, Janajati, or other) no specific strategies have been adopted for tracking and targeting these groups, or the communities in which they live, with funds for ECD services. Funding allocated to ECD through the SSRP is provided to districts according to a quota system, by which the district may distribute funds to VDCs and municipalities at its discretion for the establishment of ECD centers in those areas. Although some districts may make efforts to target these funds toward VDCs/municipalities categorized as disadvantaged, others do not. In fact, some local stakeholders the case study team interviewed noted that funds for ECD are often allocated to the communities that are best organized to lobby for funding. Disadvantaged communities often lack the organization and sense of self-efficacy required to successfully mobilize successful lobbying efforts.
Additionally, equity in ECD enrollment is not monitored through basic statistics. As noted in previous sections of this report, official statistics do not report on net or gross ECD enrollment rates by social group. They report only on the proportion of enrolled children belonging to particular groups. This indicator provides little useful information about equity as it does not take into account the total population of 3- and 4-year-olds belonging to each group.9 The Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data reported (MOE/UNICEF 2009) show large disparities in ECD enrollment by wealth category. Because DHS is a household survey, the data can be used to categorize households into wealth quintiles. According to these data, 63 percent of children in the wealthiest quintile of families attend an ECD center, compared with 12 percent of children from families in the poorest quintile (Table IV.4). These DHS data do not provide information about disparities by social group (Dalit, Janajati, or other), but such data are captured to some extent in the disparities by wealth quintile. DHS data also show that enrollment in ECD centers is lower in mountain areas and in the Far West region.
Nepal does not identify children with disabilities as a distinct disadvantaged group in need of increased access in its ECD policy or activities. The case study team did not find evidence of outreach efforts to families with children with disabilities, PO training on disabilities, or training and orientation for stakeholders and facilitators. MOE Flash Reports contain indicators for the enrollment of children with disabilities in primary and lower secondary school (including students who are blind, deaf, or blind and deaf; students with speech difficulties; and students with physical and mental disabilities), but no such data are reported for ECD centers. According to UNICEF, insufficient attention to children with disabilities is an issue in multiple sectors, including healthy and primary education, and therefore not unique to ECD.
Gender equity in ECD enrollment has been achieved in most regions. In the mountain, hill, and Kathmandu Valley areas, GER for boys and girls in ECD have been roughly equal over the last four years (Table IV.5). There remains a slight gap between GER for boys and girls in the Terai: GER for girls is lower than for boys. This gap has widened since 2006.
UNICEF’s work at district and local levels is highly participatory and encourages grassroots involvement in all aspects of ECD services and management. All ECD activities at these levels are generally carried out through the DACAW mechanism, which is itself a mechanism for collaboration amongst community members, especially women, schools, community-based organizations, and VDC and district government officials.
Sustainability and Scale-Up of ECD Services and Initiatives
Insufficient allocation of resources for ECD at the national level threatens its sustainability. Based on case study team observations and review of studies and reports on ECD in Nepal, the team concludes that ECD lacks a secure ―home‖ in Nepal. MOE, which in practice oversees policy implementation, does not take full ownership of ECD and maintains that ECD is split not only across the MOE and MLD. Other local government bodies, community CBOs, and NGOs that help to sustain services are also involved. At the same time, MLD participation in ECD-coordinating bodies at the national level is minimal. Stronger mechanisms for collaboration between these groups at central as well as district and local levels are needed to ensure sustainability at scale over the long term. MOE has committed to ECD center services to 4-year-olds for the next seven years but a shift toward school-based centers and away from community-based centers is possible.
Local governance structures and collaboration among stakeholders require strengthening in some districts. The Government of Nepal is committed to decentralization–control of services by local government entities and their partners–as the means of providing education and health services throughout the country. However, local governance is still weak in many areas and lacks the capacity and political will necessary to provide high quality services in an equitable manner.
5 The net enrollment rate (NER) and GER were reported for Dalit, Janajati, and other groups in the 2006-2007 Flash Report but are left out of later reports. The 2008-2009 reports provide only the proportion of Dalit and Janajati students out of the total ECD enrollment. They do not provide information about the proportion of all eligible Dalit and Janajati children who are enrolled in ECD.
6 While most ECD stakeholders recognize community-based versus school-based ECD centers, MOE Flash Reports consider both of these types of centers to be ―community-based‖ and refer to private centers or classes as ―institutional.‖ Therefore, it is not possible to determine the proportion of ECD centers that are community-supported and community-managed versus those that are school-managed and funded by the DOE.
7 Rigorously designed research would examine outcomes at the child level, specifically comparing those who had ECD experience with appropriately matched comparison children who had not, and would control for potential confounding factors such as parents’ education level, socioeconomic status, and other circumstances.
8 CERID conducted a baseline survey of the Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices (KAP) of Parents/Guardians on Early Childhood Development and Primary Education in Nepal, with followup planned in 2011. This survey will not provide rigorous evidence about whether parenting education programmes affect parent behavior and child outcomes, but it will provide some information about whether parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices different before and after participation in a parenting education programme.
9 For example, assume that of 99 children enrolled in an ECD center, 33 are Dalit, 33 are Janajati, and 33 are from another group. Enrollment rates for these groups are not necessarily equal, because we do not know what proportion of the total Dalit or Janajati population is represented by those 33 children. If the Dalit population of 3-4-year-old children in the community is 1,000, while the Janajati population is 2,000, and the ―other‖ population is 500, then the enrollment rates for Dalit children would be 3.3%, while for Janajati children it would be 1.6% and for ―other‖ children, 6.6%--double the enrollment rate for Dalit children.
This section presents conclusions about progress that has been made and ongoing challenges faced by Nepal and its partners as they continue to develop ECD policy and support implementation and scale-up.
ECD policies and activities are well aligned with national priorities. Lack of intersectoral policy implementation and functional collaboration mechanisms at the national level, however, limit Nepal’s ability to implement policies in a coordinated, holistic manner.
Increasing Access and Coverage
Access to ECD centers has increased substantially, including among the most disadvantaged and marginalized groups. Enrollment rates, however, vary by region and for children from families in different income groups.
Information about coverage results for PO classes that have been implemented in DACAW districts indicate that additional PO classes may be needed in each village to reach the target of 80 percent of parents.
Capacity Building for ECD
Resources for building ECD capacity are strategically targeted to subnational levels; more consistent implementation and increased access to coordinator training is needed to increase coverage.
Intensity of PO classes may not be sufficient to produce lasting changes in KAP. A planned follow-up KAP survey of parents will provide important information about the potential for PO classes to create lasting change when implemented at current levels of intensity.
Knowledge Generation for ECD
ECD planning and activities in Nepal can be enhanced by more complete data at national and subnational levels. Nepal faces a similar challenge in the education sector.
The ELDS and the ECD mapping exercise provide important opportunities to build a solid base of information for ongoing ECD policy development and implementation in Nepal.
Mainstreaming of ECD into National Policies and Plans
The Nepal-UNICEF cooperation programme has made some progress in mainstreaming ECD into the education and local development sectors; the education sector has incorporated 4-year-olds, and some efforts have been made to infuse ECD messages into nutritional and health services.
Efficiency and Quality of ECD
Use of common monitoring methodology and tools and coordination among monitors can improve efficiency and consistency in coverage of critical ECD elements.
More training or other mechanisms to support quality improvement in ECD centers are needed.
National policies call for ownership of ECD implementation at district and local levels. Mainstreaming of ECD is limited in some districts by a lack of sufficient local capacity to implement ECD policies.
Incorporation of Human Rights-Based Approach and Strategies to Improve Equity
An effort to map locations of ECD centers is underway, but strategies are not yet in place to target construction of new ECD centers to communities with high proportions of children from marginalized and disadvantaged groups.
Sustainability and Scale-Up
Lack of strong intersectoral policy implementation and active coordination bodies at the national level could hamper sustainability.
Rapid scale-up of ECD centers has occurred, but more attention to quality and equity is needed.
Role of UNICEF-GoN Funding
The UNICEF-GoN Cooperation Programme funded two important ECD initiatives in Nepal—development of the ELDS and integration of ECD messages into a micronutrient supplementation initiatives—and jump started or enhanced previously planned ECD activities, particularly at district and local levels.
This section presents the following recommendations to enhance ECD policy development and implementation in Nepal. Recommendations for the Government of Nepal focus on intersectoral collaboration and implementation, and for UNICEF focus on advocacy and provision of technical support. [See full Recommendations table on page xx].
Lessons Learned (optional):
ECD policy development and implementation in Nepal has focused primarily on the education sector in the last two years since the SSRP was developed. Nepal’s experience thus far at both the national and subnational levels provides several important lessons learned that may be useful for other countries, particularly about the challenges and potential benefits of focusing the majority of ECD resources in one primary sector.
When countries develop ECD policy primarily in one sector, intersectoral collaboration becomes more challenging. Including policy mandates to implement ECD within policy documents for a single sector, such as the education sector in Nepal, creates challenges to engaging other sectors in supporting ECD. Staff in other sectors may not view ECD as their responsibility, they may not understand the importance of providing holistic ECD, and they may be reluctant to commit scarce resources when they are responsible for fulfilling other mandates. ECD is by definition intersectoral, and policy implementation and activities should reflect this intrinsic characteristic. For example, if an ECD specialist is placed within one section, other mechanisms such as joint planning and the formation of intersectoral working groups, are likely to be encouraged.
Mainstreaming ECD within a single sector may facilitate rapid scale-up. Clear systems and resource allocation plans can be established in a single sector for replicating specific services, such as ECD centers, in communities across the country. ECD can be introduced efficiently into already existing service delivery systems, such as the primary education system or home visiting or community education activities operating within health systems. As in Nepal, sectoral approaches can be efficient and where they work well should continue. Intersectoral collaboration is not an end in itself; it is a means for developing holistic ECD policies and services. However, intersectoral approaches offer one way to address unmet needs and can increase the frequency of conveying ECD messages to parents and communities.
Concentrating ECD policy in a single sector creates challenges for developing ECD the age span and for multiple settings, such as home and school. Few sectors offer services that span the ECD age range of birth to 5 years old. For example, health interventions often focus on supporting positive maternal health and birth outcomes, as well as on delivering basic health and nutrition services to children under age 3. For those services, interventions are most often delivered in the home environment or in gatherings that occur in the local community. Preschool education is most often delivered in centers to children ages 3 to 5. To provide holistic ECD across the age span and in multiple settings, intersectoral approaches are needed.
Rapid scale-up can lead to insufficient focus on quality and equity. Implementing ECD is a complex endeavor that requires action at both national and subnational levels. In addition to developing resource-allocation plans, establishing facilities, hiring and training staff, and recruiting families and children, systems must be developed to promote quality services and equitable access to them. Steps required to create these systems—including developing standards, indicators, and targets; collecting data to track indicators and monitor progress toward targets; and using data to make improvements—take time to develop and implement. Rapid scale-up can occur before critical support systems are fully in place, leading to uneven quality and access to services among disadvantaged populations.
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Features Digital Covers Opinion Lists
Friday Rewind: Top 10 EDM Releases To Rev Up The Weekend
July 11, 2014 - 2:20 pm by Sarah Polonsky
Kick off the weekend with these top 10 dance music releases from the past week, curated by DJ, producer and vocalist Lea Luna.
1. North Base and Jenna G- "Beats So Loud"
North Base is a Drum & Bass group made up of Manchester producers Silver, Prophecy, and Splice. In 2012, they came in third place in the National Drum & Bass Awards for "Best Breakthrough Producers" and have since been picking up impressive momentum with successful hits and remixes at the top of their genre. Fresh out on Viper Recordings this past week they have "Beats So Loud," which features a catchy melodic vocal from Jenna G, with rolling basslines and liquid-smooth production to back it all up.
2. Michael Jackson- "Love Never Felt So Good" (David Morales Red Zone Mix)
Fans were full of excitement when the posthumous release "Love Never Felt So Good" by Michael Jackson came out, followed by a mainstream EDM remix by Fedde Le Grand, but many dance music purists were left wondering: "Where are the underground remixes? Where can I find a new Michael Jackson remix that sounds more like the old white-label Michael bootlegs that back-in-the-day DJs coveted on vinyl?" Look no further- David Morales has it covered. His Red Zone remix is a dancefloor masterpiece, and is accompanied by 3 other fine mixes, including a classy house tribute directly following the Red Zone smasher, all officially released on Epic Records.
3. Mike Hawkins- "Revolt"
Mike Hawkins has a great vision that he has gotten DOORN records behind. This supersonic monster of a tune is full of enchanting sounds and melodies, arabesque breakdowns, and heavy drops that you would expect from this label, run by Sander Van Doorn. The success of this record is imminent, but our humble hero Mike Hawkins is not keeping the success for himself: every cent of the single's proceeds will be donated to Unicef, the United Nations Children's Fund for children's rights, survival, development and protection. Lend an ear and lend a hand.
4. ZHU- "Faded" (Vanilla Ace & Dharkfunkh Remix)
ZHU has a sexy falsetto voice, which is the perfect sound to mix with the dark, deep production of Vanilla Ace & Dharkfunkh. This remix of "Faded" is truly intoxicating.
5. JSuave- "Back It Up"
Bay area drum & bass producer/DJ JSuave has taken a turn for the twerk on his recent Soundcloud jams. Here is "Back It Up," the leading track of three bouncy booty-shakers.
6. Chet Faker- "Gold" (Flume Re-Work)
A soothing male vocal and a chill, smooth track make a perfect pair on Chet Faker's "Gold," and this reinterpreted version by Flume adds a nice heavy and emotional feel to the original that electronic music fans will appreciate. It's like adding vodka to your lemonade.
7. Dubfire feat. Miss Kittin- "Exit"
Dubfire and Miss Kittin are a techno artist collaboration made in heaven. Dubfire's production on "Exit" is a monstrous wall of sound, and Miss Kittin's signature sultry vocal is hypnotizing as ever, with chops and effects that will bend your mind. "Exit" is a journey you'll never want to end.
8. Nick Thayer- "Our Rules" feat. N'Fa
If you're too close to the bassbins when this heavy drop hits, you're going to get knocked over. This glitch hop banger is for extreme bass music fans only; extremely potent with absolute filth.
9. Oliver Heldens feat. Becky Hill- "Gecko (Overdrive)" (JayceeOh & Dani Deahl Remix)
JayCeeOh and Dani Deahl took this recent deep house hit by major sensation Oliver Heldens and turned it out into a banging trap remix, which adds a totally different spin on the vocal by Beck Hill. Blasting 808 beats and pitch-bent vocal edits are what trap fans are addicted to. The whole bass music community could've missed out on this catchy tune altogether if it weren't for this well-accomplished remix. Available for free download on Soundcloud.
10. Lea Luna- "Crazy Pills"
Out now on Black Hole Recordings, "Crazy Pills" by the author of Friday Rewind, Lea Luna.
Chet Faker,
dance music,
Dani Deahl,
David Morales,
Dubfire,
EDM,
featured,
P Diddy promotes his new Diddy Dirty Money single 'Coming Home' and his headphones DiddyBeats at HMV, Oxford Street on January 20, 2011 in London, England.
Photo by Matt Kent/WireImage
'The Last Train To Paris' Turns 10: Revisit Diddy's Aug./Sept. 2010 VIBE Cover Story
YOU EVER WATCH a control freak mellow out? It’s fascinating. When said micromanager is Sean “Puffy” Combs, it’s an enlightening ordeal altogether. Sitting at trendy Asian eatery Philippe Chow in New York City, two days before LeBron James announces that he’s taking his show to South Beach, Combs has talking points: impact and legacy. “This ain’t a regular run,” says Combs of his two-decade laundry list of accomplishments. “I’m saying that in the most humble way possible. I’m me and I’m seeing it. Most times the impact of what you do you don’t even live to see it.”
He’s the only patron seated for the evening, lounging at a table that comfortably seats eight. This is clearly a Sean John zone. His voice remains even, but the arrogance skyrockets. “It trickles over into sports. It goes into the way the free agent negotiations are going. [Athletes] have that belief. But that level of confidence as Black businessmen wasn’t really there. Unforgivable swagger. That shit wasn’t there.”
Translation: Sean believes that his ambition has been infectious. In his “humble” opinion, his drive has taught the have-nots that not only can they have, but they can be gluttonous and acquire wealth rather than riches. Will it ruin his day if people don’t agree? Not really. But he’d still like the legacy to be accurately documented. His reactionary reflexes have given way to him thinking long term, which could be why he’s unfazed by trivial shots like 50 Cent’s claims of having nude pictures of his artist Cassie. He’s more interested in guiding careers—Rick Ross, Red Cafe and Dirty Money, among them. And really, he’d like to do square biz and have your kids’ kids respect him like his contemporaries admire Warren Buffet. That would truly be money in the bank. In the meantime, he wants to mellow with a plate of chicken satay and talk Diddy legacy.
VIBE: You have said that rap’s heavyweight class consisted of Jay-Z, Kanye West, Lil Wayne and Drake. Do you still believe that?
Diddy: Definitely. I feel like Drake is somebody that entered professionally in the heavyweight division. He didn’t come in as a middleweight, he didn’t come in as a light heavyweight, he came in as a heavyweight. He’s gonna be a force to be reckoned with for a while. He is the definition of a new age musical rapper . . . going forward a lot of rap artists are going to have [singing and rapping] in their repertoire.
What’s the ranking in that heavyweight division?
Jay, Kanye, Wayne, and Drake.
Jay still No. 1?
Hands down as far as worldwide impact and due to this last album [The Blueprint 3]. He’s moved up in the rankings.
People don’t realize that you two are friends and not just industry acquaintances.
Over the years as we’ve grown, Jay and I have needed each other. We’ve needed to be able to pick up the phone and call somebody that can understand what each other was going through. We needed each other to motivate each other; we needed each other to push each other. We needed each other to support each other and also to challenge each other. He’s definitely been a great friend to me. There’s never been anything that I’ve asked him to do or he’s asked me to do that we really haven’t done for each other.
Give an example of when you had to pick up the phone and call Jay for assistance.
I wanted to do something game-changing with Sean John. And I just picked his brain. I did [a fashion line] before him but I think that business-wise he did a lot of things better than me. He picked the right time to get out and get his check, to sell his company. We sat on the phone and talked about itŃput our egos in our pockets. I didn’t see Sean John versus Roc-A-Wear. I just saw that my man over here is doing it [and I had] a couple of offers for Sean John. It was a beautiful conversation, ‘cause we’re sitting down at this restaurant and we’re talking about apparel. We’re not talking about music. It was a beautiful moment. Two quarter-of-a-billion dollar companies—just getting advice from your competitor. It was something that you heard rich White boys do.
Dr. Dre said that the last beat that floored him was “All About the Benjamins.” How does that make you feel?
It’s humbling. I was in the studio with Dre the other day. He started working on a record for me. Watching him as a producer is watching greatness. We had a lot of similar traits. It was like looking in the mirror. He would ask questions like, “How you feel about this?” People don’t really understand true producers want to know how you feel about things. We are some of the most observant people on the planet.
You’re a lot more into the music now than the last time we spoke.
I was waiting to get a lot of inspiration from the outside and it just wasn’t coming. And I’m not knocking anyone’s hustle that’s out there. I just come from musical history that musically people gave more of themselves . . . I was able to go back and listen to all the great records that I made. I ain’t do it on purpose. Like sometimes I’d be in a club and the DJ was just throwing tributes and would go deep in the crates. I would be like, “Damn, I forgot that I made that one.” It just gave me a deep connection and another level of confidence for me to do me.
Are you feeling more comfortable writing on your own?
Yeah. I learned a lot more. I feel a lot more confident and free. On this album, I wrote like maybe two or three records by myself. But I still like writing with somebody. It helps me. Not using it as a crutch, but I get better results from co-writing; having my own feelings and thoughts, and, you know, getting some help with it. I love the feeling of collaboration, community in the studio. I don’t like being the mad scientist and being in the room by myself.
Desus & Mero Bless A Bronx Bodega With A Year's Worth of Rent
You know them as the hosts of the hit Showtime series Desus & Mero, aka "the greatest show in late-night history, featuring only illustrious guests." These days you might catch them chatting with President Obama, but Bronx natives Desus Nice and The Kid Mero have never lost touch with their roots as the Bodega Boys.
"On our first podcast me and Mero used to have to ride the train back afterward," recalls Desus. "And basically our conversation on the train sounded exactly like the podcast. And somebody was like, 'Yo, they sound like two guys you hear in the bodega.' Which was true, because when you hear guys in the bodega, they talk very passionately about things. They may not have all the facts, but they're talking with their hearts."
"Their confidence is strong!" adds Mero with a laugh.
"That's just us," says Desus. "We're raised in bodegas. Probably 90 percent of the food we grew up eating was either our mother's cooking or chopped cheese sandwiches."
"Facts," Mero confirms.
Ever since the pandemic hit, New York City's community bodegas have served as a lifeline by providing New Yorkers with daily necessities, especially in neighborhoods where door-to-door gourmet food delivery is not an option. But staying open hasn't been easy—the daily risks of doing business under threat from a deadly virus—not to mention a spike in robberies and violence—has made running a bodega very challenging, to say the least. But day in day out, in good times and bad, they find a way to keep their doors open.
"If your block is the solar system, the bodega is the sun," says Mero. "The hood orbits the bodega."
So when the makers of Pepsi cola decided to give back on the bodega owners who provide life-giving sustenance and ice-cold soda to NYC's five boroughs, they reached out to the Bodega Boys as their official goodwill ambassadors. Today Desus & Mero appear in a short film called The Bodega Giveback, which highlights the way one Bronx bodega overcame extreme hardship—and the way Pepsi is helping them keep going after 2020 comes to an end.
For Juan Valerio and his son Jefferson, the proprietors of JJN Corp Deli & Grocery in the Bronx, 2020 has been a horrible year. Juan still remembers when he came to America with his father in 1990. "To buy a bodega at that time was well over $100,000," Juan recalls in the short film, which you can watch above. "It was a dream that seemed unreachable. I never thought I would achieve it. And now this is what I do. My whole life is here."
Then in April 2020, tragedy struck when Juan's father lost his life to COVID 19. For the first time in three decades, the bodega had to close its doors down briefly. "It’s something very powerful to lose what you love the most in a split second," Juan recalls with emotion as his son comforts him with a hug. "Life goes on. And I decided to come back because he always taught me to work. To stay closed was disrespectful to him."
"He had to shut down for a little bit," says Desus. "But then he reopened cause the community needed him. Cause the lockdown a lot of stores closed down. And in the Bronx, you can't really get stuff delivered. And he's the hub. We heard stories of what he did, so we were like, how can we give back to him? Shout out to Pepsi with the Bodega Giveback. And just giving him a year's rent—that's the most amazing thing you can give a bodega owner. Shout out to Juan and his son. The look on their face when they really get it—you see the appreciation."
"It really hit home," said Mero. "Cause it's like, we're children of immigrants. So that could have been us—if we didn't get seen by the right people and put in the right positions, we coulda been workin' alongside our dad at a bodega. And then watchin' your grandfather pass away and then comin' back because you know how important you are to the community. Like, that's really selfless. It's just a dope story. And those stories occur all over the place, it's just people don't see them. Cause they don't get exposed on a national level. But a brand like Pepsi can put that on a national stage and be like, "Yo, look—this is a mom and pop establishment for real. And these are the small businesses that you supposed to be supporting."
The release of The Bodega Giveback kicks off a larger holiday giveback from Pepsi this season that includes cash gifts to bodega owners and consumers across NYC's five boroughs. “Pepsi has so many longstanding bodega partners in New York City,” said Umi Patel, CMO of North Division, PepsiCo Beverages North America. “They are not only pillars of the community, but they have gone above and beyond to take care of their loyal customers during the hardships of the COVID-19 pandemic. They have worked around the clock to stay open, filling shelves to ensure their customers, friends, and family have the essentials they need to stay home and stay safe. They have even shifted their businesses to meet the needs of the community, offering new delivery options, adding crucial items like masks and gloves, and more, all while dealing with their own personal challenges of the pandemic. We are proud to do our part in giving back to these unsung heroes.”
From now until December 20, Pepsi will also be surprising customers at local bodegas across the five boroughs by gifting pre-paid credit cards of up to $100.00 per customer.
As Juan says in the film, "one hand washes the other, and with both, we wash our face."
Check out our full convo with Desus & Mero above and the short film, The Bodega Giveback.
Courtesy of Level.com
Level Announces Their 'Best Man 2020 Awards' Featuring Entertainment Elite to Everyday Kings
It is a hard feat for media brands to survive the content landscape these days. To pull off the incredible undertaking of informing an audience as a new publication in the digital space is damn near impossible, yet the team at Medium's Level has done just that. To celebrate making their mark as a one-stop information shop for black men with their one-year anniversary this week, the team of bright and witty editors has launched their first annual Best Man Awards 2020.
The plan to honor the brand that started in December of 2019, focused on the interests of African-American males, has expanded into encompassing the efforts of a few good men during this mess of a year that is 2020. In doing so, those that broke through barriers of personal pain, new business frontiers, and support of others are highlighted and given the rightful pedestals to gain well-deserved props.
Of the 12 awards, esteemed gents like Swizz Beatz, Timbaland, and D-Nice are saluted as Quarantine Kings for their Verzuz and Club Quarantine (respectively) social media music creations that entertained the masses during the dogged days of our universal shut-down. There is also a heroic soul of a man who protected a black woman and her family from the surrounding presence of racist neighbors on his own time and dime. They have an award for Father of the Year, where former NBA all-star and champion, Dwyane Wade shines as a glowing example of understanding and ushering in new ways of parenting in today's society.
With the awards being a noble move towards giving Black men some much-needed praise in 2020, Level made sure to round up the last 365 days with themes on "The State of Black and Brown Men" as well. Essays that cover the realms of political ideology, coping with covid among Blacks health care workers, how Black men fell short of protecting Black women, and exploring what Black men see when they look in the mirror (a piece that is a user-generated content driver/audience-led convo). All hard topics that need to be detailed, yet are rarely in a space for deep-dive convo.
Helmed by former VIBE editor-in-chief, Jermaine Hall, Level's editors explain their thoughts on the special coverage and celebration of their one year old brand:
“With the Best Man Awards, we wanted to lean into people who are doing incredible things to support society and publicly thank them. Anthony Herron, Jr is a hero. He stepped up to protect someone he didn’t know because, as he saw it, harassment is unacceptable. LEVEL wanted to make sure he received a nod for his heroics. But there are also several celebrities who are doing things outside of their jobs. D-Nice, Swizz, and Timbaland helped us cope through music. And it wasn’t a paid gig for any of them. They responded because people needed help healing so they provided care. That’s a strong attribute of the LEVEL man. It’s certainly is the definition of men being their best selves."
Click here to read about these individuals and learn more about the Best Man Awards 2020. Excelsior to Level.
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Restaurants featured in films and TV in L.A.
Los Angeles is the city where the greatest movies are made! A lot of those movies are being shot at the backlots of L.A.’s legendary Studios like Universal or Warner Bros. However, some scenes are shot at real life locations including some of the city’s best restaurants and bars. So why not have dinner or a cocktail at these iconic spots? As a bonding experience with your favorite TV characters, we definitely recommend trying out the following L.A. restaurants:
The Cicada Restaurant
Located inside the James Oviatt Building in DTLA, Cicada has played a role in quite a few films and TV shows, including Mad Men and Scandal. It’s also served as an inspiration for the design of Hotel Cortez in American Horror Story: Hotel. And, of course, its most notable scene occurred in Pretty Woman, in which Vivian Ward (Julia Roberts) accidentally flings an escargot shell across the room. Make your reservations at this lovely art deco Italian restaurant today!
MUSSO & FRANK
This legendary Hollywood restaurant is featured in Tim Burton’s film, Ed Wood, a biopic about the notoriously terrible filmmaker, where Wood (Johnny Depp) meets Orson Welles (Vincent D’Onofrio). The significance of this scene is that Welles’ Citizen Kane is considered one of the greatest films of all time, while Wood’s Plan 9 from Outer Space – one of the worst. Make your reservations today, and have a steak and a martini.
THE REDWOOD BAR
The Redwood Bar is featured in the 2009 romantic comedy, 500 Days of Summer, where Tom Hansen (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) performs The Pixies’ “Here Comes Your Man” while out at karaoke with coworkers, impressing Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel). Swing by this pirate-themed downtown L.A. dive and enjoy the live music they’re known for.
This Burbank dive bar is named for the color of its cushy booths and chairs. It plays Ferdy’s Bar in the 2000 thriller, Memento, starring Guy Pearce as an insurance investigator who is unable to store short-term memories, which makes it especially difficult for him to solve the murder of his wife. One clue leads him to Ferdy’s Bar, where he meets bartender Natalie (Carrie-Ann Moss). Stop by for a drink with your friends!
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Home » Colleges » Colleges in West Bengal
Colleges in West Bengal
Colleges in Bankura District (22)
Colleges in Bardhaman District (68)
Colleges in Birbhum District (20)
Colleges in Cooch Behar District (10)
Colleges in Dakshin Dinajpur District (6)
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Colleges in Murshidabad District (25)
Colleges in Nadia District (27)
Colleges in North 24 Parganas District (47)
Colleges in Paschim Medinipur District (29)
Colleges in Purba Medinipur District (18)
Colleges in Purulia District (12)
Colleges in South 24 Parganas District (34)
Colleges in Uttar Dinajpur District (6)
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Megan Molteni
Crispr May Cure All Genetic Disease—One Day
But first, it's going to deliver climate-resistant crops, better biofuels, and tomatoes that won't fall off the vine.
Jennifer Doudna.Cole Wilson for WIRED
Jennifer Doudna was sitting in her UC Berkeley office when she got the first call from a reporter asking what she thought about scientists using Crispr to modify embryos. At the time, the embryos in question were monkeys. It was late 2014, and Doudna was just beginning to become the face of Crispr/Cas9—the bacterial enzyme behind today's gene editing revolution. Since then she has fielded an ongoing avalanche of questions about the implications of her discovery. How it's going to change the future of everything from medicine to agriculture to energy production. But inevitably the questions always get around to super-babies.
Today, at WIRED’s 2017 Business Conference in New York, it took just a few minutes. Doudna said it was exactly this possibility—Crispr custom-designed human offspring—that made her take a step back from her own research and get involved in public discussions around the technology. For the last few years she's been speaking to scientists, politicians, and federal regulators around the world about the potential risks and rewards of Crispr. "I think it's really likely that in the not-too-distant future it will cure genetic disease," she said. "But globally we need to come up with a consensus on moving forward in a responsible way."
In 2015, Doudna was part of a broad coalition of leading biologists who agreed to a worldwide moratorium on gene editing to the "germ line," which is to say, edits that get passed along to subsequent generations. But it's legally non-binding, and scientists in China have already begun experiments that involve editing the genome of human embryos. Using Crispr to cure inheritable genetic diseases is still a long way off, and fraught with ethical potholes. Which is why Doudna said people who are excited about the possibilities of Crispr shouldn't look to the clinic for its first big successes, but rather to the farm field.
"When I think about where we are likely to see the biggest impacts in the shortest amount of time, I really think it's going to be in agriculture," she said. Plant breeders have always been geneticists at heart. And with the precision and ease of Crispr, identifying and separating out desirable traits has the potential to speed up new crop development by several orders of magnitude. Agro-giants DuPont and Monsanto have invested in Crispr licenses to accelerate their R&D efforts toward creating crops that can withstand changing climates and new disease and pest burdens. In test plots around the world gene edited crops are already growing—from longer-lasting potatoes and flood-resistant rice to drought-hardy corn and mildew-proof wheat, to name just a few.
As a tomato farmer, Doudna was most excited about a paper that came out just last month. In it, scientists from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York tackled some of the crop's trickiest modern traits. While wild plants benefit from dropping fruit—it helps seed dispersal—farmers want plants where the fruit stays on, so mechanical pickers have an easier time harvesting them. When breeders found a trait called 'jointless' that did keep the fruit on the vine, they rushed to incorporate it into their domesticated tomato varieties. But when they crossed 'jointless' into existing tomato breeds, the resulting plants put out all these extra branches, actually diminishing the number of fruits they produced.
Using genetics to trace back 10,000 years of tomato domestication, Cold Spring Harbor researchers discovered which genes led to that weird branching. Then they used Crispr to edit their activity. The result—tomato plants with great yields that don't drop their fruits.
"For me, that really illustrates the potential for this," Doudna said. "Crispr allows plant breeders to do things that would have been very difficult, sometimes impossible in the past."
Megan Molteni is a staff writer at WIRED, covering biotechnology, public health, and genetic privacy. Previously, she freelanced as a reporter, audio producer, and fact-checker. Her work has appeared in Popular Science, Discover, Undark, Nautilus, and Aeon. She studied biology and ultimate frisbee at Carleton College and has a graduate... Read more
Crispr Is Already Changing the Food We Eat | WIRED BizCon
At the WIRED Business Conference, Jennifer Doudna, Co-Inventor of CRISPR-Cas9, shared some of the ways the gene editing tool is already changing agriculture.
TopicsbiotechnologyCRISPR/Cas9gene editingscienceWired Business Conference 2017
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700 Hall of Fame Drive, Knoxville, TN 37915 (865) 633-9000
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COVID-19 Guidelines for Entering the Museum
The Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame takes it’s public health responsibility very seriously. To ensure the safety of it’s guests and staff, we’ve have adopted new COVID-19 policies and procedures to ensure that guest can enjoy our museum in the safest way possible. Click here for the Hall of Fame’s reopening press release with information on our COVID-19 safe practice measures.
The Knox County Health Board’s current order mandates every person aged 12 or older wear a face covering in indoor public places in Knox County. People with conditions or disabilities that prevent them from wearing a mask are exempt.
Please keep a 6 foot distance from people not in your party while walking throughout the museum.
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If you are not feeling well, or have been in contact with someone who has been sick, we ask you to visit again when you are feeling better.
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The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2021 Induction Ceremony [...]
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The Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame presents To Make Our Voices Heard: [...]
David Stern – Class of 2021
The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame Board of Directors announced the induction [...]
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Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame Diversity and Inclusion Declaration Diversity and [...]
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In the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, you can test your basketball skills on three different courts, a timed dribbling course, and a passing skills area. There is also a photo area where you can pretend to be different players throughout history.
The Eastman Statue
As you enter the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame Pat Summitt Rotunda, the first thing you see is the Eastman Statue. This 17-foot bronze statue exemplifies our mission to “honor the past, celebrate the present, and promote the future” of women’s basketball. Each inductee receives a replica of this statue upon their induction into the Hall of Fame
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Your donation enables the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame to continue its mission to ‘honor the past, celebrate the present, and promote the future” of women’s basketball. Your support helps us maintain and protect the legacy of our game. Donors at every level are important to the work we do!
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Hall of Fame Trivia Question #1
Which Hall of Fame inductee is considered to be the Mother of women's basketball?
Senda Berenson – Class of 1999
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The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame is a 501(c)3 non-profit whose mission is to Honor the Past, Celebrate the Present, Promote the Future of women's basketball. Help us continue our mission by donating today.
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Home » The International Code Council 2017-2018 Year in Review
Walls and Ceilings News
The International Code Council 2017-2018 Year in Review
KEYWORDS buildings / code / committee / safety / year
The International Code Council's program year is coming to an end. The annual conference in October is a celebration of all we've accomplished together over the past year. It also marks the end of our current Board of Directors and the beginning of new leadership.
Normally around this time we send out the ICC Annual Report with an in-depth overview of our recent accomplishments and major initiatives. This year, we're adjusting our timetable a bit. In 2019, we will be releasing a revamped annual report with a new look that presents information in an easy-to-read, visual format. The report will line up with the Code Council's fiscal year. In the meantime, we want to update you on the successes of the past year.
The Code Council is a leader in the codes and standards community thanks to your passion and dedication. We continue to be at the forefront of building safety discussions globally, and the International Codes are the most widely used and adopted set of building safety codes in the world.
2018 marks our 15th anniversary as an international association, but we have over 100 years of experience in the industry from our legacy organizations. The Code Council Family of Companies provides a wide range of products and services around one central mission – to provide the highest quality codes, standards, products and services for all concerned with the safety and performance of the built environment.
The financial health of the association is very strong. We expect revenue from the sale of goods and services to exceed our budget revenue and operating profit targets in 2018. Unfortunately, piracy of the Code Council's intellectual property is rising as a serious problem and has had a negative impact. We are working to counteract these effects through diligent attention and advocacy against these illegal activities.
Despite challenges, our continued excellent financial performance has allowed us to build cash reserves, maintain a robust package of member benefits, and provide a range of improved and expanded programs.
Some of the key accomplishments from the past year:
We launched the Proctored Remote Online Testing Option for certification exams in August 2017. With more than 70 exams currently available, PRONTO gives candidates easy access to testing, allowing them to take their exam at any secure location 24/7.
We greatly expanded Safety 2.0, our signature initiative to welcome the next generation of members and leaders to the building safety profession. We launched a new program to reach military veterans and their family members and expanded our technical training programs. We also launched a package of resources to promote the value of the code official.
The code development process for the 2021 I-Codes began in January. During the Committee Action Hearings in the spring, we considered 1,250 proposed code changes. The hearings were split into 2 tracks totaling 145 hours over 9 days.
The ICC Board of Directors established an ad hoc committee to comprehensively explore and assess building safety and security. The committee will develop tools to guide local and state leaders as they work to protect all building occupants, including children and teachers in schools, from intruders and other life-safety hazards.
The Board also created the ICC Ad Hoc Committee on Disaster Assessment to develop a new Disaster Response Network in partnership with the National Council of Structural Engineers Associations. Armed with a state-of-the-art database and the latest training resources, this alliance will connect skilled volunteers with jurisdictions needing extra support in times of need.
In June 2017, we acquired S.K. Ghosh Associates, which provides seismic and code-related consulting services. Then in November 2017, we acquired General Code, a market leader in codification and content management solutions.
The International Accreditation Service, an ICC subsidiary and leading accreditation body, selected a new president, Raj Nathan.
The ICC Evaluation Service, which performs technical evaluations of building products, expanded its scope of accreditation in Canada for building product certification.
ICC's resilience subsidiary the Alliance for National & Community Resilience began development of the U.S.'s first whole-community resilience benchmarks. These benchmarks provide communities with a transparent, practical and commonsense self-assessment to quickly and easily gauge their cross-sector resilience efforts.
Everything we do at the Code Council reflects our commitment to our members, stakeholders and the building safety community. We couldn't have done any of this without your support and commitment to the mission. The work you do makes our buildings safer and our communities more resilient. Together we are making the world a better place.
2019 is just around the corner, and we look forward to continuing this important work in the months and years to come.
NAHB Professional Women in Building Council Honors Woman of the Year
2018 NAHB Best in Green 'One to Watch' Young Professional of the Year Named
The Code Council and ICC-ES Partner with the Building Industry
The Code Council Applauds Disaster Recovery Reform Act
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48th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting to See Unprecedented Engagement of Global Leaders
Fon Mathuros, Head of Media, World Economic Forum: Tel.: +41 (0)79 201 0211; Email: fma@weforum.org
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· The 48th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting will take place on 23-26 January in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, under the theme, Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World
· Unprecedented participation expected from global leaders including 70 heads of state or government and 38 heads of major international organizations as well as the largest proportion of women leaders ever
· Meeting will focus on reinvigorating international collaboration as a way of solving shared challenges in an era increasingly defined by societies under strain and competition between nations
· For more information about the Annual Meeting, www.weforum.org
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Geneva, Switzerland, 16 January 2018 – The World Economic Forum’s 48th Annual Meeting will take place on 23-26 January 2018 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, bringing together a record number of heads of state, government and international organizations alongside leaders from business, civil society, academia, the arts and media.
Convening participants under the theme, Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World, the meeting will focus on finding ways to reaffirm international cooperation on crucial shared interests, such as international security, the environment and the global economy. The meeting comes at a time when geostrategic competition between states is generally seen to be on the rise.
Alongside international cooperation, an additional priority of the meeting will be to overcome divisions within countries. These have often been caused by breakdowns in the social contract as a result of failure to protect societies from the transformational impacts of a succession of shocks, from globalization to the proliferation of social media and the birth of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Collectively, these shocks have caused a loss of trust in institutions and damaged the relationship between business and society.
“Our world has become fractured by increasing competition between nations and deep divides within societies. Yet the sheer scale of the challenges our world faces makes concerted, collaborative and integrated action more essential than ever. Our Annual Meeting aims to overcome these fault lines by reasserting shared interests among nations and securing multistakeholder commitment to renewing social contracts through inclusive growth,” said Professor Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum.
This year’s opening address will be delivered by Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India. Donald Trump, President of the United States of America, will deliver a keynote address before the close of the meeting. This year a record number of leaders from G7 economies will participate, including Angela Merkel, Federal Chancellor, Germany; Paolo Gentiloni, Prime Minister of Italy; Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission; Emmanuel Macron, President of France; Theresa May, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; and Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, in addition to President Trump. As well as Prime Minister Modi, other leaders from the G20 include Liu He, Member, Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee; General Office Director, Central Leading Group for Financial and Economic Affairs, People's Republic of China; Mauricio Macri, President of Argentina, Cyril Ramaphosa, Deputy President of South Africa; His Majesty King Felipe VI, King of Spain, and Michel Temer, President of Brazil. From the host country, Alain Berset, President of the Swiss Confederation, will also participate.
Overall, the Annual Meeting will feature over 340 top political leaders with 10 heads of state and government from Africa, nine from the Middle East and North Africa and six from Latin America. These include; Hailemariam Dessalegn, Prime Minister of Ethiopia; Emmerson Mnangagwa, President of Zimbabwe; Yemi Osinbajo, Vice-President of Nigeria; Saad Al Hariri, President of the Council of Ministers, Lebanon; His Majesty King Abdullah II Ibn Al Hussein, King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan; Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel; and Juan Manuel Santos, President of Colombia.
Leaders from international organizations include Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations; Jean-Claude Juncker, Presidente, Comisión Europea; Roberto Azevêdo, Director-General, World Trade Organization (WTO); Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO); Angel Gurría, Secretary-General, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); Zeid Ra'ad Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights; Jim Yong Kim, President, World Bank; Miroslav Lajcák, President of the 72nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly, United Nations; Peter Maurer, President, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC); Guy Ryder, Director-General, International Labour Organization (ILO).
Representing the pinnacle of accomplishment across government, business, civil society and academia, the Co-Chairs of the Annual Meeting 2018 are: Sharan Burrow, General Secretary, International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Belgium; Fabiola Gianotti, Director-General, European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Geneva; Isabelle Kocher, Chief Executive Officer, ENGIE, France; Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Washington DC; Ginni Rometty, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, IBM Corporation, USA; Chetna Sinha, Founder and Chair, Mann Deshi Foundation, India; and Erna Solberg, Prime Minister of Norway.
In addition to record participation from the public sector, the private sector will be represented by over 1,900 leaders. Civil society is represented by almost 900 leaders from NGOs, social entrepreneurs, academia, labour organizations, faith-based and religious groups and media. The Annual Meeting is also the foremost global summit representing younger generations, with 50 members of the Forum’s Global Shaper community, aged between 20 and 30, and 80 Young Global Leaders under the age of 40, participating. Find out more about participants, including gender, sector, region, nationality and age here: http://wef.ch/am18graphic
Over 21% of participants at this year’s meeting will be women, a higher proportion than at any previous meeting. The Forum works throughout the year to highlight the gender gap and develop strategies to help women achieve positions of senior leadership.
Featuring over 400 sessions, nearly half of which are webcast, the meeting programme has been designed around four tracks:
Driving sustained economic progress
If technological change and environmental degradation have fundamentally changed how the global economy works, then what new economic models could put us on a path to shared prosperity?
Navigating a multipolar and multiconceptual world
If economic uncertainty and geopolitical competition have driven efforts to reclaim national power and sovereignty, then what balance between global cooperation and local autonomy could prevent the disintegration of the world order?
Overcoming divisions in society
If outrage cycles in media and political rhetoric are widening societal fault lines and undermining tolerance, then what solutions can be jointly developed to restore the social compact?
Shaping the agile governance of technology
If recent technological advances have the potential to fundamentally redefine modern life, then what ethical foundations and adaptive policies could ensure that society benefits from equal access and equal protection in the future?
The recipients of the World Economic Forum’s 24th Annual Crystal Awards are Cate Blanchett, Elton John, and Shah Rukh Khan. The awards celebrate achievements of leading artists who have shown exemplary commitment to improving the state of the world and will be presented in a ceremony on the evening of 22 January.
Learn about our participants: http://wef.ch/am18graphic
Watch live webcasts of sessions and get more information about the event at http://wef.ch/am18
Guide to how to follow and embed sessions on your website at http://wef.ch/howtofollow
View the best photos from the event at http://wef.ch/pix
Read the Forum Agenda at http://wef.ch/agenda
Become a fan of the Forum on Facebook at http://wef.ch/facebook
Watch our videos at http://wef.ch/video
Follow the Forum on Twitter via @wef and @davos, and join the conversation using #wef18
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Learn about the Forum’s impact on http://wef.ch/impact
Subscribe to Forum news releases at http://wef.ch/news
All opinions expressed are those of the author. The World Economic Forum Blog is an independent and neutral platform dedicated to generating debate around the key topics that shape global, regional and industry agendas.
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NYPD’s Stop-and-Frisk Practice Still Affects Minorities in New York City
Stop-and-frisk instances have dropped considerably but still affect black and Latino New Yorkers at disproportionately high rates
Police, in 2012, stopping and frisking young people in the Bronx.
Photo: Pearl Gabel for The Wall Street Journal
Ben Chapman
@chapmanreports
ben.chapman@wsj.com
Katie Honan
@Katie_Honan
katie.honan@wsj.com
Nov. 18, 2019 6:10 pm ET
The New York Police Department has dramatically reduced its use of stop-and-frisk since 2011, but the controversial policing practice once promoted by former Mayor Michael Bloomberg still affects black and Latino New Yorkers at disproportionately high rates, a civil-rights group’s analysis of NYPD data shows.
The debate over the practice of stop-and-frisk heated up on Sunday when Mr. Bloomberg, who is considering a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, apologized for his support of the policing strategy during his three terms as mayor. The policy gives police officers far-reaching authority to stop, question and frisk people whom they suspect of criminal behavior.
The number of instances where people were stopped, questioned and frisked by NYPD officers has dropped considerably since Mr. Bloomberg left his post as mayor in 2013 and his successor, Mayor Bill de Blasio, pushed to end the practice.
The number fell from a high of 685,724 in 2011, to a low of 11,008 in 2018, according to a tally of NYPD data conducted by the New York Civil Liberties Union, a civil-rights group.
In a report released earlier this year, the NYCLU found that 87% of those stopped and frisked by the NYPD in 2011 were black or Hispanic. In 2018, that percentage held relatively steady, with black and Latino people accounting for 88% of such stops, according to the group’s report.
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Ashok Bhalotra
Ashok Bhalotra is ambassador of KuiperCompagnons.
Ashok Bhalotra is ambassador of KuiperCompagnons, a Dutch urban design office in Rotterdam, founded as early as 1916 by Grandpré Molière. Born in India in 1943 and educated in Delhi as an architect and urbanist in accordance with CIAM’s post-war revision, he was trained in practice by Team X. In 1968 he worked for Shadrach Woods on ’The Growing Number’, the Milan Triennale of that year, compiling with him the publication Urbanism is Everybody’s Business. He joined KuiperCompagnons in 1971 and began teaching at Delft University of Technology. His work is a reflection of city form and city life the world over. Bhalotra practises an urbanism that we might call baroque. His geometry is grandiose yet mild: it welcomes variations provoked by the lie of the site and other chance elements. City plans and building types for him present a rich pattern of diversity and contradictions: pleasure and functionality, symbols and rituals, tradition and modernity, the sublime and the banal, order and chaos, reality and dream – all couched in the dialectic of dwelling and travelling. It is the optimistic paradox that to find a true home you must first embrace alienation.
Since end 2009 Ashok Bhalotra is the founder and director of FEWS for More.
Sustainability is the key phrase of FEWS for More. Not only sustainability in the field of energy and use of materials, but also in the social, natural, cultural and economical fields. Worldwide FEWS for More pleads for food, energy, water and shelter for everyone.
Bhalotra has been a crown appointed member of the Dutch advisory board on culture (Raad voor Cultuur ), member of the Dutch advisory board on art, chairman of the Board of the Netherlands Architecture Fund (Stimuleringsfonds voor de Nederlandse Architectuur) and a member of the Board of Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development. He frequently advised Prince Willem Alexander on water issues.
At present he is chairman of the Board of ‘’Kosmopolis’’ in The Hague. This is a non profit institute for international cultural exchanges. He also is an advisory member for social infrastructure of FARU, a non profit organization for remigration to Suriname.
In 2004 he was awarded the ‘’Green Pin’’ of The Architects' Association of Denmark. This prize is given for outstanding work in favour of environmentally sound architecture and urban planning. According to the jury Ashok Bhalotra has attracted worldwide attention because of his striking plans for urban development, landscape planning and conversions of harbour areas to both residential and industrial areas.
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US Senate candidate Roy Moore responds to new sexual assault allegations
Beverly Young Nelson alleges that candidate Roy Moore sexually assaulted her when she was a teenager
A second woman has come forward to accuse Alabama GOP Senate nominee Roy Moore of sexual misconduct involving a minor.Beverly Young Nelson of Alabama alleges that Moore sexually assaulted her when she was 15 and 16. She spoke about the accusations Monday during a news conference with attorney Gloria Allred.Moore called the allegations a "witch hunt" in a statement shortly before the press conference. The campaign said Moore was innocent and "has never had any sexual misconduct with anyone." He insisted he was in the race to stay.Moore called the accusation "absolutely false" in a statement outside a fire station in Gallant, Alabama, later Monday, denying that he knew Nelson and adding that he didn't know where the restaurant that she described was."Let it be understood: the truth will come forward, we will pursue all legal options against these false claims and Judge Moore will be vindicated," his campaign said earlier in a statement.Nelson said Moore was a regular customer at the restaurant where she worked after school in Gadsden, Alabama.During the news conference, Nelson presented a yearbook that she said Moore signed.Nelson said she and her husband supported Donald Trump in his run to become president, adding that her concerns about Moore have nothing to do with politics.Allred called for legislators to hold a hearing for Moore to respond under oath to accusations from her client and other women. She said that Nelson is not seeking any penalties through court.According to Nelson, one night when she was 16, Moore offered to drive her home but instead parked the car behind the restaurant and groped her and locked the door to keep her inside, among other allegations.Moore finally stopped and as she got out of the car, he warned her no one would believe because he was a county prosecutor, Nelson said. Allred said Nelson kept the secret for more than four decades because she feared the "power he had." Nelson says that she feared what would happen if she said anything."I was frightened by his position and his power," Nelson said.Moore and Democrat Doug Jones face a Dec. 12 special election to replace Luther Strange, who was appointed to replace Jeff Sessions when Sessions was named U.S. attorney general.Meanwhile, Moore says he will sue The Washington Post over its report alleging he pursued sexual relationships with teenagers — including a 14-year-old — when he was in his 30s."I have never provided alcohol to minors, and I have never engaged in sexual misconduct," Moore said in a statement, responding to the news article. "As a father of a daughter and a grandfather of five granddaughters, I condemn the actions of any man who engages in sexual misconduct not just against minors but against any woman."The Washington Post declined to comment Monday morning.In the news article, the woman who was 14 years old at the time claimed he took her to his house, undressed down to his underwear and undressed her down to her bra and underwear and touched her and moved her hand to touch his underwear, which could have been sexual offenses due to her age, but the statutes of limitations in effect during that time have passed.None of the other three women told the Post that Moore sexually harassed, or assaulted them, or forced them into a relationship. Alabama's legal age of consent is 16.Moore has denied the allegations since they were published. He called the claims "completely false" Friday when appearing on Sean Hannity's syndicated radio show."It has been a tough 24 hours because my wife and I were blindsided by an article based on a lie supported by innuendo," his campaign said in a statement.Speaking at a Veterans Day event at the Mid-Alabama Republican Club in Birmingham Saturday, Moore called the allegations "fake news" and "yet another attack on my character and reputation in a desperate attempt to stop my political campaign for the United States Senate."He added that the alleged incidents happened nearly 40 years ago and called them "very hurtful to me personally—I have the highest regard for the protection of young children," before adding that he has never provided alcohol to a minor and has "not been guilty of sexual misconduct with anyone."Moore added that there were ongoing "investigations" looking into the motivations behind the Post article, and promised "revelations" about the story to come in the next few days, though he did not provide further specifics.A number of Republicans withdrew their endorsements of Moore following The Washington Post article, including the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which severed a joint fundraising agreement that benefits Moore's campaign.CNN and The Associated Press contributed.
A second woman has come forward to accuse Alabama GOP Senate nominee Roy Moore of sexual misconduct involving a minor.
Beverly Young Nelson of Alabama alleges that Moore sexually assaulted her when she was 15 and 16. She spoke about the accusations Monday during a news conference with attorney Gloria Allred.
RNC pulls out of funding agreement with US Senate candidate Roy Moore
McConnell: Roy Moore should 'step aside' amid misconduct allegations
Moore called the allegations a "witch hunt" in a statement shortly before the press conference. The campaign said Moore was innocent and "has never had any sexual misconduct with anyone." He insisted he was in the race to stay.
Moore called the accusation "absolutely false" in a statement outside a fire station in Gallant, Alabama, later Monday, denying that he knew Nelson and adding that he didn't know where the restaurant that she described was.
"Let it be understood: the truth will come forward, we will pursue all legal options against these false claims and Judge Moore will be vindicated," his campaign said earlier in a statement.
Nelson said Moore was a regular customer at the restaurant where she worked after school in Gadsden, Alabama.
During the news conference, Nelson presented a yearbook that she said Moore signed.
Nelson said she and her husband supported Donald Trump in his run to become president, adding that her concerns about Moore have nothing to do with politics.
Allred called for legislators to hold a hearing for Moore to respond under oath to accusations from her client and other women. She said that Nelson is not seeking any penalties through court.
According to Nelson, one night when she was 16, Moore offered to drive her home but instead parked the car behind the restaurant and groped her and locked the door to keep her inside, among other allegations.
Moore finally stopped and as she got out of the car, he warned her no one would believe because he was a county prosecutor, Nelson said.
Allred said Nelson kept the secret for more than four decades because she feared the "power he had." Nelson says that she feared what would happen if she said anything.
"I was frightened by his position and his power," Nelson said.
Moore and Democrat Doug Jones face a Dec. 12 special election to replace Luther Strange, who was appointed to replace Jeff Sessions when Sessions was named U.S. attorney general.
Meanwhile, Moore says he will sue The Washington Post over its report alleging he pursued sexual relationships with teenagers — including a 14-year-old — when he was in his 30s.
"I have never provided alcohol to minors, and I have never engaged in sexual misconduct," Moore said in a statement, responding to the news article. "As a father of a daughter and a grandfather of five granddaughters, I condemn the actions of any man who engages in sexual misconduct not just against minors but against any woman."
The Washington Post declined to comment Monday morning.
In the news article, the woman who was 14 years old at the time claimed he took her to his house, undressed down to his underwear and undressed her down to her bra and underwear and touched her and moved her hand to touch his underwear, which could have been sexual offenses due to her age, but the statutes of limitations in effect during that time have passed.
None of the other three women told the Post that Moore sexually harassed, or assaulted them, or forced them into a relationship. Alabama's legal age of consent is 16.
Moore has denied the allegations since they were published. He called the claims "completely false" Friday when appearing on Sean Hannity's syndicated radio show.
"It has been a tough 24 hours because my wife and I were blindsided by an article based on a lie supported by innuendo," his campaign said in a statement.
Speaking at a Veterans Day event at the Mid-Alabama Republican Club in Birmingham Saturday, Moore called the allegations "fake news" and "yet another attack on my character and reputation in a desperate attempt to stop my political campaign for the United States Senate."
He added that the alleged incidents happened nearly 40 years ago and called them "very hurtful to me personally—I have the highest regard for the protection of young children," before adding that he has never provided alcohol to a minor and has "not been guilty of sexual misconduct with anyone."
Moore added that there were ongoing "investigations" looking into the motivations behind the Post article, and promised "revelations" about the story to come in the next few days, though he did not provide further specifics.
A number of Republicans withdrew their endorsements of Moore following The Washington Post article, including the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which severed a joint fundraising agreement that benefits Moore's campaign.
CNN and The Associated Press contributed.
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Women's March Floods Washington, Sparking Rallies Worldwide
By Colin Dwyer • Jan 21, 2017
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View Slideshow 1 of 17
Sarah and her mom, Tamara, traveled from Detroit to be at the Women's March on Washington.
Meg Kelly / NPR
Demonstrators protest on the National Mall for the Women's March on Washington.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP/Getty Images
Marchers gather outside the National Museum of the American Indian, bearing signs protesting President Trump.
Sarah McCammon / NPR
Protesters take a selfie with the police as a backdrop outside the U.S. Capitol during the Women's March on Washington.
Jessica Kourkounis / Getty Images
Protesters arrive at the Capitol South Metro station for the Women's March on Washington in Washington, D.C.
Protesters attend the Women's March on Washington in D.C.
Protesters crowd the National Mall during the Women's March on Washington.
Zach Gibson / AFP/Getty Images
Protesters display their signs in Washington, D.C., during the Womens March.
Joshua Lott / AFP/Getty Images
View Slideshow 10 of 17
Protesters march in Washington, D.C., with the Capitol in the background.
Protesters march down a D.C. street during the Women's March on Washington.
Women with bright pink hats and signs gather early on Saturday in Washington, D.C., for the Women's March on Washington.
Jose Luis Magana / AP
Chris and Susannah Kisrarday traveled to D.C. from Lewisburg, Pa., with their kids Zoitan, Ceili, Catherine and Ellie. (Right) Rosa Plume traveled from San Francisco.
Becky Harlan / NPR
Many protesters wore pink or other feminist iconography at the Women's March on Washington.
(Left to right) Melissa Breen, Laura Jamison, Sandy Cuza and Kathryn Wehrmann chat while sporting matching pink hats in support of the march.
Protesters march near the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
(Left to right) Nadia da Rosa, 15, from Providence, R.I.; Anna Maria Evans from Durham, N.C.; and Nicole Monceaux from New York City attend the Women's March on Washington in D.C.
Sait Serkan Gurbuz / AP
Originally published on January 24, 2017 10:51 am
Updated at 4 p.m. ET
The National Mall has flooded with pink, as demonstrators descend on the nation's capital Saturday for the Women's March on Washington. Just one day after President Trump's inauguration, marchers from across the country have gathered in the city to protest his agenda and support for women's rights.
The event opened with a rally, to be followed by the march proper — which had a path laid out from a starting position near the U.S. Capitol to its endpoint near the Washington Monument.
The city's metro system reported 275,000 rides as of 11 a.m. According to metro officials that's eight times more than a normal Saturday. Reuters adds that the number is also "82,000 more than the 193,000 rides reported at the same point on Friday," the day of Trump's inauguration.
In fact, the number of marchers swelled to the point of prompting reports there would be no space for a formal procession — a claim rebutted by organizers Saturday afternoon in a statement.
"We are marching," reads the statement. "We are marching straight ahead toward the Washington Monument to the ellipse of the White House."
The event grew from humble origins — a simple Facebook invitation after Election Day — to the much more massive demonstration seen Saturday. By the time marchers hit the streets, the Women's March on Washington developed a broad platform of progressive political positions, a slate of celebrity performers and a series of sister marches planned across the world — on all seven continents.
For protester Amy Jackson, though, the matter was simple: She just wanted to "make her voice heard," she tells NPR's Marisa Penaloza. Jackson, who traveled to D.C. from Chocowinity, N.C., to be part of the march, said, "It was very important to be here today."
The Scene On The Ground
Among the crowd that gathered for the rally outside the National Museum of the American Indian, NPR's Sarah McCammon reported signs supporting a wide array of causes — from women's rights and LGBTQ rights, to Black Lives Matter and excoriations of xenophobia.
One thing seemed to be almost universal, though: The pink knitted caps known as "pussyhats" among the marchers, in protest of Trump's past comments about women.
Popular as they may have been, the pussyhats were not the only costume worn by marchers. Others wore their causes on their sleeves, dressing in attire to call attention to issues like Native rights and environmental fears.
In video Sarah recorded a block or two from the main rally, it appears there were marchers in a menagerie of outfits.
Meanwhile, at a nearby metro station, NPR's Pam Fessler reported the mood among the demonstrators has been more festive than protests Friday. Most of the demonstrators are women, Pam says, but some men have joined the march, as well — including one man carrying a sign reading: "This is what a feminist looks like."
From the main rally stage, musicians and speakers addressed the crowd in an event that lasted some five hours — more than two hours longer than anticipated. The reason for that overflow was partly its smattering of surprise guests. Beyond the planned performances and speeches from figures like Janelle Monáe and Gloria Steinem, others including Madonna and Alicia Keys took the stage.
"It was woman that gave you Dr Martin Luther King Jr. It was woman who gave you Malcolm X. And according to the bible, it was a woman who gave you Jesus," Monáe told the crowd, according to The Guardian.
The Road To The March
What began simply as opposition to Trump has developed a wide-ranging list of demands, which organizers published as a platform prior to the march.
But above all, organizers say, is the principle that "Women's Rights are Human Rights and Human Rights are Women's Rights." That statement is pulled directly from a speech Hillary Clinton delivered more than two decades ago in Beijing.
Clinton tweeted her support for the march Saturday, expressing thanks "for standing, speaking & marching for our values."
Arriving at that platform was not always a smooth process, though. NPR's Hansi Lo Wang reports there has been disagreement between organizers about how to treat issues of race.
"This march was initially put together by white women, and a lot of women of color felt they weren't part of the conversation," Carmen Perez, one of the march's national organizers, told NPR's Hansi Lo Wang. "We can't continue to work in isolation. We can't continue to be one-dimensional. We have to make sure that we look up, that we begin to really coordinate our efforts."
Ultimately, more than 200 organizations — ranging from Planned Parenthood and the NAACP, to Amnesty International and the AFL-CIO — partnered with the Women's March on Washington.
For Darcy Sawatzki, a demonstrator attending the march with her daughter, Delia, what matters most is showing up.
"I think showing up and paying attention is sort of one of the bare minimums of citizenship," Sawatzki told NPR's Brakkton Booker. It's not her first march; she has also participated in Black Lives Matter protests.
She said it's not unease with the new president that inspired her to march.
"I'm not here out of anger or fear, I'm out here for determination, for participation and hope that together we can make a difference."
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Archive for 2018
California’s San Joaquin Valley, from Stockton in the north to Arvin in the south, is 234 miles long and 130 miles wide. If you drive there from the Bay Area, in less than an hour the temperature will go from 57 to 97 degrees. It will keep rising. The radio stations are predominantly Spanish.
Measured by yearly production, the San Joaquin Valley is one of the highest-value stretches of farmland in the country, and is dominated by large growers who preside over a labor force of migrant workers in a way that has not changed much since Carey McWilliams described it in his 1939 book, Factories in the Fields. The revenue from all the crops harvested here and elsewhere in California is $47 billion a year, more than double that of Iowa, the next-biggest agricultural state.
When Cesar Chavez started organizing farmworkers in the 1950s, his son said, 12 to 14 percent of field hands “were still Okies and Arkies, the Steinbeck people,” and 8 to 10 percent were African-Americans brought in by cotton planters during the boll weevil infestation in the 1920s. About 12 percent were Filipino, and 55 percent were Mexican, “half of them Mexican nationals, the other half first-generation Americans like my father.”
Today, at least 80 percent of farmworkers are undocumented Mexicans, the majority of them Mixteco and Trique, indigenous people from the states of Oaxaca, Sinaloa, and Guerrero—the poorest regions in Mexico—who speak no or very little Spanish, much less English. Most of them have been working the fields for at least a decade, have established families here, and live in terror of la migra, as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is called, and instant deportation or imprisonment that would wrench them from their children.
From “In the Valley of Fear” by Michael Greenberg in the New York Review of Books:
Posted in Economics, Uncategorized | No Comments »
More than 7,000 lives were lost to violence in Honduras in 2011, about the same number as in Syria, which had more than twice as many people and was stumbling into civil war. That year Honduras had the highest homicide rate of any country not at war, at 86 per 100,000 people. The number in Mexico, itself extremely violent, was 20.
There are signs that the bloody tide is receding. Homicides are down from their peak in all three countries [Honduras, Guatamala, El Salvador]. This year the murder rate in Honduras will fall to 40 per 100,000 people. El Salvador’s will have fallen by half from 2015, to about 51 per 100,000. And in Guatemala, which has tended to have a lower murder rate than its neighbours, homicides are down by half since 2009, to 26 per 100,000.
In 2016 Honduras, where fewer people trusted the police than anywhere else in Latin America, purged a third of its force. It has built a new training academy and doubled training time for new cops to 12 months.
Honduras has also made progress in tackling trans-national drug trafficking. More soldiers have been posted to the Mosquito Coast. A new task force has improved co-ordination between agencies. And a recent willingness to extradite criminals to the United States has put the fear of Uncle Sam into captured goons, who become talkative to avoid American jails. Many big fish have been locked up. The president’s brother, Antonio, was arrested last month in Miami on trafficking charges.
From the Economist Dec 9 2018 issue, ” Calm like a bomb.”
Sunday, December 23rd, 2018
As reported by the Wall Street Journal, Remittances, mainly from the U.S., are vital to millions of Latin American households, reaching a record $80 billion last year, according to the World Bank. While more than a third of that went to Mexico, the smaller Central American countries of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, the so-called Northern Triangle, rely on remittances even more.
In Honduras and El Salvador, remittances account for nearly one-fifth of economic output, according to the World Bank. Cutting the migrant flow risks further economic deterioration that could spark even more migration, experts say.
Honduran immigrants in the U.S. totaled almost 600,000 in 2017, from 109,000 in 1990, according to the U.N.’s Statistics Division.
In Honduras, where two-thirds of the country’s nine million people live in poverty, about one in four families receive remittances, said Manuel Orozco, a migration expert at the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based think tank. Last year, they received on average 16 transfers of $281 each, Mr. Orozco said.
The money transfers soared in 2017 as migrants fearful of deportation sent home more of their savings, according to the World Bank. In El Salvador, remittances rose nearly 10% to $5.1 billion, and in Honduras 12% to $4.3 billion. In Guatemala they rose 14% to $8.5 billion, or 12% of GDP.
Friday, December 21st, 2018
The overall number of high-skilled migrants to OECD countries increased by 120% from 12 million in 1990 to 27 million in 2010. Most OECD destination countries show greater skill selection in 2010 than 1990. The immigration policies of many destination countries are becoming increasingly selective (e.g., de Haas et al. 2014). For example, we see that Canada is consistently selective, while the United Kingdom demonstrates the largest increase in selectivity. The United States is a notable exception, along with Italy, Portugal, and New Zealand.
The emigration rates of college-educated individuals are always greater than their lesser-educated compatriots across all countries and at every level of development. Why?
First, high-skilled people are more likely to be endowed with skills that are both in demand and globally transferrable. They are able to obtain job offers in advance of emigrating and clearing migration policy hurdles that favor higher levels of human capital. If they are using other migration channels (such as family preferences or lotteries), they know they will find employment or assimilate more easily upon their arrival. In addition, high-skilled migrants generally integrate into the host societies more easily as they are more likely to have better linguistic and cultural as well as professional knowledge of the destination society.
They have better access to global information sources through their social and professional networks. They can better access financial resources and credit. As a result, they are able to meet the financial costs of migration more easily. The highest skilled emigration rates are observed from middle income countries.
This report shows that 20%-50% of migrants leave within five years of arrival, with some variability by country pair and time period. High-skilled migrants appear more likely to leave than low-skilled migrants. At the very highest skill levels, return rates from the United States become substantially lower.
A migrant is defined as high-skilled if he or she has completed at least one year of tertiary education.
From here.
Posted in Demographics, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Hispanic and Asian workers are largely responsible for labor force growth especially since the mid 2000s.
The Hispanic share of the labor force will grow from 9.1% in 1994 to 19.8% in 2024. Its numerical growth from 2004 to 2024 will be 69%. Asian share will from 4.2% in 1994 to 6.6% in 2024. Its numerical growth from 2004 to 2024 will be 72%. But the size of the white non-Hispanic labor force will absolutely decline from 2004 to 2024 by 4%. The black labor force will increase from 2004 to 2024 by 25% but by 2024 will be less than half the size of the Hispanic+Asian workforce.
From the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The Wall is smack dab in the center of the movement of voters switching between the two parties in successive Novembers. People who voted for Obama, then Trump, and then voted Democratic in November 2018 are the “switcher” voters today. A poll reveals that Trump’s Wall is not just aimed at his base, but at the relatively small band of voters who switch.
David Leonard of the NY Times interpreted a poll of switchers this way: “People who voted for both Barack Obama and Donald Trump are closer to loyal Republicans on immigration and gun control — but much closer to loyal Democrats on health care, jobs and education.”
The poll categorized voters along a spectrum of loyal Democrats to loyal Republicans, with switchers in the middle (those who switched in any direction the past few elections. It asked about building The Wall:
“Our preliminary results suggest that many voters who swung to Democrats in 2018 are to the right on the issue of border security. While straight Democratic voters oppose increasing border security, including “building a fence along part of the US border with Mexico” by a 66-7 margin, Obama-Trump voters who swung Democratic support increased border security by a 63-12 margin, up to a 73-13 margin for Romney-Trump voters who swung Democratic in 2018.”
I assume that Trump understands this dynamic, which is why he has raised building a wall to the level of a national crisis. the switchers want The Wall, by a not overwhelming majority.
Abolishing ICE
Switchers do not want to abolish ICE: “Respondents across the political spectrum opposed abolition of ICE. While loyal Democrats narrowly supported outright abolition of ICE, every other group of voters on net opposed abolition. We note that while abolition of ICE is typically couched with a reminder that border-related crimes in fact remain crimes with or without ICE, and would be pursued as such by traditional law enforcement agencies at the Federal, state, and local levels, here we simply asked respondents whether they approved or disapproved of outright abolition. That said, there is not presently widespread political support for abolishing ICE.”
Posted in Demographics, Politics, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
I asked Bruce Goldstein, executive director of Farm Worker Justice, if the administration’s actions against immigrants has deterred injured workers from reporting injuries and filing workers’ compensation claims. He responded:
We have been told for many months from sources all over the country that undocumented farmworkers, due to the ramp-up of immigration enforcement and the highly-publicized anti-immigrant rhetoric of the Administration, are living and working in fear of arrest and deportation, and do not want to take any risks of detection by bringing attention to themselves.
To reduce their risk of detection farmworkers often avoid being in public places and raising an issue with their employers about their conditions, even if they are illegal. The fear of retaliation and deportation has made it difficult for farmworkers to speak with advocates who seek to help them with legal claims unless they have proven to be trustworthy. Even when they are willing to speak, the workers are usually unwilling to press their claim.
There have been a few publicized undocumented farmworkers who have stepped forward and been quite public about it, but that is rare. And because many documented farmworkers have family members and friends who are undocumented, the documented workers often are reluctant to step forward to challenge employer conduct for fear of the repercussion on their co-workers.
A New Center immigration policy about Dreamers:
Dreamers should receive green cards immediately, while those who serve in the military should receive citizenship on an expedited basis. For those who are not in the military, a process needs to be developed to determine their place in the queue alongside other immigrants who wish to receive American citizenship. Assuming an otherwise clean criminal record, misdemeanors should not be a bar to citizenship.
A New Center policy on internal immigration law enforcement:
Implement and require a universal E-Verify system that would assist employers in ensuring that they only employ individuals who are authorized to work in the United States. Potential employers have an essential role to play in enforcement. If undocumented immigrants can’t work, many will return home. E-Verify should continuously be improved in order to limit false negatives and false positives. This system should be implemented only after a registration period, during which unauthorized individuals living in the U.S. can apply to become Registered Provisional Immigrants.
Get serious about visa overstays. A robust and fully funded biometric entry and exit system—which would include regular text and email communications to visa holders from the DHS about departure deadlines—should be implemented immediately. In addition, foreign countries should be incentivized to educate their citizens about U.S. visa requirements.
End the practice of separating children from their families on the border, and stop subjecting families to lengthy detention under any circumstances. Establish a legal mechanism for enforcing higher civil detention standards in ICE detention centers, and allow for more frequent inspections that increase both accountability and transparency. Discontinue the use of private prisons and county jails for immigrant detention, thus reducing the financial corner cutting
that causes deaths, suicides, sexual abuse, and lack of access to medical care. End mandatory detention. Ensure that individuals are not placed in detention centers unless they are deemed a threat to the public or a flight risk.
Posted in Immigration Reform legislation | No Comments »
A New Center policy on the Mexican border:
Both sides of the immigration debate should be able to agree that it is essential to have a fortified border that allows for the U.S. to reliably and consistently prevent unauthorized entry. On some parts of the border, a wall or fence may make the most sense; on others, private property, mountain ranges, national parks, and reservations make a physical border impractical. Here, emphasis should be placed on electronic surveillance as a better tracking method. This should be coupled with revised legal measures that quicken deportation proceedings in order to deter crossings.
Build physical barriers along the border where they are effective and economical.
Shift towards a focus on technological improvements along the border, such as the implementation of the Integrated Fixed Towers System, which relies on sophisticated cameras, sensors, and radar to detect border crossings.
Renovate infrastructure at land ports of entry and ensure that they are adequately staffed by officers and agents.
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Global News: After Quebec Soccer Federation reverses turban ban, does ill-will linger?
The QSF wrote in a prepared release that the ban was “solely from a technical point of view and had absolutely nothing to do with religious matters or political issues.”
One of Canada’s leading Sikh figures said he was willing to give the QSF the benefit of the doubt.
“I’m going to take them for their word,” said Prem Vinning, president of the World Sikh Organization of Canada. “We’ve dealt with the issue. Let’s move forward let’s unite all Canadians. Canada is stronger when we all come together.”
http://globalnews.ca/news/645330/
LAVAL- The Quebec Soccer Federation reversed its ban on players wearing turbans Saturday, appearing to close a full-blown controversy that erupted over minority rights.
“Happy that FIFA has clarified it’s position, the Quebec Soccer Federation authorizes the wearing of turbans in Quebec,” said Brigitte Frot, the director-general of the QSF. “Now they can play and the problem is solved, so we’re happy for that.”
The QSF originally cited safety concerns when it implemented the turban ban, and said that it was seeking clarification from FIFA, soccer’s international governing body. That ban earned the QSF a suspension from the Canadian Soccer Association earlier this week, and made headlines around the world.
Saturday, the QSF reversed its field, saying it had received necessary assurances from FIFA, and that it would allow turbans on the field. Montreal’s Sikh community, which organized a protest game in Lachine coincidentally on the same day, was ecstatic.
“Very happy, very excited, I was looking forward to it,” said Ganan Deep Walia, a Sikh who lives in Vaudreuil-Dorion. Her six-year-old son, Rasnam, was told he couldn’t play in his youth soccer league because he wore a patka, or a head-covering for young Sikh men. “I”m very happy to hear that this morning that the ban has been lifted.”
But the ban may leave lasting scars on minority groups in Quebec, who may feel lingering ill-will over the controversy. Georges Laraque, the former Habs forward who’s become something of a political activist, said that by citing FIFA as the origin of the change-of-heart, the QSF is hardly owning up to the decision.
“It’s not like they realized they made a mistake,” he said, taking a break from playing in the protest game. “How are things going to be in the future? That’s what I want to know.”
Amar Magon, a Montreal Sikh, played in the protest game as well, and still had reservations.
“I wonder what was going on in their minds to not allow the kids to play?” he said. “You question to yourself: ‘Why? What’s the real reason?’”
The Canadian Soccer Association suspended the QSF earlier this week, a suspension it lifted Saturday. The ban became even more controversial when Frot gave a telephone interview in English telling reporters that Sikh players “could play in their own backyard” if they insisted on wearing turbans.
Saturday Frot apologized for the remark, explaining that English is not her first language.
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Over 3,300 auto parts workers strike in Saginaw, Michigan
The way forward for Nexteer workers
By Jerry White
The following statement is available in pdf format for download. We encourage workers to distribute it as widely as possible.
More than 3,300 Nexteer Automotive workers in Saginaw, Michigan walked off their jobs at 12:01 Tuesday morning after a sweeping 97.5 percent rejection of a United Auto Workers-backed contract that included poverty-level wages, grueling work schedules and increases in out-of-pocket health care costs.
The Nexteer workers deserve and need the support of all autoworkers and every section of the working class in the US and internationally. Their struggle is a reflection of the deep and growing opposition all over the world to record inequality and the continuous demands that workers sacrifice to increase the wealth of the super-rich.
The claims by the auto bosses that they cannot afford to pay decent wages and benefits are a lie. Nexteer, like the Big Three automakers, is raking in record profits, paying multi-million salaries and stock bonuses and even more to their Wall Street and global investors.
As far as the companies are concerned, autoworkers—who were once the highest paid industrial workers in the US—should be little more than industrial slaves. This is part of a worldwide process, accelerated since the 2008 crash, that has funneled vast sums into the hands of the corporate and financial elite, to the point in which 20 billionaires in the US now control the same amount of wealth as half of the country’s population, more than 150 million people.
One worker on the picket line described the mood of workers as “joyous but leery.” This sentiment expresses both the desire to fight for their rights and the understanding that the organization that has called the strike, the UAW, is not on the side of the workers.
To organize the struggle, the WSWS Autoworker Newsletter urges rank-and-file Nexteer workers to elect factory committees to take the conduct of the struggle out of the hands of the UAW, and to compile and issue demands for the strike in order to win the widest possible support for this battle. These should include: abolition of the multi-tier wage and benefit system, an immediate 30 percent wage increase and the restoration of COLA and full employer-paid health care and pension benefits.
The threats by the company to use strikebreakers, cut off health care benefits or even close the plant must be answered by the full mobilization of workers in Saginaw and Flint, and by workers throughout Michigan and the US. An appeal should be made to autoworkers throughout the world, including in China and Mexico, for a common struggle against the global auto companies.
The experience of the Fiat Chrysler, GM and Ford workers has demonstrated that the UAW will not respond to the pressure of workers. It is not a “union” or “workers organization” in any meaningful sense of the word. Instead, the UAW is a multi-billion business, with a substantial stock ownership stake in GM and the other automakers. The highly-paid executives of the UAW have a direct financial incentive in driving down the wages of workers and increasing their exploitation.
The UAW has only called the strike at Nexteer because of the powerful rebellion by rank-and-file workers, which it neither anticipated nor desired. Far from mobilizing the strength of all autoworkers, the UAW intends to isolate the strike, like it is doing to the Kohler workers in Wisconsin, and try to starve workers into submission without any significant deductions from its massive $600 million strike fund.
Nexteer workers should draw lessons from the experience at the Big Three. When Fiat Chrysler workers rejected the first sellout, the UAW hired a PR firm to repackage the deal and used economic blackmail to ram it through. At GM, the UAW ignored the “no” vote by skilled workers and overrode its own constitutional bylaws to push the contract through.
The campaign of thuggery culminated in the vote at Ford, where the UAW resorted to outright ballot stuffing in order to secure a miraculous turnaround in a contract vote that was heading for defeat, claiming a razor-thin 51 percent margin for ratification. Afterwards, Ford executives and Wall Street investors boasted that with the help of their “partners” in the UAW, they had secured a deal that cost them less than 1.5 percent in additional labor expenses per year, lower than the rate of inflation.
The UAW is politically allied with the Obama administration and the Democratic Party, which no less than the Republicans are the tools of the big corporations and banks. The slashing of wages and the shifting of health care and pension costs from the corporations to the backs of workers has been the central economic policy of the Obama administration, along with the shoveling of trillions in virtually free money to Wall Street speculators.
Both the White House and the UAW have promoted “in-sourcing,” which means enticing global corporations, like Pacific Century Motors, the Chinese firm that owns Nexteer, to seek their cheap labor needs in the US instead of China, Mexico and other low-wage countries.
The last thing the UAW wants is for this struggle to trigger a renewed battle by Big Three autoworkers against the auto bosses and their agents in the UAW. But this is precisely what is needed. Behind the intransigence of Nexteer are the Detroit-based automakers that depend on a steady supply of cheap components from brutally exploited parts workers. This can only be broken by the full mobilization of all autoworkers.
During the contract battle at FCA, GM and Ford, the WSWS Autoworker Newsletter was followed by thousands of workers and played a central role in mobilizing opposition to the treachery of the UAW. That is why the UAW used anti-socialist red-baiting against the Newsletter and barred our reporters from the press conference with UAW Vice President James Settles, who made the lying claim that the Ford deal was “one of the richest the UAW ever negotiated.”
The Autoworker Newsletter will do everything it can to help forge connections between Nexteer workers and workers at the Big Three companies, where there is continued opposition to miserable wages and working conditions. There is a new desire to fight among autoworkers and every section of the working class, including steelworkers, teachers, telecom workers and others.
The outcome of the struggle at Nexteer will depend on the independent initiative of rank-and-file workers, reaching out to mobilize the broadest support in the working class in the US and internationally.
Autoworkers
Ford shuts down operations in Brazil, destroying tens of thousands of jobs
Ford “Finish Strong” ad campaign invokes nationalist mythology as cover for company’s “herd immunity” policies
Ford’s Louisville Assembly Plant shut down due to part global semiconductor shortage
Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee in US holds first national meeting of 2021
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Zimbabwe journalist Hopewell Chin'ono arrested on new charge
By FARAI MUTSAKA
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe police have arrested investigative journalist, Hopewell Chin’ono on contempt of court charges, his lawyer said Tuesday.
Chin’ono recently spent nearly six …
Posted Tuesday, November 3, 2020 11:56 am
Chin’ono recently spent nearly six weeks in prison on accusations of supporting an anti-government protest. He was released on bail in September pending trial.
Chin’ono is being held at a police station in the capital, Harare, said Roselyn Hanzi of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, an organization representing the outspoken journalist.
He was charged with contempt of court for making a post on Twitter that allegedly impaired the dignity of Zimbabwe’s Chief Justice Luke Malaba, said Hanzi. If convicted Chin'ono faces a fine or up to one year in prison, according to the charge, she said.
Chin'ono is one of Zimbabwe's most prominent critics of President Emmerson Mnangagwa's administration, accusing it of corruption and human rights abuses. The government denies the charges.
Before he was arrested in July, Chin’ono had published an expose on Twitter in which he alleged corruption involving a $60 million purchase of protective equipment for health workers. Mnangagwa later fired the health minister, who has been formally charged with corruption in the case.
Journalists’ organizations, western embassies and human rights groups at that time said Chin’ono is being punished for exposing government corruption.
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Home › Media › Christian Zionism 101 ›
The plight of believers under Palestinian rule
Under siege and without protection, the Christian population under Palestinian rule has dwindled with each passing year. In October, 2007, after repeated threats, Rammi Ayyad was brutally murdered outside the only Christian Bookstore in Gaza. In 2008, a bomb was set off at one Christian school in Gaza, while at another, run by the Baptist Church, guards were assaulted and a bus hijacked.
Even though Hamas denies involvement in the attacks and claims that it is attempting to protect the small, ancient Christian community in Gaza, attacks on the 3,000 Christians residing there have increased since the Muslim terror militia came seized power.
Basing his findings on ten years of research, an Israeli expert on international human rights law has warned that the shrinking Palestinian Christian community could disappear within 15 years due to the threat of Muslim extremism. "The systematic persecution of Christian Arabs living in Palestinian areas is being met with nearly total silence by the international community, human rights activists, the media and NGOs," said Justus Reid Weiner, a lawyer and scholar at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.
Given current trends of Muslims persecution, he fears Christian communities within Palestinian-run territories are likely to completely disappear in 15 years.
"Christian leaders are being forced to abandon their followers to the forces of radical Islam" Weiner lamented in a public lecture on the subject. Unless governments or other such organizations intervene, soon the Christian communities will consist solely of top clergy officials, with a few Western Christians. Some 50 years ago, the Palestinian Christian population stood at an estimated 15%, but today it has dropped to 1.5%. Bethlehem once had a strong Christian majority, but that figure today stands at only 20% Christian. In the Gaza Strip, there are only around 3,000 Christians amongst some 1.4 million Muslims. “In a society where Arab Christians have no voice and no protection it is no surprise that they are leaving," said Weiner.
These brothers of ours in Christ need our prayers and support as never before.
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Welcome to the Beyond 6 Seconds podcast, where we share extraordinary stories from everyday people. Each episode features candid and inspiring interviews with entrepreneurs, creatives and business leaders who share how they discover and grow their careers, overcome big challenges and make a positive impact on society.
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Episode 47: Marcia McNair – How Sistas on Fire addresses social issues through theatrical performance
Professor Marcia McNair is the co-author of Sistas on Fire, an award-winning theatrical performance that addresses pressing social issues from an African-American female perspective.
On this episode, Marcia shares what inspired her to create Sistas on Fire about 10 years ago, and how it evolved from a collection of writings into a theatrical experience that incorporates the spoken word, music and dance. She also shares how Sistas on Fire has connected with people across race, class, gender, religion and cultures, and how it empowers the audience to think and take action about the social issues they care about.
Sistas on Fire will be playing at the East Village Playhouse in New York City from February 22 – March 17, 2019. Buy your tickets at www.sistasonfire.com and visit the website or Facebook page to learn more about the show!
Marcia’s full bio:
Marcia McNair, the mother of two sons, grew up in New Jersey and moved to New York shortly after her college graduation. She has lived in both Harlem and Queens, but has resided on Long Island for over twenty years. She earned her bachelor’s degree in English from Dartmouth College and her master’s degree in Writing from New York University. McNair was an assistant editor at Essence Magazine and is currently an Associate Professor of English, Journalism, and Women’s Studies at Nassau Community College. She is the former coordinator of the NCC African American Read-In and a current member of the Black History Month Committee and the Secretary for the Black Women’s Initiative (a student retention program).
In addition, she was an adjunct professor of English at Molloy College, where she taught African American Literature, for over five years. She served on the Uniondale Community Council Executive Board for two years. She is the Executive Director and Founder of Long Island Girl Talk, a program for teen girls interested in media, and a co-host on Café Long Island, a public access television series. McNair’s essay, It Takes a Lioness to Raise Young Lions, appears in Issues in Feminism/ An Introduction to Women’s Studies/Fifth Edition (Mayfield, 2001). Her creative nonfiction story, Before We Were Gangstas, won honorable mention in the National New Millennium Writers Creative Nonfiction contest in 2003 and appears in the anthology, Memoirs in the Light of Day (Lamberson Corona Press, 2008).
In 2006 and 2007, she received a grant from the Long Island Council for the Arts for her collaborative performance, Diary of a Mad Black Feminist, now known as the award-winning Sistas on Fire! Her poem Long Island Just Isn’t Long Enough is featured in Seasoned Women (QuadraSoul, 2008), an anthology of women’s poetry and performed by Composer Leonard Lehrman at the opening of Hofstra University’s Suburban Conference on Diversity in 2009. An excerpt from her first novel, E-Males (Aya Press, 2007), was performed at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in 2009 . Her professional memberships include Sigma Delta Chi (the Society of Professional Journalists) and the American Association of University Women.
Tune into the Beyond 6 Seconds podcast to hear extraordinary stories from everyday people. Each episode features inspiring stories of life and creativity, triumph and struggle. I interview people who are starting their own businesses, giving back to their communities, and working with exciting new technologies to advance our world. We also talk about specific ways that our listeners can help support them and their work, so that their stories can continue to evolve. Who knows, their stories may even provide you some extra inspiration to develop your own talents and passions!
© © 2018-2021 Beyond 6 Seconds
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Khamenei’s Loyal Penman Links Quran to Holocaust Denial
By Arash on Friday, November 27, 2020
If anyone doubted that Holocaust denial was a central policy of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, he has put those doubts to rest. Take his response to the crisis that erupted in France following the October 16 beheading of Samuel Paty, a middle-school teacher who had shown his students cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad. Khamenei waded in with his favorite reaction to any query on freedom of speech. In a letter addressed to the youth of France, Khamenei asked: “Why is it a crime to doubt the Holocaust? Why are people who write about this thrown into jails, but insulting the Prophet is allowed?”
Khamenei knows what he is doing. The poisonous brand of Islamism that he attempts to sell domestically and abroad relies on anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial. This is why Holocaust denial has been not an aberration but a constant in his long political career.
This recent round of Holocaust denial sent Khamenei’s most loyal penmen into a frenzy. Chief among them is is the 72-year-old Hossein Shariatmadari, an ex-interrogator who has been the publisher of Tehran’s Kayhan newspaper since 1993. Like many other media positions, the head of Kayhan is appointed by Khamenei himself and he, in fact, carries the additional title of “representative of the Supreme Leader in the Kayhan Institute.”
On October 31, Shariatmadari wrote an editorial enthusiastically defending Khamenei’s message, singling out the leader’s denial of the Holocaust for praise.
“The Holocaust is a big historical lie,” Shariatmadari wrote. “There are a lot of undeniable documents that prove this Zionist myth is untrue. The most obvious proof of this is the West’s worry, mixed with fear, about any research done on the Holocaust.”
Shariatmadari went on to claim that “dozens of distinguished European historians and hundreds of famed historical experts have shown irrefutable documents that prove, with an entirely scientific method, that the story of the massacre of six million Jews, crematoria, gas chambers and all the Zionist claims are absolute lies; a story constructed with goals that are not only political but criminal.”
The “Distinguished Historians” With the “Evidence”
He went on to discuss in details three of these “distinguished” historians: the British-born French academic Robert Faurisson, who is perhaps most infamous for denying the authenticity of Anne Frank’s diaries; Thies Christophersen, a German guard at Auschwitz who became a Nazi activist after the war and whose famous 1973 book Auschwitzlüge (Auschwitz Lie) coined the phrase that many others went on to use, including academics researching Holocaust denial; and of course, Tehran’s favorite Holocaust denier, the French philosopher Roger Garaudy, who was once a notable French senator and a theoretician of the French Communist Party before he converted to Islam in the 1990s and began engaging in Holocaust denial.
These notorious men are no strangers to Iran’s rulers. Garaudy met Khamenei when he visited Iran in 1998 and was praised not only by him but by Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Lebanon’s pro-Tehran militia Hezbollah. Faurisson, whose first major political activity in the 1960s was association with far-right defenders of France’s colonial presence in Algeria, spoke at the Holocaust denial confab organized in Tehran in December 2006 and returned in 2012 to accept an award of courage from then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Christophersen has also seen himself praised by Revolutionary Guards-linked media, especially as part of their eulogies for his better-known associate and translator Ernst Zündel (among those who’ve written in support of Zundel are Hassan Karbalaei, a journalist and university professor who has held top positions in the Guards-linked Fars and Tasnim news agencies.)
Shariatmadari goes into detail and recounts the widely-refuted arguments of these Holocaust deniers. He claims that “anti-Zionist sentiments in Europe” have led to people “protesting the existence of Zionist Jews in sensitive centers of policy and decision-making.” He claims that the Gilets Jaunes street movement in France “aims to cut off the hand of Zionists” from the country; that the German parliament has more than 100 Jewish MPs “who are mostly not of German descent” (in reality, the German parliament has had very few Jewish members in recent years, sometimes as low as zero); and that Britain’s Labour Party former leader Jeremy Corbyn was kicked out of the party because he “protested the Zionist regime” (Corbyn, whose suspension has already been lifted, was disciplined due to his comments on the antisemitism inquiry in the party.)
“The real Holocaust was done by the Jews”
Shariatmadari is not a simple columnist. The lines of argument he puts up in Kayhan are judiciously picked up by organs of the regime, which help disseminate them. His attempt to use Holocaust denial and antisemitism as a wedge issue in European politics, for instance, is part of a broader effort by Iran that uses the media it sponsors in a dozen languages to push the same line. The English-language Press TV has repeatedly interfered in internal British politics, running commentary in support of Corbyn and against the current Labour Party leader Keir Starmer.
But as if the old and usual Holocaust denial wasn’t enough for Shariatmadari, when he linked the Holocaust to the Quran it took it up a notch. On November 14, he published an editorial entitled “Holocaust of the People of the Ditch.” In the article, Shariatmadari uses a very tendentious reading of a Quranic tale to link it to the persecution of Christians by a Yemenite Jewish king in the sixth century… and claims that this was “the real Holocaust” since the Jewish king in question allegedly thew people into a fire. “Jews of the time [6th century], who were the ancestors of today’s Zionists, committed a real Holocaust,” Shariatmadari wrote.
Who were ‘the People of the Ditch’?
Shariatmadari bases his claim on a short section of the Quran, chapter 85, entitled Al-Buruj (Galaxies), which he then links to a 6th-century historical episode. To begin with, this connection is not solid. The highly abstract and poetic chapter makes no mention of Jews, Yemen or any time and place of the story it narrates. It simply speaks of a group of people who threw a group of believers in God in a ditch and set them on fire. Over the years, there have been dozens of interpretations of this chapter, usually linking them to one of the many episodes in which monotheists were persecuted by a ruler. A story narrated by the Prophet Mohammad, and included in the authoritative compendium of prophetic sayings Sahih al-Bukhari, speaks of a boy who left his practice of magic after meeting a monotheist monk. He was then tortured by the king and burnt in a ditch along with those who had followed him. This could clearly be a reference to “People of the Ditch.”
Another interpretation links it to a story attributed to to Ali — the Prophet’s cousin, son-in-law and close associate. The story is of an Iranian King of Zoroastrian religion who wanted to permit incestuous marriages and threw those of his people who opposed this into a burning ditch. Recent textual analysis, as recounted by the Brill Encyclopedia, sees the chapter as a possible allusion to a biblical story of men burning in a furnace in the Book of Daniel — an allusion already suggested by the medieval exegetist al-Tabari more than 1,000 years ago.
But the one interpretation that Iran’s pro-regime media has highlighted in recent years links the story of the People of the Ditch to Dhu Nuwas, a Jewish 6th-century king of the Himyarite kingdom in southern Arabia (today’s Yemen) who is known for having persecuted Christians. The story of Dhu Nuwas’s anti-Christian actions was long used in Christian martyr narratives, sometimes to fan modern antisemitic feelings. In recent years, pro-regime outlets in Iran — such as the Young Journalists Club (YJC) run by the state broadcaster, and the Tebyan Cultural Institute linked to a powerful state propaganda body — have retold this Quranic story as an anti-Jewish tale.
Shariatmadari’s is the most high-profile recent attempt to use this Quranic tale and bizarrely link it to the Holocaust. He claims that Dhu Nuwas killed 20,000 Christians in a single event and notes this as a “despicable crime, the Holocaust of Jews against Christians.” He also reveals that Farajollah Salahshoor, a state-backed filmmaker known for his high-budget historical series on the lives of the Prophets Joseph and Job, planned to make a film about the People of the Ditch as part of his filmmaking project on the life of the Prophet Moses. The Moses project has now passed on to another regime-favored filmmaker, Ebrahim Hatamikia, a man who is much more talented and who was also close to the slain commander of Iran’s operations abroad, Ghasem Soleimani, and who has made films about Iran’s intervention in Syria. Shariatmadari calls upon Hatamikia to include his anti-Jewish narration of this Quranic story into his series about Moses, who Jews see as their most important prophet.
He seems to forget that Iran already made an expensive film around this crooked reading of the People of the Ditch just a few years ago. In 2016, the Revolutionary Guards-linked Owj Arts and Media Organization revealed a state-of-the-art, expensively-made CGI film called Return (with the alternative Persian title of Fehreste Moqadas or the Holy List), which was explicitly promoted around an anti-Jewish narrative. The state broadcaster’s YJC celebrated it as a cinematic achievement that “narrates the story of the first Holocaust in history, committed by the criminal ancestors of the People of Zion against monotheists and Christians.” The same narrative was used by the filmmaker who claimed his film presented “the first true Holocaust to occur in the history of mankind.” The film won the best animation award at the top cinema event of Iran, the Fajr Film Festival. Sony, which had been approached for distribution, obviously refused to work on it when the content became clear. According to the filmmaker, Sony’s decision was due to “the Holocaust question.” The film was also pulled from Lebanese cinemas after just a few days, a move that was covered by Iran’s state media, which bizarrely called it an “anti-Zionist animation.”
Abusing Islam’s holy texts to foster antisemitism is an insidious enterprise, practiced not only by Iran but by its allies in Yemen, the Houthis, whose banner includes the words “Curse the Jews”, and Palestine’s Hamas, whose founding charter attempted to draw antisemitic inferences from the Quran. While much of the world makes advances on educating people about the Holocaust to prevent such atrocities in future, Iran actively spends millions of dollars to promote Holocaust denial and antisemitism.
In his editorial, Shariatmadari asks “committed filmmakers” to not only make movies about the People of Ditch but also works that show “the Holocaust claimed by Zionists is a fabricated legend and a big historical lie.”
While Iran finds itself in dire economic straits, the resources of the Iranian people are spent on heeding the calls by the likes of Shariatmadari.
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Oregon Historical Society Research Library(Remove)
Mount Hood National Forest (Or.)(Remove)
Drinking water--Oregon--Portland(Remove)
Personal papers(Remove)
Bull Run Citizens' Advisory Committee (1) Bull Run Interest Group (1) Miller, Joseph L.--Papers (1) Portland (Or.). Water Bureau. (1) United States. Forest Service. (1)
Joseph L. Miller Papers
Repository: Oregon Historical Society Research Library
Summary: Papers include in-depth material on Joseph L. Miller's crusade to collect and organize information on the Bull Run Reserve and watershed and to expand public awareness of threats to its famed pristine water through formation of the Bull Run Interest Group (BRIG) and lawsuits he initiated against the U.S. Forest Service. Bull Run is the main source of water for Portland, Or., and other smaller communities in the area.
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City of Sydney planning reforms to open up new creative spaces and support small business and performance venues
Later trading for shops and businesses, more small-scale cultural activities and better sound management of nightlife and live music venues are on the way – with the City of Sydney announcing a suite of planning reforms.
Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the planning changes were part of the City’s ongoing work to diversify and energise Sydney’s night time economy, which will be crucial to post-pandemic recovery.
“While we’ve been working on these reforms for some time, they’ve become more important than ever – making it easier for businesses to open longer and with a more diverse offering that will help our community get back on its feet as we recover from the pandemic,” said the Lord Mayor.
“The City’s $4 billion night time economy has faced many challenges over the last decade, including lockouts and the unprecedented impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. In that time we’ve been working with the community to establish our shared vision for a safe, diverse and lively night time economy.”
“We know that venue owners and managers want more certainty when presenting live music and performance, but also that residents who live in the city deserve a bit of peace and quiet – these planning changes will provide greater certainty for both venues and residents, encouraging entertainment while supporting communities.”
“Applying for development consent to extend trading hours or put on small performances and events can be difficult, so our new planning controls reduce the current red tape and make life for our businesses and creative sector a lot easier.
“We want to see cultural activity in unexpected locations – stand-up comedy in bookshops, or live music in hairdressing salons. With 1.30am lockouts lifted from the city centre and along Oxford Street, we are looking at what a post-coronavirus night time economy could look like. We have an opportunity to reimagine Sydney at night and put in place new planning controls to to realise a more diverse and exciting nightlife.”
““I encourage anyone interested in Sydney’s night time economy to tune into our Committee Meeting on Monday and, when the plans go live on public exhibition, give us their feedback.” said the Lord Mayor.
The Open and Creative Planning Reforms and the new Draft Sydney Development Control Plan will be considered by the Transport, Heritage and Planning Committee on Monday 22 June. They will then be voted on by the City of Sydney Council on Monday 29 June for public exhibition and then forwarded to the NSW Government for approval. For more information, visit: www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au for details.
Riverside Theatres Digital – Ngaiire: Take Over
2020 Miles Franklin Literary Award Shortlist Announced
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Dijibril Cisse Arrested And Questioned Over Valbuena Sex Tape Case
Former Liverpool and France striker Djibril Cisse was one of four people taken into custody and questioned in regards to the blackmail investigation that allegedly involves a sex tape featuring Mathieu Valbiuena. Cisse was later released without being charged but the other three individuals remain in police custody. The source in the investigation said the [...]
October 14, 2015 admin Headlines, Soccer 0
Sepp Blatter Appeals 90-Day Suspension
FIFA president Sepp Blatter was relieved of his duties by the FIFA ethics committee last week and has now filed an appeal. According to his American lawyer Richard Cullen, Blatter is “very hopeful” that the suspension will be overturned. Blatter sent a letter to the German judge in charge of the adjudicatory chamber of the [...]
October 9, 2015 admin Hot Seat, Soccer 0
FIFA President Sepp Blatter Provisionly Suspended 90 Days
According to multiple reports, the FIFA ethics committee has suspended Sepp Blatter for 90 days. The suspension still has to be sanctioned by Joachim Eckert, the chairman of FIFA’s adjudicatory chamber. The final ruling is expected Friday. Blatter’s adviser Klauss Stohlker told BBC Sport: “The news was communicated to the president this afternoon. He is [...]
Liverpool Close to Appointing Jurgen Klopp As Manager
Liverpool plans to appoint Jurgen Klopp as manager by the end of the week. According to BBC, Klopp is close to agreeing to a three year deal to replace recently fired Brendan Rodgers. Klopp has apparently asked that Zeljko Buvac and Peter Krawietz join him as part of his coaching staff. He is expected to [...]
October 7, 2015 admin Headlines, Soccer 0
Lionel Messi Won’t Face Tax Fraud Trial
Barcelona star Lionel Messi will not have to stand trial for tax fraud but his father will. Jorge Messi has taken full responsibility and could face up to 18-months in prison for evading more than €4 million in taxes between 2007 and 2009. Prosecutors believe that Messi, who has been fighting charges for two years, [...]
October 6, 2015 admin Headlines, Hot Seat, Soccer 0
FIFA: Sepp Blatter Faces Criminal Investigation
Swiss prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into Sepp Blatter, the head of football’s world governing body Fifa. The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland confirmed it was examining a contract signed by Blatter with the Carribean Football Union and an alleged “disloyal payment” of $2 million to UEFA president. Mr. Blatter was being [...]
September 25, 2015 admin Headlines, Soccer 0
5 Goals In 9 Minutes for Robert Lewandowski
Wolfsburg were leading 1-0 in the 50th minute of play and were probably assuming, like most, that they were about to steal a win, but unfortunately for them Lewandowski had another idea. By the 60th minute of play, Bayern Munich were leading 5-1. Robert Lewandowski, the Polish forward, came off the bench at halftime and [...]
September 23, 2015 admin Hot Seat, Soccer 0
FIFA President Sepp Blatter Resigns
FIFA president Sepp Blatter has come under fire of late amid his alleged involvement in federal corruption. He is still be investigated. Last week, the 79 year old Blatter was re-elected for a fifth term as president but stepped down today due to the swirling controversy. Sepp Blatter, who was re-elected last week for a [...]
June 2, 2015 admin Headlines, Soccer 0
2022 World Cup to Take Place in December
The World Cup typically takes place in June and July, but apparently that doesn’t mean it has to stay that way forever. Qatar will be the host location for the 2022 tournament and it has been announced that the championship game will take place in December and will begin in November. That will be an [...]
March 19, 2015 admin Headlines, Soccer 1
The Curious Case of Zion: Can NBA Rookie Williamson Bounce Back in 2020?
The Premier League’s greatest exports to grace the MLS
76ers’ Ben Simmons has Sprained AC Joint in Right Shoulder
Great 2020 NFL Draft Prospects That Are Expected To Be Better Than 2019’s Rookie Stars
Add Some Knowledge With Your Luck While Betting On The Footy
2020 NBA Bets: A Rookie’s Guide On How to Play Daily Fantasy Basketball
The Hot Seat
WWE’s Kane Running for Mayor in Tennessee
TV Ratings: How Will the NFL Draw Viewers Back?
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Absentee ballot delays prompt Boston students to fly to Texas
by BU News Service
Photo by Adam Thomas/Unsplash
By Alaina Mencinger
Stephanie Gonzalez woke up three times the night before the election. A first time voter, Gonzalez said she felt a shared sense of nervousness about the election — however, unlike some over voters, Gonzalez had to travel over 1,800 miles to vote in Texas after facing delays receiving her absentee ballot.
Gonzalez, a Boston University student, lives in Boston during the semester but is registered to vote in Fort Bend County, Texas. When her ballot still hadn’t arrived less than a week before the election, Gonzalez decided to fly home to Texas and vote in person.
Gonzalez, who is originally from Venezuela, became a naturalized U.S. citizen last year.
“It’s my first vote as a citizen of the U.S., so it’s a pretty big deal to me,” she said. “There’s a lot at stake, I feel. I’m a woman. I’m part of the LGBT community. I am an immigrant.”
Stephanie Gonzalez (left) and her mother Josbellys Gil (right) pose after voting on Nov. 3 in Fort Bend, Texas. Courtesy of Stepanie Gonzalez
Emme Enojado, a friend of Gonzalez and fellow Texan, flew with Gonzalez to Houston. Gonzalez said she worried about traveling due to the COVID-19 pandemic and wore a face shield and N95 mask while traveling. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at the time of publication, Texas has had over 40,000 new COVID-19 cases in the past week.
Unable to find a direct flight from Boston to Houston, Gonzalez and Enojado said they spent approximately eight hours traveling between the two cities. Gonzalez, who paid for her flight using frequent flier miles, said that the cheapest flight she saw was $345 round trip.
“It’s an election that I feel I couldn’t pass by on,” says Enojado, who voted in Harris County, Texas, earlier today. Enojado said she applied for an absentee ballot on Oct. 8, but had not received a ballot by the time she left Boston on Sunday.
Gonzalez said she applied for her absentee ballot over a week before the Oct. 23 deadline. However, her ballot didn’t arrive until Oct. 30 — just four days before the election. Texas accepts mail in ballots postmarked on Tuesday, Nov. 3, but all mail-in ballots have to be received before Nov. 4. The United States Postal Service advised voters to mail in their ballots a full week before mail-in deadlines.
According to the Fort Bend County voting statistics, over 40,000 mail-in ballots were issued, and approximately 70% have been returned. In Harris County, unofficial voting tallies on the county website list mail-in voter rates at about 68%.
Right to Repair given the go, but Ranked Choice sees defeat from Massachusetts voters
Resplendent Ed Markey is hopeful about America’s future
FIA and F1 release joint statement on Russian driver...
Dispatches from the corners of a pandemic: part two
Chinese students struggle to get visas during the...
One foot in the past, the other in the new normal
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好好日天天操
UX - UI DESIGNER
Dyin' ain't much of a livin', boy. here. put that in your report!" and "i may have found a way out of here. you want a guarantee, buy a toaster. here. put that in your report!" and "i may have found a way out of here. this is the ak-47 assault rifle, the preferred weapon of your enemy; and it makes a distinctive sound when fired at you, so remember it. this is the ak-47 assault rifle, the preferred weapon of your enemy; and it makes a distinctive sound when fired at you, so remember it. don't p!ss down my back and tell me it's raining. this is the ak-47 assault rifle, the preferred weapon of your enemy; and it makes a distinctive sound when fired at you, so remember it. don't p!ss down my back and tell me it's raining. this is my gun, clyde! man's gotta know his limitations. ever notice how sometimes you come across somebody you shouldn't have f**ked with? well, i'm that guy.
Html 5 / CSS 3
MASTER DEGREE OF COMPUTER SCIENCE
This is Photoshop's version Lorem Ipsum. Well, the way they make shows is, they make one show.
Now that there is the Tec-9, a crappy spray gun from South Miami. This gun is advertised as the most popular gun in American crime. Do you believe that shit? It actually says that in the little book that comes with it: the most popular gun in
I'm gonna shoot you in the head then and there. Then I'm gonna shoot that bitch in the kneecaps.
You think water moves fast? You should see ice. It moves like it has a mind. Like it knows it killed the world once and got a taste for murder. After the avalanche, it took us a week to climb out. Now, I don't know exactly when we turned on each other, but I know that seven of us survived the slide and only five made it out. Now we took an oath, that I'm breaking now. We said we'd say it was the snow that killed the other two, but it wasn't. Nature is lethal but it doesn't hold a candle to man.
However unreal it may seem, we are connected, you and I. We're on the same curve, just on opposite ends.
Sam L. J. - Pulp Fiction
Nature is lethal but it doesn't hold a candle to man.
Your bones don't break, mine do. That's clear. Your cells react to bacteria and viruses differently than mine. You don't get sick, I do.
Sebastian@mail.com
www.sebasti.an
Copyright © 2015.Company name All rights reserved.好好日天天操
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Nightcrawler Review – 5 out of 5 Stars
Today, I am going to be doing something with Nightcrawler that I’ve not done for quite a long time; I am giving a movie a 5 star rating. Sometimes a movie comes along that’s so perfect on so many layers that you really can’t point out a weak spot; this is that kind of movie. Nightcrawler is an absorbing, incredibly written, incredibly directed and incredibly acted character study that blew me away.
Lou Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a demented, drifter who dives deep into the world of LA crime journalism. He becomes one of the people who record murders, cars accidents and robberies in the area and then sell the footage to local news channels. Lou and his intern Rick (Riz Ahmed) go to the limit to get the crime scene footage they want for an aging morning news director named Nina (Rene Russo) in ways that range from possibly questionable to extremely illegal.
Usually with sociopaths and other villains in movies, you’ll at least be able to see empathy or a moment of humanity or passion. In a good way, Lou Bloom is one of the most robotic and lifeless characters I’ve seen. The first moment in the movie is him stealing from a construction site as he drifts aimlessly looking for any kind of job. Much like Daniel Plainview in There will be Blood or Hannibal Lector in The Silence of the Lambs, we never get to see a backstory or a hint or a sincere explanation from him for what he does. Lou is a straightforward, heartless sociopath born from the culture around him.
Lou is because he is the dark, personification of the artificiality and commercialism of the 21st century. He hides his inner emptiness in phony and fake lines picked off of motivational posters used by bosses and advertisements. He has read every inspirational book, tracked every article relating to the things he wants and has studied every lesson that will help him destroy or overpower you psychologically and physically. He encompasses all of the insecurities and fears of the people around him to get the things he desires. The people he records are no more than things he exploits to receive fame, money and power. He doesn’t comprehend the sheer sadness of the things that he is recording. He is an insomniac who has scrolled upon hours of information to find the best ways to be human and both the tragedy and horror of Lou Bloom is that beneath the false, monotony of his well thought out words, he is mankind at its most soulless. He is the empty eyes fascinating and driving us to destruction.
Nightcrawler goes the extra level because of its equally gigantic focus on the characters that Lou uses and schemes against. Nina is in charge of one the least successful local news channel in LA and she is willing to break giant moral codes to get the ratings she can to survive. She succeeds whenever she finds the dark, violent stories that capture the attention the average LA person on the street. In Lou, she gets the thing that will do her dirty work. Her desperation and knowledge of the shallowness of many of the citizens of the city is what drives Lou to become the master of the trade. By the time the movie ends, Nina seems to fully understand the sheer sickness of him and she is ultimately powerless to stop the monster she shed a light on. There grows a sort of mutual relationship between these two flawed people, Nina gets rating and attention from people and Lou gets a job that allows him to be twisted and obsessive. It’s with Nina that we get a glimpse of why Lou isn’t thrown away as an outcast and why he is actually taken seriously. He presents to us the visceral, clearly manipulative things that we all privately want to see and believe regardless of actual truth or morality. That is the ideal that builds every aspect of his mind.
The other big character is Rick, the protégé/intern to Bloom. Rick is easily tricked by Lou because of the fact that he is homeless. He wants to get paid and find a good job and in Lou he wants to get on his feet again. Of all the people in the movie, Rick is far and away the most likable character. He is portrayed as a dumb but also sincere and nice person who just wants to have a peace of mind. He doesn’t mean to do the things he does but he only wants to make some money. Lou doesn’t view Rick as more than just a tool he can use to increase his options and he constantly puts him in danger in the name of his own credibility. Because of the increasingly, dangerous things that they go up against, Rick ends up becoming the only character to try to stand up to what Lou does and that strange, compelling teacher/student relationship results in an unforgettable, breathtaking climax that is surprisingly heartbreaking. Rick brings to Nightcrawler the needed kindness and heart to make it that much more affecting.
So the movie is brilliantly written, has master characters and clear, vast themes, but what about the performances. Nightcrawler has the best cast I’ve seen this year. Gyllenhaal’s performance as Lou is a masterpiece of cinema. You can’t take your eyes off the screen whenever he’s present. He captures of the crazed anger as well as the hollow inanity of everything he says. He is hilarious and horrifying and he makes the movie what it is. Many references with the two have been made but personally, Gyllenhaal’s performance here is just as good as Daniel Day Lewis’s performance as Plainview in There will be Blood. Jake dives into the madness of Bloom and creates an iconic character with a performance that will probably be one of the best of the decade. I’m being fully honest right now, Jake Gyllenhaal’s performance in Nightcrawler is one of the best I’ve seen not just this year but of the past decade, he’s that powerful in the role. If he doesn’t get an Oscar nomination for this movie then that deserves to go down as one of the bigger snubs of recent memory. I would even argue that him not winning best actor would be one of the bigger snubs of recent memory.
Rene Russo also deserves credit for playing Nina with a very sleazy yet human quality. She does a great job playing off of Gyllenhaal and it’s about as great a performance as you can get with the character. Riz Ahmed won’t get a lot of attention as Rick in comparison to the more larger than life performances of Jake and Rene but in a better world he’d be just as much on the awards table with Gyllenhaal even if he’s not technically as good. Riz plays Rick very humbly and down to earth. Especially in the third act, Riz gets a lot of moments to be the shining light in a movie of shallow and self-interested people. The cast is fantastic and Jake Gyllenhaal builds one of the more unforgettable and important characters of late.
For his directorial debut, Dan Gilroy shows a ton of promise. He made a great choice in getting Paul Thomas Anderson cinematographer Robert Elswit for the movie. Elswit captures a night in Los Angeles with an intense, vivid glow that is hard to look away from. The city feels alive and electric and it helps build the intensity of all that is happening. The movie is efficiently edited, there isn’t a single moment in the movie that’s wasted and you feel you’re on this ride with the main character. The soundtrack by James Newton Howard has this very sleazy, techno/rock vibe that’s reminiscent of late 80’s/early 90’s cinema. A lot of the stuff near the climax is very well shot and edited and it’s impressive to me that on a budget of 8 million dollars, Nightcrawler makes a chase scene that’s better than that of most big, blockbusters. Nightcrawler is a technically great movie and Dan Gilroy is obviously now a filmmaker I look forward to seeing more of in the future.
In the future, people will remember The Joker, Anton Chigurh and Daniel Plainview as 21st century film icons. I truly believe we have found with Lou Bloom another name in that category. Nightcrawler is a truly modern psychological thriller and Jake Gyllenhaal’s performance is why we go the movies. Run; don’t crawl to go see this phenomenal, layered satire that is well deserving of its grade that’s the first of 2014.
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Bill Paxton and Riz Ahmed
Directed by: Dan Gilroy
Written by: Dan Gilroy
http://aftercredits.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/NightcrawlerReviewTrailer.mp4
Dan Gilroy
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ECOT: $2.1 million in donations to Ohio politicians, $1 billion in charter school contracts
ECOT stands for the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow. It is a charter school founded in Ohio in 2000 by businessman William Lager and is a story that hasn’t received nearly enough media attention. Probably because it highlights everything that’s wrong with for-profit charter school entities delivering public services.
From 2001 to 2016 Lager’s ECOT received more than $1 billion from Ohio taxpayers to deliver an appalling graduation rate. In 2014, the graduation rate was under 39 percent. For the 2016-17 school year, it was up to a little over 40 percent in four years.This ranks as worst in the nation.
The state of Ohio is working to recover $80 million in overbilled state funds. In 2016, an Ohio audit estimates the school was paid for 9,000 more students than ECOT could document for the 2015-16 school year. In 2018, the state is still working to recover the money, which has since increased to $80 million.
Dave Yost, the Ohio auditor who has himself spoken at past ECOT graduations, said:
With the level of incompetence displayed by both the school and (the Education Department), the regulator, it’s amazing that any money went to education whatsoever.
Over this same period of time, William Lager has donated more than $2.1 million to influential Ohio politicians including several speakers of the Ohio House and Andrew Brenner, the chair of the House Education Committee.
Because much of the news coverage in Ohio only focuses on small pieces of this story at a time, here’s the full story of how ECOT scammed Ohio.
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Sport day for Persons with disabilities Conference "Women with disability in Palestine, reality and challenges" International Day for Disability (Balance sheet, as in 31/12/2011, 2012 Hagar The International Day for the persons with disability event in Al Jaleel Congratulation for Al Jaleel! The signing of the agreement for the Artificial Limbs Project in Jenin. Speech and Language Therapy Unit. What is Cerebral Palsy?
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Al Jaleel Society >> >> about us
Al Jaleel Society
About Al Jaleel
Al Jaleel Charitable Society for Care and Community Rehabilitation was established in 1991 as the Local Rehabilitation Committee (LRC), as part of the Disability Program of the Relief and Social Services Program of UNRWA in the Jenin Refugee Camp. The mission of the Disability Program is to “promote, rehabilitate and create equal opportunities for people with disabilities, and to increase their inclusion and full participation in the community through community-based rehabilitation, consistent with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities”. UNRWA launched its work on disabilities in the early 1980's focusing mainly on the health and physical aspects of rehabilitation. By the 1990's the agency had orientated itself towards prevention, rehabilitation, and equal opportunities. UNRWA’s policies are still evolving, moving away from a purely medical approach, and is now working to develop a more “social model of disability, which promotes social inclusion and a participatory approach”.[1]
In 2010, LRC established itself as an independent Palestinian non-governmental organization under the name of Al Jaleel. Al Jaleel currently offers a wide range of services and programs ranging from summer camps and social activities promoting inclusion, to providing economic support, to therapy programs which focus primarily on patients with cerebral palsy, providing prostheses and assistive devices. Al Jaleel is expanding in its current location in order to better serve its clients.
A profile of conditions for people with disabilities in the occupied Palestinian territory[2]
According to a 2011 study by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) and Ministry of Social Affairs (MoSA), the rate of disabilities in the Jenin governorate at 4.1% of the population is higher than in any other place in the West Bank and Gaza. The rate is significantly more (58% higher) than the national average of 2.6%. With 2007 census figures calculating the population of the governorate to be 256,620[3], this would indicate that at least 10,521 people live with disabilities[4]. The most common form of disability is motor-disability comprising 49% of people with disabilities in the occupied Palestinian territories. Disabilities marginalize people from participation in social and civic and productive life. The following statistics pertaining to people with disabilities aged 18 or older from the PCBS study illustrate this:
· Over 76% of people with disabilities age 18 and older do not use public transport because of inadequate infrastructure to address their needs.
· 34.2% are unable to perform daily activities outside their homes.
· 22.2% have dropped out of school.
· 8.7% report having avoided some activities owing to their treatment by others.
Palestinian public and private infrastructure is sadly ill-equipped to meet the needs of people with disabilities. Modified bathrooms and kitchens, ramps, elevators and visual alerts or alarms have been identified as priorities. 33.7% of people with disabilities require modified bathrooms. For young people with disabilities, nearly 30% require modifications to classrooms, 19.2% to school buildings, 16.2% to school toilets, and 23.7% to means of transport to facilitate their access to school. 85.6% of people with disabilities in the West Bank over the age of 15 do not work. 35.5% of disabled persons in the West Bank aged 15 and over have never enrolled in school, and 37% have dropped out of school. 51.5% of disabled people in the West Bank are illiterate.
Attitudes towards People with Disabilities in Palestinian Society; and the Palestinian Context.
In a 1997 article, “Disability and gender at a crossroads: a Palestinian perspective”, Leila Atshan offers a concise history of Palestinian attitudes towards people with disabilities tracing them from the pre-1948 period until after the end of the first Intifada[5]. She outlines how disabilities in Palestine are traditionally a source of shame not only for the individual who is affected by them, but also for their families. Families may hide their children with disabilities for fear it will reflect poorly on them and their other children. According to Atshan, the establishment of UNRWA and the care for people with disabilities under the UN mandate started an evolution towards regarding disability as a rights issue. She argues that in the 1980s, the UN adopted a community-based rehabilitation model (discussed below) and Disability took on a political and nationalist gloss during and after the first Intifada, when those wounded in the resistance struggles were praised as heroes and those taking care of them were seen as virtuous. Nevertheless, Atshan concludes that the status of the disabled has not improved substantially overall. Palestinians with disabilities still face discrimination, whether overt or more subtly in their exclusion from resources, education and work, and the marginalization they experience in their status, social and civic life. While increased care has focused mostly on the physical rehabilitation of people with disabilities, only recently have efforts been made to address the psycho-social aspects of disability.
As part of the evolution of attitudes, in 1999 the Palestinian Authority developed a disability rights laws declaring that people with disabilities must enjoy rights and dignity as full and equal human beings. This was seen as the basis for a more inclusive society. The law was passed and Palestinians can boast of having the most progressive disability legislation in the region[6]. Since 1999, awareness of issues pertaining to disability has increased as the second Intifada brought about a new generation of wounded people, who have gained international notice – especially in Jenin. There has been a growth of attention to the rights of the disabled as Palestinian non-governmental organizations in general have shifted to a more broadly rights-based approach. While the number of organizations supporting people with disabilities through therapies, advocacy, education, infrastructure, and awareness-raising has grown substantially in the past decades, the increasing geographic fragmentation of the West Bank from Gaza, and the difficulties of movement in the West Bank have hindered the effectiveness of national efforts. More local organizations must now work hard to meet the broad needs of their
communities.
Improved living conditions and quality of life, and increased opportunities for people with disabilities in the Jenin governorate.
Al Jaleel Charitable Society for Care and Community Rehabilitation was established in 1991 as the Local Rehabilitation Committee (LRC) under the umbrella of UNRWA in the Jenin Refugee Camp and obtained its independent NGO status in 2010. The Society seeks to enhance the health, and physical, social, economic, and environmental conditions of people with disabilities and their families. It does this by providing counseling and rehabilitation services; by providing equipment suitable to facilitate mobility of people with disabilities; by adapting homes to meet their needs; by offering vocational training and increasing job opportunities to promote self-sufficiency; by supporting the inclusion of people with disabilities in society; and by establishing revolving funds to provide small loans to those in need.
The society has three core values that are central to its identity, work, and what it aspires to be:
1) Human Rights:
Respect for human rights, children’s rights, rights of people with disabilities, and women’s rights in accordance with international conventions and declarations.
2) Social Justice:
Supporting and promoting equal opportunities, social justice, equality, and political and religious neutrality.
3) Organizational Responsibility:
Transparency, democracy, teamwork, respect and tolerance.
The Society serves the northern area of the West Bank, focusing specifically on the Jenin governorate.
1. People with disabilities: primarily those with mobility issues or suffering from cerebral palsy; as well as those suffering from speech impediments or who are in need of speech therapy.
2. Households of people with disabilities
3. Children (focusing on inclusion of children both with and without disabilities)
4. Poverty stricken and needy families
1. To improve the social, economic and environmental conditions of the people with disabilities and their families.
2. To increase the level of awareness about, and community interest and investment in people with disabilities, and their rights and issues; and to further their inclusion in society.
3. To contribute to the reduction of the incidence/effects of disability through conducting preventive activities.
4. To enhance continually enhance the technical and administrative capacities of the Society
Al Jaleel employs a strategic approach based upon the principles of community-based rehabilitation (CBR). The organization focuses on three levels of activity in its interventions to support and assist people with disabilities:
1. The individual level
2. The family level
3. The level of the community at large
CBR is described by the World Health Organization as follows:
“Community-based rehabilitation (CBR) focuses on enhancing the quality of life for people with disabilities and their families, meeting basic needs and ensuring inclusion and participation. CBR was initiated in the mid-1980s but has evolved to become a multisectoral strategy that empowers people with disabilities to access and benefit from education, employment, health and social services. CBR is implemented through the combined efforts of people with disabilities, their families, organizations and communities, relevant government and non-government health, education, vocational, social and other services”[7]
[1] See “Relief and Social Services Disability Programme” at http://www.unrwa.org/userfiles/2010011931858.pdf
[2] Statistics in this section are drawn from Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics & Ministry Of Social Affairs, Disability Report, June 20, 2011 retrieved from:
http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/DesktopModules/Articles/ArticlesView.aspx?tabID=0&lang=en&ItemID=1805&mid=12235
[3] http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_PCBS/Downloads/book1487.pdf
[4] It should be noted that the 2007 census calculates there to be 14,893 people living in Jenin with disabilities; with disability incidence as follows (noting that individuals may have more than one type of disability): Speech: 2189, Cognition: 2031, Mobility: 6082, Hearing: 3792, Sight: 8821.
[5] Atshan, Leila, “Disability and gender at a crossroads: a Palestinian perspective”, in Gender and Disability: Women’s experiences in the Middle East, Lina Abu Habib, ed. 1997: Oxfam, p. 53ff.
[6] See “Disability in Palestine: Realities and Perspectives”, Dr. Allam Jarar in This Week in Palestine, September 2009.
[7] http://www.who.int/disabilities/cbr/en/
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Murali Sharma
Dil Vil Pyar Vyar
Ashwini Kalsekar
Murali Sharma is an Indian film Actor. He was born on in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India. He is the son of N/A and N/A. He made his acting debut with the Hindi film Dil Vil Pyar Vyar in 2002.
He starred in the films Main Hoon Na, Mangal Pandey: The Rising, Chocolate, Buddha Mar Gaya, Dhamaal, OMG: Oh My God!, One Two Three, Golmaal Returns, Dabangg, Golmaal 3, Tees Maar Khan, Black Friday, Badlapur, ABCD 2. He also appeared in the films Athidi, Oosaravelli, Singham, Dhoni, Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum, Yevadu, Gopala Gopala, Bhale Bhale Magadivoy, Babu Bangaram, Hyper, Duvvada Jagannadham, Ninnu Kori.
He won Nandi Award for Best Villain. He married Ashwini Kalsekar in 2009.
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Vital Sines
Origin: Toronto, Ontario
Vital Sines was a Toronto post-punk/new wave band active between 1980 and 1988. They are best known for their hit single, Collage, which was recently listed as one of the most influential Canadian alternative rock songs.
The band got their start in punk rock venues in Toronto, releasing their first indie single, "Subway Suicide" in 1981. Following this they often played under the cover name "Tryfono & The Heat Resistant Sheep" as openers for better known acts.
When the original drummer, Chris Weekes, left the band, they re-invented their sound. In 1982 they released a seven-track cassette album, Rhythms In Dark. This was moderately successful in the Toronto scene, and convinced the band to invest in a vinyl release of new material.
Their work appeared in 1984 as the four-track Collage 12-inch EP. Losing their punk sounds, the new album combined the atmospheric guitar backing like those of Brian Eno or Killing Joke with the pretentious lyrics and deep vocals of Simple Minds and Gang of Four. The eponymous single "Collage" gained wide airplay on CFNY-FM, and the indie release quickly sold out.
David Ross, who helped record the EP, took a job with Midnight Records in the UK. Midnight picked up an option on Collage, leading to a re-release in 1985 along with a music video. The re-release sold tens of thousands of copies in Toronto record shops, with continued sales well into 1985. CFNY nominated both the song and video for U-Know awards.
Follow-up work started in 1985 at Daniel Lanois' Grant Avenue Studio in Hamilton, Ontario. Gord Wilson, guitarist, left the band during the work, and was replaced by Kurt Swinghammer. The late 1986 six-song EP "Big Dark Dreams" was picked up by punk label Fringe Product, and produced another CFNY hit single, Break These Chains, leading to a video released in 1987. This led to Fringe Product releasing yet another sold-out run of Collage.
The success of the single and its video led to jobs as opening acts for Shriekback, Hunters & Collectors, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Love and Rockets. This led to college tours in the eastern US, but in the midst of their popularity, Swinghammer and drummer Glenn Milchem left the band in May 1987, Milchem later joining Andrew Cash and then Blue Rodeo. The surviving original members, Rick Winkle and Terry Michaelson continued touring with replacement members, but the band split up within the year.
No Featured Albums
Big Dark Dreams
Subway Suicide/ Erik the Generik b/w Sex & Babies (picture sleeve)
Genre: new wave, post punk
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Mr. Roger Hubbert
Mr. Roger Hubbert, age 73 of Winfield, passed away on Friday, December 23, 2011 at U.A.B. Medical Center in Birmingham. Funeral services will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, December 26, from the Winfield Church of Christ. Visitation will be from 4:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. (service time) on Monday evening at the Church. Burial will follow on Tuesday in the West Alabama Memorial Gardens in Gu-Win. James Wyers, Vance Hutton, and Dale Hubbert will officiate. Mr. Hubbert was born in Hubbertville, Alabama, the son of Tommy and Gladys Hubbert. He graduated from Winfield High School in 1957, and attended Freed Hardeman College in Henderson, Tennessee from 1957 until 1959. Mr. Hubbert began working for Continental Conveyor and Equipment in 1961 until his retirement in 2002. He was a faithful Minister of the Gospel for almost 50 years and was currently the minister of Brock Church of Christ at the time of his death. He was preceded in death by his parents , Tommy and Gladys Hubbert, and a brother Jim Hubbert. Survivors include hie wife, Pat Hubbert of Winfield, Children, Dale (Cindy) Hubbert of Priceville, and Rogena (Keith) Dillard of Winfield, grandchildren, Whitney (Chad) Lawrence of Decatur, Katie (Doug) Gullion of Somerville, Wes Hubbert of Decatur, Allyson (Bryan) LeMasters of Madison, Julie Hubbert of Priceville, and Karla Dillard of Winfield, great grandchildren, Lathan, Macy, and Amelia Lawrence, and Sam and Drew Gullion. Keith Dillard, Wes Hubbert, Chad Lawrence, Lathan Lawrence, Bryan LeMasters, Doug Gullion, Sam Gullion, Drew Gullion, Frank Hubbert, and George Hubbert will serve as pallbearers.
The Family request in lieu of flowers, donations ay be made to Indian Creek Youth Camp, 7855 Pleasantfileld Road, Oakman, AL 35579 or Project Rescue, 179 Cave Springs Road, Decatur, Alabama, 35603.
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Human Resource Management Services
Human Resource Policy, Planning and Research
Industrial and Labour Relations
Labour Agreements
Classification and Compensation Plans
close× Call Us +1 (868) ___-____
The Personnel Department has seen its role changing over the years, since it was established by the Civil Service Act of 1965 (Now: Chapter 23:01 of the Laws of Trinidad and Tobago), which came into force on August 27th 1966. The Personnel Department was physically set up in 1967 when it started its journey of committed service to Trinidad and Tobago.
Today, with the culmination of several structural reviews, the Personnel Department is now comprised of seven Divisions, which are presided over by the Chief Personnel Officer, as corporate Head.
Involvement in public sector transformation is not new to the Personnel Department. Indeed, over the years, considerable strides have been made as a consequence of policies that were driven by a vision of an efficient and effective system of public administration for Trinidad and Tobago, capable of meeting the challenges of the 21st century. In 1997, the Government approved a new organizational structure for the Department, which was designed to allow it to function as a Central Human Resource Management Agency.
This new role involved a transition for the Department, from being the organization directly responsible for major aspects of Personnel Management and Industrial Relations for the Public Service (except for those falling under the purview of the Service Commissions), to that of a Central Agency responsible for policy formulation in the sphere of Human Resource Management and serving as the advisory, consultative and monitoring agency for Human Resource Management Units being established in line agencies throughout the Public Service.
With effect from October 1st 1998, fulfilling the Government's policy of decentralization, the Personnel Department devolved, to line Ministries and Agencies, some of the functions for which it had previously held responsibility. The outcome has been that line agencies now have ownership of a host of human resource matters, thus empowering them with the requisite effectiveness, flexibility and responsiveness required for the day-to-day management of staff.
As a Central Agency, the Personnel Department now has responsibility for the following functions, in addition to those pertaining to its role in determining/advising on terms and conditions of employment:
Formulating policy in all areas of Human Resource Management, including those which had not been addressed previously, such as Human Resource Planning, Succession Planning and Career Planning;>
Establishing/reviewing the legal and regulatory framework for Human Resource Management in the Public Service;
Providing advisory and consultative services in the sphere of Human Resource Management to line agencies;
Monitoring and auditing the practice of Human Resource Management by the Human Resource Management Units established in line agencies.
Within this focus, the Personnel Department is making its transition from being an agency charged with responsibility for a relatively narrow, well-defined set of personnel activities to being a central Human Resource Management Agency in the Public Service.
At the same time, it must guide the transformation of the wider organization forward through the 21st century. In this regard, the Personnel Department has stepped up providing leadership in the area of Human Resource Management. On its shoulders rests the responsibility for propelling a large, often unwieldy, organization into a future that is uncertain, unfamiliar and unpredictable, but undeniably exciting. It is a task which we dare to undertake.
In keeping with our strategic objectives, we in the Personnel Department pledge to keep faith with the tasks which we have set ourselves and to do all within our means to achieve success, even as we recognize the tremendous organizational and individual fulfilment that can flow from such an endeavor.
We are not forgetful of the giant strides which will be made towards ushering in a new Public service that, must serve as a strong fillip to social and economic progress and development in this nation of Trinidad and Tobago.
The Department looks forward to the challenge, well aware of the skill and commitment of its personnel, the support of its sister agencies and the readiness of the public service community to embrace the changes that are upon us. As the Public Service continues to transform itself into a customer-friendly, service-oriented organization, through the medium of effective Human Resource Management systems, the role of the Personnel Department stands paramount.
The Department has a crucial role to play in the review and development of the legislative and regulatory framework for Human Resource Management. Consequently, it will continue to manage and administer, centrally, certain statutory functions such as collective bargaining, compensation management and benefits management, all aimed at maintaining a stable Industrial Relations climate.
Further, it must, of necessity, be involved in researching and interpreting information on best practices in Human Resource Management to effectively advise, monitor and audit the Human Resource Management Units being established throughout the Public Service. In seeking to fulfil all these roles, the Personnel Department proposes to continually examine and manage its relationship with its key stakeholders, as well as its internal systems and processes, to ensure their currency.
The Department, therefore, recognizes that, in order to achieve these ultimate objectives, the incorporation of progressive thinking, strategic planning and management into its processes has become a critical necessity. Consequently, as we keep moving forward, many fundamental changes will be wrought within the Personnel Department in support of the Department as a champion and driver of the desired change within the Public Service.
We are positively moving forward and are continuing to effectively manage our changing role, which will ultimately redound to the benefit of the Public Service and the nation.
Chief Personnel Officer
Site-Information
Copyright © Personnel Department, 2021
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Vol. 29, No.10
Photo 400 group holds successful auction of their work
By P.A. SÉvigny
Painter Marc S�guin (left), Aneessa Hassmi, program director at artist-run centre La Centrale, and Scott Yoell, head of the ARTX program in the Studio Arts Department, provided students with insights into how to succeed in an art career.
Photo by Robert Winters
Through a “Cash & Carry party” on Jan. 27 at the VAV Gallery, Concordia photography students managed to raise almost $3,000 to finance their own graduate group exhibition at Montreal's Art Mur gallery.
Named after a photography course called Photo 400, the group is getting ready to build their careers after university. Photography student Yana Kehrlein said Photo 400 is “all about producing good work — work that's ready for the world!"
With very little publicity, the four-day exhibition still managed to pull in a good crowd. While students, friends and faculty members were lining up at the bar, others, including a number of Montreal's art scene regulars were placing their bids for various pieces being sold.
Faculty members supported their students. The crowd cheered when Evergon, a well-known art photographer and popular professor, bought Vincent Lafrance's powerful Sans titre.
Kehrlain's Blue Carpet, a 44" by 58" inkjet print, raised more than a few bids, and was considered to be one of the more controversial items on sale at the auction.
Geneviève Cadieux, another well-known artist who teaches in Fine Arts, bought Darren Ell's Osama, a stark portrait of a homeless Palestinian seeking Canadian refugee status while wearing a designer sweater.
Evergon said he admired student But Lau Lai's Venice, an inkjet photomontage reminiscent of Canalleto's 300-year-old paintings of the city's famous lagoon. "She's brilliant. She's got a lot of images inside, images that are ready to be made, and to be seen."
When April DeFalco, an avid art collector, bought Martin Verreault's Salle des Pendus for $200, she said she was buying "a bargain at a fire sale." She felt Verreault's work had "a kind of contemporary clarity and composition."
DeFalco, a blue-collar worker for the City of Montreal, is also a part-time Concordia student who is trying to pile up enough credits to earn a degree in art history along with a minor in history.
"Collecting art is all about time," she said. "If this is what Verreault is doing while he's still in school, can you imagine what he's going to be doing 10 years from now?"
That was one of the questions being discussed at a round table conference held at the gallery earlier that day. More than 100 people attended the noon-hour event, moderated by graduate student Jean-François Belisle.
Working off the theme that 'consumption completes production', representatives from every sector of Montreal's professional art community discussed the realities of trying to make a living in the art world.
Marc Séguin, a Concordia fine arts graduate who is a successful artist, said that a successful art career takes a lot of work, a lot of planning and a lot of discipline. "Remember, the artist is always the low man on the food chain."
Séguin said that while government art grants certainly help at the beginning of one's career, an artist still needs a break. Keep working in order to be noticed, and to be there when the time comes. "That's when things begin to happen," he said.
Asked if a gallery owner could be described as "an arbitrator of critical taste," gallery owner Eric Devlin said he had his doubts.
"You might believe in someone's work, and you can do whatever you can to push it, but the public is going to make its own mind up, and you're not the one who is going to tell them what to buy."
Both Devlin and Art Mur director Rhéal Lanthier said artists have to realize that their relationship with the galleries is a two-way street.
"Art needs time, and time costs money," Devlin said."
Lanthier agreed, and added that gallery owners do not want to invest all their time and energy promoting an artist only to have the artist decide to go out into the country and pick apples.
"When all is said and done, it's still a business," he said.
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Could Candidates’ Visits to New Hampshire Indicate Who Will Win the Democratic Primary?
In the last Democratic Debate, Joe Biden noted in regards to his fourth place finish in the Iowa caucuses and his chances of winning the New Hampshire primary: “I took a hit in Iowa and I’ll probably take a hit here. Traditionally, Bernie won by about 20 points last time, and usually it’s the neighboring senators that do well.” In 2016, Hillary Clinton’s surrogates dismissed Bernie Sanders’ victory as “a matter of geography”. These statements are problematic in two levels.
First, in 2020, Bernie Sanders is not the only candidate from New England in the race. While Clinton did not win the primary in 2016, she pulled off a surprise victory in 2008. Thus, she should have been able to compete against Sanders in 2016. Second, these views are an insult to New Hampshire voters’ intellect. Primary-goers proudly study the candidates’ positions very carefully, they expect candidates to spend a lot of time answering their questions, and they usually make-up their minds late in the game.
In this post, I will look at the candidates’ campaign events in the Granite State, especially those events that took place after the Iowa caucuses. To try to gauge the popularity of these events, I tap on data collected on each candidate’s Facebook page, which includes information on the number of Facebook users (i.e. guests) who demonstrated an interest in many of these events.
The Data:
I scraped the data on campaign events from the NECN’s 2020 New Hampshire Candidate Tracker. I cross-referenced each event with the list of event indexed in the candidates’ Facebook page. I then collected the number Facebook users who said they would attend these events.
It is important to add two caveats at this point. The Facebook “event guests” data does not represent the total number of people that attend an event. I suspect that the number of attendees is higher as the candidates use many tools to advertise their events. I use these data to help us make sense of each candidate’s support in Facebook. Second, the events listed in the Candidate Tracker are not included in some candidates’ Facebook pages. In these cases, I relied on the NECN’s reporting to construct my dataset.
My dataset also classifies each event into different types, including “town halls”, “rallies”, “speeches” and so forth. Although this analysis will not use these data points, the dataset includes specific information of the venues that hosted these events and the time of day.
Who Will Likely Win the Primary?
Before we start our analysis, the RealClearPolitics average indicates that Bernie Sanders will more than likely win the primary. Pete Buttigieg should place second, while Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, and former Vice President Joe Biden compete for third place. The rest of the field is in the single digits.
Given this forecast, we should expect that the leading candidates organized more events than the weaker ones. But this is not the case. Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, who is expected to receive around 3% of the vote, held 126 events since she announced her candidacy last year. Colorado Senator Michael Bennet, who is likely to get less than 1% of the vote, held 82 events.
It is worth highlighting that the Biden campaign organized only 42 events in New Hampshire since April 2019. This is the lowest number of appearances for one of the major contenders in my dataset.
Rather than looking at all of New Hampshire’s campaign events, I focus on those events held in January and February of this year. In addition, given their low polling average, this does not include events for the following candidates: Bennet, the philanthropist Tom Steyer, and former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick.
Total Number of 2020 Campaign Events Per Candidates:
The next figure summarizes each campaign’s events for January and February 2020. In line with the figures above, Yang and Gabbard organized more events than their counterparts. For Gabbard, a poor showing in New Hampshire will more than likely end her presidential hopes and it may explains why she devoted some much time and resources in the state.
Yang’s long-term prospects are better than Gabbard’s but it is not clear why he organized so many events. The polling average suggests that he will win around 4% of the vote. Does his internal polling suggest he receive a higher share of the vote?
Geographical Distribution of 2020 Campaign Events:
The next map shows that most of the events were held in the counties bordering Massachusetts, were the majority of the state’s residents live. More specifically, 76 events were held in Hillsborough County, where the city of Manchester is located, closely followed by 30 events in Merrimack County and 24 in Rockingham County. The candidates did not visit Coos County this year, though several candidates held events in this part of the state last year.
In the last days of the primary, the candidates concentrated most of their time and resources in Manchester and Concord. This following bar graph shows that Yang visited many of the listed towns and cities. The same applies to Buttigieg, Sanders and Klobuchar. In contrast, the Biden campaign prioritized more densely populated communities over rural areas. It indicates that the former vice president may have difficult connecting with rural voters.
Which Candidate Held the Most Events in February?
Most of the candidates participated in at least two events per day. The exception is February 7, 2020, as most of the candidates used this day to prepare for the debate. As expected, the majority of campaign events since the Iowa caucuses took place in the last days of the race.
Yang appeared in 28 events, while Sanders had 22 and most of these took place in the last three days of the race.
Main types of campaign events and their popularity:
Town halls are the most popular type of campaign events in my dataset. The events labeled as “speech” include events or forums, where the candidate was been invited to speak. Not included in this graph are informal “meet and greets”, canvassing events and so forth. What can we learn from these data?
The candidates with the least recognition — Gabbard and Yang — held the most town halls in January and February. The Klobuchar campaign organized more rallies than town halls, which is surprising given her strong debate performance.
In contrast, it is not accidental that the Biden campaign favored rallies to town halls as the former Vice President has in the past confronted attendees who have asked questions about his son’s connection to a Ukrainian gas company or challenged participants who questioned his electability.
What type of activities did the campaigns selected in the closing days of the primaries? And which events attracted the most attention? To answer these questions let’s look at the collected Facebook data.
Keeping in mind that the Facebook Guests data are not representative and that many more people attended these events, Sanders seems to have received the most total support. Nonetheless, Yang’s numbers are very impressive too. But if we average the total number of guests by the type of events, his popularity declines relative to the rest of the field.
To gauge each candidate’s popularity, we can average the number of Facebook guests who expressed interests one of these types of events (i.e. see second column in the graph above). Although these data are noisy, these findings are in line with the primary’s forecasted outcome.
Concluding Remarks:
In this short analysis, I have used different data points try to measure the campaign’s overall strengths and the candidates’ popularity. In reaction to Biden’s opinion that New Hampshire voters prefer New England candidates over nominees from others part of the country, this analysis shows that this is not the case. Sanders’ popularity is an outcome of his high name recognition as well as his campaign’s organizational capacities.
It will be interesting whether the forecasts are correct. While Facebook data are not representative, they could be one way to measure and contrast candidates’ level of popularity. This is an area for further exploration and it will be interesting to see how this analysis applies to events data from Iowa or the upcoming nomination contests in Nevada and South Carolina, which require the candidates to spend some time in those states engaging voters.
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The Last Five Years and Valentine's Day
Greetings, everyone!
One of the finest musical theatre works of all time, Jason Robert Brown's "The Last Five Years", is being released as a movie this weekend. I will be seeing it tomorrow in NYC and then staying for a Q and A session with Brown and director Richard LaGravenesse afterward. To say I am stoked would be an enormous understatement.
I intentionally have not watched or listened to a single "teaser" clip from the movie, and I have not watched the theatrical trailer. It has been tough, with the soundtrack having been available for download for four days now. I know the music and the show inside-out, and I really cannot wait to hear how the music has been adapted for the big screen. While I have my skepticism about how an artistic piece so intimate and personal can be blown up into a full-length movie, particularly given that several extras (including JRB himself) are featured in the movie, I want to go in with a completely clean slate tomorrow. Will I love it? Will I hate it? Will my reaction be somewhere in the middle? I don't know and I won't know until tomorrow, but the initial buzz seems to be overwhelmingly positive, so I am optimistic that I will love it. And I really should, because an encounter between JRB himself and Stephen Sondheim has made us consider the possibility that the only acceptable thing to say to a composer after seeing his or her work is "I loved it". (Go Here to read the full story; it's quite interesting and my opinions and thoughts after reading it are mixed.)
Given that JRB will be at the showing I will be attending, I really hope to be able to shake his hand and (honestly) tell him "I loved (it)", and I really do think I will be able to do that.
I couldn't resist reading an interview of sorts with LaGravenesse (the director) today, though, and this quote of his expertly sums up what I have felt about the musical almost since I first was exposed to it. You can read my complete thoughts on the musical version here. Here, he speaks of the "Shmuel Song", which itself is a metaphorical story written for Cathy by Jamie as a way to show her just how much he believes in her and loves her.
"I went back and excavated the song and realized it wasn't what he was singing, it was why he was singing it. And once I unlocked that secret or that intention, I understood how to do it," LaGravenese says. "It's a very important song because it's the one time you see...how much he loves her and how much he will go through and the efforts he will make to boost her morale and to make her feel good about herself and how much he believes in her. The problem in their marriage —??where she's more neurotic and more in her own way and he's so supportive, so later on when he sings 'Nobody Needs to Know' and he sings, ['We build a treehouse / I keep it from shaking'] while he's sleeping with other women —??the 'Schmuel' thing is the kind of thing he's been doing throughout the marriage. That just doesn't work, and he can't do it anymore. That song became really important once I understood why it was there."
There really are two sides to (nearly) every story and situation and, while I know for a fact that it is impossible to truly understand a particular situation unless you are immersed in it, it is often easy to form a solid allegiance to one party in a situation like this. Several people side with Cathy because, well, Jamie cheated on her and broke up with her by leaving her a note. It's true. He did. I don't condone cheating (or breaking up any way other than in person). Jamie is an immature character, and he could have handled the end of the relationship differently.
However, it is important to look at what, for lack of better words, drove him to act out in such a way. I really do think that, as LaGravenesse suggests above, the Shmuel song is representative of what Jamie has been doing throughout his and Cathy's relationship -- trying desperately to help her believe in herself and boost her self-esteem. On the other hand, while Cathy is clearly proud to be dating (and later married to) such a successful author, I am not sure she ever explicitly gives JAMIE HIMSELF any emotional support. Imagine busting your ass for the one you love, constantly being his or her cheerleader and support rock, and not receiving any support or encouragement from him or her in return. Yes, Jamie was considerably more successful than Cathy from a professional standpoint, but her lack of support shown to him (and I mean HIM as a person) combined with his feeling that his efforts to boost her up are going nowhere......left him feeling like there was no good way out. Driven by this dearth of emotional support and availability from his own wife, and lacking the maturity to make a better decision, Jamie sought out his publisher (Elise) to have his physical and emotional needs met.
I don't condone cheating and I don't doubt that Jamie's decision to cheat on Cathy was the nail in the coffin, but I have no doubt in my mind that, as much as ANYTHING, Cathy was responsible for the failure of their relationship. No, she was never a particularly confident character to begin with, and yes, it can be argued that some of that could stem from mental health issues and thus debated that to some extent she may not be at fault. Regardless, though, both partners need to support and be available to each other in any romantic relationship. If it is, or becomes, a one-way street, as was the case with Jamie and Cathy, it won't work.
How does all of this relate to Valentine's Day? Regardless of whether or not you are romantically involved with someone, I have two things to ask of everyone. Be supportive and emotionally available to those near and dear to you (be they friends, family, or romantic partners), and be grateful to those who have been supportive and emotionally available to you. Yes, The Last Five Years is a piece of musical theatre with fictional characters, but I really feel like it is a terrific reminder to all of us to remember how much of a MULTIPLE-WAY-STREET every relationship (romantic or platonic) is. The support and emotional availability have to come from both directions. It's not easy, but we all need to make that effort. There's no way around it, because that, at the core, is what love is.
Posted by Dan at 11:33 AM No comments:
I know it has been two weeks since I last posted. In that time, I was hoping to write a theatre review, write another auto review, or share one of my recipes. Those updates will come when I have the mental energy to do them well. However, because I am beyond exhausted at the end of a SNOW DAY and have to rest up for a before-school jazz band rehearsal tomorrow, I will limit tonight's update to two points.
1. I will be playing an acoustic gig with my cousin, Jacob Patenaude, at Chatham Brewing on Saturday, February 7th from 6 to 8 PM. I'm beyond excited for this, and we'll be playing a huge variety of music, including some favorites of mine that I have yet to perform for an audience.
2. I learned two days ago that, at age 28, despite using ample flour and liberally oiling the baking sheet, I still lack the ability to make a pizza that does not stick to the pan.
Ok now that I got that off my chest, it's time to pass out.
Car Review -- 2015 Acura TLX V6 FWD Tech
As promised, here is my weekly update. This one obviously steers toward the automotive side of things, and the next one will be related to "chow" or "so much more" (most likely a musical theatre review).
I referenced in my last post my decision to replace a four year old car with an eleven year old car with higher mileage. Well, my 2003 Acura 3.2CL was one of the vehicles affected by the massive Takata airbag recall, and I had to take it in to the dealer for a new driver's side airbag inflator. Given that the car was also due for an oil change, I left it with the kind folks at Northeast Acura in Latham and drove a 2015 TLX for the few hours that mine was being worked on.
For those not familiar with Acura's history, Acura is Honda's luxury division. The brand debuted in 1986 with the Legend luxury sedan and coupe, and the Integra sport hatchback. Since then, the brand has evolved in many ways. What it has not done, however, is ventured as far upscale as its competitors in Japan and Europe. While its SUV lineup has been highly successful for the last decade or so, its sedan lineup has, well, not been so successful. At this time last year, Acura offered four sedans. The ILX, its entry-level model, was little more than a warmed-over Honda Civic with a few more creature comforts and a few more soft-touch interior surfaces. The TSX was a rebadged European-spec Honda Accord. In many ways, it was an absolute steal in terms of dollar value, and it was quite a fun car to drive. However, it was not quite a competitor to vehicles such as BMW's excellent 3-series and Audi's A4. Acura's next step up, the TL sedan, was a bit too large to compete with these vehicles and too shy on prestige to fully battle the next class up (BMW's 5-seires and Audi's A6, for example). The RLX, Acura's top sedan, had just debuted, and was quite impressive. While not a true competitor to the BMW 7-series or Audi A8, it offered similar interior space for about two-thirds of the price, albeit with fewer luxury features and lower performance limits.
The net effect is that Acura was straddling the luxury sedan classes that already existed, and despite most of the vehicles being generally good, not effectively competing in any of them. Acura's solution was to simplify the lineup to a three-sedan one by replacing both the TSX and the TL with the TLX. I was skeptical, as I feel the TSX and TL were the strongest of Acura's four sedans. Size-wise, the TLX split the gap between both of those sedans, aiming to combine the TSX's trim exterior size with the TL's larger interior volume. Acura generally succeeded, though rear seat room is not offered in abundance by any stretch.
Another goal was to combine the tossable, fun-to-drive character of the TSX with the refinement and maturity of the TL. To achieve this goal, Acura decided to offer the TLX with a choice of 4-cylinder or V6 engines, and (on V6 models) with front wheel drive or optional SH-AWD (super-handling all wheel drive). However, Acura made a major faux-pas in not offering ANY variant of the TLX with a true manual transmission. This is particularly disappointing, as both the TSX and TL offered stick shifts (and VERY good ones at that) on some trim levels. Disappointment aside, the goal was for the 4-cylinder TLX to appeal to those seeking economy and nimble handling, the front wheel drive V6 model to appeal to luxury customers, and the SH-AWD V6 model to appeal to thrill-seekers (the SH-AWD system vectors torque to the outer rear wheel when cornering to help neutralize understeer, providing a feeling that the car is on rails).
So how good of a car is the TLX?
I drove the front wheel drive V6 model, equipped with Acura's Technology Package (navigation system, premium audio, real leather on the seats, etc.). It's a really, really nice car. That said, it's not perfect. So, in no particular order........
The 3.5L V6 engine is extremely powerful and this car is QUICK. However, the nine-speed automatic transmission it mates to is disappointing. It shifts slowly and not very smoothly, and its gimmicky push-button gear selector (in lieu of the traditional shift lever found in the four-cylinder car) takes a second to engage the gear after pressing the button. This is partially why I prefer manual transmissions. There's no waiting. Perhaps, given that a true manual isn't on offer, the eight-speed dual-clutch automatic used in the four-cylinder car would work better here, as physically it is an automated manual transmission and thus would provide a more direct feel and quicker shifts.
The car rides very comfortably and is very quiet (easily the most silent Honda/Acura product I've driven to date). It also handles quite well given its sheer mass, and the steering is pleasingly direct. The car offers a customizable system known as IDS that varies steering effort, suspension firmness, shift timing, etc. to match a driver's desires. I left it in Sport mode for most of my driving, but briefly sampled Normal mode and Sport Plus mode. All were more than acceptable. I can only imagine how sweetly the lighter four-cylinder model feels in the twisties (especially with that quick dual-clutch gearbox), and how steroidal the SH-AWD model must feel when driven aggressively.
On the technology front, the car is impressive. It comes with Siri Eyes-Free, which enables the driver to tap into Siri on his or her Bluetooth-tethered iPhone by holding down the steering-wheel-mounted talk button. It worked very well for me. However, the Bluetooth Audio music search function did not work, but I think that that's related to Apple's iOS 8 update, as this feature worked well on my parents' 2014 Honda Odyssey EX-L (which uses the same infotainment system) until I updated to iOS 8, when it stopped working.
Additionally, it comes with a "lane keeping assist" system that can read lane markings and steer the car through moderate curves, provided the driver makes occasional steering inputs. I tried it out. It's really, REALLY cool, and not once did the car leave its lane with the system doing the steering. However, it does not keep the car perfectly centered in the lane, which is a bit disconcerting and can make other drivers assume that the driver is drunk, high, texting, or otherwise distracted.
The audio system was Acura's 10-speaker ELS surround system. I have sampled the ELS system on several Acuras over the last few years, and have usually come away incredibly impressed with the systems' clarity, power, and immersive listening experience (despite weaker-than-expected bass response). The system in the TLX was a disappointment. While my compressed music playing through Bluetooth probably showed its "compression" more obviously through this high-end system than it normally does in lesser systems, this system, while quite clear, was not nearly as impressive as the other ELS systems I sampled......and honestly not much better than the (admittedly good) six-speaker Bose system in my 2003 CL, and barely better at all than the (fantastic) eight-speaker Monsoon system in my 2002 VW Passat wagon. Perhaps playing a non-compressed CD would have showcased this ELS system much more effectively.
Very little stood out to me otherwise or varied from what I'd expect of an entry-level luxury sedan. The expected creature comforts were there, the infotainment system was somewhat ergonomically ass-backward, and the car didn't demand very much of its driver. Actually, from a value standpoint, this car had far more features per dollar than almost any of its direct competitors.
Overall......it's a nice car, and it is quite a good value. That said, while it does many things well, the V6 model needs the eight-speed dual-clutch automatic from the four-cylinder car (along with its conventional shifter in place of the push-button nonsense).....or better yet, a true manual gearbox, the ELS stereo was quite disappointing, and the back seat could be more cavernous, among other things. Does it more effectively assault the mid-luxury market than its TSX and TL predecessors did? I'm not so sure it does. I test-drove a 2010 TSX six-speed a few years ago and, while that car was not as quick or refined as this one, and while it lacked some of the TLX's modern technology, it was a far more pure, enjoyable drive, felt more "natural" to sit in, and had a superior ELS stereo.
Don't get me wrong, the 2015 Acura TLX is not a bad car, and for those of you who want maximum features-per-dollar, a very good ride/handling/quietness balance, Honda reliability, and a premium badge, it will serve you very well. However, aside from Honda reliability and features-per-dollar, I somewhat inexplicably wouldn't see myself buying one of these over any number of competing entry-luxury sedans. And I am certainly in no hurry to ditch my 2003 CL six-speed for one of these, and I realized that the instant I picked my car up.
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Muriel King
Biography: The American designer Muriel King had an interesting and varied career in fashion, beginning in the 1920s as an illustrator for Bonwit Teller, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, and Berley Studios, a subscription service that sold drawings of the latest Paris fashions to manufacturers. By the mid-1930s, she worked primarily as a couturière with a private clientele, but also designed ready-to-wear and theatrical costumes for Broadway and Hollywood-most notably for the actresses Katherine Hepburn and Ginger Rogers. Muriel King was recognized by Lord & Taylor as part of their "American Fashion for American Women" campaign in 1932.
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Home» 2015 » March 2015 » World Methodist Museum a Vital Resource
World Methodist Museum a Vital Resource
Confirmation Group visits the World Methodist Museum.
The World Methodist Museum, a ministry of the World Methodist Council, continues to share the story of Methodism and its founder John Wesley. Located in Western North Carolina, USA the museum houses hundreds of busts, paintings and lithographs; Staffordshire pottery, a 50-volume Christian Library edited by John Wesley with The First edition printed in 1749-1755; original letters by Wesley, the World Federation of Women’s special exhibit and much more. Many of the museum’s visitors are surprised to find the wealth of information and artifacts depicting the story of early Methodism and its spread throughout the globe.
In recent surveys, 96% of those visiting the Museum said they were there for the first time. Of those, 100% said the Museum information was clear and helpful and 96% were either very satisfied or satisfied with their experience. Several visitors this year alone have been from countries other than the United States.
Learning about Wesley’s boyhood teaching, his role in English society and viewing his letters and work of literature are part of the Museum’s programs. As the season of Lent has begun, Confirmation groups and groups on spiritual retreats have scheduled visits to the museum.
“’Knowing who we are and whose we are’ is more than a slogan” explains Museum Director Jackie Bolden. “The saying helps those active in their spiritual formation to be able to stay grounded despite the troubles and inhumanity inflicted by the peoples of the world. May it not always be this way.”
The World Methodist Museum is vital to the continued story-telling of the Methodist heritage. If you would like to know more about the museum visit methodistmuseum.org and facebook.com/worldmethodistmuseum. If you would like to ensure the story of Methodism will continue being told for generations to come, please consider a gift to the World Methodist Museum. Contact Jackie Bolden at jbolden@worldmethodistcouncil.org.
March for Free Speech Held in Pakistan
Methodists and Baptists Engage in Second International Dialogue
Members of the Baptist World Alliance and the World Methodist…
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Rebuild Florida News
Home > Rebuild Florida > Rebuild Florida News
Florida Department of Economic Opportunity Announces $60 Million Available Through the Rebuild Florida Hometown Revitalization Program for Hurricane Michael Recovery
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Today, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) announced that more than $60 million is now available to local governments, state agencies, Community Revitalization Agencies, Community Development Districts, and non-profits in communities impacted by Hurricane Michael through the Rebuild Florida Hometown Revitalization Program. The program, administered by DEO, is designed to support the recovery of economic activity in commercial areas of Hurricane Michael-impacted communities, facilitating the return and recovery of businesses, jobs, and provision of goods and services to the area.
The funds are allocated through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program.
“Governor DeSantis made a commitment to provide disaster recovery support to the communities hit by Hurricane Michael, and we are delivering on that promise,” said Dane Eagle, Executive Director of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. “The Rebuild Florida Hometown Revitalization Program will ensure that downtown and commercial districts impacted by Hurricane Michael will be restored and help spark economic growth in these communities.”
The Rebuild Florida Hometown Revitalization Program makes funds available to local governments, state agencies, Community Revitalization Agencies, Community Development Districts and community-based development organizations within the federal and state Most Impacted and Distressed (MID) areas. Non-profits that are primarily engaged in community redevelopment activities may apply in partnership with a state agency or local government.
The deadline to complete an application is February 16, 2021 at 5:00 p.m. (EST). Department staff will be available to provide technical assistance to eligible entities during the application process. For more information about the program, including how to complete an application, visit the Rebuild Florida Hometown Revitalization Program’s webpage.
To provide potential applicants with more information about the Rebuild Florida Hometown Revitalization Program, the Department will host a webinar at 2:00 p.m. (EST) on Thursday, December 3, 2020. Click here to register.
Eligible entities in state-designated Fiscally Constrained Counties and in need of assistance with application development, including project identification, project cost determination, and scope of work preparation, may also apply for the Rebuild Florida Technical Assistance Grant Program.
The Department is the governor-designated state authority responsible for administering all HUD long-term recovery funds awarded to the state. Rebuild Florida uses federal funding for Florida’s long-term recovery efforts from the devastating impacts of natural disasters. For more information, visit RebuildFlorida.gov.
About DEO
The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity combines the state’s economic, workforce and community development efforts, expediting economic development projects to fuel job creation in competitive communities and promote economic resiliency. For more information, including valuable resources for employers and job seekers, please visit www.FloridaJobs.org.
Irma Housing Repair
Contracting with Florida
Newsletters/Mailing List
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Chamber Music of America Hosts Artist Revenue Streams Seminar/Webcast February 27, 2014 - 3:30pm
250 days, 2500 responses March 3, 2014 - 12:10pm
Artist Revenue Streams: a financial case study of a Background Vocalist March 4, 2014 - 9:30am
Big Developments in Digital Music March 7, 2014 - 2:01pm
Artists' Pay for Radio Play: A View From the Green Room March 10, 2014 - 9:21am
Copyright Hearing Recap: DMCA Notice & Takedown March 20, 2014 - 12:17am
Triple Trouble: Three High Profile Copyright Cases Settled March 21, 2014 - 12:39pm
Since You Asked: Here's What We Told the FCC To Do About Net Neutrality March 24, 2014 - 1:35pm
Pandora, ASCAP and Songwriter Royalties: Putting Things in Perspective March 25, 2014 - 11:49am
Could Pono Be Good News for Musicians? March 29, 2014 - 1:46pm
Health Insurance Marketplace: Last Chance! March 31, 2014 - 3:30pm
Conyers Introduces Bill to Preserve & Promote Jazz April 2, 2014 - 12:31pm
Copyright Hearing Recap: Preservation & Reuse April 4, 2014 - 3:56pm
Label Battles Remixed: EDM in the Era of Consolidation April 7, 2014 - 9:32am
Built to Last: The Importance of Sustainable Digital Tools for Musicians April 7, 2014 - 3:11pm
Comcast + Time Warner Cable: Out of Rhythm With Musicians April 8, 2014 - 1:10pm
The Quest for Royalties for the Use of Sound Recordings on AM/FM Radio: In Full Swing April 11, 2014 - 9:41am
Internet Task Force Plots Summer Tour Dates April 16, 2014 - 3:47pm
Major Labels vs. Pandora (Or Why We Can't Have Nice Things) April 18, 2014 - 11:43am
Four Lessons From Record Store Day April 18, 2014 - 6:57pm
FMC Statement on FCC Plan to Create Internet "Slow Lane" April 24, 2014 - 6:53am
This Is What It Sounds Like When Pigs Fly: Prince Strikes New Deal With Warner Brothers April 24, 2014 - 9:01am
Solid Advice On Saving College Radio April 28, 2014 - 7:34am
Don't Let This Song Go Extinct April 30, 2014 - 3:59pm
Rap Genius Strikes Deal With NMPA May 6, 2014 - 5:46pm
Is On-Demand Streaming Forcing Indies To Behave More Like Major Labels? May 7, 2014 - 7:25pm
New Bill to Pay Artists for AM/FM Play May 8, 2014 - 9:31am
FCC Feeling the Heat on Net Neutrality May 13, 2014 - 9:22am
FMC Statement on Net Neutrality Rulemaking Process May 15, 2014 - 12:09pm
House Subcommittee Grills FCC Chairman on Net Neutrality May 21, 2014 - 12:04pm
Vimeo Introduces Audio Fingerprinting May 27, 2014 - 10:28am
How to Fix Copyright for Older Artists May 29, 2014 - 3:04pm
Indies Battle for Better Terms May 29, 2014 - 3:06pm
DOJ Tackles Consent Decrees: Careful What You Wish For? June 5, 2014 - 12:40pm
Beastie Boys Prevail Over Monster June 6, 2014 - 1:46pm
Music Recommendation & Digital Payola June 10, 2014 - 7:48am
One Year Later, Copyright Alert System Still Hasn't Broken The Internet June 12, 2014 - 4:18pm
House Subcommittee Weighs Digital First Sale June 17, 2014 - 9:44am
Musicians Welcome Bill to Prevent Slow-Lane Internet June 17, 2014 - 1:06pm
Copyright Hearing Recap: Music Licensing Part 1 June 18, 2014 - 12:23pm
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These New Puritans "Spitting Stars" (live at the Barbican)
Next week, UK pop outsiders These New Puritans will release Expanded, a live recording of a set they played with a 35-piece orchestra at the Barbican in London. Ahead of its release, they've shared another song from the release.
"Spitting Stars" is a previously unreleased outtake, so we don't have anything to compare it to. That said, its brooding melody sounds pretty damn transcendent alongside a lush orchestra. It helps that the production is crystal clear, too.
Listen to "Spitting Stars" below. Expanded (Live at the Barbican) will be released on October 20. The CD and digital versions of the LP will arrive via Infectious Music, with the vinyl slated for release through The Vinyl Factory.
CLICK/HEAR
More These New Puritans
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These New Puritans "Island Song" (live video)
Revisiting last summer's Field of Reeds, experimental UK pop outfit These New Puritans have shared a unique live video that features a perfo...
These New Puritans "James H Xmas Song Mix2"
Seriously, Christmas playlists are running full tilt enough as it is, but These New Puritans have just unveiled a last-minute addition for t...
These New Puritans Quiet Insight
Jack Barnett may look shy and speak in shy sentences, but don't let that fool you: he really is shy. The singer has an uncanny ability to sa...
These New Puritans "V (Island Song)" (video)
Post-punk band These New Puritans released their Field of Reeds LP earlier this year. Now, they've treated "V (Island Song)" to a high-conce...
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Feb. 19: National Geographic Live: Ocean Photographer Brian Skerry Visits Weis Center
National Geographic ocean photographer Brian Skerry will present a multimedia presentation called “Ocean Soul” on Tuesday, Feb. 19 at 7:30 p.m. at Bucknell University’s Weis Center for the Performing Arts. A book signing with Skerry will take place after the presentation in the Weis Center Atrium.
Voyage across the oceans with one of National Geographic’s most seasoned photographers and discover a vast, hidden world beneath the waves. Using his camera to communicate, Skerry has spent more than 10,000 hours underwater telling the oceans’ stories. His images celebrate the mystery of the depths and offer portraits of creatures so intimate they sometimes appear to have been shot in a studio. Skerry dives eight months of the year, often in extreme conditions beneath Arctic ice or in predator-infested waters, and has even lived at the bottom of the sea to get close to his subjects.
National Geographic Live in Lewisburg, Pa. is sponsored, in part, by John and Julianna Cooper and family.
National Geographic Books published Ocean Soul, a landmark retrospective of Skerry’s photographs. In the book and this presentation, Skerry takes us from the glacial waters of the North Atlantic, where harp seals face off with commercial hunters, to the balmy central Pacific, where he photographed damaged coral ecosystems rebuilding themselves.
On stage, Skerry is a passionate spokesman for the oceans he loves to photograph. His riveting presentations to audiences at TED, Harvard, and London’s Royal Geographic Society inspire reverence for the marine realm and offer hope for protecting the vitality of the world’s oceans.
Skerry is a photojournalist specializing in marine wildlife and underwater environments. Since 1998 he has been a contract photographer for National Geographic Magazine (NGM) covering a wide range of subjects and stories. In 2014 he was one of five photographers named as a National Geographic Photography Fellow. In 2015 he was named a Nikon Ambassador and in June 2017 he was awarded the title of Rolex National Geographic Explorer of the Year.
For NGM, Skerry has covered a wide range of stories, from the harp seal’s struggle to survive in frozen waters to the alarming decrease in the world’s fisheries to dolphin intelligence, all cover stories. During 2016 NGM published three consecutive feature stories by Skerry about predatory sharks. His cover story in the February 2017 issue of NGM focuses on protecting special underwater ecosystems in U.S. waters. During his coverage for this story he produced the first images of a U.S. President underwater. He is currently at work on his 28th story for NGM.
Skerry’s work has also been featured in publications such as Sports Illustrated, The New York Times, BBC Wildlife, Paris Match, GEO, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Smithsonian, Esquire, Audubon and Men’s Journal. He is the author of 10 books including the acclaimed monograph Ocean Soul. His latest book, SHARK, was released in June 2017.
Skerry is an 11-time award winner in the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. He has also been recognized with awards from Pictures of the Year International, Nature’s Best, Communication Arts and is the only photographer to win the coveted Peter Benchley Ward for Excellence in Media. In 2010 National Geographic magazine named one of Brian’s images among their 50 Greatest Photographs of All Time and was awarded the 2016 National Geographic Photographer’s Photographer Award, an honor bestowed by his colleagues.
He has had solo photographer exhibits at Visa Pour l’Image in Perpignan, France as well as cities such as Geneva, Barcelona, Lisbon and Shanghai and at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC.
Skerry frequently lectures on photography, exploration and conservation issues having presented at venues such as the United Nations General Assembly, The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, TED Talks, The National Press Club in Washington, D.C., The Royal Geographical Society in London and the Sydney Opera House in Australia. He’s a frequent guest on television programs including NBC’s TODAY Show and CBS This Morning.
National Geographic Live is the live events division of National Geographic. With a broad roster of talent including renowned photographers, scientists, authors, filmmakers and adventurers, National Geographic Live’s critically acclaimed programs have connected with audiences worldwide for over a century. Currently, National Geographic Live events are held in a variety of cities around the world, including, Seattle, Tampa, Los Angeles, and Calgary. In each of these cities, speakers share behind-the-scenes stories from the front lines of exploration onstage alongside stunning imagery and gripping footage. For more information, visit natgeolive.com.
Thanks to a generous grant from PPL, the Weis Center will offer complimentary roundtrip transportation via Catawese Coach Lines from Shamokin, Mount Carmel and Shamokin Dam. Patrons using this transportation will receive complimentary tickets to the engagement. Advance reservations are required by Feb. 14 by calling 570-577-3727 or emailing Lisa.Leighton@bucknell.edu. Reservations are limited and will be accepted on a first-come-first-served basis. Tickets will be issued to patrons upon boarding the bus. The pick-up schedule is as follows:
Shamokin – rear of Weis Markets at 5 p.m.
Mount Carmel – Divine Redeemer Church – 5:35 p.m.
Shamokin Dam – old Kmart lot at 6:20 p.m.
Return trip will begin around 9:15 p.m.
Tickets for the engagement are $30 for adults, $24 for seniors 62 and over, $20 for youth 18 and under, $20 for Bucknell employees and retirees (limit 2), $10 for Bucknell students (limit 2), and $20 for non-Bucknell college students (limit 2). Tickets can be purchased online at Bucknell.edu/BoxOffice or by calling 570-577-1000.
Tickets are also available in person from several locations including the Weis Center lobby (weekdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) and the CAP Center Box Office, located on the ground floor of the Elaine Langone Center (weekdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.).
For more information about this event, contact Lisa Leighton, marketing and outreach director, at 570-577-3727 or by e-mail at lisa.leighton@bucknell.edu.
Posted by Jill Britton on February 8, 2019
Comments Off on Feb. 19: National Geographic Live: Ocean Photographer Brian Skerry Visits Weis Center
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http://forum.rorygallagher.com/
Rory Always Close to Home ~ Lyrically though?
http://forum.rorygallagher.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3626
by Jay Jay
Rory even though he was touring the world constantly throughout his life..
He always used to find time to call his mother. Keeping in touch with "what's going on " always in his native Ireland.
Besides " Going To My Hometown " which is very much an exception to the rule. Rory in many of his songs makes references to more places in other parts of the world, especially the USA? Why do you think this is? Even in GTMHT, Rory does not give the name of town / place he is going to. Whereas lots of other towns crop up in lyrics from the USA in other songs. I may stand to be corrected but I can't think of one from Ireland cropping up?
This is only counting his own compositions. He may have sung about an Irish town in someone else's song?
Not forgetting also Rory always wrote most of his songs at home / Ireland.. Not a million miles away
Re: Rory Always Close to Home ~ Lyrically though?
by leprechaun1
as far as the towns/cities from the u.s., i think it was more his fasination with crime novels and the u.s. mofia. our crime over in the u.s. is second to none unfortunately, at least from what other countries report. it seemed that Rory liked the u.s. though. if he would have played the "game" in the u.s. he would have known great success here instead of us fans having to enlighten others of who he was/is.
Yea Leprechaun1
Here is a great example. Look how many places he mentions in one verse
They got the muscle in from Cleveland
The fire-power from Detroit
They missed me in New Jersey
Though things got pretty tight
They caught my scent in Richmond
At the Hotel Savoy
But I got out the Laundry Chute
And went to Chicago, Illinois
Rory Gallagher - The Last Of The Independents Lyrics
by RobertaSparrow
It's all supposition and speculation, but I think he was fascinated by American culture, and he got pulled into it through our music. In his heart he was Irish and proud of it. It surprised and saddened me when I learned that he never put roots down there, never settled and had a family, because whenever I saw him play, I saw him as the beautiful, talented stranger, passing through to sing and play for us. I was always glad to see him play when he was in town, and sad to know we couldn't keep him, that he would be leaving to go on to the next place, but never too sad, because whenever I saw him he was ecstatic to be where he was, and to play music, and take us along for the ride, even though it was brief. He left us happy, and he seemed just as happy, and all was right with the world, in that moment.
Yeah, his interests in American cinema, our "pulp fiction," and most of all our music is what really seemed to grab his attention, he worked it into just about everything he did. Most of time when he did covers, it was of other American artists, and he even dressed like us. He played the music, and he often wove American places, names, slang into his own music, but it always had a uniqueness to it- he always put himself into it, and it was a familiar flavor, but it was different, it was Rory, he was unmistakably Irish, and we loved him.
He put so many American cultural references in his songs, it would be a challenge to list them all. And not just the dark side, crime and intrigue, he was also interested in western folklore, and American history. But he was based in Europe, and especially toward the end of his life, his attention was turned more toward his European base, and my impression was that his interest in American culture was just that, an interest. His heart was always in Ireland, even if he didn't settle there.
As usual a great post & reply Cynthia to my question..
Although the main reason for my question was the lack of reference to 'Irish name places' in Rory's songs.
Why didn't Rory mention a place in Ireland? Especially in songs like 'A Million Miles Away' because it is a yearning I feel for his homeland??
Quite apt on this Remembrance Sunday, a song well sung by the troops and folk in all Ireland and the British Isles in The World Wars..
about an Irish Town & County " It's a Long Way to Tipperary"
PS. Did the US troops sing this song too?
Jay Jay wrote: PS. Did the US troops sing this song too?
U.S. Armed Forces Band-
Our day to remember is tomorrow- November 11- Veteran's Day
Thanks Cynthia. So it's was an all allied forces song sung
Even a mention in that version of Rory's Irish County Donegal, the place he first lived in
by SUBY1974
Alot of the Blues music Rory loved was set in America, especially the Deep South. I would not surprised then if he mentioned USA in his songs. Subrata. x
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TUESDAY, Feb. 11, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- In another sign of just how bad the U.S. opioid abuse epidemic has become, a new study finds family members often steal painkillers from dying relatives in hospice care.
In a survey of 371 hospices, 31% reported at least one case in which drugs were taken from a patient in the past 90 days. The thieves were most often relatives.
Lead researcher John Cagle said it's not clear if those who steal the drugs are addicted, financially struggling, or both, though he assumes that is the case. No matter what, swiping drugs that dying patients need to manage their pain is cruel, he said.
"Where medications are being taken from patients, those patients are probably suffering," said Cagle, an associate professor of social work at the University of Maryland in Baltimore.
He added that the "drug diversion" problem may be bigger than these numbers suggest.
The majority of reported thefts took place in small facilities, and when the patient was receiving in-home hospice care, the researchers found.
The most frequent culprits were the main family caregiver (39%), another relative (38%) or patients (34%), the findings showed.
Hospices are taking steps to curb drug diversion, Cagle said. They're storing medications in lockboxes, counting pills and finding other ways to monitor opioid use.
But Cagle fears that the thefts will lead to a crackdown on prescribing opioids to dying patients who need them.
"Perhaps regulators and policymakers will overreact and limit opioid prescribing for hospice providers, and that's a major concern because it can tie the hands of providers who are hoping to alleviate suffering," he said.
Hospice providers increasingly share that concern, the researchers said.
Linda Richter is director of policy research and analysis at the Center on Addiction in New York City. She said, "The findings from this analysis highlight the need for a more comprehensive approach to opioid use disorder, and the need for prevention and treatment to be integrated into all aspects of health care, including hospices, nursing homes, hospitals and other medical facilities."
Despite efforts to rein in the opioid epidemic and recent reductions in prescription drug misuse, drug diversion is still widespread, she said.
"Diversion thrives in settings where prevention and treatment are insufficient or lacking," Richter added.
The burden of caring for a loved one at the end of life can create a situation ripe for drug abuse, she suggested.
Family members of hospice patients are often under tremendous stress and need a broad range of supports to deal with the emotional, physical and financial toll of caring for a loved one nearing the end of life, Richter pointed out. For people at risk of drug abuse, easy access to prescription opioids in the absence of other ways of relieving stress is a recipe for diversion and addiction, she added.
Richter said reducing diversion will require a two-pronged approach.
"First, reducing access to prescription medications by not overprescribing and carefully accounting for medication that was prescribed; and two, reducing demand for the prescribed medication by addressing substance use risk in patients and families, and connecting those with substance use disorders to effective treatment," Richter said.
The report was published Feb. 11 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
RTI International has more on the opioid crisis and hospices.
SOURCES: John Cagle, Ph.D., M.S.W., associate professor, School of Social Work, University of Maryland, Baltimore; Linda Richter, director of policy research and analysis, Center on Addiction, New York City; Feb. 11, 2020, Journal of the American Medical Association
Choosing a Provider
MDMA Drug Screen (Urine)
Addiction Quiz
Drugs and Pregnancy Quiz
Step-by-Step: Giving an Emergency Dose of Narcan
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They Call Me Crazy
Okie, old man, songwriter @OkieUprising, blogger, shade tree philosopher, satirist, trucker and Tweeterer
That time I hung out with Jason Isbell
We all have our stories about how we met some famous person. My friend Buffalo has a story about eating Thanksgiving dinner with Jimmy Dale Gilmore, my other close friend Brent just recently had Toby Keith sit in with him on an acoustic set, and then there was the time my wife Dana and I had a chat with Sturgill Simpson’s trumpet player, Scott Frock, in a Bricktown alley after he played a sold out show in front of 4,000 screaming fans. In Oklahoma you can throw a cow chip and hit some one who has similar stories about John Fullbright, Parker Milsap, Wayne Coyne, and Leon Russell. This is a little story about how I got to have a couple drinks with Jason Isbell at the Wormy Dog.
(FULL DISCLOSURE: I'm writing this in hopes that you will attend my show at the Wormy Dog on Thursday, March 16th...more on that later)
I have seen many shows at the Wormy Dog including Bruce Robinson, The Damn Quails, and Jason Isbell. When I thought about the Isbell show, a memory came into my head that, for some reason, I had forgotten all about until yesterday.
In 2008, my friend Byron and I were big Drive By Truckers fans. Jason Isbell, songwriter, singer, and guitar player for the Truckers, announced that he would be leaving the band and launching a solo career with a band called the 400 Unit. One of the stops on their debut tour was the Wormy Dog in Oklahoma City. Bryon and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see Isbell with his new band.
The Truckers had been around since the mid-nineties and had gained a lot of popularity. Isbell’s songs were certainly staples in the Trucker’s catalog, but when he left the band he didn't take all of the fans with him. Many milder Trucker fans may not have even known who he was. In those first couple years as a solo artist, he was popular as a former Trucker, but no where near as popular as he has become since.
November 8th, 2008, Bryon and I showed up at the Wormy Dog early. There was only a handful of people that sat around while Bryon and I talked about the band gear already set up on stage. (We still like to geek out about that kind of thing) As we hung out a couple more people filed in the front door. One of them happened to be Jason Isbell himself.
He came in by himself, no one seemed to pay any attention to him. Bryon looked over and said to him casually “what's up, man?” Isbell nodded his head to us and walked over as if he had intended on meeting us there.
Let me just say this about Isbell. The guy doesn't age. He looks the same today as he did in 2008 when I met him; and as he did when he started with the Truckers at 22 years old. He stood there with us at the back of the Wormy Dog and talked for a minute. We talked about his gear, some of the places he had been to lately, and what he thought about Oklahoma City.
After a great conversation, Isbell disappeared while Bryon and I went upstairs and sat at a table overlooking the dance floor. There was still some time left before show time and the Wormy Dog had yet to fill out. While Bryon and I had a drink another guy walked up. He had long hair and glasses and while he seemed a little awkward to talk to, he was nevertheless cooler than a pocket on a tshirt. It was Jimbo Hart, bass player for the 400 Unit.
So, here we were again, talking with another really cool performer who we had great respect for. I found out that, in addition to playing with the 400 Unit, Hart had also played with the Drive-By-Truckers. While we sat upstairs and talked a few minutes with Hart, there was Isbell, once again, drink in hand and ready to hang out some more.
While I started writing this, I have tried to confirm some of the hazier details with Bryon. While I'm not too sure, I bet we must have sat and talked with those guys for at least an hour. The only thing Bryon could confirm for sure was that Jimbo Hart was the bass player, not the drummer (as I thought before) and that night we had also been given free cigarettes from a young promoter from Camel.
Since that evening in 2008, I quit smoking cigarettes and Isbell quit drinking. Even though I'm sure Isbell won't be there, my band Oklahoma Uprising will get to follow in his footsteps on the same stage that he burnt up all those years ago, when I was just a face in the crowd.
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit put on a killer show that night. I remember standing on the dance floor, hypnotized by his lyrics. Since I got to hang out with him that night, Isbell has gone on to be a tremendous success on the Americana scene. He has played a key role in a revolution that has redefined ‘Country’ music. He has gone on to win many Americana Music Awards, 2 Grammys and a number 1 spot on Billboard charts. He has played sold out shows at the infamous Ryman Auditorium, Austin City Limits, and toured the world.
Needless to say, I'm still a HUGE Jason Isbell fan. He has been a major influence on my approach to songwriting. I'm proud to say that I will be playing the same stage that he did nine years ago. And if you are ever lucky enough to see him live, tell him Joel T. and Oklahoma Uprising sent you… and he will inevitably look at you in confusion and wonder what on earth you're talking about.
If you want to know more about my musical endeavors, or if you haven't heard us yet, come check us out on March 16th, 10pm at The Wormy Dog Saloon in Bricktown! We will be doing original music with a five-piece band, the great Scott Carson on lead guitar and the notorious Scott Hunt on virtually every other instrument. I can also give my personal guarantee that EITHER Jason Isbell or me will be there.
As always, we appreciate the support we get from all our family, friends, and fans. There has been an overwhelming response to our music and shows and we are humbled by all the positive feedback we've received. We have much more in store for you in 2017. Be on the lookout for our new album coming out this spring!
If you dig it, share it on social media! Like us, follow us, we appreciate the support!
Joel T. Mosman
Posted by Joel T. Mosman at 5:51 PM
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This informal blog without a specific theme is about Johan du Preez, a 67 year young male, living in Stellenbosch, South Africa. It includes some creative writing that he does at times (see 'More Reading' below on the right) and trip reports on motorcycling that he enjoys - all against the background of enjoying himself during a new stage of his life. He also would appreciate you having a look at his more official website www.businesswriting.co.za
Teddy Davies - Theatre director who changes lives
(Written in February 2012)
“Am I mad to suggest this?” The hesitant look in Teddy’s eyes and the manner in which he somewhat withdraws, reveal that he knows that he is now asking for the impossible. Yet, the fact that there is profound merit in his suggestion causes Tina to fleetingly consider it before she replies with a candid smile: “Yes, a little bit mad…..but go on, it helps!”
Cape Town based theatre director, Teddy Davies, is reviewing the set design for The Yeomen of the Guard, the Gilbert and Sullivan Society operetta which he will be bringing to the stage. With more than 30 years of experience as a theatre director mainly in amateur or community theatre and having directed productions such as Cabaret, Carmen, Annie Get your Gun, H.M.S. Pinafore and the musical Fiddler on the Roof, Teddy’s focus is now on the new challenge that lies ahead. Even though others would say that he could direct the new performance with eyes closed, this seasoned director still prefers to approach every performance with the same intensity and dedication as he has done when he first started as director.
With Teddy is set designer Tina Driedijk. Their focus is the first scale model of the set which she has designed. While slowly turning the dinner plate size platform on which a solitary cardboard castle wall stands proud, Tina explains how this feature transforms from the primary focus in the first act, to something different in following acts. Assorted textures and colours cleverly adorn the simple, yet dramatic design. Their discussion is a gentle ballet of input and response, of concepts and practicalities, of dreaming and realities. Not often does one see two creative minds in such intense unison. They are professionals who already live the thrill of a stage performance still to come when they discuss where each actor will be performing on the set. They spontaneously pool their creativity and take hands to ensure that the set design is of the same artistic standard as the operetta that Teddy will be directing.
‘Taking hands’ is perhaps the best way to describe Teddy Davies. Being highly respected in the world of theatre, one would expect of him to come across as important, even be prepared to forgive him if he is slightly arrogant. But no, this modest man who cares intensely about the people that he works with, is at his best when he can reach out and take hands to involve people to create something special.
Although Teddy is modest about his achievements in the world of theatre, he is extremely proud of the people from all walks of life that he has trained and built up and, in so doing, created splendid performances. "I cannot hit a nail into wood, but I have a visual talent and the skill to work with people. This enables me to get exactly what I want on stage. The satisfying part is to mould these amateur performers and bring their talents together to culminate into standing ovations,” says Teddy.
Teddy’s experience is that people become involved in amateur theatre for the love of it, as a hobby or they may have had strong ties with the theatre in the past. Theatre is a dicey occupation and often professional actors look to engage in other more ruminative occupations. Amateur theatre, therefore, offers the opportunity to still draw on the wonderful talent of the actor while he or she is employed elsewhere.
As in professional theatre, the director auditions and selects the best available talent. Amateur theatre, though, has its own challenges. It is easy to miss out on getting qualified people as the actors do not get paid. But then directors often discover talent at auditions to develop and perform to a professional standard.
There are two sides to Teddy when he directs a show. When he conceptualizes and plans the performance, he does it with precision. His detailed planning is evident in his comprehensive working manual. This enables him to still see the full picture during rehearsals, even if a player is absent for some reason.
On the other hand, Teddy also relies on his feelings while doing rehearsals and would make adjustments to his original plan based on his feeling of what is right.
Teddy acknowledges that it sometimes unnerves him if something on stage does not work as planned and immediate changes are required. “But then these are often the most creative moments during a performance,” he concedes.
There is an ongoing build-up in a play from basic beginnings and rehearsals, to opening night and the final curtain. “The players’ expectations vary so much,” says Teddy. “Players may start to feel inadequate and I then need to give them confidence. A lot of excitement happens when the cast starts to work with props and when costume fittings take place. Showing the model of the set on which they will be playing usually leads to lots of discussion. The opening night applause is always the cherry on the top.”
It is clear that Teddy is passionate about the people part of the work. When asked why, he replies: “Without them there is no show! Because it is their hobby, I want them to have fun while rehearsing and performing. In this atmosphere of trust I often get to hear of personal problems. I am an excellent listener and always try to give support and sound advice.”
A big part of his success is his ability to listen. Being empathetic by nature, he is the one who would notice when a player is feeling down and offer encouragement where needed.
Teddy’s experience is that theatre itself is therapeutic for the players. He recalls how the father of one of the actors unexpectedly passed away during rehearsals. This forced her to leave the cast as she now had other, sad priorities to attend to. However, she soon came back, looking for the healing that the theatre offered her.
On a lighter note, Teddy recalls at least three female actors who had problems to conceive and who fell pregnant while doing a show. He relates this to the fact that the theatre environment is conducive to relaxing and taking the mind off the actor’s primary concerns. Needless to say, because of this, Teddy’s rehearsals are now also affectionately referred to as Teddy’s fertility classes!
When asked how he interacts with the bigger team such as stage managers, lighting and sound technicians, orchestra conductors, chorus masters, and others, Teddy’s answer is simple and to the point: “With the utmost respect. They are the top people in their field - I could not do their jobs.”
Bronwyne Scott, a seasoned amateur theatre stage manager who has often worked with Teddy in the past, says that Teddy is a strict director who demands perfection. He is a hands-on person who comes prepared and who believes in a disciplined approach. “He knows exactly what he wants. He is extremely good at conceptualizing his ideas and he already knows every move before he comes to the rehearsal.”
“At the same time he is patient, soft, caring and loyal. He realizes the strength of people and understands the value of teamwork. His sense of humour is a big part in his success,” says Bronwyne.
Ferdi Oosthuizen who performed under Teddy’s directing before, values his old school approach to theatre. He refers to Teddy as a purist, yet able to successfully introduce modern technology into his work without deviating from the intention of the originator of a play. “He is innovative, yet conservative. His use of original techniques furthermore emphasizes the fact that theatre is a unique form of art in its own right,” says Ferdi.
Graham Boxall who has been working with Teddy for more than two decades now, echoes Ferdi’s viewpoint. He is, furthermore, of the opinion that Teddy’s approach is conducive to making theatre more relevant, thereby attracting younger people to become part of it.
Both of them agree that Teddy’s careful selection of the cast and his balance between being directive and non-directive, successfully allows him to give actors a particular freedom to interpret their roles.
Lead soprano Liesl Hartje in her role as Elsie Mynardt in the forthcoming The Yeomen of the Guard operetta, is extremely excited to be working for the first time under Teddy as director. Based on her experience of Teddy during auditions alone, she already refers to him as an honourable and incredibly devoted person. “There is humour, joy and a beautiful energy in everything that he does,” says Liesl. “I cannot wait for rehearsals to start! I can’t believe it’s real!”
Does Teddy ever get upset? “Yes, I do. It usually happens when I’ve tried everything else and it did not work. There is usually shock when I unexpectedly start to fume, but from then on things run smoothly, even better than expected.”
Teddy recalls an incident one evening when he hurled a chair into the air out of pure desperation when the players did not do as they were told. The next evening someone had lined up a row of chairs on the stage. When he asked what the chairs were about, the reply came from the cast: “It is your ammunition for the evening, Sir!”
And then there are the ‘Teddyisms’ – the numerous Teddy Davies trade mark peculiarities that have become part of his directing over the years. “Show some zooch, people!” would often be heard when Teddy urges his players to put more zest into their performance. And ‘Doctor Stage’, according to Teddy, is the phenomenon that takes possession of the cast when needed most to ensure that they rise to the occasion.
When asked if he had won any awards in the past for his work, Teddy becomes silent, looks around to make sure that nobody else can hear him, bends forward and with big eyes whispers: “Lots!”
Several professional artists have started their careers under Teddy’s guidance. Comedian Mark Lottering, for example, started in amateur theatre with Teddy in a singing role. So did Angela Killian who performed in the role of Madame Giry in Phantom of the Opera at Artscape in Cape Town. Another successful artist who was first introduced to amateur theatre through Teddy is Craig Downs who went on to become the leading tenor of the Welsh National Opera.
Does Teddy perhaps consider scaling down?
It doesn’t seem so! For this energetic director The Yeomen of the Guard is only yet another new beginning! Following its performance in Cape Town, Teddy will be pushing the limits even further by taking the cast to perform at the annual International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival in Buxton, England. During this highly-acclaimed three week festival of Gilbert and Sullivan performances, they will be competing on an international level against eleven amateur Gilbert and Sullivan Societies from around the world. And it is not without challenges. They have less than a day to unpack, prepare the stage and to rehearse before the evening’s performance. Furthermore, in line with tradition, they will also stage a cabaret directly after the show as a bonus performance for special guests. “Madness! Wonderful!” exclaims Teddy, while rubbing his hands together in sheer excitement!
But in the end when the thrill of the show is over and the cast and audience have gone home, what remains is a man with a passion for what he is doing. The combination of the theatre, the cast, the set, the performance and the standing ovations is only the end result. The engine that drives all of this is Teddy Davies, fuelled by his vision, enthusiasm and love for people to make a difference in the lives of those that he touches with his talents, modesty and gentleness.
“Am I mad to suggest this?” Teddy asked.
“Yes, a lot. But go on – being mad is when Teddy Davies performs at his best!” Tina could have replied, knowing that those who know Teddy, will fully agree.
Newspaper Feature (...in my home language - Afrika...
Oom Vên se Liggies
A story about dedicated and brave volunteers
Oom Ven se liggies (Verskyn in Die Burger)
Into-the-back-yard-of-the-Cape motorcycle trip
Only with passports could we have gone further
The liberation of Infanta
An eight day Namibia motorcycle trip
Touching the outskirts of heaven
A story about trains, motorcycles and a kind of sadness
National Youth Day celebration
Getting 2008 out of our systems
A trip way back in 2006
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Film, Film Reviews
Film Review // Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
Directed by Brad Bird / Release (Wide): Dec 21, 2011 / R, 2 hr. 13 min.
Ratatouille and The Incredibles may not be my favorite Pixar films, but they are great nonetheless. I thought Warner Bros. Animation’s Iron Giant (released 1999) to be on par with these, if not better. These films are each tender in their presentation, but exciting to watch. The characters are full of whimsical personality, and still manage to carry dramatic weight under difficult circumstances. Those films have heart.
Why am I talking about those films? Because they are the three films that director Brad Bird took on prior to helming current blockbuster Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.
Film Review // The Descendants
Directed by Alexander Payne / Release (Limited): Nov 18, 2011 / R, 1 hr. 50 min.
Alexander Payne is probably best currently known for his work on 2004’s surprise hit, Sideways, which won several nods and awards, including an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. Hopefully, his recognition is eclipsed by his latest effort, The Descendants, which stars George Clooney as a man whose wife is in a coma, who’s in the middle of a huge real estate deal, and who must now care for his 10 and 17-year-old daughters.
Except, that’s not really what the movie is about.
Film, Film Commentary
Thoughts on The Dark Knight Rises – Prologue
I was perusing the interwebs, as I often do, and came upon a promotion by Gofobo to see early (and free!) screenings of The Dark Knight Rises – Prologue, which is basically a glorified 6-minute trailer for next summer’s blockbuster movie event. The screening was held in several theaters around the United States, thankfully on real IMAX screens (in case you haven’t kept up to date, there are fake IMAX theaters out there. Beware!). All of the footage shown was true IMAX, in a screen so big it made me question my significance on earth.
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Home Review of "The Lost World of the Flood: Mythology, Theology and the Deluge Debate" by Longman and Walton
Review of "The Lost World of the Flood: Mythology, Theology and the Deluge Debate" by Longman and Walton
Review of The Lost World of the Flood: Mythology, Theology and the Deluge Debate by Tremper Longman III and John H Walton (with a contribution by Stephen O. Moshier).
Reveiwed by Loraine Holley
Within our culture, the flood story in Genesis has spawned a rich array of interpretations as evidenced in babies’ and children’s picture books, toys of arks and animals, as well as numerous Sunday school lessons, church sermons, television documentaries, movies, theme parks and museums to name a few. Most of us have been raised within these various interpretations of the flood story and they will have coloured, whether we are aware of it or not, our understanding of this story. The story has also fuelled and continues to fuel emotionally charged debates and arguments of a scientific, historical, and theological nature bringing into question the “truth” of the Bible and of science.
Enter Longman and Walton with their book, one of a series of Lost World books, which asks the reader to rethink and reimagine the modern interpretations of the flood story. Walton is Professor of Old Testament, Wheaton College and Graduate School. Longman is Distinguished Scholar of Biblical Studies at Westmont College. Moshier, who contributed a smaller part, is Professor of Geology, Wheaton College. These authors bring to life the culture and lives of Ancient Near East (ANE) peoples and contrast them with our twenty-first-century “cultural river.” Through an understanding of this ancient world culture, thought, and worldview, Longman and Walton reconcile the Bible/science question generated by the flood story without dismissing the veracity and integrity of either side.
The book is set out in 4 parts:
1. Method: Perspectives on Interpretation;
2. Background: Ancient Near Eastern Texts;
3. Text: Understanding the Biblical Text Literarily and Theologically;
4. The World: Thinking about Evidence for the Flood.
Within each part, chapter headings are in the form of a proposition (statement) and the rest of the chapter provides evidence, argument, and persuasion to support that proposition. If you haven’t read any of the previous Lost Worldseries books, then the style might take some getting used to.
Parts 1 and 2 explore, in a readily accessible manner, the literature and linguistic style of original Hebrew manuscripts making up Genesis 1–11, other original, extra-Biblical manuscripts of a similar era, and archaeological evidence. The authors contend that more accurate interpretation of the OT must be set within this “lost” world of ANE language, culture, and thought and not within our twenty-first-century, scientific culture and understanding of the world.
The first proposition, “Genesis is an Ancient Document,” argues the case for deep cultural understanding of “how the ancients thought and what ideas underlay their communication.” The authors set out to assure the reader that their interpretative approach of reading is not dismissive of the authority of the Bible nor of God’s revelation through the Bible or of the “clarity (perspicuity) of Scripture propagated by the Reformers.” A fuller exposition and argument for this interpretative approach can be found in The Lost World of Scripture.
In Proposition 2, Longman and Walton claim the Genesis 1–11 narratives (and hence the flood events) are about historical and real events, but the real focus and significance of the narratives are theological. The authors state that Gen 1–11 should be interpreted by focussing “not in what happened but in why it happened,” as they argue that the cultural norm of the ANE peoples is to view all events and the world in which they live as being controlled by gods and inherently spiritual. The Israelites, another ANE peoples, also lived immersed in a spiritual worldview and not in a material, scientific worldview as we do.
Propositions 3, 4, and 5 suggest that all language and communication (oral or written), utilise many and varied linguistic and rhetorical devices to shape the message for and to the intended audience. Further, these chapters emphasise the importance and necessity of understanding these usages, in order to faithfully and accurately interpret and reconstruct the intended message.
Walton and Longman consider the main rhetorical device used in ANE literature and in Gen 1–11 is hyperbole: “In our opinion, hyperbole permeates the account of the flood,” where it is used to emphasise the important theological significance of events with less importance placed on the event itself. They draw an analogy to a common modern usage of hyperbole such as “this suitcase weighs a ton,” emphasising that someone has packed lots of stuff! Examples they give of hyperbole used in the flood account include the all-pervading evil of the whole world, the source of the flood waters (from the deep and from the heavens), the extent and height of the flood, and the size of the ark (larger than any wooden boat ever built). Analysis of the ark size against other historical wooden boats as well as a critique of the ark in the young creationist museum in the USA is detailed.
While Proposition 6 draws together the threads of the rhetorical argument to firmly nail the authors’ colours to the “Genesis 6–8-is-narrating-a-global-event” mast, the chapter quickly recognises the lack of any geological evidence supporting a worldwide flood. This tension between their contention that Genesis 6–8 does portray a global flood account and their acknowledgment of the lack of scientific evidence of such a global flood is not relieved in this chapter but their strong and persuasive argument for the rhetorical device of hyperbole as an interpretative tool gives a foretaste of how this tension might be resolved which they exhaustively cover in Part 3.
Part 2, comprising two propositions, discusses other ANE accounts of the flood story and compares them to the Genesis account. The other ANE accounts covered include the Sumerian text of Eridu Genesis, the Sumerian King List, the Akkadian texts of the Gilgamesh Epic and the Epic of Atrahasis, and the most recently discovered tablet (in 2014) ark construction.
The comparison of the flood narrative in these other ANE texts and the Genesis accounts is detailed and exhaustive. They compare and contrast the portrayal of the gods, the reason for the flood, the extent and duration of the flood, the main character (the hero), what and who are spared, the physical boat, the mechanisms of the flood, the landing place, the birds, sacrifice, aftermath and fate of the hero, the historical context and the purpose for the written account.
Walton and Longman conclude that well before written history, a devastating (not worldwide) flood killed many people. An oral account was passed from the witnesses to the flood down the generations to the various peoples and groups who “float in the same cultural river.” While there are great similarities among the facts of the various stories, the purpose of the written account in Genesis, Walton and Longman conclude, is inspired by what God was doing in and with the flood and is “an important vehicle to deliver a significant theological message” to the Israelites which was different to the other peoples around them. They conclude that the Genesis account is not a copy of other ANE texts. Rather it is one of many different accounts of a familiar oral story embedded within the whole ANE culture.
These two chapters are dense and packed with excellent research in a very readable form. Worthwhile reading especially if this is the first time exploring other ANE accounts.
Part 3 then delves into the biblical text. Here the authors argue for a literary and theological focus as being a better key to understand and interpret the Genesis text rather than our modern scientific, historical, and factually “correct,” event-driven method of interpretation.
Proposition 9 revisits the rhetorical, literary devices used in the Genesis text to emphasise important theological messages. Beginning with a clear recap of the main conclusions reached in Parts 1 and 2, the chapter proposes two theological reasons for the narrative and thus the use of the rhetorical device of hyperbole. The first theological purpose is the judgment of God in response to “moral degradation” and the second is Walton’s development of his order/disorder theme which he expands in Propositions 11 and 12 and in greater depth in his Lost World of Genesis One.
This chapter largely surveys how the flood story is adapted and developed to support this judgment theme within second temple texts (1 Enoch) and in Matthew and 2 Peter. Walton and Longman argue that these inter-testament and New Testament authors (including Jesus) used the flood story, depicted in Genesis as a worldwide event, with its dramatic consequence and theological import, to make their own theological point, pertinent for their audience. They were not concerned about scientific evidence.
In Propositions 10–13 Walton and Longman explore the pattern and purpose of the stories within Genesis 1–11.
Proposition 10 places the flood story within the greater narrative of sin, judgment, and grace, which is a constant refrain up to the Abrahamic covenental story.
In Proposition 11, the disorder/order theme to understand the creation account of Gen 1–3 is articulated. Then a parallel disorder/order theme for the flood account in Gen 6–9 is developed. As the penultimate paragraph states, “the flood account specifically has the role of showing how God re-established order after bringing the waters of the nonordered cosmos to wipe out the disorder that had come to dominate the antediluvian world. In this way the flood account recapitulates creation. That is why the narrator includes the story.”
Propositions 12 and 13 discuss the “Sons of God” and the “Tower of Babel” episodes. Walton and Longman argue that the import of these inclusions is not with the stories themselves but in the use the narrator is making of the stories within the whole of Genesis 1–11. They suggest the compiler/s of Gen 1–11 are using recursive narratives with these events “that characterised their respective antediluvian and post-diluvian eras. Both of these represent the potential restoration of the presence of God.” (I didn’t think these two propositions added to the purpose of the book.)
In Part 4, the authors explore scientific evidence for a global flood. Proposition 14 provides evidence that a number of major, catastrophic but local flooding events occurred in the ANE region in an era before the invention of writing. It suggests that one of these many local events could have been the inspiration for the biblical account and thus concludes the Genesis flood story is based on an historical, local flood event.
Proposition 15, written by Stephen O. Moshier, is an in-depth and densely packed chapter on the geological evidence for significant floods around the world and the controversy in interpreting the evidence. It is clear Moshier supports the no-global-flood position. Under five categories of geological evidence used by a “leading organisation promoting a global flood,” Moshier states their claims “misrepresent what is actually known about geology.” He canvasses the evidence and discusses its interpretation by the global flood proponents under the following categories:
1. Seashell fossils in rocks above sea level
2. Rock layers over entire continents
3. Rapid deposition of sand carried across continents
4. Layers made in rapid succession
5. No slow and gradual erosion
This chapter is very technical and detailed.
Consideration is given to the many flood stories from around the world in a short chapter in Proposition 16 and whether these different flood stories can prove there was a worldwide flood. The authors give a resounding “No.”
The final proposition draws the various threads together and tackles the science (there is no evidence for a global flood) versus the Bible (the flood story narrates a global flood) dilemma: Is science or the Bible right? In this chapter the authors answer this question (both are true) by agreeing God reveals himself in both nature (science) and the Bible (faith) and by the necessary careful and considered interpretation of both scientific evidence and Scripture. Longman and Walton propose that the interpretative lens of hyperbole, as a common literary device in ANE literature, can readily square the biblical account of the global flood story with lack of scientific evidence for any global flood, leaving both Bible and science with intact reputations.
Supporting their rhetorical literary approach to understand and reinterpret difficult and unclear passages and their affirmation that “the Bible is indeed inerrant in all that it intends to teach,” they appeal to past heavyweights including the Westminster Confession of Faith, Augustine, the Song of Songs, and the heliocentric controversy of Galileo. Walton and Longman then stress that Scripture informs science through a God-created universe of order and consistency, with science unable to proclaim religion is false.
The concluding chapter recaps the main arguments which I convey using the authors’ own words:
1. “Methodologically, we have noted that events are not authoritative; interpretation of events by the biblical authors is what carries authority.”
2. “Since Genesis is a literary representation that has been constructed rhetorically to achieve theological purposes, we should not expect to be able to use it to reconstruct real events.”
3. “In the literary development of Genesis 1–11, the author/compiler interprets the flood as parallel to creation … [and] to the covenant, which stands as a strategy to extend order.”
4. “In the theological development, the account [of the flood] provides yet another example of sin and judgment.”
5. “The flood narrative … provides the back story for the covenant with Abraham and his family.” “God extends grace to humanity through the covenant.”
6. “The interpretation of the [flood] account in Genesis is dramatically different from what we find in Mesopotamian tradition.”
7. “If asked, Was the flood global? Our answer would be Yes, it is global in its impact and significance, yet we have no reason to think that its physical scope and range was global. Since the Bible uses the rhetoric of hyperbole to describe the flood, it does not claim that the flood was universal in its physical scope and range; it rather portrays it in universalistic terms for rhetorical effect.”
8. “If we turn to science we find no evidence that suggests a global deluge. If science does not suggest a universal event, and the Bible (in our nuanced interpretation) does not claim a universal event, we have no reason to conclude that it was a universal event.”
9. “[The conclusion above] would diminish neither the authority of the text nor the significance of the event as unfolded in the interpretation of the author of Genesis.”
I have read other Lost World books which helped me with the style and format of this book. The book is detailed yet readable with references to more in-depth books on the various subjects covered here.
In case anyone is wondering about their Christian “stripe,” Longman and Walton, throughout the book, are at pains to show their reformed orthodoxy with very clear and unambiguous statements affirming that the Bible has authority; it is God inspired; it is inerrant; it is clear on the gospel, that is, I am a sinner, I need help, Jesus died and rose to save me from sin and death and I must put my faith in him; and that it contains a clear plot—creation, fall (sin) redemption and consummation).
Longman and Walton have used an interesting and persuasive tool (the rhetorical device of hyperbole) to explain the biblical account of the flood and thus align it with our current scientific understanding. Throughout the book, the reader is constantly reminded to remove the cloak of modern scientific thought when viewing the world (our “cultural river”) and humbly replace it with an appreciation and respect for the ancient worldview of gods governing the world (their cultural river). I found it difficult to initially recognise how ingrained and inherent my cultural and scientific background is and how it governed my interpretation of the world. When I recognised this, I could then transport myself to the ancient world and more fully understand Walton and Longman’s arguments and discussion. Many times, I put the book down so I could absorb and appreciate a new way of viewing a passage of Scripture.
I found the book rigorous, readable, and absorbing. This approach to interpreting the flood story supplies a cogent and thorough explanation of the biblical story, respecting the veracity of both this ancient Israelite story and modern science. Highly recommended.
Loraine Holley lives in retirement in with her husband, 2 young adult sons and other children who come into her care through emergency, respite, and short-term foster care. She has a PhD in Science and a Masters of Laws. She was an Associate Professor in the Science Faculty of UTS for over 25 years. Her research interests in medical device technology focused on implantable cardiac devices and safety and regulation of medical technology. Apart from her academic appointment, she has worked in R&D in private industry and for a short time in a medical physics hospital department. She was for more than 20 years, a member of the Australian Government statutory Medical Device Advisory Committee of the Therapeutic Goods Administration and its predecessors and was a member of the Therapeutics Goods Committee for over 12 years and its Chair for 3 years. In her spare time, Loraine enjoys reading and discussion on history, theology and biographies, tennis, bridge, additive sculpture and gardening: but coffee with friends is her favourite activity.
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Maine School Administrative District 75 » School Board » School Board Policies » Section J: Students » File JFG: Student Searches
The Board recognizes its responsibility to ensure that discipline is maintained in the schools and that a safe, orderly environment conducive to the educational process is preserved. Therefore, school officials may conduct reasonable searches of students and their possession, when in their judgment, there area reasonable grounds for suspecting that the search will reveal evidence that the student has violated or is violating either the Law or the policies or regulations of the school. The search must be reasonably related in scope to the circumstances which precipitated the search, and the school official conducting the search shall take into account the age and sex of the student and the nature of the alleged infraction.
Lockers and other storage facilities on school premises are school property and shall remain at all times under the control, custody, authority and supervision of the school authorities. Students will have prior notice that lockers and other storage facilities made available to them for temporary storage of their personal possessions remain under the control and ownership of the school administration and that the school administration has the right to search lockers, desks and other storage facilities for items which violate Law, school policies or regulations. Students will be asked to sign a statement acknowledging their understanding of this. Such searches may be conducted as part of a program of random searches or when reasonable grounds exist to suspect that the search will reveal evidence that the student has violated or is violating the Law or the policies and the rules of the school. Searches in response to reasonable grounds may be conducted by school officials as a result of a patrol of school premises by dogs trained to detect drugs or weapons. Only the Superintendent may determine when a canine patrol and any resulting search may be conducted.
Student parking on school grounds is a privilege. Student vehicles on school property may be searched by the administration or law enforcement officials when there are reasonable grounds for suspicion that the search will reveal evidence that the student has violated or is violating the Law or the policies or regulations of the school. Students will be asked to sign a statement acknowledging their understanding of this policy.
ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE: STUDENT SEARCHES
The following protocol will be observed when conducting searches of students:
(1) When the school official has reasonable suspicion that a student has possession of any items which violate law, school policies or regulations, he/she will call the student to a private location, if practical, and in the presence of a second staff member, inform the student that there is reason to believe that he/she is in possession of such items.
(2) During any search of a student’s person, i.e., a pat-down search or a search of garments being worn by the student except outer coats, sweatshirts or the like which may be removed and searched, the Principal and/or Assistant or designee will be present along with one other adult employee of the school, who will be of the same gender as the student being searched; and such search will be conducted in an appropriate private area, if practical.
(3) During any search of property belonging to the student, the school official shall ask the student to open and fully reveal the contents of any container, compartment, bag or other item. If the student refuses to open the item or fully reveal its contents, the school official shall open and search the item to reveal its contents.
(4) Any items which are illegal, prohibited by school policies or regulations, or which in the reasonable judgment of school officials, represent a threat to the safety and welfare of the school population may be seized by school authorities.
(5) The seizure or confiscation of items located in a locker shall be accompanied in the following manner:
● Each item seized must be identified in a written receipt issued to the student.
● If items are found which are illegal, the police shall be called and such items will be turned over to the police. Such other items which are seized shall be secured in a locked desk, cabinet, vault or office.
● The Principal or his/her designee shall prepare a report indicating the time and place of the search, who was present at the search, what items were seized as a result of the search, and the disposition of such items.
● A copy of this report shall be given to the student, the student’s parent/guardian and the Superintendent, no later than the next school day following the search. In complying with this section as regards notification to the student’s parent/guardian, it shall be sufficient that the parent/guardian shall be orally notified of the search on the day it is conducted, and a copy of the report is mailed by the end of the next school day.
If a school official has reason to believe that a student is under the influence of alcohol or any illegal drug, the official may require the student, in addition to any other steps which are authorized by this policy, to submit to a non-intrusive testing protocol conducted by the school nurse or other certified school personnel.
A more expansive search of a student’s person is permissible in emergency situations when the health and safety of the students, employees, or visitors on the school premises are threatened. Such a search should be conducted in private by a school official of the same sex, with an adult of the same sex present, unless the health or safety of students will be endangered by the delay which may be caused by these procedures.
The following protocol will be observed when conducting canine searches and searches of student lockers and their contents.
1. When the Superintendent has reasonable suspicion that a student(s) has possession of any items which violate law, school rules or regulations, he/she shall determine when a canine patrol or search will be conducted.
2. The time of the canine patrol will be chosen to create the least disruption to the academic program. The dogs will be brought in to the school at a time and in areas of the school where they will not be likely to encounter students.
3. There will be a code that will alert teachers to the fact that dogs are in the school, and teachers will refrain from issuing hall passes during this period.
4. As the dogs scan the lockers, if they identify a locker or lockers where there may be drugs or weapons, the administrator will make note of those lockers and continue the scan.
5. After the dogs have scanned the lockers, the dogs will be removed from the building.
6. The administrators of the school (Principal and Assistant Principal or identified designee) will immediately follow up on the scan by searching the lockers identified by the dogs.
7. There will always be two staff members present during any search of students or lockers or their contents.
8. If practical, a student shall be present during a search of the locker assigned for his or her use. The school official should first request that the student open and reveal the contents of any container, compartment, bag or other item stored in the lockers. To the extent that it is practical, this inspection should take place away from the lockers in a less public location. If the student refuses to open the item, the school official shall open and search the item to reveal its contents.
9. Any items which are illegal, prohibited by school officials or regulations, or which in the reasonable judgment of school officials, represent a threat to the safety and welfare of the school population may be seized by school authorities. In case of seizure of items, the protocol described above concerning documentation and notification regarding student searches shall apply.
FIRST READING: December 11, 1997
THIRD READING: February 26, 1998
ADOPTION: February 26, 1998
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Anxiety Might Speed Alzheimer's: Study
TUESDAY, Nov. 24, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Older adults with memory problems may progress to Alzheimer's more quickly if they are also suffering from anxiety symptoms, a preliminary study suggests.
It's common for people with Alzheimer's disease to have mood symptoms, including anxiety and depression. And some research has suggested those symptoms can, in older people, act as early indicators of the dementia process.
The new study focused on 339 patients diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment -- persistent problems with memory and thinking skills that can progress to full-blown dementia.
But progression is not guaranteed, and people vary in how quickly their mental functioning declines.
There's no way to predict how things will go for any one person, said Dr. Maria Vittoria Spampinato, senior author on the study.
But researchers are trying to figure out whether certain factors are linked to the speed of progression. The new findings suggest anxiety might be one, according to Spampinato, a professor of radiology at the Medical University of South Carolina.
Her team found that patients with more anxiety symptoms at the outset were more likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease over the next several years, compared to those with few symptoms.
Does that mean anxiety speeds up the dementia process? Not necessarily, according to Mary Sano, director of the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at Mount Sinai in New York City.
Instead, anxiety is likely another symptom of the underlying brain disease, said Sano, who was not involved in the study.
She doubted that treating anxiety in someone with mild cognitive impairment would "change the underlying biology" of the dementia process.
Still, Sano said, recognizing anxiety in those patients is still important. For one, it might serve as a red flag that someone is at risk of more rapid decline.
That's key, Sano said, partly because anxiety symptoms are easy to measure. In this study, some other factors were linked to faster progression -- including shrinkage in certain brain areas. But that can only be gauged with a brain MRI.
Plus, Sano said, helping people cope with anxiety should be a goal in its own right. "It's an important symptom to consider," she said.
The findings are based on a study of North American patients with mild cognitive impairment that involved memory problems. At the outset, all underwent anxiety and depression screening, MRI brain scans and blood tests.
Of 339 patients, 72 progressed to Alzheimer's over the next several years. Those with higher anxiety levels at the start tended to have a quicker progression -- as did patients with lower tissue volume in two brain areas involved in memory and learning.
Genes mattered, too: People carrying a gene variant linked to higher Alzheimer's risk -- ApoE4 -- also had a faster decline, compared to those with different variants.
Even with those other factors taken into account, though, anxiety was independently linked to a speedier progression, Spampinato said.
That alone, however, does not mean anxiety directly worsens cognitive problems.
"People living with mild cognitive impairment may experience anxiety, but what's unclear at this point is whether controlling or reducing anxiety may slow cognitive decline," said Heather Snyder, vice president of medical and scientific operations at the Alzheimer's Association.
She agreed with Sano on the importance of recognizing anxiety regardless.
"For individuals living with mild cognitive impairment or dementia," Snyder said, "managing anxiety and stress is an important aspect of providing care."
The Alzheimer's Association recommends some steps for patients and families: Simplify daily routines, make the home environment calm, and regularly fit in pleasant activities -- such as taking walks, gardening and listening to music.
Talking to a health care provider is always an option, too, Sano said.
"Sometimes older folks can be hesitant to talk about anxiety and depression," she noted. "But I think that's a mistake."
The study is scheduled to be presented Monday at the Radiological Society of North America's annual meeting, being held online. Findings reported at meetings are generally considered preliminary until they are published in a peer-reviewed journal.
The Alzheimer's Association has more on anxiety and agitation.
SOURCES: Maria Vittoria Spampinato, MD, professor, radiology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston; Mary Sano, PhD, professor, psychiatry, and director, Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Mount Sinai Icahn School of Medicine, New York City; Heather Snyder, PhD, vice president, medical and scientific operations, Alzheimer's Association, Chicago; Radiological Society of North America, online meeting presentation, Nov. 30, 2020
Anatomy of the Brain
Anxiety Disorders in Children
Computed Tomography (CT) Scan of the Brain
Epilepsy and Seizures
Boosting Your Mental Health
Depression Not a Normal Part of Aging
4 in 10 Teens, Young Adults Have Used CBD Oil, Study Finds
Alprazolam extended-relase tablets
Alprazolam oral solution
Depression Quiz
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The estimates in this report use a new data set that were provided by the Office of Immigration Statistics of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to a group of researchers including Manuel Pastor of the University of Southern California (USC), David Ayon of Loyola Marymount University, Jonathan A. Fox of the University of California at Santa Cruz, Rob Paral and others. Information derived from the data set has recently been published by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
Staff at USC's Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration (CSII) processed the original OIS data into more usable shape and then refined the OIS data to account for emigration, mortality and derivative citizenship.
Funding for this effort was generously provided by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Click here for a description of the data request made to OIS, the processing, and the Center's refinements to the data.
A complete data set of legal permanent residents by period of entry by naturalization status by 39 countries/world regions may be obtained from the Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration. Please contact Justin Scoggins at CSII.
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CCTV: According to the Canadian Foreign Ministry, Canadian Foreign Minister François-Philippe Champagne met with State Councilor Wang Yi in Rome on August 25. He talked about the cases of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, calling on the Chinese side to agree to Canadian consular visits to the two Canadians. Can you confirm that? What is your comment?
Zhao Lijian: China has issued a press release on State Councilor Wang Yi's meeting with Canadian Foreign Minister François-Philippe Champagne. As for the individual cases you mentioned, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor are suspected of engaging in activities endangering China's national security. The Chinese judicial authorities have been handling the cases in strict accordance with law and protecting their lawful rights. In all our communications with the Canadian side, we have made it very clear that Canada should respect the rule of law and China's judicial sovereignty.
I would like to stress once again that things between China and Canada have come to this stage not because of China. The Canadian side is well aware of the crux of the problem. It should take immediate and effective measures to correct the mistakes and create conditions for bilateral relations to return to the right track.
Global Times: It is reported that Taiwan authorities plan to open a new representative office in Aix-en-Provence in Southern France, which they say is aimed at fostering cooperation between Taiwan and France and other European countries in culture, tourism, business, innovation, and education. What is China's comment?
Zhao Lijian: There is only one China in the world and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China. China firmly opposes any country having diplomatic ties with China making any form of official contact and exchanges with Taiwan, including the establishment of official institutions in each other's places. France should abide by the one-China principle and prudently and properly handle issues related to Taiwan. The attempts of the DPP authorities to carry out separatist activities in the international arena will not succeed.
Shenzhen TV: Indonesia's Permanent Representative to the UN, who held the rotating presidency of the Security Council in August, reportedly said that the Security Council had no consensus on the US request to activate the snapback mechanism, and the President of the Security Council would not take further action. What is China's comment?
Zhao Lijian: China has expounded on its position on the Iranian nuclear issue many times recently. The statement by the current President of the Security Council reflects the position of the overwhelming majority of the Security Council members and the consensus of the international community.
As State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi stressed the other day, China supports the establishment of an alternative multilateral dialogue platform on the premise of firmly safeguarding the effectiveness and authority of the JCPOA on the Iranian nuclear issue, where all parties can raise their concerns and forge new consensus on maintaining regional peace and stability. We are ready to work with relevant parties to push for the political and diplomatic resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue.
China News Service: Protests in Belarus over the presidential election result have not subsided and the international community is paying close attention to the situation there. What is China's comment?
Zhao Lijian: China always respects the development path chosen by the people of Belarus in line with their national conditions, firmly supports Belarus' efforts to safeguard national independence, sovereignty, security and development, and firmly opposes interference by external forces in the country's internal affairs. We are confident that political stability and social tranquility will be restored under the leadership of President Lukashenko. China is ready to continue to push for in-depth development of China-Belarus comprehensive strategic partnership featuring mutual trust and win-win cooperation and deepen bilateral cooperation in all fields to the benefit of the two countries and peoples.
CRI: You announced earlier that China sent a team of medical professionals to South Sudan. We now know they have been working to contain the virus and train staff since they arrived. Can you give us more details on that?
Zhao Lijian: The team of medical experts, sent by the Chinese government, has been working intensively after they arrived in South Sudan. From August 19 to 24, they visited Juba International Airport and the biggest local commodity market, had discussions with a medical advisory group of South Sudan's special committee on COVID-19, visited South Sudan's national public health lab, and provided professional guidance for local health authorities. During their stay, based on China's training plans and the features in local epidemics, the experts shared as much as possible their knowledge on epidemic prevention and control with local medical workers and answered their questions. This has effectively helped local medical personnel know more about China's experience and measures, and enhanced the capacity of front-line medical institutions in South Sudan.
Vice President Abdelbagi of South Sudan met with the Chinese experts and said that South Sudan and China are true friends and good partners. Over the past years, whenever South Sudan faced difficulties, China was always the first to offer help. After COVID-19 broke out in South Sudan, China was also the first to provide emergency medical supplies, making it a true friend in trying times. China chose South Sudan as one of the first destinations to send medical experts after the Extraordinary China-Africa Summit on Solidarity Against COVID-19, demonstrating the Chinese side's deep friendship and high attention attached to South Sudan. Olushayo Olu, WHO Representative for South Sudan, also expressed gratitude for China's strong support for the efforts by African countries and the WHO to fight the pandemic. The Chinese medical experts received wide attention and warm welcome from people in South Sudan, who believe their visit will contribute to bilateral cooperation in health and epidemic containment, enhance South Sudan's confidence and capability in defeating the virus, and help South Sudan and other African countries to bring the epidemics under control as soon as possible.
The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation: State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit Norway soon. What are the issues that will be discussed? What's the importance for China of this visit?
Zhao Lijian: Thanks for your interest in the visit. While in Norway, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will meet with Prime Minister Solberg and hold talks with Foreign Minister Søreide to exchange views on bilateral relations and issues of mutual interest. Norway is one of the first European countries to recognize the New China and its market economy status. Recent years has seen sound development in bilateral relations, with frequent high-level exchange and fruitful cooperation in various fields. China stands ready to work together with Norway to act on the important consensus of our leaders and achieve greater development in bilateral relations in the new era. We also hope this visit will inject new impetus into China-Norway practical cooperation, especially negotiation on a free trade agreement.
More information will be released as it comes out. Please stay tuned.
China Review News: The Wall Street Journal published an article by US Defense Secretary Esper on August 24. The article, titled the Pentagon Is Prepared for China, says that the PLA is not a military that serves the nation, let alone a constitution, as the US armed forces do. The PLA belongs to and serves a political entity, the Chinese Communist Party. It goes on to say that the Chinese Communist Party coerces other countries and impedes their sovereignty. What is your comment?
Zhao Lijian: Mr. Esper's allegations are completely groundless. Here I would like to offer one recommendation, two facts and three questions.
First, one recommendation. I recommend Mr. Esper read over the full text of Pompeo's Fact-twisting China Speech Versus the Truth released by the Chinese side. It is a compilation of a large number of facts and data that are more than enough to expose and shatter the lies and fallacies of the so-called "China threat".
Second, two facts. First fact, since 1990, the Chinese military has participated in more than 20 UN peacekeeping operations and sent over 40,000 military personnel, making China the largest contributor of peacekeeping troops among the five permanent members of the Security Council. Second fact, in the 240-plus years since the founding of the US, only 16 years have passed without a war. The US military budget for 2019 exceeds $716 billion, equivalent to the combined military spending of the next nine countries trailing the US.
Third, three questions. First question, China pursues a national defense policy that is defensive in nature. Both the Constitution of the Communist Party of China and the Constitution of the People's Republic of China clearly stipulate that China adheres to the path of peaceful development and opposes hegemony. Can the US pledge the same? Second question, who is the one that owns hundreds of military bases around the world, illegally waged war and military operations against countries such as Iraq, Libya and Syria, and sent ships to and planes over far-flung waters to flex their muscles? Third question, who is the one that has been behaving out of a Cold War mentality, quitting treaties and multilateral organizations and wielding sticks and fists like crazy? The right answers are not difficult to get as long as these US politicians respect the facts.
Tass News Agency: According to Chinese military, the US sent a U-2 high altitude reconnaissance plane to the no-fly zone established by the north military command during the live-fire drills. I wonder if the foreign ministry has any comment on this?
Zhao Lijian: The spokesperson of the Ministry of National Defense has issued remarks on that. I'd like to stress that the US U-2 high attitude reconnaissance plane arbitrarily intruded into the no-fly zone for live-fire exercises by the Northern Theater Command of the People's Liberation Army. The trespass severely affected China's normal exercises and training activities, and violated the rules of behavior for air and maritime safety between China and the United States, as well as relevant international practices. It could easily have resulted in misjudgments and even accidents. China firmly opposes such blatant provocation and has lodged stern representations with the US. We urge the US to immediately stop such provocative moves and take real actions to uphold regional peace and stability.
The Globe and Mail: We saw the readouts from both Canadian and Chinese sides about the meeting that took place yesterday. I just want to ask was there anything on which the two sides agreed? We heard quite a bit about what they disagreed about, so did they agree on anything?
Zhao Lijian: We already put out a press release on the meeting. There is consensus on developing bilateral relations. More than half a century ago, pioneering Canadian leaders braved external pressure and took the right step to establish diplomatic relations with China. We hope today Canada will act as a good custodian of what the forefathers built, show the same resolve and take concrete actions to bring China-Canada relations back to track at an early date.
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying's Regular Press Conference on September 2, 2020 (2020-09-02)
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Remarks on the Resignation of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (2020-08-31)
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Home >> June 2014 Edition >> POV: A Commercial View Of Mission Success
POV: A Commercial View Of Mission Success
By Kay Sears, President, Intelsat General Corporation
Mission success is often defined as things going smoothly as planned, with no major upsets in achieving the desired outcome. For our customers, mission success is about the availability and reliability of the service they receive from Intelsat General.
Across industry and government, we all strive for this kind of mission success. But in many ways, we in the commercial arena plan for it differently than our government counterparts.
Not unlike the U.S. Air Force or the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), Intelsat is a major satellite system operator where affordability and mission success are critical to its viability as a commercial entity. Without affordability and mission success, our business would ultimately fail, either financially or technically. As with any enterprise, the competitive marketplace is our harshest critic, so we are constantly balancing affordability and mission success as we acquire, launch and operate our network.
Our 51 satellites, more than 140 gateways and teleports, and 36,000 miles of fiber give us diversity and resiliency. However, space is still a risky business and so we accept a small amount risk in our satellite and launch programs. Costs quickly become prohibitive in trying to retire that risk. Therefore, we anticipate failure scenarios and develop recovery plans. We have designed a network that can support anomalies through fleet planning, overlapping capabilities and acquisition tempo.
An example of the risk we take occurred in January 2013, when Intelsat had its first satellite launch failure in 15 years, after a Sea Launch rocket carrying the Intelsat-27 satellite veered off course and was destroyed. Within three weeks, we were able to reposition bandwidth and customers on neighboring satellites. We issued a new satellite contract within four months and that satellite will be launched in mid-2015. We did forego additional revenue for a few years, but no customers lost service. For Intelsat, mission success was defined as providing a highly reliable service to our customers, not the specific launch of IS-27.
In contrast, the U.S. government seeks more of a zero-risk strategy toward mission success. U.S. government space programs often involve complex satellites supporting multiple missions, all using just one type of launch vehicle, where failure would place unacceptable pressure on already fragile constellations.
To prevent this, risk is often “bought down” on certain programs to a minuscule level by spending more on redundant designs, double- and triple-checking assemblies, and multiple back-up systems. This creates billion-dollar satellites and extremely expensive launch programs.
The cycle repeats itself. The push to eliminate risk drives costs up exponentially, yet risk is never completely eliminated. Mission assurance is often achieved by trading in on affordability. Is this a sustainable model in the current fiscal environment? And does this ultimately make the government satellite fleet more resilient?
Beyond the launch phase of a mission, Intelsat and other commercial companies look for other ways to reduce risk and maintain affordability. One key way that we increase mission and information assurance is the automation of our satellite operations. Over time, automation can create a more affordable process, but this has not been the reason for Intelsat to automate certain functions. Rather, we have automated operations to correct for human error and reduce time to resolve anomalies.
Currently, our flight operations are fully automated so that by using specific tools, we can fly 76 satellites with eight flight controllers because commands are planned, created and uploaded into a master scheduling system, and our controllers are there to monitor the fleet and to handle anomalies. Even our TT&C network has automation for “sensing” certain maneuvers and automatically commanding the spacecraft.
Many of our command-and-control (C2) stations are operated with no personnel and are “remoted” back to the operations center using a highly reliable, diverse network. Access to these assets and other operational capabilities are available to our controllers via the press of button.
Any measurement of “mission success” must include planning for failures and developing best practices over time that enable those plans to be affordable, responsive, and resilient to the risks associated with being a space operator.
There are lessons to draw from the commercial approach to mission success that would help the U.S. government better insert affordability and resiliency into its current space programs and architecture.
For further information, please visit http://www.intelsatgeneral.com/
This article has been repurposed from Intelsat General’s “From The Top” newsletter, the May 2014 edition, with permmission.
Kay Sears was named President of Intelsat General Corporation in 2008 and is responsible for the overall leadership of the organization, setting the strategic direction and managing all facets of the business. Ms. Sears joined Intelsat in 2006 when it acquired PanAmSat. With PanAmSat from 2004-06, she most recently served as Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Prior to joining PanAmSat, Ms. Sears held senior management positions with Verestar, American Tower Corp. and COMSAT.
In 2009, Ms. Sears was appointed to the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC) to provide information, technical expertise, advice and guidance on issues affecting national security telecommunications capabilities. In 2011, she was named to the board of the Space Foundation, an international non-profit organization and the foremost industry advocate for all sectors of the space community.
Ms. Sears earned an MBA from George Washington University and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Richmond.
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CALVARY CHAPEL MISSIONS CONFERENCE
BRIAN BRODERSEN
Brian Brodersen is the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, California. Brian also serves as president of Calvary Chapel Bible College. He is the featured speaker on the Back to Basics radio program and the director of Creation Fest (UK). Brian is extensively involved in missions and church planting around the world. He has been married to Cheryl for 40 years; they have four children and have six grandchildren.
Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa
Back to Basics Radio
John Chubik
John Chubik served as a missionary for 18 years in Central and Eastern Europe. He is currently the missions pastor at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa where he works with the missions’ staff to encourage and support the church’s almost 170 missionaries. He frequently travels to meet and support missionaries in the field and to train national church leaders in other countries. John and his wife Karen have two great teenage children.
Pam Markey
Pam Markey is the director at Calvary Chapel Bible College, Europe. She divides her time between serving as the director, teaching, and traveling the world to share at women's retreats and missions conferences.
CCBCE
PHil Metzger
Phil is the lead pastor at Calvary Chapel San Diego after serving two decades as a missionary in Hungary. While there, Phil was the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Budapest, as well as the ministry director of Calvary Chapel Bible College Europe. In addition to his teaching responsibilities, he oversaw Calvary church plants throughout Eastern Europe, Ethiopia, and Nigeria. His heart and ministry is focused on making disciples and seeing the church impact the world for Christ. Phil and his wife Joy have four beautiful children and 1 grandchild, Ezra James.
Calvary Chapel San Diego
JEd Gourley
Jed Gourley is currently the pastor of a new church in Tbilisi, Georgia. But in 1992, as a 20-year-old university freshman, he took a year off from his studies and moved to Ukraine soon after the collapse of the Soviet Union to assist in the planting of a church. More than 25 years later, Jed is still on the mission field, having served in Kyrgyzstan and now in the nation of Georgia. With a wide range of ministry experience, from youth ministry to administrator to pastor, Jed has had the privilege of serving in various roles on some amazing church-planting teams. He is the author of Distant Fields, a biography of his father-in-law, George Markey, with whom he served in both Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan. Jed is married and has six children.
Calvary Chapel Tbilisi
Rich Chaffin
Rich Chaffin, pastor of Calvary Chapel of Laguna Creek, has been in full-time ministry for over 30 years. He has served as a janitor, youth pastor, assistant pastor, and then as senior pastor for the past 27 years. Throughout this time, the Lord has used him to open doors for the Great Commission in West Africa, South Africa, Malaysia, Mexico, and all across Eastern Europe. He has been married for 34 years and has five children and one grandchild. Rich’s gift of expository teaching and his passion for Jesus have proven to be a great encouragement to many who are seeking to follow Christ.
Calvary Chapel Laguna Creek
Rod Thompson
Rod Thompson was saved in 1985 at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa and in 1990 God called him to serve at the Calvary Chapel Conference Center in Millstatt, Austria. For 15 years, he and his family served on the mission field in various places in Europe. Then in 2005, the call came for them to move to Murrieta, California, where Rod served as the director of the Calvary Chapel Conference Center and as the pastor of a local church called Cross Culture Ministries. He and his wife moved back to Europe in January 2019 and entered into full-time missionary service, full of vision and expectation for God to do great things
Cross Culture Missions
Joy Metzger
Joy gave her life to Jesus while a freshman in high school and very soon after God gave her a heart for the world. In 1998 Joy, and her husband Phil and their one year old daughter moved to southern Hungary as church planters. For 20 years, Joy has been involved in discipleship through one on one relationships, conferences, ministry in orphanages, homeless shelters and homes for trafficked women. She has raised 4 amazing kids and also has a sweet grandson.
Larry Hansen
Larry Hansen has been a Pastor for 15 years and serves as the Missions Pastor at Calvary Murrieta. God has moved him to passionately pursue unreached people across the globe and he has taken the Great Commission as a personal commission. Larry combines missions’ education, first-hand experience and missions’ partnerships to continue to move forward in reaching the unreached. He has a strong desire for developing strong missionary care and support for missionaries in the field and invests in providing tools and preparation for them to become equipped to serve in a global capacity. Larry brings a strong focus to being a continuous learner and listener so that he can best serve in the role he has been called.
Calvary Murrieta
Carlos Kalczuk
Since his time at Calvary Chapel Bible College 22 years ago, Carlos Kalczuk knew that part of God's call on his life was to send, equip and care for missionaries. Aa a Calvary Chapel missions pastor for 15 years, the Lord has allowed Carlos to be a part of raising up and sending out missionaries who have gone throughout the world. With a burden for unreached peoples, closed countries, and nations with few missionaries, Carlos seeks to raise awareness that now, more than ever, the harvest is plentiful but laborers few. Carlos is a pastor at Calvary San Diego where he resides with his wife Alissa and their two boys, Evan and Elias.
Louie Monteith
Louie Monteith was saved during the revival of the Jesus Movement and has served the Lord his entire life. This includes being a youth pastor, missionary, Christian school administrator, church planter and senior pastor. He is currently director of GO! Ministries, a mission’s sending agency based out of Calvary Chapel Anaheim. He is married to Cheryl and they have two grown daughters (Lindsay married to Jonas Karlsson) and Kelsey.
Jeff Jackson
Pastor Jeff Jackson is the founder of Shepherd's Staff Mission Facilitators and is currently the Director of Church Relations and Missionary Care.
Along with his family, Jeff lived in the Philippines from 1987 to 1993 while planting Calvary Chapel of Cebu City. After returning from the mission field, he planted a multi-ethnic church in the San Diego area, while also teaching the missions courses at Calvary Chapel Bible College in Murrieta, CA, from 1997-2000.
He was the senior pastor of Cross-Connection International Fellowship in Phoenix, AZ, from 2008-2012, a church that was heavily engaged with reaching refugees that had been resettled to Phoenix from around the world.
Pastor Jeff is one of the approved teachers of the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement, has done extensive training of missionaries prior to their departure for the mission field, and speaks regularly at numerous missions conferences in the United States and abroad.
Jeff and Helen have been married for 43 years, have three grown and married children, and seven grandchildren.
Kurt Kula
Kurt Kula has been serving, as a missionary/pastor, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, with his wife Kendall, and four children for the last 7 years. Kurt & Kendall are presently providing leadership for the church with the goal of training up the Khmer to do the work of the ministry. Their work involves assisting in various outreaches, men's and women's discipleship, training children's ministry workers and teaching the school of ministry. Prior to Asia, Kurt served 19 years in Poland and one year at CC Bible College Europe.
MISSIONS 2021
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
© Copyright 2020 Calvary Chapel Missions Conference Ministry. Contact CTS Privacy Policy
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News January 28, 2020 January 28, 2020
TOMMY HILFIGER ANNOUNCES TOMMY HILFIGER FASHION FRONTIER CHALLENGE SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR FINALISTS
Tommy Hilfiger, announces the six finalists in the 2019 Tommy Hilfiger Fashion Frontier Challenge. Now in its second year, the global program aims to support entrepreneurial start-up and scale-up businesses developing solutions that promote inclusive and positive change in fashion. The selection of finalists is a next step in the journey to identify and champion innovative opportunities that support the advancement of the industry. On February 13, 2020, the six finalists will visit Tommy Hilfiger’s Campus of the Future in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to pitch their business concepts to a jury of internal and external business and sustainability leaders at the global Tommy Hilfiger Fashion Frontier Challenge Final Event.
“It is inspiring to see the second edition of the Tommy Hilfiger Fashion Frontier Challenge draw so many applicants working towards a more inclusive and sustainable fashion landscape,” said Tommy Hilfiger. “We are committed to championing bright, innovative solutions to some of our industry’s big challenges, and I’m looking forward to returning as a jury member to recognize this year’s entrepreneurs. Their shared optimism and commitment to a positive future should inspire us all in the impact we can make together.”
Over a multi-step four-month process, over 420 applicants were narrowed down to six finalists who were invited to develop and refine their business plans with the support of a dedicated team of social entrepreneur experts at the Campus of the Future.
The jury will award €150,000 between two winners to fund the advancement of their business proposals. The winners will also receive a year-long mentorship with Tommy Hilfiger’s and INSEAD’s global experts, as well as a place in the INSEAD Social Entrepreneurship Program (ISEP). An additional €10,000 will be awarded to the finalist team who wins the “Audience Favorite Vote.”
The shocking impact of food waste
Salvatore Ferragamo S/S 2020
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Brands, Designers, News
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Blatant discrimination
The IHC is complaining to the Human Rights Commission about discrimination against disabled persons in our education system. And if the list below is anything to go by, it looks like they have an excellent case:
IHC advocacy director Trish Grant said many disabled children faced unlawful conditions or effective bans, denying them the same access to the curriculum and isolating them from friends and classmates.
Examples included:
- Conditions limiting the hours disabled children may attend class or sending them home when teacher aides are sick.
- Access to extra-curricular activities such as school plays or camps being denied because of disabilities.
- Deaf children in classrooms without a teacher who understands sign language, despite its status as an official language.
- Parents being asked to contribute financially to keep their disabled children in mainstream classrooms.
- Suspension for disability-related behaviour, not misconduct.
The latter is blatantly discriminatory, and entirely unjustifiable. And if it is going on in our schools, then those schools and the Ministry responsible for overseeing them need to stop it immediately.
The complaint highlights the government's double standards on human rights. At the beginning of the month, the government was stroking itself over its decision to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Article 24 of the Convention requires parties to eliminate discrimination on the basis of disability in education, and to ensure that
(a) Persons with disabilities are not excluded from the general education system on the basis of disability, and that children with disabilities are not excluded from free and compulsory primary education, or from secondary education, on the basis of disability;
(b) Persons with disabilities can access an inclusive, quality and free primary education and secondary education on an equal basis with others in the communities in which they live;
(c) Reasonable accommodation of the individual's requirements is provided;
(d) Persons with disabilities receive the support required, within the general education system, to facilitate their effective education;
It would be nice if rather than merely talking about these commitments, the government implemented them.
Posted by Idiot/Savant at 7/31/2008 04:36:00 PM Links to this post
Labels: Discrimination, Equality, Human Rights
Climate change: ...and waiting
Another week, still no mention of the Climate Change (Emissions Trading and Renewable Preference) Bill in the Business Statement. The Appropriations Bill takes priority, of course, since its a matter of confidence - but it would be nice to have some indication of when (if ever) this bill is going to be passed.
Labels: Climate Change, Climate Change Policy, Parliament
Democracy prevails in Turkey - but only just
For the past year, Turkey has been in the midst of a slow-burning political crisis, as the democratically elected Justice and Development Party (a moderate Islamic party) struggles for power with the authoritarian secular elite used to running the show. Things came to a head last week, when the secularists attempted to ban the governing party for supposedly plotting an Islamic state. If they had been successful, it would have forced early elections and banned the sitting Prime Minister and President from politics, effectively overturning the will of the Turkish people.
Fortunately, that's not going to happen - the Turkish constitutional court has voted for a fine, rather than a ban. So, democracy prevails - but only just. The ruling is seen as putting the government "on notice" that it may be shut down in the future, so its a suspension of the crisis rather than a resolution. But it does at least allow more time for Turkey's democratic culture to strengthen and grow deeper roots. Unless, of course, the army (Turkey's primary anti-democratic force) decides to intervene...
Labels: Democracy, Turkey
Carnival of the Liberals
The 70th Carnival of the Liberals is now up at Cult of Gracie.
Labels: Liberalism, Links
Presidential candidates announced
Sadly, not really. But nominations have closed in the Republican Movement's mock-election for New Zealand's new head of state, and the initial candidates have been announced:
The nominees were ranked by the number of nominations received, with all but the top ten being eliminated. The candidates for the first elected head of State of New Zealand are (in alphabetical order):
James Belich
Jim Bolger
Sir Douglas Graham
Sir Robert Jones
Sir Kenneth Keith
Don McKinnon
Claudia Orange
Vincent O'Sullivan
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa
Sir Wilson Whineray
At first glance, there's an awful lot of knighthoods in there - suggesting either that at least some of those knighted in the past were worthy and didn't just buy their honours like Michael Fay, or that we have an exaggerated respect for the holdovers of feudalism. There's also some pretty good candidates in there, with Bob Jones (whose primary claim to fame is being rich and obnoxious) as an obvious exception. I'm also not sure what Wilson Whineray has done to deserve nomination other than play rugby; while I'm sure that's considered desirable by some segment of the population, I don't think its enough of a qualification even for a figurehead president.
Voting will open shortly, once they have candidate profiles up.
Labels: Republicanism
Freedom week
This week is Freedom Week, Amnesty International New Zealand's annual fundraising drive. The money they raise goes towards supporting their global and national campaigns (for example, on human rights in China, closing Guantanamo, and internet censorship), and on helping victims of repressive governments around the world.
The easiest way to help is to donate online, or by calling 0900 AMNESTY (0900 266 378) to donate $20. They'll also have street collectors out on Friday and Saturday. Alternatively, you can join here.
Please help Amnesty International speak up for those who can't be heard.
Posted by Idiot/Savant at 7/31/2008 12:44:00 AM Links to this post
Labels: Events, Human Rights
The difference between left and right
The Standard has a powerful reminder of the difference between left and right: the left works for the many, while the right works for the few. And there's no clearer example of this than the way the wage-share of the economy (that is, the portion of society's wealth which flows to ordinary people, rather than the tiny elite at the top) changes over time:
Under left-wing governments, the many get more. Under the right, we get less. The difference is due to employment law - and national's employment policies (90 days of "fire at will" and a restriction on union access and bargaining rights) are very much aimed at you getting less. Think about that when you vote this November.
The long-term trend (which can be pulled from table 1.1 of the full series here) is even more revealing; that share used to be more than 50% (and sometimes as much as 55%). So, we have a lot more ground to make up - and it's not going to happen under National.
Labels: 2008 Election, Equality, Left, Wages, Worker's Rights
This'll be interesting
Rodney Hide has complained to the Serious Fraud Office about Winston Peters' donations. This'll be interesting. If the SFO begins an investigation (and the Bob Jones donation would seem to be a prima facie case), then under the precedent she's set for herself in the David Benson-Pope and David Parker cases, she will have to stand Peters down for the duration, or face allegations of inconsistency and pandering. And either could cost her her government in the short or long term.
Meanwhile, I think John Key can just kiss goodbye any chance of a post-election deal with NZ First. But National clearly doesn't want one - again, they're aiming for majority government or nothing, and would love to drive Winston out of Parliament. But if they're unsuccessful in the latter (and remember, Winston feeds off persecution), this could backfire significantly in a few months time.
Labels: Corruption, Election Funding, NZ First, Rodney Hide, Winston Peters
So, the Doha trade talks have suffered their annual collapse. Good. While I'm in favour of free trade, it must also be fair trade - and that was not on offer. Rather, the rich countries were engaged in their usual exercise of demanding even more one-sided concessions for doing things they'd already agreed to do (and which they would just welch on again anyway). Under those circumstances, the poor countries, led by India and China, were right to stand firm and refuse a bad deal.
What grates is that New Zealand has been on the side of the rich in this. We shouldn't be. Rather, we should be backing the billions whose lives are at stake here. When the rich world demands the right to drive peasant farmers - counterintuitively, the most efficient producers in the world - from their land by flooding markets with subsidised imports, they are demanding the right to impose famine, and putting profits before human lives. And that is simply wrong.
Labels: Fair Trade, Free Trade
Members' Day
Today is a Members' Day, and for once there is no fluff to get in the way of real business. Labour have again postponed Darien Fenton's Minimum Wage and Remuneration Amendment Bill, so the Greens will have a clear run for the committee stages of Sue Bradford's Corrections (Mothers With babies) Amendment Bill and Russel Norman's Waste Minimisation Bill. And they will need it. With only three more Members' Days left, they are rapidly running out of time.
Fortunately, it looks like Bradford's bill will make it - it can easily complete its committee stage today, allowing a third reading on the 27th of August. But the Waste Minimisation Bill's prospects are less certain. It's a fairly complicated piece of legislation, and under the usual rule of one hour per part, the committee stage is going to take seven hours. They might get through half of that today if they hurry, but with the Corrections Bill eating half the available time next Members' Day, and the possibility of local bills popping up, its unlikely to complete its committee stage until early September. Which means that it will only pass if the House goes into overtime and sits in the first week of October - and doesn't eat that last possible Members' Day with last-minute urgency.
As for Fenton's bill, I expect the government will keep it on the Order Paper for as long as possible, and then adopt it at the last minute. It would make a perfect contrast with National on worker's rights just before the election.
Labels: Members Bills, Parliament
Who the hell are they?
So, who the hell are the Bill and Ben Party? And do they have anything to do with these people?
Labels: 2008 Election
The Electoral Commission has decided that the EPMU is not involved in the administration of the Labour Party, and thus allowed it to register as a third party under the Electoral Finance Act. Naturally, DPF - who attempted to silence them - is spitting tacks, but I couldn't really see the decision going any other way. Affiliation simply means that EPMU members are automatically Labour Party members (and thereby entitled to appropriate representation in the party's decision-making). If that is considered to be "involvement in the administration" of a party, then so is ordinary membership - something clearly at odds with Parliamentary intent.
Not that I expect DPF or the National party to see it that way; they simply see critics to be shut down by force of law, and an opportunity to posture about how evil it is that everyone gets to speak their mind on a level playing field (a complete abomination to the would-be-aristocrats on the right). And thanks to the EFA, National has a large pot of money they cannot legally spend trying to buy the election, which means they might as well spend it on legal fees. So, I fully expect them to challenge this decision again in court. Fortunately, given the clear parliamentary intent to only restrict candidates, financial agents, and party officials, and the requirement to interpret the EFA through the lens of the BORA, I expect them to lose.
Labels: 2008 Election, Election Funding, Freedom of Speech, National
During the Clinton years, the right-wing smear machine put about a "Clinton Body Count", accusing him of involvement in various murders to cover up imagined crimes. Naturally, they now have one for Barrack Obama. My favourite - for its sheer insanity - is this one:
DARSANO RAHARDJO - Childhood classmate of Barack Obama when he attended a madrassa in Indonesia. Was found with his head cut off in a Jakarta alley way in 1970. Many children at the school attributed Rahardjo’s murder to the young Barack Obama. It was likely done as an initiation ritual, since Islam demands that a boy spill another’s blood before the age of ten to prove their loyalty to Allah.
Which explains why Islam supports polygyny. It's not a cultural holdover from the desert, no, it's because they intentionally kill half their male population at age 9. Can I have some of those drugs? They'd be quite useful next time I need to write some drooling insanity. OTOH, given where they lead, maybe not.
But what I really want to know is why doesn't Helen Clark have one of these? Surely our local sewer is deranged enough to come up with something?
(Hat tip: Larvatus Prodeo)
Labels: Fnord, USA
Progress in Tonga
Tonga's king has announced that he will surrender most of his powers, and in future act on advice from the Prime Minister. It's a good step forward towards UK-style constitutional monarchy, but it needs to be backed up with solid democratic reform, and soon. Otherwise, it will simply be a sham, with the king acting on the "advice" of unelected people he has himself appointed. But fortunately, there's progress on that front too, with the Tongan Parliament finally passing a Constitution and Electoral Commission Bill creating a commission to investigate reform and call a constitutional convention if necessary.
Will this be enough? We'll have to wait and see. But the spectre of the 2006 riots should be in the Tongan aristocracy's minds. If they don't offer a credible peaceful path to full democracy, then the Tongan people may create one for themselves, with far more bloodshed.
Labels: Democracy, Tonga
The end of mandatory detention
Since the 1990's, Australia has pursued a policy of automatically detaining all asylum seekers in an effort to deter refugee claims. The policy breached UNHCR guidelines, clearly violated the intent of the Refugee Convention, and attracted strong criticism from international human rights groups. Now, the Australian government has abandoned it. It's a massive victory for human rights, and another sign of how elections matter. Under Howard, Australia was a racist, xenophobic place. Under Rudd, its at least no longer government policy.
Labels: Australia, Human Rights, Refugees
Is three months a trend?
Yesterday the Department of Statistics released its monthly overseas merchandise trade figures, showing the usual soaring trade deficit. This produced the usual press release from the Greens about the price of oil dependency. But while it's a point worth making, it's also missed something significant: oil imports appear to be decreasing.
I've been watching this for the past two months, ever since a mention on Larvatus Prodeo about a substantial drop in Australian fuel imports. Here's the long-term trend:
(Source: Department of Statistics, Overseas Merchandise Trade: June 2008, Table 9 [XLS])
There's obviously a lot of variability in there, but there may also be a trend: the average for the last three months (290 kT/month) is 10% lower than the long-term average (333 kT/month), and 20% lower than the equivalent period last year (365 kT/month). Some of this may be due to higher imports at the beginning of the year, but we may also be seeing high prices beginning to have an impact.
OTOH, a word of caution: while crude oil imports seem to have dropped, domestic production of petrol and diesel (which is where the oil ultimately goes) doesn't seem to have dropped at all. So, maybe we're just seeing the oil companies running down their stockpiles while waiting for prices to drop. I guess we'll just have to wait for another few months figures to find out.
Labels: Energy
Trustpower's 200 MW Mahinerangi windfarm has been approved by the Environment Court. While the project had been put on hold shortly after applying for consent due to the low dollar, that's unlikely to be an issue now. There's no news on when construction will start, but judging from other projects, it is likely to be generating within a couple of years.
Labels: Energy, Wind
New Kiwi blog
GBlog. It's an interesting idea - a group blog for members of the Green Party to talk to the electorate. I wonder how many other NZ political parties would be willing to risk going horribly off message by giving their wider membership this sort of open platform?
Labels: Blogosphere, Greens
Can Labour win?
Therese Arseneau has a post on the TVNZ site on why Labour thinks it can win again. The chief reason? MMP. By making sure every vote counts equally, and removing the distortions which previously favoured rural-based National (to the extent that it "won" the 1978 and 1981 elections while receiving fewer votes than Labour), MMP has levelled the playing field (which is precisely why the right hates it and wants to get rid of it. A fair electoral system? It's practically communism!). Labour is also far better at the coalition game than National, which makes their position far stronger than it appears. But that said, they still need at least 40% of the vote to have a credible shot at a fourth term. Arseneau is silent about whether Labour can actually do this - she's saving that for her next column - but highlights a number of reasons which could give them hope.
As for me, I'm not sure, and in any case I think the more interesting question is "how National can lose". They're basically betting everything on a majority government, but as we saw in 2002, the electorate is rather averse to that idea (its one of the things we brought in MMP to stop). And while they're polling high, given their lack of credible friends, they don't need to lose too much in order to be forced to go begging to parties they don't like for confidence and supply. And if that happens, given their lack of coalition skills, they can pretty much kiss their policy agenda goodbye...
Labels: 2008 Election, Labour, Links, National
National secures Labour's legacy
For the past three years, National has criticised Working for Families, calling it "middle class welfare" which disincentivises work, and promising to repeal the scheme if elected. I guess we're now expected to just forget all that. National now supports the scheme and will not change it. And Oceania has always been at war with East Asia...
Jokes about the Orwellian flip-flops of political parties aside, this move has secured Labour's legacy. Working for Families was the most significant expansion of the welfare state in generations, and thanks to National's "small target" election strategy of agreeing with almost everything the government does, it will now be a long-term feature of our political landscape. Assuming, that is, that Key is sincere rather than simply telling us whatever he thinks we want to hear in order to gain power (and at this stage, it is worth remembering again Chris Trotter's reminder that National's MPs and ultrarich financial supporters did not join and fund the party so it could support left-wing social policy…)
It also raises the interesting question of where the money for tax cuts is going to come from. National is (as usual) promising a massive election-year bribe, while refusing to say how they will fund it. And they have steadily ruled out cuts to every programme that could. They won't cut KiwiSaver. They won't cut education. Now they won't cut Working for Families. Either they're lying somewhere along the line, or they plan to borrow - an irresponsible path which will saddle the New Zealander's of tomorrow with billions of unnecessary debt to pay for the greed of the ultrarich. This would be entirely in line with their metapolicy of looting the state for the benefit of their donors and cronies - but is unlikely to be popular with the people who will ultimately be paying the bills for that self-interested greed.
Labels: 2008 Election, Equality, National
An interesting idea for the OIA
Open Secrets, the BBC's freedom of information blog, has a piece on What Do They Know, a UK site which facilitates requests under that country's Freedom of Information Act. Users sign up, pick a target government authority, and make their request online; WhatDoTheyKnow forwards it on, and automatically publishes the response when (if?) it arrives. It also allows people to browse responses by government authority, and communicate with other users researching in the same area. In the long term, it will also generate some performance statistics allowing the various authorities and departments to be compared.
The service is making waves in the UK bureaucracy because some officials don't like handing out information without a postal address, or if it will be shared. However, their Information Commissioner has been quite clear that a postal address is not required, and that an email address is an "address for correspondence" under the Act. Responses are also supposed to be applicant and motive blind [PDF], and they can't refuse a request simply because the information is intended for publication. Currently the service isn't seeing an enormous amount of usage, but hopefully it'll take off. And the UK will be better for it.
So, would such a service work in New Zealand? I don't see why not. There's no requirement in our OIA for a postal address or written communication, and many departments are quite happy to accept requests by email (they're also quite happy to just give you information without even having to mention the Act - an enormous cultural difference from the secretive UK). While some departments might be resistant, the culture of openness and expansive interpretation from the Ombudsmen mean there probably wouldn’t be any problems. The biggest problem would be getting people to use it. But there are definite advantages to this sort of collaboration and research tool, and I hope someone sets up an NZ version soon.
Labels: Freedom of Information, Links, OIA, UK
Shaking hands with a torturer
(Image stolen from 3 News)
Nice to know where our "human rights supporting" Prime Minister really stands on US torture...
Labels: Helen Clark, Torture, USA
My days in Fleet Street's Lubyanka
Labels: Robert Fisk
Climate change: the heresy of pragmatism
The Visible Hand takes me to task over my recent post on what a regulatory solution to climate change might look like. They argue that a market-based mechanism such as the ETS is preferable to a regulatory one because it will be more effective, and that the problem with the ETS isn't too much of the free market, but too little. They then accuse me of "anti-market bias" for even contemplating the thought of a regulatory solution. Hardly. As should be clear from my previous posts on the subject, I largely agree with TVH on the strengths of market mechanisms. They find reductions policymakers haven't thought of, they're extremely flexible, they allow targets to be progressively reduced over time, and they instantiate the inherently fair "polluter pays" principle". I disagree with TVH's ideological claim that market mechanisms are always superior to regulation (IMHO that's an empirical question to be decided between the specific policy alternatives on offer - this market mechanism vs that regulatory scheme) - but that doesn't matter. I'm happy to accept that regulation is an imperfect solution for the sake of argument. Because at the end of the day, this isn't about whether regulation is better than the ETS - it's whether regulation is better than nothing at all.
The government is struggling to get the numbers to pass the ETS, and there is a real chance that it will fail. If it fails, then the government will almost certainly try and make it "fifth time lucky" with a market mechanism. but in the meantime, we'll be left with no policy. And on that front, we have two choices: we can repeat the strategy of doing nothing in the meantime - a strategy which has been a disaster; or we can implement a quick and dirty regulatory regime to control emissions from their most obvious sources while we work towards something better (and which incidentally provides some insulation against further failure).
IMHO the choice is obvious. An imperfect policy which is actually implemented is better than a perfect policy which never happens. And if such pragmatic thinking is heresy (or "anti-market bias") to economists, then so much the worse for them.
Labels: Climate Change, Climate Change Policy
Asset forfeiture: reported back
The Law and Order Committee has reported back [PDF] on the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Bill. The bill would "reform" New Zealand's asset forfeiture law to a non-conviction-based regime, breaking down barriers between civil and criminal proceedings and allowing police to seize money, cars, homes and other valuables from people who have not been convicted of a crime (or worse, actually acquitted of one by a jury) under a "guilty until proven innocent" system with a lower burden of proof - Ahmed Zaoui standards of evidence. It's a bill every person who cares about justice and human rights should oppose.
Unfortunately, the MPs on the Law and Order Committee do not care about those things, and the bill has survived practically unchanged. There have been some minor tweaks to align it with the government's new organised crime agency (the forfeiture agency will be the police - though they won't get to keep the money, thank Cthulhu), and with current policy on Serious Fraud Office-style powers (powers to force suspects to incriminate themselves have been toned down and subjected to judicial oversight), but the rest of the bill is unchanged. The real issues around justice and human rights with this sort of system (summarised in my submission) have simply been ignored.
New Zealand will regret this. These powers are a recipe for injustice and police misconduct. They give the police real powers to punish on mere suspicion, and to victimise those who have the temerity to be acquitted of serious crime (something the police seem to regard as a mere technicality and a failure of the justice system rather than of themselves). Given that the police make mistakes (Arthur Allen Thomas, anyone?), innocent people will lose their homes, and possibly even their lives as a result of this bill. But politicians will get to posture about being "tough on crime", which is apparently all that matters.
If this is the sort of legislation Labour passes when in government, then they simply do not deserve to be in power.
Labels: Asset Forfeiture, Human Rights, Parliament
How we should deal with torturers
While the New Zealand police are doing their best to protect a torturer, Argentina shows us how they should be dealt with. In 1977, during Argentina's "Dirty War", Luciano Menendez oversaw the disappearance, torture, and murder of four left-wing activists, who were held bound and drugged for a month at a disappearance centre before their bodies were dumped in the street to make it look like they had died in a gun battle with authorities. Today, he was convicted of that crime, and sentenced to life imprisonment. Its not justice for the hundreds of other people he had murdered (as usual in these cases, they focused on the four murders they could solidly prove rather than the hundreds he was actually responsible for), but its something.
This is how we should be dealing with torturers: arresting, prosecuting, and convicting them. Instead, our government is shaking their hand, while the police look the other way on their crimes. And we claim to have a good record on human rights...
Labels: Torture, USA, War Crimes
Alliance list
The Alliance has released its party list. Despite reportedly having struggled to retain 500 members, they've managed to find 30 people to contest the list, suggesting they still have a strong activist base. Unfortunately, they're fielding only 15 electorate candidates - a move which is not exactly going to add to their visibility. As a party which has collapsed since its 90's heyday, they're going to have a real problem convincing people that they're a credible electoral option and not even being on the ballot paper in most electorates is not going to help with that.
Labels: 2008 Election, Alliance
Will the police enforce the law?
AUSA will today make a formal complaint to police accusing visiting US Secretary of State Condolezza Rice of war crimes and conspiracy to torture. New Zealand claims universal jurisdiction for both under the Geneva Conventions Act 1958 and Crimes of Torture Act 1989. So, will the police enforce the law and arrest this war criminal?
Given their reaction to the suggestion that she be subjected to a citizens arrest, I doubt it. Which makes it pretty clear that they are more interested in protecting the powerful rather than being a neutral enforcer of the law. And that attitude brings both them and the entire edifice of the law into disrepute.
Labels: Police, Torture, USA, War Crimes
Protesting Rice
Global Peace and Justice Auckland will be holding a protest on Saturday to make it clear that Condolezza Rice is not welcome in New Zealand:
When: Saturday, 26 July, 13:30
Where: Carlton Gore Road and Park Road, marching to Goverment House
This will be followed at 15:15 by a protest outside the Langham Hotel in Symonds Street, where Rice is scheduled to meet John Key.
Rice is a war criminal under New Zealand and international law. But somehow I suspect the police will be protecting rather than prosecuting her.
Labels: Protests, Torture, USA, War Crimes
We should arrest this war criminal
AUSA is offering a $5,000 bounty to any Auckland University student who manages to make a citizens arrest of Condoleezza Rice during her visit here. For those who don't know, Rice chaired the policy discussions which led to the US adopting a policy of torture and approving the waterboarding of suspected terrorists. That makes her a war criminal, guilty of grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions. The discussions started when the CIA sought approval to torture al Qaeda operative Abu Zubaydah - approval which was granted. That makes her guilty of conspiracy to torture. Both are crimes under New Zealand law, over which New Zealand claims universal jurisdiction in accordance with international law. Which makes you wonder why AUSA is having to offer a bounty; instead, the New Zealand police should be arresting this war criminal at the border.
Labels: International Law, Torture, USA, War Crimes
It's Thursday, and the Climate Change (Emissions Trading and Renewable Preference) Bill is still glaringly absent from the Business Statement. Instead, the government will be having an appropriations debate - perhaps in an effort to get NZ First's vote on a confidence matter out of the way before their donations scandal gets any worse.
Meanwhile, time is getting tight. It is now less than four months until the election, and there is a maximum of seven sitting weeks before Parliament must rise for the election (assuming that the final session flows on into the next week, and remembering that Parliament expires on October 7). The ETS will take at least a week to pass, and meanwhile they have a full Order Paper as well as other legislation (the Immigration Bill and the asset forfeiture legislation) which is similarly time-consuming just back or about to return from select committee which they will want to pass before the House rises. There's always the option of urgency, of course, but the window is definitely narrowing. And if its not passed before the election, then we'll have another six month delay, not to mention the very real risk that a national government will delay it further or gut it in order to pander to its polluting backers. And IMHO, that's simply not a risk we can afford to take.
Election funding: trying to prove the right right
When the government passed the Electoral Finance Act with its strict rules on third party advertising, the right screamed that this was a deliberate attempt to suppress free speech, and that groups seeking to highlight issues and set the political agenda in election year would be silenced or curtailed. It's bullshit - but sadly, the folks at The Standard are doing their level best to prove them right, attacking an EMA campaign against the government's KiwiSaver amendments as a breach of the EFA.
The problem is, it's not. In order to be considered an "election advertisement", material must "reasonably be regarded as" encouraging people to vote either for or against a candidate or party. The candidate or party need not be specified, but may be identified implicitly "by reference to views, positions, or policies that are or are not held". But while the ads take a strong position against Labour's policy, like the CAFCA postcards earlier in the month, they are very clearly aimed not at encouraging votes, but at encouraging people to lobby politicians on a specific issue. The Standard are of course free to join the National Party in arguing that that ought to be illegal. But I doubt any reasonable person (let alone the Electoral Commission or the courts, both of which will interpret the law through the lens of the BORA and the clear Parliamentary intent that this sort of advertising be excluded) would agree with them.
Labels: 2008 Election, Election Funding
The Nazis are coming to Wellington
Back in 2004, our local Nazis descended on Wellington to wave the flag outside Parliament and protest against "the Assian Invasion campaign" [sic]. They're planning on doing it again this year, on October 25th.
Even Nazis have a right to free speech, but that doesn't mean their hate should go unchallenged. Anyone want to organise a welcoming committee for them?
Labels: Protests, Racism
Another NZ First slush fund
The interesting news in the Dominion Posts's story this morning that Bob Jones gave $25,000 to NZ First is not that he donated; rather, it's that it was never declared, instead being diverted into a party slush fund. Despite having written out the check directly to the fund, Jones seems to have been under the impression he donated to the party, and is reportedly concerned that it was used for another purpose.
(In his RadioNZ interview [audio], he makes it quite clear how corrupt the pre-EFA money laundering arrangements were; "every party" used trusts, but everyone involved knew that the donation was for the party. So, the trusts were purely there to circumvent disclosure and hide influence from the public).
The trust was "used sometimes to pay NZ First’s bills". None of this was declared either, either as an anonymous donation or an open one. While it is possible that bills paid by the Spencer Trust came to less than $10,000 in any one year, but if it didn't (and remember, Jones was unlikely to be the only donor), then it should have been declared. While Winston Peters may quibble, paying a party's bills is a donation (albeit in a roundabout fashion), and it needs to be declared. And that has always been the case - the old Electoral Act defined a candidate or party donation as including "money or of the equivalent of money or of goods or services or of a combination of those things", and this definition has been carried over into the Electoral Finance Act.
Unfortunately, the Electoral Commission can't do anything about any breach, as they have a six-month limit on prosecutions. But you'd hope that they would take this as a warning, and go over NZ First's annual return with a fine-toothed comb.
The good news is that if NZ First is still carrying on like this, it is illegal. Now, if money is passed on by a trust, the identity of the donor must be identified; if they don't disclose it, it must be treated as anonymous, and is capped at $1,000. If it is funded by multiple contributions, then the contributors must be identified as well. Failure to do either carries a penalty of a $40,000 fine. Deliberately colluding to make large anonymous donations is now a corrupt practice. If the trust wants to spend large amounts of money for electoral purposes in its own right, it must register as a third party (it hasn't) - which means it must likewise disclose its donations. So, either way, they're going to have to come clean. And given what we've been hearing in the last few days, it's about bloody time too!
Labels: Corruption, Election Funding, NZ First, Winston Peters
Clark on Peters
I'm just listening to Question Time, and Helen Clark is getting the expected grilling about Winston Peters and his secret donations. Two interesting points:
Despite clear Cabinet guidelines about the declaration of interests and a separate (but sadly confidential) process for Ministers to declare interests, Clark insists that it is nothing to do with her, but instead a question for the Registrar of Pecuniary Interests. This is simply false; the question of whether Peters has failed to properly notify Parliament of his interests and the question of whether he has failed to properly declare and manage his interests as a cabinet minister are completely separate.
Clark says Peters can keep the money. Under s2.79 of the Cabinet Manual, gifts of more than $500 must be relinquished unless the Prime Minister permits them to be retained. According to Clark, the gift paid for a legal case which served a substantial public interest, and so she has no problem with it being retained. This isn't unreasonable, given the frequency with which MPs are involved in legal action, and it is nice to have it made clear.
Unfortunately, Clark entirely evaded the question of whether giving a minister $100,000 when you wanted a job from them created a conflict of interest. The answer is obvious, and it is shameful that she refuses to state it and stand up for proper standards in the executive.
The full transcript will be up on the Parliament website later today.
Labels: Corruption, NZ First, Parliament, Winston Peters
Public transport problems
The Herald yesterday reported that high petrol prices were forcing Auckland commuters to leave their cars at home and take the bus and train. Good news, except for one thing: existing public transport networks may be unable to cope with the demand, leading those new customers to write it off and go back to their cars. Truthseeker has an account of some of the problems here. Fortunately his bus company was eventually able to cope, but I'm not sure that all of them will have been able to.
All of which points to the need for a serious and sustained investment in improving public transport to meet higher demand in future. Otherwise, people are just going to be forced by the lack of real options to use their cars, with consequent effects on health and the environment.
Labels: Transport
Labour wins another argument
National has finally spoken out on what passes for its housing policy, and committed to maintaining non-market rents. I guess Labour has won that argument then. They've also committed to maintaining the existing state housing stock, while giving tenants (but not outside speculators) a "right to buy" - a policy I don't mind at all, particularly since any revenue will be used to fund further purchases. so, an essentially status quo policy - not what's needed, but a far cry from the wholesale selloff they did during the 90's.
The downside is that by refusing to commit to meeting the demand for social housing by growing the state housing stock, they're effectively committing to overcrowding, poor health outcomes, and all the other ills that come from people not having a proper home. Not to mention the continued subsidy of landlords through the accommodation supplement. But National probably regards the latter as a feature rather than a bug.
Labels: 2008 Election, Housing, National
A small victory for freedom of information in Australia
During last year's election campaign, ALP leader Kevin Rudd promised to overhaul Australia's Freedom of Information Act to bring about greater transparency. Unfortunately, those plans seem to have hit some snags, and will be delayed for public discussion. But they will be doing one thing immediately: ending the ability of Ministers and senior civil servants to issue "conclusive certificates" that release of information is "not in the public interest". It's a small victory, but a significant one, which may help to end the culture of unaccountable secrecy in Australian government circles.
OTOH, it's clear that in Australia, it is culture which is the problem. The New Zealand government has an equivalent power to veto release of information by order-in-Council (in s32 and s32A of the OIA); the difference is that they don't use it (I think the last such use was in the 80's). Instead, we have a culture of relative openness and acceptance of the Ombudsman's review. And I think its primarily that, rather than the law, which really needs to change in Australia.
Labels: Australia, Freedom of Information
Self-serving, knee-jerk authoritarianism
The Police Association have issued their election manifesto crime policy "discussion document" [PDF], demanding (among other things) tasers, more police, immunity from private prosecution, permanent secrecy when they murder someone, an erosion of the right to silence, curfews, a lower age of criminal responsibility, and UK-style Anti-Social Behaviour Orders. It's the sort of self-serving, knee-jerk authoritarianism I've come to expect from them, issued in a blatant attempt to blackmail politicians into acceding to their demands for fear of being called "soft on crime" in an election year. And unfortunately, its working:
The Government is prepared to look at least one of the law and order policy ideas being put forward by the Police Association.
Police Association President Greg O'Connor this morning launched a policy document titled "Towards a Safer New Zealand".
It suggests investigating UK style antisocial behaviour orders, lowering the age of criminal responsibility, allowing DNA sampling of all arrested suspects, and penalties for defence lawyers who routinely contribute to court delays. Other recommendations include boosting frontline police resources and more amendments to bail laws.
Police Minister Annette King has already looked at UK antisocial behaviour orders and says they have aspects that are interesting.
An example of King's "thinking" on the issue can be found here. The short version is that she thinks it would be a good idea to let the police just make the law up as they go along. Be afraid, be very afraid. As for ASBOs themselves, I've posted on why they are a bad idea here.
It would be nice if we could get a police minister who remembered occasionally that what is convenient for the police is not necessarily desirable to society as a whole, and that police powers need to be limited and the police kept under constant scrutiny so that the rest of us can go about our business in peace. But apparently that's too much to expect. The best we can hope for is that King will no longer be police minister in November. Unfortunately, her expected replacement - Simon Power Chester Borrows - is unlikely to be much better.
Correction: The National Party police spokesperson is Chester Borrows, not Simon Power. Unfortunately, as a former police officer, he pretty much agrees with the Police Association.
Labels: ASBOs, Police
Immigration Bill: reported back
The Transport and Industrial Relations Committee has reported back [PDF; large] on the government's Immigration Bill. And to be fair, they have improved it in at least one area: the torture clause (which would have required those claiming protection under the Convention Against Torture to prove that they faced greater risk than usual in their country, thus making it far easier to deport people to torture) is gone, replaced with clauses which more accurately reflect New Zealand's human rights obligations. Unfortunately, the rest of the bill remains virtually unchanged, and in some cases has been made actively worse:
It still allows the use of secret evidence in immigration decisions. Such evidence must now be "balanced", and include any information which might help the client, but as there is no effective way of policing it, the requirement is effectively a joke. Summaries must now be given, but they're a joke too. And if information cannot be summarised, it cannot (officially) be relied upon - but that doesn't stop it from effectively poisoning the well against a client, causing the Minister to view other evidence in a different light. None of these "safeguards" apply if the decision is discretionary, of course - and one of the "features" of the new bill is that it has significantly increased the number of such decisions.
The bill retains special advocates as a "safeguard" to represent clients in cases where classified information is used. However, they are still forbidden from talking to their clients after they have learned what the government wants to hide - a fact which prevents them from any effective challenge. They are a fig leaf for unfairness, nothing more.
The blanket ban on entry to someone deported from or refused entry to another country (for whatever reason, good, bad, or stupid) remains unchanged.
There is now a blanket ban on the courts granting bail to immigration detainees, to prevent them from "undermining" the law by applying the Bill of Rights Act. This means there is no effective oversight on the discretion of immigration officers to order detention.
The security clause is retained, allowing any non-citizen to be arbitrarily arrested and indefinitely detained on the (not effectively reviewable) decision of an immigration or police officer that they are a "risk to security" - even if they have lived here for decades.
The current system of indefinite detention is retained, with clauses added again to prevent the courts from "undermining" it by applying the BORA. There is now a presumption that detention will go on forever. And courts must still regard all classified information as accurate when deciding on detention, no matter how transparently false it is.
Basically, the bill has not been changed in any substantive way since its first reading, and as such, it is unsalvageable. It must be defeated. Please write to your MP today.
(Gordon Campbell has more here)
Labels: Human Rights, Immigration, Immigration Act Review, Parliament
Keith Ng has moved on to better-paying things. Bugger. I was looking forward to his serious number wonkery during the election; now I'll just have to do my own digging.
Labels: Blogosphere
More wind
Contact Energy is planning a 177 MW wind farm in the Puketoi Range near Dannevirke. And they seem to have learned some important lessons from earlier projects - choosing a remote area and getting local landowners on side to ensure an easier resource consent process. They expect to apply for resource consent by the end of the year, and to have finished construction within five years.
(Remember that construction timetable. Now look at the Wind Energy Association's (incomplete) list of projects in New Zealand. Even allowing for severe delays, we are looking at an explosion in wind power over the next decade, and the projects on that list alone should be enough to see us reach a target of 90% renewable electricity generation).
Meanwhile, Mighty River is about to apply for consent for its planned windfarm in the Turitea Reserve near Palmerston North. I've posted on this in the past, objecting to the idea of digging up a reserve for anything, and to the corrupt dealings between Mighty River and the PNCC which has seen the latter - which remember will be responsible for granting any resource consent - awarded "progress payments" for advancing the project, something which smacks of the outright purchase of local government. The good news is that half the turbines will be on private land, and I have no objection to those at all. The bad news is that half won't, so I'll be objecting against it.
Labels: Energy, Local Government, Wind
Former Bosnian Serb President Radovan Karadzic has finally been captured. As President of Republika Srpska, he is accused of ordering the ethnic clensing of Bosnians and has been indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. And hopefully now we'll finally see some justice for that.
Labels: International Law, Serbia, War Crimes
How many slush funds does Winston have?
The Dominion Post this morning reports that NZ First has been receiving money from one of New Zealand's richest families, seemingly structured to avoid declaration limits. So far, so normal - this sort of corruption was par for the course before the Electoral Finance Act's lower thresholds and tighter disclosure rules, and the old Electoral Act allowed parties to be wilfully blind about where money was coming from in order to keep the identities of their backers out of public view. but then it gets interesting:
A special investigation by The Dominion Post can reveal that a series of donations from accounts linked to the Vela family - heavyweight operators in the racing and fishing industries - and totalling at least $150,000 were made to the party.
But NZ First sources say nothing like that much Vela money was deposited in the party's bank account.
Which raises the question: how many slush funds does Winston Peters have? The prospect that Winston was operating a "leader's fund" (as it was euphemistically put) was first raised by Ben Thomas in the NBR last Friday (column duplicated on Tumeke). And again, it raises all sorts of disclosure problems. Its one thing to have your party donations laundered through a nominally independent lawyer; it's quite another when its the party leader doing it. And its another thing again if this money disappears into a black hole and is never declared in the party's annual returns.
This smells very bad, and someone needs to get to the bottom of it. In the meantime, I'm just glad that the passage of the EFA will have put a stop to it.
Immigration Bill: not looking good
The Immigration Bill was reported back from select committee today. Unfortunately, it hasn't yet appeared on the parliamentary website, but from Keith Locke's comments, it doesn't sound good:
"Too many decisions will be made on information kept secret from those affected," Mr Locke, the Green Party's Immigration Spokesperson says.
"Fourteen state agencies, from the Department of Corrections to the Ministry of Fisheries, will now be able to define information as 'classified' and not to be seen by the affected person.
"While summaries of secret allegations will generally be available, the agency producing them will be tempted to leave out anything which doesn't favour its own case.
"Special Advocates can be appointed but will be of limited usefulness to the affected people. They are not even trusted to talk to those they are advocating for, after they have seen any classified information.
And as if that's not bad enough, the committee has also moved to plug the "loophole" which has seen immigration detainees released from indefinite detention, by inserting an amendment that the length of detention cannot be considered a "special circumstance" in a bail application. Which means that when the government locks you up forever, you stay locked up forever, with none of this messy judicial oversight. Just like Guantanamo Bay...
This bill has to be defeated. You can start by signing the petition here.
Parliament now has an alert service. You'll need to register, but it can send updates on order papers, questions for oral answer, and select committees. Unfortunately, it does this at a specified time, so it won't help in telling me the moment the report on the Immigration Bill comes out.
Labels: Parliament
Worthless assurances
For the past six years, the Bush Administration has pursued a policy of torturing suspected terrorists, cloaked in a fiction that techniques practiced by the Spanish Inquisition aren't torture, but merely "enhanced interrogation". Now, a UK Parliamentary Select Committee has drawn the obvious conclusion: that US assurances that prisoners will not be tortured are worthless:
In its report, the committee said: "Given the clear differences in definition, the UK can no longer rely on US assurances that it does not use torture, and we recommend that the government does not rely on such assurances in the future."
The MPs also challenged the government to check more actively that Britain had not been used by the Americans for so called "rendition" flights - when detainees are taken to countries where bans on torture may not apply.
This will have far-reaching effects. For a start, the UK is a party to the Convention Against Torture, which prohibits both extradition to torture and the use of evidence obtained by torture. Suspected terrorists facing extradition to the US to face terrorism charges - and there have been a few - will be able to challenge that extradition and the evidence which supports it - and the court will have to actually investigate, rather than merely take the assurance of the US that it "does not torture*" (* "except for waterboarding, strapado, electrocution and beating, because those things are only torture when done by non-Americans") at face value. And this will have a significant effect on international cooperation and the ability to prosecute and convict terrorists. So rather than making us safer, Bush's sadistic impulses have in fact endangered us again. Thanks, George!
Labels: Torture, UK, USA, War on Terror
Winston Peters must be sacked
The Prime Minister responded today to Winston Peters' admission that, contrary to his earlier denials, he had been $100,000 by Owen Glenn, calling it "embarrassing". It's a little more than that. Not only did Peters violate Parliament's Standing Orders on the declaration of gifts (something which Rodney Hide will be complaining about today) - he also violated Cabinet guidelines. The Cabinet Manual has extensive sections on Ministerial conduct and the acceptance of gifts. The short version: Ministers must clearly distinguish between their personal interests and their Ministerial roles, declare all pecuniary interests, and refuse all gifts except from close family members. This includes both cash and donations in kind:
Ministers who accept gifts worth more than the prescribed value must not only disclose them to the Registrar of Pecuniary Interests of Members of Parliament, but also must relinquish them, unless they obtain the express permission of the Prime Minister to retain them. Any gift accepted by Ministers may be relinquished to the Parliamentary Service to arrange appropriate display or storage. Gifts that Ministers receive from close family members need not be relinquished.
They can accept political party donations, but it must be made clear that the donation is accepted on behalf of the party, not on behalf of the Minister. In any case, Peters has denied adamantly that Glenn's $100K was a party donation, which means it was covered under the general gifts clause. He should have declared it, and then relinquished it. He did neither. And this is something no Prime Minister should accept. The Cabinet rules on gifts are there for a real purpose: to prevent corruption, and the perception of corruption. Peters has blatantly violated those rules, and for that he must either offer his resignation or be sacked.
Unfortunately, I rate the odds of the Prime Minister having a spine on this about as highly as I rate those of Parliament's "all powerful" (where do the journalists get that phrase from?) Privileges Committee finding that Peters violated Standing orders. The realities of MMP mean Peters has a gun to the Prime Minister's head - she can't fire him, regardless of his egregious behaviour, unless she wants her tenure as PM to end prematurely in a messy coalition collapse. Unfortunately, this means she and her party get to go down with him, because I do not think that the image of a PM permitting Ministers to receive donations in brown paper bags from people who want favours from them is one the public will accept.
Labels: Corruption, Winston Peters
A transit lounge?
According to Peter Dunne, New Zealand is "a giant transit lounge for Australia" because "nearly 20%" (19% - 19.6%, depending on how close one of their rounded figures is) of the New Zealanders emigrating to Australia were born overseas. It sounds compelling, except for one thing: that's actually lower than the equivalent proportion of the general population. According to the 2006 census, 22.9% of those ordinarily resident in New Zealand were born overseas. You'd think someone might have bothered to check that first, but who cares about facts when you're trying to whip up an election-year immigration scare?
Labels: Immigration, Peter Dunne
Fiji: cancelling democracy
So it's official: Fiji's military dictator Voreqe Bainimarama has cancelled the elections he had promised to hold by March, ending any pretence of a return to democracy. His reason? Well, it's not because Fiji's electoral officials aren't up to it - a visit from the Pacific Forum last week showed they would be able to run an election next year if there was the political will. And it's that which is lacking - the dictatorship simply doesn't want elections unless it can dictate the outcome and make sure that the "right" people win. So instead, they're going to illegally change the constitution to gerrymander the electoral system and get results they want. It's sickeningly undemocratic - but then, so was holding a military coup in the first place.
As for the wider issue of the Fijian electoral system, no, I don't like it - but this is not the way to go about reform. Instead, Fiji should hold elections, and leave that question in the hands of legitimate, democratically elected civilian politicians, rather than military thugs.
Labels: Democracy, Fiji
When propaganda turns out to be fact
Labels: Robert Fisk, War Crimes
It turns out that Owen Glenn did give Winston Peters $100,000 - and that Winston "didn't know about it". The money was used to fund his electoral petition against Bob Clarkson, which really means it was to Peters in his role as a candidate. Unfortunately, it falls into a gap in electoral law - Peters wasn't technically a candidate at the time, the donation was made after the deadline for candidate returns, and in any case there was a six month limit on prosecutions. So, under the Electoral Act 1993, you could give a politician a hundred grand in a brown paper bag, and provided it wasn't between the time you were nominated and the time you were declared elected, no-one had to know about it. I'm glad we closed that loophole (or did we? There's a lot of wiggle room in the word "candidate" after all...)
But while Peters has escaped prosecution under the Electoral Act, he has exposed himself elsewhere. Since 2006, Members of Parliament have been required to submit annual returns of their pecuniary interests. These must include
a description of each gift (including hospitality and donations in cash or kind but excluding any donation made to cover expenses in an electoral campaign) received by the member that has an estimated market value in New Zealand of more than $500 and the name of the donor of each of those gifts (if known or reasonably ascertainable by the member)
Owen Glenn gave Peters, through his lawyer, $100,000 to cover legal expenses. Peters should have declared it. He didn't. Not in 2006, 2007, or 2008 [all PDF]. This is quite clearly a breach of Parliamentary Privilege under Standing Order 400 (h):
as a member, knowingly providing false or misleading information in a return of pecuniary interests
Peters knew his legal fees were being covered by donations. He says himself in the Herald article that he had been doing this since 1991:
He said that since 1991 he had been involved in 14 legal actions which had been partly funded through donations, and Mr Henry had "a firm policy" of not disclosing the source of donations.
"I have never been told the source of these donations but have personally met the shortfall which has amounted to many hundred thousands of dollars," Mr Peters said in a statement.
He knew there were donations, he didn't declare them. That's a clear breach of privilege. If a Member would like to lodge the complaint...
Not that I expect anything to really come of it. I have nothing but contempt for the Privileges Committee, a cosy kangaroo court where MPs vote on party lines and collude to overlook one another's indiscretions -even in a case such as this. But the rest of us ought to be concerned that a Member of Parliament has been receiving large amounts of anonymous cash for so long, without any sort of disclosure. Peters says everything is above board here, but the potential for corruption is blindingly obvious. And given that the Privileges Committee can't be trusted to do anything about it, its time we took the job off them, and gave it to the police. Who is giving money to our MPs and whether they tell us about it is not a private matter for Parliament, it is a public matter for the law. But the chances of our MPs voting to recognise that are about zero.
Labels: 2005 Election, Corruption, Election Funding, Winston Peters
Climate change: the regulatory alternative
A while ago, Truthseeker asked why trade emissions credits anyway?, and suggested if the government fails to gain a majority for the ETS, we may want to try alternative, regulatory policies:
Legislatively mandating emissions reductions to an open and transparent regulatory schedule and NOT operating a market may actually be cheaper and ultimately more effective than an ETS.
I've already talked about why we have an ETS (short answer: a policy culture still suffering from a starry-eyed infatuation with markets), but I promised that I'd look at what a regulation-based climate change policy might look like. So, here we go.
The first thing to note is that in this area of policy, there is nothing new under the sun, and its all been thought of before. When climate change first appeared on the policy radar, twenty years ago (yes, its been that long), the government commissioned the New Zealand Climate Change Programme to look at possible policies. They reported back in 1990, with a menu of policy options that looks depressingly familiar to anyone considering climate change policy today. Energy efficiency, promoting forestry, negotiated greenhouse agreements, economic instruments, the RMA, even "extreme measures" such as shutting down Huntly or lowering the speed limit were considered. Our problem has never been coming up with solutions - they're obvious the moment you pause to think about them. It's been implementing them. And that makes regulation an attractive proposition, because its usually easier to do (and certainly easier to do piecemeal) than imposing a unified, top-down solution such as a carbon tax or ETS.
The second thing to note is that the current government has been far more willing than its predecessors to use regulation as a backstop to economic instruments. So we now have basic fuel efficiency standards for cars, basic energy efficiency standards, and a proposal to ban new thermal electricity generation. This is a good idea - because as I mentioned in my previous post, its not an either/or proposition. Good regulation can be an excellent supplement to economic instruments, and help drive improvements if the market won't.
So what regulatory solutions should the government impose to reduce emissions if the ETS fails? Here's my take, by sector:
Energy: The problem here is thermal generation, so the obvious step is to ban the construction of new thermal plants and force all new generation to be renewable (note that the government is trying to do this in the ETS bill - something they perhaps should have separated out so as to get it through piecemeal). Require some proportion of emissions from existing thermal stations to be offset by planting trees (I prefer native forest, but exactly what doesn't matter). But that's only half the problem - we need to reduce existing emissions as well. Here the answer is extremely aggressive energy efficiency regulation, on a par with California's (California has managed to keep its per capita electricity usage basically flat for the past twenty years, while the rest of America has grown by 50%). So, energy efficiency standards for all appliances, a much tighter building code, requirements to upgrade housing (and financial help to make it happen). It's all worth doing because the marginal generator in our electricity system is coal, thus every kWh we save directly reduces emissions.
Industrial: Put climate change back in the RMA, and require new factories to meet stringent energy efficiency standards (ironically, in the case of big polluters like HolCim and Tiwai Point, they do). Require some proportion of emissions from factories to be offset by planting trees. Exactly what proportion will depend on how deep a cut we want to make; 20% seems reasonable at first.
Transport: There are three ways to reduce transport emissions: reducing usage, substituting fuels, and improving efficiency. So, fund public transport properly to get people out of cars. Ban heavy trucks, and encourage the use of rail. Impose a mandatory sustainable biofuels requirement on oil companies to spur local production from sustainable sources. And finally, impose stringent fuel efficiency standards (again, look at California) on new cars, and improve the fuel efficiency of the overall vehicle fleet by refusing to warrant cars over a certain age which fail to meet rising minimum standards. The latter should cap emissions, while the former two policies gradually reduce them.
Agriculture: Require resource consent for farming (it is after all a polluting activity). Impose intensity restrictions, limiting the number of cattle you can have per hectare (this affects nitrous oxide emissions). Require the use of nitrogen inhibitors in fertiliser.
Forestry: Ban deforestation - no cutting down forests unless they are replanted (this is pretty much what the ETS does in practice).
Waste: This is already controlled by a regulatory means: the Resource Management (National Environmental Standards Relating to Certain Air Pollutants, Dioxins, and Other Toxics) Regulations 2004 require large landfills containing putrescable material to capture or flare the resulting methane. And it works well.
Solvents: Not important enough to worry about.
Some of these measures are almost certainly more effective than economic measures; if you want to ban deforestation, then the easiest way is to ban deforestation, not muck about with tradable certificates. Where they fall down is that they lack flexibility - its rare to want a total ban on something, and the hassle factor of thinking up all the exceptions can be significant. Still, in cases where we want close to a total ban (e.g. thermal electricity generation and deforestation) its hard to see what we gain by using a market. More importantly, if the ETS fails, I don't think we can wait to be fifth-time lucky with a market solution. What's important is that we reduce emissions now, not whether our chosen policy is perfect and cleaves to neo-liberal orthodoxy.
Election08 interviews Jim Anderton
Over on Election08, Scoop's Gordon Campbell interviews Progressive leader Jim Anderton. It's a pretty interesting interview, about Anderton's history with the Labour party and the future of the Progressives (he doesn't think it has one. Progressive Party members may be annoyed about that), but for me there were two highly interesting bits: firstly, that despite it being contrary to all their values, and despite Matt Robson having campaigned strongly in defence of Ahmed Zaoui, Anderton doesn't see any problems with the Immigration Bill. And secondly, Anderton gives a window into the current state of negotiations on the ETS, hinting at an earlier entry for fertiliser. This is important because it is key to getting the Greens on board - they want something tangible for their support, rather than just being treated as a doormat again - but the sticking point is getting it past Anderton, NZ First, and of course the farm lobby, who are still trapped in deep denial. It almost makes you wish for an EU border tax, just to kick the farmers onto the right side of the argument...
Labels: Agricultural Emissions, Jim Anderton, Links
Climate Change: a new challenge for the US
In May 1961, US President John F Kennedy challenged his country to dream a bigger dream and put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. Today, former Vice-President Al Gore launched a similar transformative challenge to the US: to end its dependence on fossil fuels and commit to 100% renewable electricity generation by 2018.
It's a big dream, which would reduce global carbon emissions by 8%, and likely spark a global energy revolution which would reduce them further in other rich nations. But is it achievable? Jerome at European Tribune (someone with strong experience in the wind industry) thinks "almost":
while 100% is probably unrealistic, it's not unreasonable to expect to be able to get pretty close to that number (say, in the 50-90% range) in that timeframe, and it is very likely that it makes a LOT of sense economically.
It would require a strong investment and some policy changes, but its certainly doable; all it needs is the policies. As for the benefits, because the cost of renewables is fixed at the time of construction, it would likely result in cheaper electricity prices for consumers as well as lower greenhouse gas emissions.
Of course, doing this would require a President who isn't a tool of the oil barons. Fortunately, Americans will get the chance to elect such a president in November.
Labels: Climate Change, Energy, USA
What's the annual cost of American inequality? 21,000 dead babies. That's one of the startling conclusions of The Measure of America: American Human Development Report 2008-2009. The report applies the methodology of the UN Human Development Index to America's states, congressional districts and cultural groups, exposing shocking disparities. Parts of the United States are thirty years behind the rest, while on key indicators of health and education, the US trails every other western nation (on life-expectancy, it trails Israel, Greece, Singapore, Costa Rica, and South Korea, plus pretty much all of Western Europe). But the most horrifying data is on infant mortality:
The U.S. infant mortality rate is on par with that of Croatia, Cuba, Estonia, and Poland; if the U.S. infant mortality rate were the same as that of top-ranked Sweden, 21,000 more American babies would live to celebrate their first birthdays every year.
That's absolutely staggering. Every single one of those deaths is preventable and avoidable. They happen because, despite spending more per capita on health care than anywhere else in the world, a sixth of Americans just don't have access.
The report (or at least its executive summary [PDF] - the main report is available only in hardcopy, at a price) makes a number of recommendations on how the US can improve its HDI ranking and reduce the inequalities in its society, including extending healthcare to all and investing in early childhood education. But I expect them to be ignored. After all, every True American (tm) knows that the measure of how great a country you are is not the substantive freedom and standard of living you provide to your citizens, but the size of your military and how many other countries you can bomb.
(Hat tip: The Guardian)
Labels: Inequality, USA
United Future's education policy
United Future released its education policy [PDF] today - a relatively hefty 12-page document packed with specifics. The contrast with National - which has made some vague promises of "change" but hasn't issued detailed specifics outside of a few very narrow areas - couldn't be more obvious.
As I'm not an educationalist, I don't feel qualified to comment on the specifics of UF's plan (any teachers out there want to take a detailed look?). One thing I do note though is that they strongly favour greater investment of resources in education, with lower student:teacher ratios in primary school, better working conditions for teachers, much greater funding for ICT, ESOL and students with disabilities, and the reintroduction of a universal student allowance. All of which is likely to be a real problem if they are successful in their desire to form a coalition with National post-election. In fact, with an education policy like this - one that seems to have been written by actual teachers, rather than economists - you really have to wonder what they think they have in common with National at all.
Labels: 2008 Election, Education, United Future
Against ACC privatisation
I feel I should blog about National finally announcing that it plans to privatise the worker's account of ACC, but I don't think I have much to add beyond what has been said by the The Standard, or indeed, the Prime Minister. The basic principle of ACC is "community responsibility", that we cover everyone and insulate them against the risk of accident by socialising the costs and to some extent cross-subsidising. And pretty clearly, that goes right out the window if we let insurance companies cherry pick the least risky customers. As for National's justifications that injury rates have risen, that employers pay the same regardless of their workplace accident record, and that entitlements "are not of high quality", the CTU has a detailed dismantling here. The short version:
Workplace accident rates fell 6% between 2002 and 2005;
Differential premiums create a strong incentive for employers to falsify records and deny that accidents occur, thus denying workers cover;
New Zealand workers get greater entitlements and are back at work faster than those in other countries.
And all of this is done for half the price it costs in Australia. Don't believe me? Check out the PricewaterhouseCoopers report [PDF]. It found that ACC's universal, no-fault, socialised model covered more people at lower cost and with less hassle than any alternative, and that
[d]espite competitive market pressures, comparative evidence from other jurisdictions suggest that administrative cost levels under private underwriting would be likely to rise to some extent.
In other words, kiwis would end up paying more for private insurers' inefficiencies and profits. Contrary to right-wing dogma, the market is not the best way to handle everything.
All of this is strong empirical evidence that privatisation would be bad for New Zealanders. But it would be very good for foreign insurance companies, who stand to profit by tens of millions a year from even a part privatisation. Which shows you where National's true interests lie: not in working for kiwis, but in looting the state for the benefit of its donors and cronies.
Labels: 2008 Election, ACC, Corruption, National, Privatisation
Prison slave labour comes to New Zealand
One of the nastiest aspects of contemporary American capitalism is its use of prison slave labour. A large captive population (mostly of Afro-American arrested for minor crime or drug offences, or incarcerated for life for trivial offences under "three strikes" laws) are forced to work for a pittance, with their services contracted out to major corporations. Prisoners don't have union, employment, or workplace safety rights, so costs can be kept low. And if they complain about their treatment, you can beat them in the head with a stick. This return to nineteenth-century employment conditions allows US companies such as Dell, KMart and IBM to stay profitable.
Now Labour has introduced this practice in New Zealand. Prisoners at Rimutaka and Auckland Region Women’s Prisons will be assembling photocopiers for Canon. While they'll be getting real training and learning real skills (as opposed to previous prison work schemes which have seen prisoners rented out as fruit pickers), according to a Corrections spokesperson, they will be paid between 20 and 60 cents an hour. As with previous prison employment schemes, they will have no labour rights, no employment contract, no effective means of dispute resolution, and no enforceable workplace safety standards. And of course, no right to strike for higher wages.
As for Canon, the press release claims they are paying "market rates" - but given the flexibility of the market, that can mean almost anything, and given the risks of the scheme, I think its fair to say that they would not be doing it unless it was far cheaper than the alternatives. So, they're profiting from the use of slave labour in New Zealand prisons. If they were doing it overseas, it would be illegal; the Customs Act prohibits the importation of goods made with prison labour. But by doing it here, they sidestep the law. As for Corrections, they get to pocket the revenue while not being exposed to the same labour and employment standards that private companies have to pay and while having all of its overheads funded by the taxpayer. Whichever way you look at it, it's simply obscene. And the fact that Labour - "the party of the workers" - is doing it is even more obscene.
I support prison employment or training schemes, but they should be handled transparently, with prisoners working voluntarily, paid market rates (possibly escrowed until release) with full labour rights, and not subject to any sanctions for refusing to participate. Any deductions for room and board should be made transparently, just as they are in the work-to-release scheme. But the way Corrections handles these schemes now is the opposite of this, and allows them to effectively rent out their prisoners as low-wage forced labour. And that is simply not something that should be allowed to happen in a civilised society.
Update: some people have asked whether prisoners really aren't allowed to join unions or take industrial action. That's certainly my understanding from the explanation Corrections gave me when I first looked at this a few years ago:
The provision of employment for inmates by the Department does not constitute a formal employment relationship. Rather the employment is part of skill acquisition and should be regarded as a training initiative. Inmates do not have, therefore, the same access as free workers to wages, rights and other remedies. They do have protections under Corrections legislation and regulations. Inmates are not employees of the Department and are not, therefore, subject to the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992. However, the Department will observe the provisions of the Act for all inmate employment activities...
No rights, no contract, no protections, and a token "incentive payment" in the place of a wage - they're slaves. And our government is contracting them out for the private sector's profit. We should all be ashamed of ourselves for letting this go on.
Labels: Corrections, Slavery, Worker's Rights
'Theatrical return for the living and the dead'
Labels: Lebanon, Robert Fisk
Reuniversalising the student allowance
I've long been in favour of restoring a universal student allowance. While the right finger-point about "subsidising privilege" (as clear a case of pre-emptive accusation as ever I saw), this relies on a rather outdated view of who participates in tertiary education. As any glance at the statistics will show, we are now in an age of mass tertiary education: 36.5% of 18-24 years olds were enrolled in a tertiary course in 2006, compared with 26.2% in 1997 (sadly I can't find earlier statistics on tertiary participation rates, particularly in the 1980's, but that gives a good example of the trend). Student allowances aren't about "middle class welfare", they're about supporting opportunity for all. But even if they weren't, the fact remains that under the current policy, many students who want to focus on their studies are forced to borrow for food. And that is simply intolerable in a civilised society.
So, it's good to see that the government is at least costing the option of reuniversalisation. What's not good to see is how quickly they're trying to back away from it. In an election campaign where they're struggling to win a fourth term, Labour desperately needs to give people a reason to support them. It can only do this by showing us a clear left-wing vision and going places National can not and will not go on worker's rights, equality, and social services. If they can't or won't do that, then they have only themselves to blame when they lose.
So would reuniversalisation be affordable? The upfront cost is $2 billion over four years, which would make it a hefty policy indeed. However, much of that money is spent anyway (at least on a cashflow basis) through the student loan scheme, and once this is accounted for, the cost shrinks to $728 million, or about $180 million per year. In good times, this would be significant, but perfectly affordable. But these aren't good times. More importantly, in their budget earlier in the year, Labour spent all the money, leaving them with a cap of about $750 million a year for new spending once health-sector growth is accounted for. This was intended to be a poison pill for a future National government, sabotaging their claim that they could afford massive tax cuts for the rich without either service cuts or more borrowing, but it also constrains Labour. $180 million is less than $750 million, but there will be other spending demands (not least the need for departmental budgets to keep pace with inflation); it could probably be done, but it would be the only significant thing they could do, their "one big idea" for an election campaign or a budget. So, in the short-term, Labour's incremental approach seems to be the best we can hope for (and the costing can be seen as a way for labour to make the case for this to its potential coalition partners, all of whom want to see the reintroduction of a universal student allowance).
Of course, none of this would be an issue if Labour hadn't cut taxes - and on this front I can't help but notice that the $180 million a year cost of a reuniversalised student allowance is only slightly less than the $184 million a year the rich gain due to Labour's shifting of the 39% tax threshold. So, when given a choice between funding opportunity for all and giving money to the rich, Labour chose the latter. Some "left-wing" government!
Labels: 2008 Election, Education, Labour, Student Loans
The 69th Carnival of the Liberals is now up at Stump Lane.
Climate change: weak
Last week, the Australian government released the Garnaut Report, an independent analysis of climate change and climate change policy, which recommended the rapid implementation of a broad-based emissions trading scheme. A key recommendation of the report was that the government should not hand out free permits to polluters or ease the impact on householders by cutting fuel excise taxes.
Today, the Australian government released its response in the form of a Green paper [PDF] (summary report here; overview of preferred positions here). In it, they back away from Garnaut's strong recommendations. In particular, they propose cutting fuel taxes "on a cent for cent basis" to reduce the initial price impact, 90% free allocations for "emissions intensive trade-exposed industries", and 60 - 90% free allocations for "strongly affected" (but not trade exposed) industries (coal-fired electricity generation is expected to be the main recipient). The net effect of this will be to substantially weaken the effectiveness of the scheme (at least around transport), while repeating the same mistakes that allowed the European ETS to turn into a giant lolly scramble which delivered windfall profits to polluters.
Still, at least they'll be including the majority of their emissions by 2010. Whereas New Zealand will only just be getting started. Far from "leading the world", we're behind the Aussies - the Aussies! - on this. Helen Clark should be hanging her head in shame.
Oh, and one other note: while the Australians want to link with international markets, they won't be linking with us. They will accept CDM and JI credit, and CERs created under the Kyoto Protocol, but they will not accept any Kyoto Assigned Amount Units (AAU) before 2013 due to concerns about Eastern European "hot air". Since our scheme relies on AAU for international transfers, then New Zealand firms will not be able to sell their reductions to Australians. Neither will they be able to buy reductions from Australia - they will not be backing their Australian units with Kyoto credit or allowing them to be converted for international sale. So effectively the Australians are creating an isolated market for themselves, with a one-way flow of credits in. They're probably big enough to do that, but its a very different path from the (almost) open market New Zealand is proposing.
Labels: Australia, Climate Change, Emissions Trading
A small victory for freedom of information in Aust...
Outsourcing torture
The freedom to annoy
Managing the risk of peak oil
Justice for Genoa
Islamophobia in France
The Immigration Bill: it affects you
MMP and government longevity
More British torture in Iraq
Stop the Immigration Bill
Election funding: perfidy and hypocrisy
Climate change: emissions trading in a nutshell
Peaking?
Not justice
42 days detention is dead
Climate change: the Royal Society speaks out
The HRC on the Immigration Bill
America's madness continues
Pardoning war crimes?
The Immigration Bill violates the Convention Again...
The usual story
Defying the Ombudsman
UK abolishes blasphemy
Climate change: urgent inaction
An interesting question
Why Parliament should be subject to the OIA
Shonky analysis, shonky polling from NZIER
Climate change: the Garnaut report
"Unnecessary"
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Free Speech and the Skokie Case
I may not agree with you, but I will defend to the death your right to make an ass of yourself.
The current flurry over how much free speech should actually be free and how much should be kept in cages is not new. Euripides, in 400 BC, argued it was slavery not to speak one’s thought. Abbie Hoffman, founder of the Yippies in the late 1960s, humorously said that “Free speech means the right to shout theatre in a crowded fire.”
A proposed march by an American Nazi party in Skokie, Illinois, in 1977, was defended successfully under US freedom of speech laws by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and a lawyer—who was Jewish! What was startling about this case was that one out of six citizens of the town of Skokie were either direct survivors of the Holocaust or an immediate relative of one. Despite thousands of members resigning from the ACLU in protest, the case found its way to the Supreme Court where it was won by the ACLU. Jewish activist groups in Skokie didn’t care. They threatened violent resistance against the Nazis if they dared to show their faces and the hated swastika.
Communities in Australia, and in the USA, are divided about the right of their citizens to have absolutely unfettered speech. Feminist scholars argue that context of speech is the crucial issue and suggest not free speech but the concept of “fair” speech needs to be the qualifier. But what does this mean and how can it be clarified in law?
In the case of FCC v The Pacifica Foundation, in 1977, the US Supreme Court agreed:
it is not the words which are of concern, but the societal context in which the “speech” takes place. Vulgarisms, racial epithets and religious slurs are destructive of the civility which is necessary to the order of society. This kind of offensiveness alienates members of society from each other while adding nothing to the quality of discourse.
Completely free speech under all circumstances can never be a possibility—there are easily demonstrable exceptions and contexts, such as national security in time of war. Sometimes in such cases secrets can be of greater service to freedom than open discourse.
There is a statutory limitation upon the use of abusive speech which is found in Title 18 § 1464 of the United States Penal Code:
Whoever utters any obscene, indecent, or profane language by means of radio communication shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.
Speech is very much unfree in our schools, and in the presence of young children, in the mainstream media, including television and radio and in everyday business affairs.
So what exactly might be a good practical and working definition of free speech, and how can we correctly associate it to the concept of fair speech?
Political control of speech and thought is one of the most persistent social issues in recorded history. All totalitarian governments restrict speech as a matter of course and all democracies restrict it to some degree in time of national crisis.
In 212 BC, in ancient China, “The Burning of Books and Burying of Scholars”, or “The Fires of Qin”, named after the First Qin Dynasty Emperor, Qin Shi Huangdi, was initiated to crush discourse and political opinion, in order to unify thought, arguing that the intelligentsia fomented dissent through libel. Many key classical texts were destroyed, discussion of their content was forbidden by death, and those found in possession of outlawed books were banished as convicts to work on construction of the Great Wall. Upwards of one thousand scholars were buried alive, many of them Confucians. This policy resulted in the rapid overthrow of the Qin Dynasty by the Han Dynasty and the restoration of popular Confucianism.
While Australia does not have any constitutional or statutory declaration of rights that formally frame freedom-of-speech laws, as in the USA, the Howard government brought back punishment for seditious speech:
Any person who, with the intention of causing violence or creating public disorder or a public disturbance, writes, prints, utters or publishes any seditious words shall be guilty of an indictable offence punishable by imprisonment for 3 years.
Arguments that pornography constitutes a form of free speech have split the modern feminist movement into for-or-against camps. Some claim pornography, as a form of free speech, should not be made illegal, arguing that women now create and consume their own “women-empowering” erotic materials, which should have a clear distinction from the “women-exploitative” pornography usually produced by men.
Betty McLellan, in Pornography and the Myth of Free Speech, argues that all pornography, and specifically violent pornography, causes harm. She asserts that to protect pornography under an umbrella of free speech is misleading because restraint of hurtful and dangerous speech sometimes is necessary, citing the classic example: no one is free to shout fire in a crowded theatre if no fire exists. Speech is not free in that context. The context once again becomes the deciding factor. So, if in that instance, why not in other instances?
McLellan suggests that in an imbalanced culture such as ours, fair speech is a necessary qualifier to free speech:
that for speech to be truly free, and free for all, it must be fair. A cursory look at the way democratic societies operate reveals some interesting facts about the kind of free speech which is blind to the principle of fairness.
McLellan argues that completely free speech in a society with a culturally “stacked deck” will always favour the powerful, entrench inequality, focus on the individual over community, and ignore the issues of quality of life. She says that “the principle of free speech is so deeply mediated by power that it cannot assure the equality promised by democracy”.
Dr Megan Boler, Professor of History and Philosophy of Education at the University of Toronto, in her essay “All Speech is Not Free: The Ethics of Affirmative Action Pedagogy”, also makes the argument:
Until all voices are equal, we must operate within a context of historicized ethics which consciously privileges the insurrectionary and dissenting voices, sometimes at the minor cost of silencing those voices which have been permitted dominant status for the past centuries.
The Australian Attorney-General George Brandis recently stated: “In a free country people do have rights to say things that other people find offensive or insulting or bigoted.”
Aside from the customary name-calling, what exactly is a bigot? Merriam-Webster defines bigot as a “person who strongly and unfairly dislikes other people and/or their ideas”. And bigotry is the state of mind of a bigot. A state of mind is not an illegal action. One can have the state of mind of wishing to poison one’s neighbour’s incessant barking dog but until it becomes an action, it is not a crime. To try to legislate against a state of mind is a slippery slope.
The name “Skokie” comes from a Potawatomi word for marsh. A suburb of Chicago, the area was originally settled by immigrants from Germany and Luxembourg. Its previous main claim to notoriety was in 1934 when the bullet-riddled body of the twenty-five-year-old gangster Baby Faced Nelson was discovered in a ditch on the outskirts of the town.
By 1977, Skokie had the highest concentration of Holocaust survivors and their direct descendants in any single town in America—over 7000 people trying to live together peacefully in a community of others like themselves with shared traumatic war experiences, far from the spotlight of mainstream American culture.
The National Socialist Party of America (NSPA), led by Frank Collin, picked Skokie for its march deliberately for the media attention it would provoke. Collin was looking to increase membership. What better way to do it than a big demonstration through this concentrated Jewish sanctuary, carrying their swastikas high, with their actions shielded firmly behind the US First Amendment right of free speech?
Collin and his Nazis enlisted the help of ACLU attorney David Goldberger, who ironically was a Jew. Goldberger saw it as a matter of principle and a case to demonstrate that the law should not be prejudicial. The ACLU agreed to defend Collin and his marchers pro-bono. As a result 30,000 members of the ACLU, many of them Jewish, resigned in protest.
Many members of the Skokie community at first wanted to respond by “quarantine” or no-reaction, but Sol Goldstein, a Holocaust survivor, organised a counter-demonstration against the neo-Nazis should they attempt to come into their town. The American Nazis claimed rights to march under free-speech laws as protected by the Constitution, while Jewish citizens argued for their right to live without intimidation from assaultive speech.
Assaultive speech, under Chaplinsky v New Hampshire, was not protected under the US First Amendment. Assaultive speech is speech which:
may inflict injury by its very utterance … of lewd or profane or fighting words. There is such a thing as verbal violence, a kind of cursing, assaultive speech that amounts to almost physical aggression, bullying that is no less punishing because it is simulated.
The Skokie townspeople managed to win a temporary court injunction blocking the demonstration but the ACLU appealed the decision to the Supreme Court and successfully defended the Nazis’ right to proceed. Judge Bernard Decker ruled:
It is better to allow those who preach racial hate to expend their venom in rhetoric rather than to be panicked into embarking on the dangerous course of permitting the government to decide what its citizens may say and hear.
But the bonds of the Jewish community of Skokie were stronger with each other than their bonds with outside culture and its free-speech laws. Intimidated by the avowed counter-demonstration and certain violence of the greater numbers of angry and determined Skokie residents, and cognisant that he had now achieved his promotional aims for the party, Frank Collin announced he would be willing to drop the Skokie march if his members were allowed to demonstrate instead in Chicago, where Collin was born. Permission was granted for the march to take place in Marquette Park. On the day of the demonstration, a total of twelve Nazis showed up.
In supreme and surreal irony, Frank Collin, whose original family name was discovered to be Cohn (or Cohen), was later exposed as being the son of a Jewish Holocaust survivor himself. A psychiatric evaluation at the time suggested that Collin was so consumed by hatred for his father that in rebellion he became a neo-Nazi and anti-Semite. Pictures linking Collin to pedophilia were subsequently found in his desk by members of the National Socialist Party, and turned over to the police. Collin pleaded guilty to homosexual child molestation and served seven years in Joliet and Menard prisons. When he was released, avowing he was a new man, he became a “pagan” and, under the pen-name “Frank Joseph” a writer of New Age works about Atlantis.
A television movie, Skokie, was made in 1981, directed by Herbert Wise and starring Danny Kaye, Eli Wallach and Brian Dennehy. Later a book, When the Nazis Came to Skokie, won an honourable mention in the American Bar Association’s 2000 Silver Gavel Award for outstanding efforts to foster public understanding of the law.
Holocaust deniers are always raised as the ultimate warning whenever someone supposedly green-lights freedom for racist and bigoted speech. But Holocaust deniers do exist. So what? Andrew Bolt has expressed the view that Holocaust denial should be debated into silence, not legislated. Jewish community leader Mark Leibler thinks the “offence” provision of the Race Discrimination Act should go.
Many people deny God exists. Once those people would have been burned at the stake. Now we just call them atheists. It is said jokingly that even atheists have a spiritual help line: you ring it—and no one answers. Maybe bigots should simply have their own help line, so they can ring it and scream at someone who is not like them.
Louis Brandeis, an Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court, with regard to the implications of allowing bigoted and racist speech the right to be heard, said:
Fear of serious injury cannot alone justify suppression of free speech and assembly. Men feared witches and burnt women. It is the function of free speech to free [us] from the bondage of irrational fears.
Joe Dolce’s poetry and song lyrics appear frequently in Quadrant, including this issue.
The Difficult History of Free Speech
Richard Allsop
In Defence of Freedom of Speech
George Brandis
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The Keys To All Mythologies: Science, Medicine and Magic
Harry Potter at the Galter Library!
This is a blog about pharmacology, chemistry, biology, but most importantly: humanity.
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BAD DOCTORS 2: POLDARK AND VICTORIA
Elizabeth Warleggen is dead! How can that be? One of the central characters in the popular TV series Poldark died during the final episode of the current series. This surely took everybody, including me, by complete surprise. For those of you who don’t watch Poldark, which takes place in Cornwell at the end of the 18th century, the beautiful Elizabeth is one of the main characters around which much of the plot revolves. Two men, Ross Poldark and George Warleggen are the rivals for her affections and, like all good stories, there have been a huge number of twists and turns determining who has the upper hand. The rivalry between Ross and George is nothing new and has been going on ever since they were at school together decades beforehand. It would be fair to say that they do not like one another and their rivalry for Elizabeth is one manifestation of their mutual hatred. Indeed, it is the war between Ross and George that is ultimately responsible for Elizabeth’s untimely and unnatural death.
This is not the place to relate all the details of the complex plot. Suffice it to say that Elizabeth has become pregnant. But who is the father? Elizabeth is married to George and wants him to believe that he is the father -but she also has good reason to think that it might be Ross. Timing is everything. In order to persuade George, Elizabeth needs the baby to be born a month early. But how can she make this happen? Scrubbing floors and other traditional solutions have not worked. So, Elizabeth visits an apothecary down a dark alley in London. The apothecary gives her something in a small bottle and instructs her to take a certain number of drops to achieve her ends. He also tells her that the potion is potentially dangerous. ”If anything goes wrong -tell your doctor immediately-on no account delay!” Back in Cornwall Elizabeth takes the potion. She begins to have contractions and the baby is on the way. Hold on, something is amiss! Elizabeth starts having numerous worrying symptoms. She is lethargic and very cold. Her feet and hands go black, the signs of gangrene. She descends into a coma and dies.
By coincidence similar events, also with a tragic outcome, occurred in the last episode of the TV series “Victoria”. In this case Nancy Skerrett, Queen Victoria’s maid, has married and become pregnant. She also goes to see an apothecary down a dark alley in London to get something to help with her morning sickness. It’s not clear if this is the same dark alley that Elizabeth visited but it’s probably not given the fact that this is some 50 years later-but I suppose you never know. This time the apothecary offers Nancy two bottles. One bottle is a tonic for Nancy to take if she is happy to be having the baby. The other bottle, which looks suspiciously like the one that Elizabeth purchased, is just in case Nancy really doesn’t want the “little blighter”. But Nancy wants the baby and so chooses the good tonic. What a relief that she isn’t going to die the horrible death that was Elizabeth’s fate. But no! It turns out that the good tonic is contaminated with cholera, and so she dies of that instead. Clearly being pregnant in the 18/19th century was a very risky business.
The symptoms suffered by Elizabeth prior to her death make it quite clear what was in the bottle she received and what she died of. And thereby hangs a tale. To understand what was going on we need to discuss an ancient syndrome which, until recently, was quite common in various parts of Europe. This syndrome was known as ‘ergotism’. Ergotism was associated with eating bread that was made from contaminated rye cereal. As opposed to wheat, which was the main cereal used for bread making in Britain, rye was more common in parts of Europe including Germany, Poland, Austria and Russia. Depending on weather conditions and other factors, a fungus named Claviceps purpurea can grow on rye.The fungus is commonly known as ergot. When it is mature the fungus takes the form of long black nail like “pegs” -the word ergot coming from the Old French “argot” meaning a spur.e
Fig. 1: The Mould of Gold
As it turns out this tiny fungus is absolutely packed with potent chemicals that can have effects on the entire nervous system. As we shall discuss, in modern times some of these chemicals have been isolated and can be used to therapeutic advantage. However, in previous times, if batches of bread were prepared from ergot contaminated rye and consumed by entire villages, the result could be a mass outbreak of ergotism manifested by numerous debilitating symptoms, madness and death. This is the situation, for example, described in Barbara Comyns wonderful little novel, “Who was changed and who was dead” which describes and outbreak of ergotism in a small English village.
References to the toxic effects of contaminated rye, described as “noxious pustules on ears of grain”, actually go back to Assyrian times. However, because rye wasn’t generally used by the Greeks and Romans, it wasn’t until the cereal started to be widely cultivated in Europe from the Middle Ages onward that reports of mass outbreaks of ergotism began to appear more often. Some of these were extremely serious involving mass intoxications and thousands of fatalities. Although the occurrence of ergotism has declined in modern times, it has not disappeared. As recently as 1928 an outbreak was reported in a group of over 200 immigrant Jews in Manchester, UK, following the consumption of sandwiches made with rye bread.
A portion of the Isenheim altarpiece by Matthias Grunewald (1512-1516) depicting the crucifixion of Christ.
Historically ergotism has been divided into two types based on its predominant symptoms. The first type, “gangrenous ergotism” is associated with the symptom of St Anthony’s Fire. This is manifest by intense burning pains and gangrene of feet, hands and limbs, due to the powerful vasoconstricting properties of ergot. In severe cases, because of the loss of blood flow, affected tissues become dry and black and mummified limbs can even drop off. Indeed, in some cases several limbs can drop off from the same person. Severe cramping and spontaneous abortion also frequently occurs. The second type of syndrome is known as “convulsive ergotism”, its symptomology being more involved with the central nervous system including mania, psychosis, convulsions, headaches, nausea and vomiting. However, the differences between the two types of ergotism are not necessarily that clear and many other symptoms including gastrointestinal distress with diarrhea, parasthesias, itching and other things also frequently occur. Another symptom that is worth noting is an inability of females to produce milk. Farmers would typically guide cows away from areas where they suspected ergot had contaminated grasses so as to avoid this problem.
The name St Anthony’s Fire derives from the fact that during the Middle Ages patients suffering from ergotism were often treated by monks from the ancient Order of St Anthony, which took its inspiration from the ascetic hermit St Anthony who was tormented by devils while he lived in the Egyptian desert. There are several outstanding representations of the results of St Anthony’s Fire in art. The first of these is the immense and otherworldly Isenheim altarpiece, painted by Matthias Grunewald between 1512 and 1516 for the Antonine monastery of Isenheim near Colmar in the Alsace. This great masterpiece depicts St Anthony being tormented as well as the crucifixion of Christ.The figure of Christ, and other figures in the altarpiece, clearly exhibit the symptoms of ergot poisoning. Another version of the same story was depicted by Hieronymous Bosch in his 1501 tryptich depicting St Anthony in which the ergotic themes of burning and hallucination were also well represented.
Given all of the powerful effects produced by C. purpura on the victims of ergotism, one wonders if extracts of the fungus might actually be useful for therapeutic purposes if the dose was properly controlled. Indeed, just as with so many other natural products ranging from digoxin from the foxglove to salicylic acid from the willow and thousands of others, ancient folk medicine did discover uses for ergot. The major use of ergot historically was the result of its ability to produce contractions of smooth muscles, particularly the uterus and the vasculature resulting in the widespread use of ergot preparations by midwives to speed parturition (childbirth). Moreover, not only could ergot accelerate labor but it could also stem the uterine hemorrhages that sometimes occurred after delivery and were responsible for the deaths of many women . The therapeutic use of ergot for these purposes was very risky because, if the dose was too high for a particular individual, they would then exhibit the symptoms of ergotism. Nevertheless, following the start of the extensive cultivation of rye in the Middle Ages, the use of ergot by “wise women” and healers schooled in folk medicine began to spread rapidly throughout Europe and then ultimately to the USA. In 1808 John Stearns, a New York physician, published an article about ergot in the Medical Repository of New York entitled ‘An account of the pulvis parturiens, a remedy for quickening childbirth”. Moreover, the 1809 New York New York’s City Dispensary, mentioned that extracts of ergot had been used to treat amenorrhoea and for attempted abortions. Not surprisingly, the increasing use of ergot for therapeutic purposes was accompanied by numerous reports of its dangers.
As the science of organic chemistry advanced during the 19th century it was time to discover the nature of the chemical(s) that were present in ergot and that were responsible for producing its effects. We now know that the active substances in ergot are alkaloids built around the ergoline structure and are biosynthetically derived from the amino acid L-tryptophan.Over 80 different “ergot alkaloids” have been isolated mostly from C.purpura but also from some other closely related species and even a few plants. These alkaloids may be conveniently divided into 3 major structural groups: clavines, lysergic acid amides and peptides (sometimes called ergopeptides or ergopeptines) which contain a tripeptide attached to the central ergoline moiety. Indeed, the ergot fungus is one of the world’s richest sources of pharmacologically active molecules. Many of the alkaloids that occur naturally in ergot have potent biological activity and, additional small changes to their structures that can be made in the laboratory, have resulted in an enormous number of semisynthetic derivatives which are therapeutically useful. As the pharmacological activities of many of the naturally occurring ergot alkaloids are different -that is, they target different receptors and so produce different effects, it is hardly surprising that when a crude extract is administered the sum total of all of these activities produces the complex syndrome of ergotism. Moreover, because the exact alkaloid content of ergot can change according to growth and weather conditions, the precise effects of each batch may not be exactly the same as any other.
Fig. 3 L-tryptophan as a precursor
After several false starts, the first breakthrough in the isolation of pure ergot alkaloids was made by the Sandoz drug company in Basle, Switzerland in 1917/1918 when Arthur Stoll isolated the molecule ergotamine which was found to mimic the powerful vasoconstricting effects of crude ergot. This led to the suggestion that ergotamine might be useful in the treatment of migraine headaches which are caused by dilation of the cerebral vasculature. This treatment met with immediate success. Ergotamine was vastly more effective than any previously tested treatment for migraine. Indeed, the drug has been used for many years for the treatment of these headaches. Although its use has been generally superseded nowadays, ergotamine is still used in some circumstances. The major problem with the use of ergotamine is that its therapeutic window is not very wide. That is, the dose at which it produces its therapeutic effects and the dose at which it produces dangerous side effects is not that different. Hence, it is very easy to overdose on ergotamine and produce the symptoms of gangrenous ergotism. Ergotamine is a very potent and virtually irreversible vasoconstrictor. Prolonged and excessive vasoconstriction can produce damage to the intimal layer of blood vessels resulting in a clot and associated thrombosis which can be fatal.
Although it is a powerful vasoconstrictor, ergotamine’s actions as a uterine stimulant were found to be less marked than crude extracts of ergot indicating that there might be something else in the fungus that was responsible for producing this effect. Several groups of scientists set out to isolate this new molecule including the group of investigators in London led by the great Nobel prize winning pharmacologist Sir Henry Dale. In 1935 Dale’s group isolated a new ergot alkaloid that they named ergometrine. The same substance was isolated a short time later in America and, as usual, the groups on the two sides of the Atlantic could not agree what to call it -so in the USA ergometrine was named, and is still called, ergonovine. The effects of administering this substance were as described by Dale’s colleague John Moir as follows: ‘the onset is sudden, and accompanied by pronounced uterine spasm, which appears to be caused by a succession of contractions so rapid that the organ as a whole has no time to relax. This stage lasts for about 1 h, and is followed by a second stage, during which the uterus shows regular, vigorous, isolated contractions, continuing for one hour or more.” Clearly, then, the ability of ergot extracts to stimulate labor and abortion are likely to be due to ergometrine. It was found that because ergometrine had powerful vasoconstricting effects on the uterine vasculature it could, like crude ergot, also prevent postpartum hemorrhage, a symptom that was often fatal. Hence, from 1935 on, pure preparations of ergometrine were given intravenously or intramuscularly both prophylactically and for treatment of heavy bleeding following childbirth. The prolonged uterine spasm noted by Moir meant that the smooth muscle fibers of the myometrium could act as “living ligatures around the vessels of the placental bed”. The use of ergometrine can be regarded as a revolutionary change in medical practice as these deadly hemorrhages had always been very difficult to treat effectively. Hence, by the mid 1930s the previously toxic ergot extracts had been somewhat tamed producing pure ergotamine and ergometrine (strictly speaking these days methylergometrine), two extremely useful drugs that had revolutionized the treatment of migraine and postpartum hemorrhage respectively. Surprisingly, however, things in the field of ergot research were just beginning to heat up.
Ergot Alkaloids. Figure: W. Reuben Kaufman, Jessi L. Minion. J. Exp Bio. 2006.
As we have seen Sandoz had a very active and successful program in the medicinal chemistry and pharmacology of ergot derivatives. This continued during the 1930s under the leadership of a young investigator named Albert Hofmann. Hofmann continued to prepare new semisynthetic derivatives of ergot alkaloids, particularly those containing a naturally occurring ergot constituent called lysergic acid. However, he didn’t come up with anything particularly interesting. In 1938 he synthesized a derivative called lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) but tests in mice didn’t reveal any obvious activity so the new substance was shelved. In 1943, during the Second World War, Hofmann decided to revisit this series of molecules.The rest, as they say, is history and I have discussed these events in a previous blog post. Briefly, what happened was this. Hofmann was working with LSD one morning in his laboratory. As it was during the war, and all private automobiles had been impounded, he bicycled back home for lunch. During his bicycle ride he began to experience some impressive hallucinations. Assuming that he must have ingested a minute amount of the material he had been working on, the next day he took what he assumed to be a small dose of LSD on purpose. As it turns out LSD is a remarkably potent drug and so the dose he ingested was actually rather a robust one. Bicycling home he now experienced a barrage of intense hallucinations and other mind boggling effects which took a considerable time to wear off. Once Hofmann had explained all of this to his initially skeptical superiors (they were skeptical until they tried it for themselves), Sandoz realized that they had come up with something truly unique and attempted to find a place for their new drug in psychiatric medicine in Europe and America. Indeed, for a decade or so LSD was viewed as an extremely promising drug for use in psychiatric treatment. But then in the 1960’s everything changed. People like Timothy Leary and Ken Kesey made LSD a popular recreational drug which played a key role in revolutionizing American society. By 1970 LSD had become completely illegal and fell off the research map until very recently when a revival of interest in hallucinogenic drugs seems to be underway. Nevertheless, the influence of LSD on both science and culture has been enormous.
We still aren’t done with ergot! Remember that crude ergot could also prevent lactation in humans and cows? What was responsible for this effect? This question was to produce yet another useful drug. The history of the drug started in Israel. In the 1950s Moses Shelesnyak of the Weizmann Institute of Sciences near Tel Aviv started a series of experiments in rats to find a compound that would prevent the implantation of the ovum. They observed that a somewhat crude preparation from ergot which had been named ‘ergotoxine’ would produce this effect, not by acting at the level of the uterus, but in the hypothalamus of the brain where it inhibited prolactin secretion, an important event in directing subsequent ovum implantation. Scientists at Sandoz extended these observations isolating pure ergot alkaloids and examining their properties. Two of these, ergocryptine and ergocornine, proved to be able to inhibit implantation of the ovum. From this lead, in 1965, the Sandoz chemists created a semisynthetic version of ergocryptine called bromocriptine. Bromocriptine can be used to treat symptoms of hyperprolactinemia including lack of menstrual periods. It can also be used to treat hyperprolactinemia caused by certain types of tumors that produce prolactin which may shrink these tumors.
So, ergotamine, ergometrine, LSD and bromocriptine; rather a nice little group of products to have been isolated from ergot for the benefit of the human race. These molecules produce such a widespread group of effects that it is hardly surprising that the symptoms of ergotism are similarly broad. We know quite a bit about how these alkaloids produce their different actions. All the substances we have discussed activate receptors for biogenic amines. Ergotamine and ergonovine primarily target ⍺-adrenergic receptors, LSD activates 5-HT2A receptors and bromocriptine activates dopamine receptors. Indeed, the realization that bromocriptine activates dopamine receptors led to the hope that drugs like ergocriptine might also be used for treating Parkinson’s Disease (PD). To this end Eli Lilly produced the ergot based drug pergolide which has been used for treating PD with some success.
Which brings us back to Elizabeth Warleggen. It is clear that the medicine that Elizabeth was seeking in London was something that would act as uterine stimulant and induce early labor-and certainly ergonovine would accomplish this for her. So, it is quite clear that the potion in the bottle she received was an extract of ergot. The apothecary that sold the drug to her obviously knew about its potential dangers and tried to warn her about them. She took the drug and went into labor only to develop a full blown case of ergotism. In particular, she felt cold, had pains in her extremities and exhibited signs of gangrene, presumably because she was susceptible to the effects of the ergotamine that was also present in the extract. As we have seen, such symptoms can be a prelude to death.
People like Elizabeth Warleggen who experimented with ergot were really playing with fire. Crude ergot could certainly produce some useful effects but was also extremely powerful and dangerous. It is one of the triumphs of modern chemistry and pharmacology that humans have been able to isolate the active principles from potent crude extracts of plants and other natural sources. The potential of these things, both real and imagined, as interesting plot devices has been appreciated for years by the writers of fiction -one only needs to think about Wilkie Collins’ plots that revolve around the use of opium. Now, with series like Homecoming, Maniac, Victoria and Poldark, drug driven plots have arrived to take their place in the ever more popular world of the TV series.
Ergot and its alkaloids. Schiff PL. Am J Pharm Educ. 2006 Oct 15;70(5):98. Review. PMID: 17149427
The history of ergot of rye (Claviceps purpurea) II: 1900-1940. Lee MR. J R Coll Physicians Edinb. 2009 Dec;39(4):365-9. PMID: 20509463
The history of ergot of rye (Claviceps purpurea) III: 1940-80. Lee MR. J R Coll Physicians Edinb. 2010 Mar;40(1):77-80. PMID: 20503690
The history of ergot of rye (Claviceps purpurea) I: from antiquity to 1900. Lee MR. J R Coll Physicians Edinb. 2009 Jun;39(2):179-84. PMID: 19847980
St Anthony’s fire and living ligatures: a short history of ergometrine. De Costa C1. Lancet. 2002 May 18;359(9319):1768-70. PMID: 12049883
Pharmacological characterization of the ergot alkaloid receptor in the salivary gland of the ixodid tick Amblyomma hebraeum.W. Reuben Kaufman, Jessi L. Minion. J Exp Bio 2006. 209: 2525-2534; doi: 10.1242/jeb.02274
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Rosenberg Library Museum
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Past Treasure of the Month – December 2015
Rosenberg Library gets in the Holiday Spirit
The Friends of the Rosenberg Library’s 75th anniversary commemorative holiday ornament was
on display for December and can be purchased on the 1st floor of the Library for $20 + tax.
With the holiday season in full swing on this sub-tropical paradise, the Rosenberg Library is getting in the holiday spirit. While there probably won’t be a white Christmas like 2004, trees are being decorated, stockings hung and halls decked. To celebrate the season the Museum displayed an assortment of Christmas ornaments and lapel pins as the December Treasure of the Month.
A Brief History of Christmas Ornaments
The history of holiday ornaments is rich and full of mystery. In the 8th century Saint Boniface is credited with bringing a fir tree, with its triangle shape to represent the holy trinity, to Germany for Christmas celebrations. At first decorations were simple white candles and trees were kept outside. In 1605 a tree in Strasbourg was brought indoors and decorated with paper roses, candles, nuts, and sweets. Just five years later tinsel, which at the time was made of pure silver, was introduced. Christmas trees quickly spread throughout Europe with each country adding its own twist. By the nineteenth century, Americans began to embrace the tradition. During this period food items like cookies, nuts, fruits and stranded cranberries or popcorn were very popular. Such items brought merriment and, in the case of fruits and nuts, represented a regeneration of life that awaited the next season.
While glass beads and hand-sewn ornaments had been common in England for many decades, it was not until the 1880s that German artisans began producing glass ornaments on a large scale. Lauscha, a town in Germany, quickly became the world’s leader in glass mold and hand-blown glass ornaments, while Dresden artists used paper, pressed tin and other materials to create festive decorations. Shiny and reflective materials added to the majesty of the season. During a visit to Germany, American businessman F.W. Woolworth took note of the popularity of glass ornaments and began importing them to America, reportedly selling over $25 million worth by 1900. With the onset of World War I the German monopoly over ornaments was challenged by Japanese, Czech, and eventually American manufacturers. Following World War II the trend towards mass production in areas with cheap labor costs continued and today most ornaments are made in China, although some places like Lauscha still have a thriving handcrafted, high-quality ornament industry. Today Christmas decorations rank second to gifts in seasonal sales.
A Local Tradition
One highlight of the holiday season in Galveston is the Galveston Historical Foundation’s Dickens on the Strand event. Held from December 4 – 6 this year, the unique street festival draws inspiration from 19th century Victorian London. The first Dickens (then called an Old-English Christmas and Hanukkah Party) held December 19, 1974, was a small pot-luck gathering on the Strand, but quickly grew. The Foundation’s Will Wright sums up the event’s appeal, “The architecture of the Strand… lends itself to a truly unique backdrop of Charles Dickens’ England. Walking through the streets with people in costume and the sights and sounds of the holidays all around really does create an amazing feeling.” This year the first 3,000 youth to the festival will receive a free copy of a Christmas Carol along with an expanded youth area.
The Library will display two brass lapel pins from the 1989 Dickens on the Strand celebration. Donated by former mayor Jan Coggeshall, one of the pins features an embossed Christmas tree encircled by Santa and children holding hands. The other has a simple design of two bells. Both read “Dickens on the Strand Dec. 2 – 3, 1989 Galveston Island.”
A New Tradition
The annual Friends of the Rosenberg Library used book sale is an institution in Galveston, and those who went this year got a sneak preview of a new holiday ornament created for the Friends. 2015 marks the 75th anniversary of the Friends of the Rosenberg Library and to celebrate they are selling the commemorative keepsake. This lovely brass ornament features an ornate border and a striking historic glass print of the Library. They can be purchased at the reference desk on the first floor of the Library for $20 plus tax. Proceeds from the sale go to the Library for new acquisitions.
Silver pitcher presented to Samuel May Williams in 1832
gift of the Estate of Thomas Jefferson League, 67.46
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Boeing: 7th Boeing C-17 for Royal Air Force Arrives in United Kingdom
LONDON, Jan. 21, 2011 -- Boeing [NYSE: BA] and its Boeing Defence UK subsidiary today announced the arrival of the Royal Air Force's seventh C-17 Globemaster III airlifter at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, England. The aircraft was officially delivered on Nov. 16 from Boeing's facility in Long Beach, Calif., and underwent modifications at the company's San Antonio facility before flying to the United Kingdom.
"The RAF C-17 fleet, along with the rest of the Airbridge, delivers an incredible capability to our deployed forces on the front line," said Air Officer Commanding 2 Group, Air Vice-Marshal Philip Osborn, Royal Air Force. "I am also extremely proud of the outstanding contribution that all our aircraft and personnel are making toward continued progress in Afghanistan."
Assigned to 99 Squadron at RAF Brize Norton, the UK fleet of C-17s provides critical airlift capability for the nation's Joint Rapid Reaction Force and has supported humanitarian and disaster-relief missions to Pakistan, Haiti and Chile. 99 Squadron's C-17s are equipped with upgraded software and avionics, as well as additional fuel tanks that extend the aircraft's nautical mile range to over 4,000 miles. In normal operations, the aircraft carries a crew of three -- two pilots and one air-loadmaster.
"May 2011 will mark the 10th anniversary of the delivery of the Royal Air Force's first C-17, which continues to perform superbly -- anytime and anywhere," said Boeing UK C-17 Program Manager Liz Pace. "The RAF uses its C-17s more than any other service today, which is why it has surpassed 60,000 flight hours with just six aircraft."
The UK Ministry of Defence announced it would acquire its seventh C-17 in December 2009, less than one year before delivery.
Boeing supports the RAF's C-17s through the C-17 Globemaster III Sustainment Partnership, a performance-based logistics program, at RAF Brize Norton, the RAF's main operating base for strategic air transport and air-to-air refueling. The arrangement provides the RAF with the benefits of complete "virtual fleet" access and an extensive support network. The virtual fleet concept enables C-17 customers, especially those with smaller numbers of aircraft, to benefit from worldwide parts availability and economies of scale when purchasing materials.
Boeing Defence UK Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Boeing Company and a business unit of Boeing Defense, Space & Security. It currently has employees at 20 locations throughout the UK supporting Ministry of Defence and U.S. military programs.
Published by Boeing - dans Europe & USA
Tanker Wars: Contract Award to Airbus Coincides with Damning WTO Findings
By Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D.
Early Warning Blog, Lexington Institute
The U.S. Air Force is likely to announce the winner of its tanker competition in March -- the same timeframe in which the World Trade Organization (WTO) will release two different reports casting Airbus business practices in a negative light. The first WTO report, which has already been completed, will find that competitor Boeing received prohibited trade subsidies totaling a modest $3 billion over the last several decades. That amount averages less than the value of a single widebody jet per year over the period covered. The second report will largely reject a European appeal of the WTO's earlier finding that Airbus received about $20 billion in illegal subsidies during the same period. The disparity in findings with regard to the two tanker rivals by the world's preeminent trade body will undoubtedly play into the controversy surrounding award of the tanker contract to Airbus.
- dans Europe & USA
BAE Systems Receives Keys to Washington UK Site
19 Jan 2011 | Ref. 010/2011
Washington, United Kingdom. - BAE Systems today received the keys to its brand new Washington munitions facility - and over the next two days all 350 employees will tour their future "home".
Cobham Acquires Leading Supplier of Advanced Bomb Disposal Robots
Published on ASDNews: Jan 19, 2011
Cobham plc ('Cobham' or the 'Group') has acquired the share capital of Telerob GmbH ('Telerob'), a privately-owned German-based manufacturer of advanced bomb disposal robots and threat response vehicles for EUR 78 million.
Wescam Provides a New EO/IR Payload for the Camcopter
Photo: Schiebel Group
Schiebel and L3 have tested the S-100 Camcopter Vertical take-Off and Landing (VTOL) Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) equipped with L3′s Wescam MX-10 EO/IR payload. The first flight was performed in Austria. According to Paul Jennison, Vice President Business Development, L-3 Wescam, the MX-10 offers an integrated vibration mounts allowing for even more compact integration into an ‘all-in-one’ design.
BAE Systems to Support F-35 Mission Planning; Secures Another Data Security Patent
ARLINGTON, Virginia - BAE Systems has signed a $3.8 million contract to continue supplying the secure operating system that runs the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter's mission-planning software.
Germans Lead The Way
January 18, 2011: The U.S. Army began replacing the M203 40mm grenade launcher with the M320 two years ago. To everyone's relief, the new version was a big success. The army even named the M320 ones of its top ten new systems for 2010.
USS Wasp undergoes BAE maintenance
PORTSMOUTH, Va., Jan. 18 (UPI) -- The USS Wasp (LHD 1) is at BAE Systems' Portsmouth, Va., shipyard for scheduled Phased Maintenance Availability, the U.S. Navy said.
Read more: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Security-Industry/2011/01/18/USS-Wasp-undergoes-BAE-maintenance/UPI-26571295356047/#ixzz1BOvbqYDp
RAF Begin Training With US on Intelligence Aircraft
Members of the RAF's 51 Squadron have completed their first week of training with the US Air Force on the Rivet Joint aircraft, designed for airborne intelligence-gathering.
Les Suédois achètent US et font la nique à l’hélicoptère européen
La Suède a décidé de ne pas acheter européen mais plutôt américain pour renouveler une partie de son parc d’hélicoptères dédié essentiellement aux opérations Search and Rescue ou EvaSan (évacuations sanitaires)
Published by Bruxelles2 - dans Europe & USA
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PAOLCMS News
Armed Forces medics will spend at least two months in hospitals across the South East to help ease the pressure on frontline staff struggling to cope with the rising number of coronavirus patients, The Telegraph can reveal.
More than 200 military medics and other support staff will be deployed across five London hospitals from Monday as the virus threatens to overwhelm the NHS in the capital.
The trained medics will help treat patients under the supervision of NHS staff, at a time when figures show around half of patients in London hospitals are now suffering from Covid-19.
It comes as patient charities warn of the "devastating impact" on cancer sufferers waiting in limbo for treatment, after their operations were postponed or delayed by hospitals struggling to deal with Covid cases.
Daily growth in Covid-19 hospital admissions by region
The 200 Armed Forces medics will deploy to the Royal London Hospital, Kings College Hospital, St Georges Hospital, Royal Free Hospital and Hammersmith Hospital.
Some 50 defence medics will also be sent to support hospitals in Essex and Kent, along with the Welsh Ambulance NHS Service Trust and the vaccine rollout in Wales.
Around 150 general duties personnel will also be deployed to help in non-patient roles so NHS personnel can be freed up for frontline work.
Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, said: “The Armed Forces have stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the NHS since the start of this pandemic and remain ready to help whenever and wherever needed. That is why I have authorised another 200 medics and further general duties personnel to be deployed directly into hospitals to assist NHS staff and ensure patients continue to get the care they require.
“I have no doubt more tasks will follow over the coming weeks, but the Armed Forces are prepared to meet the challenge and help this nation recover from the Covid pandemic.”
The medics will come from units across the military, including 1 Royal Anglian, 16 Air Assault Brigade, Headquarters Home Command and Joint Helicopter Command and are expected to assist NHS staff for at least eight weeks.
NHS data shows that on January 11 the number of Covid patients in London’s hospitals exceeded non-Covid for the first time since last spring, with 5,644 compared to 5,592. On January 12, the most recent day data was published, this dropped back slightly to 5,563 Covid patients and 5,740 non-Covid.
London coronavirus cases chart
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “Defence already has around 1,600 medical personnel working in the NHS on a permanent basis and is working with the NHS to provide further support where it will be needed over the coming weeks.”
Meanwhile, Labour has called for the Government to step-up the number of Armed Forces personnel receiving the Covid vaccines.
It pointed out that the average weekly number of coronavirus tests administered to defence staff per week is just 1,901 and that the number of confirmed cases in defence personnel jumped to an all-time high of 3,291 in December, up by more than 1,000 on the previous month.
Stephen Morgan, Portsmouth South MP and shadow minister for the Armed Forces, said: “Government must rapidly ramp up testing for our armed forces, who are putting themselves at greater risk of contracting the virus. The Defence Secretary must also set out a clear and credible plan to vaccinate our troops, particularly for those who are to be deployed for longer periods of time. We must protect those who are protecting us.”
The announcement comes as new figures show that more than 1,000 people in need of urgent cancer surgery in London have been given no date for their treatment.
These are cancer surgery patients who are defined as P2 (priority two), meaning they need to be seen within four weeks or risk their condition worsening. The report, leaked to the Health Service Journal, also showed more than 300 such P2 patients had their surgery postponed in the past week.
Sara Bainbridge, Macmillan Cancer Support head of policy and influence, said: “Cancer must not become ‘the Forgotten C’ during this time and it’s vital that people who need tests and treatment face minimal disruption.”
Michelle Mitchell, Cancer Research UK’s chief executive, said: "The Government must take decisive action to protect cancer services, using the independent sector to enable urgent cancer surgery to continue."
Cancer operations are also being delayed in other parts of the country, as regional hospitals begin to suffer the impact of the surge in Covid cases.
An NHS spokesperson said: “NHS trusts continue to treat as many elective patients as possible, prioritising those who have been waiting the longest, whilst maintaining cancer and urgent treatments and the landmark deal struck with the independent sector means thousands more cancer operations and other procedures can take place in private hospitals this winter.”
A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership added: “Since the pandemic began, our hospitals have worked hard to ensure that cancer treatment can continue in a safe and Covid-secure way.”
Автор adminpОпубликовано Январь 16, 2021 Добавить комментарий к записи Exclusive: Army medics to work in London hospitals overwhelmed with coronavirus
A tale of same-sex pleasure has become the most-read titillating title at the British Library as favourites from the institution’s cache of erotic books are revealed.
The institution’s Private Case collection includes 2,560 volumes spanning Oscar Wilde works, pornography, and catalogues of 18th century London prostitutes.
Curators once kept the array of racy writings under tight restrictions from 1850s to 1990 on grounds of obscenity, with special permission required to read them.
Since being derestricted in 1998 volumes have been requested 7715 times and a Victorian work of homosexual pornographic literature has now been revealed as the most popular title from the collection.
The pioneering 1881 erotic work titled The Sins of the Cities of the Plain has been requested more than 100 times by visitors at the library members, Telegraph figures show.
A 4000-page account of sexual conquests, a fictional French “whore dialogue” between nuns, and a best-selling "man of pleasure’s calendar" listing Georgian sex workers have had scores of requests to read them.
The British Library said that after the erotic archive was made digital the books “brought a wider range of researchers into the British Library’s reading rooms to examine the original volumes”.
The collection has proved popular because it “represents a unique resource for a wide range of historians and other researchers of gender and sexuality”.
Teleny or The Reverse of the Medal, may have been written by Oscar Wilde
The earliest item dates from 1634 and the most recent was published in 1988, but most of the erotic material dates from the 19th and early 20th centuries.
The most requested of these volumes with 191 requests to read it was The Sins of the Cities of the Plain, penned by Irish prostitute Jack Saul and giving a fictional life story.
The second most popular with 102 research requests was Venus in the Cloisters, made-up dialogue between nuns.
My Secret Life, a million-word account of sexual experiences in Victorian Britain, received 101 requests.
Harris’s List of Covent-Garden Ladies, an annual register of prostitutes in the London area, was requested 85 times and the fictional pornography Fanny Hill or Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure 38.
The volumes in the Private Collection were mainly published by pornographers and include titles like Nunnery Tales, The Exhibition, Forbidden Fruit, Exhibition of Female Flagellants, The Whores Rhetorick, and The Boudoir.
All these have proven popular with researchers and have been pursued more than 20 times each, with the previously restricted books providing insights into how human sexuality was once expressed.
Fanny Hill or Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure
Other books like A New and Complete Collection of Trials for Adultery provide tamer titillation for readers when the volume was published.
Some more literary books are by recognised authors who met with censorship for their content, including 1893 work Teleny or The Reverse of the Medal written anonymously by Oscar Wilde.
Avant garde works like William S Burroughs’ Naked Lunch and The Soft Machine are also in the archive which runs to
A British Library spokeswoman said: “The Private Case collection is a hugely rich resource covering many aspects and expressions of human sexuality over more than three centuries, including much material that was rare, marginal, censored and taboo.”
Автор adminpОпубликовано Январь 16, 2021 Добавить комментарий к записи Tale of Victorian rent boy most popular erotic book in British Library, figures reveal
The police watchdog has instructed Scotland Yard to re-examine its handling of an inquiry into a barrister struck off for misconduct.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said there were mistakes in the way the Metropolitan Police handled a complaint submitted by a former client of Alexander Mercouris over its investigation into his behaviour.
Lorna Jamous alleged that a sergeant in the Met’s Professional Standards Unit (PSU) failed to properly conduct an investigation into her claims that it had not carried out an adequate inquiry into allegations of fraud she had previously levelled against Mr Mercouris.
The beautician alleged that the now retired sergeant behaved corruptly by deliberately sabotaging the investigation.
The IOPC has now ruled that the Met Police was wrong not to take further action to investigate her claim.
Ms Jamous, 57, of Belgravia, (see picture below) welcomed the IOPC’s decision, telling The Telegraph: “I can only hope that matters will be eventually be handled in a fair and professional manner.”
Lorna Jamous
Credit: Geoff Pugh/The Telegraph
The Telegraph revealed in 2016 that Mr Mercouris was disbarred after a Bar Standards Board disciplinary tribunal found he had brought the profession into disrepute with his handling of her damages claim against Westminster Council over the care of her son Tariq.
The local authority offered the beautician £5,000 to settle, but Mr Mercouris falsely told her he had managed to win her £983,000 in compensation, prompting her to borrow money and go on holiday in anticipation of the windfall.
The Bar Standards Board heard that when the cash failed to materialise, Mercouris “embarked on ever more bizarre assertions to hide the truth”. These included fabricating a letter from Lady Hale, the then Deputy President of the Supreme Court, expressing concern about the near £1 million payment not having been made by Westminster.
Mr Mercouris also claimed he had been detained by bogus police officers and taken to a meeting with Lord Phillips, then President of the Supreme Court, and offered £50,000 to drop the claim.
An investigation into Mr Mercouris by the Met Police was closed after officers decided there was not enough evidence to bring a criminal case against him.
Following a complaint by Ms Jamous the case was reopened and Mr Mercouris was again interviewed under caution.
But in August 2012 the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decided there was insufficient evidence to bring a prosecution and he was released with no further action.
Mr Mercouris has since reinvented himself as commentator on Russian affairs and international politics on the RT channel.
Автор adminpОпубликовано Январь 16, 2021 Добавить комментарий к записи Scotland Yard told to re-examine handling of investigation into struck-off barrister
A prolific Albanian burglar twice deported from the UK for his crimes has sneaked back into Britain as an illegal immigrant — and posted Instagram pictures of his high life drinking cocktails and driving a Porsche.
His flagrant breaches of immigration controls are to be investigated by the Home Office following a series of damaging deportation rows where the Government has struggled to remove foreign nationals.
Doran Puka, 26, was originally jailed for nine months in 2016 and then deported the following year for attempting to break into a property when the owner spotted him on a webcam while on holiday in France.
Yet, within a year, he managed to evade border controls and return to the UK where he carried out a string of burglaries in suburban London.
Puka was eventually caught wearing an expensive watch he had stolen when he was spotted by plain clothes officers patrolling Surbiton in south west London after the increase in burglaries locally. He was jailed for three and a half years and then deported in March 2020.
During his time in prison in the UK, he earned notoriety for using an illegal mobile phone smuggled into the jail to post Instagram pictures of himself standing alongside the leader of an organised crime group who was serving a 12-year sentence for conspiracy to supply cocaine and money laundering.
After returning to his native Albania for several months, he travelled through Germany, Belgium and Netherlands before beating border checks to enter Britain again in December 2020, according to his Instagram account.
Pictures posted on Instagram last month show him in the London commuter suburb of Richmond, Surrey, wearing a Covid mask and standing next to a £70,000 Porsche estate car on Christmas Eve:
Others include videos of Christmas Day celebrations with a turkey, Jack Daniels, liqueurs and cocktails in crystal glasses with a twist of lemon, as well as film of a training session in north London involving an Albanian amateur boxer.
A Home Office spokesman said the information had been passed to Border Force and police with a view to tracking him down and deporting him again.
The disclosure follows a series of deportation scandals where attempts to fly foreign national criminals back to their home countries have been disrupted or blocked by legal challenges over human rights and even claims of modern slavery.
A report by the National Audit Office (NAO) last year said the Home Office had no idea how many illegal immigrants were in the UK, noting its last official estimate of 430,000 was 15 years old. A former head of immigration enforcement, David Wood, has put it at closer to one million.
The NAO also said the Home Office was deporting fewer illegal immigrants largely due to successful legal challenges. At the same time the number of attempts by migrants to secretly enter the UK and detected by the Border Force rose by 12 per cent to 46,900 in the year to October 2019.
The Home Office spokesman said: “Foreign criminals who violate our laws and abuse our hospitality have no place in the UK. Knowingly entering the UK without leave is a criminal offence and anyone who has committed such an offence should be prepared to face prosecution and removal.
“We continue to strengthen our borders to stop people reaching the UK through illegally-facilitated routes, and we have established the Clandestine Threat Command to better coordinate Government and law enforcement agencies to stop people coming to the UK who have no right to be here.”
Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, will shortly unveil a Sovereign Borders Bill aimed at increasing deportations and tightening Britain’s “broken” asylum system by constricting the grounds on which it can be claimed and shortening the time for appeals.
Автор adminpОпубликовано Январь 16, 2021 Добавить комментарий к записи Exclusive: Albanian criminal twice deported from Britain boasts on social media about his return to the UK
A celebrity dog seller has said cropping the ears of its animals is so they do not get ripped during fights, as the government considers a ban on the "abhorrent mutilation".
Protection Dogs Worldwide has sold dogs to celebrities including former glamour model Katie Price and Love Island star Jack Fincham, and Dane Rashford, the brother of Manchester United star Marcus, has been spotted scouting out pets at the Yorkshire kennels.
All the Cane Corso and Doberman breeds it sells have cropped ears, a painful procedure which involves removing almost the whole outside of the pet’s ear before it is sold. Cropping dog ears is illegal in the UK, but importing dogs with cropped ears is not.
Cutting a dog’s ears off is sometimes done to make them look more menacing, and it has certainly become a trend in recent years. Marcus Rashford has a large black Cane Corso called Saint, which has clipped ears, and Leigh-Anne Pinnock from Little Mix proudly flaunts her earless large bulldog breed.
A dog with cropped ears available for sale on the site
Other footballers Jesse Lingard and James Maddison also show off their cropped dogs. There is no suggestion any of these celebrities acted illegally or knew the dogs were cropped when they bought them.
Leedor Borlant, the director of Protection Dogs Worldwide said they buy in dogs with cropped ears from abroad.
He told the Sunday Telegraph: "None of our dogs are cropped in the U.K. and none of our dogs are sent to be cropped. Every dog we have is an import, what we do is 100 per cent within the law and I am fully aware of the legalities behind it and we don’t break any laws."
Mr Borlant said that the cropping allows dogs to escape unscathed from fights, explaining: "We have never ever had to take a dog to the vets here with an issue with a dog that’s cropped or has a docked tail, yet we have been multiple times with dogs who hurt the end of the tail or ears through working, it then infects, then progresses onto to other issues."
A post shared by Dane Rashford (@danerashford)
The British Veterinary Association and the RSPCA have been lobbying the government to make it essentially illegal to own a dog with cropped ears, by banning imports. They argue that it provides a cover for breeders to implement the painful procedure.
Companies based in the UK, like Protection Dogs Worldwide, import animals from countries such as Russia where the practice is legal, and train the dogs to guard their celebrity owners. They sell for tens of thousands of pounds.
A post shared by James Maddison (@madders)
The government is currently considering a ban, after declaring the practice an "abhorrent mutilation".
Mr Borlant said that if this ban takes place, it is likely unscrupulous breeders will do the operation illegally instead of getting it done by a vet abroad.
He explained: "The banning of allowing cropped dogs in to the U.K. I believe will mean more people in the U.K. will continue to do it illegally and not correctly."
Автор adminpОпубликовано Январь 16, 2021 Добавить комментарий к записи Celebrity dog seller says ear cropping is so they don’t get ripped during fights as government considers ban
Road closures banning traffic from certain streets during school hours could be costing lives rather than saving them, the head of a private ambulance service has warned.
Concern over the impact of pollution has led a number of councils to impose tight restrictions on the use of vehicles near schools during drop off and pick up time.
The School Street Road Closure scheme has proved especially popular in London where air pollution was recently ruled as a factor in the death of a nine-year-old girl who suffered a fatal asthma attack.
But medics, who work for an ambulance service in north London, have written to the Mayor of Hackney council, pointing out that the system is leading to traffic chaos elsewhere which is making it difficult to respond to emergencies.
The Hatzola Ambulance service, which is staffed by volunteers and operates mainly within the Jewish community, has said their response times have been hugely impacted by the road closures.
Paramedics working for Hatzola said demand for their service has rocketed during the pandemic and they have been helping to ease pressure off the London Ambulance Service during the recent surge in coronavirus emergencies.
But they warned that the road closures were compromising their ability to reach patients in time.
In his letter Gabriel Schleider, writing on behalf of the Hatzola trustees, said: “Instead of reducing congestion the road closures shift traffic to the surrounding roads which means our medical technicians are delayed in reaching those who need urgent help.
“A delay of just a few minutes really does make a difference to those in life-threatening situations and we urge you to reconsider this scheme which has the potential to cost lives rather than save them.
“We are committed to working in partnership with you to create a greener Hackney. We wholeheartedly support your desire to tackle congestion and improve air quality at the school gates, but we do not believe this should be done at the expense of saving lives.”
The introduction of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods across parts of the capital, including Hackney, has further compounded the problems with many residential roads physically blocked off with barriers to reduce traffic flow and pollution.
In a statement Philip Glanville, the Mayor of Hackney, said: “School Streets temporarily close roads outside school gates for an hour at opening and closing times to improve road safety and help children walk and cycle to school.
“I really value the work that Hatzola does in Hackney. Both officers and I have had extensive engagement with them and the wider community about these interventions and been very clear that emergency services — including Hatzola — are exempt from School Streets restrictions when responding to emergencies.
He added: “While we believe School Streets have a minimal impact on traffic in surrounding areas, we are monitoring traffic levels, listening to stakeholders and will make adjustments to schemes if necessary.
“With 160 people killed or seriously injured on Hackney’s roads in 2018, and one of the highest premature death rates in the country from poor air quality, we are also clear that not tackling traffic outside our schools in any part of Hackney is unacceptable.”
Автор adminpОпубликовано Январь 16, 2021 Добавить комментарий к записи Road closures during school hours could be costing lives, warns head of private ambulance service
Biden eyes ex-Obama staff to tackle Big Tech and other antitrust issues | Reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Two former Obama administration officials have emerged as front-runners for the top antitrust job at the U.S. Department of Justice under the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter.
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President-elect Joe Biden speaks about his plan to administer coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines to the U.S. population during a news conference at Biden’s transition headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, U.S., January 15, 2021. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
One of the picks is Renata Hesse, who has had several stints at the Justice Department since 2002 and most recently served as the Acting Assistant Attorney General from mid-2016 to Jan. 2017. She also has held private sector roles and advised on matters involving companies such as Amazon.com Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google .
More notably, Hesse advised Amazon on its more than $13 billion acquisition of grocery chain Whole Foods, according to her bio on the website of New York law firm Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, where she is currently a partner.
Her role could pose conflict of interest issues as the Justice Department pursues its widely-followed case against Google, the sources said. The Justice Department sued Google on Oct. 20, accusing the $1 trillion company of dominating search and advertising.
The other front-runner is Juan Arteaga, who has also worked for the Justice Department under President Barack Obama between 2013 to 2017 and served as the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Enforcement, according to the sources, who did not wish to be named.
Arteaga also has held private sector roles and advised companies such as JP Morgan Chase & Co and AT&T Inc.
Other contenders under consideration include Jonathan Kanter, who co-chaired the antitrust department at the law firm Paul Weiss and now runs his own firm, the sources said. He is a prominent Big Tech and Google critic. Many progressive groups favor Kanter’s appointment as they push for more aggressive antitrust enforcement.
To be sure, the names reflect the thinking of the Biden transition so far and could change as the vetting process moves forward, the sources said.
The Biden transition team did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Antitrust enforcement has emerged as an issue the Biden transition team has been paying attention to. For example, a third source said the transition is prioritizing getting a landing team in to start working on issues and that Arteaga could be a good fit.
Also, on Nov. 18, the Biden transition’s agency review team for the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice held a meeting with outside progressive and moderate groups to discuss antitrust policy priorities, according to three separate sources.
Some of the broad priorities discussed on the call included having more “aggressive” antitrust enforcers.
“Bring cases even if you’re going to lose,” said one source, describing the way this point was made in the meeting.
Other topics discussed during the session included reversing merger guidelines, retrospective scrutiny of mergers, revamping antiquated competition laws and offering more funds for federal enforcement agencies such as the FTC, the sources said.
Reporting by Nandita Bose in Washington, Additional reporting by Diane Bartz; editing by Diane Craft
Автор adminpОпубликовано Январь 16, 2021 Добавить комментарий к записи Biden eyes ex-Obama staff to tackle Big Tech and other antitrust issues | Reuters
Prince Charles tries to save forgotten art of wood carving warning it could be lost for future generations
The Prince of Wales has long championed traditional craftsmanship, warning it is among the “life-enhancing, timeless opportunities” that could be lost to future generations.
And he fervently hopes that by becoming patron of the 300th anniversary celebration of Grinling Gibbons, the greatest wood carver in British history, he can help inject a new lease of life into a dwindling art.
The Prince’s genuine passion for heritage crafts makes him “uniquely qualified” for the patronage of the Grinling Gibbons Tercentenary, which will span a year from August.
He also embodies a connection with the Crown that Gibbons enjoyed throughout his career, having risen from obscurity to be commissioned by Charles II, James II and William III.
The Prince, 72, hopes the celebrations, which will include a national exhibition, public debates and lectures, will highlight the influence Grinling had on craftsmanship and become a source of inspiration for new generations of carvers and sculptors.
“The Prince is a great supporter of conservation heritage skills and it will hopefully encourage people to get involved,” a source close to him said.
Mark Aspinall, chair of the Grinling Gibbons Society, which was established to plan and coordinate the festival, said: “As Patron, His Royal Highness brings recognition to the indelible mark that Grinling Gibbons has left on the cultural identity of the nation.”
One of the students, Ollie Clegg, behind the restoration of The Lady's Well on Dumfries House estate
Through the Prince’s Trust, the heir to the throne has helped preserve traditional crafts and encourage young people to pursue them as a vocation.
The Prince’s Foundation, formed in 2018, offers a broad range of courses in traditional arts and heritage craft skills, typically enrolling around 50 students a year on courses featuring wood carving at Dumfries House, its Ayrshire base.
The Prince has described the pursuit of craft as “a marvellous way for somebody to realise their true potential as a human being.”
Speaking at the Craft Skills Awards in 2013, he said: “Crafts can bring one closer to Nature: they are a part of the human story of transmission of living tradition and cultural identity from one generation to another.”
He has also warned that as the vast majority working in the sector are self employed, they do not have time to pass on their skills to the next generation.
“We simply must ensure that these often historic and unique skills are not allowed to die out and become relegated to history,” he said.
Gibbons, hailed “the "Michelangelo of wood,” was born in Rotterdam to English parents in April 1648.
The Prince of Wales officially unveils The Lady's Well at Dumfries House estate
He moved to England around 1667, settling first in York and then Deptford, east London, where his career flourished at a time of political uncertainty.
The restoration of the monarchy in 1660 and the Great Fire of London in 1666 provided huge opportunities for craftsmen and his work is said to offer a unique window into a turbulent age.
Introduced to King Charles II, he was given his first royal commission in 1675, when hired to produce decorative carving for Windsor Castle’s dining room, elaborate cascades of lobsters, crabs, bird and fish that remain today.
Over the next 25 years he completed commissions for Whitehall Palace, St Paul’s Cathedral, Hampton Court Palace and Blenheim Palace among many others.
In 1693, his extraordinary technical skill saw him appointed master sculptor and carver in wood to King William III.
He subsequently worked for Queen Anne and in 1719, he was made Master Carpenter to George I.
Simon Sadinsky, executive director at The Prince’s Foundation, said: "Our programmes in traditional building skills reflect the passion of His Royal Highness to preserve historic crafts.
“We hope our charity president’s patronage of Grinling Gibbons Society can help build further awareness of the need for younger generations to learn and practise stonemasonry, woodcarving and similar crafts.”
Автор adminpОпубликовано Январь 16, 2021 Добавить комментарий к записи Prince Charles tries to save forgotten art of wood carving warning it could be lost for future generations
‘Ageism’ is to blame for Britain’s high covid death toll, Age UK boss suggests
‘Ageism’ among Government officials and scientists is to blame for Britain’s high covid death toll, the Age UK boss has suggested.
According to the latest available figures, there have been over 70,500 deaths among people aged 65 & over in the UK where coronavirus is mentioned on the death certificate, representing 90 per cent of all Covid-19 deaths.
Furthermore, almost one-in-three (28 per cent) deaths in the UK where coronavirus (Covid-19) is mentioned on the death certificate occurred in a care home.
It was revealed by The Telegraph that coronavirus hospital patients can be discharged into care homes without being tested under draft Government guidelines.
Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director at Age UK, the leading charity representing older people, said that “the ageism revealed by the pandemic has been profoundly depressing”.
Coronavirus excess deaths — by location (hospital, care home, private home)
Writing online for The Telegraph today, Ms Abrahams said: “Perhaps these oversights are less surprising when you consider that there is no one in Whitehall to speak up for older people: no Minister for older people, no Commissioner, no strategy or plan, and no cross cutting unit of officials.
“These are the kinds of things governments put in place when they think something or someone is important. The fact that we have none of them in England is quite telling.
“The over 65s comprise almost one in five of the population and rising, yet the government machine almost entirely ignores them as a group: a classic example of ‘structural ageism?’
“There has been more than a hint of ageism too from some arguing for ‘the economy versus the nation’s health’ – a false choice if ever I saw one since the evidence is that we can best protect the economy by gaining and keeping control of the virus.”
She added: “For example, consider the way in which our scientists and decision makers initially overlooked the risks facing care home residents, and therefore failed to protect them effectively until at least several months in.
“In advanced nations like ours it is hard to avoid the conclusion that ‘out of sight’ too easily becomes ‘out of mind’ with care homes and the older people living in them.
Nine in ten deaths from the virus here so far are of over 65s, a massive two in five of whom were living in a care home at the time.
“Would we have tolerated such a rickety set of services for so long had most of the people they are for been anyone else?
And will the Prime Minister stand by his word in 2021 and fundamentally reform and refinance social care to give older people the dignity they deserve?
“Certainly, that would be a fitting legacy after all our older population, those in care homes especially, are enduring during this pandemic.”
Guidance issued by the Department of Health and Social Care said visits to care homes in tier 4 areas can only take place behind substantial screens, in visiting pods or through windows. The move has dashed hopes of hand holding and hugs between relatives and residents.
The emergence of a rapidly transmissible strain of Covid-19 has also raised fears about the safety of close-contact visits outside tier 4, enabled by rapid testing, which does not detect all positive cases.
Responding to the comments, a spokesperson for the DHSC said “Eliminating health inequalities and helping people have healthier, more active lives for longer is a priority of this government.
"We are investing hundreds of millions of pounds through our Ageing Society Grand Challenge, ensuring everyone can enjoy an additional five extra years of healthy, independent life by 2035.
“We are, and always have been, resolutely committed to supporting elderly people and the social care sector, including providing over £1.1 billion for infection control measures throughout the pandemic and £4.6 billion to local authorities to reduce pressures on services.
“We are committed to sustainable improvement of the adult social care system and will bring forward proposals next year.”
Автор adminpОпубликовано Январь 16, 2021 Добавить комментарий к записи ‘Ageism’ is to blame for Britain’s high covid death toll, Age UK boss suggests
Ideological terrorism is hampering ability to pen new plays, says writer in tirade on ‘wokeism’
A leading British playwright has said that "ideological terrorism" and a fear of judgement or causing offence are stifling creativity to the point where writers will be reduced to writing only about people like themselves – in his case, middle-aged Jewish men.
In a tirade on “wokeism,” Ryan Craig, 49, whose dramas have been staged at the National Theatre and on the BBC, asked: “Am I going to only be confined to writing about middle-aged Jewish men? That’s going to be a problem for me because I’m going to run out of road.”
He told The Telegraph: “It used to be that we wanted to please everybody. Now we don’t want to upset anybody – anybody. But that is an impossible situation…
“It’s a fear of judgement and cancellation. There’s an element of ideological terrorism going on. I don’t want to be prevented from exploring ideas because I think that somebody’s not going to like it…
“We are all becoming polarised even within our tribes. I worry about writers who want to write about things but won’t – for fear of upsetting people. These days, upsetting people means either they won’t do your play or, if they do, you’ll get into trouble, and they won’t do the rest of your work.”
Criticisms that go to the heart of the woke debate are explored in his forthcoming book, Writing in Coffee Shops: Confessions of a Playwright, to be published by Bloomsbury on February 11.
He wrote: “I worry that artists are self-censoring to the point of creative extinction. And that’s bad news for the health of our democracy because who is left to challenge our received wisdom and accepted morality? Who will purge and cleanse and force us to see things in new ways?”
He said at a Q&A discussion after one of his plays, a young woman asked: “Who is this show for?” He said: “Pretty much every panel I’ve ever been on, someone asks a question like this. It bothers me. What’s it implying? That some people deserve theatre more than others? That writers should write for one group and not another? I don’t know any working playwright worth their salt who only wants to speak to one tribe…
“Our job is to connect to some universal truth about the human condition. We don’t stand on the door like nightclub bouncers checking everyone’s wearing the right ideological trousers.”
Earlier this month, Russell T Davies, the Bafta-winning screenwriter, told the Radio Times that gay roles should be reserved for gay actors and, in 2019, Falsettos, a West End musical about a Jewish family, sparked a row amid claims that only non-Jewish actors had been cast. Director Nicholas Hytner has also been criticised for saying that he would only put on a play that was critical of the Muslim community if it were written by a Muslim: “If a play has pretensions to authenticity it should be authentic.”
Falsettos Musical performed at the Other Palace Theatre, London
Credit: Alastair Muir
Mr Craig argued that actors and writers should be able to climb into somebody else’s skin: “That’s the whole point. You’re reaching out to somebody else’s humanity and trying to connect with that humanity. Are we going to go round asking everybody what their identity is, what their sexuality is?”
He added: “If you force all characters to speak without ever giving offence, you are not writing honestly about human behaviour and the behaviour of language.”
Mr Craig’s plays include The Glass Room, which deals with Holocaust denial, at the Hampstead Theatre, and The Holy Rosenbergs, about a Jewish family, staged at the National Theatre. He has also written extensively for television and radio, including Robin Hood for BBC1.
He recalled that, when The Holy Rosenbergs was staged in 2011, audiences hung around to discuss it: “They had a go at me. ’You haven’t got this right, I don’t agree with this…’. But it was a very fruitful, joyful interaction. I didn’t feel worried for my play’s future because people didn’t agree with some of it. Tilly Tremayne was playing the classic matriarchal Jewish mother. Most of the Jewish people who came to see the play did not believe me that she wasn’t Jewish. That’s the point. She did her job. She convinced them that she was somebody else.”
He recalled that Richard Bean’s England People Very Nice, a satire on East End immigration starring Olivia Colman at the National in 2009, was criticised for lampooning stereotypes of French Huguenots, Irish Catholics, Jews and Bangladeshis: “I wonder if Richard would even attempt to write that play now and whether the National Theatre would do that play. Or, if so, then perhaps they would do an accompanying piece of work from somebody from one of the communities that he talks about. What’s happening is it’s becoming narrower what you’re allowed to write about.”
A scene from England People Very Nice, a play by Richard Bean at the National Theatre
Credit: Johan Persson
He also recalled Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti’s play Behzti (Dishonour), which offended some Sikhs because it included scenes of rape and murder in a Sikh temple. Staged at the Birmingham Rep in 2004, it sparked a riot, prompting managers to cancel it.
Mr Craig said: “Bhatti’s play was rejected by her community. What’s happened now is that if you didn’t come from that community, you couldn’t write Sikh characters. That makes a mockery about how we put ideas and characters together.”
Britain abandoned theatre censorship in 1968, when playwrights no longer needed a licence from the Lord Chamberlain. Mr Craig said that, until a few years ago, there was complete artistic freedom: “You didn’t feel there was anything you couldn’t write about. But today, if you don’t completely tally with some people’s point of view, then you’re a traitor to their cause.”
He is now writing a play on censorship, commissioned by the Bath Theatre Royal: “It’s going to be, hopefully, a stimulating comedy of ideas.”
Автор adminpОпубликовано Январь 16, 2021 Добавить комментарий к записи Ideological terrorism is hampering ability to pen new plays, says writer in tirade on ‘wokeism’
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Ashleigh Anpilova
Gibbs has to retire and Ducky had always said he would retire at the same time. Gibbs had thought he would be able to easily fill his days, but time hangs heavily on his hands. Bored not only with retirement but also with DC, Gibbs realizes he wants and needs something new in his life.
A first time story.
Written: October 2013. Word count: 3,400.
It was late; the sun had set long ago, but Gibbs was still outside sipping beer and thinking. The sun had not only literally set, it had also set on his career as an NCIS agent. He was fifty-seven, the mandatory age of retirement for NCIS agents and no exceptions were made, not even for the agency's best, most experienced, hardest working agent.
He thought back to his final attempt to get Vance to if not break the rules then at least bend them for him.
"Come on, Leon, you must be able to do something."
"I'm sorry, Gibbs, but as I've already told you at least half a dozen times, there are no exceptions. None - not even for an agent as good as you are."
"But plenty of people work for the agency past fifty-seven. Ducky for instance."
"Dr. Mallard isn't a field agent."
"Yeah, know that, Leon. But -"
"I am sorry, Jethro. It's the agency's loss, but my hands are tied."
"Then untie them."
"I can't; you know that."
"Would you if you could?"
He'd never got an answer to that question, because at that moment Vance's assistant had buzzed to say the SecNav was on the phone.
So that was it. All those years devoted to serving NCIS, to catching the dirt bags, to righting wrong, to taking down criminals, to serving his country - none of it mattered. All that mattered was the date on his birth certificate; the date that declared he was as of that day fifty-seven.
The agency had thrown him a retirement party - well him and Ducky because as he had always known he would, Ducky had opted to retire on the same day as Gibbs, saying it was well past time he handed over the reins to Palmer.
It had actually been a very good party; well it would have been if it hadn't been for him, if it hadn't represented the end of his career. The kids had told him and Ducky they'd miss them and that they'd visit and he was sure they would miss them and would even visit - but it didn't change anything. They would be returning to NCIS the following day and he wouldn't.
He drained the bottle of beer, stared up at the sky and decided to stop being maudlin and wishing for something he couldn't have. He had always known he'd have to retire when he turned fifty-seven - Vance had been right, his hands were tied; there wasn't anything he could have done, even if he'd wanted to.
No, all he could do was start his new life; enjoy his retirement; take pleasure in not being shot at, not having to take lives, not having to get up in the middle of the night to go to a crime scene. He should be glad he would no longer have to referee arguments between the kids, no longer have to put up with DiNozzo's constant movie references and McGee talking to him in a language he didn't understand. He no longer had to do battle with bureaucracy and his life wouldn't be driven by computers and reports. He could enjoy doing what he wanted to do when he wanted to do it. He was going to enjoy his retirement and he'd be able to fill his days more than easily.
Decision made he went inside and trudged up the stairs to bed - reminding himself that there wouldn't be any of the middle of the night phone calls.
THE NEXT DAY
He had a very productive day sorting out his basement, something he'd been intending to do for years, but had never really found time to do so. "Well, I'll be damned," he said, as he unearthed a hammer he'd thought he'd lost several years ago.
By the end of the day the basement looked quite different and he'd found quite a few things he'd thought he'd lost - including a bottle of whiskey, which given it wasn't the usual bourbon he drank, but the malt whiskey Ducky tended to drink when he visited, he couldn't work out what it was doing in the basement.
He went back upstairs, took a quick shower and started on dinner. As it cooked, he stood at the window, a bottle of beer in his hand watching the sunset. As he watched the sun sink further and further down, its brilliant colors lighting up the sky, he thought about other sunsets he had seen in the various parts of the world he been deployed to or sent to as an NCIS agent. They'd all been beautiful in their own way, but nothing could beat a sunset at sea.
Suddenly he found himself wondering what a Scottish sunset would be like. The phone ringing pulled him from his thoughts and he grabbed it. "Hey, Duck," he said, "I was just thinking about you."
"Were you?" Ducky sounded a little surprised.
"Yeah. How was your first day of retirement?"
"Perfectly pleasant, thank you. How was yours?"
"Finally sorted the basement out and found a lot of things I'd thought I'd lost. Also found a bottle of your favorite whiskey."
"That was a very strange thing to discover."
"That's what I thought. Hey, Duck, have you had dinner yet?"
"Actually, I haven't. I sat down after tea to read for a short time and, well, I confess I became rather caught up in the story and simply went on reading. I was just about to make myself something."
"Come and have dinner with me." Ducky was silent for a moment. "I can cook you know, Duck."
"Yes, my dear, I know you can. I just - I'd love to come to dinner."
"You sure? You haven't got other plans, have you?"
Ducky laughed softly. "No, Jethro, I have no other plans."
"Good. See you in a bit then?"
"I shall leave shortly."
"Great. Hang on, Duck."
"Yes, Jethro?"
"Why did you call me? Did you want something?"
Once again Ducky didn't reply instantly. Then he said softly, "I'm afraid I must confess that I had no particular reason for calling, Jethro. I merely wished to . . . I called to say hello, that is all."
"You sure you're okay, Duck?"
"Of course I am, Jethro. Why would I not be?"
"It's just - Ah, nothing. See you soon."
"Jethro?"
"Yeah?"
"May I ask why you happened to be thinking of me?"
"What? Oh, yeah. I'll tell you when you get here."
"Very well. Goodbye for now."
"Bye, Duck. Drive carefully."
Ducky chuckled softly. "I always do." And with that, it was Ducky who ended the call.
Gibbs stood for a moment and frowned. The conversation had been a perfectly normal one, as had the invitation to dinner, so why did he feel . . . Well, to be honest he wasn't entirely sure what he felt. It was just that something seemed - well, different. It was as if . . . He shook himself and went to set the table for two rather than one before opening a bottle of wine.
AN HOUR OR SO LATER
"That was extremely good, Jethro." Ducky said, putting down his napkin and smiling at Gibbs.
"No need to sound so surprised, Duck." Gibbs started to gather the plates together.
"I wasn't," Ducky sounded a little indignant.
"Sorry, Duck, just teasing. I was," he said, as Ducky stared at him.
Then Ducky chuckled, patted Gibbs's hand and said, "Very well, I'll believe you. Now do let me give you a hand with the dishes."
Gibbs shook his head. "No, you go and sit down. I'll put them in the sink and do them later."
"It really won't - Very well, I'm going."
Gibbs watched Ducky move across the couch and frowned; maybe it was just his imagination, but he thought Ducky was limping a little more than he normally did. "Your leg hurting?"
Ducky sat down a little carefully and nodded. "A little more than it normally does, which given I have spent far less time on my feet today than I usually do, is somewhat surprising. But it's nothing, really it isn't." Ducky smiled at him.
Gibbs stood for a moment, he was sure there was something else on Ducky's mind; once again, although the time they'd spent together had been like any other time, something felt a little strange, a little out of alignment. He told himself it was probably just because they'd both retired; the day hadn't been normal for either of them; that was all it was. It'd take a few days or weeks even before they both adjusted completely to their new lives, but once they did, everything would be right again, as it always had been.
He put the dishes into the sink and filled it with water before returning to the living room. "Whiskey?" he asked, holding up the bottle he'd found in his basement.
Ducky hesitated for a moment before saying. "Yes, why not? I'll have a small one please."
Gibbs poured Ducky a drink and handed it to him before pouring himself a slightly larger glass of bourbon. "So," he said, sitting down at the opposite end of the couch. "You going to tell me why you really called me earlier?"
"There really wasn't a reason, Jethro. It's as I told you, I merely just wished to - It's been a strange day. I kept waiting for -"
"Someone to call and say they've got a body for you?"
Ducky sighed and said quietly, "Something like that, yes."
"Know what you mean. But this is it, Duck. This is our lives now. This is retirement. Got to make the best of it."
"We have indeed and after a few days, I am quite certain it will feel more normal." He smiled at Gibbs who smiled back.
A MONTH LATER
Gibbs was bored. So much for telling himself he'd have plenty to do to fill his days. He did have plenty to do, but he found he actually tired of spending day after day in the basement or tidying the yard or the house.
He'd finally gone through papers and things that he hadn't looked at since Shannon and Kelly had died and made a conscious effort to begin to get rid of things he'd hung onto for far too long. More than once he'd felt that Shannon was watching him, encouraging him, approving of him finally if not letting go completely, then at least letting go partly.
He'd done a number of small repair jobs for some of his elderly neighbors and now had more cakes, cookies and 'just put it in the oven and reheat it, Jethro dear' meals than he knew what to do with. He'd flatly refused to let anyone pay him for what he did, so they cooked for him instead.
He had made a point of not dropping by the Navy Yard nor had he called any of the kids. It wasn't that he didn't want to see them or hear from them, but he knew they'd be finding it difficult to adjust to working life without him or Ducky, and he wanted to give them a bit more time. At least that' what he'd told himself and if he told himself it enough, he'd believe it.
He and Ducky had somehow, without discussing it, fallen into a habit of either having lunch or dinner together every day and Gibbs realized that was the best part of his day. He found he looked forward to seeing Ducky; sometimes they went out, but for the most part they ate either at Ducky's home or Gibbs's - well he had to get rid of all the food his neighbors provided him with somehow.
In fact Ducky was due to arrive soon. As he put the casserole into the oven to reheat, Gibbs suddenly realized he wasn't just bored of not working, he was bored with DC. He was even tired of the house he'd lived in since he and Shannon had married. He was tired of the same streets, the same roads, the same people. He was retired; he no longer had to live in DC; he could move - somewhere. But where? And would he actually be any less bored? It wasn't just a change of location he needed, it was a complete change.
TWO HOURS LATER
"That really was an excellent casserole, Jethro."
"Yeah, Mrs. Fletcher's a great cook."
"She certainly is and I would venture to suggest that asking for a recipe would unfortunately be to no avail, because I suspect she doesn't use one."
"Probably not." Gibbs poured the last of the wine into Ducky's glass.
They sat in silence for a while before Ducky said softly, "Jethro, there is something I . . . Something I have to tell you."
Gibbs glanced at Ducky and frowned. "You're not sick are you, Duck?"
"What? Oh, no. No, Jethro, I am quite healthy, thank you. It's nothing like that."
"Then what is it?"
"Shall we go and sit down and get more comfortable?" However, without waiting for Gibbs to answer him, Ducky stood up and taking his glass with him, made his way over the couch and sat down.
Gibbs swiftly cleared the table and then joined Ducky. "Well?" he demanded as he sat down.
Ducky glanced away from him for a moment before swallowing and saying softly, "Do you remember me telling you - It was years ago, so you probably won't remember. Indeed there is no reason at all why you should remember; it really was only said in passing, so of course you won't remember."
"Remember what, Duck?"
"What? Oh, yes. Um. You see . . . Oh, dear; I'm not entirely certain how to say this."
"Words." Gibbs nodded. "Just say words."
Ducky gave him a faint smile. "Very well. Some years ago, maybe eight or nine or was it -"
"Ducky!"
"Is when you told me pivotal to what it is you're not telling me?" He spoke rather more loudly than he tended to do.
Ducky looked slightly startled. "Well, no, it isn't."
"Right. So how about forgetting trying to remember just when you told me and instead just tell me."
"Very well. I once told you that when I retired I would return to Britain."
Gibbs thought; he had a vague memory of Ducky telling him that. "I remember," he said, suddenly wondering why it had turned so very cold in the room.
"Well, the thing is," Ducky fell silent and sipped his wine for a moment. "The thing is - Oh, Jethro, I have decided I am going to do that thing. I'm going home, Jethro. I have decided I shall return to Britain," he added softly.
Gibbs stared at his oldest friend and shook his head to clear it; he couldn't have heard Ducky correctly. Ducky wouldn't leave him. Ducky couldn't leave him. He shook himself again; what was he thinking? Ducky wasn't leaving him as such; he was just - leaving.
"Why?" he asked. "I mean I thought you had plenty of friends here."
"I do."
"And you play Bridge and whatever and you've got a home here and - Why do you want to go back to Britain?"
"I'm not entirely certain I can explain it, Jethro, because I'm not entirely certain I know exactly why. I just know I wish to go. I want to see the hills and mountains and the skies and the greenery and the beauty of the country in which I was born again."
"Can't you go for a visit?"
"I could. But - No, Jethro. I have decided. It's not something I've decided on lightly; I have actually been thinking about it since we retired."
"You never said anything."
"No, because I wasn't certain then and I didn't want to - I didn't want to tell you until I had made a decision."
Gibbs really didn't know what to say. He was still trying to get his head around the fact that Ducky was going to leave him. "When?" he demanded. "When are you going to leave m- DC," he hastily corrected.
"I haven't got an exact date in mind, but I wish to be back for Christmas."
"I'll come with you," Gibbs heard himself say.
Ducky stared at him. "What? Jethro? What are you saying? What do you mean?"
That was a very good question. Just what did he mean? "Um," he managed, now irritated with himself for being so indecisive. Why had he said it? Sure he'd miss Ducky, but they could call and he could even get a computer and they could email one another. It wasn't as if he didn't have any other friends in DC, was it? He had . . . He had Fornell.
Ducky was staring at him in silence. "What do you mean, Jethro?" he repeated softly, and then surprised Gibbs by asking, "Or do you not actually know?"
"Of course I know!"
"Good. Then why don't you tell me?" Gibbs remained silent. Ducky sighed softly and asked, "Are you suggesting you come for a holiday? Because you would of course be very welcome. I'd be more than happy for you to do so. I could show you some of the wonderful places in Scotland and England. And would you actually want to come with me when I go or come later. Or -"
"Duck!"
"My dear?"
"Be quiet."
"But, Jethro, I - Jethro?" Gibbs pulled Ducky to his feet. "What are you -" Gibbs silenced Ducky by kissing him. He felt Ducky's surprise and hesitation, but it only lasted for a moment two, before Ducky put his arms around Gibbs and began to return the kiss.
As Gibbs's mouth parted Ducky's and he slipped his tongue into Ducky's mouth, he idly wondered why kissing another man didn't feel strange. However, the answer was simple: it wasn't just another man he was kissing, it was Ducky, his closest friend and the man he'd loved as a friend for as long as he could remember who he was kissing.
Finally, realizing that even he could only go on kissing someone for so long before he had to break away in order to breathe, Gibbs took his mouth from Ducky's and gazed down at Ducky who now looked stunned.
"Yeah, Duck?"
"What . . . Why . . . Jethro, are you quite well?"
"Perfectly, thanks, Duck."
"But you kissed me."
"Yeah. Noticed that."
"But . . . Jethro, why now?"
Gibbs shrugged. "Why not?" Ducky opened his mouth and closed it again. Gibbs pulled him just a little nearer to him and said, "You see, Duck, I don't want to come on holiday with you, I thought we could ride off into the sunset together."
Ducky moved back a little and stared up at Gibbs. Gibbs saw the twinkle in Ducky's eyes and waited. "Jethro?"
"Ducky?"
"You are aware that the sun sets in the west, are you not?"
Gibbs decided to simply play along. "You know what, Duck? I do know that."
"And that the UK is in fact to the east of the States?"
"Yep, know that too, Duck. Your point?"
"Well, my dear, we can hardly ride off into the sunset now, can we?"
Gibbs growled softly before lowering his head and kissing Ducky again.
TWO MONTHS LATER
It was early evening, two hours before their flight to Britain was due to take off; two hours before the sun would set.
It had taken Gibbs some careful research (well it had taken McGee) but he'd finally managed to find a flight that would depart just as the sun was setting. Thus while they might not be riding off into the sunset together, they would be flying off together as the sun set.
The kids all went with them to the airport. After multiple hugs all around and promises to email, call, write, Skype (at least that's what Gibbs thought Abby had said, he made a mental note to ask Ducky what Skype or whatever it was Abby had said actually was) and an open invitation for any of them to visit as any time they parted company.
"You ready, Duck?"
"Yes, my dear Jethro? And you?"
"Never been readier," Gibbs said and smiled down at Ducky.
Feedback is always appreciated
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Sex In A Submarine
The adventures of a professional screenwriter and sometimes film festival jurist, slogging through the trenches of Hollywood, writing movies that you have never heard of, and getting no respect.
Voted #10 - Best Blogs For Screenwriters - Bachelor's Degree
From almost exactly this time of year in 2010...
A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I didn’t get much writing done because I ran into some old friends at my local Starbucks and we just hung out all night. The very first question everyone asked me was, “Where’s Craig?” And I ended up telling each person as they arrived and asked me that question, “He moved back home”, which was an amazing conversation killer. Moments of silence as people processed this, and wondered if they would move home someday.
The group consists of people from the neighborhood who shop at the local Ralph’s Grocery and often eat at City Wok or Tortas across the street and grab a coffee on their way to work at Starbucks and a beer after work at Residuals Bar. Some of the folks have known each other longer than others - three of them all lived at the Oakwood Apartments (where Jay Leno knocks on doors sometimes as part of a gag) at the same time. The lynchpin that holds it all together is one guy who was one of the Oakwood guys - who would come home from work and go straight to Starbucks, sitting outside by the front doors whether it was summer or winter. We called him the Mayor of Starbucks. He’d say hello to you when you passed him - said hello to everybody. Knew most people by name. And when I hit a snag on a script and needed to step away from the laptop before I smashed it to pieces, I would take a break and sit outside with him for a while. And that’s how I became part of this loose group. We all knew this one guy, and we all started to hang out together.
Two or three times a week - no schedule and no set dates and no real organization - a bunch of us would be at Starbucks at the same time and go to dinner together at City Wok and then go back to Starbucks and sit around and BS. There were directors and stunt men and writers and cinematographers and FX people and a puppeteer. You read that right - a guy who puts on puppet shows. Oh, and actors. For a few years, this loose group would meet and have dinner and BS - sometimes our table at City Wok would be for 4 people, and sometimes they’d have to put a whole bunch of tables together. I often work in that Starbucks, as did a couple of others, so we would always be part of the group. Others came or went or whatever.
Sometimes people would move to the other side of Los Angeles, and we might not see them for months... and then they’d drop in one night out of the blue. Sometimes they moved and just never made it back. And sometimes they would go home in defeat.
Mostly guys, but one ultra hot gal who lived in my building landed a big deal - a TV show - and moved into a luxury pad by the beach on the other side of town and... then it all fell apart. She ended up going home. It was tragic.
One of the guys had the hots for this cute Barista gal, but was kind of scared to ask her out. Every time he was there he would flirt with her and she would flirt with him. She was single. She was dating. She was dating men. But this guy just couldn’t work up the nerve to ask her out. Every time he was there for dinner we would encourage him to just do it - what’s the worst that could happen? She says no. One night, he decides he’s going to do it. We’re all there - over a dozen of us - I think the puppeteer was even there - when he flirts with her for a while and she flirts with him and then he asks her out... and she BRUTALLY shoots him down. You could hear us gasp all the way in Long Beach. It was like a body blow to all of us. He grabbed his tea and sat back down with us and pretended like nothing happened. He was joking about something a few minutes later.
A couple of years ago the group began to dissolve. One of the guys got married (his wife is now expecting), some of the guys moved, and the lynchpin guy who kind of held the group together had some personal problems and doesn’t go out of his house much anymore. I seldom go to that Starbucks, because it became very crowded (difficult to get a table) and too many people know my name (so it’s hard to get anything done). Some days I check to see if there’s a table, some days I just get on the bike and go somewhere else without even checking. But a couple of weeks ago I showed up for the evening shift, the place was almost empty, and I grabbed a table and started working...
When one of the guys came in and said he’d gotten a call that some of others were going to show up later... and we ended up with around 8-10 people. All of whom asked me: “Where’s Craig?” And I had to answer that he’s moved back home.
Craig was one of those other guys in Starbucks with a laptop open writing something. To hear him talk, he had it all figured out. He had quit a high paying job back home and moved to Hollywood to make it big. Make millions. He drove a sports car - leased. He was one of those guys who could talk their way into just about anything - super confident, aggressive about business, a real hustler, cocky but also funny. That was really his biggest gift, because he could make you feel at ease - like you were an insider in his world, joking at the losers on the outside. He had cajones. He would just go up and talk to some movie star or producer and often get them to take his scripts. He landed a deal, that worked out well for him... and it seemed like this was the first step to bigger things. He was walking on air - king of the world - sure that he would just be climbing that Hollywood ladder rung after rung until he got to the top. But after that initial success, he stumbled a bit before he landed his next deal. The stumbling part he shook off, telling us that those deals weren’t met to be and not getting them was a good thing because it cleared the way for the big one. Then he landed his second deal, which looked like the big one... and that did not go as planned at all.
I read one of his scripts once, and it was wild and energetic and had no act 2 and kinda didn’t really come together at the end. But filled with cool stuff. I tried to give him some feedback on it, but he thought it was fine... good enough to get him though the doors. And it was. You know, it’s not easy to get through those doors. But once they tried to make a movie out of it all of the problems became apparent and it crashed and burned horribly and something happened to him - maybe he realized he could get through the door, but when it came time to make the movie he didn’t have those skills. Or maybe he had this dream that making it big would be easy and it wasn’t. Or maybe it was something else.
Anyway, after that second one crashed, he tried to set something else up and nothing happened at all, and then, while I was out of town for the holidays, he called me and said he was going home, I thought just for the holidays.... but he never returned.
The first or second year I was at the Santa Fe Screenwriting Conference, William Kelley who wrote WITNESS said that you don’t know anything until you’ve had a script produced. You *think* you know something, but actually having that script turned into a film changes everything. I think that’s true. I think when it’s a screenplay, it’s all still kind of make believe and the decision to change something isn’t going to cost a pile of money or put production behind by a few days or make the ending impossible. You may have a script that’s an amazing read, but when it is time to put that script on screen most of the cool stuff stays on the page and the film doesn’t work. Or maybe can’t even be filmed. Once your dream becomes something that is going to be scheduled and budgeted and rewritten for budget and schedule and available talent and all of the other physical issues that come along with production (not even bringing in the artistic stuff), it often turns into something so real it is not enjoyable. That scene where he teaches her how to surf while they are on vacation in Hawaii and they fall in love? Well, we are shooting this film in New Mexico because of the tax incentives - Can he teach her how to ride a horse instead? Stuff like that destroys some people. And having to make something that only works on the page due to some fancy word-dancing, work on the screen where there is no dancing allowed, may be outside of some writer’s skill set. They may discover that they are not good enough for that next step.
There are 5 steps to screenwriting, and each is a chance for all kinds of failure.
1) Learning to write the screenplay.
2) Learning to write the screenplay that someone wants to buy.
3) Learning to write the screenplay that gets made into a film.
4) Going through the hell of production.
5) Remaining a screenwriter over a period of time.
I have seen a lot of “big talkers” come and then go. Maybe they are embarrassed because they told everyone how great they were and how great their work was and how easy it was for them to get their first thing set up someplace... and then it didn’t turn out easy after all. Maybe all of that talk is what *made them* go back home or make some low budget film that can’t find a distrib and drop out of sight so that they don’t have to answer questions about it. Maybe they have told everyone they are going to be Kings, and when they end up just pawns, they can’t deal with that.
But here’s the thing - you can get depressed or frustrated or heart broken and go back home, or you can stick it out and figure out what isn’t working and fix that. If you don’t brag about what hasn’t happened yet, no reason to be embarrassed when it doesn’t happen or takes much longer than expected.
At the TALES FROM THE SCRIPT panel, one of the writers said that screenwriting is a job where you get punched in the face again and again and again. And that is the truth. If you haven’t been punched in the face yet, that doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen... it means when it does happen you’ll be hit twice as hard. Maybe five times as hard. It will happen.
Best thing to do: Feel the pain, then get up and prepare to be hit again.
The best line in the last ROCKY film: “It ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!”
Same is true in Hollywood, as I’m sure Stallone can tell you. You want to go the full ten rounds and take a bunch of hits and still be standing at the end of the fight. A setback is just a setback - shake it off, stay in the ring.
"Hello, I'm a screenwriter.... I want you to hit me in the face as hard as you can."
- Bill
I'm sorry, one of my movies is invading the UK again...
Movies For Men Channel: 4/27 - 16:20 - Steel Sharks - When a United States submarine is seized by terrorists, a rescue attempt by Elite Navy Seals goes awry. The submarine crew wages a silent war beneath the waves in this tense undersea thriller.
(oddly wrong synopsis - it's a germ warfare scientist who is kidnaped by Iran, and a rescue attempt by Navy SEALS that goes wrong, etc.)
IMPORTANT UPDATE:
TODAY'S SCRIPT TIP: The Terror Of Act 2 - How to keep act 2 exciting... even if the conflict is with unseen forces.
Dinner: Arroz con pollo.
Bicycle: Medium-long ride deep into the valley.
Pages: Yesterday? Nothing but this blog entry.
Posted by wcmartell at 6:47 AM 3 comments:
Friday's With Hitchcock: Dial H Interview With Hitchcock
DIAL H FOR HITCHCOCK is an interview and examination of Hitchcock's work.
Interview With Hitch.
Of course, I have my own books focusing on Hitchcock...
HITCHCOCK: MASTERING SUSPENSE
LEARN SUSPENSE FROM THE MASTER!
Alfred Hitchcock, who directed 52 movies, was known as the “Master Of Suspense”; but what exactly is suspense and how can *we* master it? How does suspense work? How can *we* create “Hitchcockian” suspense scenes in our screenplays, novels, stories and films?
This book uses seventeen of Hitchcock’s films to show the difference between suspense and surprise, how to use “focus objects” to create suspense, the 20 iconic suspense scenes and situations, how plot twists work, using secrets for suspense, how to use Dread (the cousin of suspense) in horror stories, and dozens of other amazing storytelling lessons. From classics like “Strangers On A Train” and “The Birds” and “Vertigo” and “To Catch A Thief” to older films from the British period like “The 39 Steps” and “The Man Who Knew Too Much” to his hits from the silent era like “The Lodger” (about Jack The Ripper), we’ll look at all of the techniques to create suspense!
Films Included: NOTORIOUS, SABOTAGE, STRANGERS ON A TRAIN, THE 39 STEPS, REBECCA, TO CATCH A THIEF, FRENZY, FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT, THE LODGER, THE BIRDS, TORN CURTAIN, SABOTEUR, VERTIGO, THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (1934), THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (1955), SUSPICION, and NUMBER SEVENTEEN. 17 Great Films!
Only 125,000 words!
UK Folks Click Here.
German Folks Click Here.
French Folks Click Here.
Espania Folks Click Here.
Canadian Folks Click Here.
HITCHCOCK: EXPERIMENTS IN TERROR
USA Readers click here for more info!
HITCHCOCK DID IT FIRST!
We all know that Alfred Hitchcock was the Master Of Suspense, but did you know he was the most *experimental* filmmaker in history?
Contained Thrillers like “Buried”? Serial Protagonists like “Place Beyond The Pines”? Multiple Connecting Stories like “Pulp Fiction”? Same Story Multiple Times like “Run, Lola, Run”? This book focuses on 18 of Hitchcock’s 52 films with wild cinema and story experiments which paved the way for modern films. Almost one hundred different experiments that you may think are recent cinema or story inventions... but some date back to Hitchcock’s *silent* films! We’ll examine these experiments and how they work. Great for film makers, screenwriters, film fans, producers and directors.
Films Examined: “Rear Window”, “Psycho”, “Family Plot”, “Topaz”, “Rope”, “The Wrong Man”, “Easy Virtue”, “Lifeboat”, “Bon Voyage”, “Aventure Malgache”, “Elstree Calling”, “Dial M for Murder”, “Stage Fright”, “Champagne”, “Spellbound”, “I Confess”, and “The Trouble with Harry”, with glances at “Vertigo” and several others.
Professional screenwriter William C. Martell takes you into the world of The Master Of Suspense and shows you the daring experiments that changed cinema. Over 77,000 words.
Posted by wcmartell at 12:00 AM 10 comments:
Scene Of The Week: GOODFELLAS
If you've read Secrets Of Action Screenwriting you know that one of my favorite writing tools is *Magnification*, which I learned in Dan Arnold’s acting class in High School. The basic idea is to make something normal sized and make it much bigger. Stakes and conflict and emotions are all raised. Something average becomes something larger than life... large enough to fill that big screen. This works with concepts, emotions, and understanding the emotions of your characters.
This scene also deals with *Tension* - which is unresolved conflict. To create tension you must have a conflict... and the conflict needs to be ongoing and active and not solved. Once you resolve the conflict, you remove the tension. If you allow the audience to forget the conflict, you remove the tension. On Fridays when I do the Hitchcock entries, there are a couple on tension and suspense and “poking the tiger” to keep the audience aware that there is an existing conflict. If you don’t poke the tiger the conflict dissipates and you lose all of the tension.
So here is a scene that uses both elements, and it’s one of my favorite scenes. From GOODFELLAS (1990) written by Nicholas Pileggi, based on his true crime book. Directed by Martin Scorsese, and it’s like his 15th feature film. He’s one of my favorite directors, never really had a hit like his fellow “Hollywood Brats” but is always doing great work. Ages ago, when I was fresh out of high school, I sent him a letter asking if he’d read one of my screenplays... and he said yes! I sent some crappy early screenplay and got a great letter back from the head of his production company telling me to stick with it, etc. The polite brush off - but the guy never had to be polite in the first place. That script was ANYONE CAN LOSE and a friend asked me about it a couple of days ago - it’s one of those scripts with some great scenes but the story doesn’t work well. People remember it and wonder if I ever figured out how to fix it. Nope. But, back to GOODFELLAS...
Henry Hill is a small time crook way out on the fringe of organized crime, who wants to move up. So he looks to make some new friends who are equally ambitious and see if they can team up to move up the mob ladder... and become the new generation of organized crime. Now here’s the thing - this is kind of like meeting someone *and* a job interview, and the people you are meeting may be armed and may have just killed someone five minutes ago.
So let’s use our magnification tool. Remember those times in your past you were hanging out with someone who you wanted to impress... and *didn’t* want to offend? Might have been a job interview or a first date or meeting your romantic partner’s best friend or some other situation where you were hanging out with someone important and didn’t want to screw it up. Now, because we are all human, we have probably all screwed up in this situation at least once. I am socially inept and have some for of social tourettes that kicks in when I'm with people I need to impress - so that I always say the completely wrong thing. I get nervous and probably try too hard and end up saying something stupid. Because of that, I work hard *not* to do that when I meet people I want to impress, which makes me even more nervous... But you’ve probably blown it a couple of times, right? Now we’re going to take that anxiety and that mistake and *Magnify* it. We’re going to raise the stakes and emotions and turn that first meeting into a life or death situation. You are hanging out with a guy who kills people. You don’t want to say the wrong thing in this situation, you don’t want to accidentally offend him...
Funny how?
Great scene, and see how they keep “poking the tiger” to keep that tension alive?
This is a great example of how to take a “throw away scene” and make it so entertaining that we’re talking about it 25 years later... but it also helps us identify with Henry (Ray Liotta) and is the perfect introduction to Tommy (Joe Pesci).
While we’re on Joe Pesci - he won an Oscar for this performance, and his speech was: "This is an honor and privilege, thank you," because he didn’t think he was going to win and had no planned acceptance speech. Pesci as been in a bunch of great films, and is always great in lesser films. Would you believe his first time on screen was in HEY LET’S TWIST (1961) because he was a Rock & Roll guitar player for the featured band The Starliters... and even recorded a Rock & Roll solo album as a singer: “Little Joe Sure Can Sing”! He was a childhood friend of Frankie Valli, and was instrumental in the formation of The Four Seasons (he’s even a character in JERSEY BOYS!). So the whole Rock & Roll career, then a new career as an actor that leads to an Oscar win and another nomination plus a bunch of memorable films.
( Joe Pesci plays guitar in a band on The Lucy Show (1966) - Carol Burnett co-stars.) Magnification and Tension work hand-in-hand in this scene, but they can work separately as well in scenes. Tension is a great scene tool, and when I get around to doing the Scenes Blue Book there will be a whole chapter on tension techniques.
The comments section is open for discussion of the scene.
Posted by wcmartell at 12:00 AM No comments:
Labels: scene of the week
50 Amazing But True Facts!
I found this seven year old list of amazing but true facts, so I'm using it as a filler post today.
Fifty Amazing-but-True Facts!
* The Mongolian pony is the only animal other than an elephant capable of fending off an attack by a healthy adult tiger.
* Because of their unusual shape, Hershey's Kisses contain more calories per ounce than the same amount of chocolate in other forms.
* The French language has seventeen different words for "surrender."
* The average person can fit exactly one half of their pinky finger in one of their nostrils. However, if an attempt is made to put a pinky finger in EACH nostril, only one quarter of each will fit.
* Showing off at a party one evening, Chopin played the entire "Minute Waltz" in under 10 seconds.
* If the air in your car's tires is not completely replaced every two years, it can turn to liquid and cause severe damage.
* If you tar and feather a 2x4 and place it in your yard, it will ward off bats.
* The largest home in the United States, North Carolina's Biltmore House, was originally intended to be the official residence of a new monarchy to be established when the South rose again.
* The Toltec calendar was based on a 360-day year, with each day being about 24 hours and 20 minutes long.
* The universal size of the credit card is based entirely on the size of the 1960s US Communist Party membership card. Credit cards were designed so that they wouldn't cause the Communist Party card to stand out.
* Nobody born in Kentucky has ever been elected to Congress.
* In an effort to improve the nutritional value of its "Shamrock shakes," McDonald's colors them with broccoli extract.
* Winston Churchill was born with a third nipple, which he removed himself with nail-clippers at the age of 14.
* Only a single dissenting vote prevented the death penalty in Texas from being carried out by immersing the convicted person in a nest of fire ants.
* If you place a fresh Viagra tablet in a houseplant's soil every six months, the plant will not wilt.
* The ancient Arabic word "jorgbushii" translates roughly to "evil one who comes disguised in peace to drink Earth's black blood."
* In Finland, "Sintter Klaas" brings bad children a small bag of old toenail clippings.
* The practice of putting a letter "e" in front of words to mean "web-based" (e.g., eBusiness, eLearning, etc.) was patented byMicrosoft in 1992. They are waiting until their anti-trust trial has been officially completed to begin enforcing it.
* The noun "sled" originates from the name of a 18th-century mountaineer from Finland, Schletz Linden, whose body was used by his climbing partner to slide down a mountain during a winter storm after he froze to death.
* If a cricket were the size of Mount Rushmore, it could jump to the moon.
* The increase in the amount of metals mined and brought to the surface of the earth in order to manufacture SUVs has caused higher tides in the Northern Hemisphere.
* Children conceived on airplanes never suffer from motion sickness.
* The life span of dogs allowed to dine in cat litter boxes is on average 18 percent longer than that of dogs restricted to commercial diets.
* Charles Darwin once attempted to breed flying monkeys by crossing chimpanzees with vultures.
* The steady, rhythmic sound produced by dripping water increases the capacity for sleeping males to experience lucid sexual dreams.
* Blue water in a toilet bowl causes males to urinate 7 percent more.
* Women who use chewing tobacco are three times LESS likely to accidentally swallow it while they are pregnant.
* The melody of the classic hymn "Amazing Grace" originated from a 12th-century pagan song celebrating masturbation.
* The Federal Department of Online Commerce has been compiling a list of US-based e-mail addresses. Once 100 million addresses have been collected, the list will be sold to online marketers as part of President Bush's plan to reduce the deficit.
* A 9-volt battery contains roughly the same amount of kinetic energy as a bowl of Lucky Charms.
* The Yanomami tribesmen of the Amazon basin can track game birds by the slight difference in warmth their shadows create on the forest floor as they fly by, for up to an hour after the birds have departed.
* Contrary to the popular saying, 99 percent of the time you lead a horse to water, it'll drink on its own.
* The first Ford Excursion was actually designed and built in 1951. It was never marketed because the then-current braking technology required a drum 3 feet wide on each wheel.
* Rapid deforestation has decreased the friction of the surface of the Earth, causing it to spin infinitesimally faster and thereby cool the air, combating global warming.
* The flush toilet was invented in Flushing, NY.
* The inner core of most standard golf balls is made of nougat, which helps the balls remain aloft longer.
* On occasions when the sun is shining brightly on falling snowflakes, they contain enough ionic charge to stun insects. Observation of this phenomenon inspired the invention of the bug zapper.
* Over the last two decades, more Americans died of heart attacks while watching horror movies in movie theaters than died while sky-diving.
* A common misconception is that the term "salsa dancing" derives from the food condiment called salsa. Actually, the dance was invented in the 1930s by a dance teacher named Frankie Salsa.
* Every common food product, with the exception of fish and veal, contains some traces of peanut enzymes.
* The number of words in the Bible divided by the number of verses equals exactly 666.
* An 18th-century law still on the books in Vermont makes it illegal for a woman to lick a stamp in a public place.
* Anthropologists have discovered a tribe of South American monkeys with a rudimentary system of government analogous to our own three-branch form of government.
* Constipation kills nearly twice as many people as diarrhea, mainly because the former mostly afflicts the old and weak while the latter mostly affects young, strong children.
* It is physically impossible to urinate and give blood at the same time.
* If you fill a standard 750ml wine bottle with live hornets, their angry buzzing will resonate at precisely the right frequency to shatter the glass.
* During his famous "Blue Period," Pablo Picasso invented the substance that eventually became known as Play-Doh.
* Every year in the fall, Niagara Falls is shut down for maintenance for 24 hours. The flow is diverted using a massive series of pipes and spigots built for this purpose in 1837.
* The rare Chilean hummingbird has been known to suck blood from animals like a giant mosquito.
* Tap dancers frequently forget to breathe normally during difficult routines, resulting in an average of 200 tap dancing-related tragedies per year.
Okay it's Friday, how about a link to some Hitchcock stuff?
(Click cover for more info)
wcmartell
I've written 19 films that were carelessly slapped onto celluloid: 3 for HBO, 2 for Showtime, 2 for USA Net, and a whole bunch of CineMax Originals (which is what happens when an HBO movie goes really, really wrong). I've been on some film festival juries, including Raindance in London (four times - once with Mike Figgis and Saffron Burrows, once with Lennie James and Edgar Wright). Roger Ebert talked about me with Gene Siskel on his 1997 "If We Picked The Winners" Oscar show. I'm quoted a few times in Bordwell's great book "The Way Hollywood tells It". My USA Net flick HARD EVIDENCE was released on video the same day as the Julia Roberts' film Something To Talk About and out-rented it in the USA. I've also written a whole bunch of theatrical projects that never got made (I got paid) and was stupid enough to actually *turn down* the job of adapting Dan Brown's ANGELS & DEMONS. On the personal side - I'm single and fat and 6 foot 4 inches tall. Like dogs, hate cats.
Why is the blog called Sex In A Submarine?
Fiction:
FLASH BACKS!
Friday's With Hitchcock: Dial H Interview With Hit...
You Can't Handle The Truth!
Script Secrets (free Script Tips every day!)
B Movie World (exploitation!)
First Strike Productions (pipe dreams)
Copyright 2015 by William C. Martell. Simple theme. Powered by Blogger.
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You are here: Home › Featured › General › One In Ninety-Eight People In California Is Infected With COVID-19
One In Ninety-Eight People In California Is Infected With COVID-19
By Andrew Bieszad on July 23, 2020 in Featured, General
One percent of anything when it comes to statistics about bad things, one percent of anything is usually very bad. For example, 0.7 percent of the US population is currently incarcerated, which means about 2.3 million people. In Russia, for example, 1% of the population is infected with HIV– something that is very low one would think, but means approximately 1.4 million people have.
When we talk about small percentages, it can mean very big things. Therefore, it is of great concern that The Sacramento Bee reports by way of Herald Mail Media that one in ninety-eight people, or over 1% of the state of California, is infected with COVID-19.
More than 400,700 Californians — about 1 in 98 state residents — have been infected by the coronavirus. Of those, 7,755 have died as of Tuesday morning.
And more Californians are currently in the hospital than at any other time during the pandemic: Nearly 7,100 people are in a hospital bed with COVID-19, and about 28% of those hospitalized patients are receiving intensive care, according to state public health data released Tuesday morning.
Hospitals in Southern California and the Central Valley are starting to feel the pressure. Other counties — like Sacramento, Placer and Yolo counties, which all have less than 20% of their intensive care beds available — are on high alert.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced sweeping shutdowns on businesses and schools last week to slow the record-breaking number of infections and hospitalizations. It will be another week, if not longer, before local health officials see whether the closures have the intended effect.
Sacramento County health chief Dr. Peter Beilenson told The Sacramento Bee on Monday that business openings don’t appear to have contributed to virus transmission “anywhere near as much” as private gatherings are continuing to do.
Still, those reopenings may have given the false impression that the worst of the pandemic was over, county health officer Dr. Olivia Kasirye previously told the Bee.
Local and state officials continue to hammer the importance of mask-wearing and physically distancing from those not in the same household as simple but crucial ways to help slow the spread of the virus.
Over the last two weeks about 7.5% of tests are returning positive. That’s an increase from the 14-day average reported two weeks ago, when about 6.8% of tests were returning positive. The growth means the increase in cases cannot be attributed to simply more testing being conducted.
California has too many COVID-19 cases to realistically investigate and trace each new infection, California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said Tuesday.
“At the level of transmission we’re seeing across the state, even a very, very robust contact tracing team in every single county will have a hard time reaching out to every case,” Ghaly said. “No one has anticipated building a program to contact trace the level of cases we’re seeing here.” (source)
There is so much talk about how COVID-19 is not a threat, and that people should not care about it, when the reality is that it clearly is a threat. This is the nature of a pandemic, where a lot of people get very sick, it can kill people, and it has a lot of effects on how people work and live.
If one has not already, put the mask on, respect the distances between people, and try to use good sanitation procedures. This is just basic courtesy at this point, and if you feel sick, please do not go out. It is likely that at this point, most people would agree with the statement that pandemics are not fun an nobody likes them. However, it is even less fun to get sick with the same illness, because diseases do not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, or politics, but infect who they infect because they are able to.
Don’t let one’s own pride or perspective set the way for allowing oneself to be unintentionally infected.
Donate now to help support the work of this site. When you donate, you are not donating to just any commentary group, but one that is endlessly observing the news, reading between the lines and separating hysteria and perception from reality. In shoebat.com, we are working every day, tirelessly investigating global trends and providing data and analysis to tell you what lies for the future.
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Thirteen Nuns Die After COVID-19 Spreads And Infects Michigan Convent
Central African Nation Of Gabon Decriminalizes Homosexuality
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Brian O’Driscoll On What Sets Keith Earls Apart & Why He’s So Good
by sportlocker · January 23, 2018
The Moyross express.
Keith Earls has picked up exactly where he left off before he got injured in November over the last few weeks, with some incredible performances in the PRO14 and Champions Cup.
The Limerick man has been absolutely tearing it up, and shows absolutely no sign of slowing down. He destroyed Racing’s defence at the U-Arena and left Castres for dead on Sunday evening, in a man-of-the-match display.
Brian O’Driscoll was asked about Earls on Off The Ball on Monday, and says he’s a “game-changer.”
“He’s ripping it up.”
“I’ve always been a huge Keith Earls fan. I saw that in training (his talent) so often.”
“He’s had a lot of misfortune with injury, coming at bad times. Just when he’d get a run of form he’d pick up something else.”
“And he’s had a coupe of fairly long-term injuries as well, and out of sight out of mind. People forget it’s about building momentum in people’s minds as well. And being a regular in the team.
“He’s got I don’t know how many caps exactly, 50 or 60 caps maybe. But he’s a game-changer. And that’s what I always liked about him.”
“He’s someone that if you need a score, if you get it to him with a bit of space, he can create it from nothing from a standing start. And we’ve seen that over the last couple of weeks.”
In terms of what sets his apart from other players, O’Driscoll said:
“He’s also someone, he’s super fit, but he waits for players to get tired. And that’s why you see him having a big effect on games later on, because everyone else is gone through an hours work and he does that same work, but he just bides his time. “
“And then that explosiveness and speed in the last 20 minutes.”
“He has an 80-minute turbo, so when everyone else is on 90% of their tank, he’s still on 98-99 for the last twenty minutes.”
Nemani Nadolo Absolutely Loses It With Disgusting Racist Supporter
by sportlocker · Published February 3, 2018
Simon Zebo Reveals His Ireland Career May Not Be Over
Breaking: Wales Team Named For All Blacks Test
Next story This Is The Ireland Team That Must Start Against France
Previous story Brian O’Driscoll Has His Say On Tadhg Beirne And The Six Nations
Finn Russell's Staggering Wage At Racing 92 Revealed
Luke Fitzgerald Recalls The Time Joe Schmidt Called Out Brian O'Driscoll
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PLAYERS | INJURIES
Oliver Kylington
#58 - Calgary Flames
2019-2020 Game Log | Main Player Page
Date vs Score G A P +/- PIM PP SH S HT BS SHF TOI
2/23/20 @ DET W 4-2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 - - 19 14:45
2/21/20 BOS L 3-4 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 1 1 22 15:04
2/17/20 ANA W 6-4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 - 2 18 13:37
2/15/20 CHI L 4-8 0 2 2 1 0 0 0 1 2 1 17 13:32
2/13/20 @ ANA W 6-0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 - - 19 15:59
2/12/20 @ LA L 3-5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 - - 18 12:54
2/10/20 @ SJ W 6-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 - 18 13:33
2/8/20 @ VAN W 6-2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 21 16:26
2/1/20 EDM L 3-8 0 0 0 -2 0 0 0 0 1 - 17 14:22
1/29/20 @ EDM W 4-3 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 - 18 13:06
1/28/20 STL L 4-5 (SO) 0 0 0 -1 2 0 0 0 - 1 20 15:08
1/18/20 @ OTT L 2-5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 - - 23 16:44
1/16/20 @ TOR W 2-1 (SO) 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 1 1 16 13:36
1/13/20 @ MON L 0-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 1 18 14:28
1/11/20 EDM W 4-3 0 0 0 -2 0 0 0 0 3 - 17 12:36
1/9/20 MIN W 2-1 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 2 1 1 18 12:51
1/7/20 @ CHI W 2-1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - - 18 13:09
1/2/20 NYR W 4-3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 14 10:40
12/31/19 CHI L 3-5 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 2 2 20 16:04
12/29/19 VAN L 2-5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 20 13:56
12/27/19 @ EDM W 5-1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 3 1 21 18:17
12/19/19 MON L 3-4 (OT) 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 - 1 19 12:52
12/17/19 PIT L 1-4 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 1 - - 17 15:19
12/14/19 CAR L 0-4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 1 17 13:39
12/9/19 @ COL W 5-4 (OT) 0 1 1 -1 2 0 0 0 - - 20 13:29
12/5/19 BUF W 4-3 0 0 0 2 4 0 0 1 - 1 17 11:26
11/30/19 OTT W 3-1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 - 19 13:00
11/27/19 @ BUF W 3-2 (OT) 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 1 - 13 10:15
11/25/19 @ PIT L 2-3 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 2 18 11:49
11/23/19 @ PHI W 3-2 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 - - 21 12:40
11/21/19 @ STL L 0-5 0 0 0 -2 0 0 0 2 1 - 19 13:44
11/19/19 COL L 2-3 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 15 11:46
11/17/19 @ VEG L 0-6 0 0 0 -2 0 0 0 0 2 3 22 15:37
11/16/19 @ ARI L 0-3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 - 2 21 14:05
11/5/19 ARI W 4-3 (OT) 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 - - 15 10:10
11/3/19 @ WAS L 2-4 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 1 2 - 21 14:36
11/2/19 @ CLB W 3-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 - - 19 15:29
10/31/19 @ NAS W 6-5 (OT) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 - - 18 13:39
10/29/19 @ CAR L 1-2 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 - - 21 16:09
10/26/19 @ WIN L 1-2 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 - 1 15 12:36
10/24/19 FLA W 6-5 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 - 1 17 13:45
10/19/19 @ LA L 1-4 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 - 1 18 12:57
10/17/19 DET W 5-1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 - 19 14:33
10/15/19 PHI W 3-1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 23 15:49
10/13/19 @ SJ L 1-3 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 1 1 17 11:47
10/8/19 LA L 3-4 (OT) 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 1 - 2 18 12:26
10/5/19 VAN W 3-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 - 1 17 10:11
10/3/19 @ COL L 3-5 0 0 0 -1 2 0 0 1 1 1 22 13:20
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Flag-lowering ceremony at city square
By Yusrin Junaidi
The Brunei national flag was lowered yesterday by the Royal Brunei Navy Forces in a ceremony marking the end of the official flag-flying period in conjunction with His Majesty's 60th birthday celebrations.
They presented the flag to the chief guest, Pehin Dato Paduka Haji Awang Dani bin Haji Ibrahim, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Home Affairs, and Deputy Chairman of the Executive Committee of His Majesty's 60th Birthday Celebration.
The 3.6 metres long by 1.8 metres wide flag was lowered from a hundred-foot high stainless steel pole at the city square in the vicinity of the Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque and the Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Foundation Complex.
Also attending the ceremony were village heads and the penhulu kampong of Brunei-Muara, Fire and Rescue Department officers and guests.
A choir from Dewan Bahasa sang while the Royal Brunei Police Forces Band played the national anthem.
The giant national flag was raised on July l in a similar ceremony to honour His Majesty's 60th birthday. - Borneo Bulletin (8th Aug 2006)
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A class above graft
By M K Anwar
Corrupt practices can drag a country towards disaster once widespread and has become a culture in the community. His Royal Highness Prince Hj Al-Muhtadee Billah, Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister's Office, reiterated this during the launch of the Corruption Prevention Education into the National School Curriculum at the International Convention Centre yesterday morning.
In defining corruption, HRH the Crown Prince said that it is an act of giving money, gifts or any such reward to a person for the purpose of obtaining in return, consideration or rewards in the interests of a person or group.
"In fact, the definition and effects of corruption become much wider if they are linked in the context of the abuse of power for personal interests and nepotism," he said.
Islam itself prohibits engaging in corruption, HRH the Crown Prince pointed out and with this in view, every head of organisation is responsible to take proactive and precise steps towards the prevention and eradication of any act that leads to corrupt activity.
The Senior Minister at the Prime Minister's Office in his advice said that everyone in the government machinery should instill a clean and healthy mindset together with the attitude to always prioritise the country's interest as their main aim in discharging the responsibilities entrusted on them.
Highlighting the dangers of corruption, His Royal Highness in his sabda took example of the uncontrolled influx of forbidden and prohibited items such as weapons or development that shouldn't be approved or the awarding of a post to a person who is not qualified to hold it, corrupt activities in influencing this will most certainly affect the country's security, development and peace.
"Corruption will constantly affect the system of government in the same way that pathogens affect our health."
"Furthermore, it leads to people being dishonest by wronging what is right and allowing what is wrong," the Crown Prince added.
The Senior Minister also said that the introduction of the Corruption Prevention Education into the National Curriculum reflects the determination to eradicate corruption and such effort requires the support of all party in ensuring that he machinery of government functions cleanly, efficiently and transparently whilst at the same time provides confidence to foreign investors coming into the country.
"The early inculcation of corruption amongst students is a vital strategy to create and develop a community that abhors corruption," said the Crown Prince.
He added that that the younger generations are our future leaders and that they should be taught to combat corruption similar to the way they are taught on the dangers of drugs abuse.
Earlier in a speech by Director of the Anti Corruption Bureau, Datin Paduka Dayang Hajah Intan binti Hj Md Kassim, she noted that the Corruption Prevention Education programme is jointly initiated by the ACB and the Curriculum Development Department (CDD) of the Ministry of Education.
The Corruption Prevention Education will be taught under subjects such as Civics at primary level and Melayu Islam Beraja at secondary level. Brunei Shell Group of Companies Sendirian Berhad as part of its community investment, has donated $50,000 towards the publication of books and educational songs with the corruption prevention theme.
The programme is in accordance with the recommendation contained in the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, which was signed by Brunei Darussalam in December 2003.
Preparation for the implementation of this programme was conducted jointly by ACB and CDD through the Corruption Prevention Education Steering Committee and the Corruption Prevention Education Working Committee.
Shortly after the launch, HRH the Crown Prince toured an exhibition held jointly by the ACB and CDD displaying the books and publications on corruption prevention and corruption prevention education.
Also present during the launch were senior government ministers, deputy ministers, Permanent Secretaries, members of the diplomatic corps and other invited guests. - Borneo Bulletin (8th Jan 2006)
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The National Association of Teachers of Singing, Inc. Mission Statement
To encourage the highest standards of the vocal art and of ethical principles in the teaching of singing; and to promote vocal education and research at all levels, both for the enrichment of the general public and for the professional advancement of the talented.
The National Association of Teachers of Singing, Inc. (NATS) was founded in 1944 and is now the largest association of teachers of singing in the world. Today NATS boasts more than 6,500 members in the United States, Canada, and over twenty-five other countries around the world, including Australia, Austria, Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom, and the number of countries represented is growing every year.
Driven by its mission statement, NATS offers a variety of lifelong learning experiences to its members, such as workshops, intern programs, master classes, and conferences, all beginning at the chapter level and progressing to national events. Students of NATS members have access to one of the organization's most widely recognized activities: Student Auditions. They also have the opportunity, along with members, to compete at a national level through the National Association of Teachers of Singing Artist Awards (NATSAA). For information on these and other events and competitions for NATS members and their students go to Programs, Events, and Competitions.
NATS also supports the growth and enrichment of its members through the publication of The Journal of Singing, a scholarly journal comprised of articles on all aspects of singing and the teaching of singing, written by distinguished scholars in their fields.
National Association of Teachers of Singing, Inc. Bylaws
Tahoma Chapter
For a copy, please click the link below.
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Three Mile Pilot plays Bottom of the Hill on August 18, 2012
By Mike G.|July 13, 2012|Comments Off on Three Mile Pilot plays Bottom of the Hill on August 18, 2012
Three Mile Pilot — the San Diego-based band that was first founded in the 90s and spawned both Pinback and The Black Heart Procession — released their first album in 13 years back in 2010. It was good to see them back in action, and it's even better to see that a mere two years later they're already releasing more new music. A new EP called Maps is set for release on Temporary Residence on July 24, 2012.
Check out the first single from the Maps EP, "Long Way Up":
Three Mile Pilot - "Long Way Up"
As exciting it is to see that mp3, there is more 3MP excitingness to share: The band is touring behind the Maps EP and rolling through Bottom of the Hill on August 18. You don't want to miss this, because who the hell knows when they'll play together again. I mean, they did take a 13 year break once...
Three Mile Pilot, Dramady
10pm, $20
Tags: Three Mile Pilot
About the Author: Mike G.
Mike G. is a writer and musician living in San Francisco. He is also a novelist whose debut "The Mysticist" came out via FreemadeSF in 2014.
Raleigh Moncrief - "Beyond The Neon Lights"
S-S Records' SS2 Festival with Icky Boyfriends, Monoshock, Wounded Lion, and more at Hemlock 7/13-7/14/12
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Show-reel
May 24, 2018 Sreya Deb
If society pitches in, a child of poor parents who was subjected to sexual abuse can recover her health and the family can get back on track. This is what happened with Masoom
May 6, 2018. Remember the date. For this is when Baby Masoom* celebrated her first birthday at the Uday Foundation.
After being raped, allegedly by her cousin, who was in his twenties, in January this year, she had to undergo three hours of extensive surgery. A child’s body, significantly more delicate than an adult’s, could not bear the brutal treatment she was subjected to and her internal organs were seriously damaged.
However, fighting the odds, the eight-month-old toddler miraculously survived the treatment, and is now steadily recovering from the physical and mental trauma with the help of continuing medication.
Masoom’s father is a daily wage labourer and her mother had taken to doing odd jobs in order to make a little more money for the family. On the day of the incident, she had left her two daughters (the older one two years of age, and the younger eight months) at home, requesting a neighbour, who lives in the same building, to keep an eye on them.
When she was returning from her day’s work, the neighbour met her on the street, informing her that her younger daughter had been crying incessantly and that she should hurry home and check on them immediately. On reaching home, she found Masoom lying in a pool of her blood, crying inconsolably in pain.
She instantly realised that something unconscionable had transpired in her absence and went to a doctor in the neighbourhood to have her examined. The doctor then advised her to notify the police immediately, as her daughter had clearly been raped. When she approached the police, they assessed the situation and confirmed that the child had in fact been raped. The police then took the mother and daughter to the hospital for treatment.
Masoom was admitted to AIIMS, where she underwent treatment and surgery, which of course the family would not have been able to afford had it not been for the crowdfunding drives organised by Ketto and the Uday Foundation. Ketto, based in Mumbai, is one of the largest crowdfunding platforms in India. They raise funds for a multitude of causes related to women empowerment, animal welfare, health and education. “We connected with Swati from The Delhi Commission for Women through a well-wisher, who narrated the whole inhuman incident to us. Usually all campaigns on our platform always have a goal that the campaigner needs to achieve over a period of time but in this case we did not put any cap or specify any timeline as we really wanted to raise maximum funds so that the family could afford her medical treatment. We raised D11,06,830 from 463 supporters in the span of 28 days.” The campaign was launched on February 1 and terminated on February 28.
Rahul Verma, founder of Uday Foundation, insisted upon keeping the family strictly away from media attention for the duration of Masoom’s recovery period, revealing that to this day even he hasn’t asked the family the child’s name, for fear that it will be picked up by the media and the child will lose her shot at a normal life. However, the foundation kept all the donors constantly in the loop, updating them about the child’s health condition. They maintain a very transparent system with donors, informing them how the funds are utilised and how they will be used in future.
Along with the funds gathered by Ketto, the total amount raised had gone up to Rs 32,29,697. After the baby’s treatment, a fixed deposit was created for her in case of emergencies, the interest from which goes for the family’s monthly expenses. With the remaining amount, the foundation plans to either create another fixed deposit or create a trust that can be accessed by the child once she is 18 years of age. Verma has also decided to monitor her school admission once she is of an appropriate age, and promises to keep updating donors and well-wishers of her condition till 2038.
Verma repeatedly stresses the importance of holistic development for each child, saying, “It is not enough to simply see to their treatment and physical recovery — it’s imperative to ensure that the child overcomes the mental trauma and is secure in every other aspect of her life as she grows up.” In the four months after encountering what could possibly be the most scarring experience of her life, Masoom went through intensive treatment and rehabilitation, and has now been able to return home, with the alleged rapist behind bars.
This child is now returning to the pink of health, and celebrating her birthday with a few of her donors and well wishers, who flew down to Delhi for the occasion, bearing gifts for her special day. The pink frock that she is seen wearing in the picture was gifted to her by a donor, who came all the way from Pune, just to be there for her first birthday.
“It was shocking for me to even think that someone could look at a small child in this way,” says Lalit Jain, one of Masoom’s donors. He goes on to say, “The birthday celebration was very nice, and even the parents looked content. At least we could bring some happiness in their lives.”
The baby’s family had to face significant difficulties in this situation. They had to deal with a child who fell victim to such a heinous crime, as well as the societal judgement that comes with an incident of this nature. With the help of all their well-wishers, and sheer willpower, the family is now able to look to the future with a renewed sense of optimism.
* Name changed to protect identities
Sreya Deb
http://thepatriot.in/author/sreya-deb/
‘Not without my daughter’
Marvellous world
UNSMART CITY
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USA dating format
Can you tupac dating
Posted on 19.03.2020 19.03.2020 by Kazibei
Tupac Shakur was previously married to Keisha Morris - Tupac Shakur is rumoured to have hooked up with Whitney Houston His zodiac sign is Gemini. Help us build our profile of Tupac Shakur! Login to add information, pictures and relationships, join in discussions and get credit for your contributions. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest rappers of all time.
He had to leave abruptly and it wasn't to pursue his career. She revealed that the scene where Tupac reads hers the poem he wrote about never happened, nor did he say goodbye to her before leaving for Los Angeles. And though she was appreciative of the work that actors Demetruis Shipp, Jr.
The rapper would have been By Danilo Castro.
ated Jan 20, at pm. Happy birthday Pac, you are cradled in my heart for eternity. I love you. Im sorry baby.
Tupac dating
I just feel frustrated being without you. Forget about what i said and i now how the comments are. I love you very much sweetheart. Contribute Help us build our profile of Tupac Shakur! Grid List Table. Heather Hunter and Tupac Shakur separated in Nina Hartley and Tupac Shakur separated in Ma Sarah Chapman I and Tupac Shakur separated Tupac Shakur and Kidada Jones were dating for Faith Evans and Tupac Shakur are separated Whitney Houston and Tupac Shakur are separate Tupac Shakur and Keisha Morris were divorced Tupac Shakur and Madonna are separated Rosie Perez and Tupac Shakur are separated Tupac Shakur and Jada Pinkett Smith separated Angel Kelly and Tupac Shakur are separated Tiny Harris and Tupac Shakur were in a relati Jara Everett and Tupac Shakur were in a relat Sharise Neil and Tupac Shakur are separated Tupac Shakur and Salli Richardson-Whitfield a Madonna Tupac Shakur and Madonna had an encounter in Tupac Shakur.
Above the Rim - Tupac Shakur. Madonna and Tupac Shakur.
Who Was Tupac Dating When He Died? Girlfriend Kidada Jones
Daily News. New York. Archived from the original on July 4, Archived from the original on January 1, Would Have Ultimately Reconciled".
Archived from the original on January 21, August 26, The Source. August 28, Archived from the original on March 11, Archived from the original on January 14, Entertainment Weekly.
January 31, Archived from the original on March 7, Box Office Mojo. March 13, Retrieved January 19, Archived from the original on November 1, April 10, Los Angeles, California: Tronc.
Retrieved September 25, Chuck Philips Post. Retrieved September 22, Archived from the original on July 8, Retrieved March 29, Los Angeles, California: Eldridge Industries. Archived from the original on June 1, June Archived from the original on September 11, I believe that everything you do bad comes back to you I think heaven is just when you sleep, you sleep with a good conscience - you don't have nightmares.
So that's wrong religion [ unreliable source? LA Sentinel. Archived from the original on October 29, Retrieved October 6, - tiendakiteboarding.com.
Archived from the original on December 21, Complex UK. Archived from the original on December 24, Retrieved March 9, Vintage News.
Retrieved February 4, New York City: Townsquare Media. August 30, Was Unnecessary".
June 24, Archived from the original on May 8, Retrieved August 7, September 15, August 3, Archived from the original on June 11, Vanity Fair. Retrieved June 15, Archived from the original on October 21, Retrieved May 26, November 3, Archived from the original on April 12, November 8, Archived from the original on May 13, Ocala Star-Banner. September 9, Retrieved August 27, The Argus. November 1, New York Times.
November 2, Retrieved from on September 30, July 20, Archived from the original on March 14, Miami New Times. Archived from the original on April 5, Archived from the original on February 12, Retrieved February 11, Archived from the original on October 19, Retrieved November 23, April 15, June 8, Retrieved April 8, Village Voice.
Who Were Tupac Shakur's Girlfriends?
Retrieved November 25, Retrieved September 20, November 30, Archived from the original on February 15, Archived from the original on February 21, Archived from the original on January 19, Archived from the original on November 8, Archived from the original on March 1, Retrieved April 24, Archived from the original on June 29, Retrieved June 24, April 7, Archived from the original on August 29, Retrieved May 29, The Courant.
Archived from the original on June 19, Retrieved September 14, Archived from the original on June 7, Retrieved June 5, LA Weekly.
Jan 29, � Tupac and Kidada got engaged in Tupac and Kidada got engaged in and they were living together in Las Vegas at the time of his death. On September 13, , Tupac was on his way to see Jones but he was murdered in a drive-by shooting. Kidada was one of the last people who spoke to Tupac, in the hospital, before he died. Who did Tupac Shakur date? Many famous women have dated Tupac Shakur, and this list will give you more details about these lucky ladies. Including Tupac Shakur's most recent girlfriend before his passing, past relationships (including a wife or two), pictures together, and dating rumors, this comprehensive dating history tells you everything you need to know about Tupac .
BBC News. October 11, Archived from the original on March 30, Archived from the original on August 6, August 13, Archived from the original on May 5, Archived from the original on September 29, London, England: Trinity Mirror.
Archived from the original on April 30, Washington, DC: Viacom. September 6, New York City: Hearst Magazines. Archived from the original on July 26, September 7, Archived from the original on February 7, Archived from the original on March 3, Retrieved October 11, Archived from the original on October 1, February Archived from the original on September 28, September 13, Archived from the original on December 25, The A.
Retrieved January 22, Archived from the original on November 9, Retrieved July 15, Archived from the original on March 18, Archived from the original on February 11, Archived from the original on October 2, Retrieved September 29, Retrieved February 15, March 5, Archived from the original on March 5, Archived from the original on October 5, London, England: Pluto Press.
March 11, Archived from the original on March 9, January 30, Archived from the original on March 12, Retrieved March 26, Harvard University Gazette. April 24, Retrieved from news. Harvard University. Archived from the original on July 17, BasicCivitas Books.
Archived from the original on February 5, Archived from the original on September 19, Archived from the original on June 5, August 15, Archived from the original on July 24, Archived from the original on August 24, Archived from the original on April 20, Retrieved April 16, Dre On Stage At Coachella". Neon Limelight. Archived from the original on April 18, April 16, Tupac "hologram" merely pretty cool optical illusion Archived May 6,at the Wayback Machine.
Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on April 17, Retrieved April 17, Archived from the original on December 9, Boom January 22, Archived from the original on January 27, Archived from the original on February 6, Archived from the original on December 31, November 22, Archived from the original on July 25, Archived from the original on January 17, Retrieved November 16, Archived from the original on September 12, Thought Catalog.
August 31, September 14, December 7, CBS News. June 23, Archived from the original on June 26, Retrieved June 23, Retrieved October 18, Spin Magazine. Archived from the original on April 15, Retrieved June 20, For Lead Role".
Archived from the original on December 27, December 25, Archived from the original on December 28, Discography Songs Awards and nominations Death. The Rose That Grew from Concrete. Holler If Ya Hear Me. Yaki Kadafi Kastro Napoleon E. City of Lies.
Tupac Amaru Shakur (/ ? t u? p ?? k ? ? ? k ??r / TOO-pahk sh?-KOOR; born Lesane Parish Crooks, June 16, - September 13, ), popularly known by his stage name 2Pac, was an American rapper and actor. He is considered by many as one of the most significant rappers of all time. Much of Shakur's work has been noted for addressing contemporary social issues that . Sep 14, � It's been 22 years since Tupac Shakur passed away, and to this day, there is still plenty of talk about the women who were in his life - more specifically, his love tiendakiteboarding.com Country: San Francisco, CA. Tupac Shakur had encounters with Nina Hartley , Faith Evans , Madonna , Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes ( - ), Jara Everett, Salli Richardson-Whitfield and Angel Kelly. Tupac Shakur is rumoured to have hooked up with Whitney Houston . About. American Rapper Tupac Shakur passed away on 13th Sep University Medical Center of Southern Birth place: East Harlem,Manhattan,New York City.
Discography Outlaw Recordz. Digital Underground. Cuz a D. Party Don't Stop! This Is an EP Release a. Same Song Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - Class of Nile Rodgers.
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1 thoughts on “Tupac dating”
Grozshura says:
It does not approach me. Perhaps there are still variants?
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Violet's Corner
Violet Gaul's Blog
TagBritish Virgin Islands
Then & Now – Remembering Sir Alan
October 28, 2012 / violetgaul / 0 Comments
Each time I interview one of our seniors or just in everyday conversation, the name Sir Alan Cobham continues to pop-up in the conversation so I have decided to take a look at how he influenced change in the Virgin Islands.
Joseph Reynold O’Neal (JR), whom I have written about before, wrote in “Life Notes” that Sir Alan Cobham, an Englishman and WW1 pilot with the Royal Air Force, arrived in the Virgin Islands in 1952 “brimming with ideas for the islands’ development.” (p.72) At that time there was no airport in the Virgin Islands so Sir Alan Cobham came up with the idea of how one could be developed and made a proposal to the Government, which was accepted – according to JR, “Sir Alan went to Beef Island and hacked about the underbrush figuring out the alignment and so on.” (p72) Sir Alan made a huge impact on the development of the territory – he bought a shipyard in Road Town (the capital) and “set it up with a rail for hauling boats, he established the Land Rover and Sea Gull Outboard Motors dealership (taking JR on as his local partner and transferring his portion over to his son Geoffrey) and later started a ferry service with the Youth of Tortola” (p73) a passenger boat which ferried people between St. Thomas in the USVI and Tortola in the Virgin Islands, captained by Peter Haycraft whom I have also written about prior. The Land Rover business was called J.R. O’Neal G. A. Cobham, Ltd., and was later sold to Leando Nibbs of Nibbs Auto Sales and Parts.
During his life in the Virgin Islands, Sir Alan acquired a wealth of land throughout the territory including the “eastern part of Peter Island” from JR. This land on Peter Island was later sold to Peder Smedvig shipowners from Norway who developed the Peter Island Resort, which later changed hands to the Amway Corporation and several more changes subsequently.
As a note of interest, Sir Alan also bought Necker Island, one of the islands in the Virgin Islands archipelago, and which was later sold to Sir Richard Branson.
Then & Now – Interview with Mr. William Industrious
September 2, 2012 / violetgaul / 2 Comments
In “150 Years of Achievement 1834 to 1984” Charles H. Wheatley, the then Chief Education Officer, wrote “perhaps if 1984 is to be really meaningful to us we should address the question of our destiny as a ‘nation” – so where are we since then, how far have we come and what have we learned from the past. We learned that these Virgin Islands were a presidency of the Leeward Islands from 1872 up until 1956 with education being administered from Antigua until 1940 (p.17) – one of my earlier posts with Mr. Elton Georges showed the progression of the legislative process over the years and up to the present – now we are self governing with a Premier and a Ministerial Government elected by the people with a Governor as a representative of the Queen responsible for defense.
This week my interview is with Mr. William (Kenney) Industrious who is 102 years old – has never worn eyeglasses, is able to get around on his own and has little help in his home, although he now complains about stomachache. He reminisces about his past and spoke of people having to walk from all over the island of Tortola to the capital Road Town to see the only doctor who dealt with all medical needs, whatever it was – this reminded me of one of the stories in 150 Years of Achievement.., which read “once upon a time there was one doctor in the B.V.I. We should say only a quarter of a doctor, because the doctor also served as Commissioner or (head of the Government), Magistrate, and Treasurer.” (p.55) I guess this is the same doctor that Mr. Kenney spoke about, which was absolutely incredible! Midwives were essential at that time as they cared for mothers during childbirth – these women had no formal training but were mothers themselves with knowledge of bush medicine – Mr. Kenney told of his being born at home in a very small house that was home to his parents and siblings.
Mr. Kenney told of how his family and the community ate what they grew as ground provision, live stock- fresh eggs, fresh bread, fresh meat and poultry, and fresh fish, as there was no means of keeping food other than salting for another day. To purchase basic things such as flour, sugar etc families had to walk miles over rocky and hilly terrain into the capital of Road Town to the only dry goods store (Mr. Georges) that was around at that time – others opened later on, but that was the first one. Despite the hardship of those earlier years, he reflected on how good life was at that time – they had family, friends and a caring community!!
Then & Now – Pleasant Encounter
August 26, 2012 / violetgaul / 0 Comments
This week, I interviewed Mrs. Ellen Skelton – a very beautiful and charming elderly lady. It was a very emotional interview for me as Ms. Ellen reminded me so much of my mother (deceased) – it turned out that Ms. Ellen is a close relative and went to school with my mom and they were good friends – I cannot believe that we now live so close and I am only now meeting her – I guess, everything in its own time.
The interview will be written about later but it was informative and gave much insight into the village in the Virgin Islands where I was born and grew up for the earlier part of my life – I truly give God thanks for this wonderful encounter. No matter how long we live, I am convinced that there will always be things to learn and surprises in store, some pleasant – like this one, and some not so pleasant, but we must be open to receive and embrace those, which are blessings.
Our Virgin Islands have seen many changes over the years; families have moved from place to place and sadly many of our elders have passed on without us having an opportunity to capture their experiences for us and others to learn from – it is now imperative for us to do so!! My parents have passed on and so have my grandparents, both maternal and paternal and I cannot recall anything from any of them about our historical background, but I am on a quest to find some – meeting Ms. Ellen and spending some time, albeit short, with her was like finding a treasure trove.
Then & Now in Virgin Gorda
In July we spent some time in Virgin Gorda interviewing a few of the people who live there about the past and present (Then and Now), it was a series of very informative interviews, however, we hope to do a few more interviews on that sister island.
Virgin Gorda is the third largest of the Virgin Islands, although Anegada the second largest contains vast salt ponds and with a much lower population than Virgin Gorda. Two of the ladies that were interviewed, Ms. Rose Gardener and Ms. Grace Waters reflected on the days of growing up in Virgin Gorda fondly – even though times were hard their sentiments were that it was rich with family values and community spirit – children had respect for their elders and everyone supported each other in every sense of the word – something that is not so prevalent now-a-days. These ladies spoke frankly about their earlier years, from parents, families, community customs, pregnancy, medical services, first jobs, feeding a family to giving girls a bath in an outdoor tub every Saturday so that she could be inspected for signs of purity. This interview can be seen on local TV Ch51 at 8PM Sunday and Wednesday evening and 8AM Saturday morning.
A BIT ABOUT THE VIRGIN ISLANDS
The Virgin Islands was a presidency of the Leeward Islands from 1872 until 1956 and the Governor resided in Antigua from where governance and education was administered until 1940. Rev. John Haddock was one of the first teachers in Virgin Gorda. A Mr.Semper from St. Kitts is credited with building the first school in the Valley, Virgin Gorda and Mr. Simon, an Antiguan was the first headmaster of that school (Anglican) – During the 1920’s and 1930’s just about all of the headmasters came from one of the Leeward Islands and not much attempt was made to train anyone local (p.13). (150 Years of Achievement, 1834 – 1984)
Then & Now with Eugenia O’Neal
After reading FROM THE FIELD TO THE LEGISLATURE: A History of Women in the Virgin Islands By Eugenia O’Neal, I had a sense and a better understanding of women in the Virgin Islands and their struggles to make an impact in the future of their lives and that of their beloved Virgin Islands – “during slavery, planters manipulated gender ideology to argue that black women were more like men and not at all like the women of Europe.” (Introduction) No doubt, “slaveowners in the West Indies were familiar with the gender tradition of agriculture in West Africa. They understood at once that black women could be thrown into the deep end of the labour regime, and be productive. This explains in large measure their refusal to shelter these women from the most arduous physical task, as well as the suggestion that productivity differentials did not exist between the sexes.” (Centering Woman: Gender Discourses in Caribbean Slave Society by Hilary McD Beckles, Pg9) In my interview with Ms. O’Neal she spoke of her annoyance when she hears people referring to Virgin Islanders as lazy and unwilling to work – a sentiment I endorse.
Women toiled the soil, took care of their families, and yet found time to contribute to the well-being of their communities – because “even when they have entered into the paid labour force, women have neither structurally nor ideologically been allowed to leave the family” (Citizenship & Identity by Engin F. Isin & Patricia K. Wood). And when women could not find work at home in the Virgin Islands , “many were able to enter and find work in the USVI” (p92) And in the “Moyne Commission report it was noted that the inhabitants….show a most praiseworthy and attractive spirit of enterprise, independence and resource.” (p93) – it is even more so today – I guess a trait from the ancestors.
Virgin Island women have struggled, and yes, FROM THE FIELD TO THE LEGISLATURE, and though they are not yet free from struggling they understand and appreciate the harshness of plantation life that their ancestors endured and they have reached a place of understanding that as black women they must now work to overcome the socio-economic and political stereotype of competing masculinities and continue to develop their role in society and not be slighted by race or sex.
NOTE from UNDERSTANDING SLAVERY INITIATIVE ‘The transatlantic slave trade was responsible for the forced migration of between 12 – 15 million people from Africa to the Western Hemisphere from the middle of the 15th century to the end of the 19th century. The trafficking of Africans by the major European countries during this period is sometimes referred to by African scholars as the Maafa (‘great disaster’ in Swahili). It’s now considered a crime against humanity. The slave trade not only led to the violent transportation overseas of millions of Africans but also to the deaths of many millions more. Nobody knows the total number of people who died during slave raiding and wars in Africa, during transportation and imprisonment, or in horrendous conditions during the so-called Middle Passage, the voyage from Africa to the Americas.”
Another Senior Moment
July 15, 2012 / violetgaul / 0 Comments
Tonight on CBN CH51 another episode of the Brewers Bay Seniors will be aired – the seniors continue their look back at life growing up in the Virgin Islands – the difficulty of childhood, in an impoverished time, but the love and family togetherness made it a very special time in their lives, perhaps rich in the things that really mattered. Please visit with us…
In the early years of the sugar industries (1900s) people went from the Virgin Islands to Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic to find work – “some of these seasonal workers settled in the host countries permanently, but most returned home at the end of each ‘sugar season.’” The families here in the Virgin Islands waited patiently to be reunited with their loved ones – many of the schooners went from San Pedro de Macoris to Road Town, Tortola, in the Virgin Islands without incident until July, 1926.
The vessel “Fancy Me” was a schooner, which was owned by two brothers, James and Alexander Smith, from Carrott Bay, in the Virgin Islands, “was returning from the port of San Pedro de Macoris on 25th July 1926, with a number of workers from Anegada and Tortola attempting to get back to the Virgin Islands in time for the August 1st Emancipation celebration – unfortunately, this was not to be. After one day at sea, the Fancy Me was caught in a storm and was wrecked on a rock known as El Caballo Blanco or ‘The White Horse” – As there was only one lifeboat, which the crew used leaving the 89 passengers to fend for themselves, 59 men perished as a result.”
The wreck of the “Fancy Me” is recorded in Virgin Islands history as it was one of the worst sea tragedies of its time affecting Virgin Islanders.
(150 Years of Achievement 1834-1984
Then & Now – Recounting the Earlier years
July 1, 2012 / violetgaul / 0 Comments
My husband, Robin, came to the Virgin Islands forty eight (48) years ago and often recalls how things were in those earlier days.
He first flew out from the UK via New York, San Juan and St. Thomas USVI, where he was met by Captain “Fishy” (Roderick Soares) and brought across on the “MV Sunshine” and was taken to Stephen Dickinson’s office (The first accounting firm in the territory) by the same “Fishy,” where he was shown to a desk and put to work – all in one day, and he only found out where he would be living later that night – the house immediately next to the office, which was located in Road Town – he had no excuse not to be on time!
The movie theatre was in the same building as his office and naturally as a young man in a strange new place and unable to sleep while the movie was in progress he quickly found his way into the projection booth with two local young men, Marshall Davies (deceased) and Ickford (Dandy) Scatliffe – the three soon became fast friends. The cinema was owned by an Englishman by the name of Douglas Williams (Deceased) who had bought the building from Norman Fowler (an American). Douglas had been a war correspondent for The Daily Telegraph in the UK and did a lot to promote the Virgin Islands (British) in the UK – he visited here occasionally and converted the ground floor of his building into two apartments so that he could have a place to stay when in the territory – the ground floor of that building, Robin believes, was the location of the “Tortola Times Newspaper,” the first in the territory before Carlos Downing started the “Island Sun.” In those days the phone system was by “party line” and it was necessary to listen to the number of rings to determine who the call was for – “often when you picked up the phone to make a call you would find someone else speaking so you would wait a while before trying again” – the line was shared with Virgin Islands National Bank (which went through various progressions to become Banco Popular today – it was also known as the First Pennsylvania Bank, NA), J. R. O’Neal – G. A. Cobham (the Landrover and Seagull Engine agency), Jackson’s Insurance Agency Ltd. (now Creques Insurance), J. A. Storey & Partners (Land surveyors) and surprisingly, Treasure Isle Hotel, which was the other side of town. Just down the road from his office was the premises of Ruth C. Anthony and her husband Alban Anthony (both deceased), with whom he became very friendly, and across the street was the booking office of the Sunshine, Clarisa’s Beauty Salon and a few small stores – further down the street was J. R. O’Neal Ltd., and Government offices, which included the Post Office.
Back then, the airport, which is on Beef Island, was undeveloped – it consisted of a sandy strip and the weekly flight from Antigua was met by a short wheel based (SWB) Landrover, which was a combination of immigration, customs, fire brigade and baggage handler. Passengers off the flight would walk behind the vehicle to where the bridge connecting to the main island of Tortola is now to get on a pontoon upon which passengers and luggage were placed – the pontoon would then be pulled across the channel using a “wet slippery rope” in the sea and would be met by the police LWB Landrover, which would take you into town – obviously the Queen Elizabeth II bridge, which was opened in 1966, was a great boom to simplifying travel into and out of the territory by air and getting to the few businesses that were on that end of the territory – one of these was Marina Cay, a small hotel, which was run by Allan and Jean Batham (who left the territory many years ago, returning to New Zealand), another was a Slip-way on Beef Island and a miniscule hotel on Bellamy Cay (now called the Last Resort).
Robin’s account will continue next week….stay tuned…..
Then & Now – VI early years revisited
June 24, 2012 / violetgaul / 0 Comments
Peter and Penny Haycraft came to the Virgin Islands in December 1959 from London, after Peter answered an Ad in the UK Daily Telegraph, to be the skipper of the Youth of Tortola, “the first modern passenger boat that went between Tortola and St. Thomas.” Peter recounted how he had a choice of going to Port Sudan or coming to Tortola and he took the latter and has been here ever since.
This was at a time when the Virgin Islands were still in its growing phase – and Penny tells how they first lived at Treasure Isle hotel, which was then owned by Charles and Betty Roy), they then stayed for a short time in Kingstown where she would “light a lantern and take to the dock so that Peter could see to come to port.” The Haycrafts later moved into a four-room house in Lower Estate, which was built and owned by Mose Malone, with a bathroom (a novelty in those early days) – Penny took one of the rooms and converted it into the “first private fee paying school in the territory for children ages 6-8 years.” Although they lived in Road Town (the capital) this was at a time when there was no electricity any where on any of the islands owned by Her Majesty’s Government. Their three children were born at the Peebles Hospital, one just ten months after arriving in the territory.
Years later, Peter not wanting to be a “bus driver” (thats what ferrying a boat back and forth to St. Thomas in the USVI felt like) became an entrepreneur when he opened his first business, Road Town Wholesale, in 1961 – his other business Rite Way Supermarket was not opened until 1968 and was located slightly down from the where it is at present on Flemming Street. The wholesale store occupied one room behind Little Denmark (at that time the sea ran through what is now called Wickhams Cay, which was a small island in the harbour – It later moved to main street on the other side of the road to what is now the sporting goods store next to what is now McKellys. Before Rite Way there were two small local grocers on main street – Carlton DeCastro and J. W. Georges where Peter got his St. Bruno tobacco, which he still uses, and which was being imported from England by Mr. Georges.
In those days all shipments coming to the island first had to get here via St. Thomas, USVI and often cargo services could not be relied upon so Peter imported his first vessel, which had been registered in Ireland, inorder to bring his own goods to Tortola on a timely basis – He was able to arrange with S. R. Mendes in Antigua for Booker Lines and Atlantic Lines to deliver directly to Tortola and for this he brought in a series of lighters (barges) onto which the cargo could be placed and pulled to shore by his vessel “The Kilross,” which commenced Island Shipping and Trading.
The Haycrafts, who still live in Road Town, reminisced about a quieter time when children could walk about unsupervised and without fear of them being run-over by traffic and when there was more of a community spirit. They are much older now and have acquired much success through hard work, can live anywhere they choose but still prefer the Virgin Islands – they leave a couple of times each year to visit with two of their children and grandchildren who live abroad.
Then & Now – Legislative Proces
The first Assembly or House of Representatives in the Virgin Islands, which had been asked for since 1747, became a reality by proclamation on November 30th 1773, and the Assembly met for the first time on January 27, 1774 and had eleven (11) members who represented the planters and freeholders. (Early History of the British Virgin Islands, From Columbus to Emancipation, p.75-76: By Vernon W. Pickering)
Despite that representation, the abolition of slavery in 1834 and the collapse of the planation economy saw the Virgin Islands dwindling in population making it difficult to form the rudiments of a government and as a result they were ruled from Antigua – needless to say, the subsequent process to self government was a lengthy and complex one.
The following information is taken from my interview with Mr. Elton Georges, CMG, OBE.
1943 Secondary Education was introduced in the Virgin Islands; 1956 the Federation of the Leeward Islands was broken up and became individual colonies – head of State was changed from Commissioner to Administrator who still reported to a Governor based in Antigua; 1959-60 the Administrator reported directly to London and the Virgin Islands became a Colony with direct link to Her Majesty; 1967 Ministerial Government came into being with Administrative Secretaries who were later changed to Permanent Secretaries – the Speaker was introduced and presided over the Council rather than the Administrator and the Speaker was elected from outside the Council (2000 Constitutional change provided that the Speaker could be elected from the elected members of the house but they continued to elect from outside); 1971 – Administrator was changed to a Governor partly driven by our close proximity to the USVI and PR; 1976 the definition of a belonger was put in the Constitution and the voting process changed – to qualify to vote you now had to be a belonger. It also increased the number of seats in Council from 7 to 9; 1994 before the 1995 election Britain increased the number of seats by amendment to include 4 at large – the entire country was equal to one constituency for these at large members – this was opposed by the then government, however this is how the council is constituted today.
From 1967 until 2007 the head of Government was designated Chief Minister at which time amendments to the Constitution changed the designation to Premier. Five Virgin Islanders held the position of Chief Minister and to date two have held the position of Premier.
Chief Ministers: 1967 – 1971 Hon. H.Lavity Stoutt; 1971 – 1979 Hon. Willard Wheatley; 1979 – 1983 Hon. H. Lavity Stoutt; 1983 – 1986 Cyril B. Romney; 1986 -1995 H. Lavity Stoutt; 1995- 2003 Hon. Ralph T. O’Neal and 2003 – 2007 Dr. The Hon. D. Orlando Smith.
Premiers: 2007 -2011 Hon. Ralph T. O’Neal and 2011 to date Dr. The Hon. D. Orlando Smith.
© 2021 Violet's Corner
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Allied Pilots Association Applauds U.S. Rep. Oberstar for Antitrust Immunity, Foreign Ownership Stances
Dépèche transmise le 27 mars 2009 par Business Wire
FORT WORTH, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Allied Pilots Association (APA), certified collective bargaining agent for the 11,500 pilots of American Airlines (NYSE: AMR), voiced its support for U.S. Rep. James Oberstar’s proposals to set three-year limits on antitrust immunity for global airline alliances and to retain foreign ownership restrictions on U.S. carriers.
Rep. Oberstar serves as chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. He represents Minnesota’s 8th congressional district.
“We have serious concerns about the impact on hard-working Americans when global airline alliances receive antitrust immunity,” said APA President Captain Lloyd Hill. “These capacity-sharing arrangements are a form of industry consolidation whose likely net effect is fewer U.S. jobs. It’s only logical that when companies cooperate and consolidate, some jobs become redundant.
“What isn’t logical is the Air Transport Association’s recent assertion that eliminating antitrust immunizations would cost a significant number of U.S. jobs,” Hill said. “Also, that claim doesn’t square with American Airlines management’s statements downplaying the possibility of layoffs if their plans for antitrust immunity are approved. So which is it—does antitrust immunity affect employment levels or not?
“Furthermore, because antitrust immunity is inherently anti-competitive, travelers are left with fewer choices and higher prices.”
Hill welcomed Rep. Oberstar’s proposal to require carriers to demonstrate periodically the public benefits of antitrust immunity, reiterating APA’s call for “full due diligence” where antitrust immunity is concerned. Echoing Rep. Oberstar’s concerns, APA has also been emphasizing the importance of ensuring that U.S. carriers can be deployed as needed for Civil Reserve Air Fleet duty. That readiness could be compromised by cross-border airline alliances or a relaxation of foreign ownership restrictions.
“It is gratifying to have a lawmaker of Rep. Oberstar’s influence weighing in on these issues, given their critical importance to our national security, as well as to hundreds of thousands of airline workers and the traveling public,” Hill said.
American Airlines announced on Aug. 14, 2008 that it was applying for worldwide antitrust immunity with four other carriers. The airline also announced that it was entering into a related joint business agreement with British Airways and Iberia. Since those announcements, APA has been voicing its concerns about the outsourcing, national security and competitiveness implications of American Airlines’ plans. The American Society of Travel Agents and the Interactive Travel Services Association are both on record as opposing the deals, along with various competing air carriers.
Founded in 1963, the Allied Pilots Association—the largest independent pilot union in the U.S.—is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. APA represents the 11,500 pilots of American Airlines, including 1,969 pilots on furlough. The furloughs began shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Also, several hundred American Airlines pilots are on full-time military leave of absence serving in the armed forces. The union’s Web site address is www.alliedpilots.org. American Airlines is the nation’s second-largest passenger carrier and fifth-largest cargo carrier.
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Council Branded Barbaric By Family Of Man Wrongly Taken By Social Workers
The family of a teenager with severe learning difficulties has branded a council “barbaric” for wrongly taking him away from his home.
By Martin Beckford
Published: 7:00AM BST 06 Aug 2010
The 19 year-old, who has a mental age of two, was taken into care by social workers after apparently claiming he was abused.
But the allegations were unfounded and a judge has ruled that the decision was a “deplorable” breach of the young man’s human rights and of mental health laws.
None of those involved can be named but his sister has now come forward to describe Manchester City Council’s behaviour in the case as “barbaric, unprofessional”.
She told Channel 4 News on Thursday night: “They’re supposed to be a caring service, I didn’t see an ounce of care, an ounce of thought of best interest in any of it.”
The teenager, known only as E, suffers from a genetic condition called tuberous sclerosis, which has created tumours in his brain that mean his language skills are like those of a toddler.
He had lived with a foster mother since 1995 but last year he reportedly made comments at school about being locked in a wardrobe.
His comments were reported to social workers and he was taken away from his home in April – placed first in a respite unit then a care home.
The teenager’s foster mother cried as she told Channel 4 News how she was not allowed to see him for almost two months, and at one meeting claimed she found him suffering from scratches to his arms but was unable to take him home.
“He just couldn’t understand it. He said ‘I want to go home, mum, I want to go home'”.
The young man has since been reunited with his foster mother, referred to in court papers as F, after the allegations of abuse were found to be untrue. He is said to be doing well.
Earlier this year a judge in the Court of Protection, Mr Justice Baker, ruled that the local authority had breached E’s right to respect for privacy and family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights and his right not to be deprived of his liberty without legal authority under Article 5.
It also failed to abide by the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards, which are meant to ensure that those who lack mental capacity are not deprived of their liberty without proper authority.
The judge said: “There was, in my judgment, a deplorable failure to take into account the close relationship between E and F, the need to sustain that relationship, and a consequent failure to arrange any contact for several months between this vulnerable young man and the person who had been his carer – his mother figure – for most of his life.”
He said social workers had not been trained properly and blamed the “blatant errors” on those “higher up the line of management”.
The judge allowed the council to be named last week, although the individuals in the case must remain anonymous.
A spokesman for Manchester City Council told Channel 4 News: “Serious concerns were raised about this young man’s welfare and we had an obligation to act. It was not an easy decision to keep ‘E’ at the home where he was receiving respite care, but his welfare was our primary consideration.
“While we strongly believe we did the right thing, the judge has made it clear that we went about it the wrong way. We regret this and have now put in place measures so that in future similar cases we will follow the correct procedures.”
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/7928946/Council-branded-barbaric-by-family-of-man-wrongly-taken-by-social-workers.html
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Brooklyn Digest
Books: "Kid Quixotes" On A Transformative School In Bushwick
Kid Quixotes: A Group of Students, Their Teacher, and the One-Room School Where Everything Is Possible
By Stephen Haff
HarperOne; hardcover; $27.99; available Tuesday, April 21
In this time of uncertainty, in which our world has been turned upside down, comes a book about a school in Bushwick, with a teacher on a mission to help kids facing adversity find their individual and collective voices.
Stephen Haff, a former public-school teacher, created Still Waters in a Storm, a one-room, after-school program in Bushwick after a breakdown caused by bipolar depression.
This transformative program created a safe, supportive place for students - ranging in age from as young as five years old up to 17 and who live in constant fear of deportation - to practice reading and writing in English, Spanish, and Latin.
In order to make Still Waters work, Haff drew from his experiences inside and outside the classroom, and he developed a new teaching method using AA meetings, Quaker prayers, and psychotherapy to create a more empathetic and collaborative way to learn.
In this refuge, a welcoming environment for all who entered, there was one rule: "Everyone listens to everyone." It unlocked spectacular potential, and since 2016, the students have been collectively translating Don Quixote into English.
With the help of dozens of dictionaries and the approval of acclaimed Don Quixote translator Edith Grossman, they are adapting the legendary 400-year-old Spanish story about a traveling dreamer who never gives up into a bilingual musical based on their own lives.
As the kids perform their work across New York and beyond, they learn that they belong in this country, and they deliver a message of diversity, love, hope, and resilience. You'll read about six-year-old Sarah, tells the tale of her mother's journey across the desert from Mexico riding on the back of a tiger, and Alex, a very private teenager, who sings her coming out song to standing ovations.
Haff writes of the groundbreaking program and the inspiring story he tells: "Sarah's story, representing those of her classmates, is one of coming out of hiding - as is mine - and the story of Still Waters is the story of our shared sanctuary, a place where everyone is safe. Our show, The Traveling Serialized Adventures of Kid Quixote, takes us on the road, outside the safety of our little school, with purpose.
The kids and I meet in Bushwick, our Brooklyn neighborhood, five times per week: Monday through Thursday after the kids are released from their day schools, and on Saturday. All classes are free, there is always food (provided by me or by the families), and there is no admissions process. Whoever appears is part of the group. The name "Still Waters in a Storm" was composed by a student of mine at Bushwick High School, a young poet named Angelo who, before and after naming the school, has spent a number of years in jail. He said that the group, wherever we met, was a place of peace in his stormy life.
The one rule at Still Waters is 'Everyone listens to everyone.' It's a simple maxim that produces beautiful, complex results.
Everything we do - whether Spanish, English, Latin, or music - is based on the same ritual of reading a text, discussing it together, writing a response, and taking turns reading our responses to the group. There are no tests, homework, or grades, no punishments or rewards - just reverential listening to each and every person in the room.
The Still Waters practice of careful, reciprocal attention is inspired by Alcoholics Anonymous, Quaker prayer meetings, and psychotherapy, and it creates deep trust among all people in the group across a wide range of ages. Years ago, when I had my breakdown, I didn't know what I know now: this cross-generational group, this random family, was what I was missing.
The pedagogy of attention at Still Waters came to me in part through Denise, one of my high school students, who was also an alcoholic. At least twice a week she would drink so much she would black out, often waking to find herself in jail (one time for attacking a police officer). When she wasn't drunk, she was a brilliant poet.
Denise would call me often to read me a new poem over the phone, and the conversation would always turn to alcohol. More than once I was able to talk her into pouring a bottle of vodka - her favorite because it was hard for other people to detect on her breath -out of her third-floor apartment window. She held her phone out the window, too, so that I could hear the poisonous liquid splashing on the sidewalk.
Growing up in Canada, I learned that if we were playing hockey on the frozen lake and somebody fell through the ice, we were not to go to the hole to help them: the ice is weakest at the edge of the hole, so we would fall in, too. Instead, we were to go to the shore, and from solid ground, throw a rope or extend a tree branch for the swimming person to grab.
Likewise, there was no way I could sustain the rescue operation for Denise on my own, so I brought her to her first Alcoholics Anonymous meeting nearby her home. It was very simple: everyone took a turn speaking while the whole group listened. This basic ritual was a solid footing for relationships that had a chance of pulling people up from drowning. Why, I wondered, is practice only for alcoholics?"
Posted by Jason Schott at 9:49 PM
Jason Schott
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Books: "American Prophets" Looks At The Religious ...
Books: "Kid Quixotes" On A Transformative School I...
Books: "Final Judgment" By Marcia Clark
Yankees Co-Chairperson Hank Steinbrenner, Eldest C...
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Music Books: On Lou Reed & Metal Legends
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Young but experienced, Lady Hornets’ prospects promising in 2017
February 22, 2017 Softball 2 comments
File photo by Rick Nation
In retrospect, the 2016 Class 7A State softball championship could be said to have been determined in the quarterfinals. That’s when Bentonville and Bryant tangled. In an epic battle, the game went to extra innings before a two-out RBI double gave Bentonville a nail-biting 4-3 victory.
With all due respect to Rogers, which Bentonville defeated 3-0 in the semifinals, and North Little Rock, which the Lady Tigers pounded 12-1 in the championship game, the Lady Hornets came as close to knocking off the eventual champs. Who knows what might’ve been had Bryant found a way to win?
Fast forward to the 2017 season and the Lady Hornets look to be a threat again to take State. Of course, there’s lots to do between now and then but Bryant gets that process started Thursday with a benefit pre-season game against the Sylvan Hills Lady Bears, starting at 5 p.m., including a benefit fish fry with all the fixin’s at Lady Hornets Yard. (Tickets are $15 each for adults, $10 for kids 12-and-under. Riverside Grocery and Catering is supplying the food.)
“They look good, very strong,” said Lady Hornets head coach Lisa Dreher when asked about preparations for the season earlier this week. “We’re returning everyone but two starters, (catcher) Julie (Ward) and (infielder) Shayla (McKissock). We got a transfer, (junior) Madison Lyles, from Lake Hamilton and she has seemed to do very well at shortstop. She’s a real good athlete and has really been working hard in the off-season to fix a few mechanical things. She’s really impressed me.
“This is one of the strongest offensive teams I’ve ever had,” she declared. “There’s not a lot of weak spots in the lineup. It should be fun.”
The team has just two seniors, Macey Jaramillo, who was an all-conference pick last year, and Shelby Stuckey. The juniors included all-State picks Regan Ryan and Raven Loveless as well as all-State Tournament selection Maddie Stephens and all-conference Sarah Evans. Juniors also include Brooklyn Trammell who hit a huge game-tying home run in the seventh inning of that game against Bentonville, Callie Bradley, Gabbie Bonvillain and Regan Keesee.
Sophomores on the team are Aly Bowers, Henessae Shavers, Lexi Helton and Meagan Chism with freshmen Avari Allen, Gianni Hulett, Hannah Work, Joely Calhoun, Maddie Thompson and Olivia Orr.
Chism was an all-conference selection as a freshman last year.
“We’ve got a real strong junior class that have all had an impact on the team,” Dreher said. “Macey, being a senior this year, she really seems to have matured and buckled down with things. It’s been good.”
Jaramillo has verbally committed to play in college at Bossier City Community College next year.
Once basketball is over on Friday, Loveless will be returning as the starting pitcher for the Lady Hornets and Dreher has high hopes for Hulett, a lefty.
“She’s got the same power as Raven,” Dreher said. “She moves it a little bit more. And she’s a super strong outfielder.”
Dreher hopes to alternate the two with the one not pitching, playing centerfield.
“Raven can cover more ground that anybody out there,” the coach mentioned. “We look forward to seeing what she can do when she comes out. She’s had some good workouts at 6 a.m. She’s been working. I think we’re doing a better job of getting her ready than last year.”
Loveless battled a blister on a finger of her pitching hand much of last season.
“I think they push each other,” Dreher said of her two hurlers.
Ryan, who set a State record for most singles in a season with 53 in 2016, will be in left for the Lady Hornets. Tentatively, Dreher has Jaramillo penciled in to play right field.
“She has the best arm on the team,” the coach noted. “She gets good breaks on the ball.”
Bonvillain will start at third base, Dreher said. “She has worked, worked, worked since we let out in May, through the summer and fall. Every time the cage is open or I’m up here at the field, Gabbie is the one that’s here. She’s not the most talented, athletic player but she’s put the time in so she’s the one.”
Trammell is working at first base and Evans at second. “Solid as she can be,” said Dreher of Evans. “She’s made a verbal commitment to SAU (Southern Arkansas University).”
Chism will be the catcher, where she played in junior varsity games last year. She played other positions for the varsity with Ward, a three-year starter, at catcher. In the Bentonville game, Ward got injured late in the game and Chism made her varsity debut behind the plate. Evans will be the back-up catcher.
“As far as the chemistry, you can’t beat it,” Dreher said of the team. “The older girls are taking care of the younger girls and the younger girls are responding to it and buying into it. It’s been good.”
2017 Class 7A State tournament bracket, boys
Accumulating experience key to Hornets’ 2017 success
June 14 in Bryant athletic history: 2017
Maria and Darren Evans
February 24, 2017 at 5:04 am - Reply
Hello, Mr Nation
How can I get a good copy of Sarah Evans photos.
eva.evans0425@gmail.com
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Click on the picture and it should take you to Rick’s website.
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Thoughts on Three Contenders: Tournament of Books
Teju Cole, Open City
Recorded Books, 2011
Reader: Kevin Mambo
It was fitting that this was my first audiobook of 2012; I was walking the streets of my own city, listening to this story, while the narrator, Julius, was walking the streets of New York City.
He is walking, the birds are migrating, Nadege is limping, his professor was imprisoned during WWII and is now suffering another kind of imprisonment. The story considers what is in motion, what possibilities uniquely exist in that state, the ways to move figuratively when one is literally immobile.
It is also about the power of words and actions, the impact of silence and inaction. It is about the ideas we have about the world, which are also constantly in motion.
When Julius is walking in Belgium, he wonders if others are there also to escape, to escape something done or something seen, but they are protected by silence, like the silences of Vermeer’s paintings.
While he is on the move, he encounters a number of people who impact his travels (physically and intellectually). Like Farook:
“I was a strange child you see. I used to miss classes so I could go elsewhere and read on my own. Taking classes never taught me anything. Everything interesting was in the books. It was books that made me aware of the variety of the world.”
Open City has a bookishness that reaches beyond single characters, however, referencing Coetzee’s Elizabeth Costello, Butler’s Kindred, Jelloun’s writing (which Farook views as myth-making but not meaningfully connected to people’s real lives), Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking, and Choukri’s For Bread Alone.
Often these works consider the question of suffering, whether due to systemic injustice or personal losses, adding a thematic layer to the work, which states: “If you’re too loyal to your own suffering, you forget that others suffer too.”
And this question of perspective (while one is moving, another is stationery but actually appears to be in motion) impacts every aspect of the novel.
Something that appears to be an act of devastation might actually be a misinterpretation of an act of resistance. When is a migration not an act of preservation, when is it an act of desperation, when is it an act of revolution?
Can writing come to stand in place for an ethical life, if you write well, will people forgive questionable ethics? Is writing well equal to living well? What makes for a good life?
There are so many things to ponder in Open City, so many approaches to the authentic that one can take.
“To be alive, it seemed to me, as I stood there in all kinds of sorrow was to be both original and reflection and to be dead was to be split off, to be reflection alone.” (last sentence of Chapter 16)
Clearly, Teju Cole is, as Julian is described, “…a close watcher of people and words”; I’m looking forward to his next work.
Jesmyn Ward’s Salvage the Bones
Readers: Cherise Booth
Ward’s novel begins with epigraphs which offer the reader insight to the tone of the work that follows.
The first is from Deuteronomy, which evokes the sweeping theme of harsh laws and brutal punishments.
(The novel recounts a period of twelve days in the life of Esch, who lives with her brothers and her father in Bois Sauvages, Mississippi, the final days being engulfed by Hurricane Katrina.)
The next is from Gloria Fuertes, who writes “For though I’m small I know many things”, which is an overt reminder that perceived weakness can house great strength.
(Esch herself is only fourteen and although remarkably adult in some ways — particularly in terms of the kind of care she must provide her five-year-old brother Junior — possesses a striking vulnerability. And, even smaller than Esch, is China, her brother Skeetah’s pitbull, who also knows many things that a lot of dogs — and a lot of people — do not know.)
And, finally, from the Art of Storytelling, “Outcast”, there is this: “What you wanna be?” And she said, Alive.”
(Like Julius, in Open City, Esch is concerned with what it means to be alive. And she is concerned with staying that way. Despite the forces of detrition and destruction that the family members face, there is a determination, a hulking and enduring spirit that prevails throughout the narrative.)
At another time in my reading experience, I think I would have loved her use of language; the similes and metaphors are suitably rooted in the natural world and in the narrator’s perspective, but they did resonate as strongly for me as I would have liked. Perhaps I was simply too absorbed in the story, in Esch’s particular dilemma and in the relationship between Skeeter and China (arguably the heart of the novel) to attend to any other aspect of the narrative.
It is a powerful tale indeed. I think I will remember Esch for a long time.
Helen DeWitt’s Lightning Rods
Dreamscape Media, 2011
Reader: Dushko Petrovich
I have a copy of Helen DeWitt’s first novel here; I had the idea it was a quietly clever novel, musing on motherhood and on finding your place in the world.
I don’t know how accurate that is, but I do know that Lightning Rods is not at all that kind of story.
It is so NOT that kind of story that I spent the first hour listening to it with my mouth slightly agape. (This is not hyperbole…if it was summer, I’d’ve been catching flies. Okay, the flies are hyperbolic.)
All the better to allow the snorts and chortles escape. There I am, out in the kitchen by myself, listening and baking and cooking and washing up, with “Hah”s and “Tkk”s erupting spontaneously.
While I’m spooning out cupcake batter, Helen DeWitt is taking me out to sell Electrolux vacuums. And of course a salesman’s life is filled with plenty of comic-tragic potential.
While I’m carefully cleaning-but-not-soaping the cast-iron skillet, one of our household’s most treasured items, Dushko Petrovich has me craving a piece of pie like nobody’s business. (Joe ate a lot of pie; he did not sell many vacuums.)
[The way I see it is, if you’re bored by the details about my cast-iron skillet and cupcakes, you are not going to want to keep reading DeWitt’s novel either.]
Speaking of Petrovich, he sounded so booooored in the Audible reading sample that I nearly deleted the book from my cart as quickly as I’d added it, not realizing just how boring it is to try to sell vacuums and encyclopaedia sets. So now I understand and he is a terrific narrator in this role.
Apparently there was a fair bit of chatter about this book, but I missed it. So I was, quite frankly, shocked to find that it’s about what it’s about. Although, of course, as a satire, it’s not really about what it’s about, either.
And since we’re being frank, I’m not sure that I have ever really “gotten” satire until now. That is to say, I’ve studied Jonathan Swift and I’ve read George Saunders, and plenty in-between, and I understand what they’re up to, and I appreciate the skill and intent. Doesn’t that sound clinical? That’s how it has felt, too. Like a student, observing and analyzing, but never fully engaged.
But I actually had to pause Lightning Rods twice so that I could take more time to laugh.
I laughed out loud walking down the street while listening to it.
I baked and cooked more in a single weekend than I do in many weeks, just to have the excuse of spending more time alone with it in the kitchen.
(Yes, I’ve eaten a lot of cupcakes, though no pie: I’m no good with pastry.)
I think that’s what satire is supposed to do. (Well, not the baked goods, maybe, but the rest of it.)
I realize that I have only mentioned vacuums and pie, and those are random details that really have nothing to do with Lightning Rods, and certainly I don’t find either of those things shocking or amusing.
But if someone had told me what the book is actually about (or what it’s not really about), I’m not sure that I would have followed up. Not out of any objection, but because the details about the plot seem organic to the novel, and pulling out the specifics overlooks the overarching power of the work.
(If you want those details, you can find them in lots of places. Lots of readers apparently got so hung up on them that they missed the overarching themes entirely. Presumably these readers would have thought Swift was really talking about babies.)
I came to this novel with absolutely no expectations; I came out of it, grinning and shaking my head, and with ideas in my head that weren’t there before. It’s a delightful state. The kind that makes me feel grateful to be a reader.
Have you read any of these?
Are you thinking about it?
#MARM Week Four Update
November 23rd, 2020 | 16 Comments
Here and Elsewhere: Shanghai
Wendy McGrath’s Trilogy and Poetry
#MARM Week Three Update
olduvai March 11, 2012 at 5:48 pm - Reply
I have never read Helen DeWitt, nor have I ever thought of her as a must-read writer, but after reading that bit about vacuums and pies, and without having any further idea about what Lightning Rods is about, I somehow feel compelled to read it! I will however, steer clear of any blurbs or descriptions before I actually lay my hands on the book.
Or perhaps I should try to get hold of the audiobook, just so that I can bake and listen. 😛
Buried In Print April 11, 2012 at 7:14 pm - Reply
Heheh. Prepare to be surprised! 🙂 I look forward to your list of baked goods consumed in the wake of it…
Shivanee @ Novel Niche March 7, 2012 at 1:44 am - Reply
I’m smiling as I come to the end of reading your audiobook thoughts, because this post has reaffirmed my formerly flagging desire to try my hand at offering thoughts on audiobooks, myself. “It’s not the same thing as reading!” my inner purist whined. It’s good to be reminded that maybe that’s the point, precisely.
I’m a newcomer to audiobook love, but I had a great induction: David Sedaris taught me that listening to a writer read his work can be like Christmastime and all the other holidays rolled up in one. I then tried my hand… er… ears, at George R. R. Martin’s epic series of great reknown, but realized that, in my mind’s arbitrary and curious filing system, some books demand to be paper-held and devoured.
Of these three titles, I’m most intrigued by Lightning Rods… satire that prompts the prolonged creation of baked delights! The other titles sound arresting, too, but I think I’d be most moved to listen-read to the last, and pick up the first two in their paper incarnations. I particularly love the notion of the bookish allegory-pathways in Open City. The way you’ve described Teju Cole’s writing is the way I hope someone describes *mine*, in the future.
Buried In Print March 7, 2012 at 11:06 am - Reply
I’ve got a passel of fresh reasons for shifting to more listening, so I’ve been thinking about the format a lot this year. In the past, my interest has been very spotty; I listened when there was a situation that lent itself to that activity (e.g. long train trips). I’ve listened to maybe two books a year, which is about how many books I read on my phone, too. Meanwhile, more than 100 in print. So, not many. But now I have more than 20 new books in audio waiting for me to adjust to the habit of listening, so I have to get serious about it.
David Sedaris was the first writer whose work I first enjoyed on audio, too, partly because certain pieces of his were only available in that format, right? In early days. But I’m with you on the G.R.R. Martin thing; I was considering the set in audio, but ultimately decided against it because I figured I’d miss flipping back to the cast of characters pages. I did, however, purchase a couple of other fantasy series (Jemisin and Rothfuss) and hope I don’t find myself in a muddle with those!
I think you would find Lightning Rods a stimulating listen or read. I’m content to have listened to Ward’s novel rather than have read it, myself. But I do wish that I had read Teju Cole’s novel. I have this theory that the path that the character follows (geographically, as he travels, via memory) is actually mimicking the migration route of some winged creature, but I can’t possibly trace that with my ears…I need the words on the page. Maybe I’m just not that good at listening yet.
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