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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Television
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987) Season 4 Part 1 Review
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Mark Pellegrini
You have no idea how I labored over this review. And not the actual review part either, but just trying to wrap my ahead around how I was going to tackle the Fred Wolf TMNT cartoon’s fourth season. You see, the way the fourth season episodes were broadcast in America was a hot freakin’ mess and I really wasn’t sure just how I should go about reviewing them. Let me break it down for you.
“Peking Turtle” (written by Antonio Ortiz and Carmela Ortiz)
Bringing General Chen Chang’s ancient army of marble warriors to life, Shredder sends them to destroy the Turtles.
For the record, Michelangelo started using his grappling hook as a full-time replacement for the ‘chucks last episode, I think (despite the ‘chucks still being on his belt). He only used it once in that episode, so I almost didn’t notice, but in “Peking Turtle” he’s using it on a regular basis. Since I can’t think of a better time to drop my two cents on the subject, I’ll just say that I think the grappling hook kind of sucked. I get why they chose that as a replacement weapon, since it was kinda-sorta like the nunchakus in that he had something to swing around, but when the other three Turtles all have the same weapon in their arsenal, it doesn’t feel very unique. Back in the first season, Mike used a manriki-gussari on a one-off occasion; that might have been a better choice. Heck, I even kind of like the tonfa he used in the Next Mutation TV series. Anything but a wimply grappling hook. But eh. What’s done is done.
Some jokes are dumb, some are chuckle-worthy and some are really, really funny
So far, I’ve been coming down pretty hard on season 4, but never let it be said I am a completely joyless individual. “Peking Turtle” is actually really well scripted. It’s paced nicely with a single focused conflict and subplots that seemed meaningless at first (the TMNT’s newfound obsession with basketball) actually come into play at the conclusion. And on top of all those fundamentals of cartoon scripting, “Peking Turtle” is actually drowning in jokes; just one after another in machinegun succession. Some are dumb, some are chuckle-worthy and some are really, really funny; but the episode fires so many at you that the bad ones don’t have time to linger.
Authors Antonio and Carmela Ortiz also take a few self-aware jabs at the repetitive nature of the show’s formula, which is a welcomed bit of refreshment. When Krang orders Shredder to kidnap April, Shredder deadpans to the camera, “Not a bad idea. We’ve done it about thirty or so times already, but hey, who’s counting?” I think “thirty or so” times is a rather conservative estimate, but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.
The Fred Wolf TMNT cartoon was a self-aware show with no regard for the fourth wall, but far too often it didn’t utilize that quality to its full extent or just didn’t handle it well. “Peking Turtle” is an example of the fourth wall-breaking done right.
As for the plot, well, this is another example of a well-written episode disguising a questionable conflict. I mean, why would Krang want to take control of General Chang’s marble warriors? He has his own army of rock soldiers right there in Dimension X. It’s just like him stealing the growth ray in “Turtles of the Jungle”, except the constant barrage of genuinely funny jokes doesn’t give the viewer time to think about any of that.
And on top of that, the squash and stretch animation studio seems to have been having one of their better days when they did this one. It isn’t riddled with the same technical errors that have plagued the previous episodes this season and there are a few brief, impressive little moments (Donatello jump-kicking the General Chang marble soldier, Leonardo deflecting arrows with his sword). While the studio isn’t named in the credits, it does list all the animators by name, and they’re all Western names. So it looks like I was right last season when I said these guys weren’t from Korea or the Philippines. There’s a production card for a Murakami-Wolf-Swenson (Dublin) division, but I don’t want to say they’re necessarily the animation studio. Production studios and animation studios aren’t always one in the same.
“Shredder’s Mom” (written by Ted Pederson and Francis Moss)
When Shredder launches a global warming scheme to fry Earth into submission, his mother decides to come out of retirement and take control of the operation. Meanwhile, the Turtles have to find a way to get to Dimension X and destroy the satellite that’s baking the Earth.
Some while ago, when I reviewed G.I. Joe Series 2 Season 1, I remarked that “villain’s mom comes by for a visit and hilarity ensues” is one of those stock, standby animation plots. And guess what? It really is. I’m just surprised it took TMNT until season 4 to resort to it.
That being said, “Shredder’s Mom” isn’t a particularly awful episode, either. Pederson and Moss offer a pretty good string of running gags, my favorite of which being the low rent booby traps littered about the Technodrome (such as writing “main computer room in here” in crayon on a sheet of paper, taping it to a door and the Turtles falling for it). The problem isn’t so much the jokes, but the feeling that they don’t get enough out of the situation. Shredder’s mom should be much funnier than she winds up being and she spends more time playing off of Krang (whom she gets along with swimmingly) than pestering her son. Still, the idea that there’s a retirement home for geriatric supervillains is pretty great. So great, in fact, that both The Tick and Powerpuff Girls would swipe the idea.
Pederson and Moss also struggle to try and cram in a “moral” to the episode and it is really awkward. They forego the obvious lesson of global warming (an environmental message) and instead try to work in a subplot about simple tools (an abacus) being more reliable than high tech equipment (a space shuttle’s onboard computer). It serves no purpose whatsoever.
And I suppose I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that the writers (and the story editor) didn’t catch an annoying mistake: Thinking that Shredder’s last name is “Saki” and his first name is “Oroku”. In Japanese, the familial name comes first and the given name comes second. So Oroku is actually Shredder’s last name from a Western perspective. The writers messed that up, however, and Shredder’s mom is named Miyoko Saki (and she addresses Shredder as Oroku). If it’s any consolation, the writers would stay consistent with that screw-up; when Shredder’s brother shows up next season, he’ll be named Kazuo Saki.
On one last note, this is the first episode of the season to be animated by whatever Japanese studio Fred Wolf had employed. The animation is more polished than in the episodes by the squash and stretch studio, though even the Japanese studio has its setbacks; namely a lot of talking head shots, a low framerate and minimal lip syncing. Still, it’s a pretty good-looking episode (at least compared to the company it keeps).
“Four Turtles and a Baby” (written by Misty Taggart)
When General Traag invades the Neutrino capital, King Zenter and Queen Gizzla send their daughter, Princess Tribble, to the Turtles for safekeeping. Shredder needs the infant as a hostage so he can conquer the Neutrinos and fights the Turtles for her.
Another plot retread. Can you believe the series isn’t even halfway finished and already the writers are going back to the same wells? In the case of “Four Turtles and a Baby”, it’s a general plot outline we already suffered through in “The Grybyx” and “Mr. Ogg Goes to Town”. Basically, a being from another Dimension lands in the TMNT’s lap and uses weird powers to make their lives miserable. Been there, done that. But this time it’s a baby!
The shtick in this episode isn’t so good and a lot of the humor falls flat. I’ll give it credit for having one of the Shredder’s funniest lines, though. While searching baby buggies for Tribble, he looks at one of the babies, winces, turns to the mother and says, “What an ugly child. My condolences.”
Still, it’s not a bad episode in that it shows us the Neutrinos beyond the three hot rodding teenagers we’ve already met (odd that they’re completely absent from this episode). The whole retro ‘50s motif of Zott, the Neutrino capital, is a pretty neat bit of background design (the government building is a giant vinyl-spinning jukebox). In regards to the Neutrino royal family, they won’t appear in the cartoon again, but they’ll make a couple appearances elsewhere. They’ll show up in the Super Turtles manga by Hidemaki Idemitsu and, more recently, in the TMNT comic published by IDW.
IDW gave Princess Tribble an ever-so-subtle age boost.
For whatever reason, the syndicated episodes of season 4 are more or less pretty lousy. CBS got the better selection of stories, with episodes featuring popular characters like Slash, Lotus, Rat King, Mona Lisa and others. The syndicated episodes drew mostly short straws. I say this because while this batch of episodes had a couple gems mixed in with the debris, the last half of the syndicated episodes are even worse. But we’ll get to them in due time.
In this article:review, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, television
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A new primetime adult Flintstones cartoon is on the way
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From billboards to Twitter, why the aesthetics of protest matters more today
By Olu Jenzen • June 26, 2018 Uncategorized
Frances McDormand in the film that inspired many protesters. Merrick Morton/Fox Searchlight Pictures
Olu Jenzen, University of Brighton
The recriminations and investigations into the Grenfell Tower fire continue to reverberate a year on, and campaigners and activists have played an important role in keeping up the pressure on those investigating the fire and its aftermath. One of the campaigns that generated a lot of attention through social media was the #Justice4Grenfell billboard campaign, which riffed on the 2018 Oscar-winning film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
The film tells the story of Mildred, a mother (played by Frances McDormand) who rents three billboards to campaign about the unsolved murder of her daughter; billboard advertisements whose stark aesthetic the Grenfell campaigners borrowed.
It is the story of an individual’s grievance with the justice system and of a mother’s grieving for her daughter, but it is also about the place of activism in society. The film has resonated with protest groups around the world, who have adopted the style of the billboard campaign from the film into their own repertoire. The Progressive Turnout Project’s campaign for gun control in the aftermath of the Parkland school shooting, campaigners calling for an investigation into the murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta, or the humanitarian organisations calling for UN Security Council intervention in the Syrian civil war are all notable examples.
These campaigns strive to capitalise on the media buzz around a successful film by linking their off-screen activism to it. But also the style of billboard protest is something that can be easily replicated, as if to a template, and this analogue mode of protest communication – the billboard – in an age of digital culture and social media dominance has its own appeal.
Another Three Billboards-style campaign, this time on gun control in the US. Progressive Turnout Project
Activists use Hollywood as a springboard
The sometimes unexpectedly creative responses audiences have to themes of struggles for social justice, rebellion or oppression in films or television are interesting. For example, the 2009 sci-fi blockbuster Avatar’s message of eco-activism led to many blue-painted protests, in reference to the tall, blue-skinned aliens fighting for their home in the film.
More recently women’s rights protests have often featured protesters dressed in red robes and white bonnets, referencing the television adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. These contemporary protests refer to the drama’s dystopian future of patriarchal rule over women and their reproductive rights. The visual impact of these red robes and white bonnets is powerful: the anachronistic dress is stark and simple, the outfits cloak women in blood-red anonymity, but with connotations of a protest army in uniform.
By simply appearing dressed as handmaids, as some did to attend a legislative debate at the Ohio Statehouse on the removal of abortion rights, the protesters’ silent presence itself is a clear communication of their activism – and a ready-made, visually dramatises image for the press. It is not just that these campaigns gain some attention through referencing popular culture; they illustrate how contemporary protest movements combine the visual composition skills typically found in the creative industries with a keen understanding of online modes of expression such as memes and hashtags.
The appeal of analogue
Protest signs have even more power now that photographs of them can spread so widely online, such as this from 2011 UK protests.
Billboard protests insert a slice of social activism into an otherwise purely commercial space – using the tools of the advertising trade to sabotage or disrupt the commercial message we expect. Activists may only be able to afford the billboard space for a very limited time, and it will be seen by only a limited audience. But it is photographs of the billboard that are the main objective, and similar approaches – such as photographs of people holding up handwritten signs – can become powerful tools when digitised and shared online as memes. Billboards belong to the fast-moving realm of advertising, expected to appeal for a short time and soon be replaced with something else. But the internet is forever, as the saying goes, and material shared online can reach vastly more people and for longer.
Why go through the trouble of using a billboard at all, if the main objective is to reach people online? Why not just create a digital poster and publish it online? Non-digital techniques have come to signify authenticity and effort over digital artworking skills or Photoshopping. The billboards’ publicness is also a factor: the billboard shouts indiscriminately to all passers by: this concerns all of you. This is an important dimension in an online world increasingly comprised of social media bubbles of like-minded people.
The simplicity of the three red billboards used in the film and replicated by others – simple printed text using the Impact typeface over a background – is an aesthetic template. It resonates with the popular online culture of creating and sharing memes, in which, for example, the same picture is used as the basis for many variations with different text. The US Human Rights Campaign in support of marriage equality in 2013 used a monochromatic red campaign logo, an example that shows very well how a great template can lead to creative alternations and variations – which in turn leads to greater sharing, and so greater engagement with the campaign.
The aesthetics of protest matters. As our research into protest communication illustrates, to understand contemporary protest and the way political expression and participation has become intertwined with social media online means that the visual, material, textual and performance elements of protest, from tweeted images to graffiti, clothes, music, art, even the rhetoric and humour of slogans, need to be looked at in their own right.
Olu Jenzen, Senior Lecturer in Media Studies, University of Brighton
The Introvert’s Protest – An Interview with Artist Morgan O’Hara
By Olu Jenzen • December 7, 2017 Uncategorized
by Aidan McGarry
In January 2017, as the inauguration of Donald Trump neared, New York-based artist, Morgan O’Hara felt the need to protest. As a concerned artist, she had marched many times, but this moment seemed to call for something else. She wanted stay clear of the campaign’s toxic excesses, and take action silently. On Jan. 5 she woke up with the idea of copying the U.S. Constitution by hand. While she often hand-copies texts as part of her art practice, she hadn’t thought much about the Constitution before. She only knew she wanted to do it, and to do it with others in a public space. On Inauguration Day she went to the New York Public Library with a small suitcase of pens, a few Sharpies, papers and copies of the Constitution. She brought old notebooks, half-used drawing pads and loose sheets to share with anyone who might show up. She began writing.
To date she has organised 43 sessions. ‘Handwriting the Constitution’ has been taken up in many states in the United States, as well as in Italy, Germany, and Portugal. Plans for next year include sessions in Ireland, Israel and Japan. In each case, people handwrite their chosen documents written to protect human rights.
Morgan O’Hara is an artist. Her work can be found in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Gallery in Washington, the British Museum and elsewhere. Aidan McGarry spoke with her about the ‘Handwriting the Constitution’ project, protest, and politics.
AMG: You describe your project ‘Handwriting the Constitution’ as the introvert’s protest? What does this mean to you?
MOH: Well, it is an example of protesting which is silent and pretty much immobile, as opposed to the kinds of protests which were happening at the time of Trump’s inauguration, or have traditionally been done where people go out and march, chant slogans, or yell or wave banners. All of those are quite extrovert activities which I have done in the past, but this situation got me to thinking about what an introvert could do. I thought this action had to be something quiet, something silent, but active. I don’t know exactly where the idea came from but I woke up one day and it was in my head to handwrite the constitution and it made me smile because an introvert can write something, can read something and it can still be an act of protest. I soon realised I had to do it in a public place so I decided to do it at New York Public Library in a quiet room. I think it would have been performative whether I had done it with other people or not, just because it was an action I was doing and it had its own parameters. A friend of mine asked if she could publicise it on Facebook and initially I wasn’t sure as I was concerned that it might change the quality or it could be distracting but I decided to embrace it. So I prepared extra materials in case more people turned up. At the first session, I was writing for an hour on my own, then two people I know turned up and then seven people I hadn’t met before arrived. We were soon all handwriting the constitution together.
Do you think there is a performative quality to the writing or what purpose does the action of writing serve?
The action is very important. Writing is very different from reading and typing. When you write something out it somehow gets into your head and your body in a more profound way. I think drawing serves the same function. I don’t own handwriting and I don’t own the constitution. I just happened to put them together at a key moment. The combination of the two is very powerful. It’s definitely performative even when I am there alone because when I there I feel visible as I am the only one writing. In addition, it is my intention to do this publicly as a performance. It is a private action consciously made public.
Is it just the US constitution?
No. I am interested in handwriting any documents which have been written in defence of human rights. I have written out the UN Declaration of Human Rights in Taiwan when I was working there. It didn’t make sense to write the US Constitution in that situation. Some of the participants in Taiwan chose to handwrite the Declaration alternating paragraphs in both Chinese and English.
In the testimonies of the participants I read they talk about how handwriting the constitution anchors them. How is this possible?
I’m not sure how this works, but it definitely does. It has a calming effect. It’s like reminding yourself that rights exist and that you have rights at a time when everything else is falling apart. It is the grounding; this is the earth on which we stand, the fact that we have these rights and they have been defended time and again through all these different documents. And when you are in time of crisis, these documents remind you that you have a right to live in peace, to live unmolested, to live in harmony.
I am surprised that people immediately think it is art. I have not mentioned this when describing the project. I am an artist, so I suppose people think it is art. Actually, I don’t care what it is called as long as we do it.
I think that is what is so interesting about this project. I think many people think of rights as an abstract ideal but all laws come alive when you invoke them or they are violated. So they are dead letters on a page but there is something in this project when you write them out, they are being invoked, they are made to be alive, they are not just abstract words arranged on a document. Their meaning is much more significant. Do you think that the project is political?
Yes. I have never identified myself as a political activist and I am surprised by the discussions I get into because of this. I have to learn a lot because people ask me questions about history and the documents. For me it has becomes an intellectual and conscious and creative process.
It would be interesting to see this project manifest in different places. There are places where rights are under attack like in Hungary, Turkey, Russia, Poland, and increasingly in the USA. And there are places where the squeezing of rights is more latent. That’s why it is interesting this is happening in Germany and Italy, as we think of Germany as a stable democracy but rights are constantly being squeezed and ignored. So it is good to have this, as a reminder of what you have and what you have a right to.
There’s a wonderful word in Italian when you have had enough of something, you say ‘Basta!’ which is exactly as it sounds. Enough! I take this idea-word-feeling to indicate that we have had enough with these encroachments on our rights. There has been so much in US politics which has been uncivilized and crude, not to mention illegal, and many worse things are happening in many places around the world. Collectively we need to remind ourselves of our dignity and our rights and insist that they be respected. So, yes, Handwriting the Constitution is political, yes, it’s introspective and yes, it’s performative. All three. It is also a silent action which has the potential to be transformative. I hope that in 2018 and beyond more and more people will participate and will feel empowered through this simple action.
Maybe we will benefit from our neighbours’ good fortune?
By Olu Jenzen • October 3, 2017 Uncategorized
Catherine Moriarty attended the opening and reflects on the exhibition.
Luchino Visconti’s film La Terra Trema captures the idioms and characteristics of a Sicilian fishing village. Released in 1948, the film addresses the shared experiences of this regional community and the complexities of the dynamics between the individuals it comprises. There’s a great shot of the village houses from above, which is held as the narrator says: ‘Neighbours are like roof tiles: water flows from one to another.’ (Fig.1)
Screenshot from Visconti’s La Terra Trema, 1948.
A similar Turkish expression was selected by artist Isil Egrikavuk for the exhibition she curated with the Halka Art Project, Istanbul 14 September – 14 October 2017. Inviting various artists already working together, Egrikavuk wanted to explore the nature of collective action through shared processes. Coinciding with the Istanbul Biennial with its title ‘A Good Neighbour’, Egrikavuk asked her participants to critique the assumptions of this concept and to consider the form and implications of neighbourhood in the context of contemporary Turkish politics, and its potential as a ‘field of solidarity’.
The collective ‘dadans’ did this brilliantly with their performance Playing House which considered the speaking and listening dynamics of neighbourly communications. They deployed the snooper’s device of the drinking glass held to the wall to point out the tensions of ‘keeping an ear out for’ and ‘keeping an eye on’ the neighbours. These bodily metaphors were acted out throughout the spaces of the gallery and with the many visitors present on opening night. (Fig. 2 and 3)
Dadans, Playing House, performance at Halka Art Project, 14 September 2017
Dadans, Playing House, performance at Halka Art Project, 14 September 2017. Detail of ‘speaking glass’.
In a rather different way, the collective HAH also looked at the dynamics of neighbourly proximity and the experience of knowing or not knowing the individuals we encounter. They asked visitors to write either a question, or to offer an answer, in order to generate coincidental and undetermined chains of multidirectional communication. The resulting web represented our dependency on local information exchanges whether serendipitous or sought out, understood or misconstrued. (fig. 4)
HAH, Without Encountering, Halka Art Project, 14 September 2017. Installation.
The collective Pelesiyer, based in Ankara, invited visitors to Halka art space to eat slices of fresh bread. This handsome loaf was made from the many responses the artists received from their different neighbours when they asked, ‘May I borrow a cup of flour?’ Presented in assorted vessels, the combined result of the numerous gifts was sent to a bakery in Istanbul. The flour, as the artists speculated, was made of various kinds and possibly from different bread-making cultures. The loaf, a co-produced and magnificent object, presented in front of photographs of the various gestures of giving, manifested the flows and exchanges of deliberate and direct interaction – verbal, bodily and material – complementing the work by the HAH collective which focused more on the coincidental. (Fig. 5)
Pelesiyer, Pelesiyer’s Table, Halka Art Project, 16 September 2017. Installation.
Urban development in Turkey and disregard for its impact on the relations between people in habitually shared space underpinned the Gezi park protest in 2013. The projects at Halka, the exhibition and its programme of workshops, in exploring the choreography of quotidian interaction, its familiarity yet unpredictability, and particularly its embodied nature, opened a window on the power of negotiated engagement as both restorative and potentially dissident.
Posters for the 15th Istanbul Biennial in Kadikoy, 16 September 2017.
The energy and fresh air this generated contrasted dramatically with the stifling, overheated spaces of the official Biennial with its largely predictable content, arrogant presentation, and lack of genuine hospitality. As we queued for our QR codes to be scanned at the Biennial venues on the European side of the city, the open door of Halka, over the water, seemed particularly sweet. Without doubt, Isil Egrikavuk’s project encouraged more careful observation of the way the residents of Istanbul come together and move apart, to fish on the bridges and waterside, to sit in groups along the pavements, or gather around its monuments. (Figs. 6, 7 and 8)
Fishing near the Karakoy ferry, 16 September 2017.
Sitting around the Monument to the Republic, Taksim Square, 16 September 2017.
Reflections on The Performance of Protest: a panel on visual culture and aesthetics
By Olu Jenzen • July 6, 2017 Uncategorized
by Guy Juliet
Friday 9 June, 2017. Muzzy-headed after election night, panelists and participants for the final Salon of this season filed into the dark of the ICA’s cinema space for an afternoon of laughter and concern. As a panel on the Performance of Protest, this was to focus more on the thought that, as Aidan McGarry pointed out, democracy takes place beyond the ballot box. So what ever viewpoints on the election night before remain, the struggle goes on.
Beyond the ballot box is where attitudes and political viewpoints get changed, Aidan argued. It is where positions are played out in various locations and through various media. Performance is important in this. Often, this fills out cultural fissures — the unsuspecting gaps where we don’t necessarily expect political utterances — with challenging messages.
‘La Beauté est dans la rue’: iconic slogan and image from Paris 1968
The panel itself was built on an AHRC-funded research project at the University of Brighton that is investigating the ‘Aesthetics of protest: Visual culture and communication in Turkey. This a country where, currently, there are sometimes heavy consequences to such acts. Pelin Başaran reminded us that deep strains exist at the backdrop to protest. In recent years in Turkey, over 100,000 civil servants have lost their jobs as a result of political tensions. Given the challenges of public protest, new spaces have to be found which both avoid issues of censorship but also by their very act may draw attention to the processes of censorship at the same time.
What are the choices? Presentations by Işil Eğrikaruk and Umut Korkut showed two complementary opposites. One is in the staging of complex, spectacular events that are absurd, playful and revealing. The other is in making an event of the mundane, where the simplest act becomes a radical gesture. It’s about context, of course.
In broad terms, Umut Korkut noted how authoritarianism may not necessarily disappear upon regime change. Drawing from his research in Hungary, he argued that while a backdrop of moving from command-economy state socialism to neoliberal models takes place, authoritative styles may remain and/or be extended. The use of absurdity therefore becomes a last resort in preserving hope and dignity — it outflanks the opposition.
The 2013 Taksim Gezi Park protests in Istanbul were undoubtedly important in the unfolding of various tactics of protest. The protests themselves stemmed from objections to a plan to demolish the park and build a shopping mall and luxury flats in its place.
However, beyond the concerns for the denigration of public space and environmental destruction, objections rippled out so that the Gezi Park was transformed into a symbolic space for the assertion of other positions (for instance, LGBT rights, rights to assembly or the defence of secularism). Within this, particular actions and objects became iconic: the ‘Lady in Red’; the makeshift gas mask (exhibited as part of the V&A’s ‘Disobedient Objects‘ show); the whirling dervish in gas mask. These became international, digital media events that were moved around the world that were associated with the Gezi Park protests but also a more general translation of concern into visual and material form. Ordinary acts — practising yoga, playing backgammon, having a conversation — were also assertions of humanity among the turbulence of that hot summer. If nothing else, this demonstrates the richness and breadth that is available in the aesthetics of protest.
‘Change Will Be Terrific!’ This is the title of an artistic project that Işil Eğrikavuk and Jozef E. Amado undertook in 2012. It involved a proposal to buy and exhibit the Pyramids, Parthenon and Palymira in Istanbul’s Taksim Square (before the Gezi Park issues kicked off, therefore). It culminated in a performance, photo series and rap that were presented through the medium of a TV chat show. Again, the political messages in this were multiple including the absence of new cultural developments in Istanbul and Turkey’s isolationism from its neighbours. This sophisticated project was full of twists and turns, unfolding in sometimes improvised ways as historical events caught up with it.
l. to r.: Guy Julier, Pelin Başaran, Aidan McGarry, Işil Eğrikaruk, Umut Korkut. Photo: Olu Jenzen
The close relationships of the spectacular and the mundane in the context of the aesthetics of protest seem inevitable. Borders between high and low cultural expression, the original and its serial reproduction or the functional and the symbolic are collapsed. Humour is poignant in both.
Politics and protest isn’t just about hard facts and figures but also bout capturing the imagination. Something, judging by the surprise of the UK election results and their aftermath, that Jeremy Corbyn succeeded in it seems.
Cue White Stripes, Seven Nation Army chant.
@guyjulier
Protesto Estetiği Anketi – the Gezi Park protest and aesthetics survey is now live!
By Olu Jenzen • June 6, 2017 Uncategorized
If you were involved in or followed the Gezi Park Protests, you can help us create scholarly knowledge on aesthetics of protests, by participating in the survey. We’re keen to find out about the types of artistic and / or strategic expressions that were used and shared among participants and followers of the protest as it unfolded – this may include particular imagery you found powerful, the types of slogans you found effective, the humour that made you take notice, or the type of street performances that made a statement. What did you mainly get in your Twitter feeds or on your Instagram? What was most popular among protesters? What do you remember particularly well today? What stands out?
To take the survey click here.
By Aidan Mcgarry • November 3, 2016 Uncategorized
Aidan McGarry, University of Brighton
The intersection between art and protest has been well documented in popular culture and highlights the power of aesthetics to communicate ideas across linguistic frontiers, ideological terrain and state boundaries. Historically, human existence has been characterised as much by conflict, oppression and domination as it has by peace. Such conditions are never stable because of societal desire to challenge injustice and inequality through collective struggles which shows the importance of social agency in forging change.
At the heart of politics sit protest and social movements: democracy is found more in the streets than at the ballot box due to the propensity of representative democracy to pacify the public. A celebrated image of this idea was expressed during the Paris 1968 student riots with the ‘La beauté est dans la rue’ poster. Over the years struggles have been captured and framed by artists, articulated by activists, and documented by photographers and journalists in myriad ways becoming part of our everyday culture.
The performance oof protest is communicated through images and visual culture which have the potential to resonate because they demonstrate courage and defiance in the face of a powerful adversary or threat. In 1989, the Chinese government sought to crush an uprising in Tiananmen Square in Beijing by killing several hundred in a single day. The following day, June 5th, a column of tanks was making its way across the city in a show of state strength when one lone man stood in front of the lead tank and refused to move, shaking his fist and shopping bags at the tank and placing himself in the path of the tank as it attempted to negotiate his act of defiance. Whilst his identity and fate are unknown, his protest was spread throughout the world by news media. This dramatic act signifies a public performance and represents the possibility of human agency. The fact that the Chinese government has gone to great lengths to suppress this image reveals the potential of protest aesthetics to inspire further acts of civil disobedience.
Defiance, usually peaceful, is a popular trope in protest aesthetics and has found expression in social movements around the world. In 1967, the iconic ‘Flower Power’ photo was taken in Washington D.C. by Bernie Boston during a national protest march against the Vietnam war. The war was a living drama whose political success depended on its cultural power: its ability to project powerful symbols, evoke emotions, and foster solidarity by defining ‘them’ and ‘us’ (Alexander 2011). Through protest aesthetics demonstrators changed the public discourse of the war from one concerning the defeat of communism and defending the interests of the United States abroad to one of peace or war, implying ordinary people had a choice and could influence politicians. This photo allows us to process a simple argument, asking whether we want peace or war.
When looking at significant moments of collective mobilisation, we will always find key elements: an opponent; solidarity; an action; and a representation of what happened. Whilst some inevitably argue that protest matters only if it brings about social change in terms of legislation, policy, attitudes, government, we should remain attentive to how the production of cultural texts and codes shape ideas, identities and values. An excellent example is provided by T.V. Reed in ‘The Art of Protest’ (2005) who examines the ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) which demanded medical research, legislation, treatment and policies to reduce the spread of HIV in the late 1980s. From 1987, protestors deployed diverse aesthetics in order to grab the public’s and a hesitant government’s, attention including the slogan ‘SILENCE=DEATH’ under a pink triangle, a symbol of gay persecution by the Nazis during World War 2.
The impact of AIDS and government inaction was reframed to place the emphasis on members of the LGBT community, particularly gay men, to do something about it due to the US government’s inaction. Failure to do so would mean more unnecessary deaths due to AIDS. Gay men, in the 1980s, were seen to deserve HIV due to moral deviancy and sexual perversion: ACT UP challenged this blame by symbolically representing their collective experience as a group deliberately excluded by the nation, as not being seen by the government as deserving of the protection of the state.
The US flag is re-appropriated bringing in intersectional identities including race, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation to reflect the widespread impact of HIV infection, and places the blame squarely at the government’s door. Aesthetics of protest are inherent to the formation and communication of political demands and signify socio-cultural interventions with the potential to raise consciousness and effect social change. Aesthetics of protest are crucial for political struggle as they engage communities in the dynamics of shaping hearts and minds.
Alexander, J. C. (2011) Performative Revolution in Egypt: An Essay in Cultural Power. Bloomsbury.
Reed, T. V. (2005) The Art of Protest: Cultural and Social Activism from the Civil Rights Movement to the Streets of Seattle. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Image Citations
‘La beauté est dans le rue’, Affiche – Sans tampon [Montpellier] – BnF, Département des Estampes et de la photographie, ENT QB-(1968) /W3945. Modified from original. http://expositions.bnf.fr/mai68/grand/065.htm. Accessed 03.11.16
Jeff Widener, ‘Tank Man’, Associated Press, 5 June 1989, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank_Man#/media/File:Tianasquare.jpg. Accessed 03.11.16.
Bernie Boston, ‘Flower Power’, 1967, originally printed by the Washington Star, 504 x 322, wikipedia https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/52/Flower_Power_by_Bernie_Boston.jpg. Accessed 03.11.16.
ACT UP New York (organisation), ‘Silence Equals Death’, pink triangle on Black backdrop, 1987, Wellcome Library no. 669136i Photo number: L0052822. Accessed 03.11.16.
ACT UP New York (organisation), ‘American Flag ACT UP Poster,’ Greenwich Village History, http://jonreeve.com/dev/gvh3/items/show/2394. Accessed 03.11.16.
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Terra Foundation Announces Nearly $7M in American Art Grants
Students from Oakland High School visit the exhibition The Moment for Ink, at San Francisco State University, among the many American art exhibitions and programs supported by the Terra Foundation in FY2013.
Academic, exhibition & research funding to increase to $8M by 2015.
The Terra Foundation for American Art announced today that it awarded more than $6.75 million in fiscal year 2013 (July 1, 2012–June 30, 2013) for nearly 50 initiatives and partnerships that advance its mission of fostering the exploration, understanding, and enjoyment of the visual arts of the United States. Included among them were the first major survey of American art ever presented in South Korea and Australia and a symposium on digital humanities at the Smithsonian Institution (view the complete list).
Established in 2005, the Terra Foundation’s grant program offers worldwide support for exhibitions and academic programs, as well as public programs and K–12 programs in Chicago, where the organization was founded and is currently based.
According to Terra Foundation President and CEO Elizabeth Glassman, “In the past five years alone, the foundation has supported nearly 400 programs in more than 30 countries. Our goal has been to connect global audiences with the historical art of the United States in ways that resonate with them. I believe these activities have led to a robust cross-cultural exchange.”
For example, a conference co-organized by professors from the University of Kentucky and Tsinghua University in Beijing slated for this November will examine key exhibitions and museum presentations of American art that have helped shape an evolving historic understanding of what American art is at home and abroad.
The Terra Foundation also announced plans to increase grant funding to $8 million by FY2015.
“The Terra Foundation has helped increase exposure to and appreciation of American art in countries throughout Europe in the last several years,” added Glassman. “We’d like to do the same in Asia and South America, and this increase in funding is proof of our commitment.”
Among the upcoming Terra Foundation-supported projects is the exhibition From Tierra del Fuego to the Arctic: Landscape Painting in the Americas, 1830-1930, which focuses on a century-long period when landscape painting was the primary medium for articulating conceptions of land in the development of cultural identity. Co-organized by the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, and the Terra Foundation, the exhibition will include approximately 150 works of art loaned from museums and private collections throughout the Americas, and travel to museums in Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and the U.S.
Established in 1978, the Terra Foundation for American Art is dedicated to fostering the exploration, understanding, and enjoyment of the visual arts of the United States. With financial resources of more than $250 million, an exceptional collection of American art from the colonial era to the mid-twentieth century, and an expansive grant program, it is one of the leading foundations focused on American art, and devotes approximately $12 million annually in support of American art exhibitions, projects, and research worldwide.
Tags: American art
Fine Art Highlights in Copley's Sporting Sale 2019 | July 24-25
AN EXCEPTIONAL PAINTING BY JOSEPH RAPHAEL HIGHLIGHTS BONHAMS CALIFORNIA AND WESTERN PAINTINGS & SCULPTURE SALE
Jackson Hole Art Auction Announces New Highlights for 2019
Poster by Charles Loupot, titled Nicolas, from 1933, soars to $72,000 at PAI's Rare Posters Auction #78
Expressionist painting by Hunt Slonem will be in Bruneau & Co.'s Saturday, July 13th auction
Retrospective of Influential Modernist Philip Guston Will Go on International Tour in 2020-21
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FRY'S ELECTRONICS OPEN
Sean O'Hair
Q. If you make a little more money on this tour, you could buy this golf course and blow up the last couple of holes and not have to deal with them anymore.
SEAN O'HAIR: The last couple of days were a struggle on those last few holes, but that's the name of the game.
Q. You played great. You've got to be really encouraged.
SEAN O'HAIR: Yeah, I've been really working hard this last couple of weeks, just trying to kind of get where I want to. Short game and putting was fantastic this week.
I felt like, you know, it could kind of ease up on -- I didn't have as much pressure on my ball-striking this week, and I guess it helped me a little bit today, especially, because I felt like, you know, hey, you're going to miss a lot of greens today and get up-and-down.
But, no, I felt like I played not great; I mean, I just kind of bunted it around today. And unfortunately, I just didn't quite get it done at the end.
Q. But in the wind, it was not a bad strategy and it was working?
SEAN O'HAIR: I think that's all you can do when the win is blowing as bad as it was is just kind of get it around and find a way to get the ball in the hole.
Q. Are you going to play any more this year?
SEAN O'HAIR: I'm playing in the last two. So hopefully I can build some momentum from this event and kind of, you know, maybe do something the last couple of weeks.
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Anne Bergeron & Co. Consulting helps cultural enterprise nonprofits to build engaged communities and institutional sustainability. We utilize an integrated approach of planning, organizational development, fundraising and strategic communications to bring attention, resources and sound management practices to innovative organizations seeking new models of support.
Successful organizational growth occurs when institutional mission and vision align with programs, messaging and audiences. We leverage our clients' organizational assets to create multiple points of connection with internal and external stakeholders that result in enhanced loyalty, participation and investment.
Anne Bergeron, Principal
For over 25 years, Anne Bergeron has devoted her professional career to ensuring a vibrant, healthy cultural sector. An authority on nonprofit organizational development, fundraising and engagement, Anne helps organizations to plan for the future, enhance operations and leadership, expand outreach to constituents, and increase philanthropic support. She has worked with a variety of nonprofits, from the established to the start-up, in the fields of arts, design, education and historic preservation.
Anne founded her consulting firm to provide planning, organizational and resource development services to a range of cultural sector clients. Previously, she held senior posts at the National Writers Voice Project, where she managed the national expansion of a local literary arts program; the Missouri Arts Council, where she oversaw the programmatic development of its groundbreaking cultural trust fund; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, where she secured landmark status for its historic building and multi-million funding towards its restoration; and the Dallas Museum of Art, where she led its external affairs division and advanced its focus on participatory engagement. Anne currently serves as managing director of the arts initiative at Brown University, developing the operational systems to support this key component of the institution's current strategic plan.
Anne is co-author of Magnetic: The Art and Science of Engagement (AAM Press, 2013), a best selling study on the practices of high performance museums. She regularly presents at conferences and teaches graduate level workshops on nonprofit leadership, fundraising and engagement. She holds a B.A. in English from Trinity College and an executive certificate in nonprofit management from Georgetown University. In 2010-12, she served as visiting practitioner at Georgetown’s Center for Public and Nonprofit Management. Anne is a trustee of Tower Hill Botanic Garden, an advisory council member of Performa, and a member of the American Alliance of Museums, ArtTable, and The Museum Group, a national consortium of senior museum consultants.
We believe in a team approach to serving the needs of our clients and work in collaboration with a network of specialists to assemble the best team for each engagement. These specialists include experts in strategic and project planning, organizational development and governance, fundraising and campaign management, special events management, marketing and communications, public relations, graphic design, plus financial management and investment.
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"Have You Confessed?"
So reads a beam of light across the stage once the curtain has dropped on Madonna's "Confessions" Tour.
My sister went to the show when it rolled into town last month. And you could probably pack a mid-sized cathedral with the good Fathers who've also gone as the tour snaked its way across the US.
Before a crowd of 70,000, last night's "Confessions" at Rome's Olympic Stadium has aroused holy hellfire for its crucifixion stunt... which has been taking place the world over since the tour began earlier this year. Madonna's rep invited the Pope -- who's interspersed in a video montage with Hitler and Mussolini -- to the concert, and in the midst of it all there's little or no mention that tickets for the gigs top out at the truly blasphemous sum of $350.
Sorry, I'm not a Madonna fan. And in any event, we have more reason to worry about the antics of many of our ad intra Material Girls -- who aren't really girls -- than we do those of Ms Ciccone-Ritchie.
As the latest installment of my "Almost Holy" gets prepped to run at Busted Halo, Christine Whelan, our "Pure Sex, Pure Love" columnist, muses on seeing the show... and wonders if she should heed its final message.
Madonna has pushed the limits and offended Catholics for 20 years. She's a performer who is known for her shock value. I knew this going into the concert, yet somehow it still surprised me to see it in person. Perhaps it's because I wasn't an avid MTV viewer as a teenager, so I haven't seen most of her videos. Or perhaps it's because I like Madonna's music as wallpaper for my life, not something I think too actively about.
Now I understand why my father wouldn't let me go to that Madonna concert when I was 17. As an adult now, I make my own choices and I think I'm strong enough to see her sexual innuendo and offensive messages as what they are—attention-grabbing stunts—and not a whole lot more. Still, I probably wouldn't be too excited if my teenager wanted to support performer who professed similar feelings toward our faith.
Every time I buy a concert ticket or a CD I am supporting Madonna—both her stunts and her music. I feel a moral ambivalence about Madonna like I do of so many things that I do in my life: I wear clothes that were probably made in a sweatshop. I'd probably rent the less expensive car without regard to its gas emissions. On a daily basis we pick and choose what battles to fight. But it doesn't make it right.
I like Madonna's music, I'd probably buy her next CD and I'm not really sorry I went to the concert. Yet I feel guilty about my part in supporting her deeply anti-Catholic messages. Do I need to go to confession for having attending Madonna's Confessions tour?
As you'd expect, the question generated a flurry of responses.
Domine, Non Salvum Fac
Cardinalatial Conditions
To the Servers....
From the Prep
Summer Snow
L'Affaire Mel
Father's Day... Part Deux
"This Is the Beginning"
The Wages of Clericalism
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Important milestone in addressing chronic traffic congestion on M11 as ARUP consultants appointed
Deirdre Forde, Donal McDaid, Ken Freeman, Wicklow County Council Cathaoirleach Pat Vance, Michael Flynn, CEO of Wicklow County Council Frank Curran and Virginia Kangley at the signing of the appointment of Ove Arup & Partners LTD as consultant engineers on the N11/M11 Junction 4 to14 improvement Scheme
Wicklow Sinn Féin TD John Brady has welcomed as an important milestone the appointment on Tuesday of ARUP consultants start the design process of the M11 upgrade project. The appointment of the contractors follows the needs assessment report that was published in 2017. The report recommended the upgrading of the M11 to 3 lanes.
Speaking after discussions with the National Roads Design Office Teachta Brady said “The appointment of ARUP consultants to start the design process of the M11 upgrade is an important milestone and will be warmly welcomed by the many thousands of road users caught in lengthy and growing traffic jams along the M11 on a daily basis. The appointment of ARUP on Tuesday starts the design process that will see the M11 upgraded to 3 lanes.”
“Over the coming weeks a dedicated project website is to be set up to keep people informed of the project. A public consultation day is also to be organised, this will be held locally and it’s anticipated that it will happen in December. It’s important that people engage at the early stages of the design process, and I urge people to attend this consultation day once the date is set.”
“It’s important that this critical project progresses as swiftly as possible, and the government need to ensure that funding is ring-fenced to ensure that once the design and planning process is exhausted that it can proceed to construction without delay.”
Brady continued “I also welcome the progress on the developing the parallel service road in Kilmacanogue. It’s hoped to move to the tendering stage with that project in the coming weeks, this will hopefully see the appointment of a contractor to carry out the works over the coming months. This will finally address the lethal situation at the service station on the southbound lane on the M11 in Kilmac. There are issues regarding pedestrians using the M11 that need to be addressed however.”
Teachta Brady concluded “The traffic congestion on the M11 is having a big negative impact on Wicklow and its citizens and the upgrade of the M11 is crucially important to allow the County develop economically and socially. The road upgrade is not the panacea to all the traffic problems however; we also need to see progress on extending the LUAS to Wicklow and ultimately the Metro. We also need urgent movement on the N81 upgrade scheme that has been shelved and I will continue to lobby the Minister on the project.”
Related Topics: john brady, M11, n11, wicklow county council
Wicklow delegation visit German City of Würzburg
Do Not Drink Notice lifted in Kiltegan
Work to start on new Wicklow town library
Wicklow Hospice Colour Run in Wicklow Town
Murrough Recycling Centre remains closed
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Global heatwave melts buildings and topples all records
TOPICS:Climate ChangeEnvironmentGlobal WarmingHeatwaveNatureSummerSunWeather
Posted By: Al-Sahawat Times 14th July 2018
By Erik Shaw
Temperatures shatter all records as global heatwave continues
As the current global heatwave continues to break all records, cities across the Northern Hemisphere witnessed exceptionally high heat, with records breaking in North America, Europe, Middle East, and Western Asia.
Besides the long-term effects such temperatures may have on climate change, many of these weather milestones caused immediate hazards. And according to the most recent weather data from the University of Maine’s Climate Reanalyzer, the high temperatures show no sign of subsiding any time soon.
On Thursday, the temperature in parts of Russia’s icy Northern Siberia reached 33 C, according to the Washington Post. Northern Siberia sits along the coast of the Arctic Ocean, so it’s highly unusual for temperatures to spike above the minus 10 C average for the season.
Other typically cooler locations also suffered during the global heatwave, resulting in damaged buildings and infrastructure, and a spike in heat-related deaths.
The Climate Reanalyzer is a platform developed by the University of Maine and the National Science Foundation USA, to visualise climate and weather data sets. The brain child of Dr. Sean Birkel of the university’s School of Earth and Climate Sciences, the platform provides access to 10-day forecasts across the globe as well as maps that correlate to historical station data and deeper analysis.
The platform measured the air temperature at 2 meters above the ground level over the month of June 2018 across the entire globe and revealed some startling findings.
Both the US and Canada reached milestones in record high temperatures in the first week of July. Denver tied its all-time record of 41 C while Burlington, Vermont, set its all-time warmest low-temperature of 27 C over a one week period (meaning the temperature, day or night, never dropped below 27 C for the entire week).
Meanwhile, Canada’s heatwave reached a dangerous new level in Quebec. On Monday 2 July 2018, Montreal saw its highest temperature in record history, reaching 38 C for the first time since records began in Canada, some 147 years ago.
On Thursday, CBC reported that the heat-related death toll jumped to 18 people in Montreal and at least 33 people across the province.
“Today is the highest-risk day for people who have not had access to cold places,” Dr. David Kaiser from Montreal’s public health department announced. “It’s not over yet.”
Europe’s Heat Wave has been extreme so far, to the point that the heat melted buildings.
Heat waves stretched across the continent but created the most problems in the usually chilly British Isles and Ireland.
On 28 June 2018, Shannon, Ireland reached a new all time historical while record of 32 C Belfast, Castleberg, and other cities in Northern Ireland also recorded similar record highs.
Scotland set its hottest temperature on record, reaching 33 C. This caused problems in Glasgow, which had been suffering its hottest day on record, clocking in at 32 C.
Glasgow wasn’t built to withstand such heat, and the record-breaking day caused the roof of the city’s science centre to melt, rubbery goo ran down the sides of the building as the roof softened and dripped.
London saw temperatures over 30 C for most of the month of June and the start of July with temperatures on the ‘Tube’ (the under ground rail network) reaching a dangerous joint record of 49 C matched only in 2017.
Asia, North-Africa and the Middle-East.
The heatwave across North-Africa, the Middle-East and West Asia didn’t just shatter regional records but set all time new global records.
Many regions within the Middle East are accustomed to high temperatures, but the 28 June 2018 created a new standard for what the Arab-Persian Gulf region could withstand.
The coastal city of Quriyat, Oman, never dropped below 43 C at night for the entire week, setting the highest minimum temperature ever recorded on Earth over a 24 hour period, and it broke this record every single day for a week. Day time temperatures broke thermometers which were incapable of recording over 60 C.
Later in the week, Russia and the Caucuses continued the trend of smashing temperature records. On the 2 July 2018, Yerevan, Armenia reached 43 C , a record high for the month of July. Two days later, Tbilisi, Georgia reached its all-time record of 41 C.
While scientists are still only scratching the surface of how this heatwave will affect certain cities in the long term, the immediate effects from the current heatwave were often just as precarious. Considering the Northern Hemisphere’s summer season only just kicked off in June, local governments will have to work with scientists to prepare for the extreme weather ahead as predictions are that the heatwave will last well into September in parts of the Midle-East and Mediterranean.
The really troubling data came from the Ocean temperatures, especially around the poles. The Antarctic, which is currently in the middle of its winter, saw temperatures high, even for its summer.
The Sultanate of Oman on the Gulf Cost not only overtook Iran and Libya to become the world’s hottest country officially with night time temperatures not dropping below 43 C and day time temperatures breaking 60 C. The GCC nation also saw the hottest sea temperature exasperating the ever growing dead zone in the Gulf of Oman where no fish or plant life can survive. (Read more…)
E.Shaw@alsahawat.com | Journalist’s Profile
Al-Sahawat Times Official Admin Account
News, Science, Technology
Giant ice blades found on Pluto
Europe, News, Weather
The Beast from the East and Storm Emma cost the U.K. over 2’000 lives and £1bn per day
Americas, Asia, Central-Asia, East-Asia, Emergency Broadcasts, News, North-America, Public Information Announcements, Weather
Alaska earthquake triggers evacuations and tsunami warnings in Alaska, Canada and Russia
Africa, East-Africa, Environment, Nature, News, Weather
Africa splitting in two
Health & Fitness | The secret of Chimps’ strength shows Human muscles to be unique
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Developed by Rockstar North, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is an action and adventure third-person shooter game released on 20 October 2002. It is the sixth title of the Grand Theft Auto Series.
Players can freely walk in the Vice City which consists of two main islands. The game's plot is mainly based on many people and events of real people in Miami like Haitian, Cuban and more. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is now compatible with multiple devices such as Android phones including Samsung Galaxy Note series and Android Tablets like Sony Tablet S, Google Nexus 10 and more.
Developer:Rockstar Games
• Offer high-resolution graphics, smooth controls.
• Provide updated graphics, lighting effects and character models.
• With the fully customizable layout, players can enjoy and customize controls themselves.
• There are massive gameplay for users to play for a whole day.
• It can be compatible with Moga Wireless Game Controller and support the USB gamepads.
• Players can adjust the graphic settings to tailor their visual experience.
• This game integrates with powerful tactile effects for users.
In this game, the player aims to control the criminal named Tommy Vercetti and helps him complete missions and other set objectives to get process through the story. The player can run several missions simultaneously since some of the mission need him or her to wait for further events or instructions.
Except for the missions, the player can walk in the game’s open world freely, and he or she can run the optional side missions. The world of this game is much bigger than the prior versions with two main islands and several small areas. The player will unlock the islands when he or she makes the story get progress.
In the virtual world of this game, the player can run, jump or even drive some vehicles. And how to fight against enemies. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City provides players multiple weapons, like the melee attacks, firearms and explosives all can be used by players.
Minecraft: Pocket Edition
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Proceeds of Crime to be Auctioned in Australia
Over $13 million ($18 million AUD) in bitcoin will be put up for auction by a Sydney-based auction house next month . The bitcoins were confiscated as “the proceeds of crime”, announced global services firm Ernst & Young, referring to the now-defunct online dark market, Silk Road.
Ernst & Young Australia will hold an international auction for 24,518 bitcoins (approx. $13.03 million at the time of publishing) confiscated from an Australian national involved in drug market Silk Road.
The bitcoins were seized last year following the sentencing of Melbourne native Richard Pollard. Arrested in late 2012, Pollard received an 11-year prison sentence last year.
The stash of Bitcoin will be split into 11 lots of 2,000 coins and one additional split of 2,518 coins. Bidders will be accepted from all over the world and will be held over a 48-hour period that begins at 12:01 AEST, June 20th, 2016.
E&Y transactions partner Adam Nitkins expects interest in the auction to be drummed up among investors from North America and Europe. He also looks at digital currency exchanges, investment banks and hedge funds among others as interested investors.
In a statement, Nitkins noted:
With each lot of bitcoin currently valued at more than $1m (AUD), we are targeting sophisticated investors who can see the value of investing in a growing digital asset.
The auction comes at a time when the price of Bitcoin is making a resurgent rally, breaking beyond the $500 mark.
The auction will be the second instance of its kind that sees seized bitcoin put up for bidders, following previous auctions held by the US Marshals Service. The authority seized over 144,000 bitcoins from Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht’s laptop. The final auction by the Marshals Service, held late last year, saw 44,000 bitcoins put up for bidding.
The registration for bidders interested in the upcoming auction opens on June 1 and closes June 7. Bidders will be able to bid on one or multiple lots.
Labels bitcoin, cybercrime
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Board index » Category » Trial data, research, and reports
Awake Sedation for Brain Surgery May Shorten Hospital Stay
[ 992 posts ] Go to page Previous 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 ... 67 Next
Purple Wiggle 'happy' after heart surgery
The Wiggles have jetted off to the US for their North American tour, leaving behind Purple Wiggle Jeff Fatt, who is recovering from emergency heart surgery in Sydney.
Fatt, 57, has been forced to take a short break from touring after being diagnosed with arrhythmia, a condition where the heart beats irregularly.
The Wiggle was fitted with a pacemaker during the surgery at Sydney's Mater hospital on Friday night after reportedly feeling unwell for several weeks.
Wiggles publicist Kayley Harris said Fatt was discharged from hospital on Saturday after a successful operation.
"He's fine, he's quite happy and good. All went well," she told AAP.
Harris said Fatt now planned to take a month off work before joining the Wiggles on tour.
"We hope he will be able to rejoin the US tour if he's got the all-clear from his doctor," she said.
The Wiggles are set to tour the US and Canada in July and August with their Big Birthday Tour 2011.
The group, who celebrate their 20th birthday this year, will play their first show in Tampa, Florida, on Sunday afternoon local time.
In a statement on the group's Facebook page, The Wiggles announced that Fatt was "expected to make a quick and full recovery".
"We wish Jeff a speedy recovery, and look forward to his return back on stage to get some much deserved rest by sleeping on the job like he normally does!" it said.
The news prompted an avalanche of get-well messages from devoted fans around the world, with the group's Facebook statement attracting 483 comments since the news was posted on Friday.
"Get better, Jeff, and don't come back too soon. We want Jeff to be "wiggling" for a long time!!" said Bette Ann Clemons on the social networking site.
"Oh no!!!! Prayers for a speedy recovery for you, Jeff!! We love you and my 2.5 year old is really looking forward to seeing you in Oakland, CA in August," said Adrienne Armstrong.
Harris said Wiggles understudy Brad Carroll would take Fatt's place for the next month.
"(Carroll's) been with the cast for a long, long time. He's usually one of our dancers onstage. He has filled in for the other guys before and he'll be filling in for Jeff."
Fatt was one of the original members of the children's entertainment group when it formed in 1991.
The Wiggles have grown to become a global phenomenon, having sold more than 23 million DVDs and seven million CDs worldwide.
http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/pur ... 1gxzn.html
Private hospitals excised from wait fix
THE Gillard government has dumped Kevin Rudd's, guarantee of private hospital care for patients facing long waits for elective surgery in the public system.
Despite latest trends showing public hospital elective surgery rates nationally are failing to keep pace with demand, the federal government has agreed with the state and territory governments on a public hospital-based plan aimed at delivering 100 per cent on-time surgery within five years.
The Health Minister, Nicola Roxon, disclosed yesterday the federal government had agreed in health reform negotiations with the states and territories to drop the private hospital backup proposal, on the advice of a clinical panel.
Ms Roxon said the new approach set a higher target than the original benchmark, which proposed 95 per cent of elective surgery cases should be performed within agreed deadlines.
''States believe this is even a harder target to reach but think it is a more sensible way to implement it over time.''
Ms Roxon has also agreed to a plan for more ambitious targets for treatment times in emergency departments.
These will require that by 2015 90 per cent of patients can leave emergency within four hours, with no exceptions, in contrast to the original proposal, which did allow for exceptions.
This was recognised as ''ambitious, given the current proportion of patients leaving the emergency department within four hours is currently between 55 and 71 per cent'', Ms Roxon said.
She confirmed this and other outstanding issues of disagreement with the states on the health reform agenda had been settled without the need for another meeting of the Council of Australian Governments, whose meeting scheduled for next week has since been called off.
A private hospitals spokesman, Michael Roff, told the Herald the state government bureaucracies were never keen on a private hospital role, even though private hospitals now account for more than 60 per cent of elective surgery.
''It was very clear that any suggestion of using the private sector was too hard, '' Mr Roff, the chief executive of the Australian Private Hospitals Association, said.
The Opposition's health spokesman, Peter Dutton, asked last night if waiting time targets were ''facing the scalpel''.
''This minister has been a complete failure in health,'' he said.
In March last year, the then Prime Minister, Mr Rudd, said that if a patient's local public hospitals could not provide the elective surgery ''then the Local Hospital Network will find that person a bed at another hospital within the Network - or with a private hospital if one can't easily be found''.
Ms Roxon denied the change was a backdown. ''I am not pretending to anyone this is not a change.''
Latest statistics show that, after a brief fall in waiting times after the Rudd Government's $600 million elective surgery ''blitz'' in 2008, waiting times have begun to rise.
http://www.smh.com.au/national/private- ... 1h2kd.html
State denies hospital plan finalised
THE fate of the Gillard government's reforms to cut hospital waiting times has been thrown into uncertainty with the NSW Health Minister, Jillian Skinner, saying the state governments have not finalised the federal proposals for change.
Ms Skinner expressed surprise at comments by the federal Health Minister, Nicola Roxon, suggesting the health reforms would include dropping the plan for private hospital care for elective surgery patients facing long waits in public hospitals.
Given the strains on public hospitals, if there were spare capacity in private hospitals, ''I reserve the right to provide the benefit of surgery in the private sector'', Ms Skinner said.
Advertisement: Story continues below Some of the elective and emergency waiting time issues had been discussed and agreed to by the expert clinical panel appointed by all governments to advise on the matter.
''But it is certainly not something the states have signed up to,'' Ms Skinner said.
Ms Skinner said the target of 100 per cent of surgery patients getting operations within appropriate clinical times was desirable but would be difficult to attain given the recent estimate that there might be 30,000 people awaiting surgery who had not been been accounted for because of concealment by the previous government.
The federal opposition spokesman on health, Peter Dutton, called on Ms Roxon to release the expert panel's report. A spokesman for Ms Roxon said the release of the report was a matter for the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) to decide.
But Mr Dutton said, given the Prime Minister had now cancelled the COAG meeting set for Friday July 15 and had not set another date, Ms Roxon should release the expert report now.
"Just as Kevin Rudd's promises in health fell apart and were never implemented, things are falling apart under Julia Gillard,'' Mr Dutton said.
The proposed revamp of the waiting time targets disclosed by Ms Roxon this week would not improve outcomes and could distort care priorities to the disadvantage of patients, a hospital efficiency expert, Paul Tridgell, said.
Dr Tridgell, who advises hospitals and governments, said that aiming for 100 per cent of elective surgery patients to be treated within set deadlines reduced the flexibility clinicians needed to set priorities.
This might mean that a patient with a minor condition whose treatment deadline was about to expire got treatment ahead of a patient with a more serious illness - a scenario that had occurred in Britain as a result of similar schemes.
Dr Tridgell said the same sort of issues could also distort priorities in emergency departments. Another possible consequence was that hospitals would designate nearby areas for ''admitted'' patients to get around the four-hour requirement applying to emergency departments.
It was also questionable to give so much emphasis to performance targets for elective surgery and emergency departments when these two areas accounted together for only about 20 per cent of total public hospital activity.
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/state-denies- ... 1h4wo.html
Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2011 7:03 am
Roxon hit for backflip on health
THE opposition has accused Health Minister Nicola Roxon of surrendering to the states on health reform by handing over control of the new body being created to identify poor performances by public hospitals.
Legislative amendments tabled this week substantially alter the design of the proposed National Health Performance Authority, which was a key part of the $12 billion health reform deal sealed by Julia Gillard and state premiers in February.
According to the original legislation tabled in March, the authority was to be an independent body answering to the commonwealth and its job was to collect and publish information about hospitals to allow inadequacies to be identified.
However, the amendments tabled in parliament this week significantly shift the balance of control over the body from the commonwealth to the states, a move the opposition has attacked as evidence that Labor's much-promoted health reform process is a sham.
"Change has been forced on this hapless minister," the opposition health spokesman, Peter Dutton, told parliament.
"The scope of the authority's reporting will be changed totally by these amendments," Mr Dutton said.
After Ms Roxon produced her initial reform legislation in March, West Australian Premier Colin Barnett, backed by his Victorian counterpart Ted Baillieu, said it did not properly reflect the Council of Australian Governments agreement signed a month earlier.
Last month, Ms Roxon clinched a fresh deal with the states, including giving the new authority's reports to state health ministers before their release.
The amendments tabled on Tuesday formalise the concession but add several others, including diluting Ms Roxon's power over the authority by giving states greater control through COAG.
And while the initial plan was for Ms Roxon to be able to hire and fire the chief executive officer of the authority, this will now be within the hands of the authority itself, giving states a greater say through COAG.
On Thursday, Ms Roxon defended her concession, saying it had been made clear that states managed hospitals.
Providing states with the reports of poor hospital performance would allow them to take corrective action as quickly as possible, she said.
"We believe that that only enhances how our reforms can deliver improvements to health services," she added.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nationa ... 6091023097
Hospitals full of flu babies
STRONGER flu strains, including swine flu, have caused a 30 per cent increase in the number of babies admitted to hospital with bronchiolitis over the past two years.
Doctors predict the figures will be worse this year with cold weather biting early and the number of upper respiratory infections up generally.
Bronchiolitis is inflammation of the bronchioles, the smallest air passages of the lungs. It is caused by a virus and leads to coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath, usually in children under two.
Sydney Children's Hospital figures show a 30 per cent increase in bronchiolitis admissions between 2008 and 2010, with numbers from the first five months of 2011 suggesting there will be even more cases this year.
Hospital admissions for upper respiratory tract infections increased by 13 per cent over the same period.
A NSW Health spokeswoman said that there was "a suggestion of a slightly higher increase this year in these respiratory illnesses among adults and children".
"When combined with what we are hearing from the laboratories we can certainly say that influenza has arrived along with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection which is the main cause of bronchiolitis in infants," the spokeswoman said.
The Children's Hospital at Westmead has recorded a 16 per cent increase in infants presenting with the illness.
The head of general medicine at the Children's Hospital at Westmead, Dr Ken Peacock, said reasons for the rise in bronchiolitis cases were the severity of viral infections this season, the impact of the swine flu pandemic from two seasons ago and the fact more babies were being born.
There were 725 presentations of bronchiolitis at the hospital in 2010, compared to 665 in 2009 and 622 in 2008.
"The best way to avoid the condition is to keep small babies and children under one year with other health problems away from anyone that has cold-like symptoms," Dr Peacock said.
The hospital is hoping to receive more funding for nasal high-flow oxygen therapy machines, which can help patients recover much faster than the older, more cumbersome units.
The hospital has nine machines, each costing $3285 to set up, but needs another 10.
Jacinta Hickry, a six-week-old baby from Strathfield, was admitted to hospital with bronchiolitis and had to wait two days before she was able to be treated on the oxygen therapy machine.
After 48 hours on the machine, she was well enough to be discharged.
The head of respiratory medicine at Sydney Children's Hospital, Professor Adam Jaffe, said if a child develops a fever, has problems breathing or loses their appetite for a reasonable period of time, medical advice should be sought.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/h ... 6091503264
Kenny 'regrets' hospital confusion
Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said he regrets confusion his comments on Roscommon County Hospital may have caused, but warned Fine Gael's previous commitments on the hospital's services were "no longer tenable".
Mr Kenny has come under pressure after a recording taken on the election trail last February reveals him promising to maintain emergency department services at Roscommon County Hospital.
In the recording, Mr Kenny vows to “protect and defend” the hospital and encourages people to vote for local Fine Gael candidates Frank Feighan and Denis Naughten.
In a statement today, Mr Kenny today admitted he had made repeated a "publicly known commitment, made in good faith by Fine Gael, on the retention of services at Roscommon County Hospital".
"Since then, the independent health regulator HIQA has advised that the provision of accident and emergency services at Roscommon and other smaller hospitals is not safe. The Government cannot ignore this expert advice and, consequently this element of Fine Gael's commitment is no longer tenable," he said.
"I regret any confusion that may have arisen from my comments yesterday. It was never my intention to mislead anyone on this matter."
The recording, made by a Sunday Business Post reporter, has proved highly embarrassing for Mr Kenny who insisted on Friday that there would be no reversal of the decision to close the hospital’s emergency department.
Addressing supporters in Roscommon town, Mr Kenny is heard saying on the recording: “I have defended the nurses and the doctors and the workers and the people of Roscommon over the years about this hospital and will do so again.”
He goes on to say: “Deputy Denis Naughten has pointed out that if the intention is to close the accident and emergency unit in Roscommon County Hospital for 12 hours a day, that will create unprecendent pressure on an over-stressed Portiuncula Hospital. We are committed to maintaining the services at Roscommon County Hospital.”
Sinn Féin TD Gerry Adams the Taoiseach's explanation for the failure to keep A&E services at the hospital was "not good enough".
"The Taoiseach should do the decent thing – that means keeping his promise," he said. “Full accident and emergency services should be restored to Roscommon.”
Roscommon's emergency department will close tomorrow and will be replaced with an urgent care centre which will be doctor-led. In four weeks time an out-of-hours GP-led service will be provided.
Mr Kenny said the Government would proceed with its plans to reform of the health service andsaid it would prove its commitment to the future of smaller hospitals, including Roscommon.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/bre ... tml?via=mr
Hospitals counting cost of doc shortage
Last-minute bureaucratic hitches were preventing some badly-needed junior doctors from taking up posts in emergency departments (EDs) today, the Irish Association of Emergency Medicine (IAEM) has reported.
IAEM President Fergal Hickey said while it was too early at this stage to gauge the fall-out nationally from the junior doctor shortage, the Association would be carrying out a fact-finding survey of EDs later this week.
However, he told irishhealth.com that one doctor was due to arrive for work at his department in Sligo Hospital today from Eastern Europe but could not travel due to a last-minute visa issue, having previously been cleared to work here.
He said in another case, a doctor also cleared to work in his department was awaiting a sign-off on their documentation by the Medical Council.
Mr Hickey said he had heard of similar last-minute hitches in other hospitals around the country trying to fill junior doctor posts.
The HSE said earlier today that while there weredoctor shortages, the overall impact on services was unlikely to be significant.
Junior doctors will continue to be recruited in the coming weeks, many from abroad, and the HSE says it is putting contingency plans in place to deal with vacancies on the ground.
Around 150 posts are said to be vacant as recruitment is continuing.
Meanwhile, the the emergency department at Roscommon Hospital ended its 24-hour service today and was replaced by a 12-hour urgent care unit.
Protests against the closure have taken place in Roscommon, in addition to protests in Mallow against the planned downscaling of the local hospital emergency department service later this year.
http://www.irishhealth.com/article.html?id=19468
Roscommon hospital figures disputed
The Department of Health has denied that Minister James Reilly used misleading figures about mortality rates at Roscommon hospital to support the decision to downgrade the hospital's accident and emergency unit.
The Roscommon Hospital Action Committee today said it had obtained figures which showed an overall mortality rate of between 3.5 per cent and 6 per cent at the hospital over the last three years.
The committee said this was significantly lower than what Dr Reilly last week told the Dáil. The Minister said that cardiac patients attending Roscommon hospital (at 21.3 per cent) had four times the mortality rate of those admitted to Galway University Hospital (at 5.8 per cent).
The accident and emergency department at Roscommon hospital closed at 8am yesterday and was replaced with a minor injuries unit for adults only. Emergency cases are being moved on to hospitals in Galway, Sligo and Mayo.
Committee chairman John McDermott said figures from the Hospital In-Patient Enquiry (Hipe) system, compiled for the HSE by the Economic and Social Research Institute over the last three years, showed the mortality rate was in line with other hospitals.
He said that Senator John Crown, a hospital consultant, had verified the figures and was happy that “at worst” Roscommon hospital had the same coronary death rate as Galway hospital.
“It brings into question the research on which Dr Reilly is basing the whole hospital reconfiguration programme on,” Mr McDermott said.
A spokesman for Dr Reilly said the cardiac mortality rate at Roscommon hospital was utterly separate from the decision to close the accident and emergency unit, which had been taken in advance of the figures being compiled.
The decision was based on two reports by the Health Information and Quality Authority, one from 2009 and one from April of this year, he said.
He said the figures being quoted by the Roscommon Hospital Action Committee did not compare like with like.
He said the Department of Health had analysed Hipe data from Roscommon hospital over the last three years and that the numbers quoted by Dr Reilly related to samples of 100 people presenting with heart attacks. They showed that 21.3 per cent of these patients died at Roscommon compared to 5.8 per cent in Galway. The numbers quoted by the committee looked at overall mortality rates.
The spokesman said outcomes for patients were proven to be better at higher volume hospitals.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/bre ... ing37.html
Anger as nurse bitten, stabbed and punched
NURSES are calling for the removal of cutlery and crockery in emergency departments after a colleague was attacked by a patient with a butter knife.
The state government is under pressure to urgently upgrade security in all hospital emergency departments, including allocating dedicated guards.
Nurses at Blacktown Hospital will go on strike for two hours tomorrow after their colleague Edith Castro was stabbed by a 39-year-old patient with a butter knife while she worked at a computer in the emergency ward on Tuesday at 4.30am.
A second nurse intervened and managed to take the knife from the man, who had been in hospital since Sunday and was allegedly an alcoholic suffering kidney failure.
The woman was allegedly stabbed in the arm, back and breast, and was also repeatedly bitten and punched.
"Another nurse was pulling him off me and I was really bleeding from the arm. I didn't even know until later on when I saw the knife," the nurse said.
"We need to be better protected, especially in the emergency department."
It was the second attack on a nurse at Blacktown Hospital in the past 12 months, with another female nurse bashed by a patient last October.
It also comes less than six months after the murder of nurse Bob Fenwick at Orange's Bloomfield mental health hospital in January.
Blacktown Hospital staff are traumatised and have demanded a security guard be placed in the emergency department immediately.
NSW Nurses' Association general-secretary Brett Holmes said at the very minimum all nurses working in emergency wards should carry personal alarms and a security guard should be placed at high-risk departments.
"Our members are saying that they are at risk there. It is not just in metropolitan areas, we've seen cases on the North Coast where security has been removed and there has been a rise in the number of incidents," he said.
The Australasian College for Emergency Medicine's NSW chairman Dr Richard Paoloni said the government had been warned.
"When you have staff treating patients one on one in poor visible areas, then attacks like this are going to be more frequent," he said.
"Personal duress alarms are under-recognised but you also need staff to be there to respond. The level of staff is significant because the less staff there is the less they can look out for each other."
Health Minister Jillian Skinner refused to comment on security but has asked her department to provide a review at Blacktown Hospital.
Police charged the patient in the Blacktown attack with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and recklessly causing grievous bodily harm.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/s ... 6094204670
Nurses to protest over NSW stabbing
Nurses at a western Sydney hospital where one of their colleagues was stabbed with a butter knife will walk off the job on Friday.
Health Minister Jillian Skinner on Thursday announced that a security guard would be stationed at the hospital's emergency department from 10pm until 6am (AEST), beginning on Thursday night but this was not enough to avert the strike.
"Nurses feel like this was completely unacceptable for it to even happen in the first place," said NSW Nurses Association (NSWNA) general secretary Brett Holmes.
Advertisement: Story continues below Mr Holmes said nurses wanted a 24-hour security guard in the emergency department, improved training in aggression management and all dangerous items such as cutlery and crockery to be removed.
"There is no indication that our members are ready for a compromise over their security," he said.
Ms Skinner said the guard would remain at the hospital on night shifts until the completion of a review into safety.
The review will examine the use of cutlery, the training of staff and the availability and use of duress buttons.
The nurse was working in the emergency ward at 4.30am (AEST) on Tuesday when a male patient allegedly punched her in the face and stabbed her in her arm, back and breast.
A second nurse intervened and her injured colleague was treated for cuts and puncture wounds, none of which was considered life-threatening.
Ms Skinner visited the nurse on Thursday to offer support and say "how sorry we were about the incident".
"She has numerous small bruises across her body, some stab wounds that are fairly superficial but nevertheless worrying, and I understand that one of her ribs is cracked," Ms Skinner told reporters.
"She's in a bit of discomfort but more than anything else I think she needs trauma counselling. I've made sure that that's available for her."
Opposition health spokesman Andrew McDonald has also called on the O'Farrell government to provide 24-hour security and review the safeguards at other hospitals.
"The health minister must also immediately ensure security arrangements are appropriate at all other hospitals and emergency departments around the state," Dr McDonald said in a statement on Friday.
Blacktown Hospital will operate on skeleton nursing staff from 12.30pm until 2.30pm (AEST) on Friday.
"During this time contingency arrangements are being planned to ensure patient care is not affected," the hospital's general manager Dominic Dawson said in a statement on Thursday.
"We are sorry that one of our colleagues was hurt by one of the very people she was there to help.
"This sort of thing affects everyone at the hospital."
Ms Skinner said she believed the nurse would return to work eventually.
"I believe she's a very dedicated nurse," the minister said.
"I have no doubt that she would want to return to nursing at that hospital."
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-na ... 1hfb1.html
NSW cancer hubs to improve patient care
A $30 million chain of cancer research hubs are being set up in NSW to help improve patient care.
The seven hubs have been designed to bring together the best minds in cancer research with doctors and nurses in an attempt to improve treatment for patients.
NSW Health Minister Jillian Skinner announced plans for the so-called translational cancer research centres, the first of their kind in Australia.
"This program is about getting doctors and specialists, who are treating cancer patients every day, working closely with our cutting-edge researchers and translating the latest possible evidence into positive results for patients," she said.
"Researchers in turn will be able to hear first-hand from doctors and nurses about the issues needing to be addressed to improve outcomes at the treatment table."
The University of Sydney and University of NSW will each head two of the centres.
The University of Sydney will also head up a new unit at Sydney's North Shore Hospital focusing on personalising treatments for cancer patients and childhood cancer research.
Cancer Institute NSW chief executive Professor David Currow said the opening of the centres marked an "exciting time to be working in cancer research".
"Think of what can be achieved by getting our best and brightest medical and research minds working together," he said.
"We know that it can take some time for scientific breakthroughs to be taken up into routine practice across the health system.
"This program will speed this process up, helping us to save even more lives."
Details about the new centres came as the NSW government announced the head of the Children's Medical Research Institute Professor Roger Reddel had been named outstanding cancer researcher of the year.
Prof Reddel was honoured in the NSW Premier's Awards for Outstanding Cancer Research for his work on how cancer cells grow.
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/health/82732 ... tient-care
Woman who died after hospital poisoning had been recovering, say family
Detectives investigating three deaths at a Greater Manchester hospital are interviewing 11 patients who survived the effects of tampered medication, in a bid for clues.
One of the victims was named as Tracey Elizabeth Arden, 44, a mother of two and grandmother from Stockport, who was suffering from multiple sclerosis.
Ms Arden was admitted to Stepping Hill hospital on the morning of 7th July, suffering from an infection connected with the MS.
By the time her elderly parents June and Keith visited her the same afternoon, the former secretary was already recovering well, with "the colour coming back to her cheeks," her brother Gary said.
Two hours later, Ms Arden was dead. Her family was told that the cause was a lung and chest infection. But it was not until a week later - after they had planned her funeral, which was due tomorrow - that police told them that her death was being treated as suspicious.
She is one of three victims now known to have died after their saline drips were injected with insulin, the others being a 71-year-old man, understood to have been terminally ill and a 84-year-old man whose illness has not been disclosed.
Police were called in to the hospital on Tuesday after an experienced nurse reported a higher than normal number of patients on her ward with unexplained low blood sugar levels.
They found 36 saline ampules contaminated with insulin, which were kept in a store room which served at least two wards, and uncovered 3 deaths of patients who had been given contaminated medication.
Ms Arden, a former secretary, who was diagnosed with MS at the age of 32, had died five days earlier while the two male victims died last week.
Now detectives are interviewing 11 patients who survived the attempted poisoning in a bid for clues, and are questioning up to 60 staff at the hospital, who could have had access to the batch of saline.
Police are also examining other recent deaths to see if any are connected to the case, whle any new deaths with relevant symptoms will now be passed to the Coroner.
Last night Ms Arden's family said they were struggling to come to terms with the news, having already grieved following her very sudden death.
The mother of two, and grandmother, had been in and out of hospital since her diagnosis with MS 12 years earlier, Mr Arden said. Although prone to infections, she had previously recovered from them, and was looking well when her elderly parents visited her on the ward, just hours before she died.
Her brother Gary said: "When they left she looked like she was recovering well - the colour was coming back to her cheeks." Within less than two hours, they received a call from the hospital warning that she had taken a turn for their worse. By the time they did the half a mile trip back to the hospital, she was dead. The family was told the cause was a lung and chest infection related to her multiple sclerosis.
"We accepted that as a family that her time had come and that was the cause," he said.
The family planned her funeral. Last Wednesday night, they were told to put it on hold.
Mr Arden said: "As a family we had got over the initial shock of her dying ... and moved into the practical mode, making the arrangements for the funeral. Then to be told this came as a complete shock."
He said his sister had a "very severe form" of MS which was diagnosed when she had just turned 32 and she had been in and out of hospitals and care homes ever since.
"Before that (her illness) she was an everyday, young, fun-loving, smiling, hard-working mother-of-two," he said.
"Even through all of that illness she always had a smile and joke when I went to see her," he said.
The case has echoes to that of Beverley Allitt, a nurse who used insulin to kill four children at Grantham and Kevesten hospital in Lincolnshire between 1991 and 1993.
However, detectives have not ruled out the possibility that an outsider could be involved, since insulin can be obtained on prescription and via the internet.
Assistant Chief Constable Terry Sweeney said it would be "extremely difficult" to establish a link between the contaminated saline and the deaths.
It is not clear whether the motives are those of someone with a grudge or someone who belives they are helping the terminally and seriously ill.
Dr Chris Burke, chief executive of the Stockport NHS trust said the hospital had replaced all ampoules of saline, and increased security protecting medicines.
Patients at the hospital have expressed fears that a rogue health worker is to blame.
Clifford Monks, 84, receiving treatment for a stroke, said: "It sounds like another Beverley Allitt. It can only be malicious - someone who has got a grudge against the hospital or someone who is insane and sick themselves."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healt ... amily.html
Doctors want action to curb patient violence in hospitals
DOCTORS have called for urgent action to address an ''epidemic of violence'' in Victorian hospitals - but slammed a government proposal for armed guards, saying they would put staff and patients at serious risk.
In a submission to a parliamentary inquiry, the Australian Medical Association (AMA) said violence was at an unacceptable level - and rising - in overcrowded emergency departments.
Hundreds of incidents involving aggressive patients or their families are reported in public hospitals every week, mostly on weekends and overnight, but it is widely acknowledged that they are underreported.
Advertisement: Story continues below AMA Victoria vice-president Stephen Parnis said every emergency doctor would have stories of violence, including in some cases being punched, kicked, scratched and threatened with knives or furniture.
''Personally I remember a case where a patient looked at my name badge and said, 'I know who you are, I'm going to find out where you live and kill your wife and children'. I'll never forget that,'' Dr Parnis said.
The AMA said Victorian doctors were facing ''an epidemic of violence and aggression'' and urged the government to take action ''to counteract the prevailing assumption that violence in a healthcare setting is permissible and intractable''.
But it strongly opposed the government's pre-election pledge to put 120 armed guards in emergency departments - which it has since agreed to reconsider - saying any move to introduce guns was fraught with danger. The AMA said patients could seize guns and patients who could be subdued by other means might be shot.
The Victorian chairman of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine, Simon Judkins, said most violence related to mentally ill patients or those affected by alcohol or drugs, who needed to feel safe rather than threatened.
Dr Judkins said introducing armed guards would mark ''a sad day in our health system'', and urged the government to dump the plan quickly.
''Rather than establishing and fostering an environment of safety and caring, the message this sends to staff, patients and relatives is that they are coming into an environment which is dangerous and threatening,'' he said in a submission to the inquiry.
The AMA instead called for other measures including stationing well-trained, unarmed security staff close to emergency departments around the clock to deter violent behaviour in every hospital.
Other proposed measures included better training for staff on recognising and reducing conflict, separate rooms to stabilise agitated patients, and giving patients estimates of how long they might have to wait.
Dr Parnis said long delays contributed to violence, particularly by mentally ill patients for whom emergency departments were the gateway to care.
''We need to deal with overcrowding,'' he said. ''If you're tied up with people hanging from the rafters it increases the anxiety and frustration and decreases our ability to handle the violence that can erupt as a result.
''The worst-case scenarios are things like a violent patient in a cubicle next to a sick child and their family.''
St Vincent's Hospital emergency physician Neil Goldie said a ''behavioural assessment room'' in front of the hospital's ambulance bay had worked well to stabilise aggressive patients before they entered the main emergency department.
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/docto ... 1hk91.html
Geelong's St John of God Hospital may have history of mix-ups
THE hospital that gave two newborn babies to the wrong mothers to breastfeed may have done it before.
In the wake of revelations of a baby bungle at Geelong's St John of God Hospital on Friday, another woman claims her baby was also handed to the wrong mother who began breastfeeding her at the hospital.
The mix-ups were revealed as a Herald Sun investigation uncovered dozens of errors with identification tags of newborns in Victorian public hospitals.
Premier Ted Baillieu said he was shocked by the latest baby mix-up, which was "entirely unacceptable" and "needs to be investigated".
The earlier mix-up involved a Geelong woman who said her newborn girl was given to another woman to breastfeed six years ago. The nurse realised her error and handed the baby back.
"Nurses are overworked, I get that. But it shouldn't happen ... they're not dealing with fruit and vegies, they're dealing with children," the mother said.
In the latest incident, two newborns were mistakenly given to the wrong mothers and breastfed by them at the hospital on Friday.
The babies spent more than eight hours with the wrong mothers. A family member alerted staff.
Health experts said there was a small risk the babies may have contracted HIV or hepatitis through the bungle.
It is believed the mix-up happened after the babies' identification bracelets were not checked against those of their mothers.
Sunshine Hospital had 17 cases of wrongly tagged babies in the four years to May 31, Freedom of Information documents show.
Six newborns had no name bands, four had the wrong name and another six were given the wrong gender.
At Southern Health, one baby was mistakenly given another baby's label in the same delivery suite - one of seven newborn ID errors there since 2006.
The mishap was picked up and rectified when the baby was transferred to the ward.
Frankston Hospital also reported two cases of incorrectly tagged babies, but gave no further details.
The documents revealed 26 cases since 2006 in just four of Victoria's biggest maternity sites.
It is unclear whether any of the errors led to babies being given to the wrong mothers.
St John of God Hospital said it "deeply regrets" last week's baby mix-up.
"As soon as the mistake was discovered, the babies were returned to the correct mothers and the women's obstetricians advised," the hospital said in a statement.
The hospital was investigating how the mistake happened, and counselling and pastoral care had been offered to both parents.
Staff had apologised to both families, and was testing the babies for infections.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-n ... 6097111086
Top Hospitals Named to National 'Honor Roll'
The annual hospital rankings by U.S. News & World Report named 17 centers of medical excellence nationwide.
Johns Hopkins Hospital led the list of those at or near the top for reputation and outcomes in six or more specialty rankings. Joining Hopkins on the so-called honor roll were:
Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston
Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.
University of California Los Angeles Medical Center
New York-Presbyterian Hospital, New York City
University of California San Francisco Medical Center
Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston
Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C.
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University, St. Louis
University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle
University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers, Ann Arbor
Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tenn.
Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York City
Stanford Hospital and Clinics, Stanford, Calif.
All together, 720 hospitals out of the roughly 5,000 nationwide were ranked at the top in at least one specialty, or in their region among the 94 metropolitan areas considered in the Best Hospitals guide.
For most specialties, the rankings reflected death rates, safety outcomes, procedural volume, and other objective data collected on the hospitals.
The results also took into account a national survey by the publication that asked physicians which hospitals they considered best in their specialty for treating the most difficult cases.
The most impartial and scientifically rigorous rankings, though, come from the government's Hospital Compare website, according to Ashish K. Jha, MD, MPH, of the Harvard School of Public Health and VA Boston.
However, that website isn't well organized or easy to navigate for patients, he said in an email to ABC News in collaboration with MedPage Today.
For example, nearly every hospital is average by its method of calculating mortality rates, Jha pointed out.
"While this approach is more palatable to the hospital industry, it wrongly suggests to consumers that it doesn't matter where you go," he wrote.
Jha recommended that among the proliferation of hospital rankings, patients should consider the U.S. News & World Report as a guide.
"If I were advising my family, I'd start with U.S. News and see if there are good data on hospitals in the area," he explained. "If there are, I'd look up some of the data on Hospital Compare as a validation."
http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealt ... sues/27610
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You are here: Home / Hans Skott-Myhre
Hans Skott-Myhre
Hans Skott-Myhre is a Professor in the Child and Youth Studies Department at Brock University. He is cross appointed to the graduate program in Popular Culture as well as being core faculty for the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Humanities and adjunct faculty in the Child and youth Care program at the University of Victoria. His undergraduate work was in comparative literature and he holds a M.Ed. in Educational Psychology, both from the University of Washington. His doctoral work includes two Ph.D.’s from the University of Minnesota. The first is in Adult Education and a second from the Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature Department in Comparative Studies in Discourse and Society. Research interests include radical and political approaches to youth/adult relations, subcultures, critical disability studies and anti-psychiatry, post-capitalist subjectivity, post-Marxist politics, undoing whiteness, and political readings of popular culture. He is the author of Youth Subcultures as Creative Force: Creating New Spaces for Radical Youth Work, co-author with Chris Richardson of Habitus of the Hood and co-editor with K. Gharabaghi and M. Krueger of With Children and Youth. He has published multiple articles, reviews and book chapters.
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The parent company of Westclox Canada, the Western Clock Company, started up near Chicago, Illinois in the 1880s.
The first Westclox factory outside the United States was set up in Peterborough, Ontario in an empty building in 1920. By 1923 a new factory was ready, and additions were put on regularly up to the 1950s as business continued to expand. The Peterborough factory closed in the 1980s when the Westclox north American factories also shut down in favour of offshore locations where labour costs were lower.
The model name Big Ben was created in the U.S. around 1908 for their large nickel-plated, spring-driven "tin can" alarm clocks. The models Baby Ben (smaller size), Pocket Ben (watch), and Wrist Ben followed just a few years later.
In this Gallery we include many examples of Canadian-made Westclox alarm clocks dating from the early 1920s through to the early 1980s.
SELECT ANY PICTURE TO SHOW COMPLETE SET
Westclox 1960s Musical Drowse Alarm Clock (Backside View)
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McDonalds urged its employees not to eat its own food
• January 6, 2014
Fast food giant McDonald’s had a major “whoops!” moment recently after a resource website it created for its employees humorously advised them to stop eating its food. The U.K.’s Daily Mail reports that the so-called “McResource Line,” which has since been taken offline, had contained “educational” imagery instructing McDonald’s workers to avoid eating burgers and fries for their own health, and instead opt for “healthier” choices like cold-cut sandwiches and salads.
Part of a series on how to make healthier food choices, the images took the international spotlight after employees first noticed their contradictory nature and subsequently brought them up to the media. Advice about avoiding deep-fried foods and limiting consumption of “extras such as cheese, bacon and mayonnaise” became a running joke, as these are the types of foods that McDonald’s pushes most heavily on its customers.
“[E]ating a diet high in fat puts people at risk for becoming overweight,” read one of the image captions, which is no longer online. This is obviously confusing advice for the many thousands of McDonald’s workers who are constantly bombarded by wafts of grease coming from the junk foods they serve all day long to their eager and addicted customers.
“It is hard to eat a healthy diet when you eat at fast-food restaurants often,” continued the advice in amazing irony, as McDonald’s employees are incentivized to eat fast food due to employee discounts and short breaks. “Many foods are cooked with a lot of fat, even if they are not trans fats. Many fast-food restaurants do not offer any lower-fat foods.”
“Eat at places that offer a variety of salads, soups, and vegetables.”
McDonald’s defends dietary advice while simultaneously insisting it was taken out of context
In other words, you should not eat at McDonald’s, McDonald’s employees! This was the implication, anyway, before McDonald’s officials decided to pull the infamous McResource Line altogether. A spokesman from the company later claimed that the advice had been misinterpreted and taken “out of context” but at the same time offered no real explanation as to why, then, it was taken completely offline.
“Portions of this website continue to be taken entirely out of context,” reads an official statement from McDonald’s. “This website provides useful information from respected third-parties about many topics, among them health and wellness. It also includes information from experts about healthy eating and making balanced choices. McDonald’s agrees with this advice.”
As you may recall, previous issues with the now-shuttered McResource Line included unusual advice about how McDonald’s employees could sell their personal belongings or get a second job in order to make ends meet. The site also contained information about how to generously tip a house cleaner or dog walker, services that the average McDonald’s employee making minimum wage is unlikely to be able to afford.
daily alternative | alternative news – McDonald’s urged its employees not to eat its own food
via McDonald’s urged its employees not to eat its own food.
Stores use your phone’s wifi signal to track...
Give up tea, co-shower to cut bills: UK energy...
China bird flu sends Europe, Asia stocks down
How Facebook and Apple’s Egg-Freezing Policies Hurt Working Women
British energy giant pays no tax despite soaring bills
It’s over: Unemployment fall comes to decisive halt
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City Council Council Agenda Packets Council Meeting Minutes Council Members Councilmember Dan English Councilmember Amy Evans Councilmember Dan Gookin Councilmember Kiki Miller Councilmember Ron Edinger Councilmember Woody McEvers Public Hearing Schedule Mayor Steve Widmyer
City Council Council Agenda Packets Council Meeting Minutes Council Members Council Members - Councilmember Dan English Council Members - Councilmember Amy Evans Council Members - Councilmember Dan Gookin Council Members - Councilmember Kiki Miller Council Members - Councilmember Ron Edinger Council Members - Councilmember Woody McEvers Public Hearing Schedule Mayor Steve Widmyer
Councilmember Dan English
Dan English was born and raised in Coeur d'Alene and has been active in the local non-profit community. He is the current Director of the Area 1 Agency on Aging, a program of North Idaho College.
Dan has been involved at the top leadership level of several local non-profits, including Habitat for Humanity and North Idaho CASA. He founded and served as the original Executive Director of two local non-profits, Anchor House/Idaho Youth Ranch and North Idaho Youth for Christ.
He is the former elected Clerk-Auditor for Kootenai County, Idaho, and served for two years as a City Councilman for the City of Coeur d'Alene and five years as a Trustee for the Coeur d'Alene School Board.
Dan holds a Master's Degree in Counseling Psychology from Gonzaga University, a Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice Administration from San Jose State University, and an A.A. Degree from North Idaho Junior College. He has been a Licensed Professional Counselor for over 20 years. Dan and his wife, Cory, a physical therapist, have three adult children, two of whom served in the military and are Iraq war veterans. They have eight grandchildren and one great grandchild, and are active members of Calvary Lutheran Church.
denglish@cdaid.org
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Home › Stories › Dona Finds a Story
Dona Finds a Story
The animals argue over who should be the subject of Dona duck's story.
Cheeku and Meeku are back to school. They are supposed to write an essay about the new places they visited during their summer vacation. But wait, they didn't go anywhere. What are they going to write about? Let's find out.
Dona, the duck wanted to participate in a story-writing competition but she didn’t know what to write on. She sat under a tree in the park with her pen and notepad, engrossed in her thoughts.
“Hi, Dona! You look deep in thought. What are you thinking about?” asked Molly, the elephant who was walking by.
“Hi, Molly! I am going to participate in a story-writing competition but I can’t figure out what to write on,” replied Dona.
“Oh! Why don’t you write something about me? I can lift heavy objects and have won several medals for weightlifting,” suggested Molly.
Just then, Bonnie, the bear happened to pass by and overheard the conversation. “Who’s going to read a story about you? Dona, you must write about me instead. I have been awarded the ‘Man of the Match’ title for several cricket tournaments. I have scored many centuries and taken wickets as well,” said Bonnie.
“I know exactly how many runs you have scored and wickets you have taken. It is not enough to make one write about you!” interrupted Harry, the horse. “You should base your story on me, Dona. I win the first prize in the annual race every year. I have a shelf full of medals to prove it,” he said haughtily.
The Girl Who Loved to Learn
Dona didn’t reply to any of them. They only seemed to add to her confusion. Soon, many animals started to gather around her, including Ray, the rhinoceros who tried to make his way to the front of the crowd.
“Get out of my way, Eddie!” he said shoving the donkey aside. “You haven’t done anything spectacular for Dona to write a story about you.”
Everyone in the crowd started laughing. Eddie was hurt but he didn’t say a word. He quietly moved to a corner.
“If Dona writes a story, it will have to be about me! I have won all the wrestling competitions in the forest. I can take on anyone who dares to challenge me,” said a smug Ray.
One by one, everybody started bragging about themselves, which made Dona frustrated.
Meanwhile, Drake, the deer was on his way to the market to sell his vegetables. He was old and frail, and looked very tired. He pushed his cart with great difficulty. Suddenly, he turned red and started to breathe heavily.
None of the animals tried to help, instead they passed comments like “You should stay at home, old man!” and “Why don’t you eat some of your own vegetables to gain some strength?”
Too weak to continue any longer, Drake fell down and the cart slowly rolled away. Eddie who just noticed what was happening, rushed to stop the cart. He then helped Drake sit up and offered him some water to drink.
“Thank you, Eddie! You came at the right time to save me,” said Drake.
“Please don’t thank me, Drake. It is my duty to help you,” said Eddie, adding, “You shouldn’t be out in the sun the whole day. You must be more careful at your age.”
Dona who witnessed the entire incident went up to the two.
“How are you feeling, Drake?” asked Dona.
“I am feeling much better. Thank you,” said Drake.
Then Dona looked at Eddie and said, “Eddie, you are the best out of everyone here. What you just did is much better than the qualities everyone boasted about themselves. I have decided to write a story about you.”
More From Champak: Story of Bread
Eddie blushed on hearing this, while all the other animals felt ashamed of themselves. They had now learnt a valuable lesson.
adventure stories, animals, books for kids, children short stories, children's books online, discovery stories, donkey, English story books, help, kids, kids books, kids books online, moral stories, online stories, short moral stories, stories online, story book
The Stubborn Sea
Sindhu, the sea was sweet and healthy. All who lived close by benefited from its clean and sweet water. The rivers and streams that flowed from the mountains would ultimately empty into the sea. This made him unhappy.
In Search of Uncle Pat
Popo, the peachick lived in Nandanvan with his father Pat, the peacock. Every morning, Pat would go out in search of food, while Popo went out to play with his friends. He would come back home by evening when his father returned.
Find or Fined?
Brownie always had her eyes on the rabbits that lived in the forest. She'd walk up to their burrow every day and all the rabbits would run helter-skelter.
Animal Mothers of the Wild
Mothers love their children unconditionally. This is not the case in humans alone, because in nature, animal mommies display motherly love and care for their little ones too.
Brushing it Right!
Teeth aren't pearly, until you smile. Find out how many differences are there between these two pictures.
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Pity Sex: White Hot Moon
Certainly "emo" as a label isn't being used left and right to describe music these days, not like it used to be in the early 2000s, the days of Brand New, Taking Back Sunday and the rest of the big wave of punky-poppy rock bands who liked to play touchy-feely with their guitars, worrying about their rich looks and battling each other for air time on the dying regarding music platform that MTV had become. Of course the whole thing had a very decent start in the face of acts like Jawbreaker and Weezer, but a decade and a half later the genre had malformed to an overly exaggerated version of what it started as.
"Emo" still gets thrown around though, even to this day, to describe bands like Touché Amoré, The World Is A Beautiful Place... and Pity Sex, who have recently released the follow up to their very well received 2013 album, Feast Of Love. The big three letter word may have lost its 2000s impact, but it's still vaild and fortunately it has reclaimed some of its former dignity, so that bands shouldn't be ashamed of it anymore.
White Hot Moon is not much different than Feast Of Love. Its produced by Will Yip sound may be slightly more refined than the past, but the punky angst is still present and it's remarkably married to the band's romanticism and their skillful ability to craft pop songs to tell stories about feelings, about love, about the lost art of being sentimental.
White Hot Moon doesn't break any new grounds, but it is worth of all the attention it can get and on the way it picks up the pieces of a broken genre and helps the process of assembling again.
White Hot Moon by Pity Sex
Vinyl, cassette, CD etc. via Run For Cover
#ajc
#pity sex
#punk
#run for cover
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Op-Ed: Top 10 Male Country Singers to Watch in 2014
By Markos Papadatos Jul 5, 2014 in Music
The following 10 male rising country singers have made quite an impact in the music scene this year, hence they made Digital Journal's "Top 10 Male Country Singers to Watch."
Previously, Digital Journal revealed its "Top 10 Female Country Singers to Watch" list, and that may be seen by clicking here.
Our male artist list ranges from independent country singers and songwriters to up-and-coming artists on major record labels whose career is off to a good start.
Ben Rue: Newcomer Ben Rue is signed to Arista Nashville, and his brand new single "I Can't Wait (Be My Wife)" is an absolute delight. Hopefully, it is a harbinger for bigger and better things to come.
Country singer Ben Rue
Courtesy of Sony Music Nashville
Brandon Chase: Brandon Chase was a contestant on the reality singing competition, The Voice, who auditioned with Hunter Hayes' "Wanted" and he was coached by Blake Shelton as part of Team Blake. An independent country artist, Chase was part of this year's Country Radio Seminar (CRS) and his new song "One" is neat and catchy.
Country singer Brandon Chase from "The Voice"
David Le
Chris Lane: Chris Lane is signed to Big Loud Mountain and he is out touring with hit country duo Florida Georgia Line and rapper Nelly. His breakthrough single "Broken Windshield View" is already making an impact on the radio airwaves, and looks quite promising.
Country singer Chris Lane
Kristin Barlowe
David Fanning: Red Bow Records' David Fanning is a triple threat in the industry, being a producer, singer and songwriter. His debut single, "Drink You Away" is raw and rocking and it has a haunting vibe to it. He has been dubbed as the "Ryan Tedder of country music."
Country singer David Fanning
Robert Chavers
Joel Crouse: Show-Dog Universal Music country artist Joel Crouse has toured with The Band Perry and Darius Rucker, among other musical acts. I have been a fan of his music from the very start, and after seeing his live shows, he does exceptional covers of songs by other artists. His songs "If You Want Some" and "Why God Made Love Songs" have been well-received by fans in his concerts, and his debut album Even the River Runs will be out in the middle of next month.
Country singer Joel Crouse
Casey Culver
Jon Pardi: Capital Nashville recording artist Jon Pardi has had success with his first two singles "Missin' You Crazy" and "Up All Night," and he is back with his new single "What I Can't Put Down." These three songs are all tracks from his critically-acclaimed breakthrough studio album Write You A Song.
Country singer Jon Pardi
Photo Courtesy of Brian Doben
Justin Adams: Independent country singer and songwriter Justin Adams released his debut EP last summer, which reached No. 4 on the Country iTunes charts. His five-track EP is a compelling collection of songs. An Oklahoma native and former college football player, Adams is known for his high-energy shows which have landed him opening spots for such musical acts as Easton Corbin, Eli Young Band, Eric Paslay and Charlie Worsham, among others. At this year's CMA Music Festival in Nashville, Tennessee, he played at the AT&T Showcase Stage.
Country singer Justin Adams
Courtesy of Zach Harrison Photography
M Callahan: Independent country singer M Callahan won the 2014 "Best Male Country Artist" award at the Indie Music Channel awards, and rightfully so. An Arkansas native, Callahan's single "Chicken on a Chain" reached No.1 in Europe's Hot-disc Country Charts for multiple weeks. His debut studio album that he released was also a gem.
Country singer M Callahan
Photo Courtesy of Cj Stevens
Mitch Goudy: Newcomer Mitch Goudy grew up in Iowa, where he would play in saloons, clubs and for audiences at state and county fairs. A few months ago, he became a member of the Country Music Association (CMA), and he was part of this year's Country Radio Seminar (CRS). He rocks on his single "Blow These Speakers Out," which he penned while he was in high school. His album Wild is noteworthy and he has opened for such artists as Joe Nichols and The Oak Ridge Boys.
Country singer Mitch Goudy
Jamie Cochran
Phoenix Stone: Phoenix Stone is the front-man of his Phoenix Stone Band, and he wrote his latest single, the ballad "When The Whiskey Doesn't Work." It deals with a failing romance and it displays a different side to his music than his upbeat and rocking "100 Proof Moonshine." Stone is one of modern country's finest songwriters and male vocalists. He was a part of this year's CMA Music Festival.
Country group Phoenix Stone Band
Courtesy of Casey Galbraith
This opinion article was written by an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not necessarily intended to reflect those of DigitalJournal.com
More about Ben Rue, mitch goudy, Justin Adams, m callahan, phoenix stone
Ben Rue mitch goudy Justin Adams m callahan phoenix stone Brandon Chase jon pardi joel crouse david fanning chris lane
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Web Development & Execution
The top 5 paid iPhone games: how can something that costs just 99 cents be so huge?
What can 99 cents really get you today? A cheap burger at a fast food joint, one song on iTunes, or an entire game on the app store. When you look at these three choices, which one do you think sounds like the best deal? I know I would pick the game that could offer hours of entertainment.
For me this is a no brainer. I’ve been a gamer since I was a very young child. I played MS-DOS games with my Dad for years before the Internet was even available to the public. Games have come a long way since then and for many different systems. However, Apple’s iPhone is a truly unique platform that not only utilizes touch input but also motion using accelerometer technology.
Unlike games that are made for consoles such as the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii or even for computers, iPhone games seem to be addicting yet I can put down my iPhone. My friends who play iPhone games are bored and just wanting something to do for five minutes though some games try to reach the gamer who wants to sit and play for hours at a time. I find that the most successful games are played in many short spurts.
As of today, the top 5 paid games on the app store are:
Flick Home Run
Hardest Game Ever
All of these games have levels that allow for very short play time while also allowing the player to finish something. They also tend to be very addictive and bring the player back often to try to get to the next level.
Scribblenauts is a perfect example of a game with short levels. The game is broken up into levels as well as having multiple puzzles in each level. You have to complete a certain amount of these puzzles to unlock the next level. Each puzzle requires that you help your character (Maxwell) grab a little star that is somewhere in the level. It seems simple, but there is always some obstacle to get passed and to do so you have access to almost any noun you can think of. Just type it in the box and it will spawn on the screen. For example if you type “dinosaur” a dinosaur will appear. The trick is getting an object or objects that will solve your problem.
The original Scribblenauts was released for the Nintendo DS in 2009. It was ported to the iPhone and was given extra levels that are exclusive to iOS. For the iPhone this game only costs 99 cents today(on sale from regular price of $4.99), but when it was released for the DS it started at $34.99. The iPhone price is a bargain of the original game and you get more content. It makes sense that it’s the top paid iPhone game even with competition like Angry Birds.
Even though Angry Birds is now in the number two spot, it still is clearly the most popular iPhone game (based on the fact that I’m the only one I know who has even heard of Scribblenauts and almost everyone I know has heard of as well as played Angry Birds). This game is so popular that not only has it been on the top of the app store list for ages now but it’s also made a huge mark on pop culture. Have you seen the t-shirts and toys in almost any store? They even have Angry Bird toys for your pet (I bought a catnip filled Angry Bird head for my cat the other day)! So not only can you sit on the couch playing Angry Birds on your iPhone all day, but your cat or dog can chase one around the house too.
The goal of each level of Angry Birds is to knock over the building that the green pigs are hiding under by launching Angry Birds at it. It is a very simple game that is basically a physics engine and cute graphics, but in the end simplicity usually wins the game. Angry Birds is proof of that.
The next two games on the list, Fruit Ninja, and Flick Home Run, both use the gesture recognizer for swiping intensive gaming. Then the last game on the list, Hardest Game Ever, is much like Scribblenauts as it features short puzzles that you have to solve. These games are only just a few of the innovative, fun, and interesting apps on the app store today.
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Solar PV milestone: 300 GW installed worldwide
On Sunday, the German Solar Association (BSW-Solar) announced the growth of solar photovoltaic (PV) technology has now reached a significant milestone with 300 GW of total installed solar power capacity around the world
Websolutions
On Sunday, the German Solar Association (BSW-Solar) announced the growth of solar photovoltaic (PV) technology has now reached a significant milestone with 300 GW of total installed solar power capacity around the world.
The global solar PV market increased by nearly 70 GW in 2016, reaching 294.69 GW, led by China, according to research and consulting firm GlobalData – a jump of around 30 per cent in new deployment compared to the previous year 2015.
The photovoltaic systems installed in 2016 alone generate around 90 terawatt hours of clean solar power.
The photovoltaic systems installed in 2016 alone generate around 90 terawatt hours of clean solar power- enough to supply 25 million additional households with an annual electricity consumption of 3500 KW hours.
Carsten Körnig, Chief Executive Officer of BSW-Solar, said: “The utilisation of solar power has really picked up momentum in many countries around the world. As the global thirst for energy increases, more and more governments and investors are committing to clean forms of energy.”
The Chinese National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) – the country's economic planner – announced last month, as part of its plan to boost solar capacity by five times, that solar will receive one trillion yuan of spending.
A strong photovoltaic market is also developing in India, where solar capacity is projected to double to 18 GW, with 14.2 GW of solar projects currently under development.
Körnig said: “The decision for solar power has long been based on more than environmental concerns alone. Economic considerations are increasingly the primary motivation for making the decision to invest in PV…The risk of stranded investments in unprofitable coal-fired power plants is increasing, because in the future their enormous climate impact costs will inevitably be priced in to the overall economic equation. Meanwhile, solar power already provides an extremely low-cost alternative.”
According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), in more than 30 countries worldwide PV technology is already so inexpensive that it can be operated profitably without financial support.
Furthermore, in an increasing number of cases it is more economical to invest in PV and wind power projects than in coal-fired power plants.
The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, in a study conducted for Agora Energiewende in 2015, concluded that in many parts of the world solar energy will soon be the most inexpensive source of electricity.
For the latest news on renewable energy, sustainability and climate change, sign up to our free newsletter here
Posted In: Worldwide, Circular Economy, COP 23, Energy
Zero-waste beauty brand ‘Ethique’ launches in UK
G20 agree to reduce marine plastic
Worldwide, Circular Economy
John Lewis launches a new BeautyCycle recycling programme
Coca Cola GB launches first 100% recycled bottles
Prada introduces new nylon bag collection made from recycled ocean plastic
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Gurudev Uvaacha #5
Perhaps the term “directing” should be changed to “listening.” Just because you’ve done a good job of explaining something doesn’t mean that the person you’re speaking to has gotten it. You have to play close attention and feel the response in order to be able to tell whether an actor is on the same page with you.
- Judith Weston in her wonderful book "The Film Director's Intuition"
Labels: Gurudev Uvaacha
Readjusting Expectations
Ridley Scott’s ‘Prometheus’ released recently with mixed reviews. I haven’t watched it yet, but a section of the audience claims it was ‘boring’. There are people who thought Martin Scorsese’s ‘Shutter Island’ was just about OK. The films of Steven Spielberg range from masterpieces to ordinary. Even back home, we see good film-makers coming up with not-so-good films. So, why does this happen? How the best of filmmakers end up making films which are unarguably inferior from their standards? How do they overlook certain flaws in their works which even a common audience with no knowledge of film-making finds palpable?
Let us assume that throughout their careers these film-makers remain as motivated as their first film, and as experienced as their last, that they never compromise on intent, vision, effort, and execution, that they always get the same kind of support from their producers, cast, and crew, that they are equally fit – mentally and physically, and that the factors beyond their hands – luck, chance – remain constant every time they make a film. I hope you understand that this is not possible and little changes in a few of the above-mentioned factors will affect the film being made, but let us still assume that all these factors remain constant, along with the director’s understanding of what he is doing. The nature of the process will still not let him make his films equally good. And making a truly great film will rarely happen. Here is the reason why.
Filmmaking is one of the most unnatural forms of creation. It is not at all organic. You do not start creating the film from its first shot – a few seconds every day, to reach the interval in a few weeks and the conclusion in the next few. It is not like a giant jig-saw puzzle you solve over days. When it comes to film-making, you first create that nightmare of a jig-saw puzzle. Once the script is ready, the stage where you 'see' the full film for the last time until the rough-cut on the edit table, it is broken down to schedules, scenes, shots, and takes, and creation occurs in random order. You might be shooting the last scene before the first. And it might take you several years to create a film that will be ‘received’ in a couple of hours. It is only when you start joining the pieces of this jig-saw puzzle together on the edit table that you, the filmmaker, get to see how your film looks like. And by then you have lost all your objectivity. You don’t laugh at the jokes, never feel any thrill or pathos looking at your footage, and all you can see are the glaring errors you have committed. On the contrary, you might fall in love with everything you see, and can not judge a bad shot from worse. You fail to realize that what you have shot is short of great.
I believe it is this ‘unnatural’ process that causes some invisible error, something being lost in translation. It is like when you enter a forest, you lose touch with its ‘whole design’ once you start focusing on the trees and the vague paths ahead of you. And when it comes to film-making, you have to select each path carefully, and stare at each tree as if it were the most important object in this forest, and then silently hope that you are correctly navigating through the maze.
So, what do you do when you end up making a not-so-good film? In my first meeting with Anurag Kashyap he had told me – “Do not be scared of making a bad film.” This I think is an essential wisdom in film-making. I’m not saying that you compromise on your vision, or intent, or efforts. I’m not saying you let complacence seep in and corrupt your soul. Nor am I saying that let overconfidence blind your judgment. A filmmaker should work hard with all his conviction, honesty, and integrity, and then let go of his fear of failure. I think it should be like Sachin Tendulkar’s attitude when he says that while walking into the ground with the cricket bat in his hand, all that matters to him is whether he prepared well. The result on the pitch is not and will never be as important as that. There are things you cannot control, and in the end all you can be critical about is your preparation, not your performance.
But I think it is easier said than done. I dread the day I will see the rough cut of my film and sulk into depression and refuse to let it release for the public. By that time several crores of rupees will be riding on it and it would be an ethical and professional crime not to actively promote the film and ask people to watch it, knowing very well that it is a poor film. But as they say, your child is your own, even if it is born with severe congenital deformities. You cannot abandon it. All you have to do is readjust your expectations with your creation. If it is not bad, if it is decent, try to feel proud of it. And let the world make their opinions. If you have been honest with your vision and effort, chances are you will never end up with a film that is bad, despite the unnatural process adopted to create and solve the jig-saw puzzle that is called a movie. Readjusting your expectations is perhaps the only way to preserve your sanity in this insane world of film-making.
Labels: Indian Cinema, Movies Aaj-Kal, Talking About the Masters, Trying to Create
The Big Divide
More than three years ago I had written a post urging Indian film-critics to take up a responsibility. I had appealed to them to recognize good cinema and ‘educate’ the public about that, because the audience will not always be able to identify the merits of certain ‘difficult’ films. I don’t care how many of the critics actually got to read that post of mine, or whether they consciously acted upon my appeal. But last week a film and the reactions it triggered forced me to revisit that post. And finally, I’m pleased with the Indian critics.
[Shanghai is] a serious motion picture that has a voice, that makes you think, that makes a stunning impact. A must watch! – Taran Adarsh
I couldn’t watch ‘Shanghai’ until on the 10th day after its release. I hadn’t read any reviews or had conversation with those who had watched it. But I was aware of the extreme mixed reactions it had generated. The opinions were divided, greatly, between the critics and different sections of the audience. The terms being associated with it were – ‘best Hindi film of the year’ and ‘truly brave’ on one side, and ‘it’s a documentary’ and ‘don’t mention that rubbish film’ on the other. Today I realize it is one of those truly well-made films that fail at the box-office. ‘Udaan’ (2010) had a similar story. The critics loved it but it did not fare well commercially. However, there were certain differences. One, ‘Udaan’ didn’t work because people didn’t watch it. Those who did had a favourable reaction to it. I’m yet to meet someone who hated the movie, unlike 'Shanghai'. Two, it did not lose money despite a poor theatrical revenue. And three, generally speaking, the Critics are praising ‘Shanghai’ much more than they praised ‘Udaan’.
The pleasure of this film is in the details. – Anupama Chopra
I believe the biggest factor governing the reaction from the audience is the accessibility of these films. ‘Udaan’ was more easily accessible because of its inherent emotions – the audience could intimately relate with the characters, could easily love or hate them. The characters of ‘Shanghai’ stay away from the emotional reach of the audience, and its drama affects our intellect more than our feelings. Except ‘Khosla Ka Ghosla’ I have felt similar ‘coldness’ in the storytelling of all Dibakar Bannerjee films. I really appreciate those films of his, they please me cerebrally; they even make me laugh or smile or send a shiver down my spine, but they never make me choke. As a result, despite admiring his films, I never really care for his characters (except Khosla Ka Ghosla).
The most striking aspect of ‘Shanghai’ is its marvelous use of sound, both ambient and otherwise, to build up dramatic tension. – Saibal Chatterjee
Now, I don’t mind this coldness in his films. But perhaps the rest of the audience does. I enjoy the craft of his films so much that it is pure entertainment for me. But that definitely cannot be an appealing factor for others. Yet, I’m happy that the critics are pointing-out these ‘cinematic’ merits of the film. Technically speaking, this film is so strong that it will keep inspiring me for re-watches only to learn more and more. And like most good films, I know it will grow on me with re-watches.
If something’s missing from this film, it’s a sense of suspense, the pressure-cooker urgency that this kind of ‘thriller’ needed… It’s a good film from one of Hindi cinema’s most exciting film-makers… It’s just not great. – Rajeev Masand.
Masand is a critic I always find myself agreeing with, more than any other, and here I agree with him again. I don’t think ‘Shanghai’ is as good as other critics are making it to be. But I don’t mind that at all. For a film like this to do well, it is important that critics praise it a little more than it deserves. This will attract all those who actually decide about watching a movie by counting the number of stars in the reviews. Films like these should be watched by the audience, for their taste-buds to develop, for their ‘evolution’ into more mature and tolerant ‘consumers’, or our cinema will remain stuck where it is.
… should ‘Shanghai’ be a commercial success [it] can change the course of cinema in India. A hopeful, watershed moment, if there ever was one in the midst of mediocrity… – Karan Anshuman
Unfortunately, this has not happened – the film has failed commercially. And this time, I really feel disappointed in the Indian audience. Perhaps I shouldn’t be. Perhaps the lack of its emotional impact, and its certain predictability, is actually the cause for the lukewarm response. Whatever be the precise truth, it is only with movies like these that we can hope to merge the divide between auteur and genre, art-house and commercial, and ‘critically acclaimed’ and popular. Thanks to Dibakar Bannerjee for making this film and the critics for their response that we can look forward to that day when the big divide between Hindi and World Cinema will be overcome. Only, it will not happen soon.
Labels: Indian Cinema
A Fun Trip to a New Professional Territory
“This was a day of new beginnings. आने वाला वक़्त देगा पनाहें, या फिर से मिलेंगे दोराहे? Insha Allah!” – From my diary entry on 16th July 2010, the day Udaan was released.
Four weeks later…
“The most sensational news of the day was this call from Vinod Chopra Films. We’re going to meet them tomorrow.” – 13th Aug 2010.
“Reached Vinod Chopra’s office around noon. Devanshu could not join. Meeting Rajesh Mapuskar was great. He was very impressed by me, my story (MBBS and all), and my poems. I committed myself for this work that seems wonderful. It is not official yet. We are supposed to do some work during the next two weeks before a final decision will be taken by them.” – 14th Aug 2010
“This is really fascinating – that each project comes with an opportunity to learn something new. In order to learn more about the Parsi community, I have bought and have started reading Rohinton Mistry’s ‘Such a Long Journey’.” – 23rd August 2010
“Today I met them and recited all the seven songs/poems I have written in the last few days. Their reaction, in general, was positive. Rajesh also made us listen to the Theme Music of the film. It is inspiring.” – 30th August 2010
“We will be given one song to write for the film. The meeting today was good, though I was nervous. But Vinod Chopra got really impressed by our work. He congratulated us and gave us a hug. Now, it all depends on us to write the best possible lyrics for the tune.” – 18th September 2010
“Rajesh didn’t like the song we shared with him today. But he is very patient and has asked us to keep trying without hurrying.” – 21st September 2010
“Spent several hours at the office but could not come up with anything. I felt as if I should finally give up writing this song. But then, a little encouragement from Rajesh changed everything. Within a short time I wrote the entire song. And when they listened to it they were overjoyed. For me, it was a wonderful feeling. But we need to polish the song.” – 9th October 2010
“Devanshu and I worked on the song and presented it to Vinod Chopra. He is a genius. Within moments he took the song to a different level by making subtle changes. After this meeting Rajesh told me – “You can now call your parents. Call them, right away.” This means we are officially ‘in’. Bimal Sir SMSd me – “You can’t imagine how happy I am for both of you. You have consolidated my belief that persistence is the key to success. God bless!” – 11th October 2010
“Shared the improved draft with Rajesh and Vinod Chopra. They say we’re almost there. Vinod made a few suggestions and wants me to go through those.” – 16th October 2010
“The song is almost approved. We just have to improve four lines.” – 25th October 2010
“I spent 9 hours at VC office today. I was hoping to lock the lyrics today. But that didn’t happen. They want us to improve it further.” – 29th October 2010
“Rajesh explained to me the problems with a couple of lines and we started reworking on them. Devanshu and I did a lot of hard thinking and we kept trying until he could not stand his rising fever. We then returned home.” – 10th November 2010
“I don’t know when this is going to end!” – 11th November 2010
“I think I want to quit. Of course, that would be a wrong thing to do.” – 12th November 2010
“Devanshu is admitted and is on Ringer Lactate drip. Bimal Sir had called. He and Rajesh Sir are concerned about his health.” – 13th Nov 2010
“Vinod Sir has proposed to bear all expenses on Chhota Shu’s treatment. I had no words when Bimal Sir called to inform this. It is such a great gesture! Called Mummy to share this news with her.” – 15th Nov 2010
“The entire song was locked today, except one line. I am supposed to think of more options and email to Rajesh Sir. I also thanked Vinod Sir today for his gesture and what followed was a memorable chat.” – 19th Nov 2010
“Today is the recording of your first song as lyricists.” – Bimal Sir’s message to me, 26th Nov 2010
A few months later…
“Met Rajesh Sir today. He played for us the “Mausambi Song”. It left me emotional – all that pain of writing it flashed before my eyes. But I’m so happy now, and proud to be associated with this unique song.” – 7th March 2011
More than a year later…
"The Music Reviews of 'Ferrari Ki Sawaari' are out. Phone calls and messages are pouring in from friends and well-wishers. Many of them are listening to this song on loop, which is called - Life Yeh Mausambi-Si!" - 21st May 2012
Click here to listen to the song.
The movie is releasing on 15th June. And it begins with this song. So, please be on time! :)
Labels: Indian Cinema, Trying to Create
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Largest freshman class in 30 years expected at The Citadel
The Class of 2012, which is expected to number more than 700 cadet recruits, reported to The Citadel early on Aug. 16, 2008 for academic orientation and military training.
“Reporting Day is an exciting time at The Citadel. We are looking to welcome more than 700 new cadets and their families to The Citadel family,” said Lt. Col. John Powell, ’77, director of admissions. “We are pleased with this incoming class and we are looking forward to watching them grow as leaders and members of the South Carolina Corps of Cadets.”
This class represents several milestones:
It is expected to be the largest class in 31 years with 717 freshmen.
Fifty women, the second largest freshman class since the college began admitting women in 1996, are expected to report. Women make up about 6 percent of the Corps of Cadets and the number of female alumni has surpassed 150.
Minority enrollment has increased. Sixty African-Americans are among the 125 minorities expected to arrive on campus.
South Carolina is home to 295 of the cadet recruits; the remainder come from more than 40 other states.
The freshman class is academically strong with an average SAT score of 1097 and average high school GPA of 3.35.
A complete profile of the Class of 2012 will be released during the week of Aug. 18.
The freshman class will begin military training on Monday, Aug. 18.
During the first year, students learn the best qualities of character, physical fitness, ethics, honor, integrity and courage through a military and disciplined environment. The first step – learn how to be followers so in succeeding years additional duties and responsibilities in leadership roles can be achieved. More than 200 cadets, including 100 who took part in this year’s intensive Leadership Seminar, will take the reins of teaching the freshmen everything they will need to join the South Carolina Corps of Cadets.
Home News for 2008-2009 Class of 2012 reports for orientation, military training
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Let the World be Alerted: TPLF is commiting genocide on the Amhara People
By Natnael Workneh
Amhara is one of the largest ethnic groups in Africa. It has more than 3000 years of recorded statehood. Amhara fathers and mothers established a country of Ethiopia by allowing others to settle in their lands and coexist. The foundation of Ethiopia as an East African nation was engineered so carefully that the country became increasingly strong and gained international prominence. One evidence to show this is that it had resisted the era of colonialism successfully and registered in history as the only country in Africa that never been colonized.
When it comes to the internal political situation of Ethiopia, one can see that the country has passed through three regime changes within the past century: the Imperial regime by Emperor Hailesilassie, the socialist regime by a military group also known as the Dergue , and the ethno-federal regime by Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF), a minority group that hailed from Tigray region. (Tigray is a tiny region that represents only 6% of Ethiopia but controlled the political and economic power of the whole country at 100%). Oppressive as they are, the first two regimes were nationalists and tried to administer the people of Ethiopia on equal eyes.
Over and above its dictatorial behavior, the third and present regime (TPLF), which is in power for the past 25 years, has consistently affirmed its anti-Amhara stance. It was in 1972 they declared this shameful and Nazi German type Manifesto for the first time. In 1991, they controlled the whole Ethiopia and started implementing their plan of destroying the people of Amhara socially, politically, and economically. During the past 25 years, about 5 million Amharas have been killed or disappeared. As a quick reference for this, in 2008, the national parliament already admitted that 2.5 million Amhara people have disappeared. The parliament also confirmed that while the annual national average for population growth is 2.4 percent, the Amhara population growth is only at 1.7%. The growth for other ethnic groups ranges from 2.2% to 4.00%. There are substantial evidences that showed TPLF controlled government has ordered birth control injection drug that led to permanent infertility of the Amhara mothers.
It all started in Wolkait Amhara 40 years ago way before TPLF controlled the whole Ethiopia. They killed a lot of Amharas in that region and forcefully annexed fertile Amhara lands of Wolkait and Raya to Tigray region. They also detached Metekel, another huge Amhara land, and gave it to a newly designed region that allowed Tigriayans to resettle in it. The whole purpose of this exercise was to eliminate the people of Amhara and its possessions. The people of Amhara were hoping that TPLF would stop its genocidal act and forceful annexation and work towards national consensus after it came to power in 1991. On the flipside, TPLF reaffirmed its hate to the people of Amhara by performing ethnic cleansing and genocide acts consistently.
In July 2016, as the TPLF genocide agents were trying to kill more Amharas in Gondar, the Amhara people decided to confront. The people of Amhara successfully deterred the killers to the extent that some members of the killing squad were killed back. Hence, the first victory for the Amhara people over the genocidal regime of TPLF has been registered.
Following the incident in Gondar, the people of Amhara is planning a peaceful demonstration on Sunday July 31, 2016 in the city of Gondar to inform the world its right to exist in its own land, to reclaim its Amhara identity, to administer itself freely, and pursue happiness as a people. More than half a million people are expected to attend. In contrary to this, the TPLF regime is galvanizing its special forces to dismantle this peaceful demonstration as well as to perform more genocide acts on the people of Amhara. Local people informed that government commandos and trained killers are positioned in and around the city of Gondar and already started terrorizing the people. We, therefore, urge the international community, news agencies, human rights organizations, and other peace loving individuals and institutions to follow this event very closely and be a voice for the voiceless. More specifically, we request international journalists to cover this event so that the whole world knows about it.
Labels: Amhara, Ethiopia, Gondar, Opinion, TPLF
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Kids lack basic physical skills
A program run by The University of Western Australia has found many Perth children are falling short of developing basic physical skills.
The UWA team tested more than 4000 children and found they lacked basic skills ranging from balance to running, jumping and ball skills. The team developed an eight-week program concentrated on those areas and saw vast improvements.
The UWA KIDDO program, the largest of its kind in Perth, involved children aged between three and eight years with support from 41 schools and 11 early childhood education and care centres.
UWA KIDDO Program Director Amanda Derbyshire, from UWA’s School of Human Sciences, said if children did not develop basic movement skills by the time they were 10 there was a strong chance they would be less active throughout childhood and as an adult, have less social confidence, and have a higher risk of mental health issues and other health problems such as obesity and diabetes.
“It's vital we get children moving early and make physical development a key component of their daily routine when at school or in early childhood education and care,” Derbyshire said. “A quality program at school and early childhood education and care is crucial because they spend a large amount of their time there.
“There was a 61% improvement in over-arm throwing, and a 13% improvement in general movement skills through the program. The average pre-primary child who could throw three metres at the start of the program could throw 4.8 metres in just eight weeks.”
Associate Professor Hayley Christian, Senior Research Fellow at UWA’s School of Population and Global Health and the Telethon Kids Institute said many early childhood education and care providers were falling short of meeting basic physical activity requirements with only 16% having a written physical activity policy.
“Because there are no standard policies to guide early childhood education and care providers, it is up to their own judgement to determine a suitable physical development program,” Christian said.
“We need national programs and sustainable funding models to support early childhood education and care providers and help our kids move well for optimal health, development and life success.”
Through the Play Spaces and Environments for Children’s Physical Activity (PLAYCE) partnership project Christian is working on how early childhood education and care services might implement the policies to meet the National Quality Standard.
“The success of the KIDDO program provides a case study of just what could be achieved if national policies were in place,” she said.
“Our research indicates that the average kindergarten kid can bounce a ball eight times in 20 seconds, whereas 20 years ago they could bounce and catch the ball 14 times.”
The KIDDO program is made possible with support from Healthway. Healthway supports evidence-based initiatives to deliver positive health outcomes for the WA community.
It is open to primary schools, early childhood education and care providers, parents and the public with a range of resources to help childhood physical development and more information is available at www.kiddo.edu.au/about-kiddo-program
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Squid skin inspires creation of next-generation space blanket
Drawing inspiration from the skin of stealthy sea creatures, engineers developed an adaptive space blanket that gives users the ability to control their temperature.
The innovation is detailed in a study published today in Nature Communications.
“Ultra-lightweight space blankets have been around for decades – you see marathon runners wrapping themselves in them to prevent the loss of body heat after a race – but the key drawback is that the material is static,” said co-author Alon Gorodetsky, University of California, Irvine associate professor of chemical & biomolecular engineering. “We’ve made a version with changeable properties, so you can regulate how much heat is trapped or released.”
The UCI researchers took design cues from various species of squids, octopuses and cuttlefish that use their adaptive, dynamic skin to thrive in aquatic environments. A cephalopod’s unique ability to camouflage itself by rapidly changing colour is due, in part, to skin cells called chromatophores that can instantly change from minute points to flattened disks.
“We use a similar concept in our work, where we have a layer of these tiny metal ‘islands’ that border each other,” said lead author Erica Leung, a UCI graduate student in chemical & biomolecular engineering. “In the relaxed state, the islands are bunched together, and the material reflects and traps heat, like a traditional Mylar space blanket. When the material is stretched, the islands spread apart, allowing infrared radiation to go through and heat to escape.”
Gorodetsky said he has many more applications in mind for the novel material: as reflective inserts in buildings to provide an insulation layer that adapts to different environmental conditions; to fabricate tents that would be exceptionally good at keeping occupants comfortable outdoors; and to effectively manage the temperature of valuable electronic components.
Clothing would be a particularly fitting application for the new, bio-inspired material, according to Gorodetsky, who collaborates on research projects with counterparts at athletic apparel manufacturer Under Armour Inc.
“The temperature at which people are comfortable in an office is slightly different for everyone. Where one person might be fine at 70º, the person at the next desk over might prefer 75º,” he said. “Our invention could lead to clothing that adjusts to suit the comfort of each person indoors. This could result in potential savings of 30 to 40 percent on heating and air conditioning energy use.”
And those marathon runners who wrap themselves in space blankets might be able to type in a number on a garment-integrated user interface to achieve the desired level of thermal comfort, optimising performance during races and recovery afterward.
Other benefits Leung mentioned include the material’s light weight, ease and low cost of manufacturing, and durability. She noted that it can be stretched and returned to its original state thousands of times.
Red wine may hold the key to next-gen wearable technology(16/07/2019)
Eco-designed wing secures Bombardier engineering innovation award(16/07/2019)
Porsche launches low-volume production with bio-based materials(11/07/2019)
Synthetic skin could aid in wound healing(01/07/2019)
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Duke Ligon of Oklahoma City
Duke Ligon’s 2007 Appointment to the Panhandle Oil and Gas Board
A longtime Oklahoma City business leader, Duke Ligon at one time served as the general counsel and a senior vice president of Devon Energy, and today manages the private mineral investment firm Mekusukey Oil Company. Over the course of his career, Duke Ligon has sat on the boards of many oil and gas industry companies, and, in 2007, was appointed to the board of Panhandle Oil and Gas, Inc.
The newly created position reflected Mr. Ligon’s longstanding affiliation with the company as a shareholder. An appointed responsibility, it was followed by formal election at the annual shareholders meeting. The company’s chairman of the board noted that Panhandle Oil and Gas would benefit from strengthened ties with an entrepreneur who combined experience in finance and extensive knowledge of the oil and gas business.
Panhandle Oil and Gas, which began operations in Texas County in the 1920s, has achieved a reputation for sustained results in the exploration and production of natural resources. Its assets include 255,000 acres of mineral-bearing land as well as working and royalty interests in more than 6,000 oil wells.
Attorney and businessman Duke Ligon serves as president and CEO of the company he established more than 40 years ago, Mekusukey Oil Company, LLC. The company is among the nation's largest privately held businesses focused on acquiring and managing perpetual mineral resources; it conducts business in Oklahoma and more than 20 other states. Mekusukey maintains offices in Wewoka and in Oklahoma City. Duke Ligon and his staff oversee operations covering approximately 80,000 net mineral acres.
Since 2008, Mr. Ligon has worked with Blueknight Energy Partners, L.P., as chairman of the board and independent director. Blueknight offers midstream services to others throughout its industry. Among his other affiliated companies is PostRock Energy Corporation in Oklahoma City. He serves as chairman of the board for this natural gas production company that focuses on the Cherokee Basin region, which extends into southeast Kansas.
Among his other board of directors positions, Mr. Ligon works with Heritage Trust Company, a private trust bank whose Texas and Oklahoma offices concentrate on energy commodity management, and with Denver, Colorado-headquartered Emerald Oil, Inc.
From 1997 to 2007, moreover, he served Devon Energy Corporation as general counsel and senior vice president. He currently works with the University of Texas’ Kay Bailey Hutchison Center for Energy, Law & Business as co-chairman of its executive council.
Civil War Trust
Duke Ligon
Oklahoma City Philharmonic (OKCPHIL) Foundation
St. Anthony’s Hospital
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Samurai. Spirit of the Warrior hardcover
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Takeichi Nishi: The Ungovernable Baron
Few people areinherently brave. It has been your destiny since birth to be a warrior. You are fearless andyou will fight to the bitter end. You cannot run away, you will act as a warrior should. Allof your years of training and discipline have steered you to this profession. This is youressence. Every fiber of your being is that of a warrior. Being a Warrior is your religion. Thisis what you have prepared for your entire life. This is your destiny.
You are a Warrior, so this is what God wants. This is your mission. Your duty is to bea Warrior. You cannot run from your duty, from your essence; you must stay true toyourself. Following that which you do not possess is dangerous. Let others sit under atree and watch it grow, as it is their purpose. They need it, but you do not. True religionis what sprouts from the depths of the heart. Being a Warrior is your religion. Walk thatpath to the end.
A. R. Basov, "Spirit of the Warrior"
Nishi with Olympic steed, Uranus
Colonel Baron Takeichi Nishi (西 竹一 Nishi Takeichi, July 12, 1902 – c. March 22, 1945) was an Imperial Japanese Army officer, equestrian show jumper, and Olympic Gold Medalist at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. He was a tank unit commander at the Battle of Iwo Jima and was killed in action during the defense of the island.
Do not live in indignity and defeat. Live proud and victorious – as a man, justifiably proud, should live. As the Master of this life should live.
Nishi was born in the Azabu district of Tokyo. He was the illegitimate third son of Tokujirō Nishi, a danshaku (baron under the kazoku peerage system). His mother was not married to Tokujirō and was forced to leave the house soon after giving birth. His father had various high-level positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Imperial Privy Council, leading up to Ambassador to China's Qing Dynasty during the Boxer Rebellion.
Nishi went to Gakushuin pre-school and, while in elementary school, repeatedly got into fights with students of nearby Bancho elementary school. In 1912, at the age of 10, he succeeded to the title of Baron upon the death of his father. In 1915, he entered Tokyo First Junior High School (now Hibiya High School) in accordance with the dying wishes of his father; his classmates included Hideo Kobayashi, future pre-eminent literary critic, and Hisatsune Sakomizu, who would be Chief Cabinet Secretary in 1945.
In September 1917, Nishi entered Hiroshima Army Cadet School, a military preparatory school established on Prussian models, and in 1920 took courses at Tokyo Central Cadet Academy. One of his classmates was Masanobu Tsuji, formerly head student of the Nagoya Academy. He completed his studies at Central Cadet School in six months in April 1920, due to the reorganization of the military schools, and began courses at the Imperial Japanese Army Academy. Midway through his studies, he was attached to the First Cavalry Regiment based in Setagaya, Tokyo. In 1924, he graduated from the Academy, the 13th of the 19 students in his class, and was commissioned a second lieutenant in October. He went on to the First Cavalry after graduating from Army Cavalry School. He was promoted to lieutenant in October 1927.
A man who clings to life will not become a hero. A man who fruitlessly gives up life will not become a hero. A man who lives without a goal will not become a hero.
A. R. Basov, "Legend"
In 1930, Nishi encountered what would be his favorite horse, Uranus, while in Italy. As the army wouldn't pay for the horse, Nishi bought Uranus with his personal funds. Nishi and Uranus competed in competitions around Europe, doing well. In 1932, when Nishi was a first lieutenant, they participated in the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, winning a gold medal in show jumping individual. This remains Japan's only Olympic medal to date in an equestrian event. His victory broke through the general hostility towards Japan that followed from the Mukden Incident and invasion of Manchuria. Westerners, especially Americans, referred to him as Baron Nishi. He was also popular among Japanese Americans, who were ostracized by American society in this period.
During his stay in Los Angeles, Nishi became the topic of conversation both for his love of driving convertibles around town and for becoming part of the social circle led by movie legend Charlie Chaplin, movie star couple Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks.
After the Olympics, he was reassigned to the 16th Narashino Cavalry Regiment and promoted to be a cavalry instructor at the regimental school with the rank of captain, which he was promoted to in August 1933.
A man should always remember his heroic mission in life, and he will achieve everything he desires.
Nishi and Uranus participated in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany but Nishi fell off his horse mid-course. There is speculation this was intentional and done for the benefit of host country Nazi Germany, with whom Japan would sign the 1940 Tripartite Pact, forming the Axis Powers. The 1936 Show Jumping individual event gold medal was won by Germany. Following this, Nishi was reposted to the Tokachi Subdivision of the department responsible for supply of military horses. He was promoted to major in March 1939.
In this period, Japan was cutting its cavalry forces and forming tank regiments. Nishi was reassigned the regimental commander of the 26th Tank Regiment, based in Mudanjiang, in northern Manchukuo on defensive duties. He eventually gained the rank of lieutenant colonel in August 1943.
In 1944, the 26th Tank Regiment was reassigned to the defense of Iwo Jima under the command of Lieutenant General Tadamichi Kuribayashi. On July 18, 1944, while en route from Pusan to Iwo Jima, the ship Nisshu Maru transporting the regiment was struck by torpedoes fired by submarine USS Cobia (SS-245). While only two soldiers were killed, all 28 of the tanks in the regiment were lost.
Danger, risk, and war are integral parts of a warrior’s life; he feels in his element in this environment.
At war means at home!
Nishi briefly returned to Tokyo to obtain replacement tanks, and eventually received 22 of them. While there, he borrowed the car of Daijiro Kawasaki, future CEO of Daihyaku Insurance (eventually bought out by Manulife Financial), a close friend and a son of the Kawasaki Heavy Industries zaibatsu. When he had a chance, he visited his horse Uranus, who remained at the Bajikōen Horse Grounds, Setagaya.
On Iwo Jima in 1945, Nishi commanded the 26th Tank Regiment under the Ogasawara Corps (IJA 109th Division). He would walk about the island wearing his Hermès brand riding boots and carrying his favorite crop. The regimental headquarters, which was located near the village of Maruman, was moved to the eastern part of the island when the battle began. Due to the topography of the island, some of the medium Type 97 Chi-Ha and light Type 95 Ha-Go tanks were placed in hull defilade (buried up to their turrets) and used as fortified emplacements, in particular, against the American M4 Shermans.
After extensive air and naval gunfire bombardment, the United States Marine Corps launched an amphibious assault on Iwo Jima starting February 19. The American forces, who knew that Nishi was an enemy commander, broadcast daily appeals for him to surrender, stating that the world would regret losing "Baron Nishi"; Nishi never responded to those appeals. The American intelligence officer responsible for this attempt was Sy Bartlett of the 315th Bomber Wing out of Guam, who would later write the novel and film screenplay Twelve O'Clock High. In 1966, Bartlett visited Nishi's widow in Tokyo and paid his respects at Yasukuni Shrine.
Heroes perish, but the Ideal persists. Even if disregarded by someone, it attracts and reaches out to people, proselytes the hearts.
The circumstances of Nishi's death are unknown and subject to competing theories. One theory is that he found himself in the midst of enemy forces on the morning of March 21 and was killed by machine gun fire while moving to the regimental headquarters. Another is that he and his aide killed themselves with their pistols near Ginmyōsui or Futagoiwa. Yet another is that he was burnt to death by American flamethrowers on March 22, or that he and several subordinates carried out a final assault and were killed in action.
John C. Shively, in his novel The Last Lieutenant, recounts a story told by his uncle in which his platoon fires upon a group of Japanese soldiers during the night. In the morning, a body resembling Nishi's was found wearing riding boots and jodhpurs. Shively's uncle was almost certain that this was the body of Nishi.
Nishi was 42 years old at the time of the battle.
Never give yourself up as a prisoner, it will bring you dishonor!
A samurai does not surrender into captivity under any circumstances. Those who surrender are not samurai – they are simply cowards who disgrace themselves, their family, and their ancestors.
A samurai must do everything for victory, his life is a means to accomplish it. A samurai must accept a battle under any circumstances and preserve his life while there is a chance to keep fighting, but he never lets the enemy rejoice at his humiliation or capture. The very thought of surrendering should be unacceptable to a warrior, it must induce his fury and make him desire outright to struggle until the end.
If one of our hands is cut off, fight with the other. If you have no hands left, fight with your legs. If you have no legs, clutch at the enemy’s throat with your teeth and do not release it even if your head is cut off…
A samurai must go straight on till the last moment of his life. He must die silently, with a smile and a sword in his hand, and fall forward facing his enemy. A samurai is mortal like all other people. He can be killed or wounded, but he must never be afraid. He must never retreat or leave the battlefield. Never.
Nishi was posthumously promoted to the rank of colonel. His son Yasunori Nishi (currently vice president of the Association of Iwo-Jima), succeeded him as the 3rd Baron Nishi. His hereditary title was abolished during the American occupation of Japan after the war.
Ōno states, "Few people comprehended him and only Uranus understood him."
Uranus died one week after Nishi. In 1990, Uranus was commemorated at the War Horse Memorial in the History and Folklore Museum in Honbetsu, Hokkaidō.
Unlimited will is the determination to fulfill any volitional order until you are alive.
To know that you would die tomorrow and to do what you see proper is aristocratic.
This is the backbone of the Master’s morality.
A true samurai always remains a samurai, even if he is seemingly weak and in adesperate situation. Probably, powerlessness and hopelessness are the greatest ordealsthat may befall a person – including a samurai. We all live in a world where the mainordeal is helplessness, meaningless limitation of human life in the eyes of many, and thetriumph of death.
Awareness of their helplessness in the face of death forces most people to lose theirresolve, fortitude, and Faith.
However, for a samurai the time of his death does not matter, because all of us willdie anyway, and time is just an illusion. A samurai will always find strength to live in aproper way as if he is immortal. It does not matter when death comes.
A true warrior can confront anything; he can create a foothold even in emptinessand push off of it to continue his Way leading to Heaven…
When every action in life is guided by the aspiration to reach a sacred goal, lifeacquires a special sense. Every act has its meaning and consequence. A samurai goesstraight ahead until the last moment of his life, he dies marching while setting his footfor a new step…
And he smiles: he sees the Sun in front of him…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takeichi_Nishi
https://ww2db.com/person_bio.php?person_id=368
I will not get lost...
The North Star is shining in the darkness...
The road to Valhalla, straight like a sword, is always in front of me!
Copyright 2000-2019 Alexey R. Basov, Tatiana Basova. All rights reserved.
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Home » Peoples of Alabama » Native Peoples » MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians
MOWA Pow Wow
Alabama Indian Affairs Commission
Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek
MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians
Jacqueline Anderson Matte, Independent Scholar
The MOWA band of Choctaw Indians occupies an area in south Washington County and north Mobile County near the southwest Alabama towns of Citronelle, Mount Vernon, and McIntosh. The band takes their name from the first two letters of Mobile and Washington counties, where members settled, straddling the county line. The group was formally recognized as a tribe by Alabama in 1979 but has not received recognition from the federal government, despite repeated efforts.
The MOWA's ancestors settled the area in two phases. The first occurred after a group of Choctaw fought alongside the Red Sticks during the Creek War of 1813-14 and following their defeat, fled with their families into the south Alabama swamps. The second phase occurred in the 1830s, when some south Alabama Choctaws avoided forced removal to Indian Territory and
also settled in that area. These two groups became known as the MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians, who struggled to survive on the margins of white society. Many women sold firewood on the streets of Mobile, and men hunted and sold game and deerskins. The federal government made several failed attempts to move them west prior to the outbreak of the Civil War, when all removal activity ceased. Thus, these Choctaws evaded removal by hiding for decades in the swamps and pine barrens. In 1862, the Confederate secretary of war ordered the enlistment of Indians east of the Mississippi River. With the promise of a $50 bounty, clothes, supplies, and rifles, many Choctaw men went off to war. Most died, but their families continued to live in south Alabama virtually unnoticed.
Following the Civil War, the Choctaws' interaction with other residents of the region was limited because of racism. Laws governing race relations in the South and Alabama were written for either whites or blacks, and Indian identity generally was submerged. The Choctaws remained in the forest until the mid-1880s, when northern timber companies moved into the area to exploit Alabama's abundant pine forests. Discovering that Indian families lived there, lumber company officials enlisted the aid of L. W. McRae, a state senator from Washington County, to void Choctaw claims to the land. McRae knew the people were Choctaws, but he wanted to bring industry to the region and use them as a source of cheap labor.
Choctaw Community Leaders
To facilitate the acquisition of land, he suggested calling them "Cajuns," believing that the Choctaws looked like the descendants of French-speaking Louisiana Acadians. Given this new "Cajun" identity, the Indian population was included in the U.S. Census, made to pay taxes, and although the Choctaws were nonliterate, they were able to hold title to land under the terms of the Homestead Act of 1862. Promised jobs with the timber companies, many Choctaws leased the rights to their land.
McRae worked closely with John Everett, a trusted Choctaw community leader, to help the Choctaws parcel out their land under the 1862 Homestead Act. Everett learned the timber business quickly and hired Choctaws to work shares, collecting pine sap for turpentine production. Everett kept most of the Choctaws' shares to pay the debts they incurred at his store. When property taxes came due, they had no money left, and they lost their land to Everett. However, because he needed workers, he encouraged them to stay on the land, plant gardens, and fish and hunt as they always had.
The advent of timbering required the Choctaws to relocate to logging camps. Moreover, clear-cutting gradually destroyed the forest that had supported their hunting-and-gathering way of life. Thus, by 1930, their traditional culture had been largely eradicated. After Everett died, his white partner Frank Boykin (who later represented the First Congressional District as a U.S. Congressman for 27 years) took over and moved the Choctaw families out of the forest to small plots of land along county roads. Boykin threatened to alert the federal government to their presence and have them sent to the Choctaw reservation in Oklahoma if they sought employment elsewhere. This threat exploited a persistent fear by many Choctaws that they would be forcibly removed because their ancestors had been unable or unwilling to avoid removal under the terms of article 14 of the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek. Despite hardships, the Choctaw community persisted as a system of social relationships solidified by ceremonial gathering areas, churches, schools, cemeteries, and kin-based communities. Because of their isolation and discrimination
Weaver Indian School
by people outside their community, little formal education existed for the MOWA until after World War I. A few families provided instruction in their churches and assessed participating families two dollars each to pay the teacher, who boarded with the families. In 1917, the Washington County Board of Education began providing a single teacher. In 1918, the Southern Baptist Convention learned of the MOWA and arranged for missionaries to teach in the communities. By the 1920s, an Alabama Baptist mission arrived in Washington County, and by the 1930s, a Methodist mission had opened in Mobile County. With little money and few books, the missionaries taught students of all ages in local churches or in primitive accommodations, usually walking through the woods from village to village. The Indian schools began receiving limited state and county funding in the 1940s, which marked the beginning of a separate school system for Indians. Because these schools were not accredited, Indian children had to leave the state to get a high school education. As early as the 1950s, some attended Bacone College in Muskogee, Oklahoma, an all-Indian school. Later, some MOWA youths went to the Mississippi Choctaw Reservation's Choctaw Central High School in Choctaw.
This three-school system—one for whites, another for African Americans, and a third for Indians—persisted until the 1960s. In 1970, local Choctaw leaders prevented the closure of their Indian schools by the county school boards because of the desire to maintain their Indian culture. They obtained a federal court order mandating that one Indian school in each county remain in operation. Federally funded Indian education programs remain today in both county public
Viney Reed Taylor
schools. Although the MOWA Choctaws kept their schools, their economic situation did not improve. Chemical companies built plants in the 1950s, but they did not bring much employment to the MOWA. In the late 1960s, tribal leaders and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission negotiated with these businesses to persuade them to hire Choctaws. Although a few received jobs with the chemical companies, most Choctaw worked for the local timber company planting pine seedlings or participated in seasonal migrant farm work.
In 1976, the American Indian Policy Review Commission described the Choctaws in Mobile and Washington counties as a "nonrecognized tribe." This provided a long-awaited opportunity to reclaim their Choctaw identity in an official capacity. In 1979, state representative J. E. Turner helped create a commission to support the needs and interests of the MOWA, and this effort led to their state recognition that year. The tribe then became eligible for services in education, healthcare, housing, childcare, and eldercare that the federal government provides for American Indians in general.
The MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians opened its first tribal office in 1980 and began seeking federal recognition. Although recognized as a tribe by the Alabama legislature in 1979 and later by the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in 1991, the Bureau of Indian Affairs denied a federal acknowledgment petition in 1997. The BIA's Bureau of Acknowledgment and Research (BAR) refuses to credit oral history and requires a comprehensive, documented historical account of tribal life, which distorts the history of petitioning groups, making a tribe unrecognizable to both its own members and to other Native Americans. Specifically, critics charge that the BAR's criteria for federal recognition conforms to mainstream American society's ideas of which characteristics impart lawful form to an Indian tribe.
Native American Celebration 2002
In the summer of 2005, the MOWA learned that their only recourse for federal recognition was with the U.S. Congress or through litigation. Alabama congressman Josiah T. "Jo" Bonner (R-1) introduced the Mowa Band of Choctaw Indians Recognition Act in July 2005, but it did not pass. Bonner has reintroduced the bill three more times—in 2007, 2010, and 2011—but it has not been enacted. The 3,600 MOWA Choctaws persist in their efforts, convinced that federal recognition offers the best hope for improving the lives of tribal members, of whom roughly 80 percent live in poverty today.
Matte, Jacqueline Anderson. They Say the Wind Is Red: The Alabama Choctaw—Lost in Their Own Land. Montgomery, Ala.: NewSouth Books, 2002.
———. "Extinction by Reclassification: The MOWA Choctaws of South Alabama and Their Struggle for Federal Recognition." Alabama Review 59 (July 2006): 163-204.
Published: October 10, 2007 | Last updated: January 24, 2017
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1983 Marcus Ave
North New Hyde Park, NY, 11042
info@epmco.com
EPM is an environmental consulting firm, serving the NYC metropolitan area for over 25 years in hazardous material assessments, design, and abatement oversight.
Investigation/ Remediation Design
Newly Awarded Contracts
Environmental Planning & Management, Inc.
EPM Key Personnel
New York City Environmental Consulting firm - NYS certified woman owned business enterprise (WBE) and a Disadvantage Business Enterprise (DBE)
a. Stacey gogos
President and Senior Environmental Engineer
Stacey Gogos founded EPM in 1988 and has presided over its steady growth becoming one of the top women owned firms on Long Island. With her extensive background in a wide range of environmental projects, including soils and groundwater investigations and assessments, UST management, asbestos investigations/remedial design, environmental audits of industrial facilities, and hazardous materials/ waste investigations and remediation, she is responsible for and directs various term contracts.
Her most notable projects include overseeing the subsurface investigations for the NYCEDC Willets Point Redevelopment District, managing continuous NYSDOT term contracts for Regions 8, 10, 11 for asbestos assessment and remediation services for the last 25 years and overseeing the environmental investigations pertaining to the Kosciuszko Bridge Reconstruction Project.
Ms. Gogos formerly served as an environmental engineer with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region II, where she conducted compliance evaluation audits and designed sampling and analysis investigations. She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering from Columbia University.
Aphrodite Socrates
Vice President and Senior Environmental Scientist
Aphrodite Socrates has served as Vice President since 1991 and has worked closely with Ms. Gogos to provide a comprehensive approach to environmental solutions by hiring knowledgeable people and providing continuous training to maintain current certifications. Ms. Socrates has over 30 years of experience in the environmental consulting field. She has participated in and managed a variety of environmental projects, including but not limited to, asbestos and lead based paint assessments, remediation design, mold investigations, Phase I and II environmental investigations, environmental compliance audits, and regulatory permitting.
She currently manages numerous contracts for MTA and all its subsidiaries, NYCDOT, NYSDOT, DASNY, the Port Authority of NY/NJ, and private clients. Key projects under her direction include multiple DASNY term contracts providing environmental services as an On-Call or As-Needed basis throughout the New York City Region, NYU Medical Center On-call environmental services completing nearly 1000 task orders to date at various locations throughout the metropolitan area, and managing the hazardous material remediation oversight services for the US Mission to the United Nations for the U.S. General Services Administration.
Ms. Socrates holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from City University of New York.
a. tom gogos
Senior Environmental Scientist
Tom Gogos has over 25 years of experience in environmental investigations, construction inspection and management. He is responsible for projects involving lead removal/disturbance, underground storage tank management, soil and groundwater investigations, asbestos investigations and project monitoring, environmental audits of commercial and industrial properties, and hazardous materials/waste investigations.
Currently, he is the project manager for numerous hazardous materials contracts for agencies including NYCT, MTA Bridges and Tunnels, NYCDOT, DASNY and FIT. Most notably, Mr. Gogos was the senior project manager for the design and construction inspection services of the phased remediation at the International Arrivals Building at John F. Kennedy Airport, which was part of a 1.3 billion dollar redevelopment project and he has managed numerous Indefinite Quantity contracts both as a prime and as a sub-consultant with NYCT Office of System Safety and the Environmental Engineering Department for the past 15 years.
Mr. Gogos holds a Master of Science in Environmental Engineering Technology from New York Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Science Degree from Columbia University.
Richard hart, CHMM
Over the last 20 years, Richard Hart has completed numerous hazardous material investigations and remediation designs for various Federal, State, and Municipal Agencies, with emphasis on infrastructure redevelopment, including highways, bridges, bus, and rail. He has extensive experience conducting Phase I and Phase II Environmental Site Assessments/Investigations, Subsurface Remedial Investigations, and Remedial Actions and is adept at recognizing contractor management issues; regulatory agency negotiations; community and work protection protocols; hazardous material handling and disposal protocols; and preparation of design specifications, plans, and cost estimates for handling and disposing of contaminated soil, petroleum storage tanks, groundwater and marine sediment.
His most recent notable projects as project manager include site subsurface investigations at the NYCDEP Willets Point Development District, hazardous material investigations for NYSDOT Kosciuszko Bridge Project, and Lead Hydrogeologist and project manager for Metro-North Railroad East Side Access – High Bridge Yard Development project soil and groundwater remediation activities.
Mr. Hart holds a Master of Science Degree in Environmental Pollution Control and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Environmental Resource Management both from Penn State University.
Frank shkoditch
Frank Shkoditch has over twenty years of experience conducting asbestos and lead environmental investigations, providing abatement design specifications and cost estimates, and performing project/air management and monitoring oversight on hundreds of projects for various public agencies. He has been responsible for the investigation, supervision, and management of planned and emergency projects in both the private and public sectors, and the formulation-implementation of Operations and Maintenance/Asbestos Emergency Tracking Programs.
His project experience includes project manager at the International Arrivals Building at JFK Airport during the abatement of asbestos and lead paint prior to the phased demolition of the existing 2,000,000 square foot facility; Project Investigator and Project Designer for the rehabilitation of the tunnel walls, roadway, drainage, ceiling and fire line at the Hugh L. Carey/Brooklyn Battery Tunnel from the environmental issues derived from the World Trade Center building collapse. Currently he is compiling a comprehensive facility wide inventory for the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel describing hazardous material, quantity, location, and abatement details.
Mr. Shkoditch holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from St. John’s University and a Master of Business Administration from Adelphi University.
1983 Marcus Ave, Suite 109, Lake Success, NY 11042
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Huge wildfires are spreading in California, Oregon, and Colorado. They’re poised to get worse.
by faster | Jul 24, 2018 | Blog |
SOURCE: Vox
SNIP: Wildfires have almost become a year-round threat in some parts of the western United States. From Colorado to California, it feels like the blazes from last year never went out.
Flames ignited forests and chaparral virtually nonstop in 2017, and the year ended with record infernos in Southern California that burned well into 2018.
Officials don’t refer to “fire seasons anymore but rather to fire years,” Jennifer Jones, a spokesperson for the National Interagency Fire Center, told me in an email.
The Ferguson Fire near Yosemite National Park has already burned more than 36,000 acres, an area more than 42 times the size of Central Park in Manhattan, since igniting on July 13. More than 3,000 firefighters from as far away as Virginia are fighting the blaze. As of Tuesday, the fire was only 26 percent contained and had led to the death of one firefighter, Braden Varney.
The fire sent thick plumes of smoke and ash into the air, leading to very unhealthy air quality alerts in the region.
Meanwhile, the Substation Fire near Portland, Oregon, has torched 79,000 acres and forced 75 households to evacuate. It’s just one of 160 wildfires that has scorched southern Oregon. As of Monday morning, the fire is 92 percent contained. In Colorado, wildfires have already ripped through more than 175,000 acres, and the ensuing rains have brought mudslides along the freshly denuded landscape.
And it’s likely to get worse. Many parts of the US are facing a higher than normal fire risk this year.
It’s an alarming echo of last year’s devastating fire season, which charred more than 10 million acres, making it one of the worst years in more than three decades.
A key thing to remember is that wildfires are ordinarily a natural phenomenon. Many parts of the US are primed to burn, and fires are vital to the ecosystem, restoring nutrients to the soil and clearing out decaying brush. Trees like the Jack pine only release their seeds after a fire. Plants like buckthorn need fires to germinate.
But the destruction from the gargantuan blazes we’ve seen in recent years is hardly natural; human activity is clearly making it worse.
So far, this year, it seems that many of the same mistakes that have put people at risk are being repeated. In California, some residents are rebuilding in the same fire zones where homes burned last year, spurred in part by insurance payouts.
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Not Like Home
One Man's Story
Inside Solitary
Why End Solitary?
Tickets to Solitary
End the Torture of Solitary Confinement
In the US today, more than 80,000 people - men, women, and children - live up to 23 hours a day in tiny cells without natural light, air, or human contact. Many remain there for months, years, or even decades.
The UN's expert on torture considers more than 15 days in solitary confinement a human rights violation. The US is the only democratic nation that makes widespread use of long-term solitary confinement in its prisons, even for minor, nonviolent infractions as simple as having too many postage stamps.
Is solitary confinement torture? What effect does it have on the people who endure it?
Hear one man’s story »
Why End Solitary Confinement?
Putting a person in solitary confinement for more than 15 days is widely considered to be torture. Individuals can and often do spend months, years or decades in solitary confinement.
Why is being alone considered torture?
Confining a human being in isolation beyond 15 days has been shown to cause irreversible psychological damage, like hallucinations, issues with impulse control, impaired cognitive ability, loss of memory, suicidal ideation, and personality dissociation. These effects can be permanent.
How can it be part of the legal process then?
It's technically not. Individuals are not sentenced to solitary confinement by a judge and jury in the US. All solitary confinement placements are issued by prison staff.
But isn't it used to punish the worst criminals?
Solitary confinement is not actually "for the worst of the worst" or "the serial killers and Hannibal Lecters of the world." Many people are placed in solitary for petty, non-violent infractions, like having too many pencils or having two pillows instead of one.
Well, it's obviously being used for something. Like keeping people in check.
Actually, the use of solitary confinement has shown to have little to no effect on reducing prison violence. It may even contribute to increased rates of violence within prison facilities.
What if I don't care about prisoners' rights. They broke the law.
More than 90% of people in prison will eventually be back in society. Spending time in solitary confinement can leave these individuals psychologically damaged and unable to find work or live normally, once they're released from prison. They also have a higher chance of landing back in prison.
Furthermore...
Your taxes being affected. The average cost of keeping a person in prison for a year is $25,000. The average cost of keeping a person in a 'supermax' prison for a year is $75,000, or three times the cost to taxpayers.
Well, I know if I were in prison I'd want to stay away from the real criminals. It can't be that bad.
In New York and California, research has shown that suicide rates are significantly higher in solitary confinement than in the general population. And, according to one study, most of the suicides that take place in isolation occur within eight weeks. It is that bad.
Still not convinced? Look at the numbers.
Source: Solitary Watch
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Cannes 2014: Le Meraviglie by Alice Rohrwacher
The last day in Cannes is spent literally catching up on as many films as possible, with all the ones in competition as well as those from Un Certain Regard being showed back to back in all the screens of the Palais. This was stretched to two days this year, with the competition having been shortened by a day and the awards given yesterday. So I had one last chance to catch a final film early in the morning, and I picked Le Meraviglie by Alice Rohrwacher, which won the runner up prize last night, an award which surprised many.
Cannes 2014: White God by Kornél Mundruczó
The hype machine works overdrive at the Cannes Film Festival. Everybody wants to have discovered the latest talent of note, and critical hits here get more severely judged when they come out as a result. But sometimes this hype spreads through the festival itself, even within the same day as it happened after the morning screening of It Follows at La Semaine de la Critique. So this is already with a certain weight of expectations that I watched White God at a catch-up screening near the end of the festival, on the back of some great feedback. An expectation which rose when director Kornél Mundruczó came on stage to introduce as the film, where normally cast and crew only stay for three days, and I correctly predicted that the film was about to win the Un Certain Regard prize, despite Force Majeure being the favourite. So were the expectations met?
Cannes 2014 Results: My Two Cents
You can never please anybody and neither should you want to. There is never going to be any film awards that will please us all. Remember how last year there were already a few dissonant voices for Blue Is The Warmest Colour? Remember back in 1994 when Pulp Fiction won, some woman in the audience was so outraged she shouted at Quentin Tarantino as he was on his way to accept his prize. And this year was no exception.
It is indeed an impossible task for the jury. They pick a favourite? They are accused of being safe. They pick a wild card? They are accused of getting it all wrong. I must admit I am mostly happy with the result but I have a few comments on them too.
Cannes 2014: Mercuriales by Virgil Vernier
There are some who lament the lack of fresh new talent in the official selection at the Cannes Film Festival, which is both unfair and untrue, as the presence of Wild Tales and The Wonder proves this year. Besides, as interesting as there are, some films are just too fragile to be competing against some masters of cinema and would be destroyed in the process. And this is where sidebar selections come in, especially the smallest and newest one: ACID, so new in fact that many attendees are not even aware of it even though it is actually 21 years old. And it has discovered its fair share of talents: Lucas Belvaux, Ursula Meier, Yolande Moreau... It is in this selection that was presented Mercuriales this year.
Cannes 2014 Awards: Predictions & Wishlist
It might seem a bit premature to discuss the awards in Cannes when I am nowhere near finished with my daily write-up. But I decided to actually spend more time watching films (24 and counting so far!) and then write reports and full reviews after the festival. Besides, a slight delay will be beneficial and help me decide which films stick and which other ones vanish without a trace.
It is always tricky to second guess prizes in film festivals. While film awards like the Oscars are based on the votes of thousands of people (or more) and therefore tend to be more consensual, here the choice is made between a handful of juries, which can cause its faire share of surprises. Back in 1997, the then president Isabelle Adjani had asked for the members of the juries to be all artists (in the past, it used to be a mix of critics, producers, and artists), a tradition which has sticked since and which often means some even more unexpected pics. And to make it even harder, out of the 18 films eligible for a prize in the main competition this year, I have only seen 11. I have decided to both include who I believe deserve to win, and who I think might win. Bear in mind that films are not allowed to win more than one prize.
Cannes 2014: Clouds Of Sils Maria by Olivier Assayas
Perhaps one of the most intriguing entry in the official selection this year thanks to the unusual pairing of Juliette Binoche and Kristen Stewart, Clouds Of Sils Maria was screened the last day of the competition. While I have not always been the biggest fan of Olivier Assayas (with L'heure d'été being a crime of boho), at least the premise promised a connection to one of his best films Irma Vep as well as countless cinephile references.
In Clouds Of Sils Maria, Maria Enders (Juliette Binoche), an actress at the peak of her career, is about to embark in the revival of the play that made her famous at a young age, the twist being she is now taking on the part of the older woman in the play, one that led the original actress to commit suicide. She travels to the Alps in the town of Sils Maria with her young assistant Valentine (Kristen Stewart) in tow to rehearse for the play.
Cannes 2014: Maps To The Stars By David Cronenberg
You just do not know what to expect from David Cronenberg anymore. While his career peaked early and his heydays are clearly behind him (despite what snobs might say), he has soldiered on with his career valiantly, with a few highs (eXistenZ, A History Of Violence) and many lows (A Dangerous Method, Cosmopolis...). Worse, while I would not expect him to carry on doing the same films and going over the same themes, he seems to have lost his identity, with many of his recent output feeling rather anonymous. And now he is back on the Croisette with Maps To The Stars, a Hollywood satire.
Cannes 2014: L'homme Qu'on Aimait Trop by André Téchiné
L'homme Qu'on Aimait Trop was a late addition to the official selection, and is presented out of competition, as if the festival was trying to find a diplomatic way of including it, given its starry cast and prestigious director, without exposing it to the ruthlessness of the competition. And indeed it seems as if André Téchiné has somehow gone out of fashion in the world cinema circuit.
Faced with the comeback of a certain kind of heavy and intellectual cinema (such as Winter Sleep and Leviathan, both in competition this year) that used to be so popular in the 70's and 80's, his films might lack a certain oomph and arthouse street cred while not offering the whimsical experience of a more wide reaching and retro French cinema, meaning there is little room for them outside France, where he continues to be popular. Which is a shame as while his directorial input of late has not quite matched the highlights of his career, it remains consistently rewarding.
Cannes 2014: Adieu Au Langage 3D by Jean-Luc Godard
Is it even possible to objectively review a film by Jean-Luc Godard? It seems as if you can only belong to two camps: those who see it as an impostor and have long given up on even trying, and those full of hyperboles at the ready for any of his new offering. Yes his work over the last two decades have proven challenging to say the least, but there is a certain freedom and sense of experimentation to it which I can only admire even if I am not completely on board with it. And detractors and fans alike were intrigued when it was announced that he was to make a full feature in 3D (after his segment in 3X3D). So it is with an open mind that I attended the sole screening of his film at the festival, among a buzzing atmosphere, but with the master sadly absent, in fact the only director allowed not to attend the screening of his own film by the festival (it is a condition of participation for anybody else).
Cannes 2014: Bird People by Pascale Ferran
We were expecting Bird People to be in the main selection this year, only to find it relegated to sidebar selection Un Certain Regard. This is not necessarily a bad sign, as the latter is reserved for more fragile films which might suffer from the cutthroat world and intense scrutiny of the former, and in fact the same thing happened with Sofia Coppola's The Bling Ring and Claire Denis' Les Salauds last year.
Pascale Ferran is little known outside France, yet she made a big impact twenty years ago as part of a new generation of French directors, which included Arnaud Desplechin. Yet after directing two films back to back (Petits Arrangements Entre Les Morts & L'âge Des Possibles) in the mid 90's, we had to wait another ten years to see her direct again, with her acclaimed adaptation of Lady Chatterley in 2007, and another seven years to see her behind the camera, with the intriguingly titled Bird People.
Cannes 2014: Lost River by Ryan Gosling
Lost River (or How To Catch A Monster as it was first known) is another film we were expecting in the official selection, only to find it relegated to Un Certain Regard, although given how unusual it is and the immediate reaction from the press members I saw it with after its world premiere, it makes a lot of sense. The official selection has not been very open to cult/genre films lately, it is a daunting prospect for any new director and the notoriety of his director Ryan Gosling meant it was always going to go through some even more intense scrutiny. Indeed there was a mighty scuffle to get into the first screening, and I cannot imagine what the evening one with him in attendance will be like!
In Lost River, single mum Billy (Christina Hendricks) is forced to enter a dark underworld to survive when facing financial difficulties, while her son Bones (Iain de Caestecker) discovers an abandoned town at the bottom of a reservoir.
Cannes 2014: Two Days, One Night by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
Two Days, One Night is Marion Cotillard's third attempt in a row to win the best actress prize, after Rust & Bone and The Immigrant (the latter a woefully underrated film for which she would have been a far more worthy recipient than Bérénice Bejo). Eyebrows were raised when this project was first announced, as this was to be the first time two times Palme d'Or winners Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne were going to work with a megastar of this caliber. So as we all gathered for the morning press screening in the Palais, we were wondering whether they were about to make history by winning a third Palme, and whether Marion Cotillard would finally be rewarded. And judging by the result, the former is exceedingly unlikely, the latter would be nice even if unwarranted.
Cannes 2014: A Girl At My Door by July Jung
Before the review itself, I just wanted to point out how the magic and glamour of Cannes are to be found at any hour of the day. A Girl At My Door, presented in the Un Certain Regard sidebar selection in a single morning screening, saw its star Bae Doona casually turn up in a limo as we were all waiting to go in, shining all the megawatts of a movie star despite the grey weather, and I can vouch that she looks just as effortlessly stunning in person as she does on screen.
A Girl At My Door is the first film of July Jung, and follows police officer Lee Young-nam (Bae Doona) as she relocates to a small city for reasons at first unknown to the audience, a new environment she struggles to fit in with, having to put up with misogyny and unfriendly locals. She soon becomes close to a young girl who is the subject of family abuse, and takes her under her protective wing. But skeletons from her own past are threatening to emerge...
Cannes 2014: Still The Water by Naomi Kawase
Japanese director Naomi Kawase has had such an unusual career so far. She has been celebrated by the Cannes Film Festival right from the beginning, being awarded the Camera d'or (best first film award) in 1997 for Suzaku. Ten years later she won the Grand Jury Prize (the runner-up prize) for The Mourning Forest. Yet none of her films have met any kind of commercial success and even in Japan she is considered a bit of an outcast, as she lives away from Tokyo and does not belong to the industry. And she is back this year, with the very frank admission that she is here solely to win the Palme d'Or, with Still The Water that she describes as her masterpiece, having prompted some uncharitable comments on social medias as a result (although I suspect some of her comments got lost in translation).
Cannes 2014 : It Follows by David Robert Mitchell
A particularly interesting horror film took the Cannes Film Festival by storm this year, It Follows, which showed at La Semaine De La Critique, a sidebar selection showcasing first and second feature films. It comes from an unexpected source: David Robert Mitchell. the director of The Myth Of The American Sleepover who here takes a radically new direction for his second film.
It Follows opens with a rather traditional prologue, which sees a hysterical young woman trying to flee an unseen presence, only to be brutally murdered. The film then skips to Jay (Maika Monroe) who goes on a date she'll never forget for all the wrong reasons. After a romantic evening followed by a few hours of passion, her date reveals that he has exposed her to a ghostly and nightmarish curse, with the only way to get rid of it being to "pass it on" to somebody else through intercourse.
Cannes 2014: Saint Laurent By Bertrand Bonello
I was actually dubious about Saint Laurent, having been scarred by the terrible Yves Saint Laurent which came out a mere few months ago in the UK, a flat and dull, show-and-tell hagiography that had all the flaws of the biopic genre. Interestingly, Bertrand Bonello, director of Saint Laurent, mentions that other project in the press kit, and explains that since he knew the competing project would be a more traditional biography and was to come out earlier, it was actually doing him a favour and freeing him from many narrative constraints. Since the audience would be more familiar with key elements in the designer's life as well as the important people in his life, he decided to chop off his script to avoid being redundant, ending up with a film that is a lot more radical and abstract as a result.
Cannes 2014 Day 4: Westerns, Tourists & Queues
In what was about to become a pleasant routine, I woke up at the crack of dawn for the first press screening of the day at 830am, the one from which Twitter impressions are anxiously expected. There is something rather surreal about finding yourself in the biggest cinema in the world so early in the morning, but this is the kind of life I could get used to! Then I strolled into the screening of a film I knew nothing about, Turist, before the press screening of Maps To The Stars. Or that was the plan anyway...
Cannes 2014 Day 3: Saint Laurent, Les Combattants & It Follows
As ever with Cannes, a day of contrast, with a film about Yves Saint Laurent, a survivalist French rom-com and an indie horror, as I worked my way alongside the Croisette from the Official Competition in the Palais to Director's Fortnight to Semaine de la Critique.
Cannes 2014 Day 2: Ryan Reynolds, Mathieu Amalric And Nuri Bilge Ceylan
After the amuse-bouche of yesterday came my first full day in Cannes. I must say, with the glorious weather, the seemingly smaller queues for screenings combined with the ease of access my press pass is giving me, the festival is proving to be a completely stress-free experience so far! So on this day, expectations were high. A new film by Atom Egoyan, a Simenon adaptation and a late introduction for me to a director I have been keen to discover, Nuri Bilge Ceylan.
Cannes 2014 Day 1: Girlhood, A Hijack & Sabine Azéma
Bande De Filles at Director's Fortnight
And so I'm back at the Cannes Film Festival again. This is my third visit in a row after a fourteen years hiatus and I simply cannot imagine not going back every year now. Yes it is exhausting, crazy, frustrating, but also, an experience like no others, where each day brings its share of surprises, glamour, chance encounters and of course great cinema. For all its madness, it is also a celebration of cinema in all its variety in a way that simply does not exist anywhere else in the world. The sheer concentration of talent, journalists, industry people, and cinephiles is insane, and make you feel like you are in a bubble, blissfully unaware of the outside world. Where else would people queue for hours and fight to watch a 3 hours + arthouse Turkish film, as happened to me today (more on this tomorrow!). But first thing first, and this is how my (short) first day went.
You And The Night: A Jean Rollin Electro Poem
As much as I like French cinema, one thing that has often been bothering me lately is its overt reliance on naturalism. Oh sure, it does it so well. But it is almost like all the film graduates from the grand old FEMIS cannot earn their stripes unless they go down that road. But where are the French Brian de Palma, Peter Greenaway, David Lynch, Apichatpong Weerasethakul even?... It is even more baffling considering how, within France itself, the new wave came up with such formally inventive films decades ago. I'm thinking Godard obviously, but also Alain Resnais, Jacques Rivette... Sure there has been a lot of genre films coming from France over the last decade, but they don't offer a great deal in term of formal experimentation (apart perhaps from Alexandre Bustillo & Julien Maury).
So this is why a film like You And The Night is so exciting to me, and feels like such a breath of fresh air, in the way it defies any modern conventions within French cinema.
Sundance London 2014: Talking Cats, Paul Rudd, Lo-Fi Sci-Fi And Wannabes
Paul Rudd & Amy Poehler in They Came Together
Bringing Sundance and its particular blend of independent cinema to London two years ago was a gamble, and yet it paid off handsomely. The festival has enjoyed a great success and recently had its third edition. It is proving yet again how cinephile London has become over the last decade or so, and the appetite there is for a wide range of films. And I like the opportunity this festival offers to catch up with a kind of American independent cinema which is actually hard to find, even in London, even if I can't help lamenting its short duration, and the fraction of films brought over.
Cannes 2014: Clouds Of Sils Maria by Olivier Assay...
Cannes 2014: Maps To The Stars By David Cronenberg...
Cannes 2014: L'homme Qu'on Aimait Trop by André Té...
Cannes 2014: Adieu Au Langage 3D by Jean-Luc Godar...
Cannes 2014: Two Days, One Night by Jean-Pierre an...
Cannes 2014 Day 3: Saint Laurent, Les Combattants ...
Cannes 2014 Day 2: Ryan Reynolds, Mathieu Amalric ...
Cannes 2014 Day 1: Girlhood, A Hijack & Sabine Azé...
Sundance London 2014: Talking Cats, Paul Rudd, Lo-...
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Big Sleep, The (1946)
You WON'T fall asleep! I promise!
Genre: Mystery Crime Drama Thriller Film Noir
Starring: Humphrey Bogart (The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre • The African Queen), Lauren Bacall (Key Largo • Murder on the Orient Express)
Directed By: Howard Hawkes (Scarface (1932) • Sergeant York)
Overview: When a private dick is hired to clear up into the affairs of an old man, blackmail, murder and double-cross seems to be the order of the day, and all within his own family.
Whenever I see a film starring Humphrey Bogart (and think about the name too, I mean it sounds like someone falling down the stairs for Christ's sake), I'm surprised at how unattractive a man he is.
I'm gonna let that all sink in to you Casablanca freaks out there for a moment... recovered yet? My point is, when you think 'Film Star', there's a lot to be desired in the look of Bogart. He's got that gitchy voice that must have been brought on by the speech impediment that's his whole lower jaw, he's not a tall man and he's rather pockmarked too.
But he's cool. He's cool BECAUSE of the way he looks, because he don't care. He's like that short fat guy who's always getting hot dates. You wonder how he does it. Watch The Big Sleep, my friend, and you'll see how he does it. It's cause the story's one hot fantasy adventure. It's basically one stunt after another, watching him pull off the situations and lines he's whipping out.
Film Noir? Check. Good times at the gambling hall, nice cars, gats and hats, low-key greatness, this has got it all. The one thing I found most interesting about the cinematography, the visuals, is how... well frankly... objectified the women were. Backgrounds and settings are a very important part of Film Noir, and having said that, the ladies were as important background pieces as anything, still, every woman, be she Lauren Bacall or a waitress, was all dolled up and sported lines that lent weight to the feel of the thing. They added to the fantasy, rather than being representative of... people, consistently hot as they were.
"She tried to sit in my lap while I was standing up."
"You know what he'll do when he comes back? Beat my teeth out, then kick me in the stomach for mumbling."
The is not the kind of dialogue you'll run into on the street. This is pre-scripted, pored-over super-wit that is so far beyond real that it goes to a place you wish existed. It's Hollywood, and it's what makes this movie great. It's out there awesomeness that really just needs to be seen to be believed. No matter how bottlenecked the plot gets with all the explaining, when they crack out the zingers, you're loving the balls on these guys... and the ladies too.
Let it not be said that I am without intelligence. I liked Syriana, and I was able to admit that it's a confusing piece of politicking while still declaring my love of it.
That being said, The Big Sleep's first viewing is one that would be better with a plotted-out graph of characters with descriptions and motives. When so many names are flying around that you just want to start over, it says a thing or two about a thing or two. Pay close attention because it's complex. Some will call it multi-layered, but they're the snobs that go around telling the bold-faced lie that they didn't watch this seven times.
Film Noir without a slap in the mouth is like a day without sunshine. Not only that, but after five or six films, you know right when it's going to happen. It's one hell of an interesting phenomenon, and when you get right down to it, what defines a genre of film, is it the innovations - that which is new and different - or is it the warm blanket of predictability. I think you'll agree it's somewhere in the middle. The Big Sleep is about a private dick who deals with guys running a blackmail racket against an old man in a wheelchair. How much more classic can you get? Right, right, The Big Sleep, the trendsetter, I almost forgot.
If she's not enough to draw you in, the film's full of cucpcakes like her...
Overall Rating: 84% (An Eye-Opener)
Is a film you have to see again a good film? Is a movie you need to watch over to get what's being hinted at 'good'? Fight Club, yes, Mulholland Drive, yes, Lost Highway, yes, but those are the kinds of films whose mysteries hint right from the beginning.
When you take a film that makes you have to watch it again to enjoy it to the degree you expect the first time, there's something wrong there.
For one who is currently full swing in study mode, I'm not really much for re-watching a film, then watching it again with director's commentary to understand all the subtle nuance. To me, a good film is one I enjoy once, and a great film is one I WANT to watch again, not one I have HAVE to watch again to get the full effect of it.
That was my beef.
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die | 1940-1949 | 83-89% | American Drama | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Noir | Thriller Submitted by Squish on June 8, 2007 - 3:55pm.
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by Harold Suarez, Employee at Montesol, Colombia
As Colombia rebuilds its society after years of civil war, banana plantations in Urabá, one of the worst affected regions, are empowering workers to have a say in their futures
Last month a historic deal was struck to end decades of conflict in Colombia, a civil war which saw farmers lose their land; over 220,000 lives were lost in the crossfire, and around 6.7 million people displaced.
The banana lands of Urabá became a battlefield between warring guerrillas and paramilitaries, with 8,000 people murdered, including trade union leaders, members and managers, distrust between employers and workers was rife.
For a nation of people who have long called for peace, efforts by Fairtrade certified plantations in the region to improve relations, give workers a greater voice, and promote human rights are helping build the inclusive, just society the country now needs.
Building a Better Life
Harold Suarez, a 32-year-old employee of Montesol, a Fairtrade certified plantation, has worked hard to build a better life for himself, his community and fellow workers.
Here he explains how:
“I have worked in the banana industry for about 10 years. I live in Urabá, a region which has 20,000 hectares of banana plantations and employs approximately 38,000 workers. This is banana land. People come from all over Colombia to work here. We have all suffered greatly because of the historic violence in our country, and because of economic problems but, day by day, we are building a better region.
My current employer Montesol has been Fairtrade certified for five years. I am proud to represent the other workers and to negotiate with the plantation owner on their behalf. We have a collective agreement which covers salaries, issues facing workers and employee benefits.
As part of this agreement we also receive free legal training on all aspects of workers’ rights including non-discrimination, gender inclusion and prohibition of child labor. Colombia is incredibly diverse and in my region there are more than 30 different ethnic groups. It is therefore important to make sure that people of different ethnicities, cultures and gender are not treated differently, which was an issue when I started working in the industry. This training has improved the democratic structure of the plantation and has helped us to negotiate extra maternity leave and pay, and while we always had a good relationship with the boss, we now have better understanding between management and workers.
I’m proud to have made significant improvements toward better labor conditions for workers. In the past, we were often made to do unpaid overtime, but this no longer happens. We are now very strict about overtime because the work we do is so physically demanding. Simple changes such as this and being given proper clothing and equipment, which are conditions of the Fairtrade Standards, make a huge difference. Many plantations don’t enjoy those benefits. For example, at my previous job, workers had to bring in their own drinking water even though the physical labor required on a hot banana plantation is thirsty work. When I started working at Montesol, drinking water was not provided either, but when the farm became Fairtrade-certified, it was a requirement under the standards. So even though this was an extra cost to the business, it became a benefit for the workers.
In Colombia we have good legal requirements on workers’ rights and unionization, however, having previously worked on non-certified plantations, I believe that I have an even better quality of life now. Before I had limited income and fewer opportunities to grow personally. As banana workers we weren’t able to send our children to school or college before, we didn’t have enough income or access, with most public universities in the city, 500km away. We’ve dedicated a pot of money from the Premium to invest in higher education, providing opportunities for the future generation. So far we’ve invested 30,000 dollars in this.
Thanks to Fairtrade I have also personally benefitted as I recently completed a professional course in finance. Fifteen other people have graduated with degrees. At Montesol, the staff were also asked what specific training we would find most useful, and we have chosen to take courses on conflict resolution, family planning and household budgeting, all of which has been facilitated by Fairtrade.
The Fairtrade Premium has also been invested in new homes for workers in need. The housing plan has been match-funded by the government to help displaced workers. Without this program, the workers would have had to rent houses that are really uninhabitable, without any proper floors or walls and with families of six people or more are crammed into one room. It has been a great blessing to become Fairtrade certified and to have received this economic and social support. It has changed the lives of many people.
I feel that we have escaped the poverty cycle. I now have an education, the tools to negotiate and I am proud to speak up for my fellow workers. Now, as we Colombians fight for lasting peace, I am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
This article first appeared on the Guardian Sustainable Business on July 19, 2016.
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Home > Region_collector > Europe and Central Asia > News > detail-news
FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia
FAO in Europe and Central Asia
Agroforestry offers a way to stand against climate change
Combining apiculture with trees
Increasing agricultural productivity by over 20 percent just by using a negligible percent of arable land for creating forest areas sounds like a good deal. As practice shows, this is achievable with agroforestry – the practice of integrating woody vegetation with crops or animal systems. And the real bonus is that it helps combat climate change.
To help people better understand this sustainable method, a two-day workshop is opening here today, organized by FOREST EUROPE, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture, and the National Agricultural Research and Innovation Centre of Hungary. Participants have come from 20 European countries, Canada, and several international organizations.
“The idea is to link experts of the agriculture and the forest sector,” said FAO forestry officer Norbert Winkler-Rathonyi, “and, by sharing knowledge and experience, to establish a mutual understanding of agroforestry and lay down the basis of future cooperation.”
Agroforestry can be defined as a dynamic, ecologically based, natural resource management system that includes both traditional and modern land-use methods. Through the integration of trees on farms and in the agricultural landscape, agroforestry diversifies and sustains production for increased social, economic and environmental benefits for land users at all levels.
The great majority of farmland suffers from some kind of environmental problem, and introducing agroforestry would support the adaptation of the landscape to climate change in general. It helps combat land degradation and desertification, protect biodiversity and soil fertility, and ensure a healthier water system. It decreases the likeliness and intensity of forest fires, which is especially important for countries in the Mediterranean region.
“During the workshop, we’ll discuss the main drivers and barriers for agroforestry in order to formulate possible future steps and recommendations for Europe,” said Ludmila Marušáková, head of FOREST EUROPE’s Liaison Unit in Bratislava. “These should promote the further spread of agroforestry and thus contribute to landscape resilience. In this regard, FOREST EUROPE strive to further develop approaches to protection of forests to address new challenges and risks posed to European forests associated with climate change.”
Also addressed at the workshop will be the promotion of forest farming to increase the use of short supply chains and to increase the connection of urban, peri-urban and rural areas within a bioeconomy and circular economy framework.
Though they have been fading away in some countries, agroforestry practices are not new to many European countries. Since 2007, agroforestry has been supported by the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy, or CAP, as a sustainable land use system.
Silvopasture, which combines forest areas with pasture grazing of domesticated animals, is the most widespread agroforestry practice, appearing in all parts of the continent. In the mountainous areas of Austria, Switzerland and the Mediterranean, fruit orchards are grazed or intercropped. Windbreaks are common in the former Soviet republics; in Ukraine, for example, windbreaks have more than 200 years of history.
Countries in Central and Eastern Europe, with the exception of Hungary, have not adopted agroforestry-related measures.
Ireland, whose case is being presented during the workshop, has been ambitious in its plan to cut the carbon footprint of its livestock sector by increasing the area of land managed using agroforestry practices.
As part of the events, participants will visit an agroforestry demonstration plot and get a hands-on experience on sustainable forest management in Hungary.
9 October 2018, Budapest, Hungary
Workshop: Understanding the contribution of agroforestry to landscape resilience in Europe
FAO on agroforestry
VIDEO: Combining agricultural, forestry, and climate change agendas in Europe
Agroforestry offers climate and sustainability benefits
European forests and climate change
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FOFS
Lifetime and 2019 Members
Whinstone Donors
Highlights of FOFS
Artifact collection
History & Architecture
Families of Freeman
“A.D. McMillan, Fruit & Vegetable Grower”
Memories of Freeman
The Freeman family and the village of Freeman
The Scholtens family
The Smith family
Theo Bullock
* Have you found a permanent location for the Station? Yes! The Station is now on its permanent concrete foundation, shored up and stabilized, at 1285 Fairview Street, just East of the Burlington Fire Station. It’s still a “construction zone,” but you are welcome to contact us to arrange a time and view the restoration progress.
* What is a “Whinstone”? Whinstones — large bricks of granite — came to Canada as ballast in Scottish cargo ships. Believed to be at least 250 to 300 million years old, from the early Permian and Devonian times in Scottish geology.
Tossed ashore, they were repurposed as ballast along the rails of the Grand Trunk Railway and formed the stone fascia around the base of the Burlington Junction Station (see photograph). You can dedicate a Whinstone in someone’s honour — click here or on our “Donate” page for details.
* So, who is “FOFS”? Following on the early work by the citizen Save Our Station committee, Friends of Freeman Station — FOFS — are the 100% volunteer group — no one is paid — of concerned citizens who, in agreement with the City of Burlington, took over the preservation, restoration, and management of the Burlington Junction Station. (Read our “Mission Statement,” above.) We oversaw the relocation of the Station to its permanent foundation, saw to its shoring up, and have since focused on restoring it to its 1906 splendor. Work began in earnest in 2014, and in 2015, 2016, and now 2017 (even thru the middle of the relatively mild Winter) our volunteers have scraped, painted, paneled, wired, landscaped and otherwise toiled, some on a daily basis and others on our organized “Work Day Wednesdays” and “Work Day Saturdays.” Please consider joining FOFS — click on “Get Involved” for more information!
* How did the nostalgic mural come to exist? The mural, by artist Claire Hall, was commissioned by the City of Burlington as part of its public art programme. Claire worked with our restorers to understand the historical importance of the Station as an important travel and commercial shipping hub for the hamlet of Freeman, and beautifully captured the essence of the Station’s legacy.
* When will the project be completed? Much work remains to be done, and 2017 has indeed been a very busy year. More volunteers are needed. We’re looking for masons, painters, landscapers, carpenters, plumbers, docents, and many other skills. Also, our Burlington Diorama Railway Committee is in the planning and early construction stages to design and build an interactive, historical depiction of early Twentieth-century Freeman and surrounds. If you would like to join this team, you would be welcome. You need not have experience as a model railroader, and all are welcome.
* What has the work entailed? The first task, once the building was moved to its permanent foundation provided by a corporate donation of services by a local paving contractor, was to shore it up. It had been seriously damaged by its moves and temporary storage; the walls were almost completely disconnected from the floor! All new joists were placed underneath, spaced at 12″ intervals and thus well over-engineered to carry the load of the building and its future uses. Once the building was stable, 2015 interior work has completely re-framed and re-paneled the Waiting Room and the Station Master’s office. This work continued in 2016, extending into the Baggage Room and storage areas. All the windows and window frames were removed, refurbished, and reinstalled. A generous corporate donation resulted in the installation of a new roof. The distinctive oval window in the West end of the Waiting Room has been restored to its rightful place. A beautiful “Burlington Junction” sign was recreated and installed. Necessary exterior carpentry was undertaken as well, and a fresh coat of paint went on just before the installation of the mural. And the granite Whinstones have now been re-installed around the base of the building.
* How will my donation be used?
Since we are a 100% unpaid volunteer organization, your tax-deductible donation will go entirely to the restoration effort and our operational costs. Please refer to our “Mission Statement” page, above, to view a summary of expenditures (“Consolidated Financials”).
* Once completed, how will the Station be used? We will operate as an interpretive centre for Canadians young and old. The elements will include railway history and railways as a major influence on Confederation, the Station as a community hub of personal and commercial comings and goings, the nostalgia of simpler times (wood, horses,..1920’s, steam locomotives.), World War I & II involvement; and the growth of cities, transportation and communications. It’s also the story of saving the building for posterity: our hands-on community involvement & volunteerism, and the cooperation of our gov’t & community joint venture. In the end, we’ve created something “fun for all ages.”
The Waiting Room will be available as a meeting space for small groups of 35 to 50 people. There will be a small gift shop, and of course our ever-growing collection of historical railway memorabilia will be on display. On the Lower Level, a historic model railway diorama will depict bucolic life in the Hamlet of Freeman, now part of Burlington, in the early Twentieth Century. School groups will be invited to visit, and there will be visiting hours for the General Public, as well.
* What is the “LLRD”? Once the building is restored, a dedicated team of FOFS volunteers will be assembling an historic model railway diorama on the lower level. Details of the project can be seen by clicking here or on “Diorama,” on the Menu line above.
Read more about the restoration project in our “History” section.
Donate to create a lasting family remembrance!
— a memorial Whinstone in your name, your family name, or in memory of a loved one. Donations are only $100.00, and are totally tax deductible, for a permanent place on the Whinstone honour wall. Especially relevant if the person once worked for the railways or grew up in the village of Freeman.
Click here for details on how to arrange..
Please donate! Use PayPal on our “Donate” page or select “Donate Now!” below…
(Note: a 3.5% administrative fee is collected by Canada Helps.org)
Using Canada Helps, you can either make a one-time donation, or if you prefer, you can set up regular monthly donations in any amount you care to make. This is an easy way to support FOFS on an ongoing basis rather than in a lump sum. As always, your donations are tax-deductible, and your receipt will be forthcoming from Canada Helps.
You can also designate how your would like the money used, and you can establish a “Memorial” donation as well.
Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF)
Burlington Historical Society
Doug & Jayne Smith
Don & Wendy Smith
-Smith's Funeral Home
Dr. Richard & Candace Freeman
Robert & Laura Freeman
-Focus Environmental Group Inc.
Jack Scholtens
Karen Pettit
Mikalda Farms Ltd. - Norton family
(Click here to see details on our "Contributors" page.)
Click here to see complete listing on our "Contributors" page.
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PTC Vet Kerry Grimes Joins Schneider Electric’s Aveva To Lead Global Partner Program
Kerry Grimes, PTC’s former channel chief, says one of the reasons he decided to join Schneider Electric-owned Aveva Software was the company’s focus on industry-specific applications, which he says differs from PTC’s platform focus.
Kerry Grimes says he could have imagined working at PTC for the rest of his career after successfully expanding the industrial software vendor’s channel program. But then Aveva Software came knocking.
Aveva, an industrial software vendor that is majority owned by Schneider Electric, recently hired Grimes, PTC’s former channel chief, as the company’s new head of global partners — a role that will task him with making the industrial Internet of Things player a more “partner-centric company,” Grimes told CRN in an exclusive interview on Monday, his first day on the job.
“There’s all kinds of people saying they’re in the IoT business today, and what I like about Aveva is they have some very specific solutions that are in IoT for manufacturing, like predictive analytics,” he said.
Grimes left his role as PTC’s top channel executive last week after working at the Boston-based company for more than five years. During that period, he doubled the company’s partner-related revenue and helped the company expand into new territories, including China, as PTC invested heavily into industrial IoT and augmented reality solutions for its manufacturing customers.
Based in Cambridge, U.K., Aveva got its start in 1967 as a computer-aided design research center, but the company has evolved over the decades into an engineering and industrial software giant, with more than 16,000 customers, 4,000 partners and 4,400 employees across 70 -plus offices, according to a 2018 fact sheet. The company’s revenue last year was 704.6 million euros.
In 2017, the company announced that it would combine with Schneider Electric’s industrial software business in a reverse takeover that would give Schneider Electric 60 percent ownership in Aveva, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange. At the time of the announcement, Schneider Electric’s CEO said the combination would “address customers’ requirements along the full asset life cycle,” from the designing and building of systems to their operations.
Grimes said his goal is to create a unified partner network from three existing partner programs in a bid to make Aveva more “partner-centric.” While Grimes was not given a specific target for channel-related revenue, he said, “channel excellence” is one of the five strategic mandates in 2019 for Aveva CEO Craig Hayman, who was previously PTC’s COO before he left the company last year. Grimes said he will share more of his plans for the new program at a channel event in April.
“We do not have specific goals for X number of years, but I do know one of the reasons they reached out to hire me is they wanted to be a more partner-centric company than they are today,” he said.
Currently, the Wonderware plant automation software, which came into the fold via the Schneider Electric deal, is Aveva’s only solution that brings in most of its revenue from channel partners, according to Grimes. Aveva’s engineering and asset performance management solutions, on the other hand, have mostly relied on direct sales while its monitoring and controls solutions have some channel partners. To create a unified partner network, Grimes said he plans to tap into Wonderware’s large partner network to sell Aveva’s other solutions. He added that the partner network will have different partner types, such as global system integrators, solution providers and distributions, as well as different solution tracks and industry focuses.
“One of the challenges I’m going to have to figure out is what are the different tracks we’re going to have, and how can we get Wonderware partners to sell asset performance management,” he said.
Grimes said he will also develop new partner strategies for how Aveva works with Schneider Electric. “Even if Schneider Electric owns us, Schneider Electric has a lot of accounts that Aveva doesn’t,” he said.
This point was emphasized in a Monday email obtained by CRN that was sent to Aveva employees by Steen Lomholt-Thomsen, the company’s head of global sales, announcing the hiring of Grimes. “Building an even stronger ‘go to market’ relationship” with Schneider Electric will be a specific focus, he wrote.
“As a key strategic partner of Aveva, we need to further deepen the relationship with Schneider Electric in order to achieve the stretch target we have set for next year,” Lomholt-Thomsen said in the email.
Grimes said he is taking over a channel organization that has roughly 80 employees now, with plans to hire approximately another 15 this year. The executive will also be in charge of the company’s group that manages relations with global system integrators.
One of the reasons Grimes said he decided to join Aveva was the company’s focus on industry-specific applications, like predictive maintenance, which he said differs from PTC’s platform focus. He said it was also an opportunity for him to change industry focus from discrete manufacturing, PTC’s focus, to process manufacturing, which is where Aveva is primarily focused. Those differences don’t negate his feelings that PTC was a great company to work for, he added.
“I believe, especially in an early environment like we are today, our customers will be more receptive to a solution approach than a platform approach,” Grimes said. “I believe even though partners like to create solutions, they like to start with something then adapt, as opposed to invent the whole thing. They want to start with something that is scalable and replicable that they can go and adapt in for specific customer situations.”
Jack McAvoy, PTC’s vice president of corporate communications, said PTC wishes him all the best with his new role but added that Grimes’ positioning of PTC “is not really correct.” He said PTC offers what are considered “app-centric platforms” through which the company offers its own applications and solutions, such as the new Operator Advisor workforce productivity tool, while allowing partners to build their own.
In a follow-up email, Grimes clarified that while PTC does offer its own applications on top of ThingWorx, he argued it hasn’t been the company’s focus while Aveva has traditionally focused on industry-specific solutions.
“Not arguing [that they don’t have a] good product offering,” he said. “They are just approaching the market differently.”
About Schneider Electric
Schneider Electric is leading the Digital Transformation of Energy Management and Automation in Homes, Buildings, Data Centers, Infrastructure, and Industries. With global presence in over 100 countries, Schneider is the undisputable leader in Power Management – Medium Voltage, Low Voltage and Secure Power, and in Automation Systems. We provide integrated efficiency solutions, combining energy, automation, and software. In our global Ecosystem, we collaborate with the largest Partner, Integrator, and Developer Community on our Open Platform to deliver real-time control and operational efficiency. We believe that great people and partners make Schneider a great company and that our commitment to Innovation, Diversity, and Sustainability ensures that Life Is On everywhere, for everyone, and at every moment.
Company Name: ABC Private Limited
Website: https://www.schneider-electric.co.in/en/
CategoriesBusiness, Electronics & Semiconductors, Energy & Environment, Science, Technology
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"Exciting artists!" - Nikita Kjær - Swing Baby Agency,
"The band was great. Thanks for all your help in getting this together at such short notice." - Pino Sagliocco - Live Nation,
"It simply is a great band in every aspect. Thank you so much for making this possible. Looking forward to many more!" - Johannes Vogel - Allblues,
Home » Aswad
After fifteen albums and two decades on the music scene, Aswad remains one of Britain’s best loved reggae bands. Originally led by the trio of Brinsley “Dan” Forde (on vocals and rhythm guitar), Angus “Drummie Zeb” Gaye (on vocals and drums), and Tony “Gad” Robinson (on bass), Aswad is renowned among reggae fans for their rich melodies and compelling harmonies, woven over hard rhythm tracks and inspired horn riffs.
Aswad (a name derived from the Arabic word for “black”) was formed in the Ladbroke Grove area of West London in 1974. Along with contemporaries Matumbi, The Cimmarons, and Black Slate, the band was among the first home grown acts to prove that Caribbean music could successfully take root in Europe. In its early years, Aswad was the only British group to record and/or perform in concert with several top Jamaican artists, including Burning Spear, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer. (Bunny, in fact, was known to refer to Aswad as the “Young Wailers”).
The trio first gained national attention in 1976 when their debut release, “Back To Africa,” hit the #1 slot on the UK Reggae Charts. “Love Fire,” their popular anthem released in 1981, eventually became part of the reggae canon and is still covered today by many Jamaican record producers (an honour no other British band has been awarded). The group’s 1983 Island release, Live and Direct, is considered one of the quintessential live reggae albums.
By the mid-80’s, the Aswad rhythm section of Drummie and Tony had contributed to a number of top British reggae hits by such artists as Janet Kay, Smiley Culture, Trevor Walters and Trevor Hartley. Later in the decade, the band became known for their adventurous fusion of such different musical styles as dancehall, funk, hip-hop and dub. Their catchword “fresh” soon became a favourite in Jamaican dancehalls.
After a series of successful singles and albums on Island and CBS, Aswad earned international acclaim with their reggae version of “Don’t Turn Around,” a song previously covered by both Luther Ingram and Tina Turner. “Don’t Turn Around,” released on Island in 1988, sailed to the #1 slot on the UK National charts and was the most-played record on French radio. (A similar pop version of the song was recently an international hit for Swedish group Ace Of Base).
Over the years, Aswad’s recordings have found them joining forces with a variety of artists, including Dennis Brown, Maxi Priest, Hugh Masakela, Steely & Cleevie, Shabba Ranks, and Sly & Robbie’s Taxi Gang. The band has toured extensively, playing to packed houses in such diverse locales as London’s Royal Albert Hall and Montego Bay’s Reggae Sunsplash to West Africa, Israel and Japan.
In 1994, Aswad captured a host of new fans with the release of Rise & Shine, a recording which garnered the band’s first Grammy nomination for “Best Reggae Album of the Year.” Rise & Shine spent four weeks at the #1 slot on the CMJ New World chart and garnered a Top 10 slot on the Billboard reggae chart. The album was also a major hit in the UK and Japan, where it produced a #1 single, Shine, boosting worldwide sales to more than 600,000.
Aswad continued to build on its impressive track record with the 1995 release of Rise & Shine Again which features all but one of the tracks from the Grammy-nominated album, plus five bonus tracks, and DUB: The Next Frontier, the band’s first dub recording in more than a decade. As Vibe Magazine noted, “Aswad seems set to shine for years to come.”
The band were enlisted as producers for the re-recording of the Prince Buster classic Whine & Grind which was used for the LEVIS TV commercial. Whilst not visually featuring the act the single achieved Top 20 chart status in the UK. It was during these sessions that the band decided upon the concept for their album “Roots Revival”.
“Roots Revival” reunited Aswad with classic songs from the Reggae songbook including Caution from The Waiters, Boom Boom Carnival (1998’s official Notting Hill Carnival Anthem) and Peace Truce from The Gladiators. The album also included several new songs including the first single Follow plus The Best Times Of Our Lives, which featured vocals from Arab music superstar Cheb Maim, a cover of Invisible Sun, a collaboration with Sting on The Police classic, previously only available on the X-Files movie soundtrack.
1999 was a big year for Aswad, but the new millennium brought even bigger things for both founder members Drummie Zeb and Tony Gad. 2000 saw Aswad celebrate their 25th anniversary along with a specially recorded live album “25 Live” and UK tour. The band also received the prestigious, and much coveted, Outstanding Contribution To Black Music at the fifth MOBO Awards held in October.
Aswad released an album “Cool Summer Reggae” out on Universal Records the first single “Shy Guy” (a Diana King cover) is feat. Easther Bennett (of Eternal).
Aswad, after more than 25 years, are still the purveyors of the UK reggae scene and will continue to be way into the next millennium.
Aswad - Shine
Video of Aswad - Shine
DJ Shub
Fikir Amlak & King Alpha Sound
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Mr. Eazi
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OHLALA - THE LOVECIRCUS
Ricardo Cuba Sound Club
Valerie Sajdik
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"Love it, thanks! Keep me posted!" - Sarah Yardley - Creationfest,
"Congrats George on having such a diverse roster!" - Marko Babineau,
Home » Heaven 17
Heaven 17, please remember, were not even intended to be a group. In the beginning was the British Electric Foundation, or B.E.F., for short. Born out of the collapse of the original Human League, and the brainchild of Martyn Ware, that band’s leader, B.E.F. was less a record label, as a portfolio of future musical projects of which Heaven 17 would be just one. Ian Craig Marsh, co-founder of the Human League, would join Ware along with Glenn Gregory as lead vocalist the man who would have been the original Human League singer had he not been unavailable.
B.E.F. would produce the now iconic Music For Stowaways, and Music Of Quality and Distinction 1, and provided a template that subsequent artists would use from The Assembly in the Eighties, Electronic in the Nineties, and most recently, the Damon Alban and Jamie Hewlett project, Gorillaz. But its Heaven 17 which would endure and help shape the future of modern music for over thirty years. Their first album, Penthouse And Pavement, is, and remains, a modern classic.
It felt like a race to get the thing done really. There was no mediation involved. It literally was a lot of ideas coming out simultaneously but also with an intensity which meant that you could realise them very quickly. So it wasn’t just like a million ideas and actually three quarters of them were shit when you looked at them on the day – they were all pretty good I have to say. It was like opening a giant tap for a hose and it was just blasting out. (Martyn Ware)
Within a week, they had written and demoed a new song, ‘(We Don’t Need That) Fascist Groove Thang.’ Listening back to a song written in late 1980, it’s astonishingly prescient. The purely electronic template, the driving musical philosophy of the Human League, had been modified with the addition of funky slap-bass guitar, and treated dance-floor piano. Released as a single, it became NME’s record of the week. The song managed to mention the words ‘fascist’, ‘Hitler’, ‘racist’ and was promptly banned from being played by the BBC. ‘One of the reasons the BBC said it couldn’t be played was they thought Ronald Reagan could sue them over it’, said Ian Craig Marsh in 1981 about the song’s most controversial couplet: ‘Reagan’s president elect/Fascist god in motion.’
Penthouse and Pavement is a musically schizoid slab of modern art. Side 1 fires off in the new, funky direction, whilst Side 2, the all-synth side gives a taste of what a third Human League album with Ware and Marsh on-side might have sounded – wonderful melodies and audacious arrangements with tracks such as ‘Let’s All Make A Bomb’ and ‘Song With No Name’ the very best of British electronica.
A defining feature of Heaven 17 was their total artistic control over their music. Whereas the sound and the success of the Human League’s Dare was very much a collaboration between the band and Martin Rushent, Heaven 17 were performers, writers and designers creating not just their own music but every aspect of the music’s presentation and packaging.
It was written into our contract that we had complete control over the content of what we presented. Each stage of production was integral to the band’s ethos, from cover artwork to their own sartorial elegance in video and on photo shoots. We were influenced by Kraftwerk because what they presented was this world view of which the music was an integrated part. (Martyn Ware)
Heaven 17 and B.E.F. were unique and completely radical. Simultaneously, a critique and a postmodern embodiment of early-Eighties corporatism, they were too clever by half for many who didn’t get the joke. B.E.F., and Heaven 17 made it all into a straight-faced spoof of oppressive and unimaginative corporate industry, by creating one based on fun and intelligence’, says John Foxx, another electro pioneer of the Eighties:
No-one else was operating like that at the time. The nearest in spirit were perhaps the Residents or Devo, but they weren’t co-opting classic pop performers into their records. I was pleased they used my studio as base for a while – great to meet Tina Turner and Hank Marvin - and Sandie Shaw, too. Weird juxtapositions that made everyone look again. It restarted Tina Turner’s career right away. What a marvellous woman – dirtiest laugh I’ve ever heard. They’d effectively deconstructed the notion of a band and thrown the door open to include everyone they admired, bringing all those genres into their world, and onto their records. A very bright notion. Generous and open hearted too. Not something you get a lot of in popular music.
Their next album, The Luxury Gap, was their pop masterpiece, the moment when everything just clicked into place to devastating effect. The bands favourite-ever song, ‘Let Me Go’ so nearly broke them into the UK Top 40. There would be no such disappoint with its follow up. The band convinced their sceptical record company that ‘Temptation’ had to be the next single. A duet between Glenn Gregory and Carol Kenyon, this song of lust, brilliantly framed by a musical structure which just kept building and building, Escher-like to an electric orgasm that seems never to come, it reached Number 2 in the UK charts in May 1983. Martyn Ware:
Every gig we do, in any circumstances with any demographics, that song always works. I could play it on a guitar in a local pub and it would work. I could do it on a tin whistle in St Kilda and it works! I can talk to anyone I’ve never met before, any age almost, and they all know what it is. It’s just bizarre. You would be Abba if you could continue writing that over and over again.
In September 1983, Heaven 17 appeared on the front cover of Smash Hits, the teen pop bible, and now, sure evidence that they had now become part of the pop firmament. ‘Come Live With Me’ the tale of a doomed love between a thirty-something and a teenager, and ‘Crushed By The Wheels Of Industry’, a sardonic look at mass unemployment set to a party beat cemented Heaven 17 as one of Britain’s most important post-punk bands.
For their next album, Heaven 17 pulled off that most difficult of tricks. How Men Are was a set of experimental tracks which were also pop songs. Although it spawned hits ‘Sunset Now’ and ‘This Is Mine’, the band’s popularity had peaked, and although they remained productive and always intelligent, Pleasure One (1986), and Teddy Bear, Duke, and Pyscho (1988) lacked direction.
With Ware now a successful producer for the likes of Tina Turner and Terrence Trent D’Arby, Heaven 17 was put on hold. Bigger Than America, released in 1996 showed their muse returning, but it would be Beforeafter in the Noughties which would show the band back on top form. ‘Hands Up To Heaven’ was a huge US Dance smash.
By the late 2000’s, Heaven 17 were down to two of their original members, Ian Craig Marsh having left the band to take a degree course in Psychology. Yet demand for Heaven 17 live which had run dry a decade earlier had now picked up dramatically. A whole new generation of artists began to sight Heaven 17 as prime influences, not least La Roux who would join Heaven 17 for a storming session for Six Music in 2010.
Heaven 17 then toured their classic album Penthouse and Pavement, with a power and fidelity, yet a contemporaneity which made the music as alive today as it was in 1981 with soul singer Billie Godfrey now an essential part of the live dynamic. Heaven 17, who had largely refused to play live during the Eighties had re-invented themselves as a powerful live act. Glenn had never sung better in his life. On some nights, he would even play a cheeky acoustic version of that other Sheffield band’s biggest hit, ‘Don’t You Want Me.’ ‘Don’t tell anyone I can play the guitar; it’ll ruin me electronic credentials’, Glenn told the audience at the Magna Centre in 2010.
The band would also play on Later…with Jools Holland to a rapturous reception, and would appear on BBC Children In Need. The band’s highest profile year since the Eighties was capped off by a tongue-in-cheek appearance for Plusnet, a Sheffield-based broadband provider.
In October 2011, a reconstructed Music Of Quality And Distinction concert at the Roundhouse on night one (featuring original artists from the projects such as Sandie Shaw, and new talent such as Polly Scattergood) would be followed on the second by a dramatic reconstruction of their biggest commercial success, The Luxury Gap.
The Luxury Gap has never been more relevant. Written during the height of Thatcherism by three Left-leaning young men against a backdrop of over 3 million unemployed the parallels with the Austerity Britain of today are obvious. Today with a Millionaire cabinet, bankers’ bonuses, yet with once again three million unemployed and doom and depression everywhere, Heaven 17’s sly, post-modern critique of modern society has never sounded so resonant, nor been so necessary.
Jan Reijnders
Boney M. feat. Mazie Williams
The Skatalites
Bowie Starman
Kevin Lyttle
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VIDEO: Iron Maiden stream new Legacy Of The Beast tour footage
Iron Maiden are streaming new official video highlights from the band’s Legacy Of The Beast summer 2018 European tour.
Following last month’s footage of the trek’s launch, the latest clips feature singer Bruce Dickinson in performance, as well as behind the scenes look at the tour’s production.
Inspired by their mobile game and comic book of the same name, the three-month run sees the veteran rockers mix headline shows with festival appearances ahead of the trek’s completion of the second of two dates at London’s O2 Arena on August 11.
Iron Maiden made headlines recently when band founder and bassist Steve Harris and guitarist Dave Murray were named in a copyright lawsuit brought by former singer Dennis Willcock, who alleges the pair used his lyrics to some of their classic early songs without permission or compensation.
Willcock – who fronted the band between 1976 and 1978 – claims to have written lyrics to songs that appeared on the band’s self-titled 1980 debut, including “Prowler”, “Charlotte The Harlot”, “Phantom Of The Opera” and “Iron Maiden”, as well as the 1981 “Killers” track “Prodigal Son”, while musician Terry Wilson-Slesser says he co-wrote lyrics to a 1974 song called “A Rainbow's Gold” that the veteran metal outfit used for “Hallowed Be Thy Name” from 1982’s “The Number Of The Beast.”
All of the songs are credited to Harris, except for Murray’s “Charlotte The Harlot.”
Willcock and Wilson-Slesser are seeking damages in excess of £2 million (approximately $2.64 million).
Iron Maiden sued over songwriting credits by former singer
VIDEO: Iron Maiden stream Legacy Of The Beast tour footage
Iron Maiden offshoot British Lion extends fall tour
VIDEO: Iron Maiden feature rarities in 2018 tour launch
Search Iron Maiden at hennemusic
Labels: Iron Maiden
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Woodstock 50 status unknown as event loses financial partner
The status of the Woodstock 50 Music and Arts Fair in Watkins Glen, NY this summer is unknown as organizers claim the event will move forward despite losing the support of its financial backer.
Scheduled to run August 16-18 at Watkins Glen International, the 50th anniversary of the iconic 1969 event is planning to once again deliver "3 Days of Peace and Music" with a diverse lineup that includes Robert Plant, Santana, Greta Van Fleet and original Woodstock performers Santana, Dead & Company, John Fogerty, David Crosby And Friends, John Sebastian, Country Joe Mcdonald, Canned Heat, Hot Tuna and Melanie alongside The Killers, The Black Keys, Jay-Z, Imagine Dragons, Sturgill Simpson, Gary Clark Jr. and dozens more.
The Poughkeepsie Journal reports a spokesperson for the event's financial partner, Dentsu Aegis Network’s Amplifi Live, said Monday that the 50th anniversary event has been canceled.
“It’s a dream for agencies to work with iconic brands and to be associated with meaningful movements,” said Dentsu in a statement. “We have a strong history of producing experiences that bring people together around common interests and causes, which is why we chose to be a part of the Woodstock 50th Anniversary Festival.
"But despite our tremendous investment of time, effort and commitment, we don’t believe the production of the festival can be executed as an event worthy of the Woodstock Brand name while also ensuring the health and safety of the artists, partners and attendees.
“As a result and after careful consideration, Dentsu Aegis Network’s Amplifi Live, a partner of Woodstock 50, has decided to cancel the festival. As difficult as it is, we believe this is the most prudent decision for all parties involved.”
But event organizers say the anniversary festival will go on.
"Woodstock 50 vehemently denies the festival's cancellation and legal remedy will (be) sought," read a statement from Woodstock 50.
Watkins Glen International racetrack had no comment on the matter at this time.
Tickets for Woodstock 50 did not go on sale on Earth Day 2019 – Monday, April 22 – as scheduled, as fans await further news regarding the status of the festival.
Full event details are available at woodstock.com.
Led Zeppelin: Jason Bonham retracts Jimmy Page drug use comments
Led Zeppelin launch 50th anniversary video history series
Mastodon stream tribute cover of Stairway To Heaven
Jimmy Page tells legendary guitar story in new Fender animated video
Search Led Zeppelin at hennemusic
Labels: Greta Van Fleet, John Fogerty, Led Zeppelin, Robert Plant, Santana
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Duane Sutter
There have been some pretty famous family connections in hockey history. The generations of Patricks and Conachers and Howes and Hulls and Hextalls rank as hockey royalty. But probably the most famous family in hockey is Viking Alberta's Sutter family. Six brothers - Brian, Duane, Brent, Darryl, Rich and Ron - went on to play long careers in the National Hockey League.
Duane was nicknamed Dog. But it wasn't due to his dogged play, but rather a name from his childhood. His mother called him "Dog" because as a child he would constantly whine and cry! When younger brother Brent joined Duane on Long Island, he quickly became known as "Pup," a name that would stick with him for his entire career.
Easily the most out-going of the clan, Duane Sutter was a first-round draft pick of the NY Islanders in 1979 (17th overall). It was great timing for Duane as he joined the Islanders just in time to play on four consecutive Stanley Cup winners at the start of the ‘80s.
But it almost never happened.
The morning of the draft, Islanders GM Bill Torrey called to say he was planning on selecting him.
"Thanks but no thanks," Duane recalls saying. "I don't want to play in a big city like New York with all those skyscrapers."
Torrey must not have known what to think of the response, but he decided to draft Sutter anyways. It is a good thing too, as he was a key part of the championship dynasty.
Duane applied the typical Sutter style of play immediately. He banged. He crashed. He fought. He blocked shots. He sacrificed for his teammates. He was a leader. He won.
But he added a little extra spice his brothers were not really noted for. He yapped.
Claiming to be heavily influenced by his favorite movie, "Slap Shot," no one was safe from his verbal assaults. He would often be in the middle of an after-the-whistle scrum, chirping away at opposition goaltenders, or defensemen, or coaches or referees.
Affectionately known strictly as grinder, and unlike brothers Brian, Darryl, Brent and to a lesser degree Ron, never showed a lot of offensive upside. This was despite his NHL debuted where he scored 2 goals and 3 points against the Edmonton Oilers.
However he scored 20 goals only once, but that was fine with his teammates. Often playing on a line with brother Brent, Duane brought so much to the table that could never be measured by statistics.
Like all the Sutters, he earned twice his paycheck just because of his heart and determination. Although he dreamed of playing in the NHL all star game, there was little chance a player of his stature could ever make it there. Yet he was at least as valuable, and in many cases more valuable, of a hockey player as almost any of the annual all stars.
Perhaps Duane could have had a chance to play in an NHL all star game, like Brian and Brent did, but Islanders coach Al Arbour never really gave Duane the prime ice time needed to achieve offensive statistics needed for such an honor. Duane often was depressed about his lack of ice time, particularly in his early years.
In the summer of 1987 the Isles decided to move Duane to Chicago in exchange for a 2nd round draft pick. By this time the Isles dynasty days were over and the Isles were unloading some of their veterans in exchange for some youthful prospects and draft picks. Unfortunately Duane was in this group.
While Duane continued to play that Sutter dogged style in Chicago, his offensive contributions were left behind on Long Island. Duane only scored 18 times in 3 years. He became much more of a role player in Chicago, although by this time he had matured about his role and it didn't bother him if he didn't get the ice time. Duane was happy to be there, partly because his brother Darryl was there and partly because he knew he could have an impact on the team. And he did.
Duane Sutter appeared in 731 NHL games, recording 139 goals, 342 points and 1,333 penalty minutes. Like brothers Brian and Darryl he retired prematurely due to injuries.
Duane initially returned to Viking to raise his family, but he got back into the game as a scout. Soon enough he wanted to get into the coach game like his brothers Brian and Darryl (plus Brent at the junior level). He spent three years as an assistant coach before he was named head coach of the Florida Panthers in 2000 for about a year.
Labels: Duane Sutter
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KERMAN ix. HISTORY IN THE QAJAR PERIOD
ix. HISTORY IN THE QAJAR PERIOD
Kerman, despite its geographical position on the periphery of Qajar Iran (1795-1925), was at the center of numerous significant developments in this important transitional period in Iran’s history. Politically, Kerman was never well-integrated into the Qajar empire. Locally-rooted elite households dominated the provincial administration, tax collection, landholdings, trade, and religious institutions, while monopolizing access to Qajar appointees there. Economically, however, Kerman was on the front lines of changes connected to Iran’s absorption into global economic structures. Kermani elites greatly intensified their community’s connections to foreign trade, particularly through investments in commercial agriculture and carpet manufacturing. These economic changes, along with the expansion of landholdings and administrative control over rural areas by urban elites, helped consolidate an integrated regional economy around Kerman city. By the 1890s and 1900s, Kerman became a hotbed of radical nationalist and constitutionalist agitation, with Kermani intellectuals and activists playing critical roles in bringing together a revolutionary coalition against Qajar despotism in the buildup to the Constitutional Revolution of 1323-29/1905-11. This movement against the patriarchal rule of the Qajars grew in part through strong connections to prominent local households, and the constitutional movement itself faltered in Kerman once revolutionary institutions began to challenge the patriarchal authority of these families in the local administration. By World War I, Kerman was firmly in the British sphere of influence in the growing Anglo-Russian Great Game in Central Asia and Iran, and it was subsequently occupied during the war by the South Persia Rifles.
Political history. Kerman experienced the beginning of the Qajar period violently and traumatically. In March 1794, as Āḡā Moḥammad Khan Qājār, the founder of the Qajar dynasty, was consolidating his power over the Iranian plateau, the Zand prince Loṭf-ʿAli Khan entered Kerman in an attempt to advance his own claims to the throne. He found support here among Sistani and Afghani forces and nomadic tribesmen recruited from Lurestan, Bušehr, and Jupār (Moḥammad-Reżā Širāzi, pp. 381-83; Waziri Kermāni, 1985, II, pp. 734-35). A local merchant and landowner named Āqā ʿAli Šamāʿi Karrāni, according to his great-grandson Aḥmad-ʿAli Khan Waziri Kermāni, emerged at the head of a group of Qajar loyalists among the city’s elite who resisted the Zand prince. Āqā ʿAli appealed to Āḡā Moḥammad Khan directly after his property was confiscated, encouraging him to conquer the city (Waziri Kermāni, 1985, II, pp. 736-37; Moḥammad-Reżā Širāzi, pp. 386-87). A prolonged siege of Kerman (then called Gavāšir) ensued in which famine claimed perhaps one-third of the population of the city. On 29 Rabiʿ I 1209 (24 October, 1794), a group of Jupāri riflemen responsible for guarding a section of the wall opened a gate to allow the Qajar forces to enter. In the aftermath of the Qajar conquest, much of the city was destroyed, thousands of men were massacred or blinded, and countless women and children were carried off as slaves (Waziri Kermāni, 1985, II, pp. 744-48 and n. 53; Moḥammad-Reżā Širāzi, pp. 386-89; Hedāyat, IX, pp. 256-58; Fasāʾi, I, p. 658; Eʿtemād-al-Salṭana, III, pp. 1424-25). In 1810, John Malcolm (p. 198) reported meeting these blind Kermani beggars in his travels all throughout Iran. The only survivors from within the city were said to be some ten to twelve thousand individuals who took refuge in houses owned by the new Qajar favorite Āqā ʿAli Šamāʿi, whose son was subsequently appointed to watch over the rubble as the first Qajar governor of the city (Waziri Kermani, 1985, II, p. 748). Loṭf-ʿAli Khan briefly fled to the city Bam before he was betrayed by his host, arrested, blinded, and eventually executed by Āḡā Moḥammad Khan, who also celebrated his victory by decapitating several hundred of prisoners and erecting a pyramid of their skulls in Bam (Fasāʾi, I, p. 659; Waziri Kermāni, 1985, II, pp. 752-55; Moḥammad-Reżā Širāzi, pp. 389-92; Hedāyat, IX, pp. 254-61; Eʿtemād-al-Salṭana, III, p. 1425; Sykes, 1958, II, p. 288).
Curiously, this act of brutality initiated a long period of political stability in Iran for the first time since the fall of the Safavid dynasty. In 1804, Fatḥ-ʿAli Shah appointed his uncle, Ebrāhim Khan Ẓahir-al-Dawla, as prince-governor of Kerman, who quickly took to reconstructing the city, regularizing the provincial administration, subjugating powerful tribal chiefs on the Baluchistan frontier, and reviving commerce by securing transportation and trade routes (Waziri Kermāni, 1985, II, pp. 758-62; Aḥmadi, 1975, p. 12). The centerpiece of his reconstruction project in Kerman city was the Ebrāhimiya Complex, centered on a madrasa, bathhouse, and bazaar (Waziri Kermāni, 1974, p. 30). Ẓahir-al-Dawla is known to have had twenty sons and twenty-one daughters (Bāmdād, I, p. 21), many of whom remained as part of the elite community in Kerman, with wealth and prestige built around the Ebrāhimiya complex, its endowments, and extensive landholdings in Rafsanjān. Ẓahir-al-Dawla’s eldest son, Hājj Moḥammad-Karim Khan, studied in the ʿatabāt as a disciple of Sayyed Kāẓem Rašti, the chief disciple of Shaikh Aḥmad Aḥsāʾi, and returned to found a Kermani branch of the Shaikhi (Šayḵi) theosophical movement that remained closely tied to the Ebrāhimi family and its fortunes (Hermann and Rezai, pp. 87-88).
Kerman’s overall political integration into the Qajar state was limited. The Qajars administered provincial territories through a system built on interpersonal relationships and a careful negotiation of power between a centrally appointed governor and local elites (Martin, p. 1). Ẓahir-al-Dawla was the first in a series of Qajar prince-governors to rule Kerman over the course of the 19th century in this way. These governors acted nearly autonomously from the Qajar state, in concert with members of prominent local households like the Ebrāhimis (descendants of Ebrāhim Khan Ẓahir-al-Dawla), the Waziris (descendants of Āqā ʿAli Šamāʿi through his son, Mirzā Ḥosayn Wazir), and the Kalāntaris (the hereditary kalāntars “leaders” of Kerman city). At periodic low tides of central power, Kerman also experienced outright revolts against central authority. Most notably, the Ismaʿili Nezāri imam Āqā Khan Maḥallāti, appointed governor in 1836, was dismissed from his post in 1838 after building up an independent military following among the ʿAṭāʾ-Allāhi tribes, and popular support through ties to the Neʿmat-Allāhi Sufi order based in Mahān, which elicited suspicion from Moḥammad Shah Qājār (r. 1834-48). After a period of house arrest in Maḥallāt, Āqā Khan forged appointment papers and assumed the governorship of Kerman briefly in 1840 and procured support from the urban elite for his rule. Upon the arrival of a sizeable military force from Tehran, Āqā Khan fled via Bam to India, where the Ismaʿili imamate has remained since (Waziri Kermāni, 1985, II, pp. 782-88; Eʿtemād-al-Salṭana, III, pp. 1649-51; Hedāyat, X, pp. 250-53; Algar, p. 71; Daftary, pp. 71-72).
Between 1859 and 1878, Moḥammad-Esmāʿil Khan Nuri Wakil-al-Molk (governor or de facto governor, 1859-68), and his son Mortażāqoli Khan Wakil-al-Molk (governor, 1869-78) dominated provincial politics. Moḥammad-Esmāʿil Khan was not a member of the Qajar royal family, but a skilled administrator who served first as the manager (piškār) under Kayumarṯ Mirzā ʿAmid-al-Dawla, but in recognition of his abilities was made governor in his own right shortly after and given the royal title Wakil-al-Molk (Eʿtemād-al-Salṭana, III, p. 1826; Waziri Kermāni, 1985, II, pp. 807-8). His tenure in Kerman, along with that of his son, was a period of political stability and economic growth. In 1862, he subordinated tribal groups in Baluchistan in a campaign along the frontiers and reinforced his relationship with leading tribal chiefs through intermarriage (Waziri Kermāni, 1974, p. 43; idem, 1985, II, p. 808). Both he and his son Mortażāqoli Khan Wakil-al-Molk also engaged in a massive building campaign throughout the province that was praised by contemporary Kermani and European observers alike. In Kerman city, these two governors are credited with the construction of the Wakili Mosque, two new caravansaries, a pair of public bath houses, and repairs to the citadel complex along with the addition of a new administrative office (divān-ḵāna; Waziri Kermāni, 1974, pp. 27, 29, 31, 32, 37; Schindler, p. 830). A system of caravansaries was constructed along Kerman’s two major trade routes connected to the Persian Gulf port of Bandar ʿAbbās, one connecting to Rafsanjān and Yazd and the other further east, connecting to Khorasan via Bam (Waziri Kermāni, 1974, pp. 111, 135, 182, 185, 187). In the villages surrounding Kerman city, they also built numerous bathhouses, mosques, water reservoirs, bazaars, and gardens (Waziri Kermāni, 1974, pp. 86, 94-95, 111, 117, 123-24, 188). Sir Oliver Beauchamp Coventry St. John, a member of the Perso-Kalat Boundary Commission, credited the two Wakil-al-Molks with having “raised Karman from the desolation it had been plunged in, since the siege, to its present position of the most orderly and one of the most prosperous divisions of the kingdom” (St. John, p. 100). Even during the devastating famine of 1870-71, and the outbreak of cholera that followed, Kerman was almost entirely spared the consequences when Mortażāqoli Khan Wakil-al-Molk enacted measures to control grain prices, prevent hoarding, and stop unauthorized exports (Okazaki, p. 191).
From the 1880s to World War I, Kerman’s governorship passed through the hands of several Qajar princes from the Farmānfarmā family. After a factional riot associated with a grain shortage in 1878, Mortażāqoli Khan Wakil-al-Molk was replaced by Firuz Mirzā Farmānfarmā (who had briefly governed the province thirty years earlier in 1837-39), followed by his sons ʿAbd-al-Ḥamid Mirzā Nāṣer-al-Dawla Farmānfarmā (governor of Kerman 1881-91), and ʿAbd-al-Ḥosayn Mirzā Noṣrat-al-Dawla Farmānfarmā (governor of Kerman 1891-93, 1894-95, and 1905). ʿAbd-al-Ḥosayn Mirzā developed a close personal relationship with the first British consul in Kerman, Percy Sykes, who arrived in the city in 1894 (Waziri Kermāni, 1985, II, pp. 815-25; Wynn, pp. 20-22). Kerman was already considered part of a British sphere of influence in the context of the Great Game. This claim was advanced with the establishment of a consulate (matched temporarily by a Russian mission), and formalized during the Constitutional Revolution in the 1907 Anglo-Russian Convention. The spheres of influence arrangement became spheres of military occupation during World War I, with Sykes’ South Persia Rifles central in organizing a British military presence there during the war (Sykes, 1958, II, pp. 456-59).
Economy. As with other Iranian provincial communities, the activities of merchants and locally rooted elites intensified Kerman’s connections to global economic structures, introducing important structural changes to the regional economy and social framework. Kerman’s regional economy was more tightly integrated around the central hub of the city of Kerman by the end of the Qajar period with a considerable expansion of landholdings in the hands of urban elites, the commercialization of agriculture, and the remarkable growth of the export markets for Kerman’s famous down wool (kork) and woolen products like carpets and shawls (de Groot, p. 357; Gustafson,2010, pp. 191-227). While Kerman’s overall volume of trade dramatically increased over the Qajar period, the composition of that trade (largely raw materials) conforms to a widespread pattern of marginalization or dependent development in Asian economic history. These transformations were led by Kermani elites themselves, acting on economic opportunities presented in the rapidly changing global economy, and not simply global forces or European intervention.
Agriculture, which depended on underground irrigation canals (kāriz) due to the aridity of the climate, formed the basis of Kerman’s economy throughout the Qajar period. The districts of Sirjān and Rafsanjān were the major agricultural zones, producing large quantities of wheat, barley, and millet along with a wide variety of fruits (notably melons, pomegranates, and dates) and nuts (including widely hailed pistachios, as well as almonds and walnuts [Waziri Kermāni, 1974, pp. 151-60, 168-74]). Both of these districts possessed a central hub that acted as the seat of prominent families who owned substantial land in the district and collected taxes as agents (ʿommāl). Saʿidābād in the Sirjān district (currently known simply as the city of Sirjān) was constructed in the 1790s by the head of the Kalāntari family and grew by the late 19th century into a thriving mercantile center. Bahrāmābād in Rafsanjān, which was dominated by the Ebrāhimi (descendants of Ebrāhim Khan Ẓahir-al-Dawla) and Aḥmadi families through much of the 19th century, similarly developed into a prosperous town attracting artisans and tradesmen from throughout Iran (Firuz Mirzā Farmānfarmā, p. 84). The agricultural surplus flowed from rural districts through these regional hubs and either into the city of Kerman or overland to other Qajar communities (mainly Yazd and Khorasan), including to the Persian Gulf port of Bandar ʿAbbās for export.
Kerman’s trade in down wool, notable since at least the Safavid era, remained significant through the Qajar period as well. Pastoral tribes, nomadic as well as semi-nomadic, produced down and other fine wool principally in Jiroft, Jebāl Bārez, and Zarand (Waziri Kermāni, 1974, pp. 85, 120, 178). This fed a thriving handicraft shawl and carpet sector among Kermani tribes and by master weavers in Ravār and the city of Kerman (Dillon, pp. 288-89). The Afšār tribe, in particular, was so well-known for their quality, designs, and workmanship that by the 20th century many tribal carpets became simply known as “Afshars,” regardless of the tribe producing them (Stöber, pp. 252-59). Although these items were largely produced for local consumption until late in the 19th century, raw down and coarse shawls were nonetheless Kerman’s primary non-food export items until the commercialization of these industries. In the early 1850s, the British consul Keith Abbott concluded that “the little importance this town possesses is derived from its shawls and other woollen fabrics.” He estimated that some 2,200 to 2,400 looms produced £40,000 to 45,000 worth of shawls and other woolen fabrics annually and employed 4,500 men and boys (Abbott, pp. 83, 151).
Abbott described the Kerman of the early 1850s as “not a place of much commercial consequence” (Abbott, p. 151), but this situation began to change by the end of the decade. Waziri Kermāni notes that, already in the 1840s, demand for cotton and madder in India and grains throughout Iran, had already begun to drive up the price of land, and that, by the 1870s, “the landlords of Kerman’s villages and towns have become powerful and wealthy” (Waziri Kermāni, 1974, p. 158). The subjugation of Kerman’s pastoral nomadic tribes and the building campaign led by Moḥammad-Esmāʿil Khan Wakil-al-Molk and Mortażāqoli Khan Wakil-al-Molk after 1859 enabled Kermani landowners to find markets for their agricultural surplus more easily. These local infrastructural improvements coincided with the opening of steamer service on the Persian Gulf in the 1860s and the first telegraph line reaching the province in 1879 (Aḥmadi, 2007, pp. 321-25). This encouraged a rapid commercialization of Kerman’s agriculture, with steady growth in the cash cropping of cotton, henna, and opium in particular. Walter Baring estimated in his 1881 report on Iran’s opium trade that Kerman produced about 4,500 maunds of opium in 1879-80 (Baring, p. 48). This figure nearly tripled to 12,000 maunds in 1896 (Sykes, 1896, pp. 12, 14). This same year, three-quarters of the opium crop made its way to Yazd for local consumption or re-export via Bandar ʿAbbās. A much larger yield of henna (280,000 maunds) also made its way to facilities in Yazd, while cotton (200,000 maunds) was largely exported directly to India through Bandar ʿAbbās (Sykes, 1896, p. 14).
Iranian merchants were critical in transforming Kerman’s longstanding connections to the wider Indian Ocean region in a search for new markets for agricultural surplus. There was a decisive shift towards maritime trade for international transactions with the longstanding overland route east through Baluchistan and Sistan slowing considerably during the later decades of Qajar rule, and failing to revive even when British administrators tried to re-open the Quetta route in the 1890s (“Sykes to Salisbury,” FO 60/621). Waziri Kermāni noted at least forty Kermani merchants in the mid-1870s with international connections, particularly to Bombay (Waziri Kermāni, 1974, pp. 78-79, 100, 172). A group of Šekarpuri merchants (diaspora Indian merchants) present in the city of Kerman established their dominance over international trade by the first decade of the 20th century, acting also as moneylenders and bankers (Gleadowe-Newcomen, p. 49). The activities of Šekarpuri merchants, as well as those of the local Zoroastrian community, were encouraged and protected by the presence of a British consulate established in Kerman city by Sir Percy Sykes in 1894 (Sykes, 1902, pp. 176-86).
The commercialization of agriculture had wider social, political, and economic effects. The price of land increased in major agricultural districts such that farmers in Sirjān became “wealthier than former owners of towns,” and in Rafsanjān “the farmers mostly [became] ḥājis” (Waziri Kermāni, 1974, pp. 158, 169). Prominent urban households invested heavily in land throughout the province, consolidating control over the regional economy through their household networks. This process accelerated after Nāṣer-al-Din Shah’s decree in 1889-90 ordering the sale of crown lands (ḵāleṣa) in the provinces to private individuals to increase productivity and build up the central treasury (Šahidi, p. 65; Lambton, 1960, pp. 151-53). The Kalāntaris dominated Sirjān, and the Aḥmadi and Ebrāhimi families expanded their landholdings in Rafsanjān. Likewise, the newly formed Behzādi military household in Bam leveraged their position patrolling the frontier in Baluchistan to control lucrative henna producing lands in Narmāšir (ʿAbd-al-Ḥosayn Mirzā Farmānfarmā, pp. 62-101). This was matched by the disappearance of many longstanding rural households like the “Āqāyān-e Anār” and “Āqāyān-e Rafsanjān” who had, until the late 19th century, operated as socially powerful elements in outlying rural districts. The expansion of urban families’ landholdings, combined as they were with administrative control and tax collection, served to integrate rural areas around the city of Kerman through the networks of elite households and consolidate Kerman’s regional economy (Gustafson, 2014).
Kerman’s carpet boom in the 1890s was a further step towards the integration of the regional economy. Tabrizi merchants, responding to foreign demand for Persian carpets after their introduction to European upper and middle class consumers in a series of exhibitions after 1873, bought up most of the rugs and carpets available on the open market in Kerman (Helfgott, pp. 15-16). After 1894, many of Kerman’s elites began investing money made in cash cropping and other ventures into commercial weaving operations (Ittig). Whereas John Preece notes only about 100 carpet manufactories in Kerman city in 1894, Percy Sykes, detailing the meteoric rise of this industry just two years later, estimates a ten-fold increase in their numbers, exporting some £120,000 worth of fine carpets in 1895-96, as compared to just £3,000 in 1894-95 (-Preece; Sykes, 1896). Local historians Shaikh Yaḥyā Aḥmadi and Aḥmad-ʿAli Khan Waziri Kermāni, writing in 1904 and 1907 respectively, both noted that this expansion of the carpet trade in Kerman was primarily a local initiative, “every capable person here with 10 tomans, from the elite classes (aʿyān, khans, and bozorgān) to the common people and the lower classes, etc., opened a weaving shop or acted to benefit from it” (Aḥmadi, 1975,pp. 156-68, Waziri Kermāni, 1974, pp. 33-34). These urban workshops employed large numbers of dislocated workers from the rural hinterland as well as large numbers of children working in contemptible conditions (Browne, p. 483; Euan Smith, p. 186). Carpets remained Kerman’s primary export item into the late 20th century, with periodic booms and busts, including a severe downturn in 1904-5. Despite the local initiative in responding to foreign demand in transforming Kerman’s carpet industry, it appears that much of the profit went to middlemen like the Tabrizi merchants who dominated the transit trade, while the flood of textile imports accompanying Kerman’s greater integration into the global economy decimated much of the local handicraft sector, particularly shawls (Gleadowe-Newcomen, p. 51). Thus, as with other aspects of Kerman’s economic reorientation, local initiatives were the most important factor in transforming productive relations, to the benefit of some and the detriment of others.
Social change. The Qajar period in Kerman was a period of significant social change, with the transformation of productive relations, the advance of regional economic integration, and the growing engagement of Kermani elites with global intellectual trends and political movements. Yet some of the most remarkable aspects of the complex of changes that mark the history of Kerman during the Qajar period (1779-1924) are the considerable underlying continuities. The patrilineal elite household as the organizing principle of elite society not only survived, but also thrived in the context of the growing engagement with the wider world, a process dominated by them as the primary intermediaries. Normative aspects of elite society remained tied to land ownership, assumption of stipendiary administrative posts, and connections to local religious institutions, with monetary wealth and commercial activities themselves carrying little social prestige. In fact, some of the most significant figures in Kerman, emerging through connections to the global economy, quickly established themselves among the local elite. Ḥāji Āqā ʿAli Tājer Kermāni, for example, made a fortune in the cotton trade in the 1840s. His family, the Aḥmadis (known after his eldest son, Āqā Aḥmad) became central figures among the landholding elite in Rafsanjān and went on to produce Kerman’s leading clerics (mojtahed) for the next three generations (Aḥmadi, 1975, pp. 125-27, 134-35).
Rural and/or tribal populations remained subject to exactions by these elite families, even as the circumstances and means of those exactions evolved with the economic reorientation of the province towards cash cropping and carpet exports. There is unfortunately little information on social conditions for Kermani peasants in the Qajar period, but it is notable that they were routinely compared favorably with the lower classes in India by British administrators arriving from the India Office (e.g., Sykes, 1896, pp. 2-3; Gleadowe-Newcomen, p. 6). The process of tribal integration into provincial politics was advanced during the Qajar period through the sanctioning of tribal authorities by the state. This aided tribal heads in consolidating their political position within the tribe and control over taxation and other forms of extraction.
Travelers to Kerman routinely comment on the relatively “liberal” atmosphere in Kerman and its high degree of diversity. Nicolas de Khanikoff (1819-78) noted that even in the graffiti he found etched into postal stations throughout the province, there were lengthy discourses on wine and beautiful women, rather than the characteristic Qurʾānic verses, philosophical statements, or complaints against local rulers (Khanikoff, p. 197). Kerman did indeed remain a diverse place through the 19th and early 20th centuries. The elite community in the city of Kerman was divided between two large factions of Shaikhis and motašarreʿ Shiʿites (mainstream Shiites). The Neʿmat-Allāhi Sufi brotherhood centered in Māhān also had a significant following among urban and rural communities alike. The city of Kerman also possessed a sizeable Zoroastrian population in a quarter located outside the city walls, which was well connected to the large Zoroastrian community in Yazd. Waziri Kermāni notes a wide variety of Turkic-speaking tribes of Central Asian origin in the province, the most numerous being 9,300 Afšār tribesmen organized in at least thirteen sub-tribal groups (Waziri Ker-māni, 1974, p. 145). Branches of various Baluchi tribes, primarily Sunni, were also present in large numbers on the province’s eastern frontiers. The mountainous zones also possessed small pockets of isolated Arabic speaking communities, Ismaʿili ʿAtā-Allāhi tribes, and what the urban elite viewed as heterodox groups, like the ʿAli-Allāhi, or Ahl-e Ḥaqq, who were rumored to worship Imam ʿAli b. Abi Ṭāleb.
The late 19th century in particular was marked by periodic outbreaks of severe factional conflict between Kerman’s elite households and their networks of supporters. Given the diversity of Kerman’s population, this factional conflict often manifested as “sectarian” violence, although even the elites themselves likened it to a new version of the Ḥaydari-Neʿmati factionalism of past centuries (Aḥmadi, 1975,p. 123). Recurring violence between the Shaikhi and motašarreʿ Shiʿite communities, mobilized by powerful elements of Kerman’s highly factionalized elite, marked the later decades of the 19th century. The close association of Shaikhism with the Ebrāhimi family (descendants of governor Ebrāhim Khan Ẓahir-al-Dawla), who became the founders and dynasty of spiritual leaders of the Kermani branch of the order, was at the heart of this factionalism. Recurring famine between 1877 and 1878, caused in part by grain hoarding on the part of Kermani elites, turned into a widespread violence, which was only eased by sending the headmen of the Ebrāhimi, Kalantāri, and Aḥmadi families to Tehran (Aḥmadi, 1975, pp. 123-26).
Kerman also became a center of radical intellectuals and political activists in the last quarter of the 19th century and into the constitutional period. The towering figure among them was Mirzā ʿAbd-al-Ḥosayn Āqā Khan Kermāni (1854-96) of Mašiz (Bardsir). He was tutored by a diverse array of people in Kerman as a young man, and developed particularly close ties with members of the Aḥmadi family. He was forced to flee the province after a conflict in 1883 with the provincial governor Nāṣer-al-Dawla Farmānfarmā and never returned to the province. His most productive years were spent in Istanbul, where he established a close relationship with the famous ideologue and political activist Jamāl-al-Din Afḡāni. He was extradited to Iran and executed in Tabriz in July 1896 after being implicated in planning the assassination of Nāṣer-al-Din Shah, carried out by fellow radical Mirzā Reżā Kermāni (Nāẓem-al-Eslām, I, p. 15). Kerman produced a generation of prominent constitutionalists, again around the Aḥmadi family, in the years after Mirzā Āqā Khan’s departure. These included Mirzā Moḥammad Nāẓem-al-Eslām Kermāni (1863-1918), author of the Tāriḵ-e bidāri-e Irāniān chronicling Iran’s constitutional movement, and his close childhood friend Shaikh Yaḥyā Aḥmadi, who became a member of the first Majles and produced two detailed studies of Kerman’s local history.
Nāẓem-al-Islām credits an incident in Kerman in 1905 with consolidating the modernist-ulema alliance that was critical in the success of the Constitutional Revolution of 1906-11 (Nāẓem-al-Eslām, I, pp. 320-22). After Kerman’s new governor, Rokn-al-Dawla, sold the office of vizierto a member of the Shaikhi Ebrāhimi household, he began removing longstanding motašarreʿ administrative families like the Wakil-al-Molkis from their posts in favor of his own relatives. This quickly developed into a conflict between the Shaikhi and motašarreʿ communities after Shaikh Moḥammad-Ṣādeq, the cousin of Kerman’s leading motašarreʿ jurisprudent, Mirzā Moḥammad-Reżā Mojtahed, led a crowd into the center of the city of Kerman to seize and occupy the Shaikhis’ Bāzār-e Šāh mosque (Scarcia, p. 228; Nāẓem-al-Eslām, I, p. 312). Throngs of urban poor, affected by the 1904-5 downturn in the carpet industry, were swept up in the conflict, which spread rapidly into a major disturbance (Mirzā Reżā Mohandes, p. 139; Nāẓem-al-Eslām, I, pp. 315-16). In order to quell the violence, the provincial government eventually arrested Mirzā Moḥammad-Reżā and inflicted the bastinado on him, a rare act of violence carried out on a prominent member of the ulema. Nāẓem-al-Eslām cites the outrage surrounding this event as a major factor in securing the support of prominent clerics like Āqā Sayyed ʿAbd-Allāh Behbāhāni for the constitutional movement (Nāẓem-al-Eslām, I, p. 324). Despite the centrality of Aḥmadi support for the development of the constitutional movement, it was also the Aḥmadi family that actually led the way in curtailing the reach of its reforms when the new provincial council (anjoman) was established in Kerman, again cutting into the administrative prerogative of local patrimonial families. Once again, the intermediary position of the local patrimonial elite was a critical factor in shaping, and curtailing, social change.
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Originally Published online: August 18, 2014
Archived version from the previous EIr. online edition.
(James M. Gustafson)
Originally Published: June 15, 2017
Vol. XVI, Fasc. 3, pp. 288-291
James M. Gustafson, “KERMAN ix. HISTORY IN THE QAJAR PERIOD,” Encyclopædia Iranica, XVI/3, pp. 288-291, available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kerman-09-qajar-period (accessed on 30 December 2017).
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KERMAN i. GEOGRAPHY
KERMAN ii. HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY
KERMAN iii. POPULATION
KERMAN v. HISTORY FROM THE ISLAMIC CONQUEST TO THE COMING OF THE MONGOLS
KERMAN vii. HISTORY IN THE SAFAVID PERIOD
KERMAN viii. HISTORY IN THE AFSHARID AND ZAND PERIOD
KERMAN xiv. Jewish Community of Kerman City
KERMAN xv. CARPET INDUSTRY
KERMAN xvi. LANGUAGES
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JUPITER GOLD CORPORATION ANNOUNCES TWO NEW DIRECTORS & THE LAUNCH OF ITS NEW WEBSITE
December 13, 2018 /in News /by Jupiter Gold
BELO HORIZONTE, BRAZIL –(December 13, 2018) – Jupiter Gold Corporation (OTC: JUPGF) (“Jupiter Gold”) announced today that it had elected Brazilian Army General (retired) Antônio Florêncio da Silva and attorney Joel de Paiva Monteiro to its Board of Directors.
Marc Fogassa, CEO of Jupiter Gold, commented, “We are most fortunate to have these talented individuals join us. I have benefitted from General Antônio Florêncio’s insights for years and know that he is among Brazil’s finest. He lives in Brasilia, the country’s capital, and is a solid supporter of entrepreneurship and free enterprise. Joel Monteiro is a brilliant business counsel from Belo Horizonte, capital of Minas Gerais state, and has previously advised us for several years.”
Jupiter Gold also announced that it had launched its new website which is accessible at www.jupitergoldcorp.com.
Biographies of the New Directors
General Antônio Florêncio da Silva – Director
General Antônio Florêncio da Silva was most recently a 2-star General in the Brazilian Army. General Florêncio held many posts as commander in various units throughout his career, culminating with being the Commander-in-Chief of the Second Military Zone in Brazil, headquartered in Campo Grande, state of Mato Grosso. He graduated as an Army officer from the Academia Militar das Agulhas Negras em Resende, state of Rio de Janeiro, in 1972. He pursued advanced Army Officer specialization in the branch of Communications in the School of Advancement of the Brazilian Army in Rio de Janeiro, graduating in 1981. He further pursued advanced studies in Command and Joint Chiefs at the Army School of Command. Already as a general, he studied politics and strategy at the doctorate level at the Superior War College in Rio de Janeiro, the highest-level military and geopolitical training in Brazil. He was Chief of Staff of the Army in Brasilia, Distrito Federal. General Florêncio was also the Director of Munitions and Supplies for the Brazilian Army and in that capacity was in charge of all acquisitions including munitions, combat vehicles, military gear and battlefield equipment. He was a military observer as part of the United Nations mission to El Salvador and later a Chief of Operations and Vice Commander in the Region of San Vicente, El Salvador for the United Nations contingent.
After his retirement from the Army, General Florêncio has been a consultant for SAAB Bofors Dynamics in their missile program and for Brazilian construction companies. He received numerous medals of valor in Brazil including: Ordem do Mérito Militar – grau Comendador; Ordem do Mérito Aeronáutico – grau Comendador; Medalha Militar de Ouro; Medalha do Pacificador; Medalha Marechal Hermes Aplicação em Estudos – prata uma coroa; Medalha da Vitória; Medalha Marechal Mascarenhas de Moraes; Medalha Tenente Max Wolf Filho; Medalha Marechal Zenóbio da Costa; and Medalha Insígnia do Mérito Policial Militar do Estado do Mato Grosso do Sul. His international medals include the United Nations Medal – ONUSAL, and the Order of Merit of Guiana.
Joel de Paiva Monteiro, Esq. – Director
Joel Monteiro, Esq. is a partner of the Brazilian law firm PRA Advogados – Pimenta da Rocha Andrade, with three offices and headquarters in Belo Horizonte, state of Minas Gerais. Mr. Monteiro works with all aspects of Brazilian business law and has extensive experience in a wide range of areas, from strategic business planning to litigation. His current clients include large corporations in a variety of economic sectors in diverse states in Brazil.
Mr. Monteiro has a law degree from the Milton Campos Faculty in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Subsequently he achieved a post-graduate degree in Business and Civil Law from the Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais.
About Jupiter Gold Corporation
Jupiter Gold Corporation (OTC: JUPGF) (“Jupiter Gold”) is focused on opportunities in Brazil, a jurisdiction with a well-established mining code. Jupiter Gold is a project generator and plans to use capital judiciously. Today, Jupiter Gold’s 100%-owned mineral landbank totals over 95,000 acres in six projects. Jupiter Gold currently has 4,634,599 common shares issued and outstanding. It has raised only equity to date and has no debt.
Jupiter Gold has recently begun trading in the U.S. over-the-counter market with ticker symbol JUPGF and its shares may be transacted through various brokers-dealers such as TD Ameritrade, Inc., Glendale Securities, Inc. and Charles Schwab Corp.
This press release contains forward-looking statements made under the “safe harbor” provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward looking statements are based upon the current plans, estimates and projections of Jupiter Gold Corporation’s management and are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from the forward- looking statements. Such statements include, among others, those concerning market and industry segment growth and demand and acceptance of new and existing products; any projections of production, reserves, sales, earnings, revenue, margins or other financial items; any statements of the plans, strategies and objectives of management for future operations; any statements regarding future economic conditions or performance; uncertainties related to conducting business in Brazil, as well as all assumptions, expectations, predictions, intentions or beliefs about future events. Therefore, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements: business conditions in Brazil, general economic conditions, geopolitical events and regulatory changes, availability of capital, Jupiter Gold Corporation’s ability to maintain its competitive position and dependence on key management. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any security and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale of any securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such jurisdiction. We advise U.S. investors that the Paracatu Gold Project, as of now, does not have measured “reserves” as such term is defined in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Industry Guide 7.
Jupiter Gold Corporation
ir@jupitergoldcorp.com
http://www.jupitergoldcorp.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Untitled-3.png 0 0 Jupiter Gold http://www.jupitergoldcorp.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Untitled-3.png Jupiter Gold2018-12-13 00:16:192019-05-18 20:19:23JUPITER GOLD CORPORATION ANNOUNCES TWO NEW DIRECTORS & THE LAUNCH OF ITS NEW WEBSITE
Jupiter Gold Corporation (OTC: JUPGF) is a gold exploration company focused on project generation in Brazil.
JUPITER GOLD CORPORATION ADVANCES ITS 100%-OWNED SERRITA GOLD PROJECT
JUPITER GOLD CORPORATION GUIDES ON POTENTIAL TO BECOME CASH FLOW POSITIVE AFTER FIRST ROYALTY PROJECT STARTS PRODUCTION
JUPITER GOLD CORPORATION ADDS PALLADIUM AND PLATINUM AREA
JUPITER GOLD CORPORATION ADDS NEW PRIMARY GOLD PROJECT AND REPORTS 71 GPT GOLD
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Book Review: Finding Me: A Decade of Darkness, a Life Reclaimed
Title Finding Me: A Decade of Darkness, a Life Reclaimed
Author Michelle Knight with Michelle Burford
Release Date May 6, 2014
Michelle was a young single mother when she was kidnapped by a local school bus driver named Ariel Castro. For more than a decade afterward, she endured unimaginable torture at the hand of her abductor. In 2003 Amanda Berry joined her in captivity, followed by Gina DeJesus in 2004. Their escape on May 6, 2013, made headlines around the world.
Barely out of her own tumultuous childhood, Michelle was estranged from her family and fighting for custody of her young son when she disappeared. Local police believed she had run away, so they removed her from the missing persons lists fifteen months after she vanished. Castro tormented her with these facts, reminding her that no one was looking for her, that the outside world had forgotten her. But Michelle would not be broken.
In Finding Me, Michelle will reveal the heartbreaking details of her story, including the thoughts and prayers that helped her find courage to endure her unimaginable circumstances and now build a life worth living. By sharing both her past and her efforts to create a future, Michelle becomes a voice for the voiceless and a powerful symbol of hope for the thousands of children and young adults who go missing every year.
After watching Michelle Knight on Dr. Phil, both times, I knew I wanted to read her book.
It's no secret that Michelle (along with Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus) endured horrible tragedies at the hands of "the dude." For Michelle, though, her hardships began long before being kidnapped. She has survived so many things that could have easily torn anyone else down. Michelle Knight is one of the most courageous people I've ever heard of. Her story of survival is inspirational and I wish nothing but the best for her in everything she does.
While I always feel strange reviewing/rating a book similar to this, I still feel it's important to spread the word about memoirs that provide healing for their authors. Michelle's voice is strong in this book (I felt like she was talking to me) and I hope that she finds healing by sharing her story.
Labels: book review, books, reading, reviews
God-Shaped Hole: A Novel
by Tiffanie DeBartolo
Share book reviews and ratings with Kayla, and even join a book club on Goodreads.
Book Review: Word Play
Book Review: We Are the Goldens
Book Review: Loving Mr. Daniels
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Book Review: Nadia's Tears
Book Review: Preludes
Book Review: Ashlynn's Dreams
Book Review: The Treatment
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The Red Hen to change restaurant name to The Little Red Heckler
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 27, 2018
Lexington, VA - The Lexington restaurant The Red Hen will change its name to The Little Red Heckler, following the successful removal of Pres. Trump’s Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders from their restaurant.
The Little Red Heckler owner Stephanie Wilkinson said the new name fits the quaint restaurant because of the public stand it took against Pres. Trump.
“Not only did we remove Sarah from the restaurant, I also encouraged my wait staff to come outside the restaurant with me and yell at her from across the street,” Wilkinson said.
Wilkinson asked Sanders and her family members to leave the restaurant minutes after a waiter served them appetizers at The Little Red Hecker, located at 11 E. Washington St., in downtown Lexington.
After Sanders agreed to leave, Wilkinson got some of her wait staff and some of her liberal friends to join her outside and yell at Sanders from across the street, while they were eating at another restaurant.
Even though Sanders was not at the restaurant, Wilkinson said the effort was worth it so that they could be seen heckling someone associated with Pres. Trump.
“I felt inspired by my actions so I’m changing the name of our restaurant to The Little Red Heckler,” she said.
Sanders had left and driven home with her husband. While Wilkinson and her friends group were heckling the family, Sanders brother-in-law came outside and asked her to stop.
‘Look, I don’t like Trump,” he said. “I’m not a supporter, I’m considered liberal, but you guys are embarrassing me, and you’re not helping the cause.”
Wilkinson said she received support from Rep. Maxine Waters, who called her to congratulate her after what she did inside and outside the restaurant. Waters encouraged her followers to accost and yell at Trump officials at a rally in Los Angeles June 23.
"For these members of his Cabinet who remain and try to defend him they're not going to be able to go to a restaurant, they're not going to be able to stop at a gas station, they're not going to be able to shop at a department store, the people are going to turn on them, they're going to protest, they're going to absolutely harass them until they decide that they're going to tell the president 'no I can't hang with you, this is wrong this is unconscionable and we can't keep doing this to children,' "
Waters said Wilkinson’s actions are an example of what her followers should do to oppose the president and his policies.
“I encouraged her to continue and harass people associated with Pres. Trump and the people who voted for him,” she said.
Wilkinson recently resigned from her position as executive director of Main Street Lexington, an organization focuses on economic growth in the community. She may have been forced to resign because of the backlash other downtown Lexington businesses have received because of Wilkinson’s actions. Her photo was immediately removed from the Main Street Lexington web site.
The Little Red Heckler Hen offers fine dining featuring local, seasonal ingredients, a thoughtfully curated wine list, craft-brewed beers, specialty cocktails, and great coffee.
For more information, contact Stephanie Wilkinson at (540) 464-4401.
© 2018 Larry Ingram
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Master Q: Incredible Pet Detective
Directed by To Kwok Wai.
The beloved character Master Q returns in a full length animated movie. Like many Hong Kong comedies, it's a creative pastiche of Hollywood ideas, including Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and the Matrix, complete with a "bullet time" parody. The story is about a latchkey kid and his annoying younger sister, who becomes withdrawn from the world and just plays video games all the time. They eventually get sucked in to a video game, and have to find their way out with the help of Master Q, Potato, Mr. Chun, and their dog. There are a few scenes that take place on Hong Kong streets and it is fun to see Hong Kong animated, but not as much fun as it was in last year's McDull movie. The movie is well animated, comparable to a middling Japanese effort, but the story is dull and there is more high-pitched whining and screaming than actual dialog in the film, making the ending a welcome relief. Chapman To provides the voice for Master Q, Eric Tsang the voice for Potato. To give you an idea of how annoyingly whiny the movie is, note that these two actors have the least annoying voices in the entire production.
Rating: (Not Recommended)
Posted by Peter Nepstad on August 17, 2004.
Genre - Animation (3)
Rating - 1 star (223)
Year - 2003 (71)
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2 Russian bombers enter S. Korea's air defense zone
Two Russian military aircraft violated South Korea's air defense identification zone on Thursday, prompting the Air Force to scramble fighter jets in response, a military source here said.
The Tu-95 bombers entered the KADIZ without prior notice above the East Sea once at around 3:37 a.m. and stayed in the zone for about 29 minutes, according to the source.
A Russian warplanes that violated Japan's air defense zone on Thursday captured by Japan Air Self-Defense Force on Thursday. (Yonhap)
The Air Force, in response, deployed multiple jets, including F-15Ks, to track them and send warning messages in accordance with its operation manuals, he added.
"In communication with our side, they clearly defined their purpose of flight," the source said, adding no additional measures were taken over the matter.
The last such incident took place in early May, when two Russian military aircraft, Tupolev Tu-142s, entered the KADIZ from south of South Korea's southern island of Jeju.
Japan's defense ministry also said on Thursday that two Russian warplanes violated its air defense zone twice earlier in the day.
An air defense identification zone is an area of the skies declared by a state for the early identification and location of foreign planes approaching its territorial airspace to prevent infiltration by foreign planes and accidental clashes. It is not defined in any international law or treaty. (Yonhap)
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Wadekar gets lifetime award, Chand best junior cricketer
Former skipper Ajit Wadekar under whose leadership India won the historical Test series against the West Indies in 1971, was today selected for the Castrol Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to the sport. The award will be conferred upon the veteran cricketer on August 29 in Bangalore during Castrol Awards for Cricketing Excellence for 2011, a release from the organisers stated.
Apart from his onfield genius, Wadekar has also been the coach, manager and chairman of the national selection committee.
Meanwhile, current India under-19 captain, Unmukt Chand has been declared Castrol Junior Cricketer of the Year for 2011, it added.
Initiated in 1997-98, the Castrol Awards for Cricketing Excellence recognizes outstanding performances by Indian cricketers -- past, present and future.
Besides the Lifetime Achievement Award and the Junior Cricketer of the Year awards, current Indian cricketers will be recognised in the categories of Cricketer of the Year, Test Cricketer of the year, ODI cricketer of the year, Batsman of the year and the Bowler of the year.
The Indian cricketers in the running for the cricketer of the year include the likes of skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Suresh Raina and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.
Besides the above categories, the organisers have also instituted two new awards this year -- the Castrol Performance Under Pressure Award and the Castrol stand out Performance Under Pressure Award.
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New Dealership Construction Is Done!
Welcome to Our Brand New State of the Art Dealership
At Lewistown Autoplex, we're moving up in the world. Today's fast-moving society necessitates that we do more for our customers, which is the foundation for our brand new facility. We're confident that our customer service experience will go next-level with the new building, allowing us to build on our already robust inventory to bring you more of what you want.
Bigger, Better, But Still the Same Exceptional Experience
When you pull up into the parking lot of the new Lewistown Autoplex, you'll be greeted by the chic and modern design of our new dealership. Our lot will be overflowing with new and pre-owned vehicles just waiting for you to explore.
The new facility allows us to do more than ever before, however returning customers can still expect the same great customer service experience that we've always provided. It's always been our mission to provide every Lewisville, TX resident with the care and attention they deserve and that hasn't changed. Our staff is committed to making sure your shopping experience is as smooth and as stress-free as possible, and the only thing that's changed is the fact that you have more to choose from.
More Brand New Mitsubishi Models, And the Best Pre-Owned Vehicles in the Region
Looking to shop for the latest and greatest in the Mitsubishi lineup? Our dealership has every make, model, and trim level option to choose from, so you have the most comprehensive choices in the region.
Of course, if you're not looking to buy new, we have a diverse range of pre-owned options, not just from Mitsubishi, but also from some of the world's best manufacturers. Shop from vehicles from Chevrolet, Ford, Land Rover, Honda, Audi, Rolls Royce, Lamborghini, and Mercedes-Benz.
Stop by and See Us Today
When you're ready to come down to our all-new facility, we are ready to welcome you to our dealership.
We look forward to serving you.
We offer a wide assortment of pre-owned models for you to look through. From some of the most impressive sports cars to lifted trucks, we have the vehicles for any occasion that you might need a vehicle for. We'll do everything we can to make sure you can find the vehicle that will enrich your lifestyle, adding performance to your sense of style. Our range of makes includes Audi, Lamborghini, Mercedes-Benz, Rolls-Royce, Honda, Land Rover, and many more; our diversity helps to make sure you can always find what you will need.
Our friendly team wants to help you be as confident as possible when it comes to your vehicle choice, answering all of the questions that you might have. We will even help you schedule a test drive for the models you are interested in, allowing you to get a true feeling of what all the models have to offer.
Lifted Trucks & Jeeps For Sale
Exotic Car Inventory
Shop Our Entire Inventory
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Goo Goo Dolls Lyrics Follow
The Goo Goo Dolls (originally Sex Maggot) are an American rock band formed in 1985 in Buffalo, New York, by guitarist/vocalist John Rzeznik, bassist/vocalist Robby Takac, and drummer George Tutuska. Mike Malinin was the band's drummer from December 1994 until December 27, 2013 (but not made an official member until 1998). Although renowned for their commercially successful 1998 single "Iris", they have had several other notable and popular singles including "Name" and "Naked" from 1995's A Boy Named Goo, "Slide", "Black Balloon", "Dizzy", and "Broadway" from 1998's Dizzy Up the Girl, "Here Is Gone" from 2002's Gutterflower, "Better Days", "Give a Little Bit", and "Stay with You" from 2006's Let Love In (although "Give A Little Bit" was originally released on the 2004 live CD/DVD album Live in Buffalo: July 4th, 2004), and "Home" from 2010's Something for the Rest of Us. The Goo Goo Dolls have had 19 top ten singles on various charts, and have sold more than 12 million albums worldwide.
In October 2012, "Iris" was ranked #1 on Billboard's "Top 100 Pop Songs 1992–2012" chart (which also featured Goo Goo Dolls hits "Slide", ranking at #9, and "Name" at #24), spent nearly 12 straight months on the Billboard charts, and held the number one position on the Hot 100 Airplay chart for 18 weeks. The first single from their 2010 album, Something for the Rest of Us, "Home", extended the band's record to 14 top ten hits at the hot AC radio format (more than any other artist in the history of that format). The band's tenth album, Magnetic, was released on June 11, 2013. On May 6, 2016, their eleventh studio album, Boxes, was released.
Rebel Beat Single
Something for the Rest of Us
Waiting for the Rest of It EP
Home Single
Real Single
iTunes Originals
Give a Little Bit Single
Better Days Single
Gutterflower
Here is Gone Single
Broadway Single
Black Balloon Single
Dizzy EP EP
Bang! EP
Dizzy Up the Girl
Iris Single
Slide Single
Long Way Down EP
Name Single
Take Me Out to the Ball Game Single
A Boy Named Goo
Naked Single
Only One Single
Superstar Car Wash
Just the Way You Are EP EP
Ego, Opinion, Art & Commerce
Greatest Hits Volume Two CD/DVD
Iris/Slide
Maximum Audio Biography: Goo Goo Dolls
Maximum Goo Goo Dolls
What I Learned About Ego, Opinion, Art & Commerce
Struggling in Two Feet of Water
Letting Love Become the Mirror
Try to Remember What You Meant When You Wrote the Song
Living in the Shadow of a Song
We're Pretty Happy
In the Wake of Katrina
Why We Try to Get Back to Buffalo So Often
When Things Really Changed
Getting the Band Together
My Biggest Musical Hero
We'll Be There
Can't Let It Go
Strange Love
When You're Gone
Feel the Silence
Happiest of Days
Bulletproofangel
When the World Breaks Your Heart
Last Hot Night
Bringing On the Light
Come to Me
Caught In the Storm
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Rohtang Pass, is a high mountain pass on the eastern Pir Panjal Range of the Himalayas around 51 km from Manali. It connects the Kullu Valley with the Lahaul and Spiti Valleys of Himachal Pradesh, India.
Spiti Valley is a cold desert mountain valley located high in the Himalayas in the north-eastern part of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The name Spiti means The Middle Land", i.e. the land between Tibet and India.
Solang Velly derives its name from combination of words Solang and Nallah. It is a side valley at the top of the Kullu Valley in Himachal Pradesh, India 14 km northwest of the resort town Manali on the way to Rohtang Pass, and is known for its summer and winter sport conditions.
Hidimba Devi Temple, locally known as Dhungari Temple or हिड़मा माता, also known variously as the Hadimba Temple, is located in Manali, a hill station in the State of Himachal Pradesh in north India. It is an ancient cave temple dedicated to Hidimbi Devi, wife of Bhima, a figure in the Indian epic Mahabharata.
Chandra Taal, or Chandra Tal is a lake situated in the Spiti part of the Lahul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh.
The Great Himalayan National Park, is one of Indias national parks, is located in Kullu region in the state of Himachal Pradesh. The park was established in 1984 and is spread over an area of 1,171 km² at an altitude of between 1500 and 6000 m.
Bhrigu Lake or Brighu Lake is a lake located at an elevation of around 4,300 metres in Kullu district, Himachal Pradesh, India. It is located to the east of Rohtang Pass and is around 6 kilometres from Gulaba village.
Jakhoo Temple is an ancient temple in Shimla, dedicated to the Hindu deity Hanuman. It is situated on Jakhoo Hill, Shimlas highest peak, 2.5 km east of the Ridge at a height of 2,455 m above sea level. Each year, a festival is held on Dussehra. The temple is accessible by foot, horse, or taxi.
Mall Road is the main street in Shimla, the capital city of Himachal Pradesh, India. Constructed during British colonial rule, the Mall road is located a level below the ridge. The offices of municipal corporation, fire service, and police headquarters are located here.
The Ridge road is a large open space, located in the center of Shimla, the capital city of Himachal Pradesh, India. The Ridge is the hub of all cultural activities of Shimla. It is situated along the Mall Road, which is the famous shopping center of Shimla.
Prashar Lake lies 49 km north of Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, India, with a three storied pagoda- like temple dedicated to the sage Prashar.
Triund is a small hill station in the Kangra district in the state of Himachal Pradesh, India. Triund is a part of Dharamkot. Triund is at the foot of the Dhauladhar ranges and is at a height of 2,828 meter
Manu Temple historical Hindu temple in a serene setting backdropped by mountains is accessible by foot.
Christ Church, Shimla, is the second oldest church in North India, after St Johns Church in Meerut. It is a parish in the Diocese of Amritsar in the Church of North India. Its current incumbent is The Rev. Sohan Lal, whose ecclesiastical designation is presbyter-in-charge. Worship is conducted in Hindi and English.
Dal Lake is a small mid-altitude lake near the village of Tota Rani in Kangra district (Himachal Pradesh) in northern India. The name Dal Lake is taken from Kashmirs Dal Lake. The lake is surrounded by deodar trees and is considered to be a sacred spot as there is small Shiva mandir on its bank. Bara-lacha la also known as Bara-lacha Pass, or Bārā Lācha La, is a high mountain pass in Zanskar range, connecting Lahaul district in Himachal Pradesh to Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir, situated along the Leh–Manali Highway.
Dharamkot is a small hill station in Kangra district in the state of Himachal Pradesh, India. On the crest of a hill above McLeodGanj, Dharamkot is a spot with wide views of the Kangra Valley and the Dhauladhar ranges. There are a couple of small eateries around.
Pin Valley National Park is a National park of India located within the Lahaul and Spiti district, in the state of Himachal Pradesh.
The Kangra Fort is located 20 kilometers from the town of Dharamsala on the outskirts of the town of Kangra, India.
Khajjiar Lake is situated in Khajjiar, in Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh, India. It is situated at a height of around 1,920 m above sea level between Dalhousie and Chamba Town. The lake is set in a huge grassy landscape, with evergreen cedar trees surrounding it from all sides.
Hamta Pass lies at an altitude of 4270 m on the Pir Panjal range in the Himalayas. It is a small corridor between Lahauls Chandra Valley and Kullu valley of Himachal Pradesh, India. The nomenclature of the trek was derived from Hamta Village, located below Sethan village, as part of the trek route.
Renuka lake is in the Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh in India and it is 672 m above the sea level. It is the largest lake in Himachal Pradesh, with a circumference of about 3214 m. This lake was named after the goddess Renuka. It is well connected by the road. Boating is available on the lake.
The Chamera Dam impounds the River Ravi and supports the hydroelectricity project in the region. It is located near the town of Dalhousie, in the Chamba district in the state of Himachal Pradesh in India The reservoir of the dam is the Chamera Lake. Large part of its reservoir lies in Salooni sub-division of Chamba.
The Pandoh Dam is an embankment dam on the Beas River in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh, India. Under the Beas Project, the dam was completed in 1977 and its primary purpose is hydroelectric power generation.
We offer you an exclusive Himachal Tour Packages from Ahmedabad that will gift you and your family with a thrilling Himachal experience!
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Interview:2002 Marilyn Manson interview by Cyril Helnwein
Marilyn Manson Interview by Cyril Helnwein
illustration by debbie
THE FRENCH SAY, "CONDEMNANT IL FAIT Q'UOD": "WE CONDEMN WHAT WE DO NOT UNDERSTAND." BUT THAT STOPS RIGHT HERE. LAY YOUR OPINIONS OF THE MAN TO REST UNTIL AFTER YOU'VE READ THE ENTIRE CONVERSATION BETWEEN CYRIL HELNWEIN AND MARILYN MANSON.
Cyril: Thank you for your time; it's an honor and a pleasure to interview you.
Marilyn: Thank you. Of course, for everybody who reads this-- they won't know that our meeting has been very important to my career, because you introduced me to your father (Gottfried Helnwein) and we will go on to do lots of great stuff together. So, that's the behind-the-scenes story for everybody who's going to read this.
C: I'm very excited about that because you are probably my most favorite artist.
M: Thank you. I owe you because you hooked me up.
C: You're quite welcome. Okay, so my first question: if it were the last day on earth, what would you be doing right now?
M: Not an interview, that's for sure. I suppose I'd prefer to be performing. I've always said that would be the way I'd like to end things; with my death as a performance in itself. But, it's hard because you're torn-- you get attached to things, like your loved ones and your pets, so it would be a tough call. I suppose part of me would want to go on a killing spree and take out everyone who's fucked me over in life, and a part of me would probably just want to sit quietly with my cat and my girl. But it depends on what day you ask me; it's always different. But today is a good day, so I'd probably just want to sit with my cat.
C: Being not only a musician, but also a performance artist, writer, producer, actor, director, and, recently, successful painter, where do you find all your inspiration? What drives you to create?
M: I've always dreaded being called a “musician”, because I always wanted to write and paint; I used to do art as a kid. I tried my hand at writing, and I enjoy being able to express myself in that way, but I didn't enjoy writing about other people. So, with journalism, there wasn't anything there. I do like watching other people and reporting on it, so I guess you end up doing the same thing when you're a painter or a singer. It all ends up being the same job. But journalism is, in a sense, the root of all evil and the root of all art, because it's really just about observing and reporting it to others. But I'm not ashamed to just merely be considered an entertainer, because art is entertaining; sometimes my stuff is funny, some of it has pain in it, some of it has confusion, some of it has anger, sex. I have a real hard time drawing the lines between any of them. The only thing that freed me up, and is an art form in itself, is acting. You're releasing yourself to the director, and you are sort of a tool of another artist. I've enjoyed the release because I'm so much in control of every detail of what I do, that it was interesting to have somebody else put me somewhere and do something and not play myself. You have to be another character, and it gets confusing, because I play so many different roles in my own life, just for my own amusement.
People always ask me, “Are you the same on stage and off?” Sometimes I'm much more out of control off stage than on. People sometimes don't know if I'm nice or if I'm mean. I'm both. I reflect what you give to me. When I first began forming the idea of Marilyn Manson, it was a time when talk shows had really become a staple in American entertainment. Every channel had interviews with serial killers. And then there were stories about dead celebrities, and the two became intertwined. It started to bring to mind stories like The Black Dahlia, about the girl who came to Hollywood to become famous, but only became famous when she died. Or, more recently, Columbine. These kids wanted to be famous because they were considered nobodies. And they got what they wanted, and the news media gave it to them. That's when I first started seeing things about Marilyn Monroe that really interested me, because there was so much tragedy behind the beauty.
I think so many people had overlooked that, because they dehumanized her later as just a product; a t-shirt sold on Hollywood Boulevard. And then at the same time I was seeing Charles Manson in interviews saying all these things; it made sense in '69, it made sense in '96, and it makes sense today. He was saying a lot of things that I've gone on to say, and I think he expresses the same idea that he is a reflection of culture. How can America hate something that it created? It's like being mad at your own shit. You should have eaten something different. All of that somehow started brewing up in my brain, and you have to decide what you're going to be when you grow up. I found out that I don't want to grow up, I want to be Peter Pan. So I decided to create a world where I didn't have to play by anybody's rules, and Marilyn Monroe and Charles Manson were the two things that spelled that world out. Phonetically, it's like “Abracadabra”; you know Manson by his last name, you know Marilyn by her first name, and it just goes together like "Mickey Mouse". It says everything; you say "Marilyn Manson" and it needs no explanation. It conjures up such images, no matter what country you're from. It's very American, but at the same time I think like a European, and my reason for choosing the name is both a celebration and a harsh criticism of America. And that kind of creates the whole contradiction that I thrive on. Working with your father and people like Tim Skold, who's now a member of the band from Sweden, I think that European artists appreciate my understanding of American culture because I look at it as an outsider. I was always treated as an outsider. It doesn't make me hate America. It doesn't make me love it. It just makes me see it for what it is. In some way, it's a part of the problem and a part of the solution; being all you can be is entertaining in the midst of it because there is no final answer-- so just be part of the show. I don't want to be in the audience, I want to be on the stage. And now with what I'm doing, I don't want to be on the stage, I want everybody to be part of the show.
C: One of the first stories you wrote as a journalist was as Brian Warner about Marilyn Manson.
M: Deep down in my heart, I knew that I would get here, to what I am now. But in the initial insecurity of "where do I go from here in my life", I thought I could lead a secret identity. I thought I could continue to be a journalist and get a great job at Rolling Stone or something silly like that. I also started this band, and all of a sudden I thought, "Well, nobody really knows who I am. I don't have any friends here, so why don't I write the article? Why don't I call up all these record companies and say 'Hey, I got this great band-- Marilyn Manson. Would you sign them?'" It worked for a period until I didn't want to be two people anymore; I just wanted to be one person.
C: Would you rather be eaten by sharks or be injected with lethal toxins if you had to make a choice between those two?
M: [laughs] I think I have already had enough lethal toxins on a daily basis as it is, between absinthe and everything else. I have a real great fear of the ocean and sharks. I lived in Florida and I rarely went near the ocean, because as a kid the film Jaws really scared me. Earlier you asked where my inspirations come from, and films are where everything comes from for me. It's my inspiration for everything. And that's why, I think, I find myself able to direct something with the freedom of not creating something for public consumption; not working within the demands of the consumer-- creating it for artistic purposes. That's where I'm going to be happy. That's what I like about painting. Because when I did these paintings I did not think, "I wonder if people are going to like this," or "I wonder if someone's going to buy this. Do you think I should paint more of this type because it'll be more popular?" I painted because it made me calm and entertained me. Some of the paintings were gifts to other people, and it made me feel nice to give a gift to somebody. That was a nice freedom as an artist.
As a musician you create a family of your fans, and it's like being a mother. If you start feeding your kids a certain thing every Sunday, you have to keep feeding them that, or they're going to get mad or want to go out and eat at McDonald’s. [laughs] So as a musician, in terms of music, I do have to consider the desires of my fans, but I do want them to grow with me; I want them to accept change, but I don't want to be self-indulgent and arrogant and forsake their loyalty at the same time. It's a tough, sometimes very depressing, line to walk. And for someone like me, who's always changing and a shape shifter, it's hard to keep things going, but also be developed into a fast-forward culture where things are forgotten, sometimes before they're even remembered. I'm proud to say that I've been able to exist in the music industry this long, because most people don't.
C: That kind of brings me to the next question-- every album you've produced has its own different style, attitude, and vibe, yet it's still easily recognizable as Marilyn Manson. Do you think you'll ever get bored of doing that specifically and do something completely different-- maybe start a boy band or something?
M: Well, I do really like the scoring job. When I got to do Resident Evil we intentionally avoided it sounding like Marilyn Manson in a rock song sense. We did desire for the score to contain guitar elements, but we used them in a cold, mechanical, harsh way. My collaboration with Tim Skold was where that whole relationship began. I had a great time doing it because they had a hard time defining what I did, because of the different jobs different people do. There's the composer, who does the traditional string arranging. Then there's sometimes the person who supervises the music that they take from albums that already exist. And then there's the sound designer, who creates atmospheres and the alarming and emotion-invoking textures. I wanted to do all that. I didn't see any reason why there should be more than one person handling it, so they had a hard time. I guess I gave them more than they were expecting, and they were happy with it. But the other person who was hired for the job, Marco Beltrami, is very talented in a classical sense. He even writes out things on a piece of paper. Our music was 80% of what was on the film, but because he was the established composer we kind of took second billing for that. But I think we've kind of proven that we can do that sort of thing. We've gotten a lot of offers.
I've just agreed to score the new interpretation of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which I myself thought could be very hokey. The first Texas Chainsaw Massacre is the template for all horror movies-- it's the first and best, I would say, scary film; psychologically terrifying, not just a slasher movie. And the sounds in the score of that are all music-less; scraping and plucking string sounds and things like that. I've even sampled things from Texas Chainsaw Massacre, [laughs] but I've mutated them enough so they shouldn't sue me. So I want to try and treat it in the same way. I had a meeting with the director and he said, "What do you think the music should be? Should we put a Marilyn Manson song in the end credits?" I thought that would ruin the film, because they're trying to create this interpretation of Texas Chainsaw Massacre as the real story. The movie we saw in the ‘70s was based on a real story, and now this is the true story. That's what gives it a real interesting twist. I read the script and I feel like, if the director does everything right, I can, with the music, make it a very scary movie. And they asked, "What are you going to do with the music?" I said, "People are really going to be paying me to create silence, because I think the absence of music is what is often most effective." Some of the best movies have no music in them.
C: If you could wish one person gone from this earth-- never even to have existed, past or present, who would it be?
M: That's hard. Everybody does have their own purpose. Every person that's caused harm to me-- that wound that they made has been bandaged with some song or something. So I wouldn't thank them for it, but I don't know if I'd be the same person. But maybe if I stepped outside my own personal existence,.. somebody who's ruined someway that things work,.. hmmm,... That's tough, tough, tough. I suppose Adam; then none of us would be here. [laughs]
C: If censorship weren't as strong in America, compared to Europe for example, would you have done more provocative and extravagant things, and where do you draw your own line?
M: There is a different kind of censorship in Europe than there is in America. America has a lot of hang-ups on sex, but they sell and exploit it endlessly. They're ashamed of it, so that's where the censorship comes in. America's really ashamed of itself, whereas Europe is not. And that sexual shame is the source-- any Freudian, Jungian, psychiatrist, psychologist, will tell you that's what it all comes from-- American Christianity and the shame that it creates. But there's a lot of political censorship in Europe; your father's work finds itself in a lot of trouble as does mine. In Japan the cover of the Mechanical Animals album was censored-- but not because I was nude. Because I had six fingers. They are real sensitive about physical deformities. I said, "What about the rest of the--" [gestures towards his body] and so there are just odd things like that. I wasn't allowed any religious clothing or to have any references to religion when we played in Warsaw. Rather than canceling the show and disappointing the fans or changing the show, we played different songs. On the DVD that's coming out, there are some bits and pieces from that concert where we did a few things there that we only played once. In America, people want to arrest me for showing my ass or whatever, but yet they're selling Girls Gone Wild videotapes. That's the world we live in. There needs to be censorship because there need to be boundaries in order to cross the boundaries.
C: True. Is there a point where you have your own personal boundary with things?
M: Absolutely. Everything I have done is within my boundaries, and my boundaries are often more related to doing things for the wrong reasons. The thing that I hate most-- more than censorship, more than what the government or MTV or record companies tell you you can't do-- is when bands, musicians, artists, whatever they want to call themselves, censor themselves in order to succeed.
C: Make compromises?
M: Well, not make compromises after the fact. I think everybody has to do that to find the bigger picture. You have to find the compromise you can live with as an artist. For example, my new record has a lot of songs that they would consider to be singles to be played on the radio, and I might have to censor profanity for the single to be played on the radio. But if I would have, while writing the song, said, "This is really catchy. Maybe I shouldn't put this word in here," that's the wrong kind of thing. That's when you sell yourself out; when you censor your creation in anticipation for success or monetary gain. Everybody's going to have to make their work fit into the world around it after it's created. That's still part of the creation. I don't think that's necessarily censorship-- that's kind of putting things within the boundaries. It's part of being an artist and wanting to succeed. For me it isn't about money, as much as it is about wanting to have as many people hear and see what I do. And you can easily defeat yourself by not making compromises that are for the better good.
C: Right. When was the last time you watched a TV soap opera and what was it?
M: I think the soap operas of today are these reality TV shows. I think part of it is the laziness of not wanting to hire actors, and part of it's the voyeurism-- which the Internet is partly responsible for. There's a real dangerous element of culture that is developing that needs to be stamped out, and I will not be a part of, and that is the interactive element of things like TRL, or when you're watching something on MTV that's like "Britney Spears is trying to pick what she's going to wear. Write in and help her decide." or "We're in the studio writing our song. Here's a piece of it. Tell us what you think." When the artist starts letting the audience help them create, then the art is destroyed. That's quite different from trying to please your audience, but it's developing a culture where eventually, because of video games and being able to make films with animation that look so real-- it eliminates the artist. It's not a fear, or my fear of being extinct; it's a fear of taking away the basic element, what it's all about. Sure, I use a computer to record music, but you have to be able to still have a set of crayons and paper to do something that's worthwhile. Eventually it will end up killing itself. Kids now have grown to be so demanding. It's the whole give-an-inch-take-a-mile thing. Once you start letting people make choices for you, eventually it'll make people not want to be creative. It's going to encourage a lack of creativity. On the Internet there's a lot of people that can just sit back anonymously and say, "That sucks. I can do that better." The challenge should be to do it better. That's why anybody that tries to criticize anybody's art, mine or someone else's, creates an environment that is truly a product of journalism. You can't define what something is. You can say you like it or you don't like it, but you can't take it apart.
C: Everyone always has their own opinion of it.
M: It all has its own meanings. That's just the basic idea of life being art, and just enjoying all of it at all times. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe someday I'll find out that I'm an actor playing somebody else. Like I had a great amnesia and no one told me.
C: That would be quite a realization. You have often been unjustly accused of things by the finger-pointing media that you weren't responsible for. For example, the Columbine kids. Why do you think they especially like you as a scapegoat, and do you think that this is possibly a sign of your own originality and success as an artist?
M: I think that I had as much to do with Columbine as everybody else does, as a part of American culture. But I think that's the reason why I chose "Crop Failure" as the title of a painting I did of Harris and Klebold. I think you have to blame the farmers when the flowers don't grow properly; you can't blame the landlord who owns the property. Or the girl that gets the bouquet. Or the guy who buys it for her. I think it's lazy journalism when people constantly refer to me as "shock rocker"-- it's a tiring term. Because I don't think that I'm shocking. I didn't try to be shocking. If I am shocking and I got your attention, that means that I'm good, because there's so much out there. If something gets your attention, it's good. I think that's the bottom line. And if it continues to get attention, for as long as I have, then that means that I'm really good and I should be proud of it. And I can say that without being arrogant. I think it's just a fact that we live in a world of really mediocre things, and I'm trying to raise the bar with everything I do. Trying to bring back a desire for a higher aesthetic and usher in this golden age of grotesque idea. That's obviously why I'm working with your father, and trying to collaborate with other people who are like-minded and want the world to be exciting like it was in Weimar-Berlin, or in the ‘70s in New York. Fashion, music, and art were rather decadent, and it was bursting at the seams; and then just watch everyone run in fear to try and stop it all. It's always fun instigating new things. I build something up, and someone else tries to break it down.
C: Tell us your best party joke, or some joke or prank you played on somebody else.
M: I think one of my favorites was very mean-spirited. There was a girl in a hotel bar, while we were on tour, that came up to me while I was just trying to relax with my friends. She was quite obnoxious; asked me who I was, but it was quite clear she knew who I was. I told her, and then she said she wasn't a fan. I said, "Okay. That's fine." Then she sat down and kept bothering me, telling me how much she really didn't care who I was. So I said, "Go away then." Later, I went back to my room, and somehow she had found out what room I was in and knocked on my door. I had been at a spy store recently where they sold spy apparatuses and also prank items, and I bought this liquid container called "The Evacuator”. You put several drops in someone's drink and they will immediately shit themselves. It said to not put in too much because it could result in hospitalization. Well, I poured the entire bottle into a glass and said, "I'm so glad to see you back. Why don't you come in and have a drink." Then I gave her the shot. She went back to her room, and her friend came knocking on my door waking me up. She asked, "Have you seen my friend?" I said, "She's not with me." She said, "Oh. Well I can't get in my room because the door's locked." So we broke in the door. We found her lying naked on the bed, covered in shit. She had gotten drunk, passed out, and shit all over herself.
C: Oh no!
M: I found that to be quite amusing. [laughs]
C: She got what she deserved, I guess.
M: Yeah.
C: You've often and openly admitted to illegal drug use. Was this more to experiment artistically and help creatively, or rather for your personal pleasure?
M: I think drugs are best when they are used to have fun, to loosen up. The worst use of drugs is when you're not able to deal with the depression or whatever it might be, or for self-destruction. I've gone through periods of extreme highs and lows and, particularly last week, I felt quite depressed. It wasn't really drugs or anything, but there was a little bit of apprehension about people seeing my paintings. And not that it matters much, but of course everybody-- especially me-- has feelings. I mean, what people underestimate about me is how sensitive I am. Because I'm so sensitive, that's why it's best being dramatic and why I have to build up such a show. But I found myself this week being rather positive. I have crossed the bridge onto the next level of where I need to go, and I'm quite confident that this is going to be the best era-- this golden age-- that's coming for me. This next album, I think, will show people exactly what I'm capable of. Anyone who underestimated me before will know differently now. So, I think, any drugs now are to be part of decadence and letting loose. I think absinthe is probably my worst vice, if I had to pick one, because I just like it. It tastes good and it makes me create a lot of, well I wouldn't say makes me, but it has inspired a lot of my best work-- a lot of my paintings, a lot of my writing. It does tap in, poke holes in the temple or lobe, and let out some demons that were hiding in there. So it's enjoyable, not a depressing thing. I used to be a miserable drinking person back in the early days of self-destruction, but now I'm a much happier person with a different approach.
C: Two paintings of yours, which are probably my favorite ones, look very absinthe-inspired. One is of William Burroughs, I believe; how you would like to look as an old man. The other is "The Enabler".
M: That's my friend Jonathan. Yeah, I suppose I really like the color green, too, so maybe I'm partly drawn to that. The "When I Get Old" painting-- it actually has some absinthe used in there. In a couple of them, as I was painting, I had my drink sitting right by my paint bowl, and I'd dip into the wrong one, so it mixed in the drink. I just painted with it because it makes a nice green.
C: Is there any one thing that gives you particular feelings of hate, fear, or disgust?
M: Well, there's more than one thing. While it's okay to lounge around and take days off, I suppose laziness or a lack of desire to accomplish anything disgusts me most. It might be because I have such an extreme work ethic, or rather, creative impulse-- because I don't really like to consider what I do “work”. I have to be doing something constantly. It was hard for me not to want to sit down and paint today, because I was so happy with the show. I wanted to paint a new picture of my cat. I wanted to paint so many things, but I convinced myself to relax and meet with you and do this interview, and to go out; actually leave the house and have dinner, which is a rare thing for me. But I find it hard, and this is the reason why it's very difficult for me to find people to collaborate with, and to keep certain friends or band members in my life. Because while it is my vision, I think that I'm quite willing to share that with whoever has the same ambition and drive as I do. I find it particularly with Tim, who has helped me produce this record, and has encouraged me to do things that I had forgotten I like to do. Anyone who doesn't want to create, or who's satisfied with mediocrity, or anyone who just takes for granted their talent and lets it go to waste, whatever that might be. Even if it's mowing lawns, painting walls, whatever. I think that's the thing that disgusts me the most. I'm not an unkind person by any means. People that I love, I do anything for. I support my parents. They're both retired and have no retirement income. I support them completely. I take care of everybody that I care about. But you won't see me giving a dime to a beggar on the street. But I think that's actually part of a metaphor of the story your father and I are creating, and the idea of how liberal idealism is often the downfall of America; when you let people think it's okay to hold their hands out and expect other people, who work hard to get where they are, to give something to you.
C: That also breeds further criminality.
M: Yeah. A lot of people think that's all evil American capitalists, but it's easy to bitch about that if you're poor, and it's easy to hate it if you're rich. I don't consider myself extremely rich, but I think I worked hard for every dime I've earned. I cherish everything I own, and I don't spend my money foolishly.
C: Is there one thing that gives you joy?
M: Several things. My cat and I have a very nice relationship. She calms me down. Painting makes me very happy. Finishing a record and creating the record makes me very happy. Anal sex, good movies, being with the woman I love-- that goes back to the anal sex part-- I don't want you to think that was a homosexual reference. And I guess kind of getting to relax on a day like today; after the stress of having an art show and people honestly saying, "Hey, I liked what you did," and not just kissing my ass or trying to tell me what I want to hear. I feel like I accomplished something. I am a humble person. I'm very confident, and I think I do the best I can do. Now, people can debate whether I'm the best that there is. I know that I'm the best that I can be, and that's the best that anyone can be.
C: Great, that wraps it up. Thank you very much again for your time. Is there anything else you'd like to say?
M: I think people should just expect everything they've seen and heard from me to seem tame in comparison to what is to come.
C: I look forward to it.
Retrieved from "http://www.mansonwiki.com/w/index.php?title=Interview:2002_Marilyn_Manson_interview_by_Cyril_Helnwein&oldid=96635"
The Golden Age of Grotesque era
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GOLD COAST, July 17 (NsNewsWire) — New tourism figures released today (Wednesday) show a total 12 million domestic visitors converged on the nation’s premier holiday hotspot in record numbers. In the 12 months to March 2019, domestic overnight visitation grew by 17 per cent to a record 4 million according to the latest National Visitor Survey* (NVS) figures. The number of...
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Kuala Lumpur, July 17 (NsNewsWire) — -Nearly 6 million people across South Asia are under threat from rising flood waters following heavy monsoon rains, with more than one million displaced in one Indian state alone. Red Cross and Red Crescent volunteers across Bangladesh, India, and Nepal are racing to deliver emergency supplies to communities and prepare them as the situation in many...
Source:Global Times Published: 2019/7/16 22:40:58 The Chinese foreign ministry said on Friday that China will impose sanctions on US firms selling weapons to the island of Taiwan. The announcement made a splash in the US. A US State Department spokesperson said on Monday it will “closely monitor any actions that would unfairly disadvantage US firms” while tried to find excuses for...
Dhaka, July 11 (NsNewsWire) — Mobile Network Operators of the country was supposed to make their last quarter’s (April – June, 2019) payment of different charges including revenue sharing, social obligation fund, annual spectrum charge fees, etc. to BTRC today deducting without the VAT amount, since the regulator does not have VAT registration. But the regulator declined to...
DHAKA, July 11 (NsNewsWire) — The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is grateful to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for their contribution of 300 metric tons of dates to support schoolchildren and their families in Bangladesh. The contribution was acknowledged at a handover ceremony this week at the Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia attended by Mohamed Askar of the King Salman...
Source:Global Times Published: 2019/7/9 14:18:40 The fierce opposition by local people against a proposed waste incinerator in Yangluo in the Xinzhou district of Wuhan, the capital city of Hubei Province, is the latest conflict facing NIMBY (Not in My Backyard) opposition. This incident once again shows that garbage disposal is a major issue that must be recognized in China’s...
DHAKA, July 9 (NsNewsWire) — The following is the full and unedited text of a statement which the High Commission of Pakistan in Dhaka issued on Monday: “ Pakistan welcomes the second report of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Jammu and Kashmir, which calls for fully respecting the right to self-determination of the people of Jammu & Kashmir as...
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Home Business 4 Famous People Who Suffered From Hearing Loss
4 Famous People Who Suffered From Hearing Loss
Gordon Peters
Suffering from hearing loss is such a terrible and painful thing to go through. It is something that can happen at any age and be due to any number of causes. It can cause anger, depression and make you feel all alone. Millions of people all over the world suffer from hearing loss but you feel that it should not have been you.
Unfortunately, hearing loss can happen to anyone no matter who or what they are. They can be rich and famous or someone living in poverty in a third world country. When you have hearing loss, it is important to visit a hearing clinic and get professional advice from an audiologist.
Let’s take a look at some famous people who have had to deal with hearing loss and associated conditions.
1. Pete Townshend
Pete Townshend is an original member of the rock band The Who. He is known mostly for being the guitarist and for backing vocals but has also been the lead singer. He plays many other instruments as well. The Who have sold over 100 million records worldwide. The band was part of the British Invasion when bands from the United Kingdom such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Animals and many others became popular in the United States.
The Who became one of the most influential bands in the 20th century. They were also one of the loudest bands and were known to smash their instruments on stage. Because of the constant loudness, Pete has suffered severe hearing loss, though one incident also caused damage to his hearing. The drum explosion on the Smothers Brothers show very likely started his hearing loss.
2. William Shatner
Famous Canadian actor William Shatner, best known for playing Captain Kirk on the TV series Star Trek, suffers from tinnitus. The actor thinks that an accident on set may have started it. Tinnitus can cause some hearing loss. Tinnitus can be a very disturbing and awful condition to have. It can be a constant ringing in the ear or ears, but it can also be a buzzing, hissing, clicking, roaring or whistling among other things.
There have been people, including famous people who have ended up taking their own life because they could not take it anymore. Unfortunately, there is no cure for this condition. Many people can tolerate it but for a few who have it really bad, it can ruin their life and in some cases, it can end it through suicide.
3. Ludwig van Beethoven
One of the most famous and greatest composers of all time, Beethoven suffered badly from hearing loss. He also suffered from tinnitus which left him tormented. He had written letters to his brothers in which he mentioned having thoughts of suicide. On one famous occasion, after the premiere of his 9th Symphony, he had to be turned around because he could not hear the applause of the audience.
4. Bill Clinton
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton was fitted with hearing aids in both ears while he was President and in his early 50s. According to him, his hearing loss was as a result of getting older in addition to the many hours of band practice in his youth as a musician.
Successful and prominent people suffer from hearing loss and while it is by no means easy, with help and support, there are ways to cope. It’s hard when one of the major senses is impaired. Never feel alone and never be alone. Seek help, because help is out there in many forms. Don’t deal with it on your own because it can be too hard. Get help in coming to terms with hearing loss and start living again
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Star Trek Continues: “Divided We Stand”
Star Trek, Star Trek Continues
I must confess that I don’t have high hopes for the third rebooted Star Trek film that is currently in production. But thankfully the Star Trek spirit is being kept alive on-line by groups of committed Trek fans. The fan-made series Star Trek Continues is back with their fifth episode, titled “Divided We Stand.” The intent of Star Trek Continues is to produce full-length episodes of classic Trek, modeled as the fourth season that never was of the original Star Trek. (Click here for my review of episode one, “Pilgrim of Eternity.” Click here for my review of episode two, “Lolani.” Click here for my review of episode three, “Fairest of Them All.” Click here for my review of episode four, “The White Iris.”)
In this latest episode, the Enterprise computer is hijacked by nanites of an alien origin. While Spock and Scotty work to save the ship’s computer from this infestation, an explosion injures Kirk and McCoy and infects them with the nanites. These networked microscopic organisms somehow trap Kirk and McCoy in a shared hallucination that they are trapped back on Earth during the time of the Civil War. Can Spock find a way to save his ship and his comrades?
You can watch the full episode right here:
Star Trek Continues E05 “Divided We Stand” from Star Trek Continues on Vimeo.
I am thoroughly impressed that creator and star Vic Mignogna and his team have been able to produce five full-length, finished episodes in just two years. This is a tremendous pace, and a testament to their commitment that Star Trek Continues won’t be a one-off thing, but a real attempt at a continuing series of new Star Trek adventures featuring Kirk, Spock, and co.
As always, this Star Trek Continues episode looks incredible, absolutely professional. There aren’t many new outer-space effects shots in this episode, but as has been the case with this show since the beginning, the glimpses we get of the Big-E in space are gorgeous. The Enterprise costumes, sets, props, all are perfect. My eye couldn’t detect any flaws. Everything looks exactly like it should, just like an actual episode of classic Trek. The way Mr. Mignogna and his team have recreated the Enterprise bridge and sick-bay (the two Enterprise sets that feature most prominently in this episode) are astounding.
All of the stuff with Kirk and McCoy in the Civil War might look a tad less polished, but it works well enough. Clearly the Star Trek Continues folks took full advantage of the uniforms and equipment of Civil War reenactors to get some fine production value for their effort. (There are several shots with quite a number of Civil War extras in them, and everyone looks great.)
The story feels just like Classic Trek. We’re thrown right into the action as the episode opens (a technique the Original Series used often, though the latter Trek series less so), and getting Kirk and co. in costumes from some period of Earth’s history was a device the original show used quite frequently. That’s a double-edged sword here, as that element of the story feels right for classic Trek, even though it also feels somewhat silly and overly familiar to me as a viewer watching it now. The Civil War portion of the story is further weakened because the episode reveals right away that it’s all happening in Kirk and McCoy’s heads, so there’s not much mystery or drama there. (When Kirk suffers a grievous injury, there’s no suspense there because I know none of that is real. The show makes a half-hearted attempt to up the stakes by showing corresponding damage to Kirk’s leg in sickbay, but then weirdly that damage is never referred to again in the episode! The show never bothers to make any effort at explaining how an injury suffered by Kirk in his hallucination might manifest itself physically, so I guess they decided it wasn’t worth getting into. I’d have either played this up as a threat to Kirk’s life/well-being, or eliminated that one reference to an effect on Kirk’s actual body altogether.)
I have two small complaints which I have made before about Star Trek Continues episodes, and I will make them again here. First, once again Uhura, Sulu and Chekov are given very little to do in the episode. This also rings true to how things were with the Original Series, but as a modern viewer this is an area where I want to see this show do better than the Original Series. Let’s give some attention to these much-loved supporting characters, OK? Second, once again I found this episode’s plot to be fairly straightforward. As has been the case for most of these Star Trek Continues episodes, the set-up is great, but then the plot feels to me like it gets wrapped up far too quickly and easily. I’d like to see some more twists and turns in these stories, some more complications for our characters to overcome. To be more specific in regards to this episode, although the opening teaser sets up a potential complicated crisis, with the Enterprise’s computer infected and crippled by an alien intelligence, Spock and Scotty then seem to be able to get rid of the nanites fairly smoothly, without any problems or ill-effects. Similarly, once Kirk and McCoy get infected, though it seems to take Spock and M’Benga some time to figure out what’s happening, once they do they use pretty much the exact same solution to clear the nanites from Kirk & McCoy’s system, again without any problems. This feels a little dull to me! I’d have loved to have seen some tension-raising twists and turns in the second half of the episode.
Some other comments:
* I loved seeing Dr. M’Benga featured in this episode.
* It was a nice touch to dedicate the episode to Grace Lee Whitney (who played Yeoman Rand on the Original Series, and who sadly just recently passed away).
* Just as Uhura, Sulu, and Scotty had little to do in the episode, the created-for-this-series character of Counselor McKennah also had nothing to do, just one scene on the bridge that was clearly only there to wedge the character into the episode. McKennah had a large role in Star Trek Continues’ first episode, but she’s felt pretty extraneous since then. I would not be opposed to this character being dropped from the show. If they want to continue to utilize her, I hope they can figure out a way to give her character more to do on the show.
* Why no mention of the fact that Kirk had previously met Abraham Lincoln? (Well, sort-of at least, in the Classic Trek episode “The Savage Curtain”.)
It’s always a delight when a new episode of Star Trek Continues drops. The degree of love and professionalism that every member of this production’s cast and crew bring to every episode is visible in every moment on-screen. I can’t wait to see what they do next.
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Days of De Palma (Part 19): Passion (2012)
Brian De Palma, DVD Reviews, Movie Reviews
I am excited to have finally arrived at the end of my journey through the filmography of master director Brian De Palma. (Well, the end for now – Mr. De Palma is alive and well, and hopefully has additional films in his future!) 2007’s Redacted was a rough watch — click here for my review of that film, which I strongly disliked. It’s reception must have shaken Mr. De Palma as well, as he didn’t release another film for five years, until 2012’s Passion.
Even though I strongly disliked Redacted, I was excited to dive into Passion, because this film looked like a return to a classic De Palma type of story: an erotically-charged mystery/suspense film. Passion stars two beautiful women who are also each great actresses: Noomi Rapace and Rachel McAdams. Seeing these two women matched with Brian De Palma looked like a recipe for fun, and of course stills like the one I have included above suggested that this film would contain some classic De Palma sexy fun.
I enjoyed Passion, but like so many of the late-career De Palma films, it didn’t quite ever come together as a completely successful film. The whole thing felt somewhat half-baked to me.
Passion is certainly gorgeous to look at (a welcome relief after the ugly, clumsy-looking Redacted). The film is sumptuously shot, and I thoroughly enjoyed Mr. De Palma’s many carefully-constructed, often-unusual-looking compositions throughout the film.
Many of Mr. De Palma’s favorite stylistic devices make a welcome return here in this film. We get a split focus shot early in the film, when boyfriend Dirk (Paul Anderson) is on the couch and Isabelle (Noomi Rapace) is in the mirror, asking about Christine (Rachel McAdams). We have to wait for a while for a signature De Palma split-screen shot, but when it comes it’s a doozy: a long, continuous shot of a drunk Dirk confronting Christine, while Isabelle watches the opera. This a wonderfully tense, sexy, suspenseful sequence that continues as Christine showers after her party guests have left, while meanwhile we see someone entering her apartment. This sequence also cleverly incorporates a classic De Palma P.O.V. device, as the camera shifts to show us the intruder’s point of view as he/she sneaks around Christine’s apartment while, on the other side of the split screen, we continue to follow Christine’s movements. This is a tour de force sequence and a highlight of the movie.
We also get a series of additional P.O.V. shots from Isabelle’s perspective as her life falls apart: first as she walks to the door when the cops arrive at her apartment, then later when the detective questions her, and then again in the lawyer’s office, and then again as she walks through the prison to her cell. I love the way those sequences fit together to show us the crumbling of Isabelle’s life.
The ass-cam that Isabelle and Christine work up together feels like the apotheosis of Mr. De Palma’s filmography, and his obsession with cameras and being watched. This theme continues to run throughout this film, such as when Isabelle’s boyfriend tapes their having sex on camera and Christine’s predilection for recording everything that goes on in her company’s office building.
The film also dives deeply into the Hitchcockian obsession with twins and doubling and mistaken identity (a thematic element that has repeatedly found its way into Mr. De Palma’s films, such as Femme Fatale). We see that Christine likes having sex with a man wearing a blonde mask — it’s sort of like she’s having sex with her twin sister. (What a twisted notion!) And of course the idea of a twin sister comes back into play in the film’s (mostly-absurd) climax.
I like a film that features complex, not-so-easily understood characters, but there are so many weird choices made by the film’s narrative that made it hard for me to get into the story and into these characters. I found it curious that the film would, very early on, show Isabelle cheating with Christine’s boyfriend Dirk. That dulls the hurt, two minutes later, when Christine takes credit at her company’s meeting for Isabelle’s idea. I feel like the early going of the film wanted us to have sympathy for Isabelle and be rooting for her. But I found that I didn’t have any sympathy for her at all, because Isabelle WAS sleeping with Christine’s boyfriend, and because we see her be so inexplicably cruel to her assistant Dani (Karoline Herfurth), just as Christine is cruel to her (Isabelle). Meanwhile, we don’t have much sympathy for Christine either because we quickly learn that she is just as crazy as Isabelle — we see that Christine uses cameras in her office building to record everything and embarrass Isabelle at their office party, and I already mentioned Christine’s bizarre blonde-mask sex fetish. This movie doesn’t exactly give the audience anyone easy to root for!
(When we first see Isabelle taking pills and then calling a doctor, I thought the movie was hinting that she had some secret in her past. But apparently she’s just a nutcase, huh? We never learn what first pushed Isabelle into her unhinged state. I’d expected that she’d have been driven to that by the tough, sometimes cruel Christine — that we’d see that Christine had pushed the gentle Isabelle too far — but no, I guess it turns out that she was just nuts from the beginning. This feels to me like a very weird choice for the filmmakers to have made.)
After the incredible split-screen & P.O.V. sequence that I described above, depicting the fateful night at Christine’s apartment, I finally started to have sympathy for Isabelle, and I felt myself at last starting to get into the movie and invest in Isabelle’s struggle to understand and find a way out of the crazy circumstance in which she found herself. (Also, after a period in which Isabelle appeared to be inexplicably and confusingly acting extremely erratically, almost as if she had been drugged, it was good to see her acting like a normal person again.) I quite enjoyed this stretch in the second half of the film. But then, darn it, the film went and lost me again as the characters again began behaving in difficult-to-understand ways. Why is Isabelle — at this low point in her life — still so horribly cruel to her assistant Dani? Why is it so horrifying to Isabelle that Dani is attracted to her?
The film’s final stretch left me scratching my head with its many unanswered questions and continued bizarre, hard-to-understand behavior by the characters. Why would Dani trust a woman who was an admitted murderer? Why would the police inspector come visit in the middle of the night? Why does the burner phone ring if it’s new and unlisted? Was there really a twin sister? How does she get the bloody scarf from police evidence? Are we really doing this “it was all a dream” ending again, Mr. De Palma? (See also: Carrie, Femme Fatale.) Really?? Sigh. All that never-explained business at the end with the possible-twin-sister just made me groan. That was just unexplained silliness with no point. It wasn’t scary or shocking, just ridiculous and eye-rolling.
As with many of Mr. De Palma’s previous films (from Dressed to Kill to Femme Fatale to The Black Dahlia), Passion contains some uncomfortably old-fashioned ideas about lesbians, specifically the idea that women who are lesbians will nevertheless fall for a suitably hunky man. Here in Passion, we see that both Isabelle and Christine seem to lust after Dirk (and both have sex with him), but the two women are also attracted to one another as well. (At least, Isabelle is attracted to Christine; it’s hard to tell if Christine feels the same way or if she is just manipulating Isabelle.) I’m honestly not sure if I should applaud Mr. De Palma for being progressive in his views of sexuality as being a fluid spectrum, with his bisexual characters able to be drawn to both men and women, OR if I should be appalled by an out-of-date mentality that lesbians really would be swayed out of their lesbianism by a good-looking man.
For an erotic thriller, Passion wound up being pretty tame. Mr. De Palma avoided the frequent nudity that characterized his earlier work. I am not complaining about this — the film feels more adult by eschewing a ton of gratuitous nudity. But for a movie called Passion, everyone in the film turned out to be rather cold and calculating, which I found surprising.
In the ranking of De Palma films, I consider Passion very much of a piece with Femme Fatale (the 2002 film made almost exactly a decade previously). They’re very similar in tone and style. Both are noir-ish films with sexy women as the leads and that feature a lot of playing around with mistaken identity and doubling. Both are skillfully made and gorgeous to look at, with wonderful cinematography and some terrific De Palma stylistic twists. But both also fall apart at the end, with convoluted storytelling that loses sight of its characters. I enjoyed watching Passion, but I doubt this will be a film that I will revisit any time soon.
And so, wow, here we are, at last at the end! Mr. De Palma apparently has a new film, Lights Out, scheduled for release in 2017, but for now, Passion remains Mr. De Palma’s most recent film. What fun this movie-watching project has been! And I’m not quite done yet. I’ll be back soon with my thoughts on Noah Baumbach’s wonderful documentary De Palma — a fascinating look back at Mr. De Palma’s filmography — and I’ll also have a summary of this entire re-watching project. See you back here soon!
Days of De Palma: Part 1 — Carrie (1976); Part 2 — The Fury (1978); Part 3 — Dressed to Kill (1980); Part 4 — Blow Out (1981); Part 5 – Scarface (1983); Part 6 – Body Double (1984); Part 7 – Wise Guys (1986); Part 8 — The Untouchables (1987); Part 9 — Casualties of War (1989); Part 10 — The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990); Part 11 — Raising Cain (1992); Part 12 — Carlito’s Way (1993); Part 13 — Mission: Impossible (1996); Part 14 — Snake Eyes (1998); Part 15 — Mission to Mars (2000); Part 16 — Femme Fatale (2002); Part 17 — The Black Dahlia (2006); Part 18 — Redacted (2007).
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CEEMEA: Where are we now? Opportunities and challenges across the regions.
Tuesday, October 11, 2016 London
Growth throughout Central & Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa (CEEMEA) has been slowing. A number of factors have contributed to this, including the low oil price, shifting commodity demands, evolving population demographics and unstable markets. However, in an increasingly globalized economy there is massive potential and opportunity throughout CEEMEA for investment and economic development. Business is changing as technology spreads and developing trade links and globalization includes more people in the global trade community than ever before; especially throughout Africa. Potential can be found through traditional investments, but more so than ever through so called ‘South-South’ investing as well. In order to push through difficult times or to keep positive trends going, more and more private and public organisations are turning to external investment, expertise and encouraging new business; this promises to be an interesting year for CEEMEA!
Our agenda will analyse existing economic climates, identify and examine the challenges and opportunities that there are for investors and facilitate the formation of new international business relations, investment opportunities and understanding of new markets.
The CEEMEA 2016 conference will provide a platform for key individual and corporate investors to meet and share experiences and potential with regional experts, leaders and businesses. Our delegates will be the kind of people that are capable of influencing and forming investment policy and activity on a large scale, and working with developing markets to include them in the world trading economy and their corporate strategy.
Join us on October 11th for in depth analysis and cross examination of how business in the region is changing, how to effectively plan for the future and what factors are impacting business the most. We will analyse existing economic climates and offer practical insight into the challenges and opportunities for investors and operators. Key points for discussion include:
How has the global oil crisis impacted trade throughout the CEEMEA region
Assessing the impact on the CEEMEA region of EU and US sanctions on Russia
Is the banking exodus from Africa a bad omen or a golden opportunity
As GDP increases there is a growing middle class with spending power, where throughout the region is this presenting opportunities
The oil crisis has made it more apparent than ever that some economies need to diversify, but where can opportunities be found from this
Understanding the geopolitical hazards that might impact business over the next 5-10 years
Africa’s population will double by 2050, while 34% of Europe’s population is projected to be over 60 years old by 2050; how does this impact long term prospects for employment, development and social security
CEEMEA covers a wide area but you can tailor the event to maximise your attendance. The day will include plenary debates and over 20 highly interactive breakout sessions. Select the breakout sessions that fit your strategy and focus; from the regional breakouts including Sub-Saharan Africa, CEE, Russia and the CIS to the sectoral breakouts including financial services, retail and FMCG and oil, gas and energy and finally the operational breakouts including building an effective risk management strategy, legislation and government policy and entering new markets.
The CEEMEA 2016 conference will provide you a platform to meet, share experience and explore potential with regional experts, leaders, businesses and likeminded peers. No matter what your role in the CEEMEA region, you will gain valuable insight and practical takeaways from some of the most senior and successful businesses and investors in the region.
Stay updated with speaker confirmations and programme developments by signing up to our e-mail updates.
Brochure now available!
etc Venues – Fenchurch Street
8 Fenchurch Place
London, EC3M 4PB
09h00 - 10h15 IMPACTS OF OIL PRICES ON CEEMEA: WINNERS AND LOSERS?
Impacts of Oil Prices on CEEMEA: Winners and Losers?
The global drop in oil prices has affected every market, economy and sector, but how has CEEMEA fared
Assessing what investors can do to forecast turbulence and form long term malleable business strategies
Understanding the supply vs. demand paradigm and how fluctuating commodity prices have led to winners, like airlines, refineries and freight companies, and losers like resource dependant economies
Navigating the correlation between low commodity prices and low interest rates and the strain that this is putting on regional financial sectors and government budgets, using practical examples
Examining how the shifting dynamic of production vs. consumption is changing regional markets and demands of regional populations
How are potential economic diversification moves such as Saudi 2030, which arose in response to the commodity slump, going to impact investment
Anticipating and planning for the eventual oil and commodity price rebound
10H15 – 10H45 MORNING REFRESHMENT AND NETWORKING BREAK
10h45 – 12h15 BREAKOUTS | INVESTMENT REGIONALLY
Investment Regionally
Russia and Central Asia
Sub-Saharan Africa North Africa The Middle East
Opportunities for investing in technology and upgrading existing operations
Identifying how growing nearshoring can form your strategy
With the EU’s future looking less certain than ever before, how should 6 countries with pending applications for membership form investment strategy
Assessing the impact of regional uncertainty, such as Nabucco and the Trans Adriatic pipelines, on investment and government spending
Summarising the effects of the ‘migrant crisis’ on investment, business friendly legislation, stability and employment
Recognising a departure from production based economies toward more consumer driven ones, such as in Hungary and Poland
Evaluating the nearshoring environment, recent growth and potential for Shared Service Centres (SSC) in the region
Identifying EU and officially endorsed development projects for investment, such as the €60bln that Poland will receive in infrastructure grants by 2020
Implications of falling consumer prices and identifying where inflation has shifted the most, like the 15% increase of house prices in Hungary
Implications of demographic changes and ‘brain-drain’ in CEE
Forecasting effects of political uncertainty like unrest in Ukraine and Russian sanctions and German elections in 2017 on investment, trade and commerce
How will EU/US sanctions [or the lifting of sanctions] affect CEEMEA trade, especially as Russia’s financial sector begins to feel the effects
Analysing Russia’s legislative election as an indicator for the 2018 presidency
Forecasting currency movements amid banking consolidation drives and proposals for a single currency in the Eurasian Economic Union
Identifying opportunities outside of Russia and moving into Central Asia
Mapping and identifying constructive multilateral cooperation to facilitate new business and improve existing operations
Regional diversification plans and impacts on multilateral investment
As the traditional indicator, what does the slipping South African economy mean for trade, finance and political stability
As a net commodities exporter, how can sub-Saharan Africa manage falling prices and extra fiscal pressure in future
Differentiating between regional winners and losers in order to plan your investments and strategy over coming years
Overcoming regional vulnerability to market shocks and uncertainty
Identifying infrastructure projects and investment that can deliver returns or facilitate smoother existing business, such as refineries in Nigeria or electricity generation in South Africa
Uncovering opportunities for effective and profitable infrastructure projects that involve more private sector investment
Evaluating the risk of North African instability and security concerns spreading down the continent
Coming to terms with regional security issues, their potential impact on business and managing investment amid political uncertainty
What is next for the vast potential in renewables and might win and lose
Amid political uncertainty, where might the best growth be found
Sourcing non-traditional investment opportunities like Algeria’s ‘Master Plan for Tourism Development,’ the Suez Canal development project, property markets in Tunisia or world’s largest solar power plant in Morocco
Celebrating one year of the ‘New Suez’, how can Egypt be a bridge for investment and commerce between Africa and the Middle East
Understanding the reintroduction of the Tehran Stock Exchange and Iranian oil exports; the impact this will have and the new opportunities this presents
Assessing the value of the Middle East as an investment bridge outward to Asia, Africa, Russia and facilitating ‘South-South’ trade
Evaluating investment opportunities from shifting oil prices and the need for resource-endowed nations to reshape their economies
Examining proposed Saudi reforms to rebuild stock and bond markets, the impact of the Aramco IPO and the new Royally sanctioned National Transformation Plan (NTP) also known as ‘Saudi 2030’
Looking forward to how a rebound in commodity prices and oil could affect existing or prospective investments
Identifying investment opportunities outside of energy and extraction
Planning for the Gulf’s proposed modernisation of bankruptcy and insolvency regulation and reduced bureaucracy to strengthen the capacity to enforce contracts
12H15 – 13H00 LUNCH AND NETWORKING BREAK
13h00 – 14h30 BREAKOUTS | INVESTMENTS BY SECTOR
Investments by Sector
Manufacturing, Automotive and Heavy Industry
Oil, Gas and Energy
Retail and FMCG Shipping, Freight and Logistics Technology and Telecommunications Real Estate and Property Markets
Is a Western banking exodus and downscaling operations in Africa a bad omen or golden opportunity for local and emerging market banks
Overcoming low interest rates throughout the region
Assessing the impact of banking consolidation and where has it forced a strategic rethink; Azerbaijan saw less administrative costs but Kenya’s Central Bank had to give lenders emergency loans
Do increases in issuances of Sukuk (Islamic finance bonds) display opportunities in countries with large unbanked Muslim populations
Surrounded by more banking options, how can more connected and tech savvy customers be retained on an international scale
Implementing fin tech and banking innovations such as contactless and mobile banking, that has been particularly successful in East Africa
Identifying positive impacts and opportunities from low commodity prices
Are European initiatives like 2020 Digitisation Agenda, COP21 and Horizon 2020 going to impact operations in emerging markets as much as in Europe
Evaluating practices of local partners or cultural differences when entering new markets or establishing new facilities, such as health and safety, clothing customs or so called ‘job-hopping’
Will manufacturers throughout CEEMEA adopt European standards
New cash grant and tax incentives have seen more industry move to Eastern Europe, but where are the other favourable conditions
How can improvements in infrastructure be encouraged to facilitate growth in manufacturing, unbundled production and supply chains
Where will increased domestic demand and spending power see automotive and finished products grow in demand
With numerous economies rich in natural resources, but suffering from outdated infrastructure; where will investment in modernising equipment and infrastructure see good returns
What do investments in shale, renewables and the impact of US LNG exports mean for oil in CEEMEA
Aligning strategy and planning with companies that are looking to sell off exploration and extraction leases or fracking contracts
Enhancing electricity generation where it is most needed for quick returns, with the potential for long term market penetration
Renewable energy investment hit new highs in 2015, with emerging markets surpassing investment of developed markets for the first time; will this trend continue or is there a ‘renewables bubble’
As populations and ages shift and evolve, where can medical and pharmaceutical companies expect to find strategic market growth
When using the example of India, how can R&D costs, lead times and market entry for new drugs be improved
Managing transnational regulatory practice and ensuring compliance
Overcoming the supply chain issues throughout CEEMEA
Managing distribution channels and third party distributors
Examining the future of the industry and how reforms to healthcare systems and implementation of new technology are shaping markets
Strategising for the impact of generics and the expiration of patents
Retail and FMCG
With increasing GDP and a growing middle class, where throughout CEEMEA is the best target for retail growth and why
Effectively assessing market opportunities to account for local and often cheaper competition
Reflecting currency fluctuations in everyday pricing strategy
Identifying potential growth for ecommerce and digital sales
Successfully managing your supply chains amid sometimes challenging infrastructure and political environments
Managing cross border distribution channels and retaining margins
Understanding the best way to find a third party distributor or producer for your product cross border
Shipping, Freight and Logistics
Evaluating one year of the ‘New Suez’ and its impact on trade
Maintaining opportunities and keeping costs to a minimum in regions of conflict, piracy or corruption
Finding opportunities from the technological innovations in logistics
Exploiting the opportunities presented by the low oil price
Identifying investment in improving roads, airports or shipping lanes to deliver changes in preferred transportation methods
Forging strategic relationships with regionally strategic organisations
Promoting your facility and services to the right investors
Identifying potential for smart city, Internet of Things or ≥4G investment
Developing big data into a revenue stream and source of marketing
Identifying opportunities for ecommerce and online business
Ensuring compliance and regulatory standards throughout CEEMEA
As mobile penetration has drastically increased; what products and where can investors capitalise on this positive trend
What does ‘stage 6 syndrome’ mean for communications, internet and technology investments throughout CEEMEA and especially Africa
Real Estate and Property Markets
Identifying potential for investing on a regional scale, rather than country specific approaches
Assessing trends in central banks and the impact on regional interest rates
Identifying supply and demand markets to deliver sustainable rental income
Managing risks such as fluctuating currencies, interest rates tightening or slumping commercial property values
14H30 – 14H45 COMFORT BREAK
14h45 – 15h45 BREAKOUTS | STRATEGY AND RISK
Strategy and Mitigating Risk
Building an Effective Risk Management Strategy
Impact of Regional Trade Deals and Common Markets
Entering New Markets and Cross Market Experience Upcoming Legislation and Government Policy
Understanding risk mapping: identifying, managing and clarifying risk specific to your company
Determining your risk tolerance: what your board or investors are comfortable with, what compliance issues need consideration and measuring risk appetite versus potential returns on an investment
Limiting exposure to financial and reputational loss both through internal process, supply chain and third parties and geopolitical risk
Managing cyber security and minimising the potential of attacks
Effectively protecting confidential information for internal and customer data across multi-jurisdictional regulations
Expanding local risk knowledge; are there calls to nationalise key industry, are strikes commonplace or potential for armed conflict
Impacts of Regional Trade Deals and Common Markets
Prioritising international negotiations and what their implementation will mean for trade and investment potential, for example the JCPOA
Almost at its two year anniversary, has the Eurasian Economic Union proven itself to be a viable economic bloc
Considering economic blocs when entering new markets
Analysis of how One Belt, One Road (OBOR) will drive CEEMEA growth, from Asian, Emerging and Western perspectives
Planning contingency plans for new trade agreements, or the end of existing ones such as an EU break-up
Potentially unseen legal implications for investments like cross border variations in IP law, multinational trade treaties or customs and excise that a new treaty might impact
Entering New Markets and Cross Market Experience
Identifying the best time to enter specific markets and sustaining long-term commitment to the new operation or investment
Understanding recent trends in cross border M&A and foreign direct investment regulations in emerging markets
Building effective relationships with government, local authorities and local stakeholders to drive success
Identifying and attracting senior executives to lead your operations. Should you recruit locally or make internal transfers
Adjusting your structures and process to local culture
Overcoming an absence of reliable market data for developing a regional or country strategy and if consumer trends in developed economies can ever be used as a template for emerging markets
Understanding globalized views, such as Africa’s perception of Chinese investment or Russia’s view of Middle Eastern investments
Upcoming Legislation and Government Policy
Monitoring upcoming policy and tenders that can impact business and building effective relations with policy makers and central banks
Understanding when governments are under pressure to increase taxes or regulation on a particular industry, or when legislation can present opportunities
Identifying which Development banks and projects to work with
Strategising for legislation that can impede multi-jurisdictional and cross border and business, such South Africa’s Country-by-Country Bill in, Russia’s Privatization Bill or Egypt’s Wheat Ergot legislation
Utilising investment in order to make the public sector more efficient
Elections are on the horizon and what does this mean, such as US Presidential elections in November and Algeria, Germany, France and Iran in 2017 and Russia and Zimbabwe in 2018
15H45 – 16H15 AFTERNOON REFRESHMENTS AND NETWORKING BREAK
16h15 – 17h30 LOOKING TOWARDS 2020 AND BEYOND
Looking Towards 2020 and Beyond
The development of CEEMEA economies has been inconsistent, so where have growth trends been most robust, and why
Can benchmarks and metrics ever be effective for investors to evaluate macro trends and develop strategies for coming years
As technology spreads and globalization includes more people in the global trade community than ever before, how can investors capitalise on demand for more readily available consumer goods and services
With increased need for improved infrastructure, how can investors identify the best economic and business opportunities and promote development
Understanding the geopolitical issues that will affect business throughout the region in the next 5-10 years, including the potential effects of Brexit on the EU and wider regions and the impact it will have on emerging markets
How are population demographics, urbanization and migration patterns impacting foreign direct investment, employment and prosperity
How can the private sector act on public sector inefficiency and deliver infrastructure projects and see good returns
17H30 CLOSE AND DRINKS RECEPTION
Present –
June 25th –
July 30th –
September 16th Tier 4
September 17th –
1 attendee £499 £599 £699 £799
2 attendees £899 £1075 £1250 £1450
3 attendees £1350 £1550 £1799 £2050
Douglas Andrews, CEO, Double Wing Pharma
Biography: Douglas is senior multinational healthcare industry executive and serial entrepreneur, with over 35 years of experience in global pharmaceutical markets, including company start-up, country and regional management, sales & marketing, product licensing, and international M&A. After more than 20 years with Schering-Plough in the Americas and Europe, Douglas founded Consilient Health, a European ‘virtual’ generic pharmaceutical company sourcing retail market generics from suppliers in central & eastern Europe, Turkey and India. Subsequently Douglas founded Stravencon, a hospital generics supplier, bridging Asian producers and European institutional markets. Most recently Douglas founded Double Wing Pharma to provide a product and healthcare technology platform between Europe and China.
Ahmet Fuat Ayla, Vice Chairman of AKLease, Member of the Board of Directors for Akbank AG and AKInvestment
Martina Bozadzhieva, Managing Director, EMEA Research, Frontier Strategy Group
Biography: Martina Bozadzhieva is Managing Director of EMEA Research at Frontier Strategy Group. She is based in London where she advises heads of International and Heads of EMEA and their senior management teams on emerging market strategies for Europe, Middle East, and Africa. She oversees FSG’s analysis on macroeconomic, political, and business issues in the region. She also supports MNC leadership teams in implementing best practices in areas including strategic planning, market prioritization, contingency planning, distributor management, pricing, and talent management. She has worked on market research and government relations for Russia and the CIS at the PBN Company and the U.S.-Russia Business Council. She is regularly quoted in the mainstream media by publications such as the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, HBR, MarketWatch, CNBC, and New York Times. She holds an M.A. in Eurasian, Russian, and East European Studies and a B.S. in International Politics from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. A native of Bulgaria, she is fluent in Bulgarian and Russian, and speaks intermediate German.
Phil Couchman, CEO UK & Ireland, former CEO sub-Saharan Africa, DHL Express
Pasquale Diana, Head of CEEMEA Economics, Morgan Stanley
Biography: Pasquale Diana is an Executive Director who is Head of CEEMEA (Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa) Economic Research at Morgan Stanley. His primary focus is the coverage of the CEE economies (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovenia), though he also looks at thematic issues for the whole CEEMEA region. Based in London, he coordinates the CEEMEA Compass, the team’s flagship publication. His areas of research are the CEE business cycle and the implications for monetary policy, but he has written extensively also on issues such as external debt, fiscal policy, balance of payments dynamics, economic convergence, and has presented his views at several conferences in London as well as Continental Europe. Pasquale has a strong local network which he has built over many years and he has just led a macro investor trip in Hungary and Poland, where he has met with central banks, ministries of finance and local experts.
Pasquale joined Morgan Stanley in November 2006. Previously, he worked for 6 years at JP Morgan, where he covered the economies of Italy, Spain and Scandinavia for several years before joining the CEEMEA Economics Team to focus on Emerging Europe and Israel. He holds a BSc and an MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics.
Sylvia Gansser-Potts, Managing Director, Central and South Eastern Europe, EBRD
Biography: Sylvia Gansser-Potts is Managing Director, Central and South Eastern Europe, responsible for EBRD’s activities in 16 counties of operations.
Sylvia joined the EBRD in 1992 as a banker, and has held a number of positions at the Bank . Between 2007 and 2011, Sylvia was Director of the Property and Tourism team, heading EBRD’s activities in the real estate sector across all the countries of operations. In 2011, she joined the Financial Institutions Group as a Director, covering the EU countries until 2014, then leading the Financial Institutions team’s activities in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey. In addition, Sylvia also oversaw the relationship with some of the large European banking groups. Sylvia was appointed Managing Director, Central and South Eastern Europe in September 2015.
Before joining the EBRD, Sylvia worked at UBS first in Capital Markets then in Corporate Finance, both in Switzerland and Japan.
Sylvia holds an MBA from INSEAD in France and is a graduate of the Université Paris IX Dauphine. She also holds an Honours Degree in the Japanese Language from INALCO (Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales) in Paris.
Sergei Guriev, incoming Chief Economist, EBRD
Biography: Sergei Guriev received his Dr. Sc. (habilitation degree) in Economics (2002) and PhD in Applied Math from the Russian Academy of Science (1994), and M.Sc. Summa Cum Laude from the Moscow Institute of Physics in Technology (1993). In 1997-98, Dr. Guriev visited the Department of Economics at M.I.T. for a one-year post-doctoral placement, and in 2003-2004, the Department of Economics at Princeton University as a Visiting Assistant Professor.
In 2004-13, Dr. Guriev was a tenured professor of economics and rector of the New Economic School in Moscow.
Dr. Guriev’s research interests include contract theory, corporate governance, political economics and labor mobility. Dr. Guriev has published in international refereed journals including American Economic Review, Review of Economic Studies, Journal of European Economic Association, Journal of Economic Perspectives and American Political Science Review.
In 2006, he was selected a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. In 2011, he was a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Europe, in 2012-14 – a co-chair of the Global Agenda Council on the New Economic Thinking, and in 2014-15 – a member of the Global Agenda Council on the Geoeconomics. In 2000 and 2005, he was awarded Gold Medal for the Best Research in Development Economics by the Global Development Network. In 2001, he was announced the Best Academic Manager in Humanities by Russia’s Science Support Foundation. In 2009-11, he was included in the top 100 of the President of Russia’s Cadre Reserve. In 2009, he was also awarded the Bill Maynes Award by the Eurasia Foundation. In 2009 and 2010 he received the Independent Director of the Year prize from Russia’s National Association of Independent Directors. In 2010, he received a Certificate in Company Directorship from the Institute of Directors (UK) and was voted the Best Independent Director by the Association of Managers of Russia and the Russian Institute of Directors.
He has been a a board member of Sberbank (2008-14), E.ON Russia (2013-14), Alfa-Strakhovanie Insurance Company (2009-13), Russia Venture Company (2009-13), Russian Home Mortgage Lending Agency (2008-12) and Russian Agricultural Bank (2008-09), a member of the President of Russia’s Council on Science, Technology and Education (2008-12), and a member of the board of the Dynasty Foundation (2007-2015). He is a member of the Scientific Council of the BRUEGEL think tank (Brussels), of the Advisory Council of the Peterson Institute on International Economics (Washington, DC), and of the Academic Advisory Board, Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford University. He is also a Research Fellow at the Centre for Economic Policy Research, London.
In 2006-13, Sergei Guriev has been running a monthly column in Forbes Russia. In 2003-13 he has also been a biweekly columnist for the leading Russian business daily Vedomosti and has contributed columns to the New York Times, Financial Times, Washington Post, Project Syndicate, and Moscow Times.
Nisrin Hala, Head of Africa Desk: Global Trade Finance Department, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation Europe
Biography: Nisrin heads the Africa Desk within the Global Trade Finance Department at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation Europe (SMBCE) London. She is responsible for originating and managing a portfolio of assets across various markets in North, East, West and Southern Africa. Her portfolio comprises Central Banks, Commercial Banks, Corporates, multilaterals and DFIs. The Africa Desk primarily structures and provides short term debt solutions to FIs that are active in trade import and export.
Nisrin has been with SMBCE for 9 years; she has previously worked for an American Bank in London, and also had a career in the media industry.
Nisrin holds an MBA from London Business School, an MSc in international finance and a BA in Business Management & Economics.
Petr Havel, Head of CEE, Allergan Pharmaceuticals
Frederic Lucenet, Director, Manufacturing and Services, EBRD
Biography: Frederic Lucenet is the Director for the Manufacturing, Services and Communication Technologies in the Banking Department since 2010. His previous position was Director, Operations Committee Secretariat, directly reporting to the First Vice President Banking. He has held director positions for the EBRD on the boards of the Romanian Development Bank and of the Russian Development Fund. Prior to joining EBRD, he worked at the World Bank (in EMENA/SEMED region) in Washington. Frederic is an engineer with degrees from M.I.T. and from the INSEAD MBA programme. French national – married with 3 children.
Holger Muent, Director, Western Balkans, EBRD
Biography: Holger Muent is the EBRD’s Director for the Western Balkans and responsible for the EBRD’s business in that region. Previous to his current position, Holger was responsible for the management of the approval process for all EBRD projects. Prior to that, Holger was a Senior Banker in the Business Group for Southern and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia at the EBRD. His duties included the execution of private sector transactions in the countries covered by his Business Group. At the beginning of his career at EBRD, Holger worked for the Office of the Chief Economist and the Group for Small Business.
Before joining the EBRD in 1999, Holger completed his PhD at the London School of Economics. A German national, Holger holds a degree in business and engineering (Wirtschaftsingenieurwesen) of the University of Karlsruhe (Germany).
Marcin Petrykowski, CEO Poland, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services
Biography: Head of Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Relationship Management, leading a senior team based in London, Paris, Frankfurt and across the office network (Madrid, Milan, Stockholm, Warsaw, Moscow, Tel-Aviv, Johannesburg, Dubai) structuring firm wide partnerships with Standard & Poor’s (S&P) top tier strategic clients. Within this role also runs commercially the infrastructure and project finance business for EMEA. Joined S&P in January 2014, since then is the Regional Head for Central and Eastern Europe and in this capacity responsible for S&P’s franchise, strategy as well as commercial management of the ratings business across the region. Marcin is also the General Manager for Poland, running the Warsaw branch office, firm’s hub for Central and Eastern Europe.
Before joining Standard & Poor’s, Marcin was Executive Director, Investor Services Head of Coverage for Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, CIS and Israel at J.P. Morgan Corporate and Investment Bank in London. With the Bank, Marcin also served as the Deputy General Manager for J.P. Morgan branch office in Poland. Prior to joining J.P. Morgan in 2007, he spent five years with Citi Corporate and Investment Banking, focusing on Poland and CEE. Marcin is a graduate of Citi’s Management Associate program.
Marcin is an FCA-approved investment advisor, with higher education obtained from Koźmiński University (Warsaw, Poland – Management and International Trade Affairs); School of Economics and Management (Lund, Sweden – International Finance) and University of Warsaw (post graduate program for CFO’s).
Dr. Ludwik Sobolewski, CEO, Bucharest Stock Exchange
Biography: Ludwik Sobolewski was appointed as CEO of the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) in August 2013. Before joining BVB, he was President and CEO of the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) between 2006 and 2013. During his mandate, WSE became the leading stock exchange in CEE and a listed company on its own regulated market since 2010, after the rolling of a successful IPO. Ludwik Sobolewski supported the business development of the stock exchange, by attracting new companies for listing, increasing the number of international members of the WSE, and by promoting the services and products of the exchange. He also played an active role in the creation of the capital market infrastructure, with NewConnect, a market for start-ups, early stage and small and medium-size companies, with Catalyst market, the first organized, exchange-type market for non-treasury debt securities in Poland, with the BondSpot SA and the Polish Power Exchange SA acquisition.
Farouk Soussa, Chief Economist, Middle East, Citi
Biography: Farouk Soussa is Citi’s Head of Middle East Economics. Farouk started his career in 1998 with the Bank of England, where he also spent 18 months on secondment to the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Farouk left the Bank in 2004 to become Head of Middle East and Africa Sovereign Ratings at S&P, before joining Citi in May 2010. Farouk is currently based in Canary Wharf, London. He is originally from Egypt and holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Birmingham, UK.
Lucyna Stańczak-Wuczyńska, Director, Financial Institutions, EBRD
Biography: Lucyna Stańczak-Wuczyńska is Director – EU banks in the Financial Institutions Group at the EBRD. As director of the EU banks team, Lucyna has responsibility for the EBRD’s activities in the banking sector in the EU countries of the EBRD (in CEE and SEE). In this capacity, she oversees the Bank’s new investments (equity, debt and DCM) in the banking sectors of the region as well as the management of the portfolio in the banking sector in the region. Lucyna has worked in the banking sector for over 20 years. She joined the EBRD in 2000. She initially worked as a senior banker responsible for EBRD investments in energy and infrastructure sectors. From 2008 to 2014 she was EBRD country director in Poland, overseeing the Bank’s business in Poland, focusing on the financial sector, private equity and corporate sector. Before joining the EBRD, Lucyna worked for Credit Lyonnaise and ABN AMRO Bank. Lucyna is a Graduate of the Warsaw School of Economics (Poland) and of Advanced Post-Graduate Studies at the College of Europe, Brugges (Belgium). Lucyna Stanczak-Wuczynska has held a number of non-executive board positions in Polish companies and financial institutions.
TBC, Vice Governor, Council of Europe Development Bank
TBC, Vice Governor, Council of Europe Devleopment Bank
Ben Aris, Editor-in-Chief, bne IntelliNews
Ben Aris, Editor-in-chief, bne IntelliNews Biography: Ben Aris is the founder and editor-in-chief of business new europe (bne), the leading English-language publication covering business, economics, finance and politics of the 30 countries of the former Soviet Union, Central and Southeastern Europe and Eurasia. Ben started his career in Russia in 1993 as a freelancer before eventually becoming the Moscow bureau chief for the Daily Telegraph. He left Russia in 2003 for a sojourn in Berlin as bureau chief for The Guardian before founding bne in 2006 and returning to Russia in 2008. A specialist on emerging Europe, Ben is one of the longest serving foreign correspondents in eastern Europe and has lived and working in many of the countries of the region including longer stints in: Ukraine, Estonia and Uzbekistan. Ben was also the Russian contributing editor at Business Central Europe, The Banker and Euromoney for more than a decade and has been a regular contributor to a host of international titles including The Financial Times, Newsweek, Institutional Investor and EIU. Ben is also a professional photographer with a contract with the London based agency Camera Press. Ben was voted “Best Business Journalist in Russia” by the Russian news agency Ria Novosti in both 2012 and 2013.
Dr Jerome Booth, Chairman, New Sparta Group
Biography: Dr Jerome Booth is a well-known economist, entrepreneur, investor, commentator and leading expert on emerging markets.
He is Chairman of New Sparta Holdings Limited, through which he manages his more active investments, including controlling interests in a number of companies in asset management, insurance, telecoms, journalism, publishing and film. These include CBC UK, New Sparta Asset Management, New Sparta Events, New Call Telecom, WaveCrest, Nimbuzz, bne IntelliNews, Exaro News, Walpole Holdings, New Sparta Films, Icon Film Distribution UK and IO Entertainment.
In 2013, Jerome retired from Ashmore Group, a world-leading emerging markets asset management group which he helped establish in 1999 in a Management Buy-Out from ANZ Bank. Prior to ANZ he worked in the Strategic Planning unit of Inter-American Development Bank in Washington, D.C, and before that was a Lecturer in Economics at Christ Church, Oxford. He has also been a consultant advising on aid and trade issues, and before that worked for Her Majesty’s Department of Trade and Industry.
He has a weekly blog and one of the most widely listended to podcasts in Europe. In 2014 he published his first book, Emerging Markets in an Upside Down World, challenging traditional finance theory and conventional economic wisdom. The Chairman of the Governing Board of Anglia Ruskin University and Visiting Professor at Cass Business School, Jerome has a D.Phil and an M.Phil in Economics from Oxford University as well as a B.Sc in Geography from Bristol University. In 2008, Jerome was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Business Administration at Anglia Ruskin.
He is also Chairman of the Fitzwilliam Museum Development Trust, Chairman of the Britten Sinfonia, a Vice President of Essex Community Foundation, and on the board of the Royal Philharmonic Society.
Sarah Carlson, Senior Vice President, Sovereign Risk Group, Moody's Investors Service
Sarah Carlson, Senior Vice President, Sovereign Risk Group, Moody’s Investors Service
Biography: Sarah is responsible for a portfolio of credits in Europe that includes France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Poland, Slovenia, and Sweden. She is also one of the Sovereign Risk Group’s global spokespeople. She joined Moody’s in 2009 after completing a Sloan Fellowship at the London Business School.
Prior to this academic sabbatical, she spent seven years at the Financial Services Authority in London where she headed the regulator’s Risk Analysis area and acted as its chief macroeconomist. Before joining the FSA, she worked in Dun & Bradstreet’s Economic Analysis Group for six years, where she was the organisation’s Deputy Chief Economist.
She holds an MA in European Studies (with a concentration in Economics and Finance) from the Elliott School of International Affairs at the George Washington University and an AB with a double major in Government and History from Dartmouth College. She is a CFA Charterholder.
Kevin Culhane, Executive Director & Country Manager, South Cluster (CSEE Region), Allergan Pharmaceuticals
Levent Erdik, CFO, Lacoste Russia
Levent Erdik, CFO, Lacoste Operations Russia
Biography: Levent Erdik is CFO of Lacoste / Eren JV. operations in Russia. He is responsible for leading finance and accounting teams, managing relations with central top management and shareholders, and providing strategic insights to the top management with regards to financial & economic matters. Before being appointed to the current position in April 2014, Levent was employed as Financial Controller for Russia, Turkey and Ukrainian markets based in Istanbul for 2 years.
He was transferred to Lacoste from LUKOIL EURASIA in 2012. At LUKOIL he served in positions of Finance and Planning Manager for LUKOIL Eurasia companies of retail fuel sales, lpg , aviation fuels and lubricants operations. Before that between 2006-2009 he worked in Kazakhstan and left in 2009, when he was Finance Manager for GATE Construction LTD. / NCC Contractors BV., a contractor with approximately 0.7 billion USD worth project portfolio for Kashagan Petroleum field industrial facilities.
Levent holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Middle East Technical University and holds a CMA certificate from IMA. He speaks fluently English, Turkish, Russian and knows intermediate level of German and Georgian languages.
Karl Gheysen, CEO, Khorgos Gateway
Ben Habib, CEO, First Property Group plc
Biography: Ben founded and is CEO of First Property Group plc, an award winning commercial property fund manager with operations in the United Kingdom and Central Europe.
First Property is listed on the AIM section of the LSE, is FCA registered and AIFMD approved. The performance of its funds ranked No.1 vs. MSCI’s Investment Property Databank (IPD) CEE universe for the ten years from the commencement of its operations in Poland in 2005 to 31 December 2015, and for the annualised periods from 2005 to the end of each of the years between 31 December 2008 and 31 December 2014.
Prior to setting up First Property, Ben was Managing Director of a private property development company, JKL Property Ltd, from 1994 – 2000. He started his career in corporate finance in 1987 at Shearson Lehman Brothers. He moved in 1989 to PWS Holdings plc, a FTSE 350 Lloyds reinsurance broker, to be its Finance Director.
He was educated at Rugby School and Cambridge University.
Goran Mickovski, Minister for Foreign Investments, Government of Macedonia
Mthuli Ncube, Professor of Public Policy, University of Oxford, and former Vice President and Cheif Economist, African Development Bank
Mthuli Ncube, Professor of Public Policy, University of Oxford and former Vice President and Cheif Economist, African Development Bank
Biography: Prof Mthuli Ncube is Professor of Public Policy at Blavatnik School of Government & Fellow at St Antony’s College, University of Oxford, UK. Prior to his current position he was Chief Economist and Vice President at the African Development Bank in charge of economic strategic direction of the Bank, and advisor to African countries. He was Dean of the Faculty of Commerce Law and Management, and also Dean and Professor of Finance at Wits Business School, in South Africa. He founded the Centre for Entrepreneurship at Wits University. He was also a Lecturer in Finance at the London School of Economics (LSE).
Professor Ncube has published several books, papers and articles in the area of economics and political economy and finance. Some of his recent books include: Monetary Policy and the Economy in South Africa (Macmillan 2013); Quantitative Easing and its Impact on US, UK Europe and Japan (2013); Africa’s Middleclass (2014); African Financial Markets and Monetary Policy (2009); and The Oxford Companion of the Economics of South Africa (co-edited, Oxford University Press, 2015).
He is Chairman of the Board of the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) and board member of Global Development Network, New Delhi. He is on the Global Agenda Council of the World Economic Forum on “Poverty and Economic Development” and on the Advisory Council for World Economic Forum (WEF) on Sustainable Infrastructure. He is a Commissioner of the Lancet Commission on Investing Health, and member of the OECD Expect Group on Rethinking the Future of development Aid.
He is a regular commentator in media such as the BBC, Financial Times and Wall Street Journal.
Professor Ncube holds a PhD in Economics (Mathematical Finance) from University of Cambridge.
Ed Parker, Head of EMEA Sovereigns, Fitch Ratings
Biography: Ed Parker is a managing director who heads the Europe, Middle East and Africa team in the sovereign group at Fitch Ratings, based in London. He is responsible for overseeing the ratings and leading the research on sovereigns in the region. Prior to 2011, Ed headed the Emerging Europe sovereign team at Fitch and was the lead sovereign analyst on several countries in the region, including Hungary, Poland, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine.
Ed joined Fitch in 2000 from the UK Treasury, where he worked for nine years on a wide range of UK and international economic policy issues. For several years, he was the Treasury’s economic adviser on Russia and other CIS countries, and was closely involved with the UK’s response to the Russian crisis in 1998, including IMF, Paris Club, and G8 negotiations. Earlier posts included analysis and forecasting of the UK’s balance of payments and inflation and advising on interest rates.
Edward has bachelor and master of science degrees in economics from the University of Southampton, UK.
Marco Nindl, Principal Banker Trade Facilitation Programme, EBRD
Biography: Marco Nindl is a Trade Finance Banker at the European Bank for Reconstruction (EBRD) within the Trade Facilitation Programme (TFP). Having joined the TFP team in January 2005, he worked on various projects within the TFP; his current role involves not only the day to day operations but also liaising with financial institutions worldwide within the framework of the Programme (www.ebrd.com/tfp). Prior to joining the EBRD and during his academic studies, Marco gained extensive experience on the trade finance and banking market by working for RZB in New York, Coface Credit Insurance and Oesterreichische Kontrollbank (OeKB) in Vienna. Marco graduated from the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration with a Master of Science in Economics, where he specialised in Banking and International Business.
Denis Sokolov, FRICS, Partner, Head of Research, Cushman & Wakefield Russia
Biography: Denis Sokolov heads Research Department at Cushman & Wakefield Russia and the company’s global research projects. Denis joined Cushman & Wakefield in 2004 and was actively involved in the restructuring process and building the strongest Research Team in Russia. He developed informational systems, which are unique for Russian markets, and he also invented iCushman, the first mobile application on the local Real Estate market. Denis has managed projects for such clients including the EBRD, IFC, MLP, Deutsche Bank and Metro, involving cross-sector market research in Moscow, Russian regions, CIS countries and other developing markets such as Mexico, Nigeria and Brazil. Denis is in charge of strategy development, team coordination and implementation of new analytical and communication tools. Denis is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and a Member of the Research group of the International Council of Shopping Centers.
Massimiliano Spalazzi, CEO Jumia Market Africa, Jumia Group
Vladimír Vaňo, Chief Economist, Head of CEE Research, Sberbank Europe AG
Biography: Vladimir Vano is alumnus of Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien and Carlson School of Management. A laureate of the Rector’s Academic Award of Comenius University in Bratislava, he studied at its College of Management, and thanks to competitively won scholarships also at the College of Charleston, Georgetown and New York University. He also attended courses at Graduate School of Management of St. Petersburg State University (Russia), Sun Yat-Sen University (China) and Indian School of Business. His overseas professional experience comes from internships with economic think-tank NGO in Washington, D.C. and with the global headquarter of Merrill Lynch in New York City in 2001. Vladimir Vano’s experience with Central European economic development begun in the nineties with Deloitte&Touche. In 1999, he entered the financial sector as research assistant to the Chief Economist of Slovak branch of ING. Upon return from New York, he became the Head of Research with Treasury Division of Slovenska sporitelna. Since 2002, he is regular columnist on regional and global financial markets in economic and business magazine TREND. In 2011 and 2012 he served as external advisor for monetary affairs to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of the Slovak Republic. Since 2011 he is included on the list of vetted experts for public finance with the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme). Since 2007, he assumed position of the Chief Analyst of SBERBANK Slovensko and in July 2013, board of Sberbank Europe AG appointed him to serve as Head of CEE Research Competence Center. Vladimir serves on the Committee for Macroeconomic Forecasts at the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic, which operates under stipulations of the “Constitutional Act on Public Debt Ceiling”. Vladimir also serves on the Board of the Pontis Foundation in Bratislava, as well as on the International Alumni Board of the WU Executive Academy in Vienna. He is regular lecturer for domestic and international universities as well as on international professional conferences.
Frontier Strategy Group (FSG) is the leading information and advisory services firm for emerging market executives. Through a combination of data, platform access, and custom engagements, we power the key business activities of emerging market business leaders at the world’s leading multinational corporations with one goal in mind; to help our clients outperform in emerging markets. By partnering with more than 200 multinationals for nearly a decade, we have developed a unique perspective into an integrated solution that powers and supports business-critical activities, such as strategic planning, commercial execution, and market monitoring.
Cedigaz
Cedigaz is an international association dedicated to natural gas information, created in 1961 by a group of international gas companies and the Institut Français du Pétrole (IFP Energies Nouvelles). It is based near Paris. Cedigaz has more than 100 members in 40 countries. Cedigaz’ goals consist in gathering, compiling and analysing worldwide economical information on natural gas, LNG and unconventional gas in an exhaustive and critical way. The information that Cedigaz deals with touches on all activities and aspects of the gas industry (exploration, reserves, production and processing, transportation, trade, storage, distribution and consumption of natural gas). Cedigaz diffuses the information in its periodic bulletins, surveys and online databases.
Interfax Energy provides Natural Gas Daily & Global Gas Analytics publications, as well as our premium LNG resource tool EnergyHub. Natural Gas Daily provides news & analysis on the global gas industry, including political, regulatory, & economic issues & gas developments in Europe, Russia/CIS, Middle East, Africa, Americas and Asia-Pacific. Global Gas Analytics provides detailed analysis into the key factors driving gas markets & prices. EnergyHub offers information on the worlds LNG import & export infrastructure.
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Lake Malaren, the first Nicklaus Legacy Course to open in Asia, unveiled this week for inaugural Shanghai Masters
SHANGHAI—It is a week of golf firsts happening in the bustling city of Shanghai, China. This week, Lake Malaren, the first Jack Nicklaus Legacy Course to open in Asia, is being unveiled, and it is being christened with the inaugural Shanghai Masters. The field includes a trio of first-time major championship winners.
Masters champion Charl Schwartzel, US Open champion Rory McIlroy and PGA Championship winner Keegan Bradley—all first-time major championship winners in 2011—headline a powerful 30-man field that began play today at the Lake Malaren Shanghai Masters. The 558-acre course is the first Nicklaus Legacy Course, which represents a collaboration by the father-son team of Jack Nicklaus and Jack Nicklaus II. Englishman and world No. 2 Lee Westwood, along with three-time major winner Padraig Harrington of Ireland and South Africa's two-time major champion Retief Goosen, also made the trip to China to play on the Nicklaus-designed course, and vie for the $2 million winner's check at the inaugural tournament.
“The Masters course at Lake Malaren has a fantastic variety of features that gives the course a lot of interest and many challenges, while being both very fun and exciting play,” said Design Associate Chris Rule, who worked on site at Lake Malaren to bring the Nicklauses’ vision to life. “The elevation changes throughout the golf course create very beautiful and dramatic golf holes. The course is challenging and has the appearance of being difficult, but it is very fair and golfers will quickly realize that if they play the correct shot, they will be rewarded and have the opportunity to score well.”
American Hunter Mahan was a shot back of McIlroy after the first day. He had seven birdies, including three in a row on the back nine, and then settled for a par on the 18th hole when his birdie try lipped out.
Also playing for a piece of the $5 million purse is England's Ian Poulter, Scottish veteran Colin Montgomerie and China's Zhang Lian-wei. Poulter, Harrington and England's Paul Casey were three shots back Thursday at 67.
"This week we have everything, a great field of players, a great course and organization, and a great city. It is a perfect setting, a world class course for a world class field," said Zhang, who played Thursday with McIlroy and Westwood.
"We have ten Chinese players and three Korean players in the tournament flying the flag for Asia. These events give rare opportunities to Chinese and Asian players to go up against the game's best players," said a tournament spokesman.
"This gives them better exposure and development chances and also attracts golfing fans."
Player comments regarding Lake Malaren
“I played nine holes today and was very impressed with the course and the layout. The greens are great but firm and if the wind blows like today, it will make scoring difficult”
“It’s the first time I have come to China, the golf course looks great, I’m excited to be here and hope to come many more times in the future”
“The greens are holding pretty well. The fairways are generous. The course is set up well enough so that its not too long, good length holes. But it’s still challenging in a lot of areas so you have to be cautious on a few shots. But it’s a real fun layout"
Echoed the views of many players competing today when he complimented the “Five week course”, a reference to the way the organizers mobilized to get the course set up for the tournament. In a post round interview he said “It is amazing what they have done here, the fairways are really good and when you read a putt on the greens you can go for it, all the players are talking about how good it is here”
Zhang Liang Wei
“The event has everything, we have a great prize money, nice people to support this tournament a world class course for world class players”
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Home Latest Don’t Know The Word Retirement, Says Badhaai Ho Actress Surekha Sikri, 73
Don’t Know The Word Retirement, Says Badhaai Ho Actress Surekha Sikri, 73
Surekha Sikri in a still from Badhaai Ho (courtesy YouTube)
New Delhi:
She has been a part of the industry for the past 40 years, entertaining people through different avatars that she has brought alive on screen. Actress Surekha Sikri, who is being loved for her portrayal as a nagging grandma in Badhaai Ho, has no plan to slow down, and says she has no desire to retire either.
"Retirement? Hello, I don't even know that word. What does it mean," Surekha Sikri, 73, asked with a chuckle while speaking to IANS on the phone from Mumbai.
"That's a very old-fashioned English concept… That you do something and then you retire and mostly it applies to government servants. Fortunately, I am a freelancer and I don't have any wish or desire to retire. I can just go on and on," added the veteran, who is basking in the appreciation coming from all quarters for her mother-in-law avatar in Badhaai Ho.
Surekha Sikri made her debut in 1978 with political drama Kissa Kursi Ka, and created a name for herself by working in films, theatre and television.
She is credited for projects like Tamas, Mammo, Sarfarosh, Zubeidaa, Jo Bole So Nihaal and Humko Deewana Kar Gaye.
For the small screen audience, Surekha is still known as "dadisa" from the show Balika Vadhu. She has also featured in Saat Phere – Saloni Ka Safar, Ek Tha Raja Ek Thi Rani, Pardes Mein Hai Mera Dil and Just Mohabbat.
Looking back at the time when she entered the industry and comparing it with the present for female stars, she said: "Things are more out in the open. People are ready to accept and talk about it. Earlier, it was all pretty-pretty and 'follow the formula' if we talked about Bollywood.
"On TV, I had a fairly decent share in the older times. It has become more regressive now. But in the film industry, things are now looking up."
The National Film Award-winning actress says there are days when she ponders about how things would have turned out if she entered the industry at present.
"I often say that I should have been born 40-50 years later, looking at the scene right now. But anyway, there are many roles for people like me," she added.
Does she think there are interesting roles being written for senior actors?
"I am sure there will be good roles. The whole thing has changed and you could never think of having a full movie with older characters like Amitabh Bachchan and Rishi Kapoor in 102 Not Out. They were the main characters of the film.
"I think there are far more chances for people like me who belong to a certain category, image wise."
Here, she praised director Amit Ravindernath for taking an unusual subject with Badhaai Ho – a film about a man whose mother becomes pregnant. It also features Ayushmann Khurrana, Neena Gupta, Gajraj Rao and Sanya Malhotra.
"The subject is considered to be a taboo… 'Log kya kahenge' (what will people say) when a middle-aged woman gets pregnant again since they have grown-up children already. It is a matter of shame for most people. It is a very false kind of shame because, after all, love is there all the time."
The actress feels there is a "whole heap of interesting directors and a whole heap of interesting script-writers" in present-day Bollywood.
"They are tackling all kinds of subjects and I think it is a very exciting time for any actor to be in the industry right now," she added.
After Badhaai Ho, Surekha Sikri has several projects lined up.
"There are a couple of projects in the pipeline but I would rather not talk about it right now."
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)Source Article
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Maharashtra Lawyer’s Mercedes Stolen Inside Court Premises
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UN Nuclear Watchdog Chief To Step Down Next Year: Diplomats
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Home World Five dead in California wildfire as second blaze forces Malibu evacuation
Five dead in California wildfire as second blaze forces Malibu evacuation
A photo obtained via social media shows the SBC 5-engine & one Battalion Chief Strike Team fighting the Woolsey Fire off the Las Virgenes Road area in Calabasas, California, U.S. November 9, 2018. Capt Tim Gailey/Santa Barbara County Fire via REUTERS
A rapidly moving wildfire in Northern California killed five people when flames engulfed their vehicles as they attempted to flee the mountain town of Paradise, authorities said on Friday, as they expressed fears more bodies would be discovered.
Nearly 500 miles (800 km) to the south, a blaze forced the evacuation of the upscale oceanside city of Malibu and threatened the beleaguered town of Thousand Oaks, where a gunman killed 12 people this week in a shooting rampage in a bar and dance hall.
Since it broke out on Thursday, the so-called Camp Fire has more than tripled in size to 70,000 acres (2,838 hectares) after leveling parts of Paradise, with a population of 26,000 people, and was only 5 percent contained by Friday.
In addition to the five people found dead in their vehicles, many were forced to ditch their cars and run for their lives down the sole road through the mountain town. In the aftermath, a school bus was among several abandoned vehicles left blackened by flames on one road.
About 2,000 structures were destroyed in the area, officials said.
The death toll is expected to climb, said California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) spokesman Scott McLean, because flames have blocked search and rescue crews from looking for victims in destroyed homes.
“The only reason they found the five is because they were still on the road,” McLean said.
HOT WINDS
The fires in California have been driven by hot winds from the east reaching speeds of up to 40 miles per hour (64 kph), McLean said, forcing firefighters to scramble to keep up with the fast-moving flames.
In Southern California, the 14,000-acre (5,666-hectare) Woolsey Fire led authorities on Friday morning to expand mandatory evacuation orders to the entire city of Malibu about 30 miles (48 km) west of downtown Los Angeles.
Malibu and nearby Calabasas are home to hundreds of celebrities and entertainment executives attracted by its ocean views, rolling hills and large, secluded estates.
Flames completely engulfed large homes in at least one affluent section of Malibu. Police officers walked past an apartment building fronted by burning palm trees, as they combed through neighborhoods urging people to leave.
In a rush to find refuge from the flames, a number of horses were taken to a beach and tied to lifeguard stations, said Pono Barnes, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County lifeguards division.
“Fire is now burning out of control and heading into populated areas of Malibu,” the city said in a statement online. “All residents must evacuate immediately.” In all, the Woolsey Fire led authorities to issue evacuation orders for 75,000 homes in Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
It was not immediately clear how many homes had been destroyed in Malibu or Calabasas, but local television stations showed images of a number of homes that had been destroyed.
The evacuation created a hair-raising traffic jam, with cars brought to a standstill on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu.
‘WE ARE STILL REELING’
The Woolsey Fire broke out on Thursday and quickly jumped the 101 Freeway. On Friday, it climbed across the Santa Monica Mountains toward Malibu.
It also threatened parts of nearby Thousand Oaks in Ventura County northwest of Los Angeles, the site of the shooting massacre earlier this week, stunning a community with a reputation for safety.
Linda Parks, a Ventura County supervisor, whose district covers Thousand Oaks, lamented the timing of the wildfire. “We are still reeling, but we are also very resilient,” she said.
California Acting Governor Gavin Newsom on Friday declared a state of emergency for areas affected by the Woolsey and Hill fires in Ventura and Los Angeles counties.
The Hill Fire in Ventura County’s Santa Rosa Valley has charred about 6,000 acres (2,428 hectares), according to Cal Fire.
In Los Angeles, another, smaller fire in Griffith Park forced the Los Angeles Zoo to evacuate a number of show birds and some small primates on Friday as flames came within less than 2 miles (3 km) of the facility, zoo officials said in a statement.
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Author`s name Dmitry Sudakov
Asia arms itself to the teeth
Business » Finance
India became the world's largest importer of arms during 2006-2010, a report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said. The share of India's world arms shipments made up nine percent. China's share was evaluated at six percent. The list of other active arms importers includes South Korea (6%) and Pakistan (5%). The largest exporters of arms in the world are the USA, Russia and Germany.
According to SIPRI experts, Russia remains the primary supplier of arms and military hardware to India. Russia's share in arms transfers to India during the recent five years was evaluated at 82 percent.
Th situation is said to change in the future. India does not purchase ready-made products only - the country is interested in acquiring defense technologies and launching its own production of arms. India is following China's example at this point. China already promotes itself as a large member on the arms market to make a competition to its former primary supplier - Russia.
A year ago, SIPRI named China as the world's largest importer of arms during 2005-2009. It was particularly said that China had bought nine percent of world arms. There are serious doubts about China's ability to independently design and develop state-of-the-art arms. However, it goes without saying that it is much cheaper and easier to reproduce relatively simple types of arms.
China presumably exports its arms to Pakistan. Egypt is the second largest importer of Chinese arms. The products of the Chinese defense industry become more and more popular in poor African countries and in Latin America.
The numbers of Beijing's defense spending are unknown. International experts believe that one should multiply the official Beijing data by two, at least.
If India's defense budget for the upcoming financial year is evaluated at $36 billion, then China officially intends to spend $91.5 billion. Experts say, though, that China will spend twice as much to maintain the 2.5-million-strong army, the Times of India reports.
According to SIPRI's report, the geography of arms shipments in the world has not changed much during the recent ten years. Asia and Oceania were the basic regions for arms shipments from 2006 to 2010 - 43 percent of all imports of arms. Europe comes next with 21 percent of shipments, the Middle East follows with 17 percent, America with 12 percent and Africa closes the list with seven percent.
The list of world's largest arms suppliers remains stable too. The USA tops the list with 30 percent of the global export of defense products.
The USA shipped 44% of its arms to Asia, 28% - to the Middle East and 19% - to Europe.
Germany is the world's third largest arms exporter (11 percent of world sales); France comes next with seven percent. The fourth place is taken by Britain - 4 percent.
The volume of world arms transfers has increased by 24 percent in comparison with the period from 2001 to 2005. Russia was the leader on the actual volume of exports during 2000-2004. However, the situation changed during 2005-2008. The share of the Russian Federation on the world market of arms reached the highest point in 2003 (33%), but then dropped to 23% as of 2005-2009.
Vladimir Shabanov
Bigness
Read the original in Russian
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WEEE-take back >
Electrical and electronic equipment or ‘EEE’ means equipment which is dependent on electric currents or electromagnetic fields in order to work properly and equipment for the generation, transfer and measurement of such currents and fields and designed for use with a voltage rating not exceeding 1 000 volts for alternating current and 1 500 volts for direct current;
Waste electrical and electronic equipment or WEEE -or ‘WEEE’ means electrical or electronic equipment which is waste within the meaning of Annex 1(9) of Law 211/2011, on the waste regime, republished, including all components, sub-assemblies and consumables which are part of the product at the time of discarding;
Producer means any natural or legal person who, irrespective of the selling technique used, including distance communication within the meaning of Government Emergency Ordinance no. 34/2014 on the consumer rights under the agreements concluded with professionals, as well as for the amendment and supplementation of certain norms:
(i)is established in Romania and manufactures EEE under his own name or trademark, or has EEE designed or manufactured and markets it under his name or trademark within the territory of Romania;
(ii)is established in a Romania and resells within the territory of that Romania, under his own name or trademark, equipment produced by other suppliers, a reseller not being regarded as the ‘producer’ if the brand of the producer appears on the equipment, as provided for in point (i);
(iii)is established in a Romania and places on the market of Romania, on a professional basis, EEE from a third country or from another Member State; or
(iv)sells EEE by means of distance communication directly to private households or to users other than private households in Romania, and is established in another Member State or in a third country.
Distributor - means any natural or legal person in the supply chain, who makes an EEE available on the market. This definition does not prevent a distributor from being, at the same time, a producer
WEEE from private households - means WEEE which comes from private households and WEEE which comes from commercial, industrial, institutional and other sources which, because of its nature and quantity, is similar to that from private households. Waste from EEE likely to be used by both private households and users other than private households shall in any event be considered to be WEEE from private households;
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Featured Philosophy and Insight
6 Radial Shifts in Society Being Normalized by the New World Order
October 31, 2017 November 1, 2017 renegade 13 Comments
By Sigmund Fraud
To some degree, the term New World Order (NWO) seems to be falling out of vogue as the information war presses onward. With so much corruption and perversion being exposed in every sector of society, who has time to consider the over-arching idea that forms the ideological foundation of it all?
The New World Order has evolved into the unspoken of finish line that anyone in power strives for. It is not a particular group any longer, per se, but rather the supreme idea that total centralization of power is the forgone conclusion for the people of the earth.
I don’t think it’s right to frame the New World Order as necessarily a policy or group. I think it’s more part of an ideology of globalism that has been explicitly articulated in various ways by various people who are linked, but not always directly like we might think.” ~James Corbett
To manifest an idea as big as this for the entire world requires sweeping changes to how people live, what they believe, what they value, and how they interact with each other. It is, in essence, a cultural revolution. This is being accomplished by the slow but steady normalization of ideas and practices into popular culture, so that in time, things once unacceptable become ubiquitous.
This is the proverbial boiling pot of water, slowly cooking the frog who won’t notice the rise in temperature until it’s already too late to jump for escape. We are slipping into to dangerous territory, and while there is a backlash brewing against many aspects of this, it is advantageous to take note of the full spectrum of societal alterations we are witnessing today.
As examples, here are six things that are being normalized, all around us. They are issues which drastically alter the psychology and behavior of people in ways which reduce personal liberty and individualism, so that the world is more easily led into global governance and top-down tyranny.
1. Permanent War
We’ve been warned by Orwell that totalitarianism requires permanent war, flipping the script so that war is peace. Randolph Bourne explained to us that war is the health of the state. We’ve been at war now continuously for sixteen years, and it has become such an ordinary part of life, that no one cares where the wars are or how we got involved. No one cares how dependent our economy has become on resupplying the bombs and weaponry which destabilize the world.
The impact of war on ‘society’ is even more dramatic. Bourne writes, “…in general, the nation in war-time attains a uniformity of feeling, a hierarchy of values culminating at the undisputed apex of the State ideal, which could not possibly be produced through any other agency than war.” Instead of embodying its peace time principle of functioning — ‘live and let live,’ society adopts the State’s principle of “a group” acting “in its aggressive aspects.” [Source]
2. The Denial of Human Nature and of Natural Law
Society is developing in such a way that values can no longer be agreed upon, and values which run counter to nature are being pressed to the top of public consciousness. Confusion over gender identity is perhaps the best example of this, as we now see government enacting laws to punish people who insist that our biological nature is and always will be indisputably clear.
Nihilism occurs in a society after values have been devaluated. It feels as if values no longer exist. When the value system of society attempts to control the natural world in a way that it cannot be controlled, the system will fail, and then it will appear that society has a lack of values.” ~Lauren Rose
3. The Cashless Society
Without micro-management of the individual’s finances, humans are still free to act outside of the system by using cash to trade for goods and services without direct oversight from authoritarians. This is quickly coming to an end, however, as many advances toward a cashless society are being made, and at an ever-increasing pace.
If we don’t have the ability to trade with one another without permission, then every purchase we make, even for food, is subject to the approval of an inhumane, exploitative government.
Among the long list of items bundled by consensus reality merchants under the banner of ‘conspiracy theory’, is a world without cash – where technocrats rule over the populace, and everything and anything is exchanged via plastic and RFID chips.
In this sterile and controlled Orwellian hi-tech society, the idea of cash being passed from hand to hand would be as archaic as the thought of carrying around a rucksack of tally sticks today.” ~Patrick Henningsen
4. Total Surveillance and the End of Privacy
Just as in Orwell’s 1984 where telescreens watch over everyone with two-way communication, today’s world is being engineered to accept and even love total surveillance. Fear has been the main tactic used to push this idea into public consciousness, and the drive for the end of privacy began in earnest after 9/11.
Today, with the ever-present threat of terror attacks surveillance seems like a good idea to many people, but privacy is almost non-existent now even at the consumer level as well. Products willingly purchased by happy customers include the most invasive technologies ever. People are actually paying to place devices in their own homes which listen and see everything and is in constant communication with corporate databases. The technocracy closes in.
While they understand that connected platforms and devices can lead to negative outcomes, they figure the bad stuff will happen to someone else or, if they suffer in some regard, they will still land on their feet.” [Source]
5. Cannibalism
This is almost too bizarre to even think about, but cannibalism is being normalized in mainstream culture. The theme has been recurring quite often in movies, programs and in music videos, and news stories involving cannibalism are frequently found in mainstream media as front page news.
Cannibalism seems like an outlier in the agenda of the NWO, but it plays an especially important role in devaluing human life, and encourages people to willfully participate in the zombification of the self.
Writers and directors reframing cannibalism as an affliction of the mind rather than the body have turned it into a complex, often conflicted new archetype. Most of the new run of cannibal stories treat their subjects not as monsters, but as human beings wrestling with the all-consuming desire to do something revolting. They’re like zombies with a conscience.” [Source]
6. Radical Sexual Perversion and Perversion of the Human Body
In the midst of massive revelations about the sexual predation of Hollywood, it’s imperative to recognize that sexual perversion and perversion of the self in general are quite already fully normalized today. It is a widely known and tacitly accepted part of the nihilism in our society today.
We are seeing an increase in the amount of busts pedophiles and sex-trafficking rings, and we are hoping to see more exposure of corporate and government pedophiles. The fact that so many busts are happening is an indication of just how big this issue is.
Meanwhile, mainstream news outlets continue to glorify and give ample coverage of extreme surgical body modifications and sex changes in children. This is reinforcing the idea that the human being is an imperfect invention and that to give oneself over so fully to the ego is perfectly acceptable. Once the individual is so totally lost inside of their own body, consciousness will have no center.
For the New World Order to be come to fruition, many, many people have to willingly acquiesce to ever-expanding usurpations of natural liberties by ever-growing government. In order for this to happen, people have to be programmed with the idea that individuals are lesser than the group, that human beings are somehow not worth saving. Our culture has to be radically altered to accept a new set of values.
Sigmund Fraud is a survivor of modern psychiatry and a dedicated mental activist. He is a staff writer for WakingTimes.com where he indulges in the possibility of a massive shift towards a more psychologically aware future for humankind.
This article (6 Radial Shifts in Society Being Normalized by the New World Order) was originally created and published by Waking Times and is published here under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Sigmund Fraud and WakingTimes.com. It may be re-posted freely with proper attribution, author bio, and this copyright statement.
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June 19, 2019 Kyle Hunt 10
Fredrick Toben
If you browse through the Jerusalem/Palestinian Talmud, Babylonian Talmud and Tanach, then it will become clear that the NWO design is directly inspired by the content of such perverse texts.
Great Ocean
Rightly so. The concept of total surveillance and a god which spies on everyone and constantly worries about what they say or do could have only originated in a fear-based environment. Or as the jews say, “Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”
Table Talk Oct. 21, 1941:
The idea of a universal god could seem to them [the Romans] only a mild form of madness—for, if three peoples fight one another, each invoking the same god, this means that, at any rate, two of them are praying in vain.
sybarite123
G.K. Chesterton gives us a very helpful principle: “Heresy is a truth gone wild.” By this Chesterton means that if we emphasise only one truth to the exclusion of all other truths, then we end up with a corruption and distortion even of the one truth that is seen. In the NWO advocates, they see one overriding truth. And that truth is that people must be controlled by an all-wise agent to attain the Elites’ Utopia. Ordinary people are merely slaves of the Elite. To give any freedom to people invites disaster. However, in such a case,… Read more »
Chesterton is brilliant. He’s also Catholic. He wrote a book I saw reviewed on Amazon by a Jewess. She had to throw it out and complain that it had “a worm” in it. It was, brace yourself, anti-Semitic. “Anyone who is for truth, who is against the evil that these monsters are perpetrating against us and looking to do to our children.” Scott Roberts, October 31: https://youtu.be/g8vBwaldwX4 How is it even possible a lying, deceptive, corrupt, hostile, sick, demented, psychopathic garbage “elite” is able to have so much uncontested power and control when they have no truth… Read more »
You can feel the restrained optimism in this one. Once the masses understand how badly they have been deceived, and how much of how they view the world is a pile of lies, that all their teachers are bought and paid for prostitutes or else “Jew-ish” people who think they’re on the inside of this sinister Jew supremacist agenda, there will be no putting the cat back in the bag. We’re on the verge of a paradigm shift the likes of which you can’t even imagine. Like Scott says, the perpetrators know what is at stake. They… Read more »
The protocols called the average Jews the “lesser brethren”. That was in reference to using anti-Semitism to keep them in line.
It’s basically the same game being played now on everyone with the fake terror. Big Brother puts on a terror production and turns the screws tighter using fake terror event as a justification. It’s just a larger version of a rabbi painting a swastika on a synagogue.
Looked up Chesterton, seems like he’d qualify as one of those “wizard and charmer” types mentioned in Bolshevism From Moses to Lenin. It must be emphasized that he attacked Hitler’s movement & eugenics, anti-Semitism alone can’t make up for that. It must also be pointed out that the villains of his stories involve the occult. This is typical fear-mongering and misrepresentation of paganism. Excerpt from one of his stories (I’m sure there’s more like this, I just did a quick scan): Father Brown was blinking in his short-sighted way at the paper presented to him. It was… Read more »
Allison MacPherson
Love is not the answer, observe what is happening in Europe due to Christian “love”. Many of these idiots are actually welcoming the people who aim to destroy them. Consciousness is the answer. Being Aware. We are not living in a space reality. We live in a reality in which organisms eat other organisms. The truth is, natural law infers that birds of a feather flock together. Do you observe different species of birds flocking together in nature? different turtles? different any species? Hell no and you won’t because it goes against natural law. The Jesuit priest… Read more »
SanityClaus
Yes, I have seen a multitude of different kinds of birds flying in a huge river of migration from horizon to horizon across the sky. They passed over my head, tens of thousands of them, for a period of half an hour. There is no natural law. There is civilian authority. I believe in civilian supremacy. This is essential to the Declaration of Independence as it is mentioned specifically. I am a civilian supremacist.
Might I contribute a quote from Aristotle? “Tolerance and apathy are the last virtues of a dying society.” Nihilism has no values; hence nothing to fight for. Multiculturalism, where all cultures are equally good, has been sold by the mantra “Diversity is our strength.” The only “ideology” that perfects man is Christianity. Why? Because Christianity is God-Made, not Man-Made as are ideologies. As St. Thomas Aquinas put it: “Grace does not destroy nature but perfects it.” Or, as the Book of Wisdom(in the Catholic Old Testament) says: “”For you love all things that are and loathe nothing… Read more »
Aristotle’s alright in my book. Thomas Aquinas was at least conscious of the jewish menace, but like Kant, he’s not at all comparable to Plato. Not even Jerome or Augustine, who came to their conclusions from reading the writings of Pythagoreans and Platonists respectively). I’ll grant that the Wisdom of Solomon has some interesting quotes, it’s a shame it’s not in the Protestant bible. Ecclesiastes was not written by one man, it has ideas that can be found in other writings. Wisdom of Solomon likely shares a similar origin. >The only “ideology” that perfects man is Christianity.… Read more »
Nick Dean
I want a new world order. I don’t like the current one.
Don’t get distracted by an innocuous term, used casually once or twice by puppet politicians.
It’s weird that people are so easily dazzled and fascinated by this trivial terminology.
alex gore
“I don’t think it’s right to frame the New World Order as necessarily a policy or group. ” – James Corbett. What a fraud.
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RevenueSA > Public Consultation > Simplify Day >
The legislative changes to implement the extension of the family farm exemption provisions (Statutes Amendment and Repeal (Simplify No 2) Bill 2017) have not passed parliament.
Statutes Amendment and Repeal (Simplify No 2) Bill 2017 was introduced into Parliament on Thursday, 10 August 2017.
This Bill proposes to extend the family farm exemption provisions of the Stamp Duties Act 1923 to include transfers to or from companies, in addition to individuals and trusts, where all other existing criteria are met. This will result in equal treatment for stamp duty on family farm transfers regardless of how the property is held.
For further information please view the Simplify Day Reducing Red Tape and Regulatory Burden 2017 report.
The State Government will hold its annual red tape repeal day in 2017 focused on cutting unnecessary red tape and removing outdated and redundant legislation.
The first Simplify Day was held last year and identified a broad range of reforms across our economy. This included reforms to fees, licences, permit, notification requirements and compliance that will make a real and lasting difference to the people and businesses affected.
The second Simplify Day will be held in August 2017, with ideas for change being put forward by business and the community.
Tell us about specific rules and processes that are outdated, don't add value and make it more difficult to simply get on and grow the economy and create jobs. Send your suggestions via simplifyday@sa.gov.au or complete a short survey about rules and regulations that affect your business. Survey closes 10 April 2017.
How will your input be used?
YourSAy will take your comments and discuss them with industry and other interested groups to work out the best way forward. Ultimately Cabinet approval will be sought to amend or abolish laws which are counterproductive to business or redundant. The aim is to introduce legislation that cuts red tape in Parliament during August 2017.
YourSAy will let you know what has happened as a result of this initiative through a report published on the YourSAy website at the end of the process.
This process will also occur in combination with feedback receive through YourSAy and consultation with industry sectors, Government agencies and relevant stakeholders.
For more information you can visit the Simpler Regulation Unit on the Department of Treasury and Finance website.
As part of Simplify Day, a parliamentary sitting day held on Tuesday 15 November 2016 which has been set aside to repeal out-dated and redundant legislation from the stock of rules and requirements impacting on business and the community, the Government has announced the following measures impacting taxation legislation:
the repeal of the Financial Institutions Duty Act 1983 and the Debits Tax Act 1994; and
the removal of redundant provisions relating to rental businesses, the gaming machine surcharge, mortgages, financial products, personal property and associated consequential amendments in the Stamp Duties Act 1923.
The legislative amendments to implement the above measures are contained in the Statutes Amendment and Repeal (Simplify) Bill 2016 (the “Bill”), introduced into Parliament on 15 November 2016. The operation of these measures is subject to the Bill coming into force as an Act.
The State Government has approved a range of initiatives to ensure government regulation and decision making is undertaken quickly and efficiently. The initiatives support a key economic priority of government, which is to make South Australia the best place to do business.
One of these initiatives is Simplify Day, a parliamentary sitting day to be held on Tuesday, 15 November 2016, which has been set aside to repeal out-dated and redundant legislation from the stock of rules and requirements impacting on business and the community.
The opportunity to simplify state revenue legislation extends to provisions under legislation, not just whole legislative instruments, as well as making legislation simpler to read and comply with.
By way of example, the rental business and mortgages provisions in the Stamp Duties Act 1923 may be considered to be redundant as these taxes were abolished from 1 July 2009.
In addition, the ongoing liability to pay financial institutions duty and debits tax was removed on 1 July 2001 and 1 July 2005 respectively, however, the Financial Institutions Duty Act 1983 and the Debits Tax Act 1994 have yet to be repealed.
Your suggestions in relation to South Australian state revenue legislation are sought by close of business on Thursday, 11 August 2016 and can be submitted by email to simplifyday@sa.gov.au.
Based upon suggestions received during the public consultation period, detailed legislative change proposals will be developed, in partnership with industry, before being introduced into Parliament on 15 November 2016.
You are also encouraged to contribute suggestions for simplification across the range of State legislation, further information in relation to the Simplify Day initiative is available at the SA Government website YourSAy.
Date Last Reviewed: 13 Mar 2018
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born on 3/4/1924 in Omaha, NE, United States
died on 1/7/2004 in Los Angeles, CA, United States
Biography Biography
Close-up of Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront.
Marlon Brando, Jr.
Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.
July 1 2004 (aged 80)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Actor, film director, singer
Anna Kashfi (1957-1959)
Movita Castaneda (1960-1962)
Tarita Teriipia (1962-1972)
13, including:
Christian Brando (deceased)
Cheyenne Brando (deceased)
Stephen Blackehart
Marlon Brando, Sr.
Dodie Brando
Marlon Brando, Jr. (April 3, 1924 July 1, 2004) was an American actor who performed for over half a century.
He was perhaps best known for his roles as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), his Academy Award-nominated performance as Emiliano Zapata in Viva Zapata! (1952), his role as Mark Antony in the MGM film adaptation of the Shakespeare play Julius Caesar (1953), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award, and his Academy Award-winning performance as Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront (1954). During the 1970s, he was most famous for his Academy Award-winning performance as Vito Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather (1972), also playing Colonel Walter Kurtz in another Coppola film, Apocalypse Now (1979). Brando delivered an Academy Award-nominated performance as Paul in Last Tango in Paris (1972), in addition to directing and starring in the western film One-Eyed Jacks (1961).
Brando had a significant impact on film acting, and was the foremost example of the "method" acting style. While he became notorious for his "mumbling" diction and exuding a raw animal magnetism,[1] his mercurial performances were nonetheless highly regarded, and he is considered one of the greatest and most influential actors of the 20th century. Director Martin Scorsese said of him, "He is the marker. There's 'before Brando' and 'after Brando'.'"[2] Actor Jack Nicholson once said, "When Marlon dies, everybody moves up one."[3]
Brando was also an activist, supporting many issues, notably the African-American Civil Rights Movement and various American Indian Movements.
Marlon Brando was born in Omaha, Nebraska, to Marlon Brando, Sr., a pesticide and chemical feed manufacturer, and his wife, Dorothy Julia (née Pennebaker). His parents moved to Evanston, Illinois, but separated when he was eleven years old. His mother took her three children: Jocelyn (1919-2005), Frances (1922-1994) and Marlon, to live with her mother in Santa Ana, California. In 1937, Brando's parents reconciled and moved together to Libertyville, Illinois, north of Chicago.
Brando's family was of German, Dutch, Irish, and English ancestry. His direct male ancestor Johann Wilhelm Brandau emigrated to New Amsterdam in the 17th century from Pfalz, Germany (contrary to some biographies, Brando's grandfather Eugene E. Brando was not French but was born in New York.)[4] Brando was raised a Christian Scientist.[5] His grandmother Marie Holloway abandoned her family when Marlon Brando, Sr., was five years old. She used the money Eugene sent her to support her gambling and alcoholism.[6]
Marlon Brando, Sr., was a talented amateur photographer. His wife, known as Dodie, was unconventional but talented, having been an actress.[7][8] She smoked, wore trousers, and drove cars, unusual for women at the time. However, she was an alcoholic and often had to be brought home from Chicago bars by her husband; she finally joined Alcoholics Anonymous. Dodie Brando acted and was a theater administrator. She helped Henry Fonda to begin his acting career, and fueled her son Marlon's interest in stage acting. However, Brando was closer to his maternal grandmother, Bessie Gahan Pennebaker Meyers, than to his mother. Widowed while young, Meyers worked as a secretary and later as a Christian Science practitioner. Her father, Myles Gahan, was a doctor from Ireland; her mother, Julia Watts, was from England.
Brando was a mimic from early childhood and developed an ability to absorb the mannerisms of people he played and display them dramatically while staying in character. His sister Jocelyn Brando was the first to pursue an acting career, going to study at the American Academy of Dramatic Art. She appeared on Broadway, then movies and television. Brando's sister Frances left college in California to study art in New York. Brando soon followed her.
Brando had been held back a year in school and was later expelled from Libertyville High School for riding his motorcycle through the corridors. He was sent to Shattuck Military Academy, where his father had studied before him. Brando excelled at theatre and did well in the school. In his final year (1943), however, he was put on probation for talking back to a student officer during maneuvers. He was confined to the campus, but tried going into town, and was caught. The faculty voted to expel him, though he was supported by the students, who thought expulsion was too harsh. He was invited back for the following year, but decided instead to drop out of high school.[9]
Brando worked as a ditch-digger as a summer job arranged by his father. It was also during this time that Brando attempted to join the Army. However at his army induction physical it was discovered that a football injury that he had sustained at Shattuck had left him with a trick knee. Brando was therefore classified as a 4-F, and not inducted into the Army.[10] He then decided to follow his sisters to New York. His father supported him for six months, then offered to help him find a job as a salesman. However, Brando left to study at the American Theatre Wing Professional School, part of the Dramatic Workshop of The New School with the influential German director Erwin Piscator and at the Actors Studio. He also studied with Stella Adler and learned the techniques of the Stanislavski System. There is a story in which Adler spoke about teaching Brando, saying that she had instructed the class to act like chickens, then adding that a nuclear bomb was about to fall on them. Most of the class clucked and ran around wildly, but Brando sat calmly and pretended to lay an egg. Asked by Adler why he had chosen to react this way, he said, "I'm a chicken, what do I know about nuclear bombs?"
Brando used his Stanislavski System skills for his first summer-stock roles in Sayville, New York on Long Island. His behavior got him kicked out of the cast of the New School's production in Sayville, but he was discovered in a locally produced play there and then made it to Broadway in the bittersweet drama I Remember Mama in 1944. Critics voted him "Broadway's Most Promising Actor" for his role as an anguished veteran in Truckline Café, although the play was a commercial failure. In 1946 he appeared on Broadway as the young hero in the political drama A Flag is Born, refusing to accept wages above the Actor's Equity rate because of his commitment to the cause of Israeli independence.[11][12] In that same year, Brando played the role of Marchbanks with Katharine Cornell in her production's revival of Candida, one of her signature roles.[13] Cornell also cast him as The Messenger in a her production of Jean Anouilh's Antigone that same year. Brando achieved stardom, however, as Stanley Kowalski in Tennessee Williams's 1947 play A Streetcar Named Desire, directed by Elia Kazan. Brando sought out that role,[14] driving out to Provincetown, Massachusetts, where Williams was spending the summer, to audition for the part. Williams recalled that he opened the screen door and knew, instantly, that he had his Stanley Kowalski. Brando's performance revolutionized acting technique and set the model for the American form of method acting.
Afterward, Brando was asked to do a screen test for Warner Brothers studio for the film Rebel Without A Cause,[15] which James Dean was later cast in. The screen test appears as an extra in the 2006 DVD release of A Streetcar Named Desire.
Brando's first screen role was as the bitter paraplegic veteran in The Men in 1950. True to his method, Brando spent a month in bed at the Birmingham Army Hospital in Van Nuys to prepare for the role. By Brando's own account it may have been because of this film that his draft status was changed from 4-F to 1-A. He had had an operation on the knee he had injured at Shattuck, and it was no longer physically debilitating enough to incur exclusion from the draft. When Brando reported to the induction center he answered a questionnaire provided to him by saying his race was "human", his color was "Seasonal-oyster white to beige", and he told an Army doctor that he was psycho neurotic. When the draft board referred him to a psychiatrist Brando explained how he had been expelled from Military School, and that he had severe problems with authority. Coincidentally enough the psychiatrist knew a doctor friend of Brando, and Brando was able to avoid military service during the Korean War.[16]
Brando brought his performance as Stanley Kowalski to the screen in Kazan's adaptation of Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for that role, and again in each of the next three years for his roles in Viva Zapata! in 1952, Julius Caesar in 1953 as Mark Antony, and On the Waterfront in 1954. These first five films of his career established Brando, as evidenced in his winning the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in three consecutive years, 1951 to 1953.
In 1953, Brando also starred in The Wild One riding his own Triumph Thunderbird 6T motorcycle which caused consternation to Triumph's importers, as the subject matter was rowdy motorcycle gangs taking over a small town. But the images of Brando posing with his Triumph motorcycle became iconic, even forming the basis of his wax dummy at Madame Tussauds.
Later that same year, Brando starred in Lee Falk's production of George Bernard Shaw's Arms and the Man in Boston. Falk was proud to tell people that Marlon Brando turned down an offer of $10,000 per week on Broadway, in favor of working on Falk's play in Boston. His Boston contract was less than $500 per week. It would be the last time he ever acted in a stage play.
Brando won the Oscar for his role of Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront. For the famous I coulda' been a contender scene, Brando convinced Kazan that the scripted scene was unrealistic, and with Rod Steiger, improvised the final product.
Brando then took a variety of roles in the 1950s: as Sky Masterson in the musical Guys and Dolls; as Sakini, a Japanese interpreter for the U.S. Army in postwar Japan in The Teahouse of the August Moon; as a United States Air Force officer in Sayonara, and a Nazi officer in The Young Lions.
In the 1960s, Brando starred in films such as Mutiny on the Bounty (1962); One-Eyed Jacks (1961), a western that would be the only film Brando would ever direct; The Chase (1966), and Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967), portraying a repressed gay army officer. It was the type of performance that later led critic Stanley Crouch to write, "Brando's main achievement was to portray the taciturn but stoic gloom of those pulverized by circumstances."[17] He also played a guru in the sex farce Candy (1968). Burn! (1969), which Brando would later claim as his personal favorite, was a commercial failure. His career slowed down by the end of the decade as he gained a reputation for being difficult to work with.
Brando's performance as Vito Corleone or 'the Don' in 1972's The Godfather was a mid-career turning point. Director Francis Ford Coppola convinced Brando to submit to a "make-up" test, in which Brando did his own makeup (he used cotton balls to simulate the puffed-cheek look). Coppola was electrified by Brando's characterization as the head of a crime family, but had to fight the studio in order to cast the temperamental Brando. Mario Puzo always imagined Brando as Corleone.[18] However, Paramount studio heads wanted to give the role to Danny Thomas in the hope that Thomas would have his own production company throw in its lot with Paramount. Thomas declined the role and actually urged the studio to cast Brando at the behest of Coppola and others who had witnessed the screen test.
Eventually, Charles Bluhdorn, the president of Paramount parent Gulf + Western, was won over to letting Brando have the role; when he saw the screen test, he asked in amazement, "What are we watching? Who is this old guinea?"
Brando won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance, but turned down the Oscar, becoming the second actor to refuse a Best Actor award (the first being George C. Scott for Patton). Brando boycotted the award ceremony, sending instead American Indian Rights activist Sacheen Littlefeather, who appeared in full Apache dress, to state Brando's reasons, which were based on his objection to the depiction of American Indians[19] by Hollywood and television.
The actor followed with Bernardo Bertolucci's 1973 film, Last Tango in Paris, but the performance was overshadowed by an uproar over the erotic nature of the film. Despite the controversy which attended both the film and the man, the Academy once again nominated Brando for the Best Actor.
Brando, along with James Caan, was later scheduled in 1974 to appear in the final scene of The Godfather Part II. However, rewrites were made to the script when Brando refused to show up to the studio on the single day of shooting due to disputes with the studio.
Later career
Brando portrayed Superman's father Jor-El in the 1978 Superman. He agreed to the role only on assurance that he would be paid a large sum for what amounted to a small part, that he would not have to read the script beforehand and his lines would be displayed somewhere off-camera. It was revealed in a documentary contained in the 2001 DVD release of Superman, that he was paid $3.7 million for just two weeks of work.
Brando also filmed scenes for the movie's sequel, Superman II, but after producers refused to pay him the same percentage he received for the first movie, he denied them permission to use the footage. However, after Brando's death the footage was reincorporated into the 2006 re-cut of the film, Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut.
Two years after Brando's death, he "reprised" the role of Jor-El in the 2006 "loose sequel" Superman Returns, in which both used and unused archive footage of Brando as Jor-El from the first two Superman films was remastered for a scene in the Fortress of Solitude, and Brando's voice-overs were used throughout the film.
In 1979, Marlon Brando starred as Colonel Walter E. Kurtz in Francis Ford Coppola's Vietnam epic Apocalypse Now. Brando plays a highly decorated American Army Special Forces officer who goes renegade. He runs his own operations out of Cambodia and is feared by the US military as much as the Vietnamese. Brando was paid $1 million a week for his work.
Despite announcing his retirement from acting in 1980, he subsequently gave interesting supporting performances in movies such as A Dry White Season (for which he was again nominated for an Oscar in 1989), The Freshman in 1990 and Don Juan DeMarco in 1995. In his last film, The Score (2001), he starred with fellow method actor Robert De Niro. Some later performances, such as The Island of Dr Moreau (1996), earned Brando some of the most uncomplimentary reviews of his career.
Brando conceived the idea of a novel called Fan-Tan with director Donald Cammell in 1979, which was not released until 2005.[20]
In 2004, Brando signed with Tunisian film director Ridha Behion and began pre-production on a project to be titled Brando and Brando. Up to a week before his death, Brando was working on the script in anticipation of a July/August 2004 start date.[21] Production was suspended in July 2004 following Brando's death, at which time Behi stated that he would continue the film as an homage to Brando,[22] with a new title of Citizen Brando.[23][24]
Brando became well known for his crusades for civil rights, Native American rights, and other political causes. He also earned a "bad boy" reputation for his public outbursts and antics. On June 12, 1973, Brando broke paparazzo Ron Galella's jaw. Galella had followed Brando, who was accompanied by talk show host Dick Cavett, after a taping of The Dick Cavett Show in New York City. He reportedly paid a $40,000 out-of-court settlement and suffered an infected hand as a result. Galella wore a football helmet the next time he photographed Brando at a gala benefiting the American Indians Development Association.
In Songs My Mother Taught Me, Brando claimed he met Marilyn Monroe at a party as she played piano, unnoticed by anybody else there, and they had an affair and maintained an intermittent relationship for many years, receiving a telephone call from her several days before she died. He also claimed numerous other romances, although he did not discuss his marriages, his wives, or his children in his autobiography.
Brando married actress Anna Kashfi in 1957. Kashfi was born in Calcutta and moved to Wales from India in 1947. She is said to have been the daughter of a Welsh steel worker of Irish descent, William O'Callaghan, who had been superintendent on the Indian State railways. However, in her book, Brando for Breakfast, she claimed that she really is half Indian and that the press incorrectly thought that her stepfather, O'Callaghan, was her real father. She said her real father was Indian and that she was the result of an "unregistered alliance" between her parents. In 1959, Brando and Kashfi divorced after the birth of their son, Christian Brando, on May 11, 1958.
In 1960, Brando married Movita Castaneda, a Mexican-American actress seven years his senior; they were divorced in 1962. Castaneda had appeared in the first Mutiny on the Bounty film in 1935, some 27 years before the 1962 remake with Brando as Fletcher Christian. Brando's behavior during the filming of Bounty seemed to bolster his reputation as a difficult star. He was blamed for a change in director and a runaway budget, though he disclaimed responsibility for either.
The Bounty experience affected Brando's life in a profound way. He fell in love with Tahiti and its people. He bought a twelve-island atoll, Tetiaroa, which he intended to make partly an environmental laboratory and partly a resort. Tahitian beauty Tarita Teriipia, who played Fletcher Christian's love interest, became Brando's third wife on August 10, 1962. She was 20 years old, 18 years younger than Brando. A 1961 article on Teriipia in the fan magazine Motion Picture described Brando's delight at how naïve and unsophisticated she was. Because Teriipia was a native French speaker, Brando became fluent in the language and gave numerous interviews in French.[25][26] Teriipia became the mother of two of his children. They divorced in July 1972. Brando eventually had a hotel built on Tetiaroa. It went through many redesigns as a result of changes demanded by Brando over the years. It is now closed. A new hotel, consisting of thirty deluxe villas, was planned.[27]
In an interview with Gary Carey, for his 1976 biography The Only Contender, Brando said, "Homosexuality is so much in fashion it no longer makes news. Like a large number of men, I, too, have had homosexual experiences and I am not ashamed. I have never paid much attention to what people think about me. But if there is someone who is convinced that Jack Nicholson and I are lovers, may they continue to do so. I find it amusing." On his death, his ashes were scattered in Tahiti and Death Valley.
In 1992, he donated money to Michael Jackson to help start his Heal the World Foundation.
by Anna Kashfi:
Christian Devi Brando (aka Gary Brown; May 11, 1958 January 26, 2008, died of pneumonia)
by Movita Castaneda
Miko Castaneda Brando (b. 1960)
Rebecca Brando (b. 1966)
by Tarita Teriipia:
Simon Teihotu Brando (b. 1963) the only inhabitant of Tetiaroa
Tarita Cheyenne Brando (1970-1995), committed suicide by hanging
Petra Brando-Corval (b. 1972), daughter of Brando's assistant Caroline Barrett and novelist James Clavell (aka Charles Edmund DuMaresq de Clavell)
by unidentified mothers:
Stefano Brando aka Stephen Blackehart (b. 1967)[28][29]
Maimiti Brando (b. 1977)
Raiatua Brando (b. 1982)
Dylan Brando (1968-1988)
by his housekeeper, Maria Christina Ruiz:
Ninna Priscilla Brando (b. May 13, 1989)
Myles Jonathan Brando (b. January 16, 1992)
Timothy Gahan Brando (b. January 6, 1994)
Michael Brando (b.1988)
Tuki Brando (b. 1990)
Shooting involving Brando's son, Christian
In May 1990, Dag Drollet, the Tahitian lover of Brando's daughter Cheyenne, died of a gunshot wound after a confrontation with Cheyenne's half-brother Christian at the family's hilltop home above Beverly Hills. Christian, then 31 years old, claimed he was drunk and the shooting was accidental.
After heavily publicized pre-trial proceedings, Christian pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and use of a gun. He was sentenced to ten years in prison. Before the sentence, Brando delivered an hour of testimony, in which he said he and his former wife had failed Christian. He commented softly to members of the Drollet family: "I'm sorry... If I could trade places with Dag, I would. I'm prepared for the consequences." Afterward, Drollet's father said he thought Brando was acting and his son was "getting away with murder." The tragedy was compounded in 1995, when Cheyenne, suffering from lingering effects of a serious car accident and said to still be depressed over Drollet's death, committed suicide by hanging herself in Tahiti. Christian Brando died of pneumonia at age 49, on January 26, 2008.
Final years and death
Brando's notoriety, his troubled family life, and his obesity attracted more attention than his late acting career. He gained a great deal of weight in the 1980s and by the mid 1990s he weighed over 300 lbs. (136 kg) and suffered from diabetes. Like Orson Welles or Elvis Presley, he had a history of weight fluctuations through his career, attributed to his years of stress-related overeating followed by compensatory dieting. He also earned a reputation for being difficult on the set, often unwilling or unable to memorize his lines and less interested in taking direction than in confronting the film director with odd demands. Brando also dabbled with some innovation in his last years. Brando had several patents issued in his name from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, all of which involve a method of tensioning drum heads, in June 2002 November 2004. For example, see U.S. Patent 6,812,392 and its equivalents.
The actor was a longtime close friend of entertainer Michael Jackson and paid regular visits to his Neverland Ranch, resting there for weeks at a time. Brando also participated in the singer's two-day solo career thirtieth-anniversary celebration concerts in 2001, and starred in his 13-minute-long music video, "You Rock My World," in the same year. The actor's son, Miko, was Jackson's bodyguard and assistant for several years, and was a friend of the singer. He stated "The last time my father left his house to go anywhere, to spend any kind of time... was with Michael Jackson. He loved it... He had a 24-hour chef, 24-hour security, 24-hour help, 24-hour kitchen, 24-hour maid service."[30] On Jackson's 30th anniversary concert, Brando gave a speech to the audience on humanitarian work which received a poor reaction from the audience and was unaired.
On July 1, 2004, Brando died, aged 80. He left behind eleven children as well as over thirty grandchildren. The cause of death was intentionally withheld, his lawyer citing privacy concerns. It was later revealed that he had died at UCLA Medical Center of respiratory failure brought on by pulmonary fibrosis. He also suffered from congestive heart failure,[31] failing eyesight caused by diabetes, and liver cancer.[32] Before his death and despite his ill-health, he recorded his voice to appear in The Godfather: The Game, once again as Don Vito Corleone.
Karl Malden, Brando's fellow actor in A Streetcar Named Desire, On The Waterfront, and One-Eyed Jacks (the only film directed by Brando), talks in a documentary accompanying the DVD of A Streetcar Named Desire about a phone call he received from Brando shortly before Brando's death. A distressed Brando told Malden he kept falling over. Malden wanted to come over, but Brando put him off telling him there was no point. Three weeks later, Brando was dead. Shortly before his death, Brando had apparently refused permission for tubes carrying oxygen to be inserted into his lungs, which, he was told, was the only way to prolong his life.
Brando was cremated, and his ashes were put in with those of his childhood friend Wally Cox and another friend. They were then scattered partly in Tahiti and partly in Death Valley.[33]
In 2007, a 165-minute biopic of Brando, Brando: The Documentary, produced by Mike Medavoy (the executor of Brando's will) for Turner Classic Movies, was released.[34]
In 1946, Brando showed his dedication to the Jewish desire for a homeland by performing in Ben Hecht's Zionist play "A Flag is Born." Brando's involvement had an impact on three of the most contentious issues of the early postwar period: the fight to establish a Jewish state, the smuggling of Holocaust survivors to Israel, and the battle against racial segregation in the United States.
Brando attended some fundraisers for John F. Kennedy in the 1960 presidential election.
In August 1963, Brando participated in the March on Washington along with fellow celebrities Harry Belafonte, James Garner, Charlton Heston, Burt Lancaster, and Sidney Poitier.[35] Brando also, along with Paul Newman, participated in the freedom rides.
In the aftermath of the 1968 slaying of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Brando made one of the strongest commitments to furthering Dr. King's work. Shortly after Dr. King's death, Brando announced that he was bowing out of the lead role of a major film (The Arrangement) which was about to begin production, in order to devote himself to the civil rights movement. "I felt Id better go find out where it is; what it is to be black in this country; what this rage is all about," Brando said on the late night ABC-TV Joey Bishop Show.
The actor's participation in the African-American civil rights movement actually began well before King's death. In the early 1960s Brando contributed thousands of dollars to both the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (S.C.L.C.) and to a scholarship fund established for the children of slain Mississippi N.A.A.C.P. leader Medgar Evers. By this time, Brando was already involved in films that carried messages about human rights: "Sayonara," which addressed interracial romance, and "The Ugly American," depicting the conduct of US officials abroad and its deleterious effect on the citizens of foreign countries. For a time Brando was also donating money to the Black Panther Party and considered himself a friend of founder Bobby Seale.[36] However, Brando ended his financial support for the group over his perception of its increasing radicalization, specifically a passage in a Panther pamphlet put out by Eldridge Cleaver advocating indiscriminate violence, "for the Revolution."
At the 1973 Academy Awards ceremony, Brando refused to accept the Oscar for his performance in The Godfather. Sacheen Littlefeather represented Mr. Brando at the ceremony. She appeared in full Apache clothing. She stated that owing to the "poor treatment of Native Americans in the film industry" Mr. Brando would not accept the award.[37] At this time the 1973 standoff at Wounded Knee occurred, causing rising tensions between the government and Native American activists. The event grabbed the attention of the US and the world media. This was considered a major event and victory for the movement by its supporters and participants.
Outside of his film work, Brando not only appeared before the California Assembly in support of a fair housing law, but personally joined picket lines in demonstrations protesting discrimination in housing developments.
Comments on Jews, Hollywood, and Israel
In an interview in Playboy magazine in January 1979, Brando said: "You've seen every single race besmirched, but you never saw an image of the kike because the Jews were ever so watchful for thatand rightly so. They never allowed it to be shown on screen. The Jews have done so much for the world that, I suppose, you get extra disappointed because they didn't pay attention to that."[38]
Brando made a similar allegation on Larry King Live in April 1996, saying "Hollywood is run by Jews; it is owned by Jews, and they should have a greater sensitivity about the issue ofof people who are suffering. Because they've exploitedwe have seen thewe have seen the Nigger and Greaseball, we've seen the Chink, we've seen the slit-eyed dangerous Jap, we have seen the wily Filipino, we've seen everything but we never saw the Kike. Because they knew perfectly well, that that is where you draw the wagons around." King, who is Jewish, replied, "When you saywhen you say something like that you are playing right in, though, to anti-Semitic people who say the Jews are" at which point Brando interrupted. "No, no, because I will be the first one who will appraise the Jews honestly and say 'Thank God for the Jews.'"[39]
Jay Kanter, Brando's agent, producer and friend defended him in Daily Variety: "Marlon has spoken to me for hours about his fondness for the Jewish people, and he is a well-known supporter of Israel."[40]
In an interview with NBC Today one day after Brando's death, Larry King also defended Brando's comments saying that they were out of proportion and taken out of context.
Honors, awards and nominations
Brando was named the fourth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute, and part of Time magazine's Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century.[41]
Main article: Marlon Brando filmography
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Baker, Russell. "Capital Is Occupied by a Gentle Army." (PDF) The New York Times, August 28, 1963, p. 17.
Archival footage of Marlon Brando with Bobby Seale in Oakland, 1968: http://diva.sfsu.edu/collections/sfbatv/bundles/188783
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Marlon Brando on Jewish Influence On U.S. Culture in Films. Washington-report.org. Retrieved on 2010-10-05.
Jewish groups riled over Brando's attacks April 1996, Tom Tugend, Jewish Telegraphic Agency]
Marlon Brando TIME.
Bain, David Haward. The Old Iron Road: An Epic of Rails, Roads, and the Urge to Go West. New York: Penguin Books, 2004. ISBN 0-14303-526-6.
Bosworth, Patricia. Marlon Brando. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2001. ISBN 0-297-84284-6.
Brando, Anna Kashfi and E.P. Stein. Brando for Breakfast. New York: Crown Publishers, 1979. ISBN 0-517-53686-2.
Brando, Marlon and Donald Cammell. Fan-Tan. New York: Knopf, 2005. ISBN 1-40004-471-5.
Brando, Marlon and Robert Lindsey. Brando: Songs My Mother Taught Me. New York: Random House, 1994. ISBN 0-67941-013-9.
Pierpont, Claudia Roth. Method Man. New Yorker, October 27, 2008.
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Marlon Brando Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando at the Internet Movie Database
Marlon Brando at the TCM Movie Database
Marlon Brando at the Internet Broadway Database
Marlon Brando at All Movie Guide
Marlon Brando. Find a Grave.
The Oddfather, Rolling Stone, Jod Kaftan, April 25, 2002
Court TV: Christian Brando: A Hollywood Family Tragedy
Vanity Fair: The King Who Would Be Man by Budd Schulberg
Marlon Brando: Never-Seen Portraits slideshow by Life magazine
The New Yorker: The Duke in His Domain Truman Capote's influential 1957 interview.
Marlon Brando, Oscar-Winning Actor, Is Dead at 80
Obituary from The Washington Post
Obituary at Slate
MSNBC: Marlon Brando dies in Los Angeles hospital
Long article on auction of Brando's possessions at The Observer (UK)
Awards for Marlon Brando
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor Motion Picture Drama
Paul Lukas (1943) · Alexander Knox (1944) · Ray Milland (1945) · Gregory Peck (1946) · Ronald Colman (1947) · Laurence Olivier (1948) · Broderick Crawford (1949) · José Ferrer (1950) · Fredric March (1951) · Gary Cooper (1952) · Spencer Tracy (1953) · Marlon Brando (1954) · Ernest Borgnine (1955) · Kirk Douglas (1956) · Alec Guinness (1957) · David Niven (1958) · Anthony Franciosa (1959) · Burt Lancaster (1960)
Complete List · (1943-1960) · (1961-1980) · (1981-2000) · (2001present)
Maximilian Schell (1961) · Gregory Peck (1962) · Sidney Poitier (1963) · Peter O'Toole (1964) · Omar Sharif (1965) · Paul Scofield (1966) · Rod Steiger (1967) · Peter O'Toole (1968) · John Wayne (1969) · George C. Scott (1970) · Gene Hackman (1971) · Marlon Brando (1972) · Al Pacino (1973) · Jack Nicholson (1974) · Jack Nicholson (1975) · Peter Finch (1976) · Richard Burton (1977) · Jon Voight (1978) · Dustin Hoffman (1979) · Robert De Niro (1980)
This page was last modified 11.06.2011 06:40:37
This article uses material from the article Marlon Brando from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and it is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
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New research shows anti-wrinkle cream chemical works – University of Reading
Reading home> News and Events > Press Releases > New research shows anti-wrinkle cream chemical works
New research shows anti-wrinkle cream chemical works
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Release Date 05 March 2013
University of Reading researchers have found that a chemical used in some anti-wrinkle creams can nearly double the amount of the protein collagen needed to give skin its elasticity.
Due to competition in the cosmetic industry, evidence of the effectiveness of cosmetics is hard to find. The research team measured the effectiveness of a peptide called MatrixylTM on collagen, a protein which repairs skin tissue. They found that MatrixylTM can almost double the amount of collagen¹ that the cells in our body produce, provided the concentration is high enough.
Professor Ian Hamley, from the University of Reading's Department of Chemistry, said: "Studies like this are very important for the consumer as cosmetic companies rarely publish their work so rivals can't copy their products. Our research, supported by a University studentship with some additional funding by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), shows that products with MatrixylTM will have skin-care benefits."
Collagen is the most abundant protein in mammals and constitutes a significant proportion of our connective tissue. It is thought that peptide-based treatments that stimulate the formation of collagen could be made to treat wounds and enhance stem cell research, as well as be used for cosmetic applications.
"Collagen-based materials have immense potential in tissue engineering," continued Professor Hamley. "BBSRC has recently funded the team to investigate wound healing in battlefield applications, as part of a collaboration with the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, part of the Ministry of Defence."
Research partner Dr Che Connon, Reader in Tissue Engineering and Cell Therapy at the University of Reading, is using collagen based materials in the development of artificial tissues and stem cell transplantation.
In 2011 Professor Hamley received a prestigious Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award as part of a scheme to keep Britain's top research scientists in the UK. His previous research has provided new insights into potential treatments for Alzheimer's disease, a degenerative and incurable form of dementia that afflicts millions of people worldwide.
Collagen Stimulating Effect of Peptide Amphiphile C16-KTTKS on Human Fibroblasts was published (with page numbers) on the Molecular Pharmaceutics website on Monday 4 March.
For all media enquiries please contact James Barr, University of Reading Press Officer on 0118 378 7115 or by email on j.w.barr@reading.ac.uk
Follow us on Twitter | Like us on Facebook | Read our research blog 'The Forum'
¹ 1.7x if used 80 parts per million concentration
The University of Reading is ranked among the top 1% of universities in the world (THE World University Rankings 2012) and is one of the UK's top research-intensive universities.
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The Interview Project
Read our dozens of interviews with creative entrepreneurs and artists from around the globe - about their exciting, fun, sometimes arduous, and even challenging processes - creating work that impact their communities.
James Bartlett on MoCADA, The Fear of Failing and Beating the NYC Grind
James Bartlett has a lot on his plate but you wouldn't know it. His calm coolness suggest he's often the laid back dude among the late night revelers, observing the chaos without being overrun by it. As the Executive Director of MoCADA, The Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts, James is constantly visioning and implementing, along with his tight staff, to showcase new and innovative work within the African Diaspora and create a space that values community outreach and interaction.
In addition to his work with MoCADA, James is the co-founder of MVMT, "a collective of artists, entrepreneurs, and organizers whose missions align to promote the arts, social entrepreneurship, and collective empowerment." We spoke about the paradox of the New York grind, his epiphany on his last trip to Ghana, and why the process and the present is all we have.
You’re from the South right?
Well, I’m from Louisville, Kentucky, born and raised. My father is, and was, a musician and singer but it just felt like it was a regular job to me. So in hindsight I had a lot of exposure to the arts but it didn’t feel like it growing up. It was just my dad’s job, he played piano and he sang.
Do you play any instruments?
I don’t. I just recently started dabbling on the piano. Growing up my dad didn’t discourage us from getting into music but he didn’t push us. I think secretly or subconsciously he didn’t want us to go into music because it’s a tough life. I like music but I wasn’t drawn to playing. I was drawn to basketball and played in high school and college. I came to NYU for grad school and got my masters in magazine publishing and I was bit with the entrepreneurial bug. I liked the magazine world but it was just one potential form of artistic and entrepreneurial expression and I was more interested in the arts in general, so I started exploring the business of the arts.
I stared a company with Terence Nance and Rolando Brown called MVMT. We had our own internal artistic projects and offered consulting services to arts organizations. On our own artistic projects, we settled into music and film. I worked and managed Blitz the Ambassador for about five or six years. I executive produced his first album and worked with him over the course of the next several years. On the film side, I worked with Terrance on his first feature film, An Oversimplification of Her Beauty.
I did the MVMT thing for about six or seven years but we started working with MoCADA as a client about four years ago. I fell more and more in love with the mission of the museum and even developed some projects from scratch like the MoCADA journeys program, a travel program I conceived and produced. Our first trip was to Ghana was in 2012 for about 35 people and I produced a concert featuring Blitz the Ambassador and Les Nubians; about 2000 people came out to the concert. The people that came on the trip from the states loved it. We’re actually planning a trip to Kenya next year.
MoCADA is kind of the intersection of the majority of my personal passions and interests. It combines so many things - from visual arts to performing arts etc. I also realized that in the six or seven years of doing MVMT, I‘ve always been the person who supported others artistic vision. I found that a skill I have is getting peoples artistic visions out but also being the museum director gives me the opportunity to create my own end vision as well. At the end of the day I set the tone, direction and the programming so for me it’s the perfect balance of facilitating the creation of art by others but also having a vision of my own that is very specific.
A museum is a very Western concept. It is the idea that art and culture needs to be housed in a building. I like to look at art and culture from a more African context. In Africa art is about community, connections, interaction, creativity, preservation of historical traditions, etc.
Can you talk a bit about the work MoCADA does with marginalized groups of folks in New York City? You're one of the only museums I know taking such a hands-on approach to working with residents of lower socio-economic neighborhoods. Museums typically have a really high-brow/elite type of aesthetic. Why is it important for you to change that ideology?
MoCADA really tries to reach people where they live, rather than insisting that they come to us. For that reason we put art programming in public schools, parks, small business, and public housing. We believe that art has the ability to transform lives and communities, and that it shouldn't be confined to a box, or reserved for the elite. The fact that we are even called a "museum," for me personally, is just to give funders a general box to put us in for grant purposes. We are much more than that. A museum is a very Western concept. It is the idea that art and culture needs to be housed in a building. I like to look at art and culture from a more African context. In Africa art is about community, connections, interaction, creativity, preservation of historical traditions, etc.
Obviously you work with many artists, do you ever feel like there's an artist in you that wants to be expressed?
I’ve always been very content with helping other people get out their vision. I’ve always felt like I was an artist in the sense that everyone is an artist. I always feel creative. I guess when I think of artists, I think of someone with a very specific vision that if changed, is compromised. I always think of my vision as very malleable and flexible and that my vision is bigger than anything I would have the capacity to create. I inherently have to enlist the support of others in creating their visions that are part of my overall vision. My personal artistic creativity is more just being a whole human being in the sense that art and creation is just a part of being human.
I always think of my vision as very malleable and flexible and that my vision is bigger than anything I would have the capacity to create. I inherently have to enlist the support of others in creating their visions that are part of my overall vision.
You have so much on your plate. How do you stay in the process, especially in a city like New York, which is constantly moving and going?
When I first came to New York I was super focused and driven and singularly focused on ‘making it’ and being successful - whatever that means. I worked constantly - to the point that even when I wasn’t working, my mind was working and I had zero down time. I went through years of that. It wasn’t a bad thing - it got me a lot of places. I think it was a period I had to go though. But I had this epiphany in Ghana. I realized being in Ghana that I had largely, on my own, produced this trip for 35 people and these 35 people would not be in Ghana had it not been for a random conversation I had had 18 months prior. Combined with that was the fact that for me, it was one of the most fulfilling things I had ever participated in in my life. The people were so amazing, and it was Blitz’s first concert in Ghana ever – his family was there.
It was a very rewarding experience and the epiphany was that in the process of doing the planning for that trip, for me, in the ranking of priorities that year, I don’t even think it cracked the top ten. I was doing it on the side of the million things I felt I had to do. And so in the process of it, I was not at all present. I was just used to working constantly and doing a lot of things and this was just another thing. Then I look up and I’m in Ghana and I was like ‘wow – this is one of the most rewarding and fulfilling things I have ever done.’ As I was planning it, I did not value it on that level at all. It was just, ‘let me get it done because I have to do it.’ It really made me rethink my priorities and how I prioritize things and think about what I want to be doing, what I need to be doing, how I spend my time and how I want to spend my life. It made me much more selective with the projects I take on and more present to the process.
It sounds like you started choosing quality over quantity. What do you think was driving you to take so much on?
I had to be really honest with myself. I think a large part of that period of my life was fear - fear of failing, fear of not accomplishing and when you’re afraid of that you kind of just throw everything at the wall like ‘ok I’m not going to sleep, I’m just gonna work. Who cares about relationships. I’m gonna make it.’ But you only do that if you’re afraid there’s a chance you’re not going to make it.
I think a large part of that period of my life was fear - fear of failing, fear of not accomplishing and when you’re afraid of that you kind of just throw everything at the wall like, ok I’m not going to sleep, I’m just gonna work..but you only do that if you’re afraid there’s a chance you’re not going to make it.
Now I’m more confident and secure in myself, my abilities, the direction I’m going in. I can further enjoy the process and it’s not all about the end goal or the end result. The process is all you have. If you’re always striving for goals, you’re never going to be satisfied. For the majority of my life I lived in the future, I defined myself not by where I was or what I was doing but where I was going and where I wanted to be. I think that is a coping strategy for being a young struggling artist or entrepreneur. You kinda have to justify the struggle like ‘I’m doing this for this because next year I’m going to be here.’ But all we have is right now. So, if you don’t fully embrace the now then who cares about the future.
Right, and then when we get what you want, we don’t fully enjoy it because we’re on to the next thing.
Right. Even though you accomplished that future you envisioned a year ago, you’re now in a new future.
For the majority of my life I lived in the future, I defined myself not by where I was or what I was doing but where I was going and where I wanted to be. I think that is a coping strategy for being a young struggling artist or entrepreneur.
And then it’s never enough.
Right, it’s never enough.
Do you have any tools you use to stay present and in the process?
I would still very much consider myself a novice but I’ve started meditating more and pursuing more practices that aren’t geared towards a specific end goal. Like, I’ve started dabbling on the piano or I started learning French. Not for a specific goal just to explore different ways of expression, different ways to use my brain. Again, I think it’s just about being more comfortable with myself and where I am. You’re less concerned about getting to the future when you feel that momentum carrying you there. It reminds me of a rather interesting quote I heard, ‘fall in love with the process and the results will come.’
Interview by Jahan Mantin
Born and raised on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Jahan is an OG of pre-gentrified New York. She is a traveler, book nerd, creative coach, music lover, editor and the Co-Founder of Project Inkblot.
Tom Bogaert--International Humanitarian, Activist, Artist
I received an email over a year ago that I was intrigued by, but didn't quite believe was real. Tom Bogaert, a then Cairo-based visual artist, asked to use an article that I had written for Revive Music on Sun Ra for an multimedia installation in Egypt on the iconic jazz composer, bandleader, and musician who had a mysterious and poorly recorded transformation in Egypt, and Tom wanted to uncover it. As I watched the Sun Ra project progress, as Tom was making headway into connecting with music historians and former Sun Ra band members--deepening his research, I also deepened my research of Tom's work. I was fascinated to find out that his original career was in international refugee law, and that he only exhibited his first solo show in NYC at the Elizabeth Foundation Studio Center in 2008. I wanted to understand how someone could transition so boldly from law to art, and actually bring his passion for humanitarianism and geopolitics from a legal context into the visual realm. His interview below is a reminder that what propels and fuels you is what you believe in, and the most natural way that your message is communicated from you--even if to onlookers--the connections may seem disparate.
Where are you from, and where did you spend your formative years?
I grew up in a family of cigar makers in a small town near Bruges, Belgium. I had a happy life there but I knew that I needed to do other things, that I had to leave. After high school I halfheartedly toyed with the idea of applying for film school but my mother disapproved and told me to get a 'real' diploma first. I settled with law school: no more mathematics and the university was in a real city. The fact that the cool uncle in the family was a lawyer also played a role. But to be honest I had absolutely no clue.
You were a refugee lawyer for several years for the UN. How did you initially become interested in these issues, and how did you decide to affect change in that way?
When I graduated from law school, Belgium still had mandatory military service for all able-bodied male citizens. I was deemed able-bodied but I really didn't want to go the army. So I applied for the status of consciences objector. I had to write a letter to the mayor of my hometown explaining my objections – the horror. I can't remember the exact words I used but my letter was based on a template given to me by an Anti War organization. My request was approved, and I did two years of Alternative Civilian Service in a center for asylum seekers in Brussels. After that I was employed by the Belgian Government Refugee Agency and later I worked for the United Nations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Cambodia and Thailand. Upon my return to Belgium I was appointed Refugee Coordinator for Amnesty International. By then I had become an activist; absolutely dedicated to the struggle against human rights violations across the globe.
How was the transition for you--from the analytical field of law--to the conceptual field of becoming a visual artist?
As far as I can remember I have always made art and after participating in a few exhibitions while still working for Amnesty, the idea of giving up my day job and spending more time making art became stuck in my head. It was time for change. I also wanted to start channeling my experience as a human rights activist more into my practice as an artist and at the same time I felt I needed more distance from the seriousness of my activism and subject matter. So I guess the usual mixture of push- and pull factors. I officially stopped practicing law in 2004 when I was selected to participate in the Elizabeth Foundation Studio Center program in New York City. I moved with my family to the US, started working with 'Jack the Pelican Presents' gallery in Brooklyn and since then I've been fortunate enough to be able to work full time as an artist.
When did you decide that you were an artist?
It took a while, but I think that somewhere by the end of 2004 I started writing 'visual artist' as my profession on official documents. So that's maybe when I decided for myself that I was an artist. Almost ten years ago now.
Would you consider what you do, social innovation?
As an artist it's not my intention to try to fix certain things in society by making art or by being innovative in my production process. Maybe I can place this in the context of the art / activism discussion. I don't see my artwork as an extension of my refugee work – even though it directly confronts the intersection of human rights, geopolitics, visual art and propaganda. I realize that given my academic background and professional history, an autobiographical reading of my artwork is unavoidable. People assume that I'm an activist. I operate within the tradition of political art but I try to steer away from one-dimensional didactic socio-politics that is often associated with the activist canon of visual culture. And there's also the issue of preaching to the contemporary art choir.
My work and that of many of my colleagues is inevitably politicized by its rootedness within various geopolitical contexts - but that doesn't make us activists. I don't think artists are per definition activists - it's about choice and intention. An artist becomes a militant when he or she moves beyond the aesthetic, the opportunity, the conceptual, and intentionally and persistently intervenes in the 'real world.' I have huge respect for activists. Being an activist comes with extremely hard work, passion, dedication and sacrifice whether you are an artist, a plumber, a lawyer or indeed a fruit vendor.
As an artist it’s not my intention to try to fix certain things in society by making art or by being innovative in my production process.
How does your passion for geopolitics affect or inform your creative work now?
I have always been a geopolitical news junkie – that is on the academic, theoretical level–and it was through my work with refugees and other victims of human rights abuse that I witnessed first-hand the concrete consequences of geo-politics in Europe, Central Africa and South-East Asia. After five fantastic years at the Elizabeth Foundation in Manhattan it was somehow time to move on. So in 2009 I followed my wife to the Middle East where we lived in Amman, Jordan for more than three years. In Amman, I started working on ‘Impression, proche orient' (IPO), an art project referring to issues relevant to the contemporary Near East society including the changes, politics, artistic identity and the New Arabs. Drawing on my experience as a foreigner living and working in the East, it was and is my intention to interpret understandings of the region - or lack thereof - from the inside out. As an outsider with the privilege of being given access to the inside, my aim is to use irony, gesture and narratives from the region by means of artistic production.
This is Rwanda 2004 from Tom Bogaert on Vimeo.
Drawing on my experience as a foreigner living and working in the East, it was and is my intention to interpret understandings of the region - or lack thereof - from the inside out. As an outsider with the privilege of being given access to the inside, my aim is to use irony, gesture and narratives from the region by means of artistic production.
What do you hope for your viewers to gain an understanding of after experiencing your work?
I make art that encourages viewers to interact and participate in serious scenarios. I don't make propaganda aimed to influence the attitude of the public toward a cause or position. I aim to provoke serious reflection but I have always tried to maintain a degree of lightness and humor in my work. The seriousness of the work and subject matter are often masked by this humor and by an intentional lack of high-production values.
What does it mean to you to be a creator? How does that hold you to account in the world? What parts of that enliven you or scare you? Or are those latter two one in the same?
Recently I was invited to participate in the 3rd 'Ghetto Biennale' in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Many things about the Ghetto Biennale seem problematic, from its name to its history, its art, its production, and its general progress. Participating in this type of context is risky on many levels. I don't work in a vacuum; I do feel I have responsibility, artistically, historically and theoretically but at the end of the day you have to make decisions for yourself.
One of the curators asked us: "Is it more politically correct or more ethical to eschew a slum neighborhood rather than to sit down and talk to its residents and hazard the consequences?" I decided to participate in the Ghetto Biennale and it was a fantastic experience – scary and exciting at the same time. Same thing with being an 'accidental orientalist' in the Middle East. I ended up in the Orient by accident – when I followed my wife to Amman. I understand that the issue of Saidian Orientalism – prejudiced outsider interpretations of the East as surveyed by Edward W. Said – that pervades my work is problematic. Constant self-examination and -criticism have indeed confirmed that there is very little moral higher ground for me to be left standing on. At the same time I seek to be more than a mere ‘Accidental Orientalist.’ Edward W. said: “there is, after all, a profound difference between the will to understand for purposes of co-existence and humanistic enlargement of horizons, and the will to dominate."
Constant self-examination and -criticism have indeed confirmed that there is very little moral higher ground for me to be left standing on. At the same time I seek to be more than a mere ‘Accidental Orientalist.’ Edward W. said: “there is, after all, a profound difference between the will to understand for purposes of co-existence and humanistic enlargement of horizons, and the will to dominate.
What is your creative process?
I pursue my practice by engaging an idea first, and then developing a plan that usually involves a combination of media, technologies and techniques, some of which are linked to conventional art media, and some of which are not usually associated with artmaking.
I've been told that I work in the tradition of the post-conceptual, the post-studio era. Sounds all very 'post', I would also like to be something 'pre' as in 'avant' - I'll keep you posted.
How do you approach creating an installation, and synthesizing disparate elements (sounds, words, images) into a multimedia piece? Can you use an example from a past exhibition?
For the Ghetto Biennale in December 2013 and after having done some homework I decided I wanted to do something with the local beer ‘Prestige’: a brand of American- style beer produced by the Heineken-owned ‘Brasserie Nationale d’Haiti.’ It is the best-selling beer in Haiti and the promotion campaign for it is based on a blatant nationalistic Haitian identity narrative. Fierce Haitian nationalistic discourse propagated by a Dutch multinational company – in order to sell more beer. So I invited Haitians to comment on the narrative behind the Prestige publicity campaign. In a mini survey, I asked about Haitian identity and possible ways of linking the results to a beer label. While interviewing and having conversations with people, Haitians and foreigners alike, I was acting less as an anthropologist, a sociologist or a visual artist and more merely trying to have a conversation with people about beer, multinationals and national identity. It was playful and a bit provocative and I wanted the project to reflect that attitude.
We gave a short introduction about the project and the interviewees and I were pretty soon on the same wave length and they understood what I was after. We talked about the benefits and dangers of foreign investments, about identity, about the old days and the new, about god and voodoo and death, things predictable and unpredictable - I guess we talked about life in general. After each conversation (we did about 60 – we only had a couple of days) we invited the participants to come up with a slogan that would best convey their thoughts. I then asked a local artist to paint publicity murals with the new slogans in downtown Port-au-Prince and I made 24 new Prestige etiquettes which we glued on empty beer bottles. They were presented in a voodoo temple and we had too many Prestiges at the opening event.
How do you reconcile fact from human experience in your work?
Personal encounters nourish my work; these experiences and memories are inscribed and expressed in the artwork. However, I have always been very reluctant to publicly share these personal elements on their own. I've worked in so many different places with so many great people; I don't feel comfortable blending the personal into the professional.
What does it feel like to finally birth a project? What is that initial feeling of letting go of your work and giving it away to the public and something bigger than yourself?
It feels great, intoxicating and therefore perhaps addictive, and all of the sudden your work is out there, in the open, and the public will see whatever they want to see in it.
A well-known art critic once described one of my Genocide pieces as an "effective, amusing piece, a metaphor for childhood play and angst." To be honest I was stunned. Also because I always provide a purely factual and descriptive text alongside my artwork – not to say that meaning only appears in text but simply to contextualize it; to draw some lines in the sand. What I'm trying to say is that when Gonzalez-Torres declares that "meaning is always shifting in time and space", this only goes for part of the artwork.
Describe a time when you almost gave up finishing a project?
It happens all the time. I have a massive archive of unfinished projects, rejected proposals, rejected grant applications, missed deadlines – now and again when I look over these files, I might recycle an idea or a phrase.
What grounds you to continue waking up each day and commit to making art?
I'm constantly amazed that I've been able to forge a function for myself as an artist in society. And that this new reality coexists with my desire for otherness, for change and difference. And paying my bills and feeding my kids of course.
Describe what you are currently working on:
Very excited to be currently working on '1971, Sun Ra in Egypt' a research- and visual arts project about the life and work of Sun Ra, the legendary American jazz pioneer, bandleader, mystic and philosopher. The project focuses on Sun Ra’s concerts in Egypt in 1971 and after Jordan, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon and Iraq this project is the sixth installment of 'Impression, proche orient.' It will take the form of performances, jazz concerts, a publication, video and an exhibition at Medrar for Contemporary Art in Cairo in May 2014. Political stability is still far of the horizon in Egypt and when I started working in Cairo the local art scene was having passionate debates about its relationship to the revolution of early 2011 and the perennial issue of the role of an artist in revolutionary times. I think maybe my choice for the 'less serious' Sun Ra as a resource for my project in Egypt should be seen in the context of my desire to further distantiate myself from the artist/activist connotation by means of a self-imposed estrangement from the usual seriousness of my subject matter. Not to say that Sun Ra is not serious, he was actually very serious about his un-seriousness. But that's another story.
Zerihun Seyoum: A Painter's Lens of Ethiopia
I know one person who lives in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. His name is Zerihun Seyoum and he is a painter. I learned about him this summer while at the Center Waaw, an art residency in Saint Louis, Senegal. Staffan and Jarmo, the two wonderful people who run the place, showed me his work, because they had exhibited it in Europe in the past. Having once seen images of Zerihun’s paintings, I found that they are not easily forgotten. They have a disquieting voice and a persistence about them. They, like the city he paints, seem never to be asleep. If his paintings could be people, they would be restless insomniacs, ready to speak to anyone who walks by. The potential and the vulnerability contained in such an encounter is perfectly encapsulated in a painting called “Making the Line.” It shows a child drawing a line, though the balance of power could be more in favor of the line than the child. No wonder: to draw a line is to make a miracle, and miracles are dangerous. In Zerihun’s paintings--not just a disaster-- but a global cataclysm is often just a hair away, yet he mercifully keeps his paintings balanced between miracle and disaster.I was very glad and grateful that Zerihun agreed to an interview for Project Inkblot. I hope he does not mind that when I pass through Addis, I will come find him in his studio. We certainly would love to have him visit us in New York.
If someone asked me to describe your paintings, I think I would mostly use verbs. You rarely depict a moment of stillness: people, objects and places are almost always depicted amidst a very active universe, and they are active themselves. Everything is on the move, and this movement is very energetic.
Sometimes this movement seems to verge on a collision or some sort of accident. On your canvases everything strives, yearns and reaches toward something. Can you please talk about what action means to you? And how it relates to painting as a medium?
As an artist you don't start painting to make people, objects, and places stuck on the canvas. You know and feel so many ways to express things and at the same time you are on a blank canvas yourself. It’s a long process happening on the inside, but when it comes out, it's a thing that's expressed in the moment--all at once--so there's a lot of simultaneous movement, and so there is constant movement in my paintings.
This happens not just in painting but also other art. And so then to study something is different from living it on the inside. By living through paintings, you always feel something unexpressed or unrevealed, and it makes you anxious to express that feeling.
Throughout my life, all my fun, enjoyment, relationships--it's all expressed through painting and art. After I finish a painting, it makes me feel everything that is going on, not just in my life but also in other people’s lives. This can be viewed as a kind of medicine. With words you can express feelings in some way, but when you finish what you have said it always seems like there is more to say. But painting is a medium capable of infinite expression and speaks more than words.
The reason behind all of the movement and energy in my painting is in large part because I think that now, more than ever, painting should be for and about everyone. But it's also there for personal reasons. It possesses me. There is the actual, physical act of painting. Each separate work has an artist and a painting that is specific to this one work. But in life, I always wonder why these things come to me: a disturbing moment, a beautiful moment, any type of moment. At the same moment in time there is a collision of feelings - like you can paint something disturbing but there is joy from just the expression of it. It's like you are born when you start to paint, and when it's finished, you grow up. With that growing up comes knowledge, but thereafter there is again ignorance because you realize what you don't know and that you are new again at the finish. That makes me strive to create, learn and grow further.
Do you want things to collide and break into pieces? Are they always about to merge, to stop being objects, and become abstract paintings?
Yes they are. That's why in a figurative way, the compositions are balanced. I don't do any sketching before I paint, rather the images tumble out from within me. It's a raw process, but it doesn't mean it comes easily. What I create comes from appreciation, whether it's disturbing or beautiful, it's all beautiful. It comes from the wonder of life. When you are exposed to a lot in life, you live beyond your senses; and to express that experience, it's difficult to put into words. Each piece represents a million stories inside the balanced chaos of my mind and heart, and so the piece represents that. But it's like asking a poet what is your exercise to write a poem? It's hard to put the process into words. You just express it and live it. It's different than when you are educated and get an academic training. The academic training allows you to understand what a work of art means and enables you to use professional words to describe it, but it's not a vehicle to fully and truly express yourself when you are painting.
Immediacy is another quality of your work that seems apparent. Things happen in the moment. How do you achieve this effect? Do you rely on memory, drawing, photography? Is there a relationship between immediacy and memory in painting and in your painting?
I do not rely on memory, drawing or photography.
When you have been making art for a long time—I cannot yet say I have been for a long, long time, but still, from my experience in art in my life thus far—you think about so many things. Sometimes you enjoy thinking, reflecting, even more than painting. I find that there are so many ideas that your mind is working to process constantly, that I never made a lot of them into paintings. What I think about becomes realized 5, 6, or even 7 years later.
When I have an idea, it's only in time that it can become a physical painting. Sometimes I have an idea and start painting but leave the work unfinished, and it remains unfinished because I don't quite understand it - and maybe it’s a great idea but not a great painting at that point. Often, these creations are completed years after I thought of them. I see things on the street, at home, on TV, from so many different mediums, and at the moment they can affect me, they make me smile, they are humorous, they touch me, and I may try to paint them in the moment but they remain unfinished, because I'm still processing them subconsciously for years. After I finish a piece for a long time there is comfort.
I think in life it is similar: you don't always process what you see in the moment, you see so many things but you don't see or understand so many things. All of it gets processed eventually, and in fact, 4 or 5 years later it may shape a person's life. I might be different from 5 or 6 years ago, but I make a painting that comes from an idea that was on the surface back then, and was processed over time. There is immediacy in every moment of the process, but not necessarily in creating the final piece.
If I make a painting that strives to address an issue in the world, I don't paint it as an issue out there in the world, but make it an individual, personal reflection. I believe that while anyone can say things, it can be challenging to practice self-expression. And the more you want to explore yourself, the more it seems dangerous. But once you do it, it just as difficult to go back. It's also addictive because you have trained yourself in this way, and you present your life in this kind of medium, so physically you become addicted to what you paint with, like oils, etc., but emotionally you also become addicted to exploring, expression, and you don't know what the end result is, but you just want to explore. In some ways it's dangerous. The addictive feeling of expression and exploration is dangerous, but it's good too. So you explore, you can get scared of yourself, and you try to stop yourself from exploring, but you can't contain it or stop it because you have already gone there. And so as a painter the more you develop your feelings and explore, the more you create with meaning.
So much of your work shows urban life. But this is not a city like any I have ever seen in Europe or in the States. Could you please describe your relationship to the city you paint.
I'm based in Addis Ababa, though my work could be based on any city. Though for me Addis is special because here you see the same traditional things happening that you would have seen 3000 years ago, and at the same time you see the modern, cosmopolitan lifestyle. You don't even have to go very far to see tradition: it's right outside your door, and normally you would go to see this kind of tradition in a festival, but living in Addis is like living in a festival every day.
I don’t exactly see a city as a cityscape. Cities have their own portraits, their own face, there are a lot of things going on, so I do not concentrate on a silent, still place. Rather, I choose vibrant, chaotic and dramatic places, which give you a kind of tension. I never have a silent experience.
And, like any person, I am influenced by my surroundings: their specific color, texture, lines. If you are living in a vibrant place, you get impressed by that, even subconsciously. You can see, for example, how in Diego Rivera’s work—he lived in Mexico—how his environment influenced him strongly and with such richness, and so it's the same for me here. And so for me, maybe I see a similarity between artists who live in places that are somehow similar.
It's like when you are young and you are learning a new alphabet, and so you use these letters you are taught as shapes to create meaningful words. When you are young, you first learn to write the actual letters and how to shape the letters. In a painting the shapes of the city are my letters. Over time you learn to create these letters, you build your vocabulary, and ultimately you become fluent about the city. And in fact you see that this language--the shapes of the city--is a universal language and can be the vocabulary of any city anywhere in the world.
In general, what are some of the places, urban or not, that you love the most in this world? And why?
A place where there is fast change. I like that for my work. Spontaneous places for inspiration. I grew up mostly in this kind of environment. I grew up in a market, so in a market you just never feel like something will stay there for long, rather you grow up to know that there is always change. I'm driven by change, and I can't stop change, so I create from it, and any place has that kind of energy, movement and dynamic nature. There is a lot of dynamism in color, and shape, and texture, so that means when you are in the middle of your studio you may have stillness to sit and think and create, and this contrasts with what's happening outside.
Your paintings always tell a story. What does narrative mean to you?
I don't like to stick too much to the story about how my childhood influenced me, because I'm not a child anymore. It's in the past. I have lived and continue to live since then. But one thing that stays with me is that my mother always bought books and she loved the books with pictures inside them so she would buy those. Instead of reading the words in the book, I would read aloud the images. I would see the images and I would tell the story of the book out loud, and so when she would hear me read the text she’d think that I was already reading. Then she would read the text and be surprised by what I illustrated because she heard me say so many things that were similar to the story. And even in later years when I was taught about Ethiopian traditional paintings at school, I was taught to discuss the powerful colors and distortions of the image that communicate the idea of the artwork. This was how I learned to understand and express what was written in images.
In school I studied a lot of European artists, but I found that after I graduated I just went back to my childhood and to the traditional Ethiopian art and even also to contemporary art to become inspired. For me art is not just about solving abstractly a problem of color or texture. As a person who grew up in the kind of place where I grew up, there is so many things to say and so many things to express, and so I paint those things. But I don't think all my paintings are necessarily about telling a story, rather, they are a mix of realism and abstract and semi-abstract expression. Storytelling is its own discipline, while paintings are the result of an art process, and in a lot of ways paintings are more expressive than storytelling. But if you start looking into the details of the painting you will see color, texture, and distortion, and all together they are pieces of a story. Paintings are like poems. They are a form of expression - and they don't have a beginning and they don't have an end. In the end, the painting has it's own life, and it has a different life for different people. My paintings have themes, but ultimately I am just giving people my moment, my emotions, my entire life displayed on a canvas.
Where do you stand in relationship to the Ethiopian tradition in the visual art, and how do you relate to the Western painting tradition?
I love to see western art in a book, and even walk around in a museum by myself to look at original paintings. Yet in western or Ethiopian art, both have strong similarities with respect to the artistic process, whether these paintings are cave drawings, or of modern life. In Ethiopian art I can see the same qualities I see in European art, and the same in traditional as in modern art. They all produce powerful and expressive pieces. And you can see this in eastern art too. There is richness that inspires me in all painting traditions.
If someone were to introduce you as an "African painter", what would you think about such an introduction?
There is something you derive from experience that then becomes the creative force that depicts your feelings in a painting. And this means that there is a universal quality to the feelings of any human being. On a professional level people are comfortable with making labels like this. In Africa and Ethiopia, art travels within the people because it's a part of their day-to-day living. In Europe, in the Western tradition, art has been well categorized, studied and analyzed on an institutional level for the last 500 years. But here it's not been studied in the same way. Here galleries and museums treat art in a kind of traditional way, through a historical approach. At the same time, here in Africa and in Ethiopia, art can happen anywhere: in the home or in the street, it is less formalized and institutionalized, so when someone is introduced as an African painter or an Ethiopian painter, I get this idea of a non-formalized and non-institutionalized environment. I am born in Ethiopia, so of course I'm an Ethiopian artist and an African artist, but on different level, I have encountered other artists from other countries to whom I relate easily in terms of my artistic process and artistic experiences.
What trends in contemporary Western art do you find interesting?
I especially like the development of conceptual art movement in the west. I enjoy graffiti art of the west, which has become mainstream, it is strong and I really enjoy it. I like the way someone like Banksy is able to exhibit art in an innovative way, using innovative mediums. This engages people. It engages those who wouldn't otherwise choose this kind of art. It also engages and exposes people who wouldn't be interested in experiencing art at all.
One of my favorite paintings of yours is Composition II. Is there anything you would want to say about it?
This painting shows how you can expose yourself too much. When you grasp something without any filters it means that you can be new to the world while actually being physically older. The world tells the story of old age, and we, as individuals, we are babies. So although we might think we are as old as the world, we are not, and we might think that the world began with us, but it did not. We are ultimately a part of this bigger universe. The world is very old and we are so young compared to it, so as newcomers we can't say we are really exposed to the world.
If you were not born a painter, what profession would you choose for yourself?
A painter's apprentice.
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Interview by Maria Doubrovskaia
Artists Novel Idea and Kyana Brindle on Black Female Identity
The title of this article was originally called " When and where I enter: the digital visuals of Novel Idea and Kyana Brindle of 1NMedia Salon and was scooped from Paula Giddings’ seminal work When And Where I Enter: The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America. Published in 1984, Giddings shares a historical perspective of how Black women responded to their circumstances - struggling against both racism and sexism from the seventeenth century to the end of the 70’s. – and finding pockets of success despite the hardship. Conceptually, When and where I enter, is a statement of will.
Novel and Kyana first met in 2003 through a performing artists collective called Smokin' Word. [Full disclosure: I had met them around this same time.] They have developed a friendship over the last decade that has now flourished into this collaboration – Naked Layers. Part performance art, part theater this work is reminiscent of artists Coco Fusco or Adrian Piper. Now some folks might find work that’s processing identity reflexive or passé. Every generation of artists has a plethora of views on this stuff. As a Black chick myself, I appreciate seeing other women grapple. If only to give myself permission to continue to grapple and share; if only to feel less alone. In watching this series, I thought of Michalengo’s David or Venus de Milo. In fine art, we often see nudes, static staring. Why does the moving image take it to the next level for us? Are we more prude now? Has pornography and reality TV jaded us to individual expressions of nakedness and vulnerability?
I speak to both of them about their process and the process of collaboration.
Describe yourselves as creatives. What is your artistic form? What do you enjoy doing? What are you afraid of doing?
Novel: That's a hard question because I don't like to limit or put myself in a box. Right now I would have to say I'm a filmmaker or media creative. I enjoy creating visuals that tell a story. This could be with digital photography or shooting a film/video. I also play around with identity stuff: logos, websites stuff like that. And I write a bit and this has many ways of manifesting. See? It's hard for me to identify one way that I create. I guess it's easiest to just say I'm creative. (Smile)
What kind of pieces are you writing?
Novel: I'm working on two film scripts, Life as Becky, which is about an adolescent black girl who grew up in a white neighborhood. It's basically her search for identity. And Runner, which is about a black man's journey back to his daughter’s life...sort of. I have a book I haven't touched in a bit that I would love to finish called BullDaggah.
By not limiting your creative work, is this liberating or frustrating? Do you feel like you could accomplish more if you stuck to one art form?
Novel: It’s both liberating and frustrating. Maybe I would [accomplish more] but then that's not who I am. Sometimes, for me anyway, what I want to say doesn't always fit in the form that is convenient. So it pushes me to explore other forms. Sometimes it just comes to me in a different form so I have to honor what it wants. As far as accomplishing more, if you mean success, well that's another topic for another time.
Kyana: I identify primarily as a performer and writer. For me that can encompass the many things I do as a writer, actor, singer, and all-around creative person. I love to express and explore creative energy through movement and sound. I also see myself as a facilitator of the creative process. I love to sing. Singing is my greatest love and also my greatest fear, as it is my most primal form of expression. I would love to sing more and collaborate with other singers and musicians, and have done a little of that here and there, but it still scares me to move fully toward that dream.
What was the inspiration behind 1NMedia Salon? What has been the greatest challenge? What do you hope to accomplish?
Novel:As far as inspiration for 1NMediaSalon, I would have to say the artist’s process has been the biggest. I have always worked with other artists in collaboration so I think I wanted to create a platform that would be about that. This is why our motto is Get 1N. It's about the act of collaboration, a signal, you know? Kyana clued me in on the ‘salon’ part some years ago when she assessed that many artists had come through my space to create and incubate and even exhibit. And the ‘media’ part is mainly the form. As far as challenge? The biggest one for me is just getting folks to say 1N and not N1 (smile ). I hope to accomplish good art.
What was the concept behind Naked Layers and why?
Kyana: Naked Layers came out of an idea Novel and I had for some "tasteful nudes" we wanted to put on the 1NMediaSalon website. As we further explored the idea, all of these feelings and worries came up for me around being photographed naked, and I realized that that was where all of the energy was. We decided to create a film project around some of the themes and issues about nudity and nakedness, and it's just evolved from there. I felt like sharing my exploration of all this body stuff could open up a conversation and experience for all of us, and that seemed important to try.
Describe your process of working together? What really worked? What did you have to let go of for yourself?
Novel: As far as process with Kyana, well I think it's just about communication. We bounce stuff off each other, try stuff out and if it works it works. If it doesn't we talk about why. Our process is very organic. In the case of our Naked Layers project, it's about getting to truth so we kinda have to get out of the way of ourselves.
Kyana:This is my first time working with film and it's been an interesting process. I am more used to performance, where you have an idea and you get up and do it - you can see an immediate result of that. Film is a very different process, a totally different animal from theater and performance, and it's been challenging for me. The wonderful thing is that Novel and I communicate really well. There is a lot of trust between us and that definitely helps, not only in sharing my ideas but also in actually getting naked for these film pieces. Novel and I talk through our ideas and also share our feelings about what comes up. There is a mutual appreciation for the roles we both play and for how vulnerable we both feel in doing this project. I also really respect Novel's skill and vision as a filmmaker, and we've learned to give and take constructive criticism from each other. I am used to being more in control of the creative projects that I do, and Novel understands when that rears its head while also gently letting me know when I'm being a pain in the ass and need to relinquish my grip a bit. We work really well together.
When I watched Naked Layers I felt is was very direct and honest but thoughtful. Not like Reality TV "honesty" but not particularly innocent either. What do you hope viewers receive from the piece?
Novel: First off thank you T for seeing that! I guess with any piece I create I want or hope that it resonates, and that it rings truthful. Particularly with this piece though because its so or I should say it feels a bit dangerous. And yes ,you're right, it's not innocent. We are aiming for truthful reality. Please call us on it though if it starts to feel contrived. (smile.)
Kyana: I really just want folks to have an experience with it. Whatever it is. I feel like my "stuff" around vulnerability and exposure and my relationship to my body are things that people can connect with in some way, and that may lead someone to explore all of that for themselves and have more love and compassion for themselves. I think it would be great if we could all give ourselves a break.
Kyana, earlier you said that singing is scary for you? Why is singing scary for you? What will you do in terms of process to overcome that fear? Will it be that same that you used to take your clothes off on front of the camera. That is pretty primal in and of itself.
Singing is scary because I feel so exposed when I'm doing it. I would like to make an effort to sing more publicly to overcome that fear. And yes, taking my clothes off is pretty much the epitome of exposure! I hadn't thought about it that way. Hopefully this process with Naked Layers will help me to push past my fears about singing.
Novel, when editing, did you know what you were looking for during the edit? Or did you let the piece reveal itself to you.
Novel: I wish I could say I knew what I was looking for. Each piece has been different and because of what it is it is the boss of me! So yes it has definitely revealed itself to me.
Naked Layers: "Getting to truth" pertaining to what? Is it Kyana's truth because she's the subject/object? What truth are you getting at as a director? Or are you getting to her truth?
Novel: Right now it is Kyana's truth but because she is gracious enough to share her process we get to share in it. If I'm doing my job right as a director I think it might just provoke us to ask similar questions and peel off our own layers. Each time Kyana and I go into production and shoot one of these things I feel like I want to throw up. Really. It's hard shit. I love it but it ain't easy. I know in my heart because its not easy we must be on the right track. So in answer perhaps I'm getting to a truth? Hell I don't know. I just have to keep going and see what happens.
Novel, you mentioned earlier that you hope to accomplish good art, define that.
Novel: I did say 'good' art, didn't I? I guess what I mean by that is honest art. I want to be able to say at the end of the day that this came from a real place of inspiration. I would also hope that my art touches someone or provokes some sort of change. For the better. But that can't be pre-determined, right? I just have to take a leap of faith with it all.
Interview by Tanisha Christie
Tanisha Christie is a producing filmmaker/performer and creative strategist. A certified spinning instructor and yoga enthusiast, she loves the beach and her white Specialized road bike. She’s hard at work on her next documentary project and too many other things. www.tanishachristie.com @tanishachristie
Scooter LaForge's ETs and Witches and Bears. Oh My!
Scooter LaForge creates wildly imaginative paintings and installation art that marry your most preverse fantasies with your favorite childhood cartoon icons. It really shouldn't be a surprise then that his clientele ranges from the likes of Nicki Minaj to the Barney's flagship store. Seeing his work (especially life-size) is like stepping into an adult horror amusement park. His work is jarring, fun, and visceral, but his motive is not just to shock and awe, or even to be ironic. No. Scooter's work is born out of punk counterculture, his lived experiences through vicious homophobia, the nostalgia of hopping from city to city, and the fictitious childhood friends of his era's manufactured pop culture. Our resident photographer, Seher, and I met up with Scooter in his Chinatown art studio to snap some candids, rap about his work, and to see how he gets down in his creative space.
I grew up in New Mexico in the desert.
I hear it’s a really ethereal place, I’ve never been there. But I feel like people from there have a special quality. Do you agree?
Oh yeah. You can feel it from people born and raised there. There's no state like that in the entire country. There are amazing and beautiful landscapes that you'll never see anywhere else.
How did that affect you visually?
It was beautiful. Mexican paintings--Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera paintings were everywhere. In Santa Fe there was lots of Georgia O’Keeffe. My mother had books and posters of them all over the house. I got introduced to those kinds of artists as a young kid because my mom was friends with a lot of painters, performers, and artists. She was a singer/songwriter. There were always art people around. I would always love looking at all the paintings and wanted to do that in my life at a very young age, but my parents were very afraid for me to go into that industry, because it’s a struggle--a dog’s life--but there was nothing I could do to stop it.
They wanted me to get into accounting. I had applied to all of these art and fashions schools, but they shot that down for me and made me go to this state school, The University of Arizona. They forced me to get into accounting, and I was like, 'there’s no way'. I started getting into graphic design, and majored in painting. I used to flunk out of my classes in high school, with D's and F's, but when I got into college taking creative classes, I started getting straight A's.
It’s interesting that your parents were creative people, but shot down your own creative pursuits. How did that make you feel?
I hated it.
Were you resentful?
Oh yeah. I felt really stifled, and really combative inside because I really looked up to them and wanted to impress them, but it was going against every single grain in my body to do what they asked of me. I’m so right brained, I’m dyslexic, I’m not good with numbers--
And they wanted you to go into accounting?
I hate math. It took a while for them to see me succeed at what I’m doing and to accept my lifestyle. I never had to ask them for money so they are very supportive of it now. Both of them are, but it took years and years and years.
Then you landed in the Bay Area, and then NY?
Right after college I went to San Francisco for like eight years, and lived there and worked as an artist, but I worked in a shoe store as well as painting. I had some success there, but I had always wanted to come here to New York, so I just packed everything up in September of 2001, and moved here by October 2001. I came to New York for a job later in life in my 30s. My job was in Soho. The store that I was going to work at closed down because it was below Houston Street*, you could really smell of the burning sensation of the building. It smelled like burnt sugar, or burnt electric fire.
Later I won a fellowship at Cooper Union. That's what really pushed me into a full painting career and when I decided that 'I'm giving up my life', as far as what I was doing before, and going into and devoting 100% to art.
* Scooter moved to NY right after 9/11 and the attack of the Twin Towers that affected the downtown area
What were you doing before dedicating your life to art 100%?
I was in the fashion industry. I was working for Marc Jacobs and then for Jimmy Choo. I was also doing the windows at Barneys and I ended up doing a big in-store installation for them. At Marc Jacobs, I was a sales person. Robert Duffy--he's the business partner at Marc Jacobs, the money behind the brand and backed the Marc Jacobs line before he left for Louis Vuitton. I was randomly painting portraits of my coworkers, and Robert Duffy was like, "oh why don't you do a window?" He wanted me to paint every single person in the company, and do an installation. Eventually I ended up quitting that job, and quitting Jimmy Choo, and doing this full time, and now I have a t-shirt line exclusively for Pat Fields. That's been going really well. It's all punk rock looking.
Where did the punk influence come from?
I've always been influenced by that style. I've always been punk rock in high school and college, and then into being an adult. Vivenne Westwood is probably my biggest influence. It translates into the work that I make, the clothes, the t-shirts. The t-shirts are all hand painted. I don't really consider myself a fashion designer, even though I made these pants [points to his polka dotted hand-made windbreakers] right before you guys got here. I was like, 'I want to make a cute outfit', so I made them in like half an hour.
With my shirts, they are my paintings on t-shirts. After I quit my job at Jimmy Choo, I was like, I need to make money. I started making these. They took a while to take off, but they did and I started getting better at it, then they started selling, and I was able to pull in some income.
You have some frequent customers don't you? Who are they?
Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, Iggy Pop, Miley Cyrus when she got all punked out. Remember she was this blond with long hair, and she went to spiky short hair. Right when she got her haircut, she came in and bought a bunch of my stuff.
You have some reoccurring characters in your work. Can you talk about them? It's like pop culture meets erotica meets childhood fairytale characters?
I love the sweetness with the sick. I like the really sweet stuff, and I like to make them really sick. I like to paint bears. My favorite fairytale is Goldilocks and the three bears. I collect everything, every book that has to do with that. It's a totally reoccurring theme, as well as this cat that I often paint. Also ET, I've been painting him a lot.
What's the fascination with ET?
I think it's the pop culture. That's the stuff that I grew up with as a kid that I loved that just made me feel good to have around me. I really do it for me, so they are really self-indulgent. It's really stuff that I myself love, even though everyone loves ET.
How do you negotiate between the child friendly characters and the erotica?
I just think it's all a combination of things that I've experienced in my life, because I've had some very low low points in my life as a child, growing up being kind of an outsider, an outcast, feminine and gay. I used to put my mom's wigs on and put on her high heels. I was always very femme in elementary, middle school, high school and got picked on. I think it's a combinations of those experiences, and just the trials and tribulations that I've gone through. I used to have a bad drug problem. The new ET painting that I'm working on says "Meth Kills", so I try to bring my experience in a fun way to put onto canvass and spread a message. I just mix everything up. I try to be as authentic as I can by mixing everything up with the experience that I've really had in my life, so I don't really pretend to want to paint portraits of rich ladies, you know what I mean?
When did you begin to give yourself permission to do such honest art?
When I was in San Francisco, I used to paint super tiny using really fine paint brushes that only had like five hairs. I also used to paint really hyper-realistic, and then I went to the Cooper Union Fellowship. They made me throw all that stuff away, use big brushes, paint, and really get into it. That's when I started to say, "you know what? I'm going to paint whatever I love and whenever I feel like it, whenever it's on my mind to get it out and put it onto the canvass." Whatever you put on the canvass, there's no limit to what you can do or express. You can get all of your sick thoughts out of your brain and onto the canvass, with some oil and turpentine, and relay a message.
Often, artists are asked about their final products, which are clean, and neatly put together. What's the actual process like for you?
It's messy, it's complicated, it starts with little drawings. I keep a notebook next to my bed, and when I think, oh I want to paint a witch and a bear and a cat together, I'll just write that idea down. I usually write down a story in words of what I want to paint, then I'll do water color, and then it turns into a big oil painting. That's usually how it works. I also use a lot of comics for inspiration. I just think they are really cool. I read comics and I watch cartoons almost every night before bed.
My mom would love you, she’s really into cartoons.
Oh really? That’s awesome. Well, I just really love this old stuff. I just think it’s so beautiful.
You don’t really see animations like the old stuff they used to do anymore.
No you don’t, and I really get into it. I probably will paint it again about three or four times until I get it out of my system. And then I move onto another icon or something.
What do you mean ‘get it out of your system’?
I get obsessed with stuff. Like right now I’m obsessed with witches. Before that I was obsessed with bears. I was obsessed with doing still life’s of flowers. I kind of toned that down, and then I got into ET. A lot of times I go through these things and I paint them 20 times and then I move onto something else.
Going back to earlier about your experience moving to New York, how did you come into your own, art-wise?
It was hard at first. You don’t know anyone. Everything seems so intangible. It was really hard to break into any kind of art field. I would send slides to all of these galleries, I applied to graduate school three years in a row and always got rejected, and I ended up getting really depressed, but just kept painting.
I always kept going and pushing myself. And then slowly but surely things started taking off, I started going to art shows, and then I got into the Cooper Union Fellowship, and I met some people there and got more confidence. It was like the best thing that ever happened to me. I had my life before that, and then I had my life after. So it’s two different chapters.
You said that you just 'kept painting'. It sounds like despite the difficulties that you experienced, you were still very persistent.
I was totally persistent, and getting my work out, which you have to be more creative doing that than painting. You have to market yourself. That’s where the true creativity comes in.
Talk about that a little bit.
You have to be so different than anyone else. To me that’s actually even more important than the painting if you want to be successful. I’m still the same painter. I’ll put the stuff out on my tumblr, Instagram and Facebook--stuff that I did ten years ago. People look at it now and they’re like, “oh my god, that’s amazing.” And I would have put them out 8 years ago, I would have gotten not one single word. The reason why I’m saying that is because now they’ve seen the accomplishments that I’ve had, but I had to be creative to get my stuff out there in the first place.
How do you motivate to keep going when met with so much rejection in the past?
When people see the desperation in people, that’s kind of a turn off to a lot of people. You just have to be patient and wait for people to come to you. You can’t force anything on anyone. I used to send stuff out like, “let’s do something!” It doesn’t work that way. They have to be aware of you and ask you. There are grants and things that I’ve applied to for six years in a row and never have gotten them. Sometimes it takes ten years to get them. The guy who's gallery I told you I had paintings in, on his website he has a disclaimer that says, “don’t be offended if it takes ten years for me to accept you into my gallery.”
What would you tell other artists just starting out and figuring out how to market their work?
You have to really figure out from the inside, what you want to say to the public, and figure out a creative way to get noticed.
For me, I had painted this really scandalous painting that this one gallery owner loved, and he put it in his art show. It was a prestigious gallery, and was what put me on the map. He put that in his gallery and it sold, and then he invited me to do another show that summer, and I gave him another painting, and that sold. That snowballed into me showing at another gallery, having a solo show last year, and now I’m going to do something at the Bronx Museum, a bunch of group shows, and a show coming up in England at the end of the year.
Photos by Seher Sikandar (except for Nicki Minaj, courtesy of Scooter LaForge)
Ben Rojas--The Warrior's Weapon is a Paint Brush
I met Ben Rojas sometime around 2008 at a little wellness gym called Embora in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, where we trained in ninjitsu and combative street fighting. Embora was a default gathering place for boho people-of-color--an alternative fitness joint --where yoga, dance, and other specialized classes were taught. The place naturally attracted artists, creatives, and entrepreneurs from around the way. Ben's vibrant life-sized paintings, incorporating faces of community members, adorned the mustard yellow walls of the space that overlooked us while we trained.
Ben has long employed a multimedia approach to depicting universal themes of warriorhood, resistance, colonialism, through his personal subjectivity of spirituality, ancestry, and Latin American culture. A native of the Bay Area, Ben helped found a street art collective called Trust Your Struggle, which has toured around the country, and throughout parts of Latin America, the U.S. and the Philippines. An art teacher at New Design High School in the Lower East Side, a new husband and father, and a grad student at NYU's Art Education Masters program at the Steinhart school, Ben has integrated his many creative worlds to effect change in his community.
Your family is from El Salvador. What made them come to the U.S. and settle down in the Bay Area?
My father’s mother was already in the Bay Area so my father followed in hope to be reunited with his mother who had left him with his father in El Salvador. My mother had an aunt and uncle already here in the States working so they applied to have my mother join them. I am assuming they both wanted to leave El Salvador to make a better living in the U.S.
The Bay Area seems like a pretty open-minded place for budding artists. How did growing up there help support your creative development?
Artists are everywhere in the Bay Area. Most people you meet are some kind of artist, which is both great and not so great at the same time. I was introduced to that artistic world as a youth writing graffiti and being involved in Hiphop culture. Within that Bay Area culture you quickly meet so many types of artists, MCs, filmmakers, writers, actors, painters, poets, musicians, dancers you name it. So being enveloped in that world so young helped establish a strong love for the arts, not only the arts but also art that meant something, art that fought for something. It was also very DIY. Most of the painters that I learned the most from were not art school graduates, they taught themselves and hung out with other great painters.
Were there people who discouraged you from going in this direction, and to find a more conventional path?
A few, but nothing that held me back from doing the art that I wanted to do. My parents were always supportive of my art. Their biggest concern was how I was going to pay bills as an artist, which any artist could probably relate to.
You are a multimedia artist, but what medium was the one that sparked your passion first?
That’s a tough question to answer. I would have to say illustration; I have always loved to draw. I remember as a child my father stealing tracing paper from his office job to give to me and I would trace all kinds of images from the books we had at home.
How do you think your art communicates who you are?
I believe my art communicates who I am through the stories that are told. I love stories. I was a bookworm from day one and still am. My visual pieces always have stories on top of stories. I am a visual storyteller, a trickster in many ways.
You are an arts educator as well, working mostly with high school aged youth. In a culture where pursuing art is not coveted or encouraged by most people, how do you speak to your students about the value of art in society?
I don’t actually do a lot of talking regarding that subject, the young people already know of the value even if they cannot speak on it. They show me they know by their love for my class, even if they don’t “do well” in an academic sense. They are constantly comparing my class to others and they thirst for the freedom they feel in an art class in other classes. I can on my part show my thrill and love for the art by just being enthusiastic about my work and their art. I also am constantly showing them contemporary artists that are doing fresh work, that isn’t just frozen in a museum or gallery.
My murals are usually created with the surrounding communities, folks on the block. There is a very interactive element with other people. It is also a different experience in that while you work on a mural in a public space you are always being asked questions and being given feedback from the average person walking by.
A lot of your work speaks on topics of colonialism, indigenous history, spirituality, and your ancestors, etc. Can you talk about how these topics became prevailing themes in your work?
In high school I became part of student empowerment group for Black and Brown youth called ST.E.P. which placed college students of color to mentor high school students. Through that group I learned so much of my people’s history, spirituality and most importantly lit that fire that made me want to educate myself the correct way. From that point on I was basically hooked on learning as much as I could on colonialism, indigenous spirituality, and the brutal and beautiful history of Natives, Europeans, and Africans in the Americas. Ancestors hold a powerful role in my life. I see it as a duty and an honor to place the ancestors in my art as a homage to what they have done to keep us alive.
Being a new parent, how do you pass on to your little one how she can explore her own creativity?
I am currently in NYU’s Art Education Masters program where I am reading and learning a ton on how to cultivate human development through the arts. So I am more aware of what my role should be in letting her explore and learn on her own. Play is also so powerful for children, especially toddlers for development, just letting her play, play with other children, play with different materials, basically touching all the bases for her multiple senses. My wife does a great job at taking her to classes that help with that. Also my wife usually has our daughter in her dance company rehearsals which is great.
Your wife Adia is an Afro-Haitian dance instructor. How does her cultural history— that is so prevalent in her work—intersect with yours in an artistic context, as well as a personal context?
Both of our art forms are clearly understood to be part of lives, not something separate. We are our art, our art is us. We not only share that quality but also a great love for our ancestors, which we work with in our art forms all the time.
What materials do you enjoy creating the most with?
At this moment in my life I am really enjoying working with ink, pencil, charcoal and markers. In regards to my 3D work with altars I love working with a large variety of materials, from animal skulls, knives, machetes, food and textiles.
What’s the difference in experience for you between creating life-size mural pieces in a live environment (like a mural on a wall) compared to a stationary canvas in a contained space?
Huge difference. My murals are usually created with the surrounding communities, folks on the block. There is a very interactive element with other people. It is also a different experience in that while you work on a mural in a public space you are always being asked questions and being given feedback from the average person walking by. A piece on a canvas that ends up in an enclosed space is way more personal, I can meditate and reflect on my process on an individual level.
You love doing portraits. How do you find your subjects?
I used to use other artist’s photography up until a few years ago. Now I take my own photos of friends. For the series that I’ve been working on for the last few years I focus on Brown people of the Americas and the Caribbean.
Practice people skills, learn how to speak to all kinds of people, learn the art of Code Switching. Practice speaking and writing about your art. Most of the time its how you speak about your art that makes people love your art or give you funding.
Your portraits are a bit re-imagined, not literally what you see of the person. They are placed in a different context, like what you see in your warrior series. Do you imagine the character first, or do you first depict the person and then figure out how to adorn them later?
I’ve done both. Sometimes I see the images in my head before and then adorn their bodies. Often I take a portrait of a person then add images onto their person, inspired by their personality or position of their body.
What’s the most difficult part about getting your work out there to the public?
I don’t know. I guess not having an agent or a gallery to endorse you.
What did the name Borish come from?
When I started writing graffiti as a youth my friends and I formed a crew called ISH. My intials are BOR so I just put them together. My other name Mincho is actually a kind of family name, all boys named Benjamin in El Salvador are called Mincho as a nickname. Vega is one of my family last names.
Can you speak a little about Trust Your Struggle and Trust Your Hustle?
Trust Your Struggle (TYS) is an artist collective that was formed in 2004 with myself and two other friends, Robert Trujillo and Scott Hoag. At that time we individually were part of different crews but felt that the three of us together shared a common goal of a visual art based on social justice, so we formed TYS. Trust Your Hustle was the name of two mural tours we did as a group in 2004 and 2006. The tour’s name was changed the other year when part of TYS went to the Philippines. Essentially what the tour was about was creating a network between us and communities we visited and painting as many murals as we could. In 2004 we traveled through Mexico and parts of Central America and in 2006 we crossed the US in a van from New York to San Francisco. You can view videos of our work on Vimeo or Youtube, just search under those names. On a side note our names have been used by others (clothing line named Trust Your Hustle and Urbanoutfitters using Trust Your Struggle) so just to put that out there that that isn’t us. We always thought of the slogan Trust Your Struggle to be of the People, free to use, its a state of mind not really “ours.” We always love seeing people online getting tattooed TYS, it's beautiful.
What projects are you currently working on?
I am still working on the series “Elegy” which are the illustrated portraits on paper. I am working on some new pieces which I hope will be part of a new solo show for September in Philly.
Any words of wisdom to budding young artists who are just finding their passion to pursue art professionally?
Practice people skills, learn how to speak to all kinds of people, learn the art of Code Switching. Practice speaking and writing about your art. Most of the time its how you speak about your art that makes people love your art or give you funding. Pay dues and know your place amongst elders who have been doing art before you were born. Take advantage of any free classes or studio sessions. and last, be humble in your rumble.
Ben Pic
Photos courtesy of Ben's website, Boyuan Gao, and feature photo by Miguel "Bounce" Perez
Kiky Thomanek's World Through Sketches
Kiky Thomanek has spent years city-hopping--acquiring cultural references through her senses--and fusing them into her art. When I met her through a friend up at The Pastry Shop on the Upper West Side a few years ago, I was enamored with her quirky, strongly accented Austrian humor--and later, after being introduced to her art--her clever and whimsical screen prints and illustrations. Her dark and silly characters, the rich and bold lines, and the ominous anecdotes, reminded me of early day Basquiat. The wonders of Skype chatting allowed us to surpass a few time zones and continents to talk about her globetrotting days, the many iterations of her art life, and how Francis Bacon changed her world.
How did you get started as an artist?
I’m a late bloomer so to speak. When I came to anything graphic design related, I was 20 or 21. I had some time abroad behind me. After high school, I went to London for a year. I just wanted to get away from home and see something new. I London I worked in a night club. I came back to Austria and was totally confused and didn’t know what to do. I started business school for half a year, which was a bad call. I don’t even remember why I enrolled, I never went to class.
Sort of by chance, I was talking to a friend who got interested in this graphic design school, and he brought me a brochure. I went to check it out with him and applied.
What about it locked it in for you to be an artist?
I took one illustration class. Actually, I think I begged the teacher to take me because there was no more space. I’m still very grateful for that decision. He gave us a lot of valuable information, but I think the most important thing was just the way that he was. He just kind of let us be.
There was one project that we did about typography, which was a real turning point for me. We had eight weeks time to complete it, and I did it all in five days and four nights, just drinking Red Bull.
Because you were so into it? I was so into it. That’s how I really found out what I am capable of, and what circumstances have to be like where I can produce something that is good, valuable, and that I really care for.
...it was sort of the first experience of just letting myself go, not fearing if I was going to make anything good, and just to go and do it.
What about that changed the game for you?
It was sort of the first experience of just letting myself go, not fearing if I was going to make anything good, and just to go and do it. It was a big turning point for me that one project, and from then on, I just felt like I want to be an artist. I still like the work that I created then.
What did you do after you finished school?
I was living in London with my ex-husband Peter and had a waitressing job at a pub. I tried to be creative and I was drawing a lot. That’s when I started printing t-shirts and fabrics and sewing images on t-shirts. I sold them at a market. That was in 2003.
And you lived in a few cities from that point right?
2004 I was in Berlin for a year--pretty much doing the same thing--but a little more extensively. That was the only kind of income that I had--making t-shirts and little dolls and bags. I sold them at this really nice weekly market in Berlin, and then I came to New York.
What was living in New York like for you?
I already started a silkscreening business in Berlin, so I wanted to continue doing that in New York. Right from the beginning, I started taking classes at SVA [School of Visual Arts]. I did that for all of those 6.5 years in New York. I would take those classes, at least one per semester through continuing ed. That’s what kept my creativity going.
I would walk through campus and see the art building and walk by that print shop that they have, because it’s on the first floor, and you can look in. And there was nobody there ever. Whenever I would walk by, I would never see anybody, and I would think, this is so fucked up!
Did you come to New York for an art career?
Yes, but also--Peter--my husband at the time, was coming for work. Peter was working at Columbia and he told me that since he worked there that they had a deal and relatives could study for free, but the contract that he had didn’t have that privilege. I had no idea what sort of institution Columbia was. I said "okay it sounds good, I’m going to try to do that." But when I went to Columbia with my transcript, they just said no. They also don’t offer continuing education courses, or anything that is sort of available to the general public.
I was living in that neighborhood with Peter, working at a local coffee shop, sometimes I would walk through campus and see the art building and walk by that print shop that they have, because it’s on the first floor, and you can look in. And there was nobody there ever. Whenever I would walk by, I would think, this is so fucked up! That made me really grateful for the openness of SVA.
Did that experience change your perception of art school?
In general, the whole arts school thing is—from the outside—so scary and elitist to me. In Austria, Germany, and France I hear stories about people who apply 3 times, 5 times, up to 10 times. I just don’t understand why it's made so hard for people to go to school. It's easier to get into medical or law school.
How are artists viewed in Austria?
I think that [there are] probably two major distinctions: an artist who's in the spotlight and who [is] seen as interesting and looked up to, and there are artists that are viewed as crazy, or somebody who will never make it, who will always struggle to make money.
Yet in Austria, we have a big and important artistic culture. It is valued a lot. Vienna has the greatest density of cultural places in relation to the inhabitants; whether it's the museums, or theaters, concerts, music venues, there's really a lot of stuff going on. I feel like it's not just a lot of stuff, but stuff with quality, and I don't think people really recognize that in Europe. Everyone is going to Berlin. Everything is supposedly happening there--but I think there's a lot to explore in Vienna--stuff that I haven't even seen yet.
What are some aspects of Vienna's rich history?
Austria had its heyday around the 1900s through 1920s. Famous artists like Gustav Klimt came from that time. There wasn't just visual art--there was important literature, and science--like Freud. All those people were coming together. They weren't secluded in their paintings or specific mediums. People were meeting in the salons and they inspired each other and I think that was a really important time for Austria and art, and I think it still is.
In Vienna, are artists mostly working within their own creative enclaves now as opposed to that era in your own experience? I don't really hang out in artist circles. My circle of friends is so diverse. There are people who do all sorts of things. I think that's how I was a little bit different than my other friends who are mostly hanging out with artists. They do get together and talk about things that are a little bit interdisciplinary. There's definitely collaboration going on.
What’s next for your work?
Just the other day actually, I had a friend who came over and asked me to show my artwork, and I never really get to do that. It's always funny to pull out this stuff and look at it. I realize that although I am always putting myself down or feeling like I'm not doing enough, I have so much stuff that I discovered that have been lying around for years, and I really want to make an exhibition and see what it looks like up on the walls, and have people look at it.
What materials have you been digging into lately?
I haven't printed anything since New York. What I did the last half a year in Vienna has all been on paper, I also applied to The Academy of Fine Arts this year, and I was maybe thinking too practical, and thought ahead about how I have to put this into a portfolio, and not on a canvas, but that's the wrong way to go about it. People go to the application process with huge canvasses and lots of crazy things. Actually paper is good. You feel less intimidated to ruin anything, so you can just throw it away.
Are there times where you ever feel like you don’t know what you’re doing?
It's more like, how do I find the time and space to actually organize stuff, or get myself to be creative? It's not that I feel lost about my art or anything, I feel pretty good about it, and confident actually. I'm just trying to keep it easy. You can only do as much as you can, and step by step. I have this kind of faith that even if it's going to take another 10 years for me to have my first big exhibition or whatever, I'll do it. I'm not worried about that.
I really have this romantic idea of being a painter in my secluded studio with the paints flying around in, working until three in the morning and not caring what’s happening tomorrow
What's your ultimate goal with your work?
The goal is to have a studio, and just be able to work as much as I can in there. I really have this romantic idea of being a painter in my secluded studio with the paints flying around in, working until three in the morning and not caring what's happening tomorrow, and waking up with a picture that I created and being surprised by it.
What inspired that idea?
I took a trip to Dublin two years ago. I never really knew much about the artist Francis Bacon, but I saw this big retrospective at Metropolitan Museum and I was totally smitten. It was probably the one show that I will always remember based on that feeling it gave me when I looked at those canvases. I just wanted to have that feeling again. Maybe half a year later I thought to myself that I needed to see a Francis Bacon exhibition--I didn’t care where--so I just Googled it. He was Irish so there was this exhibition there to celebrate his 100th birthday if he were still to be alive. They transferred the studio that he had in London to Dublin for the show. They had a whole group of architects and archeologists, and they took every single item in his studio and photographed it and mapped everything out, and put it back together just as it was in that gallery. It’s now a permanent exhibit.
That studio almost brought me to tears. He was known for being very messy. Francis Bacon’s cleaning lady would not be allowed in his studio. She would try to keep his living space very clean because he had asthma, so it was important not to have it too dirty or dusty, but his studio—the dust would collect and collect, and he would actually incorporate it into his paint, which would give a really special structure. One day he didn’t have money for canvas, and he just turned around an old canvas, and used that one. He found out that he liked the backside of the canvas much better, so he did that from then on. It was a really emotional experience for me. That’s what art is really about. I’m not religious, but that’s like going to church for me. If I see a good art show, there’s nothing I can compare that feeling with.
Check out Kiky's website, or reach her at ykik@gmx.at
Sheryo's Imaginary Creatures
My boyfriend met Sheryo at our neighbor's going away party this past summer, where I made a grandma move and went to bed early. They kicked it for a while on our building's rooftop with some folks, drinking beers and sitting stale in the mid-July humidity talking about her street art exploits. "You've got to meet this girl!" he kept telling me. "Her work is ridiculously dope."
Sheryo's work is like your childhood's dream cartoon show. Her characters are blocky, bold, and off kilter. They are playful, and mischievous, and totally saturated with bright colors, and strong lines--like the kind in a really good coloring book.
When I finally met her, it was at a North Brooklyn bar, where we ate salty tacos in the rain, and talked about each of our travel experiences in Asia. Sheryo, originally from Singapore is a pixie of a woman, and ferocious as hell. She met her Australian boyfriend while he was traveling in South East Asia. They connected over a shared interest in street art. When he was ready to move onto the next leg of his trip to Cambodia, he asked her on a whim to go with him. Of course she did. That's the kind of person Sheryo is. By the time of our meeting, they had been together for several months, and were living in Williamsburg on work visas.
Sheryo's art has become a traveling graffiti show, which is now a self sustaining lifestyle, sometimes supplemented by a handsome list of corporate clientele. As I write this, she's in Cambodia commissioned for the branding of a new hotel. Last I heard from her, she had managed to get herself chased down the street by a flock of angry cops for beautifying a wall, and broke her ankle on the get-away route. The self proclaimed "spirit painter" is confined by no limits, and evokes her childhood to draw up the most imaginary characters, and will stop at nothing to actualize her imagination. Here's a little glimpse into her head:
At what age did you start to become fascinated with drawing different types of characters?
The first thing I ever drew was a squiggly apple. I remember the moment my pencil hit the paper. It was bliss. The characters came shortly after. Characters were always sorta my thing...they were like toys but even better.
You mentioned before to me that your mom doesn't really get it, and she often asks you what is going on in your head. Along those lines, where do the characters come from, and how do they relate to one another?
My mom's really supportive but she says she doesn't know where I got my drawing skills or characters from because no one in my family's an artist, and I have eight aunties haha. I just tell her it was the sunday cartoons, '90s sci-fi movies and the horror books I read. I also had a nanny and her son taught me how to draw bubble letters. I remember watching certain movies so many times, Total Recall, Robocop, The Shining, Back to the Future, Kingpin, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Beetlejuice, wrestling (WWF). I really do remember my childhood in vivid detail, but recent adventures escape me for some reason, I think these characters all came from my childhood.
Is there a certain world in your mind where they all exist and interact with one another?
Yeah, I party with them all the time.
You mentioned that Singapore is a very Westernized country. What were some of the positives and negatives of that growing up as it related to your art?
As you can tell by now, most of my art's influenced by American movies and culture. I don't think there is any positive or negative from it, but I do hope Singapore had a stronger culture I could tap from.
You're quite the globetrotter these days. When did you start traveling heavily, and how much of it was made possible through your art?
I started travelling a lot at the end of 2009. There was just so much to see, to do, to learn and to paint! I got addicted to painting walls in new places, meeting rad artists, getting lost--everything was so fresh and fun. Last year I went on a volunteer art teaching project at the Thai/Burma border with the Little Lotus Project. It opened up a lot of things for me. I was really glad to be able to be a part of this project. I think I took more than I gave from the children and families living there. I hope to go back soon and also do more community-based projects wherever I go.
How would you describe the experience of being a woman within graffiti/street art culture, where the majority is dominated by dudes?
It's not too big a deal. It's good. Just do what you do. Put good work out. Get the boys to help move your ladder around because it's too heavy...
If someone took your art supplies away forever, what would you do?
Go batshit crayyyyzeee.
Did having bigger access to the world--through travel--change any fundamental beliefs or ideas that you previously had?
Definitely. In general, you just grow a lot more by meeting people on your travels. Some good, some bad, they mold you and make you awesome. I think material possessions are overrated. Live simple. Have faith. Always give people the benefit of the doubt. Make your life count. Do things that make you happy. You know, all that stuff you get when you google self-help related topics. LOL.
What are things in everyday life that inspire you? You mentioned cartoons that you used to watch growing up and still now, but are there other things like food, music, anything else that helps color your imagination?
Real life people on the streeets are the best.
How many hours a day do you spend "working,"and do you even consider what you do work?
Nah, I just consider it drawing. I want to make good drawings everyday. I share a studio with the Yok (another dope artist) and we inspire each other a lot.
Any last words of wisdom, or insights you'd like to share about yourself?
I paint food.
To see more of Sheryo's whimsical characters, visit her Tumblr, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitterwhere all of the photos in this article were graciously borrowed from.
Words by Boyuan Gao
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A church has stood at Prospect for over 200 years.
In 1794 three catholic priests stood at Prospect, Nova Scotia surveying the surrounding area and decided that this location would be the best spot for the first Catholic church outside of Halifax serving the fishing communities along the coast of Nova Scotia. The erection of the first church at Prospect, in that year, was the source of great joy and consolation to those faithful souls who had come from Ireland and settled in a village that would play such an important role in the life of the Church and in the realm of the history of Nova Scotia. (In part taken from Fourteen Decades in Prospect, 1794-1929).
Now that the church has been de-consecrated and the building for sale, the history of the religious community that existed at Prospect is of even more importance than before.
Prospect Cemeteries
The permanent cemeteries located at Prospect sit a top the hill over looking the village. However, the community has used a number of sites through the years to bury their dead.
The "Old" Cemetery - founded in the 1860s and closed in the late 1930s.
The "New Cemetery" - founded in 1945
Kelly Point Cemetery
The Original Prospect Cemetery, circa 1794
Prospect Church Records
The first 30 years of records for Prospect have been lost to time. However, starting in 1823 we have a continuous record of the life events of the parishes residents.
Learn more about the church records of the church at Prospect HERE
Priests of Prospect
The original priests took on the task of building a religious community. Subsequent priests added to that or maintained what was built. Other priests, especially most recently, were sent by the Archdiocese to close down the church and consolidate services elsewhere. The following is a listing of all priests who served at Prospect from 1794 to 2010.
Learn more about the priests that served at Prospect HERE
The Sister of Charity opened a convent (shown to the left) at Prospect in 1876 and were a fixture in the community as teachers for over forty years. They opened a second mission in the village in the late 1920s and would stay till the local school was closed in 1958. The last Sister retired as a teacher in the 1970s.
This is their story - READ HERE
In July 1994 the parish of Our Lady of Mount Carmel celebrated its 200th anniversary at the church in Prospect.
After the fire in October 1921 that destroyed the second church building fundraising efforts allowed for a new church to be built. One of the contributions from former residents of the village was a new bell.
Read about the Bell's history HERE
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Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services
Honoring San Jose’s Unsung Heroes
By James P. Reber
In a sight to behold, Obed Rivera stood in front of a crowd of 300 volunteers, city of San Jose staff, elected officials, family and neighbors, as he accepted the Anti-Litter Program Volunteer of the Year Award. The award was one of several presented at the annual volunteer appreciation event hosted earlier this month by Parks, Recreation & Neighborhood Services (PRNS).
Parks and Trails Stewardship in the 21st Century: Part II
We previously talked about the need for an active, empowered role for citizens in the stewardship of San Jose’s parks and trails. The significant cutbacks in budget and personnel have left city staff to do more work with less people and less money. The solution is to create multi-partnerships with citizens, neighborhood associations, businesses and community groups to provide a collective stewardship for the future.
Parks and Trails Stewardship in the 21st Century: Part I
The concept of stewardship is one that has become much more prominent in our environmental discussions in recent years, especially as it pertains to our parks, trails and urban open spaces. Webster defines stewardship as: the conducting, supervising, or managing of something; especially: the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care.
Trails of the City: Great and Growing
Thanks to the work of the staff of Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services, and under the recent leadership of trails manager Yves Zsutty, San Jose’s entire trail system has undergone an amazing transformation.
Shakespeare San Jose a Great Success
By Pierluigi Oliverio
Two years ago, I approached the talented group Shady Shakespeare Theatre Company and asked staff to walk through Willow Glen’s Bramhall Park with me to see if they would consider performing at the venue. At first glance, it was viewed as less desirable, due to the fact that the grass was dead in the summer, and the amphitheater had electrical connections that no longer functioned and sub-optimal lighting. Despite these less than ideal circumstances, we agreed to keep in touch.
Park Rangers Play a Special Role
There is finally some good news on the San Jose Park Ranger front. Current plans are for the force to be increased next year. In addition to completing basic law enforcement training, park rangers have a unique set of skills and serve as ambassadors for our parks and trails.
Volunteers Play Key Role in Our Parks and Trails’ Future
I have previously written about the various groups in the community that must play key roles in preserving, protecting and enhancing our parks and trails. These parties include neighborhood associations, service clubs, youth groups, church groups, schools, businesses, corporations and others. Another key component is that of citizen volunteers.
Guadalupe Trail is a Giant Step Forward
Last Saturday, a modest group of runners, bicyclists and community leaders gathered on a trail near San Jose’s airport for a quietly auspicious occasion—the completion of the Guadalupe River Trail from San Jose to Alviso.
A Vision for San Jose Parks and Trails
Contemporary American cities are at a defining moment in many ways. Traditional, reliable sources of revenue have been reduced. Reductions in federal and state spending have added to the burden by cutting or removing direct funding for city programs. But I am optimistic about the future of San Jose’s parks system, and there are some very specific reasons why.
San Jose Parks Foundation: Part 2
San Jose Parks Foundation, as I mentioned in my first column, was born out of an enlightened look into the future. Funding for parks and trails has been cut to the bone and sometimes worse. Urban and suburban parks are essential economic factors in every municipality. They often are invisible in the economic picture that most of us have.
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Governor: 2 inmates must have taken days to pull off escape
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo looks at the area where two convicted murderers used power tools to cut through steel pipes at a maximum-security prison in Dannemora, New York, and escaped. (Darren McGee ~ New York State Governor's Office)
DANNEMORA, N.Y. -- Two murderers who used power tools to escape from prison must have taken days to cut through steel walls and pipes and break through the bricks, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday as a $100,000 reward was posted for information leading to their capture.
Authorities were investigating how the inmates obtained the power tools they used in the "Shawshank Redemption"-style breakout over the weekend.
"It was a sophisticated plan," Cuomo said. "It took a period of time, no doubt, to execute."
David Sweat, 34, was serving a sentence of life without parole for the 2002 killing of a sheriff's deputy. Richard Matt, 48, had been sentenced to 25 years to life for kidnapping, killing and dismembering his former boss in 1997.
"These are killers. They are murderers," the governor said. "There's never been a question about the crimes they committed. They are now on the loose, and our first order of business is apprehending them."
Officials gave no details on how the men avoided detection while cutting their way out.
"They had to be heard," Cuomo told ABC's "Good Morning America."
After the search is over, "we'll go through the exact details of what they did and how they did it to ensure this never happens again," Cuomo said later.
Authorities set up roadblocks and brought in bloodhounds and helicopters. Hundreds of law enforcement officers fanned out around the prison, about 20 miles south of the Canadian border, following up on dozens of tips.
But authorities acknowledged they did not have a good idea where the convicts could be. They may have crossed into Canada or headed to another state, Cuomo said.
"This is a crisis situation for the state," he said. "These are dangerous men capable of committing grave crimes again."
Prison officials found the inmates' beds inside the 150-year-old Clinton Correctional Facility stuffed with clothes Saturday morning in an apparent attempt to fool guards making their rounds. On a cut steam pipe, the prisoners left a taunting note containing a crude Asian caricature and the words "Have a nice day."
Officials said the inmates cut through the steel wall at the back of their cell, crawled down a catwalk, broke through a brick wall, cut their way into and out of a steam pipe, then sliced through the chain and lock on a manhole cover outside the prison.
To escape, the inmates had to cut into the steam pipe, then shimmy "some distance," Cuomo said, before cutting themselves out again. Their path brought to mind "The Shawshank Redemption," the 1994 adaptation of a Stephen King story about an inmate's carefully planned prison escape.
It was the first escape from the maximum-security portion of the prison, built in 1865.
The men may have had assistance outside the prison, perhaps meeting with someone who helped them leave the area, investigators said.
Cuomo said investigators were confident the men obtained the tools inside the prison. Acting Corrections Commissioner Anthony Annucci said an inventory of prison tools so far had shown none missing, and he was in contact with contractors who were doing or had done work at the prison.
Steven Tarsia, brother of slain sheriff's Deputy Kevin Tarsia, said finding out his brother's killer had escaped "turns your world upside-down all over again."
He said just the other day, he found he couldn't remember the names of the men responsible for his brother's death.
"All of a sudden, I remember them again," he said.
Tarsia said he couldn't imagine how the men could have gotten power tools and escaped without help, but "I don't know why anybody would help them."
Prison escapes "are a relatively rare event," said Martin Horn, former New York City corrections commissioner who is a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
"That tells you that a great deal of planning is involved because it's not an easy thing to accomplish," Horn said.
In 2003, two convicted murderers Timothy Vail and Timothy Morgan escaped from a maximum-security prison in Chemung County. They were caught the next day, hiding in an abandoned mobile home not far from the prison.
A state investigation concluded that "staff complacency" allowed the inmates to smuggle tools from a prison carpentry shop to enable their escape. Two corrections officers and a carpentry shop instructor were disciplined.
The two inmates had spent a month chiseling a hole through the concrete ceiling of their cell with a sledgehammer head and other shop tools and made dummies with papier mache heads sporting their own clipped hair, which they left in their bunks the night of their escape.
Saturday's escape had law enforcement swarming the town of Dannemora in the Adirondacks.
Beth Nichols, an employee of a Dunkin' Donuts across the street from the prison and a few hundred yards from the manhole where authorities said the men emerged, said their escape was "nerve-wracking."
She said one employee had a panic attack Saturday after being told about the prisoner breakout.
"She got really scared and she cried," Nichols said. The employee lives a walk away on the same road, but authorities would not immediately allow her to enter her home; her mother picked her up.
Dannemora covers just over 1 square mile within the northern reaches of the Adirondack Forest Preserve and is surrounded by woods and farmland. The stark white perimeter wall of the prison, topped with guard towers, borders a main street in the town's business district.
NASA astronaut and Southeast Missouri native Linda Godwin
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The Food Culture of Little Rock
National Loblolly Day is Sunday, July 21
Update on Little Rock Trader Joes: Additional Details and Possible Opening Date
Esters Redefines Vegan Food in Little Rock
Taste of Jamaica Brings Authentic Caribbean Food to Little Rock
Seasonal Menus
Food Insider
Best of the Rock
Underrated Places
Eat This Street
The Junkie
Petit & Keet Launches Brunch Service
Staff Picks: Central Arkansas’ Best Easy-Drinking Beers
A Little Crepesy Brings Crepes and Whimsy to Little Rock’s Food Truck Scene
Wunderhaus Delights and Amazes with Passion and Simplicity
Deconstructing the Drink
Drink Insider
Lost Forty, Pallbearer Bring Limited Edition Beer and Concert Series to Arkansas
Growlers: Lost Forty Wild Releases, Rebel Kettle Summer Jam, Buffalo Taproom Nears Opening
Growlers: Black Apple Crossing Arrives, Stone’s Throw Anniversary, Rebel Kettle 6th and 9th
Where to Eat in Little Rock
Black-Owned Businesses
K. Hall and Sons Produce : Black-Owned Businesses
February 6, 2017 Steve Shuler
A strong produce distributor and restaurant for more than 40 years, K. Hall and Sons stands tall as an important community hub and one of the city’s most respected establishments. All this week, Rock City Eats is celebrating black-owned businesses in Little Rock’s food scene that provide diversity, passion and excellence on an everyday basis. This is the first in a five-part series.
There are few Little Rock business like K. Hall and Sons Produce. Besides its unique produce stand/grocery store/restaurant setup, K. Hall is impossible to separate from its community. It’s a cornerstone, one that is impossible to imagine the Wright Avenue neighborhood without. From open to close, customers and delivery trucks come and go, shouting orders for ham hocks over the meat counter, picking over fresh lettuce and squashes, or stopping in just to grab a burger and say hello. It will be a rare moment to walk into K. Hall and be the only customer there.
“We’ve been here so long, we’ve been able to establish a relationship with people in the neighborhood,” says David Hall, owner of K. Hall and Sons Produce. “They expect us to be here. The kids, so many kids we’ve seen grow up and are now adults. A lot of people look at us as a staple of their lives.
“There was a professor in here the other night, he gave his students an assignment to write a paper. One of the students wrote about K. Hall. He said when he was reading it, she talked about being part of the community and how she loves to come here.”
David’s father Knoxie Hall was a farmer in Wrightsville when he first started Hall’s Produce at a former gas station on Wright Avenue in the mid-1970s. Together with his wife Estella, Knoxie Hall started out just by bringing his own produce to his store, eventually adding fruits and vegetables from other Arkansas farmers. Estella Hall ran the grocery store while Knoxie worked on other business ideas until the 1980s, when David and his brother Curtis began running the operation. They changed the name to K. Hall and Sons Produce and began delivering produce and foodstuffs around Central Arkansas. For David, it was a chance to run the business he had been working at since he was a little boy.
“I didn’t have a choice, I was working here,” says David Hall with a chuckle.
K. Hall’s biggest business is in delivering and selling produce, but it’s also well known for selling prepared food. K. Hall’s burgers have almost a cult following, as does its Seafood Saturday, when David Hall and his family cook up crawfish, shrimp and crabs to sell to a line of waiting customers. David Hall says most of his restaurant business started by accident.
“Most of the food that we cook now, we actually started out cooking for ourselves,” says David Hall. “And people would come in and say, ‘Hey, is that for sale?’ That’s how the burgers and the shrimp started.”
While K. Hall is one of the most loved and respected businesses around, by both customers and other business owners, it hasn’t all been positive. Like most of the black business owners we spoke with for this series, David Hall had a story come immediately to mind when asked about racism against him or his company. And also like most we talked to, he refused to let it slow him down.
“One time in particular, one of the largest food service companies in Little Rock called a company out of Texas and told them, if they valued them as a customer, don’t sell us (K. Hall) anything else. I asked the guy, ‘What are you going to do?’ I couldn’t make him come.
“So I told him, ‘If you don’t come, somebody else will. It’s not going to stop us from getting to where we want to get.’
“I don’t let them bother me, because if you let them get to you, all that’s going to do is drag you down. You have to set goals, and regardless of what anybody else is doing to you or whatever, you have to just press forward.”
What keeps David Hall pressing forward is a combination of family and faith. K. Hall and Sons puts the family in the business model as well as the name. David Hall took over the business from his father and mother, and his sisters, sons and other family members work various jobs within the company. When Knoxie and Estella Hall were honored with enshrinement in the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame, their seven children, 16 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren all came together to celebrate the honor.
“You always have to depend on your family,” says David Hall. “If you can’t depend on them, you won’t be able to depend on anybody. They’re going to be there for you, for the most part, all the time. It’s important to me to have my sons involved. They’ve always been there for me to help me out. They’ve sacrificed a lot.”
On his right arm, David Hall wears a rubber bracelet with a passage from the book of Mark: “All things are possible to those who believe.” He says that’s the motto he lives his life by.
“Everything goes through that, without that, nothing is possible,” says David Hall. “I always keep that in perspective, to put God first. There have been a bunch of times in my life when I feel like I’m really struggling. But once I started putting God in my life, putting him first, I could see it turn around.”
Steve Shuler
A long-time foodie, Steve started his career as a news producer with FOX16 News. In addition to his work on Rock City Eats, Steve is the host of the Little Rock Foodcast, a podcast covering Little Rock food. He has also served as food writer for Sync Weekly. Steve and his family have lived in the Little Rock area for 10 years.
Here are the New Restaurants in Central Arkansas This Summer
Rumbles: Beast Food Truck Closes, Trio’s Capi Peck Wins Election, K Hall Enters Black Hall of Fame
Latest Food Stories
July 17, 2019 — No Comment
Northwesterner
Made with in Little Rock
Copyright ©2013-2015 Rock City Interactive
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News: Devolution legal challenge
Derbyshire County Council is mounting a legal challenge against the consultation regarding the creation of the Sheffield City Region Mayoral Combined Authority.
As a proposed devolution deal progresses, a Mayoral Combined Authority is set to be created, building on the 2013 agreement which saw the nine local authorities that comprise the city region create a new legal body with responsibility for transport, economic development and regeneration.
The deal includes a new gain share deal within an envelope of £30m a year for 30 years – giving the SCR the power to use new funding to boost local growth and invest in local manufacturing and innovation.
In return, the Government will require a directly elected mayor to hold accountability for the new powers. Elections are set to take place as soon as May 2017 and the mayor will chair the Sheffield City Region Combined Authority (CA), the members of which (the leaders of the constituent councils) will serve as the mayor's Cabinet.
Currently non-constituent members, Chesterfield and Bassetlaw Councils, have signalled their intention to join the Combined Authority.
Before the new powers are formalised by Government, consultation with residents and businesses needs to take place. Public meetings held across the region and a consultation website have been used to reach 250,000 residents.
Derbyshire County Council is now seeking permission from the High Court in London for a judicial review into the public consultation after Sheffield City Region ignored its calls to withdraw the consultation that the county council believes is "misleading and flawed."
Rothbiz explained last month what new and current powers would sit with the authority and mayor.
Cllr. Anne Western, leader of Derbyshire County Council, said: "We need to act now and send out a strong message to help put a stop to these proposals or risk Chesterfield spending the next 30 years living in South Yorkshire's shadow.
"I know we'll be criticised for taking this action by some who claim it's not the best use of money.
"But the fact is that if Chesterfield becomes a full member of Sheffield City Region it will undoubtedly be at a huge financial cost to Derbyshire County Council − and therefore Derbyshire taxpayers − in making our services fit in with new arrangements for Chesterfield, not to mention around £1m in business rates from Markham Vale which would all be transferred to Sheffield City Region."
If a judicial review goes ahead, the county council will present evidence to a High Court judge and ask for Sheffield City Region's consultation to be quashed because it is insufficient and therefore unlawful.
Sheffield City Region's public consultation and engagement exercise, which cost £350,000, closes on today.
Both Derbyshire County Council and Chesterfield Council have set out the reasons for their stances.
SCR Devolution website
Images: Chesterfield Council
Labels: economic development, government, legal, Local enterprise partnership, Sheffield City Region
Anonymous, August 12, 2016 at 10:26 AM
I notice Derbyshire CC don't mention that they are misleading their constituents with their campaign against the devolution deal and elected Mayor. Their Campaign says Do you want Chesterfield to join Sheffield? Do you want a Sheffield Mayor to control services in Chesterfield? Which is factually incorrect and misleading - so who is misleading who?
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[Watch] The Drums Release New Album Teaser Trailer
Apparently Tuesday is teaser day, as today we've already been given a teaser from M83 hinting at a soon-to-be-released follow-up to 2008's Saturdays = Youth. Brookyln-based indie band The Drums are also following suit, as they too have released a teaser video that hints at their follow-up to their self-titled debut album, which was released in June of last year. The teaser video shows the band doing live recordings, while the word "Portamento" constantly flashes on-screen, hinting at a possible title for the band's new album. Check out the video for yourself in the player above, and rest assured that we will keep you posted once solid information about the band's next album surfaces.
upcoming releases, ReviewsAdrian June 28, 2011 The Drums
[Download] Cassettes Won't Listen - "The Night Shines" x Bonus Track Offer
ReviewsRocko June 28, 2011 Cassettes Won't Listen
[Watch] Givers - "Up Up Up" (Video)
Reviewskibbe! June 28, 2011 Givers
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TEDx(Memphis)
About TEDx
Robert B. Carter
Robert B. (Rob) Carter is Executive Vice President of FedEx Information Services and chief information officer of FedEx Corporation. He is a member of the five-person Executive Committee, which plans and executes the corporation’s strategic business activities. Carter is responsible for setting the technology direction of the FedEx applications, infrastructure, networks and data centers that provide around the clock and around the globe support for FedEx product offerings. He joined FedEx in 1993 and has over 30 years of systems development and implementation experience.
Carter has been awarded many industry accolades, including, Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business 2014 and 2010, Fortune Magazine’s Executive Dream Team, Information Week's Chief of the Year Award in 2000, 2001 and 2005, and a seven-time recipient of CIO Magazine’s 100 Award. Carter is also a charter inductee into the publication’s CIO Hall of Fame.
© TEDxMemphis. Memphis Web Design by Speak
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"Once in a Dream"
Persian Landscapes at Rodl & Partner
Download Now (PDF 1.5 MB)
Oil Painting Exhibition at SHA WELLNESS CLINIC
April 15th to June 15th 2011
SHIRIN GOLESTANEH BIOGRAPHY
A work of art often mirrors one's life experiences - this is true for the viewer as well as the artist. Shirin Golestaneh's work represents the journey from within - the world of imaginary landscapes, dreams and places we know inside ourselves. She incorporates moons, suns, brooks, mountains and seas working with layers of transparencies to create a mosaic of colors revealing images from underneath. Someone looking at her work may recognize objects not because they have been there physically but perhaps in another dimension. This is the common language or journey shared by the viewer and the artist that brings them together.
'Shirin has revealed herself in a work that shows a controlled, serenely conscious journey to those childhood places, to the enchanted landscapes of timeless fables, which tell the origins of things. I don't mean to suggest the artist gets carried away by nostalgia; on the contrary, the skillful lucidity of her work says quite another thing. In Shirin's work this often occurs with a zesty, thick layering of brilliant impasto, or with flattened mottles that become flowers or waves, a red sky sunset, or the moon, a cloud, a furrow in a field; often there is an illumination of flimsy lights, created by the transparency of diluted color, liquid nuances, the magical evocation of nights full of dreams'. - Ennio Pouchard.
The vitality and creativity shown in Shirin's work derives from her multi-cultural background, extensive travels and education in art. Shirin was born in Boston in 1958 to an American mother, also an artist and a Persian father. In 1960 her father decided to move the family to Iran and use his expertise in his homeland. Shirin lived there for fourteen years spending some years around the Persian Gulf and later on in Tehran where she grew up.
In 1975 her family moved briefly to Switzerland and in 1976 she went on to the United States to complete her university education with The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and The University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Upon completion of her Bachelors degree in the United States, she decided to move back to Europe and was accepted at an American master's program in Florence studying with Master etcher Swietlan Kraczyna and Isa Petrozzani, a protégé of Primo Conti, and subsequently received two Master's degrees in 1985.
Her works have been shown in numerous group shows as well as solo exhibits and may be found in numerous private collections worldwide.
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Sri Akal Takht Sahib website is launched
at Saturday, April 06, 2013
The website of the Akal Takht, www.akaltakhatsahib.com, has been launched from the Golden Temple complex.The website-launching ceremony was performed by Akal Takht jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh at the Akal Takht
Secretariat in the shrine complex. Present on the occasion were Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) chief Avtar Singh Makkar, senior vice-president Raghujit Singh Virk and several other priests of the shrine and SGPC officials."Keeping in view the global demands of the Sikhs, we decided to have a website only for the Akal Takht," Makkar said at the launch.
At the meeting of the Sikh high priests on March 25, it was decided that the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikhism, will have an exclusive website of its own. It will no longer have to depend on the website of the SGPC for establishing communication with the 'panth' (community members).
The home page of the website has photographs of the Golden Temple and the Akal Takht. All information relating to the Golden Temple and the Akal Takht will be available at the click of a mouse.
The website also contains photographs and all related information of Takht Damdama Sahib at Talwandi Sabo, Takht Kesgarh Sahib at Anandpur Sahib, Takht Patna Sahib at Patna in Bihar and Takht Hazoor Sahib at Nanded in Maharashtra.
The website contains a list of all the jathedars of the Akal Takht since its inception. It also contains details of all hukamnamas (edicts) issued by the Takht, besides details of all the 'sandesh' (messages) issued to the Sikh community. It also provides details of all the honours and titles given by the Akal Takht to Sikh personalities in different fields, along with their photographs and profiles.
The website also contains photographs and details of the current jathedars of the five Takhts. It also gives information on the Nanakshahi calendar, which has been recognised as the official calendar of the Sikhs.
The website has been designed by Gurjit Singh and his team in ANG IT-Solutions of Amritsar. They were honoured by the Akal Takht jathedar on the occasion.
The website designers have also incorporated a "feedback form", on which suggestions and even complaints can be forwarded to the Akal Takht secretariat.
Sikhs can send their suggestions and even complaints through the website, which was needed to establish contacts with the 'sangat'
The website can viewed at http://www.akaltakhatsahib.com/
Labels: Akal Takht, ANG IT-Solutions, Giani Gurbachan Singh, sgpc, sikh rehat maryada, Sikh takhts, Sikhnugget, www.akaltakhtsahib.com
Sikh Museum Initiative looks at the relationship between the British and the Sikhs.
There has been a long history linking the Sikhs to the British since the eighteenth century. This history is relatively unknown and requ...
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Pages tagged "Voices of the Tongass"
Stand for Salmon with Judi Lehmann
Posted on Stories by Sarah O'Leary · June 21, 2017 4:25 PM
Judi Lehmann, originally from Minnesota, is a world traveler who calls Sitka home. For the last several years, Judi has been learning the art of fish skin tanning and sewing. Her journey began when she took a fish skin sewing class from Audrey Armstrong. Judi and the other students worked with whole fish donated by Sitka Sound Science Center to learn how to clean, gut, and skin fish. After stripping the skins off the fish, they are soaked in alcohol before being sewn into various items, such as bags, bowls, hats, and even dresses.
Tlingit and Haida Canoe Cultures: Part 1 of a 4 Part Series
Posted on Stories by Sarah Stockdale · September 26, 2014 12:16 PM · 1 reaction
In today’s Tongass National forest, healthy ecosystems have coincided with sustainable human use for thousands of years. The natural environment of Southeast Alaska offers a banquet of fish, crustaceans, mammals and edible plants, which has always satisfied and sustained the people living here. Accessing this bounty requires an intimate knowledge of the landscape and an understanding of the hidden lifecycles of its edible inhabitants. Equally, and no less importantly, it has always required a boat. For thousands of years, Tlingit and Haida people depended upon the canoe as the sole means to access the bounty of Southeast Alaska. They would paddle in canoes to summer fishing camps, and return home with their canoes full of salmon, halibut and deer to store for the winter. Carefully crafted canoes carried Haida and Tlingit people to well-springs of sustenance year after year; they are a vessel which has defined human use of the Alexander Archipelago from the beginning.
Today, within the native community, there is a reemergence of canoe culture. Dug-out and strip-bark canoe-building projects are underway in communities throughout Southeast Alaska. Equally, more and more people have been participating in canoe journeys, travelling through the waters of the Tongass National Forest to Tlingit and Haida gatherings. People participating in this movement see the canoe journeys and canoe- building projects as an immensely powerful tool to reconnect Tlingit and Haida people with the culture, using them as a way to boost mental health and build stronger communities. To grasp why this canoe movement has been so successful, it is important to understand the centrality of the canoe to the historic lifestyle and identity of Tlingit and Haida people in Southeast Alaska, and how the canoe connected them with the landscape and the natural systems that they continue to depend on and be stewards for.
According to legend, the canoe may have even come with the first people when they migrated to what is now Southeast Alaska and since then, defined the way the people here interacted with the landscape. Anthropologist Frederica de Laguna described their voyage and the heavy load on the Tlingit canoes after fishing: “They came and went through the dangerous entrance to the bay, transporting not simply the members of the household but their stores of dry fish, household effects and even the planks which formed the summer shelter.” Dug-out canoes were used for war, for hunting and for transporting whole clans (up to sixty people sometimes) to fishing camps during the summer. Other dug-outs held only seal and otter hunters, who travelled in pairs. In glacial fjords, seal hunters wore all white and widened the canoe with false sides in order to disguise themselves as icebergs. The man in the back paddled and the other up front, aimed.
While much was done to preserve the canoes, slathering them in seal oil and covering them with damp skins to stop them from drying out, they inevitably decomposed. One account from 1884 says that they would last for only three years before they cracked. Hence canoe-building was as constant a practice as the paddling of canoes. Even so, much is unknown about the ways that the dug-outs were carved throughout the centuries. The few written accounts say carvers looked for large trees grown in dry soil because trees grown in wet soil were spongy. They would fell the tree in November or March “when the sap was down.” The canoe maker would often camp on the working ground, near the shore where he could more easily skid the finished dugout to shore. Before the acquisition of iron, carvers would fell the tree using a combination of stone adz, wedges and fire.
Once on the ground, accounts say that it was cut in half, turned with the flat bit on the ground, and carved out with an adz. “In order to gauge how thin to adz the sides of the canoe,” the anthropologist De Laguna wrote, “the carpenter would drill a series of holes through the half-finished walls and drive in pegs of the proper length. He would then adz down the walls from the inside until he came to the ends of the pegs.” Water was boiled inside the canoe using hot rocks in order to spread the canoe, and then thwarts were inserted. Then the inside was oiled with hot seal oil. Tlingit people generally carved from sitka spruce, while the Haida were best known for crafting their canoe from the red cedar.
The canoe helped the Haida and Tlingit to successfully and sustainably fish salmon, halibut and herring runs for thousands of years. For those people who live in Southeast Alaska today, both native and non-native, this relationship with the waterways and the boat is not far from our own experience. We continue to depend and live in rhythm with wild stocks of fish, just as the first people of this area have for generations. Yet while today’s soundtrack is the growl of the motor, the first alaskans were accompanied by their songs and the pop of paddles, dipping in tandem into water.
Back to Basics: An Alaskan Wilderness Experience
Almost three months have already gone by since I started my internship with the Sitka Conservation Society, under the supervision of Scott Harris, the Conservation Science Directorat SCS. It is now the start of September and I cannot believe how fast time flies by when I am truly enjoying my eye-opening opportunity. It still feels as though only yesterday I landed in Sitka Rocky Gutierrez Airport. Nowadays waking up every morning to rhythmic pulses of the rain droplets and the fresh aroma of the soothing ocean breeze has become a part of my daily life.
Adventure into the West Chichagof-Yakobi Wilderness.
Along with the overwhelming invasion of nature in my life, I also get a chance to spend the majority of my time here in the largest national forest in the United States at 17 million acres. The Tongass is one of the last few forests untouched by industrialization and remains as the largest temperate rainforest on earth. The forest encompasses part of the Northern Pacific coastal forests along with the Central and North Coast regions of British Columbia. Due to its vast size, the forest hosts a number of various types of trees: western red cedar, sitka spruce and western hemlock. The forest is also home to five species of salmon, brown and black bears, and Bald Eagles.
A pink salmon swims upstream to spawn.
My days at Sitka are often filled with a variety of outdoor activities- all of which have constantly kept me marveling at the great nature I am surrounded by. From hiking up mountain trails to kayaking upstream against the swift tides, my internship projects have led me to explore different parts of the Tongass while having the opportunity to meet other biologists, conservationists, and interns. One of my projects involved monitoring a conservation and restoration project implemented by the U.S Forest Service (USFS) in the Starrigavan Recreational Area. I am conducting vegetation surveys in these forest gaps and collecting data from trail cams to monitor deer activity within the gaps for tagging purposes. The workers of the USFS cut oval forest gaps with anarea of 100 ft in diameter to mimic natural disturbances in the forest. The purpose of this is to encourage the growth of shrubs and ferns, which are another type of food sources for deer and bears. Starting since the 1950s, a significant percentage of the big trees (old growth) in the Tongass were logged and when the second generation of trees grew, they left little space for sunlight to reach to the ground. Thus, without these gaps, the growth of shrubs and ferns will decrease, thereby lowering the food sources for the deer, which may lead to a decline in the deer population in the future. Within the gaps, there are also deer enclosures to monitor how deer foraging affects vegetation growth.
Picturesque view of Nakwasina Sound.
From the peaks of the mountains to where streams meander across the landscape, my weekly duty takes me to a stream that flows through the community of Sitka. Once a week I would ride my bike down to Indian River to collect water samples from the river. According to the protocol, I would filter the water from the river and pour them into two sampling bottles. The Sitka Conservation Society is a part of SALMoN (Southeast Alaska Long-term Monitoring Network) and participates in the Global Rivers Observatory (GRO). GRO documents water chemistry from rivers around the world in order to understand long-term ecological changes to freshwater ecosystems. To document the water chemistry, GRO analyzes nutrient concentrations, dissolved organic carbon, and the isotope ratio of strontium. Local streams such as Indian River will be studied alongside the great rivers such as Amazon, Yangtze and others. The program started when Dr. Bernhard Peucker-Ehrenbrink, a Senior Scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and one of the founders of GRO was a Scientist in Residence at the Sitka Sound Science Center.
My days often began with journeys packed with wilderness adventures. I went on a five day camping trip to West Chichagof-Yakobi Wilderness which is located about 55 miles away from Sitka and it takes around 3 hours to get there by boat. This trip by far is the longest period of time that I've been out camping. The purpose of this project is to install temperature loggers into five different streams in order to monitor the health and the quality of the stream waters. To arrive at some of these streams, we had to bushwhack through the forest while making noises to alert the bears. Some trails were challenging and tedious with rugged and slippery mud-covered grounds but they were all fun. Once we've reached the streams, we conducted a variety of analyses such as installing temperature loggers and recording the stream width. We also measured the flow of the streams and noted down the dissolved oxygen levels. While performing these tasks, it was fascinating to see thousands of salmon fish swimming up these streams, their silvery scales reflecting the sunlight underneath the clear water. The end of each day was an even bigger adventure for me since we would move from one campsite to the next. Before the sun sets, we would spend about 30 minutes, cruising around the ocean in our boat, searching for a safe spot to camp. We camped on different parts of the forest each night and got to explore the wonders of the old growth wilderness in the dark, quiet night.
A brown bear lurks across the tidal flat.
From sampling streams, my internship has also taken me to Redoubt Lake, a unique meromictic lake where its top layer is freshwater with several hundred feet of saltwater on the bottom layer of the lake.Going to Redoubt was a whole new experience unlike anything before at Sitka. Not only was it the longest camp trip, it was also riveting to be at Redoubt Lake where I had a chance to work with the Forest Service. Located about 12 miles from the city of Sitka, Redoubt Lake plays an important role in the subsistence fisheries for the people of Sitka. The Forest Service maintains a weir system to count and record the fish entering whereafter the Alaska Department of Fish & Game makesmanagement decisions based on the data collected each season. Once the fish pass through the weir, they head up to the northern tip of the lake and travel up streams to spawn. Through out the process, I witnessed the physical transformation of these iconic fish. Their bodies become bright red and the male sockeyes' heads morphed into sharply hooked noses with gawking teeth. They nipped and bit at one another, fighting to reproduce for the first and the last time, before they lie lifeless beneath the streams. It definitely was a biological process worth observing.
Holding a Coho at Redoubt weir.
Work station for sampling fish at the Redoubt weir.
With large amount of ocean surrounding the island comes the freshest seafood. The most important resource of Southeast Alaska is salmon. There are five different types of salmon here: king, sockeye, coho, chum and pink salmon. Here, salmon is fished for industrial purposes and plays a major role in sustainable fishing as well. Out of the five different types of Salmon, I have already tried three of them, which are King, Sockeye and Pink. The two that I haven't tasted yet are Coho and Chum. Most people here prefer the King and I have to agree with them on that. I also got a chance to try deer meat, which tasted like beef but leaves a trace of gamey palate in your mouth.
Despite the nature explorations that were required for work, I also had a chance to enjoy the beautiful picturesque landscape of Alaska. The town of Sitka is small with a population of 9000 people, yet it is lively and vibrant with esthetically decorated small vendor shops. Sitka is surrounded by the sounds of clashing waves and mountains varying in heights. During my leisure time from work, I went on hikes on the mountains with friends and enjoyed stunning landscapes from the peaks of the mountains. Along the way, I met other interns and co-workers who were passionate about conserving the natural beauty that the Tongass has to offer.
View of Crescent Harbor in Sitka, Alaska.
Chris Leeseberg, Scott Harris and I at False Island.
On the 28thof August, I completed my internship with the Sitka Conservation Society and had the opportunity to gain hands on conservation experience that I have longed for. Within the past three months, I learned so much about the importance of conservation methods, and my internship gave me a chance to work with land managers who are working on making important conservation decisions. I learned new research and conservation approaches and methods as well as the importance of social outreach to the community for our conservation works. Overall, this internship has given me invaluable knowledge and taught me to have even more respect for the beautiful wilderness and the natural wonders of the earth. This was truly an eye opening experience and certainly, one that I will never forget.
One of the remarkable inhabitants of the Tongass.
Building a local food movement from the front yard
When Southeast Alaskans think of local food, we usually think of foraging, fishing and hunting. In the realm of produce, however, we have become accustomed to eating fruits and vegetables shipped in from the lower 48 and around the globe.But a gardening movement is on the rise around the islands. In Sitka, a city with no agricultural property, people have been working with the city to create ways to grow and sell local produce. Like all southeast towns, Sitka has a small and strong community, which makes negotiating with local lawmakers to change the structure of land and food policy more direct and personal. With the farmer's markets gaining steam and gardens springing up all over town, the future of the local food movement in Sitka is bright. But it has taken many pioneers to get it on its feet.
Lori Adams says, "She couldn't do any of this without the ducks." Her feathered friends help her control the slug population.
One of those leaders is Lori Adams, owner and operator of Down-to-Earth You-Pick garden. She was raised on a farm in Oregon and moved to Sitka to fish with her husband in the 80s. With no dirt to play in, living on a fishing boat was a rough adjustment. Once she and her husband bought property of their own, however, Lori began scheming up plans to get back to veggie production. "I just have farming in my roots and dirt under my fingernails," she told me, "and it won't go away. And I always wanted to farm, and we moved up here and I just decided that I would farm where I went."
The view from Sawmill Creek Road of Lori's epic front yard
Lori wanted to create her own You-Pick garden where she could sell her produce to customers who came to her house to harvest it directly from her front yard. "Where I grew up a You-Pick garden was a common thing," she explained, "… So, I feel like it's really important to grow my own food and teach other people how to grow their own food. And many of the children who grow up here have never seen a carrot in the ground, have never picked a pea off the vine, and so they just don't have a connection like that with their food." With a You-Pick garden, she could satisfy her farming itch, while also giving Sitkans the opportunity to learn about gardening and create a more intimate relationship with how their food is grown.
Immediately she called the planning department to ask for a permit to start a You-Pick garden. "They looked at me with a blank look and said, ‘You want to dowhat?'" As the law stood in 2007, it was illegal to sell produce directly off of private property and to allow people to harvest their own vegetables. Luckily, the people at the planning department were willing and excited to work with Lori. They thought it was such a good idea that they wanted to help her make it legal. "So we spent 6 months changing the zoning laws and going to the assembly meetings, and once it was worked out it turned out that anyone in Sitka could have a you-pick garden if they applied for a special use permit." Now, any one in Sitka who applies for a special use permit can start a You-Pick garden right on their property.
Today, Lori has a whole community of return customers. They love coming up to her property, picking her brain about gardening, greeting the ducks, and harvesting their own kohlrabi, kale, leeks, onions, sorrel, lettuce and other cold-weather-loving vegetables.But Lori is just as excited to sell her produce as she is to teach others how to garden, or even how to create their own You-Pick. "That's my hope," she told me, "that they'll sprout up all over and it will just become a common thing."
Whether or not her story inspires others to create a You-Pick, her collaboration with the planning department is certainly a testament to the responsiveness of Sitka's local government to new ideas addressing issues of local food. Property may be expensive and limited, but there is plenty of room for innovation, and stories like Lori's certainly aren't in short supply! Go tositkawild.orgto hear more stories or to share a story about building sustainable communities in Southeast. You can also learn more about Lori on herblog. If you are interested in getting involved in the local food movement, visit the Sitka local food network'swebsite.
Falling in love in Sitka
by Sarah Stockdale
I am in a land of light. Alaska is alive in the summer, and in southeast, the rainforest is abundant with green foliage. As part of the Alaska Conservation Foundation Summer internship program, I have been blessed with the opportunity to spend three months here in Sitka as a media and storytelling intern with SCS. And in the three weeks since I arrived here, I've found Alaskans themselves to be not unlike the native flora and fauna that surround them in the summer. They take advantage of their daylight hours, knowing that winter will bring plenty of time for hibernation. The fisherwomen from whom I rent sleep only three hours a night, especially when they're on their boat and alert for King salmon snapping at the line. Karen Schmidt, an attorney who hosted me in Anchorage for the ACF intern orientation, was the same way. She worked tirelessly during the day, but was still happy to spend the late evening down at the beach until midnight, treasuring every last glimpse of light that bounced across the Cook Inlet mudflats.
Sunset at Cook Inlet. Photo credit: Sarah Stockdale
As part of the Alaska Conservation Foundation internship program, I attended a weeklong orientation in Anchorage before heading off to my internship placement site. There, I met with young folks interning with conservation organizations across the state. We heard from conservation leaders on a variety of topics, from organizing to Alaskan history and GIS. While in Sitka, it's easy to feel like one of only a handful of groups concerned with issues of conservation. In Anchorage, however, I was able to experience the interconnectedness of all the conservation movements across this enormous state. We certainly need one another.
In my first three weeks in Sitka, I've been able to sit back and breath in the Tongass, orienting myself to the sites, smells and culture. And when I look around me I see… green!!! For a New Mexican like me, you can't imagine my awe at the density of life that the rain brings to this unique and hidden corner of the world. As one of the Alaska native speakers commented during the orientation, it's less like subsistence out here, and more like abundance. And the Tongass is certainly abundant. Food prices may be high, but looking around, I see nourishment on ever corner from the salmonberry bushes to king salmon coming into the harbor on trollers.
I couldn't feel further away from the suburban desert where I grew up. Yet it's clear to me that maintaining and protecting the future of these natural resources is an issue that is not just important to Alaskans. With almost 80% of wild-caught salmon in North America coming from Alaskan fishermen, campaigns like the fight to protect Bristol Bay impact people all over the United States. Recently, New Mexico senator and congressman Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich spoke out against the Pebble mine. People are concerned, even down south.
And while a lot of people have a stake in the future of these lands, the people in southeast who have the time and energy to work on these issues are few. This is both overwhelming and deeply hopeful. It reminds me of the way a friend from Southern Colorado once described ranch culture. On a ranch, everyone's help is needed. Nobody is turned away and everyone's contribution is welcome. When there is a job to be done, you need all the hands you can get. Southeast Alaska feels similar to me. Every person's energy adds to the greater goal. It's nice to feel that you can really make a difference.
Co-worker Mary Wood and I got to take the Trak Kayaks out on Mendenhall lake when we were in Juneau this weekend. Later, we explored the ice caves on the side of the glacier. Unlike difficult to access arctic glaciers, Mendenhall is just outside of Juneau. Thousands of visitors every year come to see it, and are able to see how it is receding. Folks who grew up in southeast remember that it used to jut out all the way to the parking lot at the Visitor's Center not so long ago. Photo Credit: Freddie Muñoz of SEACC.
As a Media and Storytelling Intern, my job is to capture the ways that people in Sitka live in relationship with their natural environment. By sharing these stories, SCS hopes to connect people with their own sense of place in the Tongass, and their personal reasons for contributing to the fight to protect it from abusive extraction practices. There is certainly no shortage of stories here in Sitka. Every person I have spoken with has a relationship with the rhythms of the rainforest, whether through fishing, hunting, foraging, hiking, wood-work, etc. From artists, students, carvers, fishermen, elders to avid gardener, everyone has an appreciation for their home. And I'm falling in love more quickly than I'd imagined.
Laurie Adams, collecting duck eggs at Down-to-Earth You-Pick Garden. Laurie taught me that slug-eating ducks are essential to having a successful garden in the Tongass.
While my job here is to inspire others to recognize the singularity of the Tongass and the importance of protecting it, I'm not surprised to find that I'm the one being inspired. As the intern coordinator for ACF, Claire Pywell, commented: people come to Alaska for the landscape, but they stay for the people. And I'm starting to believe her.
Tommy Joseph says Tlingit carving is personal and a true art
Tommy Joseph is a Tlingit master carver in Sitka. He teaches and carves what he is commissioned to do and what he feels inspired to create.
His apprentice, Kristina Cranston, says of him: "I think (Tommy) could recall probably where each tree came for probably if not most, all of his jobs. This tree came from this, and the other half of it went to this job. And so it becomes personal. It's like when you go into a grocery store and you see all these fruits and vegetables, you're really just getting the final product. You don'tknow where it was planted and who grew it and how it was harvested and cared for and transported. Whereas with his trees he's usually part of most of the process and knows where it comes from…And I think when you have that experience it's not a commodity, it's really the entire process, this whole cycle. And the end result is this beautiful totem pole, and usually somebody really happy."
Continue reading to see some of Tommy's work and how it relates to the community!
Tommy Joseph, Tlingit master carver, has been teaching woodcarving for about 15 years to university students, teenagers at camps and to local citizens. The shed to the right of the shop is a heated, well-lit place for his students to come learn and practice.
Right inside the back door of the shop, a bowl rests on a tree stump. Tommy explained that he intends everything he makes to serve a purpose. This bowl will be sealed with oil so that it may hold any kind of food without staining the wood.
Tommy created this armor based on armor he has seen in different Alaskan museums. He wants his next museum trip to be to the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois.
"Carving gives a frame for some of our cultural values to come forward," Kristina Cranston explained. Kristina is an apprentice in Tommy's shop and believes carving brings people together and provides a sense of community and commitment for students and local people. The orca tooth necklace Kristina wears was a Valentine's Day gift from Tommy.
"I'm in love with the human face and the human experience," Kristina said of her work in Tommy's shop. Despite a terrible injury early in her carving practices, she now has an apprenticeship where she is learning to make masks.
Tommy and other Tlingit carvers do not just make spoons they make art. He explained that the off-season (the winter) is a perfect time to add color and designs to his pieces.
Tourists from cruise ships often visit Tommy's shop during the week to see his work and learn about Tlingit carving of old growth cedars. The shop stays open seven days a week if cruise ships will be docked.
Tommy travels to other islands in the southeast to find the red cedar he will use for a totem pole project. Sometimes it takes as long as a year for the wood to arrive after he has selected the tree. This project rests outside of his shop.
In Memory of Greg Killinger
Greg Killinger fell in love with Southeast Alaska when he volunteered with the US Forest Service in 1983. During that first summer, he worked in fisheries surveying dozens of streams on Baranof and Chichagof Islands and other places on the Northern Tongass. This first summer was enough to convince him that this was where he wanted to be. He spent his next 30 years on the Tongass doing great things for our public lands and the natural world. Greg grew up in western Oregon. He graduated from Oregon State University with a Bachelor's degree in Fisheries and Wildlife Science. He went on to complete a master's degree in Natural Resource Management. Greg married his wife Lisa Petro, a local Sitkan, in 1990.
We worked very close with Greg in his position as the Tongass lead staff officer for Fisheries, Wildlife, Watershed, Ecology, Soils, and Subsistence. Greg held that post and worked under the Forest Supervisor from the Sitka Forest Service office. In that position, he oversaw and helped with all the programs across the Tongass for fisheries and watersheds. Greg was a key partner and helped build important relationships between the Sitka Conservation Society and the Forest Service. With him, we worked together on salmon habitat restoration projects like the Sitkoh River Restoration, restoration projects on Kruzof Island, and many other salmon-related projects across the entire Tongass.
Our working relationship with Greg and his employees was so close that we even shared staff. In 2011, SCS and Greg developed a position we called the Tongass Salmon Forest Resident. SCS funded the position and they worked under Greg. The position's goal was to "tell-the-story" of all the innovative and important programs that Greg managed on the Tongass that protected, enhanced, and restored salmon habitat. When SCS created the position, our goal was to shine the light on this great work. Greg put the spotlight on his staff and the partners that he worked with to make the Tongass's Fisheries and Watershed programs successful. That was the kind of leader that he was: he never wanted to take credit but always wanted to empower others and build more leadership and capacity.
That initial project led to two similar positions in 2012 and 2013. Greg worked with SCS staff to make two beautiful short films that shared the story of important fisheries management programs. One, called "Restoring America's Salmon Forest", illustrated a project Greg helped orchestrate that improved the health of the Sitkoh River—a major salmon producer damaged by past logging. The other, "Subsistence in Southeast Alaska: The Tongass National Forest's Fisheries Resource Monitoring Program", showcases the importance of Tongass salmon for subsistence use. This film also highlights important joint fisheries projects that Greg's program created with various Tribes across the Tongass. These programs continue to empower Native Alaskans to monitor important salmon runs across the region. Greg understood the importance of sharing the story of Tongass programs with the larger public. He was driven to showcase the importance of this forest in producing salmon and share how the Forest Service's staff cares for salmon, fisheries, and wildlife habitat. These films—and the many additional products that came from these partnerships—were catalyzed by Greg. Despite his heavy involvement, few recognized it was he who made them happen. Again, that was just the type of leader he was. He empowered and inspired us as a key catalyst that made things happen but did so from the background, never seeking credit or recognition.
Greg cleaning a halibut after a day out fishing
Greg was also a serious outdoorsman. He loved fishing for king salmon in the early summer and dip-netting for sockeye in July. He was a very accomplished alpine hunter whose passion was chasing after sheep in the Alaska interior. Greg did a number of epic hunts solo. He once shared the story of a solo mountain goat hunt that he did during a particularly dry summer. He became severely dehydrated high in the mountains. At one point he was crawling into a gorge looking for water while hallucinating because he had already been without water and under the sun for 2 days (in a rainforest!). He did get his goat in the end though.
That type of solo hunting in big mountains really characterized the kind of person Greg was-- not macho and he didn't do any of that to show-off or to be the guy that got the biggest trophy-- rather, he did those hunts for the pure challenge and as the highest form of communing with the natural world of Alaska. Greg loved wildlife. He loved the land and the water and the oceans. He loved the ecosystems of Alaska and all the natural processes that tied them all together. Hunting for him was one of the many ways that he was part of those ecosystems and part of how he connected with the natural world.
Greg didn't just challenge himself on Dall Sheep hunts in the Alaska Range. Greg took on enormous challenges in the work that he did and with the same calm and unassuming manner that he talked about his extreme outdoor exploits. One isn't the type of leader that Greg exemplified or is responsible for the variety and complexity of programs that Greg oversaw on a whim. In fact, balancing all the issues and programs that Greg oversaw was more of a challenge than the hunts he loved so much. Protecting salmon habitat under pressure from development, finding the resources and coordinating the partners to restore critical salmon systems, bringing together extremely diverse interests to work together, and being responsible for defining the strategy for how our largest National Forest deals with Climate Change are just the tip of the iceberg of what Greg did in his day-to-day. In most likelihood, those extreme hunts for Greg were actually a simplification of life for him: a situation where the most logical rules of nature are paramount and where the most basic instinctual conflicts of man-vs-nature and man-vs-himself are played out amongst the most perfect and beautiful of our planet's natural creation.
Greg died suddenly, unexpectedly, and in his prime. The one and only grace of his passing is the fact that it happened on a mountainside, in the arms of the beautiful forest he loved, and on one of the most spectacular spring days there ever was in Sitka. He enjoyed that last day to its fullest fishing for King Salmon in the morning, gardening, and then a trip up the mountain.
Greg's unexpected passing left all of us who knew him shocked. We lost a mentor that we admired, a colleague that inspired us, and a friend that we could always count on. Greg came to the Tongass and when he left, he left it a better place. We will always remember him and we will always strive to be as good a person as he was.
Written by: Andrew Thoms, Bethany Goodrich, Jon Martin, Kitty Labounty; May 30th, 2014
Video and Slideshow by: Bethany Goodrich, Corrine Ferguson, Pat Heur and the great help of Lisa, Su Meredith and all who scanned photos, dug through the archives and even digitized slides to memorialize Greg
Note: Greg Killinger will be added to the Sitka Conservation Society's Living Wilderness Celebration Board which honors the people who cherish and protect the wild and natural environment of the Tongass and have a passion for Wilderness. The above essay will be added to a book that tells the story of the people we honor and forever celebrate their lives and actions. In this way, we will continue to draw inspiration from Greg and all the others whose lives we celebrate.
Boating home after a successful trip fishing for kings with Steve and Kari Paustian and Bethany Goodrich
Voices of the Tongass - Karen Johnson
SCS had the opportunity to catch up with F/V Cloud Nine this week and we were humbled by these wonderful people. Karen Johnson, long time crew member on the Cloud Nine, was asked what fishing meant to her and this is what she had to say.
"I started fishing when I was 6. There are different kinds of fishermen as there are with any type of job, I suppose. My perception of fishing is I love it - I love the life, I love the ocean, I love the excitement, I love the peacefulness, I love the hard work.I can be seasick, look up, and still be amazed by my surroundings. I can be working hard, dead-tired, and still take in what's around me.
It's beautiful out there. It's part of living here I guess, never getting tired of seeing the amazing things that go on around us every day, even if it's just a daily morning walk at Totem park. There's always something to notice.
Our family fished together for a long time and I'm thankful for that and for the fact that my brother and I still get to fish together some. Our bond to the ocean, the coast, the inside passage is very strong and commercial fishing gave us a better opportunity to experience it on a wider scale than some might get. You can think of commercial fishing as a way to make money, as a job, but to some - it is so much more."
We can't thank you guys enough for what you do!
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Voices of the Tongass - Harvey Kitka
SCS had the opportunity to sit down with Harvey Kitka and talk about what living with the land means to him. Listening to him tell stories of his family, harvesting, and respect for the land and animals was absolutely mesmerizing.
"My family has been here for countless generations. My grandfather was Coho, and my grandmother was Kaagwaantaan, so I'm Kaagwaantaan. I carry stories from my grandfather and father.
Everything from the ground up we have respect for. A lot of native art has eyes on it and the reason they did that is because everything had something living in it. It showed our respect for the living. Everything has a purpose from what we are told. The trees when we cut those down there was a ceremony for that. We figured when we were hunting and had good fortune, the animals gave themselves to us and we thanked them for it. So we always thank the salmon and things.
We hope this hasn't changed. We try to teach our kids. We tell them everything is about respect. My grandfather always said you never make fun of your food. You don't play with your food. It's about respect. It is one of the things you pass onto your kids. Some of our earliest stories go back to this.
Food is our life. You take what's there, you take care of it, and it will take care of you. That's our whole philosophy."
Thank you for everything you do, Harvey!
Voices of the Tongass - Meghan Garrison
Meghan joins us this week on Voices of the Tongass, to share a story from when she was a little girl on the southern tip of Baranof Island. Meghan feels lucky to have grown up all over Southeast Alaska. To hear her story, scroll to the play bar at the bottom of this post.
Meghan and her dog, Barnacle, this winter break. Photo by Berett Wilber
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Jimmy Page Official Website Launches
On July 14th, 2001, Jimmy Page launched his brand new website to the world at www.jimmypage.com. I had been waiting for this moment for a long while, being the Led Zeppelin fan that I am. Although sparse, it does not disappoint. I especially like the daily changing of the homepage and it’s correspondence to what happened in Jimmy’s career on this date…. it adds allure to the site and certainly will keep people like myself coming back daily to see what’s new.
The Website comes complete with a guide, pictured above. Within this guide, a map is lain out out on how to navigate the site:
See the full gallery on Posterous
The site is broken down into 5 distinct sections, ‘On This Day‘, ‘News‘, ‘Live‘, ‘Photos‘, and ‘Discography‘. The ‘Live‘ section allows one to click a button to tell everyone visiting this section whether they were there at the concert. It’s a great run-down of Jimmy’s extensive career and illustrates how much he’s performed live over the years. In the ‘Discography‘ section, all of Jimmy’s recordings are listed and you can favorite them. Here’s how my account looks now:
Notice the live dates I’ve attended over the years and some of my favorite albums!
Here are a few collaborations Jimmy has done with Roy Harper (Roy Harper Official website), one of my favorite singer / songwriters / guitarists:
I believe they actually had some earlier material they did together, but it’s not listed here as of yet. My favorite is ‘Jugula‘ from the mid 1980s, just before Jimmy joined The Firm with Paul Rodgers (of Bad Company and Free fame). In fact, Roy’s bass player, Tony Franklin went on to become the Firm’s bass player!
I really enjoyed the ‘Photos’ section, as I am a photography enthusiast. Here are some images shared within this section… some from The Firm, some from the Welsh cottage of Bron-Yr-Aur, some of Jimmy’s guitar collection, some of Jimmy in the studio, and some from a 1975 Madison Square Garden concert:
Jimmy is even on Facebook and Twitter. Follow Jimmy Page on Twitter or give a like to Jimmy on Facebook.
There are even credits given out on the site and some notable mentioned include the great rock and roll photographer, Ross Halfin and Jimmy’s own daughter, Scarlet Page on some of the photo credits. Jimmy is listed as the executive producer:
Posted via email from Chris J Politzki’s Posterous
no comments | tags: Bad Company, Bass Player, Black and White Photography, Bron-Yr-Aur, classic rock, Color Photography, concert, Discography, electric guitar, Facebook, Free, guitar, Guitar Player, Jimmy Page, Jugula, Lead Guitar, Led Zeppelin, Madison Square Garden, MSG, music, New York, NY, Paul Rodgers, Photography, Rock and Roll, rock music, Ross Halfin, Roy Harper, Scarlet Page, Social, Social Media, Studio, The Firm, Tony Franklin, Twitter, Wales, Web Site, Welsh | posted in Design Related, Music Related, Photography, Social Media Related
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The 20 Bands You Must See On Warped Tour 2011
Roz Smith
It’s summer, which means the temperatures are hot and the tours keep getting hotter. Of course, summer isn’t complete without the Vans Warped Tour and this year the lineup is full of bands ranging from hardcore, electronic, pop-punk, ska, hip-hop and dubstep. Even the local scenes are represented by bands who have earned themselves a spot through contests like the Earn It Yourself: Spring! Into Action Tour.
Both veterans and rookies of the tour join together to bring nothing but their best to the stage on each stop. So grab your sunblock, and dress to sweat because this year you’ll be dancing, moshing and screaming your lungs out. When it comes to the stops in Camden on July 21, Uniondale on July 23 and Oceanport on July 24, these are just 20 of the many bands playing those dates that you should check out.
Go Radio
Jason Lancaster, former Mayday Parade guitarist and vocalist, has turned his side project into his main project. With Go Radio we truly feel the raw emotion that Lancaster has put into the lyrics. Go Radio’s pop-rock sound has landed them on tours with The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus as well as Sparks The Rescue and even Lancaster’s previous band, Mayday Parade. The Fearless Records quartet released their debut EP, Do Overs And Second Chances, last April, which gave fans something to satiate their hunger for Go Radio’s debut, Lucky Street, that dropped in March of this year.
The band started up their own record label, Sleep It Off Records, to make sure that profits that were made on record sales were given to the artist, and so the band could reissue some of their older work. Besides the reissues, Less Than Jake have released GNV FLA, which contains covers of television theme songs, and their most recent release, Greetings From Less Than Jake. The new EP will be available for purchase at the merch booths during Warped Tour, to recreate the fan-to-band personal experience. Greetings From Less Than Jake brings the band’s roots back to create an explosion of sound that will have your ears asking for more.
Moving Mountains
Moving Mountains, or MovMou for short, is an indie/post-rock/ambient band from upstate New York. Having been around only been around since 2005, this band’s sound has remnants of the post-rock movement of the late ‘90s, early ‘00s. Their first album, Pneuma, focused heavily on the death of a friend and while Moving Mountains most recent release, Waves, also addresses the feelings of loss, it’s also an album of growth. Along touring with bands such as Say Anything, Polar Bear Club and Biffy Clyro to name a few, Moving Mountains have also had their music featured on shows such as Mad Men and Teen Mom. Moving Mountains isn’t a band to skip over.
River City Extension
River City Extension is a Toms River-based band, now made up of eight members, who released their debut EP, Nautical Sabbatical, in January of 2009. Shortly after that they hit the road for a tour of the East Coast. Their EP made such an impression on the music scene that they were signed to XOXO Records and released their first full-length album, The Unmistakable Man. Recently, the band has been added to the list of bands competing to play Rombello, a tour that takes place on a boat that starts in Florida and ends in Mexico. Their folky alternative sound makes them one of the standout bands of the year.
From their debut, No Helmets, No Pads, Just Balls, the Canadian quintet have remained static as far as their lineup is concerned. Their first album helped the band connect with fans through songs such as “Perfect,” “I’m Just A Kid,” and “You Don’t Mean Anything.” Both their second and third albums, Still Not Getting Any… and Simple Plan shows how the band has grown both musically and personally. Their latest album, Get Your Heart On!, features exciting cameos and melodies that will get you going. Along with their music, the Simple Plan are known for their foundation that they set up called Simple Plan Foundation. The basis behind the charity is to help children and teens that are dealing with hardships, whether they are terminal illnesses, poverty, depression or war.
Terrible Things
When Terrible Things started out last August, they were known as a super group consisting of former Taking Back Sunday lead guitarist/vocalist Fred Mascherino, Hot Rod Circuit guitarist Andy Jackson and former Coheed And Cambria drummer Josh Eppard. However, as of April of 2011, Andy Jackson has left the band. Terrible Things released their self-titled album last August as well as appeared on the 2010 Warped Tour. They were also featured alongside Windsor Drive supporting Mae on their farewell tour. Their debut album, Terrible Things, is a concept album circling around a series of suspicious fires that took place in Mascherino’s hometown of Coatesville, PA. The songs will hook you from the first note.
The Dance Party have a reputation for outlandish performances and partying. After the release of their first full-length, titled Friction! Friction!, the band made some lineup changes that smoothed their sound out. The quartet signed to HellYa! Records/Atlantic Records before working on their major label debut Touch, which came out in 2010. Since then The Dance Party has been part of the CMJ Music Marathon and have had their music featured on The Real World and Jersey Shore. The band’s latest album is full of power-pop beats with a retro vibe mixed in, which makes it perfect for amplifying a party setting or just to pump you up before a night out.
Bad Rabbits
Boston’s Bad Rabbits bring a blend of R&B, soul, rock, funk and pop together to form a special, tasty rabbit stew. Their sound is smooth and sultry, and lately Bad Rabbits have been working on a full-length that is expected to be released by the end of this year or early next year. Besides this year’s Warped Tour, Bad Rabbits were featured on Travie McCoy’s last tour. After a decade of making music, it doesn’t seem like these rabbits will be slowing down anytime soon.
Relient K just released their cover EP, K Is For Karaoke. The EP features the five-piece covering songs by artists such as Cindy Lauper, Gnarles Barkley and Justin Bieber. The band, which has been around since the late ‘90s, has been grouped in the Christian rock/punk genre but their music isn’t outright preachy. They have released seven albums to date. This will be the band’s third appearance on the Vans Warped Tour. Other than music making, Matt Thiessen and Matt Hoopes have a record label together called Mono Vs Stereo, which represents Daes Vail among other artists, including themselves!
Shut Up And Deal
For a relatively young band, the five guys of Shut Up And Deal have a sense of maturity when it comes to music. Their passion for bringing thought-out music back into the spotlight is one of the reasons why this band stands out. Although the band is unsigned and is completely into the DIY movement, the way that they work is incredibly motivating and shows how far this band wants to go. With their melodic alternative-pop sound, Shut Up And Deal’s most recent album, This One’s For Me, is full of catchy hooks and energetic instrumentals. Though this band may not be signed, keep your eyes peeled because with their talent and with how focused they are, Shut Up And Deal is bound to go far.
Lift The Decade
Lift The Decade, a four-piece from Ringwood, NJ, have accomplished a lot in the short amount of time they’ve been a band, and have had some impressive achievements in 2011, one of them being selected by the Earn It Yourself: Spring Into Action Tour to play Warped Tour. From the band’s first show opening for Sherwood, their potential was evident. Lift The Decade’s catchy hooks and classic rock guitars set this band apart from what you’d normally expect from a pop-punk band. After releasing their debut EP, Themes And Morals, the quartet is in the process of writing their next release, which will be their first full-length album.
Every Avenue
With their third full-length album, Bad Habits, set to be released this August, Every Avenue set out to explore their darker sides all while really fine-tuning their sound. Bad Habits has songs that listeners can really relate to, such as the album’s single, “Fall Apart.” This quintet from Michigan will capture the ears of fans of Mayday Parade, The Maine and other bands of the pop-punk genre. For being a relatively young band, Every Avenue has spread their fan base worldwide.
Sick Of Sarah
The quintet that makes up Sick Of Sarah oddly enough don’t have a member named Sarah to get sick of. However, what they do have is attitude. The all female alternative, power-pop band from Minnesota are set to top the charts. They blend together The Cliks, Joan Jett and Tegan And Sara to create their own bold sound. Sick Of Sarah stray from what most think an all girl band should be and reinvent the word to fit them. They’re wild, fun and a tad bit crazy, but they’ll certainly rock your socks off. After their nationwide tour supporting their self-titled LP, the ladies have recorded an EP titled The Best Thing and another full-length, titled 2205, named after the band’s practice space/sometimes home.
Big D And The Kids Table
Forming in 1995, Big D And The Kids Table have built a large following of youngsters and seasoned folk alike. By supporting other bands like Less Than Jake or Streetlight Manifesto, Big D And The Kids Table end up playing roughly 200 shows a year. As of late, they are getting ready to release their sixth studio album, For The Damned, The Dumb And The Delirious, which will be out on Side One Dummy Records on July 5. Big D’s music has landed them many Warped Tour and festival appearances, headlining and supporting slots on tours and even an award. Although members of the band seem to change like the seasons, two things remain the same: the loyal fans and the quality of the music.
The band that put you in “Cupid’s Chokehold” and insisted that taking your “Clothes Off” was the only way to have a good time are almost ready to release their fourth album, The Papercut Chronicles II. After frontman Travie McCoy went solo in late 2009, there was a ton of speculation about what was going to become of Gym Class Heroes. Well, here we are in 2011 and they’re here to take the Vans Warped Tour by storm. What helps Gym Class Heroes stand out is their blend of hip-hop, rock and funk along with who the band decides to tour with. From hardcore bands, to pop-punk bands, chances are Gym Class Heroes has shared the bill with a band of almost every genre.
There For Tomorrow
There For Tomorrow made a splash from the moment they caught the eyes of the public. The Florida quartet have already won an MTVU Woodie Award, been part of 2010’s Take Action Tour and released their second major label album, The Verge. There For Tomorrow have been featured on compilations and their song “A Little Faster” was featured in the major motion picture, Ben 10 Alien Swarm. Vocalist Maika Maile really makes the band stand out with his raspy and haunting voice. The Verge has dark and chilling elements to it and it’s full of strong, passionate emotions. There For Tomorrow does have hooks, but their attitude is what sets them apart from the crowd.
The U.K.’s own Enter Shikari has made an impression here in the U.S. Their progressive/post-hardcore/electronic sound has landed their music in video games and on televisions shows. The band recently signed to Hopeless Records in the States and have begun a world tour. The four-piece released “Quelle Surprise,” which is the single off of their third studio album. After Warped Tour the band is set to take on the Reeding and Leeds Festivals in England, as well as getting ready to set out on a European tour.
Set Your Goals
California’s Set Your Goals has been bringing a happy hardcore sound to the masses since 2004. Impressively, the band released their first EP on Straight On Records before signing with Eulogy Records and later Epitaph. Not only does this band play impressive originals but their Nirvana and Foo Fighters cover band, Set Your Grohls, isn’t half bad either! Set Your Goals’ second album, This Will Be The Death Of Us, really propelled the band into the public eye and landed at number 65 on Billboard’s Top 200 list. Recently the band’s third release, Burning At Both Ends, came out. After their stint on Warped Tour Set Your Goals will be heading out on tour with New Found Glory.
Blood On The Dance Floor proves you don’t have to have a record label to be successful.. After hitting a few road bumps from lineup changes and even some legal issues, the electronic duo emerged as a stronger group. Other than their eye-catching appearances and experimental beats, Blood On The Dance Floor have found themselves as one of the most popular unsigned artists on MySpace as well as keeping their promise of being a fan’s band. In June, Blood On The Dance Floor released their fourth album, All The Rage, to add to the ranks of their many releases.
D.R.U.G.S.
After leaving Chiodos, Craig Owens formed his own band D.R.U.G.S (Destroy, Rebuild Until God Shows) with some fellow seasoned musicians. Made up of former members of Matchbook Romance, Story Of The Year, Underminded and From First To Last, D.R.U.G.S. is a post-hardcore force to be reckoned with. The five-piece started to release songs from their self-titled debut album until finally releasing the single, “Sex Life.” The album dropped in February, and from there the band headed out to the U.K. for a brief tour before headlining the Alternative Press Tour. Although the band is relatively new, make sure you keep an eye out for what this super group can bring.
bad rabbitsbig d and the kids tableblood on the dance floord.r.u.g.s.enter shikarievery avenuego radiogym class heroesless than jakelift the decademoving mountainsrelient kriver city extensionset your goalsshut up and dealsick of sarahsimple planterrible thingsthe dance partythere for tomorrowwarped tour
Interview with The Hollow: Jersey Breakouts
Interview with Matt McGinley of Gym Class Heroes: Exposing Papercuts
Bands On The Verge
Various Contributors
Fueled By Ramen: Contents May Be Hot
chumsley July 20, 2011
You forgot Electric Touch !!!
» Blog Archive » The 20 Bands You Must See On Warped Tour 2011 – Aquarian Weekly July 20, 2011
[…] The 20 Bands You Must See On Warped Tour 2011 – Aquarian Weekly 0 Posted on : 21-07-2011 | By : admin | In : RecordLabel […]
POPS July 21, 2011
WHAT ABOUT
TOMORROWS BAD SEEDS???
POUNDED THE ROXY
THE PONY GREAT LAST YEAR
Concert goers in NJ fall ill in the heat – 6abc.com July 21, 2011
[…] Aquarian Weekly […]
Dan July 22, 2011
Less Than Jake’s new CD that covers TV themes is called “TV EP” not “GNV FLA”
Mike July 25, 2011
Blood On The Dance Floor.Really?They are awful
Patty July 31, 2011
As if A Day To Remember is not one. I can tell you ADTR are better live than Every Avenue and Relient K. And woohoo Simple Plan :D
Leave a Reply to Patty Cancel Reply
Singer Nick Hexum discusses 311's latest voyage, while Dallon Weekes talks about going back to the future with I DONT KNOW HOW BUY THEY FOUND ME. Plus more with August Burns Red, Blink-182, METZ, Tacocat, Silverstein, and the Rolling Stones!
Debra Kate Schafer
Print Listings
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The guns beneath the beds
Across South Sudan guns remain stashed away in home-steads and cattle camps – despite an official push to encourage people to hand over their weapons.
19.01.2015 | Juba
أسلحة تم جمعها في بور، ولاية جونقلي تاسع مايو، 2013.
Over the past two years, voluntary and forceful disarmament campaigns have been rolled out in Unity, Lakes, Jonglei and Central Equatoria states, but with little success.
In 2012, former Jonglei State Governor and current Minister for Defence Kuol Manyang Juuk handed over his weapon to officials, kick-starting the disarmament campaign in the capital Bor.
That campaign amassed over 10,000 guns, according to the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) leadership. However, this accomplishment was marred by reports of human rights abuses including rape and torture by soldiers.
Other hurdles have delayed the governments bid to recover small arms and light weapons from civilians who often obtained them during the civil war. Eye witnesses say, for example, that many people only handed over one or two guns, keeping hold of others they own. Disarmament campaigns in South Sudan have also been hampered by travel diff iculties, especially during rainy seasons when many roads are impassable.
For this reason, the removal of illegal arms has been largely carried out in the dry season, a period characterised by cattle raiding and revenge attacks. This background of aggression and risk made it less likely for civilians to willingly handover arms.
Communities denounced the initiative in Lakes and Unity states, accusing the government of disarming rival communities at different times, meaning that those who retained their weapons for longer were able to terrorise defenceless” groups.
There have also been reports of externally supplied arms being used to fight proxy wars, for example, with politicians re-arming their communities behind the back of governments.
These acts have been blamed for fuelling armed rebellions, inter-communal violence and a spate of cattle raids frequently killing and injuring scores of people, as well as depriving many of their scant possessions.
Linguistics Professor Patrick Otsudi blames illegal arms for undermining social, economic and political progress in the country. Security is compromised, he says, as criminal activities such as cattle raiding, revenge killings and armed robberies take centre stage, preventing people from moving freely and also discouraging much-needed investment in the young country. If I told you to go to Jonglei or Bentiu now, you will say it is not safe but if I tell you London, you will quickly ask me when the air ticket will be ready,” he says.
He also warns against disarming the civil population while the respective national, state, and local governments are divided and sections of the national army are loyal to individuals, for instance, during the current crisis which has pitted soldiers loyal to rebel Riek Machar against those who support President Salva Kiir.
Disarmament for only some
Recurring rebellions and the emergence of militia groups in several parts of the country have also derailed disarmament efforts, not least because they continue to supply arms to some communities.
Juba, the national capital, witnessed door to door and roadblock searches for illegal guns over the last months. Although there has not been the extent of human rights abuses inflicted on citizens elsewhere, especially in Jonglei, neither locals nor analysts see the disarmament campaign as a success.
One Juba resident, who declined to be identified, is haunted by one night in late March when she was robbed of 500 South Sudanese Pounds (about US$ 165) and a cellular phone. Her attackers, she says, were the same soldiers who had searched her neighbour’s house for guns two days earlier.
I felt frightened … There was somebody pointing a gun at my head telling me not to look at him,” she said. If I had something do to somewhere else, I would leave Juba.”
The woman described how the two soldiers planned to rape her but she was saved by another soldier who appeared to be in charge of the group and who criticised his colleagues’ behaviour.
She added that the disarmament exercise was a waste of time because many guns remain hidden until the soldiers leave again.
Her downbeat assessment of the campaign was echoed by Geoffrey Duke, an official at the South Sudan Action Network on Small Arms. He said it remains unclear how many illegal guns were recovered during Juba’s disarmament, adding: We have not seen a clear reduction of crimes because arms ow easily and re-armament is easy.”
Information on forthcoming disarmaments is reportedly leaked to civilians by relatives within the forces carrying out the disarmament, giving locals ample time to hide any illegal fi rearms.
Duke added that the nation’s weak security institutions fail to protect people, motivating them to acquire weapons to protect themselves. Soldiers’ delayed salary payments, combined with their easy access to arms stockpiles, encouraged many to sell guns to civilians for a pro fit, he said, adding that he saw no swift conclusion to South Sudan’s negative cycle of small arms and light weapons proliferation.
Small Arms: If the evil is coming shut the door
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michael.scott@ulstergazette.co.uk
Tuesday 9 July 2019 9:12
UPWARDS of 100,000 people expected in Scarva when the annual parade and Sham Fight take place on Saturday, July 13.
The small and quaint village is renowned for hosting the biggest one-day event, at a single location, anywhere in the Province.
The annual clash between King William and King James and the large-scale procession through Scarva – hosted by Sir Knight Alfred Buller Memorial RBP 1000 - is now firmly established as a major tourist and family attraction.
Sovereign Grand Master of the Royal Black Institution, Rev William Anderson, said: “The Sham Fight is a truly wonderful family occasion and we are looking forward to another extremely successful day.
“As a Christian-based organisation, the religious service is extremely important to our members. The procession to the field, through thousands of people lining the village streets, is a unique spectacle of music and pageantry.
“And the actual re-enactment of the famous battle always attracts attention. The thirteenth as it is so often and fondly described, is about history coming alive, and is to be enjoyed by everyone.”
Rev Anderson paid tribute to the organising committee of volunteers and RBP 1000, which celebrates its centenary this year.
To mark the occasion, members will be given the honour of leading the main parade, accompanied by Sir Henry Inglesby Fife and Drum.
Worshipful master Craig Adair said: “Scarva is a special day packed with music, pageantry and culture. It’s a day of historical significance and an event that attracts visitors from near and far. We are very proud to host the Sham Fight, particularly on this our centenary year, and look forward to another memorable occasion.”
The Sham Fight at the Demesne is the only remaining one of its kind in Ireland. At the top of the field where the re-enactment is staged, is the chestnut tree where King William tied his horse on the way to the Battle of the Boyne and where his troops rested.
King William is played by John Adair and King James by Colin Cairns. The main protagonists are accompanied by re-enactors in period costume and a number of horses. Both kings will be dressed in new Williamite uniforms this year.
Mr Adair, who has been playing the main role for nearly 30 years, said: “There is always a terrific response from the public, when we arrive at the battlefield on horseback. This year we will have new uniforms so that will be something extra on the day. It will be another extremely tense battle, but I will certainly do my utmost to put King James to the sword once again.”
An adjoining cultural field will also showcase musical entertainment, highland dancing, historical displays, and other activities for the many visitors to enjoy throughout the day.
The Sham Fight will be preceded by a large parade, with up to 90 preceptories and as many bands taking part in the procession through the village. Approximately 4,000 members of the Royal Black Institution will step out, accompanied by a wide selection of music, including flute, pipe, accordion and brass bands.
The main procession will leave the assembly field on the Gilford Road at 11.15am and proceed through the village to the Demesne.
Earlier in the day, members of Scarva Royal Black Preceptory will lay a wreath at the village memorial to local members of the security forces who were murdered during the Troubles.
The Sham Fight will take place at 1.30pm, prior to the religious service, which is scheduled to commence at 2pm.
Platform proceedings will be chaired by David Livingstone, County Armagh Grand Master and Imperial Grand Treasurer. The service of worship and Act of Remembrance will be led by Rev Maurice Laverty, and the preacher will be Rev Edwin Frazer. The scriptures will be read by David Boyce, chaplain of RBP 1000.
Billy Scott, Imperial Grand Registrar, will read the resolutions and they will be proposed by Rev William Anderson, Sovereign Grand Master.
The praise will be led by Roughan Silver Band.
Renowned mezzo-soprano, Emma Brown, will also perform during the platform proceedings.
The return parade is scheduled to leave the Demesne at 3pm.
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Sand lizards, which can measure 20 centimetres, have stocky cylindrical bodies with short legs, short wide heads, rounded noses and short tails. The background colour of females is pale grey to light brown, with a creamy white belly and a pattern of brown spots or blotches running along the back and sides. The markings are often filled with a white spot or dash, tones of green are normally completely absent in females. Males normally have green backs and sides with a pale green belly; these colours are enhanced during the breeding season, a series of brown or darker marks forming a band run along the centre of the back, bordered by two lighter lines.
The area of distribution for this species in France is concentrated in a broad band which runs from the borders with Germany, down through an arc to the Mediterranean coast, isolated sightings are sometimes made outside of this zone. Habitat is generally rich in vegetation, bushes and trees or grasslands, also to be found in sand dunes. In all these localities, outside of the breeding season, they will often spend much of the day underground in cavities that have previously been made by other creatures. In spite of its French name, it isn’t particularly agile at all, spending most of its time on the ground and rarely climbing. Prey is mainly insects and hibernation starts early, being in September or October until March.
Sand Lizard
Lézard Agile - (Syn. Française : Lézard des Souches)
Visit my French wildlife, nature
and beekeeping blog.
Reproduction, which takes place in May and June, is accompanied by spectacular fights between males which sometimes result in serious injuries, these combats start by way of a complex ritual and usually finish when one of the participants flees, leaving the victorious male with the female. Eggs, about 10 to 15, are deposited by the female deep in a hole or burrow that she makes, where they hatch 2 or 3 months later.
Populations have seen a severe decline across the entire natural range for this species, mainly as a result of habitat loss.
Habitats directive, annex 4. Berne convention, Annex 2. France, Article 1 protection.
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Home » EN » 90 years since Michael I became King of Romania
90 years since Michael I became King of Romania
Posted by Transylvania Today in EN, Homepage | 0 comments
King Michael I of Romania has a special place in Romania’s history. He is the only sovereign who survived 90 years of his own coronation which took place in 1927. He is also one of the Head of State of the Second World War period who spent the turn of the millennium with his people. Furthermore, King Michael I will go down in history as the Romanian who has defied the dreadful dictators of the twentieth century: Adolf Hitler and Iosif Visarionovici Stalin.
Michael I was born on 25 October 1921, in Sinaia. His mother was Princess Helen, born Princess of Greece and Denmark. His father was the Crown Prince Carol of Romania. Through his paternal and maternal ascendants, Michael I is related to the kings of the Holy Roman – German Empire, the Austrian Empire and the German Empire, with the Tsars of Russia, with the kings and queens of Great Britain, Greece, Portugal, Denmark and a large number of families that have influenced the fate of the European continent.
Prince Michael of Romania had a tumultuous childhood. His father gave up the Crown, divorced his mother, and severed ties with the Royal Family of Romania. Thus, Michael was proclaimed Crown Prince by his grandfather, King Ferdinand I of Romania, who went to the Heavenly Father in 1927. Under these circumstances, although he was only six years old, Michael I became King of Romania. Since he could not exercise the prerogatives of a constitutional monarch due to his age, a Regency was formed in Romania, consisting of his uncle, Prince Nicholas of Romania, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, His Holiness Miron Cristea, and the famous attorney-at-law Gheorghe Buzdugan from the Court of Cassation.
These years of the Regency overlapped the beginning of the Great Economic Crisis between 1929 and 1933. As Romania faced great difficulties, in 1930 the King Michael’s father returned to the country and was proclaimed King under the name of Carol II. Michael I received an ad-hoc title, the Great Voivode of Alba Iulia, and assumed again the functions of the Crown Prince. The return of Carol II to Romania unfortunately coincided with the exile of the Queen Mother of Romania, which meant that Michael I was deprived of the presence of the most beloved person, his mother.
Michael I received a fine education. His father created a special class, called the Palatine Class, where teachers were the most eminent scholars of Romania, and classmates of King Michael came from all regions of the country and from all social classes. In addition to the academic education, Michael I undertook military training, and at the age of 16 he became sub-lieutenant of the Romanian Royal Armed Forces. It was the first military rank for the only Marshal of the Romanian Army in 2017.
The outbreak of the Second World War found Romania in a difficult situation. The Allies of Romania, first of all France, then Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Greece were invaded by the Nazi Germany and its allied countries. Under these conditions, King Carol II had to consent to painful territorial surrenders. The USSR occupied Bessarabia, Bukovina and Herţa Land, Hungary occupied Northern Transylvania, and Bulgaria occupied Southern Dobruja (Dobrogea). Under these circumstances, in September 1940, Carol II was forced to leave his country and the Throne.
Michael I resumed his reign as King in a country transformed into a dictatorship led by General Ion Antonescu, allied with the fascists of the Legionary Movement for several months. King Michael I had a strictly decorative role.
Ion Antonescu decided to strengthen the relations with the Nazi Germany, the only power that offered to guarantee Romania’s sordid borders. Ion Antonescu feared that Romania was under the risk of being attacked by both the USSR and Hungary.
In 1941, Ion Antonescu decided to declare war on the Soviet Union and to fight alongside Germany to recover the Romanian territories occupied by the USSR, and King Michael I learned about it from the radio. After four years of war, on 23 August 1944, to prevent the invasion of Romania by the USSR, King Michael I ordered that dictator Ion Antonescu be arrested, and joined the United Nations. The King’s actions shortened the war by six months and saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. Afterwards King Michael I reinstated the democratic Constitution from 1923 and opposed the establishment of communism.
For three years, he managed to oppose Stalin. But on 30 December 1947, threatened with the execution of 1,000 students, he was forced to sign a null act of abdication and go into exile.
In 1948, King Michael I married Princess Ana of Bourbon-Parma, who became Queen Ana of Romania. The royal couple had five daughters. During the exile, King Michael I became the legitimate leader of the Romanian democratic exile and continued to oppose communism.
After 1989, the Royal Family of Romania managed to return to the country, except for King Michael I. The new authorities in Bucharest did not allow his Majesty to return until 1992, when the King of Romania was welcomed in the streets by one million people who wanted to greet their legitimate leader. King Michael I was able to return definitively to the country only in 1997.
Although he was not reigning, he undertook the mission of promoting Romania’s interests during the NATO and EU accession. The merits of King Michael I are indesputable. Now, in his twilight years, he is the personality that enjoys the greatest appreciation among the Romanians, and the prospect of restoring the monarchy is more and more present.
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Homepage - ... [Trackback] [...] Read More: transylvaniatoday.ro/2017/07/20/90-years-since-michael-i-became-king-of-romania/ [...]
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The Daily: Trump Chooses Bitcoin Advocate as Chief of Staff, Congressman Proposes Wall Coins
In today’s edition of The Daily, we feature a couple of stories from the U.S. political scene. President Donald Trump has chosen a known Bitcoin advocate as the Acting White House Chief of Staff. And a congressman proposes to fund the building of a barrier on the U.S.-Mexico border with a “Wall Coins” crowdsale offering.
Mick Mulvaney Moves Up in the Trump Administration
U.S. President Donald Trump has announced on Friday that Mick Mulvaney, Director of the Office of Management & Budget, will be named Acting White House Chief of Staff. As we reported when he was first appointed as Trump’s budget director back in February, Mulvaney has made public his positive interest in Bitcoin.
Mulvaney has solicited bitcoin donations for his campaigns in the past. And at a Small Business Committee hearing on Bitcoin, he stated: “I know it isn’t a mainstream issue yet — and may not become one — but it is extraordinarily interesting and something that could eventually influence the dollar and our monetary policy. In fact, one of the witnesses drew favorable comparisons between Bitcoin and Milton Friedman.”
“Mick has done an outstanding job while in the Administration. I look forward to working with him in this new capacity as we continue to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump tweeted about the new appointment on Friday. “For the record, there were MANY people who wanted to be the White House Chief of Staff. Mick M will do a GREAT job!”
Buy a Brick, Build a Wall
Speaking about President Trump, promising to build a “big, beautiful” wall on the U.S. southern border to stop illegal immigration from Mexico was a pillar of his elections campaign. However, the president has not been able to push forward the process of securing funds for his flagship project so far. So, could an ICO be the answer? That’s what one congressman is now proposing.
Warren Davidson, Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio’s 8th congressional district, talked about this idea in a recent interview with NPR.
“I’ve offered a modest compromise called Buy a Brick, Build a Wall that we introduced, which lets the American people, or whomever should choose to donate – Mexicans or otherwise – to donate to the program,” Davidson explained. “You could do with this sort of, like, crowdfunding site. Or you could even do blockchain, and you could have wall coins. But you could raise the money. And frankly, if we get it right at the Treasury, you could even accept Mexican pesos.”
Time will tell if this was just an off-the-cuff remark that will never become an official plan or something more than that, but Davidson certainly knows the American digital assets field well. At a regulatory round-table he hosted on Capitol Hill a couple of months ago, the congressman called on regulators to provide clarity for crypto entrepreneurs as quickly as possible. “Legitimate players in the industry have a desire for some sort of certainty so we can prevent and prosecute fraud. I’m confident we can move forward and make this a flourishing market in the U.S. It’s an imperative for us to do, we did it well with the internet,” he stated.
Source: news.bitcoin
Chatter Report: Zhuoer Claims BSV Block Created ‘Accidentally’, Falkvinge Likens Code Review to ‘Legislation’
Despite 2018 Bear Market, Top Crypto Markets Have Outperformed FANG Stocks Since 2017
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Maine-Endwell Opens Million Dollar Diamond
Photo Courtesy of Maine-Endwell Schools
The crown jewel of area high school athletic facilities will be officially opened this afternoon at Maine-Endwell High School. An artificial turf baseball stadium will be dedicated by Thomas and Alba Tull, benefactors of the $2.2 million project. Thomas Tull is a 1988 graduate of Maine-Endwell and played baseball under Coach Gary Crooks who remains the Spartans' head baseball coach.
The complex includes the new turf surface, dugouts, press box, bleachers and scoreboard. The gift comes from the Tull Family Foundation. Also, the name of the new stadium will be announced during the opening ceremony. Several members of the Baseball Hall of Fame will also be on hand.
Construction of the new stadium began in October of 2013. Thomas Tull is the Chairman and Chief Executive of Legendary Entertainment, a part owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers and board member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
Source: Maine-Endwell Opens Million Dollar Diamond
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« New Pubblication: Ian Ward, “Sex, Crime and Literature in Victorian England”
Conference: “Shakespeare 450” »
Deadline extended: International Osnabrück Summer Institute on the Cultural Study of the Law
we inform you that the application deadline for the 2014 International Osnabrück Summer Institute on the Cultural Study of the Law: Contested Properties: Culture, Rights and the Humanities (University of Osnabrueck, Germany, from August 4-16, 2014) has been extended until April 6, 2014.
For more detailed information about the format of the institute and its application procedure, see the post below or visit the Summer Institute at http://www.osi.uni-osnabrueck.de/
2014_OSI Poster
*Announcement*
* Contested Properties: Culture, Rights and the Humanities*
International Summer Institute on the Cultural Study of the Law
http://www.osi.uni-osnabrueck.de/
*Invitation*
The fifth International Osnabrueck Summer Institute on the Cultural Study of the Law will be held from August 4 to 16, 2014, at the University of Osnabrueck, Germany. Hosted by the Institute of English and American Studies (IfAA), the Osnabrueck Summer Institute seeks to bring together advanced graduate, doctoral, and postdoctoral students of the humanities and/or the law from around the world to promote and examine the interdisciplinary study and research of law and culture.
During the two week program, students will partake in a unique experience of scholarly collaboration and exchange through workshops, public lectures, panel discussions, excursions and a final symposium. Participating faculty in this year’s Summer Institute include:
* Rosemary J. Coombe (York University, Toronto)
* Helle Porsdam (University of Copenhagen)
* Fiona Macmillan (Birkbeck School of Law, University of London)
* Karen-Margrethe Simonsen (Aarhus U)
* Joseph Slaughter (Columbia U)
* Leti Volpp (U of California, Berkeley)
with more faculty to be announced in the upcoming weeks.
The Institute will offer a total of four workshops for 20-30 international participants (doctoral, post-doctoral and advanced M.A. – see below for eligibility) over a two-week period. The first workshop will be concerned with basic theories, concepts and perspectives within the emerging field of cultural legal studies, focusing specifically on the range and potential of interdisciplinary studies and approaches. The remaining three workshops will focus on key areas of critical inquiry that have been central to the dynamic development of the field:
* The tripartite relationship between culture, cultural rights, and the nation state
* The historical development and current debates about culture as heritage, property and as a resource and its legal definition and regulation (including concepts such as copyright, intellectual property and authorship)
* The cultural presence and representation of the law and the role of culture in the representation and dissemination of the concept of rights (e.g. law and literature, life writing and human rights, visual culture and rights rhetoric)
*Participant Eligibility*
The Summer Institute aims at advanced graduate, doctoral, and postdoctoral students from various academic fields whose research interests and projects are situated at the interface between law and the humanities and who are concerned with a better understanding of the interdependence of law and culture.
Even though the Institute strongly invites students from a broad variety of disciplines and academic backgrounds, it focuses almost exclusively on questions and issues related to research done in the humanities and legal studies.
Doctoral candidates in literature, the law, the arts, the humanities, and the related social sciences are invited to apply, as are advanced students pursuing a J.D. or its equivalent (such as the L.L.B). Young scholars or junior faculty members who have received a Ph.D. or corresponding degree in the last five years are also eligible. While applications by doctoral/post-doctoral students are prioritized, the Summer Institute also encourages applications from advanced Master students about to conclude their studies and with a strong interest in interdisciplinary research. There are openings for 20-30 students to participate in the Summer Institute.
Due to its international audience, the Summer Institute will be completely conducted in English. It does not offer language instruction classes, either in German or in English.
*Application Process*
Applicants should complete:
* The application form on our website
There, they will have to upload
* A statement of purpose no more than two pages long, describing current scholarly interests, previous research, and plans for how the Summer Institute would specifically further these interests and plans.
* An up-to-date curriculum vitae.
Students interested in taking part in the Summer Institute should submit their applications no later than April 6, 2014. Detailed information about the Institute, the workshops, international faculty, admission and fees can be found at:
*Questions*
Please direct all inquiries and questions to Dr. Sabine N. Meyer, the coordinator of the Osnabrueck Summer Institute, at
lawandculture@uos.de
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Music November 6, 2015 May 31, 2019
Twenty Years Later – Gza’s Liquid Swords
by: Michael Shields
Twenty years after its release, Gza’s Liquid Swords remains a high-water mark in lyrical dexterity…
“I don’t waste ink / nigga I think!”
Gza, born Gary Grice, is a wordsmith1. He is one of the most gifted and cerebral MCs to ever walk the face of the planet. Gza, one of the founding members of the Wu-Tang clan, is known throughout the hip-hop stratosphere as The Genius, and with good reason. An analysis of GZA’s lyrics revealed that he has the second largest vocabulary in hip-hop, behind only Aesop Rock in a sample of 75 rappers2. Gza rhymes in the manner of a surgeon, his words acting as a scalpel that cut with precision and veracity. His rhymes are meticulously-vetted, densely packed, and spit with clarity and purpose. He bounces with ease between similes and metaphors, all the while maintaining a coherent and precise flow that exhibits consummate comprehension of his craft. And Liquid Swords, released on November 7, 1995, is Gza’s magnum opus, his chef d’oeuvre, his masterstroke that displayed to the world the uncompromising extent of his magnanimous talent.
In 1995, the Wu-Tang Clan had, for all intents and purposes, taken hold of the East Coast, and Liquid Swords was the opportunity for the group’s spiritual leader to step into the spotlight. Liquid Swords is GZA’s sophomore album, the follow up to 1991’s Words from the Genius, but whilst only his second album, it emerged mature. It was raw, unchecked lyricism at its finest, and with the entire album produced by Rza at arguably the height of his creative invincibility, Liquid Swords is a remarkable piece of art. The album is stitched together with soundbites from the 1980 sword-wielding samurai classic, Shogun Assassin3. In the film, a samurai warrior lays defeated on the floor of his home having been attacked by relentless shogun ninjas. The ninjas slay the samurai’s wife, leaving him and his child to face the world alone. The samurai, foreseeing a future rife with death and retribution, attempts to give his child a choice. He takes his sword and places it on one side of the infant, and on the other side he sets a ball. He perilously advises his child to pick one. If he were to choose the ball, the samurai was set to arrange his son a meeting with his mother in the afterlife. If he were to choose the sword, the samurai would train his son, readying him for a life awash with bloodshed and malaise. To the father’s dismay, the child crawls towards the sword, and this is where Liquid Swords commences, a remembrance of a point when nothing afterwards would ever be the same….
“When I was little, my father was famous, He was the greatest samurai in the empire. And he was the Shogun’s decapitator. He cut off the heads of a hundred and thirty-one lords. It was a bad time for the empire. The Shogun just stayed inside his castle and he never came out. People said his brain was infected by devils. My father would come home, he would forget about the killings. He wasn’t scared of the Shogun, but the Shogun was scared of him. Maybe that was the problem. Then, one night, the Shogun sent his ninja spies to our house. They were supposed to kill my father but they didn’t. That was the night everything changed….”
Gza described Liquid Swords’ purpose as simply “being lyrically sharp with the tongue,” and no song exhibits this idea more than the title track which births the album. As the staccato keyboard and straight-forward yet dense beat that comprises “Liquid Swords” emerges4, it’s clear that Gza is out to prove something. He has described this jaw-dropping opening track as “just braggadocios.” He states: “It isn’t meant to stand for anything. I’m talking about my skills and how I’m better than the rest. The hook was actually a routine from around ‘84 that me, RZA, and Ol’ Dirty would do.” “Liquid Swords” serves as a resume of sorts, outlining Gza’s many years in training as a lyricist that were essential for him to arrive fully groomed for this triumphant moment. “Liquid Swords,” it must be noted, marks the first time we hear GZA’s unique and patented pronunciation of microphone (mic-phone), and, true to form, he drops eleven similes and thirteen metaphors in just two verses.
“Duel of the Iron Mic”, built upon a sample of David Porter’s “I’m Afraid the Masquerade is Over” (also the basis for Biggie’s “Who Shot Ya?”), finds Ol’ Dirty Bastard refereeing an extraordinary rap battle, one where the players are Wu-faithfuls such as Masta Killa, Inspectah Deck, and of course, Gza. This head-banger is an ideal set-up for the more poignant, “Living in the World Today,” a track thick with social commentary that still resonates today which concludes with an unforgettable quartet of lines, “Rings like shots from glocks that attract cops / Around the clubs and try to shut down the hip-hop / But we only increase if everything is peace / Father you see King the police.”
The chilling and graphic street narratives of “Gold” revolves around a heavy rock-centric beat that’s all-consuming. The hook, “Yo, the fiends ain’t coming fast enough / There is no cut that’s pure enough / I can’t fold, I need gold, I re-up and reload / Product must be sold to you” is a densely-veiled play on Diana Ross and the Supremes’ “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” and “Gold” establishes itself as a pivot point for the album, where what was light and amusing becomes moody and all too real. “Cold World” featuring Inspectah Deck continues the stirring depth and the street narrative of “Gold,” where it isn’t the Night Before Christmas, but rather the “Night before New Year’s and all through the fucking projects / Not a handgun was silent, not even a Tec / Outsider’s were stuck, but enemies who put fear / And blasted on the spot before the pigs were there.” “Cold War” is that glaring reminder that for far too many people life isn’t a blithe journey, but an obstacle course flush with menace.
“Labels” also warns of hazards abounding, but this time Gza is speaking of the perils of the recording industry. Gza conceded that writing “Labels” was a painstaking process that took over a year, and when complete he had incorporated the names of as many record companies into the track as he was able to. This dazzling display of wordplay brings us to the mid-way point of the album, and what is awaiting to open the second half of Liquid Swords is “4th Chamber,” as much of a Wu-Tang track as anything you will find on the album. “4th Chamber” features Ghostface Killah, Killah Priest, and RZA in an astonishing cipher. While Ghostface’s thought-provoking lead off verse demands attention (“Why is the sky blue? Why is water wet? / Why did Judas rat to Romans while Jesus slept?”), Rza’s verse may just hit the hardest, concocting rhymes that are both foreboding and sagacious, rhyming “Six million devils just died from the Bubonic Flu / or the Ebola Virus / under the reign of King Cyrus / you can see the weakness of a man right through his iris.”
“Shadowboxing” featuring Method Man, displays the almighty power of Meth. Gza and Method Man both deliver superb, crisp verses, two gifted lyricists at the height of their power feeding off each other and forcing one another to raise the bar. And within the track Gza makes it clear just how far ahead of the game they were at the time, “Check these non-visual niggas, with tapes and a portrait / Flood the seminar trying to orbit this corporate / Industry, but what them niggas can’t see / Must break through like the Wu, unexpectedly.”
“Hell’s Wind Staff / Killah Hills 10304″ is, as Gza puts it, “long as hell and has no hook.” It’s a Pablo-Escobar inspired thriller that Gza equates to a “short, dense film.” “Investigative Reports” is another posse cut. In it, U-God, Raekwon, and Ghostface Killah go to work, flexing their lyrical muscles and shouting out their homeland, Staten Island, all the while. “Swordsman” is raw. It’s in-your-face, and it is the only track where Gza chooses not to share any of the spotlight. Within its brainy verses, Gza speaks about knowledge of self, and of finding empowerment through education (“But with knowledge of self from off the shelf / Made things seemed complicated now small like elves”). It’s a powerful message, and a defining facet of who Gza was, a soul-searcher driven towards science and enlightenment.
“I Gotcha Back” comes packed with witty punchlines, highlighted by the acronym of C.R.I.M.E. as “Criminals Robbing Innocent Muthafuckas Everytime,” but has a touching current running through it as well. Gza describes “I Gotcha Back” as “a short rhyme [he] wrote for one of [his] nephews, stating, “When I said, ‘My lifestyle so far from well, could’ve wrote a book called Age Twelve and Going Through Hell,’ it’s for my nephew who was twelve at the time, and whose father, my brother, had been locked up since ’88. So he wasn’t around for my nephew when times were rough, so I wanted to up my nephew a bit with this track.”
“B.I.B.L.E,” which closes the album, is an acronym for “Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.”5 This is the only track on the album that doesn’t feature a verse from Gza, and in his place Killah Priest laments on his difficult childhood. Killah takes aim at churches and preachers who wasted his time, rhyming “Searched for the truth since my youth / And went to church since birth / But it wasn’t worth the loot.” B.I.B.L.E is nostalgic and sentimental, and in this way it is an ideal closer for the album, an introspective cherry on top of an utter classic.
Liquid Swords features what is arguably Rza’s greatest production on any of the Wu-Tang’s solo records. The album was meticulously constructed, and the dark cinematic themes that hold the album together are a perfect match for Gza’s calculated rhymes. Many of the beats have a grimy, hard rock feel to them, and others feature samples from soul legends such as Stevie Wonder and Al Green, and even bands such as Three Dog Night. Rza’s stature as one of the best producers in all of hip-hop was sound before Liquid Swords, but following its release his capabilities seemed limitless, and his talents unmatched.
Gza was a bit of an anomaly in terms of his place within the Wu-Tang Clan. Oftentimes he lurked in the shadows, more measured and thoughtful than his associates, and much of this had to do with the fact that Gza was the oldest member of the Clan (29 years old when Liquid Swords was released), and also the most experienced. In this way, Gza was the elder statesman, the one the others looked up to, the sagacious wizard of words with a seamless, pointed flow. While verbose and with the vocabulary of a dictionary, GZA is one of the most efficient and economic MCs in the game, using minimal words to make maximum statements. His rhymes are rich in allusions, brimming with compact eruptions of imagery, and his cerebral easy-going flow remains unique to this day. His style is fascinating, as it balances between slow and rhythmic to exaggerated and stark. Flush with analogies and images, his heady rhymes are nuanced and refined, displaying a craftsman completely in tune with his abilities.
Liquid Swords is dark, intoxicating, and all the while intellectual. It is loaded with allusions to chess, societal injustices, Japanese Cinema, and philosophy. Gza has the reputation as the best lyricist in the Wu-Tang Clan, but hip-hop aficionados are not afraid to take it further than that, appropriately praising Gza as one of the best lyricists of all time – and Liquid Swords is proof positive of this. It is an album lacking even a mediocre line, and the combination of Gza and Rza at arguably their creative heights resulted in the creation of a masterpiece. Much like the Samurai child from Shogun Assassin who crawled unassumingly towards his father’s sword, forging his destiny down a reconditioned path, the release of Liquid Swords was a moment in time that changed hip-hop forevermore, and fashioned Gza a legend in his own time.
The second time this week I referred to a musician as a wordsmith. The first was in reference to Iron Solomon, the most recent guest on Across the Margin’s podcast. [↩]
6,426 unique words used, according to Polygraph. [↩]
Shogun Assassin is a film made for the British and American markets that was stitched together with an English-translation dub from the first two films in the Lone Wolf and Cub series, a collection of bloody, dark Japanese films from the ‘70s. [↩]
An all-time favorite beat of mine, notably utilized by Mos Def in “Crimes and Medicine.” [↩]
“I Gotcha Back is the authentic close to the album as B.I.B.L.E. is a Bonus Track – but still a critical piece of the puzzle. [↩]
Gza, Liquid Swords, Mike Shields, Rza, The Genius, Twenty Years later
Podcast: Beyond The Margin — The Year In Music, 2018
Outkast Summer
In Defense of Killer Mike
Twenty Years Later — Black Star’s Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star
The Year in Music, 2015 – Albums 30 – 21
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The Curious Case of the Disappearing Honey Bee
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Calamitous Famines Have Disappeared (Implications for Eschatology)
April 21, 2016 May 10, 2016 Adam Maarschalk 9 Comments
Recently I learned some very good news that should be welcomed by everyone, regardless of one’s viewpoint on world affairs or eschatology. This news is that famines have sharply declined over the last 100 years, to the point of almost disappearing. This post will provide details about this trend and will also discuss why and how Jesus’ well-known prediction about famines had everything to do with His own time period and not ours. Doom and gloom is not this world’s destiny, and we have every reason to rejoice when famines disappear and when the world improves in other ways.
An October 2015 article in The Huffington Post reported that “calamitous famines that cause more than 1 million deaths” have now been completely eliminated (source: the 2015 Global Hunger Index). There has also been a “reduction ‘almost to a vanishing point’ of great famines, which cause more than 100,000 deaths.” Between 1900-1909 around 27 million people died of famine; during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s that number was cut in half (14 million deaths per decade); that number was divided by 10 by the 1990s (1.4 million deaths by famine); and about 600,000 died of famine between 2000 – 2015. Based on the given data, the trend would look something like this*:
*Note that no data was given for the periods of 1920 – 1940 and 1970 – 1990 in the Huffington Post article cited here. Also note that the final period (in purple) covers 15 years rather than 10 years like the other periods.
“Wait a minute. This shouldn’t be happening,” some might say. “Aren’t we in the end times? Didn’t Jesus say there would be famines and earthquakes before the end? Then why are famines going away?” Yes, Jesus did say that there would be famines before the end:
“And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginnings of sorrows” (Matthew 24:6-8; see also Mark 13:7-8 and Luke 21:9-11).
What was “the end” He was speaking of? It was to be “the end of the age” (Matthew 24:3, 14), which would take place when every stone of the temple would be thrown down (Matthew 24:1-3, Mark 13:1-4, Luke 21:5-7). That age did come to an end when the temple was destroyed in 70 AD. It was the age which revolved around the temple, that is, the old covenant age (Hebrews 8:13).
How was Jesus’ prediction about famines fulfilled between the time of His prophecy (around 30 AD) and the end of the old covenant age in 70 AD? A series of famines took place throughout the Roman Empire between 41 AD – 52 AD and another great famine took place in 70 AD. Two of these famines affected Judah and Jerusalem, and both were predicted in Scripture, in Acts 11 and Revelation 6, respectively.
Famines during the Reign of Claudius Caesar (41-54 AD)
A severe famine was predicted by Agabus in Acts 11:28-30.
“And in these days prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch. Then one of them, named Agabus, stood up and showed by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world, which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar. Then the disciples, each according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brethren dwelling in Judea. This they also did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.”
Claudius Caesar was the fifth Roman emperor, and he ruled from 41 – 54 AD, immediately before Nero. More than one significant famine took place during the reign of Claudius, but one in particular fulfilled the prophecy of Agabus. The Roman historian Dio Cassius recorded details about each of them, and Luther W. Martin wrote the following helpful summary in a 1955 edition of The Gospel Guardian:
“The first famine during this period was centered around the city of Rome in the years 41 and 42 A.D. The second famine known to have occurred during the reign of Claudius was in the fourth year of his office (45 A.D.), and was particularly centered in Judea. It is this famine to which Luke makes reference in Acts 11:28… The third famine during the time of Claudius was centered in Greece in about A.D. 50. The fourth famine took place in 52 A.D. and once again, plagued the city of Rome.
Josephus, the Jewish historian, supplies further information concerning the intensity of this famine, with its great distress and many deaths. In a footnote, it is indicated that it may have lasted for a three year period.”
In addition to Josephus, the Roman historians Suetonius (“Life of Claudius,” chapter 18) and Tacitus (Annals 11:4) also wrote about the great famine which fulfilled the prediction of Agabus. These remarks were made by Josephus in Antiquities 20.2.5:
“[The arrival of Queen Helena of Adiabene] was very advantageous to the people of Jerusalem; for a famine oppressed them at that time, and many people died for want of money to procure food. Queen Helena sent some of her servants to Alexandria with money to buy a great quantity of grain, and others of them to Cyprus to bring back a cargo of dried figs. They quickly returned with the provisions, which she immediately distributed to those that [had] need. She has thus left a most excellent memorial by the beneficence which she bestowed upon our nation.”
In 1805 George Peter Holford wrote a book titled, “The Destruction of Jerusalem, An Absolute and Irresistible Proof of the Divine Origin of Christianity,” in which he showed that many of the events recorded by Josephus and other first century historians fulfilled Jesus’ predictions in the Olivet Discourse. Regarding this famine, Holford wrote that it “was of long continuance. It extended through Greece, and even into Italy, but was felt most severely in Judea, and especially at Jerusalem, where many perished for want of bread. This famine is recorded by Josephus also, who relates that ‘an assaron of corn was sold for five drachmae’ (i.e. about 3 1/2 pints for three shilling, three denarius).” One drachma was the daily wage for a soldier at that time, and five drachma were worth about $500 in today’s currency. So three pints of corn sold for about $500 during this terrible famine.
The Great Famine in Jerusalem in 70 AD
In 70 AD, when the old covenant age was coming to its final end, there was another great famine, but only in Jerusalem. This famine was made all the more severe because of the actions of a key leader in the civil war that had been raging in Jerusalem between the revolutionaries and those who wanted to maintain peace with Rome.
To give a little background, Jerusalem had been divided into three factions ever since late 67 AD. These factions were led by [1] Eleazar, who was over the Zealots [2] John of Gischala, who was over the Galileans, and [3] Simon, who was over the Idumeans. This was the civil war described in Revelation 6:3-4, also fulfilling Revelation 16:19 where it is said that “the great city” (Jerusalem – see Rev. 11:8) was divided into three parts. (This mirrors the 3-part division that also took place in Ezekiel’s day (Ezekiel 5:1-12) when Jerusalem was destroyed the first time by Babylon in 586 BC.) In December 69 AD John of Gischala foolishly set fire to the supply warehouses in Jerusalem, and nearly all the grain supplies were burned, which would have lasted the city for years (Josephus, Wars 5.1.4, 21-26).
On April 14, 70 AD the Roman General, Titus, laid a siege around Jerusalem. This took place just before Passover, after hundreds of thousands of Jews had already arrived from surrounding nations for the feast, and it lasted for five months until Jerusalem and the temple were burned. The famine brought about conditions fulfilling Revelation 6:6, where John was told that a quart of wheat would be sold for a denarius, the typical salary for one day’s work. It became so severe that there are records of parents roasting and eating their own children. Moses prophesied that this would happen to the people of Israel (Leviticus 26:29) in their latter days (Deut. 31:29) during a time of sevenfold judgment (Lev. 26:18, 21, 24, 28; note the seven seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments in the book of Revelation), the cutting off of their bread supply (Lev. 26:26), and the execution of the vengeance of His covenant (Lev. 26:25).
Others ate their belts, sandals, dried grass, and even oxen dung, according to Josephus. There were also violent home invasions where anyone who was suspected of hoarding food was tormented until they revealed where it was. Some escaped from Jerusalem to the Romans because they couldn’t bear the conditions in the city any longer. George Peter Holford wrote about the pestilential diseases (Leviticus 26:25; Deuteronomy 28:58-62, 32:24; Matthew 24:7) that accompanied this famine:
“After Jerusalem was surrounded by the army of Titus, pestilential diseases soon made their appearance there to aggravate the miseries, and deepen the horrors of the siege. They were partly occasioned by the immense multitudes which were crowded together in the city, partly by the putrid effluvia which arose from the unburied dead, and partly from spread of famine.”
There is No Prophecy of Famine for Today
Every Biblical prophecy about famines, pestilences, earthquakes, and great tribulation was fulfilled many centuries ago. We can rejoice that famines are disappearing at this time. It’s never been easier than right now for humanitarian workers and agencies to respond to difficult situations and events. Communication and transportation have been made easier and more efficient. Because of the internet and social media, the public is more easily made aware of needs, situations, and how to directly help or at least support humanitarian efforts.
Jesus reigns on the throne of David right now (Acts 2:29-36, Ephesians 1:20-23, Hebrews 1:3-13, Revelation 1:5). We can rejoice over anything else that His government is accomplishing for His glory and for the good of this planet. As Isaiah 9:7 says, “Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”
Comparing Matthew 24 and I Thessalonians 4-5
March 4, 2015 Adam Maarschalk 26 Comments
Today a Facebook friend, Chris Palios, shared a chart comparing Matthew 24 and I Thessalonians 4-5. I’ve seen this comparison before, and his post was a good reminder that I’ve been meaning to post it here as well. As Chris said, the similarities between these two passages are fascinating.
While it’s still popular to view Matthew 24 as yet unfulfilled, there are plenty (and even more in church history) who recognize that Jesus was prophesying there concerning Jerusalem’s destruction in 70 AD and other events which would take place within His own generation. [A detailed study on the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21) can be seen at the top of this page.] However, among those who view Matthew 24 as fulfilled, some believe that I Thessalonians 4-5 speak of future events. Here is the well-known passage that speaks of the resurrection of believers, which others take as being about a “rapture”:
“For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words” (I Thessalonians 4:15-18).
As I’ve promised Steve (who posted a 3-part series here as a guest last year), a deeper study on the resurrection of believers is still in the works. For now, though, here is a chart showing the strong similarities between Matthew 24 and I Thessalonians 4-5. The relationship is so close that I don’t believe it’s possible to view one passage as being fulfilled in the first century AD and the other as not yet fulfilled:
Statements Regarding Jesus’ Coming Reference in Matthew 24 Reference in I Thess. 4 or 5
1. Christ Himself returns Matthew 24:30 I Thess. 4:16
2. From heaven Matthew 24:30 I Thess. 4:16
3. With a shout Matthew 24:30 I Thess. 4:16
4. Accompanied by angels Matthew 24:31 I Thess. 4:16
5. With the trumpet of God Matthew 24:31 I Thess. 4:16
6. In clouds Matthew 24:30 I Thess. 4:17
7. Believers are gathered Matthew 24:31 I Thess. 4:17
8. At an unknown time Matthew 24:36 I Thess. 5:1-2
9. He will come as a thief Matthew 24:43 I Thess. 5:2, 4
10. People unaware of coming judgment Matthew 24:37-39 I Thess. 5:3
11. Judgment comes as travail upon an expectant mother Matthew 24:8 I Thess. 5:3
12. Believers are to watch Matthew 24:42 I Thess. 5:4
13. Warning against drunkenness Matthew 24:49 I Thess. 5:7
Benjamin L. Corey: Jesus Says Those “Left Behind” Are The Lucky Ones (the most ironic thing the movie won’t tell you)
September 23, 2014 September 22, 2014 Adam Maarschalk 4 Comments
This is an excellent article written by Benjamin L. Corey at Formerly Fundie (Patheos):
In the lead up to the release of the remake of Left Behind hitting theaters in a few weeks, I wanted to take a moment to tell you about the most ironic thing the Left Behind movie (or rapture believers) won’t tell you about getting “left behind.”
The basic premise of the theology is this: the world is going to get progressively worse as “the end” draws near. Before the worst period of time in world history (a seven year period called the “tribulation,” though there’s no verse in the Bible that discusses a seven year tribulation) believers in Jesus are suddenly snatched away during the second coming of Christ (which rapture believers argue is done in secret and without explanation, instead of the public second coming described in scripture).
The entire premise of the theology and the Left Behind movie is based on a passage from Matthew that you’ll see in the official Left Behind image included to your left. The passage states:
“Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken and the other left.”
And this is where we get the term “left behind”… Jesus said “one shall be taken and the other left.”
Pretty simple, no? It appears from this passage that Jesus is describing an event where some people actually do “get taken” and the others are “left behind.” It must be a rapture then.
Or maybe not.
As I have explained before, the chapter of Matthew 24 is a chapter where Jesus describes the events that will lead up to the destruction of the temple which occurred in AD 70. That’s not so much my scholarly opinion as it is what Jesus plainly states in the first few verses of Matthew 24; it is a context pretty difficult to explain away since Jesus says “this temple will be destroyed” and his disciples ask, “please, tell us when this will happen.” The rest of the discourse is Jesus prophesying the events that will lead up to the temple’s destruction, which we know historically unfolded as Jesus had predicted. (As I have alluded to in What Jesus Talked About When He Talked About Hell and Don’t Worry The Tribulation Is In The Past, if one does not understand the significance of the destruction of the temple to ancient Judaism, one will have a very hard time understanding what Jesus talks about when he talks about “the end.”)
Anyhow, during the end of this discourse in Matthew we hit the “rapture” verse: “one will be taken and one will be left.” Surely, this part must be about the future, and Jesus MUST be describing a rapture. Since that’s what my childhood pastor taught me, it’s probably a good idea to stick with that.
Just one problem: Matthew 24 isn’t the only place where Jesus talks about “some being taken and some being left behind.” Jesus also discusses this in Luke 17 when he says:
“I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35 Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.”
Building a compelling case for the rapture yet? Not quite. Check this out: Jesus’ disciples in the Luke version of the discourse must have been interested in this left behind stuff, because they ask a critical followup question. However, they actually seem more concerned with those who were “taken” than those who were “left behind” and ask Jesus for a little more information on this whole getting taken away stuff.
“Where, Lord?” is the question of the disciples. Where did all of these people go??
If this were a passage about the “rapture” as depicted in the Left Behind movie, one would expect Jesus to answer something to the point of “they were taken to be with me to wait out the tribulation.” But, that’s not what Jesus says. Instead, Jesus gives them a blunt answer about those who were “taken”: “just look for the vultures, and you’ll find their bodies.” (v. 37)
That’s right. The ones who were “taken” were killed. Not exactly the blessed rapture.
The Roman occupation was brutal, and when they finally sacked the city and destroyed the temple in AD70, things got impressively bloody. To be “taken” as Jesus prophesied, was to be killed by the invading army. This is precisely why, in this passage and the Matthew version, Jesus gives all sorts of other advice that makes no sense if this is a verse about the rapture. Jesus warns that when this moment comes one should flee quickly– to not even go back into their house to gather their belongings– and laments that it will be an especially difficult event for pregnant and nursing mothers. He even goes on to warn them that if they respond to the army with resistance (the very thing that causes the mess in the lead-up to AD70), they’ll just get killed (“whoever seeks to save his life will lose it”). Jesus, it seems, wants his disciples to get it: when the Roman army comes, flee quickly or else you might not be left behind!
Surely, Jesus is not talking about a rapture. He’s not warning people to avoid missing the rapture because they went home to get their possessions… he’s talking about fleeing an advancing army and not doing anything stupid that will get them killed (v 30-34).
Very practical advice for his original audience and would have come in handy for those who wanted to avoid being “raptured” (slaughtered) by the Roman army.
And so my friends, this is the most ironic thing the Left Behind movie won’t tell you: in the original “left behind” story Jesus tells in the Gospels, the ones who are “left behind” are actually the lucky ones.
So the next time folks tell you that they don’t want to be “left behind,” you might want to tell them to be careful what they wish for.
In our study of Matthew 24:36-51, I also proposed that Jesus said it would be better to be “left behind” than to be “taken,” and noted that 2-3 centuries ago this was taught by John Gill (1746-1763) and Albert Barnes (1834). Benjamin Corey does an excellent job showing the revealing connection between what Jesus says in Luke 17 and what He says in the more frequently quoted Matthew 24:40. His article also comes at a good time, less than two weeks before the remake of the Left Behind movie hits the theaters on October 3rd. Hopefully the theology in this film will soon be left behind by many followers of Christ.
Matthew 24 Fulfilled: Quotes From 200 AD – 1868 AD
June 2, 2014 Adam Maarschalk 28 Comments
When it comes to the study of “the last days” (eschatology), Matthew 24 might be the passage cited most often. Known as The Olivet Discourse, it foretells earthquakes and famine, wars and rumors of war, the great tribulation, etc. Parallel passages are in Mark 13 and Luke 21. While many look to newspapers and CNN for signs that these events are coming to pass, it’s instructive to know that church fathers, reformation leaders, and others in church history looked in the rear-view mirror at these events.
The following quotes are commentary from various leaders on Matthew 24:34, the summary verse where Jesus says to His disciples: “Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened” (See also Mark 13:30 and Luke 21:32). These quotes are buried at the end of a previous post, but I wanted to draw attention to them separately here:
Clement (150-220 AD): “And in like manner He spoke in plain words the things that were straightway to happen, which we can now see with our eyes, in order that the accomplishment might be among those to whom the word was spoken.”
Eusebius (263-339 AD): “And when those that believed in Christ had come thither [out] from Jerusalem [in obedience to Matthew 24:15-16], then, as if the royal city of the Jews and the whole land of Judea were entirely destitute of holy men, the judgment of God at length overtook those who had committed such outrages against Christ and his apostles, and totally destroyed that generation of impious men (Proof of the Gospel, Book III, Ch. 5)… [When] the lamentation and wailing that was predicted for the Jews, and the burning of the Temple and its utter desolation, can also be seen even now to have occurred according to the prediction, surely we must also agree that the King who was prophesied, the Christ of God, has come, since the signs of His coming have been shewn in each instance I have treated to have been clearly fulfilled” (Proof of the Gospel, Book VIII).
John Calvin (1509-1564): “This prophecy does not relate to evils that are distant, and which posterity will see after the lapse of many centuries, but which are now hanging over you, and ready to fall in one mass, so that there is no part of it which the present generation [in Jesus’ time] will not experience.”
John Wesley (1754): “The expression implies that great part of that generation would be passed away, but not the whole. Just so it was; for the city and temple were destroyed thirty-nine or forty years after.”
Adam Clarke (1837): “It is literally true in reference to the destruction of Jerusalem. John probably lived to see these things come to pass; compare Matthew 16:28, with John 21:22; and there were some rabbins alive at the time when Christ spoke these words who lived till the city was destroyed, viz. Rabban Simeon, who perished with the city; R. Jochanan ben Zaccai, who outlived it; R. Zadoch, R. Ismael, and others.”
Charles Spurgeon (1868): “The King left his followers in no doubt as to when these things should happen: ‘Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled.’ It was just about the ordinary limit of a generation when the Roman armies compassed Jerusalem, whose measure of iniquity was then full, and overflowed in misery, agony, distress, and bloodshed such as the world never saw before or since. Jesus was a true Prophet; everything that he foretold was literally fulfilled.”
For a detailed study on how the Olivet Discourse was fulfilled by 70 AD, within Jesus’ own generation, see our Olivet Discourse page and this 4-part study (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4) in particular.
Galatians 4 Shows That Isaiah 66 Is Not About Modern Israel
April 18, 2014 April 28, 2017 Adam Maarschalk 53 Comments
I grew up in a church where Christian Zionism and dispensationalist theology was (and still is) taught. In that setting, and in others, I was repeatedly taught that Bible prophecy was fulfilled when Israel became a nation in 1948. Furthermore, I was told, this event “restarted God’s prophetic time clock.” Two passages of Scripture allegedly foretold that event, Isaiah 66:7-9 and Matthew 24:32-33. In neither case does this ring true, and both passages carry an entirely different message.
Many believe that Isaiah was looking ahead about 2700 years to the political events of 1948 when he wrote the final portion of his book. They often point to verses 7-9 in particular, and insist that Isaiah foresaw the birth of national Israel “in one day.” Before looking at what this passage says, let’s consider Isaiah’s patterns and themes in the final eight chapters of his book:
Isaiah 59 concludes with a Messianic prophecy (“The Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob…”). This prophecy, quoted in Romans 11:26-27, foretold Christ’s work on the cross as a sacrifice for sin.
Isaiah 60 is filled with prophetic decrees of the coming new covenant age (this present age), when the nations come to the light of the gospel.
Isaiah 61 contains a prophecy about the Lord’s anointed One and the good news, healing, and liberty He would bring; Jesus said this was fulfilled during His earthly ministry (see Luke 4:18-19).
Isaiah 65 speaks of new heavens and a new earth, in which sin, death, childbearing, and labor would continue (this makes sense if his prophecy is viewed as the establishment of the new covenant age rather than an overhaul of this planet and the galaxy). Our study on Matthew 24:35 discusses more fully the view that the Bible sometimes uses covenant language when speaking of “the heavens and the earth.”
From these and other examples in the final chapters of Isaiah, we see that Isaiah looks repeatedly to what we know were first century events. Let’s look now at Isaiah 66:5-13.
5 Hear the word of the Lord, You who tremble at His word: “Your brethren who hated you, who cast you out for My name’s sake, said, ‘Let the Lord be glorified, that we may see your joy.’ But they shall be ashamed.” 6 The sound of noise from the city! A voice from the temple! The voice of the Lord, who fully repays His enemies! 7 “Before she was in labor, she gave birth; before her pain came, she delivered a male child. 8 Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, she gave birth to her children. 9 Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery?” says the Lord. “Shall I who cause delivery shut up the womb?” says your God. 10 “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all you who love her; rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn for her; 11 that you may feed and be satisfied with the consolation of her bosom, that you may drink deeply and be delighted with the abundance of her glory.” 12 For thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream. Then you shall feed; on her sides shall you be carried, and be dandled on her knees. 13 As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; And you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.“
Verse 5: This is clearly the Lord’s comfort for those who would be persecuted, hated, and cast out for His sake. Albert Barnes (1834), John Gill (1763), and Matthew Henry (1710) all taught that Isaiah was referring to the first century when Jesus, the apostles, and the early church preached the gospel and were opposed by the religious leaders of Israel.
Verse 6: Noise and a voice are heard from the city and the temple, and the voice is the Lord’s as He repays His enemies. Who are His enemies here? The text doesn’t say, at least not explicitly. However, if verse 5 is about the religious (temple) authorities persecuting the followers of Christ, then they are the enemies being repaid here at the time of the temple’s downfall; and Matthew 23 and I Thessalonians 1 also foretell this event:
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! …you are sons of those who murdered the prophets… I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth… all these things will come upon this generation” (Matthew 23:29-36).
“For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus. For you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, just as they did from the Judeans, who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they do not please God and are contrary to all men, forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved, so as always to fill up the measure of their sins; but wrath has come upon them to the uttermost” (I Thessalonians 2:14-16).
Verses 7-8: Isaiah sees a woman, identified as Zion (verse 8), in labor. She delivers “a male child” (verse 7) and gives birth to “children” (verse 8). A nation is born “in one day” and “at once” (verse 8). Matthew Poole (1683) and John Gill (1763) are among those who taught that Isaiah foretold what would happen on the day of Pentecost, when 3000 Jews heard Peter preach the gospel and believed (Acts 2:41).
Verses 9-11: For those who love Jerusalem, this birthing is cause for rejoicing (verse 10). They are invited to “feed and be satisfied with the consolation of her bosom” and to “drink deeply and be delighted with the abundance of her glory” (verse 11).
Verses 12-13: This woman is given “peace like a river,” and she is filled with “the glory of the Gentiles” (verse 12). [Interestingly, those who insist that this is a prophecy of Israel becoming a nation in 1948 are often fixated on the goal of “a Jewish state,” and sound as if they would be happy to see each and every non-Jew exiled from Israel. The Jerusalem Isaiah saw would be marked by the glory of Gentiles – of Gentiles finding salvation in Christ.] Those who feed from this woman would be carried on her sides and dandled on her knees. God would comfort them in Jerusalem as one is comforted by his own mother.
Where else does Scripture depict Jerusalem as the mother of God’s people? And which Jerusalem is that, the earthly one or the heavenly one?
“For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar— for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children— but the Jerusalem ABOVE is free, which is THE MOTHER OF US ALL” (Galatians 4:24-26; see verses 21-31 for a fuller context).
In the next verse Paul quotes from Isaiah 54:1, a passage which is parallel to Isaiah 66:
“For it is written, ‘Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor. For the children of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a husband’ (Galatians 4:27).
Observe how Paul goes on to interpret Isaiah 54:1.
“Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. But what does the Scripture say? ‘Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.’ So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman” (Galatians 4:27-31).
Isaiah 66:8 is parallel to Isaiah 54:1, and it ought to be seen in the same way that Paul made application of Isaiah 54:1 in Galatians 4. Isaiah foresaw the birthing and the breaking forth of the heavenly Jerusalem (66:8-10), even as earthly Jerusalem met her demise (66:6). Ironically, Isaiah 66 does not speak of the restoration of earthly Jerusalem into the hands of mostly unbelieving Jews in 1948. Rather, it mirrors the taking away of the earthly kingdom from unfaithful Israel (in 70 AD), and the giving of the heavenly kingdom to God’s holy nation, the Church, just as Jesus predicted (Matthew 21:43-44; cf. Daniel 7:18, 22, 27). It speaks of the establishment of the new Jerusalem for the bride of Christ, and the dissolving of the old covenant in favor of the new covenant (which was established at the cross). This is the point of both Isaiah and Paul.
Matthew 24:32-33 reads this way: “Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that He is near—at the doors!” In part 4 of our series on the Olivet Discourse, we noted that dispensationalists are fond of saying that the fig tree represents Israel, and that when Israel became a nation in 1948, the world’s final generation was unveiled. We also noted at least four problems with this view:
[1] When Paul speaks of Israel in his epistle to the Romans (11:17, 24), he uses the illustration of an olive tree, not a fig tree.
[2] In Luke’s account, Jesus speaks of not only the fig tree, but “all the trees” (See Luke 21:29-31).
[3] Jesus does speak of a fig tree elsewhere in Matthew, but observe closely what He says about it: “In the morning, as He was returning to the city, He became hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, He went to it and found nothing on it but leaves. And He said to it, ‘May no fruit ever come from you again!’” (Matthew 21:18-19). In light of what Jesus said to that fig tree, one ought to think twice about what it means if national Israel is represented by the fig tree.
[4] In Matthew 24:34 Jesus says, “Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.” This certainly included the branches of the fig tree, so to speak, bringing forth leaves. James saw the signs and declared, “Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand… Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!” (James 5:8-9; compare with Matt. 24:33).
Modern Israel is not in view in either of these passages which are so often cited as predicting the events of the mid-20th century. Some of those who thunder the loudest against what they call “replacement theology” have attempted to take Isaiah’s prophecy about the birth of the new covenant church, and make it about the (re-)birth of national Israel instead. Scripture interprets Scripture to demonstrate that, while God cast out earthly Jerusalem, He chose new Jerusalem to be the nurturing mother of the church.
The Significance of the Word “Desolate” in the New Testament
April 16, 2014 Adam Maarschalk 39 Comments
Series: “Little Gems from Our Study of the book of Revelation”
The word “desolate” (or the related word “desolation”) only appears 12 times in the New Testament. Seven of these appearances are in the gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and five of them are references to Jerusalem’s condition in Jesus’ day and to what was about to happen to that city. This word does not appear in John’s gospel account, but its final two appearances in the New Testament demonstrate that John, in the book of Revelation, was showing Jerusalem to be every bit the desolate place that Jesus said it was.
Like the previous post, this one is also inspired by a recent discussion here. PJ Miller, of Sola Dei Gloria, observed the similarity between Matthew’s use of the word “desolate” in both chapters 23 and 24:
[1] “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate” (Matthew 23:37-38).
[2] “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains” (Matthew 24:15-16).
[1] In Matthew 23:38, Jesus summed up what had become of Jerusalem in His lament over that city. Although formerly God’s house, Jesus now spoke of Jerusalem (and/or the temple) as “your house,” for He had abandoned it and left it to them as “desolate.” About 650 years earlier, God said the same to Jeremiah just before Babylon destroyed Jerusalem in 586 BC:
“I have forsaken My house, I have left My heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of My soul into the hand of her enemies… ‘Many rulers have destroyed My vineyard, they have trodden My portion underfoot; They have made My pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. They have made it desolate; Desolate, it mourns to Me; The whole land is made desolate, because no one takes it to heart” (Jeremiah 12:7-11).
(In two recent posts, we discussed how first century Jerusalem became infested with demons, but how God chose new Jerusalem, the bride of Christ, as His house and His dwelling place.)
Strong’s Concordance defines the word “desolate” (#2048), used in Matthew 23:38, as “lonesome, waste, desert, solitary, wilderness.”
[2] In Matthew 24:15, Jesus warned His followers living in Judea to flee to the mountains when they saw the “abomination of desolation.” Matthew’s Jewish audience was familiar with this phrase, and would understand the reference to Daniel, but Luke quotes Jesus differently for his mostly Gentile audience:
“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains…” (Luke 21:20-21).
So the “abomination of desolation” was in the hands of foreign armies coming to complete Jerusalem’s desolation. The warnings of Matthew and Luke, stated differently, were to bring about the same response: immediate flight. In 314 AD, Eusebius, known as the father of church history, wrote the following about the obedience of Jesus’ followers to His words in Matthew 24:
“The people of the church at Jerusalem, in accordance with a certain oracle that was vouchsafed by way of revelation to the approved men there, had been commanded to depart from the city before the [Jewish-Roman war of 67-73 AD], and to inhabit a certain city of Peraea. They called it Pella [in modern-day Jordan]. And when those who believed in Christ had removed from Jerusalem, as if holy men had utterly deserted both the royal metropolis of the Jews itself and the whole land of Judaea, the Justice of God then visited upon them all their acts of violence to Christ and his apostles, by destroying that generation of wicked persons root and branch from among men” (see here for more about this event).
The word “desolation” in Matthew 24:15 is #2049 in Strong’s Concordance, and the definition there is: “from 2048; to lay waste (lit. or fig.): -(bring to, make) desolate (-ion), come to nought.” The word “desolation” in Luke 21:20 is entry #2050, and Strong’s simply points back to #2049. So we can see that all three entries (#2048, #2049, and #2050) are essentially the same word, just as the words “desolate” and “desolation” are essentially the same in English.
“Desolate” and “desolation” appear in Mark 13:14 and Luke 13:35 as direct parallels to Matthew 24 and Matthew 23, respectively. Otherwise, these words only appear six other times in the New Testament.* We’ll look briefly at four of these instances, before looking at their two appearances in Revelation:
The word “desolation” appears in Matthew 12:25 and Luke 11:17 (parallel passages), where Jesus responds to the Pharisees who question by what power He was casting out demons: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.”
The word “desolate” appears in Acts 1:20 regarding Judas Iscariot: “’For it is written in the Book of Psalms: ‘Let his dwelling place be desolate, and let no one live in it.”
It also shows up in Galatians 4:27, in Paul’s argument that God’s people belong to the Jerusalem above, and not the Jerusalem below. He quotes Isaiah 54: “For it is written: ‘Rejoice, O barren, you who do not bear! Break forth and shout, you who are not in labor! For the desolate has many more children than she who has a husband.’”
The Strong’s entry for Acts 1:20 and Galatians 4:27 is #2048, and the entry for Matthew 12:25 and Luke 11:17 is #2049.
*A different Greek word for “desolate” appears in I Timothy 5:5, and refers to a widow’s grief.
The final two places where this word shows up in the New Testament are in Revelation 17:16 and Revelation 18:19 (Strong’s #2049), regarding the burning of the harlot and the great city:
“And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire.”
“They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing, and saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city, in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by her wealth! For in one hour she is made desolate.’”
As we discussed in a recent post (“Jerusalem, a Dwelling Place of Demons“), “the great city” was first identified as the place “where also our Lord was crucified (Rev. 11:8).” Of course, Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem. This city was also aptly named “the harlot,” the same name given to it by Jeremiah (3:6-8), Ezekiel (16:15), and Hosea (6:10) because it was full of spiritual adultery at that time. Revelation 16-19 repeatedly holds “the great city”, “the harlot,” and “Babylon the great” (different names for the same entity) responsible for shedding the blood of God’s saints, prophets, and apostles. Jesus left no doubt who was responsible for shedding this blood, and when the resulting judgment would come: Israel, in His generation (Matthew 23:29-38).
Jesus declared Jerusalem in His day to be a desolate house, and He warned that “the abomination of desolation” would come and complete its desolation in His own generation. John, in his visions of “things which must shortly take place…for the time is near…at hand” (Rev. 1:1, 3; 22:10), saw the outcome of what Jesus prophesied, Jerusalem made desolate and burned to the ground.
Seeing how the word “desolate” is used here in Revelation 17 and 18, concerning the harlot and the great city, is good confirmation that John was showing Jerusalem to be every bit the desolate place that Jesus said it was in Matthew 23 and 24. This desolation was made complete in the year 70 AD. Gratefully, we can rejoice that we are children of the Jerusalem above (Galatians 4:26), the new Jerusalem aligned with the new covenant established by the blood of our Savior (Hebrews 12:22-24).
Luke 17 Shows That Matthew 24 Can’t Be Divided
April 16, 2014 April 16, 2014 Adam Maarschalk 1 Comment
Scripture passages for this study: Matthew 24:1-51 and Luke 17:20-37
This post was prompted by a discussion under a recent post, concerning what might be and what might not be fulfilled in Matthew 24 (the Olivet Discourse). There was a time when I didn’t believe that any of Matthew 24 has been fulfilled. Then I came to believe that most of Matthew 24:1-34 was fulfilled in Jesus’ generation, before acknowledging that verse 34 doesn’t allow for only some of it to be fulfilled (“Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place“). At that point, I believed there must be a breaking point somewhere after verse 34, a dividing line after which the rest of the chapter would be fulfilled about 2000 years later (i.e. in our own future). I never could pinpoint that dividing line, though, and be at peace with it.
There are numerous reasons why I now believe all of Matthew 24 was fulfilled in the first century AD, in Jesus’ own generation. This post highlights one of those reasons, which is that Luke 17:20-37 demonstrates the impossibility of any time division. Luke 17 scrambles and reorders various portions of Jesus’ predictions in Matthew 24, predictions which are located before and well after verse 34. What is ordered as “1, 2, 3, 4, 5” in Matthew 24:1-41 is ordered as “2, 4, 1, 5, 3” in Luke 17:23-37, as shown in this diagram by Ed Stevens in his book titled, “What Happened in 70 AD?”
Source: World Without End (December 5, 2013); Better design seen here
David Curtis, the pastor of Berean Bible Church in Virginia Beach, Virginia, has also produced a similar chart, in which he fully writes out the passages shown in the diagram above.
SECTION ONE Verses 1-35
1. Matthew 24:17-18 (NKJV)
Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 “And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes.
2. Luke 17:23-24 (NKJV)
“And they will say to you, ‘Look here!’ or ‘Look there!’ Do not go after them or follow them. 24 “For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day.
“Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. 27 “For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 4. Luke 17:26-27 (NKJV)
“And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: 27 “They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.
3. Matthew 24:28 (NKJV)
“For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together. 1. Luke 17:31 (NKJV)
“In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back.
SECTION TWO Verses 36-51
“But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 “For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 “and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
“Two women will be grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left. 36 “Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left.”
“Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. 41 “Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. 3. Luke 17:37 (NKJV)
And they answered and said to Him, “Where, Lord?” So He said to them, “Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together.”
Those who attempt to divide Matthew 24 say that SECTION ONE refers to the events of AD 70. But they say SECTION TWO refers to events yet future to us. If the five prophetic events of Matthew 24 that are found in Luke 17 are numbered 1-2-3-4-5, Luke’s numbering of the same events would be 2-4-1-5-3. Luke has an event from section 1 followed by one from section 2, then another from section 1 followed by section 2, and finally one from section 1. This shows the impossibility of dividing Matthew 24 with a 2,000 year gap.
What do you think? Is this a valid conclusion? Why or why not?
Previous posts on the Olivet Discourse can be viewed at this page, including a 4-part series (titled “This Generation Or That Generation?”) examining the accounts of Matthew, Mark, and Luke in a parallel fashion.
Matthew 24: Double Fulfillment Is Not Possible
July 22, 2013 Adam Maarschalk 21 Comments
In a previous post, I shared J. Stuart Russell’s argument against the idea of a dual fulfillment in the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24-25, Mark 13, and Luke 21). Russell argued (well, in my opinion) that neither in Jesus’ own words, nor in the words of any other New Testament author, does any teaching appear which supports “a twofold reference in the predictions of Jesus concerning the end.”
An article written in 2004 by Michael Fenemore goes into even more detail on why the idea of dual fulfillment does not work when it comes to Jesus’ famous words in Matthew 24:
Some prophecy teachers, while acknowledging a fulfillment of Matthew 24 in the first century, predict a future second fulfillment, but this time, with worldwide implications… We might wonder whether those who promote the double-fulfillment theory ever took the time to test it by reading over the text even once. How could this be fulfilled twice?
This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come (v. 14, NASB throughout unless otherwise noted).
Will the “great commission” be fulfilled twice? Does “the end” come twice? If it does, then, the first one wasn’t the end.
A modern second fulfillment is usually presented as a worldwide catastrophe, but notice verse 20: “…pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath.” What relevance would this have today? Outside modern-day Israel, relatively few people in the world keep the Sabbath. And what if they do? In ancient times, the gates of Jerusalem were shut on the Sabbath preventing escape (Neh. 13:19, 22; Jer. 17:21, 24). However, this is not a problem for anyone today. Most Christians probably live out their entire lives without ever praying their “flight” will not take place on the Sabbath. Mark’s account adds this: “…be on your guard; for they will deliver you to the courts, and you will be flogged in the synagogues” (Mark 13:9). How could this be fulfilled worldwide in our time? Today’s Sanhedrin has no jurisdiction outside Israel. There are likely very few Christians in the world, if any, who worry about being “flogged in the synagogues.”
Will there be two “great” tribulations? “For there will be greater anguish than at any time since the world began. And it will never be so great again” (Matt. 24:21, NLT). Since this anguish would “never be so great again,” how could it occur twice? Some might protest that such language is hyperbolic; it was not intended to be taken literally. Perhaps that is true. But then, the same people should be able to understand that the rest of Matthew 24 is replete with the same Old Testament-style hyperbole. They should not require a second fulfillment just because some events did not occur exactly as Jesus described them.
Will the “elect” be gathered twice? “He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other” (v. 31). This is referring to the “last trumpet” of 1 Cor. 15:51-52: the resurrection and the moment when the living Christians would be “caught up” and “changed.” If Matthew 24 was to be fulfilled twice, then, clearly, the resurrection must have occurred during the first fulfillment within the lifetimes of Christ’s listeners. But if all God’s people in Hades were resurrected in the first century, and now Christians go straight to heaven at death, how could any saints be resurrected from Hades in the future?
Jesus never said Matthew 24 would be fulfilled twice, and there’s no rule anywhere in the Bible saying prophecy should be interpreted this way. The double-fulfillment concept is simply an untenable fabrication created in desperation, probably deemed necessary because its adherents expect literal fulfillments of the highly figurative, cosmic predictions in Matthew 24 and other places, which of course, have never occurred (and never will). In some cases we find types and antitypes in scripture. For instance, Israelite worship under the Old Covenant was a type or “shadow” of things to come under the New Covenant (Col. 2:16-17). However, the New Covenant does not create more shadows for greater fulfillments later. Here is another example of biblical typology:
Old Testament types:
Sodom, Egypt, Babylon
New Testament antitype:
Sodom, Egypt, and Babylon were probably the three most detestable place names from Israel’s past. To this day, Sodom symbolizes sexual perversion (sodomy). Egypt and Babylon represented sin and captivity. However, by the first century, the sins of God’s own people, the Jews, had become so repugnant that in Revelation, he called Jerusalem by all three names: “…the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified” (Rev. 11:8); “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH” (Rev. 17:5). See also Isa. 1:21. It’s possible, if not probable, Jesus intended to draw the Babylon parallel when he described Jerusalem’s destruction in Matthew 24:
…the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light (v. 29)
The same pronouncement was made against Old Testament Babylon:
The sun will be dark when it rises
And the moon will not shed its light. (Isa. 13:10)
Jerusalem had become the antitype of Babylon. Jerusalem’s destruction would be the antitype of Babylon’s destruction.
It’s all fulfilled. There is no third fulfillment. The destruction in Matthew 24 is not a type of something in the future; it’s the antitype of something from the past. The New Testament does not create new types requiring future antitypes. Types and antitypes might be considered double fulfillments by some, but if a double-fulfillment rule should be applied to all biblical predictions without exception, we should expect two Messiahs, two crucifixions, two judgments, two kingdoms, etc. It gets ridiculous.
Evidently, many influential Bible teachers spend little time testing the double-fulfillment idea before teaching it to trusting Christians. They routinely predict events which actually occurred long ago. For instance, some prophecies require a Roman Empire, but since it no longer exists — and hasn’t for over 1,500 years — they predict a “revived” one. However, if they would give up their literal-fulfillment requirements (stars falling from heaven, etc.) and fully accept the first and only fulfillments of New Testament prophecies, there would be no need for any such flimsy double-fulfillment theories, and credulous Christians could be spared a lot of useless speculation.
Objection: Pastor John Hagee says prophecy should be interpreted by the double-fulfillment model because of “the law of double reference” (John Hagee, From Daniel To Doomsday [Nashville: Thomas Nelson, Inc, 1999], 181).
Answer: Those who promote the law of double reference are unable to show where in the Bible this “law” is mentioned. It is a law only because they say it is, not because of any biblical directive.
Leviticus Required the Temple in Jerusalem to be Torn Down
April 25, 2013 April 27, 2013 Adam Maarschalk 7 Comments
Today I learned something very interesting from a portion of Gary DeMar’s book, “Last Days Madness.” Gary demonstrates from the book of Leviticus why Jesus, as our great High Priest, was qualified to pronounce the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. This is a fascinating connection, and brings added covenantal meaning to the words Jesus used in Matthew 23 and 24:
The Jews of Jesus’ day had turned the temple into a “house of merchandise” (John 2:16) and a “robbers’ den” (Matt. 21:13). When a priest inspected a house and found it leprous, the house was to be torn down (Lev. 14:33–47). Jesus, as the High Priest, after the order of Melchizedek (Heb. 5:6), inspected the temple twice, found it leprous, and issued His priestly evaluation: “And Jesus came out from the temple” (Matt. 24:1), as the priest “shall come out from the house” (Lev. 14:38), and declared it “desolate” (Matt. 23:38), as the priest declared a leprous house to be “unclean” (Lev. 14:44).
A leprous house could be cleansed in only one way: “He shall therefore tear down the house, its stones, and its timbers, and all the plaster of the house, and he shall take them outside the city to an unclean place” (Lev. 14:45). When Jesus’ disciples pointed to the temple buildings after hearing of its desolation, Jesus answered: “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here shall be left upon another, which will not be torn down” (Matt. 24:2).
-Gary Demar, Last Days Madness, 1999, page 108
The collapse of the temple was most devastating to the Jews of that day who didn’t believe in Jesus. The Jerusalem temple was not only considered one of the great wonders of the world, but it was seen to be God’s central dwelling place. For the people of God, thankfully, God’s temple was already established in His Son, Jesus, and those who belong to Him:
“Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (I Corinthians 3:16)
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?” (I Corinthians 6:19)
“For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, ‘I will make My dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.'” (II Corinthians 6:16)
“Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:19-22)
Jesus’ Use of “This Generation” in the Olivet Discourse Is No Different Than Anywhere Else
February 26, 2013 March 30, 2016 Adam Maarschalk 14 Comments
There is plenty of disagreement on what Jesus meant when He said, “Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place” (Matthew 24:34, Mark 13:30, Luke 21:32). He was making a reference, of course, to all that He had said prior to this statement. This included prophecies about war, earthquakes, famine, false prophets, persecution in the synagogues, the spreading of the gospel to all nations, the surrounding of Jerusalem and Judea by a foreign army, a time of unparalleled distress, His coming in the clouds with great power and glory, the arrival of His kingdom, and redemption for His people.
The careful reader will take note that Jesus was prompted to make these predictions in response to His disciples’ question about when the temple would be destroyed, and what signs would point forward to that event (Matthew 24:1-3, Mark 13:1-4, Luke 21:5-7). It was this question that led to His discourse, known as the Olivet Discourse.
Mark and Luke, in their accounts, only show the disciples asking this one question about the temple. Matthew shows them asking a three-part question or, some would say, three separate questions: [1] When will the temple fall? [2] What will be the sign of Your coming? [3] What will be the sign of the end of the age? Those who believe in fulfilled eschatology maintain that these events are synonymous, while those who regard this discourse as unfulfilled often say that the last two belong to our future.
When it comes, then, to the timing of this prophecy’s fulfillment, there is debate at both ends of the Olivet Discourse:
[1] Did Jesus set out to answer just one question? Or did He set out to answer three questions, and therefore He may have prophesied about two different time periods?
[2] When Jesus said “this generation,” did He mean His own generation? Or did He have in mind, as some are fond of saying, a future generation that would begin to see those signs take place all at once? Did He even perhaps imply a dual fulfillment, a partial fulfillment in His own generation, and an ultimate fulfillment in the far distant future?
We will set aside the first question for the rest of this article, and focus on the second question, for Jesus is shown to say precisely the same thing in all three accounts: “…this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.”
At the very beginning of the New Testament, we get a good idea of how Matthew defined the word “generation.” Consider his genealogy listing from Abraham to Jesus:
“So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations” (Matthew 1:17).
We learn from Matthew that 14 generations passed from the Babylonian captivity until the time of Jesus. We also know that Babylon took Judah captive in 586 BC. Putting these two pieces together, we can calculate that each of these 14 generations was about 42 years in length (586 divided by 14). [For more details on this, see my study on Matthew 24:29-34 / Mark 13:24-30 / Luke 21:25-32.]
This being the case, let us ask if the temple was destroyed, as Jesus predicted, within one generation of that prediction, i.e. within approximately 42 years. It was! Jesus was crucified in or around 30 AD, and the temple was destroyed by the Roman armies in 70 AD, that is, 40 years later.
The Olivet Discourse was not the first time that Jesus had used the expression, “this generation.” In all His other uses of this phrase, it’s more than evident that He meant His own generation. Consider the following examples:
“To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others: ‘We played the pipe for you,and you did not dance; we sang a dirge,and you did not mourn.’” (Matthew 11:16-17)
“The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here. The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here.” (Matthew 12:41-42; see also Luke 11:29-32)
“Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.” (Matthew 12:45)
“You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” (Matthew 17:17)
And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.” (Matthew 23:35-36)
He sighed deeply and said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to it.” (Mark 8:12)
Jesus went on to say, “To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like?” (Luke 7:31)
“But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.” (Luke 17:25)
Time and space limitations will not allow us to examine all the signs that Jesus predicted would take place before “this generation” would pass away, although I believe that [1] a study comparing Scripture with Scripture and [2] a study of 1st century history will show that they did take place before Jesus’ own generation passed away. As an example of the first point, Luke says that Jews “from every nation under heaven” heard the mighty works of God proclaimed in their own languages (Acts 2:5-11), and the apostle Paul was emphatic that the gospel was preached all over the (known) world in his lifetime (Romans 1:8, Romans 16:25-26, Colossians 1:5-6, and Colossians 1:23).
However, as helpful as these confirmations may be, they are not even necessary for our understanding of Jesus’ words, “…this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” The generation that would pass away had to see, not some, but all of those things take place. There’s only one generation that witnessed the fall of the temple, and that was Jesus’ own generation. This will never happen again, and this point alone indicates that “all these things” could not possibly take place in our own generation or in the future. Remember also that the earthquakes, wars, the invasion of Judea and Jerusalem, the great distress, and all the other signs were to take place, not after the temple fell, but before the temple would fall (Matthew 24:1-3, Mark 13:1-4, Luke 21:5-7).
To the people of Jesus’ time, we who live in the 21st century would be regarded as “that generation.” To those of us living in the 21st century, the people of Jesus’ time would also be regarded as “that generation.” Jesus didn’t use that phrase, however. The people of Jesus’ time would have understood their own generation as “this generation,” just as they did when He uttered this phrase in Matthew 11:16-17; Matt. 12:41-42; Matt. 12:45; Matt. 17:17; Matt. 23:35-36; Mark 8:12; Luke 7:31; Luke 11:29-32; and Luke 17:25.
All of our studies on the Olivet Discourse can be seen here, including a verse-by-verse parallel study of Matthew 24-25, Mark 13, and Luke 21.
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City refused to allow me operate a club close to school...
City refused to allow me operate a club close to school even though it had been a club for years.
I have a building that has always been a club so I spent money to open it after it had been closed for almost a year. Now the city will not give ma a permit because now it is too close to the same school that had been there for many years.
11/25/2016 | Category: Alcohol » Schools | State: Texas | #27163
The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code allows Cities to enact regulations dealing with the sale of alcohol within a certain distance of schools and other places like a church. They can prohibit the sale within 300 feet of a public or private school, or may increase it to 1000 feed under certain conditions.
A City or County are not required to enact these ordinances. But if they do adopt them the City can enforce them. They can also grant variances from the ordinances.
In your case we assume there is an ordinance dealing with the location of an establishment that sells alcohol in relation to a school. The question is whether it applies to your premises. This requires that you review the provisions of the ordinance to determine what it says about discontinuation of use and how that effects you. Also, if the premises was in existence before the City enacted the ordinance then it may have been grandfathered regardless of distance from a school and allowed to operate. When it was closed the City may be contended that it lost it's grandfather status. Zoning regulations may also come into play as to what is allowed in certain zoning districts.
Please review section 109.33 below carefully for all provisions relating to this.
There may be a provision of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code that applies to your situation. It generally provides that if a permit is issued for a premises and later an ordinance or law is enacted that would have prohibited the permit, any renewal of the permit must be allowed.
It also provides that if the premises is sold and a new permit is required of the new owner, it is deemed to satisfy the requirements and a permit must be issued. However, this provision does not apply to a public school prohibition except under limited circumstances.
Sec. 109.59. APPLICATION OF DISTANCE REQUIREMENTS. (a) If at the time an original alcoholic beverage permit or license is granted for a premises the premises satisfies the requirements regarding distance from schools, churches, and other types of premises established in this code and any other law or ordinance of the state or a political subdivision of the state in effect at that time, the premises shall be deemed to satisfy the distance requirements for all subsequent renewals of the license or permit.
(b) On the sale or transfer of the premises or the business on the premises in which a new original license or permit is required for the premises, the premises shall be deemed to satisfy any distance requirements as if the issuance of the new original permit or license were a renewal of a previously held permit or license.
(c) Subsection (b) does not apply to the satisfaction of the distance requirement prescribed by Section 109.33(a)(2) for a public school, except that on the death of a permit or license holder or a person having an interest in a permit or license Subsection (b) does apply to the holder's surviving spouse or child of the holder or person if the spouse or child qualifies as a successor in interest to the permit or license.
(d) Subsection (a) does not apply to the satisfaction of the distance requirement prescribed by Section 109.33(a)(2) for a public school if the holder's permit or license has been suspended for a violation occurring after September 1, 1995, of any of the following provisions:
(1) Section 11.61(b)(1), (6)-(11), (13), (14), or (20); or
(2) Section 61.71(a)(5)-(8), (11), (12), (14), (17), (18), (22), or (24).
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 934, Sec. 93, eff. Sept. 1, 1993. Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 260, Sec. 8, eff. May 30, 1995.
ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CODE
TITLE 4. REGULATORY AND PENAL PROVISIONS
CHAPTER 109. MISCELLANEOUS REGULATORY PROVISIONS
SUBCHAPTER A. SALVAGED AND INSURED LOSSES
Sec. 109.33. SALES NEAR SCHOOL, CHURCH, OR HOSPITAL.
(a) The commissioners court of a county may enact regulations applicable in areas in the county outside an incorporated city or town, and the governing board of an incorporated city or town may enact regulations applicable in the city or town, prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages by a dealer whose place of business is within:
(1) 300 feet of a church, public or private school, or public hospital;
(2) 1,000 feet of a public school, if the commissioners court or the governing body receives a request from the board of trustees of a school district under Section 38.007, Education Code; or
(3) 1,000 feet of a private school if the commissioners court or the governing body receives a request from the governing body of the private school.
(b) The measurement of the distance between the place of business where alcoholic beverages are sold and the church or public hospital shall be along the property lines of the street fronts and from front door to front door, and in direct line across intersections. The measurement of the distance between the place of business where alcoholic beverages are sold and the public or private school shall be:
(1) in a direct line from the property line of the public or private school to the property line of the place of business, and in a direct line across intersections; or
(2) if the permit or license holder is located on or above the fifth story of a multistory building, in a direct line from the property line of the public or private school to the property line of the place of business, in a direct line across intersections, and vertically up the building at the property line to the base of the floor on which the permit or license holder is located.
(c) Every applicant for an original alcoholic beverage license or permit for a location with a door by which the public may enter the place of business of the applicant that is within 1,000 feet of the nearest property line of a public or private school, measured along street lines and directly across intersections, must give written notice of the application to officials of the public or private school before filing the application with the commission. A copy of the notice must be submitted to the commission with the application. This subsection does not apply to a permit or license covering a premise where minors are prohibited from entering the premises under Section 109.53.
(d) As to any dealer who held a license or permit on September 1, 1983, in a location where a regulation under this section was in effect on that date, for purposes of Subsection (a), but not Subsection (c), of this section, the measurement of the distance between the place of business of the dealer and a public or private school shall be along the property lines of the street fronts and from front door to front door, and in direct line across intersections.
(e) The commissioners court of a county or the governing board of a city or town that has enacted a regulation under Subsection (a) of this section may also allow variances to the regulation if the commissioners court or governing body determines that enforcement of the regulation in a particular instance is not in the best interest of the public, constitutes waste or inefficient use of land or other resources, creates an undue hardship on an applicant for a license or permit, does not serve its intended purpose, is not effective or necessary, or for any other reason the court or governing board, after consideration of the health, safety, and welfare of the public and the equities of the situation, determines is in the best interest of the community.
(f) Subsections (a)(2) and (3) do not apply to the holder of:
(1) a retail on-premises consumption permit or license if less than 50 percent of the gross receipts for the premises is from the sale or service of alcoholic beverages;
(2) a retail off-premises consumption permit or license if less than 50 percent of the gross receipts for the premises, excluding the sale of items subject to the motor fuels tax, is from the sale or service of alcoholic beverages; or
(3) a wholesaler's, distributor's, brewer's, distiller's and rectifier's, winery, wine bottler's or manufacturer's permit or license, or any other license or permit held by a wholesaler or manufacturer as those words are ordinarily used and understood in Chapter 102.
(g) Subsection (a)(3) does not apply to the holder of:
(1) a license or permit issued under Chapter 27, 31, or 72 who is operating on the premises of a private school; or
(2) a license or permit covering a premise where minors are prohibited from entering under Section 109.53 and that is located within 1,000 feet of a private school.
(h) Subsection (a)(1) does not apply to the holder of:
(1) a license or permit who also holds a food and beverage certificate covering a premise that is located within 300 feet of a private school; or
(2) a license or permit covering a premise where minors are prohibited from entering under Section 109.53 and that is located within 300 feet of a private school.
(i) In this section, "private school" means a private school, including a parochial school, that:
(1) offers a course of instruction for students in one or more grades from kindergarten through grade 12; and
(2) has more than 100 students enrolled and attending courses at a single location.
Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p. 526, ch. 194, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1977. Amended by Acts 1983, 68th Leg., p. 4038, ch. 629, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1983; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 260, Sec. 7, eff. May 30, 1995; Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 388, Sec. 2, eff. May 28, 2001.
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Click to copyhttps://apnews.com/b1770d88ae144ee199ce8403acf10a21
AP Top News
Feds seize Backpage.com, websites in enforcement action
This Friday, April 6, 2018 image shows an FBI notice on the Backpage.com website. Federal law enforcement authorities are in the process of seizing Backpage.com and its affiliated websites as part of an enforcement action by the FBI and other agencies. (AP Photo)
PHOENIX (AP) — Federal law enforcement authorities are in the process of seizing online classified site Backpage.com and its affiliated websites known for listing adult escort services.
A notice that appeared Friday afternoon at Backpage.com says the websites are being seized as part of an enforcement action by the FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Internal Revenue Service.
The notice doesn’t characterize or provide any details on the nature of the enforcement action. It said authorities planned to release information about the enforcement action later Friday.
Backpage.com lets users create posts to sell items, seek a roommate, participate in forums, list upcoming events or post job openings. It also known for listings adult escorts and other sexual services, and authorities say advertising related to those services has been extremely lucrative.
Last year, the creators of the website were charged with money laundering in California.
State prosecutors in California have said the website’s chief executive Carl Ferrer and founders Michael Lacey and James Larkin illegally funneled money through multiple companies and created various websites to get around banks that refused to process transactions. They have pleaded not guilty.
Lacey and Larkin are former owners of the Village Voice and the Phoenix New Times, but retained ownership of Backpage.com.
A decade ago, they were arrested by then-Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s office in 2007 for publishing information about a secret grand jury subpoena demanding information on its stories and online readers.
They won a $3.75 million settlement from county government as a result of their now-discredited arrests.
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Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos Or Community? (King Legacy)
by Martin Luther King, Jr.
Imprint: Beacon Press
Publisher: Beacon Press
Parent Company: Unitarian Universalist Association
In 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., isolated himself from the demands of the civil rights movement, rented a house in Jamaica with no telephone, and labored over his final manuscript. In this significantly prophetic work, which has been unavailable for more than ten years, we find King’s acute analysis of American race relations and the state of the movement after a decade of civil rights efforts. Here he lays out his thoughts, plans, and dreams for America’s future, including the need for better jobs, higher wages, decent housing, and quality education. With a universal message of hope that continues to resonate, King demanded an end to global suffering, powerfully asserting that humankind-for the first time-has the resources and technology to eradicate poverty.
More books like Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos Or Community? (King Legacy) may be found by selecting the categories below:
History / United States / 20th Century
Social Science / Discrimination & Race Relations
Tell us what do you think about Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos Or Community? (King Legacy).
Goodreads Reviews for Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos Or Community? (King Legacy)
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NBA prospect's brother killed in Houston
HOUSTON Pittman's agent, Mark Bartelstein, confirmed Pittman's departure.
Texas spokesman Scott McConnell said Pittman's high school coach and godfather, Bennett Hatten, told school officials that Darius Johnson, 15, was shot during a confrontation in Katy and later died at a hospital.
Harris County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Janie Wagner said a deputy was sent to the home just before 10 p.m. Thursday. The deputy found the victim "in the garage in his residence sitting in a chair with a gunshot wound to his head."
Wagner said the case is being investigated as a homicide. She had no other details and said the department wasn't identifying the victim because he was a juvenile.
An investigator with the Harris County medical examiner said an autopsy was planned Friday.
"Obviously the thoughts and prayers of all of us associated with the University of Texas basketball program are with Dexter Pittman and his family. We know that this is a very difficult time for them," Longhorns coach Rick Barnes said.
Associated Press writers Andrew Seligman in Chicago and Michael Graczyk in Houston contributed to this report.
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Integrated knowledge platform
The library is located within Qasr Al Watan, one of the few presidential headquarters in the world that has opened its doors to the public and an important destination within the cultural landscape of Abu Dhabi. Qasr Al Watan Library reflects the UAE Vision 2021, which supports the knowledge economy to promote and sustain development through investment in minds and human resources. The Library is a unique addition to the public library network in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, which provides sources of knowledge through the latest technologies and techniques.
The library has a unique architectural style and is located in the centre of the palace.
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The library has a large collection of knowledge resources in the fields of science and the arts within the UAE. Collected over 35 years, these publications cover subjects including history, geography and the social, economic and political development of the UAE. Official and historical documents from local and international sources are accessible alongside the Constitution and laws of the UAE. The library also houses publications from cultural institutions, research centres, official authorities and publishing houses from across the UAE. There are books on archaeology, history, heritage, memoirs, biographies, human and social sciences, statistics, administration, culture, literature, arts and other sources of public interest. The publications were carefully selected to meet the needs of scholars and researchers of all ages and disciplines. The growth and expansion of library holdings in the future will include interactive programmes that tap into a world of paper and electronic publishing and multimedia.
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Qasr Al Watan Library offers an integrated reading experience, where resources are available in Arabic, English and many other languages. These include printed books, e-books, audio and video books, periodicals, multimedia, university letters, research articles, newspapers and magazines, documents, encyclopaedias, book summaries, reference dictionaries, databases and rare manuscripts.
The interior of the library offers a comfortable research, reading and writing environment, in modern rooms equipped with computers, with search-friendly electronic resources.
In addition to the library's comprehensive collection of books and resources, a series of community initiatives, including panel discussions and musical performances, will stimulate dialogue and knowledge exchange.
The library allows readers to borrow printed and other materials through a membership system. The public can view the library contents on the website.
The library’s staff provide a variety of services to access information and reference lists. They can train visitors in how to use the digital library and provide information about library programmes.
Special tours enable visitors to learn about the library and its contents, and how to make the most of its programmes and resources.
The library provides internet access, computers and tablets to enable use of its e-services.
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The digital library offers many sources in various formats, such as print material and audio and video equipment, and library members can access them from anywhere in the emirate of Abu Dhabi.
Qasr Al Watan Library is open to all UAE nationals, residents and visitors, and can be visited in person or via a membership card that provides access to all services.
To obtain a membership card, please visit: library.dctabudhabi.ae
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Home > News > Local Movement Draws National Support
Local Movement Draws National Support
By Robert Galbreath on July 18, 2018
A group of Jackson women is leading a high profile campaign to prevent at least one hunter from obtaining a license in Wyoming’s upcoming grizzly hunt
A grizzly sow and her cub on a stroll near Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park. (NPS/Jim Peaco)
JACKSON HOLE, WY – Wyoming’s first grizzly hunt in 44 years moved closer to reality on July 2 when hunters logged onto Wyoming Game and Fish’s electronic licensing system to apply for tags. Thousands vied for one of 22 licenses approved by the Wyoming Game and Fish to harvest a bruin.
The deadline to apply for the grizzly hunt was July 16. Game and Fish Communications Director Renny MacKay estimated that around 7,000 people applied for a license which places people into a random lottery.
While the application process was underway, a group of Jackson women launched a campaign to save as many grizzlies as possible from the hunter’s bullet. “Shoot ‘Em With a Camera, Not a Gun” called on concerned citizens to protest the grizzly hunt by applying for a tag. If an advocate managed to beat the odds and win a tag, the women pledged to use the license to “hunt” a grizzly with a camera rather than a gun.
The goal was to overwhelm Game and Fish with hundreds of applications from advocates and to raise awareness about the impending hunt. The women launched a Facebook page and a Go Fund Me account that has gone viral. Support poured in from across the country, and a small grassroots movement transformed into an organized national crusade against the grizzly hunt.
Support for the movement has come from unexpected corners, said co-organizer Ann Smith. Many hunters, both men and women, have joined the campaign. Hunters told Smith they hunt to provide meat for themselves and their families and “were outraged by the idea of trophy hunting,” she said.
Notable global conservation icons also took note. Jane Goodall and Cynthia Moss have endorsed the campaign. Moss, director of the Amboseli Trust for Elephants, spent decades in Kenya working with elephants and fighting to ban trophy hunting of the species. Moss and Goodall applied for grizzly tags this week. “I’m an official Wyoming sportsperson now,” Moss told Planet Jackson Hole.
Hollywood eminence has also joined the campaign. Judy Hofflund, producer of the films Panic Room and Murder on the Orient Express, applied for a grizzly tag this week. She said that she has encouraged her entire family to apply for tags. Hofflund said she is moved every time she visits Jackson and has the opportunity to see bears like the famous Bear 399 and her cubs. The thought of losing those bears is heartbreaking, she said.
The movement started out as a small meeting of concerned citizens in a Jackson home in early July. A group of five women stayed on after the meeting ended. They knew they had to act fast to save the bruin, but felt they lacked the power to do it alone. After hours of brainstorming, the women came up with the idea to apply for grizzly tags and a plan they hoped would give them a loud voice.
Lisa Robertson was one of the first women to test the waters. Robertson, a longtime grizzly advocate, said she felt compelled to do something when Wyoming Game and Fish approved a limited hunt of the grizzly in May.
Robertson completed all the requirements necessary to apply for a grizzly tag: She attended a Wyoming Game and Fish hunter’s safety course. She learned how to properly handle a firearm and studied the culture of hunting. Yet she plans to use the skills she learned to save the life of a grizzly, rather than track and hunt one.
The other women in the group joined her in the training process to obtain a license. They each had their own motivations for joining the campaign. Heather Mycoskie, a young mother of three and a member of the National Council of the Humane Society, advocates for the grizzly on behalf of her children. “Grizzlies are beautiful, big, and majestic wild animals,” she said. “I want my children to understand the value of wildlife when they grow up.”
Deirdre Bainbridge, a Jackson attorney, has studied and photographed grizzly bears around Jackson for more than a decade. The grizzly bear campaign speaks to more than just people’s fierce sense of conservation, she said. It also reflects the growing rise of women’s involvement in politics and social justice issues.
Bainbridge provides legal advice for the organization whil Mycoskie does social media work. Ann Smith, known around town for sporting a “Grizzly Lives Matter” poster on her antique truck, hit the ground networking and fundraising.
The women’s Go Fund Me account has raised more than $25,000 meant to help protesters cover the costs of obtaining a grizzly tag if they are selected from the drawing. (Tags cost $600 for residents and $6,000 for non-residents.) After one week, their Facebook page has drawn nearly 3,000 followers.
Smith told Planet Jackson Hole she was astonished by the support. Hundreds of people from all over the country have pledged to apply for a grizzly tag and use it to save a bear, she said. “Calls have come in from Nebraska, California, Colorado, Montana—it’s hard to list the states that we didn’t receive calls from.”
If a grizzly advocate wins a tag they will enter the wilderness armed with cameras and bear spray rather than guns. Bainbridge said advocates will follow all rules and regulations set by the National Forest Service and will be accompanied by a local guide—either a member of the movement like Bainbridge who has extensive experience around grizzlies or another an outfitter.
Bainbridge emphasized protesters have no intention of disrupting other hunters. The campaign does not oppose hunting, she said. The Jackson attorney grew up in a family of hunters and has taken part in the sport. “Hunting is a useful conservation tool,” she said. “What we are opposed to is the opportunity to trophy hunt a species that is still threatened and hasn’t yet recovered.”
Wyoming Game and Fish, on the other hand, views the grizzly hunt as a tool to manage a growing population of bears rather than a trophy sport. MacKay told Planet Jackson Hole that Game and Fish underwent a “lengthy, inclusive, and transparent process” before approving the hunt. While Game and Fish considered the opinions of those who opposed the hunt, many of the public comments submitted by Wyoming residents supported a limited hunt, MacKay said.
Game and Fish is taking a “conservative approach” to the hunt, he added. The agency has already made changes to the hunting zones that reflect public opinion, closing certain areas to hunters that are popular with tourists.
Members of the public must recognize the contributions hunters and anglers across the state have made to grizzly bear conservation, MacKay said. Fees from hunting and fishing raised more than $50 million for the state’s grizzly bear recovery plan. He said the money is used to ensure opportunities continue to exist for people to photograph the grizzly bear in Northwest Wyoming.
Game and Fish is aware of the Shoot ‘Em With a Camera movement, but MacKay said the agency is not concerned. “We’re used to dealing with complications arising in draws for limited quota big game licenses,” he said.
Meanwhile, Smith said the campaign is “giving individuals across the country who oppose the hunt a chance to voice their opinion.”
“People are fed up with being ignored and want to act, to make their voice count.”
The grizzly hunt in Wyoming is not a foregone conclusion. Native American nations and environmental groups have filed six lawsuits against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s decision to remove the grizzly bear in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem from the Endangered Species List. The cases will be heard before U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen on August 30 in Missoula, Montana. If the court rules in favor of the litigants, Wyoming’s hunt could be suspended.
grizzly bear huntJackson Holenot a gunShoot em with a cameraWyomingWyoming Game and Fish
About Robert Galbreath
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Burgess backs Walker for NSW as halves debate heats up
Fans might recall that it was around this time last year that Walker’s teammate, Damien Cook, was at long odds to reel in Cameron McInnes for the NSW No.9 jersey.
“With Cody, I think we’re all seeing the same thing,” Burgess told The Sun-Herald.
“He’s a special player. ‘Freddy’ [Brad Fittler] understands what he is doing, and he will make a good decision for NSW.
“I will always support Cody, I’m with him every day and I know what he does and what he brings.
“Cody in any team will be good. He’s taken on more responsibility, he’s really stepped up in terms of leadership, naturally he’s a great communicator, he competes well, and they are all the attributes of a good player.”
Slow start: James Maloney’s form this season has mirrored the slow start of the Panthers. Credit:AAP
Walker is 29 and playing a key role in a Sydney team at the top of the NRL ladder, a big factor Fittler appreciates. Souths will make it six wins from seven starts if they triumph on Friday night out west – the kind of classy start they had back in 2013 when they went within one win of the grand final.
Cleary and Maloney got the job done for the Blues last year but haven’t got going this season behind a struggling Panthers pack.
Keary and Walker would be an interesting dynamic given the former labelled the latter ”disrespectful” after he gave Cooper Cronk a gobful in the opening round.
Burgess had no problems stepping up as the sole captain after Greg Inglis’ retirement and, like coach Wayne Bennett, said he knew the shock move was on the cards at the start of January.
“I knew. We had a couple of chats, but basically all we did was be there for Greg as a friend,” Burgess said.
“We weren’t even there as a sounding board because he was the one who had to make the decision. It was a huge decision.
“I think Greg and his family and the club and the players have all handled it well.
“Of course we will miss him. He’s Greg Inglis. But Kyle Turner has done a good job, we also have Adam Doueihi and Braidon Burns to come back.
“We’ll miss Greg but we can’t hang on to it, it’s happened, we can’t dwell. It’s the NRL. It’s relentless.
“Life without Greg has begun. He’ll still have a presence around the place in some capacity.”
Unlike Bennett, Burgess had no issues with the flow of the game on Good Friday, even though he clearly became frustrated with the go-slow tactics of persistent Bulldogs halfback Lachlan Lewis.
Lewis claimed Burgess had sledged him. The Englishman is not one to upset.
“Lachlan did a good job. I don’t want to contradict Wayne, but I don’t mind the way the games have been refereed the first six rounds of the comp,” Burgess said.
“We haven’t really spoken about the refs, and that’s a good sign. Less penalties have been good, the more the ball is in play is good and you don’t want it to be a blow-a-thon. There’s a pretty good balance.
“Lachlan had a lot of spirit on Friday night. He competes well, he’s got an exotic personality from what I hear, so I respect that.”
With Cody, I think we’re all seeing the same thing. He’s a special player.
Latrell Mitchell kicked his matchwinner at the perfect time
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Maintainable, but for whom?
Jdn is making an excellent point in this post:
Okay, so, TDD-like design, ORM solution, using MVP. Oh, and talk to the users, preferably before you being coding.
One problem (well, it's really more than one). I know for a fact that I am going to be handing this application off to other people. I will not be maintaining it. I know the people who I will be handing it off to, so I know their skill sets, I know generally how they like to code.
None of them have ever used ORM.
None of them do unit testing. One knows what they are and for whatever reason hates them. The others just don't know.
None of them have ever used MVP/MVC, and I doubt any but one has even heard of it.
All of them are intelligent, so could grasp all the concepts readily, and become proficient with them over time. If they are given time by their bosses, or do the work overtime, or whatever.
There is a 'standard' architecture in place that they have worked with for quite some time. I personally think it blows, and frankly, so do most of them, but it is familiar, and applications can be passed between developers as they use a common style.
There are several things that are going on in this situation. The two most important ones are that the currently used practice of bad code, is also (luckily) wildly recognized as such and the people who work there are open minded and intelligent.
Before I get to the main point, I want to relate something about my current project. If you wish to maintain it, you need to have a good understanding of OR/M, IoC and MVC. Without those, you can't really do much with the application. That said, good use of IoC means that it is mostly transparent, and abusing the language give you natural syntax like FindAll( Where.User.Name == "Ayende") for the (simple) OR/M, and MVC isn't hard to learn.
Back to Jdn's post, let us consider his point for a moment. Building the application using TDD, IoC, OR/M, etc would create a maintainable application, but it wouldn't be maintainable by someone who doesn't know all that. Building an application application using proven bad practices will ensure that anyone can hack at it, but that it has much higher cost to maintain and extend.
I am okay with that. Because my view is that having the developers learn a better way to build software is much less costly than continuing to produce software that is hard to maintain. In simple terms, if you need to invest a week in your developers, you will get your investment several times over when they produce better code, easier to maintain and extend and with fewer bugs.
Doing it the old way seams defeatist to me (although, in Jdn's case, he seems to be leaving his current employee, which is something that I am ignoring in this analysis). It is the old "we have always done it this way" approach. Sure, you can use a mule to plow a field, it works. But a tractor would do much better job, even though it require knowing how to drive first.
Sam A Gentile
Another brilliant post - I agree above
jdn
The point you leave out:
"although, in Jdn's case, he seems to be leaving his current employee, which is something that I am ignoring in this analysis"
is the key point.
To understand and maintain MVP/IOC/ORM/whatever requires experience. Or teaching.
The vast majority of code doesn't require understanding any of MVP/IoC/ORM/whatever. More over, the vast majority of that code is happily supporting businesses that are worth billions of dollars.
Given that, what is the ethical obligation of someone to support that business, especially when there is a common architecture?
My answer is: Building software that fits the architecture of the business.
In a perfect world, you can build a better architecture, teach people along the way, etc.
But I live in the real world.
I am on a 2 million dollar large software product. I would call that the real world. A year ago, 6 out of the 8 developers had never heard of TDD, DDD, O/RM, Continous Design, or even programmed in C#. They were used to banging out stuff in a previous version using VB6. We decided to do right from the get go. We did teach people along the way, first doing 1/2 sessions every day, where we made all the developers draw pieces of the software on the whiteboard and taught them code smells and the like. We made it a decision that we all agreed to do everything in pairs. The two of us who were experienced made sure we paired with everyone else to teach TDD, and everything else. A year later, all 6 of them can do it, we have 2,000+ real world unit tests.
All I ever hear you saying jdn is you can't, you can't and how all of us who have worked our butt off to get here are elitist and not in the "real world." You blame everyone else. But the fact of the matter is none of us are smart, we just keep working hard on it and make it happen even when it was real tough with management. You are smart too. You are reading this stuff. You can learn it too as all of us did.
No, I am not leaving it out.
I am excluding your case specifically, because it is a unique one and still there are ways to teach developers good practices quickly.
When the common architecture is known to be bad? To change that, would be my answer.
That is a sad approach, frankly. Because it presumes from the start that you cannot really do much about what is going on around you.
In the time that it takes to finish the common project, there is a lot that can be done in the development environment, especially when working with intelligent people who already know that the current approach sucks.
Glenn Wiley
About four years ago, I worked for a company in which I was one of the developers who maintained an application largely written by a couple of much more savvy consultants. Although far from perfect, the application was written with good practices in mind. At the time, I was a VB6 guy who had started developing in C# not long before. My team knew nothing of TDD, MVP, ORM, etc. I thought MVP stood for "Most Valuable Player". After the consultants moved on, I was in charge of the first set of enhancements and bug fixes for this application. Even though I helped with the original development, I was faced with an application I didn't fully grasp. I cussed it at first, but soon came to realize I had a good application to learn from. It was my first experience with TDD. From there, I got hooked on TDD. From the lead consultant, I learned what design patterns were, what MVC was, the basic concepts of agile development practices and of course, TDD. It was a lot to digest at first, but I was fortunate enough to have a real-world application to learn from, and a newfound awareness of what I should learn. Those consultants could have just as easily have written the typical procedural style applications our development team was used to seeing, but they chose to do it right. That was a turning point in my life as a developer. Half the battle (probably more) is just making people aware of what TDD is or that things like ReSharper, NHibernate, Rhino Mocks, etc. exist. I was fortunate that somebody decided to leave behind a nugget of gold rather than the usual lump of coal.
Torkel
I struggle with this kind of question every week. The last two years I have been working on maintaining and extending a large legacy system, after a mayor refactoring I usually show what I have done to my colleagues and try to explain how the code is now more maintainable, testable and reduced in size and sometimes I am met with comments like "No one but
you will understand that".
Sometimes I find it hard to explain the benefits of NHibernate and Castle Windsor.
Frans Bouma
Sam: you forget that the project you're on isn't a project which is already 2 years in production and you have to add new features to it worth 2 million. That's a total different game, but it's the game of software maintenance.
You all miss the point. The point isn't about focussing on technicalities: 'what's O/R mapping, what's an IoC etc.'... that's reading some manuals and you're done. Knowning these doesn't make the software suddenly maintainable, THAT'S the key mistake you all make.
The key to maintainable software is knowing why a piece of code is written the way it is written, i.e.: why algorithm A is chosen and why alternatives B and C are ignored, and why the feature is kept simple and thus the design kept simple and why the design of a feature didn't take into account some more flexibility for extension.
A software maintainer needs answers to these questions so s/he can make the proper decisions where (!) to make changes. This has nothing, absolutely NOTHING to do with the usage of e.g. o/r mapping or IoC.
For the people who still don't get it: NO, I'm not talking about the question WHY IoC was used, that's not something a software maintainer is interested in.
Saying that teaching the developers that TDD etc. is better is showing the lack of understanding what it takes to maintain a large piece of software which is already in production and THUS a lot of dependencies are already in place.
Oh, maintainability isn't about fixing some bugs. It's about moving a codebase from version 1.0 to v2.0 in the right timeframe, with the resources provided, and with the knowledge that the original team is likely not working on it anymore and has moved on to other projects and perhaps other employers.
It's sad to see that there's so little understanding about this very important subject. In the next couple of years, software maintenance will become the key point of software engineering simply because there won't be enough software engineers on the planet to maintain all the different applications.
Frans,
Thanks for your well expressed comments and you are absolutely right then it isn't about "technologies" but what you do INSIDE the code that will either make it less or more maintainable.
You all miss the point. The point isn't about focussing on >technicalities: 'what's O/R mapping, what's an IoC etc.'... that's >reading some manuals and you're done. Knowning these doesn't >make the software suddenly maintainable, THAT'S the key mistake >you all make.
But IoC and things like that are PRINCIPLES, not technologies that lead to code that is able to be extended or continously evolved without ripping up major pieces. Which O/RM one chooses may be a technoplgy choice but O/RM in itself can and should be discussed as one of the things one can do to write cleaner code.
The key to maintainable software is knowing why a piece of code is >written the way it is written, i.e.: why algorithm A is chosen and why >alternatives B and C are ignored, and why the feature is kept simple >and thus the design kept simple and why the design of a feature >didn't take into account some more flexibility for extension.
A software maintainer needs answers to these questions so s/he >can make the proper decisions where (!) to make changes. This has >nothing, absolutely NOTHING to do with the usage of e.g. o/r >mapping or IoC.
I also made this comment to your comment on my blog. I am sorry if we gave you the impression that TDD was everything. It helps on the OUTSIDE but its is just ONE out of 12 practices that we follow in Extreme Programming. They have to be done together to have any benefit. We also develop the INSIDE of the code, the algorithms and such in a Continous Design manner constantly refactoring the code looking for simplifications and making it cleaner. When we talk about this and say the code is "extensible" its not so things can be plugged in, its so the maintainers can come in and make changes 2 years later without ripping everything apart. If you don't introduce code rot into a system and you continually work aggainst, it isn't there in the future. 18 months into our project, 2 new people came in from the outside with hardly any skil sets and although its been hard for them, they are able to look at BOTH the unit tests and the well factored code as well as pair to uunderstand the INSIDE as well.
I hope this helps, I think this is an excellent discussion. If there is something I am not explaining well or you think I am not not considering, I am happy to talk about it. Thanks.
Mats Helander
For me, one interesting issue is whether using a framework or an approach (O/RM, IoC, DI, AOP) can move more code away from having to be maintained.
For example, the maintainance team wouldn't have to maintain NHibernate. Also, it would be safe to assume that the code using NHibernate wouldn't be longer than the equivalent code not using NHibernate, or it would be a no-brainer to go without NHibernate.
If the remaining code (the code outside NHibernate, that is, your application) would be smaller compared to the code that wouldn't use NHibernate, the question appears to become: Is it (the NHibernate using code) so much more complex that this outweighs the value of it being shorter?
That would appear to be the question. But is it really a good question? What if we answer "Yes, it is so much more complex that we shouldn't use it, even though it is shorter"? Is that a good answer?
I don't think it is. In my view, development has always been about learning how to use new tools, frameworks, abstraction levels, languages etc etc that will help us express more using less code. Otherwise we could all just code in assembly language. For every step of the way, I think there was a time when the new step ahead was still so new that it appeared to be more complex than could be motivated by the reduced LOC. Had this argument always been heeded, we would indeed still be programming in assembly.
If the frameworks offer more powerful expressions in the code, the move towards using them will be almost inexorable. To ask developers to stay away from them because the maintainers may not yet have picked up on them is thus an argument that may occationally be the realistic observation in the real world, but that should more generally be regarded with some suspicion, imho. To accept the argument is to succumb to the specifics of the situation. Thus I would see Jdn's argument to be more short-sighted, but in his particular situation perhaps quite correct, whereas Ayendes is more farsighted but perhaps (unfortunately so) unrealistic in Jdn' situation.
I agree with everyone, but mainly Frans.
Did I mention there was a common windowing system, where this application will sit with (not sure of the real count) at least a dozen other applications? And that I have to make it play nice with that?
If I had the time, the expertise and the clout, I would take the 'far-sighted' approach. But:
I don't have the time. Literally.
I may or may not have the expertise.
I definitely don't have the clout. Let me speak one word: committee.
Sam, do you have any idea how lucky you are to be able to have done things the way you were able to? I understand that you in large part created your own luck, but you still have to be in the right situation in the right circumstances to make the call.
You can't simply re-write an architecture used by dozens of people because you want to. If I knew I was going to be there for a longer period of time, I might go ahead and make the argument. If I was a full-time employee, I'd most likely just go ahead and do what I wanted to, and let them fire me. I'm a joy to work with that way.
But, when given a prototype of something to work on for a bit before passing it back.....I'm still going to ORM it if I can, because nHibernate is approved, but anything much else is really out of scope.
I should have left the 'But I live in the real world' comment out previously, but this is what I was getting at.
I appreciate your situation jdn and have been in it many times. It is extremely fustrating and I don't want to at all minimize it. Its very real and when I have been in it painful.
All you can do is go forward an do the things you are doing. I, for one, are impressed by your deep desire to learn (something I like to think we all share) and all that you have been bringing to these conversations. It is so valuable for all of us to think outside our litle worlds and understand each others.
Jay Flowers
Doing TDD/Unit Tests in a legacy environment is very difficult. It requires far more skill, and not just of the technical variety. It is not always the best return on value to create unit tests for legacy code. Many people have found FitNesse and integration tests in general to be a better return on value for legacy code. For all new work TDD is still the way to go, and yes it is more difficult than a green field project.
What would I like you to focus on in the previous paragraph? Not the solution to the problem. The implied wisdom in the approach to solve the problem. "Many people have found" XXX helpful. That there is a community out there that can help you. You are not the first person to experience what you are going through. As much as you may think you want to be you are lucky that your situation is not special. Other people have been though it and found solutions.
Where does this leave you?
First you will have to accept that there is an answer. Second that you might not like the answer, it will require you to leave you zone of comfort. Third you will need to experiment with the answers you find to make them work for you. Forth and most important you will need patiences with your self and others. This is a path not a destination.
Now I want to be clear that I and many others in the community will support you in your endeavors to grow in this area. You can email me directly if you want. I have helped many people and been helped by many people. We want you to find you way and be successful.
Lot of good points brought up in this discussion. Unfortunately too often many software managers fall into the trap of thinking that developers are "plug and play" in a project and assume they can be added/removed as needed.
When you have this attitude toward development talent, adopting things like MVP, ORM, TDD, becomes very difficult as it has become exceedingly difficult to find developers that are familiar with these approaches, let alone those who have experience with them. Adding new developers and expecting them to "plug right in" is more difficult when using an "off the grid" approach like TDD or ORM.
Unless the management makes it a prerogative to keep existing developers happy and provide sufficient ramp up time for new developers, it will always be difficult to adopt new approaches that have not yet achieved widespread adoption.
Jeffrey Palermo
I have been in varied environments:
Working on enterprise app that talk to old mainframe apps at Dell
Web 2.0 stuff in start-up land
ISV products including inheriting the nasty code
greenfield products where I did everything "my way"
coaching software teams.
It's definitely easier when starting from scratch, but I've also had to inherit other code and make incremental changes. I've done maintainence, but I still insisted that the code HAD to get better. I found it materially beneficial to read Michael Feather's book, "Working Effectively with Legacy Code"
http://www.amazon.com/Working-Effectively-Legacy-Robert-Martin/dp/0131177052/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/105-9499862-9761233?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1182110426&sr=8-1
Karthik,
I would assert that any place that treats their employee in such a fashion is not a place that I would like to work for or with.
When I was in the army, the ultimate place for plug & play mentality, there was a significant emphasis on making soldiers happy, and a true understanding of what it was to have a good soldier serving with you. Those are rare, and people fight over them.
To suggest that you can replace one person with another, even given they have the same training is ludicrous.
I'm glad to see the wide and varied discussion.
So let me go ahead and make a comment that will probably appall (at least) Ayende.
"Those are rare, and people fight over them."
In a perverse way, I can see, from the perspective of a business, why having good/great developers, who bring in advanced programming techniques, can be a business risk.
Especially in America (though I would bet this is global more and more), you have to view all employees as being replaceable, because the good/great ones will always have better opportunities (even if they are not actively looking), and turnover for whatever reason is the norm not the exception.
Suppose you are a business with an established software 'inventory', and suppose it isn't the greatest in the world. But it gets the job done, more or less.
Suppose an Ayende-level developer comes in and wants to change things. We already know he is a risk because he says things like:
"not a place that I would like to work for or with."
He's brilliant, but he's definitely a risk to split.
On the other hand, there are people who know how to work with, just to use an example, Infragistics controls. Or typed datasets. Or drag and drop. All things that make me cry and weep.
Mediocre code that can be maintained by a wider pool of developers is in a certain respect more valuable to a business than having great code that can only be maintained by a significantly smaller subset of developers.
I can see why the previous sentence may appall people. But I still, for the life of me, can't see any argument that tells me it is false.
What I'm trying to do with my own business is to do things my way, things that (I hope) bring considerable business value, and give me competitive advantage.
At the same time, I am going to be engaging clients that have existing systems. I can take the Ayende/Bellware attitude (since Scott has said the same thing in a different manner) that 'if they don't do things my way, I won't do business with them.'
And believe me, I have to fight with the people I partner with that there are certain things that are sort of baseline items that I insist on.
But at the same time, I'm offering services for clients. I can't disrupt their business because I don't think their code is pretty enough.
What I can do better, going forward, is learn to make the incremental changes that gets them on their way to prettier code. My attitude is not "well, I can't do anything so I won't even try."
But at the end of the day, I have to do what is best for the client. If that means typed datasets (picking on them, but include anything you personally cringe over), then I can partial class and override to make them better, but typed datasets it will be.
jdn,
Well put! I think with software, as with anything else, there is a reality out there that there are more businesses out there that choose to imitate rather than innovate. Imitators will choose the common and widely chosen path simply because there is less unknown risk involved. Innovators will stay at the cutting edge and take risks that the imitators won't. The reality is that innovators will always be outnumbered by imitators.
The same applies in software. Ayende and others may look at an imitator software company and decide to say "not a place that I would like to work for or with" and that is perfectly acceptable. If you understand the limitations of such a view and can still succeed then more power to you!
Raymond Lewallen
"Because it presumes from the start that you cannot really do much about what is going on around you."
This has become such a common-place attitude in companies these days, it can almost be assumed to be the personality of the project walking in the door. People need to change their mindsets about what can be accomplished and learned in relatively short periods of time within the lifecycle of a project in order to improve that project. Certainly folks like Oren, Frans, CodeBetter and many, many others are so vocal about how to address these issues through principles and practices (typically with an XP focus) and of course technologies (MonoRail framework, Resharper and TD.Net add-ins, NSpec) that slowly but surely the voices are being heard to alleviate these attitudes.
"In the time that it takes to finish the common project, there is a lot that can be done in the development environment, especially when working with intelligent people who already know that the current approach sucks."
If you want to be better at your job, you surround yourself with people who are better at it than you are. Having smart, driven and passionate people around you that are focused on change, and know how to implement those changes gradually and effectively are key to improving the processes. I recently went to a client that had no CI, no TDD practitioners, no pair programming, but they have willing and smart developers and want to make the changes because they have realized over the years, through the experiences of others, that certain things have to be put in place and start to happen if they want to be more successful. Companies that are blind and deaf to those changes or just plain unwilling to change are the companies that I avoid.
"Building the application using TDD, IoC, OR/M, etc would create a maintainable application, but it wouldn't be maintainable by someone who doesn't know all that. Building an application application using proven bad practices will ensure that anyone can hack at it, but that it has much higher cost to maintain and extend."
And so is, I would guess, the blue print of the majority of software life cycles these days. Change is on the way however. I've been in jdn's situation, and I avoid it these days because I can right now. That might not always be the case. Its a shitty situation from my perspective and I admire anyone who is still in it for the fight that they must endure. Discussions like these always help in keeping these things in the forefront of the community efforts to alleviate and save our fellow developers.
@jdn
I can identify with your environment, and I have been in the same boat. As a consultant (now), I'm working with just a normal team.
"Mediocre code that can be maintained by a wider pool of developers is in a certain respect more valuable to a business than having great code that can only be maintained by a significantly smaller subset of developers."<
Jdn, I detect two big assumptions that might be the base for this point. I'd like to address those specifically.
****Assumption #1: Mediocre code can be maintained easily by average developers.
I have found that mediocre code is costly to maintain, but it can suffice for a period of time. That period of time ends when the system has to change significantly or integrate in a different way than originally planned. If the system never has to change or only change marginally, then mediocre code may suffice. The business must understand they are paying for this constraint, however. Often, the system must change in a significant way, and this is where mediocre code breaks down. The end result is often a system rewrite, and we have somehow convinced business executives that is has to be this way.
What is the price of maintaining mediocre code and the subsequent rewrite 2 years later? I'd venture to guess it's more than the business executive was expecting.
****Assumption #2: Great code can only be maintained by the top XX% of the industry.
I have found this to be absolutely false. Even for a developer who has never written object-oriented code, this code is easy to read because it contains objects that represent the real world. All the developers understand the real world.
Great code isn't complicated. On the contrary, great code is much simpler than mediocre code. Mediocre code that finds its way into the codebase is ruthlessly refactored into great code. Great code is so lean that it is maintainable by anyone, especially average developers. With great code, there is no concept duplication. . . every class has a single responsibility. . .concerns are separated into different classes. When behavior needs to change, there is just one place to go, not several.
Great code is so easy to follow, anyone can maintain it.
If it's hard to maintain and hard to follow, ____it isn't great code____.
@Jeffrey Palermo
to your assumption #1:
This is a common comment, and I agree with it.
Having said that, I don't know how to say this often enough.
And I mean this sincerely.
There is a huge amount of code that is developed that never needs to be re-written. Not in any significant way.
Once you write it to do the job, it doesn't change.
Or it changes in a minor way. To the extent it is drag and drop, it is supportable by just about anyone who has used VS.
Assumption #2:
Any beginner knows how to drag and drop, because that is what VS IDE supports. Not any beginner knows how to do MVP.
There is no argument otherwise. Do you understand why separation of concern is hard? It simply is.
It's highly teachable. It has to be, since I was taught it. But it isn't easy.
"There is a huge amount of code that is developed that never needs to be re-written. Not in any significant way."
But like you said, it can change, and in poorly written code, even minor changes can cause gigantic problems. When you say "Not in any significant way", this is misleading. The business rules that need to be applied or changed may not be significant, but the coding behind it may be difficult, and poor design is often a major contributing factor to the difficulties. So just because it doesn't have major revision type changes, this doesn't mean the changes, due to poor design, are not major. Poorly written code is also non-extensible, at least easily or in the standard ways you would expect.
On assumption 2, Jeffrey is correct. Well written, self-documenting and test covered code is much, much easier than trying to figure out poorly modeled drag and drop applications. I've been in both situations from a maintenence POV and wouldn't work on a drag and drop built application just because its too hard to follow and understand what is going on.
"Any beginner knows how to drag and drop, because that is what VS IDE supports. Not any beginner knows how to do MVP."
Drag and drop has a bigger learning curve, for me, than learning common and simple architecture patterns such as MVP, and its always been that way. I still, to this day, cannot drag and drop very easily, and can code an application must faster without using it. Controls are difficult for me to use, which may be the reason I steer away from UI in the first place. This is just the way I've been brought up by my peers. So while your statement may have some truth, keep in mind that not all advanced developers can drag and drop, so I would venture to guess that not all beginners can either, so they might as well be led down the path of better code.
@Raymond
How can I say that I agree with everything you say, but still disagree?
Maybe it is just the things I've worked on or been contracted to work on.
But I can tell you, there are applications that I've created or upgraded that were never to be extended. They were/are designed to satisfy one or more specific business requirements where you needed to do.....X.
And 'X' was very specific. Just do it, and you are done.
And I would say, emphatically, it is precisely because you are advanced that you can't handle drag and drop as well as a less advanced developer.
This is one of those things where I bet you and anyone else that I could demonstrate in a demo. I swear I am not making this stuff up. What I have been calling 'mediocre code' is vastly easier to maintain.
It really is. I think Frans and Karthik know what I mean, and I'm not just saying that because they agree with me.
I'm not advocating mediocre code. Not at all. I think it is better for the community to advance better programming techniques, and to spread them in bits and pieces, if that is all you can do, or in huge chunks if it fits.
But, again, I swear I'm not making this stuff up. Sometimes, the only thing you can do is try to advance clients in pieces towards a better way, and to try to do more than that is actively harmful.
I can relate to many of these comments - I joined a small company in 2005 as a second developer. The original developer had basically wrote the app themselves, organically, with no documentation or comments.
Did I mention the business layer was written in VB6? With a classic ASP front end? (it was written in 2004 - not 1997)
This developer really didn't have a clue about design patterns, object oriented design, normalized database design, and leveraging functions and views with stored procedures. Business logic was in javascript, asp, VB6, and t-SQL - a total nightmare. I don't consider myself a slow learner, but trying to make sense of this code took a while, because I would literally have to step through it. And tables in the database with Fk-Pk relationships used different names for the related columns, so that was fun.
Did I also mention the developer was an arrogant jackass and really didn't help me out because he thought I was a threat?
I suppose he was right. I extolled the virtues of C# to the managers/owners. I didn't know everything, and I still don't (that is why I read blogs like this) but I had a solid Java background and CS degree. And I got my chance to build a new sub-app using objects & Nhibernate, struggling, making mistakes, then figuring out what I did wrong. Meanwhile, the original developer complained about having to maintain HIS OWN code and not having enough time to learn .NET (he was told he could take a couple hours a day to read - did I mention he was a jackass?)
To make a long story short, the original developer left because he felt I pushed him out - not really, I just refused to do things the old way,and proved I knew what I was doing. I started change gradually, and now I am managing 3 developers and the upcoming re-write of the legacy VB code into C#/Nhibby (no business logic in SQL!!!).
I do have another big hurdle left, because I am the only one that really understands Nhibernate/IoC, so what I am attempting to do is laying down the foundation and test examples that others can build upon without knowing gory details about Nhibernate/IoC.
Clean, well documented code with test cases is easy to read, understand and maintain, and that is my goal. And I want to thank Ayende and everyone else who contributes here for helping make me a better developer with their insights.
Ian Cooper
There is a huge amount of code that is developed that never needs to be re-written. Not in any significant way.<
I've never seen this, even in a project that once 'delivered' never has changing business requirements, because you have to change the code during the development cycle.
If you have to fix a bug, then you have to change the code; if the user provides feedback during acceptance testing that they want something to behave differently, then you have to change the code; as the code grows you gain new insights into the overall architecture, you want to be able to change the code to accommodate them. I've never seen anyone write a class, and never have to change a single line of it after they finish typing.
From the point you hit save on version 0.1 of a file, it is effectively in maintenance and subject to change, and many of these techniques will help you to adapt and grow as you need to change.
The benefits don't just come at the end of the project, they come from early on and just keep on giving.
Conversely every project that dumbed down its code, because the 'developers were not smart enough to get it', because companies aspired to mediocrity has ultimately failed, because the architecture rapidly turned into big ball of mud. I have seen too many projects which would 'never need to change', have new requirements (usually long after the guys who wrote the dirty version have upped and gone - I am convinced some people have never stayed with software they write long enough to see the pain) suddenly require extension; and that extension is expensive and painful, just because of the choices that were made. T
echnical debt kills not just projects, but whole development teams, because their inability to continue to deliver to changing requirements means that the users lose faith in them. I have seen this time and again, and that's why I have embraced Agile, because right now it seems to have the best toolkit to stop this happening.
I agree with Jeff here: anyone can write complex code, writing simple code requires discipline and effort.
Glenn Block
I can agree with many of the sentiments here. Prior to Microsoft, I've worked in organizations such as JDN mentioned. What I've seen time and time again is that the only benefit of "mediocre" coding is faster time to market. However that code is often extremely buggy and an order of magnitude more difficult to maintain in the long run. At my last company they "cranked code" in VB6 on a code base that was 20 years old (it had been converted). The code became increasingly more unmaintainable such that the only option left was a complete rewrite.
In this kind of situation, I don't blame the developers. I blame the management. Management is the one who allows the situation to continue. Contrary to popular opiion, many developers (even the non alpha-geeks) actually do want to learn something new. They simply need management to step in and give them the green light.
Agreed, but "the only benefit of "mediocre" coding is faster time to market".
I am willing to challenge that as well.
Aaron Erickson
On mediocre code has faster time to market when mediocre coding techniques are the rule, based on the standards committee.
This is common in consulting - especially in clients that have a history of mediocre code, short term decisions, undervaluation of technology, and numerous other anti-patterns.
The cost to the developer who wants to start doing TDD, but in so doing, takes on a ton of career risk (be it demanding a different consulting gig, trying to convince a client to change their approach, etc.) - needs to be very convinced that all these practices are not only correct, but easy, or at least feasible, to sell.
Easy to sell may happen at agile conferences, but at certain clients - the kind that are, say, just now upgrading from VB5 apps written 12 years ago - not so much.
The path of least resistance sometimes becomes the reason why mediocre code rules the day. I hate it when it happens, but in many companies, where consultants have to meet the demands of account execs who over promise and under deliver in order to nail a commission (standard disclaimer: not a problem at my current company).
Mediocre code is faster to get into testing maybe, but probably takes longer to clear testing. You could always ship faster by eliminating those pesky testers.
Anecdotal evidence: I was VP of Engineering at a start-up company where time-to-market is crucial. Some questioned whether disciplined practices could work at a start-up or if it would slow down delivery with all its technical analysis, clean OO design, ruthless refactoring, full test coverage, no bug mentality, etc. Just for the record, the team was 3 people, and I mandated a "no bug" policy. I'm off my rocker, you might think, and they did too. . . at the beginning.
I trained the team on disciplined coding. I did not allow any shortcuts. We wrote unit tests for each bit of code as it was written. We had separation of layers in the application. We actually did use NHibernate with developers who hadn't even heard of it before.
End result: We had a few bugs, but not enough to warrant a bug database. The bugs that did pop up only lived for a couple of hours before being squashed. Eventually, bugs became a real rarity because the quality of the application was so high.
90,000 lines of code, complete application, 8 months. Full test coverage. Roughly 2000 unit test and many full system tests with FIT. No bugs outstanding. 3 people.
To this day, the code is evolving as changes are being made. Most of the codebase is in maintenance mode, and it's a breeze to modify.
Time-to-market: lightening fast. Insisting on top-quality work sped up the team.
@Ayende
So what I meant to say was 'perceived' faster time to market, i.e. it's a fallacy. Meaning that you can may be able to get something into the hands of the customer more quickly. However, what you get them is riddled with bugs, impossible to maintain, and extremely delicate and furthermore becomes dependent on the original developer who wrote it (all the other devs say 'I am not going near that thing'). Ultimately the amount of time you spend trying to clean up the code will be several times what it cost to write in the first place. If it was just built right in the first place....And by right I don't mean using the waterfall method either.
I still go back to that crappy little program in the shipping department that I talked about in my original post.
That crappy little program was surely mediocre code as I mean it. It has to be, it was written in Access. Or Visual Basic. Or both.
Whatever, it was written in 1994 or something like that. And I, as a non-programmer, upgraded it to Access 95. Or something, it was a long time ago.
If the company were still around, that crappy little program would still be around. Maybe upgraded to .NET because....well because software that's been around forever seems to need to be upgraded at some point. I'm not sure why this is.
I don't remember if it was riddled with bugs, but it did what the business needed. The shipping department lived off of it.
There is a lot of software out there like that. From what I've seen, so take that as you will.
I think there is a crucial lesson in there. Some where.
"That crappy little program was surely mediocre code as I mean it. It has to be, it was written in Access. Or Visual Basic. Or both."
I disagree with that statement. I have worked in environments where developers wrote fabulous code in VB6 / Access even with the constratints the language imposed. True you did not have TDD and true OOP, but that does not prevent you from writing good refactored and reusable code. I've written plenty of bad code in my time, but i can't make exuses for it....
Sorry, I should have put in an emoticon or something, since I was just being a smart-ass with that line.
" I still go back to that crappy little program in the shipping department that I talked about in my original post."<
If you are looking for a scenario where mediocre code suited the business need, you can find one, but I don't think that is the rule.
The existence of a situation where a business was happy with mediocre code does not constitute a rule that all businesses are served well with mediocre code.
My experience has taught me that more business needs are served with great code than with mediocre code.
Do you always have to be disciplined in development to make a tool the business will love? No. Can you always be undisciplined and satisfy the business all the time? No.
I contend that businesses function despite mediocre systems, not because of them.
My base position is that great code always serves the business better than mediocre code.
By the way, if the app is an access database, it can still be great code.
@Jeff
"The existence of a situation where a business was happy with mediocre code does not constitute a rule that all businesses are served well with mediocre code."
"more business needs are served with great code than with mediocre code."
This is either a tautology or a statement that is either true or false.
Assuming it isn't a tautology, I don't know how one would go about proving it one way or the other. It certainly sounds true.
Having said that, I've done a number of conversion jobs of software that had been around for quite some time, where the old code certainly didn't qualify as anything but mediocre. And provided significant business value.
And yet it was being converted because of many reasons (though one reason that it almost always used is "The code is old"....so what? ).
I have no way of proving that this is true, but I think this is more the norm than the exception. I think it has to be because compared to many disciplines, software programming is in its infancy.
I just looked it up, so things like 'Separation of Concerns' were talked about in the 70s, but when were Design Patterns first codified by GOF, 1994?
Not that those are (necessarily) necessary or sufficient conditions for what produces great code
So, almost by definition, most code has to be, in some respects, mediocre.
And I haven't the slightest idea if any of that is correct. It's somewhat an academic point anyways.
developer in the trenches
I can completely relate with jdn but my current situation is worse case scenario for any developer. For jdn who is leaving his company, he is conflicted over which approach to go with regarding the maintenance of the software after he leaves.
However, working at a fairly well known Fortune 500 company that while technology itself is not its core business it is heavily reliant on technology to drive its business (what company isn't?) However, because it is not core to their business it is viewed and treated more like something that is a financial burden rather than something to invest and develop especially the people involved in software development in any capacity. All developers regardless of skill sets are seen as interchangeable and plug-n-play. It is a frightening and frustrating culture for any developer (essentially we are all seen as morts)
Also, typically, it is expected that the developers who create an application will not be the same who will maintain it. In fact, the ones who will maintain it are faceless, outsourced, and offshored elsewhere where truthfully in my experience is more ingrained in the typically hackable software. In fact, I was told from a "software architect" way high up the chain (the "non-coding" architect variant) that it would not be cost effective to use the more "advanced" techniques like MVP because it would take too long for the maintaining developers to get up to speed and thus costing the company money. I attempted to argue the value of going the other route but I feel like a lone person fighting an entire culture and army of non-innovators.
Unfortunately, wider mainstream adoption is an important influencing factor and it is the typical "until Microsoft starts doing it then we won't do it". A lot of businesses only look at the short-term, measurable, and tangible costs of software and rarely the long term (hence why they later hire consultants to fix the problems when the software becomes unmaintainable and unchangeable- a vicious cycle)
So whadda ya do? (Unlike Ayende I'm not at that "uber-developer" level that would provide me a wider range of opportunities).
From the trenches,
I faced similar issues in the past, the client wanted a complex app to be build "simply" so "anyone" could maintain it.
There is only so much that I will agree to, so the project use WebForms and not MonoRail, but it is built to be maintainable, so it uses all those advanced techniques.
I would start by ignoring the non coding architect, frankly.
That depends on the way you work (the team, policies in place), but most often, you can get a lot done this way.
For a long term approach, I would try to get anyone in my team to work in this fashion "let us try it for a week, see how it is done".
If this is really one of those places where change is not going to happen it, I would look elsewhere.
I want to take pride in what I do.
Thank you Ayende for the advice. I appreciate everything you have done for the developer community as a whole (especially Rhino Mocks!)
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Mechanix Wear is the innovation leader in high-performance gloves, the number one brand in NASCAR, relied upon by skilled mechanics for protection, comfort, and fit. They became the best and remain the best because they have a phenomenal R&D focus, constantly looking to improve their materials and expand the applications for their tools.
So we see them as kindred spirits, always developing new ideas, always looking to improve, always looking for a great solution to a new challenge. And they clearly feel the same way about us, as they have trusted us to build the systems on which their entire business runs.
Online Store + Brand Website
We first worked with Mechanix in 2008, building a website for an experimental new brand they were developing. Although the new brand didn’t take off, they were so impressed with the CMS and Online Store we’d developed for the site that they brought us in to rework the main site for Mechanix Wear. We modeled the site on the kind of online experience you would expect from a major consumer brand. It’s a full-feature ecommerce site, simple to use and super-easy to maintain, with a comprehensive product catalog, online store and emagazine built to display video, photo galleries, articles and social media posts. And because Mechanix liked the work we did and the way we did it, when we told them we could custom build a super-efficient, automated system capable of managing their entire research and development efforts, they trusted us to deliver.
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Mechanix is meticulous in storing mind-boggling amounts of data and have a very particular operating procedure. The last thing they wanted was to have to adapt to an off-the-shelf system that would upset their process. The system we had put in place for their website proved that we were capable of building a system around the way their business already operated, without disrupting their business practice, providing an automated digital system perfectly suited to their business operations, capable of handling any amount of work.
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Mechanix calls the business system we built “GloveHaus”, and it’s a perfect example of the virtually limitless functions a Baby Steps-built system can offer. By consolidating the R&D data, streamlining asset delivery, refining internal processes, and making everything available from the cloud anytime, anywhere, we brought automation and efficiency to what was a massive, unmanageable paper binder. Mechanix uses Glovehaus in every step of their business operation. From initial design sketches to material orders and distribution, they store absolutely every piece of information about every part of the design, manufacture and distribution process of every single product they make in this one system. It’s a huge and rapidly expanding system that is built around their company and people but uses workflows and processes developed by Baby Steps. GloveHaus is elegant and unbelievably easy to use, especially when you consider that the data it stores is massive and ever-expanding.
Our relationship with Mechanix continues to go from strong to stronger because we have earned the kind of trust that comes from providing simple solutions to complex challenges that consistently exceed expectations.
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