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Home » Business » TransCanada says it is committed to Keystone XL pipeline after judge orders halt
TransCanada says it is committed to Keystone XL pipeline after judge orders halt
By Dan Healing
CALGARY- The Canadian proponent of the $10-billion Keystone XL crude pipeline says it remains committed to the project despite a Montana judge’s ruling that it must pass a further environmental review.
The company has received the judge’s ruling and is reviewing it, said TransCanada Corp. spokesman Terry Cunha in a brief email on Friday.
U.S. District Judge Brian Morris put the project on hold on Thursday, ruling that the potential impact had not been considered as required by federal law. Environmentalists and Native American groups had sued to stop it, citing property rights and potential oil spills.
Judge Morris said he is not sure the economic benefit would occur.
The federal court order blocks a Trump administration permit for the construction of the pipeline. Morris was appointed by President Barack Obama.
TransCanada shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange fell by as much as 2.75 per cent in early trading on Friday.
“This is the world’s longest tug of war, with western Canadian oil prices as the rope,” said Zachary Rogers, a refining and oil markets research analyst at Wood Mackenzie.
“While definitely a major setback in terms of timing, this is unlikely to be the nail in the coffin for Keystone XL. Exact legal recourse options are unclear, but the most likely result is either an escalation through the courts or an additional State Department review and President Trump re-approving the line.”
A shortage of export pipeline space to carry away growing oil production in Alberta has been blamed for recent steep discounts in prices for Canadian oil as compared to New York-traded benchmark oil.
Analysts say as much as 110,000 barrels a day of crude oil is currently being left in the ground in Western Canada rather than being produced and sold at unprofitable prices.
Keystone XL pipeline route
Last January, TransCanada said it had secured shipping commitments totalling roughly 500,000 barrels a day on the line, including a deal with the Alberta government to ship 50,000 barrels a day of provincially owned crude.
Other Keystone XL shippers include major Calgary-based oilsands producers Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., Suncor Energy Inc. and Cenovus Energy Inc.
The 1,897-kilometre pipeline would carry as much as 830,000 barrels of crude per day from Hardisty, Alta., to Steel City, Neb., and on through a half dozen states to refineries on the Gulf Coast.
Becky Mitchell, chairwoman of the Northern Plains Resource Council, a plaintiff in the Montana legal action against Keystone XL, said her environmental organization is thrilled with the ruling.
The company and opponents of the project have been in a decade-long dispute that has spanned several presidencies and involved standoffs between protesters and law enforcement.
In 2008, the U.S. State Department issued a presidential permit for the pipeline and TransCanada filed paperwork to expand the project. After years of legal wrangling, Barack Obama rejected the permit in 2015.
The company responded by seeking $15 billion in damages. Trump signed executive actions to again advance construction of the project in 2017.
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Lugerman – The Eugene Golubtsov Story
[su_heading size=”30″]“Lugerman”[/su_heading]
Best known as “Lugerman,” the man who brought back the M1907 U.S.Army Test Trials Luger and perfected it, Eugene Golubtsov ranks as one of the best
master gunmakers in the world today.
Not only does he make the Luger to the same standards of fit and finish as the originals, he also restores fine firearms to new condition. ere are very few men who can do this job properly and he is one of the best.
His is the inspirational story of a hardworking young man who made good, showing what keeping your nose to the grindstone can do for you.
EUGENE WAS BORN in Siberia in 1975, but not even the draconian anti-gun laws of the communist Soviet Union could stifle his interest in firearms.
At 12, he read his first gun book, an encyclopedia with every new handgun by name and caliber. At 14, he built his first handgun, a matchlock, out of copper pipes and plywood. He used the heads of matches for powder and melted down lead fishing weights for bullets.
Desiring to entertain his 10- and 12-year-old guests one day, he bolted the gun to a chair and fired it inside the house with a long fuse that gave everyone time to leave the room.
The bullet penetrated the two layers of plywood put in front of the gun, the window curtains, two balcony plywood doors, and came to rest in the wall of a metal balcony. Realizing that creativity must be encouraged and a boy must be allowed to be a boy if he is to grow up into a real man, his parents did not punish him.
The M1907 U.S. Army Test Trials .45 ACP Luger.
Every summer from 12 to 16 years old, Eugene fired 200 to 300 rounds a day from an air-powered BB gun pistol at moving targets at a local arcade.
Throughout his childhood, he also spent 10 hours a week at night school studying art with emphasis on oil painting and sculpture. We sculpture work proved effective for training his hands for steady, precise work.
He learned to use milling machines in high school, where he also had military training, rifle shooting, and assembly and disassembly instructions for the AK-47 and PM, or Makarov, pistol. He finished high school at 16, having taken extracurricular classes in math, physics and chemistry in preparation for college.
At 16, Eugene started college in the military division “Tracked Heavy Machines,” code word for tanks. College was very intense, with classes six days a week from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day for 10 months.
Eugene finished with a degree at 18. Later that year he moved to the U.S., and at 19 began a 23-year career as a computer programmer.
The Baby Luger version of the M1907 Luger.
AT AGE 21, Eugene began collecting handguns and within three years had accumulated over 300. These were from World Wars I and II, as well as modern handguns of different designs and models. Eugene was buying them cheap and having local gunsmith John Robinson help him fix and refinish them. Being a practical man and serious student of handguns, every gun was purchased to feel it out, fire it, note the accuracy and recoil, disassemble, and study how good or how bad the design was.
The guns were carried and every aspect of them duly noted. At 23, he restored his first revolver, a German Reichs revolver, for his father. His gun can be seen on his website: lugerman.com/restorations/reichs-revolver.
The next restoration was a Luger that he traded the gunsmith for. It
was nickeled and in parts. Eugene removed the nickel plating, hand polished
it, and restored it to original condition. Two years into gun collecting, he purchased an American Eagle 1900 model.
Eugene carried and shot a Luger extensively and found that he could hit a target better and faster with it than with any other handgun. Like most everyone who has really become familiar with Lugers, he loved the product line very much. In his fifth year of gun collecting, he decided to focus on Luger models, specifically on 1906 Contract variations.
He sold most of his other handguns and collected over 50 Lugers of different
types with a large number of grip safety models of all styles, including
two of the M1902 Luger Carbines.
As he was collecting, trading and selling Lugers, he began restoring them for himself. But as word got around the collecting circuit, others began calling upon him to restore their Lugers. Pretty soon he was restoring Lugers as a part-time gig alongside his full-time computer programmer job.
Luger restoration work began to fill 15 to 20 hours a week and soon that was not enough. Eugene hired a good machinist who persuaded him to buy a milling
machine so they could begin making the parts they needed. Over the next 15 years they made most of the parts for the 9mm Luger except the frame.
BACK IN 1907 when the U.S. Army tested the M1907 Luger in .45 ACP in the beginning of the series of tests that led to the adoption of the
M1911 pistol, the Army had a set of dimensioned drawings made of the .45-caliber Luger.
Mike Krause had gotten a hold of a copy of these and was making guns to these prints. He had not fine-tuned the guns to get them working to perfection, but
merely followed the drawings. Eugene managed to convince Mike to sell the blueprints to him, as Mike was planning to stop production and was down to his last two guns.
A Mauser Military Pistol restored to new condition by Eugene Golubtsov
Eugene and his father went in together 50/50 to make the .45-caliber Lugers. They already had 20 years’ experience restoring guns.
The restoration work continued but they stopped working as computer programmers, as there was no longer time for that.
Their restoration and repair clients now number about 3,000 and they annually restore about 100 firearms and repair another 150.
It took over two years to produce the first .45-caliber Luger prototype and about six months of blood, sweat and tears to make the prototype into a functional and reliable weapon.
The company, Lugerman, now turns out 50 of the .45-caliber Lugers a year.
Each gun is tested with 10 different manufacturers’ ammo and about 200 rounds fired through it to ensure perfect functioning before it is delivered.
These are usable guns, despite their price, and because the Luger is so fast and easy to hit with, it can be the best life insurance in a gunfight. Lugerman also makes a .45-caliber version of Georg Luger’s personal carry gun, the Baby Luger.
Because of the Luger’s superb accuracy, there is a 7-inch barrel target version as well. Having seen the M1907 shoot a 1-inch group at 50 yards, this seems an obvious choice for match shooting.
An original 9mm Luger restored by Eugene Golubtsov
The small scale of production results in a higher price than a gun mass-produced on the scale of a Colt or S&W. The M1907 costs $6,975 in carbon steel and $7,775 in stainless steel, the Baby Luger costs $8,275, and the 7-inch barrel target Luger costs $7,775.
There is also a 16-inch barrel M1907 Luger carbine for $12,975. You are not only getting the original Luger’s standards of fit and finish, but you are also getting hand-tuning of each gun just like you would at a “best quality” gunmaker in Scotland or England.
There is a 5-percent discount for active duty or retired military or police.
It is good to see Eugene keeping the Luger in production, even if it is only on a limited basis at the resultant higher price, as this is not only a piece of history but also one of the most effective fighting handguns ever made.
When it’s your life and the lives of your family at stake, the price really doesn’t seem important anymore.
Story by Jim Dickson
Photos by Eugen Golubstov
Editor’s note: You can contact Eugene Golubtsov at eugene@lugerman.com or visit lugerman.com.
October 9th, 2018 by asjstaff
Why the .308 is the best Cartridge
45 Caliber Revolver – M1917
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Deering, Harold Hastings (1896–1965)
by Peter Spearritt
Harold Hastings Deering (1896-1965), engineer and businessman, was born on 22 August 1896 at Ashfield, Sydney, second son of Harold Deering, clerk, and his wife Edith Lilian Marian Australia, née MacCulloch, both Sydney born. Harold attended Hayfield and Sydney Grammar schools; he represented the latter in football and rowing. In England on 27 February 1917 he was commissioned in the British Army. Transferring to the Royal Flying Corps on 30 April and to the Royal Air Force on 1 April 1918, he served as a pilot in England and France, and flew in the same squadron as (Sir) Charles Kingsford Smith.
After the war Lieutenant Deering tested new aircraft for the R.A.F. until he was placed on the Unemployed List on 7 May 1919. He claimed to have enrolled in classics at Jesus College, Oxford, and later returned to Oxford to lecture in aerial strategy. An associate fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, London, he joined the Associated Equipment Co., a firm of bus manufacturers associated with the London Transport Group. Back in Sydney, on 6 April 1920 at St Anne's Anglican Church, Strathfield, he married Constance Ellie, daughter of H. J. Rose; their daughter died in childhood and they were to separate in the 1950s. By 1922 he had formed his own business, Deering Engineering Co., and established an agency, A.E.C. (Australia) Pty Ltd, of which he was managing director; he was, as well, managing director (1927) in Australia for Associated Daimler. In 1933 the London Transport Group sent him to Europe and North America to investigate diesel traction and trolley buses.
Hastings Deering Pty Ltd, a private company which he set up in 1935, became the sole metropolitan distributor for the Ford Motor Co. Interested in architecture and classics, Deering oversaw the design of the company's spectacular head office on the corner of William and Crown streets. The Art Deco building had six storeys linked by a system of one-way, concrete ramps for cars. At one stage he was the largest individual Ford dealer in the world, handling 7000 new and 12,000 used cars a year. Deering often proclaimed his belief in 'National Service, National Development and National Defence', and in the 'Seven Pillars of Wisdom for Australia'—transport, roads, water, food, coal, steel and defence. In 1940, when he indicated to the New South Wales board of area management of the Department of Munitions that he was willing to assist in ordnance production, his offer was accepted by the prime minister.
Realizing the potential for franchising, in 1947 Deering obtained heavy earthmoving equipment by acquiring the Caterpillar agency at Alice Springs, Northern Territory. He expanded to Darwin (1948), the Territory of Papua-New Guinea and the British Solomon Islands (1949), and to Queensland (1952). Spending time in the 1950s on developing the beef industry in the north and the inland, he established the Hastings Deering experimental station—covering 2600 sq. miles (6734 km²) at Palmer Valley in the MacDonnell Ranges—where he built large dams to show that stations in Central Australia could be made drought-proof. He acquired a further 4000 sq. miles (10,360 km²) at Henbury.
His 'financial empire' encompassed sixteen companies: Deering held a controlling interest in each of them, and was involved in detailed design-work and financial matters. Using war-surplus hangars, in 1947-48 he had developed an assembly plant at Lidcombe, Sydney, in which he manufactured A.E.C. chassis for buses and trucks, crane carriers and ground-support equipment for all types of aircraft, in addition to carrying out extensive engine reconditioning and repairs to cars and trucks. He also established the Australian Atlas Co. Pty Ltd in 1949 to produce rock-drills, compressors, and pneumatic tools and loaders.
A keen photographer, Deering supervised advertising campaigns and his company's monthly magazine for which he wrote a column, 'Faith in the Future'. He was 6 ft 2 ins (188 cm) tall and weighed 17 stone (108 kg); he was known to his friends as Hastings; he liked smoking a pipe, racing cars and trout-fishing. Deering often told his staff: 'You can buy expertise, but you can't buy loyalty'. He kept a penthouse atop the company headquarters in William Street, a home at Homebush, a 70-acre (28 ha) farm at Castle Hill and a holiday house in the Blue Mountains. Survived by his wife, Deering died of cardiac disease on 16 June 1965 at Homebush and was cremated. His estate was sworn for probate at £581,544, much of which he left to his secretary and members of his corporate staff.
Rydge's, Feb 1951
People (Sydney), 4 Nov 1953
Hastings Deering News, Dec 1960, p 46
Sydney Morning Herald, 19 Apr 1917, 6 July 1927, 4 Sept 1934, 16 Aug 1940, 4 Nov 1949, 17 June 1965
private information.
Peter Spearritt, 'Deering, Harold Hastings (1896–1965)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/deering-harold-hastings-9942/text17611, published first in hardcopy 1993, accessed online 18 July 2019.
Ashfield, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Homebush, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
defence forces personnel (British)
grazier (cattle)
machinery manufacturer
motor bodies manufacturer
motor dealer
ordnance manufacturer
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Currently viewing the category: "Renault"
Regional Content Proposals and Taxes to Metal Imports: the Weekly Roundup
On March 5, 2018 By Luis Pesce
Negotiator walkouts, proposals on rules of origin and tariffs to steel and aluminum dominated this week’s automotive news as the seventh NAFTA 2.0 round started on February 26. Canada presented its proposal on rules of origin. It focused on adding more components to the tracking list for regional content, but there is a possibility that [...]
Kilometers Still Left in Mexico’s Classic Cars
The International Automotive Gala took place on Feb. 24 and 25, 2018 at Xochitla Ecological Park in Tepotzotlan, State of Mexico. Organized by the Mexican Federation of Classic and Collector’s Cars (FMAAC), at its 2018 edition, everything from a Made-in-Mexico 1965 Renault Dinalpin to a 1970 Plymouth Barracuda were on display.
In [...]
More EVs Coming Our Way
On September 15, 2017 By Alejandro Salas
It seems not only premium manufacturers are caught up in the electrification hype. Volume brands are also making electric and hybrid models a priority in future development strategies including Mazda and the Renault-Nissan Alliance.
Though it currently has a hybrid version of the Mazda3, the company will start including full-electric models as well as more [...]
Fraud Allegations Shake Renault’s Grounds
On February 5, 2016 By Luis Vargas
Last January, Renault’s stock value plummeted in Paris’ Stock Exchange EURONEXT after the General Directorate for Competition Policy, Consumer Affairs, and Fraud Control (DGCCRF), an independent French antifraud agency, raided three key premises of the European OEM.
In the search for environmental anomalies similar to those brought to [...]
A New Era is Coming Our Way – EVs and Their Availability in Mexico
On December 22, 2015 By Mexico Automotive Review
While oil production continues to determine Mexico’s path and remains the world’s largest energy source, new technological advancements have revolutionized the way in which society sees the world, and how they expect everyday occurrences to unfold.
Although this new perception may be shared among specific society members of the world’s most [...]
What will the Formula 1 2016 season have up its sleeve?
On December 7, 2015 By Sander Peterse
With many fans often left down in the dumps, this Formula 1 season wasn’t the most spectacular one. Yet it still provoked many changes to how the elite racing world championship is going to take shape in the coming years.
With what many people call Hamilton’s easiest season of his career, he snatched the World Championship [...]
Red Bull & Toro Rosso – Seemingly Out of the Rodeo
On September 30, 2015 By Luis Vargas
After a dreadful 2015 season filled with step backs and disappointments, Red Bull’s owner Dietrich Mateschitz has drawn the last straw; either they find a competent and competitive engine replacement, or the powerhouse calls it quits in its Formula One participation.
The current threats to leave the sport hit the F1 world after unsuccessful negotiations from [...]
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Related Bios Jen Bonn Cara Gustafson Robyn Murphy Emma Burgason
Rick Burr
Title: Director of Athletics Performance
Email: rburr@babson.edu
Rick Burr, who came to Babson College as the Director of Sports Medicine in 2003, was promoted to the Director of Athletics Performance in the spring of 2015. He provides medical coverage for 22 varsity and 14 club sports at Babson, while collaborating with coaches on conditioning, weight training and nutrition programs for student-athletes, and serving as the primary liason between the team orthopedic physician and the athletic department.
A 1981 graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Burr is a Licensed Athletic Trainer by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and has been a Certified Athletic Trainer since 1982. He has been a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist since 1996, and is also a Certified Instructor in Professional Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation and First Aid. In addition to heading up the Sports Medicine department, Burr serves as the clinical site supervisor of the Northeastern University and Lasell College Athletic Training Student Internship programs, and mandates and regulates the College's adherence to NCAA by-laws.
Burr came to Babson from nearby Brandeis University, where he spent 17 seasons as the Assistant Director of Athletics for Sports Medicine Services. At Brandeis, he also served as Compliance Coordinator, Faculty Athletics Representative to the NCAA, and was a faculty member in the Physical Education Department, teaching Sports Medicine classes as well as first aid, CPR, lifeguard training and a variety of skills classes in volleyball, squash and weight training. In 1998, he received the University's Foxy Fulmeire Outstanding Service Award.
Prior to Brandeis, Burr spent five years as head Athletic Trainer for The Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut, where he also served as a dorm parent and a member of the school's Athletic Committee.
Burr, who was selected as the Athletic Trainer of the Year by the Athletic Trainers of Massachusetts in 2006 and was inducted into the Connecticut Athletic Trainer's Hall of Fame in 2010, has held a number of prominent positions in the field of sports medicine throughout his career. He served as an Athletic Trainer for the Boston Celtics during both mini-camps and the regual season from 1992-1999; he was the Assistant Medical Coordinator for Athletic Trainers at the World Cup in 1994; he served as Assistant Medical Director for Athletic Trainers at the 100th running of the Boston Marathon; and he worked as an Athletic Trainer for the Bay State Games from 1988-1997. Burr has also had a variety of involvement with the United States Olympic Committee, covering gymnastics in the 2001 Olympic Trials, boxing in the 1995 Pan American Games, and canoe and kayaking at the 1993 Olympic Festival in San Antonio, Texas. In addition, he has worked at the Olympic Training Centers in both Lake Placid and Colorado Springs, and served as an athletic trainer at the 2014 U.S. Figure Skating Championships and the 2016 World Figure Skating Championships.
In 1995, Burr Was appointed by the Governor of Massachusetts to the Board Of Allied Health Professionals for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This Board regulates the licenses for Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists and Athletic Trainers for the Commonwealth. He served as the Board's Vice Chairperson from 1997 to 2007. Burr was the District 1 representative to the Governmental Affairs Committee for the National Athletic Trainer's Assocation (NATA) from 2002-09, served as a representative to the NATA Honors and Awards Committee from 2010-12, and is currently part of NATA's convention proposal review committee.
He earned his master's degree in Exercise Physiology from Northeastern University. He currently resides in Natick, Massachusetts with his wife, Sarah, and their three children.
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In remembrance of
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Home / Honourees / Haroutioun Manougian
No CommentsAugust 16, 2013by radminin
Honourees
Haroutioun Manougian
Haroutioun Samuel Manougian (1914 – 1964)
Haroutioun Manougian was born in Kharpert, Turkey on September 13, 1914 in the early days of the Armenian genocide. On April 24, 1915 when the then Turkish government gave the order to execute all the Armenians living in Turkey, his father Samuel Manougian who was a minister was taken away and executed. His mother Nevart managed to escape to safety with her children. Haroutioun was only a few months old at the time. They escaped to Lebanon where his mother Nevart and Bedros Kardzair set up an orphanage to help take care of children who had managed to escape the genocide but had lost their parents.
Haroutioun grew up in Lebanon with his brothers Antranig and Karekin and his sisters Dzia and Elize. He was very active in Homenetmen and organized tournaments and travelled with the Homenetmen teams to Syria and Egypt.
He immigrated to Canada in 1961 with his wife Haigouhi, daughter Arpi and son Sam and settled in Toronto. There were very few Armenian families in Toronto at that time. He worked hard and managed to establish the ARF Soghomon Tehlirian Gomide in Toronto in 1962. The following year in 1963, he founded the A.R.S. Roubina chapter in Toronto. As both the ARF and the ARS started to grow, his life was short lived and he passed away unexpectedly on January 20, 1964.
The solid foundations that he laid for the Armenian community in Toronto, after his death soon led to the establishment of the Armenian Community Centre on Dupont Street and the establishment of the organizations of AYF, Hamazkayin, Homenetmen, School, church and seniors. Today, all these organizations have flourished to thousands of members and form the hub of all the activities of the Armenian community in Toronto. He would have been very proud today to see the fruits of his labour.
Nerses Kidikian →← Hello world!
© 2016 A Run To Remember | Developed by Digilite Web Solutions
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Saving the planet
The French author Marguerite Yourcenar wrote in 1980:
“I have often thought about what a child's education might be. I think that there needs to be basic, very simple studies, where children would learn that they are part of the universe, on a planet whose resources they will have to take care of later, that they depend on the air, the water, and all living things, and that the slightest error or violence can destroy everything.”
I have the privilege of living in a very beautiful rural area of South West France. I often look at the unspoilt beauty around me and think how remote the crisis that our planet is undergoing seems. However even here I can't escape the significance of the fact that spring has come so early. When I arrived here many years ago I was fascinated by the abundance and variety of the insects, especially the various crickets and even strange asymmetrical stick insects. A praying mantis came to visit me in my kitchen last autumn and I saw the largest European bee already buzzing around the rosemary bush in February. But now in March I see the lonely blossoming fruit trees, normally buzzing with bees. How much fruit will there be this year?
I suppose that most people are familiar with the story of Greta Thunberg, now that her protest for climate change has spread to school kids world-wide, but it is interesting to note that she was an introverted, shy child who had difficulty interacting with others. She has been worried about climate change since the age of eight and was 15 when she started her solitary vigil in front of the Swedish parliament.
She was never quite like other children. Four years ago, she was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome.
“I overthink. Some people can just let things go, but I can’t, especially if there’s something that worries me or makes me sad. I remember when I was younger, and in school, our teachers showed us films of plastic in the ocean, starving polar bears and so on. I cried through all the movies. My classmates were concerned when they watched the film, but when it stopped, they started thinking about other things. I couldn’t do that. Those pictures were stuck in my head.”
She has come to accept this as part of who she is – and made it a motivating force instead of a source of paralysing depression, which it once was.
“I painted the sign on a piece of wood and, for the flyers, wrote down some facts I thought everyone should know. And then I took my bike to the parliament and just sat there. The first day, I sat alone from about 8.30am to 3pm – the regular school day. And then on the second day, people started joining me. After that, there were people there all the time.”
“School strike for climate“ Photo: Michael Campanella /The Guardian
Such was her impact that she was invited to the World Economic Forum in Davos, where she delivered this uncompromising message:
“I don’t want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. And then I want you to act.”
Noam Chomsky is a ninety year-old ground-breaking linguist, philosopher and cognitive scientist, and also a veteran activist. He wants us to panic too:
“Every single journal should have a shrieking headline every day saying we are heading to total catastrophe… The current generation has to make a decision as to whether organized human society will survive another couple of generations, and it has to be done quickly, there’s not a lot of time.”
It seems that now awareness of the challenges of climate change is rapidly becoming mainstream. And it becomes ever clearer that the basic functioning of human society, with its emphasis on consuming new and ever more sophisticated goods, its relentless competition, and its values of ever-increasing comfort, is speeding on a trajectory in the wrong direction. Even small pleasures such as frequently buying new clothes involve the excessive use of water to grow cotton and the terrible conditions of workers in poor countries. When we go to the supermarket, everything seems to be wrapped in single-use plastic, which we know is killing the oceans. We love to travel, but those cheap flights are massive contributors to global warming.
This is no longer alternative thinking. A part of the mainstream press details these problems. The Economist notes the unsustainability of present levels of meat consumption (on the increase globally). It points out the necessity for drastic change, listing, with facts and figures, the health, ecological and even economic benefits if everyone adopted a vegan or vegetarian diet, and seriously discussing the point of view of the animals. It is sharply critical of governments and companies that offer fat fiscal advantages for private jets (also on the increase), which have a staggering carbon footprint per passenger compared to normal flying. (Greta Thunberg had strong words about this for the executives in Davos. She is vegan and only travels by train.)
It seems that any solution would involve an upheaval of our lifestyle, cutting directly into our comfort zone, and a huge change of direction for agriculture, industry, transport etc. How can we not feel totally overwhelmed? How can there be a collective cooperative solution in a world where nations and societies are increasingly divided? The paradigm of society is changing. Just when we need an understanding of complexity, when we need to listen, reflect and cooperate with each other, there is division, panic, fear and anger.
In a world where people can all too easily be swayed by appeals to those emotions, there is a longing for peace and harmony. If we can develop a calm mind, full of kindness and compassion, it inevitably makes a difference, often much more than we imagine. And there is a ripple effect that can be transmitted far beyond our own circle. Each individual can contribute something, big or small, for a more harmonious society and a harmonious relationship with our planet. As Matthieu Ricard puts it in his video introduction to Imagine Clarity:
“We should never be discouraged that we cannot change the world. Because it begins with us. Slowly, when like-minded people get to a critical mass, we can have a change of culture. When we have a change of culture, we can change institutions. One has to start with oneself. There’s no other way. Then gradually we bring about societal change.”
Extract from Marguerite Yourcenar’s Les Yeux Ouverts, in French.
I don’t think it has been published in English.
I have used material from this article by Jonathan Watts in The Guardian
Principal photo: Anders Hellberg
Next Post Caring mindfulness in a complex world
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Small Press Spotlight: Carmen Giménez Smith
by Rigoberto Gonzalez | May-31-2012
Goodbye, Flicker, University of Massachusetts Press, 2012.
Carmen Giménez Smith is the publisher of Noemi Press, the editor-in-chief of Puerto del Sol, and an assistant professor in the MFA program in creative writing at New Mexico State University. She is the author of two previous collections--Odalisque in Pieces and The City She Was--and a memoir, Bring Down the Little Birds.
“The words slip in and out like/ the Wolf’s tongue in Red’s ear.”: the final lines in the second poem of the collection direct the reader to an understanding of the fairy tale as a metaphor for sexuality and imagination. You draw from a number of sources--Giambattista Basile, the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, and others--to examine the female as a figure of ingenuity and agency, not as the damsel in distress she was later turned into by Disney and other contemporary story adaptations. Her power is language (“I don’t settle/ for voiceless.”). Can you speak to your particular affinity to the fairy tale? Thought these tales have endured centuries, why is it important to revisit them in 2012?
I’ve always loved the world of fairy tales; when I was young I inhabited them as fully as the speaker of these poems. I’ve always been intrigued by the way we relay lasting cultural and social mores and anxieties through contemporary forms like fairy tales (and television shows). Fairy tales are encoded with compelling messages about gender and class, and I think it’s important to revisit them, to revise them in order to participate in the important ongoing transformation of these stories. Fairy tales and folktales require our intrusions and adaptations because they’re our mirrors. When I teach these stories, I work hard to undo the calcification Disney adaptations have inflicted on these stories. Although each version is important, there’s no definitive version of a fairy tale--they’re open source--and it’s important that we imprint them with the exigencies of our moment, our contemporary ambitions.
A few of the poems offer completely different “readings” just by a simple shift of point of view. In “Half-House,” for example, the Hansel and Gretel witch declares: “Children are just conceit./ My isolation, now there’s a theme”; and in “To Become an Exemplary Girl,” the Pinocchio plight (“I got wrapped in puppetry string” and “trapped inside and waiting/ for the giant yawn/ to release me.”) now holds more dramatic and gendered overtones because we imagine the speaker is a girl. I must note however that none of these fairy tale figures are mentioned by name--they are alluded to. Which begs the question, how do you decide what is familiar enough to the reader to place a re-imagined version next to its “original” telling? And does it matter if a reader can’t place the tale (because they are the poet’s own inventions) or is unable to identify a more obscure fairy tale at all?
That’s one of the challenges of persona poems and also of having references to lesser-known stories. I tried to cultivate a more lyric sensibility in those poems--the compression, the singular voice--and I hope that helps readers hear the speaker out of the story, especially since much of what is expressed is more about subjectivity than it is about plot.
Can you speak to the title of the collection? Or are you leaving it up to the reader to extrapolate on the word “flicker” in particular?
One of the early titles of the book was The Screen, as I imagined the young speaker entering into the world like it’s a television screen. In the poem “Backstory,” she disappears, figuratively, into an interior world, and I thought that the closest approximation to what I felt was the departure into story, into imagination. I am curious to hear how people read the title, and I’ve heard some fascinating versions.
Your first collection was published in 2009, (the memoir in 2010), the second in 2011, this third one is 2012. And I recently read somewhere that you have a fourth collection (Be Recorder) that was a finalist for the Sawtooth Poetry Prize from Ahsahta Press this year. Is there a method to your productivity and in navigating different poetry books at once? How do you keep the projects separate or is there another way you usher certain poems toward certain books?
I started working on Goodbye, Flicker about eleven years ago, and it’s always been in the background. It was only recently that I felt I knew how to finish the book, and I made myself return to it and work on it despite having a lot of doubts about writing a book of linked poems with multiple speakers. I wanted to preserve the ambition, so I worked on it incrementally. When I write prose, I do a lot of “showing up,” what prose writers do--writing even when it feels like torture--and that ethic was vital to getting this book done, sitting down to write new poems even when I didn’t have ideas, desire, or energy.
I work on different books at the same time in order to keep myself writing without pause. What seems like a succession of productivity, though, is actually more a reflection of the vagaries of publishing. I was “finished” with my first book for a long time before it came out (although the press’s reviewers were key in getting the book in great shape for publication). I wrote the memoir in 2005-2006, and I started writing many of the poems that were in The City She Was in 2009, the year my first book came out.
I’ve found that conceptualizing a book helps me determine what kind of poems to write for it, and I literally write into the book after a certain stage, that is, I try and see what sorts of moves are possible in the book, and I write new poems in that direction. I do hammer out a draft of the book fairly intensely, then the bulk of the work is revision. Every time I work on a manuscript, I read it all the way through to enter the sensibility before I do anything. I love revising--I could do it all day long--so I try to hammer out first drafts fairly quickly, and I work and work on them so that they fit the book and work on their own terms.
"Small Press Spotlight: Carmen Giménez Smith" was posted May 31, 2012.
Small Press Spotlight
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Two new Champions crowned in Hull
Laura Massaro became the first home winner of the women’s British Open since 1991 with a fantastic display at the KC Stadium in which she beat defending champion Nicol David in four games, while Ramy Ashour became the first Egyptian men’s champion since 1966 as he came from a game down to beat former champion Grégory Gaultier to claim the title for the first time.
[2] Laura Massaro (Eng) 3-1 [1] Nicol David (Mas) 11/4, 3/11, 12/10, 11/8 (53m)
[1] Ramy Ashour (Egy) 3-1 [4] Grégory Gaultier (Fra) 7/11, 11/4, 11/7, 11/8 (64m)
Full 2013 Finals Reports
2013Laura MassaroRamy Ashour
Massaro hungry for more BO success
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Tag Archives: EU
Sea Control 147 – Former German Navy Chief Lutz Feldt on Defining Maritime Security, Pt. 2
March 7, 2018 Crispinus Lee Leave a comment
By Cris Lee
Join us for the latest episode of Sea Control for a conversation with Vice Admiral Lutz Feldt (ret.), former Commander-in-Chief of the German Fleet and Commander-in-Chief of Naval Staff, about the challenges of defining and conceptualizing maritime security.
Download Sea Control 147 – Former German Navy Chief Lutz Feldt on Defining Maritime Security, Pt. 2
A transcript of the interview between Admiral Lutz Feldt (LF) and Roger Hilton (RH) is below. The transcript has been edited for clarity.
RH: Admiral Feldt, in addition to the previous discussion, you have said to enhance maritime awareness it is essential to return to the basics of geography. According to renowned geopolitical author Robert Kaplan, a map is a spatial representation of humanity’s division, by which he means not just physical territory but topography. Let me ask: with so much advanced technology providing satellite imagery and real time data, why should we consider the influence of geography?
LF: To answer with a question, are we overestimating all of our technical development? Are we really reliant only on technical information, the internet, etc.? Are we able to take into consideration other important criteria as well? Geography is a big criteria, even today. If you look into geography, you are looking at the people living in that geography, to the culture which is their culture, the weather conditions, the climate, and how people live. This has great importance and great influence on everything which we have to decide in the maritime domain. Therefore I think if you are working together with people from the Southern parts of Europe region, or German authorities to ones in Spain, Italy, South France, Greece, or Turkey, or whatever country you may name, of course the way they are solving problems is different. And this has something to do with the areas in which they live, and the living conditions.
The living conditions are formed and created by geography, and directly and indirectly by the climate conditions in which they live. So I think it is important to look into the geography as well. As a seafarer, even if you believe in civilized navigation, even if you think a satellite is covering the whole globe, you must still learn that that is not the case. It will not happen in the next decade as well. So there will always be areas which are not covered. There will always be areas which are up to today, which have not a reliable a sea map, a sea shot. If you go into the big regions, the only thing you can rely on is the GPS. This makes it very clear that geography and the conditions created by geography are very important. Weather affects all operations. You can have a wonderful operation plan think you have thought through, if you have forgotten the geography of the weather, it is a risk you should not accept.
RH: Admiral Feldt, now that we have looked at a catalogue of issues that have impacted sea awareness, it is critical for our listeners to place these subjects in the role of global stakeholders. Obviously the headlines on this ticket are the NATO and the EU. You distinguish in your piece the remarkably different approaches to issues. Consequently, can you provide a quick snapshot of activities of global stakeholders in the maritime space?
LF: I think we have to talk about the international maritime organizations as well. I always think and call them the guardians of the sea, and they have developed a lot of very helpful legislation for the sea. They are responsible for all the agreements and they have developed a code of conduct for a limited number of countries. So I think yes it is a lot of administrations, a lot of paperwork. On the other hand you need these basic documentation, you need this framework in which you are doing your business as a commercial in which you have to follow the sovereign estate as well.
I think the International Maritime Organization is an important player. The weakness of the IMO that they cannot enforce their own laws. They have no enforcement capabilities and the only nation who is able to enforce the IMO’s laws and other laws is the United States and it will remain to be the United States. Maybe in competition with some other nations, China is trying very hard to become a very important global player in the maritime domain as well as the Russian Federation. I understand very well why they are doing that. I wouldn’t blame them about that, but we have to take into consideration they will in any case be in some sort of competition with the U.S. The U.S. needs a global strategy, maritime strategy, and a naval strategy, this is a comprehensive approach that works very fine.
And then of course we have the European Union. NATO is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, it was focused on the North Atlantic. During the last years, NATO was much more involved in army and air force business than in the naval business. This is something that I do not appreciate because now we have a lack of maritime expertise which we have to overcome quite soon. The EU is becoming a much more important player, not just in civilian issues, but also in the economic side, from a common defense and security policy side as well. I think the EU will increase its military experience, and NATO will be much more open, civilian-military operations as well. The African Union has developed an all-maritime strategy for the African continent. They are a regional initiative. They have the potential to become a very important player as well. I think they should be interested in taking responsibility for their own territorial waters and increase their independence from others.
And then we have what we did call the BRICS, Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa. China will be a big player, and already is a big player, and will become an even bigger player in the maritime domain. Brazil has for the first time taken on international responsibility in supporting the European navies in the Mediterranean several times for example. Russia is looking for naval bases outsides its territories. Now they are in Syria, it has the occupation of Crimea, not only because they love the people there, but because of a very strategic impact in now having an important naval base in the black sea. So they are all playing to their national interests. The only ones who are trying to improve not only its own capabilities but of its neighbors as well is South Africa. They have a good navy as well. They can support the navies in developing their own coast guards and to a certain degree their naval functions as well.
RH: Anyone listening will get a perspective on how crowded the maritime domain is and how competitive it potentially is both from a bloc perspective or from an individual country perspective. Returning to the EU, its early security ambitions were defined by 2003 European Security Strategy: A Secure Europe in a Better World by the EU’s common representative for the common foreign and security policy, Mr. Javier Solana. It was more recently amended in 2008 and paid scant attention to the maritime situational awareness. This is particularly frustrating since this piece establishes how crisis can develop far from Europe and still affect continuity on the continent. Moving forward, has the EU addressed this phenomenon?
LF: Yes, it has. I think in 2003, the world, not just the maritime domain, looked very different from nowadays. Strategy: A Secure Europe in a Better World, updated in 2008, has been overtaken by events. The EU has developed a newer strategy in a very good way. Everyone was involved in that. It took us only three-quarters of a year. We have a new strategy which is a very good build up, taking an important part of security and defense issues in the strategy, which was not the case in the first.
Now I think it is a comprehensive approach. To deliver something of a comprehensive approach, where all the actors know their responsibilities, and knowing that they don’t have to do this on their own in one pillar, in isolation from the other, they are doing this together. Strategy is encouraging them to do that. Perhaps encouraging is not strong enough; it is forcing them to do that. And therefore I really appreciate this approach. You know, in the maritime world, 2014, the European Maritime Security Strategy has been published as well. We have now, not only a global strategy from the European Union side, but maritime strategy as well. We are now working on the implementation of the different subjects. I think that in a good way, a lot of things have been moved in the right direction and I am optimistic that they will carry on. And if I may say so, the commission, the parliament, and the council, they are doing very well. They are doing this in one line.
RH: Any conversation about EU maritime policy or maritime policy will be incomplete without mentioning Turkey and its role in facilitating EU’s maritime sphere. Recently president Erdogan called for a border review of the 1923 treaty of Rozanne in Athens in early December. What do you make of this comment, and how do you think Turkey and the EU can continue to work together on maritime domain issues?
LF: It’s a critical situation. Turkey is a member of NATO, and wants or once at least wanted to become a member of the European Union as well. Greece is a member of NATO and the EU. All these years, all these decades, there has been tension between both countries about sea borders and how the treaty is working. Even in the treaty there are disputes over islands and sea borders. This is a fact. I do not think that in the actual situation the border review will take place. I do not think so. The last signals were bit different. There is another convention we have to consider. This is the Montreux convention which is giving Turkey the responsibility to supervise or monitor the Montreux Strait. You have to look into this as well. Both are very close together.
The EU and Turkey are well-advised if they are accepting of the status quo, or improve the situation. To talk about improving, there is an ongoing operation between NATO and Turkey, as a NATO member, and Greece on the other hand, in the East part of the Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea. The part of the maritime civil operations where everyone is looking for migrants, not only to rescue them, but to prevent them from going illegally from one country to another. And the cooperation of the partners in these technical operations level is very good. I have heard from colleagues in this operation, the cooperation with the Turkish coast guard is good. They are doing their jobs professionally and well, and the same with Greece. It is good practical example of good practical cooperation. As often you can find on the practical, pragmatic level, you can find solutions for almost all problems.
RH: Hopefully based on all the encouraging news you’ve provided with us cooler heads will continue to prevail as there are a plethora of issues that the EU and Turkey need to work together on to solve in the future. Finally Admiral Feldt, for the foreseeable future, you reiterate, the complex picture of today’s maritime security issues, is a consequence of three factors: the transition from industrial to the information age, globalization, and climate change. And that the urgent need for maritime domain and situational awareness is a precondition to achieve good governance at sea. Having spoken about sea blindness already, would you count on those leading to take these issues into effect in policy?
LF: I think the first point, the transition from industrial to information age, I think this is a big challenge. This is nothing you can just do automatically. Switching from the industrial to the information age takes time. This issue is not just for the younger generation, it is an issue for my generation and even for those who are little bit younger than I am. A lot of people are still making the assessments and adjustments based on the procedures and experiences that were right and good in the industrial age but which is now overtaken in the information age. And the information age is more than the internet. The social networks are a very important part. The fact that in the information age a hack can be done by a hacker where nobody knows where he’s from, whether it’s his boss telling him now you have to hack the German parliament, or now you have to hack a big company in France or whatever, no one really knows that in the very beginning.
It’s not just the use of the internet and all the advantages which you can take out from networking. This is the second point. Networking is becoming more important. Networking happens all the time. But it’s not only the internet. It’s also the information age as a whole new environment. Think about new technologies and the impact of the industry, all that development and our naval units where you are reliant on the computer system. These all need new thinking. A new mindset. This is very difficult to achieve. It takes time to be aware that not everybody is able or willing to follow you, but this is the real thing. So it’s a big challenge. The challenge is not the technology, the challenge is to understand and to use the new technology to your advantage.
Globalization is an effect, it’s now under pressure again. I always think that there are no ideas without bad sides, and there are bad sides to globalization as well. Maybe the government has to look into that more carefully, but if we go back to nationalist thinking, then we of course are doing the wrong thing, a very dangerous thing. The clear historical experience that nationalism is in the direction of something we do not want. Certain kinds of own interests is always not only acceptable but necessary, and the real impact is that you have to look for your national interest on one hand, but on the other hand balance them with the international interests as well. If you are not able or willing to do that then you are a danger.
Climate change is something very much related to globalization and the change of information age as well. We do not know the final impact of climate change. We only can think about they will change the maritime domain. This will have an impact on everything. The issues and the outcome of climate change, there is only one solution, and this is to prioritize the protection of our maritime domains. Protection of the oceans and the protection of the maritime domain in relation to climate and everything belonging to that, from biodiversity to clean oceans and whatever you may name it, this has a high priority. And it is not a task done by the civilian authorities, the navy must be included as well. They have a responsibility to report and monitor climate protection as well. This is very new to the navy, other things as well, but there is an urgent need to do that. Climate change and the negative sides of climate change are a real challenge. They are a threat.
RH: Admiral Feldt, I want to thank you on behalf of the listeners for such a comprehensive analysis and sobering judgment of the current state of affairs. As we dawn on another sea control podcast, Admiral, do you have any quick operational takeaways for the listeners, or issues related to maritime domain we should keep tabs on?
LF: If you are interested, take some keywords and go into the internet, or even look into the publications. It’s not just Robert Kaplan who publishes a lot of things. There are a lot of authors and scientists who are publishing a lot about the maritime domain and the complexity and they are not only good for students, but for normal people as well. There are sometimes scientists who are able to write in a way everyone can understand it. The awareness is the first method for my side. The second side is that the cooperation and trust and confidence between the different maritime services must be supported as a citizen of my country. I cannot understand that for example how customs is not able to communicate with the navy without taking some risks due to data protection. Data protection is very important, but if data protection is hindering us in providing safety and security, than it has to be questioned.
A lot of people are talking about legal obstacles, who are talking about what we want to do but the law is against us, this is eight out of ten times not the case. They often use the law as shelter not to do something. This is something where citizens must be able to carefully be able to increase security internal and external security in a much more professional way; we are open to information exchange. The internal and external security issue is something which is very crucial thing as well, we have not touched upon that, but it is a very important. You cannot separate internal and external security any longer. And if you do so, you must accept the risk, and you must explain to your citizens why you are doing this, with all the consequences.
My third point is if you love the sea, if you are in favor of the sea, if you are really knowing about the sea, not only from the coast but from the ocean as well, it is much more easier to understand the complexity as well as overcome the challenges. It was a great pleasure for me, thank you very much.
RH: Admiral Feldt, I would say in conclusion, if our listeners want to follow up on the European or international maritime domain, the Routledge Handbook of Naval strategy and Security, edited by Sebastian Bruns and Joachim Krause and published in 2016 is an indispensable resource to have. In addition, please visit www.kielseapowerseries.com for more info on the book and other podcasts derived from the book.
With no shortage of maritime issues in the greater geopolitical landscape, I will be back to keep CIMSEC listeners informed and up to date. From the Institute of Security Policy and its adjunct center for strategy and security, I am Roger Hilton saying farewell and auf wiedersehen.
Vice Admiral Lutz Feldt (ret.) served in the German Navy for 38 years and served as Commander-in-Chief of the German Fleet and Commander-in-Chief of Naval Staff. Since retiring in 2006, Vice Admiral Feldt has taken over several different posts of honor: he was the President of the German Maritime Institute, Bonn, from 2007 to 2012 and is now a member of the Board of the German Maritime Institute, a member of the “Bonner Forum”of the German Atlantic Association; from 2005 until March 2010 he was a member of the advisary board of the “Evangelische ilitärseelsorge”(evangelical miltary religious welfare) and he is still a member of the advisary board of the publication “Schiff und Hafen”, an International Publication for Shipping and Marine Technology. He is director of WEISS Penns International.
Roger Hilton is from Canada and a graduate of the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna where he holds a Master’s Degree in Advanced International Studies. He has previous experience at the Office of the State Minister of Georgia for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration as well as with the delegation of the Kingdom of Belgium at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Since 2017 he is a Non-Resident Academic Fellow at the Center for Maritime Strategy & Security at the Institute for Security Policy at Kiel University in Germany. His research publications concentrate on transatlantic affairs and the post-Soviet sphere.
Cris Lee is Senior Producer of the Sea Control podcast.
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February 20, 2018 Crispinus Lee Leave a comment
RH: Hello and moin moin, Center for International Maritime Security listeners. I am Roger Hilton, a non-resident academic fellow for the Institute for Security Policy at Kiel University, welcoming you back for another listen of the Sea Control podcast.
It is hard to deny the spoils of globalization. Consumer access to a near-endless range of products is sometimes taken for granted. Although the current success of globalization emerged through the exploitation of airspace, outer space, and cyberspace, this feature has led many politicians and experts alike to suffer into complacency when assessing the significance of the maritime domain. Dr. Chris Perry, of Redding University, echoed this sentiment by stating “The sea is the physical manifestation of the world wide web. The absolute engine of globalization.”
Here with us today to provide a tonic to the endemic sea blindness is retired Vice Admiral Lutz Feldt, former Commander-in-Chief of the German Fleet and Commander-in-Chief of Naval Staff. Vice Admiral Feldt has had a distinguished career in the Navy. Since retiring, from 2007 to 2012, he was president of the German Maritime Institute, and has chaired Euro Defense Deutschland for four years, and now is a member of the steering board. As a director of WEISS Penns International, he is working with four retired admirals from France, Italy, Spain, and the UK, and an associate partner from Switzerland on almost all maritime security and defense topics. Admiral Feldt, welcome aboard today.
LF: Good afternoon and it’s a real pleasure to have this opportunity. And I think I very much like your tonic to see with more clarity. I will to create a better clarity for one or the other issues you mentioned and really looking forward to the questions.
RH: Admiral Feldt, you initially positioned your piece by arguing that the maritime domain is radically different today and no longer as well understood as it used to be. Specifically, you cite the introduction of a geographic-centric view of maritime affairs, like a euro-centric, or sino-centric view that is no longer promising or sustainable. To begin with, and to provide some historical context, how was the former maritime domain engaged and you in your professional opinion, what factors have led to changes in doctrine?
LF: Thank you very much. What we have to consider is the fact that for a long time, nobody was really aware of the complexity of the sea. Everything went right, and something went wrong nobody really got upset about that because it was so far away. But to look into the sea nowadays, I come back to your introduction where the sea is a manifestation of the web, I really believe that. That makes it really urgent to really look into these huge domains from a regional perspective. All maritime domains, we call them oceans but we can call them domains as well, they are very different. They have some things in common but most of the things are different. I think that if it’s somebody from Europe or from the West or China’s perspective they are thinking they’re doing something that is appropriate for their region that can be transferred to another region as a solution or an option, but I have my doubts that this will work. Regions are very different. The other point I want to make, is that every region has its own traditional ways to solve problems or to live with the problems. That does mean we have a global common on one hand, but we have multiple regions on the other hand. I am very much in favor of these principles developed to think globally but to act regionally and sometimes even locally.
RH: We touched on it a little bit. Returning to this Modus Operandi of the maritime domain in the 21st century, specifically on how it’s very hard to transfer, can you elaborate on the two major issues that arise within this concept?
LF: One major issue is that we have to solve problems between global perspective on one hand and regional and local perspectives on the other hand. There’s of course another point, which is very much related. The driver is not just the internet, and the networking activities, but the driver of different perspectives years and centuries ago, is of course the development of technology and it is not just the complication of technology, but it is old technology which is not only used in the shipping communities but the navies and the merchant navies as well. We have nowadays a lot of maritime infrastructures in the seas. In my experience, the maritime domain has changed a lot, but a lot of people are still looking into the maritime domain with a different, if I may say so, old-fashioned perspective.
RH: I think this idea of the maritime industry with an old perspective is expressed succinctly in your piece on how for a while it was an area that remained largely self-governing. And as you point out, in terms of the shipping industry, it was over-the-horizon, out of sight, and out of mind, which is no longer the case today, I think you would agree. What do you think is the ability to attract more attention and the catalyst for political policy makers who have been somewhat complacent on the sea and who have taken its importance for granted?
LF: I think there are different interests. I think we need more awareness in our society because we are totally depending on what happens on the sea and under the surface. We need a better knowledge of what is happening at sea, by our political leaders, some scientists who are looking into environmental protection. I think what we need is a better awareness, better understanding of what is happening. If something is happening in the North Sea, this has influences on other regions immediately. And we have some examples for that. If something is happening in the South China Sea, the impact is eight to ten days later in Europe as well. If we are knowing that, perhaps we can think about it, and perhaps we can create some kind of awareness, and we will not always be surprised with that. Therefore I think that to think globally but act regionally is of utmost importance again.
RH: I couldn’t agree with you more. And unfortunately it usually takes a massive natural disaster, or a human disaster, to really attract the attention of the political elite and policymakers. As you state, challenges become more pronounced when problems arise beyond the capabilities of a single nation which is extremely important to recognize. You cite specifically incidents like the Deep Water Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico as well as the Ominco Cadez off the coast of Brittany, France. Consequently you have deduced we are all suffering from sea blindness, potentially not just politicians. Can you elaborate on this powerful metaphor and what this blindness entails?
LF: Sea blindness explains in two words what is our challenge. When some manmade or natural disaster is happening everyone is looking to the sea and asking what have we done to allow this and why have we not done this or that but the sea blindness is going even further. It’s the fact that in our nations, the knowledge about the sea is very limited. Even when we are looking into the huge numbers of people enjoying sea cruises this is only a very small portion and I have my doubts that during their sea cruise they are really learning the importance of the sea as a global commons. I think sea blindness can only be changed and improved by a permanent discussion. I think what we are doing is important to overcome this sea blindness, to give some information. The real thing about that is, the people living ashore are so much depending on very secure sea lines or lines of communications, the highways of the sea as we call them, we are so heavily dependent that we cannot live on with the sea blindness.
I can tell you there is another aspect, of course this is something more political process, I can see in the global context that two or three big countries, for example such as the Russian Federation and China, they have recognized that if they want to live in a safe and secure environment, they have to overcome the sea blindness and they have taken a lot of steps to do that. Western nations are very reluctant to understand that, and this concerns me.
RH: Based on everything you said, I think for our listeners, the two major ways is that we need to educate people not just in maritime security but in the role the sea plays and it also seems important that we need to get individuals with maritime security more involved into civic and political duties. More often leaders and political chiefs are often landsman who lack any type of maritime experience.
LF:May I think when you talk about how to overcome sea blindness, we need what we call a comprehensive view. We need to not only focus on one specific topic like container traffic or the transport of oil and whatever, we have to look at the maritime domain as a whole. And everything that is tackled has an impact on other elements as well. We need a comprehensive plan too, and this makes it really challenging for everyone dealing with that.
RH: Now that we have gone from a broad idea, when dealing with something as global and complex as maritime security, which includes a lot of topics, what is implied by security? And moving forward, how can we define safety and defense in this context?
LF: I think we always trying to make it easy to understand even for ourselves. We have these: safety, security, and defense. It’s very clear. Defense is the responsibility of the navy, maritime and of the air force and naval air arms. Safety is clearly the responsibility of the international maritime organizations, and its well-handled there. I think we have a lot of legal systems which are dealing with them. I have no concerns about safety and some concerns about defense. In the middle of both of them is the issue of security. Security is a mixed issue. It is civilian and military together. On one hand it is where more civilian maritime service s are in the lead, and on specific situations, it is the military that leads with brilliant participation. We have located a definition, where there is no common understanding of what security means in the international community, so everyone is looking for their own understanding and definition, but in essence it is where both parts, civilian and the military community, have to coordinate and cooperate.
RH: Do you think the civilian aspect should take more of a role in governing security as opposed to the military?
LF: It is clear in a lot of operations, which are ongoing around the world, not only the cooperation but coordination is essential for success. Some military, some naval commanders, think they are the only ones who can fix the problem, which isn’t right, if I may say clearly. They need a civilian contribution and I imagine that for a lot of situations, for example if it is a civil-military operation, the civilian part, the coast guard or the law enforcement agency, is in the lead, and the military is in support of that.
RH: Some of your findings resulted in an interesting recasting of the subject matter, as maritime insecurity issues as opposed to maritime security issues. Would you like to defend this recasting to the audience?
LF: If we look into the actual maritime domains, we found more insecurity than security. We are not only talking about European oceans and seas, but we are talking about other areas as well, where the insecurity comes from the lack of willingness to cooperate and to coordinate. To be able to cooperate and coordinate you need a well-functioning information exchange system or mentality. This is something which takes a long time. We need a mindset change going from what we need to know to need to share, where need to share is something different from need to know. We can even go a step forward and say there is a responsibility to share critical information not only within your fellows in the navy or customs or fishery protection. We need a better information exchange that includes all maritime services. And of course it is the responsibility of every community.
RH: Well as we try to rectify this perceived maritime insecurity, your piece makes the argument that there is a perception that the concept of security is not so much a definable condition as it is but an essential feeling. Specifically, as a conditional state of something that may happen, rather than an existential danger. As we know, the term security, and its integration into the lexicon of international relations jargon and institutions like NATO and EU has to some degree been mischaracterized. With all of this apparent confusion, can you clarify how we should be using the word security?
LF: The word security is very popular. There is an inflation of who uses it .Security has everything to do, in the first role, as something to protect and secure the life and wellness of the people of your country. I think this is very important. The second one is of course, if you go further out, it is the well-being of your neighboring nations and of your partners in an alliance. In the third role you are talking about global security. Global security is founded in part on treaties, agreements, and conventions and in this case I think the International Maritime Organization is a good provider for the global part, and some regional organizations are good providers for the regional parts. But on the other hand I think the real important thing about that is, you are aware that there is a responsibility to secure the nation’s territory and citizens from all threats which are coming from the sea, which has a real impact on their well-being and their lives and on their security. For example piracy is something that had happened far away from the European countries but it had a direct impact on our lives, not only on the lives of the seafarers who have been captured and very badly treated by the pirates, but on the impact of our lives as a whole. The same for smuggling and human trafficking and now for the Europeans it is a challenge to find a way to save the big numbers of migrants who want to join Europe using Mediterranean as a sea which they want to overcome to go to Europe, to Italy, Spain, Turkey, and Greece.
RH: As we established consequently, security in the maritime encompasses elements of safety and defense that expand both into civilian and military domain. But, as we continue our deep dive into the issue, any discussion and analysis will be incomplete without acknowledging risk assessments. Can you describe the four criteria used to describe maritime risk, why should landlocked states care about these assessment factors?
LF: I think we are all connected in a global economy, on cultural issues as well. Of course economy is where it’s easy to understand. Landlocked countries of course need the global logistics chain, a port in which goods are coming by sea into the port and then following the railroad track or the truck track into the country. As we know, most goods, at least for a certain amount of time are transported by sea so I know that for example, one important port for landlocked countries is Hamburg, others in Poland. These landlocked countries have good relations with the ports and in history, even some ownership parts in these ports. This has now changed with the European Union with free access and they can do treaties and the logistics is working very well. So I think the landlocked countries are really benefiting from safe and secure maritime domain directly. For example, one very landlocked country like Luxembourg contributed to the anti-piracy operation by donating a plane for sea surveillance which we all appreciated very much because it is not just that they are benefiting from the sea but they have to contribute as well.
Yes, the risk assessment, it’s different from region to region. If you ask the people in Greenland what their greatest threat is, they will say oil spill. If you go to other regions, it is terrorism. Now for Europe, a big risk, and if we do not handle it the right way, is human trafficking and illegal immigration which is something that can endanger the stability of our nations as well. My point is we have to handle this in the right and appropriate way in line with all of our human rights and interests. Narcotics and arms trafficking is a real big deal and will continue to be. And I have to say, some years ago perhaps I wouldn’t have said, we have to look to the Navy-to-Navy engagements at small- to medium-sized fleets as well. That is something of a real concern. If you are talking about maritime interests, it is the importance of securing the exclusive economic zones, the different countries, and the huge amounts of dispute between countries, not just the South China Sea, but in other areas as well, something which can create a risk, which can become a threat. And as I’ve mentioned, environmental degradation and dumping of toxic waste, or illegal pumping of oil water into the sea and all these kinds affect maritime insecurity, collisions, and wreckings from bad navigation and bad training, those are all risks and some of the risks can become greater threats as well.
RH: Some important figures I wanted to share for our listeners specifically for those living in the EU. According to the European Atlas of the Sea and its examination of Europe’s eight sea basins, it found the following statistics which are very important to recognize. The EU has 70,000 kilometers of coastline. Almost half of the EU citizens or roughly 371 million people, including the United Kingdom, live within 50 kilometers of the sea. Almost 40 percent of Europe’s GDP is generated from its maritime regions. 90 percent of the EU’s foreign trade is conducted through sea. Against this backdrop and figures and our previous discussion on risk assessment, how do these criteria affect the current European theatre?
LF: I can tell you, it’s creating a big impact. What is good news in this case, it took some time for the European Union and member states to recognize the importance of the sea. I will come back to sea blindness, but of course they were focused on other internal issues. The financial reasons were very high on the topic. The first step taken by the commission, together with the parliament and the council, was the development of an integrated maritime policy. That was focusing on all aspects that we have already mentioned, not only the commercial ones but the environmental ones. This integrated maritime policy excluded the defense part of the whole maritime domain due to the fact that this has been changed with the Treaty of Lisbon, until then there was a clear division between the European common defense and security policy. But this has changed now and for good reasons. One reason for that is what you have mentioned. Therefore I think the geography of Europe is like a peninsula. If you look at a map you can see this. We have ports in the south, in the north, and in the middle. We have all we need, but it must function well; it must be secure. Therefore the combination of what I have mentioned before; a lot of civilian economic actions are important, but you must include in these commercial approach the coast guard on one hand, and the navy on the other hand as well. If somebody is thinking he can increase security only by civilian means and by diplomacy, I think that will not improve security, it will bring us back to insecurity.
RH: I couldn’t agree with you more. Just for the listeners: think about how access to the ports are easy, it also makes it easy to complicate global freedom of navigation and we’ve touched on this topic without discussing security threats, specifically how your piece recognizes that of A2/AD. Keeping with the EU theme, admiral, Brussels must coordinate with an extensive list of authorities in the maritime domain with the objective of protecting a maritime picture in the local, regional, and global level. Can you identify the six functions you’ve mentioned as they relate to maritime safety and security in the member states?
LF: I think we have a lot of maritime services, but I would like to mention the six of them which are the key players. This is of course customs, fisheries protection, border control, law enforcement, and also it is the marine environmental protection. I think these are the big players if they are establishing a good and trustful exchange of information. Even with a little bit of specific tasks, safety and security will increase. And of course, I didn’t mention the defense issue. Then of course, the defense will have only a preventive task. And if all the others are exchanging their information and doing their job together and not in a stovepiped manner, then of course it will be much more easier for the navies to participate and to act in accordance with their really core tasks to protect citizens and their national interests, and in this case, EU interest.
RH: As we’ve established how the EU is trying to create a picture on the local, regional, and global level, you stated in your piece how the sixteen maritime surveillance-related initiatives sadly work in isolation from one another. Consequently, what is the impact of this disjointed surveillance on the EU?
LF: This is something where I can say we have reached a lot of progress. The fact that it really worked in isolation, and the fact that this was no longer acceptable and the fact that the Commission was developing this integrated maritime policy, that all started a process for better information exchange, better surveillance in the European Union. Therefore, for example, the fisheries protection, border control, and customs already reached a much higher level of information exchange then it was two or three years ago. That is a really big improvement. I am in this case very optimistic, that the current situation in the Mediterranean, and other maritime domains, will help to even improve it further on. We have reached more than I expected in a limited time. We all have to accept that the still 28 and possible future 27 members of the European Union are sovereign states with their own decisions. It takes some time to bring them together and convince the participants to change their minds from the need-to-know to the responsibility to share mentality, but this needs time. And if someone is pressing too much, too high, then the outcome will not be better. It has achieved a lot and I am optimistic that this progress will continue. There is room for improvement. It is still on the way of the right direction.
RH: Just for the record, as we spoke about earlier, as in this case again, it has taken a disastrous migration crisis for the EU and other areas to coordinate and better implement maritime policy. With so much dysfunction though, what has been the response from the European Commission to rectify this?
LF: You’re right. This is something where it’s not a functional problem. It is a problem of, if I may say so, a problem of political will, to do something before the crisis arrives. The EU has a very far developed crisis management system. But if the member states are not providing the essence, the political will to participate, then of course, it would be very difficult to get the crisis management process working. The loss of so many lives in the Mediterranean, and in certain degrees in other areas as well, is what brought the commission and the parliament and the council together to these initiatives with the Operation Sofia in the Mediterranean in the one hand and Operation Sea Guardian by NATO on the other hand. And the frontline operations in the Italian coasts as well. But the dysfunction, if I may say so, I wouldn’t call it a dysfunction. This has been taken over by events, and the cooperation as I mentioned, there is room for improvement, but the actual situation and the actual operations are as good as they could be. But there is a lack of units, a lack of aircraft to survey and to identify the people who are distressed, and this is a decision, a sovereign decision by the member states, what they contribute and if they contribute. This is something at the moment where all the navies are very short on capacity, the boats and the aircraft, and this is something that is a real concern. So what we need is not only better coordination and collaboration, we need more assets to do our business. We have missed the turnaround point, and now we need some time before we get the capacity.
RH: Keeping on the issue of burden-sharing and improving performance, recently the European parliament proposed the formation of a European Coast Guard. It was met with mixed reaction from the member states as you said earlier, in terms of the sovereignty being guaranteed. What is your take on the initiative, and will its creation serve to help manage the maritime domain with more efficiency based on our previous discussion?
LF: I think the coast guard is an important player in all the issues which we have mentioned. They are acting already as a link between the navies and the civilian authorities and they are doing great work not just in the Mediterranean but in other parts of the world as well. But in Europe with 27 member states, we have different solutions for coast guard functions. If you go for a European Coast Guard, you have to consider that all of the European nations have different constructs. For some nations, the coast guard is part of the defense ministry, in others its part of the ministry of the interior, in some it’s on their own. So it is very difficult in such a federated situation to have the idea of a coast guard as one. If I look at my country, in Germany, we do not have a coast guard. We have the combination of different issues, you can call them a coast guard but from an organizational and responsibility view, it is not a coast guard like the U.S. for example. And there is another point which you can make. The coast guard function, which is the approach taken by the EU, I appreciate that, some countries are using their maritime assets, navy assets, law enforcement, they use them and task them to do coast guard functions. In France for example, this is a very successful thing, but France as a country is differently organized, not federally organized, centrally organized, and then things are different. And so, I think it is a good idea for a European Coast Guard, but in this case, the devil lies in the details.
RH: Well from hearing about most EU projects, I think there is a disconnect between theory and what will happen in implementation. But still an interesting thing for listeners to keep at the top of their head. Finally, can you just comment really quickly on the informal meetings between the European navies, Chiefs of the European Navies (CHENS), and how they’ve evolved since its original meeting in 2003?
LF: I have learned that informal meetings are sometimes producing more outcomes than formal meetings. I appreciate these chance meetings. I was part of that for some time and I can tell you that these discussions which we have inside the heads of the European navies, and always having invited the U.S., Canada, and for a certain time Russia as well, which is now not the case. That was a very good exchange. The big thing about this: it is informal, and you can really achieve trust and confidence building, and you can create a network at the highest level. And this is something which cannot be overestimated. The value of informal meetings is much higher than a lot of people realize as many are in favor of formal meetings.
It’s not just the heads of the European navies, there are several coast guards, as well as in other regions, we have the North Atlantic Coast Guard forums, Arctic Coast Guard forum, the Mediterranean coast guard forum, so during these meetings of the coast guard forum, the navies are always invited. Today, even other maritime services are invited. They are executing this comprehensiveness, and the outcomes are studies, sometimes documentation, which do not have a formal character, but which influence the processes to achieve better cooperation and therefore I am very much in favor of these informal meetings.
Stay tuned for Part 2!
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Great Power Cooperation and the Role of International Organizations
April 19, 2017 Guest Author Leave a comment
Note: Original title of essay: “Great Power Cooperation and the Role of International Organizations and Agreements.”
NAFAC Week
By Emil Krauch
Europe after World War II: cities, towns, and villages completely destroyed, millions displaced and homeless, a silent air of terror and desperation still palpable. Never before had a war been so bloody and gruesome. Everyone suffered, victor and vanquished alike. The results were bleak — civilian deaths outnumbered combatant deaths by a factor of two.1 Those lucky to survive faced a grim post-conflict situation that almost surpassed the war in its direness. Many countries had serious supply issues of food, fuel, clothing, and other necessary items. Never again. Another conflict had to be avoided at all cost.
The atrocities of World War II have led to the creation of a union of countries that is unprecedented in its cooperation and interdependence. I intend to explore the European Union as an international collaboration of great powers, and to make the case for its importance and success.
Cooperation began in 1951 with the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).2 It set forth a free trade agreement of certain goods between Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany. To organize and enforce this agreement, the ECSC also created a set of supranational institutions that served as models to later institutions of the EU. In 1957 the ECSC members signed the two Treaties of Rome that went further to not just expand the existing to a comprehensive free trade agreement, but to a real common market. This European Economic Community (EEC) allowed the free movement of goods, capital, services, and people, inhibited internal market advantages, and — most notably — created a common unified ‘foreign’ trade policy. The following Single European Act (1987) and Maastricht Treaty (1993) significantly increased the scope of the Union to non-economic affairs and increased the power of the European institutions. Critically, the power of the directly elected European Parliament was increased. It was also at this time that the small village of Schengen in Luxembourg became known for the named-after agreement that gradually let people travel between EU countries without checkpoints. By the early 2000s more and more countries had joined the Union and many introduced the Euro as their single currency. The last 10 years of EU history can be described as its ‘decade of crisis’ with the failing of the Greek economy, a rise in Euroscepticism, the migration crisis, and the exit of Britain weakening the strength of the Union.
It has left a mark. A recent study coordinated by the European Commission found that only 36 percent of EU citizens “trust the European Union.”3 Many political commentators and the general public appear to agree that the EU “suffers from a severe democratic deficit.”4 Is this really justified?
The EU has has two channels of democratic legitimacy. The first is the European Parliament (EP), elected every 5 years by the population of the member states. The elections are very national affairs, lacking high public participation, where votes on existing national parties are cast, with these parties mostly judged on their performance on national issues. This creates a feeling of disconnect in the general population, the delegates’ successes and failures generally don’t sway the voters when ballots are cast. Stemming from the fact that campaigning in 28 countries of different cultures and languages is very difficult, these problems nonetheless need to be rectified. The second channel is the Council of the European Union which is made up of 10 different configurations of 28 national ministers, depending on subject matter. For example, finance ministers will form the Council when debating economic policy. To pass any proposal, both the Council and the EP have to pass it. Earlier criticisms of a lack of transparency in the Council were remedied in 2007 (through the Lisbon Treaty) by making all legislative votes and discussions of the Council public.5 Laws themselves are drafted by the European Commission (EC). The President of the Commission is selected by the EU heads of state, the 27 other Commissioners are selected by the Council and then either are accepted or not accepted, as a team, by a vote of the Parliament. The members of the Commission have often come under fire by critics, e.g. Nigel Farage in 2014: “ [The EU] is being governed by unelected bureaucrats.”6 In reality the Commission is more of a civil servant, than a government. It does not have the power to pass laws, or act outside the boundaries set by the EP and the Council. Other criticism (e.g it’s role as the sole initiator of legislation) is very credible. On what grounds Mr. Farage calls the Commissioners “unelected” though, can’t be quite comprehended.
Together with the other institutions (mainly Court and Central Bank), the EU therefore represents a group of supranational institutions that have a very democratic, but unique structure due to a cooperation of many culturally different nations; critics have to acknowledge this.
The question that has come up many times during the Union’s existence remains: “What has the EU ever done for us?” For one, it has created seven free trade agreement between the countries of Europe which, most economists would agree, is beneficial to all members of the EU. A recently published paper constructed counterfactual models of European nation’s economic performance, simulating them never having joined the EU.8 The results show substantially better actual performance over the counterfactual models for all member countries, except Greece. The Greek underperformance can’t be explained solely due to the economic crisis of the current era. Greece actually has had a growth rate above the EU average during its time in the single currency, a hasty opening of the uncompetitive domestic market when it joined in 1981, and a lack of structural reform has led to the deficit. Next to the often-noted other benefits of the EU, such as the ability to work and study abroad, the unified action really makes it possible to tackle issues with the necessary vigor that they demand – economic reform, security issues, consumer protection, climate change, justice, and so forth. The problems that exist in the EU today (e.g. migration crisis), wouldn’t disappear if the Union would be dissolved tomorrow. Tackling these problems as a block makes the solutions more transparent, more efficient, and more effective. Criticism of EU red tape must take into account the opposing situation of standalone bilateral agreements between 28 countries.
All of this is not the most remarkable achievement of the EU. One must go back to its origins: great nations with limited resources, at close proximity. The necessity of fighting and winning a war against the evil of Nazi Germany was clear. What arguments of morality did earlier conflicts have? Often there were none. Power struggles between the elites of European countries have plagued the continent for millennia.9 Germany and France have fought four major wars in the last 200 years. Could World War One be initiated as easily in today’s landscape of democratic European countries? Perhaps not. It does show, however, the susceptibility of the European continent to unsustainable nationalistic and expansionist ideas.
This is the greatest achievement of the EU. It has maintained peace between the large and small countries that it envelopes, on a continent that was plagued by war for thousands of years.
Originally from Heidelberg, Germany, Emil Krauch is a second year mechanical engineering student at the ETH in Zurich, Switzerland. He is actively involved in the school’s Model United Nations and Debate Clubs, and will start work as a University teacher’s assistant this upcoming semester. After receiving his Bachelor’s degree, Emil plans to pursue a graduate education in both engineering and business.
1. Yahya Sadowski, “The Myth of Global Chaos,” (1998) p. 134.
2. European Union, “Overview Council of the European Union,” https://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/institutions-bodies/council-eu_en (accessed 28.03.2017).
3. TNS Opinion, “Standard Eurobarometer 86 – Autumn 2016,” (2016) doi:10.2775/196906 http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-16-4493_en.htm (accessed 29.03.2017).
4. Andrew Moravcsik, “In defence of the ‘Democratic Deficit’: Reassessing Legitimacy in the European Union*,” JCMS 2002 volume 40, number 4, (2002) pp. 603-24 https://www.princeton.edu/~amoravcs/library/deficit.pdf (accessed 27.03.2017).
6. Nigel Farage.,“Unelected Commission is the Government of Europe – Nigel Farage on Finnish TV,” MTV3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1rfNlJMsFw (accessed 28.03.2017).
7. Kayleigh Lewis, “What has the European Union ever done for us?,” Independent (24.05.2016) http:// www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/eu-what-has-european-union-done-for-us-david-cameron-brexit-a6850626.html (accessed on 29.03.2017).
8. Campos, Coricelli, and Moretti, “Economic Growth and Political Integration: Estimating the Benefits from Membership in the European Union Using the Synthetic Counterfactuals Method.”
9. Sandra Halperin, “War and Social Change in Modern Europe: The Great Transformation Revisited,” (2003) p. 235-236.
Arnold-Foster, Mark. “The World at War” (1974).
Campos, Coricelli, and Moretti. “Economic Growth and Political Integration: Estimating the Benefits from Membership in the European Union Using the Synthetic Counterfactuals Method.” IZA Discussion Paper No. 8162 (April 2014) http://anon-ftp.iza.org/dp8162.pdf (accessed 29.03.2017).
Encyclopaedia Britannica. “European Union.” https://www.britannica.com/topic/European-Union (accessed 27.-29.03.2017).
European Union. “Overview Council of the European Union.” https://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/institutions-bodies/council-eu_en (accessed 28.03.2017).
Farage, Nigel. “Unelected Commission is the Government of Europe – Nigel Farage on Finnish TV.” MTV3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1rfNlJMsFw (accessed 28.03.2017).
Halperin, Sandra. “War and Social Change in Modern Europe: The Great Transformation Revisited.” (2003) p. 235-236.
Lewis, Kayleigh. “What has the European Union ever done for us?.” Independent (24.05.2016) http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/eu-what-has-europeanunion-done-for-us-david-cameron-brexit-a6850626.html (accessed on 29.03.2017).
Moravcsik, Andrew. “In defence of the ‘Democratic Deficit’: Reassessing Legitimacy in the European Union*.” JCMS 2002 volume 40, number 4, (2002) pp. 603-24 https://www.princeton.edu/~amoravcs/library/deficit.pdf (accessed 27.03.2017).
Sadowski, Yahya M. “The Myth of Global Chaos.” (1998) p. 134.
Schneider, Christian. “The Role of Dysfunctional International Organizations in World Politics.” http://www.news.uzh.ch/dam/jcr:ffffffff-d4e5-28e2-0000-000000b8fd0e/Dissertation_ChristianSchneider.pdf (accessed 27.03.2017).
Terry, Chris. “Close the Gap. Tackling Europe’s democratic deficit.” Electoral Reform Society(2014) https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/sites/default/files/Tackling-Europesdemocratic-deficit.pdf (accessed 27.03.2017).
TNS Opinion. “Standard Eurobarometer 86 – Autumn 2016.” (2016) doi:10.2775/196906 http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-16-4493_en.htm (accessed 29.03.2017).
Featured Image: European Union member states’ flags flying in front of the building of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, April 21, 2004. (Reuters/Vincent Kessler)
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Africa, Europe
European Answers for African Questions?
March 31, 2017 Guest Author Leave a comment
Maritime Security Topic Week
By Dirk Siebels
Maritime security challenges have received increasing attention in Europe in recent years. In 2014, the Council of the European Union adopted the first EU Maritime Security Strategy which includes a comprehensive definition of maritime security from a European standpoint. The EU understands it “as a state of affairs of the global maritime domain, in which international law and national law are enforced, freedom of navigation is guaranteed and citizens, infrastructure, transport, the environment and marine resources are protected.” In short, maritime security comprises much more than the traditional questions related to seapower and naval strategies.
Furthermore, the document underlines the EU’s capacity to engage with other organizations such as the African Union which “has a direct impact on its ability to safeguard its interests and to strengthen regional and international maritime security.” Africa matters, not only because of migrants boarding rickety boats in Libya to embark on a dangerous trip to Europe. At the same time, European and African governments often have different agendas, underlined by the many challenges to maritime security emanating from the African coastline.
Narrow Focus in the Indian Ocean
Counter-piracy operations in the Indian Ocean are a perfect example of a maritime security challenge. When attacks by Somalia-based groups became a major worry for the shipping industry, the international community quickly reacted. The EU launched its ‘Operation Atalanta’ in 2008, complemented by other task forces from various NATO countries and other countries like Japan and China, who deployed independently of the task forces.
The question of whether attacks by Somali pirates really justified the large-scale military response is open for debate. Nevertheless, European involvement in the fight against the perceived threat on one of the world’s busiest shipping routes underlined the importance of maritime trade routes for the continent. Almost without warning, European maritime security was suddenly threatened by men armed with AK-47s and RPGs in small skiffs rather than more traditional scenarios that military planners had always imagined.
Capturing suspected pirates off the coast of Somalia. Image courtesy of the European Union Naval Force. Somalia, 2012.
From a European perspective, the naval response to this non-traditional threat has been largely successful. Even though military officers and shipping industry representatives agree that the threat remains dormant and could resurface in the future, the number of attacks by Somali pirates dropped significantly within a short time. That success was made possible by unprecedented cooperation between naval forces and the shipping industry, as well as self-protection measures of merchant vessels, including the use of privately contracted armed security personnel. At the same time, the EU and other international organizations were heavily involved in capacity-building on land in Somalia.
Successful counter-piracy operations notwithstanding, maritime security in the Indian Ocean region has not been strengthened by a narrow focus during these operations. Whether through the EU or on a bilateral basis, European governments would have the capacities to provide assistance for sustainable projects in African countries. New European-built infrastructure, however, has not been linked to existing organizational structures, namely to the regional economic communities (RECs). Cooperation with security agencies in East Africa has also been limited. As a retired admiral from a NATO nation put it, “We have talked a lot about the region since our navies started operating in the Indian Ocean, but we have not talked a lot with people from the region.”
Failed integration of the RECs is arguably the most notable problem for the long-term sustainability of regional maritime security capacities. These organizations are the cornerstone for peace and security on the African continent. While ambitious plans for the African Peace and Security Architecture have not materialized yet, strengthening capacities within existing organisations would certainly be more sustainable than creating parallel structures in the context of counter-piracy operations.
EU NAVFOR piracy incidents (EU NAVFOR—Atalanta photos)
Somali piracy has never been high on the agenda of governments in East Africa. Attention for maritime topics in general remains limited but problems such as smuggling of drugs and weapons, the illegal wildlife trade or illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing are a much higher priority. In some countries, notably in Mozambique and Tanzania, security for the fledgling offshore gas industry is another important issue. European partners would be well-advised to take these priorities into consideration.
Broad challenges in West Africa
West Africa is another region where piracy has been the most headline-grabbing maritime security problem in recent years.i From a European point of view, these attacks are less of a threat since they do not take place close to a major international shipping route. Nevertheless, the EU became involved, underlined by the ‘Strategy on the Gulf of Guinea’ and the ‘Gulf of Guinea Action Plan 2015-2020.’ Both documents highlight the EU’s strategic objectives in West Africa: a common understanding of threats, support for multi-agency institutions in the region, strengthened cooperation structures, and above all, the development of prosperous economies.
Practical measures, however, have been extremely limited. In October 2016, the Gulf of Guinea Inter-regional Network (GoGIN) was launched, a four-year, €9.3m project supported by the EU and the government of Denmark. The aim of the project is the allocation of funds to regional or national endeavors to promote maritime security and combat piracy. Like CRIMGO, its predecessor project, GoGIN will be implemented by Expertise France, the French development agency. The agency undoubtedly possesses a lot of regional knowledge in West Africa but it is also a vital tool for the French government to secure political influence, particularly in francophone countries.
Capacity building in West Africa does not have to include large-scale financial commitments by partners from Europe or elsewhere. Similar to East Africa, however, it requires a focus on regional priorities to be sustainable. In the past, European involvement in the provision of maritime security in West Africa has largely been limited to the fight against piracy and armed robbery and, on a more limited scale, against drug smuggling on maritime routes.
Similar to East Africa, however, the priorities of regional governments are notably different from those of the EU. For many countries in West Africa, illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing is the most important threat in the maritime environment, even though it is not a traditional security concern. Limited maritime situational awareness and almost non-existent law enforcement at sea are aspects that will not be changed overnight but even small-scale NGO projects have shown that improvements are possible even in the short term. European governments certainly have the necessary capacities to provide assistance, but political will is an entirely different question.
Even in areas that are more closely related to traditional maritime security threats, European involvement in West Africa is generally not based on long-term planning. Training courses and other projects are rarely coordinated among partners, availability of relevant personnel is not taken into consideration, and overall goals are unlikely to be based on the priorities of partners in West Africa. Such criticism is mentioned time and again in conversations with naval officers and law enforcement officials from West Africa but does not seem to reach Europe.
European maritime security may not be directly threatened by challenges off the African coastline, but they certainly have an influence on Europe. Addressing these challenges as early as possible would be important to prevent a possible escalation, yet that is true for security challenges in general. Due to the international nature of the maritime environment, however, a lack of security at sea is likely to have an impact on several countries, creating the need for multinational solutions.
The European Union is in a unique position to strengthen maritime security, both at home and abroad. In theory, the combination of civilian and military measures is the perfect fit for a broad range of largely non-traditional maritime security challenges, ranging from piracy and armed robbery at sea to IUU fishing. In practice, however, the EU’s potential is often wasted by concentrating on areas that are important for European governments while failing to address the agendas of partnering governments.
In the Indian Ocean, counter-piracy operations have been very successful but based on a very narrow mandate. Other challenges to maritime security in the region have hardly been addressed so far. This might change in the future; amending the Djibouti Code of Conduct in January 2017 certainly was a step in the right direction. The document was adopted by governments around the western Indian Ocean in 2009 but originally was only concerned with the suppression of piracy. It took signatories around eight years to broaden the document with the Jeddah Amendment, signalling their intention to strengthen the ‘blue economy.’
In West Africa, a similar document was already adopted in 2013 and the European Union has signaled its intention to support implementation. So far, however, that support has been sketchy at best, and one of the EU’s main goals, the development of prosperous economies around the Gulf of Guinea, remains elusive. Addressing maritime security challenges alone will not immediately lead to economic growth, but it would certainly be an important step. The focus on maritime security in the wider context of the ‘blue economy,’ however, is not a traditional task for navies in Europe and will require better coordination between a wide range of partners such as governments, NGOs, and law enforcement agencies outside the military.
Dirk Siebels works as an analyst for Risk Intelligence. His research areas include maritime security issues in sub-Saharan Africa and he presents regularly at academic and military research institutions on related topics. Before starting to work in his current role, Dirk served as an officer in the German Navy and worked as a journalist and PR consultant for several years. He holds an MA in International Studies from Durham University and is currently working on a PhD in maritime security at the University of Greenwich. The views presented here are those of the author.
i West Africa in this context includes all coastal and island nations between Senegal in the north and Angola in the south. These countries are members of ECOWAS or ECCAS, the two regional economic communities for West and Central Africa, and have adopted the Yaoundé Code of Conduct to strengthen maritime security in the region.
Featured Image:Italian Frigate Scirocco Rescues Somali Fishermen (EU-NAVFOR)
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Tag Archives: spratly islands
Asia-Pacific, Capability Analysis
The Concept of ‘Reach’ in Grasping China’s Active Defense Strategy: Part II
June 21, 2016 Guest Author Leave a comment
This publication was originally featured on Bharat Shakti and is republished with permission. It may be read in its original form here.
By Vice Admiral Pradeep Chauhan AVSM & Bar, VSM, IN (Ret.)
Editor-in-Chief’s Note
Part I of this two-part article introduced the geoeconomic and geostrategic imperatives that shape China’s geopolitical drives. It also presented the overarching concept of “reach” as an aid to understanding the international import of China’s military strategy. Read Part I here.
In this second and concluding part of the article series the author explores Chinese strategic intent and its ramifications. The article provides an account of the naval facilities China is promoting or constructing on disputed islands among littoral states of the Indian Ocean; assesses China’s economic linkages with African nations; and projects the growth curve of the Chinese Navy, all of which are important to keep in view while analyzing the trajectory of Chinese geo-strategic intent.
By emphasizing the factor of temporal strategic-surprise (in contrast to spatial surprise), the author offers clues to understanding the links between China’s military strategy and her geopolitical international game-moves as they are being played out within a predominantly maritime paradigm. As in the famous Chinese game of Go—perhaps a more apt analogy than chess—the People’s Republic is putting in place the pieces that will shape her desired geopolitical space. The author explores the spatial and temporal dimensions of the Chinese strategy and the related vulnerabilities of the opposing Indian establishment.
In his 2006 dissertation written at the US Army War College then-Lt. Col Christopher J. Pehrson, USAF, termed the Chinese geostrategy the “String of Pearls.” This expression, first used in January 2005 in a report to U.S. military officials prepared by the U.S. consulting firm of Booz Allen Hamilton, caught the attention of the world’s imagination. Pehrson posited China as a slightly sinister, rising global power, playing a new strategic game, as grandiose in its concept, formulation and execution as the “Great Game” of the 19th century. Despite vehement and frequent denials by Chinese leadership of any such geostrategic machinations designed at the accumulation of enhanced geopolitical and geoeconomic power and influence, the expression rapidly embedded itself into mainstream consciousness.
China’s One Road, One Belt economic infrastructure initiative. (Chinausfocus.com)
As a net result, for over a decade, China has chafed under the opprobrium heaped upon it for a concept that (to be fair) it had never once articulated by the state. However, in a brilliant rebranding exercise by Beijing in 2014, the world’s attention is being increasingly drawn away from the negative connotations associated with the phrase String of Pearls and towards the more benign-sounding 21st century Maritime Silk Route Economic Belt, also known as “One Road, One Belt.” This presents an alternative expression, while it nevertheless covers essentially the very same geostrategic maritime game-plays that Colonel Pehrson explained a decade ago. The new expression emphasizes transregional inclusiveness and evokes the romance of a shared pan-Asian history with the implied promise of a reestablishment of the economic prosperity that the Asian continent’s major civilizational and socio-cultural entities, namely China and India, enjoyed until the 18th century.
Each “pearl” in the String of Pearls construct—or in more contemporary parlance, each “node” along the Maritime Silk Route—is a link in a chain of Chinese geopolitical and geostrategic influence. For example, Hainan Island, with its recently upgraded military facilities and sheltered submarine base, is a pearl/node.
It is by no means necessary for a line joining these pearls/nodes to encompass mainland China in one of the concentric ripples typified by the Island Chains strategy. In fact, since the Maritime Silk Route is a true maritime construct, it is highly unlikely that the nodes would do so.
The location of Hainana Province, China. (chinahighlights.com)
Other pearls/nodes include the recent creation of artificial islands in the Paracel and Spratly islands incorporating, inter alia, the ongoing construction/upgrade of airstrips on Woody Island—located in the Paracel Islands, some 300 nm east of Vietnam—as also on Mischief Reef and Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratly Islands. Additional pearls/nodes have been obtained through Chinese investments in Cambodia and China’s continuing interest in Thailand’s Isthmus of Kra.
China’s development of major maritime infrastructure abroad—the container terminal in Chittagong, Bangladesh; the Maday crude oil terminal in Myanmar’s Kyakpyu port; the development of ports such as Hambantota in Sri Lanka, Gwadar in Pakistan, Bagamoyo in Tanzania, Beira in Mozambique, Walvis Bay in Namibia, Kribi in Cameroon, the Djibouti Multipurpose Port (DMP), and the offer to even develop Chabahar in Iran (checkmated by a belated but vigorous Indian initiative), along with the successful establishment of a military (naval) base in Djibouti—all constitute yet more pearls/nodes. The development of an atoll in the Seychelles, oil infrastructure projects in Sudan and Angola, and the financing of newly discovered massive gas finds in offshore areas of Mozambique, Tanzania and the Comoros, are similarly recently acquired pearls/nodes. Even Australia yields a pearl/node, as does South Africa, thanks to Chinese strategic investment in mining in general and uranium-mining companies in particular, in both countries.
Chinese maritime policing vessel. (SCMP.com)
From an Indian perspective, China’s new strategic maritime-constructs (by whichever name) are simultaneously operative on a number of levels, several of which are predominantly economic in nature and portend nothing more than fierce competition. At the geostrategic level, however, the economy is at its apex and is China’s and India’s greatest strength and greatest vulnerability, at the same time; therefore, the economy is the centerpiece of the policy and strategy of both countries. This is precisely why, as the geographical competition space between India and China coincide in the Indian Ocean, there is a very real possibility of competition transforming into conflict, particularly as the adverse effects of climate change on resources and the available land area becomes increasingly more evident.
“Reach” has both spatial and temporal dimensions. The spatial facets of China’s geopolitical moves are evident, as illustrated in the preceding String of Pearls discussion. It is critical for India’s geopolitical and military analysts to also understand the temporal facets of this construct. The terms short term, medium term and long term are seldom used with any degree of digital precision. A nation tends to keep its collective “eye on the ball” in the short term and, by corollary, tends to assign far less urgency to something that is assigned to the long term. This ill-defined differentiation is how strategic surprise may be achieved in the temporal plane. For instance, in China, the short term generally implies 30 to 50 years. This is an epoch that is far in excess of what in India passes as the long term. Consequently, India fails to pay as close attention to developments in China as she might have were the developments to unfold in a duration corresponding to India’s own short term of 2-5 years. This distinction permits China to achieve strategic surprise, and this is as true of military strategy as it is of grand strategy and geoeconomics.
On the one hand, it should be remembered that these strategic constructs are not only about maritime infrastructure projects, involving the construction of ports, pipelines and airfields, though these developments constitute their most obvious and visibly worrisome manifestation. The strategy is equally about new, renewed or reinvigorated geopolitical and diplomatic ties between the People’s Republic of China and nation states across a very wide geographical swath (including the African littoral and the island nations of both the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean). On the other hand, China’s strategic maritime constructs have some important military spin-offs, which closely align to the furtherance of geostrategic reach. Thus, by developing friendly ports of call (if not bases), facilities and favorable economic dependencies in the various pearls/nodes, the logistics involved in the event of an engagement in maritime power-projection are greatly eased.
Type 904 (Dayun Class) Transport Ship (globalmil.com)
Supplementing the pearls/nodes are the Chinese Navy’s five impressive stores/ammunition supply ships of the Dayun Class (Type 904) and six underway replenishment tankers of the Qiandaohu Class (Type 903A). In addition, China requires ground control stations to meet her satellite-based needs of real-time surveillance. Unlike the United States, China simply does not have adequate ground control/tracking stations within the Indian Ocean to affect requisite ground control and real-time downlinking of her remote-sensing satellites. This forces her to deploy a number of ships (the Yuanwang Class) for this purpose. These constitute a severe vulnerability that China certainly needs to overcome. One way to do so is to establish infrastructure and acceptability along the IOR island states and along the East African littoral, as China is currently attempting to do.
The principal lack in the Chinese strategy to provide military substance to the country’s geoeconomic and geostrategic reach comes in the form of integral air power through aircraft carriers. China is rapidly learning that while one can buy or build an aircraft carrier in only a couple of years, it takes many more years to develop the human, material, logistic and doctrinal skills required for competent and battle worthy carrier-borne aviation. For nearly a decade now, China has demonstrated her ability to sustain persistent military (naval) presence in the Indian Ocean—albeit in a low threat environment. Combat capability is, of course, quite different from mere presence or even the ability to maintain anti-piracy forces, since the threat posed to China by disparate groups of poorly armed, equipped and led pirates can hardly be equated with that posed by a powerful and competent military adversary in times of conflict.
Despite the impressive growth of the Chinese Navy and the vigor of the Chinese military strategy, China may not, in the immediate present, have the combat capability to deploy for any extended period of time in support of its geoeconomic and geostrategic reach were they to be militarily contested by a major navy. However, as James Holmes points out, if India were to continue to cite shortfalls in current Chinese capability and conclude that it will take the PLA Navy at least fifteen years to station a standing, battle worthy naval squadron in the Indian Ocean, this would lull Indians into underplaying Chinese determination and the speed of that country’s military growth. This would carry the very real consequent possibility of India suffering a massive strategic surprise. Is that something that India can afford?
Vice Admiral Pradeep Chauhan retired as Commandant of the Indian Naval Academy at Ezhimala. He is an alumnus of the prestigious National Defence College.
ChinafeaturedgeoeconomicsgeopoliticsgeostrategyIndiaIndian OceanMaritime Silk Route Economic RouteParcel Islandsspratly islandsStrategyString of Pearls
Asia-Pacific, Territorial and Law of the Sea Disputes
US Department of State Seeks to Clarify Meaning of China’s 9-Dash Line Part 3
February 3, 2016 Alex Calvo Leave a comment
By Alex Calvo
This is the third installment in a five-part series summarizing and commenting the 5 December 2014 US Department of State “Limits in the Seas” issue explaining the different ways in which one may interpret Chinese maritime claims in the South China Sea. It is a long-standing US policy to try to get China to frame her maritime claims in terms of UNCLOS. Read part one, part two.
Let us move to the three interpretations put forward by the US Department of State.
1.- “Dashed Line as Claim to Islands”
This would mean that all Beijing was claiming were the islands within the dashed lines, and that any resulting maritime spaces would be restricted to those recognized under UNCLOS and arising from Chinese sovereignty over these islands. The text notes that “It is not unusual to draw lines at sea on a map as an efficient and practical means to identify a group of islands”. In support of this interpretation one could take the map attached to the 2009 Notes Verbales and the accompanying text, which reads “China has indisputable sovereignty over the islands in the South China Sea and the adjacent waters, and enjoys sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the relevant waters as well as the seabed and subsoil thereof (see attached map)”. The text notes that the references in the paragraph above to “sovereignty” over “adjacent” waters” may be interpreted as referring to a 12-nm belt of territorial sea, since international law recognizes territorial waters as being a sovereignty zone. In a similar vein, references to “sovereign rights and jurisdiction”, “relevant waters”, and “seabed and subsoil thereof”, would then be taken to concern the legal regime of the EEZ and the continental shelf, as defined by UNCLOS.
As possible evidence for this interpretation, the study cites some Chinese legislation, cartography, and statements. The former includes Article 2 of the 1992 territorial sea law, which claims a 12-nm territorial sea belt around the “Dongsha [Pratas] Islands, Xisha [Paracel] Islands, Nansha (Spratly) Islands and other islands that belong to the People’s Republic of China”. This article reads “The PRC’s territorial sea refers to the waters adjacent to its territorial land. The PRC’s territorial land includes the mainland and its offshore islands, Taiwan and the various affiliated islands including Diaoyu Island, Penghu Islands, Dongsha Islands, Xisha Islands, Nansha (Spratly) Islands and other islands that belong to the People’s Republic of China. The PRC’s internal waters refer to the waters along the baseline of the territorial sea facing the land”. The Department of State also stresses that China’s 2011 Note Verbale states that “China’s Nansha Islands is fully entitled to Territorial Sea, Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), and Continental Shelf”, without laying down any other maritime claim. Concerning cartography, the study cites as an example the title of “the original 1930s dashed-line map, on which subsequent dashed-line maps were based”, which reads, “Map of the Chinese Islands in the South China Sea” (emphasis in the DOS study). With regard to Chinese statements, the study cites the country’s 1958 declaration on her territorial sea, which reads “and all other islands belonging to China which are separated from the mainland and its coastal islands by the high seas” (emphasis in the DOS study). The text argues that this reference to “high seas” means that China could not be claiming the entirety of the South China Sea, since should that have been the case there would have been no international waters between the Chinese mainland and her different islands in the region. This is a conclusion with which it is difficult to disagree, although we should not forget that it was 1958, with China having barely more than a coastal force rather than the present growing navy. Therefore, while the study’s conclusion seems correct, and precedent is indeed important in international law, it is also common to see countries change their stance as their relative power and capabilities evolve. Thus, if China had declared the whole of the South China Sea to be her national territory in 1958 this would have amounted to little more than wishful thinking, given among others the soon to expand US naval presence in the region and extensive basing arrangements. Now, 50 years later, with China developing a blue water navy, and the regional balance of power having evolved despite the US retaining a significant presence, Beijing can harbor greater ambitions.
Then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with her Filipino counterpart, Albert del Rosario, in June 2011. Washington supports Manila’s arbitration bid and rearmament, but takes no official position on her territorial claims, despite involving former American territory.
This section ends with the DOS study stating that should this interpretation be correct, then “the maritime claims provided for in China’s domestic laws could generally be interpreted to be consistent with the international law of the sea”. This is subject to two caveats, territorial claims by other coastal states over these islands, and Chinese ambiguity concerning the nature of certain geographical features, Beijing not having “clarified which features in the South China Sea it considers to be ‘islands’ (or, alternatively, submerged features) and also which, if any, ‘islands’ it considers to be ‘rocks’ that are not entitled to an EEZ or a continental shelf under paragraph 3 of Article 121 of the LOS Convention”. Some of these features, Scarborough Reef for example, are part of the arbitration proceedings initiated by the Philippines.
2.- “Dashed Line as a National Boundary”
This would mean that Beijing’s intention with the dashed line was to “indicate a national boundary between China and neighboring States”. As supporting evidence for this interpretation, the DOS report explains that “modern Chinese maps and atlases use a boundary symbol to depict the dashed line in the South China Sea”, adding that “the symbology on Chinese maps for land boundaries is the same as the symbology used for the dashes”. Map legends translate boundary symbols as “either ‘national boundary’ or ‘international boundary’ (国界, romanized as guojie)”. Chinese maps also employ “another boundary symbol, which is translated as ‘undefined’ national or international boundary (未定国界, weiding guojie)” but this is never employed for the dashed line.
The report stresses that, under international law, maritime boundaries must be laid down “by agreement (or judicial decision) between neighboring States”, unilateral determination not being acceptable. The text also notes that the “dashes also lack other important hallmarks of a maritime boundary, such as a published list of geographic coordinates and a continuous, unbroken line that separates the maritime space of two countries”. The latter is indeed a noteworthy point, since border lines would indeed seem to need to be continuous by their very nature, rather than just be made up of a number of dashes. This is one of the aspects making it difficult to fit Beijing’s claims with existing categories in the law of the sea. In addition, the report notes that they cannot be a limit to Chinese territorial waters, since they extend beyond 12 nautical miles, and neither can they be a claim to an EEZ, since “dashes 2, 3, and 8” are “beyond 200 nm from any Chinese-claimed land feature”. These last two aspects also make it difficult to see the dashed line as marking one of the categories recognized by UNCLOS. Moving beyond the law, however, and this is something that the DOS report does not address, a certain degree of ambiguity may be seen as beneficial by a state seeking to gradually secure a given maritime territory. Some voices have noted this may have been the US calculus in the San Francisco Treaty. Thus, the technical faults, from an international legal perspective, in China’s dotted line are not necessarily an obstacle to Beijing’s claims, from a practical perspective.
Read the next installment here.
Alex Calvo is a guest professor at Nagoya University (Japan) focusing on security and defence policy, international law, and military history in the Indian-Pacific Ocean. Region. A member of the Center for International Maritime Security (CIMSEC) and Taiwan’s South China Sea Think-Tank, he is currently writing a book about Asia’s role and contribution to the Allied victory in the Great War. He tweets @Alex__Calvo and his work can be found here.
Chinafeaturedinternational law of the seamaritime disputesNine-Dashed LineParacelsSouth China Seaspratly islandsUNCLOSUnited States
Asia-Pacific, Strategic Outlook
China’s South China Sea Strategy: Simply Brilliant
June 10, 2015 Tyler Malcolm 2 Comments
This article can be found in its original form at ASPI here, and was republished with permission.
In the past 12 months, China has provoked considerable attention with its reclamation activities in the South China Sea, particularly in the Spratlys where it controls seven maritime features.
China’s history of salami-slicing presents a dilemma to regional countries as well as external powers with regional interests: do they escalate an incident each time China slices the salami and risk open conflict, or stand down and allow China to augment its territorial claims.
The million-dollar question remains: who or what will freeze China’s reclamation in the South China Sea? The answer: nothing, really.
It has been proposed, for example, that like-minded states carve out a ‘code of practice’ that would stress the rule of law and mirror the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea. Another option being considered by the Pentagon is to send US aircraft and ships within 12 nautical miles of the Chinese-built reefs in the Spratlys, to challenge its influence there.
While useful, such proposals won’t freeze or rollback China’s attempts to change the facts on the ground (or the high sea). China’s reclamation seeks to pre-empt any decision that would come from the Philippines’ challenge in the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea over China’s nine-dash line claim to the South China Sea.
It’s noteworthy that China hasn’t only engaged in salami slicing; it has sought to use the attraction of its economy, trade and aid to offset its high-risk behaviour.
Following the 2012 Scarborough Shoal incident with the Philippines, China launched a charm offensive in 2013, wooing ASEAN with a treaty of friendship and cooperation, stressing that it intended to take China–ASEAN relations from a ‘golden decade’ to a ‘diamond decade’.
This year, when concerns about China’s reclamation have intensified, China has offered a carrot: US and other countries would be welcome to use civilian facilities it’s building in the South China Sea for search and rescue and weather forecasting, when ‘conditions are right’.
China has also used its economic weight to deftly tilt the balance (of influence, at least) in its favor. Its Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is attracting long-standing American allies such as Great Britain, Australia and South Korea. China has stolen a march on the US in the battle to win friends and influence people.
And the economic offensive doesn’t end with the AIIB. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership—a free trade agreement that would involve ASEAN, Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea—is seen as a rival to the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership. China’s Silk Road Economic Belt is also another lure for peripheral countries keen on leveraging on China’s economic ascent.
Concerted and effective opposition to China’s fait accompli in the South China Sea requires an astute mix of diplomacy and deterrence. It might take the form of a regional effort to get China to clarify its nine-dashed line claims based on UNCLOS principles, an ASEAN ultimatum for China to at least freeze its reclamation activities, and joint ASEAN–US patrols near the reefs being reclaimed by China. This looks unlikely to emerge anytime soon.
ASEAN was damaged in 2012, when it failed—for the first time in its 45-year history—to issue a communiqué due to differing views over the South China Sea. ASEAN has recently upped its game by underscoring the dangers of China’s reclamation, but there’s little the group can do apart from pushing for a formal Code of Conduct. A successful conclusion of the code isn’t assured; China dangles the carrot of code negotiations to buy time even as its carries out reclamation.
For all its rhetoric about the need to uphold international law and the freedom of navigation, the US is conflicted when it comes to China. It all boils down to this: will the US risk its extensive relationship with China over a few rocks in the South China Sea? As Hillary Clinton once said: how does the US ‘deal toughly’ toward its banker?
To get a sense of the effect of China’s creeping invasion of the South China Sea, one only need look at Vietnam. Faced with China’s challenge to its claims to the Paracel Islands, Vietnam has purchased Kilo-class submarines, reportedly armed with sub-launched land-attack Klub missiles that could threaten Chinese coastal targets. But Vietnam didn’t fire a shot when China towed a US$1b oil rig into waters claimed by Vietnam last year. On a recent trip to Hanoi, Vietnamese scholars told me that Vietnamese military officers urged sterner action, such as firing on Chinese ships, but senior leaders vetoed them, instead deciding to sit back and let China incur ‘reputational damage’.
Not many people in Asia would agree with what China is doing in the South China Sea. But as it stands, China’s strategy—salami slicing, using offsets to soften risky behavior and accelerating its reclamation activities in the absence of significant opposition—can be summed up in two words: simply brilliant.
William Choong is a Shangri-La Dialogue senior fellow for Asia-Pacific Security at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
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Capability Analysis, Global Analysis, South Pacific/Oceania
An ASEAN Maritime Alliance?
February 24, 2015 Paul Pryce 4 Comments
The year 2014 brought new tensions to the South China Sea, particularly as Chinese authorities sought to establish a series of island-like structures in the midst of the disputed Spratly Islands. Such provocative actions, however, are unlikely to generate sufficient political will among the other countries of the region to establish a Political-Security Community under the auspices of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) by the 2015 deadline. But were this collection of ten countries to pool their resources into a security community or even a security alliance, it would be an impressive force and a potential deterrent to aggression in the South China Sea.
In particular, it is worthwhile noting the relative strength of ASEAN coastal defence forces. Some member states, such as Indonesia, possess respectable ‘blue water’ navies, that is to say, they have larger vessels capable of operating in deep waters and engaging in long-range standing battles. Other ASEAN countries, such as the Philippines, have considerable ‘brown water’ navies, forces consisting of small patrol boats which can cruise inland waterways and the shallow waters that weave between tight-knit island chains. But the varied nature of the waters disputed in the South China Sea particularly requires the flexibility offered by corvettes.
Generally, corvettes fall between the Royal Canadian Navy’s Halifax-class frigates and Kingston-class coastal defence vessels in size. But there is much debate as to what constitutes a contemporary corvette. For example, the Royal Omani Navy calls its Khareef-class vessels ‘corvettes’ even though the displacement of each vessel in the class is approximately 2,660 tons. Recent advancements in shipbuilding have also allowed the US Navy to introduce new vessels with substantial displacement but with shallower drafts, meaning the new USS Liberty can approach closer to coastlines than the similarly sized but older Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates.
For the purposes of this analysis, only those vessels with a displacement greater than 100 tons but less than 1,700 tons will be considered corvettes. China’s maritime forces, the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), has a substantial number of vessels in this range deployed to Hong Kong and a network of naval bases off the South China Sea. 12 Jiangdao-class corvettes (1,440 tons) are the workhorses of this maritime presence in the region and China may possibly add 3 more vessels of this class by the end of 2015. Beyond the Jiangdao-class corvettes, PLAN’s southern presence includes six Houjian-class missile boats (520 tons) and approximately 80 other missile boats and gunboats of various classes and ranging in displacement from 200 to 480 tons each. This vastly exceeds the quantity and quality of vessels any individual Southeast Asian country could bring to bear in a conflict. But ASEAN’s combined maritime forces could meet the challenge presented by a limited PLAN offensive.
Brunei in particular has emerged as a promising new maritime actor in the region, even actively participating in the 2014 edition of the Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC). The Royal Brunei Navy acquired four specially built Darussalam-class offshore patrol ships (1,625 tonnes) from the German shipbuilder Luerssen-Werft, which replaced Brunei’s previous coastal defence workhorse, the Waspada-class fast attack craft (200 tonnes). The Waspada-class vessels have since been decommissioned and donated to Indonesia to be used for training purposes. The introduction of the Darussalam-class greatly upgrades Brunei’s defence capabilities and it will be of interest for Southeast Asian observers to see how Brunei further pursues the modernization of its forces.
The Republic of Singapore Navy has much in the way of heavier frigates and submarines to defend its unique position by the Strait of Malacca, one of the world’s most significant shipping routes. Its corvette-like vessels are also impressive, six Victory-class corvettes (600 tonnes) and 12 Fearless-class offshore patrol ships (500 tonnes), but they are certainly not as new as some of the vessels boasted by Singapore’s neighbours. The Victory-class was acquired in 1990-1991 while the Fearless-class was introduced between 1996 and 1998. Therefore, it will also be of interest to see whether Singapore seeks to obtain any newer vessels which can serve as a bridge in capabilities between the Victory-class corvettes and the heavier Formidable-class frigates.
It is Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia that boast the largest complements of corvettes in the region, however. The Royal Thai Navy’s coastal defence is led by two Tapi-class corvettes (1,200 tons) and two Pattani-class offshore patrol ships (1,460 tons), which are joined by two Ratanakosin-class corvettes (960 tons), three Khamrosin-class corvettes (630 tons), three Hua Hin-class patrol boats (600 tons), six PSMM Mark 5-class patrol boats (300 tons), and 18 smaller patrol boats and fast attack boats of varying capabilities but all rather aged. The Philippines and Indonesia both have vast island chains within their respective territories, requiring corvettes and smaller patrol vessels just as much for counter-trafficking and counter-piracy operations as for countering conventional maritime forces. The Philippine Navy possesses one Pohang-class corvette (1,200 tons), two Rizal-class corvettes (1,250 tons), nine Miguel Malvar-class corvettes (900 tons), and three Emilio Jacinto-class corvettes (700 tons). Indonesia tops out ASEAN’s array of corvettes with three Fatahillah-class corvettes (1,450 tons), 16 Kapitan Patimura-class corvettes (950 tons), and 65 other missile boats and gunboats with a displacement of approximately 100-250 tons.
Yet it is unclear how much of their forces Indonesia or the Philippines would be able to deploy in the midst of a South China Sea conflict. As mentioned previously, many of these vessels have been used practically as inland patrol vessels. There are also some potential weak links in the chain should ASEAN establish some form of formalized maritime alliance. The Royal Malaysian Navy only offers four Laksamana-class corvettes (675 tons) and an array of 16 smaller missile boats and gun boats that could generally only be used to harass Chinese forces. Burma certainly has an impressive force in its own right – consisting of three domestically produced Anawratha-class corvettes (1,100 tons), six Houxin-class missile boats (500 tons), 10 5 Series-class missile boats (500 tons), and 15 Hainan-class gunboats (450 tons), but the military junta has already demonstrated that it will remain aloof from territorial disputes in the South China Sea and generally supports China’s policy toward Southeast Asia.
The Royal Cambodian Navy is in shambles, consisting solely of five outdated Turya-class torpedo boats (250 tons), five Stenka-class patrol boats (250 tons), and a lone Shershen-class fast attack boat (175 tons). But Cambodian authorities would be just as disinclined to engage in defence sharing as their Burmese counterparts. During Cambodia’s 2012 ASEAN chairmanship, Cambodian officials consistently interfered in efforts by other ASEAN member states to reach a common position on the South China Sea’s territorial disputes. Given the understanding on security issues shared between Cambodian and Chinese officials, as well as China’s status as Cambodia’s largest source of foreign investment and aid, it is apparent that Cambodia has relatively no need for the security guarantees ASEAN could provide as a regional counter-balance to China.
Vietnam is the unpredictable factor in the region. The Vietnam People’s Navy has a few corvettes of its own, including a Pauk-class corvette (580 tons), eight Tarantul-class corvettes (540 tons), and 23 patrol ships with displacements ranging from 200 to 375 tons. The Vietnamese government has also ordered two more TT-400TP gunboats (450 tons) from domestic shipbuilders with delivery expected in late 2015 or early 2016. This leaves Vietnam with a force perhaps not as sizable as that of Indonesia or the Philippines but with greater capacity to intervene should China seek to settle territorial disputes with Vietnam by force.
As Malaysia will hold the 2015 Chairmanship of ASEAN, the prospects for a maritime force in support of the bloc’s proposed Political-Security Community will depend to some degree on whether Malaysian officials will be willing to show leadership. If Malaysia looks to acquire new vessels and insists on placing maritime security on the agenda of upcoming ASEAN meetings, some arrangement could be struck by the end of the year. But this will require artful diplomacy, especially in the face of Burmese and Cambodian opposition. With Malaysian officials speaking predominantly about the need for a single market in the region and promoting a conclusion to negotiations regarding the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, such a drive for maritime security may not be forthcoming.
Paul Pryce is a Research Analyst at the Atlantic Council of Canada. His research interests are diverse and include maritime security, NATO affairs, and African regional integration.
This article can be found in its original form at the
NATO Council of Canada and was republished by permission.
allianceASEANAsia-PacificChinaEast Asian naval racefeaturedIndonesian Navyisland chainLittoral/littoral warfareMalaysiaPhilippine militaryPLANSingaporeSouth China SeaSoutheast Asiaspratly islandsStrait of Malaccatorpedo boats
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This past weekend, through IES, I went to Scotland. It was an amazing trip. Something about Scotland really grabbed me and I can’t seem to shake it off. The Highlands and the cities are beautiful; it doesn’t matter if it is cold or rainy.
Our midterm break trip to Scotland involved petting and feeding reindeer, sailing on Loch Ness, going to a seaside town and finally making our way to Edinburgh. And every single place we stopped, no matter how different, seemed practically perfect. (The one complaint I have is that it was hard to find vegetarian meals.)
I was struck by the fact that I was so comfortable in Scotland in such a short time. Perhaps if I had stayed longer, I would have found sides to the country that rub me wrong. But for now, I can idealize Scotland in my mind and memory.
It’s an odd feeling to return to London (the city in which I chose to study) after experiencing such a connection to another place. Plus, getting off the train at King’s Cross, I was struck by the difference in air quality. There’s no denying that, especially compared to Scotland, London air feels like you’re inhaling smoke.
However, none of this is meant to put down London. I do love it here. There’s so much constantly happening that you could never see it all. But you feel like you’re in the midst of something big. I feel like I really am a part of London. It’s just sometimes nice to experience a slower, cleaner, cheaper city.
London and Edinburgh are both part of the UK, and yet they are so different. I suppose you could say the same thing about any number of cities in the US, but Edinburgh has a completely different cultural feel to it. I’m sure many Scottish people would agree with me given the fact that I saw so many signs to vote “yes” for independence.
One major difference between London and Edinburgh is the level of preservation. I love seeing modern art next to a department store in a four hundred year old building next to a newly built structure in London. I find the contrast irresistible. But in Edinburgh, none of the buildings I saw looked modern. It made the city seem slightly sleepy. And that’s lovely too. Walking through Edinburgh, one is transported into the past. It’s no wonder that so many authors, including JK Rowling, chose to write there. What could be better for inspiration?
I know it’s not being asked of me, but I think I would recommend studying abroad in London and visiting as much of Scotland as possible. London has so much – and can easily connect you to so much more – that it will have something for everyone. It definitely has something – actually, many things – for me.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized on October 29, 2014 by Maya.
← Theatre Shifts Close By →
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"SPORTS AND HOMOPHOBIA" Oct 29, 2007 11:00:45 GMT -5
Post by bluepride on Oct 29, 2007 11:00:45 GMT -5
Now that the baseball season is finally over and football is in full swing, here is an article I found regarding a study which concluded that a lot of football players have had homosexual experiences with other men, whether experimental or relationship oriented. Interesting stuff...
Over a third of former American Football players interviewed had sexual relations with men, says study
In his study of homosexuality among sportsmen in the US, sociologist Dr Eric Anderson found that 19 in a sample of 47 had taken part in acts intended to sexually arouse other men, ranging from kissing to mutual masturbation and oral sex.
The 47 men, aged 18-23, were all American Football players who previously played at the high school (secondary school) level but had failed to be picked for their university's team and were now cheerleaders instead. They were at various universities from the American south, Mid-West, west and north west.
Dr Anderson, now of the University of Bath, UK, said the study showed that society's increasing open-mindedness about homosexuality and decreasing stigma concerning sexual activity with other men had allowed sportsmen to speak more openly about these sexual activities. He found that this sex came in the form of two men and one woman, as well as just two men alone.
He said that the sexual acts described differed from acts of ‘hazing' or team-bonding that often include pretend-homosexual acts.
"The evidence supports my assertion that homophobia is on the rapid decline among male teamsport athletes in North America at all levels of play," he writes in his study, entitled ‘Being masculine is not about whom you sleep with…Heterosexual athletes contesting masculinity and the one-time rule of homosexuality'. It will be published in the journal Sex Roles in January.
"These finding differ from previous research on North American men who have sex with men, in several ways. First, previous research describes heterosexual men in heterogeneous group sex as men symbolically engaging in sexual practices with other men. However, I find informants actually engage in sexual activity with other men. But this does not mean that they are gay.
"SPORTS AND HOMOPHOBIA" Dec 6, 2007 22:38:55 GMT -5
Post by bluepride on Dec 6, 2007 22:38:55 GMT -5
Tony Dungy on Homosexuality: Bigotry Is Bigotry
In a recent appearance on the HBO series Costas Now, Colts coach Tony Dungy showed his true colors.
Dungy, a devout Christian, was initially asked if he'd have a problem with having a Muslim, Jew, or atheist on his team.
Dungy immediately answered no. He doesn’t proselytize to his players, he said.
Costas followed up with the same question about an openly gay player.
And Dungy paused.
He actually paused and crossed his arms—in obvious discomfort—before responding with canned blather about letting the player know what he thinks, and what the Bible says.
Dungy also said that if the player were good he'd have no problem with it.
But if that's the case—why the pause? Why the discomfort?
I’m not gay. I’m a straight white male—and I’m completely and utterly offended that Dungy paused to a question to which any sane, intelligent person would reply, “I have no problem with it at all.”
Tony Dungy was the first African American coach to lead his team to a Super Bowl championship. I personally didn’t find the feat particularly earth-shattering.
Besides the color of Dungy's skin, what made his accomplishment any different than a white coach winning the Super Bowl for the first time? Is Bill Belichick's fair complexion responsible for his success? In beating Dungy time and again over the years, did Belichick prove that black coaches were somehow inferior? Was it Jon Gruden's whiteness that helped him lead Dungy's Bucs to the promised land immediately after Dungy's departure?
Seriously, who gives a damn what color your skin is?
And by the same token, who gives a damn whom you sleep with?
prydeguys
"SPORTS AND HOMOPHOBIA" Dec 7, 2007 9:50:37 GMT -5
Post by prydeguys on Dec 7, 2007 9:50:37 GMT -5
I just don't understand why there is so much interest in the oppinions of Tony Dungy. After all, he's not an educator, a scientist, a man of letters, a social activist, a disease fighting doctor, a champion of the poor, an economic genius, an artist, or a meaninful contributor to the welfare of mankind.
What is he? He organizes a group of men who catch, run with, and retrieve a ball. I have a dog that can do that!!!!
Who cares what that Bible toting idiot thinks. His oppinions mean nothing to any thinking person. The black community needs more doctors, lawyers, inventors, scientists, engineers, educators, and a host of other professionals. What we don't need is any more black people holding a football, basketball, or basball acting like they deserve to get a Nobel Prize.
So, who cares that he is the first African American to coach a team at the Super Bowl. That's not very important. What is important is Dr Charles Drew, the African American doctor who was the pioneer for blood transfusion and plasma processing. And the very, very long list of African American people who have used their brains to move our society ahead. Tony Dungy really has no place on that list. Unless we think that bouncing a ball is as important as he seems to think it is.
Last Edit: Dec 7, 2007 16:49:00 GMT -5 by prydeguys
The unfortunate thing here is that he is interviewed on a show that millions of people see and for some ungodly reason, some people will be influenced by what he says. Personally, I could care less what his opinions are. As holier than thou than he apparently portrays himself, his influence seems to not have reached to his son. His son died last year with drugs in his system if I recall correctly. Hcsodale could give more accurate details on this because he was involved with the investigation.
I also agree that your everyday professional ballplayer isn't exactly an expert in human relations and people's sexuality. When it comes to any of them making a statement regarding gays, whether in sports or not, my first reaction is, "Just throw the ball, Mary".
Yes, I was the case detective for his son's death investigation. The drug was minimal and was not a factor in his death. Jamie was fighting his own demons of being an independent young man and becoming his own person. For whatever reasons unknown to anyone but Jamie, whether it being he walked in the shadow of his father, a highly respected man in the Tampa community, or possibly his own personal insecurities, he chose to take his own life.
Tony Dungy is a benevolent man, a caring man and a true positive role model for many of today's "Thug like" sports players that feel they have to act bad, talk bad and look bad to be respected.
The only negative thing I have heard about Tony Dungy unfortunately has been his stand on homosexuality. Which is a big slap upside my head, because I thought highly of him as well. Whoever wants to be the most devout (fill in your religion of choice here) can do so, but they can and some actually do, think for themselves and respect a person for who they are, not who they love. Unfortunately again, this doesn't seem to be an option for Tony.
He continues to be a good man to the majority of the people, but obviously cannot acknowledge that within that other 10% +/- of the population, that they should be respected equally.
bentenn
Post by bentenn on Dec 7, 2007 23:58:51 GMT -5
That study was interesting, Im sure there are many variables, both known and unknown.
but the really interesting part is that 30% had homosexual activities, and still didnt consider themself gay. So what could this be attributed to? Do you think they are lying, do you think they just happened to meet the right woman at the right time and become straight?
Why would these guys have willing,consensual sex with other guys, unless they were actually attracted to it.
Did they have sex and then decide it wasnt for them?
Did they compare the straight and the gay and find the straight to be more appealing?
This is a very interesting study to say the least, I would love to find out more about it, and some more possible explanations.
Last Edit: Dec 8, 2007 0:04:58 GMT -5 by bentenn
Post by prydeguys on Dec 8, 2007 14:20:21 GMT -5
Does anybody remember the football star, hate preacher Reggie White? Lots of people held him up as a role model and he believed his own hype. His managers were so proud of him and his proud contributions, in and around the black community, that they asked him to address the Wisconsin State Assembly. He delivered a jaw-dropping speech on March 25,1998
In the speech he equated gay people with liars and cheaters and malicious backstabbers. He went on to say that blacks were gifted to worship and celebration. Whites were good at tapping into money, and Native Americans weren't enslaved because they knew the territory and knew how to sneak up on people. He also claimed that Hispanics are gifted in "family structure" and can put twenty to thirty people in one home. He said that the Japanese and Asians are inventive and can turn a television into a watch. He was oh so proud of himself as he stood there smiling while suffering from delusions of education.
I'm not making this up guys. This comes out of the book.....
"Anything But Straight" By Wayne R. Besen, page 205
We all have to be very careful when we elect our role models. A guy with a ball is just that and nothing more. To quote Bluepride, "Just shut up and throw the ball, mary"
ltdetroit
HydrogenScoutCar
Post by ltdetroit on Dec 8, 2007 23:02:14 GMT -5
Bentenn: It seems like you may still be struggling with internalized homophobia... the problem with meeting "the right girl at the right time" and suddenly being straight is that it implies you're not straight because you haven't met the right girl... or that girls (being straight) is "right", meaning not being straight would fall under the heading of "wrong". I just don't think it works that way... here's how it works... you meet the right PERSON and you know they're the right person because 10 years later you still love to see their face, still want to spend time with them AND still want to get naked and sweaty with them.
Please don't think I'm taking you to task over this, I'm not. I know some people have a harder struggle than others, and I feel for you.
Sorry - I negelcted to actually give you info that would count as an answer to your question! lol The fact is, ALL sex feels good, and most of our hang-ups are sociological in nature. There is an evolutionary reason men have prostates covered in sexual nerve endings!! Most of this gay/str8 stuff is mostly, well, imaginary. It's no new concept that most human beings are not 100% gay or str8. 80% of us are bisexual to one degree or another. Personally, I can say I've had lots and LOTS of "str8" tail. Nothing odder than an old trick introducing you to his pregnant girlfriend... My motto is, don't overthink it, you can't control what makes your dick hard! It's much more fun being with someone that gets your motor running as opposed to being with the one you THINK you "should" be with...
Post by bentenn on Dec 9, 2007 0:17:41 GMT -5
LOL @the dick comment. Thanks for your reply, I enjoyed reading it.
I have been on numerous gay boards and the consensus is that you are either born straight, or born gay, and bisexuality is dismissed. I guess the true answer to this we will never know.
I have also talked with alot of gay who say they have never been with a woman and coud not even function with a woman, one guy even told me he threw up after his first sex with a woman.
There are many different perspectives out there, I love to hear them all.
Post by bluepride on Dec 9, 2007 8:35:54 GMT -5
I did not shed a tear when "Rev." Reggie White died. And I was appalled at the public mourning spectacles that were made afterward. He was a hate-mongerer, plain and simple. Hiding behind some store bought "Reverend" status.
<<Did they compare the straight and the gay and find the straight to be more appealing?>>
Some straight guys could stick it into mud and get off. Some straight guys will have occasional male to male action and still be straight. Just as a gay male might have sex with a woman from time to time. But that doesn't change their orientation. You are who you are, straight or gay. You don't go back and forth between the two. Not to tell people my personal business, but years ago after a breakup with a boyfriend, I went into a prolonged sexual relationship with a female co-worker for a few months. But I was still as gay as a frikkin canary. And she knew it, because I told her so. It was just one of those things. She was my rebound "thing", I guess. But I was still gettin it on with guys when I wasn't with her. You can't change your sexual orientation. End of story. Even if you get a crack at doing Pamela Anderson.
Thanks Bluepride, I like to hear all of the different perspectives.
Post by blu06 on Feb 15, 2008 0:40:13 GMT -5
MMMMMM.... this is interesting... if you substitute:
Anti - gay slur = B 12 Shots
Misidentification = Misheard
Brady Quinn = Roger Clemons
Men's accessories called, they're running low on
ROSE COLOR GLASSES....
Would all professional jocks who have a fear of things that may poke them in the rear please return your rose color glasses to the Denial and LaLa World room as soon as possible.
I hope that he did not really make the comments. Though also I suppose it would be nice if the accuser would make known what was supposedly said. I've been a fan of Quinn's for 5 years, and hope that he isn't a phobe. Problem is, unless we see a pattern, we will most likely never know the truth. It's easy for someone to label someone a phobe just because they are angry at them. I've had gay guys that i have dealt with or arrested call ME a homophobe before, for no other reason than because they were mad at me and because they were not getting their way. So I hope that Quinn is not really that kind of guy. But who knows, except for Quinn and whoever was accusing him?
Post by bluepride on Feb 15, 2008 18:05:17 GMT -5
Well, I "hope" he didn't make any inappropriate comments but given the past history of some of our football players over the last few years,at least, it quite possibly happened. It would be a disappointment if he did say it though.
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Will California Mandate Cost of Attendance Scholarships and Stipends?
August 22, 2013 June 5, 2014 bcsguestwriter Academics, Finance
Whether student-athletes should be allowed to receive full cost of attendance (“COA”) scholarships has been a frequent topic of discussion in the college sports world over the past few years. First, an antitrust lawsuit brought in 2006 by former college basketball and football players—White v. NCAA—asked the courts to allow full cost of attendance scholarships. Although the case settled, it did not result in changes to the NCAA’s scholarship rules. Then, the issue appeared to be settled nearly two years ago when the NCAA Board of Directors approved a proposal to allow universities to give student-athletes $2000 stipends on top of their athletic scholarships. But the proposal never went into effect after more than 160 Division I members voted to override its implementation.
Now, a current bill winding its way through the California legislative process (assembly Bill 475b) seeks to end this debate for certain California universities. And not only does the bill require full cost of attendance athletic scholarships for certain athletes: it also requires that athletic scholarships be guaranteed for five years and that a “full” athletic scholarship include a stipend.
Before getting into the details of the new bill, a refresher on California’s Student Athlete Bill of Rights is in order. The Student-Athlete Bill of Rights, which was passed last year, requires California universities making at least $10,000,000 in annual income from the sale of athletics-related media rights to continue providing scholarships to athletes who suffer career ending injuries or who exhaust their athletics eligibility before they graduate. Assembly Bill 475b proposes that the $10,000,000 per year threshold be increased to $20,000,000 per-year and include money made from licensing fees (for things such as video games, jersey sales, etc.), not just the sale of media rights.
For now, this would be an insignificant change. The only California universities making $10,000,000 per year from media rights are Cal, UCLA, USC, and Stanford. And, due to the Pac-12’s new media deals, these universities are also making $20,000,000 per year from media rights and licensing fees. So, this amendment would not affect who the law applies to. It only gives other California universities (San Diego State, Fresno St, etc.) more of a buffer from having the law apply to them.
The important changes are Assembly Bill 475b’s scholarship-related amendments. First, the bill would require all athletic scholarships to be guaranteed for five years, or until the completion of the student-athlete’s eligibility, as long as the athlete is in good standing with the school and continues participating in his or her sport. This is a big change in the way scholarships are usually awarded. Currently, NCAA members are allowed, but not required, to offer multi-year scholarships. In the year and a half since the NCAA began allowing multi-year scholarships, the vast majority of athletic scholarships are still awarded for one year and are renewable at the school’s discretion. It is also important to note that this provision would apply to all athletic scholarships, not just full athletic scholarships. So it would apply to scholarships awarded in sports like baseball and track where partial scholarships are the norm.
Second, the bill would require that all full athletic scholarships cover a university’s full cost of attendance. Pursuant to NCAA rules, a full athletic scholarship only covers tuition, room and board, and books. This leaves a gap of around $3,000 between the value of a full athletic scholarship and the full cost of attendance at most schools. For example, the yearly cost of tuition and fees, room and board, and books at Stanford is $57,362. But, according to its own calculations, the total cost of attendance at Stanford is $60,749. This leaves a difference of $3,387 between the value of a full athletic scholarship and the total cost of attendance. And this number does not include transportation to and from a student’s home, which varies by student. When transportation is included it pushes the difference closer to $4,000. Assembly Bill 475b would require that Stanford cover this difference for all of its athletes receiving full athletic scholarships (football, basketball, volleyball, etc.).
The bill does not stop with mandating cost of attendance scholarships. It also provides that all full athletic scholarships must include an additional $3,600 stipend. Called a “student athlete participation stipend,” this is money that is intended to be used for expenses that fall outside of those included in the definition of cost of attendance. Stanford’s cost of attendance calculation includes amounts for clothing, toiletries, incidentals, and dorm activities. So, an athlete receiving a full athletic scholarship could use the stipend to cover expenses he has beyond these categories.
If the bill is signed into law, it sets the stage for a major fight between California and the NCAA, as it would require UCLA, USC, Cal, and Stanford to violate NCAA rules. With all of the criticism currently coming its way, the NCAA is likely rooting for the bill to die in order to avoid that showdown.
About bcsguestwriter
An Argument for Allowing Student Athletes to Profit from Endorsements - August 17, 2015
FBS College Football Home-and-Home Series Schedule - October 23, 2014
June Athletics Construction Roundup - June 10, 2014
April Athletic Construction Roundup - April 4, 2014
College Athletes Can Form A Union: What’s Next? - March 26, 2014
January Athletic Construction Roundup - January 22, 2014
Should Kansas Jump on the Luxury Suite Bandwagon? - December 20, 2013
November Athletics Construction Roundup - November 19, 2013
Weekly Q&A Series: Steve Barrick, Associate AD of Operations (Belmont University) - November 1, 2013
Defending Champ UCLA Prepares to Fight Possible Eviction - October 21, 2013
SportsBoard: The Future of Player Assessment
Students Camp Out For Football Tickets
One thought on “Will California Mandate Cost of Attendance Scholarships and Stipends?”
superdestroyer says:
How can California mandate that the Athletic scholarships at the four Pac-12 schools not only be a better deal than the scholarships at other universities in California but better than the scholarship at any other university in the U.S.
Does California think that athletes will be better off being the second stringer at UCLA rather than the starter at San Diego State?
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Consolidated Balance Sheets (Parenthetical)
Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Loss
Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Loss (Parenthetical)
Consolidated Statements of Stockholders' Equity (Deficit) Statement
Business Overview and Basis of Presentation
Long-Term Debt
Net Loss per Share Attributable to Common Stockholders
Selected Unaudited Quarterly Financial Data
Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)
Significant Accounting Policies (Tables)
Commitments and Contingencies (Tables)
Net Loss per Share Attributable to Common Stockholders (Tables)
Selected Unaudited Quarterly Financial Data (Tables)
Business Overview and Basis of Presentation (Details)
Significant Accounting Policies - Property, Plant and Equipment (Details)
Significant Accounting Policies - Narrative (Details)
Significant Accounting Policies - Accounting Pronouncements Recently Adopted (Details)
Fair Value Measurements - Narrative (Details)
Financial Instruments - Narrative (Details)
Balance Sheet Components Balance Sheet Components - Deferred Revenue (Details)
Balance Sheet Components - Account Receivable and Revenue Reserves (Details)
Balance Sheet Components Balance Sheet Components - Allowance for Doubtful Accounts (Details)
Balance Sheet Components - Goodwill Roll forward (Details)
Balance Sheet Components - Reserve Accounts (Details)
Balance Sheet Components - Restructuring Reserve Activities (Details)
Balance Sheet Components - Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Details)
Long-Term Debt (Details)
Commitments and Contingencies - Future Minimum Payments (Details)
Stockholders' Equity - Valuation Assumptions (Details)
Income Taxes - Components of Income (Loss) Before Income Taxes (Details)
Income Taxes - Components of Income Tax Expense (Details)
Income Taxes - Reconciliation of Effective Tax to Statutory Federal Rate (Details)
Income Taxes - Tax Effects of Temporary Differences for Deferred Tax Assets (Details)
Income Taxes - Reconciliation of Unrecognized Tax Benefits (Details)
Net Loss per Share Attributable to Common Stockholders (Details)
Net Loss per Share Attributable to Common Stockholders - Antidilutive Securities (Details)
Selected Unaudited Quarterly Financial Data (Details)
$ in Billions
Entity Public Float $ 1.4
Consolidated Balance Sheets - USD ($)
Income tax receivable 6,957 77,882
Other assets 8,362 15,420
Income taxes payable 1,092 928
Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value, 10,000,000 shares authorized 0 0
Additional paid-in capital 1,055,046 956,060
Accumulated other comprehensive loss (66) (9)
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity 1,515,547 1,582,075
Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value, 600,000,000 shares authorized; 221,081,203 and 207,453,624 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively [Member]
Common stock 22 21
Class B common stock, $0.0001 par value, 350,000,000 shares authorized; 31,281,638 and 31,302,898 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively [Member]
Common stock $ 3 $ 3
Amount of investment in debt security measured at fair value with change in fair value recognized in other comprehensive income (available-for-sale), classified as current.
Aggregate par or stated value of issued nonredeemable preferred stock (or preferred stock redeemable solely at the option of the issuer). This item includes treasury stock repurchased by the entity. Note: elements for number of nonredeemable preferred shares, par value and other disclosure concepts are in another section within stockholders' equity.
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Consolidated Balance Sheets (Parenthetical) - $ / shares
Preferred stock, par value (in dollars per share) $ 0.0001 $ 0.0001
Preferred stock, authorized (in shares) 10,000,000 10,000,000
Common stock, par value (in dollars per share) $ 0.0001 $ 0.0001
Common stock authorized (in shares) 600,000,000 600,000,000
Common stock issued (in shares) 221,081,203 207,453,624
Common stock outstanding (in shares) 221,081,203 207,453,624
Common stock issued (in shares) 31,281,638 31,302,898
Common stock outstanding (in shares) 31,281,638 31,302,898
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Consolidated Statements of Operations - USD ($)
Revenue $ 1,511,983 $ 1,615,519 $ 2,169,461
Cost of revenue 908,404 924,618 1,323,577
Gross profit 603,579 690,901 845,884
Research and development 332,169 343,012 320,191
Sales and marketing 344,091 415,042 491,255
General and administrative 116,627 133,934 146,903
Total operating expenses 792,887 891,988 958,349
Operating loss (189,308) (201,087) (112,465)
Interest income, net 7,808 3,647 3,156
Other income (expense), net (2,642) 2,796 14
Loss before income taxes (184,142) (194,644) (109,295)
Income tax expense (benefit) 1,687 82,548 (6,518)
Net loss $ (185,829) $ (277,192) $ (102,777)
Net loss per share attributable to common stockholders:
Basic (in dollars per share) $ (0.76) $ (1.19) $ (0.47)
Diluted (in dollars per share) $ (0.76) $ (1.19) $ (0.47)
Shares used to compute net loss per share attributable to common stockholders:
Basic (in shares) 244,603 232,032 220,405
Diluted (in shares) 244,603 232,032 220,405
Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Loss - USD ($)
Change in unrealized gain (loss) on cash flow hedges, net of tax expense (benefit) of $819, ($1) and ($1,251), respectively 7,587 (19,422) 9,422
Less reclassification for realized net (gain) loss included in net loss, net of tax expense of ($819), $74 and $509, respectively (7,587) 19,965 (10,650)
Net change, net of tax 0 543 (1,228)
Change in unrealized gain (loss) on investments (68) 125 (126)
Less reclassification for realized net (gain) loss included in net loss 11 (13) (6)
Net change, net of tax (57) 112 (132)
Change in foreign currency translation adjustment, net of tax 0 314 (309)
Comprehensive loss $ (185,886) $ (276,223) $ (104,446)
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Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Loss (Parenthetical) - USD ($)
Change in unrealized gain on cash flow hedges, tax $ 819 $ (1) $ (1,251)
Reclassification for realized net gains included in net income, tax $ (819) $ 74 $ 509
Consolidated Statements of Stockholders' Equity (Deficit) Statement - USD ($)
Retained Earnings (Accumulated Deficit) [Member]
Beginning balance at Dec. 31, 2015 $ 981,451 $ 21 $ 737,820 $ 691 $ 242,919
Issuance of common stock upon exercise of stock options (in shares) 10,881,704
Issuance of common stock upon exercise of stock options 25,814 $ 2 25,812
Taxes related to net share settlement of restricted stock units (4,939) (4,939)
Cumulative effect adjustment related to recognition of previously unrecognized excess tax benefits from adoption of ASU 2016-09 21,545 21,545
Net loss (102,777) (102,777)
Other comprehensive Income (loss) (1,669) (1,669)
Ending balance (in shares) at Dec. 31, 2016 225,663,277
Ending balance at Dec. 31, 2016 998,532 $ 23 859,345 (978) 140,142
Taxes related to net share settlement of restricted stock units (14,376) (14,376)
Cumulative effect adjustment related to recognition of previously unrecognized excess tax benefits from adoption of ASU 2016-09 | Accounting Standards Update 2016-09 [Member] 4,938 4,938
Other comprehensive Income (loss) 969 969
Ending balance at Dec. 31, 2017 823,963 $ 24 956,060 (9) (132,112)
Other comprehensive Income (loss) (57) (57)
Ending balance at Dec. 31, 2018 $ 735,938 $ 25 $ 1,055,046 $ (66) $ (319,067)
Amount of increase in additional paid in capital (APIC) resulting from a tax benefit associated with share-based compensation plan other than an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). Includes, but is not limited to, excess tax benefit.
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Number of share options (or share units) exercised during the current period.
-Subparagraph (c)(1)(iv)(2)
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Provision for doubtful accounts 56 7,893 339
Provision for excess and obsolete inventory 11,828 14,833 4,993
Depreciation 48,889 39,971 36,046
Amortization of intangible assets 7,926 5,722 2,087
Accelerated depreciation of property and equipment 7,731 5,250 19,805
Amortization of issuance costs and discount on debt 785 951 466
Stock-based compensation 97,009 91,581 79,432
Deferred income taxes (2,548) 173,906 (100,434)
Impairment of equity investment 6,000 0 0
Other (1,395) 216 (423)
Changes in operating assets and liabilities, net of acquisitions:
Accounts receivable (8,036) 63,784 (8,701)
Inventories (12,860) 92,129 (61,975)
Prepaid expenses and other assets 125,914 (113,111) (37,876)
Fitbit force recall reserve (445) (789) (3,869)
Accounts payable 35,207 (86,115) 45,654
Accrued liabilities and other liabilities (11,978) 56,172 213,361
Deferred revenue (5,622) (7,472) 5,456
Income taxes payable 575 (3,488) 47,136
Net cash provided by operating activities 113,207 64,241 138,720
Purchase of property and equipment (52,880) (89,160) (78,640)
Purchase of marketable securities (353,948) (597,933) (638,055)
Sales of marketable securities 9,983 42,406 46,511
Maturities of marketable securities 433,594 622,525 315,774
Acquisitions, net of cash acquired (19,253) (556) (38,256)
Equity investment 0 (6,000) 0
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities 17,496 (28,718) (392,666)
Repayment of debt 747 0 0
Payment of offering costs 0 0 (1,236)
Proceeds from issuance of common stock 21,470 19,011 25,969
Taxes paid related to net share settlement of restricted stock units (19,436) (14,376) (4,939)
Net cash provided by financing activities 1,287 4,635 19,794
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents 131,990 40,158 (234,152)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents 0 488 (374)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 341,966 301,320 535,846
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period 473,956 341,966 301,320
Supplemental Disclosure
Cash paid for interest 631 1,019 624
Cash paid (received) for income taxes, net of $72 million income tax refund in 2018 (69,868) 382 34,014
Supplemental Disclosure of Non-Cash Investing and Financing Activity
Purchase of property and equipment included in accounts payable and accrued liabilities 6,615 4,197 19,778
Property acquired under capital leases $ 2,700 $ 0 $ 0
Amount of amortization expense attributable to debt discount (premium) and debt issuance costs.
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The increase (decrease) during the reporting period, excluding the portion taken into income, in the liability reflecting revenue yet to be earned for which cash or other forms of consideration was received or recorded as a receivable.
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Amount of cash inflow from sale of investment in debt security measured at fair value with change in fair value recognized in other comprehensive income (available-for-sale).
Fitbit, Inc. (the “Company”) is a technology company focused on driving health solutions and positively impacting health outcomes. The Fitbit platform combines wearable devices with software and services to give its users tools to help them reach their health and fitness goals. The Company’s wearable devices, which include trackers and smartwatches, enable its users to view data about their daily activity, exercise and sleep in real-time. The Company’s software and services, which include an online dashboard and mobile app, provide its users with data analytics, motivational and social tools, and virtual coaching through customized fitness plans and interactive workouts, drive engagement and can be leveraged to provide personalized insights. The Company sells devices through diversified sales channels that include distributors, retailers, Fitbit Health Solutions, and Fitbit.com. The Company has established wholly-owned subsidiaries globally and its corporate headquarters are located in San Francisco, California.
Basis of Presentation and Principles of Consolidation
The consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”). The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated.
The Company’s fiscal year ends on December 31 of each year. The Company operates on a 4-4-5 week quarterly calendar.
The preparation of consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported and disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. The primary estimates and assumptions made by management are related to revenue recognition, reserves for sales returns and incentives, reserves for warranty, valuation of stock-based awards, fair value of derivative assets and liabilities, allowance for doubtful accounts, inventory valuation, fair value of goodwill and acquired tangible and intangible assets and liabilities assumed during acquisitions, the number of reportable segments, the recoverability of intangible assets and their useful lives, contingencies, income taxes, recoverability of unused advertising credits, and impairment of an equity investment. Actual results could differ from those estimates, and such differences may be material to the consolidated financial statements.
Comprehensive Loss
Comprehensive loss consists of two components, net loss and other comprehensive loss, net of tax. Other comprehensive loss refers to revenue, expenses, and gains and losses that are recorded as an element of stockholders’ equity but are excluded from net loss. The Company’s other comprehensive loss consists of net unrealized gains and losses on derivative instruments accounted for as cash flow hedges, foreign currency translation adjustments from those subsidiaries not using the U.S. dollar as their functional currency, and unrealized gains and losses on available-for-sale securities.
In September 2017, Wynit Distribution (“Wynit”) filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. Wynit was the Company’s largest customer, historically representing 11% of total revenue during the six months ended July 1, 2017 and 19% of total accounts receivables as of July 1, 2017. In connection with Wynit’s bankruptcy filing, the Company believed that the collectability of the product shipments to Wynit during the third quarter of 2017 was not reasonably assured. However, as of July 1, 2017, collectability of accounts receivables from Wynit was reasonably assured.
The Company ceased to recognize revenue from Wynit, which totaled $8.1 million during the third quarter of 2017. Additionally, the Company recorded a charge of $35.8 million during the third quarter ended September 30, 2017 comprised of cost of revenue of $5.5 million associated with shipments to Wynit in the third quarter of 2017 and bad debt expense of $30.3 million associated with all of Wynit’s outstanding accounts receivables. The Company maintains credit insurance that covers a portion of the exposure related to its customer receivables. The Company recorded an insurance receivable based on an analysis of its insurance policies, including their exclusions, an assessment of the nature of the claim, and information from its insurance carrier. As of September 30, 2017, the Company had recorded an insurance receivable of $26.8 million, included in prepaid expenses and other current assets, associated with the amount it had concluded was probable related to the claim. The $26.8 million insurance receivable allowed the Company to recover $22.7 million of bad debt expense and $4.1 million of cost of revenue, resulting in a net charge of $9.0 million in the consolidated statement of operations comprised of net bad debt expense of $7.6 million and net cost of revenue of $1.4 million. The Company received $21.4 million of the insurance receivable during the fourth quarter of 2017, and the remaining $5.4 million in January 2018.
During 2018, the Company released $12.4 million in product return and rebate reserves related to Wynit, as it believes the possibility of future claims associated with these reserves is remote. This reserve release resulted in a $12.4 million increase in revenue during the year ended December 31, 2018.
Non-Monetary Transaction
The Company entered into an agreement with a third party during 2016 to exchange inventory for advertising credits and cash, which was amended in October 2018 to extend the contractual period from four to six years. The Company recorded the transaction based on the estimated fair value of the products exchanged. For the year ended December 31, 2016, the Company recorded $15.0 million of revenue and $7.0 million of associated cost of goods sold upon exchange of the products for advertising credits of $13.0 million and cash of $2.0 million. The $13.0 million of unused advertising credits remaining as of December 31, 2016 were recorded in prepaid expenses and other current assets, and other assets. Such credits are expected to be used over the contractual period of six years, and will be expensed as advertising services are received. During the year ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, $2.3 million and $0.8 million, respectively, of credits were utilized. The Company’s prepaid and other assets related to unused advertising credits as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017 were $9.9 million and $12.2 million, respectively.
The entire disclosure for the business description and basis of presentation concepts. Business description describes the nature and type of organization including but not limited to organizational structure as may be applicable to holding companies, parent and subsidiary relationships, business divisions, business units, business segments, affiliates and information about significant ownership of the reporting entity. Basis of presentation describes the underlying basis used to prepare the financial statements (for example, US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, Other Comprehensive Basis of Accounting, IFRS).
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Cash and cash equivalents include all cash balances and highly liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less from the date of purchase. Cash equivalents and marketable securities consist of money market funds, U.S. government and agency securities, commercial paper, and corporate notes and bonds.
The Company’s marketable securities are classified as available-for-sale as of the balance sheet date and are reported at fair value with unrealized gains and losses reported, net of tax, as a separate component of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) in stockholders’ equity. Because the Company views marketable securities as available to support current operations as needed, it has classified all available-for-sale securities as current assets. Realized gains or losses and other-than-temporary impairments, if any, on available-for-sale securities are reported in other expense, net as incurred. Realized gains and losses on the sale of securities are determined by specific identification of each security’s cost basis. Investments are reviewed periodically to identify possible other-than-temporary impairments. No impairment loss has been recorded on the securities as the Company believes that any decrease in fair value of these securities is temporary and expects to recover up to, or beyond, the initial cost of investment for these securities.
Assets and liabilities recorded at fair value on a recurring basis are categorized based upon the level of judgment associated with inputs used to measure their fair values. Fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the reporting date.
The Company estimates fair value by applying the following hierarchy, which prioritizes the inputs used to measure fair value into three levels and bases the categorization within the hierarchy upon the lowest level of input that is available and significant to the fair value measurement:
Level 1—Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities;
Level 2—Observable inputs other than quoted prices in active markets for identical assets and liabilities, quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in inactive markets, or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data for substantially the full term of the assets or liabilities; and
Level 3—Inputs that are generally unobservable and typically reflect management’s estimate of assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability.
The Company and all of its wholly-owned subsidiaries use the U.S. dollar as their functional currency.
The Company’s subsidiaries that use the U.S. dollar as their functional currency remeasure local currency denominated monetary assets and liabilities at exchange rates in effect at the end of each period, and inventories, property, plant and equipment and other nonmonetary assets and liabilities at historical rates. Gains and losses from these remeasurements have been included in the Company’s operating results within other income (expense), net. Local currency transactions of these international operations are remeasured into U.S. dollars at the rates of exchange in effect at the date of the transaction. Foreign currency transaction gains were $4.6 million, $2.6 million, and $11.7 million for 2018, 2017, and 2016, respectively.
Derivative Instruments
The Company accounts for its derivative instruments as either assets or liabilities and carries them at fair value. Derivatives held by the Company that are not designated as hedges are adjusted to fair value through earnings at each reporting date. In addition, the Company enters into derivatives that are accounted for as cash flow hedges. The Company records the gains or losses, net of tax, related to the effective portion of its cash flow hedges as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) in stockholders’ equity and subsequently reclassifies the gains or losses into revenue and operating expenses when the underlying hedged transactions are recognized. The Company periodically assesses the effectiveness of its cash flow hedges. The fair value of derivative assets and liabilities are included in prepaid expenses and other current assets and accrued liabilities on the consolidated balance sheets.
Concentration of Credit Risk
Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist primarily of cash, cash equivalents, marketable securities, accounts receivables, and derivative instruments. Cash is deposited with high quality financial institutions and may, at times, exceed federally insured limits. The Company’s Investment Policy requires that cash equivalents and marketable securities are invested only in investment grade securities and limits the amount of credit exposure to any single issuance, issuer, or type of investment. Management believes that the financial institutions that hold the Company’s deposits are financially credit worthy and, accordingly, minimal credit risk exists with respect to those balances. Generally, these deposits may be redeemed upon demand and, therefore, bear minimal interest rate risk.
The Company’s accounts receivable is derived from customers located principally in the United States. The Company maintains credit insurance for the majority of its customer balances, performs ongoing credit evaluations of its customers, and maintains allowances for potential credit losses on customers’ accounts when deemed necessary. Credit losses historically have not been significant. The Company continuously monitors customer payments and maintains an allowance for doubtful accounts based on its assessment of various factors including historical experience, age of the receivable balances, and other current economic conditions or other factors that may affect customers’ ability to pay.
The Company’s derivative instruments expose it to credit risk to the extent that its counterparties may be unable to meet the terms of the agreements. The Company seeks to mitigate this risk by limiting counterparties to major financial institutions and by spreading the risk across several major financial institutions. In addition, the potential risk of loss with any one counterparty resulting from this type of credit risk is monitored on an ongoing basis.
Supplier Concentration
The Company relies on third parties for the supply and manufacture of its products, as well as third-party logistics providers. In instances where these parties fail to perform their obligations, the Company may be unable to find alternative suppliers or satisfactorily deliver its products to its customers on time, if at all.
Inventories consist of finished goods and component parts, which are purchased from contract manufacturers and component suppliers. Inventories are stated at the lower of cost or net realizable value. The Company assesses the valuation of inventory and periodically writes down the value for estimated excess and obsolete inventory based upon estimates of future demand and market conditions.
Property and equipment are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation and amortization. Depreciation and amortization of property and equipment is calculated using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets. Cost of maintenance and repairs that do not improve or extend the lives of the respective assets are expensed as incurred.
The useful lives of the property and equipment are as follows:
One to three years
Purchased software
Capitalized internally-developed software
Two to eight years
Shorter of remaining lease term or ten years
Internally-Developed Software Costs
The Company capitalizes eligible costs to acquire, develop, or modify internal-use software that are incurred subsequent to the preliminary project stage. Capitalized internally-developed software costs, net, not yet placed in service were $2.6 million as of December 31, 2018 and $11.2 million as of December 31, 2017.
Research and development expenses consist primarily of personnel-related expenses, consulting and contractor expenses, tooling and prototype materials, and allocated overhead costs. Substantially all of the Company’s research and development expenses are related to developing new products and services and improving existing products and services. To date, research and development expenses have been expensed as incurred, because the release of products and services for sale has been short and development costs qualifying for capitalization have been immaterial.
Business Combinations, Goodwill, and Intangible Assets
The Company allocates the fair value of purchase consideration to tangible assets, liabilities assumed, and intangible assets acquired based on their estimated fair values. The excess of the fair value of purchase consideration over the fair values of these identifiable assets and liabilities is allocated to goodwill. The allocation of the purchase consideration requires management to make significant estimates and assumptions, especially with respect to intangible assets. These estimates can include, but are not limited to, future expected cash flows from acquired customers, acquired technology, and trade names from a market participant perspective, useful lives, and discount rates. Management’s estimates of fair value are based upon assumptions believed to be reasonable, but which are inherently uncertain and unpredictable and, as a result, actual results may differ from estimates. During the measurement period, which is up to one year from the acquisition date, the Company may record adjustments to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed, with the corresponding offset to goodwill. Upon the conclusion of the measurement period, any subsequent adjustments are recorded to earnings.
The Company assesses goodwill for impairment at least annually during the fourth quarter and whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value of the asset may not be recoverable. Consistent with the determination that the Company has one operating segment, the Company has determined that there is one reporting unit and tests goodwill for impairment at the entity level. Goodwill is tested using the two-step process in accordance with ASC 350, Intangibles—Goodwill and Other. In the first step, the carrying amount of the reporting unit is compared to the fair value based on the fair value of the Company’s common stock. If the fair value of the reporting unit exceeds the carrying value, goodwill is not considered impaired and no further testing is required. If the carrying value of the reporting unit exceeds the fair value, goodwill is potentially impaired and the second step of the impairment test must be performed. In the second step, the implied fair value of the goodwill, as defined by ASC 350, is compared to its carrying amount to determine the amount of impairment loss, if any. The Company tested goodwill for impairment as of October 31, 2018 and 2017, and the fair value of the reporting unit exceeded the carrying value. The Company considered other factors in the performance of the annual goodwill impairment test in the fourth quarter of 2018, including assumptions about expected future revenue forecasts, changes in the overall economy, trends in its stock price, and other operating conditions. It is reasonably possible that the Company could perform significantly below its expectations or a deterioration of market and economic conditions could occur. This would adversely impact the Company's ability to meet its projected results, which could cause its goodwill to become impaired. If the Company determines that its goodwill is impaired, it would be required to record a non-cash charge that could have a material adverse effect on its results of operations and financial position.
Acquired finite-lived intangible assets are amortized over their estimated useful lives. The Company evaluates the recoverability of intangible assets for possible impairment whenever events or circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of such assets may not be recoverable. Recoverability of these assets is measured by a comparison of the carrying amounts to the future undiscounted cash flows the assets are expected to generate. If such review indicates that the carrying amount of intangible assets is not recoverable, the carrying amount of such assets is reduced to fair value. The Company has not recorded any such impairment charge during the years presented.
Impairment of Long-Lived Assets
The Company evaluates its long-lived assets for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. Recoverability is measured by comparison of the carrying amounts to the expected future undiscounted cash flows attributable to these assets. If it is determined that an asset is not recoverable, an impairment loss is recorded in the amount by which the carrying amount of the assets exceeds the expected discounted future cash flows arising from those assets. The Company has not recorded any such impairment charge during the years presented.
The Company recognizes revenue upon transfer of control of promised goods or services to customers at transaction price, an amount that reflects the consideration the Company expects to receive in exchange for those goods or services. Transaction price is calculated as selling price net of variable consideration which may include estimates for future returns and sales incentives related to current period product revenue.
The Company derives substantially all of its revenue from sales of its wearable devices, which includes trackers, smartwatches and accessories. The Company also generates a small portion of revenue from its subscription-based services. The Company considers delivery of its products to have occurred once control has transferred and delivery of services to have occurred as control is transferred. The Company recognizes revenue, net of estimated sales returns, sales incentives, discounts, and sales tax.
Arrangements with Multiple Performance Obligations
The Company enters into contracts that have multiple performance obligations that include hardware, software, and services. The first performance obligation is the hardware and firmware essential to the functionality of the tracker or smartwatch delivered at the time of sale. The second performance obligation is the software services included with the products, which are provided free of charge and enable users to sync, view, and access real-time data on the Company’s online dashboard and mobile apps. The third performance obligation is the embedded right included with the purchase of the device to receive, on a when-and-if-available basis, future unspecified firmware upgrades and features relating to the product’s essential firmware. In addition, the Company occasionally offers a fourth performance obligation in bundled arrangements that allows access to subscription-based services related to the Company’s Fitbit Coach offering.
The Company allocates revenue to all performance obligations based on their relative standalone selling prices (“SSP”). The Company’s process for determining its SSP considers multiple factors including consumer behaviors, the Company’s internal pricing model, and cost-plus margin and may vary depending upon the facts and circumstances related to each deliverable. SSP for the trackers and smartwatches reflect the Company’s best estimate of the selling prices if they were sold regularly on a stand-alone basis and comprise the majority of the arrangement consideration. SSP for upgrade rights currently ranges from $1.00 to $3.00. SSP for the online dashboard and mobile apps is currently estimated at $0.99. SSP for access to Fitbit Coach subscription-based services is based on the price charged when sold separately.
Amounts allocated to the delivered wearable devices are recognized at the time of delivery, provided the other conditions for revenue recognition have been met. Amounts allocated to the online dashboard and mobile apps and unspecified upgrade rights are deferred and recognized on a straight-line basis over the estimated usage period.
The Company offers its users the ability to purchase subscription-based services, through which the users receive incremental features, including access to a digital personal trainer, in-depth analytics regarding the user’s personal metrics, or video-based customized workouts. Amounts paid for subscriptions are deferred and recognized ratably over the service period, which is typically one year. Revenue from subscription-based services was less than 1% of revenue for all periods presented.
In addition, the Company offers subscription-based software and services to certain customers in Fitness Health Solutions, which includes a real-time dashboard, and the ability to create corporate challenges. SSP for the Fitness Health Solutions subscription is determined based on the Company’s internal pricing model for anticipated renewals for existing customers and pricing for new customers. Revenue allocated to the Fitness Health Solutions subscription is deferred and recognized on a straight-line basis over the estimated access period of one year, which is the typical service period. Revenue for Fitness Health Solutions software and services was less than 1% of revenue for all periods presented.
The Company applies a practical expedient to expense costs to obtain a contract with a customer as incurred when the amortization period would be one year or less. The Company applies a practical expedient to not consider the effect of a significant financing component as it expects that the period between transfer of control and payment from customer to be one year or less.
The Company accounts for shipping and handling fees billed to customers as revenue. Sales taxes and value added taxes (“VAT”) collected from customers which are remitted to governmental authorities are not included in revenue, and are reflected as a liability on the consolidated balance sheets.
Rights of Return, Stock Rotation Rights, and Price Protection
The Company offers limited rights of return, stock rotation rights, and price protection under various policies and programs with its retailer and distributor customers and end-users. Below is a summary of the general provisions of such policies and programs:
Retailers and distributors are generally allowed to return products that were originally sold through to an end-user under provisions of their contracts, called “open-box” returns, and such returns may be made at any time after the original sale.
All purchases through Fitbit.com are covered by a 45-day right of return.
Certain distributors are allowed stock rotation rights which are limited rights of return of products purchased during a prior period, generally one quarter.
Certain distributors are offered price protection that allows for the right to a partial credit for unsold inventory held by the distributor if the Company reduces the selling price of a product.
The Company estimates reserves for these policies and programs based on historical experience, and records the reserves as a reduction of revenue and an accrued liability. Through December 31, 2018, actual returns have primarily been open-box returns. On a quarterly basis, the amount of revenue that is reserved for future returns is calculated based on historical trends and data specific to each reporting period. The historical trends consider product life cycles, new product introductions, market acceptance of products, product sell-through, the type of customer, seasonality, and other factors. Return rates can fluctuate over time, but have been sufficiently predictable to allow the Company to estimate expected future product returns. The Company reviews the actual returns evidenced in prior quarters as a percent of related revenue to determine the historical rate of returns. The Company then applies the historical rate of returns to the current period revenue as a basis for estimating future returns. When necessary, the Company also provides a specific reserve for products in the distribution channel in excess of estimated requirements. This estimate can be affected by the amount of a particular product in the channel, the rate of sell-through, product plans, and other factors. The Company also considers whether there are circumstances which may result in anticipated returns higher than the historical return rate from direct customers and records an additional specific reserve as necessary. The estimates and assumptions used to reserve for rights of return, stock rotation rights, and price protection have been accurate in all material respects and have not materially changed in the past.
Sales Incentives
The Company offers sales incentives through various programs, consisting primarily of cooperative advertising and pricing promotions to retailers and distributors. The Company records advertising with customers as a reduction to revenue unless it receives a distinct benefit in exchange for credits claimed by the customer and can reasonably estimate the fair value of the distinct benefit received, in which case the Company records it as a marketing expense. The Company recognizes a liability and reduces revenue for rebates or other incentives based on the estimated amount of rebates or credits that will be claimed by customers.
Refer to Note 11, “Significant Customer Information and Other Information,” for disaggregated revenue by geographic region, based on ship-to destinations.
Cost of revenue consists of product costs, including costs of contract manufacturers for production, shipping and handling costs, warranty replacement costs, packaging, fulfillment costs, manufacturing and tooling equipment depreciation, warehousing costs, hosting costs, write-downs of excess and obsolete inventory, amortization of developed technology intangible assets acquired, and certain allocated costs related to management, facilities, and personnel-related expenses and other expenses associated with supply chain logistics. Personnel-related expenses include salaries, bonuses, benefits, and stock-based compensation.
Advertising Costs and Point of Purchase (“POP”) Displays
Costs related to advertising and promotions, excluding cooperative advertising costs, are expensed to sales and marketing as incurred. Advertising and promotion expenses, including expenses for POP displays, for 2018, 2017, and 2016 were $161.5 million, $226.3 million and $316.8 million, respectively. Co-op advertising costs are recorded as a reduction to revenue, and for 2018, 2017, and 2016 were $80.3 million, $45.0 million and $52.9 million, respectively.
The Company provides retailers with POP displays, generally free of charge, in order to facilitate the marketing of the Company’s products within retail stores. Any amounts capitalized related to the costs of the POP displays are recorded as prepaid expenses and other current assets on the consolidated balance sheets and recognized as expense over the expected period of the benefit provided by these assets, which is generally 12 months. The related expenses are included in sales and marketing expenses on the consolidated statements of operations.
The Company offers a standard product warranty that its products will operate under normal use for a period of one-year from the date of original purchase, except in the European Union and certain Asia Pacific countries where the Company provides a two-year warranty. The Company has the obligation, at its option, to either repair or replace a defective product. At the time revenue is recognized, an estimate of future warranty costs is recorded as a component of cost of revenues. The estimate of future warranty costs is based on historical and projected warranty claim rates, historical and projected cost-per-claim and knowledge of specific product failures, if any, that are outside of the Company’s typical experience. The Company regularly review these estimates to assess the appropriateness of its recorded warranty liabilities and adjust the amounts as necessary. Factors that affect the warranty obligation include product failure rates, service delivery costs incurred in correcting the product failures, and warranty policies. The Company’s products are manufactured by contract manufacturers, and in certain cases, the Company may have recourse against such contract manufacturers. Should actual product failure rates, use of materials or other costs differ from the Company’s estimates, additional warranty liabilities could be incurred, which could materially affect its results of operations. The estimates and assumptions used to reserve for product warranty have been accurate in all material respects and have not materially changed in the past.
Stock-based compensation is measured at the grant date based on the fair value of the award and is recognized as expense over the requisite service period, which is generally the vesting period of the respective award. Determining the fair value of stock-based awards at the grant date requires judgment. The fair value of restricted stock units, or RSUs, without market conditions is the fair value of the Company’s common stock on the grant date. The Company estimates the fair value of RSUs subject to market conditions using a Monte Carlo simulation model. The Company uses the Black-Scholes option-pricing model to determine the fair value of stock options, warrants and shares issued under the 2015 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the “2015 ESPP”).
The Company recognizes tax benefits related to stock-based compensation to the extent that the total reduction to its income tax liability from stock-based compensation is greater than the amount of the deferred tax assets previously recorded in anticipation of these benefits.
The Company operates as one operating segment as it only reports financial information on an aggregate and consolidated basis to its Chief Executive Officer, who is the Company’s chief operating decision maker.
The Company utilizes the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes, which requires the recognition of deferred tax assets and liabilities for expected future consequences of temporary differences between the financial reporting and income tax bases of assets and liabilities using enacted tax rates. The Company makes estimates, assumptions, and judgments to determine its expense (benefit) for income taxes and also for deferred tax assets and liabilities and any valuation allowances recorded against its deferred tax assets. The Company assesses the likelihood that its deferred tax assets will be recovered from future taxable income and, to the extent it believes that recovery is not likely, the Company establishes a valuation allowance.
The calculation of the Company’s income tax expense involves the use of estimates, assumptions, and judgments while taking into account current tax laws, its interpretation of current tax laws, and possible outcomes of future tax audits. The Company has established reserves to address potential exposures related to tax positions that could be challenged by tax authorities. Although the Company believes its estimates, assumptions, and judgments to be reasonable, any changes in tax law or its interpretation of tax laws and the resolutions of potential tax audits could significantly impact the amounts provided for income taxes in its consolidated financial statements.
The calculation of the Company’s deferred tax asset balance involves the use of estimates, assumptions, and judgments while taking into account estimates of the amounts and type of future taxable income. Actual future operating results and the underlying amount and type of income could differ materially from its estimates, assumptions, and judgments, thereby impacting its financial position and operating results.
The Company includes interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits within income tax expense. Interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits have been recognized in the appropriate periods presented.
Net Income (Loss) per Share Attributable to Common Stockholders
Basic and diluted net income (loss) per share attributable to common stockholders is presented in conformity with the two-class method required for participating securities. The Company considers its redeemable convertible preferred stock to be participating securities. The holders of the redeemable convertible preferred stock did not have a contractual obligation to share in losses. In accordance with the two-class method, earnings allocated to these participating securities and the related number of outstanding shares of the participating securities, which include contractual participation rights in undistributed earnings, have been excluded from the computation of basic and diluted net income per share attributable to common stockholders. For the calculation of diluted net income per share, net income attributable to common stockholders for basic net income per share is adjusted by the effect of dilutive securities. Diluted net income per share attributable to common stockholders is computed by dividing the net income attributable to common stockholders by the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding, including all potentially dilutive common shares, if the effect of such shares is dilutive.
In connection with the Company’s initial public offering (“IPO”) in 2015, the Company established two classes of authorized common stock: Class A common stock and Class B common stock. As a result, all then-outstanding shares of common stock were converted into shares of Class B common stock. The rights of the holders of Class A common stock and Class B common stock are identical, except with respect to voting and conversion. Each share of Class A common stock is entitled to one vote per share and each share of Class B common stock is entitled to ten votes per share. Each share of Class B common stock is convertible at any time at the option of the stockholder into one share of Class A common stock, generally automatically converts into Class A common stock upon a transfer, and has no expiration date. The Company applies the two-class method of calculating earnings per share, but as the dividend rights of both classes are identical, basic and diluted earnings per share are the same for both classes.
As the Company was in a net loss position from 2016 through 2018, basic net loss per share attributable to common stockholders was the same as diluted net loss per share attributable to common stockholders as the inclusion of all potential shares of common stock outstanding would have been anti-dilutive.
In February 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (the “FASB”) issued ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842) and subsequent amendments to the initial guidance; ASU 2017-13, ASU 2018-10 and ASU 2018-11 (collectively, Topic 842). Topic 842 requires lessees to recognize right-of-use assets and lease liabilities for operating leases, initially measured at the present value of the lease payments, on the balance sheet. Topic 842 will become effective for the Company on January 1, 2019, and requires adoption using a modified retrospective approach. The Company has assessed the impact of the guidance, which includes evaluating contracts, developing policies, processes and information technology tools to report financial results, and implementing and evaluating the Company’s internal controls over financial reporting that will be necessary under the new standard. The Company will adopt Topic 842 utilizing the modified retrospective transition method through a cumulative-effect adjustment on January 1, 2019, and will not restate comparative periods. Upon adoption, the Company elected the transition package of practical expedients permitted within the new standard, which allows the carryforward of the assessment of whether contracts contain or are leases, historical lease classification, and remaining lease terms. Based on the Company’s lease portfolio, it anticipates recording right-of-use assets between a range of approximately $95.0 million to $115.0 million and aggregate current and non-current liabilities between a range of approximately $125.0 million to $145.0 million on its consolidated balance sheet. However, the Company does not expect the adoption to have a material impact on its consolidated statement of operations or consolidated statement of cash flows.
In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments-Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments. ASU 2016-13 provides for a new impairment model which requires measurement and recognition of expected credit losses for most financial assets and certain other instruments, including but not limited to accounts receivable and available for sale debt securities. ASU 2016-13 will become effective for the Company on January 1, 2020 and early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of this guidance on its consolidated financial statements.
In February 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-02, Reclassification of Certain Tax Effects from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income. Under existing U.S. GAAP, the effects of changes in tax rates and laws on deferred tax balances are recorded as a component of income tax expense in the period in which the law was enacted. When deferred tax balances related to items originally recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income are adjusted, certain tax effects become stranded in accumulated other comprehensive income. The amendments in ASU No. 2018-02 allow a reclassification from accumulated other comprehensive income to retained earnings for stranded tax effects resulting from the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (“2017 Tax Act”). The amendments in ASU No. 2018-02 also require certain disclosures about stranded tax effects. The guidance is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018 and interim periods within those fiscal years. The Company does not expect the impact of adoption to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.
In June 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-07, Compensation-Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Nonemployee Share-Based Payment Accounting. ASU 2018-07 expands the scope of Topic 718 to include share-based payment transactions for acquiring goods and services from nonemployees. ASU 2018-07 will become effective for the Company on January 1, 2019 and early adoption is permitted. The Company does not expect adoption of this guidance will have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.
In May 2014, the FASB, issued ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606), which affects any entity that either enters into contracts with customers to transfer goods and services or enters into contracts for the transfer of nonfinancial assets. The standard’s core principle is that a company will recognize revenue when it transfers promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the company expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services.
The Company adopted ASU 2014-09 effective January 1, 2018, utilizing the modified retrospective transition method. Prior periods were not retrospectively adjusted. Upon adoption, the Company recognized an immaterial cumulative effect of adopting this guidance as an adjustment to its opening accumulated deficit balance. The new standard impacted the timing of when revenue is recognized for certain products shipped, and the timing and classification of certain sales incentives, which are generally recognized earlier than historical guidance. The Company believes the new guidance is materially consistent with its historical revenue recognition policy. In addition, ASU 2014-09 requires the presentation of sales returns reserve as a current liability. The Company’s sales return reserve was $104.0 million as of December 31, 2018, presented within “Accrued liabilities” and was $109.9 million as of December 31, 2017, presented within “Accounts receivable, net.”
The impact to revenue, accounts receivable, deferred revenue, and accrued liabilities as a result of applying ASU 2014-09 for the year ended or as of December 31, 2018 was as follows (in thousands):
Under ASC 605
Accumulated deficit
(319,052
The impact to other financial statement line items was immaterial. Adoption of the standard had no impact to net cash from or used in operating, investing, or financing activities in the Company’s consolidated statement of cash flows.
In January 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-01, Financial Instruments - Overall (Subtopic 825-10): Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities, which updates certain aspects of recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure of financial instruments. The Company has elected to measure equity investments that do not have readily determinable fair values at cost minus impairment, if any, plus or minus changes resulting from observable price changes in orderly transactions for the identical or a similar investment of the same issuer. The adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-15, Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230). ASU 2016-15 provides guidance intended to reduce diversity in practice in how certain transactions are classified in the statement of cash flows. ASU 2016-15 provides guidance in a number of situations including, among others, contingent consideration payments made after a business combination, proceeds from the settlement of insurance claims, distributions received from equity method investees, and classifying cash receipts and payments that have aspects of more than one class of cash flows. ASU 2016-15 became effective for the Company on January 1, 2018. The adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
In October 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-16, Income Taxes: Intra-Entity Transfers Other than Inventory (Topic 740), which requires entities to recognize the income tax consequences of an intra-entity transfer of an asset other than inventory when the transfer occurs. The Company adopted ASU No. 2016-16 on January 1, 2018, and the adoption of the guidance did not have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.
In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-01, Business Combinations (Topic 805): Clarifying the Definition of a Business. The purpose of ASU 2017-01 is to change the definition of a business to assist entities with evaluating when a set of transferred assets and activities is a business. ASU 2017-01 became effective for the Company on January 1, 2018. The adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
In May 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-09, Compensation-Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Scope of Modification Accounting. ASU 2017-09 was issued to clarify and reduce both (i) diversity in practice and (ii) cost and complexity when applying the guidance in Topic 718 to a change to the terms and conditions of a share-based payment award. ASU 2017-09 became effective for the Company on January 1, 2018. The adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
In August 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-12, Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815): Targeted Improvements to Accounting for Hedging Activities. ASU 2017-12 amends the hedge accounting rules to simplify the application of hedge accounting standard and better portray the economic results of risk management activities in the financial statements. The standard expands the ability to hedge non-financial and financial risk components, reduces complexity in fair value hedges of interest rate risk, eliminates the requirement to separately measure and report hedge ineffectiveness, as well as eases certain hedge effectiveness assessment requirements. The Company early adopted this new standard in the first quarter of 2018. The adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
Fair Value Measurement of Financial Assets and Liabilities
The carrying values of the Company’s accounts receivable and accounts payable, approximated their fair values due to the short period of time to maturity or repayment.
There were no Level 3 financial assets during 2018 and 2017. There were Level 3 financial liabilities as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017. There have been no transfers between fair value measurement levels during 2018, 2017 and 2016.
In 2017, the Company acquired an equity ownership interest in a privately-held company in exchange for $6.0 million in cash. The Company does not have a controlling interest or the ability to exercise significant influence over the investee, and this investment does not have a readily determinable fair value. Upon adoption of ASU 2016-01 on January 1, 2018, the Company elected to measure equity investments that do not have readily determinable fair values at cost minus impairment, if any, plus or minus changes resulting from observable price changes in orderly transactions for the identical or a similar investment of the same issuer. Such changes in the basis of the equity investment are recognized in “Other income (expense), net” in the Company’s consolidated statement of operations. In 2018, the Company identified events and circumstances that indicated that there was a decline in the fair value of this investment. As a result, the Company performed an assessment of the financial condition, financial forecast, near-term financing prospects, and other factors of the issuer, and concluded that this equity investment was fully impaired and recorded an impairment loss of $6.0 million. This equity investment was classified within “Other assets” on the Company’s consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2017.
Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities Disclosure [Abstract]
Cash, Cash Equivalents, and Marketable Securities
The following table sets forth the cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities as of December 31, 2018 (in thousands):
Amortized
Unrealized
Cash and
The gross unrealized gains or losses on marketable securities as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017 were not material. There were no available-for-sale investments as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017 that have been in a continuous unrealized loss position for greater than twelve months on a material basis.
The Company has entered into foreign currency derivative contracts designated as cash flow hedges to hedge certain forecasted revenue and expense transactions denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. The Company’s cash flow hedges consist of forward contracts with maturities of 12 months or less.
The Company periodically assesses the effectiveness of its cash flow hedges. Effectiveness represents a derivative instrument’s ability to generate offsetting changes in cash flows related to the hedged risk. The Company records the gains or losses, net of tax, related to its cash flow hedges as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) in stockholders’ equity and subsequently reclassifies the gains or losses into revenue and operating expenses when the underlying hedged transactions are recognized. If the hedged transaction becomes probable of not occurring, the corresponding amounts in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) would immediately be reclassified to other income (expense), net. Cash flows related to the Company’s cash flow hedging program are recognized as cash flows from operating activities in its statements of cash flows. Prior to the adoption of ASU 2017-12, the Company recorded the gains or losses related to the ineffective portion of its cash flow hedges, if any, immediately in other income (expense), net. For the period ended December 31, 2017, the ineffective portion of the Company’s cash flow hedges were not material. For the period ended December 31, 2018, there was no ineffective impact from the Company’s cash flow hedges.
The Company had no outstanding contracts that were designated in cash flow hedges for forecasted revenue as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017.
The Company enters into foreign exchange contracts to hedge monetary assets and liabilities that are denominated in currencies other than the functional currency of its subsidiaries. These foreign exchange contracts are carried at fair value, do not qualify for hedge accounting treatment and are not designated as hedging instruments. Changes in the value of the foreign exchange contracts are recognized in other expense, net and offset the foreign currency gain or loss on the underlying net monetary assets or liabilities.
The Company had outstanding balance sheet hedges with a total notional amount of $101.4 million and $141.2 million as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively.
The foreign currency derivative contracts that were not settled at the end of the period are recorded at fair value, on a gross basis, in the consolidated balance sheets. The following table presents the fair value of the Company’s foreign currency derivative contracts as of the dates presented (in thousands):
Prepaid expense and other current assets
The following table presents the pre-tax impact of the Company’s foreign currency derivative contracts on other comprehensive income (“OCI”) and the consolidated statement of operations for the periods presented (in thousands):
Gain (loss) recognized in OCI—effective portion
Gain (loss) reclassified from OCI into income—effective portion
Gain (loss) recognized in income—ineffective portion
Other income (expense), net
Gain recognized in income—excluded time value portion
As of December 31, 2018, all net derivative gains related to the Company’s cash flow hedges have been reclassified from OCI into net income.
Effect of Derivative Contracts on Consolidated Statements of Operations
The following table provides the location in the consolidated statements of operations and amount of the recognized gains or losses to the Company’s derivative instruments designated as hedging instruments (in thousands):
Year Ended December 31,
Total amounts presented in the consolidated statement of operations in which the effects of cash flow hedges are recorded in revenue
Total amounts presented in the consolidated statement of operations in which the effects of cash flow hedges are recorded in operating expenses
Gain (loss) on foreign exchange contracts designated as cash flow hedges reclassified from OCI into revenue
Gain (loss) on foreign exchange contracts designated as cash flow hedges reclassified from OCI into operating expenses
The Company presents its derivative assets and derivative liabilities at gross fair values in the consolidated balance sheets. The Company generally enters into master netting arrangements, which mitigate credit risk by permitting net settlement of transactions with the same counterparty. The Company is not required to pledge, and is not entitled to receive, cash collateral related to these derivative instruments.
The following table sets forth the available offsetting of net derivative assets and net derivative liabilities under the master netting arrangements as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017 (in thousands):
Gross Amounts Offset in the Consolidated Balance Sheets
Gross Amounts Not Offset in Consolidated Balance Sheets
Gross Amount Recognized
Gross Amount Offset
Net Amount Presented
Cash Collateral
Name: us-gaap_DerivativeInstrumentsAndHedgingActivitiesDisclosureAbstract
The entire disclosure for derivative instruments and hedging activities including, but not limited to, risk management strategies, non-hedging derivative instruments, assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses, and methodologies and assumptions used in determining the amounts.
Name: us-gaap_DerivativeInstrumentsAndHedgingActivitiesDisclosureTextBlock
Changes in the total short-term and long-term deferred revenue balance were as follows (in thousands):
Changes in the revenue returns reserve were as follows (in thousands):
(1) Increases in the revenue returns reserve include provisions for open box returns and stock rotations.
Changes in the allowance for doubtful accounts were as follows (in thousands):
Write-offs
(1) Write-offs in 2017 was primarily related to the Wynit bankruptcy described in Note 1.
Point-of-purchase displays, net
Insurance receivable
Total depreciation and amortization expense related to property and equipment, net was $48.9 million, $40.0 million and $36.0 million for 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively.
The changes in the carrying amount of goodwill were as follows (in thousands):
Goodwill acquired
The carrying amounts of the intangible assets as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017 were as follows (in thousands):
The increase in the carrying amount of goodwill and intangible assets during the year ended December 31, 2018 was attributable to an acquisition in February 2018 described in Note 12, “Acquisitions.”
Total amortization expense related to intangible assets was $7.9 million, $5.7 million and $2.1 million for 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively. The estimated future amortization expense of acquired finite-lived intangible assets to be charged to cost of revenue and operating expenses after 2018, is as follows (in thousands):
Sales returns reserve (1)
(1) The adoption of ASU 2014-09 on January 1, 2018 requires the presentation of sales returns reserve as a current liability. This reserve was reported within “Accounts receivables, net” prior to the adoption of this new standard.
Changes in estimate related to pre-existing warranties (1)
(1) During 2018, the change related to pre-existing warranties resulted primarily from improved product quality and a decrease in the estimated cost of replacement units. During 2017 and 2016, changes related to pre-existing warranties resulted primarily from an increase in the estimated cost of replacement units.
The Company corrected the allocation of customer support costs and freight and fulfillment to the amounts in “Charged to cost of revenue” and “Settlement of claims” for the year ended December 31, 2016, which resulted in an increase in “Charged to cost of revenue” and “Settlement of claims” of $50.7 million. These costs are included in the warranty reserve beginning and ending balances. The Company does not consider this correction to be material and there was no impact to its consolidated balance sheets, statement of operations, and statement of cash flows.
In January 2017, the Company announced cost-efficiency measures to be implemented in 2017 that include realigning sales and marketing spend and improved optimization of research and development investments. In addition, the Company announced a reorganization, including a reduction in workforce. This reorganization impacted approximately 110 employees, or approximately 6% of the Company’s global workforce. The Company recorded $6.4 million in total restructuring expenses, substantially all of which were severance and related costs, in the first quarter of 2017. The Company completed the reorganization in the fourth quarter of 2017.
The restructuring reserve activities were as follows (in thousands):
Restructuring Reserve
Cash paid
Other - noncash
Other comprehensive income
Other comprehensive loss
Debt Disclosure [Abstract]
2015 Credit Agreement
In December 2015, the Company entered into a second amended and restated credit agreement (the “Senior Facility”) with Silicon Valley Bank (“SVB”), as administrative agent, collateral agent, and lender, SunTrust Bank as syndication agent, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc. and several other lenders to replace the existing asset-based credit facility and cash flow facility. The Senior Facility allowed the Company to borrow up to $250.0 million, including up to 50.0 million for the issuance of letters of credit and up to $25.0 million for swing line loans, subject to certain financial covenants and ratios. The Company has the option to repay its borrowings under the Senior Facility without penalty prior to maturity. The Senior Facility requires the Company to comply with certain financial and non-financial covenants. The Senior Facility contains customary covenants that restrict the Company’s ability to, among other things, incur additional indebtedness, sell certain assets, guarantee certain obligations of third parties, declare dividends or make certain distributions, and undergo a merger or consolidation or certain other transactions. Obligations under the Senior Facility are collateralized by substantially all of the Company’s assets, excluding its intellectual property.
In May 2017, the Company entered into a first amendment to the Senior Facility (the “First Amendment”), pursuant to which the aggregate amount the Company can borrow under the Senior Facility was reduced from $250.0 million to $100.0 million, with up to $50.0 million available for the issuance of letters of credit and up to $25.0 million available for swing line loans. In addition, pursuant to the First Amendment, the applicable margin in respect of the interest rates under the Senior Facility was amended to be based on the Company’s level of liquidity (defined as the sum of the Company’s aggregate cash holdings and the amount available under its revolving commitments) and range from, with respect to Alternate Base Rate loans, 0.5% to 1.0%, and, with respect to LIBOR loans, 1.5% to 2.0%. Among other changes, the First Amendment also removed the fixed charge coverage ratio covenant and the consolidated leverage ratio covenant, and added a general liquidity covenant requiring the Company to maintain liquidity of at least $200.0 million in unrestricted cash, of which $100.0 million in cash or cash equivalents must be held in accounts subject to control agreements with, and maintained by, SVB or its affiliates.
On November 21, 2018, the Company voluntarily terminated the Senior Facility. As of the date of termination, the Company did not have any outstanding borrowings under the Senior Facility but did have outstanding letters of credit totaling $36.6 million, issued to cover various security deposits on its facility leases. In connection with this termination, all outstanding letters of credit issued under the Senior Facility are being held with SVB on an unsecured basis. The Company did not incur any early termination penalties in connection with the termination of the Senior Facility.
Capitalized issuance costs were amortized to interest expense over the term of the related financing arrangement on a straight-line basis. As a result of the voluntary termination of the Senior Facility, the Company wrote-off the remaining capitalized issuance costs of $0.5 million in 2018. Interest expense related to issuance costs for 2018, 2017 and 2016 was $0.6 million, $1.1 million and $0.5 million, respectively.
As of December 31, 2018 and 2017, the Company had outstanding letters of credit of $36.6 million and $36.9 million, respectively, issued to cover the security deposit on the lease of its office headquarters in San Francisco, California, and other facility leases.
Name: us-gaap_DebtDisclosureAbstract
The entire disclosure for information about short-term and long-term debt arrangements, which includes amounts of borrowings under each line of credit, note payable, commercial paper issue, bonds indenture, debenture issue, own-share lending arrangements and any other contractual agreement to repay funds, and about the underlying arrangements, rationale for a classification as long-term, including repayment terms, interest rates, collateral provided, restrictions on use of assets and activities, whether or not in compliance with debt covenants, and other matters important to users of the financial statements, such as the effects of refinancing and noncompliance with debt covenants.
Name: us-gaap_DebtDisclosureTextBlock
The Company’s principal facility is located in San Francisco, California. The Company also leases office space in various locations with expiration dates between 2019 and 2024. The lease agreements often include leasehold improvement incentives, escalating lease payments, renewal provisions and other provisions which require the Company to pay taxes, insurance, maintenance costs or defined rent increases. The Company’s leases are primarily accounted for as operating leases. In June 2018, the Company notified the lessor of its intent to sublease a portion of one of its San Francisco offices. Under the terms of the lease, the lessor has the right to recapture this space. The lessor elected to exercise their recapture right effective August 1, 2018, which resulted in a reduction of approximately $81.4 million in the Company’s future lease obligations associated with this lease.
Future minimum payments under the leases as of December 31, 2018 were as follows (in thousands):
Year ending December 31,
Capital Leases
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DNA microarray
Schizophrenia susceptibility genes directly implicated in the life cycles of pathogens: Cytomegalovirus, influenza, herpes simplex, rubella, and Toxoplasma gondii.
Carter CJ.
Schizophrenia Bulletin 2006; 35: 1163-1182
Over 130 genes have been associated with schizophrenia in genetic studies. None of these has reached a sufficient level of confidence to be accepted as a universal susceptibility gene and problems of replicability suggest that many may be false positives. Nevertheless, these genes can be grouped into distinct families related to glutamate transmission (in particular related to NMDA receptor function), the control of synaptic plasticity, dopaminergic transmission, oxidative stress, glutathione and quinone metabolism and oligodendrocyte viability. These families mirror the processes disrupted in the schizophrenic brain and certain gene families can be linked together to form a clearly defined signalling cascade involved in the phenomenon of NMDA receptor-dependent long-term potentiation and synaptic plasticity, that may be interconnected with oligodendrocyte and oxidative stress-related pathways. Many of the protein products of these genes interact with each other, forming complex integrated networks. Certain high-interest genes (for example DISC1, NRG1, COMT) may exert multiple effects on different areas of these pathways, while others exert more specific effects on certain branches. The convergence of a large number of genes on a definable signaling network raises the possibility of numerous interactions between gene candidates, and suggests that a targeted multigenic pathway approach would be useful in gene association studies. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Tagged: association, catechol-o-methyltransferase, cell-death, cortical pyramidal neurons, dendritic spine density, DNA microarray, Dopamine, gene, glutathione, influenza hemagglutinin peptide, multigenic, nitric-oxide synthase, nmda, nmda receptor, oligodendrocyte, oxidative stress, polymorphism, prefrontal cortex, quinone, Schizophrenia, synaptic plasticity
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Posted on May 21, 2005 by davidswanson
I went to a duel on a recent evening in a large auditorium at the University of Virginia, with Linda Chavez and the dean of admissions, Mr. Blackburn, speaking on affirmative action. Both had good points, but I’d give Blackburn a clear victory. I’d guesstimate three-quarters of the audience had decided on that outcome in advance. The crowd was slightly rowdy, by UVa lecture-hall standards.
Chavez spoke first. She runs the Center for Equal Opportunity, in DC, and their reports on various colleges can, she said, be found at ceousa.org. Chavez said she couldn’t get any data on the wealth of students at UVa or elsewhere because it’s in the offices of financial aid and not the offices of admissions. I’m not sure why the Freedom of Info. Act should apply in one case and not the other.
Chavez said that she got data on a disc from UVa and had it analyzed by a “professional statistician.” She found a difference of 160 points IIRC between mean SAT scores for “whites” and “blacks” admitted. (BTW no one questioned the possibility of this racial categorization during the whole show.) And she found that whites were in the 97th percentile and blacks the
94th IIRC in their high schools. According to her professional statistician this was significant.
With this data the professional statistician calculated that a black kid has a 45-times-greater chance of getting into UVa. This would seem to imply nowledge of what weight, among numerous other factors, is given to the two data mentioned – something Chavez never pretended to have. But my impression is that the calculation was just based on a pretense that the SAT was the sole admissions consideration.
Chavez claimed that racial discrimination in admissions is illegal, although the national law which applies in Virginia holds that it is legal if it’s used to advance education (via the benefits of diversity, i.e. the presence of minority students who presumably contribute varied cultural backgrounds). But Chavez also argued that the idea of “diversity” was dishonest, and seemed to claim that skin color does not tend in this time and place to correlate with anything other than skin color – oh yeah, and test scores, class ranks, graduation rates, etc.
Chavez said that she wants data on how students do, and that all she has now is graduation rates. She miss-spoke in reading these off, causing some confusion that lasted the rest of the evening, but the upshot of it was a claim that after six years ninety-some percent of whites and only 84 percent of blacks graduate from UVa. Blackburn later supplied the latest figures: 91%
for whites, 89% for blacks. Blackburn later pointed out that Chavez also had data on grades but didn’t discuss it because there wasn’t any variation there along racial lines.
Chavez predicted that abandoning racial discrimination would sharply reduce black enrollment at top schools, but assured us that blacks could go to second-rate colleges and be happy there. But why is she trying to demonstrate her fairness to the group called “African Americans” if she opposes on principle categorizing people that way? And doesn’t she know how drastic the
difference is between 1st and 2nd rate colleges?
Similarly, why did she later praise UVa for managing to have blacks and whites score equal grades? Sounds like an “equality of outcome” line.
In an aside, which I think should have been central, Chavez admitted that pre-college education is not equally distributed. She did not propose doing anything about it. This fact is what lets me sympathize with those who saw her as a villain. How can she justify not devoting her energy to improving our pre-college public education system which provides the worst schools for
the children most in need?
Chavez said that she found wealth-based affirmative action acceptable, but did not demand it as highly desirable (as I would). In fact, her plan for sending blacks to 2nd-string schools would seem to rule out poverty-based a.a. (which would in many cases mean admission of blacks).
And she claimed that SAT scores slightly favored blacks (rather than disfavored, as is usually suggested). This was based on “the studies that have been done.”
Blackburn began by pointing out that while favoring blacks in admissions, UVa has improved, not fallen, in ranking. He recounted the recent history of segregation in Virginia and insisted that UVa not resegregate so soon. He admitted that alumni’s offspring are favored, which allowed Chavez to later point out that in a recently all-white school this favors whites. Preferences for athletes were not discussed, except when Chavez later suggested that Blackburn might be admitting blacks in order to boost athletic eams. (Are black athletes a significant percentage of admissions? In any case, Blackburn had said no such thing.)
Blackburn pointed out that racial discrimination is currently legal, but recognized that this might change.
He described the admissions process, in which the SAT does not play a dominant role. And he pointed out that about 60 percent of applicants are from out-of-state and that these (“mostly white”) people must be limited to 35 ercent of admissions. Among the many, many factors that Blackburn claimed were considered were (lack of) wealth and the possibility of being a
first-generation college student.
Blackburn also pointed out that Chavez’s total figure for number of students admitted in a year was about half the accurate one, thus seriously calling into question the accuracy of all of her analysis. Chavez claimed to have gotten a disc from UVa and to have used what was given her. She also denied having placed an inflammatory ad in a local newspaper, saying that a separate
“completely unaffiliated” group had done so. Blackburn said that it was that allegedly separate group to which he’d given the disc, and that they’d given it to Chavez.
The question-and-answer session at the end kind-of deteriorated. Chavez proved the value of second-rate universities by pointing out that she’d been to one. She said that relegating blacks to such places would not keep them from being leaders. And in the same breath she bragged about having been one of the only non-Ivy Leaguers in the Reagan Whitehouse.
I wanted to ask what she was doing to improve crappy elementary schools, but I didn’t get a chance.
Blackburn was pressed to put a figure on how much weight race carries, and he said that he could not. He explained, reasonably enough, that he looks at an entire person, and that no two are identical. But he did not go out of his way to praise racial discrimination, other than in his warnings about resegregating. And neither he nor anyone else exactly attempted an argument
for the superiority of race-based as opposed to poverty-based affirmative action.
Although the entire performance assumed the division of people into races, there was not a word spoken explicitly in favor of segregation or against Blackburn’s contempt for it.
Next PostNext U.S. Out of Iraq: Forum Features Conyers, Woolsey, Lee, Ellsberg
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Allison Lin wins award
Allison Lin, senior, recently received a Girl Scout Gold Award for creating a wooden MRI and CT model to lessen kids’ fright for the noisy machines. These machines are used to take scans of the brain, and are used in every hospital for people of all ages. The Gold Award is much like the Eagle Scout project, as they both require designing a project and implementing it.
Lin chose to do her project on this because she wanted to help the kids going through scary scans throughout their stay at a hospital.
“I had to get an MRI and they told me kids are scared of these machines. So I targeted that issue,” said Lin.
This project was no easy feat. It took her about a year of planning and creating to make the entire model.
“I started planning in September and I had to finish it in summer because I wouldn’t have time in school,” said Lin.
Once she finally received her award, she felt relieved.
“I just got the award and I was like ‘Finally!’. It took a really long time..when I finally got it I was like “Yay! I don’t have to work on it anymore,’” said Lin.
Her model is being put to good use, and bringing to life the vision she had for it when creating it.
“It’s at Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara; they use it in their pediatrics unit. The kids play with it so they know what to expect. There’s sound incorporated in the model, so it’s made so that they don’t freak out.”
Lin’s model is definitely a piece to be proud of, and will help the lives of many.
Prev Inspiring speakers visit Leigh
Next Deadly Hurricane Matthew hits U.S. coast
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16/09/2016: SCHEDULE: CONSULAR OUTREACH MISSIONS IN FLORIDA
The Philippine Embassy in Washington, D.C., in cooperation with the Philippine Nurses Association of America, Inc. - Central Florida Chapter, the Filipino-American Association of Pensacola, Inc., and the Philippine Honorary Consulate in Miami, is pleased to announce that it will conduct consular outreach missions to Miami, Orlando and Pensacola in the 4th quarter of 2016, as follows:
Contact Email for Securing Appointments for Passport, Legalization and Civil Registration
Philippine Honorary Consulate in Miami
12/F 1200 Brickell Avenue Miami, Florida 33131
09:00 am - 12:00 nn
- Philippine passport applications
- Legalization of documents (acknowledgment, authentication, etc.)
- Receipt of Reports of Birth, Marriage and Death
- No applications for dual citizenship will be accepted at this time, as oaths of allegiance must be administered by the Philippine Consul General or Consul
consular@philippinesusa.org
(copy furnish: honcon.miami@gmail.com)
Hilton Garden Inn Orlando at SeaWorld
6850 Westwood Blvd. Orlando, FL 32821
5-6 November 2016
- Administration of oath of allegiance for Dual Citizenship
outreachapp@philippinesusa.org
(Please indicate in the subject line: Orlando FL Outreach. In the body of the email, indicate the complete name/s of the applicant/s and the corresponding service/s required by each applicant.)
Fil-Am Community Center
234 West Oakfield Road Pensacola, FL 32503
(Please indicate in the subject line: Pensacola FL Outreach. In the body of the email, indicate the complete name/s of the applicant/s and the corresponding service/s required by each applicant.)
The complete list of requirements for the consular services enumerated above may be found at http://www.philippineembassy-usa.org/philippines-dc/consular-services-dc/. Those intending to renew their passports using their newly-married surnames may refer to the following link for the list of requirements, http://www.philippineembassy-usa.org/philippines-dc/consular-services-dc/faq-dc/#changename.
Also, please take note that effective 01 July 2016, pursuant to Department of Foreign Affairs guidelines, all applicants for passport renewal holding manually-scripted passports, machine-readable ready passports (MRRP) and machine-readable passports (MRP) are required to submit the following:
1. Actual old passport;
2. Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)-issued birth certificate, original and photocopy (copies may be ordered online via www.ecensus.com.ph); and
3. Proof that applicant has not applied for foreign citizenship (i.e. valid green card, valid visa, dual citizenship certificate, etc).
It is important that applicants with appointments come with all the required documents to avoid the rejection of their application. Please note that all fees are payable in cash or money order.
All passport and legalization applicants are required to bring their own self-addressed return envelope with tracking number from USPS or other courier service (FedEx, UPS, DHL, etc.).
The administration of oath of allegiance to former Filipinos under the Dual Citizenship Law will be on 6 November 2016 (Sunday) at 9:00 a.m. in Orlando and on 20 November 2016 (Sunday) at 9:00 a.m. in Pensacola. The complete applications for Dual Citizenship should be mailed to the Embassy no later than 7 October 2016. Individual confirmation will be made via phone/email upon receipt of the application. Dual citizenship applicants who also wish to apply for a Philippine passport after their oath taking should indicate their intention in the cover letter sent with their dual citizenship application and comply with the applicable passport application requirements.
All applications are strictly by appointment only. Appointments will be automatically scheduled as they are received. No request for specific time slots will be entertained. Those applicants who are not able to secure confirmed appointments will not be accommodated.
The final list of all applicants, with the confirmed appointment schedule will be posted at the Embassy’s website http://www.philippineembassy-usa.org, a few days before the scheduled outreach.
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Normally when I take the Seaford train it's to do my very favourite walk over the Seven Sisters. That seemed to be what everybody else on the train was preparing for. But I only do that walk in odd-numbered years, so this time I wandered the coast between Newhaven and the Cuckmere instead. So here's a post about Grayson Perry's favourite museum, the best view in southeast England and the country's premier ghost station.
Seaford Museum
Every time I've walked past this museum before, it's either been too early in the day on a walk to Eastbourne, or too late in the day on a walk from Eastbourne. This time I timed it just right, which is to turn up between two and three in the afternoon so you've at least an hour to look around.
The first brilliant thing about Seaford Museum is that it's inside a Martello Tower. These are coastal forts built during the Napoleonic wars, with space for a single gun emplacement on the roof and a small garrison down below. 103 Martello Towers were built around the coast from Suffolk to Sussex, with Seaford the westernmost in the chain. Circumstances weren't ideal for step-free access, but that's no longer a problem because a lift's just been installed, and a bridge was added across the landward moat a few days ago.
£2.50 allows you through the gate and down the stairs, to what initially looks like a small collection based around local history. It's all going to be naval defences and seamen, you think. But step through any of the doorways and this soon proves very much not the case, as you discover shelf upon shelf and case upon case of 'stuff'. A collection of hoovers, a display of electronic calculators, a row of washing powder boxes, an evolution of typewriters, an array of electric bar fires, a parade of well-stocked shops, umpteen lace bobbins and an entire room full of old radios and recording equipment. I have never been to any other museum which boasted a 'Toaster Timeline'.
It seems impossible that quite so much could have been crammed inside the tower you saw outside, but the basement level is much larger, and is used to great effect. Not for nothing has Seaford Museum has been described as a 'Tardis of discovery'. The volunteers are very devoted to their job too, and revel in pointing out the artefact they last sourced from some acquaintance or local house clearance - in Saturday's case, a vintage bike. Nostalgic oneupmanship is also practised here, and I particularly enjoyed the conversation which went "Of course, my mother's phone number was Icklesham 6", to which the response was "Yes, ours was Newhaven 3".
It's hard to completely look at everything, which is the joy of the museum, but when you're done you can climb the steps to the roof and take a quick look out. You have to climb up to a separate podium to see over the top of the wall, which might not be so great if you're below average height. But look, there's the town promenade off to the west, and (more impressively) the pure white bump of Seaford Head rising to the east behind the beach huts. Where else could you see all this for the price of a 99 cornet? I really hope the front door's open the next time I walk by.
Seaford Head
The most annoying thing about walking the glorious rollercoaster of the Seven Sisters is that you can't properly see the chalk cliffs themselves. For that you need to be on the other side of the River Cuckmere which, unless the tide is low and you're willing to get your legs wet, is an hour's diversion up the estuary and back. So I took advantage of being on the western side and walked out to Seaford Head, where the crackingest views are to be had. I had previously wondered why it's often so busy up here, and now I know the answer - a conveniently-located Visitor Centre and car park on the prow of South Hill. From here a gentle descent leads down to the famous Coastguard Cottages, and the money shot which has graced many a book cover, TV documentary or calendar. I grabbed it front-lit, azure-backed and somehow without any intrusive humans in the foreground.
But this view won't be here forever, indeed it may not be here for long, as the risk of erosion threatens the cliff top's existence. What you can't see from up here are the concrete defences built by the cottagers in 1947 to keep the sea back, which merely slowed rather than halted the rate of retreat. The winter storms of 2013/14 did particular damage, and nobody quite knows when the next maritime assault will come. A quarter of a million pound campaign has been set up by the current owners to effect repairs and further engineering works, which is fair enough as it's in all our interests that they can continue to live here.
Walking these clifftops, as I've written before, is a surreal experience. It looks like you're ambling across a verdant meadow, alive with flowers and butterflies, except there's a vast expanse of sea a few steps to your left and a rocky foreshore seventy metres down. A short walk in the wrong direction and you could be dead in ten seconds flat. Safety advice recommends always staying at least five metres from the edge, however tempting it is to peer closer, not that this is always generally observed. The cliff edge almost certainly won't collapse while you're on it, but it absolutely will collapse one day, and there's one chained-off freshly-cracked outcrop a mile away which looks ready to go.
Newhaven Harbour/Newhaven Marine
Newhaven's three railway stations are an unlikely trio, originating in the port's heyday and somehow lingering on. Newhaven Town is the main stop, on the wrong side of the river for most of the town's population but close enough to the only bridge to be genuinely useful. Newhaven Harbour seems far less necessary, barely 400m down the line, serving a tiny catchment area of three residential streets and a clump of warehouse-like sheds. It used to be the preferred access point for foot passengers changing to the Dieppe ferry, but they're now told to disembark from Newhaven Town instead, and for good reason. Newhaven Harbour no longer has any access to the port, its roof is heavy with barbed wire to prevent illegal egress, and the former pathway up from the main road was recently barriered off in favour of a dusty semi-industrial backstreet. All trains stop, but technically there's no real need for them to do so.
But if Newhaven Harbour is surplus to requirements but somehow still open, Newhaven Marine is notoriously so. For decades it was the prime cross-Channel disembarkation point, immediately alongside the ferry, until stricter border restrictions relocated the diminishing throngs elsewhere. By 2006 the station was so run down that National Rail closed it to the public, citing safety concerns, but couldn't close it officially so scheduled a Parliamentary train service instead. Once a day a 'ghost' train is scheduled to chuck out its passengers at Newhaven Harbour, travel the 300m or so into the siding at Newhaven Marine, wait a bit, then emerge (not in passenger service) and return to Lewes. And it does this even though last year, the remains of the station building itself were demolished.
The best view is from the footbridge at Newhaven Harbour, of a tiny spur line branching off beyond the level crossing towards no longer anything in particular. Or perhaps the best view is through the security gate on the East Quay, watched over by a glowering guard who'd let you through to the Port Office or the Commercial Depot, but likely not for a snoop around a dead station. There is still a Newhaven Marine station sign on the signal box, in Network South East colours, but otherwise this could be any portside backlot towered over by a giant vehicle ferry. As I understand it, the old tracks into Newhaven Marine were lifted a couple of weeks ago and a brand new freight siding laid, which is due to come into operation next March. There are certainly line-blocks in place at present which would prevent the daily parliamentary train from running. But don't necessarily expect the 'station' to close, because that's really hard to do, and Newhaven's always been a lot more stubborn than that.
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Home American University in Cairo Board of Trustees Meetings Minutes UA-R-GC-1914-01-01-1970-02-16_Page-001
Board of Trustees meeting minutes, February 16, 1970
UA-R-GC-1914-01-01-1970-02-16_Page-001
Minutes of the Meeting of
The Board of Trustees of the American University in Cairo
held its winter meeting on Monday, February 16, 1970 at 10:30 a.m.
at The Recess, 60 Broad Street, New York.
Present were: The Chairman, Mr. Payne, Vice-Chairman,
Mr. Barco, Recording Secretary, Mr. Crary, Dr. Dirks, Dean
Hoelscher, Dr. McLain, Mrs. Sanders, Dr. Simpson, Dr. Wells, and
Mrs. Weyerhaeuser.
1. Mr. Payne opened the meeting by distributing the proposed
agenda, which was subsequently adopted unanimously.
2. Report of the Presidential Search Committee. Mr. Payne then
called upon Dr. Dirks, as Chairman of the Presidential Search
Committee, to report on the progress of the Committee's work.
In presenting the Committee's report, Dr. Dirks stated that
the Committee was prepared to make a recommendation to the Board
at this time. It had held a number of meetings and three of its
members, Mr. Crary, Mr. Barco, and he, had visited Cairo to have
discussions with representative groups within and outside the
University. Prior to the Cairo meetings the Committee had considered
some forty names submitted to it or proposed
Title Board of Trustees meeting minutes, February 16, 1970
Creator American University in Cairo. Board of Trustees
Description The American University in Cairo minutes of the meeting of the Board of Trustees, New York City, February 16, 1970.
Name American University in Cairo
Subject (LCSH) Universities and colleges
Type Still Image; Text
Extent 37 p.
Medium minutes
Identifier UA-R-GC-1914-01-01-1970-02-16
Collection American University in Cairo Board of Trustees Meetings Minutes
Source Meetings Minutes; Board of Trustees and Founders; Governing Bodies and Committees; University Archives; Rare Books and Special Collections Library; American University in Cairo
Title UA-R-GC-1914-01-01-1970-02-16_Page-001
Transcript I I I THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY IN CAIRO Minutes of the Meeting of The Board of Trustees 16 February, 1970 The Board of Trustees of the American University in Cairo held its winter meeting on Monday, February 16, 1970 at 10:30 a.m. at The Recess, 60 Broad Street, New York. Present were: The Chairman, Mr. Payne, Vice-Chairman, Mr. Barco, Recording Secretary, Mr. Crary, Dr. Dirks, Dean Hoelscher, Dr. McLain, Mrs. Sanders, Dr. Simpson, Dr. Wells, and Mrs. Weyerhaeuser. 1. Mr. Payne opened the meeting by distributing the proposed agenda, which was subsequently adopted unanimously. 2. Report of the Presidential Search Committee. Mr. Payne then called upon Dr. Dirks, as Chairman of the Presidential Search Committee, to report on the progress of the Committee's work. In presenting the Committee's report, Dr. Dirks stated that the Committee was prepared to make a recommendation to the Board at this time. It had held a number of meetings and three of its members, Mr. Crary, Mr. Barco, and he, had visited Cairo to have discussions with representative groups within and outside the University. Prior to the Cairo meetings the Committee had considered some forty names submitted to it or proposed
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How SRLU Policy Fragments Landscapes and Communities in NSW
by HVPA_research » Sun Jul 06, 2014 12:31 am
Missing the Connection: How SRLU Policy Fragments Landscapes and Communities in NSW
This is a well-researched scientific paper by Meg Sherval, University of Newcastle (Australia) and Nicole G. Graham, University of Technology Sydney, Faculty of Law. November 19, 2013. The paper includes 48 references that make it particularly valuable.
They basically concluded that the NSW Government SRLUP and CIC processes for the Upper Hunter region failed to achieve what they have set out to do.
In 2012, responding to community opposition to coal seam gas mining in rural and regional NSW, the O’Farrell government announced its proposed suite of law reforms to address what it saw as flaws in the planning process. The Strategic Regional Land Use ('SRLU') Policy is a key component of these proposed reforms. The Draft SRLUP for the Upper Hunter region ('the Plan') was one of the first two plans for NSW. This article contends that there are gaps in both the logic and detail of the Plan’s mechanisms that disconnect people from place. These gaps indicate that the necessary tools for the Plan’s key functions — information and evaluation — belie its claimed neutrality. There are substantial knowledge gaps and imbalances in the assessment process. Scientific and economic research indicates that the known disruption to land approved for CSG mining is potentially harmful to both the hydrological and geological systems on which local communities and economies depend. The policy disregards the physical and cultural connections between communities living in the Upper Hunter and the lands, waters or 'places' on which they depend. The article outlines the claims and objectives of the policy in general terms before exploring the conceptual framework of the policy, and the gap between the vision the NSW government has for the Upper Hunter region as presented in the Plan, and that of regional communities themselves.
A copy of the complete paper is here: http://huntervalleyprotectionalliance.com/pdf/HUNTER_SRLU-Policy-Fragments-Landscape.pdf
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WSJ & US Intelligence Agencies: 'We Was Wrong & Messrs. Assad, Nasrallah & Soleimani have "won"!'
"... In the early days of the Syrian rebellion, U.S. intelligence agencies made a prediction: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's days were numbered, an assessment repeated publicly by President Barack Obama and top U.S. intelligence officials.Mr. Obama said so as recently as March 22, at a press conference in Amman with Jordan's King Abdullah: "I'm confident that Assad will go. It's not a question of if, it's when."
Behind the scenes, though, U.S. intelligence services had already begun to pick up indications that this long-held assumption was wrong.
That winter and early spring, U.S. and Israeli spy agencies received intelligence that Iran and the Assad regime were pressing the reluctant leader of the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon to commit to sending his fighters into Syria en masse, current and former U.S. officials said.
The resulting Hezbollah surge to bolster Mr. Assad represented a turning point in the Syria conflict, giving the Syrian leader enough strength to survive, though not enough to prevail.
U.S. intelligence agencies and administration speechwriters quickly dialed back pronouncements about Mr. Assad's impending departure from public remarks.
Now, at the end of 2013, Syria stands as a tale of mismatched commitments, and an example of America's inability to steer events from a distance. In many ways, Syria as it was known before simply doesn't exist any longer, U.S. officials say. Its place has been taken by a shattered state riven into sectarian enclaves, radicalized by war and positioned to send worrisome ripples out across the Middle East for years to come, say current and former officials.
In fact, U.S. officials think the chances of steering the outcome have shrunk dramatically. The intelligence assessments that once showed Mr. Assad on the verge of defeat now say he could remain in power for the foreseeable future in key parts of the country bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean coast. The U.S. doesn't think he will be able to retake the whole country again, U.S. intelligence agencies believe. Areas outside his control are fracturing into warring enclaves along ethnic and sectarian lines, abutting a new al Qaeda-affiliated haven that sweeps from Syria into Iraq.
The civil war could last another decade or more, based on a Central Intelligence Agency analysis of the history of insurgencies that recently departed Deputy Director Michael Morell privately shared with lawmakers, according to congressional officials......
Mr. Obama's limited covert engagement in Syria has been part of a deliberate effort to avoid further entanglement in the Middle East and take the U.S. off a war footing, senior U.S. officials say.....
The first hints that those long-held assumptions were wrong came in the second half of 2012, when the CIA realized that the Syrian military was starting to change its tactics with help from Iranian advisers, who had cracked the opposition's battlefield communications.
Next came the Hezbollah push.
U.S. intelligence officials misjudged the extent to which Hezbollah was prepared to double down in support of Mr. Assad.
U.S. intelligence initially showed that Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, resisted repeated appeals from Iranian leaders, including the commander of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani, for sending Hezbollah fighters in large numbers into Syria to reinforce the Assad regime, current and former U.S. officials say.
U.S. spy agencies believed Hezbollah's leadership at the time was riven by internal debate, worried that intervening in an uprising next door would be "bad for the brand" and spark a backlash at home, according to an official briefed on the intelligence....
Within the CIA, many analysts, including Mr. Morell, agreed the odds were bad, given the mismatch in commitments, officials said. Mr. Nasrallah had gone all in; the same couldn't be said of the Americans, these officials said.....
By mid-summer, U.S. spy agencies had watched the size of Hezbollah's deployments in Syria grow, and concluded that the war's momentum was shifting in favor of the Assad regime, though the U.S. didn't think his forces would be strong enough to retake the country....
The U.S.'s caution didn't sit well with Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi prince and intelligence official who had become the leader of an international effort to aid the rebels.
If Iran and Hezbollah prevailed in shoring up Mr. Assad, the Saudis warned the White House, they would be emboldened to think "they can walk on water," and take actions elsewhere that could jeopardize Saudi security, one diplomat close to the Saudis said.
The administration's decision to avoid military strikes and subsequent negotiations over ending Syria's chemical weapons program gave Mr. Assad considerable staying power, administration officials say. Mr. Kerry privately acknowledged to allies that the administration's decision to not retaliate militarily for the Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack hurt the morale of the opposition, which had anticipated a strike. He called this a "non-strike effect," according to a senior administration official.
Saudi officials fumed at the U.S. for failing to launch strikes against Mr. Assad over the chemical weapons attack, and Prince Bandar threatened to scale back cooperation with the CIA.
The frustration was mutual. In private meetings with U.S. officials, Mr. Kerry singled out Prince Bandar as "the problem," complaining about his conduct, according to meeting participants....
A former senior Obama administration official said Saudi leaders misread U.S. sentiment. The White House, the former official said, had no obligation to come to the rescue "when they picked a fight they couldn't win."
After Mr. Obama's decision not to strike in response to the chemical weapons attack, the U.S. learned that Russian, Iranian, and Chinese officials were discussing how weak the U.S. now looked on the international stage, said one former official briefed on the intelligence.
Now, some senior Obama administration and Pentagon officials say the window of opportunity for strengthening the moderate opposition may have closed. Once Syria's chemical weapons have been fully removed, "the pressure on Assad to leave will be diminished," said one senior administration official.
A longtime American diplomat in the region said that, for now, it looks like Messrs. Assad, Nasrallah and Soleimani have "won"."
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Victimocracy
For a while I have tried to figure out how to define Barack Obama politically. “Socialist” is not quite right—he and his party are much more likely to coopt corporations than to take over ownership (and responsibility) for them. But he’s not a typical European social democrat either—how could he be, given that he only barely includes the industrial working class as part of his coalition? He’s not a New Deal liberal, or even a McGovernite either—he’s not just to the far left of particular American concerns like racial justice, individual liberty, civil rights, social welfare, etc.—he is too interested in seemingly odd cultural issues, like sticking it to the Catholic church, gay marriage and defending Mohammed from “defamation.”
The problem is that Obama is ushering in a new form of rule, which we can call “victimocracy.” Rights, under this regime, are defined by one’s claim to victimization, or by having oneself deemed an honorary victim, and legitimate arguments are those which defend some approved victim (not, for example, Coptic Christians in Egypt) against an officially designated oppressor group. The “race, class and gender” mantra that has been parodied for decades now as a symbol of the excesses of the academic left has been completely and unironically mainstreamed—indeed, the President’s successful re-election campaign was run according to that template and had no other content. The victimocrat regime is currently holding in jail Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, a man who has committed no crime, for the sole purpose of committing the US to a victimary narrative of the Islamic war against the West—well, against everyone other than them. An organ of the mainstream left, the Washington Post, has gotten on-board with the “argument” that all criticism of Susan Rice, the UN Ambassador and possibly next Secretary of State is racist and sexist, perhaps unless proved otherwise, and, by extension, the views of white men (especially from the South, that land of quintessential white maleness) are a priori discredited. “White male” (or “old white male”) is code for conservative—George Soros and Warren Buffett have exemptions from white maleness, because they have (I hope I am remembering the phrase correctly) “renounced their privilege.” But the code is interesting as, unlike other demonizations, like “bourgeois,” or even “Jew,” this one takes in the whole of what has been taken as normal and normative in our social order.
This seems to be the “revenge” that Obama offered his voters and, in truth, it might, for a while, provide for a very focused and consistent style of governance. Fiscal policy (to which groups and industries to direct loans, bailouts and subsidies) foreign policy (do I need to specify?) and law enforcement can all easily be run victimocratically. It might be a stable and somewhat less than totalitarian rule—the government need only appoint (many are already in place) official guardians of the interests of each and every designated victim group. As for who will guard the guardians?—asking such a question, I imagine, would just be a sign that your white maleness is showing.
Well, I’m working on another post now, and I just wanted to unveil this new category for the political scientists to mull over. I would assume that on some level, the American people have come to realize that victimary discourse must be allowed to play itself out until the end, which may or may not match the 70 years it took Communism. There is no resisting victimocracy—in the name of what—equal rights? Patriotism? Social peace? American interests? Prosperity?—only the white males/whales of the left’s Ahabist imaginary could possibly imagine that any of these categories contain other than victimary content. Whose interest? Whose prosperity? Whose peace (sans justice, no less)? Etc. In the end it must all crash, but in the meantime and in the aftermath, there is only one plausible response (actually, it’s just the least implausible): exodus.
Obama and company wouldn’t necessarily disagree with your analysis except that they would call it “social justice” rather than victimocracy. As you suggest, who can be against victims? Since we’re never really sure who is a victim and who isn’t, the safest policy is to side with the weaker party, at least the perceived weaker party, no matter how elite or privileged they may be in fact, as with most liberal democrats. It’s rather remarkable that inequality of wealth has become a defining issue of our time, as if the equal distribution of wealth was ever a goal of our polity. Hayek pointed out long ago that any time one group receives special treatment, it can only come at the cost of another group, arbitrarily; as opposed to the market system of distributing wealth, which is supremely rational. If indeed, “in the end it must all crash,” that crash will be come about through the return of economic reality. While victimary rhetoric has no logical stopping point, spending does, even for the largest and wealthiest country in the world. The achievement of equal distribution of wealth is not actually desirable, since it could only be achieved by a huge lowering of everyone’s living standard, as so many socialist countries have discovered. In theory, many leftists would willing pay that price; in practice, I doubt. Leftist elitism is essentially hypocritical.
So many of our most powerful institutions are essentially victimary now–education, news media, hollywood, unions–it’s amazing that anyone is conservative; essentially, it’s the working class (whether blue or white collar) who actually produce the goods and services we all enjoy, who opposes the reigning victimocracy. The victimocracy is essentially trying to buy everyone off, trying to make everyone a beneficiary of government largesse; But this can only be achieved at the cost of the problems we now face, huge unemployment, huge debt, huge bureaucracy that sucks the wealth and initiative that distinguishes America from the EU and China.
Comment by Q — November 27, 2012 @ 1:51 pm
I don’t have much to add to that comment–thanks. There’s the question of how the pantheon of victims, and their rankings, are determined–ultimately, that seems to be driven by opposition to the normative and the normal–the “unmarked,” in Gans’s original definition of White Guilt. And there’s the question of what that crash will look like, who will be prepared for it, how deep it will be, what will remain, and so on (quite a few questions, in fact, none of which we could even begin to answer).
In the end, is victimocracy anything other than a logical extension of liberal democracy? The “people” in democracy are always defined in relation to some “tyrannical” power, actual or possible; and the “liberal” element starts by protecting individuals from arbitrary state power and mob rule, but it is a short step from protecting individuals to protecting groups (it’s more economical to just say you must hire a number of blacks proportionate to the population than to examine each and every case of possible discrimination), and once you start protecting groups how could you ever tell when the protection is no longer necessary? Protection of officially designated groups from tyrannical power (defined by whatever group is left out of all those groups)=victimocracy.
Comment by adam — November 27, 2012 @ 3:36 pm
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James Haag is this year’s East Penn Press Male Athlete of the Year. Copyright - Don Herb 2017_
Haag excelled in both of his sports
Wednesday, August 1, 2018 by CJ HEMERLY Special to the Press in Sports
Recent Emmaus High School graduate James Haag had a decision to make. Yes, like all upperclassmen, he had to choose which college he would attend. But to go along with that, he also had to pick which sport he would play on the next level, eliminating one of two in which he starred at Emmaus.
Haag was a member of Emmaus’ soccer team in the fall and the volleyball team in the spring. He excelled at both and enjoyed competing in each one.
After a successful 2017-18 senior campaign, Haag was voted as the East Penn Press Male Athlete of the Year.
With the types of schools pursuing him, playing two sports would be a difficult task. After committing to attend New York University in the fall, Haag accepted a scholarship to remain on the court and play volleyball.
“I considered a few other schools such as Villanova and Northeastern, and I was also recruited by MIT,” said Haag. “I decided to go to NYU because of its prestigious Stern School of Business, its excellent location in Manhattan, very near the financial district, its internship opportunities, and the ability for me to continue my volleyball career.
“Although I love playing both sports, I found that volleyball is a sport that is hard to play if you are not playing with high level teammates and opponents, and felt that I could be happy ending my official soccer career of 16 years and simply play for fun with friends. I also found volleyball to be a less stressful game where I seemed to have more fun, and I would be able to bring back my improved skills to compete in outdoor tournaments.”
The Green Hornets (23-1 overall) won both the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference and District 11 Class 3A titles for the second straight season, and Haag was a big reason why, especially as a senior. He earned league MVP honors with a powerful swing as an opposite hitter on a team that reached the PIAA semifinals before falling to eventual state champion Hempfield.
“It felt great to be able to be one of the leaders on the volleyball team,” Haag said. “We have a phenomenal program. [Emmaus’ coaching staff does] a great job developing the players, preparing the JV guys for varsity, and getting the varsity players to play at a high level. For the past two years we have been a dominant force throughout the Lehigh Valley and even the state, winning two district and league titles and reaching the state semifinals twice in a row.
“It was tough ending the season on a loss and not being able to be crowned state champions, but both years we lost to very worthy opponents and had no reason to hang our heads. I’m very excited to see how the team does next year, as I expect great things to come out of that season as well.”
Haag had 285 kills as a senior at a rate of 2.69 per set. His kill percentage was 43.4 percent. He also had 28 blocks and 239 digs.
Haag wasn’t just garnering medals around his neck during the volleyball season.
Last fall, the Emmaus boys soccer team also played in the league and district championship games. They came up just short in both to a talented Parkland team, but finished the season 18-5-1, and the appearance in the district final was the seventh in a row, the longest streak in modern era of Lehigh Valley soccer.
Haag scored two goals and assisted on two others last season, finishing with six goals and four assists for his varsity soccer career.
“Making the league and district finals this year was a great experience,” said Haag. “When you play for such a great program like Emmaus, you always expect the team to be good and to come back strong each year. After losing some key players from the district title run the previous year, we were able to come back strong and compete with the best teams around the Lehigh Valley. [The Emmaus varsity coaching staff does] a great job preparing us for the season and for each game, and it shows in the results we are able to get, especially in the postseason. It definitely was tough to come up short in those two championships, but we truly gave it everything we had and were still proud of the effort we put forth.”
Haag also excelled in the classroom, earning the scholar-athlete award on the soccer team.
“I found that Emmaus High School was the perfect place for me to grow as a student, an athlete, and a person,” said Haag. “Academically, it has almost any class you can ask for as well as numerous AP level courses. Athletically, Emmaus is one of the most competitive schools in the area, and I have had the opportunities to learn from outstanding coaches while winning district and league championships.
“Leaving the high school, I believe I am a much more well-rounded and complete person than when I entered. I am truly grateful for all the opportunities that Emmaus has given me, and I will cherish the memories I have made with my peers.”
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Color Bloq
THE COVER STORY
December | DIASPORA
November | TWO-SPIRIT
October | BODY
September | X
August | CRAVE
July | TOUCH
MAY | REMODEL
April | EARTH
March | MIND
February | BLACK
January | ELDERS
December | FAM
November | NERD
October | FACE
September | WHITE
August | FEMME
July | AUDIO
June | SPACES
May | COLOR
April | INAUGURAL
CULTURE PAGES
LET'S BUILD
EFNIKS Daily Features
Josiah Jennings
Race, Porn, & Naked Honesty
Editor: Josiah contacted EFNIKS because they felt that we were the proper platform for voicing these concerns. As our mission states, we do not engage in shaming, we aim to be accessible, we share opinions that empower and elevate our communities. As not only one of the biggest names in the gay porn industry, but also a member of the QTPoC family, we are happy to share his op-ed with all of our readers. -Chief
My name is Josiah Jennings, also known by my porn alias, “Sean Zevran.” I’m a gay, biracial pornographic actor. I’ve worked with studios such as RandyBlue, Falcon Studios, Raging Stallion, Hot House, and CockyBoys. I also have a contract with Fleshjack and was named XBIZ Awards’ 2017 ‘Gay Performer of the Year’. In other words, I’ve been in the porn industry for a hot minute. Lately, there’s been a lot of talk of racism in gay porn, even sparking the hashtag #gaypornsowhite on social media. This became a hot topic after fellow gay porn actor Hugh Hunter sent a scathing letter to GayVN declining all of his nominations for the GayVN Awards and accusing the organization of racism for its inclusion of a “Best Ethnic Scene” category.
For those of you unfamiliar with the GayVN Awards, it’s an awards ceremony produced by AVN Media Network honoring the best in the gay porn industry. In the past, individual GayVN awards were presented during the AVN Awards each year from 1986 to 1998, at which point the GayVN awards became its own separate annual awards show until it was suspended in 2011. This year, GayVN Awards has announced its return, with the ceremony to be held on January 27, 2018 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
It’s worth mentioning that award shows in the porn industry have long had categories for things like “Best Ethnic Scene.” For example, the XBIZ Awards has an “All-Black Release of the Year” and an “Asian-Themed Release of the Year,” with strictly gay porn award shows like the Cybersocket Awards having many of the same categories. But this year it seems these categories are coming under scrutiny, and the subject of racism in gay porn and, indeed, the gay community as a whole, is lighting up gay media.
Almost immediately after Hugh Hunter sent his letter to GayVN and posted it on Twitter for all to see, I, myself, began getting inquiries from fans, blogs, and several different publications about it. My initial response was posted to YouTube in a video. You can watch it here. Shortly thereafter, I began reaching out to those well-connected in the industry to find out more about the GayVN Awards and the controversy now surrounding it.
After speaking directly with Tony Rios of GayVN about GayVN’s decision to include and subsequently remove the category of “Best Ethnic Scene” from its list of awards, I’m fairly confident there was never any racist intent behind the initial decision to include a “Best Ethnic Scene” category. However, people of color know all too well that intent is not a sufficient test for whether the person or thing in question is inherently racist, particularly when said person or thing reinforces systemic racism and racial stereotypes.
As I suspected, and as Rios confirmed, including a “Best Ethnic Scene” category was not an attempt to separate ethnic minorities from the rest of the awards, nor was it an attempt to fetishize ethnic minorities. Rather, including a “Best Ethnic Scene” category was an attempt to circumvent the racism of gay porn fans, who are ultimately the ones picking the winners. Unfortunately, having a “Best Ethnic Scene” category naturally invited feelings of “separate but equal” and that it fed into the dehumanizing fetishization of racial minorities. As such, GayVN made the decision to remove the category altogether and pool its nominees into the category for “Best Duo Scene.”
Personally, I think this decision was premature, but with the GayVN Awards right around the corner, I’m sure GayVN is pressed for time and felt this was the best decision. However, I remain torn on the issue. Though I share concerns about having a de facto “separate but equal” category and about the fetishizing of racial minorities, with the elimination of categories such as “Best Ethnic Scene,” my larger concern is that talent of color in the gay porn industry will find it more challenging to be recognized.
Now, I was only shortly behind Hugh Hunter in withdrawing my own nominations, but I suspect his and my reasons for doing so are slightly different, and I want to be forthcoming and clear on exactly why I withdrew my nominations. My fans, and those with whom I was nominated for this particular award, deserve an explanation.
Foremost, I withdrew my nominations because I wanted to show my fans, especially those of color, and the rest of the industry, that I am serious about wanting to see real change; that I want to not just talk about it, but be about it. Never in my entire porn career have I received so many texts, emails, and social media messages from fans, blogs, and publications alike asking what my response would be to the latest gay porn controversy. So, I thought maybe this would be an opportunity to add momentum to the conversation. Maybe this would be an opportunity to create a narrative that is driven mainly by the experiences and stories of people of color in the gay porn industry.
Secondly, I withdrew my nominations because I was angry, not at GayVN, but at the way the situation seemed to be unfolding. After receiving news of Hugh Hunter’s bombshell and reading the letter he sent to GayVN, I was angry that some random white guy had seemingly decided to take it upon himself to use the struggle of gay porn actors of color to get attention. Hugh Hunter is being praised right now by gay media and porn blogs as some kind of gay porn social justice icon while actors of color who have been talking about this for years continue to be ignored and forgotten, actors that came before my time, even.
For me, it’s more than a little unnerving that Hugh Hunter, again, a white guy, seems to be getting most of the attention for something that should be about us and how we feel. That in itself is telling. It also makes me suspicious of his motivations. I mean no disrespect to Hunter with what I’m about to say, but the things for which he was nominated put him up against some stiff competition, and had I been placing bets before he withdrew, I wouldn’t have placed bets on him to win anything at all. Mind you, this is less of a criticism of his talent in the industry and more of a compliment to those he was up against. He was up against some serious industry veterans, and Hunter wasn’t even nominated for “Best Ethnic Scene.” After all, he couldn’t have been. He’s white.
Forgive me for being skeptical of his motives. For a white guy who had next to no chance of winning, it seems something other than fortuitous that he would decline all of his nominations and try to blow the whole thing up on his way out by crying “Racism!” As a friend of mine often says, “Stay in your lane, boo. This ain’t about you.”
I don’t know, maybe I’m wrong. If so, then I apologize to Hugh Hunter and the entire industry. However, I think if Hunter had been serious about addressing the problem of racism in gay porn, he would have first reached out to the talent that was nominated for “Best Ethnic Scene” and asked us what we thought about it. Furthermore, he would’ve sought out someone at GayVN, as I did, and asked about the reasons behind having an award for “Best Ethnic Scene.” Instead, he reached out to neither those nominated for the award nor anyone at GayVN before creating a spectacle by withdrawing his nominations and posting an explosive letter to Twitter. I think it was selfish. The best course of action would have been for all of us to sit down together and ask “How can we make this better?”
Doing such would’ve been quite simple, as I’ve demonstrated. For example, after exchanging a few text messages and making a couple of phone calls, I found out exactly who to contact at GayVN so that I could get GayVN’s perspective on the whole thing. I heard their side of the story while also voicing the concerns that many gay actors and fans of color have about having a “Best Ethnic Scene” award. The conversation was professional, understanding, and compassionate. GayVN has acknowledged its missteps and expressed interest in reaching out to more actors, studios, and fans of color in order to better understand how to tackle this issue. That is how progress is made: by talking to people, getting their perspective, listening, learning, and turning knowledge into action.
That, honestly, is more or less what I’d been planning to do before this whole thing blew up and every blog and gay publication began raving about it. I could already see the direction this was headed: a few blogs and publications would pick up the story and run with it for clickbait for a while, as they always do; Hugh Hunter would get a pat on the back for virtue signaling; the story would eventually blow over and people of color would once again be left in the dust with nothing actually being done to make things better. It’s hard enough as it is to get people to take gay porn issues seriously, even among those in our own industry. For many, it’s just not worth the time.
Despite these challenges, I think we can make a difference. Maybe I’m being too idealistic, but I don’t think so. Ideally, what I would like to see is a narrative in the gay porn industry that educates—one guided by the experiences, knowledge, and stories of people of color. Racism in porn is not a simple issue, chiefly because sexuality itself has many layers of complexity. This is entirely different than, say, addressing equal opportunity and diversity in the workplace, or addressing the lack of diversity with the Oscars. Those kinds of solutions do not neatly transfer to our industry.
For starters, we have to acknowledge that sex is complicated. Gay porn media needs to do what it can to promote the visibility and elevate the experiences of models of color. The media should be proactive in promoting our scenes, our successes, our ambitions, our stories, our challenges, our opinions, and much else. Studios need to reject tokenism and make a serious effort to have a diverse team. Get creative. A lot of studios are lacking in creativity these days. The single biggest barrier I see is that many people, particularly porn consumers, don’t always understand our perspective. Get out there and tell your stories and what it’s truly felt like to be a model of color in gay porn. It’s cliché, but knowledge is power, and knowledge is exactly what we need right now.
Josiah Jennings, aka Sean Zevran, is a former Marine and one of the most well-known names in the adult film industry. You can follow them on Twitter @SeanZevran, and on Instagram @SeanZevran--safe for adults, probably not safe for work.
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PRIDE DIARY
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Blu-ray Review: Slices of Solid Action in Surprising ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’
Submitted by NickHC on December 16, 2014 - 11:37pm
CHICAGO - Look past the cheesy carbs and b-boy poses, this shiny mo-cap reboot of cartoon juggernaut “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” offers slick entertainment that makes for a welcome surprise for middle school fare. Proving that executive producer Michael Bay has both grown up but it still frightfully in tune with what jazzes teens, this surprise box office hit is indeed a nice slice of a blockbuster spectacle, whether or not a viewer cares about the turtles or not.
Blu-ray Review: Dwayne Johnson’s Ferociously Generic Warrior Tale ‘Hercules’
Submitted by NickHC on November 4, 2014 - 6:18pm
CHICAGO – Dwayne Johnson slams and jams in the bland “Hercules,” the “Space Jam” he never made when known as a brow-raised wrestler under his birth name “The Rock.” This ferociously generic take on the mythological hero focuses on Hercules with a group of mercenaries (played by Rufus Sewell among others) as they train a group of gee-shucks farmers to become warriors, while they project legends of immortality onto Johnson’s secretly mortal hero.
Blu-ray Review: Bowling Comedy ‘Kingpin’ Rolls Onto Blu-ray
Submitted by NickHC on October 21, 2014 - 1:24pm
The Farrelly brothers
CHICAGO – Before 1998’s “The Big Lebowski” there was 1996’s “Kingpin”, the Farrelly brothers bowling comedy that didn’t have the narrative intricacies of the Coen brothers’ classic, but had plenty of jokes about middle-aged men playing the sport. Today finds the release of “Kingpin” to Blu-ray for the first time, coming with only one new special feature.
Blu-ray Review: ‘Star Trek: The Compendium’ Provides Victory Lap for Revitalized Franchise
Submitted by NickHC on September 18, 2014 - 9:33am
Alex Kurtzman
Roberto Orci
Star Trek: The Compendium
CHICAGO – With J.J. Abrams not involved with the creation of a third “Star Trek” movie, a compendium of his work within the franchise only seems fitting. Loaded with special features but only a few new ones, this disc set is a strong choice for those who don’t already have both entertaining blockbusters in their collection.
Blu-ray Review: The Internet is For Real in Goofy ‘Transcendence’
Submitted by NickHC on August 4, 2014 - 6:55pm
Warners Bros
CHICAGO – The Internet is for real in “Transcendence”, a B-movie with grade-A production quality, loaded with terabyte-size open-ended questions, so long as one can accept it lastly with a scientific mindset. It is a film that perceives technology to be more expansive than a box of wires and computer chips, and actualizes the expanse of the internet as limitless to the realm of spiritual.
Blu-ray Review: Jason Bateman’s ‘Bad Words’ Not Better on Blu-ray
Submitted by NickHC on July 14, 2014 - 8:28pm
Andrew Dodge
Rohan Chand
Looming over “Bad Words” is the potential it could have had, as is, were it released ten years ago. With its focus of R-rated behavior poking at the projected innocence of children, along with the couple of chromosomes that keep Bateman’s Trilby from being a Vince Vaughn character, this movie is certainly a product of the comedies that have sculpted out the manchild story in the past decade.
Blu-ray Review: Goofy ‘Winter’s Tale’ a Bad Miracle
The theatrical poster for “Winter’s Tale,” after promising that “It’s not a true story, it’s a love story,” made a large demand from its viewers at the bottom: “This Valentine’s Day, Believe In Miracles.” While there is indeed a difference between filmmaking and marketing, it is hard to not imagine writer/director Akiva Goldsman whispering “believe in miracles” into the ear of every executive who helped “Winter’s Tale” come to life, immediately after throwing glitter on them.
Blu-ray Review: Criterion Release of Peter Weir’s Mesmerizing ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’
Submitted by BrianTT on July 14, 2014 - 7:10pm
Peter Weir’s “Picnic at Hanging Rock” is a mesmerizing film. Most who go into it know that it tells a tragic (possibly true) story with no resolution. And so it becomes a slow burn, in which the atmosphere and dread of unseen danger hangs thick in every frame.
Blu-ray Review: ‘Spike Lee Joint Collection’ Releases Are Solid Starting Point
Submitted by BrianTT on July 4, 2014 - 11:19am
Ed Norton
He Got Game
Who of our modern filmmakers will justify lavish, career-spanning box sets in the next generation (presuming there is such a thing and we’re not 100% digital)? We’ve seen Oliver Stone, Martin Scorsese, and Alfred Hitchcock sets in recent years but who will get the same treatment in ten or twenty years?
Blu-ray Review: Criterion Edition of Douglas Sirk’s Essential ‘All That Heaven Allows’
All That Heaven Allows
CHICAGO—The word “melodrama” has become a lazy one for too many critics who use it as a way to dismiss films that deal with extreme emotions. For a film to be melodramatic, it must be flawed. Any fan of Douglas Sirk will tell you that this is a fallacy. Melodrama can be a heartbreaking, genuine form of artistic expression, arguably never more so than in Sirk’s most beloved film, “All That Heaven Allows,” recently released on Criterion Blu-ray.
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Early Relationship Between Automobiles and Masculinity
Date(s): 1919
Location(s): Wayne, Michigan
Tag(s): automobile, male identity, Gasoline Alley
Course: “The Comic Book City,” Rollins College
Introduced in the early 20th century, the automobile became one the great advances that occurred within American society. They soon came to greatly expand the mobility of the American people and would eventually come to dominate the travel and leisure industries. Due to the fact that early automobiles where the “new toy” for leisure and luxury, usually only the upper-class where affluent enough to afford them. Since at that time “man of the house” was the provider for his family and maintaining its economic stability, men where usually the key demographic who went out and purchased this new technology once it became available to the public.
The relationship between the patriarchal form of income for families in the early twentieth century and the fact that automobiles where usually meant for the middle and higher classes eventually evolved to the connection that higher-class male masculinity had with the ownership of cars. Also Henry Ford’s breakthrough in the assembly line production of cars made this dream of car ownership within reach of more middle class men. For the majority of the early era of automobiles, men where the one’s more interested in the automobile usage, but some women did interest themselves in the mobility and freedom that they provided. Men where soon expected to be proficient in the cars and their repairs, culminating in the coming of age “first car” of many teenagers later of more modern times.
This connection between masculinity can is expressed in the early days of the comic strip Gasoline Alley, by Frank O. King. This comic strip, introduced in 1919, originally focused on a group of men coming together on Sunday mornings in the back alley of their apartments to talk about cars. This comic strip appealed to the male demographic with its masculine display of “automobile knowledge” in friendly camaraderie. Eventually even the publisher admitted that the appeal was too masculine and needed to be curved to better appeal to the female audience, a testament to the strong connection between the automobile and the male identity.
"Frank King, Drew 'Gasoline Alley': Creator of the Comic Strip in 1919 is Dead at 86," New York Times, June 25, 1969, 43.
Robert C. Harvey, "Gasoline Alley," in The Encyclopedia of American Comics, ed. Ron Goulart (New York: Promised Land Productions, 1990), 149-150.
Margaret Walsh, "Automobile in American Life and Society: Gender and the Automobile in the United States", University of Michigan, http://autolife.umd.umich.edu (accessed September 17, 2013).
Matt Murray, "In `Gasoline Alley,' Characters Are Getting Long in the Tooth --- Walt is Nearly 102, Skeezix Is 80; Question for the Cartoonist: Should He Kill Them Off?," Wall Street Journal Eastern Edition (June 20, 2001): A.1.
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Australian banks hit by telecom outage
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REITs seek paradigm shift in real estate investment
Alpha Dome City in Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province. Shinhan Alpha REITs invest in these office buildings which will have the country's top IT and game companies as tenants. / Courtesy of Shinhan REITs Management
By Yoon Ja-young
Many Koreans are obsessed with buying an apartment, which has led to problems such as speculation, soaring housing prices and household debt. This has prompted the current administration to strengthen regulations and increase taxes, which have made apartments a less attractive investment as of late. People therefore may look at investing in real estate investment trusts (REITs) instead, to diversify their portfolio and get a relatively high investment return for low risk.
REITs are a type of security that invests in real estate. Some of them are traded on the stock market, which means anyone can easily make an investment and later convert that into cash. The investors will have a stake in assets held by the REITs, such as buildings, apartments and hotels. The REITs get rent from the tenants on top of enjoying capital gains when the value of the real estate rises. These are returned to investors as dividends.
"Unlike corporate stock investment which seeks high-risk, high-return, REITs offer mid-risk, mid-return. Anyone can indirectly invest in real estate through REITs listed on the stock market," said Jung Yong-sun, president of the Korea Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts.
REITs were introduced in Korea in 2001 to facilitate the purchase of real estate owned by conglomerates that went bankrupt following the Asian financial crisis. Between 1997 and 2001, foreign investors bought around 30 major office buildings in Seoul at bargain prices as local investors could not afford them. Following the introduction of REITs, however, numerous individuals could make a fund to invest in huge office buildings, hotels, or shopping malls. With only a few dollars, a person could acquire ownership of a skyscraper.
E KOCREF CR-REIT, which was listed on the bourse last month, for instance, invests in three commercial facilities rented by E Land Retail. They are New Core Outlet Yatap Store in Seongnam in Gyeonggi Province and two more outlets in Ilsan and Pyeongchon. The REIT gets rent from E Land Retail, which operates the outlet. The outlet in Yatap is among the top performing outlets operated by E Land Retail. It has the Yatap Subway Station nearby which sees 82,573 passengers daily, as well as 130,000 residents within a 2 kilometer radius. According to E KOCREF CR-REIT, the investment return is expected to be an average 7.2 percent annually.
"As REITs are not widely known in Korea, investors seem to see them as ordinary stock. We believe the price will rise on the bourse as more investors understand the mechanism and seek stable dividends offered by REITs," a spokesman for E KOCREF CR-REIT said.
Shinhan Alpha REITs, meanwhile, has Alpha Dome City in Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province, in its portfolio. The building is soon to open, and the REITs are scheduled to debut on the bourse next month. The huge office building has the country's top portal operator Naver, game developer Blue Hole, and Naver's affiliate Snow as its tenants.
"This building is located at the center of Pangyo which will lead Korea's Fourth Industrial Revolution. All the offices in the building are already reserved by tenants," said Namkoong Hoon, CEO of Shinhan REITs Management which operates the Shinhan Alpha REITs.
It expects around a 7 percent investment return from rents, which are set to rise by 2.5 percent every year.
According to CBRE Korea, a real estate consulting firm, the outlook is positive for office buildings in Pangyo.
"Thanks to government's development plan and improvement of infrastructure, Pangyo has risen as a new key business district," it noted in a report.
"As huge development projects such as the Techno Valley II are going on, the growth of the Pangyo office market is expected to continue," it added.
With the government plan to nurture Pangyo into Korea's Silicon Valley, leading IT and game companies are moving there, and the vacancy rate stands in the 1 percent range.
The government acknowledges that REITs need further promotion. While indirect investment into real estate through REITs or real estate funds rose steeply during the past 10 years, most of the fruits were taken by private equity funds or institutional investors as small investors here aren't familiar with the investment tool. This contrasts with Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong which also introduced REITs in the early 2000s. Publicly traded REITs amount to 93 trillion won in Japan, while the market stands at a mere 100 billion won in Korea. Most REITs in Korea invest in only one real estate asset, while REITs in other countries often have multiple buildings in their portfolio.
The government plans to promote REITs, easing regulations while assessing their credit rating so that more investors can approach the products.
"The government is preparing to announce REITs promotion plans in September. It aims at inducing real estate investment, which is currently concentrated on housing, to the non-housing sector. REITs will become a stable income source for those who are retired," said Kim Joong-han, an official in charge of REITs at the land ministry.
yjy@ktimes.com More articles by this reporter
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Thunderbirds are Go! move forward with master toy partner
UK-based toy company Vivid has been named master toy partner in Europe, Australia and New Zealand for Thunderbirds are Go!, the original series remake from ITV Studios, Pukeko Pictures and Weta Workshop that will premiere in 2015.
By Wendy Goldman Getzler
Vivid will produce a range of branded toys that include figurines and vehicles, play sets, die cast models, role play and dress up toys, construction toys, board games and puzzles. The products will launch in the UK in 2015 alongside the premiere of the new series, 50 years after its first television debut. The products will then move to global markets.
ITV Studios and New Zealand-based Pukeko Pictures, in collaboration with Weta Workshop (Avatar, King Kong, The Lord of the Rings) are co-producing Thunderbirds are Go! (working title), which will debut on ITV and UK’s CITV Channel. The CGI series, which will incorporate live-action model sets, is currently in pre-production.
ITV Studios, Pukeko Pictures, Thunderbirds are Go!, toys, Vivid, Weta Workshop
Wendy is Kidscreen’s Associate Editor. When she’s not sourcing material for the brand's daily email newsletter, she’s researching, writing and connecting with others about the newest trends in digital media. Contact Wendy at wgoldman@brunico.com.
Thunderbirds are Go! again
Thunderbirds Are Go for season two
IN DEPTH – Revival resurgence
ITV inks TV deal for Thunderbirds Are Go!
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After Newtown, Jews Lead Renewed Push on Guns
By Rabbi Judah Freeman, JPFO Staff Writer. ©JPFO Inc 2013
On December 28, 2012, the Forward published an article entitled "After Newtown, Jews Lead Renewed Push on Guns: Lawmakers and Community Play Key Role in Debate" by Larry Cohler-Esses. The article presents a sad and frightening snapshot of a self-important corner of the Jewish world in America.
Cohler-Esses boasts that Jews have "a lead role as the nation debates federal measures to rein in mass murders at its malls and schools." He describes how "the new openness to legislation and other measures following the slaughter" in Nowtown "is welcomed by most Jewish organizations, which have long supported gun control." The "most Jewish organizations" that he names are B'nai B'rith International, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.
Those outside of the Jewish world can be forgiven for not realizing how unrepresentative of authentic Jewish tradition these organizations are; those inside the Jewish world -- like the Forward and Cohler Esses -- cannot.
B'nai B'rith International is a humanitarian organization established in the 1840s to provide for widows and orphans. It has built libraries, helped the homeless, established orphanages, and provided relief efforts globally. B'nai B'rith fights antisemitism and anti-Israel bias and has provided humanitarian relief in over 50 countries; it also fights for human rights. But apparently B'nai B'rith does not include in its list of "human rights" the right to defend yourself and family; they have joined in efforts to call for a ban of so-called "assault weapons" -- exactly like those used by business owners to protect their persons and properties during the LA riots of the 1990s. Let's be clear: while B'nai B'rith may be an organization of Jews, it does not represent authentic Jewish views on the issue of self-defense, views the JPFO has long clarified in articles like "Why Jews Hate Guns".
Next on Cohler-Esses' agenda is the Jewish Council for Public Affairs. Its mission? "To safeguard the rights of Jews here and around the world; to dedicate ourselves to the safety and security of the state of Israel; and to protect, preserve and promote a just American society, one that is democratic and pluralistic." Yet somehow these "rights" do not include "the right of the people to keep and bear arms"; somehow a "just American society" is not one in which you and I can have the tools to defend ourselves and our loved ones; somehow this "pluralistic" vision precludes law-abiding, honest, good people from firearms ownership. Once again, while the JCPA may be an organization established by Jews, it ignores Torah teachings on self-defense -- teachings like The Ten Commandments of Self-Defense.
Finally, we have the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. Self-described as "the hub of Jewish social justice and legislative activity in Washington", somehow "social Justice" precludes a woman fighting off an intended rapist with a handgun. Oddly, "the hub" which claims to represent American Jewry is only backed by the "1.5 million Reform Jews" -- or less than 20% of American Jewry. And let us not forget that these same Reform Jews claim that Torah is not the word of G-d and that Jewish Law does not apply to Jews today -- or in other words, their "Jewish social justice" exists outside of Jewish tradition.
The Forward piece is honest about one issue: "('gun-control') activists are fighting to seize the moment and get gun control back on the front burner." Or in other words, like the Brady Bunch, these Jewish activists are dancing on the graves of Newtown, using the deaths as a springboard to promote an anti-American, anti-Jewish, anti-Freedom, anti-Constitution, anti-Liberty agenda.
Let's be clear: when it comes to Jews and firearms, there is only one organization in America for whom this issue is written into their mission statement, and that is JPFO. We have been and remain the only authentic Jewish voice on this issue -- a voice informed by Jewish law, religious tradition, Jewish history (See -- "No Guns for Jews"), as well as American history and the Constitution. Unfortunately, the Forward and other tools of power would rather misrepresent Judaism to promote their agenda than tell you the truth.
We have always spoken that truth, and we will continue to do so. The JPFO is the only legitimate Jewish voice on the issue of so-called "gun control", and we appreciate your support in making us so.
Rabbi Judah Freeman
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Yue, you could not have sadi it any better! The bottom line is people looking to go into business must understand that they are representing the company that have put so many years and money in building brand recognition and product sales for the distributors that are conducting the business model the proper way. If people could only realize that they have to stop blaming others for their failures and start looking in the mirror! Our company, Active Energy, has a tremendous screening process (10 hours worth) prior to even taking an application, then once a person is approved, they still must go thru 15 hours of training in order to insure success. Eventhen, we still have distributors who struggle because they lie about their intentions, lie about their abilities, lie about having the time to dedicate to the business model. The bottom line is that if you dont COMMIT to any business, you will not succeed!! its that simple! right now, we have a 100% percent success rate but we have had to re train and hold the hands of many distributors to get them straightened out. We will continue to stand by all our distributors. WE ARE AE!
Though anxious, labor officials had reason to feel confident. On November 26, 2012, the Monday after Thanksgiving, Republican Governor Rick Snyder had reassured them that right-to-work was “not on my agenda.” “The impression we had from the beginning was the governor wanted to keep this thing off his desk,” Steven Cook, president of the Michigan Education Association, said at the time.
The 2018 AGER was conducted by Amway, in partnership with Prof. Dr. Isabell M. Welpe from the Chair of Strategy and Organization of the School of Management, Technical University of Munich, Germany. Fieldwork was completed by the Gesellschaft fuer Konsumforschung, Nuremberg, from April through June 2017. Results are shared with the scientific community, including the 44 AGER academic advisors and all interested think tanks and academic and public institutions.
@TonyGonzalez1 Good work, don't trust any multilevel marketing scam (MLM) All of them conceal the 99%+ loss rate that consumers are bound to face due to the impossible math of a pyramid scheme. It's not opinion, all MLM companies carry an investment loss rate greater than 99%. Companies like Amway, Herbalife, Monavie, USANA, NuSkin, Veema, Xango and a few hundred others, all scam you by implying you can earn extra income by buying into the companies products, and then recruiting new participants who sell and recruit for you in something they call a "downline."
The prospect is alarming enough that Charles Paul Conn, in Promises to Keep, works hard to prove it’ll never happen. “The reality,” he tells us, “is entirely different from what might be predicted by a statistician with a slide rule.” He points to the millions of likely untapped prospects—youths, retirees, downsized professionals, foreigners—although he fails to acknowledge that recruiting them would only make the Business hungrier. More plausibly, he adds that Amway is a small part of the population and will stay that way. The Business’s high dropout rate, he explains, though “often cited as a negative factor, actually serves to keep the pool of potential distributors large.” In other words, Amway’s salvation is its high rate of failure.
Multi-level market (MLM) or network marketing is an American institution. Companies like Amway, Tupperware, Herbalife, Avon, Mary Kay and The Pampered Chef support huge networks of distributors and recruits who sell every type of product from dietary supplements to kitchenware to beauty products. Salespeople are called independent business owners (IBO) and generally work from their homes.
What do u think of Senegence? I was talked in to joining and have a ton of issues with the way the company operates. If I were told that purchasing product would be this stressful I would have never joined. They have sold me products they don't have! Kept my monney for a 2 months at a time and are out of stock on 99% of the items 99% of the time. When they release a Lipsense color the site freezes and by the time(meaning hours) you get in the the product you want is gone. Senegence doesn't put limits on the amount of products one distributor can buy. Growing your business should be the only stressful part of a company NOT GETTING PRODUCTS! at this point I feel as if I've been very mislead and any advice Your be greatly appreciated. Thank you
Here is my experience from amway. (spoiler, not good) I was an IBO and part of a business team for 2 years. went to 6 big conferences and really did my best to sell and share the opportunity. I ended up getting like 5 or 6 people in under me and then some under them. some people quit but I was sold on the dream. after the second year and time to renew I went over how much I spent every month compared to checks received from the company. I was getting anywhere from $40.00 a month to $200.00 but usually under $100.00. after the two years I was thousands in the negative. I thought would I want to get somebody just like me in the business? someone to go to the conferences, buy from themselves. at first I said yes but then I realized I would of sponsored a lot of hard working people and made them go broke. my uplined usually pressured me to drive a long way for meetings, buying stuff. all the events were super late and I was really sleep deprived. all of these are cult techniques. look it up.. do it.. I found that most people who are emeralds and diamonds make way more off the cd’s and events than even the amway part. usually if they share income it is there one best month but most the time I find they make crap. I wont go into details but I really didn’t want to continue. I went back to finish my degree (which my upline convinced me to quit school!!!) I got my degree. now just 2 years later I have actually doubled my income, met the most beautiful girl, Ukrainian girl with a perfect accent. she too was in amway and quit. I am working in a job in my degree field (server administration) and she actually started her own business. Amway had good business principles but you are much better off to go start a real business not a multi level marketing business in which you do more buying than selling and if you actually do selling you will need to sell a whole crap ton to get any money, in fact you will make more money working part time at mcdonalds than actually just selling amway products and I am guessing that is even if you get 15+ customers. do your research on where the top dogs are making money, then if you are in business yourself please recap your spending vs income and then question did my upline push me away from friends, family, or choices I would of done differently. If you spent the time to read this thank you as I kinda went long, I am so happy now and was only acting happy in amway as they say “fake it until you make it.”
With an ultimate capacity of more than 20,000 seats, the arena was designed to respond to its distinct urban setting while revealing the activities occurring within. Bounded by Church Street, Hughey Avenue, South Street and Division Avenue, the Amway Center’s primary entrance faces north to Church Street, creating a natural extension of the nearby downtown entertainment core. The Church Street entry features a large public entry plaza connecting to the Amway Center’s spacious entry lobby.
Pyramid scheme or not, Amway is creepy and functions as a cult. These crazies nearly sucked me in. What made me really question them though was when after they explained to me their “business plan”, I told them that i’d take a few days to think about it, to talk with family about it. They immediately tell me not to tell my family about them, that my family would be skeptical about the opportunities amway would bring me, that my family would discourage me from doing it. What kind of shady business doesn’t want you to tell your family about them???
In this Presidential election, companies that cut their labor costs by engaging in offshoring have come in for heavy criticism. Amway, one of the world’s largest direct selling companies, is a U.S.-headquartered global company that would be hard to criticize on these grounds. Many of their products that are largely sold overseas, actually leverage “Made in America” as a key selling point.
The details of the agreement were finalized on December 22, 2006. In the agreement, the City of Orlando will take ownership of the new arena, while the Magic will control the planning and construction of the facility so long as contracting procedures are done in the same public manner as governments advertise contracts. In addition, the City will be paid a part of naming rights and corporate suite sales, a share estimated to be worth $1.75 million the first year of the arena's opening. The Magic will receive all proceeds from ticket sales for Magic games, while the City will receive all proceeds from ticket sales to all other events.[12] The Orlando Magic will contribute at least $50 million in cash up-front, pick up any cost overruns, and pay rent of $1 million per year for 30 years. The City of Orlando will pay for the land and infrastructure. The remaining money will come from bonds which will be paid off by part of the Orange County, Florida, Tourist Development Tax, collected as a surcharge on hotel stays, which was raised to 6% in 2006. The Magic will guarantee $100 million of these bonds.
After four years of litigation Amway won a landmark case in 1979 concerning the legality of MLMs. Because distributors can make an income on direct selling in addition to their downline, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ruled that Amway was a legitimate business and could continue to operate. This decision has only led to other MLMs adopting similar loopholes and has done little to protect the millions of people scammed into giving their time and money to Amway and other MLMs.
Methodology: Source Euromonitor International Limited. Claim verification based on Euromonitor research and methodology for Amway Corporation conducted from April to May 2012. Euromonitor studied ten leading direct selling companies in Brazil, as provided by Amway, and through interviews with company distributors and company employees Euromonitor tried to determine if any of the companies had implemented an internal Facebook page exclusive to distributors that provides tools for customization, retailing and content management. None of the ten leading direct selling companies had this capability at the time of the research. To the extent permissible, Euromonitor does not accept or assume responsibility to any third party in respect of this claim. Further information is available upon request.
Whereas The Plan is supposed to provide a simple means to a desirable end, for Josh, Jean, and Sherri the process of recovery had become an end in itself. Josh and Jean would constantly tell me how World Wide’s books and advice had enriched their marriage and helped them to communicate with each other (the bolstering of marriage and family is a major theme in Amway). The Amway lore is also full of distributors, perhaps abused as children, who “couldn’t even look people in the eye” when they joined, but who were now confidently showing The Plan to all and sundry.
The DeVos family is Dutch, thoroughly so. All four of Richard DeVos’ grandparents emigrated from the Netherlands, and today, the family continues to observe the tenets of the Christian Reformed Church, a Calvinist denomination. Calvinism believes in predestination—that God has decided whether our souls are saved before we are born—and emphasizes an “inner worldly asceticism” in its practitioners. Historically, in avoiding ostentatious displays of wealth, Calvinist Protestants have instead turned their economic gains into savings and investments. One of the bedrock texts of sociology, Max Weber’s 1905 Protestant Work Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, is expressly about the links between Calvinism and economic success. (“In the place of the humble sinners to whom Luther promises grace if they trust themselves to God in penitent faith,” Weber wrote, “are bred those self-confident saints whom we can rediscover in the hard Puritan merchants of the heroic age of capitalism.”)
Dream Night was not the first Amway event I had been to, but it was the most hallucinatory. It began with the triumphal entrance of the Amway Diamond couples, half-jogging through a gauntlet of high-fives to the theme from Rocky, as the audience whooped and hollered and twirled their napkins over their heads. When the standing ovation finally tapered off, the emcee offered a prayer thanking God for (a) the fact that we lived in a free enterprise system, where there were no government agents kicking down the doors of meetings like Dream Night and (b) His Blessed Son. As dinner wound down, the video screens displayed a picture of what the guy next to me was quick to identify as a $20,000 Rolex watch. (He went on to tell of a fellow he knew who had a $30,000 Rolex and who couldn’t tell the time for the glare of the gold and diamonds.)
Their vertically integrated supply chain is one of longest in the industry. In addition to running plants, they own organic farms. They have farms in Brazil, Mexico, and the state of Washington where they grow and harvest key botanical ingredients like echinacea, spinach, alfalfa, watercress, and cherries. They then take those products and manufacture intermediates. Cherries, for example, are processed for Vitamin C. These intermediates they both use in their own products and sell to other companies.
In the 1990s, the Amway organization was a major contributor to the Republican Party (GOP) and to the election campaigns of various GOP candidates. Amway and its sales force contributed a substantial amount (up to half) of the total funds ($669,525) for the 1994 political campaign of Republican congresswoman and Amway distributor Sue Myrick (N.C.).[73] According to two reports by Mother Jones magazine, Amway distributor Dexter Yager "used the company's extensive voice-mail system to rally hundreds of Amway distributors into giving a total of $295,871" to Myrick's campaign.[73][74] According to a campaign staffer quoted by the magazine, Myrick had appeared regularly on the Amway circuit, speaking at hundreds of rallies and selling $5 and $10 audiotapes.[73] Following the 1994 election, Myrick maintained "close ties to Amway and Yager", and raised $100,000 from Amway sources, "most notably through fundraisers at the homes of big distributors", in the 1997–98 election cycle.[74]
There's a concept in the social sciences that runs along this line. Basically the idea that we hold 3 types of capital, social, cultural, and economic. We can exchange those capitals for other other types of capital and pyramid schemes prey on the people who are willing to exchange their social capital (reputation with friends) for supposed economic capital (money).
A report in The Mint quotes P A Valsan of the EOW of Kerala Police as saying "They were charging 10 times the value of their product. For instance, they sold product priced at Rs 340 at anywhere between Rs 2,700 and Rs 3,400...Also, they were involved in money chain, which is prohibited under the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act 1978."
Ponder..."selling overpriced product and appointing people to sell over priced product when equally good and cheap products are available in market" both difficult and unethical...why a good human being for money would like to suck people to buy something and recruit people to buy the amway product because he and his uplines will earn and businesss will grow.rest everbody is entitled to his or her opinion..
You can use Amway as a consumer who enjoys its perfect products. What customers like most of all about this company is the convenience it offers. They provide a wide variety of products of the highest quality. Their shipping is always on time. The design of the website makes it easy to find the products you need. The products come in packages of specific sizes. You are allowed to bundle certain items together and get a discount. They offer many different options and combinations. The majority of users appreciate their experience of shopping from the company. Checking out is very easy and the experience is usually hassle free and enjoyable. The clients of Amway are happy that the site allows them to buy beauty, health, and home care products in an easy way. It also offers multi-level marketing which helps to create a relationship between a seller and a buyer. The service is user friendly, the website is easy to navigate and customers appear to be satisfied with their overall experience. The company offers a wide product selection to choose from. The buying process is direct and streamlined, while the customer service is impeccable too. Let's take a look at the real testimonials of the company's buyers and sellers.
Amway is based out of Ada, MI, and has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, with only 11 closed complaints over the past three years. It appears that Amway has a generally negative reputation among IBOs, and the most common complaints we encountered during our research cited difficulty making money, high prices, and dishonest recruiting tactics.
The official ribbon cutting ceremony and dedication took place on September 29, 2010 at 10:01 AM. The general public was invited to enter the building where Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer gave his annual State of Downtown address. The first ticketed event was a Vicente Fernández concert on October 8. The Orlando Magic hosted their first preseason game at Amway Center on October 10 against the New Orleans Hornets when they won by a historic margin of 54 points, while the 2010–11 regular season home opener took place on October 28 against the Washington Wizards.
Amway combines direct selling with a multi-level marketing strategy. Amway distributors, referred to as "independent business owners" (IBOs), may market products directly to potential customers and may also sponsor and mentor other people to become IBOs. IBOs may earn income both from the retail markup on any products they sell personally, plus a performance bonus based on the sales volume they and their downline (IBOs they have sponsored) have generated.[3] People may also register as IBOs to buy products at discounted prices. Harvard Business School, which described Amway as "one of the most profitable direct selling companies in the world", noted that Amway founders Van Andel and DeVos "accomplished their success through the use of an elaborate pyramid-like distribution system in which independent distributors of Amway products received a percentage of the merchandise they sold and also a percentage of the merchandise sold by recruited distributors".[68]
On one fateful evening in December 2014, I went on Kijiji (I live in Canada) to look for a job and one particular ad caught my attention. This job ad was so vague, and yet so loaded that I filled in my contact details so the person who posted the ad could get back to me. This guy got back to me via the email I filled in and he told about brand new exciting business opportunity. He also sent me a couple of videos showing me people in mansions, beach houses and the rest by exploring this business opportunity in another city.
Best way to deal with these kinds of people is to throw all of your own rationality out the window. Make up the most ridiculous arguements and stick to them even when they give rational responses. Explain that aliens came to you last night and specifically told you that selling such a product would result in the destruction of the galaxy. Then put THEM on the defensive after they keep pushing while clearly not caring if trillions of lives are extinguished just so they can make a buck.
[1]The FTC’s ruling that Amway is not a pyramid scheme is based partly on the “70-10 Rule”: To qualify for Performance Bonuses based on downlines’ sales, an Amway distributor is required to sell, according to Amway’s Business Reference Manual, “at wholesale and for retail at least 70 percent of the total amount of products he bought during a given month”—this is supposed to prevent “inventory loading,” the forced purchase of unsalable merchandise. Amwayers are also required, for the Performance Bonus, to sell to at least ten retail customers in a given month, which ensures that real business is being conducted.
Outside the Capitol, state police donned riot gear while officers on horseback pushed protesters away from the building. Loudspeakers blared Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down,” and as the wind picked up, four 20-foot-tall inflatable rat balloons skittered from side to side. Each rat represented one of the key players protesters blamed for right-to-work’s hasty adoption: the governor, the House speaker, the Senate majority leader, and—the only unelected member of the rat pack—Dick DeVos.
i am a pediatrician from pune, India & i personally know so many poor people ( ex.- a riksha driver – santosh gaikwad, a tyre puncture shop person- bhumkar, a truck driver- vilas ghule , javeri- student & so many ) have changed their life through amway business…. all earning more than Rs. 70000 per month income… so many from other higher professionals also ( Rakshit Bhardwaj sir- vice president-IT company ).. i have no. of examples ( can’t write in detail)
And the victims of MLMs—that is, the people who pay high buy-in fees but never recoup their investment—are usually women. The second episode of The Dream is called “Women’s Work,” and in it Marie returns to her hometown of Owosso, Michigan, where childhood friends and women in her family recall how Tupperware, makeup, and jewelry parties were an essential part of the town’s social fabric. “They say you can work from home, you can pick up your kids from school, you’ll never miss a soccer game,” Marie said of the promises MLMs make to women. “You can be the stereotypical mom, American mom, and make a living. Except that you can’t. You now have women doing all the emotional labor of mothering, and unpaid labor of running a household, and you have them working nights and weekends to pay for their cell phone. It’s like being in jail.”
4. The Federal Trade commission tried Amway and found it to be what they referred to as a legal and viable business that is not a pyramid because a pyramid is an organization with no real products or services that only circulates money through recruiting others people. Because Amway only pays when products are purchased (not people signed up), they are by definition, NOT a pyramid.
While the whirlwind of meetings and events were great for cultivating denial, they seemed to do little to help distributors develop “strong and profitable businesses.” Nor were they much good for attracting new blood into The Business. With the exception of First Looks, their extreme cultishness was distinctly off-putting to newcomers. Still, Josh, Jean, and Sherri continued to make the mistake of indiscriminately taking prospects to whatever meeting was going on. Even a Second Look (described ominously as more “motivational” and less informational than a First Look) was inadvisable for outsiders, as Sherri discovered when she took her friend Elizabeth to one.
if people are simply looking to become rich quickly by signing up as many people as they can, yeah, it can be a sh*t program to get into. but if people are actually looking to help each other out and create a supportive atmosphere, then its a good thing to be around. the things i’ve learned at the meetings and conferences have helped me immensely in all areas of my life because i’m way more confident now to pursue my own dreams outside of amway.
The center’s impressive exteriors made of glass and metal showcase its modernity with a 180-foot tall tower serving as a beacon over the city’s downtown skyline. The 875,000-square-foot center can accommodate up to nearly 19,000 fans. Amway Center features 1,100 digital monitors, the largest main scoreboard in the NBA with four primary high imagery video displays, and a true grade concert sound system, making it one of most technologically advanced arenas in the world. The center also boasts five concourses, a number of suites, 1,428 club seats, three retail stores, and several restaurants and bars. There are about 10,000 parking spaces located in the vicinity. Staying in one of the hotels nearby is a great option if you want to walk to the center.
Amway: The True Story of the Company That Transformed the Lives of Millions reads like an extended advertisement. Its author, Wilbur Cross, became acquainted with Amway cofounders Rich DeVos and Jay Van Andel when they commissioned him to write the first ‘official’ history of the Amway Corporation, Commitment to Excellence, published in 1986. In Amway, Cross repeatedly references the work of Shad Helmstetter, PhD, a ‘motivational expert’ specializing in ‘programming’ yourself to change negative self-talk into positive self-talk. Negativity is expressly verboten in the world of Amway, as it breeds doubt – distributors are advised to get rid of any negative people in their downline as soon as possible if they can’t train them to be positive.
1, no inventory loading? Hebalife distributors are re-evaluated for their qualifications every January. Based solely on how much products they purchased. Distributors can claim the products are for their own personal consumption any time they need to make up the volume points they needed for the qualification. 2, way over priced products : 2-10 times of equivalent products in the market. Why would a real consumer pay such premium for products that are available everywhere? 3, the refund policy. Herbalife distributors make purchase through their uplines. Uplines get rolty override payment on every purchase their downline made. This policy only encourage focus on recruiting, push unwanted purchase, and in factual denied refund.
The way they sell it is by leveraging people with wide networks of friends (people who are good at creating new acquaintances) who are also sociopathic enough to put a dollar figure on their relationships. You might make a living wage in such a career. You might get a pink cadillac from mary kay. It's a maybe. You might end up out on your ass if you can't make enough money doing this and you sink all your money and time into it.
The largest training system in Amway at the time of releasing this short article is WWDB (WorldWide Dreambuilders, officially Globe Wide Group). Although there are numerous training platforms inside Amway, WWDB occurs to be the biggest so I will simply focus on their process with us. The expense incurred by partnering with any type of Amway training platform will be relatively the very same.
I love this company. I love all the stories I hear how people succeeded in their lives. It is low cost to get in. It is only $ 50 yearly fee just to stay active. You are not abligated to buy every month if you dont' want to. this company has the best compansation plan especially when you grow in this business, you get increadible surprise reward checks and more.
Hi Christene! Former Amway IBO here. Why didn't you talk about the Amway training companies such as LTD in your review? New IBO's will be encouraged (required) to buy their products/services by their uplines. Why don't you talk about the IBO contract? It has both non compete and arbitration clauses in it. That means you can't sue, if you have a dispute you have to go to an arbitration company that favors Amway. Also, Amway can end your IBO at any time for any reason. Again, your only recourse is the arbitration company that depends on Amway for its business. The average IBO income is only about $200. That's the average, I think the median is a lot lower. I was told that IBO's only need to put in 10 hours a week to be successful. Given the average income, that means that the average Amway IBO makes less than minimum wage for his/her time. My conclusion is that you would be better off getting a paper route than becoming an IBO.
Rich and Jay set up shop in Rich’s basement selling Liquid Organic Cleaner, or L.O.C., Amway’s first original product. With their trust in each other and the support of their loving wives, they’re able to weather all bumps on their ride to the top, including the first federal investigation of Amway, by the Federal Trade Commission in 1975. In a chapter of his memoir titled ‘The Critics Weigh In’ (in Part Two, called ‘Selling America’), Rich says of the suit, ‘[We] considered the suit another government misunderstanding of business principles and an attack on free enterprise.’
[11]At the top, the multi-multi’s seem to attain a Zen of conspicuous consumption. Brad Duncan, brother of the great Double Diamond Greg Duncan, described seeing a dusty Rolls Royce among the many cars in the garage of his upline mentor, Ron Puryear; when he asked what he paid for it, Ron answered, “I don’t know. Whatever the sticker price was.” Brad took him to task for this, until Ron lectured: “That dealership is somebody’s livelihood—somebody with a family. I’m not so hard up that I need to haggle the food out of a child’s mouth.” Brad was chastened, realizing that only small minds pay attention to sticker prices.
Now the husband and wife team continues to work together, taking the time to slow down and help others. The business enables them to live their lives with flexibility, spending more time with family and one another. The strengthening of their bond depends on a connection with others; building trust and helping others find a way to meet whatever goals they may have.
In the decade since that loss, the DeVos family, with Dick and Betsy at the helm, has emerged as a political force without comparison in Michigan. Their politics are profoundly Christian and conservative—“God, America, Free Enterprise,” to borrow the subtitle of family patriarch Richard DeVos’ 1975 book, Believe!—and their vast resources (the family’s cumulative net worth is estimated at well over $5 billion) assure that they can steamroll their way to victory on issues ranging from education reform to workers’ rights. “At the federal level, when GOP candidates are looking for big donors to back them, they have options,” says Craig Mauger, executive director of the Michigan Campaign Finance Network. “If you don’t get Sheldon Adelson, you can go to the Koch brothers, and so on. In Michigan, the DeVos family is a class of donor all by themselves.”
In 1982, Amway co-founders, Richard M. DeVos and Jay Van Andel, along with Amway's executive vice president for corporate services, William J. Mr. Discher Jr., were indicted in Canada on several criminal charges, including allegations that they underreported the value of goods brought into the country and had defrauded the Canadian government of more than $28 million from 1965 to 1980.[140][141][142][143] The charges were dropped in 1983 after Amway and its Canadian subsidiary pleaded guilty to criminal customs fraud charges. The companies paid a fine of $25 million CAD, the largest fine ever imposed in Canada at the time. In 1989 the company settled the outstanding customs duties for $45 million CAD. In a 1994 article authored by DeVos, he stated that the guilty plea was entered for technical reasons, despite believing they were innocent of the charges, and that he believed that the case had been motivated by "political reasons".[144]
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In Dreambuilders’ version of The Plan one could glimpse an escape from the coming economic dead-end through empowered consumption. We’d have all the twenty-first-century cred of working (and shopping) from home, engaging in cutting-edge marketing, being part of a decentralized network, and nurturing our inner entrepreneur. And all the human capital we needed was the ability to shop and be effusive about it, which were practically American birthrights.
Rich and Jay go into business together selling Nutrilite vitamins, an early multilevel marketing scheme for which Jay’s second cousin and his parents are already distributors. When Nutrilite goes kaput in 1948 after an FDA crackdown on their ‘excessive claims’ regarding the products’ nutritional values (about which Rich only says, ‘Until then, there had been no official government position on what type of claims could be made about dietary supplements’), he and Jay strike out on their own – the American way. They can do it! We know they can!
Studies of independent consumer watchdog agencies have shown that between 990 and 999 of 1000 participants in MLMs that use Amway-type pay plans in fact lose money.[115][116][citation needed] According to The Skeptic's Dictionary, "In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission requires Amway to label its products with the message that 54% of Amway recruits make nothing and the rest earn on average $65 a month."[117]
Her alienation didn’t stop with non-Amwayers. She was also bitterly resentful of “crosslines,” her Amway cousins who belonged to other downlines. As fellow unrecovered wage junkies, they were a potential reservoir of misinformation, discontent, and backsliding. Josh cautioned her against fraternizing: Polite small talk was O.K., but you shouldn’t, say, go to a movie with them (Amway lore is full of disaster stories about crosslines who carpool). But Sherri’s animus went further. Crosslines were her competition, soaking up prospects and “saturating” Chicago before she had a chance. She was incensed when they hogged seats at meetings, hysterical when they went Direct.
In a breakfast speech to volunteers at Holland Christian Schools on May 12, 1975, Ed Prince warned that lazy and neglectful U.S. citizens were not doing their fair share, forcing the government to, as a Holland Sentinel article described it, “play an increasingly larger role in our daily and personal lives.” (You don’t have to listen too hard to hear an echo of Ed Prince in his daughter, Betsy. “[For welfare recipients] to sit and be handed money from the government because they think a job like that is beneath them,” the heiress sighed to the Detroit Free Press in 1992. “If I had to work on a line in a factory, I would do that before I would stand in line for a welfare check.”)
This is the worst company on earth DO NOT SIGNUP WITH THEM IT IS A COMPLETE SCAM. When I signed up They offered me supposed free sample value of $150 witch in the end I ended up paying double the price for. So if that’s not bad enough they also signed me up for some LTD crap without my approval or knowledge of doing so which charged me $50 a month after all said and done I tried to call them and they said if I were to cancel they would charge me $150 cancellation fee so to anybody that’s reading this avoid amway at all cost
From that point forward it became more demanding and more exhausting. Our lives had been taken away. There were Thursday meetings, Saturday events, Sunday night meetings, conferences, etc. We just lost control of it all. And on top of everything else, we were losing money, not gaining money. Finally, in mid-December, I told our mentors we couldn't do it any longer. Their first response was to blame my father who I had mentioned was skeptical (like any normal person would be). They immediately assumed he had forced us to quit when it was honestly our own decision. My dad was supportive. The next day we were cut out of their delusional lives completely. We were de-friended and blocked on social media and never to speak a word to us again.
In 2006 Amway (then Quixtar in North America) introduced its Professional Development Accreditation Program in response to concerns surrounding business support materials (BSM), including books, tapes and meetings.[100][101] In 2010 this was superseded by its Accreditation Plus program to ensure that all BSM content is consistent with Amway's quality assurance standards, which approved providers of BSM must abide by.[102][103] The quality assurance standards state that[104][105][106]
Amway conducted a four-month evaluation of different IoT platforms, ultimately choosing AWS IoT. AWS’s scalability, global presence, maturity in the IoT space, security, and outstanding professional services were the deciding factors for Amway. “We do business in more than 100 countries and territories, and we had no idea how much data-center capacity we would need from an IoT perspective,” says Mike Gartner, senior IoT platform architect at Amway.
I have no boss. I am president & CEO. I am a real business owner — as in, I own every part of this business. I create the products. I do not peddle toilet paper or hand soap to my friends and family so I can make pennies on their subscription fees. I have to actually think up something new, produce it, market it, and sell it. You want to be paid for performance? Create something yourself, and then see how you do. That’s the most honest measure. Can you make six- or seven-figures from your own creativity and grit? We’ll never know, you’re too busy drinking the Amway kool-aid and patting yourself on the back for being a “business owner” even though you do not own Amway and can’t really see you’re doing what you hate — making someone else rich — even though it’s right in front of you.
The football rankings are compiled by the Amway Board of Coaches which is made up of 62 head coaches at Division I FBS institutions.[1] All coaches are members of the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA). The basketball rankings are compiled by the USA Today Sports Board of Coaches which is made up of 32 head coaches at Division I institutions.[2] All are members of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). The baseball rankings are compiled by the USA Today Sports Board of Coaches which is made up of 31 head coaches at Division I institutions. All are members of the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA).
After years operating behind the scenes, Betsy DeVos is set to become the public face of education policy in America—an advocate of private Christian education helming the largest public-education agency in the country. Most education policymaking happens at the state and local level; the Education Department administers financial aid and collects and analyzes educational data, but doesn’t set state standards or school curricula. Even so, the position is a considerable bully pulpit, one with the ability to define the national discussion on education.
The Amway Coaches Poll is conducted weekly throughout the regular season using a panel of head coaches at FBS schools. The panel is chosen by random draw, conference by conference plus independents, from a pool of coaches who have indicated to the American Football Coaches Association their willingness to participate. Each coach submits a Top 25 with a first-place vote worth 25 points, second place 24, and so on down to one point for 25th.
I look Amway in this way....it provides a person with personal development goal. This is the most valuable asset not only in business but yourself. The business system may not be your cup of tea but personal development is a must in 21 century.Looking at the history, all the successful have a hand in self development either in terms of mentorship, coaching or trainings. It's obvious you cannot grow your business if you have not developed yourself which goes towards setting goals, having life fulfillment and teaching your highest potential. If amway was not your cup of tea , you did not understand the business or you did not give it time and you didn't have a business mindset; then you have no point of influencing others in your lopsided way.I love Amway the way I love wealth affiliate university as an affiliate marketer
I'm sure that the success stories I heard were all true. The problem is that they build an unrealistic expectation of what is possible. People hear these rags to riches tales and think 'hey that could be me'. Unfortunately very few of them will ever make any money at all. Even fewer will achieve financial freedom from Amway Joining Amway is extremely easy, making a profit in Amway is extremely difficult.
And while a state constitutional amendment legalizing public funding for religious schools is unlikely to win public support anytime soon, charters have had much the same impact. While a charter school cannot be religiously affiliated, many walk a fine line, appointing, for instance, a preacher as head of the school board or renting school space from a church. “They have a couple ways of getting around it,” says Gary Miron, a professor of education at Western Michigan University who specializes in charter school evaluation and research. “I’ve been in charter schools where I’ve seen religious prayers to Jesus Christ—they mention Christ by name—and prayer circles with students, teachers and parents.”
To sell Amway products, you’ll first need to register as an Independent Business Owner (IBO), which will then give you the opportunity to earn an income through their Compensation Plan. After signing up as an IBO, Amway claims that you’ll never be alone due to their world-class business resources, support, education, training, as well as mentoring. However, despite how great the company makes their business opportunity appear, the fact is that most people never make any money (see Bottom Line section for additional information).
The Coaches Poll began selecting the "Top 20" teams on a weekly basis during the 1950-1951 college football and basketball seasons. For the 1990-1991 football and basketball seasons, the poll expanded to a "Top 25," and it has retained this format since. It was initially published by United Press – known from 1958 as United Press International (UPI) – from 1950 thru 1990, followed by USA Today/CNN from 1991 thru 1996, USA Today/ESPN from 1997 to 2004, and USA Today from 2005 to the present.
Amway is an $8.6 billion direct selling business based in Ada, Michigan, USA. Top-selling brands for Amway are Nutrilite™ vitamin, mineral and dietary supplements, Artistry™ skincare and color cosmetics, eSpring™ water treatment systems and XS™ energy drinks – all sold exclusively by Amway Business Owners. Global sales in 2016 made Amway the No. 1 direct selling business in the world, according to the 2017 Direct Selling News Global 100. The company’s annual sales figure includes revenue from direct selling operations and other business holdings.
My husband and I tried Amway, and here's the story: My husband's BEST friend and his wife started asking us to hang out a lot, which was cool because we enjoyed their company. I thought she was my best friend at the time, stupidly enough. It didn't take long for them to tell us about this "amazing" opportunity. We thought we would give it a try since we sincerely trusted our friends. We would go to their house for a "meeting" in their basement with a bunch of strangers and two guys in suits. The guys would talk about how nice it is to work from home, make tons of money and generally just talk about nothing to do with the actual business. After every meeting I would think, okay but what is the business all about!?!?!? So eventually they set us up as "business owners" and we purchased a ton of crap from Amway totaling over $1,000 because, "that is what you do." Eventually, we decided that we would not continue with the business. There was nothing wrong with it, but we knew it wasn't for us. We didn't want to approach complete strangers in coffee shops and present them with an "opportunity"; we didn't want to stay home on the weekends to attend meetings instead of spending them at the lake; we didn't want to choose Amway partners over friends and family like you are taught (yes, there is a "tier"); we didn't want to spend thousands of dollars on products and guilt-trip our friends and family if they didn't want to buy our products (yes, this was also taught). All in all there was nothing very wrong with it, it's not a scam, but it's definitely NOT for everyone. I am writing this not to bash anyone but to give anyone an insight if they are wanting to be part of Amway. Oh, and as for the "friends"... they now completely ignore us. And I mean, I'll see them in public and they'll turn away from me when I wave; they will talk to anyone BUT us. And this was my husband's long-time highschool friend; they were even in eachother's WEDDINGS. So to be quite frank I will talk everyone out of doing Amway and it's their fault. If that is how they will treat others for simply not continuing with the business then I will tell NO ONE to join.
Next, talking with other IBOs or Amway representatives may make it seem like a great opportunity to earn a lot of money, to make your own schedule, to build your own business, and more. However, the reality is that any type of direct sales opportunity takes a huge amount of time and money in order to become successful, not to mention a natural ability to sell. And frankly, MLM companies like Amway are often very misleading in how simple they make their business opportunities appear, because the reality is nothing could be further from the truth (see the following section for additional details). As a testament to this, be sure to watch Dateline NBC’s year-long undercover investigation of Amway right below.
Beginning in 1992–93, USA Today and CNN took over publishing the coaches' basketball poll for UPI. Beginning in the 1993–94 basketball season, the Coaches Poll began publishing its final poll after the NCAA basketball tournament. From the 1993 to 1997 seasons, the poll was co-sponsored by USA Today, Cable News Network, and the NABC. Finally, in 1997-98, ESPN joined as a co-sponsor of the Coaches Poll along with USA Today and the NABC where selected NABC members serve as the voting block for the poll. ESPN retains its involvement in the basketball poll despite no longer being involved in the football poll.
“Across the United States, the spirit of entrepreneurship is alive and thriving, from coast to coast,” said Dr. David B. Audretsch, professor and director of the Institute for Development Strategies at the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs. “This year’s AGER confirms Americans continue to view entrepreneurship in a positive light and are open to the idea of starting their own business. Compared to the global average, attitudes towards entrepreneurship in America are sustaining momentum from previous years and are on track to experience continued growth.”
Going door-to-door for a school fund-raiser, I walked the winding, Anglophile streets – Kent Drive, Kings Point Drive – that looped around to the Intracoastal Waterway and back again in a closed circuit. The farther I strayed from our street, the larger the houses became. One house looked like an old-time plantation. Another had a waterfall in the center of its circular driveway, and a bright blue roof. I stood in dark foyers and bright, airy kitchens, saw antique furniture and shiny out-of-the-box appliances and mysterious works of art.
The centerpiece of any Rally is the life-story told by the guest of honor, emphasizing the depths of his pre-Amway rut and his resurrection through The Business. That evening’s featured guest, Executive Diamond Bill Hawkins, however, was too arrogant even to feign the requisite humility in his testimonial. He had been great all his life: a talented musician in one of Minneapolis’s best bands, a brilliant school teacher, a voracious reader, a charming companion with hundreds of loyal friends, and an unbelievably prodigious drinker of beer (about which he was now “ashamed”). When he saw The Plan and realized that he was much smarter than the guy showing it, he knew that his ship had finally come in: Here, at last, was something that would adequately reward his greatness[16].
Yager made a name for himself as the father of the ‘Yager System,’ one of the first and most profitable motivational ‘tools’ businesses run by Amway distributors (also called ‘tools scams’ by detractors). Distributors produce motivational tapes and videos, or ‘tools,’ and sell them directly to their downlines for immediate profit. Tools promote Amway’s free market philosophy but are not themselves Amway products – though the Yager Group is still today an Amway-approved training provider. The Charlotte Observer has said of Yager, ‘He sells not only soap but an ideology and a way of life. Admirers speak of him with reverence, as if his next plateau of Amway achievement were sainthood itself.’ The title of Yager’s first book, Don’t Let Anybody Steal Your Dream, was a Gerard household motto. We said it to one another with a near-religious zeal – like we were speaking in high-fives. I still feel nostalgic for my childhood when I hear it.
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Home Celebrity Celebrity Guest Kit Hoover
Celebrity Guest Kit Hoover
by Kirsten Akens
When we jump on the phone with Kit Hoover, she’s just recently received notice that she and Access co-host Natalie Morales have been nominated for a Daytime Emmy in the Outstanding Informative Talk Show Host category.
“Can you believe it? How great is that?” she exclaims when asked about it. “We’re in the ‘Informative’ category. We drop knowledge, that’s what we do here,” she adds, laughing.
Though she may joke about it, the broadcast journalist has been doing just that for more than 20 years, for ESPN, FOX News Channel, Access (formerly Access Hollywood) and more.
While Hoover was on set awaiting her next Access stage call, we spoke with her about that experience, what inspires her, and, when she gets time off, what kinds of adventures she likes to tackle.
Adventure Girl: What does the behind-the-scenes of your work life look like? What do your days and your weeks look like?
Kit Hoover: To me, I think it’s the greatest job of all time because I get to interview really interesting people. I love talking to people and hearing people’s stories, which I naturally do, so I feel like, for me, I just hit the lottery. My days are up at five o’clock; I’m a morning person. The only bummer is I don’t get to see the kids before school, but other than that, I feel like I still get to be a full-time mom. So, I’m up at 5 and then I come in to my second family here that I love. We have the best hair and makeup team of all time and I really feel like they’re my family and my friends. And then I go up to my producer meeting where we banter around the ideas through the day and the news from the night and what we’re going to talk about. We go over the A-block of any topic we want to discuss or any story that we want to highlight, and then go over who the guests are.
And then we do our first live show at 8 a.m., which is really fun. I’m an athlete, so, for me, it’s the equivalent of game time. Every day, I have that heightened sense of excitement, a little nerves, excitement like, “Here we go” ’cause when you go live, there’s no turning back. I’m totally addicted to live TV (laughs). We go live 8 to 9, then we have a break between shows, and one thing I love to do, which they like to tease me on, is I try to workout in between shows, even if it’s a hike or a walk. So, I come back nice and sweaty, which is very good for my hair and makeup team —
AG: (Laughs) They have to start over again.
KH: (Laughs) They’re like, “Here she is.” And then I study the script for the nighttime show Access, which we tape at about 11:30. And then at about 1:30, depending on any live hits we do to affiliates or whatever, I’m usually in the car heading home, and my first pickup for my son is at 2:40. I get in the carpool line, and then, my other job starts.
AG: What would you tell someone interested in getting into the hosting biz — how to go about doing that?
KH: If you want to get into the talk field, which is what I did at ESPN and what I’m doing here at Access, I think you have to be willing to share all of your voice about what makes you unique, and that’s not always easy to do. Lucky for me is that it’s what comes most natural. But I think when you’re authentically yourself is when you’re most successful. So, flaws and all or just whatever makes you unique is, I think, the key to hosting in this talk genre.
AH: You’ve talked about how you love talking to people and interviewing and that it’s the greatest job — what inspires you each day?
KH: I think, for me, it’s interesting: I got this job at age 40. I’m 47 right now, I’ll be turning 48 in July. And I think a lot of women can relate to that time in your life where you’re sort of like, OK, I didn’t know actually if I was going to work again or whatever. I’m 40. I had my babies. I didn’t know if that was it for me. And so, every day, I feel so grateful that I was given a platform that I love, to surround myself with great people and to try to tell interesting stories. … I feel more relevant today than I did in my 20s. …
I can’t count the number of women — I’d say well over 100 — that have called me throughout the years for advice on how to get back in the game, or what they should do. They have all this creative energy and they need a different outlet. I really feel and love these women and always try to help direct them in whatever field they want to go in. Don’t give up and keep an open mind and sort of explore every opportunity, and things will come around.
AG: At Adventure Girl, we talk a lot about travel but also just about trying new things, which I think fits with what you were just talking about, whether that’s at home or in jobs or on the road. How do you tackle those new challenges in your life?
KH: OK, I’m obsessed with new challenges (laughs). Last year, at 46, I took up wakeboarding and golf; neither is going well (laughs). … But I love sports and athletics, and golf, I’ve become completely obsessed with. I wish I had more time. I have a horrible swing, but, god, I love it. And I just love trying new things and I like anything that — I just went skiing again recently. I love snow skiing. Boy, that’s definitely like riding a bike, but I don’t like to fall these days. I’ve learned one big thing: I used to be fine when I was younger, but nowadays, I don’t like to fall.
AG: You want to be able to get out of bed in the morning (laughs).
KH: Yeah, I gotta be able to get out of bed. Definitely a little stiffer these days. But yeah, always try something new and surround yourself— I have a great group of girlfriends that love new adventures so they’re up for anything.
AG: Are you on the road a lot?
KH: Not as much with this job, which is one thing I love about it. I needed consistency with the kids ’cause they’re my first priority, so I like that part. But we have a lot of time off in the summer and then I drive my husband crazy with my travel plans because I have a need for speed and a need to go.
AG: (Laughs) I saw in an interview, I can’t remember where, but it said when you go on family vacations, you all run together, as well?
KH: Oh yeah, we go running together. We bring this whiteboard where we write, like, what we’re going to do for the day, put those darn phones down, including mom, and just go for it. I like action-packed vacations with the kids. I’m not the mom that just can sit on the beach; I can do it for about 20 minutes and then I start getting squirrely. I like to ride the waves, play beach games, go on a run, play tennis. I need a lot of action. I like to be exhausted at night.
AG: Where are some of your favorite places to travel?
KH: You know, Hilton Head down in South Carolina and Isle of Palms, we’ve been going to for many, many years, and what I love about it is just the natural beauty. There’s not much around. I like that the kids have to create their own fun. And it’s just very tranquil, so I love that. It’s just literally play in the water and run around and make up beach games and all that good stuff.
AG: There’s some golf down there, too, in that area?
KH: There’s some golf down there (laughs). You know, my kids aren’t into it yet — we did do round-robin tennis, and they had a basketball court, so a little five-on-five was fine. But my kids, through me — and I’m lucky enough my parents loved to travel — we, every year, have been doing a trip with my mom and dad. So, we went to the Galapagos, we went to Italy, we went to London. … I love that special time with them. It was supposed to be just a trip with the grandkids and I piggybacked years ago on the first one and I was like, “I’m not letting go of this” (laughs) because I love the time with my mom and dad.
Kirsten Akens is a freelance writer, traveler, and restorative yoga evangelist. She’s a lover of books, Boston terriers, blogging, (cowboy) boots, Browncoats & baked goods. And she has an unnatural affection for alliteration. Follow Kirsten @kirstenakens on Twitter.
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Objectives Resolution and Secularism-Part-18: Let’s Pledge That This Is Our Country: Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
By Wajahat Masood
(Translated from Urdu by New Age Islam Edit Bureau)
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was a litterateur, and a patriotic and nationalist Muslim leader. The journey of his life started in 1888 and his professional life started in as early as 1904. He was appointed as the acting president of All India National Congress in 1923, 1930 and 1939. He was elected the President of the Congress in 1940 and remained the chief of the largest political party of India till 1940. As a journalist, he published the weekly Al-Hilal (1912) and the Al-Balagh (1915) which have become the milestones in Urdu journalism. As an orator, he was unrivalled. The speech he delivered against the Rowlett Act in a Karachi Court has gone down into history as “Qaul-e-Faisal”. When he wielded his pen, he produced the intellectual masterpieces of Urdu prose titled “Ghubar-e-Khatir and Tazkirah. His knowledge was all encompassing and his style and diction was unique. When he delved deep into religious sciences, he produced gems of knowledge in the form of exegesis of the Quran.
Maulana Azad joined the freedom movement at the age of twenty. The series of incarcerations that started in Ranchi, Bihar (now Jharkhand), ended at Qila Ahmad Nagar in 1945. His life span was 68 years and 7 months of which he spent 9 years and 8 months in British custody. He spent every seventh day of his precious life in prison, that is.
If anyone has any doubt about the political wisdom of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, he should have a glance at ‘India Wins Freedom’. Be it Nehru, or Patel, Gandhi or Jinnah, Maulana spoke to everyone in precise words and in no circumstances he spoke a single word that lowered his self esteem. Not a single word spoken by him was unbalanced or devoid of truth. The fact is that in the book which is considered one of the basic sources of the freedom movement of India, he has done a strict scrutiny of his own self. One may disagree with Maulana’s point of view on the popular tradition of political dialogue. Maulana was not above the nitty-gritty of real-politic. Nevertheless, there is no denying his patriotism, sincerity, knowledge base, and sophistication. it’s a blot on the political career of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah that when he tried to project the Congress as a Hindu Party in order to emphasise the religious identity of the Muslim League, he called Maulana Azad the ‘show-boy’ of the Congress. Maulana had neither the habit nor the moral courage to retort. Surprisingly, on more than one occasion in his book, Maulana Azad has not only written nice words about Qaid-e-Azam Md. Ali Jinnah but also has praised his point of view on several issues. The kind of political culture Muslim League leadership wanted to promote, its followers took it to such a level which even Quaid-e-Azam Md. Ali Jinnah would not approve.
India was divided. The great sympathisers of Muslim politics went away to Pakistan, leaving millions of Muslims at the mercy of the ‘Hindu majority’. On this occasion, addressing the Muslims at Jama Masjid in Delhi in October 1947, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad said:
“I do not ask you to obtain the certificate of loyalty from the madrasa of autocratic power and live the same life of parasitism which had been your way of life during the reign of the foreign rulers. I want to remind you that the bright signs scattered around in India as the relics of the past were your caravan. Please do not forget them; do not leave them; assert yourselves as their inheritors and believe that if you are not willing to run away, no power can force you to bow down. Let’s pledge that this is our country. We are for it and the decisions on its fate will remain incomplete without our voice.
Speaking to a group of Muslims of UP going to Pakistan he said, “You are leaving your motherland. Did you think about the repercussions? If you continue to flee in this way, the Muslims of India will become weak and the day is not far away when regional inhabitants will rise to claim their separate identities. Bengalis, Punjabis, Sindhis, Balochis and Pathans would declare themselves independent nationalities. Wouldn’t you be then in a helpless and delicate position like that of an unwanted guest in Pakistan? The Hindus may be your religious opponent but he is definitely not your national opponent. You can cope with them but in Pakistan you might face national and regional opposition which will make you feel left in the lurch.”
In the latter half of the 20th century Mukhtar Masood was in the top league of Urdu writers. By virtue of his unique composition of sentences, the appropriateness of words, high human vision and sanctity of thoughts, his books “Awaz Dost” and “Safar Naseeb” became highly acclaimed. But regretfully, Mukhtar Masood could not hold on to his own standards while writing about Maulana Abul Kalam Azad:
“When students had misbehaved with Maulana (Azad) at Aligarh railway station I was also a student and was in the group that was sent to the station as‘reinforcement’, but unfortunately the train had already left. I regretted having lost the opportunity for a long a time.”
According to late Farouque Quraishi, in the incident narrated by Mukhtar Masood, “some hands even reached Maulana’s beard.”
Repetition of the incident is not pleasant but it should be remembered that after the establishment of Pakistan, when Liaqat Ali Khan came to Lahore to address a public meeting as the Prime Minister, some local Muslim League die hard activists had danced with their lower garments off right in front of the dais.
In his book “Tehreek-e-Pakistan Ka Ek Baab” (A chapter from the movement for Pakistan), Prof. Md. Sarwar writes that Fazl e Ilahi Chaudhry (then speaker West Pakistan Assembly, later President of Pakistan) used to say with reference to his meetings with Maulana Abul Kalam Azad in Delhi in 1956 that Maulana among other issues had given his wise advice that elections should be held frequently in Pakistan. There is no cure for the weakness of democracy except elections. Maulana further told me to convey to the people of Pakistan that holding of Political posts by government officials was not considered good in the contemporary world. It would go without saying that by that time, Ghulam Mohammad as Governor General; Chaudhry Md. Ali as the Prime Minister; General Ayyub Khan as the Defence minister and Sikandar Mirza as the President of Pakistan had already held posts at different times. Maulana Azad knew the implications of the dominance of the bureaucracy over the political leadership. Can anyone in Pakistan today say with his hand on his heart that Maulana Azad’s advice was based on malicious intent?
Read Part One Here
Read Part Two Here
Read Part Three Here
Read Part Four Here
Read Part Five Here
Read Part Six Here
Read Part Seven Here
Read Part Eight Here
Read Part Nine Here
Read Part Ten Here
Read Part Eleven Here
Read Part Twelve Here
Read Part Thirteen Here
Read Part Fourteen Here
Read Part Fifteen Here
Read Part Sixteen Here
Read Part Seventeen Here
URL: http://www.newageislam.com/islam-and-politics/wajahat-masood,-tr-new-age-islam/objectives-resolution-and-secularism-part-18--let’s-pledge-that-this-is-our-country--maulana-abul-kalam-azad/d/117350
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National Guard disasters
By Rosemary Brasch and Walt Brasch - posted Tuesday, 22 May 2007 Sign Up for free e-mail updates!
Editor’s Note: Kansas Governor Kathleen Sibelius says that the war in Iraq has severely hurt her state’s National Guard ability to deal with an F-5 tornado that destroyed Greensburg. Gov. Sibelius said because the Department of Defense has shipped personnel and equipment to Iraq, the state doesn’t have half the tractor-trailer trucks it needs to move heavy equipment, and only about 30 of 170 medium tactical vehicles. The state’s military resources were about 40 per cent of necessary levels, according to Major General Tod Bunting, the state’s adjutant general. Lieutenant General Stephen Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, admitted, “We are woefully under equipped in the Army National Guard across the nation”.
In September 2003, two years before Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, and slightly more than three and a half years before an F-5 tornado destroyed Greensburg, in An Ill Wind and National Policy, Rosemary and Walter Brasch predicted that the war in Iraq would leave Americans vulnerable to recovery efforts should there be major natural disasters.
Rosemary Brasch, at the time, was a Red Cross national disaster family services specialist; Walter Brasch, a syndicated columnist and university journalism professor, had worked in emergency management for several years. His book, Unacceptable: The Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina, details the causes and problems leading to the devastation and recovery in New Orleans.
An ill wind and American policy
America has already spent more than US$80 billion in the past year on its “war on terrorism”, and the President has asked Congress for another US$87 billion, most of it to rebuild Iraq. The appropriated budget for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), dwindling each year, is US$1.8 billion.
Even more critical, many of the most experienced senior emergency management specialists are leaving the agency often replaced by political appointees with minimal disaster training.
Within hours, the 400-mile wide Isabel, a Category 3-4 hurricane packing winds of 100-140 miles per hour, will hit between North Carolina and New Jersey. Its victims will have to be content with leftovers. Our nation’s disaster preparedness doesn’t meet the needs that any sizeable disaster might bring. FEMA is severely under funded. Red Cross disaster funds are negligible. With thousands of National Guard soldiers deployed - now up to a year each - most east coast states don’t have the manpower or resources they need for a sustained recovery program.
Because of limited access and egress from coastal areas and stick construction of thousands of houses, valued at US$300,000 and more, the physical damage can be significant says Frank Lepore of the National Hurricane Center. Pennsylvania and the northeast corridor expect heavy rains with probable flooding. The hurricane may cause a large loss of life, says Lepore.
Residents along the coastal areas hoping to cover their doors and windows in preparation for the storm are paying as much as 30-35 percent more for plywood than six months ago. It’s not greed by the lumber yards, but supply.
The federal government “bought most of our plywood to send to Iraq for rebuilding there,” says Aaron Johnson of 84 Lumber in Raleigh, N.C. The scarcity of plywood is felt throughout the east coast. Complicating the problem, because of heavy rainfall in the summer, “most mills aren’t open,” says Mark Schneider, of Hugh’s Lumber Co., Charleston, S.C.
FEMA’s disaster relief fund, prior to an emergency allocation this past summer, was “at a dangerously low level”, resulting in significant cut-backs on service, according to the National Emergency Management Association. The hurricane season isn’t over until December. To understand what it could be like, it’s necessary to look at the past - and then realise how much less prepared the nation is to handle the equivalent disaster.
Hurricane Andrew, a Category 4 storm, hit the Florida coast in 1992 with the fury of a massive air attack. Neighbourhoods were levelled; schools, churches, stores and factories were destroyed; the people were without shelter, food, water, gas, electricity and jobs. It wasn’t just for hours or days, but weeks, months, and in some cases, years.
Andrew cost an estimated US$25 billion, according to the Red Cross, including insurance payouts of about US$15 billion. Several companies went into bankruptcy, and the Red Cross, at the scene before the hurricane hit, was still working with its victims 10 years later.
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Rosemary R. Brasch is a national disaster family services specialist for the Red Cross and a former union grievance officer. She can be contacted at espyrose@hotmail.com.
Walter Brasch is professor of journalism at Bloomsburg University. He is an award-winning syndicated columnist, and author of 16 books. Dr. Brasch's current books are Unacceptable: The Federal Government’s Response to Hurricane Katrina; Sex and the Single Beer Can: Probing the Media and American Culture; and Sinking the Ship of State: The Presidency of George W. Bush (Nov. 2007) You may contact him at brasch@bloomu.edu.
Other articles by these Authors
» Communicating the 'Atomic fart' - February 25, 2014
» ‘A’ is for average - May 9, 2013
» Mission Impossible: finding a mini-van made in America by union workers - May 11, 2012
» The Trayvon Martin case: a lesson still to be learned - May 1, 2012
» Picking the fruit of knowledge from a rock garden - March 8, 2012
All articles by Rosemary Brasch
All articles by Walt Brasch
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NO!art | ABOUT US | ARTISTS | MANIPULATION | MAIL EN | DE
NO!art
occupies
the strategic
juncture where
artistic production
and socio-cultural
action meet.
■ Lurie's Last Will
STUETZPUNKT
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BORIS LURIE ART
FOUNDATION [BLAF]
■ send mail to
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Born March 29, 1929 in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, is a Japanese artist. Kusama has experienced hallucinations and severe obsessive thoughts since childhood, often of a suicidal nature. She claims that as a small child she suffered severe physical abuse by her mother.
Early in Kusama's career, she began covering surfaces (walls, floors, canvases, and later, household objects and naked assistants) with the polka dots that would become a trademark of her work. The vast fields of polka dots, or "infinity nets," as she called them, were taken directly from her hallucinations.
She left her native country at the age of 27 for New York City, after years of correspondence with Georgia O'Keefe in which she became interested in joining the limelight in the city. During her time in the United States, she quickly established her reputation as a leader in the avant-garde movement. She organized outlandish happenings in conspicuous spots like Central Park and the Brooklyn Bridge, was enormously productive, and counted Joseph Cornell and Donald Judd among her friends and supporters, but did not profit financially from her work. She returned to Japan in ill health in 1973.
Her work shares some attributes of feminism, minimalism, surrealism, Art Brut, pop, and abstract expressionism, but she describes herself as an obsessive artist. Her artwork is infused with autobiographical, psychological, and sexual content, and includes paintings, soft sculptures, performance art and installations. Kusama is also a published novelist and poet, and has created notable work in film and fashion design.
Yayoi Kusama has exhibited work with Claes Oldenburg, Andy Warhol, and Jasper Johns. Kusama represented Japan at the Venice Biennale in 1993, and in 1998 & 1999 a major retrospective exhibition of her work toured the U.S. and Japan.
Today she lives, by choice, in a mental hospital in Tokyo, where she has continued to produce work since the mid-1970s. Her studio is a short distance from the hospital. "If it were not for art, I would have killed myself a long time ago," Kusama is often quoted as saying.
Yayoi Kusama said about her 1954 painting titled Flower (D.S.P.S): "One day I was looking at the red flower patterns of the tablecloth on a table, and when I looked up I saw the same pattern covering the ceiling, the windows and the walls, and finally all over the room, my body and the universe. I felt as if I had begun to self-obliterate, to revolve in the infinity of endless time and the absoluteness of space, and be reduced to nothingness. As I realized it was actually happening and not just in my imagination, I was frightened. I knew I had to run away lest I should be deprived of my life by the spell of the red flowers. I ran desperately up the stairs. The steps below me began to fall apart and I fell down the stairs straining my ankle."
Superchunk, an American indie band, included a song called "Art Class (Song for Yayoi Kusama)" on its Here's to Shutting Up album. Yoko Ono cites Kusama as an influence. The recently built Matsumoto Performing Art Center in her home town, designed by Toyo Ito, has an entirely dotted façade, there is a likely influence of her works.
Kusama's paintings, collages, sculptures, and environmental works all share an obsession with repetition, pattern, and accumulation. Hoptman writes that "Kusama's interest in pattern began with hallucinations she experienced as a young girl--visions of nets, dots, and flowers that covered everything she saw. Gripped by the idea of 'obliterating the world,' she began covering larger and larger areas of canvas with patterns." Her organically abstract paintings of one or two colors (the Infinity Netsseries), which she began upon arriving in New York, garnered comparisons to the work of Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Barnett Newman.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yayoi_Kusama
© http://www.no-art.info/kusama/bio-en.html
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Mythology & Mystery
Archaeology & Science
The Violent Life and Times of Roger Bigod – A Medieval Player of the Game of Thrones?
For almost 250 years, from the time of the Norman Conquest of England in AD 1066, one of the most important families in the Eastern Counties were the Bigods. In later years they would become the Earls of Norfolk and so powerful they could defy the Kings of England, running their territory like the bosses of old-style Mafia crime family.
Despite the fact these were members of a family who lived and died nearly a thousand years ago, in many respects they were a thoroughly modern bunch of ruthless back-stabbers, liars, and rogues who always had an eye on the main prize and didn’t care...Read more
boiling oil
Surena
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Fr. R. B. Williams, O.P.
Fr. R.B. Williams, OP
Natchitoches, LA, about 250 miles northwest of New Orleans.
How many places have you lived? Where are/were they?
Before entering the Order, I had lived only in Natchitoches except for a brief period after my birth in Jacksonville, FL (dad in Navy in WWII) and to attend Tulane in New Orleans. After entering the Order: Winona, MN (novitiate), Chicago, IL (Philosophy), Dubuque, IA (theology); after ordination: New Orleans, LA, Denver, CO, Tucson, AZ, Memphis, TN, Hammond, LA, Columbia, SC; San Antonio, TX, Springfield, KY, Austin, TX, Houston, TX, Lubbock, TX
How big is your family?
Immediate family: parents (r.i.p.), sister (r.i.p.) myself and two younger brothers; extended family quite large.
Are you a convert or “cradle” Catholic?
Cradle Catholic, and never thought of leaving the church.
Who was your hero growing up?
My Father, Judge R.B. Williams.
Judge R.B. Williams
When growing up, what were some of your favorite activities? Stamp collecting, model airplanes, hunting, gardening, reading,
What did you do prior to entering the Order? What made you choose that path?
Went to Tulane to become a lawyer. We are a “law family.” My father, my brother-in-law, myself, my two younger brothers, numerous nieces and nephews – all lawyers. My father loved the profession and that was a powerful witness. He never pushed us to go into it, however.
What is your favorite music? Band? Or other form of entertainment?
Classical, Jazz (especially Dixieland), Broadway. I play piano occasionally.
What is your favorite form of literature? Your favorite book? Why?
My mother was an English professor at the local university. I grew up around books of all kinds. I wrote my M.A. thesis in philosophy on Faulkner. There’s no “favorite” book.
What do you do for fun? What is your favorite pastime?
I love to cook (learned how after ordination!). The student brother who sent me this questionnaire once called me “a contemplative walker,” and I treasure that activity. Jigsaw and crossword puzzles are constant companions, and gardening is a regular pastime.
If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would it be?
I’ve been fascinated by Australia and New Zealand and Japan – so I suppose those three would qualify.
What is the one thing that annoys you the most?
Rigid ideology and judgmental orthodoxy.
Vocation Story and Discernment
How old were you when you first thought/felt you might be called to priesthood (or brotherhood)?
I was a sophomore at Tulane University, so I was about 19 or 20ish.
Did someone else in your life also see that you might be called? Did someone in your life inspire you?
No, it was a pretty solitary decision, although I liked the few friars I met.
What finally made you actively discern?
I read Bede Jarrett, O.P.’s LIFE OF ST. DOMINIC
What drew you to the Dominicans?…to the Southern Province?
The intellectual life and democratic form of government. There was no Southern Province at the time. I entered the Central Dominican Province and was in it 15 good years before the Southern Province came into being.
Was there an “aha” moment in your discernment? If so, how far along were you in discernment when you experienced it?
There was no “aha” moment. The idea wouldn’t leave me alone, so I decided to try it so I could have some peace of mind. If it didn’t work out, I’d return to law school.
What was the hardest thing you gave up when joining the Order?
Law school and my plans to return to my hometown to practice law with my father. As it is, he was elected a judge the year I would have finished (the first time), which would have made my plan inoperative. But after ordination, the Order sent me back to law school anyhow!
Was there ever a time in discernment when you doubted God’s presence, power, or even existence?
No such time for me.
Looking back, what has been the greatest joy?…the greatest challenge?…the greatest disappointment?
Ministerially speaking: Joy: campus ministry and itinerant preaching. Challenge: pastor of a non-university parish and Novice Master;
Disappointment: loss of campus ministry in order to respond to requests from the province.
Personally: Joy: the people, the people, the people!
How do the people you’ve known since before you were a friar (e.g., family and old friends) relate to you now? How would they describe you, then and now?
You’ll have to talk to them. Want a list?
What is your dream ministry?
The one I have now – living in a campus ministry community and doing itinerant preaching – the best of my two favorite ministries
More about Fr. R.B.
I was born in Jacksonville, FL, on Feb. 25, 1943, during the Second World War because my father was a naval officer and was stationed there with my mother 1942-1945. After the war, they moved right back to their same home in Natchitoches, LA, where I was raised.
As a child, due to health challenges, I could not play team sports well, but had the usual interests of stamp collecting, model airplanes, hunting, fishing… I attended a Catholic grade school and high school in Natchitoches, and was active as an altar boy. My goal from grade school was to attend Tulane University (because my father had gone to Tulane Law School) and finish law school and return to my hometown to practice law with my father.
As God’s providence would have it, I did, indeed, attend law school but not in the way I had planned it. I went to Tulane as an undergraduate student and intended to participate in a combined-degree program in which I would complete my major/minor hours and begin law school as my fourth year of undergraduate study. I did that, but left law school at the end of the first year to enter the Order of Preachers, thinking I would never see law school again.
After my ordination to the priesthood, the Order permitted me to resume legal studies at Tulane! The lesson I learned from this experience is that a generous response to God, even if somewhat reluctant (because I was not pleased with the interruption of my plans) is not forgotten.
My discernment began in my second year of undergraduate study when I was taking a big load of classes and felt overwhelmed. I started going to Mass on a daily basis and found a nudging voice that would not leave me alone. So, I looked up a number of religious orders (I never considered diocesan priesthood).
The Dominicans were always on the list because I met one or two of the home missionaries working in the rural part of North Louisiana. My father was an attorney (later judge) who represented some of their parishes. Dominicans also preached parish missions in my hometown and I recalled the unusual Dominican rite, which intrigued me.
The vocation director for the Province of St. Albert (Chicago) was a very persuasive man. Louisiana was in that province. He sent me to a very wise and understanding friar in New Orleans. The Catholic student center at Tulane had a library in which I found Bede Jarrett OP’s LIFE OF ST. DOMINIC in which I learned of the intellectual and democratic traditions of the Order. That pretty much decided the matter for me, so I took a leap of faith and mailed my request to join.
Later on, on retreat, I found the biblical paradigm for my process in the story of Moses and the Burning Bush. I was attracted to the idea of religious life but when the demand to give up and follow orders came, I had all kinds of reservations, especially since I had already made plans for my life. But the Burning Bush said, “You must do this!” and it would not leave me alone. So, to gain some peace of mind, I joined the Order and I’m still a member.
I should note that priesthood, in and of itself, was not the biggest part of my discernment. It was the Dominican Order that attracted me. I did not know any Dominicans well and did not spend much time with any friars before I entered. However, I liked the ones I met.
My formation as a Dominican was fairly standard, but the times were turbulent because of the aftermath of the Second Vatican Council. The liturgy changed, including that Dominican rite that I found so interesting. People were leaving religious life. Many of my friends in formation with me left the order. But the ”Burning Bush” said, “Your job is to persevere. Leave the others to me.” The novitiate (in that day and time) was rather monastic and structured. Philosophy and theology were “brain candy” to a studious person like me. Summer experiences living in priories away from the studium were a real challenge but again, my job was to “persevere and leave the others to God.” During my year as a transitional deacon, I discovered my talent and love for preaching.
After ordination to the priesthood, I returned to law school, received my J.D. degree while serving at the Catholic student center at Tulane, and continued in campus ministry for 17 years before I was called to become Novice Master in the Southern Province, which came into being after I had been a member of the Central Province for 15 years.
My resume’ can be found on my preaching website at www.rbwords.com. For the past eight years, I have been a full-time itinerant preacher. I now live in a Dominican campus ministry community and continue itinerant preaching – so I have the best of my two favorite ministries.
Those who asked me to write this also asked me to give a few personal details. I can truthfully say that the friendships I have developed over my many years as a campus minister are what sustain me along with my faith. I am also blessed with a great family whom I get to see regularly in my itinerant preaching travels. Itinerancy has been a part of my life as a Dominican friar and I see that as part of being faithful to our charism as itinerant preachers from our very foundation.
I love to cook, garden, read, take long walks, visit friends. I enjoy classical, Broadway and jazz music. All of this is food for my preaching ministry. I am now 74 years of age. I have been a professed Dominican friar since August 16, 1965.
And yes, I would do it again!
Fr. RB has a daily reflection on the scriptures assigned for the Eucharist. The title is THE WORD TO THE WISE. (www.rbwords.com).
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The Police Department Patrol Division is the most visible element of the Parker Police Department. Since a considerable portion of the Patrol Division's time is spent in traffic enforcement, the department has four full-time commissioned officers assigned to the Traffic Unit. All patrol officers are responsible for answering calls, addressing domestic and civil disputes, and apprehending criminal offenders, as well as taking on a myriad of other duties. The Patrol Division is staffed 24/7 year-round.
Bicycle Patrol
The Bicycle Patrol Unit provides high-profile policing on bicycles to address identified problem areas in the community.
The maintenance and the upkeep of the building and facility.
The maintenance, replacement and outfitting of all department vehicles.
The Motorcycle Unit's primary duties include traffic complaint enforcement, high congestion traffic control, accident reduction, and special event traffic control.
Mounted Patrol
The Parker Police Department Mounted Patrol Unit is used for parades, community policing events, crowd control, crime prevention, park/trail patrols, and to assist with searches of lost persons.
A career with the Parker Police Department is a commitment of service to the citizens of Parker.
Records Management System Project
Special Weapons & Tactics
The Douglas County SWAT team is a multi-agency tactical team comprised of deputies from Douglas County, as well as commissioned officers from the Parker, Castle Rock, and Lone Tree police departments.
Traffic safety remains a top priority for the Parker Police Department. Learn about reporting accidents, paying tickets, and more.
Youth Educational Programs
The Parker Police Department is committed to the development and implementation of safety education in the schools throughout the Town of Parker. Through these programs, the department seeks to increase the community's understanding of the impact and effects of safety and security concerns in their schools.
Andy Coleman
Ron Combs
Ken La Velle
18600 E. Lincoln Meadows Pkwy.
Emergency Operations always open
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Former British Davis Cup captain Paul Hutchins dies at 73
LONDON — Paul Hutchins, the former British Davis Cup captain who led the team to the final in 1978, has died. He was 73.
The Lawn Tennis Association and Hutchins' family announced the death on Thursday. The family said in a statement to Britain's Press Association that Hutchins, who had suffered from Lou Gehrig's disease, died peacefully in his sleep on Wednesday.
Hutchins had a relatively modest career as a player but remained a key figure in British tennis for close to 50 years as a coach and administrator. He was honored by Queen Elizabeth with an MBE in 2017 for his services to the game.
LTA chief executive Scott Loyd hailed him as "a true hero of tennis in Britain," and added that "his lasting legacy to tennis will endure for a long time to come."
Hutchins was Britain's longest-serving Davis Captain and remained in charge of the team for 13 years, including a loss to the United States in the 1978 final. He also served as Britain's team leader for the 2012 London Olympics and founded the Rover Tennis initiative, a leading junior tennis program in the U.K.
Richard Lewis, the chief executive of the All England Club and a former Davis Cup player, said Hutchins "was a great leader, had extraordinary attention to detail, and always had the best of intentions when dealing with everyone in tennis."
More AP Tennis: https://apnews.com/apf-Tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Kenya Olympic official suspended, IOC investigates runner
The IAAF has suspended the Kenyan track team's manager and one of the country's runners faces an IOC investigation after they both become involved in doping scandals at the Olympics
Carter's last throw nets 1st US Olympic gold in women's shot
Michelle Carter upset two-time defending Olympic champion Valerie Adams of New Zealand on her sixth and final throw Friday night at the Olympic stadium
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Prof Kingsley Bolton
Professor, School of Humanities
Email: kbolton@ntu.edu.sg
Professor Kingsley Bolton joined Nanyang Technological University in February 2013, having previously taught at The University of Hong Kong, Stockholm University, and City University of Hong Kong, where he served as Chair Professor of English from 2009-13. His research interests include English language and literature worldwide, language and globalisation, multilingualism, sociolinguistics, and world Englishes. Much of his research has been on language issues in the Asian region, and he has published widely on English in Hong Kong and mainland China. He is the founding editor of the Hong Kong University Press book series, Asian Englishes Today, co-editor of the Wiley-Blackwell journal World Englishes, and an editorial board member of the journals Educational Studies, English Today, English World-Wide. From 2003 to 2004, he served as elected President of the International Association for World Englishes (IAWE). His monograph on the history of English in Hong Kong and China, Chinese Englishes: A Sociolinguistic History (2003, Cambridge University Press) was recently translated into Chinese. Professor Bolton is now interested in supervising PhD students working in topics concerned with Asian Englishes, English in China, English in higher education, language and media, the sociolinguistics of globalization, world Englishes, and other related topics.
Professor Bolton's research interests include English in Asia, English in higher education, language and media, the sociolinguistics of globalization, world Englishes, and other related topics. His publications include fifteen books (edited and authored), five journal special issues, and seventy journal articles and book chapters. He is Co-editor of the influential SSCI-indexed journal World Englishes (Wiley-Blackwell), founding editor of the book series Asian Englishes Today (Hong Kong University Press), and The History and Development of World Englishes (Routledge). He is also a member of the editorial board of Applied Linguistics Review, Educational Studies, English Today, English World-Wide, and the international book series Multilingual Education (Springer). He has an active and continuing publication agenda, much of which focuses on English in the Asian region and worldwide.
A number of Professors Bolton's publications can be found here, http://www3.ntu.edu.sg/home/kbolton/
An Investigation into the English-language Communication Skills of University Students in Singapore
English in ASEAN universities
Investigating the multilingual worlds of university students in Singapore and South Africa: A comparative study
Project Title A: A curriculum renewal project: Assessment of Science Students Communication Needs at NTU Project Title B: Assessment of Communication Needs of Students in the College of Engineering
The Use of English as a Medium of Instruction in South Korean Universities
The sociolinguistics of English in the Asian region
The status and functions of English as an academic language in Indonesian higher education
Bolton, K., Botha, W., & Kirkpatrick, A. (2019). The handbook of Asian Englishes. Wiley.
Bolton, K. (2019). Braj B. Kachru and Asian Englishes. World Englishes, 38(1-2).
Bolton, K., & De Costa, P. I. (Ed.). (2018). World Englishes and Second Language AcquisitionUnited Kingdom: Wiley.
Bolton, K., & Davis, D. (2017). Brexit and the future of English in Europe. World Englishes, 36(3), 302-312.
Bolton, K., & Botha, W. (2017). English medium instruction in Singapore higher education: Policy, realities and challenges. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 38(10), 913-930.
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Home > Featured > Movie Reviews > Movies > Movie Review: “Hercules” Is Good Old-Fashioned Popcorn Fare
Movie Review: “Hercules” Is Good Old-Fashioned Popcorn Fare
James McDonald July 25, 20142014-07-25T01:45:42-05:002014-08-21T21:43:03-05:00
[wp-review]
Review by James McDonald
Having endured his legendary twelve labors, Hercules, the Greek demigod, has his life as a sword-for-hire tested when the King of Thrace and his daughter seek his aid in defeating a tyrannical warlord.
In the X-Men universe, filmmaker Brett Ratner is universally loathed. He directed what is considered, by the hardcore fans, one of the weakest movies in the series, “X-Men: The Last Stand” but at the same time, it’s one of the highest-grossing X-Men movies to date. It seems like Mr. Ratner just can’t win. Personally, I didn’t mind the movie but then again, I’m only a passive observer who just happens to enjoy each film on its own merits. Mr. Ratner also directed the highly enjoyable “Rush Hour” trilogy so he’s no stranger when it comes to action and believe me you, “Hercules” has its fair share of excitement and adventure.
The movie starts off with a voice-over, talking about Hercules (Dwayne Johnson) and his many adventures including one cycle in particular that was known as the legendary “Twelve Labors”. During this era, he fought an assortment of colossal mythical creatures including the Nemean Lion, the Lernaean Hydra and the Stymphalian Birds. Being the son of Zeus and having received nothing but suffering his entire life because of it, Hercules turns his back on the gods and now travels the land as a sword-for-hire along with six friends, who, like him, find solace in battle and a kinship in each other that cannot be broken.
When the beautiful Ergenia (Rebecca Ferguson) approaches Hercules and pleads for his help, she states that her father, Lord Cotys and King of Thrace (John Hurt), will pay them handsomely if they will train their people to become great soldiers so that they can fight back against a tyrannical ruler who is advancing towards their kingdom and will annihilate anyone and everyone in his path. Hercules and his crew agree to help and take the opportunity to focus on a people in dire need and instill into them, the traits and attributes they will need to become great warriors. When word comes that the approaching army are closer than initially thought, Hercules and his army deploy immediately.
After a swift but brutal assault on the advancing battalion, Hercules and his warriors are hailed as heroes but it’s only when they return to Thrace, that Hercules realizes Lord Cotys is not who he appears to be and it’s up to our hero and his squad to battle one more time. Director Brett Ratner has crafted a high-spirited and energetic summer movie that is pure fun and excitement with a little of everything for everyone: action and adventure, swords and sorcery, romance and intrigue. It’s what a summer movie is meant to encompass and it doesn’t disappoint. Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson has come a long way since his breakout role as the Scorpion King in “The Mummy Returns” in 2001.
We all know he started out in the business as a wrestler but he is charming and has undeniable screen presence and is very gracious and loyal to his fans and that’s more than I can say for many of today’s so-called superstars. “Hercules” has an assortment of wonderful character actors including John Hurt, Rufus Sewell, Ian McShane and Joseph Fiennes and when you surround yourself with such talented and proficient actors of this caliber, it makes you want to give your very best. And Mr. Johnson does exactly that.
Film/Theater Critic & Interviewer at Red Carpet Crash
Originally from Dublin, Ireland, James is a Movie Critic and Celebrity Interviewer with over 30 years of experience in the film industry as an Award-Winning Filmmaker.
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Book Review: The Fourth Book In The Rocco Schiavone Mysteries, ‘Spring Cleaning,’ Is Coming To A Book Shelf Near You - April 19, 2019
Book Review: ‘The Lost Night’ By Andrew Bartz - February 17, 2019
‘The Man From U.N.C.L.E.’ New US And UK Trailers/Poster
‘Suicide Squad’ New Trailer And Character Posters
Movie Review: ‘The Possession Experiment’
‘Carol’ Trailers, Clips, Featurette And Poster Starring Cate Blanchett And Rooney Mara
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Slothbot Takes a Leisurely Approach to Environmental Monitoring
May 30, 2019 | Atlanta, GA
For environmental monitoring, precision agriculture, infrastructure maintenance and certain security applications, slow and energy efficient can be better than fast and always needing a recharge. That’s where “SlothBot” comes in.
Powered by a pair of photovoltaic panels and designed to linger in the forest canopy continuously for months, SlothBot moves only when it must to measure environmental changes – such as weather and chemical factors in the environment – that can be observed only with a long-term presence. The proof-of-concept hyper-efficient robot, described May 21 at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) in Montreal, may soon be hanging out among treetop cables in the Atlanta Botanical Garden.
“In robotics, it seems we are always pushing for faster, more agile and more extreme robots,” said Magnus Egerstedt, the Steve W. Chaddick School Chair of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology and principal investigator for Slothbot. “But there are many applications where there is no need to be fast. You just have to be out there persistently over long periods of time, observing what’s going on.”
Based on what Egerstedt called the “theory of slowness,” Graduate Research Assistant Gennaro Notomista designed SlothBot together with his colleague, Yousef Emam, using 3D-printed parts for the gearing and wire-switching mechanisms needed to crawl through a network of wires in the trees. The greatest challenge for a wire-crawling robot is switching from one cable to another without falling, Notomista said.
“The challenge is smoothly holding onto one wire while grabbing another,” he said. “It’s a tricky maneuver and you have to do it right to provide a fail-safe transition. Making sure the switches work well over long periods of time is really the biggest challenge.”
Mechanically, SlothBot consists of two bodies connected by an actuated hinge. Each body houses a driving motor connected to a rim on which a tire is mounted. The use of wheels for locomotion is simple, energy efficient and safer than other types of wire-based locomotion, the researchers say.
SlothBot has so far operated in a network of cables on the Georgia Tech campus. Next, a new 3D-printed shell – that makes the robot look more like a sloth – will protect the motors, gears, actuators, cameras, computer and other components from the rain and wind. That will set the stage for longer-term studies in the tree canopy at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, where Egerstedt hopes visitors will see a SlothBot monitoring conditions as early as this fall.
The name SlothBot is not a coincidence. Real-life sloths are small mammals that live in jungle canopies of South and Central America. Making their living by eating tree leaves, the animals can survive on the daily caloric equivalent of a small potato. With their slow metabolism, sloths rest as much 22 hours a day and seldom descend from the trees where they can spend their entire lives.
“The life of a sloth is pretty slow-moving and there’s not a lot of excitement on a day-to-day level,” said Jonathan Pauli, an associate professor in the Department of Forest & Wildlife Ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who has consulted with the Georgia Tech team on the project. “The nice thing about a very slow life history is that you don’t really need a lot of energy input. You can have a long duration and persistence in a limited area with very little energy inputs over a long period of time.”
That’s exactly what the researchers expect from SlothBot, whose development has been funded by the U.S. Office of Naval Research.
“There is a lot we don’t know about what actually happens under dense tree-covered areas,” Egerstedt said. “Most of the time SlothBot will be just hanging out there, and every now and then it will move into a sunny spot to recharge the battery.”
The researchers also hope to test SlothBot in a cacao plantation in Costa Rica that is already home to real sloths. “The cables used to move cacao have become a sloth superhighway because the animals find them useful to move around,” Egerstedt said. “If all goes well, we will deploy SlothBots along the cables to monitor the sloths.”
Egerstedt is known for algorithms that drive swarms of small wheeled or flying robots. But during a visit to Costa Rica, he became interested in sloths and began developing what he calls “a theory of slowness” together with Professor Ron Arkin in Georgia Tech’s School of Interactive Computing. The theory leverages the benefits of energy efficiency.
“If you are doing things like environmental monitoring, you want to be out in the forest for months,” Egerstedt said. “That changes the way you think about control systems at a high level.”
Flying robots are already used for environmental monitoring, but their high energy needs mean they cannot linger for long. Wheeled robots can get by with less energy, but they can get stuck in mud or be hampered by tree roots, and cannot get a big picture view from the ground.
“The thing that costs energy more than anything else is movement,” Egerstedt said. “Moving is much more expensive than sensing or thinking. For environmental robots, you should only move when you absolutely have to. We had to think about what that would be like.”
For Pauli, who studies a variety of wildlife, working with Egerstedt to help SlothBot come to life has been gratifying.
“It is great to see a robot inspired by the biology of sloths,” he said. “It has been fun to share how sloths and other organisms that live in these ecosystems for long periods of time live their lives. It will be interesting to see robots mirroring what we see in natural ecological communities.”
This research was sponsored by the U.S. Office of Naval Research through Grant N00014-15-2115. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the ONR.
CITATION: "The SlothBot: A Novel Design for a Wire-Traversing Robot," IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, (Volume 4, Issue 2, April 2019) https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8642808
177 North Avenue
Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0181 USA
Media Relations Contact: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu)
Writer: John Toon
SlothBot on a cable
SlothBot on a cable - 2
Sloth moving along a cable
Components of SlothBot
Components of SlothBot - 2
John Toon
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Happy Hump Day - September 29th, 2010
Music Monday: Blake McGrath - September 27th, 2010
Friday September 24, 2010 Quote - September 24th, 2010
Happy Hump Day - September 22nd, 2010
Watch Out: Author Giselle Renarde talks No Limits - September 21st, 2010
Music Monday:Basshunter - September 20th, 2010
Friday Sept 17, 2010 Quote - September 17th, 2010
Watch Out: A Walk On The Dark Side with Bertena Varney - September 14th, 2010
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Colorado: Boulder City Council Passes Ban on ‘Assault Weapons’
The Boulder City Council in Colorado has unanimously passed a ban on the sale and possession of “assault weapons,” as well as bump stock devices and “high-capacity” magazines that hold more than 10 rounds.
The 12 Most Idiotic Gun Laws Currently on the Books
The Ban
According to ABC affiliate KMGH, Boulder residents who own an “assault weapon” prior to June 15 would be allowed to keep them. However, he or she will have until Dec. 31, 2018 to get a certificate from the Boulder Police Department proving ownership. Councilman Sam Weaver told the Daily Camera this grandfather clause was thrown in as an “olive branch” to gun owners.
Unsurprisingly, military and law enforcement officers are exempt from the ban.
“Assault Weapons” Defined
An “assault weapon” is defined in the ordinance as follows:
Semiautomatic action rifles with a detachable magazine with a capacity of twenty-one or more rounds.
All semiautomatic shotguns with a folding stock or a magazine capacity of more than six rounds or both.
All semiautomatic pistols that are modifications of rifles having the same make, caliber, and action design but a short barrel or modifications of automatic weapons originally designed to accept magazines with a capacity of twenty-one or more rounds.
Any firearm which has been modified to be operable as an assault weapon.
Any part or combination of parts designed or intended to convert a firearm into an assault weapon, including a detachable magazine with a capacity of 21 or more rounds, or any combination of parts from which an assault weapon may be readily assembled if those parts are in the possession or under the control of the same person.
Meanwhile, Boulder residents own “high-capacity” mags and bump stocks have until July 15 to either dispose of or sell them.
“My hope is that we will see more bans at the state level and one day at the federal level so these weapons will no longer be available,” Councilman Aaron Brockett said during Tuesday’s vote.
A nonprofit law firm called the Mountain States Legal Foundation has already filed a lawsuit challenging the ban, alleging that it violates the Second, Fifth and 14th Amendments, in addition to the Colorado state constitution, CBS News reports.
Deerfield, Ill., is the only other city to ban “assault weapons” outright in the wake of the Parkland shooting.
The post Colorado: Boulder City Council Passes Ban on ‘Assault Weapons’ appeared first on Personal Defense World.
The Carry Rig: DSG Arms Alpha Holster
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White House Hopeful Kirsten Gillibrand Debuts Slickgun Ban, Control Plan
Hawaii Adopts New Slickgun Control, Seizure Laws
http://slickgunsnews.com/colorado-boulder-city-council-passes-ban-on-assault-weapons">
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PR & Publicity
Branding Consultations
MARSHA R. BONNER
Marsha R. Bonner Is Sharing H.U.G.S Around the World and “Helping Us Grow Spiritually”
Social Activist – Inspirational Speaker – Founder, H.U.G.S. Movement (Helping Us Grow Spiritually)
“No Matter What You Do To Your Life, When The Path Has Already Been Laid, It Does Not Matter What Route You Take To Get There, You Will Get Back On Your Path” ~ Marsha R. Bonner
Marsha R. Bonner is a noted social activist, inspirational speaker, entrepreneur and a luminary for change and acceptance. Marsha garnered international acclaim after her appearance on the national ABC television program “What Would You Do?” in an episode titled, “Interracial Couple Faces Criticism.” Marsha’s boldness against bullying and intolerance helped fuel the viral video’s reach to a worldwide audience of over 40 million and counting. The segment is recognized as the Most Watched “What Would You Do?” Episode of All Time. What Marsha did on WWYD makes people say “Thank You” but it’s her life story that will ENCOURAGE and SAVE LIVES.
Marsha grew up in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn and was raised by a loving and caring, God-centered family. Although put on a path designed to allow her to succeed, she chose a different course and endured an embattled dark journey riddled with substance and alcohol abuse. Faced with dying homeless on the streets, weighing 121 pounds with bones protruding from her chest, Marsha was rescued from her horrifying existence of humiliation, dereliction and degradation by going into treatment and getting help. With over 25 years clean from active drug and alcohol abuse, Marsha has built a decorated and impressive academic resume.
Marsha founded the H.U.G.S. Movement (Helping Us Grow Spiritually) to advocate appreciation of all humanity. H.U.G.S. is a call to action which encourages individuals to respect and appreciate all humanity through our words, actions and deeds. Marsha is committed to sharing her uplifting message in the hope of encouraging others to lead purpose driven lives and stand against discriminatory ideas and stereotypes that prevent people from living in fellowship with one another.
Marsha is also an active member in her community serving on various Boards and Advisory Committees focused on addressing issues impacting under-served communities and raising awareness through informative initiatives.
Appearances: Katie Couric’s Talk Show – “Katie”; MSNBC NewsNation with Tamron Hall; ABC-TV’s Primetime: “What Would You Do” with host John Quiñones; TV One Celebrity Crime Files Series – “Lady Gangster Stephanie St. Clair”; The National Action Network’s Youth Move Huddle – “So You Think You Know Me”; A Cause A Concern A Solution Network Inc. Symposium – “Diamond In The Rough – We Struggled But We Made It”; Fathers Incorporated Twitter Chat Panel – “Engaging Men in the Advocacy of the Prevention of Domestic Violence”; Agape Empowerment Ministries Panel – “Running with Purpose”; Binghamton University Skype Discussion – “What Would You Do? Intervention”; Darkwood Brew Interactive Web Television Program – “The Call to Embrace Failure”; Columbia University Teachers College Intervention Discussion – “Human and Social Dimension Peace Course”; La Maison d’Art Gallery Talk Panel – “Does Your Skin Define You? Understanding What It’s Like to Be In Her Skin”; A Queen’s Eye View Online Radio Talk Show – “See Something Say Something”
Find Marsha R. Bonner Online:
www.facebook.com/marsha.bonner
www.twitter.com/marshahugs
www.instagram.com/marshahugs
© SMEG. 2015 All Rights Reserved.
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Metallica and the Production of Musical Identity. It opens with a fade-in bass section, heavily processed to resemble an orchestra. The Black Sabbath -influenced guitars are down-tuned, latest sms tones 2013 creating slow and moody ambience.
Ashgate Publishing Limited. It is considered the heaviest track on the album, with the main riff emulating a beast dragging itself into the sea. Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal. The band was not satisfied with the acoustics of the American studios they considered, and decided to record in Ulrich's native Denmark. The lyrics describe the consequences of alienation, oppression, and feelings of powerlessness.
The album is critically praised, widely considered one of the best heavy metal albums of all time. Rasmussen and Metallica did not manage to complete the mixtapes as planned. Hetfield broke his wrist in a mid-tour skateboarding accident, and his guitar technician John Marshall played rhythm guitar on several dates. With a reputation for drinking, the band stayed sober on recording days. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry.
The tempo accelerates during the latter part, and ends with music fading out. Hetfield Ulrich Burton Hammett.
The band denied this, but stated that one section incorporated Mustaine's ideas. Hetfield's vocals had matured from the hoarse shouting of the first two albums to a deeper, in-control yet aggressive style. Metallica opted for extensive touring instead of releasing a single or video to promote the album. The tour, however, was notable for several incidents. Encyclopedia of Popular Music.
Recording Techniques of the Guitar Masters. Its music and political lyrics drew praise from critics outside the metal community.
This article is about the album. The song describes how people are willingly turned into blind religious followers who mindlessly do whatever they are told.
Metallica delivered a more refined approach and performance compared to the previous two albums, with multilayered songs and technical dexterity. Bands from various genres of heavy metal have covered the album's songs, including tribute albums.
The song's subject matter is madness and serves as a metaphor for honesty and truth. Scroll down to Nick Butler staff. British Phonographic Industry. And Justice for All as a trilogy over the course of which the band's music progressively matured and became more sophisticated.
After that, the band came up with a song title and topic, and Hetfield wrote lyrics to match the title. It continues with mid-tempo riffing, followed by a bass solo at half-tempo. Referring to that occasion, Ulrich stated that Metallica was honored to play with Osbourne, who treated the band well on the tour. Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Select Platinum in the Certification field.
Metallica Flemming Rasmussen. According to Ulrich, the audiences in bigger cities were already familiar with Metallica's music, unlike in the smaller towns they've visited. The driver was charged with manslaughter but was not convicted. The Great Rock Discography.
The Complete Illustrated History. The Cambridge History of American Music.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Cambridge University Press. Burton was thrown through a window and killed instantly. Heavy Metal Music in Britain.
Live from Sofia, Bulgaria Through the Never. And fans who come to hear Ozzy go home liking Metallica.
When I heard their record, I knew they were the one band that could sell to both mainstream and underground metal audiences. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand.
Music, Youth Culture, and Social Crisis. Instead of releasing a single or video in advance of the album's release, Metallica embarked on a five-month American tour in support of Ozzy Osbourne. The song is one of the band's most famous and popular songs, frequently played at concerts.
Collector's Guide Publishing. Articles with hAudio microformats. And Justice for All albums.
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Reach out. Cook out.
Submitted by admin on Sat, 10/08/2016 - 9:07am
No-pressure events lead effort to share with the community
Pam Railsback of rural Solon draws a chalk outline around her son, Jordan, while attending a Solon United Methodist Church community cookout Sept. 28 in the church parking lot and the adjacent vacant city lot. The free meal was one of several outreach projects the church has undertaken this year. (photos by Doug Lindner)
SOLON– It’s a bridge to the community.
As part of a prescription for a healthy congregation, the Solon United Methodist Church (SUMC) has been reaching out this year.
In April, the church kicked off a series of events aimed at bringing residents together in a no-pressure atmosphere. The first was the environmentally themed Kick Off to Earth Day at the Timber DOME Lodge; the second, a family movie night in August.
Then came an Americana-style community cookout Sept. 28 held between the church and Solon City Hall, with Jay Proffitt manning the grill and the McAtee Trio providing a musical backdrop.
“We refer to it as a bridge event– an event that bridges the church to the community,” explained Pastor Scott Keele Kober.
At the beginning of the year, he said, the church council undertook a visioning exercise to develop some guiding principles for the church’s direction over the next few years.
In addition, the church utilized the Healthy Church Initiative, a process developed in the Missouri Conference of The United Methodist Church to provide strategies for the revitalization of local churches.
Coaching consultants trained in the Healthy Church Initiative examined the state of the church and dispensed “prescriptions”– suggestions for a robust church family.
One of those recommendations was to consider community events.
During the process, Keele Kober said, council members latched on to a statement that had been part of the church’s efforts for decades: To live as a congregation in which the love of God abides.
“The notion of sharing God’s love in the community,” he said.
By spring, the council had a revised vision statement and some conceptual ideas about how to reach out with no strings attached. It was decided to host a series of events that were “P-free.”
“No prayer, no pressure, no pocketbook,” Keele Kober said. “That’s what we’re using as our premise for what we’re doing.”
Keele Kober also throws another “p” into the mix– no preaching.
It’s a philosophy, he said, where “you’re not expected to sit through the pastor’s sermon to get to the end result of a meal.”
On the wall in Keele Kober’s office is a small simple painting of a bridge.
“It’s been an image I’ve always metaphorically understood– the church should always be a bridge to the world, a connection,” he said.
It’s a connection that the church is trying to make with its neighbors in a variety of ways– the Earth Day event featured pine cone bird feeders and displays promoting composting; the family movie night showing Pixar Studios’ “Up” offered free popcorn and lemonade; the cookout featured hot dogs, hamburgers and brats coming off the grill.
Solon Methodist isn’t a large church that can offer every program, Keele Kober noted.
With a little over 600 members and attendance of about 170 each Sunday, the church can’t be all things to all people, but it’s in there trying.
“The programs that we do offer, we want to do them well,” he said.
Along with its welcoming outreach, the church also has a mission to impact the world, and as part of the new vision, SUMC is reaffirming its connection with the local services it helps support.
One of those is housed in the church basement– the Solon Food Pantry.
“There are families that are a paycheck away, if one of the members of the family loses their job, they’re going to be food-insecure,” he said. “So we’re wondering how do we end food insecurity? How do we impact that particular issue?”
The church already offers an open meal on Wednesday evenings during the school year with a suggested free will contribution of $3 to help cover the cost of the food, but it isn’t widely publicized outside the church community.
One thought, he said, is to make the community meal a larger, monthly part not only of the church but of the community of Solon, perhaps involving local businesses and other organizations, he said.
“What would that look like?” he asked.
The church also intends to continue making an impact through its relationship with the Old Gold Diner, the congregate meal program that operates out of the SUMC Fellowship Hall, he said.
Not only does Old Gold address food issues by serving nutritious, inexpensive meals, but Keele Kober said the program also offers something which is also important; socialization.
The church hopes to hold one more community event before the end of the year, but no decision has been made as to what it will be.
Whatever it is, it will be an attempt by the church to connect with its neighbors.
“We want to be authentic in our relationships with folks,” Keele Kober said.
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In July of 1994, the song "I Swear" made the second appearance on the Billboard Hot 100, but this time it sounded very different. Gary Baker and Frank J. Myers wrote a ballad that was first released by singer John Michael Montgomery, whose version of the song went to #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart, and #44 on the Hot 100. But a few months later, the group All-4-One released their R&B version of the song, and soon it was the sound of the summer. You see, this time, the song made it to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, not for one week, but for eleven consecutive weeks. Today marks the 20th anniversary of the songs final week on top of the charts, but securing that Jamie Jones, Delious Kennedy, Alfred Nevarez, and Tony Borowiak defined the sound of the summer. This is "I Swear" by All-4-One.
Brings back memories, at least for me...
Labels: 1990s, all 4 one, billboard, frank j myers, gary baker, i swear, john michael montgomery
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Spione rules & play: When the right ending come early.
CommentTimeJun 3rd 2009
Hi Ron!
It's happening often, when we play Spione (yesterday, for example) that, at the end, there is a point in the middle of a flashpoint where we could stop right there, ending the story there would be perfect, but it's not allowed by the rules.
For example, yesterday, there was the last supporting cast member left, with both spies dead. This supporting cast member was the daughter of one of the principals. That principal was an old man who hated what he had become (a spy, cynic and disillusioned) and wanted a better life for his daughter. So, when during the last flashpoint the cards showed two aces near a joker, the ace player did choose to narrate that she will become a spy, too. It would have been the perfect (bitter) ending right there, but there were still five cards to narrate, every one of them negative. We could have narrated her death, or imprisonment, or define other things (like the fact that she would never be unhappy o always alone) and use the fate deck to decide her fate, but in any case it was a unnecessary coda to a story already ended.
To tell the truth, this is not a problem in play: usually when we all agree about this we simply stop the game. But I got curious about your reasons for not explicitly allowing, in the written rules, this manner of stopping the game by unanimous consent. There are thematic reasons for having left this kind of ending out, or it's simply something like the ending of My Life With Master, where the fact that the players can simply declare the Master dead during the endgame if the rolls are so unlucky that the ending is too drawn out is something simply left unstated, trusting that every group will find a way to have the Master die anyway at the end?
Hi Moreno,
I cannot absolutely speak for what will be the most fun for you, and you should do what is in fact the most fun, but I recommend trusting the system and playing it all out according to the Flashpoint cards.
Here's what I think. There may be ... well, a certain standard degree of closure that's probably most common and most reinforced by Hollywood movies. A certain degree of tragedy, or triumph, or appropriate coincidence, or punishment. Through exposure and familiarity to these stories, people have developed a standard or perhaps value-system which indicates what makes a story "enough." The actual timing and structure of the stories themselves are very similar despite the different kinds of closure and (of course) despite the many different settings. Setting becomes merely a stage set.
I don't think the spy context in Spione is merely setting for a standard story-structure. It's about spying. It's really about spying in the same way that the novels that inspired it are. I built the Flashpoint mechanics to make the people the spy is close to the victims of an exponentially-increasing load of negative consequences. That's what those cards in your array were: the consequences of having been a spy, which are - and here's the point - far worse than what a viewer finds "satisfying."
If you were comfortable with that particular degree of bitterness, i.e., saying it was "perfect," than at least according to the design philosophy of the game, that isn't enough. The goal is not a satisfying ending, it is a horrific one. Whether the chain of negativity drove down through this one woman's life or whether it was spread across a variety of characters doesn't matter. The fact that it would be so excessive is part of what I was aiming at.
It may be that my whole Hollywood hypothesis is wrong or doesn't apply to you and the folks you play with. Even so, that's not necessary for my point. My point is that whatever ending strikes you as "just right" is by the design philosophy of the game too kind as long as there are Flashpoint cards left.
This does raise the question of whether the mechanics force a story into becoming dumb or sadistic melodrama past a certain point. I don't think that has to happen, though. I think it's like a door of creativity and artistic challenge to take hold of that incredible load of terrible events and distribute it either upon a character through time or across characters in a way which is perhaps not as neatly appropriate as the initial "best" stopping point, but does make it absolutely, unequivocally clear that the world of the spy is morally, politically, and emotionally bankrupt. And due to that, the harm it breeds upon those who never deserved it is far worse than anyone wants.
Of all the spy authors, Graham Greene probably had the best vocabulary for what I am trying to describe and what I tried to design the game toward. He'd call it damnation.
CommentTimeJun 4th 2009
Thanks for the detailed answer. It's always very interesting to see these "behind the design" bits, the reasons for the choices done during the creation of a game.
I can't really say how much I am influenced by Hollywood movies, seeing that it's an influence that probably began even before I had any concept of "story" as a child, but it's obvious that they must have had some influence. But I don't thinks it's only that. Sometimes, showing exactly what "bad things" will happen to a character can lessen a ominous ending that did leave it to imagination. Sometimes, not knowing is worse that knowing.
But after writing the first post, and reading your answer, I thought about how I could have worsened that character's situation without ruining that ending, and (with the help of your reminding that I can go across time) there were other endings even more satisfying. (The game is a play-by-post, and it's still going). Yesterday I was thinking about asking the other players if they wanted to stop there, but seeing that it was not the first time that a situation like this happened I wanted to ask you about it. After your answer, I thought more about the situation of the character, and come up with a (very bleak) ending that I even prefer more than the previus one.
I know that I am simply repeating what you said in your answer, but I want to restate it in my own words because I want to concentrate on a single point: it's a creative challenge. Don't stop when you get the fist ending that is "good enough" (or, being this game, "bad enough" for the characters). Go on, and find a even better, more satisfying one using the cards that you have left.
Thinking about it, why stop before the end? The real reason is insecurity, about our creative capacity, and about the game efficacy. After years of playing incoherent games where a good ending was rare (most rpg campaigns stopped simply when people got bored enough...) we are somewhat trained to grab a opportunity for a good ending as soon as it appears, not trusting the chance of another one happening by. Or our capacity of creating another, better one using the rules of the game.
Playing Spione by the rules push us over that block, and force us to face our own creativity. And this "behind the design" bit has showed me another facet of this great game. Thanks again, Ron!
Thank you for the kind words. I am really glad that this rules-set leads in that direction.
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« HOME « « BRAND NEW START FOR COMRADES CHAMP CHARNÉ BOSMAN
BRAND NEW START FOR COMRADES CHAMP CHARNÉ BOSMAN
by Michelle Carnegie
A change is as good as a holiday, says former Comrades winner Charné Bosman after the announcement that she has signed with the newly formed Murray & Roberts Running Club. The 2016 Comrades Marathon champ and legendary veteran runner who seems to get better each year, will be turning out in the striking new black and yellow colours of the Murray & Roberts Running Club, after being a member of the Nedbank Running Club for the last four years.
“I am ready for a change. And on top of this I absolutely love the black and yellow colours of my new club, as it is so close to the colours of the Comrades Marathon, a race which everyone knows is very close to my heart.” Another motivating factor for her move is the fact that the Murray & Roberts Running Club is a proudly South African team, and they support South African runners. “Each and every runner on the team is from South Africa, and I love that. It is so important to firstly look after our own athletes,” said Bosman at the club launch yesterday of the headquarters of Murray & Roberts in Bedfordview.
Bosman, who is 43 and this year celebrates 20 years of being a professional runner, has also decided to return to her former coach and official Comrades coach Lindsey Parry, who coached her to her 2016 Comrades Marathon win. “For the last two years I didn’t have a coach, I did my own thing and I think it did have a certain effect on my performances over the last two years,” says Bosman. After her win at the Loskop Ultra last year she did her highest week of mileage yet, and she admits that she might have paid the price for this at last year’s Comrades Marathon, where she finished in fifth position.
Come 2019 it will be a whole different story. She will be aiming for a sixth consecutive gold medal at this year’s Comrades Marathon and under the watchful eye and expert guidance of Parry another Comrades win is definitely not out of the question, says Bosman.
She has amazed over the last couple of years as it seems each year she gets stronger and faster. “Age is just a number. I have been working very hard in the gym over the last year, and that has contributed to my early season strength this year. But I realize I need someone to help with specific training, especially for a race such as Comrades. It is a race you respect and you need to train specifically for it. Lindsey and I will be planning every step up to Comrades in the next day or so,” says Bosman.
She will be taking on the Two Oceans Ultra in April, but am not yet sure whether she will be racing it. “Comrades is my mail goal,” says Bosman, who is a member of the preliminary SA-Marathon team for the 2019 World Championships in Doha.
She is still very close to many of the athletes at the Nedbank Running Club and there are no hard feelings after she decided to bid them farewell. “I thought about the move carefully and am convinced that I made the right decision. Everything just fits,” says Bosman, who is a teacher by trade. She is very excited about getting involved further down the line in the Auckland Park-based Vorentoe Running Academy, which forms part of the running club’s development squad. “This was another motivating factor for me as there are many long term goals for me to achieve as part of this club,” says Bosman.
The Murray & Roberts Running team might be the new kids on the block but they certainly have put together one of the strongest running teams yet. Alongside Bosman other athletes on the elite team incluce René and Christine Kalmer, Jenna Challenor, Renier Grobler, Kesa Molotsane, Nolene Conrad, Benedict Moeng and Yolande Maclean. (More info on the team selection in a separate article on www.run24.co.za)
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Eyewitness Accounts... Page 6
Do Dinosaurs Still Exist?
Recently Obtained Anecdotal Accounts of "Big Birds" and "Pterosaurs"
by Ron Schaffner
Within the new millennium, Cryptozoology is beginning to lose many of the fringe elements on its track to a more scientific discipline. While some still talk about "monsters" and "things that go bump in the night," there have been recent trends to try to identify these anomalies within prosaic possibilities.
Drawing from Account 4 below
In this respect, it allows us the possibility of discovering something truly unique. Some interesting theories have been set forth with good logic to indicate that some of the older unexplained reports are misinterpretations of known animals.
The majority of the witnesses are probably sincere in what they reported, but are hampered by poor visual perception and personal belief systems. Also, one cannot completely eliminate the out-right hoaxer and the occasional yarn told by some of the general public. Sincerity is no guarantee of truthfulness.
It is paramount for the initial investigator to gather all the facts without any personal bias and to stay away from leading questions. It is equally important that the investigator refrain from telling the witnesses about legends and theories. Only after all possibilities are eliminated, can the report be labeled unexplainable.
Of all the Cryptozoological reports, the 'giant birds' (or Thunderbirds, as some cryptozoologist affectionately call them) are often the most difficult to evaluate. Like UFOs, it is difficult to determine height, speed and distance. Alleged photographic and video evidence can also be difficult to evaluate because of the trickery that can be applied from computer graphics.
With all the recorded media on prehistoric bird accounts and the circulation of science fiction works, the majority of us have that scenario locked somewhere in our subconscious.
Witnesses' descriptions can vary in appearance depending on distance. In fact, attempting to measure the distance between witness and the anomaly is almost impossible to ascertain. In the past, the old method was holding a familiar object at arm's length to determine size and distance. This has its drawbacks, as it exaggerates the true size.
A method I often use for size and distances of a ground object, is to use the distances between telephone poles for gauging. Be dubious of any witness who claims 500 yards or more, as this highly distorts any accurate description.
Raptors (eagles, hawks, etc.) and Waders (herons, egrets, etc.) make up the vast majority of misinterpretations of Thunderbird reports. These animals have pronounced wingspans, bills and legs that could be misidentified as a prehistoric bird, especially while in flight. A raptor's wingspan can easily be exaggerated. It's easy to mistake feathers for skin, especially if the lighting conditions are not favorable. Therefore, it is imperative for the investigator to keep an up-to-date field guide on birds in book form.
Remember - we only get to study the reports of these large flying creatures - not the creatures themselves. Prior to the release of the movie "Mothman Prophecies," Screen Gems Productions asked me to put a promo on my web site with information on the script and several graphics, which I did. During this time and after the movie came to the cinemas, I received several reports of Thunderbirds, including an email from someone in Alabama that alleged a similar creature in the south.
Email is an excellent way to get instant information and correspondence, but the problem remains of not doing a personal interview. On-the-spot investigations and interviews are the best method of finding out if a possible hoax is involved.
Using legends, such as Native American folklore, to support the existence of these large avian does not necessarily give proof that these "birds" are around today, or were even there in the past. It's equally possible that our ancestors misinterpreted the many known raptors that we are familiar with.
Chad Arment and I thought that these reports and some possible explanations would make an excellent article in the North American BioFortean Review. Some of these reports do not contain enough data to evaluate correctly. Only one report made the cryptozoological circles, which came out of Alaska.
Another report comes from Orin, Wyoming, in which I had an extensive email correspondence with the witnesses. Nick Sucik investigated another out of Wisconsin. Scott Norman received several reports right after the Alaskan "giant bird" report. So, the reader can see that these reports have not been released beforehand.
As you will see, some reports cannot be easily identified with the information at hand. Unfortunately, we have to rely on the witnesses' descriptions, drawing composites or we have to show drawings of known birds or pterosaurs, which is still leading, but sometimes can't be avoided.
Account 1: Wyoming
A couple in Wyoming reported the following: "First, I would like to start by saying I am not a delusional person, nor is my husband. We are normal people who happened to see an extraordinary creature. He and I were on our way from Sheridan, Wyoming, to Chadron, Nebraska, to pick up his kids for a visit. We were on a very tight schedule, his ex-wife was a very uncooperative person who looked for any excuse to cause turmoil.
"When we exited I-25 near Orin, Wyoming, we briefly stopped at a rest area. We returned to the car, and just as we entered the highway (the one that runs between Lusk and Chadron) I noticed a large animal in a field. I pointed it out to my husband, and he was so intrigued, we pulled off to watch the creature.
It stood - my estimate is about 5 feet tall, husband estimates 6 feet. It was greenish grey and appeared to be a pterodactyl. We sat by the side of the road for about 20 minutes watching the thing. It sat and flexed and stretched its wings, each of which were as long as its body was tall.
It also turned its head several times, looking out across the field. We stayed as long as we could and we did stop again on our return trip home, but the thing was gone. On subsequent trips we watched for the creature, but never saw it again. "We told a few people about it, and of course, they all laughed.
I want to emphasize, we don't want our names in the papers or to be celebrities, we just want to know what it was we saw on that nice late fall day. If you can help, please get in touch, we're anxious to find the answer."
In answer to subsequent questions:
Denise G.: "I guess I can start. It was late fall, around Thanksgiving of 1993. The weather was mid-40s - I remember commenting about how warm it was for the time of year as I was smoking outside of the car at the rest area.
It was slightly overcast but visibility was excellent. The area we were in is approximately one mile east of the rest area, which is located at the junction oI-25 and U.S. 18-20. This is a guess because I can't read the intersections on the map, but it is the junction off of I-25 going east into Lusk, Wyoming. I believe we were about 2 blocks to the north of the creature.
It was 'crouching' in an open field adjacent to the highway. We observed the animal for at least 20 minutes before we had to go due to schedule. It turned its head from side to side so that would be: it was facing north towards us, turned its head to look east, west and north. The topography of the area is mostly flat grasslands. The area it was in is an open field that is flat with very little brush."
Scott G. noted that he thought the animal was about 50 yards away. The time of the sighting was about 12 noon. Upon asking further questions, the following answers were provided: "The maps you sent are correct, that is the area where we saw the creature.
We will do our best to answer your questions, I seem to remember more than my husband, especially color and texture details.
"1. The head was not the same shape of that of a raptor such as an eagle. The beak was much more substantial, without a sharp hook on the end. The head and beak were not delicate in any way, but more like that of a horse. No, it wasn't a horse. I mean it was bulky and thick.
"2. I estimate the wing span as at least 5 feet. Scott doesn't remember the wings very well. The wing looked like thick leathery bat-like wings, but not exactly like those of a bat. Bat wings look thin and delicate - there was nothing about this creature that was thin or delicate.
"3. The wings were not like those of a bird. No feathers. It was hard to tell how they were situated at rest because we were looking at it straight on, not from the side.
"4. & 5. The skin of the animal was thick and leathery, no feathers. I describe the color as light olive drab greenish/gray. The torso and legs were thick and powerful. The torso looked shiney, but the skin was not tight across the body. I don't recall the feet. The creature looked powerful enough that we decided against leaving the car to take a closer look, it really wasn't an option.
"6. We are not dinosaur aficionados. We have seen the first two Jurassic Park movies and have see illustrations of prehistoric birds in books and on the Discovery Channel. We describe our creature as a beefier version of those typically shown in the media.
"7. I am vaguely familiar with the thunderbird legends, but I don't recall any details of them. Scott doesn't know anything about the legends."
Concerning the local habitat: "Yes, there are bluffs and cliffs in the area, easily within a 30-40 mile radius. Many can be seen from the interstate and state highways."
Upon showing a picture of a sand hill crane: "No, not really. The pic you sent shows a bird that has a pointed beak, the one we saw had a more blunt beak. Also the head seems small and the neck of the 'bird' we saw was thicker."
Upon showing an illustration of a Pterosaurs image: "Ok, we are getting closer, that looks like the 'bird,' but the one we saw didn't have such a big 'horn' on the back of its head."
Account 2: Vietnam
"When in Vietnam, my outfit saw this big bird flying overhead. It was in the middle of the day and he stayed with us for quite awhile as we were humping the mountains. It was black and yellow, with the beak similar to the pterodactyl species. The N. V. A. scouts were really afraid of the bird. Have you had any other reports similar to this?"
"The bird soared about 20 feet above the trees and was about 30 yards away from me. I am not in contact with anyone from my old outfit. I figure the wingspan was about 12 feet or more. This was in the central highlands in 1970."
In response to further questions: "I was with Co. A 3/12th 4th Division in the Pleiku - An Khe area in early 1970. That location was in the Central Highlands. I do not recall any feathers. My friend had taken a picture but cannot locate it."
Account 3: California
"Hello. My closest friend has seen a creature (along with her sister). This is very frustrating to me because I know it's true. My friend is very credible. She is a college graduate, very honest and is serious when trying to explain it. She doesn't like to tell many people because of how they will react.
"It happened in Thermal, CA, in 1983. Her parents had a farm and their dog, Duke (Doberman Pincher) was tied to a leash, barking violently. They let him go, thinking that it was a coyote or rabbit.
The dog ran around the house, but stopped short and continued to bark. Both my friend and her sister ran toward the dog and in front of them stood a 6-foot winged, featherless creature. The body was very muscular, like a man. But the skin was leathery like an elephant. It had long nails at the end of its toes. The head was the shape of a pterodactyl with red bulging eyes and protruding bone in the front and back of its head.
"It turned and looked at my friend and her sister and crouched down, tucked its wings in and flew off. The wings were so big you could hear them flap in the wind as if flew away. The dog chased it till he lost sight of it.
"Do you know of any other cases similar to this one?"
Account 4: Michigan
Investigator Nick Sucik contributes: "Robert F. claims that during the second week of July in 1969, he and a friend were out on Lake Dewey in the Sisters Lakes Region of Michigan when suddenly 'everything turned dark.'
They both looked up and caught sight of an enormous creature flying overhead. It managed to clear the remainder of the lake by slowly flapping its huge wings only twice.
He thought it had more of a leathery type of skin and didn't notice any feathers. Seemed confident enough it was a 'pterosaur' (and even drew the distinct hood behind the head) though it's easy to see how under excitement one is quick to affiliate the spectacle of a gigantic bird as something of a prehistoric nature."....
Source: Excerpted from Issue # 9 Of the North American Biofortean Review Chad Arment, publisher
1, 2, 3, 4, 5 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36 37 38
More Posts About Eyewitness Accounts
There Were Giants in Those Days... Page 4
20th Century Dinosaurs... Page 5
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Conservation Evidence is a free, authoritative information resource designed to support decisions about how to maintain and restore global biodiversity. We summarise evidence from the scientific literature about the effects of conservation interventions such as methods of habitat or species management. Expert panels are then asked to assess the effectiveness (or not) of interventions, based on the summarized evidence (for more details see FAQ What Works in Conservation). We also publish new evidence in our online journal Conservation Evidence.
Our ongoing review process extracts evidence continually from 30 important conservation journals (such as Conservation Biology, Biological Conservation, Ecology, Journal of Applied Ecology, Oryx; for more details see Synopses methods 'Finding evidence') and from systematic reviews published by the Collaboration for Environmental Evidence. We also search through more specialist journals and unpublished literature to focus on particular species groups or habitats (for more details see Synopses methods 'Finding evidence'). So far we have systematically searched over 260 English language journals. We also search non-English language journals.
As well as the existing synopses, we are currently developing synopses of evidence on the conservation of mammals (other than bats and primates), reptiles, marine benthic species, wetlands and grasslands (see the methods page). Additional topics are also being added to the synopses on the control of invasive species and management of captive animals. We are also currently updating the synopses on the conservation of birds and bats
The idea is to give conservationists easy access to the latest and most relevant knowledge to support their conservation policy or management decisions. Simply search for your species, habitat or issue of interest. Our site will present you with a list of possible actions you could take, along with a plain English summary of the available evidence for whether each one is effective (or not). It will also provide expert assessment of the effectiveness, based on the summarized evidence.
We do not make recommendations. This is because it is difficult to give evidence-based conservation advice that is appropriate for every context. Instead, we provide evidence and an assessment of that evidence, which should be interpreted by conservationists who understand their own site and national or regional situation.
Conservation Evidence is based at the University of Cambridge, UK, with collaborators and advisers in all continents of the world. The project was conceived by William J. Sutherland and is managed by Rebecca K Smith. For the rest of our team see Conservation Evidence team.
Conservation Evidence has received funding from the British Ecological Society, Arcadia, MAVA, the Natural Environment Research Council, Natural England, the Economic and Social Research Council, Synchronicity Earth, The Nature Conservancy, A.G Leventis Foundation and Waitrose Ltd.
You can watch some short videos exploring Conservation Evidence and answering some FAQs here.
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Festival of New French Writing 2011: Pascal Bruckner, Mark Lilla, Adam Gopnik
Events March 8, 2011
Event: Festival of New French Writing
Panel: Pascal Bruckner and Mark Lilla. Moderated by Adam Gopnik.
Location: 100 Washington Square East, Silver Center, NYU.
Website: http://frenchwritingfestival.com/
New York City: Silver Center, NYU.
Event 3 of the Festival of New French Writing. Robert Adrian stands, carries his lanky body, thin, chiseled face to the podium. To his right, Pascal Bruckner, world-renowned French philosopher, Adam Gopnik of the New Yorker, Mark Lilla of Columbia University. A selection is read from the conclusion of Bruckner's Tyranny of Guilt: As Essay on Western Masochism. Religious flagellation is to be the topic of the panel's discussion. The heavy burdens of guilt, the revisitation of times long-gone must necessarily be stopped. The spirit of critical examination so widely employed throughout Western societies a gift of prison-like fortitude to be shared with other cultures around the world. Selective hypermnesia, the focusing-in on past events selective towards the dark, selective towards the guilt-invoking. "The whole world hates us, and we deserve it; that is what most Europeans think, at least in Western Europe. Since 1945 our continent has been obsessed by torments of repentance." (p.6 Tyranny of Guilt) Gopnik asks where Lilla and Bruckner locate themselves politically in America and France. Bruckner replies that he belongs to the leftby atavism, that to gain legitimacy in France one must belong to the left and attempt to change the direction of the ideological parade from the inside. To Bruckner, the left and right have become the new religions of a France that has experienced the fall and dissolution of the Catholic church. Lilla returns with a personal note, speaking of his adolescence as a Pentecostal bible thumper in Detroit. It was when his self-described nieve belief in how people's faiths were born disappeared that he was constitutionally markedas a "liberal". In a 1988-1990 Paris, the fall of the Berlin Wall occurs and history felt as though it were ending in that region and there arose a sobriety about Liberalism and Democracy. This according to Bruckner who would later explain that he too was raised a Jesuit and that very clearly he began to see the left as torn between dogmatic ideology and cynicism in action and a right with a taste for technological innovation and a strong conservatism in morals. This, says Bruckner, reveals the moral quagmire France currently experiences. "If you want to be an intellectual, you have to leave the box." (Pascal Bruckner, Festival of New French Writing 2011) How is it, Bruckner asks, such a de-Christianized society such as France continues to live by very Christian ideals? Through countless bloody religion-driven wars, through the struggles between the monarchy and the Church, through the beheading of large numbers of priests, the anti-clerical stance against priests, nuns, the pope, through all of this and more the values of the Christian tradition have remained, manifesting themselves daily through unexpected avenues. "Modernity claimed to get rid of religion and in fact, all the religious frames are coming back in unexpected ways." (Interview with Pascal Bruckner and JK Fowler 02.26.2011) To Lilla, God is invoked in America with few Christian values encased within. Gopnik states that while this may be true, religion is seen as deeply important in American politics but asks why and how deep it actually goes. Lilla explains that while people may believe, it amazes him the extent to which people will believe in very simple things. The result: the intellectual life of American religion is vapid, a statement which is only emboldened by walking into any of the countless religious-material stores in American malls. Religion emerges then as window dressing in the American political realm. And how strange this all is, all three contemplate, considering that historically deeply religious confrontations would become extremely violent whereas today, confrontations are kept within the realm of the political, rarely gaining foot outside of the smoothly-contoured halls of plastic political rhetoric. We encounter anxiety today over the prospect of living without God while never free of God, a paradox which is not lost on the audience. "For America, God is like a super-coach." (Pascal Bruckner, Festival of New French Writing 2011) Bruckner explains that the religious experience in Europe and America seems very different, the latter being more a venue for the creation and nurturing of a particular collective life. As the constitutional monarchy rests within the collective subconscious of the British, the constitution of religion leaks into the American mind through the appeased experience of the faith. Integration into the societies of France and the US take on quite different flavors and this emerges as Gopnik inquires as to whether or not we are poorer without religion. Lilla explains that the integration in American society occurs not through religious means but rather through civil society and pop culture, ostensibly the knowledge of the latest contestants on American Idol the ticket to a rubber stamp on one's green card. America, as a large stomach to Bruckner, has the impressive capability to ceremoniously Christen (pun intended) thousands of foreigners as Americans, a fact which many French quietly admire from afar. In France, Bruckner explains, the lack of employment leads youth to turn to radical ideologies but notes that while the number of Muslims in France is quoted at 5-6 million, many (if not the majority) are no different than any other French person, paying seasonal heed to important religious holidays while for the majority of the year living life as any other would. The best sign of integration according to Bruckner lies within the statistics of French mixed marriages, jokingly stating that France's erotic appetite is particularly strong which is met with audience laughter. It is an integration from below rather than one from above. "In religious societies, at least in the Catholic world, you had the practices of the indigences and God was ultimate judge so you could always say, 'Yes I have been a sinner but at least the Lord will forgive me.' But today there is no more forgiveness; you have to carry this burden all your life and the judge has become the multiple voices of the 'Others'." (Interview with Pascal Bruckner and JK Fowler 02.26.2011) Bruckner and Gopnik discuss how the personal to the political is an easier transition for Bruckner than most. To wit, Bruckner replies that this lies firmly within a long French tradition stretching back to the Enlightenment when it was not uncommon for writers and intellectuals to write novels and philosophy, covering a wider breadth of topics without today's need for pinpoint specialization. It is this process of turning around the same obsessions, hoping for something new to emerge that preoccupies French intellectuals particularly in the realm of the French essay, Bruckner explains. The social intellectual in French life emerges as nomadic pedagogue, traversing the French countryside to speak in villages, cities, small communities. Lilla and Gopnik contrast this to the American intellectual experience: closeted, relegated to the darkened corners and dusty halls of the society as dust bunny profession. The event ends on a discussion of the schizophrenic nature of French society: on the one hand gauged as the most pessimistic country in the world and on the other, possessed of one of the fastest reproducing populations globally. It is to the children that the future which the elders have lost is entrusted. "We have to write as accurately as possible the history of our ancestors: what we did, the crimes we committed; we don’t have to ignore that. But we also have the duty to let the new generation start again, start over, start afresh and write a new history. So we don’t have to ignore the past but the past cannot let it hinder the present." (Interview with Pascal Bruckner and JK Fowler 02.26.2011) A fluid movement of poetic words and challenging concepts, this panel hosted through the Festival of New French Writing will prove to pave the way for future Festivals to emerge, for future French and American voices to weave sobering tales on the state of American and French societies in the 21st century.
Hour-long interview with Pascal Bruckner: click here.
Pascal Bruckner: A prolific writer, Pascal Bruckner belongs to that venerable lineage of French philosophers and essayists who, for centuries, have cast an ironic and always intelligent critical glance on the weaknesses and excesses of their society. His best-known works have been dynamically controversial and widely discussed, particularly Le Sanglot de l'homme blanc and La Tentation de l'innocence, for which he won the Prix Médicis de l'Essai in 1995. Bruckner has also written fiction, including Lunes de fiel (adapted for the screen by Roman Polanski) and Les Voleurs de beauté (winner of the Prix Renaudot), and has published books for children. He has taught in universities in France and the U.S. and contributes editorials to major newspapers in many countries.
Le nouveau désordre, Seuil, 1977 Le Sanglot de l'Homme blanc, Seuil, 1983 (The Tears of the White Man, Free Press, 1986) Le divin enfant, Seuil, 1992 (The Divine Child, Little Brown & Co., 1994) La Tentation de l'innocence, Grasset, 1995 (The Temptation of Innocence, Algora, 2000) L’Euphorie perpétuelle: Essais sur le devoir de bonheur, Grasset, 2000 (Perpetual Euphoria: On the Duty to Be Happy, forthcoming 2011) La tyrannie de la pénitence, Grasset, 2006 (The Tyranny of Guilt, Princeton University Press, 2010)
Mark Lilla: An essayist and currently Professor of the Humanities at Columbia University, after having taught at the University of Chicago's Committee on Social Thought and New York University. He has written and lectured widely on modern European thought and contemporary politics, and is a regular contributor to the New York Review of Books, the New Republic, and the New York Times. Among his awards are the Rome Prize of the American Academy in Rome and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the Institute for Advanced Study. He is a founding editor of the New French Thought series at Princeton University Press and his most recent book, The Stillborn God: Religion, Politics, and the Modern West was named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year in 2007 and has recently appeared in French translation as Le dieu mort-né (Le Seuil).
The Public Face of Architecture: Civic Culture and Public Spaces, Free Press, 1987 G.B. Vico: The Making of an Anti-modern, Harvard University Press, 1994 New French Thought: Political Philosophy, Princeton University Press, 1994 The Legacy of Isaiah Berlin, New York Review Books, 2001 The Reckless Mind: Intellectuals and Politics, New York Review Books, 2001
The Stillborn God: Religion, Politics, and the Modern West, Knopf, 2007
Adam Gopnik: Born in Philadelphia and grew up in Montreal where he studied at McGill University. A writer, essayist, and cultural commentator, Gopnik has been writing for The New Yorker since 1986, contributing non-fiction, fiction, memoir, and criticism. His book Paris to the Moon, 2000, was a New York Times best-seller. He published an adventure story for children, The King in the Window and Through a Children’s Gate: A Home in New York. Gopnik also edited the book Americans in Paris: A Literary Anthology. His latest Angels and Ages: A Short Book About Darwin, Lincoln, and Modern Life (Knopf) was published in early 2009. He has twice won the National Magazine Award for Essays, as well as the George Polk Award for Magazine Reporting.
Adam Gopnik, FWF 2011, Mark Lilla, Pascal Bruckner, Philosophy
J. K. Fowler
J. K. Fowler is an adjunct professor in the sociology and anthropology department at Rutgers University Newark, the founding and managing editor of the nomadic sojourns creative collective based in Oakland, CA and Brooklyn, NY, a full-time editor, and a doctoral candidate at the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland.
PEN 2011: The Public Intellectual, Today
Festival of New French Writing 2011: Atiq Rahimi, Russell Banks, Lila Azam Zanganeh
PEN 2014: When Walking Becomes Thinking
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Home YouTube Indie Game Review Home Review | Indie Game Review
Indie Game Review
Home Review | Indie Game Review
Hey everyone, Cinnamon730 here, and we’ve got a pretty spoopy indie game to review for you today. The game that I’ve reviewed for this month is called Home: a unique horror adventure. It was developed by Benjamin Rivers Inc. What’s really interesting is that this game is available on the PlayStation 4, the PlayStation Vita, Steam, and iOS. With so many platforms, there’s no excuse for the game being unavailable to people.
The basic premise is that there is this murder-mystery going on. Your character wakes up in a dark room, and then walks around and finds blood, a dead body, and he begins questioning what happened and where his wife was. The whole game is the main character figuring out what happened while trying to get home. The twist is that the player’s decisions vastly change the ending of the game. There’s even a forum on the website discussing all the different endings, but they do contain a lot of spoilers. Only go if you’re prepared to have things spoiled for you.
The gameplay itself is very simple. The character moves left and right, and interacts with objects. That’s just about it. There is some dialogue to click through, but it’s usually just a few lines to throw to the player so that they know what exactly is going on. What is strange is that the primary movement to advance the game is right to left instead of left to right, though it does switch back and forth between the two.
The design is a simple pixelated world, but with a bit of a dark undertone. There is nothing that is bright and cheery, and the game even recommends turning off the lights in order to play, just to add to the spook factor.
The most complex factor of Home is the story. With everything that is done, the story changes. Even something as small as not interacting with an object, or choosing to pick something up drastically changes the tone of the rest of the game. The attention to that kind of detail brings it from being another boring pixel walking simulator to a game that comes to life as you play it.
If you’re looking for a horror game, I’m not entirely sure this would be the right fit. There are some jump scare tactics of sudden loud noises and flashes of lightning, but this is much more of a psychological thriller than a horror game. There’s less that actually scared me in this game, and much more that provoked thought for hours after finishing the game. Not to say that it’s a bad game, just that it doesn’t fit the horror genre very well. There are some spooky elements, but they just aren’t that scary.
I would definitely recommend this to anyone who wants a game that is simple to play, but has a story that will make you think. If you do want to buy the game, you can get it on the PlayStation Network, in the Steam store, or in the App Store.
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Massive Arbitration Award Against Russia
In what Shearman & Sterling calls "an historic arbitral award,” on July 18, 2014, an Arbitral Tribunal sitting in The Hague held unanimously that the Russian Federation breached its international obligations under the Energy Charter Treaty by destroying Yukos Oil Company and appropriating its assets.
The Tribunal awarded the claimants just under half of their USD 114 billion claim. Shearman & Sterling represented the successful claimants, the majority shareholders of Yukos, while lawyers from Baker Botts and Cleary Gottlieb represented the Russian Federation.
In 2003, when the events underling the arbitration occurred, Yukos was the largest oil company in Russia in terms of daily crude oil production. It had around 100,000 employees, six main refineries and a market capitalization of about USD 33 billion. It was controlled by Mikhail Khodorkovsky (foto), until he was arrested at gunpoint in 2003 and convicted of theft and tax evasion in 2005. The company, once worth USD 40 billion, was broken up and nationalised, with most assets handed to Rosneft, a company run by Igor Sechin, an ally of President Vladimir Putin.
Shearman & Sterling filed its claims in October 2004, and the arbitration started in February 2005. On November 30, 2009, the Arbitral Tribunal — sitting under the auspices of the Permanent Court of Arbitration — issued a decision on jurisdiction, holding that the Russian Federation was bound by the ECT by virtue of its provisional application (despite the fact that the Treaty had not been ratified by the Russian Duma), and that the claimants were protected investors under the ECT.
The dispute attracted massive media attention, and in the end the Tribunal concluded that, “Yukos was the object of a series of politically-motivated attacks by the Russian authorities that eventually led to its destruction,” and that the Russian Federation’s aim was “to bankrupt Yukos, assign its assets to a State-controlled company, and incarcerate [Mikhail Khodorkovsky] who gave signs of becoming a political competitor.” The Tribunal held that the Russian Federation’s actions amounted to an “unlawful expropriation,” that the Russian Federation had breached its obligations under Article 13(1) of the ECT, and that the claimants were entitled to “reparation for the injury they suffered as a result of those of [Russian Federation’s] measures that the Tribunal has found to be internationally wrongful.”
The Tribunal ordered the Russian Federation to pay damages in excess of USD 50 billion to the subsidiaries of the Gibraltar-based Group Menatep (which now exists as the GML holding company), which controlled Yukos. The Tribunal also ordered the Russian Federation to reimburse an additional USD 60 million in legal fees (which Shearman & Sterling estimates as constituting 75% of the fees incurred in the proceedings), and EUR 4.2 million in arbitration costs. The Tribunal also held that the claimants will be entitled to post-award interest if the Russian Federation fails to pay the amounts due by January 15, 2015. According to Shearman & Sterling, “this is by far the largest award ever rendered by an arbitral tribunal.”
The award will be shared amongst the shareholders, including Russian-born Leonid Nevzlin, a business partner of Khdorovsky’s, who fled to Israel to avoid prosecution. He has a stake of around 70 percent. The other four ultimate beneficial owners, each of whom owns an equal stake, are Platon Lebedev, Mikhail Brudno, Vladimir Dubov, and Vasilly Shaknovski.
“The award is final and binding, and is now enforceable in 150 States under the 1958 New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards,” said Yas Banifatemi, International Arbitration Partner in charge of the Shearman & Sterling Public International Law practice. (Despite this, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that Moscow would most likely appeal the decision).
“This award is a major victory for us. After intense scrutiny, the Tribunal confirmed what the Claimants have been saying all along, namely that Yukos was destroyed, and its assets expropriated, for political reasons,” said Tim Osborne, director of GML.
According to Emmanuel Gaillard, Head of Shearman & Sterling’s International Arbitration Group, “this is a great day for the rule of law: a superpower like the Russian Federation is held accountable for its violations of international law by an independent arbitral tribunal of the highest possible calibre.”
The Tribunal was chaired by Yves Fortier, formerly Canada’s Representative on the UN Security Council and President of the Council. The Russian Federation appointed Judge Stephen Schwebel, former President of the International Court of Justice, and the Claimants appointed Dr. Charles Poncet, Partner at CMS von Erlach Poncet, in Geneva.
The proceedings involved a ten-day hearing on jurisdiction and admissibility in 2008 and a 21-day hearing on the merits in 2012, attended by over 50 party representatives as well as fact witnesses and experts. The parties’ written submissions exceeded 6,500 pages and the transcript of the hearings is over 3,300 pages long. Over 11,000 exhibits were filed with the Tribunal.
According to Shearman & Sterling, “the expropriation of our clients’ investment in Yukos was achieved through a series of steps, which included paralyzing the Company (notably through the arrest, imprisonment and harassment of its management and employees), manufacturing a pretext for the taking of the Company’s assets (namely, the fabrication of over USD 24 billion in tax debt), using that pretext to take Yukos’ assets piece by piece (beginning with Yuganskneftegaz, Yukos’ crown-jewel asset), and later transferring all of the Company’s assets to Russian State-owned companies Rosneft and Gazprom. This in turn allowed Rosneft to become the nation’s largest oil producer whose current market capitalization is at USD 67 billion. The Russian Federation’s actions culminated in the liquidation of Yukos in November 2007, and the complete and total deprivation of our clients’ investments.”
Yukos’ majority shareholders were represented in the arbitration proceedings by Shearman & Sterling Partners Emmanuel Gaillard and Yas Banifatemi, and Counsel Jennifer Younan. Among the over 20 firm additional arbitration lawyers working on the matter over the years were Partners Coralie Darrigade, Mark McNeill, Associates Ilija Mitrev Penusliski, Lara Kroop, Elise Edson,Ketevan Betaneli, Dimitrios Katsikis, Benjamin Siino, Ximena Herrera-Bernal, and Emmanuel Jacomy.
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton lawyers representing the Russian Federation included Partners Claudia Annacker, Lawrence Friedman, David Sabel, Matthew Slater, Senior Counsel William McGurn, and Counsel J. Cameron Murphy.
Baker Botts lawyers on the matter included Partners Michael Goldberg, Jay Alexander, Johannes Koepp, and Alejandro Escobar.
photocredits: businessinsider.com
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The bizarre ESP experiments conducted on Canadian aboriginal children without parental consent
© Library and Archives of Canada
Brandon Indian Residential School students in 1946.
Canada's residential schools for aboriginal children were places of hunger, isolation and misery. Children as young as 3 were separated from their families and became wards of the state.
In the 1940s, the children were also, as more and more evidence is revealing, the unwitting subjects of bizarre, cruel and unethical experimentation .
A recently uncovered experiment reveals the depths of the access given to so-called researchers seeking to find evidence that aboriginal children, by dint of their race, had extrasensory perception, also known as ESP, or a "sixth sense."
Fifty children at the Indian Residential School in Brandon, Manitoba, became the subjects of a series of tests that sought to establish a new measure for identifying ESP and also to find evidence of supernatural abilities of "primitive" people.
Brandon Indian Residential School, as seen from the driveway. (Library and Archives of Canada)
As was typical for the time, there was no parental consent. But the children, ranging from ages 6 to 20, likely participated "willingly," as the study claims, eager for candy that might stave off their persistent hunger.
The study was conducted for researchers at what was then known as the Duke Parapsychology Laboratory; the findings were published in the in 1943.
"The bare fact that American Indians have shown ESP ability is not surprising enough to deserve great emphasis," the study's author wrote.
The study was recently uncovered by Maeengan Linklater, an aboriginal community worker, who forwarded it to Ian Mosby, a researcher at McMaster University.
Duke University has since cut ties with the laboratory, which continues its work under a new name: the Rhine Research Center.
ESP and human behavioral phenomenon that "transcend the known physical laws of nature" were once hot topics of scientific interest, but have fallen from favor.
"It's fallen into disuse due to the fact that there's just nothing there," columnist Michael Shermer told Discovery.com. "Parapsychology has been around for more than a century. (Yet) there's no research protocol that generates useful working hypotheses for other labs to test and develop into a model, and eventually a paradigm that becomes a field. It just isn't there."
The aboriginal children in Canada were tested based on their ability to guess what was written on a card that was being looked at by the researcher - essentially reading someone's mind. But the results were inconclusive: The children's performance was no better than chance.
The "research" experiment highlights just one of the many indignities suffered by these children, according to Mosby, a postdoctoral fellow in Canadian history at McMaster.
A nurse takes a blood sample from a boy in Port Alberni, British Columbia, during a Department of National Health and Welfare survey.
"The children didn't suffer harm; but as we know from other examples, indigenous children in Canada were seen as available to researchers because they were wards of the state," Mosby told in an interview. "The government was making decisions for them, and the residential system became this sort of easy access for researchers to have a population of institutionalized bodies to do experiments on."
The children, the old study notes, came from "primitive" cultures where fishing, hunting and trapping were the primary occupations. They were brought to the schools as young children and kept there, away from their families, for most of the time.
More than 150,000 aboriginal children were forced to attend these schools until the last one was closed 1996. They were run by churches but funded by the government.
Meals at the schools consisted of oatmeal gruel and toast for breakfast followed by thin soup for lunch and dinner, even while school administrators ate rich foods prepared by the students themselves. Hunger and malnutrition were common, and many of the children died there - in some cases, death rates exceeded 50 percent of the students.
In 2013, Mosby published a paper describing nearly a decade of "nutritional" experimentation conducted on aboriginal children. The experiments involved depriving children of nutrition in the name of science and allowing conditions of virtual starvation to continue.
"The mortality rates of these schools were vastly higher than the rest of Canada," Mosby said. "This comes back to the dehumanizing elements of residential schools in Canada. The entire purpose of them was to destroy indigenous ways of life."
Linklater, who unearthed the study, forwarded it to Mosby because the researcher had previously examined other experiments conducted on aboriginal children during that time period.
"There's no parental consent, there's no research studies that would have been ethical by our standards today, and these kids were exploited," Linklater told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. "I don't mean to say this to inspire white guilt, I'm using this as a tool for change."
In 2008, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper formally apologized to the aboriginal community for the schools and the country settled a class-action lawsuit brought by surviving former students.
"The really important point is it highlights the vulnerability of indigenous children in Canada and the lack of care," Mosby said. "The idea that they would let quack scientists do experiments on children highlights the inhumanity of these institutions."
Jean-Marie Le Pen to Russian newspaper: 'Charlie Hebdo attack has the hallmarks of being a secret service operation'
Komsomolskaya Pravda
The founder of the National Front party and MEP, Jean-Marie Le Pen, is an 86-year-old politician is a the legend of France. As a teenager, participated in the resistance movement. He fought with France's airborne troops in Indochina and Algeria. This old man with difficulty rising from a chair politely declined my hand. He damaged his left eye in a street brawl, but he sees women perfectly with his right eye. This Frenchman is very much a Frenchman. "Who is this beauty, who came to us from the Russian frost?" he asks me when I greet him. It's flattery, of course, but what woman does not melt at such a compliment?
Daria Aslamova: Monsieur Le Pen, you first made the statement "I am not Charlie". How come?
Jean-Marie Le Pen: I am not Charlie Hebdo. This anarchist rag is a direct enemy of our National Front party, and a few years ago its journalists were collecting signatures on a petition demanding our closure. And all these politicians who came to the demonstration - they too are not Charlie but 'charlots'! (so-called French clowns, comedians - DA) They can organize a big spectacle with strong media support and the slogan 'I am Charlie', temporarily mobilizing the nation, but they are not able to protect the country from the influx of immigrants from the south. I would like to be 'Charlie Martella'. (as French naval battleships were named, after the French military leader Charles Martel - DA) Martell, this brilliant French soldier, in 732 stopped the Arab invasion in Poitiers.
DA: But now we're in 2015!
J-M LP: Yes, and we live in a France with between 15 and 20 million Muslims. All French governments, left or right, allowed immigration, and even encouraged it. Every year another three hundred thousand people come, and they're not looking for work. 6 to 8 million people in France live on social benefits, which these immigrants come for. This is the result of a common Christian and European decadence. Europe has removed borders within the EU. And now, from the southern border, which nobody protects, leak hundreds of thousands of people into France. The whole thing amounts to intra-European betrayal.
DA: But France itself is partly to blame for this. People are fleeing from war and chaos. After all, France has turned Libya into ruins!
J-M LP: It was real crazy to get involved in a war with Libya. French planes bombed Gaddafi's tanks at a time when he was preparing to take Benghazi - the main stronghold of the Salafis (Wahhabis). Today complete anarchy reigns in Libya. From there, arms have been spreading across North Africa, and French leaders like Sarkozy are directly responsible for it.
DA: What do you think about the Ukrainian crisis and the division between Europe and Russia?
J-M LP: It was provoked by NATO, this Ukrainian crisis, as it tried to get closer to Russia's borders. The position of our party is this: the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is a family quarrel. After all, Russia was born in Kiev. And neither Europeans nor the Americans need to interfere in this family drama. Russian and Ukrainians themselves will understand each other. But there is no doubt that the United States continues to treat Russia as the Soviet Union, and to try to shake your government with conflicts in Georgia and Ukraine.
DA: You are a member of the European Parliament looking into the situation with the downed Malaysian Boeing. What do you think about this crime?
J-M LP: The surprising fact is that all investigations are conducted in an atmosphere of great secrecy. I'm no expert, but it is clear to me that this kind of attack requires military professionals of the highest level, and high-precision weapons, which for militias are not simple to acquire and use. And the obvious question is: why was this civilian aircraft flying over a war zone? Who let this happen?
DA: This year a transatlantic partnership between the United States and the European Union will be signed. What are the benefits it promises Europe?
J-M LP: Yes, it would be a disaster! We've turned into an economic colony of America. The EU is moving in the wrong direction - to the West, and it is necessary to turn to the East, Russia. We need a united Europe - from the Atlantic to the Pacific, but a Europe of sovereign nations. Russia has demographic problems, and it is increasingly difficult for it to keep Siberia. However, Siberia - a geo-strategic location - is absolutely necessary for the survival of the whole of Europe. We need a strong alliance between Europe, with its high technology, and Russia, with its natural resources. If we do not, then our continent, with its demographic depression, in the cultural and economic sense, will simply disappear.
Look at Germany: it's a gold-plated coffin full of dead bodies. The Germans are a dying nation. How many children give birth in Europe? Per woman, on average, 1.3 children. And just to keep the previous level of the population requires 2.5. And now look at the world around us. Muslim countries, India - per woman, between 3 and 5 children. I've said nothing about China. If it cancels the rule of 'one family - one child', a population explosion will happen that will shake the entire planet. But Europe must be saved individually, without relying on bureaucrats in Brussels. France should withdraw from the EU to limit immigration and to solve economic problems on its own. We need to get the French to understand that our salvation lies in national sovereignty.
DA: But your National Front party is not even invited to the general demonstration against terrorism!
J-M LP: Because we are the defenders of the national idea. We had to be at the forefront, as it is the National Front that spoke of the urgent problems of immigration for many years! And on the possibility of Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism.
DA: However, in the affair, there are many unanswered questions.
J-M LP: I agree. These Kouachi brothers leaving their ID cards behind reminded me of that passport falling out of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 and miraculously surviving intact. Downtown New York City burned, but the passport was fine. They now tell people that the terrorists are idiots, which is why, they say, they left their documents in the car. The shooting at Charlie Hebdo has the hallmarks of being a secret service operation, but we have no proof. I do not think that the French authorities organized this crime, but they allowed this crime to be committed. This is only a guess.
DA: Why did the magazine constantly insult Muslims and Christians, but hardly touched the Jews?
J-M LP: Because the Jews know how to defend themselves. Pay attention to the Femen organization. They can run around naked in front of the Pope, naked in the Cathedral of Notre Dame, but they never do that in the synagogue.
DA: Europe mourns the dead cartoonist, but does not see the death of Russian journalists in the Donbass.
J-M LP: Because it's real journalists, not the Trotskyists and anarchists at Charlie Hebdo. If I killed their colleagues in other French media, Charlie Hebdo staff would, with pleasure, 'joke' about their deaths.
DA: What are the chances of success for your daughter Marine Le Pen in the next presidential election?
J-M LP: Yes, she can win, but I'm afraid she will inherit the ruins of this country. France is economically, and irresistibly, heading for the abyss.
The National Front is the far-right party in France. Founded by Jean-Marie Le Pen in 1972, for many years it has consistently struggled against immigration from non-European countries, advocates for traditional values and independent policy-making for Paris, without the dictates of Brussels. It currently firmly opposes anti-Russian sanctions.
In 2002, Jean-Marie Le Pen received second place in the presidential election with nearly 18% of the vote, but eventually lost to Jacques Chirac.
In 2011, the party was taken over by his daughter Marine Le Pen, and a year later in the presidential election Marine got almost 20% of the vote. The National Front holds seats in the lower house of parliament. The party's greatest success to date came in the European Parliament elections in 2014, when the National Front increased its number of seats from 3 to 22.
Recent polls suggest that at the next presidential elections in 2017, Marine Le Pen has every chance winning.
Pakistani father sacrifices five children 'to gain magic powers'
© Naharnet.com
A Pakistani father-of-six is on the run after strangling five of his children to death, apparently believing the sacrifice would endow him with magical powers including alchemy, police said Friday.
Ali Nawaz Leghari, 40, killed the two girls and three boys, aged between three and 13 overnight Thursday in the village of Saeed Khan, some 230 kilometers (140 miles) north of the city of Karachi.
"The man's financial condition was bad but he was also learning black magic and it seems that he made the sacrifice to excel in the craft," police officer Qamaruddin Rahimo told AFP.
Amjad Sheikh, the district's police chief, confirmed the incident which occurred while Leghari was undertaking a 40-day spiritual journey, known as a prescribed to him by a (living saint) that he hoped would teach him the art of alchemy.
Rahimo said that on Tuesday Leghari had attempted to poison the family's dinner but was spotted by his wife, resulting in a bitter quarrel.
The wife along with their eldest son left the house to go and stay with her parents. With the pair out of the way, Leghari was able to successfully carry out his plan to sedate the remaining five children and then used a rope that was found at the scene to strangle them, said Rahimo.
"He strangled them one by one inside the room and later dumped them on a bed in the courtyard," he said, adding police were now hunting Leghari down.
Black magic practices are rooted in mystic Sufi lore and have traditionally been the domain of and (sorcerers). The practice is particularly strong in rural parts of the country including the impoverished southern Sindh province where the killings took place.
Paul Craig Roberts: Ruin Is Our Future
Neoconservatives arrayed in their Washington offices are congratulating themselves on their success in using the Charlie Hebdo affair to reunite Europe with Washington's foreign policy. No more French votes with the Palestinians against the Washington-Israeli position. No more growing European sympathy with the Palestinians. No more growing European opposition to launching new wars in the Middle East. No more calls from the French president to end the sanctions against Russia.
Do the neoconservatives also understand that they have united Europeans with the right-wing anti-immigration political parties? The wave of support for the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists is the wave of Marine Le Pen's National Front, Nigel Farage's UK Independence Party, and Germany's PEGIDA sweeping over Europe. These parties are empowered by the anti-immigration fervor that was orchestrated in order to reunite Europeans with Washington and Israel.
Once again the arrogant and insolent neoconservatives have blundered. Charlie Hebdo's empowerment of the anti-immigration parties has the potential to revolutionize European politics and destroy Washington's empire. See my weekend interview with for my thoughts on this potential game-changer.
The reports from the UK and from that Russia has cut off natural gas deliveries to six European countries must be incorrect. These sources are credible and well-informed, but such a cut-off would have instantly produced political and financial turmoil of which there is no sign. Therefore, unless there is a news blackout, Russia's action has been misunderstood.
We know something real has happened. Otherwise, EU energy official Maros Sefcovic would not be expressing such consternation. Although I am without any definite information, I believe I know what the real story is. Russia, tired of Ukraine's theft of the natural gas that passes through the country on its way to delivery to Europe, has made a decision to route the gas to Turkey, thus bypassing Ukraine.
The Russian energy minister has confirmed this decision and added that if European countries wish to avail themselves of this gas supply, they must put in place the infrastructure or pipeline to bring the gas into their countries.
In other words, there is a potential for a cutoff in the future, but no cutoff at the present.
These two events - Charlie Hebdo and the Russian decision to cease delivering gas to Europe via Ukraine - should remind us that the potential for black swans, and unintended consequences of official decisions that can produce black swans, always exist. Not even the American "superpower" is immune from black swans.
There is as much circumstantial evidence that the CIA and French Intelligence are responsible for the Charlie Hebdo shootings as there is that the shootings were carried out by the two brothers whose ID was conveniently found in the alleged get-away car. As the French made certain that the brothers were killed before they could talk, we will never know what they had to say about the plot.
The only evidence we have that the brothers are guilty is the claim by the security forces. Every time I hear government claims without real evidence, I remember Saddam Hussein's "weapons of mass destruction," Assad's "use of chemical weapons," and Iran's "nuclear weapons program." If a US National Security Advisor can conjure up out of thin air "mushroom clouds over an American city," Cherif and Said Kouachi can be turned into killers. After all, they are dead and cannot protest.
If this was, and we will never know for certain, a false flag attack, it achieved Washington's goal of reuniting Europe under Washington and Israeli auspices. But this success has an unintended consequence. The unintended consequence is to unify Europe under the anti-immigration policy of the right-wing parties, thus empowering the leaders of those parties.
If this surmise is correct, Marie Le Pen and Nigel Farage will find their lives and/or reputations in danger as Washington will resist the rise of European governments that do not adhere to Washington's line.
The consternation caused by Russia's decision to relocate its gas delivery to Europe is proof that Russia holds many cards that Russia could play that would bring down the political and financial structures of the Western World.
China holds similar cards.
The two countries are not playing their cards, because they do not think that they need them. Instead, the two powers are withdrawing from the Western financial system that serves Western hegemony over the world. They are creating all of the economic institutions that they need in order to be completely independent of the West.
Therefore, the Russian and Chinese governments reason, "Why be provocative and slap down the Western fools. They might resort to their nuclear weapons, and the entire world would be lost. Let's just walk away while they encourage us to depart with their provocations."
We can be thankful that Vladimir Putin and the leaders of the Chinese government are both intelligent and humane, unlike Western leaders.
Imagine, for example, the dire consequences for the West if Putin were to become personally involved as a result of the numerous affronts to both Russia and Putin himself. Putin can destroy NATO and the entire Western financial system whenever he wants. All he has to do is to announce that as NATO has declared economic war against Russia, Russia no longer sells energy to NATO members.
The NATO alliance would dissolve as Europe cannot survive without Russian energy supplies. Washington's empire would end.
Putin realizes that the insolent neoconservatives would have to push the nuclear button in order to save face. Unlike Putin, their egos are on the line. Thus, Putin saves the world from nuclear war by not being provocative.
Now, imagine if the Chinese government were to lose its patience with Washington. To confront the "exceptional, indispensable, unipower" with the reality of its impotence, all China needs to do is to dump its massive dollar-denominated financial assets on the market, all at once, just as the Federal Reserve's bullion bank agents dump massive uncovered gold contracts on the future's market.
In order to avoid US financial collapse, the Federal Reserve would have to print massive amounts of new dollars with which to purchase the dumped Chinese holdings. As the Federal Reserve would protect US financial markets by purchasing the dumped Chinese holdings, the Chinese would lose nothing from the sale. It is the next step that is decisive. The Chinese government then dumps the massive holdings of dollars it has received from its selloff of dollar-dominated financial instruments.
Now what happens? The Fed can print dollars with which to purchase the dumped Chinese holdings, but the Fed cannot print foreign currencies with which to buy up the dumped dollars.
The massive supply of dollars dumped in the exchange market by China would have no takers. The dollar's value would collapse. Washington could no longer pay its bills by printing money. Americans living in an import-dependent country, thanks to jobs offshoring, would be faced with high prices that would seriously erode their living standard. The United States would experience economic, social, and political instability.
Putting aside their brainwashing, their defensiveness and patriotic support of the regime in Washington, Americans need to ask themselves: How is it possible that the government of the United States, an alleged Superpower, is so unaware of its true vulnerabilities that Washington is capable of pushing two real powers until they have had enough and play the cards that they hold?
Americans need to understand that the only thing exceptional about the US is the ignorance of the population and the stupidity of the government.
What other country would let a handful of Wall Street crooks control its economic and foreign policy, run its central bank and Treasury, and subordinate citizens' interests to the interests of the one percent's pocketbook?
A population this insouciant is at the total mercy of Russia and China.
Yesterday there was a black swan event, an event that could yet unleash other black swan events. The Swiss central bank announced an end to its pegging of the Swiss franc to the euro and US dollar.
Three years ago flight from euros and dollars into Swiss francs pushed the exchange value of the franc so high that it threatened the existence of the Swiss export industries. Switzerland announced that any further inflows of foreign currencies into francs would be met by creating new francs to absorb the inflows so as not to drive up the exchange rate further. In other words, the Swiss pegged the franc.
Yesterday the Swiss central bank announced that the peg was off. The franc instantly rose in value. Stocks of Swiss export companies fell, and hedge funds wrongly positioned incurred major hits to their solvency.
Why did the Swiss remove the peg? It was not a costless action. It cost the central bank and Swiss export industries substantially.
The answer is that the EU attorney general ruled that it was permissible for the EU central bank to initiate Quantitative Easing - that is, the printing of new euros - in order to bail out the mistakes of the private bankers. This decision means that Switzerland expects to be confronted with massive flight from the euro and that the Swiss central bank is unwilling to print enough new Swiss francs to maintain the peg. The Swiss central bank believes that it would have to run the printing press so hard that the basis of the Swiss money supply would explode, far exceeding the GDP of Switzerland.
The money printing policy of the US, Japan, and apparently now the EU has forced other countries to inflate their own currencies in order to prevent the rise in the exchange value of their currencies that would curtail their ability to export and earn foreign currencies with which to pay for their imports. Thus Washington has forced the world into printing money.
The Swiss have backed out of this system. Will others follow, or will the rest of the world follow the Russians and Chinese governments into new monetary arrangements and simply turn their backs on the corrupt and irredeemable West?
The level of corruption and manipulation that characterizes US economic and foreign policy today was impossible in earlier times when Washington's ambition was constrained by the Soviet Union. The greed for hegemonic power has made Washington the most corrupt government on earth.
The consequence of this corruption is ruin.
"Leadership passes into empire. Empire begets insolence. Insolence brings ruin."
Ruin is America's future.
An Afghan training base that melted in the rain? US wasted billions on botched projects
© AFP Photo/Jeff Pachoud
Afghan policemen stand guard for a debriefing during an exercise under the supervision of the Eurogendfor, on September 26, 2012, at the National Police Training Center in the Wardak province
The United States wasted nearly $500,000 on an Afghan police training center that began to fall apart only months after it was built due to shoddy contractor work, according to a watchdog report released Thursday.
The center's adobe-style brick buildings were supposed to replicate an Afghan village to allow the country's special police to practice search operations but the roof and walls began "melting" away in the rain four months after it was completed, said the report by John Sopko, Washington's special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction (SIGAR).
"Therefore, although this project may have been well intentioned, the fact that the Afghans had to demolish and rebuild the DFR (dry fire range) is not only an embarrassment, but, more significantly, a waste of US taxpayers' money," Sopko's office said.
The report found that US officials failed to properly supervise or hold accountable the Afghan firm selected to build the center, Qesmatullah Nasrat Construction Company, which used substandard bricks and failed to follow contract requirements.
The inspector general's report is the latest in a long series that have found massive waste and botched projects worth billions of dollars across Afghanistan.
For the police training center in eastern Wardak province, American officials at Forward Operating Base Shank awarded the $456,669 contract to the firm in May 2012. And the company was paid in full once the buildings were completed in October of the same year.
The center "was not constructed according to contract requirements, and our analysis showed that, as a result, water penetration caused its walls to begin disintegrating within 4 months of when the US government accepted the project . . .," the SIGAR report said.
Bricks made of sand
The firm installed roofs without gravel and asphalt, failed to ensure a slope to the roof to allow water to drain to collection points, used smaller bricks than required and of insufficient strength, it said.
The bricks "were made mostly of sand with little clay content and that the lack of adequate clay material caused the bricks to fail when water penetration occurred," it said.
The report included photos that showed the buildings intact just after construction was completed, then with massive leaks and disintegrating walls in the following months.
US officials eventually concluded the building was completely unsafe and would have to be rebuilt entirely. The contracting company initially planned repairs but was not ready to rebuild the entire facility, it said.
The Afghan government has since demolished the buildings and is now rebuilding the training center.
The report urged US Central Command to try to recoup funds where possible, determine why the compound was not built according to contract requirements and what disciplinary action should be taken against contracting officials.
Central Command accepted the report's recommendations and said it plans to take corrective action.
Sopko has warned that it will be difficult to track reconstruction projects as international troops withdraw.
Most of a NATO-led force has pulled out of Afghanistan and a small force of about 12,000, made up mostly of American troops, remains deployed.
Department of Homeland Security promises to protect your privacy while they intrude into every aspect of your life
US citizens' privacy will be protected even as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) prepares additional efforts to counter the "new phase" in the threat of global terrorism, DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson told Sputnik on Friday.
"The thing that is the greatest strength in our country is...our values in our privacy, our freedom to associate," Johnson told Sputnik when asked about the agency's planned response to the renewed global terror threat. "Those [values] we have to preserve."
Asked whether the next phase in US counter-terrorism and intelligence efforts would bring increased infringements on US citizens' privacy, Johnson explained that homeland security is a balance between ensuring civil liberties and basic security. "It's striking a balance," he added.
In a Friday speech to aviation experts in Washington, DC Johnson stated that the United States is "in a new phase of the global terrorist threat" which is represented by the recent months' terror attacks in Ottawa, Sydney, and Paris.
The DHS and US intelligence community has begun a process of "vertical intelligence sharing" among state and local law enforcement agencies, Johnson explained. Engaging with state and local law enforcement has become an increased priority of DHS, "given the domestic-based nature" of the terrorist threat to the US homeland, the DHS Secretary said.
The US Department of Homeland Security was created in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and quickly became the third largest federal agency.
Since its inception, DHS has come under scrutiny by US civil liberties organizations like the ACLU, Electronic Privacy Information Center and multiple state-based civil liberties groups for allegedly engaging in domestic surveillance.
Comment: American tax dollars at work - arming and training terrorists, stripping Americans of their freedoms, all while keeping liars like this employed in order to convince us it's legitimate. And most people believe it legitimate to "strike a balance" between freedom and "security" during our all-out global war. Prior to 9/11 this would have been denounced as absolute lunacy. But now it's America's top industry, and we're told we must give just a little bit more. How much more will we give? The answer to that question seems to lie in how much the imperial oligarchs are willing to take. And the answer to that is not looking good.
Ice covering Great Lakes makes giant leap in January
Animation of ice cover on the Great Lakes from Jan. 7 to Jan. 14 (NOAA)
Ice cover on the Great Lakes has made quite a leap after the first, week-long cold snap of the season.
As of Thursday, ice covered 34.1 percent of the Great Lakes, up from just 5.6 percent on Jan. 1, and 10.8 percent on Jan. 5 - the first day of a polar plunge that gripped most of the eastern U.S. for days to come.
"Last year, the Great Lakes were 21.2 percent ice-covered on Jan. 14, making this year's ice cover 13 percent higher to date," writes weather.com. "If you recall, below-average temperatures were persistent from mid-January onward in the winter of 2014, leading to the second highest ice coverage on record at 92.2 percent on March 6, 2014."
Amazing shot from our Life on #LakeErie Photo Contest: Fortress of Solitude by @LakeErieSurfer http://ift.tt/1sIEfGn
- Lake Erie Commission (@OhioLakeErie) January 15, 2015
This year's January cold snap set off an upward spiral in ice cover over the lakes, particularly for Erie, the shallowest lake in the network.
By Jan. 14, Lake Erie had iced over. Thin ice can be seen in the eastern half of the lake, while thicker ice had formed over the western half
Lake Erie's ice cover has sky-rocketed this month, and is now about 88 percent covered in ice. Just a couple weeks ago, it was ice-free. Last year, Erie's climb was slightly more gradual, starting in December and then shooting up twice after Polar Vortex I and II in January. It seems this year Erie is getting it done in one shot.
Long-term outlooks suggest more chilly blasts are on the way, which means ice cover records could be in play this year.
According to our winter weather expert Wes Junker, more cold might be in store behind a potent winter storm late next week. "After the storm pushes through, colder weather is expected to filter in," Junker writes. "By the end of the two week period, temperatures could take a plunge as a strong upper level ridge develops over Alaska and northwestern Canada."
The ice breaking tug Breaker cuts through Lake Erie this morning. http://ift.tt/1ISBtAC
- Derek Gee (@DerekGeePhoto) January 14, 2015
Cool shot of Lake Erie in winter on approach to Buffalo post attending #JPM15 http://ift.tt/1ISBrsv
- Rob Wright (@RfwrightLSL) January 15, 2015
Lake Erie : Ice : Sunset @Interior @OhioNatureBlog @nature_org @lakecountyoh http://ift.tt/1sIEeSO
- john kovach (@kovachio) January 14, 2015
Cop shoots unarmed man in the back, pepper sprays his dying body, then runs away
Rocky Ford, CO - Former Rocky Ford police officer will be standing trial on second degree murder charges after a preliminary hearing Thursday morning.
James Ashby was arrested on Nov 14., and fired that day for the killing of 27-year-old Jack Jacquez on October 12.
Jaquez was reportedly out skateboarding when Officer Ashby approached him. Ashby then followed the man home and into his mother's house. Jaquez reportedly knocked on the back door and when his mother let him in the officer followed.
According to court records released Thursday, Ashby told investigators that he followed Jaquez into his own home because he thought he was a burglar. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation found that Ashby never identified himself as a police officer and had no reason to believe the Jaquez was committing any crime before the shooting,
According to the family, Ashby then raised his gun just inches from Jaquez' mothers head and shot her son in the back, causing the bullet to pierce his heart. The officer proceeded to pepper spray the man's back as he lay bleeding out on the floor, then fled the residence.
Officer Ashby said Jacquez was reaching into his backpack, but eventually followed orders to show his hands. According to Ashby's statements, Jacquez then grabbed a baseball bat and started swinging it around, an action that caused him to fear for his life.
Viola Jacquez, the victim's mother witnessed the killing. She watched as the officer chased her son into her home and then shot him in the back just before pepper spraying her dying son. She claims there was a brief struggle between the officer and her son over his skateboard, before her son let go and walked away.
"I froze," Viola Jacquez, the victims mother, told . "Honestly, I froze. I could not speak, but I could see. It was one of those moments where you're falling off a cliff."
This wasn't the first time this officer has been accused of misconduct, either. Ashby has had multiple accusations against him from his previous job at the Walsenburg Police Department. The allegations against Ashby range from using profane and derogatory language on the job to sexual harassment against a dispatcher.
Ashby had only been with the Rocky Ford police department for five months when he killed Jacquez and already had three internal investigations launched against him, including one for excessive force that was filed just days before the killing. reports that the Rocky Ford Police Department did not review Ashby's disciplinary records from Walsenburg before hiring him.
"Viola Jacquez hasn't moved back into her home since the shooting, returning only to grab her cats and occasionally speak to her son in his room.
Candles mark the spot where Jack Jacquez's head and feet came to rest after he was killed. A stain marks the spot on the area rug where his sister cleaned away blood and pepper spray. A tiny bullet hole in the front door serves as a reminder of a night the family cannot forget", Jesse Paul of the wrote.
The trial is scheduled for February and Ashby will remain free on bond until then.
China reacts to Japan's ignoring their past aggression, states it 'erodes Japan's international credit'
© Xinhua
People visit the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders in Nanjing, east China’s Jiangsu Province
Days after China and Japan took a step closer to setting up a consultative mechanism to govern contacts in the East China Sea, Beijing on Thursday criticised Japan's "denials" of its wartime atrocities.
"It is irrefutable that the Nanjing Massacre was a cruel crime that the Japanese militarists committed during Japan's war on China. Any attempts to overturn its past aggression only erode Japan's international credit," China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a daily press briefing on Thursday in Beijing.
Hong's comments came one day after the news agency quoted Japanese government sources as saying Japan told China in late December that it was "not appropriate for Chinese President Xi Jinping to state that the number of victims of the 1937 Nanjing Massacre totaled 300,000″.
Chinese President Xi on 13 December attended the first national memorial day for the Nanjing Massacre.
"Anyone who tries to deny the massacre will not be allowed by history, the souls of the 300,000 deceased victims, 1.3 billion Chinese people and all people loving peace and justice in the world," Xi said in a reference to conservative Japanese politicians and nationalists who deny the massacre ever took place.
"We urge Japan to correct its attitude and honor its commitment to face up to and reflect on its aggressive past," the Chinese spokesperson Hong said on Thursday in Beijing.
Japanese troops captured Nanjing, then China's capital, on Dec. 13 of 1937 and slaughtered tens of thousands of Chinese civilians and soldiers for 40-odd days. Chinese officials maintain more than 300,000 Chinese soldiers, who had laid down their arms, and civilians were murdered and about 20,000 women were raped.
An Allied tribunal put the death toll at 142,000.
China's State Council in September released a list of 80 state facilities and sites commemorating the war with Japan.
The conflict, commonly known in China as the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, led to the death of some 20 million Chinese, according to Beijing's estimates. It ended with Tokyo's World War II defeat in 1945.
China on Wednesday also voiced concern over Japan's annual military budget.
Japan's Cabinet on Wednesday approved a 4.98 trillion yen (about $42.46 billion) defense budget for the 2015 fiscal year, starting in April, the country's largest ever and a 2 per cent increase year on year.
Since Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office in late 2012, Japan's defense budget has seen an uptrend and could top 5 trillion yen in 2016, said media reports.
Japan's military and security policies have long drawn the attention of the international community, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei was quoted by Chinese agency at a routine press briefing on Wednesday.
"We hope Japan will reflect on its history, follow the path of peaceful development and play a constructive role in promoting regional peace and stability," he said.
The Japanese Cabinet will now submit the budget to the parliament.
Since Abe's Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner Komeito have majorities in both houses of parliament, the passage of the budget is almost certain, local media said.
Meanwhile, on Monday, Chinese and Japanese defense officials discussed how to manage tensions stemming from a territorial dispute in the East China Sea.
Both sides are trying to finalize details of a hotline that will allow leaders from both sides to communicate in the event of an emergency, as well as other strategies for avoiding accidents at sea or in the air.
Brazil increases terrorist threat level for Olympic Games; officials aware that there are 'certain people who can lend assistance to such groups'
Brazilian counter terrorism officials say they are prepared for a “lone wolf ” attack during the Olympic Games, but they think it is unlikely to happen
With a year-and-a-half to go until Rio de Janeiro hosts the next Olympic Games, Brazilian counter terrorism officials say they are prepared for a "lone wolf " attack during the Games, but they think it is unlikely to happen.
Brazil has raised the terrorist threat level for the Summer Olympic Games it will host in 2016 following the recent terror attacks in Paris, said Luiz Alberto Sallaberry, the director of the counter-terrorism department at the Brazilian Intelligence Agency.
"We have no terrorist cells, but there are certain people who can lend assistance to such groups or aid logistically," he said in an interview with Brazilian news site G1 on Thursday.
Brazil's counter terrorist strategy for the Games will focus on the danger from "lone wolves".
He said the Intelligence Agency was closely monitoring these 'lone wolfs' who "don't belong to a terrorist group, but share the ideology of Jihad and have contacts".
"We are to host the Olympic Games (from August 5 to 21, 2016), bringing together athletes, high-ranking guests and fans from countries that have become priority targets for terrorists - all this increases the level of threat," said Sallaberry.
Sales of tickets for the 2016 Games will begin in March this year.
Sallaberry said Brazil secret services had timely uncovered terrorist plans for the World Cup it hosted last year, disrupting them.
"Luckily, such incidents were few," he added.
Olympic Games - at Atlanta 1996 and Munich 1972 - have shown that major sporting tournaments are susceptible to the threat of terror attacks.
Seventeen people were killed in France last week in a terror attack. Twelve individuals were killed during an attack on the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. Four people died in a shooting in a kosher supermarket and a policewoman was also murdered.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff condemned the attack on the French magazine saying "it is an unacceptable attack on press freedom, a fundamental value of democratic societies".
Paris Charlie - the Shock Doctrine par Excellence
January 15, 2015 "
At the same time France lawmakers agreed to displayed 10,000 troops throughout the country to protect 'vulnerable places'; spying on citizens, for their protection takes on new forms and formats. A direct reaction to the attack on Charlie Hebdo on January 7 and the assault on a kosher supermarket on January 9? - Killing 17 people in all? Is that it?
French Ministers of the Interior and of Defense have advanced their wish of substantially increased respective military and defense budgets, when the 2016-2017 allocations are being discussed later this year. No doubt they will get their way.
No doubt, this is the shock doctrine at its best. People are in awe and shock after the assault of the satirical and Moslem insulting Charlie Hebdo. A million and a half took to the streets in Paris this past weekend, the largest manifestation since the liberation of Paris after WWII in 1945. Some media report more than 6 million people marching throughout Europe. Almost all waving signs "I am Charlie" - Solidarity or stupidity? Hard to say. Most likely just sheer ignorance.
Its ignorance that kills our democracies, our human values; public ignorance allows leaders (sic) to wage wars, to aggress nations that refuse to submit, to fall to their knees. Its ignorance perpetuated daily by our mainstream media and swallowed without question, day-in-day-out like breakfast coffee.
Neocon leaders, all over Europe, the new patsies of Washington that we, the people, have voted into office, under shrewd but hardly noticeable Washington-funded propaganda, through NED (National Endowment for Democracy) and other well-endowed CIA sponsored so-called think-tanks, meddling in local politics, sowing threats or acts of destabilization. Europe's new masters that a majority of the people doesn't really like, but who are in office anyway - these spineless stooges constitute Europe in Brussels, the EU itself having become a miserable colony of Washington.
So, with a populace under shock, politicians have it even easier to get away literally with murder, with whatever they want under the pretext of fighting the eternal enemy - the Moslem terrorist armies, AlQada, ISIS and whatever other names they have morphed into or morphed out from in the course of the last couple of decades. Eternal war on eternal terrorists perpetuates evil and more terrorism and - war budgets yielding insane profits for the war industry throughout the western Washington-aligned world.
Under shock and awe, people will approve every aberrant and sick wish of aggression by politicians - if being told that it is for their good and protection. Yes, that's what the propaganda machine has done to the 'free-thinking' minds of the citizens of our ever so heralded democracies. Democracies, freedom of expression, freedom of press - mon oeil !
The Charlie atrocities reek all over of false flag. An attack so well and professionally carried out with cutting edge Kalashnikovs and get-away methodology, way beyond the capacities of the Kouachi brothers, who have no doubt criminal records, spent time with and were trained by the very AlQada and ISIS that were created and funded by Washington and by its European puppets - including the French, according to President (sic) Hollande's own admission.
Yes, the French were and are funding counter-terrorism in Iraq and Syria, the very counter-terrorism that provides them in turn with pretexts to bomb the two war-torn countries to even more rubble - just for regime change, with the added benefit of oil and gas, and a constant profit generating war machine - leaving millions of deaths behind, mostly civilians, women and children and elderly - and other untold millions as refugees, in miserable unsanitary camps, or fleeing across dangerous borders to unknown destinies, to disease, hunger and death - people the world forgets, the media stays away from - forgotten lives.
The Kouachi brother, as well as Amedy Coulibaly, the suspect in the hostage drama of the Hyper Cacher food market in eastern Paris, whose identities and past activities were well recorded in French police files, were most likely pre-identified as perpetrators of the probable pre-meditated murderous attacks that left 17 people dead within three days of horror in Paris; attacks so well organized and carried out that they could easily bear the stamp of French special forces, CIA, Mossad or all three of them - because, cui bono - who benefits? - Perhaps the Masters of all three of them?
The Kouachi brothers were identified only by a conveniently lost ID in the get-away car, reminiscent of the intact passport of one of the 9/11 'terrorists' found in the rubbles of the twin towers. Are people really ignorant enough to believe such a farce? - All three were caught and killed almost immediately by police. Dead men don't talk.
And there is more - coincidentally, as reported by Michel Chossudovsky of Global Research http://ift.tt/14OFEQC , the Police Commissioner, Helric Fredou, Number Two Police Officer of the Regional Service of France's Judicial Police in Limoges, "committed suicide on the night of Wednesday to Thursday at the police station." Commissioner Helric Fredou was leading the police investigation into the Charlie Hebdo terror attack.
The reason given for the 'suicide' is 'burn-out' and depression - depression when in charge of one of France's most prominent criminal investigations of the century? The incidence as of this day is hardly covered by the msm.
False flag written all over the walls of Charlie Hebdo's publishing house. - The publisher being controversial, having received frequent threats for its Moslem-offensive cartoons, was normally under heavy police protection. Why was on 7 January only one police car with one police officer parked half a block away?
False flag - converted immediately into public shock, the perfect condition for ramming any police, military and surveillance legislation down the people's throat. Better, it doesn't even have to be 'rammed down', the population asks for it. They want to be protected and secure. They want their government going to war to wipe out Moslem terrorism, never mind how violent and how cruel they go about it, never mind the criminal acts these governments are committing in the name of protecting their citizenry.
Does anybody take to the streets in Europe, in the US with posters saying "I am.... blank" ... the million victims of Iraq, of Syria - of Libya, of Afghanistan, of Yemen, of Pakistan, of Sudan, of Somalia - and the list is almost endless. These millions of lives wiped out by Obama's drones and NATO count for nothing in the dulled minds of the western civilization (sic).
The war and killing machine that feeds the propaganda machine, driven by the six Zionist-Anglos-Saxon monster media that control 90% of the western information system, shy not from dishing out lie after lie after lie to indoctrinate the populace with believes that have zilch to do with reality - but they transform our western populace into hapless zombies.
What does it take to stop this vicious cycle and awaken consciousness?
Some folks will get tortured: Gitmo guards being recruited as police officers
"You're hired!"
This week, as millions of Americans demand that Guantanamo Bay guards be prosecuted for war crimes, it seems that some of them may be getting jobs as cops instead.
It was recently reported that large numbers of military police officers who were formerly stationed at the infamous torture prisons, are now getting jobs as local cops, and could be coming to a town near you. The Worcester Police department in Massachusetts is testing a pilot program, in which former Guantanamo prison guards will be given jobs as police.
Although it is common practice for police departments to hire from the military, Worcester police sergeant Richard Cipro said that this is the first program in the country to specifically recruits from military prisons. He called the effort a "life-changing opportunity" when speaking to new recruits during a recent training class.
New recruits from Guantanamo Bay receive a full-time, paid 35 week training course which is apparently designed to help them make the transition from military police to neighborhood cop. Each class is filled with dozens of potential recruits, many of whom have worked in Guantanamo Bay. There are many hundreds and even thousands more who worked at lesser known military prison camps that are run in very much the same way, being accepted to police departments nationwide.
Cipro has said that people transitioning from the military require less physical training, which saves the department money in the long-run. However, many have pointed out that this is another example of the blurring lines between the military and the police in America.
Critics of former military personnel working in law enforcement, have argued that departments are contributing to the war-time mentality among police by hiring soldiers that are accustomed to operating in combat conditions. Hiring guards from Guantanamo Bay would be taking this a step further, as the prison has become notorious for widespread torture and abuse.
Guantanamo Bay was in the news again this week, as it was revealed that detainees were regularly killed in the prisons, and their murders covered up and made to look like suicides. By all reports it was the CIA that was involved in carrying out these murders, but it has been well documented for years that guards were required to beat and torture detainees on a regular basis. Even being exposed to such a brutal culture day in and day out should be enough to disqualify a person from working in law enforcement.
Direct insubordination and refusal to carry out acts of assault and torture is extremely rare in the US military, especially at sites like Guantanamo Bay. At Guantanamo Bay specifically, there was just one major case reported where a member of the staff refused to participate in torture. As detainees were being force-fed during a hunger strike, one Navy Nurse stood alone and refused to feed the prisoners against their will. The nurse was swiftly sent home and placed under court martial status with the US military.
Sadly, when it comes time to pick new recruits to transition from the military to a police department, the type of people who get the jobs are not the type of people who refuse orders.
A decade ago, Democracy Now spoke with a former army sergeant, Erik Saar who served as an Arabic translator at Guantanamo Bay for six months. Among the abuses he says he witnessed was sexual abuse, mock interrogations, the use of dogs and a female interrogator smearing what looked like menstrual blood on a Muslim prisoner. He also says children were imprisoned at Guantanamo and that the military ordered them not to speak to the Red Cross.
Don't be a helicopter parent! Autonomous tots have higher cognitive skills
© TheOtherNate
Higher cognitive skills are found in the children of mothers who are consistently able to support the development of their baby's sense of autonomy, according to a study led by researchers at the University of Montreal. The researchers specifically looked at executive functioning, which refers to a range of cognitive processes that are essential for cognitive, social and psychological functioning. "We have shown that the child's executive functioning is linked to the mother's ability to support his or her autonomy.
Autonomy support includes things such as teaching children problem solving skills and involves taking the child's perspective while ensuring he or she takes an active role in completing tasks," said Célia Matte-Gagné, who led the study. "Importantly, the study shows that it's not just about getting off to a good start. While many studies have confirmed that a mother's support are critical, few have looked at how these skills might change over time and what effect that might have."
Seventy-eight mothers and their children participated in the study. The participants were visited in their homes twice by the research team - once when the child was 15 months old, again at 3 years of age - and each visit lasted 60 to 90 minutes. During this time, the mother was asked to help the children complete activities that were slightly too difficult for the child to complete alone (building a tower and completing puzzles at the first visit, sorting blocks at the second.)
The activities took ten minutes and were video-recorded so that the researchers could evaluate the mother's autonomy-supportive behaviours: to what extent she encouraged her child in the pursuit of the task (giving positive feedback and using a positive tone of voice), took her child's perspective and demonstrated flexibility in her attempts to keep the child on task, followed her child's pace, providing the child with the opportunity to make choices and play an active role, and intervened and adapted the task according to the infant's needs while minimizing the use of controlling techniques.
The child's executive functioning was evaluated at three years of age by using a range of adapted games that reveal a child's ability to delay gratification, the strength of their working memory and their capacity to think about multiple concepts simultaneously. The highest scores went to the children whose mothers were consistently amongst the best at promoting autonomous behaviour; conversely, those whose mothers weren't scored lowest. However, there is no single point in time that counted the most for the child's development.
"Special significance must be given to the stability of the parent's behaviour when attempting to predict a child's future development," Matte-Gagné explained. "This study raises the possibility that child executive functioning may require not only high-quality parenting, but also consistency in this quality. This is suggested by the association between the composite score of autonomy support and child executive function, as well as by the fact that the clearest group differences emerged between children experiencing consistently high versus consistently low degrees of autonomy support over time. Our findings raise interesting avenues for investigation as to how the relationship between scaffolding autonomy and executive functioning evolves as children develop."
Government tyranny and terrorism work hand in hand
I was in the middle of working on an article covering real U.S. economic stats versus manipulated statistics when the Charlie Hebdo shootings took place. And though I knew the implications of the event would be far-reaching, I was originally undeterred from my financial subject matter. I had already covered in previous articles the inevitability of ISIS attacks on Europe and America,including the "warnings" of Saudi Arabia in August of last year that jihadists would target the EU within months and the U.S. a month later.
In September of last year, ISIS publicly urged attacks on French and U.S. citizens.
I have also published extensive analysis on the covert funding and training of ISIS militants by Saudi Arabia and Western intelligence agencies, including my article "The Time Is Ripe For A False Flag Attack On American Soil."
The bottom line is the Paris attack was not surprising in the slightest. I have no doubt whatsoever that such attacks are going to increase in frequency, that the U.S. will be hit soon, and that our government will do little to nothing to stop such tragedies. However, a Reuters article titled "White House to hold global security summit Feb (sic) 18: U.S. official" caught my eye. And after reading it, I'm afraid I have to set aside my financial piece until next week and break down the insanity that is now taking place in the world of geopolitics.
It is clear, by the language being used by the political elite that the "global summit" called in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attacks is about far more than radical Islamic terrorism. Set aside the fact that our government essentially created ISIS in order to destabilize Syria. Set aside the fact that globalist middlemen like John McCain and "former" covert ops goons like Gen. Paul Vallely have met directly with groups like the Nusra Front that are providing support for ISIS. Set aside the fact that Saudi Arabia has been openly funneling cash and arms to Syrian terrorist factions tied to ISIS, and realize that the mere existence of ISIS, regardless of its origins, is being used as a rationale for the erasure of civil liberties and the establishment of martial law on both sides of the Atlantic. Such federalized reactions CANNOT be allowed to continue, regardless of the threats each nation faces.
As far as the Reuters article is concerned, one does not need to read very far between the lines to see the true message being conveyed.
First, the focus of the summit is not necessarily indicated as "Islamic terrorism." In fact, the word "terrorism" is barely mentioned. Now politicos are shifting their language to the term "extremism," which is far broader in its implications. It should be noted that while the terrorist label has been bandied about rather liberally by both the Bush and Obama administrations, "extremism" offers greater cover for governments to persecute or attack political opponents. A terrorist is generally someone who initiates or at least plans a large-scale attack designed to elicit a fear response in a population. An extremist, on the other hand, could literally be anyone who holds views or initiates activism outside acceptable forms of mainstream thought. Attorney General Eric Holder did not use the words "terrorism" or "jihadist" in his announcement of the global summit in February; he used the phrase "violent extremism":
We will bring together all of our allies to discuss ways in which we can counteract this violent extremism that exists around the world...
Throughout history, "violence," according to governments, is often attributed to ideas as well as actions. The point is the change in vocabulary over to the extremist label is not accidental or coincidental. The establishment is conditioning the public to think in broad terms and to identify numerous groups as the enemy, rather than focusing on radical Islam. As I have said for years, Islamic terror is nothing but an advantageous excuse for governments to make war on all of us. Do not forget, constitutionalists are often referred to in the mainstream media and by Orwellian institutions like the Department of Homeland Security as "extremists." How long before we are artificially linked as being suspect? How long before Charlie Hebdo-style attacks come to the U.S.? How long before the liberty minded are categorized as accessories to terrorism due to our anti-corrupt-government philosophies?
It is disturbing to witness the lack of conviction in principles in the average person. Self-proclaimed leftists railed against the degeneration of civil liberties and constitutional protections under George W. Bush, but rallied in support of the same weakening of freedoms under Barack Obama. Self-proclaimed conservatives today are shocked and infuriated by the trampling of the constitution through executive orders displayed by the Obama administration. Yet, I suspect that many of them will willingly jump on the fascist bandwagon in the event of "Islamic" attacks on American soil. Neither side seems to grasp the reality that the disruptions of liberty we enact in the name of stopping jihadists today, will eventually fall back on the rest of us tomorrow.
The lockdown of the populace is already ramping up. The EU is currently discussing the creation of a European Passenger Name Record database (national ID database), meaning officials hope to create a centralized database with a file on every single citizen. Think the no-fly list is a terrifying concept? Wait until it becomes publicly accepted for all web comments, Facebook posts, and blog posts to be added to an ongoing record that determines whether you are allowed to travel. Wait until it becomes a mainstream notion that every travel destination you visit, is tracked, recorded on permanent record, and scrutinized by some pencil necked bureaucrat who then determines whether or not you are suspect. Apparently, French officials are supportive of the idea. And given the proclamations of "unity" surrounding the upcoming summit, I suspect actions undertaken in Europe will eventually be exported to the United States. Reuters reports:
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said after the meeting that European interior ministers had agreed to boost cooperation in an effort to thwart further jihadist attacks.
"We all agree that we need to put in place better control on certain passengers, on the basis of objective criteria and with respect for fundamental liberties and without disrupting cross-border travel," he said.
He said Europe needed urgent progress in establishing a European Passenger Name Record database, which would facilitate the exchange of data about passengers between member states.
"We are convinced of the need for such a tool, to follow those who travel to terrorist operating theaters or who return from there," he said, adding that this database would also be useful in the fight against other serious crimes.
Unfortunately, travel is the least of our concerns. Free speech is a primary target for the elites, and the Internet is clearly outlined as a threat by politicians claiming concern for public safety. This comes in the form of one of the oldest rationalizations for tyranny - the trade-off between freedom and security. The French argue that while free speech is important, some "exceptions" must be made in order to thwart extremist ideas:
Cazeneuve said the Internet needs to remain a space for free expression, but that Europe should fight against abusive use of the web (sic) to spread hate speech, anti-Semitic messages and the recruiting vulnerable young people for violence.
"We need to work more closely with Internet companies to guarantee the reporting and if possible removal of all content that amounts to an apology of terrorism or calls for violence and hatred," he said.
Who gets to determine what speech amounts to an "apology of terrorism?" Who is the all-benevolent and wise sage who gets to decide what we can and cannot say? Will he be fair and just? Or will he use the power of censorship to attack any and all websites critical of the establishment? What do you think the most likely outcome of such legal precedence would be?
Again, how long before websites like the one you are reading now are vilified by the extremist label? How long before liberty-minded speech is categorized as violent speech or hate speech?
Sen. Dianne Feinstein and the White House are now kindly warning the public that terrorist "sleeper cells" have been activated and that some are present in the United States. On CNN,Feinstein said:
She means mass Internet and phone surveillance, the same National Security Agency surveillance exposed by Edward Snowden, which now has a convenient justification in the form of an ever-present fear of terrorism.
Finally, it is only a matter of time before a militarized response is activated in the U.S., just as it has been in France. One shooting event has led to the fielding of over 10,000 French troops on French soil, as well as an extra 5,000 heavily armed police.
Frankly, this is where I - and many people like me - draw the line. Martial law is not acceptable under any circumstances. I don't care if we one day see a mushroom cloud over an American city, there is no measure of government security (false security) that is worth the degradation of essential liberties. I suspect the loss of liberty, usurping of the constitution and the deployment of the military on U.S. soil would trigger revolution - a revolution I'm sure the establishment would attempt to marginalize as mere terrorism. Ultimately, though, there is no other option.
As I have been discussing constantly over the past several months, community preparation and organization comprise the only action plan worth the effort and energy at this time. The French are disarmed and utterly socialized. Millions of them march in Paris in a display of solidarity, but solidarity behind what solution? Even more government; the same government that created the problem in the first place? Even more centralization? The globalization of despotic security policies? The French have dug their grave, and now they are going to have to lie down in it.
Americans do not have to follow the same path.
The French government could not or would not protect the staff of Charlie Hebdo, and the U.S. government will not protect you. That means you must train to protect yourself and those you care about. Whether we face a false flag attack or a legitimate terrorist action, the response is the same: Fight back. It is times like these that separate the courageous from the cowardly; those with principles and conscience versus the treacherous and self-serving. Make no mistake; as I wrote in my last article, many illusions are about to be shattered. You can be caught up in the storm as a helpless spectator and victim or you can become a barrier, a wall of defense against the dangerous riptides. These are your choices. Choose wisely.
Lake Erie's sudden freeze of January 2015
NASA/NOAA satellite image from above the Great Lakes taken just after 1:30 p.m. Monday
Lake Erie was less than six percent frozen last Tuesday with ice covering only a sliver of the lake's western basin.
But, after a week with frigid temperatures in the single digits, heavy lake-effect snows and high winds, Lake Erie is freezing up fast.
Nearly 60 percent of the lake waters were frozen today, according to graphs by the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL).
Most of the western half of the lake is already under ice coverage.
In some areas - the western basin, along the U.S. and Canadian shorelines, near Long Point, Ont. and close to Buffalo - it's nearly 100 percent iced over, according to GLERL charts.
As Lake Erie iced, so too have the Great Lakes at large.
Just a week ago, more than eight percent of the surface area of all of the lakes was frozen.
But by Monday, nearly one-quarter of the Great Lakes were under ice.
Iced-covered lakes generally choke off the possibility of lake-effect snow such as the events that pummeled areas of Western New York last week at rates of three inches or more of snow per hour.
When the lakes freeze, it robs opportunity for cold unstable air masses to suck up lake waters through evaporation and then drop the moisture, usually in the form of heavy snowfall, over land areas east of the lakes.
The middle of Lake Erie from just east of Cleveland to about Sturgeon Point remains wide open this morning, according to data from GLERL.
Here's a look at how the cold snap of the last week has helped accelerate the average ice concentration on both lakes Erie and Ontario as well as a look at figures for the entire Great Lakes since New Year's Day:
DAY HI/LO @ Buffalo Lake Erie Lake Ontario Great Lakes
Jan. 1 32/20 0.7% 0.5% 5.7%
Jan. 5 28/9 3.6% 0.9% 10.8%
Jan. 6 18/10 5.6% 1.0% 11.6%
Jan. 7 17/2 17.1% 1.9% 14.2%
Jan. 10 18/5 51.5% 4.2% 19.8%
Jan. 11 31/14 55.9% 12.3% 22.5%
On Jan. 13, 2014, Lake Erie was 63 percent frozen and Lake Ontario was just 5.9 percent covered in ice. The Great Lakes, as a whole, was 19.6 frozen.
Last winter, the Great Lakes started taking on significant ice buildup in December 2013 but the coverage waxed and waned until the middle of January when it quickly accelerated its freezing.
By March 6, the Great Lakes were 92.2 percent ice covered - the highest concentration since 1979.
Tongan volcano creates new island since last month's eruption
This handout photo taken on January 15, 2015 from a boat at sea and released by New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade shows smoke rising from the eruption of a volcano, some 65 kilometres (40 miles) southwest of the South Pacific nation Tonga's capital Nuku'alofa.
Nuku'Alofa, Tonga -- A Tongan volcano has created a substantial new island since it began erupting last month, spewing out huge volumes of rock and dense ash that has killed nearby vegetation, officials said Friday.
The volcano, about 65 kilometers (40 miles) southwest of the South Pacific nation's capital Nuku'alofa, rumbled to life on Dec. 20 for the first time in five years, the Lands and Natural Resources Ministry said.
It said the volcano was erupting from two vents, one on the uninhabited island of Hunga Ha'apai and the other underwater about 100 meters offshore.
The ministry said experts took a boat trip to view the eruption on Thursday and confirmed it had transformed the local landscape.
"The new island is more than one kilometer wide, two kilometers long and about 100 meters high," it said in a statement.
"During our observations the volcano was erupting about every five minutes to a height of about 400 meters, accompanied by some large rocks ... as the ash is very wet, most is being deposited close to the vent, building up the new island."
It said ash and acidic rain was deluging an area 10 kilometers around the volcano, adding: "Leaves on trees on Hunga Tonga and Hunga Ha'apai have died, probably caused by volcanic ash and gases."
A number of international flights were cancelled earlier this week amid concerns about the volcano's ash plume but they resumed on Wednesday, with authorities saying debris from the eruption was not being thrown high into the atmosphere.
Tonga, which is almost 2,000 kilometers northeast of New Zealand, lies on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire," where continental plates collide causing frequent volcanic and seismic activity.
A 'New-Fashioned' food system that helps and heals
© Photo by Brenda Palmer/American Alps Rance
Electrified fences mean cattle can be moved frequently — better for the cattle and for the land.
Calling something "old-fashioned" might encourage tourists and antique buyers to take note, but it does not captivate the hearts and minds of our mainstream culture.
Too often, the Earth-stewardship movement positions itself as one of returning to a bygone era - to the good old days, pre-electricity and pre-petroleum. While washboards, hoop skirts and hearth cooking may have romantic appeal, living that way doesn't inspire the imagination of today's solution-seekers.
Even the majority of people who yearn for simpler times and a slower lifestyle don't really want to go without electricity and automobiles. Those of us who strive to bring about a sustainable food system need a message that's dynamic enough to convert fast-food junkies. The industrial food system spends a lot of time and resources refining its message. Along with disparaging the do-it-yourself ethos, pastured livestock and fertilizing with compost, it promotes phrases such as "technology," "futuristic" and "feeding the world."
These catchwords have emotional appeal. Savvy people like to hitch themselves to that kind of engine. Solving problems, meeting needs, going places - these phrases capture hearts and minds. On the other hand, if impressions can kill a movement, stodgy, anti-tech and stuck in a rut are the last ways you want to be seen.
This is a ticklish talking point for those of us dedicated to the proven environmental stewardship principles that predate electricity and petroleum. Part of our worldview is that in a horse race, you bet on the proven winner. For example, carbon-centric soil building beats out using chemical "inputs." But how do you commend this time-honored methodology that so beautifully mimics nature without seeming backward and unscientific?
Let's Reframe Food and Farming
As I see more and more anti-ecology propaganda emanating from industry and government agencies, I lie awake at night trying to figure out positive sound bites for our team. If I decry the giant pork corporation Smithfield's sale to China, I'm either xenophobic or childishly protectionist. If I denounce genetically modified organisms (GMOs), I'm naive and anti-science. If I disagree with a food-safety policy that criminalizes an artisan who sells homemade yogurt to a friend at church, I'm an anarchist.
Societal perception of the sustainability movement's backwardness has roots that run deep. The early-1970s back-to-the-land movement that spawned M and many other publications started with the word "back." The struggles that many of those pioneering souls experienced, from backbreaking labor to lost money to broken dreams, testify to the stark reality that truly going back is not something most of us really want to do.
So what kind of messaging - what lexicon - works? It has to be big enough, innovative enough, sacred enough to capture the hearts of all types of people. How do you stop people in their tracks - people content to watch TV every waking hour, depend on pharmaceuticals for every malady, and assume all is well in the world as long as the Kardashians' dysfunction continues to provide conversational material? How do you interrupt that?
I think our side needs to position itself as "new-fashioned." We have said "No" to GMOs, chemical fertilizers, concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and unpronounceable food additives. These things we oppose have become the old fashion - and we need to call them that. Like neglected buildings, these approaches are outdated and falling apart. Anyone who thinks we can continue inventing drugs faster than microorganisms can adapt is guilty of backward, unscientific thinking - or not much thinking at all.
Let's Upgrade the Language of Stewardship
Here's some language we can use to create contrast between the old and new, and to stimulate conversation and more than passing interest in our solutions.
Integrated food and farming rather than segregated. These are powerful social words. Who wants to be in favor of segregation? Yet, a specific sort of segregation is exactly what city ordinances forbidding backyard chickens are about. Not so long ago, chickens turned food scraps into eggs and meat. Now trucks carry our edible scraps to the landfill, where they take up space and create climate-changing methane. We drive to the supermarket to purchase eggs from hens raised motionless in tiny cages and given medicated feed. How could we ever have invented such a senseless, segregated system?
People intuitively know that integrating food and farming practices is the right way to live. When I encounter people who oppose urban chickens, I love to look them in the eye and ask, "Why are you such a segregationist?" Now that gets a reaction. And getting a reaction is what we need to do, because it means people are paying attention. Powerful, positive words, such as integration, move people. Having developed together for millions of years, food systems that integrate the needs of plants, animals and the soil are fundamentally superior to segregated ones. The more we point that out, the better off we'll all be.
Food systems that caress rather than conquer. Universally, conquistadors and crusaders have negative emotional equity. Who wants to be one of those people - or to be subjected to them? Industrial agriculture has created 700 riparian dead zones in and around the United States, the largest being a New Jersey-sized lifeless area in the Gulf of Mexico. Juxtapose that damage with an Earth-centric farm's tender touch. With an overarching approach of respect, our side caresses ecology to tease abundance out of the Earth. We don't take what we want by wrestling with our ecological womb as if it were a reluctant partner to be forcefully subdued.
Yes, we do run chainsaws and use broadforks and chipper-shredders, but the goal of our disturbance is thoughtful stewardship. Rather than allowing diseased and poorly formed trees to take up space in the forest, we harvest them for firewood and chip the tops for winter livestock bedding in our cowsheds. This carbonaceous cover turns to compost and, in our way of doing things, displaces chemical fertilizer.
In working with natural processes we adopt a common-sense approach to what we do. I remain amazed at the number of farmers I see locating hay feeders and mineral troughs in a valley rather than on a hillside. Animals congregate at these points, which accumulate manure. Why wouldn't you want the blessing of that manure up on higher ground, where its fertility and helpful bacteria could percolate into the soil, instead of down in the valley - the landscape's gutter - where the first rain would wash it away?
Healing rather than hurting. Here at Polyface Farms, our cooler bags are imprinted with the phrase "Healing the planet one bite at a time." Almost everyone would rather heal than harm. Compost heals soil and feeds earthworms; chemical fertilizers scald earthworms, burning them alive. Pastured livestock virtually dance in the field. When you enter a CAFO, you don't see any animals dancing. It's horrifying and terribly sad.
Here's the point: We don't pasture our livestock because it's quaint or old-fashioned. We do it because it makes for happy, healthy animals. It's the new-fashioned way to farm, a smart approach that provides all sorts of benefits, including biomass recycling, exercise, emotional and spiritual fulfillment, and superior nutrition, both for the animals and the humans who ultimately consume them.
On our farm, if I even hear a whisper of, "This is like Grandpa's farm," I'll interrupt and diplomatically start a lesson about how new-fashioned we are. I've even put together a presentation that highlights how our farm is not like Grandpa's was.
Here are some of the new-fashioned objects in my props box:
Electric fence energizer. Grandpa couldn't move herds of cows every day to eat the pasture's biomass and convert the sun's energy into sequestered carbon. Now, with computerized, microchipped energizers, we can move the cattle frequently to spread the manure love.
Polyethylene pipe. Grandpa couldn't easily deliver clean, potable water to the far reaches of his farm. With this rugged, flexible material, we can send water over the undulations of the land and keep animals from damaging riparian areas. Amazing.
Shade cloth. Grandpa couldn't provide portable shelter for his livestock because roofing was too heavy and susceptible to wind damage. This newfangled material lets the wind blow through while protecting the animals - and the fabric weighs practically nothing.
Solar-friendly plastic polymers for solariums and greenhouses. Grandpa relied solely on the larder for winter food. These new materials enable season extension and passive-solar gain at low cost and high efficiency, which means we can supply our table with fresh-cut harvests year-round.
Rather than promoting a return to old ways, celebrating the solutions in our new-fashioned, technology-supported, integrated world gives us a message of hope and progress to share. We don't want to turn back the clock; we want to be on time for tomorrow's needs and challenges.
Let's stop looking in the rearview mirror. Out with the hurtful, earth-conquering old - let's get on with the life-affirming, health-giving new.
© hareable.net
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Astonished
Blue Whales
Christmas Carol
Duty to Object
Evenhanded Pursuit of Truth
Flood and Bush
Never There or Here
Review: Sufjan Stevens' Age of Adz
Snobbery
Success With Values
Terrible Kids Music
The Nineties
2014 Musical Year in Review
So, 2014 was a pretty crazy year. Between parenting a two-year old and starting my own business and getting ready for a new baby, there hasn’t been a whole lot of time to enjoy new and exciting music this year. Plus, most of my music-listening time has been dedicated to music suitable for a two-year old. Which — well — can we be honest, guys? Kids’ music is pretty much the worst. I mean, kids are great and all, but they have some pretty terrible taste in music. In fact, here is my list of the five worst kids songs of all time:
5. Little Bunny Foo Foo.
The field mice need to organize themselves in revolt from this tyrant. Why do I want my child listening to this fascist propaganda?
4. John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt
No, that is not your name. And it’s not your name either. This song is not fun and whimsical; it is a neverending nightmare of nonsense.
3. Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-Dee-A
WHAT IS THIS SONG?! You’re not even speaking the Queen’s English! Plus, that is the most annoying melody ever!
2. Muffin Man
Unfortunately, Geoffrey loves this song. More unfortunately, it causes my ear canals to bleed freely. Look, muffins are tasty and all, but they are not chocolate or even ice cream, so I don’t see why we are writing songs about muffin purveyors.
1. The Grand Old Duke of York.
AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! Where are you going with your men, Grand Old Duke of York?! Why do you keep marching them up and then down the hill? That is some seriously sadistic stuff! And why do you employ a chorus of zombie children to sing about you? And what is with captain obvious dropping the profound wisdom on us that “when you’re up, you’re up, and when you’re down, you’re down, but when you’re only halfway up, you’re neither up nor down?” Thank you for that insight! The fortune cookie I ate last night was not only delicious but much more enlightening! Please, Grand Old Duke of York, get in a duel with Little Bunny Foo Foo in which you are each mortally wounded and the earth is purged of the terrible songs about both of you!
Someone please stop this psychopath.
So, yeah, I’m a little tired of listening to certain classics from ye olde children’s songbook.
But, there was also some great music this year! And I actually heard some of it! I heard a lot of very good songs this year, though there were not many that rose to a “song of the year” level. 2014 also seemed to be the year of the “deluxe edition.” It was hard to find an album that didn’t offer the option to buy a few extra songs for a couple dollars extra.
In honor of that trend, I have prepared both an “official” playlist and a “deluxe” edition with about 12 extra songs. I felt that there was a pretty clear cut line after about 35 songs, but it was hard for me to differentiate much within that group.
So, without further ado, here is the 2014 Song of My Year playlist:
“Back to the Shack” by Weezer
Is this song pandering and over the top? Yes. Do I care? No. I am old and cranky. Please pander to me. Plus it sounds great; you know, the way Weezer is supposed to sound.
“Shelter Song” by Temples
Sort of a trippy — I don’t know — Jefferson Airplane feel to it. The verse has a great call and answer structure, leading into a solid chorus.
“Seasons (Waiting On You)” by Future Islands
Hmmmm, I guess this is my song of the year? Like I said, there were a lot of good songs this year but few “instant classic” types. This is pretty close, though. Deceptively simple, but there’s a weird sort of intensity in the vocal delivery that raises it a level or two.
“Gilded Oldies” by Cataldo
This song gets me every time when it get to the “what awaits you” part. Yup.
“Numbers Don’t Lie” by the Mynabirds
This song is actually a few years old, but I discovered it this year, and this is my playlist, so there.
“Avant Gardener” by Courtney Barnett
Easily my favorite lyrics of the year. Classic lines from beginning to end, but my favorite is probably, “The paramedic thinks I’m clever ‘cause i play guitar/I think she’s clever ‘cause she stops people dying.” Perfect.
“Buffalo Days” by Lanterns on the Lake
I always like to find a couple of hidden gems, and this was one for me this year. Sort of sounds like a mellowed-out Joy Formidable. Very nice.
“Can’t Do Without You” by Caribou
Doing a lot more with less. Pretty much one lyric gets repeated this entire song, but they (he) holds your interest by the song’s structure; just a clinic in how to build a great song out of a couple of good melodic ideas.
“Blue Moon” by Beck
Morning Phase is my album of the year, and it’s not particularly close. I seem to be drawn to breakup albums for some reason, but I think that’s because a traumatic breakup is just great fuel for an artist. I wasn’t really moved by most of the other albums getting album of the year run in 2014 (War on Drugs, et al.). I think this is Beck’s most consistently excellent album (Odelay is probably still his best overall because the highs are higher); not a weak track on it.
“Estoy tan cansado de estar solo.”
“Team” by Lorde
“Royals” is tremendous, but this is the best track on Pure Heroine. Great intro, solid verse, and a soaring chorus.
“Shake It Off” by Taylor Swift
Anything that can inspire this brilliance is going to make the list.
“Left Hand Free” by Alt-J
You know what’s great about this song? The video is just a bunch of people tubing down the river, then some other people ride four-wheelers, and then there’s some fireworks. All things that are the best.
“Water Fountain” by tUnE-yArDs
I’ve largely been annoyed by the tUnE-yArDs, in no small part due to the pretentious use of capital letters in their (her) band name. But, this is just an amazing song. Complex, impossibly rhythmic, building to a tremendous climax, and all done with basically just a bass guitar, hand claps and vocals.
“Brill Bruisers” by New Pornographers
Just an incredibly consistent power-pop force of nature. It’s pretty incredible how New Pornographers continues to make great, engaged music when so many other “supergroups” prove to be much less than the sum of their parts.
“Longer Than You’ve Been Alive” by The Old ‘97’s
This may not be the best song about the reality of life as a rock star, but it’s surely the most instructive . . . while still managing to rock out, which is kind of the point.
“Marigold” by J. Roddy Walston & The Business.
Oh, man. This song is so funky and nasty you can hear the sweat falling on the piano keys. “Likes to share his money but hates to pay his bills.” Preach it, brother.
“Too True To Be Good” by Dum Dum Girls
The song title is a clever idea that’s just executed perfectly. This album was one of the more pleasant surprises of the year for me.
“Fall In Love” by Phantogram
One of the better “sexy girl/keyboard dude” duos going these days. This song is a great showcase for Sarah Barthel’s vocals; the strings and keyboards providing a great canvas to work on.
“Coffee” by Sylvan Esso
This song was a slow burner for me. Passed it over a few times, but it started to haunt me after a while. The bridge near the end — “My baby does the hanky panky” — shouldn’t work, but it totally does.
“Master Pretender” by First Aid Kit
This is more of a celebration of their entire catalog. First Aid Kit has had several good songs the last few years, but it has been hard to single one out. I went with this one, but I could have easily chosen a few others. Check them out if you haven’t yet.
“Inside Out” by Spoon
Spoon’s never had an album that seriously challenged for album of the year in my opinion, but they’ve never had a bad album either. Remarkably consistent.
“Country Down” by Beck
I couldn’t resist adding a second track from Morning Phase. This is just a classic country song; would be at home on a Merle Haggard or Waylong Jennings album.
“Love Never Felt So Good” by Michael Jackson
Um, look, I just listen to the songs, and they tell me what to do. If Michael Jackson’s ghost wants to release one of the best songs of the year, then I’m going to put it on my playlist. The equal of anything he ever did not named “Billy Jean.”
Bonus tracks below. These are also good, but most of them had something that I didn’t love. But, for the most part, you could easily talk me into trading out one of the “official” playlist songs for one of these:
“Everything’s Bigger” by Speedy Ortiz
“Still Knocking at the Door” by Papercuts
“Fake Fur Coat” by Tweedy
“Silver Timothy” by Damien Jurado
“Glory” by Wye Oak
“Past Life” by Lost in the Trees
“The Sticks” by The Budos Band
“I Miss Your Bones” by Hospitality
“Prince Johnny” by St. Vincent
“Shut In” by Strand of Oaks
“Honey Do” by Beverly
Super, unofficial, guilty-pleasure bonus track:
“All About That Bass” by Meghan Trainor
Look, they were always playing this song at my gym, and, well, it’s just funny, and, that chorus, and, well, look, let’s just say that, maybe, I don’t change the station when this comes on and, maybe I sing along a little bit in my head, and, I mean, it’s basically “Baby’s Got Back” from the girl’s perspective, and who doesn’t love “Baby’s Got Back?” Right? Am I right, guys? Guys?
This post has 1 response.
Copyright 2015 The Basiks
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Episode 35: The Sandman Cometh/The Catwoman Goeth
Aired December 28/29, 1966
That European criminal, The Sandman, is in Gotham City with a scheme to rob the millions of heiress J. Pauline Spaghetti. But he needs someone to run interference with Batman and Robin while he lays out his plan. Who better than the Catwoman?
But is this story as exciting as it sounds? Is it as well executed as earlier Catwoman stories? These questions and more will be answered in this podcast review.
Joining John to talk about first of several villain team-ups the series would feature is author Robert Greenberger.
Robert Greenberger (born July 24, 1958) is a writer and editor.
Greenberger was born in Brooklyn in New York City, the son of Edwin L. Greenberger and Joan Greenberger. A lifelong fan of comic books, comic strips, science fiction and Star Trek, he drifted towards writing and editing, encouraged by his father and inspired by Superman’s alter ego, Clark Kent.
While at SUNY-Binghamton, Greenberger wrote and edited for the college newspaper, Pipe Dream, moving from general assignment writer to Arts Editor, Managing Editor and ultimately Editor-in-Chief. He served an internship at Gannett’s Binghamton Sun-Bulletin as a feature writer and reviewer.
Upon graduation, he worked for Starlog Press as Managing Editor ofFangoria. He was also an Associate Editor for Starlog and while there, created Comics Scene, the first nationally distributed magazine to focus on comic books, comic strips and animation. The magazine lasted 11 issues before its first cancellation at which time Greenberger went to work on their sports magazines.
In 1984, he joined DC Comics as an Assistant Editor, working with Len Wein and Marv Wolfman on DC’s Golden Anniversary projects Who’s WhoandCrisis on Infinite Earths. He went on to act as assistant editor to numerous titles for each editor until he was promoted to editor. During his tenure, his titles included Star Trek, Suicide Squad, Warlord, Doom Patrol, Lois Lane, Action Comics Weekly, Time Masters, Secret Origins, The Hacker Files and others.
By 1990, he had given up editing to become the company’s Editorial Coordinator, helping grow the Editorial Administration department. When he left the company, he was Manager-Editorial Operations.
In March 2000, he left DC to become a Producer for Gist Communications, television news and listings web site. After ten months there, he learned some new skills and got out before the dotcom bubble burst.
In January 2001, he joined Marvel Comics as Director-Publishing Operations. During his year with the company, he oversaw editorial schedules, Production, Manufacturing, the Print Library, and other departments.
In January 2002, he left Marvel and rejoined DC in May 2002 as a Senior Editor-Collected Editions. He helped grow that department, introducing new formats and improving the editions’ editorial content. He also managed DC’s ElfQuest publishing program.
He left DC in January 2006, becoming a freelance writer and editor. His clients included Weekly World News, Platinum Studios, scifi.com, DC and Marvel. By June, he was offered the post of Managing Editor at Weekly World News where he helped transition the newspaper from being produced jointly in Florida and New York to just NYC.
When the paper folded in August 2007, he resumed his freelance career which continues to this date. Along the way, he helped revitalize Famous Monsters of Filmland and served as News Editor at ComicMix from August through December 2008.
He is a member of the Science Fiction Writers of America and theInternational Association of Media Tie-In Writers. He served on the final Nebula Short Fiction Jury.
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Church History, Church/Ecclesiology
The Historical Development of the Universal Church Theory – Part IV
March 29, 2018 John 1 Comment
[On Thursdays, beginning March 8, 2018, I will publish a series of posts on The Historical Development of the Universal Church. I began addressing this at an introductory level last year (see index tab) and with nearly a full year of thoughtful reflection, I’ve prepared a series that will overview this important, yet oft-misunderstood doctrine. It will not appeal to everyone and may not interest anyone, but for the sake of clarifying my own thoughts, at least, I want to publish them here. Hopefully they will be instructive and thought-provoking. The majority of them have already been written, so as not to interfere with regular posts.]
Without question, the third and fourth centuries are among the most important time periods in church history. Arguably, this period is even more pivotal than the 16th and 17th centuries. The reason for this is that these early centuries mark a major transition from the New Testament, apostolic ‘church’ to the more institutional, state-sponsored church. In our first three posts in this series, we have traced these early developments, but we arrive now at a pivotal juncture.
Before moving on to an overview of our third and final dissenting group, the Donatists, their Controversy, and its significance, we must introduce an important concept that had rumblings in the second century but reached maturation in the fourth century at the height of the Donatist movement. This concept is known as sacralism and its influence on the universal church spread rapidly and is still being felt today, 1600 years later.
Briefly, sacralism refers to a blending of society and religion. Generally, it links religion with geography and ethnicity. So, those who are born in a specific location, amongst a specific people, by default assume their religion. Leonard Verduin, in his extremely helpful, but ostracized work The Reformers and Their Stepchildren, fleshes out this idea of sacralism. He writes
“For all pre-Christian society is sacral. By the word ‘sacral,’ which we shall be using frequently and which we request the reader to impress on his mind, we mean ‘bound together by a common religious loyalty.’ By sacral society we mean a society held together by a religion to which all the members of that society are committed.”
Verduin then gives the example of Old Testament Babylon. In this example, we may recall that Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Hebrew names Hanania, Mishael, and Azaria) were required to worship Babylonian idols or face the consequences of the sword, which for Daniel was the lion’s den and for the three was the fiery furnace. Those handing down the consequences we might today call the state or government, but since there was an intertwining with religion, indistinguishably so, Babylon is better termed, sacral. Additionally, in a similar way, Old Testament Israel was likewise sacral. The distinction between our examples of Babylon and Israel is that while the former was pagan, the latter was a Theocracy. All those living under its banner were expected to worship the One, True, and Living God, otherwise they would face excommunication and sometimes death. The king, as it was idyllic under David, essentially functioned as mediator between God and the people, though certainly this duty in worship was assigned formally to the Levitical priesthood. That OT Israel was sacralist, does not make it bad or wrong, since it was God ordained for a specific people, in a specific place, at a specific time. Additionally, remember as you read through 1 and 2 Kings that as the king went, so went the people. He was often to blame for leading the people into idolatry.
In the New Testament, with the arrival of Christ and the establishment of Christianity, this idea of sacralism was imploded from within. Christianity was not meant to create a monolithic society (at least not in this age), as with the examples of Babylon and Old Testament Israel, rather it creates a composite society, meaning that believers in Ephesus or Corinth could remain believers there and not be assimilated into the society of believers say in Rome or Colossae. In fact, it is Christianity’s diversity, while simultaneously maintaining its unity through a relationship to Christ, that makes it unique (see Rev. 5).
Again turning to Verduin
“It is implied in the New Testament vision that Christianity is not a culture-creating thing but rather a culture-influencing one.”
Let that sink in for a minute, as it has ramifications into the 21st century, not merely the 4th. He goes on,
“Wherever the Gospel is preached human society becomes composite; hence, since culture is the name given to the total spiritual heritage of an entire people, there can never be such a thing as a Christian culture; there can only be cultures in which the influence of Christianity is more or less apparent. The New Testament vision does not pit a ‘Christian culture’ against a non-Christian culture rather does it introduce a leaven into any existing culture into which it insinuates itself, a leaven whereby that already existing culture is then affected.”
(Consider this when you hear that Christianity is losing the culture war)
The Roman Empire was entirely sacralist, sanctioning paganism as the official state religion. As seen in the New Testament, first century Judaism did not mix with this sacralism, but stood “apostate” from it. As long as they lived peacefully under the emperor, they were free to continue their own worship (Acts 19), which should bring to mind the Jewish War of 66-70 AD, in which the Temple was destroyed.
As it pertains to Christianity, remember that Christ was perceived to be the King that would overthrow the Roman government and lead a revolution, thus His followers were likewise viewed as revolutionaries who might refuse to submit to the Emperor. They were in fact those who “turned the whole world upside down” Acts 17:6, but not through political means. They understood our Lord’s statement, “My kingdom is not of this world.” John 18:36 Despite this, Christians were still seen as a threat and received the blame for everything that went wrong in Rome resulting in an unrelenting and brutal assault on them from Emperor’s Nero to Diocletian.
As with the earlier Babylonian sacralism, so too with the Roman Empire as again we see the darkside of sacralism, i.e. the ability and willingness to punish those individuals or groups who diverge from the government sanctioned and administered religion. Rome’s persecution of Christians was clearly a byproduct of sacralism.
However, it has oft been said that the blood of the martyrs is the seed bed of the church. The martyrdom of Christians did not serve to suppress its growth. Just the opposite. It grew substantially faster than did the empire which had tried to kill it off. The explosion of Christianity was seen in contrast to the decline of the Roman Empire.
Unfortunately, in the second century, whispers to assimilate Christianity into the sacral society of Rome were already beginning. Verduin points out that Meliton, bishop of Sardis in 175 A.D., declared in the ear of the emperor that he needed a quid pro quo relationship with the Christian God, “Only when Christianity is protected…does the Empire continue to preserve its size and splendor.” Verduin also cites a similar sentiment in Origen, 250 A.D., “If now the entire Roman empire should unite in the adoration of the true God, then the Lord would fight for her, she being still [the reference is to Exodus 14:14]; then she would slay more enemies than Moses did in his day.” (Verduin, pg. 30) Basically, this was the prosperity gospel on a massive, political scale.
Though persecution still continued, the general tenor against Christianity began slowly to shift towards using it for political gain. In other words, if you want a successful, lasting, empire simply claim allegiance to God, even if it is an external, superficial adherence. This at least provides some context to our statement earlier often attributed to Tertullian, “What hath the emperor to do with the church?” He would have much more to say, particularly on the incipient notion of sacralism, “Nothing could be more alien to us than the state. We Christians know of only one state, of which we are called citizens: the universe.”
In the next post, we’ll examine the emperor who arguably had more involvement with the church than any emperor before or after, Constantine. It would be, either from him or his influence, that ‘Christian sacralism’ would take shape and further impact the development of the universal church.
4th CenturyConstantineSacralismUniversal Church
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Four Brothers To Maithri/Ranil Combo – The Jury Is Still Out
“The measure of a man is what he does with power.” ~ Plato
The defection of Maithripala Sirisena from the ranks of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) has only one parallel in history. That was when C P de Silva, the then second-in-command of the SLFP-led government of Sirimavo Bandaranaike and thirteen MPs crossed over from the government ranks to the Opposition and voted against the governing coalition at the time. That was in 1964. The so-called double doctors in the caliber of N M Perera, Queen’s Council-level legal luminaries such as Colvin R de Silva and Felix Dias Bandaranaike were stumped and humiliated by J R Jayewardene, the most astute politician Sri Lanka has seen in her last six decades after Independence. In one of the most remarkable parliamentary coups ever to have been orchestrated, the government of Sirimavo Bandaranaike was defeated in parliament.
Such a dramatic event, however, did not happen in 2014. Yet the announcement by Maithripala Sirisena, the sitting General Secretary of the SLFP and Minister of Health in Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Cabinet to leave the Mahinda-led coalition government and contest as a Common Candidate backed by the United National Party (UNP), the arch rival of the SLFP, had all the elements of a blockbuster event in a modern political scenario. Sirisena’s move was a bold one. Unlike the C P-crossover in 1964, which had the desired result of defeating the government of Sirimavo Bandaranaike as a fait accompli, Maithripala’s gambit did not assure any certain result. In fact, it was one of the most daring political moves enacted by any political leader since Independence.
In a bitterly fought election, Maithripala prevailed and he did solely because of the Tamil and Muslim vote plus the UNP vote. It is beyond question that Maithripala would not have secured the eventual result, if not for the UNP vote and Sirisena knows it. Sirisena carried his own district, Polonnaruwa, without much of a fight, but the rest of the country where the minority vote was not a deciding bloc, he lost. For example, deeply Sinhalese-Buddhist districts like Ratnapura, Anuradhapura, Monaragala, Kalutara, and the entire Southern province where the minority vote is not of a reckonable magnitude, Mahinda won handsomely. However, Sirisena carried the districts that have highest populations, Colombo, Kandy and Gampaha and swept those districts that are heavily minority-dominated- the North and the East.
Unlike the United States of America which elects her President on the Electoral College system, Sri Lanka elects her President on the popular vote. No President in Sri Lanka can be elected exclusively on the majority Sinhalese-Buddhist vote. Time and time again, it has been proven that the winner always gets a sizeable majority of the minorities in the country. Some might argue that this theory is not correct and they cite the election result in 2005 at which Mahinda was the victor. But don’t forget the boycott of elections in 2005 by almost 99% of the Tamils on the decree issued by Prabhakaran and it is beyond a shadow of doubt that this boycott was arranged between Prabhakaran and the then coalition party that ran Mahinda Rajapaksa as its candidate. Had the Tamils been allowed to vote in the North and East, Ranil Wickremesinghe would have become President in 2005! The ‘Four Brothers’ and their cohorts prevented it. Victory at any or all costs was the motto of the ‘Four Brothers’.
Such costs, Sri Lanka neither can afford, nor can she suffer. Presidential Election in 2015 marked, certainly not a revolution as some heavily-biased commentators interpret. As far as this writer is concerned, there was only one attempt of a revolution made in Sri Lanka and that was the famous April Insurrection in 1971 by the then Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) led by Rohana Wijeweera. What they attempted in 1987/’89 period was an endeavor to oust a democratically elected government by political terror, fear and murder. Innocent civilians were killed at random; political opponents were subjected to horrifying and shaming treatment and the whole country was in a grip of a fear psychosis; body-less heads were seen almost at every other culvert. It was not a revolution; it was a ruthlessly executed orgy of murder. Hence to call the 2015 elections a revolution is a total disfiguration of facts, figures and character of a real revolution.
Yet why most folks call it a revolution could be explained when the change the 2015 Presidential Elections caused is taken in the context of the high expectations the broad masses envisaged. And it is in that context the current administration led by Maithripala Sirisena and Ranil Wickremesinghe is being judged and prejudged. Certain strategic errors were committed by the Maithri/Ranil combo. Among them, but not limited to, are:
Not dissolving parliament within days after the Presidential Elections
Promulgation of a 100-Days Program
Bringing into parliament some known Mahinda Rajapaksa-lackeys such as S B Dissanayake, Dilan Perera
Going beyond a reasonably acceptable number of Cabinet Ministers
Non-removal of Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran on the first signs of trouble and misdemeanor
Being elected on a platform of eradication of corruption, establishment of transparency and accountability, it is anybody’s reasonable expectations that such drastically imprudent decisions would not be made by the leaders of the new coalition- Maithri/Ranil Combo. Yet they made those irrational and sometimes idiotic decisions and they will have to pay for them unless they take some remedial measures almost immediately. Memories of our people are short; demands on their day-to-day chores are increasing exponentially in this fast, modern world. Smartphones and Facebook have become regular and necessary tools in their hands; PEO TVs are no more the exclusive possessions of the rich and in a world dominated by these modern-day gadgets, keeping information away from the general masses is simply not possible. Any attempts by those in power to hoodwink the masses the way the Rajapaksa regime did would be exposed by a very alert social media and galvanized civil organizations.
Maithripala Sirisena and Ranil Wickremesinghe have quite an unenviable task at hand. The sharpening of the minds of an otherwise dormant intelligentsia, a mission they undertook at the elections in 2015, might one day come back on them and bury them forever if they don’t stop being foolish. To show even the slightest tendency to accumulate more power and wealth would be disastrous. That is the cost of sharpening the minds of the general masses. They simply cannot afford to disregard the influence of the social media. Merely attacking the Rajapaksas has to lead to its logical conclusions such as bringing them before the law. The people will make up their own minds, if they have not done so already. The path of greed and avarice the Rajapaksas showed cannot be trekked by the Sirisenas and Wickremasinghes and their supporting crews in their respective party machines.
One last message for President Maithripala Sirisena: He seems to be obsessed with the notion of not to be the leader of the SLFP who would preside over its own demise. He must let that go. If the SLFP is going to dissolve as a political party, it would do so not because of President Sirisena, but because of various other factors amongst which are: the general degeneration of the party as a consequence of lack of discipline at the top, too much emphasis on ‘government’ as a solution to every problem, romanticist attachment to the party as a vehicle of the ‘common man’, lack of accountability built over a long period of time, a philosophical difference between the reasonableness of those who occupy a middle-ground and dependence syndrome enunciated in the policies of the party, thereby increasing dependence on politicians and their importance as saviors of the masses etc.
All in all, the people are beginning to lose confidence and faith that they ascribed to the Maithri/Ranil Combo at the beginning. Lack of timely responses to the various allegations hurled at them by the so-called Joint Opposition coupled with the notion that the stability of the present government is in question and allowing the SLFP MPs and Cabinet Ministers to criticize the UNP, their coalition partner, has contributed to the collapse of confidence of the people. In that context, it is pertinent to mention that neither any UNP Cabinet Minister nor any UNP MP has been seen as criticizing the SLFP, it was always the SLFP members (outside the Joint Opposition MPs) who have been seen as lacking in discipline. Twenty years in power has corrupted the minds of the SLFP ranks. It has been entrenched in them that power is forever. The fear of losing that power and any existence outside that power have gripped their minds and made them impotent. That fear of impotency is their tragic ailment.
But let us not prematurely pass judgment on the performance of the Maithri/Ranil Combo.
The jury is still out.
By Vishwamithra1984
*The writer can be contacted on vishwamithra1984@gmail.com
courtesy - Colombo Telegraph
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traveller...
"The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page"
Mystras
Mistra
Five miles west of Sparta, in the foothills of Mount Taygetus, is the romantic town of Mistra. Today it is an abandoned city, and has been made into a World Heritage Site, and for the tourist, there is far more to see in Mistra than in Sparta itself.
Mistra was founded in 1249 by William de Villehardouin a Frenchman from Champagne, one of Frenchmen who were trying to carve out empires in the eastern Mediterranean in the aftermath of the ignominious Fourth Crusade. William did not hold it for long, for only 10 years later in 1259 at the battle of Pelagonia, he was defeated by the Byzantines and captured and was forced to give up Mistra as part of his ransom.
Czech Republic Praha/ Usti nad Labem
Θέμα Ταξίδια. Από το Blogger.
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To mark the success of the 1992 World’s Poultry Congress in Amsterdam the Netherlands Branch of the World’s Poultry Science Association established a series of special scholarship awards. The awards, worth € 11,000 (currently about US$ 12 500) are normally made in each of three categories representing the WPSA’s three main areas of activity: Research, Education and Industry/Organization.
The Foundation for Promoting Poultry Science of the Netherlands Branch of the World’s Poultry Science Association announced the sixth groupp of winners of these awards for 2016 at the XXV World’s Poultry Congress in Beijing, China.
In 2016, the Research award went to Prof Israel Rozenboim (Israel).
No awards were made this year in the catogories Education and Industry/Organization.
Research Award
For the past three decades, Prof Israel (Rully) Rozenboim major research studies were to create knowledge - based innovations to increase productivity in animal farming. His research therefore focuses on 2 major lines: firstly understanding the mechanism of photostimulation in domestic birds, followed by implementing the knowledge acquired as a practical tool in poultry management. Targeted monochromatic photostimulation and reproduction was explored in 2 major studies: The first investigated the role of monochromatic photostimulation in reproductive functions (egg and semen production) and the second in growth and development of meat type birds. Both studies created basic and practical knowledges. The other research line tries to understand and solve reproductive failures associated with aging and environmental stress in poultry. This is done while focusing on crucial questions in poultry welfare. The award will enable him to provide scholarship to students and present further results in upcoming meetings.
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Family:Whitney, Comfort (1795-1875)
Comfort6 Whitney (David5, Matthias4, Cornelius3, Joshua2, John1), son of David5 and Olive (Day) Whitney, was born 1795, Granville, Washington County, NY, died 30 Dec 1875, Augusta Township, Grenville County, ON, Canada. and is buried in the Old Section of Maynard Cemetery, Augusta Township, Grenville County, ON, Canada.
He married firstly, about 1822, Augusta Township, Grenville County, ON, Canada, Anna Dake, daughter of Immanuel and Lucretia (Wiatt) Deake/Dake. She was born 1803, Augusta Township, Grenville County, ON, Canada, and died 14 Mar 1831, Augusta Township, Grenville County, ON, Canada.
He married secondly, about 1838, Augusta Township, Grenville County, ON, Canada, Lucretia Dake, daughter of Immanuel and Lucretia (Wiatt) Deake/Dake. She was born abt 1820, Augusta Township, Grenville Co, ON, d. 5 Mar 1886, Augusta Township.
He moved with his family to Augusta Township, Grenville County, ON, about 1800. He was a veteran of the War of 1812 (British side.)
Children of Comfort6 and Anna (Dake) Whitney, all born Augusta Township, Grenville County, ON, Canada:
i. Luvina 7 Whitney, b. 10 July, 1823, Augusta Township, Grenville Co, ON, d. 17 Jun, 1911, Augusta Township; m. Ambrose Newans 5 May, 1843.
ii. Erastus Whitney, b. 1824, d. 2 Sep 1898, Augusta Township; m. Jane Bradford 12 Jan 1847.
iii. Lucretia J. Whitney, b. 1826, Augusta Township, Grenville Co, ON; m. Bushrod C. Barnum 25 Jan 1848.
iv. Luana Whitney, b. 20 Sep 1827; d. 24 Mar 1907, Prescott, Grenville County, ON, Canada, m. (1)Erastus Hough 1 Jan 1845, (2)Erastus Young 21 Dec 1858, (3)William Ellison Smith 24 Dec 1889.
v. David Whitney , b. 12 Mar 1829, d. 13 Jan 1904, Essex Centre, Essex Co, ON, Canada; m. Diana McKelvey abt 1848.
Children of Comfort6 and Lucretia (Dake) Whitney, all born Augusta Township, Grenville County, ON, Canada:
vi. Joseph C.7 Whitney, b. 1839, Augusta Township, Grenville Co, ON, d. 2 Jan 1928, Augusta Township; m. Abigail Perrin.
vii. Chauncey Beauman Whitney, b. 15 Feb 1844, Augusta Township, Grenville Co, ON, d. 27 Apr 1904, Augusta Township; m. Mary Caroline Row.
viii. Augustus Whitney, b. 16 July 1849, Augusta Township, Grenville Co, ON, d. 7 July 1940, Augusta Township; m. Cecelia Row 3 Oct 1868.
Copyright © 2010, 2011, Penny Dilloway, Robert L. Ward, and the Whitney Research Group.
Retrieved from "http://wiki.whitneygen.org/wrg/index.php?title=Family:Whitney,_Comfort_(1795-1875)&oldid=194678"
Grenville County, Ontario, Canada
Augusta Township, Grenville County, Ontario, Canada
Prescott, Grenville County, Ontario, Canada
Washington County, New York
Granville, Washington County, New York
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A Surprising Turnaround by Alsace's Pierre Sparr
Apr 2, 2013 Printable Version
Wines are much better lately at Pierre Sparr, and the reason is backwards from what you normally read.
Five years ago, the Alsatian winery was a small business that had been in the Sparr family for 300 years. Pierre Sparr rebuilt the winery and vineyards after World War II, and his sons took over from him.
By the early 2000s, the winery had slipped. It was buying a large proportion of its grapes from a local co-op, but the poor quality of the wines, and thus difficulty in selling them, was hurting the farmers as much as it was the Sparrs.
So the co-op, Cave de Bebleneheim, made an unusual decision: To buy the Pierre Sparr winery and brand.
This isn’t absolutely unprecedented: The Champagne brand Nicolas Feuillatte was bought by a co-op, which also improved quality. And since the Pierre Sparr purchase, a different Alsace co-op bought the bankrupt Lucien Albrecht winery, says Patrick Aledo, general manager of Pierre Sparr.
"One thing people said about Pierre Sparr is that it was inconsistent," Aledo says. "When we bought Pierre Sparr in '09, the target was to be consistent. To be a food-friendly wine. Not too much sugar."
This gets to the reason I'm writing this story. I received some Pierre Sparr wines in a box of samples from Alsace and, given my previous experience with the brand, expected to dislike them. Instead, I found them interesting and great value, and had no trouble polishing off some bottles that I used to pour down the drain.
Pierre Sparr Alsace "One" is a $13 blend of Muscat, Riesling and Pinot Gris. A few years ago, it was insipidly sweet and cloying. The 2010 is delightful: Pretty floral aromas combine with bright lime and white peach fruit in a refreshing wine that finishes with minerality. Despite the low price, the grapes were hand-harvested and spent six months on the lees in stainless steel tanks. It's a good enough wine to catch the attention of somebody like me who had sworn off the brand.
"The One is a good example of what we want to do," Aledo says. "If you have a pure variety, you have a lot of influence of the vintage. With the One, we keep the same grapes, but we change the percentage of each to keep the same style of wines each vintage. One year we can have a little bit more Muscat, and another year less Muscat and more Pinot Gris.
"The One is totally different from the other wines of Alsace. But always on the dry style. Not many people have knowledge of the dry Muscat. It's really something special."
Flexibility is Aledo's friend. Cave de Beblenheim wines are not as expensive as Pierre Sparr, and thus they're a good place to put grapes that aren't Grade A. Previously, the Sparr family used all of its grapes and purchased some besides. Now, Aledo says he has drastically reduced the yields from the family's former vineyards, and with moving some grapes to the co-op's wines, he uses about 20% of the volume of grapes that the property used to produce.
"If a batch that we have is not good, I can use it for the co-op," Aledo says. "I don't have to use it for Pierre Sparr. The co-op is really involved with the hyper and supermarkets in all of Europe. For the co-op, I need low cost of production. For Pierre Sparr, we can use more money (in making the wines)."
Aledo intends for dry Riesling and the sparkling Cremant to be the flagships of the brand. I really liked the Cremant rosé, which is as graceful as pink sparkling wine gets for $20. The Riesling is more simple, but at $14, it's food-friendly and good value. And the dryness has become a differentiating factor.
"Connoisseurs and sommeliers enjoy dry wines," Aledo says. "We have to take care because the consumer explains that they buy dry, but then they drink sweet. When you speak to a journalist or sommelier, they say dry, dry, dry. When you have the customer in front of you, he chooses the sweetest one. It's hard to have a good balance."
So how does he solve it? "We choose to be dry, but very aromatic," he says. "And I always say that, on wine lists, please put 'dry' before 'Riesling'."
Pierre Sparr also recently changed importers to Wilson-Daniels, which has a high-quality portfolio. This makes a difference because Wilson-Daniels will get the wine in front of some fine dining sommeliers who might not have paid attention to the brand before.
Aledo says his goal for the next five years is to rebuild his market in the United States.
"What we can do is only tasting, tasting, tasting," he says. "Four years ago we didn't have any relationship with the press. We have to rebuild it."
It worked on me. If you swore off Pierre Sparr in the past, it's time to taste it again.
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Home » IFTTT » UPROXX » A Complete Timeline Of The Lori Loughlin College Admissions Scandal
A Complete Timeline Of The Lori Loughlin College Admissions Scandal
Well, Aunt Becky really stepped in it this time. If you’re somehow not already in the loop, actress Lori Loughlin — known for such wholesome projects as Full House, the Hallmark series When Calls the Heart, and basic cable made-for-television Christmas movies — is facing up to 40 years in prison over a college bribery scandal. But how did this all happen? How did we get here? Let’s dig in with a timeline to see how this came to fruition.
Loughlin starred in the Full House season six episode titled, “Be True to Your Preschool,” alongside her onscreen husband John Stamos. In the episode, Uncle Jesse and Aunt Becky get the idea to “fast track” the education of their sons, Nicky and Alex, by getting them into a prestigious upper crust preschool. To do so, the couple decides to falsify information on the application form to ensure the twins are accepted.
Clearer heads eventually prevail on TV, but it’s worth noting the resemblance to the very real-life situation in which Loughlin will later find herself.
Loughlin eloped with fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli after divorcing investment banker Michael R. Burns the previous year. The two would go on to have two children together: Olivia Jade Giannulli, now 19; and Isabella Rose Giannulli, now 20.
Verizon mobile
Unknown date, 2016
Olivia Jade appeared on an episode of something called “Tap That Awesome App” for a now defunct Verizon mobile phone channel, which was later said to have been rigged in her favor. Fellow social media influencer Marissa Rachel was reportedly declared the winner in front of a live audience; however, the show then apparently had a reshoot, making it appear that Olivia Jade was the winner, bringing in $5,000 for her charity.
Loughlin and Giannulli were two of 50 people (including actress Felicity Huffman) who were busted by the Justice Department in a nationwide college admissions scam, later to be known as “Operation Varsity Blues.” The couple were accused of paying $500,000 (disguised as a donation to the Key Worldwide Foundation) to get Olivia Jade and Isabella Rose onto the University of Southern California crew team, thus ensuring their admission to the school — despite the fact that neither daughter had an affiliation with the sport nor would be participating on the team.
Loughlin and Giannulli surrendered themselves to federal authorities in Los Angeles and were later released after posting $1 million bail. As part of the conditions of her release, Loughlin was forced to agree to travel restrictions and surrender her passport.
At the time of her mother’s arrest, Olivia Jade had been celebrating spring break on a yacht owned by a member of USC’s board of trustees, Rick Caruso.
Olivia Jane, who was already an Instagram influencer with a YouTube channel boasting two million subscribers when she began attending USC, was dropped from a lucrative partnership with Sephora, and her exclusive highlighter palette was likewise pulled from stores. It was later reported that she understandably blamed her mother for the “downfall of her career,” since she didn’t even want to attend college in the first place.
The Hallmark channel’s parent company, Crowd Media, released a statement to confirm that they’d dropped Loughlin from all future projects. They also stopped development of all productions necessarily involving the actress, including Garage Sale Mysteries — a film series consisting of 15 television movies that Loughlin had starred in since 2013.
Netflix dropped Loughlin ahead of the filming of the fifth and final season of Fuller House. She had previously appeared in roughly 20 percent of the series episodes.
Target likewise issued a statement distancing the chain from Giannulli, commenting: “We haven’t had a working relationship with Mossimo Giannulli in over a decade and we no longer carry any Mossimo branded products at Target.”
Loughlin, Huffman, and others involved in the scandal were sued for $500 billion by angry mother and former Oakland-area teacher Jennifer Kay Toy. Toy claims to believe that “the actions of those implicated in the scheme prevented her son, Joshua Toy, from being admitted to several colleges ensnared in the scandal.”
The lawsuit joined another federal class-action lawsuit by two Stanford University students against eight colleges including USC, UCLA, Yale, and Georgetown. They’re seeking damages for any student who applied to one or more of the named universities between 2012 and 2019 and was subsequently rejected.
TMZ broke the news that Loughlin, Giannulli, and Huffman were facing prison time even if they accepted a plea deal — which was later confirmed.
It was reported that Felicity Huffman would plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud for allegedly paying $15,000 to boost her daughter’s SAT score. In a statement, the actress accepted full responsibility for her actions.
Loughlin and Giannulli were indeed offered a plea deal that would have included a mandatory two year prison sentence, but they rejected it because Loughlin reportedly thought the district attorney was “bluffing” about them serving time. “She’s has been in complete denial and thought maybe she could skate by,” said a source familiar with Loughlin.
In addition to being charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, Loughlin and Giannulli were slapped with severe new charges in a second, superseding indictment (for conspiring to commit fraud and money laundering in connection with the case). Each of the new charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, which means that both Loughlin and her husband are looking at up to 40 years a piece.
The Hallmark channel renewed When Calls the Heart for a seventh season sans Loughlin, after having pulled the quaint, 20th century-based series off the air in mid-March “retooling” after the scandal broke. The remaining episodes of season six have also been re-edited to scrub out Loughlin’s character, Abigail Stanton, the mayor of the fictional town of Hope Valley, and will return on May 5.
“The remaining season 6 installments have been re-edited in such a manner that removes any appearances by Loughlin,” a source told EW. Hallmark has not commented on the fate of the character, which is apparently pivotal to the series.
Loughlin and Giannulli entered not guilty pleas in court documents filed on behalf of the couple, and by doing so, they so waived their right to appear in court for an arraignment. Their fate will now rest in the hands of a jury. Neither of them have yet to publicly address the allegations against them.
from UPROXX http://bit.ly/2GqqlUi
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Haiti – Dominican Republic : Santo Domingo in state of alarm attempts to find the support of the OAS
More evidence of drugs-for-guns trade between Jamaica and Haiti
Haiti rejoins CARICOM
Caribbean nations ponder PetroCaribe implementation
Eye on the Caribbean
A mixed year for the Caribbean media
Posted on Wednesday 2 May 2007
By Charles Arthur for ’Eye on the Caribbean’, an AlterPresse service in conjunction with the Haiti Support Group
London, 2 May 07 [AlterPresse] --- 2006 was a mixed year for the media in the Caribbean region. In St. Lucia, there was a rare victory for media freedom advocates when the government withdrew a law that had threatened journalists with jail terms if found guilty of spreading information deemed to be false or damaging to the public interest. Commenting on the repeal of Section 361, Guy Ellis, editor of the St. Lucia Mirror newspaper, saw the influence of an October judgement by the British Privy Council, which ruled for the first time that journalists had the right to publish allegations about public figures, so long as they were responsible and what they reported was "in the public interest".
In Haiti, there was a welcome improvement in the general situation. Following elections in February and April 2006, the creation of a coalition government helped reduce the tensions that have recently blighted both the political scene and the media environment. Haiti’s new government has been much more tolerant of a freely functioning media than its predecessors. Entrenched poverty, the easy availability of firearms, and a deeply corrupt judicial system, all conspired to make life difficult for Haitian journalists, but, after the violence and intolerance of recent years, movement in the right direction must be applauded.
Against this, there was a serious deterioration of the press freedom situation in the Dominican Republic, where three journalists were murdered, at least one of them because of his profession, and another journalist was the object of an alleged plot against his life orchestrated by a senior government official. There was, in addition, a general increase in the number of acts of violence, abuse, and intolerance against journalists and other media workers. Worrying, too, was the Inter American Press Association’s assertion that there has been an increase in wiretapping and other forms of spying on some of the country’s journalists and executives at various media outlets.
The lot of media workers in Guyana also gave cause for concern, following two deadly attacks that cost the lives of six media workers. Ronald Waddell, whose television talk show had been taken off the air at the end of the previous year because of government complaints, was shot dead in January. One colleague said, "He did not hesitate to denounce collusion between the government and drug-traffickers. So one cannot rule out the possibility that they wanted to silence him, even after his talk show was taken off the air." Later in the year, five Kaieteur News pressroom workers were shot dead by a group of unidentified masked men. The attack did not seem to have been related to the newspaper’s work, but it still instilled fear among media workers in the country.
In Puerto Rico, a group of around 20 journalists were showered with pepper gas and assaulted by FBI agents as they went about their business of reporting on a FBI raid. The Puerto Rico Journalists’ Association described the incident as "a wilful, unprecedented, criminal and vicious attack on people that were executing professionally the freedom of the press."
In many of the smaller island nations, the most contentious issues revolved around governments’ reactions to negative media coverage, and the authorities’ threats to regulate radio stations if their talk shows continued to air the libellous and insulting views of telephone callers. Often these tensions played out in the form of public outbursts by elected officials, the trading of insults, and the issuing of threats that, in the end, came to nothing.
However, in some cases, the repercussions of governments’ intolerance put individual journalists in danger, and sent an intimidating message to their colleagues. Addressing colleagues on 3 May 2006 - World Press Freedom Day - Dale Enoch, the president of the Association of Caribbean Media Workers (ACM)*, stated that criminal defamation remained on the statute books of most states in the region, and broadcast media liberalisation was being accompanied by "anachronistic notions of information control and blatant attempts at censorship."
There was little progress with efforts to persuade Caribbean governments to pass freedom of information (FOI) legislation. The issue was discussed at a Commonwealth Parliamentary Association meeting with parliamentarians, public officials, media, and civil society representatives, held in Dominica in October. Participants noted that of the Caribbean island nations, only Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Antigua and Barbuda, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, have so far enacted FOI laws.
Media workers’ associations in some individual countries were active – notably the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, and St. Kitts and Nevis – but in too many others the associations lay dormant or non-existent. Speaking at a forum in June, Wesley Gibbings, the general-secretary of the ACM, warned journalists and media houses to prepare themselves and defend their profession in the context of what he depicted as "clouds massing for the looming storm". [ca gp apr 02/05/2007 09:30]
*The Association of Caribbean Media Workers (ACM) is an organisation of journalists and media worker associations spanning the Caribbean Basin. ACM web site: www.acmediaworkers.com
Haiti Support Group web site: www.haitisupport.gn.apc.org
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Info + Contact
Benjamin Kraushaar Media
— About me, social media, and how to get in touch
Benjamin Kraushaar is a scientist, photographer and storyteller of all things outdoors.
Benjamin kraushaar grew up in southwest Colorado, an area rich in public land access and recreational opportunities. From the desolate deserts of Canyonlands to the rugged ridges of the San Juan mountains, the unique geography of the southwest influenced Ben’s decision to pursue a life in the outdoors.
Ben received a B.S. in Environmental Geology from Fort Lewis College in 2008 and after a seasonal stint working as a hydrologist in Jackson, WY, Ben returned to Colorado and worked as a Land Surveyor for two years. During this time, Ben decided he needed an adventure and subsequently backpacked and fly fished for 500 miles along the Colorado Trail.
This trip enhanced Ben’s passion for adventure photography and before returning to graduate school at the University of Wyoming, Ben freelanced for Outside Online, and other mountain biking and fly fishing media outlets. Now, Ben is a Kemmerer Fellow at the University of Wyoming and is pursuing a project that uses outdoor recreation as a vessel for science communication.
In 2019, Ben along with a crew of artists and academics will embark on a 90 day, 1000 mile raft trip that commemorates the 150 year anniversary of John Wesley Powell’s Colorado River Exploring Expedition. Ben plans on using rafting to collect water quality data for the entire extent of the expedition route. Simple science on a large scale. In addition to collecting water quality data, Ben will use the raft trip as a a means to communicate both social and environmental issues that pertain to the Colorado River Basin. He will harness the power of visual arts to engage communities before, during, and after the trip
— Follow
— I’d love to hear from you
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QUEENSRŸCHE: Cleveland Photos Available
Photos of QUEENSRŸCHE's May 6, 2009 concert at the House of Blues in Cleveland have been posted online at this location (pictures taken by concert photographer Joe Kleon).
Fan-filmed video footage of the performance can be viewed below.
Italian journalist Paolo Bianco recently conducted an interview with QUEENSRŸCHE singer Geoff Tate for the news blog Musica Metal. The full 20-minute chat can be streamed at this location (click on green play button to lauch audio).
QUEENSRŸCHE took its acclaimed "American Soldier Tour" online by broadcasting an entire show live in high definition at cdpulse.tv. When the band took the stage at the Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, Florida on May 19, fans worldwide were able to watch a high-definition stream of the performance live as it happened. The show was viewable virtually worldwide in high-definition clarity via premium content delivery access systems featuring 43,000 servers in 17 different countries.
As with all shows on the "American Soldier Tour", QUEENSRŸCHE performed three separate suites during the two-hour performance, each focusing on a different album. The show opened with a suite from the band's 1986 gold album "Rage For Order", including some tracks the band has not played live in over 20 years. The second suite focuses on the new epic concept album "American Soldier", which was released on March 31 from Atco/Rhino. The "Soldier" suite features guest vocal performances by Navy rescue swimmer and Blue Angels crew chief A.J. Fratto on the intense set opener "Sliver" and lead singer Geoff Tate's daughter Emily on the moving ballad "Home Again". The final suite revisits 1990's triple platinum opus "Empire" with performances of some of the band's most beloved tracks, including "Jet City Woman", "Silent Lucidity" and "Best I Can".
SOUNDGARDEN: 'Live From The Artists Den' Unboxing Video
METALLICA: Pro-Shot Video Of 'Frantic' Performance From Copenhagen
AS I LAY DYING To Release 'Shaped By Fire' Album In September
METALLICA Praises JUANES's Cover Of 'Seek & Destroy'
GHOST's TOBIAS FORGE: 'METALLICA Is One Of The Most Important Bands For Me'
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Tag Archives: nation’s oldest port
Welcome to the 450th Anniversary Shipwreck Survey!
June 23, 2016 Archaeology, Historical Research450th, Archaeology, history, nation's oldest port, surveyOlivia
As we begin to move into our 2016 field season, we are excited to introduce the results of the 450th Anniversary Shipwreck Survey, that the Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program (LAMP) carried out over the 2015 field season. The “450th Anniversary Shipwreck Survey” was a project carried out as part of LAMP’s multi-year First Coast Maritime Archaeology Project, which has been ongoing since 2007. The 450th Anniversary Shipwreck Survey, named in honor of St. Augustine’s 450th anniversary which occurred in 2015, was funded by a State of Florida, Division of Historical Resources Small Matching Grant (No. S1604).
The purpose of the 2015 project was to search for and identify historic shipwrecks in Northeast Florida, particularly those dating to the earliest period of St. Augustine’s colonization. An extension of our 2014 Search for the Lost French Fleet project off the Canaveral National Seashore, the 2015 project focused on searching offshore St. Augustine in hopes of finding early Spanish shipwrecks.
This area had been previously surveyed in 1995 and in 2009, and the 2015 research focused on magnetic anomalies that had been identified in these previous surveys. Project fieldwork was carried out over 27 days between 01 July and 27 August 2015. LAMP archaeologists first analyzed the magnetic data from the 2009 survey, contouring 16 magnetic targets. Two of these targets were re-surveyed in the field, to provide a more refined understanding of their magnetic signatures.
After contouring analysis of the original and refinement data, many of these targets were dismissed as likely to represent isolated modern materials. Several anomalies, however, were believed likely to represent shipwreck sites, and were investigated further by divers.
In the midst of the project, archaeologist and maritime historian Brendan Burke posted the first project update in a blog titled The Quest to Find New Shipwrecks. There, he introduced the various field methods used during the project, from remote sensing survey and data analysis, to target testing and initial test excavations, alluding to the initial successes of these activities. And, as some of you may recall, he ended the blog with a statement from an old professor that applies to all archaeologists. When you have questions, ‘you need to dig more.’
And we have!
Over the past year, we have dug into the data, into the sand, into previous research, and into the past. Follow along over the next few days as our archaeologists and volunteers present our experiences and findings from the 450th Anniversary Shipwreck Survey!
Archaeologist Olivia McDaniel first joined the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum team in 2012 as a student at LAMP’s Underwater Archaeology Field School. She officially joined the lighthouse family as an archaeologist in July, 2014, after completing her bachelor’s degree at the University of Idaho.
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Last Solo View
Steinberg, Michael P. und Monica Bohm-Duchen (Hgg.): Reading Charlotte Salomon. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press, 2005. (248 S.)
Added by: joachim (05 Aug 2009 11:18:43 Europe/Berlin)
Resource type: Book
Languages: englisch
ID no. (ISBN etc.): 978-0-8014-3971-1
BibTeX citation key: Steinberg2005
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Keywords: "Leben? Oder Theater?", Aufsatzsammlung, Deutschland, Judentum, Kunst, Randformen des Comics, Salomon. Charlotte
Creators: Bohm-Duchen, Steinberg
Publisher: Cornell Univ. Press (Ithaca) Views: 4/309
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Charlotte Salomon was born in Berlin in 1917 and was murdered at Auschwitz at the age of twenty-six. While in exile in the south of France from 1940 until her deportation in 1943, she created some 1,325 small gouaches using only the three primary colors plus white. From these she gathered nearly 800 into a work that she titled Life? or Theater? A Play with Music, which employs images, texts, and musical and cinematic references. The narrative, informed by Salomon’s experiences as a talented, cultured, and assimilated German Jew, depicts a life lived in the shadow of Nazi persecution and a family history of suicide, but also reveals moments of intense happiness and hope. The tone of the gouaches becomes increasingly raw and urgent as Salomon is further enmeshed in grim personal as well as political events. The result is a deeply moving meditation on life, art, and death on the eve of the Holocaust.
Salomon’s art, discovered after the war in the south of France where she had left it for safekeeping, was first exhibited in 1961 and has gained steadily in reputation since then. A major exhibition focused on Life? or Theater? appeared at the Royal Academy of Arts in London in 1998, subsequently at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; and the Jewish Museum in New York City. This book, lavishly illustrated with many color plates, is the first to analyze Salomon’s work critically, historically, and aesthetically. It includes a chronology of Salomon’s life and a list of exhibitions of Life? or Theater?. Featuring contributions from prominent art historians, literary and cultural critics, and historians, Reading Charlotte Salomon celebrates the genius and courage of a remarkable figure in twentieth-century art.
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Hailsham seems like a pleasant English boarding school, far from the influences of the city. Its students are well tended and supported, trained in art and literature, and become just the sort of people the world wants them to be. But, curiously, they are taught nothing of the outside world and are allowed little contact with it.
Within the grounds of Hailsham, Kathy grows from schoolgirl to young woman, but it’s only when she and her friends Ruth and Tommy leave the safe grounds of the school (as they always knew they would) that they realize the full truth of what Hailsham is.
Ishiguro gives us a tale of friendship, loss, nostalgia and memory. His style and prose reflect these themes wonderfully, which really piqued my own memories of places which no longer exist. His use of landmarks, whether physical or artistic, in creating a rush of information was somehow familiar, yet there was a real sense of jumble, with the memories given to us not seeming to follow any kind of linear structure, and although this becomes tiresome after a while, it resonates well with how the human mind treats memories, and how each of tell stories by wandering off the path into another story and having to revert back.
During the novel, I felt the characters were being explored deeply, and that I knew them very well. Only now do I understand there was nothing entirely unique nor likeable about any of them, and that their personalities and quirks weren’t really explored at all, particularly for our protagonist, Kathy. Due to my lack of love for any of them, the relationship between the main trio felt trite and absurd to me; a caricature of a high-school love triangle. Except I didn’t feel any of the supposed love they felt for each other; each of them seemed to be on their own, despite part of a group, and nothing given portrayed any overt feelings of love, whether romantic or otherwise. They were bland, vague, and mysterious; entirely akin to the plot itself.
The ‘system’ our characters find themselves in is compelling, and yet Ishiguro is irritatingly averse to giving out details on this. We learn the students’ fate as they do, piecemeal and without context. Nothing is clarified, every inch of information feels like a wisp of a rumour floating around in the air and never touching another. I would have devoured more information on this alternative world, but it was kept secret from me. Towards the end, where the characters were more immersed in the system, I felt more information on this was not only possible, but absolutely required. It didn’t come.
There is absolutely no attempt, as is often the case in these types of novels, to rebel against the system. Not a single one of the characters even came close to creating resistance. Although this seems like the natural thing to do (or are we all disillusioned by dystopian fiction?), I think the lack of rebellion is important. We all accept and conform to our lives in some way; we work to earn, we consume, we find a companion and perhaps marry them, we reproduce – it’s expected. Ishiguro’s characters do exactly what they were born to do, and although horrific, they do so without complaint. Do I think the novel could have been better with some regime-crushing? Yes. Do I understand why he’s chosen not to go with this? Also yes.
The focus here is hugely on nostalgia, memory, and relationships, to the point where Ishiguro has neglected to properly explain his plot. I have a real mixed collection of feelings on this novel, but the main overarching one is that of being robbed of something you never truly owned in the first place.
Labels: boarding school, books in 2018, contemporary, friendship, loss, love, nostalgia, school
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Yaohua Zheng
Zheng Yaohua was born in Shanghai, China in 1962. He studied Chinese language and literature at Shanghai Normal University where he received his Bachelor's degree in 1985. He has been a video editor, motion graphic designer and a writer for more than a decade before starting to treat photography as a serious tool for his art creation. Zheng currently lives and works in New York City, U.S., where he has to be merely an on-my-way-to/from-office photographer, but as serious as he has been.
After spending a year in New York, 2004, four photographs from Zheng's Under Manhattan Bridge were selected to be included in a publication 28mm: OFFLINE (Netherlands). In 2006, he was awarded first place in QMA Seven Train Photo Contest hosted by the Queens Museum of Art (New York City). His debut photo book Sleepwalk was published in 2010.
Zheng is an awardee of 2011 QCAF award, funded by the NYDCLA Greater New York Arts Development Fund, for his important project On Their Sites started in early 2007. The work was sparked by his contemplation of mundane things and average individuals.
http://zeyez.net
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Rep. Sweetser’s Bill to Expand Internet Access in Schools Signed into Law
Contact: Shaya Torres
Santa Fe – A bill to expand internet access in schools and libraries across the state was signed into law by the Governor. HB 207, introduced by Representative Candie Sweetser (D-Deming), would appropriate money from the general fund for broadband infrastructure in public school, tribal, and community libraries.
“Too many communities, particularly those in rural areas, understand the difficulty of accessing the internet from home. This bipartisan legislation invests in broadband infrastructure so that all New Mexicans can have access to the internet in their schools and libraries, which is critical for New Mexicans to be able to succeed,” said Rep. Candie Sweetser. “I am glad Governor Martinez shares this same vision for our state’s libraries and signed this legislation.”
This legislation was a true grassroots effort, with the idea first suggested by Deming High School librarian, Teresa Ortiz, who chairs a statewide subcommittee aimed at helping school, public, and tribal libraries attain better broadband access for students and community members.
In New Mexico, the digital divide has the potential to constrain economic development. HB 207 is a bipartisan effort to close the gap, sponsored by Reps. Candie Sweetser (D-Deming), Stephanie Garcia Richard (D-Los Alamos), and James E. Smith (R-Sandia Park) with help from Senator John Arthur Smith (D-Deming).
*story also on: www.demingradio.com
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Center For Justice & Democracy Releases Top 22 Celebrities Harmed By Medical Malpractice
Contact: Joanne Doroshow
CENTER FOR JUSTICE & DEMOCRACY RELEASES
TOP 22 CELEBRITIES HARMED BY MEDICAL MALPRACTICE
The Center for Justice & Democracy at New York Law School (CJ&D) released a new report today, Top 22 Celebrities Harmed By Medical Malpractice. The study shows how the lives and careers of many beloved actors, singers, musicians, broadcasters, sports figures and artists have been cut short as a result of medical negligence. Each of the 22 stories is documented by a lawsuit and/or a medical board sanction. There is additional discussion of celebrities and physician-caused opioid addiction, celebrities and women’s health problems, plus other famous figures who have rectified medical error-caused problems, like tennis star Serena Williams.
Said the report’s author Emily Gottlieb, CJ&D’s Deputy Director for Law & Policy, “Celebrity is no safeguard when it comes to medical malpractice. As this report illustrates, patients with fame and fortune are just as likely to be horrifically injured or killed by dangerous health providers as the general public.
“And our new list is by no means exhaustive,” continued Gottlieb. “In fact, these incidents happen so frequently that as we were going to print, Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker filed a lawsuit against a California medical center for giving him a staph infection that left him unable work. Sadly, this is a list that will need continuous updating. But for now, it is an excellent representation of how big a problem this is, when even some of the most wealthy and famous people cannot protect themselves. No wonder medical errors are the third leading cause of death in America.”
According to Joanne Doroshow, CJ&D’s Executive Director, “We think this is an important study for two reasons. First, it shows that the problem of medical negligence is so entrenched and universal that even wealthy celebrities who can afford most comforts in life are not immune from experiencing it. Second, given our celebrity-focused culture, this report might be the best way to catch and hold the public’s attention regarding the serious issue of medical negligence.”
The full alphabetical list is below:
1. Julie Andrews
2. Marty Balin
3. Dana Carvey
4. Glenn Frey
5. Maurice Gibb
6. Pete Hamilton
7. Hulk Hogan
8. Michael Jackson
9. Ed McMahon
10. Marilyn Monroe
11. Bill Paxton
12. Elvis Presley
13. Prince
14. Freddie Prinze
15. Dennis Quaid (children)
16. John Ritter
17. Geraldo Rivera
18. Joan Rivers
19. Matt Roberts
20. Dick Schaap
21. Anna Nicole Smith
22. Andy Warhol
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Home > Sermons > Exodous
Messages on Exodous
The Israelites are enslaved in Egypt. Moses receives the Ten Commandments. The Israelites build a tabernacle.
Rabbi O’s Weekly:Vayakel (Exodus 35:1-38:20) The Power and Wisdom of Women
Exodous
The first Jewish fundraising initiative is found in this week’s Torah portion. Moses said to the entire assembly of the Children of Israel saying: This is the word that G-d commanded saying: Take from yourselves a portion for G-d…everyone who is generous of heart shall bring it… (Exodus 35:4-5) When they started bringing contributions to […]
Rabbi O’s Weekly Parsha: Ki Tisa (Exodus 30:11-34:35) Action, Reaction, Interaction
We encounter one of the seminal events in the history of the Jewish people in this week’s Parsha. After being liberated from the Egyptian bondage and being present for the Sinai experience, the Jews build a Golden Calf. Volumes have been written on this subject but we will discuss one seemingly small part of the […]
Rabbi O’s Weekly Parsha: Tetzaveh (Exodus 27:20-30:10) Dress for Success
During the Revolutionary War, the colonists wore camouflage to ambush the British but the British soldiers were easily spotted due to their bright red uniforms. So, too, with French soldiers at the beginning of WW I. The French army was wearing the stylish red pants and blue coats that had been their uniform for centuries. […]
Rabbi O’s Weekly: Trumah (Exodus 25:1-27:19) The Power of Pittsburg
I had intended on writing about a different subject but a profound experience Wednesday morning has led my mind in a different direction. We are in Pittsburgh because my close friend and colleague Rabbi Alisar Admon is being honored at a dinner this evening. I can’t remember the last time I went to an institutional […]
Weekly Torah Portion: Mishpatim (Exodus 21-24) What’s Your Bribe
Linguists are at a loss to find an origin for the word “bribe.” It is first used in 14th century old French but it means “steal.” By mid-15th century its meaning had shifted to “gift given to influence corruptly.” No one knows where “bribe” came from or how it ultimately came to have the meaning we use […]
Rabbi O’s Weekly Parsha: Yitro (Exodus 18-20) Who do You Hang Out With?
The first sentence in this week’s Parsha begins, “And Yitro (Jethro), the priest of Midyan, THE FATHER IN LAW OF MOSES, heard…” The Torah explains that Yitro heard of the miraculous events surrounding the Exodus and the giving of the Torah at Sinai. Yitro, therefore, traveled to join the encampment of the Jews, and as […]
Rabbi O’s Weekly-Beshalach (Exodus 13:17-17:16) The Beauty of Opportunity
One of the miracles of the 20th century was the Jewish people taking control of their ancestral land when they won the Independence War in 1948. Part of the miracle was that a large segment of the army was composed of Holocaust survivors; WWII had just ended three years earlier. When looking at pictures of the […]
Rabbi O’s Weekly Parsha: Bo (Exodus 10:1-13:16) Is Effective Time Management a Mitzvah?
Many people will tell you, “it’s all in the Torah, you just have to know where to find it.” In Genesis, there are stories giving moral lessons; in Exodus we are introduced to some of the mitzvot (commandants), as they relate to us as individuals and as a nation. When people think of Jewish practices, they associate […]
Rabbi O’s Weekly Parsha: Vaeira (Exodus 6:2-9:35) What Does It Take?
Vaera, Vayera
The Parsha begins with the Almighty telling Moses that He is the same G-d Who appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that He has heard the cries of His persecuted nation and is aware of His covenant with them.
Therefore say to the Children of Israel, “I am G-d, and I will take you out from under the burdens of Egypt; I will rescue you from their service and redeem you…(Exodus 6:2-6)
Moses did as he was commanded but the Jews did not accept his message of impending redemption due to the tremendous stress and burden they suffered (they were impatient). The narrative continues with G-d commanding Moses to go directly to Pharaoh and tell him to “let the children of Israel go out of his land.” (v. 7:2). The reader feels the tension building for all participating parties (the Jewish people, Moses, and Pharaoh) but, then suddenly, the story strays in an anticlimactic way. There’s a pause in the action seemingly unrelated to previous or subsequent events. The next twelve verses are a mundane record of the genealogy of Jacob and Leah’s first three children, Reuven, Shimon, and Levi. Levi’s lineage is spelled out in greater detail than the other tribes (Moses and Aaron are from Levi). We know everything about Moses and Aaron, their uncles and extended family. Until now, the story is tense, laden with emotion and conflict and after this anticlimactic genealogical break, the excitement resumes. Why does the Torah suddenly drop the action for no apparent reason? What is the significance of placing so many genealogical details at this time?
Rav Shimon Raphael Hirsch (Frankfurt, 1808-1888) sees this as an exposé of a central tenet of Jewish theology. Until now, each attempt made by Moses and Aaron to persuade Pharaoh to release the Jews had been frustrating but from this point onwards, they begin to achieve their goal. They are embarking on a mission which had never been done before or after. The idea of an All Powerful Being coming to the rescue of an afflicted nation wasn’t even fiction in the ancient world. Moses and Aaron would be the emissaries to herald in this event and people might mistakenly attribute divine characteristics to them because no ordinary human would have been able to accomplish the task of leading the delegation against the most power person in the world at the time. In addition, Moses would be the one to bring his people out of the impenetrable Egyptian fortress. It needed to be documented for all time that these emissaries were ordinary human beings, born of a father and mother, and that is why it was so important at this particular time to tell their genealogy.
Right from the earliest times it has occurred that men who have shown themselves quite strikingly to be benefactors to their people on account of their ‘godlike” deeds, have been invested after their passing away from this world with a “godly” origin. We know well enough how, later times, a Jew whose geological table was not available, and because it was not available, and he because he brought the world a few sparks of light borrowed from the man Moses, became to be considered by nations as begotten of G-d, and to doubt his divinity became a capital crime. Our Moses was a man, remained a man and is to remain a man…Moses, the greatest man of all time, was just a man, nothing but an ordinary human being. (Hirsch Chumash 6:13-14)
Judaism’s greatest gift to humanity was monotheism, which doesn’t just mean a Higher Power, more importantly it means a loving G-d, One Who wants to bestow goodness on humans. Some people say they can’t believe in G-d because there’s so much evil in the world. That means they associate G-d with being kind, and all the evil ‘proves’ He doesn’t exist. But where did they get that idea (that He is kind) from? Was is from the Greeks or Romans, whose gods fought, were immoral and had the same vices as humans? According to Greek mythology, Prometheus gave the human race the gift of fire and the skill of metalwork. Zeus punished him by having an eagle eat the liver of Prometheus as he was helplessly chained to a rock. If Zeus is one’s god, it’s no contradiction that there’s evil in the world. The Jews brought the idea of an all-powerful G-d who fights for a persecuted people. It’s the all powerful yet kind, loving G-d that has been such a challenge for people to believe in when they see all the unnecessary suffering and oppression in the world.
Moses and Aaron’s mission was to introduce this “new” G-d to the world but it needed to be done in a way that would be clear that these two were just humans, albeit great humans, like anyone else. G-d placed his trust in humanity but wanted to make sure that people would not deify them and this explains why Moses and Aaron’s genealogy is mentioned here. However, it would have sufficed to tell us who Moses and Aaron’s parents were; why do we also need to have the family of the tribes of Reuven and Shimon, and why do we need to have an elaborate family tree of the tribe of Levi, which tells us who Moses’ cousins were?
Although it has been established that Moses was just a mortal human, another erroneous notion might also be believed. One might think that Moses was just an ordinary guy chosen to lead and given the gift of prophecy.
A man could be known as a complete idiot today, and tomorrow proclaim the word of G-d. The spirit of G-d could suddenly descend upon an ignorant, uneducated person…[this] phenomenon is not without alleged instance in imaginary or pretended prophets in other circles; and then, the more ignorant, the more uneducated the prophet of today was yesterday, the greater the proof of the divinity of the Call that worked this change. [ibid.]
One religion even goes to far as to take pride in the illiteracy of its prophet; the transformation of this person into the transmitter of a work of elegant expression is claimed to be the greatest of all miracles. The Torah lists the genealogy of accomplished people to show that although Moses and Aaron were just humans, they were chosen for the task more than the other tribes and more than the people in their own tribe because they were special; i.e. they had made themselves distinctive. A person must make something of himself or herself before attaining the gift of leadership and prophecy. Only a fully developed mind can understand the word of G-d and transmit it to others.
The take home lesson here is clear: G-d wants humans with all their limitations to help their fellows-and no human is G-d. We are tasked with making the most of ourselves and don’t expect G-d to thrust wisdom our way if we haven’t acquired a great deal of it already. Moses’ job was to free the Jewish people from bondage, ours it to free ourselves from the bondage of self. Sometimes it manifests itself by having us feeling insecure and needing others to validate us and our lifestyle, other times it comes to us in the form of arrogance and not caring for the people in our lives. Whatever the case may be, we can’t expect G-d to make something of us before we make something of ourselves. Yet, we have a loving G-d who places His trust in us (humans) and is there to help us-our job is to do what we can and ask for the rest.
Good Shabbos
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Rabbi O’s Weekly Parsha: Shemot (Exodus 1:1-6:1) Trust or Narcissism?
After being told by G-d to return to Egypt and command Pharaoh to release the Jews, Moses says: ‘Please G-d, I am not a man of words, also not since the day before yesterday, nor since You first spoke to Your servant; for I am heavy of mouth and heavy of speech.’ (4:10) Is Moses […]
Rabbi O’s Weekly Parsha: Vayakhel-Pekudei (Exodus 35-40) Doing it Your Way
Pekudei, Vayakhel
We complete the book of Exodus this week. Although the mitzvah of building the Mishkan (portable sanctuary) was already given in a previous Parsha, this week’s Torah reading concerns itself with the carrying out of the instructions. Various types of metals, fabrics and other raw materials were generously donated; contributions were encouraged but not mandatory. The response was overwhelming; […]
Rabbi O’s Weekly Parsha: Ki Tisa (Exodus 30:11-34:35) Sinners Never Quit and Quitters Always Sin
When viewing a relationship, what indication might an onlooker use to determine if it is robust, vibrant, and has sustainability? Traits such as being a good listener, empathetic, and caring are desirable, perhaps crucial, but even they might not be enough; something else is necessary and this week’s Torah portion tells us what it is-but […]
Rabbi O’s Weekly Parsha Tetzaveh (Exodus 27: -30:10); Zachor (Deuteronomy 25:17-19) Fighting the Battle of Mediocrity
In addition to the regular Torah reading this week, shuls worldwide will fulfill the mitzvah of reading about Amalek, the nation who attacked the Jewish people when they left Egypt. Some say they were the first nation to attack us after we were triumphantly liberated from 210 years of slavery but that is not entirely […]
Rabbi O’s Weekly Parsha: Teruma (Exodus 25:1-27:19) Being Part of Eternity
The following incident occurred in 12th century France. A person sold tin roofing materials to his neighbor. When the neighbor examined the tin sheets, he discovered a layer of pure silver under the tin coating. The seller claimed the silver was his because the buyer had only intended to purchase a tin sheet; that’s all he […]
Rabbi O’s Weekly Parsha: Mishpatim (Exodus Exodus 21-24) Of Kings and Doctors
If men fight and one strikes his fellow with a stone or a fist…he shall pay for healing. (21:18-19). The Talmud (Berachos 60a) infers from this verse that “permission was given to a doctor to heal.” This is a difficult idea to accept; do we really need an explicit verse in the Torah to let us […]
Rabbi O’s weekly-Yitro (Exodus 18-20) People Hearing Without Listening
Jethro, minister of Midian, father in law of Moses, heard all that G-d had done for Moses and for Israel, His people-that G-d had taken Israel out of Egypt. The verse above is followed by others that inform us that Jethro went into the wilderness to meet Moses, whom he had not seen since Moses […]
Rabbi O’s Weekly Parsha: Beshalach (Exodus 13:17-17:16) I Wish I Could Fall in Love but I am in Prison
“We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote this in .1963 in a jail in Birmingham, Alabama. It is the sad truth about the history of oppressive nations, with one exception-Egypt. Each year at Passover we […]
Rabbi O’s Weekly Parsha: Bo (Exodus 10:1-13:16) Do You Want to be Right or Happy?
Moses said, “This is what G-d has said; At about midnight, I will go out into the midst of Egypt. Every firstborn will die” (Exodus, 11:4-5) Moses relays G-d’s message that the plague of the first-born will happen at midnight. However, he doesn’t say “midnight,” he says “at about midnight.” The Talmud notes this odd choice […]
Rabbi O’s weekly Parsha: Vaeira (Exodus 6:2-9:35) The Debut of the Real You
That is Aaron and Moses…(6:26) Rashi comments that some places Aaron’s name is listed before Moses’ and in other places it places Moses before Aaron; this is done to teach us that they were equal. Rashi’s explanation is difficult to understand because even though Aaron was great, was he really on the level of Moses, […]
Rabbi O’s Weekly Parsha: Shemos (Exodus 1:1-6:1) The Cement that Holds Jewish Bricks Together
This week we begin reading the second book of the Torah, Exodus. The first book, Genesis, covered about 2000 years from the creation of the world until Jacob’s family went to live in Egypt to survive during the famine. They ended up settling there until a paranoia arose in the mind of Pharaoh and other […]
Rabbi O’s Weekly Parsha: Vayakhel-Pekudei (Exodus 35-40) Missed Opportunities
After all donations given by the people for the Mishkan (Tabernacle) were collected, the tribal leaders gave their portion. The problem was that by that time, there was virtually nothing left to give because the people’s donations had covered almost all of the expenses. The only thing left were the stones on the breastplate of […]
Rabbi O’s Weekly Parsha: Ki Tisa (Exodus 30:11-34:35) You Can Count on Me
There is a little know prohibition and although there is a dispute about its origin, all sources from the time of the Talmud onward agree that it is forbidden to count Jews. Some find the source in the beginning of this week’s Torah portion when Moses is instructed to collect a half shekel coin from […]
Rabbi O’s Weekly Parsha: Tetzaveh (Exodus 27:20-30:10) Erasing Moses’ Name from the Torah
(In honor of Purim, a supplementary dvar Torah has been added.) Purim 5777-2017 (This dvar Torah, except for the title and conclusion, was written by Mois Navon, a Computer Engineer, who was a studying in Israel in 2008 at Yeshiva Mercaz HaRav when a Palestinian terrorist attacked and murdered 8 students and injured 11 others. […]
Rabbi O’s Weekly Parsha: Teruma (Exodus 25:1-27:19) Intent
This week’s Torah portion deals with the commandment to build a Tabernacle in the wilderness. We encounter a textual difficulty in the first two verses: G-d spoke to Moses saying, “Take for Me a portion from everyone whose heart motivates him, you shall take my portion.” (25:1-2) A literal translation of the verse would read […]
Rabbi O’s Weekly Parsha: Mishpatim (Exodus 21-24) Shul is not Necessarily the Place to Get Spiritual Fuel
AND these are the laws that you should place before them. (Exodus 21:1) This week’s Parsha is full of laws and must be understood in context. What is the significance of its being placed immediately after the exhilarating Sinai encounter (last week’s Parsha) when its main content is law? There are obligations of an employer […]
Rabbi O’s weekly-Yitro (Exodus 18-20)
People Hearing Without Listening Jethro, minister of Midian, father in law of Moses, heard all that G-d had done for Moses and for Israel, His people-that G-d had taken Israel out of Egypt. The verse above is followed by others that inform us that Jethro went into the wilderness to meet Moses, whom he had […]
Rabbi O’s Weekly Parsha: Beshalach (Exodus 13:17-17:16)
What Did the Sea See? The week’s Torah portion begins with the Jewish people leaving Egypt. What was Moses doing at that time? Moses took the bones of Joseph with him… The Midrash states that the splitting of the sea was in the merit of these bones. This is hard to understand in light of […]
Rabbi O’s Weekly Parsha: Bo (Exodus 10:1-13:16
Feel the Fear Looking for a great topic for discussion at your Passover Seder? Consider a story you either learned in Hebrew school or we heard at a Passover Seder growing up. The people were told to put blood from the Passover offering (Pascal Lamb) on their doorposts so that their homes would be passed […]
Rabbi O’s Weekly Parsha: Va’eira (Exodus 6:2-9:35) Crucial Confrontations
We all know the story; Pharaoh did not listen, plagues came to Egypt. Hail, the last plague mentioned in this week’s Parsha, was going to be a hailstorm of unprecedented magnitude. Although the hail was extremely destructive, some of the animals survived. Which ones? The animals whose owners had followed Moses’ instructions to bring them […]
Rabbi O’s Weekly Parsha: Shemot (Exodous 1:1-6:1)
Trust or Narcissism? After being told by G-d to return to Egypt and command Pharaoh to release the Jews, Moses says: ‘Please G-d, I am not a man of words, also not since the day before yesterday, nor since You first spoke to Your servant; for I am heavy of mouth and heavy of speech.’ […]
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Cadets honored for outstanding achievements
Each spring cadets are recognized for their contributions to cadet life and The Citadel. Cadets are honored for academic achievements, leadership abilities, military endeavors and personal actions that reflect proudly upon The Citadel.
During the military dress parade Friday, April 7, the following cadets were honored:
Cadet Capt. James Douglass Nash of Tomball, Texas
The Military Order of Foreign Wars of the United States Award
The award is presented annually at The Citadel to a first-class cadet who is in good academic and disciplinary standing, who has excelled in the ROTC program, leadership and study of military history and is a proactive cadet who will be commissioned into the United States military upon graduation.
Cadet Capt. Ross Michael Kastner of Charleston
Scottish-American Military Society Ltd. Award
The award is presented annually to the first class cadet who has demonstrated outstanding qualities of leadership and citizenship, excelled in history and military science, and has served in The Citadel's Regimental Pipe Band.
Cadet Capt. Angela Mae Ellenwood of Snohomish, Wisc.
Thomas E. Hemingway Award
The award is given to the first-class cadet who throughout his or her cadet career made the greatest contribution as a Christian cadet on the athletic field and to the spiritual life of the Corps of Cadets. It is named for Marine Corps Lt. Col. Thomas E. Hemingway, Class of 1960.
Cadet Lt. Col. Jonathan David Lovette of Summerville
Association of Military Colleges and Schools of the U.S. Award
The award is given to a first-class who best exemplifies the finest traditions of The Citadel and best represents the college's mission of achieving excellence in the education of principled leaders.
Cadet Maj. Alexander Mangu Monte of North Myrtle Beach
North Carolina Society of the Order of Founders and Patriots Award
This award will be presented annually at The Citadel to the cadet who through his or her activities in and outside the Corps of Cadets and through superior historical scholarship best exemplifies an understanding and respect of the country's founding fathers and Revolutionary patriots and their sacrifices defending the nation.
Cadet Capt. Kristina Faith Romero of Fayetteville, Ga.
Col. Floyd W. Brown Jr. Memorial Award
The award is presented annually to a first-class cadet who will be commissioned into the military. It recognizes the cadet who has contributed to the success of the Department of Cadet Activities, who best exhibits the highest degree of customs and courtesies of a cadet, citizen and soldier and who possesses love and loyalty to The Citadel traditions of courage, honor, leadership, patriotism, scholarship, loyalty, high moral standards and service.
Cadet Capt. Joseph Cole Miller of Hixson, Texas
South Carolina Cadet Medal of Merit
The Adjutant General of South Carolina presents the award to an outstanding first-class (senior) cadet who exemplifies the traits of leadership, scholastic achievement, conduct and participation in cadet and college activities.
Cadet Sgt. Maj. Timothy Andrew Devine of Roswell, Ga.
Maj. William Mark Hutson Award
The award is presented annually at The Citadel to a second-class cadet selected for outstanding leadership ability, academic standing and devotion to duty. It is given by Col. and Mrs. J.C. Hutson in memory of their son, Maj. William M. Hutson, U.S. Air Force, Class of 1939, who was killed in service in World War II.
Cadet Lt. Col. Matthew Joseph Henfey of Philadelphia, Pa.
Brig. Gen. James E. Mace Leadership Award
The award will be presented annually to a first-class cadet who will be commissioned in the military and who demonstrates outstanding leadership in the day-to-day running of the Corps of Cadets. The cadet must exhibit unwavering love for The Citadel along with the leadership traits of honor, self discipline, courage, patriotism, high moral standards and service to fellow cadets. The award is named after former Commandant of Cadets and 1963 Citadel graduate Brig. Gen. James Emory Mace.
Cadet Lt. Col. Harry Frederick Zinsser of Melbourne, Fla.
Lt. Col. Leigh Arnold Hochreich Memorial Award
This award is presented annually to a first-class cadet based on patriotism, love of fellow man, loyalty, humor, and dedication to The Citadel.
Cadet Capt. Tyler Campbell Gibbs of Sumter
Carlisle Norwood Hastie Award
The award is presented annually at The Citadel to the graduating first-class cadet who is selected by classmates as showing the greatest concern for the well being of other cadets.
Cadet Sgt. Maj. Richard Carlton Faille III of Beverly, Mass.
William G. Willard Jr. Award
The award is presented annually to the second-class cadet selected by the senior cadet leadership - the regimental commander, the executive officer and the four battalion commanders - for exemplifying the qualities of integrity, devotion to duty, and service to The Citadel. The award was established by Willard's widow. Willard, Citadel Class of 1929, was founder of Willard Oil Co. in Spartanburg, S.C.
Cadet Capt. Richard Simpson Ray of Thomasville, Ga.
Capt. Carl H. Josephson Navy Memorial Sword
The Charleston Council of the Navy League presents the award annually to the most outstanding cadet being commissioned in the U.S. Navy. The sword is awarded in recognition of superior academic and leadership skills demonstrated during a cadet's time at The Citadel.
Cadet Anthony Reynolds of Youngstown, Ohio
Brig. Gen. William Lee Smith Marine Corps Sword
The Charleston Council of the Navy League presents the award annually to the most outstanding cadet being commissioned in the U.S. Marine Corps. The sword recognizes superior academic and leadership skills demonstrated during a cadet's time at The Citadel.
Hotel Company
J.D. Sehorne Trophy
The award is presented annually to the cadet platoon that wins the regimental platoon drill competition.
Cadet Sgt. Carl J. Castellano of Newtown, Pa.
1st Lt. Dan Malcom Jr. USMC Memorial Sword
The sword will be presented annually to a graduating first-class cadet who will be commissioned in the U.S. Marine Corps. It is names in honor of 1st Lt. Dan Malcom Jr., Class of 2001, who died in Iraq in November 2004.
Home News for 2005-2006 Sixteen cadets honored for their achievements
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Freedom Isn’t Free From Team America
Posted February 5th, 2015 by BroadwayReviewed & filed under Team America.
This is a guest post from one of our readers who wanted to contribute a post. It does not reflect our company, endorsed by us or our beliefs.
Of all the show tunes out there, “Freedom Isn’t Free” from the animated musical Team America is my favorite. It shows me just how powerful humor can be when dealing with sensitive topics, and this is a lesson I’ve carried with me for all my life.
The Team America soundtrack is one of a kind, and “Freedom Isn’t Free” is definitely my favorite track. Like many other show tunes I’ve heard, it’s filled with inappropriate themes, and it’s hilarious.
In case you haven’t seen Team America, you should know that it’s a animated musical created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, then guys who created the hit TV show South Park and the Tony Award winning Broadway show The Book of Mormon.
I’ve always loved Trey Parker and Matt Stone. No topic is taboo or off limits when it comes to their writing, but they also have a knack for lacing their comedy with elements of brutally honest truth. Most of their creations, whether it’s an episode of South Park or a musical like Team America, contain some sort of social or political commentary. And it’s usually non-biased and surprisingly accurate.
And that’s why I love “Freedom Isn’t Free”. At face value, this song is all about the need to defend freedom around the world by whatever means necessary, including military action.
At a deeper level, however, it’s mocking anyone who actually has this mindset in real life, as evidenced by the singer’s comically thick southern accent.
Broadway productions and musicals don’t exactly tread lightly around sensitive subjects like politics, and Team America is no exception. It dives right into the deep end of controversy, and I really appreciate that.
I think that part of the reason I love “Freedom Isn’t Free” and the rest of the Team America soundtrack is because it uses comedy to make these touchy subjects more approachable.
In the same way Tarantino uses comedy to lower your guard just before a violent scene, songs like “Freedom Isn’t Free” make you laugh first, then challenge you to actually think about the song’s message.
It might sound weird, but I’ve tried to use this method in my own life. Whether it’s diffusing tension in a difficult meeting at work or trying to approach a wary stranger at a bar, comedy can help.
Injecting humor into any situation immediately lightens the mood and opens up new possibilities. The Team America writers know this, and they do it expertly, as you can see when you listen to “Freedom Isn’t Free”.
That’s why, of all of the amazing show tunes that were ever written, this silly satirical ballad is my favorite.
Click here to buy team america on video, blue ray and the soundtrack.
Tags: freedom isn't free from team america, freedom isn't free team america, funny south park songs and videos
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David Patrick McKenzie
Digital Public Historian
LatAm Readings: United States & Latin America
November 12, 2013 / David McKenzie / 0 Comments
Last spring, I took a fascinating Latin America and the United States course with Dr. Matthew Karush. We read a series of works (syllabus PDF) that looked primarily at the cultural relationship, exploring themes of transnationalism and generally complicating the picture; in fact, our class joke was “It’s complicated.”
So for this week, we felt it important to complement those readings with two overviews–one, written more like an undergraduate textbook, that focuses on the diplomatic and political relationship, and the other, an edited volume, that focuses on the cultural. I’m glad we did, as both of these books proved strong complements for the monographs from the class.
Smith, Peter H. Talons of the Eagle: Latin America, the United States, and the World. 4th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013.
This book provides an overview of U.S.-Latin American relations, synthesizing recent research. Smith divides the relationship’s history into three eras: Independence to 1930s, 1940s-late 1980s, and 1990s-today. These three eras represent three what he terms “regimes”–that is, predominant ways that the relationship worked, predominant patterns: Imperialism, Cold War, and post-Cold War. The pattern of each era was not unique to the Americas, but rather inter-American relationships reflected broader patterns. While Smith discusses the first era, he primarily focuses on the second two. This left me with the question of whether the long Imperialist era that Smith describes should be broken up further. While I could see the value of lumping U.S. actions and Latin American responses in this era together under a common rubric, especially in consideration of the broader international system, I wonder if this long of a period is a bit of a stretch. Perhaps more focus on that era would have allowed greater nuance. Nonetheless, Smith should be praised for not telling a one-sided story with this work–he does an admirable job of covering the variety that is Latin America, and focusing on not just what was happening in the United States but what was happening in Latin America, without losing sight of the unequal nature of the relationship. So, all in all this book provided a good synthesis and framework for the diplomatic and political side of the relationship.
Joseph, G. M, Catherine LeGrand, and Ricardo Donato Salvatore. Close Encounters of Empire: Writing the Cultural History of U.S.-Latin American Relations. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1998.
This book, in some ways, represents the other side of the coin from Smith: the cultural side. It is a collection of essays on different aspects of the U.S.-Latin American relationship, presaging (published in 1998) the culture-focused works that we read in the Latin America-U.S. class (the earliest was published around that time). I especially paid close attention to the introductory and concluding essays, which provided a great overall framework not just for the case study articles included in the volume but recent historiography of the relationship, and indeed helped me synthesize the works we’ve read this semester (discussed more below). Even though the book is 15 years old, I’d still recommend it for the framework it provides alone.
Tying Things Together: Discussion Topics
Once again, this theme comes up–it seems to be inevitable in discussions of Latin America’s relationship with the rest of the world. Smith, for example, defines the term as “the capacity of an actor–or nation–to impose its will on others without challenge” (5). He acknowledges Gramsci’s sense of hegemony as proscribing the courses of action that others can take–and their acceptance of those limits–but chooses not to use the term in that sense. In his essay in Close Encounters of Empire, though, Steve Stern uses that definition, in reprise of his previous work. I’d like to discuss this concept further–perhaps it should even form part of a minor field exam question. How do the different works define hegemony, and what difference does it make in how they portray the roles of “inside” and “outside” actors, for lack of a better term, in Latin American history? Depending on what other gaps we have to fill, perhaps it might be worth reading some Gramsci for the final week.
Dependency Theory & Developmentism, Relation of Each to World Systems Theory
Dependency theory figures prominently in Close Encounters of Empire, and slightly in Smith. In Close Encounters of Empire, both dependency theory and its foil, developmentalism, come in for rightful critique. I’d like to discuss further how each viewpoint illuminates–or doesn’t–both the topics discussed in these books, and the wider field as we’ve defined it. Perhaps some Prébisch or Cardoso might be in order for the final week, as well.
Periodization
Smith divides his work into the three eras discussed above. Stern, in his introductory essay in Close Encounters of Empire, offers a similar periodization, but in this case for Latin America’s relationship with the rest of the world: 1540s to 1750s, 1750s to 1930s, and 1930s to today. But within that, he separates 1890s-1930s (the main focus of the book). I’d like to discuss these periodizations further, especially in how they differ from the more traditional periods that break at independence. Are these periodizations more reflective of an approach of looking at Latin America and the world, or do they hold up otherwise (if such an untangling can even occur)?
Latin America and the World as a Subset of Latin American History?
Along those lines, I’d like to discuss a broader question: The degree to which a discussion of Latin America and the world is separate from, a subset of, or an integral, impossible to separate part of Latin American history, at least since circa 1500. Is Latin American history since Columbus a history of imperial interventions and deepening ties with the rest of the world? To put it another way, is a discussion of the history of Latin America and the World really a discussion of Latin American history, period?
Means of Empire
Much discussion of the United States’s role in Latin America is focused on the concept of “informal empire”–after the Spanish-American War, the United States did not build a “direct” empire in Latin America, and even quickly at least formally freed one of the territories–Cuba–it conquered in 1898. Instead, the United States exercised other means of control that could be said to constitute an empire. I’d like to discuss some parallels and differences with Spanish and Portuguese means of empire, especially in light of recent historiography (e.g., Kamen) debunking the idea of a centrally-controlled Spanish Empire. Obviously there are a lot of differences, but are the similarities more than meets the eye? Was the U.S. method of rule through local elites not that different from Spanish methods?
Transnational Views
Recent historiography has emphasized how impossible it is to untangle what is “local” versus “foreign.” Transnational approaches are rightfully in vogue. I’d like to discuss such approaches–prominent in Close Encounters of Empire, particularly how they differ from comparative history, and even from the way that Smith tells his story, jumping by chapter between the United States and Latin American responses. Could his history be considered transnational? I’m not saying that’s a bad thing if it’s not–but it does raise the question of how the story would be different.
Hist 804 - Latin America & the World Minor Field
Cartography: Neighborhood Reconstruction
Cartography: Final Project Draft
Clio 1 Fall 2011 (16)
Clio 2 Spring 2012 (15)
Clio 3 Fall 2012 (8)
Hist 615 – History and Cartography – Fall 2013 (17)
Hist 616 – American West (14)
Hist 804 – Latin America & the World Minor Field (6)
Digital History (38)
Dissertation Topic (9)
Informal Education (1)
Historiography (1)
History and Memory (1)
Mexican History (11)
Public History (20)
United States History (13)
© 2019 David Patrick McKenzie
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74 construction workers killed after scaffolding collapse in Jiangxi province
Image Gallery, Slider 25 Nov 2016
The collapse occurred at around 7 a.m. as construction workers were working on a platform attached to the cooling tower of a local power plant.
By yesterday afternoon, Chinese state media were reporting that at least 40 people had been killed in the accident. Later in the evening, that number rose even further to 67 people. Now, it’s at 74 with rescue work still ongoing.
The new number comes despite earlier reports that only 70 workers were working on the site. The latest reports state that 60 people were working on the platform when it collapsed, while another dozen were waiting below for their shift to start.
The victims range in age from 23 to 53 years old. It appears that only 2 of the workers survived the accident and are currently in the hospital receiving treatment for their injuries.
The cause of the collapse is still under investigation. Because of lax safety standards, workplace accidents at Chinese facilities are not uncommon. The cooling tower was being built by Hebei Yineng Tower Engineering Co Ltd. Liao Huishou, an engineer in charge of the project, said that they had started building the tower in April and construction was planned to last 26 months.
He called it a “complicated project” because of the tower’s double-curve design and the fact that the construction platform had to be adjusted based on the height of the tower.
“Time was very pressing and the construction was very difficult,” Liao said.
Tags: image galleryslider
← Four historic Hong Kong buildings to be revamped CHEC bags Macau bridge project to reclaimed land →
14 land transactions in Q2
Major Chinese infrastructure firm to join Helsinki—Tallinn tunnel project
Taiwan Gov’t considers extending Taiwan High Speed Rail
HK-Shenzhen Western Express Line feasibility Plan back in the works
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Moakler does it his way
Brighton Music Hall, Boston, May 11, 2017
Steve Moakler told the good-sized crowd that he had played just about every college there is in the area. Now, that would be quite a lot and probably a bit hyperbolic. But the point is he's trying to do it his way.
Without the benefits of commercial radio play or a label behind him, Moakler has benefitted from extraterrestrial radio playing his song "Wheels." As a result of success there, Moakler brought his style of what is called country music these days (it's more apparent on his recording than it is live) to an enthusiastic following. That might be an understatement for one fan, who said after the show that she had seen him about 75 times. She was not joking. Some seemed to know his every lyric.
While Moakler has toured solo acoustic and showed his singer/songwriter side in a Passim gig not so long ago, here, he played more the rocker with a three-piece band of standard drums, bass and lead guitar.
So, while was a standard fare sound-wise to him (the lead guitarist did his job well in filling out the songs), what aided Moakler most was his songwriting. He's perhaps best known for penning "Riser," the title track of a Dierks Bentley album. Moakler also has benefitted from Jake Owen and Eric Church among others recorded his songs.
With four full-length releases and an EP behind him, Moakler's new "Steel Town" CD, which incorporates all five EP songs, emphasizes what makes him a worthy contender. He's happy to show off his roots, but it's not of the farm, truck and good old boy routine.
Moakler paid homage to his hometown with "Steel Town" (to his credit, he wasn't afraid to talk up his hometown team, the Steelers, in Patriots territory) and related how much he enjoyed going to the local bar, "Siddle's Saloon," before launching into the song. His stories seemed real, like he actually had lived them. He's not a performer big on ego, but more in telling a story with introspection.
Yes, he had the songs about the girls as well, including the more commercial "Summer Without Her" and the strong closer to the set of "Love Drunk."
Moakler is the kind of artist for whom persistence has paid off. He has paid his dues, got a break from Sirius radio, which sponsored the tour, but, more importantly, has songs of merit to explain his success. Moakler is the kind of artist, who shows how much the musical terrain has changed in recent years. That's not only to his benefit, but with worthy shows like this, ours.
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February 07, 2017 / Isa Adney
Interview with New York Times writer Jada Yuan
You’ve probably never heard of “Jada Yuan,” but you’ve heard of the people she’s interviewed: Steven Spielberg, Taylor Swift, Mindy Kaling, Stevie Nicks, to name a few. But who she knows is not what makes Jada interesting – it’s how she writes; she is one of my favorite writers.
(editor's note from Jan 10, 2018: When I interviewed Jada in 2016 she was the Contributing Editor for New York Magazine. Today, The New York Times announced her as their new 52 Places Travel Writer. In a week Jada will travel the world and write about it for The New York Times. Can you imagine how many writers dream of this job? How many amazing writers applied for this job? Jada's interview carries even more weight for me today, because now it is not just a story about my favorite writer, it's a story about what it takes to become the kind of artist who is offered The Impossible Dream Job. Congratulations, Jada!)
Jada is a storyteller – and I want to find out how she got so good at her craft.
I discovered her skill a year ago while doing research about Taylor Swift for an article. I’d read dozens of articles about Taylor by the time I got to Jada’s piece, but hers felt instantly different. It was the first article that made me feel like I was in the room, sitting on the “burnt-orange velvet sofa” with Taylor Swift, in a “sprawling two-story penthouse” surrounded by “jewel tones” and a “rosewood Steinway grand piano.”
If, as Joan Didion says, “writing nonfiction is…like sculpture, a matter of shaping the research into the finished thing,” then Jada is a sculptress who paints her clay once it’s been fired.
In the Taylor Swift piece, Jada could have simply listed what Taylor was wearing that day (it was an article for Vogue, after all) by writing something like ‘Taylor was wearing a dress by rvn.” Instead, she paints a scene, and lets us decide what it means:
“…when I ask Swift who made her black knit tank dress, she has no idea…Swift turns to me for help. ‘I don’t know—do I have a tag in there?’ she asks, lifting up her fluffy fair hair and leaning her back toward me. rvn, the tag reads. ‘My stylist put it in my closet,’ she says, burying her face in her hands.”
When I read this I’m not thinking about clothes at all. I’m thinking about what it must be like to sit on a burnt orange sofa with someone who has clothes magically appear in her closet. I’m wondering what it’s like to live a life where having a reporter on your burnt orange sofa is so normal and comfortable that you lean your neck to let her check your tag. To this day I still think about the phrase "fluffy hair" - it's part of a collection I have: words that sound like music.
The more I read of Jada’s work (a variety, from pop culture reviews to exonerated prisoners), the more I see that this is what she does; she doesn’t assume something is interesting because it’s well known or sounds click-worthy. She looks for more. It feels like she doesn’t want to waste your time, like she doesn’t write for a paycheck alone – like she wants to make sure she says something, like she wants to give you something for your time.
In short, she’s an artist, though she might not call herself that.
I call Jada for an interview a few months after falling in love with her writing. She answers the phone and I reiterate all of the above, telling her how much I appreciate her as an artist; she responds with an incredulous “Really?” in a voice that rings with kindness and the soft tones of the kind of introvert you can find me talking to for hours in the corner of a hotel ballroom when I’m supposed to be “networking.”
Her “Really?” is cradled by an unassuming lilt. Her disbelief in her own artistry is not a request for praise, nor a testament to someone who doesn’t know her worth. It’s feels like the first smell of jasmine on a summer night in Florida; the revelation that someone in her late thirties can work on a craft for years and still be surprised by a compliment, or may not totally see herself as an artist. There's a part of me that wants to feel sad, that a woman like Jada should always feel like an artist - but the truth is, I find it a relief. It feels new to know that you don’t always have to feel like an artist to make art.
I answer Jada's “Really?” with a resounding and happy “Yes.” and she explains her incredulity a little more: “It’s weird being like a journalistic non-fiction writer. I’m in it, but I’m not really in it...it’s not like being a novelist and it’s just you on a page.” I recognize this comparison in my stomach – the ‘I can’t draw so I’m not an artist.’ The ‘I’m not creative because I write non-fiction.’ The ‘the true creators are those who create something out of nothing. I am not a real creator. I am not creative. I am not an artist.’
“It’s weird,” Jada continues,” I’ve never really thought of myself as a creative person…someone in the arts, but sort of on the periphery…I think that’s also what journalists are: we’re always on the outside looking in.”
But it’s what Jada sees when she’s looking in that makes her an artist to me.
I tell her how I feel about her piece on the exonerated prisoners, a piece you could argue she wasn’t “in” at all, since she chose to let the prisoners tell their own stories. But I find her artistry in the very choice she makes tell their stories in their own voice, and in the details she doesn’t edit out, like in Jeffrey Deskovic’s retelling of his experience on the day he was released from prison, after 16 years, for a crime he didn’t commit. See if you can spot my favorite detail, or better yet, choose your own:
“In the morning, when they opened my cell, they told me they were transferring me. I knew that that meant I was going to court…the guards wanted to put the handcuffs and the chains and all the manacles on me. And I asked them, ‘What are you doing all that for?’ That’s when they told me, ‘Well, the judge might change his mind.’ They brought me to the holding area in the courthouse in White Plains. Doubts start coming into my mind. They gave me this brown-bag lunch, which had like an apple and terrible sandwiches in it. One of them was just a dry cheese sandwich and the other was like a bologna sandwich and you could tell that things had been made early that morning so the bread was soggy. I initially put the thing aside. But as more time is going by, I start thinking, Well, damn, I might need this, actually. I might be going back to the prison afterwards, and by the time I get there, lunch is long since over. So I ate the damn sandwiches.”
I tell Jada how many writers might cut the description of the sandwich, how it could seem like an irrelevant or boring detail. To me, the sandwich is everything.
I think about the kind of interviewer it takes to get a well-told story like this, to make someone feel relaxed enough to remember the sandwich, to feel valued enough to repeat it.
Jada is an artist because she recognizes the literary in the mundane. Jada is an artist because she doesn’t cut the soggy sandwich.
She is creative. She is good. And she’s been working at it for a long time. She wrote her first book in middle school: “I wrote a book in 6th grade…[with] vivid scenes in a haunted house, and a character named Fatso Bratso.” The book was 40 pages, and much of it took place in Nantucket, which Jada laughs about when she remembers she’d never actually been but had always read about Nantucket: “I was an indoor kid in New Mexico, and it’s really hot and desert-y…so all I did was read.”
But despite all the reading, writing, and imagining, Jada didn’t plan on a writing career, the same way someone who grows up swinging on swings doesn’t think about making swings a full time career. Reading and writing were simply forms of play – ways to stay cool in the desert.
Jada won creative writing contests and wrote poems throughout the rest of her schooling, but writing is not the career path she envisioned. Non-fiction “stories” of a different kind caught her attention; after high school she majored in History at Yale University where she was assigned a writing tutor, Fred.
Jada saw Fred a lot in college because, as she explains, he’s someone you'd see “anytime you had a paper and you were struggling to figure it out,” and by her own admission, that happened to her a lot: “I had five hours until deadline and I hadn’t written anything; I would go in and he’d be like, ‘wow I’m really worried for you.'"
I can't help but start to imagine that voice in my head as my own personal "Fred" - wow I'm really worried for you you haven't finished your book yet. Wow I'm really worried for you what are you doing with your time. Wow I'm really worried for you why is this taking so long?
And yet, Fred sees something in Jada’s procrastinated writing. “At some point he mentioned that he thought I should take this non-fiction writing course.” Jada takes both of his writing classes and joined the magazine he ran at Yale called The New Journal, where she is immersed in an intensive writing environment: “everything went through 18 rounds of edits.”
Eighteen rounds of edits. Eighteen rounds of edits. Eighteen rounds of edits. Would it annoy you if I repeat that eighteen times? I kind of want to. But I won't. You get it, I know. EIGHTEEN! Ok. That was the last one. I promise. It's just I can't help but be obsessed with this idea of editing. Editing is painful the first time, let alone the seventeenth. And yet I think it's what makes an artist good. But what I feel like they don't tell you is that when you're in edit number fifteen you feel like I AM THE WORST AND I AM NOT AN ARTIST AND I'M OBVIOUSLY A TERRIBLE WRITER SO REALLY I SHOULD STOP NOW. I feel like it's those who can keep going in that space who get really good. The goal perhaps not to stop the voice, but to simply make it to eighteen despite it. And then, to do the really brave and impossible thing: start again with edit one.
Being immersed in an intensive editing process at one of the best universities in the country can make Jada’s path seem deceptively straightforward: combine her early fiction writing (e.g. "Fatso Bratso"), interest in non-fiction stories (as a History major), and ivy-league-writing practice, and botta-bing-botta-boom she has found her perfect career and will be a journalistic non-fiction writer for the rest of her life! Easy peasy.
Except that’s not at all how it happens.
Jada enjoyed her time at her college magazine, but she didn't feel any grand calling towards a journalistic non-fiction career. She graduated college and returned home to New Mexico: “I didn’t really have an idea of what I wanted to do for a job. My mom was like, ‘Well, you’re not living here for the rest of your life, so we’re getting you on a plane. You can stay with your grandparents for a couple weeks [in New York], and then you have to find an apartment and figure out your life.’”
Jada is pushed back out of the nest, into the city.
Following a vague interest in film Jada started off doing a series of unpaid script development internships in New York. She found it fun, but as she put it, “I couldn’t live without any money.” Any artist knows this song well.
So she started applying for any job she thought would pay the rent, walking her resume around New York.
She brought her resume to New York Magazine because of one of those seemingly innocuous moments that sometimes start entire career trajectories. “I’d never read New York Magazine. I just went because my mom’s friend had it in her apartment and she said, ‘Why don’t you apply for New York Magazine?’”
Around that same time an assistant at New York Magazine had just told her boss that she needed to leave her job right away, but her boss told her that she had to find her own replacement first. Enter fresh-out-of-college Jada, resume in hand. The assistant offers Jada her job on the spot.
But Jada got a higher paying offer that same day from another job she'd applied for at American Lawyer. Jada had done a law internship as part of her History major and was considering law school – she applied for the American Lawyer job as sort of“a waylay station before I had to go to law school…sort of about trying to be the ‘good girl’ that I thought that I needed to be, which meant that I probably ‘should’ have gone into law.”
As I'm reading this part on my eighteenth edit of this piece Bobby Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez's lyrics dance into my head: "that perfect girl is gone..."
Jada remembers walking into the office at American Lawyer and realizing “I don’t want this to be my life. And no disrespect for anyone who works at American Lawyer. It was like, ‘Am I really going to be writing stories about lawyers?’ I just couldn’t do it.” I picture Jada walking out of American Lawyer with a clear cape cascading down, following her down subway stairs, the ends collecting new york grime but the windows of the subway car crackling with icicles.
Jada chose the New York Magazine job even though it paid a lot less than the American Lawyer job (and neither paid very much). I ask her why she didn’t take the higher paying job and she explains: “Lots of people leave college and know what they want to do, but I had no idea. It took a really long time to figure it out…I knew deep down I didn’t want to be a lawyer.”
I think about the times when I have no idea where I’m going or where I even want to go next in my career - when all I can do is move away from the things I know for sure I don’t want. But often that leaves me feeling more lost than ever, like I'm stuck in a manhole (or womanhole?) with a bunch of construction workers peering down like, eh, lets just leave her there, we have no work for her up here.
But for Jada, the rest is a dream come true: she takes the assistant job at New York Magazine and an editor quickly notices her creative brilliance and within a few weeks she is interviewing Spielberg!
Ha.
Jada spends the next four years “answering phones…filling out healthcare forms…writing contracts and paying writers.” Jada remembers: “It was definitely a drag.”
You know what's coming now right? Four years. Four years. Four years. Four years.
Eighteen rounds of edits. Four years of filling out healthcare forms. The things that make a writer that no one ever quite tells you.
What gets someone through those four years? For Jada it was the creative atmosphere and sense of possibility: “We were in a very creative office…[the assistants] sat right outside the editor’s offices….[and the editors] would walk out of meetings and just hand us small things to do – really tiny assignments – and those just built on each other.”
For four years she hangs on every tiny assignment, writing whatever she’s given, doing the grunt work. Waiting, hoping, writing, waiting, hoping, writing, filing, filing, writing, writing, filing, filing, filing, filing, writing, writing, writing, hoping, filing.
So many dues being paid in the only currency accepted - diligence and difficulty.
Jada and her fellow assistants take on any writing assignment they can get on the side, building their skills, all the while longing for the next step – to be summoned out of the assistants desk and into a full time writing job.
Four years after Jada is given the assistant job, one of those full-time writing jobs opens up.
It goes to an outside hire.
This happens again and again and Jada and her fellow assistants feel crushed. “When is it our turn?” they wonder.
Then another full-time writing job opens up (a listings job in charge of chronicling upcoming events in a particular category, like sports) and this time an assistant is promoted.
That assistant isn’t Jada.
“I was so mad!” she laughs as she remembers watching her friend get the job she wanted, “I was happy for her, but she got the jail break, and I didn’t get it.”
Jada was friends with the editor who had just made the hire, and she was comfortable enough (and frustrated enough) to walk into his office and express her disappointment at not being given a chance to move forward. His response: “'I hate to tell you this but you’re never going to get that job…I’ve seen your sports listings - they’re great - but they’re like twice as long as they need to be. We have to keep cutting them down…But you’re really good at interviewing people and you should just do that.'”
Jada's long profiles are what drew me to her. I love that her writing is not pithy, I love that she does not take shortcuts to keep up with our shortening attention spans. Her articles are what gave me the hope I needed to start this long form blog, hope that maybe people don't read long stuff simply because the writers haven't taken time to edit it eighteen times. Hope that there's still a place for words without gifs. (No shade to gifs though.)
So when the editor tells Jada the reason she isn't getting promoted is because her writing instincts lean towards detail and length, skies open up and Jada finally sees what she was always meant to do. She hugs the editor and they ride unicorns along a rug of rainbows all the way to the features office where she promptly gets a job interviewing people full time and…you already know where I’m going with this, right?
Here is what actually happens next: “I was so pissed off...I spent another year doing the editorial assistant thing.”
Another year.
But those editor’s words stayed with her. “I took it to heart.”
Jada is patient. She works hard and continues to take any writing opportunity available, even if it isn’t necessarily what she “dreams” of doing.
Another full-time position opens up at the magazine in party reporting. It’s still all about concise writing, but this time it’s also about interviewing people at least, so Jada decides to apply.
She gets the job.
Jada spends the next few years going to elite parties, asking celebrities questions and getting quotes for the magazine. She interviews. She writes. She starts managing a whole team of freelancers and interns. She works until 4am most nights. And despite having a job that revolves around parties, her social life dissipates.
Prince was a catalyst for the next turning point. “One of those [4am] nights, Prince had a book party that I was invited to where he was playing in an apartment, and [because of my job] I missed Prince playing a concert in an apartment, and I was like, ‘This cannot be my life anymore. I cannot do this.’”
First world problems, amiright? But Jada isn't whining about missing one elite event because her job has her at another. The Prince Disappointment was about something else entirely.
Jada realized the job she was doing was close and yet very far from the art she longed to do. After that night she realized, “I do not want to be the person who is telling people what to do or managing them. I want to be the person there. I want to be the person who is seeing things and writing about it.” It can seem like a simple revelation, even an inevitable one knowing what Jada does today - but when you're living this part of your life its all fog and these kinds of epiphanies are fresh batteries for a flashlight that's burnt out.
And like most career turning points, this one for Jada “came out of frustration.” Frustration is a prickly guide, but a guide nonetheless.
I notice that Jada never seems to let the frustration keep her from building thousands of hours of practice in her craft. Even in the frustration, when her days and nights were consumed with managing others and doing her job, she took every opportunity to do writing assignments on the side: “I was writing every single day and every single night.” Because 10,00 hours of working on a craft on top of a day job is always oodles of fun, right? Jada tells the truth about this part of craft development: “…it was exhausting.”
And even though so many of her words are rejected, like that time she spent five hours working on a 250-word sports listing about a dedicated group of fans in Harlem and it’s cut to 30 words, she keeps trying. She keeps writing.
Her dedication is eventually noticed. She starts to get assigned mini profile pieces which turn into bigger culture pieces which eventually turn into full-length features. “It was sort of gradual,” Jada remembers, “you start voting with your feet. You do the things that you want to do and then eventually those become the things that you do.”
After years and years (and years and years and year and years) of grunt work Jada is finally doing work she completely wants to do, in a craft she cares about, and everything about it is perfect and wonderful. Right?
“The process of writing is terrible. It’s so painful. It’s the worst thing in the world. But the idea of writing is great, and it’s also a compulsion…it’s just the way that I am, and I can’t stop it, so I might as well go with it.”
Jada explains how her compulsion is also part of a joyous chase: “That’s the great thing about writing…you can always go over a sentence again and find a word you can cut or find a different way to say something… I do think there’s a time when you should let it go and just be happy that’s it out in the world, but the process of learning how to be a good writer, you can go to the grave working on that.”
I don’t know how we get to where we get next, but somehow our conversation about the pursuit of mastery turns into a conversation about rejection. Maybe because rejection is so good at matching the pace of ambition.
Jada tells me about a rejection that gutted her during her time party reporting: “It was right after my grandfather had died, and I was going out to parties and having to put on this thing where I’m cheerfully going up to celebrities. [One night] we were all trying to wait for Kanye West. Kanye was supposed to show up and he literally walked into the room and walked out, and we sat around and waited an hour for that to happen…[so now] I really didn’t have anything to write about for this party.”
Ever the professional, Jada looked around for another idea and spotted a well-known super model. “I went up, and I was like, ‘Hi, I’m Jada from New York Magazine. Just a couple quick questions.’ And she agreed to it...I had this really innocuous question. It was something like, ‘Have you ever not sat front row at a fashion show?’ And she was like, ‘That’s a really stupid question. I can’t believe you’re asking me that. Why are you wasting my time?’ And I held it together for another two minutes, and then I just ran off and cried, and I was like, ‘What the f--- am I doing?’”
Jada remembers the blow, how personal it felt at the time. I ask her how she feels about rejection now. “I don’t think you ever get over it…I would be surprised if there was anyone [rejection] didn’t hurt…whether it’s rejection when you’re trying to interview someone or a bad comment on an article, or no one reads the article. I still experience it constantly…[but] it helps…[when] you can’t picture yourself doing something else.”
She also tries to remember the mantra “It’s not about me.”
We talk next about rejection’s close cousin, self-doubt. It’s “just always there,” Jada shares. I ask her a question that means a lot to me: What keeps you writing through the self-doubt? I don't realize it but I'm holding my breath waiting for her answer. I don't hold it for long because she doesn't hesitate.
“Guilt, probably."
I laugh one of those laughs that spray water.
“Guilt” is the last thing I expect Jada to say, and yet it feels immediately and deeply true. Guilt has kept quite a few projects alive when all I wanted to do was kill them. I wonder for a moment if this is true for anyone else. I start to imagine a new kind of Oscar acceptance speech:
I’d like to thank my manager, my agent, but this award is really dedicated to guilt! Thank you guilt for getting me out of bed to work even when I hated myself and everything I was working on. I couldn’t do it without you guilt (tears up) and, guilt, I just wanna say…(cue exit music).
Guilt gets Jada moving on a project when she feels unsure, but what gets her all the way to the finish line is knowing she’s good at what she does. Guilt can morph into confidence, excitement even.
Jada credits great people in her life for helping her build the kind of confidence that pushes projects past the breaking point: “I was able to get past a lot of [self-doubt] by having other people around me who believed in me. It’s really sort of a fake it until you make it kind of thing, and it really helps if you have other people who see something that you can’t see yourself.”
While we can’t control who might see something in us we can be that person for someone else. I try to remember to tell the artists in my life what I see in them. We need more artists, and emerging artists need at least one person to tell them what they see – or they will most likely stop during the crucial but very painful parts. They still stop at edit sixteen. It’s a survival mechanism. Any sane person will stop.
Jada found ways of thinking that also helped slowly built her confidence during the editing process. She'd say to herself, “Maybe…you didn’t write it the way that you wanted to, but you got some good quotes. So feel ok about that, and then have the confidence that you always get good quotes…and then try and work on the [other] parts...[but] concentrate on the thing that you did well.”
Jada does a lot of things well today, and if you don’t believe me, ask Stevie Nicks.
Three years ago, Jada was assigned a profile on Stevie. Fear gripped her as she knew so little about Stevie Nicks or her music. But Jada got right to work and started with research, letting herself be drawn to what she found most compelling. A question beings to emerge from the heaps of research that Jada grows desperate to answer: Why does Stevie Nicks mean so much to so many women?
Jada spends the next four months trying to answer that question (she has to fight to keep extending the deadline because she is so dedicated to getting it right). She finishes the piece. It reads like a song. Some of my favorite ‘lyrics:’
“Look to the shawls…”
“ …a woman transformed, wrapped in fringed silk…fine fabric unfurling from her delicate shoulders like the banner of an advancing army, heralding not just a song but the coming of an event…”
“…those shawls have magic in them.”
Jada rarely hears back from the people she writes about, so when two weeks after it publishes she hasn’t heard any feedback from Stevie Nicks’ camp, she isn’t surprised: “In this business you really don’t expect to hear anything.”
After the article publishes Stevie Nicks plays a show nearby and Jada wants to go. She reaches out to Stevie’s assistant whom she’d gotten to know from the piece and nervously asks for tickets. Jada remembers the assistant’s response: “’Oh yeah. Stevie loves you. Please come!’”
Jada shows up with a friend and enjoys the show – somewhere along the way she has become one of those women Stevie means something to.
Stevie sings her songs and Jada and her friend watch the shawls. “Landslide” is up next, Jada knows, because she’d seen the show in rehearsals; Stevie dedicates “Landslide” to someone every night. On this night, Stevie places her gloved hand over the mic and begins her dedication:
"I always kind of save this for people who I consider to be family or really my closest, closest friends…I would like to dedicate this song to a girl, a lady…Jada. She wrote the most beautiful article about me She followed me around for three days. I thought, 'She's 35 years old, she doesn't even ... ' [but] come to find out that she got it. She got something that no one who has ever written about me has ever gotten. I'll never, ever forget it. It lives in my journal."
Jada bursts into tears. Her friend grabs her phone and starts taking pictures of Jada crying and all the people around them start asking “‘What? Is that you? Is she talking about you?’”
“It was really…really crazy,” Jada remembers. After the show Stevie invites Jada backstage because she wants to talk to her more. “Stevie Nicks is herself a beautiful writer. That’s why people connect with her songs. She’s a poet. So for her to see something in that was really special, and also to acknowledge…I put so much effort into it. I really wanted to do a good job, and I had.”
As a creative, it doesn’t get much better than that: “I was high on it for a couple weeks.”
So Jada The Writer lived happily ever after and never doubted herself or her writing again!
I thought about actually ending this piece there. There is satisfaction in the perfect ending, maybe because real life is ongoing, messy, a continuity of plot and conflict, sometimes painfully devoid of dénouement. But at about edit seventeen I realized that the story just doesn't end there. And at least all that messy continuing is also evidence of something to be thankful for - if you’re still struggling, it means you’re still alive.
It means you’re still trying.
It means your story isn’t over yet.
And neither is Jada’s.
Self-doubt returned, even after the Stevie Nicks Moment. “Then this huge wave of self-doubt came through where I was just like, ‘That’s the highest that it’s ever going to get. Where do I go from there? I can’t top that piece.’ And I haven’t. I’ve written other pieces that I think are good but…”
Jada’s favorite piece of advice about the highs and lows of creative work came from a therapist who told her: “It’s about batting averages…you have to just be a baseball player and the best baseball players in the world, they strike out. They strike out. Every once in a while they hit a home run and that’s a great moment. But if you’re going to choose this to be your life…if you’re going to keep putting yourself out there, you can’t expect greatness every time. But you can expect some really good satisfying moments, and you just have to keep working toward that.”
Luckily, it’s the “working toward” that Jada finds most satisfying. It doesn’t mean there aren’t still days when writing feels terrible, it just means she’s learned that somewhere on the other side is something worth the frustration.
February 07, 2017 / Isa Adney/
interviews, creativitea convo
creativity, art, artist, writer, jada yuan, new york magazine, write, writing, female writer, jouranlist, stevie nicks, new york, new york city
Why it's okay to feel terrified ...
What to do when no one will hire ...
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You are here: Home / Shaun Grech
Shaun Grech
Shaun Grech is founder and director of The Critical Institute. He is also editor-in-chief of the international journal, Disability and the Global South (DGS) and co-editor of the book series, Palgrave Studies in Disability and International Development. His critical and interdisciplinary research covers a range of areas including disability, poverty and development, coloniality, critical disability studies, migration and intersectionality. Grech has published extensively in academic journals, is author of the book Disability and Poverty in the Global South: Renegotiating Development in Guatemala (Palgrave Macmillan), and co-editor of Inclusive Communities: A Critical Reader (Sense Publishers) and Disability in the Global South: The Critical Handbook (Springer). He serves on the board of a number of international journals including Social Inclusion and Annual Review of Critical Psychology. Shaun is also an activist and practitioner combining field level action research experience with disability practice projects in contexts of extreme rural poverty in Latin America.
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Marie Filippovová
The Labyrinth and 1/3
The House of Arts, Jaroslav Král Gallery
Curator: Terezie Petišková
The exhibition will present an original installation by the Brno graphic artist, painter and environmental artist Marie Filippovová, in which she will respond directly to the gallery space of the Brno House of Arts. The artist belongs to the generation which started its artistic career at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s. Her work has always remained within the boundaries of her interest in reality, but reduced to its elementary component parts, the individual particles that make up reality. She worked for a long time as a teacher at the local Secondary School of Applied Arts and her own work used to be small-scale and intimate. With the changed family situation after her retirement she finally had enough room for creating large-size drawings and installations. She expresses herself mainly through abstract and concentrated drawing and painting taking advantage of her familiarity with different graphic techniques. She usually works with paper which she perforates in the vein of the Braille system and she combines these relief prints to create labyrinths. Elsewhere she may cover the gallery floor in carpets with drawings. Her installation in the Brno House of Arts can be taken as a contribution to the specific spatial application of drawing.
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Elections » Infographics » Infographic on list of Chief Ministers of J and K
Infographic on list of Chief Ministers of J and K
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Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir
Ghulam Mohammed Sadiq
Ghulam Mohammed Sadiq was the first ever Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. His tenure started on 30 March 1965 and continued till 12 December 1971 for a period of 6 years and 257 days. Prior to that, he had been the Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir from 29 February 1964 to 30 March 1965. In fact, he was the last person to have served in this post before it was changed to the post of Chief Minister as per the amendment of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir in 1965. He was a member of the Indian National Congress (INC).
Syed Mir Qasim
Syed Mir Qasim of the Indian National Congress was the second individual to have been the Jammu and Kashmir CM. He ascended to the post on 12 December 1971 and his last day in office was 25 February 1975. As a statesman and politician, the mild-natured Qasim earned a high degree of respect. He had a number of virtues such as tenacity, courage, a cool and calm temperament, and sagacity.
Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah
Known as Sher-e-Kashmir (Lion of Kashmir), Sheikh Mohammad was the founder of National Conference (NC). He was the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir for two terms. His first term lasted for 2 years and 29 days – it started on 25 February 1975 and ended on 26 March 1977. He again became the CM on 9 July 1977 and stayed in that post till 8 September 1982, completing a term of 5 years and 61 days. Incidentally he also served as the PM of Jammu and Kashmir during 1948 after it became a part of Indian Union in 1947. However, Maharaja Hari Singh’s son Yuvraj Karan Singh – who happened to be the Sadr-i-Riyasat, dismissed him from this position on 8 August 1953. He was a major proponent of the self-rule for Kashmir.
Farooq Abdullah
Farooq Abdullah, the son of Sheikh Abdullah, has served for the maximum number of occasions as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. His first reign lasted only a year and 298 days, starting on 8 September 1982 and ending on 2 July 1984. He next became the Jammu and Kashmir CM for 3 years and 73 days on 7 November 1986 and his tenure came to an end on 19 January 1990. He again became the CM on 9 October 1996. This was his longest reign at 6 years and 9 days and went on till 18 October 2002. It was during Abdullah’s tenure as CM that Kashmir faced the rise in militancy with terrorists trained in Pakistan infiltrating and wrecking havoc in the state. There were several high profile kidnappings at this time as well.
Ghulam Mohammad Shah
Ghulam Mohammad Shah was the CM of Jammu and Kashmir for a limited period of time – 1 year and 247 days. He was a member of the Awami National Conference when he rose to the post. Incidentally Farooq Abdullah, whom he succeeded as the chief minister, happened to be his brother-in-law. Before becoming the CM, he was also a leading member of National Conference.
Mufti Mohammad Sayeed became the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir on 2 November 2000 and continued in that position till 2 November 2005. He represented the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), which had been established by him with the sole purpose of starting a dialogue, without any conditions, between the people of Kashmir and the Indian Government so that a solution to the Kashmir tangle could be found. He was also the first ever Muslim to have been the Union Minister for Home Affairs during 1989.
Ghulam Nabi Azad
A member of the Indian National Congress, Ghulam Nabi Azad became the CM of Jammu and Kashmir on 2 November 2005. He continued in this position for 2 years and 252 days before tendering his resignation on 7 July 2008 due to the controversy surrounding his government’s plan to transfer some land to a board that owned a Hindu shrine. This led to vociferous protests that ultimately resulted in the withdrawal of the decision, which, in turn, was also protested by the Hindu population of the state. The chain of events finally led to communal clashes that claimed seven lives. The PDP withdrew its support thus leading to the fall of Azad’s government.
Omar Abdullah
A scion of the famed Abdullah family, Omar is the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, since 5 January 2009. He was born on 10 March 1970 to Mollie and Farooq Abdullah at Rochford, Essex. His schooling took place at Burn Hall School in Srinagar and later on at Lawrence School, Sanawar.
In the very first year of his chief ministry, Abdullah was accused of trying to cover up the death of two young women in Shopian, raped and murdered supposedly by members of Indian paramilitary forces.
The 2014 floods that virtually brought life to a standstill across the state was an area where the incumbent CM faced the flak for his handling of the situation. The common people were of the view that the government virtually did nothing and was not at all proactive. While stating that his administration was not ready to deal with such a massive flood, Omar stated that his government did the best it could with the resources that it had.
Omar Abdullah has a lot at stake during the forthcoming Assembly elections to Jammu and Kashmir Assembly.
Sources: Media reports
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Glenn Close in ‘The Wife’: A Master Class in Film Acting
19 Feb Glenn Close in ‘The Wife’: A Master Class in Film Acting
Posted at 11:52h in Variety by Tim Gray by Embankment Films 0 Comments
The BAFTA Awards are Feb. 10, with Oscars two weeks later. All the lead actress nominees are terrific, but Glenn Close creates something unique because it’s so subtle. What she does is harder than it looks.
In Sony Classics’ “The Wife,” Close has the least showy role of the contenders, which is usually an awards disadvantage. She doesn’t have any “big scenes,” there’s no hysteria, no scenery-chewing, no calculated “This’ll get ’em!” moments. Instead, she offers a lesson in film acting.
Close told Variety that the challenge and “thrill” were in creating a woman who has so much going on internally; the character, Joan Castleman, has spent her life trying to fade into the background of her writer-husband, but both hit a crisis when he’s awarded a Nobel Prize for literature.
“There were years of her reveling in the work, but slowly seeing her husband become delusional about his creative process,” says Close. “And the growing rage that she has suppressed, suppressed, suppressed. For a long time, she thought ‘It’s worth it, to be able to do what I do’ — until it isn’t any more.”
Joan tells a reporter, “Please don’t paint me as the victim. I’m much more interesting than that.”
The performance is remarkable for what Close does — and what she doesn’t do.
Jonathan Pryce, who also offers a multi-layered performance as the insecure-narcissist husband, adds: “Joan doesn’t set the house on fire, doesn’t destroy everything, even though that’s what she wants to do. She’s spent her whole life holding those feelings in, and that’s what Glenn does so wonderfully, all those pent-up emotions.
“When I saw the film, I noticed that Bjorn [Runge, the director] and the editor very often stay with the person who isn’t speaking, and a lot of the time that was Glenn. That’s what’s wonderful about her performance: She shows everything that’s unsaid between them.”
Close adds, “It was incredibly rewarding to sit with the audience in Toronto at its world premiere and to feel the response,” she says. “It’s a quiet, intimate story, and the audience was getting every nuance. I realized, we had created something bigger than we’d thought.”
She said it was sometimes uncomfortable to film certain scenes, because of the complex emotions, and because it was a constant reminder of generations of women who sublimated their dreams. “I think about my mom, what she could have created, that would have given her such fulfillment,” she says. Working on the film also reminded her of her grandmother, who had unspoken wishes to be an actress.
Close represents the sole Oscar and BAFTA nomination for the film, but she frequently deflects conversation to others, including Pryce and her daughter Annie Starke, who plays Joan at a younger age. “Those flashbacks are so important and I’m so proud of Annie and what she did to establish Joan,” she says.
She also has high praise for everyone behind the camera, such as DP Ulf Brantas, editor Lena Dahlberg, scripter Jane Anderson, and novelist Meg Wolitzer, and especially director Runge, saying, “I revel in collaboration, and I had great collaborators.”
This is Close’s seventh Oscar nomination, with no wins so far. But if she is victorious at BAFTA and the Oscars, this wouldn’t be a gift, or a make-good. She has been creating indelible movie characters for decades, including in “Fatal Attraction,” “Dangerous Liaisons,” “Albert Nobbs,” and Cruella de Vil in “101 Dalmatians.”
On TV, memorable work includes Nellie Forbush in “South Pacific,” Patty Hewes in “Damages,” and Margarethe Cammermeyer in “Serving in Silence,” plus on-stage performances in “Sunset Blvd.,” “The Real Thing,” “Death and the Maiden,” and “A Delicate Balance.” She’s always done interesting projects, has always been good and always a pro, respected in the industry.
But those are not the reasons to vote for her. Close’s work in “The Wife” is the reason to vote for her.
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Ian Lucas (Member of Parliament)
Ian Lucas has been the Labour MP for Wrexham in North Wales since 2001.
Ian is a Member of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee of the House of Commons. He is also the Chair of the North Wales Group of Labour MPs, Chair of the Spinal Injuries All Party Group and Chair of the North Wales/Mersey Dee All Party Group.
When Labour was in Government, Ian was appointed to the Whip’s Office by Prime Minister Gordon Brown and served in Peter Mandelson’s Business Department as Minister for Business and Regulatory Reform.
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Discover Truth
Who are we? What is our purpose? What is truth? Thoughtful comments appreciated.
Nature's God and Math
All that has by nature with systematic method been arranged in the universe seems both in part and as a whole to have been determined and ordered in accordance with number, by the forethought and the mind of him that created all things; for the pattern was fixed like a preliminary sketch, by the domination of number pre-existent in the mind of the world-creating God, number conceptual only and immaterial in every way, but at the same time the true and eternal essence, so that with reference to it, as to an artistic plan, should be created all these things, time, motion, the heavens, the stars, all sorts of revolutions.
-- Nicomachus of Gerasa (60-120 AD) Source: God, Mathematics, and Intelligent Design in Antiquity
Did you know there is "No Such Thing as a Scientific Argument Against the Existence of God"?
Labels: Quotes
Falsifiability and the Meaning of Genesis One
Thomas Pittman, PhD
This paper applies the scientific concept of falsifiability to propositions about the author's intent concerning Creation Week in the first chapter of Genesis. A simple but robust proof is given to show that it was the Biblical author's intent to teach a 144-hour duration for Creation Week, and that assertions to the contrary are either false or meaningless.
This paper was presented at the West Coast meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society in 1996.
Falsifiability
Falsifiability is the essence of the Scientific Method. The working scientist proposes a hypothesis (a proposition or putative statement of fact concerning some aspect of his area of research), then devises one or more experiments designed to show the hypothesis to be false, if indeed it is false. Alternatively, the scientist may adopt some hypothesis already proposed by others in his field, but still devise experiments designed to show it to be false. The hypothesis that withstands this assault is promoted to the status of "theory" and eventually to "law of nature." However, to qualify as a working hypothesis, the proposition must be falsifiable, that is, it must be possible to devise experiments that in principle could show it to be false, even if in fact they fail to do so. A proposition that is not falsifiable is considered meaningless for scientific purposes; it may offer insight concerning some inner religious or psychological state of the speaker, but it says nothing about the real world that is the domain of science.
Consider the proposition, "The title of this paper contains no word five letters long." This statement is falsifiable, because we can devise experiments with at least one conceivable outcome that proves the statement false. One such experiment would be to examine the title of this paper, counting the letters in the first and last words. If either of these two words is five letters in length, the proposition has been falsified. That is a conceivable outcome, so the statement is falsifiable. However, when we perform the experiment and count the letters in these two words, we encounter lengths of 14 and 3. Neither of these is five, so the statement is not falsified by this experiment. However, it has also not been proved true, because there are other words in the title that were not examined by this experiment, and one of them could still be five letters long. Scientific experiments generally only establish a hypothesis as false, or fail to establish anything at all. Some other scientist could always come along with yet another experiment that succeeds in falsifying a hypothesis that has so far withstood all challenges.
Consider now the proposition, "Two plus two equals four." There is no experiment that can be devised with a conceivable outcome in which this is false. It is not falsifiable. We call a proposition that is necessarily true as this one is, a "tautology." Tautologies are valuable tools for studying mathematical and logical reasoning methods, but they tell us nothing about the real world.
Then there is the proposition, "Joe feels good." While this may be true or false at a particular point in time, no experiment can unequivocally prove it false. Try the experiment consisting of looking to see if Joe is smiling. If he is, perhaps it is because he heard a good joke; if not, does that prove Joe does not feel good? What if Joe is a Puritan, who may feel good inside but is not allowed to signal this feeling to the world by smiling? Statements about feelings are generally considered not falsifiable. From a scientific perspective they are meaningless.
We could continue to look at varieties of propositions to further explore the concept of falsifiability, but it would not greatly improve our understanding for the subject of this paper. Let me mention only historical statements, which may be true or false but the experiments to falsify them must often be inferential, because one cannot turn back the clock to better examine the attendant circumstances.
Linguistic Falsifiability
I now propose for your consideration, a variation on the issue of falsifiability, applied to propositions about a written text. The text most often considered among evangelicals is the Bible, and its great age poses special problems for falsifiability testing.
When I studied Greek, the instructor was an advanced student who rather cleverly (so I thought at the time) reasoned that learning all the noun and verb paradigms was unnecessary; it was sufficient only to learn to recognize the distinguishing characteristics of each form. I now consider that a mistake: the classical rote and drill method is better. The reason is falsifiability.
When you look at a Greek verb in context, one of the questions you might ask is, "Is the tense of this verb aorist or imperfect?" The imperfect tense would suggest repeated or continuing action, while the aorist would not carry that meaning. Thus the broader question, "Did the author intend to communicate continuing action in this sentence?" is falsifiable and meaningful, for it can be falsified by the "experiment" that determines the tense of the verb, when it turns out to be aorist and not imperfect. Similarly, the question about the verb tense ("Is this verb in the imperfect tense?") is falsifiable and meaningful, for it can be falsified by showing that its form is aorist. Of course to do that you must know what this verb would look like in the aorist tense, which is where the recognition method fails.
Let us look at a more specific example of the author's intent, in the following two sentences:
1. On July 20, 1969, Yuri Gagarin became the first man to set foot on the moon.
2. Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle, the cow jumped over the moon.
Both sentences are patently false, but we are not so much concerned with that as with the author's intent in writing them. Neither author is available for questioning, so we can only formulate hypotheses about that intent and devise "experiments" to test those hypotheses. Here are a some hypotheses to consider:
a) The author of sentence x intended to write poetry with no historical significance.
b) The author of sentence x intended to report a fact of history.
c) The author of sentence x intended to teach a theological dogma.
Each of these hypotheses is falsifiable, because like the tense of Greek verbs, we know the respective forms of poetry, historical facts, and theological dogma. To recognize poetry the analyst looks for rhyme and meter, and (often) the juxtaposition of words in ways that do not correspond to nature; sentence (2) is a good example of poetry. To identify modern historical facts the analyst looks for dates, places, and the names of real people; sentence (1) fits this description. Theological dogma typically involves God as subject or object, or else presents moral imperatives; neither of these sentences fits that description.
Applying hypothesis (b) to sentence (1) presents us with an interesting dilemma. Because the sentence is known to be false, is it possible that the author did not intend to offer a fact of history? The form of the sentence is clearly historical: you need only replace the name "Yuri Gagarin" with the name "Neil Armstrong" and it becomes a true fact of history. Here we rely on our external knowledge of history to corroborate or falsify the hypothesis about the author's intent. When that external knowledge is missing or in dispute it cannot be used in this way, and we must rely on the other factors.
It is also rare that one must evaluate the author's intent on an isolated sentence. Thus a single historical error could be discounted if sentence (1) were part of a larger historical treatise. On the other hand, if sentence (1) appeared as one of a collection of false statements, then the historical intent of the author might more readily be falsified.
Note that in each case we are discussing experiments to falsify hypothesis (b) as applied to sentence (1). No such experiments are even possible with hypothesis (d) below, which may perhaps be true or false, but there is no way we could verify or falsify it apart from asking the author:
d) The author of sentence x intended to record an encrypted password to his e-mail account.
Two Propositions about Genesis One
Now we are ready to consider some propositions about Scripture. In the first chapter of Genesis there is little question about the grammatical forms used or the lexical meaning of the words. Furthermore, it is placed in a larger context of historical narrative, and while it does exhibit some structure, it does not have the form of Hebrew poetry (of which we have many examples, some of them later in Genesis). I propose now to base my study of the topic at hand on this solid foundation, rather than on the shifting sands of scientific cosmogony. The first and most important question we can ask about these propositions is if they are falsifiable and therefore meaningful.
Propositions about the duration and recency of the Creation Week recorded in the first chapter of Genesis are historical in nature, and have been debated by scholars for centuries. The pair of mutually exclusive propositions, "The duration of the events reported in Genesis One did not exceed 144 hours" and "The events reported in Genesis One were spread over long periods of time," are both in principle falsifiable, and many scientists and theologians have expended much time and effort to devising experiments for the purpose of falsifying one or the other. I do not intend to add to that effort at this time. Rather let us consider a pair of second-order propositions, for which the evidence is simpler and less controversial.
Although these propositions refer to the inner thoughts of a writer no longer available for questioning, I think we can consider their falsifiability on the basis of external evidence. Indeed we have no alternative.
Let Proposition A be the statement,
"The author of Genesis intended to teach no particular duration for Creation Week."
Let Proposition B be the statement,
"The author of Genesis intended to teach a 144-hour duration for Creation Week."
Clearly, these are mutually exclusive: they cannot both be true in any meaningful sense. They are not collectively comprehensive because other propositions, mutually exclusive with both of them, exist. However, most of the participants in the debate concerning Creation implicitly defend one of these two only, and attack the other only.
Let us consider in turn the falsifiability of these two propositions. Any particular claim about an author's intent is most easily shown to be falsifiable by pointing to words or sentences which the author did not use, but if they had been used would have communicated the opposite meaning.
Proposition B is falsified by finding that the author used words communicating a very long duration for Creation Week. It is also falsified by finding that the author used words communicating no particular duration. The Hebrew language available to the author of Genesis contains words and constructs capable of both of these alternate meanings, and the author did not use either one. An example of words that convey no particular duration of time occurs in Genesis 4:3: "In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil..." [NIV] Thus Proposition B is falsifiable but not falsified.
Proposition A is falsified by finding that the author used words communicating a specific duration for Creation Week, most particularly if that duration is 144 hours. The Hebrew language available to the author of Genesis contains no word for our modern concept of a 60-minute hour -- indeed nothing even closely approximating that concept shows up in the Bible until the time of Hezekiah (see 2 Kings 20:9-11). We can hardly burden the author of Genesis with terminology not in his vocabulary, so a transliteration of the English phrase "144 hours" is out of the question. However, we might expect the author of Genesis to enumerate atoms of the finest granularity of time available in his language to denote a specific time, as for example, "there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day." The author of Genesis, it would appear, did use an enumeration of that finest granularity.
Alternatively, we might expect a falsification of Proposition A to consist in putting the events of Creation Week into a one-to-one relationship with a period incontestably of a specific (and short) duration, such as the Sabbath week in the Law of Moses. As a mathematician by training, I note that one-to-one correspondence is exactly the modern mathematical proof for establishing a specific enumeration. It is unnecessary here for me to resurrect the debate over the meaning of day in Hebrew as it occurs in the first chapter of Genesis; it is sufficient to find exactly that one-to-one correspondence in the Ten Commandments: "For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth..." [Ex.20:11, NIV] Whether Moses was also the author of Genesis or not, his clear intent was to bind the Sabbath week to the six days of creation, and furthermore to specifically limit that to the standard 144 hours of the laboring man's week. Otherwise the man found gathering wood on the Sabbath day [Num.15:32-36] would have had a perfect defense for his life: "The Law, 'Six [indefinite] periods of time you shall labor' is for me ten years to a 'day' so I'm still working on my fourth day. When I am 60 years old, I will take a ten-year Sabbath rest." God and Moses did not see it that way.
Every possible wording for falsifying Proposition A that I can think of, within the vocabulary available to the author of Genesis, has already been used in the sacred text. Thus we are forced to conclude either that Proposition A is not falsifiable and therefore meaningless (except perhaps to give us some insight about the internal feelings of its proponents), or else it is falsifiable and false.
This leaves us with a rather robust conclusion: The author of Genesis did intend to teach a particular duration for Creation Week, and that duration is best described by the simple unambiguous modern phrase, "144 hours." Any denial of this conclusion is either illogical or inconsistent with the evidence.
It is important to recognize, however, that the force of the logic I have presented here says nothing at all about whether the duration of Creation Week was actually 144 hours, but only that the author of Genesis intended to say it was. We must fall back on other means -- specifically the principle of inerrancy -- to determine the actual duration of Creation Week. But I leave that debate to the scientists and theologians, in one or the other of whose domains it properly lies.
I prefer the phrase "144 hours" to "six days" because of the ambiguity introduced into the latter term by the so-called "day-age" theory. Once a term has been corrupted by verbal double-speak, it can no longer be used unambiguously in debate. Another example of this occurred in recent time when the new term "inerrant" became necessary to refer to what the traditional term "inspired" had formerly meant before it was corrupted by theologians opposed to the orthodox doctrine to which it referred.
Thomas Pittman received his BA in mathematics at Berkeley, and his MS and PhD in Information Science at the University of California in Santa Cruz. He also spent two eclectic years at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School studying Greek, Hebrew, systematics, apologetics, etc. Apart from a 3-year position on the faculty of Kansas State University, he has spent most of his career developing custom and commercial computer software. He is currently Vice President of Magnify Software, a small software firm in San Jose.
(This paper was originally posted here. It is re-posted here with permission.)
Labels: Origins, Philosophy
Treatise (9)
SeekTruth Forum Guidelines
Conditional vs. Unconditional Love for God
The Paradox Principle
We Are Weak But He Is Strong
Age of the Earth - does it matter?
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districtchronicles Sports
Keep your young all-star injury-free this summer
(ARA) - Summer vacation gives children a break from schoolwork, but for many, their participation in sports will continue in warm...
United for D.C. honored with President's Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition...
Washington, D.C. (May 21, 2012) - The President's Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition (PCFSN) has selected United for D.C. to receive...
Mystics defeat Connecticut, 83-64
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D.C. United U-23s finalize roster, summer schedule
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Dejan Jakovic called-up to Canadian National Team
Washington, D.C. (May 22, 2012) - D.C. United announced today that defender Dejan Jakovic has been called-up to the Canadian Men's...
D.C. United's Dwayne De Rosario wins Player of the Week
Washington, D.C. (May 21, 2012) - D.C. United announced today that midfielder/forward Dwayne De Rosario was selected by the North...
Santos scores twice in United win over the Houston Dynamos
United's Maicon Santos scored twice and Dwayne De Rosario added one more for his first goal of the season to defeat the Houston Dynamo,...
Redskins' fans welcome Robert Griffin III to FedEx Field
On Saturday, April 28 Robert Griffin III fans got their first look at RGIII at a press conference at FedEx Field. "I understand the...
D.C. United announces the Baltimore Bohemians as development partner
Washington, D.C. (April 30, 2012) - D.C. United announced today a development partnership with USL PDL side Baltimore Bohemians. A...
D.C. United schedule for April 30 - May 4
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Local heavyweight Seth Mitchell prepares for title bout
Undefeated heavyweight contender Seth "Mayhem" Mitchell hosted a media workout at The Dream Team Boxing Gym in Clinton, Maryland as he...
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© YuryZap / Shutterstock.com
Paired with three floors of neon shops, Tokyo’s busiest station was renovated to all its pre-WWII splendour.
The old Tokyo Train Station is like new again, and it’s brought fun into the financial district.
by ANNAROSA SABBADINI May 2013
Where was Hello Kitty? I expected to see lots of the vaguely cute white-and-pink feline. She’s a Japanese cartoon character, practically a deity worshipped by the daycare-set worldwide. So why not here? I thought it was because I was in Marunouchi, Tokyo’s financial district nestled between the Imperial Palace and the Tokyo Train Station. I remembered the area from a previous visit as the faceless part of the city: imposing Mitsubishi office towers, big hotels and not much for a visitor to see. But no: I couldn’t see Hello Kitty because the little Japanese bobtail cat had gone underground.
I found her in a pink polka-dotted shop on Character Street in what’s called First Avenue Tokyo Station (tokyoeki-1bangai.co.jp/en/), three floors of subterranean neon shops thematically arranged under Tokyo’s Train Station. First Avenue opened in 2011, along with a five-and-a-half-year renovation that returned the Marunouchi side of Tokyo’s busiest station to how it looked before 1945.
Designed by Tatsuno Kingo, considered Japan’s first modern architect, and completed in 1914, the station survived the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake but wasn’t so fortunate in World War II when much of the structure, including its rooftop domed windows, was destroyed. The station is as central as it gets with 710,000 people passing through it daily to connect to the Narita Express, the Shinkansen (aka the Bullet Train), Japan Rail or the Tokyo Metro. If you’ve ever visited Tokyo, you’ve passed through Tokyo Station.
Now I found a reason to stick around. There are 20-odd shops on Character Street, and despite my many years consuming preschool pop culture, I barely knew where I was. I recognized Hello Kitty, as well as Snoopy, Miffy, Ultraman and laid-back Rilakkuma — each had a store devoted to it — yet One Piece, Dragon Ball and countless other G-rated characters said nothing to me. They obviously said a lot to the toddlers — and their parents — jostling each other for one-of-kind figurines.
Sweet and savoury
From Character Street, I went to Okashi Land (sweet land), a massive area where three of Japan’s top confectionaries make and sell visually pleasing sweet things that, judging from the lineups, are hugely popular. This is where Tokyo comes — and sometimes waits for hours — to taste Calbee’s freshly-made potato chips served with ice cream and topped with chocolate sauce. To me, this sounded like putting cheese in the crust of a pizza (more junk-food madness) but after trying one of the made-on-the-premises chips, I knew this junk was good.
But I was not about to spend my only 24 hours in Tokyo waiting in line. I spent some time trying to understand the dizzying array of boxed candies, then I knew it was time to visit Ramen Street. Here, eight of Japan’s most popular restaurants serve out their specialty — be it ramen, udon or soba. It was Sunday, but it looked like all of Tokyo was there to slurp up noodles in steamy broth. Apparently when the Rokurinsha restaurant opened, people were willing to wait six hours to try its one-of-a-kind tsukemen dipping-style ramen. I considered heading to Kitchen Street instead for a sit-down meal. I was told those restaurants cover every style imaginable — except, of course, ramen.
Getting around the station is a bit of a navigational maze, but there is a method to the whole interconnected enterprise. At one point, I found I had wandered into the Daimaru department store (GranTokyo North Tower; daimaru.co.jp/english/tokyo.html). I admired how sale clerks packaged pastries for a while, then knew I wanted to see more. The kimono shop on the 10th floor was worth the visit to admire the fine craftsmanship that goes into each item. I was hoping they would be having one of their sales, when some kimonos go on deep discount. No such luck in January, but I happily discovered other clothing and accessory shops displaying multiple sales racks, with plenty of price tags that could fit neatly into a Canadian budget.
A piece of Palace peace
After a few hours in a seemingly-unstoppable, commercially-overactive state, I knew it was time to seek respite at the other extreme of Marunouchi: the Palace. I was fortunate enough to be staying in the Palace Hotel Tokyo (en.palacehoteltokyo.com), directly across the street from the Otemon Gate of the Imperial Palace. Unlike the renovated Tokyo Train Station, the hotel reinvented itself entirely by imploding its 51-year-old former interior, recruiting the help of six design firms and building a new identity from the ground up.
It reopened in May 2012 and, while this luxury hotel isn’t the least expensive in Marunouchi (rooms start at about $500 a night), it may just have the best views (with the possible exception of the office spaces that allegedly look directly into the Imperial family’s private quarters). Eighty-five percent of the rooms in the hotel are across from the palace gardens. From my room on the 14th floor, I had my own private view of Imperial green and Tokyo’s far-reaching skyline at the same time. The Chiyoda Suite on the 23rd floor has a spacious terrace that offers it all: the Imperial gardens, a panorama of the Tokyo skyline and Mount Fuji in the distance.
Adrenaline-driven Tokyo strives to always be a few steps ahead of your imagination, but for many visitors, the biggest draw remains the oldest of them all: the Imperial Palace, home to the royals since 1868. Much of the main grounds are off-limits — except for pre-booked tours and on December 23 and January 2 — but there’s plenty to see and photograph wandering the free Outer and East Gardens, as well as Kitanomaru-Kōen Park. There are remnants of the shogun-era Edo Castle, two ancient stone bridges, manicured gardens and, of course, lots and lots of cherry blossom trees.
I considered everything I would do if I had another 24 hours in Tokyo. I’d certainly try to be one of the first in line for tsukemen ramen. Then possibly more shopping. Or possibly not. Maybe I’d forgo the frenzy for a relaxing afternoon inside the palace walls.
But, alas, I was leaving the next morning. I would have to satisfy myself by returning to my hotel room, opening the curtains for a quiet night of viewing Tokyo’s sensory swell from afar.
Meet me in Marunouchi
Japan Airlines (tel: 800-525-3663; jal.com) flies regularly to Tokyo. For more information on Marunouchi, Toyko and travel to Japan, visit the Japan National Tourism Organization at ilovejapan.ca.
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Nitish Kumar Gets Posh Bungalow In Lutyens' Delhi
NEW DELHI: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who joined the ruling NDA at the Centre after breaking ties with RJD and Congress, has been allotted a posh bungalow in Lutyens' Delhi.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs alloted the top bracket bungalow at 6 K Kamraj Lane to the JD(U) supremo, an official said.
Every state has a certain quota of bungalows in the national capital, he said, adding based on that quota, Kumar, as the chief minister, was alloted the house.
Mr Kumar made headlines after he decided to shun the grand alliance of the Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), and rejoined the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to form the government in Bihar last year.
Following the split, former JD(U) president Sharad Yadav and party leader Ali Anwar were expelled from the Rajya Sabha in December last.
Mr Sharad Yadav is expected to launch his own party soon.
As the railway minister in the NDA government i.e. from 2001 to 2004, Mr Kumar had lived in one of the biggest bungalows at Akbar Road in the national capital.
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Australia Reveals First Gay Marriage Ended In Heartbreak After Just 48 Days
MELBOURNE: Australia's first gay marriage lasted just 48 days and ended in heartbreak with the death of a terminally ill woman, Queensland state parliament heard on Wednesday after the family gave permission for details to be released.
Queensland woman Jo Grant married her partner of eight years, Jill Kindt, on Dec. 15 in the garden of their home on Australia's northeast Sunshine Coast, less than a week after the nation became the 26th country to recognise same sex unions.
The couple had avoided a 30-day waiting period and were granted exceptional circumstances to become Australia's first married same sex couple following the passage of the marriage equality laws on Dec. 9.
The wedding had remained private until it was revealed with the family's permission in parliament on Wednesday.
"Jo and Jill were approved, married, and registered all in one day, after the registrar ruled exceptional circumstances," Queensland Attorney General Yvette D'Ath told parliament.
"Jo's mum Sandra believes the marriage renewed Jo's spirit, keeping her alive long enough to have one last Christmas with her family."
Grant, who was in palliative care for a rare form of cancer, died on January 30.
The couple were one of 159 same sex couples who have been married in Queensland since the marriage equality laws were passed, according to the state government in a statement.
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"So many fantastic artists you have! CHAKA KHAN is one of my favorites!" - Anja Katrine Tomter - AnJazz - Hamar Jazzfestival,
"Thanks for your ongoing good work... the hotter the battle, the sweeter the victories and with your help we have many victories!" - Inner Circle,
"It was a splendid evening and the artists on stage fabulous professionals. Your organization has proved to be very effective and valuable for us, so I will be happy to continue our collaboration." - Willer Dolorati - DOC PRODUCTIONS LTD,
Home » Julian Marley
Julian Marley, son of reggae legend Bob Marley and Barbados-born Lucy Pounder is a Grammy award nominated, roots-reggae musician, singer-songwriter, producer and humanitarian. In the same tradition as his father, Julian “Ju Ju” Marley is a devout Rastafarian whose music is inspired by life and spirituality.
Born in London, England on June 4, 1975, Julian is the only son of Bob Marley born and raised in the U.K. Having been raised in England by his mother, Julian frequently visited his family and brothers Ziggy, Stephen, Damian and Kymani in Jamaica. Growing up as a youth in a musical atmosphere Julian quickly adopted a musical lifestyle and at an early age and became a skillful, self-taught musician mastering the bass, drums, guitar and keyboards. By the tender age of five, Marley recorded his first demo at the Marley family home in Kingston, Jamaica. Julian reflects, “From a small age music has been in my life, it was just a natural thing.”
During Julian‟s formative years in Jamaica, he began to study under legendary reggae veterans such as Aston “Family Man” Barrett, Carlton Barrett, Earl “Wire” Lindo, Tyrone Downie and Earl “Chinna” Smith, all of whom inspired the then fledgling song-bird. In 1987 when influential Wailers drummer Carlton Barrett was murdered outside of his home in Jamaica , Julian wrote two un-released songs , „Uprising‟ and „What They Did Wrong‟ in response to the incident. Subsequently he also formed a band called The Uprising, a roots-reggae band comprised of young Jamaican players. Julian and the Uprising would go on to open up for his brother Ziggy Marley‟s band, The Melody Makers and performed with The Wailers which at one time included Carlton Barrett‟s son on drums.
In 1993, Julian decided to move to Jamaica to be closer to his brothers, and from that point on the gifted Marley brothers began to form their musical path. Julian, Stephen and Damian called on their brother Kymani Marley and the foursome formed a group called the Ghetto Youths Crew, a project that would find Julian touring the United States with his brothers for three consecutive years. Julian comments, “I give thanks for the musical guidance I received from my father and continue to receive from my brothers. It is with the inspiration of my family and the Most High that I create all of my songs today.”
In 1996, Julian released his debut entitled, Lion in the Morning, which launched him into the public eye. The album was a conscious effort and culmination of his musical development to date, and reflected Julian‟s growing maturity and musical sophistication. Recorded at Tuff Gong studios in Kingston, Jamaica and the newly renovated Marley Music studio at Hope Road (the same studio where his father created some of his most important and well-known work) Lion in the Morning is Julian‟s own testament that clearly reflects his roots and heritage. Produced by Aston “Family Man” Barrett and Stephen Marley, the album additionally features contribution rolls from reggae luminaries such as Owen “Dreddie” Reid, Earl Chinna Smith, Tyrone Downie, and Julian‟s siblings Stephen Marley, Cedella Marley and Sharon Marley. The record was followed by a successful international tour with The Uprising, which included Jamaica's Sumfest
and Sunsplash shows, a Marley Magic family performance during New York City‟s Central Park Summer Stage Concert Series, and touring into the territories of Japan, Brazil and Mexico. That year, Julian also began to tour extensively with his brother Damian, and the duo landed a featured artist position on the 1997 Lollapalooza tour.
In 1998, Julian contributed a vast range of musical elements to singer Lauryn Hill‟s Grammy Award winning album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, which was recorded at Tuff Gong studio‟s in Jamaica, including playing guitar on the single, “Forgive Them Father”. In 1999 , Julian went back to work in the studio with his brothers Stephen and Damian , and contributed to the production of the platinum-selling Chant Down Babylon, a remix album by various hip-hop and rock artists covering Bob Marley & The Wailers songs , produced by Stephen Marley .
While Julian's childhood was equally split between England and Jamaica, his early adult years would find “Ju Ju” settling back into London and additionally creating a home base in Miami where the family owned studio, the Lion‟s Den is based. Though Jamaican at heart Julian has widely credited his British upbringing as a deep influence on his musical career. Julian reflects, “Growing up in London remains a large part of who I am today. I feel privileged to be a part of the musical roots that my father laid in England. As the next generation of British-born reggae artists, I look forward to relating the cultural gifts and musical creations that have been bestowed on to me back onto the international music scene.”
In 2002, Julian and his brothers Stephen and Damian officially incorporated Ghetto Youths International, Inc., the family owned record label that was first founded by Ziggy Marley and Stephen Marley in 1989. The label allows the brothers to work closely with each other on musical collaborations. The Marley brothers also produce and release a catalogue of works
featuring various artists for the Ghetto Youths imprint, including their own material, a venture that has successfully carried on the Marley tradition of communicating music to a global audience.
In 2003, Julian joined his siblings Stephen, Cedella, Damian, and Kymani to contribute a version of the single, „Master Blaster‟ for Stevie Wonder's tribute album entitled, Conception: An Interpretation of Stevie Wonder Songs. That same year, Marley also recorded his sophomore effort entitled, A Time and Place at the Lion‟s Den in Miami. An organic fusion of rootical reggae and jazz, A Time and Place was produced by brother Stephen Marley, and the album cemented Julian‟s next milestone on his artistic path. Each track on the album was built on a solid foundation of traditional reggae, but contained a wide range influences which showcased Julian‟s love for music. After several years of touring with Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers, the Ghetto Youths Crew, and his brother Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley, Julian had created a worldwide fan base for himself. Now, with the release of his sophomore album, Julian embarked on his own world tour that was backed by his band The Uprising, and circled Europe and the United States two times in support of A Time and Place.
In 2004, the Roots Rock Reggae Festival in the United States gave Julian the opportunity to unite and perform with all of the Marley brothers. Julian along with the Marley family also went on to perform a series of family „Africa Unite‟ performances, including in Ethiopia in 2005, in Ghana in 2006, and in Jamaica in 2008. At the invitation of the Jamaican government, Julian Marley and The Uprising performed during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, and celebrated along-side Jamaica's Gold medal-winning runner, Usain Bolt.
In 2009, Julian Marley‟s career rose to new heights with the success of his Grammy Award Nominated release entitled, Awake released on Ghetto Youths / Universal Music Group on April 28, 2009. The thought-provoking album was co-produced with his brothers Stephen Marley and Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley and recorded at the Lion‟s Den in Miami and the Tuff Gong studio‟s in Kingston, Jamaica. This album was inspired by Julian‟s life and spirituality and skillfully weaves diverse musical styles into a set of hypnotic beats and soulful vocals. The music and message
presented throughout Awake was inspired by all the family who have come before. Julian explains, “There is spiritual energy from the ancestors in this album.”
As with the other Marley‟s, Awake blends R&B, hip hop, dancehall and of course the roots reggae that his father made famous around the world. The album‟s first single, „Boom Draw‟, is a blend of classic roots and modern dancehall. Julian‟s brothers also appear on the album, with Stephen Marley collaborating on „A Little Too Late‟ and Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley contributing his talents to „Violence in the Streets‟. Another track, „Oh Girl‟, features vocals by rapper Mr. Cheeks and Marcia Griffiths, a former Wailers backing vocalist and reggae star in her own right, also contributes background vocals to the album.
Julian‟s „Awake‟ world tour with his band The Uprising flourished in 2009, and stemmed into a major North American, Caribbean and European run that included the Raggamuffin 2010 tour of Australia and New Zealand. In May 2010, Awake took home the award for „Best Album of the Year‟ at the
International Reggae and World Music Awards (IRAWMA) in New York City. Marley‟s tour with The Uprising continually expanded in 2010, and performance dates found the reggae singer-songwriter circling Europe, and scheduling back to back headlining performances in the U.K., Greece and South America.
A humanitarian at heart, Julian Marley naturally leans toward building on charitable missions and contributing to the Ghetto Youths Foundation, which in the spirit of his father Bob Marley, allows the socially conscious Marley to give back to youths in various communities. Whether it‟s reasoning with children at the football fields in London, or offering his time to benefit concerts, Julian consciously looks towards finding ways to help build positive guidance that benefit children . In February, 2010 Julian and his brother Kymani Marley, along side the Ghetto Youths Foundation produced a „Miami For Haiti‟ benefit show with all proceeds going to various charities aimed toward Haitian relief efforts. Julian urges, “If we have the time, if we have the resources, we must rise to the occasion to help our brothers and sisters in every way possible.”
Julian Marley ranks higher in the consciousness movement of music than most reggae artists recognized today. And while Julian has built a formidable reputation by transcending musical genres, we can be sure that whatever ventures he will embark on in 2011, Julian “Ju Ju” Marley will remain a spiritual, moral, musical visionary with an international mission. Julian enthused, “I don‟t plan the next step, I just continue on with Jah Works and somehow things seem to just come together naturally that way.”
Julian Marley - Boom Draw
Video of Julian Marley - Boom Draw
Dee Alexander
Raphael Wressnig
Imagination feat. Leee John
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Here’s how Farhan Akhtar’s first look in Lucknow Central was revealed
July 25, 2017 admin 259 0
Farhan Akhtar gets out of his comfort zone to play the quintessential UP guy in his forthcoming film Lucknow Central. The makers of the film recently decided to unveil the first look of the film by revealing the avatar of Farhan Akhtar from the film.
Farhan Akhtar plays the role of Kishen Mohan Girotra, a simple guy from Moradabad who aspires to be a singer. However, the story takes a turn when he gets convicted for a high profile murder and is imprisoned at Lucknow Central, which is considered to be one of the most dreaded jails.
On the other hand, we hear that Kishen is falsely committed for a crime and hence, he draws support from various people as they kick start the campaign #KishenNirdoshHai that goes viral. But will the immense support he receives from the citizens, change the court’s decision of sentencing is something that will be seen in the film.
Lucknow Central also stars Diana Penty, Ravi Kissen, Gippy Grewal among others and it is directed by Ranjit Tiwari. It is slated to release on September 15.
BURNING HOT! Sexy Nargis Fakhri sets the INTERNET ON FIRE with this sizzling photograph News
Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar, Anushka Sharma, Priyanka Chopra, Shahid Kapoor and others cheer up Indian’s women’s cricket team post their loss News
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