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__label__wiki	0.885954	0.885954	Princess Diana's chef takes to Twitter to remember the day she 'didn't come home' He was Princess Diana's chef for years, and now Darren McGrady has posted a heartbreaking message on the 19th death anniversary of the princess. Reflecting on the earth-shattering moment in royal history, he took to Twitter to reflect, writing: "19 years ago today I had dinner prepared for a special lady and her boys. She didn't come home. #RIPPrincessDiana." Alongside the poignant post Darren uploaded a signed photograph that he received from Prince William and Prince Harry's mother. "To Darren, love from Diana," it read. The People's Princess was just 36 years old when she died in a car accident in Paris. Darren would have been back at Kensington Palace in London at the time of Diana's death, preparing for her return. Darren worked for Princess Diana for four years Darren spent four years working with the Princess and had the "honour" of watching William and Harry – now 34 and 31 – grow up. Speaking previously to Hello! Online, the royal chef said that although he never thought of himself as "a friend" but rather "the chef", he did develop a natural bond with Diana. He said it was an "honour" to watch William and Harry grow up He said: "I was always there, so sometimes she'd come in and vent about things she wasn't happy with. Other times I'd see her just burst into tears and it was like, 'What do I say? What do I do?' Other times she told a dirty, risqué joke and you think, 'I can't believe Princess Diana just said that!'" Diana, William and Harry would always sit down for dinner at 6:30pm, he revealed, and the Princess would spoil her boys when they were at home. Diana, William and Harry would always sit down for dinner at 6:30pm "She wasn't strict at all," said Darren. "She let them be boys, young boys! There was always a battle between her and Nanny. Nanny would say, 'No, they're eating their dinner, they're having cabbage. "And the Princess would say, 'No, if they're with me and they want loaded potato skins and fried chicken then they can have that. And if they don't eat it and they still want pudding, they can have that too!' She was much more relaxed than Nanny." But when Diana was home alone without William and Harry, she'd "eat at the kitchen table, at the dining room or she'd have a tray in front of the TV," he added. Fans pay tribute to Princess Diana on the 19th anniversary of her death Princess Diana's wedding dress designer would put Pippa Middleton in something 'soft' Prince Harry shares his regret over 'not talking about my mother's death'	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line586
__label__wiki	0.97567	0.97567	Meghan Markle's first royal tour will be the ultimate 'litmus test' By Jessica Pollack Meghan Markle has had no shortage of royal firsts in the months since she officially joined 'the firm.' From her debut at Trooping the Colour to a two-day Ireland visit with Prince Harry and that milestone day in Cheshire with the Queen herself, the former actress has been seemingly fearless and utterly charming at every turn. But she's gearing up for her biggest challenge to date: a weeks-long official tour and all the local custom, outfit changes, travel and small talk that comes with it. The Queen's longtime former spokesperson, Dickie Arbiter, told The Mirror that this will be the ultimate "litmus test." RELATED: How Prince Harry has been Meghan's guiding light into royal life “She’s a good communicator, she’s good at talking to people but it will be a real baptism of fire," explained the former press secretary, who worked with Her Majesty for twelve years. "They will have a very demanding schedule and the Duchess will have to get used to local customs with the eyes of the world on her." The duo charmed the President of Ireland, Michael Higgins, and his wife, Sabina Coyne. Photo: © Andrew Parsons - Pool/Getty Images During their fall excursion, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will continue to build good will in the Commonwealth by visiting four countries. The official announcement, made in June, stated: "Their Royal Highnesses have been invited to visit the Realms of Australia and New Zealand by the countries’ respective governments. The Duke and Duchess will visit the Commonwealth countries of Fiji and Tonga at the request of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office." GALLERY: How Meghan and Harry could pay tribute to Princess Diana on tour The couple's tour itinerary makes perfect sense as Sydney is hosting the third instalment of Prince Harry's Invictus Games for injured soldiers. “She’s had a taste of the Invictus Games in Toronto last year but she was Harry’s girlfriend. Now she is his wife there will be much more expectation," says Dickie. Meghan attended a few Invictus events in the walkup to the games in April, including a reception in London and the UK team tryouts in Bath, but being by her prince's side Down Under from Oct. 20 to 27 will be her greatest involvement yet. Dickie said the Queen and Meghan looked very relaxed with one another. Photo: © Getty Images Despite all the challenges and the "tremendous learning curve" she's been on, Dickie is confident that the 37-year-old will come out on top once again. "No doubt she will come through with flying colours and they will show they will be a force of good for the Commonwealth and the Royal Family on the global stage.” The next few months will definitely be a crash course in just how hectic life as a royal can be, and though the former actress has had her fair share of long days on set this takes things to a whole new level. But the first time for everything presents the greatest challenge. “With experience will come confidence and in the next few months I have no doubt we will see her come out of her shell even more and start to be more vocal for causes and charities she wishes to support.” The world is rooting for the duchess and we can't wait to see her tackle it all with grace and style. Meghan Markle's stunning Givenchy wedding gown isn't the only outfit going on display Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have added a new member to their family Prince Harry and Meghan snuck off to Lake Como to hang with George and Amal Clooney	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line587
__label__wiki	0.612808	0.612808	Scottish nightclub has two-way mirror in the women’s bathroom and women don’t know about it Shereen Dindar Shine On May 24, 2013 All in favour of only using two-way mirrors for criminal prosecutions or scientific study, say "aye". All in favour of using two-way mirrors for creepy and adolescent-like behaviour, say "aye". Anybody? Anybody? A recently-opened Scottish nightclub, The Shimmy Club, is under police investigation for installing two-way mirrors in the women's bathroom and charging male customers £ 800 (CDN $1,250) for a private booth to view the women on the other side, reports Scottish Sunday Express. Yes, western society is regressing, folks. You read it here. The most unethical part of the two-way mirror set up is that the women are unaware of the mirror, yet the club maintains they have posted a sign explaining it. Scottish Sunday Express reports that there are, in fact, no signs anywhere on the premises. Also see: Men cry foul over 'sexist' new ad “I was completely shocked to discover that the mirror in the ladies’ bathroom is a two-way mirror facing out onto the club," says a female patron quoted in the newspaper. “Nowhere is it made clear that this is the case so when visiting the bathroom for the first time, there are women bending over the sink, pouting into the mirror to redo their lipstick, adjusting themselves whilst unknowingly being watched by people on the other side.” An online petition to retrieve awards recently given to the investment company that owns the club, G1 Group, has attracted over 1,580 signatures as of Friday. The club owners are taking some serious heat on their Facebook page, but they're still determined to defend their behaviour. Also see: Don't stress about this, but stress makes us less attractive The Shimmy Club issued a statement earlier in the week after reporters from Scottish Sunday Express posed as customers and exposed the two-way mirror story. The following statement was posted on the club's Facebook page but was later removed and could not be found as of Friday morning. The Shimmy Club's two-way mirror is a design feature created as a bit of fun, an interactive feature which we hoped would act as a talking point for people visiting The Shimmy. There has always been signage in the toilets which no-one has mentioned thus far but as a result of the media feedback clearer signage has been put in place to inform our female customers. God help us when they find out that we have buried vibrators into sections of the dancefloor............... It's probably a wise thing they took down their bogus statement on Facebook because as a new business they can't afford bad press, and will likely sink themselves into a deeper hole if they don't learn public relation basics and release a statement that actually helps their brand. What are your thoughts on this type of mirror being used? Would the club be shut down if the same thing happened in Canada?	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line588
__label__wiki	0.539481	0.539481	BMC Medical Education Research article \| Open \| Open Peer Review \| Published: 27 March 2019 A physician-scientist preceptorship in clinical and translational research enhances training and mentorship Jonathan A. Stefely1, Erin Theisen1, Chelsea Hanewall1, Linda Scholl2, Mark E. Burkard1,3, Anna Huttenlocher1,4 & John-Paul J. Yu ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-1878-052X1,5 BMC Medical Educationvolume 19, Article number: 89 (2019) \| Download Citation Dual degree program MD/PhD candidates typically train extensively in basic science research and in clinical medicine, but often receive little formal experience or mentorship in clinical and translational research. To address this educational and curricular gap, the University of Wisconsin Medical Scientist Training Program partnered with the University of Wisconsin Institute for Clinical and Translational Research to create a new physician-scientist preceptorship in clinical and translational research. This six-week apprentice-style learning experience—guided by a physician-scientist faculty mentor—integrates both clinical work and a translational research project, providing early exposure and hands-on experience with clinically oriented research and the integrated career of a physician-scientist. Five years following implementation, we retrospectively surveyed students and faculty members to determine the outcomes of this preceptorship. Over five years, 38 students and 36 faculty members participated in the physician-scientist preceptorship. Based on student self-assessments (n = 29, response rate 76%), the course enhanced competency in conducting translational research and understanding regulation of clinical research among other skills. Mentor assessments (n = 17, response rate 47%) supported the value of the preceptorship in these same areas. Based on work during the preceptorship, half of the students produced a peer-reviewed publication or a meeting abstract. At least eleven peer-reviewed manuscripts were generated. The preceptorship also provided a structure for physician-scientist mentorship in the students’ clinical specialty of choice. The physician-scientist preceptorship provides a new curricular model to address the gap of clinical research training and provides for mentorship of physician-scientists during medical school. Future work will assess the long-term impact of this course on physician-scientist career trajectories. With significant training and experience in both clinical medicine and scientific investigation, physician-scientists are well-positioned to address many contemporary challenges facing medicine [1]. The rapid pace of scientific, technologic, and even social change has placed physician-scientists at the forefront of diverse endeavors such as integrating genomics and artificial intelligence into medical practice [2, 3], improving treatments for chronic diseases such as diabetes and rare genetic disorders such as mitochondrial disease [4, 5], resolving the predicted crisis in the United States blood supply system [6], addressing the ongoing opioid epidemic [7], and developing novel cellular therapies [8]. Exciting opportunities to tackle these challenges and many others draw diverse and talented students to the field [9]. However, programs and curricula for training, developing, and retaining this critical physician-scientist workforce are not optimally designed [9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16]. Trainees encounter numerous barriers along the path towards becoming independent and productive physician-scientists, including the need to excel in both clinical medicine and scientific research, which require distinct skills, to publish high-quality work consistently, to secure funding, and to persist on this challenging path throughout an extraordinarily long training time [16]. These challenges are now amplified by increasing medical and scientific specialization, which requires extensive time for trainees to master before pursuing the goal of translational research [14]. Dual-degree MD/PhD training programs, including National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded Medical Scientist Training Programs (MSTP), are well designed to provide rigorous training in basic science research during graduate school and in clinical practice during medical school. However, these two components of training are often largely disjointed in time and space. For example, many MD/PhD trainees spend 2–3 years in medical school, followed by 3–6 years in graduate school—often physically separated from the hospital, followed by 1–2 years in medical school prior to entering a clinical residency program. Furthermore, while training in basic science continues to be essential, the demand for clinical and translational research skills is increasing [17,18,19,20]. For example, the research landscape of physician-scientists has been dramatically impacted by the increasing availability of large electronic medical record databases that enable patient-centered research [12], but experience with approaches for using these resources is often limited. More generally, training in clinical and translational research as a whole is often limited and is a key unmet need in the field [21]. After the completion of doctoral research and medical education, aspiring physician-scientists often struggle to balance clinical work and research activities during graduate medical training and early in the first faculty appointment [22]. Following graduation and matriculation into residency programs, the focus of dual-degree trained students shifts heavily toward developing clinical skills that are required to practice medicine proficiently [23] with few provided opportunities to concomitantly pursue scientific endeavors; however, continued research experience during graduate medical education is highly beneficial. Indeed, trainees who conduct at least one year of research during graduate medical education are more likely to obtain full-time faculty positions [24]. Despite the recognized value of continuing research activities during the residency and fellowship years, structured opportunities during medical school to learn how to balance clinical and research activities are limited. While there are inherent structural barriers to conducting research while working as a clinician, one of the primary goals of the preceptorship described here is to prepare trainees to understand this challenge and then to overcome it. One of the central means by which this can occur is by pairing trainees with senior mentors that have in practice devised strategies to balance research and clinical work. Mentor-mentee relationships established by the preceptorship can help guide junior trainees, and eventually junior faculty, through these structural challenges by relaying the experiences of senior faculty. Indeed, strong mentorship has been shown to help guide physician-scientist trainees through the above challenges [25,26,27,28,29], but trainees often struggle to find physician-scientist mentors, especially within their medical specialty. Students in MD/PhD programs are often mentored by PhD scientists during graduate school and by clinically-focused physicians during medical school clerkships. While some MD/PhD students work with MD/PhD physician-scientists, these mentors are often identified during the pre-clinical years before a medical specialty has been selected and are not necessarily in the students’ final specialty of choice. Formalized mentoring programs at the faculty level have long-lasting impacts on an institution’s ability to develop independent, successful scientists that have high self-efficacy and time-management scores [30, 31]. A systematic approach for connecting trainees to physician-scientist mentors within the same medical specialty could have a similarly long-lasting positive impact. To address these gaps in training and mentorship, we report herein our experience with a novel curricular advance at the terminus of MD/PhD training—the Physician Scientist Preceptorship in Clinical and Translational Research—designed to provide an opportunity for students to conduct clinical or translational research balanced with clinical practice through an apprenticeship-style learning experience with a physician-scientist mentor. Setting of the preceptorship The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States, trains approximately 650 medical students each year, approximately 80 of whom are MD/PhD students in an NIH-funded MSTP. The Physician-Scientist Preceptorship in Clinical and Translational Research (hereafter referred to as the “preceptorship”) is a six-week clerkship offered to MD/PhD students in their final year of medical school (typically 8–10 students per year). During the first academic year in which the preceptorship was offered (2013–2014), four students had already earned the available academic credits through another clerkship, so they were ineligible to participate in the preceptorship. In subsequent years, all fourth-year medical students in the MD/PhD program were considered eligible students. The preceptorship represents a capstone experience for a set of three clerkships that are unique to the MD/PhD program at the University of Wisconsin. The other two clerkships provide opportunities for longitudinal clinical work during the graduate school research phase of the program. Preceptorship learning objectives and components The core learning objectives (Table 1) and components (Table 2) of the preceptorship were designed to cover essential skills used by physician-scientists across a wide range of clinical specialties. Fundamentally, the preceptorship objectives and components are designed to help students experience six weeks in the life of a practicing physician-scientist, balancing clinical practice, research, grant writing, manuscript preparation, regulatory meetings, and public outreach—all under the guidance of a dedicated physician-scientist mentor. These course components were selected after discussing barriers to conducting translational research and common gaps in knowledge of how to conduct clinical research with our MD/PhD program directors, MD/PhD program graduates, leaders within the medical school education policy committee, and leaders within our Institute for Clinical and Translational Research. The importance of strong mentorship was emphasized and supported unanimously by these parties. Table 1 Physician-scientist preceptorship learning objectives Table 2 Physician-scientist preceptorship components This preceptorship can be characterized as longitudinal [32] because research and clinical activities are integrated over the six weeks of the preceptorship, and these six weeks are preceded and followed by months of mentor-trainee interactions while developing the research project proposal and, in many cases, writing a meeting abstract or peer-reviewed manuscript. The longitudinal preceptorship format for this clerkship was selected because one of our primary aims was to enable trainees to build strong relationships with a mentor, and longitudinal preceptorships have been shown to enhance such relationships [33]. Many of the skills needed to balance research and clinical work may also be specialty-specific and even unique to a given individual, thus requiring an individualized training plan. The importance of such individualized education was recently emphasized by funding agencies requiring individualized development plans (IDPs) for trainees [34, 35]. The use of IDPs has promoted learning within the medical field and has enhanced the skills necessary for career success [36, 37]. Thus, we incorporated an individualized training program element into the preceptorship described here. Selection of mentors and projects The preceptorship occurs after students have completed their core clinical rotations and have selected a clinical specialty. Through core or elective clinical rotations, students identify a physician-scientist mentor with help from the MD/PhD program directors and clerkship faculty. Once a mentor is identified, students and mentors work together to craft a project that aligns with the student’s career interests and training goals. For example, a student dedicated to cardiology with interests in learning how to use electronic medical record databases could work with a cardiology mentor to design a retrospective chart review of outcomes following admission for decompensated heart failure. Clinical research experience proposal While the core course objectives and components (Tables 1 and 2) provide a general framework for the preceptorship, a more detailed plan is needed to ensure a productive clerkship for each individual student, especially given the highly customizable nature of this course. More specifically, the clinical research experience proposal is designed to: (i) formally establish the student-mentor relationship, (ii) define the student’s participation in a clinical research project, (iii) give the student an opportunity to write a concise clinical research proposal, (iv) identify opportunities for the student to participate in institutional regulatory scientific meetings, and (v) describe how the clinical research project might address one health issue listed in the state health plan. A detailed plan for each of these aspects is essential for maintaining the academic rigor of the preceptorship. Participation in clinical work Participating in clinical work (seeing patients) while conducting a research project teaches students about balancing clinical time and research time as a physician-scientist. The student also learns about the patient population treated by their physician-scientist mentor. A minimum of 20 half-day clinic sessions or equivalents (e.g., four hours of radiology or pathology work time) are required with the student’s primary mentor or another attending physician in the same clinical area. To facilitate further development of clinical skills, students are expected to define and discuss clinical goals with their mentor—one of many aspects of this clerkship that are designed to help students take charge of their own learning. Clinical or translational research project Active participation in clinical or translational research, guided by a physician-scientist mentor, is the primary component of this preceptorship. Students are required to participate in clinical or translational research throughout the six-week rotation. The specific nature of the research project varies by student. All projects must receive prior approval from the course director. Examples of clinical research projects are included in the Results section of this manuscript. Didactic lectures Students learn about the key components of clinical and translational research through a series of required lectures. These are offered online through the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and its associated Institute for Clinical and Translational Research. Students must view three lectures during this course, selected from a list of options, one from each of three defined areas of emphasis: (i) research questions, (ii) study subjects, and (iii) study design. Institutional regulatory scientific meetings To learn about regulation of clinical research, students attend a meeting of the Health Sciences Institutional Review Board (IRB) and a meeting of a scientific review committee (e.g., an Institute for Clinical and Translational Research Scientific Review Committee meeting or a cancer center Protocol Review & Monitoring Committee meeting). This experience is also designed to prepare students to more effectively design studies and write clinical proposals. Prior to participating in an IRB, students view an IRB workshop video online, which teaches students about when IRB review is needed, the basics of the IRB review process, what to expect at an IRB meeting, and what happens after an IRB approval or rejection. Students are required to sign a non-disclosure agreement. After participating in each institutional regulatory scientific meeting, students complete an evaluation form designed to help the student synthesize take-home points that will help them write high-quality research proposals in the future. Community and health systems interviews Interviews with members of the community enable students to examine public perceptions of clinical research, what the community needs from clinical researchers, and how the student’s clinical research project might address those needs. Students are required to conduct four interviews including one interview that examines an important health issue from the perspective of a community member, one interview with a stakeholder (e.g., government official) that discusses an important health issue, and two interviews that examine clinical research from a health systems perspective (e.g., nursing staff or clinical trial coordinator). Students include a summary of each interview (400–450 words) in a written research report. The reports focus on the health issues identified by each interviewee and potential solutions for these problems. Written research report The written research report consists of two parts: (i) a clinical research report and (ii) a public health impact report. The clinical research report synthesizes the results of the clinical research, ideally in a form that can be utilized by the mentor for a future publication. The public health impact report provides an opportunity for the student to act as a consultant for their research mentor on the public health impact of the research. Oral research presentation The oral research presentation provides an opportunity for the student to: (i) sharpen oral presentation skills, (ii) learn how to talk about clinical research (in contrast to the basic science research conducted by most MD/PhD students during their doctoral thesis work), (iii) present the results and implications of their clinical research, and (iv) share clinical research opportunities with junior MD/PhD colleagues. This ten-minute oral presentation is given during one of the weekly sessions of the MD/PhD program seminar series attended by all members of the program. Survey of preceptorship and data analysis Survey questions were developed to retrospectively evaluate whether students are meeting the objectives of the course and to help guide improvements to the preceptorship. We hypothesized that the preceptorship would increase self-perceived competency in conducting clinical or translational research. The survey questions were developed by the authors, which include the MD/PhD program architects of the preceptorship, MD/PhD program trainees, the preceptorship directors, and a member of the Institute for Clinical and Translational Research with experience in survey design. The specific questions were designed to assess changes in self-perceived competency in each of the specified preceptorship objectives (Table 1). A combination of questions with Likert-type responses and questions with free text open response options were included to enable both quantitative analysis and open-ended feedback on the preceptorship. As determined by consultation with the University of Wisconsin–Madison Institutional Review Board (IRB) and via a certification tool prior to conducting the survey, the survey was found to be exempt from a full review by the IRB due to the program evaluation and quality improvement nature of this project. Separate surveys (Additional file 1: Figure S1, Additional file 2: Figure S2, and Additional file 3: Figure S3) were sent to all students and alumni that completed the clerkship (n = 38), all students in the University of Wisconsin MD/PhD program that had not yet completed the clerkship (n = 51) but had already selected a PhD thesis mentor, and all mentors for the clerkship (n = 36) (Table 3). The survey of preceptorship trainees included 17 questions, two of which were free text response (Additional file 1: Figure S1). The survey of preceptorship mentors included 11 questions, two of which were free text response (Additional file 2: Figure S2). The survey of MD/PhD students that had not yet completed the preceptorship, but had selected a doctoral thesis advisor, included three questions (Additional file 3: Figure S3). All three surveys were kept as brief as possible in order to decrease the time burden, especially for recent MD/PhD program graduates in their first or second years of residency. Table 3 Preceptorship participants by academic year We did not send surveys to the students that decided against participating in the preceptorship, primarily because we knew from previous informal discussions that some of these students opted out of the preceptorship due to personal or family hardships, and we did not want our survey to induce emotional distress for these individuals. One or two students opted out of the preceptorship in four of the five years evaluated (Table 3). The six students that opted out of the preceptorship subsequently entered a range of residency programs, including radiology, surgery, pediatrics, and family medicine, so no obvious enrichment for specialty choice was observed among these students. In our statistical analyses, we used a non-parametric test, the Mann-Whitney test, because of the ordinal nature of the data derived from the Likert-type survey, and to avoid potentially improper assumptions about the distribution of the data. Mann-Whitney test values were determined by exact permutation (two-tailed) [38]. Preceptorship participants and projects The Physician-Scientist Preceptorship in Clinical and Translational Research (referred to as the “preceptorship”) was started in 2014 and continues to be conducted according to the objectives and components outlined in detail in the Methods section above and in Tables 1 and 2. During its first five years (2014–2018), 38 MD/PhD students and 36 faculty mentors participated in the preceptorship (Table 3). At least 80% of eligible MD/PhD students participated in the preceptorship each year (Table 3). The faculty members, research projects, and clinical work spanned numerous specialties across the Departments of Anesthesiology, Dermatology, Emergency Medicine, Medicine, Neurological Surgery, Neurology, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Radiology, Surgery, and Urology. In accord with the highly customizable design of the preceptorship, a wide range of translational research projects were conducted, ranging from “Validating the MAGGIC Heart Failure Risk Model in Hospitalized Veteran Inpatients Admitted for Decompensated Heart Failure” to “Leptomeningeal Enhancement on FLAIR Imaging in Patients with Cerebral Aneurysms Treated with Endovascular Therapy”. In 2018, to evaluate the preceptorship and to facilitate further curriculum development and potentially expansion to MD-only students, we conducted three separate surveys (Additional file 1: Figure S1, Additional file 2: Figure S2, Additional file 3: Figure S3) of three different groups: (i) trainees that completed the preceptorship, including MD/PhD program graduates, (ii) preceptorship mentors, and (iii) MD/PhD program students that had not yet taken the preceptorship, but had already selected a PhD research mentor. We received survey responses from 29 out of the 38 students who completed the preceptorship (76%) (Table 3), 39 out of 51 students who are currently in the MD/PhD program but have not yet taken the preceptorship (76%), and 17 out of 36 preceptorship mentors (47%). Importantly, across 67 previous and current MD/PhD program students that responded to the survey question about their doctoral research classification, 58 (87%) reported conducting primarily basic science research during their PhD training, reinforcing the need for clinical and translational research training met by this preceptorship. Given the response rate of 67 (75%) out of the 89 MD/PhD program trainees and graduates eligible to answer this question, we can conclude that the majority of MD/PhD trainees in our program conduct basic science research for their doctoral thesis work. The theoretical minimum that conduct basic science research is 65%, which would only be true if all of the survey non-responders conducted clinical research. The true percentage of MD/PhD trainees that conduct basic science doctoral thesis research is more likely to be closer to the observed 87% in our sample of the population. Preceptorship evaluation Based on student self-assessments, students felt their competency significantly increased in core skills areas including writing a translational research proposal, conducting translational research, analyzing clinical research data, balancing clinical and research activities, and implementing clinical/translational research into practice (Fig. 1). In particular student comments reflected the importance of learning how to balance clinical and research duties with statements such as “I gained some unique insight into how difficult it is to balance your clinical duties with research, especially in a surgery subspecialty,” and, “I learned that there are numerous opportunities to do clinical research in our day to day practice and that the challenge is organizing and implementing these endeavors intelligently despite our busy clinical workload.” Understanding of clinical research regulation (e.g., institutional review boards) was particularly enhanced by the preceptorship, moving most students into the confident or highly confident range (P < 10− 6). Student free response answers supported this point with comments such as “I found familiarization with the IRB process to be the most valuable part. The research was fun, the clinic was fun, the mentorship was good for networking/career building, but the area that most practically contributed to my understanding of clinical research was appreciating the review process.” Student self-assessment of competency levels before and after taking the preceptorship. Center lines (bold) indicate medians, limits indicate 25th and 75th percentiles, whiskers extend 1.5 times the interquartile range, outliers are represented by dots, and P values were determined with a Mann-Whitney test (two-sided) (n = 29 respondents for both groups) Not all competency areas were enhanced based on the survey results. The presence of specifically enhanced competencies argues against non-specific expectancy bias, which would be expected to lead to an apparent enhancement of all surveyed course learning objectives. Moreover, subgroup analyses in which the cohort was split into two groups of students—one group that completed the preceptorship recently (< 2 years) and a second group that complete the preceptorship remotely (> 2 years)—showed no significant differences in self assessments for seven of the eight skill areas, with the lone exception being an increase in self-assessed competency in conducting clinical research (P = 0.008) before the preceptorship among students who completed the preceptorship over two years ago (Additional file 4: Fig. S4). No difference across these two subgroups was observed for this skill after the preceptorship. This subgroup analysis suggests that recency bias was minimal in this survey. Mentor assessments of value (Fig. 2) largely paralleled student self-assessments, particularly supporting the value of the preceptorship for experience in conducting clinical and translational research. The survey results also showed that students placed value on the development of a strong relationship with a mentor and understanding the life of a physician-scientist (Fig. 3). Free-text comments from students who completed the preceptorship also highlighted this point with comments such as, “I learned different strategies for balancing clinical practice and research time,” and “It was valuable seeing different physicians with different approaches to how they handle practical aspects of doing research, comparing and contrasting to other times in training.” Together, these results show that the preceptorship fulfills the objective of establishing a valuable mentor-mentee relationship. Competency in presenting clinical research to the general public was the only skill area that showed no significant increase after preceptorship participation based on the student self-assessment survey (Fig. 1). Concordantly, development of this skill area was suggested to be the least valuable aspect of the course by mentors (Fig. 2). Together, these findings mark development of presenting clinical research results to the general public as a weakness of the current preceptorship, for which we have recommended improvements in the discussion below. Assessment by faculty mentors that participated in the preceptorship of the value various aspects of the preceptorship (n = 17 respondents) Assessment of students that participated in the preceptorship of value of the listed categories (n = 29 respondents) Scientific productivity Based on the survey results, at least 11 peer-reviewed manuscripts based on preceptorship projects, which are distinct from the trainees’ doctoral thesis projects, were produced by the 38 students that participated in the clerkship. Some of these preceptorship-based manuscripts have already been published [39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46], while others remain under peer-review. An additional 11 abstracts were submitted and accepted for presentation at either local or national meetings, and four students identified that the data generated from their project was used in the submission of a grant application. Physician-scientists continue to play important leadership roles in the biomedical research enterprise, but the pipeline for training and maintaining physician-scientists remains inefficient [9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16]. We identified a need for additional mentorship by physician-scientists in the final years of medical school training and a gap in training in clinical and translational research, especially in each student’s final clinical specialty of choice. Here, toward filling these gaps in mentorship and training, we report our experiences with a novel course, the Physician Scientist Preceptorship in Clinical and Translational Research. Mentorship has long been recognized as essential in the development of physician-scientist leaders [25,26,27,28,29]. While most MD/PhD program students receive outstanding mentorship in scientific investigation by their doctoral thesis advisors, mentorship by physician-scientists within a given student’s specialty of choice is often lacking. This problem exists because during graduate school many MD/PhD students conduct basic science research mentored by PhD scientists. Moreover, many MD/PhD students change their specialty of choice between entering graduate school and applying for residency. As such, there is often a need for a new physician-scientist mentor during the final two years of the MD/PhD program. The preceptorship described here provides a structured venue for establishing a robust mentor-mentee relationship at a much deeper level than that offered by a typical clinical clerkship. For example, we have observed that potential physician-scientist mentors are often identified through a week-long interaction during a core clinical clerkship. This fleeting, yet valuable, interaction can then be continued and expanded over the next few months while planning a physician-scientist preceptorship project (as detailed in the Methods above). Subsequently, the six-week preceptorship provides further opportunities for developing a strong professional relationship, which then has the potential to be a life-long interaction. Importantly, this mentorship provides an anchor for a foundational professional network in the student’s specialty, even before entering residency. In addition to providing specialty-specific mentorship, the preceptorship increased exposure to clinical and translational research, which has been identified as an unmet need within the training of physician-scientists [21]. More broadly, there is a general lack of translation of basic science discoveries into clinical research trials, which diminishes the impact of scientific discoveries that hold promise for major advances in human health [47]. Physician-scientists are uniquely qualified to bring basic science discoveries into the clinical realm given their extensive scientific and medical training. However, current physician-scientist training programs offer little to close the gap between basic science and the practice of medicine. Prior to participation in the preceptorship, students in our MD/PhD program had little exposure to clinical or translational research because most conduct doctoral research in basic science. Through this preceptorship, our students gained insight into bridging basic science discoveries to projects that directly impact human health, and many students feel more capable in their ability to conduct clinical research and to implement clinical research into their future practice (Figs. 1 and 3). An additional benefit of the preceptorship is that by participating in a new research project distinct from doctoral thesis work, students expand their research network and learn how to apply previously gained skills in a new context. Recent evidence suggests that trainees are more likely to be successful in academic research if they synthesize knowledge from multiple mentors [48, 49]. The scientific productivity of the preceptorship, as demonstrated by peer-reviewed publications, abstracts, and grant submissions, suggests that trainees are gaining meaningful exposure in biomedical research fields distinct from their doctoral research. In many cases, when compared to the trainee’s doctoral research, this preceptorship research project is by design more directly related to the trainee’s future clinical specialty. Notably, students in the preceptorship also became familiar with the regulatory aspects of clinical research such as the IRB process. The regulatory processes that are required to conduct clinical and translational research have long been identified as significant barriers that impede implementation of clinical research [50], and more recently, many clinical trials have moved out of North America to places with less regulatory burden [50, 51]. By participating in an IRB and other regulatory scientific meetings, students have the opportunity to observe the decisions made at these regulatory meetings and develop the ability to surmount barriers that slow the initiation of clinical and translational research. Though the preceptorship was largely well-received and improved students’ exposure to many aspects of clinical research, students did not gain significant exposure in presenting their work to the general public. The general public’s assessment of science is important, particularly as a basic understanding of science is critical for informed decision making [52]. To develop this skill set, we recommend adding a component to the preceptorship where students draft a press release for their research results targeted at the general public and share this with their mentors. An alternative addition could center on public engagement through social media, which has expanded since the original implementation of this preceptorship [53]. A limitation of our study is that our course was conducted at a single institution within a relatively small group of highly-motivated and independent students—those enrolled in a combined MD/PhD program. Additionally, this was a retrospective assessment of students who completed the preceptorship. The sub-group analyses discussed in detail above showed minimal differences between students who completed the course over two years ago compared to those who recently completed the course, suggesting minimal expectancy and recency bias, but we cannot definitively exclude some element of these biases. A formalized prospective assessment of students prior to participating in the preceptorship may mitigate these concerns. The physician-scientist preceptorship at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health has been well-received by students, expands exposure to clinical and translational research, and has been highly productive in terms of peer-reviewed manuscripts, meeting abstracts, grant submissions, and self-perceived confidence with clinical and translational research. Additional long-term benefits are anticipated because of the strong relationships developed with physician-scientist mentors and the improved understanding of the life and work of a physician-scientist. Based on the results of the first five years of our preceptorship, the experience has now been solidified as a core component of our MD/PhD program, and we expect expansion of this preceptorship to medical students outside of the MD/PhD program who plan to be physician-scientists. 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Identifying barriers and practical solutions to conducting site-based research in North America. Heart Fail Clin. 2015;11:581–9. Brownell SE, Price JV, Steinman L. Science communication to the general public: why we need to teach undergraduate and graduate students this skill as part of their formal scientific training. J Undergrad Neurosci Educ. 2013;12:E6–10. Shillcutt SK, Silver JK. Social media and advancement of women physicians. N Engl J Med. 2018;378:2342–5. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMms1801980. We thank all University of Wisconsin–Madison preceptorship students and mentors for their participation and feedback. We thank Nichole Monzon for assistance with tracking student publications and abstracts generated by work during the preceptorship. This work was supported by NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards F30AG043282 (J.A.S.) and F30CA210912 (E.T.) and by NIH MSTP T32GM008692 (A.H.). This work was also supported by the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program, through the NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), grant UL1TR002373 (J-P.J.Y.). The detailed course curriculum materials used at UW-Madison and the datasets obtained and analyzed in this report are available from the corresponding author upon request. Medical Scientist Training Program, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI, USA Jonathan A. Stefely , Erin Theisen , Chelsea Hanewall , Mark E. Burkard , Anna Huttenlocher & John-Paul J. Yu Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI, USA Linda Scholl Department of Medicine, Hematology/Oncology, and the UW Carbone Cancer Center, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI, USA Mark E. Burkard Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI, USA Anna Huttenlocher Department of Radiology, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI, USA John-Paul J. Yu Search for Jonathan A. Stefely in: Search for Erin Theisen in: Search for Chelsea Hanewall in: Search for Linda Scholl in: Search for Mark E. Burkard in: Search for Anna Huttenlocher in: Search for John-Paul J. Yu in: JAS, ET, CH, AH, and JPJY conceived of the study and its design. JAS, CH, and AH designed the originally implemented preceptorship. JAS, ET, and JPJY wrote the manuscript. JAS, ET, CH, LS, MEB, AH, and JPJY participated in data analysis, revised the manuscript, and read and approved the final manuscript. Correspondence to John-Paul J. Yu. As determined by consultation with the University of Wisconsin–Madison Institutional Review Board (IRB) and via a certification tool prior to conducting the survey, the survey was found to be exempt from a full review by the IRB due to the program evaluation and quality improvement nature of this project. As part of a quality improvement project for this course, we did not ask for informed consent for publication from survey participants. However, the identity of survey respondents was maintained as anonymous via a neutral broker. Additionally, the survey as a whole and individual questions were optional for participants. The authors declare that they have no competing interests. M.E.B. declares the following: Medical advisory board of Strata Oncology; Research funding from Abbvie, Genetech, Puma, and Loxo Oncology. Figure S1. Screen capture of the survey sent to students that completed the preceptorship. (DOCX 381 kb) Figure S2. Screen capture of the survey sent to mentors that participated in the preceptorship. (DOCX 188 kb) Figure S3. Screen capture of the survey sent to MD/PhD program students that had not yet participated in the preceptorship. (DOCX 102 kb) Figure S4. Student self-assessment of competency levels before and after taking the preceptorship (mean ± SD) separated by time elapsed since taking the preceptorship. P values were determined with a Mann-Whitney test (two-sided) (n = 12 for group ≤2 years; n = 16 for group > 2 years since taking the preceptorship). P values not shown were > 0.05. (DOCX 108 kb) Physician-scientist	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line590
__label__cc	0.657089	0.342911	Share interesting facts about human body systems. How Does the Nervous System Work? You'll Be Amazed to Know This The nervous system works through an interconnected network of billions of neurons. These neurons transmit information in the form of nerve impulses, across the nervous system and thus, coordinate the various functions of the body. Chandramita Bora The human nervous system is a highly specialized network, that contains billions of neurons, and is responsible for controlling and coordinating all the functions of the body. This system enables us to communicate with the outside world and it consists of two components, the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS). The central nervous system includes the brain and the spinal cord, while the peripheral nervous system consists of all the neurons of the body, excepting those found in the brain and the spinal cord. The human nervous system is concerned with receiving information from the outside world, processing it, and then generating appropriate responses. It is a network that controls and coordinates all the activities of the body, by transmitting messages or signals from the brain to the different parts of the body and vice versa. How does the Nervous System Work? The way the nervous system works is truly unique and complex. It works through a complex network of neurons, which are the basic functioning cells of the nervous system. The neurons conduct the signals or impulses between the two components of the nervous system, i.e., the central and the peripheral nervous system. There are mainly three types of neurons, sensory neurons, motor neurons, and interneurons. The sensory neurons transmit the stimuli or impulses received from the sensory organs, like the eyes, nose or skin, to the central nervous system, i.e., to the brain and the spinal cord. The brain in turn, processes these stimuli and sends them back to other parts of the body, telling them how to react to a particular type of stimulus. The motor neurons are responsible for receiving signals from the brain and spinal cord, and sending them to other parts of the body. On the other hand, the interneurons are concerned with reading the impulses, received from the sensory neurons and deciding the responses to be generated. They are mainly found in the brain and the spinal cord. Apart from neurons, the nervous system also contain glial cells, which support and nourish the neurons. The neurons use electrochemical signals, or neurotransmitters for transmitting impulses from one neuron to another. However, the transmission of impulses from one neuron to another is not as simple as it sounds. So, let's find out how exactly a neuron sends impulses to another neuron. Transmission of Nerve Impulses The human nervous system contains billions of nerve cells and about 86 billion of them are found in the brain alone. Each neuron has a cell body, from where numerous branch-like projections emerge, which are known as dendrites. The dendrites usually look like the branches of a tree. At the opposite end of the cell body, a long, slender projection can be found, which is known as axon. The dendrites pick up impulses in the form of electrical signals from other neurons, which are then passed down the axon to another neuron or cell. The axons of most of the neurons are covered by a myelin sheath, which insulates the nerve cells and speeds up the transmission of nerve impulses. Some axons can travel up to one meter or more in human body, before branching off at the end. The branches arising from an axon are slightly swollen at the tip, and these swollen tips are known as, synaptic knobs or terminal button. For transmitting impulses, neurons form a specialized structure called synapse, with other neurons and cells of the body. A synapse typically serves as the junction, where impulses or information can flow from one neuron to another. There are basically three elements of a synapse, a presynaptic membrane of the signal-passing neuron (which can be usually found in the synaptic knob of an axon), the postsynaptic membrane located in a dendrite or a target cell, and a synaptic cleft, which is the space between the presynaptic and the post synaptic membranes. There are primarily two types of synapses, chemical synapses and electrical synapses, and both of them vary in the way they send impulses from one neuron to another. Chemical Synapse: In a chemical synapse, the transmission of nerve impulses takes place with the help of neurotransmitters. In its resting state, a neuron maintains a small voltage difference across its membrane. The inside of the membrane is negatively charged, while the electrical charge outside the membrane is positive, when the neuron is not stimulated by any impulse. This difference in electrical potential or voltage, between the inside and outside of a cell is known as, membrane potential. When an impulse reaches the synapse of a presynaptic neuron, it changes the membrane potential of the neuron, which causes calcium channels in the presynaptic membrane to open. The opening of these channels allows calcium ions to enter through the presynaptic membrane and thus, increase the concentration of these ions in the cytoplasm. This induces the synaptic vesicles to fuse with the plasma membrane of the presynaptic neuron, and release neurotransmitter molecules into the synaptic cleft. The neurotransmitter molecules then diffuse and float across the synaptic cleft, to bind to the receptors embedded in the plasma membrane of the postsynaptic cell or neuron. The process of binding neurotransmitters to the receptors, triggers an electrical response in the postsynaptic neuron and changes its membrane potential, which carry the impulse forward until it reaches its destination. Some neurotransmitters can excite the postsynaptic neuron, while others can inhibit its activity. The neurotransmitter molecules get removed from the receptors due to thermal shaking. They are either broken down, or reabsorbed by the presynaptic cell. Electrical Synapse: In electrical synapses, the impulses are transferred from one neuron to another neuron or cell, through a specialized intercellular connection, known as gap junction. Here, a direct connection is established between the cytoplasm of the two cells, so that various ions and molecules can travel easily from one cell to another. Nerve impulses can also flow from one neuron to another through the gap junction. Basically, the process begins when an impulse travels along the presynaptic cell and causes voltage changes in that cell. This allows the charged ions to travel through the gap junction and induce voltage changes in the postsynaptic cell, and thus, carry the nerve impulses. The Central Nervous System The human brain is the site, where the nerve impulses coming from different parts of the body are processed, in order to generate appropriate responses. The human brain can be divided into three parts, forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain. The forebrain consists of the cerebrum, which is the largest part of the brain and is the center of memory, thought, emotion, reasoning, problem solving, planning, intelligence, movement and orientation, perception of stimuli, speech, and the ability to feel. The outer layer of cerebrum is cerebral cortex, which is concerned with thinking, producing and understanding languages, and receiving information collected by the sensory nerves and sending them to other regions of the brain, for further processing. The inner part consists of the thalamus, hypothalamus, and the pituitary gland. The thalamus transmits sensory and motor signals to the cerebral cortex, while the hypothalamus is responsible for regulating pulse, body temperature, appetite, secretion of pituitary hormones, and autonomic processes. Pituitary glands secrete hormones that regulate growth, metabolism, sexual maturity, and response to stress. The midbrain is located underneath the middle of the forebrain, and is the coordinator of the messages or impulses coming in and out of the brain. On the other hand, the hindbrain, which is located below the back end of the cerebrum, consists of the cerebellum, the pons, and the medulla oblongata. The cerebellum processes signals coming from other parts of the brain and controls movement, posture, and balance, while the pons and the medulla coordinate messages and autonomic functions, like breathing, heart rate, digestion, and blood pressure. The other component of the central nervous system is the spinal cord, which is a long and cylindrical bundle of nerve tissues, that extends from the medulla oblongata of the hindbrain to the lower back. Spinal cord is the main pathway, along which information or nerve impulses travel back and forth, between the brain and the peripheral nervous system. The Peripheral Nervous System The peripheral nervous system can be divided into somatic nervous system and autonomic nervous system, depending on their specific functions. The somatic or voluntary nervous system receives external stimuli and coordinates body movements, while the autonomic or involuntary nervous system is responsible for those functions, that are not under conscious control, such as heartbeat and metabolic processes. The autonomic nervous system can again be classified into sympathetic, parasympathetic, and enteric division. The sympathetic nervous system responds to stress or anxiety, while the parasympathetic nervous system works when a person is sleeping, or when the body is at rest. The enteric nervous system, on the other hand, manages every aspect of digestion. The nervous system can transmit impulses at the speed of 100 meters per second, and the transmission of impulses across electrical synapses is much faster and energy efficient than chemical synapses. But, the impulses get weaker as they travel from one neuron to another through electrical synapses. On the other hand, chemical signaling is characterized by 'gain', which can be described as the ability to transmit an electrical impulse with constant or greater strength. Chemical synapses are more common than electrical synapses. Interesting Facts about the Nervous System Human Nervous System Diagram Central Nervous System Functions Nervous System Function Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous System Organs of the Nervous System Cerebrum Functions Nervous Tissue - Structure and Function Location and Functions of the Thalamus Human Brain Diagram Diagram of the Brain and its Functions 25 Interesting Human Eye Facts That You Probably Didn't Know How Much Blood is There in the Human Body Bones in the Human Body A Labeled Diagram of the Human Heart Different Parts of the Human Ear Immune System Facts Strongest Muscle in the Human Body Organs of the Digestive System Organs of the Respiratory System Organs on the Right Side of the Human Body Serum Vs. Plasma List of Digestive Enzymes Role of Proteins in Living Organisms Structure of the Human Respiratory System Where is the Gallbladder Located? Lobes of The Brain and Their Functions Neurotransmitters and their Functions Glands in The Human Body Cardiovascular System Function Duodenum Function Lobes of the Lungs	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line591
__label__wiki	0.675415	0.675415	Mount Sinai South Nassau in Oceanside, NY seeks an Otolaryngologist to join local practice! Oceanside, New York 180000N9 Otolaryngologist to join three busy three physician practice looking to add a 4th physician. Candidates must be board eligible or board certified Otolaryngologists. This established group has been serving the south shore of Long Island for over 25 years. Fellowship training is not required, but welcomed. Experience in Audiology, Speech/voice therapy; videostroboscopy and FEESST is desired. Competitive salary and bonus package including comprehensive benefits and 401k offered. Suitable candidates may be considered for service chief role! Mount Sinai South Nassau is an award-winning, acute care, not-for-profit teaching hospital located in Oceanside, New York. Our dedicated staff serves the entire South Shore, from the Rockaways in Queens to the Massapequas and beyond. And we offer quality, compassionate care on our main campus in Oceanside, plus nine other satellite facilities in the region. Mount Sinai South Nassau is one of the region’s largest hospitals, with 455 beds, more than 900 physicians and 3,500 employees. The Trauma Critical Care Surgeon will be joining a team of four faculty and one voluntary trauma/surgical ICU attendings. SNCH is a level II verified trauma center with approximately 65,000 ED visits and about 2,000 trauma admissions annually. This collegial department has its own surgical training program. The SICU is a closed model. Designated a Magnet® hospital by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) for outstanding nursing care, South Nassau also offers Novalis Tx™ and Gamma Knife® radiosurgery technologies, and operates the only Trauma Center on the South Shore of Nassau County verified by the American College of Surgeons. South Nassau is the only hospital on Long Island in 2018 to achieve Healthgrades America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Orthopedic Surgery™, Orthopedic Surgery Excellence Award™ and 5-star rating for Total Hip Replacement, and it was one of just two hospitals on Long Island to achieve Healthgrades 5-stars in Hip Fracture Treatment. Some people call us the best-kept secret on Long Island, though we rank among the best for the health care. About the Mount Sinai Health System: The Mount Sinai Health System is New York City's largest integrated delivery system, encompassing eight hospitals, a leading medical school, and a vast network of ambulatory practices throughout the greater New York region. Mount Sinai's vision is to produce the safest care, the highest quality, the highest satisfaction, the best access and the best value of any health system in the nation. The Health System includes approximately 7,480 primary and specialty care physicians; 11 joint-venture ambulatory surgery centers; more than 410 ambulatory practices throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and 31 affiliated community health centers. The Icahn School of Medicine is one of three medical schools that have earned distinction by multiple indicators: ranked in the top 20 by U.S. News & World Report's "Best Medical Schools", aligned with a U.S. News & World Report's "Honor Roll" Hospital, No. 12 in the nation for National Institutes of Health funding, and among the top 10 most innovative research institutions as ranked by the journal Nature in its Nature Innovation Index. This reflects a special level of excellence in education, clinical practice, and research. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked No. 18 on U.S. News & World Report's "Honor Roll" of top U.S. hospitals; it is one of the nation's top 20 hospitals in Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Geriatrics, Nephrology, and Neurology/Neurosurgery, and in the top 50 in six other specialties in the 2018-2019 "Best Hospitals" issue. Mount Sinai's Kravis Children's Hospital also is ranked nationally in five out of ten pediatric specialties by U.S. News & World Report. The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked 11th nationally for Ophthalmology and 44th for Ear, Nose, and Throat. Mount Sinai Beth Israel, Mount Sinai St. Luke's, Mount Sinai West, and Mount Sinai South Nassau are ranked regionally. Please specify job number of interest and send CV to: Alex Cano Director Physician Recruitment Alex.cano@mountsinai.org	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line592
__label__cc	0.515085	0.484915	Randall “Randy” Henderson, Jr., Mayor of the City of Fort Myers in Lee County, has been a resident of Fort Myers for 40 years. He was born and raised in North Carolina where he graduated from Mars Hill College in 1979 with a bachelor’s of science in business administration. Henderson began his career in Fort Myers in banking. He is the CEO of Corbin Henderson Company, a real estate firm, serving since 1986. Mayor Henderson began his third mayoral term November 2017. Prior to being elected mayor in November 2009, Mayor Henderson served for nine years on City Council. He is an active community volunteer, currently serving as an advisory board member for Keiser University, the Edison Pageant of Lights, and The Salvation Army. Henderson is a past president of the Greater Fort Myers Chamber of Commerce and Fort Myers Kiwanis Club and previously served as chairman of the City of Fort Myers Conference and Convention Council. In 2015 Mayor Henderson was named president of the Florida League of Mayors at the organization’s annual business meeting and served 2015-2016. Mayor Henderson is a private pilot and enjoys flying both for business and personal pleasure and is an avid fisherman. He has been happily married to his wife Ginny for 40 years and has 3 adult children: sons, Marcus, and Alex and daughter-in-law, Carrie, daughter, Laura Fraser and son-in-law, Jay Fraser and two granddaughters: Virginia Ann Fraser and Ellery Andrews Fraser, and enjoys time with his family. Mayor Henderson is a dedicated public servant with a passion for helping his community and its residents. Mayor's State of the City Address 2017 Randy has been involved in community affairs for years serving on the following boards: Director, Fort Myers Flying Club Board Member, Florida League of Mayors (third term) Member, US Conference of Mayors Member, Fort Myers Kiwanis Club Member, Lee County Horizon Council Member, Uncommon Friends Foundation Advisory Board Member, Edison Pageant of Light Advisory Board Member, Lee County Public School Foundation Advisory Board Member, Salvation Army Keiser University Advisory Board Member Former Service Fort Myers American Little League, Coach/Manager for 14 years Director, Encore Bank Director of NCNB National Bank, Fort Myers Director of First National Bank of Fort Myers Director First Community Bank Chairman, Salvation Army Advisory Board Chairman, City of Fort Myers Conference and Convention Council Past Chairman, Florida League of Mayors Director, Florida League of Mayors Past President, Greater Fort Myers Chamber of Commerce Past President, Fort Myers Kiwanis Club Advisory Board Member, City of Fort Myers Conference and Convention Council Advisory Board Member, Edison Community College Foundation Advisory Board Member, Mars Hill College Nature Center of Fort Myers Randy Henderson Kim Harris Legislative Administrator to Mayor Randall P. Henderson Jr. kharris@cityftmyers.com City TV	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line596
__label__cc	0.648377	0.351623	Investor heavyweights call for clear action on climate September 23rd, 2014, by Kieran Cooke As a major UN climate summit gets under way in New York today, some of the world’s leading institutional investors demand clearer policies on climate change and the phasing out of fossil fuel subsidies. LONDON, 23 September, 2014 − Many of the biggest hitters in the global financial community, together managing an eye-watering $24 trillion of investment funds, have issued a powerful warning to political leaders about the risks of failing to establish clear policy on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. More than 340 investment concerns − ranging from Scandinavian pensions funds to institutional investors in Asia, Australia, South Africa and the US − have put their signatures to what they describe as global investors’ most comprehensive statement yet on climate change. In particular, the investors call on government leaders to provide a “stable, reliable and economically meaningful carbon policy”, and to develop plans to phase out subsidies on fossil fuels. They warn: “Gaps, weaknesses and delays in climate change and clean energy policies will increase the risks to our investments as a result of the physical impacts of climate change, and will increase the likelihood that more radical policy measures will be required to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Ambitious policies “Stronger political leadership and more ambitious policies are needed in order for us to scale up our investments.” Attempts to establish carbon pricing systems capable of making an impact on climate change have so far ended in failure, while oil and gas companies continue to battle against stopping fossil fuel subsidies. The investors’ move has been welcomed by the United Nations. Achim Steiner, head of the UN Environment Programme, said: “Investors are owners of large segments of the global economy, as well as custodians of citizens’ savings around the world. Having such a critical mass of them demand a transition to the low-carbon and green economy is exactly the signal governments need in order to move to ambitious action quickly. “What is needed is an unprecedented re-channelling of investment from today´s economy into the low-carbon economy of tomorrow.” The investors’ statement comes amid growing concern in the finance sector about the economic consequences of a warming world. Last week, a commission composed of leading economists and senior political figures said the transition to a low-carbon economy was vital in order to ensure continued global economic growth. Stranded assets Other groups say investors who continue to put their money into fossil fuels are taking considerable risks. As governments and regulators face up to the enormity of climate change and place more restrictions on fossil fuels, such investments could become what are termed “stranded assets”. There are also signs of a surge in low-carbon technologies, particularly in the renewable energy sector. Last week, Lazard, the asset management firm, reported that a decline in cost and increased efficiency means large wind and solar installations in the US can now, without subsidies, be cost competitive with gas-fired power. There is also increased activity on the carbon pricing front. China, the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, recently announced it would establish a countrywide emissions trading system by 2016. If implemented, the China carbon trading system will be the world’s biggest. The country already runs seven regional carbon trading schemes. – Climate News Network Business, Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Trading, Climate, climate change, Climate deniers, Climate finance, climate policy, Climate risk, Economy, Electricity generation, emissions, Emissions reductions, Energy, fossil fuels, Greenhouse Gases, Investment, Political action, Renewable energy, Renewables, Solar energy, Wind power and tagged Carbon dioxide Our daily service Climate News Network is a free and objective service publishing a daily news story on climate and energy issues. We're now on Patreon, which means you can help support us as we continue to report on climate change. Journalist training materials View and download training materials designed to help journalists communicate climate change effectively. About our funders The Climate News Network is supported by the Ashden Trust, the JJ Charitable Trust and the Mark Leonard Trust - three of the Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts. This support assures the Network’s continuation while we seek the means to ensure its long-term sustainability. We have also had generous support from the Lush Charity Pot. We thank them all for their practical help, and for sharing our vision. The site is open to everyone: this service is entirely free of charge and the stories are there for all to use. Brazilians reject Bolsonaro’s nuclear plan July 6, 2019 Planting more trees could cut carbon by 25% July 5, 2019 Keep climate teaching real and honest July 4, 2019 Climate crisis needs radical food changes July 3, 2019 Ancient water-saving can help modern Peru July 2, 2019 © Climate News Network 2019. All rights reserved. Website by Square Eye Ltd.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line598
__label__cc	0.658121	0.341879	Collecting Biospecimens from an internet-based cohort study of inflammatory bowel disease (CCFA Partners): A feasibility study CCFA Partners has been successful for survey-based research for many years. The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not it would be feasible to use the CCFA Partners Internet-based platform to collect biologic or biospecimen data such as saliva, blood and stool samples. We found that nearly 40% of participants contributed saliva and about 25% contributed blood samples. The majority of participants who contributed saliva or blood also sent a stool sample. All samples provided sufficient quantity and quality of material for genetic testing. Saliva and blood samples were genotyped for common mutations ("single nucleotide polymorphisms") known to be associated with inflammatory bowel disease. Stool samples were analyzed for bacterial content, which may be related to inflammatory bowel disease. Overall, this study supports that it is feasible to collect biospecimens using an Internet-based platform and will be successful on a larger scale to be used for many different types of research. Full Scientific Manuscript biospecimen; biobank; biobanking; specimen; biospecimen handling; healthcare; genetic testing Keep or Destroy? Attitudes of Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Diseases on Biospecimen Handling at Biobank Closure A biobank is a collection of samples from patients (including spit, stool or blood). Biobanks are important for understanding risk factors for developing disease or for severity of disease. The purpose of this study was to understand how patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) feel about the continued use of their samples after the biobank has closed. A total of 26 CCFA Partners members participated in a phone interview about the risks and benefits of their samples being used for research, and the results of these conversations were used to create a survey. The survey included three primary themes: 1) degree to which samples remain an individual’s property after donation; 2) samples are a good that can be sold; and 3) the belief that results from sample analysis could lead to discrimination. About 1,000 CCFA Partners participants completed the survey online. Most participants expressed the desire to know what would happen to their samples and genetic information if the biobank closed. Most were comfortable with the samples and genetic information being destroyed. Most were also comfortable donating their samples and genetic information to IBD research. Most participants were not comfortable with selling their samples and genetic information after the biobank closes. We learned that it is important for researchers to create a plan for samples if the biobank closes and to communicate this plan to the participant at the beginning of the study. biospecimen; biobank; biobanking; specimen; biospecimen handling; consent; informed consent; genetic testing Perceptions of Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Diseases on Biobanking in the CCFA Partners Cohort A biobank is a collection of samples from patients (including spit, stool or blood). Biobanks are very important for understanding risk factors for developing disease or for severity of disease. We wanted to understand more about why patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) would or would not participate in a biobank. We first did a series of interviews over the phone with patients who were participating in the CCFA Partners study. This helped us to understand the important concerns about biobanks and develop a survey for use in CCFA Partners. We then sent a survey to over 800 people with IBD in CCFA Partners. We did a total of 26 phone interviews. Patients doing the interviews told us that they had concerns about how samples would be collected/stored; who would be allowed access; whether these samples would be used for other things (not only research); and whether this would affect whether they could get life insurance. Most people were not that worried about using the blood for genetic studies. People thought that that biobanks were important for research, that they might lead to a cure; that by donating they would be helping others or family members with IBD; and hoped that they might personally benefit, although most understood that they likely would not. These themes aided in the development of a survey instrument to assess perceptions of biobanking. A total of 476 people initially finished the survey. Almost 40% said that they would 'definitely yes' donate samples, 56.0% would 'probably yes' donate, 5.1% 'probably no' and 0.7% 'definitely no'. There were no factors that made someone more likely to donate (reported donation rates were not different for Crohn's disease (CD) versus ulcerative colitis (UC), remission versus active disease, or education level. People were most willing to donate spit, followed by blood and lastly stool. Knowing these important thoughts on sample donation/biobanks will help researchers to develop consents for IBD biobanks and design educational materials on biobanks for IBD A biobank is a collection of biological samples, such as saliva, blood, and stool, from individuals with a common condition such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Biobanks are important for understanding risk factors for developing disease or for severity of disease. We wanted to learn more about IBD patients’ understanding of and willingness to participate in a biobank. We first did 26 phone interviews with patient volunteers participating in the CCFA Partners study. Those interviews helped us better understand concerns related to biobanks. Patients doing the interviews told us that they had concerns about how samples would be collected/stored, who would be allowed access, whether these samples would be used for anything other than research, and whether participation in a biobank would affect life insurance eligibility. Most patients were not that worried about using blood for genetic studies. Participants thought biobanks were important for research, that they might lead to a cure, that by donating they would be helping others or family members with IBD, and hoped that they might personally benefit. These results from the phone interviews were used to develop an online survey instrument to assess perceptions of biobanking. In a larger sample, a total of 1,007 people with IBD completed the online survey. Almost 40% said they would ‘definitely’ donate samples, 56.4% would ‘probably’ donate, 3.6% ‘probably not’, and 0.6% ‘definitely not’. There were no differences in willingness to donate specimens based on disease type (Crohn’s vs. ulcerative colitis) or on disease activity (in remission vs. currently active disease). People were most willing to donate saliva specimens, followed by blood and lastly stool samples. Knowing these important attitudes and beliefs about sample donations and biobanks will help researchers develop consents and educational materials related to biobanks that will encourage wider involvement. Full Published Manuscript biobanking; sample collection; sample storage, confidentiality; HIPAA; community; population Research Methods, Study Updates	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line604
__label__wiki	0.807478	0.807478	Dandwa Dandwa Population, Caste, Working Data Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh - Census 2011 Dandwa is a village situated in Khaga tehsil of Fatehpur district in Uttar Pradesh. As per the Population Census 2011, there are total 196 families residing in the village Dandwa. The total population of Dandwa is 1,045 out of which 547 are males and 498 are females thus the Average Sex Ratio of Dandwa is 910. The population of Children of age 0-6 years in Dandwa village is 172 which is 16% of the total population. There are 85 male children and 87 female children between the age 0-6 years. Thus as per the Census 2011 the Child Sex Ratio of Dandwa is 1,024 which is greater than Average Sex Ratio (910) of Dandwa village. As per the Census 2011, the literacy rate of Dandwa is 69%. Thus Dandwa village has higher literacy rate compared to 57.4% of Fatehpur district. The male literacy rate is 79% and the female literacy rate is 57.66% in Dandwa village. As per constitution of India and Panchyati Raaj Act (Amendment 1998), Dandwa village is administrated by Sarpanch (Head of Village) who is elected representative of the village. Dandwa Data as per Census 2011 As per the Population Census 2011 data, following are some quick facts about Dandwa village. Literacy 68.96% 79% 57.66% Schedule Caste (SC) constitutes 28.4% while Schedule Tribe (ST) were 0% of total population in Dandwa village. In Dandwa village out of total population, 554 were engaged in work activities. 41.5% of workers describe their work as Main Work (Employment or Earning more than 6 Months) while 58.5% were involved in Marginal activity providing livelihood for less than 6 months. Of 554 workers engaged in Main Work, 101 were cultivators (owner or co-owner) while 89 were Agricultural labourer. Cultivators 101 97 4 Other Workers 39 36 3 Marginal Workers 324 75 249 Map of Dandwa, Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh Nearby Villages to Dandwa, Khaga Below are the list of villages near Dandwa village in Khaga. Sarauli 949 Itauli 1,183 Chakmir 56 Chak Ladipur 148 Gokulpur 393 Dandwa, Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh - Wikipedia	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line605
__label__wiki	0.875414	0.875414	Archive for the ‘Gilbert Mahon’ Tag The Mahon House – Hastings and Burrard This image is labelled in the archives as “old house, Burrard and Hastings Sts, Jan 1929”. We’ve identified it as the Mahon House, home to Edward Mahon for many years, and very soon after this it was demolished and replaced by the Marine Building. For much of its life it was addressed as Seaton Street, the name for this stretch of Hastings. We weren’t sure who designed the house, but we now know it was W T Dalton who retained a relationship with the Mahons for many years, and it appeared in 1898. (A year earlier Edward Mahon was living at 825 Howe Street). Joseph W McFarland, an Ontario-born early investor in Vancouver took credit for creating the brokerage company of Mahon, McFarland and Mahon in 1894. He had been involved in the formation of Vancouver’s water company and the Electric Light company (with David Oppenheimer) in 1886, and a real-estate, insurance and stock company in 1892. That company added Edward Mahon two years later and Gilbert Mahon (his younger brother) in 1895. Edward and Gilbert Mahon were the sons of an Anglo-Irish father, Rev. Sir William R. Mahon and his wife Jane. Sir William was 4th Baronet of Castlegar, County Galway, Ireland, and Edward, the sixth child was born in 1862 (in Yorkshire where his father was an Anglican minister) with Gilbert (the eighth) arriving three years later. The Mahon’s were from a family with money. Guinness Mahon was a Dublin-based land agency that soon after their mid 19th century creation became a merchant bank. Edward Mahon was already in town, and active in development before joining McFarland. In 1894 he was one of three people to put up $100,000 to found the Granville Club, a business social club where his co-founders were Henry Bell-Ogle and David Oppenheimer. That year he was listed as living at the Hotel Vancouver, although he soon moved to Howe Street. In 1895 both Gilbert and Edward were involved in creating a mining syndicate, and Gilbert was also living in Vancouver. Gilbert obviously raised finances in London for the “Jewel Mine” at Long Lake Camp. An 1898 Minster of Mines report noted “Work has been resumed on the Jewel, in Long Lake Camp, lately Jewel acquired by the Jewel Development Syndicate, which has organised a Mineral Claim, a short time ago in London, England, by Mr. Gilbert Mahon, of Vancouver. The Jewel had an incline shaft sunk about 170 feet prior ‘to the suspension of work, which took place early in 1898. About 220 feet of drifting at the 120-foot level was also done at the same time. The first steam mining plant brought into the district was installed at the Jewel early in 1897. It consisted of a 15 h.p. boiler, 6 h.p. hoist, and a steam pump. The Jewel last year enjoyed the further distinction of having the best timbered and, from the miner’s point of view, safest shaft in the district. Its quartz vein has been irregular in value, although maintaining well its size. It is anticipated that, under the new auspices, more settled country will be reached, and better general values be obtained.” The 1897 Vancouver street directory shows Gilbert living in Rossland. This wasn’t Edward’s first foray into mining – Edward Mahon came to BC in 1890, using family money to invest in mining sites in the area. His older brother, John Fitzgerald Mahon came in 1889, and upon his return to the UK he convinced Edward to emigrate and act on his behalf. Initially he didn’t do a great deal of actual mining, but bought and sold properties. In 1891 he purchased 320 acres on the west side of the Columbia and had it platted for a townsite in 1897. He gave mineral names to the streets, ie, Silver, Galena, Iron etc. He named the area after his home in Ireland, Castlegar, but “was frustrated in the fulfilment of his vision by unfavourable developments that were orchestrated by the Canadian Pacific Railway” (according to his biographer, Walter Volovsek in ‘The Green Necklace: The Vision Quest of Edward Mahon’). John Mahon returned to BC in 1892 and foreseeing the potential for development of [Vancouver’s north shore], he established the North Vancouver Land & Improvement Company Ltd. in 1891 and appointed his brother, Edward, as president, a position he held for 45 years. John and Edward were also financial partners in Vancouver and there were substantial funds involved in their 1896 investment company. John Mahon, although he always lived in England, had his name associated with repairs to the house on Burrard at Hastings. It was paid for by John originally, and was a gift to Edward. In 1902 W T Dalton designed $350 of repairs to the house for J Mahon, a year after he designed the Mahon block on West Hastings for Mahon, McFarland and Mahon and a $500 greenhouse for E Mahon at the house address. The 1902 addition was most likely the shop annex, built in its western wall to accommodate Edward’s Holtzapffel lathe, which he bought that year. The greenhouse was built later on its eastern (Burrard) face. John’s visits were important enough to attract press coverage in Victoria in 1906 “Among the visitors at the Driard are John F. Mahon and Lady Alice Mahon, of London, Eng. Mr. Mahon has large real estate Interests In Vancouver, and has recently been staying with his brother, Edward Mahon, In that city” Gilbert had been active in Vancouver as well as he acquired George Black’s Water Street property in 1896 (lot 12 of block 1 in the Old Granville Townsite). It took him a further five years to get the Provincial Government to give him clear title to the property. In 1896 he was shown as living at 813 Georgia Street (near Howe) while Edward was at 825 Howe. He gravitated more to the Kootenay district towards the end of the decade, but by 1902 he had had enough of the mining business. The distribution of a legacy (the King Legacy) gave him the funds required to settle back in England with his wife Fanny. Poor investments saw a dissipation of his fortune. He returned to Vancouver with Fanny in 1907 to visit Edward, checking out Rossland and Greenwood enroute. Mahon McFarland and Mahon owned a series of investment properties in the city, as well as acting as financial brokers and agents for the North British and Mercantile Insurance Co. Other property was held by John F Mahon, and some by Edward. Joseph McFarland remained president of Mahon, McFarland and Mahon until 1911 when it was sold to London & British North America Company, Limited, one of the largest and strongest financial institutions in Canada. The renamed Mahon McFarland and Procter seem to suggest Frederick Procter, an English broker who arrived in 1895 replaced Gilbert Mahon. Gilbert had apparently moved to Rossland by 1901 where he expanded the mining interests significantly in the early 1900s, and by 1907 it was reported that he had sold the Jewel Mine and returned to Ireland, although he visited mining prospects in BC at least once in 1907, and apparently retained an active interest in the mine, as he selected the location for the new cyanide plant in 1909 (suggesting the Jewel was still producing valuable ore). By 1913 Edward Mahon was resident at 323 Burrard St, Vancouver. Clubs: Vancouver; Union (Victoria); University (Dublin). He had been married in 1911 to Lilette Caroline Julia Rebbeck, daughter of James K. Rebbeck and Elizabeth l’Abbadie, and in 1913 his son, Bryan was born. Elizabeth was a widow after the death of James from esophageal cancer in 1910. As a published record notes, “Edward encountered a few hurdles in his courtship of Lilette: firstly, she lived in Victoria; secondly, her mother, Elizabeth Rebbeck, was opposed to their relationship. Yet this was somewhat understandable given that Edward was 29 years older than Lilette – he was 48 and she was 19! But being a savvy businessman, Edward solved his problems by offering a managerial position at Capilano Suspension Bridge to Elizabeth. She couldn’t turn down such an opportunity and quickly moved to Capilano, accompanied by her lovely daughter Lilette. Needless to say, Edward and Lilette were married one year later . The North Vancouver Land and Improvement Company was the foremost among the real estate companies in the early years of North Vancouver. The greater part of the company’s lands were surveyed for settlement in 1896, and in 1897 and 1898 the first five families moved in. In 1908 the company commenced clearing on Grand Boulevard. In 1910 the Capilano Bridge property was acquired, giving Edward the opportunity to offer his mother-in-law-to-be a position. In 1914, the company was restructured and incorporated, with John Mahon being a major shareholder. John Mahon had one child, a son, (John) Denis, who was a highly distinguished collector of Italian Art and an international expert on the topic, acting for many years as a Trustee of the National Gallery in London. Sir Denis died in 2011 aged 100 and left his personal collection of multi-million dollars worth of painting on loan to a number of International Galleries on the understanding that they can never charge admission to see them. Edward continued development, quite a bit later than many other investors. Mahon McFarland and Mahon built a new block in 1913 (a year after most investors had stopped activity as the economy plunged). He is shown living at the Burrard or Hastings address until 1928. The corner location confused the Directory compilers a lot, and Edward apparently preferred to list his Seaton Street address rather than the more formal Burrard Street entrance. The Seaton entry was via the kitchen, and Seaton Street was not aligned exactly with Hastings across Burrard in those days – it was straightened when the Marine Building was built). In 1929 Edward is living in the West End on Burnaby Street, and in 1930 he is listed as retired. He died in 1937; John died in 1942 and Gilbert in 1947 Two other Mahon cousins, Ross and Henry Mahon established their homes on Saltspring Island in the 1880s, established themselves in the lumber industry and financed the construction of the community hall, Mahon Hall, in Ganges in 1904. Thanks to Walter Volovsek for details of the Mahon family: see the Facebook page linked from his website for more on the family. Tagged with Edward Mahon, Gilbert Mahon, J F Mahon, Mahon McFarland and Mahon	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line606
__label__cc	0.586537	0.413463	Spermicides Literal “sperm killers,” spermicides are chemicals that are used to immobilize and kill a man’s sperm before it reaches the woman’s egg. Spermicides are one of the oldest forms of birth control. An Egyptian papyrus dating from 1850 b.c. describes a mixture of dough and crocodile dung that was inserted into the woman in order to prevent pregnancy.[1] It would block the sperm and, because of its acidic nature, perhaps also act as a spermicide. In second century Rome the writings of an ancient gynecologist named Soranus of Ephesus describe up to forty different spermicidal concoctions that could be created by mixing various fruits and nuts.[2]. In the early 1930s, women’s magazines even recommended using Lysol as a spermicide! To boost sales, some companies that manufactured athlete’s foot medicine went so far as to recommend that women could use it as a contraceptive, too![3]. Nowadays the most common active ingredient in spermicides is nonoxynol-9 (which is also found in some household cleaning supplies and laundry detergents). Initially it was hoped that spermicides could help to prevent the spread of AIDS.[4] However, the opposite has proven to be the case. The FDA announced in 2003 that nonoxynol-9 can damage the female reproductive tract by causing microabrasions, thus making her more likely to contract HIV or other STDs.[5] Because of the impact it has in the woman’s reproductive system, she is also more likely to have vaginal infections. In a 2005 press release, Senator Tom Coburn said: “the FDA ignored scientific data that condoms and other contraceptives containing the spermicide nonoxynol-9 (N-9) increase HIV infection risk and actually recommended their use for HIV prevention. The new FDA recommendations finally correct this medically inaccurate and dangerous claim that the agency has long made regarding N-9.”[6] In preventing pregnancy, spermicides have an annual failure rate of 18 percent with perfect use. However, their typical failure rate in preventing pregnancy is even higher—about 29 percent.[7] They are often used in combination with another form of birth control, such as a condom or diaphragm. Some condom manufacturers include spermicides on their products. However, in 2005 Consumer Reports said that such products “have no additional benefit in preventing pregnancy, have a shorter shelf life, and may cause urinary tract infections in young women.”[8] According to the World Health Organization, these products should no longer be promoted.[9] Spermicides can also cause itching, burning, irritation, urinary tract infections, yeast infections, and bacterial vaginosis. [1]. Baylor College of Medicine, “Evolution and Revolution: The Past, Present, and Future of Contraception,” The Contraception Report 10:6 (February 2000), 15. [2]. Andrea Tone, “Contraceptive Consumers: Gender and the Political Economy of Birth Control in the 1930s,” Journal of Social History (Spring1996). [3]. K.M. Wittkowski, “The Protective Effect of Condoms and Nonoxynol-9 Against HIV Infection,” American Journal of Public Health 88:4 (April 1998), 590–596. [4]. FDA press release, “FDA Proposes New Warning for Over-the-Counter Contraceptive Drugs Containing Nonoxynol-9,” (January 16, 2003); Centers for Disease Control, “Nonoxynol-9 Spermicide Contraception Use—United States, 1999,” MMWR Weekly 51:18 (May 10, 2002), 389–392. [5]. Press release, “Dr. Coburn Says New FDA Condom Regulations Make Inconclusive, Exaggerated Claims About Condom Effectiveness,” Washington, D.C. (November 10, 2005). [6]. Hatcher, et al., Contraceptive Technology, Nineteenth Revised Edition. [7]. “Condoms: Extra Protection,” Consumer Reports (February 2005). [8]. Microbicides, World Health Organization (2006). RU-485 (Abortion pill) Abstinence Works 2013 NaPro Technology If sex is natural, why do we make it artificial?	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line608
__label__wiki	0.817449	0.817449	Tag Archive: Opening weekend movie review Filed under: Movies, Superheroes — Leave a comment In the new Spider-Man film, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Tom Holland′s Peter Parker is trying to recover from the death of mentor Tony Stark in the final scenes of Avengers: Endgame. He’s trying to take a break from literally saving the planet by going on a summer trip with his classmates to Paris. And he’s trying to let Zendaya′s MJ know that he cares about her. So it’s too bad Samuel L. Jackson′s Nick Fury is trying to get his help as the only Avenger available to take out a new inter-dimensional threat–a threat from world-destroying giants called The Elementals. Spider-Man: Far From Home, which opened in theaters nationwide this weekend, is Holland’s fifth outing as Peter Parker, after Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame, and Spidey fans will be happy. Holland continues to give the best performances of any actor to don a Spidey suit (he wears a few new great versions in this film thanks to designer Anna B. Sheppard). He’s also as established in the MCU as Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine–Holland is Spider-Man. But the supporting characters and actors are equally superb. At the top, Zendaya has carved out her own fantastic MJ/Mary Jane for the MCU, much more integral to who Spidey is than the character from the past two trilogies. Holland continues to convey that teen uncertainty and lack of confidence, while slipping in the word “awesome” every few minutes to acknowledge he’s seeing all the cool things going on around him that the audience sees. New to the MCU, Jake Gyllenhaal creates another memorable character after excellent work in films like Donnie Darko and Source Code with the new power-wielding Mysterio. Gyllenhall brings equal gravitas and charm to Michael Keaton’s Vulture as seen in the last Spider-Man solo outing. And Angourie Rice really has a stand-out performance compared to when we last saw her, playing high schooler Betty, a new close friend to Ned (Jacob Batalon)–together they make a fun duo and solid coming of age movie sidebar to the film. How does this compare to Spider-Man: Homecoming? It’s hard to believe that incredible reboot film was in theaters only two years ago. Screenwriter Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers have inked both Spider-Man films plus the script for Ant-Man and the Wasp, and Homecoming still nudges out the others as the tightest story of the group. But Spider-Man: Far From Home is a great follow-up, easily combining with the 2017 film to create the best two side-by-side solo films in the entire decade-plus run of the MCU. No two back-to-back Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Guardians, Ant-Man or Avengers movies surpass what director Jon Watts has done with these two films. Spider-Man has always been Marvel Comics’ #1 superhero, so it’s about time the movies at last reflect that popularity. Tags: Angourie Rice, Anna B. Sheppard, Chris McKenna, Cobie Smulders, coming of age movies, Erik Sommers, Jacob Batalon, Jake Garber, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jon Favreau, Jon Watts, Kevin Feige, Marisa Tomei, Michael Giacchino, Michael Keaton, Mysterio, Opening weekend movie review, Samuel L. Jackson, Spider-Man, Spider-Man movies, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Spider-Man: Far From Home movie review, Spider-Man: Homecoming, The Elementals, The Sting, Tom Holland, Zendaya Dark Phoenix opening weekend review–Second rise of the Phoenix a great franchise finish Filed under: Comics & Books, Movies, Superheroes — Leave a comment After a few packed years of superhero movies, Dark Phoenix is going to be a target for comparison. No single Marvel movie this year–including Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame–really merits entry on a “best of the best” list, yet all had good, even great, moments, and easily belong in a top 25 superhero movie list. Dark Phoenix now joins that group. Instead of a galaxy-changing upheaval, first-time director and award-winning writer-producer Simon Kinberg marked the end of the X-Men movie saga with a personal story. It’s a story of struggle and tragedy more attuned to the X-Men characters and the cinematic stories 20th Century Fox has told since we first met Patrick Stewart’s professor and Ian McKellen’s metal-manipulating frenemy way back in the year 2000. Although it’s not as compelling and cinematic as James Mangold’s gold standard Logan or the incredible team-up in X-Men: Days of Future Past, actress Sophie Turner leads an emotional journey for her all-powerful Jean Grey that first began in X-Men: Apocalypse, really backing up that tagline from the movie posters: Every hero has a dark side. They really meant it. Kinberg wrote the original script for the Dark Phoenix in X-Men: The Last Stand, but he gets a lot closer to the spirit of the source material this time. The key conflict mimics Marvel’s Jim Shooter and Chris Claremont’s reported struggle when they developed the character of Dark Phoenix, asking whether Jean Grey is irretrievably bad or bad only because she is possessed by a dark force. At the same time most of the cosmic oddities are stripped from the comics story, but not all, pulling the necessary elements from the original tale in a more accessible way for audiences. Jessica Chastain′s new villain and her compatriots from afar are very much the same as found in the comics, all but in name. The opening act in particular is perfectly executed, beginning with a nicely cinematic launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavour, and a return to the stealth fighter that Nicholas Hoult′s Beast had been building in X-Men: Apocalypse. If you’ve seen the trailers or know the story then the subject of the scene is no surprise–a rescue of the astronauts aboard from a giant solar flare, directed by James McAvoy′s Professor X from Earth, but led in space by Jennifer Lawrence′s Mystique, who grew to be the front-line commander of the team in the last film. The most entertaining superhero of all the X-Men movies is back, Evan Peters′ Quicksilver, this time using his speed and time-stopping powers to assemble the astronauts for rescue in the character’s third and final awesome show-stopper. He’s accompanied by the teleport-wielding Kurt Wagner aka Nightcrawler, providing actor Kodi Smit-McPhee the first of several key scenes that showcase his unique superhero, and round out a building arc for the typically background superhero. The big takeaway from Dark Phoenix may be that it’s clear the material is capable of being recycled and resurrected many times, by different writers, directors, and actors. Famke Janssen’s performance of Jean Grey was excellent in the original X-Men trilogy. Sophie Turner’s performance is equally good. In a few years we’ll see it all over again, which is pretty much what the Phoenix is all about. Dark Phoenix will likely be accused of copying the empowered women theme of Captain Marvel. In actuality Dark Phoenix was completed earlier, in October 2017, and if Dark Phoenix hadn’t been delayed by the Fox-Disney merger, the positions would no doubt be flipped to some extent. The timing and similarities reportedly prompted Fox to go back and make some revisions. But who says audiences can’t embrace two movies released within 90 days about the two most powerful superheroines in the Marvel pantheon? Captain Marvel was able to generate far more buzz, and it’s a more upbeat story, so Dark Phoenix is unlikely to make a dent by comparison to that billion dollar box office hit. But the acting and script for Dark Phoenix is probably a few degrees better, and the wrap-up of so many beloved characters makes Dark Phoenix a more important chapter for its franchise. Tags: 20th Century Fox, Chris Claremont, Daniel Orlandi, Dark Phoenix, Dark Phoenix review, Evan Peters, Halston Sage, Hans Zimmer, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Jessica Chastain, Jim Shooter, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Marvel Comics, Marvel Entertainment, Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult, Opening weekend movie review, Simon Kinberg, Sophie Turner, space shuttle Endeavour, Stan Lee, Summer Fontana, Tye Sheridan, X-Men: Apocalypse, X-Men: Dark Phoenix, X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: The Last Stand Opening weekend review–Avengers: Endgame wraps up the first big Marvel chapter and nicely segues to the next After 21 movies and a decade of superheroics, the end arrived this weekend with Marvel Studios′ Avengers: Endgame, already setting new box office records. Nearly every seat at multiple screenings at my local theater was sold out this weekend, as was the case across the country. Which means many have seen it, but even more haven’t. You can’t review a film without some details, so if you haven’t seen it yet, do yourself a favor: bookmark this and come back later. The short version: If you’re a superhero fan and you’ve followed the previous entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you won’t want to miss it. But re-watch both Avengers: Infinity War and Captain Marvel first. I’ve no idea how anyone will follow the events in the film without first seeing at least these two films. Endgame is a good wrap-up to the first major story arc in the franchise and a fine segue into the future of the films. But it’s not perfect (what ever is?) and I’m going to walk through some goods and bads from the film. That means “there be spoilers ahead” so consider yourself forewarned if you continue. Note to email subscribers: Clicking on the link will take you into the full review. Tags: Avengers: Endgame, Avengers: Endgame movie review, Avengers: Infinity War, Benedict Cumberbatch, Brie Larson, Captain Marvel, Chadwick Boseman, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Disney, Don Cheadle, Evangeline Lilly, Guardians of the Galaxy 3, Jeremy Renner, Josh Brolin, Karen Gillan, Kevin Feige, Letitia Wright, Mark Ruffalo, Marvel Comics, Marvel Studios, Michael Douglas, Opening weekend movie review, Paul Bettany, Paul Rudd, Robert Downey Jr, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Stan Lee, Thor: Ragnarok, Tom Hiddleston, Tom Holland Opening weekend review–Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, a great lead-off to the holiday movie season The Christmas movie releases began big this weekend with the first out of the gate: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, an animated superhero movie in a year that has seen the animated Incredibles 2 and live action versions of Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Ant-Man and The Wasp, Deadpool 2, and Venom. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse holds its own against them all. A rich story and layered characters in an easy to digest, familiar, multi-verse story make this rise above other recent animated superhero shows. In-world references to comic books–sporting the main characters on the covers, multi-view panel sequences, and even first-person narrative captions appear pulled from the pages of any real-world Spider-Man book. The cast list has been publicized for months, and as the trailers promised, the voice actors take the film from good to great. Familiar–maybe over-used–Spidey villain Kingpin, played by Liev Schreiber, is trying to take control of all the multi-verses with a new weapon that initially pulls in Spider-heroes from five other universes. Shameik Moore plays star Miles Morales, a new Spider-Man trying to find his way at the beginning stage of his journey in his universe along with Chris Pine (Star Trek, Jack Ryan, Wonder Woman) as your more familiar neighborhood Spider-Man. After an explosion Miles catches up with another Spider-Man, Peter B. Parker, a view of Parker in another dimension 20 years older, played perfectly (and hilariously) by Jake Johnson (Jurassic World, The Mummy, New Girl). They are soon joined by cool and confident Spider-Woman aka Gwen “Spider-Gwen” Stacy, voiced by Hailee Steinfeld (BumbleBee, True Grit, Ender’s Game). Early scenes present lots of great action, including a memorable scene where Miles drags Peter to safety aboard a speeding commuter train, but this story is more about sentiment and humor. And it gets better. Three other Spider-heroes arrive. Rounding out the cast previewed in the trailers is Spider-Man Noir, allowing the great Nicolas Cage another superhero role after his performance as Big Daddy in Kick-Ass (after almost starring in a Tim Burton Superman movie years ago). A lifelong comic book connoisseur, Cage was born to portray superheroes, and here his Spider-Man is pure perfection. The oldest of spin-off Spideys emerges with the entrance of Peter Porker aka Spider-Ham (John Mulany), first seen in print back in 1983. And a newer webslinger, the anime heroine Peni Parker from Earth-14512 (Kimiko Glenn), complete with her high-tech “SP//dr Suit,” gets her own great scenes. The film features plenty of surprise characters, too. Tags: 2018 superhero movies, Best of 2018, borg.com Best of 2018, Brian Tyree Henry, Chris Pine, Christmas 2018, Christopher Miller, Hailee Steinfeld, Jake Johnson, John Mulany, Kathryn Hahn, Kimiko Glenn, Liev Schreiber, Lily Tomlin, Mahershala Ali, Nicolas Cage, Opening weekend movie review, Oscar Isaac, Phil Lord, Shameik Moore, Spider-Man, Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse review, Zoe Kravitz Opening weekend review: Colette–Star Wars: The Phantom Menace actors re-unite in costume drama Filed under: Movies, Retro Fix — Leave a comment It’s the performances of the leading actors that stand out in this weekend’s theatrical release, Colette. Colette is a biographical story of an avant-garde couple in turn-of-the-twentieth-century France, famed authors who wrote under the pen names Colette (nee Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette) and Willy (nee Henry Gauthier-Villars), and the writing of four popular books by Colette that were published under her husband’s name: Claudine à l’école (1900), Claudine à Paris (1901), Claudine en ménage (1902), and Claudine s’en va (1903). In the film, directed by Wash Westmoreland, genre favorites Keira Knightley (Pirates of the Caribbean, The Imitation Game, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, Never Let Me Go, Domino) portrays the younger spouse Colette and Dominic West (Les Miserábles, Tomb Raider, The Hour, The Wire, 300) her very showy and ostentatious libertine husband Willy. As a tangent for Star Wars fans it’s a Naboo reunion–Knightley was one of Queen Amidala’s handmaidens and her decoy in several scenes, and West one of her royal guards nearly 20 years ago in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. In Colette Knightley and West have great rapport. It’s a mix of love and conflict that rises to the level of hatred, but along the way their chemistry is quite strong with a carousel of humorous moments throughout their relationship. It would elevate the writing too much to equate Colette and Willy with Beatrice and Benedick of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, but their back-and-forth repartee is quick and sharp. They are portrayed to have been a successful (at least financially) if not unorthodox pair. When Willy courts the much younger Colette in the opening of the movie he has already established fame as a writer (as an early James Patterson-type who took credit for the actual writings of a few employed ghost writers). But after gambling, over-spending, and other debts catch up to him he turns to Colette to pen the stories she has told him of her youth in pastoral France. Her work proves to be much more popular than anything he had ever written. Although he does pout a bit, he spends the large advance for the second book on a country house for Colette. Not quite Dangerous Liaisons (but close), their equal opportunity games and his spiraling debts ultimately bring their marriage to the breaking point. Along the way their lifestyle begins to dip even beyond the hedonism and joie de vivre the Belle Epoque, Bohemian, and Decadent movements France was known for, as their marriage branches out to include others: two women (one for both, one for him), played by Eleanor Tomlinson (The Illusionist, Jack the Giant Slayer) and Shannon Tarbet (Inspector Lewis), and ultimately Colette leaves Willy for a third, acting partner Missy, played by Denise Gough (’71, Star Wars: Battlefront, Mass Effect: Andromeda). Some brief sex scenes and nudity account for the R rating. Although the film ends with the split of Colette and Willy, Colette would go on to be an early feminist icon, writing many more novels and stories, her best known would be Gigi, the 1944 novel that would become the famous Audrey Hepburn film (Colette specifically selected Hepburn for the role). Tags: Andrea Flesch, Colette, Colette movie review, Denise Gough, Dominic West, Eleanor Tomlinson, Gigi, Gigi movie, Gigi novel, Keira Knightley, Keira Knightley movies, Keira Knightley Oscar, Merchant Ivory, Michael Carlin, Opening weekend movie review, opening weekend review, Shannon Tarbet, Thomas Adès Opening weekend review–Venom: Despite the trailers, it’s a pretty good Marvel movie Filed under: Movies, Sci-Fi Café, Superheroes — Leave a comment For a movie that had some pretty rough previews, including Tom Hardy as a journalist with some indecipherable dialogue and a scientist who mispronounced a key word in the story, the end result may come as a surprise: Venom is actually a pretty good movie. Do we credit a great post-production and re-shoots, including a complete redo of the strange “symbiote” explanatory scene, or does Sony need to simply work on improving its movie trailers? Frankly all that matters is what made it to the screen. Fans of the comic book anti-hero and villain, of alien invasion movies, of that unique character design from co-creator artist Todd McFarlane, of Tom Hardy, and non-traditional superhero movies, you’ll have to work to find anything wrong with this movie. It’s a good Halloween month monster movie and you don’t need to know anything about the character or Marvel Comics to jump right in. But you just might want to check out the comics after you see it. Like Frank Miller caused Daredevil to become popular, McFarlane made Venom big in the 1980s. Unlike McFarlane’s movie Spawn, an R-rated film that was too dark for mainstream audiences, the PG-13 rating for Venom makes this movie accessible to everyone. A mix of the classic alien invasion flick, the horrifying McFarlane character look, with the grimy city vibe like the Detroit of Robocop, Venom has elements that make it feel like it belongs in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, regardless of its origin as a Sony film. As for quality and delivery, it falls somewhere above Blade, Iron Man 2 and 3, The Fantastic Four, the Hulk movies, and Spawn, X-Men 3 and X-Men: Apocalypse, and somewhere below Hellboy and Deadpool. For most fans of adaptations of comic books on the big screen, that will be enough. Full of good humor moments, the film doesn’t take itself seriously. We meet the archetype from 80 years of superhero comics with Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock, an Everyman, a down-and-out guy who can never get a break who gets caught making a few mistakes. Usually this archetype ends up captured by Batman (or insert other superhero here) and thrown into the slammer, but this time he encounters a body shifting alien presence that merges with him, blending the best and worst of both beings. Beginning with a crash landing as a SpaceX-inspired ship returns with some specimens from outer space, we eventually meet four alien beings, the lowliest of rank who calls himself Venom. Merged with Eddie, Venom needs to eat living lifeforms to continue on and he doesn’t grasp the subtleties of only killing bad guys just yet. Audiences will get to watch these aliens, the symbiotes, body-shift through several random characters (like Denzel Washington’s character in the movie Fallen), including the key cast and an animal or two–and it’s mostly great fun. Venom is probably a rare time audiences will see Michelle Williams in a stock role. Usually every part she takes on results in an Oscar-worthy performance, but it’s nice seeing her do something less dramatic. And she gets some great scenes directly with Venom (including an Easter Egg scene that points straight back to the origin of the character originally discussed between Marvel Comics editor Jim Salicrup and writer/co-creator David Michelinie). This may be Tom Hardy’s best role since Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (where he was the only good thing in the movie), as he at last gets to play a spectrum of emotions and demonstrate a broad acting range. Despite what we heard in the movie trailers, his regional American accent is spot on in the final cut and his dialogue is delivered clearly–none of that crazy speech we saw him bring as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises. Not hiding behind make-up or masks as in Mad Max: Fury Road, Dunkirk, or Star Trek: Nemesis, Hardy again proves he’s one of the best actors around. The sound department gets it just right–Hardy’s voice is also the voice transformed into the monstrous, demonic sounding Venom, and it’s unique and effective. No doubt some elaborate work went on behind the scenes for Hardy-as-Eddie to be arguing with Hardy-as-Venom. Some of the best lines, and laugh-out-loud moments come from Venom, reminiscent of Gollum and Sméagol. Tags: anti-heroes, best Marvel villains, David Michelinie, Fallen movie, Into the Spider-verse, Jim Salicrup, Ludwig Göransson, Marvel Comics, Marvel villains, Michelle Williams, Opening weekend movie review, opening weekend review, Riz Ahmed, Robocop, Ron Cephas Jones, Stan Lee, Todd McFarlane, Tom Hardy, Venom, Venom movie, Venom movie review, Woody Harrelson Opening weekend review–Amazing, spectacular, Spider-man: Homecoming is what we’ve been waiting for Amazing? Definitely. Spectacular? Absolutely. Tom Holland, who stole the show in the key battle of last year’s Captain America: Civil War, has provided the definitive, and yes, the ultimate Spider-man performance in this weekend’s latest Marvel masterwork, Spider-man: Homecoming. And Holland is equally good, if not better, without the suit as angst-ridden, overburdened teenager and Spider-man alter ego, Peter Parker. Kids of all ages who ever envisioned the ultimate battle between Spider-man and Batman get their satisfaction here, too: Michael Keaton, in one of his best performances in decades, creates out of an obscure character one of the best supervillain performances to hit the big screen, complete with high-tech bat wings and the classic Keaton we all love to watch. Moviegoers have seen good efforts from Marvel creating the comic book empire’s flagship, web-slinging superhero before, with Tobey Maguire in three Spider-man solo films and Andrew Garfield in two follow-up Amazing Spider-man films, but this latest story supplies what was missing from the other five: an authentic, likeable, smart, voice-breaking do-gooder and a classic coming of age story with heart. But it doesn’t skimp on the action, and thanks to some well-filmed 3D and magical IMAX cinematography, one key scene that takes place high atop the Washington Monument made this viewer practically step backward out of his seat into the back row. Just breathtaking filmmaking. If you keep a list of superhero movie requirements in the back of your mind, you’ll find that Spider-man: Homecoming fulfills or surpasses them all. A story with a solid character arc for its lead and antagonist. A big relief for filmgoers who go to every new superhero movie: writer/director Jon Watts and five other writers (a fact that alone would normally spell certain doom for a film, but not here) knew enough to steer clear of another superhero origin story and instead delved right in. They flesh out Parker’s relationship with his like-minded, knowledge bowl peers at school and provide more than one jawdropper along the way. In Keaton’s villain they provide an exceptional, compelling villain, something lacking in the past several years of superhero movies. Holland sports an update to the Spidey supersuit, and Louise Frogley’s latest costume design is superb, complete with believable, readily available tech supplied in-story by mentor Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark aka Iron Man in his latest perfect adaptation of the role from the comics. And Michael Giacchino’s powerful and emotional score is among his best, complete with plenty of clever and unexpected themes that amplify the story at the right time. If you think Peter Parker is a throwaway character, prepare for some emotional work by Holland, especially at his character’s lowest point in the story. Tags: Angourie Rice, Best of 2017, coming of age movies, Donald Glover, IMAX, Jack Kirby, Jacob Batalon, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Watts, Laura Harrier, Louise Frogley, Marisa Tomei, Martha Kelly, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase 4, Marvel Comics, Marvel Studios, Michael Chernus, Michael Giacchino, Michael Keaton, Opening weekend movie review, opening weekend review, Robert Downey Jr, Spider-Man, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, Tom Holland, Tyne Daly, Zendaya The Magnificent Seven–Remakes, and this year’s best superhero movie Filed under: Fantasy Realms, Movies, Retro Fix, Superheroes — 1 Comment It’s almost more useful to critique the critics than the new movie The Magnificent Seven, released in theaters this weekend. You’ll find the whole lot so predictable. The Magnificent Seven is a reboot or a remake (call it what you want) and so the best that critics are willing to do is provide the phoned-in, knee-jerk dismissal of it being something less than the original and therefore not worth the time it takes them to write a thoughtful review. Or they will compare it to the best Westerns of all time, and tell you why it falls short. The better reviews will point out that it’s a remake of the 1960 classic Western starring Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen. The smarter ones will remind you that even that version was based on the original Japanese version, Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai. Paycheck earned. Existence justified. But that’s all too easy. Yes, the original 1960 John Sturges version is both a great Western and quite fun (it’s on my top ten list). The darker original Japanese film is more dramatic, brilliant in its simplicity, and not so much a rousing popcorn movie. Is the 2016 remake among the best Westerns of all time? Maybe not. But is it a good Western? Absolutely. Do we always want to see the best picture nominee when we go to the theater? I don’t. I want to have fun. And The Magnificent Seven is a blast. In fact, critics are looking at it wrong. It’s actually the year’s best superhero movie. I understand the modern film critic’s dilemma, especially when Hollywood seems to have lost its imagination, churning out remake after remake. It’s the same old song: If you were a fan of–or better yet–love the original, you’re more likely than not to brush off the remake altogether, or at least not give it the attention it deserves. Those who never saw the original or those who can view a remake as its own incarnation–those who can tell themselves their feelings for the remake will not “ruin” their feelings about the original–probably enjoyed the Star Trek reboot from 2009, or Always, or Assault on Precinct 13, or The Flight of the Phoenix, The Fog, The Jackal, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Money Pit, Ocean’s Eleven, RoboCop, The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, or Walking Tall. Each of these, viewed on their own merits is a great film. They may even be good remakes. Those who avoid The Magnificent Seven are missing out on a fun outing. And a good remake. Today’s ensemble movie is mostly found in the superhero genre. Stack up The Magnificent Seven against The Avengers, The Avengers 2, or Captain America: Civil War, or any DC Comics superhero film of the past 20 years, and it leaves them all in its dust in its success in introducing a team, getting them to work together, and MacGyver the situation into some giant climactic battles. Each of the titular seven stars of the movie have their own extraordinary abilities, they just don’t wear capes. It’s an ensemble piece. A superhero team-up. So why don’t we have a casting Oscar? The three casting directors knew what they were doing–they created the teams for Suicide Squad, Batman v. Superman, No Country for Old Men, True Grit, Sin City, and Star Wars Episode VIII. Tags: Akira Kurosawa, Always, Antoine Fuqua, Assault on Precinct 13, best superhero movies, Byung-hun Lee, Chris Pratt, Columbia Pictures, Denzel Washington, Eli Wallach, Elmer Bernstein, Haley Bennett, James Coburn, James Horner, Matt Bomer, Metro Goldwyn Mayer, Ocean's Eleven, Opening weekend movie review, opening weekend review, Peter Sarsgaard, remakes, Robocop, Seven Samurai, Steve McQueen, superhero movies, The Flight of the Phoenix, The Fog, The Jackal, The Magnificent Seven, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Money Pit, The Seven Samurai, The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, Vincent D'Onofrio, Walking Tall, westerns, Yul Brynner Opening weekend review–New Bond “Skyfall” delivers on all fronts Filed under: Movies — Leave a comment The 23rd James Bond film has a lot it must accomplish compared to other franchise movies. On the 50th anniversary of Bond on film, director Sam Mendes had to deliver something special, more than just the latest entry in the Bond canon. And despite Mendes’s influences, Skyfall had to be more than another Christopher Nolan action romp like the recent Batman films. After 50 years, Bond is a British tradition, an international icon, the star of every diehard action film fan’s awaited pilgrimage every few years. Mendes had to blend the classic with the new as each of his predecessors had, and make sure that even that was done in a new way, without copying other action film franchises like the Jason Bourne movies, as the last movie, Quantum of Solace, has been accused of. Messing with the Bond formula is like messing with the formula for Coca-Cola. A director of a Bond film has a delicate trapeze act to maneuver to create a successful Bond picture connecting all the elements of the Bond formula. So how did Skyfall fair? Tags: Adele Skyfall, Ben Whishaw, Berenice Marlohe, Bond 50th anniversary, Casino Royale, Christopher Nolan, Daniel Craig, Daniel Craig Bond, Goldfinger, James Bond, Javier Bardem, Judi Dench, Naomi Harris, Opening weekend movie review, Quantum of Solace, Ralph Fiennes, Roger Moore, Sam Mendes, Sam Mendes Bond, Sam Mendes Skyfall, Severine, Skyfall, Skyfall opening weekend review, Skyfall review Supporting cast helps “Amazing” nudge out prior Spider-man movies In the top 10 of superhero films, the original Sam Raimi Spider-man movies likely would not make the cut. The first in 2002 was too preachy with it’s in-your-face “with great power comes great responsibility” mantra. Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker seemed to have fun in the role, but the story was light compared to other superhero films. The best feature was Willem Dafoe as a superb villain playing the Green Goblin. I know many oohed and ahhed over the original cinematic web swinging across the city, but in hindsight it doesn’t really compare to Christopher Reeve’s Superman simply flying, Chris Evans’ flame-on as the Human Torch, or Robert Downey, Jr.’s Iron Man test driving his armor. The second Spider-man was flat with solid character actor Alfred Molina doing his best as the bizarre villain Doc Ock. The complete lack of chemistry between Tobey Maguire’s Peter and Kirstin Dunst’s Mary Jane Watson caused me to pass on Spidey 3. Ultimately the original Spider-man efforts lacked heart and a triumphant spirit. Supposedly the only reason for a fourth Spider-man film was Sony’s obligation to churn out a film in the franchise or lose the opportunity and money. Switching away from Raimi and Maguire was also supposedly about money. So is there any reason to see a reboot origin story in The Amazing Spider-man only ten years after the first origin story in Spider-man? It probably depends on whether you have anything better to do on the Fourth of July. It would be easy to pass on this one except for the fact that there were a lot worse movies this past year, and this Spider-man definitely has fun moments and not even one groaner that makes you wish you stayed home. It’s maybe not “amazing,” but it’s good fun. The new Amazing Spider-man took some real thought to create, learned from mistakes of past superhero movies, and thereby nudges out the original. Leaning in favor of this film first and foremost is the supporting cast. The standout performance of The Amazing Spider-man is Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy. Stone showed her potential for a lead role in Superbad and here she plays a very real, believable character as Parker’s friend and target of his affection. Stone and young Brit actor Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker have a spark. Their conversations are slightly silly (in a good way) when they are not talking serious science or in the process of saving New York City. Stone’s career is ready to take off. As Dr. Curt Connors, Welsh actor Rhys Ifans plays what would normally be a supervillain, in a typical superhero movie. But here, Dr. Connors genuinely has a valid scientific goal. He genuinely supports the work in his lab, which includes Gwen Stacy, and seems to really feel remorse for never contacting Peter after Connors’ partner (and Parker’s dad) died (or went missing). His own act that turns him into a giant lizard menace is an attempt to prevent lab owner Osborn’s goon from using veterans as test subjects. As a sort of Mr. Hyde (as in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) Connors is not in control of his actions, and therefore is more sympathetic than the average superhero flick antagonist. Rhys Ifans played Luna Lovegood’s desperate dad in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1, and Hugh Grant’s hilarious roommate in Notting Hill. Here he has established a great voice and presence, someone who could take over the parts once given to David Warner or Alan Rickman and is an actor to keep a watch for. Instead of being a one-note “girlfriend’s dad” Denis Leary plays police chief and Gwen’s dad as protective and savvy but also smart enough to know when a crazy story he’s being told may actually be true. How many movies have taken this role into a routine “daddy doesn’t know best” place? Parker’s own dad is solidly played, albeit for little screen time, by Campbell Scott (Royal Pains, Dead Again), who seems to only get better over the years with each new role. Martin Sheen and Sally Field lend a bit of classic Hollywood nostalgia and authenticity to the picture as Parker’s aunt and uncle. A surprise, slightly bigger than a cameo role, was C. Thomas Howell (Ponyboy Curtis from The Outsiders) as a crane worker who helps save the day for Parker. The only missing classic Spidey element was Parker as newspaper photographer and more specifically JK Simmons’ feisty performance as his editor, J. Jonah Jameson. And Spidey creator Stan Lee has his own Marvel cameo as you’d expect. We all know that Peter Parker is a nerdy kid who gets bullied. He is physically always a weaker kid, then after he gets bitten by a spider and possesses amazing spider senses he gets to have the scene where he confronts the bully. In Superman 2,Christopher Reeve’s Clark Kent doesn’t make the bully bleed so much as make him regret his bullying of Kent earlier in the story. Garfield’s Parker is even less vindictive, choosing instead to poke fun of basketball star Flash in front of Flash’s friends. A nice move that helps establish this Parker’s good guy character. Andrew Garfield is more bumbling, a little more modern dark hero like Anakin Skywalker as compared to the 1960s clean-cut boy-next-door Peter Parker. At times Garfield’s Parker seems a little too real–a struggling teen who in real life probably needs someone to tell him to “get with it.” He’s not a typical actor for a part like this, and yet, Peter Parker is not the typical superhero. His performance doesn’t dazzle, but he fills the shoes very well. Do we care whether the web comes from his hands or techno-gadgetry? Probably not. Are the best action scenes someone else in costume with Garfield voiceovers? Probably. Had this been the first Spider-man film, we all might be more excited about this Peter Parker. Because of the many stunts and CGI, you wonder how much screentime Garfield gets in the supersuit. The end credits state that the suit was “manufactured by” Cirque de Soleil, which makes you think maybe there is more stunt trapeze-type swinging than CGI. Either way, the Spidey swinging takes the roller coaster ride of Spidey’s movements to a fun, new level. And a focus more on spider abilities and creative web use surpasses the use of this key Spidey element as compared to the earlier movies. The original Spider-man story is known by everyone. Peter Parker is bitten by a radioactive spider, then he gets these powers. The Amazing Spider-man now has a combination of classic sci-fi story elements not found in the source material, with warnings of playing with science as a bit of The Fly meeting Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Jurassic Park. There is, or may one day be, a downside for Parker’s newfound powers, for playing with and expanding the realm of science, which may be fleshed out in later films. And Parker doesn’t try to get rid of his powers as other superheroes in their origins. He uses them for fun until he becomes wise enough to use them for good purposes. An odd mid-end credit snippet shows a cloaked Osborn speaking with an imprisoned Dr. Connors, suggesting a return of Green Goblin in a fifth Spider-man film. Based on this week’s box office, no doubt that sequel will be coming along in the next few years and we’ll soon enough be comparing it to Spider-man 2. Tags: Amazing Spider-man, Andrew Garfield, C. Thomas Howell, Denis Leary, Emma Stone, JK Simmons, Martin Sheen, Opening weekend movie review, Rhys Ifans, Sally Field, Spider-Man, Superman, The Amazing Spider-man	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line614
__label__wiki	0.526061	0.526061	Fire Safety and Egress Flammable Products Fire Investigations Courses and Lectures Heritage Buildings Hospitals and Care Facilities Schools and Pre-schools Underground Facilities About Brandskyddslaget Reference Projects – Public Buildings We have extensive experience in fire safety and risk assessment of public buildings. Below you can read a selection of projects. For more information don’t hesitate to contact us! Library at Campus Lugnet, Falun “A unanimous jury declared the library at Dalarna University to be the world’s finest university building. The building was described as world class and the prize was accepted at a festival in Singapore.” – Dala-Demokraten (a local newspaper), 12th October, 2014 The building, which has the shape of a pentagon, contains no separate floors but is built rather in a single spiral formation, with resting spaces and ledges containing group rooms, reading areas, etc. Most of the inner walls are covered with white bookshelves. In the centre of the building, there is an area that can be likened to an amphitheatre with a ceiling height of 14 meters. As Thorbjörn Wiegandt, the Project Leader from the construction firm HMB Construction AB stated: “There is no rhyme or reason, there are no right angles. It is complicated in every way possible, shaped like a corkscrew.” How have we assisted the project? Brandskyddslaget was tasked with the design of the fire safety and the final inspection of the installations in the new library. The fire safety was designed largely analytically to facilitate the open floor plan. Before the project was started, we conducted an inventory (fire round) of the conditions in the existing university building that the library would dock into and developed action plans. The design has been delivered to the client in the form of fire protection documentation (descriptions) and drawings. After the end of the project, we also conducted the inspection of the installation of the fire safety and provided expert certificates together with the fire protection documentation. Client: Kommunfastigheter, Falu County Council Friends Arena, Solna Friends Arena is the Swedish National Soccer Arena. It was finished in 2012 and lies in Arena City in Solna. The Arena is a multifunctional structure, which means that it can house many different activities besides soccer, for example, concerts and motorsports events. For a concert, the maximum capacity is 65 000 attendees, 50 000 of those in the stands. Brandskyddslaget has developed the fire safety design and has been involved in the facility from the start until it was finished. Significant parts of the fire safety measures were designed using analytical design. We have also worked on the flow of people outside the arena in conjunction with an event in the case of an evacuation. Further, we conducted a risk assessment for the whole of Arena City. Client: Råsta Project Development and Peab Photo: Frankie Fouganthin/Wikimedia Commons Karl Harrysson +46 (0)8 588 188 63 Mall of Scandinavia, Solna The Unibail-Rodamcos gallery, the Mall of Scandinavia, is located adjacent to Friends Arena in the growing Arena City in Solna. It is comprised of approximately 150 000 m2 of commercial space divided into three floors with shops, restaurants, cafés etc, plus a loading area and smaller shops located on the underground garage floors. The garage is mainly divided into two garage floors under the commercial building supplemented by three smaller parking floors on the top of the building. In total there are 140 000 m2 containing approximately 3 700 parking spaces. At the southern tip of the Mall of Scandinavia, Fabege has created approximately 50 000 m2 of commercial space on the roof of their office building. Along the street Evenemangsgatan, Peab Bostad has built single-sided apartments into the facade, and on the roof of the building, they have created low blockhouses and row houses. Brandskyddslaget has designed the fire safety from the outset of the project, from the development of requirements for the request for proposals until the implementation phase. During the installation phase, Brandskyddslaget has, largely in collaboration with our sister company Brandtec, ensured that personal safety has been maintained to a high standard by including special compensatory measures to take into account that certain systems were not in place initially. These measures were adjusted as each new system came online. Using analytical design, we have been able to show that a facility of this size and variation can be evacuated in sections, thereby eliminating significant loss of business for the developer. We have also conducted smoke tests in the facility with heated smoke to confirm the coordination and function of the fire safety systems. Through inspections on site and examination of inspection plans and self-inspection plans, Brandskyddslaget was able to confirm that all tenants/businesses have fulfilled the functional requirements of the Swedish Building Regulations (BBR) before the inauguration of the building. Brandtec has helped in the coordination of the functional testing of the fire safety systems in the building. Besides questions of fire safety, we have also conducted risk assessments and classification planning for the gas centre that provides a number of restaurants with gasol for their kitchens. Client: Unibail Rodamco and Peab Photo: Mall of Scandinavia Torkel Dittmer Eyra Field, Örebro Eyra Field is an Arena City and expansive district a few minutes from the centre of Örebro. Numerous sports arenas are located here, together with residential properties and commercial facilities. Brandskyddslaget has participated in the development of Eyra Field for an extended period of time. From the east to the west, we have designed new properties including apartments (12 floors), parking facilities, offices, a bandy hall, a soccer stadium, and a new sports facility. We have also participated in the challenging reconstruction and extension of the hockey/ice stadium, Behrn Arena. Raising the ceiling by 8 meters increased the public capacity to more than 5 000 visitors, and the arena was insulated internally and given heating. The new building also included change rooms, a pub and a restaurant. We are presently designing the renovation of the Eyra Public Swimming Pool and extension of the change rooms for the Bandy Hall. Major challenges in the projects have been to design the large increase in the number of public seats in the arenas while catering to the requirements associated with a modern arena for an elite team. The design has essentially been developed using analytical tools. Besides the fire safety requirements, it has been necessary to take dangerous goods transport into account as the street Rudbecksgatan is a dangerous good artery. The size of the project has meant that numerous experts from Brandskyddslaget have participated, representing different types of expertise, to ensure the project could be run as constructively and efficiently as possible. In addition to designing and ensuring the correct installation of the fire safety system, we have also provided assistance concerning systematic fire safety measures for some of the arenas by holding courses for tenants and owners. Client: Peab, BJC Group, Örebroporten, and NCC Photo: Örebroporten Kristoffer Rindhoff We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. By continuing to use the site, you agree that we use them.I agreeRead more	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line617
__label__wiki	0.966462	0.966462	Anniversaries, Cover Stories, Editorials, Interviews, Lists, and Comprehensive Rankings Beyond the Boys’ Club: Within Temptation’s Sharon den Adel "I see a lot of girls do what only the men would do in the past, and that’s a nice flavor" by Anne Erickson on March 19, 2019, 12:22pm Within Temptation's Sharon den Adel, photo by Patric Ullaeus Beyond the Boys’ Club is a monthly column from journalist and radio host Anne Erickson, focusing on women in the heavy music genres, as they offer their perspectives on the music industry and discuss their personal experiences. This month’s piece features an interview with Within Temptation vocalist Sharon den Adel. If there’s anyone who understands how the path of women in hard rock and metal music has evolved over the past two decades, it’s Sharon den Adel. As frontwoman of the Dutch symphonic metal band Within Temptation, the singer has been at the forefront of women in the metal genre since the release of her band’s 1997 debut album, Enter. Back then, Within Temptation’s soaring female vocals and melodic backings were an anomaly in the metal world. “The females in music, at that time, were more in pop — and in metal, having a female singer clearly was not done much,” she tells Heavy Consequence. But she soon noticed a change in the movement — a good one. More and more, women started coming forward to not only sing in metal bands, but also take on guitar, bass and drums. Sharon spoke with Heavy Consequence for the latest Beyond the Boys’ Club column, discussing the rise of women in metal music over the years, her own experiences as a woman in metal, and Within Temptation’s new album, Resist. Read the full interview below: On her overall experience being a woman in the heavy music world I’ve never had bad experiences, except for sometimes you don’t get played on the radio as much because you’re a female. In America, it’s more difficult to get on the radio and be played, because they listen more to men, I suppose. In Europe, it’s way different. There, it’s more equal in what they play, being male or female-fronted bands. It’s not a big thing. In America, it’s more of a thing. It’s not as easy for us to get on the radio there, because they have more male-fronted bands. On the balance of men and women in the European metal scene The scene I’m in, there are so many bands, and they’re all doing very well. It seems in my country and in many European countries, it’s not equal, but it’s very close to it, as far as the numbers of men and woman in the genre. We’re getting there, and it’s not always that it’s the women who are singing — they could be playing bass or drums or anything. On how the press treats female metal musicians You want to be approached as an equal in music, in general. People always ask how I am able to work my family life with the band and how I handle stuff, but everybody in a band has a family today. You get to a certain age, and many people have families. That’s what still annoys me — that people would wonder how I would combine personal life with being on the road. I do it like any other musician. They wouldn’t ask Ozzy or another band with a male singer. For me, it’s the same. I think it’s very old-fashioned. I especially get that from fashion magazines and non-music magazines. On the evolution of women in metal since Within Temptation first started out I think, since we started, at the time there weren’t many female vocalists in bands. For me, in the beginning, people were surprised to find a female vocalist, and most guys who came to concerts would say, “I can finally take my girlfriend to a show that she might even like!” (Laughs) So, we had a mixed audience, and we always were accepted. That was also when the scene was starting to get more melodic, and then a lot of females came in, and it started growing. Now, I see girls growling, as well, and I think that’s so cool. I can’t sing that way, but I see a lot of girls do what only the men would do in the past, and that’s a nice flavor. So, over the decades, we’ve seen things come and go, and things always change. You have to continue to fight for certain rights for not only women but other groups of people, too. On advice she would give to young women looking to get into the heavy music world I think the best advice — not just for woman, but I think general advice for men and women — is to be original. Don’t try to be somebody that is already out there. Stay close to what you like and who you are. You can do crossovers and that can be a step forward to something new, but don’t do it because you think it will get you somewhere. Do it because you believe in it. On Within Temptation’s new album, Resist, and how fans have embraced the album We get different reviews from fans, and most of them really like it. There’s also a group of people that need to get the feel of it, because it’s quite different, so they need to adjust to it. I think that’s a good sign, because we had a few years to get used to the new music and explore it, and you can’t expect everyone to be happy about what you’re doing the moment they hear it. Sometimes they have to get into it first, and sometimes they never do, so you lose some fans and gain some fans, but it’s the only way forward. On Within Temptation’s new music video for “Supernova” already hitting 3 million views and the importance of music videos for musicians today I think it’s pretty important, because it defines who you are as a band. It’s an easy way to get an impression of a band, and music videos are easy to access. People go on the Internet to check out a band and get an idea of a band and see the music they are making. I think a lot of people make very basic videos, but we try to spend more time on videos and put a lot into them. It’s more than a simple video — it’s an expressive one with a story behind it. So, the videos that we’ve done so far for this album are pretty expensive. I think it’s a good way to promote your album, especially because you can’t rely on radio in all countries. On what Jacoby Shaddix of Papa Roach brought to the song “The Reckoning” We were looking for someone like him with his kind of voice, and we had already recorded the song with all my vocals. We thought it would be really cool to ask him, because he gives an extra attitude to a song. The song already has attitude, but he gives an extra bite to it and gives a melancholy feeling to it, which I think is awesome. On how Within Temptation goes about picking artists with whom to collaborate It’s more that we write songs and eventually we think, “Maybe this could fit with this person or that person.” We never think of it being, “I want to make a song with this particular person,” because there are so many great musicians out there in not only America, but also in Europe and other countries. Sometimes we pick somebody not that known who we think fits with the song. Our thanks to Within Temptation’s Sharon den Adel for taking the time to speak with us. Pick up Within Temptation’s new album, Resist, at this location. Sharon den Adel Band Interview The Year Queen Became Godfathers of Metal Natalie Portman takes off for the void in the Lucy in the Sky teaser trailer: Watch	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line624
__label__cc	0.748632	0.251368	Closed Captioning on Seattle Channel and in Public Accommodations; Anti-Displacement Lunch and Learn; Nowruz Closed Captioning on Seattle Channel and in Public Accommodations As Chair of the City Council committee overseeing the Seattle Office for Civil Rights (SOCR), I am regularly in contact with the four commissions within SOCR. The Commission for People with Disabilities is one of those commissions. The commission was created in 2010. Under Seattle Municipal Code section 3.14.933, its duties include raising issues with elected officials and city departments concerning issues of importance to people with disabilities, assist city departments to fairly address the concerns of people with disabilities individually and as a protected class, and as appropriate, recommend policies and practices to city government. One issue they’ve been raising is increasing access to public meetings, and public accommodations. Access to Council meetings has increased significantly over the last few years, beginning with the installation of “hearing loops” in City Council Chambers, for those hard of hearing. The City Clerk, Monica Martinez Simmons, and former Councilmember Rasmussen helped make this happen. More recently, I’ve worked with the commission and the Seattle Channel and City Clerk on adding captioning to broadcasts of Council meetings. This was added late last year for the web archive of Council meetings, but was available live only on the television broadcasts of Council meetings. This week it was added for the Seattle Channel’s live web broadcasts (if you load Monday’s Full Council meeting you’ll see a “CC” image you can click on to turn this feature on to see what it looks like). The commission has also asked that the Council address the use of closed captioning in public accommodations. Commission vice-chair Eric Scheir presented in committee in early January describing his experience, and what other cities have done. Earlier this week draft legislation was presented to require use of closed captioning on TV receivers in public areas during regular hours. We’ve heard support from Let’s Loop Seattle, the Hearing Loss Association of Washington, and the Hearing Loss Association of America. I’ve shared this with the Mayor’s Small Business Advisory Council and the Seattle Restaurant Association to seek their input and I offered to meet with them. As noted in the recitals in the draft legislation, Congress required broadcasters to add closed captioning in 1996 legislation, and in 2002 the FCC adopted closed captioning requirements for digital television receivers. In 2010, a similar requirement was added for Spanish-language programming. In 2010 Congress required the use of closed captioning on devices that can play back video, and in 2012 this requirement was extended to online programming. Anti-Displacement Lunch and Learn Please join me at Councilmember Mosqueda ‘s Lunch and Learn next Thursday, March 21, between 12pm and 1pm in the Council Chambers. As I’ve written about before, the City needs another tool to address displacement that occurs when new for-profit developers build. That is why I have brought forward a bill that would require additional mitigation. California has a State Senate bill that will provide greater density, but also works to prevent displacement and address gentrification concerns. This article provides some background on how California got to where they are and how different community stakeholders have been able to come together to find a solution that will allow greater density while addressing the concerns about displacement. This bill only allows the use of this new authority in locations that does not include housing occupied by tenants within the last seven years. It is not exclusive to housing occupied by low income tenants. That’s a really strong demolition control. Community organizations such as Puget Sound Sage will join us at the table for the Lunch and Learn to discuss displacement and strategies to address it. You can RSVP for the Lunch and Learn here. Nowruz – the Persian New Year – means New Day and marks the vernal equinox. For the third year in a row I am honored to help host and participate in the Nowruz Day event at City Hall. This Sunday hundreds will come to celebrate the Persian New Year – please join me and other elected officials. There will be music, dancing, art exhibits, booths, and speakers. When: Sunday, March 17 between 1pm and 5pm Where: Seattle City Hall The event is free, and you can RSVP here. Posted: March 15th, 2019 under Councilmember Herbold.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line628
__label__wiki	0.749389	0.749389	Start Over You searched for: Collections World War 2, 1939-1949 ✖Remove constraint Collections: World War 2, 1939-1949 Subjects Public Health ✖Remove constraint Subjects: Public Health Subjects Health Expenditures ✖Remove constraint Subjects: Health Expenditures 1. Health and sanitation program: agreement between the United States of America and Bolivia : effected by exchange of notes, signed at La Paz, August 1 and 8, 1944 Washington : United States Government Printing Office, 1945 2. Health and sanitation program: agreement between the United States of America and Brazil : effected by exchange of notes signed at Washington March 14, 1942 3. Health and sanitation program: agreement between the United States of America and Colombia : effected by exchange of notes signed at Bogotá, October 23, 1942 4. Health and sanitation program: agreement between the United States of America and Ecuador : effected by exchange of notes signed at Washington February 24, 1942 5. Health and sanitation program: agreement between the United States of America and Ecuador : effected by exchange of notes, signed at Quito December 23, 1944 and January 15, 1945 6. Health and sanitation program: agreement between the United States of America and Haiti : effected by exchange of notes, signed at Port-au-Prince, June 29 and July 12, 1944 7. Health and sanitation program: agreement between the United States of America and Haiti : effected by exchange of notes, signed at Washington, April 7, 1942 8. Health and sanitation program: agreement between the United States of America and Mexico : effected by exchange of notes signed at Mexico City, June 30 and July 1, 1943 9. Health and sanitation program: agreement between the United States of America and Nicaragua, effected by exchange of notes signed at Managua May 18 and 22, 1942 10. Health and sanitation program: agreement between the United States of America and Paraguay : effected by exchange of notes, signed at Washington, May 18 and 22, 1942 11. Health and sanitation program: agreement between the United States of America and Peru : effected by exchange of notes, signed at Washington, May 9 and 11, 1942 12. Health and sanitation program: agreement between the United States of America and Uruguay : effected by exchange of notes, signed at Washington, October 1 and November 1, 1943 13. Health and sanitation program: agreement between the United States of America and Venezuela : effected by exchange of notes signed at Caracas, February 18, 1943 Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1944 14. Health and sanitation program: agreement between the United States of America and Venezuela : extending with modifications the agreement of February 18, 1943 : effected by exchange of notes, signed at Caracas June 28, 1944, effective July 1, 1944 World War 2, 1939-1949✖[remove]14 Health Expenditures✖[remove]14 Public Health✖[remove]14 Sanitation14 Health and sanitation program: agreement between the United States of America and Bolivia : effected by exchange of notes, signed at La Paz, August 1 and 8, 19441 Health and sanitation program: agreement between the United States of America and Brazil : effected by exchange of notes signed at Washington March 14, 19421 Health and sanitation program: agreement between the United States of America and Colombia : effected by exchange of notes signed at Bogotá, October 23, 19421 Health and sanitation program: agreement between the United States of America and Ecuador : effected by exchange of notes signed at Washington February 24, 19421 Health and sanitation program: agreement between the United States of America and Ecuador : effected by exchange of notes, signed at Quito December 23, 1944 and January 15, 19451 Text14 Legislation14	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line630
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__label__cc	0.52275	0.47725	Official: People who don’t work, don’t matter to Labour All Posts, Benefits, News, Politics Add comments Today, the Guardian published an interview of Rachel Reeves, in which she says of the Labour party: “We are not the party of people on benefits. We don’t want to be seen, and we’re not, the party to represent those who are out of work,……. Labour are a party of working people, formed for and by working people.” This is a huge disappointment for those who had been expecting the Labour party to take a principled stand against what the Coalition is doing to unemployed and disabled people who cannot work, lone parents, carers and pensioners who rely on benefits and to voice their concerns and anger. Forget it. The Labour Party does not represent you. But that is not even the worst. Rachel Reeves seems to think that you cannot be claiming benefits and working at the same time, although some disability benefits like the Independent Living Fund, Disability Living Allowance,Personal Independence Payment and Access to Work are designed precisely with this in mind. All parents raising children are entitled to Child Benefit, although it is now mean-tested. Do we have to assume that Rachel Reeves will forfeit her allowance when she has her baby? Should we assume that neither David Blunkett nor Ann Begg had or have to rely on some form of disability benefits to support them in their Parliamentary life? Is the assumption that claiming benefits only happens to others, slightly apart from the rest of the human race, and who don’t deserve to be represented although they are already the most politically marginalised and unrepresented group? Maybe before speaking, Reeves should have had a chat with Yvette Cooper. Yvette Cooper could have told her that when she was struck by ME, she had to claim disability benefits during six months because she was too sick to work. She was lucky to totally recover after 4 years, but when she needed it, the state was there to support her, and I am not sure she would have been very pleased to be told at the time that her own party did not represent her anymore because she could not work. (see below for more information) Rachel Reeves made a huge faux-pas today, which might not gain the Labour Party any extra votes from the Tory party, but which has lost for Labour the last hopeful voters who still believed that the Labour Party was the party of compassion and solidarity and who discover that it has lost its soul. On 21st October 2009 while Work and Pensions Secretary, Yvette Cooper made the following statement to the All Party Parliamentary Group on ME. Of particular interest are Yvette Cooper’s comments about her uncertainty about if she would have qualified for ESA at the time, when she knew she was unable to work, and also a recognition all the way back in 2009, six years ago, that the WCA was flawed when dealing with fluctuating conditions. I am happy to say a few things first. It is a pleasure for me to be here. Tony Wright MP and I first discussed setting up the all party group on ME back in 1998. I obviously have a strong personal interest in it, having been an ME sufferer back in 1993. I was off work for about a year. I had to work part time for a year or two after that, and then it was another couple of years before I stopped getting any relapses. I obviously have a personal interest in this, and although it is true that I am the third Secretary of State to come before the group, I think I am probably the only Secretary of State from the Department for Work and Pensions who has actually claimed sickness benefits. As well as having statutory sick pay for six months, I also claimed what was then invalidity benefit for six months, before going back to work. I was lucky to have a supportive employer who allowed me to work part time — I worked alternate days, as that was the best way for me to do it when I started back at work — and who was very considerate when I had bad days. I am very conscious of the difficulties and challenges that people can face. That includes both those who have the condition and can work, although they can only work certain times and need it to be flexible — that was the position I was in for some time — and those people who cannot work at all. I am happy to listen to the concerns that the group wishes to raise. I have also been through the new work capability assessment, from the point of view of how I felt and the condition that I had at the time. I know that I was not able to work; I was desperate to get back to work, but would I have passed the work capability assessment in terms of getting the ESA? I have been through all those sorts of questions because I have a personal interest in it, but I am interested in hearing your views too. We have done a lot of work to try to ensure that the whole approach to the employment support allowance takes account of fluctuating conditions and fatigue, not only inability to do things. It should look at those conditions where someone is able to do something, but it wipes them out for the rest of the day. It is not that someone cannot do a particular thing because they are incapable of doing it, but it wipes them out. That must be taken into account in the assessment process. A lot of work has been done to try and do that, and to build that in to the assessment process. I obviously have personal experience of how that is going, but we are keen to keep trying to do that, and ensure that we respond to what I know is a difficult condition. We are pleased to note that Yvette Cooper is restored to health, not only being able to hold down a demanding job, but also now having the spare energy to be able to run away from difficult questions about WCA: Video courtesy of Kate Belgrave Posted by Bob at 13:45 19 Responses to “Official: People who don’t work, don’t matter to Labour” ginga says: I feel like Patrick McGooghan – I am not a number… but I am a deposit for a new suit for my advisor !!! I’m not disabled yet, but have been told by a surgeon that I have two operations to both ankles that are imminent and I need to rest, otherwise it will lead to the fusing of the tibula and fibula on both. I was given a sickline to back this up and told to only leave the house when necessary. Five months later, was called before ATOS; not only was the whole interview fabricated (eg. “He kept up with me, walking at normal pace” – nope, got lost twice as she had disappeared from sight), but the “Healthcare professional” didn’t have a clue how to undo a surgical support “moon” boot. So, she declared me fit. Walked into Job Centre – “Why are you here ? It’s obvious you cannot work”… then Got referred to Igneus – total time spent across 3 visits (about 10 minutes); the last visit – The “advisor” was swinging on his seat, wearing his expensive suit (obviously paid for by the unemployed), points his finger and says, “Got you a job in McDonalds working in the Kitchen. Take it or your sanctioned”; So, mentioned that amongst other jobs, including Admin, Supervisory, Engineering (Software, Mechanical, Gas), that he could have got from my CV – IF HE had read it with me (he didn’t) – why do you think I’m suitable for a fast food kitchen when I have the Boot and also a Walking stick for my other ankle – Job Centre told me to give you the choice – funny, was there 4 days ago and they didn’t, in fact they suggested University for IT Qualification. He then, sent me onto one of their courses, while sanctioning me (only found out when Housing Benefit was not paid this weekend). No letters, No Nothing. …. actually I might as well be number 6 you need to make a claim on grounds of nil income for HB. You need to conatact your local council to do this Lovejoy says: The Labour Party do not deserve our support – they are an alternative party in name only – they subscribe to the same clueless attitudes as the Conservative Party. I am voting Green and if the Labour candidate loses I shall write to them and let them know why. The Labour Party have been hemorrhaging votes since the Iraq war and the Welfare cuts of Brown simply sped up their collapse. I for one am not prepared to prop up the labour carcass any longer! Voting for a party that promises to be harsh on unemployed people, will result in a government harsh on unemployed people. The Labour Party have not formed a left wing government in 36 years – and have no plans to start now! simone aspis says: Paul Weaver waiting for a response from you as I have requested to be part of this group via the Green Party head office – the Green Party’s disability review will determine whether I stay or leave the party – I am at the moment hanging on by a thread because of the hyprocacy – i.e. ILF and assisted dying – Debbie and my issue. Supporting disabled students allowance for disabled students in HE but not disabled students rights to mainstream education in schools and colleges – where was Caroline Lacus when ALLFIE needed her to support our amendments to the Children and Families Act – did not even wanted to meet up with us – as disabled peoples lead organisation. You can find my email address via Alliance for Inclusive Education website – wait to hear from you. I was the former Green Party’s disability spokesperson – and I was the one who had to rewrite the whole of the social care policy and deal with a whole load of flack from Brighton Green Counselliors who wanted to retain the medical model of social care. You’ll need to put that question to Caroline not DPAC, Simone Paul Weaver says: I will contact you directly on this matter as you have contacted me via email and answer your questions. Thank you for responding to me. The link between the un-disabled majority and us has been cut by over a decade of propaganda about ‘the disabled’ being scroungers and getting benefits we were not entitled to. With the rise in unemployment we were seen as ‘well off’ when our benefits were compared with the ‘deserving poor’. We are good managers of our money and can use benefits for things they were not intended for. i.e. DLA mobility can pay for internet and delivery instead of paid workers doing shopping. Many other ways of economising are used. The ‘luxury’ we experience cannot be allowed by any of the LibLabCon parties. We are to be forced into a servitude of provision. Shopping WILL be done by the workers provided by the Social Services; Transport WILL be provided by the Council and the LHAs; There will be NO freedom of choice, we will accept the ‘charity’ of the State or go without. If we take the choice of going without it will not end. Our struggles to overcome obstacles that the non-disabled cannot even imagine will be seen as ‘proof’ of not being ‘disabled’. Unless we can combat the change in attitudes we will return to the days of being ‘happy smiling cripples’ being grateful for the crumbs from the tables of our masters that have been paid for by us and generations of our families. I am convenor of the Green Party Disability Group and I invite you to join the Green Party of England and Wales as we believe in fighting for the rights of disabled people where ever they may be. The Green Party Disability Group is run by disabled members of the Party for disabled people so our experiences help with us understanding the needs of the dsiabled people in the Party and within our communities. Unlike the Labour Party once you are a member of the Green Party you can join our Disability Group for no additional membership fee. We listen to our members and fight with them for our common good. To join the Green Party go to http://join.greenparty.org.uk And if you want further details, contact me on gp-disability-group@greenparty.org.uk Our new website, a work in progress right now but does have some information on it is at http://greendisabilitygroup.org.uk That’s great…but can you tell us why the Green party supports assisted suicide/dying which most disabled people see as a threat to their very existence. In these days of swinging cuts to support and increasingly negative attitudes towards disabled people it is surprising and shocking that the Green’s have not considered the ramifications of state sanctioned suicide/death for disabled people. We do not want or need assisted suicide or death,neither do the majority of the medical profession, so why do the Greens? Debbie that is great – are you also going to tackle the Greens on why they support retaining the DSA but not support an inclusive education system – Green Party hyprocacy. I think as part of ALLFIE you should- I am not a Green party member like you ,or a member of any political party Splitting the vote away from labour in next election will just empower the tories. I voted green party at last election, because I was sick of labour, but realistically we have to vote the opposition to the tories that we think will get in. I think we have to take a leap of faith that no matter what labour might say now, once they get into power, they will remember that their support base is human rights, tories clearly don’t give a stuff about walking over people’s rights, but labour have a long history of claiming to represent the people. What might not be politically expedient to do now, might become more politically correct if labour gets into power, its not like we can do worse than having the tories in power, it’s just a crying shame that the tories have been able to get away with such a shameful display of calous disregard for the vulnerable people in our society. C.Hutchison says: So what party for the Millions who have done their 35-40 years at the coalface. Atos Miracles says: I take very little notice of Yvette Cooper, especially Yvette Cooper and ME. The hospital which took her in and helped her closed and that one resource saving lives closed without a whimper from her. Linked to and commented ” I feel there should be some deep thinking on the part of truly progressive and left wing MPs such as Michael Meacher and John McDonnell about what the correct course of action on their part should now be. Considering the more right leaning economic thinking from Labour is not going to be reversed unfortunately, perhaps the time is right for those who are principled elected representatives like them to take a stand and switch to a party which respects their views more or become independents, they certainly are not having much of an impact on today’s “Labour Party”.” https://notesfromthenorth75.wordpress.com/2015/03/17/hard-labour-as-i-was-saying/ Do not forget that John McDonnell does not support inclusive education – John McDonnell has been very supportive to disabled people and to DPAC. Have you tried talking to him on this? Cant believe he’d dismiss it Open Letter to Labour front bench on the Independent Living Fund Hear the Sack Esther McVey Campaign Song	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line645
__label__wiki	0.715017	0.715017	You are here: Home / Music / Performings Arts / Sarasota - Bradenton / PMP/Suncoast presents Bach to Jazz at the Tent featuring violinist Sean Lee and pianist Peter Dugan in concert PMP/Suncoast presents Bach to Jazz at the Tent featuring violinist Sean Lee and pianist Peter Dugan in concert SARASOTA, Fla. (November 21, 2017) – Perlman Music Program alumni Sean Lee, violin and Peter Dugan, piano, will light up the stage of the PMP/Suncoast Performance Tent on Wednesday, December 20 at 7:00pm performing the music of Bach, Schubert, Paganini and their CD , “Songbook.” The Performance Tent is located on the campus of USF Sarasota-Manatee, 8350 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL 34243. Tickets are $15 in advance, available online at PMPSuncoast.org, and $20 at the door. Bach to Jazz at the Tent is sponsored by the law firm of Williams Parker Harrison Dietz & Getzen. Sean Lee and Peter Dugan are no strangers to fans of The Perlman Music Program (PMP) and the PMP Sarasota Winter Residency. They met in 2003 when they were both students of PMP’s Summer Music School (a/k/a “The Littles Program”). Sean was 15; Peter was 14. Sean spent several winters in Sarasota as a PMP student and now returns each year as a member of PMP’s world-class faculty led by Toby Perlman, and includes internationally acclaimed violinist and conductor Itzhak Perlman. Soon after meeting at PMP, the two “Littles”quickly became friends. Outside of their classical music studies, they, along with a fellow PMP student, would get together and jam on jazz standards. Ten years later, Sean and Peter performed their first classical music recital. Since then the two have toured the world and recorded the album, “Songbook.” “We are overjoyed that, with the help of our sponsor, Williams Parker, these incredibly gifted musicians will return to Sarasota for an evening filled with great music making and loads of pure fun,” said incoming PMP/Suncoast Board Chair Fran Lambert. “We presented this superpower duo two years ago to an enthusiastic audience, and are thrilled to have them return to Sarasota to perform a mixed bag of exciting classical and jazz repertoire, guaranteed to dazzle the crowd and deliver something for everyone!” Bach to Jazz at The Tent Wednesday, December 20 at 7:00pm PMP/Suncoast Performance Tent USF Sarasota-Manatee, 8350 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL 34243 Tickets:$15 in advance online at PMPSuncoast.org and $20 at the door Violinist Sean Lee has captured the attention of audiences around the world with his lively performances of the classics. His playing has been hailed by The New York Times as “breathtakingly beautiful…” and with “perfect intonation and blazing rhythmic drive” by Palm Beach Daily News. A recipient of the 2016 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Lee is one of few violinists who dare to perform Niccolò Paganini’s 24 Caprices in concert, and his YouTube series, Paganini POV, continues to draw praise for the use of technology in sharing unique perspectives and insight into violin playing. At age 17, Lee moved to New York and began studying with his longtime mentor, violinist Itzhak Perlman, at the Julliard School. He continues to call New York City home, and currently teaches at the Juilliard School’s Pre-College Division, as well as The Perlman Music Program. For a complete bio, visit PMPSuncoast.org/sean-lee-violinist Pianist Peter Dugan was praised by the Capital Gazette as “nothing short of superb” and by the Washington Post as a “formidable soloist,” following his recent Kennedy Center debut with baritone John Brancy. Prizing versatility as the key to the future of classical music, Dugan is equally at home in classical, jazz, and pop idioms. He has appeared throughout the world, and recently performed duos with violinists Itzhak Perlman and Joshua Bell in memorial concerts for Marvin Hamlisch in New York. A Philadelphia native, Dugan holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in solo piano performance from the Juilliard School, where he studied under Matti Raekallio. He resides in New York with his wife, mezzo-soprano Kara Dugan, and serves on the piano faculty at the Juilliard School Evening Division and the St. Thomas Choir School. For a complete bio, visit PMPSuncoast.org/peter-dugan pianist Listen to selections from “Songbook” at seanleeviolin.com/songbook About The Perlman Music Program/Suncoast The Perlman Music Program/Suncoast, Inc. was formally established in May 2008 as a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization to provide a permanent home for The Perlman Music Program Sarasota Winter Residency, following four years of affiliation with other performing arts organizations. Founded by Toby Perlman, wife of internationally acclaimed concert violinist and conductor Itzhak Perlman, and based in New York, PMP augments its summer school and travel residency programs each December with a 17-day winter residency, providing valuable mentoring and performance opportunities for young string musicians, ages 12-20+, and offering approximately 20 free musical events to community audiences on the campus of University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee. This year’s PMP Sarasota Winter Residency, celebrating its 10th year on the campus of USFSM, runs December 21, 2017 through January 6, 2018. In addition, during the year, PMP/Suncoast brings alumni of PMP, now professional musicians, to our area for educational and outreach programs: PMP Alumni: In Schools takes the musicians into elementary, middle and high schools, as well as special needs schools, in Sarasota and Manatee counties to educate and interact with students and teachers; PMP Alumni: Around Town offers free or low-cost PMP alumni performances and events to people of all ages at local community venues. For more information, visit PMPSuncoast.org. In : Music, Performings Arts, Sarasota - Bradenton Previous article Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe presents ‘A Motown Christmas’ Spirited holiday offering to feature the season’s favorites plus long-lost treasures from the biggest stars of Motown Next article 1,800 runners and walkers are expected to participate in the ALSO Youth 8th Annual Turkey Trot 5K Mental Health Community Centers, Inc. selects Ashley Light as its next Development Director INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED BALLET STARS ASHLEY MURPHY AND BROOKLYN MACK GUEST STAR IN LOS ANGELES YOUTH BALLET’S ACCLAIMED PRODUCTION OF THE NUTCRACKER Tracy Calla, Marie Selby Botanical Gardens’ Senior Manager of School & Family Programs, and Katie Nickel, The Ringling’s School and Teacher Program Coordinator, trained teachers on the benefits of taking the classroom outdoors, the intersections of art and science in education, and adding outside-of-the box activities to standard curriculum Children Incorporated’s strong financial health and commitment to accountability and transparency have earned it a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, America’s largest independent charity evaluator 2018 PRINCESS GRACE AWARDS GALA HER SERENE HIGHNESS THE PRINCESS OF MONACO HOSTED SPECIAL EVENING CELEBRATING THE 2018 PRINCESS GRACE AWARDS GALA IN NEW YORK CITY Bernstein and Copland Brings Classical Music With a New Attitude to the Pasadena Symphony LILY ALLEN performed “Trigger Bang” and “Not Fair” on Last Call with Carson Daly MRS. JENNIFER PASSMORE REAPPOINTED TO BOARD OF MANATEE EARLY LEARNING COALITION Joe Cardamone of infamous LA band The Icarus Line will release his Holy War project this month, which encompasses a Holy War mixtape album (out 8/30) and a companion Holy War II film (out 8/25) released via Dark Star	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line650
__label__wiki	0.855487	0.855487	Rewards for Fugtives: Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi Under its Rewards for Justice Program, the U.S. State Department has announced it is increasing to $25 million its reward offer for information leading to the location, arrest, or conviction of ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Gulmurod Khalimov Under its Rewards for Justice Program, the U.S. State Department is offering up to three million dollars for information leading to the location, arrest and or conviction of a key ISIL operative –- Gulmurod Khalimov. Abdelkarim al-Nasser Abdelkarim Hussein Mohamed al-Nasser Jamal al-Badawi Jamal Mohammad al-Badawi is a fugitive who is wanted in connection with the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole, a U.S. naval vessel moored at the time in the harbor of Aden, Republic of Yemen. Millions of dollars in rewards are being offered for information on seven top leaders of the al Qaeda-linked, Somalia-based al-Shabaab. Sirajuddin Haqqani Sirajuddin Haqqani is a fugitive who is wanted in connection with the January 2008 attack on the Serena Hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan, that killed six people. Al-Shabaab Leaders Millions of dollars in rewards are offered for information on Yasin Kilwe, Abdikadir Mohamed Abdikadir -- also known as Ikrima -- and Jafar, also known as Amar. Emrah Erdogan Designated Global Terrorist By designating Emrah Erdogan a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under Executive Order 13224, the United States effectively freezes his property and bank accounts, thus preventing his assets from falling into the hands of like-minded individuals. African Terrorists In its continuing effort to assist other nations in confronting terrorism and to protect American citizens and interests, the United States is offering significant rewards to locate four terrorists operating in western and northern Africa. Benghazi Attacks The Rewards for Justice Program is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of any individual responsible for the September 11, 2012 Benghazi attacks. Revolutionary People’s Liberation Front In its continuing effort to assist other nations in confronting terrorism and protecting American citizens and interests, the United States is offering rewards to find three key leaders of a terrorist organization that attacked the U.S. Embassy in Ankara last year. Oumar Ould Hamaha Oumar Ould Hamaha is a spokesman for the MUJWA. Previously a member of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb. An International Public Service Announcement by the U.S. Government To report any information on a fugitive contact the Regional Security Office at the nearest U.S. Embassy. You can also contact the tip line at www.rewardsforjustice.net or e-mail information to info@rewardsforjustice.net You can also call the RFJ tip line at 1-800-877-3927. More Fugitives Rewards for Fugitives: Information on Hezbollah's Financial Networks PSA Hamza Bin Laden View From Washington: Religious Freedom, the First Freedom Rewards for Fugitives: Al Aruri, Harb, and Ali Tabataba'i Information on 2008 Mumbai Attack	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line654
__label__cc	0.59443	0.40557	Home / News / The Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation does not propose the introduction of a progressive scale of income tax from 2018 The Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation does not propose the introduction of a progressive scale of income tax from 2018 The Ministry of Finance of Russia does not propose or suggest the introduction of a progressive scale of income tax. Ilya Trunin, Deputy Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation, told journalists. “We do not discuss or suggest this. We do not come up with proposals for a progressive scale of income tax (after 2018 – ed.), “He said. Earlier, Deputy Minister of Economic Development Stanislav Voskresensky announced the need to maintain a flat scale of personal income tax. According to him, any progressive taxation system at a fundamental level destimates a person to work more. Representatives of different branches of power repeatedly came out with a proposal to increase the burden on the rich. Most often mentioned: the progressive scale of personal income tax, luxury tax, increased rates for elite real estate, yachts, private airplanes. In July 2016, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that the Finance Ministry sees opportunities to improve the mechanism for controlling large expenditures of officials in terms of tax consequences. Today, there is no mechanism for monitoring such consequences.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line657
__label__wiki	0.572371	0.572371	Author Archives: mzoler About mzoler Mitchel Zoler is a reporter for International Medical News Group/Global Medical News Network based in the Philadelphia area. by mzoler \| June 21, 2012 · 4:56 pm New Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Will End Anti-TNF Dominance Tumor necrosis factor inhibitor drugs began to dominate treatment of inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and the inflammatory bowel diseases ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease a little over a decade again. Now, the time when the importance of the anti-TNFs will wane and newer drugs will take their place is clearly visible on the horizon. It hasn’t happened yet, but the era of anti-TNF dominance for treating inflammatory diseases that persisted throughout the 2000s will end in the next 5 years. The anti-TNF era began in 1998 with the approval of etanercept (Enbrel) for rheumatoid arthritis and infliximab (Remicade) to treat Crohn’s disease. In subsequent years, the list of approved anti-TNFs expanded to include adalimumab (Humira), golimumab (Simponi), and certolizumab (Cimzia), and the approved indications grew to include many inflammatory disease of joints, the GI tract, and skin. The anti-TNFs revolutionized inflammatory disease treatment and made treatment to remission possible for many patients. tumor necrosis factor (green, purple, black) and TNF receptors (blue)/courtesy Bassil Dahiyat; Science But reports from just the past month show that new agents are overtaking the anti-TNFs. In May, I reported from Digestive Disease Week on phase III trial results with vedolizumab, which was compared against placebo for patients with ulcerative colitis. One of the study investigators noted that vedolizumab beat the placebo arm for steroid-free clinical remission by 30 percentage points. “Nothing else is that good,” Dr. William Sandborn, professor of medicine and chief of gastroenterology at the University of California, San Diego, told me, and the benchmark he had in mind was the performance of the anti-TNFs in similar patients. More recently, at the European Congress of Rheumatology earlier this month I heard a report on a head-to-head comparison of the anti-IL-6 drug tocilizumab (Actemra) and the anti-TNF adalimumab in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. After 24 weeks of monotherapy, patients on tocilizumab had nearly a fourfold higher remission rate than patients on adalimumab. Though the monotherapy trial design did not mimic the way most rheumatoid arthritis patients get treated, the new drug tocilizumab absolutely blew adalimumab out of the water in a rare head-to-head comparison among different classes of anti-inflammatory drugs. And at the same meeting several talks highlighted another new anti-inflammatory class of agents coming soon to the U.S. market, the Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors, such as tofacitinib, which is expected to received FDA approval later this summer. Phase III results show that tofacitinib has safety and efficacy that seems at least comparable to anti-TNF drugs, with the advantage of oral dosing. Vedolizumab, tocilizumab, and tofacitinib are just the tip of new waves of anti-inflammatory drugs that will soon substantially alter a landscape that the anti-TNFs have mostly had to themselves for the past 14 years. For the moment, the anti-TNFs have the advantage of a longer track record for safety, but changing that is only a matter of time. —Mitchel Zoler (on Twitter “mitchelzoler) Filed under Allergy and Immunology, Dermatology, Drug And Device Safety, Family Medicine, Gastroenterology, Health Policy, IMNG, Internal Medicine, Practice Trends, Primary care, Rheumatology, The Mole Tagged as adalimumab, anti-inflammatory drugs, anti-TNF drugs, certolizumab, Crohn’s disease, etanercept, golimumab, infliximab, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, tocilizumab, totaficitnib, tumor necrosis factor inhibitors, ulcerative colitis, vedolizumab H5N1 Flu Papers Published, but Moratorium Continues The highly controversial report from Dutch flu researcher Dr. Ron Fouchier on creating a form of H5N1 avian influenza that’s airborne transmissible between mammals finally appeared this afternoon in Science magazine, after months of dickering over whether this paper would get published and what information it would include. But, with much of the content of both Dr. Fouchier’s paper, as well as a report on a similar study by Dr. Yoshihiro Kawaoka that appeared last month in Nature, already fairly well known and widely discussed, perhaps the biggest news in today’s reports came in some of the related papers published by Science and in an update about the H5N1 research moratorium made during a press conference yesterday. courtesy Plaskov, Wikimedia Commons At the height of the mammalian-transmissible H5N1 debate last winter, Dr. Fouchier and Dr. Kawaoka and several other flu researchers declared a voluntary, temporary stop to any further research on the transmissibility or pathogenesis of H5N1. Speaking at a press conference on June 20 organized by Science magazine to discuss today’s package of H5N1 reports and analysis, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (which funded the transmissible H5N1 work), said, “The reason why you have not heard any announcement about the moratorium is that we are still struggling with the criteria for the next phases of experiments. We are working hard right now to get processes in place where we could have broad general criteria for the kinds of experiments that could be done.” A meeting is scheduled in July in New York that will bring together a worldwide group of influenza researchers and surveillance experts who will try to produce those criteria, Dr. Fauci said. The meeting “will discuss in detail the kinds of approaches we can have to try to expedite as quickly as possible the lifting of the moratorium.” One of the new studies that accompany the Fouchier paper today is an analysis led by researchers at Cambridge University who used the findings on H5N1 mutations that contribute to mammalian transmissibility to develop a mathematical model to calculate the risk that such viruses could appear in nature. Their conclusion: Current best estimates indicate that the needed panel of mutations could evolve within a single mammalian host, making the possibility of a respiratory-drop transmissible strain of H5N1 virus occurring in nature “a potentially serious threat.” But a more quantifiable estimate of the risk—a specific number—is not yet possible, they said. “We now know that we are living on a fault line, an active fault line,” when it comes to the potential for H5N1 to become mammalian transmissible in the real world, said Dr. Derek J. Smith, head of the Cambridge group, during yesterday’s press conference. “Now what we need to know is how likely it is.” Another part of today’s H5N1 package dealt with steps that could be taken right now to speed up influenza vaccine production in response to a newly emerged pandemic strain, something that warrants its own blog post. —Mitchel Zoler (on Twitter @mitchelzoler) Filed under Health Policy, IMNG, Infectious Diseases, Internal Medicine Tagged as avian influenza, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Dr. Derek J. Smith, Dr. Ron Fouchier, Dr. Yoshihiro Kawaoka, H5N1, National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Quickening Pandemic Flu Vaccine Production If a strain of avian H5N1 influenza that readily spread from person to person were to appear in the real world, the great fear is that it would produce a deadly pandemic to dwarf what happened in 1918. The best defense against flu pandemics are vaccines, and the most recent experience with a global flu pandemic, in 2009, highlighted the gaps that existed in getting vaccine quickly made in large amounts. Three years ago, despite the U.S. government marshaling all its infectious disease-fighting muscle, the effort wound up delivering most of the vaccine too late to matter. The pandemic peaked in October 2009, while the vaccine supply didn’t hit its stride until sometime in December. Novartis influenza-vaccine plant in Holly Springs, N.C./courtesy Novartis In a report published today in Science as part of its H5N1 flu package, Dr. Rino Rappuoli, head of vaccines research for Novartis, spelled out seven steps that could hasten vaccine production for a newly appearing pandemic flu. The two most novel moves involve having vaccine manufacturers prepare in advance synthetic “vaccine seed” viruses and also adopting new ways to quantify viral antigens, a process that alone took about 2 months in 2009, he said. Adopting these two technological innovations could transform the vaccine-producing process “from a mid-20th century system … into a 21st century system of instantaneous electronic information exchange followed by immediate production.” The modernized system would mean sequencing a newly isolated pandemic virus in the field and then — instead of shipping the virus — just sending gene sequences, followed by replicating the hemagglutinin gene at a remote site, putting the new gene into a waiting scaffold vaccine virus, and launching vaccine production. If these two changes had been in place in 2009, “the vaccine would have been available in large quantities before the peak of viral infection,” Dr. Rappuoli said in his paper. More importantly, speaking at a June 20 press conference Dr. Anthony Fauci said that the National Institutes of Health, as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration, had already begun to move on this, adopting “the fundamental principles of bringing influenza vaccinology into the 21st century.” Steps already taken along the lines of what Dr. Rappuoli suggested carry the potential for “a significant change right now” in the time needed to get out a pandemic vaccine, Dr. Fauci said. He particularly cited NIH studies underway using an immunoadjuvant to expand the coverage potential of stockpiled H5N1 vaccine, a step that would “markedly accelerate availability. “We are right now in a much better position [to distribute pandemic vaccine quickly] than we were in 2009 when we had vaccine available only after the peak of the H1N1 pandemic,” Dr. Fauci said. Filed under Health Policy, IMNG, Infectious Diseases, Internal Medicine, Primary care Tagged as avian influenza, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Dr. Rino Rappuoli, H1N1, H5N1, Novartis, pandemic, vaccine by mzoler \| June 1, 2012 · 4:42 pm The U.S. Obesity Epidemic and Surging Liver Cancer If there is one truism that trumps everything else these days about U.S. health, it’s that America is a chubby country that keeps getting fatter. The consequences seep into every corner of the nation’s medical state, including the surprising fact that obesity and the type 2 diabetes it causes are likely pushing up the incidence of liver cancer—hepatocellular carcinoma—to unprecedented heights. When I covered Digestive Disease Week in San Diego recently, one of the biggest stories I heard was that U.S. liver-cancer rates tripled from 1975-2007, and that the numbers continued to rise from the mid to the late 2000s. (My full report on this is here). Granted, factors other than just obesity play into the liver cancer surge, notably the sizable number of Americans infected with either hepatitis B or C virus, and the fact that as they age their risk for developing hepatocellular carcinoma rises. But new U.S. infections by hepatitis B and C are largely under control these days (although people infected elsewhere continue to emigrate to the United States). The part of the booming liver-cancer story that is by no means under control is the obesity part. Every time I see a new CDC map for U.S. obesity prevalence, the colors on it keep getting redder and darker (the CDC’s code for higher prevalence rates). courtesy CDC Earlier this year, the CDC reported a 36% obesity prevalence rate for the entire U.S. population–and still on the rise–and just a few weeks ago we heard that obesity among children and adolescents had hit a new high of 17%. With obesity seemingly on an unchanging upward trajectory, one can only wonder what rates of liver cancer it might produce in the future. Obesity carries a special relationship with the liver, and it’s not pretty. Just consider any goose headed to a foie-gras future. Until now, the evidence linking obesity and liver cancer, and type 2 diabetes and liver cancer has been epidemiologic. Compelling, but just an association. At DDW, a new study provided more observational data on the diabetes-liver cancer link, and while still circumstantial it further supports the notion and also carries an intriguing punchline. The study, done in Taiwan, examined 97,000 hepatocellular carcinoma patients and 195,000 matched controls. The analysis showed that people with diabetes had a two-fold increased risk for liver cancer compared with those without diabetes. Even more striking, the analysis also showed that people with diabetes treated with the oral hypoglycemic drug metformin had their risk for liver cancer cut in half compared with those not on metformin, and those with diabetes treated with a glitazone drug (such as pioglitazone–Actos) had their risk cut nearly in half. The best solution would be if people avoided obesity and type 2 diabetes all together. Both conditions cause a lot of medical problems, and this new evidence indicates more strongly than ever before that liver cancer is one of them. Filed under Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism, Epidemiology, Gastroenterology, IMNG, Internal Medicine, Internal Medicine News, Oncology Tagged as Digestive Disease Week, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, hepatocellular carcinoma, liver cancer, obesity by mzoler \| May 12, 2012 · 9:14 am Influenza Toys with the Human Race The current U.S. influenza seasonal epidemic, the mildest in years, is in its death throes, based on infection trends over the past several weeks, including the most recent data released on May 11 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. During the week that ended on May 5, 13.7% of U.S. respiratory surveillance specimens tested positive for influenza, continuing the clear downhill slope of U.S, flu cases since this season’s U.S. epidemic peaked at 30% positive during the week of March 11-17. The CDC hasn’t yet declared the current, 2011-2012 flu-season’s epidemic, which started in late February, officially over—it can’t until the influenza-positive rate falls back below 10%–but the epidemic curve’s steep downward track (see graphic) is as well defined as the far side of L’Alpe d’Huez. graphic courtesy of the CDC With the current influenza epidemic nearly ended, the season’s numbers paint a decidedly benign picture. So far, 22 children have died from influenza; if that figure continues to grow as it has so far it will top out as the lowest since the CDC began collecting these data in 2004. Other markers of how mild the 2011-2012 season has been include the number of U.S. patients hospitalized for influenza, which sits below past seasons, and the proportion of deaths attributable to pneumonia or influenza has hovered below the epidemic threshold for that measure all season. During a winter and spring where the influenza world focused on mammalian-transmissible H5N1 flu, strains dubbed by some the “doomsday” virus, having such a mild seasonal flu season tossed at us can’t help but be seen as some ironic, natural-world prank. On a purely rationale basis, year-to-year variations in seasonal flu have nothing whatsoever to do with the looming danger from H5N1 flu, but with this infectious-disease juxtaposition I can’t help but imagine that somewhere, off in the distance, I hear a quiet, cosmic chortle. Filed under Blognosis, IMNG, Infectious Diseases, Internal Medicine, Internal Medicine News Tagged as CDC, Centers for Disease Control, epidemic, flu, H5N1, influenza, seasonal influenza by mzoler \| April 15, 2012 · 10:11 pm Controversy Over H5N1 Flu Continues Just when it seemed like consensus existed on how to handle the hot potato of mammalian-transmissible H5N1 influenza, the public release on Friday afternoon of a letter sent April 12 from the respected influenza and public health researcher Dr. Michael Osterholm to a National Institutes of Health official collapsed the apparent consensus like a house of cards. To recap: On March 29 and 30, the U.S. government’s National Science Advisory Board for Biosafety (NSABB), organized by the NIH’s Office of Science Policy, met to reconsider the NSABB’s original decision last December that said the paper written by Dr. Yoshihiro Kawaoka and another paper by Dr. Ron Fouchier on their respective efforts to produce and study H5N1 mutants transmissible by air from ferret to ferret should only be published without the methods sections, a way to prevent release of the details on how they developed these potentially dangerous mutant strains. The initial NSABB recommendation to allow publication of only the redacted papers failed to win support from a panel convened by the World Health Organization in February, creating a conflict between the NSABB (and hence the NIH) and the WHO. Claiming that new data first revealed to the WHO group led to the different outcome, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases — the U.S. agency that sponsored the work of both Dr. Kawaoka and Dr. Fouchier — called on the NSABB to rethink its initial decision, which resulted in the NSABB reversing itself on March 30 and supporting full publication, in a unanimous vote for Dr. Kawaoka’s work, and in a 12-6 vote for Dr. Fouchier’s. So, by early April, the NSABB (and hence, pending official U.S. policy) and the WHO agreed that full H5N1 publication could proceed. Peace reigned across the land. Dr. Michael Osterholm Until 2 weeks later, when Dr. Osterholm an NSABB member, upset the tranquility by writing his bombshell letter to Dr. Amy Patterson, NIH’s associate director for Science Policy. In it, Dr. Osterholm took vigorous swipes at how the NIH set up the NSABB’s reconsideration session and detailed his grave concerns about public release of how the H5N1 work was done. Both “Science” and “Nature” received the letter on April 13, and according to a report in “Nature,” Dr. Osterholm said he was not the source for the leak. “I believe the agenda and speakers for the March 29 and 30 NSABB meeting as determined by the Office of Biotechnology Activities [part of the NIH’s Office of Science Policy] staff and other U.S. government officials was designed to produce the outcome that occurred,” Dr. Osterholm charged in his letter. “It represented a very ‘one-sided’ picture of the risk-benefit of the dissemination of the information in these manuscripts. The agenda was not designed to promote a balanced reconsideration of the manuscripts.” A major problem, he said, was that the “experts that addressed [the March NSABB session] have a real conflict of interest in that their laboratories are involved in this same type of work and the results of our deliberations directly affect them too.” The same problem occurred at the WHO meeting in February, he added. Dr. Osterholm tempered his charge by saying he did not “suggest that there was a sinister motive by the U.S. government,” but still leveled a hefty blast, saying “I believe there was a bias toward finding a solution that was a lot less about robust science- and policy-based risk-benefit and more about how to get us out of this difficult situation.” The upshot was that in the revised decision NSABB, U.S. policy makers, and researchers failed to “come to grips with the very difficult task of managing dual-use research of concern and the dissemination of potentially harmful information to those who might intentionally or unintentionally use that information in a harmful way.” His worry is — if not in this case — “will the Board ever find a bright line for redacting publication” of any future research that could potentially threaten public health? Dr. Osterholm cited a major danger if details of this research became fully public: “A ferret-to-ferret experiment is expensive and technically demanding, and could only be done by a handful of labs in the world. Once the mutations are public, individuals … in many other labs could generate the mutants in a few weeks given several thousand dollars for gene synthesis,” using reverse genetics. Finally, Dr. Osterholm questioned the public-health benefit from full release of the methods sections of the two H5N1 papers. “The most important aspect of the results in these two studies on surveillance and control has already been accomplished namely alerting the world to the possibility that H5N1 influenza virus surely can become a mammalian-transmitted virus and poses real pandemic potential.” Publication of more details from the research will not add to that alert, nor would it immediately help in the development or production of countermeasures against a potential H5N1 pandemic, he said. Despite his concerns over full disclosure of the methods, Dr. Osterholm affirmed his overall support for this H5N1 research in a comment to “Nature” on Friday. “I have been and continue to be a supporter of this kind of research,” he told the journal. Filed under Blognosis, Health Policy, IMNG, Infectious Diseases, Internal Medicine Tagged as Dr. Amy Patterson, Dr. Michael Osterholm, Dr. Ron Fouchier, Dr. Yoshihiro Kawaoka, dual-use research, flu, H5N1, influenza, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Science Advisory Board for Biosafety, Nature, NIH, NSABB, Office of Biotechnology Activities, Science, WHO, World Health Organization by mzoler \| April 3, 2012 · 3:15 pm Making the Case for H5N1 Influenza Research The biologic properties that allowed mutated strains of avian H5N1 virus to pass between ferrets in a model of mammalian transmission all share certain, apparently critical biologic traits, Dr. Ron Fouchier said at an open meeting on H5N1 research held today and on April 4 in London. “There is clearly a pattern of what biologic traits a virus needs to get” to allow mammalian transmission, an important clue to what to look for in naturally-occurring H5N1 mutations, said Dr. Fouchier, a researcher at Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam and head of one of the two groups that generated the controversial research papers that may now soon be published. Along with the American Society for Microbiology, the UK’s Royal Society sponsored the two-day session that provided the most thorough information yet available on the H5N1 research done by Dr. Fouchier, and separately by Dr. Yoshihiro Kawaoka at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, as well as comments on the appropriateness of the research and its publication by several other speakers. Dr. Kawaoka/image by Mitchel Zoler Dr. Kawaoka described how he focused on the impact of mutations in the H5 hemagglutinin protein in viruses that combined the mutated gene with other genes from the 2009 pandemic H1N1 strain. He concluded from his work so far that “we need to enhance surveillance and the capacity to analyze H5N1 viruses and continue to identify mutations that would convert H5N1 viruses to those transmissible in mammals.” He also noted the “striking similarity” in findings between his work and that of Dr. Fouchier, even though they used different approaches for generating mammalian-transmissible forms of H5N1 (but both used ferret-model systems). Dr. Kawaoka also downplayed drawing a distinction between the mutations he generated and studied in his experiments and what might occur in the real world. “The risk is out there in nature” for the potential formation of H5N1 that is transmissible between mammals through the air. The four mutations he found that made airborne transmission possible between ferrets “is nothing” for a highly mutable virus like influenza. Dr. Fouchier agreed. So far, spread of H5N1 virus from birds to mammals has been studied for 15 years. Air-borne spread of H5N1 between mammals will “eventually” happen he said; all it will take will be the passage of time, chance, and selection. Dr. Fouchier/image by Mitchel Zoler Dr. Fouchier noted that his experiments differed from Dr. Kawaoaka’s by not involving a reassortment step and dealing exclusively with the avian H5N1 virus. He said he was satisfied that the transmissible model strain he now has, which is not very efficiently passed between animals nor very pathogenic, was sufficient to move on to the next studies he wants to do: Look at the biologic traits of the transmissible virus and identify a set of key biologic properties that can be used for surveillance of naturally-occurring mutant strains; determine whether all H5N1 viral lineages have the potential to become transmissible between mammals; and determine whether any vaccine types seem best for pandemic preparedness. Also speaking at today’s session was Dr. Thomas Inglesby, director of the Center for Biosecurity of the University of Pittsburgh, who reiterated his prior opinion that creating and studying engineered H5N1 mutants posed too big a health risk to proceed. He said that similar, valuable information could be obtained by studying naturally-occurring H5N1 mutations. In his presentation, Dr. Paul Keim, acting chairman of the U.S. National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB), cited four reasons why the NSABB voted last week to recommend full publication of both Dr. Kawaoka’s and Dr. Fouchier’s papers on their research, reversing the position the Board first took last October. The revised versions of both articles that the NSABB examined last week had better clarity on the balance of risk and benefit from the research, and the Board also received additional, non-public information on benefits and risks, he said. The NSABB also drew on a new policy announced last week that set an official U.S. position on dual-use research, and the NSABB was also swayed by the lack of a mechanism for distributing restricted parts of the reports to approved recipients. Filed under Health Policy, IMNG, Infectious Diseases Tagged as H5N1, influenza, National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity, NSABB, Paul Keim, Ron Fouchier, Royal Society, Thomas Inglesby, Yoshihiro Kawaoka	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line661
__label__wiki	0.641423	0.641423	Didn't See That Coming....Sewer Explodes Causing Bus Windows To Shatter..... Didn't See That Coming.....Horse... Didn't See That Coming...Lipstick.....Earthquake.... TRUMP VERSUS DIVINE PROVIDENCE: Statement from President Donald J. Trump on Standing with Saudi Arabia Salvator Mundi Leonardo da Vinci Statement from President Donald J. Trump on Standing with Saudi Arabia Issued on: November 20, 2018 America First! The world is a very dangerous place! The country of Iran, as an example, is responsible for a bloody proxy war against Saudi Arabia in Yemen, trying to destabilize Iraq’s fragile attempt at democracy, supporting the terror group Hezbollah in Lebanon, propping up dictator Bashar Assad in Syria (who has killed millions of his own citizens), and much more. Likewise, the Iranians have killed many Americans and other innocent people throughout the Middle East. Iran states openly, and with great force, “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!” Iran is considered “the world’s leading sponsor of terror.” On the other hand, Saudi Arabia would gladly withdraw from Yemen if the Iranians would agree to leave. They would immediately provide desperately needed humanitarian assistance. Additionally, Saudi Arabia has agreed to spend billions of doll… Didn't See That Coming...Show Off..... Didn't See That Coming.....Muslims Invade Nude Beach In Spain.... Planes Trains And Automobiles DOOM! NINE DEAD In Hawaii Skydiving Tragedy + SEVEN Motorcyclists DEAD In Randolph NH After DODGE Truck Plows Into Their Procession....UP NEXT TRAIN DOOM! DOOM event involving Plane & Train PlanesTrains Automobiles Plane and Truck/Motorcycle DOOM on the same day.... PLANE DOOM.......... WHAT? NINE dead in Hawaii skydiving tragedy: Plane erupts in flames killing seven passengers and two crew after crashing on takeoff near Oahu airfield - as loved ones waited at the airport A light aircraft crashed in northern Hawaii killing nine passengers Friday, authorities said. The twin engine King Air plane went down near an airfield on Oahu island's North Shore, according to Hawaii's Department of Transport (HDOT). 'With extreme sadness HDOT reports there were 9 souls on board... with no apparent survivors,' it said on its Twitter account. Honolulu Fire Department Chief Manuel P. Neves confirmed there were no survivors. 'Upon arrival, we saw the plane fully engulfed in fire,' he said at the scene. 'The first crews on scene extinguished the fire.' Neves added that the crash occurred near the perimeter fencing of… How Many Days In JULY 2019 Before There Is A Need To Pray JESUS PSALTER? FOUR! Patron Saint Of San Bernardino ALLOWS 6.4 MAG EARTHQUAKE To Hit San Bernardino County......Blaspheming Hollywood Stars Freak Out... How many days in JULY 2019 before there is a need to pray the JESUS PSALTER for all those coming NATURAL AND MAN-MADE DISASTERS AND MUSLIM TERROR ATTACKS IN USA THE WORLD I now include the world, not just the US. How important is public devotion to the HOLY NAME? Outside of the visible sacrifice offered to God there was the practice of calling upon the HOLY NAME of GOD: But to Seth also was born a son, whom he called Enos; this man began to call upon the name of the Lord. Gn.4. Enos was one of the first to publicly call upon the HOLY NAME of GOD - the Church Fathers say that this devotion was a public devotion - so many souls participated with Enos in calling upon the HOLY NAME of God. Law of Nature had two major works dedicated to God: 1 Visible Sacrifice 2. Calling upon the Holy Name Today we still have the Visible and Holy Sacrifice of the Mass But we do not have a public reparation to the Holy Name of Jesus. So use this JESUS PSALTER - pray it. Make reparation for all th… Didn't See That Coming......China Hotel Explosion... Didn't See That Coming......Granny Falls Down A Hole.... Didn't See That Coming....Amusement Ride Snaps In ... Didn't See That Coming....2019 MT-09 VERSUS Deer..... Didn't See That Coming.......Dog Explosion.... Didn't See That Coming......Éric Belec Launches Hi... Planes Trains And Automobiles DOOM! NINE DEAD In H... Didn't See That Coming.........You Need An Ambulan... Didn't See That Coming....Metal Pipe Hits Kid Planes Trains And Automobiles DOOM! TRAIN Carrying... DOOM DOOM DOOM! Pope Benedict On The Verge Of DEAT... Didn't See That Coming....Sewer Explodes Causing B... Didn't See That Coming..... R6 VERSUS Wall..... Didn't See That Coming......Granny Falls Down A Ho... Didn't See That Coming....Woman Releases Balloons ... How Many Days In JUNE 2019 Before There Is A Need ... EVIL PORTENT For Pope Benedict! Pope Visits VENICE... Demonic Infiltration Of The Roman Catholic Church LOL!! Mike Voris & Church Militant.com In Melt Down Mode Explaining Away The Leaked Encyclical	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line664
__label__wiki	0.879539	0.879539	RetailWeight Watchers Weight Watchers rolls out new online services, coaching for the holiday season Tom Huddleston Jr. Weight Watchers Photograph by Craig Barritt — Getty Images/file Weight Watchers is gearing up for one of its busiest times of the year with new offerings that move away from its traditional group-meeting format. Diets can be a challenge during the holidays, and the temptation of eggnog, cookies, and candy canes can trump healthier food choices. It’s no wonder diet and weight-loss services like Weight Watchers (WTW) generally see a membership spike in January, and throughout the winter season. “There’s no doubt that this is a high-risk time for consumers overall,” says Gary Foster, Weight Watchers’ chief scientific officer. So it should come as little surprise that the weight management company famous for its group meetings and “Points”-based food ratings has picked this time of year to launch a new set of services aimed at giving its members more personalized engagement with the Weight Watchers program as well as around-the-clock access to mentors. On Monday, the company announced an update to its Essentials app, which now includes a “24/7 Expert Chat” option that allows customers all-hours access to certified coaches who have been through the Weight Watchers program themselves and can offer instant advice when users encounter weight-loss crises. The company also unveiled a new personal coaching service that teams customers with a Weight Watchers-certified coach who will help develop an individualized weight management plan over the phone before remaining available via phone, text and e-mail for subsequent consultations. “All coaches have successfully lost weight on Weight Watchers and can provide inspiration, motivation and accountability throughout a journey that is far from easy,” Weight Watchers president of North America, Lesya Lysyj said in a statement. Foster says the idea behind these new offerings is that behavior change is essential to making successful long-term weight loss goals and that a personalized approach is needed to offer the best results. “This is an up-and-down journey and we’ve got to be able to support people when they need support, not when we think they need support,” Foster tells Fortune. The new services come as Weight Watchers tries to revamp public perception of its offerings. The company launched a new advertising campaign at the end of November called “Help with the Hard Part,” which included a new television spot showing a diverse set of people engaging in poor eating habits for a variety of reasons — from sadness to happiness and from stress to boredom. Foster says the new campaign is a way of highlighting the behavioral patterns that send people careening away from their diets. The ad also makes a point of showing both lean and overweight people eating poorly. “We think this is the human condition. It is a human thing to eat when you’re bored at the office at 3 o’clock,” Foster says. The campaign marks a shift from industry paradigm when it comes to ads, which traditionally feature a beautiful, slimmed-down woman (often a celebrity) in all her post-diet glory. Weight Watchers’ own ads featured Jessica Simpson in just such a role within the past year while past spokespeople have included singer Jennifer Hudson and Duchess Sarah Ferguson. The problem with those ads, Foster says, is that they imply that weight-loss is “a very linear, direct process” when, in fact, it is full of ups and downs. Of course, the new offerings and the marketing shift also come at a time when Weight Watchers is struggling to halt a streak of quarterly revenue losses that reached seven straight quarters in November. The sales dip includes a steady decline in revenue from meetings fees and from products sold at those meetings. The company’s online sales have increased grown on an annual basis — they increased more than 30% between 2011 and 2013 — but not enough yet to make up for the losses in other segments. The loss of revenue has taken its toll on Weight Watchers’ stock, which is down more than 16% over the past year. The company has lost ground in the weight-loss industry as millions of customers turn to a wide set of health and fitness app offerings, such as MyFitnessPal and RunKeeper, as well as wearable fitness trackers that cost less than several months of Weight Watchers membership dues. The updated Essentials app from Weight Watchers has a base price of $19.95 per month, while the price goes up to $54.95 per month to get both the app and the personal coaching service. New online members are also subject to a one-time fee of $29.95. Foster does note, though, that Weight Watchers tends to be cheaper than many of its commercial weight loss rivals. (A Duke University study from earlier this year backs that up, showing an average annual price of about $377 for Weight Watchers, compared to an average of more than $2,500 for rival Jenny Craig.) Meanwhile, Foster says the hope is that the 24/7 chat and personal coaching sessions will be able to take aspects of the Weight Watchers group meeting format and recreate them for customers who would prefer to interact online at their own convenience rather than at a set time and location. Foster says Weight Watchers believes its customers stilll value “the human connection” they get in Weight Watchers meetings. “We know our members value that in the meeting room. We know our online members have asked for it, so we’ve delivered on that,” he says.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line671
__label__cc	0.611656	0.388344	Dungeons! Dungeons! Any RPG would be incomplete without them. The dungeons in your game are where the majority of the gameplay will take place—your dungeons are the meat of your game. You can expect your players to spend a lot of time—and a lot of thought—in your dungeons, so it’s important to make them stand out. What is a dungeon? A dungeon is an area of the game that provides danger and challenge for the player. Typically, RPGs are split up into two types of areas: towns and dungeons. Towns are places where the player can relax and heal; where he can comfortably explore and upgrade his characters: towns are typically the resting places between dungeons. But just like town areas don’t need to be towns—a dungeon doesn’t have to be a temple or a cave—any setting you can imagine can be a dungeon area—as long as it provides the potential for danger. These area definitions are based on gameplay function. So let’s get creative with our dungeons. Setting and Theme Often, the first idea that a game designer comes up with for a dungeon is the setting. A cave dungeon, a dark castle, a pyramid maze. This is a good starting place, but unfortunately it usually comes out of forced necessity (“I need a dungeon in my desert region!”) This line of thinking leads to the same tired dungeons that we’ve seen a hundred times before. Don’t misunderstand—there’s nothing inherently wrong with putting obvious dungeons in the obvious places; the important part (as always) comes down to the execution. This is why I encourage you to think of the dungeon’s theme before you worry about the dungeon’s setting. The theme of your dungeon is more about the tone and feel than it is about the actual location. And when done right, it will naturally tie into the gameplay gimmick of the dungeon. Giving your dungeon its own theme will allow it to stand out as a memorable location on its own; rather than being something as simple as “the cave in the mountains”. Unlike other dungeons, Flower Fields in the original Paper Mario was unique in that it was an outside area with lots of interactive characters. But what exactly do I mean by “theme”? Honestly, it could be anything. Think about your game world and the story, and what elements will lead to a strong dungeon design? Maybe there are elements of your world’s cultural beliefs that can be extracted and turned into a unique theme: a multi-floor tower based on a religion’s attempt to reach the heavens; an ancient network of catacombs that runs from the castle cellar all the way to the walls of the city; a complicated factory that shows off the developing technology of a society. Most dungeons are boring when they are completely natural—it’s hard to come up with good puzzles in such a setting. Who built this area? Why? Instead of thinking “what makes sense in this region?”, ask yourself “who would create something in this region and why?” Once you have a strong and specific theme in mind, you can work it into the setting. Let’s take the “reach the heavens” tower as an example: if it’s in a forest, I can imagine massive spires intertwining with treetops. If it’s in the mountains; it could be broken up into multiple connected towers built around the rock formations, each one higher than the last. Or it could be in the middle of a flat prairie, which would turn it into a striking man-made monument that dominates the horizon. Gimmicks and Goals What’s the purpose of the dungeon? Why does the player go there? And when he does—what challenges his progression? What makes the dungeon dangerous? Where’s the conflict? If your dungeon is nothing more than mazes and random encounters, the player’s not going to have a particularly fun or memorable experience. Remember that the dungeons in your game are the places where the player expects to find challenge. The dungeons—more than anywhere else—must include actual gameplay. Wandering around waiting for battles isn’t gameplay (or at least, it isn’t any good). The dungeon needs some sort of puzzle or action element that provides a unique challenge for the player. The Stone Tower Temple in Majora’s Mask had a unique and memorable gimmick: the whole dungeon turned upside-down. A great way to develop a dungeon’s gimmick is to give your player a goal. There are two primary types of major goals. Some are born of the story and work well to motivate the player: find the legendary crystal, reach the end of the tunnel. Then there are the goals that give the player something to work towards in the dungeon itself: turn off all the water valves, destroy the pillars underneath the boss room. If you’re able to come up with a goal that fits both of these roles, and can be incorporated into both the story and the gameplay—escape from a pursuing monster, free a prisoner from a prison—you have a very strong base for a memorable dungeon. Ensure that the goal is clear to the player (and yourself as the designer), and build each room and puzzle within the dungeon to lead to that goal. It’s certainly possible to have multiple goals; especially if they are nested within each other. For example—the overall goal of a dungeon may be grab a magic crystal; but in order to do that, the player’s mechanical goal is to find a way to open the sealed door. Once you’ve established the goal of your dungeon, you can begin to think about how the player should achieve that goal—or more accurately; how to make it challenging for him to achieve that goal. This is where we can come up with a strong gimmick—a gameplay element that the player masters throughout the course of the dungeon. A good gimmick is centered around a core mechanic or two. Consider a single puzzle element—the classic RPG example of block-pushing puzzles. Multiple puzzles can be created using the same mechanic. If your dungeon’s gimmick is based around these sorts of puzzles, then they will get larger and more complex as the dungeon goes on. Even more—you can introduce other elements along the way that can make for more challenging puzzles yet remain consistent with the overall gimmick and goal of your dungeon. The mechanics in Portal 2 were introduced gradually, letting the player get used to them before the mind-bending puzzles late in the game. Train your player. Early puzzles should let the player discover how game mechanics work, and end puzzles should feel like challenges that test that knowledge. Your dungeon should have a “puzzle boss” at the end, a major puzzle that incorporates elements of everything that has come before within that dungeon. And when designed well, this final puzzle will directly lead to the player accomplishing the dungeon’s mechanical goal. That way, the player feels good about himself when he wins. Challenge the player so that he feels good when he overcomes the challenge—that’s what game design is all about. A lot of the ideas discussed in this article are also covered in brickroad’s awesome article about dungeon theory. Check it out on RPGMaker.net. Categories: Game Design	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line673
__label__cc	0.556949	0.443051	Vacancies and Procurements Ministry of the Presidency Guyana Ministers of Finance Office of the Finance Secretary Office of the Budget Deputy Finance Secretary Accountant General Department Project Cycle Management Division Information Communication Technology Unit (MISU) The National Procurement and Tender Administration (NPTA) NPTA Supplier Form Tender Awards Minutes Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) Sub-Agencies Student Loan Agency Basic Needs Trust Fund Guyana Revenue Authority Bank of Guyana Bureau of Statistics National Insurance Scheme (NIS) National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) GuyOil Budget Speeches Government of Guyana (GOG) Financial Legislations Financial Legislation Legislative Documents Mid Year Reports Monthly Economic Bulletin Green Paper Guyana Natural Resources Fund Bill 2018 GSDS Category: Highlights By: Tanika Jones 134 IMF \| Guyana: Staff Concluding Statement of the 2019 Article IV Mission A Concluding Statement describes the preliminary findings of IMF staff at the end of an official staff visit (or ‘mission’), in most cases to a member country. Missions are undertaken as part of regular (usually annual) consultations under Article IV of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement, in the context of a request to use IMF resources (borrow from the IMF), as part of discussions of staff monitored programs, or as part of other staff monitoring of economic developments. The authorities have consented to the publication of this statement. The views expressed in this statement are those of the IMF staff and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF’s Executive Board. Based on the preliminary findings of this mission, staff will prepare a report that, subject to management approval, will be presented to the IMF Executive Board for discussion and decision. A Staff team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), led by Mr. Arnold McIntyre, visited Georgetown during June 3–14 to hold discussions for the 2019 Article IV Consultation. The team met with Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, Finance Minister Winston Jordan, Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney General Basil Williams, Central Bank Governor Gobind Ganga, other senior officials, representatives from the private sector, banks, the opposition party, labor unions, and other stakeholders. Economic growth strengthened in 2018 with broad-based expansion across all major sectors. Real GDP grew by 4.1 percent in 2018, up from 2.1 percent in 2017, led by construction and services sectors. Inflation remained steady at 1.6 percent at end-2018, on the back of stable food prices and exchange rate. For 2019, the mission projects real economic growth of 4.4 percent, driven by continued strength in the construction and services sectors ahead of oil production in 2020, and strong recovery in mining. The authorities do not foresee any significant spillovers from the crisis in Venezuela at present. However, the influx of migrants into the hinterland and rural areas could put socio-economic pressures on the local communities. Weaker export performance and higher imports driven by high value imports related to oil production contributed to a weaker current account balance. In 2018, the current account deficit rose to 17.5 percent of GDP, from 6.8 percent in 2017. The deficit was largely financed by FDI related to the petroleum sector. Reserves stood at US$528 million in December 2018. Public finances improved in 2018. The central government’s deficit was 3.5 percent of GDP, lower than the budgeted 5.4 percent of GDP. The better-than-expected outturn was largely supported by stronger revenues arising from the pick up in economic activity, as well as continued improvements in tax administration and the tax amnesty program which relaxed interest and penalties on payments of outstanding taxes. In addition, expenditure grew at a weaker pace due to slower capital spending as a result of capacity issues in both the public and private sector. In 2019, the fiscal stance is projected to be appropriately expansionary, at 5 percent of GDP, driven by significant need for infrastructure development and capacity building ahead of oil production. Guyana’s medium-term prospects are very favorable. The commencement of oil production in 2020 presents an opportunity to scale-up capital and current spending at a measured pace over the medium term to address infrastructure gaps and human development needs, while attenuating debt sustainability concerns at the same time. The mission welcomes the passage of the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) legislation for managing the country’s natural resource wealth; it underscores the authorities’ commitment to fiscal responsibility. To ensure fiscal responsibility is achieved, the mission recommends complementing the NRF legislation with a fiscal framework that constrains borrowing and achieves a balanced budget in the near- to medium-term. To achieve this target, the annual non-oil deficit should not exceed the expected transfer from the NRF. This would ensure that excessive public expenditure will not lead to debt growing at the same time as the NRF accumulates. It is also necessary to preserve the spirit of the NRF framework, which appropriately aims to save part of the income from oil as net wealth for future generations. The pace of scaling-up public spending needs to be gradual to reduce bottlenecks from absorptive capacity constraints, avoid waste, and minimize macroeconomic distortions related to “Dutch” disease that has often inflicted economies experiencing sizable increases in resource-based income. The mission supports continued efforts by the authorities to strengthen institutional, governance and management practices, which will also help reduce vulnerability to corruption. It commends the ongoing efforts in modernizing the revenue administration and strengthening the public investment management system. At the same time, the mission reiterates the importance of addressing the weaknesses identified in the 2017 Public Investment Management Assessment. Greater urgency is attached to these reforms ahead of the expected increase in public spending as oil production begins. The mission notes authorities’ intent to move to rigorous project selection and prioritization criteria within the context of the new long-term Green State Development Strategy. The authorities are committed to considering mechanisms to further improve fiscal transparency, including relating to the management of natural resources. The mission encourages building on recent progress in strengthening transparency and governance. Guyana completed its first Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) Report in 2019 and started implementing its recommendations to further enhance transparency in the extractive industry. In addition, the recent re-establishment of the Integrity Commission has resulted in over 50 percent of politically exposed persons (PEPs) and other required officers making declarations within the first year. Ensuring greater compliance over time with the asset declaration regime would underscore the authorities’ support and commitment to the UN convention against corruption. The mission also welcomes the progress made in strengthening public procurement, and encourages the authorities to ensure timely compliance with existing regulations and take further actions to fortify the transparency of the procurement system. The authorities have indicated their concerns that the absence of a ring-fencing arrangement in the Stabroek Production Sharing Agreement could potentially affect the projected flow of government oil revenues. The rapid appraisal and development of multiple oil fields could affect the timing and amount of profit oil to be shared with the government from a producing oil field by allocating costs from various fields under development to the producing field. The authorities are developing strategies to mitigate such a possibility, including a national oil depletion policy to guide extraction and production and clearer ring-fencing rules for new investments. The mission recommends that the authorities continually reassess the monetary policy stance to reflect changes in macroeconomic outlook or risks surrounding the outlook. The mission encourages exchange rate flexibility as part of the monetary policy framework, given the expected large and potentially volatile foreign inflows from oil production. It encourages the authorities to consider developing over the medium-term, supported by IMF Technical Assistance, the necessary infrastructure for a suitable monetary policy framework that facilitates economic growth and adjustment to oil price shocks while maintaining price stability. The financial sector remains stable. The mission supports the authorities’ resolute efforts in implementing 2016 Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) recommendations. Credit to the private sector grew by 4.0 percent in 2018, faster than 2.1 percent in 2017. The banking sector nonperforming loans (NPLs) to total loans ratio have fallen slightly to 11.9 percent as of end- December 2018, from 12.2 percent a year before, but remained high. Staff recommends an Asset Quality Review to examine banks’ credit risks and enhance financial sector stability. Four bills were approved by Parliament in 2018, covering deposit insurance, emergency liquidity assistance, bank resolution, and national payment system. The transition to Basel II regime (with some elements of Basel III) is on track for completion by end-2019. Staff encourages the authorities to implement the remaining FSAP recommendations, including eliminating reduced provisioning requirements for “well-secured” portions of NPLs and raising the minimum capital adequacy requirement to 12 percent. Commendable progress has been made in strengthening the framework for anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing, based on the 2017 national risk assessment. Guyana has been officially removed from the European Commission’s Money-Laundering Blacklist in February 2019 and is scheduled to undertake a mutual evaluation by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force in 2022. The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has been actively examining cases relating to suspicious transactions, money laundering, terrorist financing and criminal proceeds including those of PEPs, and is working towards greater collaboration with other global FIUs. Structural reforms are needed to support economic diversification, and achieve inclusive and equitable growth. Infrastructure bottlenecks, skilled labor shortages, and weaknesses in electricity supply are major obstacles to growth. Staff supports the authorities’ proposed increase in investments to improve access to roads, electricity, and telecommunication services to enhance economic activities, including the hinterland. Simultaneous investment in upgrading the education system is critical and would enhance skills and employment prospects. To address skills gap and satisfy an expected increase in labor demand, Guyana could adopt more liberal or open immigration policies, including free movement of all categories of workers from other CARICOM countries. Promoting more flexible working arrangements could help increase female labor participation. Further regulatory and administrative reforms—including property rights and insolvency regime and reducing bureaucratic red-tape—would help strengthen competitiveness. The IMF Executive Board is expected to discuss Guyana’s Article IV consultation in August 2019. The mission expresses its sincere thanks to the authorities and other Guyanese stakeholders for their warm hospitality, cooperation and candor. IMF Communications Department Press Officer: Maria Candia Phone: +1 202 623-7100 Email: media@imf.org Source: https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2019/06/17/mcs061719-guyana-staff-concluding-statement-of-the-2019-article-iv-mission?cid=em-COM-123-38996 By: Tanika Jones 12 Remarks by Guyana’s Finance Minister, Hon. Winston Jordan’ at the 49th Annual Meeting of Governors of the Caribbean Development Bank Mr. President, fellow Governors, Government representatives, Ladies and Gentlemen: I bring you cordial greetings from the dear, green and great land of Guyana. Allow me, please, to express my profound appreciation for the warm welcome and great hospitality extended by the Government and people of Trinidad and Tobago. To our gracious hostess and Chairperson of the Board of Governors, the Honourable Minister of Planning and Economic Development, Ms.Camille Robinson-Regis, I offer sincere congratulations on a well-arranged meeting. By: Tanika Jones 1 Guyana signs loan agreement with the World Bank to Build Capacity in the Oil and Gas Sector Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan today (April 11, 2019) participated in a signing ceremony with Ms. Tahseen Khan, World Bank Country Director for the Caribbean, for a loan agreement which will build human resource capacity, and strengthen institutional frameworks in the Oil and Gas Sector. Minister Jordan noted the timely nature of the loan agreement as it sought to provide much needed technical assistance to the emerging Oil and Gas Sector. Ms. Khan said that the loan agreement will aid in building the capacity of key institutions, such as the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Ministry of Finance, for prudent management of the oil revenues. The Hon. Minister was accompanied by Dr. Gobind Ganga, Governor, Bank of Guyana, Dr. Riyad Insanally, Guyana’s Ambassador to USA and Mr. Jason Fields from the Embassy of Guyana. 44th Annual Meeting of the Islamic Bank Group – Statement by the Honorable Winston Jordan, Minister of Finance and Governor for Guyana On the occasion of the 44th Annual Meeting of the Islamic Bank Group, in this historic city of Marrakesh, in the Kingdom of Morocco, it is my honour and privilege to convey, on behalf of the President and People of the Cooperative Republic Guyana, our most sincere congratulations to the leadership and staff of the IsDB Group for another successful year, and warmest greetings and thanks to my fellow governors, and the Board of Directors for their work and support to the Cooperative Republic of Guyana. Excellencies, as you will recall, Guyana became a member of the OIC in 1998 and the IsDB in 2016. Since then, the support Guyana has received from the IsDB has been unique for its approach to programme formulation and project approval. In 2018, three operations were approved, enabling Guyana to benefit from a grant of ID200,000 for the upgrade and modernization of a geriatric facility; a US$20 mn installment sale operation to expand and upgrade the electricity transmission and distribution system, thereby leading to the improvement in the quality and reliability of the energy supply received by customers; and a reverse linkage programme (funded by Malaysia (US$0.3mn), the IsDB (US$0.28 mn) and Guyana (a matching amount)), to make the rice industry more resilient, productive and competitive. Additionally, in 2018, we received a programming mission to begin preparation for several new projects. These operations are an appropriate response to the current challenges faced by Guyana, which are rooted in insufficient national resources and a diminishing pool of multilateral and bilateral support to provide the social and economic infrastructure necessary for giving “the good life” to all Guyanese. Mr. President, in the period since our last Annual Meeting, some “inconvenient truths” of globalization’s free trade agreements became more evident: the developed economies have championed trade without attention to people; and trade arrangements have been extended into national borders, with the consequential reshaping of domestic regulations and the appropriation of indigenous knowledge for profit. Now, the world begins to reap the whirlwind of a global marketplace that by-passes distributional justice with disruptions in geopolitical stability and defaults on agreements to govern the global commons. We see fragmentation, instead of collaboration and unity, and the rise of a chauvinistic brand of nationalism. As we look towards the immediate and medium terms, Excellencies, it is clear that business as usual will not suffice. We must applaud the vision of the President, who is steering the Islamic Bank Group on a path that recognizes the importance of the environment, and to building partnerships and south-south relations towards the realization of economies that are resilient, that champion trade with the awareness that people are central to all our policies, programmes and actions; and that address labour market failures by targeting job creation and global value chains. These programmes and financial instruments of the IsDB will not deepen societal divisions nor undermine domestic social bargains, in the way that implementing current WTO and banking rules seem to be doing. But, even as academic and political thought seems to target only trading arrangements for criticism, we have to recognize that technology and demands for highly skilled workers – with its attendant downside of the brain drain – are even greater disrupters. We have to find ways for our countries to leapfrog into the 21st century and beyond with clear-sighted and even prescient recognition of the necessity of adjusting to emerging global imperatives and changes. Media is replete with many examples of these, a few of which are: the ongoing threat to European Integration (BREXIT); financial sector and Basel II reforms and the trend towards derisking, which places international transactions, including remittances to small countries, at extreme risk while increasing the cost for correspondent banking services; and the withdrawal of large countries from the global systems and structures, such as the essential climate change pact (denying us a path to development via industrialization) and safeguarding the blue economy. Excellencies, Guyana will be looking towards its development partners, including the IsDB, to build on our regional comparative advantage in natural resource endowment including pristine forests, abundant fresh water, large arable agricultural lands and a wide variety of flora, fauna and mineral resources. Our strategic geo-physical and geo-political location within Latin America and the Caribbean offers a convenient gateway for public and private sector partners to collaborate and invest in Guyana, to expand their market opportunities and access scarce resources. To realise this potential, it is imperative for us to develop: (i) climate resilient infrastructure, and food and energy security; (ii) an empowered and skilled labor force; and (iii) a capacity for entrepreneurship, innovation and creativity. Excellences, in all of these areas I am pleased to say that the IsDB has commenced working with Guyana to develop an appropriate development agenda as well as a plan of action and implementation. To this end, Guyana has placed for consideration the following investment initiatives with the IsDB: The development and construction of three (3) mini- hydropower systems and road links in our vast hinterland communities. The construction of several potable water and sanitation systems. A reverse linkage programme in halal ecosystems. and A reverse linkage programme in technical and vocational training with emphasis on addressing the critical needs of our emerging oil and gas sector. In the pipeline are opportunities for a waqf investment programme to support our elder care initiatives; highway construction to open thousands of hectares of agricultural land while linking communities and markets; and marine port development to improve shipping and competitiveness. Guyana looks to the esteemed President of this august institution and his skilled and hard-working staff to support our ambitious programmes, and we look to your respected Excellencies to formulate the policies to support the work of the IsDB among its member countries. There are thousands of years of experience and tested technologies that exist in this region, from which we hope to benefit. Your Excellencies, Guyana is open for business and we invite you and the IsDB to partner with us in making our exciting development prospects a reality. Guyana’s Oil & Gas sector benefits from US$20M loan from World Bank Guyana has secured a US$20 million loan to support capacity building for Petroleum Resources Governance and Management from the World Bank. The loan was approved on Friday March 29, 2019. This Project will enhance the transparency, governance, legal, regulatory and institutional frameworks for the oil and gas sector in Guyana. The Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana (GCRG), in recognition of the risks associated with being a new oil and gas (O&G) producer, has worked to negotiate this loan with the World Bank to address governance and management risks from inadequate policy, legal and regulatory frameworks and institutional capacity needed to maximize the benefits from expected oil revenues; and to minimize downside risks associated with oil revenues and growth of the sector. As such, the components of this loan reflect the reality that the O&G sector will affect multiple layers of the economy; impact the livelihoods of present and future generations; the environment and local communities; and that if poorly managed, the development of O&G resources can be economically and socially costly for the country. Additionally, there are environmental and social risks – usually infrequent but with high impact – associated with O&G production that require effective and constant monitoring, as well as significant investment in environmental damage prevention and response capacity, among others. The GCRG is keen to invest in strengthening its institutions and building capacity to manage O&G resources. Therefore, the Project envisages that Guyana’s legal and regulatory frameworks for the O&G sector will be reviewed and updated with a view to maximizing benefits to the country and affected communities; managing the technical, environmental, social, and financial risks linked to the sector; and building capacity to engage effectively with investors. Institutional capacity to oversee and manage the O&G sector in the various relevant government ministries, commissions and other departments will be created using consultants, initially, but with a view to ensuring local personnel are trained to replace these technical advisers over time. Kuwait Investment Authority, State of Kuwait Cancels US$50,739,255.67 of Guyana’s Debt Georgetown: A Bilateral Debt Settlement Agreement was signed by Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, on March 18, 2019, with the State of Kuwait, through the Kuwait Investment Authority, to cancel US$50,739,255.67 of Guyana’s debt to that country. This debt cancellation will reduce Guyana’s external debt and allow the country to expand its development agenda, as funds saved under this agreement would be allocated to social projects within the context of the National Budget. The agreement, which came after an ardent negotiation process, paves the way for greater co-operation and the strengthening of cordial ties between the two countries. Commenting on the agreement, Minister Jordan said that it is the result of renewed efforts by his Ministry to engage Guyana’s non-Paris club bilateral creditors in negotiating debt relief that is acceptable and sustainable. The remaining amount of US$26,853,585.23 will be settled through a combination of cash payments, to be made over nine (9) years, and a debt swap arrangement, which will be worked out in due course. Guyana’s debt to Kuwait originated from a Loan Deposit, contracted in 1975, from the Central Bank of Kuwait for Kuwaiti Dinars 3.0 million (US$10.3 million at that time), for balance of payments support to the Bank of Guyana. The debt accumulated massive arrears over the past four (4) decades, at high market interest rates. As at December 31, 2017, the debt to Kuwait had grown to US$77,592,840.90, comprising principal arrears of US$9,940,500 and interest arrears of US$67,652,340.90. Since assuming office in 2015, the Finance Minister has pursued debt relief from other bilateral non-Paris club creditors with whom Guyana’s debts are in arrears. The website of the Ministry of Finance (MoF) houses key information that facilitates the expansion and diversification of the Guyanese economy as well as educates the public about policies and initiatives that ensure fiscal sustainability and benefit the nation. Learn about our – Guyana National Shipping Co. Guyana Securities Council Be Social: Ministry of Finance Guyana 2018. All Rights Reserved.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line674
__label__cc	0.646225	0.353775	Tag Archives: Hallelujah Just three songs?! Posted by toearlyretirement in Music, My Journey, Writing101 Art, Artist Date, Bad days, Challenge, Depression, Doc Neeson, Hallelujah, Inspiration, Jeff Buckley, Leonard Cohen, Melbourne, Michael Buble, Motivation, Muse, Music, Nick Cave, Nine Inch Nails, Nurturing yourself, Opera, Pink Floyd, Radiohead, The Angels, Tom Waits, Writing, Writing101 Today’s prompt is to write about three songs that are important to you, and I’m really struggling with it. There are so many songs that are important to me, and the songs that speak to me at one point in time are different to the songs that speak to me now. I remember when I living in Thomastown, I would have been 22 or 23 I suppose, and I used to get terrible bouts of depression. One of the things I found that really helped, sometimes, was to really just indulge in the feeling. I would turn the lights out in my room and lie on my bed in the dark listening to Muse and Nine Inch Nails and crying. It was a release. Music has always played an important part in my life. I remember the music that my partners and friends exposed me to; Sean and Slayer, Kelly with his numetal and trance music, Damien who introduced me to NIN and Jeff Buckley’s Hallelujah, Wade, gorgeous Wade, who introduced me to so many fantastic artists and bands, and who had an amazing knowledge of all of them, even now I can recount some of his interesting tidbits when a song comes on the golden oldies station in he car. Wade was the one who opened the door to Leonard Cohen, and made me see the beauty in his version of Hallelujah. He showed me Johnny Cash, and Nick Cave, and The Angels (vale Doc), and so many more. Richard who lent me the entire discography of Pink Floyd. Aaron who showed me the genius of Dolly Parton and Elvis. And Paul for Die Antwoord. And Louise, the best poet I know, who shared Radiohead and PJ Harvey with me. And Jonathan and Gabrielle for Queens of the Stone Age, and Serge Gainsbourg, and The Cramps. And Simon and Kat for The Nymphs and The Bluebottles. I could go through almost my entire collection and tell you who each artist/band came from. There’s something about the relationship between who shared the music with you and how you feel about that artist/band. Something more powerful than the music itself sometimes. An almost magical force that ties you together, the sense memory of the good times and a feeling of knowing the musicians because of how well you know the people who first experienced it with you. For me, I could never pick just three songs. I could never say it’s ‘Famous Blue Raincoat’, and ‘The Perfect Drug’ and ‘Creep’. Because it’s Johnny Cash singing ‘Hurt’ and it’s Nirvana singing ‘The Man Who Sold the World’ and it’s PJ Harvey and Thom Yorke crying over Nick Cave, and it’s Skrillex dropping the bass, and it’s Michael Bublé making my knees tremble, and Tom Waits’ grumbling, and so many more. And that’s not even counting the classical music that I played for years when I was in orchestras and bands, through high school and uni. It’s the solo in Scheherazade that I never got right. Or the operas that I see with Mum every year. Or the emotional roller-coaster ride of a great film score. And it’s fucking around with a bass guitar in my bedroom when no one is home. Someone asked me once what song would I want to have in my head for the rest of my life. It was in highschool, probably 1999 or 2000, and I was obsessed with Marilyn Manson. I said ‘The Man That You Fear’. If you asked me today, I couldn’t tell you. Music is mood, and music is meditation, and music is motivation, and music gives meaning to life. And that’s why I can’t tell you three songs that are the most important to me.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line677
__label__wiki	0.881532	0.881532	(-) Remove Publications filter Publications Legal (2) Apply Legal filter Disorders (1) Apply Disorders filter A History of Embryology (1959), by Joseph Needham In 1931 embryologist and historian Joseph Needham published a well-received three-volume treatise titled Chemical Embryology. The first four chapters from this work were delivered as lectures on Speculation, Observation, and Experiment, as Illustrated by the History of Embryology at the University of London. The same lectures were later released as a book published in 1934 titled A History of Embryology. On the Generation of Animals, by Aristotle Aristotle's On the Generation of Animals is referred to in Latin as De Generatione animalium. As with many of Aristotle's writings, the exact date of authorship is unknown, but it was produced in the latter part of the fourth century B.C. This book is the second recorded work on embryology that is treated as a subject of philosophy, being preceded by contributions in the Hippocratic corpus by about a century. People's Padre: An Autobiography (1954), by Emmett McLoughlin Emmett McLoughlin wrote People's Padre: An Autobiography, based on his experiences as a Roman Catholic priest advocating for the health of people in Arizona. The Beacon Press in Boston, Massachusetts, published the autobiography in 1954. McLoughlin was a Franciscan Order Roman Catholic priest who advocated for public housing and healthcare for the poor and for minority groups in Phoenix, Arizona, during the mid twentieth century. The autobiography recounts McLoughlin's efforts in founding several community initiatives throughout Phoenix, including the St. Subject: Outreach, People, Publications, Religion “Diethylstilbestrol in the Prevention and Treatment of Complications of Pregnancy” (1948), by Olive Watkins Smith In 1948, Olive Watkins Smith published 'Diethylstilbestrol in the Prevention and Treatment of Complications of Pregnancy' in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. In 632 women treated with diethylstilbestrol, Smith demonstrated that the drug stimulated the production of progesterone, a hormone that regulates the uterine condition during pregnancy. "Adenocarcinoma of the Vagina: Association of Maternal Stilbestrol Therapy with Tumor Appearance in Young Women" (1971), by Arthur L. Herbst, et al. Published in 1971, Adenocarcinoma of the Vagina: Association of Maternal Stilbestrol Therapy with Tumor Appearance in Young Women, by Arthurs L. Herbst and colleagues, was the first piece of literature connecting maternal use of the drug diethylstilbestrol (DES), also called stilbestrol, with the development of a rare and severe form of vaginal cancer in young women. Diethylstilbestrol was later classified as an endocrine disruptor, a substance that disrupts the hormonal function of the body in those exposed to it during development or later in life. "Embryonic Stem Cell Lines Derived from Human Blastocytes" (1998), by James Thomson After becoming chief pathologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Wisconsin Regional Primate Center in 1995, James A. Thomson began his pioneering work in deriving embryonic stem cells from isolated embryos. That same year, Thomson published his first paper, "Isolation of a Primate Embryonic Stem Cell Line," in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, detailing the first derivation of primate embryonic stem cells. In the following years, Thomson and his team of scientists - Joseph Itskovitz-Eldor, Sander S. Shapiro, Michelle A. Subject: Experiments, Publications "RNA-Guided Human Genome Engineering via Cas 9" (2013), by Prashant Mali, Luhan Yang, Kevin M. Esvelt, John Aach, Marc Guell, James E. DiCarlo, Julie E. Norville, and George M. Church In 2013, George Church and his colleagues at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts published RNA-Guided Human Genome Engineering via Cas 9, in which they detailed their use of RNA-guided Cas 9 to genetically modify genes in human cells. Researchers use RNA-guided Cas 9 technology to modify the genetic information of organisms, DNA, by targeting specific sequences of DNA and subsequently replacing those targeted sequences with different DNA sequences. Church and his team used RNA-guided Cas 9 technology to edit the genetic information in human cells. "Derivation of Pluripotent Stem Cells from Cultured Human Primordial Germ Cells" (1998), by John Gearhart et al. In November 1998, two independent reports were published concerning the first isolation of pluripotent human stem cells, one of which was "Derivation of Pluripotent Stem Cells from Cultured Human Primordial Germ Cells." This paper, authored by John D. Gearhart and his research team - Michael J Shamblott, Joyce Axelman, Shunping Wang, Elizabeith M. Bugg, John W. Littlefield, Peter J. Donovan, Paul D. Blumenthal, and George R. Huggins - was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science soon after James A. “Studies on the Chemical Nature of the Substance Inducing Transformation of Pneumococcal Types: Induction of Transformation by a Desoxyribonucleic Acid Fraction Isolated from Pneumococcus Type III” (1944) by Oswald Avery, Colin MacLeod and Maclyn McCarty In 1944, Oswald Avery, Colin MacLeod, and Maclyn McCarty published an article in which they concluded that genes, or molecules that dictate how organisms develop, are made of deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA. The article is titled “Studies on the Chemical Nature of the Substance Inducing Transformation of Pneumococcal Types: Induction of Transformation by a Desoxyribonucleic Acid Fraction Isolated from Pneumococcus Type III,” hereafter “Transformation.” The authors isolated, purified, and characterized genes within bacteria and found evidence that those genes were made of DNA and not protein. On Growth and Form (1917), by Sir D'Arcy Thompson Of Sir D'Arcy Thompson's nearly 300 publications, the theoretical treatise On Growth and Form, first published in 1917, remains the principal work for which he is remembered. This substantial book is still in print today, and merited an editorial review and introductory essays by two important twentieth century biologists, John Tyler Bonner and Stephen Jay Gould. Growth and Form was immediately well-received for both its literary style and its scientific significance, as discussed by the biologist Sir Peter Medawar. Ovum Humanum: Growth, Maturation, Nourishment, Fertilization and Early Development (1960), by Landrum Brewer Shettles Ovum Humanum was written and compiled by Dr. Landrum Brewer Shettles while he worked as a doctor in New York. The publication contains an atlas of photographs of the human egg cell that Shettles took while working at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. Stechert-Hafner, Inc, a publishing company based in New York City, published the book in 1960. The book presents a collection of color photographs that shows detail of the human egg that had never been seen before, providing a reference for scientists and doctors that documented the anatomy of these cells. Subject: Publications, Reproduction "The Cell-Theory" (1853), by Thomas Henry Huxley The Cell-Theory was written by Thomas Henry Huxley in Britain and published in 1853 by The British and Foreign Medico-Chirurgical Review. The twenty-two page article reviews twelve works on cell theory, including those in Germany by Caspar Friedrich Wolff in the eighteenth century and by Karl Ernst von Baer in the nineteenth century. Huxley spends much of The Cell-Theory on a cell theory proposed in the late 1830s by Matthias Schleiden and Theodor Schwann in Germany. "Pregnancy Complicating Diabetes" (1949), by Priscilla White In 1949, Priscilla White published Pregnancy Complicating Diabetes, which described the results and implications of a fifteen-year study about pregnant diabetic women. Published in the American Journal of Medicine, the article details possible causes of and ways to prevent the high fetal mortality rate associated with pregnant diabetic women. Diabetes is a disease in which the body's ability to produce or respond to the hormone insulin is impaired, and it can be particularly dangerous during pregnancies. The Mechanistic Conception of Life (1912), by Jacques Loeb Jacques Loeb published The Mechanistic Conception of Life in 1912. Loeb's goal for the book was to further disseminate his explanations of organic processes, such as embryonic development and organisms orientations to their environments, which relied on physics and chemistry. Loeb also wanted to provide an alternative explanatory framework to vitalism and what he called romantic evolutionism, then both widespread. Form and Function (1916), by Edward Stuart Russell In 1916, at the age of twenty-nine, Edward Stuart Russell published his first major work, Form and Function: a Contribution to the History of Animal Morphology. This book has maintained wide readership among scientists and historians since its initial publication, and today is generally recognized as the first modern, sustained study of the history of morphology. In particular, Form and Function incorporates an extensive theoretical analysis of the relationship between embryological studies and comparative morphology in the nineteenth century. "Screening for Congenital Hypothyroidism" (1991), by Delbert A. Fisher In his 1991 article Screening for Congenital Hypothyroidism, Delbert A. Fisher in the US reported on the implementation and impact of mass neonatal screening programs for congenital hypothyroidism (CH) from the early 1970s through 1991. CH is a condition that causes stunted mental and physical development in newborns unless treatment begins within the first three months of the newborn's life. In the early 1970s, regions in Canada and the US had implemented screening programs to diagnose and treat CH as quickly as possible after the infant's birth. Subject: Publications, Technologies The Interpretation of Development and Heredity (1930), by Edward Stuart Russell First published in 1930 and reprinted in 1972, Edward Stuart Russell's The Interpretation of Development and Heredity is a work of philosophical and theoretical biology. In this book Russell outlines a methodological and philosophical program aimed at reorienting the biological understanding of development and heredity. “Sex Limited Inheritance in Drosophila” (1910), by Thomas Hunt Morgan In 1910, Thomas Hunt Morgan performed an experiment at Columbia University, in New York City, New York, that helped identify the role chromosomes play in heredity. That year, Morgan was breeding Drosophila, or fruit flies. After observing thousands of fruit fly offspring with red eyes, he obtained one that had white eyes. Morgan began breeding the white-eyed mutant fly and found that in one generation of flies, the trait was only present in males. Ontogeny and Phylogeny (1977), by Stephen Jay Gould Ontogeny and Phylogeny is a book published in 1977, in which the author Stephen J. Gould, who worked in the US, tells a history of the theory of recapitulation. A theory of recapitulation aims to explain the relationship between the embryonic development of an organism (ontogeny) and the evolution of that organism's species (phylogeny). Although there are several variations of recapitulationist theories, most claim that during embryonic development an organism repeats the adult stages of organisms from those species in it's evolutionary history. The Germ-Plasm: a Theory of Heredity (1893), by August Weismann Friedrich Leopold August Weismann published Das Keimplasma: eine Theorie der Vererbung (The Germ-Plasm: a Theory of Heredity, hereafter The Germ-Plasm) while working at the University of Freiburg in Freiburg, Germany in 1892. William N. Parker, a professor in the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire in Cardiff, UK, translated The Germ-Plasm into English in 1893. In The Germ-Plasm, Weismann proposed a theory of heredity based on the concept of the Subject: Publications, Theories "CRISPR /Cas9-mediated Gene Editing in Human Tripronuclear Zygotes" (2015), by Junjiu Huang et al. In 2015, Junjiu Huang and his colleagues reported their attempt to enable CRISPR/cas 9-mediated gene editing in nonviable human zygotes for the first time at Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou, China. Their article, CRISPR /Cas9-mediated Gene Editing in Human Tripronuclear Zygotes, was published in Protein and Cell. Nonviable zygotes are sperm-fertilized eggs that cannot develop into a fetus. Researchers previously developed the CRISPR/cas 9 gene editing tool, which is a system that originated from bacteria as a defense mechanism against viruses. Subject: Publications, Experiments "Mitochondrial DNA and Human Evolution" (1987), by Rebecca Louise Cann, Mark Stoneking, and Allan Charles Wilson In 1987 Rebecca Louise Cann, Mark Stoneking, and Allan Charles Wilson published Mitochondrial DNA and Human Evolution in the journal Nature. The authors compared mitochondrial DNA from different human populations worldwide, and from those comparisons they argued that all human populations had a common ancestor in Africa around 200,000 years ago. Mitochondria DNA (mtDNA) is a small circular genome found in the subcellular organelles, called mitochondria. Heart of a Dog (1925), by Mikhail Bulgakov Собачье сердце (Heart of a Dog) is a novella written in 1925 by author and playwright Mikhail Bulgakov in Moscow, USSR, later Russia. An early English translation was published in 1968. Heart of a Dog tells the story of a stray dog named Sharik, who is found by a surgeon, and undergoes extensive surgery for experimental purposes to create a New Soviet man, someone committed to the ideals of communism in the Soviet Union. Evaluation of the Newborn Infant--Second Report (1958), by Virginia Apgar et al. Virginia Apgar and colleagues wrote “Evaluation of the Newborn Infant—Second Report” in 1958. This article explained that Apgar’s system for evaluating infants’ condition after birth accurately predicted the health of infants. Apgar had developed the scoring system in 1953 to provide a simple method for determining if an infant needed medical attention after birth. Subject: Reproduction, Publications	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line681
__label__wiki	0.914644	0.914644	Kingdom of Pontus The Kingdom of Pontus or Pontic Empire was a state founded by the Persian Mithridatic dynasty,[1][2][3][4] which may have been directly related to Darius the Great and the Achaemenid dynasty.[4] The kingdom was proclaimed by Mithridates I in 281 BCE and lasted until its conquest by the Roman Republic in 63 BCE. It reached its largest extent under Mithridates VI the Great, who conquered Colchis, Cappadocia, Bithynia, the Greek colonies of the Tauric Chersonesos, and for a brief time the Roman province of Asia. After a long struggle with Rome in the Mithridatic Wars, Pontus was defeated; part of it was incorporated into the Roman Republic as the province Bithynia et Pontus, and the eastern half survived as a client kingdom. 281 BC–62 AD The Kingdom of Pontus at its height: before the reign of Mithridates VI (dark purple), after his early conquests (purple), and his conquests in the first Mithridatic wars (pink) Client of the Roman Republic and Roman Empire (66 BC–62 AD) Amaseia, Sinope Common languages Greek (official) Old Persian (native and regional) Laz (regional) Pontian (regional) Syncretic, incorporating Greek Polytheism with Anatolian and Persian gods. • 281–266 BC Mithridates I Ktistes Ariobarzanes • c. 250–220 BC Mithridates II Mithridates III • c. 185 – c. 170 BC Pharnaces I • c. 170 – 150 BC Mithridates IV Mithridates V Euergetes • 120–63 BC Mithridates VI Eupator • 63–47 BC Pharnaces II • 37 BC Arsaces • 37–8 BC Polemon I • 8 BC – 38 AD Pythodorida • 38 AD – 64 AD Polemon II • Founded by Mithridates I • Conquered by Pompey of the Roman Republic, remained as a client state. • Annexed by the Roman Empire under Emperor Nero. Preceded by Succeeded by Antigonid dynasty For other uses, see Pontus. Further information: List of kings of Pontus As the greater part of the kingdom lay within the region of Cappadocia, which in early ages extended from the borders of Cilicia to the Euxine (Black Sea), the kingdom as a whole was at first called 'Cappadocia by Pontus' or 'Cappadocia by the Euxine', but afterwards simply 'Pontus', the name Cappadocia henceforth being used to refer to the southern half of the region previously included under that name. Culturally, the kingdom was Hellenized,[5] with Greek the official language.[6] Features of PontusEdit Main article: Pontus (region) Coin of Pont Amisos The Kingdom of Pontus was divided into two distinct areas: the coastal region and the Pontic interior. The coastal region bordering the Black Sea was separated from the mountainous inland area by the Pontic Alps, which run parallel to the coast. The river valleys of Pontus also ran parallel to the coast and were quite fertile, supporting cattle herds, millet, and fruit trees, including cherry (named for the city of Cerasus), apple and pear. The coastal region was dominated by Greek cities such as Amastris and Sinope, which became the Pontic capital after its capture. The coast was rich in timber, fishing, and olives. Pontus was also rich in iron and silver, which were mined near the coast south of Pharnacia; steel from the Chalybian mountains became quite famous in Greece. There were also copper, lead, zinc and arsenic. The Pontic interior also had fertile river valleys such as the river Lycus and Iris. The major city of the interior was Amasia, the early Pontic capital, where the Pontic kings had their palace and royal tombs. Besides Amasia and a few other cities, the interior was dominated mainly by small villages. The kingdom of Pontus was divided into districts named Eparchies.[7] The Pontic Alps which divided the kingdom. The division between coast and interior was also cultural. The coast was mainly Greek and focused on sea trade. The interior was occupied by the Anatolian Cappadocians and Paphlagonians ruled by an Iranian aristocracy that went back to the Persian empire. The interior also had powerful temples with large estates. The gods of the Kingdom were mostly syncretic, with features of local gods along with Persian and Greek deities. Major gods included the Persian Ahuramazda, who was termed Zeus Stratios, the Moon god Men Pharnacou and Ma (interpreted as Cybele).[8] Sun gods were particularly popular, with the royal house being identified with the Persian god Ahuramazda of the Achaemenid dynasty; both Apollo and Mithras were worshipped by the Kings. Indeed, the name used by the majority of the Pontic kings was Mithridates, which means "given by Mithras".[9] Pontic culture represented a synthesis between Iranian, Anatolian and Greek elements, with the former two mostly associated with the interior parts, and the latter more so with the coastal region. By the time of Mithridates VI Eupator, Greek was the official language of the Kingdom though Anatolian languages continued to be spoken in the interior.[10][4] Mithridatic Dynasty of CiusEdit The region of Pontus was originally part of the Persian satrapy of Cappadocia (Katpatuka). The Persian dynasty which was to found this kingdom had, during the 4th century BCE, ruled the Greek city of Cius (or Kios) in Mysia, with its first known member being Mithridates of Cius. His son Ariobarzanes II became satrap of Phrygia. He became a strong ally of Athens and revolted against Artaxerxes, but was betrayed by his son Mithridates II of Cius.[11] Mithridates II remained as ruler after Alexander's conquests and was a vassal to Antigonus I Monophthalmus, who briefly ruled Asia Minor after the Partition of Triparadisus. Mithridates was killed by Antigonus in 302 BCE under suspicion that he was working with his enemy Cassander. Antigonus planned to kill Mithridates' son, also called Mithridates (later named Ktistes, 'founder') but Demetrius I warned him and he escaped to the east with six horsemen.[12] Mithridates first went to the city of Cimiata in Paphlagonia and later to Amasia in Cappadocia. He ruled from 302 to 266 BCE, fought against Seleucus I and, in 281 (or 280) BCE, declared himself king (basileus) of a state in northern Cappadocia and eastern Paphlagonia. He further expanded his kingdom to the river Sangrius in the west. His son Ariobarzanes captured Amastris in 279, its first important Black sea port. Mithridates also allied with the newly arrived Galatians and defeated a force sent against him by Ptolemy I. Ptolemy had been expanding his territory in Asia Minor since the beginning of the First Syrian war against Antiochus in the mid-270s and was allied with Mithridates' enemy, Heraclea Pontica.[13] Kingdom of PontusEdit We know little of Ariobarzanes' short reign, except that when he died his son Mithridates II (c. 250—189) became king and was attacked by the Galatians. Mithridates II received aid from Heraclea Pontica, who was also at war with the Galatians at this time. Mithridates went on to support Antiochus Hierax against his brother Seleucus II Callinicus. Seleucus was defeated in Anatolia by Hierax, Mithridates, and the Galatians. Mithridates also attacked Sinope in 220 but failed to take the city. He married Seleucus II's sister and gave his daughter in marriage to Antiochus III, to obtain recognition for his new kingdom and create strong ties with the Seleucid Empire. The sources are silent on Pontus for the years following the death of Mithridates II, when his son Mithridates III ruled (c. 220–198/88).[14] Bronze shield in the name of King Pharnakes: ΦΑΡΝΑΚΟΥ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ, Getty Villa (80.AC.60) Pharnaces I of Pontus (189–159 BCE) was much more successful in his expansion of the kingdom at the expense of the Greek coastal cities. He joined in a war with Prusias I of Bithynia against Eumenes of Pergamon in 188 BCE, but the two made peace in 183 after Bithynia suffered a series of reversals. He took Sinope in 182 BCE and although the Rhodians complained to Rome about this, nothing was done. Pharnaces also took the coastal cities of Cotyora, Pharnacia, and Trapezus in the east, effectively gaining control of most of the northern Anatolian coastline. Despite Roman attempts to keep the peace, Pharnaces fought against Eumenes of Pergamon and Ariarathes of Cappadocia. While initially successful, it seems he was overmatched by 179 when he was forced to sign a treaty. He had to give up all lands he had obtained in Galatia, and Paphlagonia and the city of Tium, but he kept Sinope.[15] Seeking to extend his influence to the north, Pharnaces allied with the cities in the Chersonesus and with other Black Sea cities such as Odessus on the Bulgarian coast. Pharnaces' brother, Mithridates IV Philopator Philadelphus adopted a peaceful, pro-Roman policy. He sent aid to the Roman ally Attalus II Philadelphus of Pergamon against Prusias II of Bithynia in 155.[16] His successor, Mithridates V of Pontus Euergetes, remained a friend of Rome and in 149 BCE sent ships and a small force of auxiliaries to aid Rome in the third Punic War. He also sent troops for the war against Eumenes III (Aristonicus), who had usurped the Pergamene throne after the death of Attalus III. After Rome received the Kingdom of Pergamon in the will of Attalus III in the absence of an heir, they turned part of it into the province of Asia, while giving the rest to loyal allied kings. For his loyalty Mithridates was awarded the region of Phrygia Major. The kingdom of Cappadocia received Lycaonia. Because of this it seems reasonable to assume that Pontus had some degree of control over Galatia, since Phrygia does not border Pontus directly. It is possible that Mithridates inherited part of Paphlagonia after the death of its King, Pylaemenes. Mithridates V married his daughter Laodice to the king of Cappadocia, Ariarathes VI of Cappadocia, and he also went on to invade Cappadocia, though the details of this war are unknown. Hellenization continued under Mithridates V. He was the first king to widely recruit Greek mercenaries in the Aegean, he was honored at Delos, and he depicted himself as Apollo on his coins. Mithridates was assassinated at Sinope in 121/0, the details of which are unclear.[17] Because both the sons of Mithridates V, Mithridates VI and Mithridates Chrestus, were still children, Pontus now came under the regency of his wife Laodice. She favored Chrestus, and Mithridates VI escaped the Pontic court. Legend would later say this was the time he traveled through Asia Minor, building his resistance to poisons and learning all of the languages of his subjects. He returned in 113 BCE to depose his mother; she was thrown into prison, and he eventually had his brother killed.[18] Mithridates VI EupatorEdit Main article: Mithridates VI of Pontus Bust of Mithridates VI from the Louvre Mithridates VI Eupator, 'the Good Father', followed a decisive anti-Roman agenda, extolling Greek and Iranian culture against ever-expanding Roman influence. Rome had recently created the province of Asia in Anatolia, and it had also rescinded the region of Phrygia Major from Pontus during the reign of Laodice. Mithridates began his expansion by inheriting Lesser Armenia from King Antipater (precise date unknown, c.115–106) and by conquering the Kingdom of Colchis. Colchis was an important region in Black Sea trade – rich with gold, wax, hemp, and honey. The cities of the Tauric Chersonesus now appealed for his aid against the Scythians in the north. Mithridates sent 6,000 men under General Diophantus. After various campaigns in the north of the Crimea he controlled all of the Chersonesus. Mithridates also developed trade links with cities on the western Black Sea coast.[19] At the time, Rome was fighting the Jugurthine and Cimbric wars. Mithridates and Nicomedes of Bithynia both invaded Paphlagonia and divided it amongst themselves. A Roman embassy was sent, but it accomplished nothing. Mithridates also took a part of Galatia that had previously been part of his father's kingdom and intervened in Cappadocia, where his sister Laodice was queen. In 116 the king of Cappadocia, Ariarathes VI, was murdered by the Cappadocian noble Gordius at the behest of Mithridates, and Laodice ruled as regent over the sons of Ariarathes until 102 BCE. After Nicomedes III of Bithynia married Laodice, he tried to intervene in the region by sending troops; Mithridates swiftly invaded, placing his nephew Ariarathes VII of Cappadocia on the throne of Cappadocia. War soon broke out between the two, and Mithridates invaded with a large Pontic army, but Ariarathes VII was murdered in 101 BCE before any battle was fought. Mithridates then installed his eight-year-old son, Ariarathes IX of Cappadocia as king, with Gordius as regent. In 97 Cappadocia rebelled, but the uprising was swiftly put down by Mithridates. Afterwards, Mithridates and Nicomedes III both sent embassies to Rome. The Roman Senate decreed that Mithridates had to withdraw from Cappadocia and Nicomedes from Paphlagonia. Mithridates obliged, and the Romans installed Ariobarzanes in Cappadocia. In 91/90 BCE, while Rome was busy in the Social War in Italy, Mithridates encouraged his new ally and son-in-law, King Tigranes the Great of Armenia, to invade Cappadocia, which he did, and Ariobarzanes fled to Rome. Mithridates then deposed Nicomedes IV from Bithynia, placing Socrates Chrestus on the throne.[20] The First Mithridatic WarEdit Main article: First Mithridatic War A Roman army under Manius Aquillius arrived in Asia Minor in 90 BCE, which prompted Mithridates and Tigranes to withdraw. Cappadocia and Bithynia were restored to their respective monarchs, but then faced large debts to Rome due to their bribes for the Roman senators, and Nicomedes IV was eventually convinced by Aquillius to attack Pontus in order to repay the debts. He plundered as far as Amastris, and returned with much loot. Mithridates invaded Cappadocia once again, and Rome declared war.[21] In the summer of 89 BCE, Mithridates invaded Bithynia and defeated Nicomedes and Aquillius in battle. He moved swiftly into Roman Asia and resistance crumbled; by 88 he had obtained the surrender of most of the newly created province. He was welcomed in many cities, where the residents chafed under Roman tax farming. In 88 Mithridates also ordered the massacre of at least 80,000 Romans and Italians in what became known as the 'Asiatic Vespers'. Many Greek cities in Asia Minor happily carried out the orders; this ensured that they could no longer return to an alliance with Rome. In the autumn of 88 Mithridates also placed Rhodes under siege, but he failed to take it.[22] In Athens, anti-Roman elements were emboldened by the news and soon formed an alliance with Mithridates. A joint Pontic–Athenian naval expedition took Delos in 88 BCE, and granted the city to Athens. Many Greek city-states now joined Mithridates, including Sparta, the Achaean League, and most of the Boeotian League except Thespiae. Finally, in 87 BCE, Lucius Cornelius Sulla set out from Italy with five legions. He marched through Boeotia, which quickly surrendered, and began laying siege to Athens and the Piraeus (the Athenian port city, no longer connected by the Long Walls). Athens fell in March 86 BCE, and the city was sacked. After stiff resistance, Archelaus, the Pontic general in Piraeus, left by sea, and Sulla utterly destroyed the port city. Meanwhile, Mithridates had sent his son Arcathias with a large army via Thrace into Greece.[23] Lucius Cornelius Sulla Sulla now headed north, seeking the fertile plains of Boeotia to supply his army. At the Battle of Chaeronea, Sulla inflicted severe casualties on Archelaus, who nevertheless retreated and continued to raid Greece with the Pontic fleet. Archelaus regrouped and attacked a second time at the Battle of Orchomenus in 85 BCE but was once again defeated and suffered heavy losses. As a result of the losses and the unrest they stirred in Asia Minor, as well as the presence of the Roman army now campaigning in Bithynia, Mithridates was forced to accept a peace deal. Mithridates and Sulla met in 85 BCE at Dardanus. Sulla decreed that Mithridates had to surrender Roman Asia and return Bithynia and Cappadocia to their former kings. He also had to pay 2,000 talents and provide ships. Mithridates would retain the rest of his holdings and become an ally of Rome.[24] Second and Third Mithridatic warsEdit Main articles: Second Mithridatic War and Third Mithridatic War The treaty agreed with Sulla was not to last. From 83 to 82 BCE Mithridates fought against and defeated Licinius Murena, who had been left by Sulla to organize the province of Asia. The so-called Second Mithridatic war ended without any territorial gains by either side. The Romans now began securing the coastal region of Lycia and Pamphylia from pirates and established control over Pisidia and Lycaonia. When in 74 the consul Lucullus took over Cilicia, Mithridates faced Roman commanders on two fronts. The Cilician pirates had not been completely defeated, and Mithridates signed an alliance with them. He was also allied with the government of Quintus Sertorius in Spain and with his help reorganized some of his troops in the Roman legionary pattern with short stabbing swords. The Third Mithridatic war broke out when Nicomedes IV of Bithynia died without heirs in 75 and left his kingdom to Rome. In 74 BCE Rome mobilized its armies in Asia Minor, probably provoked by some move made by Mithridates, but our sources are not clear on this. In 73 Mithridates invaded Bithynia, and his fleet defeated the Romans off Chalcedon and laid siege to Cyzicus. Lucullus marched from Phrygia with his five legions and forced Mithridates to retreat to Pontus.[25] In 72 BCE Lucullus invaded Pontus through Galatia and marched north following the river Halys to the north coast, he besieged Amisus, which withstood until 70 BCE. In 71 he marched through the Iris and Lycus river valleys and established his base in Cabeira. Mithridates sent his cavalry to cut the Roman supply line to Cappadocia in the south, but they suffered heavy casualties. Mithridates, still unwilling to fight a decisive engagement, now began a retreat to Lesser Armenia, where he expected aid from his ally Tigranes the Great. Because of his now weakened cavalry, the retreat turned into an all-out rout, and most of the Pontic army was destroyed or captured. These events led Machares, the son of Mithridates and ruler of the Crimean Bosporus, to seek an alliance with Rome. Mithridates fled to Armenia.[26] In the summer of 69 Lucullus invaded Armenian territory, marching with 12,000 men through Cappadocia into Sophene. His target was Tigranocerta, the new capital of Tigranes's empire. Tigranes retreated to gather his forces. Lucullus laid siege to the city, and Tigranes returned with his army, including large numbers of heavily armored cavalrymen, termed Cataphracts, vastly outnumbering Lucullus' force. Despite this, Lucullus led his men in a charge against the Armenian horses and won a great victory at the Battle of Tigranocerta. Tigranes fled north while Lucullus destroyed his new capital city and dismantled his holdings in the south by granting independence to Sophene and returning Syria to the Seleucid king Antiochus XIII Asiaticus. In 68 BCE Lucullus invaded northern Armenia, ravaging the country and capturing Nisibis, but Tigranes avoided battle. Meanwhile, Mithridates invaded Pontus, and in 67 he defeated a large Roman force near Zela. Lucullus, now in command of tired and discontented troops, withdrew to Pontus, then to Galatia. He was replaced by two new consuls arriving from Italy with fresh legions, Marcius Rex and Acilius Glabrio. Mithridates now recovered Pontus while Tigranes invaded Cappadocia.[27] In response to increasing pirate activity in the eastern Mediterranean, the senate granted Pompey extensive proconsular Imperium throughout the Mediterranean in 67 BCE. Pompey eliminated the pirates, and in 66 he was assigned command in Asia Minor to deal with Pontus. Pompey organized his forces, close to 45,000 legionaries, including Lucullus' troops, and signed an alliance with the Parthians, who attacked and kept Tigranes busy in the east. Mithridates massed his army, some 30,000 men and 2,000–3,000 cavalry, in the heights of Dasteira in lesser Armenia. Pompey fought to encircle him with earthworks for six weeks, but Mithridates eventually retreated north. Pompey pursued and managed to catch his forces by surprise in the night, and the Pontic army suffered heavy casualties. After the battle, Pompey founded the city of Nicopolis. Mithridates fled to Colchis, and later to his son Machares in the Crimea in 65 BCE. Pompey now headed east into Armenia, where Tigranes submitted to him, placing his royal diadem at his feet. Pompey took most of Tigranes' empire in the east but allowed him to remain as king of Armenia. Meanwhile, Mithridates was organizing a defense of the Crimea when his son Pharnaces led the army in revolt; Mithridates was forced to commit suicide or was assassinated.[28] Roman province and client kingdomsEdit Anatolia in the early 1st century AD with Pontus as a Roman client state The Roman client kingdom of Pontus, c. 50 CE Main article: Bithynia et Pontus Most of the western half of Pontus and the Greek cities of the coast, including Sinope, were annexed by Rome directly as part of the Roman province of Bithynia et Pontus. The interior and eastern coast remained an independent client kingdom. The Bosporan Kingdom also remained independent under Pharnaces II of Pontus as an ally and friend of Rome. Colchis was also made into a client kingdom. Pharnaces II later made an attempt at reconquering Pontus. During the civil war of Caesar and Pompey, he invaded Asia Minor (48 BCE), taking Colchis, lesser Armenia, Pontus, and Cappadocia and defeating a Roman army at Nicopolis. Caesar responded swiftly and defeated him at Zela, where he uttered the famous phrase 'Veni, vidi, vici'.[29] Pontic kings continued to rule the client Kingdom of Pontus, Colchis, and Cilicia until Polemon II was forced to abdicate the Pontic throne by Nero in 62 CE. CoinageEdit Main article: Coinage of the Kingdom of Pontus Although the Pontic kings claimed descent from the Persian royal house, they generally acted as Hellenistic kings and portrayed themselves as such in their coins, mimicking Alexander's royal stater.[10][4] MilitaryEdit The army of the Pontic Kingdom had a varied ethnic composition, as it recruited its soldiers from all over the kingdom. The standing army included Armenians, Bithynians, Cappadocians, Galatians, Heniochoi, Iazyges, Koralloi, Leucosyrians, Phrygians, Sarmatians, Scythians, Tauri, Thracians and Vasternoi, as well as soldiers from other areas around the Black Sea. The Greeks who served in the military were not part of the standing army, but rather fought as citizens of their respective cities.[30] Like many Hellenistic armies, the army of Pontus adopted the Macedonian phalanx; it fielded a corps of Chalkaspides ('bronze-shields'), for example against Sulla at the Battle of Chaeronea,[31] while at the same battle 15,000 phalangites where recruited from freed slaves.[32] Pontus also fielded various cavalry units, including cataphracts.[33] In addition to normal cavalry Pontus also fielded scythed chariots.[34] Under Mithridates VI Pontus also fielded a corps of 120,000 troops armed "in the Roman fashion" and "drilled in the Roman phalanx formation".[35] These units imitated Roman legions, although it is disputed to what degree they achieved this. The navy was organized in a similar fashion as the army. While the kingdom itself provided the main contingent of ships, a small portion represented the Greek cities. The crewmen either came from the various tribes of the kingdom, or were of Greek origin.[30] Bosporan Kingdom Ethnarchy of Comana ^ The Foreign Policy of Mithridates VI Eupator, King of Pontus, by B. C. McGing, p. 11 ^ Children of Achilles: The Greeks in Asia Minor Since the Days of Troy, by John Freely, p. 69–70 ^ Strabo of Amasia: A Greek Man of Letters in Augustan Rome, by Daniela Dueck, p. 3. ^ a b c d http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/pontus ^ Crook, Lintott & Rawson "The Cambridge Ancient History. Volume IX. The Last Age of the Roman Republic, 146–43 B.C.", p. 133–136. ^ Cambridge Ancient v. 9, p. 137. ^ David Ulansey, "The Origins of the Mithraic Mysteries", p. 89. ^ a b B. C. McGing "The foreign policy of Mithridates VI Eupator, King of Pontus", p. 10–11. ^ Xenophon "Cyropaedia", VIII 8.4 ^ Appian "the Mithridatic wars", II ^ McGing, 16–17. ^ Polybius "Histories", XXIV. 1, 5, 8, 9 XXV. 2 ^ Polybius, XXXIII.12 ^ Cambridge Ancient v. 9, p. 137–138. ^ Cambridge Ancient v. 9, 141–144. ^ Appian, II ^ Cambridge Ancient v. 9, 146–49. ^ John Hazel "Who's who in the Greek world", p. 179. ^ a b Stefanidou Vera, "Kingdom of Pontus", 2008, Encyclopaedia of the Hellenic World, Asia Minor ^ Plutarch, Life of Sulla, 16.7 ^ The Cambridge Companion to the Hellenistic World by Glenn R. Bugh, p. 272 ^ Plutarch, Life of Lucullus. 7.4 Polybius, the histories. Appian, the foreign wars. Memnon of Heraclea, history of Heraclea. Strabo, Geographica. Plutarch, Parallel lives. 'Demetrius'. Hazel, John; Who's Who in the Greek World, Routledge (2002). Crook, Lintott & Rawson. THE CAMBRIDGE ANCIENT HISTORY VOLUME IX. The Last Age of the Roman Republic, 146–43 B.C. second edition. Cambridge University Press, 2008. B. C. McGing. The foreign policy of Mithridates VI Eupator, King of Pontus. 1986. Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kingdom_of_Pontus&oldid=902690718"	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line684
__label__wiki	0.654118	0.654118	Find sources: "Nuremberg Airport" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (April 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) Nuremberg Airport (IATA: NUE, ICAO: EDDN), German: Albrecht Dürer Flughafen Nürnberg, is the international airport of the Franconian metropolitan area of Nuremberg and the second-busiest airport in Bavaria after Munich Airport. With about 4.2 million[2] passengers handled in 2017, it is Germany's 10th biggest airport. It is located approximately 5 km north of Nuremberg's city centre and offers flights within Germany as well as to European metropolitan and leisure destinations, especially along the Mediterranean Sea, on the Canary Islands and in Egypt.[5] "Albrecht Dürer" Flughafen Nürnberg IATA: NUE ICAO: EDDN Airport type Flughafen Nürnberg GmbH Focus city for Eurowings[1] Elevation AMSL 49°29′55″N 011°04′41″E / 49.49861°N 11.07806°E / 49.49861; 11.07806 (Nuremberg Airport)Coordinates: 49°29′55″N 011°04′41″E / 49.49861°N 11.07806°E / 49.49861; 11.07806 (Nuremberg Airport) airport-nuernberg.de Location of airport in Bavaria 10/28 2,700 8,858 Concrete/Asphalt 4,466,864 6.6%[2] Aircraft movements 8,336 tonnes[3] Source: List of the busiest airports in Europe, German AIP at EUROCONTROL[4] Early yearsEdit The first Lufthansa Boeing 747-100 visits Nuremberg in 1970 Aerial shot from the mid-1980s Nuremberg Airport was the first airport constructed in Germany after World War II. It was inaugurated on 6 April 1955. In 1960, the number of passengers at Nuremberg Airport reached 100,000 for the first time. In 1961 the runway was extended from 1,900 to 2,300 metres (7,500 ft), and in 1968 the runway was extended to its present length of 2,700 metres (8,900 ft), allowing jumbo jets to use it. On 12 July 1970, a Boeing 747 landed at the airport for the first time and attracted 20,000 visitors. The apron was enlarged in 1977 and in 1981 a new passenger terminal with an observation deck and a restaurant replaced the previous building. In December 1986, the one million passenger mark was passed for the first time. Development from the 1990sEdit In 1997/98, Air Berlin established a winter hub at the airport, making it the airline's second most important tourist interchange airport, after Palma de Mallorca. The new control tower commenced operations in 1999 and the metro station was opened. In 2002, departure hall 2 was extended and a year later the cargo centre CCN2 with 6,500 m2 (70,000 sq ft) of storage space and 4,600 m2 (50,000 sq ft) of office space was inaugurated after one and a half years' construction.[citation needed] In 2005 Nuremberg Airport celebrated its 50th anniversary with 45,000 visitors. The new transfer control terminal with a floor space of 8,500 m2 (91,000 sq ft) and a new main gate (Tor 1) were completed a year later in 2006. In addition, a fully automatic luggage sorting system was put into operation.[citation needed] In April 2013 Air Berlin permanently shut down its winter seasonal hub in Nuremberg which had been maintained for several years.[6] In December 2014 the airport was named after Albrecht Dürer, who was born in Nuremberg.[7] In October 2016, Ryanair announced it would open a base at Nuremberg Airport consisting of two aircraft while four additional routes were inaugurated.[8] In the same month, Air Berlin announced it would close its maintenance facilities at the airport due to cost cutting and restructuring measures.[9] Shortly after, Germania announced it would open a new base at Nuremberg Airport consisting of one aircraft which served several new leisure routes.[10] 2017 saw the bankruptcy of Air Berlin ending a trend of Air Berlin withdrawing service from the airport with the grounding of all Air Berlin flights. In January 2018, Eurowings announced it would establish a base at the airport consisting of one aircraft and four new routes as well as increased frequencies.[1] After the demise of Germania in early 2019, TUI fly Deutschland announced it would base aircraft in Nuremberg to take over several leisure destinations.[11] FacilitiesEdit RunwayEdit The runway 10/28 is 2,700 by 45 m (8,858 by 148 ft).[4] Takeoff and landing of all current aircraft, including widebody aircraft (e.g. Boeing 747) or cargo planes (e.g. Antonov An-124 Ruslan) are possible. However, Nuremberg Airport is not licensed for the Airbus A380. Starting in July 2009, the runway was refurbished gradually in several phases. The surfaces of the runway and taxiways were renovated using the latest technology. A new flare-path, drainage channels and a new electric ring surrounding the entire runway were added. In 2010, the runway was shortened to 2,300 m (7,500 ft) temporarily to allow construction to continue. In 2011, work on the centerpiece of the runway began. The work was completed in 2015. The apron is 246,845 m2 (2,657,020 sq ft) in space and provides parking positions for 37 planes. TerminalEdit Apron overview Check-in area Departure area The passenger terminal consists of two departure halls and one arrival hall which are all linked landside and airside. The check-in area features 40 desks.[12] The extension of departure hall 2 was inaugurated on 30 April 1992 and was originally dimensioned for 2.8 million passengers per year. Now there is room for 5 million passengers per year. Daylight dominates the transparent construction made of steel and glass drafted by Nuremberg architects Grabow and Hoffmann. The construction phase took three years and cost about 100 million Deutsche Mark. The extension of the apron was included in the building costs as well as three modern air bridges. Today, there are four finger docks available. On 25 January 2007 the newest addition, the Transfer-Control-Terminal (TCT) was opened. It not only serves as a capacity extension but it also allows for new legislation concerning security measures: since EU Regulation 2320/2002 airports have to make sure that non-EU passengers are controlled before continuing their trip to countries of the European Union and don't get mixed up with passengers who have already been checked. Cargo centerEdit In 1987, Cargo Center Nuremberg (CCN) was put into operation.[13] When the Cold War ended and after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Nuremberg won back its central location in Europe. As a consequence Nuremberg Airport and air freight quickly gained in importance in the 1990s. Nuremberg is also the economic and service metropolis of Franconia with approximately 150,000 companies and enterprises taking advantage of the locality of Nuremberg as a traffic junction of highways and railroads. The region's export share of 42% is remarkably high and above German average. In addition, several headquarters of internationally operating companies are located in the region, for example Siemens, Adidas, Bosch, Puma and Faber-Castell. Due to the positive trend, Cargo Center II (CCN II) was built in 2003.[13] Today, almost 13,317 m2 (143,340 sq ft) storage space and 7,000 m2 (75,000 sq ft) of office space is available at Nuremberg Airport. 107,123 tons of cargo were handled in 2010. Control towerEdit Deutsche Flugsicherung (DFS), which is in charge of air traffic control in Germany, moved into the 48-metre-high (157 ft) tower in November 1998. The control tower at Nuremberg Airport was designed by architect Günther Behnisch and has become the architectural landmark of the airport with its dynamic silhouette. It was built because the original control tower was only 18 meters high. The project cost approximately 30 million Deutsche Mark. ParkingEdit There are about 8,000 car parking spaces at Nuremberg Airport. Apart from three car parks, there are various parking lots in close vicinity to the terminals. The newest facility is car park P3 with seven levels and 2,200 parking spaces. There are different tariffs to choose from, for example "BusinessParken" (business parking) or "UrlauberParken" (holiday parking).[14] Nuremberg Airport also offers valet parking with additional services, like refueling, car wash, maintenance or safekeeping of valuables. All parking facilities are no more 5 minutes' walking distance from the terminals. There are short-term parking spots directly on the airport forecourt in front of the terminals. Air rescueEdit Nuremberg Airport is also a center for Deutsche Rettungsflugwacht e.V (DRF) and HDM Flugservice air rescue services which operate a rescue helicopter and an intensive care helicopter, respectively. Furthermore, several ADAC air ambulances and Flight Ambulance International (FAI)[15] are based in Nuremberg. Airlines and destinationsEdit The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Nuremberg Airport:[16] Aegean Airlines Seasonal: Thessaloniki Air France Lyon, Paris–Charles de Gaulle Air Serbia Niš[17][18] Astra Airlines Seasonal charter: Thessaloniki British Airways Seasonal: London-Gatwick Bulgarian Air Charter Seasonal charter: Burgas, Varna Corendon Airlines Seasonal: Antalya Corendon Airlines Europe[19] Seasonal: Heraklion, Rhodes Eurowings[20] Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Palma de Mallorca, Vienna Seasonal: Heraklion, Olbia, Split KLM Amsterdam LOT Polish Airlines Warsaw–Chopin Lufthansa Frankfurt, Munich Onur Air Seasonal: Antalya Pegasus Airlines Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen Seasonal: Antalya, Bodrum (begins 29 July 2019),[21] Izmir Ryanair[22] Athens (begins 27 October 2019),[23] Bari, Bergamo, Budapest, Copenhagen (begins 30 October 2019),[23] Kiev–Boryspil (begins 21 October 2019),[23] Kraków, London–Stansted, Madrid (ends 5 November 2019), Malta, Marrakesh, Naples, Palermo, Pisa, Porto, Rome–Ciampino, Tel Aviv (begins 28 October 2019),[23] Thessaloniki, Vilnius Seasonal: Alicante, Málaga, Palma de Mallorca, Zadar SunExpress Antalya Seasonal: Izmir SunExpress Deutschland Hurghada Seasonal: Heraklion Swiss International Air Lines Zürich Tailwind Airlines Seasonal charter: Antalya TUI fly Deutschland Seasonal: Corfu, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Heraklion, Hurghada, Kos, Marsa Alam, Rhodes, Tenerife–South Turkish Airlines Istanbul Vueling Barcelona Wizz Air Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Kutaisi (begins 3 July 2020),[24] Kyiv–Zhuliany, Sibiu, Skopje, Timișoara (begins 6 August 2019)[25] Seasonal: Sofia StatisticsEdit [26][27][28] Aircraft movements 66,074 64.111 59,602 60,160 61.257 62,644 64,391 67,720 70,778 71,217 76,768 81,082 78,043 Scheduled Passengers N/A 3,020,590 2,323,125 2,149,546 2,117,890 2,145,625 2,092,020 2,209,975 2,154,170 2,054,635 2,266,716 2,241,115 1,923,381 Charter Passengers N/A 1,110,583 1,104,595 1,176,429 1,092,108 1,126,438 1,451,400 1,723,482 1,844,593 1,850,654 1,942,701 2,003,000 1,960,005 Air freight and mail (in t) 8,336 8,120 5,940 41,350 103,076 90,973 99,355 107,123 107,100 80,159 104,606 106,982 98,264 Employees N/A 4,133 4,022 3,300 3,300 3,300 3,472 4,000 4,117 4,000 4,083 4,239 4,091 Ground transportationEdit MetroEdit The airport's U-Bahn station The U-Bahn (Metro) line U2 serves the airport at the Flughafen station. Trains connect the airport with the centre of the city every 10 minutes. The ride to the Hauptbahnhof (Central Railway Station) and the nearby Altstadt (historic old town) only takes 13 minutes. Nuremberg Airport is the only airport in Germany to be served by U-Bahn rather than S-Bahn Tramway or Deutsche Bahn. CarEdit Nuremberg Airport is located 5 km (3.1 mi) north[4] of the city centre. It is accessible via nearby Motorway A 3, which connects to Motorway A 9 as well as Motorways A 73 and A 6. BusEdit Bus number 30 connects the airport with bus and tram stop "am Wegfeld" before continuing to Erlangen. Since December 2015 new line 33 was installed, allowing passengers from Nuremberg's west-neighbouring city Fürth getting to the airport quicker without taking a detour via Nuremberg Central Station. Since the extension of Tram Line 4 from Thon to am Wegfeld, Bus line 30 which formerly terminated in Thon has been rerouted to the airport, thus offering a direct connection to downtown Erlangen from the airport for the first time. Because of the airport's close-in location and its direct connections to local streets, it is also possible to walk or ride a bicycle from nearby neighborhoods right up to the terminal. EnvironmentEdit In addition to developing strategies to reduce noise pollution the department also implements regular measurements of air pollutants and soil analyses. In 2003, a biomonitoring campaign with honey bees was launched at the airport.[30] The water collected on the 70 ha of sealed or covered areas is being filtered and analyzed before it gets fed into receiving water courses, to prevent pollution due to oils or fuels. If the analyzed TOC value is above the threshold level, the water is discharged into the sewerage. Over the years, surface and aircraft de-icing fluids have been replaced by substances with higher biodegradability.[citation needed] In 2019 the airport replaced its baggage tug fleets with all electric vehicles [31][32][33] The airport uses solar panels on some rooftops and woodchips provided by local agricultural producers to provide 100% renewable electricity [34][35] Expansion plansEdit Airport Business CenterEdit In 2009, it was decided that a new hotel with conference rooms and offices will be built at the airport roundabout. ConTech GmbH and the architect's office Christ, both from Nuremberg, will realize the project with investor ZBI.[36] In 2011 the plans were put on hold until the motorway connection is completed. Motorway accessEdit Direct access to motorway A3 has been planned for several years. A direct route to the airport with a tunnel under the runway to reduce traffic through city district Ziegelstein is favored and spatial planning has already been completed. However, further planning has been delayed as environmental organization Bund Naturschutz and alliance Nein zur Flughafen-Nordanbindung! are vehemently against the plans. Accidents and incidentsEdit On 8 January 2010, an Air Berlin Boeing 737-800 skidded off the runway shortly before takeoff on a flight to Düsseldorf, causing the airport to close for a few hours.[37][38] List of airports in Germany Transport in Germany CitationsEdit ^ a b airliners.de - Eurowings opens base in Nuremberg Archived 28 January 2018 at the Wayback Machine (German) 21 January 2018 ^ a b "A record year - more than 4 million local passengers for the first time in 2017". airport-nuernberg.de/en. Flughafen Nürnberg GmbH. 8 January 2018. Archived from the original on 18 January 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2018. Traffic increased by over 20 percent, resulting in a total of 4,186,962 passengers. ^ a b "ADV Monthly Traffic Report 12/2017" (PDF). adv.aero. Arbeitsgemeinschaft Deutscher Verkehrsflughäfen e.V. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 April 2018. Retrieved 4 April 2018. ^ a b c "EAD Basic - Error Page". www.ead.eurocontrol.int. Archived from the original on 25 February 2009. Retrieved 25 April 2018. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2013. Retrieved 31 March 2013. CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link) airport-nuremberg.de – Summer 2013 schedule ^ "Air Berlin streicht Touristik-Drehkreuz in Nürnberg". airliners.de. Archived from the original on 27 June 2013. Retrieved 25 April 2018. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 6 February 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2015. CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link) ^ "Ryanair bringt sich als Air-Berlin-Alternative ins Gespräch". aero.de. 5 October 2016. Archived from the original on 6 February 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2018. ^ rbb-online.de - "Air Berlin wants to cancel nearly 500 staff nationwide" (German) 14 October 2016 ^ "Germania eröffnet Basis am Airport Nürnberg". airliners.de. Archived from the original on 6 February 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2018. ^ aerotelegraph.com - "Sundair and TUIfly help at Dresden and Nuremberg" 7 Februar 2019 ^ "Airport Maps". airport-nuernberg.de. Archived from the original on 26 June 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2018. ^ a b "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 30 August 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2017. CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link) Nuremberg Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Retrieved 2017-08-30 ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 25 January 2010. Retrieved 18 February 2011. CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link) ^ "FAI Flight Ambulance - 24/7 Patient Transport by Ambulance Jet". www.fai.ag. Archived from the original on 31 May 2011. Retrieved 25 April 2018. ^ "Flight Schedule". www.airport-nuernberg.de. Retrieved 26 December 2018. ^ Air Serbia to launch twelve routes from Niš ^ Zorana Mihajlovic signs agreement on 12 airlines of public interest from Nis 9 May 2019. ^ Liu, Jim. "Corendon Airlines Europe S19 new routes/sectors". Routesonline. Retrieved 17 April 2019. ^ eurowings.com Route Network retrieved 20 June 2019 ^ Liu, Jim. "Pegasus schedules new Bodrum – Germany routes in 3Q19". Routesonline. Retrieved 11 July 2019. ^ ryanair.com - Flights from Nuremberg retrieved 20 June 2019 ^ a b c d "Winter timetable 2019/2020: Ryanair with new routes from Tegel and Nuremberg". flug.check24.de. 29 March 2019. ^ Liu, Jim (17 July 2019). "Wizz Air boosts Kutaisi network from Sep 2019". Routesonline. Retrieved 17 July 2019. ^ wizzair.com/en-gb/information-and-services/about-us/news/2019/01/17/wizz-air-expands-in-timisoara#/ ^ "annual report 2010" (PDF) (in German). Flughafen Nürnberg GmbH. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 September 2017. Retrieved 11 September 2017. ^ "annual report 2016" (PDF) (in German). Flughafen Nürnberg GmbH. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 September 2017. Retrieved 11 September 2017. ^ "annual report 2017" (PDF) (in German). Flughafen Nürnberg GmbH. Retrieved 21 July 2018. ^ "Monitoring of airborne pollutants". www.airport-nuernberg.de. Retrieved 22 February 2011. [permanent dead link] ^ http://www.nordbayern.de/wirtschaft/beim-gepack-flughafen-nurnberg-setzt-auf-e-mobilitat-1.8701619 ^ https://www.aerobuzz.de/luftverkehr-news/airport-nuernberg-setzt-auf-elektromobilitaet/ ^ https://vision-mobility.de/news/airport-nuernberg-neue-elektro-schlepperflotte-3797.html ^ https://www.airport-nuernberg.de/de/2018/airport-setzt-auf-nachhaltigkeit-standort-wird-mit-100-prozent-okostrom-versorgt-2ca632d7e2e6c4dc ^ http://www.airliners.de/flughafen-nuernberg-oekostrom/44097 ^ Press release from 28 May 2009 http://www.airport-nuernberg.de/english/company/press/press2009/art3017,11192[permanent dead link] ^ "Flughafen Nürnberg nach Unfall wieder in Betrieb". Süddeutsche Zeitung. Archived from the original on 12 January 2010. Retrieved 9 January 2010. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 26 March 2012. Retrieved 11 January 2010. CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link) Bernd Windsheimer: 50 Jahre Airport Nürnberg 1955–2005. Geschichte der Luftfahrt in Nürnberg, Nürnberg 2005 Media related to Nuremberg Airport at Wikimedia Commons Current weather for EDDN at NOAA/NWS Accident history for NUE at Aviation Safety Network Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nuremberg_Airport&oldid=906640956"	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line685
__label__wiki	0.923606	0.923606	Edward the Elder Portrait miniature from a 13th-century genealogical scroll depicting Edward King of the Anglo-Saxons 26 October 899 – 17 July 924 8 June 900 Kingston upon Thames Æthelstan c. 874 Farndon, Cheshire, England New Minster, Winchester, later translated to Hyde Abbey Ecgwynn Ælfflæd Eadgifu Ælfweard Eadgyth Eadhild Edmund I Eadred Eadburh Ealhswith Edward the Elder (c. 874 – 17 July 924) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 899 until his death. He was the elder son of Alfred the Great and his wife Ealhswith. When Edward succeeded to the throne, he had to defeat a challenge from his cousin Æthelwold, who had a strong claim to the throne as the son of Alfred's elder brother and predecessor, Æthelred. Alfred had succeeded Æthelred as king of Wessex in 871, and almost faced defeat against the Danish Vikings until his decisive victory at the Battle of Edington in 878. After the battle, the Vikings still ruled Northumbria, East Anglia and eastern Mercia, leaving only Wessex and western Mercia under Anglo-Saxon control. In the early 880s Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians, the ruler of western Mercia, accepted Alfred's lordship and married his daughter Æthelflæd, and around 886 Alfred adopted the new title King of the Anglo-Saxons as the ruler of all Anglo-Saxons not subject to Danish rule. In 910 a Mercian and West Saxon army inflicted a decisive defeat on an invading Northumbrian army, ending the threat from the northern Vikings. In the 910s, Edward conquered Viking-ruled southern England in partnership with his sister Æthelflæd, who had succeeded as Lady of the Mercians following the death of her husband in 911. Historians dispute how far Mercia was dominated by Wessex during this period, and after Æthelflæd's death in June 918, her daughter Ælfwynn, briefly became second Lady of the Mercians, but in December Edward took her into Wessex and imposed direct rule on Mercia. By the end of the 910s he ruled Wessex, Mercia and East Anglia, and only Northumbria remained under Viking rule. In 924 he faced a Mercian and Welsh revolt at Chester, and after putting it down he died at Farndon in Cheshire on 17 July 924. He was succeeded by his eldest son Æthelstan. Edward was admired by medieval chroniclers, and in the view of William of Malmesbury, he was "much inferior to his father in the cultivation of letters" but "incomparably more glorious in the power of his rule". He was largely ignored by modern historians until the 1990s, and Nick Higham described him as "perhaps the most neglected of English kings", partly because few primary sources for his reign survive. His reputation rose in the late twentieth century and he is now seen as destroying the power of the Vikings in southern England while laying the foundations for a south-centred united English kingdom. 2 Childhood 3 Ætheling 4 Æthelwold's revolt 5 King of the Anglo-Saxons 6 Conquest of the southern Danelaw 7 Coinage 8 Church 9 Learning and culture 10 Law and administration 11 Later life 13 Marriages and children 14 Genealogy Mercia was the dominant kingdom in southern England in the eighth century and maintained its position until it suffered a decisive defeat by Wessex at the Battle of Ellandun in 825. Thereafter the two kingdoms became allies, which was to be an important factor in English resistance to the Vikings.[1] In 865 the Danish Viking Great Heathen Army landed in East Anglia and used this as a starting point for an invasion. The East Anglians were forced to pay off the Vikings, who invaded Northumbria the following year. They appointed a puppet king in 867, and then moved on Mercia, where they spent the winter of 867–868. King Burgred of Mercia was joined by King Æthelred of Wessex and his brother, the future King Alfred, for a combined attack on the Vikings, who refused an engagement; in the end the Mercians bought peace with them. The following year, the Danes conquered East Anglia, and in 874 they expelled King Burgred and, with their support, Ceolwulf became the last King of Mercia. In 877 the Vikings partitioned Mercia, taking the eastern regions for themselves and allowing Ceolwulf to keep the western ones. In early 878 they invaded Wessex, and many West Saxons submitted to them. Alfred, who was now king, was reduced to a remote base in the Isle of Athelney in Somerset, but the situation was transformed when he won a decisive victory at the Battle of Edington. He was thus able to prevent the Vikings from taking Wessex and western Mercia, although they still occupied Northumbria, East Anglia and eastern Mercia.[2] Childhood[edit] A page from the will of Alfred the Great, which left the bulk of his estate to Edward Edward's parents, Alfred and Ealhswith, married in 868. Her father was Æthelred Mucel, Ealdorman of the Gaini, and her mother, Eadburh, was a member of the Mercian royal family. Alfred and Ealhswith had five children who survived childhood. The oldest was Æthelflæd, who married Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians, and ruled as Lady of the Mercians after his death. Edward was next, and the second daughter, Æthelgifu, became abbess of Shaftesbury. The third daughter, Ælfthryth, married Baldwin, Count of Flanders, and the younger son, Æthelweard, was given a scholarly education, including learning Latin. This would usually suggest that he was intended for the church, but it is unlikely in Æthelweard's case as he later had sons. There were also an unknown number of children who died young. Neither part of Edward's name, which means 'protector of wealth', had been used previously by the West Saxon royal house, and Barbara Yorke suggests that he may have been named after his maternal grandmother Eadburh, reflecting the West Saxon policy of strengthening links with Mercia.[3] Historians estimate that Edward was probably born in the mid-870s. His eldest sister, Æthelflæd, was probably born about a year after her parents' marriage, and Edward was brought up with his youngest sister, Ælfthryth; Yorke argues that he was therefore probably nearer in age to Ælfthryth than Æthelflæd. Edward led troops in battle in 893, and must have been of marriageable age in that year as his oldest son Æthelstan was born about 894.[4] According to Asser in his Life of King Alfred, Edward and Ælfthryth were educated at court by male and female tutors, and read ecclesiastical and secular works in English, such as the Psalms and Old English poems. They were taught the courtly qualities of gentleness and humility, and Asser wrote that they were obedient to their father and friendly to visitors. This is the only known case of an Anglo-Saxon prince and princess receiving the same upbringing.[5] Ætheling[edit] Map of Britain in 886 As a son of a king, Edward was an ætheling, a prince of the royal house who was eligible for kingship. Even though he had the advantage of being the eldest son of the reigning king, his accession was not assured as he had cousins who had a strong claim to the throne. Æthelhelm and Æthelwold were sons of Æthelred, Alfred's older brother and predecessor as king, but they had been passed over because they were infants when their father died. Asser gives more information about Edward's childhood and youth than is known about other Anglo-Saxon princes, providing details about the training of a prince in a period of Carolingian influence, and Yorke suggest that we may know so much due to Alfred's efforts to portray his son as the most throneworthy ætheling.[6] Æthelhelm is only recorded in Alfred's will of the mid-880s, and probably died at some time in the next decade, but Æthelwold is listed above Edward in the only charter where he appears, probably indicating a higher status. Æthelwold may also have had an advantage because his mother Wulfthryth witnessed a charter as queen, whereas Edward's mother Ealhswith never had a higher status than king's wife.[7] However, Alfred was in a position to give his own son considerable advantages. In his will, he only left a handful of estates to his brother's sons, and the bulk of his property to Edward, including all his booklands (land vested in a charter which could be alienated by the holder, as opposed to folkland, which had to pass to heirs of the body) in Kent.[8] Alfred also advanced men who could be depended on to support his plans for his succession, such as his brother-in-law, a Mercian ealdorman called Æthelwulf, and his son-in-law Æthelred. Edward witnessed several of his father's charters, and often accompanied him on royal peregrinations.[9] In a Kentish charter of 898 Edward witnessed as rex Saxonum, suggesting that Alfred may have followed the strategy adopted by his grandfather Egbert of strengthening his son's claim to succeed to the West Saxon throne by making him sub-king of Kent.[10] Once Edward grew up, Alfred was able to give him military commands and experience in royal administration.[11] The English defeated renewed Viking attacks in 893 to 896, and in Richard Abels' view, the glory belonged to Æthelred and Edward rather than Alfred himself. In 893 Edward defeated the Vikings in the Battle of Farnham, although he was unable to follow up his victory as his troops' period of service had expired and he had to release them. The situation was saved by the arrival of troops from London led by Æthelred.[12] Yorke argues that although Alfred packed the witan with members whose interests lay in the continuation of Alfred's line, that may not have been sufficient to ensure Edward's accession if he had not displayed his fitness for kingship.[13] In about 893, Edward probably married Ecgwynn, who bore him two children, the future King Æthelstan and a daughter who married Sitric Cáech, a Viking King of York. The twelfth-century chronicler William of Malmesbury described Ecgwynn as an illustris femina (noble lady), and stated that Edward chose Æthelstan as his heir as king. She may have been related to St Dunstan, the aristocratic tenth-century Archbishop of Canterbury. But William also stated that Æthelstan's accession in 924 was opposed by a nobleman who claimed that his mother was a concubine of low birth.[14] The suggestion that Ecgwynn was Edward's mistress is accepted by some historians such as Simon Keynes and Richard Abels,[15] but Yorke and Æthelstan's biographer, Sarah Foot, disagree, arguing that the allegations should be seen in the context of the disputed succession in 924, and were not an issue in the 890s.[16] Ecgwynn probably died by 899, as around the time of Alfred's death Edward married Ælfflæd, the daughter of Ealdorman Æthelhelm, probably of Wiltshire.[17] Janet Nelson suggests that there was conflict between Alfred and Edward in the 890s. She points out that the contemporary Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, produced under court auspices in the 890s, does not mention Edward's military successes. These are only known from the late tenth century chronicle of Æthelweard, such as his account of the Battle of Farnham, in which in Nelson's view "Edward's military prowess, and popularity with a following of young warriors, are highlighted". Towards the end of his life Alfred invested his young grandson Æthelstan in a ceremony which historians see as designation as eventual successor to the kingship. Nelson argues that while this may have been proposed by Edward to support the accession of his own son, on the other hand it may have been intended by Alfred as part of a scheme to divide the kingdom between his son and grandson. Æthelstan was sent to be brought up in Mercia by Æthelflæd and Æthelred, but it is not known whether this was Alfred's idea or Edward's. Alfred's wife Ealhswith was ignored in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in her husband's lifetime, but emerged from obscurity when her son acceded. This may be because she supported her son against her husband.[18] Æthelwold's revolt[edit] Further information: Æthelwold's Revolt Coin of Edward the Elder Alfred died on 26 October 899 and Edward succeeded to the throne, but Æthelwold disputed the succession.[19] He seized the royal estates of Wimborne, symbolically important as the place where his father was buried, and Christchurch, both in Dorset. Edward marched with his army to the nearby Iron Age hillfort at Badbury Rings. Æthelwold declared that he would live or die at Wimborne, but then left in the night and rode to Northumbria, where the Danes accepted him as king.[20] Edward was crowned on 8 June 900 at Kingston upon Thames.[a] In 901, Æthelwold came with a fleet to Essex, and the following year he persuaded the East Anglian Danes to invade English Mercia and northern Wessex, where his army looted and then returned home. Edward retaliated by ravaging East Anglia, but when he retreated the men of Kent disobeyed the order to retire, and were intercepted by the Danish army. The two sides met at the Battle of the Holme (perhaps Holme in Huntingdonshire) on 13 December 902. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the Danes "kept the place of slaughter", meaning that they won the battle, but they suffered heavy losses, including Æthelwold and a King Eohric, possibly of the East Anglian Danes. Kentish losses included Sigehelm, ealdorman of Kent and father of Edward's third wife, Eadgifu. Æthelwold's death ended the threat to Edward's throne.[22] King of the Anglo-Saxons[edit] In London in 886 Alfred had received the formal submission of "all the English people that were not under subjection to the Danes", and thereafter he adopted the title Anglorum Saxonum rex (King of the Anglo-Saxons), which is used in his later charters and all but two of Edward's. This is seen by Keynes as "the invention of a wholly new and distinctive polity", covering both West Saxons and Mercians, which was inherited by Edward with the support of Mercians at the West Saxon court, of whom the most important was Plegmund, Archbishop of Canterbury. In 903 Edward issued several charters concerning land in Mercia. Three of them are witnessed by the Mercian leaders and their daughter Ælfwynn, and they all contain a statement that Æthelred and Æthelflæd "then held rulership and power over the race of the Mercians, under the aforesaid king". Other charters were issued by the Mercian leaders which did not contain any acknowledgment of Edward's authority, but they did not issue their own coinage.[23] This view of Edward's status is accepted by Martin Ryan, who states that Æthelred and Æthelflæd had "a considerable but ultimately subordinate share of royal authority" in English Mercia.[24] Other historians disagree. Pauline Stafford describes Æthelflæd as "the last Mercian queen",[25] while in Charles Insley's view Mercia kept its independence until Æthelflæd's death in 918.[26] Michael Davidson contrasts the 903 charters with one of 901 in which the Mercian rulers were "by grace of God, holding, governing and defending the monarchy of the Mercians". Davidson comments that "the evidence for Mercian subordination is decidedly mixed. Ultimately, the ideology of the 'Kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons' may have been less successful in achieving the absorption of Mercia and more something which I would see as a murky political coup." The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was compiled at the West Saxon court from the 890s, and the entries for the late ninth and early tenth centuries are seen by historians as reflecting the West Saxon viewpoint; Davidson observes that "Alfred and Edward possessed skilled 'spin doctors'".[27] Some versions of the Chronicle incorporate part of a lost Mercian Register, which gives a Mercian perspective and details of Æthelflæd's campaign against the Vikings.[24] In the late ninth and early tenth centuries, connection by marriage with the West Saxon royal house was seen as prestigious by continental rulers. In the mid-890s Alfred had married his daughter Ælfthryth to Baldwin II of Flanders, and in 919 Edward married his daughter Eadgifu to Charles the Simple, King of West Francia. In 925, after Edward's death, another daughter Eadgyth married Otto, the future King of Germany and (after Eadgyth's death) Holy Roman Emperor.[28] Conquest of the southern Danelaw[edit] No battles are recorded between the Anglo-Saxons and the Danish Vikings for several years after the Battle of the Holme, but in 906 Edward agreed peace with the East Anglian and Northumbrian Danes, suggesting that there had been conflict. According to one version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle he made peace "of necessity", which implies that he was forced to buy them off.[19] He encouraged Englishmen to purchase land in Danish territory, and two charters survive relating to estates in Bedfordshire and Derbyshire.[29] In 909 Edward sent a combined West Saxon and Mercian army which harassed the Northumbrian Danes, and seized the bones of the Northumbrian royal saint Oswald from Bardney Abbey in Lincolnshire. Oswald was translated to a new Mercian minster established by Æthelred and Æthelflæd in Gloucester and the Danes were compelled to accept peace on Edward's terms.[30] In the following year, the Northumbrian Danes retaliated by raiding Mercia, but on their way home they were met by a combined Mercian and West Saxon army at the Battle of Tettenhall, where the Vikings suffered a disastrous defeat. After that, the Northumbrian Danes never ventured south of the River Humber, and Edward and his Mercian allies were able to concentrate on conquering the southern Danelaw in East Anglia and the Five Boroughs of Viking east Mercia: Derby, Leicester, Lincoln, Nottingham and Stamford.[19] In 911 Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians, died, and Edward took control of the Mercian lands around London and Oxford. Æthelred was succeeded as ruler by his widow Æthelflæd as Lady of the Mercians, and she had probably been acting as ruler for several years as Æthelred seems to have been incapacitated in later life.[31] Edward and Æthelflæd then began the construction of fortresses to guard against Viking attacks and protect territory captured from them. In November 911, he constructed a fort on the north bank of the River Lea at Hertford to guard against attack by the Danes of Bedford and Cambridge. In 912, he marched with his army to Maldon in Essex, and ordered the building of a fort at Witham and a second fort at Hertford, which protected London from attack and encouraged many English living under Danish rule in Essex to submit to him. In 913 there was a pause in his activities, although Æthelflæd continued her fortress building in Mercia.[32] In 914 a Viking army sailed from Brittany and ravaged the Severn estuary. It then attacked Ergyng in south-east Wales (now Archenfield in Herefordshire) and captured Bishop Cyfeilliog. Edward ransomed him for the large sum of forty pounds of silver. The Vikings were defeated by the armies of Hereford and Gloucester, and gave hostages and oaths to keep the peace. Edward kept an army on the south side of the estuary in case the Vikings broke their promises, and he twice had to repel attacks. In the autumn the Vikings moved on to Ireland. The episode suggests that south-east Wales fell within the West Saxon sphere of power, unlike Brycheiniog just to the north, where Mercia was dominant.[33] In late 914 Edward built two forts at Buckingham, and Earl Thurketil, the leader of the Danish army at Bedford submitted to him. The following year he occupied Bedford, and constructed another fortification on the south bank of the River Great Ouse against a Viking one on the north bank. In 916 Edward returned to Essex and built a fort at Maldon to bolster the defence of Witham. He also helped Earl Thurketil and his followers to leave England, reducing the number of Viking armies in the Midlands.[34] The decisive year in the war was 917. In April Edward built a fort at Towcester as a defence against the Danes of Northampton, and another at an unidentified place called Wigingamere. The Danes launched unsuccessful attacks on Towcester, Bedford and Wigingamere, while Æthelflæd captured Derby, showing the value of the English defensive measures, which were aided by disunity and a lack of coordination among the Viking armies. The Danes had built their own fortress at Tempsford in Bedfordshire, but at the end of the summer the English stormed it and killed the last Danish king of East Anglia. The English then took Colchester, although they did not try to hold it. The Danes retaliated by sending a large army to lay siege to Maldon, but the garrison held out until it was relieved and the retreating army was heavily defeated. Edward then returned to Towcester and reinforced its fort with a stone wall, and the Danes of nearby Northampton submitted to him. The armies of Cambridge and East Anglia also submitted, and by the end of the year the only Danish armies still holding out were those of four of the Five Boroughs, Leicester, Stamford, Nottingham, and Lincoln.[35] In early 918, Æthelflæd secured the submission of Leicester without a fight, and the Danes of Northumbrian York offered her their allegiance, probably for protection against Norse (Norwegian) Vikings who had invaded Northumbria from Ireland, but she died on 12 June before she could take up the proposal. The same offer is not known to have been made to Edward, and the Norse Vikings took York in 919. According to the main West Saxon version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, after Æthelflæd's death the Mercians submitted to Edward, but the Mercian version (the Mercian Register) states that in December 918 her daughter Ælfwynn "was deprived of all authority in Mercia and taken into Wessex". Mercia may have made a bid for continued semi-independence which was suppressed by Edward, and it then came under his direct rule. Stamford had surrendered to Edward before Æthelflæd's death, and Nottingham did the same shortly afterwards. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 918, "all the people who had settled in Mercia, both Danish and English, submitted to him". This would mean that he ruled all England south of the Humber, but it is not clear whether Lincoln was an exception, as coins of Viking York in the early 920s were probably minted at Lincoln.[36] Some Danish jarls were allowed to keep their estates, although Edward probably also rewarded his supporters with land, and some he kept in his own hands. Coin evidence suggests that his authority was stronger in the East Midlands than in East Anglia.[37] Three Welsh kings, Hywel Dda, Clydog and Idwal Foel, who had previously been subject to Æthelflæd, now gave their allegiance to Edward.[38] Penny of Edward the Elder Coinage[edit] The principal currency in later Anglo-Saxon England was the silver penny, and some coins carried a stylised portrait of the king. Edward's coins had "EADVVEARD REX" on the obverse and the name of the moneyer on the reverse. The places of issue were not shown in his reign, but they were in that of his son Æthelstan, allowing the location of many moneyers of Edward's reign to be established. There were mints in Bath, Canterbury, Chester, Chichester, Derby, Exeter, Hereford, London, Oxford, Shaftesbury, Shrewsbury, Southampton, Stafford, Wallingford, Wareham, Winchester and probably other towns. No coins were struck in the name of Æthelred or Æthelflæd, but from around 910 mints in English Mercia produced coins with an unusual decorative design on the reverse. This ceased before 920, and probably represents Æthelflæd's way of distinguishing her coinage from that of her brother. There was also a minor issue of coins in the name of Plegmund, Archbishop of Canterbury. There was a dramatic increase in the number of moneyers over Edward's reign, fewer than 25 in the south in the first ten years rising to 67 in the last ten years, around 5 in English Mercia rising to 23, plus 27 in the conquered Danelaw.[39] Church[edit] In 908, Plegmund conveyed the alms of the English king and people to the Pope, the first visit to Rome by an Archbishop of Canterbury for almost a century, and the journey may have been to seek papal approval for a proposed re-organisation of the West Saxon sees.[40] When Edward came to the throne Wessex had two dioceses, Winchester, held by Denewulf, and Sherborne, held by Asser.[41] In 908 Denewulf died and was replaced the following year by Frithestan; soon afterwards Winchester was divided into two sees, with the creation of the diocese of Ramsbury covering Wiltshire and Berkshire, while Winchester was left with Hampshire and Surrey. Forged charters date the division to 909, but this may not be correct. Asser died in the same year, and at some date between 909 and 918 Sherborne was divided into three sees, Crediton covering Devon and Cornwall, and Wells covering Somerset, leaving Sherborne with Dorset.[42] The effect of the changes was to strengthen the status of Canterbury compared with Winchester and Sherborne, but the division may have been related to a change in the secular functions of West Saxon bishops, to become agents of royal government in shires rather than provinces, assisting in defence and taking part in shire courts.[43] At the beginning of Edward's reign, his mother Ealhswith founded the abbey of St Mary for nuns, known as the Nunnaminster, in Winchester.[44] Edward's daughter Eadburh became a nun there, and she was venerated as a saint and the subject of a hagiography by Osbert of Clare in the twelfth century.[45] In 901, Edward started building a major religious community for men, possibly in accordance with his father's wishes. The monastery was next to Winchester Cathedral, which became known as the Old Minster while Edward's foundation was called the New Minster. It was much larger than the Old Minster, and was probably intended as a royal mausoleum.[46] It acquired relics of the Breton Saint Judoc, which probably arrived in England from Ponthieu in 901, and the body of one of Alfred's closest advisers, Grimbald, who died in the same year and who was soon venerated as a saint. Edward's mother died in 902, and he buried her and Alfred there, moving his father's body from the Old Minster. Burials in the early 920s included Edward himself, his brother Æthelweard, and his son Ælfweard. On the other hand, when Æthelstan became king in 924, he did not show any favour to his father's foundation, probably because Winchester sided against him when the throne was disputed after Edward's death. The only other king buried at the New Minster was Eadwig in 959.[47] Edward's decision not to expand the Old Minster, but rather to overshadow it with a much larger building, suggests animosity towards Bishop Denewulf, and this was compounded by forcing the Old Minster to cede both land for the new site, and an estate of 70 hides at Beddington to provide an income for the New Minster. Edward was remembered by the New Minster as a benefactor, but at the Old Minster as rex avidus (greedy king).[48] He may have built the new church because he did not think that the Old Minster was grand enough to be the royal mausoleum for kings of the Anglo-Saxons, not just the West Saxons like their predecessors.[49] Alan Thacker comments: Edward's method of endowing New Minster was of a piece with his ecclesiastical policy in general. Like his father he gave little to the church — indeed, judging by the dearth of charters for much of his reign he seems to have given away little at all...More than any other, Edward's kingship seems to epitomise the new hard-nosed monarchy of Wessex, determined to exploit all its resources, lay and ecclesiastical, for its own benefit.[50] Patrick Wormald observes: "The thought occurs that neither Alfred nor Edward was greatly beloved at Winchester Cathedral; and one reason for Edward's moving his father's body into the new family shrine next door was that he was surer of sincere prayers there."[51] Learning and culture[edit] The standard of Anglo-Saxon learning declined severely in the ninth century, particularly in Wessex, and Mercian scholars such as Plegmund played a major part in the revival of learning initiated by Alfred. Mercians were prominent at the courts of Alfred and Edward, and the Mercian dialect and scholarship commanded West Saxon respect.[52] It is uncertain how far Alfred's programmes continued during his son's reign. English translations of works in Latin made during Alfred's reign continued to be copied, but few original works are known. The script known as Anglo-Saxon Square minuscule reached maturity in the 930s, and its earliest phases date to Edward's reign. The main scholarly and scriptorial centres were the cathedral centres of Canterbury, Winchester and Worcester; monasteries did not make a significant contribution until Æthelstan's reign.[53] Very little survives of the manuscript production of Edward's reign.[54] The only surviving large scale embroideries which were certainly made in Anglo-Saxon England date to Edward's reign. They are a stole, a maniple and a possible girdle removed from the coffin of St Cuthbert in Durham Cathedral in the nineteenth century. They were donated to the shrine by Æthelstan in 934, but inscriptions on the embroideries show that they were commissioned by Edward's second wife, Ælfflæd, as a gift to Frithestan, Bishop of Winchester. They probably did not reach their intended destination because Æthelstan was on bad terms with Winchester.[55] Law and administration[edit] Almost all surviving charters from Edward's reign are later copies, and the only surviving original is not a charter of Edward himself, but a grant by Æthelred and Æthelflæd in 901.[56] In the same year a meeting at Southampton was attended by his brother and sons, his household thegns and nearly all bishops, but no ealdormen. It was on this occasion that the king acquired land from the Bishop of Winchester for the foundation of the New Minster, Winchester. No charters survive for the period from 910 to the king's death in 924, much to the puzzlement and distress of historians. Charters were usually issued when the king made grants of land, and it is possible that Edward followed a policy of retaining property which came into his hands to help finance his campaigns against the Vikings.[57] Charters rarely survive unless they concerned property which passed to the church and were preserved in their archives, and another possibility is that Edward was only making grants of property on terms which ensured that they returned to male members of the royal house; such charters would not be found in church archives.[58] Clause 3 of the law code called I Edward provides that people convincingly charged with perjury shall not be allowed to clear themselves by oath, but only by ordeal. This is the start of the continuous history in England of trial by ordeal; it is probably mentioned in the laws of King Ine (688 to 726),[b] but not in later codes such as those of Alfred.[59] The administrative and legal system in Edward's reign may have depended extensively on written records, almost none of which survive.[60] Edward was one of the few Anglo-Saxon kings to issue laws about bookland. There was increasing confusion in the period as to what was really bookland; Edward urged prompt settlement in bookland and folkland disputes, and his legislation established that jurisdiction belonged to the king and his officers.[61] Later life[edit] According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, there was a general submission of rulers in Britain to Edward in 920: Then [Edward] went from there into the Peak District to Bakewell and ordered a borough to be built in the neighbourhood and manned. And then the king of the Scots and all the people of the Scots, and Rægnald and the sons of Eadwulf[c] and all who live in Northumbria, both English and Danish, Norsemen and others, and also the king of the Strathclyde Welsh and all the Strathclyde Welsh, chose him as father and lord.[63] This passage was regarded as a straightforward report by most historians until the late twentieth century,[64] and Frank Stenton observed that "each of the rulers named in this list had something definite to gain from an acknowledgement of Edward's overlordship".[65] Since the 1980s this submission has been viewed with increasing scepticism, particularly as the passage in the Chronicle is the only evidence for it, unlike other submissions such as that one in 927 to Æthelstan, for which there is independent support from literary sources and coins.[66] Alfred P. Smyth points out that Edward was not in a position to impose the same conditions on the Scots and the Northumbrians as he could on conquered Vikings, and argues that the Chronicle presented a treaty between kings as a submission to Wessex.[67] Stafford observes that the rulers had met at Bakewell on the border between Mercia and Northumbria, and that meetings on borders were generally considered to avoid any implication of submission by either side.[68] Davidson points out that the wording "chosen as father and lord" applied to conquered army groups and burhs, not relations with other kings. In his view: The idea that this meeting represented a 'submission', while it must remain a possibility, does however seem unlikely. The textual context of the chronicler's passage makes his interpretation of the meeting suspect, and ultimately, Edward was in no position to force the subordination of, or dictate terms to, his fellow kings in Britain.[69] Edward continued Æthelflæd's policy of founding burhs in the north-west, at Thelwall and Manchester in 919, and Cledematha (Rhuddlan) at the mouth of the River Clwyd in North Wales in 921.[70] Nothing is known of his relations with the Mercians between 919 and the last year of his life, when he put down a Mercian and Welsh revolt at Chester. Mercia and the eastern Danelaw were organised into shires at an unknown date in the tenth century, ignoring traditional boundaries, and historians such as Sean Miller and David Griffiths suggest that Edward's imposition of direct control from 919 is a likely context for a change which ignored Mercian sensibilities. Resentment at the changes, at the imposition of rule by distant Wessex, and at fiscal demands by Edward's reeves, may have provoked the revolt at Chester. He died at the royal estate of Farndon, twelve miles south of Chester, on 24 July 924, shortly after putting down the revolt, and was buried in the New Minster, Winchester.[71] In 1109, the New Minster was moved outside the city walls to become Hyde Abbey, and the following year the remains of Edward and his parents were translated to the new church.[72] Reputation[edit] According to William of Malmesbury, Edward was "much inferior to his father in the cultivation of letters", but "incomparably more glorious in the power of his rule". Other medieval chroniclers expressed similar views, and he was generally seen as inferior in book learning, but superior in military success. John of Worcester described him as "the most invincible King Edward the Elder". However, even as war leader he was only one of a succession of successful kings; his achievements were overshadowed because he did not have a famous victory like Alfred's at Edington and Æthelstan's at Brunanburh, and William qualified his praise of Edward by saying that "the chief prize of victory, in my judgment, is due to his father".[d] Edward has also been overshadowed by chroniclers' admiration for his highly regarded sister, Æthelflæd.[73] A principal reason for the neglect of Edward is that very few primary sources for his reign survive, whereas there are many for Alfred. He was largely ignored by historians until the late twentieth century, but he is now highly regarded. He is described by Keynes as "far more than the bellicose bit between Alfred and Æthelstan",[74] and according to Nick Higham: "Edward the Elder is perhaps the most neglected of English kings. He ruled an expanding realm for twenty-five years and arguably did as much as any other individual to construct a single, south-centred, Anglo-Saxon kingdom, yet posthumously his achievements have been all but forgotten." In 1999 a conference on his reign was held at the University of Manchester, and the papers given on this occasion were published as a book in 2001. Prior to this conference, no monographs had been published on Edward's reign, whereas his father has been the subject of numerous biographies and other studies.[75] In the view of F. T. Wainwright: "Without detracting from the achievements of Alfred, it is well to remember that it was Edward who reconquered the Danish Midlands and gave England nearly a century of respite from serious Danish attacks."[76] Higham summarises Edward's legacy as follows: Under Edward's leadership, the scale of alternative centres of power diminished markedly: the separate court of Mercia was dissolved; the Danish leaders were in large part brought to heel or expelled; the Welsh princes were constrained from aggression of the borders and even the West Saxon bishoprics divided. Late Anglo-Saxon England is often described as the most centralised polity in western Europe at the time, with its shires, its shire-reeves and its systems of regional courts and royal taxation. If so — and the matter remains debatable — much of that centrality derives from Edward's activities, and he has as good a claim as any other to be considered the architect of medieval England.[77] Edward's cognomen 'the Elder' was first used in Wulfstan's Life of St Æthelwold at the end of the tenth century, to distinguish him from King Edward the Martyr.[19] Marriages and children[edit] Edward had about fourteen children from three marriages.[e] He first married Ecgwynn around 893.[83] Their children were: Æthelstan, King of England 924–939[19] A daughter, perhaps called Edith, married Sihtric, Viking King of York in 926, who died in 927. Possibly Saint Edith of Polesworth[84] In c. 900, Edward married Ælfflæd, daughter of Ealdorman Æthelhelm, probably of Wiltshire.[17] Their children were: Ælfweard, died August 924, a month after his father; possibly King of Wessex for that month[85] Edwin, drowned at sea 933[86] Æthelhild, lay sister at Wilton Abbey[87] Eadgifu (died in or after 951), married Charles the Simple, King of the West Franks, c. 918[88] Eadflæd, nun at Wilton Abbey[87] Eadhild, married Hugh the Great, Duke of the Franks in 926[89] Eadgyth (died 946), in 929/30 married Otto I, future King of the East Franks, and (after Eadgyth's death) Holy Roman Emperor[90] Ælfgifu, married "a prince near the Alps", perhaps Louis, brother of King Rudolph II of Burgundy[91] Edward married for a third time, about 919, Eadgifu, the daughter of Sigehelm, Ealdorman of Kent.[92] Their children were: Edmund I, King of England 939–946[78] Eadred, King of England 946–955[78] Eadburh (died c. 952), Benedictine nun at Nunnaminster, Winchester, and saint[93] Eadgifu, existence uncertain, possibly the same person as Ælfgifu[94] Genealogy[edit] Ancestors of Edward the Elder[78] 8. Egbert of Wessex 4. Æthelwulf of Wessex 2. Alfred the Great 10. Oslac 5. Osburga 1. Edward the Elder 6. Æthelred Mucel 3. Ealhswith 7. Eadburh ^ The twelfth-century chronicler Ralph of Diceto stated that the coronation took place at Kingston, and this is accepted by Simon Keynes, although Sarah Foot says that "Edward might well have held the ceremony at Winchester".[21] ^ It is not certain that the references in Ine's laws are to trial by ordeal.[59] ^ Rægnald was the Norse Viking king of York in southern Northumbria, and Eadwulf was the Anglo-Saxon ruler of northern Northumbria, which was not conquered by the Vikings.[62] ^ All quotations in this paragraph are from Higham, 'Edward the Elder's Reputation: An Introduction', pp. 2-3 ^ The order in which Edward's children are listed is based on the family tree in Foot's Æthelstan: the First King of England, which shows sons of each wife before daughters. The daughters are listed in their birth order according to William of Malmesbury's Gesta Regum Anglorum.[78] The earliest primary sources do not distinguish whether Sihtric's wife was Æthelstan's full or half sister, and a tradition recorded at Bury in the early twelfth century makes her a daughter of Edward's second wife, Ælfflæd. She is described as the daughter of Edward and Ecgwynn in William of Malmesbury's twelfth century Deeds of the English Kings, and Michael Wood's argument that this is partly based on a lost early life of Æthelstan has been generally accepted.[79] Modern historians follow William of Malmesbury's testimony in showing her as Æthelstan's full sister."[80] William did not know her name, but some late sources name her as Edith or Eadgyth, an identification accepted by some historians.[81] She is also identified in late sources with saint Edith of Polesworth, a view accepted by Alan Thacker, but dismissed as "dubious" by Sarah Foot, who thinks that it is likely that she entered the cloister in widowhood.[82] ^ Keynes and Lapidge 1983, pp. 11–12. ^ Stenton 1971, pp. 245–57. ^ Yorke 2001, pp. 25–28. ^ Yorke 2001, pp. 25–26; Miller 2004. ^ Yorke 2001, pp. 25, 29–30. ^ Æthelhelm & PASE; S 356 & Sawyer; Yorke 2001, p. 31. ^ Keynes and Lapidge 1983, pp. 175–76, 321–22; Yorke 2001, p. 30. ^ Yorke 2001, p. 32. ^ Abels 1998, pp. 294–304. ^ Yorke 2001, pp. 33–34; Bailey 2001, p. 114; Mynors, Thomson and Winterbottom 1998, p. 199. ^ Keynes 1999, p. 467; Abels 1998, p. 307. ^ Yorke 2001, p. 33; Foot 2011, p. 31. ^ a b Yorke 2001, p. 33. ^ Nelson 1996, pp. 53–54, 63–66. ^ a b c d e Miller 2004. ^ Stenton 1971, p. 321; Lavelle 2009, pp. 53, 61. ^ Keynes 2001, p. 48; Foot 2011, p. 74, n. 46. ^ Stenton 1971, pp. 321–322; Hart 1992, pp. 512–15; Miller 2004. ^ Keynes 2001, pp. 44–58. ^ a b Ryan 2013, p. 298. ^ Stafford 2001, p. 45. ^ Insley 2009, p. 330. ^ Davidson 2001, pp. 203–05; Keynes 2001, p. 43. ^ Sharp 2001, pp. 81–86. ^ Abrams 2001, p. 136. ^ Stenton 1971, p. 323; Heighway 2001, p. 108. ^ Stenton 1971, p. 324, n. 1; Wainwright 1975, pp. 308–09; Bailey 2001, p. 113. ^ Miller 2004; Stenton 1971, pp. 324–25. ^ Charles-Edwards 2013, p. 506; Miller 2004. ^ Abrams 2001, pp. 138–39; Lyon 2001, p. 74. ^ Charles-Edwards 2013, pp. 484, 498–500. ^ Lyon 2001, pp. 67–73, 77; Blackburn 2014. ^ Brooks 1984, pp. 210, 213. ^ Rumble 2001, pp. 230–31. ^ Yorke 2004b; Brooks 1984, pp. 212–13. ^ Rumble 2001, p. 243. ^ Thacker 2001, pp. 259–60. ^ Rumble 2001, pp. 231–34; Marafioti 2014, pp. 26–29. ^ Miller 2001, pp. xxv–xxix; Thacker 2001, pp. 253–54. ^ Rumble 2001, pp. 234–37, 244; Thacker 2001, p. 254. ^ Marafioti 2014, pp. 28–31. ^ Thacker 2001, p. 254. ^ Wormald 2001, pp. 274–75. ^ Gretsch 2001, p. 287. ^ Lapidge 1993, pp. 12–16. ^ Higham 2001a, p. 2. ^ Coatsworth 2001, pp. 292–96; Wilson 1984, p. 154. ^ Lapidge 1993, p. 13. ^ Keynes 2001, pp. 50–51, 55–56. ^ Wormald 2001, p. 275. ^ a b Campbell 2001, p. 14. ^ Campbell 2001, p. 23. ^ Wormald 2001, pp. 264, 276. ^ Davidson 2001, p. 205. ^ Davidson 2001, pp. 200–01. ^ Stenton 1971, p. 334. ^ Smyth 1984, p. 199. ^ Davidson 2001, pp. 206, 209. ^ Griffiths 2001, p. 168. ^ Miller 2004; Griffiths 2001, pp. 167, 182–83. ^ Doubleday & Page 1903, pp. 116–22. ^ Higham 2001a, pp. 2–4; Keynes 2001, pp. 40–41. ^ Higham 2001a, pp. 3–9; Keynes 2001, p. 57. ^ Higham 2001a, pp. 1–4. ^ Wainwright 1975, p. 77. ^ Higham 2001b, p. 311. ^ a b c d Foot 2011, p. xv. ^ Thacker 2001, p. 257; Foot 2011, pp. 251–58. ^ Williams 1991, pp. xxix, 123; Foot 2011, p. xv; Miller 2004. ^ Miller 2004; Williams 1991, pp. xxix, 123. ^ Thacker 2001, pp. 257–58; Foot 2011, p. 48; Foot 2010, p. 243. ^ Foot 2011, p. 11. ^ a b Foot 2011, p. 45. ^ Foot 2011, p. 46; Stafford 2011. ^ Stafford 2011. ^ Yorke 2004a; Thacker 2001, pp. 259–60. ^ Foot 2011, pp. 50–51; Stafford 2004. 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Anglo-Saxon England (3rd ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-280139-5. Thacker, Alan (2001). "Dynastic Monasteries and Family Cults". In Higham, Nick; Hill, David (eds.). Edward the Elder 899–924. Abingdon, UK: Routledge. pp. 248–63. ISBN 978-0-415-21497-1. Wainwright, F. T. (1975). Scandinavian England: Collected Papers. Chichester, UK: Phillimore. ISBN 978-0-900592-65-2. Williams, Ann (1982). "Princeps Merciorum Gentis: the Family, Career and Connections of Ælfhere, Ealdorman of Mercia 956-983". Anglo-Saxon England. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. 10: 143–72. doi:10.1017/s0263675100003240. ISBN 978-0-521-24177-9. Williams, Ann; Smyth, Alfred P.; Kirby, D. P. (1991). A Biographical Dictionary of Dark Age Britain: England, Scotland, and Wales. London, UK: Seaby. ISBN 978-1-85264-047-7. Wilson, David (1984). Anglo-Saxon Art from the Seventh Century to the Norman Conquest. London, UK: Thames and Hudson. ISBN 978-0-500-23392-4. Wormald, Patrick (2001). "Kingship and Royal Property from Æthelwulf to Edward the Elder". In Higham, Nick; Hill, David (eds.). Edward the Elder 899–924. Abingdon, UK: Routledge. pp. 264–79. ISBN 978-0-415-21497-1. Yorke, Barbara (2001). "Edward as Ætheling". In Higham, Nick; Hill, David (eds.). Edward the Elder 899–924. Abingdon, UK: Routledge. pp. 25–39. ISBN 978-0-415-21497-1. Yorke, Barbara (2004a). "Eadburh [St Eadburh, Eadburga] (921x4–951x3), Benedictine nun". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 1. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/49419. Retrieved 4 January 2017. (subscription or UK public library membership required) Yorke, Barbara (2004b). "Frithestan (d. 932/3), bishop of Winchester". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/49428. Retrieved 1 March 2017. (subscription or UK public library membership required) Wikisource has original works written by or about: Wikimedia Commons has media related to Edward the Elder. Edward 2 at Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England The Laws of King Edward the Elder Edward the Elder Coinage Regulations Edward the Elder at Find a Grave Alfred the Great King of the Anglo-Saxons 899–924 Succeeded by Monarchs of Wessex House of Wessex Cerdic Cynric Ceawlin Ceolwulf Cynegils Cwichelm Cenwalh Penda of Mercia Cenwalh restored Seaxburh Æscwine Centwine Cædwalla Æthelheard Cuthred Sigeberht Cynewulf Beorhtric Ecgberht Æthelwulf Æthelbald Æthelberht Æthelred Ælfweard (disputed) Viking invasion of England (793–1066) Major Anglo-Saxon monarchs Offa of Mercia (757–796) Ælla of Northumbria (unk-867) Edmund the Martyr of East Anglia (855–869) Æthelred the Unready (978-1013, 1014-1016) Wessex: Ecgberht, King of Wessex (802–839) Æthelwulf (839–858) Alfred the Great (871–899) Edward the Elder (899–924) Æthelstan (924–939) Eadred (946–954 Major Anglo-Saxon leaders Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians (c. 881–911) Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians (911–918) Odda, Ealdorman of Devon (878) Major Danish monarchs Northumbria: Guthred (883–895) Eric Bloodaxe (947–948, 952–954 Sweyn Forkbeard (1013–1014) Cnut the Great (1016–1035 Major Viking leaders Ivar the Boneless (865–870) Halfdan Ragnarsson (865–877) Ubba (865–878) Hvitserk (865–870) King Guthrum of Danelaw/East Anglia (874–890) Hastein (892-896) Viking monarchs, client kings Ecgberht I of Northumbria (867–872) Burgred of Mercia of Mercia (852–874) Ceolwulf II of Mercia (874–880) Viking raids: 793–850: Battle of Ellandun (825) Battle of Hingston Down (838) Battle of Rochester (842) Carhampton (843) Battle of Aclea (851 First Danish invasion 865–896: Siege of Nottingham (867) Battle of Englefield (870) Battle of Ashdown (871) Battle of Marton (871) Battle of Basing (871) Battle of Reading (871) Sea Battle near Swanage (877) Battle of Cynuit (878) Battle of Chippenham (878) Battle of Edington (878) Battle of London (886) Battle of Buttington (893) Siege of Exeter (893, 1001) Battle of Fearnhamme (893) Battle of Benfleet (894) First Battle of Stamford (894) Battle of the Holme (902) Battle of Tettenhall (910) Battle of Tempsford (917) Second Battle of Stamford (918) Battle of Brunanburh (937) Battle of Stainmore (954 Second Danish invasion: 980–1012 Battle of Maldon (991) Battle of Pinhoe (1001) St. Brice's Day massacre (1002) Battle of Ringmere (1010) Battle of Stamford Bridge (1066) Viking raids Isle of Portland (787) Lindisfarne (793) Monkwearmouth-Jarrow Abbey (794) Iona Abbey (795) Isle of Sheppey (835) Southhampton (837, 980) Wareham, Dorset (876, 998, 1015) Burning of Reading (1006) Norse colonization Danelaw (865–896) Jorvik (866–954) English petty kingdoms Wessex 519-927 Kent 410-825 Northumbria 653-954 Mercia 527-918 East Anglia c.550-918 Norse activity in the British Isles Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Edward_the_Elder&oldid=899190409" 870s births 924 deaths Anglo-Saxon monarchs 9th-century English monarchs 10th-century English monarchs Christian monarchs Anglo-Saxon warriors Monarchs of England before 1066	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line686
__label__wiki	0.541457	0.541457	Health, Medical & Fitness Fremont Tribune The Plattsmouth Journal Fremont, NE (68025) Sunshine and clouds mixed. Hot and humid. High 98F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph.. Partly cloudy. Warm and humid. Low around 75F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. Fremont neighbors: Recently published obituaries Read through the obituaries published in Fremont Tribune Nila Jean Matzen Died May 15, 2019 Nila Jean (Thompson) Matzen, age 91 of Blair, passed away May 15, 2019 at Immanuel Hospital in Omaha. Services will be held Saturday, May 18, 2019 at 10:00 AM at Hillside Christian Church in Blair. Burial will follow in the Blair Cemetery. Visitation will be held Friday, May 17, 2019 at Campbell Aman Funeral Home from 6 to 8 PM. Nila is preceded in death by her husband Marlin, son Jeffrey, her parents, siblings: Harley “HV”, Lowell “LD” and Elton “ET”, also Mildred Wallace and Alice Madsen. She is survived by her children: Deborah (Larry) Blaydes and Bradley (Angie) Matzen; sister Gloria Jensen; sisters-in-law Judy Thompson of Blair and Arelene Thompson; grandchildren: Kyle (Vanessa) Matzen, Ryan Matzen and Jenna Matzen; great grandchildren: Aaliyah, Eliyahu and Yosef. Memorials may be directed to the family. James Gustin James “Jim” GustinMarch 3, 1929—May 14, 2019 James “Jim” Gustin, 90, of Clarkson, Nebraska, died Tuesday, May 14, 2019, at his home in Clarkson. The funeral service will be held on Monday, May 20, at 10:30 AM, at New Zion Presbyterian Church in Clarkson, with Rev. Stephen Niles officiating. Interment with military honors will be in the Clarkson National Cemetery. Visitation will be on Sunday, from 2:00—5:00 PM, and continue on Monday from 9:30 AM until service time, all at the church. Memorials may be directed to the Clarkson Historical Society, Clarkson Fire Department, or New Zion Presbyterian Church. James David Gustin was born on March 3, 1929, to Fred and Agnes (Olson) Gustin in De Soto, Nebraska. The oldest of five children, he attended school through the 9th grade in Blair, Nebraska. He later received an honorary diploma from Clarkson High School. After finishing school, Jim worked on the farm until he joined the United States Army in 1951. He served on active duty for two years, working as a heavy equipment operator in Fairbanks, Alaska. On September 10, 1951, Jim was united in marriage to Shirley Lukl, in Schuyler, Nebraska. After his honorable discharge from active duty in 1953, he served for four years in the Army Reserves, and during this time, Jim and Shirley farmed west of Clarkson before moving to a farm near Nickerson, Nebraska. They farmed in that area for about two years before moving to a farm near Ceresco, Nebraska, where they lived until moving back to Clarkson in 1970 to farm the Lukl family homestead. Jim lived on this farm until moving into Clarkson in 2018. Jim enjoyed going to auctions, collecting antiques, and driving around the countryside looking at the different farm places. He had a collection of hit-and-miss gas engines that he enjoyed showing at the Colfax County Fairs for over 20 years. He was a member of the American Legion Sucha Post 302 and of New Zion Presbyterian Church. Jim is survived by sons David (Doris) Gustin of Clarkson, NE, Jeffrey (Chris) Gustin of Topeka, KS and Timothy Gustin of Columbus, NE; daughter Suzann (Tim) Gannon of Grand Island, NE; daughter-in-law: Gwen Gustin of Clarkson, NE; Ten Grandchildren; Five Great Grandchildren; brothers Raymond Gustin of Hickman, NE and Fred (Connie) Gustin of Hickman, NE; sisters Louise (Ron) Jacobsen of Story City, IA and Sharon (Denny) Dahl of St. Paul, NE; and Many Nieces & Nephews. Jim was preceded in death by his parents Fred & Agnes Gustin; his wife Shirley Gustin; and son Jerry Gustin Condolences may be sent to www.millersfh.com Larry D. Thomas Larry D. Thomas September 9, 1936-May 14, 2019 Larry D. Thomas age 82, died May 14, 2019. Survivors include, wife, Mary Ann Thomas; son, Tyler (Wendy) Thomas; daughter, Jill (Rick) Haskins; 2 granddaughters and 1 step grandson. Memorial Service 10:30 A.M., Tuesday, May 21, 2019 First Lutheran Church in Fremont. Interment and military honors at Memorial Cemetery in Fremont. Online condolences may be left at www.mosermemorialchapels.com Moser Memorial Chapel, 2170 N. Somers Ave. Fremont, NE 68025 402-721-4490 Larry D. ThomasSeptember 9, 1936—May 14, 2019 Myra J. Schauer August 4, 1931—May 14, 2019 Myra J. Schauer, age 87, of Fremont, formerly of Scribner, died Tuesday, May 14, 2019, at Dunklau Gardens. Survivors: children, Bonnie (Tom) Phillips of Fremont, Janice (Randal) Stieren of Fremont, James Schauer of Fremont, David Schauer of Beatrice; eight grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren; two sisters; and a sister-in-law. Myra was preceded in death by husband Alvin Schauer in 2007 and daughter, Carol, in 1975. The funeral will be 10:30 a.m. Friday, May 17, at St. Timothy Lutheran Church in Fremont. Rev. Shari Schwedhelm will officiate. Burial will be in Scribner Cemetery. Memorials are suggested to St. Timothy. Visitation will be at the Ludvigsen Mortuary Chapel in Fremont on Thursday, from 3 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., with the family present from 5:30 to 7:30. Visitation will continue for an hour before the service at church. Online guestbook at www.ludvigsenmortuary.com. Bernard H. Stumpe October 11, 1926—May 10, 2019 Bernard H. Stumpe, age 92, of Scribner died Friday, May 10, 2019, at the Hooper Care Center. The funeral will be 10:30 a.m. Saturday at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, north of Hooper. Burial in St. Paul’s Lutheran Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the family. Visitation is Friday at Ludvigsen’s Scribner Funeral Chapel with the family present from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Online guestbook at www.hooper-scribner.com. Stanley Marquardt November 24, 1933 – May 8, 2019 Stanley Marquardt, 85, of Scribner died on Wednesday, May 8, 2019, at St. Joseph’s Hillside Villa in West Point. The funeral service was Monday, May 13, at United Evangelical Lutheran Church in Scribner, a Faith Ambassadors Lutheran Parish Congregation, with Rev. Dr. Nicki McIntyre and Deacon Junior Pribnow as officiants. Burial with military honors was at Scribner Cemetery with lunch following at the Scribner Community Center. Memorials may be made to the American Veterans Park. Arrangements by Stokely Funeral Home. Stanley Darrell Marquardt was born on Nov. 24, 1933, to Chester and June (Heller) Marquardt on the family farm near Scribner. He attended country school to the eighth grade and graduated from Scribner High School in 1950. Stan worked for his dad on the farm before joining the United States Coast Guard in 1952. He was stationed in many places, including Iwo Jima for a year and was honorably discharged in 1960. On Aug. 31, 1954, Stan married Mary Canizaro in Vicksburg, Mississippi. The couple moved to the farm near Scribner where Stan continued the family tradition. In 1997 Stan retired and the couple moved to Scribner. On April 26, 2002, Stan married Joanne Brazda at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in West Point. They moved to West Point in October of 2018. Stan was an active member of his community, including being the President of the Dodge County Supervisors, President of the Scribner School Board, Commander of the Scribner American Legion Post 121, and member of the West Point VFW 4912. One of his favorite things to do was playing the community Santa Claus for many years. Stan wintered in Arizona for the last 25 years where he was known for his dancing and being a pool shark. He could be found golfing, bowling, water skiing, snow skiing, or playing cards. Stan also loved animals, especially his horse that he had trained since it was a colt. Survivors include his wife, Joann, of West Point; children, Sonny of Phoenix, Darrell (Laurie) of Omaha, Christine (Bob) Meyer of Scribner, and Mary (Mark) Rice of Littleton, Colorado; stepchildren, Mary (Gary) Luebbert of Lincoln, and Michael J. Brazda, John T. (Jean) Brazda, and Mark A. (Sunny) Brazda, all of Bellevue; 28 grandchildren; 20 great-grandchildren; and sister, Marilyn (Paul) Harms of Fremont. Stan is preceded in death by his parents; wife, Mary in 1999; daughter, Barbara Marquardt; son, Donald Marquardt; stepdaughter, Ann Donnelly; grandson, Mark Helgenberger; and brother, LeRoy Marquardt. Guy L. Schottler Col. December 15, 1938 – May 2, 2019 Col. Guy L. Schottler, 80, died on May 2, 2019, in Lone Tree, Colorado. He was born on Dec. 15, 1938, in Norfolk, Nebraska, the son of Ervin and Frankie (Gage) Schottler. In addition to his parents, he is predeceased by his son, Matthew T. Schottler. Guy is survived by wife, Dee M. Schottler; son, Jeffrey L. (Jeanine) Schottler; and grandchildren, Sofia M. and Matthew L. Schottler. A service with military honors will be held at Fort Logan Cemetery on May 15 at 2 p.m. Evelyn D. Kumm December 12, 1936 - May 10, 2019 Cecilia O. Powers January 21, 1921—May 8, 2019 Cecilia O. Powers, 98 years, of North Bend died May 8, 2019, at Legacy Estates in Lincoln. The funeral Mass will be 10 a.m. Tuesday, May 14, at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in North Bend. Visitation will be Monday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. with a Christian Mother’s Rosary at 7 p.m., all at Moser Memorial Chapel in North Bend. Burial will be at the Woodland Cemetery at North Bend. Memorials may be given as Masses, to St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church and to the North Bend Jr.-Sr. High School Scholarship Fund. Online condolences may be left at www.mosermemorialchapels.com. Moser Memorial Chapel, 1040 N. Main St., North Bend, Nebraska 68649 402-652-8159 Geraldine "Jeri" J. Schlepp May 29, 1944 – May 7, 2019 Geraldine J. “Jeri” Schlepp, age 74, of Fremont passed away Tuesday, May 7, 2019, at Methodist Fremont Health. Jeri was born May 29, 1944, in Leigh, Nebraska, to William and Helen (Koch) Nagengast. She lived in several rural communities growing up and graduated from Fremont High School in 1962. She married Johnny Schlepp on Nov. 25, 1964, and they made their home in Fremont. During her working years, Jeri worked for Campbell’s Soup, Vienna Bakery and retired from Hammond & Stephens Company. Jeri also, was a Girl Scout Leader, volunteered at Linden School, worked in Fremont during the elections at several polling places and for Senator Ben Nelson’s election campaign. Survivors: husband, Johnny of Fremont; daughters, Deborah (Mike Hoffman) Schlepp of Valley, Stacy (Travis) Shafer of Fremont; grandsons, Malachi (Kateryna) Shafer and their daughter Serenity, of Pearl City, Hawaii, Isiah Shafer of Okinawa, Zechariah Shafer of Fremont; brothers, William (Ruth) Nagengast of West Point, Norman (Judy) Nagengast of Moorpark, California, Daniel (Sandy) Nagengast of Emporia, Kansas; sisters, Valdean Vrba of Meridian, Idaho, Elaine (Gene) Crist of Fremont; and many nieces and nephews. Jeri was preceded in death by her parents; sister, Velma Nagengast; and nephew, Dennis Rogers. The funeral will be 10:30 a.m. Monday, May 13, at the Ludvigsen Mortuary Chapel in Fremont. Rev. Scott Jensen will officiate. Burial will follow in Memorial Cemetery. Memorials are suggested to the Fremont Area Alzheimer’s Collaboration. Visitation will be Sunday from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. with the family present from 5-7 p.m. at the mortuary. John E. Tharp March 8, 1934 – May 8, 2019 John E. Tharp, 85 years, of Fremont, Nebraska, passed away Wednesday, May 8, 2019, at Methodist Fremont Health. John was born March 8, 1934, in Scribner, Nebraska, to John Tharp and Josephine Gregg. He graduated from Scribner High School in 1952. John married Betty Osterloh on June 21, 1952 in Fremont. John served in the U.S. Army in 1955 for two years before moving to Fremont. He became the plant manager at Supersweet Feeds for 32 years in Fremont. Betty passed away May 8, 2014. John was active in VFW Post 854 and American Legion Post 20 and Fremont Fraternal Order of Eagles. He drove the Fremont and Bergan school buses for sporting and school activities for a total of 45 years. John was an avid Husker fan and longtime season ticket holder. He was inducted into the Archbishop Bergan Athletic Hall of Fame in 2018. John is survived by his two sons, John Michael Tharp of Glendale, Arizona, and Dale (Sherri) Tharp of Fremont; three daughters, Theresa Baltz and Jean Fauver, both of Fremont, and Karen (Kett) Arp of Hooper; 10 grandchildren; and 16 great-grandchildren. John was preceded in death by his parents; wife, Betty; grandson, David Fauver; granddaughter, Emily Rose Tharp; and son-in-law, Arthur Fauver. The funeral service will be 10:30 a.m. Monday, May 13, at Moser Memorial Chapel in Fremont. Visitation will be Sunday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Moser Memorial Chapel. Burial with military honors conducted by the Fremont Honor Guard of VFW Post 854 and American Legion Post 20 will be in Ridge Cemetery in Fremont. Memorials may be directed to Bergan Booster Club Athletics and Activities or Fremont Public Schools Foundation. Moser Memorial Chapel, 2170 N. Somers Ave., Fremont, NE 68025 402-721-4490 promotion spotlight Which season are you? Which season suits you best? Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Ambassador Real Estate Looking to Buy or Sell a Home? Lincoln Journal Star Beatrice Daily Sun Columbus Telegram Copyright 2019 Lee Enterprises, Incorporated dba Fremont Tribune, 135 N. Main St. Fremont, NE \| Terms of Use \| Privacy Policy	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line688
__label__wiki	0.758315	0.758315	A Question of Leadership: Addressing a Dangerous Crisis in Sudan’s SPLM-N Suliman Baldo July 20, 2017 July 20, 2017 No comments ← Reports Posted by Suliman Baldo on July 20, 2017 Download the full report here \| العربية A worsening recent political divide within the leadership of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N, or “movement”), traditionally based in South Kordofan and Blue Nile (the “Two Areas”), is increasingly likely to lead to a change of leadership of the movement. Of grave concern, the political divide has already led to violent clashes with strong ethnic undertones between units of the movement’s armed wing (the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-North, the SPLA-N) in parts of Sudan’s Blue Nile state that are controlled by the movement and in camps hosting refugees from Blue Nile just across the border in South Sudan’s Upper Nile state. Preexisting ethnic tensions in this area have been exacerbated by the political divisions among top SPLM-N leaders. The leadership paralysis that is cited as both a cause and an effect of the current division, and the risks of further civil strife, are directly impeding the internal crisis and humanitarian response mechanisms, creating a dangerous transient leadership vacuum at the regional and local level. This vacuum is causing community leaders in areas controlled by the movement in Blue Nile state and in the refugee camps to pursue their own initiatives in an effort to calm their constituencies and reassure other nearby communities. On March 7, 2017, Abdel-Aziz El-Hilu, Deputy Chairman of the SPLM-N, resigned. In his resignation letter, submitted to the regional Nuba Mountains/South Kordofan Liberation Council (NMLC), he cited the SPLM-N’s inability to revise and adopt an updated manifesto, constitution, negotiation strategy, and the necessary organizational structures. He also pointed to his growing distrust of SPLM-N Chairman Malik Agar and Secretary-General Yasir Arman and to his own responsibility for past failings. The NMLC rejected El-Hilu’s resignation, endorsed the reforms El-Hilu recommended, and removed Secretary-General Arman from his position and from leading the SPLM-N team engaged in negotiations with the Sudanese government. Based on the rejection of his resignation, El-Hilu continued to exercise his leadership role quietly behind the scenes. In the weeks that followed, the SPLM-N went into a gradual downward spiral. The two sides lost confidence in one other, with each challenging the other’s legitimacy in making statements or acting on behalf of the SPLM-N. When the NMLC resolved on June 7 to dismiss Chairman Agar, in addition to its earlier firing of Secretary-General Arman, and to appoint El-Hilu as the new chairman, Agar questioned the legality of the process and the decision—which he dismissed as an ethnically motivated “coup d’état.” El-Hilu did not take up the offer by Agar for the three of them to step down together and task the most senior of the remaining leaders with running the affairs of the movement until the convening of the supreme decision-making body of the movement, the SPLM-N National Liberation Convention. Instead, El-Hilu stated that he would appoint a transitional leadership council that would prepare for the convening of the SPLM-N National Convention. The leadership split widened as each set of leaders ignored the other and continued to issue statements and decisions. As the strife between the two sides worsened, signs of the growing divisions became more visible at the communal level. Some divisions grew violent in May and June, and constituent support for at least one of the leaders further fragmented. In addition to triggering ethnic tensions within its army and among its constituents, this SPLM-N leadership crisis has multiple other negative impacts, including the risks of: Further undermining an already stalemated two-track peace process with the Sudanese government that is led by the African Union’s High-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP), chaired by former South African President Thabo Mbeki. Diverting the movement’s attention away from the serious humanitarian crises in some areas under its control. A leadership hamstrung by its own disputes has proven unable to negotiate the delivery of acutely-needed medical and humanitarian supplies to people in need. Weakening the opposition’s unity in pursuing a lasting and just peace and genuine democratic transformation in Sudan. In effect, the SPLM-N’s predicament risks contributing to eroding public trust in the Sudan Call alliance of political and armed opposition groups and movements, in which the SPLM-N has a prominent role as the participants largely credited for bringing the alliance together. This brings into question the Sudan Call’s ability to stand up to the regime and advance its mission to steer the country toward a just and lasting peace and democratic transformation. Weakening the SPLM-N itself and its role in standing for the disenfranchised groups in periphery areas and throughout Sudan. The ethnic tensions that began to erupt in Blue Nile state and in the refugee camps in South Sudan are at risk of escalating beyond the control of the SPLM-N as a whole if these tensions are not responsibly contained. For all of these risks, it is incumbent on the two sides of the political dispute, their allies in the Sudanese political opposition, and the international community to dedicate more urgent attention and resources than have been dedicated thus far to mitigate this crisis. International and regional actors with influence in the region should press the two parties to do their utmost to address the risks created by their disputes. Unfortunately, several mediation efforts by the SPLM-N’s Sudan Call allies, prominent personalities, civil society groups, and its own members have failed to bridge the differences between the two sides in the dispute. The two sides failed to agree on joint mechanisms to prepare for the convening of an extraordinary session of the National Convention of the SPLM-N that both sides separately recognize is needed to resolve the constitutional, organizational, and strategic matters highlighted by El-Hilu in his resignation letter. Instead, each side went about preparing for the convention independently of one another as shown above. For its part, the Sudanese government has found in the paralysis of the SPLM-N an excuse to continue the humanitarian blockade that it has maintained on SPLM-N-controlled areas since the resumption of the armed conflict in 2011. The Sudanese government has ordered warplanes and armored vehicles from its usual weapons suppliers and presided over the graduation of thousands of new fighters for its paramilitary forces, namely the infamous Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The RSF is now integrated into the Sudanese national army, possibly in preparation for a resumption of hostilities with the SPLM-N after the conclusion of the current unilateral cessation of hostilities, which the two sides have largely respected, each for their own reasons. An open-ended leadership crisis within the SPLM-N will prolong the suffering of the populations in Blue Nile and South Kordofan states that have put their faith in the movement to lead their decades-long struggle for an end to the economic, social, and cultural marginalization suffered at the hands of the Sudanese government. Such a leadership crisis would constitute a major obstacle to the just peace and prosperity that the people in these areas have long sought but have yet to achieve. Most ominously, the discord in the SPLM-N leadership has spilled over into deadly confrontations between supporters and opponents of Chairman Agar in parts of SPLM-N-held areas in Blue Nile and in camps across the border in South Sudan for refugees from Sudan’s Blue Nile state. Dozens of people have lost their lives in these clashes. Also concerning are reports of incidents of intimidation in the Nuba Mountains, the support base of El-Hilu, by those who support El-Hilu against those who support Arman and Agar. Some party members have subsequently left the area. A protracted standstill in the SPLM-N leadership could cause the situation to spiral beyond the control of the leaders, adding to the suffering of the populations that the movement should be supporting and protecting. While regional mediators and their international backers are ill-placed to mediate internal rifts within one party to the negotiations, they should communicate their concerns about the risks associated with such rifts to the leaders involved and impress upon them the need to avert the worst. Regional and international actors should engage constructively, not remain on the sidelines of this dispute or appear to be siding with one party or the other. Regional and international actors should actively encourage both sides of the SPLM-N divide to agree to address the worsening humanitarian situation in South Kordofan and Blue Nile and mitigate the real risks of escalating ethnic strife resulting from their differences through constructive and collaborative arrangements. Ultimately, no lasting solutions to the conflict in the Two Areas is achievable without the Sudanese government agreeing to end the historic economic and political marginalization of Sudan’s periphery regions and treating all of its citizens as equals. An opposition that is consumed by its own divisions has even less of a chance to press for such significant concessions from the autocratic regime of President Omar al-Bashir.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line690
__label__wiki	0.662846	0.662846	Dream Jobs: Professional Polo Player Sunny Hale Sunny Hale has conquered her goals and inspired many fans with her equestrian career. by Karen Braschayko From winning titles to developing tournaments, Sunny Hale has become a passionate ambassador for the players and horses of polo. Her life of adventure and travel began young, and she has not stopped smashing barriers ever since. In 2000, she made history and achieved her life’s top ambition by becoming the first woman in history to win the U.S. Open Polo Championship, the premier polo tournament in the United States. She has earned the highest rating ever for a female player and has received the honor Woman Polo Player of the Year seven times. Hale was inducted into the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in 2012, which recognizes not only her achievements as an individual but also her fervent work for others in her sport and beyond. Sunny Hale is the first woman in history to win the U.S. Open Polo Championship, the premier polo tournament in the United States. Photo by Bill Barbosa. Hale’s family life was built around their polo business near Carmel, California. Born to polo legend Sue Sally Hale, who disguised her gender to play on polo teams when female players were not permitted, Sunset “Sunny” Hale grew up as the third of five children. Her parents divorced when she was young, so Hale and her siblings helped their mother operate the family horse business from childhood. After trying many equestrian sports, Hale knew from a young age that polo was her incomparable passion. She played in her first tournament at age 10 and started giving lessons to adults at age 12. Hale began competing regularly as a teen, and she hasn’t stopped traveling the world, playing beside the sport’s top players, and coaching polo since then. She became a professional around the age of 20, the first woman ever paid to play polo and one of the first females to compete at the highest levels among men. Hale has continued her mother’s quest to open polo to all genders and all persons. She had met many enthusiastic female players in her travels, and in 2005 she had the idea of networking them together via the Women’s Championship Tournament (WCT), a series of qualifiers culminating in an international event for female players. Hale played on the 1990 U.S. Women’s Open championship team with her mom and her sister Stormie, which was a historical moment venerating her mother’s decades of contributions. While making more room for women in polo, Hale has expanded opportunities for all. She advertises polo as a wonderful sport for horse lovers of all incomes, all ages, and all skill levels. Hale has produced several opportunities to broaden her sport and raise the professionalism of its practice. By founding the American Polo Horse Association (APHA) in 2006, Hale created a way to classify and trace polo ponies. Polo can be played on any breed of horse, such as Thoroughbreds, Arabians, Appaloosas, Quarter Horses and crosses, and until the registry no one realized how many of the top horses were related. Each polo horse can now have an online profile to track their statistics, record breeding, and credit their contributions to the sport. The website also provides links to find polo ponies for sale and promotes the grooms who care for them. Here Hale shares how she balances her adventurous life of travel, sport, work and advocacy – and how she became a leader in her field. Karen Braschayko for Equitrekking: What is your background with horses? How did you get hooked on playing polo? Sunny Hale: I was introduced to polo and horses by my mom at a very young age. I tried several other horse sports such as show jumping and eventing, but polo was definitely my passion. I have been riding since before I could walk, and in fact I even did some showing at about three to four years old on my pony Pistol Pete. Horses of any breed are welcome on the polo field, and Hale partnered with the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) to alert owners of this opportunity. I became a professional player after a lot of dedication and hard work. I started at a young age – practicing, traveling and competing in polo tournaments. Early on, I had the realization that polo was all I wanted to do. Equitrekking: What was your path to becoming the first woman to win the U.S. Open Polo Championship? Sunny Hale: It was not any journey that sounds like it’s supposed to lead there. My path to winning the U.S. Open truly was born in the fact that ever since I can remember, even as a kid, no matter what I faced, I knew I had this dream I wanted to achieve. I never told anyone, but my dream since childhood was to play polo among the best players in the world – because they asked me to be there. I wanted this to be based only on me earning it with my skills as a player and no special circumstances. Winning the U.S. Open with the Outback Steakhouse Polo Team was a byproduct of that dream and absolute icing on the cake. The actual way I got on the team is truly a story in itself. I was not on the original roster. The team had been reorganized by the owner and his team captain Adolfo Cambiaso (who was the best player in the world at the time) during the warm up tournaments. It was there that they chose me to be on the team, picking me over any player at my same handicap in the world, male or female. So, I didn't have as much prep time as everyone else. It was game on, and I couldn't wait to get started! This opportunity came after years of competing as a professional player. I had played on all levels of the sport with and against the best male professionals in the world. Equitrekking: What have been your most rewarding moments as a professional polo player? Sunny Hale: The best parts of my career are the relationships I’ve built with great horses, the camaraderie I feel with teammates in the heat of battle, and seeing the world while doing what I love. I have achieved one of my most important goals, and I did it on the terms that I wanted. I have had so many rewarding moments that it's hard to count. But, truly the best part has been living out one of my main dreams. That is priceless. I knew from an early age that I had a couple of unspoken dreams, and I got to achieve the biggest of them. Currently, I love seeing the growth and enthusiasm of top level women's polo. We have connected players around the world through the Women's Championship Tournament (WCT) series, which I started in 2005. Women now represent one of the largest growing sectors in our sport today. Hale has helped organize many tournaments, including those that raise awareness for a good cause. Equitrekking: What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced? Sunny Hale: Truly, the biggest challenge I've ever faced in my career has been to keep silent and add no comment when someone has tried to discourage me. Over the years, many people have felt the need to tell me what they thought I shouldn't try or shouldn’t do. Especially, there were people who heard I was on track to get on big teams and felt the need to tell me that I would never make it. They had to come tell me some hurdle they knew about. That was the toughest thing, to smile quietly as they spoke and think to myself, "I am going after it, and I will get it, and I'm not sure what you just said but I did see that your lips were moving." The inspiration I've felt within myself and witnessed affecting other people when I lived out what I wanted for myself – that was absolutely worth every second of restraint I practiced in those discouraging moments. Equitrekking: What is a typical day like for you, if there is such a thing? Sunny Hale: Ha! There is no "normal” day, and that seems to be a reoccurring fact. Actually, at this point in my career I have a completely different schedule than I used to. The last chapter's schedule involved a ton of time daily training horses, practicing and riding. I was maintaining a rotating string of horses to play in polo leagues of all levels, which takes a huge amount of time, especially if you like to do things right. In this current chapter, I spend my time working to grow the two organizations I started. The American Polo Horse Association (APHA) is a polo pony registry, and the Women's Championship Tournament (WCT) is currently the largest women's polo tournament series in the world. Both organizations are one of a kind, because neither idea existed in America at the time I started them. They are built from what I saw we needed in our sport. These days I have a heavy travel schedule of playing and promoting women's polo around the world. Also, for the first time in my life I am working with a top-notch personal trainer, fitness model and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) competitor named Michael Mancini. He has brought a whole new level of inspiration to the equation and expanded my future goals for myself. Sunny Hale has been training with MMA competitor Michael Mancini to raise her fitness level for polo. There just seems to be no normal anywhere in my experience. It’s a constant evolution. Equitrekking: What do you want people to know about polo? Sunny Hale: Polo is an amazing sport that has been around for over 2,000 years. It is one of the most fun equine sports you could possibly participate in, especially if you are competitive. Warning: polo is addicting! Polo is also very welcoming to spectators, and most clubs do not charge admission. They encourage fieldside tailgating, where fans get to mingle on the sidelines sharing food and drinks as the game rushes by you. Equitrekking: Tell us about starting the American Polo Horse Association. What inspired you to track the careers of these horses, and what has the organization accomplished? Sunny Hale: I felt that it was really important to recognize the equine side of polo as well as to provide a place to find verifiable information on the horses. Until I started the APHA in 2006, this type of registry did not exist in America. So far, the APHA has accomplished a lot. We’ve formed a place to recognize polo ponies in America through our website, Facebook page and awards. We’ve produced a database of polo ponies that is free to search, established a platform to connect the polo pony industry with polo pony enthusiasts around the world, and launched the National Polo Pony Show. In the works, we’re creating a platform for corporate interests to gain exposure to this network of people. I feel polo is a unique equine consumer industry that until now has never been identified as such. Sunny Hale has worked for decades as a passionate ambassador of the polo sport, welcoming anyone who would like to play. Photo by R. Bollenbach. Equitrekking: What advice would you give to someone who wants to try polo? Sunny Hale: Absolutely go give it a try. Don't hesitate. Polo is open to everyone. In fact, it is one of the fastest ways to learn how to ride if you have never ridden. Equitrekking: What advice would you give to someone who wants to make a career in the equine industry, as you have? Sunny Hale: If that's what you love, then go for it, but be prepared to put in long hours if you want to do it right. Realize there are no more “9 to 5” normal days or weeks. The day ends when the horses are tucked in, happy and healthy, and sometimes they cause a ruckus in your plans. But the result is a lifelong relationship with one of the greatest animals ever created, and that is worth every second. Catch up with Sunny Hale on her Facebook page, Sunny Hale Polo. Karen Braschayko is a freelance writer and horse lover who lives in Michigan. « Back to Expert Equestrian Articles Adolfo Cambiaso American Polo Horse Association Appaloosas AQHA dream jobs dream jobs for equestrians dream jobs for horse lovers equestrian career equestrian careers equestrian dream jobs equestrian employment equestrian industry equine career equine careers equine employment equine jobs horse industry horse riding jobs jobs in the horse industry jobs with horses jobs working with horses Michael Mancini National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame National Polo Pony Show polo horse polo lesson polo pony polo tournament Sue Sally Hale Sunny Hale U.S. Open Polo Championship Women's Championship Tournament	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line691
__label__cc	0.571906	0.428094	OP-e Analysis & commentary on immigration, LGBT, AAPI, & nonprofit issues Tag: Ferguson Demonizing Darren Wilson November 26, 2014 November 26, 2014 ~ Erwin de Leon ~ Leave a comment I want so much to demonize Darren Wilson, the Ferguson police officer who fatally shot Michael Brown, especially after seeing clips of his interview with George Stephanopoulos. How could he calmly say that he’d do it over again and that his conscience is clear, when he had killed an unarmed teenager? How could I not be outraged when he is now given a national platform to tell his version of the truth while Michael Brown’s truth died with him? It would not be the first time I’d demonize another person and make him the embodiment of injustices suffered. I severed ties with a childhood friend for opposing equal rights for gay families like mine. He had become both the patronizing face of straight privilege and oppressive voice of conservative Christianity. I quit a job and blamed a former boss for passing me over because I happen to be a brown immigrant. He had come to represent racism, and my promoted colleague, the beneficiary of white privilege. Darren Wilson needs to be held accountable for his actions. But what good would demonizing him do? Focusing our rage on one man will not change things. Making Wilson the scapegoat only enflames emotions and festers our collective wounds. We are distracted from the root causes – individual and systemic racism, militarization of police forces, residential segregation, educational and wealth disparities, media and information silos – and fail to act in ways that can bring about real change. There are no clear and easy answers. But we can begin by educating ourselves and understanding how Michael Brown’s death and Darren Wilson’s freedom from indictment have become the norm. We can ask ourselves how we are complicit and figure out ways we can chip away at what can feel overwhelming and appear intractable. We need to do something, but demonizing others is not it. Ferguson and Filipinos: What’s It Got to Do with Us? August 25, 2014 ~ Erwin de Leon ~ Leave a comment Image: Members of the Asian American community at UC Davis. The protests in Ferguson, Missouri have calmed down, in stark contrast to the initial days of violence incited by the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, by a white policeman and spurred by a militarized police response and general insensitivity to the majority African American community. The issue, however, is far from settled. I’m not talking about the various versions of how the senseless murder took place. I am talking about the fact that African Americans as a group live a harsher, more disadvantaged, and segregated reality than other racial/ethnic groups in a country that is supposed to value freedom, equality, and justice. Consider some statistics listed by Monique W. Morris, co-founder of the National Black Women’s Justice Institute: The unemployment rate for African Americans with a four-year college degree is 8 percent, almost double the unemployment rate for similarly educated whites; The current real median income for African American households is 16.8 percent lower than its pre-2001 recession peak; 42 percent of African American children are educated in high-poverty schools, compared to 38 percent of Latino children, 15 percent of Asian and Pacific Islander children, and 6 percent of white children; African American youth make up 16 percent of public school students nationwide but account for 35 percent of suspensions and 39 percent of expulsions; Only 16 percent of persons under the age of 18 nationwide are African American but 32 percent of total juvenile arrests are of African American youth; and 25 percent of elderly African American voters, compared with 8 percent of elderly whites, do not possess the identification that would be required under new photo-ID laws introduced in 40 states before the 2012 election. In addition to systemic and structural disadvantages, African Americans are subject daily to racism, their lives determined in large part by the color of their skin. Racist stereotypes of black men and youth persist, which lead white police officers to profile, target, beat up, and indiscriminately shoot unarmed citizens – and black parents to instruct their children to be wary of the very people who are supposed to protect them. The shooting of another unarmed black youth and the alternate reality of African Americans leave me profoundly saddened and exhausted by Race in America, a cancer that festers, seemingly incurable. Yet I can hear some kababayans, fellow Filipinos, and other Asians asking what Ferguson has to do with us. I say look at the mirror and open your eyes. We too are people of color and we share a whole lot more with African Americans, more than with whites, and more than some of us would like to admit. First, as Asians, we share a history of being brought here to provide cheap labor while being denied basic rights. In the 1800s, Chinese were drawn to the United States to mine for gold and build the Transcontinental Railroad. Yet it didn’t take long for Chinese immigrants to be lynched and murdered during the anti-Chinese movement. In 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act effectively ended immigration from China and prevented Chinese immigrants and their native-born children from becoming U.S. citizens. The U.S. annexation of the Philippines at the turn of the 20th century attracted Filipinos to work the canneries in Alaska and farms in California. In 1929, anti-Filipino riots erupted in California, after Filipino men displaced white farm hands and socialized with white women. In 1941, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 which revoked the rights of Japanese Americans and sent over 100,000 women, men, and children to internment camps scattered throughout the United States. Five years later, President Truman signed the Rescission Act of 1946 which took away veterans benefits pledged to 250,000 Filipino service members who courageously fought for America in World War II. Today, we are valorized as being model minorities – hard-working, acquiescent, and agreeable – so long as we act the part and keep our place. Following Ferguson, Colorlines reporter Julianne Hing points out that we and other Asians in America are faced with three choices: invisibility, complicity, or resistance. In a letter to supporters of 18 Million Rising, Pakou Her, the Asian American group’s campaign director, writes As Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Ferguson is a call to action and solidarity. While our experiences with racism are not the same as the trauma of racism lived by Black people, there are plenty of reasons to be enraged about the damage being wrought by systemic oppression. If we as AAPIs fail to act, if we remain silent and choose to fill the shoes of the “model minority,” we have chosen the side of oppression. So, which do you choose? Will you remain silent and feed the racial cancer we all suffer? Or will you act? Nasa inyo na ‘yan, it’s your call. Originally posted in The FilAm. 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__label__wiki	0.781066	0.781066	John Marshall and Kevin McGuinness Appointed to Ellex Board Adelaide, 15 October 2007 – Ellex Medical Lasers Limited (ASX:ELX), a global leader in the design and manufacture of ophthalmic laser and ultrasound systems, announced today the appointment of Professor John Marshall and Kevin McGuinness to its board of directors to underpin the growth strategy of the company. Following two successful acquisitions and a capital raising in the past twelve months, Ellex’s expanded board provides experience and industry specific knowledge to guide the company through its next phase of growth. Professor John Marshall is an internationally recognized expert on laser and light bio-effects in the field of ophthalmology. He is currently Frost Professor of Ophthalmology at the Rayne Institute and Head of the Department of Ophthalmology at United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals, University of London. Professor Marshall is also the Chairman of Ellex’s Medical Advisory Board. Professor Marshall is the co inventor of the world’s first diode laser for ophthalmology and the inventor of excimer laser technology for refractive surgery. During the past thirty years, his research has shed light on the mechanism underlying age-related, diabetic and inherited retinal disease, and on the development of lasers for use in ophthalmic diagnosis and surgery. Kevin McGuinness joined Ellex in October 2002 as Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary. He was appointed Chief Operating Officer in May 2006. Mr. McGuinness has over 20 years of senior financial and operational management experience in public and private companies. He was formerly Chief Financial Officer of Nautilus Australia Limited, an ASX-listed company with annual revenues of A$90 million. Prior to this, he was Director of Finance and Operations of Urban Pacific Limited a subsidiary of Macquarie Bank Ltd, where he managed commercial and financial elements of complex development projects. “John and Kevin are excellent additions to the Ellex board during a period of growth and transition,” said Victor Previn, Chairman of the Board at Ellex. “John’s global stature and track record developing new technologies in ophthalmology will help Ellex identify and act on the best opportunities to leverage our ophthalmic sales platform and further grow our business. Kevin’s knowledge of our operations and finance expertise will better serve our shareholders as a member of our board in addition to his role as COO.” Ellex Medical Lasers Limited (ASX:ELX) designs, manufactures and markets a complete line of lasers and diagnostic ultrasound systems used by ophthalmologists to diagnose and treat eye diseases. With more than 12,000 systems delivered to the market, Ellex has evolved since 1985 from a manufacturing company of primarily OEM products, to direct marketing of its own branded products through subsidiaries in the United States, Japan and Australia, and a network of distribution partners in more than 100 countries. In December 2006 Ellex acquired Innovative Imaging, a leading provider of diagnostic ultrasound devices for ophthalmology, initiating the expansion of its product line beyond lasers. Ellex maintains a strong emphasis on intellectual property and research into new and better treatments to manage and treat the leading causes of blindness.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line693
__label__wiki	0.930375	0.930375	Lawsuit over Stairway to Heaven By jim6225, May 18, 2014 in News Blue-Eyed Merle Location:The Air Above the Din 10 hours ago, luvlz2 said: Jimmy looks dynamite! Mithril46 Location:Smithtown, NY I love the way Robert talks, having heard/read quite a few the last 5-10 yrs., interviews. And he hardly seemed rattled from the lawsuit debacle. However the description of what he and his band does, as if they were creating some fantastic holographic universe of music and sound, well, each to their own. Robert remains a fantastic singer despite anything. The ideas and obscure "ethnic" musics Robert wants to stir into his mix, I've said before, he needs higher caliber musicians. And the piracy thing, YouTube, etc., if you're a musician 20 yrs old now, and you became successful , getting a huge record company deal probably wasn't even thought about. Of course Robert is very rich and there are plenty of much less successful artists from the past who are denied royalties, very unfair, you are talking about musicians in poverty. Location:Missouri USA Higher caliber musicians? Get real. The ones he's used on his last few albums are outstanding. smh zeplz71 Location:LA http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/ozzy-osbourne-led-zep-trial-was-waste-of-f--king-time Ozzy Osbourne: Led Zeppelin Trial Was 'Waste of F--king Time' "That group is fucking phenomenal," Black Sabbath singer says. "Why would they rip anybody off?" Ozzy Osbourne cannot believe that Led Zeppelin had to defend themselves in court last month, when a man representing the group Spirit alleged they'd ripped off that band's instrumental "Taurus" to write "Stairway to Heaven." "It's fucking crazy, actually," the Black Sabbath singer tells Rolling Stone as part of an interview that will publish in full in the future. "That should have never gone to court. I heard the original thing, and there's just a slight similarity. It's like saying any fucking song with that kind of a guitar on it is a rip-off. It's not fair. There's only so many fucking notes on a guitar, and it wasn't that much like 'Stairway to Heaven.' I'm amazed it lasted so fucking long, you know?" "You listen to 'All Right Now' by Free and you listen to Steve Miller's 'Rock'n Me,' and it's exactly the same riff and they haven't sued each other," he continues. "It's exactly the same." After a weeklong trial, the jury ultimately sided with Led Zeppelin in the case, which dated back to a 2014 filing. The Black Sabbath singer can't believe it lasted as long as it did. "I've met John Bonham; I've met all of them," he says. "That group is fucking phenomenal. What do they need a fucking songwriter for? Why would they rip anybody off? It's just a waste of fucking time. I'm really surprised it went to court. It's fucking crazy. "They don't deserve it," he continues. "It's like, do you honestly think they'll sit there and go, 'Oh, we'll steal this and change it a bit like this so it sells.' Fuck. Give me a break. The song that was played was kind of a bit similar but it was only the chord sequence." Osbourne, a native of Birmingham, England, knew Led Zeppelin's members casually before they were famous, as some of them lived there in the late Sixties. "We were friendly with John Bonham and Robert Plant," he says. "Robert's a great singer. He's one of the greats. He was very influential on a lot of singers in his day. I haven't seen Robert for a long time. I hope he's all right." Even after both bands made it onto the charts, they continued to hang out, with Bonham occasionally asking to sit in on Bill Ward's drums early on. Classic Rock reports that in 1975, Led Zeppelin joined Sabbath in the studio during their Sabotage sessions for a jam on Sabbath's "Supernaut." When Rolling Stone asks Osbourne about the jam, he says he can still picture it. "Jimmy Page wasn't there, but John Paul Jones, Robert Plant and John Bonham were there," he says. "And we just had a jam. It was all right. It was just a jam." It was just all right? "I just jammed out, you know?" Osbourne says. "I can't think back on it now, like, 'Whoa, we just jammed with Zeppelin.' It's just what we did. We were all stoned anyway." Wolfman Location:The Darkest Depths of Mordor Jeff Beck on the lawsuit: http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/7438982/jeff-beck-beck01-loud-hailer-stairway-to-heaven-lawsuit Outside of his own busy schedule, Beck was also paying close attention to the Led Zeppelin "Stairway To Heaven" plagiarism case, partly as an interested musician, but just as much as a longtime friend and music mate of Jimmy Page. "I had to smirk because I knew that Jimmy and Robert would come out on top," Beck says. "Apparently you can't copyright a chord sequence. It has to have a lyric or some kind of a meaningful melody to be copyrighted. And it is a chord sequence which has been used loads of times, but not in such an iconic way. It clearly is the same chord sequence [as Spirit's 'Taurus'], but then we're all guilty of stealing a chord sequence and sticking some words on top of it. So I think it's a bit of bravado to try to bring it to court, but Jimmy came out ahead. So, lucky Old Jim!" sam_webmaster LEDZEPPELIN.COM ADMIN Location:Great White North from Jimmy Page today: "A few weeks have past since the judgement of the Stairway to Heaven case in Los Angeles, with the jury reaching a unanimous decision in a remarkably short time. Throughout the lengthy journey to that verdict, and even more recently, I have received and been aware of the overwhelming wave of support, encouragement, and congratulations that has been deeply moving." "I’d like to take this opportunity to personally thank all those who contributed such a positive energy to me." www.jimmypage.com Jimmy, you are a gentleman, indeed. Please know that on any given day, there is tremendous positive energy directed to you. It is truly remarkable! ❤️ Thanks for posting, Sam! KellyGirl Location:U S A 10 hours ago, Ddladner said: Awww this was sweet of Jimmy!! Very nicely put Ddladner!! Our girl minds thinking alike!! Always sending the good vibes to my fave musician!! sixpense 12 minutes ago, Walter said: It will go down like a Lead Zeppelin! 23 hours ago, KellyGirl said: 41 minutes ago, sixpense said: Absolutely! I don't know how Malofiy can even pursue this. Even for a lawyer, he is such a money grubbing, attention seeking, ambulance chasing, scum bag! Of course, he couldn't keep goin if he didn't have $ support behind him.... Good grief! ZepDomi 15 hours ago, Walter said: Who's the bigger scumbag, Malofiy or Skidmore? At what point does Skidmore actually act like the trustee to the estate that he's supposed to be? Wow, everybody involved on the plaintiff's side are p a i n f u l l y annoying. I can feel a rant coming on when it comes to everybody from that cockroach they call a lawyer, to the sisters who say this is for the kids.... and only the kids. I don't see this appeal having any legs though. It's not going anywhere. I'm just turned off at how greedy Randy's family and friends can be. His own son isn't even part of this. That tells me all I need to know about those tied to his estate. Damn vultures. Edited July 26, 2016 by KellyGirl 3 hours ago, ZepDomi said: That's what my last sentence was referring to. He couldn't pursue this without $ backing. Tea41 Location:NY They need to give it up, and get some real music of their own instead of parasitically clinging to Zeppelin's talent for $. Skidmark needs to get a life. This stupid song Taurus isn't even worth a listen much less a lawsuit, Spirit needs to stop flattering themselves and delusionally thinking they are worth comparing to Led Zeppelin even for a second. Taurus is so unmemorable, these maggots must have alot of cash to keep suing Zep. They will keep losing. The picture posted before with Page with the dark sunglasses and hilarious comical smile on his face, with Plant and Jones, is the best way to see this appeal. I wouldn't even bother following this anymore, because it's not like there was any point in the trial where the plaintiffs were seriously gaining momentum. I'm sure that Jimmy, although more serious than lighthearted, will have many belated laughs about this debacle with friends and family. Balthazor Location:Wisconsin Most of the stories I've read about this appeal include the line: "The filing does not provide legal arguments for why the case should be reconsidered." This is a little baffling to me. Without any legal arguments for reconsideration, wouldn't it just be dead on arrival? I mean what, does the filing say "we think this case should be reconsidered...just because"? Maybe filings of this kind don't normally include legal arguments, the stories aren't real clear on that. Seems like an incredible long shot that this appeal would even be taken seriously, I can't imagine any judge allowing it to move forward. #1fan Location:crosby, mn They were not allowed to play both songs, had to go by sheet music and a piano, he wants the jury to hear the songs. it could be bad if some jury members think it sounds the same. Edited July 30, 2016 by #1fan On 7/30/2016 at 4:12 PM, #1fan said: Yeah but I highly doubt that's going to be enough to grant an appeal, because it would require basically retroactively changing the law to do so. If the sheet music was all that was copyrighted prior to 1972 then that's what they have to go on. Appeals are typically granted on the basis of either some kind of judicial error or malfeasance, or on the basis of new evidence coming to light. It'll be extremely hard for them to argue that a judge following the law represents judicial error or malfeasance. This is incorrect. Before deliberation, the jury asked to hear both songs, the known recorded final versions as they appear on the records, and immediately voted unanimously there was no infringement. The appeal will go nowhere. Edited August 2, 2016 by Tea41 PlanetPage http://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/art-and-culture/theres-a-songbird-who-steals-2917845/ Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven: There’s a songbird who steals? Even if the band had lost the lawsuit, Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven would be still be on top of the charts. Share to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to Google+Share to LinkedInShare to Email Written by Akhil Sood \| Published:July 17, 2016 12:00 am For years, Led Zeppelin have been accused of lifting parts of Jimmy Page’s intro of Stairway to Heaven from another song. (Source: Andrew Smith) In countries more developed than ours, you have massive guitar stores, with a designated area where you can plug the guitars into the amps available and test them out. Most of these shops will have a sign in the area, warning all former and future guitar virtuosos that they’ll be kicked out if they play Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven. This song has p***ed off the employees so much that it’s now banned (along with a select few others: Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple, AC/DC’s Highway to Hell, and Hotel California by Eagles). What the river knows Khashaba Jadhav: Forgotten story of India's first individual Olympic medallist Invasion of the Cute Monsters Rio 2016 Olympics a chance at liberation for Indian women’s hockey team Down in Jungleland: The nature of things It’s an impossible task to evaluate the worth of a single song and locate its place in the history of rock ‘n’ roll, so the best we can do is judge it by anecdotal evidence and causality. Inspiring thousands of children to pick up the guitar to learn it should fare quite high on the basis of these parameters, I think. Today, 45 years later, even in India, you’ll have pre-pubescent chumps buying a rackety Givson guitar for Rs 3,000 and forcing their parents to pay for a guitar teacher. “Screw scales and exercises,” they say, “I want to learn Stairway to Heaven.” It’s a testament to the longevity of a single melody, which steers the song into such lofty heights, developing new lives with each passing movement. For what it’s worth, the relevance of this song has not waned (And I say this as a sceptic, one who staunchly refuses to commit to the cult of Led Zeppelin.) There’s no such thing as a perfect song, of course; if there were, there’d be no need to write or listen to any new music. We’d just play that thing on loop until rigor mortis. But you have all these little self-contained rules and regulations to judge just how important a song really is. Being a source of inspiration is a major factor, but so is the obsession it can elicit. Music fans tend to, by nature, be a nerdy lot who’ll internalise music to worrying degrees, getting lost in the process. Like that time one sadsack young fan decided he liked Stairway to Heaven so much that he just had to play it backwards. Thus began the discovery of those mythical Satanic proclamations that are apparently embedded in the song. Inciting such rabid commitment has to stand for something. There’s a case to be made about the musicianship and the songwriting: how so much of what we hear in the mainstream is essentially rehashing old tropes and tricking our brains into mistaking familiarity for fondness. Some songs are simple and catchy, so we like them (like everything the Beatles wrote before they discovered drugs). Some aren’t, but they’re well-crafted, so we like them anyway (like everything the Beatles wrote after). Stairway to Heaven falls somewhere in the middle: it’s not exactly a simple three-chord song, and has plenty of dynamics in its arrangement. But it’s not some grand display of virtuosity either. It’s just a really solid rock ‘n’ roll song with that little something extra. I don’t know them personally, but the guys in the band sound like horrible people. They took the “sex, drugs, rock ‘n’ roll” template to its logical extreme — the tragic death of drummer John Bonham is a case in point. And yet all’s forgiven. In fact, they’re venerated for their recklessness. They’re icons of rock ‘n’ roll, to the point that so much of the music that came after them was really either a continuation of what they did, or a counter-response to it. Photo of Led Zepplin – (L-R) John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Bonham – posed, group shot, sitting on car bonnet – first photo session with WEA Records in London in December 1968. (Photo by Dick Barnatt/Redferns) You can’t attribute all of that to just one song, but it does help. It has that transcendental quality that unites opposing factions. You can play it at a house party and no one minds; play it on a “Bollywood night”, an “EDM night”, or just at a dive bar with crackly speakers, and no one minds. The reaction is always one of thrill or wistful nostalgia. So you judge the band less harshly. That softened stance becomes all the more important given recent events. They have, since before this writer was even born, been facing accusations that the memorable intro by Jimmy Page features parts they lifted from the guitar line of a song called Taurus, by an obscure ’60s psychedelic band called Spirit, who they crossed paths with back in the day. The suit was finally filed in 2014, and, last month, Led Zeppelin was found not guilty of plagiarism. It doesn’t mean they didn’t steal it, though —just that a jury decided that they hadn’t. That’s the thing: anything truly famous and remarkable will inevitably be followed by persistent accusations of dishonesty and intellectual theft (just ask Anu Malik). Sometimes it’s because of the endless maze of copyright laws, where copying certain things is permitted, like a chord progression, but copy a guitar line and you’re dead meat. It get more complex when you bring a tribute or homage into the picture. The reason why people commit crimes is not because we’re immoral; it’s because the laws are impossible to fully understand. The answer is rarely black-and-white, but the conversation itself — and how closely it’s followed by people — signifies its relevance in contemporary culture. And just for that, Stairway to Heaven has now become an even more important song in the grand scheme of things. Akhil Sood is a Delhi-based musician and journalist. Edited August 4, 2016 by PlanetPage juxtiphi Location:Ma. Great deal of back handed slapping in that article. I don't know Akhil Sood personally but reading this article makes me think he is a horrible person.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line695
__label__cc	0.721543	0.278457	« Great moments in sports – from the other side! Job hunting? – It’s a “HAPPENing”! » Some thoughts about major league baseball teams – part 1 October 5, 2009 by gcbrown1956 You might say this is a sequel of sorts to my recent blog post about the New York Yankees. And comes from the same inspiration – a sleepless night back in August when I got thinking about what comes to mind when you mention major league baseball teams. In the case of the Yankees, it led to a separate blog entry. No doubt it will for other teams too – especially my favourite team, the Dodgers. But for now, let’s just do a few lines about some of the other franchises. Let’s start with the American League East, working in alphabetical order. Baltimore Orioles: An interesting organization with a proud history – originally as the St. Louis Browns before they moved to Baltimore in 1954. My first memory of the Orioles was back in 1966 when they swept my Dodgers in the World Series. Even back then as a 10 year old kid I remember feeling rather disappointed. Those Orioles went on to become one of the great teams of the 1960’s and 1970’s. Wonderful pitching led by guys like Jim Palmer, Dave McNally, Pat Dobson, Moe Drabowsky, Mike Flanagan, Milt Pappas and Mike Cuellar. Supported by outstanding players such as Mark Belanger, Davey Johnson, Boog Powell, Larry Harlow, Don Buford, Pat Kelly, Curt Blefary, Andy Etchebarren, Elrod Hendricks, Ken Singleton, Eddie Murray, John Lowenstein and Paul Blair – just to name a few! No description of those great Orioles teams would be complete without the Robinsons – Brooks and Frank. Two great players who really helped define the team. Some have said that Brooks Robinson may be the greatest third baseman of all time. I have little or no argument with that idea. They were managed by one of the best in the business, the colourful and highly respected Earl Weaver. In more recent years, the Orioles are likely best known for Cal Ripken Jr.. The man who broke Lou Gehrig’s consecutive game streak and one of the greatest players of modern times. I still remember watching the game in September 1995 when he broke the record. A great evening, and a wonderful salute to an achievement which some said could never be done. If you want to talk about today’s Orioles and their influence on major league baseball, then you simply must mention Oriole Park at Camden Yards, the stadium where the Orioles have played since 1992. Although no one could have known this at the time, the stadium touched off a flurry of new ballparks around North America. Just like Camden Yards, those stadiums in cities like San Francisco, Seattle, New York (both the Mets and Yankees!), Denver, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Detroit, Cincinnati and Cleveland have the “look and feel” of the old-time ballparks, but added the modern technology and state-of-the-art amenities that today’s fans have come to expect. Can you say luxury suites? Private boxes? In a classic old-time atmosphere? Maybe so, and you can say it in many American cities. But it all started in Baltimore, and that’s why I mention it when commenting on the Orioles. Sad to say, but in more recent times the Orioles have slipped and not had too many winning seasons. But I wish them well, and hope that it won’t be long before Baltimore becomes a contender again. They owe it to Ripken, the Robinsons and all the other great Orioles of the past to return the franchise to its former glory. I’ll be cheering them on, and watching with interest. Boston Red Sox: Ah yes – the Red Sox. A few weeks ago, I talked about their classic rivalry with the Yankees, and in particular how it reminded me of the Star Wars movies. Probably the most heated rivalry in all of baseball and one of the greatest in all of sports. They are the “big boys” – baseball’s answer to the military arms race. Reminds me of that famous Irving Berlin song: “Anything you can do, I can do better. I can do anything better than you. No you can’t. Yes I can…” But since I talked about the rivalry in another blog entry, there’s no need to go further. When I think of the Red Sox, I think of great players like Bobby Doer, Joe Cronin, Johnny Pesky, Lefty Grove, Fred Lynn, Jimmie Foxx, Bill Lee, Luis Tiant, Rico Petrocelli, Rick Burleson, Nomar Garciaparra, Wade Boggs, Jim Lonborg, Bernie Carbo, Ken Harrelson, Dwight Evans, Carlton Fisk, Roger Clemens, Curt Schilling and so many others who played in the shadow of Fenway Park’s historic Green Monster. And of course, the legendary Yaz and perhaps the greatest Red Sox of them all, Ted Williams. I think of images such as game 6 of the 1975 World Series. Carlton Fisk’s classic home run. And watching him jump along the first baseline “willing” the ball to be fair. Then jumping for joy when it was. Or the playoff against the Yankees 3 years later when Bucky Dent hit the homer than dashed the Sox hopes for another year. Also known as Bucky “F*&#king” Dent to millions of New Englanders. I think of the 86 year drought and so many near-misses along the way. Losing game 7 in both 1946 and 1967 to the Cardinals. The aforementioned 1978 playoff at Fenway against their hated rivals from New York. Or the ground ball that went under Bill Buckner’s glove in game 6 of the 1986 Series against New York’s “other” ball team at Shea Stadium and then losing game 7 to the Mets the next night. Or the incredible comeback against the Yankees in 2004 and then winning it all against those same Cardinals a few days later. How appropriate that 2 teams who had denied the Sox so many times in the past contributed to the long-awaited Series win. And finally, is there any geographic region so attached to their sports team as New England is to the Red Sox? I doubt it. I saw it first hand growing up in Montreal and in many trips to Vermont, New Hampshire and the rest of NE as a child. The Sox are practically part of the DNA code of every New Englander, and I suspect that will always be the case. I wish them all the best. New York Yankees: Given that my last blog entry was a rather extensive discussion of this team and their wonderful and historic tradition, there’s probably no need to elaborate further. Except to say that as I write this in early October 2009, the Yankees are once again favoured to appear in the World Series. If they make it, it would be their 40th American League pennant. No one else is even close. And they could repeat history. In 1923, the first year of historic old Yankee Stadium they won the World Series. 2009 marked the opening of their brand new state-of-the-art ballpark to replace it, also known as Yankee Stadium. And just as they did 86 years ago, they just might celebrate the opening of a new stadium with yet another World Series championship. Aside from St. Louis in 2006, they’re the only franchise in modern baseball history to win the Series in their stadium’s first year. Will they accomplish the “double” later this fall? Time wil tell! Tampa Bay Rays: This is a fascinating team, with a strange history. At least to me. For the first 10 years or so, the team was just awful. They were known back then as the “Devil Rays”. Terrible uniforms and logo. Easily the worst team on the field. Almost no fan support. Totally off the radar in central Florida. No one cared. It didn’t help that the NFL team, the Buccanneers had many great years and even won a Super Bowl. And if that wasn’t enough, their hockey team, the Lightning, won the Stanley Cup in 2004. In a warm weather, tropical city, a sport from the cold frozen North had upstaged their major league baseball team. Wow! But then everything changed. Like in most sports, if you’re terrible year after year, you get the pick of the best young players. If you do it right, eventually you become a much better team, maybe even a champion. In Tampa, it finally happened in 2008. They came out of nowhere to win the AL pennant and go to the World Series. While they couldn’t repeat the feat in 2009, they have a great young team and could be contenders for years to come. Off the field, new owners have changed things there too. First off, they’re called the Rays now. The “devil” you say? Not any more! And along with the name change, a new team logo and uniforms that look great. They may have gone from the worst looking uniforms in baseball to one of the best. And people in the Tampa area seem to be noticing. Attendance at their games has improved, and so has their profile in the central Florida sports community. There’s even talk of a new stadium to replace Tropicana Field, one of only 3 domed stadiums left in baseball. Oops – 2 left. Minnesota moves to their new outdoor stadium (Target Field), in April 2010. That will leave only Tampa and Toronto with domes – and also the only 2 still playing on artificial turf. Good luck Rays. Like many ball fans from outside Florida, I’ll be keeping an eye on you and wishing you every success. Toronto Blue Jays: Yes, I choose to do this in alphabetical order – but maybe it’s only fitting that I save the team that represents my home area for last. Because to me, that’s exactly where they are in my pecking order. Last. if you read one of my entries here a while back, then you know why I don’t cheer for the Blue Jays. So I probably don’t need to add much more beyond that entry. But let me add a small postscript to that earlier blog – especially since the team fired their general manager, J.P. Ricciardi last week, after 8 years on the job. I remember shortly after Ricciardi came to Toronto, a friend told me somewhat tongue-in-cheek that maybe the best thing about him was that his name rhymed with “Bacardi”. As in the rum. To be fair, of course, he was new in town back then, and no one knew what to expect. But now, some eight years later, to borrow a line from that classic Gershwin tune, I wonder if the Blue Jays ownership and others in the “braintrust” starting singing: “Ricciardi, Bacardi. Bacardi Ricciardi. Let’s call the whole thing off!”. Gee, I could hear Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong singing that as a duet, with the equally legendary Oscar Peterson tickling the ivories in the background. In all seriousness, however, I think removing Ricciardi was the right move. He may be a very competent baseball man, and we all wish him the very best in future, but under his watch the Blue Jays have become a very dysfunctional organization. As I noted in my blog entry about why I don’t cheer for the team, the Blue Jays have no purpose, no long-term vision for the future. In many ways they remind me of Marlon Brando’s character (Terry Malloy) in the famous 1954 movie “On The Waterfront”. Remember the best known line from the film?: “Coulda been a contendah! Coulda been somebody!” Well, dear reader, that’s the Toronto Blue Jays. To paraphrase that line, they “Coulda had class. Coulda have been a winnah…” They also could have been just like the Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals, Dodgers and other “classic” teams that know how to do it right. That have a plan, purpose and a model of excellence that goes from the owner and the CEO right down to the hot dog vendor and the usher at the ballpark. Toronto had that once, but for reasons I will never understand, they threw all that away. But maybe there is hope. The team is searching not only for a new GM, but also a new CEO. Maybe the new regime will get rid of the dysfunctionality that surrounds the team. Go back to the “blueprint” that the team used for the first 20 to 25 years. Gee, maybe even return to their original classic Blue Jay logo and uniform design that more and more people seem to be wearing around Toronto and region. Hmm – maybe I ask too much. So there you have it. A snapshot of the teams in the American League East division. Thanks for reading this, and as always I hope you enjoyed this. Time to sign off and I will be back with another blog entry soon. Play ball!!	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line697
__label__wiki	0.822382	0.822382	Home Newsletter Page 2 Trump threatens to do exactly what Chuck Schumer wants. By The Editorial Board. Tha Wall Street Journal Donald Trump is sore at Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for saying recently that the President sometimes has “excessive expectations” for Congress. But Mr. Trump proved Mr. McConnell right Tuesday when he told a rally in Phoenix that he’s willing to shut down the federal government this autumn to get funding for his border wall with Mexico. “We’re going to get our wall,” Mr. Trump said. “If we have to close down our government, we’re building that wall.” The crowd loved it, but this is the political equivalent of holding a gun to his own head and saying that if Congress doesn’t do what he wants Mr. Trump will shoot himself. Don’t expect Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer to try to talk Mr. Trump out of it. As the minority party, Democrats will be only to happy to test Mr. Trump’s dare since voters will blame a shutdown on Republicans who run both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. Senate Democrats are vowing not to spend a dime on the wall and Mr. Trump will need 60 Senate votes to pass a funding bill. GOP leaders on Capitol Hill know they’ll take the political blame for a shutdown, so they don’t want to press wall funding too far. All the more so because the border wall isn’t all that popular even with Republican voters, who have higher priorities like tax reform and a more robust military. With an approval rating well under 40%, Mr. Trump isn’t in a strong political position to win a fight with Congress unless he is pressing for something that is already popular. It’s never clear with Mr. Trump how much of his rhetoric is real or bluster, but the shutdown over the wall is one threat he’d be wise to abandon. Your Editor Notes: This is NOT The New York Times NOR -The Washington Post . It’s the Wall Street Journal. By Carla Eboli, Chief Reputation Officer, Dieste There is something interesting about the discrepancy in how marketers see America and its population and how everyone else sees it. Looking at the profiles of Americans featured on TV and in print ads, it’s clear that we are living in two very different worlds. It seems we are still far from a good balance between what is real and who the fashion & beauty industry represents. Here are the top three discrepancies I find intriguing in how marketers see America and how Americans really are: 1.) Plus Size Fashion I struggle with the concept of plus size quite a bit and here’s why. According to the CDC, the average American woman’s waist measurement is 38.1 inches. I decided to visit some of the most iconic American brand websites to see where the majority of women fit in the size charts. Below is a table of several brands and their respective sizing. Levi’s Wal-Mart Ralph Lauren J Crew Wrangler Old Navy 18 2X 2X N/A XXL XXL So, what does plus size mean in a country where the majority of women wear 14+? Some brands such as Christian Siriano get it. The designer has always approached fashion in an “all type of women” way and recently had five plus size models in his runway show in New York. JCP, an iconic American brand, also recognizes that their customers go beyond sizes 2 and 4 and a year ago, launched the #HEREIAM initiative which, contrary to what critics have said, does not glorify obesity but helps women accept their bodies with dignity. YouTube channel “Boldly” is killing it with videos such as “Plus-Size Women Re-Create Fashion Ads” – more than 4MM views or the even better What It’s Really Like To Model Victoria’s Secret Swimsuits with over 10MM views. 2.) Flawless*** Everything I love the concept of flawless – mainly when it is work related – but it bothers me to think how hard it is to achieve the so coveted “flawless look” that we all see on TV and print ads. Motivated by the relentless search for perfection, “cosmetic surgery online games” are becoming more popular among children and young adults while parents debate about the risks of being targeted by such games when their children are only 8 years old. What is the impact of the unrealistic standards of beauty ad campaigns on women? The pressure of looking perfect from top to bottom has long lasting, negative effects on women according to studies conducted by Dr. Nancy Etcoff, Assistant Clinical Professor Harvard Medical School, Director of Program in Aesthetics and Wellbeing, MGH Department of Psychiatry. “Increasing pressures from advertising and media is a key force in driving appearance anxiety,” says one of the studies recently published by Dr. Etcoff. Dove took a very important first step in our industry when they launched the “Dove Self-Esteem Project” around the world generating a lot of positive PR. American Eagle was also very bold when they vowed to release ads without any photoshop or retouching of the model’s bodies. They not only got thumbs up from the industry but also from consumers. Since they launched #AerieReal in 2014 the brand has seen continual growth: In the 4th quarter of 2015 alone, the brand’s sales rose 26% and in 2016 sales went up 20%. 3.) Multiracial Families “The eyes are useless when your mind is blind” is one of my favorite sayings. Simple, yet profound, it seems to summarize the approach that some companies and brands are taking regarding interracial marriage. Every year, 2.1MM marriages are celebrated in US, according to the federal government. And while the traditional “will you marry me?” question might remain the same over decades, the composition of these new couples and families has changed dramatically since it became legal in United States in June of 1967. According to a new Pew Research Center analysis of the U.S. Census Bureau data in 2015, 17% of all recently married couples in the U.S. had a spouse of a different race or ethnicity vs. 3% in 1967. In metro areas, almost one-in-five marriages are interracial. The number of interracial or interethnic couples is even higher for unmarried partners (18%) and for same-sex partners (21%) Why is it taking so long for advertising campaigns to reflect the reality of American families? Brands that are truly embracing what I call “America’s New DNA” are seeing very positive results. Cheerios, an American brand focused on family nutrition, helped pave the way for other companies to embrace the fact that interracial families are the new normal. Tiffany’s “Will you?” ad features several couples getting ready to propose to their partners. Pretty straightforward, it shows that we all feel the same way about love, regardless of our sexual orientation, skin color or age. Even more traditional brands such as J&J/Tylenol understood the importance of inclusivity and the need to be representative of the new American DNA with their #HowWeFamily program. This matter is by far the one that gets more visceral reactions (good and bad), but it appears that overall Americans want to see more diverse ads and campaigns that are more inclusive and relatable. The path to becoming and being a brand that is representative and inclusive of this new America has obstacles, of course, but there are simple steps that can be taken: Be authentic.If your message and/or representation doesn’t feel real, it can backfire on your brand. Be reflective of your own consumer.You, better than anyone else, know who your consumer is. Make sure to represent them in your communications. Make sure your team and agency understand diversity from the inside out. Diverse teams have a better understanding of different types of consumers and how to approach each one of them in a relevant and long lasting way. Your Editor is Biased: Dieste is one of our favorite marketing sources By Samantha Schmidt Once again, Barron Trump has become the target of online criticism. And once again, political figures, celebrities and others on social media are standing up for the 11-year-old, imploring the media to keep the youngest Trump out of the negative limelight. On Monday night, conservative news outlet the Daily Caller published a story attacking Barron for the T-shirt and shorts he wore while boarding Air Force One on Sunday. The headline read, “It’s High Time Barron Trump Starts Dressing Like He’s In the White House.” In a barrage of angry tweets, many described the story as “mean spirited,” “shameful,” intrusive and irrelevant. The reactions shared a common understanding that the president’s children are supposed to be off-limits. And former first daughter Chelsea Clinton, who has come to Barron’s defense before, weighed in with a tweet: “It’s high time the media & everyone leave Barron Trump alone & let him have the private childhood he deserves.” In Monday’s Daily Caller story, entertainment reporter Ford Springer wrote that “while the president and first lady traveled in their Sunday best, young Barron looked like he was hopping on Air Force One for a trip to the movie theater.” As the President Trump and first lady Melania Trump departed from Morristown, N.J., to Washington on Sunday, Barron joined them wearing khaki shorts, loafers and a bright red T-shirt with the words, “On your mark tiger shark.” “What am I missing here? Is Barron just better than I ever was at rebelling against my parents?” Springer wrote. “His dad is always looking dapper and his mom has become a worldwide fashion icon since becoming first lady. The youngest Trump doesn’t have any responsibilities as the president’s son, but the least he could do is dress the part when he steps out in public.” It wasn’t the first time Chelsea Clinton has come to Barron’s defense. In January, a slew of jokes circulated on social media about the boy’s appearance at his father’s inauguration ceremony. “Saturday Night Live” writer Katie Rich was suspended indefinitely after a tweet she posted about Barron received angry backlash and calls for her firing. In response to the earlier attacks against Barron, Clinton wrote a Facebook post that was praised and shared widely: “Barron Trump deserves the chance every child does — to be a kid,” Clinton wrote. “Standing up for every kid also means opposing POTUS policies that hurt kids.” On Monday afternoon and evening, Twitter users questioned why the Daily Caller writer, and the public, should care about “what an 11-year-old boy wears,” as journalist Yashar Alitweeted. “How is it your business?” he added. “Poor Barron,” tweeted comedian Chelsea Handler. Some complimented the first son’s outfit: “Barron was rockin a good look today,” tweeted Jesse Lee, who served as a special assistant under President Barack Obama. And others tracked down Barron’s shirt, apparently a $24.50 boys’ T-shirt from J. Crew. A similar shirt in lime green on J. Crew’s website included a note: “We’re sorry. This item has been so popular, it has sold out.” Your Editor Applauds: White House children, Unite By Maggie Haberman, NYTimes The House speaker, Paul D. Ryan, on Saturday criticized President Trump’s pardon of the former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, making him the most prominent Republican to voice concern about the message the president had sent regarding his commitment to the rule of law. “The speaker does not agree with this decision,” a spokesman for Mr. Ryan, Doug Andres, said in a statement. “Law enforcement officials have a special responsibility to respect the rights of everyone in the United States. We should not allow anyone to believe that responsibility is diminished by this pardon.” Mr. Trump’s end-of-the-week pardon of Mr. Arpaio, a campaign supporter who had been convicted of defying a court order intended to halt racial profiling of Latinos, touched off a political outcry that did not abate on Saturday even as much of the nation was focused on a hurricane that pummeled Texas. Democrats joined in condemning the president’s decision, which was made public by the White House on Friday night as Hurricane Harvey, a Category 4 storm, churned toward the Texas coast. Some Republicans praised the move, but most remained silent about a decision that further entangles the party in racial controversy. Mr. Trump ran on a message of curtailing immigration, and his message dovetailed with Mr. Arpaio’s. Republicans who were caught by surprise by Mr. Trump’s victory have been grappling with how to stand up against racism while making sure they do not alienate the older, whiter demographic of the party’s base. Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, said that the president’s pardon “undermines his claim for the respect of rule of law, as Mr. Arpaio has shown no remorse for his action.” The state’s other Republican senator, Jeff Flake, who has been attacked by Mr. Trump and who is facing a primary challenge, was more muted. “Regarding the Arpaio pardon, I would have preferred that the President honor the judicial process and let it take its course,” Mr. Flake wrote on Twitter. Representative Trent Franks, another Arizona Republican, said he saw it as a just end to the saga of Mr. Arpaio’s legal entanglements. “The president did the right thing — Joe Arpaio lived an honorable life serving our country, and he deserves an honorable retirement,” Mr. Franks posted on Twitter. Outside Arizona, most Republicans stayed quiet. But Democrats laced into the president. Jesse Lehrich, a spokesman for Organizing for Action, the political group that grew out of former President Barack Obama’s campaigns, said the pardon “signals a disturbing tolerance for those who engage in bigotry.” He added: “It sends an unsettling message to immigrants across the country. And it’s a repudiation of the rule of law. As a massive hurricane is hurtling toward the southern United States, the White House is focused not on saving lives, but on pardoning a man who committed unlawful acts of racial discrimination.” The White House announced the pardon amid preparations for the storm, but the federal government said it was on top of the looming natural disaster. Mr. Arpaio had become a symbol of anti-immigrant sentiment, a staple of cable television for his roundups of people suspected of being in the country illegally in the heavily Latino state. After the Republicans lost the 2012 presidential election, the Republican National Committee conducted what came to be known as an election autopsy on what went wrong. The report concluded that the party needed to promote comprehensive immigration reform and do better outreach to Hispanics — guidance that Mr. Trump tossed aside during his campaign. Many presidents have issued controversial pardons. Gerald R. Ford pardoned Richard M. Nixon. Bill Clinton pardoned Marc Rich, one of his donors, in his final days in office. By definition, pardons absolve someone of having broken the law. But Mr. Arpaio, who had yet to be sentenced in his criminal case, has long been accused of abuses against minorities, including repeated violations of Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. His pardon struck a different political chord. Paul Begala, a Democratic strategist who advised the main “super PAC” supporting Hillary Clinton in 2016, suggested that Mr. Trump was offering a different type of signal — one to people who might be approached by Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel investigating ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, as well as possible obstruction of justice by the president when he fired the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey. “The Arpaio pardon was awful in and of itself, but I also think it was a signal to the targets of the Mueller investigation that ‘I got your back,’” Mr. Begala said on Bill Maher’s HBO program on Friday night. David Axelrod, who was a senior adviser to Mr. Obama in the White House, saw a different motive at play. Mr. Trump, he argued, was sending a signal after removing his chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon, a nationalist who is an icon among segments of the president’s base. “I think this was a nod to the base, post-Bannon, that he’s still with them,” Mr. Axelrod said. Mr. Arpaio was an early admirer of Mr. Trump. He appeared with him at a rally in Phoenix in 2015, and he vocally supported Mr. Trump’s interest in raising false questions about whether Mr. Obama, the first black president, was born in the United States. Mr. Trump hinted at a rally in Phoenix this past week that he planned to pardon Mr. Arpaio, but said he would not do it that night to avoid controversy. “I’m very appreciative of what the president has done,” Mr. Arpaio, 85, told NBC News. “Right now, I have to thank the president for standing by me and standing by law enforcement. And I’m very humbled.” Ari Fleischer, who was a press secretary under President George W. Bush, said that pardoning Mr. Arpaio did not “break new ground” in a decades-long debate over immigration. But, echoing Mr. Begala, he said the concern was the message it sent to others who might receive pardons. He said Mr. Bush used to wonder why presidents had the pardon power to begin with. “It does strike me as a constitutional anachronism,” Mr. Fleischer said. “One should not be able to break the law thinking they have a protector in chief,” he added. “If mischief is connected to the White House and the president can pardon those who engaged in that activity, it leads to unlimited power.” Your Editor Marvels: Checks and Balance still exist	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line704
__label__cc	0.627814	0.372186	The Undergraduate Program Frequently Asked Questions for Undergraduates Prospective Majors and Concentrators Q: Why should I major in this subject? A: A major in history helps students develop analytical skills and the ability to think historically- a skill of increasing necessity in our time. Majors also gain invaluable experience in research, writing, critical thinking, and collaboration that are proven assets in government, politics, law, nonprofit management, education, business, media, and other fields. Q: Are there any prerequisites for history courses? A: Most history courses have no prerequisites. However, it is advised to move from the general to the specific: from broad survey courses to more specialized lectures to seminars. The department offers a few 1000-level lectures that are especially appropriate for students with little or no history background, and for first- and second-year students contemplating the major. Most of our 2000-level lectures are also appropriate for such students, though having some background can be helpful for very specialized topics. Keep in mind the following general guidelines when contemplating advanced coursework, particularly the undergraduate seminars (normally listed at the 3000- or 4000-level): Students will get more out of a seminar if they have had previous coursework (such as a lecture course) in the relevant field. Students’ work on a senior thesis will be more productive if they have already had some experience in writing a research paper. Students should make every effort to take at least one of the two seminars required for the major in the junior year to allow more flexibility in course selection in the senior year. Q: To whom do I speak about this major? How does the department structure its faculty for advising purposes? A: For initial questions about requirements and procedures, students should consult the Undergraduate Handbook. After reviewing Undergraduate Handbook, students interested in academic advising on the major or concentration may contact any member of the Undergraduate Education Committee (UNDED) in the Fall or Spring Term. (UNDED members are elected each year and do not serve in the Summer Term.) Q: What are the requirements for majors and concentrators? A: Majors are required to complete 9 courses in history, 4 of which must be in their chosen specialization- a single field of history defined in consultation with a member of UNDED. Concentrators must take 6 history courses, and 3 within their specialization. A specialization does not appear on the student’s transcript but provides an organizing principle for the program and is required by the department. Majors must also complete at least two seminars, one of which must be in the specialization. There is no seminar requirement for concentrators. Finally, majors must fulfill a breadth requirement by taking 3 courses far removed from their specialization (one removed in time and two removed in space). Concentrators must take two breadth courses: one removed in time and one removed in space. (Please see the Undergraduate Handbook for a more detailed explanation on selecting such courses.) Note that a member of UNDED must approve both the specialization and breadth courses outlined on your yearly Plan of Study Form in order to ensure that the degree requirements are being met. After being signed by an UNDED member, the Plan of Study Form must be filed with the Undergraduate Administrator. Q: When should I declare my major? A: Students typically declare a major in History in the spring semester of their sophomore year. We encourage students to take courses during the first and second years as a way of exploring the major and preparing for more advanced coursework. Current Majors and Concentrators Q: What counts as a history course? A: Courses in the History Departments of Columbia and Barnard will count for major or concentration credit. Courses taught by our faculty outside the History Department usually will count as history courses. Courses taken through study abroad programs will be evaluated according to syllabi and written work for those classes. Q: What research opportunities exist in the department? A: Professors sometimes have independent funding for research assistants or may occasionally use work-study students in this capacity. However, the most compelling research opportunity available to History majors is the senior thesis. We strongly encourage our majors to write a senior thesis, a research paper between 13,000 and 17,000 words. Usually, this takes place in one of the year-long thesis seminars, but the thesis can also be done individually. The latter option requires students to identify a faculty member to sponsor their thesis and provide guidance throughout the process. Q: I am going abroad for a semester…what do I need to do? A: Great! Students who are planning to study abroad may review their plans with the Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS) before their departure; however, they should be aware that courses are only officially approved by the DUS after they return to Columbia. They should also keep in mind that seminar requirements must be fulfilled at Columbia. Please see the Study Abroad and Transfer Courses page for additional information. Q: I need to receive credit towards my History major or concentration for a class I took at another college…what steps do I need to take? A: History students seeking credit toward the major must bring copies of the course syllabi, reading lists, Columbia transcripts, as well as a completed Plan of Study Form and Transfer Credit Form to the Undergraduate Administrator, who will then petition the DUS on their behalf. Please see the Study Abroad and Transfer Courses page for additional information. Q: How does one receive departmental honors? A: Honors are awarded to 10% of graduating majors on the basis of a high GPA (including exceptional history coursework) and an excellent senior thesis. Please note that writing a senior thesis is necessary, but not sufficient, for an award or departmental honors. Q: Are there any student clubs, committees, and/or activities offered within the department? A: The Undergraduate History Council (UHC) is a small group of representatives for history majors and concentrators. In addition to serving as student advisors to UNDED, they act as peer advisors for fellow students and organize events. Membership to the UHC is open each fall by application, and members are expected to serve for at least one full academic year. Please see the UHC page on the departmental website for more information. Q: Who should I contact about graduate study in this field? A: Generally, it is best to consult a faculty member who specializes in the specific area of history students intend to study at the graduate level, although members of UNDED can also provide advice. If students are interested in graduate study at Columbia, please visit this link. Q: Where can I find a list of faculty office hours, telephone numbers, and other information about the history department faculty? A: A list of office hours is posted outside the History Department (413 Fayerweather Hall) and online.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line705
__label__cc	0.65796	0.34204	Tag Archives: eldercare Sally . dementia, family, Life . aging parents, elder care, eldercare, sleep “I’m not doing this on purpose, you know,” my father says to me. It’s 2:30 AM. I’m pointing at his clock, the new one we got that tells the time and the time of day. Above the 2:30 AM the word “PREDAWN” appears. My father presses his lips together and narrows his eyes. He looks like the emoji with horizontal lines for both eyes and mouth. Exasperated. Frustrated. I’m not sure what that emoji is supposed to represent. I’m terrible at reading emojis. My children try to teach me. “I can’t believe you used the eye-roll emoji,” one of them said to me after I, guess what, used the eye-roll emoji. I thought it was more of a shruggy-I-dunno face. But what do I know? “You use that smiley-face?” another one asked once. I use the basic smiley — no teeth, no open mouth, just a little upward-curved line. “What’s wrong with it?” I asked. “I read that as a snarky-teenager-if-you-say-so face,” she said. Sigh. I dunno. But at 2:30 in the morning, I’m not thinking about emojis. I’m thinking about redirecting. I have a baby monitor in my room so I can hear him when he gets up. He often gets up to use the bathroom and then goes back to bed uneventfully. And I go back to sleep, because I haven’t left the warmth of my bed. Some nights, though, I don’t hear the squeak of the hospital bed as he climbs back in. Instead I hear running water in the bathroom and know he’s planning to shave. Or I hear the creak of dresser drawers being opened followed by the sound of the hanging drawer pull as it drops down and hits the brass plate. I know then that he’s getting dressed and that it’s time to redirect. I climb out of bed, turn the monitor off, and head downstairs. The overhead light is on in his room, its bright rays extending under the door. Sometimes, when I open the door, I find him in the bathroom. Sometimes, he’s at his dresser. Sometimes, he’s just standing in the middle of his room, like he doesn’t know what to do next. “I’m not doing this on purpose,” he says to me, and it breaks my heart. He knows that what he’s doing isn’t right, but he also doesn’t know what the right thing to do is. “Look at the clock, Dad. It’s 2:30 AM. You’re supposed to be sleeping.” “I know that,” he says. “Can I help you get back into bed?” I ask. “You want me to go back to bed?” he asks. What I’m saying connects, but it’s like using a corroded battery where the connection isn’t a connection because of yuck that’s in the way. “Yes,” I reply. “You need to sleep.” And by that I mean that I need to sleep. But it’s too late for me. I help him get back into bed, then go upstairs to my bed, turning the monitor back on before I climb in. The silence on the monitor tells me that he’s back to sleep. My husband’s deep breathing tells me that he’s sleeping, too. It’s 3 AM now. I stare at the ceiling for an hour, wishing sleep would return to me. When it doesn’t, I climb out of bed to begin my day. Sally . elderly . aging parents, elder care, eldercare, nursing home, nursing homes When I first laid eyes on Joseph Zupnik three and a half years ago, he was late for the Family Council meeting at my mother’s nursing home, Focus Otsego. “LATE!” I jotted into my little notebook. Not a good first impression. He walked in the door and I barely noticed him. I thought he was a late-arriving family member, but he walked right over to the seat next to the administrator. Joseph Zupnik was tall and thin, the kind of person who folds when he sits down and unfolds when he stands again. His pants were about an inch too short at the ankles and an inch too high at the waist. The muted tones of his plaid shirt were understated and unassuming, like he was. Quiet, mild, articulate. And young. Almost immediately people started demanding answers from him about staff shortages and retention of the remaining staff. The rumor was that Focus cut salaries by 15% across the board when they took over. The fact was that staff had left in droves. Joseph sat, calmly folded in his chair, legs folded as he crossed them at the knee, manicured hands folded across his knee, body folded somewhere between slouched and erect. He seemed so relaxed. And he calmly fielded the questions and spoke of industry standards and union negotiations. I wanted to say that no one cares about industry standards. These are our parents, not statistics. Others spoke up though, and talked of how much better this place was than other ones. And I wanted to say to them that I don’t want relatively good care for my mother. I want the best care. He stayed with us for an hour and a half. Listening, responding, listening some more. He knew his stuff. He fully understood the business end of this industry. He was clinical and dispassionate — a walking statistics book. Yesterday, Joseph Zupnik pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person. Seven other charges against him were dismissed. His slap on the wrist includes community service. I’d like him to work as an aide in a nursing home for the same number of years he owned nursing homes. And I’d like him to live on the same pay as the aides who had worked under him. To me, that would be justice. And mercy. He would be a better man for it. A little background and a final thought. In the early 1970’s a new building combining the Otsego County Home and the Otsego County Infirmary was built down the road from where I grew up. It was renamed The Meadows, and I remember visiting there with my father when I was young. I believe he was the Medical Director. When I took a year off from college in 1979, I worked as a nurse’s aide there. Everyone should work in a nursing home at some point to learn compassion (if that can be learned) and to experience how hard and thankless the work is. Both of my grandmothers and one grandfather were residents at The Meadows. My father-in-law was a resident of The Meadows when the new building, The Manor, was built. He was among the first crop of residents at The Manor. My mother lived at The Manor. She was there when it changed hands. When the county decided to sell, my father had been on the task force charged with finding a buyer. We had ties to the Otsego County nursing home no matter what its name was. In the end, the legislators voted to sell to the highest bidder instead of the most qualified purchaser. It was more of an “unloading” than understanding what an important part of this rural area that county facility served. They simply wanted to be rid of it. In my mind those legislators who voted to sell The Manor to Focus Corporation (and Joseph Zupnik) also bear some culpability. Buried Gold Sally . dementia, elderly, family, Life . aging parents, eldercare It’s been a rough few days… make that weeks. My father has been struggling with anxiety. Anxiety and dementia go hand-in-hand. The world doesn’t make sense. Memories jumble around. People telescope in and out. Switchbacks define the landscape. “DON’T GO THROUGH THAT DOOR!” he cries whenever I leave him alone in his room. Waylaying me with his hand on my arm, he looks over his glasses and says in a confidential tone, “There’s nothing out there. Nothing. You can’t go there.” But I must and I do. His world may be confined to one room. Mine is not. If I coax him out to the sun porch, I struggle to coax him back in. He’s leery of entering the dining room. He forgets that he sits at the head of the table and takes my seat. Which, of course, is fine. Just odd. “When I was in World War II, I was stationed by the Red Sea. I buried a lot of gold there. We need to go back and get it,” he told me the other day. Except he was in high school during WWII and was never stationed by the Red Sea. He went there on holiday when he was stationed in Ethiopia in the early 60s, but not WWII. He told someone today that gold was buried in the back yard. Here. The only gold we have here are little bits of dental gold that the dentist gave me after she removed some of his teeth. It’s gross, probably not worth much, and certainly not buried. That sounds like a good idea though because I don’t know what else to do with it. I’ve been so tired because I’m up multiple times during the night with him. He can’t sleep. He’s so anxious. Last night I made a to-do list so I could make sure I got done what needed doing today. Phone calls, shopping, and mail. Mary added the part about rainbow sprinkles. Rainbow sprinkles make things better. Karl added the great mom part. The pat on the back meant a lot. Sometimes life gives more gut punches than pats on the back. My father didn’t get to sleep last night until 11 PM — which meant that I didn’t either. He woke me at 5:05 AM. Through the monitor I heard, “Sally! SALLY!” I ran downstairs, my heart pounding. “I’m having terrible chest pain,” he said. I called the ambulance. The paramedic asked him about the pain. “10,” my father replied. “Crushing chest pain,” he added. By the time he got to the Emergency Room, he was fine. “He has dementia,” I told the ER doctor. “I got that,” she said, smiling. “Can I get you something to drink?” she asked my father. “I like beer,” he said. It was 6:15 AM. He hasn’t had a beer since he ordered a flight a couple of months ago at his favorite restaurant. He was baffled by the four little beers served on a board. “What do I do with this?” he asked. “You taste them,” I said. He gave them to Karl. We were home from the ER shortly after 7 AM. God bless the ER doctor who didn’t do a full cardiac workup. Sometimes gold is in rainbow sprinkles and kind words. Sometimes it’s in the not following protocol and using common sense. Sometimes it’s buried in the backyard but I’m not going to count on that today. It’s like I never made a sound Sally . dementia . Dear Evan Hansen, eldercare, philosophy I was scribbling times and notes to myself on my meet program when I heard two boys talking behind me. Despite the loudness of the pool area — the splash of water, coaches yelling, parents cheering — their conversation caught my attention. “You know, the water isn’t wet until you touch it,” said one. “What are you talking about?” asked the other. “The water isn’t wet until you touch it,” the first boy repeated. “It’s always wet,” said the second boy. “Nope, not until you touch it,” said the young metaphysicist. I quickly wrote the quote into my program so I would remember it. That conversation reminded me of a Dear Evan Hansen song which then ran through my head for the rest of the day. The song, Waving Through a Window, had nothing to do with water or wetness, but had everything to do with metaphysics of perception, but on a deeper level. Evan Hansen had taken the classic question — if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? — and morphed into a question of something more. The original question really is: can something exist without being perceived? That’s exactly what my young swimmers were discussing. Is water wet if no one touches it? The question Evan Hansen asked was: when you’re falling in a forest and there’s nobody around, do you ever really crash or even make a sound? The whole song is sad, about being on the outside looking in and never really feeling like you belong. It’s about the pain and insecurity of being vulnerable, and so choosing not to participate in society. It’s about isolation. Sometimes I think about the hidden-ness of what I do. Nobody sees the dishes, the laundry, the putting away of books and papers that will be gotten out again tomorrow by a man who doesn’t remember. Nobody sees the toilet cleaning or the sheet washing or the cleaning of unmentionables in unmentionable places. People see me at the store. They ask how my father is doing, and I hesitate in my answer. He mixes up the Jumbles and puts wrong answers in the crossword. He makes comments that make me blush, or make me upset, but ultimately remind me that he grew up in a different era. He needs help finding things — his wallet, his hearing aids, his pens — and I help him. But when someone asks how he’s doing, all those things run through my mind and I say none of them. Yesterday a woman placed her hand on my arm while I hesitated. “I know,” she said. “I know.” And I knew that she knew. If you are a caregiver and never tell people all the things you do, it doesn’t mean you don’t do them. Like the tree crashing in the forest, people who have heard that sound know that it exists. Other caregivers know what goes on in the home. I believe that water is wet even before I touch it, and that trees make a sound when they fall, and that when people struggle, even if nobody sees them, the struggle is still real. That thought is a comfort to me. And reminds me to be kind. Taking a page from Osyth‘s playbook — I used a line from the song for my post title. New Every Morning Sally . Faith, photography . beauty, dementia, eldercare, photo challenge, sunrise “I hurried over so you could take a picture,” said Matt, the lifeguard who was taking over for me so I could home. Two weeks of working together and he’s got me figured out. How many times has he heard me say, “I need to get a picture of that!” Or, how many times has he seen me grab my phone out of the office so I could snap a shot of the sunrise. I told someone at Hutchmoot that I was practically giddy over the prospect of working at this job, and that hasn’t changed since it started. Leaving the house at 5 AM to lifeguard for two hours every morning has been fun. And stimulating. Adult conversation is such a treat. The sunrises aren’t bad either. I arrive in the dark. This morning I stood, looking out from near the pool, and snapped a grainy picture. The white dot in the distance is a lighted lamppost. Since the pool was redone, it has a wall of windows facing east. The lights are always on in there. In the darkness, the pool area fairly glows when I arrive. Of course, when working as a lifeguard, I’m not staring out the windows. I’m scanning the pool, in case any of those early morning lap swimmers need help. So far the only help anyone has needed is turning the music down or alerting maintenance that the hot water isn’t working in the showers. But I love my co-workers. They are such interesting people. And we converse in complete sentences. I’ve tried explaining to people how being a caregiver for someone with dementia is like taking care of a toddler. Anyone who has had children knows the stage of incomplete conversation. That’s how it is with my father these days. That, or trying to guess what he’s trying to say, or trying to follow the tangents that his mind travels down. Right around the time I’m getting ready to go home — I can only really afford two hours when I know he’ll be sleeping — the sky is changing. One day last week, I tried to take a picture of it, but the pool reflected back off the glass and gave me this shot. So this morning I went from window bay to window bay trying to find a place that didn’t reflect the pool. “Just step outside,” said one of the other guards, so I did. Golly, it was pretty. I stopped again just beyond the pool on my way home. I wondered if there was a liturgy in Every Moment Holy for the sight of a beautiful sunrise. Then I realized I already knew one, and recited on my way home — But this one thing I bear in mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; They are new every morning; Great is thy faithfulness. At the Corner Sally . elderly, family . aging parents, eldercare, photo challenge, photography challenge At the corner of Grove and Spring Streets, I paused. Maggie dropped her fish and panted while I stepped back to survey the building from a different angle. It’s a lovely setting surrounded by trees. Porches and patios invite the residents to enjoy the fresh air and sunshine. Quiet and serene, the building stands removed just far enough from the hubbub of busy our tourist town. Expanses of lawn buffer it even more. When I’m inside, I’m all yes. When I leave, I wonder. Maggie picked up her fish and we continued walking past the building. I looked at the porch with its flower box. To the left was the dining room. I had eaten there a couple of weeks ago with my father. We were just visiting, but I was impressed. Tables for six or eight, set with white linen table cloths and real china. Real food, not institutional. Servers who were both pleasant and competent. A little jazz played in the background. “They take turns choosing what kind of music to play,” the administrator told me. “Also, people sit at the same table for about two months, but then we rearrange the seating plan so cliques don’t form and they all get to know each other.” Every resident’s room is unique in configuration. Some have window seats. All have walk-in closets, high ceilings, and private bathrooms that include showers with seats and grab-bars. The rooms are spacious and cheerful. I just never wanted to see my father leave his home. But this isn’t an institution. It’s almost more like a sanctuary. “We have lots of activities for the residents,” the administrator said. “We get tickets to the Hall of Fame Classic baseball game and sit in the grandstand so they are shaded from the sun.” Dad would really enjoy that. “Next week we’re going on a boat ride on the lake and maybe having a picnic on one of the beaches.” I would like that. I reached the end of the block with Maggie and looked back at the building. From this corner, it still looked lovely. I guess it’s time to finish the application for him. Caregiver’s Serenity Prayer Sally . Faith, family . caregiving, daily prompt, eldercare, Postaday God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot do, I can’t “fix” my loved one. I can’t make him think more clearly. I can’t make him understand. I can’t go back in time, and mustn’t languish over how or what he was, because he is who he is now and that’s where we are. Courage to do the things I can, I can handle business affairs — writing checks, paying bills, scheduling appointments. I can do laundry. I can prepare meals and serve snacks. I can answer the phone. I can chauffeur. I can explain things over and over and over and over, and set my exasperation aside. When I lay in bed at night, let me not angst over the battle, but, in the weariness of a hard-fought day, take my rest knowing that I did the best I could. Few will see or know what I do. My own loved one will never fully grasp the sacrifice that I, and my husband, and my children, are all making on his behalf. But it is right and good. And You know, o Lord. Let that be enough. Adapted from The Serenity Prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line709
__label__cc	0.710908	0.289092	South Coast, New South Wales Find Hotels in Batemans Bay Batemans Bay Hotel & Accommodation Batemans Bay on the South Coast of NSW is one of the state's best weekend spots, attracting a huge variety of holidaymakers each year. Less than four hours drive from Sydney, Batemans Bay lies in the heart of one of New South Wales' most stunning stretch of coastlines and charming seaside towns. From comfy motels to more upmarket resorts and serviced apartments, Batemans Bay accommodation comes in a huge variety of options. Whether you're going away for the weekend or planning a more lengthy stay, there's plenty of accommodation in the South Coast to choose from. One of the town's most prominent features is the Clyde River, which winds its way under the bridge until it reaches the picturesque bay. A popular spot for houseboating, the river is a bustling spot of activity during the warmer months and fills out with holidaymakers. For an escape to nature, nearby Murramarang National Park offers 44 km of dramatic coastlines for visitors to explore. It's also an incredibly popular bird-watching spot, with peregrine falcons and sea eagles soaring above the rugged headlands and coastal cliffs. For even more bird watching and nature hikes, Birdland Animal Park is an outdoors, hands-on experience. With forest paths leading through stunning bushland, you'll come up close and personal with some of the region's most friendly native species including wombats, koalas, snakes, goannas, pelicans and more. For activities and recreation, there's plenty to see and do in Batemans Bay. If you're hoping to spend a day on the greens, the 27-hole Catalina Country Club is great for a spot of golf. To spend time in one of the South Coast's most likeable localities, book yourself some Batemans Bay accommodation and unwind in the popular NSW holiday spot. Other Areas and Suburbs in South Coast, New South Wales Bermagui Broulee Burrill Lake Durras Merimbula Mollymook Moruya Narooma Quaama Sanctuary Point Tathra	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line710
__label__cc	0.527878	0.472122	You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘best director’ tag. Christopher R. Mihm’s “Attack of the Moon Zombies” Nominated for Numerous B-Movie Awards March 9, 2012 in Uncategorized \| Tags: 50s movie, attack of the moon zombies, award winning movie, B-Movie, best actress, best director, best feature film, Christopher R. Mihm, dead letter award, drive-in movie, mail order zombie, michael kaiser, shannon mcdonough, Sid Korpi, zombie movie \| Leave a comment Writer/director Christopher R. Mihm’s ’50s-style B-movie “Attack of the Moon Zombies” has been nominated for numerous Dead Letter Awards. Voting ends March 16, and winners will be announced on March 22 on the MailOrderZombie.com podcast. Attack of the Moon Zombies by Christopher R. Mihm PRLog (Press Release) – Mar 07, 2012 – Minnesotan writer/director Christopher R. Mihm has a unique filmmaking niche. He makes only B&W, 1950s-drive-in-style creature features, or as he puts it, “I make good bad, new old movies.” Released in May 2011, his sixth film, “Attack of the Moon Zombies,” received universally positive reviews from those who appreciate this unusual genre. Recently, cult-movie site MailOrderZombie.com nominated “Attack of the Moon Zombies” for the second-highest number of categories of any other movie honored by their Dead Letter Awards. Among the awards for which Mihm’s film is in the running are: 1) Best Zombie Movie, feature length; 2) Best Director of a Zombie Movie (Christopher R. Mihm); 3) Best Zombie (Michael Kaiser); 4) Best Actress in a Zombie Movie (both Sid Korpi as Administrator Ripley and Shannon McDonough as Dr. Stephanie Hackett received nods); and 5) Best One-Liner in a Zombie Movie: “I know I’d rather die in agonizing pain than become some weird meat puppet for those nasty little things out there, wouldn’t you?” Fans of this monstrously memorable, family-friendly, super-cheesy flick are urged to visit the Dead Letter Award Ballot form at the Mail Order Zombie site (https://www.docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dGl5Mzd3eVVFMm0zTVFQMXFhRy0wa3c6MA) to cast their votes for “Attack of the Moon Zombies” in all categories by the March 16 deadline. Winners will be announced on the 3/22/12 Mail Order Zombie #177 podcast at http://www.mailorderzombie.com. Also up to popular vote to decide is the 10th Annual Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards, for which “Attack of the Moon Zombies” has been nominated as Best Independent Film (Category 8). Please visit http://www.rondoaward.com/rondo/rondos.html to vote for this fine ’50s movie and support independent cinema by March 31, 2012. If you haven’t yet seen “Attack of the Moon Zombies” and want to check it out before you vote, order your copy from http://www.sainteuphoria.com today! While you’re on the site, why not purchase your tickets for the May 23, 2012 Heights Theatre premiere of Mihm’s seventh film, “House of Ghosts”? This show, a spooky homage to the 1950s-fright-film director William Castle (“The Tingler” and “House on Haunted Hill”) is selling out fast, so act soon. A specialist in re-creating B&W 1950s-drive-in-style creature features, writer/director Christopher R. Mihm’s latest two films, “Attack of the Moon Zombies” and “House of Ghosts,” are sure audience pleasers.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line713
__label__wiki	0.626368	0.626368	Home / Blog News / Casino Is The Temple Of Games Casino Is The Temple Of Games “An individual plays only when he is human in the full sense of the word, and he can be wholly human only when he is playing”. Friedrich Schiller The history tells us that in 49 B.C. the famous ancient Roman commander Julius Caesar, having won brilliant victories over barbarian galls, wanted to seize supreme power in the Eternal City. Then the frightened senators forbade him and his troops to return to Italy. Without hesitations, the commander announced about his decision regarding the senate ban by saying “Alea jacta est” (“The die has been cast”) and crossed the border river Rubicon. This led to lingering civil wars in Rome, which became one of the most significant events in ancient history. The words of the ferocious dictator became proverbial; however, today there is hardly a person who thinks about its real meaning. As it turned out, the Great Caesar actually cast the dice. So great was his passion to gambling, that he deeply believed in the magic ability of the dice to predict the future. The public opinion hardly favors gamble and everything connected with it. Conversely, in those times the word “player” was nearly a swearword – so huge was the contempt of the majority of people to those who gave the game its due. But at the same time ancient people understood perfectly well that the thirst for gambling could not be eradicated. The Greeks with their characteristic rich imagination invented a myth about the goddess of the fate Tychy (the Romans called her “Fortune“), who gave birth to Zeus’ daughter, and this girl was endowed with the gift of inventing various dangerous amusements, which caused the people to lose a lot of money, cheat, scuffle and committed suicides. Tychy loved her daughter and thus winked at her cruel pranks. She even presented her with a large beautiful house, to which her daughter allured the most credulous players to make them miserable. More than two thousand years passed since those times, and today hardly anyone believes in fortune-telling by throwing lot and myths about the goddess Tychy, but there is one thing that has not changed. It is the human need for the game. This unquenchable desire stipulated for the fact that in the course of time special premises were built for gambling – as if the ancient Greek legend came true. In these establishments visitors played with each other in these and paid a part of their winnings to the owner – or played with owner and then, if they lost, they were to pay the whole amount of the bet to the casino owner. Approximately in the 16th century such establishments came to be called by the Italian word “casino“, which has not changed its meaning up to now. Gambling houses irrepressibly attracted people with different characters, different talents and varying financial possibilities. The list of famous casino frequenters, compiled by the largest casinos in Europe, includes such celebrities as Chancellor Bismarck, composers Berlioz and Brahms, the writer Dostoyevsky, the poet Mayakovski and the automobile king Citroen. Reverberating fame, however, did not prevent these people from insidious tricks of Fortune. Admittedly, some celebrities were often lucky and they won a lot. For example, Citroen was such a lucky player. He loved to play for high stakes, in order to impress other rich men. Journalists never grew tired of writing that the automobile king is as lucky on the green cloth, as in business. Others mostly lost. For instance, Mayakovski was such an unlucky fellow. He loved billiards, cards and particularly the roulette. During his trips abroad the poet runs into unprecedented debts, because he was lucky only at billiard table, but by no means in the roulette. Gambling houses are known not only by their frequenters, but also by various legends that surround these establishments. The most enduring is the story how a certain Frenchman monsieur Blanchard won twice in “Casino Monte-Carlo“. When he intended to enter this casino for the first time, his hat was spoilt by the dove. Blanchard interpreted this as a good sign and was right. The player managed to win several thousands. Then he intended to go to casino once again, but on condition that a bird would spoil his hat for one more time. He had to wait for the new dove for several days, but his expectations paid for themselves. The Frenchman was lucky that time and he won even more than before. After this, the doves displayed no interest in Blanchard and he could not win. However, all inveterate players believe that if the bird marks you before the visit to the gambling house is a true sign of good luck. Clearly, it is nearly impossible to get rid of all possible troubles completely, because even trifle losses somewhat spoil the mood. But they also make the triumph more delightful and allow you to feel the sharp fascination of victory over chance. Thus, it is hardly expedient to worry in advance, you should just be always be at the ready and treat the game lightly, although with deep respect, as if it were a close friend of yours. Are Grand Mondial Casino Games Fair Wixstars Casino Review	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line715
__label__wiki	0.919902	0.919902	← ROBERT MERRILL, Baritone * 04 June 1917, Williamsburg, New York City, New York, United States + 23 October 2004, New Rochelle, New York, United States; SHIRLEY VERRETT, Mezzo-soprano * 31 May 1931, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States + 05 November 2010, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States; → RAMON VINAY, Tenor * 31 August 1912, Chillán, Chile + 04 January 1996, Puebla, Mexico; After Vinay’s Chilean mother died when he was only five years old, his French father, a veteran of military action on the French side in World War I, sent for his three sons to join him in France. Between 1920 and 1926 Ramón lived in Digne and studied electrical engineering. When he was fifteen however his father sent him to Mexico City for further training and here he studied singing with José Pierson, making his operatic stage debut in 1931 as a baritone singing Alphonse / La Favorite. He joined a travelling opera company in 1934 for which he sang di Luna / Il trovatore, followed by Amonasro / Aida, Scarpia / Tosca and the title role in Rigoletto. Unable to subsist on the small fees he earned from singing, Vinay founded a successful box-manufacturing company, while not completely abandoning singing. Indeed he was heard by the Broadway producer Lee Shubert, who cast him in the revue Streets of Paris which ran in New York from 1939 to 1940. Vinay then returned to Mexico where he continued to sing baritone roles; but on discovering that he could sing into the tenor range he retrained as a tenor (with René Maison in New York, according to certain sources). He made his debut as a tenor in 1943 in Mexico City singing Don José / Carmen, followed by the title role of Otello in 1944. During 1945 Vinay first appeared in New York, with the New York City Opera as Don José. This was sufficiently successful for him to be invited to sing other roles with the City Opera, including Samson / Samson et Dalila, Cavaradossi / Tosca and des Grieux / Manon Lescaut; and to appear with the Metropolitan Opera, initially as Don José once again, in early 1946. His success was sealed in 1947 when Toscanini selected him to sing Otello in his scheduled national NBC broadcast and subsequent RCA recording of this opera, commenting: ‘He is a complete artist, magnificent and unsurpassed in roles which require power and violence. At the present time no other artist comes near Vinay’s interpretation of Otello.’ The cachet of this engagement and of Toscanini’s high praise ensured that Vinay was immediately launched into an international career at the highest level. He opened the 1947–1948 season of La Scala, Milan as Otello, having sung it earlier at Turin, and appeared in this part at the Verona Festival in 1948, at the Royal Opera House, London (with the La Scala company) in 1950 and at the Salzburg Festival in 1951 in a production conducted by Furtwängler. Until 1962 he sang as a tenor at the Met in roles such as Radamès / Aida, Otello (both from 1946), Canio / Pagliacci, Julien / Louise (both from 1948), Samson (from 1949), Tristan / Tristan und Isolde (from 1950), the title role in Tannhäuser (from 1953), Herod / Salome (from 1954), Loge / Das Rheingold, Siegmund / Die Walküre, Siegfried / Götterdämmerung (all from 1957), Aegisth / Elektra (from 1959) and the title role in Parsifal(from 1961). He then sang a single baritone performance as Dr Bartolo / Il barbiere di Sivigliain 1966. At the Bayreuth Festival Vinay made his debut in 1952 as Tristan in a powerful production conducted by Karajan, returning in the same role in 1953. Other Bayreuth parts included Parsifal (1953, 1955–1957), Siegmund (1953, 1955–1957) and Tannhäuser (1954). He returned as a baritone to sing Telramund / Lohengrin in 1962. At the Royal Opera House, London he appeared as Siegmund (1953, 1955, 1956, 1957 and 1959), as Otello (1955, 1956, 1957) and as Tristan (1958). He sang Otello and Herod at the Paris Opera in 1958, appeared with the Chicago and San Francisco Operas in North America and in South America at the Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires, notably as Otello and Samson with Beecham conducting in 1958. From the early 1960s Vinay returned to baritone parts, singing Iago / Otello, the title role in Falstaff and Scarpia. He made his formal farewell to the operatic stage as Iago at Santiago in 1969, after which he managed the Santiago Opera for a short while. He was married to Lushanya Mobley (1906-1990), the Chickasaw princess from Oklahoma who also enjoyed a distinguished career as an opera singer. Vinay’s tenor voice was baritonal in hue, but highly expressive: it combined with his tall and imposing figure on stage and his great abilities as an actor to project a formidable presence, as Toscanini noted. Courtesy: Naxos Records Astrid Varnay and Ramón Vinay Posted by gerhard25 on November 6, 2016 in Tenors	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line716
__label__cc	0.693169	0.306831	← TRAIAN GROZĂVESCU, Tenor * 21. November 1895, Lugoj, Banat + 15 February 1927, Vienna Austria; EUGEN GURA, Tenor * 08 November 1842, Žatec, Czech Republic + 26 August 1906, Berg, Germany; → HEINRICH WILHELM GUDEHUS, Tenor * 30 March 1842, (some sources say 1845) Altenhagen, Celle, Germany + 09 October 1909, Dresden, Germany; The tenor Heinrich Gudehus was a pupil of Malwine Schnorr von Carolsfeld. In 1866 he married Celle Caroline Johanne Klippel, but she died in 1867 after she gave birth to a dead child. In 1868 he married her sister Dorothee Friedrike, but she died in 1869. In 1871 he debuted at the Court Opera in Berlin. Afterwards Luise Ress (1843-1908) became his teacher and after several other stations he was was engaged at the Court Opera in Dresden in 1880. There he worked until 1890. In 1877 he had married Elisabeth Tovote in Meppen and with her he had two daughters and two sons. He met Richard Wagner in Dresden in 1891 and Wagner was so impressed that he invited him to Bayreuth in 1882 where he sang the title part in the second performance of Wagner’s final opera “Parsifal”. He performed in Bayreuth several more times. In 1890 he was engaged at the Metropolitan Opera for one season. He ended his career in 1896. After he lost most of his money during a banking crisis in Leipzig and was forced to work as a teacher. He died in 1909 and his wife survived him until 1925. as Tristan Bayreuth 1886 as Lohengrin as Stolzing with Malten and Scheide- mantel Dresden as Siegfried “Siegfried” as Parsifal Bayreuth 1882 as Parsifal Bayreuth as Parsifal with Malten Bayreuth as Parsifal with Brandt and Siehr Bayreuth 1882 as Parsifal with Malten and Siehr Bayreuth 1882 The grave of Heinrich Gudehus at the Alter Annenfriedhof, Dresden. Picture by Androom (06 Aug 2016) Posted by gerhard25 on February 15, 2018 in Tenors	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line717
__label__cc	0.717858	0.282142	Where are you going? Where are you going? You may enter a City, Airport, Address, Attraction, Hotel No search results found. results were found. Press up and down key to select. Check Availability *Price Match Guarantee about_locations United States: Mississippi With over 2,000 hotel locations worldwide, Hampton has a location that will fit your needs and get you to where you want to be. Hampton Inn & Suites - Team Member at Front Desk wherever your journey takes you we're happy to help make it better along the way Select a State Alabama Alaska/Hawaii Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming regions 180 Map View selected Gallery View selected Upon selection content will be automatically updated Select a Location Select a Subregion Bing Terms of Use \| Bing Privacy Policy We are Hilton team members who love to travel the world and show off the hidden gems in our hometowns. Tweets by @HiltonSuggests All recommendations are based on team members’ personal experiences and opinions.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line719
__label__wiki	0.934499	0.934499	Home News In the Philippines, three children of the President won the election In the Philippines, three children of the President won the election Sarah Bertetto: Lean Daval Jr / Reuters A daughter and two sons of the President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte took public office in a midterm election, beating his rivals by a wide margin, according to CNN. According to the publication, the election was a lot of violations. Sarah Duterte, incumbent mayor of Davao, the hometown of his father, was re-elected to the position. She has received more than 580 thousand votes, and her only opponent in just about four thousand. Her brother Sebastian Duterte became Vice-mayor of the city. He has in these elections there was no competition — he took up the post, which freed his brother, Paolo Duterte. Paolo in the vote and took the chair of the house of representatives of the country he voted 197 of thousands of voters, and his nearest rival scored a little over five thousand. It is reported that during the elections to the Supreme bodies of state control was not a single candidate from the opposition. Philippine leader known for his bold antics and harsh words. In September Duterte admitted extrajudicial killings in the course of the campaign against drug trafficking in the country. Before that he called former U.S. President Barack Obama is a “son of a whore”. In June, the President exchanged a book about sex in the Church for a kiss. Duterte also called God “stupid son of a bitch” and told soldiers to shoot protesters vaginas of women. According to CNN, polls in early may showed that the approval rating of the President by the inhabitants of the Philippines reaches 72 percent. Previous articleIran sent oil to China despite the US sanctions Next articleIn Russia want to deal with stains from school The former participant “Houses-2” I lost my job on the First... Photo: Gleb Zhemchugova page in "Vkontakte"A former participant of the project "Dom-2" Gleb Zhemchugov revealed the reasons for his dismissal as senior editor of... Shawarma adverted with the help of a Christian Martyr The Barents sea was in danger because of radiation leaks Putin has called the meeting at the Donbass The Queen talked about their alcohol preferences	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line721
__label__wiki	0.605496	0.605496	Serving on Boards Helps Executives Get Promoted Steven Boivie Scott D. Graffin Abbie Oliver Michael C. Withers 8.95 Buy Copies More than 25 years ago, William Sahlman wrote the HBR article “Why Sane People Shouldn’t Serve on Public Boards,” in which he compared serving on a board to driving without a seatbelt, that it was just too risky—to their time, reputations, and finances—for too little reward. Board service has always been very demanding. When Warren Buffett retired from Coca-Cola’s board in 2006, he said he no longer had the time necessary. When you consider all of the retreats, travel, reading, meeting prep time, transactions, and committee meetings involved, it is a wonder anyone serves at all. So why would a busy executive agree to sit on a board? Why is there is a cottage industry of executive search firms focusing on “reverse board searches,” where they proactively work to place executives on outside corporate boards? What do executives gain from serving on boards? This question was at the heart of a recent study we conducted that is forthcoming at the Academy of Management Journal. In an effort to explore executives’ motivations for serving on boards, we looked at how board service is evaluated in the executive labor market. Specifically we studied whether or not board service increased an executive’s likelihood of receiving a promotion, becoming a CEO, and/or receiving a pay increase. We hypothesized that being a board director would help an executive in two main ways: First, sitting on a board serves as an important signal or “seal of approval,” for an executive. It means that other people think this executive has potential and value as a result of being selected to serve on a board. Second, board service is an avenue for an executive to gain access to unique knowledge, skills, and connections, so firms actively use external board appointments as a way to groom and develop executives. As Mary Cranston, former CEO and Chairman of Pillsbury, LLP said in an interview, “Being on that board really helped me develop as a CEO because I had another CEO to watch. It was an incredible leadership school for me. On a board you’re together a lot, and you’re working on problems together and you have a shared fiduciary duty, so it creates very tight bonds of friendship.” Similarly, Sempra CEO Debra L. Reed has also said that sitting on the board of another company is “better than an M.B.A.” To test our idea that board service would help advance the careers of executives, we created a sample of roughly 2,140 top executives in S&P 1500 firms from 1996-2012. We matched executives who were serving on boards with executives at similar firms and with similar job profiles who had never served on a board. We found that serving on a board increases an executive’s likelihood of being promoted as a first-time CEO to an S&P 1500 firm by 44%–and even if they weren’t promoted, we found that serving boosts an executive’s subsequent annual pay by 13%. For instance, executive Glenda Jane Flanagan joined the board of Credit Acceptance Corp. in 2004, and in 2005, her total compensation from her home firm, Whole Foods Market Inc., increased by over $300,000. And consider the example of Jeffery W. Yabuki, who was the COO of H&R Block Services Inc in 2003. In 2004, he joined the board of Petsmart Inc., and later that of MBIA Inc. Just two years later, Yabuki was appointed the CEO of Fiserv, a Fortune 1000 firm. It appears that board service directly contributed to his promotion. So what do these findings mean for today’s boards of directors and aspiring CEOs? The evidence shows that board appointments increase an executive’s visibility and give him/her access to unique contacts and learning opportunities. Further, these opportunities translate into tangible economic benefits, specifically promotions and raises, which help explain why a sane person would choose to sit on a board. Further, our findings suggest that if firms are looking for external talent, looking at which executives have received board appointments in their home firm or at other firms is a strong signal that these leaders have potential. This finding is important as hiring external CEO candidates is becoming more common, CEO turnover is on the rise, and the majority of newly appointed CEOs have not previously served as CEOs. Ultimately board service is a key professional development tool in grooming potential CEOs that executives and boards alike are beginning to recognize and value. Finally, our findings have implications for firms seeking new board members. Following the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which was passed in 2002 and created a number of new governance rules for firms as well as stricter penalties for governance misconduct, the number of current CEOs willing to serve on outside boards has dwindled. In part, the workload of boards has sharply increased, so serving offers limited benefits relative to the risk endured by current CEOs. Further, many companies have also created rules limiting the number of external board seats that their CEOs can fill, which has reduced the supply of CEOs available to serve as directors. To fill this void, firms may look to the executive ranks below the CEO level. Our research suggests that these individuals may be motivated to join outside boards to reap the benefits that increase their career trajectories. Steven Boivie is an associate professor in the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University. His research has been published in the Academy of Management Journal, Strategic Management Journal, Organization Science, Academy of Management Annals, and Journal of Management. Scott D. Graffin is an associate professor at the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business and also an International Research Fellow at Oxford University’s Centre for Corporate Reputation. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. His research interests include corporate governance, as well as the influence of reputation and status on organization outcomes. His research has been published numerous journals, including the Academy of Management Journal, Administrative Science Quarterly, the Strategic Management Journal, and Organization Science. Abbie G. Oliver is a doctoral candidate in strategic management at the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business. Her research interests include stakeholder management, social evaluations of firms, and corporate governance. She expects to complete her Ph.D. in 2018. Her research is forthcoming in the Academy of Management Journal. Michael C. Withers is an assistant professor of management in the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University. He received his Ph.D. in strategic management from the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. His research interests include corporate governance, director selection and mobility, and the management of resource dependencies through the board of directors. His research has been published in several journals, including the Academy of Management Journal, Strategic Management Journal, Organization Science, Journal of Management, and Academy of Management Perspectives. This article is about BOARDS	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line723
__label__wiki	0.955102	0.955102	Administration Pressed To Expand Mental Health Treatment By The Associated Press • Feb 28, 2018 Anderson Air Force Base / Wikimedia Commons Amid the outcry over the Florida school shootings, the Trump administration says it is "actively exploring" ways to help states expand inpatient mental health treatment using Medicaid funds. President Donald Trump again brought up the issue of mental hospitals in a meeting with governors this week, invoking a time when states maintained facilities for mentally ill and developmentally disabled people. "In the old days, you would put him into a mental institution," Trump said, apparently referring to alleged shooter Nikolas Cruz, whose troubling behavior prompted people close to him to plead for help from authorities, without success. "We have nothing between a prison and leaving him at his house, which we can't do anymore." Organizations representing state officials and people with mental illness say no one wants to go back to warehousing patients. But they also say that federal action is needed to reverse a decades-old law known as the "IMD exclusion," which bars Medicaid from paying for treatment in mental health facilities with more than 16 beds. IMD stands for "institution for mental diseases." Last year, the Trump administration opened the way for states to seek waivers from the policy in cases involving treatment for substance abuse. A spokesman said states are pressing the administration for similar waivers for mental health care, and officials are looking for ways to address those requests. "We've continued to receive ... proposals and strong interest from states to allow similar demonstrations for individuals with serious mental illness," Johnathan Monroe, a spokesman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said in a statement. "We are actively exploring how best to provide states with new opportunities to improve their mental health delivery systems." Illinois, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Vermont have waiver requests pending. There's no telling if a more robust mental health care system would have saved the 17 lives lost in Parkland, Florida, as well as other victims of mass shootings that have become tragically commonplace. Democrats say it's no substitute for stronger gun control laws. But state officials would welcome a change to Medicaid's exclusionary rule, said Matt Salo, head of the nonpartisan National Association of Medicaid Directors, which supports full repeal of the policy and, short of that, expanded waivers. "There is a need for a spectrum of services for people suffering from mental illness and substance abuse," Salo said. "That spectrum should include everything from community-based resources as well as more structured institutional care." Medicaid's restrictive policy is likely to come under scrutiny in the Senate, where the Finance Committee is planning action on the opioid epidemic. "Finding ways for states to maximize mental health treatment through all health care avenues, including Medicaid, continues to be a topic of bipartisan discussions," Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said Tuesday in a statement. The panel oversees Medicare and Medicaid. Medicaid is the federal-state health program for low-income people, a major source of coverage for mental health treatment. Experts say the program's longstanding restriction on inpatient treatment is at odds with changes in federal law over the last 20 years to create parity between coverage for mental and physical diseases. The government's top mental health official said the president is acknowledging that more needs to be done to make Americans safe in their communities. "The IMD exclusion makes it very difficult for people with serious mental illness to get a bed when they need that care, and the 24-7 safety, security and treatment that an inpatient facility provides," says Elinore McCance-Katz, assistant secretary of Health and Human Services for Mental Health and Substance Use. "That contributes to jails and prisons becoming de facto mental institutions in this country." McCance-Katz also says expansion of community-based and outpatient treatment is needed. Last year a government advisory panel recommended repealing Medicaid's IMD exclusion, and the idea has bipartisan support in Congress. But the cost of full repeal has been estimated at $40 billion to $60 billion over 10 years, daunting for lawmakers. State waivers may provide a more manageable path. Advocates question the cost estimates, saying that savings from keeping mentally ill people out of jail should be factored in as well. Whether mental illness contributes to violence is a debate rife with misconceptions. On the whole, medical experts say people with mental illness are no more likely to be violent than others. But McCance-Katz and others say research shows that untreated serious mental illness is a risk factor for violent behavior. Treatment effectively reduces risks, McCance-Katz says. Advocates are making the same point. "There is no argument that stepping forward and addressing the IMD exclusion would have a huge benefit to mental health systems in states across the country," says John Snook, executive director of the Treatment Advocacy Center, a nonprofit trying to broaden access to mental health treatment. mental health delivery systems Scott, Lawmakers Look To Beef Up Children's Mental Health Services After Tragedy By editor • Feb 27, 2018 On Friday, Governor Rick Scott announced his plan for responding to the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. It includes $50 million in additional funding to expand mental health services for children and youth. The move comes as lawmakers consider the recommendations of a panel they created last year to study the statewide rise in minors being involuntarily examined under the Baker Act. Scott Proposes More Money For Children’s Mental Health Services Following Tragedy By By Margie Menzel/WFSU • Feb 27, 2018 WLRN Governor Rick Scott’s plan for responding to the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School includes $50 million in additional funding to expand mental health services for children and youth. Florida Psychologists Oppose Baker Act Changes Some Police Say Could Prevent Mass Shootings By Ryan Benk • Feb 27, 2018 Listen to the story airing on 89.9 WJCT-FM Florida lawmakers are debating several measures aimed at preventing mass shootings, and some law enforcement officials are calling for another one: Making it easier to detain certain people suffering from mental illness. But the leader of the state’s largest psychologist lobbying group cautions that unfairly puts too many people in the crosshairs. Heidi de Marco / Kaiser Health News Experts Say There's Little Connection Between Mental Health And Mass Shootings By Alison Kodjak • Feb 23, 2018 Along with gun control, the link between mental illness and gun violence has been a major focus in the days since the shooting. NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch put it this way in a CNN town hall this week.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line724
__label__wiki	0.893746	0.893746	Improving international policy, practice and public understanding of radicalisation and disengagement from violent extremism Studies In Human Society: Criminology Psychology and Cognitive Sciences: Psychology The research described here has informed discussion, debate, decision-making and practice among policy-makers working on counter-terrorism and radicalism both within and beyond the UK. It has contributed to the development and implementation of new tools supporting counter-terrorist work; enhanced understanding of important issues relating to terrorist psychology among professionals working in relevant areas; and informed international legal proceedings. These insights have strengthened and informed UK and international policy formulation and helped to generate strategies and practical tools for the implementation of counter-terrorism measures. Post 9/11, counter-terrorism — and particularly the ways in which people become involved in, and eventually leave, terrorist groups - has become a major social and political issue. Andrew Silke (Professor of Criminology at UEL since 2005) has led UEL research responding to this by exploring processes of radicalisation, de-radicalisation and disengagement with violent extremism. The work, which particularly examines psychological facets of terrorism [1, 2, 5, 6], has yielded pioneering insights into these processes, originating partly from its rejection of approaches to radicalisation based on personality traits and mental illness, and of models based on de-radicalisation theories. Instead, it emphasises the critical roles of social psychological processes and suggests that disengagement is an unexceptional — and even inevitable — process for most terrorists. These insights stem particularly from two research studies commissioned in 2006 by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), and in 2007 by the National Offender Management Service (NOMS). The MoD study involved a comprehensive review of then-current understanding of the theories and models of terrorist disengagement. Key research findings included the insights that disengagement is usually catalysed by a complex set of factors, including declining interaction with peers who support involvement in terrorism and creation, instead, of new relationships supporting a life away from the terrorist group. Isolation from terrorist peers is therefore a vital factor in facilitating disengagement, a finding with important implications for terrorist imprisonment policies. The research also elucidated the role in the disengagement process of `turning point' events, which provide subjects whose commitment to terrorism might previously have been weakening with a clear justification for leaving [2]. Building on this work, the NOMS study assessed current prison- based interventions for terrorist offenders and examined the evidence for developing new interventions aimed at disengagement in the area of violent extremism. This study illustrated both the importance of offering extremist prisoners programmes to provide a route out of extremism whilst they were incarcerated, and the lack of such programme for prisoners in England and Wales, recommending strongly that this should be addressed [2]. The work also incorporated an assessment of foreign programmes based on religious de-radicalisation; it challenged the claims of success attributed to these programmes, highlighting their unlikely efficacy for hard-core members of terrorist movements. The research concluded that a prison-based programme was required in England and Wales, but that this did not have to have a religious foundation to be effective. Further contributions to this body of research have come from Dr John Morrison, who joined UEL as Senior Lecturer in Criminology and Criminal Justice in 2011. Morrison and Silke's work, which is based on extensive interviews with convicted terrorists, as well as analyses of published documentation, has illuminated the role of ordinary psychological processes and small group dynamics to understanding radicalisation [1, 5]. More specifically, it has shown that involvement is usually a gradual process, wherein identity issues and social networks are important factors. Contrary to expectations, the research also demonstrated that eventual disengagement is normal for most terrorists and that recidivism is remarkably low [2]. Crucially, however, it highlights distinctions between disengagement and de-radicalisation, arguing for a more sophisticated understanding of how involvement in terrorism ends [2, 5, 6]. A final strand of the research underpinning impacts described here has been produced by Dr Anthony Richards (UEL 2007-), whose work on the conceptualisation of terrorism, radicalisation and extremism [3, 4] has particularly assessed the impact of discourses of `radicalisation' and `extremism' on the widening remit and parameters of UK counter-terrorism. The results of his work on this, and on the remit of the `Prevent' strand of the British government's counter-terrorism strategy, have been delivered in briefings to, and meetings with, policymakers and practitioners at both national (Home Office, Foreign Office) and local level (Birmingham, Newham). [1] Silke, A. (2008). `Holy Warriors: Exploring the Psychological Processes of Jihadi Radicalisation.' European Journal of Criminology, 5/1, pp.99-123. Peer-reviewed article. Identified in Perspectives on Terrorism (2012) as one of `Twenty Important Journal Articles and Reports on Radicalisation to, and De-Radicalisation from, Terrorism' (http://bit.ly/1a0iJN8). Submitted to REF 2. [2] Silke, A. (2011). The Psychology of Counter-Terrorism. London: Routledge. Identified in Perspectives on Terrorism (2012) as one of the `Top 150 books on terrorism and counter-terrorism' (http://bit.ly/1a8DLLH). Submitted to REF 2. [3] Richards, A. (2011). `The problem with `radicalisation', the remit of `Prevent', and the need to refocus on terrorism in the UK.' International Affairs, 87/1, pp.143-152. Peer-reviewed journal ranked 15th out of 80 among international relations journals. Article available on request. [4] Richards, A., `Characterising the UK Terrorist Threat: The Problem with Non-Violent Ideology as Focus for Counter-Terrorism and Terrorism as the Product of `Vulnerability'', Journal of Terrorism Research, Volume 3, Issue 1, (2012). Peer-reviewed journal. Article available on request. [5] Morrison, J.F. (2011) `Why Do People Become Dissident Irish Republicans?' In Currie, P.M. and Taylor, M. (eds.) Dissident Irish Republicanism, pp.17-42. London: Continuum International Publishing Group. Article available on request. [6] Morrison, J.F. (2013) `The Psychology of Terrorism: Current Understanding and Vital Next Steps.' In Kamien, D (ed.) The McGraw-Hill Homeland Security Handbook Second Edition, pp.45-58. New York: McGraw-Hill. Article available on request. Contributions to discussion, debate and policy formulation relating to counter-terrorism: The influence of Silke's research has been realised particularly through his membership of and contribution to numerous expert panels and policy committees, including the British Psychological Society's working group on the Psychological Risk Assessment of those Convicted or Detained under Terrorist Related Offences from 2007 - 2011. In 2009, he was appointed a Specialist Advisor to the House of Commons Communities and Local Government Committee for its inquiry into the UK Government's programme for preventing violent extremism, in which role he provided an invited briefing on understanding radicalisation to the Committee at the start of its enquiry at the House of Commons, 14 July 2009 [a]. Major research findings, including about the implications of contemporary discourses of radicalisation and extremism for the remit and parameters of counter-terrorism policymaking [4], have also been shared with policy-makers via their invited presentation in local and national policy forums. These have included briefings provided to the Home Office (Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism leadership programme: Silke, July 2009; and Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism, Home Office: Richards, February, 2013); Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Richards, July 2010); and local `Prevent' coordinators in Newham and Birmingham (Richards, July 2012 and June 2010 respectively). Richards' paper on radicalisation and `Prevent' [3] was presented in Birmingham as part of a one-day conference (`Unravelling Extremisms: Informing the Debate') to enhance the local authority's understanding of radicalisation and `extremisms'. Attendees, who numbered around 100 in total, included local authority employees, those involved in the delivery of `Prevent' (including private contractors), and local police representatives. Contributions to international policy formulation. Contributions have also been made to international policy discussion through Silke's presentation of research findings to a Pakistan delegation, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (London, 11 February 2011); and to Senior Government Officials from Azerbaijan (Foreign and Commonwealth Office, London, 16 June 2009). In some cases, those findings have informed significant shifts in international policy formulation. On 22 November 2010, Silke used expertise gained through the underpinning research on the psychology of counter-terrorism to provide invited oral testimony (via video link) to the Canadian Special Senate Committee on Anti-terrorism (CSSC), a body created in May 2010 to undertake a "comprehensive review of the provisions and operation of the Anti-terrorism Act and to study legislation related to anti-terrorism". Silke drew on findings published in [1] and [2] to advise the Committee on radicalisation, de-radicalisation and counter-terrorism; this testimony informed the development by the Committee of its 2011 report Security, Freedom and the Complex Terrorist Threat: Positive Steps Ahead. That report draws strongly on advice provided by Silke in recommending the provision of federal government support for further research into "the transition from radicalization into violence in Canada...in order to better understand and prevent violent extremism." It acknowledges Silke as an expert witness, and cites his support for its recommendation that Canada should make use of its existing justice system for criminal offences in responding to the threat of terrorism [b]. Since the debate was judged to be in the public interest Silke's testimony was, moreover, broadcast live on the internet and recorded for later broadcast on television in Canada; a transcription of his testimony was also made available online [c]. As such, his expertise in this area contributed, not just to specialist policy discussion and debate, but also to broader public awareness of important issues relating to the research. Improving understanding and developing new tools for counter-terrorist professionals. Prison staff: In 2009, Silke drew on research conducted as part of the NOMS study [2] to give invited presentations at two national conferences organised by the Ministry of Justice. Those presentations focussed on key findings relating to the management and reform of terrorist prisoners, around 130 of whom are currently incarcerated in prisons in England & Wales. These led to further invitations to share those findings more widely — and thereby improve understanding of prisoners convicted of terrorism-related offences - through guest lectures for a combined total of more than 250 staff working with such prisoners at UK prisons including: HMP Full Sutton (13 October 2009), HMP Frankland (27 April 2010), and HMP Feltham (29 March 2011). Silke has also used his research to enhance understanding of terrorist psychology among representatives of policing and security bodies, including the Territorial Policing CT Showcase 2008 (31 July 2008), Olympic Security Directorate (30 June 2009), and Metropolitan Police (13 January 2010). That research has further supported the development of new risk assessment tools for use in evaluating terrorist and extremist offenders. In 2008, Silke applied his expertise in terrorist psychology, terrorists in prison and terrorist disengagement as a member of an advisory group of experts on psychological risk assessment, set up to inform the development by the NOMS Operational Intervention Services Group of the Extremism Risk Guidance (ERG22+). This new risk assessment tool, which was launched in 2011, particularly followed the group's recommendation for a structured risk guidance approach specifically designed for use with terrorist prisoners [d]. Prior to its development, prison authorities had no risk assessment tool validated for use with such prisoners. Between 2011 and the end of 2012, the new tool had been used to improve the ability of prison psychologists and offender managers to conduct risk assessments of more than 80 terrorist and extremist prisoners in England and Wales; it is expected that assessments of the remaining 40-45 prisoners will be made by the end of 2013 [e]. The ERG is now regarded as the primary risk assessment tool for such prisoners in England and Wales; a modified version has been adapted by the Police, who use it in community settings to divert potential extremists from pathways to terrorist activity [e]. Silke's research also helped inform the development of VERA-2 [f], the only other risk assessment tool available for use with terrorist and extremist prisoners, which is used widely in prisons in Australia and Canada. Finally, in 2012, precisely in line with the recommendations made in [2], the National Offender Management Service introduced its Healthy Identities Intervention programme to support extremist prisoners' disengagement from extremism. The programme is now available to all terrorism- and extremism- related prisoners in England and Wales. Military personnel: Invited talks have also been delivered to improve understanding among UK and international military professionals, including through addresses to the Advanced Command and Staff Course of the UK Defence Academy (28 March 2011); and Higher Command and Staff Course, Joint Services Command, and Staff College, Defence Academy (Swindon, 23 January 2009). Between 2010 and 2011 Morrison was the project manager on the government-funded Violent Dissident Republicanism project, in which role he gave regular private briefings to both the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the British Security Services. Silke has contributed to a Senior Command and Staff Course of The Military College, Irish Defence Forces, (Ireland, 18 January 2010). Further afield, Morrison was invited in 2012 to present his findings on radicalisation within prisons at a NATO Advanced Research Workshop in Ankara at the NATO Centre of Excellence-Defence Against Terrorism (COE-DAT). Attendants included approximately 25 senior military personnel from North Africa and South-Eastern Europe who are currently involved in NATO's Mediterranean Dialogue [g]. As a result of his participation in this event, Morrison was commissioned in November 2012 to help develop a programme to assist the Nigerian government in countering Boko Haram: a 5-day workshop was subsequently delivered in 13-17 May 2013 [h]. Enhanced public awareness of and engagement with important social and political issues. As well as informing policy discussion and formulation and supporting improvements in practice, the research has fed into public debates on issues relating to terrorism and counter-terrorism. Silke's research has been covered extensively in both national and international media outlets, allowing him to inform media discourse, share key findings with a wide non-academic audience and thereby increase public awareness of and engagement with significant social and political issues and events relating to terrorism. To that end, he has appeared on over 100 national and international media programmes since 2008, including news and current affairs programmes for the BBC, Sky News, CNN, ITV and Channel 4. He has also been interviewed regularly on radio and in printed press outlets with very large readerships, including The Guardian, The Independent, The Daily Telegraph, The Observer, Newsweek, Time magazine, and La Republica. His work on terrorist psychology and critical incident psychology has also been the focus of a number of television documentaries, including the BBC Horizon episode "How to Survive a Disaster" first broadcast on 10 Mar 2009 on BBC 2 to 1.7 million viewers [i]. More recently, Morrison has also made a significant contribution to national and international media-led debates on terrorism: in the aftermath of the Boston bombings he was commissioned to write analysis for both the Irish Post and City AM, whilst a piece on cnn.com, analysing the threat posed by dissident Irish Republicans to the G8 summit, made a significant contribution to international media and public discussion of that event. The original article, which drew on his research on the rising threat of dissident Irish Republicanism from the Violent Dissident Republicanism project [5], received 456 separate comments on CNN's webpage and was recommended by 325 people on Facebook; it was reproduced by at least 23 news outlets across three continents [j]. [a] For Silke's 2009 appointment as a Specialist Adviser to the House of Commons' Communities and Local Government Committee: http://bit.ly/1g5z8rV p. 30 [b] For the influence of Silke's research on recommendations made in the CSSC report, Security, Freedom and the Complex Terrorist Threat: http://bit.ly/1eYfxqD pp. 28 and 48 [c] For transcript of Silke's testimonial to the CSSC: http://bit.ly/H26MQj. Also available in French. [d] For Silke's membership of the advisory group guiding development of ERG22+: Monica Lloyd & Christopher Dean (2012), `Intervening with extremist offenders.' Forensic Update, 105, pp.35-38. Document available on request. [e] For the use of ERG22+: Monica Lloyd (2012). `Learning from casework and the literature.' Prison Service Journal, 203, pp. 23-30. http://bit.ly/1arnCRH [f] For citation of Silke's research in reference to VERA-2 development: Pressman, D.E. & Flockton, J.S. (2012). `Calibrating risk for violent political extremists: The VERA-2 Structural Assessment.' The British Journal of Forensic Practice, 14, (4) pp. 237-251. DOI: http://doi.org/pnr [g] For Morrison's contribution to the NATO Advanced Research Workshop: http://bit.ly/1gUBQ54 [h] For the workshop for the Nigerian government on countering Boko Haram http://bit.ly/1eYZysk [i] For BBC Horizon, "How to Survive a Disaster": http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00j7p7z [j] For the CNN article by Morrison: http://cnn.it/16F1qBb	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line728
__label__cc	0.629969	0.370031	« The Author’s 10-Step Guide to Creating a Media Kit Genetic Memory: Remembering Your Ancestors’ Lives » Colonia Dignidad – An Experiment in Terror and Behavior Modification If you’re planning to see the new Emma Watson film Colonia, please don’t watch the trailer first. Punctuated by the groan-inducing line “When they took her man”, this has to be one of the worst trailers I’ve ever seen. Its weakness resides in the fact that they take an empowered, arguably feminist main character and make her out to look like a desperate flower, someone who cannot survive unless she finds “her man”. But since I’ve just told you not to think of a pink elephant and piqued your curiosity, here’s the trailer so you can see for yourself: Hollywood is no stranger to using contrived romances that push the boundaries of cheese in order to serve up an important social or political event as backdrop. Think the fictitious, ill-fated romance of Jack and Rose to showcase the spectacular sinkability of the most unsinkable ships of all, the Titanic. But there’s a fine line between using romance to build up a film and gratuitous humping, and that line was blurred for the first 12 minutes of Colonia, as Lena and Daniel went at each other worse than the cats in heat outside my place at night. Fighting against the urge to hurl a glass of cold water at the screen and shout “Break it up already!”, I gritted my teeth and stuck it out. (Am I showing my age here or what?) Oh, and to all of you asking on YouTube if Emma gets nude in this flick, sorry to disappoint. It took a while for the movie to get better. It didn’t help that the main characters’ downfall begins with a series of utterly idiotic moves. Hey – there’s a violent riot outside! Let me grab my camera, run right up to cops in combat gear and shoot photos of them beating up people! No way are they going to kick my head in or beat up my girlfriend! Oh, and just keep standing in the front row at prisoner roll-call when the wiser move would be to blend at the back of the crowd and hope you won’t get noticed, especially since you’re a political activist and agitator. But alas, after the lovebirds (or cats in heat, depending on your perspective) get separated, Emma Watson’s Lena sacrifices herself by travelling to Colonia Dignidad in an attempt to infiltrate them. Note: I’m not spoiling the movie here since the trailer basically gives it all away. Without any solid proof that her boyfriend is still alive or even at Colonia anymore, Lena stays for an unbelievable 130 days working slave labour in scorching fields, spending long days without any water, being beaten up by a matronly, sadistic female camp guard. By then, anybody in their right mind would’ve left already or at least made serious attempts to fly that coop. Instead, Lena purposefully – or shall I say masochistically – manoeuvres to get beaten up (and potentially murdered) at the men’s gathering in a fleeting attempt to see if Daniel is among them. OK, so reading this far in my review you might think I really hated it, but you’d be wrong. In truth, Colonia isn’t bad at all (though it had potential to be even better). Its strength lies in the second half, the part that is based on fact rather than fiction – when the full horror of the camp begins to unfold. The brainwashed residents, the hard labour, the dirndls and Eva Braun-type of bun-braids, the children wearing lederhosen who are separated and isolated from their families and grow up not knowing who their parents are. This was a gripping film with amazing cinematography and a very effective build-up of tension. These days, you practically have to make a deal with the devil in order to shine a spotlight on an issue everybody would otherwise have ignored – the devil in this case being the Harry Potter brand incarnated in Emma Watson, who I should say did a great job with what she was given. The harrowing ending was particularly intense and well-executed. I’ve always believed that the true mark of a good movie is the lasting impression it has on you – how long it stays in your mind after you’ve left the theatre. Also, that it should teach you something you didn’t know before. This movie checks both these all-important boxes: it lingers with you as well as makes you think and want to learn more, which makes it a success. I am grateful that it got made, despite the contrived love story and the fact that these days you can’t make a film about an important issue or historical event without the backing of a Hollywood A-lister. In this day and age, being a “celebrity” (i.e. someone who reads lines written by others and performs on cue, like a trained seal) has more weight than the scientists silently toiling away in labs across the world to discover the cure for cancer or dementia. But I digress. THE TRUE STORY BEHIND THE FILM Although I’m fairly familiar with the history of the ex-Nazi diaspora and the communities they established across South America, particularly in Argentina and Brazil, I hadn’t heard about Colonia Dignidad before I watched the film. Now called Villa Baviera (Bavarian Village), in its heyday (and under the leadership of Nazi psychopath Paul Schafer) it was home to hundreds of residents. The 137 km property was surrounded by barbed wire fences, searchlights and a watchtower, and was full of weapon caches and explosives, serving as an impromptu prison for political dissidents brought there by Augusto Pinochet‘s DINA, the Chilean Secret Police. My immediate thoughts after the movie (and my gut impression) was that there had to be more to Colonia Dignidad beyond providing a means for ex-Luftwaffe officer Paul Schafer‘s cold-blooded sadism and his sexual abuse of children. I know Wikipedia says it’s considered to be a cult of some sort, but this was (and possibly still is) more than just a cult. Certainly this is evident in the German government’s tacit approval of Schafer’s methodologies, his connections with people high up in the German embassy, as well as deep roots within Pinochet’s secret police. A man who is simply an egomaniac pedophile wouldn’t have this sort of clout. No, there had to be much more to this place for him to get away with all that he did. It seems to me that Colonia was both a continuation of the concentration camp model, as well as an experiment in behaviour modification – both at the macro and the micro level. Prisoners were brought in and were never seen again. It’s clear that torture happened, but given the cultish obedience and knee-jerk reflex of fear instilled in the residents, the colony may have been a living laboratory in mind control. I don’t like to throw words like “mind control” around lightly, because there are far too many nutcases and conspiracy theorists like the folks who hang out on Godlike Productions and think a secret brotherhood of shape-shifting reptiles rules the world. The term “mind control” is synonymous with all sorts of crazy, despite the fact that there’s no denying the truth behind Operation Paperclip and the experiments that were carried out both in the West and behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War years. Don’t believe me? You don’t have to – both the CIA and Simon Wiesenthal have presented evidence that shows Josef Mengele had resided at the colony for some time in the 1960s. Mengele was just one of several other high-profile Nazis to have stayed there, the other being Martin Bormann, once the highest ranking Nazi in the world after Adolf Hitler. According to historian Ladislas Farago, Bormann lived for a period of time in seclusion at Colonia Dignidad, having “sought a place where he could be at peace.” There is something sinister about Colonia Dignidad that leads me to believe this was a place where behavior modification experiments happened, if only because the doctrine was rooted in brainwashing of its residents and because medications were often administered, along with severe forms of punishment. But it was also connected with the disappearance of political prisoners who were transported there and were never seen again. I think there is more than meets the eye because of the length of time – decades – that Schafer and his goons were able to operate with immunity. Even after Boris Weisfeiler, a Russian-born American mathematician, disappeared and was believed to be murdered by Colonia residents, it took until 2012 (and after Schafer’s death) for a judge to call an indictment against eight retired cops and others involved with the disappearance. And just one month before the movie Colonia was released, Weisfeiler’s case was deemed a “common crime” whose statute of limitations had passed, and was officially closed. It’s not difficult to speculate as to the reason why. Pinochet ruled as dictator of Chile until 1990, but remained the army’s Commander-in-Chief until 1998. The 1970s, 80s and 90s were not that long ago. Many of the officers involved in Pinochet’s regime are well-established men now, men whose power likely still extends all the way up to Chile’s current government. Clearly, there are too many who might have something to lose if the facts behind Colonia Dignidad come out, and they will do everything in their power to sweep the truth under the carpet. If you enjoyed this review, please consider dropping a dollar in my Patreon donation jar 🙂 This entry was posted on April 18, 2016 at 5:41 pm and is filed under movie, movie review, politics. Tagged: behavior modification, boris weisfeiler, chile, colonia, colonia dignidad, emma watson, film, germany, mengele, movie, nazi, paul schafer, pinochet, review, ww2. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. 2 Responses to “Colonia Dignidad – An Experiment in Terror and Behavior Modification” conartistocracy said Reblogged this on Citizens, not serfs. Excellent review and valuable background material. Like you I felt the film lightly touched a much deeper story. Were it not for the German couple the story might never have been revealed and the film was watchable despite the heavy topic.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line729
__label__wiki	0.511032	0.511032	« Traveling through Transylvania in Search of the Real Dracula The Truth about Bucharest School no. 19 » Posted by E on November 4, 2016 Like many people, I discovered Elizabeth Bishop one evening in 2013 by scrolling through the newest offerings on Netflix, and choosing a movie called Reaching for the Moon. Unbeknownst to me, the story I watched that night would be the start of a new adventure – one that would lead me into foreign territory and transform my poetry in infinitesimal ways. Much like Elizabeth’s own journey, in fact. When she was 40 years old, American poet Elizabeth Bishop decided it was time to leave New York. She had reached a dead end both in her personal life (after a break-up with a long-time lover) and in her stagnant creativity, which resulted in a dry spell from publishing. Also struggling with alcoholism, Elizabeth longed for a new start, some way to rejuvenate her spirit and retrigger her inspiration. Receiving a fellowship from Bryn Mawr College was a godsend, and she decided that she would travel around the world. She telephoned the naval port and was told that the next available freighter was leaving for South America. Impulsively, she reserved a spot. In November of 1951, Bishop boarded the Norwegian freighter S.S. Bowplate. Unbeknownst to her, the journey would change her life forever. The first port she arrived at was Santos, and what was meant to be a brief sojourn to visit with an old school chum from Vassar, Mary Morse, turned into an eighteen-year stay that would profoundly affect the rest of her life. Toward the end of her vacation, Elizabeth fell ill from a violent allergic reaction to a cashew fruit and had to be hospitalized. While being nursed back to health, her relationship with Mary Morse’s Brazilian lover Lota deepened and grew more intense. Soon Lota de Macedo Soares, a self-taught architect from a prominent upper-class political family, broke up with Mary Morse and persuaded Elizabeth to stay in Brazil and move into Lota’s sprawling estate home at Samambaia, in the hills above Petropolis. With Lota’s affection, Elizabeth flourished. It was there, amidst the lush jungle foliage and under Lota’s care, that Elizabeth wrote the poetry that would win her a Pulitzer prize and turn her into a world-renowned poet. After watching Reaching for the Moon, I was convinced that I couldn’t stand Elizabeth Bishop. Her weakness, her repeated cheating on Lota, her complete dependence on alcohol as a way to relinquish personal responsibility. But out of curiosity, I wanted to see for myself if she was all she’s cracked up to be. Soon I would discover just how inaccurate the film was, and run into interviews that revealed director Bruno Barreto’s obsession with stylistic themes over historical accuracy. Like many biographical films, truth and historical fact was sacrificed to the artistic vision of a straight male director who’d never heard of Elizabeth Bishop before he read the script. I would also discover that Elizabeth’s characterization in the film paled in comparison to the real person, both in physique and in spirit. Bishop didn’t resemble the tall, slender, cool, passive-aggressive character played by Miranda Otto. The real Elizabeth was short (only 5’4) and stout, intensely emotional, at times difficult, with an inner fire that was apparent to all who knew her. As the years progressed, her relationship with Lota became increasingly codependent. Paradoxically, the stronger she grew, the weaker Lota became. It would all come to a tragic end after Elizabeth traveled back to the US to teach at NYU and recently hospitalized Lota (against medical advice) decided to visit her in September 1967. On her first night in New York, Lota took an overdose of tranquilizers and fell into a coma, dying a few days later. Lota de Macedo Soares After Lota’s death, Elizabeth was shunned by her Brazilian friends and Lota’s relatives. She was forced to sell her Ouro Preto home and the Rio apartment bequeathed to her by Lota after Lota’s sister contested the will. Elizabeth soon realized that she had no future in Brazil without Lota and reluctantly moved back to the United States, eventually teaching at Harvard until her death in 1979. Over the weeks and months to come, I would devour all Bishop-related material I could get my hands on. Soon I discovered that she had written much more than just poetry, and I was hooked. After Poems: North & South. A Cold Spring and Questions of Travel, I ordered her prose, correspondence, her incomplete, posthumously-published drafts and at least two biographies. It started out as a hobby – reading all of Bishop’s writing. I spent an entire summer in my garden, reading book after book. Why? I still don’t know. Like Bishop’s feelings about Brazil, liking her didn’t come naturally. Some of her writing made me angry or befuddled me. I complained to my partner of how much I couldn’t stand Bishop-the-person, only to find myself returning to Bishop-the-writer’s work the next day. It might sound crazy to most people. Why would I become inexplicably obsessed with a woman who died nearly forty years ago, a poet who was my complete antagonist? Why did I keep going down the Bishop rabbit hole instead of putting away her books? What kept me so engaged even as I complained about how weak and conflicted she was? For all its flaws and incorrect depictions, Reaching for the Moon was a watershed moment for Bishop’s memory, leading many to look up her biography and (re)discover the small body of writing she had left behind. Until the film came out Bishop was a minor poet, largely forgotten by the masses and hardly ever studied in creative writing classes. Elizabeth Bishop in college In all my writing classes over the years, Bishop’s poetry has never been covered. It’s easy to see why – shy and reticent to share the personal or make it political in an age when her compatriots (see Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton) found their stardom by turning their inner angst into poetic magic, she isn’t exactly an obvious choice for later generations, for youngsters who have been taught that the personal is political. In contrast with the passionate, vibrant experimentation of the Beat Generation, Bishop’s classic approach to literature and her staunch avoidance to confront political and feminist discourse in her work rendered her an almost obsolete vestige of a repressed generation. As a young poet, I was dazzled by the raw honesty of Kerouac, Ginsberg and Bukowski, swept away by Plath’s confessional brutality. Writers like Bishop and her idol, Marianne Moore, did nothing for me. I saw them as Vassar-reared, elitist upper class dilettantes who refused to address the sweeping changes of their time – they met in cafés and parlours to exchange and review each other’s couplets rather than discuss the Second World War that raged around them, the civil rights movement that brought equality to racial and sexual minorities. Our poetic styles couldn’t be more different. I was as bold as Bishop was reticent; I challenged the establishment with the same ferocity she had retained while ignoring any criticisms of the government of her day. Her refusal to be included in feminist or women-only anthologies (underscored by the belief that it would somehow reduce her worth as a poet), her reluctance to openly come out as a lesbian even after the advent of gay liberation, all go against the grain of my own belief system. Only in my late thirties could I have begun to appreciate the quiet strength that resides in Bishop’s poetry. I still can’t say that I like the woman on a personal level, but there is something about her that fascinates me. I’ve read passages of her letters (as addressed to Robert Lowell) that I found incensing, even borderline racist and contemptuous toward those less privileged than her – opinions no doubt amplified by being in the company of the Brazilian elites of the day. But there is also an overwhelming defiance in her writing, interweaved in equal parts with fear, hope and childlike wonder all at the same time. Emboldened by my connection to Bishop’s work, I wrote my first villanelle One Europe after being inspired by One Art. And as soon as I submitted it, it was accepted for publication in Canada’s oldest poetry journal, CV2 (Contemporary Verse 2). I wrote a second poem, set in Brazil, and once again it attracted attention and a mentorship with a renowned Canadian poet. Clearly, Elizabeth Bishop’s influences on my own writing had produced results. A year later, after I’d made my way through her entire correspondence and translations, going so far as to acquire some first editions of her books (including Life World Library’s Brazil), I realized that I had become a self-taught Bishop scholar. With that realization came the knowledge that I had to confront my own feelings and try to understand what it was about Elizabeth Bishop that both attracted and still repelled me. As it often is, people who trigger strong feelings in you are actually reflections of your own self, mirroring some part of self-identity that you refuse to see. I realized how much I was like her. All the things I hated about her work were things I hated in myself. I wished she had been stronger, that she could have come out as a feminist or lesbian poet, but it took me years to allow my own identity to seep into my writing. Elizabeth Bishop with Tobias the Cat in 1954 We live in an age that worships youth and carries the unspoken message that if you haven’t “made it” as a writer by your late 30s, you’re a nobody. Her success later in life, in spite of depression, personal struggles with a dark past and substance abuse, inspired and rejuvenated me in all those dark moments that come to all writers, when I felt down and hopeless. And then came the day when I knew, more than anything, that I had to travel to Brazil. I craved to see for myself the influences that had created the greatest phase of her career, and the years that she admitted were the happiest of her life. Brazil was where Bishop’s path took a new turn, where she produced work whose lasting power would outlive her. I was 40 years old too. I often felt hopeless and burnt out. I would be lying if I didn’t admit that I wished to touch the same spark – that intangible, luminous magic – of inspiration that had struck Bishop. Some places have that effect, you know; just like some plants only bloom in certain soil, the fertility of creation comes easier in certain spots than others. A view of Guanabara Bay and Flamengo Park – Lota’s vision. Taken from the top of Sugarloaf Mountain. The 2016 Rio Olympics made it easier to travel to Brazil. The visa requirement was waved for the summer, security was at its best, and by booking far ahead I was able to line up affordable accommodations both in Rio and in Ouro Preto. Ignoring the dreadful headlines about killer Zika mosquitos and roving favela gangs, I spent most of August and the first week of September in Brazil, working on various projects which included researching the life of Elizabeth Bishop and Lota de Macedo Soares. Needless to say, I skipped the mosquito repellant and was not bitten once. During my Brazil sojourn I wanted to stay a few days on Copacabana beach, just to take in the atmosphere, but didn’t realize that the hotel I’d booked was literally next door to Elizabeth and Lota’s old Leme apartment. Its street address and entrance might have been on Rua Antonio Vieira 5, but the balcony actually fronts onto Avenida Atlantica. It was an amazing coincidence. Every day I’d look outside my window onto Leme beach, I realized it was essentially the same view they’d had back then. Every evening I went downstairs to have dinner and cashew fruit caipirinhas on the patio at Jaquina’s, which is actually on the main level of the same building. Lota’s apartment was the penthouse – which you can see on the highest floor. It’s the unit with the wraparound balcony and a walk-up to the rooftop (click photos to expand). The view from a similar balcony at Av. Atlantica and Rua Antonio Vieira, 5. Copacabana beach – on the left is Leme hill, and on the right is Sugarloaf Mountain. A few days after I arrived, I hired a driver and guide to take me up to Petropolis and the hilltops of Samambaia. Once the depressing urban jungle of Rio’s favelas gave way to mountainous vegetation, the road turned steep and narrow. I could only imagine how precarious it must have been back when Lota had to maneuver her Jaguar regularly on a winding, partially-unpaved road; now a two-hour drive, it took nearly twice as long back in the 1950s. Here are some photos taken on that day. The actual Samambaia house is private property so we were not able to go inside, but the hilltop views reflect the fierce beauty of its surroundings. I also took photos of downtown Petropolis, Quitandinha Hotel (a Grand Hotel-type place where the millionaires, celebrities, movie stars and the elites of Petropolis congregated in the 1950s) and the Crystal Palace (click to expand photos). During the last week of August, I flew to Belo Horizonte, the capital of the Minas Gerais region, and hired a car for the two-hour drive to Ouro Preto, which was even more spectacular, quaint and tranquil than I’d imagined. Once known as the biggest city in the New World, Ouro Preto is a UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site and the soul of Brazil’s 1700s gold rush. Its surrounding hills are stippled with gold mines and reddish clay earth. It’s hard not to fall in love with its timeless, rustic beauty, which (oddly enough) reminded me quite viscerally of my grandmother’s Transylvanian village, where I spent many childhood summers. Safe and friendly, it’s easy to imagine living here for an extended stretch of time and just write. If I could afford it, I would return in a heartbeat. Ouro Preto is a quintessential village with sloping cobblestone streets and several white stone bridges connecting different parts of town – a tapestry of eighteenth-century dwellings and ornate churches standing next to simple, whitewashed colonial houses. A sprawling main square dotted with baroque buildings next to an arts-and-crafts market. The sunshine spills over an explosion of tropical plants sprouting prickly red flowers, then flows downwards to an abundance of purple-and-yellow wildflowers that grow in the sidewalk nooks. A smell of smoke and burning wood lingers after sunset, a dog barks in the middle of the night, the cackling rooster screeches at the crack of dawn. A narrow, cobbled road connects Ouro Preto to its sister city Mariana, located a fifteen-minute drive away. High up in the hills overlooking the town, Elizabeth Bishop’s former home boasts an incredible vista that overlooks lush foliage, baroque churches and coppery-red shingled rooftops. In 1960 Bishop purchased a home here, at 546 Mariana Road; she called the house Casa Mariana (click on photos to expand). It was bittersweet to say goodbye to Brazil, and I can only imagine how traumatic it must have been for Bishop to leave her adopted home, everything she had loved and lost here. But what made me sadder was how few people remembered Lota de Macedo Soares. Although her spirit is embedded in the beautiful Flamengo Park which circles Guanabara Bay, nobody I talked with in Brazil knew who I was speaking about. My guide, a gay man who prides himself on having a history degree, announced that the park had been designed solely by Burle Marx. Even when I tried to impress upon him the significant work Lota did in the design and construction of the park, he (like others) wasn’t particularly interested in knowing about her. Even the small commemorative plaque in Aterro do Flamengo has misspelled Lota’s name and was never corrected. Sadly, in death Lota’s memory has been brushed aside and replaced with the names of powerful men who were determined (and arguably succeeded) in erasing her identity from the history of the city she loved and helped to transform. Someday all our memories will be forgotten and lost – such is the fate of time and mortality. But I do hope that in the beauty of a blossoming garden, in the delicate verse of a poem that takes someone’s breath away, a shred of ourselves still remains. Surely this is what Elizabeth and Lota would have wanted. This entry was posted on November 4, 2016 at 1:45 am and is filed under literature, poetry, writer, writing. Tagged: brazil, elizabeth bishop, literature, lota de macedo soares, ouro preto, petropolis, poet, poetry, pulitzer, reaching for the moon, rio de janeiro, samambaia, travel, writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. 7 Responses to “Tracing the footsteps of Elizabeth Bishop in Brazil” Luis A said I read this and I don’t know if I’m in awe of the superb writing, or depressed because of its content. Either way, it’s moved me. A Year of Light and Darkness « Incognito Press said […] Tracing the footsteps of Elizabeth Bishop in Brazil […] Charlo Maurer said I have also been captivated by Elizabeth Bishop and intend to make the same trip as you this November. Ours Preto looks like a fascinating place, and I’m already in love with Rio having visited my brother there a few times. That is sad that people you met in Rio don’t know about Lota. Let me know if you have any tips for the trip. E said In Ouro Preto try to hire a local guide, especially if you have limited time. They’re fairly inexpensive and will save you a lot of time. I don’t know if you have access to a car, but the roads in Brazil are full of crazy drivers that I would not want to attempt, so we hired taxis and guides with vehicles. You should know that the drive between Ouro Preto and Mariana is about 15 mins and Elizabeth’s house is right in the middle. It’s far from downtown Ouro Preto and you will likely need a car or taxi to get there, unless you wish to stay farther from downtown Ouro Preto. I stayed at the Hotel Solar do Rosário, which was so beautiful and central (a bit expensive but worth it) and they arranged for my partner & me to have a guide – he also had a car so we were able to drive everywhere and stop by the house. Good luck with your trip. Ouro Preto is spectacular, and feels so different (and much safer) than Rio. I could totally live there. B said Congratulations on your belated discovery and wholehearted embrace of Elizabeth Bishop’s poetry. Your trip to Brazil sounds wonderful and enviable, and it’s one I hope to make myself one day. I’m writing this, though, because I can’t resist commenting on this sentence in particular: “Until the film came out Bishop was a minor poet, largely forgotten by the masses and hardly ever studied in creative writing classes.” This is completely, incredibly incorrect. Bishop was widely considered one of the major poetic voices of her generation during her lifetime, and, since her death, her reputation has only increased — to the point that it now eclipses those of all her contemporaries, even Robert Lowell. She stands on equal footing with the greats of the twentieth century — Stevens, Eliot, Yeats, Thomas, Larkin, and the rest — and well ahead of Plath, Sexton, her mentor Marianne Moore, and certainly any of the Beats. She is a staple in just about every anthology of American literature there is, and her work has been taught regularly in literature and writing classes alike for decades (just not, apparently, any of the ones you have attended). Her childhood home in Nova Scotia is a coveted artists’ retreat. New books by and about her appear regularly (including a Library of America edition in 2008), and they are widely covered in the mainstream press when they do. Example: when “Edgar Allen Poe and the Jukebox” was published in 2006, it was on the cover of the New York Times Book Review (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/02/books/review/02orr.html). Another cover review followed in 2008, when her correspondence with Lowell (a book of letters!) appeared (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/books/review/Logan-t.html). The book on which “Reaching for the Moon” was based was a bestseller in Brazil, but the (woefully miscast) movie was seen by hardly anyone in North America. It barely got a release here at all, and, while I’m delighted that it introduced you to Bishop, I very much doubt it’s true that “many people” were introduced to her work in this way. I’d venture that most of the people who did see the movie made a special effort to seek it out because they were already Bishop fans. Jennifer Swanton Brown said Thank you this is a lovely piece of writing. I’m currently reading “The More I Owe You” and was searching the internet to learn who Mary was, Lota’s lover in Brazil when EB arrived. Your post popped up. I very much appreciate the photos of the spots you travelled to, and also your honesty about the things that attracted, puzzled, and repulsed you in EB’s poetry. I have some of the same ambivalence, and frankly, love, for her work. Again, many thanks. Thank you for this. I’ve been reading “The More I Owe You” and searching the internet for the name of Lota’s lover Mary. Your post popped up. I appreciate your mixed feelings about Bishop’s work, I have some of the same, frankly, I love and am frustrated by her reticence, astonished by her control. Isn’t it wonderful when a work of art reveals us to ourselves? Any many many thanks for the photos of Brazil. They give color in a different way to the experiences of reading about the places.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line730
__label__wiki	0.910641	0.910641	Overnight protests about Venezuelan leadership kill four Published On January 24, 2019 \| By darynasarhan \| Headlines, International People take part in a protest in Caracas, Venezuela. (REUTERS/Amanda Sanchez) Daryna Sarhan Four people have died in a massive violent protest in Venezuela after the opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself the new interim president yesterday. Thousands of people gathered in the streets to demand President Nicolas Maduro step down and protest against the ongoing crises, which include food shortages, hyperinflation and dictatorship. These problems helped Guaido gain popular support. He has promised to bring democracy to Venezuela, where many believe that electoral system is rigged. Guillermo Acosta, a native of Venezuela and dean of Media Studies and Information Technology at Humber College, said the crisis in Venezuela is multi-faceted with an incredible amount of corruption at all levels of the Maduro regime. “His team has proven incapable of managing the resources of the country, leading to the worst economic crisis in history. The economic forecast indicates that the annual inflation rate will hit 1,000,000% this year,” said Acosta. Acosta left Venezuela in 2001 because he didn’t like the direction that the country was taking. “It’s almost impossible for businesses to keep their operations under such conditions. This has led to shortages in the most basic items such as food and medication,” said Acosta. “Health and nutrition levels are deteriorating at alarming speed, which has created a massive migration of Venezuelans to neighboring countries in the region. Some estimates place the number of economic refugees in 2 to 3 million people in the last 3 years.” People take part in a protest as police stand guard in Caracas, Venezuela.(REUTERS/Gabriela Gonzalez) Rodrigo Diaz a Humber College student from Venezuela, said he believes that no matter which side wins, misery is inevitable. “There will be more deaths, there will be more protests,” he said. Diaz said his parents lived in Venezuela for over 60 years, but he’s not planning to visit them any time soon. “If I want to visit them, they will come to me, they don’t want me there and I don’t want to be there either,” he said. Diaz said his family is trying to be optimistic, and that they support the opposition. “I’m in favor of anything that replaces the new government, I don’t want socialism. There has to be a change,” he said. People take part in a protest in Caracas, Venezuela. The placard reads, “We are free”. (REUTERS/Amanda Sanchez) After Maduro won the last Venezuelan election, the European Union, the U.S. and several Latin American countries declared the results unfair. The newly self-elected interim president, Guaido vowed to have fair elections in the country. Canada, the U.S., U.K. and some Latin American countries have officially recognized Guaido as the new president. Russia, China and Turkey have said Maduro is still the legitimate president. “It is impossible for us to approve of this,” said Recep Erdoğan, the president of Turkey. “I believe that Maduro will overcome this troublesome period as he walks this path together with those who believe in him.” The United States has cut ties with Venezuela’s old government and is also pushing for a democratic change. “We will stand with the people of Venezuela until they reclaim their freedom and democracy,” said U.S. vice president Mike Pence. “Nicolas Maduro was a dictator with no legitimate claim to power.” darynasarhan Latest posts by darynasarhan (see all) Not an April fools’ joke – Ukrainian comedian leads election - April 1, 2019 Truck driver who killed 16 in Broncos crash jailed for 8 years - March 22, 2019 A history of China’s foot binding tradition - March 22, 2019	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line731
__label__wiki	0.918717	0.918717	HOLLYWOOD HANGOVER: Neon Nightlife Neverland Bringing Yesterday's Future Back to the Present With Memories of the Sixties Sunset Scene Let the head-bashing begin!1965-1968 Whisky a GoGo, The Trip, The Troubadour, The Hullabaloo, Pandora's Box, Sea Witch, The Factory, Ciro's, etc. the Byrds, Love, the Leaves, Buffalo Springfield, the Seeds and the Doors The Strip grew and reinvented itself, building on its own mythic aura, decade after decade, from the supper clubs of the '40s to the nightclubs of the '50s to the rock clubs of the '60s and Punk in the 70s and 80s. This purest metaphor of L.A. was a mile of shameless sex and eccentric self-invention and rampaging capitalism. Whole KRLA BEAT PDF COLLECTION - http://krlabeat.sakionline.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi Sculptor and dancer Vito Paulekas was the L.A. freak scene guru in the early sixties. Vito had a group of dancers (that included Carl Franzoni) that danced & freaked out at the early Mothers' concerts. FANS, to FOLKIES to FREAKS WE ARE THE PORCH-PEOPLE: 1965 Lots of English groups had plans to visit the Los Angeles area in early January 1965 for various TV or film appearances. KRLA which operated on the grounds of The Huntington Hotel in Pasadena became ground zero for promotions and fans. The Beat's report on The Beatles appears to have been written in December 1964 but held over for publication in the new year. Among expected visitors were The Hullabaloos (from Hull, hence the name), who were to appear on the "Ed Sullivan" variety show in late December. The Hullabaloos never did make it to the show but Ed was busy booking others, such as The Animals, The Dave Clark Five, Gerry and the Pacemakers, and Cilla Black, all of whom appeared on the show in the early months of 1965. The British Invasion was still going strong. Photos for this week include a selection of pictures from past issues of the KRLA Beat. Notable is a rare look at the Beatles' August 1964 press conference at the Cinnamon Cinder nightclub, owned by deejay Bob Eubanks. PDF size 2.7 MB. 4 pages. Vol. 0 No. 0. FOLK SCENE: Conceived by and opened in September 1960, by Pasadena businessman Willard Chilcott, THE ICE HOUSE has brought the finest in live entertainment to the San Gabriel Valley for over 42 years. During that time, over three million people have "discovered" the stars of today and tomorrow in our intimate showroom. In the 1960s, Folk music was in its prime, and The Ice House was America's top folk club with acts coming from all over the country to play and sing. Pasadena needed some music and comedy and The Ice House quickly became "the" place to go. The club combined music and comedy and gave audiences a consistently good time at reasonable prices. Notable acts included Kenny Rodgers, Linda Ronstadt, The Association, Seals and Crofts, Stephen Bishop, Jennifer Warnes, and hundreds more. WILD IN THE STREETS Warming Up for the 'Summer of Love' LA TEENAGE REBELLION: In the spring of 1961, Southern California suddenly erupted from the valleys to the beaches in angry generational conflict. There were 11 so called 'teen riots' in six months--three of them, including Griffith Park in May, Zuma Beach in June and Alhambra in October, involved thousands of youth. If largely forgotten today, at the time these confrontations generated worldwide headlines and national controversy. Despite the disparate sociological and geographical characteristics of the individual events, civic and law enforcement leaders conflated them as a single sustained outburst, an unprecedented insurrection against adult authority. And, following the causal chain back to El Cajon Boulevard the summer before, some of the country's leading anti-Communists once again discerned a conspiratorial pattern in youthful defiance. As Los Angeles' acting chief of police warned the nation, 'The eruption of violence and disorder directed at society's symbols of authority could be more devastating to America's hopes for the future than rockets and the 100-megaton bomb'. REBELS WITHOUT A CLUE: Symbols of authority could be more devastating to America's hopes for the future than rockets and the 100-megaton bomb'.16 The first explosion occurred--according to subversive schedule?--on 1 May. Although national news was dominated by the huge 'Splash Day' riot in Galveston, Texas, where 800 youth were arrested, Los Angeles County sheriffs had to mount an amphibious landing to save the island resort of Avalon from its own teenage hordes. The city's third annual 'Buccaneer Ball' celebration was disrupted by hundreds of rowdy high school and college students who 'littered streets with beer cans and wine bottles, climbed over cars, trampled flower planters, ripped fire hoses and extinguishers from hotel walls and sprayed corridors'. Panicky local authorities called in deputies from the mainland who eventually arrested 57 of the 'mob'. The next weekend in Long Beach, in a fracas variously described in the local press as a 'riot' or 'near riot', 400 youths, 'all in bathing suits, swarmed out of the Bayshore Recreation Area...they halted cars on Bayshore Avenue and Ocean Boulevard, tussled with drivers, yanked out ignition keys and flung water-filled balloons'. When the police arrived, they too were jeered and bombarded with water balloons. Later, in sentencing one of the participants, a flustered municipal judge complained, 'I wish we had a whipping post. The youth of this country has absolutely no respect for authority. I just don't understand it'. GRIFFITH PARK RIOT: The more significant Memorial Day (30 May) riot in Griffith Park was a direct, if unplanned, challenge by black youth to de facto segregation in Los Angeles public spaces. Although after the event the local Hearst paper, the Examiner, would sermonize that 'there is no segregation in the use of public facilities...[and] there is no Negro group of comparable size anywhere in the world, including the continent of Africa, which has available and unopposed the opportunities of the half million colored citizens of this region', this was nonsense.19 Faced with a radical shortage of parks and recreational facilities in south central Los Angeles, black residents, like Chicanos from the equally ghettoised Eastside, were systematically harassed by police when they attempted to freely enjoy Los Angeles's famed outdoor amenities. Only a small portion of the county beaches, for example, were integrated, and older folk recalled with bitterness how black residents had been burnt out of their homes by the Ku Klux Klan in several beach communities during the 1920s. Likewise Griffith Park, the city's largest public space, had an ugly history of racial exclusion which black youth had recently begun to challenge. A major focus of contestation was the park's famed merry go round--a natural magnet to teenagers of all races. Blaming 'the publicity coming out of the South in connection with the Freedom Rides', Los Angeles police chief William Parker would later insinuate a black conspiracy to take over the merry go round area. 'We have been aware', he told the press, 'of a potential problem...for some time...[because] that part of the park has been pre-empted by Negroes for the last year'.20 On Memorial Day there was palpable tension as blacks arrived to find the LAPD deployed throughout the park. The riot erupted around 4pm when the carousel operator accused a teenager of boarding without paying. When the youth denied the allegation and refused to leave, he was wrestled to the ground by white police officers with billy clubs. The sight of the youth being violently pulled off the merry go round enraged the several thousand black picnickers in the vicinity. A teenage crowd followed the officers, surrounded the squad car and demanded the release of the prisoner. When he bolted from the car, all hell broke loose. One officer opened fire. The crowd replied with bottles. Five police were injured and forced to seek refuge in a park office. As LAPD reinforcements arrived with their sirens screaming, black teenagers shouted back, 'This is not Alabama'. There were many cameras in the park that afternoon and images of the Griffith Park melee were soon reproduced around the world by the wire services. 'Aftermath of "Freedom Rides"?' was the caption that accompanied a sensational photograph in US News & World Report of hundreds of black youth rushing a policeman as he manhandled the original arrestee.22 There was a brief premonition in the media that as the freedom movement came northward into those ghettos of 'incomparable opportunity' (sic), non-violence might be left behind. Indeed Griffith Park symbolised the emergence of an audacious 'new breed', as James Brown would call them, ready to fight the police, if need be, to claim their civil rights. It was the first skirmish on the road to the Watts Rebellion four years later. Yet while chief Parker was still fuming over 'Negro hoodlums', Gidget and 25,000 of her beach blanket friends were pelting sheriff's deputies and highway patrolmen with sand-packed beer cans. The weekend after the Griffith Park battle, Los Angeles' most popular rock and roll station invited listeners to a 'grunion derby' at Zuma Beach, near Malibu. KRLA expected about 2,000 to arrive on Saturday night--'instead 25,000, a conservative estimate, showed up'.23 County Parks and Recreation officials prevented the sponsors from erecting a planned dance floor and bandstand, so the huge crowd was left to organise its own amusements. At midnight, the official beach closing time, sheriffs ordered the revellers to leave. The response was a fierce fusillade of beer cans and bottles. Fifty additional patrol cars had to be called in before the crowd dispersed.24 Although KRLA disputed the hair raising accounts of mayhem and near rape promulgated by county officials, the general perception was that the deputies had narrowly prevented 'an uncontrolled riot of frightening proportions'. 'Only by great good fortune,' claimed the Los Angeles Examiner, 'the fracas did not result in fatalities'. ROSEMEAD RIOTS: By any measure it was a busy night for the Los Angeles County sheriff's department. Some of the deputies speeding towards Zuma Beach were diverted instead to quell a second 'riot' in the blue collar San Gabriel Valley suburb of Rosemead. Several hundred teenagers--perhaps inflamed by radio reports about the Zuma melee--had gathered at the corner of Garvey and River Avenues and were reportedly stoning passing cars. Sheriffs arrested 47 juveniles on charges of rioting, battery and curfew violation. Meanwhile police in the south east industrial suburb of Bell were breaking up a street fight involving some 300 teenagers outside a wedding reception. Sheriff Peter Pitchess was at a loss to identify a root cause for these white riots. He could only observe that defiance of authority 'had moved beyond the point where blame can be placed solely on juveniles or adults, minority or majority groups'. SAN GABRIEL RIOT: The next weekend (11 June) several deputies were slightly injured when they came to the aid of San Gabriel police attempting to enforce an archaic law against Sunday dancing at a local wedding celebration. Fifty officers battled with more than 300 teenagers and young adults outside a rented hall in Del Mar Avenue. At one point a policeman fired a warning shot in the air. Several of the rioters were charged with 'lynching' after they rescued a 17 year old from police custody. As temperatures of all kinds soared in July, the Los Angeles Times, conflating traditional street gangs and car clubs, worried that mobile teenage hoodlums now owned the streets.29 In response Sheriff Pitchess announced that his elite Special Enforcement Detail would be deployed to help regular deputies stringently enforce 10pm juvenile curfew ordinances throughout Los Angeles County. Local police departments followed suit in a massive regional crackdown on drive-ins, cruising strips, beach parking lots, and other nocturnal nodes of teenage culture.30 The law enforcement mobilisation seemed to work. After the lurid headlines of the early summer, Southern California survived without commotion a notorious Labour Day weekend that was celebrated across the east with fire hoses, police dogs and teargas. As headlines screamed 'Youth Mobs Riot In Five States; Hundreds Jailed', high school and college students ended the summer with major riots in Clermont (Indiana), Lake George (New York), Wildwood (New Jersey), Ocean City (Maryland), Falmouth and Hyannis (Massachusetts), and Hampton Beach (New Hampshire).31 But the Los Angeles area remained quiet...for a few days. ALHAMBRA RIOT: October 61 - While some of their parents, on the advice of Leadabrand and Smith, were shopping for geiger counters, hundreds of carloads of teenagers were converging as they always did after Friday night football games (in this case 7 October) on their favorite Valley Boulevard drive-ins. Around midnight insults were exchanged beween the gloating victors (Monrovia High) and badly humiliated losers (Alhambra High), and the ensuing scuffle quickly grew into a 'whirlwind of fistfights that spread over a five block area', blocking traffic for four miles, east and west, along Valley Boulevard. From its mobile transmitter a local radio station broadcast a vivid blow by blow account of the donnybrook, which police claimed 'drew hundreds of others to the scene, all of them itching to join in the brawling'. While attempting to arrest a powerfully built youth whom they accused of 'mob raising', Alhambra police were themselves overwhelmed and roughed up. 'They were pushing and shoving,' reported the watch commander, 'attempting to grab guns from officers' holsters, jerking off their hats, jumping on their backs and trying to knock them to the ground.' Alhambra's desperate '999' (code for riot) appeal was answered by more than 100 police and sheriffs from other jurisdictions. They blockaded access to Valley Boulevard and ordered the estimated 1,000 to 1,200 rioters--including Chicano as well as white youth--to disperse. The common response was, 'Go to hell.' After an hour of further melee 31 young adults and 60 juveniles were in custody. It was officially characterised as 'one of the worst examples of civil disobedience' in Los Angeles County since the 1943 'Zoot suit' riots. FROM SUNSET SANCTUARY TO BATTLEGROUND The story of Sunset nightlife preceeds the 60s, but Hollywood entertainers abandoned the strip for a lively mobbed up Vegas scene, leaving their rock and roll children to take over where they had left off. At some point in the mid 1960s, the kids started hanging around on Sunset Strip, which at the time was still home to many of the restaurants that once boasted famous Hollywood patrons. To curtail the invading counterculture, the city imposed a strict curfew, and cops clashed with longhairs in a series of small riots that galvanized the hippies rather than dispersed them. The skirmishes inspired Buffalo Springfield to write "For What It's Worth" and Four-Leaf Productions to bankroll the teensploitation flick Riot on Sunset Strip, featuring a theme song by local group the Standells. It begins mundanely enough: "I'm going down to the Strip tonight, I'm not on a stay-home trip tonight," sings drummer Dick Dodd over Tony Valentino's snarling guitar lick. But the song's hard beat is more of a billy-club swing than a hip shake, and the lyrics become increasingly serious, as he laments the Strip has become "just a place for black-and-white cars to race. It's causin' a riot!" More pointed and angry than the square film that bears it title, the song depicts Los Angeles as a tensed city on the brink of chaos and violence, and the Standells could just as well have been singing about Watts or any of the race riots that made the curfew clashes seem polite and placid by comparison. In 1965 the County reluctantly acceded to club-owners' and record companies' pleas and created a tiered licensing system that allowed 18-to-21-year-olds inside clubs where alcohol was served, while creating special liquor-less music venues for younger 15-to-18-year-olds. The youth club scene promptly exploded. From the moment the Byrds debuted at Ciro’s on March 26th 1965 — with Bob Dylan joining them on stage — through the demonstrations of November 1966, Sunset Strip nightclubs introduced the Doors, Buffalo Springfield the Mothers of Invention, and so many more. This legendary Battle of the Strip, 1966–1968, was only the most celebrated episode in the struggle of teenagers of all colours during the 1960s and 1970s to create their own realm of freedom and carnivalesque sociality within the Southern California night. There were other memorable contests with business and police over Griffith Park 'love-ins', beach parties, interracial concerts, counter-cultural neighbourhoods (like Venice Beach), 'head' shopping districts (like L.A.'s Haight-Ashbury on Fairfax), cruising strips (Whittier, Hollywood, and Van Nuys boulevards), street-racing locales, and the myriad local hangouts where kids quietly or brazenly defied parents, police, and curfews. THE HIPPIE RIOTS: Riot on Sunset Strip - "For What It's Worth" The Sunset Strip curfew riots, also known as the "hippie riots," were a series of clashes that took place between police and young people on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood, California, beginning in the mid-1960s and continuing through the early 1970s. “Riot on the Sunset Strip” is a masterwork of the teen exploitation genre. Released in 1967, the film was made within six weeks. Imagine what it must have been like to be hanging out in Los Angeles - the Sunset Strip during the mid 1960's. Forget about the movie stars, the glitz and glamour of Hollywood – L.A. was a hot bed for Pop music, art, and culture. The scene appeared in an almost over night fashion. The landing of "The Beatles", "The Rolling Stones" and the British Invasion certainly made all of this a reality. But as quickly as it appeared it soon vanished with the riots of 1966 and the gravitating of the scene to San Francisco and the "Summer of Love". One such riot in the summer of 1966 provided the basis for the teen exploitation film, Riot on Sunset Strip — as well as for the Buffalo Springfield song, "For What It's Worth", which is often mistakenly labelled an antiwar protest song, "Plastic People" by Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention from their second album Absolutely Free, and The Monkees song "Daily Nightly", written by Michael Nesmith, from their fourth album Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. Gangsters, nightclubs and rock 'n' roll make up much of the Sunset Strip's colorful history -- along with a little-remembered tussle in 1966 that became known as "the Sunset Strip riots." The melee erupted as young rock fans were protesting efforts to enforce a 10 p.m. curfew and to close nightclubs that catered to them -- including Pandora's Box, at the corner of Sunset and Crescent Heights boulevards. The confrontation with police also inspired musician Stephen Stills to write "For What It's Worth," released two months later by Stills and the band he was in, Buffalo Springfield. "Riot is a ridiculous name," he said in an interview. "It was a funeral for Pandora's Box. But it looked like a revolution." The club, painted purple and gold, was perched on a triangular traffic island in the middle of the Strip. It drew a crowd of mostly clean-cut teenagers and twentysomethings wearing pullover sweaters and miniskirts. Ensuing traffic jams annoyed residents and business owners, who pressured the city and county to get rid of the kids, the clubs and the congestion. It's unclear from Times files whether Pandora's Box or other clubs had been closed by the time the protests began. But young rock fans interpreted efforts to enforce curfew and loitering laws as an infringement on their civil rights. On Nov. 12, 1966, fliers were distributed along the Strip inviting people to demonstrate. Hours before the protest, "One of L.A's rock 'n' roll radio stations made an announcement that there would be a rally at Pandora's Box and cautioned people to tread carefully," wrote Domenic Priore, author of the 2007 book "Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock 'n' Roll's Last Stand in Hollywood." As many as 1,000 people turned out, along with such celebrities as Jack Nicholson and Peter Fonda. "[Nicholson] just showed up to see what was happening," said lifelong Sunset Strip denizen and Hollywood historian Marc Wanamaker. Wanamaker played drums in a band called Mike and the Mad Men, which sometimes performed at Pandora's Box, and was there that night as an observer. "Everyone called them hippies just because some had long hair," Wanamaker said. "But they weren't the flower-power types from San Francisco, just rock 'n' roll fans, mostly students." The event began peacefully. Protesters sat on the Strip blocking traffic, holding hands and singing. Trouble began when a car full of off-duty Marines got into a fender-bender. The Marines got out of their car and at least one punched the driver of the other car, The Times reported. Fighting spread. Police and sheriffs' deputies closed off part of the Strip and ordered everyone to leave, but some protesters ran amok. They rocked a city bus until passengers and the driver got out. Then they knocked out the windows, dented the roof with an uprooted street sign and let the air out of the tires. One youth tried unsuccessfully to drop lighted matches into the fuel tank, The Times reported. He was booked for attempted arson. Protesters hurled rocks and bottles and smashed storefront windows and car windshields. Fonda, son of actor Henry Fonda, was handcuffed. But when he said he was merely filming the melee, he was released without charges. The unrest continued the next night and off and on throughout November and December. Some clubs shut down within weeks. "These kids weren't looking for trouble; they were simply going out to see their favorite bands and hang out with friends," Priore wrote. Demonstrators carried signs that read, "We're Your Children! Don't Destroy Us" and "Ban the Billyclub." Mayor Sam Yorty showed up and invited the protesters to City Hall. Los Angeles County Supervisor Ernest Debs called the youths "misguided hoodlums." Sonny and Cher, who got their start on the Strip as Caesar and Cleo, made an appearance in front of Pandora's Box in December. The ensuing publicity got them kicked off the Rose Parade float they were supposed to ride two weeks later. The float sponsor, the City of Monterey Park, figured this was not the image it wanted to show the world. "I admit at first we were somewhat hurt, shocked and a little upset," Sonny Bono said at a news conference after the duo was bumped. "They never even gave us the courtesy of notifying us personally. I heard it on the news." Bono denied being part of the protest. "[The demonstrators] saw I was there and I told them to be peaceful, that's all," he said. On Christmas Day, Pandora's Box reopened for one night only, according to Priore. There, Stills first publicly performed "For What It's Worth." The Los Angeles City Council condemned Pandora's Box, claiming that it had to be demolished to realign the streets. On Aug. 3, 1967, a wrecking ball turned Pandora's into rubble. "Hippies Pout, Politicians Cheer," The Times reported. No sign of the triangle occupied by Pandora's remains today; it was eliminated by the street rerouting. As for Stills' song, many fans saw it as an antiwar anthem, but he says that was only part of the equation. "It was really four different things intertwined, including the war and the absurdity of what was happening on the Strip," he said in the interview. "But I knew I had to skedaddle and headed back to Topanga, where I wrote my song in about 15 minutes. For me, there was no riot. It was basically a cop dance." http://articles.latimes.com/2007/aug/05/local/me-then5/2 1967 riots on the Strip; the culminating protest in 1968. So what follows is an alloy of research and memory. It is also the first, small installment in a projected history of L.A.'s countercultures and protestors, tentatively titled Setting the Night on Fire. A MOMENT IN ROCK-AND-ROLL DREAMTIME: Saturday night on Sunset Strip in early December 1967. Along that famed twelve blocks of unincorporated Los Angeles County between Hollywood and Beverly Hills, the neon firmament blazes new names like the Byrds, the Doors, Sonny and Cher, the Mamas and the Papas, and Buffalo Springfield. But the real spectacle is out on the street: 2,000 demonstrators peacefully snaking their way west along Sunset into the county Strip then circling back to their starting point at Pandora's Box Coffeehouse (8180 Sunset) just inside the Los Angeles city limits. On one side of the boundary are several hundred riot-helmeted sheriff's deputies; on the other side, an equal number of Los Angeles police, fidgeting nervously with their nightsticks as if they were confronting angry strikers or an unruly mob instead of friendly 15-year-olds with long hair and acne. The demonstrators — relentlessly caricatured as 'Striplings', 'teeny boppers', and even 'hoodlums' by hostile cops and their allies in the daily press — are a cross-section of white teenage Southern California. Movie brats from the gilded hills above the Strip mingle with autoworkers' daughters from Van Nuys and truck drivers' sons from Pomona. There are some college students and a few uncomfortable crew-cut servicemen, but most are high-school age, 15 to 18, and, thus, technically liable to arrest after 10 p.m. when dual county and city juvenile curfews take effect. Kids carry hand-lettered signs that read "Stop Blue Fascism!," "Abolish the Curfew," and "Free the Strip." The demonstration has been called (but scarcely organized) by RAMCON (the Right of Assembly and Movement Committee), headquartered in the Fifth Estate Coffeehouse (8226 Sunset). The coffee house's manager, Al Mitchell, acts as the adult spokesman for the high-school students and teenage runaways who cluster around the Fifth Estate and Pandora's Box, a block away. This is the fifth in a series of weekend demonstrations — perhaps more accurately 'happenings' — that have protested a year-long campaign by sheriffs and police to clear the Strip of 'loitering' teenagers. In response to complaints from local restaurateurs and landowners, the cops trawl nightly after the early curfew, searching for under-18s. They target primarily the longhaired kids in beads, granny glasses, and tie-dyed shirts. It became the custom to humiliate curfew-violaters with insults and obscene jokes, pull their long hair, brace them against squad cars, and even choke them with billy clubs, before hauling them down to the West Hollywood Sheriffs or Hollywood Police stations where they are held until their angry parents pick them up. This evening (10 December), however, has so far passed off peacefully, with more smiles exchanged than insults or blows. The high point was the appearance of Sonny and Cher, dressed like high-fashion Inuit in huge fleece parkas, waving support to adoring kids. (Later, after photographs have appeared on front pages across the world, the city of Monterey Park will ban Sonny and Cher from their Rose Parade float for this gesture of solidarity with "rioting teenyboppers.") The Strip grew and reinvented itself, building on its own mythic aura, decade after decade, from the supper clubs of the '40s to the nightclubs of the '50s to the rock clubs of the '60s. The purest metaphor of L.A., it was a mile of sex and self-invention and rampaging capitalism. SUNSET STRIP AS MEMORY LANE By S.L. Duff (1988 - Music Connection) During the course of banging out club data, issue 'pon issue, I have had the opportunity to come in contact with some pretty interesting characters. Among my favorites is Coconut Teaszer booker Len Fagan. Oftentimes, when I call him to get news about the Teaszer, or he calls me with something he's genuinely excited about (y'see, Len is one of the few bookers to go out of his way to make my job a little easier), we end up shootin' the proverbial shit about this and that. Local bands, the club scene, music in general---all come into our conversation. After rapping with him for a few months, I discovered that Len is no Johnny-come-lately to the L.A. club scene; in fact, his experiences on the ever-changing circuit date back to the sixties, when Fagan was a rabid rock fan and an inspiring drummer who logged time in several locally prominent bands. I found his memory for details, names, and incidents to be impeccable, and in most cases better than my recollection of last week. Len also remembers the geographical layout of the late sixties/early seventies club scene, so I asked him what he thought of hopping in a vehicle "cruisin' Sunset" with yours truly, my trusty Panasonic interview recorder, and the Club Data staff driver, letting his recollections roll onto tape as we drove by the old haunts. He loved the idea, and we finally got around to taking the ride on July 16th. The following are some of the highlights of our trip, and though a lot of Len's recollections lie on the cutting floor due to space limitations, this should nonetheless give you some idea of the excitement of those times. This right here (the Aquarius Theater) was originally the Hullabaloo Club and before that in the 50s, The Moulin Rouge. The hip thing about it was, you could be 15-and-a-half and get in. They'd have everything from lame bands like the Lollipop Shop right up through The Doors. Love used to play here, then they'd play another concert in the Valley the same night. After the Hullabaloo, it changed to the Aquarius Theater. New owners took it over and it became a much hipper place; their posters were round instead of square. When it was the Hullabaloo, on weekends after hours from 1:00 am until sunrise, they'd have new bands get up. You wouldn't get paid, but they'd have a marathon of bands get up, and it was a big deal to get on that show. The Allman Brothers played there when they were the Hourglass.\| (We pull up in front of the current Gaslight.) This, for me, is where it all started. The first place I ever came to myself---and I was living in the Valley at the time---was right here to see Love. It was the summer of '65. I couldn't even get in the club---I used to sit here (on the sidewalk) and listen. Love would play the whole night, and it was completely packed. A few years later, the Iron Butterfly moved in and slept in this room (pointing upstairs over the entrance). They moved up here from San Diego, auditioned, and the club loved 'em and let 'em live in the room upstairs. They played here for months and would pack this place. It was called Bido Lido's back then. I saw the Seeds here, when the first album came out, before "Pushin' Too Hard" was a hit. The Doors played here, so did Spirit. ......I could go on and on. Look how tiny it is! A band's gig here would usually be for a week straight, and if you were incredible, they'd hold you over. I was in a group called the Rainmakers; we had a week-long gig here, and after the second or third night, our guitar player got sick and couldn't do it. I had met Vincent Furnier outside the club here, and he was a real nice guy. At the last minute, I called up Vince, and his band the Nazz filled in for us. (Furnier and the Nazz would both later change their names to Alice Cooper.) The big break for them was, they met the booker of the Cheetah Club down in Venice, who fell in love with them, and that's where they took up residency, and then they met (manager) Shep Gordon. Bido Lido's went out of business around the end of '67, early '68. The club we're coming to now was called the Brave New World. Bido Lido's and Brave New World were the smaller East Hollywood clubs where the bands would kinda start out. We would usually park at one of the clubs, and on any given night, walk between one and the next. The Brave New World was owned by a guy named Alan as I remember. Alan was also in the ......I don't know how to say it.....the "X-rated girl" industry. He had something to do with naked women----remember, I'm young at the time! The club was a members only club, so to speak---that's how they got around some kind of licensing trip. If they knew you weren't a cop, they'd let you in. This is where Love first played---probably late '64---right up there at 1644 and 1642 Cherokee. The Stones were in town recording at RCA, and they went here to check out a group called the Bees---that was a big night. The Mothers played here before they were called the Mothers of Invention; if I remember, they spelled the name "Muthers." Instead of a marquee, they had a flag on a flagpole with the band's name. We're now in front of the Lingerie, which I first remember being the Red Velvet. They had a lot of black and soul groups. The Knickerbockers were the band that came out of here. This was a place that had your short-haired people, your lamer crowd. Down there, at Santa Monica and Highland, was a club that not many people are goin' to remember; it was in a big old warehouse. It was a gay club, mainly for lesbians, and a lot of the bigger bands would take gigs here, right next to the Bekins warehouse. The gig would start around 11 or 12 at night, and we'd take those gigs, 'cause they paid well. The Knack (a sixties teenybop band signed to a singles deal with---surprise---Capitol) and the Sons of Adam, who were a monster band, used to play there. Don't even remember the name of the place. They finally shut them down and they moved into the Valley on Ventura Boulevard. Here, at 7563 Sunset, was Ooh Poo Pah Do's, which had live music; that was in '72. And then Rodney (Bingenheimer) took it over and made it a disco, with English beer and English records. That was '73 or '74, and it was big for a couple of years. Here, between Stanley and Curson, was a big club called The Experience. They had food here and ice-cream. This club was famous as a jam hangout---musicians who were in town playing bigger concerts elsewhere would come here after their shows or on the nights they were off to jam. I've been hoping to make the Teaszer conducive to impromptu jams, but it seems musicians today just aren't into jamming. A shame. Hendrix jammed here all the time. There were always famous celebrities in the audience. There was a big picture of Hendrix (on the exterior front wall of the club), and his mouth was the front door---you'd walk in through his mouth! The big summer for The Experience was '69; it was probably here for a year-and-a-half, two years, maybe. I remember jamming here with some of the Quicksilver Messenger Service. The Blues Magoos played here on their way down; Alice Cooper played here on their way up---got booed off the stage. (Sitting in the parking lot of the Teaszer at Crescent Heights.) The hippies hangout was right around here---it started from here down to Gazzarri’s. Pandora's Box was right where that middle island was (in the middle of the intersection of Crescent Heights and Sunset). That wasn't a real prestigious place to play. It was right on the beginning of the Strip, it was a purple building, and it was right there in the middle---a pretty weird location. You could be underage and still get in there. To be honest with you, I didn't hang out there at all---I may have been in that club once. There was something about it that, in my mind, wasn't hip. We're at the Comedy Store now, which was first called Ciro's. The Byrds used to play here---this is where they really took off. Bob Dylan came in here after hearing about the Byrds playing his material electrically and gave his endorsement to them, which was a big boost to them making it. Before that, Ciro's was a big hangout for Bogie and all that in the Forties. They later changed the name from Ciro's to It's Boss. Ciro's was over 21; at It's Boss, you could be fifteen-and-a-half. Ciro's was definitely a big, big prestige club. It was open at least to '73 '74, but it was mainly a force in the late Sixties. (As a cop pulls up to give out parking tickets, we quietly pull away.) Speaking of cops, back in '64, '65, '66, when we used to drive down the street or the Strip, I used to smoke non-filter cigarettes. You had to be careful to have the brand on your mouthside; the cops were so lame that if they caught you with a cigarette with no filter and no name on it, they assumes you were smoking pot. This was when acid was still legal, by the way. Right over here, at 8516, there was a tiny club called the Sea Witch. The capacity in that club was maybe 60 people. The thing about the Sea Witch that was neat was it was designed all out of raw wood and was supposed to look like a ship. That was another place on the Strip to play---always crowded. That was about '64 to '67. There's the Playboy Building. On the far end of the Playboy Building there used to be a marquee, and that was a club called the Trip. I remember driving by and seeing on the marquee---I'll never forget this---"Andy Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable with the Velvet Underground and Nico"---on the goddamn marquee. Now what the heck is that, right? I had no idea. The white banana album had just come out, and the Velvet Underground moved into town, played there for at least a week or so, and rented a big castle up here in the hills, and they were very, very strange people. What was I, 18 at the time? To me it was scary. The Lovin' Spoonful played at the Trip when they were at their biggest. The Byrds used to play at the Trip. That was '65 through '67, I think, when the Trip was at its biggest. Over 21 club. The Central used to be Filthy McNasty's, where it was kind of a lame trip. It was here as far back as I can remember. We are now at Clark and Sunset, the world-famous friggin' Whisky A-Go-Go. This is it. When I first came here, the building was red, and there were little awnings up there all over the windows, and it looked like a French discotheque. Mario used to stand there, forever---always a fixture. The first time I was in the Whisky, I was hanging out right here; it was raining. It was either Moby Grape or Janis Joplin---somebody like that was playing inside---and I didn't have the money, and I was huddled here listening. And Mario was over there and he yelled at me, "What's the matter, don't you have any money?" I go no. He goes "Get inside." That was Mario for ya. Great guy. People say Bill Gazzari was the godfather of rock, but I think Mario was the godfather. He watched us all grow up here. I remember nights I'd come here, he'd grab me and say, "You look like shit. What are you on? You haven't eaten in a week!" Drag me over to the bar and say, "Give him a hamburger ---and you sit down and eat it!" The best. Nobody does that---who does that anymore? Where Duke's is now was a little club called the London Fog. The Doors played here; wasn't open very long. It quickly became an upscale bar called Sneaky Pete's. Here (at 8923 Sunset) was the Galaxy. They had a flat marquee and an upstairs infamous for sexual promiscuity. A lot of good bands played here. Here, in between Clark and Hilldale, people were openly selling grass and acid. Love, on the Forever Changes album, have a song called, "Between Clark and Hilldale." This one block was the throbbing heart of it all. When I first started coming into town, there was a Gazzarri’s here, and another one down on La Cienega that wasn't quite as hip. This place always had the Gazzarri’s girls, the dancing trip. The Roxy they opened around '72, '73, and the Rainbow opened around that same time. The Rainbow was supposed to be a place for the business people in the industry to come and take meetings. Because the musicians knew the industry people were going to be here, the musicians would hang out, and because the musicians were here, the groupies would come, and because the groupies were here, the wanna-be musicians would come. It just became a scene and it's never stopped..... As we left the Strip, Len talked about the Fifth Estate and the Stratford on Sunset, as well as the Beach House and the Cheetah, both out on the Venice Pier. We drove past the Troubadour, an old venue called the Factory, and finally the Starwood, which was PJ's in the Sixties and is now yet another mini-mall. "Everything that you see bands do now, has been done before," Len told me. "Back then, someone would come along with something original. But it really was a different scene back then. You could always find a jam session at a club or some band's communal house---24 hours a day." Ya shoulda been there. Every rock band in the world was on the Strip, and not just the flash in the pans, either, but the groups everyone knew were going to last forever--bands like Gerry and the Pacemakers, Freddie and the Dreamers, Chad and Jeremy, and Peter and Gordon. (Sonny and Cher, who began playing clubs on the Strip as Caesar and Cleo, hung out there until it got them kicked out of the Rose Parade when their sponsors figured this was not the image they wanted their float to present the world.) And the clubs! On any night you could find the Turtles harmonizing "Happy Together" at the Tiger's Tail, the Doors getting thrown off the stage at the London Fog, Buffalo Springfield singing that something was happening here inside Gazzarri's. You could knock on the back door at Ciro's and have Roger McGuinn of the Byrds invite you in; and if you had a joint in your purse, the question was, What are you doing later? The Dorsey Girls would start at Beado Lido's, where you could usually find this furry freak named Frank Zappa playing . . . well, what would you call it? . . . noise . . . and then move on to Pandora's Box at Crescent Heights, and then on to the Stratford and the Sea Witch, the Whisky and the Trip; finally ending the grand circuit inside of Ben Frank's for French fries, where the Dorsey Girls stayed until they were kicked out, at which point they'd drive down to the International House of Pancakes and get kicked out of there, and eventually drag themselves into Canter's at 4 in the morning, where they'd wait for the rising sun to scare them back into their little ranch-style dens. 1960-70s: Key Club sits on the site that was once Gazzarri's, a renowned Sunset Strip venue that gave bands like the Doors and Van Halen their starts. Whisky A Go-Go was opened in the 1960s by a former Chicago cop named Elmer Valentine. He modeled the discotheque after a club he had seen in Paris, and suspended the 1st female DJ in a glass cage above the dance floor. Go-Go girls were born when he put women in mini-skirts and short white boots in cages around the club. Johnny River's was the live act when it first opened, and Jim Morrison and the Doors became the house band in 1966. The Who, the Kinks, the Byrds, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, and Jimi Hendrix all also played at the Whisky. Hugh Hefner opened his Playboy Club at 8560 Sunset Blvd. in the mid-1960s on the Strip. The club took up the first 4 floors of the ten story building and was known to have a line around the corner on several nights of the week. Hefner lived on the top floor in true James Bond style with a round bed and moving wall that revealed a fully stocked bar. Mario Maglieri came out from Chicago in 1964 to help launch the Playboy Club, but he soon left to become a partner at the nightclub Whisky A Go-Go. There used to be a small rock club called Pandora’s Box on the southwest corner of Sunset and Crescent Heights. In 1966, it was the scene of many confrontations and protests between teens and police when authorities imposed a 10 p.m. curfew for those under 18. The goal was to help deter the growing crowds of youngsters from spilling out of the club and into the Strip’s traffic. Los Angeles officials bulldozed Pandora's Box when the problems continued, which led to the 1967 release of a teen-exploitation movie Riot on the Strip. August 68 Newport Pop Festival held at the Orange County Fairgrounds, Costa Mesa, California. Some of the acts who appeared over the two days were Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, Country Joe and the Fish, Tiny Tim, Sonny & Cher, Alice Cooper and the Byrds. REVOLUTIONARY POLITICS: Revising the 1960s In Southern California the wild summers of 1960 and 1961 were a prelude to a series of famous youth insurrections: the Watts riot of 1965, the so called 'hippie riots' on Sunset Strip between 1966 and 1970, and the Eastside high school 'blow-outs' of 1968-1969. Although the street racing mania subsided considerably by 1964, adolescent challenges to police control of the night and street became elaborately institutionalised in the renowned 'cruising' subcultures of Van Nuys Boulevard (white valley kids), the Sunset Strip ('hippies'), Whittier Boulevard (Chicano Eastsiders), and, much later, Crenshaw Boulevard (black kids). Yet in what sense did early 1960s teenage insubordination directly nurture or condition the politicised outbursts after 1964? And to what extent did these racially segmented youth rebellions share any common ethos or sensibility? The most dramatic genealogy is the spiralling progression of protest and consciousness that links the Griffith Park riot of Memorial Day 1961 to the Los Angeles (Watts) riot of August 1965. An extraordinary story remains to be told. Frustrated with their inability to integrate or access the larger city, black youth in Los Angeles and elsewhere began to fight spontaneously for substantive control over community space--a thrust that would later become enshrined in the Black Panther Party's program for 'self determination'. Although historians are at last producing fine accounts of the ordinary heroes and grassroots activism of the Southern civil rights movement, we still know little about the generational cultural revolution in Northern black communities, or the patterns of defiance that link coming of age in the late 1950s and early 1960s to the near-revolutionary uprisings of the later 1960s. The real engine room of the 1960s--both politically and culturally--was not the college campus but the urban ghetto, and the transformation of young transplanted Southerners into a militant 'new breed' was the decisive event. The social trajectory of the white riots, and their possible contribution to the later appeal of the new left, is of course far less clear. Indeed most historians of the 1960s ignore the wave of teen unrest at the beginning of the decade which created so much anxiety amongst police chiefs and professional anti-Communists. The few who do acknowledge a premonitory upheaval typically focus on the Newport Jazz riot of 1959 or evoke 'affluent adolescents' who 'flirted with the harmless part of the culture of delinquency'. But the hotrod and beach riots in Southern California for the most part involved a far different social stratum of youth than Ivy League college kids at Newport or the typical spring break crowd of yesterday and today. The published addresses of arrestees confirm the contemporary perception that the teenagers and young adults who fought the police on El Cajon Boulevard in 1960 or Valley Boulevard in 1961 were from working class neighbourhoods and suburbs. Likewise the riotous crowd at Zuma Beach was most likely dominated by kids from monotonous San Fernando Valley subdivisions and flatland LA neighbourhoods, not by Malibu movie spawn. My own recollection of the time was of almost unbearable, claustrophobic tension between the perception of teenage lands of Cockaigne and the reality of growing up blue collar. My friends and I were mesmerised by beatniks, surfers, easy riders and other free spirits who seemed to live an endless summer of libidinal adventure without the constraints of after-school jobs, the draft, and pre-programmed futures in the same ruts as our fathers and mothers. The foretaste of utopia on high school Friday nights made prospective lifetimes of punching Monday morning time clocks even less endurable. We seethed in jealousy against everyone who lived at a beach, spent their nights in a coffee house, or went to an elite university. Todd Gitlin is correct to assert that the 'marketplace sold adolescent society its banners', but not all who were seduced by the vision could participate in it.41 With the mirage of unattainable cornucopia in the distance, it became all the more urgent to wrest as much freedom, exhilaration and sheer mileage from the night as possible. I am claiming, in other words, that the white teen riots of the early 1960s were largely driven by the hidden injuries of class colliding with an overweening ideology of affluence--an affluence, that is, that we reinterpreted with the help of beatniks and surfers as the possiblity of free time and space beyond the programme of Fordist society. This reinterpretation was a radical seed, made all the more compelling by nuclear showdowns and Cold War apocalypticism. This quest for freedom, however inarticulate and inchoate, gave a dignity and historical purpose to our small rebellions, and, in conflict with the suburban police state, generated a powerful revulsion against arbitrary authority. Indeed anti-authoritarianism, trending towards a new romanticism of revolt and disobedience, was the vital cultural substate of the 1960s. And it was inevitable that the most courageous and intransigent anti-authoritarians--black ghetto youth--would become potent models for everyone else. In the end the paranoid belief of Fred Schwartz and Chief Parker that white youth rebellion was somehow instigated by sit-ins and 'Freedom Rides' proved to be a self fulfilling prophecy. For example, in the long struggle against curfews and crowd control on the Sunset Strip in the late 1960s (parodied in teen exploitation film Riot on the Sunset Strip), white youth increasingly were persuaded that their resistance to a violent sheriff's department was a second front to the battle being waged by the Black Panther Party in south central Los Angeles. The culminating showdown between thousands of white kids and the sheriffs in 1969 was mobilised by a psychedelic leaflet demanding, 'Free the Strip! Free Huey!' The battle over the urban night had joined forces with the revolution. Doors Performances at Hulabaloo June 8, 1967 - The Doors are set to leave for San Francisco and then New York, when 2 last minute, unadvertised shows are added at The Hullabaloo, Hollywood, CA. Happenin’ Magazine Reviews the Doors at Hullabaloo: At the Hullabaloo, an excited, superpacked crowd waited restlessly for the Doors. This show, their last before going east, had been put together at the last minute and had hardly been advertised. Manzarek himself hadn't known about it, and that's why there was the tensed delay as people tried to locate him. Outside, however, enough people to fill the house another two times waited in a long, thick, impatient line. Morrison, however, appeared little concerned. He had gotten together with a freaky girl in dark, bizarre clothing, and was now lurking about with her backstage. Finally, the revolving stage turned toward the screaming audience with The Doors on it, already beginning to play their music. Morrison slouched at the microphone. Instamatic flashcubes strobing and silhouetting him. And when the stage stopped moving, and The Doors faced the audience full on, and Morrison began singing, girls began screaming louder and rushed, pushing and pressing toward the stage. Guys whistled. Flashcubes strobing from all over. Morrison singing and screaming with the music, soon raping the microphone stand between his legs. Then, by honest accident, Morrison tripped because of the mike and fell hard on the stage. But it happened with a musical climax, and it looked like this was how it was supposed to have happened. Girls screamed; rushed, pressing harder against the stage. Camera flashlights continued to strobe the intense scene wildly. Morrison got up, angry, picked up the mike stand, and began wildly swinging and throwing it about, hard. Destroying it. The girls right up front were in very real danger of being accidentally but seriously hurt. And their faces showed the terror. But something else also showed. It looked as if they were having a frenzied orgasm. Going insane with unbelievably wicked delight. [The Doors At The Hullabaloo by Hank Zevallos, Happening magazine] The Doors performed at L.A.'s Shrine Auditorium in December of 1967 with openers The Iron Butterfly and Sweetwater. Hugh Hefner had come out to the Strip in 1960 to open a new Playboy Club after the incredible success of the Chicago club, and he remembers a boulevard that had already laid the groundwork for Playboy. On any night he could have dinner at a hep place like Dean Martin's Dino's Lodge with some of his swinging friends--great guys like Lenny Bruce, Mort Sahl, Tony Bennett and Mel Torme--and then go out and see girls strip at the Largo (which would later become the Roxy). Hefner opened his Playboy Club--at the time he thought of it as his own Casablanca--and today it's almost impossible to describe how popular that club was. "I think we were the only adult club on the Strip in the 1960s," Hefner says, pajama-clad at midday in his Holmby Hills mansion. "We were definitely the most successful." In a 10-story building, the club took up the first four floors--and still there were lines around the block weekend nights. Hefner lived on the top floor, inside a penthouse that was very James Bond, very top secret. You could push a button, and an entire wall would slide away to reveal the bar. He even had a round bed up there, all the accouterments that every Rat Pack pretender only dreamed of; and yet here it was, happening in Hefner's club and inside Hefner's bedroom on the Sunset Strip, the primal DNA strands of mid-century American Male masculinity. By 1968, Hefner would beam those DNA codes all over America on his show "Playboy After Dark," taped down at the CBS studios on Fairfax Avenue. Every night after the show, there was a party upstairs in Hefner's penthouse, the likes of which those poor lonely saps downstairs at the bar, swilling their 007 martinis, could only dream of. Mario Maglieri came out from Chicago in 1964 to help launch the Playboy Club, but he soon left to become a partner at a new nightclub called the Whisky a Go Go. Maglieri was from Old Chicago, and suddenly on the stage of this new club he's running are all these Brits with names like Eric Clapton and John Mayall and Paul Butterfield, playing electric guitars. "Geez, I thought these guys were nuts!" he says today. They were even banging tambourines; the last time Maglieri had seen a tambourine was back in Chicago when a beggar asked him for change. MONDO HOLLYWOOD: http://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/mondo_hollywood/ Riot Nights on Sunset Strip From shortly before the Watts rebellion in August 1965 until late October 1966, I was the Los Angeles regional organizer for Students for a Democratic Society [SDS]. My assignments from the national office in Chicago were to build a core of draft resistance in the city (I had burnt my own draft card the previous March and was waiting to see whether or not I would be prosecuted) and to assist two eloquent and charismatic local SDSers — Margaret Thorpe at University of Southern California and Patty Lee Parmalee at University of California Irvine — in raising hell on local campuses. The most hell was generated by a group of wonderful 16- and 17-year-old SDS kids from Palisades High School. Hanging out with them, we soon became participants in some of the events described below (although with a crew-cut and a phobia about recreational drugs, I was hardly a representative 'teenybopper'). I left L.A. in 1967 to briefly work for SDS in Texas, returning to Southern California late in the year to begin real life as an apprentice butcher in San Diego and later as a truck driver in East L.A. I missed the 1967 riots on the Strip, but was on the scene for the culminating protest in 1968. So what follows is an alloy of research and memory. It is also the first, small installment in a projected history of L.A.'s countercultures and protestors, tentatively titled Setting the Night on Fire. A1 "There's somethin' happening here" The demonstrators — relentlessly caricatured as 'Striplings', 'teeny boppers', and even 'hoodlums' by hostile cops and their allies in the daily press — are a cross-section of white teenage Southern California. Movie brats from the gilded hills above the Strip mingle with autoworkers' daughters from Van Nuys and truck drivers' sons from Pomona. There are some college students and a few uncomfortable crew-cut servicemen, but most are high-school age, 15 to 18, and, thus, technically liable to arrest after 10 p.m. when dual county and city juvenile curfews take effect. Kids carry hand-lettered signs that read "Stop Blue Fascism!," "Abolish the Curfew," and "Free the Strip." 2 3 It has become the custom to humiliate curfew-violaters with insults and obscene jokes, pull their long hair, brace them against squad cars, and even choke them with billy clubs, before hauling them down to the West Hollywood Sheriffs or Hollywood Police stations where they will be held until their angry parents pick them up. This evening (10 December), however, has so far passed off peacefully, with more smiles exchanged than insults or blows. The high point was the appearance of Sonny and Cher, dressed like high-fashion Inuit in huge fleece parkas, waving support to adoring kids. (Later, after photographs have appeared on front pages across the world, the city of Monterey Park will ban Sonny and Cher from their Rose Parade float for this gesture of solidarity with "rioting teenyboppers.")1 4 By midnight the demonstration has returned to Pandora's and a happy Al Mitchell has officially declared the protest over. As the crowd begins to disperse, LAPD officers enter Pandora's to check IDs. Eason Monroe, head of the Southern California chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union [ACLU], complains that the police are acting illegally: Pandora's doesn't serve alcohol and the curfew ordinance exempts teenagers inside licensed businesses. The response of the cops is to handcuff and arrest Monroe. When Michael Vossi, a PR agent for the Beach Boys, who is acting as a legal observer from an entertainment industry support group, speaks up in Monroe's defense, he is pummelled by another officer. The few hundred remaining demonstrators outside Pandora's shout at the police to leave their adult supporters alone. Riot-equipped police reinforcements converge from all sides. 5 Paul Jay Robbins, another adult supporter from CAFF (Community Action for Facts and Freedom Committee) whose members are a veritable Who's Who of the liberal pop culture scene, will a few days later in the Los Angeles Free Press (lovingly known as the Freep to its devotees) describe the unprovoked fury of the LAPD's attack on panic-stricken and fleeing protestors. After Robbins himself is hit by a police baton, he watches in horror as police flail away at a helpless teenager. I saw a kid holding a sign in both hands jerk forward as though struck from behind. He fell into the path of the officers and four or five of them immediately began bludgeoning him with clubs held in one hand. I stood transfixed watching him as the officers continued beating him while he attempted to alternately protect himself and crawl forward. Finally he slumped against a wall as the officer continued to beat him. Before I was spun around and set reeling forward again, I saw him picked up, belly-down, by the officers and carried away. Later legal representatives of CAFF measured a trail of blood 75 yards long leading from this spot to the point where he was placed in a car. Where is he now?2 6 The night's peaceful demonstration had been wantonly turned into another of those police 'massacres' for which Los Angeles is becoming justly notorious. The two daily newspapers — the Chandler-owned Los Angeles Times and the Hearst-owned Herald-Examiner — as usual characterize the unwarranted police aggression as a teenybopper-inspired 'riot'. Al Mitchell and the other adult supporters, meanwhile, are so appalled by the LAPD violence that they call off next weekend's planned demonstration out of fear that the police may yet kill or seriously injure one of the kids.3 After two months of political debate, litigation, and frustrating negotiations, the protests will resume massively in February 1967 and continue episodically through the autumn of 1968. Thousands of kids will be arrested for curfew violations and American International Pictures will immortalize the 'riots' in a camp film with a famous soundtrack.4 7 MOMENT IN ROCK-AND-ROLL DREAMTIME: Saturday night on Sunset Strip in early December 1967. Along that famed twelve blocks of unincorporated Los Angeles County between Hollywood and Beverly Hills, the neon firmament blazes new names like the Byrds, the Doors, Sonny and Cher, the Mamas and the Papas, and Buffalo Springfield. But the real spectacle is out on the street: 2,000 demonstrators peacefully snaking their way west along Sunset into the county Strip then circling back to their starting point at Pandora's Box Coffeehouse (8180 Sunset) just inside the Los Angeles city limits. On one side of the boundary are several hundred riot-helmeted sheriff's deputies; on the other side, an equal number of Los Angeles police, fidgeting nervously with their nightsticks as if they were confronting angry strikers or an unruly mob instead of friendly 15-year-olds with long hair and acne. "Battle lines being drawn" This legendary Battle of the Strip, 1966–1968, was only the most celebrated episode in the struggle of teenagers of all colours during the 1960s and 1970s to create their own realm of freedom and carnivalesque sociality within the Southern California night. There were other memorable contestations with business and police over Griffith Park 'love-ins', beach parties, interracial concerts, counter-cultural neighbourhoods (like Venice Beach), 'head' shopping districts (like L.A.'s Haight-Ashbury on Fairfax), cruising strips (Whittier, Hollywood, and Van Nuys boulevards), street-racing locales, and the myriad local hangouts where kids quietly or brazenly defied parents, police, and curfews.5 8 Of course such battles were not a new story (Los Angeles had passed its first juvenile curfew in the 1880s), nor unique to Southern California. But postwar California motorized youth rebellion. A culture of cars, high-speed freeways, centrifugal sprawl, and featureless suburbs generated a vast ennui amongst bored but mobile teenagers. Any hint of excitement on a weekend evening might draw kids from anywhere in the hundred-odd-mile radius of local AM radio. Thus when one rock station incautiously advertised a party at Malibu Beach in 1961, nearly 20,000 teenagers showed up and then rioted when sheriffs ordered them to leave. Nor is it surprising that once the Strip 'riots' were celebrated in song (by Stephen Stills in 1966), as well as in Time and Life, that the 8000 and 9000 blocks of Sunset Boulevard would become an even more powerful magnet to alienated kids from the valleys and flatlands. Indeed, decades later, to claim that you had been busted on the Strip in '66 or '67 was the Southern California equivalent of boasting that you had been at Woodstock, at the Creation. 9 But why the Strip? The parents of many Southern California teenagers in 1966 had their own lustrous memories of a night — returning from a Pacific War in 1943 or after college graduation in 1951 — when they had dined, danced, and rubbed shoulders with celebrity in one of the famed Sunset Boulevard nightclubs, such as Ciro's, Mocambo, or the Trocadero. The Strip, one of those strange 'county holes' in the Los Angeles urban fabric, was for a generation the major centre of movie colony nightlife, and thus the epicentre of tabloid scandal and romance. It was also a city-state run by famed gamblers and their gangster allies in league with a corrupt Sheriff's Department. During its most glamorous years, from 1939 to 1954, the Strip's informal mayor was the indestructible Mickey Cohen, prince of gamblers and king of survivors. Operating from a haberdashery on the 8800 block of Sunset, Cohen defied all odds by emerging unscathed from an incredible series of Mob ambushes and bombings that took the lives of half a dozen of his bodyguards. 10 By the late 1950s, however, Cohen was cooling his heels in the pen and the Strip was in steep decline. Las Vegas, thanks to Bugsy Siegel, had usurped the lucrative symbiosis of movie stars and mobsters that the Strip had pioneered, and hijacked its star chefs and famous entertainers. Yet precisely as urban decay was taking a huge bite out of its golden mile, the popular television show 77 Sunset Strip was generating a new mythology. Ed 'Cookie' Byrnes — the program's Elvis-like co-star who played a parking-lot jockey who was also a part-time sleuth — briefly became the biggest youth celebrity in the country. The Strip was portrayed as a dazzling nocturnal crossroads for a handsome Corvette-and-surfboard set. 11 In fact, the Strip, like the larger (west and east) Hollywood community, was in transition between its golden age and two competing strategies for reusing vacant nightclub and entertainment space. The 'Times Square' option was to reopen clubs with topless or, later, nude dancers. The Bodyshop was the exemplar of successful neo-burlesque. The other option was to cater to juvenile audiences with rock music. Music producers and PR people, especially, liked the idea of a geographically centralized youth club scene to talent-scout new bands and develop those already under contract. The success of 77 Sunset Strip, moreover, established a national cachet and name recognition for groups weaned on the Strip. In 1965 the County reluctantly acceded to club-owners' and record companies' pleas and created a tiered licensing system that allowed 18-to-21-year-olds inside clubs where alcohol was served, while creating special liquor-less music venues for younger 15-to-18-year-olds. The youth club scene promptly exploded. 12 For older teenagers and young adults the premier clubs were the Whiskey, Gazzarri's, and the Galaxy. The newly baptized teenyboppers favoured It's Boss (formerly the renowned Ciros), The Trip (formerly Crescendo), and Sea Witch, as well as cheap, atmospheric coffee houses like Pandora's (owned by former tennis star Bill Tilden) and the Fifth Estate (bankrolled by teen magazine mogul Robert Peterson). As the clubs inexorably hiked their cover charges, younger and poorer kids preferred simply to be part of the colourful street scene, wandering in groups down Sunset or hovering near club entrances for a glimpse of Jim Morrison or Neil Young. As the nightly teen crowds grew larger, however, the Strip's upscale restaurant owners and their wealthy adult clientele began to protest about the lack of parking and the increasing sidewalk congestion. Beverly Hills matrons and Century City lawyers recoiled from contact with the beatified throngs. 13 "Moreover, at this point," wrote Edgar Friedenberg and Anthony Bernhard in a later account of the riots, "the good behavior of the 'teeny boppers' had become a problem." Because the kids were generally "not hostile, aggressive nor disorderly," there was no obvious pretext for driving them off the Strip. Eventually, the Sunset Strip Chamber of Commerce and the Sunset Plaza Association, representing landlords and restaurant owners, cajoled the Sheriff's Department to stringently enforce a youth curfew. During the 1940s, when teenage 'B-girls' were a national scandal, both the city and county had adopted parallel curfew regulations that forbade anyone under 18 from loitering in public after 10 p.m. "Loitering," Friedenberg and Bernhard noted, "is defined as 'to idle, to lag, to stand idly by or to walk, drive, or ride about aimlessly and without purpose' — a definition that may well make the entire solar system illegal."6 14 "Young people speaking their minds" During the summer of 1966, the sheriffs on the Strip, soon joined by the LAPD in the adjacent Hollywood and Fairfax districts, escalated their pressure on the under-18s. Curfew arrests soared into the thousands, with 300 hauled away from the sidewalks outside Canter's Restaurant on Fairfax on a single July evening. "It was just like shooting ducks in a duck pond," boasted one deputy. When the city's largest newspaper needed a dramatic image for a story about the teenage hordes, the deputies obligingly arrested ten kids and stood them handcuffed in a line "for the direct accommodation of the Los Angeles Times."7 "Throughout the spring and summer," reported Renata Adler in a later New Yorker article, "licenses permitting minors to be served anything at all were revoked at one place after another: several of these places reluctantly went adult and topless — a change that seemed to cause the authorities no distress." Indeed, it was widely rumoured that the kids were being cleared off the Strip to make way for the return of Mob-connected sex entertainment and "for more serious, less conspicuous forms of vice than lingering after curfew."8 15 Shortly after Halloween, a couple of angry teenagers decided it was time to organize a formal protest against the arbitrary arrests and police abuse of kids on the Strip. They printed a flyer — "Protest Police Mistreatment of Youth on Sunset Blvd. — No More Shackling of 14 and 15 year olds" — calling for a demonstration on Saturday night, 12 November. It was at this point that Al Mitchell, the leftist ex-merchant sailor and filmmaker who managed the Fifth Estate for Robert Peterson, became their informal sponsor. Cans were soon being circulated around the coffee house to raise money for additional leaflets. Rock stations began to luridly warn that a 'major riot' was brewing, and cautioned kids away from the Strip on the 12th. This was irresistible publicity for a demonstration whose urgency was underlined by the arrest of 80 kids for curfew violations on Friday night. 16 The next evening, according to the Freep, by 9 p.m. more than 3,000 teenagers, flanked by adult curiosity-seekers and hostile servicemen, gathered in front of Pandora's. Aside from a handful of placards hastily painted at the Fifth Estate a few hours before the demonstration, there was no apparent organization or leadership whatever. In the spirit of the times, the protest had been conceived as a spontaneous "happening" and the overwhelming majority of the crowd complied with its peaceful purpose. At one point the police called a fire company to the scene, and some of the kids nervously asked the firefighters whether they were going to hose them. A bemused fire captain replied: "Have a good time and let me go home." The engine left. 17 The overflow of protestors onto Sunset and Crescent Heights boulevards created a traffic jam; several bus drivers angrily honked and screamed at the kids. In response, demonstrators climbed up and danced on the roofs of the buses. One youth scrawled "Free the 15 Year Olds!" on a windshield; another broke a window with a fire extinguisher. On the fringe of the crowd there was a brief scuffle between longhaired protestors and some young sailors and Marines. Shortly after 10 p.m., a hundred cops roughly used their nightsticks to clear the sidewalks. Police with drawn revolvers chased kids into Pandora's. Panicky protestors who tried to retreat westward down Sunset collided with a wall of riot-ready sheriffs, and about 50 were arrested.9 18 The LAPD declared a 'tactical alert' the next evening, closing Sunset from Fairfax to Crescent Heights. State Highway Patrol officers and private Pinkerton guards reinforced the sheriffs' side of the line. Thanks to wildly escalating rumours in the station houses, the atmosphere was irrationally tense, and the Freep reported that "many of the officers seemed to be in a state of panic." While Al Mitchell shot footage for his documentary Blue Fascism, 300 or so protestors jeered "Gestapo, Gestapo!" at the police line and then dispersed after they were declared an "unlawful assembly." They vowed to return the following weekend.10 19 On Monday morning, it was the turn of the Establishment to riot. Although a handful of protestors had been involved in the bus incident (total estimated damage: $158), the Herald-Examiner's headline screamed: "Long Hair Nightmare: Juvenile Violence on Sunset Strip." A Times editorial likewise warned of "Anarchy on Sunset Strip," and blamed the teenagers and their "senseless, destructive riot" for a "sorry ending for the boulevard that was once Hollywood's most dazzling area." The Times also gave much space to the melodramatic claims of Captain Charlie Crumly, commander of the LAPD's Hollywood Division, that "left wing groups and outside agitators" had organized the protest. Crumly also asserted that "there are over a thousand hoodlums living like bums in Hollywood, advocating such things as free love, legalized marijuana and abortion."11 20 Los Angeles suddenly seemed like an embattled patriarchy. Hollywood councilman Paul Lamport demanded a full-scale investigation into Crumly's charges of a subversive plot, while his county counterpart, Supervisor Ernest Debs, ranted that "whatever it takes is going to be done. We're going to be tough. We're not going to surrender that area or any area to beatniks or wild-eyed kids." The Sunset Plaza Association, representing Strip restaurant owners, called for a city crackdown on such "kid hangouts" as Pandora's and the Fifth Estate that offered sanctuary to protesting teenagers across the county/city border.12 21 Only the Freep challenged the daily press's characterization of the previous weekend's police disturbance as a 'teenybopper riot'. "To the editorial writers of the Times, sitting in their bald majesty on First Street, entirely isolated from the events, unable to properly evaluate or analyze them, it is only possible to say: 'You are stupid old men who make reckless and irresponsible statements that can only make a bad situation worse'." According to the Freep, the kids were actually caught in the middle of an economic conflict between the Sunset Strip Chamber of Commerce with its ties to the adult-entertainment industry, on one hand, and the Sunset Strip Association, representing the youth venues, on the other. "The police, in effect, have been cooperating with one very wealthy group of property owners on the Strip against a less powerful group of businessmen."13 22 The lopsidedness of the battle was further demonstrated when the Los Angeles City Council unanimously acceded to the Sunset Plaza Association's request and voted to use eminent domain to demolish Pandora's Box. At the same time, Sheriff Peter Pitchess and Supervisor Debs lobbied the County Public Welfare Commission to prevent the renewal of the permits allowing Strip clubs to admit under-21s. When the Commission baulked, the supervisors themselves rescinded the offending ordinance and effectively banned teenagers from the clubs.14 Suddenly, Los Angeles' celebrated rock renaissance itself was under threat, and this quickly galvanized the younger generation of music producers and agents into unexpected solidarity with the next wave of protests on the Strip. 23 "There's a man with a gun over there" Although the second weekend of protests (18–20 November 1966) again pitted thousands of flower children against huge phalanxes of police and sheriffs, the still leaderless protestors broadcast enough seductive warmth, as well as carnival-like mirth, to take the grim edge off the evening. As they marched down the Strip, they handed out flowers and blew bubbles and kisses. The cops seemed disarmed by the happy mood, although at 10 p.m. a sheriffs' sound truck began warning under-18s to clear the street or be arrested. Hundreds of kids resolutely faced off a cordon of deputies, police, and Navy Shore Patrol around the Crescent Heights and Sunset triangle. Although several score of curfew violaters were ultimately arrested, there were no baton charges, and the crowd, still in surprisingly good humour, dispersed by 2 a.m. There were widespread rumours, however, that the business interests were upset with the evening's outcome, and that the sheriffs were under pressure to use more aggressive tactics the next weekend. 24 To forestall the expected violence against their fans, a group of concerned celebrities and music-industry executives went into a huddle the following Friday. The meeting was called by Jim Dickson, the manager of the Byrds, who took fulltime leave to organize the awkwardly titled CAFF. Its initial membership included Dickson's partner Ed Ticker, the ubiquitous Al Mitchell, Whiskey's co-owner Elmer Valentine, Sonny and Cher manager Brian Stone, television star Bob Denver of Gilligan's Island fame, millionaire sportsman and Woolworth heir Lance Reventlow (a member of the Sheriffs' Aero Squadron), and Beach Boy Enterprises' Michael Vossi and David Anderle. The meagre political clout of the club owners was now dramatically augmented by support from the top bands and music-industry leaders. CAFF decided to mobilize its members and friends to attend the next evening's demonstration as legal observers in yellow armbands. A group of sympathetic Hollywood ministers and the local chapter of the ACLU also promised to turn out to support the right of peaceful protest.15 25 Freep's Brian Carr. "There was no plan or purpose evident in the beatings or the subsequent arrests. It seemed the handiest people, with no regard given to age, sex or social position were clubbed, punched and/or arrested."16 The immensely popular Bob Denver, a one-time mailman and former teacher before roles as Maynard G. Krebs on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (1959–1963) and Gilligan (1964–1967) launched his stardom, was left almost speechless by the scene. "Unbelievable ... just unbelievable," Denvermumbled as deputies spat on a woman in his group, then charged down the street to baton some harmless teens. Peter Fonda, who was filming outside the Fifth Estate with actor Brandon de Wilde, was arrested with 27 others, mainly adults, as they watched the LAPD's emulation of the sheriffs. "Man, the kids have had it," Fonda later told reporters.17 26 Meanwhile inside the lobby of the West Hollywood Sheriffs station, Brian Stone — who was already a legend for creating Sonny and Cher as well as Buffalo Springfield — was arrested for refusing to produce identification upon demand. His business partner, Charlie Green, was in turn busted for protesting Stone's arrest. Before the night was over, the sheriffs and LAPD together had made enemies of one of the most powerful, if unconventional, industries in Los Angeles. As the Mamas and the Papas later explained to reporters, even millionaire rock stars could no longer "drive down the street with any feeling of safety from harassment."18 27 The even more promiscuous police violence at the 10 December protest (described at the beginning of this essay) solidified CAFF's apprehension that 'blue fascism' posed a direct threat to Los Angeles' billion-dollar rock culture. As the city council and board of supervisors forged ahead with their plans to bulldoze Pandora's and gut the Strip club scene, CAFF joined with the club owners and the ACLU in an ultimately successful legal defense of the status quo ante. If the Los Angeles Times red-baited the longhaired protestors as dupes of the "the leftwing W.E.B. DuBois Clubs," AM stations fought back with a dramatic recording of a defiant teenager saying "it's our constitutional guarantee to walk unmolested on Sunset Strip" as he was being bundled into a sheriff's car.19 And within a few weeks, tens of millions of teenagers across the world were listening to the haunting words — "Stop, children, what's that sound?" — of Stephen Stills's Strip battle anthem, "For What It's Worth." 28 Al Mitchell and CAFF, supported by the Freep, suspended demonstrations over the Christmas holiday while they held 'peace talks' with country officials. Verbal progress on that end, however, was undercut by what was widely seen as an escalation of police pressure on youth and adult counter-cultures throughout the Los Angeles area. In mid-December, for example, Pasadena Police raided the popular Catacombs art gallery and arrested 100 young people on a variety of drug charges, many of them utterly bogus. Then, on New Year's Eve, the LAPD vice-squad rampaged through the gay bars in the Silverlake district, roughing up and arresting scores of patrons.20 29 The LAPD also increased its illegal harassment of the Freep's salesforce. Despite a city ordinance authorizing their right to sell papers from the curb to passing cars, Freep vendors were systematically ticketed and frequently arrested, especially on the Strip and in front of Pandora's. Since local television and the two dailies had blacked out images of police brutality, the Freep, together with a few rock stations and the local Pacifica franchise (KPFK-FM), were truly the alternative media. Persecution, moreover, only made the Freep vendors into heroes and boosted the paid circulation of the paper above 65,000.21 30 "I think it's time ... " The 'phony war' on the Strip lasted until the end of February when Al Mitchell announced that "we must go on to the streets again police and sheriff's deputies have again and again violated the terms of a 'truce' RAMCOM and other concerned groups negotiated on 16 December with the Los Angeles Crime and Delinquency Commission." Indeed, Captain Victor Resau of the West Hollywood Sheriffs humiliated the Commission when he publically renounced the truce or any other constraint on the vigorous enforcement of the curfew law. The County's earlier attempt to outlaw teenagers from rock clubs by ordinance had been ruled unconstitutional, so sheriffs and police were once more under terrific pressure from property-owners to use brute force to drive the kids off the Strip. Mitchell was particularly outraged at repeated raids on the Fifth Estate and other alcohol-free coffee houses. Some 80,000 leaflets calling for a demonstration on Saturday night, 11 February 1967, saturated the clubs and made their way clandestinely through every high school in the county. 31 For the first time there was strategic planning to broaden the base of the protests to incorporate the grievances of gays and people of colour. As the Freep noted, "one of the most interesting and pace-setting reactions to the call to demonstrate came early this week from homosexual organizations who are currently up in arms about New Years Eve's police raids on a number of Silver Lake area gay bars."Two leading gay groups, PRIDE and the Council on Religion and the Homosexual, endorsed the 11 February demonstration and added plans for their own simultaneous march along Sunset in Silver Lake. Mitchell's loosely knit RAMCOM group also plotted actions in Watts, East L.A., and Pacoima in the hope that angry Black and Chicano youth would be drawn to participate. The self-concept of the Strip movement was shifting from an amorphous 'happening' to an all-embracing coalition of outcast and police-persecuted street cultures.22 32 A crude attempt was made to frame the movement's principal adult leader. Ten days before the scheduled demonstrations, Mitchell — a veteran of harassment for such offenses as allowing singing in the Fifth Estate and obscene anti-police graffiti in its lavatories — was arrested (but not booked) on suspicion of 150 counts of statutory rape. The fortyish leftist, whom the Times had caricatured as the "muezzin of the teenboppers," was now unmasked as a sinister sex criminal preying on his teenager followers — or so it was claimed on radio and television news. In fact, Mitchell's 17-year-old accuser quickly confessed that her allegations were lies told in anger after she had been thrown out of the Fifth Estate for drug use. The Freep pondered why Mitchell had been so brazenly arrested and demonized in the media before the LAPD had even checked out the teenager's preposterous story.23 33 In any event, the hubbub around Mitchell did not deter more than 3,000 teenagers, along with unprecedented numbers of college students and adults, from once again assembling in front of Pandora's on Saturday night. For the first time, there was an organized rally — with speeches by Mitchell, civil liberties lawyer Marvin Chan, and ACLU counsel Phil Croner — as well as an ingenious tactical plan. Every hour new contingents of protestors were sent west on the county Strip where sheriffs deputies, impassive for the most part, allowed them to march without harassment. The demonstrators, carrying signs that read "Stop Beating the Flower Children" and "Stop Blue Fascism," were both exuberant and disciplined: vivid refutation of the hoary myth of "wild-eyed, drug crazed rioters."24 34 Meanwhile 500 protestors in front of the Black Cat Bar at the corner of Sunset and Hyperion were urged by speakers to make "a unified community stand in Silver Lake against brutality." In L.A. history, this was the less dramatic counterpart to the Village's Stonewall Riot, the birthdate of an activist gay rights movement. Unfortunately the other protest venues were unhistoric flops. Only a desultory crowd turned out in Venice, where most residents had preferred to join the main action on the Strip, and in Pacoima a small group of hapless RAMCOM kids with good intentions but poor communication skills were set upon and beaten by local gang members. The Freep could find no evidence of any protests in either Watts or East L.A.25 35 T his did not mean, however, that the Strip protests had no impact upon the ghettoes and barrios. Black and Chicano flower children were beginning to integrate the Strip in small numbers, despite frequent racist treatment from club bouncers and, of course, cops; and some Black leaders, both moderate and radical, were rallying to the idea, pushed by Al Mitchell and New Left groups, that there really was new ground for a broad, anti-police-abuse coaliton. In March, after another large protest on the Strip, Georgia legislator and civil rights hero Julian Bond spoke to admiring youth at the Fifth Estate while cops loomed threateningly on the periphery in riot gear.26 From February onwards, moreover, every protest on the Strip self-consciously identified itself with the victims of far more deadly police brutality in Southcentral L.A. Radical groups, especially SDS and the International Socialists, began to play more prominent roles in the protests and actively recruited high-school-age memberships. 36 But many Angelenos had no inkling that mass protests, larger than ever, were continuing on the Strip. In April, the latest addition to the local alternative media, Los Angeles Underground, bannered the huge headline: "STRIP WAR: News Blackout Conceals Struggle, Police Sabotage Truce Agreement." The paper excoriated the Herald-Examiner, but even more the Times, for their refusal to print a word about the huge but now disciplined demonstrations on the Strip.27 The Times, however, did continue its vilification of youth culture ('teenyboppers' had now metamorphosed into 'hippies') with constant stories and editorials of the ilk, "Hippies Blamed for Decline of the Sunset Strip." Furthermore, the Times warned, the bell-bottomed hordes were now poised to 'invade' and presumably destroy Hollywood as well. Much attention was given to a speech that a local real-estate appraiser, Robert Steel, had made in May 1967, charging that longhaired teens had done more damage than the Watts rioters two years earlier. Steel claimed that the under-18 youth had reduced property values along the Strip by 30 per cent and scared away potential major investors, including a large savings-and-loan company.28 37 The Times, at least, was accurate in pointing out a new hotspot in Hollywood where property owners were squaring off against new youth venues, especially Hullabaloo, a vast rock emporium that sometimes staged a dozen popular bands in all-night marathons. On 28 July 1967, the LAPD, using elaborate decoys and commando tactics, had swept down upon the ticket lines at Hullabaloo and arrested 200 fans for curfew violations, although their IDs were only checked at the station. As usual the incident went unreported in the Times, but it sent shock waves through the music world and revived CAFF-type interest in defending the industry's local fandom. 38 Nineteen sixty-eight was year three of the struggle and the Strip War threatened to become as protracted as the Civil War, with the baby sisters and brothers of the original protestors now on the front line. No one could much recall what a 'beatnik' was, but hippie-phobia was reaching a crescendo, with the Times, as usual, providing a rich diet of innuendo and stereotyping.29 Yet the immense engines of the culture industry were slowly turning the great ship of mainstream taste around. Straight young adults, from secretaries to longshoremen, were quietly letting their hair grow and putting on bell bottoms. The young sailors and Marines who a few years before had waylaid unwary teenyboppers in the Strip's back alleys were now happily trading drugs with their hippie connections. Storeowners and restaurateurs who once had apoplexy at the sight of a madras-clothed teenybopper now couldn't distinguish them from the palm trees. 39 As the mainstream went counter-cultural, much of the counter culture, including its music, moved, however temporarily, to the political left. The LAPD and the sheriffs had to shift deployments to deal with the new specters of the Black Panther Party in Southcentral and high-school unrest on the Eastside. Curfew enforcement on the Strip became a less urgent law-enforcement priority. Although police harassment would continue for another decade or more, the Strip war came to a climax on 28 September 1968, the day after Huey Newton had been sentenced to prison. 40 The protest this time was organized by the new Peace and Freedom Party which gave equal billing to three demands: "Free the Strip. End Police Brutality. Free Huey Newton." Although the Times — what else could one expect? — gave the protest only a few sentences, claiming that there were about 600 participants, I can testify that the number was at least four times larger.30 It was, in fact, one of the most memorable demonstrations of a lifetime, as the same kids, so frequently scorned and physically abused by the deputies, now boldly shoved "F*** the Sheriffs" and "No More Murder of Black People" placards in their faces. 41 For the first time the shoe was on the other foot. The West Hollywood Sheriffs station was surrounded by protestors, besieged by 'revolutionary hippies' no less. In a tense, hour-long confrontation, the kids showed superb courage and good humour. In the end, everyone simply walked off, back into the rock-and-roll night, while some of the girls threw kisses to the thoroughly vexed and defeated sheriffs. http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/llt/59/davis.html In the event, amok sheriffs' deputies gave CAFF and some 30 clergy a shocking exhibition of the abuse that the kids had been complaining about all year. "People were viciously clubbed and beaten".	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line738
__label__wiki	0.642082	0.642082	Home \| Technology \| Pak analyst urges world to confront extraterritorial US laws Pak analyst urges world to confront extraterritorial US laws Islamabad, Time has come for the international community to declare the US laws in violation of the UN Charter and international regulations, said a senior Pakistani analyst in a recent article. A.G. Noorani, in his article published by the Dawn daily newspaper, said that it would be a shame if the international community were to submit to the gross violation of international law that has been systematically committed by the United States, through its Congress, for over two decades. The Countering of America's Adversaries, Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), 2017, has aroused widespread resentment because of its broad reach � targeting four states and draconian provisions affecting others besides, Noorani said. He added that none of the targeted states is an 'enemy' posing a threat to US security. Each country � namely Iran, Russia, Syria and North Korea � is targeted because the US dislikes it or disapproves of its policies. Those who deal with them are also punished, he noted. Noorani said the US has used the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act to obstruct Pakistani and Indian plans for the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline. These American laws violate the UN Charter, international law as well as the fundamentals of the world order, he stressed. Interference which is sufficiently coercive to constitute intervention may take a variety of forms. It may involve the use of armed force in the direct form of military action, or in a more indirect form as where support is given to subversive or terrorist armed activities in another state. Other forms of coercion, involving economic or political measures rather than resort to military action, may also constitute intervention, where they have the necessary coercive effect. the senior Pakistani analyst said, quoting jurist Lassa Francis Lawrence Oppenheim. He said that on July 6, 2018, at a ministerial meet in Vienna, representatives of the UK, Germany, France, Russia and China assured Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif of their commitment to the nuclear deal of 2015. He emphasized that the time has surely come for the international community to respond effectively by three measures; namely (1) a UN General Assembly resolution declaring the US laws in violation of the UN Charter and international law; (2) a request by the assembly to the International Court of Justice for an advisory opinion; and (3) suits in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) by the affected states against the US for an order declaring those laws in violation of the UN Charter and international law. /C O R R E C T I O N — GCL-SI/: GCL System Integration Raises Guidance for 1H 2018 To RMB 20.41 million – RMB 30.02 million 2018 U.N. Correspondents Association Awards For Best Journalistic Coverage Of The United Nations And U.N. Agencies	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line739
__label__wiki	0.642305	0.642305	Iran Warns US on Visa Waiver Act Iranian officials have warned that changes to the U.S. Visa Waiver Program could be a violation of the nuclear deal. On December 20, 102 Iranian lawmakers sent a letter to President Rouhani condemning the move and demanding government action. House Resolution 158, which passed 407 to 19 on December 8, aimed to tighten visa-free travel to the United States. Citizens of 38 countries, including many E.U. member states, can currently fly to the United States without applying for a visa. The rule, signed into law by President Obama on December 18 as part of a $1.1 trillion spending bill, requires citizens of those 38 states to apply for a visa after having traveled to Iran for pleasure or business in the past five years. The restriction applies to dual citizens as well. An earlier version of the bill only required visas for those who travelled to “terrorist hotspots,” such as Iraq and Syria. But Iran and Sudan were added to the list of countries because of their designation as “state sponsors of terrorism” by Washington. The restriction applies to dual citizens of those four countries as well.The legislation was intended to make it more difficult for terrorists who hold E.U. or other citizenships to enter the United States. The following are reactions by Iranian officials to H.R. 148. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif “This visa-waiver thing is absurd. Has anybody in the West been targeted by any Iranian national, anybody of Iranian origin, or anyone travelling to Iran? Whereas many people have been targeted by the nationals of your allies, people visiting your allies, and people transiting the territory of, again, your allies. So you’re looking at the wrong address…” —Dec. 17, 2015, in an interview with The New Yorker “Unfortunately, there are mixed signals coming from Washington, mostly negative signals, including the visa waiver program restrictions. Now we await for the decision by the administration on how it wants to bring itself into compliance with its obligations under the JCPOA.” “I have had discussions with Secretary Kerry and others on this for the past several days since it’s become known that this was the intention. And I wait for them to take action.” —Dec. 19, 2015, in an interview with Al Monitor Parliamentary Speaker Ali Larijani “Although it is not an important issue, it is aimed at harassment and is against the paragraphs 28 and 29 of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).” “If the Americans pursue the plan, they will destroy an achievement with their own hands since it is against the JCPOA and it will trouble them.” —Dec. 17, 2015, in a speech in Qom Deputy Foreign Minister Syed Abbas Araghchi “The U.S. Congress's approval has different legal aspects which are being studied and if it is against the contents of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), we will take action against it.” “We are in consultation with the Group 5+1 (the US, Russia, China, Britain and France plus Germany) and specially the EU (Foreign Policy) Coordinator (Federica Mogherini) to show the necessary reaction in this regard.” —Dec. 13, 2015, to reporters in Tehran “The law Obama signed contradicts JCPOA. Definitely, this law adversely affects economic, cultural, scientific and tourism relations.” —Dec. 20, 2015, according to state television Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Chairman Alaeddin Boroujerdi “It is true that they [Americans] have set restrictions on citizens of other countries but they have committed such a violation indirectly.” —Dec. 20, 2015, according to Press TV	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line740
__label__wiki	0.741499	0.741499	A member of the law: Abadi committed suicide politically in announcing his commitment to sanctions on Iran (Baghdad: Al-Furat News) A member of the coalition of state law Fattah Sheikh, said that “Prime Minister Haider Abadi politically committed suicide when he declared his commitment to US sanctions on Iran.” “The transfer of officials to integrity came at the time lost and ashamed of the demands of the citizens,” he told Al-Furat News. “Where has Abbadi since he took over the post of prime minister to turn now 5,000 officials to integrity ?!” He explained that “the transfer of this large number of officials to integrity aimed at wrapping political blocs around Abadi; for anonymity,” adding that “party blocs spoil the minister and abandon him,” he said. He added that “Abadi wasted the opportunity to grant him legitimacy by the religious authority and the House of Representatives in 2015 to overthrow corruption, so the assignment today will not accompany him,” noting that “he was the first of Abadi accountability cabinet ministers corrupt government instead of accounting former ministers,” pointing to That the Prime Minister “wants to tune the street with these referrals to win the second term.” He said. “There is no second term for Abadi, who committed suicide when he committed to imposing sanctions on Iran. He had to wait for a statement before it was made. It is very wrong for someone who represents the pyramid of authority in Iraq to be in media mistakes.” Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared that Iraq does not react to US sanctions against Iran, “but we will abide by them to protect the interests of Iraq. We can not go beyond the international system and the world economy, and we can not harm the interests of our people, but our position on the sanctions is very unjust.”	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line741
__label__cc	0.615898	0.384102	Juvenile Justice Information Exchange (https://jjie.org/tag/cost/) New Report Shows the Crippling Cost of Child Abuse By Karen Worthington \| February 27, 2012 This month the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report quantifying the costs of child maltreatment in the United States. The report underscores that child maltreatment is a serious public health issue with financial impacts comparable to a stroke and Type 2 diabetes. What the report does not quantify is the loss of a child’s innocence. What is the price of the smile on a baby’s face when he takes his first steps, or on the 8-year-old who scores her first goal, or on the 12-year-old who wins his class spelling bee? What about the joy and love brought into the lives of family and friends by that child? Prison costs burden Georgia as other states test alternatives By Ellen Miller \| May 31, 2010 Georgia taxpayers spend $1 billion dollars a year locking up criminals in prison. An eye-opening analysis by the Atlanta Journal Constitution shows one in 70 Georgians is behind bars and each offender costs $49 a day. It is not because the state has more crime, but because sentencing laws are tougher here, keeping criminals behind bars longer. In the first of a two-part series, the AJC raises questions about Georgia’s tough-on-crime stand, and whether it’s worth the cost at a time when the state is cutting teachers, transportation and critical programs. Even some conservative policymakers like former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Georgia) are studying alternatives to prison. In a surprising interview, Gingrich argues treatment programs for non-violent offenders work, and can be safer and less expensive. In part two, the AJC reports about 2-thirds of inmates locked up are non-violent. For them, alternatives such as drug courts and work-release might work and save money. Other states across the south, such as Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas are working on research-based alternatives. By Avery Miles \| July 16, 2019	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line749
__label__wiki	0.685293	0.685293	Obama launches ‘Take Your Child to the Lab’ Week Mar 3, 2016 0 Comment Post By:Annette Stenhouse Article by Darlene Superville, taken from http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/obama-launches-child-lab-week-37256713 Photo credit: http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2012/05/obama-better-babysitter-car-mechanic-material.html# President Barack Obama is launching a version of “take your child to work day” that’s focused on America’s science laboratories instead of its corporate workspaces. It’s part of Obama’s effort to encourage young people, especially girls and minorities, to pursue careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math. More than 50 national labs in 20 states are opening their doors this coming week to approximately 5,000 elementary, middle and high school students to help spark interest by exposing them to the scientists, engineers and lab employees who carry out important work and research at facilities in their communities. The students, including from communities aligned with Obama’s “My Brother’s Keeper” initiative, will participate in mentoring sessions, hands-on experiments and other activities. My Brother’s Keeper is a public-private initiative started by Obama to help boys and young men of color stay on the right path. The White House Council on Women and Girls is also involved. “National Week at the Labs” coincides with February’s end of Black History Month and the start of Women’s History Month in March. “It’s an exciting time to think about how we’re pulling all the children of our country into technology and STEM and the jobs of the future,” Megan Smith, chief technology officer in the Office of Science and Technology Policy at the White House, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. She said some 600,000 U.S. technology jobs, which pay significantly higher than the average salary, are currently unfilled. At the White House on Monday, elementary school students from Baltimore and the District of Columbia are expected to participate in a science fair-type event. Obama says it’s good for the country when young people are excited about science. “Whether it’s setting foot on the moon, developing a vaccine for polio, inventing the Internet or building the world’s strongest military, we’ve relied on innovative scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematicians to help us tackle the toughest challenges of our time,” he recently told Popular Science magazine. “Being pro-science is the only way we make sure that America continues to lead the world.” Obama started the annual White House Science Fair because he said budding scientists should be celebrated as much as Super Bowl football teams. The administration is also more than halfway toward his goal of training 100,000 new math and science teachers by 2021, he said. “We want the next game-changing industry or life-saving breakthrough to happen right here in the United States,” he said. education, pathology laboratory A simple blood test could make it easier to diagnose Polycystic Ovary Syndrome In Focus: Haemochromatosis or 'Iron Overload' (sadly nothing to do with Iron Man) Screen time: what is a screening test and why do we have them?	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line753
__label__wiki	0.986752	0.986752	Geddy Lee on Why Rush’s Rock Hall induction Was ‘Serious Moment’ Annie Zaleski Jason Merritt, Getty Images The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame held a Rush Fan Day centered on a book signing for bassist Geddy Lee's new book, Geddy Lee's Big Beautiful Book of Bass, last weekend. Appropriately, the museum also debuted a new exhibit — curated by Lee — featuring eight iconic basses, spanning the musician's entire career with Rush. In addition to spending hours signing books for fans, Lee also had a casual onstage conversation in front of fans with Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson -- "my BFF from Toronto." When Lifeson was asked by Rock Hall moderator Jason Hanley how it felt to interview Lee for the first time, the guitarist laughed. "It wasn't as scary as I thought it would be," he said. "I might do it more often. I might go on the road with him again." As the crowd hooted and hollered, Lifeson clarified his statement so there was no confusion whether he might be alluding to a Rush reunion: "As an interviewer. Hey, relax." Later in the conversation, talk turned to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame itself — and what it meant to Lee and Lifeson for Rush to finally be inducted in 2013, at a ceremony in Los Angeles. "Is this, like, your Barbara Walters moment where you're trying to make us cry onstage?" Lee joked to Hanley, who asked the question, before turning to Lifeson. "I think I can speak for you — but you can speak for yourself." The guitarist immediately interjected with an impish "blah, blah, blah" — a reference to his Rock Hall acceptance speech, which was nothing but him saying the word "blah" in a spirited fashion for several minutes. As Lifeson laughed and the crowd cheered, Lee deadpanned, with an amused look on his face, "Did everyone see that coming?" Watch Rush at Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Then his response turned serious — and spoke directly to Rush's loyal fans. "I think it took us by surprise, and I think it's largely due to you people," Lee explained. "We had become sort of — what would you say — indifferent about [induction], because it was a question that was asked for so many years. 'How do you feel about it? How do you feel about not being in the Hall?' So we had our tongues firmly in cheek when we arrived that day. We didn't know what to expect. And we thought, 'Okay, we'll see what happens.'" Lee then referenced the reaction to Rush's induction: The entire audience in Los Angeles — including fans and musicians like Dave Grohl, Tom Morello, John Mayer and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith — roared with applause and a standing ovation for a full minute. "And when Jann Wenner got up there and just alluded to some band from Canada and you guys responded the way you did," Lee paused as the audience at the Rock Hall in Cleveland also started cheering. "It sort of took our breaths away." Lifeson agreed, as Lee continued. "We couldn't believe how long it was going on," he recalled. "It felt like 20 minutes, [but] it was only a couple minutes. It suddenly said to me in that moment that why I'm there and what I have to pay heed to and who I have to appreciate for that honor. From that moment on, it became a very special and more serious moment than we had anticipated." A video replay of the entire Q&A is available at the Rock Hall's Facebook page. Audio of the entire interview will air on several SiriusXM channels throughout January, including Classic Rewind, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Radio and Volume, and via SiriusXM On Demand. Rush Albums Ranked Top 10 Geddy Lee Rush Songs Source: Geddy Lee on Why Rush’s Rock Hall induction Was ‘Serious Moment’ Filed Under: geddy lee, Rush Tour de Gap	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line754
__label__wiki	0.888603	0.888603	Global game show phenomenon. Exhilarating hit game show where contestants play and deal for a top cash prize in a high-energy contest of nerves, luck and raw intuition. As players work their way through sealed boxes, the Banker at the end of the phone hopes to tempt the player to take home a cash offer which may be less than the value of their box. The one question the players must answer is Deal or No Deal? Produced in 75 territories Primetime Hit Deal or No Deal delivered a peak audience of over 14 million viewers for NBC in the USA and recently delivered its highest audience ever in The Netherlands after over 25 seasons	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line760
__label__wiki	0.641519	0.641519	Jennifer Jenkins Director, Center for the Study of the Public Domain Email: Jenkins@law.duke.edu Room: 3007 210 Science Drive Assistant: Balfour Smith Jennifer Jenkins is a Clinical Professor of Law teaching intellectual property and Director of Duke's Center for the Study of the Public Domain, where she heads its Arts Project - a project analyzing the effects of intellectual property on cultural production. She is the co-author (with James Boyle) of the open coursebook Intellectual Property: Cases and Materials (4th ed, 2018) and two comic books -- Theft! A History of Music, a 2000-year history of musical borrowing and regulation, and Bound By Law?, a comic book about copyright, fair use and documentary film. Her recent articles include In Ambiguous Battle: The Promise (and Pathos) of Public Domain Day and Last Sale? Libraries' Rights in the Digital Age. While in practice, she was a member of the team that defended the copyright infringement suit against the publisher of the novel The Wind Done Gone (a parodic rejoinder to Gone with the Wind) in SunTrust v. Houghton Mifflin. While a student at Duke, she also co-authored, filmed, and edited “Nuestra Hernandez,” a video addressing copyright, appropriation, and culture. Jenkins received her B.A. in English from Rice University, her J.D. from Duke Law School, and her M.A. in English from Duke University. Duke Law Faculty & Scholarship More Scholarship & Activities Visiting Assistant Professor Program 270: Intellectual Property 393: Trademark Law and Unfair Competition 781: Music's Copyright: A Historical, Incentives-Based, and Aesthetic Analysis of the Law of Music	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line764
__label__cc	0.561653	0.438347	Majority-owned securities joint venture by Nomura set to be approved soon Mar 13, 2019 (China Knowledge) - Japanese investment bank Nomura Holdings will soon be cleared to set up a new majority-owned securities joint venture in Shanghai, to become the first newly established foreign-controlled brokerage on the mainland. The upcoming approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) comes as part of Beijing’s wider push to provide foreign financial institutions with greater access to the country’s financial markets by allowing them to having controlling interests in their joint ventures. This ownership limit was raised from 49% to 51% in April last year and the CSRC gave the first approval to UBS to take control of its local securities joint venture in November last year. For the new joint venture by Nomura, the Japanese investment bank will be holding a 51% stake while the remainder will be held by Shanghai-based state-owned Orient International (Holding) Co. Ltd. Former vice president of China Reinsurance Group Yu Qing who also worked in the finance ministry for 20 years will be named as Chairman of this new joint venture.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line774
__label__wiki	0.75458	0.75458	BRAND REVIEW: FLAVOURS OF FAN MILK Tuesday, 02 April 2019 / Published in Branding, Stories At the sight of clustered school kids in the peak of an afternoon or at the close of school, there is high degree of certainty that an ice cream vendor on a bicycle is available making a good sale of different Fan Milk products. On the menu of many adults who are health conscious but still crave for sweetness, Fan Milk is usually their preferred yoghurt brand. Its variety of products are also listed as one of the most patronised in any dairy outlet. Since its emergence in the dairy market, there is no doubt that Fan Milk has made tremendous impact in the lives of its consumers and the society. Most often than not, it is considered as one of the most influential brands in its industry which is an attestable fact largely. Interestingly, Fan Milk has gained a large customer base with little or no adverts and has remained a threat to other dairy manufacturers in Nigeria. Today, our review explores the brand delighting the taste buds of many across the country. It would come as a shock to most consumers that their favourite dairy manufacturer, Fan Milk PLC, has been churning out its products since1963. Though founded by a Danish merchant and industrialist Erik Emborg, the business has always been Nigerian based with the first factory established in Ibadan and a distribution centre in Lagos. The company made its major sales through bicycle vendors who got their supplies from smaller depots. During its early days, the factory depended on imported milk powder to produce it fresh milk and subsequently focused on white milk, chocolate milk, cottage cheese and set yoghurt as its product range. In a bid to increase its customer satisfaction, in the 1970s, Fan Milk introduced other products such as yoghurt drink, ice-lollies, ice cream and a new packaging technology, Tetra Pak. The company experienced a good financial outcome and recognition due to the success of the new products in the market. To gain more grounds, the company commissioned its second dairy factory in 1981 in Kano and has since then spread to different parts of the country with many depots and outlets to its name. This strategic move increased both its customer base and visibility in the country. Despite being a Nigerian based company, 96% of Fan Milk’s shares were owned by the foreign partner. Following a decree, The Nigeria Enterprises Promotion Decree, made by the government in the late 1970s, the company opened its investment platform to more Nigerians. As a result, Nigerians acquired 60% shares in the company. The1980s and 1990s came with some bumps such as the export restrictions, economic difficulties, devaluations and shortages of fuel thereby reducing the company’s speed and influence. Rather than dwell on the setbacks, in 1998, the company began to seek ways to remedy the situation. With the collaboration of the foreign partner and the Industrialization Fund for Developing Countries (Denmark) an agreement was reached which was to infuse more capital to enable the company restructure its finances, refurbish cold rooms, and increase the number of depots. Within that same period, the company introduced Fan Dango, a fruit drink which made irresistible waves in the market. Due to the expansion and rehabilitation programme, the company was again back on track. Following its desire to improve and reach more customers within the length and breadth of the country, Fan Milk PLC looks forward to introducing a better distribution system that will convert depots to mini distribution centres (MDCs) and franchise outlets. The new product delivery system is called Last Mile Distribution (LMD) and will focus on delivering products ordered via the hotline or online portals to customers in their shops. Fan Milk has also expanded to other countries in Africa like Ghana, Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso and Cote d’Ivoire. As part of its brand impact, the company has employed over 800 workers and has empowered thousands of bicycle vendors and other agents. It sees a clear vision for itself thus: “To be the number one producer and marketer of frozen dairy products in Nigeria.” The company mission statement is stated as follows, “It is our mission to be a leading manufacturer and marketer of healthy, nutritious and safe frozen dairy and non-frozen dairy food products at affordable prices to the benefit of all stakeholders.” The company is driven by the following core values; Financial Suitability For its brand success, the company leverages two market approaches: Quality products with emphasises on the health benefits. Broad distribution chain that covers every kind of consumer regardless of their status and age. From our research, we accredit the brand’s success to its consistency regardless of the changing times and its distribution approach. With these, Fan Milk has made itself one of the most successful dairy brands Nigeria has ever known. Would you like to build a sustainable brand? We are here to help. Send an email to wecare@mapemond.com Tagged under: Brand Story, brand strategy, brand values, Branding, fan milk Port Harcourt’s Most Preferred Cinema BUSINESS INSIGHT: LESSONS FROM THE LARGEST BANK MERGER IN AFRICA LOGO UNRAVEL: THE AIRTEL WAVE	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line779
__label__cc	0.611303	0.388697	Tag: cobalt Spin and charge frozen by strain In the development of next-generation microelectronics, a great deal of attention has been given to the use of epitaxy (the deposition of a crystalline overlayer on a crystalline substrate) to tailor the properties of materials to suit particular applications. Correlated electron systems provide an excellent platform for the development of new microelectronic devices due to the presence of multiple competing ground states of similar energy. In some cases, strain can drive these systems between two or more such states, resulting in phase transitions and dramatic changes in the properties of the material. Often, the specific mechanism by which strain accomplishes such a feat is unknown. This was precisely the case in lanthanum cobaltite, LaCoO3, which undergoes a strain-induced transition from paramagnet to ferromagnet, until a recent study carried out at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Photon Source (APS) revealed the intriguing microscopic phenomena at work in this system. These phenomena may play a role in spin-state and magnetic-phase transitions, regardless of stimulus, in many other correlated systems. Lanthanum cobaltite is a perovskite, which means the structure can be thought of as made up of distorted cubes with cobalt at the cube centers, oxygen at the cube faces, and lanthanum at the cube corners. The cobalt ions have a nominal 3+ valence, meaning they lose three electrons to the neighboring oxygen ions. Bulk LaCoO3 is paramagnetic (that is, having a net magnetization only in the presence of an externally applied magnetic field) above 110 Kelvin, and non-magnetic below that temperature. In its ground state, all the electrons on a given cobalt ion are paired, meaning their magnetic spins cancel each other out. These are so-called low-spin (LS) Co3+ ions, and when all of the cobalt ions are in this form, LaCoO3 is non-magnetic. >Read more on the Advanced Photon Source website Image: Upper left: Resonant x-ray scattering at the cobalt K-edge. Inversion of the spectra at the reflections shown indicates the presence of charge order. Upper right: X-ray diffraction reciprocal space maps at the (002) and (003) reflection indicating the high epitaxial quality of the films. The satellite peaks result from lattice modulations associated with the reduced symmetry in the film. Lower left: Schematic crystal structure of epitaxial LaCoO3 showing the arrangement of cobalt sites with different charge and spin. The circulated charge transfer from oxygen to the different cobalt sites is also shown. Lower right: Calculated total energy as a function of the difference between the in-plane Co-O bond lengths of HS and LS cobalt ions (∆rCo-O). Advanced Photon Source (APS) cobalt, Latest-News, materials, microelectronics, perovskite “X-ray streaking” allows ultrafast processes to be followed using a single pulse of light Grazing light for rapid events An international team of scientists has developed a new experimental method at the FLASH X-ray laser which allows the sequence of events involved in a process to be observed using a single, ultrashort pulse of light from FLASH. Their method is called “X-ray streaking” and enables researchers to observe ultrafast processes continuously, instead of being confined to taking snapshots at discrete intervals using separate X-ray pulses. Apart from the extreme brightness of the FLASH beam, the scientists also made use of an X-ray lens which they introduced into the beamline in a particular configuration, so as to capture a chronological sequence of events using a single X-ray pulse. To demonstrate the functionality of X-ray streaking, they observed the ultrafast demagnetisation of cobalt. The invention of X-ray lasers has considerably boosted the study of the dynamics of matter. Pump-probe experiments allow artificially induced (“pumped”) processes and reactions to be photographed (“probed”) using an extremely short X-ray pulse at predetermined intervals. Ideally, these photographs, taken with different time delays, can then be assembled to create a film showing the sequence of events during an ultrafast process with a temporal resolution of the order of femtoseconds. One limitation of this otherwise promising experimental technique is, however, that the experiment has to be conducted all over again for each time delay. This means that before each observation, the process of interest must be triggered using the same starting conditions and it must run through the same sequence of events – both of which rule out extreme experimental conditions. >Read more on the FLASH website Image Caption: (a,b) Raw images from the reflection and reference detectors respectively. Both the images for the pumped and the un-pumped event are acquired using a single x-ray pulse. (c) Transient reflectivity image (as defined in the text) calculated from the images shown in (a,b). (d) Reshaped transient reflectivity image after calibration of the time window. Article published in Scientific Reports. FLASH (DESY) cobalt, Latest-News, magnetism	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line780
__label__wiki	0.940789	0.940789	President Donald Trump on Saturday appealed a U.S. judge's ruling that blocked his administration from using $2.5 billion in funds intended for anti-drug activities to construct a wall along the southern border with Mexico. President Donald Trump's appointee Brett Kavanaugh consistently delivered during his first term as a justice for conservatives who had hoped he would move the U.S. Supreme Court further to the right while still managing to keep a low profile following his acrimonious Senate confirmation process. Iran has breached the limit of its enriched uranium stockpile set in a 2015 deal with major powers, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Monday, according to the ISNA news agency, defying a warning by European co-signatories to stick to the deal despite U.S. sanctions. Afghan security forces killed five Taliban gunmen who stormed a building in Kabul on Monday after detonating a bomb-laden truck that wounded at least 105 people, including 51 children. The United States and China agreed on Saturday to restart trade talks after President Donald Trump offered concessions including no new tariffs and an easing of restrictions on tech company Huawei in order to reduce tensions with Beijing. OPEC and its allies look set to extend oil supply cuts this week at least until the end of 2019 as Iran joined top producers Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Russia in endorsing a policy aimed at propping up the price of crude amid a weakening global economy. Hundreds of Hong Kong protesters stormed the legislature on the anniversary of the city's 1997 return to China on Monday, destroying pictures and daubing walls with graffiti in a direct challenge to China as anger over an extradition bill spiraled out of control. U.S. candidates running for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination on Sunday criticized President Donald Trump's latest overture to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying the leaders' meeting lacked substance and elevated a ruthless dictator. Florida's Republican governor on Friday signed a bill to restore the voting rights for felons who have served their time but he wants them to pay all fines and restitution before casting a ballot, a hurdle that immediately drew a lawsuit from civil rights groups. A small Japanese fleet caught their first whales in Japan's first commercial hunt in more than three decades, a move that has aroused global condemnation and fears for the fate of whales. Almost half of new cars sold in Norway in the first six months of 2019 were powered by fully electric engines, up from just over a quarter in the same period last year, ensuring the Nordic nation retains its top global ranking in electric vehicle sales. AP Top Stories Israeli warplanes attacked military positions in central Syria early Monday, with a missile near Damascus killing four civilians and wounding 21, Syrian state media reported. Spaniards can again drive through central Madrid without fear of punishment after the city's new government suspended fines for entering a restricted zone for cars. The Vatican on Monday reaffirmed Catholic teaching that priests cannot reveal what they learn in confession, in an apparent response to moves in Australia and elsewhere to force them to do so in cases of sexual abuse. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and its opponents in a California lawsuit agreed on Friday to delay implementing a rule that would allow medical workers to decline performing abortions or other treatments on moral or religious grounds, according to a federal court filing. Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen will spend four nights in the United States this month while visiting Caribbean diplomatic allies, her government said on Monday, angering China, which urged Washington not to allow her to visit. Facebook will ban ads that discourage people from voting ahead of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, according to its second annual Civil Rights Audit published on Sunday. Like the broader movement of which it is a part, the black LGBTQ community is celebrating advances since the historic Stonewall riots in New York -- while continuing to face serious discrimination and ill-treatment. Iran will no longer require Chinese visitors to obtain visas, state media reported Sunday, as the sanctions-hit country attempts to boost tourism in the face of an economic crisis. Taliban insurgents killed eight election officials in a bomb attack in the southern Kandahar province, Afghan officials said on Sunday. Six suburbs in the Mexican city of Guadalajara were carpeted in a thick layer of ice after a heavy hailstorm. The ice was up to 5ft thick in places, half-burying vehicles. Maria Joaquina is 11 years old and a prize-winning roller-skater. She is transgender and fighting to compete among girls. The South American Skating Confederation allows skaters to compete as women if they have a female name on their official ID, which Maria doesn't. Authorities have fined a Christian couple the equivalent of three months' wages for handing out a Christian booklet to children. The incident has taken place in Azerbaijan, the small country between Iran and Russia which has a 96 percent Muslim population. A mother renowned in the Palestinian territories for having six terrorist sons who have murdered a total of at least 10 Israelis, became a grandmother this week after smuggling out of prison the sperm of one of her sons. The mother urged all other terrorist prisoners to smuggle out their sperm to father "as many babies as possible" for the Palestinian people. The current legislative year, recently concluded in many states, saw four huge failures for proponents of state-by-state bans on so-called "conversion" therapy in which counselors are not allowed to help juveniles overcome unwanted same-sex attractions.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line785
__label__cc	0.652329	0.347671	Loftin III, Laurence Keith Dr. Laurence Keith Loftin III is Assistant Professor of Architecture and Planning at the University of Colorado at Denver. Prior to that, he taught at Louisiana Tech University. Dr. Loftin studied at both Princeton and the University of Virginia. An Analysis of the Work of Finnish Architect Alvar Aalto Much work has been done on the meaning and significance of Alvar Aalto’s work in recent years, but this generally takes the form of identifying motifs, and broad motivations. Little specific interpretation has been teased out. That argument that is developed here is that Alvar Aalto’s work, as a whole, is characterized by referential and narrative devices which he uses to “tell” architectural stories. These stories contain several broad themes which he developed, and returned to again and again throughout his life. His individual buildings can be seen as essays, or stories which articulate these themes.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line789
__label__wiki	0.88936	0.88936	MetaGrrrl Hello. My name is Dinah Sanders. I've been blogging for over twenty years. I'm a web geek and writer. I like it that way. Hello. My name is Dinah Sanders. I’ve been blogging for over twenty years. I’m a web geek and writer. I like it that way. METAGRRRL ON MASTODON https://mastodon.social/web/accounts/506921 My books! 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Please do not repost my writing or other creations elsewhere. Instead, copy a tiny bit and link to the rest. Thanks! Images are copyright of their original creators. MetaGrrrl logo and photos by Dinah are copyright 1965-2019 Dinah Sanders. Inkspot Books and the Inkspot logo have been Service Marks of Dinah Sanders since 1993. You may contact Dinah via https://metagrrrl.com/contact/ category: tweets These are some of the people that got left behind. This is one of the wells of despair which feeds backlash against… https://t.co/nxxQluazdr @MetaGrrrl dinahsanders Author. Discardian. Defender of life, liberty, & the pursuit of happiness. she/her View all posts by dinahsanders Posted on December 8, 2016 Author dinahsandersCategories Uncategorized Previous Previous post: * Next Next post: *	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line791
__label__cc	0.63278	0.36722	Your Money, Your America Health care is one of the nation's biggest problems: Polls by Tami Luhby @Luhby August 10, 2017: 5:39 PM ET How Trump can upend Obamacare without Congress Americans think health care is one of the nation's top problems, two new polls have found. Nearly a quarter of Americans said health care is the most important issue facing the country today, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS. It beat out the economy (15%), immigration (11%), foreign policy (8%) and Donald Trump (8%). Fewer than 5% named each of several other issues, like the environment, civil rights, government spending and education. About one-third of Democrats said health care was the top issue, while 22% of independents did, the CNN poll found. Only 18% of Republicans felt this way, even though Congressional Republicans spent much of this year trying to overhaul Obamacare. The effort stalled in the Senate last month. In a Gallup poll also released Thursday, 17% of Americans identified health care as the nation's biggest problem. While dissatisfaction with the government/poor leadership took the top spot, health care beat out unemployment and jobs by more than two-to-one and the economy by nearly three-to-one. Republicans and Democrats were nearly tied in naming health care as the most important problem, with 21% of the GOP and 19% of Democrats mentioning it, Gallup found. Related: CNN Poll: Nearly seven in 10 judge Congress a failure so far The majority of Americans (56%) want the two parties to work together to make changes to health care policy, according to CNN's survey. The rest are divided: Just over one in five said the GOP should both stop trying to repeal Obamacare completely (21%), and the same share said Republicans should keep trying to repeal it anyway (21%). CNN's Ryan Struyk and Jennifer Agiesta contributed to this report.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line796
__label__cc	0.642413	0.357587	First BMS - BGSMath Junior Meeting in Barcelona In their rich, diverse and international mathematical environments, the Berlin Mathematical School (BMS) and the Barcelona Graduate School of Mathematics (BGSMath) share the common goal of striving for excellence in their doctoral and postdoctoral training programs. To kick off the new collaboration between these two graduate schools, the first BMS - BGSMath Junior Meeting was held in Barcelona on 9 and 10 October 2017. The aim of this meeting was to bring together young researchers from the two cities, and the organizing committee was made up of PhD students and postdocs from both the BMS and BGSMath. In total there were 71 registered participants, 20 of whom were affiliated with Berlin universities and included 16 members of the BMS student body and postdoctoral faculty. The meeting was opened by the BMS Deputy Chair Prof. John M. Sullivan and the BGSMath Director Prof. Marc Noy, and was divided into three sections: Algebra & Geometry; Discrete Mathematics & Computer Science; and Probability, Statistics & PDEs. Each section consisted of one keynote address by a senior researcher and eight short talks by PhD students and postdocs from both the Berlin and the Barcelona side. The BMS and BGSMath have declared their intention to cooperate together in initiatives aimed at promoting the mobility of and exchange between students and faculty members by way of events such as the Junior Meeting; joint summer schools; mutual visits by advanced students and postdocs of each institution; and other scientific activities. The ultimate goal is to create strong scientific exchange, strengthen research collaboration between the respective math communities, and enhance the multicultural environment of both graduate schools. The BMS would like to thank Bahareh Banyassady, Katharina Klost, Jean-Philippe Labbé and Martin Wahl for their hard work and commitment in getting the first BMS joint event with BGSMath off the ground! https://bgsmath.cat/event/bms-bgsmath-junior-meeting/ http://page.mi.fu-berlin.de/spiegelc/junior_meeting/	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line805
__label__wiki	0.711772	0.711772	Tag: sketchbook Hannah Holliday Stewart: The Messengers July 9, 2014 July 9, 2015 Matthews Gallery1 Comment Candid shots of the secretive artist with her sculpture “Survivor“, Hannah Holliday Stewart archives At last Friday’s opening for Hannah Holliday Stewart: An Artistic Legacy Rediscovered, art enthusiasts who saw the press coverage for the show came armed with a diverse array of questions. “What was her family like?” “Where did the full-scale models in those photos end up?” “What’s ‘Ockum’s Razor‘ ?” “Who’s Brad?” Of course, the most frequent question was also Stewart’s most impenetrable mystery: why did the sculptor abruptly leave Houston, the launching point and epicenter of her nationally renowned artistic career? In our explorations of Stewart’s archives over the past few weeks, we’ve stirred up as many questions as answers. Stewart was resolutely private, preferring to tightly focus on her artwork in interviews, exhibition materials and even her diaries. A catalog for her 1975-6 solo exhibition at the Houston Contemporary Arts Museum provides little more information on Stewart’s personal life than a birth year and a brief sketch of her educational history. “Hannah was a very private person with a lot going on in her head,” close friend Dayton Smith told us. “I learned when to be around her and when not.” Many of Stewart’s works, on the other hand, were always in the public eye. Kids lounged in the crook of her 11-foot sculpture in Hermann Park, students at St. Thomas University studied under her concrete-and-steel work on campus, and politicians were often photographed beside her “Libertad” fountain as they passed through the courtyard of Houston’s World Trade Center building. For this week’s blog, we’re taking cues from Stewart’s ghost and focusing on the rich universe of her sculptures. Look below for new insight on five artworks, with behind-the-scenes materials from the artist’s files. Preparatory sketch for ‘Atropos Key’ and full-scale plaster model in Stewart’s studio ‘Atropos Key’ remains Hannah Holliday Stewart’s most well-known sculpture in Houston. Our maquette’s monumental counterpart stands on a hill in Hermann Park, measuring at 11 feet tall and 1,200 pounds. It debuted to much fanfare in 1972. From the Houston Chronicle’s August 11, 1972 edition: “Out on the hill beyond Miller Theatre the blanket lollers who tune in to night concerts and shows from a horizontal position will have fresh ‘company.’ Overlooking the stage, now, is a bronze vertical figure. ‘Atropos Key,’ the title of which derived from one of the three fates in Greek mythology, was given to the city by Mrs. Patricia S. Woodward of Houston. Strollers in the park may well stare at it and wonder what it all means…. Miss Stewart’s piece, in its new location, deserves the looking at, the ‘experiencing’ and the consideration of its meaning for you. Is it birth and, more encompassing than that, renewal?” Preparatory sketch for ‘Messenger’ dated August 1973 Stewart’s ‘Messenger’ appeared on the cover of Houston Arts Magazine’s performing arts edition in October, 1982. Stewart was a fan of Russian composer Alexander Scriabin, and often listened to classical music in her studio. A blurb inside the magazine traces the musical roots of ‘Messenger’: “Sculptor Hannah Stewart… sees her work as an artist’s shorthand using symbols to communicate complex and abstract ideas— like a composer uses the symbols of musical notes to convey a spiritual idea in a sensuous form. In Messenger… Stewart sees a parallel between the structure-strength-shapes interplay of her work and compositions played by Nathan Milstein and Bella Davidovich.” Original typewritten label for ‘Ockum’s Razor’ Stewart was known for her mythology-inspired artwork, but that was far from the only subject she explored. “Her studies in literature, mythology, metaphysics, esoteric philosophy, religion, science, astrology, dance and yoga suffuse her output, revealing in form and textures,” wrote Stewart’s friend Dayton Smith in a letter to the gallery. In ‘Ockum’s Razor’, Stewart turned to science for inspiration. The title refers to a problem-solving principle devised by 14th century logician and Franciscan friar William of Ockham (c. 1287-1347). The principle states that “Entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily.” In other words, the simplest path to an answer is the best one. Maquette and full-scale versions of ‘Survivor’ An article about Stewart’s work appeared in the local paper of her childhood home of Birmingham in 1994. In the story, Stewart explains the inspiration for ‘Survivor‘. From the August 1, 1994 edition of the Birmingham Post-Herald: “I was teaching welding at the university, and I’d go to the welding studio and talk to friends of mine, and there were a lot of men coming down from Detroit who’d lost their jobs, and they were so tense and angry about having to reform themselves, to learn to do welding or something else at the age of 55, after having been an auto worker. I reacted to that force within them, and the drastic changes people have to make to survive.” Polaroid of Hannah Holliday Stewart in her Albuquerque studio working on ‘Einstein’s Song’ Stewart was 80 years old in the Polaroid above and still hard at work on her bronze forms, though she never exhibited again in her lifetime. Here’s an excerpt from a typewritten artist statement Stewart wrote a year later: “For me, the image should be an intellectual and emotional symbol plucked from the fringe of the imagination, it should suggest a classic truth and not be confused with social comment. The image at its most successful strikes a common chord of sensations in every viewer, and yet leaves each viewer with his/her own particular interpretation.” See Hannah Holliday Stewart: An Artistic Legacy Rediscovered through July 18, and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for more information on the artist. Posted in Art, Art History, Exhibition, Hannah Holliday Stewart, Special Events, Women ArtistsTagged Albuquerque, art blog, art gallery, art gallery social media, art history, Art News, art world, Artist Process, Atropos Key, bronze, bronze sculptor, Bronze Sculptures, Canyon Road, Canyon Road Art Gallery, Canyon Road gallery, drawing, drawings, female artist, female artists, gallery blog, hannah holliday stewart, Hannah Stewart, Hermann Park, History of Art, Houston, Houston artists, Houston Texas, Houston TX, Matthews Gallery, new mexico, New Mexico Art, new mexico art gallery, santa fe, Santa Fe art, santa fe art gallery, sculptor, Sculptors, sculpture, Sculptures, sketchbook, sketches, Stewart Blog Series, woman artist, women artists, Women in History, women sculptors START YOUR BIDDING: Colorful lots from our fall online auction November 13, 2013 November 13, 2013 Matthews Gallery1 Comment Our European, American and Southwestern Art Auction just started on Artfact.com, and it features a particularly vibrant line-up of lots. The charming image above is a color lithograph from turn of the century France by Camille Boutet. It shows three children peering longingly into a confectioner’s shop, and would make a lovely holiday gift. The best part? Bidding starts at $50. Read about more of our offerings below, and make sure to bid before the auction ends on November 17. Lot 41: Frank Morbillo- Arched Axe Starting bid: $350 Estimated value: $450-$900 “Arched Axe” is from Frank Morbillo’s sculpture series inspired by the simple, elegant lines of prehistoric hand tools. Several other glass and bronze works from the set appear in the sale, including “Ceremonial Serpent Axe“, which features an intricate floral motif, and the swanlike “Honing Axe“. Lot 59: Bertram Hartman (1882-1996)- Still Life Bertram Hartman (1882-1960) was born in Kansas and received training at the Art Institute of Chicago. He continued his studies at the Royal Academy in Munich and Paris, drawing inspiration from Impressionism and other modernist movements. His European influences are clear in this impeccable impasto still life. Lot 70: Jamie Chase- Bather by the Sea Estimated price: $600-$900 Jamie Chase’s well-known figurative work and his latest experiments with landscape painting combine in “Bather by the Sea“. An abstracted nude stands on the shore, and the surrounding landscape seems to radiate her serene mood. Jamie’s “Seen” and “Iconic II” are also up for sale in the auction. Lot 86: Ernest Blumenschein (1874-1960)- Loading Estimated price: $2,000-$3,500 Ernest L. Blumenschein (1874-1960) was a founding member of the Taos Society of Artists, and is known for his stunning portrayals of the Southwestern landscape and people. In “Loading” the artist pays homage to his home state of Ohio. A lone figure smokes a cigarette and watches the activity at the Conneaut Mill across the tracks. Lot 91: William Lumpkins (1909-2000)- The Red Sky Estimated price: $600-$1,000 Lot 97: William Lumpkins (1909-2000)- Pink Handle “The Red Sky” and “Pink Handle” are from a series of never-before-seen artworks by legendary Santa Fe modernist William Lumpkins (1909-2002). The work was recently released from the collection of a Lumpkins family member, and also features a series of serigraphs. Lot 102: Eli Levin- Kachina (after Louie Ewing) Contemporary Southwestern painter and printmaker Eli Levin pays tribute to legendary Santa Fe printmaker Louie Ewing (1908-1983) in this silkscreen of a Pueblo kachina doll. In the 1930s, Ewing received a grant from the WPA’s Federal Art Project to pursue printmaking, and is largely responsible for the enduring popularity of printmaking among contemporary Southwestern artists. Lot 106: Bettina Steinke (1913-1999)- Santa Clara Dancer Starting bid: $50 Bettina Steinke (1913-1999) moved to Taos in the 1950s, where she opened a gallery with her husband and mentored young artists. She moved to Santa Fe in the 1970s. The artist was known for her vivid portraits of the Pueblo people, and was particularly interested in traditional Native dancers. Other historic New Mexico artists featured in the auction include Fremont Ellis, John McHugh and Hannah Holliday Stewart. Check out the European, American and Southwestern Art Auction on Artfact to browse all 116 lots, and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest to see more highlights from the sale. The auction ends on November 17 at 7:00 pm. Posted in Art, Art History, Frank Morbillo, Fremont Ellis, Hannah Holliday Stewart, jamie Chase, John McHugh, Painting, Printmaking, Sculpture, Special Events, William LumpkinsTagged abstract, abstraction, Acrylic Painters, Acrylic Paintings, Acrylics, American art, art, art auction, Art Collector, art collectors, Art For Sale, art gallery, art gallery blog, art gallery social media, art history, art prints, Art Sale, artist, auction, Auction Lots, Auctions, Bather by the Sea, Bertram Hartman, Bettina Steinke, Canyon Road, Conneaut, drawings, Eli Levin, Ernest Blumenschein, Ernest L. Blumenschein, europe, European Art, Federal Art Project, figurative, fine art prints, Frank Morbillo, Fremont Ellis, Fruit, galleries, gallery, gallery blog, hannah holliday stewart, Impressionism, impressionist, jamie chase, john mchugh, Kachina, lithograph, lithography, Louie Ewing, modern art, Modernism, modernist, new mexico, New Mexico printmakers, ohio, oil painter, oil painters, oil painting, painter, painting, Paintings, Prehistoric Art, printmaker, printmaking, Royal Academy, Santa Clara, santa fe, santa fe art colony, santa fe artists, santa fe painters, Screen printing, Screen prints, sculptor, sculpture, Sculptures, Serigraph, Serigraphs, sketchbook, sketches, Southwest, Southwestern, southwestern art, still life, Taos, Taos art colony, Taos Society of Artists, William Lumpkins, WPA NEW IN THE GALLERY: The evolution of David Grossmann May 18, 2013 May 18, 2013 Matthews Gallery3 Comments “Almost” by David Grossmann David Grossmann always knew he wanted to be an artist. Even before his first painting lessons with his grandmother at 10 years old, he was an avid sketcher, filling notebooks with intricate drawings of dragons and the floor plans of medieval castles. By 16, David was taking portrait commissions and doing book illustrations for a publishing company. Still, he couldn’t quite discern a path that would turn his passion into something more. “I didn’t know how to get there as far as making a living as a professional artist,” the 29-year-old says. Finding that bridge would take a while, but it’s safe to say that he’s officially crossed it. We’re proud to be the first gallery to represent David and his work. It’s just the latest high point in an already impressive artistic career. David was born in the United States and moved to Chile when he was two years old. It’s a place of stunning, harsh natural beauty that would inspire in David a lifelong passion for the outdoors. His grandmother was a landscape painter who lived in El Paso, Texas. When they saw each other, she would teach him oil painting techniques with a brush and palette knife. When David was 14, the family decided to relocate to Colorado. It was a move that the teenager fiercely resisted. “When we left, I didn’t say goodbye because I hadn’t accepted that we weren’t going back,” he says. “I’m sure for anyone, being 14 is probably a tough age. On top of that, adjusting to a new culture and new everything was really difficult.” “Away” by David Grossmann The move marked a big shift in David’s art. Not long after he arrived the young artist started receiving requests for commissions, and he enrolled in his first formal drawing classes with artist Valorie Snyder. His grandmother was an art director of a Christian publishing company and gave him a job illustrating Bible study curriculums. “It became more of an outlet for me than it had been before,” David says. “It was a lot more serious, a lot more figurative works. I also started drawing more landscapes at that point.” Despite his early success, David still didn’t see art as a viable career. In college he studied business and Spanish, focusing primarily on his studies instead of his artwork. During his last year at university, struck by the fear of being trapped in a cubicle, he finally committed to giving art school a shot. “When Leaves are Falling”, David Grossmann At the Colorado Academy of Art, David learned classical painting techniques and took his first plein air painting class. “I’ve always loved the outdoors, but until I took that class I felt like I couldn’t contain the landscape. It’s so huge, and I didn’t know how to make it into a composition,” he says. After he learned how to capture the beauty of nature on canvas, he knew that he’d be doing little else in his work. “That combination of being outdoors and painting, which were two of my favorite things, were just perfect for me,” he says. Three years after David enrolled at the art academy, it abruptly closed. The artist once again found himself full of doubt; he’d learned a lot about painting, but he wasn’t sure how to sell his work. That’s when he started an apprenticeship with artist Jay Moore. “In art school, my training was very much based on technique but not a lot on the professional side of things,” David says. Being in Moore’s studio gave him a window into the life of a working artist, and showed him that a fine art career was possible. “I didn’t know how long it would take to get there, but I knew that I could get there,” he says. “I remember being so excited. I’d been thinking about and dreaming about this for most of my life.” “Over the Aspens”, David Grossmann Since then, David has developed a unique style that the artist calls “visual poetry”. Using a gentle, glowing palette, he paints abstracted visions of forests that are melodic in their focus on rhythm and symmetry. Sprawling swaths of landscape transform into flat, smooth planes while scattered trees lend a profound sense of depth. These contrasting perspectives set the works slightly off-balance, sending the eye on an endless quest to consolidate them. The compositions may seem serene, but they contain the same mysterious kinetic energy that tugs our eye from one stanza of a poem to the next. “I think both poetry and paintings can capture an essence of something and stir emotion and imagination at a very deep level,” David says. “In some ways it’s very simplified and thought out, but hopefully it reaches to that level that connects with someone’s heart.” David has since shown his work in many exhibitions, including national shows sponsored by Oil Painters of America, the American Impressionist Society, and Salon International. Southwest Art Magazine featured him as an “Artist to Watch” and his work has been featured in Plein Air Magazine and American Art Collector Magazine. The artist is also an avid traveler, and has journeyed with sketchbook in hand through the Western United States, Eastern Europe, Africa and Central America. In 2011, he finally had the chance to return to Chile. He saw old friends and spent 11 days backpacking through Patagonia in Southern Chile. It was the first time he’d brought along a full painting set on a trip. “It’s very rugged country and I was carrying a backpack that weighed over 60 pounds,” David says. “Having to paint under those circumstances where there’s just forceful gusts of wind nonstop, it really made me appreciate that every painting is a miracle. It brought out a new level of confidence in my work.” David had come full circle. He left Chile as a child and returned as an artist. Click here to see more of David Grossmann’s work, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest for subsequent updates. Posted in Art, David Grossmann, Life of an Artist, PaintingTagged abstract art, abstraction, africa, american art collector magazine, american impressionist society, art, art blog, art evolution, art gallery blog, art gallery social media, art school, art student, art traveler, artist, artist bio, artist blog, artist profile, artist to watch, artists to watch, backpacker, backpacking artist, bible, blueprint, brush, Canyon Road, castles, central america, chile, christian, colorado academy of art, contemporary artist, David Grossmann, deloney newkirk, deloney newkirk fine art, dragons, eastern europe, el paso, en plein air, fine artist, floor plans, forest, forests, gallery life, hiker, how to be an artist, how to have an art career, jay moore, landscape painter, latin america, life of an artist, Matthews Gallery, nature, nature art, new mexico, new mexico art gallery, oil painter, oil painters of america, outdoors, painter, painting, palette, palette knife, patagonia, plein air magazine, plein air painter, plein air painting, poem, poet, poetry, professional artist, publishing company, pueblo, rhythm, salon international, santa fe, santa fe art gallery, sketchbook, sketcher, southern chile, southwest art magazine, spanish, symmetry, teenage artist, texas, the matthews gallery, traveling artist, united states, valorie synder, visual poetry, wandering artist, western united states The Architect’s Secret March 15, 2013 May 4, 2013 Matthews Gallery1 Comment (Untitled) The Garden, John McHugh (Untitled) Cubist Cityscape, John McHugh Untitled (Abstraction), John McHugh Untitled (New Mexico Landscape) ~ signed Baumann-McHugh St. Francis Cathedral, John McHugh Untitled (Port Scene), John McHugh Untitled (Still Life with Fruit), John McHugh Untitled (The Castle), John McHugh Untitled (Exterior), John McHugh If you’ve spent any time in Santa Fe, you’ve probably seen something John McHugh made. The young architect was passing through Santa Fe on a cross-country road trip in 1946 when his Ford broke down. He took a job at a local architecture firm so he could earn enough to fix it. Ten years and several cars later, he started his own company with Van Dorn Hooker and won commissions for the first Santa Fe Opera House, the remodeling of the parish hall at St. Anne’s Church and the Kearny School, among many others. While John’s largest works are still viewed by thousands of people each year (save the opera house, which burned down and was reconstructed), some of his most colorful creations have been hidden away since his death in 1995. “Come in, come in,” says John’s widow Gillian when she opens the door to the home they shared. She points me past the living room where a Gustave Baumann painting hangs and down a hallway that leads to a sprawling room. Leaning against every vertical surface are dozens of canvases that will soon grace the walls of the Matthews Gallery. “When we first moved here, he converted the garage into his studio right away,” Gillian says. There are still traces of the artist all around the room. Tins full of brushes sit on a tabletop, a near-empty cigar box is perched on the mantle and one painting is still on its easel. Hidden in a stack of dusty pictures next to the window is an old invitation to an exhibition of John’s work at St. John’s College, one of the only shows he ever had. Most of the paintings in our exhibition of his work, starting Friday, March 15, have never been seen by the public. “I felt that it was extremely important to have a show,” Gillian says. “These paintings shouldn’t just be gathering dust.” John’s path was always architecture, but art naturally came along with it. He was orphaned at 7 years old and spent the rest of his childhood under the care of his aunts in Springfield, Ohio. Though money was tight, he used his earnings as a paperboy to plant a garden in his yard. He graduated cum laude in architecture from the University of Notre Dame in the 1941, and took an apprenticeship in Ohio before serving in the Air Force. When John returned, he taught in the art department at Notre Dame for two years before heading off on the fateful road trip that would land him in Santa Fe. Gillian and John met in 1953 and married a year later. She’s an acclaimed pianist who was born in Great Britain and traveled to Santa Fe with the International Scouting organization in the early 1950s. While Gillian practiced for hours at her piano, she remembers John spending every spare moment with brush or pencil in hand. “He would come back from the office and go in the studio. It was very simple,” she says. “He loved painting. He would stand there the entire evening at his easel. He loved the shapes and patterns and colors.” John’s oeuvre is captivating in its diversity. As I explore his studio, I find landscapes and abstract paintings, a work that was inspired by cubism and another that looks to have been done with Cezanne in mind. One dramatic landscape is signed Baumann-McHugh, and was started by the former and finished by the latter. The thread that ties it all together was John’s strong emphasis on the framework of whatever he was portraying. You can see the hand of an architect in the bold patterns he employed again and again. “I think the architecture does enter into his paintings a good deal, because of the form and shape that he was always working with, and the fascination with that,” Gillian says. “It could be from anything. It could be something growing by the wayside or it could be a giant building.” On drives around New Mexico, John would often park the car and pull out his sketchbook. “He’d stop in the middle of nowhere,” Gillian remembers. “If there was a telephone pole that he liked, he’d get out and say, ‘Do you mind if I just draw this?’ All of a sudden half an hour later… something really wonderful would come out of the shape or color.” All of John’s creative endeavors came to an abrupt halt in 1985, when he suffered a severe left hemisphere stroke. “After the stroke, he was trying to come back to being whole again. He would work in very small ways,” says Gillian. John could see Sandia Mountain from the windows of St. John’s Hospital, and he challenged himself to learn to draw it again. “Sandia was really his lifeline. The mountain called to him. He was eventually able to draw the whole thing, which took a long, long time. This was a lovely beginning to his route back to health.” Later on, John did a lecture series on art at St. John’s College that further built his confidence. He continued painting and sketching until the very end of his life. Gillian folds up her walker and takes a seat in the living room next to her piano. One of John’s aspen paintings hangs above her head. She’s 89 years old, but when Gillian talks about John’s upcoming retrospective at our gallery, she seems full of energy. The works are close to her heart, as is the cause that the show will be supporting. “When I heard about the wonderful work that the Bob Woodruff Foundation was doing for soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, I was fascinated,” she says. “My brother had been a prisoner of war under a different situation. I thought perhaps…. some of the paintings that John did could be used, and some of the proceeds could be given to this foundation.” I ask Gillian something I’ve been wondering the whole time I’ve been there: how did John have the time and energy to accomplish all of this? Gillian shakes her head and smiles. “It wasn’t really hard work, you see. It was total love,” she says. “Architecture and art were his life.” The Matthews Gallery will present an exhibition of the art of John McHugh from March 15th through March 28, 2013. Gillian McHugh will be in attendance during the opening reception on Friday March 15th from 5-7 pm. A portion of the proceeds of the sales of the artwork will be donated to the Bob Woodruff Foundation. Click here for more information, and follow our Twitter and Facebook feeds for updates. Posted in Art History, John McHughTagged abstract paintings, afghanistan, air force, architect, architect john mchugh, architect van dorn hooker, architecture, art, art blog, art gallery, art gallery social media, art history, artist, artist and architect, artist blog, artist's easel, artist's sketchbook, artists, baumann-mchugh, bob woodruff, bob woodruff foundation, cezanne, cubism, easel, gillian mchugh, gustave baumann, hidden art, iraq, john mchugh, kearny school santa fe, landscape paintings, lost art, Matthews Gallery, new mexico, new mexico history, oeuvre, painist gillian mchugh, painting composition, painting framework, plein air painting, sandia mountain, santa fe, santa fe architect, santa fe history, santa fe opera house, santa fe opera house architect, santa fe opera house fire, santa fe opera house history, sketchbook, springfield ohio, st. anne's church santa fe, st. john's college, st. john's hospital santa fe, university of notre dame, van dorn hooker Hannah Holliday Stewart (1924 – 2010) A Sculptor Who Forged The Way December 1, 2012 July 9, 2015 Matthews GalleryLeave a comment Hannah Holliday Stewart (1924 – 2010) had her sculpture exhibited in over 40 venues including The Smithsonian, Washington, DC; the San Francisco Museum of Art; the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia; the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts and others. Her work and her career were instrumental to the increased recognition of women sculptors in the United States. The International Sculpture magazine wrote : “(She) forged the way for serious women sculptors. Uniting Greek mythology and contemporary energy concepts … (her) work fuses both primitive and futuristic sensibilities.” At a time when the art world marginalized women artists, she chose to create her own world from metal and stone and helped lead the way for a generation of women sculptors. Though she had achieved a high level of success and recognition, she eventually turned her back on the art establishment and continued to work in isolation for the last twenty years of her life. After her death in 2010, sculptures, consisting of work that spanned her entire career, were discovered in her studio – from pieces that are only a few inches tall to one bronze that is over nine feet. A written statement discovered in one of her notebooks eloquently records her own thoughts on the origins and principles underlying her art work: When I was eight years old, I asked my mother what the wind really looked like. I remember spending hours … days … sitting with my hands open wide or running with my lightning-bug jar, hoping to catch the wind. I wanted to SEE the wind, that magical force that could bend the huge oak tree in a summer storm, gently caress me on a hot summer day or sing to me as it played through a tree or around the house. This early interest in natural forces has sustained me throughout my life as a sculptor. My goal is to render visible the hidden realities of pent-up contained energy. The direct fields of reference are Sacred Geometry, Astronomy, Myth & Physics … Each Sculpture is an energy form, the movement arrested in space, a form sustaining an energy. My work is a response to these patterns and delineations and communicates with viewers through the universality of symbolism and form. The Matthews Gallery is pleased to show this pioneering artist and reacquaint the world with her work. If you would like to learn more about Hannah Holliday Stewart, we have created a website dedicated to her life and work which includes a 163 page online catalog of her work. Click Here to visit the site. Posted in Art History, Hannah Holliday StewartTagged art, art blog, art gallery blog, art history, art museum, art world, artist, artist autobiography, artist blog, artwork, astronomy, atlanta georgia, dallas museum of fine arts, dallas texas, energy, famous sculptors, female artists, female sculptors, feminism, greek mythology, hannah holliday stewart, hidden notebook, high museum of art, international sculpture magazine, life of a sculptor, life of an artist, metal art, metal sculpture, myths, new mexico, new mexico history, notebook, roman mythology, sacred geometry, santa fe, santa fe history, sculptor, sculptor autobiography, sculptor hannah holliday stewart, sculpture, Scupture, sketchbook, smithsonian museum, space, Stewart Blog Series, stone sculpture, symbolism, the matthews gallery, the matthews gallery santa fe, washington dc, women artists, women in art history, women sculptors	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line807
__label__cc	0.673936	0.326064	Longcot Village Together we care Longcot Our village in context King and Queen Pub Our Primary School Faringdon Academy of Schools The Longcot Archive Village Walks 2013 – 2016 800th Anniversary Christmas Concert Village Notice Board Parish Council Papers The development of St Mary as a Village Community Centre Longcot 800 2016 is the 800th anniversary of this ancient Norman church, and 2016 will end with a spectacular Christmas Concert featuring the fifty members of the award-winning Wessex Male Voice Choir on Friday 16th December. The doors will open at 6:30pm and the concert will start at 7:00pm sharp ending at 8:30 pm. The concert, like many events in Longcot, was the brain-child of Dr John Forster who, despite being diagnosed with cancer, continued to throw himself in the village’s fundraising efforts to support our ‘Longcot 800’ campaign to raise enough funds to transform the church into a multi-purpose community facility so it will be able to host meetings, events and activities as well as regular services. Sadly, Dr. John passed away in late August, but one of his last requests was that the church roof will be well and truly raised on 16th December. Always ready to crack a joke, he suggested that Adult tickets bought before 8:00 am on December 1st be sold for just £8.00 the numbers echoing the 800th anniversary. After that, tickets will become a still-affordable £10.00. Junior tickets for under 18s will cost £5.00. As well as traditional seasonal music including a couple of carols, the concert will be filled with songs from musical theatre to present day pop, spirituals, and folk as well as traditional favourites for male choir. Their Chamber Choir will also be performing some wonderful classical pieces. The Wessex Male Choir was founded in 2001 and consists of some 50 members under their recently appointed Musical Director, Rhiannon Williams-Hale. It has built a reputation for its professionalism and entertaining repertoire, and is always in great demand. As well as frequent performances in London and the South West, it performs across Europe and has led the singing at Wembley and Twickenham. Among the numerous awards and competition trophies, Wessex Male Choir won the prestigious Male Choir competition at the Llangollen International Eisteddfod in July 2011 beating renowned choirs from Wales, England, and the USA. This year, the Choir won the coveted Gold Cup at the Cheltenham Festival of Performing Arts for best choir overall making it their third win since 2008. When a choir wins as many awards as this one – and with Aled Jones as their patron – everyone can expect a thrilling evening that will not only welcome in Christmas, but act as a great reminder of the kindness and community support of Dr. John Forster. Longcot’s Christmas Concert takes place on Friday 16th December 2016. Doors open at 6.30pm. The concert starts at 7.00pm prompt and ends at 8.30pm with a 20-minute interval. There will be a licensed bar. More event information and tickets for the Wessex Male Choir Christmas Concert at St Mary’s Church, Longcot, on December 16th at 6:30 pm are available online at our own page on Eventbrite. http://www.longcotocktaves.eventbrite.co.uk 1 Response to 800th Anniversary Christmas Concert brianthebikeaddict says: Please could you tell me where the brickworks used to be and when it closed also could you tell me where I could find houses built with bricks from this brickworks. Brian McDonough . Upcoming Longcot Events	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line811
__label__wiki	0.833075	0.833075	Nightlife » Special Events Winter Party Festival: Helping the LGBTQ Community One Fabulous Party at a Time The Winter Party Festival produced by the National LGBTQ Task Force is one of the world's largest and best-loved celebrations for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community. The Festival has evolved into a week-long series of events, taking place on Miami Beach and benefiting the LGBTQ community both locally and nationally. Much of the gross proceeds from Winter Party Festival support the Task Force's efforts to take action, build power and create change for LGBTQ people. A significant amount of the remaining proceeds are also donated to local service organizations through a grant making process administered by the Miami Foundation. Founded in 1994, the original Winter Party featured just one event, a huge dance party held on the sands of South Beach. The blend of SoBe, surf and sun, along with fabulous people, music and weather, proved to be an irresistible combination for Winter Party's success. Soon, thousands of LGBTQ people were pouring in from around the world, making this one of the hottest weekends on the queer calendar of South Florida. Over the years, Winter Party has grown and evolved to a weeklong celebration with dozens of events, from cocktail parties, to stage shows to health advocacy programs — drawing more than 10,000 attendees to the festival. The roster of international DJ talent and Miami's unparalleled venues provide the kind of events that could never happen anyplace else in the world. This year's festival is already shaping up to be a major success, with passes and tickets selling out at many levels. This year's theme — With Open Arms — focuses on the organization's dedication and specific efforts to make WPF a welcoming environment for all. In 2018, a study conducted by the Task Force and the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau articulated that 55% percent of attendees at WPF identify as non-Caucasian. This year, organizers worked to diversify the talent on the DJ roster by including more women, featuring the skills of Sharon O Love (making her US debut), Anne Louise and MORABITO behind the turntables. "Winter Party Festival has always been friendly and inclusive," WPF Festival Chair Rene Wolfensberger said in a statement." "This year we wanted to turn it up a notch and encourage everyone, volunteers, committee members, staff and guests to welcome each other with open arms. It's an international gesture of inclusion and ties very well into our vision statement: 'Bringing the world together to create change while celebrating you.'" "This year as we bring in a new era for Winter Party Festival, one thing that I am extremely excited about is our all new Nikki Beach Club venue for our Under One Sun: Evolution, presented by Impulse Group," added Vice Chair Sergio Orlando. "As the Festival grows larger each year, we strategically chose Nikki Beach Club to expand our guests experience for this iconic and original event. We couldn't be more thrilled to bring this new venue to our Winter Party Festival line up." When the partying and weekend come to a close, the proceeds from WPF not only benefit the Task Force, but also other South Florida based LGBTQ organizations as well. In 2018, the Task Force donated $215,000 to the LGBTQ Community Fund at the Miami Foundation, for a total of nearly $3 million given back since the Task Force began producing Winter Party and the National LGBTQ Task Force Gala - Miami in 2005. "The LGBTQ movement is as relevant today as it was when we fought back police raids at the Stonewall inn 50 years ago," Task Force Director of Communications Sarah Massey explained. "We still have a lot to do to achieve full liberation and equality for all of us. The Task Force is on the vanguard of this work. We are keeping the Trump administration in check, organizing faith communities to be welcoming, and protecting our hard-earned freedoms while expanding legal protections for all." In 2018, some of the Task Force's efforts to create change for LGBTQ people included: ? In January, the Task Force convened over 4,000 activists in Washington, D.C. at the 30th Creating Change Conference. The annual conference offered over 350 workshops, plenaries, panels, and entertainment. During Creating Change, the Task Force hosted the largest LGBTQ Capital Hill Advocacy Day ever. Over 500 LGBTQ folks and allies took to Capitol Hill advocating at the national level for an end to discrimination, democracy reform, and gun violence prevention, among many issues. ? Throughout 2018, the Task Force's political team focused its efforts on two significant political referendums, Yes on Three in Massachusetts and Yes on Four in Florida. The Massachusetts campaign was about shoring up hard-won anti-discrimination protections for trans people in the state. In Florida, the Task Force played the key role in making the connections around voter disenfranchiment to LGBTQ communities. The Task Force mobilized in support of a referendum to expand state law to include 1.4 million voters. Both efforts passed with the Task Force's help. ? When it came to the courts, where many LGBTQ rights are solidified, the Task Force led a racial justice amicus brief on the Masterpiece Cakeshop case to the Supreme Court. The case sought to affirm a business owner's right to discriminate against LGBTQ people due to his religious liberty. The Task Force strongly disagreed with that dangerous idea, and worked to show that the forces of discrimination might be brought against any type of identity that a person may have, not just LGBTQ. ? The Task Force continued its work to ensure the federal government works for LGBTQ people. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a proposed rule in January 2018 that would allow healthcare providers to insert a giant religious and moral exemption into all of their health programs. In other words, healthcare professionals could deny care to LGBTQ people especially transgender people, women, and people living with HIV. At the same time, the HHS Office of Civil Rights opened a new division of "Conscience and Religious Freedom" to enforce this so-called "religious or moral" discrimination. We worked to stop this "license to discriminate" in healthcare by organizing large coalitions and individuals to comment on the law. ? In October, the Task Force presented its annual Queering Racial Justice program in Detroit. The convening brings together hundred of LGBTQ people, racial justice activists, allies, and leaders to ensure strong connections across movements who join together and learn more about how race and racism have shaped mobilizing and advocacy efforts; celebrate how Queer and Trans People of Color (QTPOC) movement building has endured through time and flourishes today; and deepen our leadership skills as community workers to center racial justice in our work. ? On November 6, 2018, the Task Force Action Fund celebrated major victories for LGBTQ elected leaders across the country. The Action Fund was on the ground in Florida and Massachusetts for political wins there, as well as having distributed tens of thousands "Queer the Vote" fact sheets on what LGBTQ issues are the focus of political change. Weekend Passes have already sold out, but a limited number of VIP and Festival passes are still available. Discounted individual event tickets are also on sale now. Mix-and-match to create a unique Winter Party experience. Tickets do tend to sell out for many events, so hurry. To purchase tickets or to learn more about Winter Party Festival 2019, please visit: www.winterparty.com. About Winter Party Festival Winter Party Festival is an iconic week-long celebration of diverse LGBTQ people from all over the world who come together to learn, live, laugh and forge lifelong relationships. Proceeds from the annual Winter Party Festival support the Task Force's local and national advocacy, organizing, and leadership development work for LGBTQ people. About National LGBTQ Task Force The National LGBTQ Task Force advances full freedom, justice and equality for LGBTQ people. We are building a future where everyone can be free to be their entire selves in every aspect of their lives. Today, despite all the progress we've made to end discrimination, millions of LGBTQ people face barriers in every aspect of their lives: in housing, employment, healthcare, retirement, and basic human rights. These barriers must go. That's why the Task Force is training and mobilizing millions of activists across our nation to deliver a world where you can be you. Major sponsors for 2019 includes: Miami Beach Visitors and Convention Authority, Shelborne South Beach, Bacardi, Miller Coors, WorldPride NYC \| Stonewall 50, Impulse Group, The Art of Shaving, Surterra Wellness, AIDS United, Avita Pharmacy, Axel Hotel Miami Beach, Prevention 305, SCRUFF, Toca Events, Walgreens, Atlantic Broadband, Edge Media Network, HomoCulture, HOTSpots!, Passport Magazine, Queerty, WIREMAG Popular Stories in Nightlife London Pride, London, England :: July 6, 2019 FUZZ @ The Alley Bar :: Friday, July 12, 2019 Paramount Home Media FATHER'S DAY Prize Package!	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line815
__label__cc	0.67897	0.32103	Posts Tagged ‘Renju’ I’ve been enjoying playing the game Connect6 with my son Adam. The game was invented and introduced by Professor I-Chen Wu, from National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan. Connect6 is played with a Go board and stones. The object is to place six stones in a row, diagonally, horizontally, or vertically. On the first turn, Black places a single stone; after that each player places two stones per turn. Because each player will always have placed one more stone than his or her opponent after each turn, the game appears to be balanced. One potential concern about this notion of balance is that perhaps the second player should place his or her stones far from the first stone, to get a two-stone advantage somewhere else on the board, and possibly forcing the first player to follow in that part of the board. Fortunately, Wu and a colleague demonstrated that this initial break-away strategy is unlikely to be good for White in this paper. Anyways, it’s not clear whether with perfect play the game should be a win for the first player, a win for the second player, or a draw (with neither player ever able to achieve six-in-a-row.) If I had to guess, I would venture a draw, even on an infinite board, but on the other hand my actual games have all ended in victory for somebody. The game is very similar to Gomoku (also known as Connect 5), where one tries to get five stones in a row, but each player only places one stone at a time. Of course, that game favors the first player, and in fact it has apparently been demonstrated that the first player wins with perfect play. Renju is an older and much less elegant approach to balancing Gomoku. In Renju, the first player is restricted from making moves which make certain types of threats. Looking at all the complications in the Renju rules, I find it surprising that it took so long for Connect6 to be introduced. In fact, aside from the issues of fairness and elegance of rules, I also find that Connect6 has a more dynamic feel than Gomoku or Renju; I definitely prefer it. Because of the large number of possible moves each side can make each turn, and the difficulty of evaluating a position, it’s not easy to program a computer to play Connect6 well; I don’t think any programs exist yet that play as well as humans. You can play Connect6 against some relatively weak bots and other humans at Vying Games, which also features other interesting turn-based strategy games (currently Checkers, Pente, Keryo-Pente, Phutball, Breakthrough, Othello, Kalah, Oware, and Footsteps). Tags:Connect6, game AI, Gomoku, Renju, turn-based strategy games, Vying Games Posted in Algorithms, Entertainment, Game Theory, Games, Go, Science \| 5 Comments »	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line818
__label__cc	0.718107	0.281893	Castoroides Posted on October 16, 2011 October 17, 2017 by My Dinosaurs Castoroides are Species of Castoroides, also known as giant beavers, were much larger than modern beavers. Their average length was approximately 1.9 m (6.2 ft), and they could grow as large as 2.2 m (7.2 ft). The weight of the giant beaver could vary from 90 kg (198 lb) to 125 kg (276 lb). This makes it the largest known rodent in North America during the Pleistocene and the largest known beaver. The hind feet of the giant beaver were much larger than in modern beavers, while the hind legs were shorter. The tail was longer but may have been narrower. However, because soft tissues decay, it is not known whether its tail resembled the tails in modern beavers, and it can only be assumed that its feet were webbed like in modern species. The skull structure of the giant beaver shows that it presumably participated in extended underwater activity, thanks to the ability to take in more oxygen into its lungs. One of the defining characteristics of the giant beaver were their incisors, which differ in size and shape than those of modern beavers. Modern beavers have chisel-like incisor teeth for gnawing on wood, while the teeth of the giant beaver were bigger and broader, and grew to about 15 cm (6 in) long. These incisors were not as efficient at cutting wood, therefore it is possible that the giant beaver did not construct dams. One other major difference between the giant beaver and the modern beaver is that the size of its brain was proportionally smaller. As a result, giant beavers may have had inferior interactions in its environment as well as less complex patterns of thoughts and behavior. Extra: There may be more details in Wikipedia Order: Rodentia Family: Castoridae Subfamily:Castoroidinae Tribe: Castoroidini Genus: Castoroides Foster, 1838 This entry was posted in Wikipedia. Bookmark the permalink. AA-069 Life Sized 3D Animal Model Realistic Animatronic Giant Beaver	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line820
__label__wiki	0.578548	0.578548	Tag: Immediate Relative What Does the Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy (RAISE) Act Seek To Do There had been many talks around the Republican-backed proposal: Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy (RAISE) Act. In a nutshell, it will significantly reduce the number of people allowed to legally immigrate to the United States. Although unlikely to pass Congress, what changes does the RAISE Act seek to bring exactly? First, the RAISE Act seeks to eliminate the Diversity Visa Program. The Diversity Visa Program gives immigrant visas to nationals from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States. For a list of countries/areas by region whose natives are eligible for DV-2018 and DV-2017, please refer to the DV Instructions. Second, the RAISE Act seeks to cap the number of refugees who may be admitted in any fiscal year to 50,000 and requiring the President to “annually enumerate the number of aliens who were granted asylum in the previous fiscal year.” Limiting refugee numbers has always been President Trump’s priority, and it is no surprise the RAISE Act mentions it. Third, in the family-sponsored immigration arena, the RAISE Act wants to change the definition of “Child” at INA §101(b)(1) from an unmarried person “under age 21” to an unmarried person “under age 18,” and change the definition of “Immediate Relative” at INA to include only children and spouses of U.S. citizens (removes parents of adult U.S. citizens). Similarly, it seeks to only allow children and spouses of LPR (green card) holders to immigrant to the U.S. This will effectively eliminate the following current available categories: (1) unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens (FB-1); (2) unmarried sons and daughters of LPRs (FB-2B); and (3) married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens (FB-3); and (4) brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens (FB-4). Parents of U.S. citizens will remain unaffected because under the new legislation, a new category for parents of USC citizens above the age of 21 will be created. The legislation seeks to cap the worldwide level of family-sponsored immigrants admissions to 88,000 per fiscal year. The effort will significantly reduce the number of family based immigration and make many ineligible to reunite with their families in the United States. All the above are part of the administration’s efforts to limit the number of immigrants to the U.S. Further, it seeks to replace of Employment-Based Immigration Categories with Immigration Points System. On the numbers, it seeks to limit the number of points-based immigrants to 140,000 (including spouses and children) per fiscal year. This so-called Points-Based System comes with an online portal and a required fee of $160. President Donald Trump has already announced his support for a the points system. The immigration point system seeks to prioritize immigrants based on their degrees and skills. If they have equal points and equal educational attainment, they will be further ranked according to their (1) English language proficiency test scores; and (2) age, with applicants nearest their 25th birthdays ranked higher. And every 6 months, USCIS is said to invite the highest ranked applicants to file a petition for a points-based immigrant visa. If you want to see if you qualify to immigrate to the U.S., test your scores from Times.com here: http://time.com/4887574/trump-raise-act-immigration/. Last but not least, the RAISE Act will prohibit naturalization of an individual if the person who submitted an affidavit of support on his or her behalf failed to reimburse the federal government for all means-tested public benefits received by the individual during the 5-year period immediately after the individual became an LPR. It therefore seems that, at no fault of the individual seeking naturalization, she or he might be barred from it. It is unclear whether the individual seeking naturalization is allowed to reimburse the government. The Act does not mention temporary work visas such as H-1B and H-2 or temporary visitor (B-1/B-2) or student visas (F-1). Its focus remains on the number of available immigrant visas. Read the full RAISE Act here: https://www.cotton.senate.gov/files/documents/170802_New_RAISE_Act_Bill_Text.pdf If interested, you can read this excellent summary of each section from American Immigration Lawyer’s Association (AILA): 17080732 Author Maya KingPosted on August 8, 2017 Categories immigration, Naturalization, US Visa, uscis, Work in the U.S.Tags affidavit of support, alien worker, child, Diversity Visa Program, employ immigrants, Employment-Based Immigration, English language proficiency, family-sponsored immigration arena, hire immigrant, Immediate Relative, immigrant, immigrant business, immigrants, immigration lawyer, Immigration Points System, immigration policy, immigration status, Maya King Immigration Attorney, Naturalization, nonimmigrant, Petition for Alien Worker, points-based, points-based immigrant, Points-Based System, public benefits, RAISE Act, Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy, refugee admission, refugees, trump immigration, USC child, Work Authorization, work in the us	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line821
__label__wiki	0.580143	0.580143	Reps panel ‘uncovers’ $995m FG funds outside TSA Friday Ajagunna A house of representatives panel says it has uncovered public funds outside the treasury single account (TSA) to the tune of $995.71 million. The ad hoc committee on the need to ascertain the proceeds of the treasury single account made the submission in its report considered and adopted by the house on Thursday. According to the committee chaired by Danduram Abubakar, federal government funds to the tune of “billions of naira and hundreds of millions of dollars” were operated outside the TSA by the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) in collaboration with banks. The report obtained by PUNCH read: “After the meeting with Deposit Money Banks, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation on August 15, 2017, the committee discovered that over $900m is still being held outside the TSA. “While some banks fully complied with the directive of the ad hoc committee by remitting these funds into the TSA, it is worthy of note that the sum of about $995.71m was still held outside the TSA by some other banks. This sum of $995.71m includes the principal deposit and the accrued interest on the deposit. Also discovered was an amount of N1.207bn and €23,704.01.” The committee also accused the NNPC of extra-budgetary spending. It said while (its) Brass LNG “received an appropriation of $511.60m, the actual release was $461.54m during 2012-2017 fiscal years.” The lawmakers specifically indicted the corporation and an agency of the federal ministry of environment of violating the TSA policy. They said the balance in the CBN joint venture account as reported by the NNPC, dated October 30, 2017, stood at $188,900,383.49, adding: “These are the various accounts classified as accounts still not being moved to TSA by CBN, DMBs account.” The report further read: “The committee discovered three accounts held by the NNPC in Aso Savings and Loans PLC and Unity Bank PLC. The accounts include two placement accounts called NNPC PFL Placement Deposit and the third account called NNPC Pension Fund account. The total balance in these accounts as of August 27, 2017, stood at N1, 079,444,746.49. “The committee also made another startling discovery of a fund held in another DMB by the Federal Ministry of Environment; Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Programme called FME HYPREP Account. The balance in this account as of September, 2018, stood at N1.1bn and $4.9m domiciled in Stanbic IBTC Bank.” The committee said some of the MDAs operating accounts outside the TSA claimed to have obtained a presidential exemption over their actions. “In the case of NNPC, the committee insisted to sight the purported exemption letter. However, to the dismay of committee, the letter was only conveying the approval of the President signed by an assistant director,” it said. Treasury Single Account Previous articleCourt stops Ganduje from splitting Kano emirate Next articleJAMB to release 2019 UTME results on Saturday	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line825
__label__cc	0.562653	0.437347	Sex and diet affect proteotype By Mathias Jäger The proteotype of an individual is substantially affected by both its sex and its diet. IMAGE: Aleksandra Krolik on behalf of EMBL Scientists from EMBL Heidelberg have discovered that the collection of proteins in an animal cell – called the proteome – is substantially affected by both the animal’s sex and its diet. Understanding these individual proteomes might provide a basis for personalised treatments for humans in the future. “The goal of the study was to understand whether different proteins within the proteome interact with each other the same way in different individuals and, if not, what factors cause the differences,” explains first author Natalie Romanov, postdoctoral researcher in Peer Bork’s group at EMBL Heidelberg. The study of the individual proteomes – the proteotypes – delivered a surprising result. It showed that a significant part – around 12% – of the proteotype variation is determined by both sex and diet; this is more than expected. So far, only a few proteins were known to be up- or downregulated according to the genetic sex of an animal or its diet. Sex-specific differences, for example, are usually traced back to chromosome X/Y-specific gene expression, but the new study showed that a lot more proteins are affected. The impact of diet, on the other hand, was restricted to a smaller complementary set of protein machineries. “It’s impressive that these two factors alone already account for a large part of an individual’s proteotype,” says Romanov. Proteotype-directed personalised medicine The future of medical treatment lies in personalised medicine, in which products are tailored to individual patients. So far, most studies have focused on adapting treatments to the genotype – the genetic makeup of a cell encoded in the DNA. However, while some rare diseases are clearly genetically determined, for most diseases the environment plays a major role and the genome of the patient only has a minor contribution. “In the case of obesity, for example, only about 6% of the variation in the body mass index can be explained by the associated genetics,” says Peer Bork. “The proteotype reflects not only the genetics but also environmental aspects, for example the lifestyle. As such, understanding proteotypes holds great promise for providing life-style-associated fingerprints in individuals.” This study provides a major stepping stone in understanding which cellular alterations in a diseased individual can be potentially reversed by changing life-style. This knowledge could not only be useful for disease diagnosis but also to individualise therapies in the future. A first small step The team obtained their results by analysing 11 large public datasets containing detailed information on different proteotypes in humans and mice, as well as their diet and genetic status. It is only with recent advances in the throughput of mass spectroscopy that such large databases on individual proteotypes have been made possible. Despite technological advancements the creation of these databases is still expensive. “The results provide a first step only. It can be assumed that many other parameters besides sex and diet need to be fully tested to potentially reshape the proteotype of an individual from a diseased to a healthier state,” concludes Martin Beck, one of the co-authors. “To understand most of the differences in proteotypes of individuals many more such datasets need to be collected. We also need to test for many more environmental and genetic factors before respective diagnostics and individualised therapies can be pushed into the clinics.” Natalie Romanov, Michael Kuhn, Ruedi Aebersold, Alessandro Ori, Martin Beck, Peer Bork: ‘Disentangling the impact of genetic and environmental factors on the proteotypes across individuals’. Cell, published online 25 April 2019. Research of the Bork group at EMBL Research of the Beck group at EMBL BeckBorkDatabasesDietHeidelbergpressproteinsproteomeproteotype Alumni 5 min read In remembrance of Suzanne Eaton 12 Jul 2019 - Guest author(s)	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line827
__label__wiki	0.661865	0.661865	Interview: “Traffik” Director Deon Taylor on His New Thriller Starring Omar Epps and Paula Patton, and Production Company Hidden Empire Deon Taylor is a filmmaker who has created an interesting niche for himself as a director, having made movies in relative obscurity for ten years. Things really took off for Taylor in 2014 when he formed the Hidden Empire Film Group production company with partner Roxanne Avent. The company had its biggest hit in 2016 with the horror-comedy Meet the Blacks, starring Mike Epps, which was self-released through Freestyle and grossed $9 million based on a budget of under a million. The company has really stepped up its productions since then. Taylor is back with Traffik, a tense thriller starring Omar Epps (only his second movie in the past ten years!) and Paula Patton (Mission: Impossible), as a couple who travel to a remote cabin for a romantic getaway, only to get caught up in a feud with a gang that’s been kidnapping women as part of a sex trafficking ring. The movie is being released by Codeblack Entertainment on Thursday night into 1,000 theaters, and it’s a surprisingly solid thriller that really puts Patton through her paces as an actor, and also stars Luke Evans, Miss Pyle, Laz Alonso and William Fichtner. I spoke with Taylor on the phone this past weekend, and it was quite refreshing to talk to a filmmaker who I never had an opportunity to talk to before, who has been able to build this independent production company that makes movie with such amazing talent. It’s no surprise that Taylor’s movies are being released theatrically to a wider audience where other similarly-budgeted thrillers are being dumped to VOD. ED: I’m glad I got a chance to see your movie, because Codeblack doesn’t generally show their movies in advance to critics, so I consider myself lucky. Deon Taylor: Yeah, and I think this is not the typical Codeblack movie either, so yeah, I’m beyond excited for the movie, and I’m happy to talk to people about it. As an independent filmmaker, you only get a shot every now and again to finance your movie and make it yourself, and I’m actually extremely happy with my decision to make this film. ED: I wanted to ask you a little bit more about Hidden Empire, but let’s start with “Traffik” first. I haven’t seen your earlier movie “Supremacy” but reading the premise, it sounds like that was also a thriller based on true events. Did that lead the way into this one? Taylor: I’ve always been a fan of thrillers, number one, but number two, I always love things that are grounded in reality. Being able to watch a movie that has, number one, some substance but, number two, there is something that is speaking to me that is real, I find myself being attracted to it. And Supremacywas that for me, very much so. Supremacy, I built that film, but that was much more of a festival movie. This movie here is a much more broader audience film, but it is a true, gritty reality-based movie. I just think that what we were able to do with the movie and the storyline and to be able to kind of blend this issue into a thriller was really cool to be able to do it with the talent, the cast, Roxanne Avent, who produced it. It just to me was a perfect storm. ED: Did you have to do a lot of research into trafficking? How do you even begin to do that? Taylor: I was never gonna write this movie. I’m a black filmmaker. I’m always looking for things that touch me, and it was very weird how this happened. It came to me organically through my 13-year-old daughter, because we were actually getting emails about kids being trafficked in our area. I was just like, “What? What is this?”As a parent, you experience everything. You hear about guns. You hear about shootings. You hear about whatever the normal hype you get on the news, right? And this was one of the things that I had never experienced, especially as a black man. This is like, “Trafficking? What does that mean? What are they saying?” I was blown away when I did the research and realized, “Wow, man, this is not only this city. This is a domestic issue and it’s happening at an alarming rate.” That’s what drew me to the project, man. I just kinda took myself, put myself in the room. I’m gonna figure out how to make a story around these events. I’m gonna try to make a story around these headlines. It’s millions of headlines. And do something where I thought it could actually live in a real place and people would actually want to see it and then at the same time get a message. ED: You ended up casting what might be one of the sexiest movie couples I’ve seen on screen. Omar and Paula Patton were incredible together. Taylor: No, you’re right. ED: If I didn’t know Omar already had a beautiful wife at home I would have thought they were a couple. Taylor: Right. They look great together, man. Paula was my first choice for the film. I just thought she was amazing, and I was a huge fan of what she had did in Déjà vu. When I started getting ready to do this film, I just remember saying to myself, like I told her. I said, “Man, I’m not sure if iyou wanna do stuff like this or not but I said it just would be incredible for us to strip you down in terms of make-up and hair and just have you stretch out as an actress because I know you’re amazing.” You know? Because this is a woman who went from being a really, really incredible actress to Deja Vu, to Mission Impossible, whatever it is, to comedy. You have to have a gauge to be able to do that. You know? So this movie to her was like, she said, “D, you’re exactly right. I wanna do this,” and she’s prolific in this film. No one can tell me anything I know Paula did and I’m blown away by it. ED: The movie really puts her through her paces. She really goes through a lot in this movie as it goes along. Taylor: Yeah. It doesn’t stop. The movie is relentless and I think that’s kinda what we wanted to go after, because there is no cool way to get trafficked. You know what I mean? I said that if we’re gonna do it, I wanted to do the movie where it was respectful for people that’ve been trafficked to be like, “Yeah, that’s hell,” not try to figure out some cool, elegant way to be like, “Now, you’re trafficked.” No, man. This is hard. This is what happens. You know what I mean? They are literally killing women, they are bondaging women. They are beating women. They are traveling women across the country in the back of trucks.I just thought this was a really, really dope thriller to be able to build for people to see and then obviously [at the end of the] movie, you get the stats and then you quickly understand, “Oh, man, this is real.” You know what I mean? And I thought that was a very interesting take for today’s audience. ED: Also, you brought Omar Epps back into theaters. It’s crazy, but he really hasn’t done many movies in recent years as he’s transitioned over to TV. I think he’s done maybe one movie in the last ten years or so? Taylor: Yeah, it’s crazy. What’s great about him is he’s a movie star. And it’s a difference between an actor and a movie star. A movie star is someone where you can recall numerous films where you’re like, “Oh, man, I loved that. Oh, that was Omar.” That’s a movie star who stays with you, and [I was] obviously a fan of him from Juiceto Love & Basketball. You go on and on, but being able to take him and put him back into this medium was incredible, and he didn’t miss a beat. I felt like in the movie when you watch it, that’s Omar Epps. You know what I mean? He’s so good. There’s moments with Omar where… what’s so beautiful about him is there’s moments where he’s one of those actors that don’t have to use dialogue to communicate on strength. Omar is able to give you a feeling just off of a look, and I thought that was what was so dynamic about him and Paula in this one. ED: Despite the subject of this thriller, it actually feels like a great date movie, because it does have a little of everything including romance, action… Taylor: Man, me too! Love, drama, and you’re right. It’s one of those movies where as it gets intense, you hold hands, and it’s a good ride, and it’s also a good movie in terms of, like I said before, I think when it’s over, it’s a talking point. Unlike most movies you walk right out of the theater and 10 minutes you forgot it. This one, I think, you go to bed, you wake up, and like “What? Do you remember that one part?” I think that’s what’s cool about it. ED: I’m not sure if you’ve heard of this movie from the ‘70s called Race with the Devil, but it seemed like a twist on that. Taylor: You’re the second person that brought that up. I know that film extremely well. That’s a great movie and one of the movies that I referenced was The Vanishing. I was a huge fan of that movie because it broke every rule to me. It was the first movie when I was younger that I watched. I said, “Okay, yeah. He’s just trying to find his wife. He’s gonna find his girl, and then it’s just like, no, he’s actually not gonna find her. And, oh, by the way, not only is he not gonna find her but what you thought happened, it did happen.” I just remember that movie breaking the rules and staying with me, and I remember just at the time how prevalent gas stations and kids and people getting abducted was. That was during the time when people started being kidnapped. ED: Speaking of rides, I gotta ask. Where’d you find that amazing car Omar was driving? Taylor: It’s a ‘70s Chevelle Supersport. When we were making the movie, what I wanted to do was … A lot of the locations and the equipment in the film, I wanted them to be used as characters, so what was interesting was the Chevelle represented Omar. He was classic. He was timeless. It was something that he built with his hands for his girl versus spending a bunch of money. He was more of a man’s man, and that was just a very cool car to be able to use, opening the movie, feel it, see it. It’s sexy, it’s beautiful, it’s strong. And ultimately, to use it in a chase sequence was really cool as well, and then the other thing that I was able to use that I really wrote as another piece of equipment was the big-rig truck. It is introduced the same exact way. It comes into a big shed. It’s ginormous. It’s lit. It’s strong. It’s like a monster, and I just thought both of those automobiles, the truck and the car, were dynamic in the film as characters. ED: You made this movie independently, but was there any kind of mandate to make it PG-13 or was that a personal decision? Taylor:Well, I don’t think we … No. I think it is rated R. ED: Oh, it is?. Taylor: It is. Yeah, but we made it independently, man, and for me, like I said, I just couldn’t find a way to make a PG-13 movie about trafficking, not that could resonate and hit home. The movie doesn’t have sex in it and all that stuff, but what the movie does have is it deals with a subject matter that is very, very dark and very scary, and for that, I think you’re gonna get rated R. ED: I guess so, but I’m kind of surprised, because I feel teens should know about the fact this is happening, and it doesn’t seem too dark for them to learn from it. Taylor: I definitely think it’s one of those movies that you could sneak in and a kid could get it and understand it and not be appalled, if that makes sense. I do think it has a really good lineup. I think the Rated R tag on it is simply based on the subject matter, versus what we’re doing in it. ED: I want to ask you about Hidden Empire, because I didn’t really know about the company until I was doing research for this interview. You have a pretty amazing bio, actually. You even were a basketball player! How did Hidden Empire get started? Is it fairly self-contained? Taylor: Thank you so much. Yeah, it’s just myself and Roxanne, my producer and partner, my partner in life, and we have our other partner, Robert Smith, and that’s it, man. When people ask about us making our films independently, I am the definition of independent, right? (chuckles) You don’t get no more independent than us, right? I mean, we’re literally at home writing scripts, raising our money, casting out of our house, asking for favors and ultimately shooting a movie and then hand-delivering it and trying to figure how to get it out. I mean, we’ve been doing that now for 10 years and we chose “Hidden Empire” because we’ve always realized that we are building something that’s needed in the culture, needed for minorities in terms of being able to make movies that speak to multiple genres and multiple people. But at the same time, no one’s ever known about us. What’s been great is now people are starting to see our work, and that is basically becoming the light for people that shines on us and people to understand our story, which I think is beautiful. ED: Is it true you have three movies in post right now? Does that mean you have made three more movies since finishing “Traffik”? Taylor: Yeah. So last year I shot all year, so I have another movie coming in. It’s called The Motivated Sellerwith Michael Ealy and Dennis Quaid and Meagan Good. We have another film, 38, which we’re doing with Dante Spinotti, and then I did a comedy called The House Next Door. Yeah. All of them are scheduled to start dropping. ED: That’s amazing. That’s still all with Hidden Empire? Taylor: Yeah, all 100%, man. No studios. No management. No agents. Just us. So yeah. I mean, hopefully now what’s beginning to happen is we’re starting to get some incredible people around us to help us in terms of the journey that we’re on and to learn where we’re going and help us navigate, but yeah, this is solely, 100% independently-done. ED: The talent you’re getting for your movies is amazing, even going back to “Meet the Blacks” with Mike Epps. Do you just have a lot of friends in the business? Taylor: Yeah. You know? I think what happens is, I always tell people, “Light attracts light.” I try to really pride myself on integrity and energy and being a real person. And I think what ultimately happens is when you do that, you attract other people that are looking for the same thing and I’ve been really blessed over the last years to meet a lot of people and then to have the ability to ask them to work with me and Mike Epps is one of those people. The same with Paula Patton. And it’s just been proven that it works and I think as long as we’re staying true to the art and we’re not blinded by some false agenda, I think we continue doing this for a long time and making really, really dope movies. ED: Whatever you’re doing is working right now and I’m really hoping that this movie gets you out even more. Taylor: Man. Me, too. ED: This is going into 1,000 theaters, and it’s a great weekend. I think you don’t have a lot of competition., so get out there while you can. Taylor: Yeah. I mean hopefully someone will go see it, right? Traffik opens nationwide on Friday, April 20. Previous articlePaula Patton talks romantic getaway gone wrong in new thriller ‘Traffik’ Next articleTraffik: Blinded by the Light	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line828
__label__cc	0.658593	0.341407	Sustaining Growth: MTrac Experiences Large Influx of Applications for Payment Platform SAN DIEGO, May 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via OTC PR WIRE -- Global Payout Inc. (OTC: GOHE) (“Global” or the “Company”) and its wholly owned subsidiary MTrac Tech Corporation (“MTrac”) are pleased to announce that the Company has reached a sales milestone with over 100 completed and approved applications for the MTrac system. The MTrac team has worked diligently to increase revenue and improve shareholder value and this milestone is an indicator of what the rest of the year will bring. The Company has received new applications on an almost daily basis and expects this trend to continue as the platform gains market share. Launched in October 2018, the MTrac payment platform is a game changer for the legal cannabis industry. Offering fully compliant credit and debit card processing, the MTrac platform leverages the distributed ledger of blockchain technology to create an elaborate closed loop ecosystem that provides a premier service to an industry in need. “Since the beginning of the year we have experienced a massive uptick in interest for our platform,” said MTrac CEO, Vanessa Luna. “Many companies have attempted to solve this problem for the industry, which has resulted in a general skepticism among licensed business owners. However, we have demonstrated over the last several months that our platform is not only unique, it is in my opinion the most seamless, functional, and compliant system available today, and is reflected in our ability to partner with many of the industry’s leaders. The momentum is building significantly here at MTrac, and we are extremely excited to see what the year will bring.” The Company intends to file its quarterly report no later than May 20, 2019 and will continue to update shareholders on its expansion as the year progresses. About Global Payout, Inc. (OTC: GOHE) Since the Company's inception in 2009, Global Payout, Inc. has been a leading provider of comprehensive and customized prepaid payment solutions. From 2014 to 2017 Global focused on identifying new state of the art technologies in a variety of industry sectors and successfully helped launch MoneyTrac Technology Inc. and other companies within the FinTech space. In 2018, Global completed a reverse triangular merger with MoneyTrac Technology Inc. resulting in Global retaining the wholly owned subsidiary, MTrac Tech Corporation. Global’s current focus is continuing to identify new business opportunities while it reorganizes its future business endeavors. About MTrac Tech Corp. MTrac Tech Corporation, a Nevada Corporation, is a privately held, wholly owned subsidiary of Global Payout, Inc. MTrac is a software technology, sales and marketing, and business development company focused on “high risk” and “high cost” industries. The Company’s flagship product is the MTrac payment platform offering a full-service solution with technology offerings including Payment Platform, Blockchain, Compliance, POS, E-Wallet, Mobile Application and Digital Payment Solutions. We are one network disrupting the status quo. It is MTrac’s creative vision through the use of its innovative technology solution to become the premier service provider offering the “Key to Cashless®.” Forward-Looking Statements Disclaimer: This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the following words: "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "ongoing," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "should," "will," "would," or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. Forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance or results and will not necessarily be accurate indications of the times at, or by, which such performance or results will be achieved. Forward-looking statements are based on information available at the time the statements are made and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainty and other factors that may cause our results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from the information expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements in this press release. This press release should be considered in light of all filings of the Company that are disclosed on the OTC Markets.com website. Global Payout, Inc. www.globalpayout.com Ir@globalpayout.com MTrac Tech Corp. www.Mtractech.com ir@mtractechcorp.com	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line829
__label__wiki	0.9227	0.9227	SBU News > Stony Brook Matters > Alumni Spotlight > The Doc Who Rocks Alumni NewsAlumni SpotlightArts & EntertainmentMedicineMedicine Alumni NewsMedicine and ResearchStony Brook Matters The Doc Who Rocks Renaissance School of Medicine alum and record producer David Seitz, MD ’88 takes a leading role in fight against addiction David Seitz ’88 August 26, 2000 was supposed to be an exciting day for David Seitz, MD ’88. As Seitz opened the door at Theater 99 – the recording studio he had co-owned with his friends Ray Martin, Tom Nastasi, and John Siket – the part-time record producer and full-time physician had expected to look in on the Southern rock band Gov’t Mule, who were set to begin work on their new album that day with producer Michael Barbiero. “I was walking in, basically, to make sure that everybody was happy,” Seitz recalled. “My purpose was to make sure everything was working exactly as it should be.“ When Seitz stepped inside, however, the mood turned very quickly: Allen Woody, the bassist for Gov’t Mule and the Allman Brothers Band, had been found dead in a Queens motel room, from what would later be determined to be a heroin overdose. In an instant, Seitz went from eager anticipation of the recording session to mourning Woody, who was not only a colleague, but a friend. “Gov’t Mule, Ray had known for many years,” Seitz said. “He had been friends with [guitarist] Warren [Haynes], and then he introduced me to Warren, and I was friends with Warren, so it was like having family coming to the studio. I think that sort of doubled the shock of what happened.” In time, as the shock subsided, Gov’t Mule would return to Theater 99, recording The Deep End, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. Some of the world’s best known bassists, from Flea to Bootsy Collins to The Who’s John Entwistle, filled in for Woody on the albums, and eventually, Andy Hess would take over full-time. It was, naturally, a pivotal moment in the history of the band. In time, though, it would prove to be just as pivotal for Seitz. Even as he pursued a career in medicine – beginning with his pre-medical studies as an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania – music always had a hold on David Seitz. “For me – and I know it’s different than a lot of people – I have a very visceral reaction to music,” Seitz said. “It’s relaxing to me. I’ve tested myself, and my blood pressure drops, my pulse goes down. It’s accessing a different part of my brain. I think that for me, it’s very important.” Those, of course, are the words of a seasoned medical professional, but as an undergrad, Seitz only knew that he loved music, and when he wasn’t hitting the books to further his medical ambitions, he was throwing himself into music with similar zeal, both as a disc jockey on student radio station WXPN and in the summers as a studio assistant at RCA Records in New York. “I’d always loved folk music,” Seitz said, “singer-songwriter kind of stuff. I started hanging out downtown in lower Manhattan. There was a club there called the Speakeasy, where all the singer-songwriters came through. The ‘mayor’ of the Speakeasy was a fellow named Jack Hardy, and he had started an independent record label, just to get music out from people who were completely unknown.” One of Hardy’s earliest releases found its way to Seitz at WXPN. “This record came, The CooP, and I listened to it,” Seitz said, “and I was very taken by this artist Suzanne Vega, who was on the first record, or first two records. When I was in New York the next summer, I tried to figure out where this place was. I found it in Greenwich Village, got to meet Jack and Suzanne, and then I set up a small recording studio in my parents’ house in Great Neck, and just started producing artists for this CooP compilation series. We did a lot of first recordings of artists who became well known – Suzanne Vega, Shawn Colvin, Tracy Chapman – so I became known in that field.” Even as Seitz’s career in the recording industry grew, it didn’t distract him from his pursuit of a medical career. Rather, as he graduated from Penn and applied to medical schools, his accomplishments in the studio gave him an ace in the hole, something that distinguished him from the competition. “When I went on interviews,” Seitz said, “I had worked on a couple of Grammy-winning recordings, and I brought those around with me.” Seitz was accepted at Stony Brook, and music was more than a second career. Its calming effect became a balm to help him handle the struggles of medical education. “The first two years, I did struggle a lot,” Seitz said, “because I wasn’t able to memorize every nerve as easily as some other people. The big concepts came easily to me, but the micro memorization stuff I found difficult.” As fate would have it, however, medical education at Stony Brook was about to change, and Seitz would benefit. “I believe our class was actually either the first or second to do a systems-based approach,” Seitz said, “which was a big improvement. You really saw the relevance to what you were going to be doing, as opposed to memorizing stuff out of a textbook.” All the while, Seitz continued to build a career in the studio, and his classmates took notice. “They had this thing – the ‘Last Will and Testament,’ where you’d leave people things that have some sort of relevance to their lives – and I remember the class left for me a rest stop on the LIE,” Seitz said, “because I was forever going back and forth between Manhattan and Stony Brook for the first two years.” In his final two years, Seitz moved to Queens, which offered him proximity to both his hospital rotations – which took place at Queens Hospital, Winthrop-University Hospital, and Long Island Jewish Medical Center – and Manhattan, where he continued to work in the studio. Following his graduation from Stony Brook, Seitz practiced family medicine at South Nassau Communities Hospital and Beth Israel Medical Center, and continued to produce music as well, working with artists ranging from Bruce Springsteen to Moby to members of REM. As he continued to produce, though, Seitz felt his two worlds converging more and more, too often in the disastrous way that they did with Allen Woody. “It seemed I was meeting more and more people who had problems,” Seitz said. “I really got into Americana music – Townes Van Zandt, Steve Earle – and they had terrible problems.” As a record producer, David Seitz ’88 has worked with dozens of prominent musicians including the Minus 5’s Scott McCaughey, Bill Rieflin, and Peter Buck (better known for his work in REM). As the music industry started to take action to address a growing problem, Seitz found that he was in the right place at the right time. “I met Dee Dee Acquisto, who was working at the Grammy Foundation,” Seitz said, “and she was trying to help out artists who were coming to her attention with addiction issues.” Seitz was determined to be part of the solution. “I switched hospitals,” Seitz said. “I went from Beth Israel – which was an excellent hospital – to one which was the center of the drug problem, St. Claire’s Hospital [in Hell’s Kitchen]. There, I learned about the treatment of addiction from a couple of doctors who actually knew what they were doing.” Seitz joined the American Society of Addiction Medicine, and the focus of his career fully shifted from family medicine to addiction. He joined the National Recovery Institute, becoming Medical Director, and spent 10 years there and an additional six as Medical Director of the Recovery Center at New York Presbyterian’s Nyack Hospital before taking over as Medical Director of Inter-Care (a chemical dependency treatment program) in early 2017. Still, Seitz’s mission goes beyond treating addiction. He’s also determined to help change how society views addiction, so that more people can be properly treated. Through the development of detoxification protocols and his work with Acquisto and the Grammy Foundation, Seitz is helping to drive home to the public the transformation that has already taken place in the medical community in how addiction is perceived. “Addiction used to be viewed, especially alcoholism, as a personality weakness or a personality flaw,” Seitz said. “By doing that, you’re diminishing the individual; you’re dehumanizing them and saying, ‘There’s something wrong with you,’ or ‘you’ve made this choice,’ and that isn’t the truth. One thing that’s changed in the last 20 years, thanks to a lot of different people, but particularly Nora Volkow, who’s head of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, is that she and others clarified that this is a neuropsychiatric condition that you can actually see on brain scans. You can view this from a scientific perspective, as opposed to the way it was before, where it was a personality problem, and the solution was to pray harder. It became a true medical condition, and I think by doing that, it definitely destigmatized it.” It also opened the door for new methods of treatment. “Neurology, of all the disciplines, has made such leaps and bounds since I was in medical school,” Seitz said. “Maybe in a cadaver, you could look at brains, but otherwise, there was so little that you could do, and so little was understood. That’s changed, obviously, to where we know about receptors and how they’re regulated, and that led to advances in pharmaceuticals that could actually go to those receptors and have effects. That led to the development of suboxone and other medications that we use to treat opioid addiction. That change, from the ‘personality flaw’ model to the disease model – which is philosophical on one level, but is also backed up by a lot of physiological evidence – is the biggest change that I see.” That change in perception may make it easier for those struggling with addiction to find support from friends and family, and support is something Seitz knows well from his time at Stony Brook. “We definitely were more about helping each other as a class,” Seitz said. “We had a note service, and everyone participated, and to some extent, that did help people to regain some of their empathy that they probably lost in college just trying to get to medical school. That was a good thing about Stony Brook.” And now, David Seitz is using the medical education he received at Stony Brook to bring more empathy into the world in the fight against addiction and help doctors hit the right “notes” with their patients. -Elliot Olshansky Medicine Alumni Stethoscope Drive - Give by July 15 SBUH Awarded for Commitment to Sustainability addiction opioids AcademicsFacultyFaculty/StaffFaculty/Student SpotlightsMedicine and ResearchSoMASStony Brook Matters SBU Professors Appointed to NY Ocean Acidification Task Force Three faculty from the Stony Brook University School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences — Distinguished Service Professor Malcolm J. Bowman, Endowed Research Chair for Nature and Humanity Carl Safina, and Professor R... Featured Press StoryGeneralMedicineMedicine Alumni NewsMedicine and ResearchNewsroomPress ReleaseStony Brook Matters Assistant Dean of Clinical Integration Named at Renaissance School of Medicine Dr. Joshua Miller to lead entity designed to improve quality and efficiency of healthcare delivery STONY BROOK, NY, January 8, 2019 – Joshua Miller, MD, has been named Assistant Dean of Clinical Integration at the... Alumni Spotlight StoryMedicine Alumni NewsMedicine and ResearchNews HighlightsOn CampusRecent GradsResearchStony Brook MattersStudent Spotlight 3MT Competition Puts Communication Skills to the Test for Doctoral Candidates In a well-known Billy Joel song, a composer rues the fact that his life’s work has been shortened to three minutes, five seconds to accommodate the needs of the radio business. But even the Piano Man had more time to... Concert Under the Stars and Laser Light Show	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line830
__label__cc	0.535949	0.464051	NEWS HOME » INDIA Children beaten for refusing to chant 'Jai Shri Ram' Unnao \| Friday, 2019 8:15:05 PM IST A group of young students at a madrasa in Unnao district were allegedly forced to chant "Jai Shri Ram" and then beaten up when they refused to repeat the slogan. According to reports, the victims, who are all minors, had their clothes torn off and their bicycles were vandalized by the group when the children went to a ground to play cricket after concluding their afternoon namaaz. It was then that a group of four men arrived at the ground and after a debate over playing cricket, they allegedly started beating the children and even forced them to chant "Jai Shri Ram". After the incident, the children came back to the madrasa and narrated the incident. The police arrived, thereafter, and took cognizance of the matter. According to the Imam of the Jama Masjid, a group of men from Bajrang Dal were involved in the incident that took place on Thursday. The police have registered a case in connection with the incident and have also identified three accused by tracing their Facebook accounts. The accused have purportedly identified themselves as members of Bajrang Dal in their social media accounts. Circle Officer Umesh Kumar Tyagi said that investigations were on in the matter. This is not for the first time that an incident like this has come to light in Uttar Pradesh. In a similar incident on July 4, where an auto driver Mohammad Aatib, alleged that a group of men locked him up in a washroom and pelted stones for refusing to chant "Jai Shri Ram". Earlier, a Muslim youth, who was wearing a skull cap, was allegedly thrashed and insulted in Kanpur by some unidentified persons after he refused to chant "Jai Shri Ram". The attack took place when the youth, identified as Taj Mohammad, was returning to his home in the Barra area from the local madrasa. --IANS amita/niy/bc LATEST COMMENTS (0)	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line832
__label__wiki	0.59608	0.59608	Press Release -- February 22nd, 2011 Source: Earthlink Tags: Equipment, MPLS EarthLink Adds Veteran Technology Executive to Board of Directors Nate Davis joins EarthLink Board ATLANTA — February 22, 2011 — EarthLink, Inc. (NASDAQ:ELNK, news, filings), a leading IP infrastructure and services company, today announced the appointment of Nate Davis to the EarthLink Board of Directors. Davis currently serves as Managing Director of RANND Advisory Group, a business consulting group advising venture capital and telecom firms. Davis previously served as Chief Executive Officer and President of XM Satellite Radio, Inc. and President and Chief Operating Officer of XO Communications, Inc. Davis replaces Terrell B. Jones who is resigning his position on the company's Board of Directors effective March 18, 2011. EarthLink Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors Rolla P. Huff commented, "We are grateful to Terry for his more than seven years of outstanding service to our company. He has been a valuable member of our Board and has helped EarthLink successfully navigate through many changes." Continued Huff, "We are pleased to welcome Nate to our Board of Directors and are gratified to bring someone of Nate's caliber and governance experience to our Board to support the execution of our go-forward plan. His extensive background in emerging technologies and deep networking organizations will be invaluable to EarthLink as we pursue our strategy as a nationwide provider of IP managed services." Davis has been Managing Director of RANND Advisory Group since 2003. During that time he served as President and CEO of XM Satellite Radio, Inc. from 2006 to 2008. From 2000 to 2003 he was President and COO of XO Communications, Inc. Davis spent the two prior years at Nextel Communications, Inc. as Executive Vice President, Network and Technical Services. From 1982 to 1998 Davis was at MCI Communications in senior operational, network and financial positions including CFO of MCI Telecommunications U.S. and COO of the MCImetro division. Davis began his career with AT&T. He holds a B.S.E.E. in Engineering and Computer Design from the Stevens Institute of Technology; a M.S.E.E. from the Moore School of Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania; and an M.B.A. in Finance and General Management from The Wharton School. About EarthLink EarthLink, Inc. (NASDAQ: ELNK) is a leading provider of Internet Protocol (IP) infrastructure and services to medium-sized and large businesses, enterprise organizations and over 1.5 million consumers across the United States. The company has been providing Internet access and communications services for decades and has earned an award-winning reputation for both outstanding customer service and product innovation. For consumers, EarthLink is a leading Internet Service Provider connecting people to the power and possibilities of the Internet. EarthLink Business™ provides voice, data, mobile and equipment services over a Southeast fiber network and MPLS-based services nationwide. For more information, visit EarthLink's websitewww.EarthLink.net. Previous: Savvis Executives to Present at Major Investor Conferences in March Next: One Source Networks Selects Sonus SBC and Media Gateway to Deliver IP Migration Solutions to the Enterprise Market John T. Roberts Jr. Joins DuPont Fabros Technology, Inc.’s Board of Directors; Mark Amin Resigns as Director QTS Adds Experienced Business Leader John Barter to Board of Directors Paul Milbury Joins Infinera Board of Directors EarthLink Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.05 per Share EarthLink Names Seasoned Financial Executive Mark Droege as Senior Vice President, Treasury & Corporate Services	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line833
__label__wiki	0.688383	0.688383	Press Release -- June 18th, 2014 Source: Sprint Nextel HDtracks Joins With Sprint to Offer an Eight-song Music Download in Pristine, High-resolution Sound Quality Sprint and HDtracks “Make the High-Def Connection” So Consumers Can Enjoy Their Favorite Music in HD Audio Quality "HDtracks has been an innovative leader in dramatically improving the sound quality of digitally-downloaded music but these breakthroughs were not available on mobile devices. We decided to change that.” - Sprint CEO Dan Hesse HDtracks and Sprint Free Music Sampler in High Resolution Audio June 17, 2014 (New York, NY) - HDtracks, the leader and pioneer in high-resolution audio downloads, is proud to announce it is collaborating with Sprint to exclusively offer its customers who purchase or already own the HTC One® (M8) Harman Kardon® edition or LG G2 – both HD Audio-capable smartphones – a free music sampler featuring The Grateful Dead, Paul McCartney, Marvin Gaye, Tori Amos and more – available in unprecedented 24-bit audio quality downloads. “HDtracks has been an innovative leader in dramatically improving the sound quality of digitally-downloaded music but these breakthroughs were not available on mobile devices,” said Sprint CEO Dan Hesse. “We decided to change that.” In addition to the free sampler, Sprint users have access to thousands of HDtracks offerings, all in 24-bit studio-master quality. Learn more about the HDtracks free music sampler Sprint offer at http://www.hdtracks.com/sprinthdsampler. Music Sampler Works with Any Device that Supports 24-bit FLAC Files To kick off the alliance, consumers who purchase or already own HTC One® (M8) Harman Kardon® edition or LG G2 are immediately eligible to receive the sampler of classic and contemporary music, carefully selected by the experts at HDtracks at no cost. The sampler includes: “Truckin'” by The Grateful Dead; “Queenie Eye” by Paul McCartney; “Let’s Get It On” by Marvin Gaye; “Trouble's Lament” by Tori Amos; “Gimme Three Steps” by Lynyrd Skynyrd; “Always with Me, Always with You” by Joe Satriani; “A House Is A Home” by Ben and Ellen Harper; and “St. Thomas” by Sonny Rollins. Titles offered on HDtracks use the same master created in the studio, so every recording sounds like the artist and engineers intended. To access the sampler, users simply download the music to their computer, plug in their USB cord and drag-and-drop the high-definition music onto their device. Any device that supports playback of 24-bit FLAC files – including the two smartphones mentioned previously, as well as PCs and select Sprint accessories – can play the sampler. High-Def Audio: What Difference Does It Make? Most digital music available to consumers today is encoded in low-resolution 16-bit audio, and also is heavily compressed to make storage and transfer over the Internet more convenient. As a result, much of the original recording's fidelity and sonic richness is lost. The 24-bit studio-quality recordings available at HDtracks preserve the original recording's fidelity in a format that’s easy to download, play back and enjoy. HDtracks founder David Chesky, who created the downloadable high-resolution audio format almost 10 years ago with his brother Norman, noted: “Sprint has been a visionary leader in bringing music lovers a virtually endless supply of great music at their fingertips, anywhere, anytime, via their portable devices. At HDtracks, we’re thrilled to add an additional ingredient and benefit – the ability to recapture the mind-blowing experience of listening to your music in truly great sounding, high-resolution, high-fidelity audio.” Press Contact for HDtracks.com Sara Trujillo sara@trujillopr.com Trujillo Public Relations About HDtracks.com HDtracks.com is the leading high-resolution digital download company in the world. Founded in 2008 by three-time Grammy nominee and highly respected record producer and musician, David Chesky, and his brother Norman, HDtracks.com created the high-resolution audio format. They were the first to convince the major labels that there was a viable market in high-resolution audio. Today, the company works with every major label and hundreds of independents and has led the way for hardware manufacturers to create new products for the ultimate enjoyment of high-resolution audio. David and Norman Chesky have produced more than 500 albums with highly acclaimed artists in classical, jazz, and world music, and established Chesky Records as one of the most respected audiophile music labels in the word. For more than twenty-five years, Chesky has been at the forefront of audio technology, having created the world’s first 24-bit/96kHz recordings, 6.0 multichannel 24-bit/192kHz DVD-Audio Disc layout, 128x oversampled recordings, and Binuaral+ for 3D sound playback on both loudspeakers and headphones. Previous: NTT Com Security announces advanced services and threat analysis capabilities for WideAngle Managed Security Services Next: Sprint Launches Neurodiversity ID Pack, Offers Mobile Solutions for Customers with Neurodevelopmental Disabilities Sprint Enhances Framily Offer with Unrivaled Sound Experience on Exclusive Handset, Exclusive Music Offerings, Free Spotify Rock Out No Matter Where You Go – New Sprint Music Plus Application Provides Access to Full Music Tracks, Ringtones, Ringback Tones and More on Sprint Phones How to Make Music with Sprint: Join us with New Technology, the Voice and Local DJ’s in Los Angeles and Dallas Sprint Announces First in a Series of Premium Music Offerings with Harman Kardon Onyx Studio Wireless Speaker System First country music video on Sprint HTC EVO(tm) 4G recorded by Lauren Rainey	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line834
__label__wiki	0.949848	0.949848	Home Music Resurfacing Pavement Resurfacing Pavement by Matt Galloway Typically, lavish anniversary album reissues are restricted to classic records by, say, John Coltrane and Boston.The whole idea of a two-disc set honouring an indie rock album, complete with new liner notes, bonus tracks and remastered sound, runs counter to the basic concept of underground music, which is why the fuss around the 10th anniversary of Pavement's Slanted & Enchanted album seems so odd. Recorded for $600 and released in 1992, the record is indeed a classic, a shambling, cryptic bit of art pop made by songwriters with names like SM and Spiral Stairs and a pisstank drummer who occasionally spent entire shows standing on his head. For a brief second, Pavement were the designated next big thing -- a tag they quickly sabotaged with their next records. Yet while the group's later albums were marked by better production and the assumption that the band members were actually learning how to play their instruments, it was Slanted & Enchanted that, for fans at least, remained Pavement's high-water mark. The new Luxe & Deluxe edition includes cleaned-up sound as well as outtakes, Peel Sessions, the excellent Watery, Domestic EP and a brutally unfocused live set. There are also new liner notes that include guitarist Scott Kannberg's hilarious admission that at the time of the original recording, the band was concerned about being accused of ripping off Buffalo Tom and Dinosaur and never predicted the accusations of stealing from the Fall that would dog them for another decade. For a group who never particularly enjoyed talking about their music when they were together, the concept of looking back seems doubly strange. "What's really bizarre is how well the reissue is doing," Kannberg laughs from Seattle. "I had no idea anyone cared any more. I hadn't listened to the record in a really long time, but I always knew the original tapes sounded better than what ended up on the album. "Matador kept asking us to do a greatest hits or singles record, which we really weren't into. We did have a lot of b-sides, Peel Sessions and live stuff, though, and I thought it would be cool to put it together in its proper context. The whole process just made me realize how much fun it was when the band was naive and fresh. We lost that toward the end." That evolution of the band, from excited to jaded and bitter, is captured best on the long-overdue DVD Slow Century. The two-disc set includes all the band's often hilarious videos, another particularly shambolic concert and a documentary about the group that includes footage of the last three songs Pavement ever performed. The project was almost abandoned, in part because the band broke up acrimoniously midway through production, and largely because Kannberg was the only one in the band who could be arsed to help out with the reissue and the DVD. The lack of participation from Steve Malkmus is glaring, and, in fact, none of the former members of Pavement got together or even spoke during the assembly of either the CD or the DVD. For those still hoping, there will be no Pavement reunion. "No one wanted to be involved with either project," Kannberg drawls. "I happened to have all the stuff in my garage, so I took control of the whole situation. Lance, the guy who put the documentary together, sent everyone in the band a copy and asked for suggestions, but no one really helped. "It was really frustrating, but not surprising, especially considering the way the band ended. Everyone was a bit frustrated with how certain people were behaving." Even so, Kannberg is not closing the door on Pavement just yet. If he has his way, the Slanted & Enchanted package will be just the beginning of a series of definitive Pavement reissues. "There's tons of stuff for the other records that I'd like to get out," he says. "We tried to record Crooked Rain with our old drummer, Gary, and there's a bunch of songs from that session that no one's ever heard before, plus lots more outtakes and Peel Sessions. I want it all to be out there."mattg@nowtoronto.com PAVEMENT Slanted & Enchanted: Luxe & Reduxe (Matador) Rating: NNNNN; Slow Century DVD (Matador) Rating: NNN music feature Critics' Picks Tweets by @nowtoronto	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line838
__label__cc	0.584298	0.415702	A mistake to expect Kim Jong Un to give a full renunciation of nuclear weapons in advance Why Insisting on a North Korean Nuclear Declaration Up Front is a Big Mistake, 38 NORTH BY: SIEGFRIED S. HECKER, NOVEMBER 28, 2018, My reply to the frequently asked question if Kim Jong Un will ever give up North Korea’s nuclear weapons is, “I don’t know, and most likely he doesn’t know either. But it is time to find out.” However, insisting that Kim Jong Un give a full declaration of his nuclear program up front will not work. It will breed more suspicion instead of building the trust necessary for the North to denuclearize, a process that will extend beyond the 2020 US presidential election. However, the time it will take to get to the endpoint should not obscure the progress that has already been made. Since this spring, Kim Jong Un has taken significant steps to reduce the nuclear threat North Korea poses. He has declared an end to nuclear testing and closed the nuclear test tunnels by setting off explosive charges inside the test tunnel complex. He also declared an end to testing intermediate- and long-range missiles including intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). I consider these as two of the most important steps toward reducing the threat North Korea poses and as significant steps on the path to denuclearization. Whereas the North still poses a nuclear threat to Japan and South Korea as well as US military forces and citizens in the region, the threat to the United States has been markedly reduced. In my opinion, North Korea needs more nuclear and ICBM tests to be able to reach the United States with a nuclear-tipped missile. Freezing the sophistication of the program is a necessary precursor to rolling it back in a step-by-step process. At the September 2018 inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang, Kim also told President Moon that he would commit to dismantling the Yongbyon nuclear complex if the US takes commensurate measures—unspecified, at least in public. The Yongbyon complex is the heart of North Korea’s nuclear program. Shutting it down and dismantling it would be a very big deal because it would stop plutonium and tritium production (for hydrogen bombs) and significantly disrupt highly enriched uranium production. Yet, Kim’s actions have been widely dismissed as insignificant or insincere by both the left and the right of the American political spectrum. In many of these quarters, the sincerity of Kim’s denuclearization promise is judged by whether or not he is willing to provide a full and complete declaration and to agree on adequate verification measures. But Kim’s willingness to provide a full declaration at this early stage tells us little about his willingness to denuclearize. Moreover, I maintain that insisting on this approach is a dead end, certainly as long as Washington continues to apply “maximum pressure” instead of moving to implement the steps on normalizing relations that President Trump agreed to in the June Singapore statement. A full declaration is a dead end because it is tantamount to surrender, and Kim has not surrendered, nor will he. A complete account of North Korea’s nuclear weapons, materials, and facilities would, in Kim’s view, likely be far too risky in that it would essentially provide a targeting list for US military planners and seal the inevitable end of the nuclear program and possibly his regime. Furthermore, a declaration must be accompanied by a robust verification protocol. That, in turn, must allow inspections and a full accounting of all past activities such as production and procurement records as well as export activities. And, once all these activities are complete, an inspection protocol must provide assurances that activities that could support a weapons program are not being reconstituted. This would be a contentious and drawn-out affair. It is inconceivable that the North would declare all of its nuclear weapons, their location, and allow inspections of the weapons or of their disassembly up front. But in addition to the weapons themselves, a nuclear weapon program consists of three interlocking elements: 1) the nuclear bomb fuel, which depending on the type of bomb includes plutonium, highly enriched uranium (HEU), and forms of heavy hydrogen—deuterium and tritium; 2) weaponization—that is, designing, building and testing weapons, and; 3) delivery systems, which in the case of North Korea appear to be missiles, although airplane or ship delivery cannot be ruled out. Each of these elements involves dozens of sites, hundreds of buildings, and several thousand people. Let me give an example of what is involved just for verification of plutonium inventories and means of production. ……….. It should be apparent that the declaration plus commensurate verification of the amount of plutonium North Korea possesses, which I believe is only between 20 and 40 kilograms, will be an enormous job. I cannot see it being accomplished in the current adversarial environment and certainly not within the timeframe that has been specified by the US government. A similar sequence of declarations, inspections, and verification measures would have to be developed for the other bomb fuels, namely HEU and the hydrogen isotopes, deuterium and tritium. Verification of HEU inventories and means of production will be particularly contentious because very little is known about the centrifuge facility at the Yongbyon site. As far as we know, my Stanford colleagues and I are the only foreigners to have seen that facility, and then only in a hurried walk-through in 2010. In addition, there exists at least one other covert centrifuge site. The situation is even more problematic for the second element of the North’s nuclear program, that of weaponization, which includes bomb design, production, and testing because we know nothing about these activities or where they are performed. Although we have some information regarding the nuclear test site at which six nuclear tests were conducted, we do not know if there are other tunnel complexes that have been prepared for testing. The third element includes all of the North’s missiles and its production, storage and launch sites and complexes. These will also represent a major challenge for complete and correct declarations, inspections and verification. Once all of the elements have been declared and the dismantling begins, then the focus will have to change to verifying the dismantlement and assessing the potential reversibility of these actions—a challenge that is not only difficult, but one that must be ongoing. ……… At this time, the level of trust between Pyongyang and Washington required for North Korea to agree to a full, verifiable declaration up front does not exist. Hence, my colleagues Robert Carlin and Elliot Serbin and I have suggested a different approach. Negotiations should begin with an agreed end state: North Korea without nuclear weapons or a nuclear weapon program. Civilian nuclear and space programs would remain open for negotiation and possible cooperation. But all facilities and activities that have direct nuclear weapons applicability must eventually be eliminated. Rather than insisting on a full declaration up front, the two sides should first agree to have the North take significant steps that reduce the nuclear threat it poses in return for commensurate movements toward normalization—the details of which would have to be worked out during negotiations. ………… The Trump team claims progress is being made but insists on maintaining maximum pressure. The North’s Foreign Ministry has pointed outthat the “improvement of relations and sanctions are incompatible.” Also, most US North Korea watchers are either wedded to old think that you can’t negotiate with Pyongyang or they are determined to prove President Trump’s claims on North Korea wrong. With nuclear tensions on the Korean Peninsula dramatically reduced, it is time to find out if Kim’s drive to improve the economy will eventually lead to denuclearization. He may determine that his nuclear arsenal poses a significant hindrance to economic development that outweighs the putative benefits it confers. Washington and Seoul should work together to encourage rather than inhibit this potential shift. https://www.38north.org/2018/11/shecker112818/ December 1, 2018 - Posted by Christina MacPherson \| North Korea, politics international	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line840
__label__wiki	0.818392	0.818392	2019 Festival Concerts and Events 2019 Festival Artists Thank You Concert Alumni Artist List Distinguished Alumni Artists Scherzo Newsletter Festival Lectures Rosalie Chantiny Pre-Concert Talks Musician-in-Residence Rachel Buchman,… Masterclasses, Ensemble Coaching,… Marilyn Anderson Young Musician’s Award Orcas Island Chamber of Commerce Orcas Lodging San Juan Islands Visitors Bureau Artistic Director \| Aloysia Friedmann Artistic Advisor \| Jon Kimura Parker American Record Guide Article Orcas Island Festival Turns 15 Two Heggie Premieres Triumph by Melissa Bargreen \| American Record Guide When the big white and green ferry noses its way through a seascape dotted with green islands to the Orcas Island dock, you enter a new world with a different time zone. You’re on Orcas time now, pausing to drink in the vistas from every direction: rocky seascapes, rolling hills and wide valleys, dark green forests, little boats chugging past in quest of adventure or salmon (orboth). August visitors usually keep an eye on the clock, though, because they don’t want to miss any of the start times for the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival (“Classical Music with a View”). The creation of violinist-violist Aloysia Friedmann and her pianist-husband Jon Kimura Parker, the festival celebrated its 15th anniversary in August with the kind of imaginative and venturesome programming that has drawn great performers and eager audiences to the island every summer. This year the lineup included two world premieres by Jake Heggie, works in many forms (including jazz) inspired by Paganini’s Caprice No. 24, an intimate song evening with Frederica Von Stade, and a free concert on the Village Green with two pianos (Parker and Orli Shaham) and instruments with a program extending from Carnival of the Animals to a set of Broadway show tunes. Friedmann, as artistic director and chief architect of the festival, excels at the “why not?” school of programming that embraces all sorts of instruments, genres, and styles. You never know whether you’re going to encounter a harpsichord or a bandoneon, a beloved seniorcitizen artist or a fresh-faced youngster. And if The Four Seasons is on the program, it’s likely to be by Piazzolla and not Vivaldi. Over the past 15 years, the Orcas Festival has assembled a veritable kaleidoscope of programs and events—quite a change from its more casual Labor Day weekend opening concerts back in 1998. It was a family-and-friends enterprise, born during visits to the Friedmann family’s summer home in a tiny waterfront community on Orcas Island. Reveling in the scenery and in their happy experiences over the years at the older, larger Seattle Chamber Music Festival, Friedmann and her then boyfriend Parker decided to present a few small concerts with musical friends. Her family was emphatically on board: her violinist father, Martin Friedmann, was a longtime mainstay of the Seattle Symphony’s first violin section; and her mother, Laila Storch, was oboist of the Soni Ventorum Wind Quintet at the University of Washington. The concerts promptly sold out, and to meet the community’s demand the festival grew a little, especially when floods of mainland music lovers caught wind of what was going on (Lynn Harrell, Chee-Yun, Frederica Von Stade, PDQ Bach-Peter Schickele) and began trekking northward. But the festival didn’t grow too much. Friedmann and Parker never intended to rival the larger Seattle one, where they met as fellow performers and fell in love; the Orcas venues are much smaller, and the organizers have wanted to keep intact the homegrown feeling of the island community. They’re very careful not to spoil what they’ve created by over-inflating it. There’s a happy buzz about the festival as the volunteers dash around, opening their homes for parties, taking the artists out for whale-watching boat rides, baking treats for the participants at “Music Lovers’ Seminars”, and serving up the free post-concert appetizer buffet for all the concert-goers. After the post-concert reception, all the artists and administrators sit down to a sumptuous catered dinner in an adjacent room, where chefs outdo themselves in culinary presentations based on local ingredients—a seafood bisque flavored with homegrown dill, for example, and a fruit crumble with justpickedberries. Over time, the festival moved away from Labor Day weekend to a less cramped and busy time span (the 2012 dates were Aug. 9-25) that allows for a lot of enhancements. Thanks to a grant from Chamber Music America, the Orcas Islanders are on the move, presenting “hamlet concerts” in tiny community centers around the island and venturing offshore to the neighboring island of Lopez for an evening with the festival’s 2012 resident Miro Quartet. The high points of the festival’s 15 years are too numerous to list, but among the most striking innovations was the 2004 presentation of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring with Parker and Anton Nel at the piano, dancers from the San Francisco Ballet interpreting the ballet with a backdrop screen where previously-filmed dance scenes were interwoven with real-time close-ups of the pianists’ hands in action. That one was sold out so long in advance that Friedmann decided to open the rehearsal for a nominal fee and was promptly stampeded by eager attendees. You never quite know what you’re going to encounter on Orcas, whether it’s Alp horn calls summoning the audience to the little theater, or the thunder of Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor, or a theatrical performance of Michael Daugherty’s Dead Elvis lighting up the house. And then there was the year when they brought together the legendary 97-year-old filmmaker-photographer Otto Lang (1908-2006), pianist Claude Frank, and commentator Gerard Schwarz for a discussion and presentation of Lang’s film Beethoven: Ordeal and Triumph (in which Frank, who also played the piano in that evening’s program, had starred as Beethoven). Or how about the 2009 debut of Craigslistlieder? That was a quirky and entertaining song cycle by Gabriel Kahane, based on anonymous ads from www.craigslist.com. The same season also was the year of the animals: each program started out with an animal themed piece, from Gershwin’s ‘Walking the Dog’ and Copland’s ‘Cat and Mouse’ to Kahane’s Django: Tiny Variations on a Big Dog. All these novelties, alongside the “usual suspects” of the chamber music festivals (all the Brahmses and Beethovens and Schuberts, and the ever-popular Mendelssohn Octet), keep audiences and performers alike on their toes and well entertained. So did the second outdoors concert this season on the Village Green in Eastsound, the island’s little central hub of a town, where residents brought their blankets and lawn chairs in for a festive lightclassics program (with narration by children’s author Jack Prelutsky and Broadway songs sung by baritone Rod Gilfry) that was free for all. Over the years, world premieres are a fixture at this festival, and 2012 was no exception with two brand-new works by opera composer Jake Heggie (whose opera Moby-Dick was also represented with an aria sung by Gilfry). Heggie wrote an affectionate tribute to Friedmann and Parker, with each of them on two instruments: Friedmann on violin and viola, and Parker on piano and harpsichord. Called Orcas Island Ferry, the four-movement suite captured what Heggie called “the sense of journeying out on a crowded ferry and then arriving someplace magical”. Heggie’s brand-new song cycle, This Is My Beloved, got a tremendous performance from Gilfry (who sang the challenging 20-minute work without a score), accompanied by the composer at the piano and two other instrumentalists, violinist Andres Cardenes and cellist Anne Martindale Williams. Based on a book of erotically charged poems by Walter Benton (1907-76), the song cycle (like the book) traces the arc of a love affair from the first rush of joyous emotion to the lonely resignation of the end. Heggie chose PG-rated excerpts from some of the free-verse poems to set to his wonderfully descriptive music. The opening song moves edgily forward and then erupts into a full-blown tango; the second is an idyllic succession of dreamy, reverent chords that ideally support the text, as the lovers “move closer to heaven”. Later, at a less optimistic point in the cycle, Heggie underscores the foreboding with spare, repeated notes that almost recall the opening of Ravel’s ‘Scarbo’, as it finally devolves into a wild instrumental tarantella underneath the singer’s despairing lines. As the love-affair text and music begin to fade, the soloist hums the closing theme. Once again, it was clear that Heggie is at his very best with voice and text; and it is hard to imagine a better exponent than Gilfry. A pair of charming flute-based pieces opened the program: CPE Bach’s Trio Sonata in B-flat and Mozart’s spirited Flute Quartet in D (the former with Parker at a harpsichord that was built in 1963 by his father-in-law). Both of these works displayed the agile, expressive, and beautifully centered sound of flutist Lorna McGhee. (Both pieces have extra-musical associations too: Friedmann’s parents recorded the CPE Bach piece together in Salzburg in 1957 as newlyweds, with Laila Storch taking the flute part on the oboe. And McGhee and the evening’s violist, her husband David Harding, first met while performing that very Mozart quartet.) The evening’s finale had Gilfry and Parker performing Schubert’s ‘Death and the Maiden’ followed by the great Death and the Maiden Quartet, whose second movement was inspired by it. The Miro Quartet explored the full expressive range of this death-obsessed work, concluding with a finale whose fierce energy drew gasps and riotous applause. Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival is an exempt organization as described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code EIN 91-1886480 Aloysia Friedmann, Founder and Artistic Director Ms. Friedmann is a violinist and violist, whose broad-ranging career has included tours in Japan, Europe, South America and the U.S., performances with New York's most prestigious musical ensembles, and a special onstage role on Broadway. Trained at The Juilliard School and the University of Washington, Friedmann plays on a Grancino violin and a Grancino viola. Copyright © 2019. OICMF.org \| site by highwaters	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line848
__label__cc	0.541068	0.458932	Statement by Andrew Scheer Andrew Scheer on Justice In the House of Commons on April 10th, 2019. See this statement in context. JusticeOral Questions April 10th, 2019 / 2:30 p.m. Regina—Qu'Appelle Saskatchewan Andrew Scheer ConservativeLeader of the Opposition Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister wants to talk about politicians who have led Canadians in error. The Prime Minister said, when the allegations were first printed in The Globe and Mail, that they were completely false. We now know that is not true. Is the Prime Minister aware that if he says something that he knows not to be true in a court proceeding that he will be guilty of perjury?	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line850
__label__wiki	0.814203	0.814203	← It is the table’s fault Imagine! → by bradistan \| March 20, 2009 · 11:09 am Ifti Nasim: Muslim and Gay? By Bradistan Calling Ifti Nasim also known as Iftikhar Nasim is a pioneering Pakistani gay poet who now lives in the U.S. He has written many books of poetry in Urdu and English languages. He has also written prose in both languages. According to the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame, “Born in Pakistan, he wrote ‘Narman’, an award winning book of Urdu poetry – said to be the first direct statement of “gay” longings and desires to ever appear in that language. Its courageous publication met with revilement but critical acclaim and inspired other Pakistan poets. He co-founded Sangat/Chicago and has been president of the South Asian Performing Arts Council of America. “This Chicagoan, born in Pakistan, has written gay-related poetry in Urdu said to be the first direct statement of “gay longings and desires” ever published in that language. The publication of Nasim’s book of poetry, Narman (a Persian word for “hermaphrodite”, or half-man, half-woman), has initiated both wild praise and hateful criticism. Narman has also been distributed in Urdu in India and in the West (in England, Norway, Sweden, and Germany). In December 2000, he published Myrmecophile. The manner in which Nasim’s verse was published in Pakistan underscores its controversial nature: Because Nasim’s publisher knew that there might be “trouble” having the manuscript typeset, the publisher stood over the printer’s shoulder as the text was entered into the computer. The real nature of the manuscript was not evident to the printer until the books were printed. When the printer realized that the books dealt with gay-related themes, he screamed: “Take these unholy and dirty books away from me, or I’ll set them on fire!” Because of the controversy, the work is being sold underground. It has generated a surreptitious market. Publication of Narman has produced some positive change in Pakistan. Because of the poetry’s honesty, Nasim has said that a group of young truth-loving poets has begun to refer to other “honest” poetry as “narmani” poetry. Obviously, Narman is educating Pakistanis. A prominent Pakistani in his 60s with many children told Nasim that he broke down and cried when he read Narman, apparently because he did not know about homosexuality. This man has become an ardent sympathizer with gay rights. Ifti Nasim’s Narman raises issues related to Islam’s tolerance for homosexuals. Nasim, who believes he has a close and personal relationship to his God, believes God “wouldn’t have created me if he didn’t want me to lead a happy and fulfilled life. God doesn’t create trash.” In 1993, he became the first Third World poet to read at the Harold Washington Library Center in Chicago. For his poetic work, he received the Rabindranath Tagore Award from Chicago’s South Asian Family Services in 1994. Nasim’s contribution to Chicago’s gay and lesbian community is not only confined to his courage as an international ambassador of tolerance. As co-founder of Sangat/Chicago, he has also displayed a leadership role in the city by launching an organization to provide education and support for gay and lesbian South Asians. Nasim has served as president of the South Asian Performing Arts Council of America and is also a top salesman at Loeber Motors, his employer for 12 of the 22 years he has lived in Chicago. * The Author’s views don’t necessarily reflect those of Pak Tea House and its editors. Filed under Activism, Art, Books, culture, Dance, Identity, men, minorities, Pakistan, Politics, Rights, sex, Urdu, USA, Writers Tagged as bradistan, chicago, dilnawaz, Faisalabad, Gay rights, Ifti Nasim, Pakistan, poets, Rights, sex, USA, Writers 2 responses to “Ifti Nasim: Muslim and Gay?” Desi-MBA Tribute to a living Legend http://bradistancalling.blogspot.com/2007/07/coz-allah-made-me-gay-ifti-nasim-editor.html fakester in chief Another Black American from Chicago making waves in corridors of Power	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line854
__label__cc	0.72679	0.27321	Tag Archives: Virginia Tech Massacre Second Amendment: A Well Regulated Militia Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, Crime, Ethics, Generational, Government, Government Regulation, Gun control, History, Mass Shootings, Mental Health, Politicians, Politics, Second Amendment, United States, US History, Violence in the Workplace Constitution, District of Columbia v. Heller, Florida High School shooting, Gun control, gun extremists, gun laws, gun lobby, gun rights, guns, Justice Anthony Scalia, mass murders, mass shooter, mentally ill, Second Amendment, Supreme Court, United States of America, Virginia Tech Massacre, well regulated A well regulated militia. Gun extremists pretend that the first four words of the Second Amendment don’t exist. They beat people over the head with the Second Amendment using the last 13 words but never mention the part that frames the topic. I’ve even had one gun extremist tell me that the comma after the first four words invalidates them. A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. What “Well Regulated” Means in Second Amendment Ironically, the first four words invalidates the gun extremists position against gun control laws. “Well regulated” is not an accidental phrase. It means that what is being discussed is not only to be regulated, but it is to be closely regulated. Because it is stated first, it means that everything said after is to be considered within the framework of regulation. The Second Amendment is not about unlimited, unrestricted gun ownership. It is not a mandate to allow anyone to own any weapon they want. It clearly outlines that gun ownership is intended to be under the rule of the government. Regarding assault rifles, our country had a legal restriction on assault-type rifles from 1994 to 2004. It wasn’t struck down because it was unconstitutional. It ended because a Republican Congress let the law die due to a Sunset provision in the ban. Not what “well regulated” means Supreme Court Ruling Confirms Guns To Be Well Regulated Even the Supreme Court ruling that gun extremists like to use to claim unrestricted gun ownership confirms the right of the government to control the ownership of guns. In District of Columbia versus Heller, the Justice Anthony Scalia wrote in the majority opinion: Like most rights, the Second Amendment right is not unlimited. It is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose: For example, concealed weapons prohibitions have been upheld under the Amendment or state analogues. The Court’s opinion should not be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms. Majority Opinion “District of Columbia v. Heller” Justice Scalia builds a creative argument why guns have to be allowed in the home, but he clarifies that home ownership does not mean unregistered gun ownership: [a]ssuming that Heller is not disqualified from the exercise of Second Amendment rights, the District must permit him to register his handgun and must issue him a license to carry it in the home. The concept that guns cannot be regulated, nor registered is contrary to the ruling by the Supreme Court. “Well regulated” is the important aspect of the Second Amendment regardless of what gun extremists want to pretend. Mass Shooters Not Criminals Before They Picked Up A Gun Posted by Paul Kiser in Crime, Government, Health, History, Mass Shootings, Medicine, Mental Health, Politicians, Politics, US History, Violence in the Workplace Columbine High School, Congress, Conservatives, gun, Gun control, gun laws, gun lobby, gun rights, gun violence, mass murders, Mass shootings, Mental Health, mentally ill, NRA, psychopath, Republican, suicide, Violence, Violence in the Workplace, Virginia Tech Massacre Gun extremists like to portray the perpetrators of mass shooters as known criminals that should have been identified and stopped. That is a damn lie. Like millions of people in the United States, mass shooters often have anti-social behavior and/or involve themselves in hate-filled social media posts. Almost all of those people will not become a mass murderer. None of the mass shooters are identified as criminals until after they have picked up a gun and killed people. Here is a list of the 20 worst mass shootings and indicators of instability prior to their crime: TABLE 1.0 Worst 22 Mass Shooter Events in the USA Millions of People Are Mentally Ill, Only a Few Kill In some of the instances listed above the mental illness was known but was not an accurate predictor of the actions taken by the perpetrator. Almost all of the perpetrators were U.S. citizens, male, had easy access to guns, and/or was obsessed with gun ownership. The five worst events have occurred after the ban on assault rifles was allowed to expire in 2004. Half of the top 22 mass shootings have happened in the last 18 years and the other half occurred in the 50 years prior. More Guns, More Deaths The simple fact is the explosion of gun ownership in the past three decades has resulted in an explosion of gun deaths. We are not safer now than we were 50 years ago, and while the funding for mental illness treatment is a factor, if guns weren’t easily accessible, the mentally ill would not have the opportunity to use them. There are only three mass shooting events among the top 22 where the guns were not legally obtained. In two cases the guns were obtained because the criminal records of the perpetrator were not on record as they should have been. In the Columbine High School shooting, the two teenagers used friends to buy them guns. The other 19 events were people who had easy, legal access to the guns and if they hadn’t had that access, I wouldn’t need to write this article. This is Why (2015 vs the 2000’s) Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, Business, College, Communication, Crisis Management, Education, Ethics, Generational, Government, Government Regulation, Health, Higher Education, History, Honor, Information Technology, Internet, Politics, Pride, Print Media, Privacy, Public Image, Public Relations, Religion, Respect, Science, Social Interactive Media (SIM), Social Media Relations, Space, Taxes, Technology, Traditional Media, Universities, US History 2004 Tsunami, 9/11, Afghani, Amazon.com, Anthrax, Assault weapons ban, Conservatives, Election 2000, Facebook, Florida vote counting, George W. Bush, Global Financial Disaster, Global warming, Hurricane Katrina, Iraq, Mars, NASA, Opportunity, Pope John Paul II, President, President Barack Obama, Republicans, Rovers, Saddam Hussein, Smartphone, Space Shuttle Columbia, Spirit, Supreme Court, Texting, Twenty-ohs, Twitter, Virginia Tech Massacre, Wikipedia, YouTube The 2000’s – The Defeat of America Decade of Fear: Y2K, 9/11, WMD’s, Katrina, Banking Collapse, Unemployment, Global Warming Population: 281.4 million Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita: $44,492 Median Annual Income: $40,703 Life Expectancy: 76.8 Average Age at Marriage: Men 26.1, Women 23.9 % of pop. w/high school degree or higher: 80.4% % of pop. w/college degree or higher: 24.4% TWENTY OH’s If the 1990’s were a seismic event of technological and social change, the twenty-oh’s is when the tsunami of change hit. Had nothing else happened but the advancement of the Internet, the changes by that alone would have drastically remade the world as we knew it; however, the twenty-oh’s were not content in merely redefining society and the way we communicate, the first decade of the new millennium was going to do an extreme makeover of all our expectations in life. Here are twenty things that made us say Oh! Y2K, the disaster that never came (Jan. 2000) Elections of 2000 Florida election fiasco (Nov./Dec. 2000) Supreme Court appoints George W. Bush as President (Dec. 2000) Attacks of September 11, 2001 Anthrax letters Wars of Just Because Afghanistan (2001-2014) Iraq (2003-2011) Rise of Smaller and Smarter Technology (Entire Decade) Space Shuttle Columbia destroyed on reentry (Feb. 2003) Mars Rovers bounce to successful landings and missions Spirit (June 2003) Opportunity (July 2003) Saddam Hussein captured (Dec. 2003) Assault weapon ban expires (Sept. 2004) Online Wonders Indian Ocean Earthquake/Tsunami (Dec. 2004) Pope John Paul dies (Apr. 2005) Hurricane Katrina (Aug. 2005) Virginia Tech Massacre (Apr. 2007) Global Economic Disaster (2007-08) Financial giants collapse Housing market collapses Auto industry collapses Massive unemployment Price of gas soars, and falls….as a function of conservative politics Barack Obama elected as President (Nov. 2008) The Twenty-oh’s began with the most bizarre Presidential election in American history, followed by the most shocking attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor, followed by two United States initiated wars that would be fought simultaneously, followed by the loss of the Space Shuttle and its crew on reentry to Earth, followed by an earthquake/tsunami that would kill almost a quarter of a million people in 14 countries in one day, followed by a massacre at Virginia Tech, followed by a near meltdown of our global financial system, followed by an African-American being elected as President. THE GREAT CONSERVATIVE FAILURE Despite all that happened, it was politics that defined the 2000’s. Keeping with the two-faced Reagan policy of “America Can’t” and money must be taken from the poor and given to the rich, President George Bush took the cost of running two wars off the books so that he could look like he was cutting government spending when he was, in fact, putting the government deeper in debt and running massive deficits. Behind the scenes, a decade of conservative-driven deregulation in the financial industry created a bad debt bomb that exploded in 2007-08. Almost overnight, America’s economy was devastated by greed and a lack of common sense. People who saw the disaster coming took the attitude that everyone else was unethical, so why should I be the only good person? When the curtain fell on Wall Street, Republicans, who created the environment for the disaster, quietly stepped away and whistling as if they were unaware there was a problem. Bush 43, was completely out of his league in dealing with the problem. To repair the damage to our economy would require taking actions that was would essentially prove that the Reagan doctrine was the cause of the disaster, and President Bush was not willing to take the necessary actions. Fortunately, Barack Obama had just been elected and, with Bush impotent in action, the 44th President stepped up and began to manage the crisis and establishing a plan of recovery. The Republican caused disaster did not cause conservatives to humbly acknowledge their failure, but rather pushed them to further deny the facts. As the economy began recovering, conservatives began blaming Democrats for not making the recovery happen faster. As conservative predictions of Democratic policy failure began to be proven wrong, conservatives began raising absurd and meaningless issues to redirect people’s attention (e.g.; Obama was not an American, Obama was a Muslim, Obama had a secret plan to take everyone’s guns away, etc.) Because the Reagan doctrine was based on white, 1950’s suburban thinking, the hate for President Obama came naturally to the white, male voter. Instead of a political correction for the failed Reagan agenda, conservatives became even more rabid and illogical. By the end of the decade America was heading for defeat at the hands of conservatives who had taken away American prosperity and were unwilling to accept any idea that didn’t match their failed version of the world. NEXT: Epilogue THE SERIES: The 1950’s The 1960’s The 1970’s The 1980’s The 1990’s	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line858
__label__wiki	0.938971	0.938971	Buzz Feed - Political News How Delaware Explains Joe Biden’s Anti-Busing Views by Politic Talks • July 11, 2019 WILMINGTON, Delaware — It was the summer of 1975, and Joe Biden felt the need to reassure his constituents back home: His vote the year before that helped save busing as an option to desegregate schools didn’t mean he supported the practice. “I oppose forced busing, and I want to make my position on this matter clear,” the then-32-year-old senator wrote in The Biden Letter, a newsletter his office circulated. “I oppose busing because it does not contribute to the quality of education, and because it is not the answer to the desirable goal of equal educational opportunity,” Biden continued, before explaining that he voted against a provision, known as the Gurney amendment, which would have barred the federal government from ordering busing, because of the “Pandora’s Box of problems” that made it vulnerable to a constitutional challenge. “It would have opened up virtually every civil rights decision of the past decade to new litigation, including issues that have nothing to do with busing,” he wrote. “Busing cannot be stopped by passing politically expedient legislation that is only destined to be thrown out of court!” The 44-year-old newsletter — one of two Biden Letters stored at the Delaware Public Archives and viewed this week by BuzzFeed News — underscores the pressure Biden was under at the time. The idea of busing was quite unpopular among white voters in his small state, but also among some of the local black activists whose perspectives helped inform Biden. Now, as he runs for president in a Democratic primary that is playing out in a much more progressive era, especially on issues of race, Biden is eager to persuade people he wasn’t on the wrong side of history. Biden now casts his Gurney vote in a different light. Where before he framed his decision as a technicality that should by no means raise doubts about his anti-busing views, he now frames it as a principled stand he took in spite of the political risks. “I’ve always been in favor of using federal authority to overcome state-initiated segregation,” Biden told the Rev. Jesse Jackson and his Rainbow PUSH Coalition last month. “In fact, I cast a deciding vote in 1974 against an amendment called the Gurney amendment, which would have banned the right of the federal courts to be able to use busing as a remedy. And you might guess in the middle of the most extensive busing order in American history in my city and state, it wasn’t what you’d call the most popular vote in the country at the time.” His vote on the Gurney amendment did help kill the provision: The vote was just 47-46. Edward Brooke, the only black US senator at the time, said leading up to the vote that the amendment would have brought local schools “back to the age of Jim Crow.” Biden’s remarks to Jackson’s organization came the day after Sen. Kamala Harris of California turned Biden’s long-held opposition to busing — and his fond recollections of working with segregationist senators — into a searing attack during the first Democratic presidential debate, raising her own experience of being bused as a child in Berkley, California to an integrated school under a voluntary program. The remarks also speak to a fragile balance the former vice president is trying to strike: owning his past, by explaining that he was representing Delawareans’ interests, while softening the hard line he once took. The strategy includes putting black Delaware leaders who opposed busing in front of reporters. Here this week near Biden’s home base, a campaign aide supervised interviews with two longtime friends who expressed frustration with how Harris and others have attacked Biden. “For her to say that she is what she is because of the opportunity she got in a so-called desegregated school — excuse my French, that’s bullshit,” Bebe Coker, a Wilmington activist, said of Harris. “Where does she think that every major lawyer, doctor, or whatever in our race of people came from?” “If that’s the reason she is where she is, she needs to go back and start again,” Coker continued. “And I’m not being funny. I’m dead serious. That’s sad. You’re going to sit here and put your success on the fact that you sat in a physically arranged bunch of chairs and desks in a classroom with white kids, and this is why you’re the way you are? Oh, lord, it makes me throw up. But, anyway, such is life. And California to boot! Come on. Come on. Uh-uh.” A spokesperson for Harris’ campaign declined to comment. Richard “Mouse” Smith, a local NAACP official who has been close with Biden since the 1960s, said Biden has strong ties to Delaware’s black community, dating to his days as the only white lifeguard at a city pool and his early legal work as a public defender. When Biden was starting out in politics, Smith introduced him around Wilmington’s housing projects. This week, Smith recalled his advice to Biden: “If a roach or mouse runs over top of you, don’t move. If they give you a mayonnaise jar with some orange Kool-Aid with a little bit of ice in it, you drink it. If they offer some food, eat. Listen to them.” Anti-busing views were not as prevalent in the black community, Coker said, but she and Smith found Biden sympathetic to their arguments that it was counterproductive to force children, in the name of desegregation, to wake up hours earlier to be sent to a white suburban school district. Biden has said over the years that he supported the overarching idea of desegregating schools, but not forced busing as a means to achieve it. He and his allies note how he favored programs to promote more equality in housing and improvements to existing schools and neighborhoods — measures they believe would have led to more organic integration. Coker had a high school, middle school, and elementary school within walking distance from her home, and a daughter enrolled in each. “Now you tell me,” she said, “why I would want my kids to get up at 6 o’clock in the morning and be on the bus at a quarter to 7 to go to West Hill.” “We didn’t want busing, period,” said Smith. “Busing was doing nothing for us.” These pragmatic concerns from pockets of the black community aside, white opposition to busing was more pronounced and widespread at the time and often carried a racist undercurrent. Biden felt the heat at home, as he recalled in his 2007 political memoir, Promises to Keep. “I’ll never forget the annual Chicken Festival in 1978, which drew big crowds in downstate Delaware,” he wrote. A woman in the parking lot started shouting after him. “She was thirty yards away and closing fast. An attractive blonde about my age, she was hurrying toward me with two little boys in tow. She had a big grin on her face, and as she got close to me, she turned to her sons and said, ‘Boys, I want you to meet Senator Biden. Take a very good look at him. This is the man who has ruined your life. … It’s because of him you’re going to be bused.” The woman cut Biden off before he could correct her. Biden has said President Donald Trump’s “very fine people on both sides” response to the 2017 white supremacist riots in Charlottesville, Virginia, motivated him to launch a third White House bid. And he has championed other civil rights causes throughout his career as a senator and as vice president under Barack Obama — a fact he and his campaign lean on heavily when parrying criticism on race issues. The July 1975 edition of The Biden Letter included a front-page piece touting his cosponsorship of a bill to extend the Voting Rights Act. The other pamphlet available at the state archives, from October 1975, came with “Senate Approves Biden Anti-Busing Amendment” as its top headline but also a blurb about Biden advancing a bill to ban discriminatory credit lending practices on the basis of age, race, color, religion, or national origin. In his 2007 book, Biden recalled worrying with a close adviser about the effect the busing debate could have on his first Senate reelection campaign. “How would a challenger, we asked, take down Joe Biden? It wasn’t complicated. Point out Joe Biden’s strong commitment to civil rights and civil liberties. Point out his statements that he’d gotten into politics largely because of civil rights. Joe Biden’s a card-carrying liberal, a challenger could tell people, and his campaign to minimize court-ordered busing is just a Trojan horse. Once Joe Biden was safely elected for another six years, he’ll pull the rug out from under the antibusing lobby.” Biden never did, though in the book he attributed his Gurney vote to a belief that “courts had to be able to stop government-enforced segregation.” Biden also at times waded into other racially charged fights, like in 1986 when he urged blacks to reject Jesse Jackson — then a presidential rival — as a leader for their cause. Smith said recent attacks and reflections on Biden’s record bother him because “he ain’t a racist.” “I’m probably more racist than he is,” Smith said. “He is not a taker. He’s a giver. Do you think he could last 36 years in the Senate if he was a racist? Do you think he could have my friendship if he was a racist?” Such views of Biden were not shared universally in Delaware or by civil rights leaders elsewhere. During Senate hearings in 1977 for a Biden anti-busing bill, Clarence Mitchell, a top NAACP leader, attributed the effort to “racism … deep in the state of Delaware,” according to coverage from the Morning News of Wilmington. Biden’s voice nearly cracked as he pushed back: “I thought my record, albeit brief, was enough to get beyond insinuations of racism.” More recently, Jackson — as he prepared to host Biden the day after the Harris hit — told USA Today that Biden’s busing stance “doesn’t make him a bad guy, but it puts him on the other team.” Biden’s comments over the years about the working relationships or friendships he forged with segregationists such as James Eastland, John Stennis, and Strom Thurmond — relationships strengthened in some cases by common cause on busing — also have opened old wounds. The recent criticism from Harris and Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey stemmed from Biden’s remarks last month at a fundraiser. “He never called me boy,” Biden said of Eastland, prompting reminders that “boy” has often been used as a pejorative for black men. “When they say he was … praising white, racist people, let me tell you something: If a white, racist person cut a deal that’s going to benefit my people, yes, I’m going to give them recognition, but I’m still going to be on his ass,” said Smith. “And I’m going to stay on his ass” “Sometimes you have to deal with the devil to get a deal done,” Smith added, before acknowledging he was disappointed with the “boy” remark. “The only thing I said to him — I would say to him, is, Joe, take ‘boy’ out of your vocabulary. Don’t use that.” In their separate interviews, Coker and Smith both used similar phrasing to suggest Harris caught Biden off guard, though Biden advisers said before the debate that he was prepared for such an attack. (“I would love to have the opportunity to debate her,” Coker said.) They also suggested Biden’s clunky response to Harris, which had a tinge of “states rights” sentiment that’s been used by others to excuse racist policies, was an inelegant way of explaining that he was doing right by locals who expected him to oppose busing. “Come to us,” Smith said. “This decision wasn’t made behind the closed door of Washington. This decision was made by the good people of the state of Delaware.” ← Liz Cheney: Pelosi-AOC dispute indicates ‘unraveling’ of the Democratic Party Primary challenge to Amy McGrath’s bid to take down McConnell ‘might be helpful,’ Dem lawmaker says → Political News \| Politics Forum \| Political Event Calendar \| Chat Rooms	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line861
__label__cc	0.580287	0.419713	Archive for the ‘Douglas Slocombe’ Tag It Always Rains on Sunday (1947) 2 comments Rose Sandigate (Googie Withers) lives a drab, joyless life. Married to dull, but decent George (Edward Chapman), Rose keeps house for her husband, his two nearly grown daughters from a previous marriage, and their small son. She’s worn out from rationing, slum-living, and her uneventful life in the East End of London. “There’s another dead bishop on the landing!” One Sunday, while preparing Sunday dinner, Rose finds escaped-convict Tommy Swann (John McCallum) hiding in her family’s air-raid shelter. Tommy was serving a prison sentence for a violent robbery committed years before on the day he was to have married Rose. He begs Rose to hide him until nightfall when he’ll make his escape. She tries to resist, but still loves him so she promises to keep him safely locked away in her bedroom for the day. As her husband and children go about their Sunday routines, Rose becomes more tense. She knows she should turn him in, but she loved him once. As the day progresses, Tommy tries to seduce Rose and his attention brings back thoughts she hadn’t entertained in years. Rose is torn. Should she give Tommy over to the police or chuck it all and go on the run with him? To complicate matters further, Rose’s stepdaughters, Vi (Susan Shaw) and Doris (Patricia Plunkett) are old enough to feel claustrophobic in her home and Vi, the elder of the two, can barely contain her resentment. As it gets closer to nightfall, Rose can’t take the pressure and starts picking fights with everyone in the family. The bickering reaches a fever pitch on a usually calm Sunday afternoon. “A noise? Nah. Must be your imagination.” All the time Rose agonizes about having a convict under her bed, the law, led by Detective Sergeant Fothergill (Jack Warner) combs the streets for Tommy. Fothergill knows Tommy’s old criminal associates might have a line on where he’s holed up so he presses them for information. This adds to the overall feeling of pressure in the film. During Fothergill’s investigation we get to see the melting pot neighborhood where all this drama takes place. As the camera pans through the busy market, we hear a smattering of Yiddish among the English-speakers. It’s a working-class mix of different cultures with a lot of personality. Must be a special on eel pie. It Always Rains on Sunday, listed as a crime drama or film noir, also resembles some French films of the 1930s. Films like Pépé le Moko, directed by Julien Duvivier and Le Règle du Jeu (Rules of the Game), directed by Jean Renoir, show people on the fringes of society living in despair. These films in the subset of poetic realism often have a cynical point of view and at least one character resigned to his own sad fate. The characters hope for love or fortune or something grand, but are often beaten down by a series of misfortunes or a set of rules they didn’t make. Though not technically of that French genre, this film shares composer Georges Auric with many of the films of poetic realism. The style of It Always Rains on Sunday influenced many of the British kitchen-sink dramas of the 1950s and 60s like Look Back in Anger (1956) and A Taste of Honey (1961). These films departed from the usual upper-crust British films by showing working class people stuck in dead-end jobs and living in squalor and dealt more frankly with sex, race, and poverty than films had up to that point. Poor is Hell. Michael Balcon produced It Always Rains on Sunday and many other films for Ealing Studios. He also produced for Gainsborough Pictures, Gaumont British, and MGM British Studios and had a huge influence on British cinema. Director, Robert Hamer helmed this and Kind Hearts and Coronets for the studio. Ealing specialized in comedies and some of the locations look like those in the comedies The Ladykillers and The Lavender Hill Mob. Cinematographer Douglas Slocombe filmed It Always Rains on Sunday along with The Great Gatsby (1974), Rollerball (1975), and about eighty other films while collecting a basket full of Academy Award and BAFTA nominations and wins. Such a pretty shot. Fleshing out the story are some terrific British character actors. Hermione Baddeley, Alfie Bass, Sydney Tafler, and Nigel Stock all play the kind of small parts that make any film more realistic. “It was a wombat, I tell ya!” Watch It Always Rains on Sunday for the slice-of-life drama, the dingy, authentic atmosphere, and for the marvelous performance by Googie Withers. In the time it takes to make a Sunday roast, Withers unravels internally without going all Mystic River Sean Penn on us. She shows us just enough. It’s a restrained and artful take on what could easily have been melodrama. Withers also has great chemistry with John McCallum, who she later married so you know the steam is real. If you’re in the mood for a little gem of a film that’s a little bit noir and a little bit day-in-the-life, check out It Always Rains on Sunday. Notes: Googie Withers and John McCallum were married for 62 years! Googie means Little Pigeon and was a nickname her nanny gave the actress as a child. Posted December 6, 2016 by Kerry Fristoe in Reviews Tagged with 1940s films, Alfie Bass, British films, crime, Douglas Slocombe, Ealing Studios, East End, Edward Chapman, film noir, Georges Auric, Googie Withers, It Always Rains on Sunday, Jack Warner, John McCallum, kitchen-sink dramas, Michael Balcon, Nigel Stock, Patricia Plunkett, poetic realism, Robert Hamer, Susan Shaw, Sydney Tafler Scream of Fear (1961) 3 comments When a film starts out with a crew of locals dredging a lake, you know you’re in for a treat. Penny Appleby (yes, really) anyway, Penny Appleby (Susan Strasberg) arrives by chauffeured limousine to the home of her estranged father in Nice, but is disappointed to learn that he’s away on business. Sure. He hasn’t seen his daughter in ten years and he chooses this exact time to leave town. Wheelchair-bound Penny immediately starts seeing her out-of-town dad sitting in chairs, slumped over in the pool house, and generally, dead. “Hi, honey.” Oddly, these sightings prey on her mind. Soon Penny’s stepmother, Jane (Ann Todd) begins to suggest that Penny might need psychological help. This idea is approved by the omnipresent Dr. Pierre Gerrard (Christopher Lee with a French accent!). “Oui! Oui!” Penny’s not alone though. Robert, the chauffeur (Ronald Lewis) is drawn to Penny. At first, he feels sorry for the lonely girl, but as more suspicious things happen, Robert becomes Penny’s ally. The two amateur sleuths launch a clandestine investigation into the possible disappearance and probable death of her father. They also theorize on the reasons (money) that his death might work out well for certain people. “I’m hot, therefore good.” Director, Seth Holt (The Nanny) builds tension and the script by Jimmy Sangster (Horror of Dracula) is spare and intelligent. Cinematographer, Douglas Slocombe (The Servant), makes good use of darkness and candlelight and also does one of my favorite things…he waits. He and Holt let the actors do their thing and allow Sangster’s twisty story to unfurl. My one critique is Susan Strasberg. Yes, I know her dad is Hyman Roth and taught generations how to act. I just think he forgot to teach her. She’s shrill and you never really connect with her and that’s her fault. She’s the weak link in an otherwise superb thriller. Hammer Films made a number of thriller/mysteries along with the numerous horror films the studio is famous for. They’re not as well known as the gothic horrors, but they’re worth checking out. This is a good one. “Stand back! I’m acting!” Posted October 16, 2015 by Kerry Fristoe in 31 Days of Horror, Reviews Tagged with 1960s films, 31 Days of Horror, Ann Todd, Christopher Lee, Douglas Slocombe, Hammer Film Productions, horror, Jimmy Sangster, mystery, Ronald Lewis, Seth Holt, Susan Strasberg, thriller	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line862
__label__cc	0.708828	0.291172	"Clash Of The Decades" 80's vs 90's Tribute. Interview with Greg Marsh, The New Romance Band "Clash Of The Decades" 80's vs 90's Tribute Featuring Here's to the Night & The New Romance appearing live at Tally Ho Theatre, Leesburg, Virginia, 3/26 The New Romance cranks out an incredible nonstop high-energy show that will leave you breathless. We'll talk to Greg Marsh, keyboardist from the band, The New Romance, who will tell us all about the upcoming Clash of the Decades concert. According to Greg, you'll know every song, and at the show we'll dance for hours and sing at the top of our lungs. Think of it as your favorite mix tape of the 80's coming to life! Since their inception, The New Romance have focused on playing the songs you know and love with stunning accuracy. Together, they'll bring a wealth of music and entertainment industry experience to the Tally Ho Theatre, and have brought their concert style performance to audiences across the United States. Always in high demand, if you're looking for a band to entertain a you and leave you wanting more, look no further. So, grab your friends and join The Ultimate 80's Tribute Band "The New Romance"! See You On The Dance Floor at the Tally Ho! Saturday, 3/26, 8PM. Tickets for the show are available here: Tally Ho Theatre Clash of the Decades! Check it out, please subscribe & enjoy! Please tells us what you think! Join us and offer your reviews and comments.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line867
__label__wiki	0.616997	0.616997	Home > Commitment to Our LGBTQ+ Community Commitment to Our LGBTQ+ Community A Message from President Wallace D. Loh Dear UMD Community, I am proud of the work the LGBT Equity Center, partners across campus, and each of you have done to make our campus one that cares for and supports our LGBTQ+ community. UMD is not immune to hate-bias incidents targeted at the LGBTQ+ community, but we strive to be a campus where the support our LGBTQ+ students, faculty and staff receive outweighs any one incident. We must continue to take advantage of that strength and support, and stand together stronger than ever. Our campus has many resources available to support our LGBTQ+ community, including the Hate-Bias Response Program, the Counseling Center, and the University Health Center, in addition to the LGBT Equity Center. I strongly support maintaining current federal protections from discrimination against our transgender, gender nonconforming, and intersex communities. Regardless of rumored policy changes on the federal level, I stand firm on our campus policies and actions that have been led by the LGBT Equity Center, which have made our campus a top-ranked institution for LGBTQ+ people. There is still progress to be made. As a university, we have no intention of weakening our policies and practices that relate to gender, housing, restrooms, and health and wellness, among many other key issues that our LGBTQ+ community face.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line870
__label__wiki	0.67402	0.67402	Removal of white educator from African American history class in Michigan sparks widespread outrage By Phyllis Steele and Nancy Hanover An Advanced Placement (AP) Social Studies teacher in Birmingham, Michigan was barred from teaching an African American History course this spring, following an ugly and deceitful attack by the Birmingham African American Family Network (BAAFN) who charged Scott Craig, a white teacher, with having a “disrespectful” curriculum. Craig has taught for 32 years and holds Master’s degrees in both African American and labor history. In collaboration with a national educational council including college professors and parents, Craig developed the syllabus for an Advanced Placement pilot program in Birmingham, a largely upper-middle-class suburb of Detroit. Scott Craig Leading the charge against Craig was the BAAFN and journalist Chastity Pratt Dawsey. The group demanded Craig’s replacement stating that his syllabus failed to emphasize the success of black politicians and entrepreneurs. They alleged that providing data on poverty, police killings and high imprisonment rates among African Americans was “racist.” The group demanded to be allowed to rewrite the curriculum and help select Craig’s replacement, who, they insisted, should be black. Dawsey, who began her career as an intern at the New York Times and worked for the Detroit Free Press for 12 years, is a well-known Democratic Party establishment mouthpiece. She began the public campaign against Craig with an opinion piece on February 19 in Bridge Magazine. In the article, she makes an outrageous analogy between Craig’s AP course and the right-wing campaign of former Michigan Republican state senator Patrick Colbeck to downplay the civil rights component of Michigan’s social studies curriculum, among other crucial working-class struggles. Dawsey purportedly became involved after being texted by her son (formerly a student at Groves High School in Birmingham, whom she mentions is on his way to Harvard) that the film “Boyz ‘N the Hood” was included in the AP course syllabus. The film, set in South Central Los Angeles in the 1990s, received two Academy Award nominations and enjoyed wide popularity among audiences, both black and white, for its searing look at poverty and the tragedies of gang life. That the film was listed on the curriculum, however, prompted the highly-agitated Dawsey to give the impression that Craig’s curriculum revolved around the film—a patent lie. In addition, Craig’s syllabus lists The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Martin Luther King’s Letter from a Birmingham Jailand his speech at Riverside Church in New York in opposition to the Vietnam War, a four-part study spanning from “Slavery to Civil War,” through Reconstruction, Jim Crow, the civil rights movement and the position of African Americans today. Chastity Pratt Dawsey The course addresses the topics of police brutality, the role of affirmative action, the decline of urban centers and “the links between poverty, educational achievement and racism,” the 1967 Detroit riot, “an evaluation of African American political leadership since 1970,” “De Jure v De Facto discrimination and racism” and the re-segregation of schools, among other significant topics. Craig specifically emphasized that students should be ready to debate various points of view. Dawsey goes on to cite the inclusion of The New Jim Crow, a New York Times bestseller by Michelle Alexander, in the curriculum to claim that the coursework was “heavily” focused “on the oppression of African Americans.” She claimed this reference “boosts the myth of white superiority.” While the WSWS has written of its opposition to the racial preoccupation and reformist notions of The New Jim Crow, the book highlights the terrible and disproportionate incarceration of minorities in US prisons. Black men are arrested and imprisoned at a rate 6.5 times that of white men. Such facts are a searing indictment of American capitalism—and of no real interest to the social layer inhabited by Dawsey and her group. To substantiate her outright sanitizing of history, Dawsey cites the work of Carter G. Woodson, the father of “Negro History Week,” with the selective quote, “If you teach the Negro that he has accomplished as much good as any other race he will aspire to equality and justice without regard to race.” Such paeans to “accomplishments” stripped from their social and political context or class content, are routinely used to deny the existence of class oppression, in the vein of a Ben Carson or a Clarence Thomas—both extremely reactionary apologists for capitalism. After noting the existence of racist incidents in the area including a noose in a boy’s school bathroom, Dawsey makes an outrageous amalgam between “the syllabus in my kid’s African-American history class” and “by extension the statewide social studies debate” and “socially unacceptable behavior,” e.g., racist attacks. In point of fact, by ending the course designed by Craig, the BAAFN find themselves in alignment with those like Colbeck, including outright racists, who want to prevent young people from learning about the civil rights movement, as well the rise of the labor movement and revolutionary struggles around the world. The entire sordid operation is a self-serving attempt by well-heeled representatives of the upper middle class seeking not to illuminate history, but to bury it. Rather obviously, they want to exorcize any inconvenient facts that stand in the way of their climb up the career ladder, or that of their circle of black capitalists and Democratic Party functionaries. Presenting themselves as the “black community,” this upper middle class layer loathes mention of the problems facing black workers—poverty, unemployment, poor housing, education, and health care as well as mass incarceration. They oppose the unity of the working class, the only basis for overcoming the yawning and catastrophic growth of social inequality and poverty because the working class is not their concern. Money, position, prestige is—and any scurrilous and shameful attack goes in the service of their ambition. The school board responded to the screed of BAAFN and Dawsey by replacing Craig with a black school counselor—an individual without the academic credentials of Craig. Birmingham district superintendent Mark Dziatczak sent a letter to parents repeating Dawsey’s allegations, deceptively claiming the “resources listed in the course pilot syllabus failed to meet the depth and breadth of African American history” and pledging, in fawning fashion, that “in the future officials will seek input from students, parents and staff on pilot courses like an African-American history class.” On February 26, a Birmingham school board meeting was held in which BAAFN-affiliated parents spoke at length about how “disrespected” their children were by both the course curriculum and being subjected to a class on African American history taught by a white teacher. Hammie Dogan claimed, “This syllabus is disrespectful and hurting… If I pollute a child’s mind with negative, infuriating, unhealthy things, that is what we will get as a citizen.” Contrada Jewell said she was “livid” that her children had a field trip to the Holocaust Museum last year in February during Black History Month. She said, “I’m not being disrespectful to my Jewish friends and family, but this is when you are going to take this trip?” The comment revealed the profoundly reactionary, if not anti-Semitic, attitude of these right-wing proponents of identity politics. Addressing the board meeting, Craig argued for his right to teach the class, citing not just his professional credentials but the fact that his parents had put their lives on the line organizing the fight for integrated housing and mobilizing black and white workers in Flint. To the dismay, no doubt, of the group, he emphasized the broader historical context of the fight for racial equality, stating, “The labor movement came along. This was the beginning, honestly, of the civil rights movement. It didn’t start with Rosa Parks. It started before Rosa Parks. The first sit down was at Dodge Main in Detroit in 1937.” He said this historical connection fueled his passion to acquire a Master’s degrees in African American studies and labor history. On March 12, Bridge Magazine published Craig’s full rebuttal to Dawsey. In a passionate reply drawing the implications of a dangerous growth of censorship, Craig stated that his removal had “sent a chill down the spines” of his colleagues. “What is at stake here is the trend in education to stifle teachers’ ability to instruct in areas laden with controversy. Districts will do anything to avoid negative publicity, including throwing their own teachers under the bus.” Craig also cautioned, “As a result of this and other incidents, teachers have now expressed fears about teaching any controversial materials where racism or ethnocentrism is discussed. This includes classic literature, such as Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird or Mark Twain’s Huck Finn .” Many residents, students and former students, and colleagues, black and white, have rejected the vile attack on Craig, opposing the racial exclusivity and right-wing identitarian outlook of Dawsey and the BAAFN. “I am a former student of Scott Craig’s,” wrote Jeff Patterson. “I think what the district did here is an absolute travesty and truly a loss for the students in the class. In the classes I was in he touched on many important subjects that would be considered uncomfortable for many to confront but served to open your eyes and your mind to better understand our world and our history.” An African American history scholar from Pennsylvania, speaking to the WSWS, observed, “A look at Craig’s syllabus in its totality should have laid any misgivings to rest. It is one that most scholars, black, white, or otherwise, would agree is neither shallow nor racist.” The events in Michigan are not separate from the shift to the right within the entire political establishment, including the fascistic agitation against immigrants by Trump and the extreme right, and attacks on the basic democratic rights of the working class. An affluent petty-bourgeois layer, with their own fixation on race and demands for increasing racial divisions in society, plays a complementary role. Having cashed in from identity politics, they have emerged as unequivocal defenders of capitalism. The dirty underside of these “debates” on race is the avaricious demands of these sections of the upper middle class. Government policy, including “black capitalism,” set-asides, affirmative action and the endless promotion of identity politics by the media, most notably the New York Times, Dawsey’s training ground, have created a virulently right-wing and outright racialist milieu. These elements are deeply hostile to the entire working class, both black and white. In particular, Dawsey and the BAAFN reflect the rightward trajectory of the Democratic Party—now deeply discredited for its abandonment of all social reform—resting politically on the thin reed of identity politics and the trade union bureaucracy, reinforced by the national security state. A party of endless imperialist wars abroad combined with brutal austerity and censorship at home, the Democrats alongside the Republicans, seek to shred the democratic rights of the working class. It almost goes without saying that the Michigan Education Association, a loyal ally of the big business Democrats, has failed to issue any public defense of Craig or warn of the implications of his removal for teachers everywhere. But the working class—of all ethnicities—has begun to fight, with a record number of strikes and protests across the US, especially among educators. Socialism is once again on the lips of millions of Americans, striking fear into the ruling elites. The bourgeoisie is seeking new ways to reinforce racial divisions within society—promoting varied forms of racism and anti-Semitism—but the working class is taking their measure. We urge educators, students and workers to join the Socialist Equality Party, unite the working class and build the alternative—a society based on human need not profit, socialism. The author recommends: The socioeconomic basis of identity politics: Inequality and the rise of an African American elite [30 August 2016] The Defense of Public Education Contract for more than 20,000 Chicago teachers expires Michigan Governor Whitmer ties fate of Benton Harbor High School to test scores West Virginia legalizes charter schools Second of two “Fund Our School” rallies held in Michigan Michigan teachers rally to “fund our schools” after 20 years of bipartisan cuts Education in the US 045 University of Alaska budget cuts Closure of Detroit’s Marygrove College will worsen teacher shortage crisis Strikes get “silent treatment” at NEA convention, as candidates take center stage Harvard awards fellowship to Rick Snyder, Flint’s poisoner-in-chief Fourth of July 2019: Militarism and the specter of dictatorship American Independence Day 2019: From the “asylum for mankind” to the land of concentration camps San Francisco School Board votes to destroy left-wing murals they claim are “racist” and “white supremacist” San Francisco residents voice opposition to censorship of George Washington High School murals The failed removal of Andrew Johnson and the emergence of the American working class 230 Socialism conference	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line871
__label__wiki	0.646843	0.646843	Tag: Herstmonceux Castle Get Your Kicks On Route 1066 A two-day running adventure that retraces the footsteps of William the Conqueror through gorgeous Sussex countryside. I can’t decide whether the glittering wings I’m watching spiral in a shaft of dappled light are those of butterflies or fairies. It’s been a long day – I’m hot, tired and somewhat dazzled by the sun that has shone mercilessly upon us every step of the way. The fluttering creatures turn out to be common large whites, but the spectacle is none the less magical for it and provides a reason to linger in the cool refuge of this sunken lane, shaded by branches that almost join overhead to form a tunnel. We’re somewhere between Herstmonceux and Battle, following the 1066 Country Walk, a 32-mile marked trail from Pevensey Castle to Rye. But we’re not walking, we’re running. It’s a dry run (pun intended) for our forthcoming two-day running adventure – and so far, so good. Is the route runnable? Tick. Does it divide neatly into two days of manageable distance? Tick. Is the scenery suitably gorgeous and varied? Tick. We pressed ‘start’ on our watches a few hours ago, as we passed through the eastern gate of the Roman wall that surrounds the picturesque ruins of medieval Pevensey castle. Soon we’re striking out across the Pevensey Levels, an expanse of low-lying grassland and marsh that, as little as 700 years ago, was under water and is now considered an area of special scientific interest, thanks to its diversity of flora and fauna. The air is alive with lark song and the drowsy hum of bees as we follow the trail alongside waterways, through fields of beans and corn and meadows swaying with wild flowers. After a few miles of flat and easygoing terrain, we begin to climb, making a beeline for the distinctive shingled tower of All Saints Church, originally built in the late 12th century, where it served the residents of Herstmonceux, a medieval village, the modern version of which now sits two miles’ north. History is one thing that the 1066 trail offers in abundance. Yep, the clue is in the title – the route traces the footsteps made by William the Conqueror 952 years ago, after he landed on Pevensey’s shores from France and marched into what remains one of the most famous battles of all time. Renowned it may be, but there’s disagreement about what actually happened at the Battle of Hastings. Not everyone goes along with the belief that King Harold took an arrow in the eye (how his death is depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry, as every school child will know), and while it’s well known that the battle did not take place in Hastings, some historians also dispute the claim that it took place on the site where Battle Abbey, commissioned by William in 1070, now stands and where we plan to finish the first day of this running adventure. Entering the grounds of Herstmonceux Castle, we take a leap forward 400-odd years – the stunning moated red-brick castle was built in the mid 1440s and later briefly owned by Henry VIII. By this time we’re asking ourselves the important question ‘Are there nice places to stop on the way for an energy top-up?’ Feeling that we owe it to our future customers to find out, we sample the cream teas at the castle’s Chestnut tearooms. (And similarly, later in the day, the ales at a quintessentially English pub, The Ash Tree, in the fabulously named Brown Bread Street.) Big ticks all round. In fact, Jeff credits his pint of Goose Island IPA for getting him up Tent Hill, where William the Conqueror allegedly camped the night before battle. He’d certainly have had a good vantage point from its summit… But unlike William, we are in no fit state for Battle when we make it there from Pevensey at tea time. We drag our weary selves to The Bull for a hearty dinner and then take a wander around the quiet town. Whether or not King Harold was felled here or not, the place is steeped in history. Just ruins remain of the original abbey, but these and later buildings, like the imposing 14th-century turreted gatehouse, are now in the capable hands of English Heritage and visited by thousands of tourists each year. We have 17 miles in the bag as we head to the B&B for much-needed showers and a good night’s sleep. Day two dawns hot and cloudless. We leave Battle to its Sunday lie-in and set off a little stiffly, weighed down by breakfast and topped-up camelbaks. There are a couple of roads to negotiate, but a mile or so out of town we enter Great Wood, following a wide, easy track between conifer forest and stretches of open heathland. The route feels hillier today – we climb and drop with a frequency that drives us to devise a ‘walk 10 steps, run 10 steps’ strategy on the steeper slopes to keep ourselves going. From one summit, we catch a glimpse of Hastings in the distance. But mercifully, there are also more forested stretches on the day’s route, which means there’s more escape from the sun than was offered by the vast expanse of the Pevensey Levels. Even so, I’m draining my water supply at an alarming rate, running in this heat. We take a break at Westfield cricket ground, perching on wooden posts under the trees lining the oval to look at the map and eat a handful of nuts, dried fruit and sugary sweets. We decide to press on to Icklesham for lunch – it means more climbing, but will leave less distance to run in the afternoon. Later, when we’re munching doorstep sandwiches in the cool of the bar at the Queen’s Head, we’re glad we did. If you’ve never combined running and eating (or drinking anything other than an energy drink), you might be concerned about how your digestive system might react to a mid-run meal. I’ve been pleasantly surprised how well mine has coped, but I certainly wouldn’t want to scoff a sausage roll halfway through a 10K – the reason it works is because the pace is easy. This type of running adventure is about the journey, not the destination… Tummies sated, drinks topped up, we leave Icklesham village through the churchyard (and, accidentally, via someone’s garden) and strike out across high fields from where we get our first glimpse of the sea, shimmering in the heat haze. Sheep wedge themselves into every inch of available shade among the thorny hedgerows that border the fields, and we try not to disturb them as we pass. Then we drop down to a country lane before a stiff climb up and over Hog’s Hill where there is a windmill, reputedly used as a recording studio by Paul McCartney, and from where you can see the ancient towns of Winchelsea and Rye perched on their respective hills. I say ‘ancient,’ but the Winchelsea that stands today is officially ‘new’ Winchelsea, built by Edward I in 1288 to replace ‘old’ Winchelsea, which was washed away by violent storms. The village and its environs are littered with ruins. First, we spot New Gate, one of four gates into the town built during the 14th century (three remain standing). It’s now surrounded by sloping fields, which we climb, passing the ruined gable end of a medieval almshouse as we join the road into the centre of the village. It’s a pristine English village – not a flower out of place – with a cricket field, a village shop and pub. I half expect to see Miss Marple walking up the street… The grand and partially ruined St Thomas’ Church (built at the same time as the new town) sits at its centre, and in its graveyard you can find Spike Milligan’s grave, with its famous inscription ‘I told you I was ill’. We head west out of the village, looking out across the Brede valley before skipping down the hill (it helps to keep you relaxed, rather than tensing up, Jeff persuades me) and turning back on ourselves, past Winchelsea’s sleepy station and onto the track to Rye. This final part of the route is one that we know well – it’s close to home and we run and walk it regularly. I’d often noticed the red and white plaques along it that mark the 1066 Trail and wondered what it was all about. Two days and 32 miles after leaving Pevensey, I now know. Interested in joining us on a 2-day 1066 Running Adventure this autumn? Email me or keep an eye on the website for details http://www.sam-murphy.co.uk Author Sam MurphyPosted on July 17, 2018 Categories musings about running, Running science and advice, UncategorizedTags 1066 country, 1066 Country Walk, Battle, Battle abbey, Battle of Hastings, East Sussex, group run, guided run, Herstmonceux Castle, running adventure, running challenge, Running Forever, running holiday, Rye, Sam MurphyLeave a comment on Get Your Kicks On Route 1066	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line877
__label__cc	0.619146	0.380854	12 or 20 (second series) questions: with Laurie Fuhr Laurie Fuhr [photo: Messagio Galore III, Calgary by ryan fitzpatrick] has lived in Cold Lake, Germany, Ottawa, and Winnipeg, but now lives in Calgary, where she is Managing Editor of filling Station Magazine. Her work has been published in various Canadian periodicals and anthologies, usually with colons in their titles, most recently Rogue Stimulus: The Stephen Harper Holiday Anthology for a Prorogued Parliament (Mansfield Press 2010) and Leonard Cohen: You’re Our Man (Foundation for Public Poetry 2009). Her most recent chapbook is night flying: Cold Lake Poems (Pooka Press 2009). 1 - How did your first chapbook change your life? How does your most recent work compare to your previous? How does it feel different? Technically, I feel like I had three first chapbooks. My first first chapbook was self-published in only 10 copies or so, printed out painstakingly on an inkjet printer, one side of a ½ piece of paper at a time. It was called Newsprint Butterflies, and I got my boyfriend Pat to draw a picture for the cover. If you could judge a book by its cover, then it was beautiful, but I’m sure the poems weren’t great. My second first chapbook was a bunch of surreal love poems I’d written in bed while spaced on codeine after I’d gotten my appendix out; there was only one copy, which went to the same boyfriend who I felt in my delirium had saved my life by calling for help, and the deal was that it was his and I didn’t even get to keep a copy. His best friend took pleasure in telling me that he’d burned it after we broke up. In response, before the love of my life got married just one year later, I papered his neighbourhood with a poem I’d written for him. That experience could have been life changing; first, because it was a crazy act of poetry that I hadn’t known I’d had in me til then, and second, that most of my poetry since has been like underwater communications with past or unrequited love(rs). I’ve lost that a little bit in adulthood, done my best, but it’s been hard to rewire.. I still write the most under romantic duress. When I received my first real chapbook by an actual established micropress (above/ground), I thought, now I’ve really gotten somewhere! Now I had something of my own to leave on the tables at the Royal Oak like a guerilla poetry activist, and I got to be the one signing copies. I fully believed I was a great poet and that I would publish my first small press spine book in the next couple of years, not wait until I’m 30 or so like the other poets. I’m 31 now and I was wrong. I seemed to spend all my 20s just trying to survive, it took many broke years before I finally even had my hands on my own computer. At first, I let myself be drawn into my Ottawa friends’ bohemian lifestyle on purpose because it had a kind of Beat appeal for writing, but later, those choices plus bad luck created the circumstances that forced me to move back to Mom & Dad’s. Since those early works, my poetry has changed for sure. Despite my surrounds in Calgary, amongst these very experimental writers they’re breeding like rabbits in the English labs of U of C, I just haven’t had the heart to go far in that direction. If I suddenly thought of some super awesome concept no one else had, maybe I would, but for the most part I find concept poetry disappointing, the poetry that comes out of the concepts is usually not as good as the concepts themselves. At the same time, I really respect the work experimental writers are doing. I do believe experimentation is absolutely essential to the growth and continuation of Canadian lit and to lit anywhere. I read what they do with excitement and awe. It’s just that in the end, what I really hope to find when I feel the urge to go looking for poetry on bookshelves is poetry that I can personally connect with, usually those revelations that come out of creative and original metaphors and similes. When they’re not cliché, they’re the blueprints to thought, and the best poems don’t completely show you all their plans – they leave some walls and windows out and force you to fill in the blanks yourself, so that you’re having a similar eureka to what the poet had the moment they thought of the poem. So with those ideals in mind, that’s what I hope can happen for people when they’re reading the writing I do lately. Well, truthfully I did write stories first when I was really little; I remember I wrote a haunted house story, probably ripping off every cliché Halloween creature story front left and centre like a Grade 4 JK Rowling, and my teacher made a big deal out of it and told my parents they thought I was onto something. Naturally, they decided to encourage an interest in figure skating. When I think about it, I came to poetry several times before it stuck. I wrote a couple of little poems when I was a little kid too, eight or so, mostly as an excuse to type on the Commodore 64 with two fingers and to print things out on the noisy dot matrix printer, they were poems about saving wild horses and spooky Celtic sounding junk. Poetry started in me again later on when I was looking at an anthology of poetry at my best Cold Lake skating friend’s house during a visit to her new place in Sackville, NS, when I was fourteen I think. She saw I was interested and gave me a little flowered notebook with a note in it that she believed in me, by far the sweetest thing anyone had ever done, especially since my own family were very emotionally inexpressive, at least in nice ways. My first notebook poem was about disappointment that the sea at Peggy’s Cove when I was visiting didn’t fill me with inspiration like it did for people in books, but I guess it did in a way. Anyway, later still in high school poetry, came for me again in the form of the school’s only hippie, who pretty much insisted I be his friend, even though I was trying to be cool and hang out with the preppy girls despite their vacuity -- I was determined not to be an outcast as I’d been in junior high, Cold Lake, where the kids decided since I had a German last name and moved there from Germany I must be a Nazi. Armour the hippie rescued me from prepdom, he lived 2 doors down, and we’d sit in his basement listening to early metal records or obscure classic rock while we’d both write something for about an hour and then show it to each other. His basement had a weird smell, probably eau de unwashed hippie plus the curbside furniture he and his Mom used to find (I honestly just caught the scent of it again as I was writing). Soon, he and I stumbled into a café in Ottawa one night and came across a Dusty Owl reading, so that we learned there was a lit community. A handsome old guy handed us flyers and told us to come to things. I’m now a bit older than that old guy was, and I’m the one handing out the flyers. However, I’ve been writing more songs, short fiction, and creative non-fiction now than I ever did before, moreso than poetry.. for some reason, I really like writing when I’m in motion, like on a Greyhound Bus going through all the odd little towns on the way up to visit my parents in Cold Lake. On a bus trip like that, you’re not obligated to do anything but ride it, you can’t distract yourself with guilt about needing to do the dishes. Also, I think the constant motion of the scenery in your eyes reflects somewhat into the way your brain works, it can keep your thoughts in motion too. I filled half my notebook on my way to Cold Lake at Christmas, a lot of it about the scary Edmonton terminal and goings-on there. In Calgary, I know people who can do research and sit down at a desk and write an entire book of poems. I’ve wanted to do that; for awhile I was researching the world of lightning survivors, they have this annual conference in the States, and survivors get all these weird symptoms, I thought there should be a book of poetry about that. It’s really fascinating, but I look at research notes I’ve made and they don’t inspire me in a way I can use. Poetry comes to me differently. The process is that I need to have an open mind at all times and sort of have the idea of poetry at the back of it, and I need to carry a notebook. And then I’ll see things and hear things throughout the day that will trigger some thought or line or two, and I’ll write it down. I guess in that way it comes quickly, at least once it’s happening. The city of Ottawa really inspired me more than anywhere else has, I loved to float around all day just being a poet and carrying my guitar around, observing things and meeting people, staring up at Gothic architecture, and I filled countless notebooks. In Calgary, under adult stress and doing administrative dayjobs, it’s been much harder to do a lot of writing. Never a book from the beginning, so far. About those lines that come on location usually, sometimes I let that first line coax a poem out of me right then and there, if I’ve got time. More often these days I’m on my way to work or somewhere and I can’t get it down, so I find myself with a collection of first lines later which can usually be sewn together into a poem that somehow ends up looking pretty seamless. Personally, more an answer to the end of question 3, I feel that there is no creative hand and editing hand that need to be kept separate, as people like to say; there’s creativity in the editing hand too, at least for me. It’s a usable skill when trying out Plunderverse; I’m a bit of a collagist at times, and similarly, it’s fun to find all my favourite lines in someone’s book and make a poem out of it. I did that with Natalee Caple’s Fall 2010 poetry book, The Semiconducting Dictionary (Our Strindberg), and wrote a song using that method for the first time, all made out of sutured together lines that made a kind of sense together when put in a very specific order. One of the bands I’m in performed it at her Calgary book launch, and unfortunately for the other music I’ve written, it’s probably my best. Still, while it’s fun, I get that it’s not exactly mine because the words are someone else’s. I’ve been so busy with filling Station the past few years, the last sort of ms project I had together were my Cold Lake poems, written over the two years I spent there as an adult after leaving Ottawa. Lately I’m the one arranging the readings, so I don’t do a lot of them since I don’t like the way it looks if I schedule myself in; occasionally I’m asked, and I’m happy to do them, but usually people forget to ask me cause they think of me as an organizer more than a poet I think. This year, I’m hoping to pass on the fS torch to just the right candidate and do a lot more of my own writing again. It’s hard to be too many things at once really well, even though they’re related. I’m starting to think Aristotle was right, that you can only really do one thing well in your life. This is only sinking in after I tried to do everything I’m capable at once these past few years, organizing and editing and writing and operating grants and bands and relationship and friends and work work work, and suddenly went from a happy caffeine junky to just about having a nervous breakdown. My nervous system betrayed me once I had betrayed it. Anyway, more readings one day soon I hope. The questions I think I’m answering while I’m writing a poem are, is this the right word to go right here? Does it mean right, sound right, feel right, does it fit what it feels like I’m trying to say in the way I want to say it? Sounds pretty basic I’m sure, but all other questions are put aside until I’m looking at it later. At that point, I can ask the piece all kinds of questions, but it just sits there mutely, being what it is. Maybe that’s part of why it’s hard to get them into book form unless they’re attached to some particular place that lends itself as a theme. 7 - What do you see the current role of the writer being in larger culture? Does s/he even have one? What do you think the role of the writer should be? The writer writes, physically, but beyond that what they’re doing is generating new ideas constantly. They are imagination factories. In all other fields, you need to be an expert at something else, for example, a scientist had better be good at physically manipulating the junk in the petrie dish with the little tiny tweezers, and that junk has go to behave in a certain way to make his hypothesis into a theory, and then the theory needs testing. There are all of these physical factors that delay coming to conclusions. The writer is unfettered by any of that. As long as he or she can find the right words, they can cause anything the world can do to happen on a page and see what that’s like. From there, others can take those ideas and see what can be made concrete, but those concrete actions are happening after the ideas, the ideas don’t depend on them. If it wasn’t for writers, I don’t think we’d have a lot of the technology we use every day, or very many of the movies we like to watch for entertainment, or the Constitution and Human Rights act that govern our society (or are supposed to), we wouldn’t have cars or airplanes if someone hadn’t thought of it and written it down first. These are great big concrete examples though; imagine the repercussions on the harder to see, optically elusive world of human thought, of philosophy and psychology and everything we use to see the world. If it wasn’t for writers, we wouldn’t have eyes, just blank windows. Although I don’t believe I’ve found the right editor for me yet, I’m convinced that finding the right editor for one’s work is key. Because of filling Station, I’ve had people ask me to look at their manuscripts. But if their work isn’t connecting in some way with the work that I do, I feel like I’m not the best person for the job, and also, the right editor should not be a friend, repeat, should not be a friend, which is hard when the writing community is so small. Feeling that to be the case, I’ve friendlied up to far too many writers who could have been my editors. So now, the task is to read and find someone whose work aligns in some way with my own and who I don’t know yet, and who is a good editor, and see if they’ll look at my work. I think it’s good advice for any writer out there. You just can’t get a useful, objective sense of your work from someone you’re pals with, or from someone whose work is much much different from yours. The best piece of advice is one that I’ve been telling writers and musicians ever since it’s occurred to me, so that it’s even come back around my way from someone who forgot I was the one who’d told it to them, and that way I can say I’ve received it. I was watching Anne-Marie MacDonald on TV once talking about how divine inspiration hits her over the head and she just writes a whole book. That same week, I heard another interview with a writer who claimed she didn’t know where her ideas came from and felt there was a spooky outside force, and that this made writers special people who can be the conduits for those forces. I call bullshit. There are too many musicians and writers I’ve come across that buy into that stuff and they can’t write anything, they’ve got permanent writers block because they’re waiting for divine inspiration to come knocking on their door. But the secret is to write anyway, because you just can’t imagine what it is that’s going to come out of you until it’s coming out. Trust yourself and write and write, and you learn somehow, and that’s how you get good over time. Also, advice to former self from future self: There’s no God, there’s no heaven, and even the people who will remember you are all going to die, until there’s no one left to remember you or anyone you love. A moment of time is less than a speck, and an era, maybe a grain in the history of the world. Even if you publish a much-loved book that’s the case, so that egotistical making-your-mark on the world stuff doesn’t fly. You might as well do whatever you can to make yourself feel better about the inevitability of these facts, and if it’s writing, you might as well try. Oh, and while you’re at it, try to quit feeling like a victim despite believing all of this, and don’t get depressed, it doesn’t help anyone to like you better. Wishing I had a writing routine, again I carry a notebook around with me and write things down as they come, or else I open a Word file at work when no one’s watching so I can get a few lines out as they occur. A day for me lately is just too busy. It begins by getting up, getting ready as fast as possible while looking presentable and professional like the other girls in the office, a little cleavage (courtesy) but not too much (professionalism), and then I go get the bus, I only have a short bus ride so I’ve barely caught my breath by the time I get to work, no writing usually there, and then I’m sitting for hours doing up spreadsheets and using weird programs to draw weird reports full of jargon that someone somewhere cares about, and phone calls for my manager who’s somehow never at her desk, and people from my department come to my desk asking for rubber thumbs… lunch comes, it’s just a half an hour, enough time to walk around a bit and stretch my atrophying legs, notice once more the wishing well with the sign that you’re not allowed to put any pennies in since the chlorine corrodes them, and it’s back to my cubicle.. the end of the day comes, I bus back home, change my clothes, eat something quick, get on another bus, because tonight’s the reading and I should be there if I expect anyone else to go, or else it’s band practice, or else I’m doing door for someone, or else I’m going to visit my boyfriend’s family who like to party in a chips and pop sort of way… Actually, at this very moment I’m out of work, and come to think of it, I’m pretty glad! But after almost two months of being out of work, applying and genuinely trying but somehow with the economy or whatever not getting the job, I feel like I’m still working through the stress aftershock of my lifestyle. Plus, it’s grant time, so I’ve got to get through that. But after, in a couple of weeks from now, I just might have time and stress relief enough to read and to write! Hopefully by then I won’t be employed… for the first time in my life I’ve got Employment Insurance, hallelujah. Reading is very key for me. I need to read a lot, and I need to discover new writing that really excites me. Somehow out of the act of discovering the screw that turns in the new poems, the ability to make poetic connections in my brain gets turned the right way again too. What comes out as a result won’t have anything to do with what I’ve just read, but it comes out. 12 - What did your favourite teacher teach you? My favourite teacher taught me to play Stairway to Heaven before I knew what any of the notes or chords were called. More than Stairway, what this taught me was to just dive in and figure out the technical stuff later. I did a bit of nature inspired writing up in Cold Lake, bumming around the Provincial Park, but it’s not my best.. I love music, but it’s music with lyrics I love, so I’m not inspired to say something different when I’m listening to it, it makes me want to sing along. Science is really interesting, but what I’ve tried to write from looking at amazing articles in Discover Magazine for example have produced horrendous and cold Chris Dewdney nightmares of verse. Visual art, on the other hand – sometimes that does it for me. My favorite piece I’ve written was at a student art installation, part of a student exhibition at Calgary’s Alberta College of Art & Design (ACAD). Meags Fitzgerald created a room completely out of different methods of fibre and textile art that replicated the room she had been born in. Her mother had birthed her right on the master bedroom’s king sized bed, and there had been pictures. It was a complete room, you could walk in, very pink, and there were embroidered hockey cards on the felt dresser, even woven pop bottles on the night stand. It gave me the idea that as a baby being born, if the first thing Meags felt was the fabric of the bed, the baby’s interpretation could have been that everything it could see was also made out of similar, and that although Meags couldn’t have remembered that, subconsciously it could have somehow informed the work. Weird idea I know, but it inspired a poem I liked quite a bit, which I wrote in her Guest Book and never saw again. I recommend looking up Meags online, really amazing stuff. Life outside my writing work is that awful dayjob stuff I was describing, and there’s barely enough room in it to fit me into it, let alone books. When I’m reading I’m thankfully transported within my true self, my writing work self. While I love a lot of poetry, writers who always inspire me to write when I read them are Karen Solie, Evie Christie, Carolyn Forche, and Anne Michaels (though I’ve read her work too much, it doesn’t work quite as well anymore). Particularly, the work of French writers in translation seems to get me going, some not all, Brossard over Moure for sure. Brossard has more heart, I can’t outgrow the want of that. Also, when I read your work I tend to read a whole book in one sitting and then I absolutely need to write, I think it’s something about the patterns of the words that get into my head and make my own poetry want to respond. Thank goodness you’ve got a lot of books, keep them coming! The other night, I dreamed I was covered in artistic body paint of really vibrant colours in the blue and red palettes, but basically I was walking around naked. It’s something I haven’t done yet in real life, and wouldn’t, but it felt pretty sexy. I’m thinking I should start a burlesque troupe for girls with miniscule breasts, but then again, I’ve got a lot on the go as it is. Before writing, I had a couple of near misses when it comes to other occupations. I wanted to be an Olympic figure skater really badly, it wasn’t the artistry that attracted me but the athleticism and wanting to push boundaries and do crazy new stunts, but it turned out I have a bum hip and my body wouldn’t cooperate when it was time to learn the big jumps. If it had, I’d probably be doing that, maybe not Olympic but close, I was really fearless and not lacking in determination and ambition. Since then, I’ve tried to do pretty much everything that I’ve wanted to do simultaneously – writing, playing guitar, playing bass, singing, writing articles for the paper, events management, etc. What’s there to fear when at least your body can’t betray you in those activities? Not unless I get carpal tunnel anyway. Who knows where I’d be if I had more resources and could have afforded to finish school back at Carleton, and/or had better grades, if I had not become a hippie n’er do well in my last year of high school, skipping class to read Howl cover to cover at the Rideau Street Chapters. If I had gotten into my chosen program, I would have become a journalist, which isn’t so far from creative writing at its best - the articles I’ve written about bands and shows have been pretty creative. But what if I had unlimited resources.. hmm. I think I would have tried to become a fighter pilot. There were a few women pilots on the Cold Lake air base with nicknames like Voodoo Zombie that I thought were pretty awesome. Though, at one point I was determined to start a female NHL, after a particularly good floor hockey sesh. So far, despite the skating and mad floor hockey skills, I haven’t had a chance to actually play hockey. I’ll wager wanting to play hockey is more of a national sport statistically than actually playing hockey. I think what’s kept me writing through periods of self-doubt and despair has been loyalty and respect for those who have inspired me, in a way. There’s no better story in my life than the one where I had no passion and no direction, and was really pretty miserable, and this person, Armour, befriended me and gave me the keys to this world where you can make anything you can think of happen on a page, and the laws of physics, or of the lower middle class, or of your parents’ interpretation of the world don’t matter. It’s something no one can take away from me, it’s something I can afford on any budget, it’s something portable I can bring with me, I can use it to escape from people or to connect with people who don’t know I love them. What could be better than writing? Right now I’m finishing Good to a Fault by Marina Endicott. For the first third of the book, it was okay, but I didn’t think the writing was Giller worthy. But what happens with the main character hooked me in hard; she has nothing, gains everything she didn’t know she was missing, and then loses everything again, partly because of something that was done to her, but mostly through her own reactions to that, behaving as a tragically disappointed person. It is so emotionally gripping and resonant, I can’t stand it. I’ve only got about 30 pages to go. The last great film was a fairly obscure Sarah Polley movie called My Life Without Me. In it, a young woman learns she has terminal cancer, but she doesn’t want to tell anyone. She goes to a diner and makes a secret list of everything she wants to do in the next few months before she dies, and she secretly goes out to accomplish those things. She doesn’t even tell her mother. It’s got to be one of the most emotionally turbulent films I’ve ever seen, it’s gorgeous, and I had to look up one of the obscure songs on the soundtrack, called "Sometime Later" by Alpha. filling Station’s operating grant for Canada Council. We lost our funding, even though we’d heard from other mags that they’re not supposed to be able to completely cut it. Magazines aren’t selling well enough, the grantors want small mags to go digital so they don’t have to pay the printing bills anymore, but that can’t happen immediately, it takes manpower and funds to transition, and time to transition those subscribers who can be, and attract new ones. Grantors on two levels also hated our Visual Poetry issue, well it was just one feature in one issue and we put it on the cover. The juries felt it was fair to compare visual poetry created by poets for poetic effect with the work of trained, pro visual artists found in other arts magazines. This was part of what inspired our Visual Poetry Mock Trial back in January, Gary Barwin’s been talking about it on his blog. Anyway, fingers crossed – if we don’t get it this round we’re in serious kaka. Oh, you meant my work? The most recent thing I’ve written was a story set in Ottawa for the Broken Pencil Indie Writers Death Match with the perhaps inauspicious title of Cocaine Wayne and vs. Neon Sam: Or, the Return of Mafia Charlie. I found part of it in my papers up in Cold Lake from ages ago and decided to edit it and finish it, but I ended up not submitting it, it got a bit long and out of control. Still, I had the great experience of being carried away with it for hours, completely oblivious to time, much like I have been with these 12 or 20 questions. It has me excited to try writing more short fiction. I really like the work writers like Ian Orti and Mike Spry have been doing lately, Snare’s been publishing interesting things. Labels: 12 or 20 questions, filling Station, Laurie Fuhr, Messagio Galore Managing Editor said... Thanks rob! I was thinking someone should 12 or 20 you, and then Derek 10'd you.. excellent! fS has a new site coming really soon, we'll be sending round Lucky Seven questions to folks - you won't be immune to the luck.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line878
__label__wiki	0.561051	0.561051	Pastoral visit to St. Catherine of Siena Parish, Mountain Lakes BEACON PHOTO \| JOE GIGLI PASTORAL VISIT Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Mountain Lakes Jan. 31 where he celebrated Mass marking the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Bishop makes pastoral visit to St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Mountain Lakes MOUNTAIN LAKES Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. Catherine of Siena Parish here Jan. 31 where he celebrated Mass marking the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The parish’s history began in 1956 when Bishop McNulty responded to queries from a committee of Catholics in Mountain Lakes sent Father David McCarthy to establish a mission there. The first Mass was celebrated in the Mountain Lakes Club on July 15, 1956. A residence and weekday chapel was purchased at 18 Vale Rd. The following year, St. Catherine’s was advanced to parish status and the church was built on Boulevard and North Pocono Road in 1958. A parish center was built in 1987.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0043.json.gz/line895

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