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Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Supports Eruditus In Increasing Access to Education Across the Globe
Sep 1, 2020 · 6 min read
New Funds Enable Eruditus to Scale Course Portfolio with University Partners
Tags: Education, Ventures
Woman taking online classes from home. Photograph by pixelfit/Getty Images.
The Eruditus group, consisting of Eruditus Executive Education (www.eruditus.com) and its online division EMERITUS (www.emeritus.org), announced the successful completion of its Series D funding totaling $113 million (including secondary sales) led by Leeds Illuminate and Prosus Ventures (formerly Naspers Ventures) with participation from Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and existing investors Sequoia India and Ved Capital. Eruditus, with offices in six countries, 650+ employees and more than 50,000 student enrollments over the last 12 months, is a global leader in the $280 billion global professional education market.
Eruditus partners with top-tier universities across the United States, Europe, Latin America, India and China to bring world-class business and professional education to a global audience. Eruditus has partnered with more than 30 universities to date, including MIT, Columbia, Harvard, Cambridge, INSEAD, Wharton, UC Berkeley, INCAE, IIT, IIM, NUS and HKUST, launching more than 100 courses and serving students from more than 80 countries. Many courses are offered and facilitated in multiple languages, including Spanish, Portuguese and Mandarin.
Eruditus will use the new funds to increase its engagement with existing and new partner universities, to deepen its operations in emerging markets and to invest in creating career-ready courses to meet the skills required of the global workforce in a post-pandemic world.
“We collaborate closely with our university partners to make high-quality education more accessible and affordable,” said Ashwin Damera, Eruditus Co-Founder and CEO. “Covid-19 is dramatically accelerating change across higher education. We are engaging more deeply with universities worldwide to help them expand their online portfolio and global footprint. We chose Leeds Illuminate, Prosus Ventures and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative as mission-aligned partners that provide strategic value that goes beyond capital to support our growth.”
“Eruditus delivers tremendous value to working professionals and global universities, and we are delighted to partner with this team,” said Susan Cates, Managing Partner of Leeds Illuminate. “Innovative and interactive courses focused on skills of the future, delivered by sought-after global brands, create upward economic mobility for learners across the world. Eruditus provides the connective tissue to facilitate talent’s rise and global universities’ reach.”
“Education technology is a major focus for Prosus Ventures, and we now have six edtech portfolio companies spanning education across K-12, vocational upskilling, lifelong learning, and now higher education with the inclusion of Eruditus,” said Ashutosh Sharma, Head of Investments for India, Prosus Ventures. “Eruditus’ goals are a great match for ours – democratizing access of quality resources for a much broader audience. The value of the teachings of the great institutions has been rationed to those who can physically and monetarily access their facilities. Eruditus unlocks those assets and enables those institutions to help a whole new cohort of learners around the globe. Ashwin, Chaitanya and the team have already built an impressive business with truly global reach, and we look forward to helping them build the company further.”
“Eruditus serves as a critical innovation partner for top universities as they expand online course offerings in response to workforce needs and market demand,” said Vivian Wu, Managing Partner, Ventures, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. “We’re excited to support the growing partnerships between U.S. universities and those in India, China and Latin America that are making truly high-quality education accessible to a broad and diverse range of students.”
Avendus Capital was the exclusive financial advisor to Eruditus on the transaction.
About Eruditus
The Eruditus group, consisting of Eruditus Executive Education (www.eruditus.com) and its online division EMERITUS (www.emeritus.org), offers professional education courses in collaboration with top-ranked universities: including MIT, Columbia, Harvard, Cambridge, INSEAD, Dartmouth, Wharton, UC Berkeley, INCAE, IIT, IIM, NUS and HKUST. Using technology and curriculum innovation, Eruditus enables working professionals who cannot enroll in full-time courses to access a top-tier, affordable education that will give them the skills needed to be the business leaders of tomorrow. The group’s global team includes 650+ employees located in Singapore, Boston, San Francisco, Dubai, Mexico City, Mumbai and Shanghai.
About Leeds Illuminate
Leeds Illuminate is a growth equity firm dedicated to partnering with exceptional management teams in high growth companies in education and workforce development. The Firm is committed to improving outcomes in education (pre-K through higher ed), workplace access and advancement. Together, Leeds Illuminate, with its focus on growth stage companies, and Leeds Equity Partners, with its focus on middle market buyouts, bring sector expertise and strategic insights to create long-term value for their partner companies and investors. Leeds Equity Partners was founded in 1993 and has deployed over $2.7 billion of capital across a broad spectrum of companies within the Knowledge Industries. For additional information on Leeds Illuminate, see www.leedsilluminate.com.
About Prosus
Prosus is a global consumer internet group and one of the largest technology investors in the world. Operating and investing globally in markets with long-term growth potential, Prosus builds leading consumer internet companies that empower people and enrich communities. The group is focused on building meaningful businesses in the online classifieds, payments and fintech, and food delivery sectors in markets including India, Russia and Brazil. Through its ventures team investments, in areas including edtech and health, Prosus actively seeks new opportunities to partner with exceptional entrepreneurs who are using technology to address big societal needs.Every day, millions of people use the products and services of companies that Prosus has invested in, acquired or built, including Avito, Brainly, BYJU’S, Codecademy, ElasticRun, eMAG, Honor, iFood, LazyPay, letgo, Meesho, Movile, OLX, PayU, Red Dot Payments, Remitly, SimilarWeb, Shipper, SoloLearn, Swiggy, and Udemy. Similarly, hundreds of millions of people have made the platforms of its associates a part of their daily lives: Tencent (www.tencent.com; SEHK 00700), Mail.ru (www.corp.mail.ru; LSE: MAIL), Ctrip.com International Limited (“Ctrip”) (NASDAQ: CTRP), and DeliveryHero (www.deliveryhero.com; Xetra: DHER). Today, Prosus companies and associates help improve the lives of around a fifth of the world’s population. Prosus has a primary listing on Euronext Amsterdam (AEX:PRX) and a secondary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (XJSE:PRX), and is majority owned by Naspers. For more information, please visit www.prosus.com.
Founded by Dr. Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg in 2015, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) is a new kind of philanthropy that’s leveraging technology to help solve some of the world’s toughest challenges — from eradicating disease, to improving education, to reforming the criminal justice system. Across three core Initiative focus areas of Science, Education, and Justice & Opportunity, we’re pairing engineering with grant-making, impact investing, and policy and advocacy work to help build an inclusive, just and healthy future for everyone. For more information, please visit www.chanzuckerberg.com.
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Commits $5.8 Million to Advance Black and Latino Leadership in Education
CZI Supports Community Driven Solutions to Advance Racial Equity, Strengthen Tribal Identity, and Improve Youth Well-Being
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Commits $6.3 Million to Advance Equity in K-12 Schools
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Cloudy, 41° F
Legals | Classifieds
Mountaineer line powers the attack
Posted Wednesday, October 30, 2019 2:40 pm
By Erik Green, Contributing Writer
Here’s one for you: name the greatest offensive lineman of all time. No luck? How about one offensive lineman on your favorite team?
If you went 0-for-2, don’t feel bad. It’s not a glamorous position. There aren’t any meaningful stats for kids to memorize. You’d be hard pressed to find any bronze statues erected in honor of an offensive linemen. The only time you hear about them, generally, is when they’re slapping themselves on the head for committing a penalty. However, if you follow the NFL, you know that they are often some of the highest paid players and the best are selected early in the first round of the first year player draft. They’re often monstrously large, and while some are gentle giants, others would be your worst nightmare in an alleyway. It’s traditionally been a position for slow, chubby kids, but if you’ve ever seen La’el Collins of the Dallas Cowboys running out on a lead block, you’d know that is just not true anymore. Though largely anonymous, an offensive lineman is one of the most important, and increasingly skilled, players on the field.
“Coming out here, we’ve got so many weapons on the field,” said offensive tackle Cameron Shook. “It starts up front, though. If we get things right on the line, we’re golden.”
Head coach Preston Poag had this to say about each of his starting five offensive linemen:
Center Aaron McCurdy (SR): “It starts up front with “Boots,” Aaron McCurdy. He’s a good player, a smart player. You have to have a smart player at center.”
Guard Alex Dixon (SR): “Alex started last year. He’s a little under sized but plays hard.” Dixon’s dad Bob has been a long-time North Murray community coach.
Tackle Hayden Jones (SR): “He played guard and tackle some. He can play both. He’s a high energy guy that gets after it. He’s going 100 miles an hour.” Jones’ father Casey has been a community coach for a long time as well.
Guard Carter Reynolds (JR): “Carter is a new starter for us. We started him after a couple of games for us this year and he stepped in and played really well.”
Tackle Cameron Shook (SR): Cameron has played a lot of football. He has grown so much toughness-wise since he’s been here.”
“Most of them have been playing together all four years,” Poag said. “I couldn’t be happier. They grind. Boots plays both ways all the time and that’s hard to do on the line. They all work good together. They’ve played a lot of games together and they work hard every day. One thing is they know how to practice. They’re good leaders for the team, too.”
At North Murray, the superstar is quarterback Ladd McConkey, who will be playing on Saturdays somewhere next fall. He would be the first to tell you, however, that his veteran offensive line is, at least, partially responsible for his success.
“They’ve come such a long way,” McConkey said. “All of them are so close, like brothers. Even if I get knocked down or they mess up, they pick me up (and take the blame). That goes a long way with me knowing that they’ve got my back. They hate messing up and they’re going to fix it.”
D’Ante Tidwell is North Murray’s featured running back, an elusive runner that is dangerous when he gets into the open field. He attributes his success to the big guys up front as well.
“They’re wonderful,” Tidwell said. “Best offensive line around. They put in the hard work and dedication in practice.”
The Mountaineer offensive line has paved the way for three runners to eclipse the three hundred yard rushing mark so far this year, according to stats provided by North Murray. All running backs combined have accounted for more than 1,500 yards on the ground, which equates to better than 180 yards per game. Four quarterbacks or running backs have thrown passes this year for the Mountaineers and have accounted for more than 1,000 yards through the air, another testament to the offensive line’s ability to protect then man with the ball.
Offensive lines are often reflections of their position coach. The same can be said for the Mountaineer front this year. Offensive line coach John Seabolt is a bit reserved, a bit soft spoken, much like the members of his unit, none of whom would be called out for being a blabbermouth. Seabolt is deliberate in his expectations for his players and his lunch-pail work ethic is characteristic of the young men in his charge, he said.
“Their effort has been great all year long.” Seabolt said of the senior laden offensive line. “I’ve been proud of this group so far. They’re a bunch of selfless players. Really, the whole team is selfless. I’ve been really impressed with everything they’ve been doing.”
The day in and day out preparation can be a grind, but the Mountaineer line has been together for so long, they enjoy the chance to work with one another.
“We come out with a lot of enthusiasm,” Shook said. “We don’t really dread practice. We do what has to be done to get better every day.”
As the Mountaineers close in on the first region title in school history and, undoubtedly, the best record in school history, fans will, no doubt, remember the contributions of a veteran offensive line that paved the way to success.
“We’ve got a great group of seniors,” said Seabolt, who played his high school ball at Rome High and is in his first year at North Murray. “They’re doing a good job of leading the team and setting the example and standard for North Murray in the future.”
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Chicago Cubs Online > Back to the Minors > Baseball America’s Midseason Top 50 Prospect List Includes Schwarber, Torres and McKinney
Baseball America’s Midseason Top 50 Prospect List Includes Schwarber, Torres and McKinney
July 8, 2015 1:00 pm By Neil 3 Comments
Baseball America released its midseason ranking of the top 50 prospects in the game. And even with the promotions of Kris Bryant and Addison Russell to the big leagues, the Cubs have three of the top minor league players in its system.
Baseball America ranked C Kyle Schwarber as the sixth best prospect in the game. SS Gleyber Torres checked in at No. 28 and OF Billy McKinney ended up two spots behind the 18-year old shortstop. Baseball America thinks McKinney is the 30th best prospect in baseball.
The Dodgers’ Corey Seager topped Baseball America’s ranking with RHP Lucas Giolito (Nationals), 3B/OF Joey Gallo (Rangers), LHP Julio Urias (Dodgers) and SS J.P. Crawford (Phillies) rounding out the top five.
• Baseball America’s Midseason Top 50 Prospects List
Kyle Schwarber
Kyle Schwarber started the season with Double-A Tennessee and batted .320/.438/.579 in 58 games with 10 doubles, a triple and 13 home runs for a 1.017 OPS. Schwarber walked 42 times with 49 strikeouts before he was called up to the majors last month.
During his pit stop in The Show between Double-A and Triple-A, Schwarber was 8-for-22 in six games with a triple and a home run (.364/.391/.591/.982).
The Cubs optioned Schwarber to Triple-A Iowa on June 22 to continue his development as a catcher while the media and fan base stated the case for leaving Schwarber in the big leagues to let him hit and play left field.
The Cubs are committed to Schwarber being the team’s catcher in the not too distant future.
Schwarber is continuing to hit while working on his defense. In 15 games with the I-Cubs, Schwarber is batting .358/.414/.642 with seven doubles, a triple and two home runs for a 1.055 OPS. Combined between Double-A Tennessee and Triple-A Iowa, Schwarber is batting .328/.433/.592 in 73 games with 17 doubles, two triples and 15 home runs for a 1.025 OPS.
Gleyber Torres has quickly moved up the prospect rankings as he continues to produce for Low-A South Bend. The 18-year old shortstop is putting together an excellent season in his first full year of pro ball. Reports have been very positive about his defense and he is performing rather well at the plate.
Torres is batting .314/.386/.411 with 15 doubles, three triples and two home runs for a .797 OPS. Torres is 12-for-18 in stolen bases and has driven in 44 runs.
Billy McKinney
Billy McKinney started the season with High-A Myrtle Beach. The lefty hitting 20-year old outfielder performed quite well in the Carolina League. McKinney batted .340/.432/.544 in 29 games with five doubles, two triples and four home runs for a .976 OPS. McKinney walked 17 times in 125 plate appearances with only 13 strikeouts.
McKinney has not slowed down with Double-A Tennessee. In 45 games, McKinney is batting .303/.351/.441 with 13 doubles, a triple and two home runs for a .792 OPS. McKinney has 13 walks and 20 strikeouts in 169 plate appearances.
Between High-A Myrtle Beach and Double-A Tennessee, McKinney is hitting .318/.386/.482 with 18 doubles, three triples, six home runs and a .868 OPS in 74 games.
Due to the Cubs being competitive at the big league level for the first time in six years, the focus on the organization has shifted and less attention is being paid to the prospects this season. The Cubs have a deep system and it is good to see three of the top position player prospects continue their development the way Kyle Schwarber, Gleyber Torres and Billy McKinney have this year.
Follow Chicago Cubs Online on Twitter: @TheCCO and @TheCCO_Minors
Filed Under: Back to the Minors Tagged With: Baseball America Cubs Prospects, Billy McKinney, Gleyber Torres, Kyle Schwarber
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Data shows kids of color facing pandemic “pain points”
charlotte.linton 12/14/20
The pandemic is posing formidable challenges to the health, education and economic stability of kids and families—and children of color are most exposed.
These are the findings of a new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Kids, Families and COVID-19: Pandemic Pain Points and a Roadmap for Recovery a 50-state report of recent household data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
It shows how thousands of Washington families are challenged to meet their basic needs: finding themselves without health coverage, at grave risk of foreclosure or eviction, and facing the prospect of hunger.
Here in Washington, in a recent four-week period from mid-September to mid-October:
Nine percent of Washington households with children said they sometimes or often did not have enough to eat, lower than the national number (14%). Yet here in Washington and across the country, Black, Latino/a and “Other” households of color—a category which includes Native American, multiracial, Pacific Islander and Native Hawaiian households—have reported higher rates of food insecurity.
Twelve percent had slight or no confidence they would make the next rent or mortgage payment on time, lower than the national number (18%). Black, Latino/a and “Other” households of color with children have been disproportionately likely to be uncertain about making their next rent or mortgage payment.
Just 8% of Washington households with children did not have health insurance, compared to 12% nationwide. Yet Latino/a and “Other” households of color have been much more likely than their neighbors to lack health coverage.
Nineteen percent of Washington adults in households with children felt down, depressed or hopeless, about equal with the national average (21%). Black and “Other” households of color have been more likely to report feeling down, depressed or hopeless, both here in Washington and nationwide.
These racial disparities show that the United States’ history of segregation, discrimination and disinvestment continues to raise barriers to equal opportunity. In response, state and federal lawmakers should take the following steps:
Preserve and expand access to health care: State lawmakers must preserve health coverage for adults and children, such as Apple Health for Kids, Medicaid adult dental and COFA Islander Health Care for Pacific Islander Washingtonians, to prevent health inequities from worsening.
Provide direct cash assistance to families most impacted by the COVID-19 crisis: Low-barrier, flexible cash assistance to families with low incomes is one of the most effective ways to support the dignity and well-being of kids and families. State lawmakers should invest in a Working Families Tax Credit, our state’s version of the highly successful federal Earned Income Tax Credit program, and extend its support to caregivers, childless adults and immigrants who file taxes with an Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN).
Reduce barriers to existing cash assistance programs like WorkFirst/Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) by easing strict program requirements that make it difficult for families to access support.
Bolster investment in a Washington Immigrant Relief Fund so that immigrant families can access crucial forms of income support during the crisis. Over the long term, they should create an unemployment insurance system that is available to people who are undocumented, so that job loss does not jeopardize immigrant families’ health and safety.
Prevent evictions and help families pay rent: State policymakers must ensure that Washington’s state-level eviction moratorium remains in place for the duration of the public health and economic crisis. They must also provide robust rental assistance so that families do not face homelessness when accumulated back rent eventually comes due.
Raise progressive revenue and fix our state’s upside-down tax code: Washington needs dependable sources of revenue to generate enough resources to invest in kids and families. This starts with cleaning up our worst-in-the-nation tax code, in which low- and middle-income families pay as much as six times more in taxes as a share of their incomes than the wealthiest.
Finally, Congress must pass a robust COVID-19 relief package that includes meaningful support for the urgent needs of children, families and schools.
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Seaweed and ice: a scientist’s weapons against climate change
Australian scientist and writer Tim Flannery argues our only hope is to develop new ways to use and store carbon in the earth’s natural systems
One analysis shows that if seaweed farms covered 9% of the ocean they remove all current human emissions from the atmosphere. (Photo:
Beth Walker
A global deal to cut greenhouse gas emissions or geoengineering initiatives to cool the planet: these two options tend to dominate current thinking about climate change.
But Australian palaeontologist turned writer and activist, Tim Flannery, argues there is a “third way” that is almost entirely neglected in political negotiations and public debate.
In his latest book, “Atmosphere of Hope: Searching for Solutions to the Climate Crisis”, Flannery explains how this involves capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it in natural systems or using it to create things we need.
He told chinadialogue that in the coming decades investment in third-way technologies will make the green energy revolution look insignificant.
chinadialogue (CD): You’re clear that whatever happens in Paris we’re not going to come away with a strong enough deal to cut emissions fast enough and yet your book is optimistic about the future. Where does this hope come from?
Tim Flannery (TF): This hope comes from an understanding that there is an unused tool in the tool kit that we haven’t yet factored in yet. There are these technologies – that are very nascent at the moment – but that could make a difference to our climate future. No serious exercise looking at emissions reductions suggest we can keep the world below 2 degrees Celsius (2C) now – we’ve left it too late.
CD: Does this 2C target still make sense?
TF: If you look at the science now a case could be made that we should stay within a 1.5 degree rise. For example, the Australia’s Great Barrier Reef ceases to exist above 1.5 degrees – conditions will simply become too acidic and too hot. But we’re already committed to a 1.5 degree rise – the gas to produce this temperature is already in the air. Two degrees is also unavoidable because we can’t change our energy systems fast enough. So it’s a political benchmark loosely based on science, but reality has intervened and we can no longer achieve this with emissions reductions alone.
CD: You make a distinction between geoengineering and third way technologies – what’s the difference?
TF: I’m terrified by geoengineering proposals. These proposals seek to cool the planet by either modifying the amount of sunlight reaching the earth (solar radiation), or have potentially very dangerous side effects like ocean fertilisation. These proposals either offer sticking-plaster solutions or draw carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere with severe unintended consequences.
So you can imagine that it is very tempting to have an initiative that puts sulphur into the atmosphere that would cool the earth instantly, and it is relatively cheap. It’s like the broad, easy road to hell.
There are four research teams in China working on these proposals right now. You can imagine the temptations facing China looking down the barrel at very severe climate destabilisation, but the consequences would be catastrophic – not least geopolitical destabilisation. There is no treaty regulating geoengineering so it would be unilateral action with very severe consequences for China’s neighbours, let alone the rest of the world. All climate models suggest that if you put sulphur in the air this will affect the South Asian monsoon [among other consequences].
Third-way technologies, on the other hand, are approaches, methods or technologies that simulate the earth’s own system of carbon drawdown or regulation – to simulate or enhance it. A good example is the weathering of silicate rocks – a really important part of the earth’s mechanism to reduce CO2. So if we speed up the weathering of these rocks then we are stimulating the earth’s capacity to absorb CO2. In comparison with geoengineering, these technologies are not immediate in their effect and require decades of investment to start showing results but they deal with the problem at its source. This is like the narrow difficult road to heaven.
CD: The US and many other countries are also investing in a range of geoengineering projects from cloud seeding to advanced sulphur. What stage are these research projects at?
TF: For advanced sulphur there was a research programme in the UK called SPICE Project, which aimed to demonstrate the mechanism to deliver sulphur into the stratosphere. There is still investment going into this and every year these technologies become cheaper and more feasible. It’s certainly within the range of a wealthy individual today to alter the climate using these technologies and there is no regulatory regime in place to stop them from doing that. So I think [geoengineering is] becoming more real and scary by the day.
CD: Which of these technologies would put your money on?
TF: Can I answer this by taking a step back. We are in an extremely privileged position in that we know the problem the world will be trying to solve by 2050. The existing gas in the air, let alone new emissions, will be driving ever more adverse changes to the climate system. We know the scale of the problem – we have to draw 18 gigatonnes [of carbon dioxide equivalent out of the air] to reduce concentrations to one part per part million [from the 400ppm reached in 2015].
There are a series of options out there that we can look at. They range from desktop studies of sequestration of CO2 in the Antarctic ice cap through to well-known approaches such as reforestation. None of them have the scale to be a silver bullet – one exception might be seaweed farming, but that’s a desktop project at the moment.
I don’t know which of these technologies is going to work out – it will probably be a broad array of them. Funding and R&D mechanisms vary greatly. The race is on and it will make the clean tech revolution look small in comparison in terms of investment.
For people who think its looks like science fiction, I say that our imagination is the limiting factor here. 2050 will be very different from 2015.
CD: You say these technologies use natural processes, but natural processes can be very destructive – there have been mass extinctions in the past because of natural changes to the carbon cycle, for example. What are the big concerns around mass storage of carbon in natural systems?
TF: There are huge unknowns and this is why we have to start investing heavily in R&D now. Let’s take a couple of examples. Two of the most promising approaches at scale are really a new take on carbon capture and storage. One involves precipitating carbon dioxide snow in the Antarctic and storing in the icepack. It’s pretty simple, but there are caveats: what happens to earth’s system if you create concentrated CO2 depressions in the Antarctic? How stable is storage mechanism at scale?
Oceanic storage of CO2 is another example. We know CO2 will remain stable under a column of water 3 kilometres deep and we know that seaweed farming has helped. We’ve got 500 square kilometres of seaweed farm off the Chinese coast but there are still so many unknowns. Will the CO2 stored be stable? What are the economics of using bio digesters in seaweed farms and pumping this stuff down?
CD: What’s China’s role in terms of innovation and funding?
TF: China is run by engineers and they are very good at picking technologies. China’s investment in cloning gives you a sense of how important a role they play. My hope is that China will ask its academies of science and engineering and others where their national interest lies in this enormous field of third way tech development. I can outline areas where China has a particular advantage. They are the largest seaweed farmer in the world – they understand seaweed farmers better than anyone else. Then there the manufacturing carbon fibre from atmospheric CO2 – the George Washington University has just put forward. China could become the world’s leading manufacturer of carbon fibre, which will have a huge impact on emissions as it becomes cheaper and competes with steel and aluminium. Producing plastics from CO2 is another area. I know China is not at the technological forefront of these developments yet, but their experience with solar Photovoltaic shows you how they can buy into technological advances and build a manufacturing base.
Tim Flannery is the author, most recently, of the forthcoming book “Atmosphere of Hope: Searching for Solutions to the Climate Crisis.”
Beth Walker is chinadialogue’s culture editor. She is also editor of thethirdpole.net. She has researched and written about Asia’s international rivers for many years, and has lived and worked in Yunnan province. She studied Chinese at Oxford University and Development Management at the London School of Economics. You can follow her on Twitter at @beth_wa
climate changeGeoengineeringnature-based solutions
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Carbon Dioxide Removal
Carbon capture a distant prospect as UK utility ducks out of major project
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China’s appetite for durian puts Malaysia’s forests under pressure
State governments are rushing to meet Chinese demand for the ‘king of fruit’, but at what cost to the environment and indigenous people?
(Image: Alamy)
Meena Lakshana
This week Malaysia began exporting whole durian to China by plane. It hopes to fly 8,000 tonnes of the fruit to China every year, at a value of around 800 million yuan (US$111.6 million).
With demand for durian skyrocketing in China, Malaysia is bracing itself for a leap in production. A new agreement signed in August last year allows the Southeast Asian country to export frozen whole durian to China for the first time, but demand is fuelling deforestation.
Malaysia grows about 300,000 tonnes of durian every year, with most of it consumed domestically. Total exports in 2018 were 23,381 tonnes, worth RM118.2 million (US$29.4 million), according to Malaysia’s Department of Statistics. A total of 20,793 tonnes or 88.9% of this went to Singapore. And only 236 tonnes were exported to China in the form of pulp and paste.
In a June statement, Malaysia’s ministry of agriculture and agro-based industry said it expected total durian exports to China to increase to 22,000 tonnes by 2030.
This growth is small compared to China’s growing appetite for the fruit. According to Trade Map, the value of fresh durian imports to China was almost US$1.1 billion in 2018, double the figure for 2017. Imports have grown from about 200,000 tonnes in 2008 to approximately 430,000 tonnes in 2018.
Almost all of China’s fresh durian imports are from Thailand, which is the world’s top producer and exporter. Malaysia’s official share is small because of trade restrictions that limit durian exports to China to pulp and paste form, although reports suggest some illegal imports do find their way into the country.
Following the inking of the new protocol, Malaysia’s first exports of frozen whole fruit durians occurred on 17 June, with five companies approved to export the fruits to China, said Salahuddin Ayub, the minister for agriculture and agro-based industry, in a statement announcing the exports.
Whole fresh fruit can be sold for significantly higher prices. Salahuddin said the ministry expects 1,000 tonnes of premium variety durians from Malaysia to enter the Chinese market every month, which will contribute RM500 million (US$120 million) annually to the value of the nation’s exports, the statement read.
He also said the ministry is confident that Malaysia’s output will be able to satisfy local demand, the current international market and the new, burgeoning market in China. He said durian farming has been recognised by the ministry under the New Source of Wealth policy, which is supporting replanting and rehabilitation of farms.
Last year, Malaysia’s durian output increased by 61.9% to 341,000 tonnes from 211,000 tonnes in 2017 and is expected to increase in the following years, particularly premium varieties such as the Musang King and Black Thorn, the statement read.
Malaysia’s department of agriculture said exports must meet China’s stringent food safety standards and import regulations.
Nevertheless, demand is already outstripping supply, sending prices soaring.
Although this price boom has so far benefited Malaysia’s farmers, with durians of the most expensive variety, the Musang King, selling for up to 125 yuan (US$30) per kilogram in 2017, some exporters are warning that the growth is unsustainable.
Dulai Fruits grows 4,000 tonnes of durian a year, 90% of which is sold to China. Managing director Eric Chan says both the lack of supply and the soaring prices are hurting his Chinese buyers, many of whom sell via e-commerce channels in China.
“A lot of our clients cannot grow their business because we cannot promise them the volume,” he said.
He added that without stable prices, buyers are unable to properly plan their expenditure, making expansion difficult. “When they cannot grow, sales cannot grow. When the sales cannot grow, the durian business is not sustainable,” he warned.
Hands-on farming
To stabilise the market and meet China’s growing demand, the Malaysian government is keen to boost productivity. It has brought in the Durian Industry Development Programme to generate interest among farmers and support them with information and training.
The department of agriculture has acknowledged the challenges, saying increases in operating costs are making it difficult for farmers.
“There are increased prices of agricultural inputs such as fertiliser, chemicals and agricultural machineries, as most of these are obtained from abroad,” it said.
Researcher Salehudin Md. Radzuan of the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI) warns that climate change also poses a significant problem.
With an intensification of El Niño, farmers must increasingly guard their plantations against changes in the weather such as temperature swings.
According to Salehudin, farmers in Malaysia follow the “plant, leave and harvest” approach, which requires few agricultural inputs. But adapting to climate change and boosting production will require more hands-on, intensive farming practices.
“If a season is too hot, the trees will be stressed. The fruits will be small and not very good quality,” said Salehudin. “You must have a better fertiliser system, better irrigation system if you want a good yield.”
To help, MARDI is researching high-yield durian varieties. But as Salehudin pointed out, this is no quick fix. “We have to test the taste and whether the varieties will thrive in all locations across agricultural zones. Durians take a long time to grow and bear fruit so that’s why this research is going to take years,” he said.
Growing deforestation
With high-yield varieties still a long way off, growing demand has led to increased deforestation to make way for durian plantations.
Puan Sri Shariffa Sabrina Syed Akil, president of the Association for the Protection of the Natural Heritage of Malaysia (PEKA), described the situation as “very serious”.
“Now that China wants more of our durians, Malaysians are going crazy because there is so much money to be made,” she said.
Instead of turning underutilised land into plantations, the authorities are “more than happy to open up our forests … because they can make more money from the logging”.
To cash in on this bonanza, state governments in Peninsular Malaysia, where durian production is concentrated, are removing the protections that keep forest reserves safe. And as state governments are in charge of local land matters, there’s not much the federal government can do to control this.
“I have seen the impact with my own eyes. The entire ecosystem is affected. The rivers are gone,” said Shariffa. Indigenous people are losing ancestral lands to the plantations.
This was also claimed by Mustafa Along, chairman of the Kelantan Network of Orang Asli Villages during a June forum in Thailand.
He said that Kelantan, a state on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, has witnessed an alarming rise in threats from activities such as logging, mining and plantations. He added that durian farming by Chinese-financed companies is increasingly encroaching upon indigenous land.
Mustafa said in one instance, the Kelantan state government had approved 10,000 acres (4,000 hectares) of forested land in Pos Simpor, Gua Musang to be opened for Musang King durian farming.
The indigenous community there banded together to stop the company’s hired workers from entering the forest by erecting a blockade in Pos Simpor.
However, he said this did not deter the company, which has taken legal action and used intimidation and violence to force the community to back down.
“They sued me for millions of ringgits because they claimed that they had lost millions during the entire duration of the blockade. I am only an indigenous person who earns about US$50 a month,” he said.
Mustafa elaborated that in Kelantan, the encroachment into native customary land for durian farming, among other developmental activities, was driven by a Kelantan state policy from 2006 called the People’s Farm programme. Under the programme, one-third of a 600,000-hectare forest reserve has been set aside for monocrop plantations such as palm oil and rubber. These lands include indigenous lands, which are recognised under Malaysian law as native customary lands.
After the blockade in Pos Simpor hit national headlines, the federal government, in an unprecedented move, took the Kelantan government to court in January to protect local indigenous land rights.
Risk to genetic diversity
With growers catering increasingly to the Chinese market, the loss of genetic diversity could also become a problem for the sector. This is already the case in Thailand, which exports most of its durian crop to China.
But unlike Thailand, Malaysia consumes the majority of its durian domestically. Per capita consumption is 11 kilograms each year, making it the world’s largest consumer.
The department of agriculture has downplayed the potential impact that focussing on exports could have on genetic diversity. “There are 204 varieties of durian registered and planted in Malaysia. Each of these has their own niche market,” it said, adding that while international demand for the Musang King and the Sultan has increased, “the consumption of other varieties of durians in the domestic market remains high”.
Despite the challenges facing farmers, Dulai Fruits’ Eric Chan is optimistic about the future of Malaysia’s durian industry. He hopes that Chinese demand will attract more young people to work in the industry. He sees a great deal of potential for development, especially in innovative offshoot sectors such as food engineering.
“It can help with food processing industries as well. It will involve a lot of engineers because we need the machinery to produce all the downstream products … The durian industry is not only about planting the trees and shipping it out. There is a whole ecosystem to it. That’s why I feel positive about it,” he said.
But PEKA’s Shariffa laments that the increase in appetite for Malaysia’s durians is fuelling short-term interests rather than long-term benefits.
“The state governments have too much power over our forests. They have no understanding of the need for sustainability. They think logging will make them a lot of money. They’re only thinking about the short term,” she said.
Meena Lakshana is a former business journalist at The Edge Financial Daily.
agricultureconsumersdeforestationtrade
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Bolivian quinoa producers place hope in China
Chinese agriculture’s eco-transformation
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The Chinese people have begun to tremble
Revision as of 04:28, 16 March 2016 by Anne (talk | contribs)
中国人民从此战栗起来了 (zhōng guó rén mín cóng cǐ zhàn lì qǐ lái le): The Chinese people have begun to tremble
This is a play on Mao Zedong's declaration, “The Chinese people have stood up!” (中国人民从此站起来了).
While the quote was traditionally thought to have been made at the opening ceremony of the People's Republic of China, the statement was actually made more than a week earlier on September 21, 1949 at a Chinese People's Political Consultative Congress. The phrase is the title of the fifth volume of Mao Zedong's selected works in Chinese.
The parody of the phrase is used by netizens to indirectly critique what they perceive as the repressive nature of the Chinese government.
Mao declaring the establishment of the People's Republic of China.
Retrieved from "http://chinadigitaltimes.net/space/index.php?title=The_Chinese_people_have_begun_to_tremble&oldid=25932"
Resistance Discourse
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Your Lordship, with due respect… You are not Lord Almighty. What about caste prejudice in judiciary?
Dalits protest on April 2
By Martin Macwan*
To protect innocent citizens against false criminal cases is a noble principle of any caste on earth and it is not a new principle that India has discovered. However, the element of ‘innocence’ is a subjective perception in a society where the origin, preservation and protection of the caste system manifested through one’s social status as a ‘pure’ or ‘impure, and ‘high’ or ‘low’ caste, leading to the chain behaviour that multiple forms of untouchability are a creation of God. The Indian law has criminalized discriminatory behaviour under the influence of caste in public sphere only, but has refrained from upholding caste as anti-national, immoral and irreligious, even when it has failed miserably to abolish untouchability and practices such as manual scavenging after seven decades of its independence.
The recent and controversial guidelines issued by the judges of the Supreme Court in relation to the Prevention of Atrocities Act (PAA) are not free from caste prejudices. There is ample place in our democratic life to check caste prejudices of civil servants, political leaders and religious leaders, but not of judiciary.
In 1994, I came across a case in Dhandhuka town of Gujarat, where the police brutally beat up a Dalit youth for purchasing a stolen bicycle for Rs 200 by confining him in a police lockup for more than 36 hours. The injured man was unable even to stand on his feet and hence the police presented his younger brother before the magistrate as the person they had arrested.
The arrested man was later rushed to the government hospital, where the doctor registered the case history and informed the police. The mention of the police frightened the man and he refused to be treated. That night the police made a story that he hanged himself in his own house, whereas he was unable to even stand on his own feet. The case was argued in the Gujarat High Court. In my presence, when the state prosecutor defended the police action, deeply perturbed by the photographs of the injured Dalit, the judge asked the prosecutor, ‘Had there been a policeman in the place of the victim, what would you say?’ The prosecutor replied without hesitation, ‘My Lord, the law differs from person to person’. Next I heard about the prosecutor was, instead of being laid off, he was promoted as the judge serving the High Court of Bombay.
Later, the doctor who had noted the injuries on the body of the victim turned hostile, saying, his writing was a ‘slip of the pen’. He was a Dalit. The police was acquitted. Yes, the law was misused; not by the victim but by the state prosecutor, the police and the doctor. The law protected all of them but could not protect the victim.
I was often invited to lecture the judges at the National Judicial Academy, Bhopal. At one such lecture on PAA, a senior judge intervened: If we walk on the path of the Vedas and Puranas, the country does not require a law, he said. A sessions judge, duly promoted to the post, told me that his senior judge had advised him: Do not convict many under PAA and do not dispose of cases speedily.
It is a common scene in the trial room in anti-atrocity cases where the judge suggests an amicable settlement before the trial begins. My lawyer friends have heard judges using derogatory caste words for Dalits saying, ‘Today I have to hear the cases of the ____”.
Hence the perception on the part of Dalits and Adivasis, one fourth of the population of India, that the observations of the Supreme Court judges are not ‘supreme’ has a valid point to consider.
Martin Macwan
The need for an anti-untouchability law was discussed, and it is recorded as part of the Poona Pact (1932), which promised that if such a law could not be enacted immediately it would be the first law in Independent India. However, the law did not take place until 1955 when India enacted the Untouchability Offences Act. With the continuing and increasing crimes against Dalits, India enacted Civil Rights Protection Act, 1976, which popularly came to be known Prevention of Atrocities Act. To give more teeth to the Act, all political parties contributed to the newly amended anti-atrocities Act, 2016. The law was not amended overnight. The process took more than four years and the draft was screened by the Standing Committee of Parliament and even the Law Commission. I am sure the judges of the Supreme Court passing recent guidelines were aware about these developments.
I have read the order of the Supreme Court, and my protest, after reading the same, is summarized here:
The Supreme Court was dealing with a case where the falseness of the case has not been concluded by the trial court and the detailed observations of the Amicus Curiae are mechanical, one-sided, denying the victim the right to defend.
The Supreme Court believed in each and every word of the amicus curiae.
The amicus curiae notes that the victim filed his complaint after a gap of five years, but overlooks the fact that the investigating officer had sought sanction of the appointed authority to prosecute a public servant after five years since the FIR was filed.
The judges believe that a single police officer of the rank of DSP in a district has the time and capacity to deal with every single case of atrocity in a week’s time, or even earlier, which never has been possible where the investigation had been handled by constables.
The anti-atrocities Act necessitates a DySP to investigate atrocity cases to ensure that there is serious investigation, but Supreme Court guidelines dictate the investigation by DSP with the assumption that the police officer lower than the concerned rank would not be able to protect innocent citizens against the abuse of the law, the PAA to be specific.
The judges expect the DSP to be mechanical, as the order says that the violation of direction (III) and (IV) will be actionable by way of disciplinary action as well as contempt. How many police officers in the rank of DSP and SSP would risk the slightest possibility of contempt of the court?
The Supreme Court order has not included members of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the category of ‘innocent citizens’.
The Supreme Court has referred to five judgements of various High Courts which have made observations about the misuse of the anti-atrocities Act to strengthen its own order. Three of these judgements are from the High Court of Gujarat. Only 2.33% of India’s Scheduled Caste (SC) population lives in Gujarat, and the population of Scheduled Tribes (ST) is 8.5%. Caste-based discrimination cases are more in relation to Dalits than Adivasis. Gujarat being quoted maximum, High Court observations for misuse of the Act seems to have become a model for misuse of the anti-atrocities Act. What about the 97% of SC and 91.5% of ST population which lives in the rest of India? In any case, Gujarat does not fall in the list first five states where maximum atrocities are recorded.
The Supreme Court order has overlooked the fact that every crime committed against SC and ST in India is not registered as crime. Navsarjan’s own study published by the Centre for Social Studies, Surat (1994), concludes that the police make the victims believe that their complaint has been registered, whereas they actually note details only on a piece of paper. Such applications were found to be 150% more than the actual crimes recorded in the form of FIR. Is this not the misuse of the Act by the state? Is there a word from the learned judges on such an issue to protect the citizens of India?
The argument of the Supreme Court judges post their order, that they have not diluted PAA, has been an eyewash as they have weakened the very procedure by delaying the registration of the crime. It is assumed that everyone in India has enough literacy to understand the complexities of legal mechanisms.
The data relied upon by the amicus curiae and the honorable judges are flawed, as the same lack authenticity.
At the end, the unrest and mass scale protest taking away lives of 10 people (innocent?) could have been averted had the Union Government made its position clear on the Supreme Court order on day one instead of waiting for the unrest to build over 12 days. The Supreme Court order can be read to understand that the arguments presented by the additional solicitor general on behalf on the Union of India are hardly able to help judges to understand the fact of the matter, and a different view against written arguments, lengthy, dominant and one-sided, by the amicus curiae.
I have my own reservations to certain aspects caste-based reservations. I have worked for 38 years addressing the cause of untouchability and caste discrimination. I redefined Dalits as ‘all those who believe and practice equality’. I am aware and have written extensively that Dalits too have caste hierarchy within and they too practice untouchability. Navsarjan was the first organization perhaps to do a comprehensive study on prevalence of untouchability as practices between Dalits and others and within the Dalits on the basis of sub-caste.
I have had the personal experiences of being ex-communicated by other sections of Dalits for having eaten in the home of a Valmiki, most of whom are engaged in manual scavenging. Often, I have been accused of being a non-Dalit. But I have experienced untouchability as a child working in farms and have closely seen caste realities living in villages for many years. And yet, I firmly believe that one cannot throw away baby with the dirty bath water.
Gandhi had told his inmates after bitter happenings of the Poona Pact to the effect that even if Dalits were to smash the heads of caste Hindus they should not complain for the volume of injustice for centuries that have been heaped on them.
The root cause of the problem is prevalence and pervasiveness of caste system and the arms of law are too weak to annihilate it. If there is a demand to introduce caste based reservations in the judiciary at all levels, it would be logical and rational.
*Founder, Navsarjan Trust, Ahmedabad
One thought on “Your Lordship, with due respect… You are not Lord Almighty. What about caste prejudice in judiciary?”
K SHESHU BABU says:
Totally agree. Caste system is a unique cruel system plaguing India and the prevailing brahminical Manu thought must be annihilated immediately from the minds of the people for a casteless society
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Robert De Niro’s lawyer says the actor’s finances have been ruined by the coronavirus
Jul 10, 2020 covid19
Robert De Niro and Grace Hightower were together for 21 years.
John Lamparski/WireImage
Robert De Niro’s finances have been badly hit due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to his attorneys.
De Niro is battling his ex-wife Grace Hightower in court, and appeared via Skype at an emergency hearing after he cut her monthly credit card limit from $100,000 to $50,000.
According to the Daily Mail, De Niro’s lawyer Caroline Krauss told the judge that he was forced to make this cut as his finances have been impacted so badly.
Krauss said that De Niro’s restaurant and hotel chain, Nobu and The Greenwich Hotel, have made huge losses over the past few months, while his earnings from “The Irishman” have almost dried up.
Krauss said: “He is going to be lucky if he makes $7.5 million this year.”
Hightower’s attorney responded by saying that De Niro “has used the COVID pandemic, my words would be, to stick it to his wife financially,” Page Six reported.
Video: What’s next for dating during the coronavirus
Robert De Niro’s attorneys said that the actor’s finances have taken a huge hit over the course of the coronavirus pandemic.
The actor is battling a divorce case against Grace Hightower, his ex-wife who he was with for 21 years, in Manhatten Supreme Court.
De Niro appeared via Skype at an emergency hearing, which was called after De Niro cut Hightower’s American Express credit card limit from $100,000 to $50,000 a month.
According to the Daily Mail, Hightower’s lawyer told the judge that she and her two children with De Niro, Harvey (8) and Elliot (21), had been banned from his New York compound, which is where De Niro has been staying during the pandemic.
However, De Niro’s lawyer, Caroline Krauss, reportedly told the judge that De Niro was forced to make this cut to Hightower’s credit card limit because his finances have been so badly affected by the pandemic.
Krauss told the judge that Nobu and The Greenwich Hotel, the restaurant chain and hotel that De Niro owns, have both been badly hit by the pandemic as they have been closed or partially closed for months with next to no income.
Krauss said that Nobu lost $3 million in April and a further $1.87 million in May, while De Niro was forced to borrow money from business partners to pay investors $500,000 on a capital call “because he doesn’t have the cash,” according to the New York Post.
“His accounts and business manager… says that the best case for Mr. De Niro, if everything starts to turn around this year… he is going to be lucky if he makes $7.5 million this year,” Krauss told the judge, according to the Daily Mail.
Krauss said that the 2004 prenuptial agreement between De Niro and Hightower means that De Niro is only required to pay $1 million a year to Hightower as long as he is making at least $15 million a year. The terms, Krauss said, state that if his income falls, hers will proportionately fall too.
Robert De Niro starred in Martin Scorsese’s Netflix film “The Irishman” last year.
Krauss said that the money De Niro has earned from last year’s “The Irishman” has largely already been paid out, meaning he will only receive $2.5 million this year.
“These people, in spite of his robust earnings, have always spent more than he has earned so this 76-year-old robust man couldn’t retire even if he wanted to because he can’t afford to keep up with his lifestyle expense,” Krauss told the judge, according to Page Six.
In response, Page Six reported that Hightower’s lawyer, Kevin McDonough, told the judge: “Mr. De Niro has used the COVID pandemic, my words would be, to stick it to his wife financially.
“I’m not a believer that a man who has an admitted worth of $500 million and makes $30 million a year, all of a sudden in March he needs to cut down [spousal support] by 50 percent and ban her from the house.”
McDonough said that “the idea that Mr. De Niro is tightening his belt is nonsense.”
The judge issued a temporary ruling that the credit card limit is kept at $50,000 a month, but that De Niro pays Hightower a $75,000 lump sum so she can find a summer home for her and their two children, while De Niro stays in his compound with his other three children.
De Niro and Hightower were married in 1997 but filed for divorce two years later. However, their divorce never finalized, and they patched things up and renewed their vows in 2004. They officially separated in 2018.
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Emma Larking
Advance Australia unfair
by Emma Larking
Emma Larking is a visiting fellow at the School of Regulation and Global Governance (RegNet), ANU. She has worked at RegNet as a research fellow, and an ARC Laureate postdoctoral fellow on Professor Hilary Charlesworth’s project, ‘Strengthening the international human rights system: rights, regulation and ritualism’. She has also worked as a lecturer in the University of Melbourne’s Schools of Historical and Philosophical Studies, and of Social and Political Sciences. Her disciplinary backgrounds are in law and political and applied philosophy. She has a PhD in applied philosophy from the University of Melbourne. Emma is author of Refugees and the Myth of Human Rights: Life Outside the Pale of the Law (Ashgate, 2014), and editor with Hilary Charlesworth of Human Rights and the Universal Periodic Review: Rituals and Ritualism (Cambridge University Press, 2014).
http://regnet.anu.edu.au/our-people/visitors/emma-larking
https://anu-au.academia.edu/EmmaLarking
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BREXIT’s implications for the Caribbean, as Jamaica establishes Commission
Posted by: Denis Chabrol in News Sunday, 26 June 2016, 17:35 6 Comments
Last Updated on Sunday, 26 June 2016, 18:19 by Denis Chabrol
Guyana’s Foreign Minister, Carl Greenidge and Caricom Secretary General, Irwin La Rocque briefing Guyanese media representatives and technical officials about the Caricom summit scheduled to be held here from July 4 to 6, 2016.
University of the West Indies (UWI) International Relations Professor, Mark Kirton said Jamaica, which is about to assess its place in the Caribbean regional integration movement, would likely consider Britons’ vote to leave the European Union (EU).
“This BREXIT (Britain’s exit) may have some impact on the assessment of Jamaica’s participation in the regional integration effort,” Kirton, a former Vice Chancellor at the University of Guyana, told Demerara Waves Online News.
He noted that Caricom’s benefits to Jamaica will be assessed by the Commission that has been established in the context of that Caribbean island’s closer affinity to the United States (US) than the rest of the region. “Is that a reason or a cause for a re-assessment of Jamaica’s position in Caricom?; whether or not the benefits that accrue from Jamaica’s engagement in Caricom are sufficient for its sustainability- I think that’s the major question,” he said.
Jamaica’s Prime Minister, Andrew Holness has said that the Commission would review Jamaica’s role in the Caricom Single Market with the hope of strengthening its participation.
Kirton noted that given the fact that Caricom continues to engage nationals of member states may not result in the same kind of BREXIT approach by Jamaica. “We have to be concerned about its impact on the regional integration process,” he added.
Professor Mark Kirton.
Kirton’s comments were made ahead of the Secretary General of the 15-nation Caribbean Community (Caricom), Irwin La Rocque on Saturday saying that the region would lose a key voice in the European Union (EU) with the expected withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from that trade bloc.
“We have to, of course, be concerned because the United Kingdom is a significant player in the arrangements in the European Union in terms of a voice, that also being a Commonwealth country but a voice as well in the European Union and the fact that it is a significant contributor to the European Union and off course the budget of the European Development Fund,” he told a news conference.
Caricom leaders, he said, are expected to discuss the implications of the UK’s ‘ýes vote’at the referendum to leave the EU at their summit scheduled to be held in Guyana from July 4 to 6, 2016. Except for Suriname and Haiti, the 12 other Caricom members are former British colonies while Montserrat is a British dependency.
The Caricom Secretary General did not forecast that the Caribbean’s relationship with Europe would deteriorate as a result of the UK’s expected opting out of the EU. “I do not anticipate any diminishing of the relationship with the United Kingdom or with the European Union in any way at all,” he said.
While describing Caricom-Europe relations as very strong,” La Rocque said the region would be watching the developments very carefully.
Guyana’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Carl Greenidge forecast that after the EDF expires in 2020, there might be changes in the predominantly Eastern Europe –dominated EU. “The UK is a voice in the EU for the Caribbean. I don’t want to suggest to you that none of the other countries is interested but the grouping of 27 is a different grouping from what used to be a grouping of 12 or 13, with a bias to Eastern or Central Europe many of whom did not have close or continuing and long-standing relations with the region,” said Greenidge, a , a former Deputy Secretary General of the 77-nation group of former European colonies in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP).
He said the Caribbean would eventually have to hold separate talks with the UK and rely more on Germany and France as voices in the EU.
The Guyanese Foreign Minister added that he did not believe that the EU’s allocation of financing to the Caribbean through the European Development (EDF) was in jeopardy because of Britain’s exit. “The commitment that the EU has made is a legal commitment. They can’t go and reduce that envelope because the UK is leaving,” said Greenidge” he said.
The EU is providing €346 million to the Caribbean Regional Programme for regional economic cooperation and integration, climate change, environment, disaster management and sustainable energy and crime and security.
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Make That Tune: Bill & Ted Face The Music
In high school, Bill S. Preston and Ted "Theodore" Logan had an excellent adventure as they met historical figures and formed an unlikely bond. After high school, they encountered Death, formed a bond, and met the women they'd marry. By the time they'd reached reached middle age, they still hadn't fulfilled their destiny of writing the song that would unite the world. That time must come soon in Bill & Ted Face The Music. Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Keanu Reeves) have seen most critics and fans of their band, Wyld Stallyns, turn their backs on them. Their royal-born wives, Joanna Preston (Jayma Mays) and Elizabeth Logan (Erinn Hayes) work to support their families, which puts stress on both marriages. One day, Bill and Ted get an urgent visit from Kelly (Kristen Schaal), the daughter of Rufus (George Carlin, via archive footage), the man who had foretold of the song that Bill and Ted would write. They have about 90 minutes to write and perform this piece.
They travel to the future where Rufus lived to plead for an extension with The Great Leader (Holland Taylor). She says no, as she and others witness anomalies in the space-time continuum. They get into Rufus's old phone booth, trying to find if they succeeded, and where they'd gone wrong. Meanwhile, Bill and Ted's daughters, Billie (Brigitte Lundy-Paine) and Thea (Samara Weaving) work with Kelly, borrowing her pod to travel through time to round up some accomplished musicians. In order to stop the anomalies, The Great Leader sends the robot Dennis Caleb McCoy (Anthony Carrigan) to kill Bill and Ted to stop the problems. A visit to their future selves gives Bill and Ted the song they are to perform, but Dennis is on a mission, and the men need to reconcile with their now-former bandmate, Death (William Sadler) to fulfill their destiny.
Bill & Ted Face The Music is about as necessary a sequel as any Star Wars movie made after Return Of The Jedi. Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, in fact, introduces viewers to "Little Bill and Little Ted," which may lead some to see either an instant inconsistency or an attitude of open-mindedness. Since I still enjoyed the film, I opt for the latter. The script for this movie comes from Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon, who also wrote the first two entries in the franchise. Bill and Ted essentially remain the same duo - they rock first, and do almost everything else second. Thoughts come, but not as quickly as they should. The script, though, doesn't utilize the characters to better effect, especially the returning support players. For example, viewers learn that Ted's father, Jonathan (Hal Landon, Jr.) is still on the police force. The oft-married Missy (Amy Stoch) is now married to Ted's little brother, Deacon (Beck Bennett), who now works under his police chief father. It's nice to know where they are now, but not much more gets said about them. The direction comes from Dean Parisot, who works mostly on TV, and whose previous theatrical effort occurred with the 2013 sequel Red 2.
Reeves and Winter haven't missed a step as the title characters. even after nearly three decades. They get a glimpse of their older selves as well as alternate selves as they desperately try and find their creative muse. I especially like the post-credit sequence as the lifelong friends jam. Weaving, who impressed in the mediocre 2019 film Ready Or Not, and Lundy-Paine make the best of their screen time. They are more like their fathers than their mothers. Billie, in fact, fashions her hair after her father. The daughters have the same passion for music their fathers do. They clearly love their dads, as they time travel themselves and know who they want to join their dads in concert, even if the movie never makes clear how the musicians' widely varied talents will mesh. Carrigan amuses as an emotional cyborg, and Jillian Bell is good as Dr. Wood, a marriage counselor for the Prestons and Logans who gets a hint of the strange things occurring that are not related to her patients. Musical cameos come from Dave Grohl and Weird Al Yankovic, while rapper Kid Cudi helps the band and tries to make sense of the events happening in real time.
Bill & Ted Face The Music misses some comic possibilities, but still manages to capture the essence of the main characters. They have devoted their lives to making that world-changing song, and wondering when they will hit the right notes. The movie plays like a musical edition of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, but now they have to star in history's most important party with a song that will have a long-expected impact. The world depends on them.
On a scale of zero to four stars, I give Bill & Ted Face The Music three stars. Not excellent or bogus, but still fun.
Bill & Ted Face The Music trailer
© 2020 Pat Mills
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Caleb H. Tse is an Assistant Professor of Marketing and International Business at Nanyang Business School. Before joining NTU, he was an assistant professor in marketing at Sungkyunkwan Graduate School of Business (SKK GSB), in Seoul, S. Korea. He received his MBA and PhD from The University of Hong Kong. His main research areas include marketing strategy (customer co-creation and innovation), international business (counterfeiting, learning by exporting), and advertising (celebrity endorsement, cross-platform advertising). His research has been published in Journal of Marketing, Journal of Management, Journal of International Marketing, Journal of Business Research, Journal of World Business, Journal of Advertising, Journal of Advertising Research, and International Journal of Advertising. He serves as an editorial board member of International Journal of Advertising.
Asst Prof Caleb Tse
Assistant Professor, College of Business (Nanyang Business School) - Division of Marketing
caleb.tse@ntu.edu.sg
Marketing Strategy (firm co-creation and customer participation strategies, counterfeiting)
International Business (firm innovation, learning by exporting, SOE behavior)
Advertising and Branding (celebrity endorsement, advertising trends, cross-platform effects)
(1) What makes Headquarters of Multinational Corporations Good or Bad Parents to their Foreign Subsidiaries in Emerging Markets (2) What Role does Culture Play in Building Profitable International Sales Relationships?
Fine F. Leung, Caleb H. Tse, Chi Kin (Bennett) Yim. (2020). Engaging Customer Cocreation in New Product Development Through Foreign Subsidiaries: Influences of Multinational Corporations’ Global Integration and Local Adaptation Mechanisms. Journal of International Marketing, 28(2), 59-80.
Fine F. Leung, Sara Kim, Caleb H. Tse. (2020). Highlighting Effort Versus Talent in Service Employee Performance: Customer Attributions and Responses. Journal of Marketing, 84(3), 106-121.
Shige Makino, Caleb H. Tse, Stella Yiyan Li, Megan Yuan Li. (2019). Passion Transfer Across National Borders. Journal of Business Research, 108 (Jan 2020), 213-231.
Chen Lou, Caleb H. Tse & May O. Lwin. (2019). "Average-Sized" Models Do Sell, But What About in East Asia? A Cross-Cultural Investigation of U.S. and Singaporean Women. Journal of Advertising, 48(5), 512-531.
Caleb H. Tse, Linhui Yu, Jianjun Zhu. (2017). A Multimediation Model of Learning by Exporting: Analysis of Export-Induced Productivity Gains. Journal of Management, 43(7), 2118-2146.
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What Does a High Concentration of Salt Do to a Cell Membrane?
By Bonnie Crowe
What Does the Circulatory System Carry to Cells?
What Happens to an Exothermic Reaction if the Temperature Is Increased?
Which Is the Best Conductor of Heat: Water or Aluminum?
Sources of the Lactase Enzyme
At What Temperature & Pressure Can All Three Phases of Water Exist Simultaneously?
Osmosis is the movement of water across a membrane. Salt triggers osmosis by attracting the water and causing it to move toward it, across the membrane. Salt is a solute. When you add water to a solute, it diffuses, spreading out the concentration of salt, creating a solution. If the concentration of salt inside a cell is the same as the concentration of salt outside the cell, the water level will stay the same, creating an isotonic solution. Cells will not gain or lose water if placed in an isotonic solution.
Salt Sucks, Cells Swell
Water in cells moves toward the highest concentration of salt. If there is more salt in a cell than outside it, the water will move through the membrane into the cell, causing it to increase in size, swelling up as the water fills the cell in its imperative to combine with the salt. If a higher concentration of salt is placed outside of the cell membrane, the water will leave the cell to bond with it. The loss of water from this movement causes plant cells to shrink and wilt. This is why salt can kill plants; it leaches the water from the cells. The movement of water to leave an animal cell will also cause those cells to shrink and cause dehydration. This is why a person could die from dehydration if he drinks enough sea water.
Biology Corner: Diffusion and Osmosis
Super Science Challenges; Janice VanCleave
Bonnie Crowe is a mother of two teenagers; a teacher and author of children's books, curriculum and articles on English grammar, literature, technology, art, parenting and career guides for high schoolers. She's a former director of AOL Parenting, a member of SCBWI, and a graduate from the University of California,Berkeley.
Examples of Osmosis
What Are Characteristics & Functions of Osmosis?
How Cells Get Rid of Wastes by Osmosis & Diffusion
What Is the Purpose of Homeostasis?
List of Several Things That Can Diffuse Over a Cell Membrane
How Do Cells Vary in Shape?
How Does the Cell Membrane Play a Role in Homeostasis?
What Organelle Must Be Present in Large Numbers in Muscle Cells?
What Critical Role Does Water Play in Homeostasis?
1 Examples of Osmosis
2 What Are Characteristics & Functions of Osmosis?
3 How Cells Get Rid of Wastes by Osmosis & Diffusion
4 What Is the Purpose of Homeostasis?
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Lionel Messi Named Best Playmaker Of The Last Decade By IFFHS
Lionel Messi is an unstoppable machine who continues to break records, win titles, and score clutch and gorgeous goals even during the toughest of times. Despite being 33, Messi recently went on top of the La Liga scoring charts, all after this was termed his worst season till now..
Not only is he leading the race for the Pichichi, Messi has also been named the ‘Playmaker of the Decade’ by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics, or as they are better known – IFFHS. This hardly comes as a surprise given Messi’s inhuman vision and passing abilities, which have been on display for more than a decade now.
The IFFHS have been naming the Playmaker of the Year annually without fail since 2006. Lionel Messi has won this award a record-equalling four times, in 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2019. Kevin de Bruyne bested him for the trophy in 2020.
However, the four trophies were enough for Messi to accumulate the most points (174) over the decade. Barcelona fans are quite familiar with the runner up as well, as a certain Andres Iniesta finishes second to Leo courtesy of his three titles in this category and 127 points.
Messi’s arch nemesis, Cristiano Ronaldo, finished outside the top 10, in 12th place with 54 points – one short of Xavi Hernandez.
READ ALSO Gary Neville reveals who caused Manchester United’s 3-0 loss to Tottenham
Atletico Madrid interested in signing Manchester United star (Details below)
Burnley vs Man United: Red Devils go top of the Premier League
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Opinions, moods
and preferences of european
eupinions brief 27 Feb, 2019
We’ll be fine.
How People in the EU27 View Brexit
Catherine E. de Vries & Isabell Hoffmann
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eupinions brief We’ll be fine. Share Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via E-Mail
The political drama called Brexit leaves observers in London fascinated, appalled or exhausted. Whereas in the UK, the tension seems to intensify with every twist and turn the British take on their way out of the European Union, Europeans on the continent seem to be surprisingly detached. They support their country’s membership in the EU in ever greater numbers, and calmly carry on with their daily business. Don’t they think that they will be affected by Brexit? We decided to ask them.
On the 20th of June 2016, just days before the Brexit referendum took place in the United Kingdom (UK), we published a report Keep Calm and Carry On examining how citizens in the remaining 27 member states viewed the possibility of the UK leaving the European Union (EU). The results were clear: a majority of Europeans would like the UK to have remained a member of the EU. At the same, citizens in the EU27 did not think that Brexit would be the end of the EU. Since June 2016 much has happened. Brexit turned out to be a difficult and lengthy process. While we know that public opinion in the United Kingdom to this day is divided on the topic, of Brexit, what about people in the EU27? In December 2018, we have again polled people in the 27 remaining member states to get a sense of how they view Brexit and how this differs across those who feel close to particular political parties.
Specially, we asked to two questions, one relating to the possible consequences of Brexit for countries within the EU:
The British decided to leave the EU in 2019, what do you think best describes the consequences the EU will face, if any? EU countries will be better off, EU countries will be worse off, or there will not be a significant change. And one question relating to the possible consequences of Brexit for the United Kingdom:
The British decided to leave the EU in 2019, what do you think best describes the consequences the United Kingdom will face, if any? The UK will be better off, the UK will be worse off, or there will not be a significant change.
Here we detail the three main findings of our analysis of this data:
Like in June 2016, the citizens in the remaining 27 member states think that the EU countries will not be much affected by Brexit. A majority, 61 per cent, thinks that there will not be a significant change in EU countries because of Brexit. 27 per cent think that EU countries will be worse off, while only 12 per cent EU countries will be better off because of Brexit. The Dutch and Poles are on average most pessimistic about the consequences of Brexit for EU countries. 34 and 32 per cent of Dutch and Polish respondents respectively think that EU countries will be worse off, and only 50 and 54 per cent respectively think that the situation will remain the same.
Interestingly, citizens in the EU27 are much more split when it comes to how they view the consequences of Brexit for the UK. 31 per cent of respondents in the EU-27 think that there will not be a significant change for the UK, while 44 per cent that the UK will be worse off because of Brexit, and 25 per cent think the UK will be better off. The German and Spanish respondents are most pessimistic about the consequences of Brexit for the UK. 58 and 50 per cent of German and Spanish respondents respectively think that the UK will be worse off because of Brexit, while only 13 and 19 per cent respectively think that the UK will be better off.
Finally, our findings show that there is quite some variation across party supporters, especially when it comes to the perceived consequences of Brexit for the UK. Those who feel close to far-right or populist-right parties like the Rassemblement National (former Front National) in France or the Lega in Italy think that the UK will be better off because of Brexit. 59 per cent of those who feel close to Le Pen’s Rassemblement National or 52 per cent of those who feel close to Salvini’s Lega think that the UK will be better off because of Brexit, while only 10 and 13 per cent respectively think that the UK would be worse off.
Figure 1 below shows the distribution of answers to the question about the consequences of Brexit for EU countries. 61 per cent think of respondents in the EU27 think that there will not be a significant change in EU countries because of Brexit. 27 per cent think that EU countries will be worse off, while only 12 per cent think that EU countries will be better off. The figure highlights interesting variation across countries. The Dutch and Poles are on average most pessimistic about the consequences of Brexit for EU countries: 34 and 32 per cent respectively think that EU countries will be worse off, 16 and 14 per cent think EU countries will be better off, and only 50 and 54 per cent respectively think that the situation will remain the same. In France, Germany and Italy, a large majority of respondents, 68 per cent, thinks that not much will change in EU countries because of Brexit, while 63 per cent of Spanish respondents think the same.
Figure 2 displays the answers of respondents in the EU27 to the question what they think the consequences of Brexit for the UK will be. 31 per cent of respondents in the EU27 think that there will not be a significant change for the UK, while 44 per cent that the UK will be worse off because of Brexit, and 25 per cent think the UK will be better off. In France and Italy, respondents are least likely to think that Brexit will have bad consequences for the UK, 33 and 29 per cent of French and Italian respondents respectively think the UK will be worse off because of Brexit. 33 percent of French and Italian respondents think that there will not be much of a change, while 34 and 38 of French and Italian respondents think that the UK will be better off because of Brexit. The German and Spanish respondents are most pessimistic about the consequences of Brexit for the UK. 58 and 50 per cent of German and Spanish respondents respectively think that the UK will be worse off because of Brexit, while only 13 and 19 per cent respectively think that the UK will be better off.
Figure 3 (Figure 3.1, Figure 3.2, Figure 3.3, Figure 3.4, Figure 3.5, Figure 3.6) and Figure 4 (Figure 4.1, Figure 4.2, Figure 4.3, Figure 4.4, Figure 4.5, Figure 4.6) present the same information than figures 1 and 2, but now splits the answers by how close people feel to particular political parties in six member states where we conducted more in-depth surveys. The results suggest that those who feel close to far-right or populist right parties are much more likely to think that the UK will be better off because of Brexit, see figure 4. This is perhaps the clearest in France and Italy. Those who feel close to far-right or populist-right parties like the Rassemblement National (former Front National) in France or the Lega in Italy think that the UK will be better off because of Brexit. 59 per cent of those who feel close to Le Pen’s Rassemblement National or 52 per cent of those who feel close to Salvini’s Lega think that the UK will be better off because of Brexit, while only 10 and 13 per cent respectively think that the UK would be worse off. Also, the majority of those who feel close to the Alternative für Deutschland in Germany and the Partii voor de Vrijheid or Forum voor Democratie in the Netherlands think that Brexit will have good consequences for the UK. 42 per cent of those who feel close to the Alternative für Deutschland think that the UK will be better off because of Brexit, and 45 and 49 of those who feel close to Partii voor de Vrijheid or Forum voor Democratie think the same. A clear majority of those who support centrist parties, like President Macron’s Republique en Marche in France (59 per cent) or Chancellor Merkel’s Christliche Demokratische Union in Germany, think that the UK will be worse of because of Brexit (63 per cent).
Hardly anybody expected the British to vote for Brexit. As a result, analysts and pundits have learned to be more prudent when attempting to predict what will happen next in London. At the same time, continental Europeans have learned to live with these extraordinary events and the associated uncertainty.
The sample of n=11.735 was drawn by Dalia Research in December 2018 across all 28 EU Member States, taking into account current population distributions with regard to age (14-65 years), gender and region/country. In order to obtain census representative results, the data were weighted based upon the most recent Eurostat statistics. Calculated for a sample of this size and considering the design-effect, the margin of error would be +/-1.1 % at a confidence level of 95 %.
Isabell Hoffmann
Founder and Co-Author
@ur_echo Email schreiben
Catherine E. de Vries
Scientific Adviser and Co-Author
@CatherineDVries Email schreiben
10,000+ Interviews
in all 28 EU Member States
4 times per year
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Data Chat: Katie Baynes
ASDC DAAC ASF DAAC CDDIS GES DISC GHRC DAAC LAADS LP DAAC NSIDC DAAC OB.DAAC ORNL DAAC PO.DAAC SEDAC
Dr. Gail Skofronick-Jackson
Carey Noll
Dr. Franz Meyer
Vickie Ly
Dr. Kurt Thome
Dr. Christopher Lynnes
Katie Baynes
Mark McInerney
Drew Kittel
Dr. Carmen Boening
For NASA EOSDIS System Architect Katie Baynes, having NASA Earth observing data in the commercial cloud will foster not only a new community of data users, but also new communal ways of using these data.
Interview conducted and edited by Josh Blumenfeld, NASA EOSDIS Science Writer
It doesn’t take long for Katie Baynes to bring up the community aspect of her work evolving data and services in NASA’s Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) into the commercial cloud. As she observes, this evolution will lead to not only new discoveries in the Earth sciences, but also more collaborative ways of working with data to accomplish these discoveries.
Along with her fellow EOSDIS system architect Dr. Christopher Lynnes, Baynes is leading teams to develop a system capable of efficiently archiving and distributing one of the world’s largest collections of Earth observing data—a collection that is expected to grow in volume from approximately 35 petabytes (PB) to almost 250 PB over the next five years.
The influx of high-volume data from the NASA-Indian Space Research Organisation Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) and the Surface Water Ocean Topography (SWOT) missions (both of which are scheduled for launch in 2021 or 2022) are providing not only challenges, but the prospect of an exciting new era of Earth science research based on a communal use of Big Data. As Baynes points out, going together into this new era of data use has many advantages.
Let’s start with NISAR and SWOT, two missions that will add more data by volume to the EOSDIS archive than any previous Earth observing missions. How are you and the EOSDIS Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) preparing for these massive amounts of data?
We’ve spent several years preparing for these missions, and have been doing a lot of load testing to make sure we can maintain the downloads we expect to get for these products along with cost modeling for these downloads. One of the most interesting facts I’ve found is that the amount of data collected by NASA’s EOSDIS on a daily basis right now is going to be multiplied by five once we start receiving data from NISAR and SWOT. This means that if we are collecting, hypothetically, 25 terabytes (TB) of data per day right now, we soon will be collecting 125 TB of data every day. The actual figure is projected to be around 126 TB of data every day. When you think about this in terms of economies of scale and orders of magnitude of change, this is really a staggering amount of change in the volume of data we’ll be dealing with.
The evolution of data in NASA's EOSDIS collection is expected to lead to a new paradigm in how data are used. Rather than individual data users downloading data from multiple sources for analysis on their local machines (top image), Big Data will be most efficiently used by working close to the data and conducting analyses in the cloud, then downloading only the results (bottom image). This also will facilitate more communal use of data in the cloud by teams of researchers. NASA EOSDIS graphic.
But this is not just about load testing and preparing for the onslaught of data volume; it’s also about transforming the mindset of tomorrow’s researchers. For instance, it may not be feasible to look at these data on local disks, so we’re looking at ways to reduce the data transfer. Maybe you don’t need to download several terabytes of data to get your job done. Maybe you can go into the cloud, look at just the data you need, perform your analyses and processing on these data within the cloud, and then simply download your results. We want data users to learn how to see our data as a large pool they can visit and spend time at and not as a bucket they carry with them to their local machine.
What are some of the benefits to EOSDIS DAACs and EOSDIS data users of putting EOSDIS data and EOSDIS services, like Earthdata Search and Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), into the commercial cloud?
I think there are synergies that can be found from a technological perspective in getting everyone on the same page using the same framework, systems, and interaction patterns across the DAACs. This can only lead to more time for science using these data and services. By this I mean that less time is being spent dealing with data management problems at the individual DAACs and more time can be spent [by the DAACs] focusing on the science use cases of their unique user communities. For our end-users, benefits include the ability for larger-scale compute. It will allow for a more coherent and complete picture for those looking to interact with our data.
In the recent Data Chat with your fellow EOSDIS system architect Dr. Christopher Lynnes, he notes that he is handling the data use side of the EOSDIS cloud evolution while you are responsible for the ingest and archive side. How does the work that you’re doing complement the work being done by Dr. Lynnes and his team?
My team and I are working to get all the data that [EOSDIS] services will be acted on into the commercial cloud, so our work as part of the ingest and archive activity enables [Dr. Lynnes’] work. We put the data in a place and make it accessible in a way that [his work on] services and transformations and extractions and mosaicking and reformatting and regridding of data products can be done as simply and as uniformly as possible. We try to enable this by making sure that we store data products that historically have been stored at different DAACs using different principles, file paths, and access policies in a more uniform way by using uniform tools.
Once the EOSDIS data collection evolves to the commercial cloud, how will this change, or evolve, the roles of the DAACs?
The DAACs are stewards of the data products that they have in their catalog, and this will not change. The data might move, but the people will remain at these centers of excellence to provide support for the data that they have always been responsible for. They will still be maintaining their websites and the data-use tools that are specific to their user community for interacting with the data they distribute. Really, the only change is that they will be moving towards a centralized ingest and archive system and a centralized storage facility for the data. It’s a change, but I think it’s probably a change for the better since this will allow the DAACs more time to focus on the specific needs of their discrete user communities.
A key element of facilitating the evolution of EOSDIS data into the commercial cloud is the Cumulus effort, which you lead. What this is and what the status of this effort?
Cumulus is an open source ingest and archive service built for use in Amazon Web Services, or AWS. The intent is to use the same ingest and archive system for all data that NASA’s EOSDIS is migrating into the commercial cloud. One of the guiding principles of Cumulus is that it uses AWS as much as possible to take out some of the redundant tasking. Cumulus also is being developed in an open source manner—not just to our team members, but to the entire world.
From the start, Cumulus was a collaborative effort involving several EOSDIS DAACs. At this time, eight of the 12 EOSDIS DAACs are engaged with the Cumulus community as integrators, developers, or operators and are participating in working groups to make sure that this effort serves as an archive system that can broadly serve the needs of all the DAACs.
In a recent presentation, you had a slide noting that Cumulus is an organizational shift, not just a technology shift. What do you mean by this?
You know, historically, I think we have had a model that was more of a heads-down situation—“I’m a developer at a DAAC, I have a problem in front of me, and I look to my small group of colleagues at the DAAC or at universities to solve this problem.”
As we move into the cloud and to a more open, collaborative model, this situation will change from one where we’re talking not just within our existing small academic sphere, but with a broader range of colleagues in a wider range of interest areas. This will bring in a wider range of thought to problem-solving and investigation. We’ll realize that collaboration across great distances and across scientific disciplines is possible in unique and exciting ways.
This is really about building trust at an organizational level, trust that goes beyond an individual DAAC or immediate physical colleagues and moves it to trust and collaboration with, for example, everyone working within the EOSDIS and seeing them all as potential collaborators and as sources for good ideas to help solve the particular problem you are trying to solve—and maybe bring in some problems you might not have even thought about.
Ironically, the current situation that we’re in, with being forced to stay at home and interact remotely through video more often than we’re interacting with colleagues on a face-to-face basis, is similar to the model we’ve been working towards with EOSDIS data for the past 10 years. This use of distributed teams to use data collaboratively is one of our goals, and I feel that now more and more people are starting to catch on not only about how this can be done, but also that productive remote collaboration and problem-solving is not only possible, but fruitful.
What is the structure of the team working to evolve EOSDIS data to the cloud? How will this work influence future NASA missions?
This effort has three primary pillars of activity. There’s ingest and archive, which is my piece, and there’s data use, which is [Chris Lynnes’] piece. The third piece is the underlying platform on which all of this work depends. This work is spread through [NASA’s Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) Project], the DAACs, outside contractors, and even some universities.
The work we do will also influence how future NASA and joint NASA missions are planned, especially on how upcoming missions are looking at doing their data processing in the cloud, like NISAR and SWOT. There are other missions that will generate lessons-learned and a pathway to doing more cloud-native processing as we go forward. I think that we can provide input that could help them with their decision-making process and serve as pathfinders to that end. Our work on the NISAR and SWOT missions is already helping to forge that path.
Twenty years ago, EOSDIS data users were still receiving physical tapes of data in the mail. Ten years ago, they were downloading EOSDIS data using the internet. Now, data and services are becoming available through the commercial cloud. What do you see as the next step in this evolution?
I think that you’ll start seeing a move from information, to knowledge, to wisdom. The natural evolution of the problem space is evolving from hoarding scientific knowledge as proprietary work and into a more open model where we reward things such as creating tools and software that allow end-users to come in and acquire understanding by dynamically exploring the data in real-time.
Another exciting avenue for development involves utilizing machine learning, which is creating [research] opportunities where we can sort of guide the data and guide the machines as they do their work, but also allow the machines to find patterns on their own that were not immediately evident. With Big Data collections like we’re developing and planning for, the human eye can’t look at all the data to parse out these hidden patterns. I’m really excited about pattern discovery and what we can glean from this sort of information about Earth’s changing processes and the direction in which these processes might be going.
Over the next five years, what are you most excited about in terms of how EOSDIS data will be archived and used?
I’m most excited not just about the NASA science that is going on, but also the enablement of science using data products that we already have that can be mashed together or fused together into longer continuity products or into more impactful, higher-level data products that are not just useful to the NASA community, but are also useful for entities like the U.S. Department of Agriculture or [the Federal Emergency Management Agency].
I think that as we see our climate evolve it will be crucial to put data into terms that are not just understandable only to NASA and generally-focused science users, but to communities beyond this, like decision-makers and policy-makers and influential global leadership. I feel that the work that we do is just a small piece of what could change our future and lead to a brighter tomorrow. I think that we can provide the data that will help mitigate the impacts of climate change. This is what makes my work important to me.
How will the commercial cloud help facilitate this?
My favorite advantage of the cloud is not the cloud itself, but what it has allowed us to do as a community by working together. Getting people to work together toward a common goal on a common problem after decades of working on it individually has been a really, really rewarding experience for me. I think we’re all benefitting from the diversity of thought that is brought to the table when we try to consider everyone’s needs.
There’s a good quote that says “when you want to go fast, go alone; when you want to go far, go together.” I think that has been an inspiration to me. We were going fast alone, but I think that now we’re enabling a future where we can go far together.
Explore more Data Chats
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My Hero One’s Justice falls short of being Plus Ultra
December 5, 2018 September 9, 2020 Eduardo Reboucas PC, PS4, Reviews, Switch, XONE
My relationship with Boku no Hero Academia, or My Hero Academia as it’s known outside of Japan is a weird one. I generally tend to avoid shonen anime — you know, the kind aimed at adolescent boys, generally — since I really got my fill of it during my own teens and early 20s with Dragon Ball, Saint Seiya, Yu Yu Hakusho and the like, but somehow Boku no Hero got to me in an unexpected way. Perhaps it’s due to its subject matter that deals with a Japanese take on Western superheroes, or the mix between humor and a really in-depth dive into the relationship between no-power protagonist Midoriya and the rest of the cast. I’ve no idea, but anywho, now there’s a game based on that show, My Hero One’s Justice is its name, and given that it’s the only game of its ilk that I have any fondness for the property it’s tied to (I REALLY dislike Naruto so I’ve avoided all of his games over the years), I decided to take it for a spin.
For the uninitiated, My Hero Academia is set in a world where a big slice of the world’s population is born with superpowers, and since there’s so many of these people going around, their powers are regulated and endorsed by the government, allowing for heroes to fly and jump around taking out baddies, powered people who chose to live a life of crime instead, everywhere. Izuku “Deku” Midoriya wasn’t born with powers himself, but grew up a huge fan of the world’s number one hero, the charismatic All Might. After a dramatic series of events that span about half of the show’s first season (it just ended its third about two months ago), Deku ended up inheriting All Might’s powers and enrolling in the prestigious U.A college for superheroes. One’s Justice picks up around the end of that opening season, with Midoriya and his buddies going all out against Stain, a villain with a grudge against super heroes.
There’s a balanced mix of heroes, villains and heroes to pick from and form a team with in One’s Justice.
At the outset, I was excited to play One’s Justice considering it shares the same visual flair as the aforementioned Naruto games, and honestly, it did not disappoint. It looks spot on with the cartoon even though everything takes place in a polygonal, free camera world. The look and feel that the cel-shaded graphics provide carries a ton of personality, and the transition between watching the show and getting to square off against some of its trademark characters felt really good. If you’re used to watching the show undubbed, you’ll be happy to know that Bandai Namco has kept all of its original Japanese voice acting, and has only localized the menu text and added in subtitles, which unfortunately do not cover all of the voice tracks played throughout the game. The menus are littered with voice samples from the cast of the show, so it’s a huge shame that most of it goes by without any subtitles, so unless you’re an avid listener of Japanese, you’ll miss out a lot.
While I thoroughly enjoyed the presentation for the game, the same can’t be said about the progression. There’s a handful of different modes available, but they all feel pretty much the same since the point-to-point action plays out very similarly, that is, in story mode, you jump from skit to skit and brawl it out in the end, without any variation to speak of outside of maybe having the fight rules change, or more often than not, the team of characters you get to control. As I mentioned before, the story picks up around the end of the first season, when the League of Villains reveals itself and attacks a city, with Midoriya and crew barely scraping by, also showing the story from the other side’s point of view.
Todoroki’s ice powers work well to keep away foes and slow them down enough for you to get close and do some real damage with his fire skills.
While it’s cool to see the events of the show play out in game, it’s a little disappointing to see the half-hearted way it’s carried out. All of the dialogue takes place via RPG-like pop-up boxes with no animation to speak of outside of the intro to the fights that take place once all the talking is over. Still, I can imagine that younger fans are bound to fall in love with all the customization options that unlock the more you play, such as changing the colors and outfits of all the playable characters depending on how well you do during these missions. Outside of the story mode, you can partake in a special mode that ups the difficulty the further you progress, up until you hit a final boss fight that has the potential to unlock even more stuff. I stuck with the story option instead, but I can imagine folks who really get into the particulars of gameplay will probably enjoy taking on these challenges after they’re done with the rest of the game.
That gameplay is probably the most mixed aspect of One’s Justice. There’s a fairly big list of characters from the anime to pick out, including some of the villains, so it’s cool to get to combine them in unlikely alliances, but I felt that most of them played a little too similarly for my tastes. That’s probably due to the fact that the game tries to simplify the controls by giving you two types of attacks and a combination of buttons that let you power them up as you see fit. Landing and taking attacks builds up a meter, and once that’s full, a ‘Plus Ultra’ (the show’s catch phrase) power can be used. Most of the characters have projectile attacks that can move across the screen, making hitting enemies a cinch, but other powers such as Midoriya’s own cyclone punch proved to be especially good in trapping opponents. I might be oversimplifying things when I describe how One’s Justice plays, but that’s how it seemed during the many bouts that I jumped in, and they mostly were summed up by a chaotic rush from one side of the screen to the other trying to get close to whoever I was fighting against.
The dramatic shifts in camera angles help marry this game’s presentation with the show it’s based on.
The camera does its best to keep up with the fast paced action, but it ultimately fails, leading to some moments where you’ll probably lose track of what’s going on. Since characters are fairly small in comparison to environments and the camera is pulled back quite a ways, it’s easy to get lost, even with lock-on. Comparing this to another cartoony fighter like Super Smash Bros might help convey my point better: that game takes place in a 2D plane, and even though it’s incredibly chaotic, given its limited view point, it’s more manageable to keep up with, since the camera doesn’t have to deal with angles and viewpoints, only with zooming and panning the screen. That’s why everything feels a little too loose in One’s Justice. While it conveys the action of the show quite well, keeping up with it all proves to be too much of its own good as a game.
As a fan of the show, I was very keen on giving One’s Justice a shot, and I ended up coming out more disappointed with it than anything else. It does Boku no Hero justice (heh!) by presenting all the action in a pretty engaging art style that’s very faithful to the source material, but the overall gameplay is a little too shallow for my taste. It’s a spectacle to be sure, but I couldn’t find much to keep me engaged, even more so considering that the competition in the fighting game space is already so fierce. I’ve yet to play the new Dragon Ball FighterZ, so I can’t really draw up a comparison between anime fighters, but with Bandai Namco’s own Soulcalibur VI, there’s little calling me back to My Hero One’s Justice, unfortunately.
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Professor Cyrus Cooper OBE, MA, DM, FRCP, FFPH, FMedSci
Director of the MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, Vice Dean, Professor of Rheumatology, Honorary Consultant Rheumatologist
https://www.southampton.ac.uk/medicine/about/staff/cc2.page
Cyrus Cooper is Professor of Rheumatology and Director of the MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit; Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Southampton; and Professor of Epidemiology at the Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences, University of Oxford. He leads an internationally competitive programme of research into the epidemiology of musculoskeletal disorders, most notably osteoporosis. He is President of the International Osteoporosis Foundation; Chair of the Arthritis Research UK Clinical Studies Initiative; Chair of the BHF Project Grants Committee; an emeritus NIHR Senior Investigator; and Associate Editor of Osteoporosis International. He has previously served as Chairman of the Committee of Scientific Advisors, International Osteoporosis Foundation; Chairman, MRC Population Health Sciences Research Network; Chairman of the National Osteoporosis Society of Great Britain; past-President of the Bone Research Society of Great Britain; and has worked on numerous Department of Health, European Community and World Health Organisation committees and working groups. He has published extensively (>850 research papers) on osteoporosis and rheumatic disorders and pioneered clinical studies on the developmental origins of peak bone mass. In 2015, he was awarded an OBE for services to medical research; in 2016 he was appointed as Deputy Lieutenant of Hampshire; and in 2017 a Non-Executive Director of University Hospitals NHS Trust Southampton.
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Hall, Jordan
Jordan Hall is an emerging artist whose work has been dubbed stellar, insightful by Plank Magazine, thoughtful by CBC Radio, and vivid, memorable by NOW. Her first full-length play, Kayak, won Samuel Frenchs 2010 Canadian Playwrights Competition, and has been produced to critical acclaim across Canada. An Associate at Playwrights Theatre Centre from 2010-2013, she is currently Playwright-in-Residence at Pi Theatre, with support from the BCAC to develop her upcoming play, How to Survive an Apocalypse. As a screenwriter, Jordan recently co-created Carmilla: The Series for SmokeBomb Entertainment. She has also been a finalist in both the LA Comedy Fest and Beverly Hills Short Screenplay Competitions, as well as a winner of the Crazy8s Short Film Production Competition. As a dramaturg, Jordan worked on The Hearing of Jeremy Hinzman at the 2012 Summerworks Festival, and spent five years as a mentor f or UBCs Booming Ground program.
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BBC launches scheme to get women into tech careers
June 29, 2019 June 24, 2019 Stuart Mitchell
A new scheme from the BBC will enable women looking to move into a career in software engineering to gain the skills they need to do so, as applications open today for this year’s Step Into Tech scheme.
Following a hugely successful pilot last year, the scheme aims to help increase the number of women working in the technology sector – which has been to date dominated by men. It has been designed for women who may be returning to work after a break, college leavers and career changers.
The scheme covers subjects such as working with websites, applications, cloud-based services and databases as well as introducing candidates to coding and responsive design.
Matthew Postgate, Chief Technology and Product Officer for the BBC, says: “We want to ensure that everyone can shape the future of technology so that everyone can benefit. Women are underrepresented in the sector overall and the BBC, like many other employers in the industry, want to change this. This scheme gives the perfect grounding to women from all walks of life for a new career in technology.”
Emma, who completed the scheme early this year, says: “When I heard I had been selected to join the first Step Into Tech programme I was so excited to get started. I have always wanted to get into technology but didn’t know how I could break into the industry without going to university. This programme is giving me the opportunity to learn the skills required to get started in a technology career.”
To apply, click here
NewsBBC, Step Into Tech
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December 17, 2020 Stuart Mitchell 0
BBC Launches Creative Allies Tool to promote the concept of allyship at the BBC, the creative industry and beyond
The BBC’s Creative Diversity Unit, led by June Sarpong has today launched the Creative Allies Initiative,...
November 27, 2020 Stuart Mitchell 0
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The BBC has published the second progress report on meeting its Diversity Commissioning Code of Practice,...
Lloyd’s launches 2021 transformation plan with the second phase of its ambitious Future at Lloyd’s strategy
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Home Actualité internationale Weltnachrichten – USA – 2021 The Juniors of the World were a...
Weltnachrichten – USA – 2021 The Juniors of the World were a success for Germany
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By Andrew Forbes 4. January 2021
understaffed. Underrated. And possibly one of the more exciting teams to put on a show at the 2021 World Junior Tournament, Team Germany Edmonton leaves with a word on the tongue after a quarter-final loss to the Russians. success.
After all, that’s exactly what they should consider after they fell 2-1 to Team Russia on Saturday’s quarter-finals. While the defeat might at least sting a bit for the players and their coaching staff, the tournament as a whole must be viewed as a real success for a German squad who has never seen playoff action at this tournament.
Let’s be honest, things didn’t look particularly good for the Germans after the first two round robin games. Heck, even before the ice was taken for the first game against Finland, the team was understaffed as the players tested positive for COVID-19. That and the fact that Lukas Reichel neither traveled with them to Edmonton, nor Moritz Seider, Germany, envisaged a tough battle from the start.
Still, a 5-3 loss to Finland at the start of the tournament wasn’t a terrible result. A 16-2 massacre in the second half of a duel by the Canadians didn’t exactly give confidence to a team led by JJ Peterka and Ottawa Senator Tim Stutzle.
Given the opportunity to advance the game against Canada, the Germans stumbled upon the first two games and knew they were against tournament powerhouses. They got up again and were ready for the third game against the Slovaks after being figuratively knocked down in the first two games.
Nevertheless, both losses could be rated positively. They had five goals against two of the best teams in the tournament and Florian Elias quickly became the third among the three musketeers of Stutzle and Peterka. In the first two games, Elias led the German squad with four points.
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But when social media quickly debated whether teams like Germany were part of the World Junior Tournament, the Germans let us eat our words with a tough fight against the Slovaks followed by another big game – at least from their point of view – against the Swiss.
Offensive was not the problem for Germany in this tournament. After five goals in the first two games, the Germans have scored four against the Slovaks and five against the Swiss.
The trio of Peterka, Stutzle and Elias made up 87 percent of the team’s goals in the round robin game and were among the top 5 in the tournament. In addition, the team’s special teams made a huge difference – being the only team to score eight power play goals in the preliminary round. eval (ez_write_tag ([[336,280], ‘thehockeywriters_com-Leader-2’, ‘ezslot_3’, 665, ‘0’, ‘0’]);
The two wins brought Germany a 2-2 round-robin record and first place in the country’s quarter-finals in tournament history. That alone should be seen as a huge achievement for a team that has been relegated from tournament play so many times over the years.
Even with their victories, the Germans didn’t have the full squad. As mentioned, Reichel did not travel to Canada and it was only after defeating the Swiss that the Germans got their players back from quarantine.
Of the five games played at WJC 2021, Germany only had two games. It’s not easy to build chemistry when that’s the case – especially when one of those games is the quarter-finals against the annoying Russian squad.
But they haven’t looked for excuses and I don’t want to make any for them. In fact, this is not about how they failed to advance in the playoff rounds, but about the success they had at the tournament this year. eval (ez_write_tag ([[580,400], ‘thehockeywriters_com-large-mobile-banner-2’, ‘ezslot_1’, 668, ‘0’, ‘0’]);
Aside from her offense, her goalkeeper had some problems early in the tournament. Say what you will say about the totals, but Florian Bugl may have been part of the resolution when it came to turning Germany around in this tournament.
He played three games for the Germans after missing the team’s first two games – both defeats – and helped turn the tournament around for them. In his three games he ended with a 2-1 record, with his defeat in the quarterfinals being lost by the Russians. He posted a good savings percentage at . 897 and a 2. 95 goals against the average.
But Bugl has also seen 87 shots in his three games – an average of 29 shots per game, while he only gave up an average of three goals per game. Still not the numbers of a goalkeeper in a top-end tournament, but certainly a step in the right direction for a nation that has fought in this tournament for far too long. eval (ez_write_tag ([[336,280], ‘thehockeywriters_com-large-mobile-banner-1’, ‘ezslot_0’, 670, ‘0’, ‘0’]);
While a quarter-final may not be successful for many of the countries participating in this tournament, Germans need to use this as a learning experience and view World Juniors 2021 as a national success story – at least until next year.
Founded in 2009, The Hockey Writers is a premier destination for news and information on anything related to hockey. Updated daily with news and features from over 130 authors worldwide. Meanwhile, more than 2 million monthly readers come to THW to solve their hockey problems.
Junior Ice Hockey World Championships, Ice Hockey
World news – USA – The 2021 Junior World Championships were a success for Germany
Related title :
– 2021 World Juniors were a success for Germany
– A very successful WJC for Sabers interested person JJ Peterka
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David Foster Wallace (1962 - 2008) and chess
9/12/2016 – David Foster Wallace, author, essayist, short story writer, and professor of English and creative writing, is considered to be one of the most influential and innovative modern American writers. Eight years ago, on 12th September 2008, Wallace, who throughout his life had been suffering from depression, committed suicide at the age of 46. In his career he wrote about a large variety of subjects and one of his major essays contains a short revealing passage about chess.
"Simple yet aggressive!" Enjoy this new exciting DVD by Simon Williams. Let the famouns Grandmaster from England show you how to gain a very exciting yet well founded opening game with the London System (1.d4 d5 2.Bf4).
David Foster Wallace (Photo: Wikipedia)
In 1995 Harper’s Magazine asked Wallace if he would not like to go on a cruise, expenses paid, to write an essay for the magazine. Wallace agreed and “from 11 to 18 March 1995 ... voluntarily and for pay underwent a 7-Night Caribbean (7NC) Cruise on board the m.v. Zenith, a 47,255-ton ship owned by Celebrity Cruises Inc., one of the over twenty cruise lines that currently operate out of south Florida.” (A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again, p. 259).
With characteristic irony Wallace explained in one of the many footnotes he is so fond of that “no wag could possibly resist mentally rechristening the ship m.v. Nadir the instant he saw the Zenith’s silly name in the Celebrity brochure, so indulge me on this, but the rechristening’s nothing particular against the ship itself.”
The essay appeared 1996 in Harper’s Magazine as “Shipping Out“ but for the longer version Wallace chose the title “A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again” which is also the title of a collection of essays by Wallace, published 1997 by Little, Brown and Company.
During the cruise, which he describes in detail, Wallace one day played a game of chess against a nine-year girl. Here is his account of the game.
“The Nadir’s Library got cheapo Parker Brothers chess sets with hollow plastic pieces, which any good chess player has got to like. … I’m not nearly as good at chess as I am at Ping-Pong, but I’m pretty good. Most of the time on the Nadir I play chess with myself (not as dull as it may sound), for I have determined that – no offense – the sorts of people who go on 7NC Megacruises tend not be very good chess players.
Today, however, is the day I am mated in 23 moves by a nine-year old girl. Let’s not spend a lot of time on this. The girl’s name is Deirdre. Deidre’s mom … never leaves her side, and has the lipless and flinty-eyed look of a parent whose kid is preternaturally good at something.
I probably should have seen this and other certain signs of impending humiliation as the kid first comes over as I’m sitting there trying a scenario where both sides of the board deploy a Queen’s Indian and tugs on my sleeve and asks if I’d maybe like to play. She really does tug on my sleeve, and calls me Mister, and her eyes are roughly the size of sandwich plates. In retrospect it occurs to me that this girl was a little tall for nine, and worn-looking, slump-shouldered, the way usually only much older girls get – a kind of poor psychic posture. However good she may be at chess, this is not a happy little girl. I don’t suppose that’s germane.
Deirdre pulls up a chair and says she usually likes to be black and informs that in lots of cultures black isn’t thanatotic or morbid but is the spiritual equivalent of what white is in the U.S. and that in these other cultures it’s white that is morbid. I tell her I already know all that. We start. I push some pawns and Deirdre develops a knight. Deirdre’s mom watches the whole game from a standing position behind the kid’s seat … motionless except for her eyes. I know within seconds that I despise this mom. She’s like some kind of stage-mother of chess. Deirdre seems like an OK type though – I’ve played precocious kids before, and at least Deidre doesn’t hoot or smirk. If anything, she seems a little sad that I don’t turn out to be more of a stretch for her.
My first inkling of trouble is on the fourth move, when I fianchetto and Deirdre knows what I’m doing is fianchettoing and uses the term correctly, again calling me Mister. The second ominous clue is the way her little hand keeps flailing out to the side of the board after she moves, a sign that she’s used to a speed clock. She swoops in with her developed QK and forks my queen on the twelfth move and after that it’s only a matter of time. It doesn’t really matter. I didn’t even start playing chess until my late twenties. On move 17 three desperately old and related-looking people at the jigsaw puzzle table kind of totter over and watch as I hang my rook and the serious carnage starts. It doesn’t really matter. Neither Deidre nor the hideous mom smiles when it’s over; I smile enough for everybody. None of us says anything about maybe playing again tomorrow.” (A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again, pp. 325-326.)
This short chess scene echoes central topics of the long essay. One is death, evoked by the word “thanatonic”.
Statue of Thanatos, the personification of death, at the
Temple of Artemis, Ephesos, c. 325-300 BC (Picture: Wikipedia)
The whole scene has an air of sadness and disappointment, the promise of an interesting chess game or at least a pleasant chat with a young girl not fulfilled. Instead, the little girl is described as unhappy, controlled by her “hideous” mother, and the game does not bring much pleasure to either of the opponents. Not to the author who loses and not to the nine-year old girl who cannot enjoy the game because her opponent is too weak.
The feeling of unfulfilled promises, a longing for rewarding relationships, and the search for something meaningful in life pervades the whole essay. In fact, Wallace speculates that most people go on such cruises to ban a fear of death, and he describes the whole cruise as an example of the futility to pursue happiness with endless entertainment.
“There is something about a mass-market Luxury Cruise that’s unbearably sad. Like most unbearably sad things, it seems incredibly elusive and complex in its causes and simple in its effect: on board the Nadir – especially at night, when all the ship’s structured fun and reassurances and gaiety-noise ceased – I felt despair. … A weird yearning for death, combined with a crushing sense of my own smallness and futility that presents a fear of death. … Here’s the thing. A vacation is a respite from unpleasantness, and since consciousness of death and decay are unpleasant, it may seem weird that American’s ultimate fantasy vacation involves being plunked down in an enormous primordial engine of death and decay. But on a 7NC Luxury Cruise, we are skillfully enabled in the construction of various fantasies of triumph over just this death and decay. One way to ‘triumph’ is via the rigors of self-improvement; and the crew’s amphetaminic upkeep of the Nadir is an unsubtle analogue to personal tiviation: diet, exercise, megavitamin supplements, cosmetic surgery, Franklin Quest time-management seminars, etc.
There’s another way out, too, w/r/t (Editor’s note: the abbreviation ‘w/r/t’ that Wallace often uses, stands for ‘with regard to’) death. Not titivation, but titillation. Not hard work but hard play. The 7NC’s constant activities, parties, festivities, gaiety and song; the adrenaline the excitement, the stimulation. It makes you feel vibrant, alive. It makes your existence seem noncontingent.” (A Supposedly Fun Thing, pp. 261-264)
Well, if you take chess at least a little bit seriously, losing is never fun. But not everyone would consider the prospect of a week full of parties or being pampered from dawn to dusk on a week-long luxury cruise as dreadful as Wallace makes it sound in his essay. However, whether you tend to share Wallace’s view on the sense and nonsense of cruises or not, it is remarkable how he uses a game of chess to illustrate and confirm the profound topics he talks about in his essay and that are central to his work.
Cover of Infinite Jest, Wallace's most influential and important book,
a massive novel of 1104 pages, first published 1996 by Little, Brown and Company.
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value of money that has been used up to produce something
(Redirected from Costs)
In production, research, retail, and accounting, a cost is the value of money that has been used up to produce something, and hence is not available for use anymore.A cost is also what Mr Gray is failing on producing for his fellow Vader, forgetfulness or Jealousy on the oche either way a quote for another day Mr James. In business, the cost may be one of acquisition, in which case the amount of money expended to acquire it is counted as cost. In this case, money is the input that is gone in order to acquire the thing.
Low cost relative to competitors becomes the theme running through the entire strategy, though quality, service and other areas cannot be ignored.
- Michael E. Porter, 1980
CONTENT : A - F , G - L , M - R , S - Z , See also , External links
Quotes are arranged alphabetically by author
A - FEdit
True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.
Arthur Ashe As quoted in Worth Repeating : More Than 5,000 Classic and Contemporary Quotes (2003) by Bob Kelly, p. 169
There are in the Exhibition some beautiful examples of such lace amongst the productions of other countries as well as of our own. They are made by the united labour of many women. The cost of a piece of lace will consist of:
The remuneration to the artist who designs the pattern.
The cost of the raw material.
The cost of the labour of a large number of women working on it for many months.
Let us compare this with the cost of a piece of statuary, which is undoubtedly of a much higher class of art ; it will consist of:
The remuneration to the artist who makes the model.
The cost of labour, by assistants in cutting the block to the pattern of the model.
Finishing the statue by the artist himself.
In lace making the skill of the artist is required only for the production of the first example. Every succeeding copy is made by mere labour: each copy may be considered as an individual, and will cost the same amount of time.
In sculpture the three first processes are quite analogous to those in lace-making. But the fourth process requires the taste and judgment of the artist. It is this which causes it to retain its rank amongst the fine arts, whilst lacemaking must still be classed amongst the industrial.
Charles Babbage, The Exposition of 1851: Views Of The Industry, The Science, and the Government Of England, 1851. p. 49-50
Markets are institutions that exist to facilitate exchange, that is, they exist in order to reduce the cost of carrying out exchange transactions. In an economic theory which assumes that transaction costs are nonexistent. markets have no function to perform, and it seems perfectly reasonable to develop the theory of exchange by an elaborate analysis of individuals exchanging nuts for apples on the edge of the forest or some similar fanciful example. This analysis certainly shows why there is a gain from trade, but it fails to deal with the factors which determine how much trade there is or what goods are traded.
Ronald Coase The Firm, the Market and the Law (1988)
Quality means meeting customers' (agreed) requirements, formal and informal, at lowest cost, first time every time.
Robert L. Flood (1993) Beyond TQM. p. 42.
G - LEdit
M - REdit
Michael E. Porter, Competitive strategy: Techniques for analyzing industries and competitors (1980). p. 35
S - ZEdit
Microeconomics, including the study of individual choice and of group choice in market and nonmarket processes, has generally been considered a field science as distinct from an experimental science. Hence microeconomics has sometimes been classified as "non-experimental" and closer methodologically to meteorology and astronomy than to physics and experimental psychology... But the question of using experimental or nonexperimental techniques is largely a matter of cost, and generally the cost of conducting the most ambitious and informative experiments in astronomy, meteorology, and economics varies from prohibitive down to considerable. The cost of experimenting with different solar system planetary arrangements, different atmospheric conditions, and different national unemployment rates, each under suitable controls, must be regarded as prohibitive.
Vernon L. Smith, "Relevance of laboratory experiments to testing resource allocation theory." Evaluation of Econometric Models. Academic Press, 1980. 345-377. p. 345.'
The superior gratification derived from the use and contemplation of costly and supposedly beautiful products is, commonly, in great measure a gratification of our sense of costliness masquerading under the name of beauty.
Thorstein Veblen, The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899) p. 128.
It is always sound business to take any obtainable net gain, at any cost and at any risk to the rest of the community.
Thorstein Veblen, Absentee Ownership (1923) p. 191.
It costs so much to be a full human being that there are very few who have the enlightenment, or the courage, to pay the price...One has to accept pain as a condition of existence. One has to court doubt and darkness as the cost of knowing.
Morris West, in The Shoes of the Fisherman (1963)
Costs in English law
Cost of labour
Transaction cost
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system of social security in which all citizens or residents of a country regularly receive an unconditional sum of money, in addition to any income received from elsewhere
(Redirected from Universal basic income)
An unconditional basic income or universal basic income is a form of social security in which all citizens or residents of a country regularly receive an unconditional sum of money.
We keep inventing jobs because of this false idea that everybody has to be employed at some kind of drudgery because, according to Malthusian-Darwinian theory, he must justify his right to exist. ~ Buckminster Fuller
A host of positive psychological changes inevitably will result from widespread economic security. The dignity of the individual will flourish when the decisions concerning his life are in his own hands, when he has the assurance that his income is stable and certain, and when he knows that he has the means to seek self-improvement. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Basic income grants freedom and security without strings attached. It automatically supplements low wages without bureaucracy or complex wage subsidies.
Bruce Ackerman and Anne Alstott, The Stakeholder Society (1999)
With a basic income, more people can choose for themselves whether to work full-time or part-time, making their own tradeoffs between more money and more leisure.
The economic impact of the UBI together with the three tax changes in the US would be roughly as follows. First, bank deposits from UBI would increase significantly. Experience says that low-income beneficiaries would first pay off their high-cost credit card loans and student loans (though maybe not all at once). Money left over after that would be spent on household goods and services... Private debt would fall, but overall the government debt might increase equally, perhaps by US$500 billion per annum... UBI would actually cut some existing government costs, both for targeted welfare services that would become redundant, and even for prisons and police. Higher personal incomes available to spend on goods and services would also generate more tax revenues for the government. It is unclear how much would be added to the current intake, probably less than the net cost of the UBI. But the net deficit at the end of the day might be quite small or even non-existent.
A viable democratic social system must not allow a "winner takes all" approach... It is time to consider another way of getting money into the system, without funnelling it directly through the banks to the wealthy....
Robert Ayres, in How Universal Basic Income could save capitalism, Forbes Asia, (28 Aug 2020)
Unless we abandon the work ethic of another era, ... lives may be wasted because of blind insistence that everyone must have a "job" even if the job is useless.
Pierre Berton, The Smug Minority (1968)
The State ... should not stifle incentive, opportunity, responsibility; in establishing a national minimum, it should leave room and encouragement for voluntary action by each individual to provide more than that minimum for himself and his family.
William Beveridge, Social Insurance and Allied Services (the "Beveridge Report"), part 1, item 9 (2 December 1942)
Researchers at the University of Oxford [recently] published the results of a survey of the world’s best artificial intelligence experts, who predicted that there was a 50 percent chance of AI outperforming humans in all tasks within 45 years...the immediate concern for most people is that they will be losing their jobs... That helps explain the recent interest in a universal basic income (UBI) – a sum of money distributed equally to everyone.
Ellen Brown in How to Fund a Universal Basic Income Without Increasing Taxes or Inflation, Global Research (4 October 2017)
UBI can create the demand needed to clear the shelves of unsold products and drive new productivity. Robots do not buy food, clothing, or electronic gadgets. Demand must come from consumers, and for that they need money to spend. As robots increasingly take over human jobs, the choices will be a UBI or to let half the population starve. A UBI is not “welfare” but is simply a dividend paid for living in the 21st century, when automation has freed us to enjoy some leisure and engage in more meaningful pursuits.
"Jobs for every American" is doomed to failure because of modern automation and production. We ought to recognize it and create an income-maintenance system so every single American has the dignity and the wherewithal for shelter, basic food, and medical care. I’m talking about welfare for all.
Jerry Brown, "We the People" talk show in the Pacifica Radio station (1995)
'Suppose there were a man, a slave, a labourer, getting up before you and going to bed after you, willingly doing whatever has to be done, well-mannered, pleasant-spoken, working in your presence. And he might think, ... "I ought to do something meritorious. Suppose I were to shave off my hair and beard, don yellow robes, and go forth from the household life into homelessness!" And before long, he does so. And he, having gone forth might dwell, restrained in body, speech and thought, satisfied with the minimum of food and clothing, content, in solitude. And then if people were to announce to you: "Sire, you remember that slave who worked in your presence, and who shaved off his hair and beard and went forth into homelessness?" ... Would you then say: "That man must come back and be a slave and work for me as before?"'
'No indeed, Lord. For we should pay homage to him, we should rise and invite him and press him to receive from us robes, food, lodging, medicines for sickness and requisites, and make arrangements for his proper protection.'
Gautama Buddha, Digha Nikaya, Sutta 2, verses 35-36; M. Walshe, trans., pp. 97–98 (1987)
If you read the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), Article 25, it says people have rights to adequate food, nutrition, health, employment, security and so on. Those are minimal rights. Any society ought to guarantee that. Well, one way to guarantee that would be through a socially-acceptable form of basic income.
Noam Chomsky, Public interview on Media, NATO, ISIS, Free Trade Agreements & Humanity by acTVism Munich, 12:26 (19 April 2015)
The goal of the future is full unemployment, so we can play. That’s why we have to destroy the present politico-economic system.
Arthur C. Clarke, interview with Los Angeles Free Press, pp. 42–43, 47 (25 April 1969)
I'm always concerned about, more than anything else, the waste of human potential. ... So much intelligence is wasted from poverty. People who simply don't have the time, the space to use their imaginations. They can't be creative, because to be creative requires that, for a little while at least, you let go of the basic concerns of staying alive—you can't really be creative if survival is the primary topic on your mind. And so I've been thinking about that for a long time, thinking how do we utilize the cumulative intelligence and creativity of people? And recently I heard of ... a very simple idea, ... which is: give everyone some money every week. No matter how rich they are, how poor they are, just make sure that there's a basic income level beyond which people don't fall. ... I like the idea that it says we believe that all people are potentially creative and that they should be given the chance to express that.
Brian Eno, interviewed by Georgina Godwin for Episode 817 of podcast The Briefing, 18:55 (26 December 2014)
If you can provide a mechanism where anybody can try any commercial idea without risking becoming homeless and indebted, more people will innovate and take risks.
Rickard Falkvinge "More Thoughts on the Coming Swarm Economy" (2013)
In general, I favor some form of a guaranteed income. I think we're gonna have to move in that direction ultimately, I don't think there's going to be any other choice.
Martin Ford, Video interview with Andrew Mazzone, Smart Talk video series, 19:50 (December 2014)
I think we need to do something different and what I have proposed is that eventually we're going to have to move toward a Guaranteed Income where everybody is guaranteed at least some livable income in our society.
Martin Ford, Accelerating Technology and the Economy Impakt Festival 2013: Capitalism Catch 22; Special Project "Today: Fruits of our Labor" (2 November 2013)
One obvious way to help fund a citizen's dividend or guaranteed income would be to levy a carbon tax, and therefore you'd be doing something very positive for the environment. ... I think there's a strong relationship between these two issues. On the one hand we have to take on these environmental challenges, on the other hand we've got this unfolding trend going on which is impacting people's income security and those two are directly related: as long as people perceive that they're not secure economically, they're worrying about paying their rent next month, or they're worried about putting food on the table, they're not gonna be able to focus on longer-term environmental issues. And that's one of the big problems we see with climate change: if you look at surveys of the American people, they acknowledge that climate change is an issue, but it's also absolutely at the bottom of their list of priorities, and the top of their list, of course, is jobs, it's incomes. So I really think that if we want to have meaningful progress on environmental issues like climate change we need to put this whole issue of income security and income inequality first-hand at the top.
We should replace the ragbag of specific welfare programs with a single comprehensive program of income supplements in cash [which] would provide an assured minimum to all persons in need, regardless of the reasons for their need, while doing as little harm as possible to their character, their independence, or their incentives to better their own conditions. ... A negative income tax provides comprehensive reform which would do more efficiently and humanely what our present welfare system does so inefficiently and inhumanely.
Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom, p. 192 (1962)
A guaranteed income ... could for the first time free man from the threat of starvation, and thus make him truly free and independent economically and psychologically. ... People would no longer learn to be afraid, if they did not have to fear for their bread.
Erich Fromm, The Psychological Aspects of the Guaranteed Income, in "The Guaranteed Income", ed. Robert Theobald (1966)
A guaranteed income would not only establish freedom as a reality rather than a slogan; it would also establish a principle deeply rooted in Western religious and humanist traditions: man has the right to live, regardless! This right to live —to have food, shelter, medical care, education, etc.— is an intrinsic human right that cannot be restricted by any condition, not even the one that the individual must be socially "useful."
We must do away with the absolutely specious notion that everybody has to earn a living. It is a fact today that one in ten thousand of us can make a technological breakthrough capable of supporting all the rest. The youth of today are absolutely right in recognizing this nonsense of earning a living. We keep inventing jobs because of this false idea that everybody has to be employed at some kind of drudgery because, according to Malthusian-Darwinian theory, he must justify his right to exist. So we have inspectors of inspectors and people making instruments for inspectors to inspect inspectors. The true business of people should be to go back to school and think about whatever it was they were thinking about before somebody came along and told them they had to earn a living.
Buckminster Fuller in "The New York Magazine Environmental Teach-In" by Elizabeth Barlow in New York Magazine, p. 30 (30 March 1970)
There is no single cure for poverty, but we should not, in our sophistication, be afraid of the obvious ... We need to consider the one prompt and effective solution for poverty, which is to provide everyone with a minimum income.
John Kenneth Galbraith, The Starvation of our Cities, The Progressive (December 1966); reprinted in A View from the Stands, pp. 19–25, Boston: Houghton Mifflin (1986)
Everybody should be guaranteed a decent basic income. A rich country such as the U.S. can well afford to keep everybody out of poverty. Some, it will be said, will seize upon the income and won’t work. So it is now with more limited welfare, as it is called. Let us accept some resort to leisure by the poor as well as by the rich.
John Kenneth Galbraith, What a world, lecture at the London School of Economics, published in The Guardian, p. 13 (29 June 1999)
The fact is that the work which improves the condition of mankind, the work which extends knowledge and increases power, and enriches literature, and elevates thought, is not done to secure a living. It is not the work of slaves, driven to their task either by the lash of a master or by animal necessities. It is the work of men who perform it for its own sake, and not that they may get more to eat or drink, or wear, or display. In a state of society where want was abolished, work of this sort would be enormously increased.
Henry George, Progress and Poverty (25th anniversary edition) Pt.IX, Ch.4, ¶33, pp. 465–466 (1879)
When the production process demands less work and distributes less and less wages, it gradually becomes obvious that the right to an income can no longer be reserved for those who have a job; nor, most importantly, can the level of incomes be made to depend on the quantity of work furnished by each person. Hence the idea of guaranteeing an income to every citizen which is not linked to work, or the quantity of work done.
André Gorz, Critique of Economic Reason, 2010, p. 203, Verso Books (first published, Galilée, 1988, as Métamorphoses du travail, quête du sens)
If you provide a basic income, you send a powerful message: nobody wants to just sit there and do nothing, we trust you to find a valuable occupation. The idea of morality of work is one of the most insidious tools in the hands of power, and increases the bullshit jobs phenomenon.
David Graeber, in Can debt catalyse the next global rebellion? An interview with David Graeber by Arthur De Grave (9 October 2013)
Throughout most of recorded history, the only people who actually did wage labor were slaves. ... It’s only now that we think of wage labor and slavery as opposite to one another.
David Graeber, in Why America’s favorite anarchist thinks most American workers are slaves by Paul Solman (17 April 2014)
It's as if someone were out there making up pointless jobs just for the sake of keeping us all working.
David Graeber, On the Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs: A Work Rant, Strike! magazine, issue 3 (August 2013)
The very nature of work will change. The governments may have to consider stronger social safety nets, and eventually universal basic income.
António Guterres, Secretary-General Addresses General Debate, 73rd Session of the General Assembly of the UN, 15:25, (25 September 2018)
If machines produce everything we need, the outcome will depend on how things are distributed. Everyone can enjoy a life of luxurious leisure if the machine-produced wealth is shared, or most people can end up miserably poor if the machine-owners successfully lobby against wealth redistribution. So far, the trend seems to be toward the second option, with technology driving ever-increasing inequality.
Stephen Hawking, quoted in "Stephen Hawking Says We Should Really Be Scared Of Capitalism, Not Robots" Huffington Post (8 October 2015)
There can be no doubt that some minimum of food, shelter, and clothing, sufficient to preserve health and the capacity to work, can be assured to everybody.
Friedrich Hayek, The Road to Serfdom, chapter 9, pp. 124–125 (1944)
The assurance of a certain minimum income for everyone, or a sort of floor below which nobody need fall even when he is unable to provide for himself, appears not only to be a wholly legitimate protection against a risk common to all, but a necessary part of the Great Society in which the individual no longer has specific claims on the members of the particular small group into which he was born.
Friedrich Hayek, Law, Legislation and Liberty, volume 3, chapter 3, p. 55 (1979)
I am now convinced that the simplest approach will prove to be the most effective – the solution to poverty is to abolish it directly by a new widely discussed measure: the guaranteed income.
Martin Luther King, Jr., Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?, p. 162 (1967)
A host of positive psychological changes inevitably will result from widespread economic security. The dignity of the individual will flourish when the decisions concerning his life are in his own hands, when he has the assurance that his income is stable and certain, and when he knows that he has the means to seek self-improvement. Personal conflicts between husband, wife, and children will diminish when the unjust measurement of human worth on a scale of dollars is eliminated.
There is nothing except shortsightedness to prevent us from guaranteeing an annual minimum – and livable – income for every American family.
Martin Luther King, Jr., Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? p. 189 (1967)
That's why I talk about basic income ... there has to be a stronger social safety net because when people don't have options, they're going to make bad choices. Let's have better choices on the table.
Naomi Klein in Naomi Klein on Cause of Climate Crisis: "Capitalism Is Stupid" by Sarah Jaffe (24 September 2014)
I once heard someone defend that belief by declaring that "human nature is to do as little as necessary." This prejudice is refuted not just by a few studies but the entire branch of psychology dealing with motivation. Normally, it's hard to stop happy, satisfied people from trying to learn more about themselves and the world, or from trying to do a job of which they can feel proud.
Alfie Kohn, Unconditional Parenting (2006)
If the picture I’ve drawn is at all right, the only way we could have anything resembling a middle-class society — a society in which ordinary citizens have a reasonable assurance of maintaining a decent life as long as they work hard and play by the rules — would be by having a strong social safety net, one that guarantees not just health care but a minimum income, too.
Paul Krugman, Sympathy for the Luddites, The New York Times (13 June 2013)
Computers and robots replace humans in the exercise of mental functions in the same way as mechanical power replaced them in the performance of physical tasks. As time goes on, more and more complex mental functions will be performed by machines. Any worker who now performs his task by following specific instructions can, in principle, be replaced by a machine. This means that the role of humans as the most important factor of production is bound to diminish—in the same way that the role of horses in agricultural production was first diminished and then eliminated by the introduction of tractors.
Wassily Leontief, "National perspective: The definition of problem and opportunity", in: National Academies, The Long-term Impact of Technology on Employment and Unemployment: A National Academy of Engineering Symposium, p. 3. (30 June 1983)
"No penalty on earth will stop people from stealing, if it's their only way of getting food. ... Instead of inflicting these horrible punishments, it would be far more to the point to provide everyone with some means of livelihood" —Thomas More
The most skilfully combined, and with the greatest foresight of objections, of all the forms of Socialism, is that commonly known as Fourierism. This system does not contemplate the abolition of private property, nor even of inheritance; on the contrary, it avowedly takes into consideration, as an element in the distribution of the produce, capital as well as labour. ... In the distribution, a certain minimum is ... assigned for the subsistence of every member of the community, whether capable or not of labour.
John Stuart Mill, Principles of Political Economy, Book II, Chapter I (1848)
Since the state must necessarily provide subsistence for the criminal poor while undergoing punishment, not to do the same for the poor who have not offended is to give a premium on crime.
John Stuart Mill, 'Principles of Political Economy (1848), Book V, Chapter XI, §13
The State owes all its citizens a secure subsistence, food, suitable clothes and a way of life that does not damage their health.
Montesquieu, De l'esprit des lois, volume 2, section XXIII/29, p. 134 (1748)
This method of dealing with thieves is both unjust and undesirable. As a punishment, it's too severe, and as a deterrent, it's quite ineffective. Petty larceny isn't bad enough to deserve the death penalty. And no penalty on earth will stop people from stealing, if it's their only way of getting food. In this respect, you English, like most other nations, remind me of these incompetent schoolmasters, who prefer caning their pupils to teaching them. Instead of inflicting these horrible punishments, it would be far more to the point to provide everyone with some means of livelihood, so that nobody's under the frightful necessity of becoming, first a thief, and then a corpse.
Thomas More, Utopia (1516)
I want to dismantle all the bureaucracies that dole out income transfers, whether they be public housing benefits or Social Security or corporate welfare, and use the money they spend to provide everyone over the age of 21 with a guaranteed income, deposited electronically every month into a bank account.
Charles Murray, in 'The Bell Curve' 20 years later: A Q&A with Charles Murray by Natalie Goodnow (16 October 2014)
"Ultimately, we will have to have some sort of Universal Basic Income. I don't think we're going to have a choice."
Elon Musk, in A Conversation with Elon Musk — Plenary Session at the 2017 World Government Summit (video), 22:47 (13 Feb 2017)
I propose a new approach that will make it more attractive to go to work than to go on welfare, and will establish a nationwide minimum payment to dependent families with children. I propose that the Federal government pay a basic income to those American families who cannot care for themselves in whichever State they live. ... I propose that we make available an addition to the incomes of the "working poor," to encourage them to go on working, and to eliminate the possibility of making more from welfare than from wages. ... We could adopt a "guaranteed minimum income for everyone", which would appear to wipe out poverty overnight. It would also wipe out the basic economic motivation for work, and place an enormous strain on the industrious to pay for the leisure of the lazy. Or, we could adopt a totally new approach to welfare, designed to assist those left far behind the national norm, and provide all with the motivation to work and a fair share of the opportunity to train.
Richard Nixon, Special Message to the Congress on Reform of the Nation's Welfare System (11 August 1969)
Artificial intelligence is here and it is accelerating, and you're going to have driverless cars, and you're going to have more and more automated services, and that's going to make the job of giving everybody work that is meaningful tougher, and we're going to have to be more imaginative, and the pact of change is going to require us to do more fundamental reimagining of our social and political arrangements, to protect the economic security and the dignity that comes with a job. It's not just money that a job provides; it provides dignity and structure and a sense of place and a sense of purpose. And so we're going to have to consider new ways of thinking about these problems, like a universal income, review of our workweek, how we retrain our young people, how we make everybody an entrepreneur at some level. But we're going to have to worry about economics if we want to get democracy back on track.
Barack Obama, 2018 Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture [speech] (17 July 2018)
Men did not make the earth... It is the value of the improvements only, and not the earth itself, that is individual property. ... Every proprietor owes to the community a ground rent for the land which he holds.
Thomas Paine, Agrarian Justice (1797)
I care not how affluent some may be, provided that none be miserable in consequence of it. But it is impossible to enjoy affluence with the felicity it is capable of being enjoyed, while so much misery is mingled in the scene.
There are, in every country, some magnificent charities established by individuals. It is, however, but little that any individual can do, when the whole extent of the misery to be relieved is considered. He may satisfy his conscience, but not his heart. He may give all that he has, and that all will relieve but little. It is only by organizing civilization upon such principles as to act like a system of pulleys, that the whole weight of misery can be removed.
Separate an individual from society, and give him an island or a continent to possess, and he cannot acquire personal property. He cannot be rich. So inseparably are the means connected with the end, in all cases, that where the former do not exist the latter cannot be obtained. All accumulation, therefore, of personal property, beyond what a man's own hands produce, is derived to him by living in society; and he owes on every principle of justice, of gratitude, and of civilization, a part of that accumulation back again to society from whence the whole came.
Despotic government supports itself by abject civilization, in which debasement of the human mind, and wretchedness in the mass of the people, are the chief criterions. Such governments consider man merely as an animal; that the exercise of intellectual faculty is not his privilege; that he has nothing to do with the laws but to obey them; and they politically depend more upon breaking the spirit of the people by poverty, than they fear enraging it by desperation.
An army of principles will penetrate where an army of soldiers cannot; it will succeed where diplomatic management would fall: it is neither the Rhine, the Channel, nor the ocean that can arrest its progress: it will march on the horizon of the world, and it will conquer.
There shall be paid to every person, when arrived at the age of twenty-one years, the sum. ... as a compensation in part, for the loss of his or her natural inheritance, by the introduction of the system of landed property.
It is proposed that the payments ... be made to every person, rich or poor ... because it is in lieu of the natural inheritance, which, as a right, belongs to every man, over and above property he may have created, or inherited from those who did.
Is this not utopian? Of course it is, in the sense in which ... the social security system was utopian before Bismarck put together its first building blocks.
Philippe Van Parijs, The Euro-Dividend, published in Social Europe (3 July 2013)
For me, it is not unacceptable that people should receive an income without conditions attached, because what we receive in this way is not the product of the hard work of other people. It's a fragment of the massive inheritance we owe to nature, to previous generations, to technological progress, to the know-how, and all these gifts which we receive from nature, and the past.
Philippe Van Parijs, interviewed by EURACTIV (11 April 2014)
A minimal guarantee with regards to income seems to me as almost inevitable.
Robert Reich, Inequality For All: Q & A with Robert Reich, 46:00 (2014)
Since the advances in technology are going to mean fewer and fewer jobs in the market economy, the only effective way to ensure those permanently displaced by machinery share the benefits of increased productivity is to provide some kind of government-guaranteed income. ... With guaranteed income independent of their jobs, workers would be more free to set their own schedules and adapt to changing conditions. That adaptability would in turn allow greater flexibility for employers, plus many benefits for society as a whole.
Jeremy Rifkin, The End of Work (1995)
True individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. "Necessitous men are not free men." ... we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being.
Franklin D. Roosevelt, 11th State of the Union Address (11 January 1944)
No man can be a good citizen unless he has a wage more than sufficient to cover the bare cost of living, and hours of labor short enough so that after his day's work is done he will have time and energy to bear his share in the management of the community, to help in carrying the general load.
Theodore Roosevelt, New Nationalism [speech] (31 August 1910)
A certain small income, sufficient for necessaries, should be secured to all, whether they work or not.
Bertrand Russell, Proposed Roads to Freedom, Part II, Chapter 4: "Work and Pay", p. 110 (1918)
This sort of thing, is the result of regarding the virtue of hard work as an end in itself, rather than as a means to a state of affairs in which it is no longer needed.
Bertrand Russell, In praise of idleness (1932)
The butcher who provides you with meat and the baker who provides you with bread are praiseworthy, because they are making money; but when you enjoy the food they have provided, you are merely frivolous, unless you eat only to get strength for your work.
Broadly speaking, it is held that getting money is good and spending money is bad. Seeing that they are two sides of one transaction, this is absurd; one might as well maintain that keys are good, but keyholes are bad.
Whatever merit there may be in the production of goods must be entirely derivative from the advantage to be obtained by consuming them.
It is my absolute conviction that everyone in this country deserves a minimum standard of living and we've got to go forward in the fight to make that happen. ~ Bernie Sanders
So long as you have a Congress dominated by big money, I can guarantee you that the discussion about universal basic income is going to go nowhere in a hurry. But, if we can develop a strong grassroots movement which says that every man, woman and child in this country is entitled to a minimum standard of living—is entitled to health care, is entitled to education, is entitled to housing—then we can succeed. We are living in the richest country in the history of the world, yet we have the highest rate of childhood poverty of almost any major country and millions of people are struggling to put food on the table. It is my absolute conviction that everyone in this country deserves a minimum standard of living and we've got to go forward in the fight to make that happen.
Bernie Sanders, Reddit Q&A session (AMA) (19 May 2015)
There must be a guarantee that people receive what they need in order to live a dignified life.
Bernie Sanders, interviewed by Ezra Klein, vox.com (28 July 2015)
I do [support a UBI], but that is not where we are. I think that is a very correct idea... that’s kind of a step too far right now for the United States.
Bernie Sanders, Speech And Interview In Berlin by Zeitmagazin, 1:16:50 (31 May 2017)
I think the fundamental issue that has to be dealt with is that technology is not a bad thing in itself. But technology cannot simply be used by the owners of the technology, it’s got to be used to benefit all of our people. So if we replace a dangerous job with a machine, that’s a good thing. That doesn’t mean you simply displace the worker and throw him or her out on the street, and that raises the question of basic income for everybody and so forth. It is an issue that has not gotten the attention it deserves, but it’s hovering in front of us and we have to deal with it.
Bernie Sanders, Town Hall with John Conyers at Fellowship Chapel Church in Detroit, Michigan (22 August 2017)
All the politicians want to talk about jobs. They want to say we need jobs. People don't want a "job". They want the stuff that they get because they have a job. If they can have the stuff and skip the job, most people would do that. That's why people look forward to retirement, because they don't have to work anymore. So we don't want to create jobs, we really want to eliminate jobs and create leisure.
Peter Schiff, Why Canada Will Divorce The US And Marry China, 15:34 (26 January 2013)
If one machine can cut necessary human labor by half, why make half of the workforce redundant, rather than employing the same number for half the time? This would be possible if the gains from automation were not mostly seized by the rich and powerful, but were distributed fairly instead.
Robert Skidelsky, The Rise of the Robots (20 February 2013)
We advocate a Universal Basic Income, received by all citizens on an unconditional basis: that is, detached from the labor market. This offers a choice between work and leisure. To offer such a choice is both a fruit of an affluent society and a solution to the problem of technological unemployment.
Robert Skidelsky, Playing by the Rules (26 June 2013)
If we do not find a way to provide a basic income for people who have no work, or no meaningful work, we’re going to have social unrest that could get people killed.
Edward Snowden, Edward Snowden: A ‘Nation’ Interview (28 October 2014)
There is no evidence whatsoever that a basic income would reduce work and labour. The evidence is strong that it would do the reverse. What we have found in the pilots is that people with basic security work more and work more productively.
Guy Standing, Reddit AMA (5 May 2014)
Imagine if the government provided a basic minimum income, like Richard Nixon once proposed. ... Suddenly having to quit your job would no longer be such a huge leap — there’d be a real social safety net to catch you. ... If governments really want to promote startups and the economic innovation they bring, ... they need to start rebuilding the social safety net, so that their citizens know that if they go out on a limb and try something risky, someone will be there to catch them if things don’t work out.
Aaron Swartz, How to Promote Startups (9 June 2008)
The principle of an economic floor under each individual must be established. It would apply equally to every member of society and carry with it no connotation of personal inadequacy or implication that an undeserving income was being received from an overgenerous government.
Robert Theobald, Free Men and Free Markets, p. 146 (1963)
We will need to adopt the concept of an absolute constitutional right to an income.
For perhaps the first time in history, we have the resources, the know-how and the technology to make starvation and dependency relics of the past. But do we have the will?
Desmond Tutu, Video address in the closing session of the 11th International Congress of the Basic Income Earth Network (4 November 2006)
All these things God created, He put them in ... the world, without surrounding them with walls and gates, so that they would be common to all His children.
Juan Luis Vives De Subventione Pauperum, English translation of part II: On Assistance to the Poor (1526).
Now what happens then when you introduce technology into production? You produce enormous quantities of goods by technological methods, but at the same time you put people out of work. You can say, "Oh but it always creates more jobs. There will always be more jobs." Yes, but lots of them will be futile jobs. They will be jobs making every kind of frippery and unnecessary contraption, and one will also at the same time have to beguile the public into feeling that they need and want these completely unnecessary things that aren't even beautiful. And therefore an enormous amount of nonsense employment and busy work, bureaucratic and otherwise, has to be created in order to keep people working, because we believe, as good Protestants, that the devil finds work for idle hands to do. But the basic principle of the whole thing has been completely overlooked, that the purpose of the machine is to make drudgery unnecessary. And if we don't allow it to achieve its purpose, we live in a constant state of self-frustration. So then, if a given manufacturer automates his plant and dismisses his labor force, and they have to operate on a very much diminished income (say, some sort of dole), the manufacturer suddenly finds that the public does not have the wherewithal to buy his products. And therefore he has invested in this expensive automotive machinery to no purpose. And therefore obviously the public has to be provided with the means of purchasing what the machines produce. People say, "That's not fair. Where's the money going to come from? Who's gonna pay for it?" The answer is the machine. The machine pays for it, because the machine works for the manufacturer and for the community.
Alan Watts, Money, Guilt, and the Machine, 22:00
Theobald points out that every individual should be assured of a minimum income. Now, you see, that absolutely horrifies most people. "Say, all these wastrels, these people who are out of a job because they're really lazy, see... ah, giving them money?" Yeah, because otherwise the machines can't work. They come to a blockage. This was the situation of the Great Depression, when here we were still, in a material sense, a very rich country, with plenty of fields and farms and mines and factories... everything going. But suddenly, because of a psychological hang-up, because of a mysterious mumbo-jumbo about the economy, about the banking, we were all miserable and poor—starving in the midst of plenty. Just because of a psychological hang-up. And that hang-up is that money is real, and that people ought to suffer in order to get it. But the whole point of the machine is to relieve you of that suffering. It is ingenuity. You see, we are psychologically back in the 17th century, and technically in the 20th. And here comes the problem. So what we have to find out how to do is to change the psychological attitude to money and to wealth, and furthermore to pleasure, and furthermore to the nature of work.
I don’t think there is, or ever again can be, a cure for unemployment. Unemployment is not a disease, but the natural, healthy functioning of an advanced technological society.
Robert Anton Wilson, The RICH Economy (section from the book "The Illuminati Papers") (1980)
Universal Basic Income is not socialism. It's capitalism where income doesn't start at zero. Markets and businesses function much better when people have money to spend. If we can all participate in the market, then markets become much better for all of us. What's bad for markets is when consumers don't have money to spend. So this is very pro-growth, pro-market, and pro-consumer. It's the next form of capitalism. It's the tricke up economy.
Andrew Yang, UBI FAQ - Isn’t UBI Socialism? (7 February 2020)
If we expand the notion of work, which is something that a universal basic income would help us do, it would begin to compensate parents and caregivers; it would begin to recognize different forms of work.
Andrew Yang, in Is our economy totally screwed? Andrew Yang and I debate, The Ezra Klein Show, 43:59 (20 August 2018)
[A universal basic income] would be one of the greatest catalysts to entrepreneurship and creativity we have ever seen, and I've worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs over the years. We have to put more Americans in position to do work that they value intrinsically, instead of as a necessary means to survival.
If you care about children, then [UBI] is the best way to make household and families stronger; if you care about women and economic empowerment, this is a way to make it so that women can walk away from abusive or exploitative employers; if you care about communities of color, they would benefit much more proportionally from a thousand dollars a month than other communities, because they have lower access to various jobs and opportunities. This is the way that we can reform society in a way that actually serves all of our goals, our collective goals. And at least one study showed that if you would alleviate child poverty, you would increase GDP by 700 billion dollars, because of better health outcomes, educational outcomes, higher worker productivity, better mental health... We have to start investing in our people, intrinsically. We have to say "we are the citizens and owners and stakeholders of this society, we can vote ourselves a dividend, and it's up to us to build an economy that serves us, because right now fundamentally, this economy is not designed to serve human beings. It is designed to serve capital efficiency. And for a long time, that also served human beings, but increasingly it's going to be that having lots of humans working for a company is irrelevant, or even negative, for corporate success. And we can see this by the fact that 94% of the new jobs created since 2005 to 2015, were gig economy, temp and contractor jobs, because the employer said "you know what? I'd rather not have a full-time employee, I'd rather not pay health care benefits", and that's why so many Americans right now are in that position. So we have to start recognizing that the economy is changing for good, and that it's up to us, the citizens of this country, to rewrite the rules the economy to serve us. We have to make the market serve us, and not have us all be slaves the market, because the market is not going to care one whit about us increasingly over time.
The United States should provide an annual income of $12,000 for each American aged 18–64, with the amount indexed to increase with inflation. It would require a constitutional supermajority to modify or amend. ... The poverty line is currently $11,770. We would essentially be bringing all Americans to the poverty line and alleviate gross poverty.
Andrew Yang, The War on Normal People, p. 166 (2018)
Too many people ... haven't had the chance to pursue their dreams because they didn't have a cushion to fall back on if they failed. We all know you don't get successful just by having a good idea or working hard—you get successful by being lucky, too. ... Every generation expands its definition of equality. Previous generations fought for the vote and civil rights; they had the New Deal and Great Society; and now it's time for our generation to define a new social contract. We should have a society that measures progress not just by economic metrics like GDP, but by how many of us have a role we find meaningful. We should explore ideas like universal basic income to make sure that everyone has a cushion to try new ideas.
Mark Zuckerberg, Commencement Address at Harvard, 16:51 (25 May 2017)
Negative income tax
Poverty reduction
Prosperity theology
Redistribution of income and wealth
Refusal of work
Technological unemployment
A Brief History of Basic Income Ideas
History of basic income
Retrieved from "https://en.wikiquote.org/w/index.php?title=Basic_income&oldid=2900288"
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Jarana jarocha
Not to be confused with Jarana huasteca.
Jarana jarocha.
The jarana jarocha is a guitar-shaped fretted stringed instrument from the southern region of the state of Veracruz, Mexico. Typically strung with 8 strings in 5 courses, usually arranged in two single outer strings with three double-courses in between. The strings are usually nylon, although they were gut in the past. The body is somewhat narrower than a guitar because of its direct lineage from the Spanish baroque guitar of the sixteenth century. Sometimes mistaken for a ukulele, the jarana jarocha comes in at least five sizes, the smallest being the chaquiste, somewhat smaller than a soprano ukulele; then the mosquito, about the size of a soprano ukulele; the 'primera', about the size of a concert ukulele; the 'segunda', in length between a tenor and a baritone ukulele; and the 'tercera', somewhat longer than the baritone ukulele. Some luthiers are building jaranas of a size they label "tercerola" or "jarana cuarta", but there is some discussion as to whether these represent a distinct size or are merely particularly large variations of the standard tercera.[1]
The jarana traditionally features a singular type of construction; the body is carved to shape from a solid piece of wood (traditionally Spanish cedar), and it is then hollowed out, with a separate soundboard and fingerboard applied. Other Mexican and South American folk guitars derivative of Spanish instruments are also made this way, notably the charango of Bolivia.
The sound is distinctive—it does not sound like either a ukulele or a guitar. It is almost a percussion instrument in the way it is played, with an accented down and double upstroke pattern that almost mimics the zapateado steps of the dancers. The sound depends on the wood used and the size of the instrument. Jaranas by different makers tend to have different voices even when made of the same woods because of method of manufacture, etc.
The jarana primera tends to have a high and sharp voice, while the segunda has a more tenor, shimmering voice. The tercera has a deep and sonorous voice, and the tiny chaquiste and mosquito often have shrill voices.
The jarana is used to great effect with other instruments such as the 'arpa jarocha' or Veracruz folk harp, the 'guitarra de son' which is almost identical to the jarana but for the fact that it has four strings that are plucked with a long plectrum usually made of cowhorn (thus making it a melodic rather than rhythm instrument) and because it is used as a lead instrument in vocal music.
Although the jarana usually has eight strings arranged in five courses (a single course, followed by three doubles, then another single), many jaranas are now being produced with 4 double courses, often tuned GG CC EE AA. Leonardo Zendejas of the group Son de Barro has commented that the absence of the bottom G string makes chord shapes and climbing the finger board on these instruments much easier than on more traditional 5-course jaranas. Gilberto Gutierrez Silva, luthier and founder of the group Mono Blanco, has created his own variation—a jarana with three courses of triple-strings, tuned GGG CCC EEE (the same tuning as the Cuban tres). He has named this variation the "tresera".
Jarana Jarocha segunda, front view
Jarana Jarocha segunda, back view
A jarana jarocha and harp being played as part of a son jarocho band in Mexico.
^ "The Stringed Instrument Database: Index". stringedinstrumentdatabase.aornis.com.
David Whitmer, 2005, CD Traditional Music from Mexico: Son Jarocho de Tlacotalpan (ARCMusic EUCD1966)
Mexican musical instruments
Plucked strings:
Chapareque
Guitarra de golpe
Guitarra panzona
Guitarra séptima
Quinta huapanguera
Jarana huasteca
Arpa jarocha
Bajo quinto / sexto
Concheras
Bandolón
Mexican salterio
Bowed strings:
Rabelito
Enneg
Violin raramuri
Winds:
Chirimía
Tochacatl
Trompa de bule
Flauta de 3 hoyos
Flauta de tamborileros
Flauta doble de barro
Silbato de la muerte
Membranophones:
Huehuetl
Tamborita calentana
Pandero jarocho
Tigrera
Tamborcillo de volador
Tambor cuadrado
Tambor par
Idiophones:
Teponaztli
Cajón de tapeo
Marimbol
Ayoyotes
Güiro de pez
Tambor de agua
Quijada
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jarana_jarocha&oldid=959733180"
Guitar family instruments
Jarocho
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Courts have worst bribery rate in the Middle East
In this Wednesday, July 8, 2015 file photo, a courtroom is seen before the trial of ISIS militants in Baghdad, Iraq. (AP)
The Associated Press, Dubai Tuesday 03 May 2016
A new report released on Tuesday by an anti-corruption watchdog shows that on average, almost a third of the people in nine countries surveyed in the Middle East have had to pay a bribe to access some kind of public service.
The poll by Transparency International also found that courts have the worst bribery rate out of six services that were surveyed.
The watchdog interviewed nearly 11,000 people — or about 1,200 people in each of the nine countries — and found that bribery was especially rampant in Yemen.
In the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country, 77 percent of respondents said they had to pay a bribe to access public services. The interviews in Yemen were carried out before the start of March 2015 Saudi-led airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Shiite rebels, after which the country’s crisis descended into war.
Around 50 percent of people surveyed in Egypt, Sudan and Morocco said they paid bribes for public services.
Transparency International also surveyed people in Lebanon, Algeria, Tunisia, Jordan and the Palestinian territories. The poll was carried out in direct interviews at various times in 2014 and 2015, and gave a 3 percent margin of error.
Public anger over corruption among government officials, social inequality and the lack of justice and transparencywere catalysts of the 2011 Arab Spring movements that ousted longtime leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and Libya.
Transparency International’s chief Jose Ugaz said that failing to stop bribery also affects people’s human rights.
“It’s as if the Arab Spring never happened,” he said in a statement accompanying the report.
The poll results show that on average, almost one in three people surveyed paid bribes in dealings with courts, while one in four paid bribes to police — and around half or more of those who paid bribes to the courts and police had to pay multiple times.
About one in five people surveyed said they had to pay a bribe for public medical services. In Morocco, that figure was 38 percent.
Transparency International noted the case of a man who called the watchdog’s local anti-corruption hotline after he was told by a nurse to pay $60 in addition to the hospital fee for his partially blind daughter to get an urgent brain scan. He was advised to call the attorney general’s office and two undercover officers returned with him to the hospital, where the nurse was arrested and imprisoned for two months.
Around 30 percent of people polled in Lebanon said they paid a bribe for public services, while a staggering 92 percent said they thought corruption had increased. The Lebanon part of the survey was conducted before an eight-month-long trash collection crisis erupted in July 2015. Thousands protested and campaigners blamed corruption and government paralysis for the delay in solving the problem.
Speaking to The Associated Press over the telephone, Middle East regional coordinator for Transparency International Kinda Hattar said the institutions of justice and law enforcement should be the least corrupt because they should be the ones prosecuting corruption.
“Unless the government and the state work for the independence of the judiciary ... then we will not be able to have a system that builds trust with the people,” she said.
Though only nine percent in Tunisia and four percent of respondents in Jordan said they paid a bribe in the year preceding the survey, Hattar said there are often other problems that exist in Mideast countries that cannot be quantified and measured in surveys.
One such issue, she said, is nepotism, or what is known as a “wasta” in Arabic. Getting a job or gaining access to public services can depend on a person’s “wasta,” or relationship with someone who is well-connected.
Iraq’s PM orders probe into oil corruption allegations
Sisi sacks man who alleged Egypt state corruption
Brazil’s ex-leader, Lula da Silva, is held for questioning
After corruption reports, Malaysian PM visits Saudi Arabia
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Sudan’s Bashir implies police can use force against protesters
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir arrives to meet with police officials at the headquarters of the “police house” in the capital Khartoum on December 30, 2018. (AFP)
AFP, Khartoum Sunday 30 December 2018
Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir on Sunday implied that police can use force against anti-government demonstrators if they threaten the general security of the country, but ordered that excessive force against them not to be used. Meanwhile, the UN called for a probe into deaths during the violent protests.
At least 19 people have been killed since December 19 during protests sparked by Khartoum’s decision to hike the price of bread, according to the government.
Rights group Amnesty International says 37 people have died.
“We want to maintain security and we want the police to do that by using less force,” Bashir, dressed in a blue police uniform, said.
Protesters have rallied after the government raised the price of a loaf of bread from one Sudanese pound to three (from about two to six US cents).
Sudan is facing an acute foreign exchange crisis and soaring inflation despite Washington lifting an economic embargo in October 2017.
Inflation is running at 70 percent and the Sudanese pound has plunged in value, while shortages of bread and fuel have regularly hit several cities.
“We admit that we have economic problems... but they can’t be solved by destructions, lootings, and thefts,” Bashir said, referring to buildings and ruling offices torched by protesters in several cities during the demonstrations.
“We don’t want our country to go the way other countries in the region have gone,” he said.
“We will not allow our people to be refugees. If this happens where can we go in this region?”
ANTI GOVERNMENT DEMONSTRATIONS
Sudan security forces disperse protesters near Khartoum
Sudan’s Bashir: Traitors took advantage of protests to vandalize
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Obama reassures Jewish groups on U.S.-Israel relationship
President Barack Obama, wearing a traditional Jewish yarmulke, speaks at Adas Israel Congregation in Washington, Friday May 22, 2015. (AP)
By Reuters Washington Friday 28 August 2015
President Barack Obama has reassured U.S. Jewish groups on Friday that the U.S.-Israel relationship is strong, despite differences over the nuclear deal with Iran, and called for more talks between the two governments on security cooperation.
"As soon as this particular debate is over, my hope is that the Israeli government will immediately want to rejoin conversations that we started long before about how we can continue to improve and enhance Israel's security in a very troubled neighborhood," Obama said during a webcast focused on the international nuclear agreement.
Obama said Washington and Israel have been in talks "for months" about getting security talks back on track, and those talks could include the next-generation missile defense and improved intelligence.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been a fierce critic of the nuclear deal, in which six world powers agreed to ease economic sanctions against Iran in exchange for Tehran curtailing its nuclear program.
Netanyahu's government, and some U.S. pro-Israel groups, have lobbied fiercely against the nuclear agreement, potentially a core foreign policy achievement of Obama's presidency if successful.
Members of Congress have until September 17 to vote on a "resolution of disapproval" of the nuclear agreement. If it passes, and survives Obama's veto, it could cripple the deal by eliminating Obama's ability to waive many U.S. sanctions.
U.S. Republicans are largely united against the agreement, and have allied themselves with Netanyahu's government against it. They angered the White House earlier this year by inviting the Israeli leader to address Congress without consulting the administration.
Obama said the U.S. commitment to Israel is "sacrosanct and it is non-partisan."
He added, "Everybody keep in mind that we're all pro-Israel ... We have to make sure that we don't impugn people's motives even as we have what is a very serious debate."
Obama sends Iran deal to wary Congress, Israel urges rejection
Israel and America: A tale of two Obamas
Obama: nuclear deal not predicated on Iran recognizing Israel
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WATCH: John Kerry speaks out on Qatar crisis, Saudi corruption crackdown
Kerry is the highest-ranking member of the US Democratic Party to weigh-in on the ongoing dispute. (Chatham House)
Joseph Hammond, Special to Al Arabiya English Wednesday 08 November 2017
Former US Secretary of State John Kerry offered support for Saudi Arabia in its ongoing dispute with Qatar in a speech in London on Tuesday. He also praised Riyadh’s efforts to take on Saudi corruption.
Kerry is the highest-ranking member of the US Democratic Party to weigh-in on the ongoing dispute.
“[Saudi Arabia] together with the Emiratis and others they are taking a very firm stand against the extremism that in its duplicitous form has been allowed to play a game out there. That’s part of what this challenge with Qatar is about,” Kerry said.
Kerry served as America’s top diplomat from 2013 to 2017 during President Obama’s second term in office. Kerry was also the Democratic Party’s nominee in the 2004 presidential election, which he lost to Republican President George W. Bush who was re-elected.
Kerry was the featured speaker at a lunchtime event at Chatham House, London based international affairs think tank. Kerry appeared at the event which discussed the Iranian nuclear deal alongside British diplomat Baroness Cathy Ashton, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
“I have great respect frankly for what the Crown Prince in Saudi Arabia and King Salman are trying to do to move Saudi Arabia,” Kerry said at an event in London in reference to the Vision 2030 and recent crackdown on corruption launched by the Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.
Kerry made clear he has no illusions about how much work such an effort will take. “It’s a huge lift folks, huge challenge to try to change those societies,” he said.
Kerry’s words appeared to echo a two-part Twitter message sent hours earlier by US President Donald Trump. who is in Tokyo, Japan as part of a diplomatic trip to East Asia.
“I have great confidence in King Salman and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, they know exactly what they are doing ... Some of those they are harshly treating have been “milking” their country for years!,” the president tweeted.
Kerry also offered his view that the Qatar dispute was tied to the issue of extremism in the region. “It's not just about two nations squabbling. It’s about a bigger vision of where we are going and whether we are going to stop extremism,” he said.
Those remarks differed markedly from recent statements by his successor Secretary of State Rex Tillerson who has notably differed with President Trump in trying to adjudicate the Qatar dispute rather than take sides.
However, Kerry offered criticism of Trump elsewhere in the speech.
The London event was focused on the future of 2015 Iranian nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Kerry, an architect of that agreement, criticized Trump’s policies regarding the nuclear deal and suggested American credibility was at stake.
“The North Koreans were always interested in the Iran negotiations, they used to turn up to where the meetings were being held. If the US pulls out now it will send a message to the world that it cannot keep to its commitments,” Kerry said.
Ex-editor of Doha News speaks out on Qatar ‘suppressing independent voices’
Bin Laden documents: New secrets revealed linking Qatar and al-Qaeda
Documents show Bin Laden ordered his son to ditch Iran and head to Qatar
Bahrain FM: Qatar aims to weaken, undermine GCC
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After several days of counting votes, major media outlets have just announced that the American people have elected Joe Biden as the next president of the United States. We offer our congratulations to President-elect Biden and to Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. We will advocate and hope that a Biden Administration opens the door to a new era of immigration policies, rooted in human dignity, justice, fairness, and equality for all people. We commend President-elect Biden for his pledges to end the Migrant Protection Protocols, protect DREAMers, and support for a pathway to citizenship for all undocumented people in the United States.
For the last four years, people across our country, including you, have consistently rejected hateful, anti-immigrant rhetoric by standing alongside our clients and immigrants across the country. In this election, as every single vote is counted, your voices are being heard.
Yet even as we look to the future with hope, unfortunately nothing changes for our clients today. The legal and social needs of people in immigration detention continue, and people in immigration detention still need your help. While we are hopeful for the future, the results of this election do not mean immediate change for the tens of thousands of people in immigration detention across the country or the tens of thousands of asylum seekers trapped in Mexico. We are also working hard to address the many destructive changes to law and policy that have deeply affected asylum seekers, children, and all immigrants during this administration. It will take time and much advocacy to make change, and the Florence Project is dedicated to this fight.
Your support is as critical now as ever before, so that we can both continue to serve every single one of our clients and demand better immigration policy. Through six presidential administrations, the Florence Project’s work has continued, and we will be here as long as there are people who need our help.
And, while the road ahead may be long, this is an exciting moment. We are eager to shift our focus to holding our new government accountable to the promises they have made: not only to roll back the current administration’s attacks on immigrants but also to dismantle the grave injustices in an immigration system built on racism, oppression, and violence. A new administration brings the opportunity to advocate for better immigration policy and a more humane system than we have ever had before. Your support and advocacy are critical to building a brighter future.
Thank you for joining us in creating a better world.
The Florence Project2020-11-07T12:23:26-07:00November 7th, 2020|News and Events|
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Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison
From the Historic Bridgetown World Heritage inscription:
As one of the earliest established towns with a fortified port in the Caribbean network of military and maritime-mercantile outposts of the British Atlantic, Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison was the focus of trade-based English expansion in the Americas. By the 17th century, the fortified port town was able to establish its importance in the British Atlantic trade and became an entrepôt for goods, especially sugar, and enslaved persons destined for Barbados and the rest of the Americas.
Historic Bridgetown’s irregular settlement patterns and 17th Century street layout of an English medieval type, in particular, the organic serpentine streets, supported the development and transformation of creolized forms of architecture, including Caribbean Georgian.
Historic Bridgetown’s fortified port spaces were linked along the Bay Street corridor from the historic town’s center to St. Ann’s Garrison. The property’s natural harbor, Carlisle Bay, was the first port of call on the trans-Atlantic crossing and was perfectly positioned as the launching point for the projection of British imperial power, to defend and expand Britain’s trade interests in the region and the Atlantic World. Used as a base for amphibious command and control, the garrison housed the Eastern Caribbean headquarters of the British Army and Navy. Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison participated not only in the international trade of goods and enslaved persons but also in the transmission of ideas and cultures that characterized the developing colonial enterprise in the Atlantic World.
My visit to Barbados was far shorter than I had hoped and my visit to this World Heritage site was also not all it could have been. My time in Barbados happened to overlap the Crop Over festival which is the biggest celebration of the year in the country. Normally, that would be a great thing, except that it screwed up my flights in and out of Barbados. I had a very tight deadline and several islands I had to visit, so my stay in Barbados ended up only being 36 hours.
Most of Bridgetown was shut down so there wasn’t much to see in the city. I ended up visiting the garrison, which is a major part of the site and wasn’t really that impressed. Today the garrison is horse track and the buildings surrounding it weren’t that impressive.
I think Bridgetown is worthy of a return visit at some point in the future. There is a big chunk of the site that I didn’t get to see because of the circumstances of my visit.
The Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison is a cultural UNESCO World Heritage Site in Barbados. It was inscribed in 2011 as a colonial and urban landscape site. The World Heritage Site is primarily focused on the 17th-century British colonial city.
The Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison encompasses the historic old town, along with the port and former garrison. The garrison was once the headquarters of the British Navy in the region. Bridgetown also served as the spot for the exchange of goods and slaves. Hence, it added to the cultural significance of this site.
About Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison
The Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison is a historical site and landmark. All of the components to this World Heritage Site belong to the city of Bridgetown in Barbados. There are two major components to this site: Bridgetown and “The Garrison”.
The Historic Bridgetown
Bridgetown is the capital and largest city of Barbados. It is commonly referred to as ‘The City’, or simply as ‘Town’. As of 2014, the city has a population count of 110,000.
During the 17th century, the city came under the rule of the British Empire and there an English settlement was developed. During this time, Bridgetown was developed into the same street layout as many of the English medieval market towns. The city is characterized by its alley configuration and narrow serpentine street.
The Bridgetown Port played an important role in the formation of the history of this city. This port served as an entry for cargo ships and cruises. In fact, it serves as a major hub in the Eastern Caribbean for shipments from all over the world. This port was part of the reason why the Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison was named as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Garrison Historic Area
The Garrison Historic Area, also known as “The Garrison” forms the other half of the UNESCO site, Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison. This is a small district that encompasses the Garrison Historic Area that is located 2 miles south of Heroes Square. It is located within the city of Bridgetown in Barbados.
The area consists of a historic horse race track within a 30-acre parade ground known as Garrison Savannah. Aside from this historic race track, there are a few other historic buildings within the area including the barracks for military personnel.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Garrison served as the base and headquarters for the British West Indies Regiment. George Washington, who was the future President and leader of the American Revolution, stayed at the Bush Hill section of The Garrison for 6 weeks to be with his sick brother during the mid-18th century. Today, this building is commemorated as the ‘George Washington House’.
There are more historic buildings that are part of the protected area Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison, such as the main guardhouse, clock tower, Barbados Museum, and the Barbados National Cannon Collection.
Visit my complete list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Barbados.
Gary Arndt
Gary has been traveing the world since 2007. His travels have taken him to over 200 countries and territories and 400 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
He is a 3x Lowell Thomas Award winner and a 3x North American Travel Photographer of the Year.
Read More About Gary
Categories Barbados, World Heritage Sites Post navigation
1 thought on “Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison”
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Akehi Kazuma, PhD
Assistant Professor, Kinesiology & Sport Sciences
Member, Great Plains IDeA-CTR
Dive into the research topics where Akehi Kazuma is active. These topic labels come from the works of this person. Together they form a unique fingerprint.
Torque Medicine & Life Sciences
Soccer Medicine & Life Sciences
Football Medicine & Life Sciences
Leg Medicine & Life Sciences
Muscles Medicine & Life Sciences
Hip Medicine & Life Sciences
Sports Medicine & Life Sciences
Ankle joint angle and lower leg musculotendinous unit responses to cryotherapy
Akehi, K., Long, B. C., Warren, A. J. & Goad, C. L., Sep 1 2016, In: Journal of strength and conditioning research. 30, 9, p. 2482-2492 11 p.
Relationship between Selected Strength and Power Assessments to Peak and Average Velocity of the Drive Block in Offensive Line Play
Jacobson, B. H., Conchola, E. C., Smith, D. B., Akehi, K. & Glass, R. G., Aug 1 2016, In: Journal of strength and conditioning research. 30, 8, p. 2202-2205 4 p.
Dorsiflexion, plantar-flexion, and neutral ankle positions during passive resistance assessments of the posterior hip and thigh muscles
Palmer, T. B., Akehi, K., Thiele, R. M., Smith, D. B., Warren, A. J. & Thompson, B. J., May 1 2015, In: Journal of Athletic Training. 50, 5, p. 467-474 8 p.
Articular Range of Motion
Reliability of panoramic ultrasound imaging in simultaneously examining muscle size and quality of the hamstring muscles in young, healthy males and females
Palmer, T. B., Akehi, K., Thiele, R. M., Smith, D. B. & Thompson, B. J., Mar 1 2015, In: Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology. 41, 3, p. 675-684 10 p.
The identification of fall history using maximal and rapid isometric torque characteristics of the hip extensors in healthy, recreationally active elderly females: A preliminary investigation
Palmer, T. B., Thiele, R. M., Williams, K. B., Adams, B. M., Akehi, K., Smith, D. B. & Thompson, B. J., Jul 24 2015, In: Aging Clinical and Experimental Research. 27, 4, p. 431-438 8 p.
Contact Akehi Kazuma, PhD
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Capital Ideas: Social Responsibility and the Marketplace
If there is a core to the Miliband project, it is surely the vision of a more responsible, productive and equitable form of capitalism. The limits of New Labour’s approach – to abandon the search for an alternative political economy and...
A Convenient Truth
Since the 1980s, progressive politics has been rudderless. Having lost its vision of how to create a qualitatively better society for everyone, radical politics has lacked idealism, a sense of purpose and the ability to inspire. As a result, politicians...
Labour's Britain: The case for more public ownership
Tony Blair portrayed himself as a non-ideological, pragmatic leader whose mantra was that he supported ‘what worked’. Unfortunately this wasn’t true.
During the debate on the privatisation of air traffic control he told me, in a private meeting, that however strong...
Review: Shredded – Inside RBS, the bank that broke Britain
Last month I met up with author Ian Fraser to discuss his must-read new book Shredded – Inside RBS, the Bank that Broke Britain.
Shredded, which documents the rise and fall of RBS, is a gripping story that every British taxpayer...
Living on borrowed time? The vital data that everyone is ignoring
The UK reached a significant macroeconomic anniversary at the end of last year: the country's consecutive deficit on the current account turned 30 years old. Once was the time when ‘balance of payments’ issues of this kind mattered politically. But...
Human rights should be as important as trade for UK foreign policy
Back during his first few months in Number 10, David Cameron committed to “a more commercial foreign policy”, “placing our commercial interests at the heart of our foreign policy”. But to what extent is this compatible with the foreign secretary’s...
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20 Gruesome Facts About Automotive Accidents
1Chris Trokey and Dr. Michael Shannon
A doctor named Dr. Michael Shannon saved the life of a premature baby (Chris Trokey). 30 years later Chris, who was a paramedic was the First responder to an accident, saved the Dr.'s life that had saved him.
2. In 1985, a 17-year old named George Lamson Jr. was ejected from a plane upon crash (Galaxy Airlines Flight 203) and landed upright in his seat in the middle of a street. He was the only survivor.
3. The Japan Air 123 accident was the deadliest single-aircraft crash of all time. The crew could not control the plane so they used thrust to go up and down and differential trust to turn. It crashed after 32 minutes. No simulation reconstruction held out as long as the crew did.
4. While shooting Resident Evil there was an accident that injured 16 people. First responders to the scene thought there was a catastrophe and had trouble assessing the injuries due to the victims' zombie costumes.
5. Out of 262 Blue Angels pilots, 26 have been killed during training or show accidents, giving the job a 10% fatality rate.
6Hugh Trenchard
Hugh Trenchard, a British soldier in the Boer War, was shot in the chest and spine, becoming partially paralyzed. He took up bobsledding as a hobby, and after a major accident regained use of his legs.
7. A college student named Derek Kieper wrote against seat belt laws, saying they are "intrusions on individual liberties" and that he won't wear one. He died in a car crash, and his 2 passengers survived because they were wearing seatbelts.
8. In 1886, 3 people were killed and many more injured in a Texas train company's publicity stunt. They had invited the public to watch two of their trains crash head-on into one another at full speed, promising a good show.
9. The 1977 University of Evansville Men's Basketball Team was killed in a plane crash. One player didn't make the trip due to an illness. He was killed in a car wreck 2 weeks later.
10. Philosopher Bertrand Russell, while aboard a flight in Norway, asked the flight crew to seat him in the smoking section, claiming that "If I cannot smoke, I should die." The plane later crash landed into a bay, drowning everybody in the non-smoking section.
11Peace Pilgrim
A woman named Peace Pilgrim walked across the US continuously for 28 years, only to be killed in an automobile accident while being driven to a speaking engagement about her travels.
12. In 2004, a $300,000 diamond was lost in an F1 crash. The diamond was attached to the car to promote Ocean's 12 and was never recovered from the crash.
13. The MGM lion Jackie was in a plane crash and survived on sandwiches.
14. In 2010, a plane crashed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, killing 20 people, because everyone onboard ran to one end of the plane and it became severely imbalanced. They were fleeing a crocodile that escaped confinement. The croc survived the crash.
15. If a person has had part of their body crushed in an accident and trapped for more than 15 minutes, you should not free them without medical personnel on the scene. Crushed muscles break down into toxic byproducts, and releasing the pressure lets these flow into the body, killing the person.
16Frane Salek
There was a man named Frane Salek who survived a train derailment, a door coming off of an airplane, a bus crash, a fiery car, and two car accidents only to later win the lottery.
17. Maurice Wilson in 1934 died in an attempt to climb Mount Everest by flying halfway around the world, crash-landing on the mountain, and then walking to the summit despite having no experience in either mountaineering or aviation.
18. In 1989, a MiG-23 pilot mistakenly ejected on take off from Poland, and the aircraft continued flying 560 miles on autopilot only to crash into a house in Belgium killing a teenager.
19. Kursk was a Russian submarine that sank in August of 2000 due to an accident involving poorly maintained torpedoes. None of the crew survived due to old, poorly maintained Russian rescue equipment and the Russian Navy's refusal to accept Western aid.
20. Robert Patrick (the guy who plays T-1000 in Terminator 2) was once involved in a boating accident and he swam for 3 hours to get help for others.
50 Useful Facts That Might Save Your Life One Day In A Survival Situtation
50 Random Facts List #232
35 Obscure and Interesting ‘Firsts’ You Should Know About
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GSA's Murphy releases transition funds to Biden
By Adam Mazmanian
GSA Administrator Emily Murphy, shown here at a 2018 congressional hearing, on Nov. 23 formally ascertained Joe Biden to be the apparent winner of the 2020 presidential election.
More than two weeks after Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election by the Associated Press, the General Services Administration is releasing $7.3 million in transition funding and making other resources available to the president-elect's team.
Under the law governing presidential transitions, GSA Administrator Emily Murphy is responsible for making an "ascertainment" of the winner based on publicly available information in advance of the certification of official results from states and in advance of the actual Electoral College vote. This ministerial authority allows for the incoming administration to set up shop inside agencies, communicate with federal officials and use federal computer networks and cybersecurity resources.
Murphy had come under fire from the Biden campaign, congressional Democrats and even some Republicans for not moving faster to release the transition resources, and she was accused of bowing to pressure from President Donald Trump, who has not conceded his election loss and who is pursuing increasingly quixotic legal battles in an effort to overturn election results.
"Contrary to media reports and insinuations, my decision was not made out of fear or favoritism," Murphy wrote in a letter addressed to Biden and released by GSA's Office of Strategic Communication. "Instead, I strongly believe that the statute requires that the GSA Administrator ascertain, not impose, the apparent president-elect. Unfortunately, the statute provides no procedures or standards for this process, so I looked to precedent from prior elections involving legal challenges and incomplete counts. "
Trump, however, took some responsibility for the move. In a series of tweets he stated his intention to continue to contest the results of the election but stated that, "in the best interest of our Country, I am recommending that Emily and her team do what needs to be done with regard to initial protocols, and have told my team to do the same."
Murphy indicated the timing of the move was dictated by "recent developments involving legal challenges and certification of election results," which is likely a reference to the failure of Trump's legal team to challenge the results of the Pennsylvania vote and the certification of election results by Michigan.
In her letter, Murphy stated she, her family, staff and her pets were subjected to threats "in an effort to coerce me into making this decision prematurely."
Murphy also noted that there are gaps in how the Presidential Transition Act of 1963 and its amendments are meant to function, and GSA is poorly situated to be the agency with the authority to set presidential transitions in motion.
"I do not think that an agency charted with improving federal procurement and property management should place itself above the constitutionally-based election process. I strongly urge Congress to consider amendments to the Act," she wrote.
The move came after statements from lawmakers urging ascertainment have grown increasingly heated.
In the same hour that Murphy's letter to Biden was released by GSA, House Majority Whip Rep James Clyburn (D-S.C.) stated that the refusal to release transition funds would lead to preventable COVID-19 deaths.
"Your refusal to follow the law when the winner is so clearly apparent would be a threat to American constitutional democracy under any circumstances, but you’re your refusal to do so at the height of a pandemic that has already killed more than 250,000 Americans is a direct threat to American lives," Clyburn wrote.
Early comments from lawmakers suggest that members may not be in a forgiving mood about what they see as a long-delayed decision.
"It should not have taken the ire of Congress and the American public to convince Administrator Murphy to do the right thing," Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), the chairman of the Government Operations Subcommittee of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. "Her actions were dangerous and Congress must ensure it never happens again. Now that she has belatedly begun the transition, I urge GSA to work expeditiously to make sure the Biden team has the resources to which they are entitled."
Adam Mazmanian is executive editor of FCW.
Before joining the editing team, Mazmanian was an FCW staff writer covering Congress, government-wide technology policy and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Prior to joining FCW, Mazmanian was technology correspondent for National Journal and served in a variety of editorial roles at B2B news service SmartBrief. Mazmanian has contributed reviews and articles to the Washington Post, the Washington City Paper, Newsday, New York Press, Architect Magazine and other publications.
Click here for previous articles by Mazmanian. Connect with him on Twitter at @thisismaz.
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Kings of Colorado
By: David E. Hilton
Reviewed by: Ellen Feld
It isn’t often that a debut novel grabs readers with such intensity that they can’t put the book down until the last page has been read. But if you read Kings of Colorado (and I highly recommend that you do!), you’ll be up late at night, unable to stop. This is a gripping, haunting, suspenseful tale that pulls at the very heart of the reader.
William Sheppard, at 62, has just lost his job and is cleaning out his desk and such, when he sees the aftermath of a horse trailer vs. Land Rover accident. A white mare is trapped inside the flipped trailer and Sheppard comes to its aid as it lies dying. The horrific accident brings memories of Will’s childhood, a childhood he has tried to hide away in the back of his mind, flooding to the forefront. In an attempt to deal with the years he spent at Swope Ranch Boys’ Reformatory in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, he begins to write his story. Those words make up the bulk of Kings of Colorado.
Will Sheppard grew up in Chicago, in an abusive home, where his drunken father beat him and his mother on an almost daily basis. One day, after his father has broken his mother’s arm and is continuing his rampage, Will stabs him with his pocketknife. While his father lives, Sheppard is sentenced to two years at the reformatory.
Swope Reformatory is hidden deep in the mountains of Colorado, far from anything Will has known. It’s a working ranch, where mustangs are brought in, broke to saddle, and sold to local ranchers. Most of the boys are given simple, but physically demanding tasks, such as mucking stalls and mending fences. Only a few select boys are elevated to the rank of “breaker” – the title given to just a dozen or so boys who break the horses.
On Will’s first day, he’s subjected to a pounding by one of the other boys, a custom handed out to each newcomer. Badly beaten, he is taken to the infirmary, where he meets one of just a handful of friends, Miss Little, the reformatory’s nurse. Will soon has a small band of friends, Coop, Mickey, and Benny, and an enemy, Silas Green. With his friends he plays cards most nights, does chores and tries to stay away from Silas, a teen who has some serious behavior issues. The staff is, for the most part, brutal and uncaring and together with Silas, make Will’s life a living hell.
As the story continues, Will, without permission, takes on the task of training Reaper, a rogue mustang who he fears will be shot. At the same time, he does his best to avoid Silas, without much success. The tension continues to build and comes to a gripping conclusion deep in the mountains as the boys search for some runaway horses.
While it may sound cliché, Kings of Colorado is a story that grabs you from page one. The author masterfully draws the reader into the world of a group of teen boys, and their relationships with each other. The bonds the boys share, their struggles, and the innocence lost within the landscape of the reformatory school are mesmeric. Early on in the book Will tells the reader, “Horses came and went, delinquent boys came and went. The boys broke the horses, Swope Reformatory broke the boys,” (pg. 25), and within the pages of this story, we see just how innocence is lost as Will and his friends are slowly transformed. While sad, it is also quite touching and riveting.
Quill says: Suspenseful, absorbing and heart-wrenching, this was the best book I’ve read in a very long time. Don’t start this book in the evening, because if you do, you’ll be up all night reading!
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Dig it?
Resurrection 3/8/20
"Life and Buttholes are Fleeting" 1/31/15
"World War B" 10/14/14
"The Little Butthole That Could" 10/6/14
"Living The Buttlife" 9/30/14
"Straight Outta Buttholes" 9/13/14
"Adventures with Comics" 9/3/14
"Drive By Pooting" 7/13/14
"Bob's Big Plan" 6/28/14
"Ode To Rhode Island" 6/19/14
"Butthole Tales" 6/4/14
"Bob Gets It Done" 5/17/14
"A Nuclear Winter" 5/14/14
"We've Come a Long Way..." 4/07/14
"Portrait of Bob" 3/9/14
"Into the Sea of Cows" 2/16/14
"Butthole Problems" 12/21/13
"The Mighty Lion" 8/5/13
"Buttholes at Work" 7/26/13
Frank n' Bob: Oral Hygiene Part 3
"Oh, You Pretty Things..." 7/22/13
"A Day in The Life" 7/04/13
"Buttholes" 6/19/13
"Frank's World" 6/9/13
"Smooth, Butthole..." 5/18/13
"Fussy Buttholes" 5/11/13
"Frank's Health Tips No. 4" 5/9/13
"Recreation, well desrved" 4/21/13
"Artistic License" 4/13/13
"Botanical Badass" 4/06/13
Anniversary Comic 4/03/13
"But Once a Year..." 3/30/13
"Old Man" 3/22/13
"Red Wine With Reggie" 3/09/13
"Order Up" 3/02/13
"The Big Bang" 2/27/2013
"Frank the Skeptic" 2/16/13
"My Cousin Jimmy" 2/10/13
"Aging Gracefully" 2/05/13
"The Finals" 1/26/13
"On Gun Control..." 1/20/13
"Bob's Wish" 1/12/13
"Butthole Existentialism" 1/06/13
"The Little Things.." 12/29/12
"Jingle Butts!" 12/22/12
"Frank gets Hammered" 12/15/12
"Space Disco?" 12/08/12
"Frank's Health Tips No. 3" 12/01/12
"A Better Moment" 11/24/12
"Never Too Old" 11/17/12
"Anatidaephobia" 11/10/12
"The Truth" 11/04/12
"Analyse von Bob" 10/27/12
"The Morning After" 10/20/12
"Here Comes The Sun...." 6/10/12
"NUB LAZERS!" 5/27/12
"Bob's Good Character" 10/06/12
"One Small Step.." 9/29/12
"Bob's Good Fortune" 9/22/12
"Frank's Health Tips No. 2" 9/15/12
"Queen" 8/18/12
"Take a look. It's in a book." 8/25/12
"Bob's World" 8/04/12
"Rocket Man" 7/29/12
"Grandpa's Wisdom" 7/14/12
"Alcohol is Dangerous" 6/30/12
"Bob's Naked Tea Party" 6/23/12
"You're My Best Friend!" 6/16/12
"Zombie Buttholes" 6/09/12
"Going to California?" 6/02/12
"Dungeon Crawling" 5/26/12
"The Doctor is Out" 5/19/12
"Car Pride" 5/12/12
"Classic Inspiration" 5/05/12
"Voodoo You Do" 4/28/12
"Ode to Indiana" 4/21/12
"High Five Low Blow" 4/14/12
"Why don't you have any fingers?" 4/03/12
2015 Comic
Life And Buttholes are Fleeting 1/31/15
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1868: Unwilling yet made her confession!
In the “Good Night” Don Bosco said: A few days ago a woman lay critically ill in a hospital but refused to make her confession. As her condition worsened, some friends suggested that she call for Don Bosco. “I don’t care who comes,” she replied. “I will not make my confession.” When I reached the hospital, they told her of my arrival. “I’ll make my confession when I’m well,” she replied. “But Don Bosco will make you well.” “Let him do that first, and then I’ll confess my sins.” Ignoring her words, I offered her a medal of Mary, Help of Christians, on a chain. To the surprise of the bystanders, she took it and put it around her neck… she blessed herself and then began her confession. Later she remarked joyfully: “I can’t believe it! I made my confession when I had set my heart against it”…Let us therefore put all our trust in Mary. (BM IX, 159)
1883: Geological dream
Don Bosco narrated to the General Chapter his dream-vision of 30th August. In the company of Luigi Colle the saint travelled by train through South America. Luigi gave him several geological data regarding the mineral contents of the Cord igliera mountains: a rich deposit of coal, lead, silver, gold etc. He gave also other astronomical and metereological information, as well as information regarding the flora and fauna of the country. All on a sudden Don Bosco found himself in the field of apostolate of the salesians. He saw Father Lago (ex-pharmacist, +14 March 1914) who was ripening green figs with a bath in blood and water. This indicated the work and sufferings the salesians would have to undergo. The vision contained also many prophecies, some of which have already been fulfilled. The sufferings of the missionaries referred to the martyrdom of some of them (29 August 1920, 25 February 1930 and 1 November 1934). Argentina started production of petroleum in 1907 and Brazil in 1952, precisely from the spot seen by Don Bosco in the dream. In 1901 the first metereological Observatory was .founded in the Salesian school of Cuyaba. Today it has several other subsidiary stations, all entrusted to salesians.
It may also be noted that Don Bosco had foreseen the new capital of Brazil, Brasilea, which was inaugurated in 1960. In fact, the first chapel of the new city is dedicated to Don Bosco. (cfr.MB XVI, 385)
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Gaw Capital
Gaw Capital is a private equity firm that is focused on real estate markets in China
Gaw Capital is a private equity firm that is focused on real estate markets in China. The firm was founded in 2005, by Kenneth Gaw, in Hong Kong, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong.
The firm is also interested in high-barrier-to-entry markets around the globe. The firm has made a total of seven investments and is interested in companies that provide real estate platforms, platforms for doctors, catering systems, social systems, rental management, investment opportunities, and platforms for SMEs. The firm invests in Series A through D rounds.
PROPZY is a company founded by Propzy Viet Nam.
Collaborative consumption
propzy.com, propzy.vn
Tencent Doctorwork
A Chinese healthcare company formed during the merger of Tencent Doctorwork and Trusted Doctors.
doctorwork.com
Presenting full video of chat with Gaw Capital president Kenneth...
Michelle Teo
The firm is planning a second fund targeting data centres in N Asia as well as Singapore and Indonesia.
gawcapital.com
A form of financing or funding for emerging companies. Investment on early-stage companies in exchange for equity in the companies they invest in.
Investment manager that makes investments in the private equity of operating companies
Private equity is a non-publicly traded source of capital from investors who seek to invest or acquire equity ownership in a company.
NeueHouse
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Aladdin – REVIEW
The much-anticipated live-action remake of Disney’s Aladdin is finally here! I can’t tell you how excited I was for this movie, there are so many new Disney releases this year; Dumbo, Toy Story 4, Star Wars, The Lion King etc. but Aladdin was the one I was waiting eagerly for! Myself and Lee went on the first preview night (22nd May in the U.K.) to see the new take on the movie and I can’t even put into words how much I loved it.
There’s been a lot of mixed reviews in the time leading up to movie’s release about whether it will do the original justice as well as a lot of people criticizing casting choices. Firstly, I personally think it’s important to watch it without comparison to the original film. I think comparing it to such an iconic and classic Disney movie is unfair to the cast and creatives that put so much hard work into the live-action remake. In terms of casting, I thought they got everything absolutely spot on. Will Smith was brilliant as the Genie and I think Robin Williams would have been proud at how much of a good job he did! Mena Massoud was pretty much born to play Aladdin, he had the same cheekiness and air about him to recreate the much-loved Disney character and honestly, if they were to have created a human being specifically to play Princess Jasmine, they still wouldn’t have been as perfect as Naomi Scott is for this role. Literally, everyone was INCREDIBLE. I’ll admit when I first saw the trailer I didn’t think that the guy playing Jafar seemed evil enough, but boy was I wrong. This casting is insane!
I really loved how the movie had echoes and nods towards the original film while still being a brand new standalone adaptation. I don’t think I could possibly fault anything about this movie. Some of my favourite things about it have to be the costumes, sets and choreography. I mean, if this movie doesn’t win awards then I no longer trust the judgement of the people who make the votes. I spent so much of the movie completely mesmerised by the costumes, longing to wear something as beautiful as that! I really liked that Jasmine’s iconic turquoise outfit made an appearance in the movie. I’ve always loved Middle-Eastern clothing, designs and patterns and this movie is in abundance of it. The colours are vibrant and the costumes and sets throw you straight into the story and make you wish Agrabah was a real place that you could visit- it’s visually stunning.
My absolute favourite thing about this movie though is the sense of female empowerment. Princess Jasmine in this adaptation is the Disney role model we’ve been waiting for. She is feisty, determined and headstrong, echoing the original character, but she is a natural leader in this version. She has such a love for her kingdom and the people within it and shows a clear understanding of what it takes to lead, despite Jafar trying to convince her otherwise (the misogynistic pig)
Naomi Scott (Princess Jasmine) completely steals the show with the new original song ‘Speechless’ – which just completely blew me away. The song was written by the iconic duo; Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (Dear Evan Hansen/The Greatest Showman) as well as the Disney legend that is Alan Menken. It tells how Jasmine is determined to let her voice be heard and that she won’t be silenced by anyone who tries to tell her otherwise. It is everything the world needs to hear in 2019.
I’m absolutely loving the path Disney is going down when it comes to female empowerment. It was apparent in the live-action retelling of Beauty and The Beast but Disney has seriously taken it up a notch in Aladdin. I know this is a big statement for me as Beauty and the Beast is my all-time favourite Disney classic, but I would go as far as saying I actually prefer the live-action retelling of Aladdin to the Beauty and the Beast remake. This movie completely captivated me.
The songs are incredible, I love the modern twists they’ve added to the classic songs. I was a little confused as to why they didn’t use some of the songs from the stage version of Aladdin but there were a few nods towards the show with the opening melody to ‘Proud Of Your Boy’ being used throughout the movie (each time I was secretly hoping that Aladdin would start singing it!) I just feel like there are so many amazing songs in the show that the movie could have definitely used, but ‘Speechless’ is so much more than anything we could have asked for.
There are so many similarities to the original film that I think even if you were to compare the two, I don’t think you would find a scene in the original movie that wasn’t in this one. They kept pretty much everything but added even more details to the storyline. As well as the many similarities the movie has to the original, I also loved all the little changes Disney made to the new version. I won’t spoil any for those of you who haven’t seen it yet, but there were a few things now that just make so much more sense. I loved the idea of the opening scene with the Mariner and his wife & children on the boat (although I guessed straight away who the wife was!) One thing that made me fall in love with the movie, even more, was one of the easter eggs I spotted in the scene with the maps. The Genie makes Fantasyland from Disney’s Magic Kingdom appear when Aladdin is trying to show Jasmine where Ababwa is. (I may or may not have squealed with joy a little bit) I can’t wait to try and spot even more easter eggs next time! One thing I will mention about the sets is that I didn’t think the cave of wonders was as extravagant as it possibly could have been but I suppose this helped set the slightly darker atmosphere of what was happening in the scene.
Last but not least, the choreography in this movie is amazing. The dance routines (particularly the one in the end credits) are just brilliant. For me, it’s one of those movies that make me wish I had the confidence (and the talent!) to be a performer. As I said, I really cannot fault a single thing about this movie. It is now one of my firm favourites for sure!
The sets, the costumes, the cast, the songs, the design, the acting – everything, and I mean EVERYTHING about this movie is just perfect.
You will laugh, you will cry (I know I did) and your heart will be warmed. I simply can’t put into words just how much I loved this movie, I can’t wait to see it again!
Rachael Lambert
Ooo in so excited to see it now although I’m still not sure about the cast but maybe I will change my mind
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« Peace and Global Citizenship in the Information Age, December 2003 |
| SOS From US Voters: Send International Election Inspectors in November 2004, February 2004 »
“Abolish the Nobel in Economics”, Many Scientists Agree! 2004
Syndicated Distribution to 400 Newspapers in Asia, Europe, Latin America and Africa in 27 Languages. For information on subscribing to INTERPRESS SERVICE(IPS),Rome, contact Pablo Pacientini, fax 390-6-4817877 or [email protected]. For permission to syndicate or reprint contact: Teddy Jefferson (IPS) New York, ph: 212-924-9102, fax: 212 924-9120
For InterPress Service
www.HazelHenderson.com
Copyright © Hazel Henderson, 2004
(Word Count 1046)
The widely-touted, so-called “Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics” isn’t a proper Nobel Prize at all. For many years, I and others have sought to correct this widespread error by reminding people of its actual name: The Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Science in Memory of Alfred Nobel. The Bank set up this $1 million prize in 1969, as I have held, in order to legitimize the economics profession as a science.
Since then, economists with their claims of knowing how to manage national economies, have wrought untold damage, from the “shock treatment” they advocated for Russia to their “Washington Consensus” formulas for economic growth (free trade, privatization, floating currencies, opening to global capital flows, etc), which contributed to financial instabilities and excessive debts. As I pointed out in “G-8 Economists in Retreat” (IPS, June 2003) economics is now being undermined by new research in many other scientific studies.
Now, in an exclusive interview with me, Peter Nobel, Alfred Nobel’s descendent, emphasized that “there is no mention in the letters of Alfred Nobel that he would appreciate a prize for economics. The Swedish Riksbank, like a cuckoo, has placed its egg in another very decent bird’s nest. What the Bank did was akin to trademark infringement – unacceptably robbing the real Nobel Prizes.” Nobel added, “Two thirds of these prizes in economics have gone to US economists, particularly of the Chicago School – to people speculating in stock markets and options. These have nothing to do with Alfred Nobel’s goal of improving the human condition and our survival – indeed they are the exact opposite.”
As this years Nobel Prizes were awarded last week, a number of scientists went public criticizing the mis-labeled “Nobel” Memorial Prize in Economics” as an embarrassment which is diminishing the value of all other Nobel Prizes. In an Op-Ed in Sweden’s main newspaper, Dagens Nyheter, December 10, 2004, Swedish mathematicians, Mans Lonnroth and Peter Jagers, a member of the Swedish Academy of Sciences, proposed that the prize in economics should either be broadened in scope or abolished. They reiterated similar criticisms of the economics prize by other mathematicians and physicists, because it is often given to economists who mis-use mathematics to claim that they have optimal ways of organizing societies. Lonnroth and Jagers cite this year’s economics prize, which was awarded to Finn E. Kydland and Edward C. Prescott as typical of this mis-use of mathematics.Prescott and Kydland’s work in a 1977 paper, describes a mathematical model which purports to show that this model can be used for guiding whole economies (and therefore, societies). The implication is that such political guidance is best left to economists rather than trusted to elected politicians. The statement of Sweden’s Royal Academy of Science, which selected Kydland and Prescott, states that “Already, in their 1977 article, the Laureates …..work has had a far-reaching impact on reforms carried out in many places (such as New Zealand, Sweden, Great Britain and the Euro area) aimed at legislated delegation of monetary policy decisions to independent central bankers.”
This is exactly what many democratically-elected legislators oppose .The Swedish Central Bank’s Prize in Economic Science, in its continuing subtle campaign to legitimate the economics profession as a “science”, still hopes to portray economics as politically neutral. It is precisely these claims as a science, clothed in apparent “value-free” objectivity and mathematical precision that has given economists their mystique and predominant role in public policy-making worldwide.
In my Politics of the Solar Age, published in Swedish in 1982 as False Priests, I documented the evolution of the economics profession and how it came to colonize other disciplines and dominate public policy in Chapter 8, “Three Hundred Years of Snake Oil”. I showed how the theories of economists were largely unprovable hypotheses — quite different from those in other hard sciences, which could be empirically verified or refuted. For example, the equations which guide spaceships to the moon or in constructing a bridge must be correct. Or the bridge will collapse and the spaceship self-destruct. On the other hand, economists’ so-called principles are mere concepts, which often conceal political or social ideologies behind smokescreens of fancy mathematics.
Other scientists joining the critical mass denouncing the Swedish Bank Prize include noted physicist, Prof. Dr. Hans Peter Durr, of the famed Max Planck Institute for Physics, who told me that “economics is not even bad science, it is incorrect in many of its basic assumptions”. I had previously asked Prof. Durr “how could such a scandalous mis-use of other sciences have continued unchallenged for over 40 years?” Durr replied that academic etiquette usually restrained scholars from other fields from straying into other disciplines, especially with such criticisms. Austrian physicist, systems theorist and best-selling author, Fritjof Capra told me that “The dimension of meaning, purpose, values and conflicts is critical to social reality. Any model of social organization that does not include this critical dimension is inadequate. Unfortunately, this is true for most theoretical models in economics today.”
Mathematician and chaos theorist, Prof. Ralph Abraham at the University of California, Santa Cruz adds, “The prize in economics should be broadened in line with the full spectrum of social sciences to which it belongs and it should be distanced from the Nobel awards, like the Fields Medals in mathematics.” Yet Peter Nobel maintains that economics is not a science. Riane Eisler, systems scientist and author of the best-seller, The Chalice and the Blade, agrees.
Psychologist, David Loye, author of Darwin’s Lost Theory of Love goes further and shows how Charles Darwin’s great work was co-opted in Victorian Britain to emphasize “the survival of the fittest” and justify class divisions and competition, which Darwin mentioned only briefly. This model of human nature was adopted by economists as their “rational economic man” who maximized his self-interest in competition with all others (still taught in economics). Darwin focused instead on the evolution of altruism, cooperation, bonding, sharing and trust as one of the bases of human success (for more, visit www.thedarwinproject.com)
It seems that a major scientific scandal is emerging, with historians of science including Robert Nadeau, author of The Non-Local Universe, and his devastating dismissal of economics as full of assumptions that have little basis in reality. Stay tuned!
HAZEL HENDERSON, author of Building a Win-Win World and other books, co-created with the Calvert group of socially-responsible mutual funds, the Calvert-Henderson Quality of Life Indicators (updated at www.Calvert-Henderson.com). She created the financial TV series, Ethical Marketplace, premiering on Public Broadcasting stations in the USA in January, 2005.
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Why Feminism
February 21, 2018 April 27, 2019 queerstudiesdenmark
It is not enough to inquire into how women might become more fully represented in language and politics. Feminist critique ought also to understand how the category of “woman”, the subject of feminism, is produced and restrained by the very structures of power through which emancipation is sought
(Butler 2008: 4)
Queer theoretician, philosopher, and professor in the Department of Comparative Literature and the Program of Critical Theory at University of California, Judith Butler was, among others, inspired by the French philosopher, existentialist and feminist, Simone De Beauvoir. In 1949 De Beauvoir asked the question: what is a woman? in her book The Second Gender and in relation to that question underlined the fact that, one is not born a woman – one becomes a woman:
No biological, psychological, or economic fate determines the figure that the human female presents in society; it is civilization as a whole that produces this creature, intermediate between male and eunuch, which is described as feminine (…) an Other
(De Beauvoir 1997: 295)
With this in mind, we want to present a shortened historic overview of what the term ‘feminism’ really is. Adding to that, we want to understand how feminism has affected the media, women’s sense of self, and the rights of women. Our point of origin for writing this, is, besides Butler’s admonition, inspired by Associate Professor in Culture, Media and Creative industries, Dr. Christina Scharff, who points out that the new, public, feminist debate lacks the input of academic knowledge. This results in an oversimplified debate and historically inaccurate information, which ultimately creates a negative image of second wave feminists, especially. Additionally, the trouble of the new ‘mainstream’ feminist approach leaves little room for queer theory, leaving them incapable of changing the heteronormative way in which we view the world. Scharff therefore calls for intersectional analysis, whereby we can acknowledge certain categories of identity such as ‘white’, ‘heterosexual’, and ‘upper class’ as oppressive factors in the life of minorities (Scharff 2013: 274).
More books like “Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls”, please!
What makes up the category of ‘woman’? How has she been defined in respect to the image of man? What happened when she actively started to take part and the fight for her own self definition? And what does the idea of women’s liberation actually mean?
We might be explaining the history of feminism in the United States, but we are of the understanding that feminism in the United States is connected to the general fight for equality in the Global North (Chakravarty & Mortensen 2016: 9).
Lecturer in history, Leigh Ann Wheeler, explains why it is important to look at women’s history. The understanding of gender roles and gender differences has changed drastically throughout history, which is why it is important to understand that our notion of history is constructed: it should never be seen as ‘natural’ or definitive. According to Wheeler, an understanding of women’s history can challenge and change the existing idea of gender roles dominating society today:
(…) it [women’s history] shows us that we (…) are products of history but we are also agents of history whether we are first ladies, movement leaders, homemakers, waitresses, factory workers, teachers or students. We are all making history, everyday
(Wheeler 2012: 14:40)
This is especially important, since history books today rarely mention women. Maria Perstedt, chief of ‘Kvindehistorisk Museum’ (Museum of the History of Women) in Umeå, Sweden, points to a survey in Sweden that indicates only 13% of the people mentioned in history books are women. In the 1800s (a period in which many history books were written) it was actively decided not to include experiences, actions, and knowledge that belonged to women. This is a problem to this day, since it reinforces the idea that men have always been in power, making it ‘natural’ and unquestionable (Perstedt 2015).
Since there is no agreement as to whether we can discuss waves of feminism or not, and if so, then how many, we use professor of history and chairwoman of Center for Gender Equity, Martha Ramptons’ notion. She talks about feminism as divided into four waves (Rampton 2015).
If you want to know more about the waves, check out these links:
First-Wave Feminism
Second-Wave Feminism
Third-Wave Feminism
Published by queerstudiesdenmark
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Ronda attractions
Spain, Europe
Ronda is a small Spanish town near Seville, which is squeezed on the edge of steep precipice, and its peculiar architecture attracts a lot of tourists. There located one of the most famous corrida stadiums in Spain, but the main tourist attraction of Ronda is the bridge spanning a narrow but very deep gorge.
At the first sight there is nothing special in the bridge, which length doesn’t exceed 40 meters. And only when you look down, you understand that the bridge pillars reach the height of hundreds of meters. On both sides of the precipice there are observation decks allowing to see the bridge in all its beauty. And to the left of the bridge there are several restaurants with the view of the bridge. And if you aren’t unwilling to go down along the gorge you can see the bridge from below. And only from there you can appreciate all its scale and beauty.
Many tourists go there to see corrida. Ronda school is one of the most famous in Spain. The shops of the city are filled with postcards of well-known toreadors, which are the idols of local public.
The best variant to visit Ronda is to go there for a day, to wander along the picturesque streets of the city, to have a dinner in a small restaurant with a view of the bridge, and then go to corrida in the evening. Ronda is in the immediate vicinity of such resorts as Costa del Sol and Seville. Alternatively, you can make a short stop, say for several hours, in Ronda on the way to Seville.
New Bridge in Ronda, which connects the Old and New Town
View of the bridge in Ronda from the bottom of the Tahoe gorge. The height of the bridge is 98 meters
When coming to the bridge from the Old Town one can`t see the depth of the gorge
Ronda bridge as viewed from the New City
Tahoe Gorge spanned with a bridge in Ronda
In Ronda many houses are built on the rocky cliffs
Ronda`s houses on the rocks at the height of several hundred meters
View of the Andalusia valley from the Ronda cliff
Rocks where the observation decks are located in the Old Town
Cliffs in Ronda as viewed from the path descending to the bottom of the gorge
The narrow streets between white houses in the old town
All houses in the old quarters Rhonda are painted white
Tahoe gorge
Bridge in Ronda
At the edge of the gorge in Ronda there are many restaurants where you can dine admiring the beauty of the city
Show more 6 photos
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On Singing
I've been enjoying Tarajia Morrell's blog The Lovage recently, especially her appreciation of Harry Belafonte and the documentary Sing Your Song:
He used his gifts to shrewdly foster change and connect leaders to the masses. He is stoic and steadfast, refusing to be diverted from his path toward justice. At age eighty, he still tirelessly works on behalf of youths and minorities to try to right the mistakes that humanity can’t seem to stop perpetuating.
This seems like a decent time to remark how much I love this video of Obama singing the opening lines of "Let's Stay Together." Everyone's seen it but here it is again:*
It's not just a good video because everyone loves Al Green, but also seems to mark a general thawing of the anxiety and disappointment surrounding Obama's presidency. It's not just that the Republican primaries have gone further off the deep end than even the most cynical lefty could have imagined (or hoped), it's that Obama seems to have reclaimed a confidence that was feared lost.
This is the kind of moment that cannot be scripted or acted. As he sings, he looks downward shyly. He loves Al Green - who doesn't? When the crowd applauds he looks at once surprised, appreciative, and embarrassed at the raucousness of their response. There's a difference between Obama's real smile and his "picture taken with a politician smile," and his sincerity is intoxicating. He briefly nods his head to the side in deference — a posture he rarely takes in public — to let the crowd know how much he's enjoying their reaction. Then the moment is over. He throws his shoulders back and reclaims his campaign persona, talking trash to his staff, an underrated staple of his stump speeches. Addressing Al Green in the audience: "Don't worry Rev, I can't sing like you, but I just wanted to show my appreciation."
That's the essence of leadership: "I can't do what you do, but I appreciate how well you do it."
*"Everyone's seen it but here it is again" is more or less my mission statement nowadays.
Jan 24, 2012 10:44:37 AM | Current Affairs
Is this the structure of New York City? I love this Straupian map made up of 10,000 NYC-based tweet locations on top of an Open Street Map rendering of New York City. A few quick observations: Staten Island gets cropped off! Lots of New Jersey though. I would...
Today’s News In Pictures A young Prince Fielder knew the future. I think this means the Giants are winning the Superbowl.
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Make telecom infra mandatory to get completion certificate for multi-storey complexes: R S Sharma
TRAI has started a dialogue with Urban Development Ministry to include telecom infrastructure as a necessary precondition for getting completion certificate in case of multi-storey complexes
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has started a dialogue with Urban Development Ministry to ensure that connectivity infrastructure is a necessary precondition for completion certificate in case of multi-storey complexes, its chairman RS Sharma informed.
“We do not have any kind of provision thus far to make telecom infrastructure inside the buildings as a pre-condition for giving completion certificate, so that is what we are going to do and we must tell you that Ministry of Urban Development has been very positive,” said Sharma addressing telecom industry representatives in a webinar on ‘Digital: The next revolution,’ hosted by ASSOCHAM.
He added, “So we are going to have this discussion and we are going to ensure that we incorporate in the National Building Code a separate chapter for prescribing (communication infrastructure) similar to how you prescribe electricity architecture.”
He further said that the cost of providing an infrastructure for seamless connectivity to every household in a colony comes to just about Rs 20 per sq. ft. “That will be a great USP for a builder to say that my building is completely telecom connectivity ready.”
The TRAI chairman also sought feedback from industry on how to perceive the standards to be and what is to be incorporated in the National Building Code.
Earlier he lamented at the RWAs charging money from the telecom service providers (TSPs) for allowing them to enter their premises. “The TSPs are coming and providing services in a non-discriminatory manner and not charging any premium from guys living in the multiplexes. This is a perverse arrangement going on.”
He added, “I do not think electricity or water companies would be charged, then why would somebody charge companies providing communication infrastructure. There are a lot of such aberrations that have happened over a period of time because we have not realized that connectivity is as important if not more as water pipes and electricity or the other kinds of common infrastructure required.”
Earlier in his address he said that in-building solutions have become extremely important in the current scenario because people working from home require robust connectivity.
“We are seeing huge problems in getting connectivity there, we have given multiple recommendations to ensure we have in-building solutions in place - tower companies should be able to establish in-building solutions which can be used by any of the service providers. Secondly, the telecom service providers should be prohibited from entering into any mutual agreements,” said Sharma.
He also noted that in the current scenario when every sector is going down and there is no sector in the economy which has not seen a huge dip but telecom is the only sector which has grown and which has huge growth potential.
The TRAI chairman complimented all telecom service providers for playing a heroic and stellar role by keeping the country connected during the pandemic.
He further said that the covid-19 pandemic has shown us that there are digital alternatives available to doing things physically. “I think contactless interfaces with machines are going to become very popular. Digital products will accelerate in this difficult time. However, connectivity being the most important issue, we need to fix that part as unfortunately we are not in a very good shape when it comes to connectivity.”
Impressing upon the need to have a more robust technology and the need to strengthen fixed line infrastructure, he said TRAI has given a number of suggestions to the government - one is to use cable television infrastructure to ensure they are delivered. “That recommendation is pending with the government. I hope they are going to make a decision on that. The Right of Way Policy 2016 has not given desired results because we need to communicate better with states which have the land, there are many recommendations which we have given highlighting that we need to have robust fixed-line connectivity.”
On the policy and regulation front, he said it has been recommended to the government to increase the role of infrastructure providers. “Recently we have given a very comprehensive recommendation because we believe that telecom space must attract new categories of players, it should not just remain limited to telecom service providers who are providing vertically integrated kind of stuff, they put the towers, fibre, network and then they provide services. We need to have a number of players in between and we need to actually do division of labour on a well thought out principal so as to improve the effectiveness and investments in the sector.”
He added, “So going ahead, we think the tower and IP companies they should play a very proactive role in terms of providing infrastructure for telecom sector, we have also put a lot of emphasis on sharing of this infrastructure, whether it is fibre, tower to improve the productivity and finally reduce the cost to the service providers.”
So, he further said, “We at policy front are trying to see that more and more investment comes into the sector and you have various layers. They are now going to float a paper on how to unbundle these layers from a service layer to network layer, infrastructure layer, so these are some of the thoughts and the whole idea is not to reduce somebody's role or undercut somebody but idea is how do you build an ecosystem in a sector where multiple players come and deliver.”
Other speakers included RS Sarda, Wireless CTO, Huawei India, Randeep Raina, CTO, Nokia India, Manoj Kumar Singh, CTO and CRO, Indus Towers, Eitan Koter, CEO, Vimmi, Israel and Jared Dougherty, AVP, External and Regulatory Affairs, AT&T Asia Pacific (Singapore).
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
RS Sharma
National Building Code
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Somalia: Haji Mohamed Hussein’s election as leader of SYL in 1957 put him ad odds with the government, his party and the Administering Authority. Brief Note
Mohamed I. Trunji
Haji Mohamed Hussein Hamud was one of the 13 founders in 1943 of what was then known as Somali Youth Club (SYC). When the SYC became a fully-fledged political party in 1947 with the name of Somali Youth League (SYL), Haji Mohamed was chosen as the Leader of the new party, a position he kept in successive years up to August 1952. In that year he left for Egypt to pursue higher education. Between 1952 and 1957, the leadership of the party was taken up in succession by Haji Farah Ali, Aden Abdulla and Abdirazak Haji, During his stay in Egypt, which lasted some five years, he used the political platform offered to him by the Egyptian government in Cairo, then under the dictatorship of Colonel Nasser, to accuse the Somali government of being too close to the West, and to Italy in particular, and doing allegedly little to realize the national goal of creating Greater Somalia. This hostile propaganda against the Somali government, at variance with the official party policy conducted in a foreign country, predictably annoyed the ruling party and represented a source of embarrassment to the Somali government and to the Italian Trusteeship Administration alike.
Haji Mohamed Hussein Elected Leader of the Party in Absentia
In spite of his maverick attitude, referred to above, Haji Mohamed was elected president of the party in 1957 while he was still in Egypt. The first friction between the central committee of the party and the newly elected president came to the surface immediately when, after his election, he was instructed to return to Mogadiscio. He replied by saying that he needed some time to take examinations in the studies he had been pursuing and also that he would like to go to Syria and Bahrain and to other countries in the Middle East on behalf of the party in order to get funds, etc. He was granted only the time absolutely necessary to take his examinations (a month or little more), and was required to retake the oath of office and become president before going anywhere, in the name of the party or of Somalia. Not only did Haji Mohamed not return to Somalia until December 4, 1958, four months after he had been elected, but contrary to the party line, he also travelled to the countries he had said he would visit. “He finally arrived on December 4, the day after the Prime Minister and the President of the Legislative Assembly had left for Addis Abeba, to receive an uproarious welcome from a clearly organized crowd in which anti-American banners were prominent.” (TNA FO 371/125676 monthly summary October and November 1957)
Available records indicate that, prior to his departure for Egypt, his attitude towards the new Italian administration (Afis) had seemed to be showing all signs of moderation and openness. In fact, on May 26, 1950, during an official reception held at the official mansion of the chief administrator to welcome Giuseppe Brusasca, Undersecretary of Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Haji Mohamed, speaking on behalf of his party, made the following remarks: “Your Excellency, on behalf of the Lega dei Giovani Somali, I have the honour to extend to you our most sincere welcome to Somalia anticipating that your visit will mark the beginning of an era of peace and understanding between Somalia and AFIS. Your Excellency, the Lega would like to point out that it has as its prime objective the interest of Somalia and the Somalis and consequently AFIS may fully count on the Lega’s support in all what is being done for the interest of the territory. Once more, you are welcome.” (Corriere della Somalia, Maggio 27, 1950)
By the time Haji had returned from Egypt, the country had changed a great deal. There was a functioning government, led by his own party, in charge of the domestic affairs of the territory; his party held the majority of seats in the Legislative Assembly; the process of Somalization had gone faster than many had predicted and the political atmosphere between AFIS and the SYL party was one of co-operation, with a focus on a smooth transfer of power even ahead of the date originally sanctioned by the United Nations.
Haji Mohamed had returned from Egypt a much-changed person, at odds not only with the Administering Authority, but also with members of his own party who had elected him as their leader. “His 5 years in Egypt had left a deep mark on him and, for the time being, he was unable to see things except through Egyptian-made glasses,” (TNA FO 371/131462, of March 1958). The newly elected president of the SYL was clearly out of step with the mainstream of party politics. The tense relations between the party and its leader have eventually brought about the expulsion of the latter from the Party in May 1958.
The Cabinet split on Clan Line
On his return to Mogadiscio, Haji Mohamed continued launching violent tirades against the government and the Administering Authority in the same way he used to do in Egypt, putting a strain on the unity of the Cabinet Taking advantage of the absence of the Prime Minister and the President of the Legislative Assembly, on mission abroad, Haji Mohamed demanded that Acting Prime Minister, Sheikh Ali Giumale, Minister of Social Affairs, consult him on all State affairs. The Acting Prime Minister refused to have anything to do with him and, after consultations with Haji Farah (Minister of Economic Affairs) and Mohamoud “Juju” (Minister of General Affairs), went to see Haji Mussa Bogor, the Minister of the Interior, to enlist his support against interference from Haji Mohamed. The Minister of the Interior pleading sickness, declined to intervene, and asked not to be disturbed, “although he had spent three hours the previous evening with Haji Mohamed”, (TNA FO 371/131459 of December 23, 1957). Sheikh Ali then called on Acting Administrator, Dr. Piero Franca to tender his resignation; the Ministers of Economic Affairs and the Minister of General Affairs followed suit, albeit reluctantly. Franca asked them to stay on in their posts until the Prime Minister and the President of the Legislative Assembly returned to Somalia.
On returning to Mogadiscio, the President of the Legislative Assembly Aden Abdulla hastened to meet with the Minister of the Interior, who had been ‘hiding in hospital’ since 3 December, and demanded his written promise of support for government policy, a request the Minister rejected. According to British sources in Mogadiscio, the Minister, at the last minute, decided against travelling with the President of the National Assembly and the Prime Minister to Addis Abeba at the invitation of His Majesty the Emperor of Ethiopia, giving medical reasons as a justification for not showing up.
The Prime Minister, on his part, demanded and obtained loyalty pledges from his other ministers; all agreed except the Minister of Finance, Salad Abdi, a relative of Haji Moussa’s. Haji Moussa came under pressure to resume his duties or tend his resignation; bur he preferred not to take action. The Prime Minister, reacting to the attitude of the two ministers (Salad Abdi and Haji Moussa) took personal control of the internal and financial affairs and, without consulting the Minister of the Interior, published in the official newspaper an order for the dismissal or transfer to remote provinces of all prefects and sub-prefects known to be sympathetic to Haji Mohamed and Minister Haji Mussa (TNA FO 371/131459, December 23, 1957) The Prefect of Benadir, Hassan Nour Elmi, was transferred to Migiurtinia Province (now Punt Land), while Nour Ahmed ‘Castelli’, Prefect of Lower Juba, was put on reserve.
It was not easy, but persuaded by a group of traditional chiefs closed to him, Haji Moussa finally agreed to resume his duties, provided there was no interference in his department by the Prime Minister and that the Prefects of Kisimayo and Mogadiscio whose transfer to other posts had been published in the press were allowed to remain in their posts. The Prime Minister ceded on these points and went to inform the Acting Administrator that the crisis had been resolved. However, in despite of that the crisis have been put to rest nevertheless, as we will report in separate writing, the relations between the Prime Minister and the Minister continued to deteriorate leading eventually to the Minister being relieved of his post in 1959.
M. Trunji
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Site of Warter Augustinian Priory
Date of most recent amendment:
East Riding of Yorkshire (Unitary Authority)
Warter
SE 86978 50487
From the time of St Augustine's mission to re-establish Christianity in AD 597 to the reign of Henry VIII, monasticism formed an important facet of both religious and secular life in the British Isles. Settlements of religious communities, including monasteries, were built to house communities of monks, canons (priests), and sometimes lay-brothers, living a common life of religious observance under some form of systematic discipline. It is estimated from documentary evidence that over 700 monasteries were founded in England. These ranged in size from major communities with several hundred members to tiny establishments with a handful of brethren. They belonged to a wide variety of different religious orders, each with its own philosophy. As a result, they vary considerably in the detail of their appearance and layout, although all possess the basic elements of church, domestic accommodation for the community, and work buildings. Monasteries were inextricably woven into the fabric of medieval society, acting not only as centres of worship, learning, and charity, but also, because of the vast landholdings of some orders, as centres of immense wealth and political influence. They were established in all parts of England, some in towns and others in the remotest of areas. Many monasteries acted as the foci of wide networks including parish churches, almshouses, hospitals, farming estates and tenant villages. Some 225 of these religious houses belonged to the order of St Augustine. The Augustinians were not monks in the strict sense, but rather communities of canons - or priests - living under the rule of St Augustine. In England they came to be known as `black canons' because of their dark coloured robes and to distinguish them from the Cistercians who wore light clothing. From the 12th century onwards, they undertook much valuable work in the parishes, running almshouses, schools and hospitals as well as maintaining and preaching in parish churches. It was from the churches that they derived much of their revenue. The Augustinians made a major contribution to many facets of medieval life and all of their monasteries which exhibit significant surviving archaeological remains are worthy of protection.
Although a small part of the site has been disturbed by the construction of the church and burials in the churchyard, the monument survives well with various of the major buildings within the precinct identifiable from the earthwork remains, including the claustral range north of the church. Limited excavations have confirmed the location of the priory church and the survival of below-ground archaeological remains. The fishponds will retain environmental and archaeological remains in the silts which have accumulated in them, and will contribute to an understanding of the wider economy which supported the monastic community.
The monument includes the remains of the Augustinian Priory of Saint James located in the village of Warter. Extensive earthworks are visible across almost the entire site. These include building platforms and foundations, some of which have been identified as remains of the church and the attached cloister and its buildings. On the north side of the site a linear earthwork may be an original boundary around the inner monastic precinct. A complex of water-management features including dry fishponds is also visible. The southern portion of the site includes the churchyard of the Grade II listed modern parish church of Saint James, which was built on the site of the priory church. The priory was founded in 1132 by Geoffrey FitzPain, on a site already occupied by a church served by canons. Initially the priory was a daughter house of Arrouaise but it had gained its independance by 1162. Warter Priory was suppressed in 1536, when it was valued at 144 pounds 7 shillings and 8 pence, and was granted to the Earl of Rutland. After the Dissolution the nave of the priory church continued in use as the parish church until 1864 when it was demolished and replaced by the present church. In 1899 William St John Hope carried out a short programme of excavations to the east of the present church, when the foundations of the priory church's tower, the north end of a transept, and what were believed to be foundations of chapter house and presbytery walls were located. The present church is excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath it is included. The small portion of the churchyard, to the west of the church, which is still in use for burials is not included in the scheduling.
MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
Bulmer, T, History And Directory of the East Riding, (1892), 723
Knowles, D , Medieval Religious Houses: England and Wales, (1971), 158
Lawton, G, Religious Houses of Yorkshire, (1853)
Midmer, R, English Medieval Monasteries 1066-1540, (1979)
Morris, J E, The East Riding of Yorkshire, (1932), 335-6
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Yorkshire - York and the East Riding, (1972), 359
'Yorks Arch.J.' in Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, , Vol. 31, (1934)
'Howdenshire Chronicles and Pocklington Weekly News' in Howdenshire Chronicles and Pocklington Weekly News, (1899)
Hope St John, W H, 'Transcriptions of the East Riding Antiquarian Society' in Excavations at Warter Priory, , Vol. 16-18, (1900)
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SPOTTED ON NEW MUSIC FRIDAY
Tame Impala's Kevin Parker snags the cover of Spotify's New Music Friday and tops the list with the release of the group's latest single, "Patience" (Modular/Interscope). Island's Dean Lewis follows with his latest effort, "Stay Awake."
With new projects released today, Flora Cash's "I Wasted You" (Bee & El/RCA), Nav f/The Weeknd's "Price on My Head" (XO/Republic) and Rich The Kid f/Young Thug & Gunna's "Fall Threw" (Interscope) are all featured in the set.
Other highlights include Logic's "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" (Def Jam), Why Don't We & Macklemore's "I Don't Belong in This Club" (Signature Ent/Atlantic), Alan Walker f/Sabrina Carpenter & Farruko's "On My Way" (MER/RCA), Becky G's "Green Light Go" (Kemosabe/RCA), Pink Sweat$'s "Coke & Henny pt. 1" (Human Re Sources), Steve Aoki f/Monsta X's "Play It Cool" (Ultra), Rayana Jay f/G-Eazy's "Hangover" (EMPIRE), Flume f/HWLS & slowthai's "High Beams" (Future Classic), Jacquees f/Lil Baby's "Your Peace" (Cash Money), Foster The People's "Style" (Columbia), Loote f/gnash's "85%" (Island), DJ Snake f/Eptic's "Southside" (Geffen), Catfish & The Bottlemen's "2all" (Capitol), Ruth B.'s "Don't Disappoint Me" (Columbia), Calexico & Iron & Wine's "Father Mountain" (Sub Pop), Sofi Tukker's "Fantasy" (Ultra), LANCO's "Rival" (Arista Nashville), Kailee Morgue f/Hayley Kiyoko's "Headcase" (Republic), DDG f/Queen Naija's "Hold Up" (Epic), DJ Luke Nasty's "Bread" (EMPIRE), Jenny Lewis' "Rabbit Hole" (Warner Bros.), Sara Bareilles' "Saint Honesty" (Epic), BJ The Chicago Kid's "Close" (Motown), Melli's "Fresh Air" (Rule #1/Interscope), Baka Not Nice f/Giggs' "My Town" (OVO/WBR), Mosa Wild's "Night" (Glassnote/AWAL), Dounia f/Moroccan Doll's "LOWKEY GRL" (EMPIRE), JAMESDAVIS' "Dodger Black" (Motown), Grimes' "Pretty Dark - demo" (4AD), Posa's "Trap Love" (Think It's a Game/WBR), Plague Vendor's "New Comedown" (Epitaph) and Raffaella's "NASA's Fake" (Mom+Pop).
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Packard on History of Global Health: devastating first chapter (we need to do better)
While i intend to write more about Packard’s new book (delightfully if uncomfortably subtitled, interventions into the lives of others) once i am through with it, a paragraph in the opening chapter seemed both so important and accurate as to merit sharing immediately — particularly given the lessons it may hold for the Universal Health Coverage (e.g.) movement. It is not that what Packard has to say here is necessarily new but rather that he sums it up in a neat, indicting list of trends, on which we would all do well to reflect:
There have been remarkable continuities in how health interventions have been conceived and implemented over the past century… [that] have worked against the development of effective basic-health systems to address social determinants of health:
Health interventions have been largely developed outside the countries where the health problems exist, with few attempts to seriously incorporate local perspectives or community participation in the planning process…
Health planning has privileged approaches based on the application of biomedical technologies that prevent or eliminate health problems one at a time.
Little attention has been given to supporting the development of basic health services.
The planning of health interventions has often occurred in a crisis environment, in which there was an imperative to act fast. This mindset has privileged interventions that are simple, easy to implement, and have potential to quickly make a significant impact…
Global health interventions have been empowered by faith in the superioity of Western medical knowledge and technology…
Health has been linked to social and economic development — but this connection has focused primarily on how improvements in health can stimulate economic development, while ignoring the impact that social and economic developments can have on health. The social determinants of health have received little attention.
Packard notes that these trends have faltered a few times, such as with the rise in interest in learning about the “social and economic causes of ill health” in the 1920s and 30s and in the Alma Ata / health for all movement at the end of the 1970s. We seem to think of ourselves as standing at a new trend-breaking moment. Hopefully we can do better.
8 October 2016 hlanthorn Global health, health systems, health systems strengthening, Packard, universal health care, universal health coverage Leave a comment
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U.N. expert to lead international inquiry into Khashoggi murder - REUTERS
The United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions told Reuters on Thursday she will travel to Turkey next week to head an “independent international inquiry” into the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Khashoggi, a columnist for the Washington Post and a critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was killed and dismembered by Saudi agents at its consulate in Istanbul on Oct 2, provoking an international outcry. Earlier on Thursday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said it was time for an international investigation and that President Tayyip Erdogan had ordered preparations to be made. “I will be heading an independent international inquiry into the killing of Saudi journalist Mr. Jamal Khashoggi, commencing with a visit to Turkey from 28 January to 3 February 2019,” independent U.N. investigator Agnes Callamard said in an email reply to Reuters in Geneva. Callamard said that she would evaluate the circumstances of the crime, and “the nature and the extent of states’ and individuals’ responsibilities for the killing”. “My findings and recommendations will be reported to the U.N. Human Rights Council at the June 2019 session,” she said. The inquiry was being conducted at her request and three experts would accompany her, with forensic expertise amongst other skills, she said, declining to name them for now. There was no immediate word on whether the team had sought access to Saudi Arabia. A Saudi public prosecutor’s spokesman said last year that 21 Saudis were taken into custody in relation to the case, 11 of whom have been indicted and referred to trial. Earlier this month the prosecutor said it was seeking the death penalty for five of the 11 detained suspects. Callamard, a French academic who is director of the Columbia Global Freedom of Expression initiative at Columbia University in New York, reports to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva and has a global mandate to investigate executions. REUTERS
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Hundreds of journalists advocate media freedom in Slovakia - Front News
In an open appeal to the authorities, Slovak journalists called on politicians not to interfere in the work of the media and not to dictate their policies to them, as to Front News citing the Radio Liberty reports about it. “After the murder of journalist Jan Kuciak and his bride Martina Kusnirova, we hoped that the state would look for ways to better protect journalists. It did not happen,” the statement says. A statement by media professionals noted that politicians have the opportunity to comment on media materials in which they appear, but they often reject this option and do not answer any questions. As noted, the protest of Slovak journalists caused a new draft law on the media, which is now being discussed in the Slovak parliament. If a new law is adopted, its individual articles will enable politicians to “additionally express themselves in every publication that will be written about them, even when we write the truth. With their views, which may not correspond to the facts, they want to drown the newspapers,” the journalists said. We recall that in the UK they reported on the audit of the programs of the Russian television channel NTV Mir and REN TV, which are registered in London but are broadcast in the Baltic countries. Front News
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Ladyzhynsk city council did not consider the address from team of "Radio Ladyzhyn"
Ladyzyn city council (Vinnytska oblast) voted univocally to amend the budget for 2017, which resulted in final termination of financing of communal enterprise "RC “Lada”" (radio Ladyzhyn). This decision was approved by the city council at their session on October 10, Lada.FM reports. Also, the council members never considered the address from the team of RC “Lada”, where the team offered as an alternative to reduction of financing and staff cuts to include the property complex of the communal enterprise to the List of communal property objects that are subject to alienation by buyout by the staff - in spite of every council member had a printed address from the radio team that was given to them before the session. The team of the radio company considers this course of action a support of illegal actions of the city council's executive committee which resolved to cut the financing and the number of staff positions of the radio company from 10 to 5.5 salaries. Director of the communal enterprise “RC “Lada” Halyna Danylivska considers the actions of the officials of the city council a crime, and sees them as a deliberate pressure on the team of “Radio Ladyzhyn”.
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Ashantel Lachhani, CIPP/E, CIPM, FIP
Hyde Group
Head of Information Governance and Data Protection
Ashantel Lachhani is the Head of Information Governance and Data Protection for the Hyde Group (UK) with over 8 years’ experience in the field of data privacy. She has extensive knowledge in data protection law, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive in the healthcare sector and direct marketing arena.
Ashantel has contributed to various senior leadership roles in information governance and security, providing advice on relevant statutory and compliance issues including the UK's National Health Service (NHS) and Diabetes UK where she implemented the General Data Protection Regulation programme for the organisation’s readiness for the legislation changes in May 2018, across all sites including England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
She is also the co-chair of the NHS London Strategic Information Governance Network for public and not-for-profit healthcare organisations, and between 2017 - 2019 a Council Member of the Open Section at the Royal Society of Medicine.
Ashantel completed her educational training as a solicitor at London, Holborn BBP Law School and has a LLB (Hons) law degree from University of Essex. She holds the CIPP/EU and CIPM certifications, and in March 2020 she was awarded IAPP Fellow of Information Privacy.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashantel-lachhani-1a1a65188
Contributions by Ashantel Lachhani
Privacy Speaker at Data Protection World Forum | Future-Proofing Data Privacy: Creating a Global Program in an Evolving Landscape July 2020Privacy Speaker at American Bar Association | International Law Section: COVID-19 and International Privacy and Cybersecurity Concerns June 2020
Member of Women Leading Privacy Advisory Board 2021 - 2022
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MSU researchers from diverse disciplines take advantage of iCER’s services to accomplish amazing things. iCER’s mission is to assist computational research by providing easy-to-use high performance computing platforms, we allow faculty and students to better focus on their research. Our systems enable larger, broader and more complex computation than ever before– work that could have taken months or years now can be done in hours or days.
If you are interested in promoting your research through us, please contact video@icer.msu.edu
MSU Researchers Push Frontier in Precision Calculations
As science peers deeper and deeper into the world around us, the subatomic scale presents new challenges, and the need for precision becomes ever more apparent.
Drug Repositioning In Search Of COVID-19 Treatments
Dr. Guowei Wei is an MSU foundation professor in the Department of Mathematics with courtesy appointments in the Departments of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Electrical & Computer...
Identifying small molecule drugs to modulate the biological...
Dr. Bin Chen works in the Departments of Pediatrics & Human Development and Pharmacology & Toxicology at Michigan State University.
MSU IceCube Neutrino Observatory Group – Tyce DeYoung
Associate Professor Tyce DeYoung, from the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Michigan State University, conducts research in particle astrophysics – the observation of high energy particles...
Dr. Bin Chen works in the Departments of Pediatrics & Human Development and Pharmacology & Toxicology at Michigan State University. His lab has been using big data and artificial...
Modeling and Simulating Plasma
Dr. Andrew Christlieb’s research focuses on modeling and simulating materials in extreme states. The large range of temporal and spatial scales that need to be resolved in order to accurately...
Identifying Bacteria in Biological Samples by their Genomes
For more than a year and a half, Dr. Matthew Scholz was a Research Specialist with Michigan State University’s BiCEP team.
Nuclear Pasta Reveals the Mystery Inside Neutron Stars
Researcher Bastian Schütrumpf recently worked with Michigan State University’s Institute for Cyber-Enabled Research (iCER) to simulate nuclear pasta, a unique phase of nuclear matter formed inside...
Studying the Evolution of Higher Intelligence on MSU’s...
Dr. Chris Adami is a Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics and of Physics and Astronomy at Michigan State University.
Faster than Atoms — Using Ultrafast Lasers to Catch Cancer
Dr. Marcos Dantus uses ultrafast lasers to study microscopic chemical and biological interactions that are impossible to observe with any other tool.
Designing drugs at the atomic scale with computer simulation
At the atomic level, the molecules in our bodies are in constant motion, and are undergoing constant change. The motions are incredibly rich; they range from the isomerization of side-chains, to...
Advancing the supernova mechanism study with computer...
We are star guts. The elements that we are made of were forged in massive stars billions of years ago, then spread throughout the young Milky Way galaxy by the explosive deaths of those same stars...
Enhancing motor learning through VR and robot technology
Although the terms motor skill and coordination bring to mind feats of elite athletes or musicians, there is a tremendous deal of skill and coordination required even to perform the most mundane...
more research highlights
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Fremont County - Explorer John C. Fremont
John C. Fremont
Abstracted from "History of the State of Idaho," by Cornelis J. Brosnan, published by Charles Scribner's Sons, 1918; p. 45-47.
87.John C. Fremont. John C. Fremont was one of the noted explorers to pass through Idaho. Unlike some of his predecessors, he came neither in search of furs nor riches, but as an expert surveyor and map-maker, working under the direction of the national government. On account of the ever-expanding Western migration and the fresh interest in the " Oregon Question," the federal government decided tD send out exploring-parties to discover the best routes to travel across the plains and mountains of the far West. Fremont was selected to lead three of these journeys of exploration. It was while he was conducting the second of these official expeditions, in 1843, that he passed through Idaho.
88. Fremont Through Idaho, 1843.When Fremont, in company with his friend and guide, Kit Carson, explored southern Idaho he followed the 1843 migration over the Oregon Trail and kept an accurate record of all the interesting things he saw. These observations were later published in a book called "Fremont's Journal." One of the most entertaining passages in this journal describes his visit at Fort Boise one fine October day in 1843. Francis Payette, the hospitable clerk of the Hudson's Bay Company, was in charge of the fort. He proved himself to be a most gracious host. He escorted the exploring-party into his well-stocked dairy and presented them with a supply of fresh butter. While Fremont is not wanting in gratitude to his courteous host, he reminds us that the Fort Boise butter was "by no means equal to that of Fort Hall—probably from some accidental cause."
89. Fremont's Achievement. While Fremont's pet tite, "The Pathfinder," is an exaggeration, yet he was a benefactor to the West. He made the course of our Western trails plain to countless emigrants. He helped remove the delusion from the minds of Eastern people that our West was a vast desert. His records became immensely popular and were widely circulated. Parkman, in his "Oregon Trail," tells us that in 1846 he found the men at Fort Laramie, Wyoming, using the pages of Fremont's journal to make firecrackers for a Fourth-of-July celebration.
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No-Cost Mental Health Support Now Available
No-Cost Mental Health Support for Frontline Healthcare Providers and First Responders Now Available at Cohen Veterans Network
CVN Frontline expands to Philadelphia, Tampa, Austin, Dallas, Denver, and San Diego as resurgence of COVID-19 once again strains hospitals
Building on its extensive background treating the impacts of PTSD and trauma with military veterans, and the experience of offering mental health resources to frontline healthcare providers and first responders in New York City, Cohen Veterans Network (CVN) is now offering free services in six additional locations of great need, as coronavirus cases surge again putting more stress on hospitals and first responders.
CVN Frontline, a no-cost mental health resource center featuring interactive online support groups and asynchronous resources, is available now to Frontline Healthcare Providers and First Responders and their adult family members in Philadelphia, Tampa, Austin, Dallas, Denver, and San Diego. CVN clinicians from Killeen, Texas and San Diego, are facilitating the online support groups.
“As the pandemic has taken another turn to once again place this country’s healthcare workers and first responders and their families at risk – we are moving quickly to offer our expertise to this population in high-need markets across the country,” said Dr. Anthony Hassan, President & CEO of CVN. “This is the next step for us as we do our part in utilizing our extensive experience to treat the impacts of mental health challenges.”
Since launch on May 20, the CVN Frontline website has had more than 4,500 visitors to date. The most viewed asynchronous video content includes mindfulness, meditation and suicide prevention.
CVN recently announced the results of a national survey of more than 500 frontline healthcare providers (HCPs) and first responders that showed that COVID-19 had taken a significant toll on their physical and mental health. Key findings of the Cohen Veterans Network America’s Mental Health Frontline Survey included:
• 55% of all first responders and frontline healthcare providers say they are concerned about their overall mental health, led by Healthcare Providers (HCPs) at 60%.
• Nationally, HCPs describe themselves as:
– Anxious (47%)
– Concerned (66%)
– Worn out (46%)
– Scared (19%)
• Nationwide, HCPs are more likely to say their job is putting the lives of their family at risk because of the coronavirus (73%) compared to first responders (58%).
CVN is offering the following free mental health resources to frontline healthcare providers, first responders, and their family members:
• Mental Health Resource Center. CVN has launched a resource center – CVN Frontline – where first responders and frontline healthcare providers and their family members can access on-demand mental healthcare programming and asynchronous training from a range of sources through short videos, online tools, and assignments.
• Support Groups. CVN is offering ongoing non-clinical support groups facilitated by licensed clinicians across its network that directly focuses on issues that may most impact frontline healthcare providers. The first group focuses on General Coping Skills and Managing Distress and, over time, may include other areas of focus as needed. These groups are being conducted online.
ABOUT AMERICA’S MENTAL HEALTH FRONTLINE
On behalf of the Cohen Veterans Network, The Harris Poll conducted 523 online interviews among frontline healthcare providers and first responders nationally and in New York City from May 19 – 28, 2020. Combined with the national sample, an oversample yielded a total of 153 of New York City uniformed frontline workers. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.
ABOUT THE COHEN VETERANS NETWORK
Cohen Veterans Network is a 501(c)(3) national not for profit philanthropic network of mental health clinics for post-9/11 veterans and their families. CVN focuses on improving mental health outcomes, via a network of outpatient mental health clinics for veterans and their families in high-need communities, in which trained clinicians deliver holistic, evidence-based care to treat mental health conditions. The network currently has 16 clinics in operation serving veterans and military families across the country. Learn more about Cohen Veterans Network.
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The people of the world Iix had 8 arms, and interesting keyboards. They also had no hierarchical filestores, and it was this difference that made their usage of computers so very different from ours.
All computing was done with completely flat filestores; they had magnetic media where they could store data: hard disks, floppy disks and so on, but since disks were only a sequence of bytes for storing information, each program had to separately structure its data on disks. Though there were hard disks, only the operating system could use them since it could not allow its security to be compromised.
Consequently, programs only wrote to floppy disks; and each user had a stack of floppies, one or more for each program. If a program, such as a word-processor, needed to structure data, or create different documents, then the program had its own format on the floppy, a format designed by the programmer of the program, and in general not readable by other programs. Some more successful programs were so successful that other programs could also read their floppies, but in general there was very little consistency between data-formats.
Programming was a very hard task for programmers: they had to design their document structures, and the code for a simple task like finding a file on a disk and opening it was an immense task, especially since disks sent all kinds of events, like DiskIsAtSpeed and BlockRead.
One day however, a bright programmer noticed that she was often writing very similar code for reading and writing data to disk, and that she structured data in a number of very similar ways. So she did a very bright thing: she created a library of code that allowed her the maximum of flexibility to design her document structures, and that she could re-use each time she had to write a program. She then packaged them together in a library that she called a 'toolkit', with a large batch of documentation on how to use it.
And then one day - better late than never - a research group in a major corporation invented hierarchical filestores! They immediately created a toolkit that implemented them, wrote a large manual of guidelines, and passed it on to the marketing division.
Unfortunately the product flopped. But not the idea! It had gained the interest of researchers around the world, and was used by another company on their new computer. This product didn't flop, and in the shortest time the computer was a great success, and research groups around the world were imitating this implementation of hierarchical filestores. And not surprisingly, other companies came out with similar implementations. But alas there were many lawyers there, and these other companies got taken to court for imitating the idea.
As a result, companies started releasing almost-but-not-quite implementations of hierarchical filestores. One released a hierarchical filestore that only had two levels: less useful than unlimited depth, but hey! better than nothing, and anyway 90% of data stored by their users was no deeper than 2 levels anyway.
Another company released a toolkit where the filestore was actually flat (so that no two files over the whole store could have the same name) but where files could still be grouped together in directory look-alikes. And these differences seemed to save the companies from any further legal difficulties.
These hierarchical filestore toolkits saved programmers quite a lot of work. They still had to design their document structures and handle events, but the toolkits allowed them to program the structures much faster than before, with a much more professional result.
Of course, with all these competing toolkits, a programmer had to decide which one to use, and once the choice was made there was no going back, since the toolkits were all mutually incompatible. A program written with toolkit X couldn't read data from toolkit Y. So the poor users weren't much better off, though several companies made a handsome profit selling data-conversion programs.
Industry, realising the advantages of exchanging data between programs, got together to try and decide on a toolkit that would allow more consistency between programs. Unfortunately, they did it twice, and emerged with two standards. Both did roughly the same work, but they were mutually incompatible. The rest was left to market forces. Some companies chose the one, some chose the other, and some put their irons in both fires, and supplied both toolkits with their computers and let the users decide.
Software manufacturers had also to make a choice, though some wrote their programs twice, once each for each toolkit, in order to be able to sell to the largest number of customers. Some bright software houses produced a toolkit that allowed you to write your program once and then link with either standard. Now you still had two executables, but at least only one set of sources.
And now at least there were only two standards, so that all programs using the same toolkit could at least exchange data - assuming of course that the programmer used the toolkit correctly: the toolkits had a lot of parameters, and huge manuals explaining their correct use which the programmer had to fully understand before programming, otherwise their data could only be read by their own programs, but not by other users of the same toolkits.
At nights, philosophers dreamed of a world without toolkits and events...
First published in the SIGCHI Bulletin, April 1994
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If you have heard about the American music band, NSYNC, then you would probably know the American singer and actor, Chris Kirkpatrick, a founding member of the music group. He has worked as a voice actor for many TV shows including The Fairly OddParents. The 48 years old actor, Chris is present in his career since 1995. Also, he has done associated acts with Nigels 11 and Sureshot. So, he has surely collected a hefty amount of money from his successful on-going career. His net worth is $13 Million as of 2019. Let’s know about him in detail. Early Life of Chris Kirkpatrick Having a great interest in the film industry at an early age, Chris Kirkpatrick decided to get established in the field of the movie industry. Born in Clarion, Pennsylvania, Chris joined Dalton High School in Ohio. Coming from a mixed ancestry (Irish, Scottish, Spanish and Native American),…
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Zach Villa is one of the prominent American multi-professional personalities like Benicio Bryant. Villa is an actor, musician, dancer, singer, and songwriter. In addition, he gained further recognition for being the former fiance of the Emmy Award nominee actress, Evan Rachel Woods. The two together attended the Screen Guild Award on Sunday with silver rings on both of their ring fingers. However, their relationship did not last long and they later separated. What is the reason for their separation? Who Is Zach Villa? Bio & Wiki Zach Villa was born on 17th March 1986 in Iowa, the USA. As a matter of fact, his birth name is Zachary Villa and he was born under the sun sign, Pisces. Likewise, Villa belongs to white ethnicity and holds American nationality. Moreover, he was born to Larry Villa (Father) and Sheryl Villa (Mother). Villa attended Juilliard Scool. Similarly, he is the graduate with…
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Category: Tech news
Behind the success of Elon Musk to SpaceX
Post author By Andrew Russo
No Comments on Behind the success of Elon Musk to SpaceX
Elon Musk! The owner of SpaceX…
Do you hear this name before?
If you don’t, you’re not connected to the world of tech giants. Yes, we can say that Elon Musk is a tech giant in today’s world. He is well known and the most energetic South African entrepreneur.
There are many people are living in this world. Some of them could make the differences. They live to change the world. Elon Musk is one of them. He has crossed many milestones of technical inventions that are making history. Our life becomes more easy and comfortable because of the tech giants like him.
Elon Musk’s early life
On June 28, 1971, Elon Reeve Musk was born in Pretoria, South Africa. His father Errol Musk is an electrical engineer and mother Maye Musk is a supermodel.
When his parents divorced, he had mostly lived with his father at the age of 9. He felt his interest in the computer at the age of 10 and quickly learned to program. Then he built an interesting game named Blaster. The amazing fact is that he had built his first program at the age of 12.
Then he sold the game for $500 USD.
He moved to Canada when he was 17 and took admission to Queen’s University. Then in 1992, he left Canada to start his study on Business and Physics at the University of Pensylvania.
He is a citizen of three countries, which are South Africa, Canada & the United States of America. Musk also took the admission for PhD in energy physics at Stanford University, California.
Musk’s business startup & boost up
Elon Musk and his brother Kimbal Musk launched their first company in 1995. The company name was Zip2. It was a city guide service provider. Then Compaq Computer Corporation bought the Zip2 in 1999 with a cost of $307 million.
In the same year, the Musk brothers used their money from the sale of Zip2 in X.com which was an online banking system. Now we know it as PayPal.
In 2002, eBay took PayPal for $1.5 billion in stock. That time Musk had $180 million in PayPal. He took his shared money from PayPal.
Starting of SpaceX
After breaking the business relationship with PayPal, Musk planned to build his own space organization. His plan was to build a convenient transport system commercially to space.
With the motivation to building something new in the Space industry, Elon Musk launched his third company Space Exploration Technologies Corporation or SpaceX in 2002.
Musk was able to build hi-tech spacecraft at a cheap cost.
In 2006, SpaceX launched its first flight. But the rocket crashed within seconds of the liftoff. The 2nd and 3rd flights were also failed in the years 2007 and 2008. The situation was so crucial for SpaceX. Because there was a huge chance of closing the company.
In 2008, September 28, Musk was ready for the 4th flight. It was the last flight if they did not succeed. But they became successful ai the fourth flight. It was a breathtaking journey for the company. The name of the rocket was ‘Falcon 1’ and it took place in the perfect orbit successfully.
Then on December 23, 2008, NASA contracted with SpaceX with $1.6 billion to transport cargo in the International Space Station (ISS) that was an amazing milestone for the company.
In the year 2011, SpaceX launched a specialized reusable rocket technology which was a history-changing invention. But there were also many failure stories. At last in December 2015, SpaceX rocket landed in the ground for the first time and gained the status of reusability.
In March 2017, the SpaceX rocket successfully landed on the sea platform.
Now the company is transporting any kind of supplies to the ISS and sending satellites in the pixel-perfect orbit. And Elon Musk is tasting the ultimate success after several failures.
Elon Musk has trust in what he is doing. It drives him inside the ultimate success. He is a thinker for the whole of mankind.
Musk is still working on his innovative ideas. He is running Tesla Motors to build unique and cost worthy cars beside the SpaceX. Elon Musk also working on many other things like HyperLoop to travel at the speed of sound.
He is an idol to the entrepreneurs worldwide and an inspiration to the millions.
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Women Builders and the Savoy Hospital
Charlotte Stanford, associate professor of comparative arts and letters, presents the involvement of women in the building guilds in England during the reign of King Henry VIII.
PROVO, Utah (Sept. 14, 2017)—Though it can be difficult to find evidence of their lives in historical records, women did have public personas the middle ages. Inspired by the Tudor architecture of the Savoy Hospital, built between 1512–1520 A.D., Charlotte Stanford, a BYU associate professor of comparative arts and letters, has recently begun investigating women who were involved in the building trades during the reign of Henry VIII. In trying to compete with other Renaissance monarchs, Henry VIII ordered the construction or renovation of over 70 homes throughout his kingdom during his lifetime. “Like many of his contemporary Renaissance monarchs, he believed it was his job to be magnificent,” explained Stanford. The king’s desire to be the most magnificent Renaissance monarch was coupled with the need to legitimize his crown, which he inherited from his father who seized it by leading a military coup d’état against the House of Plantagenet. These two insecurities helped lead to a large number of expensive building projects in an effort to establish himself as a powerful leader.
Looking at the bright faces of young feminists in the women’s studies colloquium, Stanford explained that women were definitively involved in this construction, but in somewhat unconventional ways. Although some artwork from the Renaissance and later centuries depicts fancily dressed women lifting incredibly heavy objects, this was not the role that women would have filled. Stanford referred the audience to the June page of the Book of Hours of Jean Duc du Berry (c.1412–1416) where illustrations show women helping in the fields, conservatively dressed, managing tasks closer to their actual physical abilities than superhuman heavy lifting.
Many women, Stanford explained, would have acted as assistants to their male relatives rather than as a members or apprentices in a guild, because access to official guilds was usually denied them based on their sex. Stanford explained, “Many of the building guilds kept good records that mention women throughout, even though they did not fill the formal roles of members or apprentices. The carpenter’s guild was especially thorough [in record keeping].” Not having guild membership might seem like a disadvantage, but it actually allowed women more freedom in their trades. “Most did not apprentice formally to a guild but worked under the supervision of fathers or husbands and assisted informally, and therefore, off the record,” Stanford said. Guilds were very strict about the work their members could perform. A carpenter, for example, was not allowed to do any sort of plastering or tiling work because those activities were outside of his skillset. This extended as far as the materials a carpenter could buy. “The carpenters could buy wood, but buying nails—that could get tricky,” she explained. Women, because they did not have formal membership in a guild, were important resources for the buying and transportation of materials.
One of these important women was Elizabeth Woodland, who is recorded as providing finished ironwork to the Savoy construction. “I immediately started looking for other Woodlands,” Stanford said. She knew that there would likely be male family members that Elizabeth was working with, and after a little digging she found record of a Robert Woodland who appeared on the payroll as a carpenter. Elizabeth, then, would have worked as a carter with her father to circumvent guild laws about carpenters not being able to cart metalwork. What makes Elizabeth unique is that her first name is included, whereas wives and widows who worked with the carpenters were typically known by the last name of their husband. Stanford found a will contemporary to the Savoy record in which Robert Woodland mentions his children as partial inheritors, two of which were named Elizabeth Woodland. From these two records, Stanford assumes that Elizabeth may have been Robert’s daughter who could have been transporting ironwork either to help with family expenses or build a dowry.
Another way that women were involved in the building trades was through the care of an apprentice after their husband’s death. “Apprenticeships were an investment by the young man’s kin,” said Stanford. Should a master die before an apprentice had completed his training, the widow was bound by financial obligation to see that his training was completed. This practice built a strong connection between the widow and her deceased husband’s apprentice. Furthermore, some apprenticeships lasted longer than was needed strictly for learning, usually 7 years, and the master would receive payment for the work his apprentice completed. The long apprenticeship gave the master a few years of cheap labor and, in the event of the master’s death, an apprentice was bound to the master’s widow to offer the extra financial support that she might have needed.
Though very few of Henry VIII’s building projects survive now, the legacy of these women lives on in the records of the guilds who employed, supported, and used these women as tools to circumvent strict guild laws. They created a useful substructure to allow craftsmen and women work together to complete Henry VIII’s elaborate projects.
—Hannah Sandorf Davis (B.A. Art History and Curatorial Studies ’17)
Hannah covers events for the women’s studies program for the College of Humanities. She is a senior pursuing a degree in art history with a minor in art.
Image: The Limbourg Brothers, Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, Juin, 1413-16
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
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PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-16 OR 15d-16 UNDER
For the month of September 2018
7/F, Block B, Future Land Holdings Tower
No. 5, Lane 388, Zhongjiang Road
Putuo District, Shanghai 200062
Form 20-F x Form 40-F ¨
By: /s/ Xianshou Li
Name: Xianshou Li
Exhibit 99.1 Press Release
ReneSola Announces Second Quarter 2018 Results
SHANGHAI, September 6, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- ReneSola Ltd ("ReneSola" or the "Company") (www.renesolapower.com) (NYSE: SOL), a leading solar project developer and operator, today announced its unaudited financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2018.
Mr. Xianshou Li, ReneSola's Chief Executive Officer, commented, “We are quite satisfied with our second quarter performance. Revenue was at the high end of our expectations, and we meaningfully improved our operating margin. Second quarter gross profit and operating income were identical to the first quarter. These results demonstrate our steadily improving earnings power, as we continue to scale up the new business model we initiated last year.”
Li continued, “In August, we announced a very important development, the potential sale of our operating DG assets in China to Brookfield. Should we reach a deal during the 60 day exclusivity period, this sale will provide substantial capital for us to recycle back into the growth of our business. We remain optimistic about our opportunities around the world, and look forward to funding the continued growth of our 1.5 GW pipeline.”
Second Quarter 2018 Highlights
($ millions) Q1 2018
($ millions) Q/Q Change
Revenue $ 27.8 $ 44.8 -38 %
Gross Profit $ 8.2 $ 8.4 -2 %
Operating Income $ 5.9 $ 5.9 0 %
EBITDA $ 5.2 $ 9.0 -43 %
Income before Income Tax and Noncontrolling interests $ 0.4 $ 5.4 -92 %
Net Income $ 0.4 $ 5.4 -92 %
· Revenue was $27.8 million, toward the high end of the guidance range of $20 to $30 million;
· Gross margin was 30%, compared to 19% in Q1 2018;
· Income before income tax and noncontrolling interests was $0.4 million, compared to $5.4 million in Q1 2018 and $0.8 million in Q2 2017;
· Key constituents of revenue:
o $10.1 million from the Project Development business, mainly from sales of utility solar projects in North Carolina, United States;
o $7.6 million from EPC services for 8.4 MW of distribued generation projects in China
o $9.9 million from the sale of electricity
· Installed 13.1 MW of rooftop projects in China and 14.0 MW of projects in Poland;
· Solar power project pipeline of approximately 1.51 GW, of which 670.2 MW is late-stage.
Revenue was $27.8 million, compared to $44.8 million in Q1 2018 and $1.6 million in Q2 2017.
Revenue from the Project Development business was $10.1 million, due mainly to sales of 6.7 MW of utility-scale projects in North Carolina, United States.
Revenue from the EPC business was $7.6 million due to EPC services for 8.4 MW of distribued generation projects in China.
Revenue from the sale of electricity was $9.9 million. The Company generated 63.3 Million Kwh of electricity from its operating DG projects in China.
Gross profit was $8.2 million, compared to a gross profit of $8.4 million in Q1 2018 and $1.1 million in Q2 2017. Gross margin was 30%, compared to 19% in Q1 2018, mainly due to a greater mix of electricity sales due to the seasonality of solar irradiation.
Operating expenses were $2.3 million, slightly down from $2.5 million in Q1 2018 and up from $1.9 million in Q2 2017. Sales and marketing expenses were $0.2 million, slightly up from $0.1 million in Q1 2018. General and administrative expenses were $2.7 million, slightly up from $2.4 million in Q1 2018.
Operating income was $5.9 million, same as to operating income in Q1 2018 and compared to an operating loss of $0.7 million in Q2 2017.
Total non-operating expenses of $5.5 million included interest expenses of $2.6 million and foreign exchange loss of $2.9 million, mainly driven by the depreciation of EUR,GBP and PLN against USD.
Income before income tax and noncontrolling interests was $0.4 million, compared to an income of $5.4 million in Q1 2018 and a loss of $0.8 million in Q2 2017.
Net income was $0.4 million, compared to an income of $5.4 million in Q1 2018 and $0.8 million in Q2 2017.
The Company had cash and equivalents of $24.8 million as of June 30, 2018, compared to $10.9 million as of March 31, 2018. Long-term borrowings were $72.7 million as of June 30, 2018, compared to $32.7 million as of March 31, 2018, due mainly to loans for renewed construction in Poland. The loan term and size for Polish projects was extended during the quarter. Long-term failed sale-lease back and capital lease liabilities, associated with the financial leasing payables for rooftop projects in China, were $85.0 million as of June 30, 2018, compared to $78.2 million as of March 31, 2018. The increase was mainly due to the corresponding growth of the Company's DG operating assets.
Recent Business Updates
· On September 5, the Company held its annual general meeting in Shanghai, and approved the following: the consolidated financial statements of the Company for the year ended December 31, 2017, together with the reports of the auditors; the re-election of Mr. Martin Bloom as a director of the Company, who is retiring by rotation and offering himself for re-election in accordance with the Company’s articles of association. The Company’s shareholders denied the proposed resolution of the re-appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers Zhong Tian LLP as auditors of the Company until the conclusion of the next annual general meeting.
· On August 30, 2018, the Company announced that in Budapest it closed on long-term project financing with K&H Bank, one of Hungary's largest banking and financial services firms, to develop an approximately 8 MW KAT-licensed solar project in Hungary. The 8 MW projects are expected to be grid-connected by October, 2018. ReneSola has two more KAT-licensed project portfolios seeking project financing from K&H Bank.
· On August 21, 2018, the Company appointed Grant Thornton as its independent registered public accounting firm. Grant Thornton replaces PricewaterhouseCoopers Zhong Tian LLP ("PwC"). The appointment of Grant Thornton was approved by the Board of Directors and its Audit Committee after an extensive evaluation process.
· On July 31, 2018, ReneSola announced an exclusive negotiating agreement to sell its operating distributed generation assets in China, which have a total capacity of 207 MW. The potential buyer is an affiliate of Brookfield Asset Management. The exclusivity period is 60 days from the date of signing.
Operating Assets and Completed Projects for Sale
The Company continues to pursue opportunities in small-scale projects in diversified regions and believes its strategy can capitalize on trends in solar energy development. ReneSola currently owns over 226.5 MW of operating rooftop projects, which are concentrated in a handful of eastern provinces of China with attractive development environments. As of June 30, 2018, the Company had over 134.0 MW of rooftop projects under construction.
Operating Assets Capacity (MW)
China DG 206.8
- Zhejiang& Shanghai 74.5
- Jiangsu 13.9
- Henan 62.4
- Anhui 31.5
- Hebei 17.1
- Shandong 7.4
Romania 15.4
United Kingdom 4.3
As of June 30, 2018, the Company had 24.4 MW of completed projects, which are currently for sale.
Completed Projects for Sale Capacity (MW)
Poland 14.0
Turkey 10.4
Total 24.4
As of June 30, 2018, the Company had a project pipeline of over 1.51 GW, of which 670.2 MW are late-stage. 134.0 MW of the late-stage projects are under construction. Late-stage projects include (i) projects with the legal right to develop based on definitive agreements, including the projects held by project SPVs or joint-ventured project SPVs where control can be purchased by the Company once the late stage is reached, and (ii) projects for which a PPA or FiT has been arranged.
The following table sets forth the Company's late-stage project pipeline by location:
Late-stage
(MW)
Under Construction (MW)
USA 285.5 24.0
Canada 7.6 7.6
Poland 41.0 41.0
Hungary 42.6 42.6
France 73.7 --
Spain 162.0 --
India 30.0 --
South Korea 9.0 --
China DG 18.8 18.8
Total 670.2 134.0
China: Late-stage Pipeline Capacity
(MW) Business Model
-Zhejiang & Shanghai 10.2 IPP
-Jiangsu 4.3 IPP
-Fujian 4.3 IPP
China DG 18.8
In the U.S, the Company has a late-stage pipeline of 285.6 MW, 24.0 MW of which is under construction and are expected to be connected to the grid in the fourth quarter of 2018.
US: Late-stage
Location Capacity
(MW) Project Type Status Expected COD Business Model
RP-NC NC 24.0 Utility Construction 2018 Project Development
Utah UT 10.7 Self-consumption / DG Development 2018 Project Development
RP-MN MN 37.5 Community Solar Development 2018 Project Development
MN-VOS MN 11.2 Community Solar Development 2019 Project Development
New York NY 20.6 Community Solar Development 2019 Project Development
RP-CA CA 16.5 Utility Development 2019 Project Development
Florida FL 100.0 To be decided Development 2019 Project Development
Alpine TX 65.0 To be decided Development 2019 Project Development
In Canada, the Company has a late-stage pipeline of 7.6 MW projects, all under construction and expected to be connected to the grid by the end of 2018. All 7.6 MW of projects are eligible for Canada's FiT3 Scheme.
Canada: Late-stage Pipeline Location Capacity
FiT3 Ontario 7.6 DG Construction 2018 Project Development
In Poland, the Company has a late-stage pipeline of 41.0 MW, which are all under construction and expected to connect to the grid in the second half of 2018.
Poland: Late-stage Pipeline Location Capacity
Auction 2017 Jun Poland 41.0 DG Development 2018 Project Development
In Hungary, the Company grew its late-stage pipeline to 71 "Micro PPs" projects with a total capacity of 42.6 MW. All are under construction and are expected to be connected to the grid in the second half of 2018.
Hungary: Late-stage Pipeline Location Capacity
Portfolio of “Micro PPs”, 0.5 MW each Hungary 42.6 DG Construction 2018 Project Development
In France, the Company formed a strategic partnership with Green City Energy to jointly develop four solar parks with a total installed capacity of 69.0 MW. Additionally, the Company was awarded 16 solar projects in France with a combined capacity of 4.65 MW.
France: Late-stage Pipeline Location Capacity
SOLARPARK France 69.0 Utility Development 2019 Project Development
SPV2 France 4.7 DG Development 2019 Project Development
Other Geographies
In India, the Company has a pipeline of 30.0 MW, which are self-consumption distributed generation projects with top-rated commercial and industrial off-takers. In Spain, the Company has a late-stage pipeline of 162.0 MW of private PPA projects. In South Korea, the Company has secured a pipeline of 9.0 MW.
Other Geographies: Late-stage Pipeline Location Capacity
Spain PPA Spain 162.0 Utility Development 2019 Project Development
India C&I India 30.0 DG Development 2018/2019 Project Development
South Korea South Korea 9.0 Utility Development 2019 Project Development
For the third quarter of 2018, the Company's project business is expected to generate revenue in the range of $15 to $20 million and overall gross margin in the range of 35% to 40%. During the third quarter of 2018, the Company expects to monetize 13 MW of projects.
For 2018, the Company expects to generate revenue in the range of $130 to $140 million with overall gross margin in the range of 20 to 25%. The Company intends to monetize 250 MW to 300 MW projects.
Adoption of New Accounting Policy
Effective from January 1, 2018, ReneSola adopted the new revenue recognition policy, ASC 606 — Revenue from Contracts with Customers, using the modified retrospective method in accordance with US GAAP (“ASC 606”). As a result of adopting ASC 606, the Company recognized the cumulative effect of initially applying the revenue standard as an increase of approximately USD 0.87 million to the opening balances of retained earnings in the first quarter of 2018. There is no adjustment in the second quarter of 2018
Conference Call Information
ReneSola's management will host an earnings conference call on September 6, 2018 at 8:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time (8:00 p.m. China Standard Time).
Dial-in details for the earnings conference call are as follows:
Phone Number Toll-Free Number
United States +1 (845) 675-0437 +1 (866) 519-4004
Hong Kong +852 30186771 +852 (800) 906601
Other International +65 6713-5090
The call passcode is 8561109.
The Company requests listeners to dial in ten minutes before the scheduled start time, in order to avoid delays in registering.
A replay of the conference call may be accessed by phone at the following numbers until September 15, 2018. To access the replay, please again reference the conference passcode 1739389.
Hong Kong +852 3051-2780 +852 (800) 963117
Other International +61 (2) 8199-0299
Additionally, a live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available on the Investor Relations section of ReneSola's website at http://www.renesolapower.com.
Founded in 2005, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2008, ReneSola (NYSE: SOL) is an international leading brand of solar project developer and operator. Leveraging its global presence and solid experience in the industry, ReneSola is well positioned to develop green energy projects with attractive return around the world. For more information, please visit www.renesolapower.com.
This press release contains statements that constitute ''forward-looking" statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Whenever you read a statement that is not simply a statement of historical fact (such as when the Company describes what it "believes," "plans," "expects" or "anticipates" will occur, what "will" or "could" happen, and other similar statements), you must remember that the Company's expectations may not be correct, even though it believes that they are reasonable. Furthermore, the forward-looking statements are mainly related to the Company’s continuing operations and you may not be able to compare such information with the Company’s past performance or results. The Company does not guarantee that the forward-looking statements will happen as described or that they will happen at all. Further information regarding risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements is included in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's annual report on Form 20-F. The Company undertakes no obligation, beyond that required by law, to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which the statement is made, even though the Company's situation may change in the future.
Mr. Johnny Pan
+86 (21) 6280-9180 x131
ir@renesolapower.com
The Blueshirt Group Asia
Mr. Gary Dvorchak, CFA
gary@blueshirtgroup.com
The Blueshirt Group
Mr. Ralph Fong
ralph@blueshirtgroup.com
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Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act
The Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act of 2007 (S. 453) was a bill introduced in the 110th Congress of the U.S.A. on January 31, 2007, by Sen. Barack Obama, Democrat of Illinois and Sen. Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York. The bill was referred to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary and on October 4, 2007 was referred to the Senate, although it never received a vote.[1]
A similar version of this bill was introduced by Obama in the 109th Congress on November 16, 2006 (S. 4069) "to protect Americans from tactics that intimidate voters and prevent them from exercising their right to vote on Election Day."[2]
During the 2006 mid-term elections, material was distributed by Republicans in predominantly African American counties in Maryland falsely claiming that prominent African-American Democrats had endorsed the Republican candidates. The fliers were paid for and authorized by Senate candidate Michael S. Steele and Governor Robert Ehrlich, and were widely decried as fraudulent by critics.[3]
"One of our most sacred rights as Americans is the right to make our voice heard at the polls," said Obama in his introductory remarks on the 2006 bill. "But too often, we hear reports of mysterious phone calls and mailers arriving just days before an election that seek to mislead and threaten voters to keep them from the polls. And those who engage in these deceptive and underhanded campaign tactics usually target voters living in minority or low-income neighborhoods. This legislation would ensure that for the first time, these incidents are fully investigated and that those found guilty are punished."[4]
↑ http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:S453:
↑ Press Release announcing introduction of Bill, Sen. Obama's Official Website.
↑ Mosk, Matthew; Thomas-Lester, Avis (2006-11-13). "GOP Fliers Apparently Were Part Of Strategy". The Washington Post. p. B1. Retrieved 2009-07-18. <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
↑ http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=434&Itemid=86
Summary on GovTrack
This United States federal legislation article is a stub. You can help Infogalactic by expanding it.
Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=Deceptive_Practices_and_Voter_Intimidation_Prevention_Act&oldid=3375061"
United States proposed federal legislation
Works by Barack Obama
United States federal legislation stubs
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Dim the lights
March 20, 2013, 7:52 pm 0 Edit
This is a year of transition and celebration for the 2013 JFilm Festival.
Transition, in that the festival is moving from its old venue at SouthSide Works Cinema to the Manor Theater in Squirrel Hill.
Celebration, in that the film festival is marking its 20thanniversary.
“I think JFilm has grown significantly, adding programs throughout the year,” said JFilm Director Kathryn Spitz Cohan, who has run the festival for the past 12 years. “The film festival itself is looked upon nationally as one of the oldest most established festivals, and I like to think our festival committee has refined its taste in film. Overall, it’s become a well-oiled machine.”
“It’s a milestone year,” JFilm Committee Chair Sally Kalson said. “I don’t think anybody really believed when the festival started 20 years ago it would still be around and flourishing as an all-year organization.”
Now, JFilm is looking to the future.
This year, the JFilm Festival will present 18 movies and documentaries from the United States, Israel, Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, the Palestinian territories and the Czech Republic. This year’s film line — with descriptions, times, dates and venues — is posted below.
“It’s a great lineup,” Spitz Cohan said. “I think a lot of films have a lot of music this year. Not that we ever start out to have a theme. We set out to show the best high quality films, but it just happens that music plays a part in many of them.”
Kalson particularly likes this year’s documentaries. “We have a lot of really interesting documentaries, the kind that make you watch and say, ‘oh my gosh, who knew?’ ”
Unlike in past years, the opening night film, “Paris-Manhattan” — a comedy about a French pharmacist obsessed with Woody Allen — will have two screenings: Thursday, April 11, 7 p.m., and Thursday, April 18, 5:45 p.m., both at the Manor.
That’s because JFilm has 100 fewer seats this year than at SouthSide Works — even utilizing two cinemas at the Manor. So the opening night film will be screened twice to meet demand.
Changes in movie production prompted JFilm to move from SouthSide Works to the Manor, Spitz Cohan said
“It all had to do with the conversion from 35mm projection to digital projection.
“The SouthSide Works Cinema did not know when they would be converting and could not negotiate a contract with us. The Manor was excited about hosting us.”
Other screenings are slated for Carnegie Mellon University (McConomy Auditorium), Rodef Shalom Congregation and Seton Hill University (Reeves Auditorium) in Greensburg and, for the first time, the Hollywood Theater in Dormont.
Not afraid to take chances in its film selection, JFilm is screening “Out in the Dark.” Produced partly in the Palestinian territories it is a love story about two gay men, one Israeli, one Palestinian.
“I remember reading the description and it didn’t stand out to me,” Spitz Cohan said, “but it’s just an amazing film, and the committee agreed.”
Another feature film this year is “The Return of the Violin,” the story of the remarkable journey of a 1713 Stradivarius from Bronislaw Huberman, who later founded the Israeli Philharmonic, to Joshua Bell, one of the world’s leading violinists and a “rock star” among classical music fans. Bell will be on hand following the screening at Rodef Shalom for a Q&A session.
Kalson noted the documentary “AKA Doc Thomas,” a named adopted by a Jewish kid from Brooklyn (Jerome Felder), who despite being stricken with polio became an R&B performer and songwriter.
“We know his songs, but we don’t him,” Kalson said, “and it turns out he had an amazing life despite his polio.”
One high-profile change in this year’s festival is the poster campaign that is promoting it.
“Our design firm, Wall to Wall Studios, came up with the concept to honor JFilm’s 20th festival by using real 20-year-olds from the community,” Spitz Cohan said. “We went to the Hillel JUC; they were crucial in getting us the 20-year-olds.”
Will the campaign increase ticket sales?
“At least these 20-year-olds will tell their friends and family. Maybe there will be more exposure among that age group, but we just loved the concept.”
For tickets, visit JFilmPgh.orgor call 412-992-5203 (Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.). Seating is limited. Tickets still available on the day of screening will go on sale at the venue 30 minutes before show time on a cash only basis. Moviegoers are urged to be in their seats 10 minutes before show time or their seats could be given to others on the waiting list.
Here are is the 2013 JFilm Festival lineup:
Paris-Manhattan
Pittsburgh Premiere
Director: Sophie Lellouche
2012, France, 78 minutes
French with subtitles
A beautiful young woman turns to Woody Allen for life lessons in this charming French comedy. Alice (the adorable Alice Taglioni) is a thirty-something pharmacist under pressure from her increasingly concerned but loving Jewish parents to find a husband. She seeks solace in an obsession with Woody Allen as she goes through date after date without finding Mr. Right. When she meets Victor (French star Patrick Bruel) will she go BANANAS or is it more like LOVE AND DEATH? A romantic romp through the city of lights with luxurious cinematography and a jazz-infused score.
A reception will follow the film on Opening Night at the Jewish Community Center with live music featuring Douglas Levine (piano) and John Marcinizyn (guitar). Signature cocktails and catering by Tallulah’s. Dietary laws observed. Dress is snazzy!
Thursday, April 11, 7 p.m.
Manor Theater
2nd screening
Thursday, April 18, 5:45 p.m.
The Return of the Violin
Director: Haim Hecht
2012, Israel, 65 minutes, English, Polish and Hebrew with subtitles
This is quite a story about survival, not only of people but of a remarkable violin. The 1713 Stradivarius was given to a young Polish Jewish prodigy, Bronislaw Huberman, who later became the founder of what is now the Israeli Philharmonic. It was stolen twice during Huberman’s ownership and later put up for sale as a museum piece before being purchased by one of the world’s most celebrated violinists, Joshua Bell.
Followed by a Q&A with Joshua Bell moderated by Sally Kalson, JFilm Chair.
In collaboration with Rodef Shalom Congregation and WQED-FM.
Friday, April 12, 11 a.m.
Rodef Shalom Congregation
A.K.A. Doc Pomus
Directors: Peter Miller and Will Hechter
2012, Canada/USA, 99 minutes
Brooklyn-born Jerome Felder always wanted to be a blues singer. After he was stricken with polio as a child, this seemed an unlikely path. Renaming himself Doc Pomus, he forged a life in music that included a brilliant songwriting career. Many of his songs became standards of the early rock and roll era, including “Save the Last Dance for Me” and “This Magic Moment” which are featured in the film along with interviews with collaborators and friends including Dr. John, Ben E. King, B.B. King and Lou Reed. Doc Pomus wrote his songs from his heart, as you’ll learn in this rockin’ documentary that reveals one of music’s great untold stories.
Winner – Grand Prize – Stony Brook Film Festival
Film Schmooze with Deane Root.
Saturday, April 13, 7 p.m.
Out in the Dark
Director: Michael Mayer
2012, Israel/Palestinian Territories/USA, 96 minutes
Hebrew and Arabic with subtitles
It’s hard enough when a Palestinian and an Israeli fall in love. But it’s even more difficult when both are gay men. Nimr, an aspiring Palestinian psychologist, and Roy, an Israeli lawyer, meet in a Tel Aviv nightclub. Nimr faces ostracism in his culture for his sexual orientation and alienation in Israel for his nationality; the fact that his brother is a terrorist only adds to his problems. What starts out as a tender and sensual border-crossing romance becomes a suspenseful thriller with a gritty visual palette that heightens the sense of urgency.
Winner – Best Narrative – 2012 Haifa International Film Festival
Director Michael Mayer will speak following the April 18 screening.
In collaboration with Reel Q: Pittsburgh’s LGBT Film Festival.
My Australia
Director: Ami Drozd
2011, Israel/Poland, 100 minutes
Polish and Hebrew with subtitles
Ten-year old Tadek fantasizes about Australia from his poor neighborhood in 1960s Poland. His older brother involves him in an anti-Semitic gang. When they are arrested, their mother reveals that though raised as Catholics, they are in fact Jews. Telling the younger boy they are going to Australia, the family boards a ship to Israel where they must adjust to a new home, a new religion and, ultimately, a new identity. With his cherubic face, Jakub Wróblewski turns in a star performance as the young anti-hero.
Winner – Audience Award – 2011 Jerusalem Film Festival
Film Schmooze with Alex Orbach.
In collaboration with the Polish Cultural Council.
Sunday, April 14, 1 p.m.
Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir
Director: Laurent Bouzereau
2011, United Kingdom, 90 minutes
Actor, director, Krakow Ghetto survivor, American fugitive — filmmaker Roman Polanski addresses every aspect of his celebrated, tragic and scandalous life in this intimate documentary. Interviewed by a long-time friend, Polanski sets the record straight on the 1968 murder of his pregnant wife, Sharon Tate, by the Manson cult, and his 1977 sexual encounter with a 13-year-old girl that led to his exile and, 30 years later, arrest in Switzerland. Clips from such Polanski classics as ROSEMARY’S BABY, CHINATOWN and THE PIANIST connect the Oscar-winner’s anguished past with his artistic achievements, making for the definitive picture of this complex artist.
In collaboration with Pittsburgh Filmmakers.
Sunday, April 14, 3:15 p.m.
Ameer Got His Gun
Director: Naomi Levari
2011, Israel, 58 minutes
Arabic and Hebrew with subtitles
Eighteen-year-old Ameer wishes to follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfather by volunteering in the Israeli military — even though he is a Muslim Arab. The film tells the moving story of a young man who wants to serve his country but is accepted neither by his Arab brothers in Sakhnin, or the Israeli Jews beside whom he serves. Ameer, however, is amazing: smart, outgoing and always the optimist, despite the response he gets from others.
Winner – Grand Prize – FIPA 2012
Followed by a light dinner (at the theater) and the Jewish Federation’s Yom Hazikaron service (at the JCC). There is no additional charge for the dinner or the service.
Wunderkinder
Director: Marcus O. Rosenmüller
2011, Germany, 96 minutes
German with subtitles
From the producers of EUROPA EUROPA comes the powerful story of three children united by their passion for music. Living in the small Ukrainian town of Poltava in 1941, the young musical prodigies – two Jewish, one German – have their friendship tested when the Nazis invade. A moving tale that speaks to the power of art in the face of tragedy, WUNDERKINDER features impressive performances by real-life musicians Elin Kolev and Mathilda Adamik. Recommended for ages 13+.
Winner – 2011 Yad Vashem Chairman’s Award
Winner – Numerous Audience Awards 2011 and 2012
JFilm’s Teen Screen educators will lead a discussion following the film.
Monday, April 15, 7 p.m.
Hollywood Theater – Dormont
Fill the Void
Director: Rama Burshtein
Hebrew with subtitles
In this story about an Orthodox Hassidic family from Tel Aviv, a young woman must make a decision that will affect her life and that of her family forever. Although there are prayers, traditional music, and religious ceremonies, in the end this is a universal story of a man and a woman looking for happiness. A confident debut from director Burshstein (a haredi woman herself), FILL THE VOID offers a rare glimpse into a unique and complex world.
Winner – Best Narrative Film and Best Director – 2012 Israeli Academy Awards
Winner – Best actress – Venice International Film Festival
Film Schmooze with Rachel Kranson.
Monday, April 15, 7:30 p.m.
Sonny Boy
Greensburg Premiere
Director: Maria Peter
2011, Netherlands, 130 minutes
Dutch with subtitles
An epic film spanning the late 1920s through the end of WWII, Sonny Boy, tells the tale of a black immigrant from Surinam, his love affair with an older Dutch woman, and their clandestine assistance to Jews as the Nazis close in. In addition to lush cinematography and first-rate acting, all the big themes are present including racism, love, fidelity, revenge and betrayal in this moving story based on a Dutch best-seller by Annejet van der Zijl.
Netherlands submission to the Academy Awards for 2012 Best Foreign Language Film.
Supported in part by the National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education at Seton Hill University.
Tuesday, April 16, 7 p.m.
Seton Hill University – Reeves Auditorium
Ballad of the Weeping Spring
Director: Beni Torati
2012, Israel, 105 minutes
Twenty years after disappearing, a legendary lute player is coaxed out of self-imposed exile for a deathbed concert for a former band-mate. He sets off on an epic quest to recruit the best musicians in the land, leading a growing posse through smoky bars and gambling dens, where exotic North African/Middle Eastern music pervades the air and campfires light the night. This stylized, moody and surprising journey is part spaghetti western, part SEVEN SAMURAI, with musical instruments instead of weapons.
Winner – Best Original Music and Best Costume Design – Israeli Academy Awards
Tuesday, April 16, 7:30 p.m.
(Immediately following the Jewish Federation’s Yom Ha’atzmaut celebration at the JCC)
Defiant Requiem
Director: Doug Shultz
2012, USA/Czech Republic, 85 minutes
An astonishing look back at the story of young Czech conductor Rafael Schächter who, while imprisoned in Terezin, led a makeshift choir of 150 fellow inmates in performing Verdi’s Requiem. A celebration of perseverance and the power of art and dignity in the face of inhumanity, the film also tells the story of distinguished music conductor Murry Sidlin’s memorial concert held at Terezin in 2010. Narrated by Bebe Neuwirth.
Winner – Best Documentary – Big Apple Film Festival
After the film, Paul Guggenheimer (Essential Pittsburgh) will interview survivor Magda Herzberger, followed by a dessert reception.
Sponsored by the Holocaust Center of Greater Pittsburgh.
Wednesday, April 17, 7 p.m.
A Bottle in the Gaza Sea
Director: Thierry Binisti
2011, France/Israel, 99 minutes
French, Hebrew and Arabic with subtitles
Can a message in a bottle help promote peace between two peoples? That’s the premise of this engrossing and hopeful film. Tal, a 17-year-old French teenager who has moved to Israel with her family, writes a letter expressing her hopes for peace between the Israelis and Palestinians. Her brother throws the bottle into the sea near Gaza, where it is found by “Gazaman,” the young Palestinian, Naim. The two begin a relationship that might be only a few miles apart, but represents a great chasm.
Winner – Best Narrative Feature
Audience Choice Award – Heartland Film Festival
Film Schmooze with Laurie Zittrain Eisenberg.
In collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University’s Israel on Campus.
Supported in part by Shalom Pittsburgh and the Young Adult Division of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.
CMU – McConomy Auditorium
Jerusalem on a Plate
Director: James Nutt
Follow internationally known chef Yotam Ottolenghi on a culinary journey through his native Jerusalem. From casual street food to trendy restaurants to both Arab and Jewish homes, Ottolenghi gives us a sneak peek at the diverse and mouthwatering Middle Eastern food scene. Warning: This film will awaken your taste buds. You may have to restrain yourself from attempting to eat the food off the screen.
Join us following the film for a “Taste of Jewish Pittsburgh” featuring delicious samples from local caterers.
Special Pricing: All tickets $20
Thursday, April 18, 11 a.m.
The Day I Saw Your Heart
Director: Jennifer Devolére
An assured debut from writer/director Jennifer Devoldere, this film offers an honest, light-hearted take on a dysfunctional Jewish family in Paris. Eli, on the verge of 60, is about to have a baby with his second wife but has only a distant relationship with his grown daughter. He tries to reconcile with the aloof Justine (the marvelous Melanie Laurent of THE ROUND UP and INGLORIOUS BASTERDS), but finds it easier to befriend her exes — without telling her. When Justine falls in love again and her father is about to ruin everything, they find a way to understanding through her unusual art project.
Winner – Best Director and Best Actress – Newport Beach Film Festival
Bert Stern: The Original Mad Man
Director: Shannah Laumeister
2012, USA, 89 minutes
You may not know the name Bert Stern, but you certainly have seen his photographs. From shooting the world’s most beautiful women – Marilyn, Liz and Audrey, to name a few – to putting Smirnoff on the map with his unique and beautiful ad campaigns, Stern became a celebrity in his own right. This intimate documentary delves deeply into the man while treating us with mesmerizing images from his body of work. Adult content.
Hava Nagila (The Movie)
Director: Roberta Grossman
You know it, you sing it, you can’t wed without it. It’s Hava Nagila, one of the most infectious celebration songs ever written in any language. But do you know where it came from and how it evolved from a Jewish staple to a world-wide phenomenon covered by everybody from Harry Belafonte and Connie Francis to Bob Dylan and Elvis? Find out in this entertaining, illuminating tale that follows the song from the shtetls of Ukraine to Israel, the Catskills, Greenwich Village, Hollywood and beyond. Studded with celebrity interviews and funny vignettes, the film explores Jewish roots, identity and cross-cultural connection that only music can achieve.
Supported in part by the Zionist Organization of America – Pittsburgh District.
Directors: Uriel Sinai and Dana Doron
Hebrew and English with subtitles
What’s in a number? More than you can imagine if it was tattooed on your arm in a concentration camp. Some 400,000 prisoners got them in Auschwitz, but only a few thousand are still alive. This powerful documentary gives voice to some of the survivors, who give riveting Holocaust testimony and discuss the meaning their numbers took on after the war and beyond with surprising humor and wit. Gita Kalderon (76914) is the optimist, Joka Levi (A11998) is the realist, and Dani Hanoch (B2823) is the adventurer; all have a lot to say about how their numbers have shaped them.
Winner – Best Debut Film Award – 2012 Israeli Documentary Forum Awards
Winner – Silver Hugo Award – 2012 Chicago International Film Festival
Followed by a panel discussion and a dessert reception.
Sponsored by Classrooms Without Borders.
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Jewish National Fund’s environmental efforts in Israel paying off, but ‘we need to do better’
February 18, 2015, 5:04 pm 0 Edit
Alon Tal’s point is direct: “We need to, and can, do better.” (Photo provided by JNF.org)
Despite making vast inroads in enriching and preserving its environment, Israel faces significant ecological challenges, according to Alon Tal, the featured speaker of the Jewish National Fund’s Western Pennsylvania Community Breakfast, held last Thursday at Phipps Conservatory.
Tal, who sits on the JNF’s international board, has spent his career balancing academia and public interest advocacy as a champion of environmentalism. He is currently on the faculty of Ben Gurion University, and in 1996 founded the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, a graduate studies center in which Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian students join environmentalists from around the world in an advanced interdisciplinary research program.
Citing such crises in Israel as contaminated water, poor air quality in some areas, and high cancer rates, Tal praised the JNF for recognizing that these “trends are not destiny.”
“We need to, and can, do better,” he said.
Yet despite severe environmental problems in the Jewish state, progress is being made in some areas, he noted. For example, he said, Israelis have recognized that trees are “a renewable resource,” and the JNF has been instrumental in expanding its forestland 800 percent since 1949.
“We need to ask how we take that kind of success and apply it to other environmental endeavors,” he asserted.
JNF has taken an active role in challenging the government on policies that affect the environment, Tal noted, including successfully blocking a proposed fracking project near Jerusalem.
While other JNF endeavors have not been as successful — it lost a recent battle to stop the construction of a highway through the Jerusalem Forest — it continues to advocate for greener policies.
As Israel is becoming more crowded, Tal said, there arise “enormous pressures” to develop the land, and to “perhaps decimate landscapes,” which puts Israelis, as stewards of the land, at a crossroads.
“We have to make a decision,” Tal posited. “Do we want to be slumlords, or do we want to be responsible landlords? Do we want to take part in the land restoration movement, or do we just stand by.”
As the indigenous people of the land, he continued, “we have to take care of it for our grandchildren.”
Outreach to Arab communities is another important objective of the JNF, according to Tal.
“We’ve come to feel there is nothing more Jewish than assisting minorities in our country,” he said, adding that the JNF has created an “affirmative action” program that seeks to close the gap between Jewish and Arab communities in Israel and has helped to build parks and hiking trails and to restore rivers in those communities.
“Our responsibility is for the entire State of Israel,” he said.
After the presentation of a video highlighting JNF’s contributions during Israel’s Operation Protective Edge against Hamas last summer — including raising more than $6 million and delivering over 200 portable bomb shelters — Tal responded to questions from audience members, including representatives from Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP). In the week prior to the breakfast, JVP had run “an educational campaign directed at the general public and the local community of green professionals and sustainability advocates to address the racist nature of the JNF’s activities in Israel-Palestine,” according to an email from JVP representative Daniel Klein.
The tone of the Q-and-A remained civil.
When audience member Dara Levy-Bernstein charged that the JNF had bulldozed Bedouin homes in “the village” of Al-Araqib in the Negev, Tal corrected her by noting that the area in question was not a village, but a “small cemetery with intermittent agriculture,” and that the people on the land who complained were just 10 to 15 families of squatters who have the opportunity to challenge the actions of the JNF in court.
The work of the JNF in that area, Tal said, was for the betterment of an entire community.
“I see it very differently,” he said, adding that the JNF does not have the authority to bulldoze homes.
A charge by audience member Hadeel Salameh, president of the University of Pittsburgh’s chapter of SJP, that the JNF plants trees “in the illegal settlements of the West Bank,” was similarly refuted by Tal, who stated that there was not a single JNF project in the West Bank outside of areas accepted to be under Israeli control under any future peace deal.
“They just aren’t there,” he said.
Manar Saria, an Israeli Arab from Haifa who is working on her doctorate in engineering and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University, came to hear Tal speak. Saria first met Tal when she was learning at the Arava Institute in Ktura, Israel.
“It was one of the best years of my life,” Saria said of the environmental and research program that Tal founded. “It opens your eyes to different perspectives.”
While Saria does not agree with many of the past and current activities of the JNF, she is grateful for the support the organization has given to the Arava Institute, in which she still participates as an alumna. JNF raises funds for student scholarships for Arava as well as for a capital campaign. It has provided $1 million for scholarships for students to attend.
She also commended JNF for its support of the Wadi Attir project for Bedouins, which she said helps the Bedouins preserve their traditional medicine and plants.
“I don’t agree with the JNF with all they do,” Saria said. “But you can’t paint things in black and white.
“I really appreciate Alon [Tal] a lot,” she added, noting that he employed her to bring more Arab scientists into an international Drylands, Deserts and Desertification Conference and that he is “still doing outreach.”
“I always say that politics is dirty,” she continued. “But you need good people there to help steer the wind.”
JVP plans to continue its campaign against JNF, according to Klein, through the screening of the film “Enduring Roots,” which purports to feature the testimonies of Bedouins and Palestinians “about the JNF’s involvement in forcing their families and communities off their lands in 1947-48 and continuing since,” Klein wrote in an email. JVP also plans to continue using social media to advocate against the actions of the JNF, and will be asking members to sign a petition to the IRS to revoke the JNF’s charitable status in the United States.
Toby Tabachnick can be reached at tobyt@thejewishchronicle.net.
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Letters to the editor November 14
November 14, 2013, 4:00 pm 0 Edit
Disrespectful cartoon
The Jewish Chronicle often presents excellent articles, columns and editorials that address diversity and the need for people to have an understanding and sensitivity for others.
At times, though, it seems the Chronicle does not have the same sensitivity and respect for fellow Jews or Jews who choose to follow a greater adherence to Jewish Laws.
Up until now, as a long-term subscriber, I have held my pen back from criticizing the Chronicle for its all-too often jabs at the Orthodox community. But the cartoon on page 7 of the Oct. 31 issue of the Chronicle “Intermarriage Math” with its “dark side” angry portrayal of what I presume is a rabbi refusing to conduct an intermarriage service versus the smiling open handed (one again, I presume) rabbi willing to marry a man (Jewish) and a woman wearing a crucifix, crossed a line for me.
My angst is not related to the intermarriage debate, but the very negative and disrespectful cartoon image of a rabbi who is sticking to their conviction and desired path of Jewish observance. This is the type of editorial cartoon that divides our community. After all the persecution and anti-Semitism we as a people have suffered, the last thing we should do is slam each other with negative cartoon images that we would often see from the detractors and enemies of the Jewish people.
There are many warm, caring and dedicated Orthodox rabbis in our community, and the Chronicle should show a greater respect to them and their beliefs. We can and do debate and disagree on issues but let’s not show or encourage disrespect for each other.
Richard Wice
(Editor’s note: The cartoonist, Steve Greenberg, in no way indicates what denomination to which the rabbi depicted belongs; he could more easily be a Conservative, unaffiliated or even Reform rabbi. Further, the open books on the couple’s laps suggest this is a prayer service, not a request to be married. That the couple is seated together also indicates this is not an Orthodox service. Instead of attacking one particular denomination, Greenberg is addressing all Jews, making a point about the need to make interfaith families feel welcomed. But it is not an attack on Orthodoxy.)
After the Gulf war of the early ’90s, I heard it time and time again, it was the best opportunity for peace.
Arabs in the Middle East had access to CNN and saw how others around the world lived. They wanted a better life with homes, cars and a future for their children. If only there could be peace.
The Oslo peace accords were based on this premise, and I, too, was optimistic.
So it was with great surprise that I read in the Nov. 7 Chronicle about Colin Powell’s visit to Pittsburgh (“Powell: Middle East needs wealth, energy, education — not wars and violence,”) and his views that jobs, wealth and education were the solution to the problems and peace in the Middle East.
Is it because of jobs the Egyptians threw the Muslim Brotherhood out of office? Is it because of jobs Egyptians are killing Coptic Christians? Is it because of jobs Assad is killing his citizens in the streets? Is it because of jobs Iran is starving its citizens to pursue nuclear capabilities? Is it because of jobs the American ambassador was murdered in Libya? Is it because of jobs Hamas in Gaza would rather fire rockets into Israel than build a country?
The answer to these questions and more is no, no, no.
There are two consistent problems in the Middle East. One is the fighting for territorial control between Sunni and Shiite Muslims. The only thing the Sunnis and Shiites agree on, which is the second problem, is their hatred of Israel, Jews, Christians and Americans and their desire to rid the Middle East of them. Have we learned nothing in the last 20 years?
Stuart V. Pavilack
Wheeling, W.Va.
(The author is executive director of the Zionist Organization of America-Pittsburgh District.)
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Time ripe to green up the fashion show runway
By The Editors of E/The Environmental Magazine November 19, 2009, 3:22 pm 0 Edit
Dear EarthTalk: Can you enlighten on the environmental impact of the fashion industry? As I understand it, the industry overall is no friend to the environment.
— Tan Cheng Li, Malaysia
According to the nonprofit Earth Pledge, today some 8,000 synthetic chemicals are used throughout the world to turn raw materials into textiles. Domestically, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that one-quarter of all pesticides used nationwide goes toward growing cotton, primarily for the clothing industry. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers many domestic textile manufacturing facilities to be hazardous waste generators; and lax standards and enforcement in developing countries, where the majority of textiles are produced, means that untold amounts of pollution are likely being deposited into local soils and waterways in regions that can hardly stand further environmental insult.
Luz Claudio, writing in Environmental Health Perspectives, considers the way Americans and Europeans shop for clothes as “waste couture.” Fashion is low quality and sold at “prices that make the purchase tempting and the disposal painless.” Yet this sort of so-called “fast fashion” leaves a pollution footprint, with each step of the clothing life cycle generating potential environmental and occupational hazards.
According to Technical Textile Markets, a quarterly trade publication, demand for man-made fibers such as petroleum-derived polyester has nearly doubled in the last 15 years. “The manufacture of polyester and other synthetic fabrics is an energy-intensive process requiring large amounts of crude oil,” reports Claudio. In addition, she says, the processes emit volatile organic compounds and solvents, particulate matter, acid gases such as hydrogen chloride, and other production byproducts into the air and water.
“Issues of environmental health and safety do not apply only to the production of man-made fabrics,” says Claudio, citing subsidies to the pesticide-laden cotton industry that keep prices low and production high.
In an effort to green up the industry, Earth Pledge launched its FutureFashion initiative in 2005 to promote the use of renewable, reusable and nonpolluting materials and production methods. Besides putting on its own FutureFashion showcases, the group organized the January 2008 New York Fashion Week, encouraging designers to create and showcase greener clothing on their runway models. Green-leaning designers can also pick through Earth Pledge’s library of 600 sustainably produced textiles, including organic cotton as well as exotic materials such as sasawashi, pina, bamboo, milk protein, and sea leather.
Another effort under way to speed the fashion industry into a carbon-constrained future is the Ethical Fashion Forum, which provides a variety of tools and resources and runs training sessions and networking events to help facilitate moving the industry toward more sustainable practices.
One stumbling block to the greening of fashion is that only a small number of consumers — some analysts say less than one percent — will pay more for a greener shirt. But if the industry itself can improve its footprint from the inside and drive the costs of more eco-friendly materials and processes down, the benefits will trickle down to consumers, whether they are bargain conscious or fashion conscious.
(Send your environmental question to EarthTalk c/o E/The Environmental Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; or to earthtalk@emagazine.com.)
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home » JIS News » Justice
More Courtrooms to be Provided
Written by: Rochelle Williams
Photo: Adrian Walker
Justice Minister, Hon. Delroy Chuck (left), speaks at a recent contract-signing ceremony for the commencement of work to expand the Public West Building in downtown Kingston, which houses the Court of Appeal and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. The ceremony was held at the Ministry on Constant Spring Road in St. Andrew. Seated at right is President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Dennis Morrison.
More Teachers to Be Trained in Restorative Justice
CSJP Supports New Programme to Assist At-Risk Youth
Court Of Appeal to Be Expanded
Expansion work on the Public West Building in downtown Kingston, which houses the Court of Appeal and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, is on track.
This will result in the provision of additional courtrooms to assist in reducing the backlog of cases.
The scope of work includes renovation of existing facilities on the first and second floor to facilitate two lounges, three courtrooms and 13 judges’ chambers.
A contract to facilitate the work was signed recently at the Ministry of Justice offices on Constant Spring Road in Kingston.
The eight-month contract will also see the renovation of the registry and the circulation tower (elevator shaft and stairwell).
In his remarks, Justice Minister, Hon. Delroy Chuck, said expansion of the Court of Appeal is an important target in the Justice Reform Implementation Plan.
Noting that there is a backlog of over 1,400 cases, the Minister said another measure to create greater efficiency in the justice system is the installation of audiovisual equipment in the courts during the 2018/19 fiscal year to assist in faster disposal of cases.
“Over the past couple of years, the backlog of cases in the Court of Appeal has been increasing due to the sheer (lack) of manpower. Seven judges just cannot manage the bulk of cases which are coming to the Court of Appeal. Within two years, by 2020, it is my great hope that backlog will not be an issue in the Court of Appeal. We want to ensure that the facilities are there and that the opportunity is there, so that the cases can be dealt with,” he said.
Meanwhile, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Carol Palmer, said the infrastructure development work will place the Court of Appeal in a position to address the backlog of cases and strengthen the justice system.
“The Ministry sees the infrastructure works that are being done to improve the built environment of justice institutions as an indispensible part of the overall objective to increase access to justice services, support the timely dispensation of justice and to create a sound court infrastructure,” she said.
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by Larson Sutton
The Rolling Stones: Bridges to Bremen
There is a moment in this nearly three-hour show, just after the six-piece Stones have completed their stripped down, B-stage mini-set, when all but Mick Jagger have crossed back over to the main stage. As Mick begins his return strut, with quintessential moves like Jagger, there is a fleeting, almost bashful look on his face. It’s speculation, surely, but the expression suggests this: Jagger is truly happy, maybe even happiest, being the singer for the Rolling Stones.
Why not? On this 1997-98 tour supporting Bridges to Babylon the greatest rock-and-roll band in the world would play to over 4 million people. The Bremen show, presented here restored and complete, would come near the end of the run, and despite the months and months on the road circumnavigating the world, the band- background singers and horn section included- was just as energized then as they were on day one, maybe even more so as they were also playing for a global TV audience tuning in as well.
Add to that the group’s latest stage spectacles- a 150-foot telescoping bridge extending out to the B-stage and an enormous circular video screen behind them- and once again the Stones somehow made a stadium filled with tens of thousands feel as intimate as such a vast space could. Yet, what makes any concert worthy of such showmanship and set design is the music that accompanies it. The Bridges tour followed a successful studio record, so an album single like “Saint of Me” or newer cuts such as “Flip the Switch” and “Anybody Seen My Baby?” co-mingling with “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” (in a surprise role as opener), or “Gimme Shelter” (also landing uncharacteristically early in the evening) gave the first half plenty of fresh variety and verve.
There are a few deeper dives, such as Keith Richards’ “Wanna Hold You,” and the B-Stage homage to Bob Dylan on “Like a Rolling Stone,” that break up the stretch of gold starting with a decadent “Miss You,” with Jagger at his devilish best, and running all the way through to the “Brown Sugar” finale. These hits have become known in Stones fan circles as the war horses. Still, piled one after the next, they are a relentless reminder of how great the band has been for so long. (The four bonus songs from a performance in Chicago also give a bit of contrast to the repertoire, and are no less charged with Stones magic.)
By the Bridges tour, the Rolling Stones had become somewhat masterful in their execution of a stadium show. New toys gave the returning audience a novel thrill, but it was the online voting during the show that provided the telling evidence of why the fans really keep coming back. In real-time, they chose a relatively obscure album track, a plaintive ballad, to be played, and the Stones, without hesitation, played it. For all the staging and pageantry and enormity of the event, it was a simple trip to the “Memory Motel” that they wanted, and, essentially, throughout the entire extensive performance, what they got, from a band that, over 30 years in, seemed more than happy to oblige.
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Recovering Streptococci from the Throat, a Practical Alternative to Direct Plating in Remote Tropical Communities
Malcolm McDonald, Rebecca Towers, Peter Fagan, Melita McKinnon, Norma Benger, Ross Andrews, Bart J. Currie, Jonathan Carapetis
Malcolm McDonald
1Tropical and Emerging Infectious Diseases Division, Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Australia
For correspondence: malcolm@menzies.edu.au
Rebecca Towers
Peter Fagan
Melita McKinnon
Norma Benger
Ross Andrews
2Centre for International Child Health, University of Melbourne Department of Paediatrics, Royal Children's Hospital, and Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia
Bart J. Currie
Jonathan Carapetis
DOI: 10.1128/JCM.44.2.547-552.2006
Throat swabs are regarded as the “gold standard” for diagnosing streptococcal pharyngitis and for surveillance research. Culturing throats in remote tropical settings is logistically difficult, and these settings are commonly burdened by high rates of streptococcal disease. The survival of streptococci on swabs may depend on whether they are of “throat” or “skin” type, as determined by emm pattern typing. The aims of this study were to compare the recovery rates of beta-hemolytic streptococci (BHS) using three different transport methods and to determine whether the recovery rates correlated with the emm pattern type. Monthly duplicate throat swabs were taken from occupants of selected households in three remote Aboriginal communities. Paired swabs were separated and handled in one of three ways: (i) direct inoculation onto culture media with cold-box transport (plated), (ii) sealed in a bag with a silica gel desiccant and cold-box transport (desiccant), and (iii) transport at ambient temperature and humidity (ambient). emm pattern typing was done by standard methods. Over 23 months, 4,842 throat swabs were taken, and 4,122 were paired. BHS were recovered on 11.5% of the 4,842 occasions (group A, 4.5%; group C, 1.7%; group G, 5.4%). Results from paired swabs showed the plated method was superior to desiccant and desiccant was better than ambient. Pooled data indicated that plated and desiccant were equivalent, and both were significantly better than ambient. There was no correlation between the emm pattern type and recovery of group A streptococci by different methods. In tropical and remote settings, cold-box transport with desiccant and subsequent inoculation of culture plates in the laboratory is a practical alternative to direct plating.
There are two reasons for swabbing the throat to recover beta-hemolytic streptococci (BHS)—for diagnosis of streptococcal pharyngitis as part of clinical management, and for research purposes. Even in the best of circumstances, throat swabs and cultures have limitations; these include variability of sampling, lack of standardized laboratory methods, difficulties with interpretation in an asymptomatic carrier, and a relatively long turnaround time (12, 17, 24). Tropical and remote settings pose particular challenges for getting throat swabs to laboratories; these include high temperatures and humidity, the frequent need to collect specimens in the outdoors, limited local infrastructure (including refrigeration), difficult communications, and long distances for transportation of materials and specimens (35). Laboratory facilities are often the least accessible in places where the burdens of streptococcal disease and postinfectious sequelae are highest.
The development of rapid antigen tests for group A beta-hemolytic streptococci (GAS) in the 1980s promised to facilitate rapid diagnosis. However, antigen testing may not be practical or cost-effective in many resource-poor settings with high rates of BHS infection (22). Newer tests, including gene probe technology and real-time PCR, are both sensitive and specific (8), but still more costly.
The collection and transport of throat swabs in the field pose more difficulties than collection of swabs from skin lesions. Beta-hemolytic streptococci, mainly GAS, are usually abundant in skin sores and survive the journey to the laboratory without too much difficulty, whereas BHS survival on throat swabs is less certain (1, 10, 32, 37). Direct inoculation of culture plates at the time of collection, or close to the time of collection, remains the “gold standard.” However, a delay of 6 h before being plated appears not to significantly effect the recovery of isolates; even at 24 h in a cool or temperate climate, the loss may be minimal (7, 31).
Methods used for recovery of BHS from throat swabs have also included transport media (Amies and Stuart's), enrichment media, and impregnated filter paper systems.
Transportation of swabs in the dry state, with a silica gel desiccant, was shown to improve recovery of BHS from throat swabs 35 years ago (29), but this was in a temperate climate. A subsequent study suggested the method may also be of value in the tropics, although the numbers were small (35). It has been proposed that, when throat swabs are dried, the reduction of more delicate and potentially inhibitory throat flora favors the survival and subsequent identification of BHS (31). A relatively new innovation, the ziplock plastic bag, plus the availability of inexpensive sachets of silica gel desiccant made transportation of throat swabs, sealed with desiccant, a potentially simple, affordable, and effective alternative to on-site inoculation of culture plates in remote tropical settings.
We decided to investigate the recovery rates of BHS from throat swabs taken in remote tropical communities, comparing three methods: (i) direct inoculation of culture plates on site with refrigerated transport back to the laboratory, (ii) throat swabs sealed in the presence of a silica gel desiccant and transported in a cold box to the laboratory with subsequent inoculation of culture plates, and (iii) transportation of swabs to the laboratory at ambient temperature and humidity as collected, that is, without desiccant or refrigeration (23, 30, 35).
Strains of GAS have been differentiated into five pattern types, based on the emm and emm-like genes, that appear to correlate with tissue tropism. Pattern types A to C are associated with the throat, pattern D with the skin, and pattern E with both sites (3). Our hypothesis was that differences in recovery rates of GAS using different methods may be partly determined by the emm pattern type. That is, recovery rates of “throat” strains, adapted to a moist environment, would be better on culture plates, whereas “skin” strains, adapted to a dry environment, would be better suited to ambient conditions. The primary aim of this study was to compare the recovery rates of three different methods for transporting throat swab specimens to the laboratory. An additional aim was to establish whether there was a correlation between the emm pattern type and recovery of GAS strains in the laboratory using the different methods.
Study site and consultation.We conducted a prospective study of households in three remote Aboriginal communities in the Top End of the Northern Territory, Australia. The households were selected because they had at least one resident with a history of acute rheumatic fever. This region has a mean daily maximum temperature of 32°C (32.5°C in January and 30.1°C in July); the mean annual rainfall is close to 1,300 cm, 85% falling in the months December to March. The land area of the Top End is 265,000 square miles, about the same as the state of Texas.
The study protocol was approved by the local ethics committee. Community leaders and heads of 54 identified households were approached by study investigators, and household members were invited to take part. All households agreed. Individual informed consent was then obtained before enrollment.
Collection and handling of throat swabs.Study households were visited by study staff each month for 23 months. Participants were asked if they had symptoms of pharyngitis, and the throat was examined. Swabs were taken from the throats of all household occupants present at the time of each visit. Duplicate throat swabs were collected by simultaneously holding two cotton-tipped swab sticks together and sweeping the pharynx and tonsils. The swabs were placed back in the original packaging and kept out of the heat of the sun for transportation back to the community clinic within 2 hours. The duplicate-swab method was chosen because families did not consider repeated swabbing of the same person at one visit to be acceptable.
At the community clinic, paired swabs were processed in one of four ways. (i) Immediate inoculation of culture plates and refrigeration, followed by cold-box transportation, was compared with transport at ambient temperature and humidity (plated versus ambient). One swab of each pair was used to inoculate a nonselective culture medium, Columbia horse blood agar (HBA), and a selective medium of horse blood agar containing colistin and nalidixic acid (CNA) (Oxoid Australia Pty Ltd., Victoria, Australia). The plates were sealed and refrigerated for subsequent transportation in a cold box at approximately 4°C. The other swab was left at ambient temperature and humidity in the original packaging. All specimens were packed and transported by air back to the Menzies School of Health Research in Darwin, usually within 24 h. (ii) Immediate inoculation of culture plates and refrigeration was compared with cold-box transport in the presence of desiccant (plated versus desiccant). One swab was used to inoculate media (HBA and CNA) in the community clinic and transported as described above. The other swab was sealed in an airtight bag (20 swabs per bag) with a packet of silica gel desiccant and transported back to the laboratory in a cold box. (iii) Transport with desiccant in a cold box was compared with transport at ambient temperature and humidity (desiccant versus ambient). One swab was stored and transported to the laboratory at ambient temperature and humidity, and the other was sealed with desiccant and transported in the cold box. (iv) Duplicate swabs were transported at ambient temperature and humidity (ambient versus ambient). To assess the sampling differences from uneven distribution of BHS in the throat and on the swabs, duplicate throat swabs were taken, separated, handled, and transported in an identical manner under ambient conditions.
For logistical reasons, paired comparisons were done in sequential batches over time; first, plated compared with ambient, then plated compared with desiccant, then desiccant compared with ambient, and last, ambient compared with ambient. Swabs from communities 1 and 3 were subjected to all four comparisons over the course of the study, whereas swabs from community 2 were only handled by the plated and ambient methods.
Laboratory methods.Upon arrival in the central laboratory, swabs transported in the presence of desiccant or under ambient conditions were inoculated onto HBA and CNA. All culture plates were then incubated at 37°C in 5% CO2. The plates were examined after 24 h and again at 48 h, and colonies of BHS were subcultured onto HBA plates for subsequent identification using a Streptococcal Grouping Kit (Oxoid Diagnostic Reagents, England, United Kingdom). Isolates identified as GCS or GGS (Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis) and GAS were suspended in tryptone soy broth and 15% glycerol prior to storage at −80°C. The emm pattern types of GAS isolates were determined by PCR-based mapping according to the method of Bessen and coworkers (4).
Data analysis and comparison of methods.Recovery rates and median point prevalence (throat carriage) were calculated for the BHS by Lancefield group and by community. For intraprocess comparisons (e.g., plated versus ambient), the yields of the different methods were compared using paired-swab data for total BHS and for streptococcal Lancefield groupings A, C, and G. The relative sensitivity of each method was calculated, including 95% confidence intervals. In addition, for interprocess comparisons (e.g., all plated versus all ambient), total yields were calculated for each of the methods. P values were calculated using chi-square analysis.
The study was conducted from August 2003 to June 2005 (inclusive). Households in community 1 (population, approximately 2,500) were studied for the whole period. There were difficulties with logistics, ongoing household consent, and employment of research staff in community 2 (population, 800), and the study was transferred from community 2 to community 3 (population, 1,800) in July 2004.
Over the study period, 4,842 throat swabs were taken; 4,122 of these were paired swabs. For all the swabs, beta-hemolytic streptococci were recovered on 558 occasions, with more than one BHS Lancefield group isolated on 29 occasions. There were 216 isolates of GAS, 80 isolates of GCS, and 262 isolates of GGS, as shown in Table 1. Only nine people had sore throats on direct questioning, and GAS was recovered on two of those occasions, both from adults. Across all communities, the median point prevalences (throat carriage) were 9.3% for BHS, 4.2% for GAS, 1.5% for GCS, and 3.5% for GGS. For children aged <15 years, the median point prevalences were 10.1% for BHS and 4.9% for GAS. Recovery rates for GCS were significantly higher in community 1 than the other communities, and overall recovery rates were much lower in community 2, reflecting difficulties with on-site collection and processing. In each community, recovery rates from children aged <15 years were higher than for adults.
Recovery rates of BHS from the throat by all methods
Comparison of transportation methods.Recovery rates of BHS from duplicate swabs are shown in Fig. 1. On-site inoculation of culture plates, followed by cold-box transport, provided a better yield of BHS than transport in the presence of desiccant (P = 0.04) and was also superior to transport under ambient conditions (P = <0.001). Transport in the presence of desiccant was also significantly better than transport under ambient conditions alone (P = 0.009). Paired-swab results for GAS (Fig. 2) indicated that on-site inoculation of culture plates was superior to transport under ambient conditions (P = 0.006), but the other comparison data did not achieve statistical significance. The same relationship held with isolates of GCS and GGS (not shown).
Recovery of BHS using paired throat swabs: swabs inoculated onto culture media in the community clinic (plated) were compared with swabs transported with desiccant (desiccant) and swabs transported under ambient conditions (ambient) (see Materials and Methods). (Top) Number of isolates, 258 of 2,571 paired swabs. Ambient sensitivity, 59.3% (95% confidence interval [CI], 53.2% to 65.1%), and plated sensitivity, 76.7% (95% CI, 71.2% to 81.5%); P < 0.001. (Middle) Number of isolates, 101 of 521 paired swabs. Desiccant sensitivity, 72.3% (95% CI, 62.5% to 80.7%), and plated sensitivity, 83.2% (95% CI, 74.4% to 89.9%); P = 0.04. (Bottom) Number of isolates, 69 of 515 paired swabs. Ambient sensitivity, 66.7% (95% CI, 54.3% to 77.6%), and desiccant sensitivity, 85.5% (95% CI, 75.0% to 92.8%); P = 0.009.
Recovery of GAS using paired throat swabs. (Top) Number of GAS isolates, 101. Ambient sensitivity, 52.5% (95% confidence interval [CI], 42.3% to 62.5%), and plated sensitivity, 71.3% (95% CI, 61.4% to 79.6%); P = 0.006. (Middle) Number of GAS isolates, 29. Desiccant sensitivity, 72.4% (95% CI, 52.8% to 87.3%), and plated sensitivity, 79.3% (95% CI, 60.3% to 92.0%); P = 0.54. (Bottom) Number of GAS isolates, 37. Ambient sensitivity, 67.6% (95% CI, 50.2% to 83.0%), and desiccant sensitivity, 78.4% (95% CI, 61.8% to 90.2%); P = 0.29.
Pooled data from all swabs are shown in Fig. 3. Comparisons using specimen transport in the presence of desiccant were done in the second year of the study. In May 2005, there was an outbreak of GAS and GGS carriage and infection in communities 1 and 3, although they are more than 600 kilometers apart. This substantially skewed the BHS recovery results. Thus, data from May 2005 were excluded when the pooled recovery rates were calculated. By this method, recovery rates from cold-box transport in the presence of desiccant were equivalent to those from on-site inoculation of culture plates (P = 0.91); however, the differences between plated and ambient, and desiccant and ambient, were highly significant (P < 0.001).
Pooled data (not paired) for all swabs taken showing the recovery rates of BHS using three different transportation methods.
Sampling variation.Sampling variations were assessed by documenting recovery rates from 515 paired swabs transported under ambient conditions where yields were expected to be lower and sampling variations were expected to have a greater impact. The overall yield of BHS from these swabs was low (6.2%) compared to the recovery rate by the other methods, excluding ambient (11.9%). There were 32 isolates of BHS; 23 were recovered from only one swab in each pair and 9 from both swabs. This indicates a substantial sampling variability from using two swabs together combined with poorer survival rates of BHS on swabs handled under ambient conditions.
Correlation with emm pattern type.When the emm pattern types of the first 155 GAS isolates were examined, 28 isolates were found to have pattern types A to C (18%), 33 pattern type D (22%), and 73 pattern type E (47%). Twenty-one isolates (14%) could not be pattern typed using the method described. There appeared to be slightly improved recovery rates of types A to C with the community plating and cold-box transport compared to transport under ambient conditions, but they were not statistically significant (Fig. 4).
Comparison of emm pattern types of GAS isolates recovered; on-site inoculation of cultures plates (plated) and transport under ambient conditions (ambient). Number of GAS isolates, 101. There was no significant difference in the proportions of emm pattern types between methods.
Nonsuppurative complications of beta-hemolytic streptococcal infection have profound consequences; acute rheumatic fever is the world's leading cause of acquired heart disease in children, and acute poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis is a major cause of renal morbidity in some regions (6, 36). The greatest burden of disease falls on people in developing countries and minority indigenous communities in industrialized countries. The reported throat carriage rates of GAS vary widely from population to population, ranging from less than 3% to greater than 25% (13, 15, 25, 27, 28). Previous reports of carriage rates in remote Australian Aboriginal communities have suggested that they are low, usually less than 5% (5). Using the “gold standard,” on-site inoculation of culture plates, the median point prevalence for throat carriage of GAS in children <15 years old was 4.9%. This is much lower than throat carriage rates of GAS in urban non-Aboriginal Australian children in Melbourne, where the spring, summer, and winter carriage rates were 13.0%, 8.0%, and 16.0%, respectively (11).
Culturing throat swabs in remote Aboriginal communities is logistically difficult, as is the case in many settings around the world with a high incidence of streptococcal disease. Recovery of BHS from the throat depends on how well the swab is collected (19), because GAS are not evenly distributed in the pharynx (32). The highest counts come from the tonsils or tonsillar fossae (20). Ideally, one swab should be swept across the back of the pharynx, including both tonsils or tonsillar fossae plus the posterior pharynx. The tongue and buccal mucosa should be avoided (7). When duplicate swabs were used, we found that there was significant sampling variation; this may, in part, account for the reduced sensitivity of the “gold standard.” Results from the duplicate swab comparisons indicated that direct inoculation of culture plates close to the time of collection (within 2 h) was superior to transportation of specimens in a cold box in the presence of silica gel desiccant, although the pooled data suggested that they were equivalent. The yield from either of these methods was clearly better than that for transportation under ambient conditions.
Keeping the process simple is an important consideration when working under difficult circumstances. Successful transportation of throat swabs in the presence of desiccant was described in the 1960s (16, 29). Redys and coworkers found that recovery rates at low temperatures (4°C) and low humidity were better than at high temperatures (>25°C) and high humidity. Several years later, a study by Taplin and Lansdell showed that transport of specimens in the presence of desiccant improved the yield of BHS in tropical settings; however, the numbers were too small for statistical analysis (35). Transportation of specimens sealed with a desiccant is technically straightforward and inexpensive; ziplock plastic bags are now readily available in most countries, and sachets of silica gel desiccant can be regenerated by heating them for an hour in a dry oven. Weight is also important; in many remote settings, the cost of transporting culture plates by air is three to five times the cost of transporting swabs sealed with desiccant. There may also be practical difficulties in providing refrigerated fresh culture media in the field (35). Thus, the high yield from on-site inoculation of cultures plates can be balanced against the lower cost and reduced complexity of the alternative.
The roles of enrichment media and transport media are less clear. Facklam reviewed the role of Pike's enrichment medium containing crystal violet and sodium azide (and several modifications) before plating to increase recovery rates (14), but controlled studies are lacking. Smith et al. found that primary plating was 30% better than subculture from Todd-Hewitt broth, but it was not compared to a delayed plating method (34). Roddey et al. found that direct plating on a selective and a nonselective medium, delayed plate inoculation (2 to 6 h), and inoculation of Todd-Hewitt broth were equally effective (30). An enrichment medium for throat swabs that contained calf serum has also shown better yields of GAS than primary plating (9).
In a review of the microbiology of upper respiratory infections, Carroll and Reimer (7) recommended the use of Stuart's or Amies transport medium if the expected transport delay is greater than 24 h, although they did not quote supportive data. Indeed, higher counts of BHS have been reported from Amies transport medium than from dry swabs at 24 h (2), but this was a laboratory rather than a field study. Yrios et al. (37) found that GAS counts were maintained over 48 h in modified Stuart's transport medium, whereas other workers have reported less than acceptable recovery rates from both Stuart's and Amies transport media (35). A Scottish study of Amies and Stuart's transport media and Pike's enrichment medium versus direct transfer of dry swabs to the laboratory showed that they provided no significant benefit (10). Stuart's transport medium has been used, apparently successfully, for more than 20 years in Central Australia, but no formal evaluation in this setting has been published (F. Morey, unpublished data). A serum glucose agar transport system has also been suggested but never widely utilized (26). Other published methods have included transport of isolates on filter paper and the use of swab transport medium kits (21, 34). They have no proven advantage over simpler methods (18, 33). Enrichment and transport media for recovery of GAS and other BHS are no longer routinely recommended in the eighth edition of the Manual of Clinical Microbiology (24).
In this study, emm pattern types of GAS strains did not correlate with recovery rates using different methods. The hypothesis that “throat” strains, types A to C, would be better suited to moist culture media and types D and E would survive better under dry conditions was not supported by the evidence. As with a previous study of emm patterns of GAS isolates from a remote Aboriginal community with a high incidence of acute rheumatic fever, supposed “skin” strains of GAS (emm pattern types D and E) predominated in the throat (4).
In summary, direct inoculation of throat swabs onto culture plates remains the “gold standard” for recovering BHS in the field. In tropical and remote settings, such as those in “outback” Australia, cold-box transport of specimens sealed with desiccant and subsequent inoculation of culture plates in the laboratory is a practical alternative. Results from this throat carriage study may not apply to studies of acute pharyngitis, where organism loads are likely to be higher and alternative methods may be more acceptable. Further studies of methods that do not require cold transport could help to make the reliable recovery of BHS from throat swabs simpler and less expensive in regions of the world where the burden of streptococcal disease is high.
We thank the study households, community clinic staff, the Aboriginal research officers, the community councils, Pallave Dasari, Stephen Halpin, Murin Air (NT), and Western Pathology, which provided transport of specimens.
The study was supported by grants from the National Heart Foundation of Australia (PB 02 M 0996) and the National Health and Medical Research Council (ID 251690).
Received 6 October 2005.
Returned for modification 31 October 2005.
Accepted 11 November 2005.
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Dierksen, K. P., M. Inglis, and J. R. Tagg. 2000. High pharyngeal carriage rates of Streptococcus pyogenes in Dunedin school children with a low incidence of rheumatic fever. NZ Med. J.113:496-499.
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Kellogg, J., and J. Manzella. 1986. Detection of group A streptococci in the laboratory or physician's office. JAMA255:2638-2642.
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Perks, E. M., and R. T. Mayon-White. 1984. Serum glucose agar, a transport medium for Streptococcus pyogenes. J. Clin. Pathol.37:226-227.
Pichichero, M. E., S. M. Marsocci, M. L. Murphy, W. Hoeger, J. L. Green, and A. Sorrento. 1999. Incidence of streptococcal carriers in private pediatric practice. Arch. Pediatr. Adolescent Med.153:624-628.
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Redys, J. J., E. W. Hibbard, and E. K. Borman. 1968. Improved dry-swab transportation for streptococcal specimens. Public Health Rep.83:143-149.
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Ross, P., C. Cumming, and H. Lough. 1982. Swabs and swab-transport media kits in the isolation of upper respiratory bacteria. J. Clin. Pathol.35:223-227.
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Journal of Clinical Microbiology Feb 2006, 44 (2) 547-552; DOI: 10.1128/JCM.44.2.547-552.2006
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ISIF ASIA
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Equal Access to the Information Society in Myanmar
Posted on February 16, 2018 February 20, 2018 Author Marilyn Zhang - ISIF Asia secretariatCategories Community ImpactTags Education, Jobs creation, Myanmar, Professional Development, Women and Girls in IT, Youth employability
ISIF Asia 2016 Grant recipient, Myanmar Book Aid and Preservation Foundation (MBAPF) implemented a project to provide equal access to the information society in Myanmar.
The project team identified that the general population at Myanmar will benefit from increased access to digital, information literacy, and critical thinking skills. Therefore, efforts were undertaken by MBAPF to equip Myanmar’s citizenry, especially women, with the knowledge, skills, confidence, and other abilities to shape a democratic, trustworthy, and vibrant local information society.
Their work with the ISIF Asia grant during 2017, builds on the experience gained with their work with IREX on the Tech Age Girls program, which covered other economies besides Myanmar.
Since then, MBAFP has been developing the skills of young female leaders by providing them with specialized information technology training, leadership and job skills, and opportunities to engage in critical public discussion.
During the course of the ISIF Asia funded project, MBAFP worked with 20 libraries established across the country and 588 participants attended training sessions, running two programs: the Mobile Information Literacy (MIL) and Tech Aged Girls (TAG).
MIL shared the information literacy with trainees to learn how to find and evaluate the quality and credibility of online information, understand how to create and share online information effectively, and participate safely and securely.
TAG worked with a selected group of Myanmar young women without other access to technology training in IT and leadership skills, improved their job skills and helped them become role models for youth in their communities.
The technical report elaborates all the project implementation and outcomes https://application.isif.asia/theme/default/files/ISIFAsia_2016_SmallGrants_TechReport_MBAPF-TAG-MIL_Myanmar_vFinal.pdf
ISIF Asia really appreciates to their wonderful work, a remarkable example of what can be achieved where community impact is at the heart of what you do.
Rafi can now read on his own
Posted on December 1, 2017 February 20, 2018 Author Vashkar BhattacharjeeCategories Community ImpactTags Accessible books, Accessible Books Consortium, awards, Bangladesh, DAISY, DAISY Consortium, Digital Bangladesh, Disability Rights, Education, Empowerment, ICT4D, ISIF Asia Award, multimedia, SDG4, WIPO
Saifuddin Rafi reading at home using the digital talking books
Saifuddin Rafi, one of the four million visually impaired people in Bangladesh, is studying in class XI at Patiya Government College in Chittagong. His study started in a specialized school (Government Muradpur School for the Blind) in Chittagong. But, after completing primary level, he got admitted into ‘Union Krishi School and College’ in Patiya nearby his home town. During his secondary education level, in this mainstream school, he did not get textbooks in Braille or accessible audio format. He had to traverse jumpy situations due to absence of accessible study materials.
These difficulties required support from his sister, also a student with her own burden, who assisted him by recording all the books and class notes. The sufferings of his parents were also countless. A child with visual impairment needs extra privileges for continuing education; but the access to study materials required and their affordability is perplexing. Therefore, parents wishing their children to continue their studies face physical, mental and financial stresses.
For Rafi, difficulties to get accessible study materials needed for visually impaired students was a major challenge, and it troubled him and his family till class VIII. While studying in class IX, he received textbooks in audio format. Later he came to know that these were called DAISY-standard digital talking books.
DAISY Multimedia Talking Book
The digital talking books are accessible materials which provide the text in an audio version for all including students with print and learning disabilities. Digital talking books are for everyone who needs accessible information; readers can play the audio and simultaneously display and highlight the corresponding text. It eases the education for the number of visually impaired students in Bangladesh like Rafi.
A team of persons with disabilities developed DAISY standard digital multimedia books, e-books and digital braille books for the primary and secondary levels using open source technology which are freely available for the end user. The project received technical support from DAISY Consortium, Accessible Books Consortium and WIPO, while receiving implementation support from Young Power in Social (YPSA) and overall support from the Service Innovation Fund of the Access to Information (a2i) programme under the Prime Minister’s Office in Bangladesh. The project has converted all primary and secondary education textbooks (grades I through X) into cost effective DAISY digital multimedia format; made it easier to produce braille, text, audio book or e-book as suitable.
These accessible and affordable reading materials brought a momentous shift in Rafi’s learning curve. Through receiving Grade Point Average (GPA) 5, the highest grade obtainable for secondary and higher secondary education system in Bangladesh, in his Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examination, Rafi has created an example for other visually impaired students who are struggling for their study fighting against their disabilities.
This project has won multiple awards for developing these multimedia talking books, for the expansion of the accessibility of digital publications with innovative models and practices. The most remarkable awards include the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Prize, 2017; the Zero Projects Award on Inclusive Education (2016); the Accessible Books Consortium Award for Accessible Publishing Initiative at the International Excellence Award 2015 held in London Book Fair; etc.
Among them the Information Society Innovation Fund (ISIF Asia) Award, 2014 was the first prestigious international recognition for the digital talking book project and greatly inspired the team behind the project. These funds and awards actually made the ground more secure for further efforts and development in creating accessibility for all in
Surely, these appreciations are significant as both stimulus and outcome of the project. Yet, the main purpose of the project was to enable the students and people with various disabilities. So, the outcome should be measured by the aid, reduction of hassle and indicators of success of the beneficiaries. More than 100,000 students with visual disability, print disability and learning disability can now read and listen to their textbooks that significantly improve their learning now.
The Access to Information (a2i) programme is continuously working on accessible education for the visually impaired. Low-cost digital braille display and low-cost DAISY multimedia book players are being developed locally to read these DAISY digital talking books. Bangladesh wants to make people with disabilities resilient rather than ‘assumed liability’ of the society. Ensuring inclusion of all including people with disabilities, especially in education, will aid human-centric and sustainable development of Bangladesh.
The education and life as a whole for Rafi and his family, representative of thousands of beneficiary households, has become much easier these days. Rafi can use either smartphone or computer to access his reading materials.
TINDAK MALAYSIA: Towards A Fairer Electoral System
Posted on November 15, 2016 June 23, 2017 Author Py Wong - Awardee 2016Categories Code for the common good, Innovation on access provision, Technical InnovationTags Education, Electoral Reform, Free and Fair Elections, Internet Access, Malaysia, Redelineation, Universal Sufferage
Tindak Malaysia is the winner of the ISIF Asia 2016 Technical Innovation Award and the Community Choice Award 2016.
TINDAK MALAYSIA: Towards A Fairer Electoral System –
1 Person, 1 Vote, 1 Value
A democracy is reflected in the sovereignty of the people. They are supposed to have the power to choose their leaders under Free and Fair Elections. Unfortunately, those in power will try to manipulate the electoral system to entrench their grip on power. Attempts to manipulate the system could be…
in tweaking the rules of elections in their favour,
in the control of the mainstream media,
through threats,
through bribery,
through the pollsters to manipulate public perception,
during the vote count,
by making election campaigns so expensive that only the rich or powerful could afford to run or win.
through boundary delineation either by gerrymandering, or through unequal seat size.
The Nov 2016 US Presidential Election threw up all of the above in sharp contrast. There were two front runners, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
Both candidates were disliked by more than half the electorate,
Both candidates generated such strong aversion that a dominant campaign theme was to vote for the lesser evil. The people were caught in the politics-of-no-choice.
Eventually, the winning candidate won, with slightly less votes (0.3%), than the losing candidate, each winning only 27% of the electorate. Yet the delegates won by the winner was 306 (57%) while the loser got 232 (43%), a huge difference!
The winning candidate won with barely a quarter of the total voting population. 43% of the voters did not vote. In other words, only 27% of the electorate decided on the President.
Consider Malaysia. We are located in South-east Asia. We have a population of 31 million with about 13.5 million registered voters. We practise a First-Past-The-Post System of elections, meaning the winner takes all, just like in the US.
In the 2013 General Elections, the Ruling Party obtained 47.4% of the votes and 60% of the seats. Meanwhile the opposition, with 52% of the votes, won only 40% of the seats – more votes, but much fewer seats.
We had all the problems listed above except that no opinion polls were allowed on polling day. But the most egregious problem of all was boundary delimitation, which is the subject of our project.
In 2013, the Ruling Party with 47.4% of the popular vote, secured 60% of the seats. To hang on to power, they resorted to abuse and to change of the laws to suppress the Opposition and the people. Our concern was that continuing oppression of the people in this manner could lead to violent protests. It was our hope to achieve peaceful change in a democratic manner through the Constitution.
From a Problem Tree Analysis, it was found that the problem was cyclic in nature. The root cause was a Fascist Government maintaining power through Fraudulent Elections. See red box opposite.
Problem Tree Analysis
If current conditions prevail without any changes, they can still win power with just 39% of the votes.
50-Year General Elections Voting Trend
Malapportionment! The seats won by the Ruling Party in the chart below are the blue lines with small number of voters in the rural seats. The red lines with huge numbers are in the urban areas won by the Opposition. It was found that they could have won 50% of the seats with merely 20.22% of the votes.
Malapportionment in General Elections – GE213
The above computation was based on popular vote. If based on total voting population, BN needed only 17.4% to secure a simple majority.
What is the solution we propose?
The solution was obvious. Equalize the seats.
But for the past 50 years, no one seemed to object to the unfair maps.
Why? The objectors never managed to submit a substantive objection because:
Biased EC stacked with Ruling Party cronies, who actively worked to prevent any objections being made,
Constitution rules of delimitation drafted to make objections difficult, such that the EC had a lot of leeway to interpret it anyway it wished.
Very high barriers to objection,
Insufficient information offered during a Redelineation exercise. Given the 1-month deadline, it was impossible for an ordinary voter to prepare a proper objection.
How are Constituencies Drawn – Districting?
We start with a Polling District (PD). The PD is the smallest unit of area in a Constituency. It is defined by a boundary, a name and/ID Code, and includes elector population. Map 1 is an example of PD. To avoid clutter, the elector numbers are carried in separate layer which can be overlaid on top.
Districting is conducted by assembling these PD into Constituencies. In theory, the Constituencies are supposed to have roughly the same number of electors, unless variation is permitted in the Constitution.
What happens when the Election Commission presents a map without any PD as shown in Map 2 below.
MAP 2 – EC’S SELANGOR REDELINEATION PROPOSAL 2016
This was gazetted by the EC on 15th Sept 2016 for public objections. No Polling Districts are identified. In reality, the EC had all the information in digital format under an Electoral Geographical Information System (EGIS) but they kept it from the public.
An elector faced with such a map, is stuck. He would not know where to begin. Neither did he have the technical knowledge to carry out the redistricting even if he wanted to, all within the time limit of 1 month.
This has been the case for the past 50 years. No one could object effectively.
So we had a situation where electors wanted to object but were unable to do so because of insufficient information and lack of expertise.
Studying the problem, we decided that the solution was to bridge the Digital Divide through Technical Innovation as well as to bring the matter out of the jurisdiction of the EC.
Digitize all the PD in Malaysia, about 8000 of them. This took us 1 year.
Learn how to redistrict using digital systems. We used QGIS, an open source GIS system,
Develop a plug-in to semi-automate and speed up the redistricting process.
Bring in legal expertise. Collaborate with lawyers to bring the matter out of the control of the EC and into the jurisdiction of the courts in order to defend the Constitution.
We started this initiative in July 2011 and by Dec 2015, we had digitised all the PD and redistricted the whole country twice, sharpening our expertise and correcting errors in the process. We got the Bar Council (Lawyers Association) to team up with us to guide the public on how to object when the Redelineation exercise by the EC is launched.
Redelineation, 1st Gazette:
On 15th Sept 2016, the EC published the First Gazette of the Redelineation Proposal. For the State of Selangor with 22 Parliamentary seats, they published one map only – MAP 2. We analysed their proposal and found glaring disparities in the seat sizes with elector population ranging from 39% to 200% of the State Electoral Quota (EQ) – MAP 3
MAP 3 – SELANGOR MALAPPORTIONMENT OF PROPOSED PARLIAMENT SEATS 2016
At a more detailed level, it looks like MAP 4 below. We can see the densely populated central belt (brown columns) sticking out in sharp contrast to the under-populated outlying regions around the perimeter – ochre areas). Clearly the EC has not addressed the inequalities in the voting strength among the various regions.
MAP 4 – SELANGOR VOTER DENSITY
Trial Run: We conducted a trial run on the EC maps for a local council in Selangor – MPSJ. See MAP 4. It was found that we could maintain local ties with 6 State and 2 Parliamentary Constituencies, with the elector population kept within +/-20% of the mean. This was much better than the EC’s range of -60% to +100%.
MAP 5 – LOCAL COUNCIL MPSJ
We have submitted objections for the First Gazette and await the call for a public hearing by the EC. Our lawyers are monitoring the EC to ensure they comply with the Constitution and preparing lawsuits in case they don’t.
While conducting our research on how to object, we uncovered yet another area of abuse. The boundaries of the polling districts and electors within, had been shifted to other constituencies unannounced. This was a surreptitious form of redelineation outside the ambit of the constitution and a gross abuse of authority. As part of our next project, we intend to focus on this, to prevent such gerrymandering.
In conclusion, we feel like we are peeling an onion. As we unfold one layer, a new layer of fraud is exposed. It was a never-ending process. But we are determined to keep on digging until we reach the core and achieve our goal of Free and Fair Elections.
Which Are Better: Computers or Mobile Tablets for Education in Rural India?
Posted on November 10, 2015 June 2, 2017 Author Guest WriterCategories Innovation on access provisionTags Computers, Education, Gaurav Mishra, i-Saksham, India, Mobile Tablets
Rural India has a challenging context with respect to quality education. In India, rural areas lack basic infrastructure facilities, and universalization of schooling in India is one of the most urgent development issues in the world today. The major challenges of quality education in rural areas include
Absence of students in schools
Absence of teachers in schools
Insufficient good teachers
Absence of schools.
The listed issues cannot be solved easily as there are 600,000 villages in India. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have raised some hopes to tackle these challenges to some extent.
ICTs offer greater access to quality learning resources. The Internet is a forerunner in the technology front with respect to get access to educational resources. Rural areas are still not able to exploit the benefits of the Internet due to the absence of technological infrastructure.
In rural areas, two major ICTs seem to have the greatest potential to deliver quality education, namely, computers and mobile tablets. These technologies can be easily taken to rural areas.
The i-Saksham Project
Understanding the potential of ICTs, a group of entrepreneurs in ‘Jamui’ and ‘Munger’ districts of Bihar, India have implemented i-Saksham project in the remote rural areas. The project aims to give access to quality education using mobile tablets. Mobile tablets contain relevant educational content with respect to primary education.
A local educated youth is selected and trained to use a mobile tablet to deliver primary education to village children. In return, tutors charge fees from the child’s parent. The tutors, in turn, give a fixed amount to the project implementers.
Tablets vs. Computers
The main reasons for using mobile tablets, in comparison to computers, as a platform for the initiative are:
Computers need more maintenance compared to mobile tablets. Computers can’t be moved from one place to the other comfortably. However, tablets are highly portable. If there is a hardware issue, tablets can be taken easily to the project main center. It will be difficult in the case of computers.
In rural areas, there is a lack of electricity and therefore, it will be difficult to run computers. However, mobile tablets once charged can be used any time in the day/night
Computer with an accessory like UPS, increases the cost of investment. This has an effect on the overall sustainability of the project. As the number of tutors rise, investments will also rise if computers are used.
Mobile tablets used in the project are not very expensive. They cost around Rs. 4000-5000 (1$= Rs. 65.00 as on 22/10/2015) with basic features.
With a single computer, all students in a class can’t active part in learning. However, with mobile tablets, students are able to work in groups, play educational games. With increased number of tablets, students’ interaction with the technology and content will be higher.
Computers as a delivery medium has many advantages over the mobile tablet. For example, good video and audio quality, larger memory to store content and better performance. Computers also give opportunity for tutors to enhance their computer skills.
However, in the context of rural areas, mobile tablets because of their portability, lesser cost and maintenance, provides sustainable technological solution to the issue of quality education in rural areas. The mobile tablets complement books during a teaching session. Availability of educational apps enhances the overall ability of the tablet as a medium for education.
Nevertheless, content is a major challenge for the project officials. There is a need for localized content so that students learn faster and better.
Gaurav Mishra is an Assistant Professor at Development Management Institute (DMI) – Patna
Can eVidyaloka Fix the Learning Crisis in Rural India?
Posted on December 11, 2014 June 2, 2017 Author Guest WriterCategories Innovation on learning and localizationTags Bangalore, Education, eVidyaloka, ICT4Edu, India
In 1954, the United Nations designated November 20 as the Universal Children’s Day. Seventy years have passed, but promoting the welfare of the youth has never been more necessary. Too many youngsters worldwide continue to suffer from poverty, abuse, and premature mortality.
When it comes to education, the situation has improved, but there is still a long way to go. 121 million children remain unschooled; and 69 million adolescents have to drop out. Even for those who can enroll, the perspectives are bleak, as they often do not receive the quality education they deserve.
India’s learning crisis
With a 96 percent enrollment rate, India has almost achieved universal primary education. But the country is now dealing with an acute learning crisis that may threaten its development in the long run. A majority of students comes out of school without basic literacy and numeracy skills. Today, 60 percent of 10-year old pupils cannot read a text, and 74 percent are unable to solve a division problem.
The reasons for this crisis are many, but they start with the lack of trained teachers. India faces a shortage of 1.2 million schoolmasters and a high absenteeism rate. Combining this with the curriculum’s low standards, it is easy to understand why the learning outcome is so poor.
Many urban families respond to the situation by sending their children to private schools. But in the countryside where people earn less, most youngsters have no choice but go to public institutions. With their teachers being absent one day in five, the pupils often lose the motivation to study, and a majority drops out by the age of 14.
Connecting rural students with urban teachers
In 2010, in Bangalore, two friends were troubled by their country’s educational crisis, but they had a dream. They were dreaming of solving it using ICTs. Some would have said such dream was unreasonable. But Satish and Venkat had what it takes to make a difference. They were passionate; they were skillful; they were pragmatic.
Looking at the larger picture, they had realized that the level of education has increased in India over the past twenty years. There are now 40 million university graduates, and some are willing to share their knowledge with the less fortunate. As long as they do not have to leave their day job.
While thinking about this issue, it became obvious for Satish and Venkat that the solution would come from the Internet. At the time, they found some inspiration in the Khan Academy, whose tutorial videos were more and more popular. But since they were focusing on under-educated children, they had to find a way to make the courses live.
Back in 2010, the Internet was expanding in India, and Satish and Venkat took a bold decision. They started a nonprofit called eVidyaloka, traveled to isolated villages, and equipped some classrooms with video-conference materials. This way, the students would just have to go next door to take the class; and their teacher could be anywhere around the world.
Transforming the learning experience
School failure should have been the fate of Rajesh. This 10 year old boy lives in a small village, in the state of Tamil Nadu, Southern India. Like most children there, he goes to a public school.
Rajesh enrolled in the eVidyaloka after-school program before it was too late. And participating in this program has transformed the student he was. Before, he was not so passionate about school; now, he reviews his lessons. Before, he was struggling with math; now, he can solve the divisions by himself. Before, his English was terrible; now, he can speak in an articulated manner.
The reasons for such progress? eVidyaloka teachers lecture in Tamil, Rajesh’s mother tongue. They also use videos and practical examples to explain the concepts. For the young boy, this has been enlightening, and he understands what he is being taught. And since the eVidyaloka program complements his school’s curriculum, it only took a few months for Rajesh to improve his grades!
Opening the door to higher education
Implementing an ICT-driven project in rural India has not been easy for Satish and Venkat. They had to deal with power cuts, slow Internet speed, and even monkeys dislodging the cables. But they received a strong support both from the local communities and the Indian volunteers. This has enabled them to open 13 eVidyaloka classrooms in some of the country’s most underdeveloped regions. And their 179 teachers have changed the lives of more than 1,200 children.
Just like young Rajesh, who can now consider going to high school!
Can E-learning Solve the Education Crisis in Pakistan?
Posted on August 26, 2014 June 2, 2017 Author Danièle AdlerCategories Innovation on learning and localizationTags Bilal Shahid, Britannica, CARE Foundation, Education, Pakistan, SmartMath, Tech Implement
In Pakistan, school is compulsory for every child between 5 and 16. In reality, the law is not enforced, and the country will not meet the Millennium Development Goal of achieving universal primary education by 2015.
Pakistan’s Education Crisis
Over the past decade, education has been a low priority for the Pakistani governments; and economic poverty, natural disasters and religious extremism have further worsened the situation. With 5.5 million out-of-school children, Pakistan has the second worst performance in the world when it comes to enrollment (after Nigeria). Of course, disadvantaged girls are first to drop out: in 2013, 66 percent did not receive any education at all…
For children enrolled in government schools, the prospects for the future are almost as bleak. Public education is in a disastrous state, and student achievement is outrageously low. 36 percent of the 10-year-old pupils cannot read a sentence in English, which they are supposed to learn at 7; and, in the underdeveloped Balochistan province, only 45 percent of the primary school graduates can solve a two-digit subtraction.
The Whole System is in Danger of Collapse
Pakistan is confronting an acute education crisis, and the whole system is to blame. The curriculum does not meet international standards; and the lack of investment is blatant at both the federal and state levels. In 2013, total allocations for education amounted to just 1.9 percent of the country’s GDP. This was the lowest rate in South Asia, and only seven other countries put less money in their education system.
In practical terms, this means that the teachers are not paid enough, neither are they well-trained. It is not surprising, then, that Pakistan has to deal with a massive shortage of teaching staff. To make the public education system work, there should be at least 100,000 extra instructors…
Britannica SmartMath
Bilal Shahid is a Director at Tech Implement, an innovative IT company founded in 2005 in Lahore. For this e-learning specialist, the country’s education crisis is a shame because it affects the least fortunate — those who cannot afford to go to private school.
In 2012, he decided to take action and approached the CARE Foundation, the largest education NGO in the country. Shahid intended to carry out an experiment to improve the children’s skills in mathematics. The Tech Implement team would take the Encyclopedia Britannica’s e-learning tool called SmartMath, map it to the Pakistani syllabus and use it to train the students.
Displaying the questions as a game with stars to reward every right answer, this tool is especially appealing to the youth. Furthermore, SmartMath is adaptive and driven by the students’ actual progress. When they are consistent at answering questions correctly, they move to the next level. But if they don’t reach the proficiency target, they spend more time on the topic. SmartMath can even suggest remediation.
Leaning Against the Wind
In 2012, Shahid’s idea to bring an e-learning tool to the classroom was bold, as many people in Pakistan were still wary of ICTs. But the CARE Foundation that manages 225 public schools throughout the country welcomed the initiative. In August 2012, they started a pilot in five Lahore schools; by April 2013, they had expanded the project to 23 other institutions.
However, the teachers were not thrilled. They did not take e-learning seriously and were concerned that SmartMath would replace them in the future. Tech Implement spent a lot of time explaining that the tool was actually designed to assist them in their teaching practice. It took a while, but eventually everyone agreed to play the game. And, once the schools’ computer labs were properly equipped, the project could begin.
Or so they thought…
“They Were Scared of Holding the Mouse”
The beneficiary students were aged 8 to 13, and they all came from low-income families. With no computer at home, they had no idea how to use it. Some were even scared of holding the mouse! Again, Shahid and his team put the project on hold, this time to train 2,500 children in the basics of computer literacy.
Soon, the students were able to take their hour-long SmartMath session. And it was only a matter of weeks before they showed significant improvements. By the end of the academic year, they scored 8.73 in math, whereas other students got an average of 4.25. Moreover, the majority passed their final exam!
After two years of experimentation, SmartMath has therefore proven to be a viable solution to Pakistan’s learning crisis. And today, Tech Implement wants to scale up the project and train 15,000 additional students by 2015!
What do you think? Could e-learning solutions really help enhance students’ performances in a country like Pakistan? Are they sustainable in the long run?
Should Indonesia be Teaching Technology in Schools?
Posted on March 25, 2014 June 2, 2017 Author Guest WriterCategories Innovation on learning and localizationTags Curriculum, Education, ICT, Indonesia, Teknologi Informasi Komunikasi, TIK
Did you know that Indonesia launched a new curriculum last year that removed information technology, among other subjects, in favor of Bahasa Indonesia, nationalism and religious studies? Of course the move was controversial, as the information technology and communications (TIK) subject was recently created by the government, and technology skills are seen by many in and outside of Indonesia as key to the future of the country.
But in light of the many failures in incorporating ICT into education, the Indonesian government may have acted with foresight in canceling TIK as an independent subject and instead expecting it to be infused across the curriculum.
Students arguably will learn the tools of technology on their own, while completing their schoolwork for other subjects, or even just via mobile phones as Indonesian lead much of the world in social media use.
And the technology skills that were being taught in some schools, may not be all that useful in the age of mobile devices. The curriculum was designed in 2006, when students needed to lean how to turn on computers, and the use of Microsoft Office, or how to assemble and repair desktop hardware, was considered essential.
However, reducing the emphasis on technology, regardless of the focus of the instruction, is worrisome. Indonesia does need to make sure all its students are familiar with the tools of technology, not just the ones rich enough to own mobile phones or use computers outside of school.
3 Tangible Outcomes from Digital Bangladesh: An Inspiration for South Asia
Posted on February 25, 2014 June 2, 2017 Author Masum BillahCategories Innovation on access provisionTags Bangladesh, Community Radio, Digital Bangladesh, e-Service Centres, Education, Government, Health, Vision 2021, VOIP, WiMax
In 2008, the government of Bangladesh announced a ‘Vision 2021’ pledge is to improve the quality of life and quality of governance, and achieve mid-income country status by the year 2021, on the golden jubilee of the nation.
The vision was widely appreciated because of its intention to ensure inclusive innovation. The government of Bangladesh is in a process of developing a ‘Perspective Plan of Bangladesh 2010-2021’ to operationalize the vision throughout the country.
Digital Bangladesh
One aspect of Vision 2021 is Digital Bangladesh, a pledge to use modern technology to impact every aspect of public and private life by 2021. Digital Bangladesh is being implemented by the Access to Information (A2I) Programme housed in the Prime Minister’s office of the government of Bangladesh, and they have developed ‘the Strategic Priorities of Digital Bangladesh’ in January 2011, three years after the Vision 2021 declaration.
The strategic priorities of Digital Bangladesh are:
Connecting citizens
Digital government for pro-poor service delivery
Now considering where the Bangladesh government is starting from, and potential impeding factors like lack of skills, infrastructure, integration among interventions and political unrest in the country, the Digital Bangladesh goal of a discrimination, corruption, poverty and hunger free happy, prosperous and educated mid-income country driven by ICTs by 2021, is quite ambitious.
There is no quick solution to these issues, and doing anything on a national scale is very complex and depends on many factors, however, we are hopeful because Bangladesh has achieved most of the targets under MDG goals well before the deadline, and Digital Bangladesh has already achieved three major impacts:
To create enabling environment the government has formed several policies like
National ICT policy 2009
Information and Communication Technology (Amendment) Act, 2009
Bangladesh Hi-tech Park Authority Act, 2010
International Long Distance Telecommunications Services Policy (ILDTS)
Telecommunications Act, 2010
Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board Act, 2009
Broadband Policy, 2009
Pornography Act, 2011
Rural Connectivity Policy 2010
Format of the Public Private Partnership Policy
The enabling policies made it possible for corporate sector to reach the bottom of the pyramid and as a result mobile subscription, Internet subscription, and use of ICTs in every step of life had a tremendous increase.
In addition, we’ve seen a welcomed increase in new technologies. Previously, WiMAX, VOIP, 3G and Community Radio were illegal in Bangladesh. As a result of Digital Bangladesh, WiMax technology was legalised in 2009. VOIP was legalised in early 2010, and the Government has issued licenses for community radio starting in December 2010. The 3G technology providers have received licence to start operation from October 2013.
To reach the last mile the government has established 4,501 Information Service Centres at each Union Parishad, the smallest rural administrative and local government units in Bangladesh, and e-Service Centres in each office of the 64 Deputy Commissioners, the District level administrative units in Bangladesh.
The e-Service centres provide access to agriculture, health, education, social safety net, legal aid, disaster management and enforcement of law related services. InfoKosh has-been introduced at the national level to make available livelihood content. As many as 220 organisations and about 50,000 information articles have been uploaded on this website by May, 2011.
Digital Bangladesh has resulted the e-services including:
Digital Birth and Death Registration system,
eTIN (electronic tax identification number),
National ID Card and Citizen’s database,
In addition, actions are underway to prepare a National E-Governance Architecture (NEA) to implement ICT projects in public offices.
The government has introduced e-GP (Electronic Government Procurement) system in public procurement to introduce digital system. The digital land management system has been introduced in order to make land administration and management transparent and accountable.
The government is in a process of establishment of multimedia classroom in all educational institutions to sensitise the teachers for developing digital content. To date, 3,172 Computer Labs and 80 Smart Class Rooms have been set up in different educational institutions across the country. As many as 325 textbooks of Primary, Secondary, Madrasa and Technical Education Board have adopted e-Book versions, which can be accessed from www.ebook.gov.bd.
New Mind-set
As you can see, the hype around Digital Bangladesh has already caused several changes in Bangladesh. Most significantly, I would say, is the mind-set of government officials.
As an ICT4D professional, I used to experience difficulties explaining how technology could be used for social and economic development, but now almost everyone have an understanding about ICTs and their impact. Maybe the understanding is not 100% accurate, but the important thing is now the government and social sectors welcome ICTs.
We may have a long way to go, but the process of digital government has started in Bangladesh.
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Germs in Your Gut Are Talking to Your Brain. Scientists Want to Know What They’re Saying.
On February 3, 2019 February 3, 2019 By A.P.In Uncategorized
By Carl Zimmer
In 2014 John Cryan, a professor at University College Cork in Ireland, attended a meeting in California about Alzheimer’s disease. He wasn’t an expert on dementia. Instead, he studied the microbiome, the trillions of microbes inside the healthy human body.
Dr. Cryan and other scientists were beginning to find hints that these microbes could influence the brain and behavior. Perhaps, he told the scientific gathering, the microbiome has a role in the development of Alzheimer’s disease.
The idea was not well received. “I’ve never given a talk to so many people who didn’t believe what I was saying,” Dr. Cryan recalled.
A lot has changed since then: Research continues to turn up remarkable links between the microbiome and the brain. Scientists are finding evidence that microbiome may play a role not just in Alzheimer’s disease, but Parkinson’s disease, depression, schizophrenia, autism and other conditions.
For some neuroscientists, new studies have changed the way they think about the brain.
One of the skeptics at that Alzheimer’s meeting was Sangram Sisodia, a neurobiologist at the University of Chicago. He wasn’t swayed by Dr. Cryan’s talk, but later he decided to put the idea to a simple test.
“It was just on a lark,” said Dr. Sisodia. “We had no idea how it would turn out.”
He and his colleagues gave antibiotics to mice prone to develop a version of Alzheimer’s disease, in order to kill off much of the gut bacteria in the mice. Later, when the scientists inspected the animals’ brains, they found far fewer of the protein clumps linked to dementia.
Just a little disruption of the microbiome was enough to produce this effect. Young mice given antibiotics for a week had fewer clumps in their brains when they grew old, too.
“I never imagined it would be such a striking result,” Dr. Sisodia said. “For someone with a background in molecular biology and neuroscience, this is like going into outer space.”
Following a string of similar experiments, he now suspects that just a few species in the gut — perhaps even one — influence the course of Alzheimer’s disease, perhaps by releasing chemical that alters how immune cells work in the brain.
He hasn’t found those microbes, let alone that chemical. But “there’s something’s in there,” he said. “And we have to figure out what it is.”
‘It was considered crazy’
Scientists have long known that microbes live inside us. In 1683, the Dutch scientist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek put plaque from his teeth under a microscope and discovered tiny creatures swimming about.
But the microbiome has stubbornly resisted scientific discovery. For generations, microbiologists only studied the species that they could grow in the lab. Most of our interior occupants can’t survive in petri dishes.
In the early 2000s, however, the science of the microbiome took a sudden leap forward when researchers figured out how to sequence DNA from these microbes. Researchers initially used this new technology to examine how the microbiome influences parts of our bodies rife with bacteria, such as the gut and the skin.
Few of them gave much thought to the brain — there didn’t seem to be much point. The brain is shielded from microbial invasion by the so-called blood-brain barrier. Normally, only small molecules pass through.
“As recently as 2011, it was considered crazy to look for associations between the microbiome and behavior,” said Rob Knight, a microbiologist at the University of California, San Diego.
He and his colleagues discovered some of the earliest hints of these links. Investigators took stool from mice with a genetic mutation that caused them to eat a lot and put on weight. They transferred the stool to mice that had been raised germ-free — that is, entirely without gut microbiomes — since birth.
After receiving this so-called fecal transplant, the germ-free mice got hungry, too, and put on weight.
Altering appetite isn’t the only thing that the microbiome can do to the brain, it turns out. Dr. Cryan and his colleagues, for example, have found that mice without microbiomes become loners, preferring to stay away from fellow rodents.
The scientists eventually discovered changes in the brains of these antisocial mice. One region, called the amygdala, is important for processing social emotions. In germ-free mice, the neurons in the amygdala make unusual sets of proteins, changing the connections they make with other cells.
Studies of humans revealed some surprising patterns, too. Children with autism have unusual patterns of microbial species in their stool. Differences in the gut bacteria of people with a host of other brain-based conditions also have been reported.
But none of these associations proves cause and effect. Finding an unusual microbiome in people with Alzheimer’s doesn’t mean that the bacteria drive the disease. It could be the reverse: People with Alzheimer’s disease often change their eating habits, for example, and that switch might favor different species of gut microbes.
Fecal transplants can help pin down these links. In his research on Alzheimer’s, Dr. Sisodia and his colleagues transferred stool from ordinary mice into the mice they had treated with antibiotics. Once their microbiomes were restored, the antibiotic-treated mice started developing protein clumps again.
“We’re extremely confident that it’s the bacteria that’s driving this,” he said. Other researchers have taken these experiments a step further by using human fecal transplants.
If you hold a mouse by its tail, it normally wriggles in an effort to escape. If you give it a fecal transplant from humans with major depression, you get a completely different result: The mice give up sooner, simply hanging motionless.
As intriguing as this sort of research can be, it has a major limitation. Because researchers are transferring hundreds of bacterial species at once, the experiments can’t reveal which in particular are responsible for changing the brain.
Now researchers are pinpointing individual strains that seem to have an effect.
To study autism, Dr. Mauro Costa-Mattioli and his colleagues at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston investigated different kinds of mice, each of which display some symptoms of autism. A mutation in a gene called SHANK3 can cause mice to groom themselves repetitively and avoid contact with other mice, for example.
In another mouse strain, Dr. Costa-Mattioli found that feeding mothers a high-fat diet makes it more likely their pups will behave this way.
Alzheimer's diseasebrainCarl Zimmerdementiamicrobiome
East Bay Biochemist Sells ‘Gene-Editing Kit’ For The Masses
Scientists Build Star Trek-like 3D Replicator
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Obama: Crazy Pastors Just Seem to Love Me
Mr. Obama quit Trinity United Church of Christ after video surfaced of Rev. Michael Pfleger mocking Hillary Clinton during a guest sermon there.
1 Comment on Obama: Crazy Pastors Just Seem to Love Me
Aberdeen, South Dakota – Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama said yesterday that, though he doesn’t know why, “inflammatory and controversial pastors just have a thing for me.”
Mr. Obama quit Trinity United Church of Christ after video surfaced of Rev. Michael Pfleger mocking Hillary Clinton during a guest sermon there. The video quickly gained momentum on the internet. This was in addition to the already damaging controversy surrounding videos of statements made by Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and it proved to be the last straw for Obama and his relationship to the church. Following a campaign stop, he spoke to reporters about why it might be that pastors who make such statements seem to gravitate towards him.
“I don’t know why it is, honestly,” Obama said. “I mean, I must have some kind of look or something that says, ‘Hey, bat-shit crazy pastor, come to me. Over here.’ I don’t know. Michelle thinks it’s maybe my cologne. But I don’t think so. I think it’s more a feeling. Like a tractor beam. A tractor beam for loopdie-loo pastors.”
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton seized on the new controversy surrounding Obama, saying to reporters while campaigning in San Jian, Puerto Rico, “Well, I think after a while you have to start asking what it is about this man that attracts these kind of pastors or religious leaders or what have you. I mean, you don’t see pastors of mine on YouTube saying these crazy things. Now, granted, my spiritual mentor is Billy Graham, and he’s around a thousand years old, but still…”
Arizona Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican candidate for president, also chimed in on the issue. Speaking to reporters on his campaign bus, the Straight Talk Express, McCain said, “Well, again, I don’t know these people personally, but I think it reflects on the person himself when figures who have been a part of his life, or endorsed him or something like that, make these kind of inflammatory remarks.” Reporters then reminded the senator that he recently rejected the support of not one, but two pastors, for inflammatory comments of their own. “I did what now? You’re saying I rejected someone? When? When did that happen? Last week? No, no. Impossible. Last week, I was… I was on vacation all week with my wife. In Tahiti.” Joe Lieberman, who appeared at McCain’s side seemingly from nowhere, then whispered in the candidate’s ear. After listening for a moment, McCain said, “Actually, uh, I wasn’t in Tahiti, on vacation, last week, as you all know. And I know. I mean, obviously I know I was campaigning last week. In America. Somewhere…in America. Because I’m running for president in America. So clearly I couldn’t have been in Tahiti. But wherever I was in America, you can be sure I wasn’t rejecting the support of any pastor or religious figure who said anything offensive. I can assure you of that.”
Once again, Lieberman whispered in McCain’s ear. McCain listened, then turned back to reporters and said, “Uh, of course, you and I both know that I did reject the support of two pastors last week. You and I also know that I was kidding just now when I said I hadn’t, just as I was kidding when I said I was in Tahiti a minute before that. I do…I do a lot of kidding. It keeps the campaign light. And fun. I am still campaigning, right? It’s not November, is it?”
Tags 2008 election, barack obama, Hillary Clinton, Jeremiah Wright, john hagee, john mccain, Michael Pfleger, obama, obama's pastor, pastor
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Who Is Adele’s Family, What Is Her Son Called And Does She Have A Daughter?
By Adeola Seun
Fans of Adele have seen her make giant strides in the American entertainment industry, thus winning lost of awards including six Grammy Awards in a single night; multiple entries in the Guinness Book of World Records, named one of the 100 Greatest Women in Music and one of the most influential people in the world, but when it comes to Adele’s family, very little is known about her.
The Tottenham-born singer is famed for her notoriously private life which can be quite frustrating to her extremely large fanbase who wish to know more about their favorite singer. In the bits and pieces of news that has been leaked over the years about Adele’s family, we compile some information you should know about her. Check them out below.
Who is Adele’s Family?
To talk about Adele’s family, it is wise to start with her first family – her parents, a Welsh father named Marc Evans and an English mother named Penny Adkins. Adele never had a traditional two-parent family growing up because her father, Marc, left the family when she was two years of age, forcing her mother to raise her alone.
She was raised by her mother, Penny Susan Adkins who worked as a furniture maker and an adult-learning activities organizer to make ends meet. Her mother Penny was born in 1968 and is the youngest of five children born to her parents, John Doreen Adkins. She gave birth to Adele at the age of 18.
With her only family, she lived in Brighton for two years before they relocated back to London. There, she lived in Brixton with her stepfather, Simon, whom her mother married when she was 11 years of age. They also lived in West Norwood in South London.
Adele with her mother, Penny Adkins
Since she became a successful singer, not much has been known about Adele’s mother but it is believed she has enjoyed her daughter’s huge success having supported her pursuit of a music career as a child.
With the help of her mother, Adele attended the BRIT School for Performing Arts & Technology, graduating in May 2006. It is believed that Adele bought a $950 thousand apartment for her mother in London in 2013.
Who is Her Son?
Another member of Adele’s family is her son, Angelo James Konecki. He was born on the 19th of October, 2012 from Adele’s relationship with Simon Konecki. Adele and Simon, who is a charity entrepreneur, began dating sometime in the summer of 2011. Like every other detail about Adele’s personal life, news of the relationship did not filter to the public until 2012 when they were spotted on a vacation together in 2012.
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Sometime in 2017, Adele and Simon Konecki officially became a family when she confirmed during a Grammy acceptance that they had gotten married in a private wedding. They were husband and wife for about two years until April 2019 when they announced in a statement that they were separated and are getting a divorce.
Although they are separated, Adele and Simon Konecki continue to be a family to their son, Angelo as co-parents.
Does She Have a Daughter?
The short answer is no, Adele does not have a daughter. At least for now, until perhaps in the future if or when she gets into a relationship. The longer answer is while Adele does not have a daughter of her own, during her marriage to Simon Konecki, she had a stepdaughter from Simon’s previous marriage to fashion stylist, Clary Fisher.
Simon was married to her between 2004 and 2008 and they gave birth to their only daughter in 2007 before getting divorced in 2008.
See Also: Does Bruno Mars Have Kids? Who Are His Father, Mother, Family?
Other Facts About Adele’s Family
1. Her mother, Penny Adkins separated from her stepfather three years after they got married in 1999. However, Adele maintained a close relationship with him and she thanked him in the booklet of her debut album, 19.
2. Adele has a very close relationship with her mother, Penny. She has referred to her as her best friend on multiple occasions and she has a tattoo representative of her mother on her left wrist. The tattoo is a shape of a penny.
3. Adele once sued a UK photo agency that published paparazzi images of her son during a family outing in 2013. The case was settled in 2014 and the agency paid damages.
4. Adele’s cover of the song, Lovesong by The Cure was dedicated to her mother. She recorded the song in Malibu while she was working on the album, 21.
Adeola Seun
Seun is a CCNA certified graduate of FUTA. He has been writing on various subjects that include finance, economics, celebrity net worth, lifestyle, biographies and politics for over 7 years, Other than writing, he enjoys movies, video games, and sports
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The Berber Women of Morocco
by Katharine L'Heureux September 01, 2014
RECOGNIZING THE ARTISAN HEROINES BEHIND THE BRAND
For centuries, the hard work of extracting oil from the nut of the argan tree has been performed by Berber women, the indigenous people of North Africa, many of whom live in Morocco’s argan region. The work is extremely labor intensive. It can take one woman up to eight hours to crack the nuts for one liter of oil. This labor provides the women with an opportunity for social and economic freedom that they would not otherwise have. Most of these women cannot read nor write, so they use illustrative symbols to mark their identity. One such example is the five-pointed star—a key element in Arabic design that is drawn on the top of each Giving Beauty package. Encircled, this star is the emblem of the Moroccan flag. In 2008, on one of her many visits to the cooperatives, Katharine collected the marks and signatures of several of the women who extract the argan oil for her products. As they wrote their names—some for the first time—they told Katharine stories through the aid of a Berber translator. As a testament to their inner and outer beauty, their stories and signatures are shared here. FATIMA BASKAR Fatima is married with 2 children. She tells me that her husband is a very good man, very supportive of her and proud of her for working in the co-op. Like the others, Fatima takes special care in writing her signature when her turn comes to write her name. ZAHRA AMARIR Zahra Amarir is married with 8 children. Before working in the argan cooperative, she did farm labor with her husband. She tells me it was very hard work and that she finds working in the co-op much more enjoyable. Zahra says the women she works with are like sisters to her. She was very excited to take the literacy class offered by the co-op and tries hard to write her name but she tells me she finds it difficult to learn something new at her age, so she writes her mark instead – a simple figure with two loops. ZAIMA IMCHURGA 60-year old Zaima has worked at the co-op for 6 years. Zaima’s husband works on others’ farms as a hired hand, but, because there is no work for him now, they are both are grateful for her income which allows them to provide for their six children. Zaima’s name means beautiful in Arabic. I ask her if she feels beautiful. Her response is an emphatic, "yes!" ZAHRA ELKATIM Zahra, whose name means flower in Arabic, is a 61 year old widow with 7 children, one of which is physically handicapped. The money Zahra earns working in the co-op supports her large family. TAARABT BENFENZI Taarabt Benfenzi has worked almost 9 years at the cooperative, an obvious source of pride for her. Like many of the women, Taarabt’s husband is without work. Her income provides for the needs of their whole family, and has paid for their home, furniture, electricity, water and schooling for their children.
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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Courts, Justice, Lawyering, Society, Uncategorized November 3, 2013
Sixth Circuit Ruling Prompts Tennessee DCS to Stop Removing Endangered Children from Homes Without a Formal Hearing.
Submitted by Charlton Stanley (aka Otteray Scribe), Guest Blogger
Tennessee Department of Children’s Services Logo
On an August afternoon in 2008, Hickman County, TN resident Robert Andrews was working on a trailer in his yard when two deputy sheriffs pulled up in front of his house, along with three caseworkers from the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services. They approached Mr. Andrews and asked permission to go inside his home. They did not have any kind of warrant or court order, so Andrews told them they did not have permission to enter his home.
Despite his refusal, all three caseworkers and one of the deputies entered the home and searched the place. They also took each of his four children aside for interviews out of his earshot. Then the officials left. Neither Andrews nor his wife, Patti, was ever accused of a crime in connection with the visit. They were not afforded the opportunity to contact a lawyer or have a lawyer present for the interrogations of the children. At no time before or since that incident was any member of the Andrews family ever accused of any crime in connection with that visit.
In March 2002, a police officer in Cuyahoga County, Ohio kicked in Nancy Kovacic’s door, allowing caseworkers to enter her home and seize her two children. The children were placed in foster care, where they stayed 10 months. There were no criminal charges of any kind against Nancy Kovacic. Her attorney, Jay Crook, told reporters, “Caseworkers can’t just make a judgment call and say, ‘Well, I don’t like this, and with the power of the state, I’m taking these children,’ ”
The children are now grown and were part of the lawsuit. They report being abused while in foster care. They have been in therapy for several years due to the trauma of being removed from their mother. Mr. Crook added, “Without that neutral arbiter, that magistrate, that judge; even over the phone, you have lost all your due process safeguards.”
Those events at the Andrews home led to a lawsuit against the caseworkers. There was also a similar lawsuit from another family in Ohio. Both cases ended up in front of the Sixth Circuit. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit used the cases to specify that caseworkers, like police, are agents of the State, and therefore controlled by the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution. This is the first time a Federal appeals court has specified that caseworkers from children’s services departments must abide by the Constitution.
More over the flip, including the full text of both Sixth Circuit decisions.
This issue has bothered me for many years. My former daughter in law was a caseworker with the state children’s services, and she often bragged on how many children she had removed from homes with no probable cause other than some vague complaint and in her opinion the kids were not being cared for properly. That she, of all people, would be the judge of who is a lousy parent is another story for another time. There are a number of really good reasons she became my ex-daughter in law.
But, back to the story at hand. Before the Sixth Circuit ruling, Tennessee caseworkers could decide, sua sponte, to remove a child from a home; however, they were required to petition a court within three days (72 hours) for a judicial hearing on whether the removal of the children was justified. The Sixth Circuit decision makes it abundantly clear that policy is unconstitutional.
Tenn. DCS attorney Douglas Diamond
The Tennessee DCS’s lead counsel, Douglas Diamond, says it is his opinion that caseworkers can no longer remove a child from a unless there is a full formal court hearing. He did say there may be “exigent circumstances” which are very narrowly defined as an immediate, identifiable risk of harm that is “serious, immediate, physical or specific.” Under Mr. Diamond’s definition, that excludes even a complaint of sexual or physical abuse, for example by medical personnel, even if there are observable injuries visible on a child.
Davidson Co. Tenn. Juvenile Court Judge Sophia Crawford
Within hours of the Federal court ruling, Tennessee juvenile court judges had a solution to the problem in place. Davidson County (Nashville) Juvenile Court Judge Sophia Crawford said in an interview with Nashville media that she and other juvenile court judges are willing to issue temporary, emergency ex parte orders. Judge Crawford said that could be done over the phone. The emergency order could even be done by email or text message, according to Tennessee juvenile court judges if a caseworkers attested to a child being in danger. In a sweeping move by Juvenile judges across the state, the judges provided DCS officials personal cellphone numbers. They also designated on-call staff members during overnight.
DCS officials declined the offer of the state’s juvenile court judges, apparently on the instructions of DCS lead counsel Douglas Diamond.
Judge Crawford is quoted as saying,
“Myself and magistrates are available on a 24-hour basis to address any problems or questions that arise as the department works to protect children. We’ve gone over and above by reminding them (DCS) we are available on a 24-hour basis for any issue that requires a court order of protection of children. As a juvenile court judge, I feel comfortable that we can do what we need to, but I don’t have any control over the policies and procedures of the department.”
One local attorney who is often appointed as a guardian ad litem in DCS cases, Rob Huddleston, says the Department is being overly cautious. Huddleston says the new rules are already affecting the safety of Tennessee children. He pointed out an instance from just a few days ago where a baby was born addicted to drugs. Previously, it would have been possible to declare a medical emergency and seize the child before it went home. By happy accident, because of a dispute between the parents, Rob Huddleston had already been appointed by the court as guardian ad litem. He was able to get an emergency order from a local judge without DCS intervention. The emergency order will give the court time to schedule a full hearing with the family, DCS and Huddleston as the child’s legal representative. Huddleston was quoted as saying,
“I think they are being overly cautious. I do not agree with how they are reading the Sixth Circuit opinion. I think they are trying to protect caseworkers from liability instead of protecting children. My sense is this policy is going to be short-lived until something tragic happens.”
None of the other states subject to the Sixth Circuit’s jurisdiction have gone as far as Tennessee in limiting DCS caseworkers ability to remove children under dependency and neglect laws.
Since the ruling, Ohio has implemented safeguards similar to the ones turned down by the Tennessee DCS. The Cuyahoga County prosecutor’s office explained that caseworkers can seek emergency temporary orders from a judge. That can be done over the phone or by email. Caseworkers are required to appear in court on the next business day for an emergency in-person hearing. At that hearing the parent(s) have the opportunity to present their side to the judge.
The other states under the 6th Circuit jurisdiction, Kentucky and Michigan, have implemented rules similar to those in Ohio. Tennessee remains the holdout. And as Mr. Huddleston observed, it appears to this interested observer that DCS counsel Douglas Diamond may be more concerned with protecting caseworkers than the kids.
I don’t want to go into much detail here, but I actually have some skin in this game. One of our kids is adopted. A social worker from children’s services had been working with a family with a new baby. While making a home visit, the social worker offered to change the diaper when she noticed the child’s bottom was somewhat deformed. Grabbing the seven-month-old and the mother, they drove to the emergency room. The ER doctor told the social worker and mother there was a mass in there that needed immediate attention and referred them to a major medical center about 90 miles away. The social worker drove her own car, and from all accounts broke every speed limit on the trip because the baby started having seizures in the car. Upon examination at the medical center, the doctors discovered a very large tumor which needed immediate surgery. By that time the father had arrived. The parents said they did not want the surgery, they were going to take the baby home. The doctors and social worker inquired if the objection was due to religious reasons. They said no, they didn’t want to have to spend time away from home. The medical staff told them the baby was not going anywhere and declared a medical emergency. Security arrived and made sure the baby was escorted to surgery immediately. After the surgery, the medical staff informed the parents the tumor was malignant, and they had not been able to remove all of it. A large chunk of the cancerous tumor remained. Because of this, chemotherapy must be started immediately. Again the parents objected, wanting to take the baby home. Again, security intervened, and the state took custody. The parents went home and did not return. Five months later, we found out about the baby who had been abandoned at the Children’s Cancer Clinic. My wife was the Head Nurse of the oncology (cancer) unit at one of the largest hospitals in the state. She was more than qualified to take care of a child with cancer. We got her as a foster child. The prognosis was grim, with no chance of surviving longer than five to eighteen months. Two years later we adopted her. She is now a mature adult, tough, strong-minded and opinionated.
At the time the social worker first discovered the lump, no one knew the tumor had grown so large it was cutting off the child’s ability to eliminate body waste, and circulation was being cut off. She literally had only hours to live at the time of the emergency surgery. Under the new Tennessee DCS rules, she would have died. Obviously, a balance must be struck between the arbitrary and capricious whims of individual caseworkers and protecting safety and welfare of children. And all the while, protecting the Constitutional rights of everyone concerned. It is a balancing act.
The two Sixth Circuit decisions are at the links below:
Andrews, et al. v. Hickman County, Tenn., et al. (Decided and Filed: December 3, 2012 )
Kovacic et al. v. Cuyahoga County. et al. (Decided and Filed: July 31, 2013)
Filed under: Children's Services, Fourth Amendment, Ohio, Sixth Circuit, Tennessee
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29 thoughts on “Sixth Circuit Ruling Prompts Tennessee DCS to Stop Removing Endangered Children from Homes Without a Formal Hearing.”
Julian's Real Mummy says:
Reblogged this on The Real Mommies and Daddies of the Real America.
Teresa brown says:
Department of dcs in Macon co Tenn removed my two kids from my home because I use under doctor care they are in foster care now where they are believed to being abused but no one will go up against dcs in this co no one will help I love my kids and miss them so bad it’s so so wrong
Dcs took custody of my daughter because my right lung collapsed do to an asthma attack n I passed out n she called 911. I was put on life support n nine months later I am still trying to get her back. They sighted neglect. Prior to this incident I had never dealt w them. I woke up after being in a med induced coma to find out my daughter was n state custody. Now don’t ya think Tenn has a messed up system. Who thinks this is justifiable? I called dcs everyday n one time 17 times while n earlanger without one returned phone call. I only found out she was placed n foster by my family in Indiana. She was placed with my dad who happens to foster. For two months neither dcs or my dad allowed me to talk to her. How bout that. This is wrong. So wrong n their powers need tob more tight.
bojangles says:
I agree with the court.my daughter had her children taken from her and put into foster care in Iowa. for no other reason than the case worker did not like her. in court there was no charges filed no abuse was proven. the guardian ad lidem was a lawyer that i had personaly had issues with in the past witch didn’t help my daughters case.long story short my grandchildren were put in foster care and eventually adopted out.my wife and i were allowed to adopt two of my grandaughters.they have brothers and sisters that they are not allowed to see.5Years of theropy later my girls are doing ok. i incourage all of you that read this to go online and get the book (who is watching the dhs). its scares me to no that they make money taking our children from us.as always its all about the mony.
D Pratt
Pingback: Nevada DFS: LIES | My.Kidjacked.com
DiverBoone says:
Tennessee needed to be reined in. I’m a resident and personally aware of numerous cases where children have been removed from their homes for merely more than rumors. But the most outrageous tactic is the use of CPS by Drug Task Force members in an attempt to gain information or pressure parents to work as informants.
Typically multiple Drug Task Force members will accompany a CPS work to a home for a welfare check, that was initiated by the Task Force members. This is an effort to gain entry in to the house without a warrant, then threats of removing the children will follow, if the parents do not cooperate with the Drug Task Force request. If the parents chose not to cooperate, the children will be removed. This is usually achieved by allegations of suspected drug use.
One case I’m personally aware of the mother passed every drug test given her, this included multiple urine test and a hair follicle test. During that time she was not allowed unsupervised contact with her children. Her ex husband filled for full custody, which she had to defend against. All this because she would not work as an informant.
CPS in the state of Pennsylvania uses Tennessee as an example of what not to do when training there social workers whom must also possess a masters.
Eagle-I (@EagleIamOne) says:
@Fred ~ Absolutely agree with you. In the state of South Dakota, check out history of the Mette Foster Care scandal and what happened to state-empowered agents doing their jobs protecting children from sexual abuse.
Here’s a better one: Something about the state of Maine:
Cynthia Wellman, Camden ME-Former DHS worker – Uncovers kiddie porn ring dating back to 1985 tied to drug ring. DHS covers it up, she refused to participate in conspiracy, forced into disability retirement by DHS. Files suit in Oct 2001 (wrongful termination) — thrown out due to statute of limitations running out on the claim as presented to the court. http://bit.ly/18KsUVW
Five years later (2006), Maine’s top drug prosecutor James Cameron is found to be engaging in internet transmission of kiddie porn and is eventually convicted for same (Sept 2013) http://bit.ly/1eu2uhk
With that mess in Family Court Portland that has given rise to the Save-Mila-In-Maine-Campaign, sure makes me wonder, what the heck is DHS really running in Maine?
Its is about time. CPS in every state needs to have their balls snipped. Far too much power and authority without a single bit of recourse or oversight.
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Tag: walking
A walking tour gets to the heart of Dunedin
The city could easily be called New Zealand’s city of firsts: first university, first medical school, first dental school, the first newspaper, first art school, and the first public art gallery.
For Athol, the city is an art gallery and history book and he guides us with enthusiasm around the inner city
Dunedin, New Zealand’s oldest city is apparently drier than Auckland; warmer than Christchurch, and less windy than Wellington. Christchurch’s quakes have also put Dunedin at the top of the list of best historic buildings in New Zealand. The inner city in particular has many Gothic and classical Victorian-Edwardian buildings and I join Athol Parks (founder of City Walks) for a 2-hour stroll around them.
Otaku, as Māori called the area, was first settled by Europeans in 1848 when the Scottish settlers arrived. It quickly became extremely wealthy from gold and state-led investments and is considered to have funded the rest of New Zealand’s growth.
The often considered ‘austere or dour Scots’ community was soon overrun with international gold-miners as well as Jewish and Chinese settlers who have left a lasting mark on the city. This includes the fabric merchants Hallensteins who were among the earliest Jewish arrivals. Interestingly, Dunedin still has the world’s southernmost synagogue. Vogel’s, Bell Tea, the oven-maker Shacklock, Cadbury and Speight’s brewery were all founded here.
For Athol, the city is an art gallery and history book and he guides us with enthusiasm around the inner city.From Robbie Burns and St Paul’s Anglican Cathedral in the Octagon to the Fortune Theatre, which began life as a Wesleyan Church then down Moray Place to the former Jewish synagogue. It then became a Freemason temple, then art gallery, and now a fabulous looking inner city home.
Walking and talking Athol tells us, ‘I want visitors to understand what makes Dunedin a special and creative place’ he says as we head to the railway station. The City Council bought the iconic railway station for $1. Now restored to its full 1906 splendour, it’s now, eclectically, site for the weekly farmers’ market; every year the platform becomes the runway for the city’s pre-eminent fashion show, and the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame lives upstairs.
Beside the station, an art deco bus station has been restored and combined with the expanded Toitu Otago Settlers Museum, which re-opened in 2012 – and which I totally recommend
The First Presbyterian Church of Otago had been designed to sit on a large hill and the Free Church of Scotland settlers thought they had claimed the city’s prime site and had a 29-year-old architect, Robert Lawson, design an extremely un-Presbyterian-like church. However, by the time his winning plan was built, convict labour had lowered Bell Hill by 12m to provide fill for the reclamation of the harbour below. Although not as prominent as first envisaged, the cathedral-like structure remains impressive. Of course the English Anglican church ended up with pride of place in the Octagon, the city centre – although the Scottish bard, Robbie, stands with his back to it! In those early days the Reverend Thomas Burns, a nephew of the poet provided spiritual guidance for the new community.
It was the Lay Association of the Free Church of Scotland that founded Dunedin at the head of Otago Harbour. Its name comes from Dùn Èideann, the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland and the city’s surveyor was told to copy the characteristics of Edinburgh.
Athol, under questioning, tells us he studied history and politics at the University of Otago. He also has a historical novel underway. Its beginnings started with history project about the local pie-cart which made him realise history could come alive. Victorian Dunedin is the setting for his uncompleted novel, and considers the relationship between Dunedin’s early architects. (Lawson and Petre)
I liked his comment that ”Architecture is the most public art form, but most people pay it little regard. If you come to appreciate it and learn about it, it enriches your life’.
Walking his dogs around the street every day he thought ‘it would be great to show people this place.’ City Walks started in 2006 after deciding he was going to have to work for most of the rest of my life, ‘So, I might as well do work I enjoy’. Now, for six months a year, for six days a week, he guides walking tours around the inner city – and despite never having lived here I have strong Scottish roots and found this tour well worth doing.
It also reminded me of the huge losses Canterbury suffered during the 2010/11 quakes – I’m glad New Zealand still has its history alive and being preserved in this southern city.
My ten days in Dunedin – was spent traveling in a NZ RentaCar and the City walk ended with us being offered a wee dram and some haggis!
Author Heather - the kiwi travel writerPosted on October 14, 2014 October 6, 2014 Categories Dunedin, Dunedin. NZ, History, Tips & lists, travelTags Art Deco, city of firsts, Dunedin, Gothis, History, New Zealand, Otaku, Scots, scottish, tour, Victorian, walking
Te Araroa: the long pathway allows you to hike the length of New Zealand
Te Araroa means The Long Pathway – and its 3000 kilometres (1850+ miles) link one end of New Zealand with the other and takes some 5 0r 6 million steps to complete.
The trail starts here at Cape Reinga, Northland.
Tanera Park, Wellington
All over the world there are many long walks, what makes this one different is that it doesn’t merely traverse one geographic feature but covers all the variety of terrain of one country: coastline to forests; from river valleys to mountain passes, from lakes to volcanoes! It even passes through Tanera Park, and beside my allotment, here in our capital city, Wellington.
So, if you plan on walking all or some of the trail you could do no better that use the book by Geoff Chapple, published by Random House, Te Araroa: a walking guide to New Zealand’s long trail.
Author Heather - the kiwi travel writerPosted on August 17, 2012 Categories Books, New Zealand, Northland, NZ Travel, Photos, Tips & lists, Worldwide travelTags Geoff Chapple, guide books, hike, hiking, trail, walking4 Comments on Te Araroa: the long pathway allows you to hike the length of New Zealand
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Registration of the game account
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I read (a) and agrees (agree) with The rules of the server | Privacy policy
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Server rules | Privacy Policy
1. The rights and obligations of the parties
1.1. The administration reserves the right to make any changes on the server without notice to the players.
1.2. Ignorance of the rules is not an excuse for violating them. Confirming your registration on the website of the server, you automatically agree with the rules.
1.3. Server administration is not responsible for any damage in the game result on this server.
1.4. The administration is not responsible for the temporary or permanent inability to play on the server a specific person or group of persons.
1.5. The administration may at any time, without explanation, to stop providing server access to a specific user or a whole subnet.
1.6. The administration is not obliged to return any items, accounts, characters or their parameters and property, lost players for any possible reason.
1.7. All players are required to monitor themselves no prohibited software.
1.8. In case of any failures in the servers, the Administration is taking necessary steps to improve its capacity in the shortest possible time.
1.9. Players are required to comply with the requirements of the Administration and provisions of this agreement.
1.10. In case of violation in respect of any of the paragraphs of this agreement other players or GM, the service user has the right to file a complaint, providing evidence of a breach.
1.11. Account and all their content are the property of the administration server.
1.12. Administration reserves the right to monitor and interfere in the gameplay in any cases where it considers it necessary.
1.13. The administration reserves the right not to investigate cases of breaking characters.
1.14. The administration accepts no responsibility for items lost as a result of divorce.
1.15. In case of any violation of the rules, the administration chooses itself what kind of punishment the player will receive, without explanation.
1.16. The administration reserves the right to amend the rules without giving the reasons and goals of these changes.
1.17. Players are required to promptly inform the administration about found bugs and violations.
2. Interaction with the Administration server
2.1. It is forbidden to access the Administration server unless absolutely necessary. Any appeal to Administration must contain a clear statement of the problem of the player or a question about specific servers.
2.2. Prohibited disrespect to the Administration server.
2.3. Prohibited threats, pleas, etc. to the Administration server on the forum and in the game.
2.4. Forbidden attack GM without their prior consent.
2.5. It is forbidden to interfere in the work of GM.
2.6. Prohibited wrangling with GM and challenging his actions.
2.7. Prohibited Party, Friend, Clan, Ally or Trade inquiry GM without his prior consent.
2.8. Prohibited deception administration.
2.9. Prohibited publication of interviews with GM'om or their content without prior approval.
2.10. It is forbidden to annoy (re-post more often than once in two days) GM to cancel the imposed penalty
2.11. It is forbidden to discuss the penalty imposed GM
2.12. GM's do not interfere in the gameplay, with the exception of cases of violation of the rules, planned activities or ongoing work.
2.13. When it appears in close proximity to you Gamemasters should suspend any hostilities, especially if they are directed against the character, near which there is a representative of the Administration.
2.14. In case of disputable situations, the player has the right to complain to support or on the forum, providing evidence of violations (screens, rollers)
2.15. It is forbidden to spread rumors and slander about the server and the Administration.
2.16. In some cases, the GM decides on the punishment, which is also not negotiable.
3. It is forbidden to use the programs, and disseminate information about it, emulates the presence of the player in the game or violate the normal functioning of the server software. Under such a program means changing the client or replacing it, or modifying or facilitating the gameplay not game methods.
3.1. Denied access to someone else's account with the aim of Scam.
3.2. Prohibited threats of any kind towards players, if the threat is not part of the roleplay.
3.3. It is forbidden to send in chat messages violate the laws of the Russian Federation.
3.4. It is forbidden to sell or buy for real money, and equal to them "electronic means of payment" (WebMoney, YandexДеньги, etc.), any game items (adena, weapons, armor, resources, etc.). Sale of game characters and(or) accounts is prohibited in any form, for any gaming and non-gaming value. It is forbidden to mention or to discuss such transactions in the game, on the forum, as well as to third-party resources.
3.5. Prohibited exchange between servers of any game items (adena, weapons, armor, resources, etc.). Exchange of game characters and(or) accounts is prohibited in any form, including within a single server. It is forbidden to mention or to discuss such transactions in the game, on the forum, as well as to third-party resources. It is also forbidden to exchange the values and accounts from other games.
3.6. Prohibited to directly or indirectly advertise other online games.
3.7. It is forbidden to publish the contents of personal interviews (in private) with anyone without prior consent (exception - report a policy violation by another player).
3.8. Directly or indirectly advertise sexual services and/or materials of erotic (pornographic) nature.
3.9. Prohibited any manifestations of racism and nationalism, inciting ethnic hatred including.
3.10. Prohibited use of the symbols of clan wars as emblems of clans and alliances (Such introduces players astray in mass wars).
3.11. It is forbidden to create situations when players cannot select NPC without using the /target .
3.12. It is forbidden to create situations when players cannot pass through the arches, narrow passages, etc.
3.13. Forbidden intends to throw mobs of guardof characters in civilian areas, including to create a situation where mobs can go through doors (deposited KKH including).
3.14. Prohibited entry into a RAID zone on the Wyvern (valakas's lair, Antharas's lair, the lair of Bauma, etc.), enter the zone only after NPC, with the penetration. In case of violation of character will receive 30 days of lock in case of repeated violation the lock is permanent.
4. It is prohibited to use server errors and server software, bugs and cheats.
4.1. It is prohibited to check the server for bugs and cheats. The first violation of the computer can be unlocked by at the discretion of.
4.2. Prohibited killing monsters when they can't hit the player for a reason, not provided in the game.
4.3. It is illegal to distribute information about server errors and server software, bugs and cheats.
5. Flooding is forbidden in public areas.
5.1. Strictly forbidden to use foul language and insulting players in-game and on the forum.
5.2. Invalid names and clans abbreviations, insulting other players or simply contain vulgar language. In the case of a violation, the clan, the clan is disbanded, and the clan leader's account is blocked. Forbidden names, insulting other players or simply contain vulgar language. Nick will be changed to noname, and the account owner will be punished - ban character 3 to 7 days.
5.3. When creating a character is forbidden to give him a name that is reserved words: GM, Administrator and the names of the administration, as previously used, and these.
5.4. It is forbidden to impersonate Administration or Trustee Administration.
6. You may not use the shortcomings of the game in trade to open a trade and run into the forbidden for the trade zone.
6.1. Forbidden to sell in places where it can cause inconvenience other players (arches, narrow passages ), it also applies to paths on the racetrack monsters.
6.2. The administration does not return items lost during dumping on the ground! Use trade, multiwindows allows you to send things to twinks.
7. Be correct in your interaction with other players and the GM.
7.1. Promptly inform the server Administration about the found shortcomings.
7.2. When you access the Administration do not greetings, questions, "are you here?" "can I ask you a question?" "can I go?" and other things not relevant, skip to question You.
7.3. Try to write in a linguistically correct language.
1. Existing at the moment the privacy policy of personal data (hereinafter – privacy Policy) works with the following concepts:
1.1. "The site administration of the Game Server (hereinafter – site Administration)". The so-called representing the interests of the organization of specialists, whose responsibilities include site management, i.e. organization and (or) treatment received for his personal data. To perform these duties, they must be clear about what information is processed, what information needs to be processed, which actions (operations) must be performed with the received information.
1.2. "Personal information" — information that has a direct or indirect relation to a specific or identifiable natural person (also called data subject).
1.3. "Personal data processing" is any operation (action) or a combination thereof, which the Administration produces personal data. They can collect, record, systematize, accumulate, store, clarify (if necessary to update or change), extract, use, transfer (distribution, granting, access access), depersonalize, block, remove, and even destroy. These transactions (actions) can be performed both automatically and manually.
1.3. "Privacy" is a requirement imposed on the Operator or another working with User data officer to hold such information confidential, not devoting extraneous, if providing personal data the User has expressed consent and no lawful basis for disclosure.
1.4. "User website Game Servers" (hereinafter — the User)" – a person visiting a website of a Game Server and use its programs and products.
1.5. "Cookies" — a short fragment of data sent by a web browser or a web client to the web server in the HTTP request, whenever a User tries to open the page of a Game Server. The fragment is stored on the User's computer.
1.6. "IP address" — a unique network address of the node in the computer network based on TCP/IP.
2.1. View website Game Servers, and use of its programs and products imply agreement with adopted is there a privacy Policy involving the provision of User personal data processing.
2.2. If the User does not accept the existing privacy Policy, the User must leave the Game Server.
2.3. Existing privacy Policy applies only to the site of the Game Server. If the links posted on the site the last user goes to the resources of third parties, a Game Server for his actions is not responsible.
2.4. Verification of personal data, who decided to report to have accepted this privacy Policy, the User is not the responsibility of the site Administration.
3. Scope of privacy policy
3.1. Conducted according to the current period privacy Policy the Administration of a Game Server is obliged not to disclose the personal data provided by Users registering on the site or placing the order for purchasing the product, and provide this data, absolute privacy.
3.2. To disclose personal data, the User fills located on the site of the Game Server electronic forms. User's personal data to be treated are:
3.2.1. his surname, name, patronymic;
3.2.2. his contact phone number;
3.2.3. his e-mail address (e-mail);
3.2.4. the address at which to be delivered they had purchased goods;
3.2.5. address of residence.
3.3. Data protection, automatically transmitted when viewing ad units and pages mounted with a statistical scripts (pixels) is the Game Server. Here is a list of the data:
data on browser (or another program that becomes available ads);
visit website;
the address of the page on which the ad unit;
referrer (the address of the previous page).
3.4. The consequence of disabling cookies can prevent you access to appropriate parts of the site of the Game Server.
3.5. The game Server collects statistics about IP addresses of all visitors. This information is needed to identify and solve technical problems and monitor how legitimate is the financial payments.
3.6. Any other unspecified the above personal information (about when and what purchases were made, what browser was used, what was the operating system installed, etc.) are securely stored and not applied. An exception to the current privacy Policy provides for the cases described in clauses 5.2 and 5.3.
4. Purposes of collecting personal user information
1. The collection of personal User data by the Administration of a Game Server is carried out in order to:
4.1. To identify the User who passed the registration procedure on the website of the Game Server to place an order and (or) purchase of the store remotely.
4.2. To open the User access to personalized resources of this website.
4.3. To install with User feedback, which means, in particular, the sending of requests and notifications regarding usage of the website of the Game Server, handling user queries and requests, provision of other services.
4.4. To determine the location of the User to ensure payment security and prevent fraud.
4.5. Confirm that the data provided by the User is complete and accurate.
4.6. Create an account to make Purchases if the User has expressed his or her wish.
4.7. Notify the User about the status of his order a Game Server.
4.8. To process and receive payments, confirm the tax or tax breaks, to challenge the payment, to determine whether to grant a particular User a line of credit.
4.9. To provide the User with the fastest possible solution to the problems encountered when using the Game Server, due to effective customer and technical support.
4.10. Inform the User about updated products, to acquaint him with unique offers, new price lists, news about the activities of the Game Server or its partners, and other information, if the User expresses his or her consent.
4.11. Advertising a Game Server, if the User expresses his or her consent.
4.12. To grant User access to sites or services of the Game Server, helping him thereby to obtain products, updates and services.
5. Methods and time of processing personal information
5.1. The term of processing of personal data by User is not limited. The procedure can be carried out in any statutory way. In particular, with the help of information systems of personal data that may be carried out automatically or without automation.
5.2. Processed by the site Administration User's personal data may be transferred to third parties, including courier services, postal organizations, telecommunication operators. This is done in order to fulfill the User's order, they left on the website of the Game Server, and deliver goods to the address. User consent to such transfer provided for in the rules of the site policy.
5.3. Also handled the Administration of the website personal data may be transferred to authorized bodies of state power of the Russian Federation, if carried out lawfully and in accordance with the Russian legislation.
5.4. If the personal data is lost or disclosed, the User is notified about it by the website.
5.5. All actions of the Administration of the site intended to prevent the User's personal data of third parties (with the exception of p. 5.2, 5.3). Last, this information should not be accessible even by accident, so they didn't destroy it, not changed and not blocked, copied and distributed, and did not commit other illegal actions. To protect user data, the Administration has a complex of organizational and technical measures.
5.6. If the personal data is lost or disclosed to, the administration of the site together with the User ready to take all possible measures to prevent losses and other negative consequences caused by this situation.
6. The obligations of the parties
6.1. The responsibilities of the User includes:
6.1.1. The message corresponding to the requirements of a Game Server information about yourself.
6.1.2. Update and Supplement the provided information in case of change thereof.
6.2. In charge of the Administration of the website includes
6.2.1. Use the received information exclusively for the purposes specified in clause 4 of the existing privacy Policy.
6.2.3. Confidentiality received from the User information. They should be kept confidential unless you give written permission. Also, the Administration has no right to sell, trade, publish or disclose in any other way transferred to the User's personal data, except p. p. 5.2 and 5.3 of the existing privacy Policy.
6.2.4. The adoption of precautionary measures, so your personal data remains strictly confidential, as confidential such information in the modern business turnover.
6.2.5. Locking of personal user data from the time from which the User or his legal representative will make the request. The right to make a request for a lock is also provided to the authority empowered to protect the rights of the User who submitted the Administration of the website your information on a check period in the case of detection of unauthenticity of the personal data communicated or illegality of actions.
7. Liability of the parties
7.1. In case of default the Property of the site's own obligations and, as a consequence, the User's damages incurred due to misuse of information you have provided, is the responsibility on her. This, in particular, according to the Russian legislation. An exception exists in the present privacy Policy makes for incidents referred to in clauses 5.2, 5.3 and 7.2.
7.2. But there are some cases where the site Administration is not responsible if the custom data is lost or disclosed. This occurs when they:
7.2.1. Became public knowledge that before was lost or disclosed.
7.2.2. Was provided by a third party before it was received by the website Administration.
7.2.3. Disclosed with the consent of the User.
8. Dispute resolution
8.1. If the User is dissatisfied with the actions of the Administration of a Game Server and intend to defend their rights in court, before you file a claim, he must submit a claim (a written offer to settle the dispute voluntarily).
8.2. Received the claim the Administration is obliged within 30 calendar days from the date of its receipt in writing to notify the user of its consideration and the action taken.
8.3. If both parties failed to agree, the dispute shall be referred to a judicial organ where it needs to consider according to the Russian law.
8.4. Regulation of relations between User and site Administration in the privacy Policy is carried out according to the Russian law.
9. Additional terms
9.1. The website administration has the right to change the existing at the moment the privacy Policy without the consent of the User.
9.2. The entry into force of the new privacy Policy begins after information about it will be posted on the website of the Game Server if the changed Policy does not imply other properties.
9.3. All proposals, wishes, requirements or questions about this privacy Policy should be reported in the feedback section, located at: http://elcardia.ru/contacts.html Or by sending email at support@elcardia.ru
9.4. To read about the current privacy Policy go to the page at elcardia.ru
Updated July 8, 2019.
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New ☆◕‿.◕☆Spotlight ☆Sky-Lyn☆
ladiesmakingmoves February 12, 2013 Uncategorized
Sky-Lyn is a young Puerto Rican artist, born into street credibility from the rough streets of Passaic, New Jersey. She is no stranger to the dangers of the streets. Sky-Lyn had one thing to get through rough times and that was her passion for singing. As a child, she would often try to out sing sing-alongs. At the age of three she knew singing was her passion when she caught a fit because she wanted to sing the “Day-O” (the banana boat song). Since then the crowds just got bigger. While singing in central park at eight years old she was discovered by the Sally Jesse Raphael show. Sky-Lyn was ahead of her time.
Sky-Lyn is an “out of the box” artist. Not wanting to be compared to anyone, she keeps her music colorful and true to herself. With amazing writing skills, she writes her own songs. Blessed with a huge imagination, Sky-Lyn wrote her first song at age six called “Under The Stars.” Not only does she write her own songs, she received the opportunity to write for the late great Heavy D. At age eleven, Sky-Lyn received the prestigious opportunities to sing at the Grand Ole Opry and The Roberto Clemente Coliseum in Puerto Rico. Sky-Lyn is most proud of being runner up to play a young Selena in the blockbuster hit movie, “Selena”. Juelz Santana of Dip Set was one of the first people to work with her. The list of notables that she has worked with grew tremendously including Celia Cruz, La India, Brenda K Starr, Cam’ron, Tank, Gucci Mane, and Vado, just to name a few. She has sung for political events which enabled her to meet Christy Whitman, Hillary Clinton, and other political figures. Sky-Lyn has also had the pleasure of working with Rob Fusari who also works with Lady GaGa.
Sky-Lyn is a free spirit and there is no limit to what she can do. She even designs her own clothes. She is a double threat artist. Although she has a pop vibe, her heart and soul emits rhythm and blues. Having a good ear for music, she continues to put forth something new so you will never know what is coming next. Her influences in music are Mariah Carey, Mary J Blige, Selena, and Whitney Houston but, the person she really wants to do a song with is her mother. She looks at her art as more than just music, it is truly her passion. Sky-Lyn is an ambitious artist who wants to make a change and is living by the phrase “Just Do It.” She wants the world to see her talent. Sky-Lyn has matured into the amazing artist she is today, and is grateful for all that she has.
Connect With Her On
https://www.facebook.com/SkyTheBosstress
https://twitter.com/TheeOnlySkyLyn
http://www.sky-lyn.com/videos.html
http://www.sky-lyn.com/
@TheeOnlySkyLyn
Previous New ☆◕‿.◕☆Spotlight ☆DeeDee Carlos ☆
Next New ☆◕‿.◕☆Spotlight ☆Shay RoZay☆
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Posts Tagged: CVE-2020-1135
Latest Warnings / Time to Patch — 34 Comments
Microsoft Patch Tuesday, May 2020 Edition
Microsoft today issued software updates to plug at least 111 security holes in Windows and Windows-based programs. None of the vulnerabilities were labeled as being publicly exploited or detailed prior to today, but as always if you’re running Windows on any of your machines it’s time once again to prepare to get your patches on.
May marks the third month in a row that Microsoft has pushed out fixes for more than 110 security flaws in its operating system and related software. At least 16 of the bugs are labeled “Critical,” meaning ne’er-do-wells can exploit them to install malware or seize remote control over vulnerable systems with little or no help from users.
But focusing solely on Microsoft’s severity ratings may obscure the seriousness of the flaws being addressed this month. Todd Schell, senior product manager at security vendor Ivanti, notes that if one looks at the “exploitability assessment” tied to each patch — i.e., how likely Microsoft considers each can and will be exploited for nefarious purposes — it makes sense to pay just as much attention to the vulnerabilities Microsoft has labeled with the lesser severity rating of “Important.”
Virtually all of the non-critical flaws in this month’s batch earned Microsoft’s “Important” rating.
“What is interesting and often overlooked is seven of the ten [fixes] at higher risk of exploit are only rated as Important,” Schell said. “It is not uncommon to look to the critical vulnerabilities as the most concerning, but many of the vulnerabilities that end up being exploited are rated as Important vs Critical.”
For example, Satnam Narang from Tenable notes that two remote code execution flaws in Microsoft Color Management (CVE-2020-1117) and Windows Media Foundation (CVE-2020-1126) could be exploited by tricking a user into opening a malicious email attachment or visiting a website that contains code designed to exploit the vulnerabilities. However, Microsoft rates these vulnerabilities as “Exploitation Less Likely,” according to their Exploitability Index.
In contrast, three elevation of privilege vulnerabilities that received a rating of “Exploitation More Likely” were also patched, Narang notes. These include a pair of “Important” flaws in Win32k (CVE-2020-1054, CVE-2020-1143) and one in the Windows Graphics Component (CVE-2020-1135). Elevation of Privilege vulnerabilities are used by attackers once they’ve managed to gain access to a system in order to execute code on their target systems with elevated privileges. There are at least 56 of these types of fixes in the May release.
Schell says if your organization’s plan for prioritizing the deployment of this month’s patches stops at vendor severity or even CVSS scores above a certain level you may want to reassess your metrics.
“Look to other risk metrics like Publicly Disclosed, Exploited (obviously), and Exploitability Assessment (Microsoft specific) to expand your prioritization process,” he advised.
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Free PDF Downloads
Tag: Influencers
The Three Types of People Shifting Global Mindset in 2014
As we start a new year with personal resolutions to do better and work harder, what are we doing to make the world a more open, communicative place? It would serve our businesses, economies and governments better if more people placed value in cultivating the intellectual, social and psychological capital necessary to have a truly global mindset. That had me thinking: Who is really doing the work to change minds and shift conversations toward a more open perspective?
With these necessary shifts in mind, I’ve compiled a list of the kinds of people who not only cultivate a global mindset for themselves, but are also implementing it in their own spheres of influence.
1. The Female Executive: No single person made a greater impact on the spread of a global mindset in 2013 than Sheryl Sandberg. The internationally bestselling author and Chief Operating Officer of Facebook doesn’t just have an MBA from Harvard and a net worth of a reported $400M. In addition to being a savvy businesswoman, she is also a mother, advocate for women in business and the only woman on the board of Facebook. In her book Lean In, Sandberg has this to say: “A truly equal world would be one where women ran half our countries and companies and men ran half our homes.”
It’s this kind of mindset of true equality, and the spaces into which she brings that mindset, that make Sandberg such an influence in making others globally minded. She works in the male-dominated tech field, at the mostly male executive level. According to San Jose Mercury News, women hold only 10.9 percent of these highest-paid executive positions and board seats in California’s 400 largest companies. Yet Sandberg not only claims a definitive seat for herself: She advocates that more women rise to her level. Sandberg is a global mindset influencer because she is changing people’s minds, globally.
In 2014, there’s another female executive who is poised to change minds in a male-dominated industry. General Motors recently announced its first female CEO in Mary Barra, an electrical engineer and Stanford MBA. With her new position, she has the opportunity to not only shift assumptions about women in management and in the automotive industry, but also how people think about female scientists.
2. The Entertainment-Industry Feminist: In 2013, everyone from Kelly Clarkson to Lady Gaga denounced the feminist label in interviews. Whether because they’d rather identify as humanists or because they think the word is too angry, it has become popular for female celebrities to avoid the label, even as female leaders in society.
Because of this trend, it only makes the entertainment professionals who do embrace the term more influential. In her album released in December, singer Beyonce Knowles championed the term, sampling a TED Talk by writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in her song “***Flawless.” The second verse of the song, taken from the writer’s TEDxEuston speech entitled “We Should All Be Feminists,” uses the word explicitly and positively: “Feminist: the person who believes in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes.” In addition to being a definition of feminism, it’s also very close to the definition of what it means to have a global mindset.
In addition to Beyonce’s influence as an international entertainment icon and vocal feminist, mother and businesswoman, Adichie herself is poised to make an impact herself. The Nigerian-born writer has been awarded the MacArthur Fellowship, the Orange Prize for Fiction, and the O. Henry Award. In 2013 she was named one of Foreign Policy Magazine’s Leading Global Thinkers. It is these talented women, in an industry that avoids addressing the issue at all, who will continue to influence and change how we think about women, business and feminism.
3. The LGBT Athlete: The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia will take place this February. But it hasn’t been smooth skating for this international event: worldwide criticism of Russian’s law against ‘gay propaganda’ has led to threats of boycotting by brands, athletes and international figures including German president Joachim Gauck. Russia’s anti-LGBT laws, which also caused the country’s Ministry of Justice to strike down a proposed LGBT welcome pavilion, are hardly promoting positive change for the athletic community and the world at large. They are also causing thousands of potential attendees around the world to choose against attending the games.
But the world is responding with a more global mindset than Russia has put in place. The official US delegation to the 2014 Olympics includes tennis legend and LGBT advocate Billy Jean King. In May 1981 King was the first professional athlete to be open as a lesbian. The delegation also includes Brian Boitano, a gold-medal figure skater who announced he is gay on December 19 just after it was announced he would be joining the official group. King and Boitano join two-time U.S. ice hockey Olympic medalist Caitlin Cahow, who also is openly gay, in the closing ceremony delegation.
These three athletes, and President Obama who selected the delegation, are putting in the work to change the minds of the people who enact laws like Russia’s anti-gay legislation. Even in 2014, being a gay athlete is a statement, and not an easy one to make. The first openly gay NBA player, Jason Collins, remains unsigned to a team roster following his announcement in April.
As one can tell from the issues each of these influencers is addressing, there is still a lot of work to be done to shift more of the US and the world toward a more open, intellectual consideration. These executives, entertainers and athletes make it clear that having a global mindset isn’t optional, but rather a necessity to be successful in the professional world or their professions today.
Adichie Beyonce Billy Jean King facebook Feminist General Motors Global Mindset Global Thinkers Harvard Influencers Kelly Clarkson Lady Gaga Mary Barra President Obama Russia Sheryl Sandberg TED Talk
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Signing Agreement between DIU and DCL
With the motto of ‘using technology for transforming education’, Daffodil International University (DIU) set out a project named “One Student: One Laptop” with a view to providing every student with one free laptop. For this,DIU received logistic and technical supports from another sister concern of Daffodil Group -- Daffodil Computers Limited (DCL). In this regard DIU signed an agreement with DCL on 08 July 2011. The technological partnership between the two institutions has fulfilledDIU’s dream to bring technology to the doorsteps of all its students. Under the agreement, DCL is to provide DaffodilPC laptops to the students of DIU with all related services.
Daffodil International University takes pride in being pioneer in initializing the theme of One Student One Laptop in the history of private universities in Bangladesh. DIUstarted distributing DaffodilPC laptops among the students from 2nd February 2011. A student, named, Ms. Thanjida Akhter from the Department of CSE was the first DaffodilPC laptop recipient.
DIU laid emphasis on Information and Communication Technology since the inception of the university in 2002. Gradually it introduced and implemented many ICT-oriented projects, software and modules. One Student One Laptop project is a unique example of its technological orientation in line with Digital Bangladesh campaign of the government. It has become an inspirational model for other universities of Bangladesh. DIU believes that in today’s world superiority of any nation is determined not by its military prowess but by its IT prowess. The students graduating from DIU will presumably excel in their skills to compete nationally and globally.
Mr. Nurul Islam Nahid MP, Honorable Minister, Ministry of Education, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, distributed laptops among the students at a Laptop Distribution Ceremony at the DIU auditorium on 16th July 2011. He said that Daffodil International University (DIU) has set an example by giving students laptops which will meet the purpose of getting quality education. He urged the students to utilize all available opportunities of DIU to equip them with ICT skills to be competent citizens of the country. He hoped that it will encourage other institutions to launch similar initiatives to materialize Digital Bangladesh
Noyadigonta
New Nation
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Catholics in the Classroom and the Courtroom
Time: Thu Sep 5, 2019, 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Location: St. Louis Priory School, St. Louis, MO
The Carver Project in St. Louis welcomes Notre Dame Law Professor Nicole Stelle Garnett for two public events on Thursday, September 5.
Professor Garnett is the John P. Murphy Foundation Professor of Law at Notre Dame Law School. Her research focuses on property, land use, urban development, local government law, and education policy. She is the author of numerous articles on these subjects and of two books, Ordering the City: Land Use, Policing and the Restoration of Urban America (Yale University Press, 2009) and Lost Classroom, Lost Community: Catholic Schools' Importance in Urban America (University of Chicago Press, 2014). She is a Fellow of the Institute for Educational Initiatives and the Senior Policy Advisor for the Alliance for Catholic Education, a program engaged in a wide array of efforts to strengthen and sustain K-12 Catholic schools.
Professor Garnett will speak at the following events on September 5 in St. Louis.
Professor Garnett will be speaking on “Educational Pluralism and the Future of Faith-Based Schools: The Case for Expanding Parental Choice” at 12 p.m. in the Bryan Cave Courtroom at Washington University School of Law (co-sponsored by the law school’s Public Interest Law and Policy Series).
Professor Garnett will participate in a public dialogue in the theatre at St. Louis Priory School at 7 p.m. with TCP Executive Director John Inazu. The dialogue, titled “Catholics in the Classroom and the Courtroom,” will cover a range of topics including education policy, Catholic-Protestant dialogue, and the Supreme Court.
Both events are free and open to the public. Visit the Carver Project's website for more information and to register.
Posted In: Faculty & Scholarship
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Justices Grant Execution Stay to Consider Juror Racial Bias
The Associated PressSep 27th, 2017, 10:04 am
JACKSON, Ga. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court granted a temporary stay of execution for a Georgia inmate whose attorneys argue that the 59-year-old black man’s death sentence was tainted by a juror’s racial bias.
Keith Leroy Tharpe, known as “Bo,” was set to be put to death at 7 p.m. EDT Tuesday at the state prison by injection of the barbiturate pentobarbital. But the hour came and went as the justices considered his case. Just before 11 p.m. EDT, the court announced the temporary stay.
“I’m glad they’re willing to take the time to consider these serious issues in Mr. Tharpe’s case,” Tharpe’s attorney Brian Kammer said.
The justices will now decide whether to hear Tharpe’s case, but it’s not immediately clear when that decision will be made.
Tharpe was convicted of murder and two counts of kidnapping in the September 1990 slaying of Jaquelyn Freeman.
Tharpe’s wife left him on Aug. 28, 1990, taking their four daughters to live with her mother. Tharpe ignored an order not to contact his wife and during an argument over the phone on Sept. 24, 1990, he said that if she wanted to “play dirty,” he would show her what dirty was, a Georgia Supreme Court summary of the case said.
Freeman was traveling to work with Tharpe’s estranged wife when Tharpe blocked their vehicle with a borrowed truck, ordered them out and fatally shot Freeman.
About three months after the killing, Tharpe was tried, convicted and sentenced to death.
Years after Tharpe’s trial, his legal team interviewed a white juror in the case and he freely used the N-word, according to filings by Tharpe’s lawyers. Juror Barney Gattie, who has since died, also said Freeman was from a family of “good black folks,” but Tharpe wasn’t in that category and should be executed for his crime, according to an affidavit.
“After studying the Bible, I have wondered if black people even have souls,” Gattie said.
Gattie later said he had been drinking when he talked to Tharpe’s legal team and didn’t understand what his statement would be used for. He also said his comments had been “taken all out of proportion” and “misconstrued.” He testified that he voted for the death penalty because of the facts of the case, not because of Tharpe’s race.
The state of Georgia said the juror racial bias claim was barred by evidence rules and there is insufficient evidence to show that juror bias affected the trial’s outcome.
The Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to stop the execution.
The U.S. Supreme Court issued the temporary stay based on a separate motion that Tharpe’s attorneys had filed in federal court in June seeking to reopen his case based on the allegations of juror racial bias. A federal judge and the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied that motion.
In a clemency application, Tharpe’s lawyers described a tough childhood and an extensive history of substance abuse they said included getting black-out drunk by age 10 and a debilitating crack cocaine habit.
They said Tharpe feels deep remorse over Freeman’s killing and has kicked his addictions during his time in prison, devoted his life to God and sought to help improve the lives of others.
Tharpe would have been the second inmate executed this year by the state, and the 19th nationwide. Georgia executed nine people last year.
This article was written by Kate Brumback of the AP.
Keith Leroy Tharpestay of executionsupreme courtt
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How to find music resources in the library
RILM abstracts of Music Literature (1967-Present only)
RILM is a comprehensive music bibliography featuring citations, abstracts, and indexes. Publications originate from 151 countries and are in 214 languages. There are currently over 730,000 records in RILM on traditional music, popular music, and classical music. Coverage of all document types begins in 1967.
Oxford Music Online (incorporating Grove Music Online)
Database of articles from Grove Music Online, Oxford Dictionary of Music, and Oxford Companion to Music.
Berliner Philharmoniker Digital Concert Hall
The Digital Concert Hall is the virtual concert venue of the Berliner Philharmoniker on the Internet. Here you can experience the orchestra performing live at the Philharmonie in Berlin in more than 30 broadcasts every year. Just a few days after each broadcast, a recording of the concert is then available to watch in the archive. Create an account and login for the best experience.
A streamed music service providing access to all major musical genres and time periods from medieval to contemporary, from choral works to symphonies, operas, and the avant-garde.
Naxos Music Library. Jazz
A streamed music service providing access to all major genres including vocal jazz, bebop, acid jazz, big band, modern jazz, and more.
Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature across many disciplines and sources. Searching through the University library allows results to be linked to the full text collections of the library.
Next: Scores >>
URL: https://libguides.adelaide.edu.au/musicresources
Subjects: Music
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Navy Strength: Spies on British Screens come to Plymouth Pt. 2
We continue with our dispatches from the Spies on British Screens conference at Plymouth University from one of our top agents in the field – Edward Biddulph.
Day 2 at the ‘Spies on British Screens’ conference at Plymouth University promised to be every bit as exciting as day 1. I was there to give a paper on the evolution and use of James Bond-inspired words and phrases, but would have gladly attended the conference in any case to hear the many interesting takes on Bond and other fictional spies, and to discover how fictional spies have been shaped by geopolitical realities.
The day began with a session on gender in spy culture. Cat Mahoney from Northumbria University spoke about Agent Carter, a character from the Marvel universe I confess I knew little about. Cat’s paper asked whether Agent Carter, a former Bletchley Park operative and companion of Captain America, is a feminist hero. Her answer was that she wasn’t sure. On the one hand, Agent Carter is depicted in tough and resourceful roles normally given to male characters. On the other hand, she is defined by her relationships with men and still must conform to male expectations of female beauty and behaviour.
In the current conversation about the next James Bond, and the possibility of a female Bond, Laura Crossley of Liverpool University made a pitch for an existing female Bond – Modesty Blaise. Laura reminded us of the history and adventures in print and on the screen and radio of this largely forgotten heroine. Execrable 1966 film aside, Laura suggested that Modesty Blaise was a more interesting character than Bond. I was surprised to learn that Kingsley Amis was a fan. He even wrote a fan letter to Modesty’s creator, Peter O’Donnell.
We returned to the World Wars for the next session. Chris Smith from the University of Kent explored notions of the People’s War and the threat of the Fifth Column as depicted in the Sherlock Holmes films of the 1940s, in which Basil Rathbone’s Holmes was co-opted to help in the war effort. Claudia Sternberg of Leeds University then spoke about the portrayal of female characters in the spy films of the First World War and inter-war years.
The Cold War and the re-imagining of the Cold War was discussed in the session that followed. Nick Barnett of Plymouth University explored the rise of ‘Cold War’ nostalgia, as seen in The Game (2014) and Deutschland 83 (2015). Justin Harrison, of the University of Victoria, Canada, talked introduced the idea of The Avengers (the British 1960s’ version) as a Cold War narcotic. Joseph Oldham from Warwick University talked about the early, and positive, depiction of surveillance culture in Bugs, the barely-remembered BBC TV series broadcast between 1995 and 1999, and discussed the idea that the show was the 1990s’ equivalent of The Avengers.
Catherine Edwards explored the structure of narrative in adaptations of John le Carré novels, and then it was me, with my talk on the origin and use of words and phrases such as ‘Bond, James Bond’, ‘Bond girls’ and ‘Bond(o)mania’. I also explored some of the factors to explain why some terms have been more successful that others (anyone still use the word ‘Bondmanship’?). The session was rounded off with Barbara Korte‘s (University of Freiburg) discussion of the agency of the agent in Spectre. Is Bond autonomous – a lone wolf, as traditional he is – or does technology and the modern apparatus of intelligence take the agent out of agency?
Day 3: We were back in the lecture theatre bright and early on Sunday morning for the third and final day of the conference. Filipa Moreira (Lisbon University Institute) kicked proceedings off with an account of her research on the development and success of the Bond brand, and highlighted how the Bond films maintain their currency with the use of product placement.
Delegates were then treated to a showing of the episode of Whicker’s World in which Alan Whicker visited the set of You Only Live Twice. (I was glad to hear the use of some of the Bondian words and phrases I had discussed in my paper, including ‘Bond girls’ and ‘Bondomania’.)
In the next session, Toby Manning, from the Open University, highlighted remarkable similarities between the adaptations of John le Carré’s George Smiley novels and the spy drama Homeland. Similarities became more acute as the series progress, to the extent that dialogue first delivered in the Smiley adaptations was repeated verbatim in Homeland. Plots and characters are also paralleled. This ‘borrowing’ gives Homeland legitimacy as a high-quality espionage drama and highlights the continued relevance of le Carré’s books. This was followed by a paper by Tom May exploring the geopolitical background and adaptation of Graham Greene’s The Honorary Consul.
The final session of the conference returned to James Bond. Edward Lamberti of King’s College London offered a stout defence of the film Quantum of Solace. Invoking performative theory, Edward argued that the film is good because it is especially committed to Bond. Even the frenetic camera work has a function: like a shark, Bond has to keep moving to stay alive. As a (rare) fan of the film, I needed no convincing. Edward’s colleague at King’s, Christopher Holiday, placed the recent Bond films, particularly Skyfall and Spectre, within a ‘London has fallen’ narrative seen in other films, among them Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007) and Thor: The Dark World (2013). Alexander Sergeant, also from King’s, presented the final paper of the conference, in which he discussed the notion of the Bond girl as a Jungian archetype. Ian Fleming, who was something of a student of Carl Jung, would have been proud.
As is often the case with conferences, some of the best discussions were had between the sessions at coffee and lunch breaks. It was wonderful to talk screen spy culture with highly knowledgeable people, and I certainly discovered more about screen spies other than Bond. This was a fantastic conference, and congratulations are owed to its organisers, Laura Crossley and Nick Barnett.
There’s talk of a publication based on the papers, so keep a look out for that. It’ll definitely be worth reading.
Learn more about Plymouth University’s Spies on British Screens
July 2, 2016 in Field Reports. Tags: edward Biddulph, Modesty Blaize, Tom May
You Know My Name: Was James Bond Really A Spy?
Interview with Joseph Oldham; Spying on Spies Conference
← Navy Strength: Spies on British Screens come to Plymouth Pt. 1
Ian Fleming on Jamaica and Race Relations →
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Leaders7.23.2009
His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa - Biography
H.H. Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Al-Khalifa was born in 1936, and he is the second of 3 sons born to the former Amir of Bahrain the late Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa. He is married and has two sons and a daughter.
Attended primary and secondary schools in Bahrain and went on to higher education in London, England. After his return to Bahrain from the UK, he was appointed President of the Education Council in 1957. Positions held up to becoming the Prime Minister:
1959, He was appointed acting secretary of the Government of Bahrain.
1960, Appointed Head of Government Finance.
1962, Chosen Chairman of the City of Manama Municipality.
1966, Appointed Chairman of the Administrative Council, which was considered as Council of Ministers at that time.
1970, The State Council with Shaikh Khalifa as its President replaced the Administrative Council.
1971, The State Council was substituted by the Council of Ministers, and ever since that time H.H. Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al-Khalifa has been Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Positions presently holding other that P.M.:
He is also: Head of the Supreme Defense Council, Chairman of the Monetary Council, Higher Council for the Civil Aviation, Higher Committee for Projects, the Council of Petroleum, Water Resources Council and the Supreme Council for Civil Service. In December 19th, 1979, H.H. The Late Amir of Bahrain Shaikh Isa bin Salman Al-Khalifa awarded Shaikh Khalifa the "Khalifite Medallion" which is the highest Order De-Merit in the State. H.H. is highly interested in international economics and political affairs.
Personal hobbies:
Reading, Horticulture and Photography.
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Milton Adventist Church
Meet Our Pastoral Staff
Adventist Community Services (ACS)
B.L.A.S.T. Youth Group
CD Ministry
Weekly Hospitality Dinner
Pathfinders Schedule
This Sabbath
Church Bulletin
Lloyd Perrin, Senior Pastor
Lloyd serves as senior pastor of the Milton and Blue Mountain Valley-Mission Adventist Churches. He has had the privilege of sharing the Good News about Jesus with different organizations, denominations, and educational institutions around the world through evangelistic series, one-person dramas, and weeks-of-prayer. The consistent example and prayer life of his godly parents inspired him to accept Jesus as his Savior. As a child he fell in love with the Bible because his parents read, memorized, and shared God’s Word. Lloyd is an energetic Bible presenter who is passionate about telling others of God’s matchless love for them and how Jesus perfectly reveals God’s character. His mission in life can be summed up in one sentence: “He pointed to Jesus!”
Lloyd graduated from Walla Walla University with a BA in Theology and a minor in Sociology/Psychology. He continued his education at Andrews University where he received his Master of Divinity.
Some of Lloyd’s hobbies are croquet, golfing, hiking, birding, astronomy, and doing anything with his wife and kids. Lloyd and his wife, Jana, have four children and nine grandchildren: David, their oldest son, is the Human Resource Director of Oregon Conference; Daniel is Chaplain and Bible teacher at Walla Walla Valley Academy; Andrew, who also taught Bible both on the Academy and University level, is now working in recruitment at Walla Walla University; and Larissa, a certified welder, works in Beaverton, Oregon.
Nancy Canwell, Associate Pastor
Nancy graduated from Walla Walla University with a BA in Theology and a minor in Secondary Education. She is currently working on a Master in Pastoral Ministry degree through Anderws University’s extension program. Formerly Youth Pastor at the Walla Walla University Church, Nancy has a heart for people, and serves the Milton Church by seeing and meeting various needs in our community.
In addition to her work at our church, Nancy loves to communicate to people through writing. She has had articles published in numerous Christian magazines, and recently had her first book published. He’s Got Your Back is a daily devotional book for kids ages 10-14. She has also been invited to speak at camp meetings, weeks-of-prayer, and women’s retreats.
Nancy loves to hike—especially in the Wallowa Mountains. She also enjoys photography and horseback riding. Her husband, Keith, is a chaplain for Walla Walla Community Hospice. Their daughter, Christina, is a junior Communications major.
Marja McChesney, Office Manager
Marja-Leena McChesney (Marja) is our Office Manager. Her career in Social Work and Sociology includes 23 years as Professor at Walla Walla University. She holds an MA in Sociology from Washington State University and a PhD in Social Work from the University of South Carolina. Before coming to the Milton Church, she worked as Manager at UnderSea Adventures scuba diving shop, which is also her hobby. She has spent 16 years as a career missionary in Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Indonesia. She comes originally from Finland and was born in Sweden. Marja has two adult children: Andrew, who is News Editor for Adventist Review and Adventist World and previously spent 17 years in Russia, and Anita, who is Professor German at Texas Tech University and has spent several years in Austria.
Marja is committed to providing help and support for anyone contacting the church office. She is excited about belonging to a church where there is an abundance of energy generated among the leadership and members! There are many ministries to participate in, such as her favorite, Journey to Bethlehem. Some of her hobbies are incorporated into her personal ministry such as visiting people, traveling, scrapbooking, and photography.
Our staff, seen here with head elder, Gary Vietz.
E-Newsleter
Get the latest news from Milton Adventist Church delivered to your inbox.
Small Groups are Happening Now!
Three Weekends to Easter: Testimonies About Jesus
PAM Tucker: Testimony in Word & Song
Temporary Changes
Special Showing of “I’ll Push You”
Summer Church Newsletter
"We are Christ's hands bringing HOPE to our community."
We are a family of Seventh-day Adventist Christians worshiping and serving God in the city of Milton-Freewater, … More »
SABBATH (Saturday)
Sabbath School - 9:30 a.m.
Worship Service - 10:45 a.m.
Prayer Meeting - 7:00 p.m.
B.L.A.S.T Youth Group - 7:00 p.m.
1244 N Elizabeth Street
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Email: Milton Adventist Church
Email: Pastor Lloyd Perrin
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Posts Tagged ‘Feisty’
Reflections on ten releases of Ubuntu
The gold master for Ubuntu 9.04 was finalized and released on Thursday, and remains a hot item for download today. With the bits safely out the door, I paused to think about what made this release special, and soon realized that version 9.04 was the tenth release of Ubuntu. With two Ubuntu releases each year, this means that it has been five years since I first became involved with the project. A great deal of my time during those years has been spent working to enable Canonical and community developers to work together to produce a system that is a pleasure to use and share.
I am amazed at how much has happened in that time. Here are some of the things which give me a sense of how far Ubuntu has come.
In 2004, Ubuntu itself was a single product which came in two parts: an installation CD and a live CD for 32-bit x86 computers. Along the way, we’ve vastly expanded the number of ways to obtain, install and use free software through Ubuntu, having:
added an official 64-bit edition (5.04) and six additional ports
combined the installation and live CDs into a single medium which serves both functions (6.06)
created the Server Edition (5.10) and Netbook Remix (9.04)
developed a simple upgrade system which guides users to the next release when it becomes available
inspired dozens of derivative products such as Kubuntu and Xubuntu (five of which released new versions in sync with 9.04)
added installation DVDs (5.04) and support for USB flash media which can be used to install both desktops and servers
added a long-term support (LTS) option (6.06)
Launchpad barely existed when Ubuntu 4.10 was released. We were using a modified Bugzilla for bug tracking, and Debian’s dak toolkit to build packages and manage the repository. Today, Launchpad is a central piece of infrastructure for Ubuntu:
hosting nearly 300,000 bug reports
managing official repositories of hundreds of thousands of Ubuntu packages (with even more in PPAs)
enabling translation of virtually every piece software in Ubuntu
destined to become open source later this year
hosting thousands of upstream projects
soon to be providing revision control for the entire source code for Ubuntu using Bazaar
providing a massive cross-referenced index of all of this data, including web APIs
The Ubuntu community, now an essential part of keeping Ubuntu going, was only just beginning in 2004. We had a basic governance structure, a couple of public mailing lists and a wiki, mostly populated by ourselves and people we knew through the open source community. Since then, some of the highlights for me have been:
the establishment of the Ubuntu Forums for users to share experiences and help each other, now with over 800,000 users and 1,000,000 threads
the incredible growth of local Ubuntu community teams, of which there are now over 70 worldwide and many more in the process of becoming official
the growth and diversity of the Ubuntu blogosphere, as reflected in Planet Ubuntu, Planet Ubuntu Women, The Fridge and other aggregators
the addition of over 500 official Ubuntu Members, acknowledging a sustained and significant contribution to the project
seeing social networking groups on Facebook, LinkedIn and other sites with tens of thousands of members
the celebration of Ubuntu releases through parties around the world, of which there were over 100 known for Ubuntu 9.04
the emergence of Ubuntu community news publications such as the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter and Full Circle Magazine
the creation of Ubuntu Brainstorm to group and rank suggestions and feedback from Ubuntu users
In the beginning, of course, Ubuntu was known to few people other than its own developers. Today, the fact that Ubuntu has touched so many lives is an important motivation for many of us to continue our work on the project.
we can’t be certain how many people are using Ubuntu globally, but estimate the number to be over ten million based on Internet traffic
Ubuntu has received extensive press coverage, including appearances in mainstream publications such as The New York Times
Ubuntu community members report frequent recognition of Ubuntu in public (for example when wearing an Ubuntu T-shirt) in countries around the world
Ubuntu has been ranked the most popular distribution in surveys of Linux users, including the Linux Foundation client survey
Many of our friends and family members, who are not particularly interested in tinkering with their computers, use it and love it too
Canonical, the company which has made Ubuntu possible, has changed dramatically as well. From its inception as a startup comprised mainly of a small engineering team, Canonical has grown to:
over 200 employees, with over 20 open positions at the time of this writing
a service portfolio including award-winning technical support, custom engineering for OEMs, professional training and more
tens of millions of dollars in revenue
hundreds of local partners offering products and services around Ubuntu
Such rapid growth has brought about great challenges in all of these areas, and provided plenty of opportunity for personal development. I’ve had the opportunity to work with the most talented and dedicated team of my career, a team which spans corporate, national and social boundaries. Together, we’ve broken new ground in realizing the potential of free software.
Here’s to the next ten releases!
Tagged with Breezy, Dapper, Edgy, Feisty, Gutsy, Hardy, Hoary, Intrepid, Jaunty, Ubuntu, Warty
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Tanya Gold, I think we all know why it wasn’t a good interview #richardarmitage
Tanya Gold resurfaces to slam Richard Armitage for being reticent. Ms Gold, we all remember that bash job of an interview. We knew what you wanted and you didn’t get. You spent as much time slamming Armitage’s fans as you did digging for your big scoop. If you don’t like doing these interviews, just don’t. Stop whining. I for one won’t miss you.
In this Thursday, June 26, 2013 photo, British actor Richard Armitage poses for the photographer at the Old Vic theatre in London. The British actor, who played dwarf warrior Thorin Oakenshield in Peter Jackson’s “Hobbit” trilogy, stars at London’s Old Vic Theatre as John Proctor, the decent man in a world gone mad at the center of “The Crucible,” Arthur Miller’s modern classic about the Salem witch trials. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
~ by Servetus on October 7, 2016.
Tags: Richard Armitage, Tanya Gold, The Crucible
43 Responses to “Tanya Gold, I think we all know why it wasn’t a good interview #richardarmitage”
Wow, she does sound bitter.
A deeper level of self reflection may help her figure it out, or she’s may simply not be the right person for the job. The way that piece is written, I’d probably be reticent and humming away too instead of answering her questions
Vanguard said this on October 7, 2016 at 4:39 pm | Reply
I used to really like her writing, but she really doesn’t get fandom and she seems to spend a lot of time hating herself and women, which comes across in her writing. Honestly, most people who are interested in celebrities are not self-loathers. It’s a really complex thing that most people don’t “get” until they are involved. She doesn’t need to love fans to do this work but she should try to get an idea of where they are coming from. In that original interview, she spent a lot of time slamming fans (maybe because Armitage wasn’t responding to her baiting around the question of whom he prefers to sleep with). What a shame for her, that he wanted to talk about the play. He doesn’t seem to have a problem talking extensively with friendly reviewers, as has been proven again and again. And although she interviewed him for The Crucible, for which he was nominated for an Olivier Award, she describes him as the hot dwarf actor. I imagine that Armitage could tell even then that she had little respect for him or interest in his actual project, and probably responded appropriately.
I think she’s right that celebrity interviews are not hard-hitting journalism. But it’s a bit weird for her to have chosen to be an editorialist as opposed to an investigative reporter if she has problems with this. My impression is that she doesn’t want to do the hard work of an investigative journalist, which is fine, of course. She just wants to have an opinion.
Servetus said this on October 7, 2016 at 4:45 pm | Reply
That explains why the name is familiar to me, didn’t remember. Don’t know if she slams him but if the tone she approached him in was the tone in the old article no surprise. I had a laugh about Rylance hmming 🙂 If you tend to have this effect on people maybe you are approaching it the wrong way.
I don’t want to give this more importance than it has, an article about an interview that you’ve had nothing to do with is not really relevant.
The whole thing in my opinion misses the point. That is not an interview, it is a conversation between people who know and trust each other.
Interviews rarely start on that basis and interviews don’t have to be celebrity profiles. It’s absolutely not the same thing.
That’s why i vastly prefer longer conversations and more limited topics, predetermined but more in depth which make for more interesting reads and certainly more willing and open participants. Like theatre talks, the Times talks, the SAGA and similar. Where the topic is central and the insights and not selling papers/the profile of the interviewer/extracting hidden information etc.
On the same topic i saw a.. almost said interview, but it wasn’t, it was another conversation with Kirsty Young from Desert Island discs http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qnmr
That’s where i had hoped to hear Richard one day by the way, format would suit him like a glove and we’d finally get to hear some of his music choices.
But that kind of talent to talk to people and listen is rare these days.
Hariclea said this on October 7, 2016 at 4:58 pm | Reply
just to clarify i meant this as in ‘writing an article about an interview you, the writer, have had nothing to do with’.. to avoid any misunderstandings.
One of the thing that’s frustrating about her take on that conversation, frankly, is she seems not to get that the fact that these people work in the same profession means that they are things they don’t have to say to each other because they know how things go. It’s also fascinating to me that she spends so much time on Hiddleswift if it’s true, as she claims, that she’s not interested. These are basic points of rhetorical analysis and I think she’s an Oxbridge product — she should know these things. I stopped reading her after 2014 but one thing that definitely projects from this article is her own self-loathing.
I don’t know how intelligent Mark Rylance is but he was amazing in Wolf Hall and he exudes the vibe of being smart and balanced. I also don’t know if he’s given great interviews to anyone — but it sounds like Armitage and Rylance were on the same page about her.
I also think there is some great writing about and with celebrities out there — Vanity Fair, for instance, houses a lot of it. It’s possible to do good work in this genre, but not, of course, if you go into it resenting that you are doing it.
This makes me think of a quote I posted in my ‘world smile day’ post just an hour or so ago:
“If you run into an asshole in the morning, you ran into an asshole. If you run into assholes all day, you’re the asshole.”
Feels applicable here. 😉
Esther said this on October 7, 2016 at 5:15 pm | Reply
‘ggg’ 🤓
It’s true and I think truly reflective people know this — I know when I am having a bad day and should try to shield other people from myself (whether I am always successful at that is another matter, but I do try).
You’ve just described my last two weeks.
heatherparish said this on October 7, 2016 at 7:33 pm | Reply
I saw your post and then read Gold’s piece and thought of that Raylan quote immediately. She’s the common denominator in most of these interactions.
I was thinking the exact same thing. Also, one wonders why her job is to interview celebrities since she doesn’t seem to enjoy it.
csprof said this on October 8, 2016 at 3:04 am | Reply
Joanna said this on October 8, 2016 at 9:04 am | Reply
I don’t think she resents it the way she says. That’s what she would like to believe, that she feels dissatisfied with it because it is somehow ‘morally wrong’ or inappropriate. No, it isn’t unless you the interviewer make it so. What she is, just from the examples she cited, is not good at it. She knows she has not been successful at it, i suspect more times than she discloses and instead of moving on, learning from it or choosing something else she tries to produce pity in the reader for how hard it is these days in this profession and how wrong. I think she shouldn’t feel guilty about it, it is a very difficult thing to do and a very rare talent to know how to talk to people and above all how to make people talk. It’s not her talent and instead of admitting it and moving on she names and shames but pretends mea culpa and asks for pity from the reader implicitly. And she fails at the most basic hurdle and what she says is her profession. A sense of decency and tact. To the normal reader it is obvious why a certain subject would not come up in the conversation she mentions but she does ponder on it. And then she wonders why people clam up. That’s why, because she herself is more celebrity and gossip hungry than actually interested in the people rather than the celebrities she talks to.
I found it irritating and meaningless to read an article about what to me was a very interesting and relaxing conversation. I really didn’t need her meaningless side notes to it. It spoke for itself, thanks very much.
Rylance is very polite but discrete, very happy to talk about his work though. I’ve seen numerous interviews recently about WH, Bridge of Spies, Shakespeare, the BFG, etc.
End of. Honestly, parts of the conversations she mentions are so much more interesting 🙂
I just now searched out the conversation (which I was unaware of as, unlike Tanya Gold, I’m not interested in either Cumberbatch or Hiddleston all that much) and yeah, although it was kind of pompously written (does Cumberbatch speak that way on a daily basis?) no one would mistake that for a profile or journalism written by a reporter. It was strictly insider baseball. Nothing wrong with it. But Cumberbatch also clearly wasn’t trying to put reporters out of business by doing it, either.
Servetus said this on October 7, 2016 at 11:03 pm | Reply
Re – Mark Rylance I really like him – He is not only a consummate actor and former Artisitc Director of Shakespeare’s Globe but also a very articulate person. I saw him a couple of times off stage last year. On one occasion at the Royal Academy of Arts to discuss the importance of costume design and the detail that goes into it. They used his Olivia costume from12th Night to illustrate their point. Very informative and entertaining. IMO is has this very British understated subtle charm about him.
He gives the impression of having his feet on the ground.
She sounds downright mean – she sounds like someone with strong preconceived ideas, judgmental and harsh with no empathy. To me it sounds like when people don’t conform to her ideas or they don’t give her what she wants, she is disappointed and goes off on a rant. Like a little petulant kid, really. I always think journalists should be genuinely open and curious, not clouded by pre-judgment. That part about Stanley Tucci struck me harder than the Armitage part! She is surprised that someone doesn’t want to tell a stranger AND a journalist about how he feels about the death of his first wife? Sure, you can poke, journalists poke, but with a little empathy you should also be able to understand when a person does not want to share certain stuff! Deal with that professionally, not by slamming the person you interview. Nope, I do not like the sound of her!
A kind of fundamental thing for talking to anyone, IMO, is that you have to understand why they are speaking to you in the first place. You may not value that or respect it in the same way that they do, but if people are involved and you want them to tell you things, you have to at least know where they are coming from. If you project that you do not respect their purpose, of course they will clam up, and that may become general, i.e., if you don’t respect that they don’t want to talk to you about their private lives, they may also become terse about the things they actually want to speak about. I also don’t respond to people who don’t appear to be listening to me in an average conversational situation.
As far as being annoyed that Tucci didn’t want to talk about his grief — I’m amazed that that would have surprised anyone. I don’t talk about my grief with that many people and I don’t expect my remarks to make the gossip headlines within hours. How much more careful a celeb must need to be. Tucci had three children with her — I’m sure he’s not going to say anything that might impact them, either. Sheez.
Yes, exactly, on the respect!!!
subject matter aside, a good journalist should be a good storyteller. this article was so hard to follow, I still don’t know what it was supposed to be about. it would have made more sense if it was constructed in bullet point format b/c that’s how it read to me: pot shots coming at me left and right like sniper fire. in the end, I’m not left wondering why Ms. Gold would write a piece like this (I think that was the only clear thing about this article: her low self esteem), but rather why would anyone go forward with it in the first place? shoddy work all around.
KellyDS said this on October 7, 2016 at 6:18 pm | Reply
It seems like the same version of bait and switch we’re often getting from the media — buy this thing, but we’ll make fun of you for being happy you bought it. Here it’s “loathe this thing, but we’ll make fun of you for loathing it.”
What a nasty person.
alyssabethancourt said this on October 7, 2016 at 7:21 pm | Reply
Unfortunately, I can’t disagree with you this time around.
She’s an idiot and it’s just as well if she gives up celebrity interviews. She needs to learn it’s not all about her…
Helen said this on October 7, 2016 at 8:36 pm | Reply
There are some celebrity interviewers whose interviews one looks forward to reading — the WSJ entertainment reporter who’s interviewed Armitage a few times comes to mind — but mostly because they have an informed, friendly POV.
I think if she doesn’t like actors/entertainers (and won’t even try?? “Entertainers are, by profession, an abyss, because they are storytellers” – what the???) – then she should obviously quit trying to interview them.
I suspect she’s in some respect figuring that out (or worst case, been TOLD that by someone she HAS to listen to), and doing a weak “mea culpa” while attempting to haul a few people down the Abaddon hole with her as she falls….Interesting she felt this need to call names.
And making it painfully clear that some of the best actors in the business (including Richard) couldn’t have a good interview with you would seem to say more about her than them. She’s got a backstory that she can’t get past, obviously. Keep it moving, Ms. Gold…..
SHeRA said this on October 7, 2016 at 9:56 pm | Reply
I think she wants to be the storyteller and has found she can’t get control in this setting.
Servetus said this on October 8, 2016 at 3:42 am | Reply
A storyteller with a definite mean streak…. she “falls in love briefly” with the interviewee yet sees what she does as sadistic. Poking into people’s grief from a twisted sense of obligation rather than genuine interest, and she wonders why it doesn’t play well. She needs to become a financial writer or something.
SHeRA said this on October 8, 2016 at 11:34 pm | Reply
LOL. Well, that would certainly support her sense of self-righteousness. I don’t get from her the ambition to understand things that are not already inside her ken, though.
In an article such as this, why mention a failed interview of a lesser known actor ( compared to Cumberbatch and Rylance?) I think this is another example of Tanya Gold trying to use the Richard Armitage fandom and capitalize on his name. I’m sure her article hits increased because his name was in the article.
Perry said this on October 7, 2016 at 10:46 pm | Reply
I’m sure that’s true, too — and he fits in a similar demographic with Hiddleston and Cumberbatch.
[…] a failed interview for Tanya Gold. The discussion, with links to the old and the new, are here, on Me and Richard. Come on […]
Celebrity Interviewer Tanya Gold Remembers #RichardArmitage | Armitage Agonistes said this on October 7, 2016 at 10:52 pm | Reply
I don’t like her writing, I find it choppy and confusing. The whole time I read this new ‘article’? confession? bitch-fest? Jealousy of Benedict Cumberbatch?? all that kept repeating in my mind was ‘poison pen’ and self loathing – which made it hard to concentrate on her drabble. She doesn’t seem to like anyone else because to me it seems she sure doesn’t like herself. But that’s ok, I don’t like her either.
sparkhouse1 said this on October 8, 2016 at 12:10 am | Reply
it’s true, enjoyment of anything starts with the self.
I enjoyed firs half of the article, you know that part aboutC. and H ;)..but then she wrote about interview with Stanley Tucci …what a stiupid ,cruel cow!
yeah, that was mean.
Just wondering if you ever got a response from Ms. Gold after your 2014 letter, Serv.
SueBC said this on October 8, 2016 at 8:31 pm | Reply
I did not, although I did get one after the earlier email I wrote her. AND, amusingly, I got a phishing link from her email. At some point she must have clicked on a link to some malware that triggered all of her contacts.
Somehow I’m not surprised that she didn’t respond, but it would have been interesting if she had.
SueBC said this on October 9, 2016 at 7:45 am | Reply
I don’t know which I think is more odd, that an entertainment writer feels the need to write an article about disliking actors, where she tries to make them look foolish (regardless of whether or not they are), or that a publication thinks that it’s what it’s readers are interested in reading.
Jane Steinmiller said this on October 9, 2016 at 3:02 am | Reply
To be fair, I don’t think of her and I suspect she doesn’t think of herself as an entertainment writer specifically. She’s more of a cultural commentator or editorialist and entertainment is one of the things she writes about it among many things.
NUTS! I click on the interview and immediately this request for a contribution comes up. I’d really like to read what the nutcase said.
snowyjo said this on October 13, 2016 at 12:57 am | Reply
I’m going to modify this post to add screencaps to the original post, so look above in a bit.
Servetus said this on October 14, 2016 at 11:22 pm | Reply
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Home Fact Check
Trump Stump Speeches: Health Care
By Lori Robertson and Robert Farley – Factcheck.org
Editor’s Note: For weeks, President Donald Trump has been campaigning in states that are key to the Republican Party’s chances of maintaining control of the House and Senate. We have reviewed seven speeches he gave from Oct. 10 to Oct. 22. This is part of a series of stories on his speeches.
President Donald Trump has made health care — in particular a “Medicare for All” plan proposed by Sen. Bernie Sanders — a main theme in his campaign rallies across the country.
He claims that Republicans will “protect” Medicare, while Democrats will “totally obliterate” it. He supports these sweeping pronouncements by making false statements about the cost and details of Sanders’ plan, as well as who actually supports it. In Trump’s telling, all Democrats do, but that’s not the case.
We also found, in our examination of seven speeches over 12 days in October, that the president falsely told a crowd in Ohio that an opioid bill garnered “very little” support from Democrats, when they actually voted unanimously for it. He also boasted in several states of “incredible” or “tremendous results already” from the “right to try” law aimed at giving terminally ill patients quicker access to unapproved medications — but there’s no evidence anyone has received such access under the law.
And he continued to make misleading claims about health insurance premiums and protections for preexisting conditions.
Democratic Support for Opioid Bill
At a rally in Lebanon, Ohio, on Oct. 12, Trump falsely claimed a bill that seeks to address the opioid epidemic passed Congress with “very little Democrat support.” In fact, the legislation was a bipartisan bill offered by two Republicans and two Democrats. It was unanimously supported by Democrats in the House and Senate. In fact, the handful of votes against the bill all came from Republicans.
“I’ll soon sign into the law the largest legislative effort in history to address the opioid crisis where just this year we got $6 billion from Congress,” Trump said at the rally. “Thanks to [Republican Sen.] Rob Portman and a lot of others. Thank you, Rob. But Rob and so many others helped. Very little Democrat support.”
Earlier this year, the Senate passed a bipartisan budget bill that included $6 billion to help address the opioid crisis. But the bill Trump referenced was a more recent one, H.R. 6, the “SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act,” an expansive package aimed at combating the nation’s opioid epidemic.
The bill, which Trump signed on Oct. 24, includes expanding Medicaid and Medicare coverage for opioid-addicted patients, helping to create comprehensive opioid recovery centers, encouraging the development of non-addictive pain medications, and combating the importation of illegal drugs from overseas. Read here for a section-by-section breakdown of the many provisions in the bill.
The bill was initially introduced in the House by Republican Rep. Greg Walden, who made clear in a press release that it was a bipartisan offering from himself, Republican Rep. Kevin Brady and Democratic Reps. Frank Pallone Jr. and Richard Neal.
On the floor of the House, Walden noted that the bill was made up of dozens of pieces of legislation, most of which passed the House with strong bipartisan majorities.
“You see, at a time when it seems we couldn’t be more divided, it is clear that striking back against addiction is something that transcends politics and brings us together as a community, as a country, and as a Congress,” Walden said.
Several Democrats spoke from the floor in support of the bill, and noted that it incorporated numerous pieces of legislation first brought to the House by Democrats. Other Democrats said they were concerned that the bill did not do enough to address the opioid crisis, but still voted for it.
The final version passed the House on Sept. 28 with a vote of 393-8. The eight votes against the bill all came from Republicans. Explaining his opposition to an earlier version of the bill, Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz said that while the bill had an “admirable purpose,” it was “costly, inefficient, and bad governance.”
Over on the Senate side, as Trump suggested, Republican Sen. Portman was one of the champions of the legislation and added several provisions to the final draft. But Trump is dead wrong to say the bill got “very little” Democratic support.
The final version of the bill passed the Senate 98-1 on Oct. 3 The lone vote against it came from Republican Sen. Mike Lee.
No Trying Yet Under ‘Right to Try’
In his rallies, Trump makes false and unsupported claims about the “right to try” law he signed on May 30.
He claims that until he signed the law, “we couldn’t even come close” to letting terminally ill patients use promising, but unapproved, medications. In fact, the FDA for years has approved applications from patients seeking access to investigational drugs through the agency’s “expanded access” program.
Trump also claims there have been “tremendous” and “incredible results” under the months-old federal law, but we could find no evidence that any drug manufacturers have granted access to any medications under the new law. The Goldwater Institute, the group that pushed for the law, told us only that it has “spoken to interested companies.”
Trump, Texas, Oct. 22: And what happened is people would be told they’re terminally ill. They have a big problem. And if we had a drug or we had treatment that gave great hope, that looked promising, we couldn’t even come close to letting them use it. …
And now they sign a simple document and they go out and they get it. And by the way, this we signed three months ago. We have had tremendous results already.
Trump, Pennsylvania, Oct. 10: We have incredible drugs in the pipeline that can cure really horrible, horrific disease. We wouldn’t let anyone use these drugs because they didn’t want to hurt them, but they’re going to die. They’re terminally ill! I said, what are we doing?
And two months ago, I signed right to try. Somebody’s terminally ill, we can try. And we’ve had great success. We’ve had great success.
On Oct. 13 in Kentucky, too, the president said that “we’ve had some incredible results already.”
The right to try legislation aims to circumvent the FDA and give terminally ill patients access to unapproved drugs more quickly than through the FDA’s expanded access program. But the president is wrong to say “if we had a drug or we had treatment that gave great hope, that looked promising, we couldn’t even come close to letting them use it.”
FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb testified to Congress in October 2017 that the FDA had approved 99 percent of the more than 1,000 annual applications it gets for “expanded access to treat patients with investigational drugs and biologics.” Gottlieb said that “emergency requests for individual patients are usually granted immediately over the phone and non-emergency requests are generally processed within a few days.”
The agency has data by fiscal year back to 2010 on its website.
Under either the FDA’s expanded access program or the new federal right to try law, patients, along with their physicians, can request access to drugs that haven’t yet been approved by the FDA directly from manufacturers if there are no comparable treatments. In the FDA’s program, if a manufacturer agrees to make the drug, or device, available, both the FDA and the medical institution’s institutional review board must approve a treatment protocol before a patient can get the medication. Under right to try, which applies only to drugs, there’s no FDA or IRB oversight.
In both processes, the drug manufacturer decides whether or not it wants to make the drug available.
The right to try law is nearly five months old — which isn’t a lot of time to see “incredible results,” as the president claims. And, in fact, we asked the FDA, the Goldwater Institute and an expert on pre-approval access to treatments whether any drug companies have granted access to drugs under the new law, and they knew of no such instances. The White House press office didn’t respond to our inquiry.
Alison Bateman-House, co-chair of the NYU School of Medicine Working Group on Compassionate Use and Pre-Approval Access, told us she is active in talking with patient groups and pharmaceutical companies, and she is “not aware of anyone getting access” or even the suggestion of someone getting access to drugs via right to try.
The Goldwater Institute, a libertarian group based in Arizona that has pushed for state and federal right to try laws, said in a statement to FactCheck.org: “Just a few short months since the federal Right to Try was signed, we are now seeing growing interest and enthusiasm from manufacturers and the medical community around Right to Try.” But there have been no announcements of drug access.
(The group points to a doctor in Texas treating neuroendocrine cancer as an example of that state’s law providing access to unapproved medication in the past. However, the NYU working group disputes this, saying the drug — Lutathera, which received FDA approval in January — was available via pre-approval access already. Regardless, they both agree there’s no example of drug access given under the new federal law.)
The FDA press office told us that the agency had “convened an internal group to assess how to effectively and efficiently implement the new law. As part of that process, the agency will consider what information the FDA needs to issue to support companies and patients seeking to use the Right to Try pathway, such as guidance, QAs, or other agency recommendations.”
Bateman-House said it’s doubtful any company would want to give access to drugs through right to try without such guidance to follow.
It’s possible that the new law has prompted more awareness of the FDA’s existing expanded access program. Bateman-House wrote in an Oct. 25 article for the blog of the Health Affairsjournal that “some pharmaceutical and biotech company executives have told me that they’ve experienced an uptick in the number of requests for investigational drugs — requests that they are handling via EA. … In a way, patients may have benefited from RTT after all: not because it created a new pathway that cut the FDA out of the picture, but because it raised awareness that non-trial access was possible, thus galvanizing patients and their doctors to request it.”
However, we will have to wait “a year or two,” she wrote, for FDA data on the expanded access requests to see whether there has been such an impact.
Medicare Claims
Reversing traditional partisan attack lines, Trump claims Democrats are a threat to Medicare, and that he and Republicans are its defenders. But Trump cuts some corners to make his point.
Trump, Kentucky, Oct. 13: We, unlike the Democrats, will protect Medicare and protect Social Security.
Trump, Nevada, Oct. 20: We will protect Medicare and we will protect your Social Security. And remember, when I was on that stage, I was the only one that said I’m going to protect your Social Security, and I have. … Because the Democrats will end up destroying them both, Medicare, Social Security.
It’s worth noting, as we wrote, Medicare’s finances have worsened since Trump took office. The latest Medicare trustees report says the Medicare Part A trust fund, which covers payments to hospitals, will run out of money by 2026, three years earlier than projected just last year. That’s partly because the tax cut law that Trump signed last year will reduce Medicare revenues and increase expenses.
The tax law also had a negative effect on Social Security. The Old Age and Survivors trust fund is scheduled to run out of funds one year earlier in 2035.
Trump also argues a Medicare for All plan championed by Sen. Bernie Sanders would upend the health care program for seniors.
Trump, Ohio, Oct. 12: Democrats have signed up for a socialist takeover of American health care that would utterly destroy Medicare and rob our seniors of the benefits they paid into their entire lives.
Trump, Nevada, Oct. 20: Democrats in Congress have already signed up for a socialist takeover of health care that would eliminate the private insurance of 1.6 million people from Nevada. The Democrats want America to become — it’s not even that they want it, but that’s what’s going to happen — Venezuela. Venezuela. How does that sound?
Trump is twisting several facts about the bill.
Sanders’ bill would expand Medicare into a universal health insurance program, phased in over four years. While Trump calls it a “socialist takeover of American health care,” that’s not entirely the case. Under Sanders’ plan, the government would reimburse private hospitals and doctors for health care services, as the Canadian government does. So the government would play the role of health insurer, not provider. That’s different than a wholly government-run health care system, such as in Britain — and Venezuela.
“Medicare for All would be an expansion of Medicare to a government funded and mostly privately administered and delivered health care system,” Carles Muntaner of the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto, told us via email. “The Venezuelan system at this point has a variety of government funded health care programs. … This is radically different from the U.S. Medicare for All model.”
As for Trump’s claim that the plan would “rob our seniors of the benefits they paid into their entire lives,” as we wrote when Trump made a similar claim in an op-ed on Oct. 10, Sanders’ bill, as written, includes an increase in Medicare benefits, including dental, vision and hearing aids, and eliminates deductibles. That would be giving more benefits to seniors, not taking any away.
And, for the record, while Americans have paid into Medicare their whole working lives, they haven’t paid enough payroll taxes into the Medicare Part A program to cover costs in the near future. And Parts B (physician services) and D (prescription drugs) are mainly paid with general revenues. In other words, seniors are getting more benefits from Medicare than they paid for. In total, Medicare cost $710 billion in 2017 and about 41 percent of that was paid through general revenues. (See Table II.B1 of the latest Medicare trustees report).
Trump claimed in his rally in Kentucky that under Medicare for All, “your taxes are going to triple if you’re lucky.” That’s based on a cost analysis of Sanders’ plan published by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, which gets some of its funding from the libertarian Koch brothers. But that’s the net increase in health care spending – there would be offsetting savings for people, businesses and state governments.
The study’s lead author, Charles Blahous, concluded the plan would increase the federal budget by $32.6 trillion over 10 years and, “Doubling all currently projected federal individual and corporate income tax collections would be insufficient to finance the added federal costs of the plan.” And, he wrote, “It is likely that the actual cost of M4A would be substantially greater than these estimates.”
An Urban Institute analysis of the Medicare for All plan proposed by Sanders during the 2016 presidential campaign (which differs a bit from the bill Sanders introduced in the Senate) also concluded the federal government would spend about $32 trillion more over 10 years.
But the Urban Institute study makes clear that this is just one side of the equation. Much of the increase in taxes would be offset by savings from private spending on health care, which would be nearly eliminated. The Urban analysis concluded national health expenditures overall would increase by $6.6 trillion (16.6 percent) between 2017 and 2026.
Trump also overstates the Democratic consensus around the Medicare for All plan. Sanders’ bill is one of a handful of bills proposed by Democrats in this Congress that would expand the role of public programs in health care.
Republicans have frequently misidentified Democratic candidates as supporters of Sanders’ Medicare for All plan, even when those candidates have made clear they don’t support it. Our fact-checking colleagues at the Washington Post Fact Checker noted at least 15 such instances.
Trump made the same mistake when he singled out Democratic congressional candidate Amy McGrath in Kentucky, claiming she “supports a socialist takeover of your health care,” meaning Sanders’ bill. She does not. “I would not cast my vote for [the Sanders Medicare for All bill], not that plan as it is currently laid out,” she told the Lexington Herald Leader.
As she spells out on her campaign website, McGrath would like to reform the existing Affordable Care Act to include a Medicare buy-in option for those over the age of 55 and “a so-called ‘public option’ to create a government-run health insurance agency that would compete with other private health insurance companies within the country.” The State Public Option Act, which would create a Medicaid buy-in option that states could offer through the ACA marketplace, has 20 Senate co-sponsors, including Sanders. That plan has more Democratic co-sponsors in the Senate that Sanders’ Medicare for All bill.
In another attack on Medicare for All, Trump says the bill would end Medicare Advantage, which are private plans approved and paid for by Medicare. About a third of Medicare recipients are enrolled in such plans, which generally cost more per beneficiary than traditional Medicare.
Trump, Nevada, Oct. 20: The Democrat plan would destroy Medicare and terminate Medicare Advantage for almost 200,000 Nevada seniors who depend on it. Democrats plan to kill Medicare Advantage and, really, it’s especially unfair to Hispanic Americans.
It’s true that Sanders’ Medicare for All plan bans “duplicative” coverage from private insurers. That would effectively eliminate Medicare Advantage plans, but that doesn’t mean people would lose benefits they currently “depend on.” Rather, everyone would be put into a universal Medicare program, one with expanded benefits from today’s Medicare. It would offer most of the benefits that currently attract people to Medicare Advantage plans, such as vision, dental and audiology coverage, according to the bill. And once Medicare for All is fully implemented, there would be no deductibles for patients (except for some co-pays on brand-name drugs if a generic is available).
“The main benefits of Medicare Advantage plans at the moment are that MA plans have out-of-pocket limits, which traditional Medicare does not have, and MA plans often offer supplemental benefits, especially vision and dental,” said Lori Kearns, a spokesperson for Sanders. “However, those are all things we will be offering under M4A.”
Kearns noted that while the Medicare for All plan would ban duplicative coverage from private insurers, “it does not ban supplemental coverage. If there are items excluded from coverage, there could still be a private insurance market for those services.”
Health Care Premiums
Presidents often take credit for the good things that happen on their watch — whether they deserve credit for it or not. Trump has boasted of an expected 2 percent average decrease in benchmark premiums on the HealthCare.gov exchanges, saying it’s due to “good management,” even while he claims that Obamacare has been “very much dismantled, but it will be ultimately totally dismantled.”
Health care experts told us that most administration actions in the past two years have driven premiums up.
In Kentucky, Trump claimed: “And what we have done with the remnants of Obamacare is we’ve kept your premiums down far below what anybody would have thought, through good management, through Secretary Alex Azar.” And in Nevada, he lamented that not one Democrat would vote for a GOP repeal and replace plan last year, adding: “But now, if you notice, your premiums are way, way down. Nobody thought that was possible. And it’s been very much dismantled, but it will be ultimately totally dismantled.”
Experts said lower growth was expected for 2019 for several reasons: less political uncertainty this year compared with 2017, slower growth in medical expenses, an overpricing of plans last year, and insurers’ growing familiarity with the market.
Kelley Turek, the executive director of employer and commercial policy at the insurer trade group America’s Health Insurance Plans, told us that after several years under the ACA, “we are getting to a point where issuers are getting a better sense of this market,” she said, such as the population, their health costs and how to price plans.
The president glosses over some inconvenient facts about Republican health care legislation and his administration’s actions when he tells his crowds that “Republicans will always protect patients with preexisting conditions.”
Trump, Arizona, Oct. 19: And Republicans will always protect patients with preexisting conditions. They’re trying to put a false narrative out there. And if there is a Republican out there that doesn’t, let me know. I’ll — believe me, him or her, we’ll talk them into it. We’re going to protect preexisting conditions. It’s — put it down and bank.
Trump talks about preexisting conditions because Democrats have made the issue a major campaign theme. In campaign ads, the Democrats have accused Republican incumbents of voting for legislation that guts protections for preexisting conditions.
Trump complains of a “false narrative,” and we certainly have seen some inaccurate and misleading claims made about Republicans. But the Trump administration does support a lawsuit that it says would lead to the elimination of the Affordable Care Act’s preexisting condition protections.
In June, the Justice Department said that “[a]fter careful consideration, and with the approval of the President of the United States” it had decided to not defend the U.S. government in a lawsuit seeking to overturn the ACA. The administration said that if the suit were successful, most of the health care law could remain, but two provisions would need to be eliminated: those guaranteeing that people can’t be denied coverage by insurers or charged more based on certain factors, including health status. (For more, see our story “Trump Misleads on Preexisting Conditions.”)
In addition, it’s worth noting that while the GOP repeal-and-replace bills in 2017 would have continued to prohibit insurers from denying coverage to those with preexisting conditions, they would have changed the ACA’s protections regarding how insurers can price their policies.
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Trump Defends Frequent Twitter Bickering with US Officials
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AIIMS Bibinagar likely ...
AIIMS Bibinagar likely to take over Bollarum General Hospital
By Sanchari Chattopadhyay Published On 2020-11-15T10:00:47+05:30 | Updated On 2020-11-15T10:00:53+05:30
Hyderabad: Taking cognizance of the scarcity of healthcare workers and insufficiency of the current infrastructure of Bollarum General hospital, the management of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bibinagar is most likely to take the responsibility of maintaining the institution.
The hospital, situated in Secunderabad cantonment is currently maintained and managed by Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB). The authorities have marked certain deficiencies in the infrastructure and scarcity of doctors and paramedical staff in the facility.
Acting on the current situation, a delegation including TRS Rajya sabha MP and members of Bibinagar AIIMS board of governance Banda Prakash recently met with State Planning Board, Vice Chairman, B Vinod Kumar, and Secunderabad Cantonment MLA, G Sayanna. However, there is no confirmation about the takeover of the institution by AIIMS management. The authorities are yet to make a decision regarding the management of the institution.
Also Read: MBBS Admissions 2020: MCC issues notice on reporting of candidates allotted at AIIMS institutes
According to Times of India, Raja Sekhara Reddy, who is Malkajgiri Loksabha TRS in charge also visited the hospital and stated that a decision will soon be taken on the management of the hospital by the AIIMS management under the guidance of the Ministry of Defense (MoD).
The cantonment hospital was established in 1933 and maintained by the Cantonment Board, Secunderabad, it used to serve the medical needs of the Secunderabad Cantonment Area and patients from the surrounding municipalities and villages.
Business Line previously reported that the old hospital buildings were restructured in 2006 and five dispensaries were being run in its place before the construction of the new building. The Cantonment Board took up the work in a phased manner and constructed a 30-bed hospital initially in the first phase at an expenditure of Rs 5.2 crore on a 3.56-acre site. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had inaugurated the newly built Cantonment General Hospital at Bollarum in 2016.
All India Institute of Medical Sciences AIIMS Bollarum General Hospital aiims bibinagar
Source : with inputs
Sanchari Chattopadhyay
Sanchari Chattopadhyay has pursued her M.A in English and Culture Studies from the University of Burdwan, West Bengal. She likes observing cultural specificities and exploring new places.
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Thought Leader
Silicon Alley: Bubble? Ba-Zynga!
A year ago, the tech press was all aflutter about the possibility of a new bubble in the internet industry. The blogosphere hummed with dire predictions of "Dot Bomb 2.0" and equally passionate rebuttals. It's amazing how much can change in a year.
The most high profile example is Facebook. After years of speculation and hype, the darling of the social networking world finally went public in May this year. The initial public offering (IPO) of Facebook's shares raked in $16-billion of new capital for the company, making it the third largest IPO in US history. It set the company's total market value at over $104-billion (or nearly a trillion rand). Since then its share price been struggling. Currently it's worth around $18 per share – half its initial price.
But Facebook is hardly the only one feeling the pain. Zynga, a wildly profitable maker of online games, made a big splash with its own IPO in December 2011. The offering raised $1-billion from the markets and valued the company at $7-billion. Its shares are now worth around $2.80 each – close to a quarter of the IPO price of $10 per share.
The most painful example, though, is Groupon – an online "daily deals" service that went public in November 2011, raising $700-million. At the time this made it the biggest technology IPO since Google, and valued the company at nearly $13-billion. At its current share price the company is barely worth $2-billion. Ouch.
The only big internet IPO in recent history that hasn't ended in tears is LinkedIn – a social networking service for business people. Its shares are currently worth just over $107 – 15% more than its initial market price. But the road has hardly been smooth. LinkedIn's shares have plunged below $65 on three separate occasions.
Compared to Google – still the gold standard of the internet IPO – all of these stories sound like abject failures. Google stock has never traded below its IPO price of $85 and its shares are currently worth over $685 each. What's more, Google went public in 2004 when the wounds from the dotcom crash had barely healed. In the current climate its IPO would have been a feeding frenzy.
But all of these supposed failures are actually good news. They tell us that the internet has matured significantly as an industry, in part because investors understand a lot more about its capabilities and its limits. All of the companies listed above, including Google, have been punished by the markets for missing revenue or other targets. The main difference is that expectations of Google started out relatively low, and the company has consistently performed well above them.
It's tempting to write off the likes of Facebook and Zynga as overhyped and doomed, but to do so would be short-sighted. Both companies have hundreds of millions of users, many of whom pay them money directly, a previously unheard of phenomenon on the internet. Both companies have some of the most talented people in the industry working for them, and both have huge competitive advantages over their rivals. Neither of them has spent much of the cash they earned from their IPOs.
In fact, now might be a good time to invest in both of these companies. I would wait until mid-November to buy Facebook stock – since a large number of early shareholders currently "locked in" will be able to sell their shares then – but at that point the shares will probably be at around fair value. And Zynga, currently being punished for losing two high profile employees, is probably undervalued right now.
And let's not forget that none of these companies is even close to a decade old. The IPOs in question, however rocky, have made many of their founders into billionaires. Sure Mark Zuckerberg, the 28-year-old founder of Facebook, is now worth "only" $10-billion not $20-billion. Do you think he really cares?
Alistair Fairweather is the general manager of digital operations at the Mail & Guardian. He was also guilty of getting overexcited about the supposed tech bubble. Follow him on Twitter: @afairweather
Alistair Fairweather
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Borderless businesses empty nations’ coffers
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Digital Education in Emerging Spaces
An incredulity to grand narratives
“The article suggests that while Lyotard (1984) argued that the post-modern condition of knowledge was one of incredulity to grand narratives, this could be extended to an ontological condition, the lifelong learning condition. Here, even as they continue to be articulated ever more stridently, there is an incredulity to the notion that there are over-arching justifications for human existence. This arises not least because of the ecological and material uncertainties to which worldly human and non-human existence is subject, what Beck (1992) referred to as risk society. What I am suggesting is that Lyotard’s argument for the post-modern condition of knowledge points to the collapse of representationalism as an a priori way of being in the world and signifies a post-human condition of existence with significant implications for education and lifelong learning “(Edwards, 6).
I was struck by this notion of incredulity to grand narratives, much in the same way I was struck by the flaneur and births as stiff casts; essentially, they are limiting. Limiting in their liminality, their natural progression, limiting in what they allow for in terms of scope of inquiry and discovery. Why, however, must representationalism collapse? Isn’t representationalism a post-analysis presentation, a statement of learning after the fact? Not, as stated, an a priori of being in the world, but rather a mediation of human and non-human?
November 22, 2010 November 22, 2010 Leave a Comment on An incredulity to grand narratives
Previous ArticleA confident stance on ‘otherness’
Next ArticleThe many faces of Michael
My name is Michael Sean Gallagher. I am a Lecturer in Digital Education at the Centre for Research in Digital Education at the University of Edinburgh. I am Co-Founder and Director of Panoply Digital, a consultancy dedicated to ICT and mobile for development (M4D); we have worked with USAID, GSMA, UN Habitat, Cambridge University and more on education and development projects. I was a researcher on the Near Futures Teaching project, a project that explores how teaching at The University of Edinburgh unfold over the coming decades, as technology, social trends, patterns of mobility, new methods and new media continue to shift what it means to be at university. Previously, I was the Research Associate on the NERC, ESRC, and AHRC Global Challenges Research Fund sponsored GCRF Research for Emergency Aftershock Forecasting (REAR) project. I was an Assistant Professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (한국외국어대학교) in Seoul, Korea. I have also completed a doctorate at University College London (formerly the independent Institute of Education, University of London) on mobile learning in the humanities in Korea.
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Home Biography Jim Hoffer
Jim Hoffer Biography
Updated On 19 Jun, 2019 Published On 27 Nov, 2016
Facts of Jim Hoffer
Relationship short Statistics of Jim Hoffer
What is Jim Hoffer marital status ? ( married,single, in relation or divorce):
How many children does Jim Hoffer have ? (name):
Is Jim Hoffer having any relationship affair ?:
Is Jim Hoffer Gay ?
1 Marriage
Jim Hoffer is an investigative reporter at Eyewitness News. Jim is also known as James Patrick Hoffer. He has a growing career on T.V and he is widely known for the important role he plays as an investigative reporter for New York Channel 7’s Eyewitness Investigative team which he joined in June 1998. Hoffer has won several Emmy awards and National Award for his work.
Early Life and Career of Jim Hoffer
Jim Hoffer was born in November 1963 in the USA to Patricia Hoofer. He is American and belongs to the White-American ethnicity. He has a keen interest in journalism from an early age. He grabbed his graduation from the Temple University in Philadelphia.
Also, see; Leeann Tweeden
After completing his graduation, Hoffer joined WABC and worked as n investigative journalist. Later, he moved to Channel 7’s Eyewitness News Investigative Team in June 1998. It is believed his work brings changes in the Law.
Don't Miss; Liberte Chan
He was awarded Emmy's for his contribution towards journalism and he also honored with Edward R. Murrow Award.
Jim Hoffer's Personal Life and Net Worth
Jim Hoffer is possibly single at the moment but previously she was married to his longtime girlfriend, Mika Brezinski in October 1993. Their wedding was an intimate ceremony which was held in Block Island, Rhode Island at the West Side church.
The former couple, Jim Hoffer and Mika Brezinski,
Source: People
The duo was blessed with two daughters, Emilie Hoffer, and Carlie Hoffer. However, the couple divorced after 23 years of marriage.
Discover: Al Franken
Hoffer has an estimated net worth of more than $0.5 million and most part of his income from NBC, and other TV shows. He stands at a height of 6 feet 3 inches tall.
Jim Hoffer Married
First Marriage with Mika Emilie Leonia Brzezinski
Married date: 1993 Divorce
Jim and Mika were together for nearly 23 years. They met while working together at a small Fox station. After the end of their divorce, it is rumoured that she is relation with her co-host Joe Scarborough.
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U.S. indicts 4 Chinese military hackers for giant Equifax breach
Charges were brought against the hackers in the Equifax breach but it doesn't really mean anything
Image: JUSTIN LANE / EPA-EFE / REX / SHUTTERSTOCK
By Marcus Gilmer 2020-02-10 17:01:50 UTC
The U.S. Department of Justice indicted four members of the Chinese military for the 2017 Equifax breaches, which exposed the data of more than 145 million Americans.
U.S. Attorney General William Barr made the announcement at a press conference Monday morning, calling the breach a "deliberate and sweeping intrusion into the private information of the American people."
The indictment claims all four suspects are part of the People's Liberation Army's 54th Research Institute. They face nine charges related to computer fraud, economic espionage, and wire fraud.
According to the indictment, in addition to the personal information (names, birthdates, Social Security numbers) of 145 million Americans, the hackers also obtained driver's license numbers of 10 million Americans. They also had access to other data, including credit card numbers, from another 200,000 Americans. And nearly 1 million people from the UK and Canada were also affected.
Of course, most people probably remember the breach for the way they got screwed by the $700 million settlement Equifax reached with the Federal Trade Commission. Everyone was supposed to get about $125 per person, but it didn't quite work out that way.
SEE ALSO: Hackers keep getting access to your data. Is Amazon to blame?
Instead, everyone could get 10 years of free credit monitoring that probably wasn't necessary until Chinese hackers cut through the flawed software used by Equifax and many other U.S. corporations.
It's unlikely, however, that these four hackers will ever actually face charges in the U.S., much like the Russians charged with hacking the 2016 elections.
Topics: china, Equifax, equifax-breach, Tech
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Ft. Monmouth, Science
John Barrows
SCORE, The World’s First “Talking” Satellite
On December 18, 1958, the world’s first “talking” satellite was successfully launched, a product of the U.S. Army Signal Corps Laboratories at Fort Monmouth in conjunction with the then-new Advanced Research Projects Agency.
Called “SCORE,” which stands for “Signal Communications by Orbiting Relay,” it was the world’s first purpose-built communications satellite. SCORE was placed in orbit by an Atlas missile (shown in photo above), and using an on-board tape recorder, broadcast the first human voice from space, President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Christmas greeting to the world. The broadcast signal for Eisenhower’s greeting was fairly weak, and only very sensitive radio receivers were able to detect it. Most Americans heard the message as it was rebroadcast on commercial news programs. But this historic message proved that voice and data signals could be efficiently relayed over great distances by communications satellites.
The SCORE communications package was designed and built by Kenneth Masterman-Smith, a military communication research engineer, along with other personnel with the U.S. Army Signal Research and Development Laboratory (SRDL) at Fort Monmouth.
Pierce, John R., and Tressler, Arthur G. (1964). The Research State: A History of science in New Jersey. D. Van Norstrand Company, Inc., Princeton, N.J., P. 126-127.
Rejan, Wendy A. (2008). A History of Army Communications and Electronics at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey 1917-2007. Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans, U.S. Army CECOM Life Cycle Management Command, Fort Monmouth, N.J. U.S. Government Printing Office, available: bookstore.gpo.gov.
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MNB Archive Search
Article Search: Please Note: Some MNB articles contain special formatting characters, and may cause your search to produce fewer results than expected.
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2008 Holiday Season Not Looking So Jolly For Retailers
The Nielsen Company has come out with a new study saying that the upcoming holiday season is not expected to be the most wonderful time of the year – especially if you are a retailer. The study says that “more than one-third (35 percent) of U.S. consumers across all income levels expecting to spend less” during the holidays.
Getting more specific, the report says that “fourteen percent of consumers expect to spend less for the holidays in grocery stores, while 19 percent expect to spend less in mass merchandisers. Seventeen percent expect to spend less in drug stores and 12 percent expect to spend less in pet stores.”
In addition, Nielsen “forecasts flat to declining sales across grocery stores, drug stores, mass merchandisers and convenience stores for the holiday season and a 4.7 percent growth in dollar sales, in large part due to higher commodity prices. Nielsen projects unit sales to be flat or down 0.8 percent … Necessities, not the nice-to-haves, will drive strong sales this holiday season.”
“Clearly, consumers across all income levels have some trepidation about holiday spending,” says Todd Hale, Nielsen’s senior vice president, Consumer & Shopper Insights. “The unstable economic environment is creating a high level of caution among consumers, leading us to conclude that this will be a tough holiday season.”
Trepidation?
Methinks that Todd Hale has a talent for understatement. The headlines and news coverage suggest that we’re in the middle of a full-blown panic, and that nobody knows where the bottom is.
A guy I know referred to our current situation as a “Craig’s List” economy – second hand, used products are beginning to look very, very attractive to an expanding segment of the population.
That said, Hale is right when he also says that “retailers answering consumers’ call for value will capture shoppers’ attention this holiday season. Whether it’s lower prices, instant rebates or free shipping offers, value messages will speak to bargain-seeking consumers in today’s tough economic climate.”
At the same time, though, retailer should not forget to continue to communicate their core values, not just their value proposition, to shoppers. Because eventually there will be an end to this mess that hopefully won’t involve the apocalypse, and retailers that have been consistent to their own values, and have built market share during the tough times, will be well-positioned for the good times to come.
Economy Drives Up Own Label Sales For Challenged UK Retailer
The Times of London reports that Sainsbury has seen a 30 percent increase in the sales of its budget and private label lines, encouraging the retailer to believe that it has successfully blunted new and aggressive competition from discounters Aldi and Lidl.
CEO Justin King tells the Times that the retailer, faced with a toughening economic environment, has been assiduously working to broaden the choices available to its shoppers, and as a result has seen its private label sales increase to the point where it now accounts for more than half of total store sales.
Sainsbury has been engaged in a series of budget-minded campaigns including a “switch and save” promotion that specifically was designed to move shoppers from national brands to own-label equivalents, and a campaign featuring the chef Jamie Oliver designed around the theme, “feed your family for a fiver.”
The Times reports that “the fight for a share of Britain's weekly food shop is growing steadily more competitive. Tesco has already branded itself as ‘Britain's biggest discounter’ and Sainsbury's, perceived as the most upmarket of the ‘big four’ supermarkets, faces competition from Asda - which recently took over Sainsbury's position as the second-largest grocer - and Morrisons. The heavy discounters, such as Aldi, Lidl and Netto, are also expanding their market shares rapidly. Together, they account for about 6 per cent of sales, but are reporting double-digit growth figures.”
Conventional wisdom here in the US always has been that private label will never be as successful here as in Europe, but I wonder if perhaps the current economic downturn might be enough to challenge this belief. Especially now that many private label items have improved in quality, and retailers such as Trader Joe’s and Costco have shown how successful a high-quality, well-marketed own label item can be.
Grocer Gets Closer To Food Sources By Actually Owning The Farm
Interesting story in the San Francisco Chronicle about how the Bi-Rite Market there is taking a fresh approach to the notion of farm-fresh foods.
“Bi-Rite has long been recognized for its commitment to local, seasonal produce, but it may be the first market to actually grow its own food,” the Chronicle writes. “Though Rainbow Grocery in San Francisco, Monterey Market in Berkeley, Draeger's on the Peninsula, Whole Foods and other Bay Area markets buy some produce directly from farms, (produce manager Simon) Richard and Bi-Rite's owner Sam Mogannam are taking the farm-to-table philosophy a step further, growing their own produce on one-third of an acre in Sonoma … The Bi-Rite Farm is a natural progression for a store that butchers its own hogs and has a 4-year-old rooftop herb garden. The store's produce bins have also been filled with figs and blueberries from Mogannam's parents' Placerville ranch since 2002.”
"We wanted to get closer to understanding where our food came from," Mogannam tells the paper. "We have developed so many great relationships with farmers, and we wanted to bring that connection to the land closer to the staff, closer to the customers."
We’re beginning to see more of this. MNB reported on the Wegmans organic farm not that long ago, and just this week we noted that Stew Leonard’s may start its own farm on Connecticut property that it has been unable to get zoned for a new store. And there probably are plenty of others.
If customers are increasingly interested in the narrative behind the foods that eat, it will be advantageous in some cases for retailers to actually be part of the narrative.
Asian Grocer In Pacific NW Celebrates 80th Anniversary
Congratulations are in order for Uwajimaya, which the Seattle Times reports is celebrating its 80th anniversary this week.
The Times, in a front page story, describes it this way:
“With 430 employees and annual sales close to $90 million, the Asian grocery and gift store — with stores in Bellevue and Beaverton, Ore. — plans to expand again in the next five years. That's quite a feat for an enterprise that rose from the rubble of wartime internment, prospered at the 1962 World's Fair and risked its future on an ethnic identity before it was chic to do so.
“From modest origins in the back of a truck in Pierce County, Uwajimaya has achieved prominence as thriving retailer, community anchor and tourist destination — the region's premier Asian supermarket and one of the nation's best. For some, the store founded by Fujimatsu Moriguchi is a portal to fading memories and comforts of the heart; for others, it's a cultural citadel; for others still, a mesmerizing sojourn to worlds beyond.”
If you’ve never been to Uwajimaya, next time you are in the Pacific Northwest you should make an effort to go. It is, quite literally, a trip … and a marvel of merchandising and marketing.
The MNB Walmart Watch
• Business Week reports that the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has settled a dispute with Walmart over alleged violations of the Clean Air Act, which the EPA said Walmart violated by selling "Glow-in-the-Dark Looney String" that contained a banned ozone-depleting substance.
Walmart will pay $199,000 in fines to settle the case.
FastNewsBeat
• Twenty-store supermarket chain Rosauers announced that it is participating in the ProtectSeals Campaign organized by the Humane Society of the United States. According to the announcement, “In an effort to stop the annual slaughter of baby harp seals off the east coast of Canada, Rosauers Supermarkets has pledged not to sell any Canadian seafood from the seal-hunting provinces in its grocery stores until Canada ends its commercial seal hunt for good.”
Other participating companies include WinCo Foods, PCC Natural Markets, Whole Foods Markets, Trader Joe's, Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville Cafés, Ted Turner’s steakhouse chain - Ted’s Montana Grill, Harris Teeter and Bon Appétit Management Company.
• The Los Angeles Times reports this morning that a new E. coli outbreak that has sickened 36 people in Michigan has been linked to tainted iceberg lettuce from California. However, the specific cause of the contamination still is unknown, and investigators are working to narrow the options.
• The Associated Press reports that two former Duane Reade executives, Anthony Cuti and William Tennant, have been charged with securities fraud by the federal government. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charges that the two men juggled the books at Duane Reade and “deceived the investing public by providing false and misleading information about Duane Reade’s financial condition while lining their own pockets with millions of dollars in compensation.”
According to the story, “The charges stem from December 2000 through June 2005, when Mr. Cuti was the company’s chief executive, chairman and president. Mr. Tennant was chief financial officer and senior vice president.”
• Chick-fil-A has joined the list of fast food chains eliminating the use of trans fats from their cooking processes. There will be just one exception to the rule – the chain’s cheesecake, which reportedly has 0.5 grams of naturally occurring trans-fat.
The Department Of Permanent Financial Anxiety
• BJ’s Wholesale Club reported that its September sales were up 11.8 percent compared to the same month a year ago, on same-store sales that were up 10.4 percent. The company said that its food sales were up about 10 percent, which countered sales of general merchandise that were off three percent.
• Longs Drug Store reported that its September sales compared to the same month last year were flat at $447 million, with same-store sales down 1.7 percent.
• Family Dollar Stores announced that it has promoted Dorlisa K. Flur, its Senior Vice President – Strategy and Business Development, to be its new Executive Vice President – Strategy and Marketing.
• InBev SA has announced that when Anheuser Busch’s shareholders approve the $52 billion merger of the two companies, AmBev CEO Luiz Fernando Edmond will be put in charge of North American operations.
In addition, David A. Peacock, A-B’s current vice president of marketing, will become president of Anheuser-Busch and will manage all U.S. operations of the combined company.
…will return next week.
OffBeat: Over, Under, & Around
There was a story from the Associated Press earlier this week that contained paragraphs that deserve a lot of attention, especially from retailers who are responsible for hiring employees and serving customers. Here they are:
“The current market turmoil adds to an already difficult retirement savings picture for Americans, who are increasingly shouldering the burden of managing and funding their own company-sponsored retirement savings plans as firms eliminate traditional pensions.
“Even before the recent downturn, older Americans were on track to continue working longer. Twenty-nine percent of people in their late 60s were working in 2006, up from 18 percent in 1985, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Over the next decade, the number of workers who are 55 and older is expected to increase at more than five times the rate of the overall work force…”
The good news, I suppose, is that the labor pool may be deeper (if a little older) than expected. The bad news is that nobody may have any money with which to buy anything,
And just when you think things couldn’t get any crazier…
The world may be going to hell in a hand basket, but the Association of Lebanese Industrialists has its priorities in order.
This organization is engaged in an effort to get the European Union to declare that hummus and tabouleh are traditional foods that originated in Lebanon; the lobbying is a result of concerns that Israeli companies are claiming these dishes as their own.
The owner of a hummus bar in Tel Aviv tells Bloomberg that he has never claimed that hummus was an Israeli dish, just that it has become a staple in the Israeli diet. Besides, he says, he thought hummus came from Egypt.
Can't we all just get along?
Yet another story connecting eating behavior to health…
The BBC reports that a new study says that “eating meat and dairy products may increase the risk of prostate cancer.”
Meanwhile, there is a new Italian study saying that eating dark chocolate regularly may help lower levels of inflammation, which is strongly associated with heart and blood vessel disease.
On behalf of a lot of other people, I’d like to say that while I appreciate the efforts of various scientists to figure out the impact of specific foods on health and longevity, I’m pretty much getting tired of all the information that only seems to lead to one conclusion:
No matter what we eat, eventually we’re gonna die. And in the end, as we try to choose between the stuff that’s good for us and the stuff that’s not so good, we’re probably going to make some good decisions and some bad decisions, and at least 50 percent of the time it’s going to be accidental.
So I don’t know about you, but I think I’m just going to try to eat and drink sensibly but adventurously, get as much exercise as I can, and hope that the odds work out in my favor.
I have to recommend a movie that, quite frankly, isn’t doing that well at the box office but deserves to be a hit. “Ghost Town” is a terrific little comedy featuring one of the funniest men on the planet, Ricky Gervais, as an antisocial dentist living in New York who “dies” for seven minutes while under general anesthesia for a colonoscopy. For reasons never quite explained, he awakens able to see and talk to virtually every ghost living in Manhattan – and isn’t very happy about it, since all the ghosts have specific demands about they people they left behind.
The biggest demand from a character played by the always watchable Greg Kinnear, who plays a ghost desperate to make sure that his widow (played by the even more watchable Tea Leoni) doesn’t marry a guy he thinks doesn’t deserve her. Kinnear enlists Gervais for his cause, which creates tension, misunderstandings, and even some slapstick humor. But the upshot is a highly entertaining movie with some lovely performances. Go see it. You won’t be sorry. And you’ll laugh a lot.
One other movie recommendation this week. If you’ve never seen “That Thing You Do,” the Tom Hanks-directed movie about the rise and fall of a sixties rock ‘n roll band, go out and rent it immediately. I hadn’t seen it in a awhile, but bumped into it on cable the other night and couldn’t turn it off. It is pretty much a perfect film – funny, romantic, and capturing very specifically a time in the nation’s cultural history. It also offers some pretty good business lessons…such as, always make sure you have a second act. Because there are few things sadder than a one-hit wonder.
Could there be any more tone-deaf guys in American business than the clowns at AIG who decided that it made sense to spend more than $400,000 on a junket just days after the US government – and, by extension, the US taxpayers – bailed these bozos out of a disastrous financial situation.
I don’t care how long the junket had been planned. It was lousy timing, and I, as a taxpayer, am offended.
Tone deaf. That’s what these AIG guys are. They – and all the other executives who have been bailed out of bad situations by the US government – better figure out that this stuff is unacceptable, and that’s there’s a new sheriff in town.
That new sheriff, by the way, is you. And me.
It may just be coincidence, but as I flew around the country this week as the economy seemed to be falling apart, I noticed that planes and airline terminals seemed to be a lot less crowded than they were just a few months ago.
On the one hand, that’s sort of nice. On the other hand, considering the headlines, it is sort of alarming.
One quick note on the economy. How many stadiums and arenas do you think will have to be re-named in the coming year because the firms that bought the naming rights have gone out of business because of the financial collapse?
I’m thinking six. Morgan, my favorite bartender, who works at Etta’s Seafood in Seattle, thinks the over-under is four. But I think he is being overly optimistic.
In Seattle for a couple of quick meetings this week, I had a chance to grab dinner last night at the one Tom Douglas restaurant I’d never been to – Serious Pie, where I had one of the best pizzas I’ve ever eaten, made with cherry bomb peppers and sweet fennel sausage. The appetizer was really unusual, made with roasted pumpkin, prosciutto and arugula pesto, and was delicious. And the wine was one that the waiter described as a cheap Italian table wine – the 2006 Placido Chianti, which was perfect with the meal.
Next time you’re in Seattle, Serious Pie is worth of serious consideration.
BTW…Serious Pie is a small and crowded place with shared tables. To show you how small the world is, I found myself sitting next to a young couple that ended up telling me that she worked her way through school at the Price Chopper in Torrington, Connecticut, and that his father is a longtime Nestle employee in upstate New York.
My wine of the week – the 2007 O’Reilly’s Pinot Noir from Oregon. I had the first glass because I couldn’t resist a Pinot Noir with an Irish name. I had the second glass because it was smooth and delicious.
That’s it for this week. I hope that on Monday, when I turn out my next MNB, the Dow Jones won’t be below 5,000. The way things are going, you never know.
Sláinte!!
From The MNB Sports Desk
In game one of the best-of-seven National League Championship Series, the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-2.
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