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FSU professor designs new material to better store hydrogen fuel
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A Florida State University researcher has designed new materials that could be used to store hydrogen fuel more efficiently in vehicles or other devices that use clean energy.
Jose Mendoza-Cortes, an assistant professor in the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, describes his proposed solution and designs for these new materials in an article in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
"There will be many proposals to solve energy issues, and this may be one option," Mendoza-Cortes said. "We wanted to find the most effective way to store hydrogen so that perhaps in the future, cars could use this to run longer distances and more efficiently."
Scientists had already discovered that they needed to pressurize hydrogen to compact it and make it usable as a fuel for cars. But Mendoza-Cortes wanted to take it one step further and make the process more efficient and economically viable.
"We still want to pressurize it, but we want to do it more efficiently," he said. "Right now, it's extremely costly to do this."
Using complex mathematical equations and computer simulations, Mendoza-Cortes designed porous materials of transition metals -- compounds involving cobalt, iron or nickel -- that cause hydrogen to bond with it. This next-generation design could then be placed in a tank of a car that uses hydrogen for fuel. These new materials are made of Earth abundant elements and therefore are easily available.
Mendoza-Cortes designed 270 compounds through these simulations and then tested their performance for hydrogen storage.
The idea is that since hydrogen will bind to the actual device, more hydrogen could be packed in and condensed into a tank. Because the hydrogen easily sticks to the device, the tank would never actually reach empty.
Additionally, he found it would take a smaller energy expenditure to fill up the tank.
"In other words, more hydrogen can be stored at lower pressures and room temperature, making some of these materials good for practical use," Mendoza-Cortes said.
As of 2016, three companies have produced hydrogen fuel cars -- Toyota, Hyundai and Honda.
Currently, hydrogen can be made into liquid at 1 bar -- bar is the unit of measurement for atmospheric pressure -- and 20 degrees Kelvin or -423.67 Fahrenheit. At that rate, hydrogen can be stored at 71 grams per liter. While at 700 bar and 298 degrees Kelvin or 76.73 Fahrenheit, hydrogen can be stored at 37 grams per liter.
With Mendoza-Cortes' proposed new materials, hydrogen could be stored at less than 200 bar to fill up the same tank at room temperature, creating a far more efficient system.
"You don't have to spend all that energy to get the same amount of storage," he said.
Mendoza-Cortes came to FSU by way of the Energy and Materials Strategic Faculty Hiring Initiative. He is a researcher at FSU's High-Performance Materials Institute (HPMI), a multidisciplinary research institute dedicated to research and development of advanced materials and manufacturing technologies.
His research is supported by HPMI and Florida State University start-up funds. His postdoctoral researcher Yohanes Pramudya is a co-author on the paper.
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Breaking Benjamin Phobia Full Album Music Fire
Breaking Benjamin. 5.7M likes. Our new album ‘EMBER’ is now available through all major retailers. https://breakingbenjamin.com
What Musical Is The Song Run Away With Me From The following is a list of musical films by year. (See also List of notable musical theatre productions, List of operettas, List of Bollywood films, List of highest-grossing Bollywood films, List of rock musicals, List of musicals filmed live on stage reads the card that features the title in handwritten red letters across the middle
and heavy metal rockers Breaking Benjamin and Five Finger Death Punch. If the fair isn’t your scene, you can find plenty of great music in and around Central New York in the week ahead. Here are five.
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RICK SPRINGFIELD –Performing with the Utah Symphony at the 2018 Deer Valley Music Festival July 20. THE VILLAGE PEOPLE –Live in concert at the Sandy Amphitheater July 20. FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH.
Информация о зарубежных исполнителях рок-музыки, состав, дискография, фото, музыка в Real Audio, ссылки на MP3
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Breaking Benjamin. Synonymous in everyone’s mind with the mild-yet-catchy chorus of “The Diary of Jane." At least it was that way for me. The Pennsylvania group released the track as a single off of.
Andy Fairweather Low Gin House Blues Youtube This list of performances on Top of the Pops is a chronological account of popular songs performed by recording artists and musical ensembles on Top of the Pops, a weekly BBC One television programme that featured artists from the UK singles chart. The BBC transmitted new installments of the programme weekly from January 1964 through
The May 23 Pointfest concert with Breaking Benjamin, Seether, Chevelle, the Used, Yelawolf and more at Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre. Greek Fire, Yelawolf, Young Guns, Shaman’s Harvest and more.
Live Music Rock Inn Mountain Tavern Estes Park Rocky Mountain Live Music, Theatre, Concerts. Rocky Mountain National Park. The Rock Inn Mountain Tavern Estes Park, CO;. The Rock Inn Mountain Tavern provides excellent accommodations, dining, drinks and local music. Visit Site; List Your Business on This Page. Stay at a Cabin. Entertainment. Gblack Guy Dancing In The Middle Of The Street There have
BB’s strength really lies in the music itself, which is at turns somewhat run-of-the. at the end of the track is one of the few moments of true unbridled glory on the album. Ditto for the strange.
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During a recent chat with frontman David Draiman about the band’s Grammy nomination, the vocalist also spoke about huge year the group has enjoyed, that includes a wealth of Loudwire Music Awards.
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From established acts like the Arcade Fire and Taylor. got her start in music as a member of the roving hip-hop collective Odd Future before breaking out as the singer of the neo-soul outfit The.
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That’s because the full lineup for the inaugural Chicago Open Air festival. for the music weekend at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill., will be such top name acts as Chevelle, Korn, Five Finger Death.
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Breaking Benjamin recently wrapped up their tour with Five Finger Death Punch and they’re already planning on getting back out on the road. Breaking Benjamin has announced a string of U.S. tour dates.
Founded by Ben Burnley, Breaking Benjamin is known for chart-topping music and energetic live performances. Their discography includes 2002’s “Saturate,” 2004’s “We Are Not Alone,” 2006’s “Phobia.
On Phobia come 2006, the song remained the same, while the lyrics took a stab at realism and got “Diary Of Jane” before placing us with an album full of filler — Dear Agony feels as if Breaking.
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Rock band Breaking Benjamin. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart — and their best sales week ever — as Dark Before Dawn arrives in the top slot. The set moved 141,000 equivalent album units in the.
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Online shopping from a great selection at Movies & TV Store. Laura Carmichael, Michelle Dockery, Maggie Smith, Jim Carter Hugh Bonneville,
He added, “I feel the band deserves to get someone with the fire and energy, capable of delivering the performance that the fans deserve. Like you, I will be cheering them on to continue making great.
Breaking Benjamin will release a music video for its current single, “Tourniquet” today completing the trilogy of videos released-to-date from their sixth studio album “Ember. and 2006’s “Phobia”.
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The Belcher family runs a hamburger restaurant. Bob Belcher (H. Jon Benjamin) is one of the main protagonists of the show and owner of "Bob’s Burgers."He is husband to Linda and father to Tina, Gene, and Louise. He is a third generation restaurateur and is 47 years old.
ENDNOTES. Note 1. One might discover the reason(s) that underlie Japan’s love of L’eclisse in the unusual “documentary-philosophical meditation,” Chris Marker’s celebrated film, Sans soleil.In the film Marker refers to the “poignancy of things” in Japanese culture and belief, a concept referred to in Japanese as “mono no aware” and related to one of the central doctrines of.
World Leaders and Famous People Promoting a New World Order and a One World Government – by Wes Penre – (February 20, 2004) The Pope Calls For a New World Order
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By Grace Cook October 30, 2017 05:25
Anya Hindmarch Enters the Home Space With Candles
The British accessories designer extends her tongue-in-cheek sense of humour to home fragrance with the launch of candles that smell like coffee and suntan lotion.
Anya Hindmarch's Home Scents collection | Source: Courtesy
LONDON, United Kingdom — Anya Hindmarch has a knack for making the most everyday of household items fun. In 2014, her “Fashion Flakes” cereal box — filled with entirely edible Kellogg’s Frosties — generated queues around the block.
Now, the British accessories designer is injecting her tongue-in-cheek humour into the home category, starting with candles that will retail from £50 ($65). (A complementary fragrance will be introduced next March.) “The candles have been designed in the same humorous approach as our main line, while being deadly serious in terms of how they have [been] conceived with Perfumer H's Lyn Harris [formerly of Miller Harris] and the ingredients she has used,” Hindmarch tells BoF.
In typical Hindmarch style, the scents — baby powder, coffee, suntan lotion — are irreverent and non-traditional. “I think an element of ‘guess the smell’ is a fun game,” she says. “It will be interesting to see if people can guess the clean, delicious smell reminiscent of the fresh scent of a baby's neck after a bath, when they are wrapped in a towel — i.e., best smell ever.” The packaging — lacquered glass jars with googly eyes or Hindmarch's slogan stickers plastered across — also plays into her well-honed brand identity. “I like the decorative appeal,” she says. “The little eyes animate a bookshelf or a mantelpiece and bring humour when interspersed with serious books.”
But perhaps most importantly, the category expansion will enable the designer — who founded her label in 1987 — to introduce a lower entry price point. “It’s fun for people to be able to access the brand at different levels and to add a gifting element,” says Hindmarch, whose leather goods start from around £175 ($230) for a keyring and £550 ($722) for a cross-body bag.
It will also mark the label’s first foray into licensing. The candles are produced in partnership with United Perfumes, which distributes premium brands including Fornasetti and Cire Trudon. “It means I have the product development know-how,” she says, “and the distribution network on tap without having to set up an entire department to do it in-house.”
Home is just the latest brand extension pursued by Hindmarch. Qatar-based luxury group Mayhoola For Investment — which owns 60 percent of the company, having initially acquired a 39.9 percent stake for £27 million ($35.5 million) in 2012 — has invested an additional $10 million to further category expansion. This season the designer introduced footwear and outerwear into her offering, which she plans to expand further in coming seasons (footwear in particular has ramped up quickly, according to Hindmarch).
But there is undoubtedly more to be done: an eventual dip into ready-to-wear — while not on the designer's agenda currently — is not out of the question. “I have hundreds of ideas,” she says. “Sometimes it’s stimulating to have a new toy to play with.”
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Olfactive Branding: Retail’s Fragrant Frontier
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Delhi govt plans to make metro & bus travels free for women: Kejriwal
New Delhi, Jun 2 (PTI) With Assembly polls due early next year in the city, the Aam Aadmi Party government is considering to make metro and bus travels free for women in Delhi "to encourage them to use public transport". At a public meeting in New Delhi Saturday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also said his government is in touch with city's power regulator to bring down fixed charge component of electricity bill. "The government is considering to waive fare for women in DTC buses and Delhi Metro to encourage them to use public transport in view of their safety. An announcement in this regard will be made on June 3," the chief minister said at the public meeting in New Delhi. A Delhi government official said Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot has already taken meetings to discuss various aspects of fare-waiver to women in all public transport buses -- run by DTC and DIMTS -- and Delhi metro. However, Transport Department officials point out that while allowing free travel in Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and cluster buses run by the Delhi Integrated Multi Modal System(DIMTS) may not be difficult, it will be "challenging" to do so in Metro trains. The Delhi government and the Centre are 50:50 equity partners in the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation. An official pointed out that the Delhi government and the centre's Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry have not been on the same page over several issues related to metro, including fare hike and Phase-IV of the Metro network. "Besides other factors like technical and financial feasibility of such a move, the persisting disagreements between the two sides may also play a crucial role in going ahead with the proposal for giving free ride to women in Metro trains," said a senior official. Chief Minister Kejriwal also claimed that the fixed charge component of power tariff were raised by the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Authority (DERC) last year "without consulting" the Delhi government. "Next month new tariff is to be fixed. We have asked the DERC to bring back fixed charges to previous levels and they are likely to agree to it," he said. The monthly fixed charges were raised for domestic consumers having up to 2 KW load from Rs 20 to Rs 125. The Delhi government provides subsidy to such consumers. However, in other categories, consumers pay higher fixed charges. The hike in fixed charges for other slabs were -- for 2-5 kw, from Rs 35 to Rs 140; 5-15 KW, Rs 45 to Rs 175; 15-25 kw, from Rs 60 to Rs 200; and for more than 25 KW, from Rs 100 to Rs 250. In the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls, the AAP won only one seat out of over 40 it contested in nine states and Union Territories. The poll results came as a jolt to the party as it builds up for the assembly elections in Delhi early next year. Stung by the dismal performance, the AAP government swung into action just a day after the Model Code of Conduct was lifted with Chief Minister directing his ministers on May 27 to speed up work on flagship schemes like Mohalla Clinic, procurement of buses and the CCTV project. Senior Aam Aadmi Party leader Gopal Rai has, however, has dismissed suggestions that the LS poll results would have an impact on Delhi assembly elections, asserting there is no alternative to Kejriwal in the national capital. PTI VIT TIR TIR
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Modi's LS poll campaign filled with 'lies, poison and hatred': Rahul
Wayanad (Ker), Jun 8 (PTI) Stepping up attack on the prime minister on the second day of his visit to Wayanad, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said Narendra Modi's Lok Sabha election campaign was filled with "lies, poison and hatred", but his party stood for truth, love and affection. Gandhi, who is in his constituency on a thanksgiving three-day visit after being elected to Lok Sabha, addressed party workers at Kalpetta, Kambalakadu and Panamaram and continued his roadshow Saturday. A large number of Congress-led United Democratic Front workers and women thronged the route. Congress general secretary in-charge of Karnataka K C Venugopal, Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly Ramesh Chennithala, Kerala Congress chief Mullappally Ramachandran were with Gandhi in his special vehicle. Though it rained heavily in parts of the constituency Friday, the weather did not play spoilsport as it was bright and sunny till this noon. Gandhi said Modi "uses hatred, anger and lies" which are his "weapons". He said his party will continue to fight the "worst sentiments" the prime minister represents. "At the national level, we are fighting poison. Modi's campaign was filled with lies, poison, hatred and divided the people of the country. He used lies in the election... Congress stood for truth, love and affection," he said addressing the crowd at Kalpetta. At Kambalakadu, Gandhi said there are big challenges in Wayanad which can be resolved by working together. "My job is to represent all of Wayanad. People from all parties supported me in the election. There are big challenges and issues in Wayanad. We will work together and solve everything," he said. Gandhi had contested the Lok Sabha election from Wayanad, in addition to his family bastion of Amethi, but lost to Union minister Smriti Irani in the Uttar Pradesh constituency. He won from Wayanad with a margin of about 4.31 lakh votes. After the Congress party's poor show in the second consecutive general election, Gandhi had offered to resign as the Congress president, but it was rejected by the party's highest decision-making body. Congress won 52 seats in the 2019 polls. However in Kerala, the only state besides Punjab and Tamil Nadu where it did well, the party and its allies won 19 out of 20 seats. On Friday in Malappuram district, Gandhi said his party would emerge as a strong Opposition and defend the poor. Attacking Modi, he said, "Modi may have money, he may have the media by his side, he may have rich friends. But the Congress will continue to fight against the intolerance created by the BJP". "The intolerance created by BJP and Modi will be dealt by the Congress party with love and affection," Gandhi added. PTI RRT LGK UD SS ABH ABH
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Michelle on 'Bunheads' Is a Role Model We Can't Afford To Lose
By Rachel Reid
“You make your own family, you make your own destiny, and there is nothing that you cannot change if you are completely committed to it, and I am. I am completely committed to it, and it doesn’t matter if you believe it or not [...] I can do this.” -- Michelle Simms, Bunheads
When Girls debuted last year, it was instantly recognized as innovative for its fresh, NSFW depiction of hipster millennials living in Brooklyn. It gained unprecedented popularity during its first season, selling itself as a show for 20-something girls that wouldn’t sugar coat things: sex scenes were realistically uncomfortable, even when totally benign, and Hannah faced the "true-to-life" issues that come along with being an overprivileged New Yorker with the skill set of a kindergartener. As important as it was for Girls to exist, Lena Dunham's Hannah instantly popularized an archetype that's now the unfortunate staple of most female-driven media: the awkward, stylishly clueless city girl with endless quirks and little to no control over her own life events.
Even popular female characters who have been created with strong feminist intentions - Jess on NBC’s New Girl and Mindy on The Mindy Project, for example - follow somewhat gendered plot lines: female leads are almost 100% capable, and would be, if it weren’t for their girly quirks. New Girl begins an important discussion of femininity vs. feminism, with a main character in her late twenties who loves polka dots and puppies but isn’t afraid to claim her own emotional strength and intelligence.
Still, it follows the now-typical format of an educated, upper-middle class 20-something woman who can’t figure out how to be taken seriously: she starts crying during a job interview because she’s hormonal, or she finds herself unable to pay rent because she’s too emotional to look for a job. The Mindy Project portrays a female doctor who’s supposedly in control of her own high-powered medical career, but who consistently struggles to cope with her fairytale, Nora Ephron rom-com ideals.
Into this pervasively one-note world of post-grad female-directed TV, enter Bunheads’ Michelle Simms: a 27-year-old ex-Vegas show dancer leading a TV show about teenage ballerinas on ABC Family. Played by two-time Tony winner Sutton Foster, Michelle avoids every pitfall of a quintessential TV heroine. Her interests are decidedly feminine and her quirks are borderline girly, but as a character, she’s more self-empowered than any woman on television since the '90s.
Every female character ever penned by Amy Sherman-Palladino has been revolutionary (let's be real, Lorelai was essentially Michelle minus the theatrical abilities), but during Bunheads' first (hopefully not final) season, Michelle developed into a self-motivating, Game of Thrones quoting, real-world feminist. Thrown into a life that she hardly chose (the pilot of Bunheads leads her drunkenly into a small California town and then leaves her there, with a dead husband and all of his property - but that explanation is for another post), Michelle struggles with issues of loss, self-confidence and abandonment, and ends the season having begrudgingly learned to be a role model and mentor to teenage girls, as well as an advocate for her own independent success. And that's all within 18 episodes of an ABC Family dramedy.
The real difference between the writing behind Girls and that in shows like Gilmore Girls and Bunheads may be as simple as life experience. In the real world, girls who can't make deadlines or figure out how to write checks aren't fun and hip forever — as much as we don't want to think about it, they have to grow up.
The first season of Girls created the perfect set-up for a semi-autobiographical coming of age story; and then its creator became hugely famous and it gave up any hope for a realistic, positive ending. The show lost its steam when Hannah was faced with too many real-life issues, because as a character, she had all of Lena Dunham's past experiences and none of her international success.
Amy Sherman-Palladino brings 47 years of experience to her writing, and it shows when a character like Michelle can fight to make a life for herself, even after years of disappointment.
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Bizarre STD Treatments From History
By JR Thorpe
Wellcome Images
April is many things — a month that contains a wide variety of holidays including Easter, Passover, Earth Day, and two weeks of breaking out into a cold sweat over your taxes — but it is also STD Awareness Month. In our modern era, we may take it for granted that most STDs can be effectively treated by modern medicine; antibiotics can cure infections like gonorrhea or chlamydia, while antivirals can help immensely with illnesses like genital herpes. But this wasn't always so. While human beings throughout history seem to have dealt with sexually transmitted infections, actually effective treatments for STDs are a fairly new development.
Whether or not the STDs that now exist are the same as the ones that ancient cultures experienced, or if the diseases have evolved and appeared over the centuries, is a pretty intriguing puzzle. It's complicated by the fact that a lot of symptoms of STDs can also be attributed to other illnesses, and if ancient medical texts are imprecise, we have to simply guess. But there's a lot of evidence that people have been suffering from the same or similar sexually transmitted diseases, and searching for effective treatments, for a very long time, and to get to the effective medicine we have now, early medicine had to take many ineffective stabs in the dark — including eating powdered cow horn and being whacked in the genitals with a book.
Please note: the historical treatments listed below do not work. If you think you may have a sexually transmitted disease, please see a doctor, get tested, and if you need it, get proper medical treatment.
The Ancient Egyptians: Sandal Oil And Cow Horn
One of the tricky things about discussing STD treatments in history is figuring out whether or not ancient cultures were in fact discussing STDs, or something else. Without modern diagnostic divisions, we're not really able to be completely sure. But according to some scholars, texts from ancient Egypt — particularly medical papyri, like the Ebers Papyrus — show a distinct tendency to try and help people who'd contracted diseases that seemed linked to sexual contact.
Some of Egyptian medicine was based in spells and incantations designed to drive out the "demons" causing the illness, but there's evidence that ancient Egyptians also sought practical solutions to ease suffering. In their "History Of Venereal Diseases From Antiquity To The Renaissance," Professor Franjo Gruber and several other Croatian doctors explain that the Ebers Papyrus mentions using sandal oil to soothe a urethral infection that might have been an STD.
And there were other options: medical historian Judit Forrai explains that the Egyptians treated discharges from genital "problems" with a variety of salves and ointments, made with herbs, garlic, and perhaps a little tinge of powdered cow horn.
The Ancient Greeks: Weights And A Hot Iron
The ancient Greeks and Romans were, according to Forrai, well aware of the potential risks of contracting STDs, particularly when going to sex workers, and were in the habit of douching and washing genitals in oil to try and prevent the issue. There were, however, more extreme methods.
The physician Solanus of Ephesus took the general view that any body that had got itself infected with a sexually transmitted disease was clearly physically weak and needed building up, so he recommended that anybody with gonorrhea (which he thought was brought on by an excess of semen or fluid) have lead weights strapped to their body to "help" their recovery.
But if you want to truly understand what the era's medicine was like, we've got to discuss herpes treatment. Records of herpes infections date as far back as ancient Greece (the name itself is Greek), but nobody, perhaps, has taken as dim or painful a view of the resulting ulcers than the Roman medical author Aulus Cornelius Calsus, who wrote one of the most famous medical treatises of the first century AD. His idea? Cauterize all of the sores with a hot iron. Yeesh.
Everyone, For Centuries: Mercury
Internet Archive Book Images
Before we knew it as deeply poisonous to humans, mercury was one of the most widespread early treatments for syphilis, or, as it was once called, "Cupid's disease." There's evidence of its use in ancient China; syphilis seems to have been referenced in a Chinese medical work from 2637 BC, and the author (who was an emperor) recommended mercury as a treatment. But applying mercury to the skin or in other forms was a major part of syphilis treatment in Europe for a very long time, used by everybody from noble physicians to armies.
Alongside mercury, though, Europeans from around the 1500s started to use something else to treat it: holy wood or lignum vitae, a flowering tree found in the West Indies and believed to have truly mythic properties. It was widely recommended in medical treatises and hugely popular, but, unfortunately, completely without actual medicinal properties (except as a really mild laxative).
1200s Italy: Leeches And Urethral Irrigation
Roger of Salerno occupies a deservedly famous place in medical history. Writing in the 1200s in Italy, he produced one of the first practical surgery guides, and even though the recommendations are often completely daft or horrific by modern standards (particularly considering there was no anesthetic), he was very up-to-date for his time. At one point, he turns his knowledge to sexually transmitted diseases, and makes the recommendation that people suffering from them should either have leeches attached to them for bleeding or go through what Professor Gruber delicately calls "urethral irrigation," a process that no doubt involved an unsterilized instrument going into the urethra without any pain relief. I'd take the leeches.
Medieval Europe: Lead And Virgins
Remember Solanus of Ephesus and his lead weights? His idea, as harebrained as it was, wasn't exactly lost in the mists of time. Medieval European medical writers tended to follow their classical forebears pretty closely, so lead, along with purgatives, steam baths and other treatments, shows up in medieval treatments for sexually transmitted infections. In one stifling treatment, doctors advised that a patient be covered in strips of cloth that had first been dipped in a liquid containing lead. "Sweating cloths" were pretty common, but they were likely not going to help anyone's health.
There were also some pretty despicable beliefs circulating up until the Renaissance period about a "virgin cure": the idea that you could get rid of a sexually transmitted disease by having sex with a virgin, because their chastity made them resistant. This led to all kinds of horrific and even criminal behavior, from child abuse to a peculiar rumor in 1500s Italy that you could cure yourself by sleeping with an African woman. Not exactly wonderful.
Old France (Maybe): Slamming A Book On The Genitals
Gonorrhea, if you've ever been unlucky enough to encounter it, involves pus in the genitals, and one potential theory for how it came to be called "the clap" comes from an older treatment: smacking the poor infected genitals hard with objects, in order to try and get the pus out. Yeesh.
The recommendation must have been excruciating, and there's no clear sign that it is indeed the origin of the "clap" moniker (it may also have come from an old French word for brothels), but it's an enduring sign that we should be deeply thankful for modern medicine.
1900s: Arsenic, Silver And Fumigation
The 19th century brought a new age of attempts to try and find better treatments for STDs, including gonorrhea. Unfortunately, penicillin and antibacterial agents were still a while off, but in the meantime, doctors came up with a series of ideas that, looked at from our current cultural vantage point, may make you feel slightly ill.
Mercury treatments remained pretty popular, but in their search for something more useful, doctors also created metallic mixtures: silver and gold often featured heavily, as did arsenic and antimony. They tried silver nitrate (which is toxic), fumigation techniques for syphilis (which must have been...not terribly relaxing), and the Indonesian peppers cubebs (which are not toxic, but also not very useful at all). The tendency to try and find miraculous cures in exotic locales didn't really die out until the 20th century.
1900s England: Compulsory Jail Time (But Only For Women)
19th century England was deeply concerned with sexually transmitted diseases, particularly with how they affected the health of troops and navy men. The problem was that they decided the spread of STDs was entirely down to prostitutes, and proceeded to create a series of laws, the Contagious Diseases Acts of the 1860s, that criminalized them and their work. A woman could be forcibly examined for an STD, without her consent, if a police officer even vaguely suspected she was a prostitute. If she was found to be suffering from one, she was hospitalized in a "lockhouse" for treatment, and if she refused, she was put in a prison for up to a year, with no potential to earn money and no way to get out.
The law was repealed 10 years later, after campaigners yelled loudly about how abysmal it was — but it's still an enduring reminder of how far we've come in the treatment of STDs, and also of how cruel, shaming, and thoughtless many people can get the second the topic of sexually transmitted diseases comes up. Keep it in mind the next time you hear people using shaming or moralizing language when talking about STDs — and know that those attitudes, just like trying to treat STDs by hitting yourself in the genitals, belong firmly in the past.
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Library » Paper
C2ES Comments on the Grid Reliability and Resilience Pricing Proposed Rule
C2ES submitted comments to the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) recommending that FERC consider establishing a process to allow for more stakeholder input on the concept of resilience in power markets, including three technical conferences to: (1) establish key resilience metrics; (2) examine why internalizing resilience is just and reasonable, and (3) review other externalities (e.g. carbon) that should be internalized in the markets. C2ES recommends that any reliability or resilience payments should take a broad and long-term view of “resilience” and should prioritize low and non-emitting sources, i.e. nuclear, hydropower, renewables or fossil fuels with carbon capture technology (because of the additional resilience benefits these sources provide, when taking a broad view).
U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Secretary of the Commission
888 First Street NE
Re: Docket No. RM18-1
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the Grid Reliability and Resilience Pricing Proposed Rule (“NOPR”) in Docket Number RM18-1, in which the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) proposes that the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or “Commission”) consider and finalize the NOPR. This document constitutes the comments of the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) on the NOPR.
C2ES is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to advancing practical and effective policies and actions to address our global climate change and energy challenges. We prefer an economy-wide pricing mechanism for addressing climate change, but in the absence of that, we believe the Commission should consider options to ensure appropriate compensation for suppliers of zero- and low-carbon electricity for their emissions reduction benefits. As such, the views expressed here are those of C2ES alone and while informed by our conversations with business leaders, do not necessarily reflect the views of members of the C2ES Business Environmental Leadership Council (BELC).
Key comments:
The Commission should consider establishing a process to allow for more stakeholder input on the concept of resilience in power markets and other ideas described in the NOPR, given the novelty and importance of this subject. We recommend three technical conferences that the Commission should hold with regard to resilience: (1) establish key resilience metrics; (2) examine why internalizing resilience is just and reasonable, and (3) other externalities (e.g. carbon) that should be internalized in the markets.
The RTOs, ISOs and the DOE Partnership for Energy Sector Climate Resilience have a lot of expertise; the Commission should engage them in developing a final rule.
To incentivize a truly resilient electricity system, additional eligibility requirements should be included, such as storm hardening or other resilience strategies to weather and climate vulnerabilities.
The transmission and distribution system is a greater threat to reliability and resilience than fuel supply; we recognize that FERC has implemented transmission and distribution reliability standards. There are likely additional actions that could be taken to increase resilience and FERC action should take these into consideration.
Any reliability or resilience payments should take a broad and long-term view of “resilience” and should prioritize low and non-emitting sources, i.e. nuclear, hydropower, renewables or fossil fuels with carbon capture technology (because of the additional resilience benefits these sources provide, when taking a broad view).
If the NOPR does not prioritize low and non-emitting sources, it could potentially slow down a trend toward increasing fuel diversity by abetting the premature closure of existing nuclear power plants and discouraging investment in new natural gas, wind, solar and other capacity. Additionally, it would likely raise electricity prices for consumers with potentially limited benefits for resilience.
We appreciate the efforts of Secretary Perry and the Commission to open for debate the proper recognition and pricing of grid resilience benefits in power markets. The Secretary has properly opened a conversation about whether the current interpretation of “just and reasonable” is too limited to support the electric grid of the future. Markets have done a good job of fostering competition and delivering low-cost power to consumers. However, some generation and grid attributes have not been appropriately valued, such as environmental benefits related to decarbonization and resilience to climate change impacts and overreliance on a single fuel source. We believe that other attributes, including zero- and low-emitting sources and long-term climate resilience contribute to our national security and are not currently valued by the market. We agree with the analysis provided by the Edison Electric Institute, the Nuclear Energy Institute, and the Global Energy Institute at the US Chamber of Commerce and relied on by Secretary in the NOPR that:
“From the Consumer perspective, the objective of a grid-based power system is to minimize the cost of reliably balancing power system demand and supply in real time with enough supply resilience to mitigate the potential impact of significant deviations from normal operation in order to provide the electric services that they want, whenever they want them, and at a price that internalizes all costs, subject to the security of supply constraints in an AC power system.”[1]
Secretary Perry has taken an important step in trying to internalize externalities into pricing in the organized markets. However, he has only tried to internalize one source of market failure and we believe that more work is required to establish the evidentiary basis to get the pricing of resilience correct. What we know, and the Supreme Court has recognized, is that greenhouse gas emissions are an unregulated pollutant that directly affects human health. We believe that the re-examination of the requirements that rates and services be just and reasonable should also include the incorporation of the price of carbon into the wholesale markets.
Based on our review of the NOPR, we would like to present for your consideration the following analysis and recommendations.
First, as an organization that focuses on climate policy at the international, national, and sub-national levels, we see clearly that across the United States, states, cities, and businesses continue to plan for long-term reliability and resilience to climate change impacts. These impacts are known to affect the reliability and resilience of the U.S. energy sector, as described in a 2013 DOE report.[2] Furthermore, actions to reduce carbon emissions are intimately linked with actions to increase resilience because reducing carbon emissions in the near-term can prevent the worst impacts of climate change in the future.
One example of state action to reduce emissions came in August 2016, when the New York Public Service Commission approved a clean energy standard (CES), which helps to achieve overall greenhouse gas emission reduction goals of 40 percent by 2030 and 80 percent by 2050 from 1990 levels and a 50 percent renewable energy mandate by 2030.[3] The New York CES also created zero-emission credits (ZECs) for existing nuclear energy generation, in recognition of the environmental and fuel diversity benefits this baseload resource provides. In December 2016, the Illinois legislature passed the Future Energy Jobs Act, which also created ZECs.[4] These state trends reflect continuing momentum towards decarbonization and long-term resilience to climate change impacts. We believe that any action taken by FERC should complement these state initiatives and others (e.g., renewable portfolio standards) and not diminish them.
The power industry is already taking voluntary action to increase the grid’s resilience to climate impacts, for example through the Department of Energy’s Partnership for Energy Sector Climate Resilience. The 17 utilities that participate in that program are sharing best practices and working to advance the entire industry in building resilience to climate change impacts. We encourage the Commission to rely upon the insights formed in that Partnership between federal and utility experts in finalizing a rule to address reliability and resilience. Notably, that Partnership has identified the electricity transmission and distribution system’s climate vulnerabilities as a more urgent threat to reliability and resilience than fuel supply.[5]
Large consumers, including tech companies and their growing demand for clean energy, have also been motivating action on decarbonization and resilience; companies like Apple, Google, Amazon and Microsoft have made significant investments in renewable and clean energy across their operations. These corporate commitments to renewable energy have extended beyond the tech sector to include companies such as Wal-Mart, Target, IKEA, and recently financial institutions such as JPMorgan Chase & Co.=
In light of these subnational and non-state actor trends towards decarbonization and resilience to climate impacts, we believe that the NOPR could have wide-ranging and potentially negative implications for zero and low carbon resources in wholesale electricity markets, for state and local policymakers concerned about carbon emissions, fuel diversity and for electricity prices for businesses and consumers. Specifically, the NOPR could potentially slow down a trend toward fuel diversity by abetting the premature closure of existing nuclear power plants and discouraging investment in new natural gas, wind, solar and other capacity. It could also raise electricity prices for consumers with potentially limited benefits for resilience.
With this context in mind, we would like to provide our thoughts on the issues raised for public comment by the Commission’s Office of Energy Policy on Oct. 4, 2017.
Increasing stakeholder input
We believe that while there may be a need for reform related to the valuation of grid resilience benefits, we do not believe that there is an emergency that requires an expedited rulemaking procedure. As evidence, we point to the 2014 Polar Vortex event described in the NOPR. In fact, while the electricity system was severely tested during that event, actual disruptions were limited. Moreover, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) found that over 17,700 MW of the 19,500 MW capacity lost during the event were lost due to frozen equipment, not a lack of fuel.[6] Since then, many companies have taken steps to increase winterization practices at generating stations, making it less likely that similar disruptions caused by a Polar Vortex event would occur in the future. And, the need for a ninety day fuel supply to ameliorate a future polar vortex has not been adequately developed and demonstrated to be a preferred strategy to alternatives, either customer-based, such as demand response, or increased use of other supply options. Rather, we believe that the Commission should take a more deliberate and broader path, and request that the ISOs and RTOs conduct analysis to review the extent to which grid resilience benefits are not currently appropriately valued and to propose a range of solutions that could be considered.
From our perspective, it is important to distinguish between the concepts of reliability and resilience. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 gave the Commission authority over the reliability of the bulk-power system.[7] The Commission certified NERC as the Electric Reliability Organization to “provide for an adequate level of reliability of the bulk-power system.”[8] NERC routinely conducts seasonal and longer-term regional reliability outlooks and we believe that this process is effective at flagging issues and providing sufficient lead time to address them. In contrast, the process for ensuring system resilience in the face of increased extreme weather events has more recently become a significant concern to governments and utilities. Resilience generally refers to “the ability to anticipate, prepare for and adapt to changing conditions and withstand and recover rapidly from disruptions.”[9]
C2ES recommends the convening of a stakeholder working group to establish better metrics for resilience analogous to the NERC metrics for reliability. Ultimately, the issue that the FERC must address is the nature of the product that customers will pay for through the organized markets. Metrics provide a first step in developing those metrics. The existing DOE Partnership for Energy Sector Climate Resilience would be a natural convening body for this working group, given the depth of public and private sector expertise it has on the topic and the significant investment that DOE has already made with the national labs (e.g., Argonne National Lab) on developing resilience metrics.[10] We expect working group involvement would increase the time allotted to finalize this rule, but we believe the additional time is warranted.
Resiliency and climate change risks
We encourage the Commission to take a broad view of reliability and resilience, and consider additional factors like storm hardening beyond the vulnerability of 90-day fuel supplies to both natural and manmade disasters.
An increase in extreme weather events throughout the U.S. is very likely. The Polar Vortex, however, is just one event type. Climate change presents a different set of risks to electricity reliability and resilience that the NOPR does not consider. Increasing temperatures can make some water sources unavailable for cooling, thereby preventing some generating resources from running in summer months. Likewise, changing precipitation patterns can make drought conditions more likely and can cause water levels to fall below the depth of water intake pipes, thereby preventing generating stations from operating. Hydropower stations can also be adversely affected. In other regions, increasing precipitation intensity in some parts of the country may also put more substations at risk of flooding.
We would encourage a final rule to adopt a broad definition of resilience that accounts for these factors in addition to on-site fuel supply. This could be done in the determination of eligibility for payment. For example, a generating resource may need to prove it had implemented flood-proofing to withstand a 500-year rain-event in addition to having on-site fuel supply. Because the industry is still in an early stage of developing metrics for resilience (in contrast to the well-established metrics for reliability), we encourage the Commission to work closely with the DOE Partnership for Energy Sector Climate Resilience and the RTOs/ISOs to finalize eligibility requirements that appropriately account for these additional considerations.
We also believe that as NERC has established reserve margins for reliability (generator adequacy), it could also establish regional, seasonal reserve margins for resilience assets. A separate and important concern is how to value the reliability and resilience benefits that the transmission and distribution system provides. Market payments for this service could be considered as part of a final rule. We encourage the Commission to consider how to value resources that are resilient to these long-term risks. For example, in determining eligibility for any reliability/resilience payments, FERC might account for cooling water source climate and weather vulnerability. DOE has produced guidance documents on current industry best practices to assess vulnerability that could be used to inform such an eligibility determination.[11]
Source of disruptions
The NOPR highlights concerns related to the early retirement of coal and nuclear resources, but it does not propose a mechanism to price the reliability and resilience benefits of the transmission and distribution system; we would encourage the Commission to consider this key link in its technical conferences.
We agree that the retirement of large baseload units for economic or other reasons presents a challenge for RTOs/ISOs. A priori, the RTO/ISO must and does perform a reliability analysis to determine the impact to the power system when and if the unit retires. Typically, the retirement can proceed after transmission upgrades (which can take several years) are completed. All other things equal, greater numbers of retirements in a short time-frame can make finding alternatives (including building new generation) more challenging, time consuming and expensive.
However, most disruptions to the power system occur due the vulnerability of transmission and distribution lines to severe weather, not as a result of fuel supply interruptions to a particular generation resource.[12] Rhodium Group recently noted that between 2012 and 2016 fewer than 0.00007 percent of total customer-hours disrupted were the result of fuel supply emergencies.[13] Anticipating and addressing transmission and distribution vulnerabilities should improve system recovery rates and lower long term costs.
Completely restoring service after power pylons, poles and lines are downed can take days to even months, as is being witnessed in Puerto Rico following the impacts of Hurricane Maria. A more resilient power system is one that can be restored more quickly after the damage/impacts occur. Distributed resources that can operate in isolation from the bulk transmission system (“islandable”) or have on-site back-up power can improve resilience to extreme events by decreasing the number of customer outages after an event. We encourage the Commission to consider how these sources might be eligible for some resilience payments in wholesale electricity markets.
Fuel diversity
The NOPR raises critical questions about fuel diversity, which is important for resilience and reliability, and is an issue of concern for utilities and state commissions. Having a diverse fuel mix helps reduce operational and price risks. Fuel diversity, like insurance, comes at a cost. Just as the Commission determines if a market is competitive, it could determine through a formula if the fuel mix is diverse.
In aggregate, the United States generates electricity from a diverse set of resources. However, at the state and regional level, the mix is less diverse. For example, in 2016 Connecticut generated 49 percent of its electricity with natural gas and 46 percent with nuclear power – effectively a dual fuel state. If its lone nuclear power plant were to retire prematurely, Connecticut would be largely dependent on a single fuel. On a regional basis, Connecticut is part of ISO New England (ISO-NE), which also gets around half of its power from natural gas, 31 percent from nuclear, 7 percent from hydro, and 10 percent from other renewables.[14] With the scheduled retirement of Massachusetts’ Pilgrim nuclear power plant in 2019, ISO- NE’s fuel diversity will decline as nuclear’s share will fall by 5 percent.
Nationally, the deployment of greater quantities of wind and solar power have increased fuel diversity. Regionally, the level of fuel diversity varies. However, diversity can occur within a single fuel source. For example, wind energy can be more diverse when it is more geographically dispersed. Therefore, it needs to be examined carefully and consistently in every region. The NOPR could potentially slow down the trend toward increasing fuel diversity by discouraging investment in new natural gas, wind, solar and other capacity. We encourage the Commission to consider fuel diversity, both regionally and nationally, in its final rule.
Importance of low- and zero-emitting sources
C2ES believes that nuclear power, the United States’ largest source of zero- emission electricity, along with renewables and fossil units with carbon capture use and storage technology (CCUS) must play a role in any long-term, low-carbon climate strategy. To the extent that these existing units play a role in contributing to grid resilience and reliability, we think that they should be duly compensated.
However, we also recognize that the electricity system is evolving. We believe that several energy generation technologies could potentially provide grid reliability and resilience benefits, and we encourage the Commission to continue to work with stakeholders to determine eligibility requirements for proper compensation. As the 2014 Polar Vortex demonstrated, demand response and intermittent resources like wind energy can help provide grid reliability and resilience benefits.[15] Additionally, existing energy storage systems should also be considered for eligibility because of the benefits they provide. A more flexible grid is more resilient to many stresses, and these flexible resources should therefore be considered for eligibility. To the extent that a new resource, a repowered retired resource or other unit meets the criteria for cost-recovery, it too should be eligible for remuneration, but the focus must be on low- and zero-emitting sources.
Although we do not believe that an emergency currently exists that would warrant an expedited rulemaking schedule, we do believe there is an existential threat to the existing nuclear fleet, and this process should be conducted as expeditiously as possible to provide greater certainty to these units. If it is shown that baseload units that store 90 days of fuel on-site add valuable resiliency to the grid, we support prioritizing payments to resources that are low or non-emitting first, followed by emitting units on an as-necessary basis. This ranking is motivated by taking a long-term view of resilience and recognizing that generating sources that emit greenhouse gases today will contribute to climate change and therefore decrease grid reliability and resilience in the future.
Impact on Consumers
If the NOPR were finalized as proposed, the additional payments to eligible units, other things being equal, would likely raise electricity rates and customer bills. A prudent decision on the part of the Commission would include information on the impact on market prices and customer bills. Currently, reliability is so high that this impact on consumers may not be justified. However, if there are environmental benefits like reducing emissions and if there are grid hardening benefits that reduce outage duration, that might be helpful and represent a real value. For this reason, we have outlined in these comments some alternative approaches for the Commission to consider. These include establishing a definition for resiliency through an open, public process and establishing a market mechanism to compensate utilities for benefits related to decarbonization and grid hardening (e.g. generators that could withstand 500-year events).
There are numerous studies to show that economy-wide carbon pricing is the most cost-effective way to reduce emissions. However, in the absence of that we would like to propose that the Commission consider options to ensure appropriate compensation for suppliers of zero- and low-carbon electricity for their emissions reduction benefits.
Other areas of concern
There are two additional aspects of the NOPR which cause us some concern. First, it is unclear to us what the rationale is for a 90-day fuel supply requirement. We encourage the Commission to undertake a thorough public process to obtain further comment about the appropriate requirements for fuel supply. Resilience to a hurricane or other extreme weather event would likely only require a couple days’ supply. Rhodium and the Partnership for Energy Sector Climate Resilience have noted that the primary vulnerability is really the transmission and distribution lines. The Commission should ask the RTOs and ISOs to conduct studies reviewing reliability issues. The 90-day requirement should be based on a range of realistic scenarios (i.e., not just the Polar Vortex) and the process should be transparent. A supply requirement of a few days is likely sufficient to address the majority of conditions that would threaten reliability and resilience. A shorter time requirement could benefit electricity consumers by allowing for eligibility of advanced distributed resources, like microgrids or on-site energy storage, providing financial payments for their reliability and resilience benefits.
Second, we believe that, as generators upgrade their facilities (e.g. fuel storage, structures and other equipment) to comply with the terms of the NOPR and make their plants more resilient, they should continue to comply with applicable environmental regulations. Existing emission limits should be respected, unless there is a true emergency, which is acknowledged under existing laws. Increasing the size of a coal pile to comply with the 90-day on-site fuel requirement (which may not be necessary for some) could be challenging for some operators to achieve. It should not come at the expense of violating existing environmental rules regarding soil, air and water quality.
In conclusion, we appreciate the efforts of Secretary Perry and the Commission to open the debate on whether grid reliability and resilience benefits are appropriately compensated in wholesale electricity markets and whether the current interpretation of “just and reasonable” is too limited to support the electric grid of the future. To move forward, the Commission should consider establishing a process to allow for more stakeholder input on the concept of resilience in power markets and other ideas described in the NOPR. We encourage the Commission to work with the RTOs, ISOs, and the DOE Partnership for Energy Sector Climate Resilience given their expertise in these areas. We believe that any reliability or resilience payments should take a broad and long-term view of “resilience” and should prioritize low and non-emitting sources because of the additional resilience benefits these sources provide, referring specifically to nuclear, hydropower, renewables and fossil fuels with carbon capture technology. We are concerned that if the NOPR does not prioritize low and non-emitting sources, it could have negative impacts on the growing list of states, cities, and businesses who have pledged to reduce carbon emissions. It would likely raise electricity prices for consumers and reduce overall investment in low and zero-emitting sources. We would like to underscore the importance of considering additional eligibility requirements such as storm hardening or other resilience strategies to weather and climate vulnerabilities to incentivize a truly resilient electricity system. Finally, the transmission and distribution system is a greater threat to reliability and resilience than fuel supply, and any FERC action should take this into consideration. Thank you again for the opportunity to comment on the NOPR. We would like to offer our assistance to you throughout the on-going discussion and implementation process.
2101 Wilson Boulevard
perciasepeb@c2es.org
[1] Lawrence Makovich and James Richards, “Ensuring Resilient and Efficient Electricity Generation,” September 2017, p. 18, https://www.ihs.com/info/0917/electricity-generation-special-report.html
[2] U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Energy Sector Vulnerabilities to Climate Change and Extreme Weather (2013), https://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2013/07/f2/20130716-Energy%20Sector%20Vulnerabilities%20Report.pdf.
[3] Office of Governor Andrew Cuomo, Governor Cuomo Announces Establishment of Clean Energy Standard that Mandates 50 Percent Renewables by 2030 (Aug. 1, 2016), available at https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-announces-establishment-clean-energy-standard-mandates-50-percent-renewables
[4] Illinois Public Act 99-0906 (the “Future Energy Jobs Bill”), available at https://www.illinois.gov/sites/ipa/Pages/default.aspx
[5] U.S. Department of Energy, A Review of Climate Change Vulnerability Assessments: Current Practices and Lessons Learned from DOE’s Partnership for Energy Sector Climate Resilience (2016), https://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2016/10/f33/A%20Review%20of%20Climate%20Change%20Vulnerability%20Assessments%20Current%20Practices%20and%20Lessons%20Learned%20from%20DOEs%20Partnership%20for%20Energy%20Sector%20Climate%20Resilience.pdf.
[6] NERC, “Polar Vortex Review,” September 2014. Available at: http://www.nerc.com/pa/rrm/January%202014%20Polar%20Vortex%20Review/Polar_Vortex_Review_29_Sept_2014_Final.pdf.
[7] See 16 U.S.C. § 8240.
[8] See 116 FERC ¶ 61,062 (2006); 16 U.S.C. § 8240(c)(1).
[9] Definition from EO 13653, which was revoked by EO 13783 for other reasons unrelated to the definition of resilience.
[10] See for example, https://energy.gov/epsa/downloads/conceptual-framework-developing-resilience-metrics-electricity-oil-and-gas-sectors
[11] For example, Climate Change and the Electricity Sector: Guide for Climate Change Resilience Planning (DOE, 2016) https://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2016/10/f33/Climate%20Change%20and%20the%20Electricity%20Sector%20Guide%20for%20Climate%20Change%20Resilience%20Planning%20September%202016_0.pdf
[12] Rhodium Group, “The Real Electricity Reliability Crisis,” Oct. 3, 2017, Available at: http://rhg.com/notes/the-real-electricity-reliability-crisis.
[14] ISO New England, “Resource Mix,” Accessed on October 20, 2017: https://www.iso-ne.com/about/key-stats/resource-mix
[15] PJM, “Analysis of Operational Events and Market Impacts During the January 2014 Cold Weather Events,” May 8, 2014. http://www.pjm.com/~/media/library/reports-notices/weather-related/20140509-analysis-of-operational-events-and-market-impacts-during-the-jan-2014-cold-weather-events.ashx
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Our Cause & Values
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Carol Kruse Joins Cambia Health Solutions as Chief Marketing Officer
PORTLAND – Cambia Health Solutions has named Carol Kruse chief marketing officer where she will lead the company’s marketing, branding and digital strategies for its family of health plans. Headquartered in Portland, Ore., Cambia is comprised of more than 25 companies dedicated to transforming health care nationwide.
Kruse is a nationally-recognized global brand marketing expert with more than 20 years of experience leading consumer marketing for powerhouse brands at The Coca-Cola Company and ESPN, where she served as senior vice president and chief marketing officer.
“Carol is an accomplished leader who brings to Cambia an entrepreneurial spirit and wealth of experience with consumer-centric companies,” said Jared Short, president of Cambia Health Insurance Services. “Her background with large retail brands will be instrumental in helping us transform how we engage with our customers.”
“Many companies are talking about changing health care; Cambia is actually making headway with a long-term view on transforming health care to put the consumer in the center,” said Kruse. “I’m excited to join Cambia and help deliver game-changing health solutions to the marketplace.”
The chief marketing officer role is pivotal for Cambia’s health plans as the company works to create an effortless health care experience for consumers. At ESPN, Kruse was responsible for developing, managing and expanding the ESPN brands, including ESPN’s six television networks and an array of digital, mobile, radio, print, social and other products. Before joining ESPN, Kruse spent more than nine years leading digital marketing at The Coca-Cola Company, where she was focused on developing innovative ways to deliver targeted, relevant messaging and building engaging digital, mobile and social experiences.
She was most recently global CMO at Tough Mudder, where she helped enable the fitness events company to surpass $100 million in revenue and expand its footprint in seven countries. Kruse was recognized with the prestigious ad:tech Industry Achievement Award for pioneering contributions in digital marketing and was named to Fast Company’s 2011 annual list of the Top 100 Most Creative People in Business.
Jobs@Cambia
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Home News Politicians Maneuver to Curry Favor With US
Politicians Maneuver to Curry Favor With US
Before, during and since the July 26 elections, the ruling CPP and the opposition have waged an intense public-relations war for support from the US.
Before the elections, the CPP hired consultants at a reported $500,000 to recast the party’s image abroad. About a month after the polls, an adviser to CPP President Chea Sim pled to the US State Department to endorse the election to “avoid the collapse of the current democratic process.” And most recently, the CPP has lashed out at a US resolution condemning Second Prime Minister Hun Sen.
The opposition’s public relations campaign, meanwhile, started soon after Prince Norodom Ranariddh was ousted as first prime minister in the bloody street battles of July 1997. Post-election protests at so-called Democracy Square were peppered with pro-US rhetoric such as banners that read in English and Khmer: “America is the only hope for the Cambodian people.” And, most recently, opposition leader Sam Rainsy toured the US, lobbying congressmen and appearing on Voice of America to talk about alleged election fraud and violence against opposition demonstrators.
Why the fuss over a country that gives far less direct aid to Cambodia than Japan?
Experts say it’s because of a number of tangible, intangible and even symbolic factors, including the US’ superpower status and its influence in the UN, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the international donor community in general.
For example, by virtue of being the largest contributor to the World Bank and IMF, the US holds the highest voting power—about 15 percent. While that does not give the US veto power, “it may be able to influence [others] behind the corridors,” said one source knowledgeable about the process.
The World Bank, which provides development assistance, is in various stages of discussion with the government concerning multimillion-dollar road, village and social development projects.
The IMF, which provides balance of payments assistance, hasn’t made loans to Cambodia since 1996 because of the government’s failure to control corruption. But the government at any time could invite the IMF to re-examine the progress of policy and management reforms.
The US, pro-democracy experts note, also has been consistently critical of Cambodian affairs.
“It’s one of the most vocal countries in opposing any undemocratic action in Cambodia,” said Kao Kim Hourn, executive director of the Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace. “If Cambodia can get the green light from the US, they basically get the green light to go ahead with many other things.”
Conversely, without that green light, life can be tough for Cambodia’s political leaders who rely on international aid for roughly half of the government budget.
The current rift between the two countries is reflected in government statements and Khmer-language newspapers, which often act as political mouthpieces.
Two weeks ago, a top senior government official was quoted by the leading Rasmei Kampuchea newspaper as saying Cambodia couldn’t guarantee the personal security of American and British journalists. Secretary of State for Information Khieu Kanharith threatened to shut down two English-language newspapers, including The Cambodia Daily, and expel American and British journalists.
Later in the week, a government official said the government would soon launch a counter-campaign to the “disinformation” coming out of Washington. That counter-campaign now includes a 45-page white paper blaming opposition leaders for provoking violence as a part of a post-election tactic.
And pro-CPP newspapers have accused America’s Central Intelligence Agency of being involved in last month’s B-40 rocket attack on a CPP motorcade in Siem Reap, and of the US “poking its hand deeply into the intestine, heart and liver of Cambodia” by nourishing the opposition and protecting its activists.
Complicating matters in recent weeks is the belief by some government officials that the US has been protecting opposition activist Kem Sokha from being questioned about his role in the recent opposition demonstrations. US Embassy officials have refused to comment on the issue.
Much of the Cambodian government’s ire has been caused by a US House resolution sponsored by Congressman Dana Rohrabacher that condemns Second Prime Minister Hun Sen and calls for an investigation of his alleged crimes against humanity.
In the US, such a resolution reflects only an opinion, has no force of law and therefore is largely insignificant. But such inner workings of the US Congress have been confusing to Cambodians, and critics say the opposition has used that confusion to fan the flames.
It has only been in the past week or so that the government has taken a more relaxed attitude, while still reacting angrily to Rohrabacher’s attempts to topple Hun Sen.
“No one blames the US,” government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said recently, noting the government knows the resolution is only an opinion.
Yet, in a confidential letter to party leaders, CPP Secretary-General Say Chhum asked the party to prepare for possible mass demonstrations against the Rohrabacher resolution.
The US government itself has tried to distance itself from the Rohrabacher resolution, saying in a recent statement that the US State Department does not support it. In fact, in some post-election remarks, former congressman Stephen Solarz and a former Asian ambassador, James Lilley, suggested that the US wants to keep Cambodia engaged in the international community, with the hopes that gradual pressure over time will secure a democracy.
“It’s a matter of the principles of democracy and, of course, it promotes America’s interests,” said Kao Kim Hourn.
The US has been applying pressure to Cambodia in the only ways it can, according to democracy-building experts.
For example, Stanley Roth, the US assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific Affairs, said earlier this month that the US would oppose reinstating the UN seat for Cambodia and direct aid until a government is formed that includes the opposition in a “meaningful role.”
The Roth statement, diplomats say, much more accurately reflects US policy than the Rohrabacher resolution.
A Phnom Penh diplomat said recently that Roth’s statement could be taken two ways. “My feeling is that it could be a warning to the Cambodian government” that aid really will be withheld unless the opposition parties are given some positions of real power in a coalition.
Or it could simply be that the US administration is trying to give the US Congress and Cambodia the impression that it is tough, knowing already full well that it must resume aid and support the UN seat to keep Cambodia engaged in the international community, the diplomat said.
“But I’m afraid that Cambodia only understands it as interference in its internal affairs,” the diplomat said.
Indeed, the combination of Rohrabacher, Roth, Rainsy, Prince Ranariddh and some recent statements by two US senators condemning post-election violence seem to have put the Cambodian government on the defensive.
Hun Sen has indicated that he sees the US as lending a sympathetic ear to the opposition complaints, while most of the rest of the international community accepted the election results as essentially free and fair.
“This is a unique case in the world when the losers hold the winner, the Cambodian nation and the international community hostage to their irrational allegations and demands,” Hun Sen recently wrote to two US senators.
Asean also recently said it is waiting for an acceptable government to be formed before deciding on whether or not to admit Cambodia.
How the tension between the US and Cambodia will be resolved is anybody’s guess, but it will probably hinge on the success of the coalition talks, diplomats say.
“In a normal democracy, losers accept the results,” said one diplomat. “This is nonsense. The country cannot go on like this anymore.”
The pro-CPP Chakraval newspaper recently indicated what the worst scenario could be, in article accusing the US of helping the opposition.
“As America pokes its hand deeply into the intestine, heart and liver of Cambodia, then the many new government supporters… may drive away the American embassy from Cambodia, or could lead Cambodia to become like Burma,” the newspaper wrote.
But most seem to hold to the opinion that eventually the new government will be formed, and the relations between the US and Cambodia will return to what they were like before the latest tiff erupted.
© 1998 – 2013, The Cambodia Daily. All rights reserved No part of this article may be reproduced in print, electronically, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without written permission.
Cambodia, Singapore to ‘move on’ from Lee remarks storm
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Cambodia Needs ‘Real, Credible Improvement’ to Avoid Loss of Tariff-Free Trade...
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Progress towards Canada's greenhouse gas emissions reduction target
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Greenhouse gases (GHGs) trap heat in the Earth's atmosphere, just as the glass of a greenhouse keeps warm air inside. Human activity increases the amount of GHG in the atmosphere. When more heat is trapped, the temperature of the planet increases. Under the Paris Agreement, Canada has committed to reducing its GHG emissions by 30% below 2005 levels by 2030. This indicator tracks Canada's progress towards meeting its target.
Greenhouse gas projections
Key results
In the Second Biennial Report, published in early 2016, GHG emissions in 2030 were projected to be 815 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (Mt CO2 eq)
Environment and Climate Change Canada publishes updated projections annually. Most recently, in December 2018, projections were updated and 2 scenarios were developed:
under the Reference Case scenario, emissions are projected to be 701 Mt CO2 eq in 2030, or 4% below 2005 levels. The 2018 Reference Case scenario includes actions taken by governments, consumers and businesses put in place up to September 2018.
under the Additional Measures scenario and including the contribution of the land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) sector, emissions are projected to be 592 Mt CO2 eq, or 19% below 2005 levels. This scenario accounts for additional policies and measures that are under development but have not yet been fully implemented.
Historical greenhouse gas emissions and projections, Canada, 2005 to 2030
Data table for the long description
Second Biennial Report Reference Case[A]
(megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent)
2017 Reference Case[B]
2018 Reference Case[C]
2018 Additional Measures[C]
Canada's target
2005 749 738 732 732 n/a
2030 815 722 701 592[D] 513
Note: n/a = not applicable. [A] Reported in Canada's Second Biennial Report on Climate Change. This scenario includes policies and measures in place as of September 2015. Historical greenhouse gas emissions data from 2005 to 2013 were taken from the National Inventory Report 1990‑2013: Greenhouse gas sources and sinks in Canada. [B] This scenario is reported in Canada's Seventh National Communication and Third Biennial Report to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and includes policies and measures in place as of September 2017. Historical greenhouse gas emissions data from 2005 to 2015 were taken from the National Inventory Report 1990-2015: Greenhouse gas sources and sinks in Canada. [C] The 2018 scenarios are reported in Canada's Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollutant Emissions Projections 2018. Historical greenhouse gas emissions data from 2005 to 2016 were taken from the National Inventory Report 1990-2016: Greenhouse gas sources and sinks in Canada. The Reference Case scenario includes policies and measures in place as of September 2018. The Additional Measures scenario includes additional measures from Canada's clean growth and climate change plan that have been announced but are still under development. [D] This value includes the 24 Mt CO2 eq contribution of the land use, land use change and forestry sector.
Download data file (Excel/CSV; 3.64 kB)
How this indicator was calculated
Note: LULUCF = land use, land use change and forestry. The land use, land use change and forestry sector is estimated to contribute an additional 24 Mt CO2 eq reduction in greenhouse gases in 2030. For more information on the projection scenarios, refer to the Data sources and methods.
Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada (2018) National Inventory Report 1990-2016: Greenhouse Gas Sources and Sinks in Canada. Environment and Climate Change Canada (2018) Canada's Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollutant Emissions Projections 2018.
Canada committed to reducing its GHG emissions by 30% below the 2005 level of 732 Mt CO2 eq by 2030.
Under the 2018 Reference Case scenario, it is projected that Canada's emissions in 2030 would be 701 Mt CO2 eq, or 114 Mt CO2 eq below the projections published in the Second Biennial Report.
Taking into consideration climate change policies and measures that have been announced in Canada and for which enough information is available, an Additional Measures scenario has also been developed. Under this scenario and accounting for a 24 Mt CO2 eq reduction from the land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) sector, emissions in 2030 would be 592 Mt CO2 eq, or 223 Mt CO2 eq below the projections published in February 2016. This decline, equivalent to approximately 30% of Canada's emissions in 2016, encompasses all economic sectors, demonstrating the effectiveness of Canada’s climate plan.
Projected reductions
Projected greenhouse gas emissions reductions
Canada's 2030 emissions target is 513 Mt CO2 eq
To reach the target, Canada needs a 302 Mt CO2 eq reduction in projected 2030 emissions from the starting point in the Second Biennial Report. These reductions will come from:
policies implemented since 2015 (114 Mt CO2 eq)
Pan-Canadian Framework policies under implementation (85 Mt CO2 eq)
land sector contribution (24 Mt CO2 eq)
implemented but unmodelled measures and emerging and future reductions (79 Mt CO2 eq)
Projected emissions reductions in 2030
Reduction measure
Examples of actions
Policies implemented since 2015 114
Accelerated phase-out of coal-fired electricity
HFC regulations
Methane regulations
Pan-Canadian Framework policies under implementation 85
Federal Carbon Pricing Backstop
Clean Fuel Standard
Challenge Fund (LCEF)
Strategic Interties
Net Zero Building Codes
Land sector contribution 24 n/a
Implemented but unmodelled measures 79
Investments in Clean Tech
Emerging and future reductions
CleanBC Plan
Future federal, provincial and territorial measures
Total 302 n/a
Note: n/a = not applicable.
Note: BR2 = Second Biennial Report. * Please refer to the 2018 Canada's Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollutant Emissions Projections report for information about the changes relative to the 2017 projections. Land sector is short for the land use, land use change and forestry sector. The starting point projections are reported in Canada's Second Biennial Report on Climate Change. For more information on the projection emissions in 2030, refer to chapter 1.4 of the Canada's Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollutant Emissions Projections 2018.
Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada (2018) Canada's Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollutant Emissions Projections 2018.
About the indicator
What the indicator measures
The indicator provides an overview of Canada's projected GHG emissions up to 2030. These projections are based on:
historical data from Canada's National Inventory Report
expectations about future energy markets, population and economic growth from authoritative sources including the National Energy Board, Statistics Canada and Finance Canada
policies and measures that were in place as of September 2018 (for the Reference Case scenario of the December 2018 projections)
policies and measures that are under development but not yet fully implemented (for the Additional Measures scenario)
Why this indicator is important
In 2015, Canada and 194 other countries reached the Paris Agreement. This agreement aims to limit the global average temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius and pursue efforts to limit the increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Under the Agreement, Canada has committed to a target to reduce GHG emissions by 30% below 2005 levels by 2030.
This indicator allows the public and policy-makers to see Canada's progress towards meeting its GHG emissions target.
This indicator also contributes to the measurement of progress towards the 2016–2019 Federal Sustainable Development Strategy target: Canada's GHG emissions. By 2030, reduce Canada's total GHG emissions by 30%, relative to 2005 emission levels.
Further, this indicator is important because of the human health, environmental and economic impacts associated with GHG emissions. For more information on these impacts, consult Greenhouse gas emissions: drivers and impacts.
Related indicators
The Greenhouse gas emissions indicators report trends in total anthropogenic (human-made) GHG emissions.
The Greenhouse gas emissions from large facilities indicator reports GHG emissions from the largest GHG emitters in Canada (industrial and other types of facilities).
The Global greenhouse gas emissions indicator provides a global perspective on Canada's share of global GHG emissions.
The Carbon dioxide emissions from a consumption perspective indicator shows the impact of Canada's consumption of goods and services, regardless of where they are produced, on the levels of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere.
Effective action on climate change
This indicator supports the measurement of progress towards the following 2016–2019 Federal Sustainable Development Strategy long-term goal: A low-carbon economy contributes to limiting global average temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius and supports efforts to limit the increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Data sources and methods
The data for this indicator come from Canada's Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollutant Emissions Projections 2018. The indicator reflects the latest GHG emissions projections published by Environment and Climate Change Canada at time of production.
The latest projections (December 2018) use historical GHG emissions data from the 2018 National Inventory Report for the years 2005 to 2016. The projection scenarios cover the years 2017 to 2030.
No changes or additional calculations are performed on the data.
The indicator is based on analysis that incorporates the most up-to-date information on GHG emissions, economic and population growth and energy price and production projections available at the time the technical modelling was completed. Data and information on policies and measures modelled under each scenario were included in Canada's Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollutant Emissions Projections 2018.
Emissions projections
The emissions projections have been developed in line with generally recognized best practices. This includes:
incorporating Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change standards for estimating GHG emissions across different fuels and processes
relying on outside expert views and the most up-to-date data available for key drivers, such as economic and population growth, energy prices, and energy demand and supply
applying an internationally recognized energy and macroeconomic modelling framework for estimating emissions and economic interactions
using a methodology to develop the projections and underlying assumptions that has been subject to peer review by leading external experts on economic modelling and GHG emissions projections, and vetted by key stakeholders
The approach to developing Canada's GHG emissions projections involves:
using the most up-to-date statistics on GHG emissions and energy use, and sourcing key assumptions from the best available public and private expert sources
developing emissions projection scenarios using the detailed and proven Energy, Emissions and Economy Model for Canada (E3MC)
The methodology for developing the emissions scenarios is described in Annex 5 of Canada's Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollutant Emissions Projections 2018.
The indicator presents 4 different scenarios:
the Second Biennial Report Reference Case, shown from 2014 to 2030, is reported as the "with measures" projections in Canada's Second Biennial Report on Climate Change. This scenario includes policies and measures in place as of September 2015. Historical GHG emissions data from 2005 to 2013 were taken from the National Inventory Report 1990‑2013: Greenhouse gas sources and sinks in Canada
the 2017 Reference Case, shown from 2016 to 2030, is reported as the "with measures" scenario in Canada's Seventh National Communication and Third Biennial Report to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and include policies and measures in place as of September 2017. Historical GHG emissions data from 2005 to 2015 were taken from the National Inventory Report 1990-2015: Greenhouse gas sources and sinks in Canada
the 2018 Reference Case, shown from 2017 to 2030, is reported in Canada's Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollutant Emissions Projections 2018. This scenario includes policies and measures in place as of September 2018. Historical GHG emissions data from 2005 to 2016 were taken from the National Inventory Report 1990-2016: Greenhouse gas sources and sinks in Canada
the 2018 Additional Measures scenario, also shown from 2017 to 2030, and reported in Canada's Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollutant Emissions Projections 2018. This scenario includes all of the actions, policies and measures of the 2018 Reference Case as well as all climate change policies and measures that have been announced in Canada and for which enough information is available. This scenario accounts for those additional policies and measures that are under development but have not yet been fully implemented, some of which were announced as part of the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change (for example, the federal carbon pollution pricing system). Historical GHG emissions data from 2005 to 2016 were taken from the National Inventory Report 1990-2016: Greenhouse gas sources and sinks in Canada
The calculation of this indicator reflects methodological revisions that were applied to the 2018 National Inventory Report, as well as to the Energy, Emissions and Economy Model for Canada. For a list of the modelling and methodological changes, refer to Annex 5 of Canada's Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollutant Emissions Projections 2018.
The projections for 2030 now take into account the contribution of the land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) sector towards GHG emissions targets. More details about LULUCF reporting and accounting can be found in Section 1.3.8 and Annex 3 of Canada's Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollutant Emissions Projections 2018.
Caveats and limitations
Emissions projections are subject to uncertainty, and are most appropriately viewed as a range of plausible outcomes. Many of the events that shape emissions and energy markets cannot be anticipated. In addition, future developments in technologies, demographics and resources cannot be foreseen with certainty.
The projection scenarios derive from a series of plausible assumptions regarding, among others, population and economic growth, prices, demand and supply of energy, and the evolution of energy efficiency technologies. The 2018 Reference Case assume no further government actions to address GHG emissions beyond those already in place as of September 2018.
Under the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change, a number of policies and measures have been announced. As the policy development process is not yet finished, some policies were not included in the 2018 Reference Case, but they were included in the 2018 Additional Measures scenario. For a complete list of included policies and measures modelled under each scenario, refer to Table A10 in Annex 1 of Canada's Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollutant Emissions Projections 2018. Note that the modelled policies and measures do not match the full list of announced measures. This is because the economic modelling will only account for measures where sufficiently detailed data exist that makes it possible to add them to the modelling platform.
It is expected that GHG estimates will continue to decline in the near to medium term, especially as current estimates do not include the full reductions from investment in public transit, clean technology and innovation. Furthermore, these projected emission reductions do not account for additional mitigation measures that could be implemented by the provinces and territories, as well as the federal government, between now and 2030. Emissions reductions from additional future actions will be assessed as new measures are implemented.
The projections presented in the indicator are based on a series of assumptions, including that the current planned policy context will continue into the future. The projections do not attempt to account for the inevitable but as yet unknown changes that will occur in government policy; energy supply, demand and technology; or domestic and international economic and political events.
The future level of GHG emissions in Canada depends on a number of factors, including changes in future energy markets and economic assumptions, technological change, consumer behaviour, and introduction of additional policies aimed at emissions reductions. A sensitivity analysis was conducted to address the uncertainty regarding the key drivers of GHG emissions. The analysis focuses on variability in 2 key factors: future economic growth and population projections, and the evolution of oil and natural gas prices and production. For more details about the sensitivity analysis, please consult Section 1.5.2 and Annex 2 of Canada's Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollutant Emissions Projections 2018.
While the Energy, Emissions and Economy Model for Canada is a sophisticated analytical tool, no model can fully capture the complicated interactions associated with given policy measures between and within markets or between firms and consumers. Unlike computable general equilibrium models, the Energy, Emissions and Economy Model for Canada does not fully equilibrate government budgets and the markets for employment and investment. That is, the modeling results reflect rigidities such as unemployment and government surpluses and deficits. Furthermore, the model, as used by Environment and Climate Change Canada, does not generate changes in nominal interest rates and exchange rates, as would occur under a monetary policy response to a major economic event.
Environment and Climate Change Canada (2018) National Inventory Report 1990-2016: Greenhouse Gas Sources and Sinks in Canada. Retrieved on November 23, 2018.
Environment and Climate Change Canada (2018) Canada's Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollutant Emissions Projections 2018. Retrieved on December 21, 2018.
Greenhouse gas emissions: drivers and impacts
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Home Briefing Screams In The Cell
Screams In The Cell
Naky Soto
Photo: CanalSur
On Wednesday the Carabobo Police headquarters was the setting of another mass prisoner death event. There are still no official statements on the matter, the national public media system hasn’t mentioned it and 13 hours after the incident, governor Rafael Lavaca wrote on Twitter about the start of a “serious” investigation. The unofficial death toll surpasses 70 people and over 30 others were wounded. The identities of the deceased remain unknown. NGOs specialized in penitentiary issues: Venezuelan Observatory of Prisons (OVP) and Una Ventana a la Libertad (UVL) have issued reports that may help in understanding such a huge amount of people dead and wounded in a preventive detention facility: by 2017, 90% of civilian preventive detention facilities were experiencing a 250.86% overcrowding rate. The prisoners’ relatives went to the police command to request information but they got no answers, which caused a protest dispersed with tear gas. The police officers also attacked several journalists who were covering the incident. OVP and UVL spokespeople held the Prisons Ministry and its minister Iris Varela responsible for this massacre, the latest of a sad and terrible trend which includes the massacres at Uribana prison in 2013 and 2014. Criminal lawyer Luis Izquiel wrote: “If the unofficial death toll of 80 casualties is confirmed, the PoliCarabobo incident would rank among the 5 worst massacres in Venezuela’s prison history.”
At 11:00 p.m. last night, imposed prosecutor general Tarek William Saab used Twitter to announce the appointment of four prosecutors to investigate the fire at Policarabobo headquarters in depth; to say that 66 men died along with two women “who were there as visitors” and report that they’ve practiced autopsies and the bodies were handed over to their families. Efficiency or nothing, Saab.
Switzerland sheds its neutrality
Yesterday, the Swiss Federal Council imposed sanctions against Venezuela and against seven high-ranking government officials for “human rights violations and the decline of the rule of law and democratic institutions,” which join the sanctions imposed by the European Union. In their statement, they confess being seriously concerned “by the repeated violations of individual freedoms in Venezuela, where the principle of separation of powers is severely undermined and the process in view of the forthcoming elections suffers from a serious lack of legitimacy.” The Federal Council froze the assets of the seven high-ranking officials and banned them from entering the country. They also froze the assets of companies and institutions; they banned the sale, supply, export and transport to Venezuela, of weapons and assets that could be used for repression, as well as any equipments that could be used to monitor and intercept phone and internet communications. The sanctions are effective immediately. Switzerland’s sanctions are crucial due to the country’s financial relevance. The fact that they’re shedding their neutrality evidences Europe’s stance against the Venezuelan government.
Officials sanctioned and why
Switzerland chose to explain the reasons to sanction each official:
Interior minister Néstor Reverol, because he’s “responsible for serious human rights violations and repression of the democratic opposition in Venezuela, including the prohibition and repression of political demonstrations.”
SEBIN chief Gustavo González López, because he’s “responsible for serious human rights violations (including arbitrary detention, inhuman and degrading treatment, and torture) and repression of civil society and the democratic opposition in Venezuela.”
CNE chairwoman Tibisay Lucena, because “her actions and policies have undermined democracy and the rule of law,” including facilitating the establishment of the ANC and failing to ensure the autonomy of the Electoral Branch.
Supreme Tribunal chief justice Maikel Moreno, because he “has supported and facilitated the government’s actions and policies which have undermined democracy (…) and is responsible for actions and statements that have usurped the authority of the National Assembly.”
ANC-imposed prosecutor general Tarek William Saab, because he “has undermined democracy and the rule of law (…) by publicly supporting actions against opponents of the Government.”
PSUV vice-president Diosdado Cabello, because he’s “Involved in undermining democracy and the rule of law (…) including by using the media to publicly attack and threaten political opposition, other media and civil society.”
Former National Guard commander Antonio Benavides Torres, because he’s “Involved in repression of civil society and democratic opposition in Venezuela, and responsible for serious human rights violations committed by the Bolivarian National Guard under his command.”
Parliamentary justice
With 57 votes in favor and the abstention of Cuba, the World Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) approved the report made by that instance’s Human Rights Committee about the Venezuelan case. Lawmaker Delsa Solórzano explained that with the approval of this report, protective measures were issued for the 57 Venezuelan legislators who have been confirmed as victims of torture, intimidation, illegal and arbitrary arrests, violations against freedom of thought and speech, violations against freedom of association, violations against the freedom to move through their country, violations against parliamentary immunity and the government’s obstruction of the exercise of parliamentary duties. The resolution includes the commitment to work so that Venezuela can hold a free and democratic electoral process and also makes a special mention to the case of lawmaker Gilber Caro. The IPU approved sending an observation mission to the country. Meanwhile, Puerto Rico and MUD clarified that the offer made by this nation is not meant to facilitate dialogue with the government but with friendly nations that wish to cooperate for the recovery of democracy.
U.S. State Department official Kevin Sullivan said that the American delegation in the Summit of the Americas will be large, adding that Venezuela’s situation will be a central matter and that the rest of their agent includes the fight against corruption and expanding commercial relations with the region. By the way, the new Peruvian president Martín Vizcarra confirmed that Nicolás is still banned.
The Kremlin confirmed president Vladimir Putin’s willingness to meet with Donald Trump, despite tensions caused by the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skirapl and his daughter. Russia restated that they will retaliate for the expulsion of over a hundred of their diplomats from U.S. soil, and that the retaliation will come at the right time.
Italian Foreign minister Angelino Alfano said that his country will donate 500,000 euros to the UN Refugee Agency to attend Venezuelans crossing the borders to Brazil and Colombia. Yesterday, the UN Refugee Agency and the Brazilian government opened a new shelter for Venezuelan families who migrated to Brazilian territory, calling it “a safe and dignified space.”
Canadian Foreign minister Chrystia Freeland and Employment minister Patty Hajdu released a statement backing the decision of ILO’s Administration Council to create a committee to investigate the violation of workplace regulations in Venezuela, urging the government to fulfill its obligations and saying that they’ll continue to work “to apply pressure on the anti-democratic Maduro regime and restore the rights of the Venezuelan people,” remarking that “Canadians will not stand by as the Maduro regime robs its people of their fundamental democratic and human rights, and denies them assistance to meet basic humanitarian needs.”
The Chilean justice found Sebastián Dávalos, son of former Chilean president Bachelet, guilty of tax fraud.
A year ago, the TSJ issued a couple of rulings against the National Assembly that sparked mass opposition protests and with them, the disproportionate repression that left us a sad count of citizens dead, wounded and arrested, defining a new stage for the dictatorship. Yesterday, with an unanswered prison massacre, Nicolás decided to prioritize the message for the Holy Week, declaring his love for llanero music and rock, proving once again that he keeps his sense of opportunity in the same pocket where he keeps his decency, if he ever had any.
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Naky gets called Naibet at home and at the bank. She coordinates training programs for an NGO. She collects moments and turns them into words. She has more stories than freckles.
More Pressure to the Negotiation
A Country in Ceaseless Protest
The Negotiation in Barbados
Cooking With No Gas, No Power
Humboldt Visited Venezuela and Changed the History of Science Forever
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Nicole Clements 0407 536 130
Official specialists
Melville FernandezHumanitarian & Emergencies
Richard ForsytheHumanitarian & Emergencies
Gift of peace in the troubled Holy Land
28 Jul 2014 | Emergency Relief
“We still believe that the best gift the Lord and the world could give this Holy Land is the gift of peace.” - Fr Raed Abusahlia, director of Caritas Jerusalem.
Those words were spoken just a couple months ago when the international board of the Caritas network made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in support of peace and the work of Caritas Jerusalem.
Today, as we witness another surge of violence in the troubled region, we pray that tolerance and compassion will deliver the gift of peace for communities affected by decades of unrest in Gaza.
Reflecting at the time of the visit, Paul O’Callaghan (CEO of Caritas Australia) said he was privileged to join a group of three bishops, six priests, and nine lay members of the Caritas network on the board’s first pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The group visited many holy sites in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth and other Palestinian towns, learning much about the situation for Christian and Muslim communities along the way.
In light of the current conflict in Gaza, and the international Caritas network’s call for peace, Mr O’Callaghan shared the following reflection:
"The local Christian leaders we met explained the disadvantage and discrimination their communities have experienced since the occupation of Palestine in 1948 and then during the 1967 war.
Nearly 20 years of negotiations about the future of Palestine still offer little prospect of true or lasting peace in those communities marginalised by decades of conflict and intolerance. In stark contrast to Jesus’ vision of a full life for all (John 10:10), we witnessed a needless denigration of human dignity in this troubled Holy Land.
Our pilgrimage group was distressed by restrictions on people’s movements, disrespect for dignity, and the perception that the Church has not supported the communities’ efforts to achieve justice and peace.
At the same time, we recognised the resilience of those we met and the way in which Christians and Muslims have become more supportive of one another's communities. The Caritas network actively supports Muslim and Christian communities in the occupied territories.
Pope Francis’ visit to the Holy Land just one week after our pilgrimage highlighted the potential for progress towards peace and helped to address the concerns about the Church's limited support for justice in the Holy Land.
Hopefully, over time we will see a return to the respect for human dignity, freedom of movement, freedom of speech, and equal access to water and other resources that we know can be achieved in the Holy Land. And at this time of heightened conflict, we pray that the Pope's invitation to the leaders of Palestine and Israel to pray with him at the Vatican will bear fruit."
The current crisis
The Caritas network has now launched an emergency program to assist thousands of families by providing medical supplies, medicines, psychosocial support, food and other non-food items such as blankets, hygiene kits and fuel for generators.
“Most of the victims are children, women and old people. We strongly believe that the Church of Jesus Christ cannot remain silent; we cannot stand aside and do nothing,” said Fr Raed Abusahlia, President of Caritas Jerusalem. .
If you would like to support Caritas Australia's emergency work to help us respond to disasters whenever and wherever they may occur, donate to our Emergency Response Fund >
Other recent news
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Faith / Your Faith / Straight Answers
Why Do We Offer Mass for the Dead?
By Fr. William Saunders
My elderly mother always has Masses offered for deceased relatives on the anniversary of their deaths. Where did this practice come from and is it important? A reader in Annandale.
The offering of Mass for the repose of the soul of the faithful departed is linked with our belief in Purgatory. We believe that if a person has died fundamentally believing in God but with venial sins and the hurt caused by sin, then God in His divine love and mercy will first purify the soul After this purification has been completed, the soul will have the holiness and purity needed to share in the beatific vision in heaven. While each individual stands judgment before the Lord and must render an account of his life, the communion of the Church shared on this earth continues, except for those souls dammed to hell.
The Vatican Council II affirmed, "This sacred council accepts loyally the venerable faith of our ancestors in the living communion which exists between us and our brothers who are in the glory of heaven or who are yet being purified after their death..." (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, No. 51). Therefore, just as we pray for each other and share each other's burdens now, the faithful on earth can offer prayers and sacrifices to help the departed souls undergoing purification, and no better prayer could be offered than that of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
Pope Leo XIII in his encyclical Mirae Caritatis (1902) beautifully elaborated this point and emphasized the connection between the communion of saints with the Mass: "The grace of mutual love among 'The living, strengthened and increased by the Sacrament of the Eucharist, flows' especially by virtue of the Sacrifice [of the Mass]' to all who belong to the communion of saints For the communion of saints is simply... the mutual sharing of help, atonement, prayers, and benefits among the faithful, those already In the heavenly fatherland, those consigned to the purifying fire, and those still making their pilgrim way here on earth. These all form one city, whose head is Christ, and whose vital principle is love. Faith teaches that although the august Sacrifice can be offered to God alone, it can nevertheless be celebrated in honor of the saints now reigning in heaven with God, who has crowned them, to obtain their intercession for us, and also, according to apostolic tradition, to wash away the stains of those brethren who died in the Lord but without yet being wholly purified."
Think of this point: The Holy Mass transcends time and space, uniting the faithful in heaven, on earth and in purgatory into a Holy Communion, and the Holy Eucharist Itself augments our union with Christ, wipes away venial sins, and presences us from future mortal sins (cf. Catechism, No. 1391-1396). Therefore, the offering of Mass and other prayers or sacrifices for the intentions of the faithful departed are good and holy acts. This practice is not new. The Catechism asserts, "From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic Sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God" (No. 1032).
Actually, this "beginning" has roots even in the Old Testament. Judas Maccabees offered prayers and sacrifices for the Jewish soldiers who had died wearing pagan amulets, which were forbidden by the Law; II Maccabees reads, "Turning to supplication, they prayed that the sinful deed might be fully blotted out" (12:43) and "Thus, [Judas Maccabees] made atonement for the deed mat they might be freed from sin" (12:46). In the early history of the Church, we also see evidence of prayers for the dead. Inscriptions uncovered on tombs in the Roman catacombs of the second century evidence this practice. For example, the epitaph on the tomb of Abercius (d. 180) Bishop of Hieropolis in Phrygia begs for prayers for the repose of his soul' Tertullian in 211 attested to observing the anniversary of death with prayers. Moreover, the Canons of Hippolytus (c. 235) explicitly mention the offering of prayers for the dead during the Mass.
The testimony of the Church Fathers beautifully supports this belief: St. Cyril of Jerusalem (d. 386), in one of his many catechetical discourses, explained how at Mass both the living and dead are remembered, and how the Eucharistic Sacrifice of our Lord is of benefit to sinners, living and dead. St. Ambrose (d. 397) preached, "We have loved them during life; let us not abandon them in death, until we have conducted them by our prayers into the house of the Lord." St. John Chrysostom (d. 407) stated, "Let us help end commemorate them. If Job's sons were purified by their {ether's sacrifice, why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have disc and to offer our prayers for them." Finally, Pope St. Gregory (d. 604) said, "Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers. for them. "
One may wonder, " What if the person's soul has already been purified and gone to heaven?"' We on earth know neither the judgment of God nor the divine time frame; so, there is always goodness in remembering our departed and commending them to God through prayer and sacrifice. However, if indeed the departed soul has been purified and now rests in God's presence in heaven/ then those prayers and sacrifices offered benefit the other souls in purgatory through the love and mercy of God.
Therefore, we find not only the origins of this practice dating to the early Church but we also clearly recognize its importance. When we face the death of someone, even a person who is not Catholic, to have a Mass offered for the repose of his soul and to offer our prayers are more beneficial and comforting than any other sympathy card or bouquet of flowers. Most importantly, we should always remember our own dearly departed loved ones in the Holy Mass and through our own prayers and sacrifices to help in their gaining eternal rest.
Fr. Saunders is dean of the Notre Dame Graduate School of Christendom College and pastor of Queen of Apostles Parish, both in Alexandria.
Copyright 1997 Arlington Catholic Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.
Straight Answers: Do Aborted Children Go to Heaven?
Three Kings and the truth behind the star
Is Thanksgiving a Religious Holiday?
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Opening Night For The Met
The Metropolitan Opera staged a gala evening for Renee Fleming to launch its 125th season Sept. 22, 2008, at New York's Lincoln Center. Fleming performed in Act 3 of "Manon," the closing scene of "Capriccio" and, pictured here with Thomas Hampson, Act 2 of "La Traviata."
A red-carpet event, the performance drew a star-filled audience, dressed in glamorous gowns and tuxedos. Here, model Helena Christensen shows off her gown before the Metropolitan Opera's opening night gala performance at Lincoln Center on Monday, Sept. 22, 2008, in New York.
Renee Fleming, seen here as Madeleine in the final scene of Richard Straus' "Capriccio," wore four specially designed costumes. Christian Lacroix made two costumes for Act 2 of "La Traviata," Karl Lagerfeld dressed her in grey silk for "Manon" and John Galliano designed the costume for "Capriccio," a slinky, softly draped black dress, under an extravagant peacock-and-gold embroidered jacket.
Actress Jane Fonda attends the Metropolitan Opera's opening night gala at Lincoln Center on Monday, Sept. 22, 2008, in New York.
Model Christie Brinkley attends the Metropolitan Opera's opening night gala at Lincoln Center on Monday, Sept. 22, 2008, in New York.
Actress Faye Dunaway poses on the red carpet before the Metropolitan Opera's opening night gala performance at Lincoln Center on Monday, Sept. 22, 2008, in New York.
Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and his wife, Nancy, attend the Metropolitan Opera season opening gala performance at Lincoln Center on Monday, Sept. 22, 2008, in New York.
Actress Christine Baranski, left, and her daughter Isabel Cowles pose together before the Metropolitan Opera opening night gala performance at Lincoln Center on Monday, Sept. 22, 2008, in New York.
Oscar-winning actress Helen Mirren and singer Rufus Wainwright pose together before the Metropolitan Opera opening night gala performance at Lincoln Center on Monday, Sept. 22, 2008, in New York.
Television personality Martha Stewart attends the Metropolitan Opera's season opening gala performance at Lincoln Center on Monday, Sept. 22, 2008, in New York.
Actress Julianna Margulies and her husband, Keith Lieberthal, attend the Metropolitan Opera season opening gala performance at Lincoln Center on Monday, Sept. 22, 2008, in New York.
Cellist Yo-Yo Ma, left, and his daughter Emily attend the Metropolitan Opera season opening gala performance at Lincoln Center on Monday, Sept. 22, 2008, in New York.
Television journalist Barbara Walters attends the Metropolitan Opera's opening night gala at Lincoln Center on Monday, Sept. 22, 2008, in New York.
Actress Molly Sims attends the Metropolitan Opera season opening gala performance at Lincoln Center on Monday, Sept. 22, 2008, in New York.
Actress Parker Posey walks the red carpet before the Metropolitan Opera's season opening gala performance at Lincoln Center on Monday, Sept. 22, 2008, in New York.
Actor John Turturro and his wife, Katherine Borowitz, pose for a photo at the Metropolitan Opera's season opening gala performance at Lincoln Center on Monday, Sept. 22, 2008, in New York.
Actress Taylor Momsen of "Gossip Girl" attends the Metropolitan Opera opening night gala performance at Lincoln Center on Monday, Sept. 22, 2008, in New York.
Actress Helen Mirren, left, and actress Christine Baranski pose together at the Metropolitan Opera's opening night gala performance at Lincoln Center on Monday, Sept. 22, 2008, in New York.
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Home/Additives/CFH Kicks Off “Read Your Labels” Campaign
CFH Kicks Off “Read Your Labels” Campaign
In Additives, Family Health, Food Labeling, Food/Water Integrity, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Sweeteners
“Read Your Labels” Campaign Lists Top Ten Food Additives to Avoid
Courtesy of Linda Bonvie, FoodIdentityTheft blogger and frequent contributor to Citizens for Health
Do we really need Yellow 5 and Red 40 in apple pie?
If there’s one piece of advice you keep hearing from us, it’s that reading the ingredients label is the only way to really find out what’s in a processed food. Not the nutrition facts label, not the front of the package, and certainly not the advertising copy.
To encourage this time-honored way to actually know what you’re eating (or considering consuming), Citizens for Health is launching “Read Your Labels,” a campaign to create greater awareness of the unnecessary, harmful or controversial additives that are commonly found in the foods and beverages we buy and casually consume without giving them a second thought.
If you only read ingredients occasionally, we’d like to get you into the habit of doing it all the time. If you seldom or never do, now’s as good a time to start as any. To get you going, we will be listing our top ten ingredients to avoid – and the reasons for doing so – in this and upcoming blogs. We think once you see some of the things that are actually in processed food products, you’ll become a regular ingredients checker before deciding to purchase and eat any of them.
Number 10 : artificial colors – and why you should shun them
The synthetic hues you’ll see on food and beverage ingredient labels include Red #40, Red #3, Blue #1, Blue #2, Yellow #5, Yellow #6 and Green #3. But you don’t need to memorize all those before you shop for food – all you have to remember is that any product whose ingredients include colors accompanied by numbers or “lakes” should be left on the shelf.
The entire history of artificial colors has been colored by controversy. While they may make products appear more attractive, they represent just the kind of chemical additives we should delete from our diets – something that’s especially true for kids. But then, the fact that so many supposedly “harmless” coloring agents have been found to be otherwise is hardly surprising when you consider their origins and backgrounds. Many of the older dyes were made from coal tar – a thick, black liquid derived from, well, coal. (Now, does that sound like anything you’d like to ingest?) Some are still in use today, while many newer ones are petroleum extracts. They may also contain measurable amounts of toxic contaminants, such as lead, mercury and arsenic.
The carcinogenic coloring Red Dye Number 2, for example, was in use until 1976, when it was booted off the “approved” list by the Food and Drug Administration, along with Violet Number 1. Then there’s the curious case of Red # 3, which was banned from use in cosmetics and externally applied drugs after the FDA found it caused thyroid cancer in rats, but strangely enough, its use in food items has continued to be allowed. But why wait for an often decades-delayed “official” decision, when you’re free to ban anything you like from your own home at any time?
The artificial color-hyperactivity link
Perhaps the most compelling reason to avoid artificial colors is the connection that’s been made between fake food dyes and hyperactivity in kids.
In 2008 the Center for Science in the Public Interest submitted a petition to the FDA to ban nine such food colorings and in the interim to require a package warning label on foods containing them that they “cause hyperactivity and behavioral problems in some children.”
The FDA responded by convening a Food Advisory Committee in 2011 (after receiving almost 8,000 comments on the topic), which concluded there was not enough evidence to take regulatory action.
While the FDA might not have been convinced, the same can’t be said of European regulatory officials. Since 2010, they’ve required foods that contain these unnatural hues to carry a warning label stating that consumption “may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children.”
In fact, the link between food dyes (and certain other ingredients, as well as foods themselves) and behavioral problems in kids has been known for quite a while. It goes back to the 1970s when the late Dr. Benjamin Feingold, a California pediatrician and pioneer in the field of allergy and immunology, discovered the connection between what we eat and how it affects the way we feel and act. Since then, the Feingold Center he founded has helped scores of kids with hyperactivity and attention deficit disorder by eliminating certain additives from their diets – all without resorting to drugs such as Ritalin.
It’s all very simple when you think about it. To help sell food products that are highly processed, manufacturers have doused them with cosmetics – a whole bevy of chemicals to make them seem more appealing. But despite assurances that these substances are harmless, a little knowledge of their checkered history should be enough to make them unwelcome in your home.
Stay tuned for the next additive to avoid – hint – this heart-harming ingredient can be “hidden” on the nutrition facts label. We’ll tell you what to look for to keep this unnecessary and dangerous ingredient out of your diet.
Post Tags - CFH, Citizens for health, food labeling, food safety, HFCS, High Fructose Corn Syrup, linda bonvie, Safety & Quality
7 Responses to “CFH Kicks Off “Read Your Labels” Campaign”
By Guy - 19 February 2013 Reply
I also avoid the white coloring metal titanium dioxide (TiO2).
http://www.naturalnews.com/027000_titanium_dioxide_vitamins.html
http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/dangers-of-titanium.html
By William - 19 February 2013 Reply
Sorry, but your intentions are abmirable, however, far too weak to be of real value in my limited lifetime.
By Maria - 20 February 2013 Reply
I would like to see this subject on the curriculum of primary schools nationwide!
By Theresa - 20 February 2013 Reply
Customer in grocery store was reading ingredients on Balsamic Vinegar found it contained LEAD
By Kathy O'Brien - 21 February 2013 Reply
Great article, and looking forward to the next one.
By EDNA COX - 24 February 2013 Reply
THANK YOU FOR THIS INFORMATION WE NEED TO KNOW HOW TO PROTECT OURSELF AND THE HEALTH OF OUR CHILDREN.
By Patricia DeWitt - 19 March 2013 Reply
Thank you, Linda and “Citizens” for all you do.
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Animal Welfare Orginizations
Sec. 8-9. - Registration fee.
The owner of a dog or cat older than three months of age shall have the animal registered through the city police department, and renew said registration annually. The cost of registration for each animal shall be $2.00 for a neutered/spayed animal and $5.00 for any other animal. The owner shall show the following in order to register an animal:
(1) A current certificate of rabies vaccine;
(2) The address, name of owner and telephone number of the owner; and
(3) A description of the animal.
(Ord. No. 97-03, § 9, 5-20-1997; Ord. No. 97-25, § 5, 12-4-1997)
Chapter 8 - ANIMALS
FOOTNOTE(S):
--- (1) ---
State Law reference— Health and safety of animals, V.T.C.A., Health and Safety Code § 821.001 et seq.; Type A municipalities may prohibit animals running at large, V.T.C.A., Local Government Code § 215.026; subchapter of state law does not preempt municipal regulation of dangerous wild animals, V.T.C.A., Health and Safety Code § 822.116. (Back)
Sec. 8-1. - Definitions.
The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this chapter, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
Animalmeans any living creature, including but not limited to, mammals, reptiles, fish, fowl, and birds, but excluding human beings.
Animal holding facility means any facility used by the city to house or keep animals. This facility may be either a public or private facility.
Dangerous animal means any nonhuman primate, skunk, raccoon, jaguar, leopard, lynx, tiger, lion, ocelot, bobcat, cheetah, mountain lion, wildcat, panther, bear, wolf, coyote, fox, poisonous reptile, or any wild animal capable of or inclined to do serious bodily harm to humans or other animals, or any hybrid of a dangerous animal.
Fence means to enclose with a fence.
Fighting animal means any dog, rooster, or other animal that has been trained, used, exhibited, purchased, sold, or kept for the purpose of fighting with another animal.
Leash means a tether, length of rope, lead or other material used to control an animal so that the animal may not roam at will, or run at large.
Livestock means cattle, horses, mules, donkeys, goats, sheep, and swine.
Menacing conduct means growling, snarling, snapping, charging, or any other threat display employed by the species of animal, or any other conduct that would lead a reasonable person to be apprehensive that an attack by the animal is imminent.
Neglect an animal means to fail to provide appropriate food, water, shelter, and veterinary care for the animal.
Own means to possess, harbor, keep, give food, water, or shelter, or own any animal, or to permit an animal to remain on premises subject to that person's ownership, custody, possession, or control.
Owner means any person who owns, as defined herein, an animal.
Running at large means the going upon public or private property, other than the property of the owner of the animal, by an animal without the owner or person in charge thereof having direct, clearly effective, physical control over the animal.
Spay means surgery performed on female animals in which the ovaries and uterus are removed, preventing an animal from having estrus (heat) cycles and eliminating the ability to become pregnant.
Stray animal means an animal running at large, not on a leash, the owner of which is unknown to the person enforcing this chapter concerning said animal.
Unaltered dog or cat means a dog or cat that has not been spayed or neutered.
Unreasonable noise means and shall include continued barking for long periods of time, or repeated barking, but the term "unreasonable noise" is not restricted to barking.
Veterinarian means any person who is duly licensed to practice as a doctor of veterinary medicine by the licensing authority of any one or more of the 50 United States or the District of Columbia, provided that such person is acting within the course and scope of his license and practicing in a state or district in which such license is recognized for the practice of veterinary medicine.
Vicious animal means a member of any species of animal or any individual animal that has a dangerous disposition likely to be harmful to humans or other animals. The term vicious animal shall include but is not limited to any animal that molests, threatens, attacks, or bites any person, vehicle, or other animal.
Sec. 8-2. - Findings of fact.
The city council finds that the keeping, harboring, or possession of any animal in violation of this chapter constitutes a nuisance that endangers the people of the city and their property, disturbs the peace, impairs the use and enjoyment of public and private property, and impairs the value and marketability of public and private property.
(Ord. No. 97-03, § 2, 5-20-1997)
Sec. 8-3. - Nuisance animals.
The keeping, harboring, or possession of any of the following animals is hereby found and declared to be a nuisance:
(1) Any animal that molests, threatens, attacks, or bites any person, vehicle, or other animal, without deliberate provocation;
(2) Any animal that damages private or public property that does not belong to the owner of the animal;
(3) Any animal that makes unreasonable noise or noise that would be offensive to a reasonable person, that can be heard in a public place or on private property not owned, possessed, or controlled by the owner of the animal;
(4) Any vicious animal;
(5) Any dangerous animal;
(6) Any livestock running at large;
(7) Any dog or cat over six months old running at large that is not wearing a current, valid rabies vaccination tag;
(8) Any abandoned animal;
(9) Any stray animal;
(10) Any fighting animal;
(11) Any animal that is kept in such a way as to produce a foul odor that would be offensive to a reasonable person and that can be smelled on public property or on private property not owned, possessed, or controlled by the owner of the animal;
(12) Any neglected animal;
(13) Any animal treated by its owner in a manner that includes the elements of the offense of cruelty to animals;
(14) Any animal that is in violation of this chapter or that is kept, harbored, or possessed in violation of this chapter;
(15) Any animal running at large; and
(16) Any animal roaming free and not enclosed by a fence or on a leash, tether, lead, or rope to control the animal's ability to roam.
(Ord. No. 97-03, § 3(1—14), 5-20-1997; Ord. No. 97-25, § 3, 12-4-1997)
Sec. 8-4. - Additional animal nuisances.
The following are also found and declared to be nuisances:
(1) The neglect of an animal by its owner;
(2) Cruelty to an animal;
(3) The abandonment of an animal by its owner;
(4) The release of any confined animal without the consent of its owner; and
(5) Any violation of this chapter.
(Ord. No. 97-03, §§ 3(1—4), 4, 5-20-1997)
Sec. 8-5. - Prohibition of nuisances.
(a) No person shall commit a nuisance as declared in this chapter.
(b) No person shall permit any animal owned by that person to be a nuisance as declared in this chapter.
(c) No person shall own any animal that is a nuisance as declared in this chapter.
Sec. 8-6. - Vicious animals.
An officer enforcing this chapter shall treat an animal as a vicious animal under this chapter if:
(1) The officer observes that animal displaying vicious conduct or menacing conduct, and the animal is not confined in a way that prevents it from escaping and prevents it from harming people and property.
(2) Any officer of the city receives an affidavit or sworn complaint stating that the animal has displayed vicious conduct or menacing conduct, and stating:
a. Where, when, and how such conduct occurred;
b. A description of the animal; and
c. If known, the name and address of the owner.
(3) The officer enforcing this chapter has reasonable grounds to believe that affidavit or complaint.
Sec. 8-7. - Confinement, impoundment, burial and destruction of animals.
(a) As authorized in this section, any officer enforcing this chapter may confine, impound, or destroy any animal that violates this chapter or that is being kept, harbored, owned, or possessed in violation of this chapter.
(b) The officer shall notify the owner of the animal to confine or remove the animal or to take such other action as necessary to cure the violation, if:
(1) The owner is known to the officer;
(2) The owner is available to receive such notice; and
(3) In the officer's discretion, it is not reasonably necessary for the officer to immediately confine, impound, or destroy the animal in order to protect the safety or property of any person.
(c) The officer may immediately confine, impound, or destroy the animal without first notifying the owner as provided in subsection (b) of this section if:
(1) The owner is not known to the officer;
(2) The owner is not available to receive such notice; or
(3) The officer believes, in his discretion, that such action is reasonably necessary to protect the safety or property of any person.
(d) The officer may confine, impound, or destroy the animal, if the owner has not complied with the notice provided by subsection (b) of this section.
(e) The officer shall not destroy an animal under subsection (b), (c), or (d) of this section, if in the officer's discretion, confinement, or impoundment can be accomplished without risk to the safety or property of any person.
(f) Any officer enforcing this chapter may, in his discretion, select the place of impoundment of an animal in violation of this chapter or being kept in violation of this chapter, unless the city council has designated such place or places.
(g) Upon impounding an animal, an officer enforcing this chapter shall:
(1) Notify the owner of the animal of such impoundment; and
(2) File a report with the police department of the city, which shall keep the report for 30 days. The report shall include a description of the animal, where and when it was picked up, the name and address of the owner, if known, and a description of the violation.
(h) The owner of an impounded animal may reclaim possession of the animal only by paying all fees required by this chapter and by registering the animal. If the animal has not yet received its required vaccination(s), then the owner may reclaim possession of the animal only upon vaccination(s) by the city or the city's provider, if offered, or by providing proof of a pre-paid rabies vaccination certificate from a licensed veterinarian, with the agreement that the animal be in full compliance with this chapter within five days.
(i) An impounded animal shall be kept for a period of 72 hours. If an animal has not been reclaimed by its owner within 72 hours, the animal shall be released to another person as provided in subsection (j) of this section or shall be destroyed.
(j) In lieu of destruction, an officer enforcing this chapter, may in his sole discretion release the animal to a person who:
(1) Agrees to keep the animal in compliance with all law;
(2) Demonstrates to the officer's reasonable satisfaction that the person has the ability and any and all equipment necessary to keep the animal in compliance with all law; and
(3) Pays all fees required by this chapter.
(k) There is hereby levied upon any person to whom an impounded animal is released:
(1) A fixed pound fee of $25.00;
(2) A charge of $5.00 for any portion of a day; plus
(3) An amount equal to any expenses actually incurred by the city in excess of the foregoing fees, for the capture, impoundment, care, and maintenance of any animal impounded under the terms of this chapter.
All fees shall be received by the animal control officer or his designee. Any person receiving fees paid for impoundment of an animal shall deliver the same to the city resource manager, who shall deposit said fees in the animal control fund, for the improvement of the animal control. In addition, if the animal is impounded with a veterinarian, the person redeeming the animal shall pay all the actual charges of the veterinarian.
(l) When an animal is found dead along public thoroughfares, including the right-of-way or common areas, and is determined to be a hazard to public safety and/or health, the owner of said animal will be notified and made responsible for immediate, within one day, removal and burial. If the animal is not removed by the owner, the city will remove and bury the remains and assess fees of $50.00 for small animals and $100.00 for large animals. If ownership of the animal cannot be determined, city assets will be dispatched to remove and dispose of the remains by the most expeditious means. On a case-by-case basis, city assets may also be used for removal of animal remains from property when ownership of the animal cannot be determined and the animal is not connected with the property where found. The fees previously established will apply and be assessed to the owner of the animal if and when ownership is established.
(Ord. No. 97-03, § 7, 5-20-1997; Ord. No. 97-25, § 3, 12-4-1997; Ord. No. 2011-O-18, § 1, 10-11-2011)
Sec. 8-8. - Rabies.
(a) Any dog or cat older than three months of age that is not wearing a valid, current rabies vaccination tag is hereby found and declared to be a nuisance and in violation of this chapter.
(b) No person shall keep, harbor, or possess a dog or cat older than three months of age without a valid, current rabies vaccination and the city collar tag worn on a collar by the animal.
(c) No person shall fail to keep accurate records of the rabies vaccinations of any dog or cat older than three months of age that is owned by such person. No person shall fail to permit an officer enforcing this chapter to examine such records on request.
(d) Any animal that bites or scratches a person and that is not wearing a valid, current rabies vaccination tag shall be impounded. Such animal shall remain impounded for observation for ten days and shall not be destroyed or released within that time. If the animal dies while impounded, then it shall be tested for rabies. If the animal does not die within ten days of impoundment, and if a veterinarian certifies that it does not have rabies, then it is subject to reclamation, release, or destruction as provided in section 8-7. However, it may not be reclaimed or released without receiving a rabies vaccination at the expense of the person receiving the animal.
(e) No person shall fail to keep accurate records of the rabies vaccinations of any dog or cat over six months old that is owned by such person. No person shall fail to permit an officer enforcing this chapter to examine such records on request.
State law reference— Rabies control, V.T.C.A., Health and Safety Code § 826.001 et seq.; vaccination required, 25 Tex. Admin. Code § 169.29.
Sec. 8-10. - Enforcement.
Any police officer or code enforcement officer of the city may enforce this chapter.
(Ord. No. 97-03, § 10, 5-20-1997)
Sec. 8-11. - Penalty.
Any person who violates this chapter shall be punished by a fine of not more than $200.00 plus any cost, as provided by law for each violation of this chapter. Each day or any part thereof that said violation occurs or continues shall constitute a separate offense.
The Manvel Police Department has a temporary holding shelter located at the Police Department. If the owner of an impounded animal is not located, the animal is then transferred to Alvin Adoption Center.
Manvel Police Department
6615 North Masters Road Manvel Texas
Alvin Adoption Center
550 Hwy 6, Alvin Texas 77511.
Southern Brazoria County Animal Shelter
115 Canna Lane
Lake Jackson Texas 77566
To see animal welfare locations in the greater Houston area click on the link below.
TWRC Wildlife Center
Wildlife Center of Texas
TPWD: Wildlife Rehabilitators
SPCA Houston
Gulf Coast Wildlife Rescue
TPWD Wiuldlife Rehabilitators Brazoria County
Advisory Commission
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What Was The First Orchestra Instrument
Home / Helpful Blog Posts / What Was The First Orchestra Instrument
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instrumentation patterns found in orchestral music. As a first step, we took an exploratory rather than hypothesis-driven approach. In one of few empirical studies.
Tippu Singer Kannada Songs List India has voted and chosen The Times 50 Most Desirable Women 2017. The votes received online along with the internal jury votes, decided the final 50 on this coveted list, which boasts of women who ar. 29 Sep, 2018 – 07:00 AM IST | By indiantelevision.com Team Consumers are in for a treat as Shemaroo
During the first half of the 1800s, valve instruments became increasingly common among. Orchestral size has always been subject to variation, although the.
The instrument was played in the first half of the program by its owner, Elizabeth Pitcairn, in a work entitled “The Red Violin: A Chaconne for Violin and Orchestra” (1996) by John Corigliano, which d.
In 1966, longtime SLSO leader and benefactor Oscar Johnson Jr. gave $500,000 to purchase the theater for the orchestra. Fittingly, “The Sound of Music” was the last film to be shown in its first incar.
Bar With Live Music Greenville Sc Tuesday, December 11th, 2018. Main Stage Weedie Braimah & The Hands of Time Weedie Braimah – Djembe/Congas (Oteil Burbridge, Christian Scott, Trombone Shorty) So when Gray woke up last Tuesday morning and saw the news of Columbus Crew SC exploring the possibility of relocating. people spend time on the lake or listen to live music.
Sarah Brown, a violinist for the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, inherited her love for the instrument before the. who is a former concertmaster, or first violinist, with the Oklahoma City Symphony. “T.
The brass section of the orchestra is known for its brilliant and blazing sounds. The French horn was the first brass instrument to be used consistently by.
Period instruments in the hands of our players make the music come alive. Built at the time Bach and Handel were composing, or built today by contemporary.
The first harp instruments existed already about 5,000 years ago. At that time the instrument looked different; the harps were small, did not have as many strings.
May 11, 2018. Historically, a woman's ability to play a musical instrument has been celebrated as a sign she was educated and 'well bred'. But it wasn't until.
It does have to do with the dynamics of the instruments. Note that you have 16 first violinists, playing in unison, but only three trumpets.
The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, in full The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra: Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Henry Purcell, Op. 34, composition for orchestra by British composer Benjamin Britten.The work was written at the request of the British Ministry of Education for use in the short educational film Instruments of the Orchestra (1946).
shows the conductor all of the music each different instrument must play. In the first orchestras, there was only one family of instruments — the string family.
"It doesn’t matter what instrument they’re playing. The music can play an indelible cause. It helps all aspects of living." I.
Although Mayer, who first conceived the idea. Twinning each character to a specific instrument within the orchestra, the e.
This is the Yamaha Corporation [Musical Instrument Guide] website. If you go to a concert performed by an orchestra, you will first hear the oboe play an A.
Harrison, 14, a freshman at Hall High School in West Hartford, plays the trumpet and is in his first year with the youth orchestra. He inherited the instrument in the third grade from his brother, who.
We wrapped up “Bird Box” over the time we’ve been on this first leg of the tour. Conducting an orchestra: I’m not that goo.
History and Growth of the Cleveland Orchestra. The Cleveland Orchestra opened its first 1918-1919 season on December 11, 1918 with a performance at Grays Armory 122.Grays Armory had been the usual location for visiting orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony and the Philadelphia Orchestra.
He combined brass and woodwind instruments to produce a sound that. With the help of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, this weeke.
but this is the first time the Corvallis orchestra has tried anything like this. "We don’t know how this is going to work out," he said. But the experiment already has cleared at least one hurdle.
Guitar Center is proud to carry a broad selection of brass, woodwind, orchestral, marching and classroom musical equipment. From student-quality instruments, through intermediate, into professional and artisan-level handmade masterpieces, we have your next instrument in stock.
I don’t know whether the orchestra really can be both things at once — be absolutely first-rate with all of the time that. them that musicians must often borrow to pay for their own instruments, or.
Dec 1, 2017. Among the 400 musicians performing on Sunday, there will be schoolchildren learning to play their first instruments alongside improvisers, jazz.
An orchestra spokesman said the group’s investigation is ongoing. The two new accounts are similar to the experience of Nashv.
At first, the show’s background music was minimal. Most of the composers used conventional instruments in addition to gadg.
Aug 8, 2016. The violin is the most important instrument of the orchestra. The leader of the first violins is called the concert master (or concert mistress for a.
After you get the latest version of Flash, you'll be able to play around with the Instruments of the Orchestra! The Instruments of the Orchestra are organized into.
Real-life orchestras have grown in size from groups of 20-30. Nowadays, the orchestra's four principal instrument families.
Classical Music Era Attributes Classical Notes – Classical Classics – Beethoven: Symphony # 7, Op. 92, by Peter Gutmann. Classical record reviews and commentary by a passionate fan. “Music criticism is dead,” proclaimed Dan Kopf emphatically on culture website Quartzy this past spring. In the present strea. "I feel so humbled by this music," Holloway continues after composing himself.
By the time we have reached that target which we had in mind from the first. classical orchestra. That’s the point — every.
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April 13, 2018: All music comes from the voice, and there is no more direct connection in music than the one between singer and listener. In jazz, the singularity.
Mar 5, 2017. The violin is the leading instrument of the orchestra, it owes its. in all, grouped in the proportion of sixteen first and fourteen second violins.
The woodwind and brass were used as melodic instruments but later they were. The strings were the most important secion, with the first violins taking the.
We flew there to hear the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra play Gustav Mahler’s. for Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.
The Reading Symphony Orchestra opened its first classical concert of 2016 Saturday evening. And why not – his 1690 ex-Leopold Auer Stradivarius was the very instrument the concerto was written for.
May 3, 2017. Why don't the oboes and tubas sit in the front of the orchestra? Why don't flutes and first violins swap positions, or — in what would be the. But why is this particular instrument always on the receiving end of these jokes?
“Jane Little was a woman who succeeded in a role traditionally reserved for men; she was a person of modest stature who played the biggest instrument. Little performed in her first concert with the.
In Mozart’s Symphony No. 40, this listener heard all sort of things in a new manner or even for the first time, thereby gaini.
An Orchestra is made up of lots of different musical instruments. First of all, low notes are called bass notes, middle range notes are either tenor and (higher).
Slide Sample For Future Funk Sound Effect If the leaked slides are anything to be believed. RTX 2080 and 2070 will be overclocking beasts Let’s start with the sound levels and acoustics. The GTX 1080 – which is what NVIDIA is using for com. Best Folk Music Venues In Michigan Anne of Green Gables, A New Musical at the Merry-Go-Round Playhouse in
Different Styles Of Pop Music Jazz music began in the early 1900s within the black community in New Orleans. It was a new type of music that combined European and African styles. The popular Korean music scene, K-pop, has made its way to Decatur. which is for students 14 and older. She was told the s. Apr 27, 2011 · Music
The first half of the program will feature music director Andrés Franco discussing aspects of the symphony’s composition, str.
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It's a Pip Paint
This latex paint formula was invented by Judges Charles W. Fricke and Caryl Fleming, and marketed by Fleming in 1937. However, the idea of using rub-off pips is very old and is described in early conjuring texts. The original form of the principle involved cutting out a pip from one card and sticking it onto another, making a four appear to be a five, or an eight a nine, for example. When the card was turned face down, the magician would steal the additional pip away to effect a change. This was published in Horatio Galasso's Giochi di carte bellissimi de regola, e di memoria, 1593, p. 61 of the Pieper translation. This book was translated and published in Gibecière, Vol. 2 No. 2, Summer 2007, p. 15-150.
The transition to an ink- or powder-based imposter appeared to take place in the 18th century. Its use at the gaming table appeared in L’Antidote ou le contrepoison des chevaliers d’industrie, 1768, p. 107 of the Pieper translation. This book was translated in Gibecière, Vol. 7 No. 2, Summer 2012, p. 60-175. It later appeared in the conjuring literature within Giuseppe Pinetti's Physical Amusements and Diverting Experiments, 1784, p. 20.
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The Class of 2015 Settles In
With less than an hour to complete their first assignment, four banking professionals who were strangers on this morning have, by late afternoon, begun the transition to becoming tight-knit teammates. What binds them is a shared drive to rejuvenate a sinking bank and outshine their competitors.
“We’ve got to stick together and get this done,” says Renzi Castro, regional marketing manager with Wells Fargo in San Antonio. She and her fellow comrades huddle around a table scattered with papers and binders of data.
The team has 45 minutes to analyze their bank’s finances and the various consumers in its market. “We’re on it. We’re ambitious!” Castro says, pumping her arm skyward.
Named Veritas Bank, theirs is one of five imaginary banks that are struggling in an imaginary community. But the outcome of decisions made by the Veritas team – and their competitors – will feel all too palpable in this state-of-the-art simulation exercise that takes place at the CBA/BAI Graduate School of Retail Bank Management at Furman University in Greenville, S.C.
It’s week one, year one, for the Veritas Bank team, part of a freshman class of 105 students – a record number since the 2008 economic downturn. All are high performing retail bank professionals who have come to the program from around the world and from a diversity of areas within banks. By the end of the three-year program, these freshmen will have gained an unparalleled, comprehensive perspective of retail banking, and banking overall, as well as the skills to successfully lead and evolve with industry shifts.
An invaluable opportunity
“Our job is to make you promotable,” the program’s director, Melissa Cabocel, says as she welcomes freshmen gathered in a lecture hall. “We’re going to be preparing you for the job you’ll have two or three advances down the road.”
That’s exactly why DeAnna Douglas, senior vice president and strategic project manager at Sun Trust Bank in Atlanta, wanted to be a part of the program. With 18 years in the industry, Douglas was eager to expand her skills to ensure future job growth.
“I hope to walk out of here more open minded and take some of the good pieces and work with the ‘B folks,’” she says, referring to colleagues who may not qualify for the CBA/BAI program.
Student Shannon Burton was one of three employees chosen out of 4,300 nationwide to attend the rigorous, boutique education program. She’s been in the financial services industry for six years.
“It was a really big honor,” to be invited, says Burton, a business reporting manager for capital markets at EverBank in Jacksonville, Fla. “It makes you feel like your company values you, they see your potential and they want to invest in that.”
Zehal Schoff agrees. A finance consultant with Wells Fargo Bank in Atlanta, Schoff says that after marking a decade in the industry, she was hungry for “something else – but not (to) go to business school.” After just a few days in the program, she was already praising it for “bringing the qualitative piece” to running a bank.
The CBA/BAI program requires a significant commitment from students like Schoff, who spend 10 days over three summers on the Furman campus. Lectures are few and focused. Each essentially prepares students for a daily immersion in the program’s signature offering: demanding, hands-on drills that push bankers to make critical decisions to a bank’s health. Through the interactive exercises, students learn the core principles of successful retail and overall bank leadership.
Making executive-level decisions
Over the course of the program, students also work with different teams and don a variety of roles common at banks. It’s a curriculum practice that provides vital opportunities for bankers not only to hone leadership skills, but critically, to understand how certain decisions and actions affect other areas of a bank.
For many, being in the program also catapults them back in time, to sharing an apartment with strangers, eating lunch in a cafeteria and staying up late to work on assignments. Instructors contend that the shift in environment, coupled with the challenging curriculum, can at first be a bit overwhelming. “It’s up to us to make sure they’re engaged and have a good experience,” says instructor Daniel Hoke, senior vice president, division manager, corporate and university campus cards and branches for U.S. Bank in Bloomington, Minn.
On this first day, Hoke and instructor Cathy Myers prepare teams of students to inherit the same foundering virtual retail bank. They are charged with bringing it back to life through key decisions about how to target customers, design, price, and deliver products, and tailor marketing messages. The environment will automatically become more competitive and realistic with each decision as students jockey for customers’ attention.
“Our goal is for you to learn.” Myers, a consumer bank technology executive at U.S. Bank in Cincinnati, tells her community. “What do you want to do with (your) bank to drive earnings, increase customers?”
For Myers, who has taught here for 11 years, it’s critical that students learn through discovery. Also, that they become adept at “telling their story,” she says, of how and why they arrived at a decision – whether the outcome was successful or not. It’s a skill every bank leader must master.
Back at Veritas Bank later in the week, the team has decided to redirect profits from the community’s affluent customers to help drive funding for others, such as first-time homeowners and those on the verge of retirement. It’s unclear on this day how the virtual marketplace will respond to their decision.
“Let’s stick with our game plan,” Castro suggests to her colleagues, “see how things turn out and then adjust.”
For teammate Jeff Schofield, the experience he’s embarking on with the CBA/BAI program is a welcome one. No freshman nerves here. “I’m eager to learn,” says the regional retail director for Associated Bank in Libertyville, Ill.
“I’m trying to get to the point where I can take strategies I have and back them up (with) financial data when I talk to my executive,” he says. “It also adds credibility to my words."
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Venice Views
Gondoliers escort passengers along the Grand Canal in Venice on June 3, 2008. Tourism is rising in the Italian city, and so are prices. Still, there are ways to spend less and experience the beauty of the city laced together with hundreds of bridges.
Credit: AP Photo/Betsy Vereckey
Gondoliers escort passengers along the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy on June 4, 2008. For centuries, Venice has captivated travelers with an array of romantic images: cobblestone streets, gondola rides through glistening canals at sunset and quaint homes painted in vibrant hues of periwinkle and plum.
The Ponte dei Sospiri, or "Bridge of Sighs," connects an old prison to Doge's Palace - the seat of Venice's government for many centuries. According to legend, criminals travelled over the enclosed bridge on their way to prison. Before arriving at their cells, they would get one last look at Venice in all its beauty before heaving a breathtaking sigh.
It's not uncommon for Venetian visitors to let out their own sigh of pleasure - over the city's marvelous food and drink. A selection of gelato, the richly flavored Italian ice cream, is shown on sale in Venice, Italy on June 5, 2008.
No visit to venice is complete without a stop at Piazza San Marco (St. Mark's Square). In April 2008, officials passed an ordinance banning tourists and locals from feeding the pigeons that used to flock to the piazza by the thousands.
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May Cutler collection on Expo 67
Series: Photographic materials, 1963-1967
Sub-series: Site and pavilions, indoor and outdoor views by various agencies and studios, Expo 67, Montréal, Québec, 1914-1915, 1958, 1963-1967
AP049.S1.D1
Sub-series: Photographs of sculptures displayed on the site of Expo 67 taken by Sam Tata and other unidentified photographers, Expo 67, Montréal, Québec, 1967
Sub-series: Slides and color prints on various subjects related to Expo 67 by Sam Tata and other unidentified photographers, Expo 67, Montréal, Québec, 1967
Series: Other documents: books, printed materials, recordings, etc., 1967-1968
Collection: May Cutler collection on Expo 67, 1963-1967
May Cutler (creator)
May Cutler (archive creator)
630 photographs
206 slides
33 textual records
27 contact sheets
9 negatives
2 phonograph records
The collection consists of Expo'67 material assembled by May Cutler for a never-realized publication. The fonds consists of 862 photographic records, 32 textual records and 1 phonograph record related to Expo 67 (1963-1967). 10 additional photographs on other world's fairs (1914-1915, 1958, 1963-1967), and 1 phonograph record and 1 textual record on the 1968 exhibition 'Man and His World' are also included. The fonds is divided into 2 series; the first one contains all the photographic material and the second is related to publications, manuscripts and recordings.
The collection is divided into 2 series; the first one contains all the photographic material and the second one is related to publications, manuscripts and recordings.
May Cutler (born Ebbitt) was born September 4th, 1923, in the east end of Montréal, to father William Ebbitt, a police officer, and mother Francis Ebbitt (born Farrell). They were Irish immigrants. May Cutler was the youngest of three children.
She married Phil Cutler in 1952. Phil Cutler was a Canadian labor lawyer, who died in 1987. They had four boys: Keir, Adam and Michael (twins), and Roger.
She was a graduate of McGill University (Montréal), where she earned Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees. She also earned a Master of Arts in journalism from Columbia University in New York City
Following her graduate studies at Columbia University, May Cutler went to work for the United Nations as A receptionist. When she returned to Montréal, she completed her second masters degree in English literature at McGill University. At the same time, she became a columnist and reporter for the "Montreal Herald" and she wrote articles for the "Montreal Standard" as well. She also founded a three-year program in journalism at McGill University.
In 1967, Cutler founded Tundra Books and became the first Canadian woman publisher of children's books. She ran Tundra Books for almost 30 years. The publishing house was sold to the McClelland & Stewart publishing firm in 1998. Tundra Books published May Cutler's works, such as her novel "The Last Noble Savage" and her biography of W. Kurelek entitled "Breaking Free: The Story of William Kurelek".
The death of her husband in 1987 coincided with her political campaign for mayor of Westmount, where she defeated the mayor, Brian Gallery. She served one four-year term and declined to run for re-election in 1991.
May Cutler passed away on March 3, 2011 at the age of 87. She is survived by her four sons and 6 grandchildren.
Open for use by qualified researchers. Access by appointment only.
The CCA acquired the May Cutler collection in 1995. The donor was May Cutler.
Documents are primarily in English. Some documents are in French and German as well.
The finding aid is in English.
Versement Initial - Inventaire préliminaire
1er ajout - Instrument de recherche non disponible
Series: Photographic materials
Series: Other documents: books, printed materials, recordings, etc.
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13. I saw in the night-visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
13. Videbam in visionibus noctis: et ecce in nubibus 1 coeli, vel coelorum, tanquam Filius hominus veniebat, et usque ad Antiquum dierum venit, et coram eo repraesentarunt. 2
After Daniel has narrated how he saw God on the throne of judgment, openly exercising his power and laying open to the world what was formerly hidden from it, namely, his supreme authority in its government, he now adds the second part of the vision, As it were the Son of man appeared in the clouds. Without doubt this is to be understood of Christ, and the Jews, perverse as they are, are ashamed to deny it, although they differ afterwards about Christ. But the object of the vision was to enable the faithful certainly to expect the promised Redeemer in his own time. He had been endued with heavenly power, and was seated at his Father's right hand. Hence Daniel says, He was intent on these nightly visions. And this repetition is by no means superfluous, as it informs us of the Prophet's alertness when God shews himself present. Daniel expresses this fully in his own words, for he roused himself when he perceived important, and rare, and singular matters set before him. This attentive disposition of the Prophet ought to stir us up to read his prophecy without listlessness, and with awakened minds earnestly to derive from heaven true and sincere intelligence. I was, then, says he, attentive in visions of the night, and beheld as it were the Son of man. I have already said this passage cannot be otherwise taken than concerning Christ. We must now see why he uses the word "like" the Son of man; that is, why he uses the letter k, ke, the mark for likeness. This might be twisted in favor of the folly of the Manichees, who thought Christ's body to be only imaginary. For, as they wrest the words of Paul, and pervert their sense, that Christ was in likeness as a man, (Philippians 2:7.) so also they may abuse the Prophet's testimony, when Christ is not said to be a man but only like one. With respect to Paul's words, he is not speaking of the essence of his human nature, but only of his state; for he is speaking of Christ being made man, of his condition being humble and abject, and even servile. But in the passage before us the reason is different. For the Prophet says, He appeared to him as the Son of man, as Christ had not yet taken upon him our flesh. And we must remark that saying of Paul's: When the fullness of time was come, God sent his Son, made of a woman. (Galatians 4:4.) Christ then began to be a man when he appeared on earth as Mediator, for he had not assumed the seed of Abraham before he was joined with us in brotherly union. This is the reason why the Prophet does not pronounce Christ to have been man at this period, but only like man; for otherwise he had not been that Messiah formerly promised under the Law as the son of Abraham and David. For if from the beginning he had put on human flesh, he would not have been born of these progenitors. It follows, then, that Christ was not a man from the beginning, but only appeared so in a figure. As also Irenaeus 3 says: This was a "prelude," he uses that word. Tertullian also says: "Then the Son of God put on a specimen of humanity." 4 This was a symbol, therefore, of Christ's future flesh, although that flesh did not yet exist. We now see how suitably this figure agrees with the thing signified, wherein Christ was set forth as the Son of man, although he was then the eternal Word of God.
It afterwards follows, .He came to the Ancient of days. This, in my judgment, ought to be explained of Christ's ascension; for he then commenced his reign, as we see in numberless passages of Scripture. Nor is this passage contrary to what the Prophet had previously said -- he saw the Son of man in the clouds. For by this expression he simply wishes to teach how Christ, although like a man, yet differed from the whole human race, and was not of the common order of men; but excelled the whole world in dignity. He expresses much more when he says, in the second clause, He came even unto the Ancient of days. For although the Divine Majesty lay hid in Christ, yet he discharged the duty of a slave, and emptied himself, as Paul says, (Philippians 2:7.) So also we read in the first chapter of John, (John 1:14,) Glory appeared in him as of the only begotten Son of God; that is, which belongs to the only begotten Son of God. Christ, therefore, thus put off his glory for the time, and yet by His miracles and many other proofs afforded a clear and evident; specimen of his celestial glory. He really appeared to Daniel in the clouds, but when he ascended to heaven, he then put off this mortal body, and put on a new life. Thus Paul also, in the sixth chapter to the Romans, says, he lives the life of God, (Romans 6:10;) and other phrases often used by our Lord himself agree very well with this, especially in the Evangelist John, "I go to the Father." "It is expedient for me to go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I," (John 16:7; John 14:28;) that is, it is expedient for me to ascend to that royal tribunal which the Father has erected for me by his eternal counsel, and thus the whole world will feel the supreme power to have been entrusted to. me. Now, therefore, we understand the full meaning of the Prophet's words.
But as there are many fanatics who wrest what has been said of the person of the Mediator, as if Christ were not the true God, but had a beginning from the Father at some definite period of time, we must observe how the Prophet's expression are neither the human nor the divine nature of Christ properly speaking, but a Mediator is here set before us who is God manifest in flesh. For if we hold this principle that Christ is described to us, not as either the word of God, or the seed of Abraham, but as Mediator, that is, eternal God who was willing to become man, to become subject to God the Father, to be made like us, and to be our advocate, then no difficulty will remain. Thus he appeared to Daniel like the Son of man, who became afterwards truly and really so. He was in the clouds, that is, separated from the common lot of mankind, as he always carried with him some marks of deity, even in his humility. He now arrives as the Ancient of days, that is, when he ascends to heaven, because his divine majesty was then revealed. And hence he says, It is expedient for you, for me to go to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. (John 14:28.) Christ here detracts nothing from his deity, but as his nature was not known in the world, while his divine majesty lay hid in the form of a servant, he calls the Father simply God; as if he had said, If I remain with you upon earth, what would the presence of my flesh profit you? But when I ascend to heaven, then that oneness which I have with the Father will become conspicuous. When, therefore, the world shall understand that I am one with the Father, and that the Deity is one, the hope of all the pious will become more firm and unconquered against all temptations; for they will know themselves to be equally under the protection of both God and man. If, therefore, Christ were always dwelling upon earth, and had borne witness a thousand times to his being given to us by his Father as the guardian of our salvation, yet there always would have been some hesitation and anxiety. But when we know him to be seated at his Father's right hand, we then understand him to be truly God, because all knees would not. be bent before him, unless he had been the eternal God. We must hold that passage of Isaiah, (Isaiah 42:8,) As I live, saith the Lord, my glory I will not give to another. As, therefore, God's glory can never be transferred to either man or any other creature, the true unity and nature of God necessarily shines forth in the human nature of Christ, for every knee is bent before him. Now, therefore, we understand the sense in which the Prophet says, Christ came as the Son of man, that is, like a man, even to the Ancient of days. For after Christ had passed through the period of his self-abasement, according' to Paul, (Philippians 2:7,) he ascended into heaven, and a dominion was bestowed upon him, as the Prophet says in the next verse. This passage, then, without the slightest doubt, ought to be received of Christ's ascension, after he had ceased being mortal man. He says, He was represented before God, namely, because he sits at his right hand. It follows, --
1 For Me, gnem, is taken in this passage in Chaldee, like b, be. This usage is customary: hence "in the clouds." -- Calvin.
2 Verbally, "made him approach." -- Calvin. The Latin text of 1561 has "eum" at the end of the verse, and the French translation implies it. See the Dissertations at the end of this volume. -- Ed.
3 The Latin translation of Irenaeus is "proeludium." The French here has "une approche et entree." and then adds, "He uses a word which we cannot translate into French." It means a preface or introduction. -- Ed.
4 Tertullian's words are, "Tunc praeluxit Filius Dei humanitate sua." -- Ed.
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A proclamation is an official designation of a day or event that can be used as a tool for gaining public recognition. Proclamations can come from any level of government, including governors, mayors, county executives, state legislatures, municipalities, counties, cities, or towns, and carry the full endorsement and support of the government entity that issues the proclamation. You can request a Hepatitis Awareness Month and/or national Hepatitis Testing Day (May 19) proclamation to be issued in your community.
How to Get a Proclamation Issued
Contact your local government official’s communications office to identify what information and action is needed to designate May as Hepatitis Awareness Month and/or May 19th as Hepatitis Testing Day in your community. You may be asked to share a draft proclamation or information on hepatitis awareness and testing so that they can determine whether or not they will issue a proclamation and, if so, what it will say.
How to Use a Proclamation
Once a proclamation is issued, there are many ways to share and promote it, as part of and in support of your ongoing Hepatitis Awareness Month/ Testing Day efforts. Below are just a few ideas to get you started.
Reach out to your local media
Send a press release or incorporate information on the proclamation into a press release for your local media. Announcing the proclamation can help bolster the “newsworthiness” of your release and may help to get more attention, from reporters and others, for your organization’s activities.
Hold an event
If you’re holding an event or activity, use it as an opportunity to announce and promote the proclamation. Invite reporters and local health organizations by sending a media advisory and distributing printed copies of the proclamation at an event during Hepatitis Awareness Month and/or on Hepatitis Testing Day. You can also have the proclamation enlarged to display at a news conference, event, or in your office.
Distribute the proclamation
Send the proclamation to local health organizations, community leaders and others, and encourage them to display the proclamation in their offices and on their websites. Post the proclamation to your own website, newsletter, and socialize it on your social media properties including Facebook and Twitter.
Key Facts to Include in a Proclamation
Following are sample key facts that you could include in a proclamation in support of Hepatitis Awareness Month/ Testing Day.
Millions of Americans are living with chronic hepatitis; most do not know they are infected.
Viral Hepatitis is a leading cause of liver cancer and liver transplants.
People with hepatitis B and hepatitis C have the greatest risk of liver cancer. In fact, more than 60 percent of liver cancer cases are caused by hepatitis B or C.
Hepatitis A can be prevented with a safe, effective vaccine.
People who get hepatitis A may feel sick for a few weeks to several months but usually recover completely and do not have lasting liver damage.
Since the hepatitis A vaccine was first recommended in 1996, cases of hepatitis A in the United States have declined dramatically.
Unfortunately, in recent years the number of people infected with hepatitis A has been increasing because there have been multiple outbreaks in many jurisdictions across the United States.
Recent outbreaks of hepatitis A have primarily been from person-to-person contact, especially among people who use drugs, people experiencing homelessness, and men who have sex with men.
An estimated 862,000 people are living with hepatitis B in the U.S.
Approximately 1 in 12 Asian Americans has hepatitis B.
Nearly 2 in 3 people with hepatitis B do not know they are infected.
People with Hepatitis B often have no symptoms.
Left untreated, 1 in 4 people with hepatitis B develop serious liver problems.
CDC recommends all people born in regions of the world where hepatitis B is common and other adults at risk get tested for Hepatitis B.
An estimated 2.4 million people are living with hepatitis C in the U.S.
Most people living with hepatitis C do not know they are infected.
Many people can live with hepatitis C for decades without having symptoms or feeling sick.
Left untreated, hepatitis C can cause serious liver damage and liver failure.
Hepatitis C is a leading cause of liver cancer and liver transplants.
CDC recommends all people born from 1945-1965 get tested for hepatitis C.
In addition to this type of statistical information that communicates the seriousness of hepatitis as a public health issue, government offices may also ask you for information such as:
A description of your organization, including when it was founded, what services you provide, who you serve in the community, etc.
Special efforts, programs or initiatives that your organization is leading during Hepatitis Awareness Month and/or for Hepatitis Testing Day
What impact you’ve had in your community, your track record of success
Page last reviewed: April 8, 2019
Content source: Division of Viral Hepatitis, National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention
home Viral Hepatitis
National Academies’ Reports
Sources for IG & HBIG
About the Division of Viral Hepatitis
Anonymous Feedback
Hepatitis D
Viral Hepatitis Home
Statistics & Surveillance
Populations & Settings
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Policy and Programs
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Go Ahead, Chill a Red Wine
Some of the first information that we learn about wine is that we serve whites chilled and reds at room temperature. Later we learn the reasons. Chilling brings up refreshing acid in white wine, which is a large part of its appeal, although it also lessens the flavor a bit. The reason that we serve red wines at room temperature is that the warmer temperature highlights the richer flavors and also reduces the effect of grainy tannins, making the wine smoother. But most of us enjoy breaking a rule now and again, and violating this one has various satisfactions and almost no risks, unlike driving over the speed limit or misrepresenting numbers on tax returns.
Many of us know that the finer a white wine the less it should be chilled and maybe not chilled at all. Spending big bucks for a beautiful white and diminishing its flavors by chilling it down makes little sense.
Similarly, there may be a time to violate protocol and chill red wine, particularly when summer temperatures drive the thermometer needle into the 90s range. Let’s say that you’re a dedicated red wine person. But it’s bloody hot, and you’re outside standing over the grill, with salmon, chicken, or ribs shooting sparks at your forearms. Yes, yes, you’re probably sipping a beer at the moment, maybe even guzzling it. But when you carry that beautiful platter to the table and sit down to enjoy, a slightly chilled red could be heavenly. But not just any red, preferably it would be a lighter one, maybe a fruity Pinot, a Beaujolais, a Barbera, or maybe a Zinfandel.
Several years ago, I attended a reception and tasting that Wine and Spirits Magazine hosted to honor its top 100 wines. Various tables exhibited particular groups of wines, such as French, Italian, German, Pinot Noir, and so forth. One section was devoted to Napa Cabernet, and behind that table, someone was pouring a particular Napa Cab, which he took from an ice bucket. I was dismayed and asked him why he was chilling this prize-winning Cab. First of all, he had an English accent, which had a bearing on his choice to chill the wine. And secondly, he wasn’t the winemaker, but he had enough clout at the winery so that no one stopped him from committing his sacrilegious act.
In his own defense, he explained that the wine was very ripe and high in alcohol and that chilling it brought up the acid and tannins so that the wine had more structure than it otherwise might have at room temperature. He was absolutely correct, and the wine was delicious. Wine and Spirits Magazine might have though that this was a terrific wine, but the Englishman, who was pouring it, felt that it was not quite balanced. Being English, he was probably weaned on European wines, which have a slightly different emphasis, less alcohol and more acid. So by chilling the wine slightly, he was making a temporary adjustment to the balance of the wine that he felt improved it.
But back to the summer barbecue…. Since Zinfandel is likely to be the highest alcohol wine in the California line-up, it too might be one that you could choose to chill down. Half an hour in the refrigerator or five minutes in an ice bucket would be just fine. And by the way, in case anyone at the table challenges you, tell him or her that the Europeans sometimes chill reds in the summer when the weather warrants it, and they’ve been drinking wine a lot longer than we have.
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Product listing: c-Fos (9F6) Rabbit mAb, UniProt ID P01100 #2250 to MEK1 (61B12) Mouse mAb, UniProt ID Q02750 #2352
Monoclonal Antibody - c-Fos (9F6) Rabbit mAb, UniProt ID P01100, Entrez ID 2353 #2250
Application Methods: Chromatin IP, Flow Cytometry, Immunofluorescence (Immunocytochemistry), Western Blotting
Background: The Fos family of nuclear oncogenes includes c-Fos, FosB, Fos-related antigen 1 (FRA1), and Fos-related antigen 2 (FRA2) (1). While most Fos proteins exist as a single isoform, the FosB protein exists as two isoforms: full-length FosB and a shorter form, FosB2 (Delta FosB), which lacks the carboxy-terminal 101 amino acids (1-3). The expression of Fos proteins is rapidly and transiently induced by a variety of extracellular stimuli including growth factors, cytokines, neurotransmitters, polypeptide hormones, and stress. Fos proteins dimerize with Jun proteins (c-Jun, JunB, and JunD) to form Activator Protein-1 (AP-1), a transcription factor that binds to TRE/AP-1 elements and activates transcription. Fos and Jun proteins contain the leucine-zipper motif that mediates dimerization and an adjacent basic domain that binds to DNA. The various Fos/Jun heterodimers differ in their ability to transactivate AP-1 dependent genes. In addition to increased expression, phosphorylation of Fos proteins by Erk kinases in response to extracellular stimuli may further increase transcriptional activity (4-6). Phosphorylation of c-Fos at Ser32 and Thr232 by Erk5 increases protein stability and nuclear localization (5). Phosphorylation of FRA1 at Ser252 and Ser265 by Erk1/2 increases protein stability and leads to overexpression of FRA1 in cancer cells (6). Following growth factor stimulation, expression of FosB and c-Fos in quiescent fibroblasts is immediate, but very short-lived, with protein levels dissipating after several hours (7). FRA1 and FRA2 expression persists longer, and appreciable levels can be detected in asynchronously growing cells (8). Deregulated expression of c-Fos, FosB, or FRA2 can result in neoplastic cellular transformation; however, Delta FosB lacks the ability to transform cells (2,3).
Monoclonal Antibody - c-Jun (60A8) Rabbit mAb (PE Conjugate), UniProt ID P05412, Entrez ID 3725 #15683
50 tests
This Cell Signaling Technology antibody is conjugated to phycoerythrin (PE) and tested in-house for direct flow cytometric analysis in human cells. This antibody is expected to exhibit the same species cross-reactivity as the unconjugated c-Jun (60A8) Rabbit mAb #9165.
Application Methods: Flow Cytometry
Background: c-Jun is a member of the Jun family containing c-Jun, JunB, and JunD, and is a component of the transcription factor activator protein-1 (AP-1). AP-1 is composed of dimers of Fos, Jun, and ATF family members and binds to and activates transcription at TRE/AP-1 elements (reviewed in 1). Extracellular signals including growth factors, chemokines, and stress activate AP-1-dependent transcription. The transcriptional activity of c-Jun is regulated by phosphorylation at Ser63 and Ser73 through SAPK/JNK (reviewed in 2). Knock-out studies in mice have shown that c-Jun is essential for embryogenesis (3), and subsequent studies have demonstrated roles for c-Jun in various tissues and developmental processes including axon regeneration (4), liver regeneration (5), and T cell development (6). AP-1 regulated genes exert diverse biological functions including cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis, as well as transformation, invasion and metastasis, depending on cell type and context (7-9). Other target genes regulate survival, as well as hypoxia and angiogenesis (8,10). Research studies have implicated c-Jun as a promising therapeutic target for cancer, vascular remodeling, acute inflammation, and rheumatoid arthritis (11,12).
Monoclonal Antibody - c-Jun (60A8) Rabbit mAb, UniProt ID P05412, Entrez ID 3725 #9165
Application Methods: Chromatin IP, Chromatin IP-seq, Flow Cytometry, Immunofluorescence (Immunocytochemistry), Immunohistochemistry (Paraffin), Immunoprecipitation, Western Blotting
Monoclonal Antibody - c-Jun (L70B11) Mouse mAb - Western Blotting, UniProt ID P05412, Entrez ID 3725 #2315
Monoclonal Antibody - c-Raf (D4B3J) Rabbit mAb - Immunoprecipitation, Western Blotting, UniProt ID P04049, Entrez ID 5894 #53745
Background: A-Raf, B-Raf, and c-Raf (Raf-1) are the main effectors recruited by GTP-bound Ras to activate the MEK-MAP kinase pathway (1). Activation of c-Raf is the best understood and involves phosphorylation at multiple activating sites including Ser338, Tyr341, Thr491, Ser494, Ser497, and Ser499 (2). p21-activated protein kinase (PAK) has been shown to phosphorylate c-Raf at Ser338, and the Src family phosphorylates Tyr341 to induce c-Raf activity (3,4). Ser338 of c-Raf corresponds to similar sites in A-Raf (Ser299) and B-Raf (Ser445), although this site is constitutively phosphorylated in B-Raf (5). Inhibitory 14-3-3 binding sites on c-Raf (Ser259 and Ser621) can be phosphorylated by Akt and AMPK, respectively (6,7). While A-Raf, B-Raf, and c-Raf are similar in sequence and function, differential regulation has been observed (8). Of particular interest, B-Raf contains three consensus Akt phosphorylation sites (Ser364, Ser428, and Thr439) and lacks a site equivalent to Tyr341 of c-Raf (8,9). Research studies have shown that the B-Raf mutation V600E results in elevated kinase activity and is commonly found in malignant melanoma (10). Six residues of c-Raf (Ser29, Ser43, Ser289, Ser296, Ser301, and Ser642) become hyperphosphorylated in a manner consistent with c-Raf inactivation. The hyperphosphorylation of these six sites is dependent on downstream MEK signaling and renders c-Raf unresponsive to subsequent activation events (11).
Monoclonal Antibody - c-Raf (D4B3J) Rabbit mAb (Biotinylated), UniProt ID P04049, Entrez ID 5894 #56553
This Cell Signaling Technology antibody is conjugated to biotin under optimal conditions. The biotinylated antibody is expected to exhibit the same species cross-reactivity as the unconjugated c-Raf (D4B3J) Rabbit mAb #53745.
Monoclonal Antibody - c-Raf (D5X6R) Mouse mAb - Western Blotting, UniProt ID P04049, Entrez ID 5894 #12552
Bovine, Human, Monkey, Mouse, Pig, Rat
Monoclonal Antibody - Csk (C74C1) Rabbit mAb - Western Blotting, UniProt ID P41240, Entrez ID 1445 #4980
Human, Monkey, Mouse, Pig, Rat
Background: Carboxy-terminal Src kinase (Csk) is a ubiquitously expressed nonreceptor tyrosine kinase that negatively regulates the Src family kinases (SFKs) by phosphorylation of the SFK carboxy-terminal tyrosine (1,2). Phosphorylated carboxy-terminal tyrosine binds to the SH2 domain of SFK intramolecularly and leads to folding and inactivation of the SFK (3). This Csk-catalyzed SFK tyrosine phosphorylation is highly specific and exclusive. The SFK carboxy-terminal tyrosine is the only known physiological substrate of Csk (4).Csk consists of an SH2, an SH3, and a kinase domain. There is evidence that the SH2 and SH3 domains are essential for the regulation of SFK, and Csk can be recruited to the membrane where SFKs are in an active state. This process is mediated by a Csk-binding protein (Cbp, also called PAG), which binds tightly to the SH2 domain of Csk (5). Activation of SFK by extracellular stimuli leads to the tyrosine phosphorylation of Cbp, generating docking sites for Csk. The recruitment of Csk forms a feedback mechanism for termination of SFK function (6).
Monoclonal Antibody - DNMT3B (D7O7O) Rabbit mAb (PE Conjugate), UniProt ID Q9UBC3, Entrez ID 1789 #71517
This Cell Signaling Technology antibody is conjugated to phycoerythrin (PE) and tested in-house for direct flow cytometric analysis in human cells. This antibody is expected to exhibit the same species cross-reactivity as the unconjugated DNMT3B (D7O7O) Rabbit mAb #67259.
Background: Methylation of DNA at cytosine residues in mammalian cells is a heritable, epigenetic modification that is critical for proper regulation of gene expression, genomic imprinting and development (1,2). Three families of mammalian DNA methyltransferases have been identified: DNMT1, DNMT2 and DNMT3 (1,2). DNMT1 is constitutively expressed in proliferating cells and functions as a maintenance methyltransferase, transferring proper methylation patterns to newly synthesized DNA during replication. DNMT3A and DNMT3B are strongly expressed in embryonic stem cells with reduced expression in adult somatic tissues. DNMT3A and DNMT3B function as de novo methyltransferases that methylate previously unmethylated regions of DNA. DNMT2 is expressed at low levels in adult somatic tissues and its inactivation affects neither de novo nor maintenance DNA methylation. DNMT1, DNMT3A and DNMT3B together form a protein complex that interacts with histone deacetylases (HDAC1, HDAC2, Sin3A), transcriptional repressor proteins (RB, TAZ-1) and heterochromatin proteins (HP1, SUV39H1), to maintain proper levels of DNA methylation and facilitate gene silencing (3-8). Improper DNA methylation contributes to diseased states such as cancer (1,2). Hypermethylation of promoter CpG islands within tumor suppressor genes correlates with gene silencing and the development of cancer. In addition, hypomethylation of bulk genomic DNA correlates with and may contribute to the onset of cancer. DNMT1, DNMT3A and DNMT3B are over-expressed in many cancers, including acute and chronic myelogenous leukemias, in addition to colon, breast and stomach carcinomas (9-12).
Monoclonal Antibody - DUSP16/MKP7 (D5F4) Rabbit mAb - Western Blotting, UniProt ID Q9BY84, Entrez ID 80824 #5523
Background: MAP kinases are inactivated by dual-specificity protein phosphatases (DUSPs) that differ in their substrate specificity, tissue distribution, inducibility by extracellular stimuli, and cellular localization. DUSPs, also known as MAPK phosphatases (MKP), specifically dephosphorylate both threonine and tyrosine residues in MAPK P-loops and have been shown to play important roles in regulating the function of the MAPK family (1,2). At least 13 members of the family (DUSP1-10, DUSP14, DUSP16, and DUSP22) display unique substrate specificities for various MAP kinases (3). MAPK phosphatases typically contain an amino-terminal rhodanese-fold responsible for DUSP docking to MAPK family members and a carboxy-terminal catalytic domain (4). These phosphatases can play important roles in development, immune system function, stress responses, and metabolic homeostasis (5). In addition, research studies have implicated DUSPs in the development of cancer and the response of cancer cells to chemotherapy (6).
Monoclonal Antibody - DUSP4/MKP2 (D9A5) Rabbit mAb - Western Blotting, UniProt ID Q13115, Entrez ID 1846 #5149
Human, Monkey
Monoclonal Antibody - Erk5 (D23E9) Rabbit mAb - Western Blotting, UniProt ID Q13164, Entrez ID 5598 #3552
Background: Erk5 (Mitogen-activated protein kinase 7, Big mitogen-activated protein kinase 1) is a member of the MAPK superfamily implicated in the regulation numerous cellular processes including proliferation, differentiation, and survival (1-4). Like other MAPK family members, Erk5 contains a canonical activation loop TEY motif (Thr218/Tyr220) that is specifically phosphorylated by MAP2K5 (MEK5) in a growth-factor-dependent, Ras-independent mechanism (5-7). For example, EGF stimulation promotes Erk5 phosphorylation that induces its translocation to the nucleus where it phosphorylates MEF2C and other transcriptional targets (5,6). Erk5 is also activated in response to granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) in hematopoietic progenitor cells where it promotes survival and proliferation (7). In neuronal cells, Erk5 is required for NGF-induced neurite outgrowth, neuronal homeostasis, and survival (8,9). Erk5 is thought to play a role in blood vessel integrity via maintenance of endothelial cell migration and barrier function (10-12). Although broadly expressed, research studies have shown that mice lacking erk5 display numerous cardiac defects, suggesting Erk5 plays a critical role in vascular development and homeostasis (1,2).
Monoclonal Antibody - Erk5 (D3I5V) Rabbit mAb - Immunoprecipitation, Western Blotting, UniProt ID Q13164, Entrez ID 5598 #12950
Monoclonal Antibody - FosB (5G4) Rabbit mAb, UniProt ID P53539, Entrez ID 2354 #2251
Application Methods: Chromatin IP, Flow Cytometry, Immunofluorescence (Immunocytochemistry), Immunohistochemistry (Paraffin), Immunoprecipitation, Western Blotting
Monoclonal Antibody - FRA1 (D80B4) Rabbit mAb - Immunoprecipitation, Western Blotting, UniProt ID P15407, Entrez ID 8061 #5281
Monoclonal Antibody - Fra2 (D2F1E) Rabbit mAb, UniProt ID P15408, Entrez ID 2355 #19967
Application Methods: Chromatin IP, Immunohistochemistry (Paraffin), Immunoprecipitation, Western Blotting
Monoclonal Antibody - HGK (D19H10) Rabbit mAb - Western Blotting, UniProt ID O95819, Entrez ID 9448 #5146
Human, Monkey, Mouse
Background: HGK (MAP4K4 or mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase kinase 4) is a serine/threonine kinase that belongs to the mammalian STE20/MAP4K kinase family involved in response to environmental stress and cytokines such as TNF-α (1-3). HGK specifically activates the c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) signaling pathway and increases AP-1-mediated transcriptional activity in vivo (1). HGK is broadly expressed in many types of human cancer and cancer cell lines and plays an important role in cell transformation, invasiveness, adhesion and migration (4,5).
Monoclonal Antibody - JIP4/SPAG9 (D72F4) XP® Rabbit mAb, UniProt ID O60271, Entrez ID 9043 #5519
Application Methods: Flow Cytometry, Immunofluorescence (Immunocytochemistry), Immunohistochemistry (Paraffin), Immunoprecipitation, Western Blotting
Background: JNK-Interacting Proteins (JIPs), as their name implies, coordinate c-Jun N-terminal Kinase (JNK) signaling by acting as scaffolds for components of the JNK signaling cascade (1). JIPs localize and promote JNK activation in response to stress by amalgamating and co-localizing upstream kinases and downstream effectors in the stress-kinase pathway analogous to the mechanism by which AKAPs orchestrate PKA signaling. JIPs bind to an array of MAPKs and other signaling proteins, including the mixed-lineage kinases, MKK7, p38α MAPK, JNK1-3, Max, Myc, NF-κB, LRRK2, and others (1-4).There are four known JIPs, JIP1-4, of which JIP1 and JIP2 share extensive sequence homology and domain structure. JIP1 and JIP2 are mainly expressed in neurons, testis and in β pancreatic cells, where they have been implicated in cellular responses to metabolic stress, the development of diabetes, and post-traumatic brain damage (5-7). Although architecturally distinct from JIP1 and JIP2, JIP3 and JIP4 share some overlapping functions and are more broadly expressed. JIP4, encoded by the SPAG9 (sperm-associated antigen-9) gene, is a homooligomer that binds to and coordinates the activation of numerous components of the stress-activated kinase cascade including MEK4, MEKK3, p38α MAPK, and JNK1-3 (3,8). However, unlike the other JIP members, JIP4 does not appear to activate JNK directly, instead favoring stimulation of p38 MAPK signaling events in response to cellular stress (3,9).In addition to mediating stress responses, JIP4 (or its splice variant, JLP) has also been shown to interact with ARF6 and PIKfyve, thus regulating microtubule-based endosomal trafficking (10,11). There are extensive reports indicating that JIP4 is phosphorylated in response to stress (UV damage etc.) but it is unclear what effect, if any, this has on its function, localization, or binding properties (12-15).
Monoclonal Antibody - JNK1 (2C6) Mouse mAb - Western Blotting, UniProt ID P45983, Entrez ID 5599 #3708
Monoclonal Antibody - JNK2 (56G8) Rabbit mAb - Western Blotting, UniProt ID P45983, Entrez ID 5599 #9258
Hamster, Human, Mink, Monkey, Mouse, Rat
Monoclonal Antibody - JNK3 (55A8) Rabbit mAb - Western Blotting, UniProt ID P53779, Entrez ID 5602 #2305
Monoclonal Antibody - JunB (C37F9) Rabbit mAb, UniProt ID P17275, Entrez ID 3726 #3753
Application Methods: Chromatin IP, Immunofluorescence (Immunocytochemistry), Immunohistochemistry (Paraffin), Immunoprecipitation, Western Blotting
Background: JunB is a basic region, leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factor belonging to the Jun family that includes c-Jun and JunD. Jun family members homodimerize or heterodimerize with Fos and ATF proteins to form a functional transcription factor AP-1 (activator protein 1), whose activity is regulated by a variety of physiological and pathological stimuli such as growth factors, infections, and stress signals (1-4). While JunB sometimes antagonizes c-Jun transcriptional activity, it may functionally substitute for c-Jun during development in mice (5-7). JunB regulates hematopoietic stem cell number and plays an important role in the pathogenesis of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) (8,9).
Monoclonal Antibody - JunD (D17G2) Rabbit mAb, UniProt ID P17535, Entrez ID 3727 #5000
Bovine, Human, Monkey, Pig
Application Methods: Flow Cytometry, Immunofluorescence (Immunocytochemistry), Immunoprecipitation, Western Blotting
Background: JunD, along with closely related family members c-Jun and JunB, is a transcription factor that can activate or repress a wide array of target genes (1,2). JunD transcriptional activity is modulated by phosphorylation in response to cellular stress via the c-Jun N-terminal Kinase (JNK)/Stress-Activated Protein Kinase (SAPK) family of protein kinases (3,4). JunD activity can also be modulated by the MAPK pathway in response to growth factors. Its transcriptional capacity is further regulated by other binding partners that affect JunD expression levels and DNA binding capacity (reviewed in 5). All Jun proteins are capable of forming dimers with Fos-, ATF- and CREB-family transcription factors to form the AP-1 complex that differentially regulates a variety of target genes involved in cellular growth, proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis (reviewed in 5 and 6). Unlike JunB and c-Jun, which share a high degree of homology (>95%), JunD is less conserved (~75%) at the amino acid level (1). Growing evidence suggests that JunD protein expression is regulated independently of other family members (reviewed in 5). It is thought that JunD may have functional significance beyond the typical Jun-family milieu. This is exemplified by the fact that JunD knockout mice are viable, bearing specific defects in cardiomyocyte function and bone growth, whereas their c-Jun counterparts develop significant, multi-organ defects during embryogenesis and die at E12.5 (7-10). JunD appears to specifically regulate genes involved in antioxidant response and hydrogen peroxide production and plays an important role in angiogenesis via its ability to exert transcriptional control over the VEGF gene (11). Furthermore, JunD appears to play an important roll in metabolism via modulation of IGF-I signaling pathways (12). Recent studies have shown that JunD regulates GADD45 α and γ expression in prostate cancer cells and that inhibition of JunD promotes apoptosis. Thus, JunD may be a viable therapeutic target for the treatment of prostate cancer (13).
Monoclonal Antibody - MAPKAPK-2 (D1E11) Rabbit mAb - Immunoprecipitation, Western Blotting, UniProt ID P49137, Entrez ID 9261 #12155
Background: In response to cytokines, stress, and chemotactic factors, MAP kinase-activated protein kinase 2 (MAPKAPK-2) is rapidly phosphorylated and activated. It has been shown that MAPKAPK-2 is a direct target of p38 MAPK (1). Multiple residues of MAPKAPK-2 are phosphorylated in vivo in response to stress. However, only four residues (Thr25, Thr222, Ser272, and Thr334) are phosphorylated by p38 MAPK in an in vitro kinase assay (2). Phosphorylation at Thr222, Ser272, and Thr334 appears to be essential for the activity of MAPKAPK-2 (2). Thr25 is phosphorylated by p42 MAPK in vitro, but is not required for the activation of MAPKAPK-2 (2).
Monoclonal Antibody - MAPKAPK-3 (D54E4) Rabbit mAb - Western Blotting, UniProt ID Q16644, Entrez ID 7867 #7421
Background: MAPKAPK-3 has a single potential SH3-binding site in the proline-rich amino terminus, a putative ATP-binding site, 2 MAP kinase phosphorylation site motifs, and a putative nuclear localization signal. It shares 72% nucleotide and 75% amino acid identity with MAPKAPK-2 (1). MAPKAPK-3 has been shown to be activated by growth inducers and stress stimulation of cells. In vitro studies have demonstrated that Erk, p38 MAP kinase, and Jun amino-terminal kinase are able to phosphorylate and activate MAPKAPK-3, which suggested a role for this kinase as an integrative element of signaling in both mitogen and stress responses (2). MAPKAPK-3 was reported to interact with, phosphorylate, and repress the activity of E47, which is a basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor involved in the regulation of tissue-specific gene expression and cell differentiation (3). MAPKAPK-3 may also support luteal maturation through the phosphorylation and activation of the nuclear transcription factor CREB (4).
Monoclonal Antibody - MAPKAPK-5 (D70A10) Rabbit mAb - Western Blotting, UniProt ID Q8IW41, Entrez ID 8550 #7419
Background: MAPKAPK-5 belongs to the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activated protein kinases (MK) subfamily that includes MAPKAPK-2/MK2 and MK3/3pK. The MK subfamily is part of a family of protein kinase subfamilies downstream of MAPK pathways and includes ribosomal S6 kinase (RSKs), mitogen and stress activated kinases (MSKs) and MAPK-interacting kinases (MNKs). All MKs are activated by MAPK pathways and mediate important processes (e.g. gene expression, cell cycle progression) and have been implicated in inflammation and cancer (1,2). MAPKAPK-5 shows binding to and activation by p38 MAPK and extracellular-regulated kinases (Erk) (3,4). MAPKAPK-5 was shown to be activated by Erk3 and act as a chaperone to Erk3 (5,6). While overexpressed MAPKAPK-5 shares similar substrates with MAPKAPK-2, such as HSP27 and glycogen synthase, recent work with MAPKAPK-5 knock-out mice indicates distinct substrates and functional properties (7).
Monoclonal Antibody - MCRIP1 (D2Y8V) Rabbit mAb - Immunoprecipitation, Western Blotting, UniProt ID C9JLW8, Entrez ID 348262 #78128
Background: Mapk-regulated corepressor-interacting protein 1 (MCRIP1) is a widely expressed protein substrate of ERK. MCRIP1 functions in regulating transcriptional repression of E-cadherin by the transcriptional corepressor CtBP. Unphosphorylated MCRIP1 binds to CtBP, preventing its transcriptional regulatory activity. When MCRIP1 is phosphorylated by ERK, CtIP is free to interact with the transcriptional repressor, ZEB1. The CtIP/ZEB1 complex then silences E-cadherin expression, promoting epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a process in tumor progression that leads to enhanced migration and invasion (1,2).
Monoclonal Antibody - MEF2C (D80C1) XP® Rabbit mAb, UniProt ID Q06413, Entrez ID 4208 #5030
Application Methods: Immunofluorescence (Immunocytochemistry), Immunoprecipitation, Western Blotting
Background: MEF2C is a member of the MEF2 (myocyte enhancer factor 2) family of transcription factors. In mammals, there are four MEF2C-related genes (MEF2A, MEF2B, MEF2C and MEF2D) that encode proteins that exhibit significant amino acid sequence similarity within their DNA binding domains and, to a lesser extent, throughout the rest of the proteins (1). The MEF2 family members were originally described as muscle-specific DNA binding proteins that recognize MEF2 motifs found within the promoters of many muscle-specific genes (2,3). Recently, several groups have reported MEF2 binding activity and MEF2 proteins in a wide variety of cell types where these proteins appear to play an important role in growth factor- and stress-induced early gene responses (4-6).
Monoclonal Antibody - MEK1 (30C8) Rabbit mAb - Western Blotting, UniProt ID Q02750, Entrez ID 5604 #9146
Background: MEK1 and MEK2, also called MAPK or Erk kinases, are dual-specificity protein kinases that function in a mitogen activated protein kinase cascade controlling cell growth and differentiation (1-3). Activation of MEK1 and MEK2 occurs through phosphorylation of two serine residues at positions 217 and 221, located in the activation loop of subdomain VIII, by Raf-like molecules. MEK1/2 is activated by a wide variety of growth factors and cytokines and also by membrane depolarization and calcium influx (1-4). Constitutively active forms of MEK1/2 are sufficient for the transformation of NIH/3T3 cells or the differentiation of PC-12 cells (4). MEK activates p44 and p42 MAP kinase by phosphorylating both threonine and tyrosine residues at sites located within the activation loop of kinase subdomain VIII.
Monoclonal Antibody - MEK1 (61B12) Mouse mAb - Immunoprecipitation, Western Blotting, UniProt ID Q02750, Entrez ID 5604 #2352
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The Father's Love
Written by Andrew Wommack
And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
(Luke 15:20)
For this boy's father to have seen him "a great way off" would imply that the Father had been eagerly awaiting his son's return. Certainly, in the spiritual application of this parable, our Heavenly Father is longing to cleanse and receive the sinner, if he will just repent and come to Him for forgiveness.
Jesus was using this parable to rebuke the Pharisees for their harsh, self-righteous, unforgiving attitude towards sinners. The older brother in this parable was symbolic of the Pharisees. Like this brother, the Pharisees had not lived an outward life of rebellion and they thought that others who didn't measure up to their standards were surely hated by God. But, "God so loved the world" and "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners."
Just as this older brother was self-centered and jealous, the Pharisees were not operating in the love of God towards sinners because they were so in love with themselves. They resented Jesus giving the sinners what the Pharisees thought they deserved.
If relationship with his father had been the real desire of the older brother, he would have rejoiced to see his father's joy at the return of his son. The repentant prodigal son had learned the vanity of things and he had come home to a relationship with his father that neither he nor his older brother had known before.
The scribes and Pharisees, like the older brother, had gotten caught up in serving self through their religious actions. The publicans and sinners who repented were supplying their Father with what He really wanted - relationship.
Relationship with the Father was always available to the scribes and Pharisees, but they chose the temporal praise of men rather than relationship with God.
Andrew Wommack Ministries
Web site: Andrew Wommack Ministries
For more than four-and-a-half decades, Andrew has taught God’s Word with clarity and simplicity, emphasizing the unconditional love and grace of God. His vision is to spread the Gospel as far and deep as possible through his daily Gospel Truth television and radio programs, broadcast nationally and internationally. Andrew founded Charis Bible College in 1994 and has established more than seventy Charis locations in major American cities and around the world. Much of his extensive library of materials is available, free of charge, at www.awmi.net.
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Kerr, 24, of south Charlotte works as a dancer for the Bobcats, and has emerged as one of "American Idol’s" early-season breakout stars after a Jan. 18 airing of her audition. It was notable partly because she appears to be a talented singer but mainly because fans find her drop-dead gorgeous.
Since Kerr’s appearance, YouTube views of her rendition of Joss Stone’s "Spoiled" have soared into the hundreds of thousands, while media outlets from Sports Illustrated to celebrity news website TMZ have weighed in with stories. The latter’s was a report that a huge surge in web traffic crashed the site of Charlotte photographer Jim Merrill, who has featured her as a model.
It’s a big adjustment for a woman who still lives with her parents in Ballantyne, for a woman who has Mom prepare many of her meals, and for a woman who eight months ago couldn’t muster the nerve to sing in front of a handful of people.
"I got a karaoke machine for my birthday, which was in June," says Kerr. "I had a cord to the microphone, and I would stick the speaker in the other room and sing in another room, so that I didn’t have to be in front of everybody who wanted to hear me sing. I was that shy about it."
'Always a tomboy'
Unlike many of the people she will compete against during "American Idol’s" Hollywood round – which begin Feb. 9 – Kerr has never sung professionally.
She did some singing as a teen in the choir at Calvary Church and in the women’s ensemble at South Mecklenburg High School, but she was involved in all sorts of extracurricular activities while growing up: basketball, softball, tae kwon do (black belt), Mecklenburg County Miss Teen USA pageant (third runner-up), homecoming queen.
Kerr had so much going on that even though she kept asking for voice lessons, her parents repeatedly talked her out of it.
"She was always a tomboy," says her mother, Debbie Kerr, "so when she asked for voice lessons, we didn’t give them to her. We just thought she was better at sports so (kept telling her), ‘Don’t worry about it.’"
Brittany’s affinity for athletics was so great that she decided to go to the University of Alabama mainly because of its football program. "Growing up, I gained this love for football that was just unreal," Kerr says. "I ended up visiting Alabama and completely fell in love with it. Everybody was completely gung-ho Crimson Tide, and I just wanted to be a part of it."
She transferred for her junior year to UNC Charlotte, where her brother, Hunter, was a freshman – "He’s actually the best friend that I think I’ve ever had" – and worked part-time at a pub near campus called Bad Dog. In 2008, she returned to Tuscaloosa and graduated with a degree in human environmental science.
Although she was a cheerleader at South Meck, she was too tall (5 feet 8) and thin for the Alabama squad, which she says favored shorter and stockier girls. But her look turned out to be perfect for the Lady Cats, who recruited her in the summer of 2010.
You can see Kerr showing off both her team spirit and her abs at every Bobcats game. Which leads us to ask: How can she be so comfortable shaking her body under the arena lights, yet be "extremely nervous" when she has to sing in public?
"A lot of people say, ‘You dance in front of thousands of people at each game!’ Well, I’m one of 18 girls," Kerr says, "so I’m surrounded by all these beautiful ladies who are just as talented, if not more. When I’m on stage, it’s just me. The spotlight’s on me. It’s such a sense of vulnerability, because you are leaving everybody with the ability to criticize you alone."
Kerr became more serious about singing around her birthday last June, when she got that karaoke machine and also – finally – received the gift of voice lessons. But the decision to try out for "American Idol" was a huge leap.
Says her best friend, Rhema Helm (a fellow Lady Cat): "We would say, ‘Try out!’ And she was like, ‘I’m too nervous.’ I’m like, ‘No, you really need to.’ Then her dad saw ‘Idol’ was coming to Savannah, and we said, ‘You have to go.’ She was like, ‘I could never do it.’ Me and her mom had to drag her into the back of her Jeep to get her to go."
If you saw Kerr’s audition, there are some things you’d probably remember about it, beyond the song: 1) She’s an NBA dancer. 2) She wore ripped white jeans and sky-high heels. 3) Judge Steven Tyler’s presumptuous "I say ‘yes.’" 4) She adjusts her bra.
She wants to set the record straight about the last thing.
When she walked into the audition, a producer said: "‘We see that you are an NBA dancer. Well, show us a little something.’
"My mind’s going a million miles a minute. I’m like, What do I do? I have no music, it’s completely awkward. So I say, ‘OK, everyone, feel free to sing with me.’ Absolute crickets. Nobody says anything. And I’m singing by myself, I’m dancing by myself and everyone’s just laughing – hopefully not at me. But it was fun, and it really broke the ice for me."
On TV, it looks like she was fixing her bra while listening to Tyler’s feedback. Kerr says she actually did it right after the dance.
"I had danced around for a good two minutes, then I adjusted myself, and of course they throw that in completely out of sequence. It just was kind of a platform for everybody to talk about."
Kerr says she plans to downplay her sex appeal if she continues to advance. “I did really, really want this to be about my voice more than anything.”
The Hollywood rounds were held in December. So only she knows whether she’s still in or already out. What does Kerr say to those who argue she skated through Round 1 because of her looks?
“Just wait for the weeks to come – ’cause it gets better. It just gets better.”
~ Watch Brittany's 'Idol' audition
~ Lopez clashes with 'Idol' judges in Texas
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Graduation 2019: Cal State San Bernardino…
Graduation 2019: Cal State San Bernardino celebrates with 4 ceremonies
The university held four commencement ceremonies throughout the day at Toyota Arena in Ontario
CSUSB graduate Jessica Bernise Chavez cheers after receiving her master’s degree during California State University, San Bernardino’s 52nd Annual Commencement of the College of Social and Behavioral Science at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, Ca., June 15, 2019. (John Valenzuela/Contributor)
By Brian Whitehead | bwhitehead@scng.com | San Bernardino Sun
PUBLISHED: June 15, 2019 at 10:37 pm | UPDATED: June 15, 2019 at 10:37 pm
More than 3,600 Cal State San Bernardino students began summer by receiving college degrees Saturday, June 15.
California State University, San Bernardino’s 52nd Annual Commencement of the College of Social and Behavioral Science at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, Ca., June 15, 2019. (John Valenzuela/Contributor)
CSUSB graduate Jocelyn Mendoza Sierra waves to her family and friends during California State University, San Bernardino’s 52nd Annual Commencement of the College of Social and Behavioral Science at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, Ca., June 15, 2019. (John Valenzuela/Contributor)
CSUSB President Tomás Morales delivers his address during California State University, San Bernardino’s 52nd Annual Commencement of the College of Social and Behavioral Science at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, Ca., June 15, 2019. (John Valenzuela/Contributor)
CSUSB Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Shari McMahan delivers her address during California State University, San Bernardino’s 52nd Annual Commencement of the College of Social and Behavioral Science at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, Ca., June 15, 2019. (John Valenzuela/Contributor)
CSUSB graduate Tony Sanchez holds up his degree during California State University, San Bernardino’s 52nd Annual Commencement of the College of Social and Behavioral Science at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, Ca., June 15, 2019. (John Valenzuela/Contributor)
CSUSB professor Larry Gaines carries the university mace during California State University, San Bernardino’s 52nd Annual Commencement of the college of Social and Behavioral Science at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, Ca., June 15, 2019. (John Valenzuela/Contributor)
CSUSB graduate Melody Robinson poses for a photo with President Tomás Morales during California State University, San Bernardino’s 52nd Annual Commencement of the college of Social and Behavioral Science at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, Ca., June 15, 2019. (John Valenzuela/Contributor)
CSUSB graduate Melody Robinson receives an award for Outstanding Undergraduate Student from Dean Rafik Mohamed during California State University, San Bernardino’s 52nd Annual Commencement of the college of Social and Behavioral Science at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, Ca., June 15, 2019. (John Valenzuela/Contributor)
CSUSB Dean Rafik Mohamed delivers his address during California State University, San Bernardino’s 52nd Annual Commencement of the College of Social and Behavioral Science at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, Ca., June 15, 2019. (John Valenzuela/Contributor)
To cap the spring semester, the university held four commencement ceremonies throughout the day at Toyota Arena in Ontario. Students from Cal State San Bernardino’s Palm Desert campus also participated.
With about 1,100 graduates, the College of Social and Behavioral Science was expected to have the largest ceremony of the four. San Bernardino resident Melody Robinson was named that college’s Outstanding Undergraduate Student. Alana Muller was its Outstanding Graduate Student.
Also setting students on their career paths: the Jack H. Brown College of Business and Public Administration, the College of Natural Sciences, the College of Arts and Letters and the College of Education.
This year marked the fifth that Cal State San Bernardino has held its spring commencement ceremony at Toyota Arena, formerly known as Citizens Business Bank Arena.
The university previously set up shop inside Coussoulis Arena on campus.
Cal State San Bernardino
Top Stories Sun
Brian Whitehead
Brian Whitehead covers San Bernardino for The Sun. Bred in Grand Terrace, he graduated from Riverside Notre Dame High and Cal State Fullerton. For seven years, he covered high school and college sports for The Orange County Register. Before landing at The Sun, he was the city beat reporter for Buena Park, Fullerton and La Palma.
Follow Brian Whitehead @bwhitehead3
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Battle of Normandy
Normandy today
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D-Day and Battle of Normandy Encyclopedia
Operation Jupiter
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Operation Jupiter>
Distribution of Allied and German positions around Hill 112 on July 10, 1944
Origins of operation Jupiter
Following the Epsom operation west of Caen, the city did not fall into the hands of the Allies and some important positions remain under the control of the German forces.
This is particularly the case of Hill 112, a small high point located to the west of Caen and south-east of the village of Baron-sur-Odon. It is the lock of the region which allows access to the southern plains of Caen and which offers a particularly important view on the whole sector. For the Allies as for the Germans, it is the key point of the terrain that must be controlled.
To this end, the British first attacked the 112 mark which was reached on 28 June 1944 by the 11th British Armored Division (in particular the 8th Rifle Brigade and the tanks of the 3rd Royal Tank Regiment) German attacks of the 9th SS “Hohenstaufen” and the 10th SS “Frunsberg”.
A new operation was then put in place to seize Hill 112 definitively in order to avoid a possible breakthrough of the German troops. The capture of this key point on the ground also makes it possible to ensure the progress of the Allies between the two rivers Orne and Odon, west of Caen. This operation is codenamed “Jupiter” and is scheduled for July 10, 1944. The 8th British Corps, commanded by General O’Connor, spearheaded this attack with the 43rd Wessex Infantry Division.
Conduct of operation Jupiter
Operation Jupiter begins on 10 July 1944 at five o’clock in the morning with an imposing artillery barrage. The British soldiers of the 129th Brigade, who woke up earlier in the night, stationed themselves at their base and prepared for the assault, backed by Churchill tanks. The artillery are engaged in incessant barrage and counter-barrage fires. The Allied infantry rushed into battle, like the fighting of the First World War.
The soldiers of the 43rd Wessex Infantry Division set out to assault. Photo: IWM
5th Wiltshire is progressing south towards Esquay-Notre-Dame while on its left flank, 4th Somerset aims at the summit of the 112th and in particular the Cross of the Filandriers, following the road of the Haussé called the “Duc Guillaume”. He is accompanied on his left flank by the 4th Wiltshire while the 5th Duke of Cornwall’s is in reserve. The SS of the 9th “Hohenstaufen” let the first infantrymen pass before attacking them in reverse: the British did not succeed in passing the Cross of the Filandiers, 1,500 meters from their starting point.
Churchill tanks belonging to the 31st Tank Battalion. Photo: IWM
At the same time, the 214th British Brigade (composed of 7th Royal Hampshire and 4th Dorsetshire) and the 9th Cameronians of the 46th Scottish Brigade attacked in the direction of Eterville, a village northeast of Hill 112. They reach it at around eight o’clock, but they are also stopped by the powerful German artillery, both direct and indirect fires: 88 mm guns, mortars, Nebelwerfer rockets, Tiger tanks and Panther… 7th Royal Hampshire reaches the village of Maltot, east of Hill 112, in spite of this deluge of steel, but must retreat because its situation is more than critical and its losses are too great.
At the beginning of the evening, the 5th Duke of Cornwall’s, which had previously been in reserve, set out for the woods on the east side of Hill 112, the Bois Carré (which the Germans call the ” Half trees “due to the effects of artillery, active in the area since the end of June 1944). Caught under the fire of machine guns and German guns, he undergoes heavy losses and the wounded are evacuated backwards as best they can. The Bois Carré is reached by the British who bury themselves there at nightfall to protect themselves from enemy shells and counter-attacks. These last all evening and all night until the next morning.
German artillerymen using a Nebelwerfer. Photo: Bundesarchiv
Captain David Willcocks of the 5th Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry was particularly illustrated during the night of fighting by asking for and guiding artillery fire that inflicted heavy casualties and broke the German attacks. 250 losses are to be deplored for his regiment during the night, in particular its commander of corps and one of the commanders of unit. He took command of the regiment’s staff and organized the defense, allowing his men to stand firm in the steel storm that was falling on them. For this action, he was decorated with Military Cross, one of the most prestigious military medals of the British army.
The pressure is such that the British have only the choice of withdrawal if they want to keep men and equipment to restart the action later. Supported by the Scot Greys Sherman tanks, the men of the 43rd Wessex Infantry Division retreated to their point of departure throughout the afternoon of July 11, 1944.
Conclusion of operation Jupiter
Within 36 hours, the British lose nearly 2,000 soldiers, killed, wounded, missing or prisoners. This heavy report resulted in a lack of human resources during the following days for the British forces, who had to re-equip their units with men and equipment as soon as possible. German losses are unknown.
If the British did not remain on Hill 112, the Germans also did not manage to return. The hill then becomes a no man’s land whose heights do not benefit anyone. However, the report of 10 July 1944 is positive overall: several villages fell into the hands of the Allies as a result of operation Jupiter.
Moreover, the Germans wanted to withdraw from the front the 9th SS “Hohenstaufen” to recomplish it in men and equipment in order to form a particularly strong operational reserve force. Jupiter’s attack kept this division on the front, preventing the Germans from achieving their strategic objectives.
It was not until the 4th of August 1944 that the Allies became definitively masters of Hill 112.
Back to the Allied operations menu
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The Bracero Program: 1942-1964
Posted By Sarah Hines On April 21, 2006 @ 12:00 am In article,articles 2014 onward | Comments Disabled
Millions of people have taken to the streets in immigrant-rights protests mostly focused against vicious legislation passed by the U.S. House that would criminalize undocumented workers and anyone who assists them. But the “compromise” proposal in the Senate falls far short of justice.
Among the provisions of the propoal by Sens. John McCain and Ted Kennedy is a guest-worker program that would give legal status to migrant workers brought into the U.S. to work for a specific contract. The politicians claim the guest-worker system would be a generous “reform,” and some leaders among immigrant-rights organizations support it, viewing it as the “realistic” alternative to the House bill.
But in fact the history of the last major guest-worker program in the U.S. — the so-called bracero program, from 1942 to 1964 — shows that the reality of such a system is very different from the rhetoric promoting it.
The bracero program was introduced in 1942, a year after the U.S. entered the Second World War. The program, negotiated between the U.S. and Mexican governments, brought approximately 4.8 million Mexican contract laborers to work in the U.S., primarily as agricultural workers in California and Texas. The term “bracero” refers to those who work with their arms, from the Spanish word for arm “brazo.”
Though it was supposed to be a temporary measure to fill a wartime labor shortage, the program was so lucrative that it was extended until 1964.
The primary purpose and result of the bracero program was to give growers more control over farm labor, immigrant and native alike. The program was immensely profitable for growers, as it enabled them to thwart union organizing efforts and drive down wages of all farm workers.
By the 1940s, the family farm had been largely replaced by large-scale commercial agriculture in western states like California. A decade before, during the struggles of the 1930s, farm workers made huge strides in union organizing that, while not entirely successful, left growers fearful of their potential power.
War mobilization increased demands for production across many industries, threatening the growers’ control over farm labor. Agricultural laborers had increasing opportunities to secure better jobs in manufacturing, transportation and service trades.
Farmers didn’t want to be scrambling to secure a labor force, especially if it meant increasing wages or improving conditions. Growers, processors and federal authorities settled on the bracero program as a means of alleviating this threat.
The Mexican American Bracero Agreement was signed on July 23, 1942, establishing the Mexican government as recruiters and the U.S. government as distributors of cheap and expendable labor. Mexico had declared war on the Axis powers one month before and was thus under pressure from the U.S. to help it overcome the wartime labor shortage. The majority of “braceros” were assigned to work in agriculture, though a significant minority, about one in four, were contracted to work on the railroads.
The government, newspapers and recruiters in Mexico sold the program through an intensive propaganda campaign. For example, an article titled “Impressions of a Worker,” printed in the Mexico City daily El Universal, quoted Antonio Corrales, who had allegedly just returned from working as a contract worker in California. “We work contentedly, eat with an appetite, amuse ourselves, send our families money, and even save,” he said.
He described the braceros as being “joyfully greeted by the North American farmers,” working eight-hour days in the “best possible conditions,” making exchanges of language lessons with American workers, earning abundant wages, having opportunities to save at least 25 percent of their earnings, and receiving a sympathetic welcome by Americans generally.
This glowing picture contrasted sharply with the actual experience of most braceros.
Braceros were usually afraid to register official complaints, but they suffered from lack of consistent work, long work hours, earnings that barely covered expenses, unauthorized deductions from their pay, meager and poor-quality food rations, run-down and unsanitary housing, dangerous means of transportation, dangerous working conditions that led to disabling or fatal accidents, and even physical abuse, as well as severe racial discrimination.
The contracts stipulated that workers had to leave at the end of the season–a perfect solution to growers’ need for seasonal labor that wouldn’t “burden” local schools or public relief funds.
The bracero agreement stipulated that the contract laborers were to be used only to fill shortages, to be paid at prevailing rates, and not to displace or undercut the wages of domestic workers.
In reality, the opposite occurred. The Farm Placement Service, entrusted by the Department of Labor with determining the need for labor and wages, was far from independent. Many of its officials had worked previously for the California Farm Production Council, a representative of commercial farm interests.
Mexican contract workers often found when they arrived that they were replacing recently fired native-born or non-contract Mexican farm workers. They were almost always paid significantly less than “domestic” laborers, and their availability enabled growers to lower wages for all farm workers.
As one former contract worker explained, “They paid a little more to them, to the domestic people. We knew they were making almost double. They knew that the Mexican people had to work, so they paid us less.”
The agreement’s recognition of braceros’ right to elect their own representatives and provisions for a grievance process weren’t honored in practice. In 1944, there were only 10 inspectors assigned by the Mexican government to investigate conditions and respond to the grievances of more than 62,000 Mexican contract workers who entered the U.S. that year, in addition to the thousands remaining from previous years.
While both governments formally recognized braceros’ right to join unions, the right was nonexistent in reality. When the National Farm Labor Union (NFLU) attempted to organize braceros in 1950, the Department of Labor intervened to sabotage its efforts.
When the program was renegotiated in 1951, the new agreement again recognized the right of braceros to organize through elected representatives. But the Department of Labor refused to meet with union officials to discuss the grievances of braceros who joined the union. Thus, the provision was, as NFLU organizer Ernesto Galarza put it, “stillborn,” remaining “embalmed in the meaningless language of the international agreement.”
The growers claimed that the Mexicans’ interpreters, employed by the company, served as the workers’ chosen representatives. But interpreters occupied an advantaged position in relation to braceros, which they were unwilling to compromise to advance the grievances of braceros.
Any attempt to unionize could lead to immediate termination of employment, and therefore deportation. Even to be spotted talking to a union organizer could mean transfer or deportation. As Justin Akers wrote in the International Socialist Review, “Any ‘breach’ of the contract, such as speaking out against poor conditions or involvement in collective bargaining, was a violation of the contract. Because these contracts were made with individuals, collective bargaining was precluded.”
A study conducted by the Pan American Union (PAU) found that braceros were threatened with transfer and deportation if they attempted to put forward grievances, organize or challenge the growers in any way.
After speaking with more than 500 Mexican contract workers in 1945, PAU investigators concluded that “workers who complain are regarded as agitators and are shipped back to Mexico…Many groups have stated confidentially that they prefer not to push a justifiable complaint so as not to run the risk of sudden repatriation.”
The contract labor program did not stop “illegal” immigration, nor was it meant to. Farmers continued to employ undocumented farm workers throughout the duration of the bracero program. Growers paid undocumented workers even less than contract workers, thereby driving wages down even further.
Organized labor was hesitant to criticize the bracero program as long as the war lasted, especially as wartime production and labor shortages meant that domestic workers had ample job opportunities. After the war ended, however, unions began to advocate for the program’s termination and made some limited efforts to organize braceros, or at least defend their right to organize.
While there were attempts by the NFLU to organize braceros and involve them in the strikes, as well as efforts by braceros to honor picket lines and resist their use by growers as strike breakers, the threat of firing and subsequent deportation left many with little choice but to replace striking farm workers. Strikes led by the NFLU often went down to defeat as a result.
The bracero program helped growers to keep unions out of the fields and wages abysmally low for over two decades. It was only after the bracero program was finally terminated in 1964 that a new farm workers’ movement, led by Cesar Chavez, could take off.
Like employers today, the growers’ objective was to ensure their control over who worked, for how much, and under what conditions. Guest-worker programs, like any other division based on immigration status, segregate the workforce, allowing employers to take advantage of immigrant workers to drive all workers’ wages down, worsen working conditions and undermine union organizing.
A new guest-worker program will be no different. We should stand up to such bogus immigration “reforms” and demand real reform–equal rights and unconditional amnesty for all undocumented immigrants.
SARAH HINES lives in Los Angeles and writes for the Socialist Worker.
URL to article: https://www.counterpunch.org/2006/04/21/the-bracero-program-1942-1964-2/
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A Cure for Excessive Wealth Disorder
by Chuck Collins
The U.S. is suffering from excessive wealth disorder.
This isn’t your parents’ inequality influenza, but a more virulent strain of extreme disparities of income, wealth, and opportunity.
Just 400 billionaires have as much wealth as nearly two-thirds of American households combined. And just three individuals — Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett, and Bill Gates — have as much wealth as half of all U.S. households put together.
Since the economic meltdown of 2008, the lion’s share of income and wealth growth hasn’t gone just to the top 1 percent — it’s gone to the richest one-tenth of 1 percent. This 0.1 percent includes households with annual incomes starting at $2.2 million and wealth over $20 million.
This group has been the big winner of the last few decades. Its share of national income rose from 6 percent in 1995 to 11 percent in 2015. But their biggest gains are in wealth, increasing their share from 7 percent in 1978 to over 21 percent today.
That’s 210 times their share of the population.
When you have over $20 million, you’ve easily taken care of all your needs and those of the next generation of your family. You’re living in comfort, probably with multiple homes, and don’t want for anything.
It’s at this point we see the telltale signs of excessive wealth disorder. Despite being already comfortable beyond measure, segments of this 0.1 percent will often invest their wealth to rig the political rules to get even more wealth and power.
They contribute the legal maximum donations to politicians and then do an end run around campaign finance laws to siphon even larger sums through “dark money” SuperPACs, using corporate entities that don’t have to disclose donors.
When this donor class demands tax cuts, their political puppets kick into overdrive to deliver the goods.
The 0.1 percenters create charitable foundations that become extensions of their own power and privilege. They undermine the health of the nonprofit sector by controlling a growing share of the charitable giving pie.
They deploy their wealth to help their kids get into elite colleges, both through donations and, as we’ve seen recently, outright bribery.
It’s clear the rest of society needs to intervene. Excessive wealth disorder is wrecking life for the rest of us.
What can we do? We need to put forward a “plutocracy prevention program” — public policies to reduce the power of this top 0.1 percent group.
Some presidential candidates are stepping forward with bold ideas. Senator Elizabeth Warren’s wealth tax idea is a courageous step in this direction. She’s proposed a 2 percent annual tax on wealth over $50 million, with a 3 percent rate on wealth over $1 billion.
Progressive Democrats have proposed raising the top marginal tax rate to 70 percent on households with incomes over $10 million. Senators Kamala Harris and Bernie Sanders both have proposals to make the estate tax more progressive and slow the accumulation of dynastic wealth.
Polls show widespread popular support for these proposals. All of them face steep sledding in a Congress beholden to the top 0.1 percent donor class.
One first step might be a proposal that exclusively targets the 0.1 percent class. How about a 10 percent income surtax on incomes over $2 million, including capital gains?
That’s not as steep as a 70 percent marginal rate, but it would move us in the right direction. It would raise substantial revenue — an estimated $70 billion a year and $750 billion over the next decade — from those with the greatest capacity to pay.
Bringing such a proposal to a vote would require lawmakers to make a clear choice: Are you with the vast majority of voters who believe the super-rich should pay more? Or are you carrying water for the richest 0.1 percent?
More articles by:Chuck Collins
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Second generation of Steins continuing family legacy at USI
Alex and Mallorie Stein are the second generation to represent their family at Southern Indiana, where their parents Rick and Kari met.
Second generation of Steins continuing family legacy at USI Alex and Mallorie Stein are the second generation to represent their family at Southern Indiana, where their parents Rick and Kari met. Check out this story on courierpress.com: https://www.courierpress.com/story/sports/college/southern-indiana/2018/01/24/second-generation-steins-continuing-family-legacy-usi/1060689001/
Chad Lindskog, Courier & Press Published 2:54 p.m. CT Jan. 24, 2018 | Updated 4:20 p.m. CT Jan. 24, 2018
Rick, Alex and Mallorie Stein all represent their family for USI athletic teams.(Photo: Courier & Press)Buy Photo
EVANSVILLE -- When Alex and Mallorie Stein were younger, other kids and parents were surprised how calm their father Rick seemed during sporting events.
Rick can be intense as the University of Southern Indiana’s head women’s basketball coach. It’s even hard for him to watch basketball on TV and not act like a coach. But he’s able to separate himself from those tendencies when his children are playing.
USI fans witness that up close during men’s basketball games. Rick sits with his wife, Kari, and Mallorie about 20 rows behind the team bench. He rarely shows any emotion, whether Alex is having the game of his life or a rare off night.
The Stein family supports one another. Kari is seemingly everywhere for everything. Alex sits on the baseline during the women’s games before it’s his turn to play. Mallorie is on the USI women’s soccer team and the rest of the family is always on hand for her, too.
“A lot of people ask me, ‘Do you feel like you have to go to all the games?’” Mallorie said. “No, I want to go because I love supporting my family and like the games, anyway.”
Rick and Kari are USI alumni. Alex, a junior, and Mallorie, a freshman, are the second generation of Eagles and they’re proudly representing their family’s namesake.
There’s no pressure, only love and care. The Steins are proud to be together at USI.
“You want your kids to find a place they can be very successful and happy and do well,” Rick said. “That starts with academics, but they’re both athletes, too. To have both of them feel the same way about USI as I do and my wife does is pretty exciting.”
USI Head Coach Rick Stein talks to his team during a time out in the fourth quarter against the Ohio Dominican Panthers at USI's Phyiscal Activities Center in Evansville, Ind., Thursday, Nov. 16, 2017. The Screaming Eagles defeated the Panthers, 77-50. (Photo: SAM OWENS/ COURIER & PRESS)
Rick didn’t visit anywhere except USI when he was looking for a landing spot as a junior college transfer in 1989. USI was the place he wanted to earn his business degree and compete for a national championship.
He figured he would start two years for the men’s basketball team and be on his way back toward his small hometown south of Chicago. Then he met Kari. The two haven’t left.
“I didn’t know what else I would do,” Rick said. “The funny thing is, once I got here, I realized how much I enjoyed it and liked it, and how many opportunities there were in this community.”
He was a women’s basketball student assistant in 1991-92 and was promoted to head assistant coach in 1994 under Chancellor Dugan. He spent eight years on her staff before taking over the program in 1999.
Alex, 20, and Mallorie, 18, essentially grew up inside the Physical Activities Center. They tagged along on road trips, stayed in hotels and served as a ball boy and ball girl.
“USI has always been like family to me,” Mallorie said.
Rick never coached them, though. Sometimes he’ll sit in on a USI men’s practice and offer Alex a few tips, but even those normally are given upon Alex’s request.
The two kids attended Reitz High School, where Kari is a counselor for juniors and seniors. Rick, given his job and schedule, couldn’t make all their games, but he did his best and it helped that Reitz is a short drive down the Lloyd Expressway.
“I think it’s really cool we’re all in different areas and succeeding,” Alex said.
Missouri S&T’s Dulan Scott (5) dribbles down the court as USI’s Alex Stein (20) guards him during the second half at USI's Physical Activities Center in Evansville, Ind., Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. The Screaming Eagles defeated the Miners, 98-78. (Photo: SAM OWENS/ COURIER & PRESS)
During the summer, they played on travel soccer, basketball and baseball teams. Rick made up the time he missed during the school year then. Now that they’re in college, he can see nearly every game considering the men’s and women’s teams travel together during conference play.
“If they were anywhere else, I probably wouldn’t see them play because my job is here,” Rick said.
USI has been the perfect fit. It started with Rick and Kari and has continued to Alex and Mallorie. The Steins have been prominent on campus for nearly 30 years.
“I don’t know if I could’ve ever written this story,” Rick said. “Certainly not in 1989, I’ll tell you that.”
USI freshman Mallorie Stein is the daughter of women's basketball coach Rick and sister of Alex, who plays on the men's basketball team. (Photo: USI Athletics)
There’s a basketball court behind the Stein’s home.
Alex and Mallorie spent many days going head-to-head as children, trying to one-up each other. Or they’d be off to the side playing soccer in the grass.
“We were born to be competitive,” Mallorie said.
They don’t live at home anymore, but they’re only a few minutes away so Alex frequently stops home to do laundry and Kari will cook food for them to take back to their apartments and share with their roommates.
Neither felt pressure to attend USI, even if it seemed like their destiny. Alex didn’t have any other scholarship offers, so it was his only option — yet he also “really wanted to stay close to home.”
They also aren’t pressured to be an example because of who their father is.
“I don’t feel like I have to live up to anything,” Alex said. “I feel like he’s proud of me no matter how I play or what I do as long as I’m giving my all.”
USI’s Alex Stein (20) celebrates his team's win against the Lewis University Flyers as they huddle together at the center of the court in USI's Physical Activities Center in Evansville, Ind., Thursday, Nov. 30, 2017. After going into overtime, the Screaming Eagles defeated the Flyers, 84-75. (Photo: SAM OWENS/ COURIER & PRESS)
Plus, USI wins in nearly everything, so that makes the hard work more rewarding. Mallorie only played in three games this past season, but will likely see her role increase over the next few years. Alex was a preseason All-American and is the leading scorer on the basketball team, which hopes to make a postseason run.
And Kari and Rick are on hand to see it all. Quietly, yet proudly.
“I couldn’t imagine them not being here to see all my games,” Alex said. “It would be really weird if I was far away and my family couldn’t see my play. To have them and a lot of friends in town come watch our team play is a lot of fun and there’s motivation in that too.”
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Joe Aubrey
London’s skyline: Construction in the Capital
London is the UK’s biggest city, the centre of business in the country, and is home to over 8 million people. That’s 12% of the UK’s population. It is a city at the forefront of many industries, like finance, technology, and construction.
Construction is the third biggest industry in the United Kingdom, with nearly 3 million people employed across the country, accounting for around 10% of total employment. The overall production value of the construction industry reached £280 billion in 2018. In London, over a quarter of a million people work in the construction industry, from labourers and tradespeople to site managers and office workers.
Construction in London is booming, with new developments and breathtaking projects commencing each year. Over the last 20 years, the city’s skyline has seen a massive change, with structures like The Shard and The Gherkin shooting up and dwarfing each other. In this roundup of London’s next biggest skyscrapers, we’ll fill you in on what is to come, and how it compares to what has been built around the world.
Residential v. Commercial construction in London
Construction in London can be split into two categories; residential and commercial.
Residential construction is a hot topic right now. The UK is experiencing a major housing shortage. The effect of this in London and the rest of the country is rising house prices. In fact, house prices in London have seen an average increase of 250% in the last 20 years.
The graph below shows how the average prices for different property types have risen in this time. The continuous increase in the price of properties has resulted in a significant decrease in the number of people that purchase properties by an average of 50%. It is vital that enough new homes are built in London to take pressure off of the limited housing market.
Detached - £417,988 in 1998 to £1,608,535 in 2018
Semi - £235,867 in 1998 to £796,195 in 2018
Terraced - £208,340 in 1998 to £811,775 in 2018
Flat - £165,498 in 1998 to £572,575 in 2018
Commercial construction has very different drivers to residential. As London is the heart of business in the UK, having office space in the city is highly desirable. Not just for operational reasons, but also as a mark of prestige and status.
The majority of the tallest buildings in London, the ones that define the city, are used for commercial purposes. The skyscrapers in Canary Wharf, The Shard, and ‘The Walkie Talkie’ are all iconic buildings and are used almost entirely for commercial purposes. The amount of money spent on commercial construction in London can compete with any other city in the world.
Why build skyscrapers?
Some of the biggest and most ambitious new construction projects planned for London, both residential and commercial, involve building new skyscrapers. But why are skyscrapers becoming more and more popular? Below are some of the advantages of building high, and you can see the appeal…
The space issue - Building up instead of out means that you get a lot more space while taking up less land. This is a massive benefit, especially in a dense city where the majority of the land has already been built on. In central London, skyscrapers allow developers to deliver thousands of square feet of space, in a relatively small area. The Shard, for example, has 1.2 million square foot of floor space over 95 floors.
Creation of jobs - Skyscrapers are not simple structures to build, and they require many workers of many different specialisms to complete. A large construction project in London can create regular work for thousands of people.
Tourism and other uses - London’s tallest buildings aren’t used solely for office space. Hotels, restaurants, and tourist attractions take up plenty of space inside The Shard, The Gherkin, and more. The most spectacular buildings are often extremely popular tourist spots, which further stimulates the economy.
However, there are also downsides associated with such structures…
Health & safety - When building at extreme height, health & safety risks are more acute. Health & safety standards are so high these days that it would be unlikely for any serious accidents to happen. However, there is more risk when building at 300 meters than there is when building at 30 meters.
Sky high costs - It isn’t cheap to build a 300-meter tall building in the middle of one of the world’s biggest cities. Planning, labour, materials, logistics, machinery, and more all have to be considered. These costs can go up severely if projects are delayed or plans have to be changed.
Mistakes can be disastrous - One single mistake in planning or any other stage of the project can cause massive issues later on. An error during planning could compromise the safety of the building incur significant extra costs to correct. However, robust and comprehensive processes exist to ensure mistakes are identified and corrected.
Our top 5 buildings planned for London
The Spire
Height - 235m
Cost - £800 million
Location - Canary Wharf
Usage - Residential
Completion - 2020
The Spire is a new residential tower that began construction at the end of 2016. It is located in Canary Wharf at 2 Hertsmere Road. This new tower will reach a height of 235 metres (771 feet) with a total of 67 floors. The project is expected to cost a total of £800 million and is predicted to be completed in 2020.
The Spire will be used mainly for residential apartments. A total of 861 suites will be built, ranging from one to three bedroom apartments and penthouses. The spire will also house a luxury five-star hotel with pool, gym, spa, bar and cinema.
This new tower is set to be the tallest consented residential tower in Western Europe. In July 2016, demolition of the existing structure began. January 2017 saw piling begin, and then by summer 2018, construction of the tower had reached the halfway point. After the events of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, construction halted while changes were made to improve the safety of the building.
One Blackfriars
Location - City of London
Usage - Residential / Commercial
One Blackfriars, also known as ‘The Vase’, is a new residential and commercial tower that began construction in 2013 at 1-16 Blackfriars Road. This new skyscraper reaches a total height of 163 metres (535 feet) with a total of 50 floors. The tower, which costs a total of £140 million, was completed at the end of 2018.
The Vase is comprised of residential apartments, a hotel, retail units and a public space. There is a total of 274 apartments in a range of sizes, and the hotel has 161 rooms. Underneath the tower, three floors contain a spa, gym, cinema, golf simulator and winery.
Originally, the tower was planned to be 225 metres (738 feet) with a total of 68 stories, but this was scaled down after concerns of the impact it could have on the rest of London. On October 2006, a revised design was submitted for the current height.
22 Bishopsgate
Usage - Commercial
22 Bishopsgate, also known as ‘TwentyTwo’, is a commercial skyscraper that began construction in September 2016. TwentyTwo will reach a total height of 278 metres (912 feet) with a total of 62 floors (and two more in the basement). The tower will cost a total of £900 million and is due to be completed in 2019.
TwentyTwo will be used for commercial purposes and will have a total of 1.2 million sq feet of office space. The tower will also include:
A communal space on the 2nd floor for restaurants and an outdoor terrace
An innovation and project space on the 7th floor for meetings and events
A gym on the 25th floor with a 400-foot view of the city
A club and business lounge with private dining on the 57th floor
Various restaurants, bars, and a viewing gallery even higher up.
In 2006, original plans were made for a building called ‘The Pinnacle’. Construction commenced, but it was halted due to the financial crisis and for four years the first seven floors were abandoned. During this time, the planned structure was redesigned. In 2016 it was confirmed that a new building would be built on the existing foundations, due for completion in 2019.
The Tulip
Cost - £500 million - £700 million
The Tulip will be a 305 metre (1000 feet) tower in Bury Street, adjacent to The Gherkin. Construction is not due to commence until 2020. The estimated cost of the project is between £500 million and £700 million, and completion is due for 2025.
The Tulip is being built for multiple purposes and will contain office space and an education centre. Pitched as a tourist attraction, there will be gondola pods that move in a loop on each ‘petal’, providing excellent views of the city.
Due to the height of the tower, The Tulip has had trouble securing planning permission. London City Airport has expressed concerns about disruption to flight paths. However, updates to the runway should allow construction of the tower to begin.
Cost - £1.5 billion
100 Leadenhall, also known as ‘The Diamond’, is a commercial skyscraper to be built at 100 Leadenhall Street. The Diamond is planned to reach a height of 248 metres (813 feet) with a total of 56 floors. A key feature of its unique design is the facade made of elongated diamond shapes. The total cost of construction is expected to be £1.5 billion, due for completion in 2027.
The majority of the skyscraper will be used for offices, providing a total of 1.1 million square feet of space. The ground floor will be used for retail, and The Diamond will also have a free public viewing gallery on the 55th floor, providing 360-degree views of the city.
Once construction has finished, The Diamond will be the third tallest skyscraper in London. The site is currently occupied by existing buildings, but once leases expire in 2023, demolition can take place and construction can begin.
Lai Sun, the company who are developing the skyscraper, purchased the existing properties for a total of £188.5 million. When planning permission was requested, objections were made by St Paul’s Cathedral in an attempt to stop the project. Despite this, planning permission was still authorised.
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How I got the story: Dustin Walsh, senior reporter at Crain’s Detroit Business
Dustin Walsh described himself as “the swiss army knife of Crain’s Detroit Business.” Up until recently, he was covering manufacturing, auto suppliers, the business of law and economics, but has shifted his focus to strictly economic issues.
We sat down with Dustin, a senior reporter at CDB, to talk about his career at Crain and learn about the most memorable story he’s written so far.
What is the most memorable story you’ve written to date?
I have a lot of memorable stories, but the most recent one that comes to mind is when I reported on a potential workforce conundrum with autism. I read an article about autism in the workforce in The Economist. My mind exploded thinking of what that potentially means — when you’re talking about how many people are diagnosed with it every year. So I was thinking about that from a local standpoint of how this is going to affect us as a business community when hiring people. How does that come into play with such a growing number of people on the autism spectrum? It was so memorable because it had such a great impact, in my mind, on whether we’re doing what we need to do to hire people with autism. There are certain things that don’t fit in the general social dynamic of what happens in job interviews and working with other people. But, does that affect how well they can do the job, and are there people who could actually do the job better because of this diagnosis?
How do you take an issue like that and report on it in a way that is insightful to your niche audience?
I think it’s a learned behavior. I try to see things and figure out how they impact our local business community. In this case, it was The Economist article. I started making calls and realized that we have the Autism Alliance of Michigan. Dave Meador, who is at DTE, founded it. So I contacted Colleen Allen, the CEO of the nonprofit, and started talking with her about this idea I had. It was about how this is actually a business problem, not just a simple health services problem. She told me a story about this man named Stephen Glowacki, a 35-year-old man, just like me. He has three degrees — a bachelor’s and two master’s degrees — and he’s a genius. I couldn’t wrap my mind around it, and so it left me wondering how many people like Stephen are out there. How many people are on the autism spectrum to a severe enough degree to where maybe they’re so socially awkward that they can’t interview well? Despite the fact that he’s a genius and is extremely interested in accounting and finance, what could he do at a company if he could just get past the standardized human resources nonsense of hiring a human being? Once I heard his story, I knew there was somewhere to go with this. What if we have exceptional people who can’t find real work? For Stephen, he had been working part time at a cell phone repair shop that couldn’t keep him busy enough. But in his spare time, he created forecasting models predicting the outcomes of sumo wrestling matches. This is what he did in his spare time for fun! So what would happen if you put real work in front of him? So that’s really why I wanted to report the story, because if it’s a large population of people like Stephen out there, imagine what they could do in the workforce. For me, the story needed to be told and it needed to be in front of people making hiring decisions — asking, “Are we missing people that would actually do amazing work within our company?” I think that was the point of it all.
What kind of impact did your story end up having on the business community?
After the story was published, it was really well received by the business community. I was proud of it and proud of our business community for the way they viewed it. Now the Autism Alliance has companies knocking on their door all the time. Stephen got a job as an accountant quickly. I think he had upwards of a couple dozen offers and he was able to have his pick. It was Fortune 500 companies. It was Fortune 200 companies. There were small accounting firms reaching out. He ended up going with a family-owned accounting firm and is apparently doing really, really well there, where a year ago, he wasn’t working. He wasn’t financially being the productive member of society that he wanted to be. The problem is that the estimate is upwards of 90 percent of adults with autism are unemployed.
It’s hard to know whether you’re going to have a good story that’s going to have an impact until you’re done with it, but I think I had a sense. You don’t often see the results of what you’re doing as a journalist. You know whether it riles people up or gets people to comment or gets shared on social media. You kind of see in that non-meaningful way that people are at least reading. In this sense, based on what I did, someone got a job who couldn’t get a job before. It’s only one person, but that felt really good. You don’t always have that kind of impact on things, so I felt like I did something.
How are you able to take an idea like that to your editors and convince them it’s important, although it doesn’t quite fall under your job description?
An important story is an important story, whether it’s part of your beat or not. Yes, this fell outside of what my normal, everyday coverage would be. But I think the really good stories don’t come along every day. When you find something that you’re interested in, you kind of just roll with it. When you have a story you believe in and can make a case for, your editors are always going to listen to you. They may have been somewhat skeptical, but they trusted me enough to know I was trying to tie these things together for our readers. Once I found someone who had a real problem and the problem wasn’t as rare as we initially thought, it was clear this was a real business story.
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Solomon Northup : Free Man
Solomon Northup : Free Man Essay
994 Words May 19th, 2016 4 Pages
1. Solomon Northup: Free Man
In Chapters I and II, Northup tells of his life as a free black man living in upstate New York. Born in July 1808, he was the son of an emancipated slave. He grew up working on a farm at his father’s side, and also was educated to a degree of competence in reading and writing. Additionally, he learned to play the violin, a skill that would be both a blessing and curse to him in coming years. At age 21, he married Anne Hampton, and they settled down to raise a family. Solomon worked in many trades, including farming, lumberjacking, and performing on the violin, while Anne earned money as a cook. They had three children.
In 1841, Solomon met two white men who offered him lucrative work with a circus—if he would travel with them to Washington, D.C. Unsuspecting, he joined them in their travels and in Washington, D.C., after a day of unusual revelry and drinking, became terribly ill. On his way to see a doctor, he passed out. When he woke up, Solomon Northup was alone, chained in darkness.
2. Solomon Northup: Captive
This second period of 12 Years a Slave, told in Chapters III–VI, relates how Solomon finds himself a prisoner in the slave pen of James H. Burch, a brutal slave trader in Washington, D.C. When Solomon protests his captivity and asserts his right to freedom, Burch responds by beating him into submission and threatening to kill him if he ever mentions his freedom again. At length, Solomon is allowed to join the other slaves being held by…
Essay Solomon Northup : From Twelve Years A Slave
Solomon Northup: From Twelve Years a Slave Solomon Northup was a man from New York, born in 1808. Solomon was born as a free man on his parents farm in the Adirondack Mountains. His father, Mintus, was a very successful and well known man in Fort Edwards, New York. Not only did he send Northup to school, but he also taught him how to be a skillful farmer. Years later, Northup married Anne Hampton, with whom they had three children and moved to Saratoga. He supported his family by farming, carpeting…
Essay The Life Of Frederick Douglass And Solomon Northup
many people fighting this racism. Two of these people are Frederick Douglass and Solomon Northup. These two people have been introduced into slavery differently, but both fought racism in similar ways. Frederick Douglass was a man who was born into slavery, but escaped into freedom. Solomon Northup was a man who was born a freeman, and was brought into slavery during his adulthood. Frederick Douglass and Solomon Northup were both two men who fought racism due to the education they received, the help…
Essay A Slave By Solomon Northup
granted freedom from their former owners. Once slaves entered the North, they were able to finally be seen as a free African American. The thing that scared African Americans the most, frequently happened, being sent back to the South into slavery. 12 Years a Slave by Solomon Northup gives a recap of how his life, filled with joy and freedom one day, became a living nightmare the next. Northup, a self-taught, master violin player is fooled into traveling with “gentlemen” to share his talents for a small…
during this era were slaves, but the other black people who were free were still harshly discriminated against and denied many privileges permitted to free men. However, some men and women of the free black population managed to make a living for themselves. Frederick Douglass was born a slave and even with a massive degree of racism projected towards him, grew up to be a famous abolitionist and orator. Solomon Northup was born a free man, but was kidnapped into slavery until his escape, after which…
Essay Black Hawk And Solomon Northup
respective autobiographies, Black Hawk and Solomon Northup offer their perspectives on the political and economic landscape of the United States of America. Though they did not live at the exact same time, their lives provide us with much insight into American politics and the economy in from the mid-1700s to the mid-1800s. Black Hawk illustrates how the Americans were ignorant of Native American populations in the Mississippi Valley due to economic goals, while Northup similarly depicts how white American…
Essay 12 Years A Slave By Solomon Northup
In the novel 12 Years a Slave by Solomon Northup, Northup recounts the story of his life through being kidnapped into slavery. It depicts a scene of happiness turned into hell, and all starts when Solomon is tricked into “playing music” with two white con men by the names of Merrill Brown and Abram Hamilton. They take him to the city, where they drug him and sell him off to a slave keeper and thus starts his 12 year excursion through the real life hell of slavery. The story shows all of the…
Words: 2574 - Pages: 11
Although the film, 12 Years a Slave, follows the narrative by Solomon Northup fairly close, there are differences between the two works that the film’s writers use to incorporate additional levels of emotion and drama to a scene. One of these scenes in the film is when Northup, or Platt, tells his first master, William Ford, that he was once a freeman. In the narrative, Northup states that he almost fully disclosed his background to Ford once but decided it was too much of a risk and “resolved to…
Years a Slave is based on the memoir of the same name by Solomon Northup, a black man who was born free but was kidnapped and forced into slavery for 12 years of his life. Solomon a violinist by trade lives as a free man with his wife and children in Saratoga, NY. One day when his wife and children are away from home, two men approach Solomon and tell him that they have a great opportunity for him playing the violin in Washington. Solomon is then tricked by the men and sold into slavery. Initially…
The Slavery Times Of The United States Of A Slave By Solomon Northup
the United States of America, being born free and not having to grow up enslaved, is a wish many dreamed of, but not many were blessed with. Solomon Northup, up until March of 1841, was a free man. Living in Saratoga Springs with his family of 4, making a living off his farm and music, Northup was illegally sold into slavery, thus marking the start of his 12 years as a slave. The way slavery was demonstrated in the book "12 Years a Slave" by Solomon Northup, proved the injustice and disrespect that…
Essay Solomon Northup : An American Abolitionist
Solomon Northup was an American Abolitionist who was born July 1808 In Minerva, New York, and the primary author of the memoir “Twelve Years A Slave”and also was a farmer.. A free-born African American man from New York, he was a son of a freed slave and free woman of color. Northup was a professional violinist, and had been a landowner in Hebron New York. Solomon’s father had also been enslaved once but was released upon his former master 's death. Solomon and his brother grew up knowing freedom…
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Home Schools Former superintendent of schools in Somerset and Calvert counties dies
Former superintendent of schools in Somerset and Calvert counties dies
Jan 26th, 2017 · by County Times · Comments:
Eugene ‘Gene’ Karol
PORT REPUBLIC, MD — A former superintendent of Somerset County Public Schools has died. Eugene “Gene” Karol, who served from 1975 to 1980 and then headed to Calvert County to serve as superintendent until 1993, died Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2007 at age 83.
The Pennsylvanian graduated from the University of Maryland in 1955 and received his master’s in educational administration in 1964 from Western Maryland College, now McDaniel College. He earned his doctorate in education in 1975 from Nova Southeastern University.
In his daily post to Facebook followers, Somerset County Superintendent of Schools John Gaddis noted that his father Robert Gaddis was superintendent in Worcester County the same time “Mr. Gene” was leading Somerset schools. “Dr. Karol set the standard for superintendents in the State of Maryland,” Dr. John Gaddis wrote.
During his administration of Calvert County schools, Dr. Karol rose the system from 12th to second place in state testing. He also was a past Superintendent of the Year.
Dr. Gaddis said “Mr. Gene” as he knew him “was the first person I called” to talk about his interview in Somerset County. “He always thought positively of his time in Somerset and was a dear family friend,” and Dr. Karol was the first person to call Dr. Gaddis when it was announced he was moving from to Somerset County.
In addition to serving as the superintendent, Dr. Karol was a Calvert County school board member from 2007-2014 serving three years as president. He had filed to run in 2016 but withdrew early that year. He was an active Rotarian.
Services are scheduled 11 a.m. today (Feb. 1) at St. John Vianney Catholic Church in Prince Frederick with interment to follow in the church cemetery. Donations in Dr. Karol’s memory may be directed to in care of the Rotary Club of Prince Frederick, P. O. Box 1339, Prince Frederick MD 20678. Rausch Funeral Home is handling the arrangements.
The County Times is delivered weekly to Crisfield and the surrounding Somerset County region.
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Shopping malls peril Civil War sites. BATTLEFIELDS UNDER SIEGE
By Robert P. Hey Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
Manassas, Va.
Annie Snyder looks dolefully out at methodical surveyors and relentless earthmovers. They are swiftly preparing the way for thousands of people to shop where Robert E. Lee's headquarters once stood and his troops readied for a key assault during the important second Civil War struggle for Manassas. ``The big fight out here,'' she says quietly, ``has always been between people who see land as a resource, as I do, and people who see land as a commodity.''
Mrs. Snyder, a longtime civic activist, isn't always so soft-spoken. She is the feisty leader of conservationists who are in their fiercest struggle in two decades over a historic site. In Congress and the courts, they are trying to turn back the shopping center, just as General Lee's troops more than 125 years ago thwarted Union forces here. Snyder and her Save the Battlefield Coalition say a huge shopping center, added traffic, and a new superhighway are wholly incompatible with the abutting historic Manassas battlefield park.
This local issue has become a national problem, as Civil War buffs, preservationists, and local citizens have banded together to try to preserve a corner of America's heritage.
The root of the threat to Manassas and other Civil War battlefields is America's urban sprawl. Across the United States, as at Manassas, cities ooze slowly outward into the countryside, heedless of long-rural historic sites. With this spread come pressures on the little communities next to historic parklands to become more suburban and develop economically valuable land.
Experts say the present Manassas battle will likely be a prologue for the future of several other Civil War battlefields - and, indeed, the future of other American national parks. ``Society and human culture are encroaching onto every parkland'' in the 343-unit system of US national parks, says Destry Jarvis, vice-president of the National Parks and Conservation Association.
Congress ``has neglected to give the National Park Service authority to deal with problems that arise outside the borders'' of individual parks, such as development, Mr. Jarvis says. These problems, he says, now ``are legion and growing.''
At a hearing today before the House Subcommittee on National Parks and Public Land experts will discuss the development threat to the Manassas National Battlefield Park. The subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Bruce Vento (D) of Minnesota, is considering legislation to strengthen the hand of the Park Service so it can obtain more land at threatened sites, and, in extreme cases, can swiftly take control of imminently threatened sites and stop development.
Three Civil War battlefields are among America's 11 most endangered historic sites, says the National Trust for Historic Preservation in a new assessment to be released later today. They are Manassas; Antietam, Md.; and Cedar Creek, near Middletown, Va.
The seeds of the problem in the three Civil War parks and many others in the National Park Service system, National Park Service historian Edwin Bearss says, were planted nearly 100 years ago. After Congress had purchased land for America's first four national Civil War battlefield parks in the 1890s, it paused to consider the financial ramifications. Three - Chickamauga in Georgia, Shiloh in Tennessee, and Gettysburg in Pennsylvania - had been relatively expensive for those days: Congress had purchased a considerable amount of land.
The fourth case was different - and cheaper. It was Antietam, the Maryland site of the Civil War's bloodiest one-day battle, where Union troops on Sept. 17, 1862, at great human cost parried Lee's first thrust into the North. To conserve money, Congress primarily bought land along roadways, plus a small central amount of acreage.
Congress presumed that since this community was far from any city, the remaining, privately owned, land would be farmed forever, and it was not necessary to spend additional federal funds to purchase it. From 1899 to 1940, Mr. Bearss says, the federal government purchased national parks on this flawed, penny-wise and pound-foolish principle.
Now, however, development is threatening to encroach on Antietam and other once-rural parks. About a mile from the core of the Antietam battlefield a land parcel was recently sold for the development of a small shopping center.
But friends of Antietam are fighting back. History buffs have organized into the Save Historic Antietam Foundation. Maryland Gov. William Schaefer and local government officials are studying the area to decide, as Bearss puts it, ``where you can have development that will not intrude on the historic scene.''
Similar threat of development exists at the site of the October 1864 battle of Cedar Creek. There, as at Antietam, a civic organization has recently been formed. Its purpose is to thwart development by buying from private owners undeveloped land that was important to the battle.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation now owns 100 acres around Belle Grove, the late-18th-century manor house about which was fought the battle that ended Confederate military power in the northern Shenandoah Valley.
The most immediate development threat is to a 150-acre parcel abutting Belle Grove. On this land developers propose building several industrial parks.
Whatever happens at Manassas, Antietam, and Cedar Creek, obviously America cannot preserve all the undeveloped land on which historic events occurred.
``I think the ideal way,'' says Bearss, ``is the way they're talking in Antietam. ... They've got to get the county, the state, and the feds involved to make a study. To realize there are certain parts so important to the history of our country that, as the [US] Supreme Court said in 1896, there is an inherent power on the part of our government to buy certain lands that are important in the history of our country....
``Then there should be ... land around it in which people of good will'' will agree to development, ``but it has to be compatible development.''
As what's occurring at Manassas shows, the task won't be easy - in part, Snyder says, because ``we have a big conflict here ... between our long-held property rights ... and the rights of people to not just historic sites, but the right to maintain and protect our resources.''
Yet, says Ian Spatz of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, ``we don't have a way to save these places where [local] people with control over them don't care about saving them, whereas there is a large constituency across the US that favors saving them. That is where the system has broken down.''
Mr. Spatz favors ``strong new federal legislation'' that would ``encourage or force'' a state and federal partnership to evaluate historic and other park resources. And that would, on exceptional occasions, provide ``extraordinary power'' to the National Park Service to purchase land quickly so as to abruptly stop development.
Meanwhile, Spatz says, pointing to Manassas, ``while we're all trying to find some solution to this thing, the bulldozers are rolling. The federal government shouldn't be so powerless.''
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The Monitor's View Teachable monuments?
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UBC library obtains 770-year-old Medieval religious document
Detail of the Papal bull, which consists of sheepskin or calfskin parchment. (Flickr / Don Erhardt, UBC Public Affairs)
Published Wednesday, February 4, 2015 8:19AM EST
VANCOUVER -- The University of British Columbia has obtained a 770-year-old religious document that its professors say will be an invaluable resource for students and teachers.
The handwritten decree on parchment was issued by Pope Innocent IV to affirm the rights of the San Michele monastery in Trent, Italy.
The so-called papal bull document is believed to be the oldest of its kind in Canada. Included with the 62-by-58-centimetre document, made from sheep or calf skin, is the pope's lead seal, or "bulla" in Latin, the reason it's called a papal bull.
Access to such documents is normally tightly restricted, but this decree will be available to anyone who wants to study it.
"I'm going to use it in all my classes on the European Middle Ages," said UBC history instructor Richard Pollard. "This is the foundational Western document. It's a wonderful illustration of papal power in the 13th century."
Legal scholars will find it useful for what it can tell them about early legal traditions, while library science professors and students will learn about document production and preservation from examining the decree, he said.
Its text was written by hand in an ornate, precise writing font called papal chancery minuscule with a quill pen. It's signed by Pope Innocent IV and 13 witnesses, one of them a future pope, Nicholas III.
The University bought the document from British antiquarian book dealer Bernard Quaritch Ltd. UBC's Rare Books and Special Collections librarian Katherine Kalsbeek said it cost $15,000, a good price for a document that old and well-preserved.
The document has just been unveiled now because when it arrived last summer, it was folded, and had been for centuries. That required gently flattening it using a humidification chamber to relax and uncrease it, Kalsbeek said.
Many of these types of documents are in Europe, and the few in North America are in collections like New York's Morgan Library and Museum, where people have to apply to see them.
Josh Timmermann, a master's history student at the library to examine the papal bull in person, said few people actually get permission to see such documents.
"For undergraduates who are accustomed to reading about the Middle Ages in a textbook, they can have this direct, unmediated contact with the medieval past that they couldn't have otherwise."
UBC students hope 'Sailbot' will make history with solo voyage across Atlantic
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Aretha’s Roots: The Gospel and Jazz Years
by Jim Allen
Everyone knows that Aretha Franklin will forever occupy an unchallenged position in history as The Queen of Soul. A significantly smaller number of Aretha fans are aware that the Detroit Dynamo spent her teens and early twenties delivering not R&B but gospel and jazz, among other things. Judging from the sonic evidence, it’s easy to imagine that if Aretha had stuck with one of these styles, she could have become a sovereign of those too. Of course in hindsight it’s impossible to imagine any other course than the one that made her R&B royalty, but that doesn’t diminish the impact of those early sides, evidencing a fully-formed talent at an age when most other singers are just finding their feet.
“Yield Not to Temptation” (1956)
Aretha’s father, Rev. C.L. Franklin, was a nationally renowned Baptist Preacher, and he brought his daughter with him as a gospel performer on his road shows at an early age. In 1956, at the age of 14, she released her first album, a collection of hymns featuring just her vocal and piano. Recorded in her father’s Detroit church, it’s somewhat wanting in fidelity but fully stocked with precocious powerhouse performances like this one.
“Today I Sing the Blues” (1960)
When Aretha wanted to follow former gospel crooner Sam Cooke’s move to secular sounds, C.L. didn’t try to hold her back. But jazz and blues were more on the menu than anything else on her earliest recorded efforts outside the church. On this track from her first non-Gospel LP (released earlier as a single), she shows off a knack for cool, classy, Charles Brown-style piano blues.
“All Night Long” (1961)
Even when Aretha jumped into jazz, she still had boatloads of bluesy moves and soulful grit in her delivery. This mournful, minor-key tune shows the finesse she was capable of in a jazz context as well as the visceral qualities that would serve her so well when she became the Queen of Soul.
“Try a Little Tenderness” (1962)
Before it was transformed into a soul tour de force by Otis Redding, this tune was a 1930s standard cut by Bing Crosby and others. Singing it in ’62, Aretha lent some soulful touches that hinted at the song’s Stax/Volt future while remaining largely in the orchestrated pop realm. In the process, she showed that she could have handiliy gone the route of a classic pop crooner if she was so inclined.
“Cold, Cold Heart” (1964)
Ironically, this detour into the Hank Williams catalog comes within the context of Aretha’s jazz period. This track comes from a tribute album she recorded in homage to jazz legend Dinah Washington. But Washington’s own version of the song was actually much more in the jazz/pop vein, while Aretha’s take on the tune is full of R&B grooves and soulful swoops. Of course it also shows that she could settle right into country music as easily as anything else.
– Jim Allen
Photo Credit: Musician Aretha Franklin recording at the piano at Columbia Studios in 1962 in New York. (Photo by Donaldson Collection/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
TagsAretha Franklin • gospel • jazz • obituary • soul
AboutJim Allen
Jim Allen's night job is fronting country band The Ramblin' Kind, rock band Lazy Lions, and working as a solo singer/songwriter. His day job is writing about other people's music. He has contributed to NPR, Billboard, RollingStone.com, and many more, and written liner notes for reissues of everyone from OMD to Bob Seger, but his proudest achievement is crafting a completely acceptable egg cream armed only with milk, Bosco, and a SodaStream seltzer maker.
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Social Studies 5
Curriculum Social Studies Grade 5 PDF Grade-Set: k-9
Canada’s policies and treatment of minority peoples have negative and positive legacies.
Natural resources continue to shape the economy and identity of different regions of Canada.
Immigration and multiculturalism continue to shape Canadian society and identity.
Canadian institutions and government reflect the challenge of our regional diversity.
Use Social Studies inquiry processes and skills to — ask questions; gather, interpret, and analyze ideas; and communicate findings and decisions
State a hypothesis about a selected problem or issue
Use inference, imagination, and pattern identification to clarify and define a problem or issue
Compare a range of points of view on an issue
Summarize information and viewpoints about a problem or issue
Use latitude, longitude, and intermediate directions to locate major geographic features in BC and Canada
Describe a selected place in Canada using both absolute and relative location
Use keys and legends to interpret maps (e.g., resources, economic activities, transportation routes, capital cities, population)
Recognize that different types of maps represent particular types of information (e.g., thematic maps show information such as resource distribution; topographic maps show elevation; political maps show provincial boundaries)
Create maps to represent aspects of a specific place (e.g., economic activity, landforms, and bodies of water), applying keys and legends
Create and interpret timelines and maps to show the development of political boundaries in Canada (e.g., each province’s entry into Confederation, creation of Nunavut)
Retell a story from an interview (e.g., residential school student, new Canadian, war veteran, Elder)
Apply established criteria to compare information sources (e.g., relevance, accuracy, authorship)
Apply a variety of strategies to record information gathered from sources
Create a bibliography of all sources used
Use an outline to organize information into a coherent format
Create a presentation using more than one form of representation (e.g., poster and oral report)
Select ways to clarify a specific problem or issue (e.g., discussion, debate, research, reflection)
Identify opportunities for civic participation at the school, community, provincial, and national levels
Individually, or in groups, implement a plan of action to address a problem or issue (e.g., fundraising campaign, clothing or food drive, letter writing to a politician, editorial in school or community newspaper, petition)
Develop a plan of action to address a selected problem or issue
Individually, or in groups, design a plan of action to address a problem or issue (e.g., fundraising campaign, clothing or food drive, letter writing to a politician, editorial in school or community newspaper, petition).
Construct arguments defending the significance of individuals/groups, places, events, and developments
Sample activities:
Identify and assess the significance of individuals who have contributed to the development of Canada’s identity in various areas (e.g., the arts, literature, science and medicine, government, military, exploration, law and order, public service)
Assess the roles of the fur trade, the Canadian Pacific Railway, and the gold rushes in the development of Canada
Which people contributed most to Canada becoming an independent country?
What is the most significant event in Canadian history?
(significance)
Ask questions, corroborate inferences, and draw conclusions about the content and origins of a variety of sources, including mass media (evidence)
Sequence objects, images, and events, and recognize the positive and negative aspects of continuities and changes in the past and present
Sample activity:
Create an annotated timeline, map, or other graphic to illustrate selected events or periods in the development of Canada
Key question:
What are some key differences between being a pre-Confederation-Canada citizen and being a Canadian citizen today?
(continuity and change)
Differentiate between intended and unintended consequences of events, decisions, and developments, and speculate about alternative outcomes (cause and consequence)
Take stakeholders’ perspectives on issues, developments, or events by making inferences about their beliefs, values, and motivations
Through role-play, simulations, or letters, present personal perspectives on the challenges faced by immigrants (e.g., climate, language, tolerance for their religion, employment)
Examine sources to determine the motivation for historical wrongs against East and South Asian immigrants.
(perspective)
Make ethical judgments about events, decisions, or actions that consider the conditions of a particular time and place, and assess appropriate ways to respond
Sample topics:
historical wrongs against East and South Asian immigrants
Indian Act
residential school system
internment of Ukrainians during World War I
internment of Japanese-Canadians during World War II
turning away of Jewish refugees prior to World War II
Canada’s response to climate change
Based on the evidence at the time, was the internment of Japanese people in BC justified? Explain your answer.
What are the potential consequences of non-sustainable practices in resource use?
(ethical judgment)
the development and evolution of Canadian identity over time
the changing nature of Canadian immigration over time
Changing government policies about the origin of immigrants and the number allowed to come to Canada
immigration to BC, including East and South Asian immigration to BC
the contributions of immigrants to Canada’s development (e.g., Chinese railway workers, Sikh loggers, Eastern European farmers, British investors)
push and pull factors
settlement pattern
growth of cities, provinces, and territories as a result of immigration
Why did East and South Asians come to BC and Canada, and what challenges did they face?
How has Canada’s identity been shaped by the immigration of individuals from a wide range of ethnic and cultural backgrounds?
past discriminatory government policies and actions, such as the Head Tax, the Komagata Maru incident, residential schools, and internments
Head Tax on Chinese immigrants
numbered treaties with First Peoples
treatment of Doukhabours
1884-85 famine
1907 Anti-Asian Riots
Japanese and German internments
reduction or relocation of First Nations reserves
ethnic minorities denied the vote
What types of discrimination have immigrants to Canada faced? (e.g., cases of systemic discrimination by local, provincial, and federal levels of government)
How might Canadian society be different today if exclusionary policies toward immigrants from East and South Asia had not been developed during certain periods of history?
What effects did residential schools have on First Nations families and communities
human rights and responses to discrimination in Canadian society
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
LGBTQ rights and same-sex marriage
religious freedoms
examples of individuals who have fought for change and spoke out against injustice
key provisions of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
the role of the Charter in establishing equality and fairness for all Canadians (e.g., addressing cases of discrimination)
levels of government (First Peoples, federal, provincial, and municipal), their main functions, and sources of funding
Distinguish between the different levels of government in Canada: municipal, provincial, territorial, federal
Summarize the responsibilities of government (e.g., providing and administering services, making laws, collecting and allocating taxes)
Through role-play, simulation, or case study, examine the election process (e.g., different political parties, voting)
key roles within provincial, territorial, and federal governments in Canada (e.g., premier, prime minister, MLA, MP, speaker, lieutenant governor, governor general; cabinet, senate, government ministries)
elected and appointed provincial and federal government leaders in Canada (e.g., local MLA and MP, local First Nations leaders, premier of BC, the lieutenant governor of BC, prime minister, governor general)
Which level of government has the most effect on your daily life?
participation and representation in Canada’s system of government
representative versus direct democracy
electoral boundaries
electoral process
alternative voting systems
First Peoples governance
resources and economic development in different regions of Canada
Use maps to describe the location of natural resources in Canada in relation to characteristics of physical geography (e.g., fish on the coasts, mineral resources in the Canadian Shield)
Identify significant natural resources in BC and Canada, including:
fish and marine resources
minerals (e.g., diamonds, gold, asbestos, tin, copper)
energy resources (e.g., natural gas, petroleum, coal, hydro)
What natural resources are most important to the economy of your community?
How has technology affected the discovery, extraction, processing, and marketing of selected natural resources?
First Peoples land ownership and use
land claims disputes
How do First Peoples balance economic development with traditional uses of the land?
How fair has BC’s treaty process been? Explain your answer.
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DELEITURAS
Tokyo hopes to keep GSOMIA military information-sharing pact with Seoul, Foreign Minister Taro Kono says
SEOUL – In a newspaper interview published in South Korea on Wednesday, Japan’s Foreign Minister Taro Kono indicated Tokyo’s preference to continue a bilateral accord on sharing military intelligence with Seoul that is set to be renewed next month.
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Kono’s written interview, which was published by the South Korean daily JoongAng Ilbo, comes amid mounting concern over the potential impact of worsening South Korea-Japan ties on the security cooperation accord between the two countries.
“The ties between the two countries are in a very difficult condition, but Japan will continue to cooperate with South Korea on the agenda on which it should cooperate, including the North Korea issue,” Kono was quoted as saying.
South Korea and Japan signed the General Security of Military Information Agreement, a military intelligence-sharing pact often shortened as GSOMIA, in November 2016.
The accord, which went into effect immediately, has since been renewed every year. But there are worries that it may not be renewed this time, as ties between the key U.S. defense allies in Asia have frayed to their most fragile condition in years.
The intelligence-sharing arrangement can be terminated if either party notifies the other of its intention to cancel the accord at least 90 days before the end of each one-year period.
Regarding South Korea’s position, the Dong-A Ilbo, another South Korean newspaper, reported Wednesday that the office of President Moon Jae-in has determined that South Korea should maintain the intelligence-sharing accord with Japan.
Last autumn, the South Korean Supreme Court ordered some Japanese firms to pay damages to Koreans who said they had been forced to work at their factories or mines in Japan during World War II. Japan views the issue of compensation as having been settled under a 1965 bilateral accord.
This month, Japan tightened export rules for several materials needed by South Korean companies to make semiconductors and display panels, prompting South Korea to accuse its neighbor of engaging in economic retaliation.
“It was South Korea that unilaterally broke a legal promise after over 50 years,” Kono said in the interview, referring to the 1965 agreement, under which Japan provided South Korea with $500 million in grants and loans.
The foreign minister added that the court rulings came as a “disappointment” not only to the Japanese government but also to many Japanese people who hope to maintain a good relationship with South Korea.
Kono also urged South Korea to agree to third-party arbitration as spelled out under the 1965 agreement to settle the dispute stemming from the court rulings. Japan has made the request, and Thursday is the deadline for South Korea’s response.
With regard to Japan’s recent export curbs against South Korea, Kono strongly denied the allegation that the tighter controls were retaliatory.
Kono said he is closely coordinating with his South Korean counterpart Kang Kyung-wha, but did not clearly respond to a question about whether he thought the leaders of the two countries should have a summit to calm the situation.
Japan and South Korea had originally planned to sign the intelligence-sharing agreement in 2012, but South Korea, then under President Lee Myung-bak, postponed the process at the last minute, due to a surge in domestic opposition stemming from Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.
Four years later, on Nov. 23, 2016, the agreement was signed under Moon’s predecessor Park Geun-hye, in response to growing concerns over North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.
Author DELEITURASPosted on July 18, 2019 Leave a comment on Tokyo hopes to keep GSOMIA military information-sharing pact with Seoul, Foreign Minister Taro Kono says
School workshops that foster political engagement prove popular in Japan
Workshops at schools that use comedy or games to encourage young people to get involved in politics are becoming more widespread in Japan ahead of Sunday’s House of Councilors election, the third national poll to be conducted since the lowering of the voting age from 20 to 18.
The lecturers often incorporate entertainment aspects into the workshops to help students understand political issues more easily, in the hope of persuading them to go to the polls.
According to the internal affairs ministry voter turnout for teens stood at 46.78 percent in the 2016 Upper House election, in which people aged 18 and 19 cast votes for the first time ever. But young voter turnout fell to 40.49 percent in the 2017 election for the House of Representatives, the Diet’s lower chamber.
Nana Takamatsu, 26, a comedian and board director at Shokasonjuku, a Tokyo-based company that raises questions about social issues through comedy, has been holding workshops at high schools across Japan together with other comedians, aiming to convince students that they can change politics through casting their ballots.
Over 10,000 students have participated so far in the company’s workshops.
Example activities at the events include students engaging in policy discussions, by role-playing as corporate employees, or trying to identify who is the bad politician in a game based on werewolf, a traditional party game.
At one high school, voter turnout among third-year students topped 80 percent after the workshop was given.
“If everyone in their teens and 20s goes to the polls, they can exert a considerable influence,” Takamatsu said. “Because I believe that democracy would become rotten if people become too complacent about it, I want (the youngsters) to perceive not voting as a loss.”
Kosuke Furui, 24, a fourth-year student at Keio University, runs Poteto Media, an advertising agency specializing in politics.
Through workshops that use playing cards or online games, the agency shows students that politics can be the solution to poverty or other problems that they cannot overcome on their own.
“The problem is that politics has moved away from young people, rather than young people moving away from politics,” Furui said. “I hope more policies focused on young people, such as making education free of charge, will be implemented.”
At a workshop held at a high school in Itabashi Ward, Tokyo, students took a test that asked 10 questions about politics.
Kotone Kajiwara, 18, a third-year student at the school, said she had a hard time answering questions about elections as they were very difficult. But she also said, “I want to think hard and vote because people have the right to elect politicians.”
Teppei Enomoto, 17, also a third-year student, said the workshop made him eager to go to the polls. “I want politicians to bring the opinions of young people to politics,” he said.
Author DELEITURASPosted on July 18, 2019 Leave a comment on School workshops that foster political engagement prove popular in Japan
£36m Man Utd-linked Brazilian set to undergo Arsenal medical
Arsenal are reportedly inching closer to a deal for Gremio’s Everton Soares as the forward is set to undergo a medical in Brazil ahead of a move to London.
The Gunners have intensified their pursuit of the Brazil international over the past month and appear to have finally struck a deal.
It is now reported that medics from Arsenal have on Monday boarded a flight to Porto Alegre to assess the condition of the star ahead of a €40m (£36m) switch to north London.
The move could be completed in the next few days with the player already confirming he’s unlikely to feature in the Copa do Brasil quarter-final against Bahia this Wednesday.
“Really. I do not know what can happen. I have a proposal. I cannot talk to the club,” he said.
“I do not guarantee that I will play against Bahia on Wednesday, we will see.”
These reports have been backed up by respected Brazilian journalist Sergio Araujo, who claims Arsenal have struck a deal for Everton, with the deal set to take a significant step closer if Gunners club doctors are satisfied.
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Fox Sports claim that a £36million fee has been agreed with Gremio, confirming that the medical is set.
Manchester United had also been linked with a move for the 23-year-old and had scouted him.
Author DELEITURASPosted on July 18, 2019 Leave a comment on £36m Man Utd-linked Brazilian set to undergo Arsenal medical
Man Utd 4-0 Leeds Utd: Pogba MOTM as rivals beaten
Mason Greenwood and Marcus Rashford put Manchester United on course for a comprehensive pre-season win against Leeds in Australia.
Just 37 miles separate Old Trafford and Elland Road, but it was Perth’s mammoth Optus Stadium that played host to these sides’ first meeting since September 2011.
Marcelo Bielsa’s Sky Bet Championship promotion hopefuls Leeds showed flashes of quality but were eventually rolled over, with Man United winning 4-0 despite Ole Gunnar Solskjaer completely rotating his side at half-time.
A fine move involving the impressive Paul Pogba and new boy Aaron Wan-Bissaka led to 17-year-old Greenwood’s first senior goal, with Rashford doubling that advantage with a fine strike after a dizzying turn.
Rashford and Daniel James – so nearly a Leeds player in January – hit the post in the first half and United continued in the ascendancy after the break, with Phil Jones heading home before Anthony Martial slotted home a spot-kick in front of 55,274 fans.
The atmosphere and competitiveness was unlike most friendlies, which United follow by heading to Singapore to face Inter Milan – the side attempting to sign striker Romelu Lukaku.
The 26-year-old was again conspicuous by his absence after picking up a new knock on the eve of the game, but the striker was not missed in Perth.
Bielsa, who took his place on his trusty blue bucket after arriving Down Under on Tuesday, saw his side overawed for the most part, with Rashford hitting the woodwork inside two minutes.
Solskjaer’s side required just five more to open the scoring as Pogba’s defence-splitting pass found Wan-Bissaka, whose first-time cross was prodded home by Greenwood.
Pogba bossed the midfield in the first half and had several attempts to score, while Sergio Romero – in for the ill David De Gea – somehow kept out Patrick Bamford with his feet in a positive period for Leeds.
That spell jolted Man United into life. Greenwood went close before Scott McTominay surged forward and fed Rashford, whose stunning drop of the shoulder left Gaetano Berardi on the deck and was followed up by a cool 28th-minute finish.
James hit the post after Rashford and Pogba linked up well, with Solskjaer’s side continuing strongly despite 11 half-time changes.
Andreas Pereira saw a shot from distance tipped over but Jones scored from the resulting corner after losing Kalvin Phillips to head home in the 51st minute.
Angel Gomes had an attempt as the match became a little stop-start, with the Leeds fans in fine voice despite seeing their side fall further behind.
Tahith Chong’s turn fooled Liam Cooper and earned a penalty that Martial dispatched in the 69th minute, sending Kiko Casilla the wrong way.
Jesse Lingard directed wide and tempers frayed following an Ashley Young challenge as United’s 100 per cent start to pre-season continued.
Author DELEITURASPosted on July 18, 2019 Leave a comment on Man Utd 4-0 Leeds Utd: Pogba MOTM as rivals beaten
Police hunt for suspect after boy, 17, stabbed at Saitama home
SAITAMA – A 17-year-old male high school student was stabbed early Tuesday at his home in Warabi, Saitama Prefecture, by a suspected intruder, police said.
The boy sustained wounds to his neck and other parts of his body, but the injuries were not life-threatening, according to authorities. Police said they had received an emergency call around 3:30 a.m.
When the police arrived at the boy’s house, the windows of his bedroom on the second floor were unlocked and they found footprints that do not belong to any of his family members on the balcony, according to investigators.
The 42-year-old father told the police he was in a different room of the second floor when he heard a scream from his son’s bedroom. The father had initially told the police that he was on the first floor.
He then saw his son running out of his room followed by a man in dark clothes, believed to be in his 20s or 30s and about 175 cm tall.
The two are living with a 33-year-old woman at the house and they were all sleeping on the second floor when the incident happened, according to the police.
Police are treating the incident as a case of attempted murder.
Author DELEITURASPosted on July 17, 2019 Leave a comment on Police hunt for suspect after boy, 17, stabbed at Saitama home
Party leaders sound off ahead of Upper House vote
Ahead of the Upper House election on Sunday, party leaders and executives were asked the main issues they want to raise with voters, including the economy, the pension system and constitutional revision.
Despite growing concerns triggered about the pension system by a recent government report, Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai emphasized that it is sustainable and said the report, released on June 3 by the Financial Services Agency, caused a public misunderstanding.
“The public pension system is sustainable well into the future thanks to a series of reforms,” Nikai said. “I have no worries.”
The FSA report said an elderly couple would need ¥20 million in life savings plus public pension benefits to survive after retirement.
“It’s a shame to cause misunderstanding and anxiety,” Nikai said.
Referring to the LDP’s election campaign, Nikai underlined that it is important for the LDP to present its plans for dealing with Japan’s low birthrate and rapidly graying population.
“It is also necessary that the Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe continue to firmly and stably address important challenges, such as making a strong economy, revitalizing local communities and establishing a disaster-resistant country at a time when the world is grappling with increased tensions,” he said.
The Abe administration has won high marks for its stable management of the government and solid achievements, Nikai added.
“I think this is a situation where we can ask the public with confidence to let the Cabinet continue to take charge in the Reiwa Era,” he said, referring to the new imperial era kicked off by the emperor’s abdication in April.
Nikai said the minimum number of seats targeted by the ruling camp, which comprises the LDP and Komeito, is 63, or a majority of the seats being contested. “It will not be difficult if we try hard,” he said.
He also downplayed the impact of the major opposition parties unifying their candidates in all single-seat prefectural districts. No matter how much they team up, they cannot compete with the LDP’s traditional solidarity, Nikai said.
Nikai, however, brushed off concerns about how the scheduled hike in the consumption tax to 10 percent from 8 percent in October will affect the LDP’s prospects in the election. The oft-delayed tax hike is part of reforms designed to bring stability, he said, adding that measures to mitigate its impact are already in place.
Nikai said both the ruling and opposition camps should meet halfway to promote discussions on constitutional revision.
“The Diet has a responsibility to present options that the people can choose from,” he said.
One of Abe’s lifelong goals has been to rewrite Article 9 of the Constitution to legitimize the existence of the Self-Defense Forces, Japan’s de facto military.
Scholars have disputed the legality of the SDF because Article 9 renounces Japan’s right to wage war or use force to settle international disputes. It also says Japan shall never maintain land, sea and air forces or other war potential.
“We need to take time to reach agreement, but time should not be spent in vain,” Nikai said of the Diet’s stalled debate on the issue.
Komeito
The Upper House election is an opportunity for voters to choose between stable government and confusion, Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi said.
“As a ruling party, we hope to tackle key challenges at home and abroad after securing political stability,” Yamaguchi said.
The LDP and Komeito, the ruling coalition’s junior party, have a two-thirds majority in the Lower House and a majority of about 60 percent in the Upper House.
On the consumption tax hike, Yamaguchi recalled the 2012 law enacted by the then-ruling Democratic Party of Japan, the LDP and New Komeito to double the 5 percent levy to 10 percent in two stages. He called the opposition now being raised by former members of the now-defunct DPJ, including those who are now executives in the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, a “great betrayal of the public.”
“The consumption tax is fundamentally significant as a stable source of government revenue for improving social security services,” Yamaguchi said.
He said Komeito will address the tax hike in its campaign by sincerely explaining steps the ruling coalition has taken to ease its impact, including special shopping vouchers.
He also proposed that all Diet members accept a 10 percent cut to their annual salaries to show they are willing to help bear the burden.
Regarding public alarm bells raised about the public pension system by the FSA’s June report on postretirement savings, Yamaguchi described the system as “stable.”
On Article 9, however, he cast a skeptical eye toward Abe’s pitch to make constitutional revision a key issue in the election, saying it is “unlikely to appeal to voters.”
Komeito’s policy is to add new provisions to the charter, if necessary, without changing its basic principles.
“There are various ideas about including new values in the Constitution, but none of them is ripe enough for a proposal to the people,” Yamaguchi said.
The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan will focus on improving people’s daily lives as a key pillar of its platform, President Yukio Edano said.
“The largest interest of voters and the most important issue is bringing back a sense of safety to people’s lives,” Edano said. “We will campaign on the three major platforms of creating an economy that places importance on family finances, a society that takes pride in diversity, and a democracy in which people can feel they are participating.”
Sunday will be the main opposition party’s first foray into the triennial election. The party was formed in 2017 by defectors from the short-lived and now-defunct Democratic Party. Edano said his CDP will seek to uphold democratic norms and constitutionalism in its election campaign.
He also lamented what he said was the Abe administration’s tainting of the government bureaucracy, saying the supposedly nonpolitical institution has been marred by political influence scandals since Abe took office.
“(The administration) is continuously destroying the foundations of democracy, which is epitomized by the preservation of official records and the public disclosure of information,” Edano said, bringing up the multiple scandals related to the disappearance or manipulation of public documents under the Abe administration.
“A series of scandals has come up as a result of (bureaucrats) having to pander to politicians,” he said.
In this regard, he also raised the issue of sontaku, the practice by which bureaucrats tacitly carry out what they assume to be the wishes of politicians, spawning acts of favoritism and other alleged government misconduct.
To counter these alleged violations, the CDP is pitching “Reiwa Democracy” for the election. The slogan is a play on Taisho Democracy, a wave of democratic movements that took place in the Taisho Era (1912-1926).
“Democracy in Japan was given a major upgrade by Taisho Democracy,” Edano said. “We must do something that matches its scale.”
On the Constitution, Edano said his party is moving forward with discussions on revisions “from the standpoint of strengthening constitutionalism,” specifically focusing on restricting the right of the prime minister to dissolve the House of Representatives for a snap election, and bolstering citizens’ rights when it comes to information disclosure.
The Constitution is one of the major issues in the election because Abe is bent on legitimizing the existence of the SDF by rewriting war-renouncing Article 9.
“We will strongly fight against allowing the exercise of collective self-defense and changing Article 9 for the worse,” Edano said, referring to the act of coming to the aid of an ally under armed attack, even if Japan itself is not under attack.
Although a U.N. right, collective defense is deemed by many as contrary to Article 9 as Japan’s actions under it could be perceived as use of force.
The opposition leader also repeated his party’s call to again suspend the second stage of the consumption tax hike.
“It takes an immense amount of time to rebuild an economic structure in which consumption rises in a sustainable way,” he said, wary that another tax hike will again chill consumer spending.
The CDP will join hands with other parties in the election to avoid splitting the vote for the opposition. Many in fact have already agreed to back a single unified candidate in single-seat constituencies.
“We have fulfilled the prerequisites for maximizing the number of seats the opposition can win,” Edano said. “Now it is up to each party to utilize its strengths and work as hard as possible.”
Nippon Ishin no Kai
Ichiro Matsui, leader of Nippon Ishin no Kai, has called for earnest discussions on proposals for constitutional amendments to be held in the Diet after the election.
While noting it feels “a little bit strange” to see this become a key issue in the election, Matsui said he hopes the constitutional revision panels in both chambers of the Diet will hold active debates on the matter after the poll. As a top election issue, politicians owe it to the voters to hold serious debates on the matter, he said.
“If the ruling LDP earnestly aims to revise the Constitution, it should change the Diet’s existing obsolete rule” that the Constitution panels must be convened with the consent from both the ruling and opposition parties, he said.
“Opposition parties that refuse to appear for discussions on constitutional revisions or avoid such debates are giving up on their duties,” Matsui said.
On recent remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump that the Japan-U.S. security treaty is placing a heavy burden on the U.S. and is therefore unfair, Matsui said it would be irresponsible to pretend not to know the view of the president of an allied country.
Discussions should thus be held on the possibility of revising Article 9 in light of the reality, he added.
Matsui also called for discussions on establishing a national facility where anybody can pay tribute to the war dead, noting it is very difficult for Japanese and overseas leaders to visit Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo because those it honors include Class A war criminals from World War II.
The Shinto facility is regarded by countries such as China and South Korea as a symbol of Japan’s past militarism.
Matsui said Nippon Ishin also sees a need to create an intelligence agency as Japan’s information-gathering capacity is lower compared with other advanced countries.
Among the party’s key policy promises, Matsui said Nippon Ishin aims to freeze the planned hike in the consumption tax.
The tax hike will “dampen consumption and throw cold water on the economy,” he said.
The Abe administration plans to use revenue from the tax hike to fund a program to make nursery and kindergarten services and tertiary education free of charge.
Noting that the Osaka Prefectural Government is working to scrap tuition for private high schools, Matsui, who is also the mayor of Osaka and head of regional party Osaka Ishin no Kai, emphasized it it is possible for the central government to eke out the financial resources it needs without raising taxes.
He also said that Abenomics, the prime minister’s reflationary policy mix, had helped Japan overcome deflation “to a certain extent” but that its deregulatory efforts “remain insufficient,” though the economy is recovering moderately.
Matsui denied the possibility of Nippon Ishin forming a coalition government with the LDP.
“The LDP is a party that protects vested interests,” he said. “While having no intention at all to reform the Diet, the party plans to carry out a tax increase. Nippon Ishin has no plan to ally with the LDP.”
The Democratic Party for the People is making its “household first” economic policy the center of its election campaign, leader Yuichiro Tamaki said.
“Stubbornly slow consumption indicates the weakest point of Abenomics, as well as its limitations,” Tamaki said.
“We’re advocating a ‘family finances first’ economic policy to enrich household purses and achieve sustainable economic growth,” he said.
Tamaki repeated his party’s opposition to the consumption tax hike and insisted that a tax cut should be considered without reservation if the need emerges.
In the meantime, he argued that the Abe administration is trying to cover up the truth behind Japan’s public pension system because it has not yet released the five-year report on the system’s finances this year.
On the issue of constitutional reform, Tamaki criticized Abe for deviating from substantive talks, saying the prime minister is only highlighting the refusal of some opposition parties to hold discussions.
Tamaki noted that during the previous Diet session, the DPP was the only opposition party to submit a bill to revise the national referendum law to ban political TV commercials throughout the entire campaign period of any referendum on the Constitution.
This is to ensure that a public decision on amending the charter won’t be determined by the parties with the deepest pockets.
Before July 4, when campaigning officially kicked off for the Upper House election, the DPP had 23 seats in the chamber, with eight up for grabs.
“We aim to win more than eight seats,” Tamaki said.
Tamaki stressed that opposition parties, including the DPP, must coordinate their campaigning after fielding unified candidates in the 32 single-seat electoral districts across Japan.
To drum up support for his party, Tamaki underscored the need to make steady, low-key efforts, calling on all DPP Diet and assembly members to “work at full throttle.”
Earlier this year, the DPP absorbed the Liberal Party, which was led by former kingmaker Ichiro Ozawa.
“We’re leaving behind-the-scenes coordination with our support groups to him now,” Tamaki said. “His joining our party reinforced our attitude toward elections.”
Tamaki predicted the next election for the House of Representatives, the Diet’s more powerful lower chamber, will be held this year.
“We aim to field at least 100 candidates in the single-seat districts,” he said.
Japanese Communist Party leader Kazuo Shii has emphasized that the JCP and other opposition parties should unite to win seats to create a divided Diet as a step toward toppling the Abe administration.
“The Abe administration is now at a dead end both in domestic politics and on the diplomatic front,” Shii said.
“In the triennial election, I want to call on people to cooperate to oust the Abe administration and change the nation’s politics to make Japan a country where each and every person can have hopes and live in peace,” he said.
Shii added: “We’re determined to turn the LDP, its Komeito ally and groups supporting the ruling pair into a minority, create a divided Diet and let opposition parties take the initiative of politics to force Abe to dissolve the House of Representatives for a snap general election.”
“We aim to form an opposition-led government” by capturing a majority also in the Lower House through a possible general election, he said. “We want to leverage the Upper House election for that goal.”
On the debate over constitutional amendment, Shii said the JCP is actively discussing the matter and that no political party is avoiding the debate.
“Whether or not to support Abe’s proposal to amend pacifist Article 9 of the top law will be a key issue,” he said.
The JCP aims to win 8.5 million votes under the proportional representation system.
“It’s a high goal, but I think it’s not impossible to achieve if we try hard,” he said.
A total of 124 seats — 74 in prefectural single-seat districts and 50 from proportional representation — will be up for grabs in the Upper House election.
The JCP has 14 but only eight will be contested — three single seats and five proportional representation seats.
Its goal is to gain seven or more seats via proportional representation, Shii said.
“We’re resolved to maintain the three district seats at any cost and are trying to increase the number dramatically,” Shii said.
When asked about the number of seats the party is targeting in single-seat districts, he said “all of our candidates aim to win.”
“Cooperation among opposition parties is progressing compared with the time when the previous Upper House election was held three years ago,” Shii said. “We do hope to attain the target.”
Shii repeated his party’s opposition to the planned tax hike.
He said: “We oppose the consumption tax itself. Raising the tax rate during the current economic doldrums is an absolutely foolish measure.”
The Social Democratic Party aims to prevent the parties that support constitutional revision from securing a two-thirds majority in the Upper House election, Secretary-General Hajime Yoshikawa said.
The ruling LDP is highly likely to speed up preparations for an attempt at amending the Constitution should the pro-amenment camp get there, Yoshikawa said.
“The biggest challenge for now is to block the LDP, its coalition partner Komeito, and Nippon Ishin no Kai from winning a combined two-thirds majority,” he said.
Two-thirds majorities are needed in both chambers to propose a revision to the Constitution.
Though Abe is eager to rewrite Article 9, “very few” people want such a revision, he said.
“If a third provision is added to the article, it would make its second provision, which prohibits Japan from possessing any war potential, a dead letter,” Yoshikawa said. “We can’t let that happen.”
“Under current diplomatic policy, just following the United States, such a constitutional revision could lead to SDF participation in activities involving the use of force overseas if something happens in the Middle East,” he said.
In the election, the party hopes to win a combined three seats via single-seat districts and proportional representation, he said.
The top priority is to win 2 percent of all votes to maintain its status as a political party, he added, stressing that, for the SDP, the poll is a fight for survival.
This will also be an election to create a foothold for ousting the Abe administration, which has brought crisis to the people, regional communities and the Constitution, he said.
On the consumption tax increase, Yoshikawa said that when the rate was raised to the current 8 percent from 5 percent in April 2014, consumer spending slumped even though the economy was recovering.
Since the economy is even worse than it was in 2014, it is clear that the tax hike will make it even weaker, he said.
Author DELEITURASPosted on July 17, 2019 Leave a comment on Party leaders sound off ahead of Upper House vote
Japan saw record 16.63 million foreign visitors in first half of 2019
Japan saw a record number of overseas visitors in the first six months of 2019 with an estimated 16.63 million arrivals, up 4.6 percent from a year earlier, government data showed Wednesday.
Spending by foreign visitors in the period through June increased 8.3 percent from a year earlier to ¥2.43 trillion ($22 billion), also an all-time high, the Japan Tourism Agency said.
The government has set a target of attracting 40 million foreign visitors annually from this year and increasing their spending to ¥8 trillion next year when Japan hosts the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games.
By country and region, the highest number of visitors so far in 2019 came from China at 4,532,500, up 11.7 percent, with the increase boosted by the easing of visa restrictions in January.
However, the number of South Korean visitors fell 3.8 percent to 3,862,700, while those from Taiwan decreased 1.0 percent to 2,480,800, the agency said.
In an attempt to achieve the targets, the government has eased visa rules, expanded airports for budget airlines and promoted private lodging services to address an accommodation shortage.
Author DELEITURASPosted on July 17, 2019 Leave a comment on Japan saw record 16.63 million foreign visitors in first half of 2019
Underwhelming news of the day: Steve Bruce confirmed
Former Sunderland boss Steve Bruce has been announced as the new head coach of Newcastle United.
The 58-year-old resigned as Sheffield Wednesday manager on Monday along with first-team coaches Steve Agnew and Stephen Clemence.
And now the Magpies have confirmed that Bruce, who was only appointed as Wednesday boss in January, will be Newcastle‘s successor to Rafa Benitez.
“I’m delighted and incredibly proud to be appointed as head coach of Newcastle United,” Bruce told the club’s official website. “This is my boyhood club and it was my dad’s club, so this is a very special moment for me and my family.
“There is a huge challenge ahead of us, but it’s one that my staff and I are ready for. We’ll roll our sleeves up and we’ll be giving it everything from the off to ensure supporters have a successful team that they can be proud of.”
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The Magpies managing director Lee Charnley added: “Steve has a deep affection for Newcastle United and we are very pleased that a coach with his vast experience and connections to the club and city has joined us.
“Steve knows what this club means to supporters and to the region and he will put his heart and soul into leading our talented group of players with the full support of our staff.
“The hard work for Steve and his team starts immediately and we will be fully prepared for the challenge of a new Premier League season.
“I would place on record my thanks to Ben Dawson, Neil Redfearn and our medical and support staff for the way in which they have worked together to oversee the start of our pre-season preparations.”
Author DELEITURASPosted on July 17, 2019 Leave a comment on Underwhelming news of the day: Steve Bruce confirmed
Fleetwood boss Barton charged with actual bodily harm
Fleetwood manager Joey Barton has been charged with actual bodily harm following an alleged incident during a match at Barnsley in April.
Barton has “emphatically denied” accusations that he confronted Barnsley manager Daniel Stendel in the tunnel following the League One match.
In a statement South Yorkshire Police said: “A man has been charged following an incident at Barnsley Football Club in April 2019.
“Joseph Barton, 36, of Fox Bank Close, Widnes, has been charged with actual bodily harm contrary to section 47 assault and has been bailed to appear before Barnsley Magistrates Court on Wednesday 9 October 2019.
“On Saturday 13 April 2019, a man was left with facial injuries after an incident in the club tunnel around 5pm, following the conclusion of Barnsley’s match against Fleetwood Town.”
The force launched an investigation into the alleged incident in which he is said to have confronted Stendel.
Barton was subsequently arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated offences.
Barnsley striker Cauley Woodrow claimed in a tweet, which was subsequently deleted, that the incident had left Stendel with “blood pouring from his face”.
Barton issued a statement on Twitter in which he wrote: “I emphatically deny all the allegations made.”
Sky television footage showed police stepping in to stop Barton as he attempted to leave Oakwell shortly after the match.
Barnsley then lodged formal complaints with both the Football Association and the Football League regarding the Fleetwood manager’s conduct.
Stendel suffered damage to his two front teeth which required emergency dental treatment.
Author DELEITURASPosted on July 17, 2019 Leave a comment on Fleetwood boss Barton charged with actual bodily harm
Solskjaer comes up with a ‘plan’ to turn Man Utd into winners
Sir Alex Ferguson transformed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer into a winner, and the current Manchester United manager intends to do the same with his players during his rebuilding process.
Jose Mourinho’s tempestuous spell in the dugout ended in December, when the Old Trafford hierarchy finally grew tired of background backbiting and on-field problems.
Solskjaer, a 1999 treble hero, was the surprise appointment as caretaker manager but his record-breaking temporary stint earned him a permanent chance to shine in his dream job.
After landing that three-year deal, Solksjaer’s tenure then went awry, yet reflection and countless discussions have allowed him to “come up with a plan”.
“We talked about what is expected, what is required, the standards, what we have to do every single day,” Solskjaer said during his most in-depth interview as United manager to date.
“The little margins that get you wins. The little tactical tweaks. It is great being a group together from day one.
“We know the plan, and this is the way we are going to do it. We have agreed to that. The first couple of weeks have been encouraging.
“Of course, you always expect people to come in for the first couple of weeks with fresh energy and focus.
“They have not moaned – maybe that is a bad thing. Maybe we have not worked them enough.
“But I think we have just worked enough so we are fitter and maybe more robust when the season starts.”
On the patience required from fans, he said: “Well, you’ve got to be patient, you have to know that to build a team and rebuild a squad, it will take time.
“I am not going to ask for too much time because as the manager you’re also under pressure to get results straight away.
“Or maybe not results but maybe the way we want to play football, so I hope with the way we approach the games now, the fans will see what we’re trying to do, and the results will come.”
Author DELEITURASPosted on July 17, 2019 Leave a comment on Solskjaer comes up with a ‘plan’ to turn Man Utd into winners
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Author's Note: This chapter features scenes of graphic violence, including mention of past domestic violence.
"If somebody puts their hands on you, make sure they never put their hands on anybody else again." -Malcolm X
50 days sober
From the moment I walk into school on the first day of November, everything is completely and utterly fucked. I manage to take about five steps down the hallway towards my locker before Annabelle is on me, dragging me into a mostly deserted stairwell and whispering, “Okay, please tell me you know. Because you need to know, but if you don’t know, I really don’t think I can handle being the person who tells you. So, if you don’t know, you’re going to need to wait here while I go get Riley so he can tell you.”
“Tell me what?” I ask.
“About Joss and Travis. But mostly Joss,” she says. There’s a brief hesitation, and then she says, “She told us last night, at Miranda’s. And I think you know what I’m talking about, because you’re not moving at all right now, but I don’t want to say the words, in case you don’t—Garen, please tell me that you’ve heard about Joss’, you know, condition.”
My stomach lurches, because fuck. It’s not like I thought that this would stay a secret forever—the people in this town have a collective IQ pretty similar to that of a retarded hamster, but by the time Joss starts to show, even they won’t be able to overlook it. I knew people would find out, but I didn’t know it would be this soon. I swallow hard and say, “Yeah. I know. I’ve uh, I’ve known for about three weeks now.”
“Holy fuck,” she hisses. “How could you not tell anyone?”
Because I’m still trying to figure out how to be friends with these people. Because everyone would have assumed I was making it up to make trouble for Joss just because I hate her. Because a huge part of me has been hoping that this is all a bad dream, and that when I wake up, she won’t be his girlfriend, that baby won’t exist, and he’ll be lying next to me. “Because I promised Travis I wouldn’t, okay? But that’s not—look, who else knows? Just you, and Riley, and Miranda, right? Please tell me—”
But my words die in my mouth, because she is shaking her head slowly from side to side. Shit. Shit, shit, shit. I can’t seem to force out the question, so I make a vague prompting gesture, hoping to communicate my desire to know how bad it really is. She shoots me a helpless look, then says, “She said it right in the middle of the party, okay? Everyone was there, we all heard—”
“Who?” I demand. “Who is ‘everyone’? Just—the lunch group? You guys, Nate, Christine, John—”
“No, Garen, you’re not getting it. It was a big group of us at the party, not just the regular people. It’s on facebook. Everyone knows. The entire grade. I’ve been hovering by the front door of the fucking school, hoping to catch Travis before he comes inside, but he isn’t here yet. I saw you first.”
Hand trembling, I slip my phone from my pocket and thumb through my contacts list to select Travis’ number. It rings, and rings, and rings, and finally, it goes to voicemail. Hey, you’ve reached Travis McCall. Please leave your name and number after the tone, and I’ll get back--I hang up and dial again. Annabelle touches my shoulder, and I step back, out of reach. “He can’t walk in here not knowing, alright? I’ve gotta warn the guy.”
When my second call is also sent to voicemail, I try a third time, and a fourth. Finally, I get a text. Oh my god, stop calling me. I have a bitch of a headache and my ringtone is really loud. On my way to school, see you in like 5 minutes. Fuck, this is not good. The last thing he needs is to come strolling into school, hungover as shit, not realizing that the entire school knows what’s going on. Shrugging off Annabelle, I abandon the stairwell and head for the front doors to wait.
The moment I see Travis getting out of his car and wandering closer, I launch myself through the doors and down the steps. It’s hard to tell when he finally looks at me, because his hungover, photosensitive eyes are hidden by sunglasses. My sunglasses. He’s wearing my aviators, the same way his jacket is layered over my Patton hoodie, same as my boots are tucked under his arm. He’s got me all over him. Under normal circumstances, that’d have me grinning like a schoolgirl, but right now, it just seems… wrong. Inappropriate, I guess, though I’ve never really given a shit about being appropriate before. Right there at the edge of the parking lot, I kick off the borrowed pair of sneakers I’m wearing and stuff them into his hands, subbing them out for the boots. When I look back at his face, he’s giving me a hesitant smile, like he’s trying to see if I’m thinking about the fact that the last time we were alone together, I had him pressed against a brick wall and asking to be kissed.
“Travis,” is all I can manage at first.
“Garen,” he responds, and I wonder if he’s mocking me. He hastily continues, “Look, about last night?”
“Wait, before you say anything, there’s something you need to—”
“Hang on. Just… please let me talk, alright? Last night, I shouldn’t have said any of the things I said.” His tone is hushed enough that he needs to step closer for me to hear him. I can’t be sure—those fucking sunglasses, how does anyone put up with me?—but I think he’s staring at my mouth. “I shouldn’t have told you I love you, and I definitely shouldn’t have asked you to kiss me. It’s—James is a lot better at beer pong than I’d anticipated, and by the time you and I were outside, I was—I was too drunk to remember all the reasons why I should have lied to you and pretended that I didn’t—that I don’t want—”
I reach out and give his wrist a hard yank to startle him into silence. The moment his mouth has snapped shut, I release him and say, as calmly as I can manage, “Last night, at Miranda’s house, Joss told people she’s pregnant. The whole school knows.”
His entire body freezes up. It’s nearly a solid minute later when he manages to unlock his jaw enough to echo, “The whole school knows?”
“I don’t understand. Why would—people were bound to find out eventually, but I don’t—I haven’t even told my family yet. Why the fuck would she let a bunch of strangers know before she even lets me tell my parents?” he asks, sounding miserable.
I want to hit him. Because she’s a terrible person, I want to burst out. Because she’s awful and vicious and manipulative, and it’s a lot easier to control you with her pregnancy, if everyone knows about it, too. But even now, I doubt that he would really hear a word of it; he barely knows her, but she’s still the mother of his baby, and that has provoked some weird sort of trust within him. There’s a Josslyn is great, Garen is an asshole switch in his mind that gets flipped every morning, and all I can do right now is try to make sure that he’s focused on the bit about Joss and not the part about me.
I force a shrug. “I don’t know, man. Maybe it just slipped out in front of one person and then—I mean, you know how things like this spread. You said you only came out to a couple of people, and the entire school knew within a matter of days.”
The words are meant to be placating, but he just goes pale and shakes his head violently from side to side. “No. Fuck, G, this cannot turn out like that. It’s—those first few days, when everyone was just finding out about me, they were the worst, and I can’t—I know people here don’t really like me that much, okay? I know I annoy a lot of people, I always have, and when something shitty happens to me, like everyone finding out I’m bi before I wanted them to know, it’s like—people love bringing me down a peg, and I can’t deal with that right now—”
“Believe me, I know that,” I say, winding my fingers around his wrists in what I hope is a comforting gesture. “The assholes at this place have been treated me in the worst way since I came back, because I don’t know, apparently me going to rehab and fucking up my life is funny, somehow? So, I understand how much it sucks when they talk about you, but I also know that you can get through it—”
“I can’t,” he interrupts, and when I try to protest, he just shakes his head and steps closer, saying more vehemently, “No, you’re not listening to me, Garen. You can handle something like this, because you’re stronger than I am, alright? You have this overwhelming certainty about who you are, you know how to be a man in situations like this, but I don’t. I’ve been so close to just—” But what he’s been so close to, I don’t find out, because he breaks off, yanking the sunglasses off so that he can drag a palm across his face, like that might help clear his thoughts.
Behind me, the warning bell rings for homeroom, and he instinctively takes a step towards the building. I squeeze his wrists tighter—and it pisses me off so much that the few people still making their way from their cars to the school are staring at us—and say, “Hey, listen to me. I don’t care what you say, man. This situation sucks, but you’re going to be fine. So, go find your girlfriend, go talk this out, and just—you’ll get through it, yeah?”
He takes a sudden, final step towards me, bringing us chest-to-chest. For half a second, I think—hope, maybe—that he’s going to give me that kiss I should have taken last night, but he just loops an arm around my waist to keep me in place as he brings his mouth to my ear and whispers hoarsely, “About a month ago, I started planning my suicide. I had everything figured out—how I was going to do it, where I was going to do it, when I was going to do it. But I couldn’t go through with it, because after thirty-five different drafts, I still couldn’t get the note right.” My body turns to a useless pile of blood and bones so quickly that he has to tighten his grip on my waist to stop me from stumbling. There’s a tiny breath of a laugh against the shell of my ear, even though nothing about this could ever be funny. “It’s the stupidest fucking reason for a person not to kill himself, right? But the idea that people would remember me as ‘Travis McCall, the idiot who couldn’t even get his suicide note right’ was so terrifying to me that I couldn’t even off myself. That’s how pathetic I am, Garen. I don’t know how to be alive, but I don’t know how to be dead, either. Trust me when I say that I don’t know how to get through this.”
The late bell rings. His arm drops from my waist, and he attempts to take a step back, but I can’t let him. The idea of allowing the conversation to end here, after he has just dropped that bomb on me, is unbearable. I throw my arms around him and drag him back in, crushing him to my chest hard enough to force a faint oh of surprise out of him. My face is buried against the side of his neck, which means my voice is muffled when I say, “Don’t. We’re not going inside yet.”
“We’re late for homeroom,” he says. Sometimes, it still blows my mind that after everything I’ve been through, I still have to worry about something as trivial as being late for homeroom. Sometimes, I forget that I’m just eighteen.
I shake my head and wedge my hands under Travis’ backpack so that I can fist them around the material of his jacket. “I don’t give a fuck if we’re late to homeroom. The front office gives out late passes, I’ll just tell them we had car trouble. But right now, I need you to just let me touch you for a little while. I need to know that you’re here, and you’re alive, and you’re okay.”
It makes no difference. Me holding him now does nothing to take away from the weeks—months, maybe—of suffering that I had no idea he was putting up with. It doesn’t make anything different, or better, or bearable, but eventually, he slips his own hands under my backpack to settle them in the small of my back, fingers laced together and palms shaking so hard I can feel the vibration even through the leather. He says, “I really don’t think I can do this, G.”
“Do you want me to take you back home? You could blow off today’s classes, wait for the rumor mill to die down a—”
“I kind of meant in a more general sense. Joss keeps asking me what I’ll do to make sure the baby has a good life, and I told her—I keep telling her that I’ll do anything for her. For them. God, I’ll give up everything I have to make this work, that’s the easiest decision I’ve ever made, but I—things like this? People finding out, knowing what they’re going to say about me? This is the part I’m really afraid of.”
I kiss the side of his neck, then just below his ear, then the edge of his jaw. His breathing is shaky, though I don’t know if it’s from the stress of this situation, or the feeling of my mouth on his skin. My next kiss lands on his cheek, and then I say, “You’ll be fine. It’s going to suck so fucking badly, but you’ve got m—friends. And Joss. We’re all going to be here for you, alright? No matter how shitty the people at school are about this, we’re all going to support you. Or, both of you, I guess. You and Joss. You understand?”
He nods, jaw bumping against my shoulder. “Yeah. We, um… we should probably head inside.”
“No,” I say. Every time I blink, I find myself picturing him fulfilling his dreams of suicide. I see him passed out on the floor of his bedroom, clutching an empty pill bottle. I see him tying a noose and hanging himself from the banister on the stairs of the old house. I see him cutting open his wrists, bleeding out the same way I was afraid Ben would.
I see him sitting at the desk in Dad’s old office, sipping a tumbler of whiskey and then sticking the muzzle of a Glock in his mouth. But there’s a chance I’m just projecting, with that last one.
“Dude, we’re late,” he says.
I shake my head and say, “I don’t care. We’re staying out here until I know you’re okay. And failing that, we’re staying out here until I’m okay.”
It ends up taking forty-five minutes, four soft kisses to the side of my neck, and one whispered apology, followed by a breath that sounds dangerously close to I love you. The main office secretary’s expression tells me that she doesn’t believe my claims of car trouble for an instant, but she writes us each a late pass anyway. After we’ve both stopped at our lockers, I walk Travis to his AP Spanish class, even though it makes him roll his eyes. But that’s good—it’s normal, at least, typical Travis, not something that leaves me worried, terrified, aching on my way to my last ten minutes of AP Government.
No one asks me about Travis and Joss, but I can tell they’re all wondering how I’m still sober right now. There doesn’t seem to be a point in explaining to anyone that I’ve been trying to wake myself up from the nightmare that is their relationship for months now; instead, I settle for scowling a bit more than usual and trying to pretend I don’t feel everyone’s eyes on me. When I get to trial law, I nudge Travis’ arm and open my mouth to ask him how his morning has been. He silences me with a look, shakes his head slowly from side to side, and sinks low into his chair, avoiding my eyes for the rest of class. It’s probably the least reassuring thing I’ve ever seen.
It isn’t until lunchtime, however, that I realize the full extent of our classmates’ reactions. People are gaping at Travis and Joss with an openness that they’ve never dared to stare at me with. At least my drug addiction sparks a sense of fear in these people, a wariness that keeps most of them silent; the pregnancy just leads to amusement, to taunting, to blatant staring and--
“Way to fuck up big time, McCall,” says some random soccer douche, clapping Travis on the shoulder and making him grit his teeth. “Didn’t know you had it in you to actually make it with a chick.”
Sitting at a table about twenty feet away from us, Jack Thorne smirks and calls, “Who even knows if he can? I wouldn’t be surprised if he was so busy boning his own stepbrother that some other guy slipped in and got the job done.” Travis’ head snaps up, his eyes locking onto Jack’s. Jack sneers at him. “You sure it’s even yours?”
Dozens of fights over the past few years have given me a pretty good idea of exactly when someone will reach their breaking point—it’s the skill I used last spring to figure out just what to say to get Dave to attack me, to do something to me that might make me feel anything other than lonely. But right now, that’s not how I know that everything’s about to fall apart. It’s Travis and my familiarity with his body that makes me notice the tensing of his muscles, the spasm of his clenching fists, that little hitch in his breathing like he’s already bracing himself to get hit. He makes it upright, off the bench, but I throw an arm around his waist half a second before he moves to launch himself at Jack, dragging him back a few feet and saying firmly, “No. Travis, no, you’re not going to hit him, alright?”
“Did you hear what he said to me?” Travis demands, struggling against my grip. At the other table, Jack stands, saunters a little closer to us, and that’s exactly the wrong idea.
I maneuver myself around so that I’m standing between them, my hands clamped over Travis’ shoulders to keep him in place and focused on me. “I did, but that doesn’t matter. You know it’s bullshit, okay? Believe me, I more than understand a desire to just punch Thorne right in the face—I’ve wanted to do it all school year, but you can’t do that without getting in trouble, alright?”
“Did you hear what he said?” Travis repeats, now just sounding defeated. “I can’t let him say that sort of shit about her. I can’t let him talk about them like that.”
Them. Oh. I hadn’t realized that the fetus was at a point where we were actively including it in conversation that way, like it’s a real person who should be factored in. I shake my head, more to clear it than because I disagree, and I find myself locking eyes with Joss over Travis’ shoulder. And it’s not that I want to reassure her, but I sort of get the feeling that I can’t make Travis feel better without at least trying to make her--them, I guess—feel better, too. I say, “I get it, dude, but you know it’s bullshit. Joss wouldn’t do that to you, alright? It doesn’t matter what that asshole says. You know the truth, okay? You—”
There’s a sick sort of smacking noise that I belatedly realize is the sound of someone taking a hard, wide swing at the side of my head. I’ve got no idea if it’s because of the momentum of the punch, or because of the dizziness I’m feeling from my brain rattling around in my skull, but the next thing I know, I’m crumpling sideways, crashing to my knees, and then my head collides with the corner of the nearest lunch table--
No, my head collides with one of the covered caster wheels of my desk chair. That doesn’t even sting that badly, not as much as the punch to the face that brought me to my knees in the first place, or the kick to my ribs that follows. I can feel the bones splintering inside my chest, an unimaginable agony rocketing outward from the point of contact. Instinctively, I try to hunch into a ball, to cover my chest to prevent any more of that pain, but Dave’s next kick just crashes into my hands, and I hear the crunch of my fingers snapping under the pressure of the kick.
“Please,” I beg, even though the blood and tears are making it difficult for even me to understand what I’m saying. “D-Dave, please, stop—”
“Is this all a goddamn joke to you, Garen? Do you think it’s funny to try and break my heart?” he bellows down at me. “Have you been fucking him this whole time?”
I manage to make it onto my knees, crawling away with my good hand, the bad one cradled to my chest as I try to find any words that might undo what’s happening right now. But god, it hurts just to breathe, let alone speak. “I haven’t, I swear. I haven’t—touched him since even before—before we got back together. I wouldn’t—I was lying, I’m not his—Dave, I’m yours. I promise, I love you, just you, only you—”
He must be able to hear the lie in my voice, because his next kick is aimed straight at my heart.
I become aware of someone touching me, of panicked hands fluttering over my chest, like someone’s trying to get me to stay still. I can’t stay still, though, not until I figure out where I am and what the fuck is going on. A few seconds of blinking clears my vision enough that Nate Holliday’s horror-stricken face swims in focus above me. Something hot and sticky is smeared across my temple, like—did someone spit on me? What is going on? I press my palm to my forehead, and it comes away red. Fuck, when did I start bleeding, and why—god, why am I on the floor? There are other faces above me now, some I recognize and some I don’t, and shit, that’s right, I’m at school. I’m lying on the floor of the cafeteria. Like someone who’s weak would be doing.
I try to scramble upright, but my balance is off, and it takes me another few seconds to realize that it’s because I can’t hear anything but a ringing in my ears and the ghosts of Dave’s furious words. Someone extends a hand to me, and I accept it, allowing myself to be hauled to my feet. I stagger a little, but I’m fine, I’m starting to be able to make out words. Nate is saying, “Garen, are you okay? Oh my god. We need to get you to the nurse, you hit your head against the—”
“Who hit me?” I say, even though I already know.
It would be hard not to know. I mean, there’s really only one person who is standing there, fist still clenched, getting fucking snarled at by Travis, who has avoided a breakdown of violence only because he’s being restrained by both Riley and John right now. They’re both talking loudly over him, trying to calm him down, but he’s shaking and thrashing and trying his damnedest to get at Jack, who is just watching him, lip curled.
I take a shaky step forward, then another. I aim my finger at Jack and say, “You hit me?”
“I hit you,” he mimics, taunting. I swipe at the blood that’s still trailing sticky-hot down my forehead, threatening to run into my eye. There’s only one thing I can think to say to him right now, and it comes out more like a growl than a statement.
“I’m going to snap your fucking neck.”
And besides the fact that they’re saving him from destroying his perfect student record, the best part about Riley and John holding Travis back? There’s nobody whose hands are free to try to stop me when I tackle Jack to the ground and knot my hand around the front of his shirt to hold him still enough that I can land a punch to his mouth. The next however many seconds pass in a flurry of fists and bruises and yells, and it’s… not as easy as I remember fighting being. For every good punch Jack gets in, I manage to make at least two, but every time his hand connects with my skin, I feel like I’m slipping in and out of consciousness. I can’t see anything, I can’t hear anything but that ringing again, and I know—I know it’s not Dave that’s hitting me, but he’s the one whose hands I feel on me.
Suddenly, my back is against the cafeteria wall, and the hands holding me in place belong to Mr. Caldeway from the history department, one of the teachers doing lunch supervision today. Even I’m not stupid enough to hit a teacher—I raise my hands, palms out, and say, over and over, “I’m done. I’m sorry. I’m done, I’m done.” His mouth is moving, but I can’t hear what he’s saying, not over that incessant, overpowering ringing. I clamp my hands over my ears for a minute, to see if that might help, but his voice is still faint when I remove my hands. I just shake my head and say—why does my tongue feel so heavy, like I’m slurring my words?—“I can’t hear you. Dude, I can’t hear anything you’re—I can’t—”
The world is lopsided all at once, and I pitch over sideways. I’m too heavy for Mr. Caldeway to keep me upright, but he does get a good enough hold on me that he’s able to help me sit down on the ground without me managing to crack my head open. I can still feel the blood trickling down my forehead, and I want to wipe at it, but my whole body feels disconnected from itself. I just… need to clear my head, is all.
I blink. I’m still sitting on the floor, but Mr. Caldeway is gone, and Vice Principal Jacobs is there instead, and she’s saying something to me, something I can’t make out, but then, “—tell me your name? Your birthday? Today’s date? Anything?” And I know all of those answers, I really do, I’m not stupid. I know my name’s Garen Michael Anderson, I know my birthday’s March twenty-seventh, I know today’s the first of November, but my tongue feels fat and sluggish in my mouth, and I’m not sure I can manage to say any of those words. Instead, I press the heels of my hands to my closed eyelids and wait for the faded edges of my world to sharpen up a bit.
I blink. There are more people in front of me now, talking to me, helping me stand up, and that’s fine. Great, even. I truly appreciate their efforts. Once satisfied that I can stand, someone turns me so that I’m facing the wall, and then—alright, those are definitely handcuffs. I’m definitely being handcuffed.
I blink. I’m on a chair just inside the door of the main office, and Jack Thorne is sitting on one side of me, Travis is sitting on the other. Neither of them is wearing handcuffs; at least, I assume they’re not, because Travis is twisted sideways in his seat so that he can clasp my face between his hands. He’s speaking to me, and the words are a hell of a lot easier to make out than anything Caldeway or Jacobs said to me. “Garen? Can you hear me?”
I blink, but when I open my eyes this time, I’ve stayed where I’m supposed to be. I clear my throat and say, “Yeah, I can hear you. I’m not fuckin’ deaf, dude.”
“I’ve been saying your name for five minutes now, and this is the first time you’ve responded coherently. Maybe not nicely, but coherently, for sure,” he says. His hands aren’t really on my face, per se; his palms are settled on the sides of my neck, his thumbs stroking lightly over my jawline. It’s the sort of gesture that might feel nice, if any part of my body felt nice right now.
I shrug him off and say, “Okay, so. Main office. My head feels like somebody backed my Ferrari over it. And I’m not terribly sure how I got here. What did I do this time?”
“You don’t even remember?” Jack snaps. I give a noncommittal shrug, and he huffs over that for a minute before answering, “You bashed your head against a lunch table because you got in the middle of a fight that was none of your business. McCall and me got into it and—”
“‘McCall and I’,” Travis quietly corrects.
Jack leans around me to accuse, “See, shit like that is why nobody likes you.”
“Funny,” Travis says blandly. “You’re always saying that nobody likes me because I like guys.”
“I like you because you like guys,” I say, sliding my boot toe up the bottom of the leg of his jeans.
He kicks me away, perhaps a bit more fiercely than necessary. “Really, Garen? You’ve got a fucking concussion, and you’re still trying to get in my pants? That’s how you’ve chosen to prioritize this situation?”
“I can’t help it. Most people have ‘fight or flight’ instincts, but I’ve got ‘fight or fuck.’ Flirting with you is my default response to stressful situations,” I whine, because right now, my forehead feels like it’s pulsating, and it’s getting increasingly difficult to see out of my left eye, which feels like it might be blackened. I just need a distraction, and it seems like trying to engage Jack in conversation will just get me hit again, so I reach for Travis. Considering my hands are still cuffed behind my back, I don’t make it very far. I frown. “Why am I the only one in cuffs?”
“Because you’re the only one who yelled, ‘I’m going to snap your fuckin’ neck’ in the middle of the lunch room?” Jack suggests, though he falls quickly silent when I turn to glower at him.
“You were really out of it in the cafeteria, and I think they were worried that you might hurt yourself or somebody else if they didn’t restrain you somehow. Also, ‘school security’ is limited to a rent-a-cop named Ron, so, I think he only had the one pair,” Travis says.
I try to leer at him, but the effect is probably ruined by the blood all over my face. “It’s a shame this fight didn’t happen in my bedroom. I’ve got some he could borrow.” Travis just rolls his eyes. I test the strength of the cuffs and find myself frowning once more. “These pieces of shit are weak. Hang on.”
I stand up—I wobble a little, but remain upright—and trot over to the currently vacant secretary’s desk. There’s an epic assortment of crap all over it, including—perfect. I turn my back to the desk and dig a paper clip out of a tiny ceramic frog designed to hold office supplies. The clip is a little thicker than most, slightly more solid, which is good; less likely to break in the middle of use.
“Do you really expect to be able to pick the lock on those?” Travis asks dubiously. Jack, however, is silently intrigued.
I shrug. “If I can pick my way out of the police-issue cuffs I’ve got at home, I’m pretty sure I can handle Ron the Rent-A-Cop’s set.”
“Charming. Do I even want to know how you got police handcuffs?”
“I don’t remember,” I lie, even though I totally remember; I stole them off a Savannah cop who was trying to arrest Jamie for public intoxication when we were sixteen, right before we scaled a six-foot-tall stone wall, cut through an outdoor wedding, and sprinted two and a half miles back to the Goldwyn family estate. It had been a busy summer.
Travis leans back in his seat, stretching his arm across the back of the one I’d been sitting in. “I hope you realize that they’re in Principal Hammond’s office right now, deciding how best to punish us all. It’s not like they’re going to leave you in those for hours.”
“It’s the principle of the matter. They’ve insulted my honor by believing I can be contained by such a cheap-ass, flimsy pair of cuffs. It’s embarrassing,” I say. I dig the flattened paper clip into the cuffs and start to work it through the lock, humming under my breath about how I can’t be tamed.
“I think the embarrassing thing is that you’re singing a Miley Cyrus song while you get out of them,” Jack grunts.
“The embarrassing thing is that both of you know a Miley Cyrus song in the first place,” Travis says.
The left cuff pops open, and I let out a triumphant sort of aha! before setting to work on the right cuff, which is a lot easier, given that I can work on it in front of myself. I don’t even need to look at it; instead, I take my first solid look at Jack. The skin around his eye is swollen and has the beginning of a nasty bruise. His lower lip is split open, and it looks like he had a busted nose earlier, because there are smears of dried blood on his upper lip. I hitch my chin at him. “I do that?”
“Yeah, you did that, you asshole,” he snaps.
“You do this?” I ask now, flicking my gaze upward to indicate the gash on my forehead.
His scowl is replaced by a smirk. “Yeah, I did that.”
“In that case, I’m not sorry, and I wish I’d hit you harder—got it! Fuck you, cuffs,” I exclaim as the second bracelet falls open. I toss the paper clip onto the floor behind the desk and stuff the cuffs deep into the side of my boot, because if I had to suffer the indignity of wearing those now, I fully intend to get some enjoyment out of someone else wearing them later. I bet Ben would be totally into it, if we hadn’t broken up. Maybe I can convince him anyway. I slip my phone out of my pocket and send him a text that says, what are your thoughts on handcuffs?
The door to Principal Hammond’s office swings open, and he, Vice Principal Jacobs, Ron the Rent-a-Cop, and Mr. Caldeway all file out. Travis jabs an elbow into my ribs with a pointed glance at my phone. I raise my eyebrows at him, then turn my attention to the response from Ben that has just arrived in my inbox. I’m thinking it’s a shame you didn’t text me this a week ago, when we were still sleeping together. Where did you get handcuffs?
“First thing’s first. Ron, if you could—” Vice Principal Jacobs breaks off, frowning down at my wrists. “Garen, what happened to the handcuffs?”
“I don’t remember any handcuffs,” I say loftily. “I don’t even remember walking up the stairs to get here, to be honest.”
Her voice is a little more stern when she replies, “Garen, you were wearing handcuffs. Where are they?”
“That’s outrageous, VP Jacobs. What kind of school administrator would handcuff a student who’s got what feels like a grade two concussion and a severe forehead contusion? Certainly not one who valued her job, I’d wager. So, what do you say to the idea of you not asking me where these handcuffs you allegedly used on me went, and in return, I won’t call my lawyer—oh, sorry, my mom and tell her that I was dragged out of the lunch room and physically restrained minutes after sustaining a traumatic brain injury?” I say, tapping out a reply to Ben’s text. got jumped defending the virtue of t’s bitchy gf, now have a concussion & am bleeding everywhere, might be getting arrested? idk, whole situation is v. weird. point is, there are stolen handcuffs in my boot right now. do i get to cuff you to your bed & nail you or not?
The response is immediate. Not. Are you okay? Will I get a better explanation of these events if I text Travis for details?
I slip my phone back into my pocket and elbow Travis. “You should text Ben. He’s not being any fun, but he wants to know—”
“You should not text anyone,” Principal Hammond warns. “Cell phones are forbidden during school hours.”
“Well, we’re all getting suspended anyway, right? So, what does it matter if we use them now?” I say. My knuckles are sore from bashing them against Jack’s jaw, but that doesn’t stop me from clenching my hands into fists in the pockets of my jeans. Please say it’s suspension. Please, please, please don’t expel me again.
Principal Hammond’s frown creases even deeper into his face. “You’re not being suspended, Garen.”
“We’re not?” Jack says hopefully, but he is met with a glower.
“Oh, you most definitely are, Mr. Thorne, as is Mr. McCall over here,” Vice Principal Jacobs. “Mr. Caldeway has told us the particulars of the incident in the cafeteria, and it’s been made abundantly clear that they two of you were the ones to initiate it.”
“How did I initiate it?” Travis asks, stunned. “Jack punched Garen in the head when his back was turned. He could have—”
Jacobs holds up a hand, and he falls silent, like a good little valedictorian-to-be. “If you had remained in your seat to begin with, I doubt this fight ever would have gotten physical. Both of you will be suspended until Monday morning for your involvement with the fight.”
“Am I suspended, too?” I ask, even though she’s already said I’m not. I just want to make sure. She shakes her head. I hesitate, then bump it up a grade. “Am I expelled?” Another head shake. I decide to bump it down a few levels. “Am I getting rewarded for my valor and strength of character? Do I get a present? Can I have cake?” A third, slightly more annoyed head shake, and if I’m not getting treats, this game isn’t fun anymore. “What do I get?”
“Bed rest, hopefully, though your miraculously undiagnosed ADHD might make that difficult for you,” Principal Hammond grumbles. When his words are met with a blank stare, he clarifies, “We’re asking that you also remain at home until Monday morning, but your time off from school will be logged as a necessary, excused medical absence, not a suspension. Mr. Caldeway here has informed us that you were attempting to intercede in the conflict between Mr. Thorne and Mr. McCall when you received a harsh blow to the head. Given the lack of responsiveness following the incident, the tinnitus you claimed to be experiencing, and the fact that you say you have no memory of coming up here afterward, it’s clear that you’ve got a concussion—”
I slouch down in my seat so that I can kick my feet up onto the edge of the secretary’s desk. “I know, I already said that a few minutes ago. For the record, I’m pretty sure you’re required to give me some sort of medical attention right now.”
The frown now has a hint of concern behind it. “Garen, you’ve already received medical attention. When we first brought you upstairs, we asked the school nurse to look you over, clean the cut on your forehead, and check to see if you should be brought to the hospital. You were responding fine at the time.” I don’t know how I could have been responding fine, if I can’t remember the conversation now, but I don’t voice that opinion. “You were also offered something that might help with the pain, but—”
“I wouldn’t let them give you anything,” Travis says quietly. “It didn’t seem like a good idea. Painkillers weren’t the thing you really went to the LRC for, but I… remember. You know?”
He means he remembers watching me get high out of my mind on Vicodin before I switched to coke. It seems like now would be a bad time to take his hand, or kiss him on the cheek, so I settle for nudging his elbow with mine and murmuring, “Thanks.” He nods.
“We’ll be making a call home to each of your parents about this. Ron will escort you all to your lockers to gather your belongings; I’d recommend taking whatever you think you might need for the next few days, because after you leave this building, you will not be permitted back on campus until Monday morning. Is that understood?” Principal Hammond demands. We all nod. “Garen, once you’ve gone to your locker, I’d like you to return here. I know you have your own vehicle here, but there’s no way I can let you drive yourself home in this condition. I’ll call your father at work and have—”
“I can drive him home,” Travis interrupts, standing. “Bill’s office is almost an hour away from here. It just makes more sense for me to drop him at his house on my way to mine.”
There is a brief silence, but eventually, Vice Principal Jacobs nods, and we are excused. Ron the Rent-a-Cop keeps shooting me baleful glances, like he’s contemplating strong-arming me into giving him the missing cuffs. I return with a genial smile, but no comment. Once I’ve collected my backpack and most of my schoolbooks from my locker, I wander down the hall to meet Travis, who has taken it upon himself to shove literally any textbook or notebook he might ever need into his backpack, like being super prepared for makeup work will do something to lessen the sting of suspension.
“I need your keys,” he says, holding his hand out. I raise my eyebrows. He rolls his eyes and wiggles his fingers, indicating a desire for me to hurry up. “Come on, I’ll drive us to your place in the Ferrari. It’s not like you haven’t let me drive it before now.”
I opt not to point out that he’s the only other person I’ve ever let drive the Testarossa. And I opt not to think too much about the fact that I don’t even flinch when passing him the keys to my baby. The drive back to the house is silent and slow; like Ben, Travis actually interprets speed limits as limits, not guidelines. It’s a little before one thirty when we pull into my driveway. He cuts the engine and hands me the keys, but comes around to the passenger side to help me out of the car, like he’s my prom date or something. I allow myself to be escorted up the front steps, let into my own house, and led inside.
“Need any help getting down to your room?” he asks. I shake my head, but he follows me anyway, bracing a hand between my shoulder blades the whole way downstairs. Once there, I flop back onto my unmade bed, and Travis sits down on the edge of it. I watch as he carefully unlaces my boots and slips them off, setting them down next to my nightstand. He lifts the mess of blankets and shoves my legs under it—fucking terrible bedside manner on this kid—before dropping the blankets back on top of me. “I’m going to head back to school for my car, alright? Text me if you start to feel worse, and I can swing by and check on you.”
I yawn, then ask, “How are you going to get to school?”
He shrugs. “Walk. It’s really not a big deal, I used to do it all the time, before I got my license.” He leans forward to kiss my cheek, and I find myself once again fighting the urge to turn into it and capture his mouth with mine. “I’ll see you around, okay?”
“You don’t have to,” I blurt out, and he pauses by the door. “I mean… you can stay for a while, if you want. And when my dad gets home from work, he could drive you back to school to get your car. So you don’t have to walk, or whatever.”
He’s silent for a long moment before he says, “Okay, I guess. You should rest, though. See if you can sleep.”
I frown. “Doesn’t sleeping with a concussion just kill you? Is this you, trying to off me so I’ll stop hitting on you all the time?”
He rolls his eyes. “I don’t—no, I’m not even going to touch that one. But you can sleep with a concussion as long as someone wakes you every two hours to make sure you can return easily to coherency.”
“Oh,” I say. “I thought—”
“Go to sleep, Garen.”
Grumbling, I roll onto my side and close my eyes. It’s nearly three o’clock when I open them again, and it is not at my own insistence. Travis is standing next to the bed, shaking my shoulder gently. “Hey. You still alive?”
“You’re not going to be, if you keep fuckin’ shaking me, McCall,” I bite out.
He laughs. “Charming as ever, I see. Alright. Go back to sleep.”
The same process repeats sometime around five o’clock, and again at seven. I have barely had time to drift off again after this latest attempt when my bedroom door edges open and Dad pokes his head in, eyes flashing around the room until they land on Travis. I’m expecting him to address me, but he must think I’m still sleeping, because he whispers, “I got your message. Can we talk upstairs?”
“Yeah, we—of course,” Travis says, nodding sharply. He snatches up the backpack he had abandoned by my desk, then pauses by the edge of my bed. I wonder if he’s thinking about giving me another of those tiny kisses that have become so common today, but if he’s hesitating because my dad is right there. I wish he’d do it anyway, even if Dad would think it was weird, or inappropriate, or dumb.
He doesn’t. Instead, he brushes the tips of his fingers across my elbow and says quietly, “I’ll text you later, G.”
They both walk out.
It turns out that a year of getting kicked out of my home, going AWOL for four months, developing a raging drug addiction, getting myself beaten nearly to death, spending two months in rehab, and having a pretty public relapse all sets the bar kind of high for what constitutes a “Garen emergency.” Over the next few days, I learn that getting into a fistfight that leaves me with a mild concussion and two and a half days off from school barely even ranks. Jamie doesn’t offer to skip a few days of classes and take the train in to keep me company. Ben and Alex both call to make sure I’m feeling better, but refuse to help me feel better by bringing me cake. Travis hasn’t texted me like he said he would, but it’s possible that that’s just because “Hey, thanks for getting your brain battered around the inside of your skull defending the virtue of the mother of my unborn child” is such an awkward, wordy sort of message.
All things considered, I’m surprised when, a few hours after school would usually be getting out on Friday, Dad calls downstairs, “Garen, you’ve got a friend here to see you. Mind if I send him down?”
I thought my dad learned a while ago that yelling down for me is pretty pointless; the room is sound-proofed, so I can only hear him when I’ve left the door open, which is a rare occurrence. Still, it’s open now, which means he can hear my mournful reply, “I have no friends. I’ve been abandoned by everyone I know, forsaken in my hour of need. Being suspended in Lakewood is way less fun than it was when I was suspended in the dorms at boarding school, and people keep posting links to some video of the fight on my facebook wall, and my head hurts, and no one will come out and play with me. So, tell whoever’s up there to go eat a dick, because I don’t need sympathy visits.”
“No man is an island, kid.”
“This man is an island,” I protest. “This man is also not a kid, what the fuck, Dad.”
There’s a noise that might be a frustrated sigh, then I hear him say to someone, “You can go right down.”
The offer is followed by the sound of footsteps on the stairs, and then the door swings a little wider. Nate Holliday steps uncertainly over the threshold. His eyes are scanning the room, searching for me, and I remain perfectly still, sprawled out on the couch, waiting for him to make his way over to me. When his eyes finally land on me, it’s with a jolt of surprise and a hand clapped to his heart. “Jesus Christ. I didn’t see you there.”
“I figured as much. Hi. What are you doing here?” I ask.
He swings his bag off his shoulder and digs into it, surfacing with a stack of papers and a hesitant smile. “I brought your makeup work? I hope that’s okay. It probably seems intrusive, or something, but midterms are coming up, and it seemed like it’d be a bad idea to fall behind now. You’ve mentioned before that Ms. Markland is one of your teachers, so I asked her to find out the rest of your schedule so I could talk to your teachers.”
I accept the papers and thumb through the stack. There are five paper-clipped bundles of homework, one for each of my regular classes; at the bottom of the stack, Jeff has sent along the latest issue of Alternative Press with a sticky note that reads, Feel better soon. -Jeff. P.S. As a teacher, I refused to watch the video of the fight that one of my juniors tried to show me. But if I had watched it, I’d tell you that you kicked that kid’s ass, man. Grinning, I get up to stick the note to my amp in the corner, then gesture for Nate to sit. He drops immediately onto the couch, and I sit back down next to him, turned sideways and hugging my knees to my chest, chin resting atop them.
“Thanks for bringing that by. Sorry I missed the last two rehearsals,” I say, widening my eyes a little at him. I’m hoping for innocent and apologetic, but failing that, I’m hoping that he’ll be distracted enough by the dark green irises to not be mad at me for bailing on rehearsals now that we’re less than a month away from opening night.
“Don’t be sorry. All the rest of us care about is you getting better,” he says, fiddling with the buttons of the bright yellow cardigan he’s wearing. He pauses, then amends with a sly smile, “Alright, all we care about is that, and making sure the crew girls doing stage makeup for the performances can somehow manage to cover up that hideous cut on your forehead. Because that is appalling, and I just don’t know how anyone’s going to look at you during ‘Sandra Dee’ if you look like that.”
I let out a bark of surprised laughter at that. “And here I thought you were showing some concern for me as my director.”
“I thought I was showing some concern for you as your friend,” he says, quirking an eyebrow.
I smile, but don’t reply, because the truth is that it’s still so hard for me to consider all of these people my friends. Suddenly, though, a thought strikes me, and I find myself reaching for his hand. “Hey, dude. You might actually be the perfect person to help me with something I’m working on. You know, if you don’t mind doing me a favor?”
“What sort of favor?” he asks, not lifting his eyes from my hand on his.
“Well, this—I mean, this sounds sort of dumb, but I’m right in the middle of the whole college application process. My dad made me send in all my paperwork already, but because I’m applying to a bunch of music programs, I have a whole series of auditions this December. Jeff—that’s the music teacher, the one I TA for? He’s helping me pick out the classic guitar pieces I’m going to use for any instrumental auditions, but two of the places I’m applying to aren’t—well, they’re not really music programs, not exactly. They’re musical theater.”
That’s finally enough to draw Nate’s eyes back to my face. He looks surprised, but pleased. “You’re thinking of studying musical theater?”
I shrug. “I might? I don’t know. It all depends which schools I get into—I’ve got good grades and standardized test scores, but my uh, my disciplinary record is… extensive. And I did get expelled last spring. Neither of those things is likely to endear me to an admissions committee. But I think if I kick ass on my audition and interview, I can still get into somewhere good. The musical theater auditions, though—”
“—require musical theater pieces, yes. Or… what was the phrase you used?” he wonders, the corner of his mouth twitching up into a smirk. “Oh, that’s right. ‘Broadway bullshit.’”
“You’re never going to get over that, are you?” I ask, and he shakes his head. I grin. “Well, yeah. Joke’s on me, because I’m required to audition with two musical theater pieces, in differing styles. And—like, the stuff we’ve done in Grease is really all I know, and I don’t think that’s enough, not by a long shot. So, I was wondering if maybe you could help me pick out a few numbers, maybe coach me through making it awesome? You know. Direct me.”
He’s going to say yes. I knew he would before I even asked, but it probably would have been considered tactless to say, hey, put your raging crush on me to good use and help me get into college. I’m not expecting any word other than yes—maybe definitely, if he’s feeling really eager—so it’s a bit of a kick to the nuts when he cocks his head to the side and says, “As your friend, I suppose I could do it. But as my friend, there’s something I wonder if you might do for me.”
“Blackmail and bribery. Knew there was a reason I liked you,” I say, though my stomach has twisted itself into a few knots by now. Every guy who has ever asked me for a favor has wanted sex as a payment, and I—it’s not that I wouldn’t fuck Nate. He’s cute enough, and I bet he’d be a good time, even if he is a helpless virgin. But that’s the sort of decision I want to be mine to make, not part of a transaction. I swallow, hoping my smile hasn’t slipped off my face. “What do you want from me?”
Now that he has my attention, he seems a little embarrassed. “I, um… you’re the only other gay boy I know.”
“Gay man,” I correct, definitely not feeling any better about this situation. “And that’s not true, you know Travis.”
“Travis doesn’t count, he’s dating Joss,” Nate says, making a face. “And this sort of favor—it’s not really something I’d be comfortable asking Travis. It’s just, I know you a little bit better, and you’re single—you’re not dating that Ben guy anymore, and—”
I interrupt, “Are you trying to solicit sex in return for helping me with my audition pieces?”
He blinks at me. I blink back. Slowly, his eyebrows ascend towards his hairline, leaving him with a spectacularly unimpressed look on his face. “No,” he says, pronouncing the word very carefully, “I was actually trying to ask you if you might consider going to my junior ring dance with me.”
“I’d rather stick my balls in a mousetrap,” I say without thinking. His face flares, and I hastily amend, “Not because—shit, no, that wasn’t a comment about you. Just—school-sponsored social functions like that aren’t really my thing? Like, at all. I mean, I’d assume they’re not. I’ve never actually gone to a school dance before. And I know it’s my fifth year of high school, but I’d sort of been hoping to maintain that streak.”
“Oh,” he says, ducking his head. “Okay. That’s fine, I just thought I’d ask.”
There’s a polite but completely forced smile on his lips, and it occurs to me—probably a little bit too late—that retarded school dances are exactly the sort of shit someone like Nate Holliday probably cares about. They’re not always something to joke about. And maybe he thinks asking me to this dance was as important as me asking him to help me get into my music programs. I sigh and scrub my hands over my face, wincing a little when they make contact with the cut on my forehead. “When’s the dance?”
“Two weeks from today,” he says, cautiously hopeful. “And—”
“Would I have to wear a suit?”
“Yes,” he says, hopefulness now replaced by an unequivocal determination. Apparently, fashion is not something that is up for debate. “You would have to wear a suit—a nice one—and a tie. You would have to tuck your shirt in, like a real adult. And you would have to wear different shoes.”
I narrow my eyes. “The shoes aren’t an option. These are the only pair I own.” He makes a distressed noise in his throat. “I’ll shine them, alright? I went to three years of military school, I can shine shoes like a fucking boss.”
“Only if you use polish,” he demands. “I swear to god, Garen, if you spit-shine your boots—”
“I’ll use shoe polish. Jesus Christ, dude, you watch too many movies. I do actually know how to operate in the real world,” I say. “Are there any other awful requirements I would have to meet?”
“You would have to get me a boutonniere. You’d have to ride to school in the limo with the rest of us. You’d have to dance with me and my friends, even if you don’t like to dance—”
“I like to dance just fine,” I grumble, though I can only assume that the sort of pre-sex grinding I tend to do in nightclubs isn’t really ‘school-appropriate.’ Whatever. I’m sure he won’t object once my hands are on him.
Nate ignores me and finishes, “And lastly, you would have to start the night by meeting up with everyone at my house, smiling in the pictures, and keeping all of your bitching to an absolute minimum.”
It’s that last little comment that actually tricks me into laughing. Bossiness is actually sort of a charming look for Nate, so I heave a sigh and say, “Fine. I’ll go. How much are the tickets?”
“Forty dollars each. I have to buy them in homeroom. And sign you up as my date, because you’re not a junior. You—what are you doing?” he asks, frowning at me.
I roll my eyes and pass him the four twenty-dollar bills I’ve just extracted from my wallet. “Giving you money for the tickets, you idiot. If this is the only high school dance I ever attend—and trust me, it will be—then I might as well do it right.”
A faint blush is rising in his cheeks. He stares down at the money for nearly a full minute before he tucks the bills into the pocket of his cardigan and says, “Thank you. That’s—sweet. Thank you.” I shrug it off and am rewarded with another searching glance. “Hopefully, your cut will have healed by then. Two weeks should be fine, right? That’ll be enough time?”
“Yeah, it should be fine. I heal pretty quickly, so my eye will be back to normal by then, and… I dunno, the cut will still be there, but it won’t be, you know, bruised and foul-looking anymore,” I say. His eyes are still darting all over my face. Black eye, to forehead cut, to the faint bruise on my cheekbone, back to black eye. I snort. “For fuck’s sake, Nate, it’s okay to blink, you know.”
He slams his eyes shut, opens them, and stares wildly around the room, attempting to find something to focus on, other than my bruised and battered face. “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to stare, I promise. It’s just—you look really terrible right now.” I make an indignant noise, and he hastens to correct, “I meant the cut and the black eye! Not you you. You’re still gorgeous, I mean, you’re always gorgeous, it’s just—holy mother of God, why am I still talking right now?”
I grin and admit, “I’m kind of enjoying it. Next, you can talk about how hot it was to watch my biceps flex while I was punching Jack Thorne in the face.”
“You’re unbelievable,” Nate mutters, turning an impressive shade of red.
I shrug. “Glad you think so.” He doesn’t say anything back, though he does sneak another look at the cut on my forehead. I nudge his knee with my toe and say, “Nate, I’m fine. Sure, this looks kinda gross, but it’s nothing compared to what happened to me last spring.”
“Well, maybe if I’d seen that, I’d have a higher threshold for this sort of thing,” he says, “but as it is, I’m—”
“Do you want to?” I interrupt. His brow creases, and I clarify, “Do you want to see? I—alright, this makes me sound like a psychopath, but I have pictures. My mom has me keep a binder full of the information related to… I dunno, all the shitty things that happen to me. Pictures, hospital records, a copy of the restraining order I’ve got against my ex. She says it makes sense to have duplicates of everything, just in case I need them for legal purposes. And—I mean, you said it might help recalibrate the scale of what I really consider an injury. So. I mean, you don’t have to. I’m not going to make you look at pictures of me in the hospital, that would be totally fucked up. But if you—”
He cuts me off with a quick nod. “No, I um… I think that might help, actually? Because, I’m sorry, but your face right now is just… it looks awful, and maybe if I knew that it’s not as bad as it seems, at least to you, then I’d feel less worried about you.”
I laugh and stand to retrieve the binder from my desk drawer. “You don’t need to be worried, dude. The damage is already done. And I’ve been to the doctor, he says I’ll be back to normal in a couple days, once the headaches wear off completely. Well, he thinks I should probably try to avoid getting any more concussions, because this is my second one this year, but, you know, whatever. Here.” I drop the binder on his lap, mostly because I’m worried about him noticing the way my hands are shaking if I try to pass it to him with any more grace than that. “Open that when you’re ready.”
He nods, but it takes an additional fifteen seconds before he flips open the cover. It is immediately slammed shut again. “Oh my god.” It’s not really funny, but I laugh anyway, then harder then he cracks it open for another peek. He’s breathing heavily through his nose, like he’s trying not to be sick. Like he needs to calm himself down. “What happened to you?”
“You mean, what injuries did I get? Or how did I get them?” I ask. He doesn’t reply, so I opt to answer both. “Broken nose, couple of broken ribs. First concussion. And I got them in a fight with the guy I was dating at the time. He won, obviously.”
“So, you um—” Nate falters, finally glancing up from the binder to meet my eyes. “He abused you?”
I shrug. “I don’t really like that word.” Thankfully, he lets me leave it at that. I flip to the next set of pictures, four shots of my face and torso at different angles. “When this happened, I was about five months younger than you are now. David—that’s my ex—was eighteen, maybe a couple months shy of it. We broke up a few months after this happened.” I page forward until I reach the next catastrophe, at which I can’t hold back a wry smile. “This is what happened last spring, when I got back together with him.”
“The same guy?” Nate says, disbelief dripping from his words.
“The same guy,” I confirm. “But, hey—” I flip ahead to the copy of the restraining order, “—I learned my lesson eventually, right? So, believe me when I tell you that this—” I gesture to my face, “—isn’t nearly as bad as it looks. Not to someone who’s dealt with all of that.”
He shakes his head and continues to thumb through more pictures of me after the fight, then some of me immediately after entering rehab. Those had been Doc Howard’s idea, not Mom’s. Apparently, a bunch of photos of me at my lowest point were supposed to serve as a reminder of how far I’ve come. Mostly, they just creep me out; I don’t like seeing myself with choppy, dyed black hair. I don’t like seeing myself paler than a corpse with heavy circles under my eyes. I don’t like seeing my weight down to one forty of flesh and bone from its usual one seventy of muscle. Without waiting for Nate’s permission, I flip past those to the last section. “Oh. Those are nothing important, they’re not even of me. Just the car after it got vandalized, but you already—”
“Garen,” he says suddenly, voice sharp.
My brow creases. “Yeah?”
“Garen,” he repeats. I wonder if I’m supposed to say yeah again, or if we can cut off the back-and-forth bullshit now. But then Nate begins frantically digging through his bag, finally surfacing with the gigantic notebook where I know he keeps all of his Grease notes. “Do you remember when I had everyone write out their other extracurriculars so that I could be sure I wasn’t scheduling important rehearsals for days when people wouldn’t even be present?”
I nod, and he slaps a piece of paper down on my knee. I read aloud, “Spanish Club. Um. Alright? I’m not in—”
“I know you’re not in Spanish Club,” he snaps. “Gabe Alberti is.”
“Cool?” I say, because I don’t give a shit about Gabe Alberti or what clubs he’s in sounds like it’d probably be considered rude. Besides, his name is right at the top of the paper, so I don’t really need to be told this.
But then Nate holds Gabe’s paper up next to one of the photographs of the graffiti on the hood of my Ferrari, and my breath catches in my throat. Because the handwriting that says Gabe Alberti - Spanish Club is identical to the handwriting that spells out cokehead and go back to rehab, you still need it and have fun getting AIDS. I spend several minutes staring back and forth between the papers, trying to find each of the letters on both the club paper and the pictures of the graffiti. There are a few letters on the car that I can’t make a comparison, but there are enough for me to be certain that Gabe is the one who did it.
Or. One of the ones, I guess.
I flip to the last picture in the set, the one with the different handwriting, and point wordlessly to it. Nate hesitates—that makes sense. We both know whose handwriting will match up with it—I can’t believe I didn’t think of this earlier—and we both know that unlike Gabe, she’s actually Nate’s friend. We both know how severely the shit is going to hit the fan once we hold these papers up next to each other.
Slowly, Nate pages through his binder until he finds the paper that reads, in neatly curled handwriting, Josslyn Pryce. Spanish Club. National Honor Society. Yearbook Staff Photographer. I set it down on the opposite page of my binder so that I can compare it, letter by letter, until I have matched up everything but the letter ‘d’ in the phrase, is your little brother good in bed? It’s exactly the same; she didn’t even try to disguise her handwriting, not at all.
“Garen,” Nate says softly, for what feels like the nine hundredth time tonight.
I shake my head and force a smile. “It’s—I mean, I know I’m new to the club. And I know most of you guys don’t really like me. But—”
“That’s not true,” he snaps. “We like you. I like you. The only people who don’t are—I can’t believe they did this, honestly. I’ve known them for years, and they’ve never done anything like this before, not that I can think of. It’s insane.”
I shrug and murmur, “It’s fine.”
It’s really not.
Part of me had hoped that three days might be enough to calm me down, but the moment I walk into rehearsal on Monday, I know that’s not the case. Gabe is lounging in the front row, shooting the shit with Riley with his feet kicked up; Joss is talking to Miranda and sitting on Travis’ lap, though he’s distracted with leaning around her to highlight his case notes for our trial law competition. My rage has iced over by now—I’m not feeling as white-hot and furious as I did on Friday night, but that’s probably worse. Any time something bad happens to me and I end up smiling, things go very, very badly for the other people involved.
The grin stretched across my face right now is nothing short of painful.
“Hey, Alberti,” I call, striding down the aisle towards the others. He spares me a glare, and I beckon to him. “Come on back here for a second, buddy. I need to talk to you about something.”
“About what?” he asks warily, but he stands anyway and wanders in my direction.
I fling myself into the empty seat next to Travis and Joss. He opens his mouth to say hello to me, but I speak over him, “Hey, Josslyn. You might want to toss some of that attention over here for a minute, because this concerns you, too.”
“Very little about you concerns me,” she says with a tight smile.
“I think you’re going to change your mind about that in a couple of seconds, because guess what, Joss. I’ve got a game I want to play with you two, because I just like you both that fucking much,” I say.
“I don’t want to—”
“Cool!” I say brightly, flipping open the folder in my hand and extracting two sheets of white computer paper. I pass one to each of them, then a permanent marker. “So, I’m going to read you each some words and phrases, and you’re going to write them down. Gabe, why don’t we start with you?” He doesn’t move. “Your first word is ‘faggot.’”
The rest of drama club has begun to filter over to join us, perhaps alarmed by the way I bite out the slur. Gabe is frozen, which I can only assume means he understands where this is going. Next to me, underneath his psychotic bitch of a girlfriend, Travis says, “G, what’s going—”
“Your next word is ‘cokehead,’” I say. “And then after that, I want you to write ‘have fun getting AIDS.’”
Riley reaches out and gives my shoulder a soft punch. “Dude, I don’t get what’s going on.”
“I just want him to write a few words. On the paper, that is, not on the hood of my car, where he wrote them last time,” I say. Annabelle inhales sharply. Gabe still hasn’t moved. I reach back into my folder and extract all but two of the remaining papers, passing them to him one by one. “This is a copy of your extracurricular list, in your handwriting. Which means that this picture—” faggot, “—and this picture—” go back to rehab, you still need it, “—and this one, and this one, and this one—” cokehead, smoke this, Anderson, have fun getting AIDS, “—are all your little love notes for me, in your handwriting.”
“Oh my god,” Miranda whispers, taking the photos from Gabe’s hands and paging through them, comparing them to the club paper, while Christine, John, and Annabelle crowd in around her. Riley remains at my side, looking warily between Joss and myself—he must realize why I involved Joss with this, too.
“For being such a great sport in this game of ours, here’s your prize,” I say, digging a stapled packet of papers out of my backpack and shoving them into Gabe’s hands. “Those are copies of the paperwork for all the bodywork I had to have done to the Ferrari because of what you did to it. You know, replacing all the lights, fixing the side mirror, fixing the strakes—god, that was an expensive one. Word of advice? If you’re going to vandalize a car, you might not want to vandalize one that’s so expensive to fix. Or so old. Did you know that it’s impossible to color-match a twenty-year-old car like that? The guys at the shop had to repaint the entire vehicle because they couldn’t just do the hood of it without having the whole thing look mismatched. You’re holding a stack of bills for ten thousand dollars in car repairs, you stupid fuck. And since you’re not me, and therefore probably can’t afford that much—” I snatch one last item from my bag and flick it towards him, “—that’s my mom’s card. She’s my lawyer, and she can’t wait to talk to you, dude.”
Gabe is reeling from the that information; I can practically see the dollar signs burning holes in his skin. Truth be told, the damages have already been paid for by my insurance company, and I doubt Gabe will actually have to pay anything. But I feel a special sort of schadenfreude at the idea of my mom tearing him a new asshole over the phone. She’ll probably make him cry. He sort of looks like he’s going to cry right now; maybe that’s why he crumples up the papers in his hands and bolts for the auditorium doors. No matter—I’ve got a hell of a lot more discomfort to spread around here.
I turn to face Joss, flashing her a wry smile. “I’m betting you already know what Santa’s got in his bag of toys for you, huh?”
“I didn’t do anything,” she says, voice so blank I almost believe her. “Gabe dented your car. He smashed out the lights. He keyed it. He took off the mirror. He wrote all the graffiti.”
I slip the last photograph from the folder and hold it up. “No. Not all of it.”
She doesn’t take the paper. I don’t expect her to. I don’t expect Travis to take it either, but he does. Takes it and stares at it, eyes so wide I can see the whites all the way around his blue irises. Joss touches his wrist and says, “Travis, it’s not like th—”
“This is your handwriting,” he says flatly. “This—I recognize it, Joss, this is your handwriting. Don’t lie to me, not about this.”
“Not about him, you mean,” she snaps. “God, our entire fucking relationship is just all about Garen, isn’t it?”
It’s like she’s got no idea how badly she’s fucking up everything for herself right now. I don’t even need to say anything, I just need to sit here and watch her dig herself deeper and deeper into this mess.
“Get off of me,” he orders. When she doesn’t move, he scoops her off his lap and dumps her into the seat on his other side so that he can stand up. That accomplished, he jabs a finger at the words in the picture and says, “This? This is definitely about me, not Garen. Is your little brother good in bed? What the fuck is wrong with you, Josslyn? I haven’t acted this way about any of the ex-boyfriends you’ve told me about. Not Jesse, or Brian, or Austin, or Tyler. None of them. I’ve got a grand total of two exes. You pretend Ben doesn’t exist, even though he’s one of my best friends—he should think of himself as lucky for that, though, considering the way you act around Garen.”
I keep expecting Joss to start crying, like almost any other girl I know would be doing right now, but she just… doesn’t. She stares back at him with more than a little bit of anger, but absolutely no remorse for what she’s done, or fear that Travis is going to break up with her. I guess that makes sense—the odds of him actually dumping his pregnant girlfriend are pretty much nonexistent. Still, I’m a little surprised that she actually starts inspecting her nails, casual as can fucking be, and says, “I’ve got no problem with Ben. Just Garen.”
“Why?” he demands, and her eyes snap back to his face.
“Because you got over Ben. And forgive me, but I’m just not a fan of the fact that every time I see you look at this piece of trash over here, it becomes increasingly clear to me that you’re never going to get over him,” she says. Travis actually takes a small step backwards, as though the idea of never getting over me is enough to shake him in ways he can’t yet define. The movement is just enough to knock the back of his knees against the side of my thigh, and I instinctively put a hand to his hip to steady him. It’s probably the worst thing I could have done, but before I can retract my hand, Joss is laughing and gesturing to the touch. “See? You two can’t keep your hands off each other for a fucking day. How’s that supposed to make me feel, Travis? Seriously, how can you possibly expect me to be cool with the fact that the guy I’m having a baby with is still not over his ex-boyfriend?”
Travis takes a sudden step forward and braces his hands on the arms of her chair, the better to lean down just enough to say, in a quiet, dangerous voice, “So let’s make a deal, sweetheart. You don’t touch his car, his guitar, his locker, the fucking Pokemon cards he collected when he was six, I don’t care, anything. You keep your hands off his stuff, and I’ll keep my hands off him. But if you ever do anything like that to him again, I fucking swear to you, Joss, I will show you just how ‘not over him’ I can really be.”
Without another word to any of us, he climbs over my legs and strides towards the wings, disappearing backstage to snarl orders at the members of stage crew who haven’t already begun to work on their latest pieces of scenery. Only once he’s out of sight does Joss finally move to capture her audience again, letting the tears start to fall. Immediately, Miranda swoops in to comfort her, joined a minute later by a hesitant, apprehensive Annabelle, who shoots me a slightly alarmed what the fuck am I supposed to be doing look.
Joss pulls her sleeve over her hand to dab at her damp eyes and says, “I swear, sometimes I think he’s the worst thing that has ever happened to me.”
“No, he’s not,” I say, and her furious eyes snap to me so suddenly that she almost forgets that she’s supposed to be crying. I shrug and say, “But if you hurt him again, I promise you that I will be.”
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Challenge pitted firefighters, law enforcement and emergency medical services teams against each other – all to benefit the County’s health and the Chester County Hero Fund
At the Chester County Commissioners Sunshine Meeting this week, Health Department Director Jeanne Casner announced the results of the WalkWorks ChesCo! First Responder Challenge – a competition that asked Chester County residents to support the county’s 5,000-plus emergency responders by joining a first-responder team to compete and see who could walk the most steps in an eight-week period.
During the Challenge, more than 148.3 million steps were taken by members of the three first-responder teams. Team Fire, Team Law Enforcement (LE) and Team Emergency Medical Services (EMS) were each captained by a Chester County Commissioner and were tasked with signing up the most walkers and clocking the most steps.
Close to 400 county residents took part in the First Responder Challenge. Team Fire, captained by County Commissioner Terence Farrell, clocked the highest cumulative steps – more than 53 million. Team Law Enforcement, captained by County Commissioner Michelle Kichline, registered the highest average individual steps at 8,180 per day. Team EMS member Yolanda Van de Krol had the highest average daily steps at more than 26,000 a day.
To incentivize team members throughout the Challenge period, the winning team was promised a donation, made in its name, to the Chester County Hero Fund. The Hero Fund provides financial assistance to the families of Chester County police officers, deputy sheriffs, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, paramedics or state troopers who have lost their life, or who are seriously injured in the line of duty. Through contributions made by Metropolitan Communications, ACD Telecom, Belfor, Witmer Public Safety Group and Colonial Hyundai, $3,300 was received by the Chester County Hero Fund, in the name of Team Fire.
“While all three teams were able to claim a winning element of the First Responder Challenge, we know that the real winners are all those who took steps to improve their health by increasing their walking during this challenge, and the Chester County Hero Fund,” said Jeanne Casner.
Bobby Kagel, Director of the Chester County Department of Emergency Services noted: “Almost half of the deaths that occur in the line of duty for first responders are the result of risks that can be decreased simply by incorporating exercise like walking into a daily routine. This WalkWorks challenge was not just fun, it was a ‘step forward’ in keeping our responders healthy and safe. I also thank all the county residents who joined in the challenge to show their support for our first responders.”
WalkWorks ChesCo! is a program that promotes, educates and empowers county residents to adopt a healthier lifestyle one step at a time by creating more places for walking, supporting and promoting walking groups, coordinating walking challenges – and importantly – creating the website that allows everyone to track and tally their steps. It is the County’s response to the national Healthiest Cities & Counties Challenge, a two-year competition that empowers cities and counties across the nation to create a positive health impact. At the end of 2016, the county was selected out of 400 applications as one of 50 members of the HealthCommunity 50 and received $10,000 in community seed funds to establish WalkWorks ChesCo!
In the first nine months of WalkWorks ChesCo!, up to the end of 2017, county residents registered more than 1.5 billion steps. The goal set for 2018 is to increase that number to five billion steps. If judged the most successful Healthiest Cities & Counties Challenge program, Chester County will receive $500,000 which will be used to further enhance health programs for all county residents. The Healthiest Cities & Counties Challenge is a partnership established between the Aetna Foundation, the American Public Health Association and the National Association of Counties.
More information about the WalkWorks ChesCo! program and how to register can be found at chesco.org/walkworks.
⇐Previous Add Vaccines to Your To-Do List This SummerNext⇒ American Diabetes Association Designates Chester County Government as a Health Champion
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The urban development expert in you and me
Jens Aerts will give his keynote presentation at the Child in the City International Seminar in Antwerp next month. His keynote is titled ‘Shaping a sustainable urban future for and by children’. In this interview, Aerts explains past and present challenges of urban planning. He also argues there is an urban development expert in all of us.
Jens Aerts is as an Urban Planning Specialist. He currently supports UNICEF in the development and implementation of its Global Urban Strategy. Aerts is the author of the recent UNICEF publication ‘Shaping urbanisation for children, a handbook on child-responsive urban planning’. He is also committed to similar advisory work that bridges children’s well-being and sustainable urban development, such as the upcoming Street for Kids program for the Global Designing Cities Initiative.
As an urban planning specialist, what have been some highlights and challenges you have experienced in your role?
As cities will contain 60% of the world’s population in 2030 and all future demographic growth is an almost purely urban issue, an urban planning specialist might think of a great future of the profession ahead. But while the scale, pace and complexity of urbanization comes with enormous challenges, there is a striking lack of urban planning capacity where urbanization is still happening, it explains why 300 million children still live in slums, suffering from multiple deprivations. This number will only grow in dense city centre slums but also in low-density, fragmented sprawling urban expansions.
Against the backdrop of these challenges, I am more convinced that urban planners will play an important role if not only building upon the technical, rational and scientific aspect of their profession. They also need to invest in their process capacity to facilitate complex urban transitions to happen in society – whether they are about low-carbon solutions, circular economy or social equity. A highlight is a push to co-design, innovate and accelerate implementation with other stakeholders, especially the unusual ones. Amongst child development and health specialists, for example, I see a growing awareness that the urban built environment is a key determinant in contemporary childhoods, with new kinds of vulnerabilities in terms of environmental health issues, spatial isolation and physical unsafety. I see these new windows of collaboration as game-changers for our profession, to invest in joint research and advocacy, but also to develop policies and investment programs together.
How did you get involved in children’s well-being and sustainable urban development, and why do you stay?
Just like most architects, engineers and other built environment specialists that graduated in the early nineties, there was a strong emphasis in our studies on the urban form, the dynamics of globalization and prosperous economies, but also a growing awareness on environmental degradation and climate change. While research and practice in sustainable urban development consistently developed in Europe, I cannot think of any major stream of work on people-centred planning, or even less one focusing on children.
In Brussels, I worked a lot on public space, mobility and neighbourhood renewal projects. That experience made me aware that a city is about people and their opinions in the first place and allowed also to experiment with various forms of community participation and new urban governance structures. Later on, I was involved in the drafting process of the New Urban Agenda, a major international framework to be presented in 2016 at Habitat III, the most important urban planning conference only taking place every 20 years. Being a blueprint for the future urbanization and needed upgrading of existing cities, this global agenda highlighted very strongly the importance to make cities for all. In the same period, I became a parent and I was so shocked to realize cities are not made for children and strolling parents at all. It is a cocktail of that personal frustration being an urbanite and the professional indignation that explains my involvement today, to turn my own profession upside down but also to build bridges with other disciplines in order to do better and faster together.
How has the cross-section of practice, policy and research changed in the past 5 years? What do you predict will happen in the next 5 to 10 years?
In any domain, there is always interaction in any domain between practice, policy and research. What is more interesting is how these interactions between different domains change and which ones are dominantly influencing others. Change does not happen in 5 years, but rather crystallizes in 10 or 15 years cycles, that allow new ideas and insights to be brought in from outside a discipline, to be assimilated and mainstreamed.
Take the example,Barcelona, a city where I lived and worked. Barcelona has a powerful tradition in planning a compact city and its collective infrastructure. In the nineties after the dictatorship, the regained democracy spurred into a rediscovery of the city center and explains the focus on social infrastructure, public space design and urban economies. 15 years later, knowledge from bioscience and climate science led to investments in green infrastructure and eco-systems on metropolitan and district level. Currently, innovations in urban policy mark a third era in the Barcelona model, rethinking democratic processes and embracing community-based planning in all its dimensions.
I believe that in the near future interdisciplinary work on public health, eco-systems, city governance and spatial planning will grow, to create the right contexts in which the right technological innovations can scale up and have a real impact on all aspects of sustainability: equity, environmental responsibility and economic strength. Youth will take the lead in this complex thinking, but as cities are mostly ageing it is important to seek traction for a multi-generational agenda.
What are some of the ways people from your field are making a difference in the world?
Within the field of participatory city planning and architecture, the work of Alejandro Aravena and Kounkuey Design Collective are very inspiring. They work with limited resources in the Global South and understand the scale and pace of the problem, but also use the intelligence of communities in the design process.
But in general, I would say that often people outside the field change the game, similar to innovation in expert domains happens due to influence from other domains. Outsiders bring in the needed oxygen to change a discipline. The most famous example is Jane Jacobs who brought down New York’s powerful master builder Robert Moses and with him the legacy of car-oriented, top-down and male-oriented modernist planning half a century ago. Jacobs has been rightfully dubbed the most influential urbanist but let us not forget that she is not really an urban planner actually and something she herself stated. Being a talented journalist from Canada, she influenced the urban planning discourse in the US as an outsider, strategically fueling activism and the public discourse, and calling new urban planners to develop new practices that include community participation.
Working a lot on road safety and sustainable mobility, I am also moved by the fact that so many champions in this area took up the challenge to address the major cause of death amongst adolescents because of their own loss of children, family members or relatives. Also good, “crazy” local politicians that stand close to their community change the way how cities are planned, addressing traffic fatalities, urban violence, pollution, poverty and children’s exclusion from decision making.
And in all cases, children and youth also play a significant role, like the Climate for Youth movement and other community-driven campaigns that have been instrumental in promoting the need for an ambitious urban planning agenda.
What is one piece of practical advice you would give to someone interested in making their city child-friendly and more sustainable?
Make a powermap to know who is influencing and who is actually in charge of managing the city. With them develop strategies for change in three dimensions: data and evidence to build the case and monitor change; participation with children and communities to create the basis for change and to start pilots; policy change in terms of spatial planning and financing.
If there was one key message that you would like delegates to take away from your presentation, what would it be?
In all of us, there is a child development and an urban development expert. I would not say there is a child in us. No, we are now adults and should act as responsible adults, being conscious of our privilege that we have the right to vote and freedom in our choices. But we should definitely look at the child in us that we used to be, as a mirror for us adults to leave the seminar knowing what we will do our practice that focuses specifically on children. There are so many children, young people and communities, who are more tech and eco-savvy than we are. They use their time and knowledge to think and do better for their neighbourhood and city. We should work with them and ensure children are included. It is five to twelve: the planet is almost burning, and children feel the heat the most.
Click here to read part 2 of our interview with Jens Aerts.
Jens Aert’s keynote presentation at the Child in the City International Seminar in Antwerp is on Tuesday, May 21, starting at 12:30. There is still time to book your place – view the full programme and register here.
Tags: Barcelona, Brussels, climate change, Jens Aerts, mobility, sustainable mobility, UNICEF, urban development, urban planning
Author: Julia Zvobgo
Julia Zvobgo is a Cultural Anthropologist. She is also the Community Manager and Events Manager of Child in the City.
Project MAPEA at the CitC International seminar in Antwerp
CitC Antwerp: Reflections on Placemaking and Co-creation
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Right-of-way abandonment ordinances up for first reading
Randal Seyler
CHIPLEY � The City Council will hear on Tuesday the first reading of two ordinances approving the abandonment of right-of-way and of a 20-foot alleyway in preparation for the construction of a new Dollar General store in Chipley.
The council discussed the upcoming ordinances at Thursday�s council workshop at the Chipley City Hall.
Dollar General is looking to build a 12,480-square-foot market on U.S. 90, and would relocate the store which is currently downtown Chipley to the new location, which will be a bigger Dollar General store and will feature more groceries and have up to 50 coolers, said Tom Hodges, who was representing Dollar General at the Dec. 11 city council meeting.
The council was asked in December to approve an application for abandonment of public property so the process of building the new store could begin.
The ordinances the council will hear the first reading of on Tuesday will begin this process, clearing the way for the next step in the planning and zoning process, the project�s development order, said City Administrator Dan Miner.
The store would be located across from Gulf Power on U.S. 90 East, Miner said. The project is called Teramore Development, and Teramore Development is requesting the abandonment of the 10th Street right-of-way as well as the 20-foot alley intersecting the 10th Street right-of-way.
The new Dollar General store will be a hybrid between a regular store and the Dollar General Market, such as the one in Slocomb, Ala., Dollar General representative Tom Hodges said at the December council meeting.
Dollar General Corporation, based in Goodlettsville, Tenn. is the nation's largest small-box discount retailer, according to the website dollargeneral.com.
Dollar General ranks among the largest retailers of top-quality, such as Procter & Gamble, Kimberly Clark, Unilever, Kellogg's, General Mills and Nabisco.
Dollar General has 10,000 stores in located in 40 states and 11 distribution centers, according to the website, and posted $14.8 billion in sales.
Other items the council will consider on Tuesday include reappointing Chipley Redevelopment Agency members Helen Daniel and Amy Wiwi; the approval of a special event application for the Merchants of Historic Chipley to allow the closing of Railroad Avenue for �Flea Across Florida� in April; and the adoption of a low bid of $219,210.41 for an Florida Department of Transportation Sidewalk Project.
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Love, Sex & Dating
Faith & Doubt
faith q&a
Sex & Abstinence
Witness & Missions
True-Life Stories
Is The Way Too Narrow?
Home > Advice > Faith Q&A
"I have a hard time believing Jesus is the only way of salvation."
Answer by Marshall Shelley
Q. I have a hard time believing Jesus is the only way of salvation. So many people have never heard about Jesus. It's either unfair of God to make such a requirement, or there must be other ways of salvation. Can you help me understand?
A. Can people who've never heard of Jesus go to heaven? It's a question Christians have always struggled with for centuries. The strict answer is, "Nope. They're lost." The lenient answer is, "God's love is unconditional, his grace is irresistible, and everyone will be saved eventually." But neither of those answers seems fully based on God's character as revealed in the Bible. So, I don't have a simple answer. But I do know three truths the answer depends on:
1) God is good. He is both loving and just, and therefore, he is going to do whatever is right. He will not unjustly condemn anyone, nor will he allow sin into heaven. (If he did, heaven would be corrupted and no better than earth.) Only people willing to be regenerated, to be made new and spotless and to serve God forever, can enter heaven.
We can't know, as humans, how God will judge a particular individual who never had the chance on earth to understand that only Jesus can take away sin. But God knows everyone's heart. We can be sure that God's judgments are completely pure and righteous.
2) Death is not the end of the story. The Bible says, "man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment" (Hebrews 9:27, NIV). This means death is not the end of the story for anyone. Judgment comes afterward. (How much later, we don't know.) The Bible offers hints that people do have a conscious existence after death and before their final judgment at the "great white throne" (Revelation 20:11).
For instance, Samuel, after his death, is conjured up by Saul and the witch of Endor (1 Samuel 28). Elijah and Moses reappear, centuries after their deaths, on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17). And Jesus told a story of a rich man who, after death, asks for mercy (and water!) from a former beggar who was now in paradise (Luke 16).
3) Salvation is available only through Jesus. He said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6, NIV). The fate of anyone rests on Jesus' work of atonement, forgiveness and regeneration. He's the only one who can take sin away. Anyone who rejects that is risking everything.
But could some people be saved by Jesus' work, even though they never knew his name during their lifetime? Or if their knowledge of him was skewed or limited? We just don't know.
I had a daughter who was severely and profoundly retarded. She never spoke a word or was able to respond to her environment. In her two years of life, she was unable to "accept Jesus," at least that anyone could tell, but I'm confident that I will see her again in heaven. On what basis? On the basis of God's mercy and Christ's sacrifice for the sins of all mankind.
Might that same extended grace apply to someone raised in Mongolia or India who also never had clear and compelling exposure to the gospel? We just don't know. We can't be sure how God will judge humankind. But I do know that God can be trusted to do what's right.
Marshall, a former pastor, is editor of Leadership, a magazine for pastors.
Copyright © 2007 by the author or Christianity Today/Ignite Your Faith magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Ignite Your Faith.
Muscle-Bound Meekness
Jesus is an example of meekness—but he was anything but weak or a pushover.
Mark Galli
I'm Not Who People Think I Am
How do I get over my fear of showing my true self?
Jim Burns
Ignite Your Faith:
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Unity, Solidarity and Hope at Core of Ecumenical Weekend
Participants in the ecumenical weekend gather for a moment of prayer. Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC
Unity and solidarity in Christ against populist trends was at the core of the opening message for an Ecumenical Weekend in Uppsala, Sweden on 3-4 November. Under the theme ”Behold, I make everything new!”, 150 guests gathered to reflect on current challenges for ecumenism.
In his keynote speech, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit expressed sincere hope that this Ecumenical Weekend sheds light on and strengthens resolve for the work that lies ahead. He underlined the opportunity to celebrate the 50-year mark of the WCC’s 4th Assembly, when an ambitious agenda was set for the ecumenical movement, and to calibrate today’s movement which has come a long way since 1968.
”Solidarity is the fruit of ecumenism. Walking, praying and working together as Christian witnesses on a Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace, shows that there is more that unite us as Christians, than divides us”.
The general secretary mentioned the recent attack on Coptic pilgrims in Egypt on their way to a monastery as an example of a horrible event after which Christian solidarity is crucial.
”We carry the cross of our Coptic sisters and brothers in Egypt. In its deepest meaning, this ecumenical movement is – and has always been – a movement of love”, Tveit pointed out.
Metropolitan Zachariah Mar Nicholovos complemented that message in his speech, saying
”we are called to carry the cross together as common witnesses, so the world will be a better place. God will make all things new”.
Sweden’s ambassador to Guatemala, Anders Kompass, continued by expressing a sense of frustration over the current state of world affairs, where the fight for human rights and equality cannot be taken for granted anymore.
A man with thorough experience of conflict areas, Kompass elaborated on the rapid ascent of strongman leaders who claim that they alone embody the will of the people: ”Once they have done away with all the liberal roadblocks that impede the impression of the popular will, it becomes very easy for them to disregard the people when its preferences start to come into conflict with their own”, Kompass explained.
He sees the current rise of strongmen and populism as a crisis after which he envisions a society with real equality for all, where wisdom will be more valued than intelligence.
Archbishop Dr Antje Jackelen, primate of the Church of Sweden, also warned against populism and added another four p-words to watch out for: polarization, protectionism, post-truths and patriarchy: ”We must make use of the resources we possess in our spirituality and faith. We must object exploiting other people’s fear. We need a theology of resilience, co-existence and hope in order to confront polarization, resist populism, counteract protectionism, fight against post-truths and overcome patriarchy”, she explained.
Fears of where current political trends will lead and the importance of a united Christian church to defend democracy and protect human rights ran as a thread through the opening of the Ecumenical Weekend.
Rev. Dr Sofia Camnerin, vice president of the Uniting Church in Sweden pointed out that ”on our shared journey of justice and peace we must always be ready to challenge structures of inequality”.
World Council of Churches, oikoumene.org
Ecumenical Weekend
Olav Fykse Tveit
House Church Disrupted by Hindu Radicals in India’s Telangana State
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Serial killer Rose West moved after health concerns
She had been at HMP Low Newton for more than a decade
Devon-born serial killer Rose West has been moved to a new prison after health concerns.
West, born in Northam and raised in Devon, has been reported to be having trouble climbing stairs and her eyesight is failing.
The 65 year old has been moved from HMP Low Newton, Co Durham, to HMP New Hall in Wakefield, West Yorks.
West was jailed for life in 1995 for her part in 10 murders including that of her daughter Charmaine.
The people who appeared at magistrates courts in Devon
Husband Fred buried bodies in their Gloucester garden. He hanged himself while awaiting trial for 12 murders.
West previously served at HMP Bronzefield, Middlesex, but was moved to Low Newton in 2008 after a plot to attack her with pool balls in a sock was uncovered.
She is reported to have ballooned to 18 stone on a diet of cake and crisps and is at risk of heart disease and diabetes.
She spent some of her childhood living in Plymouth.
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Police had to drive mental health detainee from North Devon to Torquay on 150-mile round trip
The officers used up most of a shift on the 150-mile round trip to find an assessment place for the person who had been held under the Mental Health Act
Edward Oldfield
The location of safe places for people suffering a mental health crisis in Devon has been questioned after police had to drive a detainee from North Devon to Torquay.
The officers used up most of a shift on the 150-mile round trip to find an assessment place for the person who had been held under the Mental Health Act.
The incident was raised by Torridge Independent councillor Philip Hackett at a meeting of the Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime panel.
He said the problem had arisen after the closure of a designated place of safety in North Devon.
Two places at Exeter were unavailable when the person needed help out-of-hours so the officers had to drive on to Torquay.
Cllr Hackett said: “Surely there needs to be a place of safety to stop two or three officers being taken off shift.”
He said after the meeting: “The police officers involved take up most of their shift.
“Sometimes there is a police driver, but it can be a police officer.
The following day the person is brought back in an NHS car to North Devon, and the process can be repeated.”
Woman found dead on Dartmoor
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Police and Crime Commissioner Alison Hernandez told the meeting the situation would be reviewed.
“I think there does just need to be another look at that,” she said.
A place of safety which can take two people was opened by the Devon Partnership Trust at The Cedars psychiatric hospital in Exeter in April last year following consultation with the police.
The suite operates round-the-clock as part of a response by the NHS and emergency services to reduce the number of people with mental health needs being held in police cells.
Now in most cases people are taken to a place of safety instead of a policy custody centre.
The trust says it has introduced services to act as a link between people with mental health needs and the police and justice system.
Police and Crime Commissioner Alison Hernandez during a "Meet your PCC" event (Image: Penny Cross)
Police seek 'fake jogger' who flashed genitals at mum and daughter on cycle track
It has also opened a series of crisis cafes across Devon, including one in Barnstaple, to support people while reducing demand on the emergency services.
A spokesperson for the trust, which provides mental health services in Devon, said: “We work very closely with our police colleagues to make sure that the best possible services are in place to help support people with mental health needs.
“Both of our organisations have stretched resources and we are both keen to use those resources in the most effective and most appropriate way possible.
“We meet regularly with the police, and other partners from health, social care and the emergency services, to talk about how we can continue to meet the rising demand from people with a whole range of different needs.
“There has been a significant amount of work to reduce the number of people who are picked up by the police under s136 of the Mental Health Act and detained in police custody.
“Five years ago, around three quarters of people were being detained in police custody instead of a recognised ‘Place of Safety’ – today hardly anyone picked up on a s136 is detained in police custody.
“This is a huge step forward in terms of people being assessed in a calm, therapeutic and non-threatening place when they may be acutely unwell.
“Following close consultation with the police, we recently opened a centralised Place of Safety in Exeter.
“This newly-refurbished facility has capacity for two people to be detained and assessed under s136.
“More importantly, it is the first ever Place of Safety in Devon to have a dedicated staff team - meaning that it can operate around the clock without depending on clinical staff from other services being available, often at very short notice.
“We continue to review the new arrangements regularly with our police colleagues but, overall, we believe they are working well.
“Our Street Triage and Liaison and Diversion services in Devon are now well-established and they provide a crucial link between people with mental health needs and the police and wider criminal justice system.
“We are constantly finding new ways to reduce demand on the whole system and, in April, we opened three new crisis cafés across Devon, one of which is in Barnstaple.
“Evidence from other parts of the country suggests that non-clinical, welcoming places like this can be of invaluable help to people who are approaching a crisis or in urgent need of support.
“They can also help to reduce suicide and self-harm and alleviate pressure on other services – such as the police, ambulance services and acute hospital emergency departments.
“In addition, we are about to launch a First Responder service in Devon which will bring further focused resource to support people with urgent care needs.”
More court cases
Drugs kingpin jailed for 14 years
Speedboat killer's horror glassing
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Last year saw the introduction of the Integrated Police Mental Health Service, part-funded by the PCC, which allows police officers to refer directly to mental health services when they suspect someone who they come into contact with is unwell. It also gives frontline officers access to advice from mental health professionals.
The service brought together three schemes - liaison and diversion, street triage and neighbourhood - into a force-wide service designed to reduce demand on police and allow quicker access to care.
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The 100: Pilot
by Billie Doux
"Reality sucks."
So we have this situation: The dregs of humanity trapped on a space station with an oppressive government and dwindling resources, and the glorious, surreally green Earth, where you can tell right away that things aren't as lovely as they seem.
Ninety-seven years ago (why not an even hundred?), there was a nuclear apocalypse and the remainder of humanity managed to take twelve existing space stations and make them into one: the Ark, which is quite Biblical of them. On the Ark, every transgression is punishable by death, unless you're under eighteen, in which case they put you in prison until you're eighteen and put you to death, or something. This time, the government of the Ark took one hundred of their juvenile delinquents, popped them into a capsule, and sent them down to Earth to take their chances.
The lead character on the Ark appears to be Dr. Abby Griffith (Paige Turco from Person of Interest). The big boss is the Chancellor (Isaiah Washington from ER); unfortunately, his second in command is the way obviously evil Kane (Henry Ian Cusick from Lost with a bad American accent) who seems to want to put a lot of people to death, including Abby, because life support will fail in three months.
Which brings me to one of my big problems with this pilot: there were no adults volunteering to go down to Earth with all those teenagers to at least tell them they should boil their water before drinking it. You'd think there would be, especially with the life support failing. (Okay, it's a secret, but still.) And the communication problems didn't make a lot of sense, either. You'd think for something as critically important as finding out what the conditions were on Earth that there would be just a little communication redundancy. Although then we couldn't have the plot-heavy life-monitoring bracelets that the juvenile delinquents on Earth immediately started to remove.
Is all of this unmonitored chaos on the planet intentional?
Quite honestly, as a sci-fi geek, I'm a lot more interested in life on the space station with the adults -- but the majority of this episode was about the teenagers having a Lord of the Flies party on Earth, man. Because you can't just have people wandering around trying to survive on roots and twigs, the 100 immediately had a goal: trekking to Mount Weather and picking up the hundreds of years of supplies that are waiting for them. Unfortunately, only five of the teenagers thought that was important enough to do. Wait until they start getting hungry. Why aren't they hungry already? Instead, they're wandering around the glow-in-the-dark forest and dancing in the rain. Yes, I get that teenagers think they're going to live forever and that they spent their entire lives trapped in a space station with a very Nazi government, but I still lost patience with them.
Clarke (Eliza Taylor) is the lead character in the Earth group. Eighteen and beautiful as well as an artist, she immediately established herself as a leader and a grown-up. Wells, the other grown-up, is the son of the Chancellor who appears to either love Clarke, or he just feels terribly guilty that his father executed Clarke's father.
There's Finn, who has "love interest for Clarke" written all over him. And then there's the angry Bellamy Blake and his annoying sister Octavia (apparently no one on the Ark was named Fred or Jane). Octavia immediately jumped into a lake for some cheesecake swimming, while we in the audience were very aware that there had to be something dangerous in that lake, which there was. I'll give them this: I liked that there was no close-up of the huge snake, because often when you can see the monster clearly, it loses its power to frighten.
I don't think we found out what year it was, but Jasper, the kid with the goggles, had a T-shirt with the logo "Earth Day 2062." He got a spear through the chest at the end of the episode, which reminded me of the very bad Star Trek episode "Galileo Seven." I wonder if we're about to get a bunch of primitive earth dwellers wearing ridiculous-looking skins around their waists?
Things moved fast in this pilot. The kids had been dumped on planet Earth before the credits had even stopped rolling. I think maybe they should have spent a little more time universe-building and character-establishing, because I found the teenage characters on Earth stuff exasperating, uninteresting, and way too predictable. But I'm told that this series gets very good, so I'm going to hang in there for awhile.
— The creepy deer turning its face scene was used in promos so often that it had no impact.
— Execution on the Ark is being "floated", dumped out of a very big airlock. You'd think they would use a smaller airlock, given the fact that life support is an issue.
— Using the song "Radioactive" was almost a given. Welcome to the new age.
— Two of the actors in this episode, Richard Harmon (John Murphy) and Terry Chen (Shumway) have continuing roles in one of my current favorite shows, Continuum. I also smiled when I saw Alessandro Juliani from Battlestar Galactica.
Two out of four snakes in a lake,
Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.
The 100 season 1
The 100 home
Labels: :S1.E1, Billie Doux, The 100, The 100 Pilot, The 100 reviews
Billie Doux said...
Programming note: I'm planning to give this series a serious try. I can't promise more reviews than this one, though.
Monday, May 4, 2015 at 6:16:00 AM PDT
Ya! You're reviewing The 100.
I can't really say that the show gets really good, but it does definitely get better. Especially in the second season, where a lot of new and fun characters show up. Clarke stays a badass throughout though :)
well its a typical cw show where the "stupidity" in plot is directly related to "stupidity" of the characters especially when it comes to the teenagers. i am willing to overlook this one because of the near doom circumstances that these individuals have been living in for a very long time with no way out. glad that you guys are giving it a chance though.
Corona Zschusschen said...
I wasn't impressed with the pilot and the couple of episodes after that, at all! But then things got layers and characters got layers and now I really like it (and trying to ignore some discrepancies that come with sci-fi science).
Lamounier said...
Yay, a review of The 100. Well, a very bitter one, but I’ll take it.
I have a very different take on this pilot than you, Billie. For instance, I’m more interested on what happens on the ground, because whenever we follow The Ark the show looks like a cheaper version of Battlestar Gallactica. However, the Ark does have some interesting stories through the season (and a bad one, unfortunately).
The character I connected to the most on this pilot was Abby. I loved how she never lost focus on the mission, both for scientific and emotional reasons, and until her (almost) last breath she kept trying. I loved her philosophical line about whether the human race deserved to survive.
Apart from Abby, pretty much every character (on the Ark and on the ground) are archetypes/stereotypes at this point. Kane is the grown up evil leader who is either power hungry or unable to face the wrongness of his actions, Clarke is the annoying teenage leader who is all work no fun, Bellamy is the manipulative douche bag, Murphy is the even bigger douche bag, Octavia is the irresponsible and apparently shallow teenager, and so on...
But, as Corona said, the characters get more layers. Kane develops into a more complex person, Clarke turns into a freaking badass leader, and I won’t say more for the sake of spoilers. I can say that, even though the characters are pretty much archetypes right now, their actions make a lot of sense once you know their backstories, which the show will explore. Octavia is the biggest example of this. The first time I watched this pilot, a lot of Octavia’s actions and lines that came across as typical teenager behavior bothered me. On rewatch I realized the way she acted made perfect sense. In fact, it’s quite fitting and poetic that she’s the first one to walk on the ground.
Another good point of the pilot is that the writers manage to create several distinct interactions among the many characters, and I’d say that that is one of the show’s strengths going forward.
There's Finn, who has "love interest for Clarke" written all over him.
Yeah, there’s not much in the way of the defense I can offer to that one. It is by far the worst part of the series. It comes to the point that the show is becoming stronger and that particular story drags it down. It’s a real bummer.
Things moved fast in this pilot.
That's another problem. The 100 only has had shorter seasons so far, and it shows. Sometimes they fly with character or plot developments that would be better if given more time.
All in all, I liked the pilot and the potential the story had right away. By the end of season one I was a fan. If anyone is wondering on giving it a shot, the series is flawed, but it’s also capable of greatness. So give it a shot. And, hopefully, may we meet again on another review. :)
Monday, May 4, 2015 at 10:34:00 AM PDT
tricksterson said...
It does get better and there is a goof deal of character development, especially for Kane. Won't say more because I don't want to spoil.
As to the character names of the kids some of them at least are a deliberate tribute to science fiction authors:
Clarke: Arthur C. Clarke
Wells: H. G. Wells
Bellamy: forget the full name but he wrote a navel about a utopian future
Octavia: Octavia Butler.
Monday, May 4, 2015 at 12:15:00 PM PDT
Panda said...
I actually didn't like the adult storylines in the Ark at first. I was much more interested in what was happening on the ground.
Billie I implore you to stick this one out, I think you'll like it. Season two is amazing and the characters suddenly drop their stereotypes and some of them go in some really interesting directions, one in particular. But if you get just half way through this season you'll see what its actually capable of.
Laure Mack said...
I enjoyed the earth storylines a lot more than you did, but the politics of what was going on in the ark fascinated me.
I'm excited you are going to give it a try Billie. It definitely improves over time.
Tuesday, May 5, 2015 at 8:12:00 PM PDT
Onanymous said...
I found the first ep interesting enough, but I only got around to watching the rest a lot later.
I was very surprised by how dark and complex the storylines became. Characters that start out as basic stereotypes get fleshed out a lot and are allowed to both make mistakes and face real consequences for their actions.
I was completely hooked by the end of the first season.
Wednesday, May 6, 2015 at 1:45:00 PM PDT
Arie said...
After this episode I can't imagine I'm watching the same show that people say is so good. I love sci-fi and this show has ingredients I should like, but so far is a cliche after cliche.
Not one of those adults thought the kids would take the monitoring bracelets off? Really????
Thursday, September 8, 2016 at 4:30:00 AM PDT
Arie, all I can say is that The 100 is an investment series. If you can hang in for a bit, it gets a *lot* better.
Patryk said...
I'm embarking on the 100 voyage finally. Fingers crossed that you are all right about it. :)
Thursday, November 24, 2016 at 1:12:00 PM PST
Billie,
We just stumbled upon this story, and I wandered over here to see (hope against hope) that there would be a review.
Happy day for me.
Thanks for sharing your writing with us, and your co-writers.
Thursday, February 16, 2017 at 4:15:00 PM PST
You're very welcome, Katherine.
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EVGA Z270 FTW K 132-KS-E277-KR Motherboard Review
Whether your PC was bought in a store or you built it on your own, you have a motherboard in there. Like everything, there are different types of motherboards and with them different quality levels of motherboards. Today’s review is on EVGA’s Z270 FTW K 132-KS-E277-KR motherboard, it’s got tons of features and specs, but [...]
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Duke Realty Expands Industrial Portfolio in Columbus by 1 million square feet
Posted on March 30, 2012 by Duke Realty Communications | Columbus, Media Releases
Acquisition of two Creekside bulk warehouse buildings boosts Indianapolis-based REIT’s total industrial space in the market to nearly 9 million square feet.
(Columbus, Ohio and Indianapolis, Ind. – March 30, 2012) Duke Realty Corporation’s (Duke Realty) Columbus office announces that it has acquired two industrial buildings in Columbus’ southeast submarket, totaling 1,076,625 square feet. The addition of these properties increases Duke Realty’s total industrial portfolio in the Columbus area to more than 8.8 million square feet and more than 108 million square feet nationwide.
“The acquisition of these two industrial properties is consistent with Duke Realty’s strategy to increase its investment in well-leased, Class A, modern industrial assets in strong distribution markets,” said Jim Clark, Senior Vice President, Columbus. “These properties meet all of our requirements for location and building features, making them excellent additions to our local portfolio. Further, this acquisition increases our holdings in Columbus’ premier warehouse submarket, where we already own and manage approximately 3.6 million square feet of industrial space.”
The two acquired buildings include Creekside XIV, a 463,313-square foot building located at 4555 Creekside Parkway that is 100 percent leased, and Creekside XXII, a 613,312-square foot building located at 2120 Creekside Parkway that is 86 percent leased. Both buildings are located in Creekside Industrial Center a 500-acre, master-planned industrial park and have ready access to I-270, I-71 and I-70, the Norfolk Southern Intermodal facility and Rickenbacker International Airport.
Approximately 174,140 square feet of space remains available for lease in Creekside XXII. For information about leasing opportunities, contact Art Makris, Vice President, Leasing, at 614.932.6015.
In the Columbus area, Duke Realty owns and manages more than 10 million square feet of industrial, office and healthcare properties and has strategic land positions available for future development. Duke Realty’s local offices are located at 5600 Blazer Parkway, Suite 100 in Dublin.
On a nationwide basis, Duke Realty owns and operates approximately 136 million rentable square feet of industrial and office assets, including medical office, in 18 major U.S. cities. Duke Realty Corporation is publicly traded on the NYSE under the symbol DRE and is listed on the S&P MidCap 400 Index. More information about Duke Realty is available at www.dukerealty.com.
May 4, 2018: Duke Realty Associates in Indianapolis and Around the Country Will Partner with American Red Cross in its “Sound the Alarm, Save a Life” campaign.
Duke Realty Constructing 673,920 SF Warehouse in Rickenbacker
Community Service Culture at Duke Realty Drives Record 2015 Effort
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Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images
This Video Of Britney Spears Doing Yoga To Cardi B's "I Like It" Is A Big Mood
By Lara Walsh
Britney Spears may have countless chart-topping hits under her belt, but that doesn't mean that she's immune to fangirling over a fellow musician's bangers. The star took to Instagram to document several videos of her getting her workout routine back on track — and her soundtrack of choice will make you want to join in on the yoga session. This video of Britney Spears doing yoga to Cardi B's "I Like It" (while in a zebra-printed bikini, no less) proves that the songstress is back and ready to show off some dance moves, and I'm so here for it.
On Saturday, May 4, the "Baby One More Time" hitmaker headed to the social media platform to share a video of her showing off a series of impressive yoga moves, hand stands, and splits with Cardi B's Billboard Award-winning rap song playing in the background, and it's safe to say that the whole clip is a big weekend ~mood~. Plus, Spears does all this while flaunting her abs and impressive physique in a printed bikini, and something tells me that Cardi B would be giving her stamp of approval and throwing some "Okurrrs" out there if she saw it.
Spears captioned the video, "Yoga on the green," with a winking and smiling face emoji. For emphasis, she added, "I really like it LIKE THAT!!"
While it's far from the first time that Brit has posted photographic evidence of her next-level workouts, her latest video seems to signal that all is back to normal since she reportedly checked out of a wellness and mental health facility on Thursday, April 25. Elite Daily reached out to Spears' representation for comment on the reports, but did not hear back at the time of publication.
Our girl Britney has made no secret of the fact that she loves to combine working out with dance, writing, "Training keeps me motivated and inspired... but I'd rather be dancing" in a video with her personal trainer that she shared back in 2017. With the guidance of her boyfriend and trainer Sam Asghari, the princess of pop isn't afraid to have some fun with her workouts — and her latest video shows that she's continuing to sneak some dance moves in each and every fitness routine.
It's been a busy past couple of weeks for the pop star, who revealed that her chart-topping bops will be featured in a musical called Once Upon A One More Time this fall starting on Oct. 29, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Per the publication, the musical will follow a "feminist take on classic fairy tales like Cinderella and Snow White" after a group of princesses decide to start a royal book club and start challenging what it means to be a woman in today's day and age.
At the time, Spears said in a statement, per the publication:
I’m so excited to have a musical with my songs — especially one that takes place in such a magical world filled with characters that I grew up on, who I love and adore. This is a dream come true for me!
The only question is, will Spears be in charge of choreographing the dance numbers? Her latest video proves she's definitely still got it, so here's hoping that she decides to hit us one more time with some new dance moves.
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Home » Embedded Computing Design » Synopsys' embedded vision processor IP ups performance while cutting power
Synopsys' embedded vision processor IP ups performance while cutting power
April 8, 2015 OpenSystems Media
Embedded vision is a subject that’s been in the news recently, as technological advances have enabled fast and accurate detection of a wide range of objects such as faces, pedestrians, and hand gestures at a very low power consumption. One such solution that’s driving this phenomenon comes in the form of the EV52 and EV54 vision processors, developed by Synopsys.
As part of the DesignWare EV family of vision processors, the two parts are fully programmable and configurable vision processor IP cores that, according to the company, “combine the flexibility of software solutions with the low cost and low power consumption of dedicated hardware.” The EV Processors implement a convolutional neural network (CNN) that can operate at more than 1,000 GOPS/W, enabling fast and accurate detection of a wide range of visual objects.
The EV Processors are designed to integrate seamlessly into an SoC. They can be used with any host processors and operate in parallel with the host. The family includes support for synchronization with the host through message passing and interrupts. In addition, the EV Processor memory map is accessible to the host. These features enable the host to maintain control while allowing all vision processing to be offloaded to the processor. The cores can access image data stored in a memory-mapped area of the SoC or from off-chip sources independently from the host through the ARM AMBA AXI standard system interface if required.
To speed application software development, the processors are supported by a comprehensive software programming environment based on existing and emerging embedded vision standards including OpenCV and OpenVX, as well as Synopsys’ MetaWare Development Toolkit. The OpenCV source libraries available for EV Processors provide more than 2,500 functions for real-time computer vision. The processors are programmable and can be trained to support any object detection graph. The OpenVX framework includes 43 standard computer vision kernels that have been optimized to run on the EV Processors, such as edge detection, image pyramid creation and optical flow estimation. Users can also define new OpenVX kernels, giving them flexibility for their current vision applications and the ability to address future object detection requirements.
AMD is hitting its stride at the high end
During my recent interview with AMD CEO Lisa Su, I got the impression that she meant business when it comes...
The MSP430 MCU just gained an ARM-based cousin, the M4-based MSP432
I've always been a fan of TI's MSP430 MCU. If an architecture could be labeled a "pioneer" in the low-power...
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You are here: Home / E-Waste & Recycling / E-waste bills hit Capitol Hill
E-waste bills hit Capitol Hill
Earlier today, I featured this story at CIO.com in the Top 10 about the Responsible Electronic Recycling Act, which places explicit restrictions on e-waste, closing loopholes that allows recyclers to pick off the choice parts from discarded electronics and ship off the rest. The hope is to stop the deplorable environmental and health conditions at electronics scavenging sites overseas. It could also help grow the green jobs sector. According to the CIO.com article, many recyclers find they can’t compete against “e-cyclers” that wind up exporting e-waste regardless. Legislation like this could help companies sprout up to fill demand.
Now comes word that Representative John Sarbanes (D-MD) has also introduced legislation that would boost e-waste R&D with the eventual goal of promoting green jobs and attempts to make American companies less dependent on foreign supply chains by pumping greater amounts of recycled minerals back into circulation. Here are some of the details behind the bill, called the Electronic Device Recycling Research and Development Act, according to a press release issued by congressman’s office.
The bill authorizes the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to award grants to reduce the environmental impact of discarded electronic devices and promote the recycling of these devices through R&D projects.
The bill calls for a study on the barriers to recycling of discarded electronic devices.
It also authorizes EPA to award grants to colleges and universities for curriculum development in the areas of recycling electronic devices and enabling environmentally friendly designs.
If this sounds familiar, that’s because a similar bill was introduced in the Senate in 2009 by Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) — and cosponsored by Susan Collins (R-ME) — but failed to advance.
Better luck this time?
Image credit: Ulises Jorge CC
Filed Under: E-Waste & Recycling, Featured Tagged With: bill, e-waste, government, legislation, U.S. Congress
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Bernama / May 30, 2019
Muhammad Adib's family can appoint lawyer to hold watching brief: Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah
KUALA TERENGGANU (May 30): The family of firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim, who died 21 days after he was injured in a riot outside the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple, USJ 25, Subang Jaya on Nov 27 last year, can hire a lawyer to hold a watching brief on their behalf in the inquest into his death, said Deputy Housing and local Government Minister Senator Datuk Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah Raja Ahmad Baharuddin Shah (pictured).
He said the lawyer, however, could not participate actively in the inquest.
He told this to reporters after attending a road safety campaign and a breaking of fast event organised by the Terengganu Fire and Rescue Department here yesterday.
Last Monday, Coroner Rofiah Mohamad granted lawyer Syazlin Mansor’s application to recuse herself from representing the Housing and Local Government Ministry, Fire and Rescue Department and Muhammad Adib’s family in the inquest into the firefighter’s death.
The move drew speculation and questions on the inquest.
On Tuesday, Attorney-General (AG) Tommy Thomas said there was a conflict of interest in Syazlin’s position as the lawyer to Housing and Local Government Ministry and the Fire and Rescue Department in the inquest, while at the same time appointed to act on behalf of the family of the deceased.
Muhammad Adib, 24, who was also a member of the emergency medical rescue services (EMRS) at Subang Jaya Fire and Rescue station, was seriously injured in the riot at Sri Maha Mariamman Temple, USJ 25, Subang Jaya on Nov 27, 2018.
He died on Dec 17 at the National Heart Institute in Kuala Lumpur.
Muhammad Adib
Firefighter's family files contempt proceeding against Attorney-General
Adib inquest: Four new counsels to represent Housing Ministry, Fire Dept
Syazlin agrees to represent family again at Adib's father's request
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Equality Now took on the case of Saba, a 16-year-old girl who was gang-raped by police officers in Pakistan, kidnapped and denied justice.
2010: Saba is raped by police officers
Police officers enter 16-year-old Saba’s home on the pretext of looking for her brother in connection with a minor incident. Her brother wasn’t home. Saba is taken from her home, drugged and gang-raped.
2011: Equality Now and our partner take on Saba's case
Saba, now pregnant, is sold to two men by her kidnappers. During the exchange, she manages to escape. Though traumatized, she is able to give identifying details of some of the accused kidnappers.
Through our local partner Blue Veins, Equality Now learns about Saba’s plight and takes on her case with the goal of setting a precedent to end police impunity for violence against women and girls.
While Saba and her impoverished family try to fight for justice, alleged police corruption and threats from local fundamentalists make it difficult. Saba’s family is attacked outside a local courthouse and her brother is fatally shot. Despite witness accounts of the murder, the senior investigating police officer refuses to take action. Pressure from human rights groups and the media prompted the Pakistani government to take action on both cases.
In December, following the Peshawar High Court's call for strict action against all perpetrators and the police officers who failed to take action in the rape and murder cases, 14 people were arrested in the rape case and 29 police officers were suspended.
DNA samples are taken from the baby and the alleged rapists, but did not result in a match to any of the suspects. The Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court orders Saba to undergo multiple lie detector tests and finds the results inconclusive. We write to the court expressing great concern about subjecting a rape victim to lie-detector testing, which is psychologically damaging and - given the inconclusive nature of the results - highly prejudicial. In June, the Peshawar High Court in Pakistan dismisses its inquiry into this case.
Following the remand of the case from the High Court, on 31 January the lower court acquits the defendants, including several police officers, in the gang rape case. We are concerned for the safety of Saba and her family after this ruling, as they will no longer have state protection - and they have already been targeted for bringing the case.
2012: Saba gives birth
Saba gives birth to a baby girl. We strategize with partners about ways to protect her and her family.
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(HERNDON, VA, 15th July 2014) – After a strong finish in their Pirelli World Challenge debut, Dyson Racing Team Bentley is poised for their next race. The team will once again take on the competition in a pair of sprint races, this time on the street circuit around downtown Toronto, Canada beginning Saturday 19th July.
This marks the fourth year the PWC has raced at the 11-turn, 1.75 mile temporary street course that runs around the Exhibition Place grounds. The circuit offers great views of downtown Toronto and is known for its competitive and exciting racing.
In his debut appearance piloting the Bentley Continental GT3, Bentley Boy Butch Leitzinger set the second fastest lap time in two sprint races held at Road America. Finishing sixth and fourth place respectively in a doubleheader at 18th-19th June, the appearance marked Bentley’s return to the North American racing circuit since competing in the 12 Hours of Sebring in 2003.
“We were encouraged with how everything went at Road America,” Leitzinger said. “The car was reliable and fast, but Toronto is about as different a circuit from Road America as it could be.”
Leitzinger noted that while Road America is almost the definition of a fast track with long straightaways and fast corners, Toronto is a typical urban street circuit with a number of tight corners connected by short straights. “With its stop-and-go nature Toronto presents a different challenge. We’ve seen how good the car is on a flowing, high-speed track. The slower, tight confines and more uneven surface of Toronto will be a new test for the Continental GT3, but I’m confident that our package of great traction and smooth power delivery will result in a strong performance here. We have very little practice time at Toronto, a track where some of our PWC competitors have raced the past three years and we absolutely need to qualify well. We were able to start dead last in the first race at Road America after qualifying was rained out and still finish sixth. Passing is really tough on a street circuit, so we’ll need to start near the front if we want a good finish.”
Rob Dyson, president of Dyson Racing Team Bentley, was satisfied with the results of the team’s first outing at Road America.
“It was a strong first time out for the car and the team,” Dyson said. “The car and the series were both new to us, but everything came together well. We left Road America secure in the knowledge that it was a successful debut and a good foundation for the rest of the season. We’re grateful to Bentley and to M-Sport for the terrific job they’ve already done in developing the GT3. With the compressed time frame we’re operating on here it’s been great that we haven’t had to reinvent the wheel.”
Concurrent with the North American Pirelli World Challenge, the Bentley Continental GT3 continues its successful run in the European Blancpain Endurance series. Having raced three rounds in the series to date, the Bentley M-Sport team has two first place finishes under their belt and is preparing for the next race of the series, the Total 24 hours of Spa, on Saturday 26th July.
The Pirelli World Challenge will continue its 25th anniversary season at the Toronto street circuit, July 18-20, as part of a shared weekend with IndyCar. Dyson Racing Team Bentley’s performance can be followed via live stream at www.world-challengetv.com. The race can be seen Sunday, August 10 at 1:30p.m. ET on the NBC Sports Network.
By Dyson Racing|2015-02-20T18:33:09+00:00July 15th, 2014|News Archive 2014|
Successful Season | Ends on a Winning Note
Final PWC Race for 2014 | Stellar Drives by Guy and Butch
First Bentley North American Win! | Guy First, Butch Third at Miller
Onto Miller Motorsports Park | Season-Ending PWC Race
Track Record for Smith | Award for Leitzinger
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Food Works
$15 Craft Pitcher Thursday - July, 25 at Food Works
Thu 07/25/19 4:00 PM - 9:00 PM EDT
$15 Craft Pitchers on Thursday starting at 4pm!
View Website View Menu
Type of Place American
Dress Code Casual
Address 205 Manufacturers Rd, Chattanooga, TN 37405
Parking Free parking lot.
Monday 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Tuesday 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Wednesday 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Thursday 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Friday 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.
Saturday 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.
Sunday 10 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Inventive Southern fare served in a converted mill with soaring ceilings & exposed-brick walls.
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"When you're having fun, we're having fun"
Tourism Secretary Stephanie Klett at the Chamber's Eggs & Issues breakfast
"The number one reason people travel is fun," asserted Wisconsin Department of Tourism Secretary Stephanie Klett at the Chamber's Eggs & Issues breakfast on Friday, July 20, at the Lakely, attended by 75 local business and community leaders.
Upon becoming Tourism Secretary seven years ago, Klett said her first priority was to get away from just having slogans, but to answer the question, "how can we communicate fun?" in promoting travel to the state. A little bit of serendipity brought her to Hollywood producer David Zucker, best known for the "Airplane" movie franchise and a native of Wisconsin. That contact led to the first in a series of videos produced by the Zucker brothers, "Symphony Snowball Fight:"
"Is tourism marketing a good investment?"
Introduced by Volume One Publisher Nick Meyer, who also serves on the Chamber's Board of Directors and is one of the owners of the Oxbow Hotel, Klett's presentation could itself be termed "fun" given her unique sense of humor and enthusiasm for Wisconsin.
But more than just "fun," the state's investment in tourism marketing over the past seven years has led to a $5.8 billion increase in tourism spending in the state, up 40% to a level of $20.6 billion annually, employing over 195,000 people.
"The cool thing about tourism is that there's a halo effect," said Klett. When people have fun here, "we know they're coming back, and the more they do that, the more apt they are to get a job here, retire, etc." The Secretary also noted that hers is the state's smallest cabinet level department, with just 24 employees.
Creative approach multiplies itself in free media exposure
The state's innovative commercials with the Zuckers and other recent themes have also managed to garner extensive free news coverage, termed "earned media" in the business, in the tens of millions of dollars. One of the most popular was this commercial with former Packers wide receiver Jordy Nelson, a Kansas native:
Taking advantage of national "foodie" trends
One of the state's latest theme's provides a Wisconsin twist on the public's growing interest in culinary experiences, the Wisconsin Supper Club. Not only did the following commercial generate over 1.4 million views in its first month, but an online poll to name the state's best supper club generated more than 400,000 votes, with a significant number from out of state.
Making a difference in Eau Claire
"Our state has it all. I really feel sorry for other states," said Klett, perhaps tongue-in-cheek (but not really!). She pointed out the great things happening in Eau Claire, and also suggested she would like to come back and talk about the Wisconsin Arts Board, another part of her department which nurtures creativity in the state in ways that are manifesting themselves locally.
At the conclusion of the breakfast, Cami Johnson, Services Manager at Visit Eau Claire, provided a local update, incuding news of a record year in tourism here in 2017. Driven by a single-year 12.5% increase in spending, Eau Claire rose from number 14 to number 10 in the state's ranking for most tourism spending. Tourism spending in Eau Claire topped $257 million last year, the highest ever.
New downtown visitor center
This fall's opening of The Pablo Center at the Confluence will bring with it a new 3,000 square foot downtown Visitor Center, which "will not be your run-of-the-mill center with a bunch of brochures," said Johnson. There will be stage for occasional music, garage doors that open up, and interactive displays within the center. It will be located at the corner of Graham and Gibson streets. Visit Eau Claire will also move its offices into the building.
Johnson also detailed the free media the area has garnered recently, building upon the image created by Wisconsin overall, and additionally fueled by a Department of Tourism-sponsored media tour that visited Eau Claire last year. So far, positive stories about the region have appeared in USA Today, Better Homes & Gardens, the Huffington Post and the Star-Tribune.
Special thanks to our Business Advocacy sponsors, who make the Eggs & Issues series possible: Miron Construction, Xcel Energy, Banbury Place/Cigan Properties and Eau Claire Energy Cooperative.
Some photos provided by Visit Eau Claire
Posted by: Scott Rogers, Governmental Affairs & Workforce Director
rogers@eauclairechamber.org
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Navigation Path: Home›Media›Speeches›By date›2017›24 November 2017
Ricardo Reis’ contribution to Macroeconomics
Speech by Vítor Constâncio, Vice-President of the ECB, at the ceremony marking the award of the 2016 Germán Bernácer Prize for Promoting Economic Research in Europe to Ricardo Reis, Madrid, 24 November 2017
I am very happy to be here to celebrate with you the awarding of the Bernácer Prize to Professor Ricardo Reis from the London School of Economics. As you know, the Prize is awarded to an outstanding, young European economist who works in the fields of macroeconomics and finance. Without a doubt, Ricardo is one of the leading macroeconomists of his generation. Today, we recognise in particular Ricardo’s influential research on expectation formation and sticky information as well as on the role of fiscal policy in business cycles.
Ricardo’s most cited paper – and he has written many frequently cited papers – is “Disagreement about inflation expectations”, co-authored with Gregory Mankiw and Justin Wolfers.[1] This early paper showcases what have been the consistent characteristics of Ricardo’s work: his research is data-driven, innovative and deals with topics important for economic policy – in this case monetary policy, given the interest of central banks in inflation expectations. While there had been work on inflation expectations prior to Mankiw, Reis and Wolfers, their paper – together with other work done around the same time by Ricardo, some of it with Gregory Mankiw, and independently by Woodford and Sims – opened a new chapter in research on expectation formation.[2] Since then, numerous economists have been motivated to develop models of data on expectations, and to study the implications of such models for the transmission of shocks and for policy.
Mankiw, Reis and Wolfers documented substantial disagreement among both consumers and professional economists about expected future inflation. The extent of disagreement in the data evolves over time, together with the state of the economy. A high dispersion of inflation expectations is positively correlated with a high level of inflation, and with a high variance in recent inflation. Ricardo and his co-authors also studied the average forecast across agents, finding weak sensitivity of the average forecast to news and serially correlated forecast errors. Subsequent research, which builds on the work of Mankiw, Reis and Wolfers, has confirmed and refined these findings. It has established that expectations deviate systematically from full-information rational expectations. The average forecast across agents of a macroeconomic variable responds slowly to news. If a shock raises inflation for some time, the average forecast of inflation increases by less than inflation itself. Moreover, the average forecast error in a cross-section of agents is likely to be of the same sign as the ex ante revision in the average forecast. If inflation is rising and forecasts tend to be revised up, the average forecast error is likely to be positive – people are likely to under-predict inflation. This is, of course, in contrast to the theory of full-information rational expectations, where forecast errors are unpredictable. The same pattern is present in the data for survey-based and market-based measures of inflation expectations, for expectations of macroeconomic variables other than inflation, among consumers and professional economists, and in different countries.[3]
Ricardo, together with Gregory Mankiw, developed a theory that accounts for the salient features of the data on expectations.[4] In the sticky information model of Mankiw and Reis, economic agents update their information only sporadically. When agents fail to update, they make decisions based on information that is to some extent out of date. The updating is staggered across the population, so that at any one time some people are paying attention to news, while others remain inattentive. As a result, information diffuses gradually in the economy. The average forecast responds slowly to news, as in the data. Each individual makes the best forecast given their information. At the same time, however, the average forecast error across agents can be predicted by the ex ante revision in the average forecast, as in the data. Finally, again in line with the data, agents in the model disagree, because their information sets differ. In sum, the sticky information model suggests how expectations are actually formed in the real world.
A number of interesting policy implications arise from this more real-world account of expectation formation. As Ricardo showed in a paper with Lawrence Ball and Gregory Mankiw, optimal monetary policy – given productivity and demand shocks – is price level targeting, as opposed to inflation targeting.[5] This is a controversial proposition with practical inconveniences that render it unpopular among central bankers. There have thus been no attempts to implement it. A broader lesson for monetary policy resulting from the analysis is that long-term inflation expectations are likely to be more stable in a sticky-information world. Central bankers will probably find this message reassuring. On the other hand, the sticky information model suggests that, once long-term inflation expectations become de-anchored, their return to a level consistent with price stability may take time and effort on the part of the central bank.
Ricardo and Gregory Mankiw constructed and estimated a complete dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model with sticky information.[6] Their DSGE model features what the authors refer to as “pervasive stickiness”: the idea that information sets are updated sporadically, which originally applied to price-setting firms, is extended here to include consumers and workers. The resulting theory predicts gradual responses of consumption, output and wages to macroeconomic shocks, in addition to the sluggish response of prices. Remarkably, sticky information is the only source of slow adjustment in the model. By contrast, the New Keynesian DSGE model requires multiple frictions, such as habit formation in consumption and investment adjustment costs, on top of price and wage stickiness, in order to capture the persistence in the macro data. The sticky information approach suggests that the origin of the pervasive slow adjustment in the data may be different from the sources highlighted in the New Keynesian literature.
In an influential pair of papers, “Inattentive Producers” and “Inattentive Consumers”, Ricardo studied the decisions of agents who face the costs of acquiring, absorbing and processing information.[7] Such agents rationally choose to be inattentive to news, only sporadically updating their information. The optimal frequency of updates, or the length of inattentiveness, depends on features of the economy such as the variance of shocks. Upon aggregation, the economy behaves like the sticky information model of Mankiw and Reis.
Let me turn to Ricardo’s work on the role of fiscal policy in business cycles. While a large body of literature in this area exists, much of it assumes a representative agent and focuses on government purchases or taxes. Ricardo, in a joint paper with Hyunseung Oh, documented that during the Great Recession much of the increase in government expenditures across the OECD countries was in government transfers.[8] To study the effects of transfers, Ricardo and his co-author proposed a model without a representative agent or Ricardian equivalence, in which transfers affect the economy because of imperfect credit markets, uncertainty and sticky information.
Building on this work, Ricardo and Alisdair McKay constructed a model to assess the role of automatic stabilisers in business cycles.[9] Their Econometrica paper will be a benchmark in the literature on fiscal policy, and they now have a follow-up paper that adds the normative perspective.[10] Their analysis – novel and more generally applicable – combines the New Keynesian DSGE framework with the incomplete-markets, heterogeneous-agent model of consumption and inequality. The resulting theory includes a realistic array of automatic stabilisers, such as unemployment benefits and progressive income taxes. The authors are able to quantify a number of mechanisms by which automatic stabilisers may work.
One lesson is that unemployment benefits are especially effective in supporting aggregate demand in a recession. People who become unemployed reduce their consumption sharply, in particular if their period of unemployment is likely to be prolonged. Moreover, those who remain employed increase their precautionary savings in a downturn as the probability of losing their job rises. In this environment, more generous unemployment benefits have strong effects on aggregate spending. Another takeaway is that – in the US data from the so-called Great Moderation period – automatic stabilisers appear to have played little role in smoothing out the business cycles, with monetary policy being much more important. That said, Ricardo and Alisdair show that automatic stabilisers can have more sizeable effects when the central bank is constrained by the effective lower bound on its policy rates. . In any case, the conclusion about automatic stabilizers having subdued effects opens up the debate about how to make them more effective and about the need in some situations to use discretionary fiscal stabilisation policy.
Recently, Ricardo has worked on models in which the central bank’s balance sheet is explicitly present. Such models are in demand in the wake of the global financial crisis, given the need to understand the effects of the expansion of the balance sheets of many central banks. Ricardo has developed, together with Robert Hall, a framework to analyse central banks’ solvency under “new-style central banking” and studied a model in which the interest rate on bank reserves is the main policy tool of the central bank.[11] As you know, besides his research activities, Ricardo has also been an active participant in policy debates, notably concerning safe bonds for the euro area and economic developments in his native Portugal.[12]
Ricardo’s work is macroeconomics at its best: in contact with data, innovative and with lessons for policymakers. Please join me in congratulating Ricardo on being awarded this year’s Bernácer Prize. Ricardo, I wish you continued success in the future.
[1] Mankiw, N. G., Reis, R. and J. Wolfers, (2004), “Disagreement About Inflation Expectations”, NBER Macroeconomics Annual, 18, 209-248. See https://scholar.google.com for the citations.
[2] Woodford, M., (2002), “Imperfect Common Knowledge and the Effects of Monetary Policy”, in “Knowledge, Information and Expectations in Modern Macroeconomics: In Honour of Edmund S. Phelps”, eds. P. Aghion et al., Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, and Sims, C. A., (2003), “Implications of rational inattention”, Journal of Monetary Economics, 50, 665-690.
[3] See, for example, Gorodnichenko, Y. and O. Coibion, (2015), “Information Rigidity and the Expectations Formation Process: A Simple Framework and New Facts”, American Economic Review, 105, 2644–2678.
[4] Mankiw, N. G. and R. Reis, (2002), “Sticky Information Versus Sticky Prices: A Proposal to Replace the New Keynesian Phillips Curve”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 117, 1295-1328.
[5] Ball, L., Mankiw, N. G. and R. Reis, (2005), “Monetary Policy for Inattentive Economies”, Journal of Monetary Economics, 52, 703-725.
[6] Mankiw, N. G. and R. Reis, (2007), “Sticky Information in General Equilibrium”, Journal of the European Economic Association, 5, 603-613, and Mankiw, N. G. and R. Reis, (2006), “Pervasive Stickiness”, American Economic Review, 96, 164-169.
[7] Reis, R., (2006), “Inattentive Producers”, Review of Economic Studies, 73, 793-821, and Reis, R., (2006), “Inattentive Consumers”, Journal of Monetary Economics, 53, 1761-1800.
[8] Oh, H. and R. Reis, (2012), “Targeted Transfers and the Fiscal Response to the Great Recession”, Journal of Monetary Economics, 59, S50-S64.
[9] McKay, A. and R. Reis, (2016), “The Role of Automatic Stabilizers in the U.S. Business Cycle”, Econometrica, 84, 141-194.
[10] McKay, A. and R. Reis, (2016), “Optimal Automatic Stabilizers”, NBER Working Paper 22359, CEPR discussion paper 11578.
[11] Hall, R. E. and R. Reis, (2015), “Maintaining Central-Bank Solvency under New-Style Central Banking”, NBER Working Paper 21173, CEPR Discussion Paper 10741, and Hall, R. E. and R. Reis, (2016), “Achieving Price Stability by Manipulating the Central Bank’s Payment on Reserves”, NBER Working Paper 22761, CEPR Discussion Paper 11578.
[12] See, for example, Brunnermeier, M. K., Langfield, S., Pagano, M., Reis, R., van Nieuwerburgh, S. and D. Vayanos, (2016), “ESBies: Safety in the tranches”, European Systemic Risk Board Working Paper 21, Reis, R., (2013), “The Portuguese Slump and Crash and the Euro Crisis”, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 44, 143-210, and Reis, R., (2015), “Looking for a Success in the Euro Crisis Adjustment Programs: The Case of Portugal”, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 46, 433-458.
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Halle Berry Looks Perfect In Purple At The Emmys
By Zach Seemayer 11:34 PM PDT, August 25, 2014
Halle Berry, who is currently starring on the small screen in the sci-fi thriller Extant, brought all the grace, poise, and stunning beauty of a old-school Hollywood megastar to the 2014 Emmys.
At an event that is already as black-tie as it gets, the 48-year-old Oscar-winner's beautiful light-purple gown with a thigh-high slit and wide belt managed the near-impossible task of classing the place up even more.
PICS: 2014 Emmys Fashion Trend: Ladies in Red
Berry's short pixie-cut hair, muted heels and colorful jewelry all worked together to create an indelible style that was definitely one of the highlights of the night, and possibly her red carpet career.
Berry took the stage at the 2014 Primetime Emmy Awards to present the award for Outstanding Drama Series.
Berry herself has been nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries twice, most recently in 2005 for Their Eyes Were Watching God and in 2000 for Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, for which she won the golden statue.
NEWS: Jennifer Lopez Looks Amazing in Shimmering Silver at the VMAs
And Berry isn't the only sexy star over 40 who killed on the red carpet. Check out this video from Sunday's VMAs…
2014 Emmys: The Hottest Styles from the Red Carpet
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Jerry Dammers' musical odyssey of the unexpected
Jerry Dammers
Blasting off into the outer reaches of jazz, funk, dub and hip hop, The Specials' Jerry Dammers brings his remarkable 23-piece Spatial AKA Orchestra to Norwich. SIMON PARKIN reports.
“Expect the unexpected,” says Jerry Dammers of tomorrow’s appearance at Norwich Theatre Royal of his 23-piece Spatial AKA Orchestra.
Best known as founder of The Specials and 2 Tone, Jerry has for the past few years taken on the role of big band leader of this remarkable musical project.
His former band mates have been reviving The Specials on a series of tours, choosing not to involve him — still a touchy subject he prefers not to talk about. But it’s their loss and our gain as he has instead set the controls to explore the outer reaches of cosmic jazz, reggae, exotica, funk, dub, jungle and dubstep in the company of some of the country’s finest jazz improvisers.
Originally a tribute to space jazz maverick Sun Ra, the orchestra has since expanded both its repertoire and number.
“The orchestra started off as part of an arts event which was about space and space music so I put together a tribute to Sun Ra,” says Jerry.
“Since then it expanded. We now do quite a wide range, from jazz and some Sun Ra music still to some reggae and ska and beyond. But altogether there are a lot of old tunes they are all still funky with hip hop and dub beats, so it’s very modern sounding.
“We do versions of some of my songs from The Specials — Ghost Town [now re-titled Ghost Planet] and Man At C&A — plus we also do a couple of new songs by me as well. I’m a big fan of melodies, so we even do versions of exotica music by people like Martin Denny.”
Sun Ra, who died in 1993, still remains a touchstone though. “I’ve been aware of him for a long time. A lot of people think of him as very avant garde and he was adopted by European avant garde jazz lovers, but he also did a lot of very funky African drumming based music which wasn’t really known about. If you delve more deeply into his music you come across all this stuff that is much more accessible and it is this that we highlight rather than the atonal squeaky stuff. There are a lot of links between people like Lee Perry and Sun Ra; it’s all what I’d call black mythological music.”
The orchestra line-up now boasts a who’s who of Britain’s best jazz players, including pianist Zoë Rahman, saxophonists Jason Yarde, Denys Baptiste, Nathaniel Facey and Shabaka Hutchings, flutist Finn Peters and singers Anthony Joseph and Francine Luce.
However don’t find the jazz origins misleading. “I always say that this is a hip hop band; it’s not a jazz band,” insists Jerry. “The ideas behind it have come from collecting obscure records, from my DJing and seeking out break beats and coming across all this amazing stuff. In many ways this is like DJing with real musicians.”
The orchestra has previously staged a series of highly acclaimed performances at Glastonbury and the Barbican. Their landing in Norwich will see them also joined by legendary Jamaican trombonist Rico Rodriguez and dubstep whizz-kid The Spaceape.
“Rico has long been a good friend of mine,” says Jerry. “I’ve kept in touch since Two Tone. One of the best things about being in The Specials was getting the chance to play with Rico. A lot of people don’t know but when the Fun Boy Three left The Specials, Horace Panter [bassist], John Bradbury [drummer] and myself did a tour of Europe with Rico. I also played on a couple of his albums and
“I’m really proud of that, they are some of the best recordings I’ve ever been involved in. He can still play a very melancholic soulful trombone.”
The Spaceape has appeared with the orchestra before and Jerry is excited to be working with one of the pioneers of dubstep.
“People will know his stuff with Kode 9 which is dubstep but a bit broader than that. We’re really excited that he’ll be joining us again.
“Although some of the songs are old — we even do a tune by Eric Satie which was written at the tune of the last century — young people that see the show really seem to like it, especially as we’re mixing that with dubstep and jungle and really modern genres. It’s a real mash-up of future and past. It all goes into the big musical mincing machine.”
Coming out of the other end are also a string reworkings of Specials classics. “It has been good to revisit some of the later stuff, tracks that my former band mates didn’t really touch on their tours. We do International Jet Set, but it’s now called Intergalactic Jet Set. The Special AKA album In The Studio had a lot more pseudo-jazzy elements and was a bit more funky, but that sort of music I was actually playing before The Specials. In between times I also had another band called Jazz Odyssey — named after the Spinal Tap song — which was the forerunner of this orchestra.”
Organising such a large and diverse group of musicians must be hard work? “If people knew the amount of work that goes into it they would definitely come and see it, because so much goes into getting it together, especially for a one-off gig like this.
We have got some really fantastic musicians, some of the very best jazz players out there.
“It’s just fantastic that they all want to play music with me and all my crazy ideas.”
■ Jerry Dammers’ Spatial AKA Orchestra, Norwich Theatre Royal on May 26, £21-£5.50, 01603 766400, nnfestival.org.uk
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First poster for Richard Linklater’s Last Flag Flying
September 14, 2017 by Amie Cranswick Leave a Comment
With just two weeks to go until Last Flag Flying receives its world premiere at the New York Film Festival, the first poster has debuted for Richard Linklater’s upcoming adaptation of Darryl Ponicsan’s 2005 novel featuring Bryan Cranston, Steve Carell, and Laurence Fishburne; take a look below…
SEE ALSO: Watch the trailer for Last Flag Flying here
In 2003, 30 years after they served together in the Vietnam War, former Navy Corps medic Richard “Doc” Shepherd (Steve Carell) re-unites with ex-Marines Sal (Bryan Cranston) and Mueller (Laurence Fishburne) on a different type of mission: to bury Doc’s son, a young Marine killed in the Iraq War. Doc decides to forgo burial at Arlington Cemetery and, with the help of his old buddies, takes the casket on a bittersweet trip up the East Coast to his home in suburban New Hampshire. Along the way, Doc, Sal and Mueller reminisce and come to terms with shared experiences of the war that continue to shape their lives. Director Richard Linklater and author Darryl Ponicsan collaborated on the screenplay which follows the trio as they wrestle with the pangs of war both past and present.
Last Flag Flying is set for release on November 3rd.
Filed Under: Amie Cranswick, Movies, News Tagged With: Bryan Cranston, Last Flag Flying, Laurence Fishburne, Steve Carell
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Built in the early 1990s, the Zambezi Queen was created to carry its guests on an extended journey from Katima Mulilo down the Chobe and Zambezi Rivers and back. The sheer size of the vessel made navigating difficult and shortly after that, the Zambezi Queen ended up moored along the river bank where it acted as a floating hotel to visitors to the Caprivi Region of Namibia. Around 2008, two entrepreneurs saw the potential of restoring the boat to its former glory. A period of intensive re-designing and planning ensued. A third deck was added, giving the ZQ its imposing iconic look now famed worldwide. Located along the banks of the great Chobe River, the Zambezi Queen, affectionately known as the ZQ, offers world-class sophistication in one of the most remote locations on earth. With only 14 suites, the ZQ is as unique and adventurous as it is comfortable and elegant. In fact, it is unsurpassed in all aspects and the last word in Luxury African River Safaris. Each suite features air-conditioning and a private balcony, offering unobstructed views of the river and vistas. Enjoy remarkable game viewing from the comfort of your bedside.
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Home News Fashion Fashion Force: How cyber bullies in fandom motivate Ashley Eckstein
Fashion Force: How cyber bullies in fandom motivate Ashley Eckstein
Clair Henry
Ashley Eckstein shared her motivation behind Her Universe in an interview with TVguide.com.
In the interview she shared her childhood memories that motivated her.
Often, the family watched the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom at night, and her mother prompted Eckstein to wish upon a star. Then, on Christmas morning when she was in the third grade, she received a hat emblazoned with the phrase “Don’t dream it. Be it.”
“And they once again used it as a lesson and said, ‘OK, all of those wishes that you have been making upon all those stars? Now you need to be it. You have to do it,'” Eckstein recalled her mother saying. “‘These dreams aren’t just going to fall on your lap. You have to make them happen yourself.'” And that’s what she did.
The interview explores Ashley’s early career in Hollywood, including the trials and tribulations trying to secure a job and then her success in getting the voice job of Ahsoka Tano.
Although the series was critically acclaimed and ran for six seasons, from 2008 to 2014 — with an announced seventh season to air on Disney+ — its leading Padawan wasn’t immediately accepted by the Star Wars fandom.
“I definitely had to deal with my fair share of hate and negative comments and definitely cyberbullying when Ahsoka first came out,” Eckstein said. “A lot of people did not like Ahsoka. They thought she was snippy, bratty, annoying, and also they just didn’t expect Anakin Skywalker’s Padawan to be a 14-year-old girl.”
After the negativity Ashley received and the backlash subsided the interview moves onto how Ahsoka inspired a generation and how Ashley saw a gap that needed filled in fandom in particular womenswear and the birth of Her Universe!
“Because female fans were being bullied, and they were being bullied terribly for just liking what we do, liking these properties,” she said. “Often times, women would pretend to be men on message boards just so that they could have a conversation about Star Wars and be taken seriously. Or little girls were being bullied going to school carrying a Star Wars backpack or a Star Wars water bottle. And I thought, this is no way to live your life. Being a Star Wars fan or being a sci-fi and fantasy fan, it’s not a trend. It’s literally a part of who you are.”
The growth of Her Universe is phenomenal and it’s popularity is far reaching. In the interview Ashley explores this and how out of something horrible can come good, hence the reason for the company’s success.
“When I started Her Universe, I founded it with the mission to stop the bullying. That was what I saw the real problem was,” she explained. “Sometimes when you’re wearing a men’s T-shirt, it’s just not cut for a woman, it’s not as flattering, you don’t feel like yourself as much. And so the merchandise was really a means to change the community. Because I felt that if female fans felt comfortable wearing sci-fi and fantasy merchandise, then they would feel more comfortable being themselves and stepping into the spotlight.”
Now with the company expansion and it being a leading light in fandom and in particular relating it to a female point of view Ashley still remains true to what started and motivated her: The fans.
“I’ve met thousands upon thousands of fans, and I think the thing that just means so much to me is that I’ve had 10 years of following people’s lives, because I see a lot of the same fans over and over again. I’ve seen kids grow up, and I’ve had the opportunity to follow people on their journey of making their dreams come true, and so many people have.
“I feel so privileged to be a part of their journey, and … if I could say one thing and give one message to the fans, [it] is that I remember; I think of all of them, I follow them on Instagram, I care, I root for them.
Check out TVguide.com for the full article that includes a short video of Ashley talking through her thoughts as well as the in depth written interview.
Ashley will be at Star Wars celebration check out the website for more details!
SOURCEtvguide.com
Ahsoka Tano
Fashion Force
Clair Henry was nearly 5 years old when she saw Star Wars for the first time at the Tonic Cinema in Bangor, Northern Ireland in 1977. This was the moment that has shaped and defined her. Clair’s love for Star Wars has not waivered over the last 40 years, embracing all that the franchise has to offer! Clair is the co-host of Planet Leia on Fantha Tracks Radio.
RockLove announce Star Wars Jewellery
Her Universe Ear headbands added to Disney Parks Designer Collection
6th annual Her Universe Fashion Show returns to San Diego Comic-Con International
Video Diary of Ashley Eckstein and Her Universe at Celebration Chicago 2019
Fashion Force Review: Her Universe at Celebration Chicago
Fashion Force Review: Heroes & Villains
Fashion Force: Check out who has a pair of Star Wars shoes by Po-Zu
Fashion Force: Adidas to renew partnership with Star Wars
Fashion Force: Po-Zu on The Star Wars Show at Celebration Chicago
Fashion Force: New Her Universe collection at Torrid
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Poolwerx hopes to make a splash in US market with new acquisition
Written on the 14 April 2015 by Courier Mail
AUSTRALIA'S largest pool and spa care franchise Poolwerx is set to make a splash in the United States.
The Brisbane based company has acquired Cactus Valley Pool Supplies in Phoenix, Arizona which has been in operating for 17 years and currently has 16 stores.
Poolwerx founder and CEO John O'Brien said launching into the American market was the realisation of a dream 22 years in the making.
Mr O'Brien said Poolwerx intended to expand earlier but was hindered by the GFC.
"The idea was always to purchase an independent group to test the Australian franchise model and adjust it to the American market," said Mr O'Brien.
"Our plan is to franchise 300 stores across the US within the next 5 years."
Mr O'Brien said the US market offers a unique opportunity because despite being 15 times larger than the Australian market there's only one pool franchise company currently operating in it.
"We saw the pool industry was a disorganised, not professional, after market industry in both retail and service," he said.
"What franchising does best is it organises disorganised industries."
Mr O'Brien said there has already been interest from other pool businesses hoping to join the Poolwerx system.
"The pool store owner in America is typically a 65-year-old Ma or Pa who is thinking about retirement," said Mr O'Brien.
"It's very difficult to sell a technical pool business to someone not in the industry.
"However if you have the franchise community to fall back on, you go from having dozens of potential buyers to having thousands of potential buyers because franchises train the public to come into their system."
Mr O'Brien who has been Chairman of the Franchise Council of Australia, as well as Chairman of the World Franchise Council said Australian franchises are leading the world in terms of best practices.
"It's surprising more home grown franchise businesses don't go to America cause we are so good at it," said Mr O'Brien.
By Emma Williams
Read more: http://www.couriermail.com.au/business/poolwerx-hopes-to-make-a-splash-in-us-market-with-new-acquisition/story-fnihsps3-1227299104163
Author: Courier Mail
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The JournoList Saga Continues
The left-wing media listserv may be shutdown, but it's conspiring contributors are still up to no good.
B.J. Bethel
News of the existence of "JournoList," a 400-member listserv e-mail chain of liberal Washington D.C. journalists, began to emerge last year. It hit a peak several weeks ago when Dave Weigel, who was covering conservative politics for the Washington Post, was fired. Weigel’s expletive-laced frothings, aimed at some of his sources and subjects, were released to Tucker Carlson’s political website, the Daily Caller.
The list had always been highly discussed in conservative circles, but its founder, Ezra Klein, did his best to dismiss speculation that it was anything but innocuous. Weigel’s e-mails revealed otherwise. Andrew Breitbart later offered $100,000 for a member to come forward with the entire JournoList archive.
Through a source, Carlson came through with the archive last week. Weigel and his list-mates concluded that their now-revealed rants should be held private, even if shared with the inboxes of 400 other people.
Imagine, in one instance, if a state official were disclosing stories about state and security secrets at a party of 400 people. Most of those details would be online before said state official was home for the evening. But using Klein's logic, and that of his like-minded cadre, all such matters should be off the record due to privacy. That’s an important fact to keep in mind, because most Washington D.C. journalists, at least of the so-called mainstream, liberal, and objective varieties, had little qualms with the New York Times when it made decision after decision to reveal state secrets involving American intelligence, or when phone calls between John Boehner and Newt Gingrich were surreptitiously recorded and transcribed by a media outlet. Washington journalists would have you believe their own rants to an audience of several hundred are of more importance than national security matters or personal phone calls.
That’s a small kernel of the hypocrisy revealed by Carlson and the Daily Caller. For years, conservative complaints of teamwork among supposedly objective journalists and liberal politicos was said to be muckraking; that these journalists weren’t, in fact, treating politics as a team sport, but were operating objectively. The list’s existence in itself shows that isn’t the case. Several mainstream outlets are well represented among the list members, such as TIME magazine, Politico, the Baltimore Sun, and the Washington Post, as well as those from opinion outlets such as The New Republic, Salon, and The Nation. Conspicuous by absence are members of conservative outlets.
Inclusion of conservative members would have been detrimental to the list’s purpose. Members of JournoList corroborated in shaping the narrative on political stories in a manner benefiting the progressive movement. This ranged from outrage over the questioning of Barack Obama by ABC News during a presidential debate, to a discussion on how to handle Sarah Palin’s nomination.
The outrage over the ABC News debate prompted a letter to the network, signed by 45 members of the list, who were upset over the questioning of then-candidate Obama about his connection and relationship with Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who had repeatedly made racial and other incendiary remarks from the pulpit.
That Obama had held Wright as an inspiration for his own writing and career, and that Wright seemed to share some mentor relationship with then-candidate Obama, was of no matter. The reaction to Wright’s statement that the U.S. had helped create the AIDs virus ranged from merely ignoring the story, as suggested by Chris Hayes of The Nation, to a more apoplectic response: Spencer Ackerman submitted the idea of a JournoList effort to flag politician Karl Rove or writer Fred Barnes as racist in an effort to deflect heat off Obama.
"If the right forces us all to either defend Wright or tear him down, no matter what we choose, we lose the game they’ve put upon us,” Ackerman wrote. “Instead, take one of them — Fred Barnes, Karl Rove, who cares — and call them racists. Ask: why do they have such a deep-seated problem with a black politician who unites the country? What lurks behind those problems? This makes *them* sputter with rage, which in turn leads to overreaction and self-destruction."
Such hate was spat regularly at conservatives. Sarah Spitz of National Public Radio declared she would “laugh manically” if she was in the presence of Rush Limbaugh and he was having a heart attack. After her daydream was revealed, she soon offered a public apology.
That such thoughts are common among journalists is no major revelation to anyone with common sense, but the list confirms two major criticisms the Right has had of the beltway media in general.
First, some members of objective outlets and other places regularly coordinate with political activists in maintaining a narrative. Rush Limbaugh often aired audio of a wide-range of network talking heads using the same terms and arguments repeatedly in different cable airings. The most infamous of which was the excoriation of George W. Bush and his lack of “gravitas,” which became the most over-used word in the country during the 2000 presidential election. Before that, CNN executives were regular overnight guests at the Clinton White House. Then-presidential candidate John Kerry was reported to have held a clandestine hotel meeting during his campaign with executives at several mainstream outlets.
The other is the use of race as a weapon. Ackerman showed little regret in using race as a way to slander two innocent people in the name of political advantage. This is also no surprise to those who have followed racial politics over the last 20 years, but such reprehensible actions should surely lead to firings.
Unfortunately, it won't. National media outlets are decidedly insular and inbred. The fired Weigel found another high-profile job within days. Meanwhile, such corroboration will continue. Jeffery Goldberg at The Atlantic confirmed the existence of a new list called Cabalist, which began soon after the closing of JournoList. This smaller listserve will no doubt be more exclusive and less open to public scrutiny.
Meanwhile, a public that is already disinterested in mainstream news has more reason not to believe what they see, hear, or read.
B.J. Bethel is a journalist living in the Midwest. He has written about sports, government, and film for the last decade.
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You are here: Home > Products > Toby Paterson
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Toby Paterson
Published to accompany the exhibition at The Fruitmarket Gallery, Toby Paterson makes paintings, reliefs and constructions which explore the relationship between abstraction and reality. He has a keen interest in post-war modernist architecture which he deconstructs both materially and politically, developing a practice in which some works are almost understandable as architecture while others are expressions of purely abstract form.
Toby Paterson‘s Consensus and Collapse exhibition ran from 30 January – 28 March 2010 at The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh.
Toby Paterson quantity
Toby Paterson Consensus and Collapse
Published to accompany the exhibition at The Fruitmarket Gallery, Toby Paterson makes paintings, reliefs and constructions which explore the relationship between abstraction and reality. He has a keen interest in post-war modernist architecture which he deconstructs both materially and politically, developing a practice in which some works are almost understandable as architecture while others are expressions of purely abstract form. His work is as engaged with the architecture of Denys Lasdun, Berthold Lubetkin, Cedric Price, and Andy MacMillan and Isi Metzstein at Gillespie, Kidd and Coia as it is influenced by the constructivist painting of Kenneth and Mary Martin, Ben Nicholson and Victor Passmore.
This book reproduces much of Paterson’s work made over the last ten years. With essays by curator Fiona Bradley and Professor of Architectural and Urban History at the University of California, Davis, Simon Sadler, and an interview between Toby Paterson and architect Ewan Imrie, it explores both the complexity and the consistency of Paterson’s practice.
Hardback: 152 pages, 24 x 21.8 x 1.8 cm
P&P: £4.00 UK, £12.00 Europe, £16.00 Rest of World
Eva Hesse: Studiowork
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Tier 1 Suppliers Move to Boost Production of Self-Driving Car Components
【Summary】As more cars are equipped with advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and self driving technology, suppliers of these components are ready for a windfall. The top tier 1 suppliers are promoting their ability to integrate the necessary array of sensors, computer chips and software.
Original Eric Walz Jun 26, 2017 5:50 PM PT
As more cars are equipped with advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and self driving technology, suppliers of these components are ready for a windfall. In 2020, automakers are expected to produce 85.9 million vehicles equipped with collision-avoidance systems, up from 10.8 million last year, according to Gartner Research.
It explains why companies such as Robert Bosch LLC have set up shop near Detroit. Bosch has an office in Farmington Hills Michigan; and Continental Automotive Systems USA and Autoliv Inc. are both based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The top tier 1 suppliers are promoting their ability to integrate the necessary array of sensors, computer chips and software.
"Revenue is growing extremely fast," Mike Ramsey, a Gartner analyst in Detroit, said of the emergence of autonomous technologies. And the trend favors mega-suppliers, "who are best positioned to take advantage." That's because they enjoy economies of scale, deep pockets for product development and long-standing relationships with automakers, Ramsey said.
"If they don't deliver, the automakers can wring money out of them without putting them out of business," Ramsey said. "The automakers feel a lot of security dealing with the big suppliers."
Bosch Partners with Nvidia and Others
Bosch, the No. 1 automotive supplier with $46.50 billion in original equipment sales in 2016, generates annual sales of more than 1 billion euros ($1.12 billion) for the sensors, software and actuators needed for collision avoidance and self-driving vehicles, according to Automotive News. In May, Bosch announced it will spend $336 million over the next five years to develop artificial intelligence for self-driving vehicles.
However, even a leading tier 1 supplier such as Bosch is relying on newly formed partnerships to fill gaps in its menu of technologies rather developing these technologies in house. In April, Bosch formed an alliance with Daimler AG, whose North American presence is headquartered in Farmington Hills, to produce a fleet of driverless taxis.
The company also has announced plans to manufacture vehicle processors with Silicon Valley based Nvidia and is working with digital mapping company Here to develop crowdsourced road maps.
The task of designing self-driving vehicles "is too big for one company alone," said Kay Stepper, Bosch's vice president of automated driving. "We need the partnerships."
Acquisitions and Partnerships
While Bosch is forming partnerships to gain access to key technologies, other companies are making acquisitions, and some of the deals have been blockbusters.
ZF Friedrichshafen, ranked No. 2 globally, with 2016 original-equipment parts sales of $38.47 billion roiled competitors in 2014 with the $12.4 billion acquisition of TRW Automotive, a key producer of radar, cameras and brakes. Last week, ZF announced a partnership with automotive lighting and electronics manufacturer Hella.
Last year, chipmaker Qualcomm Inc. disclosed a $38 billion bid for NXP Semiconductors, the auto industry's top supplier of semiconductors. And this year, Intel Corp. announced the $15.3 billion takeover of Mobileye NV, the top producer of obstacle-detection software.
Large suppliers also have scrambled to acquire smaller companies, often Silicon Valley startups to fill gaps in their technology portfolios.
In 2015, Troy, Michigan based Delphi Automotive with $16.66 billion in global sales purchased Ottomatika Inc., a Pittsburgh supplier of automated-driving software. Shortly after, Delphi invested in Quanergy, a startup developing solid-state LiDAR. Also this year, Delphi partnered with Otonomo and Valens, two Israeli firms that specialize in technology for cloud connectivity.
Delphi is marketing itself as a company that can integrate a customer's sensors, software and computer chips required for building self-driving cars. Other companies are taking the same approach.
Fully automated vehicles are not expected to hit the market until next decade, however sales of their core technologie such as LiDAR, radar, cameras, and object detection software are rapidly increasing.
That has been a golden opportunity for Autoliv, the world's top airbag producer, and also a major supplier of radar and cameras. Autoliv's active safety electronics division reported sales of $740 million last year, up 17% from 2015. The company expects sales will grow 15% annually through 2020.
An important component of Autoliv's strategy is Zenuity, the company's newly formed joint venture with Volvo Car Corp. that will develop the machine learning and AI software that allows self-driving cars to make driving decisions. This partnership is a first between a major automaker and a tier 1 supplier.
"Volvo Cars combined its know-how with Autoliv's to create a world leader in autonomous driving safety systems. With Zenuity starting operations we move a step closer to delivering this exciting technology," said Håkan Samuelsson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Volvo Cars.
Autoliv and Volvo both hope to have Zenuity's software production-ready in 2019, which means a major automaker could put it on the road by 2021.
Zenuity is important to Autoliv's goal of designing decision-making software that can be used with any supplier's sensors, actuators and control units, not just Autoliv's hardware, said Johan Lofvenholm, president of Autoliv Electronics. "Zenuity is a software-only venture," Lofvenholm added. "We have to make a system that is 'hardware agnostic' so that we can make sure we have maximum versatility for customers."
Autoliv has spent decades designing components that protect passengers from injury (airbags). The next step, autonomous vehicles, will prevent accidents from occurring.
"Autonomous driving is the logical next step," he said. "That's how we are approaching this whole segment."
Hyundai’s Upcoming App Allows EV Owners to Adjust Their Car’s Performance
Mercedes Benz Working On Electric E-Class Sedan to Rival the Tesla Model S
Highways England Tests Autonomous Trucks for Road Construction
BMW Launching a Free Wireless EV Charging Pilot for Drivers of the 530e Plug-in Hybrid in California
Auto Execs Say the White House Will Extend May 18 Deadline on Auto Tariffs
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Michelle Flowers: Scott's drug bill would cost patients
By Michelle Flowers Special to The Sun
May 16, 2019 at 2:00 AM May 16, 2019 at 2:41 PM
U.S. Sen. Rick Scott has a bold new plan to reduce prescription drug prices. Unfortunately, it will also restrict patient access to both current and new medications.
He recently unveiled the Transparent Drug Pricing Act of 2019, s.977, which would ban drug companies from charging higher prices in the United States than in Canada, Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Japan.
”It’s unfair patients in other developed nations pay less than their American peers,” said Sen. Scott, R-FL.
But this won't force Europeans and Canadians to start paying their fair share, as Sen. Scott intends. Instead, it will lead to price controls in the United States. Such price caps would impede medical innovation and prevent American patients from obtaining new life-saving medications.
Sen. Scott’s focus on medication costs and drug affordability is admirable. American voters believe that lowering drug prices should be a top priority for Congress. According to a recent poll, nearly a quarter of Americans have difficulty affording their medicines, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Three in 10 have stopped taking prescriptions for financial reasons.
The Transparent Drug Pricing Act aims to make drugs more affordable by ending foreign exploitation. Right now, most other western democracies impose strict price controls on drugs. Those governments effectively give companies an ultimatum — sell your products at steep discounts in our countries, or we'll prohibit you from selling them at all.
Their citizens suffer the consequences of such price controls. Of the 243 new medicines launched globally between 2011 and 2018, 88% are available in the United States. That's compared to just 69% in Germany, 66% in the United Kingdom and 49% in Canada.
Patients in wealthy nations are literally dying of treatable and preventable diseases because their governments won't approve certain cutting-edge drugs for sale.
Sen. Scott seems to think that his bill will force other countries to pay their fair share for drugs, thereby enabling pharmaceutical firms to reduce prices here.
Ultimately, Sen. Scott's plan would do nothing more than cap prices in America. In the short-term, that could provide relief for some patients. But the long-term consequences could diminish or reduce patients’ access to care.
Drug development is an expensive and risky endeavor. Today, just one in 10 medicines that enters clinical trials actually receives regulatory approval and makes it to patients. Developing a new medicine costs almost $3 billion, according to researchers at Tufts University.
Companies are more likely to take these risks when they can charge a fair market price for successful drugs. Such revenues helps them recoup their costs, reward investors, and fund future research and development.
By capping what is charged, price controls make it impossible for companies to earn back their investments. Plans like Sen. Scott's would force pharmaceutical firms to scale back research spending. Experimental drugs for conditions like Alzheimer's disease — which currently have a 99.6% failure rate — would be discontinued.
This drop-off in innovation would be especially tragic considering how many medical breakthroughs are just around the corner. Last year alone, we saw an overwhelming increase in immunotherapy drugs that have changed the face of treatments for many previously untreatable diseases.
Nearly 7,000 medicines are currently being developed for diseases ranging from cancer and ALS to Parkinson's and heart disease. But they might never come to fruition if the government imposes price controls here.
I applaud Sen. Scott's efforts to find a solution to a very important health care issue. However, by weakening the incentive to develop new medicines, and thereby affecting patients’ access to revolutionary new treatments, it would only add to the list of problems they face.
Michelle Flowers lives in Gainesville. She is president of the Oncology Managers of Florida, a professional organization committed to providing information and educational support as well as implementing changes in medical policies and governmental issues for oncology practice managers in Florida.
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Newsmakers in business
Updated: Feb. 28, 2008, 5:01 a.m.
Gardner named trustee of hospital association
James E. Gardner Jr., president and chief executive officer of Northeast Georgia Health System, was elected to the Board of Trustees of the Georgia Hospital Association at the association’s annual convention in Atlanta.
Gardner was named to his current post in March 2004. He previously served in the same capacity at Wyoming Medical Center in Casper, Wyo. He holds a master’s degree in health administration from the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, Va., and a Bachelor of Science degree in finance from Virginia Commonwealth University, also in Richmond.
“We are delighted to have Jim Gardner join GHA’s Board of Trustees,” said Joseph Parker, president of GHA. “His dedication to the health care field and passion for helping people make him a great addition.”
Cottrell named to State Board of Economic Development
D. Michael Cottrell of Dahlonega has been named by Gov. Sonny Perdue to the State Board of Economic Development. Cottrell, 55, is chairman of Cottrell Inc., a large over-the-road car-haul manufacturer. He previously served as president and chief executive officer of the company.
He serves as chairman of the Lumpkin County Development Authority, a director on the board of the United Community Bank of Dahlonega, and a member of the North Georgia College & State University Foundation board of trustees and business advisory council. Cottrell earned a bachelor’s degree from Southern Polytechnic State University.
He and his wife, Lynn, have three children, as well as three children from a previous marriage, and three grandchildren.
Shope named administrator of Rushton & Co.
Anthony Shope has been named firm administrator of Rushton & Co., where he will lead all phases of administration, personnel, finances and marketing of the firm.
Working directly with senior management, Shope will help establish a unified and strategic approach to firm-wide policy setting, problem solving and decision making. He is also responsible for planning, organizing, directing and controlling the day-to-day operations and implementation of firm policies.
Prior to joining Rushton & Co., Shope served at Fieldale Farms as assistant general manager in the further processing division and then as assistant controller for Fieldale Corp.
Waldrip to open auction house
Veteran auctioneer Lee Waldrip has announced the opening of a new auction house at 1769 U.S. 129, just south of Cleveland. The first auction will take place Saturday at 10 a.m.
Waldrip, who entered the auction business in 1947, said it is not time to retire.
“It’s too much fun,” he said. “I especially like meeting the people.”
The auction will include tractors, construction equipment, tools, hardware, furniture and antiques.
Braswell, Gober promoted at McCranie & Burns
McCranie & Burns, a Gainesville accounting firm, has announced the promotion of Mandy Braswell to audit manager and Tammie Gober to tax manager.
Braswell is a certified public accountant and holds a degree in accounting from Georgia Southern University. She began her career with the Georgia Department of Audits before joining the firm of Windham Brannon.
Gober, also a CPA, holds an accounting degree from Auburn University. She began her career with the firm of Coopers & Lybrand.
She also spent three years with Perot Systems Corp. as manager of corporate reporting.
Berry joins ETCON Staffing
Trish Berry has joined ETCON Staffing Services as the new director of sales. She has more than 20 years experience in the staffing industry and has won numerous awards for sales and profitability.
Strain appointed to state board
Edward E. Strain III of Cornelia has been named to the State Board of Registration for Residential and General Contractors by Gov. Sonny Perdue.
Strain is a partner in the law firm of Cathey & Strain. He serves on the board of governors for the American Association of Justice and has served as president of the Mountain Judicial Circuit bar association. He has also served as vice president of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association and now serves on the executive committee. Strain earned both a bachelor’s degree and a law degree from the University of Georgia. He and his wife, Barbara, have two grown children.
Newsmakers in business, Oct. 18
Newsmakers in business, Oct. 4
Newsmakers in business, Sept. 27
Newsmakers in business, Sept. 6
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Gainesville says its police wont assist private jail
City, Hall County still at odds
Ashley Fielding
Updated: May 14, 2009, 10:28 p.m.
The private entity that soon will run the North Georgia Detention Center in Midtown Gainesville has asked the Gainesville Police Department to provide police assistance when the facility opens this summer.
It doesn’t appear that city officials have any intentions of doing so.
Police Chief Frank Hooper told the City Council Thursday that Corrections Corporation of America sent him a memorandum of understanding that requests assistance from the police department. The agreement would call for the police department’s assistance in quelling riots and other criminal activity at the immigration detention center, he said.
City Council members opposed the idea. City Attorney James E. "Bubba" Palmour also advised them against entering into the agreement, which offered the city police department indemnification from any wrongdoing, Hooper said.
Palmour said no amount of indemnification would protect the city if a "full-blown problem" arose at the facility, which will be housed in the old Hall County Jail on Main Street.
"Once you have a death or a serious injury in a jail, it will take you five or six years to get through the litigation," Palmour said.
Hooper said the city police department is not equipped with the training or equipment to deal with jail riots.
"We shouldn’t be, because we’re a municipal police department," City Manager Kip Padgett said.
Most council members said that any police protection should be the responsibility of the Hall County government, which is leasing the facility to CCA.
"It sounds like the county commission needs to step up and accept full responsibility for that facility," said Councilman George Wangemann.
Councilman Danny Dunagan also said any security responsibilities at the facility should fall on the Hall County Sheriff’s Office.
He said the county should use the $2 million in annual revenue it receives from leasing the facility to CCA on providing police assistance.
But sheriff’s Col. Jeff Strickland said the county agency this week signed a similar agreement with CCA and a separate agreement to house the North Georgia Detention Facility’s inmates in an emergency if there is room at the Hall County Jail.
The agreement the county signed states that the Gainesville Police Department will be the agency that is primarily responsible to respond to incidents at the facility, Strickland said.
"These (memorandums of understanding) are basically for emergency situations, which of course, the Gainesville Police Department does have the primary responsibility for," Strickland said. "However, if the Gainesville Police Department requested our assistance, then, of course, we would respond accordingly."
Steve Owen, director of marketing and communications for the private jail operator, said if the city does not sign the agreement, it will not cause any problems for the North Georgia Detention Center. He said the memorandum of understanding sent to Gainesville officials was an effort to "get a working relationship" with local law enforcement agencies.
Although Owen would not comment on specific concerns city officials cited Thursday, he said CCA officials were "more than happy to continue to have dialogue" with the city.
"We want to be good neighbors," Owen said.
The road to a working relationship between the city and CCA has been a rough one thus far. CCA’s plans to start operating the detention facility on Main Street conflict with the city’s dreams of a redevelopment in Midtown chock full of high-rise hotels, office buildings and walking trails — dreams that don’t include razor wire.
Many of the problems between the city and CCA spring from a conflict the city has with the county over the future of the jail property. City officials announced their intentions to buy the property in late 2007. The deal never went through and both the city and county disagree on why the contract allowing the city to purchase the property was never signed.
In the last round, city officials halted inspections and refused to issue building permit for renovations on the Main Street Jail, but later reneged "in the spirit of moving forward."
However, Thursday, there still seemed to be some kinks in the relationship between city, county and CCA officials as Dunagan commented that the corporation taking over the Main Street jail is "notorious for mistreatment" of inmates — an allegation to which Owen responded that the fact that CCA operates in nearly half the states in the country, many of which have increased their utilization of CCA services, should speak for the company’s track record, he said.
"I hope the county commission is real happy with what they’ve done," Dunagan said.
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Books > History > Political > Eminent Indians: Administrators and Political Thinkers
Eminent Indians: Administrators and Political Thinkers
by M.L. Ahuja
Back of the Book
Though Charanya, Paraskara, Bharadvaja, Brihaspati, and Sukra had been some of the ancient poltical thinkers, Manu, the father of mankind, and Kautilya, the learned author of Arthashastra, had been the path breakers,. According to Manu, god created a king for the protection of whole creation. However, Kautilyadeparts from the myth of the divinerights of the king.
The advent of the Britishers and the freedom movement ushered in new thinking. Patriotism and nationalism formed the core of the poltical ideas and practices of Indian leaders. After Independence, the desire has been to bring about social, economic and political democracy. Eminent Indians: Political Thinkers and administrators brings to focus the lives and contributions of some of the distinguished indians. In Addition to Kautilya, Jawaharlal Nehru was the architect of independent india and laid the edifice of socio-economic planning, and development in science and technology. Babasaheb Ambedkar, among other things, was a social scientist and the chief architect of the Constutution of India C.N. Annadurai, the founder of DMK, laid the fiybdatuib if reguinalism which has now paved the way for the coalition form of government both at the state and national levels. V.K. Krishna Menon had been the spokesman of India'sfreedom movement in europe and a link with radical movements of other countries.Indira Gandhi the first woman Prime Minister, transormed the structure of Indian poltics by placing the issue of poverty in the forefornt of national debate. V.V. giri, a great freedom fighter and an active participant in the working class movement, had been the President of India. K.R. Narayanan, the tenth President of India, combined professional diplomacy with intellectualism in dealing with foreign policy problems. Atal Behari vajpayee successfully head a non-congres multi-party government as the thirteenth prime Minister of India.
Recipient of Janseva Sadbhavana Award, M.L. Ahuja, M.A., DLL, DCS, is the author of over twenty books now. He is associated with book publishing and distribution of books and journals. He has travelled extensively both within and outside india. he has presented a number of papers at several national and international seminars. He has also contributed a number of articles to journals and books , which are mostly on publishing and karketing of books and journals.
T'hough, Charanya, Paraskara, Bharadvaja, Brihaspati and Sukra have been some of the top ancient political thinkers, Manu, the father of mankind and Kautilya, the learned author of Arthashastra, who explained the state craft, are regarded as the path breakers in Indian political thought.
The Laws of Manu in Sanskrit or Manusmriti or Manavadharmasastra is an encyclopedic work. It contains social obligations and duties of the various castes of individuals in different stages of life. Besides, it lays down proper guidelines for a righteous King to govern and inflict punishments on the transgressors in his domain. Manu has also described the social relations between men and women of different castes, husbands and wives in the privacy of the home, birth, death, cosmogony karma, rituals and their practices, minor details of everyday life, the procedure of settling traffic accidents, penance for sexual improprieties with one's guru's wife, etc.
Manu reminds us of the theory of contract. He states:
"When creatures were dispersed in various directions out of fear from each other, the Lord created a King for the protection of the whole creation. The King was formed out of the essence of the eight deities, viz. Indra, Pawan (wind), Yama, Sun, Fire, Varuna, Moon and Kubera (Lord of Wealth) to guard the universe." The Patriarch has been described as son of Lord Sun. Obviously, such a King surpasses all mortals in glory. King's authority is based on force and for fear of danda (punishment). The subjects obey their ruler. However, the ruler acts with justice in his kingdom. Manu's theory of coercive authority explains his view of the origin of the State. Evil, being inherent in man, the fear of danda makes men righteous.
Manu believed in the organic theory of the State. The State had seven limbs: King, minister, capital, rashtra, treasure, army, and ally. Hence, the State is termed as a spa tanga, i.e. having seven limbs. Since the King holds a predominant position the State and the King are generally used interchangeably. The State is known as rashtra and its citizens are called rashtrakas. The first King was created by Lord Brahma for the security of creation and was hence considered as Divine. Manu wanted the Divine King to be an embodiment of certain qualities. Some of the main functions of the State are: (a) to make all "Varnas" observe their duties and obey general laws; (b) to maintain peace within the State and keep the State free from external control, (c) to make laws for controlling the prices of articles; (d) to settle disputes of families and guilds; (e) to compel the Vaishyas to carryon trade, agriculture and animal husbandry; (f) to compel the Shudras to serve the higher castes; (g) to stop conflicts, cropping up between groups and keep every individual in his due position; (h) to promote cultural institutions and (I) grant charities to those unfortunates who are unable to help themselves.
Kautilya or Chanakya, as he was also referred to, departs from the myth of the divine rights of the King. He has been vested with discretionary authority to depart from prevalent law for its preservation. He is to be a blend of Indra, the bestower of reward, and Yama, the inflictor of punishment. Kautilya thought that training of the Crown Prince is indispensable. He had a pragmatist view of the political dimension, the acquisition and administration of the State. The authority of the State finds justification on the ground that it is the consequence of a contract entered into by the people and the King at the behest of gods just to bring them out of the state of anarchy, confusion and chaos. The Arthashastra recommends that the contractual explanation of the King's origin must be circulated among the people. He takes the origin of the State as a fait accompli.
Kautilya's account of the State signifies that the King exercised political authority and the officials advised him on administrative matters. The King ruled over his territory from a fortified capital. The stability and security of his rule was ensured through army and treasury. The allies rendered him assistance in safeguarding the King. Kautilya considers monarchy as the normal form of government and deviation from monarchy as a vyasana or calamity of the State.
The advent of the Britisher: and the freedom movement ushered in new thinking among the Indians. The intellectuals as well as the masses plunged themselves into the freedom struggle in their own way. Right from the times of Vasudev Balwant Phadke and Gopal Krishna Gokhale to Mahatma Gandhi and Sub has Chandra, it is an inspiring and thrilling scent" of struggles and sacrifices. The Western influence had its impact on them. They accepted and adopted their political ideas and practices. They drew upon the national heritage with pride, used it to stimulate change in social outlook. It, in turn, strengthened the national movement. They contributed in diverse manner to the national mainstream. To them, patriotism was their religion.
The most distinguished amongst these leaders were Dadabhai Naoroji, Mahadev Govind Ranade, Pheroze Shah Mehta, S.N. Banerjee, Gokhale, Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal, Lala Lajpat Rai, Aurobindo Ghosh, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and a host of others. Gokhale and Mahatma Gandhi, i.e. the Guru and the disciple, played a significant role. Both came from diverse background. Their contribution has been distinct in several fields. Their detestation of the political subordination and their sacrifices for freedom were their characteristics. The presence of the Britishers in India coupled with the expanding means of transport and communication, printing press and the newspaper and the expanding influence of English language facilitated the import of western political ideas in India.
In West, the political theory was based on supremacy of the society, and not of State; on duty alone and not on right. But Gokhale and Mahatma Gandhi explained their concepts on the basis of the ancient heritage. The emergence of Indian National Congress provided a common platform for the exchange of views. It also provided a very good opportunity for planning of action. Further, it paved the way to appeal and approach for cooperation and for the common good. Leaders like Dadabhai Naoroji, S.N. Banerjee and Gokhale educated the people in nationalism and national unity. They introduced the concepts like "Modern State", "Civil Liberty" and "Progressive Society". They believed in liberalism and moderation, compromise and fairness. Extremists like Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Lala Lajpat Rai believed in self-reliance and not in mediocre politics. They laid emphasis on passive resistance and non-cooperation; Swadeshi and on recognition of education to serve the national ends in a better way. Their ultimate aim was national freedom.
They used the medium intelligible to the people to bring them under one umbrella for national struggle. They interpreted their ideas and actions through the common and popular religious symbols, mythical personages and historical heroes. They used religious concepts to educate the people. On public festivals, when people assembled in large numbers, they contacted them and gave wider base to their political ideas. The concept of "Indian Nation" in the guise of "Mother India" made deep and wide appeal; words like "Swadeshi" and "Swaraj" gained wide currency. They made self-confidence and self-reliance props of their strength. They stood for constitutionalism and progress.
Raja Ram Mohan Roy (1772-1833), who is considered as the "Father of Indian Renaissance", was the pioneer of religious and social reforms and was the first to speak about the rights and privileges of the people. Syed Ahmad Khan (1817-1898) was a patriotic Indian who advocated the inclusion of Indians in the Legislative Councils, analysed the causes of India Revolt against the East India Company and emphasised the necessity of friendship and sympathetic intercourse between the rulers and the ruled.
Swami Dayanand Saraswati (1824-1883) was an arch nationalist who gave a clarion call to his countrymen to go back to the Vedas and to lay their foundation. The Arya Sarnaj, of which he was the founder, proved to be a very potent force against British imperialism. He suggested the moral purification of the individual and the necessity of social reconstruction. He supported principle of election for the legitimate organs of the government in his ideal polity. He envisaged a political system, which could possess the essence of democratic idealism though externally it may have monarchical structure. He stands for the inception of a Commonwealth with the village as the effective unity. On the basis of the Manusmriti he suggested the integration of the village with the administrative mechanism.
Preface ix
Mahatma Gandhi 1
Babasaheb Ambedkar 13
lawaharlal Nehru 25
Shyama Prasad Mookherji 38
Lal Bahadur Shastri 53
Indira Gandhi 68
K.R. Narayanan 83
Atal Behari Vajpayee 95
Rupa Publications India Pvt.Ltd
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The U.S.S.C. declines to abolish the "Dual Sovereigns" doctrine.
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinion...7-646_d18e.pdf
Re: Double Jeopardy
It's interesting who the two dissenters are.
Did you read the decision? It was Gorsuch and Ginsburg.
RBG wrote a dissenting opinion pretty much blasting the dual sovereign notion specifically, that just because an offense is defined by law from two sovereigns doesn't change the fact that it is the same offense under the laws of the UNITED STATES as a whole. States are distinct entities from the country in general. Gorsuch's opinion invokes biblical themes in it's opening but comes around to the same results. That the state and federal soverignity overlap enough to make the twice put in jeopardy to be a violation of the Constitution.
I tend to agree with the minority. The major use in the past was to allow the treatment of drastic civil rights violations by the states, where the states declined to convict civil rights violators (notably those who would murder memebers of minority groups). However, in this case, it's pretty much the case as both the minority decisions put it, a clear abuse of the federal authority to "multiply" the sentence of something they weren't happy with the outcome.
In the civil rights cases, one can argue that while it stems from the same event, the laws were different. In this case, they were pretty much identical, just the feds using their statute as a "second chance" to pile on additional sentence to the accused.
Quoting flyingron
If this was directed to me, no, I didn't read the decision; I just read which justices voted which way. That was all that was needed to have a basis to write what I previously wrote.
Sorry, I misunderstood your statement. I thought you were interested in who the dissenters were, not that you found the two who dissented to be interesting.
Actually, I don't really found it to be surprising. Gorsuch is a more theoretical Consitutionalist and the "Twice put in jeopardy" is framed as it would seem to have been implied by the framers, not grasping at theoretical straws.
Despite coming up on the US DOJ side of things, he isn't a toady to federalism. Similarly, RBD is equally clear thinking in this. What is surprising is that there were more on the dissenting side.
NW of KSTL
I like it actually. But I see it especially beneficial if one trial is a poochscrew, then there's another attempt to get it right. However, a lot of state trial issues don't necessarily fall under federal auspices. (auspices....my big word for the day )
Growing old, mandatory. Growing up, optional!
Taxing Matters
Part of what the majority likely wanted to avoid is the messy problems that come up in trying to sort out which prosecutions would violate double jeopardy if you tossed the dual sovereignty issue. How do you decide which ones constitute prosecution for the same acts and which ones do not? How much difference does there need to be in the proof required to make them distinct crimes? When you start digging into it, there are a lot of situations where how you draw the line makes a significant difference, and the Court would have to try making a rule to draw that line. The Court has no always been very good at it, and it would likely takes decades of litigating cases to figure it out. That's not to say they shouldn't have chucked the dual sovereign rule just because it would be messy, but it's certainly something that would have at least been something I'd have thought about if I was one of the justices making that decision.
budwad
Gorsuch explained it this way:
As this Court explainedlong ago in Blockburger v. United States, “where the same act or transaction constitutes a violation of two distinct statutory provisions, the test to be applied to determine whether there are two offenses or only one, is whethereach provision requires proof of a fact which the other doesnot.”13 So if two laws demand proof of the same facts to secure a conviction, they constitute a single offense under our Constitution and a second trial is forbidden.
Quoting budwad
That is the test often stated. The same test is usually used for lesser included offenses. But in the case of double jeopardy, that test may not be adequate. Let's suppose that the facts needed for conviction for the state offense and the federal offense are the same except for one: that for the federal offense the feds have to prove a connection to interstate commerce. That's usually not difficult to do. For example, for the feds to make the case on many computer crimes, they need to show that either the computer used for the crime was connected with interstate commerce (which of course they will be as at least one or more parts for the computer if not the whole computer was shipped interstate) or that the communications with the computer passed over an interstate system, which again is easy since the internet is by its nature an interstate system.
So, let's say Alan is being prosecuted for receiving child porn on his computer, a crime that in his state requires proving the same thing that the feds have to prove except the feds have to prove some connection to interstate commerce, which is easy because the images were received over the internet. From Alan's perspective the crime is exactly the same; he didn't have to do anything different to be guilty of the offense under both federal and state laws. Used the same computer, received the same photos/videos, etc. The only difference is that the feds require that interstate connection and the state doesn't, something that doesn't require him to do anything extra or different. If the idea is to prosecute only once for what is really just one criminal act then I think Alan shouldn't be subject to prosecution under both federal and state laws. Yet, a literal application of the line drawn as Justice Gorsuch set it out would allow just that. It would make it easy for the state and the feds to get around the double jeopardy limitation (if you toss the dual sovereignty concept) leaving us much in the same place as we are now.
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TI Celebrates 50th Anniversary of IC with New Lab
By ExtremeTech Staff on September 12, 2008 at 3:58 pm
Texas Instruments celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the integrated circuit on Friday by opening “Kilby Labs,” a dedicated research facility that the company hopes might reproduce something on the order of what Kilby wrought.
Kilby Labs will be located on TI’s Dallas North Campus and is inspired by the original TI lab, TI said. A mixture of TI employees and academic researchers will have access to the lab.
On Sept.12, 1958, Kilby demonstrated a sliver of germanium attached to wires, and demonstrated that circuits could be made of the same materials that discrete components had been made of. Before Kilby, circuits were constructed of dozens, hundreds, or thousands of discrete components, all connected by wires.
The IC, as it later became known, became the foundation for virtually all micrologic known today, from microcontrollers on up to the most highly complex of microprocessors that use billions of transistors. But the IC was just the second step on the road; ten years prior, on Feb. 18, 1948, William Shockley demonstrated the transistor, which eventually replaced the vacuum tubes early computers like ENIAC used.
Although Kilby gets credit for the IC, Robert Noyce of Fairchild Semiconductor developed a similar IC, but using silicon instead of germanium. Fairchild and TI later cross-licensed each other’s patents. Noyce later left to help found Intel.
Kilby died in 2005, and Noyce in 1990.
“Our vision for Kilby Labs, is that it will combine TI’s experience in developing new chip technologies and our understanding of customer needs with the dreams of a new generation of innovators,” Gregg Lowe, TI’s senior vice president and the project’s executive sponsor, said in a statement. “Technology springs from imagination, and we want to create an environment where people can both imagine a better world and help build it. The best way we can celebrate Jack’s contributions is by providing people with the opportunity to carry on his work and find new ways for a tiny chip to dramatically improve millions of lives around the world.”
TI named Ajith Amerasekera,a TI Fellow, as director. Ajith joined the company in 1991, TI said.
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Justin Bieber Talks: Bills, Babies, And More
by SuperMommy
in Celebrity, Celebrity News
Teen heartthrob Justin Bieber weighed in recently on such big issues including sex before marriage, abortions and the cost of medical care, proving that he’s not just a pretty face once and for all.
“I don’t think you should have sex with anyone unless you love them,” Bieber, 16, reveals in the new issue of Rolling Stone set to hit shelves this Friday. Bieber went on to weigh in on a subject that often comes hand in hand with the previous one when chosen; the abortion debate, saying, “I really don’t believe in abortion. It’s like killing a baby?”
Rolling Stone [a magazine we all know and love for pushing the envelope], went on to ask the brave question of whether or not the teen dream would alter his opinion in the instance of rape? “I guess I haven’t been in that position, so I wouldn’t be able to judge that.”
Asked whether he believes in strict abstinence before marriage, he says, “I think you should just wait for the person you’re … in love with.” And is Bieber in love with someone? Someone like Selena Gomez perhaps? Again, Bieber reportedly refused to comment on the subject of his love life.
Knocking out world issues minute by minute, the Canadian-born singer went on to confirm that he doesn’t have any plans on becoming an American citizen, and he seems to be set on one very big reason: medical care costs. “You guys are evil,” he jokes. “Canada’s the best country in the world. We go to the doctor and we don’t need to worry about paying him, but here, your whole life, you’re broke because of medical bills,” he adds. “My bodyguard’s baby was premature, and now he has to pay for it. In Canada, if your baby’s premature, he stays in the hospital as long as he needs to, and then you go home.”
I think we all share his hostility to the constant rising price of a doctor visit in America, but what about his views on abortion? Due to his age, should the teen dream have spoken out on the subject? Weigh in!
Tags: Justin BieberRolling StoneSelena Gomez
SuperMommy
Jeremy Renner’s Avengers Instagram Post Will Warm Your Heart
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The Nintendo Wii U Brings Us A Redesigned Ninja Gaiden 3 With Exclusive Features
by Andrew Stevens
in Entertainment, Gaming
Ninja Gaiden 3 was a game that faulted in many ways. For me, I scored the game a 5/10 for reasons such as poor presentation, storytelling, and most importantly the gameplay. The gameplay wasn’t as fun or as difficult as I would have expected from a Ninja Gaiden title. It felt out of touch in the sense of not feeling as if you had good control over your character and also as stated in my review, the lack of a lock-on system hurt the gameplay in certain situations. Ninja Gaiden 3 was a huge disappointment and it is hard for me to be excited about a rework on the Nintendo Wii U. However, I am still curious and they did use a lot of keywords in their announcement for the game.
Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge will be a launch day title for the Nintendo Wii U. New features included are additional weapons, characters and most importantly, something that stands out and can give one hope when it comes to the gameplay – a redesigned battle system. Now, how far this goes, who knows for sure. However, it will be great if it’s redesigned to have a better sense of control when dealing with combat. Also, with the developers knowing the complaints from Ninja Gaiden 3 and having the time to brush-up on those for the Wii U version, it’ll be interesting to see what they have done. I do find the additional new features interesting as well and look forward to witnessing those Wii U exclusives.
I don’t expect this to be great, but it could very well be a solid action hack and slash title to own on the Wii U. I especially look forward to playing with Ayane in her own exclusive missions and to dice things up with her unique abilities. Plus, online co-op with both Ryu and Ayane sounds like a good time and the addition of more online modes can only be a good thing as well. I actually had a decent time playing online in Ninja Gaiden 3, much more than I did by myself in single player. One of the final things to bring up is that they say the enemies will be more tenacious, which hopefully means the difficulty increases and that they don’t seem as ridiculous.
So, it’s said that they have improved upon the original, and I would certainly expect that to be the case, but how much so and how far does it go? Hopefully for all of us that have played the original, we are pleasantly surprised by the Wii U version with all of its exclusive features. We’ll find out for sure on November 18th!
The following features and enhancements in NINJA GAIDEN 3: Razor’s Edge are exclusive to Wii U:
Ayane as a playable character: In previous versions of the game, Ayane appeared only briefly in one cut scene. Now players can help her progress through her own exclusive chapters using a special set of weapons and Ninpo attacks.
Character-progression system: Using Karma points earned during game play, players can upgrade weapons and Ninpo, learn new moves, increase their HP level and unlock new character costumes.
Ryu and Ayane playable in co-op mode: For the first time, players can use Ryu or Ayane to represent themselves in the game’s online co-op mode.
Test of Valor battle areas: Each chapter includes a hidden battle area called Test of Valor. Upon finding hidden Crystal Skulls, players will be transported to these areas to face down waves of enemies and classic NINJA GAIDEN boss characters with new moves.
Wii U GamePad Functionality: Using the Wii U GamePad, players can easily change weapons or Ninpo attacks, and also quickly reference the button inputs required for various combo attacks without ever stopping the action.
Additional Playable Characters: After the launch of the game, additional playable characters will become available as free downloadable content. More information about these characters will be revealed at a later time.
More Tenacious Enemies: The Wii U version of the game restores enemies’ ability to fight when severely wounded, requiring players to stay nimble with their battle strategies.
Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge is rated “M” for Mature by the ESRB. For more information, visit http://ninjagaiden3.nintendo.com
Tags: Game NewsGaming
Andrew Stevens
Andrew Stevens is a Guest Editor at FanBolt for Gaming and Technology. He has over 8 years of experience working within the gaming industry which includes time at Bethesda Softworks. His unique view of the industry and passion for gaming can be found within each one of his editorials. Andrew also loves PC gaming and enjoys tinkering with new hardware. He also can’t get enough speed when it comes to racing games and doesn’t mind navigating through swarms of bullets in any shmup. He considers Rez as the greatest game ever. Andrew's opinions are his own and do not reflect the opinions of his place of employment.
NBC Announces 2019 Comic-Con Plans for ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ and ‘The Good Place’
‘The Walking Dead’, ‘Preacher’, and More Head to San Diego Comic-Con 2019!
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Home > Movie Stars > H > Pamela Hensley
Pamela Hensley
Pamela Hensley is an American actress born on October 3, 1950 in Los Angeles, California. She is best known for playing Princess Ardala on the 1979-1981 television series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century and C.J. Parsons on the 1982-1985 television series Matt Houston.
She has several television and movie credits, including 1975's Rollerball (starring James Caan), but after appearing in the television series, Matt Houston, she has virtually disappeared from the screen.
She has reemerged with a place in the literary world, having authored a small cookbook called, The Jewish-Sicilian Cookbook under the name, Pamela Hensley Vincent, in 2004. She has been married to noted television executive producer, E. Duke Vincent, since the early 1980s.
Pamela Hensley Facts
Birthday October 3, 1950 (68)
Sign Libra
Birthplace Los Angeles, California, USA
Coal Miner's Daughter
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century: Complete Series
Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze
Matt Houston: Season 1
The Nude Bomb
Awakening, Part 1
Death Follows A Psycho
Continue » Find more details on the Pamela Hensley Movies page
Article text released under CC-BY-SA. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Pamela Hensley" (01-Jan-2006)
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Home > Movie Stars > T > Heather Tom
Heather Tom
Heather Tom (born November 4, 1975) is an American soap opera actress. She was born in Hinsdale, Illinois.
She is well known to American daytime drama fans for her role as Victoria Newman on The Young and the Restless on CBS-TV. Tom, who had been at Y&R since 1991, left in December 2003 for a new role as Kelly Cramer Buchanan on One Life to Live on ABC-TV. She has also played the same role on another soap opera, All My Children.
She won a Daytime Emmy in 1993 and 1997 for Outstanding Younger Lead Actress along with nominations in 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, and 2000. Heather Tom holds the record for the most Emmy Award nominations for actresses under the age of thirty.
Her siblings are also actors: her brother David played Billy Abbott on The Young and the Restless while her sister Nicholle played Maggie Sheffield on the sitcom The Nanny.
Heather Tom Facts
Birthday November 4, 1975 (43)
Sign Scorpio
Birthplace Hinsdale, Illinois, USA
Height 5' 7" (1m70) How tall is Heather Tom compared to you?
What the Bleep Do We Know!?
Scooby-Doo and the Legend of the Vampire
Toxic Apocalypse
Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
Continue » Find more details on the Heather Tom Movies page
Article text released under CC-BY-SA. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Heather Tom" (16-Jul-2004)
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Academic cracks code of mysterious Voynich manuscript
A map from the Voynich manuscript
An academic has succeeded where countless cryptographers, linguistics scholars and computer programs have failed – by cracking the code of one of the world’s most mysterious texts, the Voynich manuscript.
Although the purpose and meaning of the manuscript had eluded scholars for over a century, it took Dr Gerard Cheshire two weeks, using a combination of lateral thinking and ingenuity, to identify the language and writing system of the famously inscrutable document.
The Voynich manuscript is a medieval, handwritten and illustrated text, which has been carbon-dated to the mid-15th century.
It is named after Wilfrid M Voynich, a Polish book dealer and antiquarian, who purchased the manuscript in 1912.
It is currently housed at Yale University, where it is filed as item MS408 in the Beinecke Library of rare books and manuscripts.
Detail of the Voynich manuscript (University of Bristol/PA)
Among those who have famously attempted to crack the code are Alan Turing and his colleagues at Bletchley Park.
The FBI also had a go during the Cold War, apparently thinking it may have been Communist propaganda.
Dr Cheshire, a research associate at the University of Bristol, described how he successfully deciphered the manuscript’s codex and, at the same time, revealed the only known example of proto-Romance language.
“I experienced a series of ‘eureka’ moments whilst deciphering the code, followed by a sense of disbelief and excitement when I realised the magnitude of the achievement, both in terms of its linguistic importance and the revelations about the origin and content of the manuscript,” he said.
“What it reveals is even more amazing than the myths and fantasies it has generated.
“For example, the manuscript was compiled by Dominican nuns as a source of reference for Maria of Castile, Queen of Aragon, who happens to have been great-aunt to Catherine of Aragon.
“It is also no exaggeration to say this work represents one of the most important developments to date in Romance linguistics.
“The manuscript is written in proto-Romance – ancestral to today’s Romance languages including Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian, Romanian, Catalan and Galician.
“The language used was ubiquitous in the Mediterranean during the Medieval period, but it was seldom written in official or important documents because Latin was the language of royalty, church and government.
“As a result, proto-Romance was lost from the record, until now.”
Dr Cheshire also explained in linguistic terms what made the manuscript so unusual.
“It uses an extinct language. Its alphabet is a combination of unfamiliar and more familiar symbols,” he said.
“It includes no dedicated punctuation marks, although some letters have symbol variants to indicate punctuation or phonetic accents.
“All of the letters are in lower case and there are no double consonants.
“It includes diphthong, triphthongs, quadriphthongs and even quintiphthongs for the abbreviation of phonetic components.
“It also includes some words and abbreviations in Latin.”
The next step is to use this knowledge to translate the entire manuscript and compile a lexicon, which Dr Cheshire acknowledged will take some time and funding, as it comprises more than 200 pages.
“Now the language and writing system have been explained, the pages of the manuscript have been laid open for scholars to explore and reveal, for the first time, its true linguistic and informative content,” he added.
– The paper, The Language and Writing System of MS408 (Voynich) Explained, is published in the journal Romance Studies.
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Home News Business Contract to ensure long life of EGNOS
Contract to ensure long life of EGNOS
Paris, France: Acting on behalf of the European Commission (EC), European Space Agency (ESA) signed a framework contract with Thales Alenia Space, an aerospace company, on the evolution of the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System (EGNOS).
Using geostationary satellites and a network of ground stations, EGNOS sharpens the accuracy and guarantees the reliability of GPS signals across Europe. As the EGNOS satellite navigation system begins to be used for its primary purpose of guiding European aircraft, this new agreement will ensure the service remains available for a long time to come.
The signing came in response to needs expressed by the EC – the formal owner and programme manager of the system – as well as the consortium charged with overseeing EGNOS service provision, the European Satellite Service Provider (ESSP).
The EGNOS Open Service for non-safety critical applications became operational in October 2009, and the EGNOS Safety-of-Life Service was declared available on March 2, 1011, for the safety-critical task of providing vertical guidance to aircraft on landing approach.
The system has been 15 years in the making, so the concern of the new contract is to ensure that EGNOS can continue to evolve as individual technical elements inevitably become obsolete.
The contract extends to the end of 2013, with the signing ordering a first slice of activities. This will allow the upgrading of critical subsystems reaching obsolescence, the incorporation of a new generation of operational transponders on geostationary satellites and the improvement in system performance.
ESA is now acting as the design and procurement agent on behalf of the EC for all major EGNOS system changes throughout its operational lifetime, as well as preparing for the next-generation EGNOS, expected around 2020.
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EVO Payments, Inc. (EVOP) Q4 2018 Earnings Conference Call Transcript
EVOP earnings call for the period ending December 31, 2018.
Updated: Apr 12, 2019 at 4:56PM
Published: Mar 13, 2019 at 12:46PM
EVO Payments, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVOP)
March 13, 2019, 8:00 a.m. ET
Good morning and welcome to the EVO Payments Fourth Quarter and Year-End 2018 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later, we will conduct a question-and-answer session and instructions will follow at that time. (Operator Instructions) Please note, this event is being recorded.
I would now like to turn the conference over to Ed O'Hare, Senior Vice President of Investor Relations for EVO. Please go ahead.
Ed O'Hare -- Senior Vice President of Investor Relations
Good morning and welcome to EVO Payments fourth quarter earnings conference call. This call is being webcast today and a replay will be available through our Investor Relations section of EVO's website, shortly after the completion of this call. Please note that some of the information you will hear during our discussion today will consist of forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on currently available information and actual results may differ materially from the views expressed in these statements. For additional information on factors that may cause our actual results to differ from the views expressed in any forward-looking statements made today, please refer to our earnings release and the risk factors discussed in our periodic reports filed with the SEC, including our most recent 10-K, which will be available on our website.
In an effort to provide additional information to investors, today's discussion also include certain non-GAAP financial measures, an explanation and reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the nearest GAAP financial measures can be found in our earnings release available on our Investor Relations website.
Today, we will discuss our fourth quarter and year-end 2018 performance. Joining me on the call today is Jim Kelly, Chief Executive Officer; Kevin Hodges, Chief Financial Officer; Darren Wilson, President-International and Brendan Tansill, President, North America.
Now, I'll turn the call over to Jim Kelly.
Jim Kelly -- Chief Executive Officer
Thanks, Ed and good morning, everyone. Welcome to EVO's fourth quarter earnings call, where we will review our results for the quarter, summarize our accomplishments for 2018 and discuss major themes for 2019. In the fourth quarter, EVO delivered 12% in constant currency revenue growth, resulting in 25% constant currency adjusted EBITDA growth. These accomplishments reflect our strong referral base with leading in-market banks, ISV partners and other referral relationships and continued integration efforts across the Company. The strong finish to 2018 is further demonstrated by our 16% transaction growth in the fourth quarter across Europe and North America.
Over the past six years, the Company has built a robust distribution network within our direct and tech enabled divisions. Internationally, our network is anchored by banks, which are the foundation of our expansion strategy. To date, we successfully completed 14 international bank alliances and partnerships and we continue to see a robust pipeline of opportunities in current and prospective markets. Our primary strategy is straightforward. First, we identify opportunities with leading financial institutions in attractive geographies. Second, once the bank relationship has been secured, we immediately begin executing our joint go-to-market strategy and initial sales effort, including addressing legacy, pricing inconsistencies and integrating the portfolio into our infrastructure. And finally, once integrated, we launch our broad array of products and services and introduce our tech enabled and direct sales to accelerate market growth.
Our success in building these relationships reflect the strength of our senior leadership team, our proven track record for execution and our differentiating product capabilities and services. We remain well-positioned as a strong, proven partner for financial institutions, as they continue to evaluate their strategies for digital payments. Domestically, we continue to expand our revenue via two primary tech-enabled business units, ISV and B2B. Together, these components of our tech-enabled divisions are strong drivers of transaction growth in the high teens, thanks to our strong sales execution coupled with market leading products, services and distribution.
e-commerce remains a significant component of this division, although it's performance has lagged behind our other tech-enabled business units. Historically, we are focused on signing small e-commerce merchants. More recently, we have moved upstream to focus on more mid-market e-commerce merchants and expand our domestic product capabilities, which we believe will improve growth in this business unit, as we exit 2019.
Turning to our domestic direct division, we made two significant changes in the second half of 2018 to improve our performance. First post IPO, we reorganized our leadership team to bring in new talent and restructure our sales and support services to better serve our merchants. Second, we acquired the remaining interest in one of our subsidiaries, allowing us to directly control its sales. Once the federated buyout annualizes in Q3 of this year, we believe our direct sales division will deliver mid single digit revenue growth heading into 2020. These steps will improve the overall growth for North America, which is currently led by the US ISV and B2B business units and the direct division in Mexico.
As we reflect on 2018, we have many accomplishments to highlight, not the least of which was completing a successful IPO in May and a subsequent follow-on offering in September. For the full-year, we delivered solid constant currency top line revenue growth of 11% and constant currency adjusted EBITDA growth of 15%, with margin improvement of 99 basis points for the year to 26.3%. We delivered margin expansion in 2018 by integrating our acquired businesses in the US, Spain, Germany and Poland, further developing our start-up markets in Ireland and the Czech Republic and growing the top line in both of our segments.
Our strong 2018 performance was due to the leadership of our executive team and our general managers and country managers, who run the business along with the 2,200 employees across the markets we serve. During the year, this team successfully negotiated seven acquisitions and bank partnerships, made significant progress on our back-end and front-end integrations and extended our ISV network to continue driving growth in our tech-enabled division. It was a successful first year as a public company and we are very excited about the opportunities that lie ahead for EVO.
As we look forward into 2019, we anticipate Europe will continue to deliver the solid growth we've previously demonstrated. We remain focused on expanding our product capabilities across the region, as we leverage our recent tech-enabled acquisitions such as IPG, ClearONE and the newest European acquisition, Way2Pay. We will continue to invest in the tech-enabling capabilities to ensure our platform offers market leading solutions for our customers. These solutions are complementary to the countless software companies that are gaining momentum across Europe.
In addition, we remain on track with the previously announced integrations in Germany and Spain and continue to work through the regulatory process of our acquisition in Portugal, which we believe we'll finalize sometime this summer.
Turning to North America, we continue to see strong growth in Mexico. We delivered solid sales results with year-over-year revenue growth of 12% in 2018, aided by a very close relationship with our alliance partner bank, Citibank. We recently released our global e-commerce platform in Mexico and we'll now more directly participate in the early stage high growth segment of the market.
Finally, we are focused on migrating our back-end processing infrastructure in Mexico to our primary US platform, which will provide savings plus migration, while expanding our capabilities in the country. This migration will further benefit the company as we look to enter other Latin American markets. In the US, we continue to drive sales growth in our tech- enabled and direct divisions since the completion of the Sterling platform migration in October. The US remains our largest market, representing over 35% of total company sales. We continue to roll out new merchant solutions from our Snap platform to service tech-enabled relationships and to look to identify complementary tech enabling acquisition opportunities and operating efficiencies.
Lastly, we remain focused on expanding our distribution footprint in our current markets and into new markets such as Asia Pacific and Latin America. While the timing is beyond our control, given our track record capabilities and most importantly our team, we anticipate further expansion in 2019 and into the future. Overall, we are pleased with our results and remain very excited about the future growth of the company.
Kevin will now cover financial performance and our outlook for 2019. Kevin?
Kevin Hodges -- Chief Financial Officer
Thank you, Jim, and good morning, everyone. As Jim mentioned, EVO delivered another strong quarter to conclude a successful 2018 in our first year as a public Company. For the fourth quarter, we reported revenue growth of 9%, compared to the prior year or 12% on a currency neutral basis, with acquisition and a Q4 2017 Mexico revenue timing adjustment contributing to 3 percentage points of that growth. In the fourth quarter, we continued to deliver currency neutral revenue growth in our largest international markets, including Poland at 23%, Spain at 23%, the Irish and UK market at 37% and Mexico at 11%, after considering the previously mentioned adjustment.
Adjusted EBITDA on a currency neutral basis increased 25% to $44.3 million, compared to $35.3 million in the prior year. Currency neutral adjusted EBITDA margin increased 324 basis points in the quarter to 29.4%. Pro forma adjusted net income was $14.7 million for the quarter, reflecting growth of 70%. As in past quarters, our adjusted results exclude M&A transaction and integration related items, including the write-off of certain acquired trademarks we are no longer using, employee termination cost and share based compensation expenses.
Looking at our North America segment, revenue in the quarter increased 7% over the prior year period on a reported basis and 9% on a currency neutral basis. This growth was fueled by our tech-enabled division in the US and the buyout of the remaining interest in Federated. Within this segment, our US tech-enabled revenue increased 14%, compared to the prior year period and represented 50% of US revenue.
Further, our US tech-enabled transaction growth was 13% in the fourth quarter, compared to the prior year period. US direct and traditional revenue grew 8%, reflecting the continued improvement of our direct division and the Federated Buyout, offset by expected declines in our traditional division. Our direct division now represents 39% percent of US revenue, while the traditional division represents 11%.
On a currency neutral basis, our revenue per transaction in North America increased 4% in the quarter, which reflects the growth in our B2B and ISV business units. Segment adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $31.5 million, an increase of 16% on a currency neutral basis. North America adjusted EBITDA margin improved 217 basis points to 35.8% in the quarter. This improvement reflects the benefit of our operating efficiencies and integration efforts.
Turning to Europe. We saw strong performance out of this segment as well, although the strengthening US dollar had a notable impact on our reported results. Segment revenue in the quarter grew 12% over the prior year period on a reported basis and 16% on a currency neutral basis. In the fourth quarter, our revenue per transaction in Europe declined 5% due to the growing number of large merchants performing well in the market and lower DCC take rates. We saw fourth quarter European tech-enabled revenue grow 22% on a currency neutral basis, versus the prior year, driven by our sales in Poland, Spain, Ireland and the UK. The tech-enabled division now represents 33% of European revenue. Segment adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $20.1 million, an increase of 51% on an adjusted basis, and an increase of 57% on a currency neutral basis.
For the quarter, adjusted EBITDA margin was 32%, which was up 838 basis points, compared with the prior year. As we have discussed on previous calls, we made investments in the prior year related to the growth in the market and the pending IPO, which have annualized in the second half of 2018 and predominantly led to the strong growth in margin in the quarter. Our adjusted results exclude $25.8 million of net expenses, which include $8.7 million related to M&A transaction and integration costs, $14.6 million due to an impairment of the Sterling trade name that we transitioned over to EVO branding, $1.6 million attributable to share based compensation expenses and $900,000 due to employee termination expenses.
Turning to our corporate expenses, adjusted corporate expenses grew $2.6 million to $7.3 million for the quarter, primarily due to new public Company costs. Consolidated net loss attributable to EVO Payments Inc. was $4 million for the quarter, resulting in a $0.16 loss per basic and diluted Class A share. Reflecting adjustments described in our press release and all share classes, pro forma adjusted net income per share was $0.18. At the end of the quarter, our basic share count was 25.6 million, which represents the weighted average Class A common stock outstanding. Including all shared classes and dilutive securities, we had 82.4 million shares outstanding.
In the fourth quarter, we spent $9.8 million in capital expenditures. As we had mentioned on prior calls, approximately 60% of our CapEx is for point of sale terminal in our international markets, where we follow the market practice of providing merchants the terminals. We ended the quarter with net leverage of 4.5 times, LTM adjusted EBITDA. In addition due to our refinancing and debt paydown activities related to our IPO and secondary offering, interest expense declined 25% in the quarter, compared with the prior year period. Free cash flow described as adjusted EBITDA, less capital expenditures, less net interest expense was $22.9 million, an increase of 600% over the prior year period.
For 2019, we are giving guidance based on recent trends, completed acquisitions and changes in FX. As you know, EVO's exposure to foreign markets is larger than most of our peers as 65% of our revenue comes from outside the US. We see many economists anticipating the US dollar will continue to strengthen against the currencies in our international markets and we expect these headwinds to impact our reported revenue by approximately 400 basis points and adjusted EBITDA by approximately 450 basis points in 2019 versus 2018.
Before turning to our outlook for 2019, I want to provide an update on EVO's adoption of ASC topic 606, revenue from contracts with customers, the new revenue accounting standard. Under 606, we will be reporting GAAP revenues net of fees paid to payment networks. We are adopting ASC 606 in 2019 as we qualified as an emerging growth company under the Jobs Act. During 2019, we will report GAAP results reflecting this new revenue standard and non-GAAP results using the old method to aid and comparability.
And finally, for 2019 guidance, we expect reported revenue with the impact of ASC 606 to range from $488 million to $505 million. On an adjusted basis, adding back the impact of ASC 606, we expect revenue to range from $593 million to $610 million, for a growth of 5% to 8% over 2018. As noted earlier, we expect FX headwinds in 2019 to be approximately 400 basis points. Therefore, on a constant currency basis, we expect adjusted revenue growth to be at 9% to 12% over 2018 results.
Net loss on a GAAP basis is expected to be in the range of $12 million to $9 million, compared to a net loss of $99 million in 2018. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be in a range of $156 million to $163 million, reflecting growth of 5% to 10% over 2018 adjusted EBITDA and 10% to 14% over currency neutral 2018 adjusted EBITDA. Adjusted EBITDA margin is expected to range from 26.4% to 26.7% reflecting expansion of 27 basis points to 60 basis points over 2018 currency neutral adjusted EBITDA margin. Net loss per share attributable to EVO on a GAAP basis is expected to be $0,26 to $0.21, compared to a net loss per share attributable to EVO of $0.70 in 2018.
Pro forma adjusted net income per share is expected to be in the range of $0.53 to $0.56, which reflects the growth in adjusted EBITDA described previously offset by additional depreciation expense in 2019 from point of sale terminal deployments and recently completed acquisitions. The impact of the higher depreciation expense impacts our 2019 pro forma adjusted net income per share by approximately $0.18. These numbers are calculated based on a pro forma share count of 82.4 million shares, which include all share classes. We expect capital expenditures to be in a range from $50 million to $55 million, with 60% being comprised of point of sale terminals. We are very pleased with our fourth quarter and year-end 2018 results.
I will now turn the call back over to Jim.
Thank you, Kevin. I will now turn the call over to the Operator to begin our question-and-answer session. Operator?
Thank you. (Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Tien-tsin Huang with JP Morgan. Your line is now open.
Tien-tsin Huang -- JP Morgan -- Analyst
Hey, good morning. Thanks for that details, Jim, I just wonder, maybe ask how you're thinking about fiscal '19 growth versus fiscal '18? What are the big differences you think and the drivers aside from the FX that you guys talked about?
Yeah. I think, if you look at Europe last year or this in '18 we had the benefit of the fiscalization in Poland, Poland is our biggest market. And so, we expect as I said on the last call that will not continue at the same pace. This year in Poland continues to drive that market. But having said that, Poland will continue to be a strong grower for next year. I think Spain likewise where two years ago Spain had a more difficult time with the Santander transactions for -- Spain had a very strong year last year. They're well set up with ClearONE and their new relationship with Liberbank, we expect, although it's not Spain, Portugal will start in the -- over the summer. And so we're expecting Europe to continue to do well, it may be slightly less, but that was a bit of an anomaly having this fiscalization take place internationally.
And then closer to home, I think Mexico, as we said on initial comments, we expect that to continue to perform well in the low double digits. And then the US market we see the B2B and ISV businesses continue to do well. Our direct business, we saw an improvement in the fourth quarter. As we said or I said in the last call, heading out of '19, we expect US direct business which is more traditional. feet on the street business, we've seen that term from a business that was slightly down to modestly up and we expect that to continue to improve during this year into next year. So across the board, as the guidance suggests, I think the business is continuing to perform well in all markets.
All right. That was great. That's helpful. And then on the -- just as a quick follow up, the in-organic revenue growth contribution in fiscal '19, how big is that in terms of acquired revenue. And I'm curious, just beyond the numbers, the acquisitions like Way2Pay and you mentioned ClearONE just now, what does that do for you? What kind of synergy or how does it open up growth with some of these countries for you?
So, I'll do this with Kevin. I'll take the Way2Pay question. So Way2Pay is a, I think it's more of a value added service added to our IPG Gateway, the one we acquired two years ago. So this is capabilities, the product is already excuse me in up and running in Ireland, so it's an existing business that we had a relationship with, that we simply acquired and will continue to push across Ireland and the UK markets and then across Europe and possibly our other markets. That's really just building out tech-enable in terms of capabilities and in terms of the product itself, it's not material to the business today, but it's more capabilities to drive organic growth in the future.
And then Tien-tsin, just overall, the acquisitions that we completed in '18 add about 2% to the growth in '19. We're not including Portugal yet, you know, we announced that last year, but that deal hasn't officially closed yet.
All right. Great. Thanks, guys.
Thank you. And our next question comes from Jason Kupferberg with Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Your line is now open.
Jason Kupferberg -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch -- Analyst
Hey ,thanks. Good morning, guys. I just wanted to pick up Kevin kind of where you left it off on the depreciation comment. I realize obviously it's a non-cash expense, but it's a big number in '19, probably the biggest delta between where your EPS guide is and the consensus. Can you just go little deeper on the sources of this and to what extent is this a transitory spike in depreciation or not?
Sure. There's kind of three main sources of kind of the increase in depreciation expense. The first was really coming from the acquisition that we completed kind of in the second half of the year. And you'll see when you look at the P&L kind of sequentially, you'll see the depreciation increase going from Q3 to Q4. The other component is just the strong growth that we see in the international markets. As we've talked about, we see point of sale deployments continuing in those markets to coincide with the growth. And then the final piece just relates to -- in the international market where we have the terminals, compliance changes, rule changes around terminal security, so over the past couple of years have been a terminal upgrade process. And so we've just kind of call that out again as a contributor to the the increased depreciation.
Okay. So you do expect this to pass after 2019 and then we kind of go back to more normalized levels, I mean assuming that you don't do more M&A obviously, but...
Yeah, this is, Jim, as it relates to acquisitions, as we buy a merchant portfolio from Bank X, you're getting merchant contracts and terminals. So those terminals are now on our books and we have to begin to amortize them. Sometimes they're not fully compliance, we may not know all the ins and outs of the entire portfolio if you're talking about tens of thousands of merchant terminals. So it actually cause a spike in spend to be able to replace non-compliance terminals with compliance terminals. And the terminals don't last forever, compliance changes do change. So it's an unfortunate byproduct of being in international markets until and I don't anticipate that anytime soon until the market changes, where there aren't terminals, because we've got something else or we can convince merchants internationally to buy the terminals or lease them versus rent them. It is a by-product of our business oriented to the international market. So it was a little bit higher, this quarter we had some acquisitions, we bought a business right size in a couple of years ago, we had a change out, I think the entire terminal base, MONETA we just launched last year, Liberbank which was about 25,000 terminals. So all that stuff together with just the growth that you saw and I think the other big one that we shouldn't pass is Poland. So we had the fiscalization, we put 30,000 terminals out -- without offsetting revenue. I think as we describe the first year, we don't feel that was part of the program in Poland. So it is a little bit oriented to -- I wouldn't say it's a one-time, but it is definitely higher now that it would probably normally be.
Okay. Got it. And then I wanted to ask on adjusted EBITDA margins, I know you're talking about 27 basis points to 60 basis points in constant currency terms in terms of a year-over-year increase. Normally you target 50 basis points to 75 basis points last quarter, it sounded like maybe you were planning on '19 being even a little bit better than that. So just wanted to understand some of the ins and outs in the margin for 2019, since it seems like we may not get as much as you would typically target.
Well, and as you see for the year that just passed, I think we targeted 50 basis points to 75 basis points, we ended up at 99 basis points. So we get some credit for that 99 basis points going into '19, I would guess. We're trying to manage the investments in the business, at the same time is driving margins. I think we've done a very good job over the last two years or since going public, focusing on margin, probably more so than when we were a private company. But I think the range of 20 to 60 or 27 to 60 is still well within the expectation that we set 50 basis points to 75 basis points. And it's just -- the year is just starting, we have a number of initiatives. During the year, we have some conversions that will be completed during the year, some of which are starting, some of those that start, cause a little bit of a near-term offset to normal margin growth, but we feel comfortable with the range that we gave.
Okay. Just last one for me, I know you mentioned some evolution of your strategy in the e-com space. Can you just spell out for us how fast that business did grow in '18? I know it wasn't as fast as some of the other areas of tech-enabled, but many numbers you can give us around that as well as what you might target longer-term, once you have a chance to implement some of your newer growth strategies. Thanks, guys.
Okay. So the US e-commerce business is different than what we do internationally, domestically we use third party partners. So we're really somewhat at the mercy of the referrals that come to us. And as I said in the comment, we've pivoted beginning last year and into this year to focus on larger versus smaller -- the smaller ones tend to have higher turnover and other consequential issues associated with them. In terms of breakouts, I don't think I'm going to sub-divide it even further beyond what we do. But it is a slower growth and it is one of the reasons why even though the B2B business and the ISV business continue to grow in the mid teens or high teens in the case of B2B, the overall North American business because of our e-commerce business and the direct traditional are the ones that we continue to focus on to try to improve the growth rates.
Okay. Got it. Thank you.
Thank you. And our next question comes from Ashwin Shirvaikar with Citi. Your line is now open.
Andrew Smith -- Citigroup -- Analyst
Hey, guys, this is Andrew Smith (ph) on for Ashwin. Thanks for taking my question. I was wondering if you could walk through the EBITDA margin assumptions by segment, seems like we would get more margin expansion in the Europe segment given the process and consolidation there, but just curious how you're thinking about margin expansion by segment?
Sure. Hey, Andrew, its Kevin. So if we look at Europe, we've talked about some of the margin or the platform migrations, we had a couple of them last year in Spain. We're continuing to work on say like the Liberbank portfolio migration. They take time, so it's not a kind of one time cut off, so we continue to move merchants in Spain over to the Polish platform. We also talked last quarter about some of the activities around the shared service center in Poland.
So that migration is under way and I think we said, we wouldn't start to see those savings until we sort of exit '19 and really see the benefit of those savings going into 2020. So I think a lot of the margin expansion that we saw just in the quarter is really coming from annualizing a lot of those investments that we have been calling out, the investments in tech- enabled sales, standing at the shared service center, investing in the European management team, those were investments we made prior to the IPO and as we've been calling out, they started to annualize in Q4.
Got it. And then in the US?
So same type of items going on to US, we have -- just the growth happening in our tech-enabled channels, we already migrated the Sterling platform, we talked about that on the last call. A lot of the Sterling integration activities had already been completed and we've sort of now been investing in growing our tech-enabled division, primarily ISV, B2B and looking after the e-commerce portfolio. Mexico, we can take a look at migrating that portfolio, but that's a longer platform migration, we're not anticipating that in 2019.
Okay, thank you. That's helpful. And then Jim, maybe a question for you strategically. As we think about in your commentary, you talked about prospected new markets in regards to the JV pipeline. As we think about Asia Pacific, is there anything that changes with the conversation with banks there, your go-to-market strategy has to change, what are some considerations as we think about use potentially expanding there?
I don't know that the conversation is necessarily changing. I mean, we are active in all the regions in terms of very early stage conversations. And as I mentioned in the comments, I think banks in today's market are very focused on digital and how can they stay close to their customers, and this is tends from my experience, banks tend not to want to invest heavily in this type of business and pursue partnerships. And we're well situated to be that partner. As I said, I think we have 15 bank relationships now that we've developed over the last five years. We're very good at sourcing them and then getting across the contract stage and then executing. And I think it's the execution side and the resume that we have and the calling card. We're a prospective new bank, we would make available any of our existing relationships to talk to about what the experience was after the ink dried on the page.
All right. Thank you, guys. Appreciate the comment.
Thank you. And our next question comes from Oscar Turner with SunTrust. Your line is now open.
Oscar Turner -- SunTrust -- Analyst
Hey, guys, good morning.
So first question just on North America, I was wondering what kind of channel growth assumptions are underlying your '19 revenue forecast for North America?
So if we take, I guess, Mexico first, we as I said in the comments, we expect Mexico to continue to execute in low double digit growth rates, that's a business that's predominately direct. So this is somewhat old school referrals from financial institutions. Again, Mexico is low card penetration. So we're benefiting as are others from the shift from paper to plastic. The second piece would be e-commerce, as I mentioned, we've now launched our IPG gateway, which would also have the Way2Pay product on it into the marketplace, that goes in this quarter and would be able to more specifically participate in the shift to e-commerce previously. As we bought the business, there was like in the US, they use partners who had gateway infrastructure. So now we'll have our own solution and we'll also be able to -- we have customers in Europe who want to do business in Mexico, who are already on the platform in Europe that will be using the platform in Mexico. So we see Mexico as a fantastic market for us. It's almost the same size as the US and we would expect that that channel will continue to show growth for many years to come.
I think in North America excuse me, in the US, we've got the kind of three that we break it down, tech-enabled, which I think we've described as the mid teens or so for the B2B and ISV together, slower growth as I mentioned on e-commerce and then the direct business, absent the acquisition, together with the acquisition, we're growing, but Federated we own some of -- we did not own all of. So we're getting the benefits for the first nine months of this year of that acquisition. But even absent that acquisition, our direct business did grow in the fourth quarter very modestly, but that's a big win over where it had been historically. And the team that's managing that business, which is the feet on the street business continues to do quite well. So our expectation is we'll continue to see it improve during the year and coming into '20, we would be expecting and say the 4% to 6% range in terms of growth.
Remember that, that market is the 65% or so the US, which has not shifted to ISV. So you would not expect that that business is going to grow double digit, that wouldn't make a lot of sense since the ISV business is really taking share away from traditional feet on the street type of business. And then our last is traditional and this -- these are businesses that are no longer in business. So we effectively have a legacy portfolio. We pay out commissions on that portfolio, but is essentially a runoff business, which as Kevin said represents, I think less than around 10%.
It's around 10%, it's going to decline 20%. I mean, it's in line with normal merchant attrition for an ISV type portfolio.
But our strategy is going to continue to grow the overall size of the pie. So as we make investments, as we open up in Portugal or in other markets that we invest in, the impact of something like traditional is going to become smaller and smaller. It still represents significant cash flow that we take and reinvest in higher growth businesses, but it will continue to be somewhat of a drag on our US business.
Okay, yeah, appreciate that color. Thanks.
And then second question is on Europe, most things like you guys are seeing strong growth from the tech-enabled segment there, is that mainly being driven by e-com? And then how should we think about the pace of adoption of ISV solutions in Europe, and when that channel could be material to segment growth?
So we have our President of Europe here, we'll give him a chance to answer some questions that will have all the fun. Can you go ahead, Darren?
Darren Wilson -- President-International
Thanks, Jim. So I think each market is seeing pretty healthy growth potential through all vertical or channels. Yes, the adoption of tech-enabled is moving from Western Europe across Eastern Europe at a reasonable pace. UK, Ireland is the faster growing countries compared to Eastern Europe, but we are seeing good ISV tech-enabled growth potential. And similarly, we've now launched our e-commerce gateway across all of our markets, seeing positive growth trajectory on the e-commerce side as well, worth maintaining good referral relationships on the organic direct business -- direct and partner business with our bank alliances. So good channel growth across all verticals.
Thank you. And our next question comes from Bryan Keane with Deutsche Bank. Your line is now open.
Bryan Keane -- Deutsche Bank -- Analyst
Good morning, guys. Just a couple of clarifications. On the US direct business that's shown the improvement, I know you've gone from negative to positive growth. Is the key there the management change, what exactly is kind of happened to make that improve in terms of growth rate and then the outlook obviously has improved as well?
So, Bryan, I'm going to have Brendan, who manages it directly take that question.
Brendan F. Tansill -- President, North America
I guess it's definitely not management that's making it (multiple speakers). Now, yeah, thanks for the question, Bryan. So as I think Jim mentioned on the prior call, this was a business that we had acquired from founders many years ago and we changed our management in the direct channel in the I think early part of the second quarter of last year. And the second -- and then new management there has really brought accountability and focus, they've brought in a significant amount of talent directly below the senior manager of the channel. And they have injected the building with energy and culture. And when you go down there, there's absolutely a buzz and a commitment to winning that I don't know existed previously. So I think it's all the things that you would expect, it is focus and accountability every day at the office.
Got it helpful. And then just curious on the acquisition pipeline if it's how it looks and if we should expect basically in the year another couple of tuck-in acquisitions to add a point or two to revenue growth as we've seen in previous years. Thanks.
I guess short answer to that would be yes, the size of these acquisitions as I said in my comments and the timing obviously are out of our control. But we're an acquisitive company, it doesn't mean we're trying to drive up the size of our balance sheet, but we are acquisitive and Companies of sizes that probably are not as exciting to some of our competitors would still be very meaningful to us. For example, the Company Way2pay, it's a niche that would be very that we think is going to be very helpful not just to the European market, but potentially other markets. And then bank portfolios, that continues to be a very significant focus of Brendan, Darren, myself, David Goldman, who runs M&A for us. He's on the road of tremendous amount. So I think the pipeline continues to be very robust on a mere to different opportunities in lots of different markets.
Okay. Helpful. Thanks for the color.
Thank you. And our next question comes from Georgios Mihalos with Cowen. Your line is now open.
Georgios Mihalos -- Cowen -- Analyst
Hey, thanks. Good morning, guys. So I wanted to start-off in North America and just curious the success that you're having in the ISV channel there, I'm just wondering, are you starting to see sort of a, you know, more material increase in the referral fees to partners as that business is growing, you're getting more volume. And then secondly, in kind of keeping on this margin theme, if we think of the migration Mexico to the US, how substantial will that be, maybe within the context of the Sterling migration that you just completed from a cost saving standpoint?
So the first question first, so on the ISV referral fees, you know, I think the answer is that we are being as I said I think on the last call, we continue to be disciplined about the fees that we're prepared to pay. We are prepared to compensate our partners fairly and equitably, but we don't feel the obligation to get irrational and that hasn't in any way precluded us from boarding significant number of new partners each month in each quarter.
So do we episodically see a competitor of ours get more aggressive on splits or up fronts, of course, but do we feel compel to be as irrational as our most irrational competitor, of course not. And there's a good chunk of the market that continues to behave incredibly rationally. And the other positive attribute of the channel is that there remains a very vibrant community of new software companies entering the channel on a constant basis. And those partners if found early and selected prudently, you know, you can grow with them. So, no, we haven't sort of seen a steadily increase in our referral fees to our partner base. And I don't sort of see that being an obligation in order to succeed anytime in the near-term.
And George in terms of the conversion and all these conversions represent opportunities, I guess you're taking a business that's we're paying a fee for service for processing and we're putting it on a fixed infrastructure, because we own the system, there's no licensing fee, the number of people that are running the system are the same. I don't think we're at a position yet to know the exact amount of the savings. And therefore, it's not -- as Kevin said, it's not factored into '19, not going to happen in '19. We're moving a third of the Mexican market onto our system. So that takes some time to plan it out and close the gaps and all the other stuff that we've been doing for the last 10 -- I guess eight years here and 20 years in my career. But we'll come back to you probably by this time next year with some views on where Mexico is so. For this year, Mexico is really just in the planning cycle, development cycle, testing cycle, all the stuff that you do to move a portfolio.
Okay. And if I could sneak one more just on the European side, the ClearONE acquisition, I'm just curious, are there any specific European geographies where you were sort of seeing more traction, on the ISV side post the acquisition. Thanks.
Could you just clarify that when you say more fraction? I'm not sure, I know what that?
Is there specific European geographies that seem more open kind of to ISV, you think kind of that move to tech-enabled?
So we just had a -- we just had our Board meeting yesterday and part of the Board meeting we brought in people across Europe to present to the Board. The ISV strategy is first time the Board get a chance to see the kind of people that do the work every day. And I could say, for example, Poland, I think Poland has a very robust opportunity in the ISV space, that's still very, very early stages. Spain, as we've mentioned, when we got there one, Spain has a lot more ISV potential than I had appreciated even a year ago, a year and a half ago. UK, I think is going to probably eclipse us in terms of new merchants on a direct side for ISV. So they're out there, because consumers demand the type of things that ISV's solve in markets and all over the world I'm assuming. Right now I can just speak to North America and Europe. I think the next place that we want to push more aggressively on the ISV front will be Mexico and we have planned in a way to do that as well.
Great. Thanks.
Thank you. And our next question comes from Cris Kennedy with William Blair. Your line is now open.
Cristopher Kennedy -- William Blair -- Analyst
Hey, guys. Thanks for taking the question. Can you just give an update on the consolidation efforts that you're taking in Europe and how that's going and kind of when that whole process will be complete?
Sure, not sure error (ph) is complete, because every time we buy something else, there's more consolidation. I think specifically on somewhat people consolidation, we took it from the different regions to one that's been more significant in Spain. So Spain is a migration of our merchant portfolios from Banco Popular, which we acquired many years ago. So I would say we are 80% done. The only thing that's holding us up is, is some file work from the bank, so that we're able to migrate some larger merchants without impacts. But otherwise, we would have the Spanish Popular migration complete. Liberbank is just getting started. Unfortunately, Liberbank is on a different central processor in Spain and the one we just moved. So that was bad luck for us, because all the work we did, we have to redo for Liberbank, but that is going on now and probably will start migrating by I would say the end of this year. You said it Darren?
Yeah, I adhere.
Yeah, aside from -- and then once Portugal closes, then Portugal will be the same thing, that same team that works on conversion full time, they'll turn their attention to Portugal, we have a group out of Spain that has done Popular as well. Now Liberbank will handle (inaudible) on top of it and that would probably not start probably to the beginning of next year at the very end of this year. On the people side, we've been consolidating back office type of space. When we first entered Europe years ago, we kind of stood up a different -- a bunch of different markets that had administrative functions, accounting functions locally. And now as a public company, we're centralizing everything back to Poland. So there's a process under way to move more and more of that infrastructure. Germany was one that we called out during this year. So I would say by the end of the summer, most of the heavy lifting on the infrastructure side will be done, this is the post IPO type of work been on the conversions as I laid out, that's going to be ever go on -- ever ongoing as we make additional investments with new bank portfolios.
Okay, that's great. Thank you. And then just one follow-up on, I think you mentioned Latin America is a long-term opportunity. Can you just kind of talk about the opportunities there and how you guys are focused on penetrating that market? Thank you.
Yeah, you -- in Latin America, if you were go to the ones that represent significant opportunity, you would see the same dynamic across several of the markets, which would be a centralized processor generally owned by all of the banks, all of them reselling the same product set and competing purely on price. And what -- in each of these markets what you would find if you speak to the regulators is a strong desire to stamp out the black economy, to drive card acceptance and card usage among consumers in the path that the regulators see to that. The most efficient means to that end would be the introduction of a mono-line international acquirer processor.
So the idea is to get off the central processor, to introduce innovation, to introduce product differentiation and thereby to compete on something other than price. So it takes time. You know, these guys owning equity in a central processor, they need to figure out a way to monetize that equity value, some of these central processors are profitable. So you saw that in the case of Argentina, in the Prisma (ph) asset that traded in the back half of last year, a highly profitable Company. And some of these businesses are not profitable, which simplifies the situation to some extent. So it takes time, but you know, the good news is, myself and David and Darren and Jim, we all spend a lot of time on airplanes, close to these situations. And I think we're relatively well positioned when these banks are in a position to finally make a decision on how they want to proceed.
Great. Thanks a lot, guys.
Thank you. And our next question comes from James Schneider with Goldman Sachs. Your line is now open.
James Edward Schneider -- Goldman Sachs -- Analyst
Good morning. Thanks for taking my question. Jim, I was wondering if you could maybe comment on your outlook for the US business and your expectation to see, I believe you said some acceleration exiting this year and into 2020. Is that simply a function of ISV growth and direct kind of accelerating, and then the continued run off in traditional or are there any moving pieces beyond that we should be thinking about?
I think as Brendan mentioned and it sounds maybe somewhat simplistic, but you know, we're a service business. So it's the people that drive our business that support our customers and the change of management in our direct business, the oversight of the business coupled with the fact that EVO was originally set up as essentially a holding company with a number of owned subsidiaries like Federated or on core the ones that we've been buying in over the years. So as a result of now putting them all under one umbrella, one management team, the go-to-market is more is not only centralized but more organized than it was maybe prior to this. And this is just finishing up as I said Federated was just last year. So I think that will have the impact that we described, which is to take something that was for a period of time declining, that will now start to grow, it's not going to reach the levels of the ISV because it's working against the mix shift. But regardless, they still provide a very good service in the marketplace, the direct business and I think that will be beneficial.
And the other is our e-commerce business, as I said this was more of a business where we worked with third party gateway partners and we have some reorienting to do in that business to help accelerate it's growth. So I think the combination of the two, we've put timing out as 2020. I think we have line of sight on the direct business. I think on e-commerce we still have some work to do. But those two things together, plus continuing to see benefit the mix shift from direct to ISV and B2B growth, I don't expect to see those changing in the next year to two years.
That's helpful. Thanks. And then relative to what you said about M&A and bank portfolios, where would you expect to see most activity, will that be in Europe or potentially in the US? And can we just kind of make a comment on what you're seeing in terms of market valuations at this stage? Thank you.
Okay. So I think for us, you know, the most likely is probably more Europe than the US, what's available in the US from a bank standpoint is limited to non-existent. The trade in the US has occurred many years ago and I don't think banks, not that banks are bad business in the US, I just don't think banks have the same, play the same role in our industry as domestically as they do internationally.
So you should look at us internationally as we just did EuroBic and Liberbank, MONETA, these are smaller ones, but we don't really make that decision. It's really what's the opportunity and how does it fit an overall strategy for the company. I think beyond North America and Europe, the ones that we've said on several occasions would be South America, that is a very attractive market. We believe it's a common time zone. So we don't have the issue of flying 12 hours to a totally different time zone.
And given the large presence we have already in Latin America through Mexico, we have a workforce that and leadership that has experience working in South America. So I think we're well positioned to participate in the shift in that region. And then for Asia Pacific, at least the senior management team, Darren, myself, Kevin, our CIO and others here, while we were at global worked years in Asia Pacific, stood up the Asia-Pacific market for global and that and that continues to be an area of interest. Although, I wouldn't make the effort to be in a region without a major initial relationship, kind of an anchor tenant, it's too far away, too many time-zones, but both of them I think are opportunities over the next 12 months to 24 months.
Thank you. And our next question comes from Ramsay El-Assal with Barclays. Your line is now is open.
Benjamin Budish -- Barclays -- Analyst
Hi, everybody. This is Ben Budish on for Ramsey. I wanted to actually follow-up on an earlier question on just the ISV strategy in Europe. Now you've acquired ClearONE, is the thought maybe to go after some more of those smaller ISVs that wouldn't attract some of the larger processors or integrate more with larger ISVs or maybe a mix of both?
I think it'd be a mix of both in terms of capitalize on the ISV partners now that we have that we will certainly due to play one that we can integrate more partners. I mean, ClearONE has well over 100 integrations already. So capitalize on that success and continue those integration. And then, yes, much like the complementary value added opportunities such as Way2Pay, look at those additional adjacent vertical to support integrating ISV partners. Categorically, we're not looking to buy ISVs, we're not a software business. We want to partner with ISVs and maintain our agnostic stance of capturing the full market potential of the range of ISVs in the vertical they operate. So really ClearONE is an integrator, not an ISV, just -- but just to be clear on the role of ClearONE. So yes, weather a more ClearONE opportunities across the domestic markets we operate as an integrated that would certainly be a strategy we'll be looking to pursue.
Okay, great. And then just one more on your interest expense. You had a small footnote in the release that was kind of helpful, but maybe just more broadly, can you talk about your pace of debt paydown over the next couple of years? When do you think you can hit your target leverage ratio?
Sure. So we set that target leverage ratio two to three times, that again, we're not saying we're going to be out of the M&A game. So, we are still going to continue to pursue acquisitions. The model itself tends to deleverage about a turn a year, we have amortization on the term loan already and then as we have excess cash flow, we can pay off revolver. We tend to use the revolver for acquisitions, that balance will pop up when we do a deal, and then come back down as we have the cash flow to pay it off.
Okay. Great. Thanks, guys.
Thank you. And our next question comes from Larry Berlin with First Analysis. Your line is now open.
Larry Berlin -- First Analysis -- Analyst
Good morning, gentlemen. Quick question for you on Europe, given the economic turmoil and the forbidden word of Brexit, what are your assumptions going to 2019 for -- on the economies in those countries?
Hi. So, yeah, you're right with the turmoil with the Brexit very kind of overnight. So I think firstly it's important to understand our licensing and registration is all domiciled in Germany. So we operate from Germany or from Europe into the UK. So ultimately, if as a result or Brexit that we need to do something just domestically to continue our license in the UK, then we'll do something just for the UK. But in terms of operating across Europe, we have a solid footprint in terms of licensing from Europe in the economic region. So then in terms of domestic market, yeah, I think it's hard for any of us on this call to predict what's going to happen over the forthcoming months. When we look at the economic projections in each market, each country is stable, showing good growth projections generally, low inflation among economies. So the prospects forecast still look robust.
Thank you, guys.
Thanks, Larry.
Thank you. And our next question comes from Chris Brendler with Buckingham Research. Your line is now open.
Chris Brendler -- Buckingham Research -- Analyst
Hi. Thanks and thanks for taking the questions, a lot of great detail here. Jim, I want to follow-up on sort of M&A in the US market in particular and just sort of this perception we get from as an outsider that it's definitely heating up, it seems like it's almost frothy at some times, do you feel like the market in the US has got to that point and it's better to look elsewhere or and also would love to get your thoughts on the whole partner versus owning software companies debate that goes on today. Thanks so much.
Okay, that's a big topic. You know (multiple speakers) sorry?
Squeezing me in at the end for a big question.
Yeah, I know maybe there is always less listening. I guess I'm the first one, yeah, there's always M&A activity. So we have so many investment bankers in the world. But for what we're looking to acquire, it's really -- it's oriented to financial institution portfolios. So those have traded in the US. There's very, very few I can list in probably on one hand that haven't previously traded. And for ones that already exist on one of our competitors platforms, the economics of trying to buy out that portfolio to move it to your platform would be not sure would be economically viable. And I guess as I mentioned earlier, I don't think financial institutions are the primary source of business flow that they use to be in the US, just given the number of myriad of choices that we have or merchants have as options. So it's not that we don't participate in the US, we've made three or four acquisitions in the US in the last couple of years, but those have really been around something that EVO already own the piece of or in the case of Sterling, it was something that we saw as great distribution and helped us get deeper into the ISV space domestically here.
So it's not we wouldn't buy in the US, I think there are going to be niche vertical markets around enabling software Companies as opposed to competing with software Companies. So that's what I would expect you would see EVO do domestically. Internationally, it's going to continue to be financial institutions enabling the technologies. In some cases we'll provide these value added bolt-ons like the Way2Pay, that will be additive to what we currently have as a capability.
On the software side, it's not as though I think that's a bad strategy. There's many of companies that are doing it and doing it very effectively. I think for us though, just given our size, we're not interested in the channel conflict that's going to come from being in the software business. And then secondly, we're not a software Company, we may have a lot of software developers, we may deal with software often the time, but we did not have the creative juices within EVO to come up with the next point of sale solution for retail, restaurant , et cetera.
And after you buy these companies and you integrate them, who's left to be the innovator or do they stagnate over time? And you then have to reinvest in another technology because you've kind of lost your way. So I'm not currently oriented to buy software Companies. I don't think it solves any thing that fits the fourth party model and we're big believers in the fourth party model and the role we play in enabling whatever the merchant wants at the point of sale. We're not looking to tell the merchant that this is the point of sale that they need to use. We want to be able to say, we'll support whatever within reason, we'll support whatever you would like to pick to meet your needs at your location.
Fantastic color, thanks so much.
Okay, thank you.
Thank you. And I'm not showing any further questions at this time. I would now like to turn the call back over to Jim Kelly for any closing remarks.
All right. Thank you, operator and thank you all for joining this morning and we greatly appreciate your continued interest in EVO.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for participating in today's conference. This concludes our program and you may all disconnect. Everyone, have a wonderful day.
More EVOP analysis
EVO Payments, Inc.
NASDAQ:EVOP
EVO Payments, Inc. (EVOP) Q4 2018 Earnings Conference Call Transcript @themotleyfool #stocks $EVOP Next Article
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3 Things to Watch When Ford Motor Company Reports Earnings
How is Ford's plan changing under its new CEO and other things to watch for when the Blue Oval reports.
John Rosevear
(TMFMarlowe)
Follow @@john__rosevear
Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) will report its second-quarter earnings result before the U.S. markets open on Wednesday, July 26. Here's a quick preview and a look at three things to watch as Ford's earnings report unfolds on Wednesday morning.
How this quarter might compare to a year ago
Wall Street thinks that Ford's second-quarter earnings will fall from a year ago. In the second quarter of 2016, Ford earned $0.52 per share, excluding special items, on revenue of $39.5 billion. This time around, Wall Street analysts are expecting Ford's earnings, again excluding any special items, to come in at $0.43 per share on revenue of $37.13 billion, on average, in polling conducted by Thomson Reuters.
Sedan sales were off sharply, but U.S. sales of Ford's highly profitable F-Series pickups rose 7.4% in the second quarter. Image source: Ford Motor Company.
How Ford's sales fared in the second quarter
Ford's sales in the United States were down 3.3% in the second quarter from the same period last year. But Ford's "mix" of products sold likely improved year over year. Sales of Ford's higher-profit products, like SUVs, pickups, and Lincoln vehicles, all rose year over year, while sales of lower-profit sedans fell. That mix improvement could help boost Ford's pre-tax profit margin in North America from the (very good) 11.3% it posted a year ago.
Ford's sales in Europe fell 2.2% in the second quarter from a year ago. But again, Ford's mix was a richer one: As in the United States, Ford's European unit sold more SUVs and fewer cars than it did a year ago.
Ford's sales in China rose 7.5% in the second quarter. That sales gain may not translate into a profit gain, as it appears that Ford cut prices in response to rising pressure from lower-cost domestic Chinese automakers. Possible mitigating factor: Sales of high-profit Lincoln brand models were up sharply from a year ago.
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Three things to watch
First: What does Ford's new CEO have to say?
By far, the most important story of Ford's second quarter was the huge management shakeup initiated by Ford's board of directors: CEO Mark Fields was ushered into retirement, board member Jim Hackett was tapped to replace him, and Ford's senior executive ranks were shuffled into a new structure.
New Ford CEO Jim Hackett may take the opportunity to outline some of his plans for the company during Ford's second-quarter earnings call. Image source: Ford Motor Company.
Hackett and his boss, executive chairman Bill Ford, said that the goals of the changes are to streamline Ford's decision-making processes, improve profitability, and increase the pace of change as Ford transforms its business to meet new high-tech challenges.
What does that mean in practice? We don't know yet: Hackett said he would take some time to get up to speed and evaluate Ford's business before outlining his plans in more detail. It's likely that Hackett will get into some of those details during Ford's earnings call on Wednesday.
Second: How did Ford really perform in North America?
Ford is a sprawling global company with operations all over the world, but much of its profit is earned in North America, specifically in the United States, and very specifically from the sale of F-Series pickups and SUVs here. Under Fields, Ford worked (successfully) to boost the already-rich profitability of its pickups, but key SUV models, like the Escape and Explorer, may have fallen a step behind newer rivals.
While auto sales in the U.S. remain strong, signs are mounting that the market is past its cyclical peak. At this point in the cycle, we expect to see some competitors increase discounts in an effort to generate year-over-year sales gains in a market that is flat, or slipping a bit from a year ago.
Under Fields (and his predecessor, Alan Mulally), Ford has said that in such a situation, it would resist the temptation to discount aggressively, prioritizing pricing -- and profit margins -- over sales gains. In other words, Ford has said that it's willing to cut production and give up market share in order to preserve profitability.
That theory is being put to the test now. We know that Ford's U.S. sales were down year over year, but it appears that its pricing remained strong. Its pre-tax profit margin in North America will tell us for sure. Also important to watch: Whether Hackett hints at any change in Ford's approach to pricing in sluggish markets.
Third: How is Ford thinking about China now?
Ford's sales in China rose in the second quarter, but that followed a rough first quarter in which Ford's sales were down sharply year over year. It appears that Ford cut prices on some key models, including the Kuga (the China-market version of the Escape SUV), in response to increasing pressure from domestic Chinese automakers in lower-cost market segments like compact SUVs.
Pricing pressure from lower-cost Chinese automakers may have pushed Ford to cut pricing on key models like the Kuga, shown here, during the second quarter. Image source: Ford Motor Company.
That's one part of the China story for Ford. Another: The Chinese government is increasing pressure on automakers to adopt plug-in hybrid and fully electric drivetrains sooner rather than later.
How is Ford's revamped management team thinking about the pricing challenges and the push to introduce new technology in the region? Watch to see whether Hackett or CFO Bob Shanks sheds more light on the questions during the conference call.
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3 Things to Watch When Ford Motor Company Reports Earnings @themotleyfool #stocks $F Next Article
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LNG Projects Are Progressing, and the Payoffs Should Be Worth the Trouble
ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and Royal Dutch Shell all have expensive LNG mega-projects coming on stream in the near future.
Rupert Hargreaves
(RupertHargreav)
The rise of LNG, or liquefied natural gas, has sparked somewhat of a revolution in the energy industry. Indeed, all of the industry's main players, including ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM), Chevron (NYSE:CVX), ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP), and Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS-B) are falling over each other to get a piece of the action.
However, producing LNG is not as simple as the production of traditional natural gas. For example, the facilities required to produce the supercooled natural gas, on any reasonable scale, are so expensive they are out of reach for many companies.
What's more, many LNG projects have run into trouble, and rapidly rising costs have sent budgets skyrocketing. Chevron's Gorgon project is a great example of the problems currently hampering this LNG gold rush.
Eye-watering numbers
The Gorgon and Wheatstone Australian LNG projects are the cornerstones of Chevron's LNG strategy. These assets are a collaboration between Chevron -- which holds the majority stake -- Exxon, and Shell.
Unfortunately, the cost of getting Gorgon into production has spiraled out of control, from an initial estimate of $37 billion, projected back in September 2009, to a current figure of $52 billion. This extra $15 billion is not small change, even for Chevron and Shell.
These high costs, according to some, are due to the high cost of labor within Australia along with a strong Aussie dollar. Poor rates of productivity have also seen the first expected date of export from the site pushed back to the first quarter of 2015 instead of late 2014.
Meanwhile, Shell has made the decision to sell its holding in the Wheatstone development as part of the company's $15 billion asset divestment program. Shell has also postponed the development of its proposed $20 billion-plus Arrow LNG venture with PetroChina in Queensland.
Nevertheless, Shell has plenty of other LNG ventures in the process of development.
Specifically, Shell still owns a majority of the Prelude floating LNG venture under development in the Browse Basin and 25% of Gorgon, as mentioned. Additionally, the company owns one-sixth of the North West Shelf LNG venture.
But while costs spiral out of control across the LNG industry, forcing companies to divest assets, there is some hope for select projects, which are progressing to plan.
Ahead of plan
Exxon recently announced that the company's Papua New Guinea LNG project is slated to begin exporting LNG by the middle of 2014, ahead of schedule and below budget.
That said, when Exxon says "below budget," it means below a revised budget that is actually 25% above initial estimates. Initially the project was slated to cost $15 billion, but the new budget was revised up to $19 billion. Costs are expected to come in below $19 billion.
Still, the very fact that Exxon will finally bring one of these mega-projects on stream and on time is a relief for the industry.
The Papua New Guinea project is a good example of the challenges facing the engineers who are responsible for these LNG projects.
LNG plants have to be built near the shore, so the liquefied gas can be put onto tankers and taken to its destination. However, it is often the case that the gas reserves are located inland, meaning that gas has to be transported from the drilling site and wells, to the LNG facilities. With regard to Exxon's project, Decie Autin, manager of the PNG LNG project, explains:
The toughest part of the project I would tell you was the onshore pipeline ... We had to go from 9,000 feet, up and down a tortuous path down to the shore ... The pipeline was built above ground then had to be covered with 1 metre [3 feet] of dirt to bury it for safety and security ... This is high pressure gas pipe. You don't want anyone messing with it, because it would be dangerous.
In the end it should pay off
For the most part, however, these projects should pay off. Current predictions forecast that the price of LNG per mmBtu, or million British thermal units, will average $14 for shipments to Asia and in excess of $12 for shipments to Europe from now until 2035.
Fortunately, even though LNG projects have seen multibillion-dollar cost blowouts, the estimated final cost of production per mmbtu at the majority of these projects remains at a level that will allow oil and gas majors to turn a decent profit.
In particular, expectations are that the Gorgon projects will produce at around $12 per mmbtu and Prelude will produce for $8 per mmbtu. Remember, these projects will ship to Asia, where expectations call for LNG prices to average $15 per mmbtu during the next few decades.
That said, in comparison with ConocoPhillips' Darwin project, Gorgon and Prelude appear to be poor investments. Current numbers suggest that the Darwin project will be able to produce LNG for only $3 per mmbtu, which implies a profit margin of 400% if it ships its output to Asia.
Foolish summary
In all, it's been tough, expensive work getting LNG projects into production, but now as they come on stream, developers should be able to start reaping the benefits.
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LNG Projects Are Progressing, and the Payoffs Should Be Worth the Trouble @themotleyfool #stocks $XOM $COP $RDS-B $CVX Next Article
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What the teams said – Qualifying in Russia
The drivers and teams report back on final practice and qualifying at the Formula 1 2018 VTB Russian Grand Prix...
An interesting day to be a Silver Arrows strategist. With Hamilton looking utterly dominant, and Bottas comfortably ahead of the rest of the field, hurdle number one was getting through Q2 on the ultrasoft rubber, which was ticked off easily. But then a turn up for the books – the Finn absolutely nailed both his flying laps in Q3 to grab pole from the outstretched grasp of his team mate. But was it really a surprise? Bottas has never been out qualified by a team mate here after all... but will Mercedes give him a genuine chance of victory on Sunday or ensure Hamilton’s championship lead remains intact?
Lewis Hamilton, 2nd, 1:31.532
"This has never been the strongest circuit for me, but Q1 was really good. My run on the hypersoft at the end of Q2 was a great lap, but then I couldn't repeat it in Q3. I was two tenths up on my final lap but I made a mistake - I went quite wide and then the back stepped out at the next corner. I think I had the pace for pole, but Valtteri did the better job this time. It's great for the team to have a 1-2 here, we'll try and convert that tomorrow. We've made some big improvements to how we use the tyres and how we set the car up and it's showing. It's tough to overtake here, so the race will be about tyre management and who gets the best start. I'll be pushing hard; you saw Valtteri's great start last year, and I think that'll be my best shot to win."
Valtteri Bottas, 1st, 1:31.387
"It's been a long time since I last took pole in Austria this year, so this feels very good! We made some changes after FP3 and the car felt even better in qualifying. I managed to find time in almost every run in qualifying; I just had to put everything together in Q3. I was able to get a really good lap in on the second run and it was enough for pole, so I'm happy. Our pace looked good so far; on Friday, we were very close to Ferrari and Red Bull, but today we looked strong, so we should hopefully have a competitive car tomorrow. The Ferraris will be strong as well, but we should have a car that gives us the chance to fight them for win. The start will be decisive; we need to aim for a very good initial get-away. The straight into Turn 2 is so long that it's easy to overtake if the guys behind you get a better start. Today was a good start into the weekend and puts us in a good position for tomorrow, but the main day is still ahead of us and I'll give it everything to maintain the lead."
James Allison, Technical Director
"We thought yesterday went well, but you never really know for sure until qualifying comes around. It was lovely to see that the gaps of yesterday and this morning translated through into the afternoon. We are really delighted with a strong qualifying session from both drivers and particularly pleased for Valtteri who showed once again that he's something of a magician on this track. It's going to be difficult tomorrow with the long run down from the start into Turn 2 and we know from last year that P3 on the grid allowed us to catapult into the lead. So hopefully we'll get some very strong starts tomorrow and then with luck the long-run pace that we saw on Friday will also translate into the race."
Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport
"We can be happy and proud with the pace today, it's the achievement of a lot of hard work over the past weeks. We have a car that looks really competitive around Sochi, which is especially good after the struggles we had last year. But today is only Saturday, so while being on pole and locking out the front row is a massive satisfaction for us, we know that the slip stream around this track will play a big role tomorrow and could be decisive for the race. So we will try to have a good start to stay in front and then control the race from there. We should have the pace in the car, it's all about getting off the line well and keeping the position."
Pole sitter Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes AMG F1 celebrates in parc ferme at Formula One World Championship, Rd16, Russian Grand Prix, Qualifying, Sochi Autodrom, Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia, Saturday 29 September 2018.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 W09 EQ Power+ at Formula One World Championship, Rd16, Russian Grand Prix, Qualifying, Sochi Autodrom, Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia, Saturday 29 September 2018.
Ferrari looked second row contenders all day long, with never enough pace to truly challenge Mercedes ahead. At a track where slipstreaming is possible down to Turn 1, starting third and fourth really isn’t a disaster for the Scuderia. But Vettel knows he needs a good result tomorrow to prevent that gap at the top of the championship growing.
Sebastian Vettel, 3rd, 1:31.943
"I think the car today was better than yesterday. The session was fine, and I think we could use our car to its full potential, there was nothing wrong with it, but we just weren’t very fast enough. Nevertheless, the race is tomorrow, and if I can bring the good feeling I had towards the end of the session into the race, then I think we are in a good position. For sure, I want to do everything well and I think that there is a chance to overtake after the start. We need a good getaway - but not too good, otherwise you end up giving the other guy a tow!"
Kimi Raikkonen, 4th, 1:32.237
"Today in qualifying our car was the best we have seen this weekend. On my last attempt in Q3 I had a pretty good lap going, but then one of the Mercedes backed off in front of me and the lap did not come together. The feeling with the car was pretty good, but obviously it was not enough. Overall, it looks like we are a bit behind here, and it has been like this all weekend so far. Obviously it’s not ideal, but it is what it is. This is not an easy place to overtake, but tomorrow we’ll do our best and see what happens."
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari pushes his car back in the pit lane at the end of FP3 at Formula One World Championship, Rd16, Russian Grand Prix, Qualifying, Sochi Autodrom, Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia, Saturday 29 September 2018.
Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF71H at Formula One World Championship, Rd16, Russian Grand Prix, Qualifying, Sochi Autodrom, Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia, Saturday 29 September 2018.
Despite dismantling and then reassembling Ricciardo’s car ahead of qualifying, Red Bull had a pretty steady day. They looked quick which will help them in the race, and took part in the bare minimum of qualifying to ensure participation. The raft of grid penalties will see them start at the back – so there might be some intra-team rivalry as to who can bag the greater number of overtakes during the race... which happens to fall on Verstappen’s birthday.
Daniel Ricciardo, 12th, No time set in Q2
“Knowing you’re taking planned penalties before the weekend makes it easier to accept that you won’t complete qualifying and then you can just focus on the race. Obviously, we are never going to know where we would have been in Q3 but we’re pretty happy with the car this weekend and we’ve performed well on a circuit that we aren’t normally that strong on. There is a lot to do tomorrow and that’s when the fun really begins for us. There are a few of us out of position at the back of the grid, so let’s see who can fight to the front quickest and have some fun doing it. I actually hope the tyre degradation is high, like we have seen so far this weekend, that way nobody will be cruising on an easy one-stop strategy and hopefully we can provide some real entertainment. The main thing for now is to decide which tyre to start the race on. I think the temperatures are going to be higher tomorrow as well and the long run down to Turn 2 will be interesting. If I’m honest, the main excitement today was my AFL team winning. I got up early to watch the game and it was well worth it, my voice is definitely suffering after all the shouting though. I will put it all on the line tomorrow and try to return the favour.”
Max Verstappen, 11th, No time set in Q2
“We knew before qualifying that we would have to start from the back tomorrow, but I think it has all gone better than expected so far. We did a good job in Q1 which I’m happy about. The car has felt good all weekend, except for this morning, when I had some troubles, but we managed to turn it around and we are competitive again. We are closer than expected, what we lose on the straights, we can definitely make up in the corners. Even though we had good pace today, I don’t think it’s too painful for us to take the penalty here. We needed a new engine anyway, so it’s good for upcoming races to take it now. The performance we had today shows again that we’ve worked very well on the set-up. From FP3 to qualifying we made some good steps forward so I’m confident about tomorrow. We just have to make sure that we have good exits out of the last few corners and keep our tyres alive, because the overtaking will not be easy on the tyres. If you follow other cars closely, it’s hard on the front tyres, so we have to consider the best approach. You never know what can happen and we won’t stop fighting, but from where I’m starting, I think the most realistic birthday present will be fifth.”
Christian Horner, Team Principal
“Having chosen to take strategic power unit penalties this weekend at a circuit that hasn’t yielded positive results for us in the past, we made the decision not to run past Q1 today. It was pleasing to see that we had more pace than expected in qualifying and looking at the times, had we chosen to run to the end of the session, we were on track to challenge Ferrari. With the cars set-up solely for the race and an open choice of tyre strategy, I know both Daniel and Max will fight hard to gain maximum points for the Team tomorrow.”
Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing supports The West Coast Eagles in the AFL Final at Formula One World Championship, Rd16, Russian Grand Prix, Qualifying, Sochi Autodrom, Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia, Saturday 29 September 2018.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB14 at Formula One World Championship, Rd16, Russian Grand Prix, Qualifying, Sochi Autodrom, Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia, Saturday 29 September 2018.
McLaren looked off the pace, and despite trying the ‘tow’, couldn’t progress out of Q1. Alonso at least knew his fate, being set for a grid drop due to new PU components. But for Vandoorne, it was his ninth consecutive Q1 knockout and compounded a frustrating day for the Belgian. Can he recover anything tomorrow? It looks to be a long shot...
Fernando Alonso, 17th, 1:35.504
“In qualifying today we didn’t use our full potential because our starting position is already fixed due to the grid penalties we’ll receive.
“That meant I had two objectives this afternoon: setting a lap within the 107 per cent limit, and helping Stoffel with a tow along the straight. I didn’t go for a performance run: I used the engine in safe mode.
“Much of our focus has been on our race pace: hopefully we can execute a good strategy, look after our tyres, and look to be close to the points tomorrow.
“The tyres are looking a little tricky around here as it seems to be hotter than usual. We believe the softest tyre will suffer a little bit, so hopefully we’ll be in a position to benefit from that in the race.”
Stoffel Vandoorne, 19th, 1:35.977
“It was always going to be difficult for us around here this weekend.
“In FP3 this morning, I think we saw that the pace of the car wasn’t looking very strong. Going in to qualifying, our target was to try and get ahead of the Williamses: we managed to beat one of them today. I don’t yet know where that puts us once all the penalties are applied.
“Our car is lacking performance in a number of areas. The balance isn’t always perfect but it feels reasonable; we just lack general performance.”
Gil de Ferran, Sporting Director
“We knew this was going to be a difficult weekend for us, but we’re not hiding the fact that qualifying was a disappointing result for our team.
“Fernando was facing an engine penalty going into the weekend, so we chose to focus on race preparation rather than qualifying throughout all the practice sessions.
“Given our overall pace, unfortunately Stoffel was unable to make it out of Q1.
“On a positive note, our race pace has typically been stronger than qualifying, as our car seems to be fairly kind on the tyres, which will likely be a particularly important factor tomorrow. We will fight hard and do our best to try and bring some points home.”
Fernando Alonso, McLaren MCL33 and Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren MCL33 at Formula One World Championship, Rd16, Russian Grand Prix, Qualifying, Sochi Autodrom, Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia, Saturday 29 September 2018.
Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren MCL33 at Formula One World Championship, Rd16, Russian Grand Prix, Qualifying, Sochi Autodrom, Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia, Saturday 29 September 2018.
Force India looked to have 'best of the rest' nailed down in Q3, although Ocon was pushed uncomfortably close by Leclerc with just 0.006s separating the two. That was before Kevin Magnussen snuck in to grab P5 from under the Frenchman’s nose. Sixth and eighth mean the two Force India boys start directly behind each other – and there will be stern words overnight from their boss to try and stop them tripping over each other, as they did in Singapore.
Sergio Perez, 8th, 1:33.563
“I am happy with how the car felt, but I think we could have been higher up the grid. My aim was to be in P5, but my Q3 laps were not the best and I lost a little time. Hopefully tomorrow we will be able to pick up some positions at the start. I’m optimistic for tomorrow, but it’s going to be a long race. Strategy will be crucial because we are not starting on the best tyre compound and those just outside the top ten, on a harder compound, will be our main threat. Maybe we could have tried to go through Q2 on the ultrasofts, but in the end it will be the same for everyone around us. We need to make our hypersofts last and make the most of the first stint. I am sure there will be opportunities and we’ll need to be there to take them.”
Esteban Ocon, 6th, 1:33.413
“The car performed really well today and it’s clear we’ve taken a good step forward during the last couple of races. I’m happy with the result – P6 – but I made a mistake on my final lap in Q3, which meant I wasn’t able to really fight against Kevin Magnussen for P5. That’s a shame, but starting from sixth gives us a good chance tomorrow. It will be really interesting to see how the hypersofts perform in the race and we know there will be a lot of cars further back on the ultrasofts. Let’s see how the strategies unfold, but I believe we can convert our strong performance today into a good race result tomorrow.”
Otmar Szafnauer, Team Principal & CEO
“In the lead up to qualifying we felt we had the fourth fastest car, but we didn’t quite maximise our performance when it mattered during qualifying. Fifth and sixth places were there for the taking, but we’ve had to settle for sixth and eighth, which is still a good effort. The challenge now is bringing home the result and making the hypersoft work during the opening part of the race. The priority tomorrow is to have a clean race, bring both cars home and collect some important points.”
Sergio Perez, Racing Point Force India VJM11 at Formula One World Championship, Rd16, Russian Grand Prix, Qualifying, Sochi Autodrom, Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia, Saturday 29 September 2018.
Esteban Ocon, Racing Point Force India VJM11 at Formula One World Championship, Rd16, Russian Grand Prix, Qualifying, Sochi Autodrom, Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia, Saturday 29 September 2018.
Renault lost all their pace come Saturday, falling behind all their midfield rivals. They scraped through Q1 helped by a fortuitous late yellow flag, and then didn’t even bother to run in Q2. However, that does guarantee them free tyre choice just outside the top 10, which as we saw from Sainz’s display last time out in Singapore, can make a big difference. Points could still be on the cards despite what was, on paper, a disappointing day.
Nico Hulkenberg, 15th, No time set in Q2
“Today we ran a wise strategy. A decent qualifying position was out of reach on pure pace so we opted for the approach which means we don’t have to start the race on the Hypersoft tyre. Everything we did today should help us in our battle on track tomorrow.”
Carlos Sainz, 14th, No time set in Q2
“Unfortunately we saw that our pace was not strong enough to fight for P5 or P6 so opting for the free tyre choice was too appealing to ignore with the tyre allocation here. We saw the potential benefits of this strategy in Singapore and it could make for an interesting Grand Prix tomorrow. In the end, our pace will dictate our ultimate position but we’ve given ourselves the best chance for the race.”
Alan Permane, Sporting Director
"We’ve seen an exceptionally close midfield here and we weren’t able to be at the front of this battle on qualifying pace. This meant we looked ahead to the race and the tyre strategy options available. By not running in Q2 we will end up on the grid as the first cars with an open starting tyre choice and we’re expecting this will translate to a stronger race performance. Our approach will be to gain places when those ahead of us have to pit early because of the short performance life of the Hypersoft tyres. This will benefit us early in the race however we still expect a very tight battle. We’ll be looking to maximise every opportunity with points the target."
Nico Hulkenberg, Renault Sport F1 Team at Formula One World Championship, Rd16, Russian Grand Prix, Qualifying, Sochi Autodrom, Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia, Saturday 29 September 2018.
Carlos Sainz, Renault Sport F1 Team R.S. 18 at Formula One World Championship, Rd16, Russian Grand Prix, Practice, Sochi Autodrom, Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia, Friday 28 September 2018.
Grosjean struggled with understeer, spinning in FP3 and repeatedly asking if there was a problem with his suspension. Nonetheless, he made it through to Q3 alongside his team mate but understandably wasn’t competitive. Magnussen, though, bounced back from a disappointing Singapore in style – fifth was best of the rest and sets up a really good opportunity for some big points to aid Haas in their constructors’ battle with Renault.
Romain Grosjean, 9th, 1:33.704
“Unfortunately, we had too much traffic on the out lap of my last run in Q3. The tyres were really cold to start the lap and I just didn’t get the grip. I couldn’t repeat my lap time from Q2, which is a bit of a shame, but it happens. Some cars were really slowing down a lot in the last two corners and that created a bit of a queue. For the race, well, we’re starting on hypersofts with Renault behind starting on ultrasofts. They didn’t run in Q2, but with the other penalties, they’re going to start 11th and 12th. I don’t know what it’s going to be like. We’ll do our best, but P9 is definitely not where I wanted to be.”
Kevin Magnussen, 5th, 1:33.181
“I’m happy. It’s best of the rest, again – pole position for us. It’s a good feeling. It was a good lap. It could’ve been better. The only place I messed up was in Turn 2. I hit the kerb and definitely when you do that, you lose time with wheelspin. I thought from there it would probably be difficult, but I kept it together and did a good rest of the lap. Luckily, it’s not like the Red Bulls qualified into Q3 and then just didn’t run. We have more people running the hypersoft tyre – that’s a bit better for us. It would’ve been worse if the Force Indias or both Saubers had started just outside the top 10 with fresh tyres. That would’ve been tricky. I’m sure the Red Bulls will come back strong. It’ll be interesting to see how far they get. There’s a good chance they’ll get back up, but the best of the rest is our target.”
Guenther Steiner, Team Principal
“It was a good result today. Starting fifth with Kevin, it’s very nice. Romain just had a little issue with the temperature of his tyres as he started his last lap, so he’ll start ninth. Again, that’s not perfect, but it’s still not a bad position to start in. Let’s see if we can get some points tomorrow.”
Romain Grosjean, Haas F1 Team VF-18 at Formula One World Championship, Rd16, Russian Grand Prix, Qualifying, Sochi Autodrom, Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia, Saturday 29 September 2018.
Kevin Magnussen, Haas F1 Team VF-18 at Formula One World Championship, Rd16, Russian Grand Prix, Qualifying, Sochi Autodrom, Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia, Saturday 29 September 2018.
Sauber managed to get both cars through to Q3 for the first time since China in 2015 – with Ericsson making his first top 10 shoot out for three years. Leclerc produced a storming first flying lap and couldn’t better it second time around, whilst Ericsson was short on tyres and only ran once. They will be aiming for double points come race day.
Marcus Ericsson, 10th, 1:35.196
“It is an excellent achievement for the team to have both cars finish qualifying in Q3. We have been strong all weekend, and should have a good chance to score some points tomorrow, which is great. I am confident for the race, and look forward to fighting for a good result.”
Charles Leclerc, 7th, 1:33.419
“I am very happy with today. We have made a good step forward since yesterday, and I improved my driving quite a bit. It is great to see the hard work that we have put in this weekend pay off on track. P7 is my best starting position so far this season, so I look forward to the race tomorrow.”
Charles Leclerc, Alfa Romeo Sauber C37 at Formula One World Championship, Rd16, Russian Grand Prix, Qualifying, Sochi Autodrom, Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia, Saturday 29 September 2018.
Marcus Ericsson, Alfa Romeo Sauber C37 at Formula One World Championship, Rd16, Russian Grand Prix, Qualifying, Sochi Autodrom, Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia, Saturday 29 September 2018.
With both cars set to start from the back of the field, it was interesting to see how much of a part they would play in qualifying. Gasly looked competent in making Q2 before opting not to run again, whilst Hartley’s final run in Q1 was compromised by both yellow flags and then traffic. Points here will be a tall order, especially with Honda opting to return to the previous spec engine.
Pierre Gasly, 13th, No time set in Q2
“I think it’s been really positive since we introduced the new engine yesterday, there was some noticeable improvements and we decided to switch the engine back for the rest of the weekend to save some mileage for the end of the season. I’m really happy with the car, this weekend in Sochi I have a great feeling but it’s a shame we need to start at the back of the grid tomorrow after the engine penalty. Looking at last year’s race it seems it might be difficult to overtake here but, with the chassis the way it is, I’m still feeling confident. Tyre degradation will be key tomorrow, so hopefully we can make something with the strategy, I’ll give a big push and you never know, maybe we can fight our way through for a good result!”
Brendon Hartley, 16th, 1:35.037
“We didn’t put a lot of emphasis on Qualifying today because of the penalties we will incur tomorrow. Yesterday was a big exercise for Honda introducing a new power unit, but the decision was made not to use it for the rest of the weekend. It is definitely quicker, there’s no question marks there, but we want it to be perfect for Japan and make sure everything works as it should. What also makes it a tough race for us is starting from the back. Our long run pace yesterday looked promising on the Soft tyre, so I think there could still be a bit to play for tomorrow. We’ve seen a few incidents here in the past, it’s a tricky first corner because it tightens up after the long straight off the start line, so we’ll see what happens tomorrow – we will still aim to do our best.”
Guillaume Dezoteux, Head of Vehicle Performance
“We had a clean final practice session with both cars which allowed us to complete our programmes. Given our situation, we decided to dedicate some more time to long runs which is something we usually don’t do in the Saturday practice session. This allowed both drivers to get a better understanding of their fuel and tyre management in race trim which is our main focus this weekend. Our competitiveness down the straights made a bit of a step back compared to yesterday as we reverted back on the PU specification. This is because there is still work to do in some areas of the new specification, such as calibration and matching the PU to the chassis. We fully support this decision as we will anyway start from the back of the grid here. Our Qualifying session went to plan, and it was good to see Pierre going through with his first attempt. He had a tow from the car in front which helped a bit, but generally we showed we had the pace to easily progress to Q2. We decided not to take part in Q2 as our positions on the grid are defined by the penalties anyway. Brendon’s Qualifying session was a bit more complicated and unfortunately his first lap was not quick enough to pass through to Q2. In his second attempt, he got a yellow flag from Sirotkin that compromised his lap. Now we will evaluate different options for the race and we are looking forward to fight in the midfield, especially against the cars that will have to start on the softest tyre.”
Toyoharu Tanabe, Honda F1 Technical Director
“We started the day reverting our newest specification Power Unit back to the older spec that’s been used in previous races - meaning it’s become a busy weekend so far for the Toro Rosso Honda crew. Compared to a normal Saturday, todays programme was more focused on long run set-up. However, our performance today was respectable, so we are still optimistic that we can have a good race tomorrow.”
Brendon Hartley, Scuderia Toro Rosso talks with the media at Formula One World Championship, Rd16, Russian Grand Prix, Qualifying, Sochi Autodrom, Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia, Saturday 29 September 2018.
Pierre Gasly, Scuderia Toro Rosso STR13 at Formula One World Championship, Rd16, Russian Grand Prix, Practice, Sochi Autodrom, Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia, Friday 28 September 2018.
Williams struggled for pace throughout practice and the same was true in qualifying. Sirotkin managed to spin late on in Q1, doing no harm to his FW41, but bringing out the yellow flags and hampering his team mate’s final lap. They will benefit when grid drops are applied, but on this form, will struggle to keep the faster cars behind for long.
Sergey Sirotkin, 18th, 1:35.612
"It was a tricky session and I’m quite disappointed with my mistake at the end. I think we’ve been struggling quite a bit. I don’t think we really had that impressive performance today and I just tried to do more than was physically possible. I just didn’t want to do another steady lap, I tried to do something special and I didn’t get away with it. Unfortunately, I made a mistake which I’m very sorry and disappointed about. I wanted to do something more than just a good lap."
Lance Stroll, 20th, 1:36.437
"I did my first run but locked up so had to abort that. Then I was on a pretty good lap, but I didn't get a final run because there were yellow flags due to Sergey spinning. We are off the pace, like we have always been, so nothing has really changed. It is frustrating, but we weren't very quick. We will see what we can do tomorrow."
Paddy Lowe, Chief Technical Officer
"It’s a very challenging circuit particularly with the hypersoft, trying to get a lap and the best out of the tyre around all sectors. There’s a bit of a game here in that you have to leave a bit on the table in sector one to get the best time through sector three. Sergey set a reasonably good time on his first run. Unfortunately, Lance made a mistake; he improved on his second lap with the same tyre set, but this still wasn’t a representative laptime. Both drivers went out for their second run and were on much improved laptimes but unfortunately Sergey spun at turn eight and this caused a yellow, disrupting Lance’s lap so neither driver improved. We will benefit from a range of penalties around us and get some better grid positions than where we qualified today. Our race pace has been a bit stronger relatively than our qualifying pace so we still see some opportunity for a better outcome tomorrow."
QUALIFYING: Sirotkin spins out of Q1 at his home race
Lance Stroll, Williams FW41 at Formula One World Championship, Rd16, Russian Grand Prix, Qualifying, Sochi Autodrom, Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia, Saturday 29 September 2018.
Mario Isola, Head of Car Racing
“Strategy was clearly at the forefront of qualifying, so we’re going to see an interesting situation tomorrow with the top four cars starting on the ultrasoft tyre, immediately followed by six cars behind them starting on the faster hypersoft. If you add in to this the number of cars starting out of position due to grid penalties, with a completely free choice of tyres, then we could see a big mix of strategies tomorrow. The ultrasoft starters can target a one-stop race, but the situation for those starting on the hypersoft is less clear cut, even though they should be much quicker off the start line.”
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Skeleton of Richard III may have been found -- but where will it end up?
By | LiveScience
A stained glass window at Cardiff Castle depicts King Richard III and Queen Anne Neville. (University of Leicester)
University of Leicester archeologists are digging in the Leicester City Council parking lot in search of the grave of King Richard III. (University of Leicester)
Archaeologists may have uncovered the skeleton of the lost English king Richard III. But if they have, what should be done with the remains?
That question is causing contention among Richard III enthusiasts, according to a new report in the Wall Street Journal. The University of Leicester, which is overseeing the excavation and analysis of the remains, has jurisdiction over the remains, but various societies dedicated to the king have their own opinions.
[pullquote]
Two groups, the U.S.-based Richard III Foundation and the Society of Friends of Richard III based in York, England, argue that the remains should be reburied in York, because Richard III was fond of that city, the Journal reported. The Richard III Society, which has been involved with the archaeological dig in Leicester that uncovered the remains, is officially neutral — a stance which itself has triggered anger.
"The lack of respect that's been shown to his remains has grated our membership," Joe Ann Ricca, founder and president of the Richard III Foundation, told the Wall Street Journal.
More On This...
Battle-bruised skeleton may be King Richard III
Possible skeleton of King Richard III in testing
Quest for the Roses: The hunt for lost King Richard III
Grave of King Richard III may be hidden under parking lot
Richard III's History
Richard III ruled from 1483 to 1485. He died in battle at Bosworth Field in the War of the Roses, and English civil war between the House of Lancaster and the House of York. After his death, Richard III's body was brought to Leicester and buried at Greyfriars Church. A century later, Shakespeare wrote "Richard III," a play fictionalizing the dead king's life.
The location of both the Greyfriars church and Richard III's grave were eventually lost to history. In August 2012, however, University of Leicester archaeologists began excavating a city council parking lot in Leicester, under which the remains of the Greyfriars church were thought to be. [See Images of the Richard III Discoveries]
Soon, the archaeologists unearthed floor tiles, window frames and other remnants of the medieval church. In less than a month, the team found a battle-bruised skeleton with signs of trauma to the skull and an arrowhead lodged in the spine, consistent with Richard III's cause of death.
The skeleton also had scoliosis, or an abnormally curved spine, consistent with contemporary accounts of Richard III's appearance.
Controversial remains
The team has not confirmed the remains to be Richard III's; the University of Leicester has said it will hold a press conference in the first week of February to announce results of the laboratory analysis of the bones.
"If the identity of the remains is confirmed, Leicester Cathedral will continue to work with the Royal Household, and with the Richard III Society, to ensure that his remains are treated with dignity and respect and are reburied with the appropriate rites and ceremonies of the church," the Very Reverend Vivienne Faull, the Dean of Leicester, said in a statement.
Petitions have sprung up online arguing that the reburial should take place at Westminster Abbey or Windsor Castle. But the most vocal critics say that Richard III would have wanted to be buried in York, where he was reportedly building a chapel at the time of his death.
"Think about this being a member of your family," Charles Brunner, a Kansas bank teller and Richard III enthusiast, told the Wall Street Journal. "Where would you want them to go? Where they wanted to go or the town they were taken to after they were killed, where they were stripped bare and put on public display?"
Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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The Center for Recovery offers an array of outpatient services to adults and adolescents, including alcohol/substance abuse evaluations, individual and family counseling, group therapy, medication therapy, and vocational services. The Center for Recovery staff includes a psychiatrist, registered nurse, social workers, credentialed substance abuse counselors, and a vocational counselor. Intensive outpatient treatment is available by arrangement according to clinical needs, up to five days per week.
101 Ridge Street
Hudson Falls, NY 12839
Director of Center for Recovery: Susan K. Roberts-McManus, LCSW
Center for Recovery Fees
Most commercial insurance is accepted, as are Medicaid and Medicare. A sliding fee scale is available for uninsured residents of Warren or Washington counties who do not have insurance coverage.
Center for Recovery Access
Glens Falls: Referrals are made by calling (518) 926-7200. An appointment is scheduled at the time of the call.
Hudson Falls and Satellite Locations: Referrals are made by calling the Washington County office at (518) 747-8001. Appointments at the satellite locations are made through the main offices.
Substance Abuse and the Impact on the Family System
According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) one in every three people will develop a clinically significant alcohol problem at some point in their lives, and one out of eight people will become dependent on alcohol. Given these statistics, it is important to consider the significant impact substance abuse has on the individuals within a family system and the family system as a whole.
Community Resources:
Nar-Anon Meetings
Wednesdays at the Potter's House, Pine Knolls in South Glens Falls
Contact is Judy- 518-796-0694
Mondays - First Presbyterian, W. High St, Ballston Spa (7pm)
Contact is Cathy -518-994-1196.
Al-Anon Meetings
Tuesdays - United Methodist Church, Aviation Rd, Queensbury (7pm)
Wednesdays - Centenary Methodist Church, Charles St, Greenwich (7:30p)
Thursdays - First Presbyterian Church, Parish House, River St, Hudson Falls (8pm)
Fridays - First Baptist Church, Maple St, Glens Falls (10:15am)
Join one of the best medical teams in the Capital Region
We are looking for professionals who want to join an exceptional healthcare team. If you share our commitment to improving the lives of patients then apply online today!
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Displacement: Governments Falling Short on R2P, Says New Study
Most discussion on the concept of the responsibility to protect (R2P) focuses on whether the “international community” should intervene to protect civilians under threat in any country. However, the 1st tenet of R2P, that governments have a responsibility to protect their own citizens, is less often discussed. This IRIN article examines the case of internally displaced people (IDPs), and how some states are failing to prevent displacement. But extending the scope of R2P to IDPs is problematic: does this mean that the “international community” should intervene in countries where governments are failing to protect the population against displacement?
The governments of 15 countries most affected by internal displacement have failed to adequately protect internally displaced persons (IDPs), and in many cases have themselves been perpetrators of violence or abuses that led to the displacements, according to a Brookings-London School of Economics study.
“The key finding in this study is that the governments do not quite meet the benchmarks,” for adequate protection of IDPs, UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of IDPs Chaloka Beyani told IRIN.
Yet, much more could be done, said Elizabeth Ferris, one of the authors of the study of 15 countries which account for 72 percent of the world’s 27.5 million people internally displaced by armed conflict, ethnic strife and other forms of violence.
“If you take IDPs seriously here are a lot of things you can do to make their lives better that won’t cost you a lot of money. It’s all about being determined and having political will,” she said on the sidelines of a meeting in Geneva where she presented the study entitled From Responsibility to Response: Assessing National Approaches to Internal Displacement.
While the study does not rank the performance of the governments, Ferris said Colombia, Georgia, Kenya and Uganda clearly were heading in the right direction, while the Central African Republic, Myanmar and Yemen would get the worst marks. The other countries looked at in the study were: Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Turkey.
Nearly half the countries surveyed have adopted some preventive measures on paper, “but all 15 have fallen short of actually preventing displacement in practice,” the report says. “Moreover, many national authorities themselves have been the perpetrators of violence or human rights abuses that have led to displacements, and many states foster a culture of impunity for alleged perpetrators of human rights violations.”
Under international law, states bear the primary responsibility to protect persons within their borders and must provide special protection for IDPs because of their particularly vulnerable condition. The Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement provide an advocacy and monitoring framework for the assistance and protection needs of IDPs.
The October 2009 African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of IDPs in Africa (also known as the Kampala Convention) aims, among other things, to “promote and strengthen regional and national measures to prevent or mitigate, prohibit and eliminate root causes of internal displacement as well as provide for durable solutions”.
“Ultimately only the state can provide lasting protection for IDPs,” the study says.
“The state’s exercise of its national responsibility for IDPs, therefore, must be the basis for an effective response to internal displacement. It is not a matter of navigating around the principle of national responsibility but of being guided by that principle and consciously gearing all efforts to achieve an effective response.”
While “Responsibility to Protect” (R2P) is often discussed in terms of the role of the international community, the report says R2P emphasizes “first and foremost” the responsibility of governments to protect the populations within their borders.
“If national governments satisfy their responsibility to protect IDPs then R2P is being met at the national level. This study brings the linkage of R2P and IDPs to the fore,” said Beyani, who is also co-director of the Brookings-LSE project on internal displacement.
Lack of capacity, political will
“While there is broad consensus on the principle of national responsibility, governments may lack the capacity to address internal displacement, or the political will to respond effectively; and in many cases deliberately trigger internal displacement or at least condone the actions that cause it,” the study says.
“In Sudan, government forces, militia and rebel groups have committed egregious human rights violations, including against those already displaced, and have mounted attacks that have resulted in massive displacement.”
A government’s public acknowledgement of a displacement is a key first step in protecting and assisting IDPs, but is not always forthcoming, the report says, citing the case of Myanmar, where “the government does not acknowledge the existence of conflict-induced displacement”.
In Turkey, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal, the governments “have been reluctant at certain points to highlight the fact that their military operations had displaced large numbers of people or that they had been unable to prevent other armed actors from displacing large numbers of people.”
Collecting detailed data on displacements can play a key role in getting governments to act, said Kate Haiff, who heads the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre at the Norwegian Refugee Council.
“In many situations, governments will not acknowledge displacement is taking place. With core data, with evidence you can open doors. It’s about getting evidence that we have displacement - these are the numbers and these are the issues people are faced with.”
The study recommends that governments make the issue of IDPs a political priority, designate an institutional focal point to provide assistance to IDPs, amend or adopt relevant legislation, devote sufficient funds, support the work of national human rights institutions engaging in IDP issues, ask for international assistance where necessary, and search for durable solutions with the participation of IDPs.
Of the 27.5 million IDPs uprooted by conflict and violence in more than 50 countries as of the end of 2010, 11.1 million were in Africa - including 4.5-5.2 million in Sudan, and 5.4 million in the Americas - mostly in Colombia. In South and Southeast Asia there were more than 3.5 million, in the Middle East, 3.9 million and in Europe and Central Asia 2.5 million. Millions more have been displaced by natural disasters of development projects.
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Ohio IAM Local 1297 Ends Strike, Gets Better Deal
IAM Members of Local 1297, District 54 employed at Vesuvius USA Corporation overwhelmingly ratified a new five-year deal on Friday, September 28, ending the brief, but effective strike. The strike came after members voted unanimously to reject a so-called last, best, and final offer from the employer that made draconian cuts across the board.
The new accord, ratified by a 3-to-1 margin, features a wage increase of nearly two percent over the life of the agreement, and tremendous improvements to the 401(k) savings plan match. The plan will increase to a 7.5 percent match, with a four percent total yearly gross salary match that will also be dropped in their 401(k) plan once a year. On October 1, a $2,000 lump sum drop-in will also be added by the company.
In addition to the 401(k) increases, an Early Retirement Agreement (ERA) was added for employees 61 and over.
The Negotiating Committee also beat back attacks on healthcare, removing a proposed surcharge for spousal coverage. The new contract will go into effect immediately, and the workers reported to work as normal on Monday, October 1.
“The addition of the ERA was a major achievement,” said IAM District 54 President and Directing Business Representative T. Dean Wright Jr. “The Negotiating Committee and the membership stood strong on the issues and the result was one hell of a retirement package for our members. I am extremely proud of what we were able to achieve and my thanks go out to the committee and this membership for their solidarity.”
The 401(k) savings plan is in the top three percent in the country, and as a result, several eligible members took steps immediately Monday to put their retirement in motion. The senior-most member doing so is estimated to receive more than $60,000.
“Workers across this country are saying enough,” said Eastern Territory General Vice President Jimmy Conigliaro Sr. “Nearly 80 percent of working families in America say they are living paycheck to paycheck, and the assault on workers doesn’t end there. Healthcare is being decimated, while costs are on the rise. The dream of a decent, carefree retirement is slipping away. Congratulations go out to PDBR Wright and everyone at Local 1297 for standing together to achieve an agreement that reflects their dedication and hard work.”
The company also called back all workers currently on layoff and plans to hire nearly a dozen more, replacing all members taking the improved retirement.
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https://www.greenwichtime.com/local/article/More-Greenwich-kids-can-play-ball-thanks-to-13786271.php
More Greenwich kids can play ball thanks to sports equipment drive
By Ken Borsuk
Published 4:44 pm EDT, Monday, April 22, 2019
State Rep. Fred Camillo brings a huge haul of donated sports equipment from people all over town to the Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich on Monday, April 22, 2019.
Photo: Ken Borsuk / Hearst Connecticut Media
GREENWICH — As he dropped off new and gently used sports equipment at the Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich on Monday, state Rep. Fred Camillo said it was his most successful drive yet.
The townwide collection drive brought in baseball bats, footballs, basketballs, softballs, helmets, tennis rackets and balls, lacrosse and field hockey sticks and even skateboards, a scooter and golf clubs. So many items were donated that Camillo couldn’t fit it all in his truck. He’ll bring another load this weekend.
“Every kid that wants to play sports should be able to do it. Money should never be an issue,” Camillo said.
The items for the drive — now in its fifth year — came from all over town: He set up collection boxes at Town Hall, the Cos Cob Library and the Greenwich YMCA.
“This response really reaffirms my belief that we live in a very giving town. People do recognize that lots of people from all different walks of life in all different parts of town could use a hand every once in a while,” said Camillo, who is running for the Republican nomination for first selectmen.
Camillo knows the Boys & Girls Club well — he was a member as a kid. And he supports youth athletics in town, working regularly as an umpire at summer Little League baseball games.
“Sports helped me get a lot of different places,” club CEO Bobby Walker Jr. said as he and other club officials organized the donations. “This is the community saying that sports matter and these kids matter and that they’re going to do their part to allow for these kids get different places in sports means so much. We’re really fortunate to live in a community like Greenwich where people that have are willing to help people who don’t.”
The club is working with other organizations in town to get more kids involved in sports. To Walker, it’s all about creating opportunities. He and Camillo agreed on the enormous benefits of playing sports.
“Sports is going to teach you self-respect and respect for others,” said Mike Gerald, an athletic coordinator for the club. “And it teaches you teamwork, which is most important. ... You get that from sports and it translates to the rest of the world. One of the best ways to get to kids and prepare them for the rest of the road is through sports. You can fail this moment and be a hero the very next moment. It’s beautiful.”
Sports can teach kids lessons about winning, losing and fighting on after a setback, Camillo said.
“Sports really teaches you how to compete, how to win, how to lose, how to bounce back, discipline, hard work and teamwork,” he said. “Sports gives kids and example they carry the rest of their lives — and what better place to learn it than the Boys and Girls Club.”
Takea McAlister, the club’s associate development director, thanked the community for the donations. “This is not for us,” she said. “It’s for our community. It’s for our kids.”
Some of the equipment will be used at at the club, and some items will be sent home with the kids. Gerald will drop-off other pieces of the equipment at the town-owned housing complexes at Armstrong Court, Wilbur Peck and Adams Garden.
The goal is to get kids outside and involved with athletics.
“It’s a message we need to get out there more,” Walker said. “If kids in the town of Greenwich, regardless of where they come from, want to play a sport we want to give them the opportunity.”
kborsuk@greenwichtime.com
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Florida Guitar Festival and Competition
Posted By Ebaa Khamas, Wednesday, October 10, 2018
Tallahassee, Florida, October 5-7, 2018
The 4th annual Florida Guitar Festival and Competition was held at the prestigious Florida State University. The event included concerts by William Kanengiser, Daniel Bolshoy, Rafael Padron, 2017 Competition Winner Samuel Hines, and the Freedom High School Guitar Orchestra; as well as the first ever Festival Guitar Orchestra that gave a performance of Sergio Assad’s new work “The Walls” with William Kanengiser as a soloist. The Festival was produced by the Classical Guitar Society at FSU with Ben Lougheed and Cody Switzer serving as co-directors.
Final Results for the Competition:
1st Place: Patricia Hernandez
2nd Place: Angela Hernandez
3rd Place: Thatcher Harrison
Undergraduate Division
1st Place: Aytahn Benavi
2nd Place: Denis Vasenin
3rd Place: Christopher Minami
1st Place: Dragos Ilie
2nd Place: Gonzalo Arias
3rd Place: Agustin Rosado Marquez
Above, are the finalists for the Open Division. They are in the following order left to right: Agustin Rosado Marquez (3rd Place), Dragos Ilie (1st Place), Gonzalo Arias (2nd place).
Robert Ruck Passes Away at 72
Posted By Ebaa Khamas, Friday, August 17, 2018
Updated: Friday, August 17, 2018
It is with great sadness that we mourn the passing of one of the most significant luthiers of his generation, and GFA Hall of Fame honoree Robert Ruck. Ruck received the GFA Hall of Fame Award in 2016 in the category of Industry Leadership. He charmed all that met him with his warmth and extensive knowledge of guitar building. Ruck is best-known for being the builder of virtuoso Manuel Barruecco's exceptional-sounding main instrument, known simply as 'No. 58,' back in 1972, when Ruck had been building guitars for only about six years, which is a testament to his exceptional lutherie. His legacy lives on through the incredible instruments that he built during his lifetime. Ruck was 72.
From Classical Guitar Magazine
http://classicalguitarmagazine.com/noted-luthier-robert-ruck-builder-of-manuel-barruecos-famous-no-58-passes-away-at-72/
Remembering Douglas Smith
After a long illness, Doug Smith died at his home on August 9, 2018. Over the decades, Doug made numerous contributions to the LSA in a variety of roles, most recently as a member of the Board of Directors and both Guest Editor and Interim Editor of the Journal of the Lute Society of America. His contributions to lute scholarship cannot be overstated--the History of the Lute remains the only book of its kind and his work on the music of Silvius Leopold Weiss helped bring baroque lute music into the prominence it enjoys today. Doug was not only a lutenist, but played other instruments and recently finished composing a folk opera, while also spearheading the JLSA issues devoted to the life and work of Patrick O'Brien--two issues have been published, with more to follow.
ASU Hires Guitarist Jiyeon Kim to Faculty
Posted By Connie Sheu, Tuesday, April 17, 2018
Frank Koonce will retire this May after four decades of teaching at the ASU School of Music in the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts. Mr. Koonce joined ASU faculty in 1978. His many accomplishments include his various publications of Bach transcriptions, including the complete Lute Suites, his recording of Platero y Yo, and the building of one of the nation’s long-standing classical guitar programs.
ASU will welcome Jiyeon “Jiji” Kim as assistant professor of guitar in the strings program, beginning in August 2018. “After becoming acquainted with ASU School of Music's vision and the mission of ASU’s innovative agenda, I was drawn to the research in new music and different collaborations from both the faculty and the student body,” said Kim. “I conscientiously pursue artistic endeavors in performance as well as education, so there was an immediate connection to the Herberger Institute.”
Kim, a self-described adventurous artist who is known professionally on both acoustic and electric guitar as “Jiji”, plays an extensive range of music from traditional and contemporary classical music to free improvisation. Her impeccable musicianship, compelling stage presence and fascinating repertoire earned her First Prize at the 2016 Concert Artists Guild International Competition.
Kim holds bachelors degrees in guitar performance from the National University of Arts in Korea, the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Curtis Institute of Music; and a Master of Music degree from the Yale School of Music. A passionate advocate for commissioning and performing contemporary works, she premiered Talking Guitars by renowned composer Paul Lansky, with a subsequent studio recording with Chinese guitarist Hao Yang to be released on Bridge Records. She previously premiered works by emerging composers including Gabriella Smith, Riho Maimets, Krists Auznieks, Gulli Björnsson, Andrew McIntosh, and Farnood Haghani Pour. In addition, the New York Youth Symphony and the American Composers Orchestra commissioned two concertos for her, both premiering at Carnegie Hall in the 2018-19 concert season.
NAfME All-National Honor Ensembles
Posted By Administration, Tuesday, January 16, 2018
Hi Everyone, It's official. Through the hard work of the NAfME Guitar Council, we are going to have the first All-National Honor Guitar Ensemble which will meet and perform in Orlando, FL November 25-28 of this year. Dr. Michael Quantz has been named the conductor of this group and I have accepted the role of ensemble manager. The audition music went online this past Friday. Here's the link: https://nafme.org/programs/all-national-honor-ensembles/ All of the details may be found at the above link. In theory, every state may send one or two students. In reality, some states may not send any and we will need more students from states with strong guitar programs. For now, the goal is to get the word out to high school guitar programs.
Milwaukee Guitar Festival
Posted By Administration, Monday, November 13, 2017
Latino Arts Mission is the core of what any community needs to build a strong foundation. Children are the future and we must provide the opportunities for them to grow and experience life in a way that was not perhaps possible with any of us. The Guitar Festival brings joy and pride to them and the city of Milwaukee!
http://www.latinoartsinc.org/Strings/GuitarFestival.htm
Alexander Frauchi International Guitar Competition Results, Moscow
Winners of the fifth annual international guitar competition:
1. Tengyue Zhang (China) (GFA Rose Augustine Grand Prize winner 2017)
2. Marco Piperno (Italy)
3. Giulia Ballare (Italy)
Diploma: Nikita Nedelko (Russia)
Diploma: Bogdan Mihailescu (Romania)
GFA Seeks New Prodigies Editor
GFA is seeking an editor for Prodigies, the four-page GFA publication for elementary school age guitarists. There are four issues published annually. The content of the magazine includes games, simple music instruction, biographies of guitarists and composers, and pictures of young guitarists. Applicant should have a familiarity with relevant music education methods for young musicians. The editor will be paid a stipend of $500/year. Interested candidates should send a resume by December 1, 2018 to Connie Sheu, General Manager, at csheu@guitarfoundation.org.
Tasks include:
• Creating a theme and a clear narrative for every issue
• Generating ideas, selecting articles for issues, and planning publication content
• Communicating with contributors and Art Director
• Delivery of content to Art Director on a timely production schedule
• Rewriting, editing, and proofreading content to ensure it is ready to print
• Ensuring that all feature articles comply with ethical codes of practice and legal guidelines
Noted Guitar Historian Dies: Harvey Turnbull (1936-2017)
Posted By Administration, Tuesday, November 7, 2017
Article courtesy of Classical Guitar Magazine. Read the whole article here: http://classicalguitarmagazine.com/noted-guitar-historian-dies-harvey-turnbull-1936-2017/
An Appreciation by Graham Wade
Many guitarists around the world will be sad to hear that Harvey Turnbull, author of The Guitar from the Renaissance to the Present Day (published in 1974) and a co-contributor of the entry about the guitar in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, died on October 14, 2017.
The Guitar from the Renaissance to the Present Day followed the publication of various informative books on guitar history, such as Frederic V. Grunfeld’s The Art and Times of the Guitar (1969) and Alexander Bellow’s The Illustrated History of the Guitar (1970). Unlike Grunfeld and Bellow, however, Turnbull decided to begin his history of the guitar with “the Renaissance as a starting point, as it is only at this period that one can consider the guitar in relation to its music.” His aim, he wrote, was to ensure that “the guitar will cease to be regarded with surprise or wonder and finally become accepted as playing a normal part in the world of music.”
Turnbull’s approach was innovative, presenting a book with precise scholarly intent and no frills. He concentrated his research on period instruments in museums which could be literally measured and evaluated. This was then matched with appropriate commentary on the music available for those instruments. Thus, The Guitar from the Renaissance to the Present Day opened the way to a more objective approach to guitar scholarship, a methodology which set a precedent to enable subsequent scholars to explore the entirety of guitar history in astonishing detail.
Guitar Ensemble Composition Competition
Posted By Administration, Monday, November 6, 2017
Austin Classical Guitar is pleased to announce the 12th annual Guitar Ensemble Composition Competition. The goal of this contest is to encourage high quality new music for young and preprofessional guitar ensembles. The competition is open to composers of all ages who reside in the United States. The award is $500 and the selected piece will be performed by approximately 100 guitarists at the ACG Fest in Austin, TX on April 28, 2018 1. Prize - $500 and premiere of the winning work at ACG’s annual ensemble festival in April 2. Eligibility • US-based composers only • No age restrictions • Composers may submit multiple works (Additional fee for each entry) 3. Guidelines • In 4 parts for standard 6-string classical guitar (Divisi is acceptable) • Approximately 4-6 minutes in duration - multiple movements allowed • Standard tuning and scordatura of 6th string to D acceptable • Work must be unpublished and not previously performed in public • Work must be playable by beginning/intermediate level ensembles - We are searching for pieces for young and/or pre-professional groups that balance musical integrity and technical demands. -For reference: recent winning entries were: November Blues by Mark Anthony Cruz www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7ctGkIu598 Fugata Y Danza by Carlos Rios www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPs4BzMaZvU 4. Application Fee - $25 per submission - make checks payable to: ACG or pay online at: www.austinclassicalguitar.org/online-payment-form 5. What to Submit • (1) cover letter including: Name, address, telephone, and email address • (1) CD recording of the entry (emailed MP3 and midi-generated recordings acceptable) • (1) copy of full score and each part (4) (may be emailed as PDF) -Scores and parts must be anonymous; they may not contain anything allowing identification of the composer. 6. Application Deadline – Postmarked by January 10, 2018 Email materials to Info@AustinClassicalGuitar.org or mail physical applications to: Austin Classical Guitar 5900 Balcones Dr., Ste 240 Austin, TX 78731 Entries will be judged anonymously by Austin Classical Guitar with consideration not only of compositional integrity but playability and practicality of performance. The winner will be announced by email to all contestants by January 31st, 2018. The winning entry will be premiered at the finale of the ACG Fest in Austin, TX on April 28th, 2018. The work will be performed by all of the participants in the festival (approximately 100 guitarists). The composer of the winning composition is encouraged to be present at ACG Fest to receive a $500 prize following the premiere of the work at the finale. The prize will not be divided. The decision of Austin Classical Guitar will be final. Austin Classical Guitar makes no claims on any of the entered compositions beyond the right to premiere the winning composition, and to make non-commercial audio/visual recordings for archival and publicity purposes. Scores and recordings will not be returned. Submission of an application to participate in the competition confirms that the contestants unconditionally accept all the rules as established in this announcement.
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LG unveils smart home robots, Wi-Fi appliances, an...
LG unveils smart home robots, Wi-Fi appliances, and ultra-thin TV
The company wants to make customers' homes smarter
Blair Hanley Frank (IDG News Service) on 05 January, 2017 05:31
LG kicked off the second press day of the Consumer Electronics Show on Wednesday with a 45-minute keynote featuring robots, consumer appliances, and more products. Here are the biggest announcements that the company made:
AI Comes to the home
One of the first announcements LG made Wednesday was that all of its appliances going forward will be Wi-Fi enabled. The aim is to connect them to the company’s DeepThinq artificial intelligence features.
The connection means that the appliances will be able to improve their performance for individual users over time based on the data gathered through their use.
For example, the company’s robotic vacuum cleaner will learn what obstacles look like and how to avoid them, and its washing machines will automatically adjust their wash cycles to match water conditions.
The LG Hub Robot and Hub Robot Mini sit on a pedestal at the company's press event at CES in Las Vegas on Jan. 4, 2017.
Robots for the home and business
The company also launched a new Hub Robot, which is meant to serve as a smart home hub and virtual assistant. It sports a body that can bob around as it responds to users' questions, along with a screen that can display facial expressions or even video. One of its key benefits over other hubs like the Amazon Echo or Google Home is that it's able to link into LG's new smart appliances.
Users can ask the LG Hub to do things like delay the start of a load of laundry. The robots will also use the company's SmartLinq AI technology to automate home tasks like scheduling a robot vacuum cleaner to run when people leave home.
It can also perform more standard tasks, like picking out music for users to listen to. The Hub Robot features a camera that can recognize users and give each of them different greetings.
The company is also taking the robot vacuum cleaner concept to the backyard with a new robotic lawnmower, which is supposed to work much like the autonomous indoor cleaners that have become increasingly popular. LG is far from the first player in that market — John Deere, Husqvarna, Worx, and Robomow all offer competing products.
For the business setting, the company unveiled the Airport Guide Robot, which — as the name implies — is built to show users around an airport. It’s built to do things like let users insert their boarding passes and get directions to their gate from a friendly looking robot.
LG also launched an Airport Cleaning Robot which, well, does exactly what its name implies.
What's interesting is that LG has also been working with Amazon to integrate the online retailer's Alexa assistant into its new Smart InstaView Door-in-Door refrigerator, so that users can do things like get answers to questions and order groceries from Amazon. However, these robots don't use Alexa to underpin their intelligence.
On top of all that, the company is also working on security and senior care robots, which would put it in competition with a variety of other players in the space.
HDTV, wallpaper-style
In LG's continuing quest to compete with TV makers for consumer dollars, the company launched a new line of ultra-thin televisions built to blend into a customer's wall.
The new LG Signature OLED TV W-series sports a super thin display panel that's designed to sit only a few millimeters away from the wall it's mounted on, while still showing a high-quality picture. All of this is made possible because of OLED technology, which doesn't require backlighting to work.
The 65-inch W7 TV is just 2.57 millimeters deep and is built to be attached directly to a wall using magnetic brackets. The company will also offer a 77-inch W7 TV. The display panel is then connected using a proprietary cable to a large sound bar that also serves as a hub for connecting devices like cable boxes and media players to the TV.
LG hasn’t disclosed pricing for the new TVs yet, but they're likely going to cost a pretty penny.
There's still plenty more news to come from CES, with several chipmakers, electronics manufacturers, and carmakers still to present their announcements. Stay tuned.
Tags CES 2017
Blair Hanley Frank
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Gotham History Festival
The Gotham Center, in cooperation with virtually every history-oriented institution in town, is proud to announce a citywide celebration of New York City's magnificent historical resources. This jamboree of over 100 panels, roundtables, exhibits, film screenings and a book fair, was held at The Graduate Center, CUNY, in the magnificent old B. Altman Building on Fifth Avenue and 34th Street. The festival began with a free weekend conference, from October 5-7, exploring the city's past and its relation to the present.
We are currently digitizing these recordings as part of a larger institutional archiving project.
The full cache - over 100 events! - will be available soon.
See below for conference papers.
The conference kicked off Friday, Oct. 5 at 7:00 PM with a screening of New York: A Documentary Film, and continued on Saturday and Sunday with over 100 roundtables and discussions.
New York: A Documentary Film with Ric Burns: Friday, October 5th, 7-9 p.m
Conference panels: Saturday, October 6th, 9:30 a.m. - 5:45 p.m.
Gangs of New York with Martin Scorsese: Saturday, October 6th, 7 - 9 p.m.
Conference panels: Sunday, October 7th, 9:30 a.m. - 5:45 p.m.
Bethesda Fountain to Sheridan Square: Gays and Lesbians in New York's Visual Arts, 1900-1940
James M. Saslow
History and the Media
Barbara Abrash
The Port of New York in the Age of Global Intermodalism
Arthur Donovan
Community Organizing for School Reform: The Question of Parent Agency Past and Present
Eric Zachary and Shola Olatoye
The Garbage Behind, the Garbage Ahead
Benjamin Miller
New York City: 1945 - September 11, 2001 and Beyond
Frank Branconi
Coney Island and the Evolution of Film Culture in New York City
Brian Gallagher
Lost World of U.S. Labor Education: Curricula at East and West Coast Community Schools, 1944-1957
Marvin Gettleman
Reframing Local Environmental Conflict: Body, Place and Protest
Dolores Greenberg
Interview with Jim McKay, creator of Our Song
Conducted by Leonard Quart
New World Symphony: Dvorak in New York and Boston
Joseph Horowitz
The Water Supply of New York City
Gerard Koeppel
Containerization's First "Tipping Point": The Fall of the New York Port, 1965-1975
Stephen G. Marshall, Esq.
Rockefeller's Vietnam'? Black Politics and Urban Development in Harlem, 1969-1974
Peter Siskind
The Ocean Hill-Brownsville Crisis: New York's Antigone
Jerald E. Podair
"Drive Awhile for Freedom": Brooklyn CORE and the 1964 World's Fair "Stall-In"
Brian J. Purnell
Life on the Farm - Excavating Kings County's Rural Past: the Hendrick I. Lott Farmstead Archaeological Project
Christopher Ricciardi
Mediating Change: Symbolic Politics and the Transformation of Times Square
Lynne B. Sagalyn
The Symbol and Reality of Finance
Rosemary Scanlon
The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire of 1911:Tragedy and Meaning in Sweatshop New York
Robert W. Whalen
Events Around Town
Then the Festival moved out into the city where participating institutions all around town — museums and historical societies, archives and libraries, schools and colleges, preservation groups, neighborhood organizations and walking tour companies — are sponsoring over a hundred events (many of them also free), including walks, talks, screenings and exhibitions, in all five boroughs.
Sponsors and Staff
The Gotham History Festival has been made possible by mighty labor and generous financial support. Click here for a list.
Special thanks to the Book Fair — and the hard work of those who manned the booths — the work of many conference panelists was readily available for browsing or purchase (usually at a discount), enabling a more complete encounter with New York's past. The following publishers and booksellers helped make the Conference a success: Columbia University Press, New York University Press, Fordham University Press, Oxford University Press, Johns Hopkins University Press, Harvard University Press, Yale University Press, Cornell University Press, Queens Historical Society, Round Hill Books, Syracuse University Press and Random House. Special thanks to Urban Center Books for their efforts to make the works of conference participants available to the public.
A list of special projects
the Gotham Center has initiated over the years.
Click on the posts to get a full description, with reading material, links, audio, and video.
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Scottish Health Survey 2015 volume one: main report
Findings and trends of the Scottish Health Survey 2015, providing information on the health of people living in Scotland.
Tables for Chapter 4: Alcohol (XLS 75.8 kB )
Tables for Chapter 5: Smoking (XLS 137.7 kB )
Tables for Chapter 6: Diet (XLS 96.3 kB )
Tables for Chapter 8: Obesity (XLS 126.0 kB )
Tables for Chapter 3: Dental Health (XLS 45.6 kB )
Tables for Chapter 7: Physical Activity (XLS 68.6 kB )
Tables for Chapter 10: Injuries / Accidents (XLS 43.5 kB )
Tables for Chapter 1: Mental Health and Wellbeing (XLS 88.1 kB )
Tables for Chapter 9: Cardiovascular Conditions and Diabetes (XLS 75.3 kB )
Tables for Chapter 2: General Health and Multiple Conditions (XLS 53.2 kB )
5 Smoking
1 Mental Health And Wellbeing
Table 1.3 Child (13-15) WEMWBS mean scores, 2012-2015 combined, by age and sex
Table 1.4 Child (13-15) WEMWBS mean scores, 2012-2015 combined, by area deprivation and sex
Table 1.5 CIS-R anxiety and depression scores, attempted suicide and deliberate self-harm, 2008/2009 combined to
Table 1.6 CIS-R anxiety and depression scores, attempted suicide and deliberate self-harm, 2012-2015 combined, by age and sex
Table 1.7 CIS-R anxiety and depression scores, attempted suicide and deliberate self-harm, age-standardised, 2014/2015
Table 1.8 Children's strength and difficulties scores, 2003 to 2014/2015 combined
Table 1.9 Children's strengths and difficulties scores, 2012-2015 combined, by age and sex
Table 1.10 Children's total difficulties scores, 2012-2015 combined, by area deprivation
2 General Health And Multiple Conditions
Table 2.2 Child self-assessed general health, 2014/2015 combined, by age and sex
Table 2.3 Prevalence of multiple conditions in adults, 2012-2015 combined, by age and sex
Table 2.4 Prevalence of multiple conditions in adults, age-standardised, 2012-2015
Table 2.5 Symptoms of distress (using GHQ12), age-standardised, 2012-2015 combined, by presence of physical conditions and sex
Table 2.6 Symptoms of distress (using GHQ12), age-standardised, 2012-2015 combined, by presence of physical conditions and area deprivation
3 Dental Health
Table 3.1 Number of natural teeth and percentage with no natural teeth, 1995 to 2015, by sex
Table 3.3 Daily actions taken by people with some natural teeth to improve dental health, 2013/2015 combined, by age and sex
4 Alcohol
Table 4.1 Estimated usual weekly alcohol consumption level (revised guidelines), 2003 to 2015
Table 4.3 Number of days on which drank alcohol in the past week, 2003 to 2015
Table 4.4 Estimated usual weekly alcohol consumption level (revised guidelines), 2015, by age and sex
Table 4.5 Estimated usual weekly alcohol consumption level (revised guidelines), age-standardised, 2015, by household income
Table 4.6 Units consumed on heaviest drinking day, 2015, by age and sex
Table 4.7 Number of days on which drank alcohol in the past week, 2015, by age and sex
Table 5.4 E-cigarette use, 2014 and 2015, by age and sex
Table 5.5 Non-smokers' exposure to second-hand smoke, 1998 to 2015
Table 5.7 Saliva cotinine levels among self-reported cotinine validated non-smokers, 2003 to 2014/2015 combined
6 Diet
Table 6.4 Child fruit and vegetable consumption, 2015, by age and sex
Table 6.5 Child fruit and vegetable consumption, 2012-2015 combined, by parental fruit and vegetable consumption and sex
Table 6.6 Urinary sodium (Na), potassium (K) and creatinine (Cre), Na/Cre ratio, K/Cre ratio, 2003 to 2014/2015
Table 6.7 Urinary sodium (Na), potassium (K) and creatinine (Cre), Na/Cre ratio, K/Cre ratio, 2014/2015, by age and sex
Table 6.8 Adult consumption of vitamin or mineral supplements, 2015, by age and sex
Table 6.9 Child consumption of vitamin or mineral supplements, 2015, by age and sex
7 Physical Activity
Table 7.2 Adherence to muscle strengthening and MVPA guidelines, adults, 2015, by age and sex
Table 7.3 Adults' sedentary time, 2015, by age and sex
Table 7.4 Proportion of children meeting physical activity guideline, (including and excluding activity at school), 1998 to 2015
Table 7.5 Children's summary physical activity levelsa (including activity at school), 2012-2015 combined, by parental physical activityb, and sex of child
Table 7.6 Proportion of children participating in sport, 1998 to 2015
Table 7.7 Children's sedentary time, 2015, by age and sex
8 Obesity
Table 8.7 Children's BMI, 2012-2015 combined, by parental BMI and sex
9 Cardiovascular Conditions And Diabetes
Table 9.1 Any CVD, doctor-diagnosed diabetes, any CVD or diabetes, IHD, stroke, IHD or stroke, 1995 to 2015
Table 9.3 Blood pressure level, 2014/2015 combined, by age and sex
Table 9.5 Comparison of doctor-diagnosed with survey-defined hypertension, 2014/2015 combined, by age and sex
Table 9.6 Detection and treatment of hypertension, 2014/2015 combined, by age and sex
10 Injuries / Accidents
Table 10.1 Prevalence of accidents among adults, 1998 to 2013/2015 combined, by age and sex
Table 10.2 Prevalence of accidents among children, 1998 to 2013/2015 combined, by age and sex
Table 10.3 Causes of accidents, 2013/2015 combined, by age and sex
Appendix A: Glossary
Linsay Gray and Alastair H Leyland
Self-reported smoking levels for adults in 2015 have decreased significantly from 28% in 2003 to 21% in 2015.
When adjusted for cotinine levels, prevalence among all adults for 2014/2015 was 25%.
The mean number of cigarettes smoked per day by adults smokers decreased from 15.3 in 2003 to 12.6 in 2015.
A significantly higher mean number of cigarettes were smoked by male smokers (13.9 per day) than female smokers (11.3).
Levels of current e-cigarette usage among adults increased significantly from 5% in 2014 to 7% in 2015.
Current e-cigarette usage was at comparable levels in 2015 for men (6%) and women (7%), but higher for those aged 25-64 (7-9%) than other age groups.
Younger adults were much more likely to have ever tried e-cigarettes than older ones (22-26% of those aged 16-34, compared with 4-10% of those aged 65 and over).
There was a significant decrease from 2014 to 2015 in the proportion of children who were exposed to second-hand smoke in the home (11% to 6%).
There was also a significant decrease from 2014 to 2015 in the proportion of children who lived in accommodation where someone smoked inside (16% to 12%).
The proportion of non-smokers aged 16 and over who said they'd been exposed to second-hand smoke in their own or other people's homes declined from 25% in 2003 to 12% in 2015 and was significantly higher in 2015 for women (14%) than men (11%).
Nationally [1] and globally [2] , tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable poor health and premature mortality, each year killing around 6 million people and costing over half a trillion dollars worldwide [3] . In Scotland alone, tobacco use is associated with around 10,000 deaths (around a fifth of all deaths) [4] .
5.1.1 Policy background
Several of the Scottish Government's National Indicators are relevant to smoking [5] . In addition to the specific indicator to reduce the proportion of adults who are current smokers (measured using SHeS data), there are more general related indicators on, for example, reducing premature mortality and reducing emergency admissions to hospital [6] .
The Tobacco Control Strategy [7] lays out the Scottish Government's vision to create a 'tobacco-free generation' (defined as 'a smoking prevalence among the adult population of 5% or lower') by the year 2034. Actions arising from the strategy are structured around the themes of prevention, protection and cessation. Smoking cessation interventions, including pharmacotherapy, are among the most cost-effective health care interventions available [8] .
The Health (Tobacco, Nicotine etc. and Care) (Scotland) Bill was passed at Stage 3 in March 2016. The Bill introduces the following provisions:
the introduction of a minimum age of 18 for the sale of Nicotine Vapour Products ( NVPs).
a prohibition on the sale of NVPs from vending machines.
a ban on the purchase of NVPs on behalf of an under 18 - 'proxy purchase'.
the introduction of mandatory registration for the sale of NVPs.
bans on certain forms of domestic advertising and promotion of NVPs.
the introduction of an age verification policy for sales of tobacco and NVPs by under 18s ('Challenge 25').
a ban on unauthorised sales of tobacco and NVPs by under 18s.
the introduction of statutory smoke-free perimeters around buildings on NHS hospital sites.
The NHS Local Delivery Plan ( LDP) Standards require NHS Boards to sustain and embed successful smoking quits at twelve weeks post quit, in the 40% most deprived SIMD areas (60% in the Island Boards) [9] .
5.1.2 Reporting on smoking in the Scottish Health Survey ( SHeS)
Reliable data on smoking behaviour, cessation, NRT use and exposure to second-hand smoke are vital to effective monitoring of trends relevant to the various targets in place. This chapter presents figures for prevalence of cigarette smoking (including adjustment for saliva cotinine), e-cigarette use and exposure to second-hand smoke.
From 2014, SHeS has gathered information on the use of e-cigarettes among the Scottish adult population, in response to their increased availability and high profile.
5.1.3 Comparability with other UK statistics
The Health Survey for England, Health Survey for Northern Ireland and Welsh Health Survey provide estimates of smoking prevalence in the other home nations within the UK. The surveys are conducted separately and have different sampling methodologies, so smoking prevalence estimates across the surveys are only partially comparable[10]. Smoking prevalence estimates from the UK-wide Integrated Household Survey for Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland have been deemed to be fully comparable.
5.2 Methods And Definitions
5.2.1 Methods of collecting data on smoking behaviour
Adults aged 20 and over were asked about their smoking behaviour during the face to face interview. For those aged 16 and 17, information was collected in a self-completion questionnaire offering more privacy and reducing the likelihood of concealing behaviour in front of other household members. At the interviewer's discretion those aged 18 and 19 could answer the questions either face to face or via the self-completion booklet.
5.2.2 Questions on smoking behaviour
Questions on smoking have been included in SHeS since 1995. Some small changes were made to the questions in 2008 and 2012. These are outlined in the relevant annual reports [11,12] .
The current questions in the survey focus on:
current smoking status
frequency and pattern of current smoking
the number of cigarettes smoked by current smokers
ex-smokers' previous smoking history
exposure to second-hand smoke
past smoking behaviour
quit attempts and desire to give up smoking
medical advice on giving up smoking
NRT use
e-cigarette use (including as part of a quit attempt)
While the self-completion questions were largely similar to those asked in the face to face interview, the self-completion questionnaire did exclude questions on: past smoking behaviour, desire to give up smoking and medical advice to stop smoking.
5.2.3 Definitions
Cigarette smoking status
Information on cigar and pipe use is collected in the survey but as prevalence is low these are not considered in the definition of current smoking. Smoking status categories reported here are:
current cigarette smoker
ex-regular cigarette smoker
never regular cigarette smoker
never smoked cigarettes at all
Cotinine adjusted smoking status
The saliva cotinine adjustment adjusts the original self-reported cigarette smoking levels by including those with cotinine levels in their saliva above 12ng/ml in saliva, with this indicating that the individual is using nicotine either from tobacco, e-cigarettes or NRT. For self-reported non-smokers this therefore indicates exposure beyond what would be expected from contact with second-hand cigarette smoke and hence suggests misreporting of smoking behaviour in the main interview. Those who stated that they used either e-cigarettes or NRT products but did not currently smoke were excluded from the calculation of smoking prevalence estimates in Table 5.3 (showing figures both adjusted for saliva cotinine and unadjusted). This is as it was not possible to tell whether any raised cotinine levels among this group were due to the e-cigarettes and NRT products alone, or additionally to unreported smoking.
Children's exposure to second-hand smoke
Children's (age 0-15) exposure to second-hand smoke is measured in two ways in the survey:
whether there is someone who regularly smokes inside the accommodation where the child lives, and
parents' and older children's (aged 13-15) reports of whether children are exposed to smoke at home.
5.3 Cigarette Smoking Status
5.3.1 Trends in cigarette smoking status since 1995
Table 5.1 presents, for 1995 to 2015, the breakdown by sex for each of the self-reported cigarette smoking status groups for all adults aged 16 and over and the mean number of cigarettes smoked daily by adult smokers. Due to changes to the age range of the sample, data are presented for all adults aged 16 and over since 2003 along with data for individuals aged 16-64 from 1995.
The current smoking level for all adults aged 16 and over dropped significantly from 28% in 2003 to 21% in 2015. There was no significant change in the most recent time periods, with current smoking prevalence at levels ranging from 21-22% from 2013 to 2015. Figures for adults aged 16-64 showed a significant decline in current smoking levels from 35% in 1995 to 31% in 2003, with there then being a further significant decline to 23% in 2015.
The proportion of adults aged 16 and over who had never smoked, or had never smoked regularly increased from 50% in 2003 to 55% in 2011; since then, the figures have remained almost static at 54-55% (54% in 2015). The proportion of all adults identifying as ex-regular smokers increased significantly between 2003 (22%) and 2015 (25%). The trends in adult smoking status were similar for men and women.
There was a significant decrease over time in the mean number of cigarettes smoked per day for current adult smokers aged 16 and over, from 15.3 cigarettes in 2003 to 12.6 cigarettes in 2015. Mean figures for adults aged 16-64 suggest that this trend began earlier, with a decrease from 16.7 cigarettes in 1995 to 15.3 in 2003, with a subsequent significant decrease taking this to 12.3 in 2015. The decrease for adults aged 16 and over was seen for both male smokers (15.9 cigarettes per day in 2003 to 13.9 in 2015) and female smokers (14.7 cigarettes and 11.3 respectively).
Figure 5A, Table 5.1
5.3.2 Cigarette smoking status in 2015
Figure 5B, Figure 5C and Table 5.2 show the data on self-reported cigarette smoking status for all adults aged 16 and over in 2015 by age and sex. Just over one in five (21%) adults reported that they were current smokers in 2015, with no significant difference between men (22%) and women (20%). The rest comprised of 25% adults who used to smoke regularly and 54% who reported that they had either never smoked at all, or used to smoke, but not regularly. Men were significantly more likely than women to be ex-regular smokers (27% compared with 23%) and less likely to be never/never regular smokers (51% compared with 57%).
There were clear differences in cigarette smoking status by age in 2015, as noted in previous Scottish Health Survey reports [13] . Self-reported current smoking prevalence in 2015 was highest among those aged 25-54 (24-26%), lower among those aged 16-24 (21%) and those aged 55-74 (15-21%) and lowest among those aged 75 and over (8%). Similar patterns were seen for both sexes, with both having lowest current smoking prevalence among those aged 75 and over (9% for men, 8% for women).
The proportion of people identifying as ex-regular smokers in 2015 was lowest for the youngest age group (6% for those aged 16-24) and highest for the older adults (37-40% for those aged 65 and over). The youngest age group were most likely to have never smoked or have never smoked regularly (73% for those aged 16-24 compared with 48-54% of those aged 25 and over). These patterns generally held for both men and women, although a significantly higher proportion of women aged 75 and over than men in the same age group had never smoked or never smoked regularly (59% compared with 40%) and a lower proportion were ex-regular smokers (33% compared with 52% respectively).
The mean number of cigarettes smoked per day per adult smoker in 2015 is also shown in Table 5.2. The overall mean for all adults in 2015 was 12.6 cigarettes, but levels were significantly higher for male (13.9 cigarettes) than female smokers (11.3 cigarettes). Younger smokers smoked the fewest cigarettes on average per day (10.5-11.4 cigarettes for smokers aged 16-44) with higher average numbers for those aged 45-74 (between 13.8 and 15.5 cigarettes). The pattern of numbers of cigarettes consumed across age groups was similar for male and female smokers.
Figure 5B, Figure 5C, Table 5.2
5.3.3 Cotinine-adjusted cigarette smoking status in 2014/2015 (combined)
The calculation of cotinine-adjusted cigarette smoking status is discussed in Section 5.2.3. As the sample for this section (the sub-sample of participants who participated in the biological module and provided a valid saliva sample) is reduced relative to the entire survey sample, the figures presented here are based on data from both the 2014 and 2015 surveys combined and, as a result, differ to those presented in Table 5.2.
For both men and women aged 16 and over in 2014/2015, just over a fifth (22%) self-reported as current cigarette smokers. When adjusted for cotinine levels, prevalence rose to 25% for all adults (26% for men and 24% for women). The gap of three percentage points at a total level (four percentage points for men and two percentage points for women) between self-reported smoking status and the cotinine-adjusted smoking prevalence is consistent with previously reported SHeS findings (gaps of four, five and three percentage points respectively in 2012/2013) [14] .
5.4 E-Cigarette Use
Figure 5D, Figure 5E and Table 5.4 show data on use of e-cigarettes among adults aged 16 and over separately for 2014 and 2015, by age and sex. In 2015, 7% of adults aged 16 and over were currently using e-cigarettes with a further 11% having previously used them and 83% never having used them. There was a significant increase from 2014 in the proportion of current users (7% in 2015 compared with 5% in 2014), no significant difference in the proportion having previously used e-cigarettes (11% compared with 10%), and a significant decrease in those having never used them (83% compared with 85%).
Usage patterns did not vary by sex in 2015, with there being no significant difference in the proportions that currently use (6% for men compared with 7% for women), previously used (12% compared with 10%) or never used e-cigarettes (82% compared with 83%). E-cigarette use in 2015 did vary with age. The prevalence of current use of e-cigarettes in 2015 was highest among the middle age groups (7-9% among those aged 25-64) and lower for the youngest (4% among individuals aged 16-24) and older adults (2-4% for those aged 65 and over). Similar patterns were seen for both men and women.
Past/current usage showed a strong association with age. Around a quarter of those aged 16-34 had ever tried or were currently using e-cigarettes (22-26%) compared with one in ten of those aged 65-74 (10%) and less than one in twenty of those aged 75 and over (4%). For those aged 45 and over, roughly half of those who had ever used e-cigarettes (4-18%) were still using them (2-9%). Of those aged 16-24 around a fifth of those who had ever used e-cigarettes (22%) were currently using them (4%).
Figure 5D, Figure 5E, Table 5.4
5.5 Trends In Exposure To Second-Hand Smoke
5.5.1 Non-smokers' exposure to second-hand smoke since 1998
Adult participants who self-reported as non-smoking have been asked since 1998 about their exposure to second-hand smoke in a range of public and private settings. As previously reported in SHeS [14] , exposure to second-hand smoke had fallen markedly since the introduction of the ban on smoking in public places in 2006. Questionnaire changes introduced in 2012 mean that some trends can no longer be reported across the series (see footnotes to Table 5.5; trend figures for the period up to 2011 are available in Table 5.6 of the 2011 report) [15] .
Table 5.5 gives non-smokers' self-reported exposure to smoke in a range of locations, since 1998 by sex. The 1998 survey includes adults aged 16-74 only, with the following discussion of trends concentrating primarily on the trend for all adults aged 16 and over from 2003.
The proportion of non-smokers aged 16 and over reporting being exposed to second-hand smoke in their own or other people's homes has dropped from 25% in 2003 to 12% in 2015, with data for those aged 16-74 suggesting this trend began earlier (declining from 33% in 1998 to 27% in 2003, and then to 13% in 2015). Non-smoking women were significantly more likely to have been exposed to second-hand smoke in their own or other people's home than non-smoking men in 2015 (14% compared with 11%).
Data on second-hand smoke exposure in any public place in 2015 is only comparable with data collected since 2012 due to changes in definitions (see footnotes to Table 5.5). Under the definition used in recent years, the percentage of adult non-smokers aged 16 and over exposed in any public place was 16% in 2015, with little change since 2012 (between 16% and 18%). Figures for men and women in 2015 were identical (both 16%).
Non-smokers' were asked to state their exposure to second-hand smoke in their or other people's homes, at work, outside buildings, in cars/vans and in other public places, with this data being collected from 2012 onwards. Whereas in each of 2012, 2013 and 2014 70% of non-smokers said they had not been exposed to smoke at any of these places, this rose significantly to 74% in 2015, with identical figures for both men and women (74% each).
5.5.2 Children's exposure to second-hand smoke since 2012
The two measures of children's exposure to smoke at home - whether there is someone who regularly smokes inside the accommodation where the child lives, and parents' and older children's (aged 13-15) reports of whether children aged 0-15 are exposed to smoke at home - are presented for 2012 to 2015 in Figure 5F and Table 5.6.
In 2015, 12% of children lived in accommodation in which someone smoked inside, with no statistically significant difference by sex (12% of boys and 11% of girls). The 2015 figure for all children represented a significant decrease on all previous survey years (19% in 2012, 16% in 2013 and 2014). The same pattern of statistically significant decreases was seen for both boys and girls.
A lower proportion of children (6%) was reported to be exposed to second-hand smoke in their home in 2015 than in 2012 (12%), and 2013 and 2014 (11% in both years). Again, there was a comparable pattern of a statistically significant decrease for both boys and girls. The data show that the target to reduce the percentage of children exposed to smoke at home to 6% by 2020 has been met by 2015. This figure (and the others in this section) will be examined in future years to assess whether this result is an outlier.
Figure 5F, Table 5.6
5.5.3 Saliva cotinine levels among self-reported cotinine validated non-smokers since 2003
The geometric mean [16] cotinine levels of non-smokers aged 16 and over since 2003 are presented by sex in Table 5.7. To be included here, self-reported non-smokers had to have a cotinine level below 12ng/ml (higher levels would suggest that these were smokers who misreported their behaviour in the interview). Geometric means have been used rather than arithmetic means as they take into account extreme values arising from the skewed distribution of data for non-smokers (the glossary at the end of this volume contains more details of these terms).
Adult non-smokers' geometric mean cotinine levels reduced significantly from 0.40 ng/ml in 2003 to 0.11 ng/ml in 2008/2009. A further small, but significant decrease has occurred since, with non-smokers' mean cotinine levels reaching 0.09 ng/ml in 2014/2015. There were no significant differences between men and women, with both having a similar geometric mean cotinine level in 2015 (0.09 ng/ml for men compared with 0.08 ng/ml for women).
Email: Julie Landsberg, julie.landsberg@gov.scot
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As a wing moves through the air, the wing is inclined to the flight direction at some angle. The angle between the chord line and the flight direction is called the angle of attack and has a large effect on the lift generated by a wing. When an airplane takes off, the pilot applies as much thrust as possible to make the airplane roll along the runway. But just before lifting off, the pilot "rotates" the aircraft. The nose of the airplane rises, increasing the angle of attack and producing the increased lift needed for takeoff.
The magnitude of the lift generated by an object depends on the shape of the object and how it moves through the air. For thin airfoils, the lift is directly proportional to the angle of attack for small angles (within +/- 10 degrees). For higher angles, however, the dependence is quite complex. As an object moves through the air, air molecules stick to the surface. This creates a layer of air near the surface called a boundary layer that, in effect, changes the shape of the object. The flow turning reacts to the edge of the boundary layer just as it would to the physical surface of the object. To make things more confusing, the boundary layer may lift off or "separate" from the body and create an effective shape much different from the physical shape. The separation of the boundary layer explains why aircraft wings will abruptly lose lift at high angles to the flow. This condition is called a wing stall.
On the slide shown above, the flow conditions for two airfoils are shown on the left. The shape of the two foils is the same. The lower foil is inclined at ten degrees to the incoming flow, while the upper foil is inclined at twenty degrees. On the upper foil, the boundary layer has separated and the wing is stalled. Predicting the stall point (the angle at which the wing stalls) is very difficult mathematically. Engineers usually rely on wind tunnel tests to determine the stall point. But the test must be done very carefully, matching all the important similarity parameters of the actual flight hardware.
The plot at the right of the figure shows how the lift varies with angle of attack for a typical thin airfoil. At low angles, the lift is nearly linear. Notice on this plot that at zero angle a small amount of lift is generated because of the airfoil shape. If the airfoil had been symmetric, the lift would be zero at zero angle of attack. At the right of the curve, the lift changes rather abruptly and the curve stops. In reality, you can set the airfoil at any angle you want. However, once the wing stalls, the flow becomes highly unsteady, and the value of the lift can change rapidly with time. Because it is so hard to measure such flow conditions, engineers usually leave the plot blank beyond wing stall.
Since the amount of lift generated at zero angle and the location of the stall point must usually be determined experimentally, aerodynamicists include the effects of inclination in the lift coefficient. For some simple examples, the lift coefficient can be determined mathematically. For thin airfoils at subsonic speed, and small angle of attack, the lift coefficient Cl is given by:
Cl = 2 * pi * a
where pi is 3.1415, and a is the angle of attack expressed in radians:
pi radians = 180 degrees
Aerodynamicists rely on wind tunnel testing and very sophisticated computer analysis to determine the lift coefficient.
Let's investigate the dependence of lift on angle of attack using a Java simulator which solves the fluid equations of motion.
Due to IT security concerns, many users are currently experiencing problems running NASA Glenn educational applets. The applets are slowly being updated, but it is a lengthy process. If you are familiar with Java Runtime Environments (JRE), you may want to try downloading the applet and running it on an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) such as Netbeans or Eclipse. The following are tutorials for running Java applets on either IDE:
This page shows an interactive Java applet with flow past a airfoil. There is a plotter and the calculated lift is displayed.
As an experiment, set the angle to 5.0 degrees and note the amount of lift. Now increase the angle to 10 degrees. Did the lift increase or decrease? Increase the angle again to 15 degrees. What do you notice in the view window? Set the angle to 0 degrees. Is there any lift? What does this tell you about the shape of the airfoil? Find the angle for which there is no lift.
You can download your own copy of the program to run off-line by clicking on this button:
You can further investigate the effect of angle of attack and the other factors affecting lift by using the FoilSim III Java Applet. You can also download your own copy of FoilSim to play with for free.
Factors that Affect Lift:
Stabilators:
Last Updated: Apr 05 2018
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Home Research > Members > 1558-1603 > TATE, Francis (1560-1616)
TATE, Francis (1560-1616), of Delapré, Northants.
Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603, ed. P.W. Hasler, 1981
b. 1560, 2nd s. of Bartholomew Tate by his 2nd w. and bro. of William. educ. Magdalen Hall, Oxf. 1577; Staple Inn bef. 1579; M. Temple 1579, called 1587. unm.
Member, Antiq. Soc. 1591.
Of counsel to Northampton; j.p. Brec., Glam., Rad. 1604; justice of assize Brec. circuit 1604; Lent reader M. Temple 1608, treasurer 1615.1
Tate and his brother William entered the Middle Temple together under the auspices of their uncle Robert Tanfield, a prominent member and later treasurer of the inn. William was there to finish a gentleman’s education, but Francis was to make the law his career. In subsequent years he acted as surety for his many relatives and friends who entered the inn, and he slowly rose through the hierarchy of offices. He was an original member and sometime secretary of the Society of Antiquaries, corresponding with Sir Robert Cotton and William Camden. Though a number of his works were published, ‘discourse importing the assembly of Parliament’ was not his, for it was written on the eve of the Parliament of 1581, at which time Tate was barely of age, and the author had already sat in Parliament. Perhaps it was written by his father. Tate was, however, interested in the antiquity of Parliament, which he traced back to the ancient Britons. He believed that the ‘three parts’ of the Parliament—King, Lords and Commons—had always had the same weight and role, and therefore that the exact method of promulgating statutes in the past had little importance: ‘words are not much to be regarded, inasmuch as whatsoever the Parliament alloweth it bindeth as a law, though it be set forth only in the King’s name, as the statutes of Gloucester and Magna Carta, or in the name of the Commons only’, a conclusion which was thought significant in 1621, when this and other tracts on the subject were gathered together.2
In 1601 Tate sought election at Northampton, and he was returned as the son of a freeman, resident near the town. He was an active speaker, but sat on only two committees (abbreviation of the Michaelmas law term, 11 Nov. and the Exchequer bill, 25 Nov.). His speeches reflect his antiquarian interests, and his use of precedents anticipates so many speeches in the Parliaments of the 1620s. On 14 Nov. 1601, ‘he that presents a precedent without a reason presents a body without a soul’. On 27 Nov. ‘heretofore the Houses of Parliament were both one, without division; and that the united body of the Parliament had the same privileges and jurisdictions which we now have’. Next day, on the bill to explain the act touching charitable uses, there ‘could be no law which was contrary to the Great Charter’. It was Tate who first brought the dispute between the 4th Earl of Huntingdon and George Belgrave to the notice of the House, by producing the information filed by Huntingdon in Star Chamber and requesting that it be referred to the committee on privileges, 3 Dec. When the matter was discussed in the House, Tate prudently suggested (8 Dec.) that rash action might endanger their privileges (‘it is not good to utter things suddenly in great matters’) and advised that the Lords should be petitioned and, if necessary, a conference held, a course recommended by other speakers and ultimately adopted.3
In 1602 Tate was replaced as legal counsel to Northampton, as he was ‘shortly ... to remove into Wales, a place so far distant from this town that the corporation upon any opportunity cannot have use of him as heretofore’. The next year he made his will, at a time when he evidently thought he was dying. But he survived until 1616, still an active member of his inn.4
Author: S. M. Thorpe
1. DNB; Vis. Northants. ed. Metcalfe, 199; Northampton Recs. ii. 72.
2. Archaeologia, i. p. xii; Stowe ms 1045; CSP Dom. 1598-1601, p. 553; Harl. 253, f. 32 seq.; 305, f. 248; Neale, Commons, 355-8.
3. Northampton Recs. ii. 495; D’Ewes, 635, 638, 651, 655, 661, 666, 672-3; Townshend, Hist. Colls. 215, 254, 255, 259, 269, 270, 282, 296.
4. Northampton Recs. ii. 72; PCC 46 Weldon; M. T. Bench Bk. 172.
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Esq Labor Reps INT'L Real Estate
film reporter
4:00 AM PST 12/6/2007 by Leslie SImmons , AP
'Walk Hard' soundtrack ups ante for parodies
Creating a parody soundtrack for film is no easy task. Just ask writer-director Jake Kasdan, who spent eight months with co-writer Judd Apatow and a gang of songwriters in the studio recording songs for the Columbia "biopic" comedy "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story," which opens Dec. 21.
"It was daunting at the onset," Kasdan says. "We knew part of the appeal to this was the opportunity to go for it right away, and we enlisted the help of a bunch of really talented people."
To add pressure to the process, there's the Holy Grail of parody soundtracks — "This Is Spinal Tap" — looming over any movie creating a canon of funny songs for a fake rock star.
" 'Spinal Tap' is perfect, and the record is insanely great," Kasdan says. "That's the kind of gold standard you aspire to when you're entering this world."
When Kasdan and Apatow sat down to write songs for larger-than-life musician Dewey Cox (John C. Reilly), they cast a wide net to bring in songwriters and a few musical legends to help pen music that spans seven decades.
"We wanted the music to be good, even though it's a parody, even though it's funny," says Lia Vollack, president of worldwide music at Columbia. "Bad music unfortunately in a movie isn't funny, it's just bad. It actually becomes its own joke."
By the first draft, Kasdan and Apatow, who unlike their "Spinal Tap" counterparts are not musicians, had created titles and lyric fragments suggesting the kinds of songs they wanted for each sequence of the film. From there, they collaborated with a core group of songwriters, including producer Michael Andrews, Dan Bern, Mike Viola — who lent his vocals for 1996's "That Thing You Do!" — and Reilly. They also recruited several indie artists (and friends), including Antonio Ortiz, Gus Seyffert, Charlie Wadhams and Benji Hughes.
Veteran musician Marshall Crenshaw was brought in to tackle the title track, the Johnny Cash-inspired "Walk Hard."
"It was an important one," Kasdan says of the song. "He just nailed it and just found that basic thing, that riff."
To tap into Cox's political period, Bern, known for his Bob Dylan folk influences, came up with "Royal Jelly," a song Kasdan says is "marked by incomprehensible metaphors." Cox also sings a pair of politically incorrect protest songs that take up the causes of "midgets," "injuns" and others.
Composer and producer Van Dyke Parks, who collaborated with Beach Boys singer Brian Wilson on "Pet Sounds" and the ill-fated "Smile" album, was brought in to capture the essence of late 1960s experimental sounds. He penned a three-minute, 45-second acid trip titled "Black Sheep," which is highlighted in the film by Cox's in-studio drug-influenced eccentricities.
By the end of the process, hundreds of songs were in the can, and they eventually were boiled down to 15 for the soundtrack. An additional 15 songs are available on iTunes.
The finished product certainly is creating a buzz in the film and music community.
"I think the way this particular soundtrack is structured, and based on who's writing for it, it takes the 'Spinal Tap' experience up to 12," says Downtown Records president Josh Deutsch, who worked on parody soundtracks for "Music & Lyrics" and "Borat."
But can "Walk Hard" go down the same legendary path as "Spinal Tap"?
From elaborate press kits complete with concert T-shirts and "Walk Hard" lyrics "scribbled" on a cocktail napkin to the monthlong Cox Across America Tour, Dewey Cox seems to be walking hard in that direction.
Leslie SImmons
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By HASKEL BURNS,
A Hattiesburg man has been arrested and charged with several counts of burglary after being held at gunpoint by a Lamar County homeowner while attempting to break into the man’s house.
Lamar County Sheriff Danny Rigel said a man in the 1400 block of Oloh Road was awakened at about 6:20 a.m. Thursday by his dog barking. When the man looked out of his window, he saw a white male trying to gain entry into the residence through a window.
The homeowner grabbed a shotgun, ran outside and held 18-year-old Gauge Braxton Jordan a gunpoint until Lamar County deputies arrived. Officers then searched Jordan and found two loaded handguns in his pockets, at which point he was taken into custody.
Because Jordan was bleeding from the arms, deputies began to investigate to determine whether he had also attempted another break-in or burglary before arriving at the house on Oloh Road.
“There was a car that was broken into in the yard, with nothing significant missing out of it,” Rigel said. “So they started checking local businesses around the area, and they came upon Military Baptist Church and found a window broken out of the church, with blood on the ground and the window.
“They searched the church and found blood inside, so the pastor was called, and they couldn’t find anything missing. But then two other trucks in close proximity to the church were also found broken into.”
In total, Jordan was charged with three counts of auto burglary, one count of attempted residential burglary and one count of commercial burglary of a church.
“There could be further charges pending an ongoing investigation, because we still have not determined where the two handguns came from,” Rigel said.
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